Fried Steak

Time is flying by me like a stealth bomber.  That's seems to be my theme here lately.  So much to do so little time.  And I always thought that when the kids were out of the house, I would have all the leisure time I wanted.  Nope, the time I spent with them is just replaced with other stuff.

 Good news though. 

We finally bought a gas range. 

HOORAY!!!

It's a thing of beauty and I love it so.

First meal on the new range was a recipe we saw on "Worst Cooks in America".  We DVR it so we can skip all of the commercials.  In fact, that's the only way we watch anything now except for sports.  Anyway, my mind is wondering again.  Fried Steak.....Anne Burrell, who is fabulous in my opinion.  Anybody who can recognize and state without abandon, 'Brown Food Tastes Good' is a goddess in my book.

If you haven't seen the show, they take people who have no cooking skills whatsoever and try to teach them basic skills and who to put together some pretty elaborate dishes.  And of course, someone gets eliminated each week.  On this show, Anne's dish was a fried steak.  Now, whenever I think of fried steak I think of a breaded chicken fried steak or maybe even a pan fried round steak.  Both are good but this was different.  A good sirloin steak rubbed with a mix of brown sugar, cayenne, salt and garlic powder.  Then you don't even seare it, you just drop it in a pan with hot oil.

How beautiful is that?

Perfectly medium rare with a crispy crunchy outside.

It was wonderful!

Baked Potato Soup

A long, long time ago I had a recipe for the absolute best baked potato soup.  It was written on a piece of notebook paper.  Along the years and several moves that piece of paper, along with others I'm sure has disappeared.  One reason why I love the Internet.  I store everything on the net, I can't lose that!

Back to the soup.  The only thing I remember is that it had baked potatoes, Campbell's cheddar cheese soup and some other can of Campbell's soup.  I searched the Internet and couldn't find anything that I though was close, darn it the search goes on.

Yesterday, I wasn't feeling my best.  It's a bitch getting older but it's better than the alternative.  So I went into the kitchen and made up my own recipe for the soup I've been craving.  Now mind you, I'm great at following recipes.  I can copy any craft or decorating idea.  I'm a great apprentice.  So this time, I step up and do it myself.

Thank goodness I had a stocked pantry and fridge. Potatoes, Velveeta, a little shredded cheddar cheese, milk, green onions, sour cream, bacon, flour and butter. 

I was guessing so your amounts might vary from mine.  I guess I need to get better a writing things down as I go along.  But don't look for that to happen anytime soon, I'm not that organized.  Any volunteers to be my note taker?  Anyone? Anyone?

Bake the potatoes and cube.  I used 3 russets.  Make a rue with the butter and flour.  Equal parts of fat and flour. Melt the butter then slowly add the flour.  Don't leave it, keep stirring.  I used 1/4 cup of each.

Add the milk (3 cups for me).  Simmer until it starts to thicken.  Add Velveeta and cheddar cheese until melted.  Stir in sour cream, cubed potatoes and crumbled bacon. Season with salt and pepper.

Garnish with green onions or scallions, your choice of what you call them.  Just use them and use them often.

This is so good.  It warmed me to the bottom of my soul.  And satisfied my love of potatoes and cheese.  I'm so glad I tried this on my own.

More tailgate food.  More Cheese!!

I had some mozzarella that I planned on using on pizza but fried cheese called to me.  And think I must have eaten 4 or 5 of them.

Dipped in jarred marina sauce, this snack was to die for.  Just dip in egg wash and a mix of panko and regular bread crumbs.  Yum, yum.

Live, Laugh, Love,
Karen and Charlie

It's Wednesday Already?

How can it be Wednesday.  I swear that yesterday was the weekend.  Time gets the best of me.  Other than the fact that my football teams didn't win, it was a great weekend.  We cooked, we enjoyed good food, we watched some really good games.  Hey, we even managed to get a school project completed with James.

This is what pays the bills.  I work for an equipment company.  They call me a Product Support Rep, that's a fancy name for 'I sell the company and make sure the customers are happy'.  Sometimes it's a great job, other times it is the most stressful place to be.

Our kitchen on the other hand, is my de-stressser.  Saturday morning I decided that we would cook a bunch of tailgate food then we could enjoy the games more.  So we turned the music up loud, laughed a lot and made a ton food.  Here's a look.

This started out as a pizza.  I didn't flour the counter enough though and the dough stuck.  Solution...Flip over the torn dough and make a calzone.  it is stuffed with italian sausage, mushroom and onions.  The dough is made with 1 1/2 cups of warm water, 2 packages of yeast, 2 Tablespoons of sugar, 1/3 cup olive oil and 4 cups of flour.  Just bloom the yeast in the water, whisk in the sugar and oil then ad the flour.  Let it rise for an hour and you are ready.  That amount makes two pizzas.  Or a calzone and a base for James' school project.  More on that later.

I remember my Mom doing this with leftover biscuits.  She would put butter, cinnamon and sugar on a halved biscuit and put them back in the oven.  They would get hard on the outside and soft on the inside and I loved them.  I did the same thing but used flour tortillas instead.  And notice the game day activity of color sugar for the teams I was backing.  Let see, green for the Eagles, yea right, they are gone.  Blue for the Colts, Peyton and the boys let me down.  Yellow for the Saints.  Who would have ever guessed they would be out after the first round.  And purple (well, purple-ish) for the Ravens.  At least that defense pulled them through.

These little goodies were delish.. Cream Cheese, a slice of jalapeno and chicken all wrapped in bacon.  I put them in oven to cook the chicken, then broiled to get the bacon crisp.  Ree at the Pioneer Woman (don't you love her recipes?) had this posted.  I usually do this with shrimp but went with what we had.



I've rambled enough and now must run to see customers.  I think today is going to be one of the good days at work except that the wind chill is 22 degrees in Houston.  Yikes!

Live, Laugh, Love,

Karen and Charlie

The Tale of Two Breakfast Sandwiches

Growing up we were always told that breakfast was the most important meal of the day.  As an adult, I truly believe it.  If I skip breakfast, I feel sluggish all day and actually tend to make poor eating choices during the day.  On the days when I do eat something in the morning, I eat a lighter lunch and seem to have more energy.

Charlie has never been a breakfast eater.  As a goal for this year and to hopefully reduce his blood sugar, I am trying to get him to eat earlier and spread more food out during the day.  This week when I packed his lunch, I packed less lunch type food and gave him something from breakfast and a snack.

Since I always try to pack something he can eat in a hurry, you may think that some of the lunches are the best choices but he likes to have something hot and something he can eat within a few minutes if work is demanding.

These were the lunches hot dogs with kraut, chicken quesadilla, chili, hot dogs with relish and onion and a chicken sandwich.  While the snacks were simple but filled with protein.  I gave him cheese with summer sausage, celery and peanut butter, turkey wrapped around pieces of swiss cheese, apples with peanut butter and a piece of bread with bacon and tomato.  I know I should have taken pictures but my mind is going so fast in the mornings that I can rarely get things together enough to snap a picture of snacks.

Back to breakfast though, I always rely on these two standby for breakfast along with oatmeal and a quick peanut butter sandwich.  One I love and it is one of James' favorites is a take on a Breakfast Jack (from Jack in the Box).  It's quick and simple.  A bun, lunch meat ham, cheese and a fried egg.  You have to burst the yolk when you fry the egg or it will drip everywhere.  I add onions to Charlie's since he loves onions.  And I always smear a little mayonnaise on them.  They are quick, easy and full of flavor.

My other go to sandwich isn't really a sandwich it's a taco.  No meat on this one but it is still full of flavor.  Scrambled eggs, shredded cheese, onions, tomatoes, and a few bell pepper pieces on a flour tortilla.  Once again, quick, easy and all thing that you probably have in your kitchen.

It's the tale of two breakfast sandwiches.  What's your go to breakfast that completely satisfies you and makes a great start for your day?

Burgers with the family

What a great evening.  The kids came over for one last dinner together before Geneva and Jesse head to school in Natchitoches, LA.  It's only about 4 hours away but the drive is boring and makes it seem alot longer.  We have 3 kids, Eric, Geneva and James.  And all three have mates, Katie, Jesse and Crystal.  Eric and Katie live in Pennsylvania so obviously they didn't drop over for dinner but the other four were here.

We kept it simple and make burgers on the grill.  I'll admit it's not the best picture but there seemed to be a million things going on at once.  How does that happen?  It did eventually turn into a very relaxed evening.  We ate our burgers and laughed alot.  Ended up playing a 'Apples to Apples' and some game on Wii.




The kids munched all night on a no bake cookie I got from my mother's recipe box.  There are lots of these out there and I'll post it sometime but it's just cocoa, sugar, milk, butter, peanut butter and oatmeal.  The kids love them but they are kinda rich for me.

Oh and yes, we did finally go to the store and stock the pantry.  Charlie was afraid of 'how many things can you do with an egg', so he stopped on the way home and bought a variety of things so I can continue to make up stuff as I go.

We have stuck to the 'Eat in Month' Challenge.  How are you doing?


Live, Laugh, Love,

Karen and Charlie

Making the Most of My Bare Pantry

I'm challenging myself to be frugal, use what we have and still eat at home.  Not just for the month of January but as a life change.  Who know if it will work, only time will tell.  And isn't there a saying that if you do something for 30 days it becomes a habit.  Well I'm giving it my best shot.



This was last night's dinner.  Not my typical chili recipe but it worked really well.  Of course I didn't measure anything but this is what I had on hand.

Ground beef

Italian Sausage

Onions

Garlic Powder

Chili Powder

Diced Tomatoes with Peppers (Rotel by a different name)

Light Kidney Beans (leave them out if you don't put beans in chili)

Tomato Paste

Ketchup

Water

Salt and Pepper

Corn Bread Mix - Love it, Love it, Love it.  You need milk and an egg.

Butter for the corn bread

Saute onion in a little olive oil. Throw in the ground beef and sausage.  After it is all nice and browned, season it as hot or as mild as you like it.

Add tomatoes, beans, tomato paste, water to the consistency that you want it.  I had to add ketchup to this because the taste wasn't right.  I really needed another can of tomatoes but...you gotta make due.

Simmer for about 20 minutes.  Make the Corn Bread while you wait. 

The house will smell so good.  If you weren't hungry when you started, you will be now.

This is what my regular pot of chili looks like.  It's a little darker and thicker.  And actually much spicier.  But this made for a great dinner and I didn't spend a dime or even alot of time putting it together.

Don't forget to join the group for 'Eat In Month'.

I also got to preview a new show on OWN through SheSpeaks.  That would be the Oprah Winfrey Network. It was pretty cool.  I'm a reality show freak anyway and Oprah is going to give the winner of this show their own talk show.  It premiers Friday, January 7th at 9E/8C.  The line up of other shows is very Oprah-like so I'm sure there will be lots of makeovers for body, soul and homes.

Eat In Month

Charlie and I joined 'The Chic Life's' Challenge for January.  Diane calls it 'Eat in Month'.  For the entire month you don't go to a restaurant.  I didn't think this would be too difficult since we cook 90% of our meals at home anyway.  Then I started going through my pantry for dinner yesterday.  Geezzz, I should have made my grocery list before I decided to join.  And I should have asked Charlie to go to the store.  We were out of almost everything.  Not sure how that happened but it is definitely time to stock up again.

Back on track for the Challenge though, I took some of the chicken that we had from New Year's Eve, cut it into chunks and made an alfredo sauce.  Served with noodles and a salad it was a great way to eat something simple and use the leftovers.  Not to mention it was darned good and warm.  Isn't Houston supposed to not have winters because even though it is only in the low 50's, it's windy and feels much colder?  I'm moving closer to the equator.

After realizing that our cupboard is almost bare, I decided to take the challenge a bit further.  It is all about saving money and eating more sensibly.  Charlie gets his lunch packed for him everyday.  Aren't I a good wife! 

OK, stop laughing.  However, he is a breakfast skipper.  I have always wanted him to eat something in the morning within a few hours of waking up.  If he doesn't he goes 6-7 hours with only coffee.

So today, he got a scrambled egg with cheese on toast.  For lunch, he has tuna salad with carrots instead of chips.  I also threw in a few Nilla Wafers for a sweet treat. 

I'm hoping that if he spreads that out over the day, he won't be so hungry when he gets home and he will eat a lighter dinner.  Which, by the way, is going to be chili because it's cold outside and HOORAY, I have all the ingredients.  Not really difficult to have, hamburger meat, italian sausage, canned tomatoes and spices.  Although I have to sub tomatoes that have jalapenos since I don't have plain diced ones.

It's funny that this challenge has really made me think.  Running to the grocery store to pick up one or two items isn't really a big deal for us.  Generally the problem is, I run in for 2 things and come out with 20.  So after looking at what I have and deciding to use it in ways that maybe I wouldn't normally, is a good thing.  I did make a list though and Charlie will be going to the store so we only buy what's on the list.

Thanks Diane, I welcome these small changes and I am hoping that they become routine.

How do you plan your meals and do your shopping?   One meal at a time or do you shop for the entire week?  Let me know.  I would love to hear from you.

Great Start to the New Year

What a great start to the new year.  All of the Holiday decorations have been put away and we spent the day watching college football.  Hooray for the teams from Texas, TCU and Tech both won their bowl games but boo hoo for Penn State who came up just a little short.  (We are....PENN STATE!).  At least Urban Meyer left on a winning note.

As always, I was up early with the puppies, Max and Gus who spent the day being very cuddly.  I'm not sure it is because of the weather is a bit on the cold side or if they, (especially Gus) have decided it's nice to have someone rub your back for 24 hours a day.  Either way, I'm good with it.  The puppies are like my babies now that my babies are grown and aren't so cuddly anymore.

And look at those faces, they are ready for a new year of running and playing with treats and long walks with Mom and Dad.  What a life these two spoiled little puppies have.  Isn't it great to have pets in your life?   Max is getting older (he's the schnauzer) and sometimes when he jumps up onto the ottoman, he misses.  It hurts his feelings so bad that he'll hide under the kitchen table until we go get him and pick him up.  He won't try to jump again for a few hours.  It's really sad to see him getting older.  Gus, on the other hand, is only a year old and he flies through the air.

We always spend our New Year's Day like this,  being a bit lazy, cooking pork, peas and cabbage with whatever else we want.  I was taking the easy way this year and put some frozen peas in a small pan, just enough for me since the Yankee Charlie doesn't really care for them.  After putting them on, I went back to watching football.  In a while, Charlie asks me if the peas are supposed to have water in them?  I see you laughing....I covered them in water, however, I guess I had the burner too high and it all boiled out.  What a nasty mess with peas stuck to the bottom of the pan.  OK...no luck for me in 2011, guess I'll have to make my good fortune.

We did have pork chops and sauerkraut.  Charlie wanted kraut this year instead of the traditional cabbage that we usually make.  I guess it's the inner Pennsylvania boy coming out in him.  I didn't take any pictures of that meal.  However, we (I) had some leftover soup from yesterday that I heated and ate some of.  It was so good.  It is Panera's Broccoli and Cheese Soup.  Our son and daughter-in-law gave me "America's Most Wanted Recipes" cookbook for Christmas and told me this was one of the best.  They, of course, were right.  It has just the right mix of flavors with nothing over powering.  I thought that I had screwed this one up while making it because you start with a rue and I didn't think that I cooked it long enough.  Whenever I tasted of the broth before adding the veggies and cheese, it reminded me of the breading on chicken fried steak.  I just knew I was going to have to throw out and entire pot of soup.  But nope, when it was all said and done, it was delicious.

The best part of the day though were these pretzels.  I have never tried making them before but say the recipe on 'Pennies on a Platter'.  I had to try them.  They called out to me. And since I had everything I needed in the pantry/fridge, I went for it.  Actually, I've been looking for a pretzel roll recipe for a turkey sandwich that I used to order at Bennigans.  They have closed all the Bennigans here and left me without my favorite sandwich.  Now, I can live again!  I didn't put ham in these but I sprinkled some with cinnamon sugar, some with cheddar cheese and left some plain.  And I made all kinds of shapes, buns, logs, etc.  They were fun to play with.  And I will be making them again and again.

If you haven't read Pennies on a Platter, give it a look.  Nikki has a lot of great stuff going on there.

If the rest of the year follows today, it's going to be a good year.  And I can't wait!  One last note, we joined the challenge for January 'Eat in Month' on The Chic Life.  Every meal and snack should be made from your kitchen without going to restaurants.  It helps your waistline as well as your wallet.  Since we generally cook most of our meals at home anyway, it shouldn't be a problem.  You should pop on over and give it a look.   Now how do I tell Charlie that he can't have a Whataburger during January?

Meatloaf

Meatloaf

Everyone has their favorite version of Meatloaf.  I have come across dozens recently and filed away a few as definite make agains and others I just tossed.  Charlie and I came up with this one by taking the best of some and because they are all basically the same except for ketchup usage, I think this is one of the best.

Meatloaf

2 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground sausage, mild seasoning
1 egg
1 - 1 ½ cup Panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper
dash Worcester
dash Tabasco
olive oil
½ cup carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped


Saute onion, carrots, celery and garlic in olive oil.  
Mix ground beef and sausage in a large bowl.  Add sauteed veggies.  Combine.  
Add egg and a portion of the panko.  Mix and continue to add more panko until the mixture holds together.
Form a loaf on a foil lined baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

It is a very festive presentation with the colors from the carrots, celery and onion but mostly it is just plain good.  We had it with brown gravy that night.  The best thing though came the next day.

I came home for lunch and thought that I would have a slice on a sandwich.  Then I remembered seeing an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives that went to a place where they grilled their meatloaf for sandwiches.  So of course, I through a piece in a pan with a little bit of olive oil and boy, oh boy.  It is really something that you have to try.  That little bit of crusty goodness on the outside of the meatloaf added so much to something that was already good.

As soon as Charlie got home I told him that he had to try it.  He was as amazed as I was.  You should really try it too, next time you happen to have some leftover meatloaf.

Happy New Year to All!

Karen and Charlie

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