Sunday Night Dinner - No Recipe

Skillet Grilled Ribeye with Garlic Herb Butter

Pan Fried Potatoes

Fresh Steamed Broccoli

Cook. Eat. Repeat.

For the Beginner

There is a difference between this:

And this:

The first one is a dry measuring cup; the second, a liquid measuring cup. Most things dry that need measuring, use measuring cups with a round opening.  The measuring cup with a spout, for wet ingredients.  The different measuring cups are important when precision measurements are key

Dry measuring cups are meant to be filled right up to the top and then leveled off with a straight edge of some sort. Liquid measuring cups are made to be filled to the gradations on the side of the cup (1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, 6 oz, etc.) rather than being filled right up to the top.

I'm Still Here

Hey y'all!


I am still around


Entire house was sick with a nasty stomach virus for a week...we each took turns being gross.


Last week we did a lot of school preparation


This week first week of 3rd grade for Babe! iDie! My sweetie is growing up so fast


I have been cooking just no time to sort through pictures, write a proper post and actually put it up


Don't you hate when you can't wait to try a recipe and when you do it is a smoking hot mess?????  My first comment upon tasting it was that it was too Cool Whippy....yet there was no cool whip in it (I hate that stuff).  So that "tart" has been placed in my Recipe Fail File.  Oh the high expectations I had for that tart.


The browned butter crust wasn't even good!  Like how can you screw up anything with browned butter???


I had a browned butter pound cake fail a while ago.  That cake was dry as hell!  I wanted that cake to be great.  I hated it so much...so so much *sigh*


I did make A Weeknight Winner meal that I will share later: Fresh Cheese Filled Tortellini, Italian Sausage, Roasted Red Pepper and a cream sauce you make with the pasta water and a splash of cream.


Oh and this yogurt marinated chicken was soooooo yummy


We had shrimp and grits for dinner last night.  I will post that later too.


See I have been cooking...just not posting! lol


Have a great week! 

Cook. Eat. Repeat.

The Friday Five

Five of my favorite kitchen tools:

1. Tongs (Best tool for meats IMO...no piercing so all the juices stay put!)
2. High Heat Rubber Spatulas
3. Various sized whisks
4. Avocado slicer (I eat lots of avocado and this is heaven!)
5. Citrus juicer

What are five of your favorite kitchen tools? Have a happy weekend!


Cook.Eat.Repeat.

Crack House Finds

Picture: http://www.marshallsonline.com/

This darn place BE calling me! LOL  So here is what I found this week!

Schott Zwiesel glasses...apparently they are fancy schmancy.  I just thought they were super cute and super inexpensive...$3 each! Ha Zaa!!!!

The next set of glasses I found were this cute little martini-esque glasses.  They will make great dessert glasses! These were also $3 each

Finally this wonderful serving bowl was only $5.50!

Crack man.  That place is like crack!

Chicken: Adobo Style!

I have never had adobo anything (I don't think) but after I found this I couldnt wait to see what it tasted like. Well I still havent opened it but when I found this recipe I was excited.  For some reason 'adobo' sounds exotic so I thought surely I will have to go to Kryton to find some of the spices! Nope...I had (or normally have) all of the items listed. It is always interesting how a culture can put unrelated ingredients together to get a unique flavor.

Honey and apple cider vinegar?  Have you smelled apple cider vinegar???? Peppy Le P U!

Anywho, I can admit I was skeptical but glad I followed through!  The ease of putting this together and the cook time make it a winner weeknight meal! At this rate I may never open that jar...

You can find the original recipe here (Appetite For China)

Chicken Adobo Style!
Adapted heavily from http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/filipino-chicken-adobo

What You Need:

• 6 skinless chicken thighs
• 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil (enough to sear the thighs on both sides)
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoons each of salt, black pepper and paprika (you want enough to season both sides of the chicken
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white or apple cider vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (I used reduced sodium)
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 bay leaves
• 3-4 tablespoons pure maple syrup or honey (I used maple syrup)

What to do:

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat
2. Season chicken thighs with spices
3. Place thighs in skillet and sear until a light golden brown, about 5-7 minutes per side (I actually had a tad too much oil so I drained a bit of it out of the pan)
4. Add the onions and garlic and the bay leaf to the chicken, right on top
5. Pour the vinegar, soy sauce and water over everything and bring to a simmer
6. Add the maple syrup. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 mnutes

We enjoyed this over some Indian Spiced Rice we had leftover from Sunday dinner.

Cook. Eat. Repeat.

Quick, Delicious Jambalaya

 

I am never sure if I spell that right....even with the box in front of me! LOL

So I have been using this recipe I poached from Mingo's (search the 'Recipes' section of her blog) site a few years ago. We were going to a family potluck and I needed something quick. This right here hit the spot! It was a winner at the potluck; like folks were hiding bowls to take home! LOL This is my go to recipe for potlucks

I adjusted the recipe for a weeknight meal and added a couple of spices to suit my family's tastes...we like it spicy round these parts! 

Quick, Delicious Jambalaya

Adapted from: http://www.monicamingo.com/

What You Need:

• 
  
  1 box Zatarain's Jambalaya Mix
• 
  
  1 tsp each, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper
• 
  
  1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 
  
  Salt to taste
• 
  
  1 Tbsp olive oil
• 
  
  1 chicken breast, diced
• 
  
  1/2 cup diced smoked sausage
• 
  
  6-8 large shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 
  
  1 cup diced onions
• 
  
  1 cup diced bell peppers
• 
  
  Couple cloves garlic, chopped
• 
  
  Fresh or dried parsley for garnish, optional

What To Do:

• 
  
  Cook Jambalaya according to package directions, set aside
• 
  
  In a small bowl mix all the spices together. Coat chicken pieces in spice mix. Set aside
• 
  
  In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium high heat, add onions and bell pepper, cook until onions are translucent
• 
  
  Add garlic, cook for about another minute. Add chicken and cook until just about done.
• 
  
  Add smoked sausage and shrimp and cook until shrimp is pink and chicken is cooked through.
• 
  
  Add meat and seafood mixture to rice mixture. Mix well.  Plate it and garnish with optional parsley.

 Serve with warm crusty French bread!

  

Cook. Eat. Repeat.