French Quarter Flavor

Looking for a quick meal with homemade appeal? Try Zatarain's Red Beans & Rice Mix. All you need to do is add sausage (Chappell Hill brand made in Texas is my fave) and a little garlic spice or Tony Chachere's to kick it up a notch. (I made a big pot last night and can't wait to get home for leftovers!)

Make a pan of "from scratch" cornbread to accompany the meal. If you've really got the time and want more down home flavor try Chef G. Garvin's recipe for Southern Fried Chicken:



Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons pepper
2 tablespoons garlic salt
2 tablespoons seasoned salt
2 tablespoons paprika
olive oil (enough to deep fry)

Instructions
1. Coat skillet with enough olive oil. 2. Pour flour in a bowl. 3. Season flour with seasoned salt, garlic salt, and paprika. Mix. 4. Remove chicken from ice bath and set on plate. 5. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, garlic salt and seasoned salt. 6. Coat all sides of chicken with flour. Pat off excess. 7. Place each piece in heated skillet. 8. Fry for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. 9. Remove chicken from pan. Place on paper towel to soak up excess oil.

Enjoy!

Pizza Hut Pasta

Looking for another quick, delicious meal you don't have to cook? Why not try the new Tuscani Pasta from Pizza Hut! Don't sleep! This pasta is actually VERY good! Hot and made to order with just the right amount of Italian spices. We tried both the Chicken Alfredo and regular meat sauce. Both were scrumptious, just don't expect a heaping amount of chicken. You also get hot delicious breadsticks with each order. Just toss a salad and pour up a glass of cold lemonade (or your favorite vino) and dinner's ready!

Enjoy!

Delicious Trick

My son LOVES spaghetti! He would eat spaghetti and pizza everyday if I let him. Unfortunately the only vegetable I can get him to eat consistently is green beans. So, I finally tried the old vegetable in the spaghetti sauce trick and it worked!! He ate THREE small bowls of spaghetti, which was full of SPINACH and he at every bite!

I must toot my own horn- beep beep- and say it was quite delicious. You can make your own sauce (courtesy of Patti Labelle):

• 1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey)
• 1 large onion
• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• One 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• Two 6 ounce cans tomato paste
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 2 tbsp chopped basil
• 2 tbsp chopped oregano
• 1/2 tsp crush red pepper flakes

If you are time challenged or just don't want to do the work PREGO works just fine! Just be sure to season your ground meat with garlic salt and ground pepper before browning and adding it to the sauce. The final ingredient to your sauce is the vegetable of your choice! Dice or grind the vegetables really fine to avoid the little ones catching on and picking out pieces. Let the sauce simmer for at least 20 to 3 minutes for ultimate flavor. Pour over your favorite pasta (I prefer angel hair) and enjoy!

Warm garlic bread and a side salad complete the meal. Delish!

Grilled to Perfection

My favorite fish is salmon. Pronounced saa-men for those of you Southerners like me who may remember the silent L but add a long O at the end.

This past week my husband has taken to firing up the grill almost every other day. Could be because of my injury or it could be because he realized that the grill is just taking up space on the patio serving as a constant reminder of all the things we thought we couldn't live without and plunked down a chunk of change to get and we never use! I'd like to think it's the former.

The first time (four years ago) my husband ever tried to grill fish it was comical. The fish literally fell apart and ended up in every crevice of the grill. The man has gotten wise with age. He bought a fish basket/cage-thing to use on the grill. I generously seasoned the salmon with lemon pepper, garlic salt and a hint of Tony Chachere's (Chachere's just makes EVERYTHING taste better). He grilled the fish for about 10-12 minutes on each side and it was like BUTTA!

We could have eaten it by itself but I prepared (opened the can and poured in the pot) a can of green beans and baked some steak fries with olive oil and kosher salt. Mmm Mmm good!

Ten Minute Meal

I like Rachel Ray but some of her 30 Minute Meals take too long and are a bit too involved. I am a working mother whose least favorite things to do are iron, vacuum and cook!

Thank heaven's for the ROTISSERIE chicken cooked and ready to eat from your local neighborhood grocery stores. They even have different seasoned varieties like barbecue or lemon or Italian. The best thing about this ready to eat meat is that it actually tastes GOOD! The meat is very succulent and full of flavor.

Open a can of corn, steam some broccoli and you've got an instant meal in less than ten minutes! Now that's YUM-O (to steal Rachel's favorite phrase). Another great thing about rotisserie chicken is that you can make sandwiches, wraps, chicken salad, chicken spaghetti or soup with the left overs!

Pizza Pizzaz

Here's a weekend meal idea: homemade pizza! Get everyone involved as you prepare this family favorite. It's super easy (trust me I've learned from my mistakes- like making my own dough). All you need is:

1. Refrigerated pizza dough (in the section with the biscuits)


2. Pizza sauce (near the spaghetti sauce)


3. Shredded mozzarella or "pizza" cheese


4. Sliced pepperoni (or cooked crumbled hamburger or chicken or ham- it's up to you!)


5. Optional items include mushrooms, bell pepper, onions, pineapples, etc.


6. Pizza pan or pizza stone

Stretch the dough, spread the sauce, sprinkle the cheese, add the meat and other fixin's. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 18 minutes. Viola! You're done. Depending on how many in your household you might need to cook TWO (something else I learned)!

BUON APPETITO!

Out to Eat

Looking for a healthy nutritious meal- that you don't have to cook? Try Blackeyed Pea! My son is a big fan of the mini corn bogs and green beans. I don't know what it is about the green beans at Blackeyed Pea but he eats them like french fries. It must be the garlic. I personally recommend the Southwest Chicken Wraps. Grilled chicken, cheese, avocado, lettuce, and tomato wrapped in a Chipotle flavored tortilla. Did I mention the jalapeno ranch dressing? Delish!

Don't forget at participating Blackeyed Pea restaurants kids eat FREE on Tuesdays. Be sure to call the Blackeyed Pea in your area for restrictions and details.

Pork Shoulder Ribs

(If you don’t eat pork, please disregard this post)


Looking for a quick mid-week meal? How about a barbecue?! It’s simple and within an hour dinner will be on the table. Start off with a family size (or smaller) pack of thawed pork shoulder ribs, sprinkle with BBQ seasoning (or kosher salt, ground pepper, garlic salt and chili powder), place in a baking pan (cover with aluminum foil), and in the oven at 350 degrees. The meat should cook for about 50 minutes. After about 40 minutes take the meat out of the oven and pour on a liberal amount of your favorite barbecue sauce. Place the meat back in the oven to cook for ten minutes.

While the meat is cooking open a can of baked beans and boil a few ears of corn. Sliced pickles, onions and ice tea complete the meal.

YUM!

Comments Closed