Happy New Years Eve!

The last of the year, 2011.  It was a pretty good year, but I'm hoping that 2012 is even better. Of course, a lot of people keep saying that the world will end in 2012.. yeah... ok... Well, until then, I will continue to live my life with my family the way we have been, and that includes cooking and baking. :) 


As most people go out partying and making huge feasts, I just kept it simple and made chicken strips and french fries. There really isn't too much to the recipe.. but I'll include it anyway.. :) 

Recipe:
2-3 packages of chicken breasts (cut into strips)
2 cups flour
seasonings
ziplock baggy
Oil (enough to fry chicken and potatoes)
4-5 potatoes

put the flour and seasonings in baggy. Shake the chicken strips in ziplock bag until coated. Heat oil in skillet then drop chicken in. Fry until cooked all the way through.

Cut potatoes into thin strips. Drop in oil and cook until light brown or golden. drain and salt

I do use a real fryer and not a skillet, so it's much easier and faster cause you can do more in a fryer. :) 
You can use any types of dips you choose. My boys like ketchup, but I like either thousand island dressing or BBQ sauce :D 

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Crock pot meatballs

My family loves meatballs. BBQ meatballs & Marinara sauced meatballs. Tonight, we had marinara sauced meatballs with penne rigate & a salad  for dinner. 


Another thing I love is my crock pot. Now, I am pretty sure that you will hear (read?) me say that I love a lot of things in my kitchen... But, I think I love my crock pot the most. It's my 'set it and forget it' gadget. If you don't already have one.. GET ONE! (I have two.. LOL!)  


Back to dinner..  I started the meatballs this morning, and let them cook in the crock pot in the marinara sauce most of the day. Our house smelled really really good :)  Twenty minutes before we were ready to eat, I started boiling the penne rigate pasta in salt water. Always boil your noodles in 'ocean water'.. they come out tasting very nice. (This is a restaurant secret btw *wink* ) 

Recipe:
1 lb Ground Beef
1 Egg
Bread Crumbs
Italian Seasonings
Marinara Sauce

Combine first four ingredients, then roll into balls (makes about 12 meatballs). Place in crock pot and pour marinara sauce over. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4-5. Serve over noodles of choice.

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Brinner tonight equals baked French Toast

Yes, you read that right. Brinner. I'm not sure if this is a real word or not. I have yet to look it up. But it is a word that my oldest (RW who is 8) says when we are having breakfast foods for dinner. Makes sense.. Brinner. :) 


French Toast is a great food. Simple, but great. Bread (Texas toast or the like is best, but you can use any really), eggs and milk. Fry on a griddle or in a frying pan until done. Unless you are.. me.  Yes, I have my lazy moments, but a lot of time I add things and well.. you saw the changes made yesterday. LOL!    So, I decided that I would make the french toast in the oven. Which meant some prep work at least 12 hours before I wanted to put it into the oven.  And I spent about 2 hours breaking open pecans with a hammer.. yeah.. 


Recipe:
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 loaf of bread
8 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pecans, chopped


***


Directions:
Mix butter and brown sugar in a bowl until no clumps and mixed well. 
Spread in to the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
Line the pan with slices of bread, overlapping as needed.
Beat eggs, milk vanilla and cinnamon together and pour over the top of the bread.
Sprinkle the pecans over the top of everything.
Cover and put into the fridge for 12 hours.
Put into 350* oven for an hour covered with foil. Uncover for the last 15 minutes to let the pecans toast up a bit.

****************************************************************************************************

 Things I would change? Of course!  I would probably only put 1/2 cup of brown sugar on the bottom. It was really really good, but it was really really sweet. I would also add some of the chopped pecans to the bottom of the pan. Oh, and I would probably buy pecans that were already shelled and chopped... just sayin...

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Buffalo Chicken Soup.. that isn't...

I found this amazing recipe for Buffalo Chicken soup about a year ago. And I did follow the recipe.. that one time. Since then, I've made the soup over a dozen times, but it never turns out the same. Mostly, I suppose, because I don't follow the recipe. And here I am, about to make it.. and it's not buffalo chicken soup at all anymore. 


First, let me post what the recipe says it should be:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ingredients

1 small onion; diced

3 ribs celery; diced

1/3 cup butter / oil

1/3 cup Flour

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup chicken broth

2 cups cooked chicken; diced

1 cup Franks Hot Sauce- to taste

6 oz Velveeta®; cubed

1/4 cup Blue Cheese

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp celery salt

1/2 tsp garlic salt

How to Prepare Buffalo Chicken Soup

In a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, saute onions and celery in butter until tender. 

-Stir flour into pan; slowly whisk in milk and broth. (roux)

-Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cheese has melted.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And presto! Their version is good... but our family didn't find it very.. well.. filling. There just wasn't any substance. So, I've changed it over the (many) times that I've made it. Every time I've made it in fact. It's never the same. And this time is no different.


So, let me introduce this month's version of Buffalo Chicken Soup that isn't. :) 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ingredients

1 small onion; diced 

butter / oil 

(I honestly don't measure this)

Flour 

(and again, I don't measure this I just add until it makes a good roux)

Enough Milk to make a big batch of soup

Enough Chicken broth to even out the milk

Cooked Turkey (cut into pieces)

Cooked Ham (cut into pieces)

(these are both left overs from Christmas dinner)

Hot Sauce- to taste

3/4 Block of Velveeta®; (or store brand) cubed

Mixed Veggies (broccoli, carrots, corn, green beans)

(left overs in this case)

Ranch Dressing - to taste

Pepper

garlic salt

How to Prepare Buffalo Chicken Soup that isn't

In a huge pot over medium-high heat, saute onions in butter until tender.

-Stir flour into pan; slowly whisk in milk and broth. (roux)

-Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cheese has melted.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's it. :) It's honestly a great way to use up the left overs from holiday feasts. I make this soup, usually, when we've had turkey.  

Happy Culinary Experiences!

~HeatherRenee

Welcome to Cooking with HeatherRenee!

I plan to start the new year of 2012 documenting all of my cooking and baking! I LOVE to cook & bake. I also like to share what I've done. So, this is it! Cooking with me! :D Hope you enjoy and find something you would love to try to make and eat! I'll post the recipes I use, along with ones I've made myself. Pictures of the finished products, and even some pictures of the process. :) 


Happy Culinary Experiences!


~ HeatherRenee