Abi Is Graduating, Yea!!!!

Well it's been over a week and I just don't know where the time goes. It seems the last few weeks have gotten busier and busier and I'm ready for things to slow down a bit. I don't think it will until after this weekend.
You ask "why" and I'm so glad you did. My beautiful and wonderful daughter Abigail is graduating from HS. Her mom has been homeschooling her for 12 years so she graduates too. I almost feel like I'm graduating. Oh by the way, her brother Aaron finished his AAS degree in Sound Design but won't officially graduate until August. Things are going to really change around here and we're looking forward to it. Congratulations Abi Phifer, Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We're having the graduation at the church this Saturday at 2 PM. Abi has written a song and plans to give a little speech. Her mom is going to say a few words and of course I'm the MC and the special speaker. I've always wanted to do that, so here's my chance to wax eloquent or wax the elephant as my niece thought I said last weekend.
On our way back to church today we asked Abi what she'd like to eat after the graduation. She said she wanted me to make some chicken tortilla soup. I made this last week and she really loved it. So we thought we'd find an enchilada recipe and make some to go along with it.
Low Carb Chicken Tortilla Soup
1. 1/2 cup of butter; 1 bunch of green onions chopped; 3-4 celery sticks diced; 2 cloves of garlic minced; 1/2 bell pepper diced (optional: Abi doesn't like it) and saute these in butter
2. 3 cups of chicken stock; 1/2 cup heavy cream; 1 can rotele tomato with chili peppers; 1 tsp cumin and chili powder; 3 chicken breasts cooked and diced; 2 avocados chunked; 1 tbsp lime juice; 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated and 1 block cream cheese chopped up.
3. Shredded white cheese and 4 flour or corn tortillas.
After you saute items in #1 add chicken stock, cream, cumin, chili powder and rotele tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chicken and cream cheese. Simmer until cream cheese dissolves and you have a wonderful soup.
While the soup is simmering take 4 low carb tortillas or corn ones and cut into 1/4 inch strips. Cover cookie pan with aluminum foil and spray with Pam. Lay strips on foil and spray the top of them lightly. Bake them at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly toasted and crispy. Lightly sprinkle with salt. Garnish each bowl of soup with white cheese and tortilla strips.
I was able to use some chicken stock Charlcie had left over from making King Ranch Chicken recently. I thought it really added to the flavor.

Long Weekend Without Cooking

We had a giant garage sale at the church this past weekend. Along with it we had a lot of people cooking cookies and different things to sale. We had a great time and really sold a lot of things. The best part was the fellowship with each other and the community. Lot's of interaction was going on. There was so many people who volunteered to help that it really made it go smoothly. There were a lot of new people to the church and ones that have been a part for a long time. It was good to see new connections and relationships being built.
The week started out slowly, but each day gained momentum. Thursday night we were bracing for the marathon. Sure enough Friday was a marathon. From early in the morning until about 10 PM we were unloading, setting up tables, putting out items and receiving more stuff. Again it was great to have so much help. If we hadn't of, we'd have been here all night.
We got home and into bed about 11 PM only to get up about 4:30 AM. We got to the church about 5:30 and immediately started getting things ready. A few more people showed up to help and we had everything ready by 6:45. By that time we had lots of help.
The day went great. We had some early birds and slowly the crowds built until about 11 AM. Things slowed for 45 minutes but began to pick up until about 1:30 and we shut things down between 2 and 2:30.
Then it was time to load everything up and take it to SAM (Spring Assistance Ministry). I know we sold an enormous amount of things, but you couldn't tell it by how much was left. SAM was glad to get what we had left and we were glad they would take it. Charlcie and I got home about 5 and we were exhausted.
But no rest for the weary. Sunday was communion and Sunday night we had prayer. We did manage to get a nap briefly Sunday afternoon.
Needless to say I haven't had much time for cooking. We've been eating simple things but last night I cooked a wonderful chicken tortilla soup that I'll tell you about tomorrow.

Home Cooked Green Beans

Last night Charlcie and Abi went up to the church to have worship prep; to get ready for worship on Sunday. So I had some time on my hands and I decided to make fresh green beans like my mom used to do.
But first things first, I had to heat up my wonderful bowl of ham bone soup. While it was heating I took 2 cups of stock I'd made with the chicken Charlcie had boiled last week and the ham bone and set it aside. Oh by the way, I forgot to say to snap the ends off the beans and wash them. some people snap the beans in half but you don't have too.
In a large oven pan I melted a couple of tablespoons of unsalted butter and lightly browned 1/4 pound of sliced salt pork. Then I tossed the green beans into the pot and stirred with a wooden spoon to coat them. Now, add the the broth, bring to a boil and add a palm full of salt (I used kosher salt, and a little less), 2 tspns of garlic powder and black pepper. Let this simmer over medium low heat (emphasis on the low) for about 30 minutes, covered.
While the beans were cooking, I ate my soup and man oh man was it good. Then I cut an onion into slivers and peeled the potatoes. You'll want to use 10-12 depending on the size. Add the potatoes and onions at the end of the 30 minutes and cook another 30 minutes, covered. You'll need to check every once in a while to make there's still some stock. Add a little if needed. When the potatoes are tender add 1/2 stick unsalted butter and cook with the lid tilted for another 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
When Charlcie and Abi got home about 9:30 PM we all had a little bowl of green beans. Oh my goodness were they ever good. There's just something about fresh stock, green beans and potatoes.

Back AT It

Back at it, cooking that is. I spent the weekend in Galveston on a men's retreat. We had a great time. The weekend started out at Shrimp In Stuff, a great little unknown restaurant. It's mainly fried seafood, but the gumbo is cooked great and so is the fried seafood. The prices are even better, well not really. They're great but the food is better.
After some great seafood we had a wonderful time of worship in the old bar the restaurant now owns. They let us use it free and that was a great blessing because we had no place to meet where we were staying.
After getting a good nights rest, at least most of us, we went to the airshow. It was great! This was the first time I've ever been, after living in Galveston for a year and in Houston all my life, you'd have thought I'd made it by now. I haven't, but it was great. I enjoyed the WWII planes as much as anything. The museum and plane display was great too.
It seems I've been out of pocket for a long time. Last night I decided to get back at cooking. We were hungry for something different. I remembered we had a ham bone and decided to make some ham bone soup.
While I was at the store I saw some frest green beans. I knew I'd have left over stock, so I decided to try and make some fresh green beans. I remember growing up my Mon's were the best. It seemed she let them cook for hours, but they sure were flavorful. I'm gonna give it a try tonight so they'll be ready for tomorrow. But tonight, I'm planning on enjoying a heaping bowl of ham bone soup.

What Beef Makes the Grade Part 2?

Well I hope I'm finally back. It's been a challenging 10 days. I think I left off talking about what grades of beef are, and how they relate to cooking. Last week I covered Prime. Recently, I had a prime steak at a restaurant in Spring. it was wonderful, but I'm not sure the price difference was worth it.
When I was in Phoenix last week I had a Choice steak. Since I wasn't paying, I don't know the price, but it sure was good. The grade makes a difference, but the cook and the spices do too.
I know this is only anecdotal, but from personal experience I don't know that I'd pay the price difference between Prime and Choice. I would when it comes to Choice and Select though. But let me give you the run down, you do your own taste test and make up your own mind.
Choice is a high quality beef with a little less marbling than Prime. It's generally available at the grocery, but you might have to ask for it at the counter. Select has a lot less marbling and is easy to make tough and dry if not prepared right. It might be best to use a marinade to cook with. Choice is very available at the grocery store.
Standard and Commercial grades are usually your store brand, or marked as ungraded. If you don't see a grade name it's more than likely one of these. These definitely need to be marinated.
Utility, Cutter and Canner are not usually sold as cut meat. They are used in ground beef or in canned products. Things like canned chili, soups to dog food. I know, that sounds yuck. You may want to check with the butcher to find out what grade of meat you're buying.
There you have it. I usually buy Choice when it's on sale and Select most of the other time. It's what fits the budget. Using a little marinade or rub sure makes a great tasting steak.

Out Of Town

Hello friends and neighbors, Charlcie and I have been out of town for several days and haven't been cooking. We were in Phoenix, AZ. for a Vineyard Leaders Meeting. We had a great time, but it's great to be back and I'm looking forward to cooking some home meals.
As part of our being in Phoenix we were treated to a special dinner at a place called "Firebirds." This is a very nice restaurant and the meal was excellent. The atmostphere was great and the fellowship with the other pastors was even better.
Charlcie and I had what they called an "Aspen Steak," which was a NY Strip, cooked with certain spices. They were cooked to perfection. The meat and flavor was so good that I thought we were eating prime, but it turns out it was a choice cut of meat.
It's not very often that I have a glass of wine, but I decided I'd like to try some with the meal. Our leader, ordered a bottle of Merlot. I use an inexpensive Merlot to cook with, but this was not an inexpensive wine. I generally like a little sweeter wine and as I tasted this I thought it was just okay. But when I got my steak and drank some along with it, I found the taste to be much better. Some how or another the steak enhanced the taste and flavor of the wine for me. So now you have my experience in Phoenix.

What Beef Makes the Grade?

Seems like I've lost my sense of humor of late. So I thought I'd start off with a bad cooking joke my brother told me yesterday. What is orange and sounds like parrot? Give up, it's a carrot. I know, I know that's really bad.
Now to more important things. I've been talking about different grades of beef. I've found this fascinating because I didn't know anything really about it. So I've done a little investigating and I thought I'd share it.
Here in the good ole US of A we have the good ole USDA that grades our beef. Now I found out this a voluntary thing, but it's good as a promotional tool for the beef growers, as much as it is a quality check for the buyers.
Some things to keep in mind about grading, I know this is obvious but I'll say it anyway, the higher the grade the higher the price. The growers pay for the grading; isn't that interesting. The ranchers and packers pay the USDA. Of course they pass the price on to the wholesalers who pass it on to the grocers who pass it on to us. You might call this the beef graders food chain. Anyway, a lot of the beef sold in the US is sold as ungraded.
With that in mind let's talk about the grades. Most of us know about Prime, Choice and Select. But there's also, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner. We'll talk about these more later. For now though, let's focus on the top 3.
As I said, Prime grade beef is the most expensive. It's made from well fed young cattle. Also, it has a lot of marbling, is tender and has a lot of flavor when you cook it. Of course when you over cook anything it's going to lose some flavor, but with Prime you stand a better chance of getting away with it. Prime makes up a very small amount of beef sold. You'll mainly find it in really fine restraints or in specialty shoppes. So for most of us Prime is not going to be commonly cooked at home. Watch out for marketing like "prime buy" or "select choice," when you're shopping and check the labeling so you know what grade of beef it really is. Real Prime beef won't need much if any marinade to cook a tender and flavorful meal. Next time will look at Choice.

No Cooking Weekend

You've heard the saying, "every dog has its day," unless it has a broke tail then it's a weak-end. I feel like a dog with a broke tail this weekend as my girls at a church retreat. Aaron is busy all weekend and so I'm on my own. Don't you feel sorry for me?


That means this will be a no cooking weekend. I wish I could say I was relaxing and had all this time to cook up some wonderful meals. But alas, I have a wedding tonight and will be at the church tomorrow from 9-noon. I should have some time in the afternoon to do some relaxing.


I do plan to cook myself a good rib-eye steak tomorrow evening. I already have it marinating. This is my favorite steak. What little research I've done leads me to think that grass fed cattle are the best. The marbling may be a little less but the flavor is better.

Marbled simply means meat that has fat running through it, is more tender and flavorful than other meats. The front part of cattle has more marbled meat (shoulder, ribs) than the other end. For stews and roasts use chuck, it comes from the shoulder. You'll need to stew, boil, or braise the rump or round cuts to make it more tender and flavorful. It doesn't hurt to do it with chuck as well.

Pesto Talapia

We've been cooking alot of talapia lately. I wanted to try something a little more challenging. So I had looked up some recipes on Saturday. I found one I liked and emailed it to myself.

On the way home from work I was trying to figure out how I was going to cook it in the oven along with some aspargus and mushrooms. I decided to cook the aspargus first. While it was cooking I prepared to cook the Talapia.

I ran into a problem though. The internet was down and I couldn't get to my recipe. So I decided to wing it based on my memory. First, I took 8 oz of pine nuts and put them in the blender and tried to turn them into powder as best I could. It turned out better than I thought. Then I took about 4 oz of parmesean and 2 tbsps of pesto and blended them with the pine nuts.

Next, I rinsed the fish off and placed them on a pan with cooking spray. I spread the pesto mixture over about 8 pieces of fish, covering them as best as I could. The oven was preheated to 450 degrees and I baked the fish for 12 minutes. I like mine a little crispy so I brioled them for about 2-3 minutes. Oh, I forgot to say I salt and peppered the fish before I put the pesto on. I probably could have used a little more salt, but Charlcie thought they were fine just the way they were and so did Abi. Another successful cooking event.

Now that the internet is working, I'll have to check the recipe and see what I left out. I know there were some spices mentioned. Everyone liked the meal so much that I'm sure I'll do it again and do it the right the way.

Sausage And Sauerkraut

Something I haven't cooked in a long time and I really like is sausage and sauerkraut. It's so simple. I quartered an onion, chopped up 4 or 5 carrots and put a 32 oz bag of sauerkraut in a pan and turned the stove on high. I think Vlasic makes a good sauerkraut. I use the jar or the kind that comes in a plastic bag. Then I mix it up. While this was heating up, I chopped up 2, 14 oz bags of Chappell Hill Pork and Deer Sausage. Man oh man is this stuff good. I don't know if you can get it anywhere but southeast Texas, but if you can ,you outta try it.


Place the sausage in the pan and mix it up. Then I turn it down to low and let it cook for 4-5 hours. It's best to stir it every so often. You don't have to wait this long to eat it, but it tastes a whole lot better if you do. Most of the liquid will boil out and the flavor and taste will be awesome. Add this one to the cookbook.


This is another recipe I got from my sister-in-law Gen. In the past I spelled her name Gin, not thinking. That's what you get for being in a hurry and not paying attention to important things. The important thing here though, is this is good cooking and eating.

Cooking For Friends

Last night we had some friends, we've known for a long time, come over. Since it was Friday, we needed something quick and easy to cook. Charlcie mentioned pesto chicken. On the way home I went by the grocery store and got some chicken breasts and pesto. While I was there, I thought I'd get some things to make a great salad.
We got some fresh spring mix, a yellow and red pepper, mushrooms and some walnuts. When I got home I brined the chicken for 20 minutes and then put a rub on it and put it in the refrigerator for an hour. While I was waiting I made the salad. I used about a half a head of iceberg lettuce, 4 ounces of spring mix, half of the yellow and red pepper, green onions, carrots, and celery. I chopped up some tomato for individuals to use in their salads, so the leftovers wouldn't get all watery. The walnuts were chopped up and put in a side dish for people to add if they liked as well.
Since I had too many mushrooms I decided to saute about 75% of an 8 once container and put the rest in the salad. First, I put some noodles on to boil and cut up the chicken into a good bite size chunk and sauteed it in olive oil. When the noodles were done (I cooked enough for 8) I added about 2/3 cup of pesto and the mushrooms and chicken and mixed it up. If I had to do it again, I'd mix the pesto and the chicken and mushrooms and serve them in a separate bowl to add on top of the noodles. But it worked and everyone really enjoyed.
For dessert we had left over strawberry shortcake. We used the muffins I had made for pot luck. I had put a little splenda on the strawberries and they were very good. To top it off we added a little cool whip.
We had a great time eating, remembering old times, sharing our lives and praying together. You can't have a better Friday evening.

Strawberry Shortcake

I needed a diet dessert for our potluck last night since I'm trying to eat healthy. I knew there would be lots of temptations and that would help. I found this low carb, low cal muffin mix for strawberry shortcake.

You take 2 cups of almond flour (I found it in the specialty food section at Kroger). Then add 2 tsps baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt and mix it all together. In another bowl mix 1 stick of melted butter, 4 eggs, 1/3 cup of water and about 1/3 cup of spenda. Pour this mixture into the first one and stir well. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, place mixture in muffin tin ( about 2/3 full) and bake for 15 minutes. I'd check it after about 12.

Next cut the tops out of the strawberries and wash. Then slice them and cover with a little spenda and refrigerate. When the muffins are done and cooled put one in a bowl and cover with 1/12 of strawberries and add a little cool whip. The muffin has about 1.5 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber and about 185 calories.

This was very good and you could add blueberries or apricots to the mix for an alternative. The mix is a little grainy, but everyone liked it. I think I may experiment and try and mix the almond flour with some regular flour and maybe something else low carb. I'll let you know.

Roasted Asparagus & Mushrooms

My dad and I used to grow asparagus in our garden and we really loved cooking it. More than that though we loved eating it. It was a favorite in our family. But since my parents have been gone we have seldom cooked it. I don't know why because Charlcie loves it dearly.

Recently, I've seen it in the stores and we've been trying to eat more vegetables. So a couple of weeks ago I picked up a bunch and pan roasted them with olive oil. They were good but I thought we could cook them better. So I googled asparagus and found some recipes.

We had a pound of asparagus and trimmed off the woody stalks. I put them in a food storage bag along with 3 tbsp of olive oil, 1/2 pound of sliced mushrooms and 1 clove of minced garlic. On a large baking sheet I spread out the mixture and sprinkled with sea salt and pepper and a little more olive oil. Into a preheated oven to 425 degrees they went and baked for 20 minutes. You might want to check it after about 15 so not to over cook. You want them to be tender and lightly browned. This was enough for 3 of us last night and Charlcie and I finished them off tonight. I'm really loving this and this is one for the cookbook.

Success How Good It Is, Cooking That Is!

Sunday was a great day. The worship service was great and so was the spaghetti dinner for the garage sale team after the service. We didn't have any leftover but I was sure glad I added the leftovers from cooking earlier in the week or we wouldn't have had enough.
It really is a good feeling when things turn out. The sauce was hearty, tasty and delicious. I was challenged though, by a great salad that Barbara Smith made. This salad was colorful and crisp, with a wide variety of fresh vegetables. Then Barbara made a rice pudding with brown rice for dessert that was delicious and healthy. It was hard sharing the compliments - not!
Really though, I'm a little insecure about my cooking and I need all the positive feed back I can get (can you hear the violins playing in the background). You'd think at age 55 I'd be past all that but I'm not (am I getting any sympathy yet). I'm being a little silly but not totally so keep up the encouragement.
Last night I made some oven fried eggplant and it turned out great. Believe me, if my 2 kids like something that has to do with a vegetable then I'm doing good. They both loved it and it was so simple. This was the first time I made it and I didn't know how it would turn out. I may have cheated a little because after I baked it I had some hot grease and I quickly fried it to keep it from being so dry. You gotta watch that though, because they can brown really fast. We also had pan fried fish and coleslaw.

Spaghetti Sauce for 18 or More

We're having a planning meeting after church tomorrow for a garage sale. We usually have pizza, but I'm tired of pizza and thought I could make some spaghetti that taste better and would be cheaper. So here's one from the new Phifer cookbook I'll make someday.
I took about a 1 & 1/2 lb of ground chuck and 1 lb of ground Italian sausage and browned it. Then I melted 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of olive oil on medium heat in a large pot. Two onions were diced up and along with 8 oz of mushrooms were put into the pot and sauteed. Then 2 bell peppers and 2 cloves of garlic were diced up and put in the pot for about 2 minutes. The meat was combined with 2 tbsp of garlic powder, oregano, and basil. Salt and pepper to taste. Then I added some left over chicken broth, probably about 4 oz, along with 4 cans of 8 oz tomato sauce and 1 15 oz can because that was all I had. I had planned on using 4 cans of tomato paste but I didn't have time to go to store. I put in 1 tbsp of Splenda Sugar Blend and 1 pinch of cinnamon and I mean 1 pinch. You gotta be really careful with the cinnamon and the sugar.
The whole sauce was stirred constantly and brought to a boil and then simmered on low for about 4 hours. My daughter and her friend Joy cooked up some pasta and used the sauce and loved it.
When I got home from a men's event at the church I tasted it and was very pleased. I had some left over sauce I had made yesterday and mixed it with the new. It had pretty much everything but the garlic powder and the Italian sausage and the chicken broth. Oh yes it also had some left over Marinara sauce I had opened last week to make a sauce. It was good but needed the green peppers, garlic and other ingredients to be really good. I did this because I wasn't sure we had enough sauce for 18 or more people tomorrow. We probably do, but since I'm in a learning mode, I'd rather have to much than not enough. I also think letting it set over night will increase the flavor. I'll let you know how people like it tomorrow.
Hey this is sure a whole lot more fun than opening a jar of spaghetti sauce and browning some meat. And as far as I can tell my family likes the taste a lot better and I guarantee I do.

Cooking Chicken: Brining

Last week my brother and sister in law were over and we cooked 2 wonderful chickens. One thing we did was to brine the chicken first. This is something they reminded us that my mom used to do. I've been captivated by the benefits it has in cooking, keeping the meat juicy, firm and seasoned. I looked up how it works and I wanted to share what I found.

Brining is submerging a turkey or chicken in a solution of salt (sometimes sugar) and water. I'll get to the details next time. But let me get a little technical here because I find it interesting.

Brining works with diffusion and osmosis. When you soak the chicken there is a greater concentration of salt outside of the chicken than in the cells of the chicken. Diffusion means the salt will naturally flow from the area of greater concentration (the brine) to lesser concentration (the cells). There's also more water outside the chicken than inside, obviously, and the water will naturally flow from greater concentration to lesser too. This is called osmosis. Once inside the proteins begin to breakdown and interact and they capture and hold the moisture. Then when you begin cooking, the heat, forms a gel and a barrier that keeps much of the water form leaking out. Voila, you have a chicken that's better seasoned and more juicy.

Monday Monday

Monday, Monday, so good to me. I love Monday, it's my day off and I have more time for cooking. But this is always a special day for me, as it's the day after Resurrection Sunday or Easter as most call the day. I jokingly told my son who had some friends coming to Sunday service but couldn't make it, "if Jesus could rise from the dead surely we can get out of bed."

I'm still basking or basting, too use a cooking term, in the afterglow of the resurrection. Without the resurrection the cross is just a tragic defeat. But the resurrection vindicated the cross and the cross provided for our forgiveness. Well I'm getting a little preachy so forgive me; afterall I am a preacher.

Back to cooking. I'm using the leftover ham to make ham hash or ham and scalloped potatoes. I cut up a small onion and the left over ham, about 1 1/2 lbs. Then I melted 3 tbsp of butter on low heat and put 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and 3 tbsp of flower in with butter stirring continuously. After about a minute I put 2 & 1/2 cups of milk in with the mixture and kept stirring until it boiled for about a minute and removed it from the heat.

Next I took a 2 quart baking dish and greased it. Then I lined it with a layer of potatoes, onions, sauce and ham. I followed with 2 more layers of each item. The oven was preheated to 350 and I baked it covered for 30 minutes. I took it out and uncovered it and baked for another 50 minutes or until the potatoes were soft. It was great!

This may sound like a lot but in between I was doing other things. Mainly I was cleaning our pool. The house we bought came with a pool and I don't recommend one. They are a hassle but we have enjoyed it. Thank goodness we didn't pay for it to be installed although we pay for it in upkeep and electricity. Oh well, enough of the griping, at least I got outside on a beautiful day in Spring, Spring. No I didn't stutter, I live in Spring Texas and it's Spring, Ha!

The Cook Is Out

Well my cooking plan seems to be working, not perfectly but sufficiently. The ham is made and we had ham omelets this morning. We'll have it for sandwiches and other meal ideas next week.
Easter is a really busy time for pastors and it often doesn't let up the next week.
Cooking the spiral ham was really easy but it can take some time. However, if you do it while other things are going on, or you're reading, blogging or watching TV it's not time consuming.
One thing that I read to shorten the cooking time for the ham was to put it in warm water for 45 minutes and then again for 45 minutes. This raises the internal temperature and prevents the ham from drying out. Leave it in the plastic packaging it comes in to warm and then remove the plastic. After this I wrapped it in foil real tightly, preheated the oven to 250 and baked it for 60 minutes. The ham was a little over 5 lbs, so about 12 minutes per pound. It came with a glaze so I used about 1/3 of it to brush over the ham and left the ham opened, raised the oven temperature to 350 and heated it for 10 minutes. Then I let it rest tented 10 minutes and put 1/3 more of the glaze on it and mixed the remaining glaze with 2 tbsp of drippings from the ham to serve as a sauce. It was real easy to remove from the bone. Wow was it great.
I left some of the meat on the bone and froze it to make ham bone soup in the near future. Time is short so I'll get back to you next week; the cook is out. Happy Resurrection Day!

You Gotta Be Flexible

So far very little has gone according to plan this week when it comes to cooking, and I love it. My idea to keep meals simple though, has really worked out. But you gotta be flexible. When things change you gotta go with the flow. I'm still on schedule for the ham this weekend, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. By the way I hope you got the Irish outdoor furniture out for St. Pat's Day; you know 'pat-tee-oh furniture.'

Yesterday my brother and sister-in-law, Gin, came over and we cooked the 2 chickens as planned. They were wonderful. First, my brother and I cut the back out of the chickens and then brinded them for about 1 & 1/2 hours (you need at least 30 minutes but more is better). Then we put olive oil and a little of Emeril's Essence, that Gin had made up, all over the chicken. We had preheated the gas grill to 450 and we were using it like an oven because we were roasting red potatoes with olive oil and cooking a squash casserole in the oven.

We put the 2 chickens into 2 iron skillets with some olive oil and put them in the grill, trying hard to keep the temperature at 450. I'd say we generally succeeded. Oh I forgot to tell you we had heated the iron skillets in the oven at 450 for about thirty minutes before we put the chickens in them. After we cooked the chickens in the grill about 35 minutes we tented the breasts and cooked then another 10 minutes. We were trying to get the internal temperature to around 180 degrees I believe Gin said. She had brought a special little thermometer and we were successful. The chickens were cooked to perfection and everything else was ready. We were able to feed 9 adults and still had 2 chicken breasts left.

This was absolutely a wonderful meal. The chicken was so good you'll have to make it to believe it. Then on top of all that Gin cooked a low fat, almost sugar free cheesecake that was wonderful.

But what about tonight? Here's where being flexible comes in. I'll report back to you tomorrow.

Marinating

The marinade made great cooking. The only thing I might do different in the future would be to use orange juice instead of the lemon juice. You could really taste the lemon flavor and while Abi, Aaron and I liked it, Charlcie was a little less enthusiastic.
Well it's Easter Week and resurrection Sunday is coming and I've been thinking about it allot, or meditating on the resurrection. It struck me how similar meditating and marinating are. I know that sounds silly but here me out here will ya.
When I took the first bite of the sirloin steak I was palatively surprised at the wonderful cooked flavor. I don't even know if palatively is a real word, but my taste buds were delighted with the cooking. The marinade had seeped into the meat, tenderized it and changed its flavor. Isn't this what we want to happen when we meditate. We want the word to seep into our lives, tenderize our hearts and change our lives.

Marinated Top Sirloin Steak

I have a mistake to correct from Saturday. My brother's family isn't coming until tomorrow so I'm going to make something for tonight with the top sirloin. A week or so back we got it for about half price as a special at the store.
We decided we didn't want Stroganoff so I found a recipe for a marinade. I didn't have everything exactly so I made do with what I had. Here's what I whisked up.
2.4 lbs of top sirloin steaks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sherry wine
1/4 cup white wine Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I had a half of a lemon I needed to use up)
4 garlic cloves,minced
2 teaspoons Splenda mix sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Pierce steaks with a fork a few times and place in a large plastic baggie.
In a small bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients for the marinade. Pour this over steak meat. Seal and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours; turning every few hours if you remember. Grill over med-high heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until desired doneness.
I'll let you know next time how it turns out.

Keep It Simple Week For Easter

This is Easter week, or as I prefer to call it Resurrection week. It's one of my favorite times of the year, but it's also a busy time. So when it comes to cooking I plan to keep it simple.

It's Saturday and I'm rummaging through the refrigerator to see what we have and what we need for the week. We have ground beef, top sirloin steak, chicken breasts but no fish. We also have a spiral ham I think I'll get out later in the week for the weekend. On yeah, I just remembered my brother and his family are coming over Monday and we're going to cook chicken.

I think I'll cook some kind of a stroganoff for Tuesday with the sirloin steak and get some Talapia for Wednesday. We'll have left overs on Thursday and since we don't have small group this week I thought I'd cook the spiral ham so we'll have it through the weekend.

We have Good Friday service at 6PM and we can have the ham and use it for breakfast and lunch on Saturday and Sunday. We'll probably have our Phifer burgers on Saturday night so that should about take care of the week. Now I just need to make a grocery list so we have all the ingredients we need to make this stuff.

First, I better call my brother and see what we need for cooking the chicken on Monday. My brother and sister-in-law are both great cooks so I'll let you know what we come up with.

The 3 P's For Success In Cooking: Perseverance

Perseverance, what; I know, I know that sounds a little out of left field but give me a minute here will ya. Anytime you start something new there's a big learning curve and you gotta stick with it, is all I mean. You can't give up the first time you mess up or forget something. In fact that's part of the fun of it, allowing yourself to mess up, to make a mistake.

Inevitably we won't be perfect at everything we try. Can you imagine someone waking up one day and deciding to run a marathon; they'd kill themselves. Oh by the way that's what happened to the first marathon runner.

No, if you can't give yourself some room to fail then you'll likely be too hard on yourself. You won't have fun and you'll walk around feeling like a failure all the time. You'll also be hard on everyone else and make them feel like a failure all the time. Lighten up, give yourself and everybody else a break.

As I said there's a learning curve every time you start something new. It's been said the road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places. So don't park it, keep going.

Perseverance implies persistence, endurance, hardiness, fortitude, stamina, robustness and tolerance. It's constant persistence in a course of action, purpose, or state, steadfast pursuit of an aim.

Now I know this sounds pretty highfalutin but we can't confuse it with stubbornness. Perseverance comes from a strong will and stubbornness comes from a strong won't to quote someone; or better yet paraphrase someone. Listen the fun, family times and good meals will be worth sticking with it.

3 P's For Cooking Success: Planning

Planning is one of the ingredients for cooking success. By planning to cook at home you can impact your budget, free time, control or lose weight and lead a healthier lifestyle. These are 4 great benefits our family has discovered.



We've not found a magic formula for meal planning. It's just plain and simple self-discipline, a routine habit that saves money, frees time, impacts weight and encourages healthy eating habits. Here's a suggested approach.



Make a menu for all the meals you'll share for the next week. We usually do it on Saturday or Sunday. Don't forget to include a left over time or two. Include all the major entree groups like fish, beef, pork, chicken and vegetables. Make a list of all the items you'll need at the store. The idea is to shop once a week; this increases efficiency and effectiveness. These are 2 great benefits and time savers too,



Shopping with a list that you stick too helps with the budget. It helps control impulse buying. We've been trying to use coupons more and have found this can really add up the savings. Using a list will shorten your shopping time too because you know what you want and where to find it.


I've already mentioned some benefits, but here's a few more. Eating home cooked meals usually results in less fried foods and soft drinks. Hopefully, you'll eat more vegetables and fruits. Cooking meals at home are healthier than restaurant meals. They're higher in fiber, calcium, folate, iron B vitamins, C and E vitamins. Those bad saturated and trans fats are usually quite a bit less. You'll spend more time with your family, feel better about yourself and enjoy meals like you haven't in a long time. Just think all this just from cooking home meals, WOW!


I've heard it said planning is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it's not all mixed up. That's true, but when it comes to cooking, let's mix it up!

3 P's For Cooking Success

We all want our cooking experience and taste to be successful. There are 3 things we can do, what I call the 3 P's of cooking success. They are passion, planning and perseverance. Over the next several posts let's discuss these. If you think about it, these 3 matter for life for that matter.
Let me get a little technical for a moment as we talk about passion. Passion is a strong or extravagant enthusiasm or compelling emotion for a subject. It often relates to lively interest and action in a cause, activity or love. For our family cooking is an activity we are passionate about.
For me personally passion means: staying the course, keeping my values and convictions without rancor to others and holding others in true respect even when we differ. I want to communicate persuasively, listen intently, honor others convictions while being free to differ and doing it all with charity. As Augustine said, "In the essentials unity, in the non-essentials liberty, but in all things charity.
Enough of the technical stuff. Passion in cooking means for me preparing and serving food in style and with plenty of love and care. It means taking time and making an effort to find good recipes and ingredients as well as good cookware. This last one is something I've been realizing more and more lately. Finally, it's about family and friends, doing things that express my love for them.
Remember what Jesus said, "love your neighbor as yourself." I find when I put Jesus and others first, I benefit the most. It may sound selfish, but it's not because it only works if you truly put Jesus and others first.
At our church our vision statement is "Passion for Jesus, Compassion for Others is a Compass for You (JOY)." The word compassion encompasses all 3 aspects: passion, compassion and compass. Passion in life, even in something as everyday as cooking brings joy to everyone.

Portobello Pizzaz

It's been pizza night at the Phifer's for the last year or two; because we work so late it makes cooking hard. Since we look forward to pizza now, but we're trying to tighten up our budget, I had to cook something up. I remembered this portobello pizza recipe from my low carb diet and since I'm watching carbs I decided to try it. I'll call it Piz zaz Pizza and it really was, really.
First I took 6 portobello mushrooms and wiped them off with a wet paper towel. Then I chop up half a white onion, cut 4 tomato slices, opened a small can of black olives, and got out some left over basil pesto. Remember I used it to cook Pesto Chicken.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Brush the mushrooms with olive oil on both sides. In a large skillet heat 1 TBSP of olive oil and brown mushrooms on both sides. Place the mushrooms on paper towels. Squeeze some pizza sauce (I used Boboli, but it's pretty high in carbs) on the mushrooms. Cover with pesto, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni slices (you can get them in the pizza section). Add some onions and black olives and top with a pinch or two of oregano and black pepper depending on your taste. Then sprinkle with fresh shredded Parmesan cheese (none of that cheap stuff).
Now I know you're thinking only 4 tomato slices and you're about to tell me 6 right, right. Well I only sliced 4 because my daughter Abi, only likes cheese pizza. So I put a little sauce, a lot of mozzarella and sprinkled Parmesan on 2 for her. Just thought you got me, ha.
Now spray a baking pan and place the pizzas on it and bake for 10 minutes. Mmm Mmm good, let me tell you. Hey this was quick and easy. I betcha we were eating within 45 minutes of getting home, maybe less. It would have taken us that long to order and run up to the pizza place and back. But oh my goodness was this so much better.
Now if you were really watching you're carbs, leave off the pizza sauce and just use the pesto. There's about 4.5 carbs per mushroom. For a variation use hamburger, ground sausage, Canadian bacon, ham or make it vegetarian. My family loved it and that's the true test.
Listen, I can't tell you how wonderful this meal was. After a hard week and a long day on Friday you'd think the last thing I'd want to do is cook a home meal. But you know, take out pizza gets old and boring after awhile.
As soon as I left work; I left work, if you know what I mean jelly bean. On the drive home I was telling Charlcie about how we were gonna cook the pizza instead of talking about this or that at the office. Since we both work there it's hard not too. But this really helps get our minds off of all of that.
We hit the door at home with expectation. We didn't have a clue if it would turn out good or not, but that wasn't the point. We could always order pizza or get a burger if it wasn't good. The point was the fun and joy of trying something new. Anticipation refreshes your energy and expectation of something new and good elevates your mood. Instead of worrying, or fussing about this or that at the office which only makes you feel more exhausted, you start the weekend on a happy note. And on that note I'll end this blog today.

Cooking A Great Distraction

Well I'm back on track now. That pot roast was a great distraction though. And speaking of distractions, that is another of the great benefits of cooking for me. We all need regular distractions, things that distract our mind from the stress and strain of everyday living. It helps if you enjoy it too.

A good distraction helps your mind to rest, to take a break. Many times I find that issues or problems I've been trying to work through suddenly become clear or clearer after a good mental rest. Even though I wasn't thinking about it an inspiration, an analogy or illustration would come to me. Most of the time none of this happens but I do find my mind refreshed.

Take, for instance, yesterday and the challenge of cooking a pot roast for the first time. I was so absorbed in cooking when I came home for lunch, that the time passed without notice. Work is only 10 minutes away from my home and I made the trip back savoring the mental relief.

I had been working on my sermon for Sunday and was mentally strained. When I arrived back at my desk, I sat down and the words flowed. I'd needed that mental break more than I knew. It occurred to me that many times a recipe will say to let a piece of cooked beef rest for 10-20 minutes before slicing. This allows the muscle fibres that were tense to relax. As they do the juices reabsorb from the center and the heat from the edges cooks the center slightly. The meat is more tender and succulent because the juices and the flavor haven't been wasted. When you slice the beef all those wonderful juices and mouth watering flavor are released.

Resting the mind I think is a lot like this. It keeps the juices and flavor in, the thoughts and ideas are reabsorbed and not lost and allowed to cook a little more. Some of the tenseness begins to relax as the heat is removed. This allows for some juicy and flavorful ideas to be stored and released at the right time.

Yummy Pot Roast

I've been on a roll talking about the benefits of cooking for me and that many of us need something like cooking as a hobby. But I have to change direction for a day, I'll get back to it.
My good friend Roy Darden and his family invited us for dinner recently. Roy cooked a pot roast that was delicious. It made me want to see what I could come up with. I asked him if he marinaded it and he said he cooked it in mushroom soup. This reminded of when my mom made pot roast for Sunday dinner using onion soup mix. We'd come home from church and my oh my the house was filled with a fragrant aroma.
The challenge was on and I had to give it a try. We were having a pot luck with my Wednesday small group and I thought I'd try it out on them. I googled "pot roast with onion soup" and found a ton of recipes. I printed out several and came up with my own. Here's what I did.

I got a 4.5 pound chuck roast; becasue we were expecting 10 people. The night before I lightly salted and peppered it along with covering it with 1 package of onion soup mix (I used Lipton, only the best); wrapped it in foil and refrigerated overnight. Also, I cut up 3 stalks of celery and 3 large carrots in large chunks, then I quartered 2 onions; bagged it all and refrigerated. The next day I went home at lunch and browned the roast in 1/4 cup canola oil in a large black skillet. Then I removed the roast and browned the vegetables. To finish cooking, use a large baking dish; it needs to be pretty big for such a large roast or you'll have to remove some of the liquid as it cooks.
Anyway, I put 2 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup in the bottom of the dish, don't forget to spray the dish first with Pam, I did. Then put the roast in with the vegetables around it; pour over 1 can of beef broth. Then cover it with foil and bake for 2.5 hours at 300 degrees,we did it at 350, but I think 300 would be better. If you don't have a large enough dish, check it in 30 minutes in case you need to remove some liquid, we did and then we had too again. Keep the liquid.
Charlcie was at home so about 3:30 she turned the oven down to around 200 degrees and we let it cook for another 3 hours. By the time I got home at 5:30 Charlcie said I didn't have enough vegetables. So off to Kroger I went for some more carrots and onions. I got back a little before 6, took the liquid we'd saved from the roast and put it in a deep pan along with 1 more quarted onion, 4 more stalks of celery and about 20 or 30 of these mini carrots. I didn't count. I brought it to a boil and then simmered it for 45 minutes.
The small group people were arriving between 6:30 and 6:45, with most arriving closer to 6:45 or after. About 6:45 I took the roast out and let it rest for 10 minutes, then sliceed it and served it with the gravy. And let me tell you that was thick, mouth watering gravy. It was a hit with everyone and was I glad; succese ah how sweet it is.

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

You've heard that old saying "variety is the spice of life," well it's true isn't it. That's another reason why I love cooking home meals. Not only is there a large variety of meals to cook but there's a wide variety of spices, combinations, recipes and methods. I love it!


Cooking can really spice up your life in more ways than one. As I said yesterday, it can really help your mental health as your life is filled with things you love and enjoy. Not only that, it can help physically, giving you a sense of control as make healthy choices; which also helps your outlook. You can find the foods, combinations, recipes and spices you and your family like.


You have the freedom to experiment and what a great feeling that is. One can be as creative or uncreative as one wants to be. What I'm finding is the more different recipes I try, and I'm still doing simple easy ones, the more variety I find. What I mean is doing one thing in a recipe can often translate into other recipes. This helps make them your own.

Successful Cooking Can Make You Happy

Everyone wants to be happy don't we? Happiness is based on 'happenings,' on circumstances that make us feel happy. There's nothing like a little success or a lot of small successes to make one happy. That's where cooking comes in for me. Since I'm such a novice, each little step is a success for me. By the time I'm finished cooking a simple recipe, my happiness quotient is way up there. Then when my family really enjoys it, it makes me even happier.
For me, cooking is a series of small successes I can accomplish, that I can make happen and have quite a bit of control over. And it's something I choose to do and people can succeed at things they want to do. Cooking allows me to focus on the small successes, make them happen one step at a time, and celebrate as often as I can.
Cooking may not do it for you. It does for me because of the personal satisfaction I gain. Then there's the side benefit of enjoying good tasting food. Finally, the benefit of enjoying cooking home meals with my family and eating to together.
This is a healthy recipe for life. Find something personally satisfying, easy to do and start seeing those little successes mount up. Cook up a hobby you enjoy personally and you can enjoy with your family. See if your happiness quotient doesn't go up.
Here's a little example of what I'm talking about. The past 2 days I've been making 3 egg omelets. I started by sauteing some onions and mushrooms. Then I added some chopped up deli ham we had left over. After I stirred it a minute I added the 3 scrambled eggs.
While this was cooking my wife and daughter were asking what smelled so good. With my spatula I gently pulled the egg mixture to one side so more of the egg liquid could cook. I learned this from watching breakfast cooks at hotel restaurants making omelets. Before, I'd put the egg mixture in first then add the onions, mushrooms, ham and cheese. This was always good, but I want you to know, sauteing first is far better.
When most of the egg mixture is done I turn the eggs. Then I add some cheese and fold the egg mixture over. After a moment I slide it onto a plate. The heat from the eggs melts the cheese. Give it a try.

Cooking Up A Hobby

Recently I've noticed that many of the things I used to do to get away from it all weren't working for me. Things like fishing, travel, bowling, golf, gardening, sports and the like are hobbies I couldn't find the time for much. I still do a lot of reading but that's work related most of the time because I love reading theology. I still do the other things occassionally, but not enough for a good break for emotional health and I haven't been watching my emotional health lately. So by default, I've found myself watching more and more TV, which I'm not happy about.
That's where cooking comes in for me; it's like a hobby. A hobby is something you get a lot of pleasure and satisfaction from. You do it on a regular basis outside of your job. It's also a way to spend time off productively. Since I love to eat, have always enjoyed cooking, was bored with eating out and I realized a personal need; cooking seemed a natural for me.
I love the planning, preparation, the cooking and especially the eating. But I also enjoy learning new things, finding good recipes, rubs for grilling and finding out about all the new gadgets. I've learned to google things which is fairly new for me. I find this far more fun and productive than watching TV. This gives me a sense of being more productive with my time which is a great way to improve mental health.

Susie's Cat Litter Cake Recipe

Yesterday morning I was with my good friend Dan at a local diner and our favorite waitress Susie had something to share with us. She waited until we finished eating and then told us about the Cat Litter Cake recipe. We had a great laugh together and she assured me she would send the recipe and sure enough she did. I just I had to share it with.
This is for all you cooks out there looking for something a little different and to have a good laugh. The Cat Litter Cake is completely edible if you can get past the visual. Go to www.kidskuisine.com and click on kitty litter for a picture. Here's the recipe Susie emailed me.


CAKE INGREDIENTS
1 box spice or German chocolate cake mix 1 box of white cake mix 1 package white sandwich cookies 1 large package vanilla instant pudding mix A few drops green food coloring 12 small Tootsie Rolls or equivalent
SERVING "DISHES AND UTENSILS"
1 NEW cat-litter box 1 NEW cat-litter box liner 1 NEW pooper scooper
Prepare and bake cake mixes, according to directions, in any size pan. Prepare pudding and chill. Crumble cookies in small batches in blender or food processor. Add a few drops of green food coloring to 1 cup of cookie crumbs. Mix with a fork or shake in a jar. Set aside.
When cakes are at room temperature, crumble them into a large bowl. Toss with half of the remaining cookie crumbs and enough pudding to make the mixture moist but not soggy. Place liner in litter box and pour in mixture.
Unwrap 3 Tootsie Rolls and heat in a microwave until soft and pliable. Shape the blunt ends into slightly curved points. Repeat with three more rolls. Bury the rolls decoratively in the cake mixture. Sprinkle remaining white cookie crumbs over the mixture, then scatter green crumbs lightly over top.
Heat 5 more Tootsie Rolls until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle with crumbs from the litter box. Heat the remaining Tootsie Roll until pliable and hang it over the edge of the box. Place box on a sheet of newspaper and serve with scooper. Enjoy!

We have a pot luck for our small group next week and I'm going to try it out.

Millie's White Chili

We have a wonderful cook in our church named Millie. She made a wonderful white chili for our chili cook off and I asked if I could pass it along. It's so simple.

1. 4 chicken breasts ( about 2 cups of diced chicken) diced



2. 3 16 oz cans Great Northern Beans



3. 1 16 oz Jar Salsa (medium hot Tostito's or your favorite)



4. 8 - 16 oz Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese



5. 2 tsps of Cumin



6. 1 can of chicken broth



7. 1 cup each of celery, onions and carrots



8. 1/2 sour cream
   

Cook the chicken in the broth and vegetables in a large pot. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. In a crock pot mix the beans, salsa and cumin. Remove the chicken from the broth and add to the crock pot and cook on high for an hour. If it's too thick add some broth. Then cook it on low for another 2-3 hours. Then add the cheese and sour cream and serve. Freeze the remaining broth and veggies to use as a soup base.

If you're in a hurry mix the beans, salsa and cumin in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and if it's too thick add some broth. Bring to a boil and add cheese and sour cream and turn down heat to a simmer. As soon as the cheese melts you can serve it.

The best tasting is to cook it in the crock pot for 2-3 hours and then refrigerate over night. When you reheat it to serve the next day add the cheese and sour cream then. This is a fun easy recipe; one you can play with.

Ham Bone Soup

Recently Charlcie and I were in Charlseton SC and we had a great time. The food there is great and I especially enjoyed the corn chowder and sea crab soup. So this got me to thinking about soup. It's still cool enough in Houston for some good soups and I had a ham bone in the freezer from Christmas I needed to use. I decided to make a ham bone soup which I've never done before. We had these growing up and alot of times we used the ham bone in navy beans, but I was hungry for soup. Here's what you need.

1. 1 ham bone with 1 lb of meat


2. 2 cups fresh chopped tomato


3. 1/2 head of cabbage


4. 1/2 cup carrots chopped


5. 1/2 cup celery chopped


6. 10 oz can of lima beans


7. 1 cup of frozen whole kernal corn


8. 2 chopped onions


9. 2 quarts of chicken broth and 1 quart of water


10. Salt to taste


11. 1/4 tsp black pepper


12. 2 quartered baking potatoes


13. Dash of cayenne pepper optional

In a large pot simmer ham bone in water and chicken broth, remove and cut off meat. Remove half the broth and freeze for future use in soups, green beans or navy beans. Place the meat back into broth along with carrots, celery and potatoes; simmer a minimum of 30 minutes. Add the remaining veggies and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for an hour and half. Add pepper, salt to taste and serve.



Oh my, the smell will warm your innards and the soup will too. This turned out so good that I will be making more and making various variations. This is my own recipe that I arrived at from remembering what my mom did and looking at some other recipes. That's part of the fun of it and seeing your loved ones lap it up helps too.

Award Winning Chili

Superbowl Sunday our church always has a chili cook off. This year I won 2 awards but I won't tell you what they were. I will tell you I made a lot of chili and not one ounce was left. Here's what we need.

1. 1/3 cup minced garlic; 1 cup finely minced green peppers, 2 chopped onions;
2. 4 TBSP chili powder; 3 TBSP Paprika; 1 tsp ground cumin
3. 26 0z beef stock; 12 oz beer (I used Shiner Bock); 20 oz green enchilada sauce; 6 oz crushed tomatoes and 6 oz condensed crushed tomatoes.
4. 1 lb coarse ground chuck (ask your butcher); 1 lb ground pork and 1 lb ground Italian Pork
5. Salt to taste; 4 TBSP mesa or all purpose flour ( add to desired thickness) pinch of brown sugar to taste and a pinch of cinnamon to taste.

First chop your onions (put them in the freezer for 30 minutes, before chopping, to cut down on the tears) and green peppers and combine with minced garlic. In a chili pot (a big one) brown the meat and drain and add onions, green peppers and garlic. Then place beef stock, beer, green enchilada sauce and crushed tomatoes in the pot. Add the Paprika, chili powder, ground cumin and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes. Add salt to taste and add the flour. Start with a TBSP and then add a tsp to desired thickness. Let it simmer another 15 minutes and add a pinch of brown sugar and cinnamon to taste if desired. But be really careful with this. When I say a pinch I mean a pinch. Let it simmer another 10 minutes. If you want it hotter you can always add some cayenne pepper, but I'd be very careful with this too.

This is a great chili if I do say so myself and myself does say so. My family loved it and while it was cooking they were drooling for a taste. The aroma filled the house in a wonderful way. But when I added the cinnamon, oh my goodness, you wanted to slap yourself silly to get at it. It wasn't disappointing either. Give it a try and send your comments.

Cooking In Charleston South Carolina

Here I am in Charleston wondering what in the world I was going to write about. My wife, Charlcie and I are here for a Leadership Meeting for the Vineyard Churches. I'm sitting at a coffee shop and someone has left a local paper on the table beside me. The top headline catches my eye, "Cooking up chemistry, Food 1D." So I open to 1D and muse through the cooking section. An article about brazing short ribs catches my eye.
Now braizing is something I remember my mom doing, but I've never really done. It's great for the tougher cuts of meat. Braizing means cooking with moist heat to soften up the meat. Then I realized that cooking pot roast and cooking with a crock pot are forms of braizing.
When you're braizing, you first sear the meat and you can brown the vegetables also. This enhances the flavor and gives out the most wonderful aromatic smell (pardom my drooling).
Anyway back to the article. After you braise the meat you add a cooking liquid that usually includes an acidic ingredient like beer, wine, Italian dressing or tomatoes. Use some beef stock to almost cover the ribs.
The article mentions 2 traditonal liquids to add. First, is a standard French combination of onions, celery, carrots, garlic and thyme. This one I've seen my mom use many times. The second combination is soy, sugar, sesame seeds, oil, garlic and ginger. It also talks about a fusion flavor that sounded great. You use left over coffee, couple of chilies (mild and a chipolte), remove the seeds and stems and don't forget to wear gloves. Then you add some wine and the result is an exotic tasty dish.


To really make this dish work it needs to be cooked for at least 2 hours, 3 0r 4 would be better. You can do this the day before and then it really tastes great.

What About Knives

Cooking can teach us many lessons in life. One of the lessons my mom and dad taught me was to have good tools. Since I've starting cooking, my family has begun to accumulate quality cooking accessories. Right off the bat I realized I needed some good knives.

There are 3 knives that will make cooking easier. A chef's knife is the most important knife in cooking. If you had to have just one knife, this would be it. Use it for slicing, dicing, mincing and chopping. Next is a paring knife. It's smaller and ideal for pealing and tedious jobs like deveining shrimp. Then you'll want a good bread knife, which is a type of serrated knife. These are great for cutting bread and other foods, like bread with a hard/soft makeup. These 3 knives will make cooking a lot less like work.

Did you hear why the 2 knives went to the dance? Becasue they both looked sharp. There's nothing like a bad joke to make a point about a good quality tool, like a knife in cooking, to make you look sharp. When I first got a good chef's knife, it was amazing how dicing and slicing all began to come back to me. My family thought I was amazing, but it was the training and the knife that made me look sharp. So stay sharp, the knife too.

Life is a lot like that. Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of a his friend." As we share together we sharpen each other in thought and character. We also rub off on each other wearing off the rough edges. This takes work, forgiveness and effort but the benefit is worth it. Choose friends who sharpen you in good ways, not cutting you to pieces.

Pesto With Flank Steaks

Here's a great cooking idea for that extra pesto you may have. Take 1/3 cup of pesto, add 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp grated lemon peel and 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper and combine it. Serve it with grilled steaks or fajita's.

This is also great for a spread on sandwiches and burgers. Another way to use it is as a pizza sauce. Pesto also goes great with fish. We love to cook talipia. Make extra pesto if you need it. Spoon the pesto on 6 pieces of talipia and put a tomato slice on top along with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes, or until the fish is done. There you have it, simple and easy for cooking meals. There's so many ways to use pesto and so many different ways to make pesto that you can't go wrong.

Pesto Pesto Pesto Chicken

I love pesto because it keeps cooking simple. I make my own pesto on Saturdays because it'll keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. In a food processor or blender puree 1&1/4 cups chopped basil; 1/3 cup chicken stock, 2TB pine nuts; 2TB parmesean cheese; and 3TB olive oil.

If you didn't make the pesto ahead, I like to use about 1/3 cup of commercial pesto. Cook 8 ounces of Penne pasta according to package directions. While it cooks cut 1.25 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken into 1 inch pieces. Sprinkle with Italian Seasoning, a teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray to medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for 5-7 minutes stirring frequently. I like it to brown a little. Drain your pasta and add pesto and chicken and toss; Pesto, like magic, you're home cooking. It should make about 5 1 cup servings.

This is so much fun to make and it's so simple. It should only take you about 20 to 30 minutes to cook it up. I like to make extra pesto while I'm at it, or you can use the extra commercial pesto to put on sandwiches or make a dip with parmesean.

Together In The Kitchen

The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the house. I remember coming home on Sunday's to the fragrance of home cooking wafting through the house. We'd gather in the kitchen and swap stories and jokes as we finished cooking and put the meal on the table. We learned many of life's lessons in the kitchen and over a meal. Just like everything tastes better when shared with loved ones, so life is enjoyed more when shared with loved loves. Jesus said in Revelations 3:20 that He stands at the door and knocks and anyone who hears and opens the door, He will come in and eat with them. Just being together, cooking in the kitchen, eating and cleaning up together in the kitchen is one of the simple pleasures of life that brings us all together.

Menu Planning: Cooking For a Week

Menu planning for a week can be a challenge at first. But with a little bit of time and energy, it's well worth it. Here's a list of things we do to plan for home cooked meals.

1. Look at what you have - make a visual inventory.
2. List all the meals (main dish, vegetables, salad etc.) for cooking this week on paper.
3. Write down some of the extras you might want to cook (we love oven fried zucchini).
4. Start a shopping list.
5. Plan your cooking around your schedule. On Monday's, Tuesday's and weekends we have more time; but on Wednesday and Thursday we have small groups at church.
6. Plan how to use leftovers. We use them for lunch and for one of the busy nights.
7. Be flexible and switch things around.
8. Make cooking a fun, family activity.

Our family makes our cooking plan on Saturday's. We have a tradition that goes back to my family's restaurant of cooking Phifer burgers on Saturday nights, but that's another post.
Planning helps us in so many ways. It keeps our cooking interesting and tasty. We can better control what and how much we eat. You've heard the old joke, "I'm on the sea food diet, I see food and eat it all." That's me and planning helps keep my proportions in proportion. Plan home cooked meals and you'll be less likely to eat out or eat fast food and you'll save money. Now how good is that; good cooking, family fun and saving money. It can't get much better!

Cooking Home Meals

Welcome to Cooking Home Meals made the easy and fun way. Cooking great meals at home can be both healthy and tasty, too. Don't let cooking be a chore; learn easy methods to prepare meals in short order. With a little planning, great recipes and simple directions you can break up the monotony of busy living. Learn where to find new and interesting recipes from professional chefs and everyday people who have discovered cooking made easy and fun.
Recently, I grew bored with the rut my family had fallen into with the meals we ate. I knew I had to change my diet longterm to lose weight and keep it off. But diets are so boring and boring means you won't stay with it. I grew up cooking in my families resteraunt and at home, so I knew cooking could be fun, easy and healthy. I was amazed as I started on this journey, how with a little planning I didn't spend anymore time cooking than before. And what a difference it has made in attitude and taste. Things are no longer boring and we eat out less and save money.
Cooking has become a fun family event around our house. We plan meals, shop, cook and clean up together. We get out old cookbooks, search the web and experiment with simple recipes that are easy to follow. We've learned to marinade, rub and brine; bar-b-que, roast and saute, and so can you.