Happy New Year!!

Happy 2009! I hope you all have a joyful year.

They say that eating black eyed peas on New Year's Day brings you good luck for the year. I have to tell ya - black eyed peas are not my favorite food. It's one of those things that I will eat - I just don't really care for them. I won't go out of my way to get them. But - I do like this recipe for Mississippi Caviar. It has lots of other stuff so it's not just plain ol' black eyed peas. This is good with tortilla chips, crackers or crostini (crispy toasted bread slices). You can add more spice by adding jalapeno peppers or diced green chilis. If you don't like any spice at all, you can use plain diced tomatoes.

Mississippi Caviar
2 15 oz cans black eyed peas, drained
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1/3 cup diced red onion
1 10 oz can Rotel (tomatoes and green chiles)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing

Mix all ingredients. Cover and chill for several hours. Serve with tortilla chips, crackers, crostini, etc.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I came up with this recipe after we tried – and loved - a specialty pizza at a local gourmet pizza restaurant. I know the ingredients might sound a little strange, but trust me, this is really good. The original pizza had sliced jalapeno peppers. I make things a little easier by using pepper jack cheese, but you can certainly use regular cheese and add the jalapenos yourself. If you don’t like spicy, this is just as good with other cheeses and roasted red pepper instead of jalapeno. I have used provolone, Mexican blend, cheddar, gouda and combinations of various kinds. They are all good. I have also used the same ingredients to make quesadillas.

BBQ Chicken Pizza
1 pizza crust (homemade, Boboli, refrigerated tube, etc.)
¾ cup BBQ sauce, divided (best with a sweet sauce, such as honey BBQ)
1 ½ cup shredded cooked chicken breast
¼ cup chopped red onion
¼ cup sliced jalapeno peppers or roasted red peppers
1 8 oz can pineapple tidbits, drained (I like tidbits because they are smaller than chunks, but larger than crushed. You can use chunks also, but you might want to cut them in half.)
2 cups shredded cheese (pepper jack, cheddar, Mexican blend, gouda, provolone, or combination – see note above)

Preheat oven to 450. If using a refrigerated pizza crust in a tube or homemade crust, pat crust into pizza pan or onto a pizza stone. Prebake crust for about 5 minutes or until it just starts to brown.

Toss shredded chicken breast with 2 tablespoons or so of BBQ sauce. Spread remaining sauce onto pizza crust. Top with chicken, onions, peppers and pineapple, distributing ingredients evenly over crust. Top with shredded cheese. Bake at 450 until cheese is melted and golden brown.

Grilled Cheese and Soup with a Southwest Twist

This is a really fast and easy comfort meal for a cold day. The original recipe comes from the Cooking Light 5 Ingredient, 15 Minute Cookbook. I make this often because it goes together quick and easy and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. I don't usually get too hung up on the "low fat" or "low salt" ingredients. We usually prefer the "regular" stuff, so mine doesn't turn out all that light, but you can use whatever you prefer.

Sausage and Black Bean Soup
8 ounces smoked kielbasa sausage, sliced
1 cup diced bell pepper (red, green and/or yellow)
1 14 1/2 oz can chicken broth
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup salsa (whatever heat level or type you prefer)

Coat a non-stick saucepan with cooking spray. Saute sausage over medium-high heat until sausage begins to brown. Add diced bell pepper and saute for 1 minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Add beans and salsa. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.

Quesadillas
You can make these with whatever cheese you like or have on hand. I usually use pepper jack for me and my husband because we like a little more spice. I use a Mexican cheese blend for my son's. You can also add sliced jalapenos if you like.

8 6-inch flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar, pepper jack, or Mexican cheese blend
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. Place one tortilla in the skilled, stop with 1/2 cup cheese and 2 tablespoons green onion. Place 2nd tortilla on top to make a sandwich. Cook until golden brown, then turn and cook other side until golden brown. Cut into wedges to serve.

Fun Food

Today's post is just going to be a quick one. Every week my son, my husband and I have "family night." That's one night a week where we do something together as a family like play games or watch a movie together. Not that we don't do those things any other time, but we have that to make sure we do something at least once a week. Another family night tradition is having a "fun food" for dinner. That translates into something my four-year-old thinks is "awesome." My son loves breakfast food and he loves peanut butter and banana sandwiches. So last night I decided to combine the two and created this fun recipe. It turned out really good. I'm going to try experimenting with different types of fillings later on.

I just kind of made this up as I went along so I don't have a true recipe with measurements and all that. Just base amounts on the number of sandwiches you want to make.

Peanut Butter and Banana Stuffed Crunchy French Toast
Cinnamon swirl bread (2 slices per sandwich) *
Peanut butter (smooth or chunky - your choice)
Sliced bananas **
Eggs (two eggs and about 1/4 cup milk will make four - five sandwiches)
Milk
Crushed cereal flakes***
Butter

Spread peanut butter on one side of each bread slice. Place sliced bananas on one piece of bread then top with another piece. You will have a sandwich with banana slices in the middle and peanut butter on both sides of the bananas. Beat eggs with milk. Dip sandwiches into egg mixture coating both sides of exposed bread. Dip each side of the coated sandwich in the cereal crumbs to coat. Melt butter on a nonstick griddle or skillet. Cook sandwiches untils golden brown on both sides. Serve with maple syrup, honey or jam.

*This would also be good with raisin bread or plain.

**You could try other types of fruit such as raisins or sliced apples.

***I used crushed Honey Bunches of Oats because that's what I had and I thought it would go well with the peanut butter and bananas. Any type of flake cereal would work - corn flakes, Frosted Flakes, etc.

For the Love of Breakfast

I love breakfast food. Unfortunately, since my husband and I both work full-time, we don't have time for a big, sit-down breakfast during the week. I usually make a hearty breakfast on Sundays. We sometimes have breakfast food for dinner too.

Here is one of my favorite breakfast casserole recipes that's super tasty and easy. I serve it with scrambled eggs and blueberry muffins. Since there aren't any eggs in it, it keeps pretty well for a few days in the fridge. I sometimes take leftovers to work and microwave them for breakfast or lunch during the week. You can also leave out the meat and serve this as a great side dish for any meal.

Easy Hashbrown Casserole
1 32 oz package frozen hasbrown potatoes
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 16 oz carton sour cream
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 cup cubed, cooked ham or 1/2 pound bacon cut in pieces and cooked to your liking
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Heat oven to 350. Melt butter over low heat. Stir in cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat. In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Add cheese mixture and stir until blended. Stir in hasbrowns. Spread in a 9 x 13, buttered baking dish. Dot with butter. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

I sometimes sprinkle extra cheese on the top too. Yummy!

Enjoy!

Let's Wing It!

We love chicken wings at our house. Along with the classic Buffalo wings, we also like lots of other sauces. I'm always looking for something a little different. I just wanted to share one I made earlier this week for dinner. My son, who is almost five and doesn't seem to like very many things I cook, proclaimed them to be "awesome."

Honey Garlic Chicken Wings
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons ground ginger (or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 cloves minced garlic
20 whole chicken wings, cut apart and tips discarded

Combine all ingredients, except wings; mix well. Place wings in a large zip-loc bag. Pour about half the marinade over the wings. Marinate wings for at least one hour and up to 24 hours. Reserve remaining marinade to baste the wings during cooking.

Heat oven to 375. Remove wings from marinade and discard marinade left in the bag. Arrange wings in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet (trust me - the foil is very important). Brush wings with some of the reserved marinade. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn wings and baste with a little more marinade. Bake another 15 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 450. Baste one more time and bake for about 15 more minutes or until wings are brown and slightly crispy.

You can heat any remaining marinade until slightly thickened and use as a dipping sauce. I served the wings with egg rolls and roasted asparagus. They'd also be good with fried rice, lo-mein noodles or some other Asian-style side dish.

Enjoy!