So, I missed a few nights :)

Well it's been a busy week here at our house.  So, dinner's sort of taken the back burner, no pun intended.  Reg made frozen pizza for the family on Tuesday night.  It was so wonderful having her home, and then making dinner on top of that, let's just say I felt a little bit spoiled.

Wednesday, Reg went with me to work.  It was quite a day, some therapy in the morning, and followed by a marathon of meetings in the afternoon.  Oh, did I mention that there was a bear loose in the city I work in?  No bear sightings for us, but it was quite an eventful day.  On the way home, we had to stop at the teeter to drop off some prescriptions.  While we were there, we decided dinner would be ribs, salad, and noodles.  My dad has a wonderful recipe for slow grilled ribs, but I have yet to successfully duplicate the recipe, so I stuck with what I know.  I bought a rack of baby back ribs, and seasoned them (fajita and garlic salt) after rinsing them.  Put them in the oven on a long pan at 350, flipping the rack every 15 minutes, and re-seasoning.  After 1 hour, I decided to kick the temperature up to 400 degrees.  I did this for he last 15 minutes to get them crispy and brown.  Of course, when I took them out and cut them they were just almost done.  So, we microwaved them for about 30 seconds to make sure they were "done".  It was a yummy meal, fairly quick for the sides, and the actual cooking of the meat was as simple as a timer, and some tongs that needed attention every 15 minutes.  No picture, and I'm sorry that it wasn't more gourmet-like.

Blogging about my menu is beginning to make me aware of the numerous unhealthy foods that we eat.  I must do something about that soon. 

But, today was not the day.

I went to work again today, and today was my Friday.  So, on that note, it was a good day, seeing as I'm off tomorrow for Kid B's oral surgery.

(SIDE NOTE) Currently with my job, there's a level of unknown as to where or what I'll be doing next year.  I've been offered a position, and I am contemplating that.  However today, another position or option landed in my inbox.  I felt just like Alfalfa from the little rascals when he is frantically trying to do something, and all of a sudden the heavens open.  The quote from the movie is "Then the clouds opened up and God said, "I hate you, Alfalfa!"".  I sort of felt this way at first, when I realized "on no, another decision", but as the day progressed things began to feel a little bit more manageable.  For whatever reason, God does love to give me options.  I'd rather not choose the path, just tell me which way to go (follow the yellow brick road), but I suppose he's got other plans.  Many thanks to the counselors at my school, my friends, and my mom.  I'm able to now at least visualize this second option and do not feel quite so stressed.

So, back to the dinner menu right?  I decided that since D'ster will not be able to eat for a few days, I'd make fried fish.  I'll go ahead and say it's definitely a luxury for us.  I HATE frying food in my house.  It make the place smell like fried food, it makes the range top messy, and it's just a pain.  But, oh the taste!  If it's anything, fried fish is a comfort food.  So tonight, on the eve of Kid B's surgery, and the ending of quite a day, I decided fried fish would do just fine.  I know you're surprised, but it was in my freezer.    So, um, I had the fun battle of defrosting those little filets. Nonetheless, it was accomplished.

(see below for recipe)


Mom and Dad's Fried Fish

Dinner is served! 

Catfish filets (fresh is best, but it's ok to freeze the fresh yourself)
peanut oil
Zatarains Seasoned Fish Fry
a cooking thermometer

As I attempt to make this recipe healthy :) I never "deep fry" the fish(Am I kidding myself?).  I pour about 1-2 inches of oil
in a pan(Maybe 3 inches), and heat it to 350 degrees.  I place a little of the fish fry into a doubled brown paper lunch bag, and then shake the fish into that once I've washed the fish, and cut it into bite size pieces.  Once the oil is ready, I put the fish in, cook until crispy and brown on one side, flip and repeat.  It took me no more than 20 minutes to get this little dish together.  I also made a side salad to go with it, D had tomatoes, I had an avocado and a 1/2 of tomato.

Happy Dinner Everyone!! And I'm tired don't judge my errors :)

Happy Monday!

So, tonight I got home early.  No duties at school means I can usually get in my car and be home before 5 pm.  I actually remembered to get the frozen "meat" out of the freezer before I headed off to work this morning. I admit that is my number one challenge.  I find that planning ahead helps me to remove the "thinking" aspect of dinner thoughts between 6 and 7 am when I'm getting ready to depart for work.  

Being a girl from Louisiana, I should have been having Red Beans and Rice, but guess what, I don't like them! But, sticking with my roots, we had Jambalaya for dinner tonight. I have a special "mix" that I use, that I typically purchase when I go home and visit my family.  But, lucky for you guys, I've found a website that sells this little gem.  So, you can have the deliciousness of Louisiana without having to go on a long trip down south.  Although, I must admit, going to Louisiana is a wonderful experience.  I may be partial, but everyone should at least go once.

http://www.lacrawfish.com/Oak-Grove-SmokehousebrCreole-Jambalaya-Mix-79-oz-P83.aspx


Jambalaya (Oak Grove Version) 
I started with some Hillshire Farms Polska Kielbasa, how this fits in with Cajun food, I'm not sure... But we'll just go with it.  I sliced it into little bite size slices, and sauteed the sausage in a bit of olive oil.  Once the sausage began to get nice and caramelized, I then added 2 1/2 cup of water to the pan, covered and brought this to a boil again.  Once the water & meat mixture began to boil, I added in the mix.  I then turned the fire very low, so that the pan was just slightly simmering, and cooked this for 25-30 minutes covered.

Tonight's Jambalaya was by far the best I've had in a long long time.  I have enough left over for lunch tomorrow, for both me and the hubs!  I served this quick and easy dinner with a side of salad.  Right, you're asking, "does your picky 13 year old eat salad? "  But, he actually does.  We had a tomato and green bean salad.  I put a little salt and pepper, some olive oil and vinegar, mix... and enjoy!
Dinner was satisfying and not exhausting tonight.  I call that a success!
Happy cooking everyone.

So the winds a changing...

A good 2 months ago, I decided to try to run.  I did OK with it for a while, but quickly got discouraged for various reasons.  But I missed blogging!  So, I redesigned my blog, and low and behold, I'm back!
This time with something that I think I do more consistently, cooking.  Typically, I cook for a party of two. Myself and my son.  There are other times, when the husband is able to join us, and then I up it to three.  If I were going to classify their eating habits, I'd say that they fall in the category of "limited and picky".  That is the number one reason my job of meal planning is exhausting.

The hubs decided to start a new "challenge" in our family where we don't eat out for a month.  Well, I can honestly say it's been hard, and it's only May 15.  We've broken down twice already!  But on the flip side, we've done a good job planning meals, and eating at home a lot too.  I've even encouraged and gotten him to cook a few times.

This week, I sat down and started the meal planning.  I've got some good meals on the menu, and even some that the boy child will not eat.  On these days, he can eat a corn dog, PB& J, or leftovers from another night.

But, I didn't cook tonight, we actually had Chili's, Yum!  Yesterday for lunch however, I did cook.  So, I thought I'd share that quick and yummy meal with everyone.

Buffalo Chicken Tender Strips served with cucumbers, bell peppers, or some other veggie that is popular in your home.

Chicken Tenders (fresh or frozen)
Frank's Red Hot Original Sauce
Butter
Seasoning (I use fajita seasoning and garlic salt)

I bake these little babies in the oven at 350 degrees, for about 20-25 minutes on a pan sprayed with Pam.  I season them before they go into the oven.  While the chicken is cooking, I cut up the veggies and put them in bowls on the table with ranch and blue cheese.  Once the veggies are cut up, I make the sauce.  I put about 1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot original Sauce in a microwavable container, add 1/4 cup of butter, and cover.  I typically microwave this for about 1 minute.  Once the chicken is ready, I dredge it through the sauce and then place the done, sauce coated chicken on a plate.
Dinner is done!

This is such a wonderful recipe.  We originally made it with buns, but I prefer no bread.  I like it straight on a plate with a side of yummy veggies and blue cheese.  My 13 year old, 20 year old (college student), and hubby really like this dinner!

I hope you can make it soon, and that your family enjoys it also!!
Be on the look out for another dinner idea tomorrow.  Till then, happy eating!