What happens when you put jalepeno, pineapple,

monterrey jack cheese, bbq sauce, tortillas



and amazing grilled chicken together?



You get Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Quesadilla's! THANK YOU Pioneer Woman!! Sweet, spicy, tangy, cheesy... You must make these. Seriously.

I used the same season on the chicken as she does (Slap Ya Mama) and the bbq sauce we used is Stubbs. We will be grilling the chicken again soon...I snacked on it while I was making the quesadillas and it is probably my favorite grilled chicken ever. Next time we have the quesadillas I'll cut everything into little bites before putting it on the tortilla so I get some of everything in each bite. The cilantro was a great accent!

Cheesy, Buttery, garlicky, goodness... with a kick.

I'm not normally a grits kinda girl but I had some the other day at MOPS (Mother's of PreSchoolers). It was a complete accident. If I had known what it was, I probably wouldn't have put any on my plate. But I just saw a big bowl of cheesy goodness and on my plate it went! They were incredible! I hunted down the maker (Rhonda) and inquired about the recipe. It was Paula Deen's Baked Garlic Cheese Grits with some doctoring up. I never really thought of Paula Deen's recipes as anything needing to be doctored up so I was suprised. Take the recipe I linked back to and get some jalepeno's... the "nacho slice" kind and chop up about a 1/4 cup (more if you like it spicier) and sprinkle in some Tony's seasoning. The perfect addition! I made the grits myself last night to go along with our breakfast for supper. They were a big hit with the adults (especially Gramps), Cracker Jack, and even Nelson. Henry had to force them down but he's a little strange. :)

So... even if you don't care much for grits, try these! Make a half recipe if it's just a couple of people. We had 6 of us and had quite a bit leftover. How can you go wrong with a corn product, 1 1/2 lbs of cheese, and a stick of butter??

Here it is all mixed together and in the biggest bowl I have... topped with cheese and ready for the oven. I forgot to take an after picture but I can asure you: IT LOOKED GREAT!

M is for Meatloaf!

I have tried a couple different meatloaf recipes that were just so-so. Nothing my family has ever asked for again. Tonight however was different! I made a half recipe in case is wasn't that good... I should have known better since it's from The Pioneer Woman. We are sad that we don't have enough leftovers for everyone. Just enough for James. He is happy though. I was really surprised by how delicious the ketchup sauce was. I am trying to think of another way to use it. If nothing else comes to mind, I'll just make some french fries to dip in it! If you need a good meatloaf recipe that is not quite traditional but not too different...that is moist and has everyone wanting there to be leftovers for sandwiches then this is the recipe for you! Oh, and you have to like bacon. :) My pics are below but here is the link to the recipe. My Favorite Meat Loaf

I wasn't so sure about that bowl in the lower left corner...but it worked. (plain white bread soaked in whole milk). Notice my retro mixing bowls. They were my Mom's. I love using them! :)

Put together and ready for the oven! The ketchup mixture was really good and I had to swap out a couple ingredients - I didn't have brown sugar or tabasco so I used white sugar and Louisiana hot sauce. That and some dry mustard made an amazing sauce. And how do you like my homemade broiler pan? For some unknown reason I don't have one so I improvised. Foil wrapped around a metal rack (used for cooling cookies!) with slits cut in it on top of a baking sheet. Worked out well!

Ready to be devoured! The only problem I had was the bacon we have is too thick so it wasn't as done as we like it. Next time I'll have to make sure I get that really thin bacon that I usually avoid OR cook it a little before I put it on the meatloaf. All in all - it was a FANTASTIC meatloaf! We had it with the Crash Hot Potatoes. We can't seem to get enough of those. And this time we seasoned them with Tony's, chives, and added a sprinkling of cheese.

A is for Asparagus!

Asparagus is such a pretty, green vegetable. I love the "paintbrush tips" as my boys call them. Like most vegetables, they are GREAT with bacon and garlic! Most of the time we just cut them into bite size peices, fry some bacon, add the asparagus, garlic, and a little salt & pepper. Other times we let the asparagus sit in italian dressing then bundle them with bacon and and bake until the bacon is done. It's also great in an egg casserole for breakfast. But last night we drizzled them with oil, salt, pepper and roasted them whole at 450 until done. Simply delicious! I was thrilled when after peeking into the oven my 6 year old said, "Asparagus! Yes!! We haven't had that in a long time, Mom!" He usually loves it but last night he didn't... and neither did my 8 year old. They both insisted on dipping each bite into mustard (gag!) but whatever makes the veggies go down, right? And for the record, the baby devoured his asparagus....without any mustard.

So I want to know.... how do you like your asparagus?

Hand-washing Memories

If you know me well at all, you know that I would rather run the dishwasher AGAIN for the 5th time today than to wash those last few dishes by hand. I just don't like hand-washing. It takes time. It takes effort... especially if you cook like I do and things get stuck on! And that's why dish washers were invented. There you have it. 3 perfectly good reasons to not wash anything by hand!

However...... There is an exception to all rules, even my no hand-washing the dishes rule. At Christmas time I received something that means so very much to me. My Momma's pots and pans. Her Saladmaster cookware that she bought before I was born. Over 30 years old and still they are like new. I really think cooking in them makes everything taste better. She hand-washed these after every meal for 30 years. These are the one exception to my rule. Hand-washing THESE pots and pans is somehow therapuetic. I can remember watching Momma wash them as a kid. Then later being her helper and rinsing and drying them as she washed. So in addition to the fact that it will make the handles last longer... I will continue to wash these pots and pans by hand because it feels good...because it makes me feel closer to my Momma.

A Blog About a Blog...

A while ago after a couple of friends kept telling me how wonderful The Pioneer Woman was, I checked out her blog. http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ They were right! It is great! It has all kinds of stuff but most importantly the recipes. Recipes with step by step instructions and great pictures. I love having the pictures of every step so I can make sure what I'm doing looks like what she did! :) So far everything... and I mean EVERYTHING... I have tried has come out delicious! If you love to eat good food, love to cook good food, or WANT to cook good food but haven't quite got it down... you need to check out her blog! Below are a few pics of food I have cooked of hers with links back to her recipe. Delicious!

Stuffed Mushrooms were tonight....even the baby boy ate them! I didn't have any wine so I left that out and I forgot the egg yolk and parmesan cheese! Oops. They were still great though and I sprinkled a little parsley on top to make them pretty :) http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/08/stuffed-mushrooms-baby/
I've also cooked her Chicken Parmigiana which was WONDERFUL but didn't take a good picture of it so you'll just have to look at hers! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/10/chicken-parmigiana/

Now her Chicken Spaghetti...seriously... the BEST I've ever eaten. And my family DEVOURED it! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

Need a new way to eat a potato? This is simple....crisp on the bottom, soft and fluffy on the top, and can be topped with whatever you want! Crash Hot Potatoes! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/crash-hot-potatoes/

And Finally...The Pork Loin with Cranberry Sauce. This one, I'll put a prep pictures up too. It smelt fabulous and was so pretty in the process. :) http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/12/pork-loin-with-cranberry-sauce/

Oh! The rolls... so simple. Store bought rolls dressed up a little. Buttered Rosemary Rolls http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/?s=Buttered+Rosemary+Rolls

Campfire Blackberry Cobbler

Hungry Man has really gotten into campfire cookingand finally tried his hand at dessert. It. Was. Fabulous.! Campfire Blackberry Cobbler.... So simple too.

2-12 oz bags of frozen blackberries (it would be better with fresh seedless but they aren't in season right now) and 1/2 c. sugar. Toss together and pour in the bottom of your cast iron dutch oven. Then used the bisquick biscuit recipe but added 1 1/2 c. sugar to it. "Dropped" it on top of the cobbler and then sprinkled on a little more sugar and put a few pats of butter on top.

I don't know much about the campfire part of it but you do something like pile up a bunch of hot coals, set your dutch oven on top... ...then pile some hot coals on that and check on it once in a while. When the crust is nice and brown, it's ready to eat! Of course, it's best served like the first picture you saw... with some Blue Bell!