I have two college age guys that come and go as they please. Between their work and school schedule I never know when they will show up, but when they do they are always hungry. Meatballs make a perfect meal for these hungry guys so I like to make big batches of them to freeze so that we can pull them out for a quick meal. Making your own meatballs are not that hard and are the perfect compliment to your favorite pasta or soup plus they make a mean meatball sub too.
This recipe goes out to the Winsor family who have a special place in my heart. Through the years I have sat at their table while they assembled tortillas, sauce, meat and cheese to make enough enchiladas to feed a whole crew. I have been tinkering with making my own red enchilada sauce and I think I finally have the right combination of chiles and spice to make a sauce worthy of sharing. I made the sauce a day ahead and that made the enchiladas fast and easy to assemble the next day. Continue reading
They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Joe would prefer breakfast over any meal. He’s an early riser and I’m not a morning person so he rarely ever gets a hot breakfast first thing in the morning. I frequently make breakfast for dinner because I know how much he loves it. This pizza has bacon, crispy sliced potatoes and eggs over a layer of cheddar cheese that’s good any time of day. Continue reading
Have you ever paired BLT with pasta? If you haven’t yet, then you’ve got to try this pasta. This is my go to pasta when I need a pick me up and one of our favorite comfort foods. There are different versions of BLT Pasta but I like the combination of crisp bacon, roasted tomatoes and pesto.
Are you tired of apples yet? Didn’t think so, so here’s one last recipe to share using those fall apples. There’s just something about pairing pork with apples and onions that tastes so good. It seemed like perfect timing since I already had the apples and the cider is on display in the grocery stores. So if you see the cider and want an excuse to buy some, here’s a great recipe to try. Maybe try one of the flavored ciders, that might be yummy too . . .
This meal of shrimp and island rice is so easy to put together. The shrimp cooks in minutes and the rice is so flavorful with mango, clementine oranges, cilantro and a little fresno red pepper. I always make a lot and hope for leftovers because the shrimp is great the next day. Don’t even need to heat them up, just pop em in your mouth cold. Cameron was thinking shrimp tacos, so he folded rice and shrimp into a flour tortilla and added some mango sauce.
We made a trip home to New Mexico this past week. It was a beautiful time to be out at the farm, after a long hot summer, it has finally cooled off a bit and time to enjoy the outdoors. My Mom has hummingbird feeders set up on the porch and we were mesmerized at how many little hummers were buzzing the feeders. Usually we don’t get there until later in the fall and by then the little hummingbirds have left for warmer parts of the country. Anyway, back to the chicken . . . my brother Carl spoiled us with his Ranch Chicken with all the trimmings of mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, corn on the cob with iced tea. Doesn’t that sound like the best comfort food anywhere!
Here’s a spicy Sichuan dish, Gong Bao Ji Ding otherwise known as Kung Pao Chicken. The flavors of soy sauce, ginger and garlic are most prevalent, but topped with thin slices of fresno pepper, fresh cilantro and thin slices of lime zest really adds another layer of tastiness to this stir fry.
Remember the Salsa Verde, it makes a lot doesn’t it? The benefits are that I have enough for dipping and also to make burritos. Cameron, my youngest son loves burritos and since he was nice and asked me sweetly, I said okay. I made the Salsa Verde ahead because it takes some prep time and it’s easier to have it on hand and ready to go. You can make burritos with chicken or ground beef but today I’m making pork. Usually I put a pork roast in the crock pot and leave it all day, but I just got a new dutch oven that I’m dying to try out.
It’s so hot these days, I thought it would be a great time for a salad. I opened the fridge and found some dried cherries sitting there and knew they would be a good start. I added an apple and some brown sugar pecans. For the vegetarians out there that would be perfect, but in my house I’m surrounded by men who like meat so I added some grilled chicken to the mix.
An Inspired Cook 