Cooking | A Sugar-Mamma's Thoughts: A blog by Beth Kickert

Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category

Do you like Mexican food?

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

I do, I love it actually. I have joked before that I was born a Mexican in a former life. I am only halfway kidding when I make this joke! I love to eat Mexican food of all varieties. I have never really met much Mexican food that I didn’t like. I am always looking for a good Mexican dish to make at home and that is why I was so excited to find this recipe. A classic twist on a Mexican favorite: the Chimichanga!

Like I do with most recipes, I changed this one a bit. I added some sautéed peppers and onions with garlic to the filling. I also added in a few jalapeno slices to kick it up a notch! I also used some homemade salsa in the filling. I served with guacamole and white cheese sauce. I ended up making the filling the night before and then creating the Chimichangas the next. This worked really well with a 9.5 month old crawling around. These were yummy fresh and straight from the freezer. It made like fifteen, so there were plenty for future meals. I am becoming a huge fan of freezer cooking!

We had them for dinner tonight with Mexican rice, black beans with corn, and white cheese dip. Delicious! Top it off with a little Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia and you have a near perfect meal! Since I made this in stages I forgot to take pictures, but when you go check out the recipe you will see some.

Tags: chimichanga, Mexican
Posted in Cooking |

Sweet Potato Fries and other yummy treats!

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Recently, Ben and I got a hankering for sweet potato fries. We found a recipe, altered it a bit, made it our own and then made it three nights in a row! Don’t judge us, they were delicious. Make them, I bet you can’t eat just one!

Here is what you need:

· 2 medium sweet potatoes

· ½ tsp ground red pepper or cayenne pepper

· 1 tsp cumin

· 1 tsp chili powder

· 1 tsp garlic salt or garlic pepper

· 1 tsp pepper

· 2 tsp brown sugar

· 2 Tbsp olive oil

· Gallon size baggie

· Ketchup (optional)

Step One: Cut sweet potatoes into thin slices. We tried both thin and thick and I prefer the thin ones.

Step Two: Mix cayenne pepper, cumin, chili powder, garlic salt, black pepper and brown sugar in gallon size bag. Slowly add olive oil until a thin paste forms (around 2 Tbsp).

Step Three: Add sweet potatoes, seal bag and shake until well coated.

Step Four: Place on cookie sheet (it took two for us). Spread in one layer

Step Five: Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until soft. We actually baked ours until the middle was soft, but ends were a little crispy. Serve with ketchup (if you are so inclined) and enjoy!

These were really yummy with BBQ chicken and broccoli and cheese casserole (see recipe below) – this was night two. We served them on night one with a simple Pasta Roni and green beans. Then the third night we had bunless burgers with sautéed garlic and mushrooms. Delicious!

Quick Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

Mix 1 bag of frozen broccoli (cook first), 1 can cream of mushroom soup (about 3/4 of the can), and 1/4-1/2lb Velveeta (depending on how cheesy you like it). Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Cook in microwave until cheese is almost melted. Mix 1-2Tbsp of melted butter and Ritz crackers (enough to soak up butter). Place on top of broccoli mixture. Cook at 425 degrees until lightly brown (10-15 minutes). Enjoy!

Tags: Cooking, recipes, sweet potato
Posted in Cooking |

Quick Potato Soup Recipe

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

This won’t be a long post, but I wanted to share this very yummy recipe I found. It came from a food blog I subscribe to called Good Life Eats. The recipe for potato soup can be found here. It was quick, required ingredients most people have on hand, filling and perfect for a chilly, rainy evening such as the one we are having here in BG! I am not going to type the recipe out, because it is already done so very nicely on the blog and that would just be redundant. You can check it out for yourself!

I did make a few alterations, I mean after all I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t change a recipe a little!! I added a generous Tbsp of garlic, an extra potato, 1/2 cup extra cheese, some Cajun seasoning, onion powder (I didn’t have onion so I omitted this), and lots of salt and pepper. I omitted 1/2 cup of sour cream, mostly because I don’t like the flavor, and partly because I only had 1/2 cup. We topped it with some bacon and some shredded cheddar cheese. It was perfect! And there was plenty left to eat on for the week.

Mikayla didn’t eat the soup, but sure enjoyed some rice!

Tags: Cooking, recipes, websites
Posted in Cooking |

Cake Pops to the Rescue

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Have you ever been extremely excited about a cake and then this happens:

Well I have a solution for you – CAKE POPS! This is a clever creation that I ~~stole~~ borrowed from Bakerella and adapted to meet my needs. MckMama also made some the other day and inspired me to do the same. She called hers Snow Pops, but whatever you call them, they are delicious!

Here is what you will need to begin:

· Standard cake mix (choose your flavor, I chose Funfetti). I guess if you wanted to be adventurous you could make a cake from scratch, but I was on a time crunch!

· Icing (I used a cream cheese icing I made – see recipe below)

· Wax paper

· Sucker sticks

· Candy melts (I used both white and milk chocolate melts)

· Sprinkles

Step 1: Prepare cake according to package (so I guess technically you will need oil, eggs and water). While cake is cooking/cooling move on to Step 2.

Step 2: Prepare icing (if making from scratch). To make the cream cheese icing combine an 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese, 6 Tbsp of softened butter, 1 Tbsp of milk, and 3 cups of powdered sugar. Mix until lumps are gone and it resembles icing for a cake.

Step 3: Crumble cake (once cooled). I used my food processor to do this and worked marvelous.

Step 4: Add in icing one cup at a time until the cake/icing combo can be formed into balls.

Step 5: Roll cake/icing mixture into small balls and place on cookie sheet covered in wax paper.

Step 6: Melt a small portion of the candy melts in the microwave according to package (I melted in a coffee mug and this worked well). Once melted dip the tip of your sucker sticks in and place halfway in cake/icing balls. Place in freezer until firm.

Step 7: Melt a few candy melts at a time (I melted 1/4-1/3 of the bag at one time) in microwave. Add food coloring or coloring gel until desired color is formed. Obviously if you are using milk chocolate melts you won’t be able to change the color, but using white chocolate you will be able to.

Step 8: Dip cake balls in chocolate until well coated. Immediately sprinkle on sprinkles if desired.

Step 9: Dry upright until hardened (a minute or two should do the trick). Styrofoam blocks would work best for this, but I didn’t have any on hand and didn’t feel like running to the store. My sweet husband helped me improvise by taking a 2 by 4 and drilling holes into it. It worked just as well I think!

Step 10: Figure out a way to present them in a fun way and enjoy! I took them to a New Year’s Eve party and they were a hit! This recipe makes about 50 and they were all gone before the evening was over.

Tags: Ben, Cake Pops, friends, recipes
Posted in Cooking |

Family Tradition – Grandma’s Cinnamon Rolls

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

Every year since I can remember my grandma would make homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas. These aren’t your average cinnamon rolls, they are combination of sticky buns and cinnamon goodness. In short, they are amazing! So amazing that each year she would hide a few pans so they wouldn’t get eaten in one fail swoop. No kidding, my family can demolish some rolls! I could almost eat a whole pan in one sitting they are so delicous.

Well, as my gramdmother got older she enlisted help each year to make them, they are a day long process afterall (that is if you are making enough for the entire family). My sister and I helped out for a few years and then last year my grandmother decided she couldn’t do it anymore. My grandparents live in Florida for part of the year and with traveling and everything she wasn’t going to have the time or energy. I got the bright idea that I would take over the tradition. And last year that is what I did. With the help of my dear friend Luella, I made cinnamon rolls (five times actually) and gave them out to each family member and neighbor. They were a hit! This year, I was working solo so I only made three batches. (We opted for cranberry bars for the neighbors!) It officially feels like Christmas now that the smell of cinnamon rolls fills my house! There is nothing like the taste of one fresh from the oven! Now I just have to figure out how we are going to squeeze our luggage and gear for a week, a baby, a dog, two adults and nine pans of cinnamon rolls in the Saturn. Any suggestions?

Here is a play by play of how they are made. Enjoy!

Step One: Prepare the dough.

To do this mix 2 cups of lukewarm water wit 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tsp salt. Add two cakes compressed yeast (I used packaged) and stir until yeast is dissolved. This is one of the most crucial steps in the process. Next add 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of soft margarine and continue mix. Gradually add in flour until dough can be formed into a large ball. You will end up adding around 7-7 1/2 cups of flour. Place the ball of dough in a well greased bowl and grease top of dough ball. Cover and set aside in a warm place until dough has risen double in size.

Almost double in size!

Step Two: Punch down dough (when it has doubled in size), this is my favorite step.

After you punch the dough, divide into small pieces. Work dough on a well floured board (I used my kitchen table). Roll out dough until about 1/2 inch in thickness

Step Three: Prepare the pans (in my family this is the most important part of the roll)

Melt margarine to lightly cover bottom of pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans (be generous, this is the yummiest part). My grandma would sometimes add raisins, but seeing as how I don’t like this part I omitted them. My family likes sticky buns, so to make them sticky drizzle white karo syrup over the pans after they have been prepared but before placing in the rolls. Again, don’t be stingy, this makes them yummy! Your pans are now ready for the rolls, please proceed to step four.

Prepared pans ready for rolls

Step Four: Prepare the rolls

Once dough is rolled out, cover with melted margarine and sprinkle with a cinnamon and sugar mixture. Side note – Last Christmas my grandmother passed down to me her antique cinnamon/sugar shaker. This made the cinnamon/sugar process a breeze! Ok, back to the rolls. Once dough is covered in butter, cinnamon and sugar, roll up dough pinwheel style. Slice about 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick and place in prepared pans. Make sure to leave space between all rolls to allow them to rise. Cover, place in a warm place and all to rise until double in thickness.

Rolled dough with butter and cinnamon/sugar mixture

Rolled into a pinwheel and ready to cut into individual cinnamon rollsRolls in pans ready for the second round of rising

Double in size (they didn't rise as well as last year, I think it was too cold in my kitchen) and ready for the oven

Step Five: Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Baked and ready to eat!

Step Six: Grab a fork and dive in! They are best straight from the oven, but also very good warmed up. To reheat, add some butter to the tops of the rolls and place in microwave until heated through. Grab a large glass of milk and enjoy!

I ended up making a triple batch this year and between making the rolls and juggling a baby it took around seven hours. Now, that might seem like a long time but it is so worth it in the end. If you enlist the help of a friend you can cut your time significantly! Happy baking!

Tags: breakfast, Christmas, Cinnamon rolls, recipes, Traditions
Posted in Cooking |

Pancakes and Bacon

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

I love breakfast food! A few weeks ago we decided to dedicate a whole day to food! We started with breakfast. We made blueberry pancakes, pumpkin pancakes (with a few chocolate chips and pecans), and maple and pepper bacon and of course, fresh coffee. It was delicious! (We ended the day with an African dish, but you will have to ask Ben about that one!)

To make the bacon we lined a baking sheet with foil and placed the bacon on top. We put a generous amount of fresh pepper on top. Then drizzled some maple syrup (the real stuff would have been best, but we were out) on top. Then we baked it for about 10 minutes, flipped the bacon, added some more pepper and then baked until it reached the perfect crispiness. It was amazingly simple and tasty. Clean up was a breeze too. We just dumped the foil in the trash and rinsed the pan.

Here are some shots of our breakfast feast!

View Full Album

Tags: Ben, breakfast, recipes
Posted in Cooking |

Recent Cooking Adventures

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

In the past few weeks I have done little cooking. School has started back and I have just been plain exhausted! However, we have managed to squeeze in a few amazing cooking experiences.

First, my dear friend Dacia came over and helped me make salsa. By help me make salsa I really mean she did most of the work while I entertained Mikayla and taste tested the yummy salsa. Here are some photos of the fun afternoon!

The crop needed to make salsa: tomatoes, onions, pepers (bell, jalapeno, banana), apple cider vinegar, sugar, garlic, and salt

The crop needed to make salsa: tomatoes, onions, pepers (bell, jalapeno, banana), apple cider vinegar, sugar, garlic, cilantro and salt. All the veggies are either from our garden or the local Farmer's Market.

Dacia food processing the ingredients for salsa! She is such a sweet friend to come "help" me make salsa!

Dacia food processing the ingredients for salsa! Just stick it all in the food processor and hit process! She is such a sweet friend to come "help" me make salsa!

Salsa boiling away!

Boiling water and lids for canning! We are getting close...

Jars in the sink awaiting boiling water and then hot salsa! I didn't manage to take a final picture, but we ended up with 16 jars. That should last us at least a month!

Second, after some inspiration from Terry and Dacia, we bought a sushi mat and all the fixings and fixed ourselves some cruchy shrimp rolls. Again, I entertained/fed Mikayla and Ben rolled out the sushi!

Sushi on its way! Seaweed paper + avocado slices + cream cheese + sushi rice + tempura shrimp = ...

... One amazing crunchy shrimp roll!

Last, we made some homemade pizza! The cheese is what really makes the pizza. We use cheese from Kenny’s Cheese here in Kentucky called Kentucky Rose. It really makes the pizza amazing!

Pizza on its way. Crust is from the Amish Market, we cheated with the sauce and bought some from the store, Kenny's KY Rose Cheese, and toppings include onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, banana peppers, ham and bacon! We sprinkled a little Italian seasoning on the top! First bake on a pizza sheet and then when almost finished transfer to a pizza stone to crisp up the crust!

MMM MMM Good! We paired with with 1919 Malbec and it was fantastic!

All this talk of food is making me hungry so I am going to go fix some lunch. What have you been cooking lately?

Tags: Ben, Cooking, Farmer's Market, Garden, Mikayla, pizza, recipes, sushi, vegetables
Posted in Cooking |

Summer Favorites

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

One of my favorite plants that we grow in our garden is okra. I love okra! I will eat it almost anyway, well except for boiled because it gets really slimy and gross. Two of my favorite okra dishes are Fried Okra and Okra Stew (and of course Veggie Patties, but we have already looked into that one). Here is how I prepare both.

Fried Okra

Okra cut into 1/2-1 inch stars (as much as you want)
Flour (Self-Rising works best, but I mostly use All Purpose because that is what I tend to keep on hand)
Oil (enough to fry in)
1-2 eggs, depending on amount of okra
Hot Sauce (optional)
Seasonings: Onion Powder, Cajun Seasoning (Tony’s baby), Seasoned Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Cumin, and Garlic Powder (or Garlic salt depending on preference)
ZipLock Baggie

Cut okra into pieces. Meanwhile heat oil in a large skillet.
Scramble eggs in small bowl. If wanted add a couple of dashes of Hot Sauce.
Mix flour with seasonings, roughly a cup or so of flour and 1-2tbsp of each seasoning. I never measure exactly so this makes it taste slightly different each time! Pour into ZipLock baggie.
Coat okra pieces with egg mixture.
Place okra in the baggie with flour mixture and shake bag until flour evenly coats all sides of okra.
Place flour coated okra in hot oil and gently toss with tongs until okra is golden brown. Transfer to plate covered in paper towels. Serve immediately. We like to eat ours with ketchup, but they are just as good plain!

Ingredients all ready to go!

Okra coated in egg mixture

Coating the okra in flour, last step before frying!

Finished product...doesn't it look delicious?

Okra Stew (adapted from All Recipes) – beware this is a spicy dish

1 pound Kielbasa sausage cut into bite sized pieces
4 tablespoons margarine
2 green bell peppers, seeded
1 large onion
1-2 cups frozen corn kernels or fresh whichever you have on hand
1-2 cup chopped okra
10 Roma Tomatoes – blanched, peeled and chopped (you can add more if you wish)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tsp bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1 green chile pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
Shrimp (optional)
Chicken, diced and cooked (optional)

Fry sausage in skillet until heated through (I like to blacken mine a bit).
Dice vegetables.
Heat butter in a stock pot and saute the green pepper, onion and jalapeno pepper for 2 to 3 minutes or until translucent. Mix in corn, okra, tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf and chili pepper. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the sausage (if using shrimp and/or chicken add it here), return to a boil and simmer for another 25 minutes.
Serve warm

**This recipe freezes very well and is easy to make large servings for.

**We serve ours over Jasmine rice or Minute rice.

Frying the sausage and blanching tomatoes

How to Blanch Tomatoes: First boil tomatoes until skin starts falling off. Remove from boiling water and place in ice bath. Once tomatoes have cooled remove skin

How to Blanch Tomatoes: First boil tomatoes until skin starts falling off. Remove from boiling water and place in an ice bath. Once tomatoes have cooled remove skin

Finished product - My mouth is watering!

Happy Cooking! Disclaimer: I never really measure spices when cooking so they could be off a bit. Just use your taste buds and add more or less accordingly.

Tags: Cooking, Garden, recipes, vegetables, websites
Posted in Cooking |

10 Foods

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Day Three of Ben and Beth’s Top Ten Lists takes us straight to the stomach…Top Ten Foods. Let me begin by saying that this was very difficult for me. Several of my favorite foods did not make the list. In reality I wanted to do a Top Ten List with 90 honorable mentions, but Ben told me no. Enjoy the list and don’t get too hungry!

IS Special - Grilled chicken, Mexican rice and white cheese sauce all mixed together…what is not to like? This is a specialty of a Mexican restaurant in BG. However, it has expanded to El Mazatlan in Bowling Green (known as the Chef Special) and Casa Grande in Somerset (known there as Vivian’s special). Vivian, daughter of Casa Grande owner, came to school at WKU and brought the dish back to Somerset. It has now become a favorite at Casa Grande as well. I would also like to add that I will eat just about anything Mexican, I love it! I am pretty sure I was Mexican in a former life
Grilled Chicken or Cindy’s BBQ Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Corn on the Cob – This is a great comfort food. I could eat mashed potatoes and fresh corn on the cob for every meal and not be disappointed. Cindy is my second mom in Somerset. She makes the best BBQ Chicken. Growing up I would often call her house and ask what she was having for dinner, if it was BBQ chicken I was sure to stay over longer!
Soups especially Chili or Okra Stew – I love a nice warm bowl of soup on a chili evening. Both chili and okra stew are hearty and delicious! My chili is a staple, it is the main dish at our annual Halloween party. Okra stew is a mix of okra and fresh summer vegetables, shrimp and sausage. I just discovered this recipe last summer and fell in love with it! I hope to post recipes of these in the near future, so if you are interested keep you eyes open.
Roast and Potatoes – I like to stick this in the crock pot before I leave for work and come home to a delicious smelling house.
Anything breakfast related (waffles, pancakes, biscuits and gravy…) – What can I say I love it all. It doesn’t matter if I cook it myself, someone else cooks it or we go to a favorite hot spot in town, I love it. If I could eat breakfast for every meal I would. Ben doesn’t really care for breakfast so I have to occassionally sneak it in on him.
Lettuce Wraps – I am particularly fond of these from P.F. Chang’s. Like most meals out that we enjoy we have tried to recreate the masterpiece. While ours is good, it doesn’t compare to the real deal (you can also look for this recipe soon). I could eat lettuce wraps and their Asparagus and be completely content.
Sushi (not the raw stuff) – This is another fairly new staple to our menu. We haven’t branched out much, but from what I have tried I enjoy sushi…maybe one day I will try the raw rolls!
805 or Chicken Delight from Royal Thai – Let me begin by saying that this is probably my favorite restaurant in town. So much so that we actually rented the entire restaurant out for our rehersal dinner. We frequent this establishment often. It has gotten so bad that when we go in they know exactly what we want and know us by name. At one point they would bring us a dessert that had been temporarily taken off the menu. Is this pathetic? Both of these dishes are a mix of rice or noodles, veggies, chicken, and Thai style spices. It is making my mouth water just thinking about.
Beef Stew – I would consider this one of my specialties. In the winter (and sometimes in the summer) I will make a big batch of this to eat on for a week. I serve mine over rice. Again, I hope to post recipes of this very soon.
Veggie Patties – This is the newest recipe in my recipe box. It is a compilation of fresh veggies pattied together with egg, flour and seasonsings, then fried to perfection. Check here for pictures and the recipe.

Is your mouth watering yet because mine is. Tomorrow is Day Four – Top Ten Things to Do (Our Bucketlist).

Tags: Ben, recipes, Top Ten, vegetables
Posted in Cooking |

Veggie Patties = Deliciousness!

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

As many of you may know, my husband and I have a garden in our backyard (check out this for some pictures). We only grow the veggies that we love, so coming up with summer veggie dishes is a breeze! The other night I discovered a new favorite…Veggie Patties. The idea stemmed from this recipe. I altered the recipe to meet the needs of what we had on hand and here was the final result:

1/2 pound okra, finely chopped
1 small zucchini, finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 jalapenos, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tbsp garlic salt
Cajun seasoning (we didn’t have very much, but I would reccommend adding a generous amount). We like Tony’s.
1/2 cup water
1 egg
3/4-1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup cornstarch

Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the okra, zucchini, onion, jalapeno, seasonings, water and egg. Combine the flour, baking powder and cornstarch; and stir that into the okra mixture.

Veggies all cut up and ready to go!

My wonderful hubby managing the cutting board.

Mixed up and ready for the pan

Carefully drop spoonfuls of the okra batter into the hot oil, and fry on each side until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels.

Finished patties

I completed the meal with summer sausage, steamed broccoli and cornbread. However, these would work nicely as a main dish (I was just nervous they wouldn’t’ be very good)! It was a perfect combination alongside a nice glass of milk. (Mikayla even liked them, a lot better than the stuffed jalapenos she had after the 4th of July!) We warmed them up the next night on the pizza stone in the oven. To my surprise they were just as good the second day. I topped the patties with a little hot sauce.

Almost any combination of veggies could be added to these; however, the best ones would probably be zucchini, okra, squash, eggplant, or any type of peppers. Next time I think I will add more spice to it (Cajun seasoning and hot peppers) and maybe a little fresh garlic. I may even add a little hot sauce to the mix, just to get crazy!

**I will post pictures when I can find my camera cord!

Tags: Mikayla, recipes, vegetables
Posted in Cooking |