A Wife Loved Like The Church

I found this recipe for Saltine Candy Treats off Blissfully Domestic and made some for Valentine’s Day (yes, I’m fully aware V-Day was over two weeks ago). Leah made a version of these at Christmas, using cheez-its, so I called her in to help me out. Props to her for the photos!

You will need:

I thought the contrast of fat free crackers with a cup of butter was pretty ironic. Don’t ya think?

Cover a cookie sheet with tin foil. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Arrange crackers in rows and columns, overlapping for extra layers.

Melt 1 cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes.

Spread over crackers and place in the oven at 400* for 5 minutes.

Once done, remove from oven and cover with chocolate chips, spreading them to make a frosting. Leah had a helpful hint of placing it back in the turned-off oven to melt the chocolate. Worked like a charm.

And the finished product:

The contrast of sweet and salty is really yum. Makes a very delicious cookie substitute!

That might not be entirely true, but since No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies do have peanut butter (an great source of protein!), milk (a great source of vitamins!), and oatmeal (hello healthy heart!) it’s not much worse than most cereals. At least that’s what my mom said to justify us eating them at breakfast time as kids.

Melt your sugar, butter, milk and cocoa powder.

Bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes.

Then add your peanut butter, oatmeal and vanilla. I try to have these ingredients pre-measured and waiting. Mix well.

Spoon onto cookie sheet or wax paper. Cool until set.

Bon Appetit!

Friday I made version of Minnesota Chili with pasta. When I think of chili I usually think of the South, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a chili named after a Northern state. Turns out, it’s not only super easy to make but quite delicious. Plus, it would work great in a crockpot.

My ingredients: ground beef, onion, garlic, chili powder, diced tomatoes (one can with chilis), red kidney beans and pasta.

Step 1: Brown and drain your meat. Helpful tip: rinse your meat in water to clean off any excess oil. Works like a charm. You could also boil the meat for the same effect. For my vegetarian friends – I think you could use lentils very easily in place of the meat.

Step 2: Dice onions. I’ve really like onions, especially in chunks, so I tend not too dice them to small:

Step 3: Add meat, onions (along with other vegetables you plan to use), garlic, chili powder and tomatoes in a 5-quart Dutch oven, bring to a boil then simmer for 2 hours:

Step 4: About 10 minutes before your chili is complete, add kidney beans:

Step 5: Cook pasta. I used 2 cups, but that was not nearly enough to feed 8 people. I’d suggest 4 cups. The pasta is a “filler” to help the chili go farther. So, the more people you have, the more pasta you should use.

I made a double batch of cornbread to go along side this dish:

Here’s Julia, my little helper, doing her part for the cornbread:

Once the meal is complete, serve pasta, then chili in a bowl with cornbread and green beans on the side. Top the chili with cheese and plenty of Louisiana hot sauce:

Bon Appetit!

Jonathan thought y’all might like some more personal pictures of me and my kitchen helper.

Julia modeling her shoes. Gotta admire a woman who cooks in heels. 😉

Hannah doing what Hannah does best – supervising the production:

And then me:

Yesterday I made a variation of Linguine with Tuna and Sun-Dried Tomatoes from the February addition of Southern Living. Sounds pretty glamorous for a Tuesday afternoon, right? It is my new favorite “easy dish”.

Cook linguine until done, but still firm.

I used cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters, rather than sun-dried tomatoes.

Cut olives into quarters. And for you olive lovers – go ahead and help your self to some while you cut, I know I did!

Have your canned tuna on hand.

In skillet, saute minced garlic in olive oil.

Add tuna, stirring to keep from browning, but heating through.

Add tomatoes and olives. Heat through.

Drain pasta and add.

Finished product:

I made some simple garlic bread, using Nature’s Own Double Fiber bread (only 1 Weight Watchers point for 2 slices! :)).

I scored an amazing deal at Fareway on fruit (just one more reason why I love them); added a salad and presto! a delicious but easy lunch.

On a side note: Shirley got this new Pampered Chef can opener. I’m sure it’s amazing, but I have yet to figure it out. This is what I continually do to every can:

Which means, I’ll be sticking with the trusted camping opener, until my blonde brain can figure it out.

Bon Appetit!

About a week ago, I mentioned to Shirley, our host “mom”, that I love Nutella. Like, can’t get enough, love it. In fact, while Jonathan and I were traveling through Europe after college, I stocked up on tons of Nutella packets and stored them in my backpack to bring home. They didn’t make it back to the States. Pretty sure they didn’t make it through an entire train ride.

Imagine my excitement when I opened the cabinet on Thursday to find this:

Oh yeah. Just in time for after-nap snack.
I spread it on some graham crackers to make a “sandwich”. One word – delectable.

Julia’s thoughts?

I think she likes it.

Thanks Shirley!

Last night I cooked one of my favorite (and easiest!) meals. Turkey tenderloin with pasta. Why do I love it? Because the turkey comes pre-basted and oven ready. Oh yeah.

Honeysuckle has all sorts of flavored tenderloins, and truth be known, the ingredient list really is not bad.

Whole grain pasta. A cabinet keeper must. Once cooked, add olive oil and some garlic powder. Yummy!

Alright, I don’t know if corn on the cob actually goes with pasta, but I can’t resist when the grocery store puts corn on sale. I just had to buy it. Because, really, I love corn on the cob. And so does Julia, she had 3 ears! And one of the Abdos had none.

The easiest drop biscuits, courtesy of All Recipes (an absolute bookmark!)

Top it off with some cut up some fruit and walla you have dinner.

I’ll be the first to admit that after Hannah I’ve let a few things slip. Trying to keep up with healthy eating/living, working out, being a mama, a wife, a Christ follower, friend, and daughter – something was bound to get pushed aside. And for me, the first to slip has been food preparation.

Shameful, I know. Good food is at the core of my southern roots.

But I have a good excuse. My daughters turn into crazed monsters between 4:00pm and 5:00pm. Without fail, just like clock work, there is a meltdown, blowout, timeout, or breakdown (more from me than them) in that hour before daddy arrives. So, in response I did No Cook November to help ease the stress of dinner time. But I started slowly letting go of any variety that my family both enjoys and craves. Once we moved in with the Abdos, I started helping out with lunches and dinners. I’ve quickly come to find that with four teenaged boys in the house you need lots of variety and lots of food. They have really helped be regain my cooking groove. Expect more food posts to come!