Yeah, I owe you.

I owe you a whole bunch of recipes, but here's the thing. I started a new job Halloween week and I have been too busy and too darn exhausted to write. I have been making food though and I am proud of myself for at least keeping that up, plus making lunches and after school snacks as usual. I have also been making themed snacks for my new preschool class, goldfish and graham crackers and grapes for Letter G-Week for instance. :)

So instead of torturing myself trying to remember all of the meals I've made since I last posted I am starting fresh tonight.

Last night's dinner was sort of fun actually, something different. I made some a gorgeous city ham from Burger's Smokehouse (a gift from my in-laws) collard greens, black beans and cornbread over the weekend so I used the leftover greens to make one of my favorite vegetarian meals, grits and greens. I made some slow cooking old-fashioned grits, cooked them according to package directions with salt, pepper and minced onion. I cooked them in the microwave for about 10 minutes on maximum power. Then I mixed them with the chopped turnip greens and grated parmesan and shredded cheddar cheese and placed it in a lightly greased 8 x 8 baking pan. I poured a half cup of half and half over all and stirred it in along with 2 tablespoons of butter. I baked it at all at 350 degrees for another 15 minutes. Just dig in and serve with a side of black eyed peas, a glass of sweet tea and your dinner is done and divine!

I have no idea what I am making for dinner tonight. Any ideas?

Weird Wednesday and Thirsty Thursday

What made Wednesday so weird was the fact that someone else made me dinner. Our older daughter had to go to a softball award ceremony where dinner was provided. It was a kid-feast, big fat strips of white meat chicken fingers, tiny sliders topped with lettuce tomato and onion rings, salsa and cheese nachos and honey BBQ chicken wings. The kids loved it. Softball has been a ton of fun, but very difficult in terms of dinner scheduling. Practice and games went back to back from 5 to 7 twice a week! Here is the on the go, high energy snack I've been making the kids to get them through until we make it to dinner around 7:15.

Snack Mix:

3 parts whole grain cereal (I used Cheerios)
2 parts dried fruit (I used raisins and sometimes dried blueberries)
1 part chopped nuts (used walnuts)
1 part chocolate chips

I shake all of the mix up in a large bag and let the kids have a sandwich baggie full of them. If your kid is nut allergic I would use some sesame seeds. Or for a tasty different version you could use pine nuts, which are delicious!

Thirsty Thursday: It is H O T in Florida right now and to me, there is no better hot weather drink than Southern Sweet Tea. I suggest boiling briefly enough tea bags to make 1 gallon of tea in about 5 cups of water. Pour the hot tea concentrate over 1 C of sugar (more or less to taste) stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Next add enough water and ice to dilute the concentrate, making 1 gallon. You can garnish individual glasses with lemon slices or mint sprigs. If you make it this way you don't have to wait an hour or more for the tea to cool down and not instantly melt your ice cubes on a hot summer day.

Thursday's dinner was SUPPOSED to be Beef Stroganoff with Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts. I freaking LOVE Brussels sprouts and so does my hubby. Our kids will eat maybe one or two, which I consider an unparalleled success. But I had forgotten we were having a one of my daughter's friends over for a slumber party. I ended up making a box of mac and cheese and some steamed green beans with butter. That's like the same thing, right?

Tonight I am going to make the stroganoff because the meat is defrosted, but I am going to make some AWESOME fish this weekend.