It's been a WHILE!!!

Hello everyone! It's been quite a few months, huh? Well, I apologize for leaving you guys! I caught so much for "abandoning" you with no recipes for the past few months, but now I'm back and hopefully better than ever!!! :) 

I went through a death in the family, as most of you know, back in February. You all know how much my dad means to me and it was very unexpected when he passed, so I didn't take it lightly. I'm finally getting better and able to feel emotions again, so I won't be slacking on here anymore. I want to give a shout out to all of my family and ESPECIALLY friends who have helped me cope through the past few months. I know I have been hard to deal with and I'm still not over it, nor am I healed, but I'm coping and that's all I can do. So again: You guys know who you are! THANK YOU!

So anyway, silly 'ol me; I've probably lost followers within the past 6 months, but I'm finally back and I hope to continue and stick with my food blogging this time! I really enjoyed sharing my recipes with everyone when I first started this blog and, of course, I loved the feedback I got from everyone, whether it was through Facebook messages, e-mails, or on the blog itself, it felt great!

Today I started cooking and I felt that feeling I would always get when I knew I was about to food blog or come up with something fantastic. I kept telling people on Twitter and friends on Facebook that I would be starting my blog back up, but I just didn't think I was ready. Well, I AM! While I was cooking today I started taking my step-by-step pictures of the soup I made and by the end I was garnishing it and trying to make it look pretty. That's when I knew for sure that that recipe would make the blog! I'm really excited and I can't wait to start sharing again!

Now! Make sure you keep your eyes out for the next blog post which should show up sometime tomorrow!

And just to catch up with me, here are some pictures of what I've been up to for the past few months! :)

Birthday Beach Trip in February!

My cousin and best friend on Easter. I'm a dweeb. :)

The Easter Feast at my Aunt's house.

My daughter's birthday trip to Disney World!

And my family with my daughter's favorite Disney princess in Disney World!

 

Well there's that! Now don't forget about me these next few days and if you're enjoying the blog don't forget to put that follow button!!! I sure do love it when I see I have new followers! :D

Gingery Chickpeas in a Spicy Tomato Sauce Served with Cilantro Rice

What's up folks? It's me again! I know it's been a while, but I'm here with yet another amazing recipe! It's a must have and I hope you all enjoy it as much as my family did!!!

I found out about this recipe on Twitter and thought I would give it a try. I thought it would be a good recipe but I didn't expect to be so impressed by it. Even Stacy, who is the pickiest eater I know loved it and asks that I make it often. Of course you know by now that I will make the recipe my own, but if you would like to take a look at the original recipe, you can find it here. There are so many different bursts of flavors in this recipe and it's indescribably good!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb chicken, cut up into bite sized pieces

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, large, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons minced ginger root

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

3 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes

2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 container of fresh mushrooms

about a cup of fresh chopped cilantro

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or more, if desired)

Here's What I did:

I started by sauteing my onions over medium heat.

Once the aroma was kicked up a notch in my kitchen, I added the ginger, salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, cayenne pepper, mushrooms, and chicken. I let this cook until the chicken was cooked on the outside.

 Next I added the vinegar and diced tomatoes.

Once that was brought to a boil I stirred in my chickpeas and brought the heat to low. I let this simmer for about 45 minutes, like the original recipe suggests, and stirred occasionally.

At the very end I topped this with cilantro for garnish. I served this mixture over Cilantro Rice and that recipe can be found here.

I can't wait to have this dish again! It's bursting with so many different amazing flavors, and although I think the original recipe would have been delightful, I think my addition of mushrooms and chicken is what made this recipe so good!

Enjoy!!!

Homemade Chicken and Dumplings

I know it's been a really long time since I have blogged-- Almost a month actually. I have to apologize to you all. I was so dedicated to this blog at first but then I just got so busy with work, taking care of my daughter, hanging out with friends, spending time with my future husband, and getting ready for school that I really just haven't had time for anything else. Or maybe I've had time for everything else and none for blogging or cooking. Oh well. I apologize. Sadly though, with me starting school again next week, I'll have even less time to cook or make blogs. The days that I won't be in school I will be working and the days I'm not working I will be in school. Ugh! When will I ever cook again?! :( 

So anyway, on a lighter, cuter, and sweeter note, I have an introduction to make. Her name is Autumn and she's the love of my life. I know I don't have a whole lot of pictures on here so what I am going to try to do is introduce you to all of the most important people in my life, one blog at a time!

This is my precious baby girl:

And she helped me cook this fantastic recipe! I have to brag too... Besides her being just absolutely freakin' gorgeous (yeah, so what? I'm a little biased... at least I'm right! :)), she's an amazing little helper too! :)

Okay, so I can't lie to you in tell you that this is my recipe even though I would pay money to let the creator give me credit for it. Yes, my friends, it's that good. I found this recipe a few years ago and I have never had anyone complain. This has always been a hit anywhere I have ever taken it! I got this recipe from cooks.com and I didn't even tweak it. Honestly, there really isn't a need to at all. The only time I have ever changed this recipe at all is when I made my own dumplings. It turned out fine but it was too much work, so from then on I have always stuck to this recipe, word for word. I'm telling you now... It's wonderful.

I have also been told by a couple of people that I should try making this recipe, minus the dumplings, and try making a chicken pot pie out of it. When I have time to do a little research on making a pot pie, I am going to do just that!

INGREDIENTS:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 Knorr chicken bouillon cubes (or 4 regular chicken bouillon cubes)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 5 oz can evaporated milk
1 small onion
1/2 package of frozen peas and carrots (I usually use fresh carrots finely diced and frozen peas)
1 can 10 count biscuits
whole milk
salt and pepper

I always start by cutting my raw chicken into cubes and then boil chicken first. Once it's done I drain the water down to about 3-4 cups, take out the chicken, add the bouillon cubes to let them dissolve, and then re add the chicken.

 Then I add my milk and salt and pepper just like the recipe states. I suggest not adding much salt at all because the other ingredients that are added in have a high sodium content which makes up for the lack of salt added in the beginning.

Again, as suggested in the recipe, I add my peas, onion, and my cream of- soups

Once all of the above ingredients are added and incorporated well, I let this boil for about 7-8 minutes. Now, in the recipe it suggests that you cut your biscuits into fourths, but I don't like my dumplings that big at all so I always cut mine really small. They always expand to become much larger, anyway!

I usually only add about 5-6 of the biscuits into my soup because if you add all 10 of them, it's a little excessive, especially with the way I cut my dumplings, but I like it like that, so use your better judgement once you look at the pictures below.

Once my dumplings are added, I allow my dumplings to boil in my soup for about 10-15 more minutes. After I let my dumplings finish cooking, I add my evaporated milk and gently stir.

This recipe could easily feed my family for 3 days. I would say that it's easy to get about 10 servings out of this.

This recipe is excellent for a cold winter night or when you need the comfort of a good, hearty soup. Try it. It's sure to please!

Happy Eats!

Pepper Steak Stir Fry

Hey guys! I want to start off by apologizing to you about not blogging in a few weeks. I've just been so busy with getting registered for school, working, and spending tons of time with my daughter that I really haven't had a chance to do anything else. I'm hoping to be back in full force with the blogging now, but it's likely to come to an abrupt halt once school starts back in January. I will be blogging as much as possible, but in the likely event that I won't have time to cook, I won't have time to blog. I hope you understand. Don't leave me; I'll still be here and cooking to share, just around a very busy schedule! :)

So... About this Pepper Steak Stir fry! I found this recipe about two years ago, tweaked it, and my family has always enjoyed it ever since. It's one of Stacy's favorites, and my daughter loves it too. I am about to share with you how I make this recipe instead of following the one on http://www.cooks.com/.

MY INGREDIENTS:

1 lb pork roast or beef flank, cut into thin strips

2 Bell Peppers, cut into thin strips

1 large onion, thinly sliced

olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp butter

1 fresh container of pre-sliced mushrooms (optional)

2 tbsp flour

1 beef bouillon cube

black pepper

soy sauce

water

DIRECTIONS:

I start by heating enough olive oil that will cover the bottom of my large skillet (about 2-3 tablespoons) and then adding butter to melt into it.

Once my oil and butter heat enough, I add my onions and let them saute for a couple of minutes.

Then I add my bell peppers and whole garlic cloves. When the garlic starts to get a slightly glazed look, I crush them with the tines of my fork, like suggested in the original recipe.

I let the vegetables saute for about a minute more, but not long enough for the bell peppers to be too... flimsy (for lack of a better word). When the vegetables are finished, I take them out with a slotted spoon. When all of the vegetables are set aside, I add my meat (this time I used pork roast) into the oil and let it cook several minutes before adding the mushrooms.

I usually let my meat cook on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes and take it out with a slotted spoon as well to set aside with my vegetables. Next, I turn my heat to a very low temperature and add flour into my broth that has made on its own while the meat was cooking. Then I stir my flour into my broth to make it into a thick texture. Once it becomes a clumpy thick texture, I add about 1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce and about 1/2 a cup of water or more until I find the consistency of gravy I like. With this particular recipe, I make my gravy pretty runny so that I can pour some over the rice I eat with this. 

                                     

   Next I add my beef bouillon cube and let it dissolve into the gravy.
This is what I like my gravy to look like:

After I get my gravy to the right consistency I add black pepper, stir it well, and then put all of my vegetables and meat back into my skillet. I then toss all of this until all of the meat and vegetables are covered in gravy, let it heat for about five more minutes, and it's done!

After the meat and vegetables are hot, I serve it with a bed of rice.

I actually got really hungry doing this blog post. I wish I could eat some of this right now!

Speaking of eating; I'm doing so well on my whole diet! I have cut down eating, counted calories, and drank tons and tons of water every day. I'm well on my way to being thin again and I'm so proud of myself! Keep a lookout for blog posts on my diet plan because I plan to keep you all posted on my progress!

Happy Eats!