In our house usually the oldest daughter at home is the kitchen manager. She is responsible for planning meals, grocery lists, keeping inventory, and keeping the deep freeze, kitchen fridge and pantry in order. I let her pretty much organize the kitchen as she likes.  She is also the supper cook and chief baker. Our method has worked well for many many years and produced very well trained expert domestic wives with well fed husbands.  

However each time ones gets married we hand the baton to the next and it always is fun to see the changes that come about as the next one settles in.

Each daughter has had her culinary specialties. And we gets lots of fun variety. Southern, Italian, Mexican, and then there is Georgia’s fire breathing can’t get hot enough Mexican. We purposely plant 5 rows of peppers in the garden for her. I am tellin ya, my girls can COOK !

But hey, Momma likes to cook too! So in between sharing with the next in line, I have gotten to cook a few new things myself.  I thought I would share one of my newest creations. We call them taco cups. Here is the general idea.

I usually make pinto beans in the crock pot once a week and make enough for a couple meals. So  I already had these made. In a big skillet I  put 2 pounds of ground beef and a diced onion and a handful of diced peppers. I cook the beef and such till well browned and then add in about 8 cups of pinto beans, they are cooked but not mashed. I then add either 2 cans of diced tomatoes or the equivalent amount of fresh ones. I keep all that at a low simmer. Then I take a dozen corn tortillas and lightly fry each in a small amount of oil until pliable. Then I take my 12 cup muffin tin and put it upside down on the counter. I place each tortilla over the cup and bend the edges down, tucking them however they will fit. Then take another muffin tin and place over it and press down gently. You could smaller muffin tins but I have the big ones so this works well for me. Then put them in the oven and bake until crunchy around the edges, usually around 20 minutes at about 350. Then you remove and place your tortilla cups on plates. Fill with the meat/bean mixture, top with mexican blend shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, sprinkle with crushed red pepper and garnish in between with shredded lettuce and more diced tomatoes.

Yummy. Great for a crowd. This made enough for 12 cups. 1 or two cups per serving unless you work on a farm, or you are a fast growing youngin.

• cooked rice or refried beans from my Fiesta Basics
• ground beef cooked with chopped onions, in pan till crunchy brown, crumbled
• grated fiesta blend cheese
• diced tomatoes
• diced peppers, lots, mild or hot or both
• sour cream
• crushed red pepper

you can assemble this anyway you like but this is what we do

take a dinner plate and make a bed of either cooked rice or beans, or layer both if you like, add ground beef on top of that, then add cheese on top of that, then add tomatoes and peppers, and a dollop of sour cream, then sprinkle lightly with crushed red pepper

if I can ever get a picture before it is devoured I will, but no promises

What are some of your favorite winter comfort foods?

Today’s smoothie creation

in the blender I added

• 1/2 cup spring water
• 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 2 cups fresh blackberries
• 1 and a half frozen bananas
• 2 spoons Coconut Creme Concentrate

blend away, super yummy!

Thank you Mrs Sisse Pfieffer!

Get a big bowl of clean snow
In another large bowl mix:
1 to 2 C. sugar
1 to 2 tsp. vanilla flavoring
1 to 2 C. milk
1 to 2 raw eggs (optional)
After mixing those real well, taste to make sure that it is very sweet, because the snow will dilute the taste. If not real sweet, go ahead and add more sugar now. (It is hard to dissolve sugar after you add the snow.)
Start adding snow until you get the consistency and flavor you like.
ENJOY! ?

You will need

• refried beans
• grated cheese we like the Mexican blend
• sour cream
• guacamole
• diced onions
• diced tomatoes or salsa
• chopped fresh cilantro
• optional is cooked ground beef
• optional is cooked rice
• corn tortillas

Prepare your refried bean however you like, adding optional items if desired. For each serving, add beans then cheese then each topping as desired, usually after the cheese we add onions, sour cream, salsa then a spoon of guacamole and some cilantro. Remember anything fresh and green makes it look gourmet. We serve this with corn tortillas that have been cut in 1/4 ‘s and fried in hot oil and are served still warm.

This dish is a meal in itself.

This is just a menu idea would you like to see it made into an ebook with step by step instructions and pictures?

When it is cold or windy or rainy, ok I guess anytime except a hot summer day, I love soup!! My ultimate comfort food, well except for some dark chocolate. We have been working an a new soup book for my bookstore, a compilation of yummy soup techniques. This is what we did yesterday.

To our large crockpot we added

• diced raw potatoes
• chunks of broccoli tops
• 1 package of cream cheese cut in chunks
• a package of cooked bacon pieces
• enough whole (at our house fresh) milk to cover it all
• a dash or two of soul seasoning (healthy seasoned salt sort of)

we turned it on high and ran out the door to go get a horse, about 3-4 hours later we returned and served it up with a half cup grated cheese and a dollop of sour cream topping each serving. It was INCREDIBLE!!! I cannot wait to make it again and will probably add more veggies.

This is just a menu idea would you like to see it made into an ebook with step by step instructions and pictures?

This is another menu idea rather than an exact recipe. I will try to share our homemade spaghetti sauce in another post.

Basically you will need

• your choice of cooked pasta it doesn’t have to actually be spaghetti
• your choice of sauce, homemade is better
• Italian blend grated cheese
• Parmesan cheese, the grated kind in the cooler is better than the ground up stuff in the can
• bread homemade is best, slice it thick
• butter
• olive oil
• finely chopped fresh garlic
• fresh prepared salad

Prepare a spread for the bread using butter, olive oil, grated Parmesan and the garlic. Spread on each slice and broil just lightly.

On each plate add some cooked pasta, the top with sauce. Add some grated cheese, then sprinkle some Parmesan on top of that. If you have some fresh oregano or even parsley sprinkle a bit of it diced up on top. Green stuff always makes it look gourmet. Add your bread and a side salad, and  prepare to be pleased!

This is just a menu idea would you like to see it made into an ebook with step by step instructions and pictures?

Lately Georgia has been doing chicken a bit different. We don’t eat a lot of fried food but when we do it is homemade. I want to know exactly what is in it. She has perfected a chicken breast technique that can be used in lots of ways. These can be used for

• chicken sandwiches
• chicken biscuits
• sweet and sour chicken
• bbq chicken
• and more

She starts with boneless chicken breasts. Not some strange meat by-product that used to resemble a chicken, but real chicken breasts. If they are thick she will pound them out with a meat tenderizer. Then she cuts them in the desired sizes, sometimes she wants half a breast or sometimes just bite sized pieces.

She has two bowls already prepared, one with beaten eggs and one with seasoned flour, we like to use a local seasoning called soul seasoning, it is basically a seasoned salt with no msg.

She takes each piece of chicken and places it in the egg, then the flour then the egg again then the flour again, then fries in hot oil till golden brown.

It is incredible just like that and better than any chicken restaurant anywhere. But you could also place in a covered container with either sweet and sour sauce or bbq sauce and shake to coat. I love these on biscuits or with rice on the side.

This is just a menu idea would you like to see it made into an ebook with step by step instructions and pictures?