Slow Cooker Chicken Nacho Soup

I went grocery shopping last night with my two kids. We didn't get to the store until 9 and I was worried that the store would be crowded and my kids would be wild. Turns out I love Friday nights at the store. It was dead, no cranky women (like there always are on Saturday afternoons), very friendly cashiers, and my kids were perfect. It helped that they were tired and too sleepy to run around acting crazy. All I know is that it was the best grocery shopping trip I have had with my kids in years. I told my husband this morning that I am switching my shopping to late on Fridays, if nothing else it will help to keep my sanity the rest of the weekend.

It's been soup season in my house. Our spring weather has been all over the place. One minute it's 90 and the next we have snow. My oldest told me that the weather is drunk this year, it definitely has been a little off. Since I love soup year round (even when it's hot, weird I know), I tried a new recipe for Chicken Nacho Soup from the April issue of the Food Network Magazine.

This recipe has 17 ingredients. It takes 8 hours and 20 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active, and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, I used homemade chicken broth. This is the method I use for most recipes, it saves money and cuts down on the amount of sodium. For the cheese sauce I allowed it to sit for approximately five minutes. This allowed it to thicken and made it easier to pour over the soup. Finally, I added the chicken at the beginning of the recipe. I prefer to cook my chicken in the soup adding flavor. The meat came out very tender, so there was no problem with toughness.

We are big soup fans in my house and this recipe went over well. It was mild enough for my kids to enjoy, but with enough flavor for my husband and I. You can adjust the amount of heat by removing (or not) the amount of jalapeno seeds. The recipe states that this dish makes 4 servings, but it was more than enough for my family of four with leftovers for the next day.

For the recipe go to Chicken Nacho Soup.

Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup

Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup

I have a ton of cookbooks. The bad thing is I never really use them. That's right I am horrible about using my vast supply of cookbooks. Most of them were either gifts or belonged to my mother. I love looking through them and finding ideas, but I really if ever actually follow a recipe from one. A great deal of it has to do with the fact that I find so many recipes on the Internet. Finding a recipe in a cookbook can involve looking through an index and flipping through multiple books. Most of the time I just want to find something quickly. That's where online recipes are great, I can type in the ingredients or recipe I am thinking of and thousands of recipes appear instantly. There are a few things that I prefer with cookbooks. My mother's handwritten notes and modifications being the biggest. Both my mother and grandmother loved their cookbooks and wrote in the margins with the changes that they made. There is such a sense of history and connection to these notes that they are a big part of the reason I love my cookbook collection. An online recipe can have reviews, but it has far less tangible history linking it to the past. Plus I still love the feel and smell of books. There is something so romantic about standing in the middle of a very old library, it feels perfect to me.

During the winter I make a large number of soups and stews. I am always cold in the winter and soups does a great job of warming me up. Last week I tried a new recipe for Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup from the January 2014 issue of Southern Living magazine.

Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 10 cups. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I make my own chicken broth. As I have stated numerous times before I prefer homemade stock since its inexpensive, lower in sodium and tastes better than store bought. Plus it is so easy to make! For the toppings I did not add chicken or tortilla chips. Instead I used cheese and served corn tortillas on the side.

The only thing I would change in this recipe would be to use a sweet or yellow onion instead of a red one. The red onion was a little strong, a sweet onion would be perfect. That aside my family liked this recipe. My husband thought it would be better with black beans instead of the squash, he isn't a fan of the current food trend of putting butternut squash in every soup recipe. The soup reheated very well the next day and made enough servings for two meals, which is always nice when following a food budget.

For the recipe go to Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup. 

Caramel Chicken

Caramel Chicken

Recently social media and I aren't getting along. This week has been especially bad, I think I need to just stay off-line. It seems that all anyone wants to do is argue. Someone will post that they like dogs and 5 different people will argue that cats are better. Everything seems to be a contest or argument.
My favorite this week has been all the arguing about whether is was a good idea for schools to close in negative zero degree days. It's great that you walked 50 miles to school in a snow storm growing-up, but honestly I don't really care. I know that sounds harsh, but reading rant after rant on one opinion or the other just makes me tired. My day is tiring enough, I don't want to debate every little thing online, it's tiring. I miss the days when people posted photos of their kids or a great recipe they found. Now everything seems to be about creating controversy in order to have a larger number of likes or page views. I miss when content was king, with social media out to make money now everything revolves around being seen and with that comes way too much drama for my tastes. Then again maybe I'm the only one that thinks it's a bad thing....

With the weather being cold I have been making soup left and right the this week. Unfortunately the light has been horrible to take photos and I just haven't been motivated. Thus, many of the great soup recipes that I have tried won't be on my blog (sorry!). I did make a great chicken recipe this week and that is what I'm sharing today. I tried a new recipe for Caramel Chicken from the October 2013 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 1 hour 45 minutes of total time, 1 hour and 15 minutes of which is active. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I only used chicken thighs instead of a mix of thighs and legs. My kids are on a chicken thigh kick and it's the only chicken piece they currently will eat. Finally, I used homemade chicken broth. I use homemade broth almost exclusively, the taste is much better and I can control the amount of sodium in my recipes.

My family absolutely loved this recipe. The caramel sauce turned out fantastic. I let my sauce cook down until it was nice and thick and then poured it over the chicken. The result was as good as the best Asian restaurant in our state (according to my husband who has loved the same restaurant in Beckley forever). This is a recipe I plan on making over and over again in the future. (Sorry that the photos is so horrible, the light has not been on my side in the last couple of weeks, hopefully it will be better the rest of the week!).

For the recipe go to Caramel Chicken. 

Bucatini with Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce

Spaghetti with Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce

Christmas seems to bring out the nasty in people. I try to keep my wits and attitude in check myself, but I oftentimes find myself sliding into a bit of the nasties as well. I think it's a combination of stress, stress, and more stress. As women and mothers we tend to put everyone else's needs above our own. The presents have to be perfectly picked out, the Christmas dinner fabulous. We stay up late making sure that our holiday cards are addressed, signed and out on time. Don't forgot the letters to Santa, outfits for dinner, photos, tree decorating, the list goes on and on. The more television, social media and general holiday overload works its way into our lives the more crazy we drive ourselves. I think all of us needs to just sit back and take a breath. If you are the woman that snapped at me because I was in front of you at the milk case, you might need another coffee or possibly a nap. My holiday wish for all of us is that we can all sleep in until noon, let somehow else take care of the kids and bask in our own awesomeness (even if most of us forgot to leave milk and cookies for Santa). Since we all know that won't happen I hope that each and every one of us can take a moment to look at our family and realize, it's okay if the turkey is still frozen at Christmas dinner, the presents can go into a bag, and most of all it's okay to have that 4th cup of coffee. The Christmas season is only another week and a half of chaos. We all will somehow make it through, hopefully without going crazy at people in the mall parking lot (myself included-why are there never enough spots!!).

I have been short on recipe posts in the last week thanks to offline responsibilities. However, I have still been baking and cooking new dishes so my readers will have posts to enjoy in the next couple of weeks. A couple of weeks back I tried a great new recipe for Bucatini with Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce from the November 2013 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine.

Snow in Huntington, WV

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 1 hour of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First I substituted spaghetti for the bucatini. My kids prefer spaghetti and I wanted to minimize dinner time food battles. I used 3 anchovies since the fillets that I had were small. Finally, I allowed the sauce and pasta to cook approximately 6 minutes in order for all the liquid to absorb.

Snow in Huntington, WV

This was a very popular recipe in my house. My husband and two boys were big fans of the sauce. I ate my sauce over fried polenta, which was also delicious. The nice thing about the sauce portion of the recipe is that it could be used with another pasta, over polenta or even over rice or chicken. It has a variety of uses, making it a nice recipe to have in your recipe collection.

For the recipe go to Bucatini with Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce.

http://www.foodieinwv.com/2013/12/bucatini-with-butter-roasted-tomato.html

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A simple recipe for pasta with a butter roasted tomato sauce. The sauce would also be delicious over polenta or with chicken. A versatile recipe!

Preparation Time: 0h, 20m

Total Time: 1h, 0m

Yield: Serves 4

Martha Stewart's Baked Ravioli Recipe

Baked Ravioli - Martha Stewart Website Recipe

I loved pasta growing up. I would come home from school, run for the fridge and eat anything I could find. One of my favorite foods was pasta and in particular ravioli. My mother would cook it for me at least once a week. She was always worried that I wasn't eating enough since I was rail thin growing up. My mother took me to the doctor multiple times thinking that I was sick or malnourished. I wasn't, I just didn't put on a lot of weight. Pasta was a food that she felt was hearty and I loved, so it was a great food match. I have carried on my pasta addiction with my two boys. They will take cold spaghetti out of the fridge and eat it straight from the container. No sauce, no butter, just the olive oil it was initially tossed with. Since my family loves pasta and I hadn't made any ravioli dishes in a very long time, I decided to give a new recipe a try. I tried the recipe for Baked Ravioli from the Martha Stewart website. It is as follows:

Everyday Food, September 2003  

http://www.marthastewart.com/331829/baked-ravioli

• Prep Time 25 minutes
• Total Time 50 minutes
• Serves 6

Ingredients

• • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme, or oregano
  • 1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes
  • 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
  • 2 pounds store-bought frozen ravioli
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, breaking up tomatoes with spoon, until sauce is thickened and reduced to about 5 1/2 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water just until they float to the top (pasta will continue to cook in oven). Drain pasta; return to pot.
3. Toss sauce with pasta. Pour pasta into a large gratin dish or 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and sprinkle with cheeses. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

Here are my modifications and review: 

First I used frozen beef ravioli. My husband isn't a fan of having cheese as the main protein of a dish, so I either add beans, tofu or meat to any dinner dish I prepare. I used dried oregano from my garden. Homemade dried herbs have a much better flavor and are fresher than store bought. Plus it's very easy to do just wash the fresh herbs, tie the ends with twine, hang upside down in a brown paper bag with air holes cut out and let dry for a week or two. Very easy. I found that I had to bake the ravioli a little longer than the recipe suggested. I ended up adding 2/3 cup of Parmesan on the top of the pasta the last 15 minutes. This added about 10 minutes to my cooking time in order for the sauce to fully thicken.

My kids absolutely loved this recipe. I did add a little bit of salt at the table, but my family is big on salt. Even my husband was won over by this dish. It was definitely a recipe that everyone in my house could agree upon. Obviously since I eat gluten free I couldn't taste the pasta, but it smelled so good! I did sample the sauce before the pasta was added and it had a nice sweet flavor.

For the recipe go to Baked Ravioli.

Recipe published with permission from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Baked Ravioli

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

Martha Stewart's Baked Ravioli Recipe. Plus a tip on how to dry your garden herbs.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 1h, 50m

Yield: Serves 6

Coffee Marinated Skirt Steak

Coffee Marinated Skirt Steak

The males in my house eat more cereal than I would think humanly possible. While I make most things from scratch cereal is one of the few exceptions. There is only so much granola one household can eat before they go a little crazy and want a box of Lucky Charms. My husband has always been a huge cereal eater. What I wasn't prepared for was that my two sons would follow suit. They can eat an entire dinner and still have room for a bowl of cereal for dessert. Now both of my boys are rail thin. The youngest was under weight until he hit 3 years old. Apparently large amounts of cereal does not correlate into gaining weight because if it did my two boys would be the size of a house. The other food that they are obsessed with is steak. When my youngest was two he started stealing food of my plate, mostly steak and seafood. He refuses to touch the kids menu so when we go out to eat we normally split a steak. That's right my 4 year old eats steak for dinner. I figure it has to be healthier than the fried chicken and macaroni on most restaurant kid's menu (they seem to always be loaded with fat and cheese!). I make a lot of flat iron and skirt steak at home since the cuts are inexpensive and they are so delicious grilled. This week I tried a new recipe for Coffee Marinated Skirt Steak from the August 2013 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

Where the Big Sandy and Ohio River Meet (Kenova, WV)

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 1 1/2 hours of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. For the Dijon mustard I used country Dijon. I love the texture and taste, it's great with steak. I honestly I forgot to cut the skirt steak into 4 pieces. The steak still fit at an angle onto my grill so it was fine. If you have never cooked skirt steak before there is a major step the magazine left out. You must take off the silver skin on the steak. I would love to say that it is always gone when you buy from the grocery store, but every time I have bought skirt steak from either the grocery store or big box stores it has to have the silver skin removed. Just make sure to check before you place the steak in the marinade. If you never let your meat sit before serving stop! Pork and beef really need to sit for at least 10 minutes of rest before being sliced. This allows the delicious juices to soak into the meat. If you miss this step all the great flavor will spill out the moment you cut into the meat. Resting after cooking makes all the difference I promise. Also as a side note, while this steak will look raw or underdone to many reading this post, skirt and flat iron steak stay red in the center. This steak is medium, medium rare for my husband and I and straight medium for my kids. Don't freak out if your skirt steak appears red, it will temp spot on. That's another reason why I love having a great thermometer. The thermometer I use is recommended by America's Test Kitchen (it's a little pricey at $100) and a great investment, no more overdone meat! This photo also is a little redder than in person due to lighting etc.

Virginia Point Park - Western Most Point in West Virginia (Kenova, WV)

This steak turned out very tender and had great flavor. Even my two picky boys loved the recipe and asked for seconds. This recipe would be great with mashed, roasted or baked potatoes on the side. Asparagus would be a great vegetable side, steak and roasted asparagus are great together.

For the recipe go to Coffee Marinated Skirt Steak.

Coffee Marinated Skirt Steak

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

With a sweet and savory flavor this recipe for Coffee Marinated Skirt Steak is easy to prep and very tender. Would be great for summer entertaining.

Preparation Time: 0h, 30m

Total Time: 1h, 30m

Yield: Serves 4

Turkey Burgers with Orange Mustard Glaze

Turkey Burgers with Orange Mustard Glaze

I have a horrible attention span. When I was younger it was much better. As I've gotten older it seems to have gone downhill. It's particularly bad with regards to books and television. I have a bad habit of watching part of a season of a tv show and then stopping. Since my husband and I rarely watch live television I am able to look up the ending to most of the past seasons of shows that I catch up on online. I tend to do the same with books. I will read 3/4 of a book and then skim the rest. Part of the problem is that I have very high expectations. I will read pretty much any book, but I get bored with bad writing very easily. Honestly, there have been only a handful of books, television shows and movies within the last 10 years that have been able to hold my attention for long. I'm not sure if it has to do with me getting older or plots getting worse. Either way my attention seems to be going rapidly downhill. Luckily cooking still holds my interest for hours at a time. That's part of the reason that I love it, it changes every time I make a recipe. Today I tried a new recipe for Turkey Burgers with Orange Mustard Glaze from the Food Network Magazine.

Marble Arch Huntington, WV

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First I did not make 6 - 1/2 pound burgers. That is a lot of meat and my two kids are in finicky eating stages currently. Instead I made 4 burgers and they were about 1/3 pound each. For the grilling I used my indoor electric grill, I am still waiting for my husband to fix our outdoor electric grill. I made my own hamburger buns and used heirloom tomatoes for topping. The only type of paprika I had in my cupboard was smoked paprika, so that is what I used.

Marble Arch Huntington, WV

The glaze for these burgers was delicious. It was a perfect combination of sweet and spicy. If you like your food on the mild side I would suggest seeding the jalapenos. You could also decrease or leave out the chili powder. My kids chose to eat their burgers with the pickles on the burgers instead of the glaze. It was a nice way to make the recipe kid friendly.

For the recipe go to Turkey Burgers with Orange Mustard Glaze.

Turkey Burgers with Orange Mustard Glaze

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A simple turkey burger recipe with orange jalapeno mustard glaze. A nice combination of sweet and spicy, plus lower in fat than beef burgers.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 0h, 40m

Yield: Serves 6

Tuscan Chicken and Beans

Tuscan Chicken and Rice

West Virginia has taught me to slow down. Growing up in Seattle everything was always busy. I woke-up early, I worked long hours and I was always stressed. When I moved to West Virginia I stuck out. I didn't understand why it took a week for my paper work to be processed for my apartment or that when I went in to my work study assignment that the office had taken Friday off. After 10 years I have learned to love taking things a little slower. This afternoon my husband and I took my two boys and our dog around taking photos. In typical summer fashion there was a large summer downpour. Everyone at the park ran to their cars and waited. No one pulled away, we just all watched the storm and took a moment. It was perfect. There are many things that can be frustrating about life, but learning to sit on your porch and enjoy the summer warmth, say hello to your neighbor and just relax is something that we could all do with a little more of. So thank you West Virginia for teaching me that sometimes it's okay to just sit and wait, most things can sit at least a few minutes. With slowing down in mind, I made a slow cooker recipe today. I tried a new recipe for Tuscan Chicken and Beans from the September 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

Camden Park Wayne County, WV

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 8 hours and 15 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. The major change I made to the original recipe was to make my own Greek seasoning. I try to cut costs as much as I can and making seasoning blends is much cheaper. I already had all the ingredients so it was easy to put together. Instead of using an additional 1/2 teaspoon of thyme I increased the amount of seasoning to 2 teaspoons. The Greek seasoning that I prepared already had thyme so I found it unnecessary to add more. At dinner time I was unmotivated to go down to my garden to pick fresh oregano, so I left it out. The taste was delicious without it.

Camden Park Sign Wayne County, WV

My kids who have been horrible about eating dinner recently, loved this recipe. They ate their entire plates, which for them is a big thing. My husband was also very impressed, especially since he has been burned out on chicken thighs, but was very pleased with them in this recipe. The flavors work very well together and the chicken is fall off the bone tender. The recipe would also work well with lamb instead of the chicken.

For the recipe go to Tuscan Chicken and Beans. (registration required)

Tuscan Chicken and Beans

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A slow cooker chicken thigh recipe for Tuscan Chicken and Beans. Great flavor and easy to prep.

Preparation Time: 0h, 15m

Total Time: 8h, 15m

Yield: Serves 6

Summer Vegetable Chili

Summer Vegetable Chili

My son is enamored with a pet rat. The first thing I heard as he got off the bus his first day of school was that his classroom had a new pet, a hairless rat. Apparently they are also getting two hamsters next week. He is obsessed now. At the library he wanted all books on rats and he talks about it constantly. I think it's pretty cute. We have three dogs and three cats, but we haven't had any small pets since before he was born. Before kids my husband and I had dwarf hamsters and I grew up with gerbils. I haven't allowed my boys to have any small pets yet, since they are a little small to be able to understand being gentle. Having a classroom pet is the perfect compromise. My oldest son feels an attachment and responsibility for a small animal and I don't have to do the daily care etc. I love it. With last week being the first week of school I didn't do a lot of cooking, but this weekend it's back to the kitchen. Today I tried a new recipe for Summer Vegetable Chili from the June 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

Owingsville, Kentucky

This recipe has 16 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few modifications to the original recipe. First I always use canola oil instead of vegetable oil, I prefer it for heart health. I bought regular frozen corn since I have never seen fire-roasted at the stores near me. Additionally I purchased regular beans and tomatoes not low sodium since the store I went to only had one variety. I cooked the beans on high for the 20 minutes of cooking time, watching it closely to ensure that it did not burn. Using a dutch oven is a great way to make chili, it heats evenly and is big enough to make big batches. I found that I had to add more salt at the table, but that is more of a personal preference, if you like food with less salt it would be fine as written.

Country Roads Kentucky

The mushrooms in this recipe really made the dish. They allowed for the chili to have a lot of flavor. Plus my husband who isn't a big fan of vegetarian chili really liked this recipe. With the mushrooms it was definitely more male friendly. My two boys were skeptical, but after tasting it they ate their whole bowls. The recipe states that it only makes 4 servings, but after my family of 4 had a dinner sized portions there was more than enough for at least another meal.

For the recipe go to Summer Vegetable Chili.

Summer Vegetable Chili

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

An easy vegetarian chili recipe that has great flavor from the addition of portobello mushrooms. Makes enough servings for multiple meals.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 0h, 40m

Yield: Serves 4

Baingan Bharta: Eggplant Curry

Eggplant Curry

For the last week my husband has been off work for vacation. Now for most people this would be a good thing. While I enjoy spending time with my husband I am ready for him to go back to work. I have a clear system to my weekdays. Everyday I get up and have my cup of coffee and spend about 1/2 just by myself until my kids wake up. Then the day goes pretty much the same until my husband gets home. Summers are harder since both of my kids are home all day. I prefer the school year where my oldest goes to the bus at 7:30 and it's just my youngest and I the rest of the day. I have always been this way. While some people like things to happen as they come, I'm a planner. I prefer things to be planned out and know far ahead of time before the event happens. All this ties in with my husband being on vacation. It spells more housework for me and a rift in my everyday flow. Most of all I am exhausted from his vacation and need a week to recover. I think I need a vacation from my husband's vacation. Since my husband has been home for the last week I have been trying to make a larger variety of foods. Last week I tried a new recipe for Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry) from the new All Recipes magazine.

Roses at Ritter Park Rose Garden Huntington, WV

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 50 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 3 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I doubled the recipe. One eggplant would not have been enough to feed my family of four. I did only use one seeded jalapeno, instead of doubling the amount to two since my two boys aren't fans of spicy foods. I allowed the onions to fully caramelize before following the remainder of the recipe. Caramelized onions have a great taste and I love using them in recipes. I allowed my veggies to cook on medium with the lid on for 10 minutes. The eggplant that I used was large and it didn't fully cook during the oven baking time so the additional cooking time allowed it to soften. 

Roses at Ritter Park Rose Garden Huntington, WV

My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe. While it does not photograph well, it tasted delicious. The eggplant taste was mellow and not overpowering. My two kids tried it, but they weren't too impressed. The recipe is definitely more adult friendly. It's a nice way to have curry at home without having to pay for expensive take out or restaurant food.

The rose pictures are from the rose garden at the park by our house. My kids love visiting it and my husband and I actually were married in it 10 years ago in August. It really is a beautiful place to visit!

For the recipe go to Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry).

Regional Food Trends: Kentucky Beer Cheese

Kentucky Beer Cheese

Each state has at least one signature food. West Virginia is the home of the pepperoni roll. If you have never had one, they are delicious. A sweet, yeasty roll with pepperoni and sometimes mozzarella or pepper jack cheese. Growing up in Seattle everything revolved around salmon and pan-Asian food. I learned to make sushi when I was 9 and still love it to this day. Where you grow up has a large influence on the types of food you eat and what you learn to cook. When I moved to West Virginia I had no idea how to cook southern food. I had never made a biscuit in my life and I had only made gravy from a can. After meeting and marrying my husband I turned to my mother-in-law for help. Over the past 10 years I have learned to make all the foods my husband loves. My husband's side of the family lives in Kentucky and he is obsessed with Kentucky foods. He is obsessed to the point he stocks up on Ale 8 when we go to the grocery store on the other side of the river. One of his favorite regional foods is Kentucky Beer Cheese, so I tried a new recipe for it this week.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 15 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 16 servings. My husband made the majority of this recipe and he made a few changes. I had to help him use the blender since I don't think he had ever used it before. He was a fast learner though. For the cheddar he used extra sharp cheddar, PBR beer, 3 cloves of garlic, Tabasco and a slight amount of horseradish. When I blended the cheese in the blender I added it in batches, putting the beer in first. After the cheese was blended I let it sit overnight in the fridge for the taste to mellow.

The first day this cheese is made it's pretty strong. However, by the second day it's perfect. I would suggest cutting the garlic down to only 2 cloves and my husband thinks that it would be better with Yuengling beer. It is great served with crackers or spread on a toasted baguette.

Does your region have a food that it is known for? (I love finding out about regional foods!).

For the recipe go to Kentucky Beer Cheese. 

Summer Slow-Cooker Meals: Spicy Pumpkin Chili

Slow Cooker Spicy Pumpkin Chili

There are days I get burnt out as a stay-at-home mom. This has been one of those weeks. I love my kids and spending time at home with them everyday. However, there is also the flip side. I started working as an intern when I was 17. I stayed at the company for 7 years until I moved to West Virginia. During grad school I worked three jobs, including teaching a class. I met my husband and got married during my master's program and have stayed home since. Then there are the moments when you realize all the things that your high-school friends that got married and had kids later have accomplished. Some of them have been very, very successful. There is always that awkward situation when everyone that I knew back in Seattle talks about how smart and successful I was when I was younger. I know they don't mean it the way it comes out, but it still gives me pause. My husband thinks that I should start claiming that I work at home since I blog and take care of the household. Maybe he's right. I can always hope that one day my blog will become vastly successful, but we all know that's unrealistic. In the meantime I remind myself that my kids are growing up surrounded by my love and knowledge. That's enough rambling for now, onto the cooking! This weekend I chose to keep my cooking simple and I relied on my slow cooker. I tried a new recipe for Spicy Pumpkin Chili from the new All Recipes magazine.

This recipe has 18 ingredients. It takes 1 1/2 hours of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 10 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I allowed my chili to cook in the slow cooker for 4 hours on low. I like my flavors to fully come to fruition so I increased the total cooking time. It would also work well on the stove in a dutch oven or a big pot with a lid. I was unable to find my crushed red pepper flakes, so I was forced to leave them out. Finally, I used a full 8 ounces of tomato sauce with garlic. I also found that I needed to add more salt than the 1 teaspoon suggested by the recipe.

My husband liked that this recipe has the health benefits of pumpkin without the taste being overly noticeable. He isn't a big fan of pumpkin, but he was surprised by how much he enjoyed this recipe. I love pumpkin and chili so this was a dish I really liked. It made a very big batch, more than enough for at least 10 servings. For the servings for my kids I added cheese and sour cream. They aren't big chili fans so these additions made them willing to eat their bowls. If you like your chili on the spicy side I would suggest adding jalapenos or a bit of cayenne. Since I cook with my kids in mind I always try to have my recipes be on the mild side.

For the recipe go to Spicy Pumpkin Chili.

Wanting to Escape the Heat and Think of Cooler Weather: Try Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce

Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce

Fall is my favorite time of the year. The weather is cooler, without being cold and the leaves turn beautiful colors. Best of all are the fall foods. I love anything involving apples or pumpkin. Since we are in the middle of the heat of summer it can be a little hard to want to cook. The humidity has been very high and the temps were in the 90's today. Needless to say it doesn't make me want to cook. It leaves me thinking of all the great things to come in the fall. So I decided to try some fall like foods for dinner tonight. I tried a new recipe for Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce from the new All Recipes magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I followed the recipe mostly as written. I make my own chicken broth since it allows me to control the amount of salt (and it tastes better). While the original recipe uses butter I substituted extra virgin olive oil. I prefer cooking with olive oil since it is healthier for the heart. Since Vidalia onions are in season that is the type I used in this recipe. They really are delicious. I allowed my onions to caramelize before adding the pumpkin. I hate half cooked onions in recipes, it turns me off.

If you are making this for more than two people you really need to double the amount of sauce. As written it was barely enough for three small sized portions. My husband likes lots of sauce and this needed more to fully coat the pasta. I liked that the chipotle peppers gave it a nice kick, if you like spicy foods you can increase the amount or seed the peppers to reduce the spiciness.

For the recipe go to Pumpkin Chipotle Pasta Sauce.

Perfect For Summer Grilling Season: Grilled Chicken Thighs with Cucumber Mint Salad Recipe

Grilled Chicken Thighs with Cucumber Mint Salad

There are weeks I love complex meals. I will spend hours in the kitchen making the perfect recipe. Then there are days like today where I want simple comfort food. Hence why I currently have pinto beans in the crock pot and I will be making cornbread later in the afternoon. There is something about the beginning of summer that makes me want to have something warm and comforting one more time before the weather and humidity make me want nothing more than cold iced tea and lemonade. To me pinto beans are not only part of what I love about West Virginia, but they make me remember what I love about food and cooking, sometimes the simplest of dishes are the best. One simple dish that I love in the warm summer months is salad. Cold side salads are such a great option, they are cool and refreshing. Last week I tried a new recipe for Grilled Chicken Thighs with Cucumber Mint Salad from the June 2013 issue of Eating Well magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 35 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make changes to the original recipe. First since I have three males to feed I doubled the recipe. One chicken thigh for each person just wouldn't have cut it. I think I may be the only food blogger that does not have a mortar and pestle, so for the garlic paste I used the side of a knife. I use this method frequently and it is a perfect substitute. My outside grill is still out of commission so to cook the chicken thighs I used my indoor electric grill. It would also work well under the broiler.

To me the star of this dish was the cucumber salad. It was light and the perfect palate cleanser for the chicken thighs. The flavor of the rub on the chicken was great and would work well with other cuts of chicken (such as breasts) or even fish. At under 2 dollars a serving this is an inexpensive meal option for summer.

For the recipe go to Grilled Chicken Thighs with Cucumber Mint Salad.

Recipe for Flavorful Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala Over Rice

I love to shop local. There are so many great things about buying food that is made/grown close to where you live. I would love it if we had a big farm where I could raise and grow everything that I ever wanted, but until that day comes I grow what I can and buy the rest. I am a firm believer that buying local in not only great for supporting the local economy, but much better for the environment. This weekend I was able to find great heirloom popcorn at a shop in our area. It is run by volunteers and provides  fresh and packaged foods from local producers. My kids love going and seeing the new items that they have each week. There are some foods that I am unable to find locally, such as certain spices for ethnic dishes. For these items I either have friends send them to me or I order online. I grew up eating Indian food since my father worked with a number of nurses from south India and I love it. Last week I tried a new recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala from the April 2013 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

This recipe has 18 ingredients. It takes 5 1/2 hours of total time, an hour of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. I was unable to find chiles de arbol so I followed the recipe suggestion and used crushed red pepper. Cardamom pods are hard to find around here, so I left them out. For the marinading time I allowed the full 6 hours. My oven broiler has been broken for a while so I used my toaster broiler setting instead. The chicken did not blacken as well as it would have in the oven, but it still came out decent.

Even though the time required to prepare this recipe is long, the outcome is worth the wait. The recipe turned out delicious and the step were relatively easy. This dish was particularly popular with my husband, who loves Indian food, but is never able to order it as often as he would prefer.

For the recipe go to Chicken Tikka Masala.

Easy 10 Minute Recipe for Spicy Shrimp Marinara

Spicy Shrimp Marinara Over Spaghetti

Tomorrow will mark the first day of summer for me. My oldest son will have his last day of school and I will no longer have to do the daily running out the door before we are late for school routine (at least for a couple of months). Plus there will be trips to my in-laws house and peace and quiet for me for at least a few days. I might actually be able to catch up on some reading and get ahead on blog posts. However, my oldest claims that I am a mean mommy since I insist on work books throughout the summer months. I have high expectations for my children and I hate the idea of them losing knowledge through the summer. Another sign of summer in my house is the arrival of lots of seafood dishes. My kids are big fans of shrimp and I try to make it at least once every couple of weeks, especially during the warmer months. Last week I tried a new recipe for Spicy Shrimp Marinara from the Everyday Food insert of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

This recipe has three ingredients in the marinara and five in the main recipe. It takes 10 minutes of total time (not including the time to make the marinara), all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First since I was serving 6 people (my in-laws were in town) I doubled the recipe. I also chose to leave out the red pepper flakes and add them at the table for individual servings. My father-in-law doesn't enjoy spicy foods, so doing the red pepper flakes in this manner allowed everyone to eat the recipe. I served my portion over gluten free ziti and the rest of the servings over spaghetti for the remainder of my family.

Everyone that tried this recipe loved it. The flavors were delicious and the recipe is beyond easy. I allowed my garlic to caramelize, which created a nice undertone to the dish. For anyone trying this recipe I would suggest doing this modification as well. This is a nice simple recipe that would work well year round.

For the recipe go to Spicy Shrimp Marinara.

Recipe for Grilled Chicken Salad with Tahini Yogurt Dressing and Fresh Mint

Grilled Chicken Salad with Tahini Yogurt Dressing and Fresh Mint

With the weather getting warm this week grilling season is definitely coming. My husband still has our charcoal grill in the basement with the promise that he will be fixing it up soon. Since it has sat downstairs for two years I am beginning to think that he is lacking motivation. Of course I could work on it, but my to do list is long enough that adding anything to it just wouldn't happen. Since my outdoor grill is out of commission I utilize my indoor electric grill or my stove top grill pan. Both are great options and I use them frequently. The beginning of summer in my household also means cold salads and sides. I love combining grilled meats and cold salads into one recipe. This week I tried a new recipe for Chicken Salad with Tahini Yogurt Dressing from the June 2013 issue of Food and Wine magazine.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First I used 2% Greek yogurt instead of whole fat yogurt. As I talked about in the intro I used my indoor electric grill to make the grilled chicken thighs. I am not a fan of hot chicken salad, especially in the warmer months so I allowed the salad to sit in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving. This allowed the chicken to cool and made for a better flavor. Finally, I served the salad over white rice. It would also work well with flatbread.

Yogurt dressing is always popular in my household. We also are big fans of grilled chicken. However, this recipe only received an okay from my family. The thighs were almost too moist for the rest of the salad. There was a lot of flavor in the recipe, which I liked, but it didn't stand out from other chicken with yogurt sauce recipes. I would suggest increasing the amount of chipotle, adding a small amount of cumin and serving the salad with Naan or pita bread. Making it more like a wrap or sandwich would help the recipe be even better.

For the recipe go to Chicken Salad with Yogurt Tahini Dressing.