Grill Master

My husband is known around our house as 'king of the grill'. Before we were married he had a whole slew of different roommates, one of them was from Shreveport, Louisiana. It was that roommate, who taught him how to spice and cook lip smacking steak, pork, chicken, you name it!

The key to really good BBQ food is the seasoning. Jeremy likes to spice the heck out of the meat, but trust me, you will love it! We made some of the seasoning for my Father-in-Law for Father's day.

Jeremy's Amazing BBQ Seasoning - goes well on chicken, beef, pork, and burgers

Dry Ingredients:
*Tony Chachere's creole seasoning
*Onion flakes
*Garlic powder
*Crushed red pepper
*Coarse black pepper
*Dried basil
*Dried parsley

Wet ingredients:
*Hot sauce
*Olive Oil
*Avage Nectar or honey
*Minced fresh garlic

Combine the dry ingredients. You can eyeball the amount depending on the amount of meat you are cooking and to your particular taste. We LOVE garlic so we add more of the garlic powder than others might use. Rub the dry seasonings on the meat. Then add your hot sauce, olive oil, avage nectar and fresh minced garlic to coat. Next, fire up the grill and start bbqing. The result is amazingly spicy and sweet BBQ goodness. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. YUM!

No Hurry Veggie Curry

The slow cooker is an invaluable item in our house. It helps so much with our busy schedules, because it virtually does all the work for us, we just come home to a delicious meal ready to go!

On any week day when I would prepare this recipe it would be no problem to wait because I am busy at work and come home to the curry deliciousness. However, when I prepared it this past Saturday, I was home and it was so hard not to keep checking it so see if it was done. I got a craving for curry and just had to get my fill. When the time passed and the food was finally ready, this stuff sure hit the spot! I guess the saying is true, 'good things come to those who wait'!!

Good Eats

When Jeremy and I first started dating, I was attending a cooking class at a local grocery store with my Mom each week. Because of this I was able to impress him with my fancy shmancy cooking skills. That store has since stopped offering the class and my work and other responsibilities have made it hard to plan the same meals that I used to. My sweet and oh so caring husband has been making most of the food in our household as of late. In this period of our lives this set up just works for us. I do enjoy cooking, don't get me wrong, but after a long day of work AND the long commute home, a hot meal sitting on the table already prepared is such a blessing!

So when I do cook, I like a recipe that is fast and/or something I can prepare ahead of time and just pop in the oven when I get home. I'd have to say that most of the recipes I make these days have been found online, and more specifically from other bloggers. I have accumulated some favorites from these amazing gals and they are husband approved. :)

Baked Egg Casserole

Make Ahead Brunch Bake

Santa Fe Soup

Grilled Avocado with Tomato & Corn Salsa

And a new recipes for my bible study next week. YUM!

Cucumber Dill Spread

Real Simple: Entertaining & Cooking

Party planning is fun, but it can also be very daunting. Trying to stick within a budget, plan the perfect menu and then to actually make it all, can almost drive a girl crazy (and believe me, my husband has seen it happen.) I have discovered some easy entertaining tips and quick easy recipes that are a cinch to make and will impress your guests too!

My husband and I organize small get-togethers with the youth of our church as well as a christian apologetics meetings. Any excuse to try out some new recipes and make a pretty table-scape, I am down. But first...

Organization is key to make hosting a breeze. There are six questions to answer to get started: What is the date? How many guests will be there? What is the location? What type of party will it be? What is your budget? Is there going to be music or entertainment?

For our particular parties, we don't have too much involved but it still requires some delish food to share. This last weekend we had a game night on Saturday and then a belated Mother's Day celebration with the family on Sunday. Both days I tried out these simple yet tasty recipes.

Inspired by Ina Garten's recipe, these beauties took only have the work but sure tasted like the real deal. The secret is in the frosting. Homemade is always the way to go- none of this store bought stuff!

And the cupcakes themselves were equally as easy to make. All I had in the house was a box of Betty Crocker yellow cake mix but to turn my yellow cake into chocolate cake, I added 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the dry mix before adding the rest of the ingredients. You never would have known it was yellow cake. Put a nice dollop of the frosting on the cupcakes and voila, dessert perfection!

For our Mother's day dinner, I made spanish rice to go on the side. In the latest issue of "Everyday Food", Martha offers a simple recipe that is sure to please. I substituted the white rice for long grain rice and cooked it a little bit longer but it was oh so good. Jeremy asked me to make it again for his lunch this week. It must have been good for him to ask for it twice in one week! I was faced with a dilemma, however. I usually buy the tiny 6 oz. cans of tomato paste, but my husband bought the ingredients this time and he opted for the larger, 15 oz. can. What to do with all the leftovers? I certainly won't be using all the rest within the next week.

I looked around my kitchen and found these foil cupcakes trays. After using them to bake my dessert in, I cleaned them out and filled them with remaining tomato paste and stuck it in the freezer. After they have frozen, you can remove the pieces individually and put them in a bag. The next time you need one tablespoon of tomato paste, you don't even need to measure it. Just take one of your tomato paste balls from the freezer and drop it into the saute pan!

Party planning shouldn't be so involved that you can't even enjoy the celebration. Take some time to plan ahead and prepare for the big day, pick out some simple recipes and enjoy the party!

5-Star Chili

Do you want to make a delicious dinner that your family will LOVE? It's nothing fancy but it is oh so good. I served this at the game night we had a few weeks back with our friends from church and it was a hit.

The jalapeño peppers give it a kick so if you like spicy then this will make you a happy camper. If you don't like spicy then you can omit the peppers. My philosophy is: throw in or leave out whatever you want. Cooking is flexible that way and when you get back to the basics not only does it make it a heck of a lot easier, but it tastes fabulous!

What You Need!
1-1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 jalapeño peppers, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices
3 Tbsp. chili powder
1 can (14.5 oz.) fat-free reduced-sodium beef broth
2 cans (15 oz. each) kidney beans, drained, rinsed
2 cans (15 oz. each) stewed tomatoes
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Make It!
BROWN meat in Dutch oven or large deep skillet on medium heat; drain, if necessary. Add onions and jalapeno peppers; cook 5 to 7 min. or until tender, stirring frequently.

ADD all remaining ingredients except cilantro and cheese; stir. Reduce heat to low; cover. Simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

TOP with whatever you like: sliced avocado, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, sliced scallions, red onion, etc..

If you aren't in the traditional chili mood, you can try this delicious gem of a recipe. After you get past the fact that you are using Velveeta, you will enjoy a yummy dinner!

Dinner Improv

I didn't know being a newly married couple was going to make life so much busier! I used to be able to come home, leisurely make a nice meal & then enjoy it. Now it feels like I am running through the door only to continue to rush around to get me and my husband fed before it is time to go to bed and start it all over again in the morning!

In these often rushed moments, I have not been able to make the fancy meals I used to. I have begun to make 'experimental' dinners that surprisingly turn out great!

Just last week I was trying to figure out what to make with the ingredients we already had in the house. Flipping through the recipe books I stopped on scalloped potatoes. Only problem is we only had a few red potatoes left. We did, however, have a bunch of sweet potatoes. As you might have guessed, I used both red potatoes and sweet potatoes and added heavy whipping cream instead of the milk that it called for. A substitution here, switch there, and it turned into one of our favorite dishes!

Through the years I have learned the basics and now feel comfortable adding ingredients or omitting them if it sounds better to do so. Be brave and try it yourself. You may end up with a family favorite like we did!