Household 6 Challenge

One of the main reasons for starting this blog, besides my love for cooking/baking, was that a friend started up a military spouses online cooking club.  She is posting a challenge each month for each of us to work on, then we are to show our results.  This month it had to do with an MRE and what we would like to see in one.  I decided a good ol fashioned Sunday dinner with BBQ ribs, potato salad, baked beans, grilled garlic bread and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  I stated in the very beginning that I don't measure much of anything when I cook, only when I bake.  I guess I need to maybe start paying better attention to amounts if I want to share things ; ) .  Anyway, here is my meal...hope you enjoy!

I have found, after living in Texas for 6 yrs, that the meat here is not all that tender...so, I have come up with ideas to help it along a bit.  Before grilling, I will either pre-bake or boil it so that it is partially cooked before putting it on the grill.  Here are my ribs.  I actually put them in the roaster since I had a large batch to do.  I sprinkled them with pepper, garlic powder, paprika and very little kosher salt.

I let them cook for a couple of hours on 250 degrees

I then pop them on the grill for about 3 min per side.  Enough time to get some nice grill marks and a bit of grill flavor.

I then take them off of the direct heat, add the BBQ sauce and let them set for another few minutes on the top rack.

Nothing like Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ....yum!

Potato salad is such a great summertime food!  Although, I do make it year round.  Depending how many I am going to feed, or if I want leftovers for the week, that dictates the number of potatoes that I will use. I will peel them and dice them before cooking.  Just my thing, you can cook them whole then dice later.

For this batch, I used about half an onion, diced.

Sweet relish, yellow mustard and coarse ground mustard.

After the potatoes are cooked and drained, I add them to the mixture while still warm.  I think they absorb the flavors better.  I add my Miracle Whip until its not dry. 

I think I used about 6 eggs.  I let them cook with the potatoes. 

Yummy potato salad...you can season with salt and pepper to your liking. 

Found some great strawberries at the commissary.

sliced them up for dessert.  added a bit of sugar to help them along a bit

The boy decided instead of shortcakes, he wanted angel food cake.  I cheated and made one from the box, but they are still tasty!

Strawberry shortcake

Grilled garlic bread

And our finished meal.  A taste of home that can't be beat.

Needing to catch up!

I got this blog started and have already fallen behind.  I have done some cooking/baking but it's been rather scattered.  Work has been keeping me very busy!  but it's all good : )  I did make jambalaya the other night, one of my youngests favs, and one that I truly enjoy myself. It's so simple and a one pot dish, makes is easy for a quick weeknight dinner.

If you know me personally or follow me on here for any length of time, you will learn I don't really measure when I am cooking....baking is another story!  I am fairly precise with my measurements when I bake. 

I started off cooking my rice.  I know some, when they make jambalaya, will cook their rice with the other ingredients, but I don't. I pre-cook it then add the rest of the dish.  I added pepper, Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder and some cumin in the water with the rice. I don't use a lot of salt in my cooking, especially in this dish as there is plenty in the ingredients that I use.



While the rice cooked, I prepared the rest of the ingredients that I would be adding.  I was out of the sausage I normally use, so I improvised.  I am also the queen of improvising  LOL  I dug through my goodies and found I had a package of turkey smokies...bingo! 

I usually add the onion about halfway through the cooking time for the rice...I still want a little crunch in the finished dish.  When I cut it, I leave it in a bit bigger than bite size pieces...I want to see it!

Peeled the shrimp and took off the tails, but these don't go in until the very end.

I use one can of red beans and one can of black beans.

One can of fire roasted diced tomatoes and a tablespoon or two of tomato paste and let simmer for about 5-10 minutes

In go the sausage

Simmer at least 10 minutes to make sure everything is heated through....although, it is even better if it can cook longer. 

Last minute add is the shrimp.  Another 5-10 min of simmering and.....

you have the finished product.  I normally make cornbread to go with this.  Sometimes I add jalapenos to it and other times I just do plain.  This night, nobody wanted it so I didn't make it.  Even with the substitute of the smokies, it still turned out great!



Blogging??

Ok, seems these days everyone is blogging.  They blog anything from food, to crafts, to family news to whatever comes to mind.  Me, I never thought I would be a "blogger", yet here I am starting one.  Do I have any idea what I am doing??  No  Will I have any followers?? Who Knows  How did this come about??  A friend suggested it, so I took the bait!  

The main content of this blog will be about food as I love to cook and bake.  I may toss some of my other interests in now and again just because, but food will be the focal point.


Guess I need to start by finding a layout and go from there.  Patience is a virtue, right? 


Wish me luck!