So I'm super excited! But before I tell you what I'm excited about, I should probably tell you the story behind it. So last night my brother comes home with some freshly boiled Louisiana-style crawfish (can we say YUM?). It was kinda late so my dad and I (my mom does not eat seafood) weren't really hungry. I go outside to peel a few and my brother informs me that my dad wants crawfish etouffee for dinner the next day. So my brother and I got a little bonding time as we proceeded to peel all the crawfish (and sneaking a few to eat in the process). I proceed to look through several recipe books last night and today. I can say that this recipe is 100% mine! I just kinda looked at the standards in every recipe and then tweaked it to make it my own! I don't have a lot of my own recipes so I'm super excited about it! And it tasted really good too! But I'm getting ahead of myself...
Without further ado...
Crawfish Etouffee
1 stick butter
1 cup frozen seasoning blend (contains onions, bell peppers, celery)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
2 cups of cooked, peeled crawfish tails
1 cup water
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 tablespoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons dried onions
2 tablespoons Cajun Seasoning
1 teaspoon ground pepper
Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the seasoning blend (or you can use fresh vegetables- I just didn't have any) and garlic. Cook until veggies are soft. Add crawfish tails and cook for 5 minutes, allowing crawfish to soak up some of the butter flavor.
Add remaining ingredients and cook until sauce forms. I served mine over rice but I think it would taste good over some linguine pasta too! Enjoy!
I thought it tasted really good and my dad enjoyed it too. My mom said it smelled really good but as soon as I said it had crawfish in it she refused to try it. Overall, I think it was a really good recipe and I can't wait to try it again!
Monday night, I noticed some chicken leg quarters defrosted in the fridge. When I asked my dad about them, he said we needed to cook them. So I started thinking about a recipe for chicken that didn't require me to debone them and all that. And then I remembered reading this recipe in a recent issue of Simple and Delicious (I got a subscription for Christmas!). It was pretty yummy so I thought I'd share the recipe. You can find the original here.
Honey Mustard Chicken
(Photo complements of Simple and Delicious)
Ingredients - 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup prepared mustard
- 1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 1-1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 6 chicken drumsticks
- 6 bone-in chicken thighs
Directions
- For sauce, in a small bowl, combine the first nine ingredients. Set aside 1/2 cup for serving. Place chicken in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan; brush with remaining sauce.
- Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 180° and chicken juices run clear, basting occasionally with pan juices. Warm reserved sauce; serve with chicken. Yield: 6 servings.
Keeping Picky Eater #1 and #2 (mom and brother) in mind, I split the recipe in half. 3 chicken leg quarters were cooked honey mustard style. I set the other 3 in a pan and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, seasoning salt, Tony's Cajun Seasoning, and some dried onions. I added a little olive oil when it was cooking to add a little moisture.
On another note, I just wanted to share this blog that I follow. Blueberry Moon has some super cute craft ideas and some YUMMY recipes! And she has another blog with encouraging scriptures and I think that's a really great idea!- Faith S.O.S.
Well that's all for today. I have to get moving... Oh the joys of nursing school!
Ok so my weakness... Mexican food! Mmmm I love it! Just thought I'd share this recipe for enchiladas I make. I kinda pulled from other recipes to come up with this one. There's no pictures for this one because A. I didn't think about it and B. It's isn't very pretty. But it tastes really yummy!
Cheesy Enchiladas
Beef Mixture
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt & Pepper to season
1 cup shredded cheese (whatever kind you like- I used mexican blend)
Cook the ground beef, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper until the meat is browned at the onions are tender. Drain. Add the cheese, mix together, and set aside. You can add as much cheese as you like depending on how "cheesy" you want it! I love lots of cheese so I usually add more...
Sauce
8 oz Velveeta cheese
1/2 cup milk
1 can Rotel tomatoes, drained
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Melt together on the stove until relatively smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. Resist the urge to get out tortilla chips and use it as dip. Mmmm...
Tortillas
12 corn tortillas
canola oil
While the sauce is melting, pour a small amount of canola oil (about 1/4 cup) in a skillet. Heat over the stove. Cook each tortilla a few seconds on each side in the oil. Be careful not to cook it too long or they get too crispy and you can't roll the tortillas easily. Drain on a paper towel. Add more oil as necessary.
Place some of the beef mixture in the center of a tortilla. Roll into a tube and place seam side down in a baking dish. Continue, using all the tortillas and beef mixture. Pour the sauce over the rolled tortillas. Cover with foil and place in a preheated 350* oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Remove from oven and enjoy!
This one's a pretty big hit with my family. My dad recommends more seasoning in the meat so you might consider adding some taco seasoning or something for a little kick!
