BBQ Ribs

I don't think I have ever tasted a better BBQ sauce than this one.  My girlfriend made them for us a few years back, and I have loved making this sauce ever since.  This by passes anything in the bottle! My favorite thing is to pour this over grilled chicken. YUMMY. It goes great with anything that you would use BBQ sauce for. 

For Memorial Day, we grilled some ribs.  They were delicious!  Here is how I seasoned and cooked the ribs.  And also the recipe for the BBQ sauce.  Enjoy!

BBQ Ribs

For the ribs-

Clean off the membrane on the back of the ribs nest to the bone. It should rip off.  Dust ribs with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Then generously dust them with season salt.  Rub the seasonings into the meat.  I mean really massage them into the meat.  It works the flavor down into it instead of just the surface. 

Place on a cookie sheet and back in the oven at 200 for about 4 hours.  (low and slow will help it be tender) When cooked through, preheat your grill to low and place ribs on the grill.  Top rack is best. Again low and slow.  Grill until outside is crisp and golden.  Top with BBQ sauce grill for a minute or two on each side, to caramelize. Top with more sauce if desired.

BBQ Sauce

1 medium yellow onion

4 cloves garlic minced

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp dry mustard powder

1/2 -1 tbsp pepper

Slice onion into quarter inch thick slices.  Place on a cookie sheet and broil on low in oven until golden brown.  Put into sauce pan. Add all other ingredients. Bring to a boil. Turn down low and cover. Simmer for 30 min. Stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine colander.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Tip: depending on how spicy you like your sauce... add pepper accordingly. 1 Tbsp of pepper makes it pretty zippy.  Not too much to bug my kids though :) 

The Perfect Hard Boiled Egg

My desire for this blog, is to help others feel more confident in the kitchen.  I have been cooking all my life but really found my confidence in following other food blogs and trying new things. I decided that I wanted to help others the way that it helped me.  I have talked to many people who don't know much about the basics in the kitchen. Cooking is not one of those things that you were born knowing.  We all have to start at the beginning. My goal is to post even the little things that make a big difference in the kitchen. A confident chef is a happy chef!

I don't pretend to know everything about cooking or baking. I just want to share what I have learned.  When in doubt. Google it!!! That is how I have found a lot of my information.  Like how to boil the perfect egg.  My husband and I were talking about how sometimes our eggs peel really nicely and other times they are a pain to peel. So we looked it up.  The number one key to boiling the perfect hard boiled egg is using eggs that are at least 5 days old.  They peel perfectly and easily every time. I wanted to pass on what I learned with you.  I got the info for this at Simply recipes.  I usually just boil them for 10 minutes instead to the way that they do it. They still turn out great.

Place desired amount of eggs (single layer) into a pot. Add cold water, enough to cover the eggs by at least 1-2 inches. Make sure that they are at least 5 days old.  Farm fresh eggs won't peel very well. Add about 1/2 tsp to your water. This will help them peel easier too. Bring water to a boil. Boil 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. (they can sit in the hot water for a bit.)Run under cold water to cool and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Homemade Tamales

Tamales are one of my favorite foods.  I was so sick of spending an arm and a leg to buy them, so I called up a friend of mine and asked her to show me how to make them.  Wow! I called the right woman. She can whipped these puppies out like there is no tomorrow!  I'm so glad that I called her. She showed me some major short cuts.  One of which, was ditching the part where you fold both ends and tie them with twine.  She also cuts out TONS of the lard. She told me that most people use way too much and you only need enough to make the masa stick. I also LOVE that she flavors her masa.  It adds so much more umph to the tamale. I changed up the recipe a little bit, to use things that you can find in the normal grocery store.

For the masa- just get any of the dried masa in a bag you find in your local store. Usually near the flour. If you find some that is already moist (Some stores have it that way), you can still use it, just add all ingredients except for most of the chicken broth.  Just use enough broth to get the consistency to be like creamy mashed potatoes.

A little bragging note for me.  My husband loves to take Tamales to work for his lunch.  He has some guys at work who were poking fun at him, that his wife made tamales.  He told them just to try a bite.  Immediately they quit teasing and said, that the tamales were way better than their wives tamales. Ahhh, that made me feel like a million bucks. he he he

Don't get intimidated by making these.  I've tried to do a detailed step by step guide for you. With pictures. As always, you are free to email me with any questions or post on our wall on Facebook if you get stuck. I'll respond asap. You don't need to buy any fancy spatulas, or pots.  All you need is a pot that you can steam things in.  I use my spaghetti pot, because it has a colander in it that is raised from the bottom. If you don't have something like this, the tamale pots are pretty cheap.

This time, I made green chile chicken ones.  Flavor your meat, however you like it.  This flavor of masa goes with anything. This is also a batch that makes about 80 regular sized tamales. It's way better to make a ton at once and freeze them. So if you don't want that many, the recipe can easily be cut in half.  Or even doubled. I made them 4 days ago and they are already half gone!  I should have doubled it!!!  My 16 month old will frequently eat two in one sitting.  Needless to say, they are a huge hit in our little family.

Homemade Tamales



Green Chile Chicken- 

16 cups (about 8-9 lbs) chicken cooked and shredded

3 (7 oz) cans green chilies

1 Jar  Salsa Verde (I use Herdez)

1 cup chicken broth

1 tbsp salt

Masa

9 cups masa

2-32 oz boxes chicken broth minus 1 cup

1 cup lard melted

1 can el pato (I used the green one)

1 lg can stewed tomatoes

6 bay leaves

3 tbsp dried parsley

2 tbsp salt

4 roasted tomatoes

Corn husks

Optional add ins- Green olives, jack cheese (I like Monterey) roasted Anaheim peppers,(my hubby loved these in it!) sliced potato(i don't use)

First: flavor the chicken (or other meat) I like to put all of my chicken into a crock pot and cook it. Then drain most of the juice (keep a little bit to keep the meat moist) then add the flavors(green chiles etc). 

Second- roast your tomatoes.  Just do it in a skillet.  You just want to blister the edges and crisp it up a bit.  It adds a little roasted flavor to your masa.  Not a necessary step but I like it.  (when you toss them into the blender, just leave the peels on. No need to take them off)   

Optional: You can also roast your Anaheim peppers this way too. Then slice them up in strips and add them to the tamale before you close it up. (adds some yummy flavor!!!)

Start you lard melting. In a small pan on low heat, melt lard.  (PS.  I only used 1/2 cup lard and they turned out pretty well but could have used a bit more, to keep the tamale in tact. So that is why I put one cup)

Add, el pato, stewed tomatoes, bay leaves, parsley, salt, and roasted tomatoes to a blender and blend well.   Pour it into a large bowl with your 9 cups of masa in it. Add melted lard and then add broth until you get the consistency of creamy mashed potatoes.  Mix well. Don't be afraid to taste it.  You'll want to make sure that you like the flavor before you spread it on the husks. Feel free to add more salt, or whatever you like. My daughter (16 mo old) loved eating this by the spoon full!

 Next- soak your corn husks. (remove all of the little hairs and the tiny or ripped pieces)  Immerse husks in a large bowl of hot/warm water for about 3 minutes. This allows them to soften up so that you can work with them. 

Next- with the back of a spoon, or a spatula, spread a thin layer of masa on the pre-soaked husk. You can go right to the edges if you want, except for the edge that comes to a point.  Leave a couple inches without the masa so you can fold that end over. The masa will double in thickness when cooked, so you don't have to spread it very thick.

If you have a couple of thinner pieces, you can overlap them like this.  Also this works well if you like your tamales really huge. Just use bigger pieces and overlap them.

In the center, place chicken, and other desired add-ins. I definitely suggest adding cheese. It moistens the meat and adds some good flavor.  We love the olives too.

Roll the tamale and fold up the pointed edge.

Stack tamales in a steamer like this.   You can pack them in there pretty tight.  Just make sure that the open end is up. Cover and steam for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 min. Until masa gets a little rubbery and starts to pull away from the husk. If you are doing larger tamales, you will need to steam them longer.  Make sure to check your water level frequently. It depends on the pot you use, but I have to add water about every 15 minutes, because it's kind of small. The water will steam out and burn the bottom kind of easy (again depending on the pot) Burnt flavored tamales... not so tasty!  So watch your water!!!

When they are done steaming, I like to place them on a cookie sheet to cool. The masa will continue to firm up and dry a little bit too. 

Keep in the fridge for about 3 days or freeze in freezer bags. (just microwave 1 for about 3 minutes from frozen.)

Tip:  You can freeze the tamales before steaming, and then steam them when you want to use them in the future. 

Tip: if you want to use beef or pork and make a red tamale... Just flavor the meat with the masa flavoring (minus the broth)

Tip: If you run out of husks or can't find them in the store, you can do them NY style. My friend just used aluminum foil instead of the husks, when she lived in NY. They couldn't find husks there.

Delicious Baked Beans

I have to admit, making homemade baked beans has always intimidated me. There are a few things that I have always avoided making, because of intimidation. And because they are just so much easier to pull from the box or the can. Because of this blog, I've jumped to higher heights. Thanks everyone for the motivation!!!  Brownies, cakes, tortillas, tamales and baked beans are on my list.  Tortillas are the only things I haven't checked off the list so far.   The funny thing is, these hurdles are so much easier than what I thought they would be, but for some reason, they just seemed so out of my league.  Do you have some like that?  Seriously, what a rush, to tackle a recipe that you have been avoiding because you were too intimidated.

So yesterday I was browsing around, wanting to give it a try. I was looking for a from scratch recipe (almost all recipes I had seen added canned baked beans... It doesn't make sense to me! Why not just eat it straight from the can then.) I found a few recipes to get an idea of what I needed in it, and then decided to just create my own recipe.  I figured, hey, face the fear and try something new. 

I am not going to lie... I am so proud of myself.  To me, tweaking someone else's recipe to be my own, is easy.  Even creating my own recipes on every day meals, is pretty easy for me now. (It hasn't always been.  Actually following others' food blogs and seeing what they do, has really helped me to be more confident in the kitchen.  I am realizing that a recipe, is just a guide, not a "must do") For this though, it was a huge accomplishment for me.  I've never seen anyone make baked beans from scratch, and only know of two people in my entire life that have. It was a huge shot in the dark, but it turned out fabulously!!!

Ok I'm off the bragging train now :) I made these more of a southwest style. But play around and change things to your tastes.  My husband who doesn't like bell peppers, LOVED these beans.  There is no greater feeling than to create something and then to have your family chow down on it because they like it so much!!  I wanted the beans to be done, that day, so I opted out on soaking them etc.  So not 100% from scratch, I used canned beans, but not canned baked beans :)

Delicious Baked Beans

1lb bacon crumbled

1 medium onion minced

1 green bell pepper minced

1-2 cloves garlic

2 cans northern beans

1 can red beans

1 can black beans

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup molasses

3/4 cup ketchup

1 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 ½ tsp dry mustard



First: chop your onion and bell pepper. (I liked mine chopped pretty small)

Chop bacon into pieces.  You can do this after it is cooked, but I like it better this way.

Toss the bacon in a skillet and fry until done. (I liked mine crispy)  When done, take bacon out of the pan and set aside. What ever you do... save the bacon grease.  Tons of flavor it this stuff!!!

Fry the onions, garlic and bell peppers in the bacon grease until tender.  (It's ok to even fry it all with the bacon too)

Combine all ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.  

Carrot Chowder

Carrot Stew, Carrot Stew It's our favorite thing to do...   I used to sing that song in elementary school, and every time I make it to this day.  My mom made this soup for us all growing up.  Its so yummy!  if you want to can this, combine all ingredients raw, and using half the water into a large bowl. Then pour into quart jars and process in a water bath for 90 min! Instant meal in the future! Also, I like to make a double batch and freeze half of it.

The picture didn't turn out too well. I'll take another one when I make it again.  I should be getting my new camera this week. Yippee!!!  Lets hope that it takes some beauties for ya'll.

Carrot Chowder



1 lb. Hamburger

½ C. diced celery

½ C. diced green pepper

1 med onion, diced

1 C. Water

½ tsp. salt

4 C. tomato juice

2 small cans cream of celery soup

1 ½ c. water

2 ½ c. shredded carrots

1/8 tsp marjoram

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp pepper

¼ tsp. salt

1 tsp sugar

In a large stock pot, combine first 6 ingredients. Saute' until tender. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for ½ hour.

Parmesan Squash with Garlic Butter

Here's another way to use up some of that zucchini and yellow squash that you've have growing in your garden.  This time I actually used frozen, because I was trying to clean out the freezer.  Of course fresh always tastes better, but if you don't have fresh, frozen is a great alternative.

Parmesan Squash with Garlic Butter

3-4 Cups sliced zucchini and/or yellow squash

2 tbsp butter

1 clove garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

2-3 tbsp Grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat pan on medium heat. Place butter and garlic in a pan. Saute' garlic for 1 minute, until golden brown. Add squash and season with salt and pepper.  Saute' until tender. about 7-8 minutes.  Pour onto a serving plate and add Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Easy Chipotle Meatballs

This is one of the easiest dishes ever to make! It only requires 2 items. It's makes a great meal, served over rice or just as an appetizer.  The flavor of the Chipotle sauce are simply delish.  It's a little zippy but even my 15 month old practically inhaled it. I like this Roasted Raspberry Chipotle sauce.  You can find it at at Costco or Sam's Club. 

We loved these served over Coconut Rice. The Coconut and Raspberry make a great combo!  I like to get the Meatballs pre made from Costco. You can make your own basic meatballs or find any premade Italian style or regular flavor.  I don't really use an exact recipe for this meal.  I just coat the meatballs with the sauce, but this is about how much I like to use. 

Easy Chipotle Meatballs

25-30 frozen Meatballs
1 1/2 Cups of Chipotle Sauce

Place both ingredients into a crock pot.  Cook on low for up to 8 hours.