Tuesday

Good morning, things are still slow here in Kansas. The weather is getting warmer with daytime temps in the low 80s and that has been nice. I am concerned about what to do when it gets warmer here. My wife Vicki has MS and the heat can cause her to become very ill. We have some electrical issues that need fixed to get our air-condition working but the expense is too high for us right now.


I bought gas for the grill a few weeks ago and have been cooking outside as much as possible. This past weekend I cooked a whole chicken on the grill for the first time and it turned out great. I split the chicken in half and marinated it in Italian dressing for several hrs before cooking it over indirect heat for 1 1/2 hrs. I just turned one side of the grill on high and put the chicken on the other side. I checked the temp to determine when it was done ( 175 degrees for us ) and then took it off the heat and let it rest for 15 minutes before carving. It was some of the best chicken we have ever had.

The kids are all doing well with John taking some classes for his job, Cindy on leave until tomorrow and Mike working 14hr days in South Korea. That's about all for now.

Perfect Steak ( Video )

Pork Chops on the Grill

Our dog Tanner waiting to get a taste of the Pork Chops

Pork Chops on the Grill

The finished product

Good morning, it's a rainy Saturday here but we had a nice day yesterday. The last two days I cooked dinner on the grill. I think food always taste better grilled. :) Last night I grilled Pork Chops, I seasoned them with Pepper, Salt, and Cavender's Salt-Free Greek Seasoning. They were delicious and only took 20 minutes to cook. We have leftovers for today...

Chicken Fried Steak

Last night I made Chicken Fried Steak for dinner. It was really good and easy to make.

My recipe for Chicken Fried Steak. Down home cooking comfort food....

Start with good tenderized cube steaks. Season the steaks with salt, pepper, and season salt. Dip steak in egg and then in crushed saltines and then back in egg and then again in the saltines. Season the outside again with the same salt, pepper, and season salt and then fry in hot oil until done. Make sure you don't crowd the pan. I cook a little at a time and when they are done I drain them on paper towels and then put them in a warm oven until all the steaks are done. To make gravy, drain most of the oil from the pan and then add flour to the remaining oil in the pan to make a rue, add milk, pepper, and some beef bullion granules to taste and stir until gravy starts to thicken. Put the gravy over the cooked steaks right before serving. Serve with mashed potatoes. :) Definitely not healthy, but sure is good, Yum....

I love Pie

Mable in her Kitchen

Blueberry Pie :)

In past post I have talked about Joan and Mable. Mable is Joan's mother and she is in her 90s and makes the most delicious pies and cakes. My son John and wife Vicki also rave over them. This week she made me a blueberry pie that is just delicious. Thank you Mable.

I Love this Grill

Our Weather Forecast ( Click images for full size )

My Grilled Chicken

Our Dog Tanner waiting to see if he gets any Chicken.

Good morning everyone. I just woke up and am drinking my second cup of coffee. It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day today with temps in the mid 80s and no rain.

Last night I grilled chicken on my new gas grill and it turned out perfectly tender and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside and completely cooked but not burned. I made enough to last me all weekend. I just love having a gas grill, it is so much easier than dealing with charcoal .

Yesterday I went to Walmart and bought a whole chicken that was already cut up for less than $4.00 and added two chicken leg-thigh combos that I had in the freezer. It was a very inexpensive dinner that will last us three days. Today I am going to paint some for a friend. I love painting, I find it very cathartic and relaxing. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Flag Day today

It's Flag Day, time to salute Old Glory.

On June 14, 1777, the first American flag, also known as the Stars and Stripes or Old Glory, was approved by the Continental Congress. In 1818, after five more states joined the union, Congress fixed the number of stripes at 13 and required the number of stars to equal the number of states.

Popular accounts trace Flag Day's roots to 1885 when a Wisconsin teacher began celebrating the flag's birthday in her schoolroom.

The Order of Elks played a significant role in the day's history when it became the first national fraternal organization to adopt Flag Day in 1907. Observances became an Elks obligation nationwide in 1911.

Though former President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation in 1916 establishing Flag Day, it wasn't until 1949 that a member of the Elks, President Harry S. Truman, signed the congressional act designating June 14 as National Flag Day.

Search For Recipes

I found a new place to search for recipes yesterday, it's called Food Blog Search. You can search through 1800 Food Blogs for just the right recipe that suits you. Go take a look and try it out.

http://foodblogsearch.com/

Quiet day and we heard from the kids

We had a nice quiet day again yesterday. My daughter Cindy called during her lunch break from Naval Base San Diego where she is attending her C-School in the Navy.

Cindy was doing well and was glad she had her laptop up and running and on the Net. She bought the Belkin F5D7050 Wireless-G 54Mbps USB Network Adapter that I recommended and said that she is able to go online now. Cindy said that from what she has seen about 95% of the sailors on her base have a cell phone and a laptop. I bugged Cindy about sending me some pictures and she said that she would do that soon.

My son John called from Mayport Naval Base and was also doing well. He said that he had a great weekend and went to a Super Bowl Party at one of the guys houses from his ship. John said that the guy made the best Rubin sandwiches that he had ever had. John told me that he ate 6 of them so they must have been good. John is in class this week with his shipmates and said that it is interesting.

It's always good to hear from the kids and know that they are doing well. I made an apple pie yesterday for us and it turned out great. My neighbor Doris gave me an easy recipe for the crust. Doris said that all you have to do is remember to half the ingredients all the way down. I used 2 cups flour, 1 cup shortening, and 1/2 cup water. You can easily adjust the recipe for the amount of crust that you want as long as you half the ingredients starting with the flour it will turn out ok every time. Thanks Doris.

Coffee and a very Simple Blueberry Cobbler

Good morning. I woke up about 6am today and am drinking my morning Coffee. I just came across this article about the benefits of caffeine for your skin. In the article it states that "research suggests that both oral and topical caffeine may offer powerful anticarcinogenic benefits. A series of studies performed on mice found that caffeinated green and black teas prevented sun damage and even repaired damage once it occurred, whereas decaffeinated teas did not." So that's right people drink that coffee and tea and enjoy. You can read the article here.

Last night my wife and I were in the mood for something that had fruit in it. We didn't have any fruit left in the fridge and it was 10pm so I didn't really feel like going to the store so I came up with the idea of a Simple Blueberry Cobbler. I had a can of Blueberry pie filling and some refrigerator biscuits so what I did was pour the pie filling in a baking dish and then put the refrigerator biscuits on top of the filling I then brushed the tops of the biscuits with an egg wash and sprinkled them with some sugar. I baked the whole thing in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes until the biscuits were a nice brown color and then we ate it. It turned out delicious. This simple recipe would work with any pie filling for a quick easy dessert. Next time I will try apple pie filling and pit some sugar and cinnamon in the filling before I add the biscuits. I bet that will be good. :)

If you don't know what an egg wash is, here is how to make it. Just mix an egg and some water together. That's it...

Need some cooking tips? ( Video )

With Thanksgiving just past and Christmas just around the corner there are many first time cooks out there that are wondering how to cook their holiday meals. Thankfully there is a site called Foodtube.net to the rescue. FoodTube aggregates cooking videos from sites like YouTube and Google Video by recipe to give you visual step-by-step instructions for preparing a dish.

Roast and Stuffed Turkey

The Microwave Diet: 8 Great Frozen Entrees

Yahoo Food suggests eight frozen dinners you can buy at your local store to scratch your take-out itch. The Yahoo Food Blog states" It's a given: Life is going to hand you a certain number of days so crazed that high-speed take-out seems like the only dinner option." From pizza and enchiladas to ravioli and coconut chicken, the article promises these eight foods will motivate you to drive right past the fast food joint into the comfort of quick, tasty and healthy microwave cuisine.

Read the Yahoo Food Blog Post here.

My Hardy Chunky Chili Recipe

The first post I ever did on this Blog was my recipe for Chili. With the temps dropping here in South East Kansas and Winter around the corner I thought it would be appropriate to post it again. This is absolutely the best Chili that I have ever made. We make it several times a year and it freezes well. You can also cut the recipe in half to adjust it for yourself.

My Hardy Chunky Chili

2 lbs lean ground beef or ground venison
1-2 packages of dry chili seasoning ( your choice )
1 large white onion chopped
4 large cans diced tomatoes, 28oz each with juice
2 large cans spicy chili beans with juice. I prefer Bush's chili beans but any will do.
1-2 cans Rotel tomatoes with chill peppers ( your choice )

Using Large pot
1) Cook ground venison/beef with chopped onion until no longer pink / Drain / Return to pot
2) Add the chili seasoning and stir into the meat/onion
3) Add diced tomatoes and stir
4) Add Rotel tomatoes and stir
5) Add chili beans with the juice from the cans and stir

Cook for several hours on low heat letting it simmer.

Serve alone or with shredded sharp cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Can also be served over cooked white rice.

Leftovers freeze well.

Note: The more chili seasoning and Rotel tomatoes you add the spicier it is.

Secrets to saucing pasta the Italian way ( Video )

Americans overdress their pasta 99.9 percent of the time. It should never be a bowl of soup. It should be noodles, with a little stuff. My wife would disagree but this is the way it should be done.

Breakfast Casserole

I made this last night for dinner, it turned out great. I still have lots of leftovers for today. You can add other things to the recipe like green peppers :)

Breakfast Casserole

1 lb Sausage

1 lb Bacon or one jar Real Bacon bits

1 Large onion

9 Eggs

1 cup Milk

5 Cups Frozen Hash Browns ( Thawed )

3 1/2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

Cook Sausage and onion together and drain all grease. Cook Bacon and drain all grease.

Mix remaining ingredients in large bowl reserving 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese, add the cooked Sausage and Bacon then poor into a greased 13x9 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Add remaining 1/2 cup cheese to top and just cook until melted, about 5 min. Remove from oven and let it sit for 10 min before serving.

My sons friends show up at dinner time

Yesterday was interesting, I had to try to explain to my 18 year old son that I know more about computers than him. I have been using computers for about 20 years or so. My son just started about 4 years ago. I am not just a casual user, I am a power user. I try to learn everything I can when it comes to this. It is interesting that kids think they know everything. LOL. He has a lot to learn.

I noticed lately that it seems my sons friends show up at dinner time. Last night it was Alex, the night before it was Adam. Of course they ate with us. Maybe they like our cooking. I wonder who it will be next? Last night we had Four Cheese Tortellini with Alfredo Sauce and home made Garlic Bread. Saturday night it was Chicken Kiev with Rice and Corn on the side. I think that tonight will be make your own dinner night. :) Now, if I could just get my son to think that he knows more about cooking than me I would be all set. I would never have to cook again. I think he can make a toasted cheese sandwich, and I know for a fact he can make hotdogs in the microwave. Hotdogs are about the only thing we see him cook. I wonder what he will eat when he is out on his own? :)

Vickis Quiche

My Wifes Quiche

2 Deep dish Pie Crusts
9 eggs
just tiches of Milk
Full jar of Hormel Bacon Bits
One Box Frozen Spinach
One half onion chopped fairly fine
16oz of Shredded Mozerrella Cheese
Few shakes of salt, pepper & garlic salt

Use a fork to poke holes in the bottom & sides of pie crust after defrosting them. (quite a few pokes)
Brown Pie Crusts in oven at 400 degrees until light golden brown.
Turn on broiler and brown interior of pie crust lightly as to not burn the top of pie crust.

Start with eggs & milk... whip them well till it gets big air bubbles.
Add rest of ingrediants. Have pie crusts ready to go before pouring mixture into them.

Put pies in oven at 400 degrees for 5 minute or so.
Turn oven down to 325 degrees & bake about 50 minutes or until spongy firm and kinda bounces back atcha
when pressed on with hand.

Then turn on broiler and brown the top... turning pretty constantly until nicely browned (golden brown)
Remove from oven & chow down.

My Chili

This is my first post to this blog and I thought I would post a recipe for my daughter Cindy. Let me know how it turns out for you.

Dads Hardy Chunky Chili

2 lbs ground venison or lean ground beef
1-2 packages of dry chili seasoning ( your choice )
1 large white onion chopped
4 large cans diced tomatoes, 28oz each with juice
2 large cans spicy chili beans with juice. I prefer Bush's chili beans but any will do.
1-2 cans Rotel tomatoes with chill peppers ( your choice )

Using Large pot
1) Cook ground venison/beef with chopped onion until no longer pink / Drain / Return to pot
2) Add the chili seasoning and stir into the meat/onion
3) Add diced tomatoes and stir
4) Add Rotel tomatoes and stir
5) Add chili beans with the juice from the cans and stir

Cook for several hours on low heat letting it simmer.

Serve alone or with shredded sharp cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Can also be served over cooked white rice.

Leftovers freeze well.

Note: The more chili seasoning and Rotel tomatoes you add the spicier it is.