Tag: cooking

Cooking, Life or Something Like It

Creating Simplicity in a Working Mom’s Life

Barefoot Faith Journey

Creating Simplicity in a Working Mom’s Life

Creating Simplicity in a Working Mom's Life

Creating Simplicity in a Working Mom’s Life. In this season of life, I need things to be easy. Though most of my children have “flown” from the nest and life is quieter, I am also busier than I have been in a long time. Busier in a different sense than before.

A Realization of my Reality

The other night, I was sitting in the living room, multitasking, due to the fact that if I don’t do something now, I will forget. I was cooking supper, listening to H chatter, hearing about my husband’s day, answering emails, working on a grocery list, and a menu for the upcoming week.

During this chaos, I stopped working, looked at my husband and said “I have cooked, almost daily, for you and the children for almost 31 years.” Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook. When my kids were young, I would freezer cook breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for a month. I baked, all the time, breads, cookies, and such.

I loved challenging recipes, shelf-cooking, freezer cooking, and experimenting. Now, I am tired. T.I.R.E.D. I have no desire to plan, grocery shop, or cook. It is SO hard cooking for, as many as, 16 people to cooking for a handful.

Not a fan.

My creative juices are sucked up with my job, exhaustion, lack of appetite, and zero desire to work harder than I absolutely have to work. So, my wheels started turning and I have come up with a plan. We shall see how long it lasts.

How My Mind Works

When I start working on my list, I add to it as soon as I realize I am out of something or need something. If I wait until a “normal” time to do it all at once, I will certainly forget. One of the first things I do is call my son. He comes over during his lunch hour occasionally and I want to make sure I have things that he likes here.

The next thing I do is figure out who, out of my children, gets to pick supper for our Saturday dinners. When I figure that out, they create that menu and I ask if someone else wants something specific. I add that to my order. Then, I order things that my grandchildren need/want to make sure they have plenty of snacks and food they will eat when they are here. Lastly, I work on the menu and order what I need. I am very good at not wasting food.

Sundays, I don’t cook. Tuesdays, my husband makes me a pizza. Wednesday, we eat out (most nights). Saturday, a different person per week chooses the menu. That leaves me with Monday, Thursday, and Friday.

Here’s the Plan

I sat down and listed off certain categories of foods that we like.  Soup, Mexican, Italian, Chicken, miscellaneous things, and side dishes. From there, we all picked around 7 (or more) things in each groups that we like. I will use that to rotate throughout the month. For each thing, I will make an editable grocery list for each thing. I will mark off the things we don’t need and checkmark the ones we need. As I cook it, I will post the recipe. I know I have some already posted and I will try and link them back.

Does that make sense? It does in my mind. All we have to do is pick from this list and the grocery list will already be created. I just have to add it to the cart and my husband picks it up. These are SIMPLE things to make and I’m still working on the chicken part. We love chicken but I do not write recipes down, I just make it up as I go. These things, most of them, can be made by my husband if I am just tapped out. That makes it even better.

A “Mostly” List (with the Exception of Chicken)

Soups:

  • Chicken Noodle
  • Chili
  • White Chicken Chili
  • Potato
  • Lasagna
  • Cheeseburger
  • Broccoli and Cheese
  • Zuppa

Mexican:

  • Tacos
  • Mom’s Tacos
  • Taco Ring
  • Chili Cheese Dog Casserole
  • Fajita Casserole
  • Standing Baked Tacos
  • Sheet Pan Nachos

Italian:

  • Spaghetti
  • Baked Spaghetti
  • Lasagna
  • Cheesy Chicken Lasagna
  • Baked Pasta
  • Chicken Alfredo Lasagna with Ravioli
  • Coal Miner’s Pasta
  • Baked Tortellini

Chicken:

  • Alice’s Chicken
  • Pan Fried Chicken breasts
  • Baked Whole Chicken
  • Baked Thighs
  • Fried Chicken
  • 40 Clove Chicken

Side Dishes:

  • Rice (burnt, fried, plain, broccoli & cheese, Mexican style)
  • Green beans (plain or green bean casserole)
  • Corn (or corn casserole)
  • Rolls (cheesy bread, bread, bread sticks)
  • Potatoes (so many kids)
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Lima beans
  • Peas
  • Macaroni and Cheese
  • Buttered Noodles

Miscellaneous Foods:

  • Breakfast
  • Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches
  • Kielbasa, broccoli, onion, mushroom, potato, peppers sheet pan
  • Goulash
  • Steak
  • Hamburgers and hotdogs
  • Ham and Hashbrown Casserole
  • Pizza
  • Breaded Chops
  • Pork Tenderloin
  • Roast

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Cooking

Chopped Up Angel Wings with a Side of Manna

Barefoot Faith Journey

Chopped Up Angel Wings with a Side of Manna

Chopped Up Angel Wings with a Side of Manna
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

This past week, I am working through the last of my freezer meals. I pulled out a few and last nights was “phenomenal” according to my husband and children. Tonight we had ham and hashbrown casserole but the winner was the glazed sweet potatoes. My husband stated that the meal consisted of Chopped Up Angel Wings with a Side of Manna. So, without further ado.

Cheesy Mexican Chicken (Chopped Up Angel Wings)

Chicken

Cream of chicken

Cheddar

1/2 c. milk

Taco Seasoning

3 c. corn chips

Butter

Seasoning Mix

You can use any type of chicken you have on hand (canned, breasts, thighs, etc.) but make sure you cube it into bite sized pieces and cook well. I sauteed mine up in butter. Place in a greased 13×9 dish once it is finished cooking.

In a bowl, mix the soup, 1 1/2 c. cheese, milk, seasoning mix, and taco seasoning. Spoon this over the cooked chicken and top with corn chips and the rest of the cheese. From this point, I did cover mine well and froze it. I thawed it out from that point.

Now, the corn chips that were placed, frozen, and thawed were a soggy mess. I baked it at 375 for about 30 minutes and tasted it. It was not my jam. So, I stirred up those nasty little things into the chicken, added some more cheddar, and crushed up a 1/2 bag of doritos. I got that back in the oven to melt the cheese.

Still wasn’t to my liking, so I added more seasoning mix (I really don’t think I seasoned it when I made it to freeze) and I added more taco seasoning. This time, I stirred all that up (including the doritos on top) and topped it with a bit more cheddar. Baked it for 10 minutes and that is when the angels starting singing. Bart topped his with sour cream, I topped mine with some green onions. We lapped the dish up and there were not leftovers.

Winner winner!

Glazed Sweet Potatoes (Manna)

2 cans (18 ozs. each) sweet potatoes, drained

1/4 c. butter

Syrup, 1/4 c.

1/4 c. brown sugar

Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp.

Place sweet potatoes in a greased 13×9 dish. In a pan, combine the butter, syrup, brown sugar and cinnamon. This needs to be brought to a boil. Pour over sweet potatoes and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

*I did not originally bake mine. Mine was covered tightly, marked, and placed in the freezer. I thawed it out and baked from there.

Cooking

31 Soup Ideas 2023

Barefoot Faith Journey

31 Soup Ideas 2023

31 Soup Ideas 2023
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

This is pretty much just a post for me. I forget what soups I have made, so I like to keep a running list. My goal is to see what type of supper I would cook and then see how I can transform it into a soup. I plan on giving myself extra points if I can make it gluten free (minus the bread bowl recipe down below).

One of my children is now gluten free, therefore we are all gluten free. It has been challenging for me, but here I am still cooking and learning as I go. You are welcome to follow along with me as I navigate the waters of creating great meals without the chaos of gluten.

Soup Recipes

Easy Ham and Hashbrown Soup Recipe

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Garlic Parmesan Chops Soup

Beef Stew

Chicken Alfredo Soup

Philly Cheesesteak Soup

Pizza Soup Recipe

Fajita Soup

Spin-on Tortellini Soup

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Keto-Friendly Chicken and Garlic Soup

Ham and Potato Chowder

Keto-Friendly Cheeseburger Soup

Egg Drop Soup

Lasagna Soup

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Gluten-Free Chicken and Noodle Soup

Cheddar and Ham Soup

Keto Beef Stroganoff Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

Low Calorie Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Chili

Healthy Vegetable Beef Soup

Taco Soup

Zuppa Toscana Soup

Chicken Florentine Soup

Bacon and Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

Tomato Bisque

Easy White Chicken Chili with Cream Cheese

Keto-friendly Chili

Bread Bowls

 

Cooking

Easy Ham and Hashbrown Soup Recipe

Barefoot Faith Journey

Easy Ham and Hashbrown Soup Recipe

Easy Ham and Hashbrown Soup Recipe

Thanksgiving is over and we have some leftover ham. That is how I came up with this Easy Ham and Hashbrown Soup Recipe. There is also a half an onion that needs to be used up, a bit of garlic, a half of a bag of cheese, and some bacon bits. What on earth can I do? That was my thought process yesterday when I made this. I knew I had class for two hours starting at five, so it had to be a crockpot recipe. Also, I have my granddaughter so it was necessary for it to be super quick.

We love potato soup, but frying bacon and cutting potatoes was not on my agenda. I guess it wouldn’t have been on it anyway because I had no bacon and I am out of potatoes. Bart was going to make pizza but then what would the kids eat because there isn’t enough of that to go around. With one child being gluten free, I have to actually think about what I cook now. It can’t just be thrown together. So, here we are with what Bart calls one of the “best soups” he has had in a while.

Ingredients for Ham and Hashbrown Soup

1/2 KY legend ham, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

1 T. minced garlic

Seasoning

1/2 bag bacon bits

2 T. bacon grease (if you don’t have this, just throw in some butter)

6 cubes of chicken bouillon (if you don’t have this, you can use chicken broth and eliminate the water)

32 oz. water

1/8 c. nutritional yeast (you can omit this if you desire. I use it for nutritional value)

32 oz. shredded hashbrown

1/2 c. sour cream

1 c. heavy cream (I did not have this so I used 2% milk and it worked just fine)

3 T. gluten free flour (you can use any)

Cheese (I used a combo of about 1 1/2 c. colby and about a cup of cheddar)

 

Directions for Easy Soup Recipe

In crockpot, I put in the chopped up ham, onion, seasoning, nutritional yeast, bacon grease, bacon bits, hashbrown, and chicken bouillon powder (or cubes if that is what you have). I mixed this up really well and added 32 oz. water. Pop the lid on and cook on high for about 2 hours. I came back and stirred that around and then put it on low until I was about an hour from eating.

When I was about ready to serve, I took the lid off and added the cheese. While the cheese was melting, I got a measuring cup and put in my milk, sour cream, and flour. I whisked that together to get the lumps out. From there, I poured in the liquid and stirred well. You will start to see it thicken up fairly quickly. I put the lid back on for about 35-40 minutes (low) warm it all back up.

Then it was time to eat!  It really was good. You need to try it to see if you need to adjust the seasoning. Remember, you can add seasoning to a soup but you can’t take it back out. The secret to that is start with a little amount and adjust to taste. I was afraid it was going to be too salty with the ham, bacon grease, nutritional yeast, and seasoning. I thought it could use a bit more but didn’t put it in because it might have just been my tastebuds out of whack.

What I Would Do Differently

Hmmm, I would add some sauteed red, yellow, and orange peppers. I could get away with adding finely shredded zucchini. Fresh mushrooms would have been amazing in this soup as well. There was no cream of type of soup. That is good because it is hard to find gluten free, though it can be made. I just didn’t want to do that because of time constraints. It made a big crockpot full, so we will definitely have it for lunch and the boys will eat it tonight for supper.

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Cooking

Brunzi Baseball Casserole

Barefoot Faith Journey

Brunzi Baseball Casserole

Brunzi Baseball Casserole

1 lb. lean ground beef, cooked and drained

1 large onion, cooked

Seasoning

Cream of chicken, 2 cans

Chicken noodle soup, 2 cans (or you could make your own and use it)

2 c. uncooked rice

Brown meat, onion, and seasoning.  Drain.  Add in soups and rice.  Stir.  Bake, uncovered, in a greased 13×9 pan at 350 for 45 minutes.

Additions:

With this recipe, you can add spinach, kale, cheese, chopped-up peppers, or mushrooms; gracious, the world is your oyster. My kids love this recipe. I have been sprinkling a bit of cheese over the top lately, but it isn’t necessary.
With rice there, I choose not to make potatoes or other noodles as a side dish. My kids are happy with a salad and maybe some green beans. We are pretty simple in the side dish department around here. I guess I need to up that game because I know there are ways I can make veggies more fun.
I could make carrot muffins or bread (sugar, I know). There are a thousand and five ways to make zucchini or squash. Anytime I make that, my kids and husband approve. I like doing simple zucchini spears, drizzle some olive oil, seasoning mix, and parmesan. Then, I roast them in the oven until they are fork-tender.

Servings:  10-12

Calories per serving:  220

 

Cooking

Hashbrown Chicken Casserole

Barefoot Faith Journey

Hashbrown Chicken Casserole

Hashbrown Chicken Casserole

As I went through my freezer, fridge, and pantry, I came up with this dish. At the end of this post, I will put what I will do differently the next time I make it. It made a 13×9 dish so that we would have leftovers. Next time, I will put it in a smaller glass dish and then an aluminum pan. From there, I will cover it well and freeze the extra. That way, I will stock up my freezer. By making a big batch and freezing half, over time, you will have enough to feed your family for at least a week. In my case, I usually do this once a month, so I can go a whole month using the food that I cooked. Cook, eat once (leftovers), and freeze the other. You will not regret it.

Ingredients

Chicken (I had frozen Tyson grilled chicken. You can use canned chicken, cook a whole chicken, or buy a rotisserie chicken or chicken breasts. I sound like the guy off of Forrest Gump describing the different types of shrimp.)

Bacon (bits or fry and crumble)

Seasoning

Garlic butter (I used leftover Papa John’s garlic butter)

Minced garlic

Onion, chopped

Portobello mushrooms, chopped

Two c. sour cream

One can of corn, drained

1/3 c. milk

Bread crumbs

Cheddar

Hashbrowns (I bought the cubed southern hashbrowns that have chopped-up peppers)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400. Grease a 13×9 dish and place your hashbrowns. I sprinkled the top with seasoning and mixed that up to get it all coated. Future me will add the seasoning and then a packet of ranch mix. On top of that, I added my garlic butter. Future me will make a garlic-infused compound butter to put a few pats on top. Oh, Ghee would be good too! I do love me some Ghee.

I cut up my chicken strips in a large bowl and added all the ingredients (including more seasoning and a packet of ranch) except the bread crumbs and a handful of cheddar. I did, however, mix some cheddar in with the chicken. Once that is all mixed, spoon over the top of the potatoes.

I then sprinkled some Italian Bread crumbs (any will do Panko would be good) and used the rest of my cheddar. Cover it will aluminum foil and bake it for about 30 minutes with the foil on tightly. Take the foil off and let it cook for another 10 minutes.

I served it with leftover hotdog buns that I buttered and put garlic on. We are living the dream over here!

What I Will Do Differently

Next time, I will add bigger chunks of chopped peppers. Also, I will probably add a couple of packets of dry Ranch seasoning. The verdict is out on the corn. I liked the sweet pop of flavor, but it was also weird. That’s a mental thing for me. I will probably fry bacon the next time. This time I used bacon bits. Also, I will probably heat my chicken with some bacon grease for added flavor. Oh, chopped spinach would have been great in this!

 

 

Cooking

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

Barefoot Faith Journey

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole. Here is another easy dinner idea. I love chili, and I love chili cheese dogs. Here is a great combo that my family loved. I served this with chips. Here’s the thing, my downstairs air conditioning is not working well. For example, it’s hot in my downstairs. Add that to the frustration over my pool not being ready. Depending on others has proven that we should only lean on ourselves and teach ourselves. So, our pool is green with frogs, our air is going out, and I had grandbabies and a child(ren) living on the struggle bus.

Now, let’s look at the positive. The upstairs air is working. Then we had the theater room, which was a lovely temperature, so we hung out and watched a show. Most of my kids were home to eat and get haircuts. I had my grandbabies, which is a positive all by itself. After my husband worked some brain magic, the pool got cloudy but cleared up. This recipe was quick and easy, and I could do it in stages to not heat my house to the levels of hell itself.

Ingredients

Hotdogs (I bought bun length)

Crescent rolls (2 packages)

American Cheese Slices

Ground Beef

Onion

Garlic

Seasoning Mix

Chili Mix

Chili Beans – 2 Cans

Cheddar Cheese

Chips

Directions

Take a crescent roll, a slice of cheese (I half it), and a hotdog. Roll your crescent roll out, lay down your cheese, place your hotdog (I slit it down the middle so it doesn’t explode), and roll it up. Please put it in a 13×9 greased dish. Bake at 375 for about 10-12 minutes.

In a skillet, brown your beef, onion, garlic, and seasoning. Once done, drain the grease and place it back in the pan. From there, I add the chili beans and chili mix. Stir it well. Take the chili and scoop it around the hot dogs. Sprinkle with cheddar. Cover and bake until it is all heated. Serve with chips or rice.

Thoughts

Everyone likes this. I made the mistake of cooking it warm to prevent me from turning my oven up too high. I should have kept it covered because I felt the beans got too done and a bit hard. With no liquid in this, nothing can keep everything soft. The aluminum foil keeps the beans good in texture.

However, everyone loved this dish. My husband asked for it to be on our rotation, though we don’t have a rotation. I need to be more diligent about writing down what I cook. There are things that I make that he loves, and I have zero remembrance of how I made them. Shelf-cooking is just a natural part of who I am. Also, leftovers are a thing we don’t usually have lying around. If I have something left over, I use it in another dish. Maybe writing down my recipes will help me have a rotation to make my husband happy! He loves it when I remember how to make something.

 

Cooking

Garlic Pork Chops with Parmesan Sauce

Barefoot Faith Journey

Garlic Pork Chops with Parmesan Sauce

Garlic Pork Chops with Parmesan Sauce

Here is another new recipe that is a winner in our family. Garlic Pork Chops with Parmesan Sauce was easy to make, and newsflash makes an excellent soup for the next day. Watch for tomorrow’s post where I transform this dish into something my crew loves!

Ingredients

Pork Chops (I used boneless)

Seasoning

Bacon grease (or oil)

Butter

Seasoning

Parmesan Sauce

2 c. heavy cream

2 c. parmesan

Garlic

Spinach (chopped)

Fresh mushrooms (chopped)

Onion (chopped)

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

How to Make

In an electric skillet, pour some bacon grease (or oil) and butter. I pounded my chops and seasoned them well with my seasoning mix. Fry them up. Once done, remove them from the pan.

Place all of the parmesan sauce ingredients in the same skillet cooked inside the chops. Stir until thickened. You can either lay your chops back in there and keep it on low (this will prevent the cheese from burning). Instead, you can serve it by laying your chop on a plate and scooping out the sauce to pour over.

I doubled the batch so I could do a recipe for the next day, transforming this into a soup!

 

Cooking

Lipton Onion Soup Thighs with Rice

Barefoot Faith Journey

Lipton Onion Soup Thighs with Rice

 

Lipton Onion Soup Thighs with Rice

 

Oh, this is a good one too! Lipton Onion Soup Thighs with Rice is what is for dinner. The rice was fantastic! This is another “throw-together” kind of recipe. I had lots of Lipton Onion Soup Mix packets. It is finding creative ways to use them without having a roast.  

 

Ingredients

 

Chicken Thighs

 

2 c. rice

 

2 c. chicken broth

 

1 can cream of chicken

 

1 can cream of mushroom

 

1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix

 

Garlic Powder

 

Seasoning

 

Shredded Parmesan

 

Panko

 

How to Make Lipton Onion Soup Thighs with Rice

 

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease 13×9 dish. In a large bowl, combine the uncooked rice and chicken broth. Next, add Lipton Onion Soup Mix, cream of mushroom, and cream of chicken. Put in the bottom of the dish. On top, place the uncooked chicken. Sprinkle some garlic over the top, as well as panko. Next, throw on some shredded parmesan. Bake, covered, for an hour. Uncover and bake for 25 minutes.

 

The rice was excellent!

 

 

Cooking

Mexican Lasagna Created From Leftovers

Barefoot Faith Journey

Mexican Lasagna Created From Leftovers

Mexican Lasagna Created From Leftovers

Well, my my my, I had no idea my Mexican Lasagna Created From Leftovers would taste so good. A few days ago, I made Philly Cheesesteaks Sandwiches. I had a lot of the meat leftover, which I used instead of ground beef.

Ingredients

Steak um’s (you can use ground beef)

Salt-free garlic and herb seasoning

Seasoning

Creole Seasoning

Orange, yellow, and red peppers, chopped

Fresh garlic

Onion, chopped

Two cans of diced tomatoes

1/3 white queso Velveeta

Can of drained whole kernel corn

Directions

I placed my meat and veggies in the pan and sauteed them. You can add oil, bacon grease, or butter to keep them from sticking. Once that was done, I seasoned it until it tasted like I wanted it to taste.

Next, I added corn and diced tomatoes. My husband doesn’t like tomatoes like that, so I covered my pot and let them stew down. Then, I added the white queso Velveeta. Taste to adjust the seasoning.

Rice

2 c. of water

2 c. of rice

Place on “rice” mode in your instant pot. Let naturally release.

Layering

Put a small amount of sauce in a greased 13×9 dish. Then, place in flour tortillas; next, sauce. Then, rice. Finally, I had some Colby/jack cheese cubes. I broke those over the rice and added a bit of cheddar. Repeat layers ending with cheese.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes and serve.