Charleston Cheese Straws - Not exactly

The weather is just beckoning me outside. I love this time of year where the breeze is just warm enough with the promise of what is to come. However, the laundry will not wait. Today is my 9th anniversary. I am married to a wonderful man. He is also a great father. One of his few flaws is that he does not do well when I am feeling bad or he is not one to spoil but his other chracteristics overshawdow the (I would not even call them bad) irrating ones.

If you read the post from last night you know I made soup and salad-the wonderful thing about making a meal like this is the next night. There is always enough soup and salad left for the next night. However, that is not the case with the sweet potato biscuits, they go quick.

I like having these little cheese crackers/bread/waffers ? not sure what to really call them but they are delish. I got the receipe from my friend Kelly but I changed it a bit - they are also very much like the Charleston Cheese Straws you can find when in Charleston ( but I think better).

Cheese Somethings

1 8oz sharp cheddar cheese (block)
1 c all purpose flour
3/4 stick of butter (real butter)leaves about 2 t tbs of butter from the stick
hot pepper (cayenne) to taste
salt

combine all ingredients except salt in food processor. Mix unitl mixuter come together in a ball. Chill 30 min. Preheat oven to 350. roll dough into long longs and slice 1/4 in rounds - bake for about 15 min sprinkle wiht salt while hot.

Soup and Salad Night

Tonight was soup and salad night at the Clark house. I made Cheeseburger soup and strawberry and spinach salad with homemade dressing. I have included the recipes below. I also made a family favorite " sweet potato biscuits" cut out in heart shapes for my sweet ones. I ran into to friends in the store this week and they were telling me how much they liked the menus I post on facebook but they thought it was expensive to cook this way or took a long time. This started me thinking- I don't want folks to think my cooking costs lots extra or takes lots of extra time. The truth is you need to be a good planner and have a plan in place before you start cooking from the beginning. For example, the cheeseburger soup takes lots of spices and for me that could mean lots of trips to the pantry. It also requires celery, onions, and carrots to be chopped and shredded. This could make you crazy trying to prepare everything, but I am going to let you in on a secret. Plan ahead- if you know you are going to make this soup- chop and shred the veggies ahead of time and put in fridge, the day you are going to make the soup - gather all the spices together. This is soup that most of the prep work could be done before and saved in the fridge until you are ready to make. The sweet potato biscuits are some of the best biscuits I have ever tasted. Even if you do not like sweet potatoes, I think you will like these. Make soup and enjoy...until next time wishing you joy - Pauletta

Cheeseburger Soup

½ pound ground beef
¾ c chopped onion
¾ c shredded carrots
¾ c diced celery
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp parsley flakes
4 T butter divided
3 c chicken broth
4 cups diced potatoes (can be fresh you have cooked and diced or you can use 2 cans of diced canned potatoes)
¼ c all purpose flour
8 oz Velveeta cheese cubed (about 2 cups)
1 ½ c milk
½ t pepper
¾ t salt

Brown ground beef, drain and set aside. Sauté onions, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 T butter until tender. Add broth, potatoes, and beef, bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 min or until potatoes are tender. Meanwhile in small skillet, melt remaining butter add flour cook and stir 3-5 minutes, add to soup, bring to boil – cook and stir 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low- add cheese, milk, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until soup thickens.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

2 ½ c all purpose flour
½ tsp allspice
¼ c brown sugar
½ c butter cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ c milk
¾ tsp salt
¾ mashed sweet potatoes
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginver
½ c pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 450
Combine all dry ingredients. Add butter with fork until texture is small crumbs
Combine milk and sweet potatoes add to flour mixture add pecans
Knead dough with hands until smooth
Roll out on a floured surface to ½ “ thickness cut with biscuit cutter
Place on greased baking sheet 2” apart
Bake for 10-15 minutes or lightly browned
Spinach Strawberry Salad

Spinach Leaves
Sliced strawberries
Pecans chopped
Mon. Jack Cheese

Dressing
1 c oil
¾ c sugar
½ c red wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp paprika

March Picnic

Today was picnic day. I may be rushing spring but I wanted to be outside in nature and my children needed to be able to run and play. The day was a success. We went to Deep Creek in Bryson City. In the summer Deep Creek is filled with folks of all ages splashing, relaxing, and dodging rocks. Laughter and ooohs and ahhhhhs can be heard for miles it seems. However, in the fall and winter it is a place that is unrecognizable compared to the summer months. You can still hear laughter but it comes from children picking up sticks or rocks seeing to can throw into the cold mountain waters. Ooohs and ahhhs can still be heard but it is from folks being amazed by the beauty that they are surrounded by. The trails are great for most ages and you may even need to move over to let a horse and rider pass.

A picnic is a must on a day like this: today’s menu consisted of potato soup brought in a thermos, veggie sandwiches, and fruit. I brought along a nice little snack for the kids after the hike is complete. Nutella and mini chocolate rice cakes (not too bad for them) but be careful this is addictive. I have many other ideas for picnic and hiking foods that I will share as the summer goes along.

Soup: (this is done in the crock pot super easy and super good)
8-10 small to medium potatoes peeled and cubed
1 can of cream of chicken soup
2 cans of chicken broth
½ c onion

Combine all ingredients in crock pot – cook on low for 8 hours

When finished add 6 oz -8 oz cream cheese that has been cut into small pieces
Stir in bacon that has been crumbled or real bacon bit pieces
Top with cheese

Sandwiches:
1 avocado
Red onion
Cucumber –peeled and cut into flat long pieces
Sprouts
Tomato
Lettuce ( optional)
Provolone cheese
Spicy brown mustard coarse ground mustard
Bread of your choice ( I only had French bread today –it was ok but I would not recommend a bread this thick)

When I make these sandwiches I place all ingredients in an assembly line fashion- this makes the assembly of the sandwiches much easier. After assembly – wrap sandwiches in wax paper before wrapping in foil or placing in baggies- the wax paper keeps them from getting soggy.

Simple Things

Today was certainly beautiful! The warm weather was nice to see and feel. Although I spent most of the day inside cleaning and doing laundry, I did open the blinds and curtains to let the sunshine in. I have posted a photograph of my children enjoying the day- they are growing so fast.

I wanted to share two simple but great ideas with you. Since Christmas I have been on an apron kick. I wanted aprons to wear while I am cooking and living in the area I live in, there just wasn't much of a choice. I posted comments on Facebook asking my friends where I could find some. Since that time, my mom made me a beautiful white one with dainty little flowers trimmed in lace. There is no way I am going to wear that beautiful piece of work - it means too much. I have picked up two, nothing fancy ones in thrift stores but still was not satisfied. Just a week or so ago, my friend Linda sent me a message telling about an apron idea. I loved it and so I made two. This is a simple thing to do. You buy a dish towel, two large buttons, and ribbon. Sew the buttons on each end of the dish towel(long side). Tie ribbon and leave a longer end so you can take the ribbon off to wash towels. I found two nice towels and coordinating buttons. The whole project only cost $5.00.

Thanks Linda :)

The next idea came from needing something simple yet practical on a small table I have in my kitchen. I had a larger candle on the table but was not happy with it. I wanted a simpler look. I took three clear cylinder vases and put pillar candles inside. I really like the look and thought I would share.

Please leave comments about these ideas or recipes- I would love to hear from you!

Alice Springs Chicken done my way!

Hello Friends:

Tonight I write this and I am struggling to hold my eyes open and I still have statistics software to download to my computer for my classes. Whew I had rather cook :) Tonight we had Alice Springs Chicken done my way. If you have been to Outback Steak house then you know what I am talking about- but mine was much cheaper per serving and it was really good. Aaron my 15 who says little said "Mom this is awesome" so I took it to heart.

Easy recipe and very tasty:
Ingred.
bacon ( cook this ahead of time in the oven- the oven keeps it from shrinking up)
brown chicken breasts on both sides (season with salt and pepper)
honey mustard
Monterey Jack cheese


place chicken in 13 x 9 pan
top with honey mustard - drench chicken
top with bacon strips
cover in cheese

Place in oven 350 - bake until done
juices from chicken will mix with mustard making a very tasty sauce

serve honey mustard on side for dipping

this is great with a salad, baked sweet potato or regular baked potato

Ok my friends I have no delish ideas to share with you tonight- but rather a confession- I had after school duties, then Aaron needed a haircut and we had to order new glasses for Erika so I did not get home until after 7:00 tonight. Had ordered chicken tenders from Schwan's today so that is what the family had- nothing fancy just that and fries. But that was not what my tummy wanted - my tummy saw Sugar Smacks on the counter and something evil came over me LOL I wanted Sugar Smacks in the worst way- so I gave in and had one small bowl- Oh my I was happy- finished that off and then I thought a little bit more won't hurt anything so I had a second bowl (larger than the first) and it was even better than the first. Took the bowl to the kitchen to put in the sink and that little cute frog was calling to me once again. I am so weak and I gave in - I poured a third bowl- this was the biggest bowl of cereal I had ever had...and finally I was content-

Remember I told you this blog was for real life (and it may just be my opinion-but Sugar Smacks made it great)

Goodnight all

Snow Day Dinner

Oh my have you looked outside - how beautiful- the snow is really coming down. As my Momma always said when I was little, "the old woman is plucking her geese". That is exactly what it looked like earlier, snowflakes as big and fluffy as feathers. Days like this just scream Comfort Food- So I have made a wonderful Pot Roast. I did the prep work last night and cooked it overnight in the crock pot. Now I must say that I am not a huge fan of the crock pot just because I think it leaves food with a different texture than fresh cooked food. However, the crockpot is great for working mothers- or if you don't want to watch an oven all day.

This is a simple roast but full of flavor:

I use a boneless chuck roast - I pay around 10 - 13 dollars for them
put a tablespoon of oil in a pot- heat - salt and pepper roast on all sides- brown roast on all sides and place in crock pot

clean carrots and cut into large chunks, peel and quarter 2 - 3 onions-place carrots and onions in pot that you browned roast in and put a sear on them- pour over roast - pour beef stock -about 1 cup - into browning pan and deglaze pot- getting all that flavor out- pour over roast- pour more beef broth until veggies are covered.
cook over night on low-I like to pour about 3/4 cup of bbq sauce (smoky one) over roast just before serving - I like the flavor- believe me it really does not act as a bbq sauce more like a steak sauce - so it is great with the roast- also good with creamy horseradish sauce

Lemon Pie
(quick and delish dessert)
I use the shortbread crusts (like it better than the graham cracker ones)
1 can of lemon pie filling
1 container of cool whip

spoon about 1/2 cup of lemon pie filling in bottom of crust
mix the rest of the lemon pie filling with 1/2 coolwhip place on top of lemon layer
cover with remaining coolwhip and freeze slightly