Chorizo….homemade, made with turkey instead of incredibly fatty pork, yes, this is good…
Breakfast skillet, with homemade turkey chorizo, crispy oven fried potatoes…eggs over easy…
Spicy chicken wings, oh yeah, with homemade light bleu cheese dressing, yes, I said light.
Salads…lots of salads…with really delicious “goodies.”
Cinnamon rolls..cream cheese frosting, of course…
Pizza…grilled…
Vegetables….grilled…
Steak…grilled…
Easy fall off the bone ribs…homemade BBQ sauce…did I mention easy?
Warm bleu cheese potato salad…
Oh yeah, pies…blueberry…peach crumb…toasted coconut cream…with homemade pastry cream, of course…

These are the things that I’ve been thinking about.  These are the kinds of things I’m working on.

I don’t know about you but we are eating out less and less these days.  Truly there is nothing you can eat in a restaurant that you can’t make even BETTER at home!  Please feel free to let me know if there is something you’d like to see on my blog. I LOVE requests!

Have a great evening.

Angie

Jessica, a fellow blogger posted a comment regarding Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.  I thought I’d posted  her comment, but something happened….could it be the margarita I’m enjoying on the deck while blogging?….probably not a good idea!  Anyway, she said that if I was truly inspired by the show, to go on line and sign the petition, so I did.  Here is the link:  www.jamiesfoodrevolution.com/petition.

We all need to do our part for the future of our children.  I’m thrilled that a celebrity chef has taken action, one from another country no less!  Thank you Jamie Oliver!  Let us all take action to become healthier.  Baby steps.  We can do it!

Have a great week!

Angie

Hello everyone!

Anyone watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution?  I love it!  It’s very much what I’m all about, getting everyone in their kitchens and using good, real ingredients.  Yes, I do sweets, but the recipes contain all REAL ingredients.  As always, sweet treats must be enjoyed in moderation. 

Have you noticed the foods that are coming into season?  Strawberries and asparagus.  So many more are just around the corner.  Try to fill your cart with good produce, healthy whole grains, such as brown rice and whole wheat pasta, lean meats, and low fat dairy. 

Let’s all strive to elilminate processed foods.  Here are some things I do not bring into my house and the alternatives I do:

NO to Soda,  YES to juices such as apple, orange,  and grape that do not contain corn syrup.
NO to Processed/packaged  cookies, YES to home baked goodies with real ingredients.
NO to Fruit roll ups/candy, YES to plenty of fresh fruit, grapes, pears, bananas.
NO to sweet lunch drinks, YES to water for lunch.

These are just a few things that can make a big difference.  If you have any suggestions you’d like to share, please do!  Feel free to email me.

Have a great weekend!

Angie

Good morning.  I am looking forward to today.  We first go to 9:00 a.m. mass and then the “food” festivities begin.  I am baking homemade chocolate chip banana bread for “coffee” at my sister-in-law, Nancy’s  house today.   Later today, for dinner, we will go to my other sister-in-law, Mary Beth’s house for a delicious ham dinner.  I will be bringing dessert.  I think I’m going to make pumpkin squares with cream cheese frosting.  I will try to save a piece to photograph and will share the recipe.  This is one of my “go to” recipes. 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday today.  I am thankful for YOU!

Blessings to you and yours, Happy Easter!

Angie

Did you know that if you microwave a lemon or a lime for 10 seconds and then apply pressure with your palm while rolling roll it back and forth on the counter a few times you will get more juice out of it? 

Did you also know that the most intense flavor of citrus comes from the pretty intensely colored skin?  This is called the “zest.”  The tool pictured above is called a microplane.  Hold the plane with one hand and the lemon with the other.  Then run the lemon across the plane.  You only want to use the bright part of the skin as the pith, or the more white part of the skin can be bitter.  Give the tool a tap on the cutting board to loosen the flavorful bits from the underside.  You can get a microplane at http://www.cooking.com/ or most any kitchen store for around $10.  This tool can also be used to finely grate hard cheeses like parmesan or romano.

Try zesting a lemon, then juicing.  Add the juice as part of the cooking liquid for rice and when the rice is done,  add the zest at the very end.  You will have a delicious lemon rice to serve with the Crunchy Baked Cod recipe I posted  a couple of days ago.  You can add this to most any sugar cookie recipe, quick bread, or scone for an intense and delicious citrus flavor.

More to come!

Thank you so much for visiting.

Angie

Did you know that after meat is removed from a marinade, you can use it as a sauce?  All you have to do is bring it to a boil for a minute or two and you’re good to go.  This way you can serve a simple steamed brown rice with your meat and drizzle some of the delicious marinade over for extra flavor, yum!

Have a great day!

Angie

Several years ago I was visiting my Dad for Christmas.  He had a lovely nativity set up with lights and plopped right on top of the manger was a chicken……yes, a chicken…. I found that so funny and still do!

When I asked my step mom why there was a chicken on top of the manger she said that it was in remembrance of his Mom, my beloved Grandma Inez.  Apparently she was very fond of chickens and they had chickens in their yard when my Dad was a kid.  Isn’t that cute?

Anyway, I haven’t thought of that for many years and then today I realized the “foul” connection between the three of us.   I have a great fondness of roosters and chickens.  I have many in my kitchen. 

I also find it interesting that my Grandma’s favorite piece of chicken was the wing.  As a kid, I thought that was wierd.

Guess what my favorite piece of chicken is now?  You’ve got it, the wing! 

Isn’t it cool when you realize where your fondness of something, say roosters and chickens, came from?

Have a wonderful day!

Angie

Did you know that if your drop cookies are spreading out too thin when baking, if you refrigerate your dough until completely chilled, they will bake up thicker and more chewy than crunchy and thin?  I use an ice cream scoop to assure evenly baked and proportioned pieces of dough. 

After trying this, if you are not satisfied with your result you then cut back on the mosture in your recipe.   That being the butter.  If your recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter, cut it back by a tablespoon.  I would still recommend chilling your dough.  If it is an abosolute emergency that you have a warm chocolate chip cookie, immediately, if not sooner, portion out your dough into balls on a sheet and refrigerate for 20 minutes.  Record results right on your recipe card.  Before you know it, you will have perfected your own recipe! 

So don’t ditch that recipe until you’ve done some experimenting.  You will be so pleased with yourself when you get it the way you want it!

Have a great day!
Angie

How many of you out there have been trying my recipes?  Are you having good results?  Does anyone have any questions?

I encourage you to let me know what you think!  You can leave comments below my posts or feel free to email me.   Let me know if there is something specifically you’d like to see on my blog.

Also, if you have a fabulous recipe you’d like to share, please contact me at:  angiemontroy@angiespantry.com. 

I would really love to hear from you.

Thank you!

Angie