The Nifty Foodie

I’m sure I’ve mentioned that my parents’ green thumbs never passed down to me. My mom is a horticulturist, and even teaches courses at a local college. My dad is a pro veggie gardener (learned from growing vegetables for years), and can grow a mean crop of tomatoes. My parents make gardening look easy, but for me? I’m the plant killer.

My mom will bring me plants and seeds from time to time, and even the plants that are supposed to be kill-proof, die. I give ‘em water and plenty of sun, but they just fizzle. I like to think of gardening like cooking. When I started cooking, I could barely scramble eggs. However, with a few years of cooking and baking under my belt, I’m proud to say that I definitely can follow recipes, and I’m starting to experiment with writing my own! I’m in my 4th year of having a veggie garden, and while the bugs took over the tomatoes (AGAIN), I was SO excited to see these monstrous cucumbers growing in my garden. MY GARDEN..growing cucumbers…crazy y’all. I’m hoping this is a sign that I’m starting to catch on to this whole gardening thing.

I really wanted to make my own pickles out of these cucumbers, and since the cucumbers were just ridiculous, it only took 1 to fill up 3 pint sized mason jars. I especially love the idea of making fridge pickles, because I could leave the canning supplies in the pantry and basically throw these together very quickly.

These pickles are just so flavorful, and the wonderful thing about fridge pickles is that they are just unbelievably crisp. They lend an awesome crunchy texture to an otherwise average sandwich, and are also a pretty awesome snack on their own.

Garlic Fridge Pickles
Source: Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 2 whole cucumbers (make sure to use cucumbers with no waxy texture on the peel)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp. dried dill
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• pinch of coriander
• 6 whole peppercorns

Directions:

1. Slice the cucumbers in 1/4 in.-1/8 in. thick slices and add them to mason jars or a large bowl. Cut the garlic cloves into quarters and using a knife, gently smash them. Evenly add the garlic pieces to the jars or bowl.
2. In a small pot, heat the remaining ingredients until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
3. Pour the liquid over the cucumbers and garlic and cover the containers. Refrigerate the pickles for at least 2 hours before eating.

I love hosting big family holidays. I have a blast choosing a menu, shopping and waking up early to start the cooking festivities. It’s really rewarding when you see all of your loved ones gathered around and enjoying the food that YOU made! Never in my college day Lean Cuisine eating dreams did I think I could ever host a family holiday, but we have…quite a few times.

One of the big perks to cooking up a huge holiday meals is that you can sneak a taste or two of a few dishes as you’re cooking them up without getting smacked on the wrist by your momma. Sadly, I actually end up filling up on appetizers and taking small tastes before serving everyone! (whoops!) By the time everyone has their huge plates of food, I find myself sitting down and struggling to eat one plate. Oh well…

This past Christmas and Easter, I had this spinach artichoke dip to blame for the pre-meal full feeling. My friend, who blogs at Wine and Shoes, gave me this recipe after trying this dip at a party, and it’s just fabulous! I like to have this in a crockpot (to help the dip stay warm) where the appetizers are, which is sadly my kitchen island. All I have to do is take a step or two to sneak a cracker full of this stuff every couple of minutes. I’m not the only one who found it dangerous, either. As people started arriving, I noticed a little crowd was forming, and it certainly wasn’t for the cheese tray.

I especially love this dip, because there is no mayo. 90% of you will disagree with me, but I think mayo is gross. It smells terrible, looks nasty and because of that, I just can’t stomach the idea of eating ANYTHING containing mayo. Sorry to the mayo lovers…

Spicy Spinach Artichoke Dip
Source: Wine and Shoes (originally from Tabasco)

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 1 med onion, chopped finely
• 2-10 oz packs frozen spinach, thawed and well drained
• 1-14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded & divided
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated & divided
• 2 tbsp. Tabasco sauce
• salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in large saucepan on medium-low heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté the butter and onions until they are translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.  Add in the spinach, artichokes, cream cheese, sour cream, ¾ cup of the parmesan and ¾ cup of the Monterey jack, Tabasco and salt (to taste).  Cook until well mixed.
2. Pour the mixture into a smaller crockpot and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
3. Add the lid to the crockpot and heat on low for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is just melted. Then, keep the crockpot on low throughout serving.

Part of me cannot believe that the Superbowl is Sunday. I mean, that’s the end of football season until next Fall. I have to wait at least six months to watch another game after this. Sad.  (If you know me, you know I’m being dead serious about how sad this is to me. Crazy football fan here!) A perk of Superbowl Sunday? Watching Millie run up to the TV when I randomly switch over to the Puppy Bowl.

To mourn celebrate the end of another football season, here’s some great recipes that will definitely disappear if you serve them at your Superbowl parties.

Restaurant Style Queso Blanco

Restaurant Style Salsa

Crawfish Pies

Crawfish Cheesecake

Pork and Sausage Jambalaya

Berry Mash Bruschetta

Sugar Cookie Bars

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies

Oreo Cupcakes

Oh, and if you have an occasional puppy bowl break, I’m pretty sure the dogs at your party would love you for these!

Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Dog Treats

Greetings from our new kitchen! We’re still unpacking boxes around the house, but the kitchen is completely set-up! The kitchen was definitely a priority for us when it came to unpacking, because take out was definitely starting to get boring. Since we moved a little further from the city, our choices are VERY limited. So yeah, it was time to turn on that stove!

Since I was in the mood to make tex-mex (and H didn’t really mind that craving either), we made chicken enchiladas one night and then chicken taquitos with this salsa the next night. Tex-mex two nights in a week? Heck yes!

This salsa is really a big favorite in our house, and I’m really not sure why I haven’t shared this recipe with y’all until now! We’ve made it quite a few times, because it’s ridiculously easy to throw together and way tastier than anything you can buy in a jar! While this salsa makes a lot (and I mean A LOT), it’s really not difficult to go through this stuff fairly quickly. It’s addictive, for sure!

Restaurant Style Salsa
Source: Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

• 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes with juice
• 2 10 oz cans of Rotel
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 whole jalapeno, quartered and sliced thin (remove seeds if you don’t want as much heat)
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1/2 of a lime’s juice

Directions:

1. Take all ingredients and put them in a blender.
2. Pulse the blender until you reach your desired consistency.
3. Enjoy!

My husband and I really love a good bowl of queso blanco. Whenever we go to a tex-mex restaurant, we have to order the queso, and it never fails to just hit the spot. Sometimes, I even wonder why I order a dinner…it’s the queso that I’m really after!

I really wanted to know what type of cheese was in the queso, so I’d research and various folks would mention mexican cheeses that I’ve never worked with, so I was intimidated. Plus, I tend to have trouble trusting people on random forums, like Yahoo! Answers. Why waste my time. Then, I saw a post on Confessions of a Foodie Bride about making this infamous queso, but the cheese totally threw me for a loop. White American? Really…that’s it? So, I had to give this a try, because I love Shawnda’s blog, and I knew she wouldn’t steer me wrong here.

Y’all, this is restaurant queso blanco. I’m not lying. If you want queso blanco at home, make this…you won’t regret it. We definitely loved this recipe and it couldn’t be easier to make!

Restaurant Style Queso Blanco
Source: mildly adapted from Confessions of a Foodie Bride

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp cooking oil (veggie, olive, canola – whatever you have)
• 1/4 cup white onion, diced
• 1 large jalapeno or serrano, seeds and stem removed; diced
• 12 oz white American cheese, shredded
• 4 oz Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded (not pre-shredded…grate this yourself)
• 1/4-2/3 cup cream, half-and-half, or whole milk

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a pot. Add the onion and pepper and cook until until softened and reduce heat to medium-low.
2. Add the shredded cheese and 1/4 cup of the cream. Stir until well combined and mostly melted.
3. Add in additional cream a little at a time until you reach desired consistency.