New blog

I have added another blog to my stable of blogs that  I do not write upon nearly enough.

It is entitled, " Does This Mountain Make My Butt Look Big?" and oddly enough it came from a conversation about just that one afternoon in Pigeon Forge TN. with some lovely friends of mine.

It went on to become a blog on a message board that had quite a bit of positive interaction so I am bringing it out of the message board and online publicly. Lord help me!

Here is the address:

http://bigbuttmountain.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in being added to the email list that will be sent out when I post please email me here:

robinmcnew@aol.com

I will continue to use this blog to review recipes, talk cooking, etc but the other blog will be specifically low carb only. 

Thanks and come over and check it out!

Blessings, y'all!


Robin

Crack Candy

• 4 oz saltine crackers (that's about one sleeve of crackers)
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line cookie sheet with saltine crackers in single layer.

In a saucepan, combine sugar and butter. Bring to a rolling boil for 3 minutes. Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers completely.

Bake at 400 degrees for 5-6 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. 

Let sit for 5 minutes. Spread melted chocolate and sprinkle pecans on top.

Cool completely and break into pieces 

[I stick mine in the freezer and store it there too.]

Recipe Review: PHILLY CHEESESTEAK STUFFED PEPPERS

Found this at a wonderful blog, which I am linking to below. The pic on this blog is of the ones I made. I am pretty impressed with them. I did increase the seasoning as Bill and I love a lot of seasoning.

PHILLY CHEESESTEAK STUFFED PEPPERS

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. Thinly Sliced Roast Beef

8 Slices Provolone Cheese

2 Large Green Bell Peppers

1 Medium Sweet Onion – Sliced

6 oz. Baby Bella Mushrooms - Sliced

2 Tbs. Butter

2 Tbs. Olive Oil

1 Tbs. Garlic - Minced

Salt and Pepper - to taste

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

DIRECTIONS

Slice peppers in half lengthwise, remove ribs and seeds.

In a large sauté pan over low-medium heat, add butter, olive oil, garlic, mushrooms onions and a little salt and pepper.  Sauté until onions and mushroom are nice and caramelized.  About 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°

Slice roast beef into thin strips and add to the onion/mushroom mixture.  Allow to cook 5-10 minutes.

Line the inside of each pepper with a slice of provolone cheese.  Fill each pepper with meat mixture until they are nearly overflowing.  Top each pepper with another slice of provolone cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese on top is golden brown. 

Prep Time – 15 Minutes

Cook Time – 50 Minutes

Makes Servings: 4

Per Serving: 

Calories – 458

Protein – 27 g

Carbs – 8.5 net g

Fat – 36 g





This recipe and many other low carb good ones can be found here: 


http://peaceloveandlowcarb.blogspot.com/2012/06/philly-cheesesteak-stuffed-peppers.html#.Uc9YPW3m-AS



My Tweaks: 
Pressed as much grease out of the meat mixture as possible before stuffing. It was super greasy. 
Added shredded cheese in the middle of the meat mix layers

Apple Enchiladas

Apple Enchiladas

* PREHEAT OVEN TO 350

1 (21 ounce) can apple pie filling 
6 (8 inch) flour tortillas 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/2 cup butter 
1/2 cup white sugar 
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1/2 cup water 


Spoon about one heaping quarter cup of pie filling evenly down the center of each tortilla. 
Sprinkle with cinnamon; roll up, tucking in edges; and place seam side down in prepared dish. 
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, white sugar, brown sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. 
Pour sauce over enchiladas and let stand 45 minutes.
Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes, or until golden. 
Serve with vanilla ice cream

This recipe was posted to my Facebook wall by a friend who wanted me to make it. I did and it was wonderful!


My notes: 
These are to die for with the ice cream, and still pretty good without it. 
I ended up chopping the apple pie filling a bit to make it more eater friendly. 
I premixed the apple pie filling with the cinnamon to save time on that step.
The pie filling is very messy to handle when rolling the tortillas.

FOOD REVIEW: Smoked Ribs, Men of Lynn Haven United Methodist Church

Every year for Super Bowl Sunday the men of Lynn Haven Methodist Church have a huge smoke out and smoke ribs as a fundraiser.

 

I got them for the first time last year and immediately froze them as I wasn't going to eat them right away. My daughter is a rib-a-holic and she wasn't going to be home. If they were eaten without her there would have been severe consequences for all of us.


After thawing them last year and reheating in the crockpot for a few hours, they emerged nicely seasoned and tender.

This year we ate them straight out of the smoker. Delivery was made by one of those awesome Methodist men and they were melt in your mouth tender and still hot.

 
The seasoning was very light but tasty, some MasterMethodistSmokerGuru decided to let the smoke do the talking and it was a very wise decision.  The flavor of the meat shone through the smoke and seasoning for a very tender, and delicious rib. YUMMO!




So if you are in the neighborhood for some ribs today or tomorrow (Superbowl weekend) I highly recommend giving Chad a call. 850-867-7188. He can tell you where and what time to pick them up. I'm going to post this review on my FB page and post it every year again when they start taking orders. Oh wait, did I mention YUMMO?



Blessings, ya'll!


note: these pictures are of half a rack or maybe a couple ribs less. My husband and I got in to them before I started getting pictures. They smelled too good to leave alone.

Cilantro Grilled Chicken Breast [Recipe Review]

Cilantro Grilled Chicken Breast

**Food Network Chef George Stella is the author and creator  of this recipe. **

 

Total Time: 35 min

Prep 25 min

Cook time10 min

Yield:: 2 servings

Level: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 pound (2 large breasts) boneless skinless chicken breast, butterflied
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons Cilantro Herb Butter, recipe follows
• Fresh parsley, optional, for garnish

Directions

Preheat a grill or grill pan over high heat.

Lightly coat chicken with oil and sprinkle each evenly on both sides with the salt and pepper. Grill chicken breasts for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side, or until thoroughly cooked; the meat should be solid white throughout and the internal temperature will read 165 degrees F. Remove from grill and immediately top with cilantro herb butter. Garnish with parsley, if desired. Serve as butter is melting.

Cilantro Butter:

Scampi Butter, recipe follows

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves Follow the scampi butter recipe, but use only half of the garlic, and replace the parsley with 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro. Yield: 12 servings

Scampi Butter (Base):

1/4 pound unsalted butter, softened

1 tablespoon minced garlic 2 tablespoons minced red onion 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Dash white pepper Dash Worcestershire sauce 1 lemon, juiced 1 tablespoon white wine In a bowl, whisk all ingredients until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate until ready to use. Use the Scampi "base" to make different flavored butters.     http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/george-stella/cilantro-grilled-chicken-breast-recipe/index.html   My review: was not able to grill today so I seasoned my chicken breasts as directed and pan fried it in a little olive oil on medium-high heat. The butter melted down perfectly over the chicken and the flavors blended well and melted in my mouth. I am going to try the butter on hamburgers next...It tasted like something restaurant quality! There was no time to get a picture of it as it disappeared so quickly!

Jalapeno Poppers

Jalapeno Poppers


12 Jalapeno Peppers
8 oz Cream cheese, goat cheese or 4oz of both, softened to room temperature.
Shredded cheddar cheese
Real Bacon bits or fried crispy crumbled bacon slices, to your taste




Preheat oven to 400 deg




Split jalapeno peppers in half, remove membranes and seeds, rinse well, make sure nothing "white" remains in the shells. NOTHING unless you really like them HOT. Even one seed will fire your mouth up. Tips are below.


In a bowl mix 8 ounces cream/and or/goat cheese with a handful of the cheddar. The goal is to make a cheese filling that is somewhat stiff but still pliable by hand. Add more cheddar if it seems to need it. Then add the bacon bits to the bowl. You can mash it together with a fork or use your hands to mix it very well. I recommend using your hands myself.
Stuff mixture into peppers, you can use a spoon or do it by hand. I do it by hand. Messier but works better.I put the filling in so that it's not in a big mound but spread out so that the pepper is just slightly rounded on top when done.


Place stuffed peppers on a cookie sheet with a lip around the edge. They will roll out of a flat cookie sheet. Or use any other baking pan with sides. Top with a little bit of shredded cheddar on each pepper. Time consuming but if you just cover everything with cheese it does not work well to dip them in ranch. Then it becomes more knife and fork.....


Bake for about 20--30 minutes or until tender and just "almost" turning color...less time for less color if you like. 

Let cool for 5-10 min. Dip in Ranch or Bleu cheese dressing and enjoy!


TIPS:


1. Sometimes I substitute cooked hot Italian sausage for the bacon bits.

2. I have scraped the peppers with a spoon and with my thumb under 4 layers of plastic gloves. The thumb worked better. The spoon just didn't do as good of a job. Less than 4 layers of glove and the oils from the peppers got into my nail bed and burned for several days.NOT.FUN. The peppers scraped with a spoon were also much hotter.

3. Do not work with the peppers bare handed. The oils are very difficult to wash from your skin and if you touch anything on your body [And MEN I mean ANYTHING] you will be sorry you did not wear gloves. I promise. Also do not handle your contact lenses if you did not wear gloves. OUCH. I keep a fingernail brush on my kitchen sink and scrub under my nails after wards too.Sometimes I go through 3 rounds of 4 gloves just to get them all scraped. As soon as the glove starts looking raggedy I change them.


4. I usually make a lot at one time and store them in a Ziploc bag in the fridge after they cool down. The cheese cools to a solid consistency and they just stack right up. Nuke the number you want to eat for 40sec. on a plate or so and they are like they just came out of the oven.

5. Change up the shredded cheese, the ingredients [bacon, sausage, etc] And even add spices if you like. I read one variation where they used spinach artichoke dip for a filling and they really liked it...