One of my pet peeves is made up names. All names get their meaning from somewhere so I am going to remove the curse off your child's life and give her name meaning and her life direction.
I remember the first time I noticed it. The look of pure love and unadulterated adoration I saw from her eyes. I knew in that instance there was finally someone on this Earth who loved you as much as me. Then this weekend, it hit me, her presence in your life was not because she needed you, you need her.
You needed someone to help you to grow up. You needed someone to get you off the path of go nowhere, and redirect your steps back to the promise land. You someone that you could feel connected to. You needed someone to help you not feel alone.
This little girl is more than a mere baby. She is an angel sent by God to draw you back to where you belong. So I have broken down her first name to mean God beckons. How did I get this. Well, yah means God. Ani means beckons.
After a natural wildfire, the earth is scorched. It seems that everything as far as the eye can see is annihilated Behind the scenes,the miraculous is happening. As the old matter decays, it makes way for the new life that is waiting underneath. Overtime, what once looked like destruction comes back better than ever. Being a single mother can feel like the world is being destroyed all around you. But if you let God make you over again, you can have a new and better life. What was meant for evil, God can work it out for your good.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Chicken Two Ways
This originally was supposed to be a post about Chicken Parmesan but seeing that you eat less than a kids' size portion of food, I thought I would figure out how you could make two unique meals out of one pack of chicken. First let's tackle the shopping list. Here is what you need:
Now time to cook the chicken! Dip the season chicken in the egg wash first, cover both sides. I know it will be slimy, get over it. Put each piece of egg dipped chicken in the breadcrumbs. Make sure all the chicken is coated with the crumbs. Place the breaded chicken in the pan, making sure that the pieces are not touching. If your pan is not big enough, the chicken will not brown, it will just be a gooey mess. Cook the chicken on the first side until golden brown. BUT do not keep checking it!!! It needs contact with the pan to get crispy. If you keep fiddling with it, it will not cook properly. So since these are thin cut pieces, check the first side after about five minutes.
When the first side has some golden brown color, flip it and do the same to the other side. You do not want to over cook the meat. If there are spots that are not the right color for you, you can flip it back over at the end for a few seconds, but do not turn the meat into chicken jerky. Once you have browned the chicken, drain it on paper towels and set it aside.
II. Rewind....if you are going to eat this as Chicken Parm, then you need to be boiling a pot of water for pasta and preheat the oven to about 400 degrees for the second part of the chicken. So let's proceed like you did all that already. Take two pieces of the cooked chicken and place it in a baking dish. Pour some of your favorite pasta sauce on top. It does not need to be hot already. Next, layer on some cheese. I have used slices of provolone in the past. I did not find it very flavorful, but it melts nicely. Any way, put the chicken in the oven, and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly. This gives you just enough time to cook your pasta. Since you are feeding just you, I do not see a reason to dirty an entire dish to warm up the rest of the sauce. You can toss the hot pasta with the sauce before serving and that should be just suffice in getting warm. Now if you were fixing a large version, yes, you will have to pull out a pot and heat the sauce, but not for just you. Take the chicken out of the oven, serve with you pasta, add some bread or salad and you have a meal! Hooray!!!
III There should two extra pieces of chicken left over. If you slice this chicken into strips, it becomes chicken fingers. You could chop the chicken and put it on a salad. Add two slice of bread, bacon,lettuce and mayo, it becomes a sandwich...you get the point. One package of meat can turn into multiple meals for you. Enjoy and let me know how it turns out.
- One package of thin cut chicken breast
- Panko or Japanese style bread crumbs
- Eggs
- Pasta sauce of your choice
- Box of pasta of your preference
- Bag of Italian blend shredded cheese
- Parmesan cheese
Now time to cook the chicken! Dip the season chicken in the egg wash first, cover both sides. I know it will be slimy, get over it. Put each piece of egg dipped chicken in the breadcrumbs. Make sure all the chicken is coated with the crumbs. Place the breaded chicken in the pan, making sure that the pieces are not touching. If your pan is not big enough, the chicken will not brown, it will just be a gooey mess. Cook the chicken on the first side until golden brown. BUT do not keep checking it!!! It needs contact with the pan to get crispy. If you keep fiddling with it, it will not cook properly. So since these are thin cut pieces, check the first side after about five minutes.
When the first side has some golden brown color, flip it and do the same to the other side. You do not want to over cook the meat. If there are spots that are not the right color for you, you can flip it back over at the end for a few seconds, but do not turn the meat into chicken jerky. Once you have browned the chicken, drain it on paper towels and set it aside.
II. Rewind....if you are going to eat this as Chicken Parm, then you need to be boiling a pot of water for pasta and preheat the oven to about 400 degrees for the second part of the chicken. So let's proceed like you did all that already. Take two pieces of the cooked chicken and place it in a baking dish. Pour some of your favorite pasta sauce on top. It does not need to be hot already. Next, layer on some cheese. I have used slices of provolone in the past. I did not find it very flavorful, but it melts nicely. Any way, put the chicken in the oven, and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly. This gives you just enough time to cook your pasta. Since you are feeding just you, I do not see a reason to dirty an entire dish to warm up the rest of the sauce. You can toss the hot pasta with the sauce before serving and that should be just suffice in getting warm. Now if you were fixing a large version, yes, you will have to pull out a pot and heat the sauce, but not for just you. Take the chicken out of the oven, serve with you pasta, add some bread or salad and you have a meal! Hooray!!!
III There should two extra pieces of chicken left over. If you slice this chicken into strips, it becomes chicken fingers. You could chop the chicken and put it on a salad. Add two slice of bread, bacon,lettuce and mayo, it becomes a sandwich...you get the point. One package of meat can turn into multiple meals for you. Enjoy and let me know how it turns out.
Monday, May 21, 2012
A Recipe for Disaster
Today's post is not about food, but it is. Today will go down in one of pivotal life changing moments. I have been through too many in my short life. Today I had to deliver the news that my husband's mother has Alzheimer's and has severe heart disease. We have weathered of plenty of storms in the course of our marriage, we survive this one as well. Nonetheless, my heart bleeds for him. He has had navigate this world with no father, now the only parent he has ever had will die a slow indignant death not suited for any decent human being.
What does this have to do with food? Everything and nothing at all. Medical science is not yet equipped to tell us what percentage of our health issues are genetic, environmental or lifestyle related. With the absence of that information, the only thing that we can control is us. A part of me is sad, another is angry, another part is bewildered that food is a culprit making me a caregiver at the age of 35. No one knows where the changes in the brain came from, or when the damage to the heart occurred, but I can tell you being fat, black and stressed out did not help. I carefully entitled this post recipe for disaster because it is the combination, not just one layer that has my husband facing being a orphan.
I do not believe "soul food" kills people. His grandmother is over eighty and she is fine. My grandmother lived to over 90, and the list goes on and on. So what is the difference between one generation to the next? Well, one main difference is the Big n Tasty with cheese. I wholeheartedly believe there is a significant difference when you eat something like a burger and fries at at home than when you eat a McFaux sandwich. The pork that was used to season that food, is in stark contrast to us throwing back a large order of tips and washing it down with a 2 liter of bubbly brew. The true essence of "soul food" that I am trying to give you in my lessons is about learning to make due when resources are scarce. Soul food is about taking the time to enrich your food with flavor and love. There is no love in what I call terrorist chicken, which our patient in question has eaten many a tray of wings from.
Another key ingredient in this disastrous recipe is laziness. Years of being encouraging her to go for a walk just to enjoy nature and tranquility were met with cries of boring and I don't want to. Now said patient can not barely walk and has the cardiovascular health of a fatten duck ready for the slaughter. I recall all the years of fighting you to go outside even when you did not have someone to play with. I wanted you to learn how to be content alone and learn how to get your body moving whether you had a friend in the world or not. I might have fallen short on that goal but I did try. You still have good years ahead of you to make some good habits. Do not lay around waiting for life to excite you, get up and do not let life pass you by because it will, quicker than you think.
The last diabolical addition to this stew is isolation. To coin the cliche' that no man is an island, is so true. I have been humble by this experience in so many ways. It is easy to feel invincible when you are young and healthy, but the time comes when we all need someone to care and be on our side. I talk alot about burning bridges. Yes, you should be careful of what bridges you burn, but some of them do need to be destroyed. I can think of a certain bridge I wished you would have torched a LONG time ago, but oh well. In addition to paying attention to the bridges you burn, you also need to build new bridges in your life. Find new positive connections, meet new people, find new ways to serve your fellow man. I am a private, secluded person, but I am not isolated. I know how to reach out to other when I need it. You never want to find yourself painted into a creepy lonely corner.
To wrap this up, I am upset that decisions not to lose weight and eat right then is punishing my husband now. The worse thing you can do as a parent is make your kids suffer for your bad decisions. I am glad to do God' service in this world, and I will do what He ask of me in this situation, but this should not be, and it is just sad, just really sad.
What does this have to do with food? Everything and nothing at all. Medical science is not yet equipped to tell us what percentage of our health issues are genetic, environmental or lifestyle related. With the absence of that information, the only thing that we can control is us. A part of me is sad, another is angry, another part is bewildered that food is a culprit making me a caregiver at the age of 35. No one knows where the changes in the brain came from, or when the damage to the heart occurred, but I can tell you being fat, black and stressed out did not help. I carefully entitled this post recipe for disaster because it is the combination, not just one layer that has my husband facing being a orphan.
I do not believe "soul food" kills people. His grandmother is over eighty and she is fine. My grandmother lived to over 90, and the list goes on and on. So what is the difference between one generation to the next? Well, one main difference is the Big n Tasty with cheese. I wholeheartedly believe there is a significant difference when you eat something like a burger and fries at at home than when you eat a McFaux sandwich. The pork that was used to season that food, is in stark contrast to us throwing back a large order of tips and washing it down with a 2 liter of bubbly brew. The true essence of "soul food" that I am trying to give you in my lessons is about learning to make due when resources are scarce. Soul food is about taking the time to enrich your food with flavor and love. There is no love in what I call terrorist chicken, which our patient in question has eaten many a tray of wings from.
Another key ingredient in this disastrous recipe is laziness. Years of being encouraging her to go for a walk just to enjoy nature and tranquility were met with cries of boring and I don't want to. Now said patient can not barely walk and has the cardiovascular health of a fatten duck ready for the slaughter. I recall all the years of fighting you to go outside even when you did not have someone to play with. I wanted you to learn how to be content alone and learn how to get your body moving whether you had a friend in the world or not. I might have fallen short on that goal but I did try. You still have good years ahead of you to make some good habits. Do not lay around waiting for life to excite you, get up and do not let life pass you by because it will, quicker than you think.
The last diabolical addition to this stew is isolation. To coin the cliche' that no man is an island, is so true. I have been humble by this experience in so many ways. It is easy to feel invincible when you are young and healthy, but the time comes when we all need someone to care and be on our side. I talk alot about burning bridges. Yes, you should be careful of what bridges you burn, but some of them do need to be destroyed. I can think of a certain bridge I wished you would have torched a LONG time ago, but oh well. In addition to paying attention to the bridges you burn, you also need to build new bridges in your life. Find new positive connections, meet new people, find new ways to serve your fellow man. I am a private, secluded person, but I am not isolated. I know how to reach out to other when I need it. You never want to find yourself painted into a creepy lonely corner.
To wrap this up, I am upset that decisions not to lose weight and eat right then is punishing my husband now. The worse thing you can do as a parent is make your kids suffer for your bad decisions. I am glad to do God' service in this world, and I will do what He ask of me in this situation, but this should not be, and it is just sad, just really sad.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Beans the musical fruit
Hear you are having a party this weekend, what better to share with your friends than to treat them to some tasty fiber goodness. Baked beans can take on many incarnations. I like mine a little sweet, a little spicy. Some people put ground beef or smoked sausage,etc... in them. If you decide on YOUR own to get freaky with it, then by all means then do. However, my recipe is a little bit more simple. I can not make it spicy when I prepare them around here, but since your crowd is on the adult side, I will include a little more flavor.
Here is the supplies you need:
The oven variation is this. Follow everything the same except transfer everything to a baking dish, including the bacon. Cover, and bake on 350 until hot and bubbly, not burn and dried out.
Here is the supplies you need:
- (3-4) 15 oz can of baked beans, prefer Van Camps, but Kroger has worked as well. Make sure it is not a freaky flavor, just plain beans
- Brown sugar, dark if you have it
- Green bell pepper
- Yellow or white onion
- Cinnamon
- Ketchup and/or favorite bbq sauce
- Bacon
- Can or jarred jalapeno pepper
Preparation
First step is chopping. You need to dice half of the onion and pepper into a small dice. Save the other half for later use. Set to the side, and take about four slices of bacon to chop into small pieces. Now, preheat saute pan over medium high heat. While the pan is heating, begin to open the cans of beans. Once the pan is hot, begin to cook bacon until brown and crispy, not black and crunchy. Take the bacon out to drain on paper towels. You only need about one tablespoon of the bacon grease, pour off the rest. Cook the onion an pepper in this oil. Add salt and pepper at this point.If you want to add jalapeno, add it at this point. I would add about a tablespoon. Once they are done, add the brown sugar. Start with 1/2 cup, it will liquefy quickly, do not let it burn or turn into hard candy. Next, add ketsup, I do not measure,but I will guess about 1/2 cup as well. The bbq sauce should be about 1/4 cup. Stir, and taste the mixture without burning yourself. Add a few dashes of cinnamon and taste again, it should have a certain heat in the background that make you say hmm, what is that, not taste like a Red Hot.Cooking
This is the base of how I season my baked beans if you are going to complete it all on the stove, now you are going to need a bigger cooking vessel unless you have any pans as big as mine. Add the vegi mixture, the beans and stir. Taste again. If it missing "something," now it is time to make adjustments. More sugar, a little more bbq sauce, even a little water to thin out the sauce. Once it looks and tastes like you want, add the bacon, and the stove top preparation is complete.The oven variation is this. Follow everything the same except transfer everything to a baking dish, including the bacon. Cover, and bake on 350 until hot and bubbly, not burn and dried out.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Top Ten: Spice Rack
This is a quick post as I wait for your brother to ever go to sleep. I have put together the top ten things I think you should have in you cupboard as far as seasoning goes. Some need no explanation, other may.
1) Table Salt
2) Black Pepper
3) Kosher and/or Sea Salt
4) Ground Cumin
5) Red Pepper Flakes
6) Chili Powder
7) Oregano
8) Onion Powder
9) Garlic Powder
10)Lawry's Season Salt
Number one and two need no explanation, those are the simple, most basic flavorings you need. Kosher or Sea Salt have many uses from crusting a steak to scrubbing a pan or putting out a grease fire. I know you are not cooking much seafood at this point, but I believe that sea salt adds something special to fish that ordinary iodized salt does not.
Ground cumin is the something in the background that gives Mexican and Tex-Mex food it flavor. It is not "spicy" rather it add aroma and flavor without heat. You can use this to make tacos, fajitas, and chili. Red pepper flakes have uses outside of pizza and pasta, as your brother has taught you. Red pepper flakes can jazz up vegetables, soups, really any dish.
Oregano is a must. It is super versatile. It can season your pasta sauce, it can round out your chili, it can make your cheese steak just a little better. Onion and Garlic powder, make sure it is POWDER, not salt. These are both chameleons that can help you to reproduce flavors that you are familiar with because they are most likely in the processed food you love. Both powders can go in burgers, pasta sauces, chili, chicken dishes,etc...the sky is the limit.
Last but not least is Lawry's Season Salt. This is what I grew up with, this is all I will buy. I have tried many others, I have tried my own blends. But if it ain't broke,do not fix it. This the workhorse of the Black kitchen. The only thing I have not put it on is dessert,(do not give me any ideas.) Since it is salt, you have to watch the other seasoning. It is rare that I would use season salt and regular salt, with the exception of something like a stew, chili or soup because of the volume of food, you need to layer the flavor.
O.k. I think your brother is out for the count so am I. Hope this post help, so next time you call me, I can tell you to go grab these things before asking me questions. Good night.
1) Table Salt
2) Black Pepper
3) Kosher and/or Sea Salt
4) Ground Cumin
5) Red Pepper Flakes
6) Chili Powder
7) Oregano
8) Onion Powder
9) Garlic Powder
10)Lawry's Season Salt
Number one and two need no explanation, those are the simple, most basic flavorings you need. Kosher or Sea Salt have many uses from crusting a steak to scrubbing a pan or putting out a grease fire. I know you are not cooking much seafood at this point, but I believe that sea salt adds something special to fish that ordinary iodized salt does not.
Ground cumin is the something in the background that gives Mexican and Tex-Mex food it flavor. It is not "spicy" rather it add aroma and flavor without heat. You can use this to make tacos, fajitas, and chili. Red pepper flakes have uses outside of pizza and pasta, as your brother has taught you. Red pepper flakes can jazz up vegetables, soups, really any dish.
Oregano is a must. It is super versatile. It can season your pasta sauce, it can round out your chili, it can make your cheese steak just a little better. Onion and Garlic powder, make sure it is POWDER, not salt. These are both chameleons that can help you to reproduce flavors that you are familiar with because they are most likely in the processed food you love. Both powders can go in burgers, pasta sauces, chili, chicken dishes,etc...the sky is the limit.
Last but not least is Lawry's Season Salt. This is what I grew up with, this is all I will buy. I have tried many others, I have tried my own blends. But if it ain't broke,do not fix it. This the workhorse of the Black kitchen. The only thing I have not put it on is dessert,(do not give me any ideas.) Since it is salt, you have to watch the other seasoning. It is rare that I would use season salt and regular salt, with the exception of something like a stew, chili or soup because of the volume of food, you need to layer the flavor.
O.k. I think your brother is out for the count so am I. Hope this post help, so next time you call me, I can tell you to go grab these things before asking me questions. Good night.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Let's get this blog rolling
Well, here it is I told you I would do it and I did. This blog is my expression of love and care for you. And mostly because I get tired of you calling and asking me questions about cooking so it will be here for you 24/7/365. I hope you read it, enjoy it and cherish the sentiment. My first full post will come later today. Remember I am new to this and I have to figure it out
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