I'm Back!

Hello everyone, I have taken a bit of a break from my blog. After a few requests, I'm back!!! This is a vacation week from school so I am not cooking every night, but here are a couple of ideas to get you through this week.

 I will be making venison steaks on the bbq with fresh green beans (bolied and then garlic butter on top) and sinful mashed potatoes. Boil the potato chunks (peeled or unpeeled and whatever kind of potatoes you choose) drain potatoes, add butter, milk, salt, pepper, a little cream cheese and sour cream, cooked bacon pieces, and green onions or chives. Mix it all up with a hand mixer and put in a casserole dish. Top with shredded cheese and bake covered for 15 minutes or until bubbly. Uncover for a few minutes if you want the cheese to get a little brown.

The next night I will make baked chicken and wild rice with yummy carrots. I have a great herb garden outside my kitchen door so I use fresh herbs, but you can use the herbs in your spice cupboard too. I rinse a whole chicken and pat dry. I saute a chopped onion, fresh lemon juice, a minced garlic clove, and herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme, basil, oregano) in olive oil until the onions are soft. Then I put this in the cavity of the chicken. I rub olive oil all over the outside of the chicken and place thin lemon slices on top. I bake it for at least an hour and a half on a rack in a roasting pan. It takes longer to cook a whole chicken when it is stuffed. I bought the wild rice pilaf at Costco and I cook it with that great chicken broth from there too. Now for the carrots. I peel and slice them julliene style and saute them in butter until they start to get soft. Then I add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, cover and simmer until the carrots are as soft as I like them. If they are done earlier than the rest of the dinner, I just keep them in the pan covered with no heat.

After this dinner, I'll de-bone the chicken. I will use the leftover chicken to make enchilladas. I will use a green sauce (store bought) and Montery Jack cheese. I like to saute the cooked chicken with an onion in olive oil before making the enchilladas. I also make cheese enchiladas if I don't have  a lot of chicken left. My family likes the cheese enchiladas with red sauce and cheddar cheese. Spanish rice from a package and refried beans in a can go well with these enchiladas.

Now is the time to get your summer garden going. We have planted tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, beets, melons, artichokes, potatoes, onions (planted in December) asparagus and I can't remember the rest!!!! There is nothing better than fresh veggies and we plan to can a ton of stuff this summer. I'll add that to my blog!