Chocolate Chip Cookies.

These cookies are so good that they don't even last long enough for me to take a decent picture! ha!

I've used this recipe since I started baking when I was about 10. It's the one actual recipe that I know by heart!

2 1/4 cups Flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
2 sticks butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream together sugars and butter, add in vanilla and eggs. Continue mixing about 2 minutes. Turn mixer to low and gently add in the baking soda and flour. Fold in chocolate chips.
Bake for about 10 min or until golden brown.

Tip: I use a melon baller to portion the dough onto the cookie sheet. Of course you can make them as big or as little as possible.

Christmas Decorations....craft time!

Alice, the kids, and I spent the last few days decorating the house for Christmas. I'm not really into Thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, I love to eat....and I love to cook, but for some reason, this year, I'm just really ready for Christmas!
Alice is such a great Mother in Law. We went shopping and she ended up getting some great new decorations for the house (since our new house is so big, I really don't have enough to fill it.) One thing we found when we went shopping was that there are some really cheaply made decorations at ridiculous prices!!
During the course of the shopping trip, we decided to get crafty with certain things. Thanks to Pintrest, we have become a way more creative family! (If you haven't been on pintrest, you need to be!)

Here's our projects!

 

 

We bought 2 of these wreaths for $4. (from Old Time Pottery) They were plain green.  We then bought the little decorations from Hobby Lobby along with a can of spray snow. The decorations were about $6 and the spray snow was $4.  So for about $11 (because we used very little of the spray snow) we made a wreath that was selling everywhere else for at least $40!

 

 

Here's both of them. The Pointsettas were $6 at Lowes. The candy cane striped Christmas tree things were about $12 for all 3 from Old Time Pottery.

 

 

Next, Alice bought us this cute little tree from Lowes ($15, and it came in a watering stand) Ally thought it was colder than 50 degrees here yesterday. Ha!

 

 

We decided to decorate the tree and put some "presents" under it. Amber, Ally, and Andrew all helped wrap some empty boxes to put under there.

 

The finished product. I still need to put a tree topper on it. Luckily, I have enough ornaments to fill 2 full trees!

 

 

Here's my tree inside. One year I'd like to get a bigger one to fit in my big house. This tree is 99% Disney. There are 1 or 2 non Disney ornaments that the kids snuck on there. Normally, I try to fit every ornament I own on this one tree. I really need to buy another tree. ....

 

 

Here's the planter. I used some of the spray snow in it, then added some loose "snow" throughout. We had the white twinkle lights in it from Amber's 16th Birthday and I added a garland wrapped in colored lights to it.

 

 

This is our other project that Alice and Amber did. Bradley made the boxes out of chicken wire, then the girls wrapped it in lights and garland. We found decorations like this for over $50!!  (And they were smaller in size!) Since we only had to buy the garland, it cost about $15 to make both.

 

 

All of the stockings were hung by the chimney with care.....I'm hoping that next Christmas, I'll be able to add one for Elena! :-).....although Bradley may have to make a bigger mantle! ha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creamy Crawfish Pasta, a bowl of deliciousness!

Living in the south we have lots of seafood, fresh seafood. We love to have crab boils, shrimp boils, and crawfish boils. What I love is after the boils, I can take what is left over and turn it into another meal. (do you see a pattern with multiple meals from one thing?)  Crawfish covered in crab boil is just delicious!
So, last night, I made creamy crawfish pasta. It was AH-MAZING! Seriously! You can get crawfish tails from your freezer section at walmart as a substitute or you can even use shrimp in this dish....whatever you like.
On to the recipe!

1 lb Pasta of your choice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, finely diced
1/2 bell pepper, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Emerils Essence (or you can make your own, recipe to follow)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 c dry white wine (I used the yellow tail pinot grigio)
2 cups half and half or heavy cream. (if you use half and half, you may need to use a little flour or cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce)
Juice from 1 lemon
1 lb crawfish tails

Heat oil in a saucepan, sauté onions until starting to soften then add in garlic and bell pepper. Cook until all veggies are soft. Add in emerils essence, salt, and cayenne and cook about 1 min. Add in wine and cook down until almost evaporated. Add in half and half and lemon juice. Cook until sauce is thickened some.

 

 Add in crawfish tails and cook until they are warmed through.

 Toss with cooked pasta. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and serve!

 

Don't judge me....I had to use 2 different types of pasta. When I went to pull out the box of penne, I realized it was only half full so I had to mix and match! ha!

 

Another neat kitchen gadget....

 

My mom got me this last year and I love love love it! It keeps the water from ever boiling over!

It's the Kuhn Rikon Spill stopper.

 

 

Essence creole seasoning

 

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

                                                 2 tablespoons salt
                                                 2 tablespoons garlic powder
                                                 1 tablespoon black pepper
                                                 1 tablespoon onion powder
                                                 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
                                                 1 tablespoon dried oregano
                                                 1 tablespoon dried thyme

 

Roasted Chicken and the Thermapen

Ally is my mini chef. She likes to cook dinner for the family once a week or so. I try to just step back and only help her if she asks for it because I think the best way for her to learn it to figure it out.

 

Wednesday, she wanted to cook dinner. I already had a whole chicken that I was going to do something with so she decided to Roast it. I love making whole chickens because 1.They're cheap, 2. I can get a couple of meals out the them.
Normally when I do a whole chicken, I'll use it for enchiladas. I'll start by boiling the chicken and making a stock. I end up getting a bit of chicken stock that I freeze for later use.
Here's what Ally decided to do with the chicken....

(after rinsing off the chicken and removing the giblet bag from inside....this is important. If you don't remove it, it gets nasty inside when you cook it....trust me, I speak from experience)
Liberally salt and pepper inside the chicken cavity then fill with a lemon  sliced in half, 1/2 head of garlic, and 2 sprigs of thyme.

Tie chickens legs together and tuck under the wings.
Rub butter all over the outside of the chicken, sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme. (I used dry thyme but you can also use fresh), cover with Bacon. I would cover with more bacon than Ally used, and I would maybe toothpick the ends of it down so it doesn't curl up like ours did.
Place in roasting dish and Roast on 425 for about an hour (or until 165 degrees inside).




I don't have any after pictures.....I'll get better at remembering, I promise.

Last Christmas my brother bought me a Thermapen. It's one of my must have kitchen tools!! If you don't have one, get one!

Today is Mickey Mouse's Birthday!

He's 85 years young today and I have to say, he looks pretty darn good for his age! :-)

 

 

Mickey and I have had some really great memories together!

 

 

My family and I love to eat with him at his numerous restaurants!

 

 

We loved seeing his home in Toon Town (before it was moved).

 

When I was younger, he let the Serrano Diamondbacks march at Disneyland for Magic Music Days. (I'm in there somewhere!)

 

 

I got to try and help my little sister pull the sword out of the stone. Never could get it out. Darn thing is really stuck in there!

 

Happy Birthday to my favorite mouse!!

 

 

 

 

My idea of great comfort food....Shrimp and Grits!!!

I love comfort food....who doesn't? My favorite comfort dish is Shrimp and Grits. Bradley grew up here in the south and, ironically enough, hadn't heard of shrimp and grits until a few years ago. My kids don't like grits so they get pasta and shrimp on the nights I make this!

With 4 kids, I don't always have time to make meals that take hours and hours. This meal takes me about 30 minutes from start to finish.

1 lb Shrimp (more or less depending on the amount of people your feeding).
2 teaspoons Tony Chachere's
2 teaspoon Garlic powder
1 tablespoon butter, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 to 1/2 cup white wine
splash of heavy cream

Sprinkle Tony's and garlic powder over shrimp, toss to coat.
(I'll be honest, I don't measure seasoning, I just sprinkle on. Use your judgment.)

 

 

Take a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add butter and olive oil. The reason I use both is because the oil helps the butter not to burn.

Once butter/oil mixture is melted and a little bubbly, toss in Shrimp.

Squeeze in Juice of 1/2 lemon and pour in wine. In my original recipe, I used chardonnay. Last night I used this....

 

Yellow Tail Pinot Grigio

 

You can use whatever dry white wine you like to drink. I wouldn't recommend using a sweet wine....

Cook until shrimp is nice and pink. Be careful with cooking shrimp. If you over cook it, it will become a rubbery mess.

When done, remove shrimp to a plate. Add in heavy cream to the sauce left in the pan and let cook down until thickened some. Once thickened some, toss shrimp back in and remove from heat.

Place shrimp and some of the sauce over the grits.

Enjoy!

 

 

Grits:

 

I use Quick Grits. (not instant!)

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

(You can also use 3 cups water and 1 chicken bouillon cube)

2/3 cup quick grits.

2 teaspoon Tony Chachere's

1 cup gouda cheese

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons heavy cream

 

Place water and broth in saucepan over medium heat. Once water starts to simmer, add in grits and seasoning. Cook until grits have absorbed the liquid. Add in butter and heavy cream. Stir for about 2 minutes then add in cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat.

 

I personally think Gouda tastes the best in cheese grits, however, I have used everything from Gruyere to Sharp cheddar to Monterey Jack. Last night I actually used Colby Jack because that's what I had on hand.

 

 

 

 

 

Cookbooks...

I've been asked before which cookbooks I like. I have a few go to books (see yesterdays post about John Besh!). Here's a few of my favorites.....

 

Hard to see some of them but in this picture is:

 Giada's Everyday Italian - she has some amazing, quick and easy Italian recipes.

 

The Bread lovers bread machine cookbook - Alice gave me this book with my bread machine. The recipes are easy and good! Of course, the sticky bun recipe is the one that's gotten the most use.

 

1000 Mexican recipes - I haven't actually used this one yet but it warrants a spot on my shelf because it's the last cookbook my dad gave me.

 

The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook - I got this for my 15th birthday on a trip to San Fransisco with my dad, cousin Liz, and Grandpa. I've used the heck out of it and the white chocolate crème brulee recipe is awesome!!

 

The Pioneer Woman Cooks - I could write a book on how much I love Ree Drummond and her recipes! They are easy and delicious! Honestly, I've made a ton of her recipes and none of them have ever turned out bad. In case you don't know, she has a website that is fantastic with lots of photos to follow along with!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/

 

Tyler Florence Family Meal - I've made the Beef Braciole and the Beef Wellington, both were fantastic (although I did have to google a video of him rolling up the Beef Braciole because I didn't think I was doing it right.)

 

Delicious Disney - I bought this for the Tonga Toast.....it had nothing to do with the fact that I LOVE Disney!

 

Good Eats -  I love Alton Browns knowledge on all things food! This one is actually Bradley's but I did read it from cover to cover.

 

John Besh, My Family Table - I've made a ton of the recipes in here. It's another one I've read cover to cover.

Not pictured is John Besh, My New Orleans - I have it on my kindle and use it more than most of these!

 

This one here is the first cookbook I ever received. (from my dad). It's one that I recommend to anyone that is learning to cook since it's the one I learned to cook on.

 

 

If you all haven't guessed by this post, I got my love of cooking from my dad. He was always in the kitchen. Anytime I had a question about a recipe or needed a dinner idea, he was the one I would call. I ended up writing down a lot of his recipes before he passed away (thank goodness!).

 

Here he was doing what he did best!

 

 

 

 

Disney mom's panel, Thanksgiving, and crawfish etouffee!

I've got a couple of things to talk about in this post.
The first one being, I didn't make it to round 3 of the Disney Parks Moms Panel search. While I am sad, my love for the main Mouse still lives on! I will be trying again for a spot on the 2015 panel. I have made some wonderful friends throughout the process and also realized how amazing the friends I already have are!  Congrats to those of you that have moved on. I can't wait to follow your journey. I'll still be here....in my Mickey Jams!

 

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon going between Andrew's school and Ally's school for Thanksgiving lunches!

When I got to Andrew's school he had on a cute Indian shirt that his teacher made and an Indian hat that he made. (Which he told me to kiss before I left for some reason.)

 

I finally got to meet a couple of Ally's new friends. They were very nice and I am happy to say that she is adjusting well to her new school (after a very rough start).

 

Now onto the good stuff! The Food!! One my favorite Chef's is John Besh. His cookbooks are beautifully written and his food is delicious. I have to admit that I feel a bit of kinship to him (even though we haven't met yet). Maybe it's because we're both from the south....ok, ok, I'm not really from the Mississippi Gulf coast. Trust me when I tell you that no matter where you are from, if you move to the south, eventually you will feel like you've always lived here.  Maybe my kinship stems from the fact that we both have 4 kids, or we both graduated from catholic school in the same state....or maybe it's just because we both like to make great food and his recipes help me achieve that!

 

Chef Besh's Crawfish Etouffee recipe is my go to. It's quick, easy, and delicious!

 

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons flour

1 small onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

half of a red bell pepper, diced (I used green because that's what I had though)

2cloves garlic, minced

2 sprigs, fresh thyme (just leaves). I used about 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme but fresh is better

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon paprika

1 small tomato, peeled, seeded, diced

1 quart shellfish stock. (I used crawfish stock I had made before but I've also used fish stock)

3 tablespoons butter

1 lb crawfish tails

2 dashes Worcestershire

2 dashes tobacco

salt, pepper

 

3 cups cooked rice

 

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk flour in to hot oil. This will make your roux. Keep whisking until roux turns a dark brown color....Darker than this.

 

Then add onions and cook until the onions have carmelized (don't add the other vegetables yet because if you do, the water from them will cause the onions to not caramelize)

 

The onions will turn the roux shiny and dark. At this point, add the celery, bell pepper, garlic, thyme, cayenne, and paprika. Cook for 5 minutes. Add tomatoe and stock, increase heat to high.

 

Once it has come to a boil, reduce heat to medium and let simmer 5-7 minutes, stirring often so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

 

Reduce heat to low and all butter, crawfish, Worcestershire. Use salt, pepper, and tobacco to flavor.

I actually don't add tobacco but let Bradley add it to his own bowl. I do add some Tony Chachere's for flavor (because "everything tastes better with Tony's", right Mel? ha!)

 

Remove from heat and serve over rice.

 

Another tip: I do believe that Chef Besh makes his roux dark, almost black. I don't have patience for that so end up with a lighter etouffee. The darker the roux, the more flavor your etouffee will have, Don't be afraid of dark roux!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best yeast roll recipe!

I'm always on the hunt for good bread recipes. I've made some bread that was good but I've never made it and had it be great! Until this yeast roll recipe entered my life! These are soft, fluffy, balls of goodness. So without further ado.....

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast

Warm milk and water together in a measuring cup  (or mug or bowl, whatever you want) make sure temp is about 110 degrees. (this is important because if the liquid is too hot or too cold the yeast won't work). Add yeast, stir gently and let sit until you can see the yeast getting all bubbly and starting to work....Kind of like this....not the best picture but it'll give you an idea.

 

I use a bread machine on the dough cycle for the rest of the recipe but you can use your hands or a kitchen aid.

 

Add all ingredients and mix...

and mix some more

 

 

 

mix until blended and dough is a nice smooth ball. Cover in a warm, draft free area and let rise until doubled in size.

Like this....

 

Then take off chunks and form however you like. Place on sheet (or in a baking pan) and let rise a second time.

Before letting it rise a second time you can take them and freeze them  for later use. I also have put scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheese in the middle and frozen them for a quick and easy breakfast.

Another tip: I've found that if I put them in a dish where they are closer together, they do better. It forces them to rise up. I've baked them on a pan like this before and they ended up baking flatter than I liked.

 

Before putting in the oven, baste with some melted butter. (Do this once through the baking process and again when you remove them from the oven.)

 

Bake at 350 degrees about 15 min or until golden brown on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disney on a budget, off property stays.

One of the best trips we had to WDW was done with little money. It was a tight year but we really wanted to go back. I started number crunching to find out what our options would be. On property, off property, dining plan, no dining plan, etc. What we ended up with was off property, no dining plan (since you can't get the dining plan unless you stay on property anyway), Tickets with no hopper.

There are so many hotels, condos, and homes to rent in the area.
For hotel stays, there are plenty of deals. I search all the sites (expedia, hotels.com, booking.com, bookit, kayak). I then read reviews on trip advisor for whatever hotel I'm looking at. Yes, I am a bit obsessive about staying in a nice place with a good price.

A little side story, one year I decided to surprise Bradley with a trip to the Tabasco factory in Louisiana. I didn't plan it out other than to find a fairly cheap hotel and write down the address for the tabasco factory. What we ended up with was a 10 min tour of the factory and a stay in a fairly gross hotel. We made the best of it and still had a great time together but from then on, I research....a lot.

Back to Disney....we've stayed at a couple of the downtown Disney resort. They're nice, close to the park, reasonably priced. For my family, I wouldn't stay in them for a week long trip. We need more room.  So I spread out my search to homes and condos. I searched places like VRBO.com. There are some amazing homes to rent if you are a big family.
I ended up renting from www.vacationcentralflorida.com . We stayed in 204B. The pictures are exactly what the condo looks like. It was beautiful with just the right amount of Disney Décor.

Warning: these pictures are not good....they are circa 2009. You know, back in the days when I wasn't a halfway decent photographer.  :-)

Living room

 

Master bed with King bed and full bathroom

 

 This is the middle bedroom (used for my Mother in law)

 Kids room.

 

 

This unit was also equipped with a high chair and pack n play.

The rental process was a breeze and the price is fantastic! There was plenty of room for my family, and a big plus for me was having a washer and dryer! They also had a great pool area with a water slide!

When we got into the area we stopped at the grocery store and loaded up for the week. We ended up having breakfast every morning in the condo. Disney does allow small coolers (no coolers with or without wheels that are larger than 24" long by 15" wide) in to the park so we packed lunches for everyone using frozen water bottles to keep it all cool, put it in the bottom of the stroller and went to the parks. (If you don't have a stroller, Disney does have lockers in each park).  We did have dinner in restaurants but I've heard of families also having dinner in the condo or home. (If you plan to have dinner in the condo, bring a crock pot, throw everything in before you leave for the day that way when you get back, everything is ready for you to eat.)

Ally with one of the frozen water bottles. This trip was in September, you can tell by the pic, we were HOT!

As for our tickets, the year before this trip, we had hopper passes. This particular year, we opted for no hoppers. We actually haven't gotten a hopper pass since. We found that for us, we slowed down and enjoyed each park more since we didn't worry about using that hopper. I will say, as my kids get older, or if Bradley and I go alone, I will consider a hopper so we can plan on Magic Kingdom in the morning and dinner at Epcot.