Emeril's Essence

I haven't posted in FOREVER as I have been busy. Very busy! In mid-May, we put our house on the market so I had a lot to do to get it ready. Then June was a busy month with the boys' end-of-the-school-year activities, and when summer vacation hit, the boys kept me busy and I didn't have time for blogging. In Sept., the boys started a new school so the 15-20 min. drive in the mornings and afternoons added to my busy schedule. By late Oct., we received an offer on our house and we went into escrow. Packing nine years of stuff was not an easy task but we did it. We had everything packed up and cleaned out in less than three weeks. In Nov., I decided to go back to school to get my Education Specialist Credential so I can teach Special Ed. I'm nervous about the workload but I'll figure out a way to balance family and school. So now it's already December and I haven't blogged since September. It's unbelievable how time just flies these days. I can hardly believe it's almost Christmas and 2011 is less than two weeks out. Crazy, right?!

I mixed up some Emeril's Essence to give to a few friends and family as part of their Christmas gifts. I use that stuff on just about EVERYTHING! It goes well on so many foods and I love the flavor. Chicken, pork, beef, fish, eggs, soup, sandwiches, quesadillas...endless possibilities I tell you. It's perfect. It's Emeril's Essence. Try it. You'll love it! Mix up a batch or two, divide it up into nice containers, tie a ribbon around it and include a recipe card. Simple and inexpensive.

Emeril's Essence

Yield: 2/3 c

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 tbs paprika
• 2 tbs salt
• 2 tbs garlic powder
• 1 tbs black pepper
• 1 tbs onion powder
• 1 tbs cayenne pepper
• 1 tbs dried oregano
• 1 tbs dried thyme

Directions:

1. Measure out ingredients in medium-sized bowl.
2. Mix ingredients thoroughly.
3. Put Emeril's Essence in empty seasonings container, airtight container or ziploc bag.

Source: foodnetwork.com

Vacation and Cooking

The end of August, we went on our annual, week-long summer vacation to South Lake Tahoe. We had great weather (low 70s while there was a spike in temps back home) and we enjoyed a fire-free summer for a change. This was the first vacation in four years that we didn't have to worry about fires, smoke, headaches and Son #2's asthma. The wind was a little crazy towards the end of the week and it even hailed our last day in Tahoe. Different weather than we were used to but a great vacation nonetheless.

Every Mom knows that a Mom on vacation with her family never truly enjoys a "vacation-vacation." There's still cooking and cleaning that needs to get done so I usually need a vacation from vacation. :) This Tahoe trip actually felt like a real vacation for a change. Even though I made all our meals, I planned easy ones so it didn't feel like work. We didn't have much planned other than bike rides and beach days so it was quite relaxing. We all had a blast!

This year, we did our vacation on the cheap. I'm talking super cheap. On our drive up, I jotted down breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas for the week and then made my grocery list. The list worked out really well! We went grocery shopping as soon as we rolled into Tahoe, and because we bought all the food, I stuck to the menu. We saved loads of money by eating at home and packing lunches for our beach days. We didn't eat out at all. That was the first time we've vacationed like that. The easy, inexpensive and quick meals kept our costs down but also ensured that I'd continue to cook healthy meals for my fam.

Meal Planning is not only good for vacations but if you're a busy mom, too. If you have the food in the fridge and know what you're going to make, it keeps you from going through the drive-thru. Keep it simple so you stick to the plan. :) Leftovers are also great for fast meals. I'm a big believer in cook once, serve twice so don't be afraid to grill up some extra chicken, pork or steaks. Just be sure to change up the dish so you don't serve the same boring leftovers.

This post is dedicated to my friends who ask me how I manage to stay busy in the kitchen...

Breakfast:
Cereal, fruit, bagels or quesadillas. The bacon and brie quesadilla was everyone's fave!
I cooked a large package of bacon in the oven and used a slice or two of bacon in our "gourmet" sandwiches.

Lunch:
Sandwiches or wraps...change it up every day so it's not "just a sandwich:" salami, turkey, ham, grilled chicken (leftover from dinner the night before), roast beef and add different cheeses, too (sliced cheddar, provolone, brie, etc.). Don't forget the lettuce, tomatoes and pepperoncinis. :)
Serve with chips/crackers, fruit and a cookie. When I serve a little junky snack with the healthy foods, my boys really enjoy their lunches and don't ask to eat out.

Dinner:
Make grilled chicken (grill extra chicken for sandwiches, quesadillas, burritos or enchiladas), spaghetti (get a large jar of sauce so extra sauce can be used for meatball subs), steaks (again, grill an extra steak or two), burritos (from leftover chicken or steak), enchiladas (again using leftover meats) and meatball subs (Super easy- just heat frozen meatballs in spaghetti sauce and serve in hot dog buns.  The buns are the perfect size for kids.)
Serve with salads, veggies and fruit. Serve a little ice cream to make dining IN a treat.  ;)

**To start, plan 2-3 days worth of meals and use the leftovers to get another 2-3 meals out of it. It's the perfect way to make healthier food choices for your fam. Stick to the plan and stay away from the drive-thru. :) 

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

In my prior post for "Enchilagnas," I mentioned getting meal deliveries through our local chapter of MOMS Club after I had Son #2. Having friends deliver hot meals at the end of an exhausting day was THE BEST! I got great meals but my FAVE, FAVE, FAVORITE!!! during the two week rotation was White Chicken Enchiladas from my sweet friend SL. I had never eaten a white sauce enchilada until she brought them over and I was HOOKED! They were one of my go-to recipes for the past six years and I make them often for friends and fam. They seem so fancy but they're the easiest dish to make and they taste amazing. In Feb., I started to blog about SL's awesome enchiladas but never got around to finishing it because I was trying to duplicate the white sauce from Amigo's in Bishop, CA. 

I LOVE Mexican food and I was on a hunt for new Mexican recipes to try. Last week, HW, a good friend from high school sent me a recipe for her Mom's enchiladas. The sauce base was the same as SL's white sauce but the addition of chicken bouillon cubes in HW's sauce added a new dimension to the sauce. WOW! The fam enjoyed EVERY bite! DEEEELISH!!!

I've since made a combination of the two white enchiladas. I used the salsa verde chicken mixture from SL's enchiladas but used HW's sauce. It was the perfect combo!

This creamy chicken enchilada is delicious. 

A buttery tomato and onion chicken mixture. YUM!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Yield: 10 enchiladas in 13x9" pan.

Ingredients:

• 10 soft taco size flour tortillas (or use 12 corn tortillas)
• 1 lb jack cheese, shredded (I used ~ 1/2 lb, just enough for a thin layer over enchiladas.)

filling: 

• 1/2 onion, minced
• 2-3 tbs butter 
• 2 chopped tomatoes
• 4-6 oz green chiles, diced
• 15 oz corn, drained (optional)
• 15 oz black beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
• 4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

sauce:

• 1 pint heavy cream
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Melt butter over med. high heat and brown onion. 
3. Add tomatoes and simmer 5 mins.
4. Next, add chicken and simmer 20 mins.
5. While chicken mixture is simmering, make the sauce. Dissolve bouillon cubes in the cream and stir well.
6. Stack tortillas and place chicken mixture across "end" of tortilla nearest you. Roll and place seam-side down in dish. Continue with remaining tortillas.
7. If you have leftover chicken mixture, add it to the sauce and mix well.
8. Pour sauce over top of enchiladas and spread evenly over entire dish. 
9. Add cheese over enchiladas, cover with foil and bake 25-30 mins or until bubbly. ENJOY!

Note: If you don't have time to make the tomato and onion mixture for the chicken, you can use 14-16 oz of salsa verde instead for the filling.

Source: Adapted from SL's and HW's White Chicken Enchiladas.

"Enchilagnas"

A "lasagna" with a Mexican twist is an "enchilagna!" I layer the ingredients for enchiladas into a lasagna-like dish to save a few minutes of rolling time. :) I make enchiladas often so I can roll 'em up pretty fast, but I was cooking for a group of eight and wanted to whip together a quick casserole dish. The "enchilagnas" were perfect and my friends ate it up! :)

I got this recipe six years ago when my friend brought me a meal after having Son #2. I was active in MOMS Club and received meals every other day for two weeks. That was AWESOME because I was exhausted from caring for my 3 yr old and newborn son and the last thing I wanted to do was make dinner at the end of a busy day. I asked DP for her recipe because the dinner she brought was tasty. My boys and I made GREAT friends through MOMS Club and we have wonderful memories from our park days, outings and holiday activities. Look into a local chapter if you have little ones. You'll love it!  

Ok, so this is an easy recipe and one that comes together quickly. I'm all about quick and easy as those are the best meals for busy people. Check it out!

Layers of goodness.

The whole "enchilagna" with guacamole, black bean/corn dip, cilantro lime rice, chipotle salsa and chips. YUH-UH-UMMMMM!

"Enchilagnas"

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground turkey (or ground beef)
• 1 med. green pepper, chopped
• 1 med. red pepper, chopped
• 1 med. onion, chopped
• 16 oz chunky salsa
• 1 can- 14.5 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can- 15 oz corn (I omit if I'm serving my black bean/corn dip.)
• 6 soft taco size flour tortillas (You can use 12 corn tortillas if you prefer.)
• 1-2 c sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

optional toppings:

• black olives, sliced
• jalapenos, sliced
• onions, chopped
• cilantro, chopped
• hot sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Cook turkey in large skillet. Drain when almost cooked through. Add peppers and onions to meat and cook another 5-6 mins or till veggies have softened.
3. Stir in salsa, tomatoes and corn and bring to boil.
4. In 13x9" dish, spoon 1 c meat mixture onto bottom of dish. Top with 3 flour tortillas to cover top of meat mixture. If using corn tortillas, you will cover meat with 6 corn tortillas across the top.
5. Spoon half remaining meat mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle cheese across mixture. I do a thin layer.
6. Top with remaining 3 flour tortillas (or 6 corn tortillas) and meat mixture. Cover with foil.
7. Bake 25-30 mins. Remove from oven, uncover, sprinkle with some more cheese (more or less to taste) and put back in oven for add'l 5 mins or till cheese has melted. Let stand 5 mins before serving.

Source: Adapted from friend, DP.

TIP: You can make this dish a day in advance of serving. Prepare everything above to Step #6 then cover and refrigerate. To serve, bake covered at 375F for 45-50 mins or till heated through. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese (I like a thin layer but lay on the cheese if you like it cheesy.) Put back in oven for add'l 5 mins or till cheese has melted. Let stand 5 mins before serving.

Yaki Nasu: Chilled Roasted Eggplant

I wanted to start cooking more Japanese food so I recently joined a Japanese cooking group called Washoku Warriors. We're cooking our way through Elizabeth Andoh's cookbook, Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen. I'm looking forward to trying new dishes!

This month's challenge was open so I chose an eggplant dish. The only time I buy eggplant is when I make it for get-togethers so I can share it with friends. It's the one veggie that my fam doesn't care for so I hardly ever buy it. I love roasted Japanese eggplant so I decided to make yaki nasu, a chilled roasted eggplant dish for Challenge #12. My Obaa-Chan (Grandma) and my Mom made this dish often so I was looking forward to trying my hands at this as well. It was delicious and I even got Son #2 who has a total aversion to eggplant to eat a few bites. Eggplant obviously isn't an "egg" product, but the name alone makes him cringe due to his egg allergy. I'm glad he tried it and liked it. :) 

This was perfect served alongside Challenge #11's Hiyashi Chuka. It's great over a bowl of rice, too.

Yaki Nasu: Chilled Roasted Eggplant

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 Japanese eggplants
• 1 green onion, sliced

marinade:

• 3/4 c basic sea stock (p 92- kombu, water, katsuo-bushi)
• 3 tbs seasoned soy concentrate, divided (I used garlic and kombu infused soy sauce.)

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler or prepare a hot grill.
2. Wash eggplants and make 3-4 shallow slits in each eggplant. Broil/grill for 5-8 mins or till tender, turning occasionally. 
3. Remove eggplants from heat. When cool enough to handle, cut off stem and remove skin. Slice into lengthwise strips.
4. Make marinade using 1 1/2 tbs soy concentrate (reserve the rest till serving time). I didn't make the sea stock as I was given a tea bag-like packet from my Mom that I added to water to make "instant" sea stock. So easy!
5. Add eggplant to shallow glass pan so the eggplant strips are completely covered by the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hr or overnight for best flavor.
6. When ready to serve, remove eggplants from marinade and place on serving dish. Drizzle reserved/remaining soy concentrate over eggplant and garnish with sliced green onions. ENJOY!

Source: Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen by Elizabeth Andoh

Kansas City-Style Barbecue Sauce

I've put together barbecue sauce ingredients in a crockpot when making a barbecued meat dish of some sort but I've never actually made barbecue sauce. This Kansas City-style BBQ sauce is FANTASTIC! It's exactly what I love in a bbq sauce. Tangy and sweet yet spicy, too...gooooooood stuffffff!!! It's the pepper that gives this sauce a bit of a kick which was surprising to me because I don't think black pepper is spicy. I absolutely LOVE all foods spicy and wanted to add chili powder or cayenne pepper but held off with just the black pepper to see how much heat black pepper could bring. It was perfect! It was spicy but not so much that my kids couldn't eat it. This is a great sauce for my fam. YAY!

I used the last of my store-bought bbq sauce when making the sauce for pulled pork but wanted more bbq sauce for pulled pork sandwiches. I already had a rough day running errands with the kidlets so I was NOT about to drag them to the store for a bottle of sauce. This sauce was fab and I most likely will NEVER buy another bottle of barbecue sauce. Ok, maybe when in a pinch...

I didn't can the sauce...just thought it looked nicer in a jar than the old bbq sauce bottle. :)

Yummy bbq sauce on a tasty pulled pork and coleslaw sandwich. 

REALLY GOOD STUFF!

Kansas City-Style BBQ Sauce

Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 c ketchup
• 1 c water
• 1/2 c apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tbs onion powder
• 6 tbs brown sugar
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tbs ground black pepper (Use less if you don't like the heat.)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in med saucepan. 
2. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer.
3. Simmer gently till sauce is thick and smooth about 2+ hrs. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
4. Enjoy on just about everything! I LOVE SAUCE!!!

Source: Adapted from Tiny Test Kitchen.

Pulled Pork

Pulled pork is so easy to make and it tastes delicious, too. You can throw it in a crockpot or stockpot and literally forget about it. I've made chicken, pork and beef in the crockpot/stockpot and everything turns out fantastic. I don't think that one is necessarily better than the other. From my experience, it's the amount of meat you're cooking that determines which product to use.

Because I had a small pork loin, I used a medium-sized saucepan. The pork was juicy, moist and tender. Yummy stuff for sure! I made coleslaw and a tangy-yet-spicy barbecue sauce to make it a fantabulous pulled pork sandwich. It was SOOOOO tasty! The coleslaw and barbecue sauce REALLY made this a delicious sandwich. DEEEELISH!!!

My boys ate this up and were disappointed that I didn't make my usual double batch of pork. They would've eaten pulled pork sandwiches for the next three meals if I let them. :) Cooking in bulk Costco-style is great because having cooked pork in the fridge allows me to make quick meals: salads, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, soups and more! If you know you'll burn out on eating pork for several meals, freeze small portions in ziploc baggies. When you're ready for more pork, throw a frozen pork baggie in the fridge and it'll thaw within a day or two. Then you can make fast and easy meals and use up the remaining pork. Easy and a lot healthier than going through a fast food drive thru!

The coleslaw in the sandwich really makes it yummy!

Pulled Pork

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1-2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb pork loin
• 1 onion, sliced

sauce:

• 2 tbs Dijon mustard
• 1/2 c BBQ sauce
• 2 tbs red wine vinegar
• 6 oz beer

Directions:

1. Mix sauce ingredients in med bowl.
2. Heat oil in stockpot over med high heat. Place pork loin in stockpot and sear all sides. Do not move the pork as it cooks 2-3 mins per side so it browns nicely.
3. When pork is seared, lift out of stockpot and add sliced onions on bottom. Place pork on top of onions. 
4. Pour sauce over pork and turn down heat to low. Simmer for 3+ hrs or till pork is cooked through.
5. Remove pork from sauce and shred using two forks. When shredded, add back to sauce and mix well to coat pork. ENJOY!

Serving suggestions: Pulled pork sandwiches, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, nachos, soups, salads.