Tuesday, August 31, 2010

College, Roomates & Chicken

I had great roommates & neighbors in college.  We were friends in high school & are still friends today.  My freshman year at Auburn we all lived in the dorm. (shout out to dorm 9!) Our sophomore year moved into College Park II when it was brand new. I have so many wonderful memories of that time.

Kim, Monte, Malia & I would cook dinner & sit down together and eat & watch our soap or a movie together.  It was great, we were a little family.  Have you ever noticed how food brings people together & spreads happiness? 

There are two things that I always try to keep in my kitchen:  chicken & rice.  These 2 foods are so versatile, and so good for you.  A few months ago we accidental bought chicken tenders instead of chicken breasts, and I'll be honest, I like them so much more.  It's easier to control portion size, but still get lots of flavor.  We have to buy meat in bulk (2 teenage boys, 1 tween daughter & an 8 year old who eats like the 16 year old).  We plow through 2 pounds of any kind of meat in one sitting.  It's kinda scary, but at the same time, it makes a momma smile.

Momma's Chicken is one of the first recipes my mom gave me when I moved to Auburn.  I remember cooking it for my roommates.  It's so easy, but so tasty.  Even though it's chicken & rice you can really change the flavor by what you use to cook it with.  I made this for dinner last night & was out of one of the ingredients, so I improvised.  That's what's so great about Momma's Chicken.  I'm going to include the original recipe that came from my mom, the way I changed it the 1st time & then how I served it last night.  The versions I'm giving are the 'small' ones, so if you have big eaters, double it.

I'm so thankful for the memories I have from Auburn with my roommates.  We had a lot of laughter, a few tears, but tons of fun.  They mean the world to me! 

Be Blessed Beyond Measure,
~ashley

Momma's Chicken (original)

1 pound chicken breasts
1 cup rice
1 cup water
1 package Lipton onion soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Preheat oven to 350
Mix last 3 ingredients until well blended
Pour rice in the bottom of a baking dish
Wet the rice with some water
Place chicken on top of the rice
Pour all of liquid mixture on top of chicken
Cover with tinfoil & cook for 1 hour.


Momma's Chicken (1st tweak)

1 pound chicken breasts
1 cup rice
1 cup water
1 package Lipton onion soup
1 can golden mushroom soup

Preheat oven to 350
Mix last three ingredients until well blended
Pour rice in the bottom of the pan
We the rice with water
Place chicken on top of rice
Pour all liquid mixture on top of the chicken
Cover with tinfoil & cook for 1 hour.


Momma's Chicken (2nd tweak)

1 pound chicken breasts
1 cup rice
1 cup beef broth
1 cup sour cream
1 can golden mushroom soup

Preheat oven to 350
Mix last 3 ingredients until well blended
Pour rice in the bottom of the pan
Wet rice with water
Place chicken on top of the rice
Pour all of liquid mixture on top of the chicken
Cover with tinfoil & cook for 1 hour.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

delicious sadness

I remember a time early in my married life when Hopson & I didn't have 2 pennies to rub together.  He was a brand new CPA & low man on the totem pole at one of the big 6 firms.  Roughly that means he was slave labor.  There were weeks when he worked 7 days a week for 10-12 hours a day.  We were on a very tight budget, and I was always looking for ways to stretch the food I bought.  This is not a sob story, I'm an Auburn girl, and 'I believe in work, hard work'.  War Eagle to all my AU peeps, but I'm digressing.

Little Hopson, I will call him Hop or Hoppy from here on out, was almost 2, I was pregnant with baby number 2, Harry, and we were about to be hit with news that would change my life forever. We were excited to be going on our 1st family vacation, thanks to Ashley & Jim Moss for letting us tag along with them to the beach.  Being pregnant, I didn't sleep very much, and found an interesting cookbook at the beach house.  It was the Taste Alabama Tradition II; a cookbook by The American Cancer Society; Alabama Division, Inc. 

Once you've had a family member die from cancer, you almost do a double take when ever you see or hear that horrible word; so, I noticed the cookbook when I saw who it is by & wondered what's in it.  I start flipping through it, because, as you know from 'Peppa Chicken' I love to read cookbooks, and I come across an interesting recipe.  It's called Porcupines.  I liked it immediately!  No fancy ingredients, nothing too hard, it's perfect. 

I have done some variations of it over the years & have shared it with many on the go moms.  I'm going to list my children's favorite version 1st & then the original will be listed below.

The ending of our 1st family vacation was not what we wanted it to be.  We had to leave the beach the day after we arrived.  We were devastated because we found out my mother had melanoma, and we didn't know it yet, but it had already started to metastasize.  She lived for 1 1/2 years more & passed away December 30th of 1997. (big Hopson's birthday & the day before Harry's 1st birthday.)  It was a very rough time, but I always remembered when I found this recipe & am happy that from something so sad came something my family loves.

Be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

I'm going to give you a 'small' version of the recipe, if you have big eaters like I do, you will need to double it.

Porcupines
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 can Franco American beef gravy
1-1 1/2 cups Italian dressing
1 cup beef broth
a couple of dashes Worcestershire sauce
minced garlic

preheat oven to 350
mix ground beef & rice in a bowl.  shape individual meatballs & place in baking dish
in a sauce pan over medium heat mix gravy, Italian dressing, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce and minced garlic.
cook to just boiling, don't let it boil or it will scorch
once mixture is heated, pour over meatballs
cover with tinfoil & cook in preheated oven for 1 hour


the original recipe taken from Taste of Alabama Tradition II
1 pound group beef
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

mix ground beef, rice, onion, slat & pepper.  Shape into meatballs
combine undiluted soup, water & Worcestershire sauce in saucepan.  heat just to boiling.
pour sauce over meatballs.
cover with tinfoil & bake at 350 for 1 1/4 hours, or until rice is tender, baste occasionally with sauce, if desired.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Peppa Chicken

Here is a recipe I posted a few weeks ago.  I never did put the name of it.  It's Peppa Chicken and my kids loved it, even Harry, my picky one.  If you can't find the McCormic's 'It's a Dilly' seasoning, you can use dill weed, lemon peel (from the spice section) and salt.

I love to read recipe books, the key phrase being read.  The food always looks so good & I know tastes great.  One minor problem...I don't keep duck pate in my fridge.  I hate going to the store to buy random ingredients for a recipe that I know I'll never use again.  I keep my kitchen stocked with everyday stuff & am somewhat lazy in the fact I don't like going grocery shopping everyday.  ;)  You may find it hard to believe, but I actually had the pick-a-pepper sauce (I think my mom bought it.  That means the stuff is way old, she's been dead since 1997.) and the It's a Dilly seasoning in my spice cabinet. 

I have the pleasure to have some amazing cooks in my family.  I learned first from my mom & MeMaw.  If you have any recipe that you love from your parents, get them to show you how they cook it & write it down!  There are so many recipes I wish I had, but didn't have the foresight at 25 to think about documenting them.  Other cooks in my family that are great are:  Sandy, sister-in-law; Peggy, mother-in-law; Amy, sister.

I hope you enjoy the Peppa Chicken & going to the grocery to pick up random ingredients like pick-a-peppa (which is good over a block of cream cheese & served with crackers) and the It's a Dilly seasoning.

Be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley 

Peppa Chicken
‎1-2 pounds chicken

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 to 1 1/2 cup(s) sour cream
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup pick-a-pepper sauce
Kosher salt
It's a Dilly seasoning
Garlic salt

Mix all ingredients except chicken
Coat bottom of crock pot with mixture
Place chicken on top
Coat with the rest of mixture
Cook on low for 4-5 hours
Serve with noodles (the sauce is good on top of the noodles)

heaping teaspoons of life

Ok, I must admit, I'm a little nervous.  I've read others blogs, but never blogged about, well...me.  I'm just a mom, so here goes nothing.  Many of you have commented on the recipes I put on facebook, so instead of putting them there, I'm going to put them here.

 I have loved cooking since I was little.  I remember sitting to watch my mom & paternal grandmother,  from here on out known as MeMaw, cook things that would melt in your mouth.  Both of them are in heaven now, but when I cook, they are always in the back of my mind. 

We are all busy.  Families, jobs, homes to take care of, who has time to cook anymore?  Well, I'm taking it back.  (for my family at least!)  I hope this blog will help you do that too.  I may offer some parenting tips, love tips, or ask for some in return.  This is just me, exposed.  (in a good way) 

One of my favorite verses in the entire world is 2 Tim 1:7  "For the Lord did not give us a spirit of fear, but one of love, power, and a sound mind."  I don't know about y'all, but I need those on a daily basis.  My prayer is that you may feel the love of the Son today.  I'll be posting some of my FB recipes if not today, then sometime this week.  It's crazy~ 2 school open houses down...2 to go!

Be Blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

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