Tag Archives: Cerebral Palsy

Describing cooking in 1 word is difficult

For me cooking is therapeutic, relaxing, fun and much more! I love it how I can walk into the kitchen, start preparing dinner and automatically go into an entirely different world lol. It too has been an incredible learning experience. Here’s what I have learned so far and still currently improving on; being extra patient with myself when I make mistakes, try not to get discouraged when things don’t go my way, experimenting and substituting with certain ingredients that go with the appropriate recipe(s).

Here are a few examples of my experience with substituting, last week when I was cooking sloppy joes, I saw we had no tomato sauce and did a web search to see what could replace it and quickly learned that I could use tomato paste and add one cup of water. Last night when I was cooking pork chops, I discovered that we had no nutmeg and looked on google for a substitute and read that it can be replaced with ginger.

I know I’ve said this before, but I love foil packed dinners. They are so easy to prepare, clean-up is a breeze and last but definitely not least they are so very GOOD! 

Garlic Parmesan Broccoli and Potatoes in Foil

INGREDIENTS:

3 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper, to taste
24 oz broccoli florets
*16 oz baby potatoes, halved
1/4 C. freshly grated Parmesan
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic, Italian seasoning, and onion powder; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cut four sheets of foil, about 12-inches long. Arrange broccoli and potatoes into four equal portions and add to the center of each foil in a single layer.

Fold up all four sides of each foil packet. Spoon the garlic mixture over the broccoli and potatoes. Fold the sides of the foil over the vegetables, covering completely and sealing the packets closed. Place foil packets in a single layer on a baking dish. Put it into the oven and bake until tender, approximately thirty-forty five minutes.*Serve immediately, sprinkled with Parmesan and parsley, if desired.

*24 ounces broccoli florets is equal to about 5 cups.

*Cooking time will vary depending on the size and thickness of the potatoes.

Source Damn delicious

 

Crunchy Honey Garlic Pork Chops

I love cooking and always have so much fun doing it, especially when I listen to music. As some of you probably already know I often enjoy listening to the Elvis Presley Radio as I cook. So, last night I did just that while I prepared these delicious Crunchy Honey Garlic Pork Chops.

If you love honey garlic chicken wings, you’ll love this Crunchy Honey Garlic Pork Chops recipe! I know I did! Haha! 😀 They are 100% flavorful with a mix of sweet & spicy.

Lol, next time I think I will listen to Patsy Cline or 50’s Rock ‘n’ Roll.

What do you like to listen to while you cook?

 Crunchy Honey Garlic Pork Chops

Ingredients

1 lb boneless pork chops (Rinsed and pat dry), Set aside
2 eggs
4 Tbsp. water
2 C. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
3 Tbsp. Canola oil for frying chops

GLAZE

1½ C. honey
½ C. brown sugar
½ tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper, to taste
½ C. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. Garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp. Butter

Ready? Let’s get cooking!

Directions

Preheat oven 350

Line a 9″x”13 baking dish with foil and lightly grease it with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

1. Whisk the eggs and the water together in a shallow dish. Next, combine the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in another shallow dish. Mix well. Then dredge each pork chop in the flour, then over into the egg mixture. Then dip the chop back over into the flour mixture once again. *This is what puts the extra crispy coating on the chops. Be sure to get plenty of flour on in this last coating.*

2. Heat the oil in your skillet over medium heat. Shake excess flour off and put the chops in the skillet with approximately a half inch of oil. Be sure the oil is hot, but not extremely hot or the chops will cook too fast. Cook for about six minutes on each side. Try not to turn more than twice or your breading will come off. Transfer your pork from the pan to the previously prepared baking dish.

3. In a saucepan over medium heat, saute the garlic and add the butter. Combine the honey, soy sauce, brown sugar, cayenne, and ginger. Constantly stirring and bring to a boil then reduce to low and simmer for about five minutes. *Keep a close eye on this carefully because it will foam and might boil over.*

4. Pour 1/2 of the sauce over the pork chops. Carefully flip the chops over and pour the other 1/2 over the other side. Place uncovered in the oven for about twenty-twenty five minutes. This sets the glaze and finishes them to be sure they are cooked through.

Source Key ingredient

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A new cookbook and my Birthday

A few days ago, I purchased a new slow cooker/crockpot cookbook from Barnes and Noble. The title of the book is 365 slow cooker suppers and its by Stephanie O’Dea. It has a variety of recipes that not only looks delicious, but I am so very excited to share them with you soon. There is this one section in the book that I’m super excited about because the title of it is Meatless. What makes me delighted about this chapter is that it inspires me to start having Meatless Monday.

Furthermore, guess what is coming up less than a month? My Birthday lol. All I want is cookbooks and cooking supplies lol. I enjoy cooking and being a food blogger lol. 😀

Also, for tonight’s dinner, I cooked Honey Dijon Garlic Chicken Breasts. And I had the pleasure of preparing it for my family members. We all loved it! 🙂

Coming up next week 


Baked Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken
Side dish Pistachio with Brussel Sprouts

 
Crockpot Easy Barbecue Cocoa Cola Ribs

Honey Garlic Pork Chops

Thanks again for reading! 🙂 Have a great weekend.






Breakfast for Dinner

I am a huge breakfast fan. In fact, I love it so much that I sometimes will have it for dinner. My most-liked breakfast foods are pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Ha! This is a bit off subject, but my all-time favorite go-to place is IHOP (Also known as International House of Pancakes). And eating their luscious chocolate chip pancakes lol. Yum yum!! Hahaha! 😀

Lol, so anyway back to the original subject.

Since I have not had breakfast for dinner in a very long time, I was excited to have it for one evening. Last week while I was planning this week’s meal plan I was scanning through a crockpot cookbook and discovered this Southwestern Breakfast Casserole. It is not only full of delicious flavors, but it too has sausage, eggs and lots of cheese. Yummy! 😀

This recipe would also make an excellent filling for breakfast burritos or tacos, and I think next time I will throw in some hash browns or potatoes to mix it up a bit. There are also options to change up the meat with ham or bacon and add in other veggies that your family enjoys.

Crockpot Southwestern Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

1 lb. Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sausage
1 small Can Green Chiles
1 Medium Onion
1 Green Pepper 
2 1/2 C. Cheddar Cheese 
18 Eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

 

Directions

1. Brown the sausage in a non-stick skillet over medium-low heat and cook until it’s no longer pink. While the sausage is browning dice the onion and green pepper. Set aside. Next, whisk together the eggs, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl. And shred the cheese.

2. Next, layer the first five ingredients into a six-quart crockpot (with cheese being on the top of each layer), (Similar to what you would do with lasagna) and then cover the entire breakfast casserole with the eighteen eggs. Cover and Cook on Low for eight hours. Serve immediately with ketchup and or Frank’s Buffalo sauce.

What is your most-liked breakfast food?

Source The Crockin’ Girls 

Green bean & Cherry tomato medley

I remember I already told you about me disliking tomatoes, but here’s something odd about me; I love eating cherry tomatoes. But, absolutely will not eat the ones that you put on sandwiches and burgers. Okay so, yeah maybe I like tomatoes to a certain point. Although, I really do not know why, though, perhaps it’s because cherry tomatoes are sweeter than the regular ones. However, green beans and I are best buddies lol. I know it’s very early, but maybe I will teach you how to make green bean casserole for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Anyways lol. Since my appreciation for a variety of veggies is slowly improving, I thought I would give this Green Bean with cherry tomatoes a try. It was excellent, and it’s easy to assemble. If you don’t have the fresh vegetables on hand, you can easily change with canned goods.

Green beans with cherry tomatoes

Ingredients

Water (Just enough to barely cover the beans)
1 1⁄2 lbs green beans fresh or frozen
1 Tbsp. butter
3⁄4 tsp. garlic salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1⁄2 tsp. basil
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1⁄2 pt. cherry tomatoes

Directions

1. Toss green beans in a medium saucepan and fill it with water. Cook over medium heat for about five-ten minutes or until they are tender. Remove from heat and drain. Set aside. Cut cherry tomatoes in half. Set aside

2. In a large frying pan, melt butter and add garlic salt, sugar, basil, salt, and pepper. Next, add cherry tomatoes and cook, stirring until barely soft and heated, but not squishy. Then add the drained beans and mix well.

Source: Food.com

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Country Style Pork chops

If I could live anywhere else besides the suburbs, I definitely would choose to live in the country. Why you might ask??? Because of a few reasons; 1. I love horses and want to own a few someday along with some cows. 2. I want to have a piece of land and live on a ranch with my future cowboy. 3. It’s beautiful and usually peaceful. However, considering I do not live in the country I strive to do my best to find alternatives to help me daydream about these luxuries to satisfy my wanting to live on a farm.

One of my favorite things to choose from to assist me with fantasizing about living on a ranch is food country-style. I too enjoy eating pork chops. A few days ago, I found this recipe that looks so superb that it got me super excited to try these chops and I did!

They tasted absolutely amazing, I literally felt like I was in the country. For those of you who are like me, and do not living on a farm but wish you could then may I kindly suggest trying these bad boys. I’m certain this dish will make you feel like you’re living on one.

Country Style Pork Chops

INGREDIENTS

Four bone-in pork chops
½ C ketchup
¼ C brown sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Four large onion slices
½ C. cold water

Let’s get cooking!

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9×13 baking sheet with foil and lightly grease with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

1. Get a sheet of wax paper and put it on your kitchen counter.
Rinse each chop with cold water then place them on the wax paper. Get a few paper towels to dry them off individually until they are no longer wet. Season each pork chop with salt and pepper. Set-aside.

2. In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, ketchup, and water. Mix it up really well. Place pork chops into the previously prepared baking dish and cover with them with the mixture. Add onion slices to the top of each pork chop.

3. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for forty five-sixty minutes. Use a basting brush to season pork chops halfway through cooking.

4. Yummy! 🙂

Recipe adapted from Country Recipe Book

Cooking tips: If you are cooking thinner chops then bake them for about 40 minutes.

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Thank you guys for reading! 🙂

For the love of chicken

I am going to tell you as I said earlier today how to make chicken parmesan. Now I want to let you know that the dish might be a little difficult for some of you beginner cooks and maybe need more practice which is entirely fine with me but don’t let your limitations get the better of you. If you feel like you should go slow making this one, then I totally encourage you to do it. Please do not feel guilty for having to work turtle-speed when you are cooking. I have to admit one of the things I always need to remind myself when cooking is not to go super fast because if I do, I’ll accidentally skip something in a recipe.

This recipe has all of the delicious flavors of a pasta dish, except there’s no pasta in it. Which makes it a lot healthier. I made this dish for my Grandparent’s they even loved it! They gave it a 9.5-star rating.

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

4 slices whole-wheat bread (1-ounce each)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 egg whites (Approximately 2 large eggs)
1/2 C. skim milk
1/2 C all-purpose flour
4 (6 ounces) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2-inch thickness
Olive oil cooking spray
2 jars marinara sauce (about 3 1/2 cups)
3/4 C. (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp (1/2-ounce) shredded Parmesan

Preparing the chicken breasts

1. Get a sheet of wax paper and put it on your kitchen counter.
Rinse each breast with cold water then place them on the wax paper. Get a few paper towels to dry them off individually until they are no longer wet. Next, place the chicken onto a cutting board and pound them with your meat mallet. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. While the oven is warming up, place the slices of bread in the bowl of a food processor and process until fine crumbs are formed, about twenty-five to thirty seconds. Put the crumbs on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake for twelve minutes, until golden. (You will wind up with about 1 1/3 cups toasted crumbs.)

3. In a medium shallow bowl, toss the crumbs with oregano, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and teaspoon pepper. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and milk together. In a third shallow bowl stir together the flour, and a pinch of salt and black pepper, if desired. Dip each piece of chicken, one piece at a time, in flour, shaking off excess, then egg, then breadcrumbs, shaking off excess.

4. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Place breaded breasts in a glass baking dish lined with foil and spray on each side with non-stick cooking spray, about five seconds total per side. Bake chicken breasts for forty-five minutes to an hour or until cooked through and crumbs are browned. Then about half way through cooking cover chicken with marinara sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan and return to oven for an additional ten to fifteen minutes, until cheese is bubbling.

Court’s Cooking Notes:

My hope and prayer is that my blog will help you feel more confident cooking with an oven. I know it might sound ridiculous but one of the things I used to do and occasionally still do whenever I get nervous using it is I like talking to the oven lol. One of my most-liked phrases I say in a stern tone is “Alrighty oven I am the BOSS and am in control of you today and will not let you mess with my brain.” Believe it or not, it actually works. I won and still am winning every single battle when I play this trick. Lol, if you require some humor while you cook then I recommend you giving your oven a small chat.

Making tomorrow’s dish will be easy as pie. I promise! 🙂

Thank you very much for reading.

 

 

 

Adapted from Food Network

 

Chicken Dish Fave

Hello, everyone!

Sorry that I haven’t been posting anything lately. I took a break last week. It was really nice! I have new ideas/plans for my blog for the remaining of 2017 and for the new year. I’m very excited! But I am now finally back to what I do best and love!

Before I tell you about today’s recipe I want to share with you some exciting news in regards to my blog.

On Sunday evening I found an organization’s site on Instagram called yoocan – do anything. They empower people with special needs with a variety of stuff such as art, music, acting and more. After I read their about page I immediately felt inspired to contact them.

They emailed me the next day saying not only they would be happy to help me promote my blog but they also said that they loved my work and what I am doing. They personally asked me to write my story on what inspired me to cook while having physical challenges myself and how I want to encourage others with special needs that they CAN cook too.

This is getting to be pretty awesome! It’s funny how you can come across something like this on the internet. I seriously can’t wait to see how many people are going to be encouraged by seeing my story and blog. I have included two website links at the end of this post. One will lead you to my story. Two is my ten cooking tips.

Now onto the recipe!

I cooked this Honey Dijon Garlic Chicken Breast in the spring of last year. It has become one of my favorite chicken recipes ever since. They were delicious and looked great! I love it because it has a sweet and tangy taste. And it’s incredibly easy to make and clean up was easy as 1-2-3.

Here’s the recipe:

Honey Dijon Chicken Breast

Ingredients

1 lb large boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 6 ounces each

3 Tbsps of butter

Six cloves minced garlic, It’s approximately a teaspoon

1/4 tsp salt & pepper                                                                                                                  1/3 C honey

2 Tbsps of Dijon mustard

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 425F degrees. Line an 8×8 or 9×13 inch baking dish with aluminum foil and grease it with non-sticking cooking spray before you cook your chicken.

1. Be sure that your baking dish is big enough to have a half inch of space on each chicken breast but no more. Using too big of a baking dish can cause the glaze to be too shallow in the dish and burn quickly. Place the empty pan in a 425-degree oven to heat up while you make the sauce.

2. To prepare the sauce: Melt the butter in a small saute pan. Add the garlic and cook for only thirty-sixty seconds to soften it. Do not brown the garlic. Add the honey, Dijon mustard and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well to blend and simmer over medium heat for one or two minutes begin to reduce the sauce. Lightly season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.

3. Carefully remove the hot dish from the oven and place the chicken breasts an equal distance apart in the dish. Pour the warm glaze evenly over the chicken. Return the pan to the 425 degrees F oven and bake for fifteen minutes. Remove from oven and season the breasts with the sauce on the bottom of the pan. Return to the oven for additional fifteen-twenty minutes or until an accurate thermometer inserted into the center of the thickest part of the breast reads 170 degrees F. Allow the chicken to rest for five minutes before serving.

Source Rock Recipes

A video for this recipe will be here shortly.

Ten Tips for cooking

My story

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