A Jeanne in the Kitchen

Not only did Noah and I make a Southwestern chicken casserole and guacamole, Southwestern Chicken and Rice but we also made churros, for something sweet to eat after. They weren’t picture perfect, but they sure tasted good, and that is really all that matters. 🙂

They were also good with ice cream, as Larry demonstrated later. Again, I had some extra dough already made, and just remade some more churros later.

These are very simple to make, with minimal ingredients.

Churros

1 cup water

3 TBSP butter

2 TBSP brown sugar

¼ tsp salt

1 ¼ cups flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Vegetable oil for frying

Cinnamon sugar for rolling the churros in immediately after removing from the oil.

Combine the flour and cinnamon together and mix well.

Combine the water, butter, brown sugar and salt in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Immediately add the flour mixture and the vanilla and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until it all pulls away from the sides of the pan.  Let it cool slightly.

Slightly beat the eggs, and add one at a time, beating in between each addition.  This is a dough very similar to a pate a choux or éclair dough.

Spoon the dough into a pastry bag with a plain round tip (or no tip).

Bring the oil to 350*F, then carefully pipe out the dough into strips, about 5 inches long.  Fry the dough for about 2 minutes per side, or until completely golden brown.  Do not over crowd the frying pan. 

Noah got a little creative with his churros, and that’s perfectly OK. Cooking is all about having fun in the kitchen.

After removing the fried strips, roll into the sugar and cinnamon combination and thoroughly coat the churro. 

These are best when eaten hot.  So eat immediately, but be careful, they will be hot.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Have fun and be creative. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

You all know how I LOVE to recreate my leftovers. I did it again with my leftover Southwestern and rice. We ate some as is, but we still have quite a bit. It gets boring eating foods the same way time after time, so I shake things up and change them around. I made some empanadas with some of my leftovers this time.

I made my basic dough, added some cheese for Larry and fried them up. For really light and flaky empanadas, roll the dough very thin. Then fill them with what you like. I have a tendency to overfill them, which makes folding them over a bit challenging at times.

The deep fryer is filled with canola oil, and I heated it up to 350* F or 180*C. I fried the empanadas for about 5 minutes, or until they were completely golden and crispy. You can bake or fry empanadas. I have had them both ways, but I like them better fried. I find they just come out so light and flaky and crispy on the outside when fried. Of course if you are trying to cut back on calories, baking them is a healthier option, but we all know FAT TASTES GOOD!!!! 🙂

I did serve them with a big salad, so that make the meal healthier, right?! 🙂

There is ALWAYS many ways to cook your food. As I always say, play with your food. Have fun with it. Be creative. Life is short. Enjoy. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I guess you could say I am in an enviable position. Anyone who writes and/or blogs will definitely tell you we all have those times when we are searching for material to write about. It happens. We all have those lulls. Right now though, I am in the opposite situation. I have SOOOOO much material that it is kind of overwhelming at the moment. But have no fear, I will persevere and we will get through them all, each delicious recipe at a time. 🙂

I mentioned I resumed my cooking classes again with Noah. His mom and I worked out a good solution for all of us. I see Noah every Monday now. We cook up all kinds of things, and as before, he loves to cook, and he loves to eat. When we cook, I purchase all the ingredients, teach him how to prepare what we are making for the day day, then let him take home what he makes. This time, however, we made A LOT, so I kept some for our dinner as well.

One of the dishes we prepared was Southwestern chicken and rice. It is kind of a Southwestern version of jambalaya. We also made some guacamole and churros.

I always send the recipes of what we make to Noah’s mom too, so she can print them up for Noah to use at a later time.

Southwestern Chicken & Rice

3 large chicken breasts

1 package taco seasoning

1 onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 TBSP garlic

1 small package frozen corn, thawed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

4 tomatoes, diced

1 jar salsa

2 cups rice

4 cups chicken broth

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp cumin

Salt & pepper to taste

Cilantro

Green onions, sliced thin

Olive oil

Marinate the chicken breasts in a large plastic bag with the salsa for at least 30 minutes. 

Get a large skillet very hot, add the olive oil, then the chicken breasts.  Save the salsa for later.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes per side, or just enough to lightly brown them.  Remove the chicken and set aside.  Cut the chicken into large strips.

Saute the peppers, corn, onion, and garlic for about 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the rice and sauté for an additional 2-3 minutes, then add the salsa, chicken broth, tomatoes and seasonings, and about half of the chopped cilantro.

Add the tomatoes, salsa and chicken broth.  Mix together thoroughly, then place the chicken strips on top of the mixture.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 20-30 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked. Make sure to stir frequently. 

Add the green onions and cilantro on top before serving.  Noah ate and enjoyed every bit of it too. He said he “loved it”. WHOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!! Always a win/win.

Noah is a lot of fun to cook with. He is so enthusiastic and is willing to try just about everything. It’s fun cooking with adventurous people who love food. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. And as Wolfgang Puck would say, “Live, love, eat”. ‘Til next time.

When I made my zucchini puffs, Baked Zucchini Puffs I also made some sun-dried tomato, garlic and herb focaccia to go with it. I almost always take a charcuterie tray when we go wining, because it is very easy to make and goes very well with wines of all kinds. But I was in the mood for something different.

After the focaccia came out of the oven, I drizzled some basil olive oil on top too, to give it even more flavor and texture.

Sun-dried Tomato, Garlic and Herb Focaccia

You would think I was Italian because of my LOVE for garlic and how I love to feed people. I use garlic for and in EVERYTHING. But surprise! No Italian in me, at least not in this lifetime. Maybe in a past life. 🙂

Some focaccias call for a starter dough, where others do not. This particular recipe did not. As usual, I used my recipe as a guide, and then followed my muse and created my own thing.

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 3/4 cup +1 TBSP warm water

2 TBSP olive oil or basil olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil

5 1/4 cups flour + more to knead the dough

2 1/4 tsp coarse salt + more to sprinkle on top

1 TBSP fresh rosemary, chopped fine

1 TBSP garlic

Combine the flour, salt, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic together and mix well.

Mix the yeast with 1/4 cup of warm water and let it for about 10 minutes, or until it becomes frothy.

Combine the rest of the water, olive oil or basil olive oil together and whisk until well blended. Add to the yeast and water combination. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the liquid, mixing it all together from the center out.

Knead the dough for about 7-10 minutes or until it forms into a soft ball. Oil a large bowl with olive oil or basil olive oil, add the dough ball and cover to let rise for about an hour, or until it doubles in size.

When the dough has doubled, cut it in half. Oil two baking sheets and place one loaf on each prepared baking sheet. Slowly stretch the dough with your hands to cover as much of the prepared baking pans as possible.

When the dough is stretched out on the baking pans, cover it and let it rise again for about another hour.

Preheat the oven to 400* F or 205*C.

Dimple the dough with your finger tips. Drizzle some more olive or basil olive oil on top, sprinkle some of the coarse salt all around the top, and place in the oven. Spray the oven with a spritz of water about three times within the first ten minutes of baking. This is to soften the crust and allows for the dough to bake more evenly while also allowing it to form a slightly crispy crust and keeps the dough moist. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the focaccia is lightly golden brown. Drizzle more oil on top after removing it from the oven, and let cool for about 5-10 minutes before slicing.

I cut mine into fingers. Serve warm or at room temperature. This is very tasty and goes with everything. Or you can just munch on it as it is too. I promise you are going to love it. 🙂

Wrap the leftover in plastic or foil and either refrigerate or freeze for later.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

This is the last of my recent travel series. Don’t worry, there will be plenty more travels coming soon, meaning lots more fun and adventures as well. 🙂

When we were in Kansas, we both stayed with our Nephew Jared and his family the first night, then Larry went to Hays to visit with his siblings and help set up for the party. I stayed over another night.

On the first night, there was a little local town BBQ taking place in Pratt, and we all went and enjoyed the festivities. There was so much good food, and a little local church band was playing. There was even a bubble machine all the kids had fun with too.

Lexi and I are very close, so it gave us time to play and take in more sights. Then we both left for Hays on Sunday, for the party. Lexi took me all around, showing me different places and different things. One of the places we went was to the little town of Yoder, which is an Amish town. When we got there, things were closing up for the day, so we didn’t get to see as much as we were hoping to.

These curiosities caught my eye.

All of these were named.

This one really made me laugh. Larry’s brother Randy has a close friend named Gordon, who is also a friend of ours. We were going to see him at Ollie’s party. I had to show him a picture of this guy , also named Gordon. 🙂 He too got a kick out of it.

We also went to visit with Lexi’s friend, whose dog had puppies. How could we resist playing with adorable puppies, right?! But we couldn’t stay long. There was a bad storm brewing and we were trying to avoid it. But we got stuck right in the eye of the storm instead. It was a BAD storm too. It was like a tornado, with the heavy winds and the heavy rains. We pulled over and got under some protection from the wind and rain, only to see trees toppling in front of us, and trucks and trailers being overturned and telephone poles crashing down. It was a little scary, to say the least, but we pulled through, no worse for the wear. We made it back home safe and sound.

Once we got back to Jared and Lexi’s house, we stayed in for the rest of the day. Lexi and I got creative and started making some snowmen. I have a feeling these will find their way to loved ones as part of their Christmas gif this year. 🙂

I have seen most of Kansas now, and the western and southern parts are almost all farmland. Farming, agriculture, cattle ranching and the oil industry are the major industries in Kansas.

Here are some of the other fun things we saw during our Kansas travels. Across the street from where Ollie’s party was taking place, there was a very creative gentleman displaying his fun and whimsical handmade crafts. He was so friendly, and invited us in to show us a lot of his other creations too, including an operating train he build to take kids out for a ride.

After the party and all the visiting, there were more stops along the way, again, going to places we have never been to before, seeing things we had never seen before. Once place was Nicodemus.

Not only is Nicodemus famous in the bible, and one of our cat’s names, but it is also a pretty important place in Kansas and U.S. history as well. (We actually named our cat after the town of Nicodemus. We name all of our animals after names of places from their place of origin. Nicodemus or Nicky as we call her, and her brother Otis, are both Kansas kitties, both named after Kansas towns. We visited Otis too, but there wasn’t much there).

Nicodemus, Kansas was created after the Civil War. It was the first town that was created as an all Black town, where the African Americans and freed slaves could go and prosper. Formerly enslaved African Americans left Kentucky at the end of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period to experience freedom in the “Promised Land” of Kansas.

Nicodemus represents the involvement of African Americans in the westward expansion and settlement of the Great Plains. It is the oldest and only remaining Black settlement west of the Mississippi River. An all-black outpost on the frontier, this “unsettled” land offered a chance for black farmers and their families to start anew. Today, a few people and buildings remain from the original township, a testament to the resolve of the people of Nicodemus to build a new life on the prairie. Between the end of the Civil War and the 1880’s, many courageous black settlers sought better lives, better land, and better opportunities in the heartland. Despite being much smaller today than it was one hundred years ago, Nicodemus remains an enduring monument to African American westward migration. Desperately seeking opportunities that simply did not exist in the South, former slaves moved west with hope. For some, the long march ended in newly platted Nicodemus, Kansas. They built houses, businesses, clubs, churches, and schools and were able to participate in political and commercial life in ways previously denied to them.

The uniform of the Buffalo Soldiers from the Union Army during the Civil War.

Other sights we saw along the way. Not only is Kansas a farming, agricultural and oil state, but they are also religious and support their military.

But don’t be fooled. Kansas also has its fair share of eclectics too. 🙂 Kansas, just like anywhere else, Kansas is a mix of all kinds of people, with many different influences.

Hope you had fun on our travels too. There is always something new to see and something new to learn. Never stop being adventurous or curious. Learn something new everyday. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I know I have been busy writing about all of our recent travels and adventures. But I have also been busy cooking too. I am always in the kitchen cooking. I even resumed my cooking classes with Noah. We revamped it and changed things around a bit, but we’re still having fun together, cooking up all kinds of good stuff. I have lots of good food ideas for you too.

One of the things I recently made were some baked zucchini puffs. They were part of our nibblie try for some of our wine adventures. I paired them with some sun-dried tomato and garlic focaccia, cheese, olives, and an antipasto try. We met Bruce and Julia http://retirementrvdream.wordpress.com/ at InVintions. Julia brought some sausage bites and some bacon wrapped dates too. We never go hungry. 🙂 We all ate very well and had a great tine together, as we always do.

Zucchini Puffs

Preheat the oven to 350*F or 180*C.

Spray cooking spray into some mini muffin pans.

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

2 TBSP olive oil

1 1/4 cups milk

salt & pepper to taste

1 cup grated cheese of your choice

1 zucchini, shredded

1 TBSP garlic

1 shallot, chopped fine

chopped parsley

Mix the dry ingredients, the zucchini and cheese together and set aside. Whisk the egg, milk and olive oil together. then add too the flour and zucchini mixture. Fold in until everything is moist and blended together.

Fill the mini muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until they are golden brown and puffed up. Allow them to cool slightly, then pop them out of the pan. Serve warm and enjoy.

These were a big hit, and are good for any time and any occasion. They are also super easy to make. They are so light and fluffy, I bet you can’t stop at just one either. 🙂

These last few weeks have been super busy. As soon as we got home from, both our big vacation and then a smaller vacation to Hays, KS, we just hit the ground running. There was SOOOOO MUCH going on. But we still had to eat, which means I have been cooking all along. I was trying to give you my trip information and details. I never want to overwhelm you or bore you with too many posts. So I try to spread things out a bit. Have no fear though, I have plenty to share. There are plenty of good things, both from my kitchen and other things as well, coming your way. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Larry is from Hays, Kansas, and he still has quite a bit of family that still lives in the area. We travel to Kansas quite often. It is only about a 4 1/2 drive from our house. But we go down I-70, and that’s about it. This time we were heading down to Pratt to visit with our nephew Jared and his family before going Ollie’s party. We got to see a lot more of Kansas too. Parts that Larry had never seen either.

We stopped in Oakley, and saw the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center.

A mural depicting things and people that helped shaped Kansas.

We went to Monument Rock, outside of Oakley, which was quite impressive. These magnificent large monoliths, rising as high as 70 feet, were created during the Cretaceous Period of geologic history when the area was covered by the Niobrara seaway, which extended from the present-day Gulf of Mexico north through Canada. When the sea receded, it left behind these magnificent marine sedimentary deposits that have eroded over time. Every inch represents 700 years of history! In 1968 Monument Rocks was designated as the first National Natural Landmark in Kansas and in 2006 was voted one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas.

We saw bats and bat nests, a “leaping deep” and a turtle.

At first we thought these were swallows’ nests, but it turns out they were bats.

“Leaping deer” became a running joke with Dennis and Lee during our travels. Lee had commented on the deer signs that all looked like they were leaping. The deer we saw in Kansas really was leaping. It was leaping through the tall grasses and was on the move.

This little guy was on the side of the road, just taking it slow and easy.

And we saw this beautiful bird flying too.

After leaving Monument Rock, we went into the fossil museum, which was nearby.

These were all fossils found in the area, dating back millions of years ago, when Kansas was buried under the sea. I am GLAD I don’t encounter these creatures when diving today! They look pretty scary!

From here, we went to Pratt, for a couple of nights with Jared and Lexi. These are just some of the sights we saw along the way.

The further south we went, the greener the pastures became.

This is very different from Hays. Hays is brown and dusty, and not nearly so lush. I like southern Kansas much better than Hays. But Hays is where we have to go to visit with Larry’s family.

Make everyday an adventure. Even if you are going to places you always go, challenge yourself to find something new about every place you go. 🙂 Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I officially finished my long series of our Epic Northwestern Journey yesterday with my post about Casper, Wyoming. Our Epic Northwestern Journey – Part 30- Fort Caspar, Wyoming. We had a great time, and saw so much. I hope you all enjoyed it too. I am going to add our Kansas adventures as well, even though they weren’t the same trip at all. I am just lumping our latest travels and adventures together, mainly because they were so close together timewise. We were only in Kansas for a long weekend.

The reason for our trip to Kansas was to celebrate Larry’s mom, Ollie (Viola). We helped her celebrate her 95th birthday, along with about 100 other people as well. In total, there was about 130+ people in attendance, all there to wish Ollie a very happy birthday.

All of Larry’s siblings and all of us “outlaws” with Ollie. Larry is the youngest of nine.

And all of the grandkids, their spouses and the great-grandkids. Needless to say, Larry has a BIG family.

The family decorated the hall in shades of purple and gold, since purple is Ollie’s favorite color. We rented out the VFW club.

My sister-in-law Sheri did most of the decorations and made all the cupcakes and the little gift boxes for everyone. She is very talented.

Our niece Paige is a very creative and talented cake maker too. She made Ollie’s cake.

Our nephew Matt was the DJ extraordinaire for the event.

Ollie had a great time, and so did all the guests, but poor Ollie was wiped out at the end of the day. It’s hard to be so popular and so well loved, especially at 95. 🙂

Happy Birthday Ollie. We love you very much.

One of our last stops before coming come was Fort Caspar, outside of Casper, Wyoming. Again, it was very interesting and very well done. We all learned quite a bit about Fort Caspar and the surrounding areas. It was another fun and informative win/win for us.

There was also a small dedication to those who crossed over the Oregon Trail too.

Wyoming was one of the states the settlers crossed through on their way to Oregon.

The inside of the museum was dedicated to the Wyoming ways of life, from the Native Americans to the soldiers to the settlers, whereas the outside was the fort, one of the last western frontiers. There was also a large display of posters from the movies made in the area. There were actually quite a few.

The Army life was tough for everyone. It was very sparse and harsh with minimal pay and no comforts at all. Think back to the very beginning of the movie “Dances With Wolves”, which if I am not mistaken, was one of the movies filmed in the area too.

There was also a small military cemetery on the premises, to honor their fallen, both past and present. Since Memorial Day had just recently passed, every grave was given an American flag.

Some of the other points of interest on or around the fort.

Colorful Columbines.

A curious Killdeer.

It just warms my heart to see so many small communities honor their military. I wish everyone did this. Thank you to all who serve and have served.

We made one last stop before arriving back home to the Denver area. We stopped in Cheyenne. Cheyenne is only a little over an hour away from us. Cheyenne is so close to us though, we can go back at any time. We stopped at the Terry Bison Ranch. We would have stayed longer, but the storm came in, and ended up being a pretty nasty storm too.

Once again, someone got every creative with old recycled junk. It just goes to show that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam.

Next stop, HOME! I have one more small travel series, from our trip to Hays, KS, even though it wasn’t really part of our epic Northwestern Journey. But it is the last of our travels, for now, so it just makes sense to add it as well.

Stay curious, stay, safe and stay well. Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.

We are now in the last phases of our epic Northwestern journey. Wyoming was our last state before coming home. We drove down from Harding, heading towards Casper, for one more night’s stay on the road.

On the way to Casper, we stopped in Sheridan. Larry’s boss grew up there and said there is an ice cream stand that he had to try. We attempted it, but there was a big bike rally taking place, and the line for the ice cream stand was way to long. We did stop for pictures though, proving we did at least make the attempt to go there. 🙂 Dennis and Larry both LOVE their ice cream.

We did get to see the river and the pretty flowers though before hitting the road once again. I really like Sheridan a lot.

Once again, there were so many beautiful irises all over.

We didn’t stay in Sheridan too long before hitting the road once again.

We made it to Casper, checked in to our hotel for the night, then went looking for something to eat. Once again, Dennis was in the mood for Thai, so that’s what we ate.

We thought it was kind of strange that they had a Christmas tree up in June, so we asked about it. They said they keep it up all year and decorate it for each season. OK. Whatever floats your boat, right?!

Everything was good, but I think I made the best choice. I went with another curry. I LOVE curries.

After we ate, we took in some of the Casper sights before heading back to our hotel for another round or two of games.

Wyoming is definitely part of the wild, wild west. I love how so many of the old buildings and statues detail the Wyoming way of life.

This way of life has been the Wyoming way since the beginning. Not much has changed from the early days to the present either. This is just their way of life. Always has been and I think always will be. Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke, right?!

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.