Sweet Potatoes & Pastina

I started making my own baby food when Jay Jay was about 3 1/2 months old. I bought a pretty basic food grinder from Babies R Us for about $25 bucks and so far it has last me more than 2 years. I tend to start my kids on solid food around 5 months. After they are sitting up, and are able to be spoon fed cereal.

Sweet Potatoes & Pastina

• 1/4 cup Pastina - the kind that I buy is made by Ronzoni, they are itty bitty star shaped Pasta.
• 2 Med sized Sweet Potatoes

For 3 Days worth- Clean Sweet Potatoes and poke whole with a fork all over. Bake at 350 for about an hour or until squishy to the touch. About 15 minutes before the potatoes are done, add 1/4 cup pastina to about about 5 cups boiling water boil. Cook about 6-7 minutes.

When potatoes are done remove skin and mash eiither with a fork (works well for older babies) or add to your baby food maker and puree until smooth


I usually make enough Baby Food to last a few days, up to a week. If I find a really good sale on certain veggies I will make the baby food and freeze it in ice cube trays. When completely frozen I pop them out and then separate them into individual baggies, mixing and matching as I see fit.

Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf is always a hit in this house, not only for my family but for me. Especially since I can double the ingredients and bake two at the same time. I serve one and slice and freeze the other!

Meat Loaf My Way

3 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 Med White Onion, chopped fine
3 cloves Garlic, chopped fine
1 cup Carrots, shredded
1 1/2 boxes of instant stove top stuffing, corn bread mix * use your favorite
3 eggs
3/4 cup water
Olive Oil

Saute the chopped Onions, Garlic and shredded Carrots until soft and translucent. In a large mixing bowl beat Eggs & Water, then combine with Stuffing Mix & Veggies. Add Beef and mix well. Divide into two equal loafs, and Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours or until no longer pink inside.


If you find that your loaves are browning too fast or are getting too dark too quickly, simply lay a piece of tin foil over them. Do not seal completely as you will steam the meat rather than cook it, the tin foil will help stop the browning or burning process.

Baked Sausage & Peppers

I love mine a bit spicy so I add more Hot Sausage than Sweet Sausage, so feel free to use what you feel.

Sausage & Peppers

3/4 lb Hot Italian Suasage
1/2 lb Sweet Italian Sausage
2 Large Green Peppers - chopped into 1 inche pieces
1 Large Red Pepper- chopped into 1 inche pieces
1 Large White Onion- cut in half then slices
4 Leaves Fresh Basil (chopped)or about a 1 tsp Dried Basil
4 Large Tomatoes - Diced
2 cans Tomato Sauce
Olive Oil


Cut sausages into quarters, chop up peppers into 1 inch pieces, cut onion in half then in slices, Layer in pan. Top off with chopped tomatoes, basil, and tomato sauce. Drizzle with Olive Oil. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for about 2 hours, remove foil then return to over for 30 minutes..

Chicken Cutlet Parmesan

When I find chicken breast on sale I usually buy a shit load. One of the first things I do is trim and slice them thinly. I love chicken parm but it can be a real pain in the ass to make for dinner when it comes down to it. So when I find chicken cutlets on sale I try to put aside time to bread and fry them all at once, that way when I get the urge or craving for it, I can make it in able 45 minutes from freezer to table.

Homemade Frozen Chicken Cutlets

Chicken cutlets
Flour
Eggs
Italian style bread crumbs

I to a 3 step process to make my chicken cutlets. After trimming the chicken pieces, I dredge the cutlets in a bit of flour, this allows for the eggs to stick to them. Once in the eggs I coat with bread crumbs. Now some people fry their cutlets right after this but I allow about 30 minutes for the coating of bread crumbs to dry a bit. This seems to help the crust develop a bit better.
If your going to freeze them I suggest lining a baking dish with plastic wrap and layering a piece of wax paper in between layers of chicken cutlets, once all is well frozen you can unwrap then place desired amount of chicken cutlets in a zip lock bag and keep frozen.



* You can do individual pieces of lasagna for a more formal look or a lasagna style for a more family style meal.

Chicken Parmesan Family Style

Chicken Cutlets, breaded and fried
Sunday Sauce
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese

In an 9x13 baking dish line the bottom of the pan with about a 1/2 cup of sauce, Starting with the breaded chicken, layer sauce, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese then a bit more sauce. Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until heated through.

For individual servings I place the chicken cutlets on a cookie sheet and top with a bit of sauce, Parmesan cheese and topping off with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly brown and chicken is warmed through out

Cuban Style Pork Chops

I make this often enough, very easy extremely simple. I use center cut pork chops, I like them thick without too much fat! Use what you are comfortable with, as the thicker the chop, the longer the cook time the easier it is to burn them

For my family of 5 this is what I do.

5 center cut pork chops
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp ground cumin
3 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 small onion thinly sliced
achiote flavored olive oil

I personally mash everyone up in my handy dandy pilon and put everything in a gallon sized zip lock and marinate it in the fridge over night or sometimes for a few hours.
Take chops out of the marinade and pat dry with paper towels fry in oil until done. Place them on a plate to the side.
Remove the onions and saute over medium heat about 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the remaining marinate and return the chops to the pan. Cooking another 3-5 minutes over med-low heat turning the chops over once about half way through cooking time.


Since this is so simply I try to prepare it the night before, so the next day all i have to do is make some rice and beans. The pork chops fry as everything else is being cooked and I can have a full dinner on the table in about a half an hour.

Sunday Sauce

This is my Sunday Sauce please feel free to add or omit anything you like. You can easily take and do almost anything with it. And you don't have to make this on Sunday. I call it that because it take a long time for it to simmer and I need time, I usually get the time on Sundays especially during football season. I also make a huge pot of sauce so that I can freeze smaller portions for quick lunches throughout the week or month.

Sunday Sauce.
olive oil
1 large white onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 lb hot Italian Sausage
1/2 lb sweet Italian Sausage
1 container of button mushrooms
2 cans tomato paste
4 29oz cans of Crushed Tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 lbs ground beef, browned and the fat drained


Heat olive oil in a large pot, add chopped onion allowing them to cook 2-3 minutes. When they start to turn soft add the crushed garlic. Don't allow the garlic to burn. Allowing the garlic to cook for a minute or two, add the sausage, brown the sausage on all sides and remove from the pot. Add the chopped mushrooms and allow to cook for another minute or two, they too will become soft. Add the tomato paste. The tomato paste will absorb the oil and the flavors from the onions,garlic,sausage and mushroom. Allow this mixture to cook for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally to stop if from burning, make sure you scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot left from the sausage. Add the cans of Crushed Tomatoes and Bay leaves. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil. At that point return the sausage to the pot along with the ground beef. Add 1 tomato cans worth of water, return sauce to a boil. Once at a second boil reduce the heat to low and simmer sauce covered for an hour, stirring once at the 30 minute mark. Add one more can of water and simmer for another 4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. If the sauce is too thick for your taste add a bit more water at this point, if not thick enough fee free to cook for another hour or two.

Creole Style Butter Roast Chicken

I found this really great stuff to help with all the chicken I make. Jaime loves him some chicken and I found myself making some variation of chicken quite a few times a week. Boy was I getting tired of the same shit. So I went on a search to find easy ways to make my chicken not always taste like chicken. I know I can't be the only one who gets tired of eating the same things all the time. But I have found plenty of ways to cook the same meals different ways. Chicken isn't as bad as it used to be in this house.

Creole Style Butter Baked Chicken
1 whole roasting chicken
Tony Cachere's Injectables Creole Style Butter

Tonys stuff is great, it's a simple marinate (they come in 6 different flavors), its extremely simple and helps change the everyday dinner into something completely different with no real added time onto getting dinner to the table on time. Simply use the provided syringe and inject the marinade into your chicken and allow it to do the magic in a quick fast 5 minutes.

Tony Chachere's is offering six Injectable Marinades, each blended to complement the natural flavors of meats and poultry of choice:

• Creole Style Butter and Garlic for wild game, turkey, meats, fish;
  
• Creole Butter and Bacon for poultry or pork;
  
• Creole Butter and Smoky Jalapeno for turkey, fish or for a taste of the Southwest;
  
• Creole Honey Bacon BBQ for pork, beef, ham;
  
• Creole Praline Honey Ham for pre-cooked ham;
  
• Creole Roasted Garlic and Herb for turkey or meats.

Each marinade comes with its own injector.

Everyone has their own way of roasting a chicken. My way is in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for an hour then turn the temp. down to 350 until done. A general rule of thumb when baking a chicken is about 20 minutes per pound then add another 20 minutes to the over all time. Or you can go the easy route like I do, and buy the ones with the button that pops up when they are done.
Make sure you let the chicken sit for about 15-20 minutes before you cut it. This will allow all the juices to redistribute themselves rather than running out onto your cutting dish.