We have a HUGE week ahead of us in the Charming South kitchen household. Can’t wait to share it with y’all. The biggest event is my older mister turns 2 on Friday! TWO! Can’t believe it. So much has happened in two years. Two years ago we were living in Durham and now we live in ATL with Little Rock in between us and another baby. Wow – God has a purpose in all of this!
Juicing (because I have been feeling so bloated the past few weeks and need to feel comfortable in the skirt I want to wear to Elijah’s party (hopefully)
Burgers, Crescent Dogs, cupcakes, a school bus cake, and side dishes for the big party on Friday.
Jiffy Corn Waffles
Tuna Noodle Salad (a box – my mister loves it)
When I have one big thing that I need to cook for : I like to try to find shortcuts for the rest of the week. Leftovers, freezer meals, and some easy semi-homemade foods are a great fit. That way I don’t burn myself out in the kitchen (believe me it happens) before the big event!
Sharing food and getting to know new friends – what’s not to like?
I read a post from Molly about having a freezer meal party – and then a new friend posted on our Facebook group about having one. I jumped in. While the prep was heavy on the front end – we had dinner for that night and I have 4 (now 3) meals in our freezer for those busy nights or hard mothering days when I don’t feel like cooking.
A note on cooking for the freezer: I’d rather not do it all the time. Its ok. Some mothers rely on it heavily – I’m more spur of the moment in our cooking, at least weekly, and love to make things fresh and right then. I usually can get quite a bit done during nap time or we just eat later after the boys go to bed. But, for those who love do it – thanks for finding ways to provide your family healthy foods. Keep it up!
This recipe for chili is from a wife, momma, and athlete. My husband has loved it – and loves the spice in it. I’m sure you can cut back on the jalapenos if you like your chili with less heat. Thanks Delaine!
Spicy Beef Chili
Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Beef
Author: Delaine Brannen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8-10
A hearty and spicy chili
Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
2 onions
4 ribs celery
4 T canola oil
2 cans tomato paste
1 28 oz can pinto beans, drained
3.5 T jalapenos, chopped
3.25 T chili powder
3.25 T cumin
2 tsp basil
1.5 t oregano
2 tsp garlic powder
2 T salt
1 can corn, drained
Instructions
Cook the ground beef. Set aside to drain on some paper towels.
Cook down the onion and celery in some canola oil.
Combine all the rest (except corn) and add 3-5 tomato paste cans of water.
Simmer on low for an hour.
Test the seasonings and see what you need to add (if anything).
Add corn right before serving.
Top with cheese, sour cream, bacon, avocado – anything. Serve with fritos, spaghetti, or cornbread.
One of the true joys about living near the mountains is picking apples. We actually picked apples in Canada on our honeymoon. So fun to do something you enjoy with the man you enjoy most in the world.
Picking apples is great exercise and you get healthy food out of it – just don’t get most of your exercise from doing squats to pick up the ones from the ground. Worm eaten apples aren’t worth it.
I also remember crab apples. My grandparent’s dirt road used to be lined with apple trees and we would run up and down the roads, getting dirty and eating sour apples. Ah, the joys of childhood.
I can’t wait to take my boys apple picking – to see their joy when they can hold what they pick in their little bitty hands and hold it up as if to say This is my apple! They love wandering around with anything in their hands, so apples will be just the treat for them!
This recipe is topped with some delicious additions to make it even better. First, I most give a shout out to the Mister. He said he would like this cake better with a caramel sauce. I’ll work on that babe. Talenti Gelato is amazing and their containers make great desk accessories – and its made right here in Marietta where we live. Their Tahitian Vanilla Bean is rich and deep. (Side note to any Talenti people reading this: can my boys and I come do a tour and taste testing?) Then I tried my hand at melting down red hots in apple juice – and it worked as a chewy magic shell. It basically made the dish pretty.
Apple Scone Cake ala mode with Red Hot Drizzle
Recipe Type: Dessert
Cuisine: Cake
Author: The Charming South Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted chilled butter (cut into pieces)
1 egg
1/2 cup (minus 2 tbsp) milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 granny smith apple, thinly sliced
3 tbsp sugar
cinnamon to taste
Instructions
Mix the dry with the butter and run it in your food processor till you get coarse crumbs.
Add in the liquid and combine.
Put half of the mixture on the bottom and side of a deep dish pie pan (that’s been sprayed). Dough will be sticky.
Thinly slice two apples and arrange on top of the dough.
Then drop the rest of the dough on top like drop biscuits. Top with cinnamon and sugar.
I wish every week we could go on a honeymoon. My husband and I love to travel and I can’t wait to show our boys the world (as much as our budget will allow). Early on in our courtship, my husband and I knew we had a mutual love of food and roads. So, naturally when we got married, he was a master at planning our “secret” honeymoon. I could never have planned a better trip.
After a brief stay at our favorite place in Durham we ventured up to Washington DC for a few days as the first leg on a two week road trip. He had bought us tickets to the Taste of DC – a huge foodie tasting tour in front of the Capital Building. Even though I was sick, I still enjoyed it – in spirit at least.
Oh and a brief, unpaid plug. My husband loves Duke’s. Yes, the mayonnaise. I’d tried it once before and I stuck to my regular brand, but now have tried it again – and it really has made me fall in love with mayonnaise again.
Roasted Mexican Street Corn & Chicken Frittata
Recipe Type: Frittata
Cuisine: Eggs
Author: The Charming South Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Corn chicken and eggs with a kick
Ingredients
2 ears of corn
2 T mayonnaise (I use Duke’s)
cayenne pepper to taste
chili powder to taste
2 c shredded chicken
1/2 cup sauteed onion
7 eggs
1 1/2 cup half and half
1 1/2 cup mont jack cheese, shredded
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450. On two pieces of foil, squirt equal amounts of mayonnaise, lay the shucked corn on top, roll around, and sprinkle cayenne and chili powder.
Close up the foil.
Bake for about 25 minutes.
Remove and cool.
Cut the corn off the cob.
Lower temperature to 350.
Spray a deep dish 9 inch pie plate with Pam.
Mix the eggs, half and half, and cheese (and more seasonings if you want).
Mix the corn, chicken, onion
Combine the two and pour into pan.
Bake for about an hour or until set.
Let cool and enjoy!
3.2.2802
One of the favorite things I tasted was Mexican Street Corn: mayo, cheese, cayenne, corn – what’s not to love? So, I wanted to recreate the corn and turn it in to a frittata. It turned out great! Here you go. If you like corn casserole and quiche – you will love this. Its like a cross between a spicy corn casserole and a quiche. And if you have little ones eating it, just lay off the cayenne.
Yes, Fall has officially begun because we are now passed Labor Day! Do you still wear white? Just curious!?
Well, I’m definitely cranking out some warmer meals this week. The only thing that has been different about the Atlanta weather for the past week is we’ve had a lot more rain. I love the big storm clouds. I don’t love the fact that the storms seems to come during my boys’ nap time. They aren’t fans of constant thunder! Oh, well, I will train them right!
Pot Roast with potatoes, carrots, and onions
Beef Tips over Basmati
Chili (from a friend through a freezer meal exchange that I will be sharing) and cornbread
And i’m baking some soft batch cookies with fall candies. Can’t wait to show you finished product! And share them with a mom who is about to have another baby!
Bring on the Fall! The weather hasn’t changed that much from last week, but the feel in my kitchen certainly has. Earlier this week I made some of these: some friends and some little misters in our home devoured these.
They are all gone.
I had never made a snickerdoodle until I lived with one of the girls I discipled (while she was in college). She loved snickerdoodles. And the fun thing is – that as I read the directions, I read them wrong, and it turned out I like it better and now this recipe is my tried and true snickerdoodle. Snickerdoodles are so easy and if done right they are perfectly soft and chewy for days. We just had the last of these at lunch and they were still chewy. Success!
And seriously – one of the things that can make any bad day better for me is buttercream. I love it – a true Hero! 🙂 But, it is also a bear to get perfect. If you get your butter too soft – forget it. I think I added too much pumpkin to mine trying to achieve the perfect pumpkin flavor – but below I’ve changed the recipe some. I hope yours turns out better than mine.
