Saturday, March 26, 2011
“Forgive me Father for I have sinned, I have succumbed to the delectable cravings of fried foods and sugar. . .”
It was all hubby’s fault. He called me from a Denny’s restaurant in Philadelphia, last week, describing the taste of these little fried treats called, Pancake Puppies. He has not stopped talking about Pancake Puppies since he has been home. When one of the kids asked, what I had planned to prep for dinner, all I could hear ringing in my ears was, “Mmm… Pancake Puppies and Sausages!”
It sounded like a great plan, but, what the heck was a Pancake Puppy and how in the world do I make it? His answer was simple, “Pancake mix and the deep fryer. How hard could it be?” Hmm…
Seeing as how the afternoon was young I was willing to experiment a little. Besides if all else fails there’s always waffles!
Your typical box of pancake mix calls for 2 cups mix and 1 ½ cups water. From my experience, a batter that is runny will not keep it’s rounded shape. You’d have more success using the batter for a quick-fix funnel cake. I don’t want funnel cake so I decided to decrease the amount of liquid to 1-part water to 2-parts pancake mix.
Now that we have that figured out, preheat your deep fryer to 350° and let's get cooking!
Cinnamon-Sugar Pancake Puppies
Makes 2 servings (12 pancake puppies)
Cinnamon-Sugar Mix:
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp + 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
Mix all ingredients with a fork and set aside. Mix can be stored in an airtight container.
Ingredients:
2 cups Pancake Mix that calls for adding “just water” (I use Krusteaz since I buy it in bulk at Sam’s Club)
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Preheat deep fryer to 350° degrees.
2. Prepare the Cinnamon & Sugar mixture in a medium shallow bowl. Set aside.
3. While oil is warming up mix the Pancake mix and water just until batter is moist. It’s ok if it’s a little lumpy (Over mixing will yield a real dense cake).
4. Drop batter into fryer with a large cookie dough scoop.
5. Fry for 1 ½ - 2 minutes, or until the bottom is golden brown. Flip over with a slotted bamboo spoon and fry for about 30 seconds more, or until golden brown all around.
6. Remove from oil, drain and roll in Cinnamon-Sugar Mixture while still hot.
7. Serve warm with pancake syrup and Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
I hate when I find a dream hairstylist, who knows their stuff, then one day I need a haircut and *Bam* they're gone with the wind! I also hate when I'm impatient and make the huge mistake in letting the flighty new chick do my hair. That alone is a recipe for disaster!!
The woman kept chopping and chopping and chopping until my hair looked like it was run through a meat grinder! To hide the imperfections I had to part my hair to the left so nobody could notice that my hair was butched all crooked-like!
That was the first nightmare. . .
So I found an angel by the name of Carlos who fixed my hair. He treated my hair as though it were a masterpiece in the making. The end result was simply that, a Masterpiece! It took 2-hours to do my hair, but when has perfection ever been rushed?
When I got home I decided to be an "El Cheap-o" and touch up the roots of my hair by myself. I wimped out about 20 minutes into the process when my scalp began to tingle. I rushed the toner, washed my hair and cursed at the mirror when I discovered that I looked like a circus clown!
Why do I always seem to put myself in a tight spot? So it's 9:30p.m. and I'm a train wreck. If I could get away with wearing a beanie to work I would have done so to spare myself the embarrassment of my vice-principal enjoying a good laugh when I humored her with the story of my unfortunate dilemma.
Thankfully my girlfriends came to my rescue and helped me find a salon that was willing to pencil my sorry ass into their busy schedule!
Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea... The name is like music to my ears! She took one good look at my hair and said, "I can have this fixed in less than an hour, hon!" She didn't let me peek in the mirror until she was completely done. Chelsea straightened the last strands of hair and when she was done she swiveled my seat around to face the mirror. I kept my eyes shut tight, as I was deathly afraid to look at my new hair. Chelsea assured me that it was safe to look and when I finally opened my eyes I couldn't help myself.. I leaped out of my chair and gave Chelsea a super huge bear hug!! She was my lifesaver! She fixed my ucky-blucky hair!!
I suppose one of these days I'll grow up and become somewhat normal, and not get myself into so much trouble. I regret to admit that when that day finally comes, you'll see flying monkeys, cotton candy clouds and money growing on trees! So...don't hold your breath too soon. :)
Sunday, March 20, 2011
It’s suppertime on the South Shore and after a day filled with shredding paper after painstaking paper I’m spent! I wanted something quick and easy to fix for dinner but I could not decide what to make. Thankfully I found a 12-oz package of pre-cooked ground beef in the freezer… but still no plan. So what do you do when you don’t know what to prep for dinner?? Duh-h-h… You ask your kids and hope to God they don’t say “Mc Donald’s!!”.
BbGirl pulled out a box of Elbow Noodles and suggested, “How about MacLasagna, mama?” Well why not? I hadn’t the slightest idea what she was suggesting but I went with it. So MacLasagna is the plan, yay!
MacLasagna
Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked Elbow noodles
1 jar Spaghetti sauce
1 15-oz can Tomato sauce
12 – 16 oz cooked Ground beef
9-oz package finely shredded Kraft Italian blend Mozzarella & Parmesan cheese
Directions:
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| Bring your water to a boil in a witch's pot. But wait, first make sure your witch's pot has been washed clean of the Earthworm and Eyeball stew made the day before. |
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| While your water is trying to boil, start the sauce. Add the jar of spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce to your meat and heat until warm. Mix well then set aside. (This is a messy task! I managed to splatter sauce all over my shirt just now, *bleh*) |
 | |||
| I love pasta! |
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| Add the elbow noodles to the boiling water and cook according to package directions. . Ooh and Preheat oven to 425°F. |
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| Quick grab a box of Texas Toast from your freezer and arrange on baking stone. To make your hungry brood think you've slaved over a hot stove all day, hide the evidence (packaging) in the trash. Do it now, Quick!! |
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| Next, drain your elbow noodles and dump them in a 13 x 9-in. casserole dish, being extra careful not to burn yourself with the extremely hot steam. *ooh-la-la* |
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| Dump the prepared meat sauce on top of the noodles and then mix it all together real well. This part is challenging because stray noodles like to jump out of the dish, making a saucy mess on the counter. |
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| Add the yummy cheese... |
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| ..And spread it evenly over all the noodles. Place casserole dish on bottom rack and Texas toast on rack above. Bake for 13 minutes or until Toast is browned and Noodles are bubbly. |
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| When dinner is done make the child, who felt they should be served first, clean up the saucy mess you left on the stove top! |
This is the end of Spring Break for all of us here in the OKC Metro. We can now begin our countdown to Summer Vacation!! Have a safe and blessed week everyone!
Lots of love,
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Kiss Me, I'm Irish: Super Easy to make Slow Cooker Corned Beef & Cabbage!
0 comments Posted by SouthShore Chick at 10:19 AM
You are going to love this easy Slow Cooker recipe! Who doesn't love a recipe that you can fix & forget? So grab that Slow Cooker out of your
cupboard, dust off the lid, add the ingredients
and then chill for about 8 hours!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Basic Slow Cooker
Corned Beef & Cabbage
Makes: 6 Servings
Ingredients:
· 1 Corned beef brisket (2.5 – 3 lb)· 1 medium Yellow onion, cut into 6 wedges
· 1 clove Garlic, finely chopped
· 1 small head Green Cabbage, cut into 6 wedges
· 6 sm/med Red Potatoes cut into 4 wedges each
Directions:
1. Spray a 3 ½ to 6-qt slow cooker with cooking spray. In slow cooker, place trimmed beef with juices and spices from package. 2. Add enough water just to cover the beef.
3. Add onion and garlic; top with cabbage and potatoes.
4. Cover with lid and cook on Low heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or until beef and cabbage and potatoes are tender.
(Important: Extra seasonings and salt is not necessary since the beef has already been cured in brine, just make sure when placing meat into the slow cooker, the juices and spices from packaging is added)
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