I’m BAAAAAACK!

I’m baaaaaack! I know it’s been awhile, but I’ve had so many “issues” the past few months. I had my THIRD back surgery in April, and I’ve been lucky to just keep up with laundry, dishes and dinner for the past few months! Things started going downhill for me at the beginning of the year, and I was, once again, confined to my bed most of the time – until I had the surgery. So far, it has been a success! I won’t know for sure for a little while because it’s a 12 to 18 month recovery. Also, we MOVED two weeks after I had back surgery. Crazy, huh? The Benton household is NEVER boring – that’s for sure…..FINALLY! I have the kitchen I always wanted! It’s BIG and BEAUTIFUL – AND we’re building an in-ground pool in the backyard – yay us!

Jon will be 14 in December (gosh, where did the time go?), and Michael will be 11 in about two weeks. My BABY will be 11-years-old! My mother always told me to “enjoy them while they’re young.” Unfortunately, I didn’t know what she meant until they got to be pre-teens! I sooooo miss my little boys…….Michael now plays on a different travel baseball team – The Lagniappe. Jon is still chipping away at his studies, learning to play guitar and chess, and, basically mastering anything and everything he can get his hands on! Clay and I celebrated 22 years of marriage over the summer, so now we’re headed towards 23 years!

Hopefully I will keep you all informed, entertained and, possibly, inspired to keep cooking – look for anything EASY to get through the busy days of baseball practice, baseball games, football practice, football games, playdates……..well, you know what I mean. Glad to be back. Please check out the three new recipes I’ve recently posted: Red Beans and Rice, Unstuffed Pepper Soup, and Cheddar Cornbread……

Cheddar Cornbread

This is the cornbread I make with my Unstuffed Pepper Soup. It’s dense and moist, and it’s a touch sweet. I love it, and, more importantly, CLAY loves it, and he usually won’t even touch the cornbread.

CHEDDAR CORNBREAD

2 boxes Jiffy Cornbread/Muffin mix

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1 can (14 1/2 oz.) cream-style corn

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a bowl, combine the cornbread mix, eggs, milk ( I used a smidgeon more milk because I added sugar to the recipe) and sour cream until well-blended – you can just use a big ol’ spoon. Stir in the corn and cheese (now, you know I HAD to use more than just the 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese – I probably went more towards 3/4 cup!). Pour into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Bake at 400 for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick near the center comes out clean. I found that I had to leave it in closer to 25 minutes….Cut into squares and serve.

  BEFORE

  AFTER…..YUMMMMMM (I think I’ll go get a piece or two for breakfast now….)

Micki’s Unstuffed Pepper Soup

Alright, so the weather is SLOWLY changing around here. We had a “cool” front come through yesterday, so I was chomping at the bit to post one of my favorite soups! Now, when I say cool, I mean that it’s only going to get in the mid-80′s instead of the high 90′s – AND – lower humidity, which makes ALL the difference in the world to us flatlanders here in Louisiana.

But I digress…..Back to the soup……..I love soups. I would eat a homemade soup every night of the week if my husband would let me. Ol’ rugby man needs a bit more “meat and potatoes” if you know what I mean….He likes my soups every now and then. I also serve it with an awesome cornbread. Now, he doesn’t like cornbread much, but he DOES like this one. I’ll post it next. I saw the recipe for this soup, and I thought….hmmmm, now I love stuffed peppers, and I love soups……Let’s do it! So, I modified the recipe to suit MY tastes, and what I got was one of the BEST soups I make. My 11-year-old hates peppers (so he says), but he loves soup. I made him try it, and now it’s one of his favorites, too. Jon? Well, once again, it’s wet, so he won’t even try it. It’s simple, and it has very few ingredients – so it’s CHEAP, too! I hope you love this as much as I do!

UNSTUFFED PEPPER SOUP:

2 pounds ground beef

2 green peppers, chopped fine

4 cans Swanson Beef Broth

3 cans Campbell’s tomato soup

1 cup rice, uncooked

In a Dutch oven pot, cook the beef and green peppers over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the broth and soup. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for around 30 minutes or so. Add the rice and continue to simmer for another hour or so, stirring occasionally. *Now, I have added a can of mushrooms to this, and I’ve also added onions. I didn’t like the onions in it, but rugby man and little bit like the mushrooms. Serve with a GREAT cornbread! Good luck!

Red Beans and Rice

This is my version of red beans and rice. Clay loves when I make them – not just for taste, but for COST! It can’t get much cheaper than red beans and rice! Jon won’t eat them (they’re wet to the touch, and we all know about his “texture aversion” problems). Michael always says he doesn’t like them, but then he eats a big bowlful. I made a slight change this time, using ham instead of sausage. I usually use smoked or andouille sausage with my red beans. I thought Michael wouldn’t complain much if it had ham in it – it’s his favorite protein (besides steak). You can start it in the morning, and just let it cook ALL day!

The first thing I did was soak 1 pkg. of red beans in water for 24-hours. The next day, I began around 10:00 AM. I strained the beans, and left them in the strainer while I cooked the “Louisiana seasoning”: onions, bell pepper, garlic, parsley and celery.  I’m not sure if everyone can buy it pre-made like I can, but it sure saves a lot of time! I find it in the fresh food section of the grocery store – SO worth the extra money to not have to chop all of that! Anyway, in a Dutch oven pot, I melted 3 TB butter and 3 TB margarine. I like to combine them so that the butter doesn’t burn if I walk away for a few minutes. Then I threw in the Louisiana Seasoning (it was a small container – 12 oz., I think), and I cooked it until the onions were soft, tender and carmelized.

To that I added two big containers of Swanson Chicken broth. I also added a little water – maybe half of one of those containers.

I brought it to a boil, and then I added the red beans to it.

To this I added two packs of the diced ham seasoning. Let me tell you the mistake I made. First of all, two packs was too much, and second of all, I shouldn’t have added the ham until an hour or so before serving it. I thought it was too salty, but Clay said it was fine.

I brought the whole thing up to a boil, and then I turned it down to simmer/low. I kept the lid on for a couple of hours, and then I took the lid off so the liquid could cook down. When the beans felt soft (a few hours into cooking them), I took out two bowls full and mashed them up realllly good with my potato masher. (I know, it looks gross, but trust me – it helps to make the whole thing creamier, and creamy red beans is what you’re after!)

I also added a few shakes or Tabasco Sauce (okay a little more than a few shakes!).

Then, you can add whatever other seasoning  you like. I added a little garlic salt. These beans cooked ALL day! Michael had football practice, so we didn’t eat until he got home – which was around 7:30 PM. Good luck with them if you try them…….don’t forget that normally, people put some kind of sausage in their red beans. I just wanted to try the ham – it was pretty darn good – just a little too much salt from having the ham in there all day. OH! And…….don’t forget to add the rice! We like to use the sticky rice we buy at a Vietnemese grocery store in Houma, but I’ve run out so we used regular long-grain rice.

CINNAMON ROLLS FOR KIDS (and adults)

The boys had a friend sleepover last night, and I was looking for something to make this morning for breakfast. Michael (very cute boy #2) reminded me about the cinnamon rolls recipe in Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook that he wanted to make. Michael has his own cooking blog (www.benton66.wordpress.com) Of course, I ended up making them so that he could go and play the XBox………

Anyway, the recipe involves crescent rolls and marshmallows – what’s not to love? It was really very easy, and, after I ate two of them, two of the other kids finished off the remaining six – not bad, huh? A lot of the marshmallow oozed out during the cooking process, but I think some of it sort of sinks into the dough while it cooks. I thought I would just post it as something quick and easy for the kids. Afterall, it IS in a kids’ cookbook!

Cinnamon Rolls (from Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook)

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls (8 rolls)

8 large marshmallows

Cinnamon sugar, made by mixing 1/2 cup sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375. Separate the dough into 8 triangles. Place 1 marshmallow right in the middle of each triangle. Sprinkle each marshmallow with some of the cinnamon sugar (I sprinkled the whole inside of the triangle w/the marshmallow w/cinnamon sugar). Bring up all fo the sides of the roll to completely cover the marshmallow, pinching all of the edges together so that none of the marshmallow shows.

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the rolls on the parchment paper, making sure none of them are touching. Sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar. Bake the rolls for about 10 minutes, until they are light brown and puffed up. Serve warm.

Cube Steak Sandwich with Onion Strings

I love The Pioneer Woman. She is a meat and potatoes woman – or, shall I say, her husband is, therefore, she cooks – what else? Meat and potatoes. Her cookbook is FILLED with A LOT of hearty, comforting foods, and I have already tried many of them. I will post them for you here and let you know how they turned out for me. I can tell you one thing for sure – I’ve never made such a MESS in my kitchen! That’s okay, though, because I’ve also had a pretty happy hubby lately, too   Not to mention – he’s the one who usually cleans up the mess!

The Cube Steak Sandwiches were fantastic. My little one picked out all the onions (as usual), but my husband and I LOVED them. I’m not a big onion fan, but in things like this I love them. I love them sliced big and cooked down so they’re soft and caramelly (I know, I continue to make up my own words). OH! I also pounded the cube steaks even more before I started cooking them to make them more tender. My husband did everything but high-five me at the table for these bad-daddies……

I made these onion strings alongside the Cube Steak Sandwiches. The first batch was good, but I didn’t season them enough. The second batch was GREAT! The third batch was just okay – by then I was rushing through it, and I wasn’t banging the little onion thingies on the side of the bowl enough (after I dipped them in the flour mixture). There was too much flour on them and not enough onion. So, my advice is, make sure to bang the onion thingies on the side of the bowl really good to get the extra flour mixture off of them so you don’t get too much flour mixture and not enough onion!! The onion strings recipe will follow the Cube Steak Sandwich recipe:

CUBE STEAK SANDWICH (from The Pioneer Woman)

1 large onion or 2 small oni0ns

butter – lots of it

2 or3 pounds of cube steak

seasoned salt, preferably Lawry’s

Lemon Pepper

Black Pepper

Worcestershire sauce

Tabasco

French bread or deli rolls

Start by slicing the onion then cut each piece of cube steak against the grain into small 1-inch strips, then season the meat with a nice sprinkling of seasoned salt, lemon pepper , and black pepper. Set aside while you cook the onions.

Melt 1/4 stick butter in a skillet over medium heat. This is not the last you’ll see of the butter. Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is soft and light brown (you know, caramelly) – about 5-7 minutes. Remove the onion from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add 2 tablespoons butter and turn the heat to high. Let butter just begin to brown (you want the skillet to be HOT), then add just enough meat to the skillet to form a SINGLE layer. Do not stir. Let it sit for about a minute, or long enough for one side to turn brown. Then, using a spatula, flip the meat over. Cook for another minute, then remove to a plate. Repeat this until all the meat is cooked. Return all the meat to the skillet and add the cooked onion. Pour in the Worcestershire sauce, several dashes Tabasco (to taste) and an additional 2 tablespoons of butter. Simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes to thoroughly warm.

Cut each roll or french bread in half, and spread generously with butter, then brown on a griddle or skillet. Place rolls face up on a plate , then place the meat mixture on the bottom half. Spoon 2 or 3 tablespoons of the pan juices over the top. This will keep the meat moist and seep into the breat which makes for an utterly decadent sandwich. It will also require you to walk 132 miles to burn all the calories!

ONION STRINGS (from The Pioneer Woman)

1 large onion

2 cups buttermilk

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon salt

plenty of black pepper

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Canola oil for frying

Begin by slicing the onion very thinly. Separate the onion slices and place them in a shallow dish. Pour buttermilk over the top. Press the onions down so they’re submerged as much as possible, and let them soak on the counter for at least an hour if necessary. Stir them around a bit halfway through the soaking process.

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, black pepper and cayenne. Pour 1 to 2 quarts of canola oil in a Dutch oven pot. Heat to 375 degrees or until a pinch of flour sizzles when sprinkled over the pan. Using tongs, remove a handful of onions from the buttermilk and immediately dunk into the flour mixture. Coat the onions in the flour mixture, then tap them on the inside of the bowl to shake off the excess (*a very important step*). Plunge the onions into the hot oil. With a spoon, fiddle with them a bit just to break them up – and watch them! They’ll be ready to remove from the oil in no time flat! When they’re golden brown (this should take under a minute), remove them from the oil and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with remaining onion slices and serve immediately. *I put some of these on my Cube Steak Sandwich – it…was….soooooo….goood!

Panfried PB & J

Yes, people. I said FRIED. Okay……so, I’m sitting around on a Friday afternoon CRAVING something sweet. HELLLLLOOOOO?!?!? Clay?!?!? Where is my cocoa powder? I sent my very cute guy to make groceries awhile ago – just a FEW things! I NEED some cocoa powder so that I can make those dadgummed RED VELVET CUPCAKES I’ve been craving ever since I saw them on my nieces cooking blog (www.fakeginger.com). Anyway, I digress……..So, I am soooooo needing something sweet right now, so I’m looking at recipe books and making my REAL grocery list for next week, and I came across a recipe for this FRIED Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich in the Deen Brothers cookbook – in the children’s section (she said sheepishly). Well, really it’s a grilled sandwich as in a grilled cheese sandwich, but I won’t hold it against them.

Let me tell you about this simple, little sandwich that calls itself a PB & J. With the cinnamon-sugar sprinkled on the butter, it forms this light, sweet, buttery, cinnamony (is that a word?) ”crust” all over the outside. When you bite into it, the jam just oozes out………oh……oh…….the wonderfully……….sweet…….buttery………goodness…….Wait a second…….I’m taking another bite………Mmmmmmmmmmmm. Okay, my youngest son just walked up and said, “What is THAT?” I told him he could a bite – a SMALL BITE. Well………he just asked if he could have the whole thing because he thinks it is one of the best sandwiches he’s ever eaten….and, yes, he has eaten many sandwiches in his short 10-year-old life……………The recipe calls for making enough to feed 4 kids or 2 adults, but I just shortened it and made 1 sandwich. I guess I should have made 2………wait……..make that 3. I could eat 2 of those…..that’s how good it is…..I never eat 2 sandwiches. OH, NO!!!!! Oh God!!! He’s back….He’s circling……Please make him go away…….And, there it is. He just took what was left of the first half of my sandwich. Tell me again why we bring children into the world? I guess I should have made all 4 of those sandwiches!! He just said he wants TWO more! Oh, and by the way, he ate the crust………and he never eats the crust.

So…..here ya go….simple…..quick…..easy…..fills the urge AND the need for my sweet tooth! Now, I’m going back to the kitchen to make some more.

Panfried PB & J (from The Deen Bros. – take it easy)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

8 slices white bread

6 tablespoons favorite jam (I used strawberry today)

6 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Spread the butter on one side of each bread slice. Flip 4 slices over and spread them with the jam. Flip the remaining slices over and spread them with the peanut butter. Sandwich together the jam slices and the peanut butter slices, keeping the buttered sides of the bread facing out. (I put the cinnamon-sugar on both sides)

Heat a large skillet over medium-low. Add the sandwiches and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the tops (as I mentioned before, sugared both sides). Cook for two to three minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. Flip the sandwiches over and sprinkle the tops with cinnamon sugar. Continue to cook for two to three minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. Remove the sandwiches from the skillet and cut into quarters (for kids). Serve, with the crusts on or off, depending on your child’s preference.

Amanda’s Sweet Li’l Piggies

Okay, so here’s the first entry of my recipes. My niece, Amanda, who has her own cooking blog, made these at her oldest son’s first birthday. Having not been able to make it there……I heard ALL about these little “goodies.” I’ve been wanting to make these ever since – it’s been almost TWO YEARS, and I’m just getting around to it! Michael (very cute boy#2) had a little friend over the other day, and they were sniffing around the kitchen for something to devour. I hadn’t been to the store lately and didn’t have many read-to-eat snacks…..so…….I started searching around the fridge and freezer for something – anything – to feed these hungry mouths – and, believe me, they WERE hungry mouths!! Let me tell you…..the boys didn’t like too many walnuts “touching” theirs…..sooooo….I reallllly took advantage of that! I just spooned MORE walnuts and the yummy, gooey, goodness of the honey WITH the walnuts ALL OVER the sweet li’l piggies! Enjoy.

AMANDA’S SWEET PIGGIES

1 package of Lil’ Smokies (mini sausages)

2 tubes of Crescent rolls

1 cup butter

1 cup chopped pecans

6 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 Tablespoon honey

 Melt butter, and add nuts, sugar, and honey. Pour into a baking dish. Roll the Smokies in the crescent dough (cut the dough up so that you can get approximately 48 “piggies) and place on top of butter mixture. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Life With the Bentons

Hey there. I thought my first entry should be introducing myself to you, so I’ll give you a little bit of information about Micki…..and life with the Bentons. I am a military brat; I grew up moving all over the place until my father retired in Mobile, Alabama. I lived there for ten years – until I met the man of my dreams. I followed some guy (I had been chasing him for some time  – we went out once or twice – whenever he wanted to take advantage of me) to a rugby tournament in Gulfport, Mississippi with a couple of girlfriends of mine (Hi Dayna! Hi Michele!). After the final game the girls and I headed to the keg-party. Yep – a kegger. I was still young afterall – AND I was almost of drinking age!!! WELLLL….since Mobile’s team lost to a college team by the name of Southeastern Louisiana University, they (Mobile) didn’t want to stay at the party and celebrate. I guess you don’t really celebrate losing, huh? The boy I was chasing around walked over to me (he had ignored me long enough for me to find a very cute guy on the winning team to whom I was carrying on a very interesting coversation), and he told me that everyone was leaving and going back to Mobile. I asked my two friends with whom I was going home if they were leaving, and the general consensus was that there was still beer left in the keg; therefore we would NOT be leaving! Soooo………….the rest is history. The very cute guy that I was talking to is now my husband of almost 22 years.

I moved to Louisiana after we got married. Yes. I was the one who HAD to move – NOT him. He told me that Louisiana is God’s country……..so, here I am. It took me a long time, and I mean a VERRRRRRY long time to fall in love with Louisiana. It wasn’t until we moved to this lovely little town where we live now that I began to slowly fall in love with all things Louisiana (besides the Saints, of course, it was love at first sight with them).

After getting married, I worked as a secretary for a few years. Then I decided to go to college. I got my degree in elementary education. I taught for a few  years, and then I quit after I had the kids. I went back for a couple of years, but, oh my goodness – how things have changed. Teaching just isn’t any fun anymore, and I just couldn’t physically handle it anymore. So, I quit again.

Very cute guy and I now have two very cute little boys……….or not-so-little boys……you pick. They are now 13-years-old and 10-years-old. They used to be the BEST of friends, but NOW……….not so much.  It comes in spurts, but, oh, how I enjoy it when those spurts come. There is nothing like being in a home where everyone is getting along. Right now I homeschool both of my boys, but that’s not going to last very long. You see, very cute little boy #2 isn’t responding very well to the whole homeschool issue. He is brilliant (isn’t everyone’s child?), but he is slacking at home – I’ve got to get him back into school before he starts straying and ends up in a meth lab or something!!! I know, he’s only in 4th grade – but you know how one thing leads to another!!! I’m not so sure about very cute boy #1……we’re still up in the air about homeschooling that one for another year. He’s definitely going to go back into school for high school – which he starts in the fall of 2011. I just don’t know if I’m going to be able to do it next year.

I have some physical problems that attacked me in my 30′s. I know, I know, I know - I was just too young to start getting old – sounds like an old country-and-western song, right?. Anyway, I have so much metal up and down my spine, I’m surprised they even let me into the airports now, what with all the security and all……and now the arthritis. Oh, the arthritis.  It’s worse than the original back injury. The back injury occurred when I was 34. That was nine years ago. My back is much better than it used to be, however, my hips and legs never work the way they’re supposed to when I wake up in the mornings anymore.  By mid-day I can actually walk without limping, and by the time I go to bed? Well, let’s just say the heating pad is my best friend…….I swear……my body feels about 20 years OLDER than it is, but my mind? It feels about 20 years YOUNGER than it is! It’s just not fair! That’s my constant lesson to my children, though – life isn’t fair. It’s what you do with what you have that makes your life what it is………..CHOOSE HAPPINESS. I try – Lord knows I try………..doesn’t always work, though. I’m a work in progress…..

Now I spend my days homeschooling the boys, washing clothes, doing dishes, TRYING to keep the house somewhat clean, reading and watching my beloved 52-inch plasma TV that I received for Mother’s Day this year. I have a Pekingese appropriately named Chipper Jones who means more to me than any dog should, and he follows me around all day, everyday. What I like to do best (besides watching baseball, but you’ll hear more about that later in the year) is to bake and cook. I haven’t done it as much as I used to because of my physical constraints AND because the house we live in has such a small kitchen; but one of my New Year’s resolutions is to get back into the kitchen (a great resolution, especially because we plan on being in a NEW kitchen by the end of the spring! Yay me!). Very cute guy mentioned recently that he really misses the times when I used to cook and bake all the time because he loves my cooking. Get this – I was raised by a southern country girl – I learned to cook by watching her, and when I left home, I took her recipes with me. Very cute guy says my mom is probably THE BEST cook he has ever had the pleasure of knowing – then he looks sheepishly at me and says “Present company excluded.” But I know he doesn’t mean it. I know he loves my cooking, but I also know that he secretly hopes that one day he’ll wake up and I will be able to cook EXACTLY like my mom! I’m good – believe me. I’m good. But I’m not my mom.

I’ll talk to ya’ll later!

Micki