TGIF Music Blast: Bruno Mars - "Grenade" LIVE

So, I heard this song on 106.1fm last night. The radio version is a bit faster, but the words are wonderful, so this is the song that I'm feeling for this week. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I'd catch a grenade for ya
Throw my hand on a blade for ya
I’d jump in front of a train for ya
You know I'd do anything for ya
Oh, oh
I would go through all this pain
Take a bullet straight through my brain,
Yes, I would die for ya, baby
But you won't do the same.

Those are some powerful words. Is it just me or does anyone else hear a little Mike in there???
Have a wonderfully blessed Friday and enjoy your weekend!

KITCHEN KREATIONS: Chicken with creamed spinach sauce over rice

Sunday Dinner:

So, for tonight's dinner, I thought I would try experimenting on the hubby, my self-proclaimed "happily stuffed lab rat"... [LOL]

A few weeks ago, I was watching my girl Ateyaaa's channel on youtube again and saw a video that she did on Basa fish with Creamed spinach sauce. I watched the video and thought, hmm, that would probably be really tasty with chicken. I modified the recipe quite a bit and made it my own. I'm quite pleased and proud of myself because this is the first time that I have deviated from the recipes given to make my own recipe. So here you go, the first Kesha's Kitchen Kreations recipe. Hope you enjoy! Let me know how it came out...

Ingredients

1 pound chicken tenderloins

1 cup rice

1 can Cream of Chicken & Mushroom soup

Milk

1 box frozen creamed spinach

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

4 oz. cream cheese (½ block)

½ cup chopped onions

1 tsp minced garlic

1 Tbs butter

Nutmeg

Cayenne pepper

Parsley

Preheat oven to 400^o.

1. Wash and season the chicken according to your taste. [I used approx 2 tsp Tony Cachere’s creole seasoning, 2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, & 2 pinches of parsley.]
2. Place chicken in oven-safe baking dish and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes.
3. While chicken is baking, cook rice according to directions.
4. Prepare the frozen creamed spinach according to package directions.
5. Prepare sauce.
1. Melt butter in pot.
2. Add garlic and onions. Saute until tender.
3. Add can of Cream of Chicken & Mushroom soup.
4. Add milk (fill empty soup can with milk and pour in pot).
5. Stir well until integrated.
6. Add the cooked creamed spinach to mixture and stir well.
7. Add ½ of the mozzarella cheese to sauce.
8. Cut up cream cheese into cubes and add to mixture.
9. Add 1 dash of cayenne pepper and 2 dashes of nutmeg to sauce.
10. Stir well until integrated and bring to boil.
6. After 15-20 minutes in the oven, remove chicken and pour sauce over chicken.
7. Place chicken and sauce mixture back in the oven for an additional 15-20 minutes.
8. After done, remove from oven, and add the remaining half of the mozzarella cheese on top.
9. Place over cooked rice and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Pie recipe

Ok, so I must give credit where credit is due. Thanks, Aunt Niecy for a fabulous sweet potato pie recipe. The hubby was just saying the other day that he really misses his grandma's sweet potato pie now that she has passed on. So, I was on a mission to find a good recipe that would help to ease the ache a little as well as one that I could pass down to my nieces and nephews and eventually my grandbabies (Lord willing). So here you go, a wonderful pretty darned easy to make sweet potato pie recipe that is fool-proof! Your folks will think that you slaved away in the kitchen all day! LOL!!!


Ingredients

Sweet potatoes (2 medium-sized potatoes per pie)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter - melted
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
2 large eggs
1/2 cup evaporated milk

*NOTE:  ALWAYS taste test your pie filling BEFORE adding the eggs to see if you would like to add more sugar.  If you want to make 2 pies, then just double the amounts!

1 store-bought pie crust (normally comes with two per package)

Preheat oven to 375^o.

Directions

1. Bake (or boil) potatoes until tender. [I bake my potatoes at 400^o for approximately 1 hour.]
2. When done, let the potatoes cool and peel them.
3. Place potatoes in a large mixing bowl and roughly mash with a potato masher or fork.
4. Melt the butter and pour it and remaining ingredients into bowl of potatoes.
5. Mix on low with mixer until well blended and smooth.
6. Pour the potato mixture into pie crusts and place into preheated oven.
7. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.
8. (Optional) Sprinkle a couple dashes of paprika for decoration
9. Enjoy!

KITCHEN KREATIONS: Beef stew with vegetables and Sweet Potato Pie for dessert

Sunday Dinner:

So, for tonight's dinner, the hubby and I had home-style beef stew. You know, the kind where you have to let the meat cook for some hours in the crock pot before adding your veggies and seasonings. The stew that I make is really more of a thick vegetable soup because I like a lot of broth, but the DH assures me that the stew gets two thumbs up and we can't wait to eat more of it tomorrow after it has sat and marinated in the refrigerator overnight. I will probably make a batch of cornbread to go with it tomorrow.
For dessert, I made sweet potato pie. I had to call my aunt in Little Rock for a good recipe because my mama had already left for church this morning. I got up early, washed a load of clothes, and ran to the grocery store all before getting cleaned up and dressed for church this morning. Yaayyy for daylight savings time! (LOL) Well, I have to admit, that pie turned out to be the absolute best sweet potato pie that I have EVER made in my life and I do like to experiment with the recipes. The hubby has proclaimed himself to be my "happily stuffed lab rat". LOL!
He says that he does not mind if I experiment on him because so far, everything has come out really good. I think that the sweet potato pie has become #1 in his affections of kitchen creations. Will post a picture of the pie in the next post.

Beefy Vegetable Stew
1 pound beef stew meat
2 bags frozen mixed vegetables
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 packages of McCormick's Beef Stew Seasoning
1/2 chopped onion
3 medium sized diced potatoes
1 can diced tomatoes and chiles (I used Rotel brand, but any kind should work)
3-4 cups beef broth

Dump everything into your slow cooker (crock pot) and cook on high for 3-4 hours.
Enjoy!

Midweek Feast: Taste of Asia night

So today I was sitting at work wondering what we were going to have for dinner. Since I've been on this Asian kick lately, I thought I would try to make some Chinese at home.
On tonight's menu: Pork lo mein with vegetables and egg rolls.
Both recipes came out absolutely delicious. The only problem is that since I am still recovering health wise from this summer, by the time I got done actually cooking, I was too tired to eat. The hubby assures me that everything came out great. He's actually (literally) in the kitchen getting seconds as I am typing this. LOL!!!
For the egg rolls, I combined a couple of recipes obtained on YouTube from different people that I subscribe to. So, here you go. I hope that you enjoy.

Pork Egg Rolls
Package of egg roll wrappers (found at your local grocery store in the produce section)
Package of coleslaw mix (I used 1/2 of the package since it was just the two of us)
Half pound of ground pork
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
1 1/2 Tbs. stir fry oil
3/4 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbs. soy sauce
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
couple of dashes of cayenne pepper
couple of dashes of paprika
1 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbs. water

1. Mix together the coleslaw mix with stir fry oil, garlic salt, ground ginger, cayenne pepper, paprika and onions. Stir well.
2. Microwave mixture on high for 4-5 minutes. Stir again.
3. Add raw pork, Hoisin sauce and soy sauce to cabbage mixture. Stir well until everything is well integrated.
4. Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl until it forms a slurry with no lumps present. This acts as the "glue" to hold your egg roll together.
5. Wrap the egg roll.
- Place egg roll wrapper at diagonal with corner facing you.
- Place approximately 2 Tbs of pork/cabbage mixture on wrapper.
- Fold the bottom corner over mixture and roll tightly.
- Fold over the left, then the right corners.
- Wet your finger with the cornstarch "glue" and apply it to the top corner of the wrapper.
- Continue rolling the egg roll until complete.
- Set it aside with the egg roll sitting on the seam of the wrapper, sealed side down.
6. Place carefully in cooking oil and cook until golden brown. Oil should be 375-390 degrees.
7. After done, egg rolls will float to the top of the oil. Remove from the grease and set on a plate covered with paper towels to dry.
8. Enjoy!

For the pork lo mein, it came out really good, but it wasn't quite the taste that I was looking for. So, I will continue on my search for a fabulous lo mein recipe.

Midweek Music Blast: Destiny's Child - Happy Face

I woke up this morning, the sunshine was shining, I put on my happy face.

I'm living, I'm able, I'm breathing, I'm grateful, to put on my happy face!

Sometimes we just have to be reminded of how good God is. I was sitting here reading my husband's blog about how he was terrified this summer when things got really bad for me with my health. I sat here almost in tears just remembering how far He has brought me; from a broken body and broken spirit to a life full of joy and laughter. I tell you, God is good. Lord knows, I am not worthy of His continued blessings, His grace, and His mercy, but I am so incredibly grateful. This song just resonated in my spirit this afternoon, so I will try to get through the rest of my work day without humming or skipping through the office. (LOL)

Be blessed today, people. Enjoy the life you were blessed to have.