New Year, New Blooming Thoughts

It's been awhile since I posted. Guess I was off following something shiney that caught my eye!

My goal for this year is to post more recipes but to also go back and post PICTURES of some of the recipes that I've already posted!

I'll give you a lame excuse about pictures... I have three adult children who always borrow my camera. So it's hard for me to have it handy when I'm cooking. Okay, there's my excuse..(blame it on the kids.) I promise I will do better from here on.

I have something else important to say about cooking in this post, so listen up.

There are so many good cooks in Tennessee that it isn't even funny. If you throw a pot luck and invite all the people who are your friends you will end up with some of the best food on the planet!!!

But lets not overlook something important. Sometimes we have an event that calls for a little more. The great food is a given. But on really special occasions don't you want to dress up the dinner table? I'm not talking about bringing out your best china or favorite dishes. Everyone can do that. Bring some fresh flower arrangements to your table!! Think about your message to your guests and decide what kind of flowers if you want to. (Purple flowers represent something, White flowers represent something, Roses represent something.) Google search which flowers represent certain things. Google search which colors of flowers represent a certain sentiment.

I know it's easy to order flowers for holidays to get your proper table setting for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and others. But what about other parties? Baby Showers, Engagements, House Warmings, promotions at work etc etc..

I've been in conversation with www.flowerpetal.com since December. They have a customer service team to help you put together 'Designer choice arrangements' and gift certificates if you need that service. Their customer service team can be reached at 1-800-863-5719.

Let's face it, even if we are the most wonderful cooks, we are not all professional flower arrangers. Nor do we have time to learn their profession. Leave it to them to make your dinner table decorations the best they can be. They will have your flower choices professionally assembled and delivered locally if you have your order in by 2:00 PM in most situations.

Consider this too: If you are not the host or hostess of a party, but an invited guest, take a gift to the host or hostess. We have to understand that giving and receiving are both blessings. We in America NEED to understand this. (Many of us are comfortable with giving but not receiving.)

If someone invites me to their party it is a gift and a blessing. If I show up I have completed a cycle that they started. I bless them back by my attendance.

If I bring them a gift (flowers for their party) or anything else...I am trying to bless them. If they accept my gift then the blessing cycle for both of us is completed again.

So don't forget the importance of dressing up your special occasion dinner table and don't forget the importance of bringing a special gift of flowers to your hostess's dinner table to show your appreciation for her inviting you! Click on the link for www.flowerpetal.com and order your special order today or call their customer service department if you have special requests not shown on their website. 1-800-863-5719.

Quick tip

Here's a quick tip for saving money. I buy the dry gravy and seasoning pouches for things like chili and taco dinners or creating Ranch dip etc...

Recently I noticed that a pouch of Old El Paso taco seasoning can run as much at 90 cents a pouch. It only has 1 ounce of seasoning for one round of a taco dinner.

But the other day I spotted a canister of Old El Paso taco seasoning that had 6.25 ounces in it. It's about half price if you buy it in bulk in the canister instead of the individual 1 ounce pouches!

Last night I had some chicken breasts to slice and cook. I had 6 breasts. I sliced them into thin strips, I chopped one onion, 1/3 of a bell pepper, and a small can of green chili peppers and coated them in canola oil. I sprinkled them with the taco seasoning and cooked them on my Geroge Foreman grill. Cook them for about 3 minutes.

Then I decided my kids would like this with cheese sauce. I added a little canola oil and milk to a skillet over low to medium low heat. I started adding small chunks of velveeta to the skillet until it was all melted. I added back the grilled onions and peppers to the cheese sauce. I sprinkled some red pepper on the sauce to give it a little bit of "hot". I ate mine in a warmed flour tortilla. The kids used the tortillas and they also just dipped their chicken into the cheese sauce. It was good ya'll. It was easy too! And if you're like me and you find that you can use taco seasoning on more than just ground beef, it's a good way to save money to buy it in the bulk shaker size to season as you see fit!

Souper Chicken Thighs

1 package of chicken thighs (4 - 6 pieces)
1 (10-3/4 ounce) cream of mushroom soup
1 (10-3/4 ounce) cream of celery soup
1 (10-3/4 ounce) cream of onion soup
1 small onion chopped
Tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 soup can of water

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees. Smear olive oil over bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Lay the thighs on the bottom of dish. Sprinkle the chopped onion over the thighs.

Next, add the three cans of soup together in a large mixing bowl and add a half soup can of water to the mix. Stir until blended well and thinned out. Pour over the chicken and onions.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for one hour. Remove foil and bake on 350 for another 30 minutes.

I made this last week and I only had 4 thighs in my package so I had extra room in my casserole dish. After I let the thighs cook for the first hour with tin foil, I added some left over green peas to one corner of the casserole dish and two chopped carrots in another corner. The soup gravy covered them nicely. When I put the dish back in the oven to bake for the final 30 minutes the carrots were partially cooked to semi tender. The peas were already fully cooked anyway so that didn't matter. This came out of the oven smelling like home made chicken pot pie without a crust! My daughter had been napping before she had to go to work and the aroma woke her up it was so good! I was making home made biscuits to go with it but she couldn't wait for them to be done. She dug into my chicken dish before I could even take a picture of it! Later my two sons were just as enthused over it.

I had some of the soup-gravy left over for the next day. So I used it to top off baked potatoes. YUM! Use your imagination on this one. You could spoon this gravy over rice or noodles or mashed potatoes or...sop it up with a biscuit!

P.S.... I don't add any salt to recipes that have this much regular soup because soup is already salty. I do add black pepper because I like it. You don't have to though. It's all about what you like.

Country Pie From Josh

My friend and fellow cook Josh just sent me this recipe and the easy gravy recipe below. Thanks Josh!

1 pound of extra lean ground beef, or ground turkey
1 14 ounce jar prepared spaghetti sauce, divided
1- 1/2 cups minute white rice, uncooked
6 ounces velveeta cheese product, sliced (enough to cover the top of the pie)

Preheat oven 350. Combine meat and 1/2 cup of the spaghetti sauce and spread that evenly in the bottom of a deep greased 9 inch pie pan. Mix the remaining sauce and rice together and spoon that over the meat. Put the cheese on top of that and cover with foil. Bake for 25 minutes and then uncover and bake 15 more minutes. Let it stand for 10 minutes, then drain off any fat. Cut the pie into 6 sections and serve. This sounds Yummy and easy!

No Fail Easy Gravy From Josh

1 can of cream soup (whatever flavor will match the dish your cooking) IE mushroom, chicken, celery, potato..

Drippings, cooking liquids, or stock for the dish you need a gravy

Mix the can of cream soup with the liquid. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir until it is warmed through. Really great and Really fast!

Macaroni Salad

8 ounces of uncooked macaroni
1 chopped Bell pepper
1 chopped onion
2 stalks of chopped celery
2 grated carrots
1 small jar of pimentos
1 can Eagle brand milk
1 cup vinegar
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sugar

Cook macaroni as directed on box. Drain and cool. Mix pepper, onion, carrots, celery and pimentos. Add to macaroni. Set aside.

Mix together Eagle brand milk, vinegar, sugar and mayonnaise. Pour over salad and set overnight in the refrigerator.

Mexican Style Corn Salad

This is a good side for all your grilling!

1 can Mexican style corn, drained
1/4 cup sliced radishes
1/2 cup prepared hidden valley ranch taco ranch creamy dressing

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl until blended. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Makes 4 servings