I Still Cook....

But not as much as I used to. Now that I work full-time as a first-grade teacher, my cooking has changed a lot. I use my crock-pot a lot more now:


This is a really good chicken recipe, and it couldn't be easier! All you do is take a whole chicken, dump it in the crock pot, and pour some Hoisin sauce on top*. You can get more complicated if you'd like by marinating it overnight and pouring some of the sauce in the cavity, along with a few garlic cloves, but that's optional. Then let it cook all day on low in your crock pot, and when you walk in the door exhausted (or is that just me?!?), dinner's done! Lately, that's the type of dinners I like!!

My cooking style has definitely changed, and it's taken some getting used to. I used to almost never buy convenience foods, but now I buy things like refrigerated pasta and frozen skillet meals. At first I felt guilty buying those things...but then I realized that something had to give. As a first-year teacher, I just plain don't have time to make bread from scratch anymore or spend hours crafting a meal. Yeah, the bread from the tube isn't quite as good, but it's better than eating out every night - which is what we were doing until I realized we needed to change. I still like to cook when I can, but I had to make some allowances! Mike has been great helping out with cooking - I have a list of meal options on the side of the fridge, and there have been nights when I'm pulling out of the school at dinnertime, and he's glad to step up and help out. Lucky me!


*Hoisin can be found in the Asian section of your local supermarket. I really like Soy Vay's Hoisin Garlic sauce.

Fried Chicken

I grew up hearing stories of my grandmother's legendary fried chicken. I've been trying to convince her to make some, but so far haven't succeeded. So I decided to give it my own shot!



I started with chicken pieces (everything but the thighs, which were saved for another recipe) and seasoned flour. Mike was the one who did the actual frying - he usually lets me do my own thing in the kitchen, but he likes to fry. I guess he enojoys handling oil hot enough to burn your face off!

The cast iron skillet is from his grandmother. We both love using it!
Mike also decided to make hush puppes. I decided to steam some broccoli and green beans to offset the rest of the meal :)
The chicken, in all it's shiny, crispy goodnes.

The chicken was very good, but the hush puppies...oh, the hush puppies! I could have eaten a whole pile of them. But I'm glad I didn't, because what I DID eat has been sitting heavily in my stomach ever since. Was the heartburn worth it? Probably, but I doubt we'll do this again. Now we can say we tried it, but I don't understand how people can stomach eating fried food more than once in a blue moon.

Spring Mix Salad topped with Parmesan-Crusted Chicken and Creole Buttermilk-Black Pepper Dressing

A rather lengthy name for a delicious attempt to make up for The Meal of Sin we recently. I've made the Parmesan Crusted Chicken several times before...always a classic on salads! The Creole Buttermilk-Black Pepper Dressing is the second new recipe I've tried from the Crescent City Cooking book I got from the library.

This is my first attempt at making dressings that I've actually been pleased with, and it was even better the next day after having all night to sit in the fridge. The only thing is, I'm not sure that the final product was actually "Creole" - the only thing I can see that was Creole about it was Creole mustard - who the heck has Creole mustard lying around? I don't even know where I could get some, short of traveling 9 hours to New Orleans. So I used some stone-ground maple sugar mustard, and it was delicious.

I did use a little less mayonnaise (Miracle Whip, actually) and a little more sour cream to better suit it to our taste. I also used about half the horseradish that the recipe says is optional. The only thing I would do differently is not get lazy and actually grind the pepper myself!

One Sauce, Many Uses

I made this black bean sauce as an accompainiment for a Grilled Lime Chicken recipe I wanted to try, but I've found it handy for other uses as well. Like tucked into soft tacos alongside browned ground beef and the other usual suspects. Or in my taco soup, which gave it a darker color but a thicker texture and interesting taste.


Having an immersion blender was nice in making this. I rarely use that thing, but I'm always glad to have it when I need it!

The chicken, along with grilled red onions and new potatoes.

I love it when I can make something once and use it for lots of different meals!

Hoisin-glazed Smoked Chicken

I'm not sure what inspired me to throw a bottle of hoisin sauce into my shopping cart. I'm also not sure what inspired me to use the sauce as marinade for a whole chicken. Nevertheless, I did both things, and the end product was delicious. It was slightly sweet and tangy and the skin was crispy and wonderful. Mmmm...one of Mike's coworkers mentioned that he uses the hoisin sauce to make ribs, so that's next on the list.

For those of you who are interested, I poured the hoisin sauce over the skin and down the cavity of the chicken, and Mike used his ceramic "chicken sitter" over the plate setter of the Big Green Egg.

Chicken and Biscuits

My mom included this recipe in the cookbook she made for me a few years ago, but I honestly don't remember having it for dinner as a child! I've considered making the recipe several times, but this is the first time I've actually attempted it. The end result turned out quite different, due to the fact that I scaled down the recipe quite a bit and left out the stewed tomatoes it called for. I also tried to make it a bit healthier by browning the bread crumbs and chicken in olive oil instead of butter. We also had fresh broccoli and a spritzer of fresh orange juice, sprite, and vodka - woohoo! What a party!

The verdict

Today marks Mike and I being together for three years, so I wanted to make a meal he would especially enjoy. He most certainly did! He went back for a large second helping. I was afraid to really brown the chicken because I thought it would get rubbery when I baked it, but it could have stood a little more crispiness. I give this meal 4 stars for taste and 3 stars for health. Considering this was my first try at this recipe, that's not too bad!