Beer Can Chicken

This meal is so simple. It tastes awesome. It is a cheap dinner and it is made with beer...What more could you want? LOL. Anyway, my husband and I make this almost every weekend. We love it! We like to cook together on the weekends. He mans the grill and I make the sides in the kitchen. Today I made homemade pickled beets, my salsa (below) , a huge salad and green beans. (below)......Yummy

Beer Can Chicken

2 cans of beer, does not matter what kind. (Dump half...Or drink half. LOL)

2 whole chickens (3 to 4lbs each)

2 Weber Seasoning Packets

4 TB olive oil (2 TB for each bird)

Cooking string

1. Preheat Grill. Rinse and dry chicken. Rub with the dry rub. (I used tomato pesto for one, Black Peppercorn for the other). Put the bird on the can of chicken and tie its legs around the can. Put 2 TB of olive oil on each bird.

2. Grill the bird for at least 2 hrs. (We cook ours until the legs are falling off the bone.

This chicken is amazing. We love it. I eat it with a salad and my husband loves it with rice and the green beans (recipe below).

This was my dinner with my pickled beets on top of my salad with a basic balsamic vinegar and oil:

Pickled Beets

2-3lbs of beets
2 cps water
2cps sugar
2cps white distilled vinegar
salt to taste

1. Boil beets (almost like you would potatoes) until tender. Drain beets. Add vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Boil until salt is dissolved.

2. Peel beets as the brine warms up. (HINT: It is easier to peel with a spoon...I know that sounds weird, but it pulls it right up). Slice the beets and add to brine.

Refridge!

Enjoy!!!!!

Green Beans

2lb Green Beans

1/2 Lg. Sweet Onion, cut in half then sliced

1 cp. Chicken Stock (Homemade)

1 tsp. Lawrys Salt

1 tsp. Garlic Salt

1 tsp. pepper

(This is really good if you cube ham and cook in the green beans)

1. Throw it all together in a pan and cook on medium heat for 2 hrs.

I will be posting lots of ways to use your garden veggies. This is very good. I usually make my green beans with lots of butter and I came up with this idea to cut some calories and fat. It taste just as good, if not better. Try it! It is an incredible side dish!

Fried Green Tomatoes, Ham and Egg Sandwich

I made this for my hubby this morning. I never had fried green tomatoes before. I was pleasantly surprised at how incredible they tasted. I breaded the tomatoes with 1/2 cp flour, 1.2 cp bread crumbs, Lawrys Salt, Cayenne Pepper and Pepper.(Peppers and Salt to taste. Geoff likes it spicy so I add a little more cayenne) I dipped in eggs and water and then the breading and fried it in a few TB of oil. MAN!! They are so good!!!

2 Slices Rye (Toasted)

4 Slices Muenster Cheese

A few slices of ham off the bone

2 fried Eggs with salt and pepper

2 TB minced jalapeno

2 Fried Green Tomatoes

1. I toasted the bread and as soon as it came out I topped both slices with 2 slices of muenster. I then put the two fried green tomatoes on one slice.

2. I fried the eggs with a little oil and put the ham in the same pan to brown it.

3. When the eggs where done I put in on the slice of bread with out the tomatoes and then topped it with the browned ham and jalapenos. I put the second slice of bread on top with the tomatoes.....WHOLOA!

The Local Farmers Market

Today I went to a Farmers Market in Flagler Beach and picked up all kinds of great deals. On Wednesday I went to a HUGE Farmers market in Volusia County Fairgrounds. It has hundreds of booths. It is awesome. It is about 30 minutes away, but worth every minute to get there. If you live in the Orlando area you need to visit the Volusia County Farmers Market. This is some of the deals I got:

.88cents per lb for beets

$1.00 lb for tomatoes (Romas, Green tomatoes, Beefsteak)

2lb bananas for $1

.50cents per lbs for all onions.

Homemade Marble Rye $2

Tilipia is 5$ a lb

Red bells 6 for 2$

2lb grapes for $2

Romaine Lettuce for .50 cents a head

This produce is even better then what you would find at most grocery stores.

You are probably wondering why I am telling you this. First of all, you can get more for your buck. Especially at these hard times a little always helps. (I bought 4 big bags of produce for 20 bucks) Second of all, it helps your local farmers and the economy.

You can always find a farmers market. Look at your local town or cities website. I know, every town near me has their own local farmers market. Try it out....You will be amazed at how much you save. It has great deals. Just wanted to pass that on.

Meatballs

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cp. milk

1/2 cp. white bread turned into bread crumbs (no crust)

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 TB parsley, oregano, basil...FRESH HERBS

1/4 cp. parm. cheese

1 egg

salt and pepper

1. Put the bread crumbs in the milk and let is soak up the goodness

2. This is sooo simple. Put everything together and get your hands dirty!!! Mix with your hands and form into pretty big meatballs. Throw it in the sauce....YEP!!! I said just throw it in the sauce. Let it simmer and it will do its things. It will not dry out and taste sooo good. Trust me.

****Use my simple Marinara below and add 1 8oz. can of paste****

Leftover Egg Yolks

I had 12 leftover yolks from the Angel Food Cake. This morning I made oven baked custard for my girls. This is how I did it.

10 yolks ( i know this sounds like a lot)
1/2 cp. sugar
3 cps. milk
2 tsp vanilla
cinnamon and nutmeg.

1. I beat the yolks until frothy and added the sugar. Then I slowly raised the heat of the milk in a sauce pan over medium heat. Then I tempered the eggs by adding a little of the hot milk at a time.
2. Added it to a greased 9x13 pan. Topped with cinnamon and nutmeg. Baked on 350 for 25 minutes
3. Let cool for 2-3 hours

My husband has the camera so I have no pics. I just wanted to give you an idea what to do with the leftover yolks.

Southwest Pasta Bake

Since I started my blog I have become very comfortable with experimenting. Well, tonight I threw this together myself and it turned out really good. I am Italian and I love to cook Italian. My husband LOVES LOVES Mexican. Tonight I put them together and it was awesome.It is a wonderful feeling when you throw ingredients together and the meal turns out so well. Thank you for visiting. Enjoy.

One more thing, I used a Southwest Chicken Sausage. It has tomatoes, spices, Cheddar cheese, and black beans in this sausage. It is the best sausage EVER. I get it at Petty's in Longwood, FL. The butcher makes it fresh every Saturday morning. I go...Especially for this sausage. You can use it for tacos, pizzas, queso's, soups or even pasta. My husband and I throw them on the grill and then throw them in hot dog buns. I top them with cheese, my homemade salsa (below), guac., and onions. SO GOOD....Anyway, that is what I used in this recipe.

2 TB Vegetable oil

4 links of Southwest Chicken Sausage

1 Red onion, Cut in half then slice thin

1 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes

2 1/2 TB lime juice

1 15 oz can black beans

2 ears of corn

1 cp. cilantro

1 lb. of elbow mac.

2 cps. Monterrey jack cheese

1. I heated a pan with the vegetable oil. Add the links and the sausage. When the sausage is brown and the onions are tender add the tomatoes and lime juice. Cook for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients.

2 Heat oven on 350

3. Boil pasta.

4. Toss the pasta with the sausage mixture. Put in a 9x13 pan. Top with cheese. Cook for 20-30 minutes. When the cheese is brown and bubbly.

Angel Food Cake

12 egg whites

1cp flour

1 1/3 cp. powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. cream tartar

1 cp. sugar

1. Beat whites until frothy. Add the cream tartar and vanilla.

2. Sift the powdered sugar and flour together while the eggs are beating on high.

3. Once the eggs formed high peaks add sugar one TB at a time. Turn off mixer when the sugar is dissolved and there is peaks.

4. Fold in the flour and powdered sugar mixture 1/2 cp. at a time until well mixed.

5. Put in greased tub pan. Run a butter knife through the batter to get all the air bubbles out.

6. Bake on 350 for 45 50 minutes. When the cakes springs back when you press on the top.

Berry and Strawberry topping:

1 cp. blueberries

3cps. strawberries

4 TB sugar

3 tsp. corn starch

1. Add all in a saucepan on medium heat. Cook until sauce is thick. I put it in the fridge when it was done. My husband likes the sauce cool.

Put on top of the angel food cake with a scoop of icecream!!! Yummy!!!