A Girl's Gotta Eat!

Some of my readers may know that I was recently laid off (along with my entire department) due to "budgetary constraints." While I could be really mad about this (and some days, it's tempting), I'm choosing to use this time to my benefit. Getting things done around the house, helping out those who need me during the day, and getting dinner started before Mike gets home. A week or two ago, I found a recipe that had my hubby's name written all over it: Austin-Style Chicken Chili. It came in a pull-out from our recent issue of Food Network Magazine that was "man-themed" in honor of fathers' day. We love trying new chili recipes, and this one caught my eye for several reasons. 1) It was a red chicken chili. Most chicken chili I see is white. 2) You braise said chicken in beer, which is one of our favorite "secret" chili ingredients. 3) It contained chipotle chiles and a habanaro. This last reason caused me slight concern, as Mike certainl

  Have you ever come across a recipe in a book or magazine, or perhaps an idea on Pinterest, that once you see it, you think, "Duh! This is brilliant and easy. Why didn't I ever think of it?"   Several months ago, Mike and I had such an experience when we saw a recipe in our Food Network Magazine for, wait for it....Tomato Orzo Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons .   Seriously? How many of us grew up eating Campbell's tomato soup alongside a grilled cheese sandwich, dipping the sandwich into the bowl or mug of hot orangish liquid?   ( Side note: growing up, my mom called the soup "orange soup" for YEARS, as none of my siblings nor myself liked tomatoes. I guess none of us ever looked at the label or noticed that it had a distinctly non-tomato flavor. A fond memory nonetheless.)   Anyway...we knew we had to try this. I'm happy to say it was fantastic! While it may be tempting to push the "easy button" and open up that fail-sa

So this post isn't a recipe, but a kitchen gadget recommendation. For Christmas, Mike bought me my very first cast-iron skillet. How in the world have I been cooking all these years without this?? One of my fondest memories takes place during a visit at my late Great Grandma Lela's house. Grandma Lela always sent us handmade ornaments every year for Christmas (and every year they were different), made each of Christmas stockings (which we still use at my parents' house), and was always so much fun to be around the few times we made it out to see her.   On this particular visit, she offered to make dinner for us—cheeseburgers. Never one to pass up a tasty burger, even in my younger days, I was ready for her to fire up a grill and get to cooking them. Instead, she pulled out a very seasoned, very loved cast-iron skillet. Nevermind that...a burger is a burger, right?   Wrong. They were delicious, juicy, one of the tastiest things I remember eating even to this day ami