Recipes for Kimmy!!

The chicken & rice casserole is for my friend Kimmy.  Apparently every time she has been here for dinner we seem to have this.  It's one of those easy things that can use up that leftover deli chicken or that box of KFC that didn't get eaten.  And Kimmy, I will post another pasta salad recipe, because I know how much you like those.

Chicken & Rice Casserole

2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion diced
2 cloves minced garlic
3 cups cooked chicken chopped
2 cans green beans *  see note below
1 small can water chestnuts chopped
1 small jar pimentos
1 can cream soup * see note below
1 cup mayo or sour cream or mixture of both
1 box long grain wild rice, cooked according to package
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350*.  Prepare rice in a small saucepan.  Heat butter in skillet add onion & garlic and saute about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat to a large bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Pour into a 3 quart casserole dish, and bake for about 30 minutes or until bubbly.
*blanched broccoli, frozen  C&W green beans or asparagus can be used
*cream of chicken, cream of celery, mushroom, or cream of cheddar soups.  If using the cream of cheddar, use a white cheese instead of cheddar.

Dogs, dogs dogs

It's definitely a dogs world.  I have three of the little monsters.  Only one was originally mine, the other two came from my children.  Go figure.  My son's dog came to live with us from Arizona about 4 years ago or so.  He's trying my patience a lot.  Last night he went out to do his business and was gone longer than usual.  So I went out screaming for him and of course he was ignoring me.  That can't be good, and it wasn't.  He found a really good muddy hole in the yard and was having the time of his life digging to China.  He was covered from head to muddy toes.  I think the neighbors slipped him some green beer or something.  I tried to wipe him down but he thought I was playing a game, and proceeded to race around the house a full speed.  With a big smile on his face too I might add.  Then he slept on my bedroom floor, on which I fave a light whitish grey carpet.  Now it's brown.  Then I guess in the middle of the night he snuck up on my white comforter, it is in the wash now.  The white tile in the kitchen was smeared with mud this morning when I got up.  And you ask, what is with all the white stuff in the house?  Well before dogs (or at least Puchu, the bad dog) there wasn't a lot of dirt in the house.  He reminds me of pigpen on Charlie Brown.
I get to see my Grandson twice this week, that's so exciting.  He is so sweet, and smiling all the time.  I think babies are the cats ass.  Oops did I say that? 
Well this Gramma is tired, already made chili and corn bread for dinner.  And that was after I rearranged my kitchen cabinets and the horrible pantry.  I tend to be a little unorganized.  Now I can see everything, just having a hard time remembering that I moved stuff around.  It should only take me a few weeks to get used to the changes.

March winds

Another windy rainy day.  Why do the people in Seattle even bother doing their hair everyday?  We could just let it blow in the breeze and maybe look sexy, like the models do in a photo shoot.  Anyway the wind is for flying a kite or something.
Yesterday my family met for lunch in honor of my sister Patty, who passed away last August.  Yesterday was her birthday, it used to be just Jeanne (another sis), Patty and myself had birthday lunches, we were an exclusive group.  But now I think we will expand and whoever in the family wants to go with us they are welcome to attend.  It's good to see them on a regular basis.
My grandson is growing like a weed.  Every week I see him he gets a little bigger, seems like just yesterday he had the wobble head, and now he can hold it up all by himself.  He's a stout little dude.  And of course extremely handsome. I look forward to seeing them every week.  Wish I could see them more, but am happy with what I get.  Yesterday my brother asked me how often I get to see my grandson.  All of his grandchildren live out of state, I felt bad when I told him every week.  Sometimes more.  Grand babies are the bomb!!

Pot Roast

The other night I made the best pot roast ever.  It was a recipe adapted from my idol Paula Deen.  Anyway here it is:

1 3-4 pound boneless chuck roast
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
vegetable oil about 2 tablespoons
1 cup thinly sliced onion wedges
3 or 4 garlic cloves smashed with big knife
2 bay leaves
1 can mushroom soup
1/2 cup red wine ( or substitute 1/2 cup grape or cranberry juice with 1 tbsp. rice vinegar)
couple swigs of Worcestershire sauce
1 cup beef broth or stock

Preheat oven to 350*.  Heat oil in large skillet,  Mix the next 3 spices and rub on one side of roast, put in skillet and sear, while rubbing the other side of meat with the spices.  Put roast in roaster pan, add onions and garlic to skillet for a couple minutes and then place in pan with the meat and bay leaves.  Combine soup, wine (or the sub) and broth, pour over the roast.  Liquid should come halfway up the roast, add more broth or water if needed.  Cover pan with lid or foil and bake for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.
*note:  I don't know if it was the wine or what, but this had the most tasty gravy I ever made, and the roast was very tender.

The Weather in Seattle Sucks!

We have had winter now since the end of September 2010.  It is now March 3, 2011.  Can we please have spring?  It's been so cold, rainy, snowy, and windy, oh and might as well throw in some hail too, had a little of that today.  I left the house and the sun was shining.  Cold but pretty.  Not even a mile down the street the sun disappeared and it started to hail, blow and then turned to hard rain.  Makes grocery shopping so delightful.  And I'm cold all the time, have to keep cranking up the heat.  Can't wait to get the next PSE bill, should be a doozy.
 Tonight for dinner I'm making a bone-in pork loin roast.  I marinated it for 24 hours (didn't need to do it that long, but I didn't feel like cooking it last night) in minced garlic, Italian seasonings, kosher salt and pepper, soy sauce and olive oil.  Hope it tastes ok.
Yesterday my daughter was sick and so I asked my sister to go to her house and watch the baby for a while.  She lives a lot closer than I do, and I didn't feel so well either.  Thank goodness she was available.  Thank you Jeanne!
Until next time, stay warm and cozy.