Thursday, June 25, 2015

Thirsty Thursday: Wishful Drinking

Man...this no "real" Thirsty Thursday thing can really get a woman down!  So, let's do some "virtual drinking" together, shall we?  I'll put up the Abita umbrella on the back patio, make sure the comfy chair cushions are nice & clean, put the dog out in the yard, and then whip up a few of these perfect summertime cocktails... (and if those cocktails just happen to feature some of my favorite Missouri and Louisiana spirits, all the better!)

"Boat Shoes" - recipe created by Missouri Spirits

"Moonshine Mule" - recipe featuring Copper Run Distillery , made in Walnut Shade, Missouri
(several other good recipes from Copper Run behind that link)

"Bayou Berry Lemonade" - recipe featuring Bayou Rum, made in Lacassine, Louisiana

Blackberry-Lemon Gin Fizz (aka the "Berry Manilow") - recipe featuring Oryza Gin made in Thibodaux, Louisiana

Slainte, folks! (And please...somebody out there have a few for me? Please???)

Friday, June 19, 2015

24 Weeks & Counting: Nesting & Baby Prep (Recipe: Freezer Egg FeauxMuffins

So we're in Month 5 at the FeauxHousehold.  I've been blessed with a pretty easy pregnancy so far, but I also know I'm only going to get bigger, more tired, and as the summer creeps closer, less wanton to do absolutely anything.  So I've been trying to kick the whole "nesting" thing into overdrive while the weather is still reasonable and I don't have a B.O.B. (big ol' belly) in the way.

Last weekend, we rearranged rooms in our house--previously, we had an office, and a guest room, in addition to our master bedroom.  Now, the office & guest room are combined into the larger of the two rooms and the baby stuff has been somewhat unceremoniously tossed into the now-nursery.

Guest room before, with too big king size bed, and guest room/office after, with air mattress to be blown up for guests as needed--we also have a queen airbed for multiple guests/grandparents.


Former Office before, and Now-Nursery catchall, to be organized soon (hopefully).

More on the nursery later, as it starts to come together.

I also was feeling a little crafty, so I busted out the sewing machine and made these little cuties from some patterns I found on Pinterest (links below):


There's also a whale coming soon, as soon as I can figure out how to piece him together.

And then, to round things out, I spent some time putting together some more freezer meals to fill our chest freezer.  This time, I made a shepherd's pie casserole, a Crockpot "throw & go" beef stroganoff (FYI, the recipe seemed like it might be a little bland, so I added about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and a couple cloves of garlic)...and some homemade Egg "FeauxMuffins" (lest I get sued by McD's).


INGREDIENTS: (makes 6)
6 (1 package) whole wheat English muffins (purchased at our local Sara Lee Discount Outlet store for $1)
6 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
3 pieces bacon, cooked & chopped
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 Tbsp dried or fresh chives
6 thick slices of lean ham (or 1 large ham steak)
6 slices 2% American cheese


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Have your husband start toasting the English muffins & cook the bacon slices (if he feels so inclined).

Spray a 7"x11" baking dish with olive oil, and then crack 6 eggs into the dish.  Add the milk, seasoning, chives, and chopped bacon, and then whisk with a fork until well combined.  Place the baking dish in the oven and let cook until eggs are firm (it was about 15 minutes for us).

While that's baking, finish toasting your muffins and start cutting out your ham.  We had round ham slices, but they were a bit too big for the muffin, so I found a cup that was about the size of the muffin & used that to trim the ham down.  (Save extra ham bits for a nice egg scramble later in the week.)  When your eggs are fully cooked, remove, let cool, and then cut into 6 relatively equal pieces.

To assemble, place ham down first, then egg, then cheese, then top with the other half of the muffin.  Wrap each individually with plastic wrap, and then re-use the bag the muffins came in for storage.

When it's time to eat, zap in the microwave (or toaster oven if you prefer) until warmed through.  I find doing about 1 minute to help thaw, and then going in 30 second intervals until fully done seems to work well.

Cost per breakfast sandwich: About 85 cents

Nutritionally, this sandwich has about 25 more calories than the *cough* other ham & egg breakfast sandwich, but it also has 7 grams more protein, slightly fewer carbs and less cholesterol, and a LOT more flavor.

NUTRIFACTS:
Calories326.0
  Total Fat13.0 g
     Saturated Fat5.1 g
     Polyunsaturated Fat1.5 g
     Monounsaturated Fat3.0 g
  Cholesterol217.9 mg
  Sodium1,342.2 mg
  Potassium348.3 mg
  Total Carbohydrate28.7 g
     Dietary Fiber4.4 g
     Sugars6.3 g
  Protein24.1 g



Thursday, June 11, 2015

Thirsty Thursday: The Master Shake

Any Aqua Teen Hunger Force fans out there?  Well, we created this shake just for you. (PS: Even if you're not, if you like peanut butter & caramel, you should be pretty satisfied by this sweet treat.)


This was one of our first specials during the second season, and it went over really well.  Partially because it's delicious, and partially because... who can resist Master Shake? 

(We contemplated a Frylock & Meatwad Sandwich to accompany, but alas, no deep fryers. *sigh*)

INGREDIENTS: (makes one 16 oz shake)
8 oz Praline Pecan Ice Cream
6 oz skim milk
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp caramel sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Blend on High until well combined.  Then, spend a few minutes Googling images of Master Shake so you can copy his face onto a styrofoam cup (or about a hundred of them, in our case).  Serve with snarky remarks and attitude (unless you're serving at a retail establishment, in which case smiles and pleasantries are more appropriate).


Monday, June 1, 2015

Crawfish Stuffed Jalapenos

Leftover crawfish?  If you live in the south, it happens after nearly every boil, to the point that it’s almost part of the tradition—plunking down around the table with friends & family to peel all the little critters you couldn’t finish off.  There are plenty of options for what to do with leftover crawfish (like the Crawmlette or Crawchos), but what if you only have a little bit of meat to work with?  Here’s an option for you: mix with a little cheese, stuff inside of a jalapeno, and then wrap it in bacon.

IMG_7079

Last week The Hubs & I took an extended Memorial Week trip down to Houston to visit his sister & her family.  As part of the trip, my nephew K asked if I would make crawfish for him, since he’d never tried one before.  Always happy to oblige a food request, I brought my 3-gallon pot & boil seasoning down with me. 

Since only K was really interested in trying the crawfish (my other nephew & nieces were iffy about the idea, and my sis-in-law doesn’t eat seafood), I decided to do a traditional shrimp/sausage boil, and then just pick up a few pounds of already cooked crawfish from the most popular local crawfish place (The Crawfish Shack in Crosby, TX…good stuff).

IMG_20150528_171501_1

Our Feast!  Gulf shrimp, crawfish, pecan-smoked andouille, red potatoes & sweet corn. 

While we did as much damage as possible, at the end of the meal about a third of the crawfish were still left.  So I peeled the rest & brought the meat home with us.  There was only about a half cup of leftovers, so not enough to make much of an etoufee or bisque (or even Crawchos, really).  Thought about making some quesadillas, but then Primeaux suggested stuffed jalapenos.  Since we were grilling anyway, jalapenos won out.

 

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup crawfish tails/claw meat, chopped

1.5 tablespoons low fat cream cheese (try it with Creole cream cheese if you can find it!)

1/2 tsp boil seasoning or Cajun seasoning

1 green onion, diced

4 large or 8 small jalapenos, with caps removed and seeds scraped out

4 slices reduced sodium bacon

IMG_7062

 

DIRECTIONS:

Mix the crawfish, cream cheese, seasoning & green onion in a small bowl until well combined.

IMG_7063

Place in a sandwich bag (we reused the bag we brought the crawfish home in) and snip off a half-inch hole in one corner to create a piping bag.  Then pipe the crawfish mixture into the jalapenos. 

IMG_7077

Use the end of the bacon strip to cover the open end, then wrap around the jalapeno & secure with a toothpick. (If you use small jalapenos you may be able to wrap them with only half a strip of bacon.)  Grill on the top rack for about 5 minutes on each side (or until the bacon is crispy), or in your oven on an aluminum covered cookie sheet at 400F.

IMG_7089

Since we only made 4 stuffed jalapenos, we had some of the crawfish stuffing mix left over… stay tuned to see what we make with it!!!