No More Men in My Kitchen

I'm pretty good about sharing my kitchen with the fam, but I'm about to ban all men from it.  Hop & his very first best friend, Will, wanted to cook Red Fish Stew on Saturday, and me being the wonderfully nice mom I am (insert hysterical laugh here) allowed them access to my kitchen.  I figured since they are leaving in a year and a half for college, it was time for them to start learning to cook things on their own.

Hop started skinning & dicing the Red fish & Will started chopping the onion and making the roux.  I had to talk them both through the process, thankfully they caught on pretty fast.  In the picture to the left, Will (on the right) has started cooking the roux, and Hop (on the left) was dicing the fish.  I was proud of Will, he said the roux smelled like his Granna's Jambalaya.  I told him that he was so smart because when you make Jambalaya, you make a roux.  I think he was proud of himself.  Sweet Will!

Here is the finished product.  We decided to half the recipe because there were:  the two of them, Henry had one of his best buds, Josh, over that day, and then me.  It was just enough to feed the 5 of us.  There was about 1 serving left in the bowl.  It all went smoothly, but I have one HUGE complaint...those boys did not clean up my kitchen.  I don't mind you cooking, but you better clean up after yourself.  It's funny, I remember my mom saying the same thing to us growing up.

I pointed out several times what needed to be washed by hand & what needed to be rinsed and loaded into the dishwasher.  The trash from cooking needed to go into the garbage can & that garbage taken outside; counter tops needed to be washed off; and clean dishes they cooked with should have been put away.  Did any of this happen?  No it did not, and that leads to a very frustrated, very unhappy mommy.  I don't mind you using my kitchen, but you better leave it like you found it...and for some reason no one ever does.   So, I'm thinking about posting what I expect if you use my kitchen.

Momma's Rules for the Kitchen

1.  Yes, your momma lives here, but she does not like cleaning up your mess when you cook,
      CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF
2.  If you are unsure about what you are doing, ask questions first before you do anything.
3.  Have a wonderful time cooking.  Any other questions can be answered by reading rule #1.

Since football is over for the year, I think the big boys are going to plan a fun night that includes cooking in my kitchen & hanging outside around our fire pit.  I guess I better get the rules posted by Wednesday.  I'll choose to look the other way as they make a mess in my kitchen & I'll help them clean up after it's over...maybe.  ;)

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Today was a man day at the house.  Actually, almost everyday is a man-day:  Elizabeth and I are outnumbered 2 to 1.  And no, I don't count the dogs, they can't talk and don't have opposable thumbs. 

Hopson has taken the children fishing in Louisiana every year for the last 6 years or so.  They catch speckled trout and red fish.  (and a lot of it)  The funny thing is...my kids really only like their fish fried, and I don't like to fry things...it smells up my house and takes a long time to cook.

Hopson called one of the Louisiana guys, Mr. Greg, to get his Redfish Stew recipe they had while they were fishing last year.  I kinda turned my nose up at it....  I knew it was going to smell up my kitchen, I mean, my goodness, it has fish in it, and fish is smelly.

I'm glad my words tasted yummy in my bowl, because I ate them.  The stew was surprisingly delicious and not fishy at all.  The fish tasted more like chunks of meat in the stew, and not flaky pieces that fell apart in your mouth.  It was good, but getting to the finished product was a little more difficult than it should have been.  

While I helped chop up everything for the stew, Hopson was supposed to be making a dark brown roux.  I told him to stir it continually so the flour doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.  He 'didn't notice' the part of the recipe that said it needed to be dark brown, so he added all the veggies before the roux was ready & ended up with a huge sticky mess.  Have you ever tasted a dark brown roux vs. a light roux?  The light roux tastes like flour.  It's pretty nasty.  I tried to fix it, but we had to start over. 

The next go 'round I made the roux & he chopped all the veggies.  It was much better, and I happy to say successful.

I left all the men to do their guy bonding thing & I went to see the movie The Help with some friends.  Thanks Martha, Ginger & Mary Beth for a great outing.  Thank you ladies for letting me escape my house full of men it was very relaxing, and something I needed to do.

Enjoy the Redfish Stew!

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Dinner under 30?

30 what though?  Ingredients, dollars, minutes which one?  Minutes tonight for sure. 

I always joked that after I was done working at my little part-time job was when my real job started.  If I was to get paid for my mommy skills, I wonder how much I would make?  Some experts say around 130K, well that comes close to what I spend to fill up my gas tank and groceries.  (not really, but close)   Today was a day that I spent the better part of the day in and out of the car.  You know those days...when it sure would be easier to just pull through a drive through, but for us that's a no can do so, what to cook?

I had 2 pounds of farm raised catfish that we needed to eat & I'm thinking how in the world should I cook this stuff without frying or grilling, and what do I serve with it? You ever have nights like that? You know what you have to cook, but how to prepare it?  I get so sick of eating the same stuff over & over. 

Fish is not my family's favorite dinner, unless it's fried.  When I'm in a very generous mood I'll fry stuff, otherwise, no way hoseman.  I can feel the grease caking my face & it takes forever to cook & clean-up.  Sorry, rabbit trail.

Ok, this is not gourmet meal, but so far my younger two have scarfed it down, so here we go. The joys of eating in shifts.  Update:  the older ones are home and inhaled it, even the picky one!  Success and utter joy is mine!

I have posted the fish recipe on the following link:
http://wegottaeat.com/ashnance/recipes/lemon-dill-fish

Now onto the rest of the meal.... You're going to laugh, and my mom is going to roll over in her grave when I admit this.  My children love fake mashed potatoes.  You know the flakes you get in the box & heat water and margarine to boiling, add in the milk & flakes and salt & viola...you have mashed potatoes.  Not.  I can taste fake mashed potatoes from a mile away, but hey this is dinner under 30, so doctored fake mashed potatoes is what we had.  I'll include how I doctored them below.  I think they all liked this part of the meal the best.  Crazy kids.

The veggie was an oldie but goodie, pea casserole minus the Ritz crackers.  Most excellent when you need something in a hurry (and are out of frozen broccoli) and it needs to be green.

Well, all in all, I would say dinner was a success, and a very easy clean-up to boot.  I can now go to bed with a smile on my face knowing that just for today everyone was satisfied & I didn't have to coerce anyone into eating.  A good day indeed!

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Here's the fake mashed potato recipe I promised!  Remember I have big eaters so I used 6 servings of fake mashed potatoes even though Hopson only had a tasting & I didn't eat any...

Follow directions on the box to make the 'fake' mashed potatoes
Once potatoes are made:
Add DiGiorno grated Parmesan cheese.  Use 1 oz for every 2 servings of mashed potatoes you have.      (this was the only stuff I had on hand, but you can use fresh if you want)
dried Italian seasoning (I had publix brand in my spice cabinet, use generously)
2 pinches per 2 servings of Kosher Salt 
You will need to tasted the potatoes to make sure you have enough seasonings, so alter to your liking