Sunday Soul Food

It's been a while since we've had a good down home, Southern style meal. So, there's no better time to prepare such a meal than on a cozy, Sunday afternoon! Therefore the inspiration for today's meal, braised collard greens, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato yams, and fried chicken.

Everything was yummy and I was very impressed by the braised collards. I've never prepared them that way before, but it turned out to be very tasty and much less time consuming. Here's the recipe.

Braised Collard Greens



Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds collard greens, washed, trimmed, and roughly chopped
4 ounces bacon, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup minced sweet onions
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. When water boils, add greens and cook until wilted and tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Place bacon in a large frying pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and fat is rendered, about 3 minutes.
3. Add onion and cook until softened, about 4 minutes.
4. Add greens and turn to coat well.
5. Add broth - it should cover greens and let cook until broth is reduced and greens are very tender, about 15 minutes.
6. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve.

The Need for Speed!

Tonight's dinner was all about ease and speed! So, with that in mind, the menu was hamburger steak with onion gravy, buttered rice, and stemmed broccoli.

Hamburger Steak with Onion Gravy



Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef broth
salt, pepper, onion powder to taste

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. Form into 4 balls, and flatten into patties.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry the patties in the oil until patties are nicely browned, about 4 minutes per side. Remove the beef patties to a plate, and keep warm.
3. Saute the onions in the remaining oil until they reach a translucent color.
4. Sprinkle flour over the onions and drippings in the skillet. Stir in flour with a fork, scraping bits of beef off of the bottom as you stir.
5. Gradually mix in the beef broth. Season with salt. Simmer and stir over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until the gravy thickens.
6. Turn heat to low, return patties to the gravy, cover, and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Long Time, No Update!

Wow, I have really neglected updating this blog! I feel so bad because there really is no excuse, but the fact of the matter is, I just haven't been doing as much cooking. =(

With it just being the two of us and with the hubby not having much of an appetite a lot of the time, I just don't have the motivation to cook for just me. Thus the reason for such a long break in updates.

So, this is just an update post on the last few dishes I've made. I'll have to update this post with the recipes a little later, so check back soon!

Pork Chops, Fettuccine Alfredo, and Sweet Potato Yams



Meatloaf, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Sweet Peas




Beef Tips and Gravy over Rice

Chicken Parmesan Remixed

I started dinner tonight with the intention of making Chicken Parmesan...

BUT, this is what I ended up with...



It was quite delicioso! I love Italian food!

Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

Ingredients
3 bonless skinless chicken breasts
olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan, about 1/4 inch)
1/2 cup flour
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup French-fried onions
1 egg, beaten
1 pkg. fettuccine pasta
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 ounce tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup broccoli florets
parmesan cheese to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Flatten chicken breasts and season.
2. Heat olive oil in pan.
3. Place flour, egg, and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls.
4. Coat chicken breasts in flour, then in egg, and then in bread crumbs.
5. Place chicken breasts in pan and heat on both sides until golden brown (about 3-4 minutes on each side).
6. Remove chicken and set aside and let it rest.
7. Heat water until boiling.
8. Boil fettuccine noodles until almost done and drain.
9. Return noodles to pot and add cream, butter, tomato sauce, broccoli, and garlic. Stir until well blended.
10. Simmer until noodles are done and remove from heat.
11. Cut chicken breast into small strips and add to noodle mixture.
12. Season with salt and pepper to taste and sprinke with parmesan cheese before serving.

Meat and Potatoes

Today's Sunday dinner was inspired by my hubby's love for meat and potatoes. So with that in mind, I prepared cubed steak with mushroom gravy, creamy mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli.

Friday Italiano

I got a text from the hubby during work on Friday requesting that I make my spaghetti for dinner. Of course I was beyond flattered because he hardly ever makes special requests like that because of his lack of appetite these days. It's been a while since I prepared it, so I decided to change it up just a little and add in sauteed mushrooms. It was my first time cooking fresh mushrooms, so I was quite pleased with myself for trying something new. Oh, and the hubby enjoyed it, so all was good. :)

Eat All Your Veggies!

So in my attempt to get the hubby to eat more veggies, I decided to cook squash AND a veggie casserole for last week's Sunday dinner. So we ended up having cabbage, squash, veggie casserole, and fried pork chops. I'm so glad they both were a big hit. I'll have to keep this combo coming so he keeps getting his needed veggie nutrition!

So for those of you who aren't big veggie fans, but love a creamy, cheesy casserole, you may want to give this veggie casserole a try. It's quite yummy!

Simple Vegetable Casserole



Ingredients

1 bag of mixed veggies (I use brocoli, cauliflower, carrots, and peas)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 bag of shredded cheese
5 to 10 ritz crackers (for topping)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Stem veggies in pan just until slightly tender.
3. Drain veggies.
4. Combine hot veggies and cream of mushroom soup in a casserole dish until well blended.
5. Top with shredded cheese until fully covered.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
7. Remove and top with Ritz crackers (either whole or crumbled).