The Crazee Chick's View of Life

 Look what the brats kids whipped up for breakfast the other morning--homemade crepes with real whipped cream and fresh fruit!  Don't they look fattening decadent? While I applaud their initiative, I find it mean ironic that they never made these for breakfast before I was told I was allergic to wheat, dairy and fresh fruit.  Yes, I sadly munched on my hypoallergenic rice cakes with tahini and raspberry jam while they gorged indulged enjoyed every lovin' mouthful.  But it's okay, I'm not upset because these sadistic creative children of mine continue to torture amaze me everyday with their natural talents. Just look at this one my darling daughter stuffing her ever loving piehole enjoying this friggin' wonderful crepe.  Enjoy baby...may it all land on your hips you and your siblings develop food allergies continue to be creative and passionate about all things culinary.

A couple of years ago I went out for dinner at a trendy, beachside restaurant where I had THE most delicious chicken dish.  The combination of curry, cream, butternut squash, and other veggies which my aging mind fails to recall, were delightful.   I have tried to recreate it using ingredients that are simple and quick. Here is the recipe.  You can add any vegetable you want (cooked butternut squash is super yummy!) and I think I've even added roasted cashews before.  You can serve it over rice--sticky, Japanese sushi rice is my favorite but you can also use basmati with a little bit of tumeric and butter stirred in--or you can serve it over pasta--fettucini or linguini.  Use your imagination and give it a whirl.  Let me know how it turns out!! Chicken with Curry Sour Cream Sauce: 2 tbsp vegetable oil 2 tbsp butter 4 chicken breast halves (2.5 lbs each) 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup onion 1/4 cup water 2 tsp curry powder 1/8 tsp ground ginger 1/8 tsp g...

Over the Christmas holidays, the kids and I made cinnamon buns (and, yes, I AM talking about Christmas in January. I'm a little behind)and they were so yummy and extremely low fat. (NOT!) After the dough had risen for over 24 hours, we took it out and flattened it. The kids got a little carried away with this and began smacking that little ball of dough with all the gumption they could muster.... After awhile of smacking that dough, it smacked back and some little hands felt the pain... We rolled that poor dough out into a rectangle and began to work our magic on it.  First we added some butter... Can't you just FEEL your arteries hardening?  Of course, no cinnamon bun is complete without an extra heaping helping of brown sugar, so we added that next. Mmmm...looking good.  Just about read to roll.... Sliced and diced and awaiting a warm oven.  At the top you'll see a Christmas tree formation?  Yeah, that sooo didn't work.  Those cin...

Not sure what's gotten into me.   Usually I only go through my kitchen to get to the living room but lately I've set up shop in there and have been busy COOKING!  and BAKING!  Not sure what's going on here but my family (and some of my friends) are really happy that I am. Tonight I created my own little dinner and it was QUICK and YUMMY!  I thought I'd share it with you.   It's called.... Pasta with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Chicken (mmmm...isn't your mouth already watering?) 1/2 onion 3 tsp crushed garlic or 3-4 garlic cloves (mashed) olive oil sun dried tomatoes (packed in oil with herbs) 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (chili peppers) 2 tsp basil 1/2 tsp pepper chicken (cubed/sliced and precooked) salt to taste Spicy Herbamare (seasoning found in health food stores/specialty stores/Whole Foods/butcher shop)   grated parmesan cheese (the REAL stuff; not the stuff in the green jar!) pasta of your choice (farfalle, penne, that spirally st...

Okay, out of fear of being throttled I'm posting the recipe for lemon shortbread cookies.  Please, stop drooling around my front door and salivating every time I walk passed you.  I know I'm delicious but I'm not edible ( said with tongue firmly implanted in cheek )... but these are... Lemon Shortbread Cookies  (remember to dip them in chocolate! or sprinkle them with icing sugar! or drizzle with a lemon glaze!) (oops, I drooled just a bit there...) 1 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 3 tsp zest of lemon 2 cups sifted flour  (sift first, then measure) 1 tsp vanilla 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp salt Preheat oven to 325 degrees In large bowl, cream butter and sugar with electric mixer Scrape sides of the bowl Add lemon juice, zest and flour and mix  thoroughly on low speed Roll dough out onto a flat, lightly floured surface and cut into rounds (if you have one of those fancy 'ruffled' edge cookie cu...

Too tired to tax my brain with anything remotely intelligent or witty so instead I'm just going to cut and paste one of my favorite 'comfort-food' recipes. This is so quick and easy...and yummy...so it's perfect during these upcoming busy, hectic, crazee Christmas season days. It also sticks to your ribs so it's awesome after a day of skating or skiing with the family. Enjoy. Beef Dairy Casserole: 1 lb ground beef 1 ¼ cup milk 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened 10oz can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 ½ cup kernel corn 2 cups uncooked macaroni 1 ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp pepper Cook beef in frying pan and drain off any fat. Cook noodles in separate pot of water. Combine milk with cream cheese in 2 quart casserole dish. Mash together with fork Add soup, corn, cooked noodles, meat, salt and pepper to the milk and cheese mixture in casserole dish. Stir to distribute all the ingredients together. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

And apparently I say a whole bunch of other words wrong-ish-ly . For example: pecans Do you say... pee-KHANZ pee-CANS or PEEK-ins? How about the word: votive? Do you say.... VO-tiv or vo-TEEV? If you, like me, say pee-KHANZ and vo-TEEV, you will be the entertainment of any dinner party you are attending in which you have the opportunity to use these words. A little caution though...don't say them both within 5 minutes of one another or your friends will be giggling so hard that pee-KHAN covered yam casserole will come out of their noses. If you are so inclined to walk over to your friend's beautiful hurricane-ish lamp and check to see the candle inside, be careful not to call the little stump of wax a vo-TEEV as your strange pronunciation will cause them to guffaw so loudly that the expulsion of air from their lungs will extinguish the candle and you all will be plunged into darkness. Consider the implications of this hazardous language--food wi...

Last week I mentioned that we brought Chili Mac to Hubby at work and I've had all kinds of inquries about it, so today my recipe is: Chili Macaroni 1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni (add another cup if you like more pasta than chili) 1 pound lean ground beef 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup) 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained. 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained 1 can (6 oz) tomateo paste 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce 1 can Heinz baked beans liberal amount of Worchestershire sauce (once around the pan) liberal amount of Ketchup 1 tablespoon chili powder 1 tsp ground cumin (I never add this because it tastes like body odor to me. Ick!) 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 1. cook macaroni as directed on package (leave it a little undercooked) 2. While mac is cooking ,cook beef, onion and garlic in 4-quart saucepan or Dutch oven over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is cooked. Drain 3. Drain macaroni. Stir macaroni...

I grew up on the most wonderful bran muffins, and although I haven't been able to procure the recipe from my parents yet, this one comes suprisingly close. Yummy... Bran Muffins 2 cups natural bran 2 cups boiling water 2 cups raisins 2 cups boiling water 3 scant cups white sugar 1 cup cooking oil (I used olive oil...it's a better fat...and it didn't add any weird taste) 4 eggs, beaten 2 cups buttermilk or sour milk 5 cups flour 5 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1/4 cup dark molasses Soak natural bran in 2 cups boiling water. Soak raisins in 2 cups boiling water until puffy. Drain off excess water from raisins, but not off of the bran. Mix ingredients together. Add bran and raisins last. Bake at 350*F for 30-35 minutes (I do 20 minutes...) Fits perfectly in an ice cream pail. Keep covered in refrigerator. Keeps up to 6 weeks and makes about 6 dozen muffins (no it doesn't, I only get about 3 dozen) Don't bake on the same day as mixed and don't mix after putting in re...

These chewy cookies are packed with flavor. Yummy! 3/4 cup butter 1 cup white sugar 1/4 cup light molasses (I have also used dark and it just intensifies the flavor) 1 large egg 2 cups flour 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cloves 1 tsp ginger 1 tsp cinnamon Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and molasses; beat well. Add rest of the ingredients; mix together. Roll into small balls. Dip into sugar Place 2 inches apart on non stick pan/greased/parchment paper covered cookie sheet Bake at 375*F for 8 minutes.