Cajun-Style Grilled Foil Packets

You can’t go wrong with foil packets. They are a complete meal in one package.

These are especially tasty.

Black Beans with Rice

This is a truly delicious way to make use of the last bit of a bone in ham.

The ham bone create a wonderfully flavored broth. The beans make it thick and hearty.

Mexican Pizza

Mexican Pizza it one of the quickest, easiest dinners that can be had. The whole family loves them.

This is a great faux version of the Taco Bell version of Mexican Pizza.

Crock pot Bacon Cheese Potatoes

I was a bit dubious of this dish when I  first saw it.

Actually it turned out to be great. Should have know it has bacon in it. 🙂

Apple and Poppy Seed Coleslaw

Who doesn’t like Coleslaw.

It is a great summer food. The ideal food for a hot summer day.

It is a great match for BBQ.

Court Bouillon – Poaching liquid

Recently I was looking for different methods of using leftover vegetables, herbs and such when I stumbled across this recipe by Alton Brown.

We haven’t tried this yet. In fact I don’t think we have ever poached anything other than an egg. But this looks like a very interesting way to infuse great flavor without adding calories. It also looks to be  a fantastic and frugal use of leftover veggies 🙂 and is even reusable. In fact, I found when reading about it that reusing the court-bouillon only intensifies the flavor.

What an intriguing idea.

Have any of you used anything like this before? If so, with what, if you don’t mind sharing?

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Ham and Zucchini Frittata

Frittata’s are so delicious and versatile.

They are a great way to utilize leftovers. This one uses leftover ham and zucchini from earlier in the week.

Vegetable Stock – Budget Friendly

It seems like every time we go grocery shopping we have to toss out a few leftover vegetables that have started to go limp after two weeks in the fridge. Not much, just a few stalks of celery, a handful of baby carrots. Maybe a little parsley.

It also seems like an awful waste to toss our those vegetables. What could we do with them? Well we often have a need to buy stock for various dishes especially soups. So it seems like there might be a great opportunity here.

Why not make vegetable stock from them? In fact, the more I investigated the idea the more frugal and practical it seems. Because even the trimmings from vegetables used during the week can be used. The stems of various herbs, the root end of an onion and other trimmings from an onion, etc. can all be put into baggies and frozen until enough accumulates to make stock.

The options seem endless.  One recommendation I did see, though, is to be careful to keep the flavor of the stock fairly neutral flavor. As some recipes may not combine well with a strongly spiced stock. For instance, you may not want a lot of garlic in a stock you might want to use in soup. However, another dish might benefit from such a stock. Well it is easy enough to add it, but you can’t take it away once it is there.

So below is a simple neutral recipe:

Baked Ham with Cherry-Pineapple Glaze

We love ham…..who doesn’t

This glazed ham is so delicious you want to eat the whole thing all at once. But don’t. You won’t be able to move.

One of the great things about ham is really the left overs. They make lunches and dinners later in the week worth the wait.

Basil Cherry Tomatoes

This is the last of the sides our friends brought over for a dinner on the 4th.

I love cherry tomatoes. Especially if they are as sweet and juicy as these were.

Who would believe such a simple recipe could taste so good.