Side dish or Entrée; You decide…

Cabbage smashabbage, a lot of people seem to not like cabbage. Me I love cabbage and I love to spice it up. So the great thing about this meal is that it’s inexpensive, tasty, fulfilling and it’s kind of healthy depending on what you use. More importantly it doesn’t take too long to make so whatever you have to do around our outside of the home you can still get done.
Most of the time I make my cabbage with andouille sausage because I like it spicy and I add shrimp, but on this occasion I made it with smoked turkey sausage, shrimp and onion and added Cajun seasoning to still get some spice. The reason I used turkey sausage this time because I’m currently fasting and trying to do away with eating pork and beef; so get back with me on that progress.
Now I know most people eat cabbage as a side dish so you’re more then welcome to use the same idea and make it as a side but with me, my cabbage was the entrée and I made a box of Jiffy cornbread so you get a sweet/salty-spicy mixture. Also after you’re done you don’t end up with that heavy full feeling that makes you want to go to sleep, just more of a satisfied feeling which is how we should eat anyway. So if this sparks your interest then this meal is for you!

What you’ll need
A head of cabbage
Turkey smoked sausage(or whatever meat you choose)
Shrimp
Sweet onion
Olive oil
Cajun seasoning, garlic salt, onion powder
Jiffy cornbread mix

Directions:
1. Thaw shrimp, and clean sausage
2. Pull tails off shrimp, then cut sausage
3. Cut and clean cabbage and strain, and cut and rinse onion
4. In a pot start add 2 drops of olive oil and add sausage
5. Once sausage starts to brown (slightly) then add shrimp and seasoning both the shrimp and sausage (can use your own seasoning)
6. Once shrimp is almost done and sausage is browning then add cabbage and seasoning the cabbage, then cover with a lid

7. As cabbage cooks down stir cabbage and add more seasoning if desired)
8. Keep stirring every 8 minutes until it cooks all the way and reaches desired texture
*you won’t have to add water, cabbage will make its own water*

P.S during this process make sure you’ve got your cornbread ready and in the oven (if you choose to make cornbread with it *Just follow directions on the box if you’re unaware how to make it* 🙂

Calling All Pizza Lovers

Who doesn’t love pizza? Well I know its people out there and that’s ok! But I love pizza; you can’t go wrong with cheese, dough and pepperoni. So a few nights ago I decided to make calzones and have my son join in on the fun. To my surprise it’s not easy to make a calzone in the sense I could not get the dough to stay close once it was folded, so it turned into a giant pizza pocket. Still good and it gave me time to bond with my son, he had fun cooking. The purpose of this meal was to kill two birds with one stone, bonding with my son and making dinner. This toddler stage has shown me that they constantly want to feel in control, they want to make their own decisions; which can sometimes cause a power struggle and a whirlwind of frustrations. Even making this dinner got a bit frustrating when my son couldn’t get a much topping as he wanted but we got through it and ever since then he wants to help “cook.” I cherish that because cooking is one way I connected with my mother, father, and grandmother, as a child I was always in the kitchen with them learning, watching and of course eating; even when I didn’t want to. Those are the memories that stuck with me, and these are the memories that I want to stick with my son, on top of the fact that I want him to grow up as a man that can make his own meals. A man that can cook for his wife/family and maybe even cook for me;) but in the meantime just having fun in the kitchen and letting him be independent.

So take some time with your kid(s) and make a pizza, mini pizzas, calzone, or pizza pocket, whatever gives you all some time to bond. It also gives them the opportunity to decide what topping they want and feeling some sort of accomplishment when they see they can make their own food; for once they will have full control. Now it definitely gets messy (and I can’t stand a messy kitchen) but I put that aside and just let him have fun.

For my pizza pocket I used:

Pillsbury pizza crust

Italian shredded cheese

Mild cheddar shredded cheese

Pepperoni

Banana peppers

Ham

Store bought pizza sauce

Italian seasoning

We added all the topping on one side and then folded the crust over, use a fork to close the edges, brushed a beaten egg over the top and eggs and sprinkled the top with melted butter and Italian seasoning. Bake on 375 until golden brown and enjoy!

Chicken Dinner

This item for dinner has to be as simple as it comes;  and the reason is, is because its baked chicken, it doesn’t involve much work just some great seasoning and time. Now I know it’s the summer and the last thing anyone want, is the oven on to make their home even hotter, but once you make some Italian Baked Chicken wings I promise it won’t matter what time of the year it is. All you need is some chicken wings or wing dings, Italian dressing; hot sauce (if desired) seasoned salt, garlic powder and pepper super SIMPLE right?

Steps:

Clean chicken wings, and then place in a large mixing bowl

Season chicken wings (can also use whatever seasoning you desire)

Sprinkle wings with hot sauce, then cover wings with Italian dressing and use your hands to mix them around

*if you use actual wings remember to fold the flapper wing back

Put wings in baking pan with 1 inch of water, cover and place in oven on 375 degrees

Let wings cook for 1 hour then flip wings on other side

After 45 mins add more Italian dressing on wings, make sure water is cooking down

Let wings cook for about 10-15 more mins then broil wings for no more than 5 mins to make skin crisp ** but watch it because they will burn**

And you’re done…. Add your sides and you have dinner 

Pulled Pork y’all!

 

Hey guys I have another crockpot recipe to share. Now to me the crockpot may be one of the best inventions since sliced bread. I never knew I would enjoy cooking with it as much as I do; so if you dine with swine then this one is for you…(that rhymed, cute!)
So here is what you’ll need …

A pork tenderloin
1 teaspoon Garlic powder
1 teaspoon of garlic salt (if you desire)
1 bottle of Sweet Baby Rays Hickory Smoke and Brown Sugar BBQ sauce or your preferred BBQ sauce
1 teaspoon of dry mustard or a squirt of yellow mustard if you don’t have dry mustard
3/4 cup of brown sugar
…look you don’t need many ingredients for this one! Here’s what I did with my pulled pork. Sprayed crockpot lightly with cooking spray… Then rubbed garlic powder, garlic salt and dry mustard on the tenderloin, and placed in crockpot.
Add brown sugar and barbecue sauce, I cooked on low for 8 hours because I was in and out my home running errands but if you’re home you can cook on high for 4-6 hours and stir once every hour.
Once done take a fork to pull apart, add desired sides and enjoy!! Easy Schmezy!

P.S. The great thing about this recipe is you can eat off of it for another day or two! So you’ll have more time to do other things besides being stuck in the kitchen cooking! 😉

So Here it is…

A glimpse into my life, motherhood and simply being full time working young woman whom is just trying to find her way in this world. I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way right?! Day in and out we wake up follow the same routine; whether its work or school or both. Prepare our kids for the day, come home to clean cook dinner and prepare our families for the next day. Exhausting!!! Some days it just feels as if it’s not enough time to tackle every task while still being a GOOD mother, spending time with your kids, doing activities with them so you are not just a stern mom, but a fun mom. Oh and if you have a partner make sure they are not neglected as well as your appearance. No woman wants to look in the mirror at her mom jeans and mom hair do. I know if I could snap my fingers or twitch my nose like Bewitched I would get a lot more things done and look amazing while I’m doing it. So since we don’t have magic to make it all better I’m hoping with my blogs I can uplift women like myself struggling in this world with the day to day tasks of being a full time working woman/mother. Now how do you suppose I do this? If I’m complaining about it not being enough time how will I find time to do this? Well I will find the time, I will make the time, and I will use this time to share what I do. My recipes/ quick affordable cooking tips, my affordable fashion tips, how I’m trying to start my career, and the things I have learned thus far with being a parent of a toddler. I’m just here to learn to make life simple and beautiful and if you want the same we can learn together…