Leftovers in a pot :)

This past weekend I made a beef roast with the fixin's, potatoes/carrots/gravy/rice, etc. Anyway, I did not have any roast left but I did have about 2 cups of carrots and potatoes, left over Lima beans, about 1 cup of the gravy, some English peas from the night before's meatloaf supper...soooooo..what to do?

I browned 1 lb of ground beef, drained. In a large pot, to the beef mixture I added the 2 cups of diced leftover potatoes and carrots, Lima beans, English peas, and gravy. To the pot I also added 1 can of cream style corn. I found a package of McCormick country gravy mix. I mixed the gravy mix with 2 cups of water and added that to the pot. Along with about 1 more cup of water. Seasoned with some Tony's, salt, pepper, minced onion, a pinch each of thyme and rosemary. Cook for about 20-30 minutes. DONE! I served it with corn bread. It turned out really, really good! So, if you have left over Roast but no Roast, LOL! Here you go! The red stuff, hot sauce :) Hello, I do live in Louisiana!

Oven "fried" chicken (low fat)

• 6-10 chicken tenders
• 3 cups of crushed corn flakes
• 2 Tbsp of Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup of fat free Italian dressing
• lemon pepper & Tony's

I usually put the corn flakes in the food processor until fine. In a small bowl, mix the mustard and Italian dressing together. Set aside. Meanwhile, season the chicken with lemon pepper and Tony's. Dip the chicken in the dressing mixture, then in the corn flake mixture and transfer to a foil lined cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. DONE! Super easy, fast, and yummy! I served this with a salad and navy beans.

Chocolate Peach Cobbler

• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 SR flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 1 Tbsp of cocoa powder
• 1 small can of diced peaches in heavy syrup

Chocolate Layer (top)

• 1 cup of sugar
• 6 Tbsp of cocoa powder
• 2 cup of boiling water

Preheat oven to 350. In a 9x13 glass baking dish, melt the two sticks of butter in the oven.
Meanwhile in a bowl, mix together the 1 1/4 cups of sugar, flour, vanilla, 1 Tbsp of cocoa, peaches/juice, and milk. Once the butter is melted pour the batter over the butter, but DO NOT STIR.
In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa and remaining sugar together and sprinkle over the top of the batter. DO NOT STIR.
Pour the 2 cups of boiling water on the top of the cocoa powder layer, again, DO NOT STIR, bake for 30-35 minutes until golden. Serve warm with ice cream or Redi-whip.

Dijon Mustard Meatloaf with Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

        Meatloaf:

• 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef
• 3 tbsp of Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp of ketchup
• 1 egg
• 2 toasted slices of white bread, torn/chopped
• 2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp of chopped onion
• 1 tbsp of dried parsley
• 1 tbsp of minced/dried onion
• lemon pepper, Tony's, salt/pepper, about 1 tsp each
• additional ketchup for the top, about 1/4 cup

In a large bowl, mix the above ingredients and transfer to a Pyrex dish. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. I would drain off the grease every 15-30 minutes. Let is set at room temp for about 10 minutes.

       Potatoes:

• 4-6 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 pinches of rosemary
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp of minced/dried onion
• 1 tsp each of lemon pepper and Tony's
• salt/pepper
• 1 medium sweet vidalia onion cut into quarters

In a large bowl, mix the above ingredients and bake at 350-375 for 1 hour, turning the potatoes every 15-20 minutes until golden.

Grandma's Tomato Gravy

• about 15-20 medium peeled and chopped FRESH summer tomatoes
• 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of oil (do not use olive oil)
• 1-2 cups of reserved tomato juice
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 2 tbsp of sugar
• salt, pepper, and Tony's

Once you have peeled and chopped the tomatoes, add them to a hot large skillet with the chopped onion. This will make a large amount of gravy. Cook the tomatoes on medium high heat. I make sure to smash the tomatoes with a tater masher to make sure there are no lumps of tomato. At this point, I reserve about a cup or two of the tomato liquid. Then continue to cook until almost all of the liquid has dissolved.

Once you have it at this point, remove the tomatoes from the skillet to a bowl. Add your oil and flour and make a roux. When is resembles a "peanut butter" color, add your chicken stock, sugar, reserved tomato juice, and the tomatoes back to the skillet. I usually add more salt and pepper to taste. If it starts to get too thick, add more chicken stock or water.

Serve over rice, biscuits, noodles, etc. You can also add fresh basil, oregano, chopped onion and garlic to make a nice marinara :)  You can substitute canned tomatoes but I would only use canned WHOLE tomatoes.

Fried buttermilk chicken with the fixins

• 8-10 cups of buttermilk
• 6 legs and 6 thighs or 1 whole chicken
• Seasoning: Tony's, lemon pepper, garlic/onion powder, salt/pepper
• 3 cups of AP flour
• peanut oil for frying

In a large Tupperware bowl, add the buttermilk and chicken. Let this set in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, drain your chicken on paper towels. Generously season both sides of the chicken. Add the same seasoning to the flour in a large bowl/pan. Roll the seasoned chicken in the seasoned flour, coating all sides. Set the floured chicken in a pan for about 30 minutes. Add your oil to a large skillet or electric skillet and fry until the juices run clear. I used an electric skillet, kept it between 300-325. Do not crowd the skillet. Make sure to turn the chicken every 10-12 minutes to keep it nice and golden.

I also made purple hull peas, mashed taters, honey cornbread, and white pepper gravy.

Mud Bars

• 1/3 cup butter
• 5 oz block baking chocolate
• 1 cup of Bisquick mix
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup marshmallows, mini
• 1 tbsp butter (frosting)
• 3/4 cup of sour cream
• 1 1/3 cup of powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350. Grease & flour 9 inch square pan.
In a small microwaveable bowl, melt 1/3 cup of butter and 2 1/2 oz of the chocolate on medium high in the microwave until melted. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, add the Bisquick, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and melted chocolate. Blend with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds, then beat on medium for 1 minute. Do not over beat. Spread batter into the greased pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Immediately add the marshmallows to the top and broil in the oven until golden. Cool for about an hour.

Frosting: In an microwaveable bowl, melt the remaining 2 1/2 oz of chocolate with 1 tbsp of butter. Cool to warm stage. Stir in sour cream and powdered sugar, beat until smooth. Spread over the marshmallows and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Cut into bars.