How to Peel Garlic

I tested this method out and LOVE it!

How to peel garlic!

White Chili

One word to sum it up...

YUM!

This is the best chili known to man...

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 cans (15-1/2 ounces each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
• 2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

• In a large saucepan, saute the chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add the beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
• Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and cream. Yield: 7 servings.

No go on the cookies

So I did not like the Pumpkin cookies I made. My mom has a WAY better recipe!!

Pre heat oven to *350

2 Cup Flour
1 Cup Oatmeal
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Cup Pumpkin
1 Cup Chocolate Chips

Combine
Flour
Oatmeal
Baking Soda
Cinnamon
Salt

Cream with beater
Butter
Gradually at sugarS beating until light a fluffy
Add Egg and Vanilla

Alternate dry ingredients and pumpkin (Add to Cream mixture)
Flour and Pumpkin mix well after each addition

Stir in Chocolate Chips

Drop cookies  on sheet and cook for 10-12 minutes!

And YUMMMMM......

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fall makes me do crazy things!! It is 8:30 a.m. and I am running to the store right now to buy my ingredients for these cookies. 

1/2 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped nuts(walnuts or pecans)
1 cup chocolate chips
3 cup loves


Cream margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, pumpkin, and vanilla. Mix and sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture; mix well. Add chopped nuts & chocolate chips & loves; mix thoroughly. Drop by teaspoons onto well-greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheets while warm and cool on racks. Makes 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies. This recipe can be doubled.

I don't like nuts  so I left them out!

The Best Pizza EVER!!!

So I was given this yummy pizza dough recipe by my super mom friend at work. This is THE BEST and THE FASTEST pizza ever. No waiting for the dough to rise you just mix, kneed, and cook. To make this pizza from start to finish is 30 minutes.

Set your oven to 450*2 cups of warm water

4 1/2 Teaspoons of Active Yeast

2 Tablespoons of Flour

Mix all together

Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of Flour on top

Let mixture sit while you mix the following...

5 Cups of Flour

and 1 Tablespoon of Salt in a good size mixing bowl

Pour the Active Yeast mixture to the Flour and Salt

Stir

Kneed

I like to sprinkle Flax Seed on my stone, it add a nice nutty taste

Take half of the dough mixture

Roll out (I don't have a roller so I used a vase! hehehe)

Poke with a fork

Brush with Olive Oil

Then put your own toppings!!! I used Allison's BBQ recipe for the following...

3 Tablespoons BBQ Sauce and 3 Tablespoons Ranch, mix

Spread

And top with Rotisserie Chicken (Costo has the BEST!), Red Onions, Tomatoes, Green Onions

Mozzarella Cheese (Use how ever much you like)
Put in the oven for 20 minutes

This sucker was like 2 1/2 inches thick!!!

I made this yummy salad while the pizza was cooking

And the food critic's reaction...

After eating this pizza we will NEVER order out again! Why order a pizza that takes a half an hour to get home and eat anyway when you can make a better one at home for half the price!
This will go down on the Wilcox's hall of fame, for the kitchen that is!

Cereal Annonymous

Hi, my name is Miranda Wilcox and I am a cerealaholic. I have been clean for about one week!
As some of you guys know I have been addicted to cereal for about 10 years.
It all started when I was in 10th grade, I would come home from school so hungry, so the fasted and yummiest thing to me was just one bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats. It started with just ONE bowl!!!!!!
But when I got married, Steven and I were hooked!! We are not big cookers so we would have Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast, Life for lunch, and Frosted Mini Wheat's for Dinner. Years down the road we realized we were HUNGRY for healthy food!!
Our journey began one night when I snuck a bowl into our bedroom to scarfed it down like a mad women. Steven put his foot down and said, "We can't live like this anymore Miranda!!!" So I sadly put down the spoon and said, "Okay, lets call my mother."
My mother came over a couple weeks ago and opened our eyes to the many variety of foods that are out there!!! Now we are enjoying nice warm healthy meals that we can make on our own!! I am so grateful for my mother she is the best!!

Valentines Day in Guatemala

During Christmas time Steven started talking about the tamales he had is Guatemala, so I mentally took note of it and stored it in my things to remember part of my brain. As Valentines Day rolled closer I wanted to make these Guatemalan tamales that he loved so much! I went on-line one day and searched for a recipe, and I came across this one that looked pretty authentic. I studied it for a good week to make sure I knew all the ingredients and techniques. Friday afternoon I headed to a Mexican supermarket to find all my ingredients. I was definitely in another country when I walked in there. Most of the workers did not speak english, so luckily I had my recipe with me. I would point to the ingredient and they would take me to it! When I got home that night I started cooking all the sauces so I did not have do it on Valentines Day. It took me 4 hours just to prepare the sauces and the chicken that goes inside the tamales! After work on Valentines Day I thought I would just have to throw it all together! NOOOOO I ended up using every pot and pan I had and using ALL my burners took finnish cooking PART of it!

    This is the banana leaf I had to rap it in! They gave me a whole tree!!! 

I pulled out the last ingredient and I realized I have been in the kitchen for 4 1/2 hours! My feet were hurting, my noes lost most of it's smell, and I could not keep going! Being pregnant did not help much either! I still get nauseated now and again, but this Achiote sauce did a number on me!  I had to spill my beans to Steven and tell him what I was making. He was SO excited and he helped me with the most fun part! Putting the tamales together! After the tamales were all put together they had to be steamed for an hour and half!

 So in total it took about 8 1/2 hours to make! They turned out really good of course, but definitely was NOT worth all the work! I give major props to those Guatemalan women who cook these all the time on their dirt floors with only one table and a few pots!

 After dinner Steven conked out on the couch with the kittens (forgot to mention we got two new kitties! Maiden rain away, RIP).

Steven got me these beautiful flowers! I know flowers are so obvious to get a valentine but I LOVE red roses, so I was ecstatic! But as you can see in the picture he has yet to take the trash out for me! Hehe 

My first masterpiece

I woke up Sunday morning and gathered my ingredients to make my first every puree breakfast. Yes, I made pancakes! Not like just any you have made or eaten before. Can you guess what puree is in them?........... I'll give you a clue.... It rhymes with potato. Hehehe it is sweet potato and a little dash of cinnamon. They were the best pancakes I have ever had! The syrup was organic maple and pureed strawberries. If you would like to try them just ask me for the recipe. 

Next, my second creation was a learning one. They are called pita pocket pizza. Steven was not too thrilled about it just because the spinach puree needed to be a dot but I decided to put a spoon full. They were actually really good. I do like spinach but if you put the right amount on the pita you can not taste it or even see it. As you can see, you can see the spinach just by looking at it. 

I cooked!! Well kinda...

I did get a cook book called Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. The book cover was way cute so I thought I would try it. I was totally judging a book by its cover but this time I was right. This book is so cool. Me and Steven dont eat the best we can, we leave out a lot of veggies and fruits that are important. This will help us to eat everything. Jessica purees her veggies and fruits and puts them into here recipes and tricks her kids into eating them. I know its weird but I think its cool. After I went to Trader Joes, I spent all day pureeing every thing. I got to the point were I know I did too much. It is so much fun to watch the food turn into baby food. I did end up getting some butternut squash (summer squash was not in season) and I think I found my favorite veggie. I could eat it right out of the oven. I pureed cantaloupe, butternut squash, sweet potato, cauliflower, zucchini, strawberry, yellow squash. Can you tell which one is which? There are multiple bags for one veggie and fruit.  So now that I finished my purees I have to start cooking with them. When I make my first dish I will let you know if it tastes good or not.

Finally

I finally have a day off. It has been two weeks since I had a day to myself ! I am so excited and I don't know what to do with myself. For the past two weeks I would have dreams about gymnastics and I would wake up in a panic because my body knows I need a day off it.

 Last night I had a dream that I went to the grocery store and bought a whole bunch of summer squash, weird hu? I woke up this morning just wanting to cook. If you know me well enough I AM NOT A COOKER but, I do make a mean bowl of frosted mini wheats. 

                                             

I am going to get a cook book and cook all day long! Just kidding... Maybe I will make a cake...for what? Okay maybe not a cake maybe....cinnamon rolls.....or I could make dinner for the next week so I wont come home hungry from work....that sounds good.  I am going to Trader Joes and for filling my dream and pick up some summer squash hehehe. Is summer squash even in season?

                                

Maybe I can be the next Martha Stuart! What what the heck did I just say?... I did go  a little too far with that comment. Maybe deep down inside of me I just want to stay home and not have to work at all and just take care of my family. That sounds great. I made up my mind, I AM QUITTING MY JOB. Just for today then I will rehire myself tomorrow morning at 8:30am. 

Trader Joes here I come!!!