JJ Watt

My daughter woke up at the crack of dawn and went with her friend to the Houston Texans training camp.  She has been wanting to meet JJ Watt for just short of forever.  She's determined to marry him.  When you go to the training camp, some of the players will come out and autograph items for you.  Last year she went and was disappointed that she didn't get to JJ Watt.  This year she did.  Here he is autographing her friend's item.  He signed her football right after the picture was taken.

 

 

All she could manage to say was "Thanks" so we aren't sending out the wedding invitations just yet.  Still, she had a great time and was super excited! :)

Honey Vanilla Poached Pears

I always thought poached pears sounded like such a grown up dessert.  Probably because most of the recipes I have seen have included red wine.  The presentation is always elegant.  It is a dish that I have wanted to try for a while and yay, I finally have.  I skipped the wine bit though.  My husband and I tried to get into the whole wine thing, but alas, we never could seem to develop the taste for it.  What can I say, I'm simply not a 'fermented' kind of girl.  The smell of wine and beer...yuck.  So I passed over the wine for honey and vanilla...much better!

 

 

Honey Vanilla Poached Pears

 

6 to 7 pears

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 cups water

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon freeze dried ginger

walnuts for garnish

French vanilla or vanilla bean ice cream

 

Combine all of the ingredients, except for the pears, in a large pot.  Give it a good stir and bring to a boil.  Reduce to simmer and cover.  Peel the pears, slice in halves (leaving the stem for a nice rustic look), and scoop out the core.  Place pears in liquid, try and submerge if possible.  Cover and cook for 30 minutes or until tender.  Stir occasionally.  Pears will be very soft when done.  They should be very easily pierced with a fork.  Remove pears to a plate and bring juice to a boil.  Boil the liquid until it reduces to a nice syrup consistency.  Strain ginger bits. 

 

Place two pear halves into a bowl, drizzle on the honey syrup, sprinkle with fresh walnuts and a scoop or two of French vanilla ice cream.  So delicious!

 

This dessert got some great reviews from the family!  I just wish I would have left my pears in a bit longer.  Other than that it was elegant and charming, just what I thought poached pears would be like!

Aches and Pains

When I was a teenager my mother was in a car accident that left her with a broken back.  After three back surgeries and one neck surgery she was never quite the same.  Years later, we would roll our eyes every time she complained about her back.  Now, I am older and after a car accident years ago, my back has never been the same.  I used to have a back ache at night.  That is how I knew when it was time to wake up.  Earlier this week something felt different.  It feels like the vertebra in my lower back are being compressed.  I told my husband that I would just love to be placed on one of those medieval racks and be stretched.  Moral of today's story - don't make fun of your mother...it will come back to get you as you get older...

Sorry, Mom.

Pot Roast with Carrots and Mushrooms

Photo by my children...

I was trying to strain the juice for the gravy before everything got cold.

 

 

Super easy, super delicious slow cooker pot roast!  Delicious flavors, savory sauce and tender baby carrots.  One of the best roast recipes!

 

1 pound baby carrots

1 1/2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms

3 pound beef roast (rump or bottom round)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1  12 ounce jar beef gravy

1  10 ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

1 cup water

1 envelope onion soup mix

 

Place baby carrots on the bottom of the crockpot.  Sprinkle roast with garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet.  Brown the roast on all sides.  Set aside.  Sautee the mushrooms in the vegetable oil.  Drain and place in crockpot with carrots.  Place roast on top of the carrots and mushrooms.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the gravy, mushroom soup, water and onion soup mix.  Pour mixture over the roast.  Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until the meat is tender.  Remove the roast and vegetables from the crockpot.  Strain the gravy/juice to remove bits.  Pour juice into serving container to pour over roast. 

Delicious Baked Beans!

Now my Mom claims to make the best baked beans and they are scrumptious, but she 'jokingly' says she will take her recipe to the grave.  Well, this is not her recipe - but they are soooo good!

 

 

Not overly sweet or too molasses-y.  Delicious maple bacon flavor!  Yum.

 

Baked Beans

 

4 cans Great Northern Beans, drained

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 Tablespoon (heaping) mustard

1/2 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 pound maple bacon, cooked (but not overly done) and torn into small pieces

 

Combine all of the above ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.

 

Pure baked bean paradise!

KFC Coleslaw

I was looking for the perfect coleslaw recipe, which for me would taste something like the stuff you get from Kentucky Fried Chicken.  I'm sure by many foodie standards KFC coleslaw would not qualify as the best, but I think it is totally delicious.  An internet search brought several great recipes and they all were pretty much the same.  Some added a fourth of a cup of milk, but that seemed like it would be too liquidy for me.  This one turned out pretty darn good, I must say.  My husband thought it was a bit heavy on the vinegar and my mom told me to add celery seed (I didn't bother to tell her it already had celery seed in it, sometimes you just have to let your mom give your cooking 'constructive' feedback because that is just what she does).  I think I would just toss the slaw mix into a food processor and get those perfect tiny bits of cabbage and carrots that make you forget that you are eating vegetables.  :)

 

 

KFC Style Coleslaw

 

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar (some recipes used plain white vinegar)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

16 ounce bag of already chopped coleslaw mix from the produce section

 

 

Whisk together all of the ingredients except for the slaw mix.

Toss in the bag of slaw mix and mix until well combined. 

Chill at least three hours prior to serving.

 

I made my batch in the morning when I put my pork in the crockpot for pulled pork sandwiches.  Excellent side for some summer BBQ!

Crockpot Spicy Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

This was soooo good.  I have had this pinned from The Pioneer Woman, but it is summer and this is Texas and I am not about to have my oven on for more than 30 minutes.  So this recipe went into the crockpot.

And came out divine.

Just look at how delicious it looks by itself - all shredded and juicy.  Now that's some good eatin'.

Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork

Pork shoulder (5 to 7 pounds)
salt and pepper
1 large onion
2 cans of Dr. Pepper
1 Tbps brown sugar
1 can Chipotle peppers in Adobe sauce

Chop up the onion and sprinkle over the bottom of the crockpot.  Rinse the pork and season generously with salt and pepper.  Place on top of the onion, fat side up.  Pour the can of peppers over the pork.  Pour the cans of Dr. Pepper over the peppers.  Add the brown sugar to the liquid.  Cook on low for about 9 hours.  Flip the pork over several times during the 9 hours.  Remove the meat from the crockpot and shred with a fork.  Remove any fatty pieces while shredding.  Remove any pepper chunks from the meat and the juice.  Place in separate containers and store in the refrigerator.  When the juice is chilled, remove the fat layer and discard.  Reheat the meat with the less fatty juice when ready to serve.

Oh. My. Goodness.  It's that good.

Texas Special Session

Governor Rick Perry is not allowing mob rule when it comes to the abortion legislation, which I whole heartedly support.  As an L&D nurse I see fetal demises (naturally occurring) and it never ceases to amaze me how formed these babies are.  I believe in life at conception (which many people argue), but no one can argue the tiny human 20 week gestation body.  If they do then they deserve the title of 'murderer'.  I have seen babies born alive, trying to live.  How these women can stand and selfishly say that they are standing for women's rights is beyond me. 


To the women that support abortion - You know what ladies - get over yourself.  Grow up.  You think you are old enough to have sex then pick your big girl panties back up off the floor and take responsibilities for your actions. 

Do I believe that there are some horrible cases of rape and incest that occur?  Yes.  I have had a teenage patient that was raped and got pregnant.  That young girl made the decision to keep her baby because she knew it wasn't the baby's fault.  I have also had several patients recently who were working on their fifth or sixth pregnancy, but only had one living because the others were abortions.  One of them even told me that she deserved to get an epidural this time because she managed to not have another baby since her first one.  She got pregnant and then aborted the next three.  Way to go.  What a model of motherhood.  The need for abortion due to rape and incest argument is very few and far between, but the abortion as a form of birth control is way too common.

The left is going crazy over Wendy Davis, the abortion loving, filibustering Congresswomen from Texas, but I believe this picture circulating around Twitter says it best:

I proudly STAND4LIFE!