Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner - Getting Creative with Leftovers

Mindy here, and with our house now under contract (meaning no more showings), it's time to cook again. Except now it's with a dual purpose -- sustenance, yes, but also purging the pantry and the freezer. I started with the freezer the day before Easter, firing up the smoker to cook some bone-in chicken breasts and ribs. I always smoke more chicken breasts than we will eat in one sitting and then freeze the rest to use for quick meals like this one.

I knew I wanted to do something with shredded chicken, but what? I thought about those "bowl" meals that keep cropping up at restaurants and decided to use that as my guide.

I had a little bit of onion and some bell pepper, so I tossed those into a skillet with a little bit of oil, then added my chicken.

Tex-Mex sounded kind of good, so I threw in a can of diced tomatoes and green chilies (aka Rotel).

One can definitely wasn't enough for that amount of chicken so I added a second and stirred it all together.

Things were still looking kind of dry, so I added about of cup of chicken broth from a container I had in the fridge.

That's better.

Now for some spices.

I threw in a tablespoon of chili powder and a teaspoon of cumin.

Gave that a good stir before adding about a cup/cup and a half of cooked rice and a can of black beans, drained and rinsed.

Mix that all together.

Hmm... Something was still missing, but what?

I went to the freezer.

Aha!

Tex-Mex usually has some element of corn, so added a half a cup of frozen niblets.

Stirred it all together and let it simmer for about ten minutes. 

Y'all the aroma was amazing.

So with my stomach growling, I spooned some into a bowl and topped it with a little bit of shredded cheese.

Okay, so whenever you throw things together, you're never quite certain what you're going to end up with. However, when hubby says, "This is amazing. I hope you plan on making this again," you know you've hit pay-dirt.

And, in addition to a fabulous meal, I ridded the pantry, fridge and freezer of a few items. Mission accomplished on all counts.

Whoo-hoo!

So we are now less than a month away from the big move. My mind is swimming with a million things that need to be done. For every item checked off of to-do list, it seems five more are added. Cancelling utilities, change of address notifications, setting up utilities on the other end... 

Oy!

Yet I refuse to stress. God's got this. Our job is to simply follow His lead.

Happy Tuesday!

Mindy Obenhaus lives in Texas with her husband and the last of her five children. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com 

Pulled Pork with a Kick

Ever watch a cooking show and think to yourself, "I have got to try that?" I do it all the time. Especially when I watch the Pioneer Woman.

I watched Ree prepare this dish quite a while ago, but hesitated to make it for fear it would be too spicy for my guys. But I found a way around that and now it's one of my favorite feed-a-crowd go-to meals and one of my family's favorite things to eat.

Here's what you'll need:

1 whole pork butt, also known as a pork shoulder roast (personally, I don't get this because, let's face it, the butt and the shoulder are two different places)

2 onions, peeled and quartered

salt and pepper

1 - 11 oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

2 cans Dr Pepper

4 packed tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat your over to 300 degrees.

Place the onions in the bottom of a large pot/dutch oven.

Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper, then set on top of the onions.

This is where it got a little scary for me.

Pour the entire can of chipotle peppers over the pork.

If you've ever tasted a chipotle pepper, you'll understand why this is so scary. Yet, while the pepper (which is actually a smoke-dried jalapeno) is hot, the adobe sauce has a wonderful smokey flavor. So, rather than worry about having a dish that was too spicy, I simply removed all but three or four of the chipotles (be sure to get the seeds, too), but left all of the sauce.

Next, open your soda (I used the store brand).

And pour it over the top.

 Add the brown sugar, give it a stir, then cover and put in the oven for at least six hours, turning two or three times throughout the cooking process. Great for this time of year when you don't mind the oven going all day.

Ta-dah!

Simply pull it apart with a fork and add it back to the juice before serving.

Throw open a package of buns, maybe a jar of dill pickle slices, and you're done. Making this a great dish for a potluck.

The meat was tender with a slight sweetness and a hint of a kick. Just enough that you could detect the heat, but not enough to have you running for water. However, if you're worried, you could always remove more peppers. 

So what was the last recipe you HAD TO TRY and actually did?

Pot Roast, Perfect for a Cold, Snowy Night!!!

I am unoriginal it seems.

We're in the throes of holiday cooking and baking, so I'm doing all the old favorites... Thumbprint Cookies and Sugar cookies, and pies and quick appetizers....

Meals????????

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :)

Last night was tuna sandwiches.... the night before we grilled a frozen steak and tossed a couple of spuds in the oven....

Monday night?

I'm not even sure there WAS a Monday night, LOL! So funny! Right now we're busily doing kids' Christmas projects and lessons during the day, working at night, writing in the middle of the night, and although I loved that Myra gave us a permission slip the other day to forego the crazy of Christmas... the baking, the caroling, the decking of halls and putting up lights, etc.... I love it! Yes, I am that crazy person!!!! :)

But today I took the time to throw together a fun take on a recipe I saw first on facebook from my friend Sherrie. She's Casey's mom... You know Casey:

It looked easy and sounded wonderful!

1 Large Chuck Roast
1 envelope Italian dressing mix
1 envelope Ranch dressing mix
1 Tablespoon Beef base (or an envelope of beef gravy mix)
1/2 onion, sliced

Put chuck roast in big roaster.

 Sprinkle with onion, seasoning mixes and beef base.

Cover.

Roast at 350° until meat is tender. Add water if necessary. 

Peel half a dozen potatoes.

Do the same to a clutch of carrots.

Cover and roast again until potatoes and carrots are tender....

While that roasts, check the snow:

Yup! Still snowing! :)  And this morning when we were talking about our favorite Christmas hymns, we checked out Cee Lo Green's "Mary, Did You Know?", the trailer for "The Bible":

This is a gripping rendition.... Just look at these faces as they watch....

Raising awareness... Over cinnamon bagels. Oh, God is good!

We're planning a day-long "Help for the Homeless" next week on Saturday. We were talking a week or so ago and the kids and I realized they really had no idea of what life is like for those who go without.... and so they came up with a PLAN...

A day outside, in upstate NY in December. Dave will make them a fire in the fire pit, we'll pitch tents to block the wind, we'll make ramen noodles for lunch and we'll spend the day cold, without our "screens" or cushions or central heating and wood stoves... and raise money for a couple of the local shelters.

Raising awareness... and helping others.

So while I'm loving stringing lights and hanging knitted stockings in tiny window panes, and listening to beautiful Christmas music, I'm also loving this amazing opportunity to shape (or ruin, I guess!!!) little lives in my care.

Oh, God is good! :)

We bake cookies... and we talk about mean King James and mean King Herod and young mothers and homeless people and twinkle lights.

And somehow it all comes together!

:)

Oh! God is good, LOL!

Pot Roast is DONE!!!!! Pull out of oven, realize we'll be eating this for days so it better be good...

Dave dishes it up.

I wait....

Fork tender, oh, so delicious! Lots of beefy juices, great seasonings, who'd a thunk that tossing ranch and Italian dressing on the meat would be so wonderful, but it was!

And in keeping with this beautiful season, here are a couple of nighttime shots... The Nativity set spotlighted with a few bright lights behind!

 And remember Santa and his 9 reindeer, the treasure we found in Uncle Charlie's barn a couple of years back? The orphaned set no one wanted???

Santa and his sleigh and 9 reindeer, led by Rudolph!!!! How fun is this, right? Great Grandma and Uncle Charlie (Chuck) made this set. It's just an absolute pleasure to own it now (it takes one whole shed to store these guys, so I can understand why the rest of the family wasn't jumping up and down to take on the crew!) But isn't it wonderful? I love using twinkle lights as the tracers!

It makes folks smile, and that right there is reason enough to light up the dark December northern nights...

I love to make folks smile!!!