Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I never ate brussels sprouts growing up. Turns out my mom doesn't like them so she never made them for us. I think that never being forced to eat them as a kid made me want to try them again as an adult and that's a good thing. I love them if they're cooked the right way and Chris even likes them too. This method is based on one from Simply Recipes. I think this recipe might even make my Mom a brussels sprouts convert. Hope you enjoy as much as we do!

Snickerdoodles

This might be one of the first cookie recipes I made successfully. The recipe comes from All Recipes and has received thousands of rave reviews over the years. Most of ya'll already know that baking is not my strong suit. The measuring and precision just takes all of the fun out of being in the kitchen for me. The results of baking though are often worth it and these cookies are a prime example. Chris loves these and they've received many rave reviews from friends as well. I'll never forget taking these in a cute tin to a Christmas party a few years ago when I told the hostess, "You can either put these out for the party or stash them away for yourself." She kept them for herself and admitted to me later that most of them were consumed late-night after the party. Hope you enjoy these too!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is one of our favorite recipes. I hesitate to order tortilla soup in restaurants because I've almost never had a version I like as much as this one. It comes from my friend, Taylor, and I think it's a family recipe. When it starts getting cold outside, this is one of the first things I make. This recipe is double the original one Taylor gave me. The leftover soup is even better the next day and it freezes well (if it makes it that long) so I always make this amount. If you're not a spice-lover (well, you probably don't like a lot of my recipes if that's the case) you can leave out one of the jalapenos but serve some Cholula on the side for your guests. Hope you love this as much as we do!

Roasted Okra

Okra can be slimy depending on how it's cooked. This doesn't bother me too much because I love okra no matter how it's cooked. For those that don't like the slime though, you can either fry it or you can roast it. You don't see roasted okra a lot and I think it may be because it's not very pretty. I tried it a while back based on a Southern Living recipe I saw and despite it's wimpy appearance, I really loved it. It gets crispy around the edges and the slime totally dries up. I like to think of these as okra french fries so maybe you could even try them with a toddler. I served this batch with chicken tenders and tomato sauce and cheese grits. Hope you enjoy!

Quick Chili

Some of you might already be familiar with our annual chili cook-off tradition but here's a little background for those that are not. For the past 4 years, Chris and I have thrown a winter party where we each cook a giant pot of chili and leave it up to our guests to decide whose is best. After the first year, we learned that the voting has to be entirely anonymous for it to work. (there may or may not have been one person lagging behind so much that guests started to feel sorry for me and added votes to my tally) Now, guests don't know which chili is mine and which is Chris's - they are simply marked as "Red" and "Green" chili - and they use M&Ms of the same colors to vote for their favorite in a cup that is concealed by a foil top so they can't see who's winning. It's become quite a fun party over the years and the score is tied right now - 2 to 2. Check back on the blog after the New Year to see the winning recipe. For now, this is a quick version we came up with the other night to tide us over until chili cook-off time. Hope you enjoy!

Crispy Taco Shells

We are big fans of crispy tacos but I am not a big fan of the shells you buy in a box. The vacuum-packed packages with the cardboard inserts make me think they've been on the shelf for about a decade. Plus, they're always too thick and don't really taste right. This homemade solution was inspired by some tacos I used to have every summer on an annual river trip I went on with a friend. 5-6 families would get together with all of their kids and spend a few days in cabins on the Frio river. We'd float the river during the day and each family would take turns with breakfast or dinner. We rarely made it up for breakfast but the tacos were always one of our favorite dinners. One of the women on the trip hailed from Mexico and she knew how to make some amazing taco meat and homemade crispy shells. I watched her make them each year and thought it would be simple enough to replicate at home. I was right! Chris doubted me but we agreed that these came out great - much better than the box variety. Hope you enjoy!

Homemade Chicken Stock

When I roast a whole chicken, I like to replenish my supply of homemade chicken stock for the freezer. It makes me feel so domestic and throwing away all those bones is just wasteful. Plus, homemade stock always makes for better soups. You can use it in any recipe that calls for chicken broth or chicken stock. I'm actually not sure what the difference is between stock and broth - I just think of stock as a more flavorful version of broth. Anyway, this is a very easy method for making homemade chicken stock and, in my opinion, the best reason to own a crockpot. I can't remember how I learned to do this and don't follow a recipe so I suppose I'll just take credit for it. Hope you enjoy!