Mudder’s Day Brunch Recipes

This year I am not making anything or serving a big brunch, but if I were here a few items that would be on my menu!

Jambalaya

Fried Chicken

Cinnamon Rolls

Grits

Fruit Salad Tray

Mixed Greens Salad

Biscuits

Bellini’s

Kid’s Champagne

You’re probably saying, girl you crazy!!! That’s a whole lotta cooking! Well, I cheat a bit. There are times when I would make all of this from scratch, but there are some cheating ways you can get around this and make a fantastic meal! Remember it’s all about presentation and everything. I make a buffet set up with the food and a bar set up for the drinks. All drinks are pre made and put into pitchers. For Cinnamon Rolls I use Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls and/or the Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls! Super easy and delicious. I am also very quick to use Bisquick mix to make my biscuits. Now I will add some sugar or sweetener and a dash of nutmeg & cinnamon. I cook instant grits. Yes I said it, I use instant grits. But my instant grits don’t taste like instant grits. I add salt and butter to the grits while they are cooking and I stir stir stir!!! On the west coast I use Albers Quick Grits. My grandmother has used Albers, my great-aunt used Albers, my mama uses Albers…so I use Albers!! HAHA! When I was living in Texas I couldn’t find Albers so I used Quakers Instant Grits. But the box or can, not the instant packets. Those need a little more love to get the instant taste out, but they still come out creamy and delicious! Buy a watermelon wedge so you can just cut slices and then buy some of the other fruit pre cut if you don’t have time to make melon balls or cut up a pineapple. I usually will place a mix of berries in a nice ice cream or dessert cup and place in the middle of fruit tray with a couple of sprigs of mint on top for decoration.

Fruit Salad Tray:

Watermelon

Pineapple

Cantaloupe

Plum

Mango

Nectarine

Blueberries

Strawberries

Blackberries

 

Mixed Green Salad

Spring Mix Salad ( I’ve also used Kale, Spinach, Butter Lettuce and Romaine lettuce)

Shredded Carrots

Shredded Zucchini

Shredded Jicama

Shredded Beets

Shredded Cucumber

Goat or Bleu Cheese

Dried Cranberries

Pepitos or Sunflower Seeds or Whole Flax Seeds

~ Dressing: Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Honey: Mix all the items together. I slightly heat the mixture so that they blend better and then whisk together and toss on salad.

 

Fried Chicken:

Chicken : Whatever parts you like

Safflower or Canola Oil

Rice Flour (I use rice flour. It adds a little more crispness and isn’t as heavy as AP flour. Also I believe it’s gluten-free.)

Black Pepper

Lemon Pepper

Salt

Paprika

Cinnamon

Garlic Powder

 

Heat your oil first. Some people use a skillet or a frying pan. I have a small child so I can’t have the grease popping everywhere so I use a pot. Season the chicken with Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Garlic Powder & a dash of the Cinnamon and let marinate for a while. Pour flour in a baggie or paper bag and season flour with Lemon Pepper, Paprika, Garlic Powder and a dash of Salt and mix. Place Chicken in flour and shake until chicken is covered. Remove Chicken and shake off excess flour then place in hot oil and fry until golden brown. You can season the Chicken the night before.

 

Jambalaya:

Chicken (I use boneless skinless thighs)

Hot or Andouille Sausage (In LA I use Pete’s Hot Sausage in Los Angeles. In Texas I used Earl Campbell’s Sausage)

Chicken Stock (I use low sodium because a lot of sodium and seasoning goes into this dish)

Shrimp (Deveined & Tails removed)

Worcestershire Sauce

White Onion

Fresh Garlic

Bell Pepper (I use a trio of colors. If you don’t want to waste bell peppers, then use the small ones so you can use one whole one of each)

Tomato

Olive Oil

Black Pepper

Salt

Garlic Powder

Oregano

Thyme

Onion Powder

Cayenne Pepper

Bay Leaves

Jasmine or Basmati Rice (You can use whatever type of rice you’d like, I use Jasmine or Basmati)

 

Chop Onion, Garlic, Bell Pepper. Dice Tomato & Hot Sausage. Season Chicken & Shrimp with Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder and let marinate. Start to cook Rice separately. Oil the pot you intend to cook the Jambalaya in with Olive Oil and brown your chicken (whole filet or piece). Cook mostly through (you will have to continue to cook in Jambalaya mixture. Once Chicken is brown, remove and set aside. In same oil brown sausage. Once brown, remove and set aside. Place Onions, Garlic, Bell Pepper in oil and cook until translucent. Add more Olive Oil if necessary to the trinity. Add Bay Leaf and Tomato. Season with Oregano, Salt, Pepper, Thyme, Pepper, Onion Powder, Worcestershire Sauce, Cayenne Pepper (to your liking). Stir together. Chop Chicken and add along with sausage. Add Chicken Stock. You don’t want to make it soupy, but you want to be able to blend the rice in perfectly. A cup or two should do. Just see how it looks. It depends on how many ingredients you have. Once you add stock, then you can add Shrimp. Stir and simmer for about 15 minutes. Make sure Chicken and Shrimp are cooked. Once it’s all cooked and warmed add cooked Rice and stir & mix.

 

Bellini’s

Barefoot Brut, Moet White Star or Veuve-Clicquot (Because of mixing I use the cheaper Barefoot because it’s just as tasty for almost have the price)

Kern’s Mango, Guava, Peach & Strawberry

Sliced Strawberries

Sliced Peaches

Sliced Mango

 

My mixes are as follows: Peach & Guava, Peach & Strawberry, Peach, Guava Mango, Mango & Peach, Mango & Strawberry, Strawberry Guava. I put the fruit slices out next to the glasses so people can put their own type of fruit in their Bellini’s I usually make one pitcher at a time of a certain mix.

 

Kid’s Champagne

Sparkling Water

Grape Juice

Kern’s Strawberry Nectar

 

Mix the Juice together. The water will break it down so you can use ginger ale instead if you want more taste, but I dilute drinks for kid’s anyhow. Add all together in a pitcher and stir. Don’t add ice to pitcher.

 

Happy Mother’s Day or as Jax says, Happy My Mudder’s Day!!!

My Own Eat, Pray, Love moment

Okay, well maybe I haven’t found the love yet. I have a feeling that is coming for me. But the past few months have been spent with me clocking in countless hours talking to the Big Guy about everything, looking for answers, finding answers and discovering peace with certain things. Life was thrown into perspective in a couple pretty violent and drastic ways, but it’s brought me a sense of clarity and focus unlike I’ve ever felt before. Not to say that I’ve developed a Monk sensibility and walk about in a constant state of Zen, but I have a better understanding of myself, life, love and my purpose. I never knew my own strength. I never gave myself enough credit. I never enjoyed  the things and people around me enough. I didn’t enjoy. I was too busy being sick. And before I was sick, I was too busy trying to make it and work my ass off to prove something to other people. I didn’t do anything for me or because I wanted to. I did for others. Helped others. Believed in others. Proved to others. Not a very good way to live.

I feel like I’ve been reborn. Given a second chance. Time to learn a new life. I’m ready to learn my new normal. It’s taking sometime, some adjusting. Overall, I think life is gonna be beautiful. So I pray. I don’t just pray for things. I pray in thanks. I pray for others and not that they get what they ask, but whatever it is that we need. Everything that we need is not always what we want or even know we wanted. I certainly didn’t want this surgery or this bag, but it’s one of the best things that has happened to me. I didn’t have to travel to India or Bali or even seek out some old catholic cathedral here in the states to reinvent my relationship with God. We just started up a conversation. But this time, I knew what I wanted to say to Him. And it isn’t always a sense of gratitude, I lay down my troubles and grievances with him too. I mean He made me, who else can I really turn to? Faith is interesting. There is no real happiness without it. There is no love without happiness. There is no life without love. So I guess it always comes back to Faith…and God. It always comes back to God.

As far as Eat is concerned…I’ve been doing just that! I believe Caesar, The Conqueror of All (my stomach), has risen from the dead and is ready to take his place at the throne again! LOL! The doctors said something about needing to gain 15 lbs before next surgery and it is has been my pleasure to fulfill that request. For the first time in about 2/3 years I am actually hungry. It’s an amazing feeling! To approach the door of a restaurant and not stress about where the bathroom is, what I can and cannot eat, how much I will be able to eat, not get nauseous at the thought of eating feels like a dead weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I taught myself how to force myself to eat and forced enjoyment…now it comes naturally. It’s a whole new world, a whole new me! Yesterday I went to celebrate a girlfriend’s birthday at Boiling Crab. It was like a rediscovering a beautiful gem. The aroma was new, as if I had smelled it for the first time. The taste was brand new and fulfilling. It felt like a rebirth. I was actually giddy and excited about food again. I hadn’t eaten this much since I was pregnant three years ago! It brought me to silent joyful tears after I was done. I was alive and living to live. I had spent so many years with this disease cramming things in, forcing smiles through pain, trying to record each and every second like it was my last not necessarily enjoying it like I deserved to,  just trying to get through each minute of pain. I was living like I was dying. I now find myself living for life. Enjoying each second as a blessing and looking forward to the next believing that it will come for me and it will be more beautiful than the moment before!

I’ve prayed. I’ve eaten. Now, I’m open for love!

Delish Chix Recipe~ An oldie but a goodie from my BrooklynBites Blog

This was a recipe I made up on the fly one night, late at night, pregnant with a hungry man staring at me from the living room! I jumped into action, threw something together and he pretty much ate ALL the wings in the pan… two packs mind you! I remember it being quite good, so I decided to share this on my BrooklynBites blog the next day. Here is the original post. Hope you enjoy!!

So last night I threw some chicken together at the last minute and it was gooder than good!! I decided to share my little throwdown (mommy’s fav word) recipe with you all. If I had known how good it was I would have taken a pic. Now a warning… I never measure. I guess that’s the southerner in me… I eye ball and taste it out, so I’m just gonna give you the basics.

ingredients:

chicken wings
salt
black ground pepper
garlic powder
paprika
dried lemon peel
onion
nectarines
balsamic vinaigrette
rosemary
lemon
honey
olive oil

Lots of ingredients, I know… but so worth it! So, here’s what I did:
Place the wings in a mixing bowl. Add a little OLIVE OIL and mix into wings. Season the chicken with the SALT, PEPPER, PAPRIKA, LEMON PEEL & GARLIC POWDER. Add a few stalks of ROSEMARY. I break them slightly at the bark to let some flavor out. Drizzle a bit of HONEY & BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE over chicken and mix. Cover and place in fridge for a couple of hours to marinate.

Preheat oven to 400. Slice up 1/3 of an ONION and a whole NECTARINE. Add a bit of WATER and OLIVE OIL and LEMON JUICE to the bottom of a Pyrex dish. Add sliced ONION and MARINATED ROSEMARY STALKS (from the chicken bowl) in water and oil mix. Place CHICKEN in on top of ONION AND ROSEMARY. Place NECTARINE slices on top of wings, drizzle HONEY and LEMON JUICE on top and cover with foil. Keep in oven until its cooked thoroughly, basting every 5-10 mins. Once it’s completely cooked, uncover the dish and allow chicken and nectarines to brown on top.

Really easy. Great for a date or just something to whip real quick! Enjoy!!

Man Trapping Curry

Okay so I am not Indian or Thai, but apparently my Curry Chicken & Jasmine Rice is delicious enough that almost every man I’ve ever cooked it for has become a serious boyfriend. I’m not even kidding! LOL! My curry doesn’t come out of a jar or can, I actually blend the seasonings with oil and Coconut milk. I’m not calling it authentic because I literally created the recipe myself with what I thought would be in a homemade curry and began making it. It’s been a hit ever since. Try it out and see how you like it. And if you have a date, put a little extra love and time into it and see where it gets you. Now if you have the man and the children, this is good for the whole family. My two-year old loves it! And it’s easy on my colitis, actually it’s got some good antioxidants and anti-inflammatory elements for those with autoimmune diseases. Once again, you know I’m not the measuring type of girl so use your best judgement and taste. Also if you have someone with a peanut allergy or you don’t like peanuts, you can omit the peanut sauce.

Ingredients:

You can grind all your spices yourself or buy them as such. I use ground curry as the base, so this is something you want to use the most of.

curry: at least a Tbsp for curry sauce

cumin: at least a Tbsp for curry sauce

clove: at least a tsp for curry sauce

all spice: at least a Tbsp for curry sauce

ginger: at least a tsp for curry sauce

smoke paprika: at least a tsp for curry sauce

nutmeg: at least a tsp for curry sauce

cinnamon: at least a tsp for curry sauce

black pepper: at least a 1/2 tsp for curry sauce

salt: at least a 1/2 tsp for curry sauce

lemon pepper: at least 1/2 tsp for curry sauce

lemon

honey

cayenne

tumeric

onion powder

garlic powder

chopped garlic

olive oil

coconut milk

*peanut sauce

Raisins or Dried Cranberries

Cauliflower

Carrots

Potatoes

Onion

Jasmine Rice

Chicken (whatever parts you want. A whole cut up chicken, wings, legs, quarters, etc)

 

To Do:

Pre Heat your oven to 400. Rough Chop Cauliflower, Carrots, Potatoes & Onions into large portions or small quarters. Put Chicken in a bowl and season with Olive Oil, Salt, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Black Pepper, Cumin & a little Curry Powder. Place in a pan with Carrots, Onions, Potatoes & Cauliflower. Then cover with foil and bake. Start your Jasmine Rice. Pour your Olive Oil into a sauce pan on the stove top and add your garlic to oil and sauté. Once garlic is translucent add all seasonings for the curry sauce base. Make a paste and add more seasonings to your taste/liking. Once the pastes is made add your coconut milk, at least two cans full and turn heat down to low/medium. I usually have to whisk to get everything fine and blended properly. Whisk in peanut sauce to thicken and honey for a slight sweetness. Add Raisins or dried cranberries. Then squeeze in half a lemon. Let heat up and cook for about 20 minutes, continue to whisk and stir. Turn off heat. Check on your chicken. If it’s cooked almost through remove foil and cover with curry sauce. Mix chicken in sauce and then place back in oven to finish cooking with top/foil off the pan.

Serve over rice. You can serve with raw almond slivers, thinly sliced green onion or raw chopped cashews.

Enjoy!

Mommy, who is that man, Dr. King?

Dear Son,

One day you will understand the importance of this day we celebrate MLK. One day you will walk with pride as a free American and make everyday an MLK day. One day you will understand the importance of peace & freedom. The importance of education & perseverance. The need for leadership & true strength. That the voice is mightier than the fist. You will know that in numbers, we will always overcome. You descend from strength! It’s ingrained in you all the way from the shores of the Ivory Coast. One day you will know that someone loved you enough to stand for your freedom before your mother was even born. On this day of realization you will know King and how he was a King among Kings. In his heart was a righteousness that was selfless in action and thought. His motivation was to not be better, but to be equal. Not to suppress or dominate, but uplift and love. He was one man who didn’t believe in himself, but in his community and his God. He believed in the goodness that was lying deep within those that made him an enemy. He saw love where they saw hate. He saw hope when everyone else lived in fear.

One day you will know that you are no better or no worse than the little boy sitting next to based on the color of your skin! You will know that your skin color can not make or break you, but your brain and your soul will push to soar! One day you will know that a woman held on to a lamp-post hosed down by a fire hose so that you could practice your right to walk down the street carefree. One day you will know that there is no excuse to fail, because a path of greatness has been highlighted for you on bloody streets in Watts, Birmingham, Little Rock and Washington DC.

Son, there was a man named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that walked until the soles on his shoes wore thin to show the world that people of color in America were indeed that, Americans. There was a man named Dr. King that showed the world that your voice is more powerful than any burning cross or shotgun! There was a man named Dr. King that loved his children so much that he gave his life fighting to make sure that one day people would know their names before they knew their race! There was a man name Dr. King that believed in you before UmMa knew there would be a me. Son, there was a man name Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who is waiting to see how great you will be at whatever you decide to do. He doesn’t care if you become a gardener or an ambassador, he just wants you to be great. To love and care for your neighbors and fellow-man, contribute to society and promote the peace you have from within. He expects you to BE. Be Great!

On THIS day, this day of celebration I want you to remember that Harriet Tubman swam so Martin King could march, Martin King marched so Barack Obama could run and Barack Obama ran so You could soar! Go be great, son!

xoxo

Mommy

And So It Begins…….

So here we are! But what exactly are we doing here? That my friends is a very good question! I already have a blog BrooklynBites that I have had for quite sometime and it’s pretty much all over the place, and I love it! So why The Crazy Creole Mommy Chronicles? Well about 2 years ago I became just that, a Crazy Creole Mommy. For one, I am creole! What does that mean? That means my family is from New Orleans and on any given day when you walk into my house their is a pot on my stove full of goodies! And about 3 years ago I fell in love with a man and we started a family! The Hippo in question, Jax Lee Coltrane Honeycutt. Everyday with this kid is like a brand new day, not one day is remotely the same and I usually overload my twitter with his antics. So I woke up this morning and realized that there is probably about 3,000 more mothers out there like me with little Hippos that are barking at neighbors passing by, eating more than a 13 year old, dancing their way into people’s hearts and cussing at the perfect moment. I thought, we should all connect! I mean why be in this crazy twilight zone alone when we can laugh, share and cry together!!

So the game plan is to take the time to not only share how my son tries to feed the dog gold fish, but also share my take on certain products, services, activities, etc. As a single mother with an autoimmune disease who is also living on a budget but with a healthy organic concious…Yes, that is a mouthful… I’d like to find other mommies that can relate! I will be sharing date night tips, my favorite creole family recipes, favorite restaurants, store, etc from whatever city I am in. Basically you can just follow me on this crazy journey I am on in search of love, laughter, good food and being the best mommy I can be. Join Me, won’t cha?!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez