The Supermom Chef

As a child, I absolutely loved pears, so my Nana would always prepare this salad for me. She’s a bit on the fancy side so she’d plate it up for me on lettuce leaves atop fancy china and let me use her real sterling silver cutlery. I’d eat up every bite that she ever fixed me and felt like a princess being served in such a fancy way. Then we’d go to her playroom and put on all of the costume jewelry that she had, and cover our lips in every single color of lipstick imaginable. I remember marveling at her lipstick collection, and dreaming of the day when I’d be a big girl and could have my own lipstick collection and eat pear salad all day long. Oh to be young again!

Before you look at the ingredient list and think, “OMGOSH! How disgusting! Pears with mayonnaise and cheese?” please just give it a chance. It sounds totally strange to mix these things but trust me when I say that it’s delicious!

Nana’s Pear Salad

1 can pear halves, drained

grated Cheddar cheese

mayonnaise

Lie pear halves out on a dish, cut side up. Top each half with a dollup of mayonnaise and some shredded Cheddar cheese. Chill until ready to serve.

You know how you find recipe after recipe online that you like, you bookmark them and come back to them looking for something yummy to make? Please tell me I’m not the only one out there with a Favorites folder jam packed with recipe after recipe. Anyway, I was in a baking mood one afternoon so I went to my favorites folder in hopes of finding something in my all time favorite combination of chocolate and peanut butter. When I started looking through the recipes, absolutely nothing sounded like something I felt like making. Ever have those days? Well, that was me the day that I made these little boogers. I went through my favorites folder at least a couple times (and it’s a BIG folder), but still couldn’t find anything like I was looking for. So I gave up, went to my kitchen, and literally threw these bars together. It’s really a simple idea, I just took my grandmother’s chess square recipe (http://www.thesupermomchef.com/?p=459), used chocolate cake mix instead of yellow, and added some peanut butter into the chess filling mixture. And there you have it, a dessert bar made in chocolate and peanut butter heaven!

P.S. In my eyes, heaven really will be full of all the chocolate and peanut butter treats that I can bare to eat, but they are all calorie free!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chess Squares

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 (16 oz) box powdered sugar

1 box chocoloate cake mix

1 stick butter or margarine, softened

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together one egg, cake mix, and butter or margarine until crumbly. Spread onto a greased 9×13″ baking dish (glass, aluminum, whatever you have). Mix together cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Add 3 eggs and vanilla, and mix until fully incorporated. Slowly add powdered sugar; beat until well combined. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and set. Allow to cool before cutting into small squares.

In honor of my hubby whose 30th birthday is tomorrow, I’m posting his favorite meal of all the things I’ve ever made. And wouldn’t you know it would be something simple like alfredo sauce? Time and time again I realize that my family is so simple, that they really just prefer basic meals to eat rather than the fancy dishes that seem to be so popular now. Don’t get me wrong, we still love the occassional “fancy” meal from time to time (at least the hubby and I do), but for the most part the whole family seems to enjoy the simple classics the most. When I make this dish, I usually grill up some chicken (for the kids) and some shrimp (for me and hubby) to go on top, steam some broccoli, and there you have the world’s simplest, quickest, most delicious dinner!

While I was taking this picture (yes, it’s outside in my driveway…not ideal but with hungry kids standing by waiting on their food it was the best I could do), I realized that I left something inside. So I asked my 7 year old to come sit by the dish to make sure a stray dog didn’t eat any of the food. Turns out, it wasn’t a dog I needed to worry about! The photo below is what I came back to. That boy was hungry so he had to dig in!

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash of black pepper

Heat butter and whipping cream in a 10″ skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until butter is melted and mixture starts to bubble. Add garlic. Reduce heat to low and simmer for a few minutes, stirring often, until thickened slightly. Remove from heat; stir in cheese, salt, and pepper. Serve with 8 ounces of cooked, drained noodles.

*Note: Here is how I cook my shrimp http://www.thesupermomchef.com/?p=881

Here’s another one of the easiest, most delicious dessert recipes you’ll ever find. If you can bake box mix brownies, you can make this because that’s pretty much the only cooking involved here. I’ve been making this dessert since shortly after I got married and no matter how many times I’ve made it, I always come home with an empty dish. That’s always a good sign to me! I always keep the ingredients needed for this recipe on hand, for those times when we get invited to last minute gatherings and I have to bring something but don’t have time to make something labor intensive. This has been a long-time family favorite in our house and I know it will be in yours as well.

Butterfinger Trifle

1 family size box brownie mix (and the ingredients needed to make it according to package directions)

2 (3.4 oz) boxed instant chocolate pudding mix (and the milk needed according to package directions)

1 (16 oz) package frozen whipped topping, thawed

6 Butterfinger candy bars, crushed

Bake brownies according to package directions and set aside. Once completely cooled, crumble the brownies. Mix pudding according to package directions. Place half of crumbled brownies in the bottom of a trifle dish. Layer with half of the pudding, crushed candy bars (reserve a small amount for a garnish for the top of the dish), and whipped topping (in that order). Repeat all layers and garnish with remaining candy crumbs. Refrigerate until time to serve.

Yesterday I posted on my blog’s Facebook page (check it out, if you haven’t already…that way you get notifications when I post new recipes!) and asked what type of recipe y’all would like to see today. The overwhelming vote was for a quick main dish. Far too often we all fall into the weekday dinner rut, as I like to call it. We tend to make the same 5-10 dishes over and over and over again until we are just sick of them. So often it’s easier just to purchase a dinner rather than take the time to make something homemade ourselves. That’s why I try to stick to recipes that are easy, affordable, and that my whole family will enjoy. I know that’s the way I like things, so I assume that you all do too!

Some may say that this isn’t a recipe, per say, but more of a process. To me, a recipe doesn’t necessarily have to mean that everything is prepared from scratch. We are lucky enough to live in a day and age when things are simpler than they once were and I, for one, have no problem taking advantage of these shortcuts (aka gravy mix). But if you are one of those folks that is lucky enough to have the ability to be able to make gravy from scratch (I’m not one of those folks), then by all means go for it. Homemade gravy causes me to cry tears of failure so I will just go the easy route.

This particular recipe comes from my mother-in-law. She’s a wonderful cook, and has been kind enough to share a few of her recipes with me so that I can keep my hubby happy. I think I’ve perfected this one and her fried potatoes, so now I think it’s time to move on to his all-time favorite, minute steaks. Wish me luck (I’ve never cooked a minute steak in my life!), and in the meantime make this for your family for dinner. It’s one of those recipes that tends to make everyone in the household happy!

Good old fashioned Southern Hamburger Steak, not much better than this!

Hamburger Steak

ground beef, 80% lean (this is very important, you need the fat to add flavor!)

mushrooms

onions

2 packets brown gravy mix (I prefer McCormick)

salt & pepper

Set a large skillet over medium-high heat. Form ground beef into the size patties that you prefer. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Add the ground beef to the skillet, making sure not to flip the meat to often so that you form a brownish crust on the outside of the meat. Meanwhile, slice the onions and mushrooms. When the meat is close to being done, add the onions and mushrooms to the skillet. Allow to brown and soften, stirring often. Allow meat to cook through and drain off any excess fat from the skillet. Prepare gravy mix according to directions and add to skillet. Cook over medium-low heat until the gravy is heated through and thickened.

My goodness it was killing me! I am totally a sweets person and have had this recipe ready to blog for a few weeks now, but thought maybe y’all were getting tired of sweets so I’ve been trying to be more diverse with my recipes lately. I couldn’t take it anymore and had to post this one today though! This is one of those recipes that has never gotten a bad review for as long as I’ve been making it. I believe this recipe is another that comes from my cousin Mel, although I can’t be sure because I’ve had the recipe for so long now. It’s creamy and cruch (crust), sweet and tart, all at the same time. You simply cannot go wrong with this recipe!

Some people may be concerned about the raw egg in the recipe, but we’ve never had any problems with it. I was once told that by mixing egg with lemon, the acid “cooks” the egg so that it’s safe to eat. If you’re still feeling uneasy about it I’d suggest using pasteurized eggs or either an equivalent of egg yolk substitute. I’ve been eating raw eggs my entire life (cookie dough, brownie batter, etc.) though and have never gotten sick. Now I’m not saying you can’t get sick from it, because goodness knows with our foods the way they are now anything is possible so this is basically just a warning for you just in case. Don’t want anyone blaming me for making them sick!

Yeah, it’s every bit as good as it looks.

You want some now don’t you?

Lemon Surprise

2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1 stick butter or margarine

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed

4 egg yolks

2 can sweetened condensed milk

3/4 cup lemon juice

additional frozen whipped topping, thawed

Combine vanilla wafers, pecans, and butter or margarine. Sprinkle into the bottom of a 8×13″ baking dish, pressing to form a crust. Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and 2 cups whipped topping. Spread on the crust layer. Thoroughly mix egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon juice. Spread on top of the cream cheese layer; top the entire dish with additional whipped topping, to cover. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

If you didn’t know I’m living in the South just by knowing me, then you’d dang sure know it by the names of people that I mention. Most everyone has a double name, which as we know is almost mandatory down here. I myself don’t have a double name but a good many of my family members do. Take today’s title recipe, for example. Doris Ann is my aunt, my mom’s sister. She’s actually my Godmother too, bless her sweet little ole heart! Anyway, apparently we don’t pronounce the name Doris Ann quite like it’s written. Doris Ann used to work at a school as a kindergarten teacher, and one time she got a note written to her about a phone call taken in the office for her. It was written: “To: Darsan”. I still find that story funny because if you think about it we do pronounce it more like “Dars” than the typical name Doris. Now I gotta go dig a grave because she may just kill me for my post picking at her name. Nevermind, she hates computers so she probably doesn’t know how to see my blog anyway.

Now, onto the food. I called this Doris Ann’s Chicken Spaghetti because it’s all hers. She is well known in our family for this particular spaghetti and it gets requested quite often for family gatherings. She actually made this delicious dish for our family a couple of weeks ago when we got home from Boston (along with a Chess pie that I simply could not resist!). So I thought maybe y’all would like the recipe so you would be able to make it for your families. Doris Ann is nice and usually makes two dishes, one with the Rotel and one without for those picky eaters, but I’ve never been accused of being nice enough to do that.

I’ll also go ahead and apologize for the bad photo. I was starving when I took this dish out of the oven so I just snapped quickly. Oops!

Doris Ann’s Chicken Spaghetti

2 cans cream of chicken soup

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

chicken, as much as desired

1-2 cans Rotel

grated Cheddar cheese

chicken broth

salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook chicken by boiling in water until tender; remove, cut into small pieces. Cook noodles in the remaining broth leftover from cooked chicken. In a 9×13″ baking dish, mix the soup, butter, salt and pepper. Add chopped chicken and noodles. Add Rotel (if using). Stir all ingredients together. Add enough chicken broth to moisten the dish so that it’s not too dry; stir again to incorporate. Sprinkle with shredded Cheddar cheese. Cover with foil and bake until the casserole is cooked through and the cheese is melted.

You know those days when you just want to throw together a meal and be done with it? Well this recipe is for those days. And to be completely honest it’s not so much a recipe, but more of a list of ingredients that you add to your liking. I actually came up with this recipe on a whim one day while at my aunt’s house. We had made a salad for lunch and still had some leftover chicken. Not wanting to waste it, I asked her if I could give it a whirl in my new manual food processor with a few things to try making chicken salad in it. We’ve made it numerous times since then, so needless to say it was a hit! My mom and aunt went crazy over it and have continued to make it many times since as well. This is one I know you’ll love and will keep coming back to over and over again.

Quick Chicken Salad

1 chopped, cooked chicken breast

mayonnaise

chopped walnuts

homemade sweet pickles (recipe can be found here: http://www.thesupermomchef.com/?p=941)

salt & pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients together, to taste, in a manual food processor (or pulse ONLY a couple of times in a regular food processor) until well combined. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Let me just start by saying that I’m posting this recipe, which will (next week) be followed by another recipe that uses these pickles as an ingredient.  You don’t want to miss out on that one! It’s super easy and delicious so don’t forget to check back for that one.

Now, on to the pickles! This is another recipe that came from my sweet Mae Mae. I still remember seeing her big old Pyrex dish sitting on her formica (white with dark greyish spots) countertop. I remember she’d keep them covered with a rag and uncover them a couple times a day to stir them. Just smelling them the other day while making them brought back so many memories. It took me right back to her tiny old kitchen. Do you remember those old timey dishwashers that you had to move around to the sink, and hook up to the faucet? She had one of those. Never in my life have I ever seen one in other place other than her home. Ahhh, the memories!

Anyway, these pickles are the good old-fashioned ones that you probably remember. Super sweet, with just enough garlic flavor. They are super delicious on their own or you can add them in anything that you’d add store bought pickles to. Recipe you wanna make call for sweet pickle relish? Chop some of these up fine and you’ve got some! These are also great to make-and-give because one recipe makes several jars. Make the pickles and pour into jars, tie with a pretty bow around the top of the jar, and you’ll have perfect inexpensive teacher gifts!

Mae Mae’s Sweet Garlic Pickles

1 gallon jar whole dill pickles

1 (5 lb) bag sugar

1 large box pickling spice*

2-3 cloves garlic

Pour off pickle juice (disgard) and slice pickles into thick (about 1/3″) slices. Place into a large mixing bowl. Tie the pickling spice into small bundles using cheese cloth (or a t-shirt cut into small squares), and tie to hold the spices in. Peel garlic and lightly mash with the side of a large knife. Pour the sugar over the pickles and add the pickling spice bundles and garlic. Stir, cover, and set aside for 5-7 days, stirring at least two times a day. Remove garlic and pickling spice bundles. Pour into jars and refrigerate until ready to serve.

These are a Southern classic right here! Well, I say that they are. They may be an “everywhere” classic but I call them Southern because I’m from the South and my family has been eating this recipe for as long as I can remember. Cucumbers are one of those vegetables that are super easy to grow so there is always an abundance of them in a garden. And it’s not unusual for that person with the garden to share said cucumbers with everyone they know, because the plants produce so many. So this is a quick throw-together recipe to use up the abundance of cucumbers that you have on hand (if you’re lucky enough to have one of those nice neighbors of family members that shares). Although the gardening time of year is drawing to an end, you can always make this with store bought cucumbers.

This is one of my mom’s personal favorite recipes so she always has some on hand. She says to add sugar, to taste, but there is a note on the recipe that says, “I like mine sweet!!” Goodness I love that lady!

Mom’s Cucumber & Onion Salad

2 cups sliced cucumbers

1 onion, sliced

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 – 1 cup sugar

salt & pepper, to taste

*celery seed, to taste, optional

In a medium mixing bowl, mix the vinegar and sugar (more or less depending on your taste preference) together until well combined. Add the sliced vegetables; add salt & pepper, to taste. Let the mixture sit on the kitchen counter for a few minutes and then place in the refrigerator to store. Once all of the vegetables are gone, you can simply continue adding more vegetables to the vinegar and sugar mixture.

*Note: My mom says the recipe she has calls for this ingredient but she always leaves it out.