Mommie Cooks!

Sometimes Simple, Sometimes Grand, Always Declicious

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Cheddar and Chive Popovers

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I can’t believe I finally put flour to bowl and cooked myself up some popovers.  I’m not sure what I was waiting for.  Maybe I thought they would be too difficult to create or maybe (more likely) I am just too darn lazy.  Every time my mom creates a pan during one of our family’s visits I eat it and think, “darn if I’m not going to mix up a batch of these when I get back home”.  I then come home, promptly forget all my good intentions and motor on my merry way, popover free.

Have you ever had a recipe like that?  It took about a year of having a popover pan sitting below my oven, gathering dust, before I finally pulled it out one fine day and made the declaration to take the plunge.  Let me just say, for how beautiful and intricate they look, popovers are surprisingly easy to put together.  Aside from the hour rest time, I might even venture to throw them into the quick bread category.  That’s a big deal in these parts where we love our bread, but not the time it takes to put a loaf together.

These popovers have the addition of cheese as well because lets face it, cheese makes everything just a wee bit better.  To bake up a basketful of your own, you’ll begin by combining together a small handful of eggs along with a little cream, flour, some butter, and a few choice spices.

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Cheddary Cheesy Grits

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Remember the banana’s foster french toast recipe from a few months back?  If you recall, I ended the post with a challenge to recreate the most delightful cheese grits I’d ever put my fork to.  Here we are four months later and I’m finally ready to put my grits where my mouth is.

And you thought I forgot.

Aside from the months old challenge, the other inspiration pushing this recipe to the front page is my brother Matt.  This guy has some mad talent in the kitchen.  He doesn’t visit often enough, but when does, man do we whip up some seriously fabulous fodder.  Long before the french toast was even a bite of inspiration in my brain, my brother and I set to work attempting to create an award winning cheese grit for one culinary inspired Christmas morning breakfast.  While our results were good, they weren’t “knock out” “drag out” “you two really should start your own restaurant” fabulous.  We enjoyed our spoils but knew there was further work to be done.

Matt holding my youngest, Andrew

Fast forward to today and I believe that I may have finally conquered the almighty grit.  Loosen your belts and grab your whisk cuz I’m about to take you on a creamy cheesy ride you won’t soon forget.  This one’s for you Matt.

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Saucy Mama Breakfast Burritos + a Giveaway

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I can never resist the temptation to join in a good ol’ recipe contest.  Saucy Mama recently threw down the gauntlet to me and a handful other talented food bloggers to see who could dream up the best five ingredient recipe using select Saucy Mama condiments.  With prizes and bragging rights on the line, I just couldn’t let the opportunity to throw my hat in the ring pass me by.

Let me just say, it is hard to come up with a recipe that only uses five ingredients.  I’m the kind of cook that likes to add a dab of this and a dollop of that until I get things just right.  Some of my creations are downright embarrassing there are so many additions!  But I wasn’t going to let that deter me.  I’d been wanting to put together a breakfast burrito for sometime now, and it struck me.  Why not add a bit of the southwest dressing to my eggs and see what happens?  The result is a simple and satisfying breakfast burrito that whips up in no time flat but tastes like you worked all morning putting it together.  Throw a little cheese, bacon, and cilantro into the mixture and you’ll be licking your lips and heading back for another round.

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Southwestern Stuffed Mushrooms

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Kids say the darndest things.  Last night we were sitting down to dinner, enjoying some quality time, when Alex made a sudden declaration that he didn’t like meat.  “All meat?”  I inquired.  “No meat.” he replied.  So I asked him the next logical question that came to my mind.  “Do you think you might want be a vegetarian when you grow up?”  An overly exaggerated look of utter frustration washed over his face as he rolled his eyes at me and sighed.  “I thought we already discussed this.  I want to be an ice cream truck driver when I grow up!”  Silly, silly mommy for asking such a ridiculous question.  But hey, as long as he drives his truck through my neighborhood it’s all good to me.

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Mexi-Chicken Roll Ups

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It’s one of those weeks.  My vacuum is broken, and my house is in desperate need of a suction.  My husband is missing in action for the next few days with work and, wouldn’t you know, Nicholas is home sick with a fever that won’t seem to go away.  We’re expecting a delivery of new bedroom furniture for the boys rooms, but as it stands now, their accommodations are such a disaster that I can barely step foot in them, let alone move heavy furniture around.

I’m starting to feel that all too familiar caress of the “I must have a “Calgon take me away” bath and a large glass of wine IMMEDIATELY”  syndrome.  When you’re alone in the house with three boys, though, bathes and wine aren’t always an option.  Step in choice number two.  Which, I might add, ranks right up there with hot water and wine.

I cook up something amazing.  A dish that’s both delectable and tummy pleasing; mind calming and sheer comfort food all rolled into one.  For me, that’s stuffed chicken.  It can be stuffed with just about anything anyone wants to throw in and I’m ready to take it on just so long as one of the accouterments is cheese.  Lots of cheese.

This little creation lives up to it’s purpose.  With the addition of both cream cheese and jalapeno jack, it’s loaded with everything an overworked mom needs to replenish her sanity for another day on the job.  Heck, just looking at that picture and seeing the cheese oozing out of the chicken makes my blood pressure drop a notch.

Grab a large glass of wine and let’s do this.

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Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup

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Having grown up in Wisconsin, there were certain foods that I came to enjoy as a part of everyday life.  Bratwurst cooked on the grill.  Friday night fish fries.  Beer (Need I say more).  And then there is the food that Wisconsin has always been known for, cheese.  California may try to claim it from us, but make no mistake, we are considered the cheeseheads for one big reason.  Wisconsin knows cheese.  Sorry California.  I love your beautiful weather and your beaches (lord knows Wisconsin is lacking in the sand and salt water department and our winter weather leaves something to be desired), but I just can’t give you the crown for cheese over my beloved hometown state; and yes I’m most definitely biased.

So in the spirit of true cheesehead pride, I have created this recipe as a salute to the state where I grew up.  You can find a steaming bowl of beer cheese soup in just about any mom and pop restaurant in Wisconsin.  And I’m willing to throw money down that pretty much every bowl you find will be good enough to scrape the dish clean.  There’s just something magical about combining cheese and beer together that makes the world right again.  Serve up a brat or some fish fry on the side and you’ll be ready to move your roots to the north.  Guaranteed.

In other news, the big day is finally here!  My blogoversary is officially on Thursday, but we’ll be celebrating on Friday with a giveaway or two and a look back at the past year of Mommie Cooks (and what a year it’s been!)  Hopefully the new site design will be launched by then as well.  It’s as good as ready.  I’m just waiting for the green light from my designer.  So keep an eye out cuz Mommy’s updating to a whole new look and this one plans to stick around for awhile.

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