Hats off to.. My pressure cooker!

When people ask me how I make something, they don't except my answer to be "my pressure cooker"… The look is always astonishing! Im sure its because Im not a 85 year old grandma canning jam! Am I the only modern day Woman with all kinds of cooking gadgets?! 

Honestly, when it came around to cooking sweet potato casserole (or is it yams?) for Thanksgiving, I didn't have the first clue how to make them from dirt covered to marshmallow smothered, I just knew it was going to happen in the pressure cooker; like 90% of the things I make! I called a friend, asked how many pounds of potatoes I needed for around 25 people, I heard a gasp… "what…" and something about 12 pounds I believe… I can't remember exactly how many now, but it was a lot! 

I started by washing the sweet potatoes, scrub those little suckers good, there is no need to peel them, the skin is super nutrient! Now, this where the pressure cooker comes into play. Seriously, I cut the sweet potato in half, toss them in! THAT EASY! No cutting them up evenly so they all cook the same. To that I added a whole pineapple, with all the outside cut off of course! About half a cup of honey and a little water to cover the potatoes. I may have used some fresh rosemary and dill as well, Im pretty sure  of it actually. Seal the lid, and cook! Its THAT simple. Twenty minutes of cook time, thats about 35-40 all together with waiting for the pressure to build up! 

Chile Rellano Casserole! Ole

Chili Rellano Casserole

2 roasted pablano chiles

2 roasted anaheim

2 jalapeños (Hell, I roasted these too!)

2 eggs

1 1/2 C. Water

1/2 C. flour 

1/4 onion, diced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

Monterey jack cheese

Cheddar cheese

Handful of chopped cilantro

2 or 3 chopped basil leafs

1. Roast your chiles in a pan on low, for about an hour, rotate every 10 minutes, let sit until cooled to the touch, so you don't burn your fingers :)

2. Heat a skillet with some oil; add the onions, garlic and cilantro, cook until the onions are transparent

3. Mix the eggs, flour and water; add the onion mixture when its cooled.

4. Cut the peppers up, place in the bottom of a greased casserole pan, cover with cheese (I use very little), and some more peppers on top! Pour the egg/onion mixture over and top with some cheese! Bake at 375-400 for 40 minutes!

Gettin Dirty, Eatin Clean

Happy New Year! We had a blast in 2013 and now we're getting ready to start a new book, fresh pages & new paint to mess it up! Im dedicating this year to eating clean and getting dirty while doing it! We'll be planting new herbs and a few indoor vegetables today! Ive already got clean homemade granola bars in the oven and our breakfast was amazing! Next on the list is pita dough, for the week & I may even get dinner knocked out while Im at it!

How we started eating clean:

1. Get rid of all your spices! 

Thats right, I said it! I had SUCH an amazing spice rack. Everything bought local and fresh, still when we switched over and started using FRESH herbs… WOW! The taste, the pop and crispness of flavor, words almost don't do it any justice… Unless you've had my Jalapeño Popper Dip! I have plants now, herbs! Sage, Rosemary, Tarragon, Basil and Dill. They're amazing and go to for any dish! 

2. Cut all your produce when you get home:

Easier said than done. Once I filled up the sink, put all the produce in there to wash and forgot about it! I believe it got left until dinner! SHIT! Turns out, wasn't that big of a deal. I cut my onions first, get that shit outta the way! Sliced, than just quartered. I don't dice or mince until Im ready to use it, so I have the juice from the onion; for health reasons mostly! Cucumbers, Celery and Lettuce are all cut and ready to use! 

Now to the Gettin Dirty part! 

Ill post a few recipes daily, probably breakfast, lunch, dinner type stuff.. duh! MOSTLY Vegan! I know, crazy right? When we started this journey of getting healthy we stopped eating all animal products… yes seriously… yes, Im for real. I went to the store and didn't buy a single animal product. My family was in shock for a few days, maybe even the better part of a week! I have invented the most delicious meals, some of my friends don't believe it! Ive made the meal in front of them and still its "You made this".. yes, with you watching my every move; stalker! LOL 

Granola Bars

Preheat oven to 350

6 C. oats

4 T. coconut oil

1/4 C. peanut oil (oil of choice)

little salt

1 1/2 C. brown sugar

1 C. honey

1/4 C. aloe vera juice (or apple juice)

1 sandwich baggie of almonds (yep, thats how I measure) 

-Crush almonds

-Combine oats, oils, almonds & salt; put on foiled lined baking sheets and bake for 20 minutes. Watch carefully so they don't burn! 

-In a saucepan melt down the brown sugar, honey and juice.

-When the oats are done, put back into the bowl and pour the sugar mixture in and mix to coat!

I found I had a little extra liquid on the bottom, no biggie!

-Put your oat mixture into very well greased cookie sheet, and pat down good! 

If you have extra liquid, pour over the oats!

-Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden!

Breakfast Potatoes

5 wash potatoes, diced

1/4 onion, diced

4 or 5 fresh tarragon leafs, chopped

2t. coconut oil

In my non stick, new Christmas present pan I add the oil & onions, let that cook for a few minutes add season salt and potatoes! Cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat, tossing around the pan here and there! Add the tarragon, or any other herbs you have on hand! Serve with warm corn tortillas and a fruit! Delicious!

chicken & dumplings

I cant just "write" a recipe.. I have to make it, and write it while Im doing it, than go back later to finish the post. I never remember what I put in or how much! Im all hands on. So- Today we had chicken & dumplings for dinner! Although, today I realized i use biscuits, not the dumpling recipe.... Ive never personally tried it, I just love biscuits! Holla!

I started with a whole chicken, 6 (maybe 7) stalks of celery and carrots in the pressure cooker. Just threw them in whole after being washed; yes... i washed the chicken! Someone told me recently about washing their meat (baaahaha i can only think of sex when i hear this!) One whole onion, peeled and 1 whole "bulb" of garlic! You don't even have to take it apart if you're using a pressure cooker, which I am! Set the time to cook for 45 minutes if your chicken is frozen and 25 if its thawed. Let the pressure lower, open it up and let cool! I threw the celery out.  While the chicken cooled enough to take out and pull apart I started the biscuits.

Biscuits:

2C organic unbleached flour

1T baking powder

1/4t salt

1/2c coconut oil

1C ice cold water (may need more or less, go slow!!!)

Add the dry ingredients in a bowl, and than cut the oil in. I use a fork, I find it easier. After you've accomplished to make it look like a lumpy mess, hollowish out the middle, and add the water, SLOWLY! I started with 3/4c and ended up using 1 1/2c. Lightly toss that together, and dump the bowl on the counter. Knead the dough 3 or 4 times, until its all incorporated and not too doughy. From there I checked on the chicken, shredded it. I used the same pot from the pressure cooker to cook on the stove. Add the chicken back to the broth and add 6 cups water. Put in about  3T. pepper and salt. Bring the soup to a boil, wet your hands and start to take pieces of dough and roll them into balls and drop them carefully into soup. I did about 15, made the first ones bigger, since they'd cook longer while I was rollin! When your done, cover that baby up and turn the heat/fire down to LOW! Leave it covered for 8 ish minutes... I left it on 10 and mine came out a little over done! The trick is DO NOT TAKE THE LID OFF until they are DONE. Once you take it off, you're committed and they wont cook the same anymore. Trust me.  

MommyLocs & the Three Complainers

everynight  ok ok.. lets get real. Not everyone makes dinner e-v-errry night, right?  or maybe you do? I can tell you that I honestly dont and Ive tried and tried and tried again... Its.SO.hard! ill tell you why; my kids are SPOILED! one wont eat this, the other isn't hungry. i cater to all of their needs. separate chorizo out of the pan so it doesnt get mixed with eggs, than mix that with beans to make a burrito! what in the hell am I thinking!?!?   NOT anymore! this mama is DONE-ZO! 

Tonight is hamburgers! YUM!! I cant wait to eat some fancy sauce! sweet, delicious & savory homemade fancy sauce.  Look for recipe to follow.

Jalapeño Popper Dip

This morning I woke up feeling refreshed & ready to cook. Rollin with 2 extra kids, sick hubby & teething very unhappy 5 month old what.was.i.thinking! I really wanted to get things cleaned up around the main living level & upstairs... My A.D.D was going off all kinds of crazy! I kept having to remind myself it's ok & cool...

I started with the dip and figured I could clean while the meat was cooking for the lasagna. (Here's that ADD thing again! Who knew lasagna was on the menu ?!?) I had a friend coming into town and wanted things done so we could have a great time together, and not worry about feeding my Klan! The popper dip done, mess clean and baby fed! Whoop Whoop! I was on-a-ROLL! (#ROLLTIDE!) The lasagna was made in a quickness and thrown into the fridge for later.... good thing I was a planner!


This dip I've made a handful of times, after the first time I made it....it was a request for parties/dinners & get togethers. Every time I make it different, not on purpose... I never follow a recipe & I for sure don't measure a thing!

-24 oz cream cheese
- 7-8 jalapeno's (NOT onAstIck bahah) (i used canned a few times, the fresh was better!)
-1/2c mayo
-1 c grated motzerella cheese
-4 palm fulls of parsley (or tablespoon)
-2 ^ ^ Each garlic & onion powder
-1 ^ ^ Dill
-Panko bread crumbs (enough to cover top of dip)
-bacon! No set amount- as much or little as you like (cooked crispy & chopped)
Sprinkle of salt & pepper

I always tell people I dont measure, so here's my method! 

Mix all the ingredients together, usually let the cream cheese sit out for a few hours to soften, add the herbs and let it sit! while thats going, grill/roast the jalapeños, however you prefer. I did it on the stove in a cast iron pan, took about an hour, keeping the heat on very low, simmer even! put a wet paper town in a zip lock & toss the jalapeños in the baggie for like... 30 minutes or so.. they'll be WAY easier to peel! you.are.welcome!

I never got the end pictures, it was gone soon after being cooked! This made A LOT! 

Bake @ 400 for about 15 minutes or until the bread crumbs on top are golden! Serve with Chips!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo!

On the last few of our drives we saw the signs for the zoo... I wanted to go, so bad... I could almost smell the animal shit ahahaha. seriouslly! I wanted to take the kids SOOO badly! We went up there once, I got some info, and decided on opening day of the africa stuff, we.are.going!


The giraffes are the first animals you see! You cant help but see them. They're HUGE and everywhere!!! They must be stupid cheap hahaha