Here are some more meals we have made prior to our blog!

Spicy Potato Wedges (the Neely's from footnetwork.com)

3 large russet potatoes, cut into wedges
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 T season salt
1 T chopped parsley
3 T grated Parmesan
kosher salt
2 cups cheddar cheese

Preheat 450 degrees.  In large bowl toss the potatoes with melted butter, olive oil, season salt, cayenne pepper, parsley, and 3 tablespoons of Parmesan.  Arrange in a single layer on 2 sheet trays.  Bake until golden brown and crisp.  Turn the potatoes halfway through the cooking to avoid sticking.  Remove from oven and top with kosher salt and cheddar cheese.  Put into oven again until cheese is melted, about 1-2 mins.  Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with more Parmesan.

Memphis Monte Cristo (Neely's from foodnetwork.com)

2 T veg oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 cup bbq sauce
8 slices hearty, thick white sandwich bread
8 thin slices of deli smoked swiss cheese
8 thin slices of deli honey baked ham
8 thin slices of deli smoked turkey

Heat oven 350 degrees.  Heat frying pan on med heat with oil.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, sugar, salt, and cayenne until blended.  Pour into an 8 x 8 baking pan.  Spread bbq sauce onto each slice of bread.  Add 1 slice of cheese, ham, and turkey, then repeat.  Top with other pieces of bread and press the sandwich together with hands.  Dip into wet batter.

Add the battered sandwiches to pan and cook both sides until brown.  Remove to cookie sheet.  Put into oven until cheese melts.  Remove and cut into triangles.

Peanut Butter Pie (Neely's from foodnetwork.com)

Hotfudge Sauce:
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 t salt
2 t vanilla
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (or choc chips)

Peanut Butter Pie:
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
2 T confectioners sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream (or 1 container of already made whip topping)
1 t vanilla
2 oz shaved milk chocolate
9 inch chocolate pie crust (or you can make your own)

Sauce: Add cream, brown sugar, corn syrup, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla to sauce pan.  Cook over medium heat until boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and add the chocolate.  Continue to stir until chocolate has melted and sauce has thickened, 3-4 min.  Let the sauce cool 10 mins before serving.

Pie: In large bowl, combine cream cheese, 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, and peanut butter until mix is light and fluffy, about 3 mins.  In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until thick and light (or you could just buy the already made whip topping).  Add 2T confectioners sugar and vanilla.  Continue to whip until stiff peaks form (or unless you used the already made whip topping, then just lightly combine it).  Fold whip cream into mixture and pour batter into pie shell.  Sprinkle with shaved milk chocolate and freeze for 4 hours.  Serve with hotfudge sauce and whip cream, and nuts if you wanna.

We have tried making the home made whip topping using the heavy cream.  Neither one of us has figured this process out.  We either get it into peaks and then it turns runny later, or we can't get it to form at all.  We have no idea why.  SOOOO, we recommend buying the already made whip topping in the freezer section and just thawing it out lol.


For some reason our potatoes stuck.  So, I would recommend making sure you have plenty of oil coating your potatoes.

Here are a few recipes that we have fixed prior to our blog and wanna share with you!

Homemade Potato Chips (the Neely's from foodnetwork.com)

Peanut Oil
1 1/2 lb yukon gold potatoes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Neely's BBQ Seasoning

Preheat oil in deep fryer to 375 degrees.  Be patient, this takes a little while.  Peel potatoes and then slice them into very thin 1/8" slices.  Keep potatoes in very cold water until ready to fry after cutting (so they don't turn brown).  Drain potatoes in a colander and blot dry with paper towels.  Fry potatoes in batches, only a few at a time, for about 3-minutes.  Once they reach a golden brown, remove from fryer and drain on a paper towel lined sheet tray.  Dust immediately with salt, pepper, and Neely's BBQ Seasoning to taste.

It took for ever for our oil to heat up and we had tons of potatoes.  We had half of them eaten before all of them were completely fried lol.

Memphis Beale Street Burger & Old School Onion Rings (Neely's from foodnetwork.com)

2 1/2 lbs ground beef
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 T Worcestershire sauce
2 t salt and pepper
butter
6 Hoagie buns
6 slices pepperjack cheese
12 slices of bacon, crips
1/2 cup Neely's secret sauce (ingredients below)

In a large mixing bowl break up the meat with your hands.  Add the garlic, worcestershire sauce, and salt & pepper to taste.  Mix.  Using hands divide into six balls.  Flatten into patties and use thumb to indent the middle of the burger (so the outside doesn't get higher during cooking).  Grill burgers for 3 mins each side.  Remove and top with cheese.  Butter buns and place on grill until golden brown.

Build your burger and top with special sauce.

Special Sauce:
1/2 cup sour cream
2 T mayo
2 T buttermilk
2 T bbq sauce
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 t cayenne pepper
salt & pepper

Old School Onion Rings (also from Neely's)

Peanut Oil
2 med vildalia onions
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 t hotsauce
1 egg, beaten
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup corn meal
2 t season salt
1/4 t cayenne pepper

Heat oil to 375 (again, this take awhile).  Slice the onions into rings and separate them.  Add the buttermilk, hotsauce, and egg to large casserole dish and whisk.  Stir in the onion slices and allow to soak 3-5 mins.  Put the flour and cornmeal in separate bowl and add season salt and cayenne pepper.  Add onion rings to flour mix in batches and cover until coated.  Make sure to get rid of excess buttermilk before adding to flour mixture.  Add onion in batches to hot oil, don't overcrowd.  Fry until golden brown, 2 min.  Transfer to plate and season with salt.

We made these recipes a few months ago.  We did the potato chips with a different burger but wanted to give you a variety in sides.  Either is good!  This makes tons of rings and chips!

If you have certain people in your house that loves bacon, we suggest making more.  One little girl went on a bacon kick and almost ate the entire package before the burgers were ready lol.

March 24, 2012.


Another evening together and we decided to try some new dishes and use the husbands and kids as taste testers.  We are going to show you how to do an easy meal in one night including dessert and a drink.  Drema made the bbq chicken and the dessert and Mary made the pasta and drink.  We listed the prices we paid for each meal, not counting the basics like sugar, eggs, vinegar, etc.  We will make another blog post about what we consider the basics.

Crockpot BBQ Chicken (forkinit.blogspot.com)
Total Cost: $10.00 (if  you have the basics)


4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts (i threw them in frozen... even easier!)
1 bottle BBQ sauce (sweet baby ray's all the way!)
1/4 c vinegar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp. garlic powder

Put chicken into crockpot.  Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over chicken.  Cook low heat for 4-6  hours.  I shredded my chicken after it was done and added a little more sauce. 

Our husbands commented that if they had a bun and some cole slaw it would have been good for another entire meal.  Might try that with the left-overs!

Three-Cheese Pasta Bake (myrecipes.com and southern living)

Total Cost: $13.00 (not counting eggs)

1 (16oz) box of ziti

2 (10oz) jar of Alfredo sauce

1 (8oz) sour cream

1 (15oz) ricotta cheese

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup fresh Parsley

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1. Prepare ziti according to package directions; drain and return to pot.
2. Stir together Alfredo sauce and sour cream; toss with ziti until evenly coated. Spoon half of mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
3. Stir together ricotta cheese and next 3 ingredients; spread evenly over pasta mixture in baking dish. Spoon remaining pasta mixture evenly over ricotta cheese layer; sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Everyone liked it except on hubby hates ricotta cheese and wishes we had left it out.  However, he ate two helpings of it lol!

 

Dessert: Hot Fudge Cake (like Shoney's)

Total Cost: $7.00

1 box Devils Food Cake Mix

1 jar Hot Fudge Sauce

1 container Vanilla Ice Cream

This dessert is really easy.  Buy 1 box of Devils Food Cake (doesn't matter the brand).  Make the cake exactly like the box says to.  Once cooled, cut into squares.  Top with one scoop of ice cream.  Heat up the hot fudge and drizzle over the top.  Instant hot fudge cake!

It has been warm here in West Virginia so we decided to make a summer drink!  

Raspberry Lemonade (from the sexyknitter.blogspot.com)

Total Cost: $6.00

Makes 2 Quarts

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Bring the cup of water to a boil. Add the sugar and stir constantly for one minute until sugar is thoroughly dissolved; remove from heat and add to a blender with raspberries. Puree until smooth. Add puree to 2-quart container with lemon juice and enough water to make 2 quarts. Chill before serving.

Two of us thought it was awesome, the other two thought it was too tart!  So if its tart you may want to add some more sugar.

These are our dorks...oh sorry...our loving husbands.  They truly sample everything we make, even if its not really good lol.  I think they were enjoying their chocolate cake (after the two helpings of chicken and pasta)!  

Overall it was a great meal.  This meal fed 6 people easily with some leftovers (and that was considering the men had seconds).  We spent a total of $36.00 which equals to about $6.00 per person.  This was a big meal but easy.  You can leave out the dessert and drink to same some change if needed.  This was still a whole lot cheaper than going out to a restaurant and we still had leftovers.  

Good luck and happy cooking!

Drema and Mary

All about the cooks

Hi.  We are Drema and Mary, We have been best friends for over 10 years. We wanted to start this blog together for many reasons.  One to help those who might just be starting out cooking and can make our easy simple easy recipes.   Second to show how much fun cooking can be and how much cheaper it is to do it at home than stop at a fast food place. Last we just want to tell you about our life, the fun we have cooking and what our family and husbands input also...Drema has been married for 15 years and is a mom of 2 awesome kids. Her son will be 14 soon and is an awesome football player.  Her daughter is 10, plays soccer, and is the one we have to watch closely...sneaky as a fox, but too cute...I have been Married for 19 years to the love of my life.  I am also a cancer survivor.  Our husbands are also best friends which makes our life so much easier!  You will learn in this blog both of our opinions, and no we don't always agree, but that is what makes this fun! So sit back and learn a little about cooking, fun, family and of course, 2 Best Friends that love to cook.