Santa Fe Stew

It's no secret that I'm in love with all things Santa Fe.  If you've followed my blog for any amount of time you know I'm obsessed with The City Different.  And by obsessed I mean I email real estate links to Mr. Devilish Dish on a daily basis.  It's free to dream right?  When I found this recipe that belonged to my sweet "Aunt" Judy who recently passed away I knew I had to try it.  The name, Santa Fe Stew immediately caught my eye and I prepared it the next night.  Only 7 ingredients and one pot makes this the perfect weeknight meal.  It's like a cross between Taco Soup and Green Chile Stew (minus the green chiles!)  Add a side of cornbread or some flour tortillas and you've got a superb, simple Santa Fe-style supper!  (Say that five times fast!)

Santa Fe Stew
Only 7 ingredients to a superb supper!

Feel Better Bag

The flu hit Oklahoma hard last year.  Everyone I know was sick at least once in 2015.  Mr. DD, Little Devil and I spent our fare share of time on the couch.  Fortunately we weren't all sick at the same time, so we were able to take care of one another a little bit.  All kinds of respiratory illness, as well as stomach bugs were going around.  It's no fun to be sick, but it's even worse when you are a kid, and home from school bored.  A while back my BFF and her daughter were both sick.  I knew Mom felt awful, and I figured they could use a little pick me up.  Having been sick twice already (once in Las Vegas--read HERE) I left the bag hanging on their door knob, rang the bell and ran to my car.  No amount of Lysol would have gotten me through that door.  I had enough already and now I stay in hiding until Spring arrives.  I included all of the obvious things in the bag: ginger ale, crackers, and chicken noodle soup, but I also included a few fun things for my Devilish Assistant Emily.  I added a couple of Blow Pops, some Peanuts buttons and a small sock monkey cross stitch kit to keep her busy.  It was a much appreciated gift, and gave both of them a little lift.  If you know someone that's under the weather, throw together a little Feel Better Bag for them.  It really will make them feel better, and you'll feel better for doing it.

Gifts from the Kitchen: Cattleman's Salad Dressing

The recipe for Cattleman's Salad Dressing is one of the most popular on my blog.  We routinely make this dressing, especially when we grill steaks.  Now I know everyone in Oklahoma is familiar with this dressing, but for those of you outside the Sooner State, The Cattleman's Steakhouse is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Oklahoma.  Cattleman's Cafe opened in 1910 and has been filling folks up ever since.  Aside from steaks that don't even need a knife, and their famous "lamb fries" Cattleman's is probably most known for their house salad dressing.  It's creamy, cheesy, garlicky and oh so good.  It mixes up in minutes with just a few ingredients.  The perfect holiday gift from your kitchen...

My pal Amy lives in Arkansas.  She's a busy mom of two boys and a college girl.  Plus she works full time and travels for her job.  Needless to say she doesn't get to spend much time in the kitchen, let alone making homemade gifts.  Every year for Christmas I come up with a unique idea for Amy for her co-workers, neighbors, and children's teachers.  We've done all kinds of crafts, including gifts from the kitchen like my Mexican Restaurant Relish  We settled upon homemade Cattleman's Salad Dressing as our craft for 2015.  I cut and measure all of the fabric and string for the jars, print and hole punch the tags and create a recipe and shopping list for Amy based on the quantities she needs.  Then I put it in the mail to Arkansas.  Amy shops for the jars and ingredients, whips up the dressing and assembles the jars.  Her boys really enjoy taking part as well.  She puts a check in the mail to me and EVERYONE WINS! 

Since I've had Cattleman's Dressing on the brain from helping Amy, I decided to whip up a batch myself for my husband's co-workers.  I've even included a sheet of FREE PRINTABLE TAGS for you to print out should you decide to whip some up too!  I hope each and every one of you has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I hope you get the opportunity to whip up something handmade this year.  Send me a pic and I'll share it on my Facebook Page.

Click on the image to enlarge.  Right click
and save to your computer.  Open with the software
of your choice and print onto cardstock. 

These images are my exclusive artwork.  Please
be courteous when using these printables and
remember they are for personal use only.

Black Eyes of Texas Casserole

Here in Sooner Country, it's no secret the Texas Longhorns are our big sports rival.  Some of you may know their school songs says, "The Eyes Of Texas Are Upon You."  I had to snicker to myself at the name of this dish.  The black eyes of Texas.  (he he)  So don't hate me Texas fans, we can all be friends over food can't we?  There's no football involved here.  It's a variation on one of those yummy Mexican casseroles.  The addition of the black eyed peas makes it Southern AND Special.

Black Eyes of Texas Casserole

The Casserole Line-Up

Saute ground beef, onion and
garlic until light brown.
Don't forget to season with salt and pepper.

Add drained black eyed peas.

Add soups.

Add Rotel.

Add enchilada sauce.

Season with hot sauce to taste...



Layer half of meat mixture in baking dish.

Cover with tortillas.  Add the remaining meat mixture.

Top with shredded cheese.

Bake until bubbly.

Boomer Sooner!

Black Eyes of Texas Casserole

1 (15 ounce) can jalapeno black eyed peas, drained
1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can Rotel, undrained
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can enchilada sauce
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce (or more to taste)
12 corn tortillas cut into eighths
2 cups grated Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Saute ground beef, onion and garlic until light brown.  Stir in remaining ingredients except tortillas and cheese.  Layer meat mixture and tortillas in a greased baking dish, beginning and ending with meat mixture.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake for 35 minutes or until bubbly.

Prep Time:  Approximately 25 minutes     Cook Time:  Approximately 35 minutes

Green Chile Gridiron Granola

Football season is upon us (Can I get a Hallelujah???) and if you know me, then you know that it is my favorite time of the year to cook.  We set up a pretty elaborate tailgate with lots of great friends.  Everyone has a task to do from setting up the tents, to bringing ice to bringing the tvs and power cords.  Thankfully my job is is to bring food, which isn't a job at all when you love to cook.  The only downside to all of the football and food related fun is watching the 'ol waistline.  It's hard to eat healthy with a spread of chili dogs, chips and beer staring you down every Saturday.  Inspired by the healthy snack page on Nuts.com , I decided to create a healthy, energizing snack for this tailgate season.  Often we will spend the entire day on campus outside the stadium and it's nice to have a high protein snack that gives a little energy boost to get through a long day of fun.  And it's always nice to have something that appeals to everyone from vegetarians to fitness enthusiasts.  And face it, when you're standing around with an ice cold beer, yelling for your team on the big screen, nothing is tastier than a handful of snack mix.  I used traditional snack mix with cereal and spices for my inspiration but changed up the spices and decided to use granola in lieu of the typical rice and corn cereals.  The crunchy twist was a huge hit.  After researching the health benefits of different types of nuts at on the healthy snack page at Nuts.com I settled on a mix of cashews, almonds and pecans.  Feel free to change things up with your favorite nuts.  Finally instead of relying on a large amount of brown sugar or maple syrup to sweeten the recipe I used a small amount of Agave syrup.  It added just the right amount of natural sweetness.  Mix up a batch this weekend and Go Team!

Our new favorite HEALTHY Snack Mix!

Start with a combination of your
favorite nuts.  I chose cashews
almonds and pecans.

Look at that lovely green chile powder.

All of the spices and
seasoning.  So much flavor!

Add the agave syrup for
a healthy sweetness.

Whisk together.  

Combine the nuts and granola in a large bowl.

Pour on the spice mixture and stir
well to coat.

This step definitely works best in an
Oklahoma Sooners bowl...

Spread the mixture onto a parchment paper-lined
baking sheet and bake.

Let cool before snacking.

Pack it up to share at your tailgate party.

I invite you to visit the Nuts.com website for more
healthy snacking information, ideas, and delicious products.

Chile Chicken Casserole

I love casseroles.  That's how I roll.  Or should I say that's how I role?  I almost always have the ingredients on hand to put together some kind of one dish wonder.  Chicken?  Check.  Green chiles?  Check.  Cream of something soup?  Check.  Fritos?  DUH.  Of course.  Fritos should go on top of everything.  I love this version.  It makes an 8x8-inch baking dish.  Perfect for just Mr. Devilish Dish and I, with a little leftover for lunch.  Little Devil is always out and about.  You know, never home for dinner.  Too bad, she missed out on a great little meal!

The Chile Chicken Casserole Line-Up

Line a casserole dish with half of the Fritos.

Top with chicken.

Sprinkle with chopped onion.

Add green chiles.

Cover with cheese.

Sprinkle on remaining chips.

Combine soup and water.

Pour over top.

Place in oven and bake until bubbly.
Apparently we were such pigs this night
I forgot to take an "AFTER" picture. 
Trust me, it was tasty!

White Bean Ragout with Smoked Sausage and Spinach

My brother-in-law is a chef in Denver.  Whenever we visit him we get to eat some of the best food around.  Not only does he feed us well, but he introduces us to his chef friends and takes us to all of Denver's hot spots.  One of our favorite places to eat is Z Cuisine.  It's a wonderful Parisian Bistro with an Absinthe Bar next door.  I'm not an Absinthe drinker but I did have the most refreshing drink there that I can only describe as a Grapefruit/St. Germaine Granita.  Seriously, if you're in the Denver area, check it out.  Growing up with a chef for an uncle has been great for Little Devil.  She's never been a picky eater, but when a guy you already think is really cool tells you to try something YOU TRY SOMETHING.  The last time we ate there she enjoyed Z Cassoulet de la Maison au confit de canard which translates to a duck dish, made with pork belly and sausage, cooked "andouille style" in a white bean ragout with wilted chard and kale.  Now I can't begin to pronounce, let alone cook anything like that but boy does is sound fancy and it tastes even better.  In homage to this dish at Z Cuisine I made this White Bean Ragout with Smoked Sausage and Spinach.  Which also sounds fancy but if you think of it as French Style Beenie Weenies then you can not only pronounce it, you can accomplish it.  I'm very proud of how it turned out, and next time my brother-in-law is home for a visit I'm going to make a pot for him!

I'm not a chef, but I think it turned out really good...

The Cannellini beans and spinach were a great
compliment to the hearty smoked sausage.