Stain Remover in the Kitchen -- Soft Scrub Bleach Clean Gel Cleanser

Oh my goodness.  When this worked for me, the first thing I thought about was my Kitchen Traditions blog.  I had a pair of khaki colored Docker shorts that I spent a lot of money on just to get a stain on the first time I wore them.  I washed them, soaked them, sprayed them, nothing worked.  The stain didn't even budge.  I was giving up and going to throw out the shorts.  I thought about bleach, but knew they would leave a light or even worse, a white spot that would become a hole.  The cabinet above my washing machine held some miscellaneous over bought cleaning products.  The door was half open and I saw the Soft Scrub Bleach Clean Gel Cleanser.  I did that emotional shrug we all do just before we decide to "try one more time."  What the heck. what would it hurt?  They are destined for the trash.  I sprayed it on the stain and waited for it to ruin my relatively new shorts.  It didn't.  I waited for about 15 minutes and still nothing.  Then I gave it a good hour.  I came back, the stain was gone and my shorts were not ruined.  I rinsed them very good to stop the chemical reaction of the bleach and threw them in the dryer.  They are spotless!  My disclaimer is to test something you care about, but if you find yourself in despair over a piece of clothing you are ready to throw out, try the Soft Scrub Bleach Clean Gel Cleanser on it.  What could it hurt?

Oh yeah, not sure if this will make a difference, but my shorts were slightly damp when I sprayed the gel on them.

Chicken Breast, Mushroom Soup, Instant Mashed Potatoes and Green Salsa

I went to the gym last night, so I put a chicken breast in a Ziploc bag with some green salsa to marinade.  I saw some mushrooms in there, too so thought it might be kind of nice to fry up some onions and mushrooms and mix them all together with the chicken.  It was going to be one of those nights.

When I got home, my husband had taken the chicken out of the marinade and cut it up.  He was definitely preparing something I wouldn't have done with marinaded chicken.  Mainly because it was a waste of the marinade.  I'll explain.

He had a can of Campbell's Mushroom Soup (the kind for green bean casserole) out and was preparing it on the stove.  Then I saw that he also opened the Instant Seasoned Mashed Potatoes.  I just wasn't feeling the green salsa marinade with the other ingredients, but he was cooking and I was tired.

Ultimately, the chicken was cut up into bit-size pieces sauteed up in oil and put into the mushroom soup.  The chicken and mushroom soup got spooned over the seasoned mashed potatoes.  With the kind of Romano cheese that normally goes on pasta.

I didn't care for tasting the green salsa among the other flavors, but as I said, I wasn't cooking and I was tired.  Other than that, I think I would make this combination again--without the green salsa.  I was thinking what fried potatoes, like hash browns would taste like instead of the mashed potatoes.  I guess we shall see.

Hormel Boneless Pork Roast

Well, as you might have read in another blog, my son joined the Air Force and will be in training and school for close to another year in Texas.  He loved to cook for his friends!  There were a lot of things he made that were like mine, but he also made some interesting combinations of food I stopped buying when I turned 30 and food I never had much interest in.  Well, when he left his fully stocked kitchen became my kitchen.  Spice mixes and packets, boxed soups, canned soups, instant potatoes, etc.  It was a bachelor's heaven and now what I would be cooking with until it was gone.

I'm definitely not complaining!  I'm thankful for the food and we'll figure it out.  The first thing I pulled out of the freeze that was my son's was a Hormel Boneless Pork Roast.  The instructions on the package were perfect.  I'd not made one of these roasts before, so I fully thawed and placed the Roast in a small roasting pan.  I don't think the instructions included putting the lid on the pan.  I was concerned it would dry out, since I'm not a huge pork fan anyway, I decided to put the lid on.  About 75 minutes at 350 degrees later, the pork was cooked perfect.  Very little waste.  It was just the two of us, the roast was plenty big.  It certainly smelled better than it tasted.  I suppose I am accustomed to a more savory roast, or it just didn't hit the spot like it might have on a separate occasion, but I ate a serving of it.  We both agreed it wasn't the best roast we'd ever had, but it was easy and would work in a pinch for surprise entertaining, or a night when we were not interested in a working in the kitchen.  We had some veggies and rice on the side.  Biggest deterrent for future purchases of my own is going to be the 390 mg of salt in 112g and the a sundry chemicals this thing was marinading for who knows how long.  When three quarters of the package ingredients starts with sodium-something and xanthum gum is on the list at least twice, I probably won't pay money for a roast that is laying right next to a fresh, pristine, butcher's version of the same thing, minus sodium and xanthum gum.

Stock photo from Hormel.com

Spice Mix -- Herbs de Provence

 I made a breakfast casserole for company last weekend that was awesome.  It was gone in the first setting.  No leftovers there.  In the recipe it called for a spice mix: Herbs de Provence.  Apparently, its all french herbs.  I got it from the homecooking about.com website:

3 Tablespoons dried marjoram
3 Tablespoons dried thyme
3 Tablespoons dried savory
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

I doubled the whole thing and it fits nice in a used spice bottle.  Very savory, and the smell is out of this world.

Chicken Quesadilla Nachos -- a.k.a. Leftovers

I really don't know what to call this, but it was so delicious, I will serve it when it's not on the left over list.

We grilled out chicken this past weekend, so we had some chicken breasts left over that didn't get eaten.  What to do, what to do?

I took out some Tortilla Strips, shredded Mexican cheeses, the last of a brick of jalapeno jack cheese, coarsely chopped up the chicken into bite size pieces and got out my favorite Frontera Chipotle Salsa.

Threw the tortilla strips on the plate in a shallow layer, layered the chicken on top of the tortilla strips, then layered the cheeses.  Popped the whole thing in the microwave for about 30 seconds tops.  Then poured the Chipotle on top.  I at it like nachos and with a fork depending on how messy the pieces were.  This really was a super good leftover!  Enjoy.

By the Way, there is a rare salsa, I just have to give a shout out to:  Frontera Chipotle Salsa.   I absolutely am addicted to this salsa.  I started eating it to help with a sinus headache because it was "hot" and I needed to kick the pain.  I now buy out our local store every time they get a shipment.  I eat it on eggs, hot dogs, steak, sandwiches.  Pretty much everything.

It's great for aches and pains, too!

The Field -- Hollywood, Florida

I had the pleasure of eating at The Field Irish Pub & Eatery in Hollywood, Florida last week.  Highly recommend going to the pub side of the restaurant.  You can order food from there and enjoy whatever entertainment they have going.  I was there on a Wednesday.  Granted, South Florida is always packed, any day of the week, but The Field handled the crowd and didn't feel like everyone was packed in.  We were seated right away with no reservations.

There was a Rod Stewart (George Orr) impersonator there, he was pretty good.  Sang some of the newer "old" songs that Stewart has been doing lately as well as some of the old ones.  He was funny, and shared some great Rod Stewart trivia.  I kind of wish I was there closer to the weekend for the other group that is there Thursday through the weekend--Celtic Bridge.  I like that kind of music for the eating part of our eating, George Orr seemed to enjoy entertaining.

I had the Wild Oak Smoked Salmon as an entree.  It was tasty.  At what I think was $12.50, a little high for an appetizer, but it was definitely enough for me as a meal.  I sampled the chicken pot pie which was fabulous, but more calories than I wanted to eat that night.  I also sampled the apple crumb tart with the optional ice cream on the side.  It was very delicious.

I've made plans to return there the next time I am in South Florida.

Pickled Eggs . . . and Beets

After years of eating my mother's pickled eggs and beets--asking for a recipe--leaving empty handed, a recipe arrived in the most interesting package.  I received a complimentary issue of a new magazine from allrecipes.  Inside was this awesome recipe submitted by "Cindy."  I made a few changes, so we'll see how it goes--and tastes.

8 hardcooked eggs/peeled
2 15 ounce jars picked beets
1 onion/chopped
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper
3 bay leaves
16 cloves

The eggs were hot when I peeled them, added them to everything else all at once and left them the whole thing out on the counter until the eggs cooled inside the rest of the ingredients.  This is a little easier than the recipe, so we'll see how it turns out in the days to follow.  I am excited to see how my hand at simplifying an already much too simple recipe.  "Cindy" called this a "Pennsylvania Dutch" recipe.  Now it's a much easier than easy version.

borrowed photo

borrowed photo