Name: Spicy Hush Puppies
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 2 h 6 min
Yield: Yields 18-24 pieces
Ingredients: 3/4 cup corn meal; 1/4 cup all purpose flour; 2 TBS sugar; 1 tsp baking powder; 1/4 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper; 1 tsp creole seasoning; 1/4 tsp sea salt; 1/2 bunch green onions; 1 egg; 1/2 cup buttermilk

July 1, 2019July 1, 2019

Spicy Hush Puppies

Disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links, meaning that at no additional cost to you I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

When we fried up our catfish, I looked into what sides commonly got paired with deep fried seafood in the south. I saw coleslaw, greens, and hush puppies – which intrigued me. I had never had hush puppies, but Lexi and her family love them.

Of course, I couldn’t just make hush puppies. I added my own twist, adding just a touch of spice that gives your throat a tickle without overwhelming you. They paired great with the catfish, and are amazing on their own as well!

Spicy Hush Puppies

2 hours

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 6 minutes

Appetizer, Comfort Foods, Dinner, Freezer, Fried, Meals for a Crowd, Sides, Southern, Spicy, Vegetarian

Yields 18-24 pieces

Spicy Hush Puppies

Ingredients

3/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 TBS sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp creole seasoning
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 bunch green onions
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cayenne, creole, and salt. Mix until well combined.
Thinly slice green onions. Add to a medium mixing bowl with egg and buttermilk. Mix thoroughly.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix until just combined – do not over mix.
Lightly grease a mini muffin tin. Spoon batter into tin, filling each cup about halfway. Place tin into freezer for about 1.5-2 hours. (See notes for long term storage.)
Heat deep fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place frozen hush puppies into fryer in small batches. Fry for 3 minutes, then roll and flip. Cook for an additional 3 minutes. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

Notes

Frozen hush puppies can be stored in the freezer in an air tight container for up to 6 months.

Want to pair your Southern soul food with something else? Maybe try our homemade french fries or a salad instead!

June 24, 2019June 24, 2019

Grilled Corn on the Cob

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Corn during the summer is a great go to when you’re grilling! Its cheap and easy – exactly what you need when you’re taking the time to grill up some amazing ribs (like these ones.)

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Barbecue, Comfort, Comfort Foods, Dinner, Meals for a Crowd, Sides, Summer, Vegetarian

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Ingredients

Whole corn cobs
Tinfoil
Butter and salt to taste

Instructions

Husk corn cobs and cut in half.
Preheat barbecue to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wrap corn halves individually in a single layer of tinfoil, shiny side in.
Place wrapped corn on grill. Cook for 10 minutes, then roll to another side.
Cook for an additional 10 minutes and roll again. Cook for the last ten minutes and remove from grill.
Allow corn to cool to handling temperature. Unwrap, and add butter and salt to taste.

June 20, 2019June 20, 2019

Hickory Barbecue Ribs

Disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links, meaning that at no additional cost to you I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

We’ve been grilling up a storm this summer! I made these ribs most recently to enter an online contest…fingers crossed! Even if I don’t win, though, my wife says these are the best ribs I’ve made yet – maybe even the best she’s ever had!

She took some to work and they stayed tender even after microwaving, and the flavor is so savory with just the right amount of heat. This is definitely one we’ll be making for years to come!

You’ll need to find a great hickory barbecue sauce. We typically use Kraft. Its usually one of the cheaper options, but the flavor is great! Below is a link for a variety pack of their most popular flavors. We love love love their Hickory and Mesquite!

Hickory Barbecue Ribs

Barbecue, Comfort Foods, Dinner, Meals for a Crowd, Meat, Summer, Uncategorized

Hickory Barbecue Ribs

Ingredients

1 rack of ribs
2 tsp creole seasoning
1 TBS Kamado Joe Warm Spice
1 TBS onion powder
1 TBS garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
Dean Jacobs Spicy Garlic & Himalayan Pink Salt Seasoning to taste
35 oz Hickory Barbecue Sauce

Instructions

Preheat grill to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
If frozen before, make sure ribs are completely thawed. Place rack of ribs onto baking sheet.
In a small bowl, combine spices. Rub half of spice mixture onto one side of ribs. Flip, and rub remaining spices onto other side.
Place meat on preheated grill. Cook on first side for 25 minutes. Flip the ribs and coat upside with barbecue sauce. Grill for an additional 20 minutes and flip again, coating new side with sauce. Flip and coat again after another 10 minutes, and then again after 5 minutes, removing from grill after the fourth coat of sauce. (Total grill time – 1 hour. 4 coats of barbecue sauce)
Allow ribs to rest for at least 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

New rib recipes coming soon, not to mention the juicy grilled corn you can see with our ribs above! Don’t forget to Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!

What is your favorite barbecue recipe to make during the summer? Comment below!

June 17, 2019June 17, 2019

Roasted Red Potatoes

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Summer parties are coming, and you’ll need a variety of sides in your repertoire for the potlucks. You could bring potato salad or a green salad, or you can mix it up with these delicious roasted red potatoes!

These are so easy, and so delicious! Everyone will beg you for the recipe – make sure to send them our way. 😉

Roasted Red Potatoes

Comfort Foods, Dinner, Meals for a Crowd, Potatoes, Sides, Vegetarian

Roasted Red Potatoes

Ingredients

10 red potatoes
Olive Oil
1/2 TBS creole seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes. Pat potatoes dry and place into a large bowl or freezer bag.
Toss potatoes with enough oil to coat.
In a separate bowl, combine the seasonings. Sprinkle seasonings over prepared potatoes and toss to coat.
Place potatoes on a baking sheet place in the oven. Cook for 40 minutes.
Remove potatoes from oven. Stir and flip, making sure every piece has moved. Place back in oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

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June 13, 2019June 13, 2019

Crispy Chicken Taco Salad

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Mark this down as one of my biggest kitchen wins!

Taco salad is a staple in our house. Its easy to throw together and relatively cheap. You can customize it to fit your tastes and if you’re missing an ingredient or two its not the end of the world.

However, this week we made one of my wife’s new favorites. We’ve combined crispy, zesty fried chicken with our traditional taco salad mix ins. Add a bit of our Tomatillo Salad Dressing on top and BOOM! This hearty salad keeps you full for hours without making you feel heavy.

The secret to the extra crunchy chicken is crushed cornflakes. This is the first time I’ve breaded anything with them, and I must admit I liked it more than I thought. You can’t taste the cornflakes and it gives them an extra crispy texture we all love!

Crispy Chicken Taco Salad

Chicken, Dinner, Fried, Meals for a Crowd, Mexican, Non-Traditional, Salad, Sauce, Summer

Crispy Chicken Taco Salad

Ingredients

For the Chicken

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 cup buttermilk
8 cups crushed cornflakes
4 cups flour
1/2 cup garlic powder
1/2 cup onion powder
3/4 cup taco seasoning
1/2 cup black pepper
10 eggs
1/4 cup of milk

For the Salad

1 head of lettuce
2 orange bell peppers
1 red bell pepper
1 large tomato
1 can black beans
1 can corn
Tomatillo Salad Dressing

Instructions

Slice the chicken thighs into 2-3 thin strips each.
Place chicken and buttermilk in large ziplock bag or bowl. Remove as much air as possible, and place in the fridge. Marinate for at least 2 hours. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
In a large bowl, combine flour, garlic powder, onion powder, taco seasoning, and pepper. In a shallow dish, beat eggs and milk together. Place cornflakes in a third bowl or dish.
To bread chicken, shake buttermilk off each piece and then dredge in flour mixture. Shake off excess flour and dredge in egg mixture. Dredge in flour and eggs again, then bread in crushed corn flakes.
Place breaded chicken on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. As pan fills, layer more parchment paper and chicken as needed. Place baking sheet in freezer for at least 2 hours, allowing breading to adhere to chicken.**
Preheat deep fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place chicken in oil and fry for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Place on pan lined with paper towels to drain excess oil.
Chop up lettuce, bell peppers, and tomato. Drain and rinse black beans. Drain corn. Toss veggies in a large bowl.
Slice the chicken into bite size strips. Place chicken on top of salad and serve with Tomatillo Dressing.

Notes

**You can freeze the chicken to keep on hand. After chicken is fully frozen, place pieces in an air tight container and place back into the freezer. Cook as described above. Chicken can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Made this recipe and loved it as much as we did? Let us know! We’d love to hear from you!

June 10, 2019

Tomatillo Salad Dressing

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Our first subscriber request! This one goes out to you CL!

This copy cat dressing from one of America’s favorite Mexican restaurants is to DIE FOR! Its smooth, tangy, savory, and light – meaning you can smother your salad in it and not feel guilty.

Its an easy dump and blend recipe. Anyone can do it! Especially when you have the power of a Ninja blender to back you up.

You’ll need to start with a ranch dressing base. You can either make your own, or use the store bought stuff. I HIGHLY recommend the homemade kind. It has a stronger, fresher flavor, and free of chemicals and preservatives the stuff from the store has.

Tomatillo Salad Dressing

Dinner, Jalapeno, Meals for a Crowd, Mexican, Salad, Sauce, Sides, Spicy, Summer

Tomatillo Salad Dressing

Ingredients

2 cups of buttermilk ranch OR 1 1/2 cups of homemade ranch (see ingredients below)
4 cups of loosely packed cilantro
5 small tomatillos
1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 TBS fresh lime juice
1 jalapeno

For the Homemade Ranch

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp dried dill weed
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried chives
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 TBS fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Quarter the tomatillos. Slice jalapeno in half and remove seeds and inner membrane.
Place everything in the blender. Blend until smooth and well combined.
Keep in an air tight container for up to 1 week.

This week we’re going to try this on a Crispy Chicken Taco salad. I will link it as soon as we’ve tried it out!

Thanks again to our subscriber for suggesting this recipe! Want to see your favorite recipe on our blog, or want to see us try something you’ve been eyeing? Drop it in our suggestion box at the bottom of the page!

June 7, 2019

White Meat Burgers

Disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links, meaning that at no additional cost to you I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Grilling is one of my favorite things – being out in the open air with the smell of food wafting around you while your family hangs out in the shade nearby (I live with a couple of vampires). There are not many things better.

What is not great is when you have to pay high hamburger prices to make up delicious juicy burgers – not to mention red meat is not exactly the best for you. Our family usually doesn’t buy hamburger, and have actually lost a lot of our taste for it. (Don’t get me wrong, we still love a good burger!) So when I grill, I mix it up by grinding our own burger and making it out of a combination of pork and chicken.

These burgers come with all the hearty, juicy flavor you expect from a burger without making you feel heavy. Not to mention its much easier on the wallet.

We recently made this for a family party and everyone loved them! Even though they are half pound burgers(!), almost everyone had a second one.

We grind our own meat, but you can always get ground meat from the grocery store. We do highly recommend grinding your own meat. You can save a lot of money and the grind is always fresh!

White Meat Burgers

Barbecue, Chicken, Comfort Foods, Dinner, Meals for a Crowd, Meat, Non-Traditional, Pork, Summer

White Meat Burgers

Ingredients

4 pounds ground pork
2 pounds ground chicken dark meat
1/2 pound ground chicken skin
1/2 cup onion powder
1/4 cup garlic powder
Salt to taste
Minced garlic to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine pork, chicken, and skin with your hands, blending well.
Add seasonings and mix with hands.
Using a burger press or your hand measure out desired size patties and make them as round as possible. This recipe yields 13 half pounders or 26 quarter pounders.
Using your thumb, lightly depress center of eat patty.
Allow patties to rest in the fridge from one hour to overnight.
Heat grill to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grill patties until cooked through. Cooking times will vary by grill – ours took 6 minutes on each side. Check temperature to determine when they are done. The USDA recommends meat to be cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove from grill. Allow patties to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Top with your favorite burger toppings!

May 16, 2019

Oven Baked Chicken

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Nothing is better than getting home after a long day of work than the smell of baked chicken and mashed potatoes! Pair it with a salad and you’ve got a healthy and hearty meat that will keep you feeling satisfied!

We personally like getting chicken quarters and separate them ourselves. For one, its typically cheaper that way. Two, the pieces are usually larger.

We always wait for them to go on sale at our favorite local discount grocery store. The last time we found them for $0.25 per pound! So we grabbed a ton and put them in our freezer. We’ve slowly been working through them, drastically lowering how much meat we’ve had to buy lately.

You’ll need a baking sheet and rack to keep the chicken out of its own grease as it cooks. That keeps it healthier and makes the skin extra crispy!

Oven Baked Chicken

Chicken, Comfort, Comfort Foods, Dinner, Meals for a Crowd, Meat

Oven Baked Chicken

Ingredients

6 chicken quarters, separated (or 6 thighs and 6 drumsticks)
1 TBS black pepper
1 TBS onion powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp Kamodo Joe Poultry seasoning
2 tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine all seasonings. Mix thoroughly.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sprinkle seasoning on one side of chicken and rub in. Flip chicken and repeat for the other side.
Place chicken on a baking rack on a baking sheet, skin side down.
Bake 50 – 60 minutes, flipping halfway through. Chicken is done when the largest thigh reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Craving barbecue instead? Check out this recipe!

May 6, 2019May 6, 2019

Summer Spinach Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

Disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links, meaning that at no additional cost to you I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Its time for us to get on the lighter side of things. We’ve been eating a lot of meat, pasta, and potatoes, and boy are we starting to feel it!

(Not that those things are unhealthy on their own. Moderation in all things!)

Though I am not always a fan of cooked spinach, its one of my favorite veggies when it is raw. I love green fruit smoothies, and my favorite salads are chock full of it.

These are one of those. This salad can seem overly simple – but it has the best qualities of a good salad! Its tangy, has a bite of salt, savory greens and a sweet pop with berries. What ties it all together is the smooth vinaigrette that’s perfect for summer!

It goes together so easily! Especially when you use a good blender like our Ninja to make the vinaigrette.

Summer Spinach Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

Appetizer, Cheese, Meals for a Crowd, Salad, Sauce, Sides, Summer, Vegetarian

Summer Spinach Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

Ingredients

Spinach
Feta cheese, crumbled
Fresh blueberries

For the Vinaigrette

1/2 pound of strawberries
2 TBS honey
1 TBS rice wine vinegar
1 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Remove stems from strawberries. Chop to make them easier to blend.
Add strawberries, honey, vinegar, lemon juice, oil, salt, and pepper to blender. Pulse a few times to get more contact with the blades, then blend until desired consistency.
Remove stems from spinach leaves. Roughly chop if desired.
In a large bowl, combine spinach, feta cheese, and blueberries to taste. Pour over desired amount strawberry vinaigrette or leave vinaigrette on the side. Mix thoroughly and serve.

Notes

Left over vinaigrette can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Shake if separation occurs.

This would be a great side for our ravioli, or served at your next barbecue with our grilled chicken!

What is your favorite type of salad? Comment below and we may feature you in our next post!!

May 2, 2019May 2, 2019

Grilled Chicken

Disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links, meaning that at no additional cost to you I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Growing up, my dad barbecued rain or shine, winter or summer. Its one of my favorite ways to cook, and since he moved away I haven’t had much of a chance to.

That was until this week when I finally had saved up enough to get my very own grill! (Review of that grill coming soon!) The stars aligned and we got chicken quarters for $0.25 a pound!! So I cooked them up on by new grill and instantly felt closer to my dad.

You can use your favorite BBQ sauce! We personally love Kraft’s sauces, especially Hickory and Mesquite. This time we used Hickory.

Grilled Chicken

Barbecue, Chicken, Comfort Foods, Dinner, Meals for a Crowd, Meat, Sauce, Summer

Grilled Chicken

Ingredients

10 lbs chicken leg quarters, seperated
2 TBS garlic powder
2 TBS onion powder
1 TBS black pepper
1 TBS yellow curry
1 tsp sea salt
35 oz BBQ sauce (it takes us 2 bottles of our favorite)

Instructions

Heat up your barbecue grill to 400 – 425 degrees Fahrenheit, or medium power if your grill doesn’t have a temperature gauge.
While the grill is warming up, mix spices in a medium bowl. Liberally sprinkle spice mixture onto each piece of chicken, covering both sides.
Place chicken on grill for 35 minutes for thighs, 30 minutes for drumsticks.
Put barbecue sauce in a medium bowl. Using a grilling brush, coat the top of the chicken with barbecue sauce. Cook for an additional 10 minutes for the thighs and an additional 5 minutes for the drumsticks.
Flip the pieces and coat with sauce a second time. Cook for another 5 minutes, flip and coat one more time. Chicken is done when the largest pieces reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss our upcoming recipes! Its summer time, so we’ll be grilling until we’re sick of it!