Stuntin' Like My Momma

This was a meal that I was looking forward to make all week long and Sunday was the perfect opportunity as the Wife of the Blog and I had our good friends over.  The wife of the couple that we had come visit us is our friend Jenny, who posts her recipes at Tan Lines and Slim Waistlines so I definitely wanted to show out and show what I could do.  So, I put together some Caribbean jerk chicken tenders, a dill pickle pasta salad, and my Momma's baked beans .  All of the pieces of the meal were easy to put together beforehand and just pop into the oven or onto the grill right before our friends arrived.  For those with more adventurous taste buds, we also paired the chicken with the habañero barbecue sauce from Jim and Nick's (available at Publix).  This plate provided us the perfect indoor tailgate to enjoy one of the last football Sundays of the season and not feel as big as Vince Wilfork the next day. ----- Momma's Dill Pickle Pasta Salad Remixed from...

Well, I guess the first month of the blog is going to be more of a soft opening than a full blown opening.  Right after a painful hand infection that got me behind on posting, I fought off the flu for the last few days.  Now, that I am starting to feel more normal, the posting should be back to a normal pace with still some backlogged items to post. One of the things that the Wife of the Blog and I have appreciated so far about WeightWatchers is that it is not some crazy diet where you have to eat just tree roots or berries.  This recipe from last night was a great example of this.  We got to enjoy a filling, great meal and did not have to feel guilty about having carbohydrates.  This meal was also super easy and came together in probably 15 minutes max.  It is a perfect easy and healthy weeknight meal.  A great catch! ---- Weight Watchers Spaghetti Carbonara Serves: 5 WeightWatchers Points Per Serving: 6 8 oz. spaghetti 3 slices center c...

Because of snow days and holidays, this is only our second full week back at work since December.  So, here's what's going to be on the supper table to help power us through the week.  Hope everyone has a great week and stays stuntin'! ------ What's Cookin'?  January 21st - January 27th Sunday Supper: Caribbean Jerk Chicken, Dill Pickle Pasta Salad, Parmesan Potato Wedges, Momma's Baked Beans Monday: Leftovers Tuesday: Blackened Salmon with Spaghetti Carbonara Wednesday: Leftovers Thursday: Chicken Breast with Zucchini Alfredo Friday: Leftovers

Brrrrr...it's freezing down here in Florida.  I am a bigger guy and I was freezing in my short walk from my grad school class to my car last night.  This soup, like many crockpot recipes, was easy to put together and the flavors blended together nicely.  Not to mention, the best part, it is only 1 point per serving!  For anyone else that may be doing the Paleo diet or the Whole30 diet, this meal also works with those plans.  When I did get home, this crockpot soup was the perfect meal to thaw out and decompress from the day ------- Now, I'd be remiss if I didn't add a little US history now and again... Cioppino is a traditional Italian-American soup that originated in San Francisco around the turn of the 20th century.  After a bad day out out on the sea, Italian-American fishers that settled in the Bay area would take around a pot asking community members to chip in what they had to make the soup.  The expectation was that fishers that had a g...

As I stated on here last week, I have decided to try WeightWatchers in 2018 to try and slim down a bit.  One thing I was somewhat concerned with was that I would not want or be able to eat meals that I actually enjoyed and would instead have to opt for just chicken breast and vegetables like I did many nights a few years ago when I lost a significant amount of weight.  If this recipe is any indication, then I think I am going to enjoy losing weight this time.  Kudos to the "Wife of the Blog" who found this recipe on Pinterest.  It was dynamite and we both commented that there was not a noticeable difference between this recipe and the unhealthier version.  Instead of ground beef and cream cheese, we substituted ground turkey breast and fat-free cream cheese.  This led to this recipe only being a startling 8 points per serving.  I was able to have seconds and still stay within my points range for the day which was phenomenal.  Just more proof ...

This is my second salad of the week on the blog and it was one that is different than my normal taste palette, but I loved it just the same.  For a long time I took lunch meat sandwiches to school/work and this was a way to do this in a healthier manner.  I just feel with eating a salad for lunch that I get much more bang for my caloric bump than when I eat a regular sandwich.  This salad was set to imitate an Italian sandwich with salami, pepperoni, and provolone (I also usually add black olives, but didn't have any this week).  It was awesome and made me excited to eat it everyday.  The only negative that I have for it was that the lunch meats and cheese really added the points for lunch.  However, this salad is almost worth every point.  There's got to be worse things that we can eat, right? ------ Scenes From an Italian Salad Weight Watcher Points: 15 points Servings: 5 2 bags Hearts of Romaine Lettuce 1 carton of cherry toma...

After a crazy week last week where there were a couple night of after-work activities and a hand infection that made it hard to type, I am back and better than ever this week.  I have a little bit of a backlog to get through from last week that I will be doing over the next day or so.  Before I do, here is what is on our supper table this week.  Have a great week and enjoy! ----- What's Cookin'? January 15th - January 19th Monday: Cream Cheese Spaghetti Casserole Tuesday: Leftovers Wednesday: Crockpot Seafood Cioppino Thursday: Leftovers Friday: Chicken Burrito Bowls

After a great and healthy supper on Monday night, we decided to try this Low-Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole to stay on the right track during the week.  We had a meeting with out real estate agent right as we got home so time was of the essence to get supper on the table before the twins started screaming and this recipe did the trick.  This recipe is more or less a bacon cheeseburger quiche than it is a casserole. It was tasty and both kids and both adults cleaned their plates.  If you are looking for a low-carb recipe then this one would definitely work for you.  If you are more strictly counting calories (like I am), this may be a meal you hold off on until the weekend or when you have some flexibility. In the New Year, I have recently started to do the WeightWatchers point system to start fit back into some of the clothes that have sat in my closet for awhile and get ready for my next chapter of my educational career.  So, now for each recipe,...

Tonight's supper is a favorite of ours especially when shrimp is on sale at Publix and/or we are trying to eat lighter.  These recipes came from one of our really good friends, Jenni, who started blogging a couple years ago at  Tan Lines & Slim Waistlines  with some great low-carb, healthy recipes.  To be honest when I first decided to try the cauliflower mash I was a little skeptical, because I had some substitution recipes and they weren't close enough to the original to make the switch.  That's not true with this mashed cauliflower!  Jenni did a great job putting this one together.  There is still a difference to traditional mashed potatoes, but it is close enough that my wife and I have started to opt for this instead.  Sometimes, we serve this with some spinach sautéed with onion and bacon grease (I keep a jar in the fridge), but it was a long day and I just decided to opt for some leftover Momma's Baked Beans from Saturday .  N...

We had a crazy Sunday yesterday experiencing #BillsMafia and then a house showing as we are trying to finally sell our house and move back into Gainesville (hence we had Moe's for supper).  While a day late, here is what's on the table this week for supper: ---- What's Cookin'?  January 8th - January 13th Monday: Spicy Shrimp & Cauliflower Mash Tuesday: Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole Wednesday: Leftovers Thursday: Homemade Chicken Bites and Parmesan Potato Wedges Friday: Taco Ring Saturday: DeLand for the Day! ----- Hope everyone is enjoying the last football game of the season.  I will be putting up tonight's supper momentarily.

So, my wife and I are not Buffalo Bills fans, per se.  After some time spent in Wisconsin as a little kid on one of her dad's sabbaticals, my wife became a Green Bay Packers fan.  I never really had an NFL team growing up.  Whatever happened with the Florida Gators on Saturday was way more important than whatever was happening on Sunday.  There were teams that I liked for different reasons as a kid, but none really stuck.  My NFL allegiances the last decade and a half have been with the New England Patriots for a variety of reasons.  One was that they continuously beat Peyton Manning who I cannot stand because of his time at UT.  Another reason was that for a time they drafted a significant amount of former Florida Gators.  Needless to say again, whatever was happening on Saturdays was always more important to me than what happened on NFL Sundays. However, for some of our friends that have become family, an NFL allegiance has never been a ...

Tonight's supper was a favorite of mine and my family growing up.  It was something that I had not had in sometime, but for some reason had a craving for.  So, when I was home in DeLand over Christmas, I went through my momma's recipe box and was excited to find this recipe.  I couldn't wait to make it and try it in my own kitchen soon in the New Year. I enjoy cooking and sharing meals with family and friends whenever I can and tonight I got that chance.  My wife's mom and dad recently upgraded to high speed cable internet from DSL so we had planned to go over there and help them get the most of their new internet speed with learning how to use Netflix and other streaming services.  Because I knew we would be doing that, I thought that these open-faced sandwiches would be the perfect low-key supper to feed everyone and not be too intensive on dishes.  I also like to help out and cook for my in-laws when I get a chance because they are a big help to us ...

I am sure many of us made resolutions for the upcoming year that are hopefully still going well.  The good thing for teachers is that we get to make them twice during the calendar year.  This was not a New Year's Resolution for 2018, but a resolution for the 2017-2018 school year.  For a long time I was taking a lunch meat or tuna sandwich and a rice cake with peanut butter for work.  In an effort to eat a little leaner and cut some carbs, I made a resolution to start to take different salads to work for lunch.  I am so glad that I made this change and I wish I had done it earlier!  I feel like I am getting to eat more each day, but not seeing that reflected on the scale the next day. This specific salad has probably been my favorite of those that I have experimented with.  I have made this salad for some other family members and have gotten rave reviews from it.  In some of my daydreaming I have wondered if I could lunch portions of it to o...

One of our family's best discoveries over the last couple of years has been the pre-made Bacon & Cheddar Burgers from Publix.  The burgers were suggested to us by one of the people in deli and we ended up trying them and became obsessed with them.  I have almost given up on forming my own patties and usually just go with these.  They have also become one of our favorite quick go-to meals when we are in a pinch.  We usually keep a pack or two in the freezer to defrost if we need them. Well, today was one of those days.  We were running some errands and didn't get back home until well after our usual dinner time.  As any of y'all with toddlers will understand, when they are off their schedule, toddlers can get cranky real quick.  On this week's menu , we were scheduled to make leftovers, but the bacon wrapped tenderloin from last night would not have stretched enough for the 4 of us.  So, we just popped these burgers on our Foreman and they...

After a night of leftovers, I am back and ready to share another great meal with y'all.  I made this meal once before and didn't have a great memory of how this tasted, but it totally rocked tonight and it will definitely be added into the rotation.  With it being cold outside and everyone being inside for most of the day, this meal created a wonderful smell and warm feeling throughout the house.  Not that we needed an easy meal to make today since everyone was home for the "snow" day here in North Central Florida, but this meal was also easy which makes it an even better addition to your recipe box. ---- Crock Pot Bacon Wrapped Tenderloin: Modified from a recipe on  Plain Chicken 1 2-3 lb. pork tenderloin 10 slices of bacon 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 tsp. rosemary 1 tsp. garlic powder 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes Salt, to taste Pepper, to taste In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, rosemary, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes....

Growing up down here in the South, this was always one of my favorite holiday meals that my momma made.  Now, it is one of my favorite meals to make and it was a great way to kickoff this blog and 2018. Southerners superstitiously eat black eyed peas and collard greens each New Year's.  The black eyed peas are for good luck in the New Year and the collards are supposed to bring money/prosperity in the New Year.  While that part of the tradition is fairly well known, the origin and its tie to the Civil War may not be as well known.  Popular legend has that on their march from Atlanta to Savannah and then up into the Carolinas, General William Tecumseh Sherman and his men went through setting fire to and looting from whatever Southern farms that they came into contact with.  The only thing that the Union troops left were the black eyed peas and collards because the troops thought that those items were feed for livestock.  150 or so years later it is the ...

One of the things that my momma always did was to make a menu for what we were going to have  during the week.  As a kid, I enjoyed having it because it let me know which meals to especially look forward to.  Now, as an adult, it helps keep our family organized and limit the impulse fast food meals that can make our waistlines grow and our wallets shrink. On Stuntin' Like My Momma, I am going to bring that here.  I'm going to publish, usually on Sundays  what we are having for the week.  Throughout the week I will share the final products as well as any recipes that I use.   This will both keep us accountable as well as maybe giving y'all some ideas for your own supper tables. ----- What's Cookin'?  January 1st - January 6th Monday: Black Eyed Peas Collard Greens Okra Bites Tuesday: Leftovers (more on this later) Wednesday: Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin Squash Casserole Thursday: Leftovers Friday: Momma's Hot Chicken ...

Welcome to 2018 and the start of my new blog,  Stuntin' Like My Momma.   Starting a food blog has been something that I have been thinking about doing for some time.  Having been a long-time fat kid, food is something that I have always been interested in.  Over the years I have many significant memories tied to food whether it is tailgate food on a Saturday in the Fall, a traditional holiday meal shared with family, or a meal from a special past road trip. Within the last few years I began starting to re-create some of those food memories as well as create new ones of my own.  My cooking has certainly been a work in progress and some dishes have worked out better than others.  However, cooking has been a process that has been a great stress relief for me to counterbalance the increased stress load at work and at home with twin toddlers. The title of the blog, a play on the Lil' Wayne classic "Stuntin Like My Daddy", has multiple meanings.  On...