Fully Loaded Cornbread Muffins

These are quite common, but delicious nonetheless, so here we go!!

First step, brown your beef and season it.  Just for shits-n-giggles I used a fajita seasoning instead of a taco seasoning.  Be sure to not get distracted, or you will end up with a few overly-brown pieces like the one that's flipped over and waving at the world above.  Once it is done, take it off the heat and let it cool.

I couldn't make up my mind what cornbread to use, so I used one white and one yellow and mixed them, which turned out to be a good idea.

Next, you'll need one cup of corn (I used frozen), about 2/3 cup of shredded cheese of your choice, half a poblano pepper and half an onion.  Dice up the onion and the pepper, removing the membrane.

Add all the ingredients except the cheese to your meat mixture.  You can caramelize the onions and peppers before cooking the meat if you prefer, but if you don't, it leaves a bit of fresh flavor and crunch to the final product and I like that.

Next, mix up your corn bread mixes according to the directions.

Close-up shot of this little guy because I think he is SO CUTE.  Its a Mini Bakey silicone spatula.  I got a set of two of them off amazon for about 2 bucks and it is some of the best money we've spent as they are always in constant use and they are small enough to scrap peanut butter jars and such clean.  Functional AND cute?  Yes, please!

Anyway, add the skillet mixture and cheese to the corn bread batter, mix it all up, then plunk it in muffin pans.  I used cupcake liners so they wouldn't be a pain to get out.

Bake according to the directions on the corn bread packages.

And NOM THEM ALL!  This made about 2 dozen.  They are freezer friendly and reheat amazingly well - the Wookie took them to work.  He also claims they are great cold, too, but I preferred mine heated or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

<3 WW

Tuna Boats

This is a fun, light, crisp, easy recipe that is just perfect for summer.  The success of this depends on how fresh and nice your cucumbers are, though.  While this was good, the cucumbers I'd bought were a tad on the bitter/tart side, so I'd imagine with a sweeter one this would be ten times better.  I got the idea for this recipe off of Pinterest, but as so often happens, it didn't link back to a source.

This starts out with the tuna recipe I use faithfully - my grandmother's recipe.  I've had a lot of tuna made by a lot of different people, but nowhere else have I ever seen anyone put apples into it and that is a shame because it is just stellar.

Starting off, you'll need 3 cans of tuna in water or oil, your choice.  Drain it well and put it in a large mixing bowl or container.  I knew there'd be leftovers so I mixed it straight into a Tupperware bowl with a lid to save on dishes.

You'll also need 1/2 of an apple - red is best, but green works in a pinch - and half an onion of any color.  The cucumbers are for the little boats.  I made 4 boats and had plenty of tuna left over and could have made about 4-6 more.  My eyes were bigger than my stomach, I couldn't even finish one boat, but the Wookie came to the rescue and ate all the rest!

Other stuff you'll need includes mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip), spicy or brown mustard, salt, pepper, dill pickles or dill relish, and garlic powder, the last two of which seem to have been camera shy on this day.  -.-

Hard boil 3 eggs or one egg per can of tuna and let them cool completely.

Finely dice up the 1/2 onion and 1/2 apple and add them to the tuna along with 1tbsp of the mustard, 1 tsp garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and 2 tbsp of dill relish or finely chopped pickle.  The mayonnaise is up to you.  Some people like their tuna drier than others.  I add mayonnaise until it is to the consistency I like it at, then squeeze in a little more since I'll be adding the eggs in later.

Peel your cucumbers and remove the seeds so they are hollow.  I like to use a melon baller, it gets all the seeds out with one fell swoop.

Next, once they are completely cool, dice the eggs up and fold them into the tuna mixture.  I like to do this after everything else is all stirred up so that some of the chunks of boiled yolks stay intact.  If you mix them in as you mix everything else, they tend to break up and just sort of become one with everything.

Once your eggs are in, pop the whole thing into the fridge, covered, until it is nice and cold, then spoon the mixture into the cucumbers and sprinkle with some parsley.

That's all there is to it!

A close-up shot of the goodness.

Do you have a special tuna salad recipe that's been handed down?

<3
WW

Turkey!

The holidays aren't the only time of year to eat turkey.  In fact, we probably eat turkey more when its not a holiday.  This turkey breast I caught on sale and only needed half of it for the recipe I was making for dinner that night, so I decided to just bake the rest up for sandwiches or snacks.

This, admittedly, looks pretty gross.  But do not fret!  The turkey breast was pretty massive and came boneless, skin on.  I peeled the skin off the whole thing, cut it in half, and diced up the half I was going to cook for dinner that night.  The other half, I left in one big hunk, rubbed about 1/4 each of spicy mustard and honey (the real stuff only),  sort of wrapped it back into the piece of skin, then popped it into the toaster oven at 350 for about an hour and I had this:

It was simple, moist, and made one hell of a sandwich and wrap.

As with all poultry, once you take it out of the oven let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes before you slice it up so it will reserve its juiciness.  :)

<3
WW

Venison Burgers

Here's another recipe for those of us who aren't afraid to eat Bambi.  In fact, I loooove me some deer-burgers.  Venison is such a lean and healthy meat and the lavor is divine - if you haven't tried venison at all, I'd say this is a good, safe recipe to start with.

Firstly, don't forget to get your cast iron heating up.  I used about 1/3 of a pound of ground venison for two burgers.  I mixed in half a packet of off-brand onion soup mix...doesn't matter what brand, or you can use some of the home-made stuff.  Mix it all together with your hands and form it into patties.

Put them in your pre-heated skillet and sprinkle with a little sea salt and black pepper.

Splash about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce over each, and cook until done all the way through.  The pokey trick you use with steaks and regular burgers works the same here.

Put on a bun with whatever you want...Mustard, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and pickle shown here.  Mine is the picture up top with onions instead of pickles because I think pickles are of the devil.  Whatever your poison, just dress it up like you would a beef burger.  Nom.

Delicious. 

Want.

<3

The Wookie Wifey

Egg Salad

Here's a super quick and easy egg salad recipe I use with TONS of bacon which makes it so very yummy.  We don't use eggs much around here, so its a good way to use the extras up before they go bad.

First off, fry up 5 pieces of bacon.  Whether you want it crispy or soft is totally up to you.

Then, after it has drained, chop it up, (or tear, I find tearing it is easier and quicker), toss it in a bowl with 6 hard-boiled eggs which have also been chopped up.  I suppose you could tear those, too, but that would be pretty messy.

Next, add a teaspoon of garlic powder and two teaspoons of onion powder to the mix.  I like to use these in egg salad because I want the flavor of both, but don't necessarily want to bite into an onion or piece of garlic while noshing down on an egg salad sandwich.  For some reason chunks of onion are perfectly, entirely acceptable in tuna salad, but not in egg salad.  I'm weird that way.

Next, chop up a pickle slice.  This was a kosher dill, the stacker kind that are sliced length-wise.  If you use regular slices, I'd say use about 4, more if you like a very pickle-y flavor to your salad.

Add about 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise (I use the kind made with olive oil), half a tablespoon of spicy mustard, and stir it all up then salt and pepper it to taste and there you have it!

Pile it on a sandwich or a salad - either way it is delicious and super simple!

<3
The Wookie Wifey