food | The Zimmer Zoo

Not a Lot of Time To Post

Posted on March 21, 2009 by Nancy

For a few reasons…

The good reason:
The What A Card family came over to play today!! We had a great time in the back yard – the kids were all playing together and Burke gave a running commentary for who was who, and who was playing with what toy (and who actually owned the toy). Mike grilled up some grub: Pork chops, kielbasa, hot dogs, chicken, green beans, zucchini, and Potatoes. YUM. What A Card herself brought some very yummy cup cakes for dessert. A wonderful afternoon. 🙂

The not-so-good reason:
I’m off to try to finish up Breaking Dawn (Book 4 in the Twilight Series)

Filed under: food, fun, kids | Tagged: grilling, twilight | Leave a comment »

For Gus – Succulent Death, Step-by-Step

Posted on March 8, 2009 by Nancy

Mike has a buddy in the armed forces who is overseas right now. (Hi Gus!) Mike told Gus that he’d document our first attempt at the Succulent Death recipe (inspired by the Bacon Explosion one). Mike also claims that the happiness of many a solder over there relies on this post (*roll eyes here*).

Step 1

Create a 5×5 weave of bacon. It’s best to use the thick cut kind.

We actually created two of these, so you’ll see two 5×5 monstrosities throughout the documenting process.

(For all you boys out there, that’s:
“Over, under, over, under, over.”
And then:
“Under, over, under, over, under.”
Repeat 1.5 more times. 😉 )

Step 2

Sprinkle BBQ seasoning over the weave.

We used the Pampered Chef BBQ Seasoning.

Step 3

Spread uncooked meatloaf recipe over the entire weave. Make sure that you spread it all the way to the edges, and that it’s the same thickness the whole way across.

Mike’s mom’s meatloaf recipe is to die for. If you would like it, feel free to email me, but I’m not going to publish it. Sorry! 🙂

Step 4

Spread mashed potatoes over the meatloaf.

We used Dinner’s Choice Garlic Mashed Potatoes. A huge shortcut for things like this. (Great for Shepherd’s Pie as well…)

Step 5

Squirt some BBQ sauce over the potatoes.

We used Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory and Brown Sugar.

Step 6

Carefully separate the meatloaf layer from the bacon layer.

Roll the meatloaf layer up from one end to the other.

Step 7

We had 4 pieces of bacon left over after the weave, so Mike stuck them on the ends of the meatloaf roll to keep it all contained.

Step 8

Roll the meatloaf back toward the opposite end; this time include the bacon layer so you end up with the bacon completely covering the meatloaf.

Step 9

Sprinkle the entire roll with more BBQ seasoning.

Step 10

Grill it!

We put it on for about an hour, but it could have used at least another half hour. The bacon was a little undercooked.

Step 11

Serve it!

As you can see, Mike also grilled up the following: potatoes, green beans, asparagus, hot dogs, zucchini, and peppers.

Result

OH.MY.GOD. this was sooooo good. 🙂

Observations

Other than cooking it longer, we may try to alter the meatloaf recipe a bit so that it’s a little firmer. Mike was worried that the roll would fall apart (hence the tinfoil under it on the grill). Being able to put the roll directly on the grill might make the bacon cook a bit more as well.

Filed under: food, recipes | Tagged: bacon, bbq sauce, bbq spice, grilling, mashed potatoes, meatloaf | 6 Comments »

Bad Haiku Friday

Posted on February 20, 2009 by Nancy

Laura at Catholic Teacher Musings hosts a Bad Haiku every Friday. Wanna try one? It’s pretty easy to create bad poetry 🙂

Oh grand potato,
You are so tasty to me;
I’d eat one daily.

Filed under: bhf, food | Tagged: bad haiku, haiku, potato | 3 Comments »

Succulent Death

Posted on February 8, 2009 by Nancy

Mike sent me the following link: http://www.bbqaddicts.com/bacon-explosion.html and told me that we definitely needed to try this Bacon Explosion recipe.

I emailed him back and told him that even though I could already feel my arteries clogging and the pounds piling back on, if the sausage was substituted with hamburger, I’d be right there with him. (I’m not a big sausage fan.)

He replied that he was worried about my lack of vision. We should substitute the sausage with his mom’s meatloaf recipe. (Holy COW that’s an awesome meatloaf!!).

We chatted more about this recipe when he got home from work and decided that a layer of mashed potatoes would make this the perfect recipe. He then asked me what we should call it. I immediately said, “Death.” His response? “Hm. That’s just not … succulent enough.” Then his eyes got big and he laughed…the recipe title is now Succulent Death. Can’t wait to try it.

Filed under: food | Tagged: artery clogger, bacon, mashed potatoes, meatloaf, recipe | 6 Comments »

Carrot Fries

Posted on December 23, 2008 by Nancy

While trying to get dinner together for my fairly picky eaters last night, I asked Maggie if she wanted sweet potatoes. (I should know better…if I ask the answer is “no.” If I just present and make them eat one bite, the answer is still “no,” but they end up eating the whole bowl anyway.) Thinking of what other veggies I may have readily available, I asked if she wanted carrots. “Yes! The big kind. With Dip.” Ahhh…baby carrots instead of sliced, canned ones. Good choice. And this kid will eat anything with dip (Ranch salad dressing.)

Surprisingly, Burke gets in on it too, “Yes! Carrots!” I had to stop myself from blurting out “Really?!” ….okay!

Wouldn’t you know it? They’ve gone bad. Figures, right? Well…lately I’ve been getting the pre-shredded carrots since they are quick to put in the crock pot burger soup, and they’re a zero point snack for me, so I figured – what the heck, let’s see if they’ll try these.

Burke took one look and said, “Carrot fries!” and practically horked tons of them down. Score!! He even had to stop eating to use the potty and was deathly afraid Maggie would eat the rest of the bag while he was gone. Double score!

Maggie enjoyed her’s with Dip.

And Logan toyed with a few as well. (Monkey see…)

You know I’ll be stocking up on THOSE from now on – getting kids to eat veggies is next to impossible. Chalk one up for mommy! 🙂

Filed under: food, kids | Tagged: carrot fries, kid frieldly veggies | 1 Comment »

Recipe: Crock Pot Beef Stew

Posted on December 12, 2008 by Nancy

As you may or may not know, I’ve been using Weight Watchers for the past few weeks to try to get back to a healthier weight. (Click to see today’s Ladies of Loserville post.) I haven’t been going crazy, but I have been counting all of my points (damn those donuts are costly!), and trying to choose healthier alternatives (pay no attention to that donut remark 😉 ).

For the past two weeks, after entering my weight into their system, I get the following message:

Please note: You’re probably excited to be losing weight, but you’re losing faster than is recommended. Although it’s normal to lose over 2 lbs in 1 week, if you lose more than an average of 2 lbs per week over a 4-week period, this could pose health risks, such as heart irregularities, anemia or loss of muscle mass. Please slow your weight loss; your doctor can help you do this if you’re not sure how.

Uh. LAST week’s result was over 2 pounds, but none of the other weeks have been. This week’s was 1.4. So why the message this week? I know, I know…it says average. But STILL. And HELL YA I’m excited to lose the weight, but I’m also not crazy 😉

Anyway…on to the good stuff!

Crock Pot Beef Stew

6 points a serving

Ingredients:

10 small New Potatoes, halved
12 small white onions, peeled
30 baby carrots (1/2 lb)
1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat
2 C. beef broth plus 1/2 C. water
2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp onion salt
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp parsley
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp cold water

Directions:

Place potatoes, onions, and carrots into crock pot.
Add Beef.
In a small bowl, combine broth with water, 3 salts, parsley, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.
Pour over meat and veggies.
Cover and cook on low 6 hours.
In small bowl, combine cornstarch and water.
Stir into mixture.
Cover and cook on high 15 -20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Filed under: food, recipes | Tagged: beef stew, crock pot, weight watchers | 2 Comments »

My Favorite Food: A – Z

Posted on December 9, 2008 by Nancy

As I was doing the Favorite Foods: A – Z post, I realized that about 1/3 of it was potato products…so I removed them all except “P – Potatoes” and created this post instead. My favorite food is potatoes…so an entire post dedicated to it? Oh ya.

Potatoes:

A – Au Grotin

B – Bread (potato bread is sooo good!!)

C – Curly Fries

D – Dilled Red Potatoes

E – Egg and Potato Salad

F – French Fries

G – Grilled (or Gravy Fries)

H – Hashbrowns

I – Idaho

J –

K – Kielbasa and Potatoes

L – Latkes

M – Mashed

N – New Potatoes

O – Oven Baked

P – Pancakes (or Perogi)

Q –

R – Riced

S – Steak Fries

T – Tater Tots

U – Unlimited (okay, so not really a potato, but I wish all were unlimited to me 🙂 )

V – Vinegar Fries

W – Waffle Fries

X –

Y – Yukon Gold

Z –

Filed under: food | Tagged: favorites | 3 Comments »

Are You Hungry?

Posted on October 20, 2008 by Nancy

I saw this over at The Nut House and just had to grab it.

According to halfbakedbrownieguider, this is 100 “North American” foods. You bold what you’ve tried.

1. New York pizza

2. Hoppin‘ John

3. New Mexico green chile

4. Homemade buttermilk biscuits

5. Tasso

6. Whole Maine lobster (I refuse to eat anything with the eyes still in it)

7. Calabash-style shrimp and hushpuppies

8. Kansas City barbecue ribs

9. Hot glazed Krispy Kreme

10. San Diego fish tacos (does this even SOUND good to anyone??)

11. Cheese curds (ya. don’t want that spider to sit down beside me…)

12. Key lime pie

13. Philly cheese steak

14. Memphis pork barbecue sandwich

15. Lowcountry boil

16. Huckleberry pie

17. New England clam chowder (The only sea food I’ll eat)

18. Boiled peanuts

19. Buffalo (Bison) burger

20. Eggs Benedict

21. Pastrami on rye

22. Corned beef and cabbage

23. Pancakes with maple syrup (REAL maple syrup – Vermont style baby!)

24. Everything bagel with cream cheese and tomato

25. Thin Mints

26. Frito pie

27. Potato knish with mustard

28. Silver Queen corn on the cob

29. Soft pretzel from a street cart

30. Fresh-picked blueberries (I try one every year and am reminded why I don’t like them)

31. Sourwood honey

32. State fair funnel cake (Fried Bread Dough is better *grin*)

33. Chesapeake crab cakes

34. Candied yams

35. Oyster dressing

36. Snow cone or snowball

37. Wild Alaskan salmon

38. Sautéed more

39. Persimmon pudding

40. General Tso’s Chicken

41. Frozen custard

42. Italian sausage with peppers and onions on a hoagie bun

43. Chili dogs

44. Buffalo wings with blue cheese (If boneless counts…)

45. Spam musubi

46. Saltwater taffy

47. Fluffernutter sandwich on Wonder Bread

48. Black and white cookie

49. Frybread

50. BLT with thick-cut applewood bacon (better with “regular” bacon though)

51. Baked beans

52. Pumpkin pie

53. Collards with vinegar and Tabasco

54. Tex-Mex fajitas with skirt steak and sautéed peppers

55. Fried green tomatoes

56. Succotash (although, I didn’t know it was called that until I married Mike)

57. Shrimp and grits

58. Hot water cornbread

59. Barbecue chicken pizza with red onions

60. Chicken fried steak

61. Carnitas burrito

62. Apple butter

63. Geoduck

64. Soft-serve ice cream cone dipped in chocolate shell

65. Pecan pie

66. Catfish supper at a church or fire station

67. Oysters Rockefeller

68. Homemade cranberry sauce (blech)

69. Pimento cheese

70. MoonPie washed down with R.C. Cola

71. Pickled watermelon rind

72. Cracker Jacks at the ball game

73. Smithfield ham

74. Meatloaf and mashed potato blue plate special at diner

75. Chicken and waffles

76. Po’Boy with many napkins

77. Green bean casserole with French’s fried onions (Grandma’s ROCKED)

78. Stuffed sopaipillas

79. Turducken (This is Turkey stuffed with Duck stuffed with Chicken, right?)

80. Shad roe on toast

81. Sweet potato casserole with or without marshmallows

82. Cioppino

83. New York cheesecake

4. Pan-fried river trout

85. Jambalaya

86. North Carolina pig pickin‘

87. California rolls

88. Burgoo

89. Penuche fudge (used to make this at work)

90. Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich

91. Scrapple or livermush

92. Elk medallions in red wine reduction

93. Muscadine grapes

94. Cheeseburger at backyard barbecue (although, NON cheese is better)

95. Open-face turkey sandwich

96. Chicago deep dish pizza

97. Cobb salad

98. Peach pie a la mode

99. Macaroni and cheese

100. Root beer float (OMG, I must have one NOW)

TOTAL: 47. Which, much like Shirley, surprises me. I’m pretty picky, which is why anything having to do with seafood on this list is *not* bold – except the clam chowder, but I’m fairly certain that I like that for the potatoes. And there are some things on this list that I’ve TRIED, but I don’t eat on a regular basis. Some of these things I’ve never even heard of.

Your turn! How many of the top 100 have you tried?

And…if you weren’t hungry before…are you now? *grin*

Filed under: food | Tagged: food, north america | 4 Comments »

Good Food, Good Company

Posted on September 7, 2008 by Nancy

…not necessarily in that order…

Yesterday, our good friend Jon came over for some BBQ. He and Mike were going to try to get the swing concreted in (MAN does it seem like it’s going to tip over when the kids swing ‘energetically’!), but with the rain in the forecast, they decided to bag that and just BBQ instead. (They chose wisely – the minute Mike stepped in with the food, it started to pour – so not only did they save the concrete, but they started BBQ’ing earlier so Mike didn’t get stuck cooking in the rain again.)

What did we have, you ask? Even with only *ONE* guest, Mike goes all out: Steak, kielbasa, ribs, green beans, onions, and potatoes. See?

View of the goodies from the right

View of the goodies from the left

I’m going to give away one of Mike secrets. Penzey’s spices. MAN oh MAN – once you use these, you will NEVER go back to regular ol’ store bought spices.

Oh, and I’m happy to report that even though Jon was here, my towel tags are still attached.

Logan on his birthday

Commenting on Comments: *phew* threeundertwo is okay with me blatantly stealing her idea…and you make great points about building the blogging community.

I Was Carded!: Glad we saved you a stop, Jon. 🙂

Yucky Nose: Boogie art. Lovely 😛 threeundertwo, Are you the one who posted about that a little while ago? And you were nice enough to NOT include a picture 😉 But Heather, it WAS my shirt! Uhg…dragging his nose down the *wall*?? Bia, let’s hope that doesn’t happen here! LOL Yup, grannyfrani, I’m *sure* this all comes from Mike’s side of the family…we would *never* do anything disgusting on OUR side 😉

Filed under: food | Tagged: BBQ, food | 3 Comments »

Catching up with Pictures

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Nancy

I’ve been bad about getting pictures off my camera in a timely fashion to share with you all. Here are some random pictures from the past oh, month or so.

I was really proud of my chicken pot pie – first time I attempted to make it. Next time it’ll taste even better…

Chicken Pot Pie

Poor Logan SOOOO wanted to play too…

Torture

I’m not sure WHAT was going on here…

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Finger Arm painting.

"What do you mean it's on my elbows?"

Purple?

"I thought I used red and blue..."

I FINALLY took some pictures of the kids swinging. And Logan’s baby swing came in to complete the package. Fun! (Although, Burke and Maggie fight over Logan’s swing…)

"Push me!"

"hehehehehehe"

Filed under: food, kids, pictures | Tagged: chicken pot pie, finger painting, swinging | 3 Comments »

« Previous Page — Next Page »

The Zimmer Zoo

Affiliates

You are visitor number

Not a Lot of Time To Post

For Gus – Succulent Death, Step-by-Step

Bad Haiku Friday

Succulent Death

Carrot Fries

Recipe: Crock Pot Beef Stew

My Favorite Food: A – Z

Are You Hungry?

Good Food, Good Company

Catching up with Pictures

Recent Posts

Don’t feel like commenting?

Email Subscription

Categories

Archives

Blogs I Don't Have Time to Read But Still Do

2012 Book Reads

I’m All a Twitter