Thai-Style Tuna Burgers

I almost passed over these Thai Style Tuna Burgers in the Sweet As Pie Cooking Club selections.  It just didn't sound appealing at the time.  

But I do like canned tuna.  I was raised on it, we had tuna salad sandwiches often for lunch.  I keep a couple of cans in the pantry.  You never know when it will come in handy!  My daughters, however, are not fans of tuna.

So why not try a new spin on it?  This recipe makes 4 burgers, just enough to try without feeling like a lot of time or money was wasted.   It also turned out to be easy and healthy!

The recipe starts with a ginger/mayo mixture.  I used ginger in a jar since I had it on hand.  If you don't care for the strong ginger flavor, just don't spread the ginger/mayo on the bun.

I got my daughter to try it by telling her "if you like ginger with your sushi, you'll like this, just try it".   She liked it.  The Bassman liked it too.

The best thing about them, other than being healthy, is that the 2 year old grandaughter liked it too.  I love a good peanut and butter and jelly sandwich, but I was glad to find an alternative to change out the lunch options!

Pork Chops with Garlic and Wine

The kitchen is open now and I'm still trying to find my way around it!  Although I still need to pick out a paint color and actually do the painting myself, maybe I'll take a few photos soon to share.  Getting the island top cleared off to take the photos seems to be as difficult as picking out a paint color!  Ha ha! Anyway, I'm trying to catch up on the Sweet As Pie Cooking Club selections.

This Pioneer Woman Pork Chops with Garlic and Wine dish was pretty quick to prepare.  The number of servings was perfect for our dinner and a lunch of leftovers.

Although we love all the ingredients...we love pork chops on the grill, we love garlic in a lot of things, we love red wine, but we just didn't love these things together.  Maybe using white wine as she suggested would have been better.

Just not one of P-dubs best.

White Cheddar-Chive Pimiento Cheese

We love pimiento cheese around here so I was excited to see another version to try in the Sweet As Pie Cooking Club.  We put it on bread, crackers and on celery sticks.  It doesn't last long!  I've noticed it a lot lately making an appearance at local restaurants.  They spread it on hamburgers, shrimp and grits and chicken sandwiches!  That reminds me, I should also make Mrs. Mattie's Southern Pimiento Cheese again.

My chive pot out back has been busy this summer!  This recipe is one of the reasons.

The recipe description says the key to great pimiento cheese texture is to grate the cheese yourself (which I usually do) using both sides of the grater (which I usually don't).  

So I tried this dual grating thing (pictured above).  The result is cheese stuck on both sides of the grater.  I didn't notice or hear any feedback on improved pimiento cheese texture.  Sometimes the best things are just quickly thrown together which is what I did and why I don't have more pictures to share!

I took this to my Mom's to have with her chicken stew at our big family gathering.  There were no leftovers!  I'll make it again, probably without pictures again.

Banana Pudding @ The Well

My go-to banana pudding recipe is this one from Southern Plate.   I like my banana pudding warm.

But this summer, the Sweet As Pie Cooking Club challenged me to try a new one.   This was a great opportunity since I needed a large dessert for our Fourth of July get together.  So I chose this one by Paula Deen.

It is a great cold dessert on a hot summer day and everyone loved it!  Even the leftovers were eaten the next day.  It can and should be made ahead of time.  Those Chessman cookies, with their small bag and big price, were a first for me.  I think one can save that $ and use some of those yummy butter or shortbread cookies from the generic cookie section or vanilla wafers.

And then, just as we were enjoying this new version of banana pudding, Paula Deen was all over the news.  Oh my.  Not good.  Is this true?  Is this really happening?  I live in the South and I'm asking myself this question.  Because we're human, racism and judgement of others is a reality.  We all do it, we all judge others in some way and tend to stay in our comfort zone.  It's not easy to deal with.  It gets complicated so then we avoid it.  Our best chance (and only) of overcoming racism is to see each other as God sees us.  Beautiful souls that we are.  Our best chance is for each of us to individually, deep inside us, seek Him and His wisdom first.  Put God's work first and do what he wants.  Then other things will be ours.  Including freedom from this issue that causes so much hate among us.  Treat others like we want to be treated.  It's not easy, but I believe it is possible.

Banana pudding will always be a reminder to me of this event and my need for Him in my life!

Country Quiche

Let's just go ahead and say if there's a man quiche, this Country Quiche might be it.  It has a good ratio of sausage to egg and cheese and no green stuff like spinach!   Trisha says Garth likes it and so did the Bassman and I.  Typically, quiche is one of those dishes that I'll try when someone else makes it.

It is easy to assemble.  Although I fried sausage myself, that step could be skipped by using Jimmy Dean prepared sausage crumbles in the frozen food section.

This was the first dish baked in the new oven.  There's actually nothing that I bake regularly, so might as well try the new oven out with a new dish!

The portion size in the picture above looks deceiving.  I had two of those so be aware a realistic portion size might be closer to 1/4 a pie!

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Cheesy-Herb Mashed Potatoes

After this recipe from the Sweet As Pie Cooking club, my next cookbook purchase may be a Cook's Country book.  I have been interested in the TV show off and on but many of the recipes and their process was too much for me, the not-a-gourmet cook.  I hope Jennifer keeps those Cook's Country selections coming to the club!

I've never had Boursin cheese until now.  This cheese takes potatoes to a yummy new level so we'll be having those again!   The nice girl in the Publix deli, told me she loves to spread Boursin cheese on wraps.  She's also very helpful, just look for her, she's the one with the purple streak in her hair and gauges in her ear lobes.  I think she recognizes me as the lost old lady always wandering around looking for something!

1/4c of chives is called for in this recipe.  My chive pot, which was mostly neglected last summer, has been the most popular this summer.  Good thing the pot is full!

The pan sauce is simple.  I used boneless skinless chicken breasts so there wasn't much drippings left in the pan from cooking them, but enough to whip up in the sauce.

Just serve with a green side like the roasted asparagus above.  Oh, and don't forget a fresh garden tomato.

Sweet As Pie Cooking Club - Baja Chicken Sliders

The kitchen is STILL closed and I am WAY behind on the Sweet As Pie cooking club recipes.  But I do have access to a grill and managed to put together the Baja Chicken Sliders that I chose back in May.  Back in May????!   Yes, it's been that long!

The slaw in this recipe is the best part.  Crispy broccoli coleslaw with red pepper, onion, jalepeno, and lime, and cilantro.  Fresh and crisp!

Without a dishwasher and kitchen sink, I'm using way more paper plates than I would like.
The second best thing about this recipe is the sour cream and lime zest spread.

Pile it on the toasted bun with the marinated chicken and slaw.

I was so ready to eat I forgot the lettuce and tomato.  With this slaw, it wasn't necessary anyway.