Maryland Style Crabcakes

I have a family of seafood lovers. I myself love all seafood, so it's no wonder that my kids do too. We have crabcakes from all over. The east coast, the gulf coast.. We have had good crab cakes and bad cakes. Finally, after a few weeks of debate, I decided to try my hand at them. Unfortunately, I did not have fresh crab meat. That would have made these crabcakes AWESOME! The recipe was fairly easy. You of course could add onion or bell pepper.. but I stuck to the recipe. I was surprised how well these turned out. I did learn a few things in the process... next time I will use less oil and turn it down a little lower. Despite the fact that this recipe will only make 6-7 patties, that was plenty. One per person was very filling. I decided to serve these with my mom's famous hush puppies. Other side ideas would be salad, cole slaw or fries. I have included the recipe to my mom's hush puppies as well.

Maryland Crabcakes:

2- 6 oz cans of lump crab meat (or 1 lb. of FRESH would be even better)

1 egg

2.5 tablespoons mayonnaise

1.5 teaspoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon Old Bay season

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup Panko crumbs

Canola oil

Combine all ingredients but crab and panko into bowl. Careful fold in panko and crab, being careful not to break up the crab too much. Pat out mix into 6-8 cakes. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and cover. Refrigerate cakes for at least one hour before cooking. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Fry each cake for 2-3 mins per side or until golden and crispy. 

Hush Puppies:

1 cup self-rising flour

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup self-rising corn meal

1-2 eggs

chopped onions

1 Tablespoon Oil

Salt

Mix all the ingredients well. Drop by spoonfuls into deep fryer at 350 degrees. Fry 2-3 mins or until floating and golden brown.

Ingredients

Mix all ingredients together but Panko and Crab meat.

Add in crab meat.

Add in Panko. Don't over stir.

Form patties, refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Pan Fry for 2-3 mins on each side over medium heat.

Cook until  golden brown. The picture makes these look burnt, but they were not.

Mix up all ingredients for hush puppies.

Drop by spoonfuls into deep fryer.

Fry until golden brown and floating. Usually 2-3 mins.

Menu Board

I am a planner. Always have been, always will be. I plan out every dinner weeks in advance. I keep a calendar on the fridge with what meal we are having each night, and the side items with it. I keep it flexible though, switching meals around as we need too. This works out well for us, and also helps me make a thorough grocery list. The only negatives about this "write it on the calendar" method are that 1. It's ugly, and 2. I can't easily switch nights without scratching through my writing and making a mess all over the calendar. Well after a quick search on Pinterest I found Menu Boards! What a great idea! I can't believe I didn't think of it myself! I took the day to shop and make a menu board today. I am not completely finished (I still have lots of "meal cards" to make), but I am done with the actual making of the board. And let me tell you, I love it! I can't wait to start using it! 

Okay, so here are the supplies you will need. Some of them you will probably already have:

1/2 yard of material (or even less really)
11x17 cork board
7 clothes pins
Ribbon 
Scrapbook paper
Small box
Markers
Hot Glue (tons of it)

Trim your fabric, and hot glue it to your board.

Hot glue your ribbon to the board on the back. Leave the ribbon on front not glued so that you can put your clothes pins on it.

Use your scrapbook paper to write the days of the week and glue on the clothes pins. Make sure they are turned the right way as you glue them down (I learned this the hard way..) Clip them on the ribbon when you're done.

Use a small box (I cut a trash bag box in half) to make a holder for your dinner cards.

Cover this in scrapbook paper. And glue to your board.

I used the leftover paper to make a "menu" sign for the top.

Lastly, create your dinners! I used labels (I printed them out) and stuck them onto cardstock, cut 2.5 inches wide by 5.5 long. But you can be as creative here as you want!

Finished project! Just have to hang it up!

Honey Apple Crock Pot Pork Loin

 I am always on the look out for pork loin recipes. I can get a loin on sale for a cheap price, and it's usually enough meat to feed an army. This is a slow cooker recipe that involves apple juice. It could be served over rice or with mashed potatoes. My son ate it on a toasted hamburger bun like a pulled pork sandwich! I enjoyed the flavor of this loin and the tenderness was amazing! Plan on this cooking 8-10 hours or even more. This is super easy and you can't mess it up! Okay, here is the recipe:

Honey Apple Crock Pot Pork Loin: 

• 4- 5 lb boneless pork loin roast (I used a smaller loin)
• 1 cup apple juice
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon real salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Place pork loin roast in slow cooker fat side up. Pour in the apple juice. Generously sprinkle garlic powder over the roast. Add salt. Mix honey, mustard and vinegar together and pour on top.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

All the ingredients.

Pour on juice and sprinkle with salt and garlic powder.

Mix honey, mustard and vinegar.

Pour on top. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours.

All done!

Crockpot Chicken Bacon Ranch

I love to "borrow" recipes. I love finding recipes on Pinterest as well. This is a borrowed recipe. My friend made this for her family, so I thought I would give it a try. It's an easy crockpot meal! I felt as if mine turned out a little bland, so next time, I will add more garlic, salt and ranch. I may even sub out the cream of chicken soup, for cheddar cheese condensed soup. It was still good, but I am my worst critic... so I always see ways to improve or change it for next time. This dish could be served over egg noodles (like I did), or rice or even a spiral noodle. Okay, here is the recipe:

Crockpot Chicken Bacon Ranch:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 package dry ranch season
Minced garlic (I would say 6 cloves)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (or more) crumbled bacon bits
1/2 cup milk
Salt/pepper

Combine all ingredients, and pour over chicken in crockpot. Cook on high 3-4 hours or until chicken is tender. Shred chicken with a fork. Serve over rice or pasta or egg noodles!

Breakfast Casserole for Supper

I must admit that my cousin is a great cook! While visiting with her this summer, I also took it upon myself to steal her breakfast casserole recipe. This is so quick, so easy, and so delicious! It can even be made the day before! You can use any type of sausage, any cheese, and any bread. I used fresh hog sausage from our friends The Bailey's and mild cheddar cheese. I used bolillo rolls for the bread. It was soooo yummy! We may try this with bacon next time. Even adding in some hashbrowns may be fun too!
Okay, here is the recipe:

Breakfast Casserole:
6 slices of cubed bread (or enough to cover bottom of dish)
2 cups of milk
8 eggs
1 lb. of browned ground sausage 
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

Spray 9x12 pan and place bread cubes on the bottom. Top with the cooked sausage and cheese. Mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper together. Whisk. Pour over bread/meat. Cook for 45 mins at 325 degrees. 

Brown and drain the sausage

Mix eggs and milk

Bread on the bottom, then sausage, then cheese.

Pour milk and egg over casserole.

Bake at 325 for 45 mins.

All done.

Serve in squares.

Shrimp and Cream

This recipe comes from my cousin. When we visited her this summer out in the bayous of Louisiana, she cooked us some of the BEST Cajun cuisine I have ever tasted! We came back home with full bellies, and a pocket full of recipes! This particular recipe is her mother-in-laws recipe. I actually made this with crab meat, but she made it for us with shrimp. Both ways were delicious! This is a heavy meal though, so make sure you are hungry! 

Shrimp and Cream:

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup diced onion

1/4 cup diced green bell pepper

1/4 diced celery

1-2 Tbls flour

2 cups of shrimp (peeled and devained) or crab meat

1-2 cups of heavy whipping cream

Melt 1 stick butter.

Add 1/2 cup onion, 1/4 cup bell pepper and 1/4 cup celery. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté til transparent.

Add 1 tbsp flour. Stir to combine.

Add shrimp...

Stir and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.

Add heavy whipping cream until you get it to desired consistency. Usually not more than 2 cups. Keep stirring. Cook til bubbly. Add more salt and/or pepper if needed.

Serve over pasta or fried eggplant.

Dice your veggies, I diced mine really small.

Saute veggies in butter, then add shrimp or crab and flour.

Slowly add in cream until desired consistency is reached.

Almost done...

We ate ours over fettuccine noodles.

First Day of School

So we started another school year in the Hawkins house. This has become rather mundane for us it seems. This is officially the 9th time we have had a "first day" of school. I miss the kids while they are gone, but I must admit, it's nice to shop in peace, and not have to clean the house every hour! With the kids officially back at school, I will have much more time to cook and blog! I enjoyed doing this last school year, and I have missed it! I also plan to post a few more money saving tips as well. As I get back into the coupon swing, I will share info along the way. I don't coupon during the summer, it's too hard with the kids. Couponing requires planning, peace, and quiet! But since I coupon all school year, we just use from our stock supply! So it works out perfectly.

I am so thankful for the sweet, wonderful children God entrusted me with! I pray that they will all have a wonderful school year this year as they enter 2nd, 5th and 7th grades! I pray that I will be a patient, kind, helpful mother throughout the school year as well! Especially when gymnastics, soccer and basketball try my patience! Anyways,  I wanted to take this moment to share a few "first day of school" pictures with you. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

 Carter, Pre-K age 4

 Maggie, Pre-K age 4

Jada, Pre-K age 4

Jada, 7  Carter, 12  Maggie, 10

And another Summer ends...

So another summer has come and gone. I am always sad to see it go. I enjoy spending time with my children more than anything else. I love to take them to see and do as many things as possible, so we made sure to have an action packed summer! They are growing up so fast, I don't want to miss a thing. We visited 7 states this summer! We started out summer with a camping trip to Edisto Island State Park in the South Carolina . We took the RV, and went with Mema and Denise and the boys. We had a great time, and enjoyed staying at such a BEAUTIFUL place!!

Second stop, camping at FDR State Park with all our good friends. This has become an annual event for us. We always have so much fun! We took the RV for the week and visited Callaway Gardens, The Liberty Bell Pool and hiking trails.

After our second camping trip, we enjoyed a wonderful week at vacation bible school, before heading off to the Big Easy to spend the week with my cousin and see the sights! We had never been to Louisiana before, so it was a first for us all. My cousin, who I grew up with, moved to Louisiana 13 years ago. She comes here to visit once a year, but we had never been there! She so kindly invited us into her home, cooked, cleaned and "tour guided" us around for 5 days! We had the most amazing time! She took us to Baton Rouge to the State Capitol, to LSU to see Mike the Tiger, to tour New Orleans, to the Mississippi River, on a 2 hour swamp boat tour and sooo much more! I think this was my favorite trip of the summer! For more pictures and details, see my cousins blog post:

 http://thebayhamfamily.blogspot.com/2013/07/and-then-not-so-lazy-days-of-summer.html

After our trip to Louisiana, we came home for a couple of weeks. Then the next stop on our list was to visit my best friend Nicole. She lives at Camp Lejuene in North Carolina on a marine base. The kids really like visiting the base, it's like a whole different world. Her house is only 15 minutes from the beach, and she has a pool. So we were set! We bought fresh shrimp and blue crab from the market, went swimming, and just hung out! It was a relaxing trip. We also were able to meet another Banana! (If you don't know who the Banana's are- it's a group of 10 women that I met on the internet 2 years ago that all have babies born in July of 2011. I have met 5 of them.)

When we got back from North Carolina, we packed up the camper and took it to Saint George Island State Park for the week. This was our only trip Kevin could go on, so this was our "family vacation". This is truly a beautiful island! It rained a LOT while we were there, but we got to spend a lot of great family time together and rest and relax! We visited the light house, rode bikes, explored the beach, had a fresh shrimp low country boil, and visited the surrounding cities! The bridges in the are are great! Several 4 to 5 mile bridges connect the land, and we enjoyed driving over them! 

Our last trip of the summer, we went out with a bang! I only THOUGHT I was tired, until we returned home from our Six Flags / White Water adventure! My crazy 2 friends and I decided to use our free Six Flags reading tickets, spend the night in Atlanta, and hit up White Water the next Day! We had a great time, and the kids loved it! We finished up our adventure with a trip to the Varsity on the way home. I think next year, we will plan this adventure at the beginning of the summer, not the end!

I feel so blessed to have been able to take my children all over the place this summer! I am sad to see summer go, but I can now return to blogging, cooking, couponing and running. I am also going to enjoy my precious time I have with sweet Kennedy!