Food

Warm, creamy hot chocolate that’s easy to make.

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• 1 small box powdered milk
• 1 pound can of Instant Cocoa (Nestle Quick)
• 1 pound powdered sugar
• 8 ounces powdered creamer

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• Mix everything in a large bowl until evenly mixed.
• Store in sealable containers until ready to serve or divide up into gift jars to give as a present.

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Making Hot Chocolate

• Add 2 to 3 spoonfuls to a coffee mug. Add hot water and stir. Enjoy!

It started with this tweet:

I need to capture the essence of tortilla soup …in taco form. How?!

— Chris Lauzon (@squireX2) August 15, 2013

Yumm, right? Alrighty, I have an idea for dinner. My thinking is this: You’re pretty much making the soup, minus the wet parts. Chicken, vegetables, spices, just no broth. I used Ree Drummond’s recipe as a guideline, because it’s just damn tasty.

Enjoy!

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• 1 pack of thin-sliced chicken breasts
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes & green chilis
• 1/2 can black beans, drained
• 1-1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
• sea salt & ground pepper to taste
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 sliced avacado
• 1 lime

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• Mix chili powder and cumin in equal parts
• Use half to two-thirds of this on the chicken. Cook in a hot skillet with olive oil just till the chicken’s done.
• Shred or chop the chicken once it’s almost done.
• Mix chopped bell peppers and onion in a pan with a little olive oil over medium heat.
• Add garlic and the remaining spice mix. Stir over medium heat, cooking till the onions are translucent.
• Pour the vegetables into the chicken. Mix together, adding can of diced tomatoes & green chilis.
• Add drained black beans, and finally salt & pepper to taste.
• Cook another 5 to 10 minutes over medium heat, gently stirring.
• Remove from heat while you prepare your tortillas.
• Scoop mixture into warmed tortillas.
• Top with cilantro, avocado, and juice from the lime

With my crawfish boil coming up, I thought I would share the recipe I use. Try not to drool too much.

This list is per sack (Each sack of live crawfish is 30-36 pounds in size.)

• 1 sack of swamp fire mix
• 1 jar of paprika (5-10 oz is good)
• 8 oz cannister of cayenne pepper
• 4 oz. chinese red pepper or other “heat”
• 3 bags of zatarains corriander and peppercorn sacks
• 1/4 o 1/3 flaggon of liquid boil (preferably cajun land brand)
• 3-4 heaping tablespoons of good curry powder
• 6-8 bay leaves
• 8-10 lemons cut in halves
• 4 yellow onions halved or whole if small
• 3 bell pepper cut in quarters (put these in last of the veggies as they will impart flavor no matter what, but they’ll disintegrate if you put them in with the garlic and potatoes)
• 1 bag of new potatoes (approx. 2 lbs.)
• 1 package frozen corn (cut half-cobs)
• 10 heads of garlic
• 1 plastic tray of mushrooms
• 1 package little smokies
• 5 stalks of celery cut into 3-inch chunks

Fill pot half-full with water.
Bring to boil.

Add potatoes and garlic to basket.
Lower basket into boiling water.

Boil for 6-7 minutes.
Remove from basket, set aside.
Add purged & rinsed crawfish to basket.
Lower into hot water and return to a low boil. Don’t over-boil your crawfish.
Christen with a beer. (*failure to do this will create havoc the likes of which even God hasn’t seen)

Two or three minutes following the dousing of the crawfish, add the celery, onions, bell pepper in and return the potatoes and garlic to the basket.

Bring back to a boil and cook for five minutes.
At the five minute mark, add your dry and liquid spices (I find hitting it with the liquid stuff brings the rolling boil down a bit, you can turn the fire lower)

Turn off the fire.
Stir well.
Add the lemons, squeezing a bit of juice as you go. (note: sometimes we add an orange or two, its nice and gives another level of flavor)
Add the corn, sausages, mushrooms, a few good scoops of ice (to bring down the temp).

Stir, let sit 15 minutes, taste, repeat 15 minutes.

If not ready, let it sit another 5 minutes.

Clear the table, dump, enjoy.