Tammy's Cornbread Recipe

One type of food that I never really ate before moving to Texas was cornbread. And let me just tell you there are many different ways to make it. I have taken some of my Nana's tricks, along with a delicious recipe from my MIL and tweaked it into my own.

Tammy's Cornbread Recipe

To make it taste as good as it possibly can, a cast iron skillet is a must have. I use my 11 or 12" skillet.

2 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread Mix - I use Jiffy because my Nana used Jiffy which makes it the best. But she used it because it is a sweet cornbread mix.

Add 2/3 Cups Milk
2 eggs
1 small can creamed corn
1 small can corn niblets
1-2 cups of grated cheese (cheddar or colby jack)
1/2 cup chopped jalepeno's, or chopped green chille, or chopped green onion

Mix all up together. Let this mixture set for a couple of minutes to rest.

In the meantime put about 2 tablespoons real butter in your cast iron skillet and put it in your 425 degree preaheated oven. You will want to double check that temp. with what the Jiffy Box says and go with the box.

Once butter is melted take cast iron skillet out of oven and pour rested batter in skillet. Put back in oven and cook until brown on top. Takes about 20-25 minutes. Once brown then pull out of the oven and serve with warm butter, or as Paula Dean calls is Buttuh.

In Texas we serve cornbread with bar-b-que, soup, stews, black eyed peas, a bowl of beans.....

Some older folks might even pour milk over it in the morning and make cornmush, but I haven't fallen in love with it that much yet!

Laundry Detergent

I've actually taken to making my own laundry detergent. Yada, yada, environmentally-safe. More importantly, it's CHEAP!

Found the recipe here and wanted to put it somewhere I could find it!

So... that link is currently broken (gone?) so here is the recipe as I remember it:

1 cup Borax
1 cup Arm and Hammer WASHING (not Baking) Soda
1 Bar Laundry Soap, grated (I use Fals-Neptha)
1/4 cup "laundry booster" (optional) (Oxi-Clean)

Some of my thoughts/ notes:

Go ahead and buy several bars of the Fals-Neptha soap. Drug Emporium is the only place I have found them. I make a triple batch every time I make it. Also, USE THE CUISINART to grate the soap. I did it the 'old fashioned way' one time. Awful and do not recommend that.

So far, I've made 7 batches of this, for a total of about $12. (Still have some Borax left, but the 'laundry booster' will only make it 7 batches). That is lasting me about half-again as long as a $18 box of Tide. It's a little bit of a mess to make, but worth it to me!

Purple Chicken

I think this has some other name -- citrus chicken, maybe -- but at my house we call it purple chicken because the chicken comes out ACU purple! We feel very wildcat-ish when we eat it... :-)
Everyone in my family LOVES this chicken -- it just has a very good flavor. AND... it's VERY healthy! Those two things rarely combine at my house!

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup red wine (you can use red wine vinegar, but I don't recommend it)
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup lemon juice (I use concentrate)
grated orange peel
grated lemon peel
2 TBSP. cilantro (I use fresh -- my favorite ingredient ever!)
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Marinate at least two hours (I usually try to marinate overnight -- also enhances the purple-ness... :-). Bake at 375* for 30-45 minutes, brushing with marinade every 10-15 minutes. (I add cilantro leaves on top when I put it in the oven).