Ultimate comfort food. Perfect fall/winter dish. Kitchen Sink Chili Mac is chocked full of healthy comfort food ingredients. This is a phenomenal recipe for the end of the season vegetables like corn, tomatoes, and peppers. Many of the ingredients are most likely already in your pantry/refrigerator/garden.

I’ve blogged about my new found food love, grits. Growing up in Northern Indiana and around few southern cooks, the sound of them simply did not appeal to me. Happy for me and mine, I’ve landed on a phenomenal shrimp and grits recipe that always looks so good on cooking shows. Read the story of my grits redemption.

Everything I know about Mexican cooking, I learned from my ex-mother-in-law:  homemade flour tortillas, salsa, Mexican rice, enchiladas, tostadas, guacamole – a real fiesta! She was a patient teacher, and I was a willing student.

My mother, Shirley, was a pie master. She could mix up crust for a double-crust pie in a matter of seconds. It was always the same recipe: 2 cups all-purpose flour mixed with 1 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (sugar if she was making a sweet pie); 2/3 cup Crisco; and 3-4 tablespoons ice-cold water. Her’s was always perfect. Perfectly flavored, perfectly crimped, and perfectly browned. Mom didn’t make savory pies often, but this recipe was one of our favorites.

Pork Chops, Spanish Rice with Peas & Potatoes was on of our family favorites, and one of my mother’s no fail go to dinners. Quick and inexpensive, the rice is a nice twist on traditional Spanish rice. The rice, peas and potatoes can be prepared on it’s own and served as a side dish.