The dutch oven effect ...

While it is completely within the realm of possibility that Big Elizabeth would cover our heads with the covers and pass gas, this post is not about that little ditty. It is about my beautiful brides recent kick for cooking in her new Rachel Ray dutch oven.

A few weeks ago, Big E came home with this new and not so cheap little item to "try" a new recipe. If you know our cooking skill level then you know that I was scared. In our five years of marriage, we have never thrown out a meal cooked by one of us for a quick pizze order, but we have eaten a few things that the dog refused to eat.

I don't know the official name of this little recipe but I know that it includes chicken, sausage, sausage, bread, chicken broth, celery, onions, and many other things that combine to create a wonderful, exciting and most delicious dinner, lunch the next day and a couple of additional meals to boot. Most importantly, the kids ate it.

So, we tried a second recipe to see if the first one was simply a fluke, and despite some ingredient challenges we had another good meal. This one consisted of chicken, parsnip, carrots, several other items I don't remember and white French Burgundy cooking wine (or Burgundy cooking wine since we were challenged finding the right stuff).

I don't like leftovers but this is one left over that gets better with time. Sort of like chilli!!!! Yuuuummmmm.

This thing was so good that it inspired me to try the cook all day and eat for a week theory. If you haven't tried this theory, there are several websites devoted to it. Anyway, I got up Saturday morning and put together a list of six or seven awesome sounding recipes including the previous mentioned two.

I arrived home with forty dollars of fresh vegetables and a new appreciation for the knowledge of vegetables of the lady at Fresh Market. In addition, I had another sixty dollars of goodies from Publix. I added this to a pile of BOGO (remember this one? Buy one get one free) chicken and sausage that I picked up last weekend at Winn Dixie.

NOTE: Winn Dixie still hasn't responded to my email. No surprise there.

We started cooking around 9:30 AM. Maybe I should say that Elizabeth started cooking. We had friends coming over for the Alabama game so I was really just in the way of the cooking with such a tight time frame. I really underestimated the time frame for cooking such a large portion of food, but we pulled it off. Basically, I cleaned while she cooked. Occasionally, we took a break to rest and see key plays from the various games leading up to the main event OR simply a cool refreshing drink. Around 2:30 our company arrived as we were putting the final touches on the final pot. With the exception of the Chicken, Corn, and Black bean stoup everything tasted great. I will take full credit for the screwed up stoup (a palm full of cumin and corriander is way too much).

We allowed everyone to sample the goodies before allowing it to cool off and find its way into the freezer. I am so proud of my awesome wife. We will actually be able to eat off our labor for the next couple of weeks (mind you we will only have to reheat one dish every three or four days).

So to conclude, here comes the winter weight. It looks like I will have to be a little more diligent with walking and running come February if I am going to run that 5K again.