#FFAProud - 2017 Texas FFA Convention

Summer time has been in full swing at my house. This past week, I was able to be at the Texas FFA State Convention with my youngest daughter Audrey in Corpus Christi. This event culminates Texas FFA chapter's year of activities, service, and contest with a whirlwind of motivational speakers, state level competitions, concerts, fun nights and our state officers running one of the largest state convention in nation.

All three of our girls and Scott were actively involved in FFA from an early age. Scott was a member of our hometown school chapter in high school and knew he wanted our daughters to be part of what he wished he had been more involved in.
So it started, and all three girls joined our Junior FFA program, got involved, served as district, area and state officers during their tenure. Now as our youngest Audrey sets her sights on her own path with FFA, it's her sisters that she continually asks about and looks up to with their successes in the FFA.

Bethany, Ilissa, Scott and Audrey with their Texas FFA jackets
Bethany Area VI VP, Ilissa State VP, Scott and Audrey local chapter

Last week, as I sat through what has become probably my 14th state convention, I was emotional several times thinking about the impact it has made on my daughters and our lives.  Not everyone understands our involvement, way of life and time spent with this association.  We, however always knew it was much bigger than us and if our girls could just tap into it's principals and teachings they would be the better for it.  We could have never dreamed the places it would take us, how much it would help our girls and ultimately guide their paths in life. Both girls received undergraduate degrees and masters in agriculture  (Texas A&M and Texas Tech) with one now leading at the state level for the Texas Department of Agriculture in government and legislative policy and the other being heavily involved with top agricultural firms in communications and marketing.  To say that FFA guided them in their paths would be an understatement.

Bethany's Houston Grand Champion win with a heifer her sister owned the year before that garnered a division championship with while showing with our local FFA chapter.

 Audrey with her win at Houston while with our FFA chapter

Life is all about choices.  Early on, our choice and to this day we have never looked back.

This past week as I watched with pride as our Audrey competed in the Texas FFA Jr. Prepared Public Speaking contest, I couldn't help be most proud of her grit and determination.  For over a year, Audrey has worked on her speech over Bees.  Both her Agricultural Advisor Sue Witt and I watched a documentary along with Audrey and knew this would be a perfect topic for her.  Audrey researched and with minimal help from me, wrote a speech that she has refined, practiced, competed and researched over for now on a year.  I've watched Audrey pull herself up, walk in and deliver speeches since the fifth grade that I could never have done with a level of confidence and poise that amazes me.  As a naturally shy person when she was younger, she has grown in her demeanor most through these public speaking contest and like many young FFA member in these contest they have grown immensely from being a part of the speaking contests. For that I am forever grateful.

Audrey's win this year in Junior Prepared Public Speaking

                                         
You see, FFA isn't just about showing livestock like we love to do, but it's also about building those career and leadership abilities that will help our youth one day in this big world of ours.  More than once, my two oldest girls have repeatedly used their job interview skills from an FFA contest back in high school.  They've repeatedly relied on what they learned from public speaking contest in their jobs to this day. Contest like Extemporaneous Speaking, Public Speaking, Livestock Judging, running for district, area and state offices and even showing cattle with the our local chapter and the Texas FFA have truly been irreplaceable in getting them where they are now.  They've learned leadership skills from Texas FFA programs like the Nomination Committee where they've assisted select National FFA Officer candidates and led programs for Texas FFA like the Ford Scholars.  Each of these FFA opportunities resulted in numerous scholarships, college acceptances and leadership at both while at college at both Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

Oldest daughter Ilissa speaking as a Texas FFA State Vice President at convention in 2008

Our girls representing on the state and local area during their FFA years

As they week started what warmed my heart the most is the fact that the two older sisters  Ilissa and Bethany came to be with their sister Audrey as she competed.  Audrey would repeatedly ask, "Are the sisters coming?' and of course they were there to watch their baby sister.  They prepped her in advance on speech questions, cheered her on through prelims and later the finals and screamed the loudest when she placed 8th overall with her, "What's All the Buzz About Bees?" speech while on stage at the convention. Sure makes a mom proud to see her girls support each other the way they do.

Ilissa, Audrey, myself and Bethany at the preliminary competition in Corpus.

During the week our local chapter had the distinct honor of one of our own former students Jake Traylor presiding over the Texas FFA Convention.  To say he did an outstanding job is an understatement. As Texas FFA President, he was poised, confident, humble and related with every person in the convention hall during each and every session.  Jake...we are so proud of you and look forward to see where life leads you next!  It'll be a great adventure for sure and we know you will be relentless in your pursuit of it!

Jake delivering his wonderful retiring President's address at the 2017 Texas FFA Convention

Jake's week was especially meaningful to our Ag Advisors, Sue Witt, Russell Thomas, Paulette Aguilar, Kyle Keahey and Cati Heikennen who proudly received his first state officer jacket on stage from Jake and watched as a prodigy of theirs in the form of young man, led convention over 12,000 plus members and guest.  His loving family and teachers have done an outstanding job helping this young man achieve his dreams.    
                     

Jake here with our Ag teachers after the final session of the Texas FFA Convention after retiring his jackets.  His shirt signifies the members of the Area VI Association who signed it as a token of remembrance.

                               
Also during the week, I stopped by to visit with The Pulse who I blog for as they were present in the exhibit hall at convention.  It was great to see them there as always supporting our youth and the kids having fun with their games.  What I love most about Sullivan Supply and The Pulse is their constant support of our youth and associations like Texas FFA. Thank you!

Now as we look forward to finishing out summer, this week will always stand out in our memory.  As a family we are thankful, proud and most importantly humbled to know that there is an association and teachers in FFA that give and care so much for not just our children, but those of so many.

Next time you see an agricultural education teacher, realize the long, sometimes thankless hours they spend in and out of the classroom.  Just this week our own local chapter took over 30 kids throughout the week to convention. Some might call that crazy...but we call it devotion and instilling hope in the future of these kids. During the course of their week, perhaps one keynote address or event spurred enough of a passion in them that FFA will forever be in their hearts.  I know it holds a solid place in our entire families hearts.

                                 

Thank you Texas FFA, Jake, and our Ag Advisors for this past week and to the Texas FFA for putting on a stellar convention yet again.  Congratulations to everyone who competed, placed and won while there. Remember it's not about the ribbons and  awards, but what you learned along the way.  Take your experiences from the convention theme Relentless home and apply it to your life. I know I personally came away with a renewed spirit and continued appreciation and love for this association's mission.

Audrey with her Agricultural Advisors Russell Thomas, Sue Witt, Paulette Aguilar, Kyle Keahey and Cati Heikennen

                               

#FFAProud #TexasFFA

Alise @ The Ranch Kitchen

Strawberry, Strawberries!

Strawberries are at their sweetest right now.  At local farms you can also pick your very own. It's a sweet tradition in our family to do this at least once each year. 

Strawberry Angel Food Cake

For this last week's Sullivan's The Pulse post, I shared some of our very favorite strawberry recipes from The Ranch Kitchen's site.  These are not only my recipes, but those of friends of The Ranch Kitchen who have shared on my site.  

It's always fun to open up and see recipes friends have shared to post to my site.  These strawberry recipes also happen to be some of the most popular and visited on the site too.

Kathy's Strawberry Pie

You can click here to access on The Pulse - The Ranch Kitchens' Dessert, Dessert, Desserts - Strawberry post here too! These strawberry recipes are easy and everyone loves them on our ranch!  

Brandi's Strawberry Cupcakes

If you have some recipes you'd like to share on The Ranch Kitchen, it's easy.  Just click on The Ranch Kitchen's Share a Recipe link on the tab on the recipe section of my blog. You'll create a log-in there and you are set to go. Once I've checked it over, you'll be posted on the site and can share with your family and friends!

Strawberry Brownies

Our plans tomorrow are to pick strawberries at a local farm or two in the afternoon and come back to create a few new recipes.  My girls, their cousins and friends love picking strawberries and I know yours will too.

We hope your weekend is a great one!  

Alise 
The Ranch Kitchen!

2015 Memorial Day Weekend at the Texas Coast

My daughter Bethany put it best when she described our weekend at the Texas coast to friends before she made the long journey from Lubbock.  She said, "We will be with dear friends where I can be myself and just relax!"  Memorial  Day weekend has always been a special time for us where we usually camp with our girls and friends at the lake, but for a change this year we spent it with our dear friends Tommy and Melinda Smith and their sweet family at their beautiful beach house at Rollover Pass just off Galveston Island.

This lovely beach house was built by an Amish builder with
 peg construction.  Love it!

My husband Scott and Tommy have been friends since grade school.  They've always continued their friendship and seemed to just 'get each other' like no friend I've seen him have.  His parents were and are very dear to us.  Tommy's boys and our girls grew up together as we in turn raised our little families.  Some of our favorite memories together will always be floating the Big Cypress Creek to Caddo's bayous and lake loaded with the biggest and best water guns ready to blast each other just about the time we got to the state park.  We'd do this every summer for about five years on Memorial Day and usually have our other great friends Rex and Carol Thompson and their kids in tow.  We'd pack huge lunches and sit under the Cypress trees that dripped with moss and enjoy the beauty that is Caddo, the largest natural bayou and lake in Texas. 

I remember all of us having football parties after the Friday night game where we'd each bring an appetizer and the kids would put on their pj's while we'd all visit.  It's times like these our kids still remember and my oldest daughter Ilissa mentioned that weekend that we sure did like to have a lot of get together's with our friends she remembered growing up!

In the past year with all of our lives getting busier and kids growing up and off at college we haven't spent near the time together we should have, but we fixed that this weekend. 

A little kite flying with enough wind to keep it up until the storms came.
Anything for the baby girl of the group!

Skim Surfing.

Our youngest daughter truly enjoyed her weekend and the beach!

So it was only fitting that we spend Memorial Day weekend with Tommy, Melinda and their sweet kids Brad, Ryan, Kayla, Kara and exchange student from Italy Clara.  We swam, dodged a few rain storms, the men fished and we ate everything from fresh seafood the men caught to steaks while catching up, playing board games and dominoes.  Melinda and I both enjoyed cooking, sharing recipes and catching up about our kids. 

Board game fun.

Melinda is a fantastic cook and wowed us all weekend with some of her recipes.  Her french bread was absolutely delicious and we could have made a meal out of it alone.  The steak marinade was equally as good.  So good in fact that we even ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day along with some repurposed baked potatoes that I sauteed in butter and Tony Chachere's.  The Redfish and Sea Trout were a real treat coming from the men's previous days catches and there was enough left over for us each to bring home some frozen for later meals.

Melinda making her 'Smashed Potatoes' that were delicious!

With or without cheese these potatoes are fantastic!

Click here for the recipe for Melinda's Smashed Potatoes!

Preparing the Sea Trout for the grill with Olive Oil and Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning.

Tommy preparing the Sea Trout for the grill.

Sea Trout, Melinda's Smashed Potatoes, her garlice bread, and The Ranch Kitchen's Sauteed Squash.  Just make this squash recipe without the potatoes!

This Red Fish was wonderful!

It's a weekend I hope to repeat soon and one we will always have fond memories of.  I'm so proud of their kids and when you have special friends you should always make time to make more memories. 

Ringing In The New Year With The Ranch Kitchen

The new year is almost here and it's time to make those new year resolutions! This year, my resolutions are to organize my house, blog more by posting more recipes and continue to spend time doing the things we love as a family. Family is first in my life and above all things it's always my goal to make special moments and cherish the quality time I get to spend with them all.  I am extremely thankful for the year we have had and realize how lucky we are in so many ways.

Nothing speaks the New Year's foods like black-eyed peas, cabbage, my Cajun Baby Back Ribs or this fun black-eyed pea appetizer below. Let The Ranch Kitchen help you ring in the new year with this medley of good luck, prosperity and healthy recipes that will start your year off right.

For starters to bring in that good luck you must have black-eyed peas.  I'm a little superstitious, so we make these from scratch on New Year's Day.  These Black-Eyed Peas are a sure fire hit and simple to make.  You can use your crock pot and cook them all day or put them on the morning of for you lunch or afternoon for your evening meal. If you are Kielbasa link sausage fan, add that to the pot as your cabbage cooks for an easy meal everyone loves too.

Since cabbage is green naturally in color, it represents the color of money. So eat lots and lots of cabbage on New Year's Day as well.  Cabbage is good for you to start with and my Granny's is Wilted Cabbage is one of The Ranch Kitchen's biggest hits.  Cabbage, my friends, is a worldwide vegetable that everyone loves and this recipe is easy, easy to make and serve. 

This Black-eyed Pea Salsa is more of an appetizer for New Year's Eve, but is great as a side vegetable  along any meal when you are wanting something a little different.  I made this in bulk this year and will serve it with tortilla chips.

Next it's tradition to serve pork ribs for our meal as well on New Year's Day. This crazily represents how pigs root their noses forward when they nudge the ground...I can't make this up...so it means you will be going forward in the new year. At any rate..eat some pork and don't go backwards. It's the other white meat and my Cajun Back Baby Ribs are the best way to make them. You don't have to have a grill to make it, so your oven will do just fine. 

So Happy New Year from The Ranch Kitchen!  Thanks for following my site. It's been such an unexpected thrill these last years adding to my site and sharing our recipes with you.  Here's to the new year with all the luck, prosperity and happiness you can have!

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen

The Ranch Kitchen's Chicken Spaghetti Family Portion Sized Recipe & 200th Post!

For years I've shared my recipes that will feed a crowd. Crowds, large family gatherings and learning to cook from a mom and Granny who fed my brothers and all their friends was normal for me.

My - The Ranch Kitchen's Chicken Spaghetti is no exception and for years usually the only time I make this huge batch recipe is for our Hereford family friends at our cow shows.

The Ranch Kitchen's Chicken Spaghetti

It sounds like a funny joke for someone who advocates for beef to showcase one of her favorite recipes being that with the main meat being chicken!  But chicken it is and my The Ranch Kitchen's Chicken Spaghetti has become a main dish that is expected at gatherings in the winter at the National Hereford Show in Fort Worth, the Houston Jr. Livestock Show for our Gilmer FFA kiddos and then it's a must for one meal during our National Junior Hereford Shows wherever we land across the USA each summer.

This meal is easy to make in large roaster ovens where we easily feed not just our Texas friends, but sweet family friends and guest from across the US.  If you ask my daughter's friends what meal they associate with me, it's this simple dish.  And on the rare occasion that I didn't make this during a cattle show, it's the first thing I hear about and asked just where is it?!!

So tonight as I sit to FINALLY get my recipe on my site with the family portion sized recipe, please know that although I'm used to making it for a crowd, this recipe paired down is just as good.  It will still make a large amount, but will freeze and hold over well for a few days if you just can't eat it all in one sitting as we say in the south!

In this recipe you can use chicken from a can for ease or baked chicken you cook yourself.  I prefer to bake my chicken and shred or chop into chunk sized bites.  I also will never again make the mistake to use cheaper variety thin spaghetti noodles as you only want a good 'named' quality brand that will remain firm and not become mushy. So pay the extra few cents on the noodles and you'll thank me later.

My husband is not particularly a cheese lover in anything, but he loves the addition of Velvetta Processed Cheese in this recipe.  If you want it cheesier, then add more...but only add a little at a time until you get the chicken spaghetti to the consistency you want.

To reheat this dish you can use your trusty microwave or add a cup of chicken broth to a non-stick stove top pan to warm it all back up the next night.

So without further delay and with much prodding from my dear friends for a smaller quantity recipe for my most sought after recipe here on the site that for some crazy reason I've never placed on it.....here you go!  My middle daughter Bethany once made this for her Hereford friends at Texas A&M with the large recipe found her on the site.  She had made so much, that they ate it literally for a week and then much to my surprised pawned it off on a few of her guy friends at the end of the week six days later!  I sure hoped it was still worthy of eating and the boys fared well after it being in the fridge for that long!  Kids!  Glad they enjoyed it, but about scared me to death!

Click here for the recipe for
The Ranch Kitchen's Chicken Spaghetti

So eat your heart out! Share the recipe and remember that nobody said cooking had to be hard!  It's a meal like this that I have made innumerable friends with, made someone feel welcome and given them a taste of The Ranch Kitchen!

Enjoy and I hope you will make this recipe for my The Ranch Kitchen Chicken Spaghetti real soon!

If you like it, please share, comment below or on The Ranch Kitchen's Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.  To keep seeing my post on these sites you have to click to like or share to keep it current on your feed.  Sadly new settings on these sites limit pages like mine in visibility unless I pay for my post...which is pretty costly!

As always thanks for following my site, being an inspiration to me to keep on blogging and for trying out my recipes!

In closing, as I write my 200th post for The Ranch Kitchen site...it is very, very appropriate that this The Ranch Kitchen's Chicken Spaghetti be the one! I honestly can not believe I've hit this mark!

So as they say...it's been fun....it's been real...and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for following The Ranch Kitchen!  Life's an adventure and it's meant to be lived!

Alise Nolan 

The Ranch Kitchen Cooks - State Fair of Texas 'GO Texan' Event

This past weekend was a fun time for both myself and my family.  It was a culmination of 9 years of work as both a blogger, recipe developer and our families practice of advocating for agriculture with a cooking demonstration at the 2016 State Fair of Texas in their GO Texan Pavilion!

Most definitely one of the highlights for my blog and site The Ranch Kitchen has been my inclusion in the this year's Taste of Texas - Go Texan Recipe book that is housed in the Go Texan Pavilion during our annual State Fair of Texas with my Beefy Mexican Cornbread. More humbling was the fact that this recipe was handed down from my mother who made this for my brothers and I as children.  We loved it then and continue to enjoy it now, especially with the Hereford beef we raise on our ranch.  It's a southwestern inspired main dish with a cornbread topping mixed with corn that is extra spicy with a cheese filling and topping.  When we can we will use green chili's from our garden sauteed with the ground beef as I did for my demo this weekend.  

We do love our Texas Agriculture pictured here at the 

GO Texan preview event
the week before the cooking demonstration!

So nice to get to meet Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller!

Here I am with the official Go Texan Taste of Texas Cookbook
and my featured recipe for Beefy Mexican Cornbread!

As an educator, I'm used to speaking in front of a crowd of students and teachers.  But cooking and speaking in front visiting crowds was a different thing all together!  With the ebb and flow in the building of passers by and then the audience who sat down to watch, it was a busy, busy place.  

One of the most heartwarming moments was when my Audrey insisted to standing on stage with me and helping me every step of the way as the two older daughters Ilissa and Bethany ran back and forth filming and passing out small samples of each recipe.  Bethany's missing in these shots due to being the one behind the camera. 

Scott was the calmest through it all smiling and giving thumbs up from the back of the audience and throwing cues of things to say in his silent wording to stretch my time on stage!  Goodness knows he has been thru the good and the not so good with my earlier recipes! 

In the midst of it all we got rave review on the Beefy Mexican Cornbread, Tortilla Wraps My Way, and our Nolana's Family Hot Sauce.  One of the neatest moments were the children that so sweet and complimentary especially of my hot sauce.  One little girl came up twice to get samples and speak to me reminding me so much of the little elementary students I taught so many years ago.  That in itself made my day even sweeter...because children and teaching others is at the heart of why I do this all.

Click on each links below to get the recipes! 

Beefy Mexican Cornbread

Tortilla Roll Ups My Way

Nolana's Family Hot Sauce

Funny moments came when the new food processor I had bought would not work...but thankfully I had a huge batch to show and samples already ready of our Nolana's Family Hot Sauce! I've check once...check twice and check again! However if that was my biggest issue, I'm one happy momma!

To say I could not have done this without my family is an understatement. Through it all they have been my biggest and most honest taste testers, supporters and push when I needed it. Each gave their weekend freely to support their momma and wife which truly touched me deeply.  As proud as I know they were of me, I was of them for being there for me.  It was a moment that will be etched in my memory forever.

Family picture by Big Texas! Sadly head got cut off by friendly lady who took our picture! 

So, as I sit here this evening still reminiscing from the past weekend of fun and family, I'm reminded again at why I do this thing called blogging. At the conclusion of my cooking demo this weekend, a sweet lady came up to me and thanked me for advocating for agriculture during my demo.   She told me few people ever do that. 

Special thanks to my personal media specialist and middle daughter Bethany for all these pictures!  You won't see her in any pictures as she was behind the camera the whole time and Scott was supporting from the back of the audience!

Visiting with the little girl and mom who loved Nolana's Family Hot Sauce! So sweet! 

Making my Beef Mexican Cornbread with Certified Hereford Beef of course! Click on the link more great Certified Hereford Beef recipes!

I proudly told her it's just what we do, how we've raised our girls and wouldn't have it any other way.  In a world where by 2050 there will be over 9 billion people, it's those of us in agriculture that farm and ranch that will feed and clothe our world.  It's a tradition of hard work, dedication and values that we strive to instill in our girls and one that to date has proven worth it's weight in gold. We are FFA proud, agriculturally driven and passionate about the Hereford beef we raise on our ranch and the lifestyle it has enabled us to be a part of.  

Stopping by the Go Texan Store to purchase some Pioneer Cornbread mix to use in my Beefy Mexican Cornbread!  Most ingredients for all my recipes were proudly Texas products!

Post cooking demonstration celebration watching the Texas Aggies 'BTHO' Tennessee in the Mueller tent eating their 2016 State Fair of Texas People's Choice Award winner 'Injectible Balls of BBQ'!  Delicious! 
So worth all those 20 tickets!

The Ranch Kitchen has been a labor of love for many years now and something that I hope catalogs family favorite recipes for many years to come.

As always click on the links above to view the recipes on The Ranch Kitchen recipe section of my site. I'm very proud of how many recipes both myself and friends have added to date. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr.  Leave a comment  after the recipes you've tried and let me know about any additions you made to make that recipe your own.  

Drop by the National Hereford Women's new recipe website that I helped create during my time on their board and of course Certified Hereford Beef as well where we showcase the 'ranch to table' aspect of our Hereford breed for more great beef recipes! 

Also check out on Pinterest Beef Loving Bloggers with the Texas Beef Council where The Ranch Kitchen is a contributing blogger on their board.  Mouth watering, easy recipes there to get beef on your dinner plate as well!  

The Ranch Kitchen is also a contributing blogger on Sure Champ VitaFerm and the Missouri Hereford Association's monthly magazine, so check out their sites as well in the links above with their names! 

The Ranch Kitchen proudly affiliated with these great associations and companies!

*******************

Many thanks to the GO Texan program, the Texas Beef Council, Beef Loving Texans, and my family for this opportunity this past weekend. And if you are at a Go Texan event this year, stop by and pick up a the recipe book..  It is full of great recipes from contributors like Southwest Dairy Farms and even a winning state fair cobbler dessert! YUM!

Have a great fall everyone and keep checking back for fun things to come at The Ranch Kitchen!

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen