Alisha Jackson

“My family loves three things–meat, condiments and cheese. I found out with these three combinations of whatever I cook, I can’t go wrong,” said Alisha Varnado Jackson, originally of Calhoun City.
“I cater to my kids and try to fix what I know they like.” That includes ground beef, chicken, pork chops, plus their favorite condiments–Ranch, French, ketchup, sweet and sour sauce, BBQ sauce, honey mustard and hot sauce.

“I love to cook and I am a semi-homemade cook, like Sandra Lee. Although I love Trisha Yearwood, Ree Drummond, Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri, whatever I cook has to be quick, easy, plentiful, affordable and not babysat–meaning I can either stand over it and it’s done pretty fast, or I can put it in the oven and leave it. I am a huge fan of baking one-pan meals.”
“As the mother of three, which includes a toddler, wife of a coach and police officer, and a teacher and student myself, I am a huge planner and prep-type girl. I like to know what I’m fixing and when I’m fixing it. Once I make it home, I do not like having to go back out to the store for something. So prepping and planning help me to prevent this from happening.”

She calls her recipes her “every day go-to recipes.” And the upside down pizza–“Have fun and make it your own. It depends on what you like on your pizza. We normally keep it simple,” she says.
“I like to do smoothies and the kids will try them. The breakfast smoothie fills you up and brightens your day,” she said. Another easy idea for breakfast is the sweet or savory muffins.
“I cook a lot, love to try new things and tweak them to make them my own. I will try anything, and I like to get the kids to eat more veggies,” she said.
According to Alisha, husband Jamal is not as open to new things as their children, Jay 15, Jaisha 11 and Josiah 3.

Alisha learned how to cook from her mother, Shirley Varnado, and as she got older, she branched out some with her cooking.
“I am more out of the box and am not a traditional cook, but I remember my roots and still cook greens.”
She likes to bake and Jaisha likes to help make the sweets.

Alisha likes to duplicate things from restaurants, too. “I’m versatile and don’t have a favorite food, but I love grilled oysters from New Orleans,” she said.
“Around the holidays, my extended family is a huge fan of my chicken spaghetti, deviled eggs, grape salad and strawberry crunch. Those recipes are pretty much straight forward and everyone pretty much knows them,” she said.
“I love Pinterest and I will Google anything. Cassie Ferguson told me how to make chicken and dumplings, and I tried it, but had to ‘babysit’ them, so I need to tweak that one,” she said.

Oven Baked Cheesy Mushroom & Rice

Family pack bone-in chicken breasts or thighs
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup rice
1 pack mild cheddar shredded cheese
Preheat oven to 375°. In 9×13 pan, spread one cup rice evenly in pan. Add half cup water to pan. Wash chicken and place in pan over rice. Season chicken with seasoning salt, pepper and little regular salt. In bowl, mix soups together soups, adding 3 tsp. water. Heat in microwave 10 seconds to help it mix together smoothly. Pour mixture evenly over chicken and rice. Place foil over pan. Bake 45 minutes making sure chicken is cooked all the way through. (Temp/time varies with thickness of chicken.) Remove from oven. Sprinkle cheese on top. Place uncovered in oven 15 minutes. Serve with cornbread or biscuits.

Upside Down Pizza
2 lbs. ground beef
1 lb. ground sausage
1 bell pepper
1 onion
1 jar pizza sauce
1 pack shredded pizza cheese
1 pack pepperoni
2 cans 8-count crescent rolls
Add-ins: bacon, ham, mushrooms, olives
Preheat oven to 400°. Brown ground beef and sausage together. Drain. (Can add chopped bell peppers and/or onions into mixture.) Mix meat mixture with a jar of pizza sauce of your liking. Spread mixture into a 9×13 pan evenly. Place pepperoni on top, then cheese. Layer crescent rolls over entire dish. Bake until golden brown.

Cheesy Baked Fettucine Spaghetti
2-3 lbs. hamburger meat
2 cans spaghetti sauce, your choice
2 boxes fettuccine noodles
1 bag Mozzarella cheese
1 bag Colby Jack cheese
Boil noodles to al dente. Drain. Brown and drain hamburger meat. In the same pot, mix drained noodles, meat and spaghetti sauce. Season to taste (I always add 2-3 Tbsp. of sugar to my spaghetti.) Once mixed and seasoned properly, pour into baking dish. Spread evenly. Next apply both types of cheese on top. Bake on 400° until cheese melts completely (10-15 minutes.)

Breakfast Smoothie

Blend together: Handful of spinach, 1 medium banana, 3-4 strawberries, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1/2 cup mango, 1 cup Almond vanilla milk (can substitute orange juice.) Fruit can be fresh or frozen. If you use fresh, add 2-3 ice cubes.

Italian Baked Pork Chops or Chicken
Family pack chicken or pork chops
Onion
Bell pepper
Bottle of Zesty Italian dressing
Preheat oven to 375°. Wash chicken or pork chops and season with seasoning, salt, pepper, salt. Cut up onion and bell pepper. Put over chicken. Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes. Uncover and pour off most of the grease. Pour entire bottle of dressing over meat. Bake uncovered about 20-30 minutes. (Can use a bottle of French dressing with no onions or peppers OR barbeque sauce.)

One Pot Cheesy Chicken Vegetable Mix
Boneless chicken strips
Frozen broccoli florets
Frozen snow peas
Frozen corn
Frozen carrots
Jar of Ragu Double Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Box of Rotini pasta
Boil pasta and season to taste. Spray pan with canola oil. Cut chicken into 1/2” chunks. Cook chicken in pan until done through. Once chicken is done, add all vegetables to pan with 1 Tbsp. butter and 3 tsp. hot water. Cover with lid so vegetables can steam and cook, about 10 minutes. Once vegetables are steamed, add Rotini noodles and jar of cheese sauce. Mix and heat through, five minutes.

Breakfast Muffins

Sweet: Nuts, fruit or chips, chocolate/peanut butter OR
Savory: Shredded cheese, sausage or bacon (real bacon pieces, cheese
Muffin mix of your choice. (My preference is Krustez Classic muffin mix.)
Prepare muffins according to box using milk instead of water. (I used Almond milk.) Brown and drain ground sausage. Add sausage and cheese to mixture. Spray muffin pan with butter spray. Cook and serve, or refrigerate to pop in microwave for 8-10 seconds each morning.

Cheesy Taco Chicken
Chicken, bone-in or boneless
1 pack taco seasoning
Taco sauce or salsa
Taco cheese sauce
Colorful bell peppers
Onion
Preheat oven to 375°. Wash chicken and place in 9×13 pan. Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken. Spread salsa over chicken. Cut up peppers and onions and place over chicken. Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes. Uncover and pour off grease if a lot has accumulated. Pour cheese sauce over dish and place back in oven uncovered for 15 minutes. Serve with Mexican rice.