Jessica Jones

“To me, a recipe is more of a guideline, not a rule to follow,” said Jessica Moore Jones.
“Most of the time I just see what I have in my fridge and come up with something, like the alfredo and zucchini ribbons. I happened to have some carrots and sweet potatoes so I added those in. If someone doesn’t want to just use half of a sweet potato, use a whole one and omit the carrots, or omit the sweet potato and just do carrots,” she said

“My mom (Jeannie Massey Reid) taught me how to cook traditional Southern food, but, I really learned to cook by watching Food Network all of the time,” she said. “I started trying things I saw on there when I was about 16. The older I got, I got a little more brave in things I would try.”
“I do cook traditional, but very rarely,” she says, adding that she made a pot of chicken and dumplings for Super Bowl, “the way momma taught me.”
She likes her mother’s Southern cooking more than her own, “mainly I guess because it’s more comforting when it’s hers.”

Jessica said she has always  cooked somewhat healthy, but more so in the last two years. It was then that she and her boyfriend, now husband, Cody started eating a low carb diet. She still does low carb and says it has become a habit now.
They mostly eat green vegetables.  “I have asparagus and broccoli in the refrigerator now,” she said.
She likes to use olive oil, salt, pepper and roast vegetables in the oven. To asparagus, she occasionally adds freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Sometimes she takes cauliflower and slices it into “steaks” and roasts it.

“Cody and I tried a garden last year, and it didn’t do very good, but, we are going to try again this year.”
The first thing she ever tried to make at age seven or eight was eggs, and she just cracked some in a bowl, didn’t whisk them, stuck them in the microwave for probably just a few seconds, and  took them outside for her mom to try. “They were still raw!”

If she’s looking for recipes it’s usually on Pinterest or she has a subscription to Food Network Magazine that she gets ideas from. She and the girls at Renasant Bank share a few recipes, especially if it’s something easy they found.
The biggest challenge to her is baking, “so I just don’t bake. I just don’t like baking at all, plus, I don’t eat many sweets anyway.”

Turkey Stuffed Meatloaf
1 lb. ground turkey
2 large eggs
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 1/4 cups marinara sauce
2 tsp. dry Italian seasoning herbs
4 slices cheddar cheese
4 slices ham
2 cloves garlic, grated or chopped
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
In small sauce pan, heat oil and saute onion, pepper and garlic until soft. Set aside to cool. Preheat oven to 350°. Mix turkey, eggs, 1/4 cup marinara, bread crumbs, seasoning and cooked veggies. In loaf pan or small baking dish, put half meat mixture in the bottom. Begin forming  loaf. Place ham and cheese on bottom meat layer, but not up to edges. Leave about 1/2” border. Add rest of  meat. Make sure edges are sealed. Pour remaining marinara on top. Bake 25-30 minutes.

Zucchini Ribbons w/Alfredo for Two
3-4 raw chicken tenders cut into bite size pieces
3 medium zucchini, ribboned
3 small carrots, skin removed and diced
1/2 small sweet potato, skin removed and diced
1/2 small onion, diced
1/4 cup liquid–water or stock or white wine for the sauce
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper to taste
In large sauce pan on medium high heat, cook chicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from pan and set aside. Add onion, carrots and sweet potato. Saute about two minutes. Add  liquid and stir. Place lid on and let cook about five minutes. Remove lid and make sure liquid has evaporated. Remove veggies. Turn heat down to medium. Add butter. When melted, add cream, salt and pepper to taste, Bring to simmer and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. It will reduce to about one cup. Add nutmeg  and cheese. When cheese has melted, add zucchini ribbons and other veggies. Toss and coat. Put lid on. Turn heat off and let sit 5-10 minutes.

Spaghetti Squash w/Bacon
1 medium spaghetti squash
4-6 pieces of bacon, diced
1 small shallot, diced
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup white wine or veggie stock
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of nutmeg
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (not in plastic shaker!)
Preheat oven to 400°. Half spaghetti squash longways, scrape seeds out, rub flesh with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place flesh side down on baking sheet. Roast 30-40 minutes until tender and flesh is easy to remove with fork. Let cool about 10-15 minutes so it is easy to handle. When  cooled, take fork and remove “spaghetti like flesh.” While squash is cooling, cook bacon in large skillet. Transfer to plate lined with paper towel. Set aside. Add shallot and thyme to skillet and cook until softened, about two minutes. Stir in wine and cook, scraping up any of the browned bits left from the bacon, until mostly evaporated, about one minute. Add heavy cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper (roughly 1/2 tsp. each, depending on your taste.) Increase heat a little and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened, just a couple of minutes. Stir in peas and parmesan. Continue cooking until cheese is melted and well incorporated and sauce is thickened more, about a minute. Remove from heat. Add squash and bacon to sauce. Return to heat and stir until  combined. Season with more salt and pepper if desired, and top with fresh parsley, if desired.