Turkey Salad

Turkey Salad


turkey, chopped
walnuts, chopped
celery, chopped
red grapes, chopped
apple, peeled and chopped
Miracle Whip
cinnamon
sugar
raisins


Mix all together. Don't substitute real mayonnaise for Miracle Whip, as MW is sweeter and lends itself better to this recipe. This is my favorite turkey salad recipe.

Gumbo

2 packages of smoked sausage
1 pkg of frozen shrimp, cleaned, deveined, and de-tailed
1 pkg of Boudreaux's brand frozen crawfish tail meat
1 bag of frozen okra, chopped (not breaded)
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
2 small cans of tomato sauce
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 T of minced garlic
oil or butter (for sautéing)
cayenne pepper
Old Bay seasoning
Creole seasoning
black pepper
white rice
6 T flour
2 teaspoons vinegar


(may want to halve this recipe; it makes a very large crockpot full)



In a large pot, sauté onion, red peppers, and garlic in oil until soft. Add one bag of chopped frozen okra to the vegetable mixture on medium heat. Add one teaspoon of vinegar to mixture. Stir frequently. If mixture is still slimy from the okra after picking up with a spoon and slowly dropping back in pot, add another teaspoon of vinegar. Continue to cook on medium heat, stirring frequently. Add creole seasoning, Old Bay seasoning, black pepper and cayenne pepper to vegetables.  Meanwhile, cut smoked sausages in 1/4 to 1/2 inch width pieces and cook in skillet on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mostly light brown. Drain on paper towels, set aside. Add 2 cans of chopped tomatoes and 2 small cans of tomato sauce to the vegetable mixture. Add more seasonings. Continue to stir and may need to lower temperature to low. In another small pan, make a roux (gravy) with 6 Tablespoons of flour and 6 Tablespoons of oil (not olive oil because it will start to smoke; butter can be substituted for the oil). Stir constantly on medium heat until flour and oil mixture turns a reddish brown color. Add flour mixture to the vegetables. Stir. Add all this to slow cooker with an additional 1-2 cups of water. Cook for 3 hours on high, adding more water if too thick. Add deveined, cleaned, de-tailed frozen shrimp and frozen crawfish tail meat with about 1 hour left to cook. Taste for the need for additional seasonings. Before serving, cook rice separately. Ladle gumbo into bowl of rice. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Breakfast casserole

8 slices of bread
10 eggs
1 1/2 cup (or so) pepper jack cheese (shredded or sliced)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup (or so) onions, chopped
1/2 cup (or so) red bell pepper, chopped
1 large spear (or 2 smaller) purple asparagus, chopped
2 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 T minced garlic
canned green chilies (1/2 can)
2 T oil
1 teaspoon red pepper (cayenne)
Salt and Pepper
Thyme
butter to spread on toast
non-stick spray


Sauté the following in 2T of oil in a skillet until soft: onions, red pepper, garlic, purple asparagus, and green chilies. Add salt, pepper, thyme, red pepper, fresh basil to vegetables. Remove from stove to cool. Toast 8 pieces of bread. Butter the toast and place in the bottom of a greased 9X13 pan.  Any extra bread, just tear and place on top of whole pieces. In a bowl, mix 10 eggs, vegetable mix, milk, more salt & pepper, and shredded hot pepper jack cheese (separated). Pour egg mixture over buttered toast. Add additional cheese over the top. Bake 15 minutes covered, then another 15 minutes uncovered at 400 degrees.

Hummus

 

 

Hummus

*Hummus is an Arabic word for “chick pea”

 

1 bag of dried chick peas (garbanzo beans) OR canned garbanzo beans

¼ cup of olive oil

1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes (in olive oil)

minced garlic

garlic salt

basil (fresh or dried and chopped)

lemon juice

salt and pepper

cracked red pepper

 

Boil or pressure cook the dried chick peas until soft OR use canned garbanzo beans. Drain. Place beans in a food processor or blender with olive oil, chopped sun-dried tomatoes with oil, minced garlic, fresh or chopped dried basil, garlic salt, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and cracked red pepper. Blend or process until a smooth paste. Add more olive oil or a little water if too thick to process. Chill. Use pita crackers or bite size vegetable pieces for dipping.  

Ham Breakfast Casserole

Beef Chili

This was one of the best pots of chili that I've made in a long time. Here is the recipe. I didn't measure, but I'll approximate. Add hamburger with seasonings and Rotel tomatoes and cook on medium for 10-15 minutes (or so) to get hamburger thoroughly seasoned before adding the rest of ingredients. Stir occasionally. Add rest of ingredients. Bring to low boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer for at least an hour. Stir occasionally. I served with crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

1 1/2 lb - 2 pounds of browned hamburger
1 pkg of Williams Chili (Tex Mex) Seasoning
1 can of rotel tomatoes
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 large (28 oz) can of crushed tomatoes
1 can of red kidney beans, drained
1 can of chili beans, mostly drained
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of red wine (more if you feel saucy)
1 cup of water, maybe an additional cup if gets too thick
1 Tablespoon of minced garlic
2 Tablespoons of honey
1 Tablespoon of liquid smoke
1 Teaspoon garlic salt
salt, pepper

Vegan Indian Stew

Any root vegetables, cleaned and chopped
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 T minced garlic
1 cup of lentils
1-2 cups of garbanzo beans
1 cup of brown rice or wild rice
6 cups of water
2- 3 cubes of vegetable (for vegan), chicken or beef boullion
2 cans of diced tomatoes
chopped kale
curry
turmeric
cayenne pepper
celery salt
salt and pepper

Dump everything in the crock pot, and cook on high for at least 6 hours or until vegetables are done. Serve with toasted bread. All measurements are approximate.

Veggie Burgers

1 can of garbanzo beans (low-sodium)
onion, chopped finely
minced garlic
any kind of peppers, chopped finely (red, green, yellow, orange, jalapeno, banana)
fresh mushrooms, chopped finely
1 cup oat flour (approximately)
1 egg
salt & pepper
smoked paprika
cayenne pepper
cumin
chili powder
cheese slice (optional)
butter  (or oil)
iron skillet (for crispiness)


Place butter (or oil) in an iron skillet and heat on medium-high. Sauté chopped onion, minced garlic, peppers, and mushrooms until soft. Remove skillet from heat. Remove vegetable mixture from skillet and pat dry with towel (removing excess butter). Food process oats until a flour consistency. Dump into mixing bowl. Drain and rinse garbanzo beans. Food process (or mash well) until fairly smooth and no single bean is noticeable.  Add vegetable mixture, beans, egg, and all seasonings to oats and mix until firm enough to make patties (not sticky). Add more oat flour, if necessary. Heat more butter (or oil) to the iron skillet and fry patties until crispy brown on both sides. Don't be afraid to season liberally. Add slice of cheese if desired.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Experience

I have had some successful recipes and not so successful. The ones that flop are really more entertaining to write about, so here is my latest flop. I use the word flop loosely. If it is edible, it is okay.  However, I have higher standards than "edible".

Last week I made sweet and sour chicken. Everything started out great. I only had brown rice on hand (supposed to be healthier, right?). This is not the minute rice that you pop in the microwave and BOOM! it's fluffy. Brown rice has to cook on the stove for 45 minutes or so. I started the rice first. Then, cooked the bite-sized chicken in olive oil in the skillet. I added the cut green, yellow, and red sweet peppers with onions. Oh, did it smell delicious!

Then, I started the sweet and sour sauce. I used Martha Stewart's recipe for sweet and sour sauce minus the Tabasco sauce and adding pineapple juice. Everything went fine with that, except the orange marmalade had orange strips or rinds in it and the final sauce was very runny. I strained the sauce to get rid of the tiny orange rinds.

Meanwhile, the rice was getting thick so I kept adding more water. It began to burn just a bit on the bottom of the pot. The rice ended up looking like oatmeal, which is not very appetizing when wanting to eat with sweet and sour chicken. Maybe I stirred it too much or had too much rice in a pot that was too small. I'm wondering if I should get a rice cooker (if only I had room for an extra kitchen gadget).

I tried to thicken the sweet and sour sauce with cornstarch, but it still wasn't think enough. I poured all of the sauce into the chicken and pepper mixture. It was still not thick enough. I added some chunk pineapple and then added more cornstarch to the pineapple juice to try to thicken more. It FINALLY thickened up nice, but the amount of sauce to chicken and pepper ratio was a little too much. It was swimming in sauce, but tasted really good.

It was edible. Next time, I'll have to do something different with the rice or use minute rice in the microwave. I was trying to be a little healthier, though, and avoid white rice. Also, I'll gauge how much sauce to put in with the chicken, realizing that I don't HAVE to use all of it.

I'll try it again. I think there is potential for a tastier, healthier, and cheaper Chinese meal without having to order from a Chinese restaurant. 

15 Bean Soup with Herb and Garlic Focaccia Bread

15 Bean Soup

(click link above for recipe)

My husband made this soup yesterday and it was delicious! Here are some changes that he made:

1. Soaked beans over night
2.Green onions were only onions used
3. No dried parsley, rosemary, or flavor packet from beans
4. Add  additional can of diced tomatoes, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 package of chopped fresh mushrooms, and 1 TBS of season salt

Served with toasted herb and garlic Focaccia bread!