Year Ending, Year Beginning

Procrastination...................................................

Now, to reminisce…….
For New Years Day, I did a different take on dinner. Of course, I like black-eyed peas and ham hocks, BUT…. This is my mix-up that I find quite delicious.

New Years Peas with Kale and Ham

Ingredients
1 16 oz bag of frozen black-eyed or Crowder Peas
3 cups fresh chopped Kale
2 cups cubed cooked ham
2 Tbsp dehydrated diced onions
1 tsp ginger, powdered
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 Tbsp Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb spice mix
1 Tbsp Litehouse Freeze Dried Herb Salad mix
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Olive oil

Procedures
1. Prepare all ingredients. Spray an iron Skillet with oil spray (optional).
2. Place 1 tbsp of oil in skillet and heat to hot (not smoking).
3. Add the spices, kale and ham to the skillet, Sauté for about 2 minutes, stirring to mix.
4. Add the peas and stir to combine. Continue stirring about 5 minutes.

5. Add 1/3 cup water, stir and cover. Turn heat to low and allow cooking for about 45 minutes.
6. Test for seasoning; add a little more, if desired
7. Check for done-ness and seasoning. If additional liquid is needed, add 1/2 cup of water AFTER checking for seasoning. Replace cover and allow the liquid to be somewhat absorbed into the dish.
8. Serve hot Yield: Estimated number of servings: 6

Nutrition (per serving): 229 calories, 5.8g total fat, 2.9g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, 1.4g saturated fat, 25.7mg cholesterol, 639.6mg sodium, 669.5mg potassium, 25.5g carbohydrates, 4.9g fiber, 20.6g net carbohydrates, 1.3g sugar, 19.9g protein, 3.1mg iron.

Tips
I recommend that you do not add salt as the ham most likely has lots of salt.
Of course, out came the Spicy Salsa Muffins

I also made what I refer to as Asian Inspired Ribs – sort of sweet /sour/spicy
Baked on grill pan with Cajun spices, and then moved to dish with combination of barbecue sauce with Balsamic vinegar added.

Of course later in the week, it was time to pull out the salads, with some left-over ribs. There were lots of salads the second week of January!

As the third week of January rolled in, I remembered the Dakota Lakes Gourmet coating that I won earlier in the year. Used it to bake some chicken breasts. Just prepare the chicken, place it in a sprayed dish and sprinkle ample coating over it!

Well, I seem to have cooked all week

Saturday – 1/22/11

Now-That's Spicy! Corn and Andouille Sausage Skillet
2 lbs fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 large red bell pepper cut into cubes
1 12 oz pkg Wellshire All Natural Andouille Sausage
1 Tbsp dehydrated onion
1 tsp Parsley Flakes
1/2 tsp ginger powder
2 tsp Litehouse Freeze-Dried Salad herb blend
2 tsp Chili powder

Procedure

1. Chop peppers and cut Andouille sausage into cubes.
When doubling this recipe…..
2. Place peppers and Andouille sausage  into iron skillet or Dutch oven and sauté for about five minutes to release the oil. Add in the corn and spices.
If not doubling, just add all of the ingredients in the skillet and sauté.

3. Cook on high and stir to mix all ingredients for 5 minutes. Cover and reduce heat to low. Stir after 25 minutes. This is ready in about 1 hour.

Tip: Best cooked in cast iron utensil, no additional oil or salt is needed
Feel free to substitute the sausage with Kielbasa, if Andouille is too spicy.

Servings: 8
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 210 calories, 5.6g total fat, <1g monounsaturated fat, <1g polyunsaturated fat, 0g trans fatty acids, 2.2g saturated fat, 42mg cholesterol, 256.4mg sodium, 456.5mg potassium, 27.9g carbohydrates, 3.5g fiber, 24.4g net carbohydrates, 0g starch, 4.9g sugar, 13.3g protein, 1.2mg iron.


Also,  during the third week, I spent time replenishing the pantry with my home-made snacks:

Granola Bars

A Snacker that will be in the upcoming cookbook

Graham Crackers

Made S’mores with the graham crackers

Yes, they stand up for S’mores – kinda microwaved the chocolate too long

December is a blur…….

For Christmas, I managed to bake big batches of gluten free cookies

Pictures of some of the goodies - will be in cookbook

Chocolate!

Over the next few weeks, I will be spending time working on my planned cookbook.

Breakfasts

Since I retired, I have begun to fall into the ‘stay up late’, sleep late syndrome. That means I am missing eating breakfast at a normal time. My first meal is usually around 11:30 or noon.

I was advised to eat more protein at breakfast, but that is a bit difficult for me because the ‘meat’ protein that I like is not the healthiest meat. Of course, I love bacon (loaded with sodium), those little brown and eat breakfast sausages (loaded with sodium). Often it’s a quick Eggbeaters’ egg and a glass of water with my meds!

There is an interesting article Healthy Eating Planner: 31 Days of Superfoods that really makes sense for all meals. Most of the things on the list are in my meals. Of course, I do not eat wheat or beef! I like all of their Superfoods, including the dark chocolate.
Lemons, Broccoli, Dark chocolate, Potatoes, Salmon, Walnuts, Avocado, Garlic, Spinach, and Beans

Another great article is on the Anti-inflammatory Diet: Anti-inflammatory Foods. Most of us could use it, because it removes most refined products (white sugar, white rice, pasta, cookies (on no!)) from the diet. Can’t give up the cookies; just have to work on making sure they have some good nutrition along with the ‘fillers’. The “diet” includes “spicing it up”, which is normal for me.
According to the article, the anti-inflammatory diet is probably very close to the Mediterranean diet, which avoids processed foods.

I made a recipe from Betty Crocker: Baked Apple Oatmeal that is very good! The original recipe is for 8 servings so I scaled it to 4 servings. This is a good-size serving and very filling. The recipe said to top with the walnuts. I added them in. I peeled half of the apple because I don’t really like apple peel on some apples. The unpeeled apple is just fine. My recommendation is not to peel the apple. I used a sweet red apple (not red delicious), probably McIntosh.

If you can get the kiddies to sit for breakfast, make this for them and use the old-fashioned oat meal as stated!.

This is how I prepared it:

Baked Apple Oatmeal
1 1/3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup raisins
2 cups milk 2%
2 tbsp Brown or Turbinado Sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 medium apple, chopped (approximately 2 cups)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In  large casserole, mix all ingredients.

2. Bake uncovered 40 to 45 minutes or until most liquid is absorbed. Serve with additional milk, if desired.

Yield: Makes 4 large servings

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving): 303 calories, 9.3g total fat, 2g monounsaturated fat, 4.2g polyunsaturated fat, 0g trans fatty acids, 2.3g saturated fat, 9.8mg cholesterol, 52.1mg sodium, 344.9mg potassium, 49.8g carbohydrates, 4.7g fiber, 45g net carbohydrates, 1g starch, 28.1g sugar, 9g protein, 1mg iron.

If you are watching sugar, substitute 1 tbsp Splenda Brown Sugar Blend or 2 tbsp Granulated Stevia(In the Raw). 



Remember the Sweet Potato Muffin Top Biscuits? Well, I baked them as biscuit muffins. I added a little extra water to thin the batter to cake batter consistency. Of course, you can add another tablespoon of sugar or honey. They were baked in a 6-cup muffin pan at 350F.

Cooking during the Twin Cities Minnesota Blizzard of December 11, 2010

 Slept late, got up and peeked outside…..Blizzard!!!!   Time to make soup and bake bread……..

Well, I didn’t bake the loaf of bread that I had planned, but I made some really good Spicy Salsa Corn Muffins.
I was making them from memory, so I substituted butter milk for the sour cream. It all depends on what ingredients I have on hand. One half of the jar of salsa is used in the soup and the other half in the muffins.

Getting ready to mix everything

All mixed up

Be sure to spray your muffin pan!

Ready for the oven – this is a large muffin cup pan, couldn’t find the regular cup pan. Don’t you hate it when you can’t find a pan you need?

Yum

My Vegetarian Spicy Bean Chili will warm you up while your SA or DH sing “Baby it's cold outside ...”.

Of course, I made a smaller batch and made some modifications. The original recipe is for a large batch and great for potluck.

The modified version - it’s a little spicy and just warns the body up

Vegetarian Spicy Bean Chili – 4 to 5 servings

Soup Ingredients

• 1/2 16 oz jar La Victoria Cilantro Salsa, medium (use the other half to make the Salsa Muffins)
• 1 4.5 oz can Old El Paso chopped green chiles
• 1 15-ounce can V8 - low sodium
• 1 Del Monte Stewed Tomatoes (with peppers, onions, etc)
• 1 14 1/2 oz can Del Monte Organic Diced Tomatoes
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15.8-ounce can great northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 16-ounce can Dark Red Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup water
Spices - mix the following in a small container
• 1/2 tsp Cumin, Ground
• 1/2 tsp turmeric, ground
• 1 tsp sodium-free Jamaican seasoning
• 1 tsp Louisiana style Cajun spice
• 1 tsp Spanish paprika
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1 Tbsp dehydrated onion
• 1 tbsp Mrs Dash Garlic mix

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp molasses
• 1/2 Tbsp ginger, powdered
• Additional Cajun spice as desired
Procedures
Get you 8-quart slow cooker and place on the surface where it will be used
Gather all of the ingredients onto kitchen counter

Mix the spices and set aside
Open all of the cans of beans, rinsing each one and putting in a colander for draining. It has been reported that draining alone reduces sodium by 36% while draining-rinsing reduced sodium by 41%. Once all beans are in the colander, mix them up. Pour the beans into the slow cooker.

Add the ginger, molasses (sugar) to the slow cooker
Open the tomatoes and drain the liquid into a container and set aside
Pour the drained tomatoes into the food processor.  Add the spice mix, to the tomatoes

Pulse the tomatoes a couple of times in a food processor, so they have the consistency of salsa.

Put the salsa, chilies and tomatoes in the slow cooker, stir using a wooden spoon.

Add the vegetable juice (V8) to the reserved tomato juice.
Mix it as much as possible and add this to the slow cooker. Stir the ingredients in the slow cooker.
Place the lid on the slow cooker and set the slow cooker on low. Meal should be ready in about 4 hours. Verify that your cooker is doing a slow simmer.
If you are available, stir it after 2 hours.
Enjoy!! It’s spicy

Servings: 4 large 6 med



Notes
Great for potluck or sharing. Serve with corn tortilla strips or corn bread  or Spicy Salsa Corn Muffins.
If you like the color, reduce the beans by color.
If you are timid on spice, use mild salsa instead of medium, drain the chilis.
The longer the pot simmers, the more thoroughly the spices go through the beans. I tend to leave this on low for about 6 hours. Simmer at least 4 hours.
If you plan to be away while this is cooking, place the slow cooker on a heat safe surface..

You will notice the color of the soup has black, brown, red and white beans. This is to give it color. If you like chunks of tomatoes, do not puree the tomatoes.

This was earlier in the day as the blizzard progressed