Greens & Beans Soup

This soup is perfect for winter, and it is so easy to customize. Just change out the meat, greens or beans to your liking. It's simple! I have done this with smoked sausage and kale, but the picture above is with the ingredients listed below. It's even better the next day!

Ingredients

• 1 lb turkey Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-4 cloves garlic, pressed 
• 1 package frozen collard greens (12-16 ounces), thawed
• 48 oz. of chicken broth (or 1 32 oz. container and then add water for remaining ounces)
• 2 cans navy beans, drained and rinsed
• salt & pepper

Directions

Brown onion and sausage together until sausage starts to brown. Add garlic and cook until sausage is completely browned. You can drain the fat at this point, if desired (I leave it in for flavor). Add broth, beans and greens, and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

This goes great with cornbread!

Raw Ice Cream?

I will admit that the sound of "raw" ice cream doesn't necessarily sound great. And, when I heard the ingredients, I was skeptical. But, when my sister made it for me, I was hooked!

 If you are looking for a great way for you or your kids to eat more raw spinach, this is definitely it. The original recipe is here, but I listed the ingredients that I used below, for your convenience.

Into a food processor (or blender that has a great motor), put:

• 2 cups loosely packed baby spinach
• 12 oz frozen cherries
• 1 frozen, ripe banana (peel before freezing!), sliced
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup vanilla Silk Lite soy milk

Process until smooth, taking time to stir around the ingredients and scrape the sides. Be patient--if you add more milk to help the flow, it will be less firm and more like a smoothie (and not as tasty, per my kids).

A blender will work, but the friction caused by the motor bogging down (unless yours is a good one) will, again, cause it to be more like a smoothie.

I used my food processor for this batch and it came out like very soft, soft serve ice cream. All three of my kids loved it and begged for more.

This recipe makes about three 1/4 cup servings, but it isn't recommended that you double it, since it is so hard to process as is.

Spinach has calcium and iron, and the cherries are great for your joints. Be brave and try it, you won't regret it! . . . You may just want to hide the ingredients from your kids, in case they are like my dad.

Dad hated all things pumpkin, yet he gobbled up dozens of my pumpkin chocolate-chip cookies. That is, until he found out they contained pumpkin, and then he never ate another one. Such silliness.

And talk about silliness--I have not posted that pumpkin cookie recipe yet! I will need to take care of that right away. Which, of course, requires baking some.

Stay tuned! 

Christmas Cake Fun

This is a picture of our fun Christmas cake that we made for dessert yesterday. You don't need a fancy cake pan to do this, just make a Christmas tree pattern and use a serrated knife to cut it out. To make it easy, we folded our paper in half and drew the design on one side, so it would be symmetrical.

If you have time, the cake is easier to cut and holds up better, if you freeze it first. I think a few hours would do it. Just wrap it in plastic wrap first. If not, you can do like we did and just put icing on the top (the sides were too crumbly to hold the icing and were trying to fall apart).

Anyway, to make this, you need:

• a boxed cake (we used white), and eggs & oil to make it
• a 13 x 9 baking dish
• homemade icing (recipe follows)
• mint extract
• sugar cubes (we found them at Food Lion)
• matches
• dropper or pipette

Homemade Icing

Ingredients:

• 1 lb powdered sugar
• 1 cup cream cheese (I used the 1/3 less fat in the little tub, which incorporates easier without being room temp)
• 1/4 cup butter spread (I used smart balance)
• tablespoons of milk, as needed
• dash of salt
• 2 teaspoons pure orange extract (or whatever you like, but this is great)
• food coloring

Directions:

Dump everything in the mixer, except the milk and food coloring, and mix on low, adding tablespoons of milk until it gets to spreading consistency. Do this carefully, so your icing doesn't get runny. Mix on medium to get everything incorporated well. If making the presents, scoop out several half cups of icing into bowls for tinting various colors, then color the remaining bulk of your icing green.

After we iced the cake and presents, then came the fun part!


When you are ready to eat your cake, arrange a few sugar cubes (not many--we used six) on your cake, as though they are lights. Put a few drops of mint extract on each cube and then light them with a match.

Quickly turn off the lights and ooh and ahh for a few seconds while they burn a pretty blue!  Fun times. :-)

Please note:  If you put too many cubes on your cake, some will go out before the others are lit--they burn quickly. And my kids said the post-burn cubes don't taste good, although our dog begged to differ.

(We got this idea from a Christmas book called The ADVENTure of Christmas.)

Mushroom & Wild Rice Casserole

(10-12 servings)

I made this recipe for Thanksgiving, instead of stuffing. It calls for a 13 x 9 baking dish, but I used my 14 inch cast iron skillet to minimize cleanup. 

You could leave out the mushrooms, if you don't like them--cubed firm tofu or uncooked, cubed chicken would be good substitutes--but the mushrooms are great in this dish.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 12 oz package sliced cremini (baby portabella) mushrooms
1 cup wild rice (uncooked)
1/2 cup brown rice (uncooked)
4 cups water
1 can beef broth
8 slices bacon
1/2 slivered almonds
 1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 cup cold water
additional salt & pepper, to taste

Directions
 
Place water, butter and 1/4 teaspoon salt in medium sauce pan and bring to boil. Add wild rice, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 40 minutes and then stir in brown rice. Cover, cooking for another 20-30 minutes, or until tender.

Meanwhile, put oven rack in center and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and put a shallow cooking rack in pan. Place the 8 bacon strips on the pan and bake for 12 minutes. Carefully turn bacon and cook for another 4-7 minutes, or until just crisped. Remove pan from oven.

While bacon is cooking, chop onion and peppers. Use bacon drippings (enough to lightly coat a large skillet) to cook onion, peppers and mushrooms with celery seed. Salt and pepper to help the veggies cook down. Once veggies are tender, add beef broth and bring to boil.

Stir corn starch into cold water until smooth and add to mixture. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Drain cooked rice and add to mixture. Crumble bacon and fold in with almonds.

Lower oven rack down from center. If using cast iron skillet, place directly in oven. If not using heat-proof skillet, transfer mixture to a 13 x 9 baking dish. Cover and bake for 25 minutes, then uncover and bake for 10 minutes longer.

This is rich, so you'll have plenty of leftovers for the next day. :)

Cheesy Bean & Rice Bake

Yes, it has been forever and a day since I last posted anything. Mostly because I have drifted into the land of menu-planning, which has saved my sanity but suppressed my creativity.

Even so, Emeals (see banner above) is an amazing weekly menu plan that saves you money and you can tailor it to specific stores, which makes it handy, too. Nothing frustrates me more than having a plan and the store is out of major ingredients. Then, it takes twice as long to shop because (I'm convinced) there's some subliminal thing playing in the background, drawing me to buy frivolously and with abandon. "Why, yes! I do need some garlic stuffed olives!" Anyone else been there?

Anyway, here's a wonderful recipe that I made the other night instead of going to the store on-the-fly. It was tasty, and lends itself so well to being customized. And it baked up very nicely.

(You would know that, if I had remembered to take a picture when I got it out of the oven. You'll just have to trust me. It was pretty looking, and pretty good, too.)

This is also a cinch to double or triple, it can be customized**, and I think this would freeze well, also.



Ingredients

1 cup cooked rice (I used brown), drained and cooled slightly
1 can drained and rinsed black beans
4 ounces shredded cheese (I used Mexican blend), with a handful reserved for topping
1 egg (I used Eggbeaters equivalent)
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (or chili powder, or curry powder...whatever you fancy)
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic (or more, to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter (or spray with Pam) a casserole dish. (I used a square one with a lovely fall motif. Again, you would know that if I'd taken a picture...sorry.)

Mix egg and milk together, then combine everything else.  Put in casserole and spread evenly. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until set and lightly browned around edges.  Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

**I also added a package (~ 6 oz.) of grilled chicken strips that I shredded,  You could add browned ground beef or turkey to this (1 lb) as well. I didn't make it very spicy because my kids aren't fans of spicy things, but it would taste great with some sauteed peppers and onions added to the mix.

Leftovers were even better the next day.

Easy Oatmeal Muffins

These muffins are great anytime--breakfast, lunch, or a snack. They bake up with a great texture, and the recipe works well in either a regular muffin tin or a mini (24 count) one.

Ingredients

1 cup dry oats (I've used rolled and quick 1-minute)
1 cup buttermilk*
1 large egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 1/4 cups flour**
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the oats and buttermilk* and allow to sit at bottom of bowl while you add the egg, sugar and oil on top. Let stand.

Measure and sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Now stir together the wet ingredients, then add the dry. Fold together until mixed, but don't overmix.

Spray muffin tin with cooking spray and fill tins level, then bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned. Cool muffins in tin on cooling rack for 3-5 minutes, then gently twist them. They should lift out. These are great served warm or room temperature. Eat plain, or with cream cheese or Nutella spread.

*Instead of buttermilk, you can use yogurt (plain or fruited), Greek yogurt (plain or fruited), sour cream, or milk with one teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar added to it. I've tried all of these with great results.

**I've used just all-purpose flour, half all-purpose and half wheat, and just Pamela's gluten-free baking mix, all with great results.

Add-ins:
Add a small, ripe banana (squished up) and 1/2 cup (or more!) of mini chocolate chips--I just did that this morning and they were great (that's the picture above).

Another great add-in is finely chopped or grated apple.

I have tried nuts, but the texture of them wasn't a big hit with my kids.

Hope you enjoy them!

BBQ Beef and Beans

I came up with this spur of the moment tonight, since I'm trying to use up things in my pantry and fridge before I buy more food. This tastes great by itself, or you could jazz it up with peppers, sour cream and shredded cheddar. I was going to serve it alone, with corn-cheddar muffins, but I'm going to fix some mashed potatoes to serve it over instead, since I have a bag of them in my pantry! Regardless of how you use it, this couldn't be much easier to make.

Ingredients

1 lb of extra-lean ground beef
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of kidney beans, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
1/4 cup of BBQ sauce (your favorite kind)
1 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

In a large skillet or dutch oven, brown the beef with the onion powder and salt and pepper. Add the tomato sauce, beans and BBQ sauce and stir well, then bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. You can serve once heated through, or simmer for 15-30 minutes. You may need to add some water, if it gets too thick, but you can basically simmer this as long as you want. Just know that the flavors will deepen, the longer you cook it.)

Enjoy!

Hashbrown Casserole

If you add some chopped ham or chicken to this, it could be a meal on its own. This dish is tasty, and it could be easily customized to your individual taste. (I would have put some granulated garlic in it, but I'm all out). We are having this for dinner tonight, with some bbq chicken legs and cucumbers, and then again for breakfast. It's yummy, if I say so myself. :)



Ingredients

1 bag hashbrowns, defrosted (I used Walmart GV 26 oz)
1 can fat free cream of chicken soup (I used Walmart GV)
1/2 cup mayo (I used Kraft Reduced Fat with Olive oil)
4 oz shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika (or more to taste)
salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix everything except hashbrowns together in a large bowl. (Use salt and pepper to taste.) Fold in hashbrowns until incorporated.

Spray a 13 x 9 pan (I used glass) with cooking spray, and then put casserole mixture in, spreading evenly.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, until lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Greens and Beans with Sausage

This recipe is easy to make as a vegetarian meal by just leaving out the meat, or substituting with some cubed, firm tofu. It is delicious, and easy to make and to double -- it's the perfect winter soup, along side some crusty french or cornbread.

Approximately 6 servings

Ingredients

1 bunch of collard greens or kale (I love both), washed and stripped from stems, and chopped
1 smoked chicken sausage, diced
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 (or more!) cloves of garlic, minced
2 cans of Navy or Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 32 oz. container of chicken or vegetable broth
olive oil
smoked paprika (optional)
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over med-high heat and cook onion until tender. Add minced garlic and stir around in pot. Add greens and cook until wilted. Add sausage and cook for 1-2 minutes. Next, add chicken broth and beans, and heat to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Check for seasoning, and add salt and pepper and dash (or more) of smoked paprika, to taste.

Enjoy!

King Trifle

We ate this in celebration of Epiphany, or Three Kings Day (which is January 6th). It is traditional to eat a King Cake (which is a yeasted sweet bread), but I made this since my time that day was limited.

Ingredients

1 pre-made angel food cake
1/4 cup simple syrup*
1 small carton of heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of almond extract
1/4 cup of mixed candied fruit, finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons of toasted, slivered almonds
salt

Directions

Slice the angel food cake into several 3 inch slices.

Whip the cream with the powdered sugar, almond extract, and a dash of salt.

In a trifle dish (a footed glass dish) or deep bowl, tear small pieces of the cake and cover the bottom of the dish. Drizzle the cake with simple syrup, then spoon several dollops of whipped cream over the top. Sprinkle some candied fruit, then begin the layers again.

Note: You can make this as sweet as you like by controlling the amount of simple syrup you use (or leaving it out altogether).

When you reach the top, complete the cake by finishing with whipped cream, candied fruit, and a sprinkle of toasted almonds.

This is best served after it has been lightly covered with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for a few hours (or in the freezer for 30-60 minutes).

Enjoy!

* Simple syrup is just equal parts of granulated sugar and water, simmered in a small pot until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is clear again. Once cooled, it must be refrigerated. You can use it to sweeten cold drinks (such as iced tea), and you can flavor the syrup with extracts or mint leaves, if desired.