First Friday: Oh Crap, What's in the Freezer?

Alrighty then....so, it's Thursday night, payday isn't till Monday, you have an out of state weekend coming up, so you can't have hubby pick anything up as he comes home, and you got in a wreck last night, so you can't stand comfortably? What's a gal to do? Set the kid free on the kitchen, of course. Oh, and this is probably enough for at least 1 dinner and 1 lunch, if not a 2nd dinner for our family of four (but hubby counts as about 3).

Basically, I got the meat out, and told her to use the tots. She scoured the spices and the fridge, and came up with the meal. Home-school exercise...of course. And a lesson in thinking on the fly...

Krystal's Tater Tots and Ground Beef

3 lbs of home raised ground beef (ok, if you don't have that, I guess you can buy some or use something else, like turkey)
kosher salt
1/2 large can of Ranch Style Beans (because SOMEONE had eaten 1/2 a can and I was cleaning out the fridge)
4 ounces of shredded cheddar (is what we had left)
"some" Old Bay Seasoning
"some" Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 bag of tater tots (this was a LARGE bag)

Brown beef. Drain if necessary. Add spices, and beans. Let simmer for about 15 minutes to meld flavors.

Meanwhile utilize the really cool deep fryer mom got. And fry the tots. (Mom: ok, you can bake the tots. Really. You can. But I wasn't cooking...back hurting, remember?)

To serve, put tots on plate, put beef mixture on tots, put cheese on it all.

Mom and Dad both wanted seconds. Mom did not have seconds. Dad finished off the cooked tots. See, I have will power.

As you can see, she's learning to cook from me. When asked how much of what she put in, she answered "a little of this, a little of that."

Changes......

Over the next few weeks, I plan on implementing several changes. The base one of these, the basic look has gone into effect. Yes, I'm a black and red kind of gal. I may be migrating to WordPress, as I like the offerings for the way I can make things look over there MUCH more than I do at Blogger.

I'm working on this week's Friday recipe, so stay tuned.

I'm So Lazy...New Year, Time to Bring This Back

My very good friend Byn made a commitment to her friends in internet-land to put up 365 clean eating recipes this year. I love you Byn, and I'm going to steal all of them; but, I am committing to 52 recipes. That's right folks, the Friday recipe is back (or will be, on Friday).

So, with this renewed enthusiasm, here's a bonus recipe for this week.

Lunch Chicken Wraps

1 lb chicken breast meat (I prefer home raised, or organic)
dash of salt and pepper seasoning of choice (depending on the day I like lemon pepper, Montreal, ranch dressing mix)
1 tbsp of oil (your choice: canola, vegetable, butter, EVOO)
Several leaves of your choice of lettuce (if you REALLY want that icky iceberg stuff, well oooooooookkkkkk, me, I like Bibb, or any red lettuce)
Baby spinach leaves
3 or 4 shredded carrots
1 bell pepper (Green, Red, Yellow, Orange, Purple, White your choice)
4 whole wheat burrito sized tortillas (or, you know, any wrap or pita you like)
Condiment of choice


pre-Step 1. Flatten your chicken boobs. Really. Use a pan, a meat mallet, a rolling pin, a clean shoe (make sure that your chicken is INSIDE A PLASTIC BAG if you go this far). Evening out the thickness makes the chicken cook evenly, and seriously decreasing the thickness helps it cook faster. Plus, you can take out your frustrations on the meat, and no one gets hurt or goes to jail.

1. Sprinkle your chicken with your seasoning. If you just do it on the side facing you, when you plop it into the pan (I use tongs, or a fork), then you can sprinkle the bottom side (which is now conveniently on top).

2. Heat your skillet, and add your choice of pan lubricant. Really, it's up to you. But something is needed, because chicken that is stuck is not that fun.

3. When your pan and it's lubricant are hot enough, (you could do the water sizzles when it hits test, but ..... you all are smart people, right?) carefully lay your chicken breast seasoned side down into the pan and season the 2nd side (see, I told you!)

4. Flip when chicken is lightly browned on the bottom (~3 or so minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken). This is where I cover the whole pan with a lid. Less heat escapes, and allows my chicken to cook through more quickly.

5. When chicken is done (there's that pesky thermometer test, the finger test, the cut into it-does it bleed test), remove it from the pan and allow to cool slightly.

6. Meanwhile, shred carrots, rough chop lettuce and spinach (or don't, either way is fine), slice your bell pepper thinly.

7. Slice your chicken very thinly. (It goes a LOT further that way. Don't ask me why. I cook up three breasts and plunk them on plates, people are still hungry. I slice those same three, and all of a sudden, ZOMG, I'm stuffed...and there's about 1/3 of the breast still on the plate.)

8. Lay out your wrap on your assembly surface. Spread it with your condiment of choice (herby cream cheese, mayo, Chipotle-mayo, Aoili (which is fancy for garlic flavored mayo). Lay on some chicken, top with the veggies. You could toss on som shredded cheese at this point, too. Roll it up, and place it seam side down on the plate if serving immediately. You can stick a toothpick in it. You can wrap it in plastic wrap or foil or whatever your conscience will allow you to do. Repeat for the other 3 wraps.

Variations: (Oh, COME ON, you were expecting this part)

Use some other meat. Left over roast beef, ham, turkey. Whatever.
Use arugula. YUM, spicy
Use some other veggies. I use carrots and colorful bell peppers to colorize my families palate. Really, eat the different color families in veggies, to get a better all around nutrition profile.
Any spreadable condiment is fair game.
Eat them for dinner.
Add scrambled eggs, and KAPOW, breakfast on the run. (You can do as much or as little as you want the night before. Zap 'em in the nuker ... or in the oven ... (again, go by your own conscience) and BOOM, out you go with a healthy, nutritious and filling breakfast.

Smoothies

We've been eating cleaner. Here's our base recipe for smoothies.

1.5 cup of milk (or your favorite milk substitute)
1 cup of natural yogurt
2 cups of fruit, your choice
2 scoops of protein powder (optional)

Serves 4

Throw everything in the blender. Blend till as smooth as you like. It can be helpful if you whiz up the powder w/ the milk and the yogurt before adding the fruit.

We've used all kinds of combinations. Blackberries and raspberries have a lot of seeds that can get caught in your teeth and gums. Bananas make things thicker, especially if you freeze the bananas. Play with it, have fun.

It's NOT Friday...but here's a quickie...

I realize I have neglected this site for a while. It's a combination of real life and being very upset with myself.

I am, hopefully, now on the right track. But here's a real quick recipe for you.

1 cup yogurt (vanilla is fine, but unflavored is what I use)
1/2 cup granola (I use homemade)
2 TBSP Honey
1/4 - 1/2 cup fruit

Mix it all up in a bowl. This serves one, and is quite filling. We add some protein powder for those who need the extra calories. Unflavored yogurt takes some getting used to. It is quite tart. So up the amount of honey, if you need to. I don't use 2 TBSP, but my husband called and said "That yogurt is NASTY." I told him to add more sugar!

Swiss Chard and Beef Soup

1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 to 1 1/2 pounds stew beef
2 qt beef stock
1/4 cup apple cider vineger
seasoning

1. Wash the chard very well and cut into slivers, about 1/4" wide.
2. Parboil the chard in salted water for 2 - 5 minutes. Drain, rinse.
3. Brown the beef in a big soup pot. Use your choice of fat (butter, olive oil, etc)
4. Add the beef broth, vinegar and the rinsed chard.
5. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce to simmer, and allow to simmer for 15 to 30 minutes.

This would be awesome served w/ some cheese and/or sour cream on top. Crunchy bread would be great too.

I gotta say, I enjoyed the heck out of it. And the chard was locally grown.

It's Friday. I Should Put Up a Recipe

I just realized that I forgot to put up a recipe last week. I apologize, but life has decided to take us up in its twisted path, and throw us a curve ball.

So, since we are gonna have to tighten up the pocketbook, here's a recipe for going at it on the cheap.

I'm On a Budget Pasta Salad

1 16 oz box past of your choice
1 can tuna, drained*
1 package frozen vegetables, thawed
2 ounces of grated cheese
3 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled up
1/4 to 1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1. Cook the pasta and drain.
2. Add the tuna, vegetables and mayonnaise. Stir to mix well.
3. Top with cheese and bacon and serve.

*Oil or water? If you use oil, save some to use when you mix the salad together.

If you want to serve this warm, then put the veggies in the colander as you drain the pasta. This will warm up the vegetables. I like to use carrots, green beans and/or corn. But any vegetable will do.

You can use chicken, pepperoni, pork, fish, fake krab, whatever you have. It's a great way to use up leftovers.

We enjoy this, it is quick, fast and as nutrient packed as you choose. We use pasta in our house as "filler." That is, to make sure our meals fill us up, and we aren't left feeling hungry. When money is tight, the kids don't understand "we couldn't afford it" when it comes to dinner. They do understand that their bellies are full, and that Mom fixed them something with the best ingredient never mentioned, Love.

Thanksgiving Apple Pie

Apple pie...the ubiquitous two crust pie. It is certainly seen all over the place on dessert tables everywhere. But each and every one of these pies, and the ones you can buy in the grocery store all have a problem. I am deathly allergic to cinnamon, and Americans seem to think that if a dish has apples in it, it MUST have cinnamon. I prefer my food not to kill me. But I LOVE apple pie. So, thanks to some lovely cooks in south Oklahoma, I came up with a version that works with my allergy, AND makes all the apple pie lovers in my house happy (including me).

Apple Pie
3 Granny Smith apples
1 cup of vanilla sugar**
pie crust for 2 crust pie
1 egg + 2 TBSP water, beaten together (optional)
heavy whipping cream

1. Wash, core, quarter and slice the apples into approximately 1/4" slices. (We leave the peels on, you don't have to.)
2. In a bowl, put the apple slices, and mix with the vanilla sugar. Cover and let sit for at least 2 hours.
3. Put the 1st crust in the bottom of a deep dish pie plate. Gently put the apples in the crust, spreading them around for the best fit.
4. Lay the 2nd crust over the top, crimp the edges of the crusts together.
5. Cut 3 slits in the middle of the pie top, as steam vents. The design is up to you...but these slits are VERY important.
6. Wash the crust with egg wash, if desired.
7. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes to an hour, until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
8. Pour whipping cream through the steam vents. As much or as little as you want. Allow to sit for another 5 minutes. Cut and serve. You don't even need ice cream, unless you want it as a cool counterpoint to the hot pie.
9. Refrigerate, and its still good the next day. Better, sometimes.

**put sugar and 1 - 2 tsp of vanilla in a container with lid. Mix thoroughly, put the lid on, and shake it some. Let it sit for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.

Enjoy!

It Was a Rough Week

Well, my youngest hit double digits this week. I baked a cake, made homemade pizza, and pulled pork sandwiches on homemade rolls. Instead of giving you recipes, I'll give you the links to the dough and the cake/icing.

I use the basic Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day recipe at Mother Earth News. I make everything from small rolls to 15" pizza crusts with it

The chocolate cake recipe came from Hershey's. Where else would the recipe for Perfect Chocolate Cake come from? FYI, it's also on the back of most Hershey's Cocoa Powder cans, along with the icing recipe.

Live well, enjoy.

Bonus Recipe, Fried Chicken

So, recently, there was a terrific buy on some local chickens. $5 each. Can't beat that with a 10 foot pole. We bought 10. We have roasted two, and number three was destined to be fried chicken. These chickens are ALL over 6 pounds, with some being over 8, like the one I decided was destined to become fried chicken.

Ok, I didn't know WHAT I was going to do with it. But we had electrical issues last week, and while my refrigerator wasn't affected, my cooking plans were. Friday, I just kinda decided that this weekends foods were going to be more "fussy." Hence yesterday's acorn squash, and today's fried chicken.

Now, while I'd love to tell you all that "my grandma made the bestest fried chicken in the whole world," I can't. Love my Nana, but cooking is NOT what she does well.

So, as it's been years (yes, years) since I made a batch of fried chicken, I figured I'd better hit the usual suspects for recipes. Food Network, All Recipes and for good measure RecipeSource are the three main places I search for recipes. Recipe Zaar is another fairly decent place to look. I love Recipe Source for ethnic dishes. A lot of inspiration comes from that site. As usual, I came up with several different possibilites, from go-to guys Alton Brown, Emeril Legasse, and Tyler Florence. Poor Paula, didn't have anything I was looking for today. I came up flat at All Recipes and Recipe Source; at least for the kind of recipe I was looking for. We like buttermilk fried chicken. The acid in the buttermilk really helps tenderize the chicken and flavor it. This is especially important since these birds have not been pre-brined at the packing plant.

You know I can't leave well enough alone, so I adapted the recipes to what I have on hand and came up with my version. Each recipe had a different marinading time, so I went half in two and decided four hours sounded good.

Insert Cool Name Here Fried Chicken

Marinade
1 chicken, cut up into serving sized pieces*
1 quart buttermilk (if you can find full fat buttermilk, I'm all for it)
1 - 2 TBSP Old Bay seasoning
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
salt, to taste

If you have a whole chicken, cut it up. Serving pieces are usually: 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, 2 breasts and 2 wings. In a large bowl, put the remaining ingredients and whisk them together. Put the chicken in the marinade, and make sure it's all evenly coated. Place in fridge for 4 hours. FYI, I've been known to cut wings of chickens, pre-cook stage, and toss them all in a bag in my freezer....when I have a goodly amount, we get the ultimate treat: Momma's Chicken Wings. Yep, I make four mean styles of those, and we gotta have 'em all at the same time. Takes a LOT of wings.

*The chicken I ended up using was 8 pounds. Yes, EIGHT. Guess what, I cut each breast into two pieces, and the thighs were as big as a "normal" chicken breast. And I ended up having to use my full 1/2 gallon container of buttermilk because believe me, the quart wasn't gonna do it. I did add more of the seasonings when I added more buttermilk.

Fry time

2 - 3 cups flour
salt to taste
1 - 2 TBSP paprika (it does help bring out a pretty color)
1 - 2 TBSP Italian seasoning
Enough of your choice of frying medium to make about a one to two inch depth of fat in the bottom of a large skillet like object*

Put flour and seasonings in a gallon sized ziploc baggie. Shake vigorously, until mixed. Pull out one or two pieces of chicken from the buttermilk marinade(depends on the size of the pieces, really. On Godzilla-Chicken, one is all I can do) and let excess liquid drain off. Put the chicken in the ziploc baggie, shake it all about till chicken is coated. Pull out of bag, shake off excess flour, and put on a rack over a cookie sheet (mess cleaning made easy). Once all chicken is floured, warm your oil. Note, I said AFTER it's all floured up. The flour will have time to kinda soak up the buttermilk and help keep your coating ON the chicken if you give it this time to rest. Plus, it's coming to room temperature, a good thing when working with hot oil. Get the temperature of your cooking medium to 325F. Some say 300, some say 350. For me, 350 is too hot, 300 not quite warm enough. When you add food to the oil, it will cool down the oil, and oil temperatures below 300 (as will happen if that's the temperature you start at) can leave the food excessively greasy. When the temperature is right, add the chicken to the pan. Put the dark meats (legs and thighs) in the middle, where it will be a bit hotter, and the light meats (breasts and wings) around the edges. Cook for 10 - 12 minutes until golden, flip and cook for another 10 - 12 minutes.

You can put a lid on the whole thing. This does 2 things. It keeps oil from gracing your oven top and kitchen walls and it keeps the heat in the pan, cooking the chicken instead of heating up your house. If you use a lid, be aware that the chicken MAY cook faster than the times listed above.

*I don't care if you use Crisco, peanut oil, veggie oil, canola oil or motor oil. Really. Use what you feel is right for the health of your family. I think olive oil's smoke point is too low as well as adding a flavor I'm not sure is complimentary, and I am pretty sure they'll look at you funny if you use motor oil.

Serve this with fries, smashed taters, salad, whatever you like.

Variations
We like it hot, can ya tell? Add some Franks Hot Sauce (or your preferred brand) to the buttermilk.

Use the Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix in your flour mixture (this will make your fried chicken taste pretty close to that national brand).

I never make anything the exact same way twice. (Well, except.....wait, I change that around too, nevermind.) But we enjoy the variations, and I always have the recipe skeleton to use as guide, so I don't get too far off base.

Oh, and the reason this is Insert Cool Name Here Fried Chicken is because I couldn't come up with a cool name. So, call it what you want!