Crock Pot Barbecued Chicken

To go along with yesterday's mashed potatoes, I made some crock pot barbecued chicken.   Now, if you keep the same stuff on hand I do... it's gonna be pretty easy. If not, you may need to make a couple substitutes. But I can help you out there.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, frozen (bone in is ok too, you'll just have to remove the bones later, which you can save for broth)
1/2 batch of homemade ketchup (or about a 1 1/2 cups of ketchup-- I prefer the no high fructose corn syrup kind)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp minced garlic (or one garlic clove smushed)

Directions:

Put all ingredients except for chicken into crock pot.  Swirl around with a fork.  Add in the chicken thighs, still frozen, on top.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours. If you are there while it's cooking, go in about halfway through and swirl the chicken around to be sure it's coated well.  To serve, shred with two forks.  Eat plain, or with bread.
I served with mashed potatoes and slaw. The baby had gluten-free bread, the hubby had sandwich bread.  All pronounced the chicken deelishness and licked excess sauce from fingers lest it be wasted!

An Exciting New Home

I am in the process of moving this blog so I can do more, better, and exciting things with it!!

It is under contstruction currently, but you may feel free to check it out at www.mymemasway.com


Thanks for reading! :-)

Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes

It can be done.. and without boiling them first!!

My husband is off on Wednesdays and so is working on finishing laying the tile in the kitchen floor.  Which means most likely I will not be able to walk in there come dinner time.

So I decided it needs to be an all crock pot kinda night.  So I'm making barbeque chicken, slaw, and mashed potatoes.  The slaw I prepped ahead of time.  The chicken, I threw in at 7 am.

But on to the main point-- mashed potatoes!

This is both a recipe and a how-to, as you can use this technique and flavor the potatoes however you like. For example, you could use milk & butter instead of the dressing.


Ingredients:

5 potatoes
water
3 1/2 cups ranch dressing


Scrub your potatoes, chop into small-ish cubes about 1 inch in size, and throw them into a crock pot.  Put enough water in to about half cover the potatoes, and turn it on low for 4 hours.

 After 4 hours, strain out the water and return potatoes to pot.  Pour ranch dressing into crock pot, and keep it on low for another 2 or 3 hours.  Mash in pot and serve.  I used my pestle to do the mashing  and the potatoes were so soft it only took about 30 seconds.

Now how easy was that?  If I may be so bold as to offer a hint... Use a programmable crockpot so if  you forget about the taters after the first 4 hours... they won't burn.

Can't Get Into the Kitchen!!!

So I haven't made a post in a few days, not for lack of wanting to. In fact, I'm itching to cook. I don't think I realized prior to this week how much cooking allows me to express my creativity and relieve some stress.

But I have issues.  We have been in this house for about a year and a half, and it's always had some issues. One of the biggest is that part of the kitchen floor started to sink shortly after we moved in.  It was a small spot, about 4 inches in diameter, so I sat the garbage can on top of it and forgot about it.

Then it GREW. and GREW SOME MORE. And then I started worrying that it swallow one of my children.  It was this lumpy, shaky, unsteady, bit of UGLY linoleum that was making me more paranoid by the day.  And eventually, after enough complaining, I managed to convince my husband to tile the floor. 

So what's my problem?  He's working full time in the meantime and meanwhile my kitchen is torn to h-e-double hockey sticks and back.  I have backboard in some places, tile in others, linoleum in others.. I can't risk spilling on the floor.  I can't really do dishes and risk dripping water on the backer board.  My kitchen is a WRECK.  I have tools where the salt should be, the Brita dispenser on the dining room table, the compost had to be passed out a window........

But I know it will be beautiful.  And tonight, whilst the kids are gone and cooking gluten-free wasn't a must, I managed to sneak in and make a quick meal-- spinach and lentil stuffed ravioli and brownies.

And I feel better.  But that weird episode of cupcake wars I watched the other night is really making me want to see what I can create with gluten-free flour mixes.. so I am hoping he'll be done by the end of the weekend.

And I am also hoping I'll be done with the bathroom.  Until then, all I can say is that you can make ravioli out of gyoza wrappers.

A to Z Meme

I  saw this meme on Fab Grandma's Blog, and since I can't get to my kitchen, thought I would play along.

A. Age: 35

B. Bed size: Queen. And while I'm thankful to have a bed, it's really much too small when the kids decide to join us.

C. Chore you dislike: Laundry. All 14 loads a week. I hate each and every one of them.

D. Dogs: One we love, one we don't love quite so much. Grancy has literally saved my child's life so she is my DOGGIE HERO.

E.  Essential start to your day: Coffee

F. Favorite color: Purple

G. Gold or silver: Silver

H. Height: 5′ 5"

I. Instruments you play(ed): Piano. But I can only play Girl Scout songs and Christmas carols. With one hand.,

J. Job title: Eldercare Advisor with A Place for Mom

K. Kids: 8 year old daughter, 2 year old son (Where did the time go?)

L. Live: in my hometown

M. Mom’s name: Gloria

N. Nicknames: JennT, JT

O. Overnight hospital stays: Childbirth only. If I have another one, though, I really want a home birth.

P. Pet peeves: Litterers, people who are rude to servers/cashiers/cab drivers, poor tippers, people who pretend to be stupid but really aren't, the cartoon Calliou.

Q. Quote from a movie: “After all, tomorrow is another day!"

“Fry like bacon you Freshman bitches!"

"Chunk!" "Sloth!"

"Death by stereo"

R. Righty or Lefty: Righty.

S. Siblings: Zero-- I'm a lonely only. (So is my husband)

T. Time you wake up: Usually around 5:45

U. Underwear: None of your business.

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Radishes.

W. What makes you run late: My oldest child.

X. X-rays you’ve had: Lung/Chest x-rays.. over and over again

Y. Yummy food you make: A different thing every day

Z. Zoo Animal Favorites: Gorillas and other primates

If you want to play along, just copy away and put it on your blog…let me know you did it so I can come by and read your answers!

Rice Pudding

Now, this picture doesn't look like much, I know, but it is one of the most delicious breakfasts I have ever put in my mouth. Randomly, I was inspired to make this because someone on twitter said they were having rice toast, which really doesn't have anything to do with rice pudding.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used homemade)
1/2 cup milk (I used goat)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cocoa powder
zest from half an orange
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. coconut oil
honey, for garnish

Directions:

Dump the rice into a small saucepan, and add milk and yogurt.  Turn the heat on low, and let simmer.  Beat your egg, add, and stir.  Add cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Zest an orange in, and add the coconut oil.  Stir until everything is well blended. Let simmer 10-15 minutes or until nice and toasty warm.  Pour into a bowl and top with a tsp (or more, to taste) of local wild honey. 

Makes 2 bowls of heavenly goodness. Oh, and gives you a great way to use leftovers, meaning you are saving money. 

Gluten Free Chicken 'N Dumplings

If my mama is reading this, she's gonna have a heart attack.  'Cause I spent my whole childhood loathing chicken 'n dumplings.  But she taught my kids to like them, and then we went gluten-free, and we've all had tummy troubles... it just seemed like the thing to do..

So Mom-- sit down, I am voluntarily making, and will be eating chicken 'n dumplings. Do you wanna come over and take a picture?

Now I'm sure that this recipe could be easily adapted for the crockpot so that it's not so time consuming, but I wasn't organized enough this morning to make that happen.

So this has been a 7 hour or so recipe.  (With cheating as I'll describe below.)

Hopefully if you want to make this, you'll have a freezer full of chicken broth  like I do. Otherwise, that's an extra step that can't really be shortcutted.

Soup Ingredients:
2 gallons homemade chicken broth
3 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 cup milk (I used raw goat's milk)
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp chopped bay leaves
1/2 tsp. parsley
1/2 cup frozen spinach

Dumplings:
This is where I cheated! I used Gluten-Free Cooking School's recipe that I found here for drop biscuits.

Directions:
Take out a big 'ol stock pot, and place the frozen chunks of chicken broth in. Turn the heat on low, and forget about it for 30 minutes or so until it has time to turn once again to liquid.

Add the carrot, celery, thyme, and chicken thighs.  Keep the heat on low, and cook for hours, or until the chicken just about falls off the bones.  Once you get to that point, start making your biscuit dough.  When your dough is made, turn the oven on 350.  Remove chicken from soup and shred.  Keep bones and skin to make more chicken stock!  Return the chicken to the pan, and add the remaining spices, spinach, and milk.  Stir gently and then bring to a boil.  Taste and make sure you like the seasonings, adjusting if necessary.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop up a bit of the biscuit dough and drop it into the pan.  I started out using full scoops and then realized my dumplings were gi-normous, so I switched to half scoops towards the end.

 You may have to gently stir a bit to make sure they are all able to float to the top.  Then take the whole pot and put in the oven. I cooked it for 35 minutes, but you may actually want to cook a little longer. I just couldn't wait anymore.. the suspense was killing me.

And now I am for certain... I DO LIKE CHICKEN N DUMPLINGS!!!


Serve in a bowl and get ready for a nap after.

Fermented Brussel Sprouts (Yes KIDS eat them!!)

Since I've gotten back on track with fermenting things again lately, I started wanting to experiment a little, even though I have in the past mostly stuck with a recipe.  For some reason, the idea occured to me that brussel sprouts are kinda like little cabbages, and with proper fermentation, would taste like little round bites of saurkraut heaven.  So I picked up a pound or so of fresh ones and got started.

Fermented Brussel Sprouts

approx 1 lb fresh brussel sprouts, washed and cut in half
1 tbsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. whey
2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled, and smashed
2 tsp. dried fresh dill
water (preferably filtered)

In a large (quart size) mason jar, add your brussel sprouts, then all other ingredients.  Seal, and label the top with the date. The dating is very important so that when you are tired and can't remember what the heck day you did this anyway, you can figure out how long they have been fermenting.  Leave sitting out on the counter for a week. Open and taste. Be careful when you open the jar as it will fizz a bit like a well shaken soda.  If they aren't sour enough, re-seal and leave out longer. If they are good, stick 'em in the fridge. If you are vegetarian or dairy intolerant, you can skip the whey and up the salt.

Entire prep time for this was about 5 minutes.  The look on my daughter's face when she tried one made it worth about an hour of prep time-- she looked like she'd one the lottery. Noone else is allowed to touch the jar. Guess I'm gonna have to get more brussel sprouts... 'cause anything that makes the kids ask for veggie snacks instead of processed food is a winner in my book.

Gluten-Free Salmon Patties... Delishousness

So my most recent craving: salmon patties.  I think, at this point, I no longer ask why I crave random things.  Although I do believe this one was directly related to me making some wasabi mayonnaise and wanting something to dip in it.  I don't think either of my kids had ever had the pleasure known as a salmon patty.. and it was a hit with both!

Ingredients:
1 14.75 oz. can salmon
1/2 onion
1 1/2 stalk celery
1 cup rice chex
2 eggs
1 tsp. dill
1/2 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/4 tsp. black pepper
dash salt
1 tsp. lemon juice

Dice up your veggies finely.  Smash up the rice chex (I used a mortar and pestle.) Then throw everything in a large mixing bowl and mix well. With your hands.  If you're not into the ooie gooie type of hand mixing, get a child to do it.  Form patties of desired size, I made mine about hamburger size, but do whatever floats your boat.  Stack them neatly in a plate or flat pan and stick in the refrigerator for an hour or two. 

Once you're ready to cook, heat a large skillet with some oil in it. I used olive oil.  Add the patties until pan is full... just like pan frying burgers.

Cook for five minutes on each side.  Serve hot.. plain or with dipping sauce and lemon wedges. Shown here with brussel sprouts, quinoa, and wasabi mayo.

Smoked Turkey Fried Rice

Ever have a day when nothing in your kitchen seems destined to actually come together to make a meal?  That was me the other day.. then I dreamed this beauty up.  The whole family couldn't get enough!


Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. Hungarian paprika
2 cups rice
7 cups chicken broth
1 smoked turkey wing
3 chicken quarters
1/4 cup chopped black olives
2 popsicles (more if desired)
2 stalks celery
1/2 pint grape tomatoes
5 small sweet peppers
2 tbsp. coconut oil

This sounds like a lot.. but came together in about an hour and a half, two hours tops, and I managed to accomplish other things in the meantime (as you'll see.)

You need a really big pot and a large frying-type pan.  Go ahead and chop all your veggies.  Now, turn on the heat  (medium) under the really big pot, and add 2 tbsp. of olive oil.  Let it swirl around for a minute, and add your chopped onion. Cook for about two minutes, then add your garlic and give it a quick stir.  Add the paprika, and stir again. Let it sizzle together for a couple of seconds, and then add your rice. Stir the rice often and saute it for about 2 minutes. Add your chicken broth.  Reduce heat to low.  While the rice is getting acclimated to the chicken broth, chop up that smoked turkey wing and toss it in there.  If you haven't done so already, you need to start defrosting those chicken quarters.  (I forgot in this instance.)  Now stop, take a breath, and open the popsicles for the kids (you wondered what those were for, didn't you?)

Flip the defrosting chicken, and stir the really big pot.  Empty the dishwasher.  Now, add your celery, tomatoes, and sweet peppers to the pot.  Stir it gently to mix everything together.

Now take your chicken that is hopefully defrosted by now and get it ready for the frying pan.  Melt your coconut oil in the pan and sprinkle salt and pepper on the chicken.  Get the coconut oil hot-- medium to medium high heat.  Add the chicken.  Cook for five minutes before flipping.  Use a splatter screen or shoo small people and animals out of the kitchen.  Meanwhile, go recycle the grocery bag that mysteriously appeared just now in the kitchen floor.  Come back, and flip the chicken again.  Cook until you can poke a knife in it and the juices run clear (not pinky clear.)  Remove chicken from the pan and drain if so desired.  Peek at the rice. Is it reducing? If not, you may want to crank up the heat a bit.. just keep in mind you'll have to stir more often to keep from burning the bottom.

Shred the recently fried up chicken.  Toss it in the pot and mix it all up, also adding the olives.  Once the rice is ready (I always taste it to tell for sure) serve it up with sour cream and hot sauce as condiments.

This was gone so so quickly... I don't even think we had leftovers.

Ranch Dressing

Now my kids both eat salad.. my two year old delights in it despite trying to avoid most things green. But one thing the hubby and both kids agree on is ranch dressing. My husband even dips pizza in it!  For a long time, bottled ranch has been a non-negotiable in my house.. the barest mention of it brought hard stares and mean looks, all pointed in my direction.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but have you ever read the ingredients of one of those bottles?  I can't pronounce half of it.  And while I do believe in salad dressing and veggie dip, I don't believe it has to be full of crap.  

Salad dressing is good for you, actually, a little fat with your vegetables helps your body absorb the nutrients.

So last night I got all experimental and made some homemade ranch dressing:

The verdict?? I WON I WON I WON!!! I never have to buy Ranch dressing again!! 

Once again, Mommy is victorious! (Good thing none of them read my blog....)

So here, go make you some:

1 cup buttermilk

3 serving spoons full of plain yogurt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. rice vinegar

1 1/2 tsp. dried dill (I dry my own.. so I had to scrunch it up tiny)

1 tsp. dried parsley

3/4 tsp. powdered garlic

tiny sprinkling of salt

Stir well. You can play around this to make it thicker (add more yogurt) tangier (add more vinegar) etc.  I'm gonna try a spicy version next. :-)

Non fried Refried Beans

Ah ! The joy of a quick dish when you plan ahead! For this I used beans I had previously soaked, cooked, and thrown in the freezer, onions I had chopped and frozen, AND chicken broth I had made and frozen.

My family often enjoys Mexican night... but I've never mastered refried beans from scratch, even when actually frying them.  But today is my lucky day, because I have some deliciousness working that will be unrivaled.

Or something.

What I tasted a minute ago was quite good.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups pre-cooked kidney beans
1 cup chopped red onion
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 piece bacon, cut up
1 tbsp. dried cilantro
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. sea salt

In a large pot, throw it all together.  Stir up.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to low to let the flavors meld.  Cook when everything reduces to mush. Pre-cooking and freezing the beans seemed to give these beans the exact texture I wanted.. like refried beans at the Mexican joint down the street.. but they had a heck of a lot more flavor.

Southern Belle Lamb Pho

And here we go, with a southern girl from Georgia making up something she has no business making-- Vietnamese food.

But the thing is, my daughter and I LOVELOVELOVE Pho.  And my husband won't eat beef, which really restricts us from going out as a family for it.  So I created a lamb version at home.. and lo and behold, the hubby and the boy both adore it too.  My daughter turned 8 last Wednesday, and is having a friend over tonight, so she asked me to make it for their special dinner. Hope the friend is up for trying something new.

Pho, for the uninitiated, is a fantastic broth and noodle soup, typically made with beef and served with assorted herbs and condiments so that you get to make your own flavor. My daughter calls it "decorating" the soup.

So after quite a bit of research online, and looking at twenty or so recipes, here is mine:

What You Need:
a large soup pot or dutch oven
1-2 onions
1 piece ginger about 3 inches long
1 tsp. whole coriander
1 tsp. fennel seed
4 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
8 whole cloves
4-5 green cardomon pods
a lot of water
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. minced garlic
about 6 chunks lamb stew meat
2 lb. lamb that you can slice VERY thinly or lamb shabu shabu
1 pkg. rice noodles
fresh cilantro
fresh basil
bean sprouts
2 limes
2 fresh jalapeños
Chinese hot sauce
Hoison sauce (we have also subbed A1 in a pinch)
Soy sauce

Directions:
Plan to be home all day.  This is NOT a 30 minute meal.

Early in the day, heat your large pot on the stove. Peel your onion(s) and throw in the bottom to char.  Thickly slice the ginger and throw it in too.  You will need to stir pretty constantly. You want to get the flavor in the pan but not burn the heck out of it.  Once they are nicely seared, remove.  Throw the lamb stew chunks in the pan and brown.  Once they are browned a bit (it doesn't have to be all sides), add the ginger and onion back in and fill the pan almost to the top with water.  Bring the mixture to medium heat and let simmer for 4-6 hours.

Go do something else.  Laundry, propping your feet up, or taking a nap are my suggestions.

Go check on the pot. Some people skim it at this point. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't depending on how the top of it looks.  This next step, you can either put the spices in a mesh bag (like making a big 'ol pot of tea) or you can throw them in there.  I do a mix between the two-- I use a tea ball each for the coriander and fennel because they are smaller, and then throw in the cinnamon, star anise, garlic, cardomon, and cloves.  Let the soup continue to simmer.  Toss in a little salt if you are into that sort of thing. Let it simmer at least another hour or two.  Then taste it, you should have a rich, flavorful lamb broth.

Once the broth is good enough for your taste, you can do one of three things-- leave it alone, strain it, or fish out the things you don't want to eat. I typically strain it into another pan and throw the onions back in.  In a separate pan, bring water to boil for your noodles. I like to boil them separately because otherwise, the noodles soak up all of your broth and you are left with something more like a casserole than a soup.  Keep your broth warm on the stove.

Go ahead and set out your sauces, and slice your limes and jalapeños.  On a large plate or platter, arrange the cilantro, basil, bean sprouts, limes, and jalapeños.

Cook your noodles and strain.  Now, take your thinly sliced lamb and toss in the broth.  If it is sliced thinly enough, you can even skip this step and throw it in your bowl (the traditional way) but that freaks my family out as it winds up medium rare (I love it that way.)

(shown here: lamb shabu shabu)

To serve, take a bowl and put a heap of noodles in the bottom.

Top with broth, and then "decorate" with the condiments of your choice.

If you are gluten free.. you should be good to go with this one as long as you use gluten free soy and hoison sauces.

A Setback

I had been extremely gung ho on cooking traditional foods. We were all happy, healthy, and then... fast forward a year and a half and I discovered couponing. I could go to Publix and come out with 8 bags of groceries for $7.  Um, yeah.  So we started eating a lot of processed food, and.... started being sickly.  So we backed off on that, but still trying to figure out the gluten free world, I still didn't do a whole lot that is traditional except for making chicken broth.  I also started off as a stay at home mom and now work full time.  But then...

About 3 weeks ago, all four of us got a virus that I affectionately refer to as the "death flu." My husband at one point ran a fever so high he was hallucinating.  That was pretty scary.

So we are on the road to traditional healthy eating again. I'm sure it won't be without its hiccups, but I am feeling better already.

Some steps we are taking:
-soaking grains before cooking
-making fermented foods
-taking cod liver oil
-making lots of bone broths and using them
-reducing processed food in the home to almost zero
-drinking raw milk when available
-eating grass fed and pastured meats and eggs when we can



So I say all this to say that I learned last night the youngest loves to help make sauerkraut. Glad to know I've got an apprentice.

Transferring the washed cabbage to the crock.

Salting and pounding the cabbage.

Breakfast Pasta

I don't know why, but occasionally a strange idea occurs to me, like it did this morning.  And when the inspiration and urge strike... why not follow it through?

Hence, breakfast pasta.  Which pleased everyone but the 2 year old.. he isn't pleased with any food these days.

Ingredients:
3 large sausage links (I used chicken & spinach)
4 slices bacon (I used turkey thin & crispy)
1 onion, chopped
1 piece celery, chopped
1 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. butter
5 eggs
4 cups chicken broth
1 box quinoa veggie curl pasta
shredded cheese (optional)



In a small pot, bring chicken broth to boil.  Meanwhile, melt your butter in a large skillet and saute the onions and celery. In skillet #2, cook your bacon until crispy.  Once bacon is cooked, remove to a bowl and cook your sausage (as whole links).  In skillet #1, if onions and celery are about done, add parsley, black pepper, and eggs.  Scramble, then remove from heat.  Once chicken broth is boiling, add pasta and cook according to package directions.  Cut up bacon into tiny strips (I used kitchen scissors) and add to egg mixture.  Remove sausage from skillet and slice into medallions.  Add sausage also to egg mixture.  Mix it all up.  Once pasta is ready, drain.

To serve, put a scoop of pasta in a bowl, add egg mixture and mix up. Top with cheese.

YUM

Hungarian Paprikash

I'm not Hungarian, but any stretch of the imagination. And while most of the time I do try to post pretty authentic recipes on my blog, this one is not.  By any stretch of the imagination. But if I was reading a book about people eating Paprikash in Hungary.. this is what I think it would taste like.

This would be easily adaptable to the crock pot, but I did it on the stove top, because I finally was freed from being snowed in, and ran around all day before starting dinner. So this is my easy prep method instead.

Ingredients:
2 small onions
5 potatoes
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. Hungarian paprika
1 pkg. turkey sausage (I used sweet Italian)
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil
tomatoes-- about 3 cans (I try to avoid industrial canned tomatoes and was lucky enough to have a large mason jar of garden fresh canned tomatoes that my Mema & Pepa made me-- you can't get much better than that!!)
1 cup water

If you are in a hurry, prepare the potatoes as though you were baking them in the microwave, and in fact, microwave them until almost done.  Meanwhile, pour the olive oil in the pan and add the chopped onion and garlic, stirring consistently over medium heat.  Once the potatoes are about baked, dice them up and add to the pan.  Continue stirring, and let the potatoes start to form a crust.  Slice up your sausage and add on top (mine was still frozen).  Add the paprika, and mix well.  Reduce heat, and add tomatoes and water.  Cook over low heat for about an hour or until sausage meat is cooked, then season with salt and pepper. If you have time to cook longer, it will taste better!

Serve alone or topped with a dollop of sour cream.  Perfect for a winter day.

This is a hit with the whole family, not too spicy for anyone. If the hubby and I were alone, I might add 1/4 tsp. cayenne.  But the baby ate two bowlsful.

Kale Chips

I can't believe it! I just looked back and apparently have never shared the recipe for kale chips.  These have been another cold weather treat.... that have never, in my past two years of making them, lasted long enough for me to take a picture.

But this is a healthy, easy, tasty snack.  Did I mention easy?

What you need-- some fresh kale, some olive oil, some sea salt.

Directions:
Wash and chop your kale.  Drain in a colander and then dump in a bowl.  Pour some olive oil over it, a couple tablespoons worth, and toss.  Then sprinkle sea salt over, tossing again.  (The olive oil helps the salt stick.)


Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Dump the kale on the aluminum foil and bake for about 8 minutes on 375.  Then eat straight.  My kids can put away 2 (convection oven sized) panfuls in about 15 minutes.

Snow In Georgia

If you're not from the south, you may not realize that snow in the south is a crippling thing. We don't own many snowplows, there's never (somehow) enough salt, and roads become impassible.  Which means school gets cancelled, work gets cancelled, and everyone's cold and hungry.

I've been working (more than) full time for a few months now, and it has definitely cut into my blogging time. But due to request, I am going to make it a priority to be more diligent.

Two days ago, I was looking at 4 people here in the house, 2 under the age of 10 who run and therefore eat constantly.  So I got up that morning at 5 resolved-- I will use ALL of my crockpots and make all my meals in them.  I almost succeeded.

Breakfast-- I used my new, latest, great toy, a itty bitty crockpot to make oatmeal.

My recipe:
1 cup goat's milk
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1 pink lady apple
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. cinnamon.

Wash and chop the apple. Dump everything in and cook on high for about 2 hours.  Even the child that "doesn't like" oatmeal ate it up.

Lunch-- I pulled a frozen meal out of the freezer .. honey lentils that I made a while back.  I threw the ziploc bag, still frozen in a sink of water for 30 minutes.  Then pulled it out, loosened it, and stuck in a mid size crockpot on low until lunch time.  I made rice to accompany it.

Dinner-- I washed the small crockpot from breakfast and made spinach dip.
Spinach Dip:
1 block cream cheese
1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
2 tbsp. sundried tomatoes, chopped finely
1/2 bag frozen spinach
1 dash tabasco
Dump all in small crockpot and cook on high for about an hour.  Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

The kids wanted spaghetti.  We make SEVERAL versions around here, but here's my latest:

1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
olive oil
basalmic vinegar
1 cup frozen spinach
1 cup mushrooms (I used frozen)
1 lb. ground turkey
1 jar ragu (I used Barilla)
2 tsp. rosemary
2 tsp. basil
2 tsp. oregano
4 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. black pepper


Throw all ingredients in the crock pot and turn it on low.  Cook as long as possible... the longer you cook it, the better it will taste.  I throw the meat in still frozen, and then wander by a few hours later to chop it up with a spatula down in the pot.
To serve, cook some noodles and dump the sauce over.  I use rice noodles, because we're gluten free.  Regardless, when you boil your water, before you add the noodles, add a tbsp or so of olive oil and a pinch of salt. It helps keep the noodles from sticking together and makes it all taste fabulous.

All this took less than an hour prep time, I also made kale chips, and everyone enjoyed cheap, healthy (ish) hot food all day long!