Cranberry Chop

I've been meaning to post this anyway, but since Alex asked for Thanksgiving recipes, I thought I post it today. I'll come up with some other things later. I could also use some help with veggies!

Cranberry Chop

½ lb fresh cranberries

1 peeled orange

2 small peeled and cored apples

1 cup sugar

Fresh lemon to taste (or substitute lemon juice)

1 c. chopped walnuts

1 can crushed pineapple

Dates

Blend until finely chopped in a blender or food processor.

* Best if made the day before and allowed time to blend together.

This is a great alternative to cranberry sauce. I never use very much sugar, just enough to make it kind of sweet. I have also never tried it with the dates. You really must make this the day before. So good!

I made Alianna's veggy and rice casserole last night. It was really good. We ate it with beans. I've been trying to eat at least a few vegetarian meals a week, to save money on meat. We usually just end up eating plain rice and beans and that gets pretty boring so it was nice to jazz it up a bit. What else do you have for us Alianna? I'm sure you have some really great new meat free recipes.

I think I'm all caught up on the recipes now. I haven't made Heather's cake yet because I know it would get me into trouble and I'm saving it for a special occasion. So what else do you girls have? I need some more dinner ideas. I feel like I cook the same things over and over again. And I need some good vegetable side dishes. And I want to learn to make homemade tortillas and noodles. As you can see I'm a mess.

Also, what are your favorite holiday recipes? What kind of side dishes does your family eat on Thanksgiving and Christmas? And what is a good meal to make on New Year's Eve? Christmas cookies! I'm getting excited to make some holiday padding!

Red and White Chili

This is one of my favorite crockpot meals and since my mom just asked me for it, I thought I would share it here too. Sorry, no pictures since I haven't made it yet this fall.

Red and White Chili

6 cups cubed cooked chicken

2 cans navy beans, drained

1 cup chicken broth

1 large onion, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped

1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 t cumin

1 t oregano

1/2 each salt and cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in the slow cooker; stir gently to mix.

Cook on low for 6-7 hours or High for 3-4 hours until hot and sauce thickens slightly.

If you think this will be too spicy for you, you can leave out the jalapeño. Also, I use dried navy beans that I have soaked which means I usually end up adding more broth throughout.

I like the picture, Alex! I forgot we were going to do our apron pictures! I guess we better get on that!

Sesame Chicken

I made Heather's fried rice for dinner last night and it was delicous, but left me wanting more Chinese food. When I crave Chinese, it doesn't go away until I finally cave in and get some takeout. It could be a day or three weeks later, but eventually the craving wins. So today I played around in the kitchen a little and made some sesame chicken that hit the spot. There were a few ingredients I don't normally have at home that I had to buy, but all together they were cheaper than one meal from a restaurant would be. To me it was worth it. And it's lots heathier than the deep fried stuff you'd get if you ate out.

Ingredients
3 whole boneless chicken breasts

Marinade
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cooking wine
3 drops sesame oil
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon oil (just whatever you normally cook with)

Sauce
1/2 cup water
1 cup chicken broth
1/8-1/4 cup white vinegar or rice wine vinegar (depending on how sweet you want the sauce)
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or chili paste
1 minced garlic clove (I just threw a little garlic salt into mine, but that's just how I roll)

Garnish
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions

Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Mix the marinade ingredients (the first 9 ingredients listed) and marinate the chicken for 20 minutes.

To prepare the sauce:. Mix together all of the sauce ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Turn the heat down to low and keep warm while you are frying the chicken.

Heat about 1 T oil in a pan and fry the marinated chicken.
Place the chicken on a platter or bowl and pour the sauce over. Sprinkle with sesame seeds (I didn't this time). Serve the Sesame Chicken with rice (Like Heather's!)

Devan got really excited about this and he doesn't often get excited about anything. Hannah liked it too.

Fried Rice

This is a great way to use up leftover rice, which we always seem to have. Plus, it's really good!

3 cups cooked white rice

1 T AND 1 t soy sauce

2 t sugar

2 t cornstarch

salt and pepper

1 lb thinly cut pork chops (I use shredded chicken or no meat at all)

2 T oil

2 large eggs, beaten

1 bunch green onions or 1 medium onion

10 oz frozen peas (I just put however many look good)

Mix 1 T soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, salt and pepper in medium bowl. Add meat to soy sauce mixture and stir to combine. Set aside for 20 minutes at room temp or up to 24 hours, covered and refrigerated.

Heat 1 T oil in wok or large skillet until very hot. pour beaten eggs over bottom of pan and cook like a pancake, then break into small pieces. Remove and set aside.

Add remaining 1 T oil; heat until very hot. Add meat and stir-fry. Add onions and cook about 1 minute. Add peas, rice and soy sauce and eggs. Stir fry until heated through.

Pork Enchiladas

You will need:

2 lb pork loin
Brown Sugar
Coke
Garlic Salt
Enchilada Sauce
Small can of diced chilies

Marinate the pork loin overnight in 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 can (12 oz) Coke. Take out of the marinade and put in the crock-pot with 1 1/2 can Coke, 1/2 cup brown sugar and some garlic salt. Cook on low for 10 hours

Blend together 1 can of Coke, 1 can of sliced chilies, 1 can of enchilada sauce and about a cup of brown sugar. Remove pork from the crock-pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork with two forks. Put shredded pork and sauce in crock-pot and cook on low for 3 hours.

You can make these into enchiladas, or put them in burritos or a on salad. My personal favorite is quesadillas. We made them into enchiladas last night and served them with Heather's beans and some rice. (I've made those beans three times so far. I love them so much. Last week I made them and Monday through Thursday I ate rice and beans for lunch and dinner everyday. It was great, but I didn't envy Devan having to sleep next to me.)

I know they sound gross because they're just Coke, sugar, enchilada sauce and chilies, but we love them! And, pork loin is on sale at Smith's this week for a dollar a pound.

Halloween Recipes

Because Heather's mom asked for it, and because I don't want to do my math homework:

Sloppy Boos

1 pound ground turkey
1 medium chopped onions
2 minced garlic cloves
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 teaspoon chili powder
Salt to taste

In a large heavy saucepan brown the ground turkey over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions. Cook until the onions are almost soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for additional minute or two. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

I really enjoyed these, and they're pretty healthy. I didn't run the nutrition info, but just looking at it, the only ingredients that really have any calories are the turkey, brown sugar and the bun. This is also really good served over rice.

And in case you've never made your own pumpkin puree before (I hadn't)...

Pumpkin Puree

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds and threads. Reserve the seeds for toasting and snacking. Place the halved cut side down on a greased jelly roll pan. Bake the pumpkin until it is very tender and can easily be pierced with a fork. A 3 pound pumpkin takes 1 hour, so vary your time estimates based on that. Set the pumpkin aside to cool. When it is cool enough to handle, cut the skin off with a sharp knife. Chop the flesh into pieces small enough to fit in a food processor and process until pureed. Leftover puree can be refrigerated for up to five days or frozen.

And the Witch's Brew...

2 quarts apple juice
2 quarts pineapple juice
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 box (6 oz) of jello powder
Orange sherbert (to add before serving)

Stir everything together in the crockpot and cook on low 5 hours or on high 3 hours. Serve with a scoop of orange sherbert. It will cool the brew enough for children to drink right away and it creates a foamy, slimy film. Perfect for Halloween!

Look how happy he is. That could be you!

Stolen Bread

I'm not going to post this recipe since I stole it from another blog, I'll just give you the link: http://staynerrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/08/french-peasant-bread.html

This isn't my picture either. But I really did make it and it really was good.

This was so easy (I could do it). And it turned out so yummy. The only down side is, it takes a long time to rise, so I used instant yeast and it only had to rise for about 20 minutes or so. It took me maybe an hour from start to finish, including rise and bake time. The only other thing I changed was it wasn't quite cooked after 15 minutes on 375, so I turned the next batch down to 350 and cooked it for about 18 minutes. Try this recipe though. So good!