Slow Cooker Lentil and Ham Soup

This soup has really good flavor, and it's a great way to incorporate more lentils into your diet.  It's also a snap to put together- you only have to do a bit of chopping, and set everything to cook low and slow in the crockpot.  When I make this, I fnd that after for a while (like 8 hours), I need to add more water.  Feel free to do that, if the water level is getting lower in your crockpot.  Also, sometimes this turns out too salty for me- due to the chicken broth, but mostly, the ham.  I use reduced-sodium broth and cut down the amount of ham (only use one cup), but if you are afraid of the saltiness, I suggest using half chicken broth/half water for the 32oz. chicken broth the recipe calls for.  I also buy my ham pre-cut into a small dice, unless I have leftover ham to use.  I cook this overnight (on Low) on a weekend for a late lunch the next day.  I used my larger crockpot for this, and it turned out to be too large- I will use my smaller one next time.

My mom made a recipe that tasted just like this when I was growing up.  She made some yummy cinnamon-sugar muffins to go along with it, so I will have to make them sometime and share the recipe. 

I am tagging this recipe under "beans", although it's a legume.  Lentils are SO good for you!  I need to make more recipes with them. 

Slow Cooker Lentil and Ham Soup

from Allrecipes

1 cup dried lentils

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups diced cooked ham
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
32 ounces reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
8 ounces tomato sauce (may want to use no-salt-added T.S.)

1. In a slow cooker combine the lentils, celery, carrots, onion, garlic and ham. Season with basil, thyme, oregano, the bay leaf and pepper. Stir in the chicken broth, water and tomato sauce. Cover and cook on Low for about 11 hours. Discard the bay leaf before serving.

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Berry-Peach Smoothie

We absolutely love smoothies around here.  I mean LOVE them.  The kids like them better than ice cream- no joke.  So do I, kinda.  Well, both products have redeeming qualities, but my kids actually said they like smoothies better than ice cream!  So there.  They beg for me to make smoothies all the time. 

I never use a recipe and just add whatever I have on hand, but decided to guesstimate the measurments as I made one today, so I could post it here.  I will say that one thing I do is always use frozen fruit- it provides such a great texture, slushy and delicious.  Plus, frozen fruit is economical, and it's always easy to find, unlike fresh berries or peaches (espcially where I live!), and you can always have it on hand to whip up a random smoothie.  (I'd save the good fresh berries and peaches, when you can get them, to just eat out of hand.... yum.  I'm yearning.)

Remember- these measurments are very approximate!!  Just throw in whatever you like, and in amounts you want to.  The juice helps it all come together.  However, it still takes a while to blend and become smooth.  I'm usually standing there for at least a few minutes, stopping/starting the blender, stirring down, etc.  Just keep going with it.  (And never get your spoon close to the moving blades!!)  If it's totally not coming together, add a bit more juice and make sure it gets down to the bottom, where the blades are.  If you like Jamba Juice or similar smoothies.... these are better, and waaaaay cheaper!  :)  Plus, you decide what goes into it.  No need for ice, etc.

Berry-Peach Smoothie
by What A Dish!
Serves 2 adults and 3 children :)

2 cups frozen peaches
1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen raspberries
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 to 1 cup yogurt, any variety you like (I used raspberry today)
1 cup orange juice

1.  Pour frozen fruit into your blender.  Add the yogurt, and pour the juice over everything.  Blend until fully pureed.  (This may take a while.  Add more juice if needed, and you may need to help it along).

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Mom's Chicken Stew

This chicken stew is delicious and comforting on a cold night.  My mom made this when I was growing up, and I made it for the first time a few days ago.  I'm happy to say it tasted just like I remember!  This stew didn't get super thick for me, and I can't remember if my mom's did or not, but it was good the way it was.  I love the flavor of the broth- I used a bag of bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (there were 4 in the package).  My husband wasn't feeling well on the night we had this, but was able to eat the broth and a few potatoes and it tasted really good to him. 

Mom's Chicken Stew

from my Mom!

2 quarts water (8 cups)

1/2 onion, peeled and cut into a few large pieces

1-2 teaspoons sea salt
1 bag chicken pieces, or whole chicken cut up (I used 4 bone-in chicken breasts)
Few ribs celery, cut into 3-4 inch pieces
1 bay leaf

1-2 teaspoons "Better than Bouillon"
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups sliced carrots
3 cups chopped potatoes (I didn't bother to peel them)
4 tabelspoons flour
1/2 cup cold water

1.  Combine water, onion, sea salt, chicken pieces, celery, and bay leaf in a large soup pot.  Boil, covered, until chicken is cooked and loose on bones, about 1 hour. Strain broth into a large bowl and get the meat off the bones. Discard onion, bones, celery, and bay leaf.
 
2.  Return broth to soup pot and add chicken.  Add Better than Boullion, oregano, basil, garlic powder, parsley, pepper, carrots, and potatoes.  Simmer until veggies are tender.  Taste and add more salt if necessary. 
 
3.  In a jar w/lid, or other airtight container, combine 4 Tbs. flour and the 1/2 cup cold water.  Close container and shake vigorously until flour and water are combined and no lumps remain.  Gradually stir into simmering stew, and cook for a few minutes, until thickened. 
 

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Avocado-Corn Salad w/Creamy Salsa Dressing

This salad had delicious Southwest flavors- top it with corn chips to add some crunch.  :)  It is pretty easy to make too- I used my immersion blender and a 2-cup liquid measuring cup to whip up the dressing.  My dressing was a bit thin, and it made too much- don't just dump it all on at once, or you'll have a soggy salad.  I have some leftover.

Avocado-Corn Salad with Creamy Salsa Dressing

from Allrecipes

1/4 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon sour cream

1/4 cup prepared salsa (one made with garlic, chiles and cilantro preferable)

dash of taco seasoning, optional

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice or red wine vinegar
1 medium head romaine lettuce, shredded
1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
1 large beefsteak tomato, halved, seeded and diced (or 1 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes)
1 cup fresh corn kernels, or frozen kernels, thawed
4 ounces Monterey pepper Jack cheese, diced
Corn tortilla chips, optional, crumbled

1.Process Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise, sour cream, salsa, optional taco seasoning and lime juice in blender until smooth. Can also use an immersion blender or food processor.  Season, if desired, with salt and pepper.

2.Arrange lettuce in large bowl and toss with 1/2 of the dressing. Gently toss in remaining ingredients except corn chips. Drizzle with remaining dressing (do not have to use it all), then top with corn chips.

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Homemade Chocolate Syrup

Here is a great alternative to buying chocolate syrup- making your own!  We're usually not big consumers of chocolate sryup around here (we love hot fudge though!!), but using it in chocolate milk, lately, has been a good way for me to get a bevearage down in the evenings when I'm feeling my most nauseous.  I'll usually have some chocolate milk for dinner, and it helps the meal go down easier. 

I bought some Hershey's, but the first ingredient in that is high-fructose corn syrup- yuck!  Nobody needs that.  So I made my own, out of only cocoa, water, sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.  SO easy- it really only takes about 3-5 minutes, and it tastes way better, and does not have HFCS or any other scary ingredients.  I use about 1 tablespoon in a glass of milk to lightly flavor it- good times!  (BTW, if you live close to a Trader Joe's, they have (or used to have) an organic chocolate syrup called Midnight Moo.  It used to be only $.99, too!  This homemade stuff is probably just a little cheaper than that). 

This turns out a little thinner than store-bought syrup, but it is fine for my needs.  One could probably use a little honey in place of sugar to thicken it, but I'm not sure how that would work.  I did reduce the sugar just a tad.

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

from Allrecipes

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 2/3 cups white sugar

pinch sea salt

1 1/4 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cocoa, sugar, salt, and water. Bring to a boil and let boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let cool before transferring to a container and storing in the fridge.

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Grilled Pepperjack Cheese & Tomato

I had some pepperjack cheese in the fridge leftover from something else, and decided it would make a good grilled cheese sandwich.  I added a slice of honey chicken breast (during pregnancy, deli meat must be heated until steaming to kill any potential listeria bacteria) and some sliced baby grape tomatoes.  A regular, full-size tomato would have worked better, obviously, but I only had the grape ones on hand, and I really wanted tomato in my sandwich.  They were very flavorful and I loved them in there. 

I don't cook my grilled cheese sandwiches on the stove; I bake them in the oven.  This is a little easier, and you can get away with using less butter, too, because the heat of the oven does a pretty good job of browning the bread.  I still use a little butter, though.  I know a lot of people don't need a recipe for grilled cheese, but bear with me, man.

Grilled Pepperjack Cheese & Tomato

one serving

2 slices of whole-grain bread

thinly sliced pepper-jack cheese, enough to cover one slice of bread

1 slice chicken or turkey deli meat

2 big slices tomato, or lots of sliced grape tomatoes

butter, about 2 teaspoons

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Butter the outside of one slice of bread with about 1 teaspoon of butter, and place it butter-side down on a small baking sheet.  Place cheese, meat, and tomato on top of bread.  Butter the other side of bread with the remaining butter and place on top of the tomato, butter-side facing up.  Bake about 5 minutes, or until top is slightly browned, and flip and cook on the other side until bread is browned and cheese is melted. 

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Parmesan-Basil Chicken Salad

This is one of my favorite chicken salads.  I first made it over four years ago, and love it now as much as I did back then.  I had a huge, fresh basil plant back then, making this a little easier to plan, but oh well.  It's still worth it to buy the fresh basil in little packets.  The original recipe calls for baking the chicken breasts, but I find that it's much easier and faster to just saute them.  I take frozen chicken tenders and saute them (without even thawing first) in a non-stick skillet with olive oil and garlic salt.  As they are finishing up cooking, I squeeze the juice from 1/2 a lemon over them.  The chicken is so flavorful this way- I could just eat it as is at this point!

Parmesan-Basil Chicken Salad

adapted from Allrecipes

Serves 2-3

6-7 chicken tenders, or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

olive oil

garlic salt

1/2 lemon

1/3 cup mayonnaise (can use low-fat)

1 cup loosely-packed fresh basil, rinsed

1 clove fresh garlic, optional (I'm not into raw garlic right now, so I omitted this)

1 stalk fresh celery, finely chopped

1/4- 1/2 fresh red bell pepper, chopped

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1.Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken tenders and sprinkle one side with garlic salt.  Cook about 2-3 minutes and flip over to cook the other side.  Season that side with garlic salt.  After 2-3 minutes, squeeze the fresh lemon juice over the chicken, and continue to cook for about a minute.  Check for doneness; set aside to cool.  Chop into chunks. 

2.In a food processor, puree the mayonnaise, basil, and garlic.

3.Combine the chunked chicken, pureed basil mixture, chopped celery, chopped red bell pepper, and Parmesan cheese; toss. Refrigerate, and serve over lettuce leaves or on bread rolls.

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Blue Cornmeal Pancakes

I've always loved blue cornmeal pancakes- ever since having them at a quirky little cafe for breakfast in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, over 8 years ago with my husband and then-baby girl.  My husband had challah bread french toast, starting another one of my food loves.  After that trip, I found blue cornmeal at a little hippie town near Jackson Hole (on the Idaho side) and starting experimenting with different recipes.  I tried a few recipes for blue cornmeal pancakes, and they were all good, but none were as good as the recipe I tried today- all because this one contained buttermilk.  I LOVE any pancake recipe with buttermilk- it makes such a difference in taste and texture.  These were, hands-down, the best blue cornmeal pancakes I've ever made at home.  (BTW, I order my blue cornmeal online now....right now, Vitacost offers it, but it goes in and out of stock.)

My blue cornmeal is whole-grain, and I used whole-wheat pastry flour in this recipe also, making these 100% whole-grain.  My whole family loved these and we ate them all.  Even my pickiest eater, who thought he didn't like pancakes before, LOVED these, ate two (they are filling!) and kept talking about them all day.  I added blueberries to some of them, which made them even tastier, and we ate these with some butter and real maple syrup.  (And turkey sausages, and OJ.)

Blue Cornmeal Pancakes

from Culinate.com

1¼ cups blue cornmeal

1 cup whole-wheat, ww pastry, or all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup blueberries (optional)

1.In a medium bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2.In another medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs and vanilla.

3.Whisk dry ingredients into egg mixture, just until combined. Whisk in melted butter.  If batter is too thick, add additional buttermilk or regular milk.

4.Prepare an electric griddle (preheat to 375 degrees) or nonstick skillet (heat over medium heat).

5.Pour a generous ¼ cup of batter for each pancake. Sprinkle a generous 1 Tbsp. blueberries over each pancake, if using.

6.Cook for approximately 3 minutes, or until underside of pancakes are golden-brown and bubbles form on surface.

7.Turn and cook for 1 or 2 minutes on second side.

8.Serve hot with butter and syrup.

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Guacamole

I didn't know what to eat for lunch the other day, but looking around my kitchen, I spied one lonely, ripe avocado just sitting there.  I combined it with some of this homemade Pico de Gallo, fresh lemon juice, and a touch of salt.  That's it- the Pico provided all the flavor this needed- it was so good.  And healthy, except for the tortilla chips I ate it with.....

Guacamole

1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and mashed with a fork

3-4 tablespoons fresh Pico de Gallo (or more if desired)

juice of one lime or 1/2 lemon

salt, to taste

1.  Mix everything together with a spoon and enjoy with tortilla chips.  :)

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Cookin' Up Something New.....

Should be well-done by August!!

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Chocolate Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs

Happy Valentine's Day!  I wanted to make something different than the usual vanilla sugar cookies this year, so I chose these chocolate ones.  I've made them before and have been very happy with them.  The dough takes a bit to come together, but then you have a wonderful, firm dough that rolls out well (with the help of flour and wax paper) and keeps its shape after baking, but most importantly, tastes awesome.  Since these don't spread during baking, you can space them close together on the cookie sheet.  I sandwiched them together with pink frosting, but you could leave them plain, or just frost singles. 

I was going to give a lot of these away, so I increased the recipe by 50% in order to have enough.  It was SO much dough it was overflowing my KitchenAid.  This made almost 80 cookies..... and I didn't get started till later in the day, so it was a very long night by the time I had finished baking and frosting them all!  Whew!  Once I got a system down for the rolling and baking though, things flowed pretty smoothly, and then I just sat at a stool at the kitchen counter with some good music while I frosted them all.

I really like this recipe for chocolate sugar cookies- I'm sticking with this one.  :)  I do increase the cocoa powder and decrease the flour a bit- I'll post my way below, and I'll also post the original recipe, not the one that is increased by 50%.  :)  Another thing I do is just use softened butter- the original recipe has you cutting in cold butter, but I think that is totally unnecessary.  They turn out wonderfully using softened butter.

Chocolate Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs

adapted from Allrecipes

2 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar

3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 eggs

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.  In a large bowl, stir together the confectioners' sugar, cocoa, flour and salt until well blended. In a stand mixer, cream the butter. Add eggs and vanilla, and mix in the dry ingredients until a stiff dough forms. It may take a minute to come together.

3.  On a lightly floured surface (I roll between sheets of wax paper, using flour if needed), roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. If the dough is too sticky, chill for a little bit. Place cookies onto an ungreased baking sheet.

4.  Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the surface appears dry. Allow cookies to cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
 
5.  Frost, if desired, or make into sandwich cookies with your choice of frosting.
 

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Pico de Gallo

I am lucky enough to have a friend from Mexico here who has graciously agreed to teach me some authentic Mexican dishes.  Yesterday, she had me and a few other ladies over, and we made flautas.  To go along with those, we also made two different kinds of salsa, and she had made some tomatillo salsa ahead of time.  Besdies the tomatillo salsa, we made this deLISH fresh Pico de Gallo, and also a cooked salsa that contained tomatos, garlic, and some dried, smoked chilis.  We ate the flautas topped with crema, white cheese, our choice of salsa, and lettuce, tomato, and onion.  They were so beautiful, but I didn't want to bust out my camera in front of everyone, plus, I could not wait to dig in!  I ate my face off, I'm afraid to say, but I loved every bite. 

I jotted down her Pico de Gallo recipe and headed to the store immediately upon leavng her house, so that I could buy the ingredients and make it ASAP.  Sadly, I had to wait till today to make it, since yesterday I was up to my eyeballs in cookie dough and frosting all afternoon/evening, but I'm happy to say that the Pico is all assembled and waiting for me in the fridge for dinner tonight... I can't wait. 

On a side note, I dropped off some of those cookies to that same friend today to say thanks, and she sent me home with a bag of homemade tamales!  I told her I would be happy to learn more dishes, and we have a date to make sopes next week (and she wants me to teach her how to bake cookies!)

This is her recipe but with my tiny changes- namely only using one jalepeno instead of three because I'm a wimp!  I also remove all seeds and ribs from the jalepeno.  She uses lemon juice instead of lime, and I just love the lemon in there.  It's so good. 

Pico de Gallo

from L.B.

5-6 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 small white onion, chopped

1-3 fresh jalepenos, finely chopped

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

juice of either 1 small lemon or lime, or the juice of 1/2 large lemon (can add more to taste)

salt, about 1/2 teaspoon, or to taste

1.  Combine ingredients in a bowl.  Refrigerate to allow flavors to blend, or eat right away and enjoy.  :)

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Fettucine Alfredo

I love Fettucine Alfredo, but hardly ever eat it, and have never made the "real" thing, because of the amount of fat and calories it contains.  However, that changed last week, when I just couldn't get the idea of Fettucine Alfredo out of my head, so I broke down and made it.  It was sooooo goooood!!!!  I'd make it again, but this time round out the meal with grilled chicken and steamed broccoli.  ;)  When I made this, it was just me and my two young sons home for dinner, so I didn't want to go all out. 

I wish I had fresh parsley on hand when I made this, but sadly, I didn't.  That would have made the pic more interesting.  It's up to you to use salted or unsalted butter when making this- I used unsalted but my pasta needed just a tiny sprinkle of salt at the table.  I served this with a mixture of white and whole-wheat fettucine pasta.

Alfredo Sauce

adapted from Allrecipes

1/4 cup butter

1 cup heavy cream

1 clove garlic, crushed
1 1/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
hot cooked fettucine pasta

1.Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Add cream and lightly simmer for 5 minutes, then add garlic.  Add cheese gradually and whisk quickly, heating through. Stir in parsley and serve. Sauce will thicken after it is taken off the heat.  Serve over fettucine. 

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