Lentil Stew

It comes in handy to have a camera and use it amidst those normal everyday adventures. 

Like cooking.

Lentils are generally not my forte, but in this case, vegan suits me just fine for one meal. (huge smile and waves to all the vegan lovelies out there)

There are two lentil recipes we have tried for our family, and this one is the best so far.

First of all: lentils. This time we had green ones, a good bit in bulk --haha, 5lbs.

I used 4 cups of water and 2 cups of these. But that's a meal and a half for a family of 9.

So maybe...split it in half, and you can freeze what you don't eat.

Then....ya want probably 6 peppers, all diced up. That's for our regular recipe, once again.

It's not that hard to halve it in your head, is it?

'Kay. Just checking. I mean, I don't like math either, but this isn't that difficult;)

Here's the recipe. That's Anna's handwriting and commands this time.

So. That's about 6 carrots, medium to large size. I sliced them longways into quarters, then chopped them like normal. Ya wanna let them mingle in some olive oil with those peppers.

Oh, yes, and don't forget a nice-sized onion, too. Dice that thing up.

Okey-dokey. Then, two things of chicken broth (or, probably any of your favorite broth would work) ...32oz each, these are.

Alright now...this is what it'll look like after a while steaming together. Make sure you salt this stuff enough, otherwise you'll just taste.....lentils. Ew. (laughs)

Pour in your lentils.

And yes. Your whole 64 ounces of broth gets poured in right about now, too.
Again, do the math for yourself.

Now before you turn the burner up to medium-high and leave it alone, pour these in. :)

Now you can turn up the heat...but don't completely forget about it:)

Now, toast your bread, a piece or two for everyone, and if you do it right, it might turn out half as well, good-lookin' and yummy as mine:

(Psh, don't trip over my sarcasm, I'm just kidding. Not that conceited about my culinary creations.)

Mmmmmm. Now, let me tell you. It tastes as good as it looks, if not better (well, depending on your train of thought, alright?;)

 Original post here

Potato Broccoli Curry

Take a few/several bunches of broccoli, chopped in bite-sized little-tiny bunches, and steam them in a pan. I did 'em in a drizzle of olive oil with a bit of water. 

Next, dice up some cooked potatoes. If you want to, peel them. We don't have picky eaters, so I left the skins on. Then...throw those potaters in with the broccoli, IN a big pot. Then sprinkle curry powder over that, don't worry, it takes quite a bit to actually taste the flavor, and let me tell you. Don't let the look of this fool you. It's good. Add a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, too. When Rachel walked in the kitchen and heard what I was making, she made a gross face. But she ended up sneaking bites later, ya know? 

*sigh* What can I say. It turned out good. 

Then after the curry powder, while the stove is still warming it all, salt it good...and pour in one can of coconut milk. It's amazing. You don't even taste the coconut milk. It's funny. But that's what I looooove about curries. At least, the ones we've made so far;)

Link for the original post.

Chicken Corn Chowder

Meatball Subs

These are an easy, delicious meal using leftover meatballs and spaghetti sauce.

French Bread Pizza

We made this pizza with homemade french bread, but any loaf of french bread would work well.

Its a quick and easy meal!

Ingredients:

1 loaf french bread

1 can pizza sauce

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

pizza toppings as desired

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Cut bread in half, lengthwise.  Place both halves on a cookie sheet.  Spread desired amount of pizza sauce on cut part of bread.  Sprinkle generously with cheese.  Bake for about 10 minutes, or until hot.  Slice, and serve.

Beef and Been Burritos
This recipe makes LOTS of burritos.  These can be frozen individually or in a baking dish.

Ingredients:

3 lbs. ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

1 8-oz. can tomato sauce

1 10-oz. can condensed cream of chicken soup

6 16-oz. cans refried beans

40 to 50 medium tortillas

3 cups shredded cheese

Seasoning

6 T. chili powder

4 tsp. ground cumin

3 tsp. garlic powder

1-1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves

1 tsp. ground red pepper

2 tsp. salt

In a large pot, brown meat with chopped onion; crumble meat as its browning.

Combine all seasoning ingredients.  Add seasoning to beef; stir.

Add tomato sauce and sop to beef; stir.  Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in beans.  Put equal amounts of filling in each tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese.  Fold and place burritos in greased baking dishes.  Bake at 350 until centers are hot.  Serve hot with desired taco toppings.

Yield:  40 - 50 burritos.

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

This is a recipe we love to make when we have leftover ham.  It can also me made without the ham, and served as a side dish.

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons butter

1/3 cup chopped onion

8 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 cups milk

12-14 medium small or medium potoatoes

3-4 cups chopped, cooked ham

In a medium saucepan sautè onions in melted butter until tender.  Stir in flour, salt, and pepper.  Add all the milk.  Whisk often, cooking over medium-low heat until thick and bubbly.

Peel, wash, and thinly slice potatoes.  Grease a large baking dish.  Preheat oven to 350°.

In the baking dish spread half the potatoes on the bottom, sprinkle on half the ham, and pour half the white sauce on top.  Repeat layer with the other half of ingredients.

Cover and bake at 350° for 1 hour, stirring once or twice (Until potatoes are slightly softened.)  Uncover, and bake for 15-20 minutes more until potatoes are completely soft.

Chicken Soup with Mashed Potato Dumplings

 Ingredients:

Soup:

1 Tablespoon oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup onion, chopped

2 cups baked chicken, shredded

2 medium carrots, peeled, washed, and chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped (We don't eat celery so my mom just added a little celery salt.)

6 cups chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon sage (We still don't have any sage, so my mom added some poultry seasoning.)

Dumplings:

1-1/2 cups baking mix

1 cup mashed potatoes (Prepared with milk)

1/4 to 1/2 cup milk

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

In a large pot, saute onions and garlic in oil until tender, 3-4 minutes.  Add broth, carrots, chicken, and seasonings.  Bring soup to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
In a small bowl, mix together dumpling ingredients well.  Carefully drop large spoonfuls of dumpling batter into simmering  soup.  Cover, and simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in dumpling comes out clean.  Yield: 5 servings.

Fettuccine with Creamy Tomato Italian Sausage Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 shallots, chopped (I don't think my mom used these)
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 14-oz. cans diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 Tablespoon dried sage  (We did not have any sage so my mom used part Italian seasoning, and part poultry seasoning)
• 1 pound fettuccine
• grated Parmesan cheese

Method

Heat oil in a heavy, large pot over medium-high heat.  Add shallots and garlic and sauté until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes.
Add sausage and sauté until no longer pink, about 5 minutes, breaking up the sausages a bit.  Add cream; simmer 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes with juice.  Add spices.  Simmer until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite.  Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

Return pasta to same pot; add sauce.  Toss over medium heat until sauce coats pasta, adding reserved cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if mixture is dry.  Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to bowl; sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Serves 8.

~Samantha

Cream of Broccoli Soup


This is one of my favorite soups.  Its very easy and it tastes great!
You will need:
3/4 cup water
1 package (16 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli
1 can (14.5 fluid oz.) chicken broth
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 can ( 12 fluid oz.) evaporated milk

Boil 3/4 cup water in a medium saucepan.  Add broccoli; bring to a boil.  Cook five to seven minutes or until tender; drain.

 Place half of the broccoli and all the chicken broth in food processor or blender; cover.  Process until smooth.

Melt butter in the same saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, one to two minutes or until onion is tender.  Stir in flour.  Gradually whisk in evaporated milk.  Cook, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil.

Add blended broccoli and remaining chopped broccoli.  Heat through, stirring often.

Top with finely shredded cheddar cheese, just before  serving.








~Samantha

At my house, most people do not appreciate soup.  But two soups that most of the family actually enjoy are Cream of Cauliflower and Cream of Broccoli soup.  In fact, these two soups, along with fried apples, are the meal my little sister chose to have for her 6th birthday supper.  These two are my favorite types of soup.

Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients:

2 medium carrots, shredded

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 plus 6 Tablespoons butter, divided

1 head of cauliflower, chopped 

6 to 8 cups chicken broth

1 Tablespoon parsley flakes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1/2 cup evaporated milk

sour cream, optional

In a large saucepan, melt 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter.

Saute 1 small onion, 2 or 3 cloves garlic, and 2 medium carrots...

Until the onions, garlic and carrots are soft.

Add about 6 cups of chicken broth.

Add 1 Tablespoon parsley flakes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Add the head of chopped, and rinsed cauliflower.  Some of the stalk should go into the soup, but about half should be thrown away.

The broth should cover the cauliflower.

Bring to a boil, then cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes.  The cauliflower should be soft.

While the cauliflower simmers, work on the white sauce.

In a small saucepan, melt 6 Tablespoons butter.

Stir in 6 Tablespoons flour until smooth.  Slowly whisk in 1 cup of milk, and 1/2 cup evaporated milk.  Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add to cauliflower mixture, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  

Serve with sour cream, if desired.

~Samantha

Chicken Potpie

On Mondays its my job to make supper. Supper for Monday this week was potpie, a favorite food of mine.

I have put the actual ingredients needed in orange for this recipe.

Chicken Potpie

You need to start with 2 or 3 chicken breasts, baked, or 3 to 4 cups shredded chicken.

 I used pre-made pie crusts.  You need 1 (15-oz. package) of pie crusts.

Soften them according to the package directions (I let mine sit on the counter while I worked on the rest of the pie)

First work on the veggies.  We need 3 medium carrots.  Peel them, cut the ends off, and wash them.

 

Then slice the carrots.  Try to keep them all the same thickness to ensure even cooking.  Put the sliced carrots in a microwave-safe bowl and add a few Tablespoons of water.  Cover and microwave on high for 2 or 3 minutes.

While the carrots are cooking, peel and wash 3 or 4 small to medium potatoes.  

Then cut them into small cubes.

Add them to the carrots and microwave on high until both the carrots and the potatoes are soft, but not mushy.

While the veggies are cooking, mince a small onion.  (We only had large ones so I had some extra.)  We need 1/2 cup minced onion.

In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup (1 whole stick) of butter.  Add the onion, and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes or until the onions are soft.

Stir in 1/2 cup of all-purpose, unbleached flour, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper.  Stir until completely mixed.

-Don't forget to keep stirring the veggies as they are cooking!

 

Slowly whisk 1 cup of milk, and 2 1/4 cups chicken broth into the butter/flour mixture, stirring constantly until thoroughly mixed.

Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce is thickened.

Now would be a good time to shred your chicken.

And a good time to roll out your pie crust. The crust needs to rolled about as thin as you can get it.  The idea is to cover the bottom, and most of the sides of a 13" by 9" glass casserole dish with one piece of crust, and use the other for the top, and rest of the sides.  After you roll the first piece out place it in your glass dish.  Roll out the other piece and cut out the size of your dish.  Use the scraps to finish covering the sides.

-Don't forget to keep stirring the sauce, and checking the veggies!

Now put the carrots and potatoes in the unbaked crust.  Add 1/2 cup thawed (frozen) peas.  (We didn't have any peas, so I skipped this step.)

Layer 3 to 4 cups shredded chicken on top of the veggies.

Pour the thickened sauce on evenly over the chicken and veggies.

Then carefully place the top piece of crust on the potpie.

Bake at 400 F. for about 30 minutes, or until the veggies are cooked completely.

The top should be golden brown.

Let the pie cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

~Samantha