Spicy Vegetable and Potato Curry...

This recipe came from Whole Foods Market… I am going to cheat and just scan it in today. This would be great for my vegan friends.

For my non-vegan friends, I have used chicken broth and added thinly sliced chicken breast to give this some extra protein.

 For another variation you could swap out the rice for couscous. 

Wrap It In Bacon!

When I was in high school, my mother would take hard bread sticks, wrap them in bacon then pop them into the microwave. These would be quick, and supper easy appetizers.  I do not think even my daughter or my niece, Kylie could screw these up… well wait, they might. Both seem to have, a bad track record with that appliance. So let me amend my last statement… These would make quick appetizers, which the majority of new cooks would find supper easy to make.

Have you tried, bacon wrapped potatoes?

You will need:

3 pounds of small 1” baby potatoes, scrubbed clean

25 to 30 slices of thin bacon

Bamboo skewers, soaked for twenty minutes in water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F

Wrap each potato with 1 or 2 slices of bacon.

Slide bacon wrapped potatoes on bamboo skewers leaving one inch between each potato.

Bake for 40 minutes on a roasting pan or grill pan.

For a dipping sauce:

Combine 1 cup sour cream, 2 minced or finely grated garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon of chives and ¼ teaspoon of bacon drippings.

Place skewered potatoes and dipping sauce on a platter and serve.

Have you tried bacon wrapped water chestnuts? These take a little pre-planning since the water chestnuts have to soak for several hours.

You will need two 8 ounce cans of water chestnuts, whole, drained. 1 pound bacon, slice each piece in half, toothpicks and 8 ounces of light soy sauce.

Soak water chestnuts for six to eight hours in soy sauce.

Preheat oven to 350°F

Line a baking dish with foil for easy cleanup

Using half a slice of bacon wrap the water chestnut and secure with a toothpick.

Place in baking dish and cook in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.

The next is wrapped asparagus, except we are not going to use bacon you will need: 1/3 pound of prosciutto, 14 spears of asparagus and olive oil.

Wrap each spear in one slice of prosciutto, brush with olive oil and place on a grill. Cook until the prosciutto turns golden brown. The asparagus should be tender but crunchy. Remove to platter and sprinkle with black pepper.

Grandma Webb’s, Bourbon Sweet Potatoes & More!

This recipe has been in my family for a while; my husband calls it a true southern dish. Keep in mind; this is the same man who deemed me a Yankee, because my family comes from Kentucky.

This recipe was my grandmother's. My second cousin, is six years old. Kate about had a fit when she saw her grandmother putting alcohol in this recipe. With the wisdom of a six-year-old, Kate questioned her grandmother, "does my mom know you're serving me alcohol?" Her grandmother laughed and said, "Well I sure hope so, she's been eating this all of her life!"

Grandma Webb’s Bourbon Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

3 pounds sweet potatoes, baked, peeled and mashed

                or if you absolutely must 3, 1 pound cans of canned sweet potatoes (Not yams!)

1 cup white sugar

1/3 cup a good Kentucky bourbon (If it is not good enough to drink, then it is not good enough to cook with)

1/2 cup margarine

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, preferably not imitation

2 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F

Heat sweet potatoes until hot, mash if not already done so

Add ingredients, except marshmallows, blend well

Place mixture in a 2-quart baking dish, sprinkle top with marshmallows

Bake uncovered for 30 min. marshmallows should be golden brown

Paddy’s sweet potato soufflé:

I inherited this recipe when I married my husband. I have not tinkered with this recipe.*Please don't die of shock*I have threatened a few times though, to place this in a piecrust and serve it as desert. Again, make sure if you use canned sweet potatoes there actually sweet potatoes and not yams.

My father recently sent me a similar recipe that is my stepmothers. There are a couple ingredients differences between the two, but they are basically the same recipe.

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes, or if need be one 1 pound canned sweet potatoes

1/2 cup sugar, white

two large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°

Combine first five ingredients, until blended

Pour into a 2 quart casserole dish, sprinkle with topping

Topping:

In separate bowl combine brown sugar and flour

Cut in butter

 add pecans

Sprinkle over the top of the sweet potato mixture

Cook for 30 min. uncovered

Sweet Potato, Potato Salad:

My aunt sent me this recipe the other day, and I cannot wait to make. I would say it is a new twist on the traditional potato salad.

Ingredients:

two baking potatoes

one sweet potato

four eggs

two stalks of celery, chopped

one onion, chopped

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons of ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large pot of salted boiling water add potatoes (baking and sweet) and cook until tender but still firm. This will take approximately 30 min.

Drain, cool, peel and chop

Place eggs in saucepan and cover with cold water bring to boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 min.

Remove from hot water; cool, peel and chop

In a large bowl, combine potatoes, eggs, celery, and onion

In a separate bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper. Add to potato mixture toss well to coat.

Place in refrigerator for two hours and serve cold

Ginger Peach Sweet Potato Bake:

2 pounds of canned sweet potatoes, not yams

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup broken unsalted cashews,(you can substitute with either pecans or walnuts)

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 9 ounce can of sliced peaches

3 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F

Place with potatoes and a buttered 10 x 6 x 2" dish

Open and drain peaches

In a bowl, combine brown sugar, cashews, ginger, and 1/2 teaspoons salt

Layer potatoes peaches and nut mixture

Cut butter into chunks and sprinkle on top of mixture

Cover dish and bake for 30 min.

Uncover bake for 10 more minutes

Spoon syrup from pan over sweet potatoes before serving

Pot Roast Soup

 Have you ever noticed that pot roast and roast chicken are exactly perfect bases for soup? Think about a pot roast: meat, potatoes, carrots, onion and celery.

I make my pot roast in the crock-pot and it turns out perfect every time. If I cook pot roast in the oven well, I get boot leather. So what do you with boot leather? Make soup!

As I stated above, I make my pot roast in the crock-pot. It is simple, quick and the meat can go in frozen. I usually get a roast big enough to make a few meals out of. The kids and I don’t really care to eat roast as leftovers. So why get a big piece of meat? I will slice it for fajitas, enchiladas, smother it in barbeque sauce or make soup.

Pot Roast Soup:
If you know you are going to make soup with your leftovers, return everything to your crock-pot and place in the refrigerator. The next day, I will lift out the solid fat crust and discard. Remove the vegetables and roast, leaving a gelatin broth with onions and celery in your pot.

Chop your vegetables into bite size pieces, adding more carrots and potatoes as necessary. Slice the roast into bite size pieces, remove all fat. Return meat and vegetables to pot, add a bay leave, two cups of beef broth or 2 cups of water and two bouillon cubes. Cook on low heat for 6 hours.

Chicken Soup:

Fifteen years ago, I watched Emeril Lagasse make his chicken noodle soup. After he striped a roast chicken carcass of meat, Emeril took the entire carcass and placed in a soup pot. Emeril made soup with the bones and skin, stating it gave the broth wonderful flavor. It did! 

I made chicken soup that way a few times, but this is not exactly smart. Since Emeril did not remove the skin and bones when he served the soup, it is not exactly child friendly. The young ones do not understand the concept of don’t swallow the bones. I had to come up with a new way to make chicken noodle soup where you get flavor, but not the bones.

I usually find the largest roasting chicken I can find (between 7 to 9 pounds), so we only eat half the bird. I follow the same rules for the pot roast soup with a few exceptions. Do not remove the fat; pull the meat from the bone and chop into bite size pieces. If you do this right between the breast, leg and thigh there should be plenty for soup. (Pickoff the back and remaining rib meat from the bones and save for Chicken Potpie.) Chop carrots, onion, celery, and place in pot with chicken. I also will add frozen peas and corn… about ¼ to ½ cup of each. Add pepper and garlic to taste. If need be, add fat free, low sodium chicken broth and cook on low four to five hours. Add in approximately 2 cups of dry yoke free, egg noodles an hour before consuming.

Time saving and last minute meal fixes to eat within an hour or two:
Crock-pot:
 Turn the crock-pot on high, place raw vegetables in an 8-cup Pyrex measuring bowl with four cups of water and bouillon cube. Cook on high in your microwave for ten to fifteen minutes. Pour into crock-pot add noodles.

Stove top method:
Place two boneless skinless chicken breast cubed, chopped vegetables, chicken broth, and seasonings in stew pot and bring to a boil for five minutes then reduce to a simmer. 15 minutes before serving add in noodles.

Cleaning tip for the day: To clean you grill and oven racks and grates. On a warm day, place racks and grates in a black trash bag, pour in a bottle of ammonia, tie shut and set outside flat in the sun for three hours. Flip after three hours for another two hours.(You might have to move the bag to keep it in the sun.) Remove grates from bag and wash them off with soap and water. Most of all the stuck and burnt chard should just wipe off.

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Southwest Potatoes

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Pan-fried then baked these potatoes pack a lot of flavor. This versatile side dish that could be used in many ways. Without the cheese topping, these would be great with scrambled eggs or take it step further and serve in tortillas with eggs, bacon or sausage and a little salsa.

Serve with the cheese and sour cream for a Taco Bell knock-off dish, or add left over roast chicken and serve in tortillas. Whichever way you choose these potatoes will have your family coming back for more.

Ingredients:

2 lbs of small potatoes diced into 1 inch pieces     

2 tablespoons of cumin

2 tablespoons of garlic powder

1 small package of Velveeta

1/3 cup of salsa

2 tablespoons of canola oil (vegetable oil, bacon grease would be the wonderful!)

¼ cup of sour cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475°F

Place potatoes, cumin and garlic powder in plastic storage bag or large bowl, toss until potatoes are well coated.

In large oven safe skillet warm oil, add potatoes and pan fry for ten minutes or until golden brown and tender.

Place skillet in oven for ten minutes stirring at five minutes.  If needed cook an additional five minutes (15 minutes total) until potatoes are crispy.

Slice Velveeta into 1 inch cubes, place in microwave safe bowl (I prefer my 8-cup Pyrex measuring cup) with salsa, cook on high, two minutes at time. Stir between intervals until the cheese is melted and smooth.  

Place ¼ to ½ cup portions of potatoes on dish, topping with cheese and a teaspoon of sour cream

We get 4 to 6 servings from this dish

There are 4,001,892 ways to cook a potato

I am not sure about everyone else, but I feel like I have gained ten pounds just writing all the recipes this week. How about we lighten up with Scalloped Potatoes? I know you hear Scalloped Potatoes, the last thing you have in mind is light and healthy. 
Like most recipes this calls for salt, I do not add salt to my recipes. Most of the time you do not notice the difference, we get enough salt in our diets from processed foods. When my husband and I got married. I noticed that every time we ate, he loaded his food with salt and pepper even before tasting it. I figured he was going to salt his food before tasting it, there was no reason to add the salt. Over the years, he has given up this mind-set and now tastes before salting. That being said if you would like to add salt to this recipe please add ¼ teaspoon.

This recipe was passed out at a Weight Watchers meeting: 

Scalloped Potatoes

Makes 4 servings

2 large baking potatoes, thinly sliced

2 onions, thinly sliced

¼ cup of minced parsley, fresh

3 Tablespoons of all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon of black pepper

¼ teaspoon salt (try using garlic powder instead of salt!)

2 cups of hot skim milk

1/3 cup of shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese ( I always used more)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 10” X 6” baking pan with nonstick cooking spray

Layer one-third of potatoes and onions in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle evenly with half of the parsley and flour. Repeat the layering once more, ending with the potatoes and onions. Sprinkle evenly with pepper and salt (garlic)

Pour the milk over the top and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until the potatoes are tender and the top is browned, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

If you make this recipe with salt, here are the nutritional values per serving:

Calories 215, total fat 2g, Saturated fat 1g

Cholesterol 9mg, Sodium 284 mg,

Total Carbohydrate 38g, Dietary Fiber 4g,

Protein 11g, Calcium 267mg

So you have roasted a whole chicken for dinner, what do you with the leftovers?

We all have a million and one recipes for chicken, it is so adaptable. When I roast a whole chicken, I pick every tinny tiny bit of meat off the bone I can. I might seem time consuming but between the wings, back, and those bits of the breastbones, you can gather almost a cup of meat. Why throw away enough food for another meal? Why throw away money?

You have played vulture and stripped the meat from the bones, now what? You can always use it in a salad, but have you thought about making a warm, fork licking, savory potpie? Now do not cringe and say "no, too much work" or "I don’t have time to make a potpie!" Ah but you do, and I promise it is easy to make. You can make it when you get home from work today if you have the ingredients.

I never made a potpie before because:

A.      I thought it was difficult and it intimidated me.

B.      I cannot make a beautiful piecrust to save my life. I keep trying, but it just is not blue ribbon, fair pretty.

C.      Always went to the store and bought frozen ones, not any more!

One day last winter, I sat and looked at recipes for Chicken Potpie. I then printed out my four favorite recipes, combined what I liked best about each to make one recipe.

Next came the piecrust. I can make a crust scratch, and do not even mind doing it. But what about when I am short on time or do not want to tackle making a piecrust? No problem, I cheat and go buy the dough already made. Mine still is not pretty, but I will only improve with practice.

My family loves this recipe and usually gorge themselves to the point there are no leftovers... pitty

Chicken potpie

Ingredients:

1 double piecrust dough for 9 inch pie (I used a Food Lion Brand)

1 cup boneless skinless chicken (you can use a breast, cut into small bite size pieces)

1 cup sliced carrots

1 small potato, peeled and cubed into bite size pieces

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup of butter (yes-real butter, unsalted would be best)

1/3 cup of all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon of salt*

2 teaspoon of pepper*

1 teaspoon of garlic* or one fresh minced clove

* I usually just eyeball and go by shakes of container, but those should be good estimates

2/3 cup of milk (1%)

2  chicken bouillon cubes (I use Knorr)

1 3/4 water drained from vegetables

1 can of Campbell’s cream of chicken soup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

In saucepan, combine carrots, peas, potato, celery, salt, garlic and 1 teaspoon of pepper. (If using uncooked chicken add to pot) Add enough water to cover vegetables, add bouillon boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In skillet over medium heat, melt butter and cook onions until soft and translucent.

 Drain off 1 ¾ cup of broth from the vegetables and reserve. Drain any remaining liquid from vegetables and set aside.

To your skillet, stir in flour and pepper then slowly stir in milk, cream of chicken soup then the reserved broth until well-blended making thick gravy.

Place bottom piecrust in pie plate; add chicken and vegetables making sure bottom is well covered. Pour hot liquid over mixture. (Depending on your pie plate you might have extra vegetables and gravy mixture. Reserve them, and pour over a baked potato the next day for a hearty lunch!)

 Place top crust over mixture, seal edges, and trim any excess. Make several slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Wrap edges of pie with foil to prevent burning.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Stew or Soup? You Decide...

My parents were born in raised in Kentucky, my husband’s in Texas. Here lies the base to an eighteen-year long debate over is it stew or soup.

Growing up when mom made stew it was a thick gravy sauce, with beef, potatoes, peas and a single bay leaf that always managed to end up in some ones bowl. Mom served it with bread and butter.

My husband grew up with stew that was broth based, beef, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and one onion. He eats it with crackers.

Can you see where the debate comes from?

My loving husband states it is because he is from the south and they put tomatoes in everything. I have been deemed a Yankee. Well I hate to break this to my husband, but his father's side of the family was not even American's during the Civil War! When the namesake did immigrate to America, he went to Kentucky. Therefore, if I am a Yankee, he is too!

I will leave each of you to decide which label you would like to classify this recipe, in our house it is called "Oh, that’s good!" 

If you have a picky eater like mine. Try a ladle full with only a small bit of broth and top with shredded cheddar jack cheese.

Paddy's Beef Stew (Soup)

1 ½ to 2 lbs of beef stew meat or roast cut into 2 inch pieces

1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped

3 carrots sliced

4 large potatoes, chopped to bite size pieces

2 large (28-30 oz) cans of whole tomatoes

Ground pepper

1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil

In soup pot, add oil and brown stew meat (personally, I add crushed garlic or garlic powder to the meat at this point.) Add enough water to cover meat, cover pot and let simmer until meat is tender. (If you have meat tenderizer go ahead and sprinkle some in) Simmer until almost all of the water has evaporated from pot, usually takes 1 ½ hours.

Add potatoes, onion and carrots.  Crush tomatoes while adding to pot along with the juice.

Cover pot and simmer until vegetables are done, season with pepper to taste.

Crock-pot version – Yes, you can make stew in a crock-pot!

Place meat tenderizer, stew meat, pepper, (garlic,) onion and enough water to reach almost halfway of crock-pot. Set to highest setting, replace lid and let simmer for 6 hours.

After six hours, water should be mostly gone. Place carrots and potatoes in a microwavable dish (I prefer an 8-cup Pyrex measuring cup) cover with water and microwave on high for ten minutes. The vegetables should fork tender but not completely cooked. Add tomatoes, potatoes and carrots to crock-pot and let cook for an hour on high temperature.