Ham and Bean Soup

Perfect for cold weather, bean soups are a great way to use up a leftover ham bone. I cooked my ham in the crock pot. Feel free to use any leftover meat in your soup. The other thing I used in my soup was all the liquid from the bottom of the crock pot. Just stir into the soup at the same time as the onion and carrots.

1 lb dry white beans

1 leftover ham bone

12 c. water

24 oz. tomato sauce

1 Knorr Homestyle vegetable stock pod
(This vegetable stock is not gluten free, make sure you substitute one that is for a gf soup)

1 large onion, chopped

4 large carrots, grated

3/4 c. half-an-half

2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Tabasco (optional)

Soak the white beans overnight, changing the water at least once. 

Drain the beans again and cover with water. Simmer for 2 hours until the beans are starting to soften up. Drain the liquid. Add the 12 cups of water, ham bone, tomato sauce, and vegetable stock pod. 

Simmer for 4 hours.

Remove the ham bone. Shred any meat from the bone and return it to the pot. Add the onion, carrot, garlic and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the half-an-half and simmer until heated through.

Gluten-free Parmesan crackers

This recipe is based on King Arthur Flours gluten free pie crust recipe.  I changed a few amounts to make up for the cheese and different fats in the recipe.

Next I plan on trying this with different combinations of flavors. The Savannah Byrd cookie company has a lot of savory flavor combinations I cant wait to try.

For the fat in mine I used half butter and half coconut oil in mine and half margarine and half coconut oil in the ones i made for my friend. They tasted about the same. The ones I made with all coconut oil were good and the texture was the same but the flavor wasn't as rich.

1 1/2 c. Arrowhead Mills Gluten free All purpose baking mix

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp. clear jel

1/2 tsp. salt

6 Tbsp fat (butter, coconut oil, or margarine)

1 egg

2 tsp lemon juice

2 1/2 oz. Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Kosher or sea salt (optional)

In a large mixer combine the gluten free flour, sugar, clear jel, and salt.  Turn on low speed to combine the ingredients. 

Add the butter and the coconut oil until the mixture is crumbly. Add the Parmesan cheese.

Whisk the egg and lemon together. Mix into the flour and cheese mix. Form into a ball and roll out on a floured surface to an eighth of an inch thick. Cut into squares, I've found a pizza cutter works best for this, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Sprinkle with coarse salt if using

Bake at 350 for 12 - 17 minutes until slightly browned. 

Cool on a cookie sheet.

Enchilada Pasta

The meat and the amount in this is totally up to you. You can use all ground beef, all beans, or a combination of the two. If using all beans I would add 2 - 3 cans of drained black or pinto beans. In combination I would use about half a pound of ground beef and then a can or two of drained beans. 

1.5 lb ground beef

Salt & Pepper

1 (19 oz.) can red enchilada sauce

1 (15 oz.) can nacho cheese sauce

1 (4 oz.) can diced chilies

8 oz. egg noodles

1/2 c. water

Sour cream, shredded cheese, and crushed corn chip to garnish

If using, season the ground beef with salt & pepper and cook, crumbling, until no longer pink.

Add all the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cook over medium low heat, stirring frequently, until the pasta is tender. 

Remove from heat and serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of shredded cheese and crushed chips. 

The Purple Pumpkin Project

Notice the new background? Who doesn't love purple? 

And, it's almost Epilepsy month! 

I have several people in my life with Epilepsy and just wanted to spread the word on the Purple Pumpkin Project. They are simply trying to raise awareness of Epilepsy and particularly what do do if you see someone having a seizure. 

The original article, and the Facebook page.

How to help someone who is having a seizure

When providing seizure first aid, these are the key things to remember:

DO:

• Keep calm and reassure other people who may be nearby.
• Time the seizure with your watch.
• Clear the area around the person of anything hard or sharp.
• Loosen ties or anything around the neck that may make breathing difficult.
• Put something flat and soft, like a folded jacket, under the head.
• Turn him or her gently onto one side. This will help keep the airway clear.
• Stay with the person until the seizure ends naturally.
• Be friendly and reassuring as consciousness returns.
• Offer to call a taxi, friend or relative to help the person get home if he seems confused or unable to get home by himself.

DON’T:

• Don't hold the person down or try to stop his movements.
• Do not try to force the mouth open with any hard implement or with fingers. A person having a seizure cannot swallow his tongue. Efforts to hold the tongue down can injure teeth or jaw.
• Do not attempt to give anything orally.
• Do not keep the person lying on their back.
• Don't attempt artificial respiration except in the unlikely event that a person does not start breathing again after the seizure has stopped.

Strawberry Mousse

This is a Princess original and one of those recipes that is great for so many different things. Most recently I put it in Krogers mini shortbread tartlet shells. It's also good in cream puffs or eclairs with white chocolate on top or just in a cooked pie crust. My personal favorite is crepes.

I recommend using a star tip is you haven't lost it somewhere in your kitchen..hmmm. And I have 3!! 

Also, to make it less grainy looking make sure you add all the strawberry powder while it is still hot to dissolve it. I tried to add more after I added the strawberry mixture and it didn't work. It still tasted good though.

3/4 c. sugar

2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

3/4 c. water

1 (3 oz.) box strawberry jello powder

1 lb bag frozen strawberries, thawed (fresh also works)

1 envelope knox unflavored gelatin

1 tsp. lemon juice

 1 c. heavy whipping cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or to taste)

3 Tbsp powdered sugar (or to taste)

In a blender blend the strawberries until smooth. Blend in the knox gelatin and set aside. Let stand for at least 5 minutes.

Whisk together the sugar and cornstarch and then whisk in the water until no lumps remain. Cook over medium heat until the mixture is clear and very thick. Remove from the heat and whisk in the strawberry jello powder. Keep stirring for one minute. Make sure you whisk it long enough on this step of their will be gelatin lumps in you dessert. Stir in the blended strawberries and gelatin mix and stir another minute. Stir in the lemon juice and them place the mixture in the refrigerator to chill. 

Chill the strawberry mixture until its no longer warm, but not set. Whip the cream with the vanilla and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Whisk a third of the whipped cream into the strawberry mix. when mixed whisk in the remaining whipped cream. Chill until firm to the touch. 

To use remove the mousse from the fridge and whisk once. Let stand for 20 minutes before using. Because its stabilized with gelatin it will look kinda lumpy unless you use a piping bag to fill your tarts or crepes with. If you decide to make a pie out of it whisk the mousse in and chill just until its thick, but not set, and then mound it in a cooked and cooled pastry shell. 

I have also made mixed berry mousse with this same recipe. Just substitute the frozen strawberries with a bag of frozen mixed berries and omit the lemon juice. I still used strawberry gelatin powder but I suspect another berry flavor such as raspberry or blackberry fusion might be good. The final mousse was a medium purple color.

This made enough to fill 5 dozen mini tart shells, about the size of a silver dollar.

Red Peanut Curry

Who doesn't just love pinterest?

You can find all kinds of pins that you love, either because they are great ideas or because they are so bad you get a great laugh out of them.

Well I tried this Chicken Curry from Better Homes and Gardens, with my changes of course. 

I also want to add that I think a tablespoon or two of fish sauce would probably be great in the sauce but I haven't tried it so if it's gross don't blame me. I also just the chicken into small strips so that they would cook faster. This means that the carrots and the bell peppers didn't cook as much. This means the bell peppers didn't turn to mush and the carrots were still crisp tender, which is how we like them.

This would also be really good with beef, just make sure it is thinly sliced so that is cooks in 2 hours.

 

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, sliced

3 large carrots, sliced

2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/4 c. flour

3/4 c. water

1 chicken bouillon cube

3 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter

2 Tbsp. lime juice

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled

4 cloves garlic

3 Tbsp red curry paste

1 - 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded for less heat, not for more (optional)

1 can coconut milk ( I used the entire can, not just 1/2 c)

2 c. green vegetables 

(frozen green beans, peas, sliced zucchini, or all the above)

3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

Place all the sauce ingredients (water to jalapeno) in a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside.

Cut the chicken in half lenght-wise and cut into 1 inch strips. Place the onion carrot and pepper in the bottom of the crock pot. Put the chicken and flour in a large resealable bag and toss to coat. Put the chicken on top of the vegetables and pour the blended sauce on top of the chicken. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours. You can cook on low for longer but the carrots will be a lot more tender. After 2 hours add the coconut milk and green vegetables and cook an additional 30 minutes. If you cooked it on low turn the pot to high for the last 30 minutes.

Remove the pot from the base and stir in the fresh herbs. Serve over rice.

Peach Salsa

6 large ripe peaches

6 slices of pickled jalepenos, like for nachos, chopped

1/4 c. red bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 small amount of chopped fresh cilantro, about 1 Tbsp chopped

1/3 c. balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp jalapeno liquid from the jar of slices

Heat the balsamic vinegar over medium heat until reduced by at least half. Whisk in the honey until smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in the jalapeno liquid. Set aside to cool

Peel and chop the peaches. 

Combine the peaches, red onion, red pepper, jalapenos, cilantro and balsamic vinegar sauce.  

Stir to combine. 

Serve with chips or over pork chops.