Stuffed Peppers

This is one of my classic stand-by meals.

I often make it ahead and stick 4 in the freezer and cook 4 that night.

It's very easy to adapt and don't tell my husband, but I often use up leftovers this way...... you can only serve them so many times before they start getting tired of them, but add a little rice and another spice and stick it in a pepper........... TA-DA - new dish! :-)

Stuffed Peppers

4-8 peppers, tops cut off, seeds removed

(I can only get 4 peppers in my crockpot at a time......... and it's just me and my husband and 3 small kids so we usually do one for each adult and the kids all split one and one left for husband's lunch the next day!)

1 pound ground beef, browned

2 cups cooked rice or barley

1 cup corn (usually frozen.....!)

1 can diced tomatoes

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup cheese, grated

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1-2 tsp oregano, basil or cilantro

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

Mix everything together well and spoon into peppers, I sometimes replace the tops and often don't - chopping the tops and throwing into a salad!

Place in crockpot and cook on low 4-6 hours - till pepper is desired tenderness.

Can place in crockpot frozen........ increase cook time a couple hours.

Like I said, I often make this "cleaning out the refrigerator" - I might mix some sausage gravy, rice and zucchini......... chicken soup trying not to get too much broth......... chicken, rice and brocoli casserole........... the possibilities are endless and make for a wonderful "re-use" of food and the ease of the crockpot! Obviously, please adjust the spices and such to your taste and what combinations of food you are using!

This post is linked to Sarah's Musings "For the love of a Slow Cooker" Carnival

Roasted Cabbage

One of my favorite crockpot side dishes - and really quick and easy too!

This is from A Year of Slow Cooking's blog - my notes or changes are in italics.

ROASTED CABBAGE

--1 small head of cabbage

--12-14 colorful baby potatoes (or regular potatoes.... or red ones..... I've used everything!)*

--10-12 whole cloves of garlic

--1/4 cup olive oil (maybe a little more, closer to a 1/3?)

--2 T balsamic vinegar (I use AT LEAST this, honestly I usually just pour over the top..... probably more like 1/4-1/3 of a cup!)

--1 t kosher salt

--1/2 t black pepper

*Depending on how much cabbage I have I would use maybe 2-3 cups largely diced potatoes, more like chunks and if I have carrots, I usually throw in 1-2 cups, again large chunks of those as well cause my boys love cooked carrots!

--wash vegetables

--cut potatoes into 1 inch chunks (I didn't peel them)

--cut cabbage into wedges--don't worry about separating the leaves (maybe 4-6 pieces depending on how large your cabbage is)

--throw veggies into the crockpot with the whole garlic cloves

--add olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar

--toss with hands to coat thoroughly.

DO NOT ADD WATER.

cook on high for 3 hours, low for 4-6. (I might cook mine a little longer..... closer to the 6 hrs? usually get it in by lunch time or sooner for dinner, BUT I am also at a higher altitude which might affect it too!)

the vegetables are done when the potatoes reach desired tenderness.

the cabbage will get a little caramelized and crispy around the edges where they touch the crock walls. That's okay--it tastes good!

This is wonderful hot of the crockpot, looks a little "wilted" the next day, but still tastes fine. I often will mix with some chicken or something and broth and make a veggie soup of some sort with the leftovers............. (or chop it smaller and feed it to my 11 month old!)

This post is linked to Sarah's Musings "For the love of a Slow Cooker" Carnival

today

Do you every have those days when you get alot done? I love those days. I have been "meaning to" get a list of things done in the kitchen and it keeps getting pushed aside, but I decided this morning I just need to do it. So, I did!

~3 pumpkins - cut, cooked, cooled and jarred for the freezer (still have 3 sitting on my counter too, but the oven is only so big!)

~6 pounds of organic carrots, peeled, chopped and frozen for use in soups or side dishes

~3-4 pounds of zucchini, sliced and frozen

~ 1 quart of hot fudge sauce made (you know this was really the priority!)

~ 1 large pot of vegetable broth cooking on the stove (gotta do something with all those carrot peels, zucchini ends and stringy bits of pumpkin!)

~ fed poor dying sourdough starter and was thrilled to see it seems to be coming back to life!

~ have pumpkin seeds cooking in the crockpot at my 4 yr olds request - I had no idea he even knew pumpkins had seeds that could be cooked and thought to ask as I was having husband cut the pumpkins for me this morning! Couldn't say no, even though I have never really gotten pumpkin seeds to cook well, oven or crockpot!

I still have an acorn squash and sweet potatoes to cook - still trying to decide though if I want to just make them into dinner or into baby servings for the little girl!

And I really wanted to get some more tortillas made this week, but that will have to wait till another day. Maybe if the afternoon goes well I will get it soaking and mixed up this afternoon!

Plus, I even know what is for dinner, it's all ready to put together later this afternoon! And I have leftover focaccia bread to go with it!

Egg Nog

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the fact that Egg Nog is now in stores. Till the New Year anyway. I love egg nog. I often get it and enjoy a cup for dessert in the evening. My husband thinks I am crazy cause he is not fond of egg nog! My mom always made egg nog on Christmas Eve growing up. It was really the only time of year we had it. Till I grew up and realized I could buy it from about October - December. :-) But I took her recipe and modified it a little - okay, alot. It still has most of the same ingredients I guess........ I just used healthier options, full fat options and didn't use canned sweetened condensed milk!

Egg Nog

1 cup whole milk

1/4 c. butter

Warm in a saucepan till butter melts and milk is warm but not boiling. Stir often!

Combine, mixing very well, 2 eggs and 3 TB sugar

(I used organic unrefined cane sugar)

Slowly add the eggs/sugar to the warmed milk, stirring constantly till milk is very hot but not quite to a boil. Mine took about 4-5 minutes on Medium heat.

In a blender whip 1 cup of cream (Briefly - you don't want whipped cream!)- maybe 15-30 seconds. Add in egg and milk mixture and blend. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp nutmeg and blend.

Chill and Serve - makes 2 nice size cups

This was warm when I finished making it and of course had to try it before it cooled. It was really good warm too. In fact, if it was a cold snowy day, you might just pour into mugs and enjoy it hot. Like this view from my front door this morning! Can you see the snow falling?

Also, as it sits and cooled mine separated a little. So, if you were serving cold, you might want to just let it sit in the blender in the refrigerator and then give it another quick blend before serving. Or put in a jar and shake first. Or grab a knife from the dish drainer and stir around your cup a bit like I did!

As I was drinking it, I was also wishing I had made a little coffee. This would make a wonderful egg nog latte - mixing the coffee and egg nog together. I guess I will try that tomorrow! - Scratch that - did it already! It was yummy, of course!

Just another thought/note and question!

My original recipe didn't cook the eggs, just blended raw. Though I am not currently pregnant, I know sometimes raw eggs are not recommended to pregnant ladies and I wasn't sure if it was okay for children. So, I made my recipe to cook the egg mixture, kinda like a custard, so I didn't have to wonder. But I would be curious to know what YOUR thoughts are on raw eggs and the safety of them in pregnancy as well as for kids. I hadn't really worried about it in the store bought stuff cause they do enough pasteurizing and such I think it is okay. I don't know if it makes a difference but I usually buy the "nicer" eggs, but not always organic or true "free-range", unless they are marked down at the store and I hit a great price!

But, if you were okay with raw eggs, just take the above ingredients and blend in a blender, skipping the stovetop part, till throughly blended and enjoy.

This post is part of Kitchen Stewardship's October Fest of Super Foods

Vegetable Pasta Sauce

It was snowing yesterday.

I thought it was a good day for making soup.

I wanted to make my version of Campbell's Italian Wedding Soup.

I realized I didn't have the right pasta -

- after I thawed some chicken broth and my mini-meatballs.

So, I started making something that I wasn't sure what it would end up being.

I started with chicken broth in the pan, added the vegetables I had around and needed to use.

It ended up really good. Good enough to share :-)

And since it was a totally random and clean out the refer type dish,

it ends up being pretty cheap too!

Vegetable Pasta Sauce

1/2 head purple cabbage, sliced/shredded

3 red peppers, sliced

2 potatoes, diced large with skins on

1 head garlic, minced

2 cups chicken broth + water enough to mostly cover vegetables.

Mix everything in saucepan and bring to a boil and let simmer. Add water if needed. I let mine simmer for about 6 hours. I ended up with about 6 cups of cooked vegetables and broth.

Put everything in the blender and blend smooth.

Return to saucepan and add:

1 TB salt

1/2 TB pepper

1 tsp oregano

1 1/2 tsp cumin

Add 1-2 cups cooked mini meatballs and about 2 cups fresh spinach (I tore mine slightly, but it mostly cooks down small so it isn't really necessary)

Heat everything through and allow spinach to cook down a little. Serve hot over pasta or rice or your choice of whatever :-)

Easily opt to leave out the meatballs or serve on the side to have a nice vegetarian option too!

I served it with this foccacia bread recipe I found on allrecipes.com - it ended up good and it really was a quick option for that evening when you didn't get around to making something that needed a long rise time. (Just FYI - I used 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat flour, eliminated the salt and rosemary on top and used dried basil and an Italian cheese mixture of shredded cheese on top, and cooked it my rectangle stone rather then a pan)

I really surprised myself at how tasty this was - it ended up looking like a tomato sauce, though slightly more brownish - has a little spice kick - and packed with good foods! Sorry - no pictures - my husband has the camera at the moment!

This post is part of Pennywise Platter at Nourishing Gourmet!

Sauce recipes

Before I realized what this week's "Super Food" focus was going to be I did a post last weekend on making my own Cream of Mushroom soup. And a couple weeks ago I did my version of "Classico" Pasta Sauce.

So, since I didn't get my homemade version of Campbell's Italian Wedding Soup made today (Cause I didn't have the right pasta in the house and it's snowing and I'm not going out!)

- these will have to suffice for now!

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

Homemade Classico Pasta Sauce

And just a note - as I made the boys afternoon snack yesterday I thought of another nice "Un-Processed Foods" idea - Homemade Popcorn instead of that processed AND microwaved stuff! I actually stopped buying the microwave popcorn awhile ago and got some nice organic corn to pop. My husband had a stovetop popper (that he has had since I have known him and we never really used cause the microwave was "easier" and I was ignorant of other facts!) - the boys and I often get it out and pop a bowl of it for snack - drizzled with real butter and salt it's oh, so yummy and a nice healthy snack. Would have taken a picture for you, but I didn't have the camera home, but you know what popcorn looks like!

this post is part of Kitchen Stewardship's October Fest of Super Foods

Cream of Mushroom soup

I love being able to make my own "cream" soups and broths and "those canned things that are expensive and full of junk" - this is a recipe I have adapted a little from THIS WEBSITE. It's one of my favorite crockpot websites, I use my crockpot alot! I have mentioned my adaptions in italics.

CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP

This recipe is for a LARGE crockpot.

Don't attempt these proportions in anything smaller than a 5qt.

--2 lbs mushrooms

--2 cups water

--2 cans (4 cups) vegetable broth

--1 qt of milk (to add later)

--juice of 1 lemon

--1/2 t salt

--1/2 t pepper

--1 T dried minced onion

(I have used fresh, depends on how much time I have at the moment!)

--2 T Italian seasoning

(I use oregano cause my husband doesn't care for some spice in the Italian seasoning!)

The Directions.

Wash your mushrooms well and cut them into fourths. Put into your stoneware and add the spices and lemon juice. Pour in the vegetable broth and water. (I used organic mushroom broth this time, but I usually just use vegetable broth)

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

CAREFULLY use an immersible hand blender and blend until soupy. If you don't have an immersible hand blender, very, very carefully blend in batches in a regular blender.

(I don't have one of THESE cool gadgets, so I just use my blender and it works fine)

Stir in an entire quart of milk. I used fat free cow's milk. You can use any percentage you'd like; even cream.

(I used half heavy whipping bream and half organic whole milk, please oh please, don't use fat free!)

Let cool on the counter for quite a few hours, then pour into freezer bags to store or plastic containers. I used 2 cups per bag--which is 16 fluid ounces. A can of cream-of-soup is 10 ounces.

(I didn't let it hardly cool, cause I wanted to go to bed. I freeze this and then thaw and use as needed. Freezing doesn't seem to affect the milk product at all, but I do always use it in a recipe not by itself, so that might make a difference)