Happy Easter

Happy Easter w/ Grandma & Grandpa B

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Tonight

Trying to eat more veggies and more healthy.  These turned out really good.  We served them on rice!

Ingredients: Makes 10 large or 20 small rolls
1 large green cabbage
1 pound ground chuck
1/2 pound ground veal
3/4 cup raw white long grain rice
1 stick butter
1 bunch Italian parsley
1 yellow onion
1 egg
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp salt
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 quart beef broth (or water)
1 cup water
1 can crushed tomatoes (28oz)
*Should cook for 2 hours at 350 degrees F., but check after an hour and add more water if they seem to dry)

Layer dutch oven with extra cabbage leaves.  Layer next with loops of onion.  Than ½ can of crushed tomatoes.  Layer rolled cabbage rolls.  Then insert extra cabbage leaves where needed to keep rolls from moving and fill holes in the layers.  Add another layer of onions and tomatoes.  Then layer 5 more cabbage rolls.  Fill holes with cabbage leaves.  Add a container of beef stock, or chicken stock, or water.  If you use stock then add another can of water to the pot.  Cook at 350 for 1 hour.  Check water level and add more water if needed.   Then cook for another hour at 350 degrees.

Chicken Tamale Casserole ~ for Dinner Tonight

This is a new recipe for me today.  We really enjoyed it! We will definitely make it again!

serves 8

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup nonfat milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 (14 3/4 ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1 (8 1/2 ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
• 1 cup Homemade red enchilada sauce
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts w/refried beans
• nonfat sour cream (dolop top of each serving of tamale casserole)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 45 mins

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles), stirring just until moist.  Pour mixture into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
3. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Protein Monster Cookies (vegan)

just saw this from another fellow blogger that I am following. My husband loves cookies and I want to try to find a cookie or a few cookie recipes that are good for him. I was reading this recipe and she talks about making it with coconut flour and that it has 5 grams of fiber and 2 grams of protein in just 2TB of flour. That is awesome. Especially when you consider what the staple flour that we usually use has in it.

Protein Monster Cookies (vegan)

Valentines Day 2011

My daughter, who is 4 years old, she and I enjoyed making some crafts and cookies for Valentines Day! She is so creative and she loves to make things.

She and I decorated cookies to give to her daddy and big brother for Valentines because they love cookies. Here she is with my grandmother, Kitty. Her great-grandmother loves to watch her play and explore.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

 

·         2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce

·         1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, undrained

·         1/2 cup onion, chopped

·         2 teaspoons chili powder

·         1 teaspoon ground cumin

·         1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

·         1 clove garlic, minced

Combine all tomato sauce ingredients and place in a blender. Puree ingredients. Then place in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until heated through, about 5 minutes. Use as desired for enchiladas. 

Note:  I used New Mexico Hatch Chili's that I've cooked and froze for the use in many dishes.  They are wonderful tasting.  A good friend gave me this awesome idea.  I put two chili's in the recipe above.  Add more if you like it hotter.

Crockpot Shredded Chicken - Recipe 2

You begin with a large purchase of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You can do this with chicken on the bones, but it's much more work. You have to weigh out the cost of one way versus the other for yourself. I personally like the ease of boneless, skinless chicken. If I were really on a tight budget, I'd do the work on the bone-in chicken to save money, but there would be less yield. 

Needed:

Large crock pot (cut everything in half for a smaller crock pot)
Chicken, fresh or frozen, either works, enough to fill up the crock pot (probably 6-10 lbs., depending on your crock pot)
1 cup water
2-cup measuring cup
Quart freezer Ziploc (or equivalent) bags
Permanent marker

(Optional) 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, and 1/2 onion, chopped, if you desire
(Optional) Salt, if desired, to taste

First thing in the morning, fill the crock pot with chicken as full as you can while still being able to close the lid properly with a little room for seasonings if you choose to use them. If adding salt (optional), mix it into the water and then add. Cover. Set on HIGH for the first 2 hours. Turn to LOW after that and let the chicken cook until evening. Once the chicken is done, turn off crock pot and drain chicken in a colander. Catch the liquids if you want to use them as chicken broth. (For broth, strain liquids, cool a bit on the counter, then let cool overnight in fridge. Skim off fat and freeze in 1 or 2 cup increments, or in whatever increments you find useful.)

Put chicken in a large bowl to cool before shredding. Once cooled, sit yourself in a comfortable place (I sit at the dining room table) and begin pulling the chicken apart in shreds, keeping all chicken inside of bowl (shredded and non). Remove bones and gristle at this point if you're using bone-in chicken. Take great care to remove all bones.

Once it is all shredded, label at least 5-8 freezer bags with something like "2 cups cooked chicken". Begin measuring chicken into the 2-cup measuring cup and fill each bag with 2 cups of chicken shreds

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Zip the bags closed and remove as much air as you can. Put in the freezer and you are done! (except for clean-up)