Category: Cooking

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Cream Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Chicken Wrapped with Bacon.

Cream Cheese and spinach stuffed Chicken wrapped with bacon.

  

 This one was pretty easy.

1 package of cream cheese softened.
4 chicken breasts cut in half (to make them thinner)
8 or 16 slices of bacon (I used 8 but if you want two for each piece of chicken) cooked halfway (so they are still bendy).
1/2 a bag of spinach
2 T. butter
salt
Pepper
red pepper flakes
paprika
garlic powder
onion powder
Parsley

Heat oven to 375. Cook bacon half way on stove top in big pan that can go in the oven later. Remove to a plate. Drain bacon drippings.

Put butter in the pan and soften under med. heat. Add some garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, pepper to the butter. Once all hot and melted add the fresh spinach. Stir and flip and turn the spinach until it has wilted. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl add the package of cream cheese. Pepper, paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic, onion powder (could use green onions, I didn’t have any), parsley and mix together. Add the cooled spinach and mix in. Put the bowl in the fridge to chill while you prep the chicken.

Pound out the 8 thin pieces of chicken until they are 1/4″ thick. Use salt and pepper and paprika on the chicken. Put a spoonful of the cream cheese mix at one end of the chicken. Roll up, add some pepper and paprika then wrap one or two slices around the chicken and hold in place with a toothpick. Put the chicken in the pan you cooked the bacon in.

Put pan in oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

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100 Pounds of Tomatoes – Canned

Two years ago I had decided that I wanted to can enough tomato sauce to last our family for the year. Of course I decided to do this when it was winter and there were no fresh tomatoes to be found. So, I told myself that that would be my goal for the summer. Well, summer came and with it I was HUGE pregnant. It was also a drought. I made the wise choice to sit with my feet up instead of can any amount of tomatoes.

Fast forward to this summer. I am not pregnant, there is not a drought, and there is still the need…..so I made a small batch of tomato sauce to sort of get the hang of it. We have a farm share through a local farm and when we started getting lots of tomatoes I saved them. My test batch was a success. It was easy but time consuming.

I never actually weighed this bunch at all, but this amount of peeled and seeded tomatoes gave me only 4 half pints. I was then looking around trying to find something to do with all the skins, cores, and seeds (I really hate to have any waste) and I found that you can process them the same as the meaty part of the tomato. You may have to spend a few minutes pushing it all through a strainer but there is quite a bit of flesh left on the back of the skins. So, into a pot all that went…

And I started cooking it down….

Then I pushed it though a strainer…..

It was thick smooth and perfect. I ended up getting another 4 half pints out of the skin, seeds, and cores.

Now that my test batch was such a success…I sat down and did some tomato math. Trying to estimate how much tomato sauce one family might use in a year. Then trying to figure out how many tomatoes are needed to result in said amount of sauce.

I started by looking at my cooking habits. I make something tomato based a minimum of once a week…sometimes two or three times. So, I knew I needed at least 52 pints (most of my recipes use a pint). A bushel of tomatoes is 53 lbs. and I found many differing opinions on how much sauce you could get out of that. Lots of it has to do with how thick you want the sauce. I decided that 2 bushels would be a good place to start.

I was smart enough to realize that pushing 100 lbs of tomatoes through a hand held strainer would be silly, so I bought a food mill. As for tomatoes, I found a decent price at one of the local farm stands. $18 for a half bushel. I called and put in my order. My tomatoes were ready for pickup on a gloomy rainy Sunday.

Holy.Crap. That is a lot of tomatoes.

I decided to just skip the blanching, peeling, squeezing step on my first go around since I planned on processing all that stuff anyway.

Big huge fail. It had to cook down overnight…it was actually faster to blanch, peel, and squeeze the tomatoes and process the ‘waste’ stuff later.

So, I started processing tomato sauce…and I kept processing tomato sauce. Finally, a week later…after staying up till midnight or later every night…I had 64 pints of tomato sauce and 16 pints of salsa.

Oh, and the jars on the left in a different color are apple sauce. My sister has some apple trees and she brought me a couple of boxes of apples.

I also did a small batch of peaches earlier in the summer.

I still want to make a batch of salsa verde with some tomatillos and some more applesauce, but essentially, my canning is done for the year. I am quite excited to have so much yummy goodness for my family for throughout the year. I will try to go bigger next year and do some diced tomatoes and some other veggies.

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A Farm Share Sausage Soup

This summer we decided to get a share from a local farm; Troggs Hollow. It was a way to insure fresh veggies all summer. So far we have only had two weeks worth and being so early in the season it has been almost all greens. 
I have a sausage potato soup that I have been making for quite a few years now and I decided to spruce it up a bit with our veggie share. I use a smoked sausage in it but ham or bacon would be just as good. For this batch I used hakurei turnips, and dinosaur kale. I usually have homemade chicken/turkey stock but I’m out and need to make a fresh batch so I had to use some store bought this time. I also added 5 red potatoes. Onion is also good in this but I didn’t have any this time.
  
Ingredients for Soup Including Fresh Hakurei Turnips and Dinosaur Kale

I start out by browning the sausage. Then, I cubed the turnips and potatoes and ripped the veins out of the kale.
Since all parts of the turnips are edible I also coarsely chopped up the
turnip greens.I add in the stock and make sure to scrape all the yummy bits up from the bottom of the pot. Next, I add in the potatoes and turnips. I add my seasoning at this point as well. I use thyme (fresh is best but I had to use dried this time), parsley, red pepper for a kick, and some black pepper. If salt is needed add it at the end. If you add it at this point it gets absorbed by the potatoes. I bring the pot to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer. Keep the simmer going for about 20 – 25 minutes or until the potatoes and turnips are fork tender. During the last 5 minutes of simmering time I added the kale to a separate skillet with some bacon drippings (you can use butter but Owen has dairy issues so I try to not use it here). I cook it for around 2-3 minutes and then add it to the pot of soup at the end. I pull out a serving for Owen (keeping it dairy free for him) then I add about a 1/4 c. of heavy cream. I bring it back up to a simmer but only for about 5 minutes (don’t let it get back up to a rolling boil or the cream will separate).

  Serve as is and enjoy or top with some shredded cheese to melt in. This soup went over so well in our house that every last drop was
eaten…none for left-overs! That is saying something since Hugh is such
a picky eater.

Farm Share Sausage Soup
1 lb. Smoked Sausage/Ham/Bacon
Turnips (I used 4 Hakurei Turnips)
Turnip Greens
Kale (any kind would be good, I used dinosaur kale)
5 red potatoes
4 cups chicken/turkey stock
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 T. bacon drippings (for dairy free) or 1 T. butter
2 T. parsley
2 t. dried thyme or 4 fresh sprigs
red pepper to taste
black pepper to taste
salt to taste
Cut and brown sausage/ham/bacon in the bottom of a 5 quart or larger pot. Wash and cube the potatoes and turnips. Rip the veins out of the kale and chop kale and turnip greens. Add stock and stir to get all the browned bits off the bottom. Add the potatoes, turnips, parsley, thyme, and peppers. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer for around 20 – 25 minutes or until the potatoes and turnips are fork tender. In a separate skillet heat up the bacon drippings/butter and add the kale and turnip greens. Turning the greens to coat with the fat and working to wilt the greens; only for around 2 – 3 minutes. Add the greens to the soup. If you are going for dairy free the soup is ready to be served. If you would like a cream based soup, add the 1/4 c. cream at this point. Simmer (but not boil) for a few more minutes. Serve and enjoy.
 
This makes around 10 servings of soup if you are serving it with a meal. If this is “the meal” (as it was for us) then you only get around 5 or 6 servings.
The great thing about this soup is how easy it is to add any type of veggie or bean or change up the meat or leave the meat out all together. Enjoy this as much as we did!
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The Best Venison Chili Ever.

I have a weakness for chili. I think I have always loved it. I will admit that I was really picky when I was little and only ate the meat out of it, but I have grown up and the more chunks the better!

I make chili for our family about once a week so I have gotten pretty good at it. I don’t use the packaged seasoning mixes since they all have gluten and tons of chemicals in them. Plus, it maybe takes about 20 seconds longer to put together your own seasoning. I didn’t take pictures of every step…just the end result.

I used just over a pound of meat…I cubed two venison steaks and a couple of pork chops and tossed them in the pan to brown (I used 1T. of bacon drippings for this as the venison is so lean that it drys out without some nice fat). I then added a can of red beans, two cans of tomato sauce, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup beef stock, and all my seasonings. I let it simmer for a bit and hit the cutting board. I chopped one sweet onion and one bell pepper. In a separate pan I sauteed the peppers and onions until they were soft and the onions were almost translucent. At this point I added them to the meat mix and kept on simmering.

I really want to stop using canned tomato products. We have a veggie share from a local farm for the summer and we have our small garden in the backyard. Between the two, I hope to can enough tomatoes to get us through next winter and spring.

Now that I went off on a tangent, let me get back to my chili.

Here is the picture of The Best Venison Chili Ever

….and for the actual recipe….

1-2 lbs. cubed/ground/shredded meat (pork, beef, venison, turkey, chicken, etc..)
1 bell pepper
1 sweet onion
1-3 jalapeno (however much you want for your preferred amount of kick)
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can red beans
2 T chili powder
1 T garlic powder (or 3-4 cloves)
dash of oregano
dash of red pepper
1 t. cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 – 2 T bacon drippings or butter (we are dairy free so no butter here)
1/4 c. beef stock

Cube venison steaks and a couple of pork chops and tossed them
in the pan to brown (I used 1T. of bacon drippings for this as the
venison is so lean that it drys out without some nice fat). I then added
a can of red beans, two cans of tomato sauce, 1 can of diced tomatoes,
1/4 cup beef stock, and all my seasonings. I let it simmer for a bit and
hit the cutting board. I chopped the sweet onion and the peppers.
In a separate pan I sauteed the peppers and onions until they were soft
and the onions were almost translucent. At this point I added them to
the meat mix and kept on simmering.

You can top the chili with some nice fresh avocado for a yummy creamy texture.

Enjoy, I know we did!

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Paleo Kids Day 2

I have been eating primal/paleo since September 2011. We stick to it for the most part with some indulging. I never switched the kids to this style of eating because I didn’t really have the energy. I know that is a totally lame reason but there you have it.

Well, Owen has been “sick” since before Christmas. We thought it was a cold at first. One that just never went away. He never had a fever and just always would sniff his nose. It was never really drippy enough to even bother with blowing it. Recently he has started to clear his throat a lot. He was starting to sound like an old man. I finally broke down and took him to the doctor to see what was up. Turns out he has some allergy signs. Massive post nasal drip being the big one. Our doc is awesome and she gave us some all natural chewable pills to help him out. Well, he totally hates them and fights us crying every time we try to get him to take them. So, I start doing some research.

I know that grains/gluten are not good for our bodies and I also know that dairy can really be bad. The dairy causing extra mucous and the grains/gluten causing inflammation can either trigger allergies or mimic them. So, we made the decision to put the entire house on a strict paleo eating plan (oh, and we figured out about a month ago that Miss Faye cannot tolerate dairy or eggs in my diet…crazy skin issues), no grains, no chemicals, no dairy, as much all natural and fresh foods as possible; total clean eating.  Plus, I would rather change how we eat and correct the problem than to start constantly drugging my 3 year old. There are times when drugs are appropriate, I do not feel that this is one of those times. Owen is also getting some apple cider vinegar every day (that stuff is just awesome).

I started out by telling the boys that we were doing this. I gave them a week’s notice. We talked about it every day. How some of the foods we were eating were causing Owen to not feel that well. We told them what they will no longer be able to eat and we gave them a huge list of what they WOULD be able to eat. I made sure to talk with the school so they could encourage the boys while they were there.

We are on day two, and so far it is going great (I’m knocking on every piece of wood I can get my hands on here). Breakfast is the hardest for the boys. They were used to getting up and having cereal or a fruit bar on their own. I’m having to direct them to the copious amounts of fruit and veggies that are now in our house; as their go to “fast foods”.

Tonight for dinner I made a simple dinner of chicken, carrots, and spinach. The chicken was just cooked on the stove top with some seasoning and about 1T of bacon drippings. The carrots were just boiled then had a bit of salt and garlic added (I know this is like the worst way to make carrots. I usually like to roast them but just didn’t have the time…I am doing the single parent thing tonight while G is out of town for work). The spinach was cooked as if it were creamed spinach but I used chicken stock in place of cream. I thicken it with almond flour.

The boys were not fans of the spinach (I was though…it was awesome),but loved the chicken and carrots (full disclaimer here on the chicken…Hugh HATES meat. The fact that he ate 5 bites of it without complaining and then asking if we can have it again tomorrow night for dinner just about blew me away. Our policy for eating is that the boys have to have one “no thank you” bite. After all, how can you say no thank you if you have not tried it to see if you even like it. They also have to have that one no thank you bite every single time a food is put in front of them. They also do not get something else in place of that food, if they are still hungry then they must eat what is on the plate).

So, without further ado…THE picture (I so want a better camera)!