Black Beans & Rice

Simple, healthy, tasty - not much more to say than that! I used olive oil instead of cooking spray, brown rice instead of long-grain rice, and a can of diced tomatoes (drained) instead of tomato sauce.

PREP TIME 5 Min
COOK TIME 15 Min
READY IN 20 Min
SERVINGS 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup cooked long-grain rice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. In a nonstick skillet that has been coated with nonstick cooking spray, saute the onion, green and red peppers, garlic, basil and pepper until tender. Stir in tomato sauce. Add beans, rice and vinegar; heat through. Transfer to a serving dish; sprinkle with cheese.

Nutritional Analysis: One 1-cup serving equals 175 calories, 396 mg sodium, 1 mg cholesterol, 32g carbohydrate, 10g protein, 2g fat.

source: allrecipes.com

Chicken & Veggies w/ Mashed Orange Potatoes

Apparently my roommate is a rockstar chef and didn't think to mention it to me. She came up with an exquisite culinary creation on the fly last night and has given me permission to post it to 'in the kitchen' so it can live on forever. (I'm now pushing for an 'in the kitchen with sarah' but we'll see - cross your fingers.)

Ingredients:
1 yellow squash, halved and sliced
2 zucchini, halved and sliced
1 onion, cut in large pieces
2 large chicken breasts, cut in thirds

Sauce:
a cereal bowl of water
2-3 TBS olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 pinches crushed red pepper flakes
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp curry powder

Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over the chicken/veggies. Bake at 400-degrees until done, about 40 minutes.

Potatoes:
2 sweet potatoes
1-2 regular potatoes
2 carrots

Peel. Boil until soft. Mash.

Serves about 5.

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

Homemade cranberry sauce is so easy - I had no idea. I made it for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and it was much better than canned. The recipe is a work in progress - I'm not sure I have the exact combination of spices down yet - but here's the general idea.

Ingredients:

• 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  
• 1 cup water

Directions:

1. Rinse cranberries.
2. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook 5 -10 minutes, or until the cranberries have burst and the mixture is thickened.
3. Chill in the refrigerator 8 hours, or overnight, before serving.

A note about spices -
Fresh, whole spices are supposed to be best. You can buy whole nutmeg and cloves and grind them in a coffee grinder, if you want to get fancy-pants.

Thanksgiving '08 Sweet Potatoes

Before I forget - here is this year's attempt at the elusive -perfect- mashed sweet potatoes. But I think I might be getting closer.
Happy Thanksgiving!

INGREDIENTS:

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

PREPARATION:

Put sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 20-25 minutes until tender. Drain sweet potatoes; add heavy cream, ginger, maple syrup, sea salt, and nutmeg. Mash until smooth.

Spoon the sweet potato mixture into a baking dish, bake uncovered at 350-degrees until warm, roughly 30 - 40 minutes.

Serves 6.

Pumpkin Smoothies

Mmm... smoothies. The Pumpkin Spice Bread will leave you with some extra canned pumpkin. This is a great way to use it.

1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup milk or vanilla yogurt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. brown sugar
4 ice cubes

Combine ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.

Sugar Cookies

These are super easy and so good. So take a stand and say 'no' to Pillsbury refrigerated cookie dough this holiday season.

Unlike other sugar cookie recipes I found, this one doesn't require the dough to be refrigerated before using - which is good, because I generally want cookies now. I used cookie cutters to make little Christmas trees, stars and candy canes. Then I put red and green sugar sprinkles on. And then I ate a whole spoonful of cookie dough (because I'm a grown up now and no one can tell me not to!).

One note: I rolled out the dough to about 1/4" (with a soda can) and I think that was too thick. The dough spread when it baked and my trees and candy canes looked fat and bloated - just like I felt after eating 500 of them... (really, they're that good).

Merry Christmas!


Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Ready In: 25 Minutes
Yields: 48 servings

INGREDIENTS:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2.	In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

source: allrecipes.com

Salsa

This was my first time making salsa. I didn't know what I was doing but it actually turned out alright. I think that's the beauty of salsa - add pretty much anything in any ratio and it's still fresh salsa and, therefore, inherently wonderful.

I used a food processor, which I think is key. And FYI (because that's what this blog is for), jalepenos can burn your skin, I found out after the fact. The salt, pepper, and tabasco are "to taste" so that's what I did - add and taste, add and taste. This recipe makes a lot (a mixing bowl full, or so).

1 onion (or more)
3 tomatoes (not sure if these are really necessary)
3 jalepenos
1 bunch cilantro
7 1/2 cloves of garlic (approximately, I used the stuff in the jar)
juice from half a lime
salt
pepper
tabasco sauce
3 - 14.5 oz. cans petite diced tomatoes

Put everything but the canned tomatoes in the food processor. Mix. Pour it in a bowl, stir in the canned tomatoes, refrigerate.

Tuna Pasta Salad

Nothing says 'summer' like tuna pasta salad. It's the only thing I want to eat on hot days - best with watermelon and a Blue Moon. My previous concoction was a little bland (tuna, pasta, mayo, salt, pepper) and had no veggies so I did some research and came up with this - a combination of two allrecipes.com recipes, kind of.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (16 ounce) package rotini (my mom pointed out that the shape works well for holding the goo)
  
• 2 yellow squash, chopped
• 2 zucchini, chopped
• 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained

This is where I freestyled a bit and it probably could use some tweaking. Let me know if you come up with something better. Alternatively, you can use a bottle of Italian dressing.

• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• a lot of mayo (2 big scoops)
  
• black pepper
  
• garlic salt
• a lot of dill weed (3 tablespoons?)
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (maybe leave this out - I'm not sure what the purpose is)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in pasta and return pot to boil. Cook until al dente. Drain well.
2. Place squash and zucchini in a medium saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine pasta, squash, zucchini, kidney beans and tuna. Stir in dressing. Mix well and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Minestrone Soup

I think this is about as easy as cooking gets. There's no meat involved (thus no fear of contamination) and no chopping. But be forewarned, your can opener will get a workout.

I do have to wonder, however, if this is a cost-effective substitute for Progresso's minestrone (which I have adored since about age 5). There's likely less sodium and fewer preservatives but it might more expensive on a per-bowl basis. If you do the math, let me know.

But it is tasty. I'll add garlic next time (what's an Italian recipe without garlic anyway?) and some more spinach. It could probably use about 4x more seasoning as well.

Isn't cooking fun? (Especially when it only consists of opening cans, dumping their contents into a large pot, and stirring?)

Start to Finish: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 14-ounce cans beef broth
• 1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 14-1/2-ounce can low-sodium stewed tomatoes
• 1 11-1/2-ounce can vegetable juice
• 1 6-ounce can low-sodium tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, crushed
• 1-1/2 cups loose-pack frozen mixed vegetables (such as an Italian blend)
• 2 cups fresh spinach leaves, cut into strips
• 2 cups cooked pasta (1 cup uncooked), such as small shells or mostaccioli
• Finely shredded Parmesan cheese(optional)

Directions

In a large kettle combine broth, beans, stewed tomatoes, vegetable juice, tomato paste, sugar, and Italian seasoning. Bring to boiling. Add mixed vegetables. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add spinach and cooked pasta; heat through. To serve, ladle into bowls. If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Makes 8 main-dish servings.

Make-Ahead Tip: Prepare soup up to the point where frozen vegetables are cooked until tender. Remove from heat; cool quickly. Refrigerate, covered, overnight. To serve, reheat soup over medium heat. Stir in spinach and cooked pasta. Heat through.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens

Sweet Potatoes

Firstly, Happy Thanksgiving. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to stuff myself and stayed far away from the turkey until it was nicely carved and bearing no resemblance to any type of bird (as to avoid a traumatic experience akin to that of "Chicken Noodle Soup").

I made the sweet potatoes for our meal. I chose sweet potatoes because no one really likes them anyway - so I wouldn't be too stressed out if I messed them up. Blake's aunt made the most amazing sweet potatoes last year and I was hoping to replicate. Alas, mine were only average. I think the key is using grated ginger root - but you're supposed to use 6x as much fresh ginger as you would ground ginger. I might try more fresh ginger and less orange zest. They were a tad on the citrus-y side.

Stay tuned... I promise brilliance next Thanksgiving.

Source: lowfatcooking.about.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

PREPARATION:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and cook for 20-25 minutes until tender. Drain sweet potatoes; add orange juice, orange zest, brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger. Mash until smooth.

Serves 6.

Per Serving: Calories 180, Calories from Fat 4, Total Fat 0.4g (sat 0.1g), Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 21mg, Carbohydrate 41.3mg, Fiber 4.7g, Protein 2.7g

Bean & Ham Soup

Here's where I get into trouble with cooking: apparently you're supposed to follow recipes. I am detail-oriented in every other aspect of my life but, for whatever reason, when it comes to recipes I struggle.

The Bean & Ham Soup was my first experience with a slow cooker. It's supposed to cook for 10 hours. That sounded ridiculous to me - so I tried 5 hours (on high) without success. After hour 4 I ladled the contents of my slow cooker into a large pot and simmered it on the stove. The broth didn't want to thicken so I added 3 tablespoons of corn starch mixed with water.

It was somewhat of a disaster.

Bay leaves are gross. Some of the reviewers on Allrecipes suggested adding them but I wish I hadn't. I also added a clove of garlic and a can of chicken broth. I have no idea if either of these ingredients made for more flavorful soup, but they didn't hurt.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can buy pre-cooked and cubed ham. Due to my immense fear of raw meat, I am a fan. I will likely make it again - but will use more chicken broth and less water.

On a side note, my slow cooker rocks. It has a lid that can be clamped down to prevent spills when transporting. It also came with a super stylin' green gingham carrying case.


Hamilton Beach Stay/Go Slow Cooker

Grandma B's Bean Soup

Submitted by: Reneerent Rated: 4 out of 5 by 23 members

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Hours

Ready In: 16 Hours 15 Minutes Yields: 8 servings

"A simple slow cooker bean and ham soup. It's delicious!"

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound dry navy beans 3 carrots, peeled and shredded 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

3 stalks celery, sliced 1 medium onion, diced 2 cups cubed cooked ham

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place the beans in a slow cooker with enough water to cover, and soak 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.
2.	Drain the beans, and return to the slow cooker. Cover with water, and mix in the carrots, potatoes, celery, onion, and ham.
3.	Cover slow cooker, and cook soup on High for 3 1/2 hours. Switch to Low, and continue cooking at least 6 1/2 hours. The longer it cooks the more flavorful it becomes.

Nutrition Info (per serving)

Calories 337 (17% from fat) | Protein 22g | Fat 6.8g (sat 2.4g) | Carbohydrate 48g | Fiber 10.8g | Cholesterol 32mg | Iron 4mg | Sodium 47mg | Calcium 118mg