Pork (um, turkey) and beans

Well, I have now made it into June recipes.  YAY!!!  This recipe would actually be really good right now.  It is a sausage and bean casserole. 

I think David picked this out but it turned out really good. It is from Cooikng Light 2007.  It was easy and worked well for my family.  See the happy faces?

Sausage and Bean Casserole from Cooking Light
1 chopped onion
16 oz turkey sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 garlic cloves, minced
14 oz chicken or veggie broth
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cans white beans, rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 375.  Heat Dutch oven over medium high heat and cook onion and sausage.  Saute for 5 minutes or until browned.  Add garlic and saute 2 minutes.  Stir in chicken broth.  Stir in brown sugar, tomato paste, pepper and beans.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Enjoy!

Spinach and Chicken Penne

David really enjoys pasta dishes but being gluten free makes that....different.  There are actually a lot of gluten free pasta options. 

For me the hardest to find is lasagna...but I have found it and you can't tell any difference...even my dad says so!  Anyway, back in April I made a penne chicken dish.  Y'all, it's been so long I can't exactly remember what I did but I'm pretty sure it was easy and something like this.  We all enjoyed it, especially David and Kate!

Gluten Free Chicken and Cheese Penne
1 rotisserie chicken
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with peppers
1 cup spinach
1 small bag penne pasta, cook as instructed (I eyeballed this...do as much as you like more or less to taste
cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook pasta per instructions.  Take meat off chicken in small, rough pieces.  Stir chicken, pasta, spinach, tomatoes and 1/2 cup cheese (more or less) together and pace in a casserole dish.  Sprinkle top with cheese  1/2-1cup.  Bake in oven until bubbly.  Enjoy!

Cooking by Letter - Very Veggie Soup

We have had a nice little cool snap here in the deep south.  Personally, I think this is what it should be like all month but we typically don't have that.  It has, however, given us some nice days to walk with Caleb...and he LOVES to walk. 

I can almost guarantee that he will calm down on a walk if he is fussy; however, that doesn't always translate to remaining quiet when we get back. 

Remember last year when we were cooking through the alphabet with Kate?  Well, this veggie soup was one of the last recipes we made. 

Kate really enjoyed it, though I'm not so sure about David.  We will have to make it again soon.  I love that it is healthy and gets LOTS of veggies in my family. 

Kate has been a really good eater but sometimes it is a little more difficult to get her to eat veggies.  With this soup, SHE was the one making it, so of course she wanted to eat it. 

She even got to grind the salt and pepper!  I did choose veggies that I knew she would eat and David could tolerate. 

I used all cabbage but might add some spinach next time as David seems to do well with that, it's more full of vitamins, and produces less gas. 

All in all, this really was a Kate made soup.  I think her favorite was stirring.  That and giving Daddy kisses before eating.  :-)

Very Veggie Soup
3 handfuls (I probably used about 3 cups) cabbage, escarole, or spinach
1 pound green beans (I used frozen)
6 carrots (I used mini carrots)
1 onion, chopped
8 oz corn
12 ounce can tomato puree
salt
pepper

Tear or cut greens into small pieces.  Prepare green beans if using fresh.  Peel and chop carrots.  In a large soup pot saute onion.  Add all veggies to the pot, including corn.  Fill with enough water to cover the veggies.  Add tomato puree, salt, and pepper.  Then get to stirring!  Simmer, covered, for 1.5 hours.  Enjoy!!!

Moroccan Eating

Several weeks back, David found a recipe on a Kroger publication of all places!  It was for Moroccan quinoa.  He's not a big fan of quinoa but Kate and I both like it.  She actually said "I love quinoa" last night.  :-)  So, if he suggested it, you better believe I'm making it.  It really turned out GREAT!   I ended up leaving out the corriander because all I could find was corriander seeds.  Forgive me, but I am NOT crushing my own seeds!  The spices I used were paprika and cumin.  With just that it turned out SPICY.  I guess it's the paprika?  I also added some bell pepper.  I just felt like it needed some veggies in it.  Looks like a great dinner to me?  Try it!

Moroccan Quinoa Chicken Skillet from Healthy Living Made Simple July/August
2 lemons (I just used lemon Juice because I oddly enough couldn't find lemons!  I found limes but no lemons)
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (I didn't use this)
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves (or 3 tsp preminced garlic) minced
1 cup dried apricots, chopped (I used about 1/3 cup craisins - despite loving apricots, they were too pricey for me)
1 cup quinoa
2 cups veggie stock
2 chicken breasts, cubed

In a medium bowl, combine the paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.  Toss in the cubed chicken.  Once coated, place chicken in a pre-heated skillet sprayed with cooking spray (or a small amount of olive oil).  Cook until browned.  Add the onion, bell pepper and craisins.  Add lemon juice at this point (or the thinly sliced lemon).  Cook until the onion is softened.  Add the quinoa and stir for about two minutes.  Then add the veggie stock and more lemon juice.  Raise heat to a boil.  Then cover the pan and lower heat to medium low.  Cook for 20 minutes, covered.  I cooked about 30.  Remove from heat and let cool five minutes.  I meant to top with sliced green onion but forgot.  Oops!  Fluff the quinoa gently and enjoy!

Cauliflower Crust

Last month I found a recipe for cauliflower pizza crust.  I figured it would be a good thing to try since David likes pizza but we're trying to do gluten free (and succeeding pretty well...until this week when we HAD to eat our wedding cake.  BTW, it froze GREAT!).  It was quite the interesting process getting the cauliflower ready.  First you have to chop into TINY pieces the uncooked cauliflower then cook in the microwave...cauli-rice as she called it.

Then you SQEEEEEE-EEEEEZE all the water out of the cauliflower.  Don't I look like I'm having fun?! 

There was so much water!  Then you mix up the cauliflower with egg and cheese.  Um, yum!  I just topped it with our normal pizza stuff.  SO GOOD!  K liked it...

and David said he got used to it. 

Don't let that fool you.  He still took it to work for lunch later that week.  I don't think it bothered him too much.  Though I know he enjoyed the "regular" gluten free crust better.  Despite that, I still want to try the cheesy "bread" sticks recipe I found.  Lots of cheese on top....yes and yum!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza from Cook Lisa Cook
 1 head of cauliflower
Make Cauli-rice as below:
Remove the leaves and hard center core of the cauliflower.  Cut into florets.  Wash and then allow the cauliflower to dry completely.  (You want the cauliflower completely dry and you will NOT be adding any water when cooking, this helps to cut down on the boiled cauliflower taste and smell.)  Once dry, fill the bowl of a food processor about half full and using the chopping blade and the pulse action, process the cauliflower until it looks like the size of grains of rice.  Add the processed cauliflower to a microwave safe bowl and repeat with the remaining cauliflower.  Once all the Cauliflower has been processed and added to the microwave safe bowl, cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a lid.  Microwave on high for 7 minutes. 

1 egg
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella (I used part skimmed)

1 TBS. parsley
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper
Toppings of your choice, tomato, pesto or Alfredo sauce, cheese, precooked meats* & precooked veggies*

Preheat oven to 450F.  Line a baking sheet with either a Silpat or parchment paper.
Place the cooked Cauli-Rice into a tea towel and squeeze all the water out of the Cauli-Rice.  It is important to get the rice as dry as possible so that there won’t be extra moisture in the crust which will prevent it from crisping up properly.

In a medium bowl combine the dry Cauli-Rice, egg, 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper and mix to combine well.  Press the cauliflower mixture into an even thickness on the prepared pan, either into a round or rectangular shaped pizza. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the crust is firm and golden brown.  Remove the pan from the oven.  Top the cooked crust with sauce, cheese and toppings of your choice.  Place back in the oven and bake until cheese is melted and starting to brown. Enjoy!

Stuffed Potatoes - Fresh and Freezer

At the beginning of January, my best friend had her second baby.  She was working up until the day before she delivered and made freezer meals the weekend before.  Wow! 

I insisted that she let me make something for her.  One thing I did was stuffed twice baked potatoes.  They turned out really good.  K even liked them and she doesn't really eat potatoes (except as fries...blows my mind!).

 I made a lot of chicken and broccoli potatoes and a few with mushrooms and broccoli for me.  Both versions were really good.  To add creaminess I used some Greek yogurt and then topped with cheddar cheese.  YUM!  Try these out!

Twice Baked Stuffed Potatoes
potatoes
Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
cooked broccoli pieces
cooked chicken (I used Tyson grilled strips)
salt
pepper
cheese

Bake potatoes by this recipe.  It is THE BEST!  You could stop here and have delicious potatoes but continue on for the stuffed version...

Let potatoes cool.  Preheat oven to 350.  Cut in half and scoop out the inside of potatoes leaving a small rim so that potatoes will hold up and retain shape.  Place the insides in a bowl and place the potato shells on a baking sheet. 

Mash the potato insides with a fork.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stir in Greek yogurt until creamy (1/3-2/3 cup...or more depending on the amount of potatoes you have!).  Cut chicken into small cubes.  Stir chicken and broccoli into the potato mixture. 

Scoop back into the shells.  Top with cheese.  Place back into the oven and bake until cheese melts.  You can enjoy now or allow to cool, wrap in aluminum foil and freeze.  Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. 

Fajita Casserole

During January, I bought a rotisserie chicken on clearance at the grocery store.  Nothing on my "menu" used chicken but I decided to alter for frugality sake.  I decided to do a Mexican fajita casserole. 

At first I was going to use tortillas on the top and bottom, but once I got into making it, decided that it only needed the bottom layer.  I think I was correct.  I used tomatillo salsa, refried beans, sauteed onions and peppers, and cheese.  It turned out GREAT!  I will definitely make this again!  I think my little taste tester enjoyed, too!

Chicken Fajita Casserole by me!
4 corn tortillas
refried beans
rotisserie chicken, meat pulled off the bone
tomatillo salsa
1 onion
1 pepper
cheese, shredded (variety of your choice though I'd do cheddar or monterey jack)
salsa (If desired)

Cut peppers and onions into long pieces.  Saute until translucent; place in a bowl and set aside.  Pull chicken meat off the bone.  Warm in saute pan along with enough tomatillo salsa to coat the chicken. 

Preheat oven to 350.  In a casserole pan (11x8 or 13 x9), pour a small amount of tomatillo salsa.  Place the tortillas over the bottom of the pan.  Spread refried beans over the tortillas.  You may need to warm the beans slightly.  Place chicken over the beans.  Place the vegetables on top of the chicken.  Cover with cheese.  If you want some traditional salsa you can place some over the cheese.  Place the casserole in the over and bake until cheese is bubbly, about 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

Mahi Tacos

One of my favorite dishes to get at a local restaurant is the Mahi Mahi sandwich.  Actually, it's a dish that I get at TWO local restaurants.  Julep is a great local Southern restaurant.  When I was in residency, we took all of our applicants to Jule for pre-interview day dinner.  I was in charge of recruitment one year so I went to Julep QUITE frequently.  I decided that I needed to try different dishes; but every time my "different dish" would come out, I wished that I had my mahi mahi sandwich! 

So, wouldn't that lead you to believe that I'd like mahi mahi at home?!  It would!  However, when I made it several months back I just didn't like it.  Insert sad face!  Last month, I decided to try again but in a different form.  Instead of cooking the fish to just eat, I grilled the fish and used it on tacos.  Problem solved!  This dish was SO good and fresh!  We used corn tortillas so David could enjoy it.  Makes me want to have this again soon. 

Mahi Mahi Tacos
mahi mahi filets, seasoned well
tortillas
lettuce
tomato
cheese
salsa
avacado........whatever toppings you want, really!

Preheat your indoor grill pan.  Season the fish very well.  Spray the pan and place filets on the pan.  Cook until fish flakes.  Gently heat corn tortilla (or whatever tortilla you want).  Place cooked fish on the tortilla and top with your desired toppings.  Enjoy!

Adding to the Menu Options

Back before Thanksgiving, we did a trial of gluten free diet.  We stopped over the holidays and about a week and a half ago have resumed this way of eating.  It really is for David, so I will continue to have some gluten containing treats on here.  However, it really hasn't been that difficult to adjust my cooking.

The biggest change at home has been lunch, though we did discover a bread recipe that makes sandwiches an option.  Changing cookies and quick breads to gluten free wasn't that difficult and most of my suppers are already gluten free.  However, it is always fun to add a new option to cooking.  So, I decided to try out this quinoa recipe.  Now, as I was cooking it, I was starting to get grumpy.  You see, I had made a tomato soup the night before, a recipe David chose (out of the options I provided)...and then he didn't like it.  As I was making this Mexican quinoa recipe, I just KNEW that neither he nor K were going to like it. It just looked funny.  Note: at this point, it SHOULD have been done cooking...but I let it cook longer. 

Thank goodness for those extra 15 minutes because the quinoa fluffed up and looked good after that.  And wouldn't you know, K asked for seconds and David took it for lunch some.  Since then, he has made the comment that quinoa isn't his "favorite" but is "doable."  I'll take that...I like quinoa.  :-)

Mexican Quinoa from Kitchen Simplicity (thought Pinterest)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapeños, seeded and finely chopped
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well and drained
1¼ cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 can (1½ cups) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 cup corn
cheese, for topping

Add a small bit of oil to a medium-sized pot set over medium heat. Add garlic and jalapeños; cook just until fragrant (about a minute). Add quinoa, broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 25 minutes, or until quinoa is cooked and fluffy and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat. Spoon into bowls, top with cheese, and enjoy with chips....and your family!

Won Ton what?

Somewhere along the way, I got the idea that making lasagna with won tons would be fun.  Maybe it was the fact that I had a package of won ton wrappers in the refrigerator that I needed to use.  Maybe I really thought it would be fun.  Either way, I finally did it! 

David gave me "permission" to make a veggie lasagna and I decided to use the won tons.  I just lined the pan with won tons and did layers of veggies, spaghetti sauce, and cheese mixture the repeated.  It wasn't a complete loss but not a complete winner either.  Honestly, I think the thing that we all disliked the most was the wontons.  They just lent a funny flavor to the lasagna. 

Oddly enough, the veggies weren't the problem.  David actually took this to work for lunch on several days.  I'm assuming he actually ate it.  ;-)  Unfortunately, he caught a few of the thicker slices of eggplant.  I decided to slice the eggplant thinly and roast it but I caught a few slices more thickly than I would have liked.  I guess I could have pulled out my mandolin but I didn't.  I will definitely be doing veggie lasagna again (though I KNOW that David still wants the real lasagna more!  Gotta cook for myself some, right?!)...just not with wontons. 

Wonton Veggie Lasagna
wontons
1 eggplant, sliced paperthin and roasted
2 small yellow squash, cubed and roasted
2 small zucchini, cubed and roasted
1 onion, sliced and roasted
spaghetti sauce
2 cups cottage cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
parsley
Mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare vegetables.  Mix the squash, zucchini, and onions together but keep the eggplant separate.  Meanwhile, mix cottage cheese, egg, Parmesan cheese, salt, parsley together in a bowl.  Spread about 1/4 cup spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 pan.  Line with wonton wrappers.  Top this with a layer of the eggplant followed by the squash mixture.  Layer with spaghetti sauce. Then top with cheese mixture and mozzarella cheese.  Repeat layers ending with mozzarella cheese.  Place pan in oven and bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Enjoy!

Fall Crockpot Pork

I love my Crock Pot!  Especially on Tuesdays!  K has ballet so we don't get home until 7:00.  Which means, we have an hour to eat, bath (which usually doesn't happen), read Bible story, say prayers, sing bedtimes songs, and get her to bed.  Obviously, there is not time for making supper in there.  So, I love my crock pot.  Soup is my absolute favorite thing to make with it, but pork loin is a good second.  It just stands up well to the prolonged cooking.  Chicken doesn't work quite as well unless you are making some sort of dish that needs to be shredded.  I have made a really good lime chicken which we used for enchiladas before, but I digress.  Back to pork. 

I found a recipe for a really yummy sounding fall pork recipe.  It was for apple pork loin.  You just cut up some onions and apples and throw it in with the pork loin and seasonings.  The pork loin had a really good flavor.  I thought the apples were good but the rest of my family wasn't thrilled about them.  Oh, well.  You can't win them all.  At least the pork was a hit! 

Slow Cooker
Ingredients
2-3 lbs. pork tenderloin
2 apples, cut into chunks
1 onion, cut into chunks

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (I used regular)
3 Tbsp. gluten free soy sauce
3 Tbsp. Dales
1 tsp. powdered ginger
1 Tbsp. Dijon or yellow mustard
Onion Salt
Garlic powder
Thyme
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Put apples and onions in bottom of slow cooker. Put tenderloins on top of the onions and apples. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, onion salt, garlic salt and thyme.  In a bowl mix together soy sauce, white wine, apple cider vinegar and dijon mustard and pour over tenderloin.  Cook on low all day.  Enjoy!

Sneaking in Veggies

We love black bean burgers around here!  It is actually one of our favorites.  I decided to try to make my own version last month.  We had some left over roasted veggies (squash, zucchini, and peppers), so I threw those into the food processor and processed away until they were pureed.  Then I added the black beans and panko.  I cooked these in a skillet though I often try to do them on my grill pan. 

David and K didn't know the difference.  Now, I don't really have to "trick" them as K is a great eater and once she tries most foods a few times will at least eat a few bites.  Oddly enough, she's not a huge fan of potatoes which is fine with me.  And David has been doing a lot better about eating veggies.  However, I do like having the option of getting a few more veggies in us without having to struggle to do it.  So, for those moms out there who struggle with picky eaters, try out black bean burgers.  It will likely be a hit!

Veggie Black Bean Burgers
1 cup roasted veggies, pureed
1 can black beans (you could add about 1/2 can further if you wanted but I usually do just one)
1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg whites)
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup (give or take a little) corn mean - I like adding this for a little crunch when it cooks, you could use all bread crumbs if you wanted to
Tony's cajun seasoning

Puree veggies.  Add the beans and pulse until blended.  If you want some whole beans, add an extra half can near the end.  Add egg and pulse until mixed well.  Add seasoning and bread crumbs and corn meal.  Add until it holds together well.  If using extra beans, stir in at this point.  Heat a skillet on the stove over medium heat.  Spray with cooking spray.  Cook until browned then flip (about 5-6 minutes per side).  Enjoy!

Savory Pies...YUM!

This month's Daring Baker's challenge was a bit different.  Typically a baking challenge is something that is sweet. Hannah of Rise and Shine was our October 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she challenged us to bake our own double crusted savory pot pies. Using any from-scratch crust and filling we choose, we were allowed to get completely creative with our recipe, showing off the savory flavors and fillings from our own home or region.  When I told David that this was the challenge his immediate reaction was "sigh."  He's convinced he doesn't like chicken pot pie.  I quickly ensured him that the challenge wasn't for chicken pot pie but for a savory pot pie.  We had fun with this one.  I made two pot pies. 

The first one was a pizza pot pie.  I just made a batch of my pizza crust and rolled it out thin. 

Then I placed the dough in a pie plate.  I used pepperoni, roasted veggies and cheese as filling.

 We all liked it fine but decided we prefer regular pizza. 

The next pie I made was a breakfast pie.  I used a gluten free biscuit recipe because we are going to be trying a couple of weeks of gluten free meals.

 It was actually really good and David said that he liked the pie better than my traditional Christmas breakfast casserole.  Wow! 

I just scrambled eggs then layered biscuit, eggs, sausage, cheese, and biscuits and cooked it until the biscuits were done.  It was SO good!  I will definitely be making this one again!

Pizza Pot Pie
Daddy's Pizza crust
Mix and sift:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup bread flour
2 heaping teaspoons yeast (or one packet)
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar

Add a scant cup of hot water. Mix. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil. Add 1/2 cups of flour as needed (usually around 2 times). Knead. Place dough in an oiled bowl. Place this bowl in a larger bowl with warm water. Microwave for 2 minutes at power level 2, rest for 5 minutes (or longer if needed). Punch down and knead a couple of times. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Allow the dough to rest then roll out fairly thin.  Put in a pie plate.  Put pizza sauce on the bottom of crust.  Then layer with your desired toppings.  I used turkey pepperoni and roasted veggies.  Place cheese on top then fold the extra dough over the top and pinch the layers closed.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until crust is done.

Breakfast Pot Pie
You need scrambled eggs (6 eggs), sausage (about 2/3 bag of precooked turkey sausage), cheese, and one recipe of biscuits.

Scramble eggs (6 eggs was perfect).  Make your desired biscuit recipe.  I used this one:

1½ cups superfine white or brown rice flour plus more for rolling
¾ cup potato starch (not potato flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
6 tablespoons cold fat (such as butter, Earth Balance or shortening), cut into small pieces
¾ cup milk (any kind including dairy free) - I think I used a bit more than this


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Whisk together the flour, starch baking powder and salt. Cut the fat into the flour either with a pastry cutter, two knives or by rubbing the fat into the flour with your fingers. Make sure you leave some larger pieces of fat. Add the liquid, starting with ½ a cup and gradually adding a little more at a time, mixing until the dough comes together. Put a little flour on a work surface and dump out the dough. Knead 3 or 4 times then either roll or pat it out to about ½ inch thick.

In a pie plate, put half of the biscuit dough and press over the plate.  Put scrambled eggs on top of the biscuit dough.  Then put a layer of sausage, then a layer of cheese.  Spread the remaining portion of biscuit on top.  Place plate in oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes until it is golden.  Enjoy!

When He Cooks for Me

I have the sweetest husband ever!  He randomly gets flowers for me.  He lets me go to the gym even when I'm late leaving work.  He looks for ways to do things that I enjoy.  He wants to take K to school and ballet.  He reads stories to her.  He seeks to lead our family in God's will.

A few weeks ago, K was out of town.  We had both worked in the ER opposite days that weekend and didn't really get to spend much time together.  The last day she was gone he wasn't going to be able to eat, but he decided to get food that I like and cook for me.  He got fresh veggies and shrimp and grilled them.  You see, he doesn't like shrimp but I love it!  So, even though he couldn't enjoy dinner, he made sure I had something that was enjoyable.  That night, we then proceeded to play Super Mario on Wii.  :-)  It was a fun night! 

Garlic Balsamic Grilled Shrimp from AllRecipes

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into large chunks
• 1 onion, cut into chunks

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix the vinegar, oil, garlic, basil, salt, and ground pepper. Place the shrimp, bell pepper, and onion in the bowl, and gently toss to coat. Cover, and allow to marinate at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator.
2. Heat a pan grill over high heat or prepare grill. Alternately thread the shrimp, onion chunks, and pepper chunks on skewers.
3. Place shrimp in grill basket or on skewers.  Put these on the grill.  If using skewers, cook 2 to 3 minutes per side, until shrimp is opaque.  If using basket, cook until opaque.

serve with grilled veggies and cous cous.  Enjoy!

Vegetable Soup He Liked

It appears cool weather is trying to make a go at staying here in Mississippi.  For a good vegetable soup recipe that cooks in the crockpot...and that David even liked!...visit the Mississippi Women Bloggers site. I was the featured blogger today for Foodie Friday.  :-)

Crockpot Indian....Really!

When we went to London on our honeymoon (which I STILL need to post about...but first I have to finish the wedding!), one of my goals was to have different foods that usual.  Since London isn't especially known for food, that could be difficult except that they do have lots of ethnic foods available...and the Mexican isn't stellar which kept us from eating there.  :-)  The last night we had Indian.  We both REALLY enjoyed it.  Fast forward 6 months and I'm trying to find quick dishes for Tuesday nights when K has ballet until 630.  Score...crockpot Indian chicken!  I actually combined two recipes, sort of.  The night before, we had the yummy eggplant dish, which was very tomato-y; so, I didn't want to have another tomato dish the next night. So, I planned to combine recipes.  The first recipe was from here but it appears that domain name is no longer working...alas!  The other recipe I ended up not using at all...I forgot to add the spinach!  Again...alas!  In the end, the recipe ended up being good.  David enjoyed it and took leftovers one day.  My mom came in that weekend and had some for dinner and said it was perfect.  I'd make it again to shake things up in our routine for sure!

Crockpot Curry Chicken
1 pound ground chicken
1 can chickpeas
1/2-1 cup water
2 tsp curry
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
rice

Put all ingredients in slow cooker.  Set to low and cook for 8 hours.  Break up chicken.  Enjoy over cooked rice.

Family Friendly Fall Veggie Meal

October 4th.  Yes, it really is October...and 90 degrees!  Sigh.  I love fall but unfortunately there isn't much of it around here.  Thankfully, in a few days the high is 75 (though I'm sure not for long).  However, for those of you who are blessed enough to have actual FALL weather, I have some good and easy recipes coming up for you.  About a month ago, I was sitting in clinic waiting on patients to show up (yes...sometimes it's the doctor who does the waiting. ;-)  ) and found a recipe for eggplant lentil skillet.  I showed it to my boss and she agreed that it looked great.  Not five minutes later (still waiting!) I got a text from David who asked if I thought I'd like an eggplant lentil dish.  Ha!  My hubby knows me so well.  I told him that I had already pinned it and we WOULD be having it on our dinner menu the next week...and we did!  Now, if you've been actually reading my posts, you would know that David 1 - likes meat, especially ground beef, 2 - is NOT a veggie fan...BUT 3 - likes for me to have meals that I enjoy, too.  So, I made this meal the next week.  Are you ready for this...David liked it! 

 You cook the eggplant enough that it is very tender and, if you get a good eggplant, it doesn't have a very strong flavor.  He even liked this dish better than the crockpot Indian chicken I fixed the next night.  YES!  I have landed on some veggies that we can all eat.  I would be a bit more careful next time which lentils I used.  I have about half a bag of red lentils left over and used those.  They are very soft and didn't hold up as well as I would have liked...but I still think I'll be making this one again.  A veggie meal my family can agree on!  And for your viewing pleasure K's "pascal" face. 

See?  What do you think?  :-)

Skillet Eggplant and Lentils adapted from Fat Free Vegan

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large eggplant (about 18 ounces) cut into quarters lengthwise and sliced into 1/4-inch wedges
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 15-ounce can lentils, rinsed (or 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils)
• ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon hot smoked paprika or cayenne pepper, optional
• 1 cup tomato puree or crushed tomatoes
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt or fat free sour cream
• Parmesan cheese (optional) for topping

Instructions

- Saute the onion in a large, non-stick skillet until it begins to brown. Tip: Add a small pinch of baking soda to speed up browning. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. (SO glad to know this! - it works!)

- Add the eggplant, water, and herbs and stir well to coat the eggplant with the seasonings. Cover tightly and cook until the eggplant begins to soften, about 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Add all remaining ingredients .  Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes, until eggplant is tender and sauce has thickened. Season to taste with salt, add fresh basil, and serve over brown rice or other whole grain.Top with Parmesan cheese as desired.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s) | Cooking time: 25 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving, without Almond Parm): 158 calories, 11 calories from fat, 1.3g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 87.8mg sodium, 859.2mg potassium, 31g carbohydrates, 12.5g fiber, 6.2g sugar, 9.6g protein, 4.9 points.