Tuesday, March 25, 2014

what you need

4 slices bacon
Chopped 1/2 cup leek, finely chopped, white parts only
10 ounces peeled butternut squash, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 cups fresh corn [or frozen corn]
6 cups water
1 tub Knorr Homestyle Stock Chicken
1 package Knorr Rice Sides - Chicken

here's how

Cook bacon in a large saucepot until crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove cooked bacon and set aside.
Add leek, butternut squash, celery and corn to sauceppot. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Add water and bring to boil then reduce heat to medium low and cook 10 minutes. Remove 2 cups of broth and vegetables and set aside.
Stir in Knorr Homestyle Stock Chicken and Knorr Rice Sides - Chicken made with Whole Grains. Cover and cook 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, place reserved 2 cups of soup in blender and blend until smooth. Add blended soup to saucepot and cook until heated through.

Tasty Shimp Salad

picture and recipe found on target

what you need: 1 large carrot, peeled 1 medium cucumber 6 cups chopped romaine lettuce 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 5 cloves garlic, crushed with a press 1 pound frozen large peeled and deveined shrimp, thawed Salt and pepper 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the carrot into long strips. Peel strips from the cucumber so that it’s striped, then cut in half lengthwise and thinly slice crosswise. In a large bowl, toss the lettuce, carrots, and cucumber. 2. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring. Add the shrimp, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until just opaque throughout, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. 3. Toss the shrimp and its cooking juices with the vegetable s until well coated. Toss in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Grandma's Deviled Eggs

My grandma made the best deviled eggs, no surprise its a well know fact grandmas make the best food. Since my grandmothers passing, I must have eaten hundreds of deviled eggs at party's or social events which have all been disappointing. Some favor is always missing in those deviled eggs, and its that tangy or pickled favor. Why did my grandma's eggs taste so much better, What was granny's secret ingredient ? I decide to do some reach, which means consulting with my sister ( my sister seems to remember far more about our family history than I do) and of course she had the answer. The answer, which was simply nothing more than a capful of vinegar. I don't know if granny use white or apple cider vinegar for her deviled eggs, but I used white. The eggs came out amazing and were gobbled up by all, including by my harshest foodie critic my friend Steve.This recipe is the original old time recipe for deviled eggs.

Here are a few tips I have discovered for making the best Deviled eggs:
Start with fresh eggs if the eggs are more than a week old the shell will be much harder to peel off.

1. Boiling eggs, I used large eggs for this recipe. because of the boiling time Size is important.Place 6 eggs in the bottom of a large sauce pan in a single layer, do not stack. cover the eggs by 1 inch in cold water. Bring water to a rapid boil on stove, then immediately remove from heat. Cover the pot and let stand for 15 minutes.

Cover eggs the eggs with cold water by 1 inch

bring water to a rapid boil on stove, then remove and cover with lid let stand 15 minutes

2. Cool down after 15 minutes are up, drain eggs and place them in ice water. Let them cool until till they're easy to handle.

3. Cracking the eggs gently tap large end of eggs against your counter top to crack shell

4. Give them a roll, roll gently the slightly cracked eggs between the palms of your hands or against the counter top. This well preserve the shape of the inside egg, making it easier to peel off shell.

5. Peeling the eggs, if your using eggs less than a 7-10 days old the peeling should be easy.just gently peel off shell..If your having trouble peeling the egg try running the egg under cold water while peeling.this can help the shell to loosen and come off better. Us a sharp paring knife to cut peeled eggs in half lengthwise. Also A note: see the grey edges around the yoke? I over cooked the eggs I will have to add a bit more mustard to the deviled egg recipe,so that the deviled eggs come out yellow and not grayish.

This is the way they should look

6. Mashing the eggs, If you prefer a smooth egg filling push your eggs though a fine-mesh sieve

OK now that you have the eggs cooked here what you will need for making deviled eggs.

Ingredients:

6 hard-boiled eggs

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1 teaspoon vinegar

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

salt and ground pepper to taste

paprika or fresh parsley

Direction:

1. Peel hard boil eggs and cut in halves lengthwise: using the tip of a spoon remove egg yolk from the halves of egg whites. placing yolks in a small bowl,set aside egg whites. using a fork mash yolks. add all the above ingredients to your mash egg yolk and mix well.

2. Stuff your egg white halves with the yolk mixture , using a rounded teaspoon of yolk mixture spoon for each half and using the back of a second teaspoon to carefully push the yoke mixture off the spoon into cavity of egg whites. or you could pipe the yolk into each egg white cavity by using a plastic bag, place yolk in a plastic resealable bag snip off corner of bag and squeeze bag to pipe into each empty egg white cavity cover and chill until serving time, sprinkle with paprika or parsley.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Pineapple- glazed Chicken

A Crock Pot Recipe

1 lb Baby carrots

1 medium onion, cut into wedges

1 Bell pepper red or green cut into wedges (optional)

6 Boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1 20 oz.can unsweetened pineapple chunks, un-drained

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp. light soy sauce

2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. garlic power

3 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 cup water

3 cups cooked long grain enriched rice

1. Layer carrots, bell pepper and onion in slow cooker. Top with chicken.

2. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. place pineapple chunks over chicken.

3. Mix together pineapple juice, brow sugar, soy sauce, bouillon, salt, ginger, and garlic power in a small bowl. pour over pineapple over pineapple chunks.

4. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours

5. combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl, Gradually stir unto slow cooker.

6. Cover and cook 30 minutes more or until sauce thickens.

7. Serve or your favorite cooked rice.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Crock Pot Paddy's Day Reuben Dip

Taste Just Like a Reuben Sandwich

Paddy's Reuben Dip Recipe photo by Taste of Home

32 ServingsPrep: 5 min. Cook: 2 hours

Ingredients

4 packages (2 ounces each) thinly sliced deli corned beef, finely chopped
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed
1 can (8 ounces) sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
Rye bread or crackers

Directions

In a 1-1/2-qt. slow cooker, combine the first five ingredients. Cover
and cook on low for 2 hours or until cheese is melted; stir until
blended. Serve warm with bread or crackers. Yield: about 4 cups.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Healthy Chicken Salad

Wonderful Recipe for a Healthier Chicken Salad

Everyone today seems to be trying to eat healthier, we especially want our children to developed healthy eating habits. Its really hard to give up eating our favorite foods because they may be unhealthy. This recipe for chicken salad substitutes some of the mayo with Greek yogurt, using the yogurt as a replacement doesn't take way the creamy rich flavor of mayonnaise. Plus the extra nutrition of the sunflower seeds and alfalfa spouts adds a nutty earthy taste to this sandwich. This recipe makes great tasting chicken salad sandwiches.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Ingredients
1 cup chopped cooked chicken breast
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
1 hard-cooked egg, peeled and chopped ( optional )
2 tablespoons plain low-fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons light mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/3 cup finely Chopped onion
4 mini dill pickle or 1 -2 large dill pickle
Salt, garlic salt and black pepper to taste
8 slices of spout bread
hand full of alfalfa spouts
1 - 1/2 teaspoon of sunflower seeds
Directions
In a medium bowl stir together chicken, celery,, egg. pickle and onion Add yogurt and mayonnaise; stir to combine. Season to taste with salt, garlic salt and pepper. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 4 hours.

Spread chicken mixture on half of the bread slices. Top with alfalfa spouts, sprinkle sunflower seeds cover with remaining bread slices. Cut away crusts if desired. Cut each sandwich into four triangles or square

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Lemon Chicken Soup

From the food network

Ingredients

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1 dried bay leaf
1 (2-inch) piece Parmesan cheese rind, optional
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
1 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces, *see Cook's Note
2 cups diced cooked rotisserie chicken, preferably breast meat
1 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt
Directions
In a large stockpot, bring the chicken broth, lemon juice, bay leaf, and Parmesan rind, if using, to a boil over medium-high heat.

Add the carrots and simmer until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the broken pasta and cook until the pasta is tender, for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken and heat through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and the Parmesan rind and discard. Stir in 1/2 of the cheese and the parsley. Season with salt, to taste. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

*Cook's Note: You can use any short pasta from your pantry as a substitute for spaghetti.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Home Made Chicken Soup

Chicken soups has magical healing powers

We all know how good chicken soup makes us feel when we are sick with a cold or flu, chicken soup really does seems to have some kind of magical healing powers. But did you also know that by eating homemade chicken soup you can actually stimulate your own bodies collagen and hyaluronic acid ? These ingredients are the body's own natural padding under the skin and between the joints. As we age our collagen and hyaluronic begins to

deplete causing the skin to age and the joints in the knees as well in the body to become painful. You can read more about Hyaluronic acid HERE

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
6 cups water
1 chicken, quartered
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup small egg noodles
Salt
Pepper

Directions
Heat oil in large heavy pot. Cook onion and celery until translucent. Season chicken pieces liberally with salt and pepper. Place chicken skin side down in pot and brown, about 5 minutes. Add carrots and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 hour. Remove chicken from soup and let cool. Remove meat from bones and shred, discard skin. Return meat to pot and stir in parsley and noodles. Cook for another 20 minutes.