Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Wanted: recipes for garden veggies

Alright I'm breaking the rules here and instead of posting a recipe I'm asking if anyone has a good spaghetti sauce recipe for canning. We have tomatoes, onions and peppers that need to picked from our garden and I've been reluctant to harvest because I don't know what to do with them now. Can you tell it's my first garden?! Any recipes or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Pork

You can do this with pork chops or ribs. I buy the boneless 'country style' ribs when they go on sale (& stock up!).

Brown meat on all sides in a hot frying pan with a little oil.

Meanwhile, mix in crockpot:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
(I usually do this 1 & 1/2 times for an average package of meat)

Once the meat is browned, put it in the crockpot with sauce & turn it on low for 8ish hours or high for 4ish hours.

I usually serve this with rice. While the rice is cooking I ladle out the sauce from the crockpot & put it in a pot on the stove & thicken it with cornstarch & water (stir it in really good & make sure it boils).

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Bean Salsa

For Kira :)

Bean Salsa

2 large tomatoes or more, chopped (I put in more than two)
3 avocados, chopped
1 can white or sweet corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (rinse well)
1 can sliced olives (I use the larger size can of already sliced olives)
1/2 - 1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 - 1 bunch green onions, sliced
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. Italian salad dressing (I use prepared Good Seasons - Kraft Zesty Italian is also good)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together and serve with chips. **This is really yummy with Lime Tortilla chips. We also love to eat it with quesadillas.**

Monday, August 3, 2009

Chicken Salad Croissants

We have adapted this recipe from a few we liked and it has become our favorite. It is great on the croissants. You can also serve it on a bed of lettuce if preferred. We like to make this for dinner in the summer to avoid heating up the kitchen.

Chicken Salad for Croissants
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cooked
1 apple, chopped (either braeburn or fuji)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 c. halved red seedless grapes
1 c. salted cashews

Cook the chicken and then as you are cutting it up sprinkle liberally with Beaumonde seasoning (by Spice Island, but you can also use Bon Apetite by Schilling). Also sprinkle on salt and pepper. Combine above ingredients and add:

1 tsp. Beaumonde
1/8 tsp. curry (optional)
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. sour cream
squirt of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together and add more seasoning of desired. It is good if refrigerated for a few hours to let the flavors blend together. **I wait to add the cashews right before serving**

*green grapes and toasted slivered almonds can be substituted for the red grapes and cashews if preferred.