Cracker Barrel Carrots

Whenever we go to Cracker Barrel, I may order different entrees, but I ALWAYS order their green beans and carrots for my side dishes. Their green beans are almost as good as mine, but I've never been able to cook carrots that tasty. Until now...I found this copycat recipe online and cooked some wonderful carrots for lunch.

Cracker Barrel Baby Carrots

2 pounds fresh baby carrots
2 tablespoons margarine
1 tablespoon brown sugar (I used Splenda Brown Sugar)
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1 pinch ground nutmeg (optional)

Rinse carrots and place in a 2-quart saucepan. Pour in enough water to just cover the top of the carrots. Cover the pan with a lid, place on medium heat, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, until the carrots are tender when pricked with a fork.

When carrots are tender, pour off half of the water. Add the margarine, sugar, and salt and place the lid back on the pan. Cook until completely tender but not mushy. More salt may be added if needed. For a little flair, add a pinch of ground nutmeg.

Sour Cream Cucumbers

I found this recipe somewhere years and years ago and it has been a family favorite ever since. The original recipe calls for cucumbers and onions only; I've added the tomatoes and peppers.

Sour Cream Cucumbers

2 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin
1/2 medium onion, sliced into thin rings (I use purple or sweet)
1 medium tomato, diced large
1/2 sweet bell pepper, diced (I use yellow to add a different color)
3/4 cup light sour cream
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 cup Splenda Granular
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and peppers in a bowl. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over the cucumbers. Mix well and chill about an hour before serving.

Jean's Leftover Turkey Soup

My mother-in-law, Jean, wasn't a great cook. She could cook and everything was edible and good, but all her food was pretty plain. In her spice cabinet she had...salt, black pepper, and garlic salt. Really. She made really good egg noodles and tried her best to show me how to make that, but it didn't stick in my head. Lol! She did, however, show me how to make this soup from leftover turkey. And it is really good!

Jean's Leftover Turkey Soup

1 whole leftover turkey
1 box Uncle Ben's Brown and Wild Rice
4 stalks celery, sliced thin
15 ounce canned carrots, undrained
15 ounce canned corn, undrained
water
1 box chicken broth, optional
salt and pepper to taste

Place leftover turkey w/bones in stock pot. Cover with hot water. Bring to a boil, then cook on medium until meat falls off the bones. With tongs and a fork, separate the meat from the bones. Strain the broth. If you want a really rich soup, use this broth for the soup. If, like me, want a lighter soup, reserve 1 cup of the broth. You can still save the rest of the broth and freeze into ice cubes for other soups or to sauté vegetables in.

Very carefully go through the meat and shred, making sure there are no slivers of turkey bones. Place the meat in a Dutch oven and cover with water or use the box of chicken broth. Add the reserved turkey broth. (If you're using just the turkey broth, you may still need to add some water or chicken broth.) Bring to a boil. add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until done, about half an hour.

Note: If you don't want to use rice, use your own seasonings and just make turkey soup. Add more veggies! Barley would be good too! Be creative...have fun!

Chicken Noodle Soup

I love soup in the winter. Actually, I like soup all year round, it just feels cozier in the winter. I came across a recipe for chicken noodle soup and made just a couple of changes to jazz it up a touch.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 cans chicken, drained (I use Member's Mark from Sam's Club) (if you use small cans, use 3)
26 oz can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 boxes chicken broth
1 cup celery, sliced
1 cup carrots, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch rosemary (rub between fingers to break up)
1 package egg noodles

Place all ingredients except noodles in crock pot, stir well and cook on High for 2 hours or on Low for 4 hours.

Cook your noodles separately and add when soup is done.

* I like to add noodles to each bowl instead of into the soup. This prevents the leftovers from having mushy noodles and also not everyone likes the same amount of noodles. You can also use rice (our favorite). I use the brown and wild rice mix from Whole Foods in their bin area.  Change things up for variety. Try using leftover rotisserie chicken. Try putting in some of the wonderful dried mushrooms from Whole Foods. (Rehydrate first). Make it yours! Enjoy!

Fried Cabbage With Sausage

This is not my original recipe...it's from Pinterest. There were quite a few exactly the same or almost the same so I assume this is a common recipe somewhere in the country. Where I'm from in Louisiana, we had coleslaw, cabbage in soup, and smothered cabbage. I've been wanting to try something different and came across this recipe. I made it tonight and Bob and I had to make ourselves stop eating! It's DELICIOUS!!!

Fried Cabbage With Sausage

1 stick butter (I used half and will cut down even more next time; might even use veggie broth instead of any butter and just put a tablespoon of olive oil)
1 small head of green cabbage, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced into round pieces (I used 3 hot dog sized links)
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes or Rotel tomatoes (I used Rotel)
1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, to taste

Melt butter in LARGE skillet. If you don't have a mutantly large skillet, use a Dutch Oven. Add cabbage and onion and cook on medium high for about 5 minutes, stirring to keep from sticking to pan. Add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Stewed Chicken

Wow! It's been a while since I posted!

Bob bought me a Fagor Multi-Cooker a couple of months ago and I have been putting up food ever since! I like to cook a big batch and put portion sized servings in freezer bags. Then if I'm tired, or more often, have a headache, we can just defrost a bag of beans or chicken or whatever! If you are thinking about getting a new pressure cooker, definitely take a look at my Fagor.  It's also a slow cooker and rice cooker.

This stewed chicken is something I just made up. It's based on my Mom's smothered chicken, but since the drumsticks were frozen some of the steps were eliminated. Not to worry...it's absolutely delicious!

Stewed Chicken

1 bag frozen drumsticks
32 oz box chicken broth
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup frozen mixed peppers
Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Place frozen chicken in electric (or regular) pressure cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients, close the lid and set to cook on high for 25 minutes. When cooking is done, let it cool naturally for about 20 minutes. That's it! Enjoy!

Black Bean Dip

Bob likes chips and dip or salsa during football on the weekends. So I use Chef AJ's tip for making my own tortilla chips. After I cut the corn tortillas into 8ths and put them on the cookie sheet, I spritz them with water and barely sprinkle a little sea salt. Here's the link to the episode on her website. Chef AJ's Tortilla Chips  What we've bought in a bag in the supermarket can't even come close to the taste of these babies! We love the fresh salsa from Publix (in the produce section) and we have some, but I wanted some hummus. When I looked in the pantry I saw the black beans and just "knew" what I was going to do. Oh my goodness...so much deliciousness and so little pouch room! LOL!

Black Bean Dip

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
vegetable broth
bell pepper (any color or mix of colors - I used frozen mixed slices)
sea salt
black pepper
cumin
garlic powder *
onion powder *
1-2 tablespoons bbq sauce (Kraft Light Original is very low sugar)

Put all the ingredients in a food processor. Add just enough vegetable broth (any broth if you're not vegan) to help the beans get creamy. Put in fridge to chill. Top with a pinch of cilantro or parsley to serve.

* I used powders because I wanted to get back to the living room to watch the game. Use fresh for even better dip! ;)

Note: This dip does not taste like barbeque. The bbq sauce just gives the dip a little zip!

Pizza!

As a vegan, I can't just go to the supermarket and pick up a pizza when I want one...they all have cheese. So I've been looking for a recipe for whole grain pizza dough and haven't been able to find one. Maybe because I'm actually to lazy to kneed dough and make one myself. LOL! Which brings me to my new discovery! Pre-made pizza crust!!! Yes, I know they have them in supermarkets everywhere, but they are not whole grain or vegan. Thanks to the wonderful people at Earth Fare yesterday, I found one! Yay! So of course, last night we had pizza...oh so good! The vegetables I have listed are the ones we wanted...feel free to put whatever you want on yours.

Pizza

1 California Style Pizza Bread
pasta sauce
1 tomato, very thinly sliced
baby spinach
kale
1 onion, very thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, medium diced
fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
Italian Seasoning

Preheat your oven to 450F. Place pizza crust on baking sheet. Spread a generous amount of pasta sauce over the bread then pile on your vegetables. Bake for about 10 minutes. This pizza is very filling since the crust is whole grain (sprouted wheat berries). Enjoy!





Pizza Bread Front

Pizza Bread Nutritional Information

Loretta's Beets

I grew up eating this dish. I think she invented it because everyone just called them Mom's beets. Of course, as a good southern cook, my Mom used "good and plenty" oil for sauteing! I'm also a good southern cook, but I saute in water. It's still tastes just as good! I was getting the beets prepped this morning to get them boiling and I realized that Mom never used the beet greens; she just threw them out. Since Bob and I became vegan I have been trying to incorporate greens into our meals as much as possible (I have started actually craving greens! Who'da thunk it!) So I added them and they were great! They will not be a permanent addition to this dish!

Loretta's Beets

3 medium beets
3-4 small to medium russet or red potatoes
1 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper, to taste

Beets: Cut the stems off of the beets, leaving about an inch of the stem attached to the beets. Put in boiling water and boil on medium-high until a fork can be easily inserted. Rinse in cool water until cool enough to peel; the skin will just slide right off. Cut off the stem end and root end. Dice into large diced pieces and place in bowl.

Potatoes: Scrub well and poke holes with a fork. Place in microwave and bake until fork tender. Cut into large diced cubes and place in bowl. (You can boil the potatoes, but then you lose some of the nutrients from the skin into the water)

Beet Greens: Remove greens from skin and tear into smaller pieces. Rinse and dry.

Onions: Put the water and the onions in a skillet on medium-high heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Saute until onions are tender and starting to turn golden. Add beet greens and cover. Cook a few more minutes to let the greens wilt. Stir. Add to bowl of beets and potatoes. Stir and check seasoning. Serve warm.

This makes 4 regular or 8 wls servings.

Spinach Stir Fry

Since Bob and I started eating vegan, I've been looking for different ways to incorporate leafy greens into our meals other than as a dinner salad. We love salad, but everyone needs variety! I decided to make a stir fry the other night and just started throwing in different things that I thought would taste good. And it did!

Spinach Stir Fry

1 bag baby spinach, rinsed and dried
1/3 cup shredded carrots
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can water chestnuts, drained
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1 medium bell pepper, whatever color you want, sliced (I used frozen sliced mixed peppers)
2 tablespoons raw cashews (or almonds, peanuts, etc.)
Low Sodium Soy Sauce
4 ounces whole grain spaghetti noodles (or rice noodles) (I use Hodgson Mills)
salt, pepper, and ground ginger, to taste

Water saute the carrots, garlic, water chestnuts, onion, and bell pepper until veggies are tender-crisp and water is almost gone. (Water sauteeing is putting a little water into your skillet and sauteeing your veggies this way and not using oil) Add seasonings and soy sauce and continue to saute veggies. When veggies are cooked, add spinach and nuts. You may add more soy sauce, to taste. Let spinach wilt slightly and serve up!

Note: Add other vegetables you like, these are just what I wanted in mine. Also, try adding a teaspoon or so of peanut butter before you add the spinach. Let it melt, then add the spinach and nuts. If you don't want to use pasta, this would be great with barley or even quinoa!

Fran's Eggplant Casserole

Before I retired I worked in an all female accounting office. We all loved to cook and some loved to bake so we had potluck office meals fairly often. This dish started out as a simple casserole of my boss, Fran. As the recipe got passed around, almost everyone added something to it or made a variation of it. So it ended up being a potluck dish! I love it and every time if cook it, the house smells wonderful!

Fran's Eggplant Casserole

1 whole eggplant, peeled and sliced thin
3 zucchini, scrubbed and sliced
3 yellow squash, scrubbed and sliced
6-8 ounces sliced mushrooms, canned or fresh
1 bell pepper, chopped (use any color you want)
15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
Parmesan cheese (non-vegan), optional OR
nutritional yeast (vegan), optional

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray cookie sheet with Pam, spread eggplant slices, and spray slices with Pam. Bake for 15 minutes to help tenderize the eggplant.

Prepare the other vegetables and place in oven-proof casserole dish. When the eggplant is ready, place in casserole dish and mix with the other vegetables. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a dash of red pepper. Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast, if using. Cover and bake at 350F for 1 hour, until vegetables are tender.

Notes: 1. You can use flavored diced tomatoes and any other seasonings you wish to vary the dish. For example, use basil, oregano tomatoes and Italian seasoning (my favorite), or chili powder and Rotele tomatoes for Mexican, etc. Greek would be good too!
2. This is easy to make in the crockpot. Place all ingredients in the crockpot, stir, cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce

I wanted spaghetti, but I didn't want to use TVP (textured vegetable protein) or have thin, soupy sauce. So I just started chopping vegetables and throwing them in! My Mom used to call that being a "dump cook" (dump it in the pot and see what happens). So what happened was soooooo delicious! I'm really excited about figuring out a spaghetti sauce that is delicious, satisfying and filling without using meat!

Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 medium yellow squash, chopped
4 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
8 ounces whole white mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed, sliced
3 large celery ribs, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 can Hunt's Traditional Spaghetti Sauce (use your favorite sauce, of course!)
1 - 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper, to taste
dried oregano, to taste
Italian seasoning, to taste
1/4 cup Marsala cooking wine, optional

Spray a Dutch oven with cooking spray. Add olive oil. Add the carrots and cook for a few minutes then add the bell pepper, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and celery, and stir to coat with oil. Sprinkle a little oregano on vegetables and stir. Cover and cook on medium to medium-low for a few minutes until the vegetables start to soften. Stir often to ensure the vegetables are not scorching. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if you need to. Add the minced garlic and cook a little more.

Add spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes. Check for seasoning. Add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to taste. Let the sauce come to a boil, then lower fire to low, cover and simmer until all vegetables are tender. Add wine, if using. Let sauce cook and reduce a little. Serve on top of whole wheat pasta, barley, quinoa, or just eat plain!

Tip: Clean and save your mushroom stems in a freezer bag to make a delicious stock!

Bob and I wanted pasta tonight (a rare occasion!) and I found this pasta. Look at the fiber grams! Look at the proteins! Look at the list of ingredients! And it tasted good too. It didn't have that gummy, pasty texture I hate in pasta.

Vegan Super Bowl Party Chili

I found a delicious vegan chili recipe and had to share! I made it tonight and Bob and I love it! It doesn't take very long to prepare and is so delicious that even if you're not vegan or vegetarian, you're gonna love it!

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/01/healthy-super-bowl-party-chili.html

I made a couple of changes to the recipe when I made this the second time: (You know I had to tweak!)

1. I sauteed my vegetables in water instead of oil. Heat your pot a bit then add the onions and the same amount of water as the recipe calls for oil. Keep a little water handy and add more as needed. You won't need much; the onions will release their own moisture as they soften.
2. I doubled the chili powder. The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon and I put 2. We like a little more chili flavor.
3. I didn't use salt at the end. I added the black pepper and the chili tasted great as it was so I left out the salt; we all need to cut down on salt anyway.
4. I'm not a hot sauce person since my wls, but I still enjoy using a little tabasco vinegar. Just a few drops in my bowl really livened up this chili.

 



Italian Bean and Tuna Salad

After one of our long walks, my new walking buddy, Marilyn, invited me to her house to try out a new dish. A friend of hers had emailed it to her and it looked so good she tried it right away and I was invited to be a co-guinea pig! I was kind of wondering how it would taste...after all, here in the South we smother tuna with mayonnaise and this tuna salad not only didn't have mayo, but it had beans in it! But I went and shared a lovely meal with Marilyn and the tuna salad was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s! Perfect for a light lunch or dinner!

Italian Bean and Tuna Salad

1-15 ounce can navy beans, drained and rinsed
6 ounce can or packet water packed tuna, drained and flaked
2/3 cup finely chopped celery
1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup fresh or frozen cut (1 inch) green beans, cooked, rinsed with cold water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
mixed greens or spinach

In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients except the lettuce/spinach and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to let the flavors blend. Line plates with the lettuce or spinach, spoon salad onto lettuce and enjoy.

Note: You can also add some black olives, grape tomatoes, or green onions to this salad to jazz it up any way you want to!

TIP: If you're like me and don't keep fresh herbs around but have the dried herbs that's fine, just use one-third the amount called for in the recipe.

Salad Vinaigrette

When I was a kid, we never bought salad dressing. My Mom always made the same vinaigrette and we all loved it. I've tweaked it just a little to suit my tastes, but it's still my favorite and what I use most of the time on my salads.

Salad Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon Gourmet Salad Vinegar
2 tablespoons water
salt and pepper to taste
2 dashes Salad Supreme

You can whisk all the ingredients together if you want to, or just do like me and add them one at a time and toss your salad. There's no oil in this vinaigrette, so there's really no need to whisk if you don't want to. Note: The picture makes it look like the vinegar is clear. It's actually amber; the bottle's just mostly empty! :)

Salad Tip

Ever want a salad and are too busy or tired to make one so you end up not having one? Yeah, me too. I just recently learned of this tip and thought I'd pass it on. Why didn't I think of this before? Duh!

Rinse and spin (or dry) your lettuce or spinach. Put whatever amount you want in a ziplock bag. Cut up some tomatoes and add to bags. Peel and cut some cucumbers and add to bags. Add whatever else you always have in your salad (except the dressing or anything that will get soggy, like croutons). Roll up the baggie and squeeze all the air out then zip closed. Refrigerate, and when you want a salad, voila, it's all ready for you to add dressing and eat!

Chicken Packets

Here's a great idea I read about a long time ago on a wls forum and forgot about until last week. I made some up Saturday and cooked one today. Oh yummy! I did some packets with fish too!

Chicken Packets

Chicken tenderloins or breast pieces (no need to defrost if frozen)
Vegetables (onions, peppers, squash, carrots, etc.)
Salt and pepper to taste
Other seasonings to taste
Heavy duty aluminum foil

Lay a sheet of aluminum foil on the counter. Place a chicken tenderloin and your vegetables in the middle. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and/or whatever other seasoning you want to use. I used Montreal Chicken on some, dry Italian dressing mix on some, and Southwest Sweet and Smoky Chicken on others. Fold aluminum foil over on all four sides and label. Put your packets in the freezer. To cook, just throw on the grill until done. I put mine on indirect heat until almost done then moved it over to direct heat for a couple of minutes. I also used one of those baskets that you put hamburger patties in, close the basket and then flip the basket instead of the burgers. That worked really well. I was able to remove it from the grill to check for doneness. Hey! You could also make a packet of just vegetables (hmmm...marinated veggies!) ready to throw on the grill! This is not necessarily fast, but it sure is easy...like when you get home from the gym and don't feel like cooking!

15 minutes from frozen packet to cooked and ready to eat! I cooked the fish on direct heat and high.

Chicken & "Rice" Soup

I remember on cold days (well, as cold as it gets in Louisiana anyway) my Mom would sometimes heat up a can of Campbell's Chicken & Rice soup. As a kid, I loved it! And as an adult that didn't think about how much sodium was in there, I loved it. I tried eating some a couple of years ago and...YUCK! Way too salty! And what's with the grease in there anyway? So what to do? Panic? Who me? Noooooo...I played around with it until I hit on the perfect chicken and rice soup!

Chicken & "Rice" Soup

Chicken:
1 bag frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces, defrosted
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, and the herbs and spices into a paste. Rub well onto the chicken then place chicken on baking sheet. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until chicken temperature reaches 165F. (FYI: If you're not making soup, this is terrific baked chicken; just make sure you don't over-bake so that your pouch won't tolerate it). Remove from oven and let cool.

Soup:
1 bag carrots, peeled and sliced
6-8 stalks celery, sliced
2 quarts chicken stock
1 envelope beef bouillon
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste

Place all the vegetables in a Dutch oven. Cut the cooled chicken into cubes and add to the vegetables. Add the herbs and spices and finally the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover and lower heat to simmer. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the chicken starts to shred a little when you stir.

"Rice"
3/4 cup medium barley
4 cups water
dash salt

Cook barley according to package directions. Drain if there's water left in the barley. Add barley to soup and stir. The longer the barley sits in the soup, the less you can tell it's barley. It begins to feel like rice.

Note: Don't try to save time by throwing the barley into the soup to cook it. It will just absorb up all that lovely chicken stock!

Strawberry Delight

I saw this on The Biggest Loser on Netflix streaming and decided that it looked good enough to make right away. I've been making it for a while and realized I hadn't shared it yet! Oh no! This has got to be the easiest and best tasting dessert I've ever made. Absolutely love it! Fresh fruit is best, but you can also defrost some frozen fruit and use that.

Strawberry Delight

1 container fresh strawberries
sweetener, to taste (for the fruit-optional)
1 large box sugar free strawberry jello
8 ounces Lite Cool Whip

Wash and slice the strawberries and place in a medium-sized bowl. Make the jello (using ice to replace the cold water). Whisk in the Cool Whip. Pour over the strawberries, cover, and place in the refrigerator to chill and set. Serve with a dollop of Cool Whip.

There are lots of other combinations you can use too! Try pineapple with lime jello, cherries with cherry jello, etc. Blueberries would be good too. Hmmm...what jello would you use with blueberries? I think I'm gonna try lemon!

Note: Having a fancy luncheon or dinner party? Make individual servings in wine glasses!

Not Too Chili...Again

I posted a recipe for my chili a while back and I hope you've had a chance to try it and enjoyed it as much as we have. But here's a "tweak". I bought some Jennie-O ground turkey breast today at Publix. It's 99% fat free! I used it for my chili tonight and it was really good! I didn't want to add any oil so I coated the pot really well with some Pam cooking spray. Just to make things easier for you, here's a link to the original recipe. Just exchange the turkey for the beef. Oh! And I also added a can of drained and rinsed black beans.