Slow Cooker White Bean Chili

March 12, 2012

I awoke this morning to see the sun rising in the horizon and said a thanks to God for allowing me to see another day.  I hopped out of bed and headed to the kitchen where 2 pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs waited for me in the fridge.  After rinsing the chicken, they went into a 5 quart dutch oven filled with water and boiled for an hour on the stove.  In addition to the chicken, I added salt, pepper and a bay leaf to the water to create a rich and healthy broth which replaces the canned or boxed broth mentioned in the chili recipe I am linking to below.

I am constantly trying to improve things here at home and getting me out of the kitchen will help tremendously.  So, I'm pulling out the crockpot and letting it do some of the work.  Here is a link to a great White Bean Chili recipe which is "what's for dinner" tonight.  As sometimes happens, we will not be sitting around together eating tonight.  I have a Board meeting and Noah has soccer and we will be going our separate ways as a family.  Actually, that's going to happen a few times this week so dinner needs to be really easy.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/white-bean-chicken-chili-10000001875803/

This is a really simple recipe and I have made some modifications.  Instead of canned broth I am using my own and instead of canned white beans I am using dried beans.  Dried beans are much cheaper, healthier (no added sodium) and do not come from a BPA lined can. 

"The aroma of good chili should generate rapture akin to a lover's kiss." - Motto of the Chili Appreciation Society International

Gluten Free Chicken and Dumplings via Pioneer Woman

January 5, 2012

After years of making traditional Southern style chicken and dumplings I stumbled across the Pioneer Woman version of C/D and decided to give it a whirl.  Due to the fact that I am nearly incapable of following a recipe without taking a shortcut of some kind, I made the following changes to the recipe.

1.  I did not add the tumeric.

2.  I was out of carrots - so sans carrots.

3.  I used Pamela's Baking Mix (GF) in place of flour.

Now let me say that I was VERY nervous about these dumplings.  Not that I did not believe that delicious dumplings would be the end result - because much like my belief in faeries I did believe these would be tasty.  No, I was nervous that the hubs would complain as his favorite food in the entire world is C/D and he loves his Mother's very traditional Southern version.

Okay, deep breathe.  He LOVED them.  In fact he said "these aren't my Mother's but they may be the best I've ever had."  Wow.  I have to say that I am not a C/D fan but I also loved these as did Noah and Arwyn though they have never enjoyed them before!!!!  I'm thrilled.  Now, if only Arwyn had not nearly died during dinner resulting in a call to 9-1-1, the evening would have been perfect!

Here is a link to this fab recipe:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/12/chicken-and-dumplings/

Food for thought:

As for those grapefruit and buttermilk diets, I'll take roast chicken and dumplings.
Hattie McDaniel

Home Made

January 12, 2012

There is very little so satisfying as opening the freezer door and pulling out a jar of chicken broth that I made.  I often resort to purchasing commercial chicken broth.  My broth of choice is Kitchen Basics though I will also take Whole Foods 365 broth.  But the best broth is mine.  

Before I started the makings of a tasty, healthy, healing broth I quickly prepared home made muffins for the family.  Today's muffins are holiday ham and cheese and I used leftovers from the past few days.  Once the muffins were in the oven I turned to the real work of the broth.

A few days ago I purchased a package of whole cut up chicken which I thoroughly washed today before using.  I added 1/2 of the pack of chicken to a 5 quart dutch oven.  I very coarsely chopped a stalk of celery, a carrot and half an onion.  I added 3 turns of salt and 3 turns of pepper from my Pampered Chef grinders and filled the pot with water - leaving approximately an inch of room from the top.

I brought the pot to a boil and then turned the chicken down to simmer with the lid on.  The chicken simmered for 45 minutes.  After allowing the chicken to cool for approximately 15 minutes, I removed the chicken from the pot and set aside.  Using a mesh strainer I strained the broth into a large Pampered Chef mixing bowl with a handle.  Next I poured the broth into 4 quart jars and placed on the counter until cooled.  Once cooled, the broth went into the freezer for later use.

So...what happened to the chicken?  The chicken will be used tonight in an Asian marinade and be stuffed into rice paper for spring rolls.  Sounds like a lot of work?  It's not.  It is also a very inexpensive way to prepare stock.  Normally for that amount of stock, I would pay around $3.00.  By preparing my own stock (keep in mind I still have half of a pack of chicken remaining) I am cutting the cost of my broth by half.  How?  I will get the equivalent of at least 2 boxes of stock plus the meat from the chicken (a $16.00 value) for the $4.92 I paid for the entire pack of whole cut up chicken.  What a deal!!!!

Food for thought:

We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are.

-Adelle Davis

Interruption

August 18, 2011

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a gluten recipe.  You may be wondering why I posted a glutinous recipe this week on my blog.  The last couple of months we have reintroduced gluten into our diets.  My son is having a Celiac's test....today in fact....and I had to gluten him up.  We have not had wheat flour in our diet everyday but many days over the last couple of months.

Here is what I can report from the change in our diet.  I have gained more weight, my migraines have returned, I can't remember anything and I have word salad, my daughter - who suffers from eczema - has shown significant  compromise in her skin issues and my son's digestive issues have returned....there may be changes in other areas that I am just not seeing. 


I went back to a GF diet this week and am fully committed to return to it.  I am anxious to get the family back to a GF diet as well and get our health back on track.  I am not an advocate of all people being on GF diets, however, if you are experiencing things with your health that cannot be attributed to a specific illness or diagnosis, considering eliminating wheat/gluten from your diet and see what happens.

Chunky Chowder

August 11, 2011

1/2 Stick Butter

Small Onion, Coarsely Chopped

1 Celery Stalk, Finely Chopped

1 Medium Potato, Coarsely Chopped

6 oz. Kernal Corn (fresh or frozen)

1 Cup Chicken Stock (I prefer my own if I have some in the fridge - if not then I only use Kitchen Basics)

1/2 Cup Milk 

1/4 Cup Monterrey Jack Shredded Cheese

1/4 Cup Sharp Cheddar Shredded Cheese

1 Tsp Salt

Pepper to Taste

Saute the onion and celery in the butter on medium until tender, approximately 7 minutes.  Add potato.  Cover and turn to low and saute for 5 additional minutes. Add broth and milk and bring to a boil.  Turn down to simmer and cover - allowing for steam to escape.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Puree 1/2 of the vegetables and return them to the soup.  Add cheese and stir until melted.  Serve!

How Sweet It Is

June 8, 2011

I find that when I read about folks considering going gluten free, there is a resistance because they think it will be difficult to eliminate white flour from the diet.  It's not.  Tonight we had white bean chili and Mexican cornbread with green chilis and cheddar cheese.  Very filling, tasty and best of all, no gluten.  I am also working to eliminate most of the rice flours from our diet, or at least from mine.  My son needs them just for things like sandwiches, but for me, I would love to eliminate it for my diet!  So, here I am, saying, how sweet it is to be gluten free.

Cornbread Salad

May 31, 2011

Tonight I am attending a Thirty-One area training to help me continue to grow my business. (www.mythirtyone.com/danacroy).  We were asked to contribute a dish and I am taking Cornbread Salad.  This is my version based on a great Southern Living recipe (where many of my best recipes come from!)

1 pan cornbread - use your favorite recipe for an 8x8 pan or an 8 inch round cast iron skillet
1 bunch of green onions - chopped
1 head of iceburg lettuce - chopped  ( you can use a more nutritious lettuce but as I was being budget conscious, well...)
2 cups of shredded  mexican cheese or sharp cheddar
1 jar of Kalamata olives
6 ounces of Ranch dressing ( I like Brianna's)
3 tomatoes - chopped

Prepare your cornbread, bake, then cool.  In a large bowl or trifle dish  spread 1/3 of the chopped lettuce, add , 1/3 of the cheese, 1/3 of the olives, 1/3 of the tomatoes, and the top layer is 1/2 of the cornbread (crumbled) repeat one time.  After adding the second repeat the process one final time though this time there is no cornbread to add (only 2 cornbread layers).  Drizzle the ranch over the dish and chill until ready to serve.

Mama's Yeast Rolls

March 30, 2011

I spend a lot of time talking to folks about food and many are surprised to know that like a good cast iron skillet I am a fairly seasoned Southern cook.  One of the things I love about regional foods, whether it is Southern or Chinese or Indian, is that the same dishes circulate through a region for ever and ever, amen.  A good example of this is some of Paula Deen's recipes.  When I first discovered Paula Deen and began reading her cookbooks I was shocked to see that many (and I mean many) could have been taken right out of my Mother's kitchen.  All of the great food I had been raised on had apparently been handed down through generations of cooks - Mothers, Grandmothers and even from slaves.  And, not only had it been handed down but it was a circular handing down that spanned an entire region - in this case the South.

The recipe I'm sharing today is another example of that.  These are the yeast rolls that often graced the dinner table on Sunday afternoons in my childhood home.  Those are dinners that I remember fondly.  The youngest of four children, I had nieces and nephews by the time I entered Kindergarten.  So family dinners included my siblings, their spouses, their children, friends who had stayed over Saturday night and often extended family members as not only did my Mother serve a wonderful table but my parents had the wisdom to install a pool for their large family.

We had all but forgotten those yeast rolls as the last years of my Mother's life found her unable to navigate the kitchen in which she created many meals.  Then, my oldest sister gave us all the family cookbook that her Mother-In-Law had created with her own siblings.  Lo and Behold!  There was an identical yeast roll recipe.  The same no rise yeast roll recipe that makes your mouth water and want to Praise Jesus on Sunday afternoons was there in print.  Now, here it is for you.

1 pack dry yeast

2 cups warm water

4 cups flour (I use pamela's baking mix)

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup melted butter

Mix all ingredients.  Spoon into greased muffin tins.  Bake on 425 for 25 minutes.  Watch them starting at 15 minutes to ensure they do not brown too much.