Recipe: Poor Man's Chili

1 15-oz can black beans, drained
1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, drained
1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained
1 15-oz can corn, drained
1 24-oz jar prepared pasta sauce
1 cup baby tomatoes (optional, they pop after slow cooking!)
1 t cumin
1 t corriander
1 t tumeric
1 cinnamon stick

Drain the beans and corn, and put the can contents into your crock. Top with tomatoes, if using, and the pasta sauce. Stir in spices, and add cinnamon stick. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for about 4. If the tomatoes haven't popped on their own, gently poke them with a wooden spoon to pop before serving.

Notes:
This is shamelessly stolen from this blog.

I didn't have a cinnamon stick, so I substituted 1/2 t of cinnamon.  Next time, I would use more.  Mom kept cautioning me, "I wouldn't use too much!" but I definitely erred on the wrong side.  This was definitely good, and it made enough for lunch for the week.

Winter Recipe Ideas, Part II

I'm still looking for recipe ideas for winter weather, particularly things that can be made on Sunday and then kept all week for work lunches.  I know some of you (you know who you are!) are excellent cooks and have some excellent resources at your disposal.  Please share!

Thanks!

Your still-on-a-budget friend appreciates it!

Recipe: Southwest Chicken Casserole

2 large onions, chopped
2 jalapeño peppers, chopped
2 T butter
6 c cubed chopped chicken
2 10-3/4 c cream of chicken soup
16 oz sour cream
10 oz frozen chopped spinach
8 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese
12-1/2 oz nacho tortilla chips, crushed 
4 green onions, sliced

1.  In a Dutch oven, saute onions and jalapenos in butter until tender. Stir in the turkey, soup, sour cream and spinach. In a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish, layer half of the turkey mixture, cheese and tortilla chips. Repeat layers.

2.  Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with green onions.

Yield: 12 servings

Notes:  The original recipe calls for turkey, but I had a chicken on hand, so I used that.  I also subbed in cream of portabello mushroom soup, because that's what I had.  I used fat-free sour cream because I rarely use regular sour cream.  I used a 16-oz package of spinach because that's what Trader Joe's sells, and I wasn't about to figure out what to do with six extra ounces of thawed out frozen spinach, nor did I want to waste it.  TJ's also had a Jack cheese blend - regular Jack, pepper Jack, and a habañero Jack, so I used that (normally, I would have added another jalapeño, but since I was using spicy cheese, I didn't).  I also didn't use nearly as much chips as the recipe calls for.  I have no idea what I used, but I had less than half of a 16-oz bag of chips left, and I wasn't going to buy a new bag just for this.  So I just crushed the chips directly onto the casserole until the layer was done.  When both layers were complete, I still had WAY over half of what I started with left.  I didn't use the green onions on top, but only because I didn't have any on hand; I meant to sub in another onion but forgot to. 

This was extremely good, and I will definitely be making this again.  I may play around with shoving different veggies in there instead of or in addition to the spinach.  Ideas welcomed!

Recipe: Hamburger Hot Pot Variation

You may remember me posting this recipe for Hamburger Hot Pot a couple of months ago.

What I've discovered since then (although, believe me - it's no great discovery), is that this is a great base recipe.  It's awesome for adding in random veggies and getting a crapload of food that lasts a week.  For very little money, I get a relatively healthy and extremely inexpensive lunch that lasts me all week!  What's not to love about that?

This week, I added Brussels sprouts.  Trader Joe's had entire stalks of Brussels sprouts for sale for a bit less for $3.50, and since this is one of my favourite veggies, I bought a stalk.  I cut the smaller ones in half and the larger ones in quarters.  I still cooked it on low for about 8-9 hours, and it was great.

I have a new recipe that I'm trying this weekend, so stay tuned for that next week.  But the week after, I'll be trying Hamburger Hot Pot again with (probably) the bag of frozen veggie mix that I have leftover from Angel Food.

Winter Recipe Ideas

The time for cooking soups, stews, chilis, and casseroles is rolling in!  (Well, if you're me, any time is a good time for a casserole, but, you know.)

What are your favourite recipes? or blogs for recipes?

Do you subscribe to cooking magazines that you REALLY love that I need to check out (I just unsubscribed from one because I generally only got two good recipes each issue out of it, and that just wasn't good enough for me.)

Please let me know!

Recipe: Crock Pot Salsa Chicken

1 lb chicken breasts
1 c salsa
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c sour cream

Put the chicken in the crockpot, pour the salsa and soup over it, stir it up a bit. Let simmer for 6 hours on low. When it’s done, remove from heat and stir in the sour cream.

Serve over brown rice with peas.

Notes: I cooked for 8 hours because I used frozen chicken, and I like to be able to fork shred my chicken, rather than serve it whole, which it does nicely when it's been cooked just a bit longer.  I also had a thought after I ate it that this might be nice with Trader Joe's queso sauce added in at that end (with the sour cream).  Their queso is smooth and just SLIGHTLY spicy.  I happened to drop by TJ's and got some queso and used it for the leftovers.  It's definitely being used the next time I make this!

Recipe: Crock Pot Chicken in a Pot

a few carrots, sliced
a few celery stalks, sliced in 1-inch pieces
a few onions, sliced
a whole chicken
salt
pepper
basil
1/2-1 c water (see note)

1.  Place carrots, celery, onions in bottom of Crock Pot.

2.  Place chicken on top of vegetables. 

3.  Cover chicken with seasoning to taste.

4.  Pour water over chicken.  (If cooking on low, use 1/2 c of water.  If cooking on high, use 1 c.)

5.  Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 3-1/2 to 5 hours.

Notes: I'm not that fond of basil, so I used salt, pepper, and a few other random seasonings.  I broke down the chicken and then reserved the resulting broth and veggies to make chicken noodle soup.

Whew! Gettin' It Together

I woke up this morning and made chicken salad.  I managed to wear an outfit that didn't look ridiculous.  My outfit yesterday looked fine theoretically, but when I put it on, the pants were a bit too bit (despite the fact that I had them taken in back in July!) and the sleeveless top that I was wearing under the yellow shrug made me look fat (in my opinion - no one else thought so - or at least was tactless enough to say so to my face).  And then with the white top being a tiny bit snug, and the pants being too loose, the whole waistband area was just ... bad.

Then, my lunch yesterday was awful.  Since I hadn't had time yet to make any of the stuff that I had planned, I threw two chicken legs and a few of the larger chunks of chicken in a container and called it "lunch."  Yum.

But today, I woke up and managed to make chicken salad before work.  And I wore an outfit that didn't make me uncomfortable all day.  Go me!

Chicken!

Yesterday, I cooked a whole chicken (recipe coming Thursday) and broke it down.  I'm tentatively planning on a chicken salad, chicken noodle soup, and chicken tacos.

What are some of your favourite recipes to use up chicken?

(Let's not get started on my poor excuse for "lunch" today.  Or my poor excuse for a work outfit.  Blech.)

Recipe: Curry Tuna Salad

7 oz white tuna, drained and flaked
6 T mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 T Parmesan cheese
3 T sweet pickle relish
1/8 t dried minced onion flakes
1/4 t curry powder
1 T dried parsley
1 t dried dill weed
1 pinch garlic powder

In a medium bowl, stir together the tuna, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, and onion flakes. Season with curry powder, parsley, dill and garlic powder. Mix well and serve with crackers or on a sandwich.  

NOTES: I had a can of tuna and a can of crab meat, so I used both and doubled the rest of the ingredients.  I also added two hard-boiled eggs.  After I mixed it all up, it didn't taste curry-y enough for me, so I put just a tad more in.

Breakfast Brainstorm

I know I usually post recipes on Thursday, but this is still food-related, so you'll just have to live with it.  :P

I'm trying to figure out how to deal with breakfast now that I'll be working again.  My quandary is that I have meds I have to take as soon as I wake up (they have to be taken on a completely empty stomach).  But once I take them, I can't eat for at least 30 minutes.  Now, I'm an evening shower-er (unless the evening has just been exhausting, but I NEVER shower before work since I don't ever use a hair dryer on my hair, and my hair takes several hours to dry - thank you thick, coarse, Asian hair), so my "getting ready for work" routine consists of taking the meds, brushing the teeth/hair, putting on facial moisturiser, and putting clothes on.  And then I'm done.  And believe me when I say that doesn't take nearly 30 minutes.

(If you've ever stayed in a motel with me, you know I mean when I say I can be ready to go within 15 minutes of waking up.)

My point being that if I want to wake up early enough to eat breakfast before I go to work, I'll be waking up quite a bit earlier. 
 
So, how do you handle breakfast?  Do you eat before you go to work?  Eat on the way to work?  (I don't think this is quite feasible for me since my trolley commute is about 10 minutes - if that.)  Do you pack something and eat it at work?

At my last job, I would usually stow two Lean Cuisines in my bag and have one for breakfast and one for lunch.  But (1) I don't know if I'll be able to do that at this job and (2) I'll be training for the first few months, so even if I can once I'm doing my own work, I'm sure whoever's training me will appreciate me not hauling my Lean Cuisine to their desk.

(Yes, I often eat non-traditional breakfasts - it's how I grew up.  Since my mom often left for work before I did, I often just ate last night's leftovers for breakfast.  Mom saw no harm in it since "if it was a nutritious supper, it's a nutritious breakfast."  So it doesn't bother me at all to have frozen "lunches" for breakfast... despite the comments I got at work for heating up garlic linguine at 8:00 a.m.  I know they were just jealous!)

Recipe: Mexican Lasagna

1 lb ground meat
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepped, chopped
1 T chili powder
 8 oz cream cheese
1 can enchilada sauce
tortillas
8 oz shredded Mexican cheese

1.  Brown ground meat with onion and pepper.  Drain.

2.  Stir in chili powder and cream cheese until cream cheese is melted.

3.  Put enchilada sauce in a bowl.  Dip tortillas in enchilada sauce, and line a 9 x 13" pan with one layer of tortillas.  Layer 1/3 cheese, 1/2 meat mixture and another layer of tortillas.  Repeat layers, ending with a cheese layer.

4.  Bake for 20 minutes at 400º.

Notes: I didn't specify how many tortillas because it will depend on which size you use.  Mom used 12" tortillas and only used 2 per layer.  I went with 6" tortillas and used 4 per layer.  If you decide to go with 8", good luck.  Mom used wheat tortillas, which are apparently more absorbent.  She used all of the enchilada sauce.  I used corn tortillas, and it was clear after the first layer that I had way more than 2/3 of the can left, so I started spooning the sauce on liberally after each layer.  At the end, I sprinkled the sauce over the cheese.

This was absolutely delicious.

Recipe: Cream Cheese Italian Chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup Italian dressing
1 t dried minced onion
8 oz cream cheese, softened
10 oz cream of mushroom soup
1 package wide egg noodles

1.  Place chicken in Crock Pot.  Cover with Italian dressing and dried minced onion.

2.  Cook on low for 4 hours.

3.  Mix together softened cream cheese and soup.  Pour mixture into Crock Pot.

4.  Continue cooking on low for 2 more hours.

5.  Cook egg noodles according to package directions.  Serve chicken over noodles.

Notes: You can substitute one package of dried Italian dressing mix and 1/2 c water for the 1/2 c of dressing.  I initially tried this with rice because I didn't have egg noodles -- don't do that.  Definitely use egg noodles.  Learn from my mistake, okay?

Recipe: Hamburger Hot Pot

The basis for the recipe came from Ravelry, and then I embellished it.  I'll post the base here, and then give the rest in my "notes" section.

1 lb ground beef
1/4 t garlic powder
1 t salt
1/4 pepper
3 potatoes, chopped
3 medium onions, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup-can full of water

Brown ground beef, adding garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

In Crock Pot, layer half of the potatoes, half of the onions, the beef mixture, the rest of the potatoes, then the rest of the onions.  Combine the soup with the water, and pour mixture on top, covering evenly.

Cook on high 3-4 hours.

NOTES: The recipe was the second attempt by someone and the first time, she had put in all of the onions raw.  The second time, she cooked the onions before adding them in.  I decided to cook half of my onions with the ground beef and put the other half in raw and see what the results were.  I honestly couldn't tell the difference.  Next time, I'll just put them all in raw.

I had a pound of frozen sliced carrots from Angel Food, so I added them in.  I decided they would get cooked enough in 4 hours time, and I was right.  I also had some leftover peas (previously frozen - thank you again, Angel Food), but since these were cooked, I put them in near the end of the cooking time.  This turned out REALLY well.  The only thing I would do differently next time is put in more soup since I added a bunch of extra stuff, and it came out really thick.

Recipe: BBQ Shrimp Quesadillas

2 T lime juice
2 t olive oil
1-1/2 t grated lime peel
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
3/4 lb. uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 medium ears sweet corn, husks removed
2 medium zucchini, chopped
4 green onions, thinly sliced
2 T barbecue sauce
8 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese
8 8-inch flour tortillas
salsa and additional barbecue sauce

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the lime juice, oil, lime peel, salt, and pepper. Add the shrimp; seal bag, and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, remove corn from cobs. Drain and discard marinade from shrimp. Chop shrimp and set aside. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, sauté the zucchini, corn and onions until crisp-tender. Add shrimp; sauté 2-3 minutes longer or until shrimp turn pink. Remove from the heat. Stir in barbecue sauce.

2. Sprinkle cheese over half of the tortillas. Spoon shrimp mixture over cheese. Top with remaining tortillas. Cook on a griddles coated with cooking spray over low heat for 1-2 minutes on each side or until cheese is melted. Serve with salsa and additional barbecue sauce.

NOTES: Next time, I would chop up the shrimp before marinating them. The second time Rachel and I made the quesadillas, we layered these so that it was a little cheese, shrimp mixture, then a little more cheese -- same amount of cheese per quesadilla, but there was melty cheese on each side, and the result was much better.

Also, even though we bought 8 tortillas, we probably only used about half of the filling. So definitely buy more tortillas! I used the leftover as nacho topping the next day, but we decided we'll just eat more quesadillas next time since this was so friggin' good!

Supper by Committee

Last night, I decided it was too hot to cook in my apartment.  Of course, this was partly due to my own stupidity.  I have window units in my living room and in my bedroom, and when I took a nap in my bedroom, I turned off the unit in my living room in an effort to save energy and money.  So when I woke up and returned to the rest of the house, it was stifling hot.  (Lesson learnt: Next time, leave it on a wee bit or at least leave it on fan.)

Although I had thawed out two hamburger patties for supper, there was no way I was turning on the stove when the living room was still warm.  Now, when I'm on my couch, I sit directly in front of my window unit, so sitting there was fine.  But, literally, if I crossed the room, I could feel a difference in the temperature.  So the thought of turning on cooking heat was a bummer.

Chinese delivery to the rescue!  But what to order?  I called Mom for ideas.  So told me I was definitely in the mood for cold noodles with sesame sauce and fried rice.  Okay, sure.  I've not had them before, but anything cold sounded like a winner.  But I decided I needed more.  So I IMed Ria and asked her what else what I wanted.  After some negotiating, we decided I wanted: crab rangoon, veggie fried rice, crab rangoons, and steamed veggie dumplings.

(Note: I had suggested to Mom that fried rice would be unhealthy, but she told me it isn't unhealthy when it's what you're in the mood to eat.  I was astonished that she had let me live THIS LONG without telling me this little rule of eating.  I think it's sinful, really.  But she taught home ec, so she MUST know what she's talking about!)

I ordered from China Inn, and I have to say they have great customer service.  I discovered this morning that they had accidentally sent me pork dumplings, and I called them immediately.  They checked the receipt and confirmed that I had, indeed, ordered veggie.  They offered me my choice of a credit on my account, I could come pick up the correct order, or they would re-deliver.  I asked them to re-deliver, and within 30 minutes, I had fresh, hot veggie dumplings with absolutely no hassle.  Yay!

Next time I get Chinese, any suggestions?

Recipe: Raspberry and Cream Frozen Yoghurt Pie

From Diabetic Cooking, July/August 2011 issue

Crust:
7 chocolate graham crackers
1/4 c sugar substitute
3-4 T unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
8-oz fat-free cream cheese
6-oz light raspberry yoghurt
1/3 c sugar substitute
1 t vanilla
12 oz non-fat whipped topping, thawed
1 c fresh raspberries, optional

1. Coat 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

2.  Place graham crackers in plastic bag; crush into fine crumbs with rolling pin.  Mix crumbs and 1/4 c sugar substitute in small bowl.  Stir in butter until crumbs are moistened.  Press crumb crust into bottom and slightly up side of prepared pie plate.  Refrigerate while making filling.

3.  Beat cream cheese, yoghurt, 1/3 c sugar substitute, and vanilla in bowl of electric mixer until combined.  Add whipped topping; mix until just combined.

4.  Spoon filling into crust and spread to edges.  Freeze at least 4 hours or until frozen.  Remove from freezer about 20 or 30 minutes before cutting into slices.  Garnish with raspberries, if desired.

Yield: 10 servings

Dietary Exchanges: 1 fat, 1/2 fruit, 1 starch

Nutritional information:
Calories: 160
Total fat: 5 g
Saturated fat: 3 g
Protein: 5 g
Carbohydrate: 24 g
Cholesterol: 12 mg
Dietary Fibre: <1 g
Sodium: 249 mg

Notes: Instead of making the crust, we used a ready-made chocolate graham cracker crust.  The sugar substitute I used was Splenda.  I don't have an electric mixer, so we just whisked, and it was just fine -- no lumps at all, completely smooth and creamy.  We didn't use the raspberries on top.

Recipe: Vidalia Onion Corn Muffins

1/4 c butter
1 large Vidalia or other sweet onion, chopped
1 8-oz package cornbread/muffin mix
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c whole milk
1 c sour cream
1 c grated sharp Cheddar, divided
1/4 t salt
1/4 t dried dill weed

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with vegetable oil cooking spray.

2.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and saute the onion until tender, but not browned, for about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the muffin mix, egg, milk, sour cream, 1/2 cup of the cheese, the salt, and dill weed. Stir to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, until set and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly before cutting into squares.

Notes:  I used non-fat milk, and this did not affect the outcome at all.  I also dumped in all of the cheese at once because I made corn muffins as opposed to making cornbread, which is what the She-Devil made on her actual show, so I'm not sure why she's pretending in her recipe like she made cornbread, except that she's clearly a lying liar who lies (but I already knew that part).  And since I made corn muffins, I didn't bake it for the 30 minutes, but about 20.

Housework

This week, I've been tackling a bunch of housework.  There's no particular reason -- it all started around Tuesday and it's just been continuing.  It started with the kitchen.  And I mean a really good scrub down.  Even the trash can got scrubbed out.

I went and got $20 worth of quarters, and I'm trying to get every piece of dirty laundry in my place cleaned.  This is a process because there are a LOT of things that I don't dry, which means that I'm really doing this over a lot of days since I need to let things dry on hangers in my place, recover the hangers, then repeat.

In the meantime, I'm tackling other rooms.

And, I tried a new recipe today.  I actually saw it on Food Network from the woman I hate most on Food Network, and the ONLY reason I watched this episode was because I didn't change the channel in time, and I heard her say, "Coming up... Vidalia Corn Muffins."  Crap.

And, damn.  They're good.  I had to try REALLY REALLY hard to not eat all 15 of them tonight.  The recipe will be posted this week for Recipe Thursday.

Recipe: Crock Pot Unstuffed Cabbage

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
4 c chopped cabbage
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 c uncooked instant rice
1 c water
6 oz tomato paste
15 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 c ketchup
2 T vinegar
1 T sugar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 t garlic powder

Brown beef and onion in skillet; drain well.  Combine all ingredient in Crock Pot.  Cover; cook on low 4-5 hours.

Notes: I abhor instant rice, so I used regular long grain rice, and cooked it about halfway and let it cook the rest of the way in the CP.  I cooked this on low for four hours, and the cabbage was ever so slighty undercooked.  Next time I will either parboil it first or cook it more on the five hour side.

Otherwise, this was absolutely AWESOME.  I really loved it, and I intend to make it again.  YUM!  All the goodness of stuffed cabbage without the time, mess, and effort!