Vegetables and Grits

The grits were a hit! Yea! The veggies were not. Boo! I can't seem to hit a home run very often but I will keep trying.

Once again, I really liked these veggies. They had a sweet and creamy flavor, without being too sweet. I think I have to figure out how to hide the green and red bell peppers. I am guessing that is why two of the three girls wouldn't eat these. I enjoyed it and will have plenty of leftovers for a couple of meals for myself.

The recipe is what I think of as easy. I hope you do, too. Here it is...

VEGETABLES AND GRITS

• Grits - prepare as instructed on package
• 2 T total canola oil and/or margarine
• 1 onion - diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper - diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper - diced
• 1 carrot - cut into thin disks
• 1/2 C frozen peas
• any other veggies you want to include
• 2 T flour
• rice milk - about 2 C, more or less to consistency desired
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• paprika
• parsley

1. In a large saucepan on the stove top, add the oil and/or margarine. Put in the onion and bell peppers. Cook for a few minutes and then add the carrots. Cook for 5 or 6 minutes, until the carrots are tender enough to stab with a knife or fork but not so tender they mash. Add the peas and any other veggies that need to go in. Cook for another minute.
2. Add the flour. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly to help avoid lumps. Continue adding the rice milk until the consistency you want is achieved.
3. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and parsley to taste.
4. Serve with grits. You could also substitute a rice or a pasta for the grits.

The menu for this meal was grits and veggies, baby oranges (mandarin oranges), and broccoli.

I hope you try grits. They are so much better than the reputation they get from so many of the old books. I really enjoy them and with the veggies they make a great main dish.

Grits

The grits were good served with a vegetable medley.

What do you think of when you think of grits? Me? I think of Grandma Terrell. Not because she made them for us that I can remember but because I seem to remember her talking about grits and milk. I may be remembering wrong but that is what comes to mind. I don't know that I ever had them growing up at all.

However, not long ago, my wonderful mother-in-law brought me a whole bunch of different grains from a gristmill they had visited. One of the things she brought was grits. I had no idea how to make grits so I just followed the directions on the bag.

It took 10 minutes in the microwave. The measurements were 1 C grits to 2 1/2 C water. I also added salt to taste and a couple of tablespoons of margarine when they came out of the microwave. I really like them. They can be cooked on the stove top or in the microwave. I served them with some veggies that I cooked on the stove top. I will give you that concoction in another post.

All in all, I would certainly recommend trying these. You should know that there are some rather large pieces of corn hull or husk or something in the grits that I had. Just be aware of how coarsely ground your grits are if you are serving them to small children. Also, if you have a corn allergy, these are not for you since most grits are ground up corn. But, this is allergy free otherwise.

At any rate, something new that the girls ate - a positive dinner.

Not Your Normal Bean Dip

For dinner the other evening, I cut up some fresh veggies. The girls normally balk at just plain old veggies so I thought I would whip out some kind of a dip. What came to mind is hummus. Now, I don't know if I can technically call this hummus or not since it is not made of chickpeas so bean dip it is.

I just mentally ran through what I had around, including the freezer, and in the freezer I had great northern beans. When I cook beans, I take the whole bag of dried beans and cook them all at once. Then I freeze whatever I didn't use in 2 cup portions, which is about the same amount as 1 can of beans from the store. So, white beans it was.

I pulled them out and threw them in the microwave to thaw, along with a bunch of red bell peppers that I had already cut up. After they were thawed, I dumped them in the blender with some sunflower butter (again, what I had), lemon juice, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper. I pureed it all up and served it.

Once again, the girls wouldn't eat it even though 2 of them said it was good. I don't know. I will just keep trying, I guess. The next "try" will be to see if hummus freezes and thaws since I can't eat all of this by myself and I don't think my husband will help.

Oh, here's the actual recipe!

Not Your Normal Bean Dip -

• 2 cups OR 1 15oz can any kind of white bean
• 1/2 sliced red bell pepper
• 1/2 lemon, juice only OR about 2 T lemon juice
• 2 T sunflower butter (you could probably do peanut butter or tahini instead, but have not tried that)
• 1 - 2 tsp cumin, to taste
• 1 - 2 tsp paprika, to taste
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Blend it all up and use as a dip or spread. Eat up!

Dinner Menu

Dinner the other evening was a success. Of course, when I choose sausage, it is seldom anything else. The girls all love sausage. Usually, I just cut up the smoked sausage links and brown the pieces in a skillet. I needed something different though.

I took the turkey sausage, about 14 ounces, and boiled it with the juice from a large can of pineapple chunks. It turned out sweet, with a nice citrus flavor, without being overwhelmingly pineapple-y. I just simmered it until the rest of the dinner was ready and the sausage was heated through.

So our menu was this:

• turkey smoked sausage boiled in pineapple juice
• canned pineapple
• sliced red bell peppers and cucumbers
• black beans (prepared ahead and frozen, then thawed for this dinner)
• carrots and broccoli (from a bag of frozen veggies)

That's all. It was simple and easy because much of the prep work had been done ahead of time. I seem to get bogged down in side dishes a lot of the time but these ended up being quick. I will have to remember this menu.

Yummy but no takers...plus a recipe

A week or so ago, I bought two large fresh beets at the store intending to roast them for dinner one night. I didn't get around to it until I saw this recipe from the Weelicious site for a hummus dip. I thought it would be perfect. Bright pink!! What more could these 3 girls want? Pink food would fit right in. Boy, was I wrong about the girls.

But let me put this all in order. I made the beets Monday night for dinner. If you are going to make this, let me give you a tip...beets do not microwave cleanly! I thought that since it was 105 yesterday evening, I would do them in the microwave instead of roasting the beets in the oven. Big mistake, kind of.

Here's the recipe and what I did: I cut each one (I did two so we could eat one for dinner) into about 8 pieces and put them in a microwave safe dish. I added a couple of tablespoons of water, some diced garlic, and a few dashes of dried rosemary. I popped that into the microwave for 10 minutes, planning to check it but expecting it to need about 10 more minutes (for a total of about 20). Well, when I checked it, the water was a beautiful pink and boiling out all over the microwave. I decided that since it was already messy, I might was well finish. So I did. When I took them out, the pink water was everywhere but wiped up nicely and I now have a very clean microwave.


Anyway, at that point, I let the beets cool a bit and then peeled them with a knife and fork. I cut them into bite-sized pieces and reserved half for the hummus recipe (it ended up being right at a cup). I thought these were super yummy but the girls would not eat them.

Tueday for lunch I figured we would have a Pinkalicious lunch, since they love those books, the beet hummus being the pink part.  I followed the recipe from Weelicious, except that I had done the beets the night before. The food was a beautiful dark pink.

And it was so yummy! But, alas, they would not like it.

You know what that means... I had to eat it. I did not eat it all in one sitting, though that was VERY tempting. I will probably finish it up in two, though. I had bite-sized wheat crackers and bell pepper strips to dip with. So good!

I think this one will have to come back a few times and if they don't ever like it, more for me!!

 Oh well... on to the next attempt.
Enjoy!

Yummy and Cool: Jello Blocks

With the heat like it is, we have to do something cool. Water play in the backyard only goes so far. To help cool us off, I went for something from my childhood. Jello blocks. Only now, they are officially called jello jigglers or some other name like that. I will call them jello blocks since that is what they have always been to me.

In my memory, my mom made these a lot. Whether that is true or not, I don't know. But I remember them often being in the fridge and they were always yummy. And even better, they are allergen free as far as I can tell. So, here we go...

JELLO BLOCKS:

• 2 small packages or 1 large package any flavor jello (I used sugar-free for this but any would work.)

• 2 C boiling water

• 1 1/2 C cold water or fruit juice (I like the fruit juice. It really adds flavor and makes use of the leftovers from canned fruit.)

Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. In a large heat-proof bowl, mix the jello and the boiling water. Whisk until the jello is dissolved. Add the cold water or juice. Pour into the  pan. Refrigerate over night or until well set. Using your choice of cookie cutters, cut shapes out of the jello. I always put the in-between parts in a bowl and serve like regular jello. If you don't want to do cookie cutters, you could always just use a knife and cut them into, get this, blocks!

FYI - Don't leave these out in the heat; they will melt.

I hope you enjoy this cool treat for this ridiculously hot summer!

It's hot! No baking!

I don't know about you all but we are baking. In the heat outside! With our high temps over 100 every day, I just cannot stand to think about turning on the oven. So, out comes the slow cooker.

Now, whatever you want to call it, a slow cooker or a crockpot, they work the same. I have a slow cooker. One benefit of that is it can be used on the burner to jump start the cooking or to thicken juices at the end or any number of other things.

I like to make Sunday lunch in the slow cooker since it will be mostly finished when we get home from church. I made a yummy chicken this time. Super easy!! And, with no allergy foods involved.

Slow Cooker Chicken:

• chicken - I used 8 pieces of chicken tenders but you can use however much of whatever kind you want for your family
• 1 large onion - peeled and sliced into rings
• 6-8 large carrots - washed and scrubbed and cut into pieces about 4 inches long (if you use small carrots or cut them small, they will fall apart while cooking)
• 1/2 cup of water

In the bottom of the slow cooker, give it a light coating of spray (some have soy so watch for that if you have a soy allergy) or shortening. Place the onions on the bottom of the slow cooker and then layer the carrot pieces on top. Salt and pepper the chicken on both sides and place on top of the carrots. Add the water on the sides; don't pour it on the chicken or you will wash off the salt and pepper. Put the top on and turn it on.

Cook at high for about 2 hours, medium for 3-4 hours, or slow for 6-8 hours, depending on your day and when you can turn it on. Enjoy!

We have always loved a good roast at our house. That was one of DD2's favorite meals and one of the things she will list when talking about what she misses now that she has identified allergies. Being allergic to beef and pork took both of the roasts we like off of the table. DD2 mentioned that it was like having a roast.

All in all, a great replacement. Happy slow cooking!

Baked Beans Recipe

I learned to cook from my mother. She was, and is, a wonderful teacher. She taught me well. By the time I was a teenager, I could cook (and clean up) an entire meal. When I was able to drive, I could go do the shopping by myself, too. So, why in the world am I finding it so difficult to cook for my family now? One word: staples.

No, not the metal kind. The keep-the-pantry-full, go-to-meal kind of staples. Hamburger meat, potatoes, tomatoes, rice, tomato sauce, pasta, frozen veggies, etc. I have always stocked my pantry with those things and many more and relied on them for cooking. Due to the food allergy diagnosis, much of that has flown out the window so I have to reconfigure this. One day at a time.

Today, that looks like baked beans. We need a good source of protein. Our go-tos were milk, cheese or peanut butter. Now, I don't know what it will be but beans are pretty good. Baked beans, though, was a new one for me. It was a hit. Most recipes call for canned pork and beans as the basis of the recipe or included bacon. Due to a pork allergy, those were not great for us. So I created my own. Here is what I did instead.

BAKED BEANS:

1 lb bag of dry pinto beans
2 T mustard*
3-5 T Worchestershire sauce*
1/2 - 3/4 C brown sugar*
Prepare your beans according to the package directions, omitting any salt. (I did the quick soak method - boil for 5 minutes, turn off heat and soak for 2 hours, simmer until tender.)

Place your beans in a large pot and add the mustard, W sauce, and brown sugar. Start with just a little of the brown sugar, mix it up really good, and taste. You may want more, you may not. I was probably a bit shy of the 1/2 C mark but I know some folks like their baked beans nice and sweet. Bake them next. Put them in the oven at 375 for about 25 or 30 minutes, just to let the flavors blend. I skipped baking them because I didn't want to heat up the house and wasn't going to use them for almost another 24 hours. I decided the flavors would blend well enough and they did. Serve these hot or cold. This makes a ton! We have a couple of containers in the freezer but all 3 of my children loved these beans.

*I just guessed at these amounts but like the results that I came up with. Feel free to adjust them to whatever suits your tastes.

If you try this, please let me know how it turns out. I welcome feedback. Things that I put down are trials that worked out (or maybe not) for me. Every recipe is open to interpretation and substitution. That is how something good becomes better. Enjoy!