Roasted Butternut Squash, Chicken, and Quinoa Stew

I typically am not one to rave about a food item that is "healthy", but this is the exception.  This soup is healthy, hearty, and great for cold rainy or snowy days.  A combination of squash, tomatoes, olives, black beans, and quinoa (pronounced keen-wa...I think...makes me sound like a ninja)  provides for a healthy dinnertime option the whole family will enjoy.  Takes 4-6 hours in crock pot, or can be made on the stove top.

Ingredients:

32 oz chicken broth

2-3 chicken breasts, boiled/shredded

1 diced onion

1 can diced tomatoes, not drained

1 can black beans, drained

3/4 cups black olives, sliced in half or quartered, drained

1/2 teas salt

4 cloves garlic, minced.

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp parsley

2/3 cup uncooked Quinoa (found by rice aisle..)

1 butternut squash (1-2 lbs)

Instructions: 

First things first, you need to steam your squash until it is tender enough to cube.  So what I did, and I am no expert on this matter since I did end up screwing it up, was I cut it in half (be careful, squash has been known to take some fingers...) and lay it face up on a cookie sheet, see picture.  Scoop out the guts and discard...or eat, if that is your kind of thing.  Place in the oven at 350* for about 10-45 minutes (or until you get impatient and take it out...but seriously, make sure it is tender enough to cut up...).  Other methods include sticking the whole thing in the oven for some time so it is easier.  OR you could just buy the frozen cubed butternut squash that some grocery stores sell and save some frustrations. :-D

In the meantime, you can combine the remaining ingredients into your stockpot or crock pot.  Plop all of the ingredients into the crockpot in no particular order EXCEPT EXCEPT the quinoa.  That will be added last.  So, that means the broth, the chicken, diced onion, salt, garlic, oregano, tomatoes, olives, beans, and parsley.

When the squash process is done, you need to CUBE one half of the squash and MASH the other half....Scoop out one half, place it in a shallow dish and use a potato masher, doesn't have to be perfect.  See pictures. 

When you have added the squash to the soup, you need to then add that fancy quinoa.  

Mix it well, the quinoa won't look like much but don't you fret....its time will come!

What I did, was place this in the crock pot at 7:45 am on LOW...I got home at 3:45 and checked it, it was super super thick, which was fine with me, however some people don't like that.  So, my recommendation would be to either, A: add the quinoa half way through (say, on your noon lunch break), or B: Start the crock pot at lunch time to be ready by dinner time, or C: Just cook it up on the stove top, there really isn't a reason that this needs to go in the crockpot, but it probably helped my squash become softer.

Enjoy!!

The "In A Pinch" Casserole

The best "in a pinch" casserole you will ever taste....This is my little creation I whipped up when I was craving some real comfort food.  I was thinking of making a casserole of some sort, but I didn't want to go to the store, and the only one I had ever really made before was the wonderful tater tot casserole...but that required ground beef and tater tots- which I had neither.  Then I thought, 'hey, I have a can of tuna...tuna casserole??' and realized the only tuna casserole I knew of required egg noodles...which I did not have.  Rice...Rice was the answer.  So, I cooked the rice and while that magic was happening I got creative....Here is what I ended up putting in this very very delicious casserole:

Rice

Zucchini

Onion

Tomatoes

Green Beans

 (or substitute for any veggies of your choice...)

Tuna

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Cheddar Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:

1. Brown rice:  cook enough for 3-4 servings.

2. While that is cooking either in the microwave or stove top, I lightly sauteed zucchini that was quartered with diced onions.  Probably 1-2 cups of zucchini and 1/4 of a large sweet onion.  Sprinkle on some garlic salt if you wish.

3. In a large casserole dish of some sort, combine: rice, zucchini and onion, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can of tuna, 1 can of green beans, and 1 cup of tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes cut in half...).  Stir well.

4.  Add cheddar cheese (either shredded or chunks...I used chunks.) and sprinkle Parmesan cheese lightly over all of it.

5.  Bake for 20ish minutes until cheese is melted at 350*.

I thought about adding chips to the top, but that was not in my cupboard sadly.

Enjoy!

Chai Pumpkin Spice Kisses cookies

Chai Pumpkin Spice Kisses Cookies

I originally found this recipe on Pinterest of course, but adapted it to the ingredients I had available (example: my tiny town did not have Chai concentrate readily available...).  Here is the recipe that I used:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup chai concentrate (such as the liquid Oregon's Chai...I just used 2 tbls of a vanilla chai tea powdered drink mix that I had made a while back (recipe: http://katskitchen.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/vanilla-chai-tea/ )  mixed with enough water to make 1/4 cup....)

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups flower

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 bag of Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses (or 24ish)  Found at most grocery stores during fall.

Chai spice mix to sprinkle on top:

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions:

Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add chai concentrate, egg, and vanilla until blended.  Add flour, baking soda, and salt until mixed.  Refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325*

Roll 1 inch round balls from the dough, you'll have about 24. Place the dough balls on cookie sheets and sprinkle the chai spice mix lightly over the top...I kind of went overboard but either way works :-)

Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. Unwrap the kisses while you're waiting.

Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately place pumpkin kisses in the center of each cookie. Cool completely before eating...if you can wait.

Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Kiss Filled Cookie

Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Kiss Filled Cookie

Yes you read it right!!  Sounds complicated?  Well, it is not.  I would never ever call myself a master cookie chef, so anyone can make these and make them turn out perfectly.  I originally got the recipe here: http://www.inspiredbycharm.com/2013/09/1991.html and changed it slightly, mostly cutting the recipe in half just in case I didn't like them.  This recipe makes approximately 24 cookies.

Preheat oven to 350*

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened.

6 tablespoons brown sugar

1/8 cup sugar

1/2 a package of instant chocolate pudding (if you measure it out, it equals approximately 3 tablespoons)

1 egg

1 teas vanilla

1/2 teas baking soda

1 1/8 cups flour

1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 bag of pumpkin spice Hershey Kisses unwrapped (in this case, I used 24 kisses)

Instructions: 

In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.

In a larger mixing bowl, mix butter and sugars together until smooth.  Add the pudding mix.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.

Add the flour mixture in and mix.  It will be fairly thick.

Roll the dough into 1" balls. 

 Flatten each ball, put a kiss in the middle and form the dough around the kiss and re-roll in the palm of your hand until it is a ball again.  

Place on un-greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes.  It took mine 11 minutes to bake.  

Cool for about 5 seconds before eating :-)  Enjoy!

My Loaded Veggie Chicken Alfredo

Loaded Veggie Chicken Alfredo

Why, yes...I did come up with the name all on my own...aren't you impressed?

So, this isn't really a "recipe" as there isn't much to it.  However, it is just a simple idea if you're stuck in a rut like I was last week, and wanted to try something new.  Plus I had gobs of zucchini, green beans, and tomatoes coming from my garden.  So, here we go:

Ingredients if you're using a whole bag of pasta:

Bag O' Noodles, of any kind.  I used "garden noodles"...

Jar  O' Alfredo Sauce....any kind you like, you can even make homemade if you're feeling up for it!

1-2 cups of Shredded chicken, more or less depending on how carnivorous you're feeling (night before I boiled chicken breasts and shredded them to use for random things)

3/4 cup Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half

1 cup of Zucchini, sliced and then quartered

1 cup Fresh green beans, cut into 1"ish pieces

Any seasoning you like...I didn't add any seasoning since Alfredo can be overpowering sometimes.

First....in a skillet pan, place the green beans, zucchini, and shredded chicken with a few tablespoons of water so you don't burn it (do NOT add the tomatoes yet).  Simmer until the green beans seem somewhat tender/getting soft. Also during this step, start your water for the noodles, since boiling water seems to take FOREVER!!!

Once you feel it is the right time, add in your tomatoes and Alfredo sauce and whatever spices you wish to add.  Simmer while you wait for your noodles to be done.

Once the noodles are al dente, combine the sauce and noodles for a spectaular firework show in your mouth!  Enjoy! :-)

Homemade Huckleberry Pie Recipe

If you know me, which....you may or may not....you know that I LOVE making (and eating) pies...Usually, I only make pies for holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter...) so on the off chance that I have the opportunity to make one for no special reason, I get excited :-).  My specialty pie has been apple, using the recipe out of the good ole fashion red Betty Crocker cookbook, but here we have a first for me...Huckleberry Pie. My fiance and I went up into the mountains of Western Montana and picked a bunch of huckleberries, in hopes to get enough to make a pie (being late in the season, we weren't sure what to expect).  

I originally got a recipe from http://blogs.kcrw.com/goodfood/2010/08/huckleberry-pie/ but I adjusted it slightly.  Here is the recipe I used:

First, you need to get your pie crust ready.  You can either use pre-made shells or make your own.  We forgot to buy shells (because, personally, I think making your own shells is a royal pain in the butt...even if they taste better).  So I appointed my lovely fiance to read the recipe for pie crust and gave him that task...he was successful :-).  When your pie crust is done, put it in the fridge until you're ready to use it.

Ingredients: 

5-6 cups fresh huckleberries

1Tbsp lemon juice

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 Tbsp quick tapioca (I was confused at this, so I found a box of tapioca by "Minute" brand to be used for pie fillings and whatnot, and prayed it would work---it did)

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground ginger

butter to "dot" the filling before putting the crust on

Instructions:

First things first: wash, rinse, de-stem and de-leaf your huckleberries.

In a small bowl, mix together the following: white sugar, brown sugar, tapioca, cinnamon, and ginger.

In a larger bowl, combine huckleberries with lemon juice.

Add the dry sugar mix to the huckleberry mix and stir until well mixed.  Let sit and "marinate" for 45 minutes.

Next, fill your crust with the huckleberry mixture and dot the top with butter, as seen above.  Place the other shell on top and crimp the edges together.  Cut slits into shell to allow for breathing.

 Preheat oven to 425*.  Put foil on the edges and bake for 15 minutes.  After that, lower the temp to 375*, take off foil, and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until crust is browned and juice is bubblin'.

Freezer Spaghetti Sauce

Here it is!  Freezer Spaghetti Sauce.....I found the recipe here: http://www.aturtleslifeforme.com/2011/08/freezer-spaghetti-sauce-and-my-garden.html

But just tweaked it a bit to fit my needs and tastes...here it is:

Spaghetti Sauce

4-5 medium sweet onions, diced 

8-10 cloves garlic, minced

2-4 tbsp. vegetable oil

Throw that in your crockpot on low heat until onion is transparent (1-2 hours or so)

Next:

Add the following and cook on low heat for 4-5 hours, stirring every hour or so:

16 cups peeled and chopped tomatoes (can be fresh or canned- I used 5 cups fresh and the rest was canned diced tomatoes)

4 tbsp. dried oregano

3 tbsp. dried basil

3 tbsp. dried parsley

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tbsp. salt

2 tbsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. black pepper

24 oz. tomato paste

This recipe made more than my crock pot would hold so I put the remainder in a saucepan and cooked on low for 4-5 hours. 

After it’s cooled, divide into quart size freezer containers/ziplocks.  Store in freezer.

If you use fresh tomatoes, the easiest way to peel them is to first slice an X in the bottom (opposite where the stem would be) and drop into boiling water for 30 seconds and immediately drop them into a bowl of ICE water.  The skins slide right off.

Enjoy:-)

Huckleberry Banana Zucchini Bread...The best of all worlds!

Here we have it...the most amazing bread you'll ever have.

Huckleberry-Banana-Zucchini bread....a-mazing

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup ripe banana, mashed
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups zucchini, grated
2 cups huckleberries (frozen or fresh, drained)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325* and grease just the bottom of your bread loaf pans.  I used mini loaf pans.

In a large mixing bowl beat together eggs, vanilla, sugar, brown sugar, and mashed banana. Add flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon to the mixture.  Beat well. Stir in zucchini until well combined. Gently fold in huckleberries. Pour batter into prepared pans. Sprinkle sugar on top of raw batter before baking if desired.

Bake 50-60 minutes in oven or until center comes out clean on toothpick.  Cool before removing from pan.

Enjoy!!

Huckleberry Freezer Jam Recipe! YUM!

Huckleberry Freezer Jam

I found this handy recipe here: http://www.justapinch.com/recipe/kelly-williams/huckleberry-jam-freezer-jam/jam   but I will retype it for ya to make it easier on you.  

Ingredients: 

5-6 Cups of fresh huckleberries (3 cups crushed huckleberries)

5 1/4 cups of sugar

1 box of sure*jell fruit pectin (1.75 oz)

3/4 cup water

First things first, pick a TON of huckleberries.  Okay, maybe not a ton, but to make this specific recipe you will need approximately 5-6 cups of fresh huckleberries (3 cups when crushed).  Plus a few to eat along the way.

 Next, crush the berries.  I used a potato masher tool, mashing one cup of fresh berries at a time in a shallow cake pan.

After crushing the berries, add the berries to a large bowl that has your sugar in it (5 1/4 cups of sugar).  After stirring the sugar and berry mixture, let stand for 10 minutes.  After letting it stand, stir 1 box of pectin and 3/4 cup water in saucepan.  Bring it to a boil and boil for 1 minute while stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir into the fruit/sugar mixture.  Stir until sugars dissolve and is no longer grainy.  If it is appearing grainy, you can put it in a pot and bring it to a boil while stirring.  This happened to me and I boiled it for probably 5 minutes until I was happy with the look.

If your containers aren't new, be sure to sanitize them.  I used little plastic tupperware containers.  Set them all out.  Spoon the jam into the containers leaving 1/2 inch to allow for expansion.  Put the lids on right away and let set for 24 hours before placing in freezer or refrigerator.  This jam will keep in the fridge for 3 weeks or so.

ENJOY!!