Bubble and squeak (yes, it is a real recipe)

I was looking for a recipe using some of the vegetables I had on hand and I came across a recipe for bubble and squeak. The bubble part comes from the sound of the vegetables boiling and the squeak is from the sound of them frying. There are a lot of different recipes out there and I ended up coming up with my own. Here is a list of my ingredients.

can of diced potatoes (fresh works best but I didn't have any)

kale

onion

leek

cabbage

olive oil

coconut oil

salt

black pepper

dried thyme (I was out of fresh)

Annika was my helper today for this recipe. She diced the onions and rinsed and tore apart the cabbage. I cut up the leek and the kale. Minus the potatoes all the veggies were boiled till they became soft but not too limp.I added some salt and olive oil to the water. If you use fresh potatoes you will need to boil them separately because they take longer to cook. I then drained the veggies and added them to an iron skillet (best way to get easy iron in your diet). Already in the skillet was the coconut oil. I didn't really measure any of the ingredients. Let common sense be your guide. As I pan fried the veggies I added the potatoes, pepper, thyme, and some more salt. There is no real set time to cook just heat through and fry for a bit. It turned out so yummy!!! Annika and I ate all of it. I guess I need to make a bigger batch next time. It is best eaten hot. It looses a lot if it cools and needs to be reheated. This recipe is chock full of vitamins and minerals especially vitamin K not to mention the benefits of coconut oil.

Homemade chicken and dumplings

The chicken is boiling and the vegetables are cut. Today I am adding fresh carrots, kale, leeks, and onions to my chicken and dumplings. It is a bit cold today so a nice big batch of soup sounds great. I'll make enough so we can eat on it all day. Sometimes I make easy chicken and dumplings by adding pieces of torn up tortillas to store bought chicken broth and canned chicken. It is filling but its nutritional punch is really lacking. I was going to cheat a little today and still use the tortillas but I was out so I guess I am making homemade dumplings too. To check out an old post featuring easy chicken and dumplings click on this link http://thelifeandtimesofsusanbetke.blogspot.com/2009/12/easy-chicken-and-dumplings.html

The house smells great and I have a lot of chicken left over for some more recipes. I think it turned out great...

Americans just don't eat enough fermented foods...

OK, because you probably can't tell this is a tomato sandwich. Yes we eat them here in the South.  Traditionally you have a large slice of a tomato on white (yuck) bread with mayonnaise. My sandwich tonight had a bit of a twist and a kick. I used toasted whole wheat bread. I added mayonnaise that had mixed dried dandelion leaves and dried nettle leaves in it as well as a dropper of my homemade fermented liver detox / general health tincture. I added some onion, Swiss cheese, and spinach leaves. Now that was some good eating. I had some fresh raw green beans on the side with a carrot.... yes, most of the kids had a variation of the same.

Squash casserole again?

I tried something new with my squash casserole. I added mushrooms. It is simple to make. I preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I add a little olive oil to the pan. I add yellow squash, red onions, baby portabello mushrooms, shredded cheddar and monterrey cheese, salt and pepper. I bake it till the squash is tender and the cheese is all melted. Yum yum! We had pitas stuffed with just about everything along with the squash casserole. The big kids loved it. The little kids tried it.

You had what for dinner?

I like to have light dinners sometimes. We had sauteed mushrooms, Indian flat bread with hummus, fresh strawberries, pumpkin seeds, and hard boiled eggs for dinner yesterday. The kids enjoy eating different things like that. My friends at work look at me funny when I describe what we eat sometimes, but variety is the spice of life right?

Pita anyone?

I wanted something lighter for dinner last night. So Pita sandwiches it is! We started with onion flavored pita bread. They were stuffed with shredded cheddar cheese, baby spinach / spring lettuce mix, chicken breast, and topped with Italian salad dressing. they are simple and a breeze to make. I used the pre-cooked chicken breast that is already sliced from the deli section of the grocery store. The kids liked them OK. Everyone came back for seconds. I would have liked to have added more ingredients if I would have had them. Onions and feta cheese would have worked great.They were definitely a nice break from just a regular sandwich.

Mama, what's for dinner?

I guess I can call it hamburger casserole.

What to make for dinner? That is a question I have to ask way too often. I had some ground beef sitting in the refrigerator that needed to be cooked. So, I made up this recipe. I was a little surprised it turned out OK. The kids ate it up. It needed more cheese on top but we were running low on cheese. I added fresh corn on the cob to the meal to round it out. I may try it again with some cream of mushroom soup. Here is my recipe.

One pound of ground beef

1/4 of a white onion

One cup fresh sliced mushrooms

One can diced potatoes (drained)

Salt and pepper to taste

Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup white rice

Cheese

While I was browning the beef in an electric skillet I added the onion, mushrooms, potatoes, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. I broke the mushrooms into fairly small pieces. They soak up the flavor of the beef really well. While this was cooking I heated the oven to 350 degrees and started the rice cooking. It is OK if the rice isn't fully cooked by the time the beef mixture is finished. Add the rice and beef mixture together in a baking dish and top with some cheese. I used Parmesan and American cheese this go around. I think shredded sharp cheddar would have worked better. I let it bake for about 20 minutes or until it was heated through and the cheese was all melted. It was fairly hearty. I did not use very lean beef. A little fat goes a long way to add flavor. Seasoned pork sausage could probably be substituted for the beef.