Orange Scones

I used a few scone recipes I found around the internet to create these little beauties. I did not put a glaze on them since they were nice and tasty plain, but there were many orange glaze recipes around that would work well on them.

Mix:
3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cut in:
3/4 cup butter

Mix in:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup buttermilk
zest of one orange

Roll out on floured surface into a large circle.
Cut into 10 wedges.
Brush with milk.
Bake 375* for about 9 minutes.

*I've been baking everything with convection lately, so you may need to increase the time if you bake with in conventional oven.

Easy Ground Beef Vegetable Casserole

I found this recipe a long time ago when I was wanted to do something different with ground beef. I love tacos and hamburgers, but there must be more out there, right?

I'm sure you could add other things-peas, shredded zucchini, even greens. Tonight I am going to substitute toyko turnips for the potatoes. And I might throw in some sweet peppers. We'll see how it goes...

INGREDIENTS:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef, browned
1/2 cup chopped onion
salt and pepper
3 large potatoes, sliced
2 Carrots, shredded
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
PREPARATION:
Brown ground beef in a skillet with chopped onions; cook until onions are tender. Drain off excess fat; transfer ground beef and onion to casserole dish. Add layer of sliced raw potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper; shred carrots to cover potatoes.

Put soup over carrots. Bake at 350° for 40 to 50 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle shredded cheese over top and bake for about 5 minutes longer, or until cheese is melted.This easy ground beef and potato casserole serves 4 to 6.

And We're Back...

I know, I know...it's been a LONG TIME since I've posted anything here. But I have a good excuse. Okay, like 14 good excuses. I had a baby and we moved out of my sister's house and into our new house that had no kitchen. (None, zip...we had completely gutted it. It didn't even have a floor). The last 9 months has been a labor of love by my husband (love for me, not the kitchen) as he put our kitchen together piece by piece. The refrigerator, the tile, the cabinets, the sinks...on and on. Finally, this past Sunday night, the remaining vital piece went in...the oven and stove. We rejoiced by making a batch of chocolate chip cookies...that hadn't happened in a while. And while I could have posted many recipes, especially over the summer while we were grilling EVERYTHING...and I do mean everything, I just couldn't do one extra thing like blog about it. But now, I feel motivated. My new beautiful range has brought back my love of finding new recipes, tweaking old ones, and writing them down so I can repeat it. Plus, I love my oven. It's a dream. And it has a blue interior. It just makes me smile. Even when the baby is screaming at me while I'm trying to get dinner on the table. Oh, my Elextrolux 30 inch Free Standing Gas Range...I love you. And I love my husband for installing it.

So I hope you'll join me again as I get back into this cooking thing. Not that I haven't been cooking over the last 9 months. I have. I should post about everything you can make in an electric fry pan...that is one of the most versatile little kitchen devices every created. I was kind of sad when I put it away the other day knowing I probably wouldn't use it again for a long while...but then I looked at my range and quickly got over it.

Maple Mustard Pork Tenderloin with Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I found these recipes separately. I was really just after a simple recipe for pork tenderloin. I found this Maple Mustard one on About.com. Easy. Then I realized I had these two sweet potatoes that needed to be used, but I only had about 30 minutes until I wanted everything on the table. Baking them in any way was out, so I quickly searched for a mashed sweet potato recipe, figuring it was faster to boil them than bake. I found one on MarthaStewart.com. And it is even easier than boiling...it steams them so you don't have to mess with dumping out boiling water while trying not to lose any bits of potato down the drain. Priceless.

I wouldn't change anything about the pork recipe, except I ended up having a bunch of glaze left over. I think it would have covered two tenderloins. I used one of the tenderloins from Costco...I didn't realize two came in the package, and since I wasn't sure how far the glaze would go, I only baked one. I could have easily done both of them.

With the sweet potatoes, I followed the recipe exactly, but I think you could cut the milk mixture, even by half. The sweet potatoes ended up beautifully creamy and rich, but I just kept thinking about how fattening they were with all that butter and half & half. I think you could reduce the amount of liquid between a 3/4 and 1/2 of the amount. It just depends on how creamy (and fattening) you want them.

Mustard Pork Tenderloin
1 to 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin (I think mine was about 2 pounds)
salt and pepper
1 to 2 TBS olive oil (enough to coat the skillet)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
3 TBS Dijon mustard

1. Line a baking dish (or cookie sheet) with foil and spray with cooking spray. Heat oven to 350.
2. Wash pork, trim excess fat and silver skin, and season with salt and pepper.
3. In large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add pork and sear on all sides.
4. Combine syrup and mustard in small bowl and whisk until smooth.
5. Place pork in baking dish and roast for 12 minutes. Brush generously with about half of the mustard mixture and roast for about 5 minutes more, or until the pork reaches about 155 degrees.
6. Heat remaining sauce in microwave to boil.
7. Let pork rest for about 5 minutes, then slice and drizzle with remaining sauce.

This easily served 3 adults and one child.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed in about 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup half and half
3 TBS butter
2 TBS brown sugar

1. Steam potatoes in steam basket for about 15 minutes, or until tender.
2. In separate saucepan, combine half and half, butter and brown sugar. Heat on low until melted, stirring often.
3. When potatoes are done, mash with either a masher or in a mixer (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer). Add milk mixture and mash until just mixed. Season with salt and pepper.

I would say this makes about 4 serving.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

These are cookies that my mom made a lot while I was growing up. This is not her recipe, but they sure taste the same. I found this one somewhere on cooks.com. They are relatively simple, and super tasty. DON'T cook them on an airbake cookie sheet. I used a plain old cheap aluminium pan and they came out perfectly. The ones on my airbake were too flat and crispy.

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1/3 c. salad oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

About 1 c. powdered sugar (to roll cookies in)

Melt chocolate (I did in the microwave for a few minutes on very low heat).
Combine with sugar and oil.
Add eggs, one at a time; beat well.
Add vanilla.
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to chocolate mixture.
Chill dough for at least an hour.
Roll dough into teaspoon size balls and drop/roll around in powdered sugar to coat.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 350 for 10-12 minutes.
Makes 4 dozen.

Cranberry Apple Sauce

I have never been a cranberry sauce fan. That gelatinous stuff that comes out of the can has never looked appealing. But this...this was really good. I know it's well past Thanksgiving, and this is technically a Thanksgiving recipe, but it was so tasty I have to write it down here. I'm thinking of using it again at Christmas.

Cranberry Apple Sauce

1 cup apple cider (I used regular apple juice)
1/2 cup sugar
1 Braeburn or Gala apple, peeled and grated (I used Gala)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
1 12 oz. bag fresh or frozen cranberries (I used fresh)
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
salt to taste

Boil cider, sugar, apple, cinnamon, and cloves in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add cranberries and simmer 10-12 minutes, or until berries burst and sauce thickens. (I had to constantly "pop" the cranberries as they were cooking. It took about 15 minutes for it to thicken) Stir in vinegar, season with salt, and chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Can be made up to 2 days ahead.

What Santa's Workshop looks like in these parts...

So, my addition to Arlene's fab blog this evening is not healthy. No way to sneak veggies into this recipe, no wheat germ mixed in. Pure unhealth.

And it is on the brain tonight because every year, I make huge quantities of this to put into gift bags for my husband's coworkers.

White Chocolate Peppermint Bark

1 bag white choc. morsels
1 cup Rice Krispees
3 candy canes

1. Put candy canes in plastic bag and crush with cooking mallet, rolling pin, or hammer.
2. Melt choc. (50% power)
3. Stir in Krispees.

Spoon choc/Krispees onto wax paper (on tray) and spread out with large spoon. Pizza trays work well. Add crushed candy after this is spread out- sprinkle around and mash in. Chill ~half an hour. Break into brittle/bark pieces.

Easy & fun!

Jen McCarthy

Kabocha Squash Soup

This recipe is actually from my friend, Shauna's, so I can't take the credit. She helped me make it today. It was so easy and so tasty. (It helps to have a good squash.)

You could make this with a different type of squash, or a pumpkin. I got a Kabocha squash in my farm box three weeks ago and used that. (Yes! 3 weeks ago! Gotta love squash!)

I was very excited when I realized this type of squash is what I used to eat often when I lived in Australia. There is it just called a pumpkin, or a Japanese pumpkin. All these years I've been searching for it here in the states and all this time it was called something else. (Terribly common, really). It is tasty just roasted with a bit of butter.

So, here's the simple soup recipe:

1 Kabocha Squash, cut in half, seeds removed
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4-5 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
cream to add rich flavor

1. Roast squash in a baking pan or jelly roll sheet, cut side down in a bit of water. (You want the water to not evaporate during roasting, so keep adding as necessary.) Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

2. In soup pot, saute onions and garlic in small amount of oil or butter until translucent, about 10 minutes.

3. Scoop roasted squash out of it's skin and add to onion and garlic. Cover with broth and bring to a gentle boil.

4. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

5. Puree soup using food processor, blender or hand blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Can add a touch of cream.

Serve hot. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Huli Huli BBQ Chicken

Now that it isn't really BBQ season anymore, I'm posting one of my favorites from the summer. I was originally drawn to this recipe because of it's name: Huli Huli is Hawaiian for something. Possibly Tasty Tasty. Really...it's that good.

I made a coconut-lime rice to go with this chicken dish, but I didn't find it fabulous enough to pass on. This recipe comes from Cuisine at Home, which happens to be my favorite recipe magazine that I subscribe to.

The original recipe calls for drumsticks, but I don't really like drumsticks, so I used boneless skinless chicken breasts instead. The recipe I'm posting is actually double the original.

Whisk together:
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
4 TBS ketchup
4 TBS dark soy sauce
2 TBS garlic, minced
2 TBS fresh ginger, minced
2 TBS vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

Marinate; Grill:
6-8 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Whisk all ingredients (except chicken) together in a bowl.

Marinate chicken in half the pineapple juice mixture in a large resealable baggie for at least 1 hour, refrigerated. Reduce remaining mixture in a saucepan over medium-high heat until thickened, 5 minutes; set aside for basting.

BBQ chicken on medium-high grill. Baste with reserve glaze while cooking, or save glaze and pour it over your chicken when it's served.

Corn and Pepper Salsa...or something like that...

I haven't made much lately that I feel is worthy of posting, which is why I haven't posted in a while. Sure, sure...I've tried new things. Just last night I made this risotto recipe and this roasted eggplant and tomato stacks recipe, both of which I served with a salmon fillet that I baked in foil for 25 minutes, but neither were super fabulous, especially if you already have a risotto recipe you like (I had never made risotto until last night) or a eggplant dish that you prefer (like Eggplant Parmesan...much tastier when the eggplant is fried!).

But I'm totally losing you now. Let me get back on track.

I did make something a few weeks ago that I feel is worthy of posting. I got it off my farm box newsletter, and as with every recipe, I adapted it for what I had had what I liked. I served it with salmon (again, oven baked in foil) and it was a great combination. The original recipe is more of a pepper salad with a little bit of corn. I made the peppers and corn equal in amounts. The peppers were sweet, not spicy, and they balanced with the balsamic and basil very well. And really, it wasn't large enough in quantity to be called a "salad." It was more of a topping or salsa or chutney. Whatever you want to call it, here's the original recipe from the Fullbelly website and in italics are my adaptations.

Jimmy Nardello Roasted Pepper Salad

3/4 lb. Jimmy Nardello Roasted Peppers (1/2 of that amount, plus some yellow sweet peppers)
3 ears of corn with kernels removed (I quickly boiled the corn before removing the kernels)
3 T white balsamic vinegar (regular balsamic vinegar)
3 T olive oil
1/2 salt
1/4 t black pepper
2 T chopped fresh basil

Jimmy Nardello peppers are a wonderful balance of sweet and savory. They are simple to roast or grill: Remove the stems and seeds. Preheat the broiler. Put the peppers, skins up, in an oiled, shallow baking pan. If you wish you can lightly oil the peppers as well. (I oiled them.) Broil them 2 inches from the heat until softened. You do not need to remove the skins after roasting. Cut the peppers lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips. (I chopped them). Add the corn kernels. To complete the salad, toss together the remaining ingredients and let stand, covered, 1 hour for flavors to develop.


Even though summer and it's sweet corn is now a thing of the past, I imagine that this recipe would work well with a frozen sweet corn, like the frozen white corn at Trader Joes. And you don't have to use these particular peppers. I think any sweet roasted peppers would be fine.

Besides salmon, I think this would pair well with chicken or steak (especially in a taco or fajita).

Onion Soup

I know, I know...you are thinking, "Why the heck would I want to make soup when it's so stinkin' hot outside?" I had the same thought...but then I made it anyways. It was a combination of having all the right ingredients, wanting to use my Walla Wallas before they went bad, wanting to make something new, and...well, boredom.

So last night, after the girls went to bed, I decided to make this soup. I had ripped the recipe out of those original Everyday Food magazines, and it had been in that stack I told you about before. It's a very simple recipe, and it only took about an hour from start to finish. I halved the recipe since I only had four good onions. The original recipe calls for serving it with Cheese Toasts, but I just poured it over some toasted Italiano bread that I had left over from the night before.

I'm giving you the whole recipe, which claims to serve 8. I would guess from how much I left from my half recipe, that that would be 8 small servings. If you are going to serve this as your main dish, I would guess that you shouldn't expect more than 6 healthy servings out of it.

2 TBS butter
2 TBS olive oil (I actually forgot the oil)
4 lbs onions (about 8), halved and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup port or Marsala wine (I used port)
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) beef broth
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) chicken broth

1. In a heavy 5 quart pot, heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions have softened, 12 to 15 minutes.

2. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are dark golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. If bottom of the pot gets too dry, add about 1/4 cup water and scrape up browned bits with wooden spoon. (I had to do this twice...I think I probably added about 1/8 cup of water at a time. But then again, I forgot the oil, so that might explain the need for the water.)

3. Add the port and cook until syrupy, about 3 minutes. (I'm not sure what "syrupy" is supposed to look like. It never looked syrupy to me...just purple. I waited until it didn't seem watery.) Stir in broths and 2 cups water, season with salt and pepper, and bring to simmer. Serve with or over bread or cheese toasts.

Initially, I thought the soup had too much liquid to onion ratio, but I realized that when I poured it over the bread, every bit of liquid was sopped up. So, I guess the ratio is ok. And it was really really tasty.

Enjoy! (But I understand if you don't want to be a freak like me and make this in the summer. Go ahead and wait until the weather turns cooler!)

Pesto Pork Chops

Last week I found myself with an abundance of fresh basil leaves. I didn't complain-I LOVE tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella with a touch of oil olive. But those few leaves I used everyday were not going to get me through the bunch of basil before it went bad. I needed something else for the basil.

I had found a pesto recipe that J really likes a month or so ago, so I made that again. The trouble was, I didn't want it with pasta again, and we had just had pizza, so I didn't want to make that. I had thin cut pork chops thawed, but the idea of pesto with pork chops didn't sound fabulous.

As always, I looked to the Internet first. I searched "pesto pork" and sure enough, there were hundreds of recipes out there. So, I decided to take a risk. I pan cooked the pork chops in a bit of olive oil, and when they were just about done, I spooned pesto on each one, covered it, lowered the heat, and cooked it for another 5 minutes or so.

They were delicious. And the summer squash with caramelized Walla Walla onions I served with them paired well. (Of course, I did also have tomato, basil and mozzarella as another side dish, because really...I can never get enough.)

One note of caution...as always with pork chops, it's easy to over cook them. One of mine was thicker than the other two, so it was perfect and the thinner ones were a tad on the dry side. Still good, but could have been a bit more moist.

Here's the pesto recipe I used:

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts
3 cloves garlic, minced

In food processor, pulse together basil and nuts 3 or 4 times quickly. Add garlic and pulse again. While processor is on, pour in olive oil. Add Parmesan cheese and mix until blended.

Chocolate Summer Squash Bread

I've been getting a lot of summer squash in my farm box lately. I'm not complaining...I love it. Especially when sauteed up with some caramelized onions...super tasty. But I wanted to try something different, and specifically something that my children might eat. (Summer squash is definitely one that they turn their nose up at.) I figured they'd eat the squash if it was hidden in a baked good, so I started looked for Zucchini Bread recipes. Then I stumbled across this chocolate summer squash bread recipe and the search was over. I found the original recipe here. The first time I made it, I followed all directions, except I substituted white whole wheat flour for regular flour. You couldn't tell the difference at all.

Now, I have to be honest. The word "bread" is misleading. This isn't bread. It is cake. You will feel guilty eating this for breakfast. That didn't stop me from eating it then, but I did feel guilty. But if it makes you feel better, you can keep calling it "bread."

Even with the whole wheat flour, I was still feeling badly about the amount of oil and sugar that was in the bread/cake. So today, I added a few more chocolate chips for sweetness, took out 1/2 a cup of sugar, and substituted 1/2 a cup of apple sauce for some of the oil. Since I'm not eating the two side by side, it's too hard to tell if this one is as moist or as sweet. I can tell you that it's still delicious and will be great with vanilla ice cream, so I'll stick with this recipe since it makes me feel better.

2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 applesauce (I used unsweetened)
2 cups grated summer squash
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate until melted. Stir occasionally until chocolate is smooth.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil, grated summer squash, vanilla and chocolate; beat well.

Sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir to blend. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean. Do not overbake.

Peach Basil and Fresh Mozzarella Salad

I know, I know...it sounds really weird. But trust me-it's amazingly good. Shockingly good, really. And super simple. If you have an abundance of peaches and basil, this is the side dish for you.

I doubled the recipe I found on-line, so you may want to make a smaller batch. I'd say this makes 6-8 decent sized servings.

6 ripe peaches, cut into bite size pieces
1-2 cups basil, torn into pieces
8 oz fresh mozzarella, cubed
1-2 TBS olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 pepper

I didn't peel the peaches, but you could if you don't appreciate the fuzziness. Amounts certainly don't need to be exact. Just throw the ingredients together right before serving.

I don't know if this will keep well. We did not have any leftover, but I imagine that it would not stand the test of time in the fridge. I'd plan on only making as much as you think will be eaten.

Enjoy!

New Kitchen, No New Recipes

For the last few weeks we've been redoing our kitchen. That means I have been unable to cook. It's difficult to create new things when your kitchen is in your living room. I just got most things moved back in a few days ago, so hopefully, there will be something new to read here soon. Hang tight.

Spicy (Not Really) Carrot Coconut Soup

Apparently, this recipe came from Whole Foods, but I got it off my friend, Heather. We double the original recipe so there is enough for freezing or leftovers. One thing to note that I noticed this last time-it seems to get more peanut buttery with time. Strange, yes. Or, I just used a different peanut butter this time. Either way, it's a fabulous soup. It's even better topped with the Sea Salt Pita Chips from Trader Joes. The annoyance factor of making it is a bit high, seeing as how you have to puree it all and I always end up with soup all over my counter, but it's worth the mess in the end.

I'm giving you the doubled version.

4 TBS vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped (or 2 medium onions)
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into one inch chunks
2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
pinch or 2 of hot red pepper flakes
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
3 TBS soy sauce
3 TBS creamy peanut butter
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 can coconut milk

In large heavy saucepan, heat oil (med-high) and cook onion, celery and garlic until soft. Add carrots, ginger, red pepper and broth. Bring to boil.

Lower heat and simmer until carrots are very tender; about 45 minutes.

Off heat, add soy sauce, peanut butter, sugar and sesame oil. Stir and let cook slightly.

Puree in turns in blender or food processor.

Return to pot and add coconut milk.

That's it. Enjoy.

Asian Peanut Slaw

Has it really been almost a month since I posted anything? Pathetic, really. Hopefully this will make up for it...

I made this Asian peanut slaw tonight to go with our BBQed sausage and tri-tip. When I first tasted it right after mixing, it was too tangy and I thought I'd have to go back to the drawing board. But, sitting in the fridge for a few hours before we ate it mellowed it quite a bit. it was definitely a hit with our guests.

Like more things I make, I first looked on-line for "peanut coleslaw." . I didn't want anything mayonnaise, so that ruled out many in my Google search. But I did find a few that looked promising and combined their ideas. Here's what I came up with:

1 large head of cabbage or 2 small heads
1 TBS salt
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 TBS smooth peanut butter
2 TBS sesame oil
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp garlic chili paste
2 tsp chopped cilantro
4 medium carrots, grated
5 green onions, chopped
3/4 cup peas
1 cup dry roasted peanuts , chopped
juice from 1/2 a lime

1. Shred cabbage and rinse in colander. Toss with salt and let sit for 15 minutes. (This apparently pulls some water out of the cabbage, helping it stay crisp.)

2. Whisk together vinegar, soy sauce, peanut butter, sesame oil, ginger, chili paste, and cilantro.

3. Toss all ingredients together. Let sit for at least an hour before serving. Squeeze lime juice on right before serving.

So, overall, I'm very happy with this side dish. I would have enjoyed it a bit spicy, but all my guests preferred it this way.

The lime was a last minute addition. I had seen it mentioned in a few recipes and I forgot to add it to the dressing initially. But, it worked adding it at the end, and who knows what it would have done to the taste if it had sat on the salad longer. I might have ruined the whole thing!

As we move into summer, I'll share more of my BBQ ideas. Anyone else have a good BBQ side dish to share?

Tortilla Soup in the Crock Pot

Angie's comment about everything she makes in the crock pot all tasting the same made me want to share with you my tortilla soup recipe. It is definitely one of our favorite meals. I got this originally from Shauna about two years ago and since then, I probably make it every other week in the colder months, and not quite as often in the warmer times. It is SOOO easy, and SOOO tasty, that I always have the fixins for it in my pantry.

The basic recipe...
1 28oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 cups chicken broth
1 can black beans, drained (or any beans you like)
1 can corn, drained (or frozen corn)
1-3 small cans of diced green chiles, depending on your taste (I usually use 2 is I have them)
2 or 3 chicken breasts (you can put them right in there FROZEN!)
1 small onion, diced and sauteed
salt, pepper and cumin (add as much as pleases you)

Other items you can add during cooking...
sliced carrots
sliced celery

Optional Toppings
chips
cheese
avocado
cilantro
sour cream
olives

Instructions...throw everything in the pot and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours!
Put chicken breasts WHOLE in crock pot, thawed or frozen, and cover with diced tomatoes (with their juices), chicken broth, chiles, and drained corn and beans. Season with salt, pepper and cumin.

If you've already sauteed the onions, you can add them now, but I usually forget and add them closer to the end. You would also add any other veggies you are putting in now.

Seriously, that's it. When you can easily shred the chicken with a fork, it's done. Top with all your favorite things.

I find a add a bunch of salt to this at the end, so don't be shy with that seasoning.

I've tried cooking it on high when I'm short on time. That works, too, but occassionally the chicken is not quite as moist. Same thing...it's done when the chicken is easily shreddable.

Best part...one of my children actually eats it!

Disappointing Crock Pot Recipe

I've been trying to find good crock pot recipes that do not include cream of mushroom soup (or chicken, or celery) in their list of ingredients. I found a crock pot recipe for Soy Ginger Chicken one of my old editions of Everyday Food. I was so excited to try it! It looked very promising-lots of fresh ginger and garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, fresh cilantro, and a touch of balsamic vinegar. Rich dark meat simmering for hours in the tasty marinade...

Yea, not so much. It was bland. And not interesting. And boring. And any other adjective you can come up for "not worth making this again."

But the combination of ingredients has such potential. I will eventually try again (because I'm a sucker like that). Next time I think I'll cook it for less time and add some chili garlic and more sugar. And no carrots.

I'll let you know what I come up with.

Green Garlic

I got green garlic today in my farm box. I had no idea what green garlic was. Is it immature garlic and that's why it's still green? Is it a different breed from the garlic we ordinarily consume? Is really garlic? (At first glance, I thought it was a leek.)

Thanks to this website, I learned something new today. The Penne with Ricotta and Green Garlic Sauce sounds nice. I'll let you know if I make it.