Thanksgiving 2011

Dwight and I had two wonderful Thanksgiving feasts this year. We got together with his family on Thanksgiving Day and had our own dinner on Friday. We wanted to cook our own meal this year so we would have leftovers. We definitely had a lot of leftovers.

Roasted Turkey:

Cooking the turkey was the thing that made me the most nervous. We purchased a 26 lb. turkey because it was an excellent price at our local grocery store. It was frozen when we purchased it so we left it in the refrigerator for 5 days to thaw. I used a recipe by Sarah Foster, from the November issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

Here's how I cooked the turkey:
The turkey was still icy inside when I opened the package so I poured hot apple juice inside and over it. I stuffed it with an apple (quartered), carrots from the garden, an onion (cut into large chunks) and parsley. I baked it breast-side down on a v-rack in a roasting pan in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours, turned it over and cooked it until the breast meat reached 160 degrees. It only took 3 hours to cook it. The meat was perfectly cooked. It was the best tasting turkey I have ever had. It had a very sweet, fruity flavor.

Cornbread Dressing:

I made cornbread from the Indian Corn my neighbor gave me and used it for the dressing. I followed the recipe by Scott Peacock in the November issue of Better Homes and gardens for the cornbread and the dressing. I sauteed onions, celery, sage and parsley, added it to the cornbread bits that had been drying over night, mixed in olives (I really like olives in dressing, this is an ingredient that Dwight's Dad always uses in his dressing, it's not in the original recipe), eggs and chicken broth and cooked it for 40 minutes in the oven. I cooked it for a little longer at a higher temperature because I like my dressing a little dry.

Yams:



Dwight makes the yams every year. He makes a special caramel sauce and pours it over yams that have been boiled, tops them with marshmallows and bakes them just long enough to melt the marshmallows. They are delicious.





Green Beans:





I sauteed the green beans in olive oil with red pepper flakes, toasted sliced almonds and toasted sesame seeds.







Mashed Potatoes:

We added a little extra flavor to the mashed potatoes by including rutabaga and turnips. I diced them the same size as the potatoes and boiled all of them. We then mashed them with milk and butter.

Gravy:

Dwight made an herb gravy using the drippings from the turkey, some butter and flour and added thyme and sage. It was a delicious, simple gravy.



We have a lot to be grateful for. We are blessed to always have food on our table and a good family to enjoy it with.

Yummy Cornmeal Biscuits

We have a very generous neighbor that let us come over to his garden and get some fresh potatoes, right from the ground. I had never had a potato that fresh before. They were delicious.

He also gave us some beautiful Indian corn. As he was pulling the husks away from one of them, it came completely off. Since he knew that it was no good for decorating, he was going to throw it away. I took it anyway and decided to try making cornmeal with it. I usually make my cornmeal with popcorn, so I figured the hard Indian corn would work just as well. I did some internet searches to make sure it wasn't poisonous and then ground the beautiful multicolored kernels in my wheat grinder.

I found a yummy recipe on Martha Stewart's website and made cornmeal biscuits. They turned out wonderfully. I think I will try growing Indian corn in our garden next year. I like how beautiful it is and now I know that I can store and use it too.

Here's the recipe for Cornmeal Biscuits:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining.
2. Pour in milk; using a rubber spatula, fold milk into dough, working in all directions and incorporating crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, until dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky; do not overmix.
3. With two large spoons, drop mounds of dough (about 1/3 cup each) about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until biscuits are golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Slide parchment and biscuits onto a wire rack to cool.

Yummy Cranberry-Pineapple Salsa

I found the recipe for this salsa in Family Circle magazine and thought it looked delicious.

It consists of:
fresh cranberries
fresh pineapple
a jalapeno pepper
1/4 cup sugar (it called for 1/2 cup)
green onions (the recipe used red onions, I wanted to add some green to the salsa)
cilantro (the recipe didn't include cilantro)
lime juice
salt

I chopped the cranberries, jalapenos, cilantro, sugar and lime juice in the food processor, and then put them into a bowl. I pureed the pineapple in the food processor and then added it to the cranberry mixture. I added salt and green onions and mixed.

This is a wonderful salsa. We ate it with tortilla chips.

Yummy Kiwi Mango Relish

I have been wanting to try a recipe that I found in Body & Soul magazine for quite awhile. The recipe was for a kiwi lime relish to be served with shrimp. I finally decided to make it tonight. I added some ingredients (mango and green onion) to the original recipe and really liked how it turned out. We ate it with shrimp, but I especially liked eating it with tortilla chips. I had a hard time deciding if I would call it a relish or salsa. I decided that since I enjoyed eating it so much relish fit just fine.

Here is the recipe I made tonight.

Kiwi Mango Relish

2 kiwi, peeled and diced
1 mango (still a little green, not too ripe) peeled and diced
1 jalapeno pepper diced (I didn't include the seeds)
1 green onion, white and green parts
a small hand full of cilantro, chopped
juice from 1 lime
salt to taste

I also think this would be good over grilled chicken.

Apples

I have enjoyed using the apples my Dad brought a couple of weeks ago. I haven't made juice yet, but we have found other uses for the apples.

Last night Dwight and I made apple pie. It was delicious. We made the crust using one of my favorite Martha Stewart recipes. I made the flour using soft white wheat. It tasted great, but the texture wasn't quite the same. I'm going to have to experiment with it some more. Here is the recipe from the Martha Stewart website:

Pate Brisee (Pie Dough)

Ingredients:

Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
  

Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies

Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to one month.

I used more of the apples tonight. We got bratwurst sausage from the deli on Saturday and I decided to caramelize onions and apples to garnish them. I sliced the onions and apples very thin and sauteed them in butter and a little olive oil. I cooked them in the same pan as the bratwurst. I really liked the sweetness of the apple with the onions. We put it all on a ciabatta bun and topped it off with honey dijon mustard.

Blender Pancakes

Here's another recipe that I got from Kitchen Kneads. It's a fast and easy pancake recipe. We really enjoy them.


Blender Pancakes

1 1/4 cups water
1 cup of whole grain kernels
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 egg
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp honey or sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder

In a blender mix water, grain kernels, dry milk, egg, oil, honey, and salt. Blend 3 minutes. Add baking powder and blend just until mixed. Mixture will foam up and get very light. Cook immediately on a hot griddle.


When I made them this morning, I added a couple teaspoons of whole flax seeds. I didn't grind them first because I knew they would grind in the blender. I also put blueberries on the pancakes once I put them in the pan so we had blueberry pancakes. I used applesauce instead of oil and I used a breakfast blend (a mixture of buckwheat, barley, rice, millet, and oats) for the grains.

Cinnamon Rolls

One of the things that I like about whole wheat bread dough is that it can be used for things other than a loaf of bread, such as pizza dough, pita bread, and cinnamon rolls.

Last night I made enough bread dough for 2 loafs. I made one of the loafs into bread and I used the other loaf of dough to make cinnamon rolls. They turned out really well. I got the recipe from a class at Kitchen Kneads.

Here's how I did it:

Roll the loaf of bread dough into a rectangle
Spread butter, sugar and cinnamon on the dough
Roll the dough from the top or bottom (the short side of the rectangle)
Cut into small discs using either thread or dental floss
Spread butter and honey on the bottom of a cookie sheet
Lay the cinnamon rolls on the sheet
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (don't let the dough rise before baking)

Once they cooled a little I topped them with cinnamon roll frosting. I got the recipe from Pantry Secrets.

Cinnamon Roll Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp water

Whole Wheat Bread

I really enjoy making bread, especially bread made from freshly ground wheat. Here is a whole wheat bread recipe that we enjoy.

Whole Wheat Bread

7 Cups Warm Water
3 Tbs. Lecithin
2 Tbs. Yeast
1/3 Cup Honey
2 Tbs. Dough Enhancer
2 Tbs. Salt
¼ Cup Gluten Flour
16-18 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

Measure all of the ingredients, except the flour, into the Blendtec mixing bowl. Put in 7 cups flour and mix on medium speed until completely mixed. Add remaining flour until the mixture cleans the side of the bowl and the dough doesn’t stick to your finger. Put on Auto Knead and it will automatically shut off when the gluten is developed (I used to make this in my KitchenAid mixer. I used the dough hook and would knead it for 10 minutes on medium speed). Put into 5 eight inch greased loaf pans. Let rise until double in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Leftovers

I really like using leftovers. Even though I enjoy cooking, I like to make things quickly. When I have leftovers, it cuts down on my cooking time. Last night I had brown rice left over from the meal the night before so I decided to try something new. I made a salad, of sorts, using brown rice and some fresh vegetables to serve as a side dish. Here's the recipe I came up with.


Brown Rice Salad:

Cooked Brown Rice (about 1 1/2 cups)
One cucumber, quartered and diced
Two small tomatoes, diced
Two green onions, finely chopped
Cilantro (about a fist-full), finely chopped
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Salt
Pepper
Dill

Stir all of the ingredients together and enjoy.

I served this with green chile fried chicken. To see the recipe click here. I originally found the recipe in Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I have tried for years to come up with an alternative to frying. I don't like frying for a couple of reasons, but mainly because it makes the house smelly. Last night I took the chicken pieces that had been marinating in the sour cream mixture and I rolled them in cornflake crumbs seasoned with paprika, pepper, thyme, and oregano. I topped them with melted butter and baked them at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes. I think this is the way I will continue to do it. We liked the crunchy coating.

Yummy Brownies

I found this recipe for brownies in one of my favorite magazines, Body + Soul. I have made brownies using applesauce instead of oil, but was intrigued by this recipe that uses sweet potato puree. We had a left over sweet potato from dinner, so I thought it would be a great time to test the recipe. I really like how they turned out. I pureed the baked sweet potato in a food processor.

Here's the recipe for Fudge Brownies. The recipe and picture are from wholeliving.com

Ingredients

Makes 12

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup sweet-potato puree
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square pan; set aside. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Remove pan from heat, and stir in cocoa. Let cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Stir in sugar and sweet-potato puree, then egg, stir in vanilla, add to cocoa mixture.
4. Add flour mixture to cocoa mixture and stir until no traces of flour remain. Spoon into prepared pan; smooth the top. Bake until surface of brownies looks barely dry and an inserted knife comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Coconut Craze

I have been reading a book touting the nutritional benefits of coconut (kills bacteria, boosts energy, improves digestion and absorption of nutrients, supports thyroid function). It's pretty interesting. The book suggests using coconut oil every day and adding more saturated fats to the diet. I'm not sure how I feel about using coconut oil and boosting meals with additional saturated fats, but I have enjoyed using coconut milk and shredded coconut as a garnish (I especially like it toasted).

Yesterday, I made oatmeal and just after I removed it from the stove I added a banana, dried cranberries, coconut and a little bit of honey. I also like adding coconut, ground flax seed, and dried cranberries to my cold cereal - especially Wheat Chex.

Here are some other things that I have made with coconut in the past couple of weeks. If you would like the recipe, click on it and it will direct you to the website where I found the recipe.

Cilantro Lime Grilled Shrimp with Coconut Fire Sauce
Carribean Chicken (I highly recommend this one)
Nanaimo Bars (This one isn't very nutritious, but it does have coconut in it)
Thai Chicken Coconut Soup

Food Storage: Powdered Milk

For the past couple of years I have tried to increase our food storage. It was overwhelming in the beginning because I knew I should store things that I had never used before, such as whole wheat and powdered milk. A few weeks ago my neighbor hosted a class on how to use powdered milk. I thought it was very interesting and helpful. I haven't tried making the recipes myself yet, but I thought I would share a few of them so those of you who are still learning how to use food storage items can try them too.

Yogurt:
3 3/4 cups warm water
1 2/3 cups Instant nonfat dry milk
2 to 4 Tbsp store-bought, plain yogurt with active yogurt cultures

In a large saucepan combine the water and dry milk powder. Stir well and let it sit for a few minutes, then stir again. All of the dry milk should be dissolved. Heat the milk over medium/low heat until it reaches 180 degrees. This kills off any competing bacteria so that the yogurt will respond better to the acidophilus cultures. Remove from the stove and allow to cool to 115 degrees. If the milk is any hotter than this then it will kill off the yogurt cultures. Add the store-bought plain yogurt to the warm milk (the store-bought yougert can be stored in the freezer. Put in ice cube trays and then store in freezer bags once frozen). Stir well. allow it to sit for a few minutes and stir a final time. This should dissolve the store-bought yogurt completely. Carefully pour the mixture into a very clean quart-sized, wide-mouthed canning jar. Incubate the yogurt in a warm spot (such as in a crockpot with a little water, set on low) for 6 to 8 hours, or until it is thick. Chill and eat.

Riccotta Cheese:
6 cups water
3 cups Instant powdered milk
1/2 cup to 3/4 cups white vinegar
Salt to taste

Combine water and powdered milk. Heat gently so it won't burn. Heat to 120 degrees. When hot, remove from burner and GENTLY stir in vinegar. Don't use a whisk. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes if some of the liquid is still milky white, stir in more vinegar to separate. Start with just a spoon full and continue until the liquid is an amber color. Line a strainer with cheesecloth, or dishtowel. Dump cheese curds into the strainer and rinse with cool water. Break up clumps and rinse well. Allow all the liquid to drain ofr. Fold the dishtowel over the cheese and squeeze out all the liquid. Do this until the cheese ball is quite dry. After it is dry, put it in a bowl, break it up and salt it to taste.

Cottage Cheese:
Follow the recipe above to make Riccotta cheese. Stir in a little bit of yogurt or evaporated milk or cream.

Yummy Curry

Last night I decided to make curry for dinner. I looked through a few recipes to get some ideas and then I came up with some ideas myself. It was an interesting combination, and it turned out to be super tasty. Like most things that I make, it was fast (except for the brown rice which took 1 1/2 hours) and easy.


Here's my recipe for what I will probably call Tropical Curry:

Chicken (I used 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts)
1 Yellow Onion
Thai Red Curry Paste
1 can of Coconut Milk
Raw Spanish Peanuts
Coconut (I used sweetened coconut)
Fresh Pineapple
Cilantro

I sauteed the diced onions and cubed chicken. In another pot I mixed a can of coconut milk with 1 1/2 Tbsp of the red curry paste and cooked until mixed. When the chicken and onions were almost cooked through, I added the curry sauce and let them simmer. I toasted the raw spanish peanuts in olive oil and added some coconut in the last few minutes of cooking. We put the curry mixture over brown rice and then topped it with fresh pineapple, cilantro and the toasted peanuts and coconut. I think it would also be good with Jasmine rice.

Yummy Ezekiel Bread

Here's a recipe for one of our favorite breads, it's easy to make and it's packed with grains. I got the recipe from a bread class at Kitchen Kneads. I have especially liked making it with the price of wheat so high.

I half the recipe so it only makes 2 loaves (the recipe posted below will make 4 loaves), and I use lecithin instead of butter or margarine (I use 2 Tbsp. in a half recipe).

Ezekiel Bread (Ezekiel 4:9)

7 cups wheat
1 cup barley
1/4 cup pinto beans
1/4 cup soybeans
1/4 cup lentils
1 cup rye
1/3 cup millet
5 cups warm water
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
3 Tbsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. salt
1/2 cup gluten flour
2 Tbsp. dough enhancer

Combine the grains and beans and grind into flour. Combine the remaining ingredients. Add flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead 6-8 minutes. Shape into loaves and let rise until double in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Makes 4 loaves.

Yummy Portobellini Burgers

I found some Portobellini mushrooms (small portobellos) on sale this afternoon, so I decided to make them into burgers. I really like how they turned out. They were super fast, super easy and super yummy.

I sprayed the mushrooms with olive oil and seasoned them with pepper and a garlic parmesan mixture, then cooked them on a grill pan, just like a hamburger. I roasted a red pepper by broiling it in the oven. I also caramelized onions. I put Swiss cheese on the mushrooms once they were cooked, so it would be nice and gooey. I toasted Ciabatta rolls on the grill pan, once the onions and mushrooms were removed.

I put two mushrooms - topped with cheese, the roasted red pepper and onions on the toasted ciabatta rolls. I was able to make them in less than 20 minutes.

Dwight liked them so much he had two. I had him take a picture of the second one before he ate it.

I would also like to try using roasted chili peppers and Monterey Jack cheese instead of the red bell pepper and Swiss cheese, and maybe try adding some bacon.

Nanaimo Bars

When Dwight and I were in Victoria, Canada, we came across a great fudge shop. They had Nanaimo Bars on sale, so we decided to give them a try, since we were in Nanaimo, Canada earlier that day. The name of the bars sounded familiar, but I wasn't sure why until I saw them. Dwight's Dad made them for us a couple of times when we lived in Washington.

The Nanaimo Bars are probably horribly bad for you, but they are terribly good. I was able to find the recipe on the city of Nanaimo's website. The link is below if you would like to give them a try.

Nanaimo Bars Recipe

I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the bottom layer. I didn't have any custard powder, so I used 2 Tbsp. of vanilla instant pudding powder, and I used 3 Tbsp. of half and half instead of cream in the filling.

Yummy Strawberry Sauce

I love to eat dessert, but I don't like making it very much. I'm glad when I find quick and easy dessert recipes. Here's a recipe that I found for a great strawberry sauce. It's super easy and tastes wonderful. They were handing out samples at our neighborhood grocery store, Harmons.

I used the sauce on chocolate cake. I liked the balsamic vinegar and chocolate together.

Balsamic Strawberries

1 pound fresh strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Wash, hull and slice strawberries and place in a large bowl. Add sugar and stir with a rubber spatula, gently until sugar is dissolved. Add balsamic vinegar and mix well. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Serve over sponge cake or ice cream.

Yummy Pizza

My Sister-In-Law, Bethany, is an amazing cook. So, when she told me about a barbecued chicken pizza that she made, I had to try it. It is now on my list of favorites. It is very easy, and extremely tasty.

Here is the link for the pizza dough

Here is the link for the barbecue chicken pizza

When I make something new for the first time, I follow the recipe. The next time I make it, I usually try adding something different. Although this pizza was wonderful, I think that next time I will try adding green onions and pineapple, and put it on whole wheat dough. When I make pizza on whole wheat dough, I use whole wheat bread dough.

This is definitely a recipe worth trying.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I wanted to share a recipe from Sunset magazine that Dwight and I love. I think that it is a great St. Patrick's day soup.

Here's the link for Brussels Sprouts and Sausage Soup