Apple Pear Sauce Recipe

I hate to waste anything, especially when it comes to food. When making a pork roast often I will make a homemade apple sauce to go along with the meal. Last week I'd noticed a few pears in the fruit drawer of the refrigerator were starting to look a bit peek-id. Rather than see them go to waste I experimented with them and a few apples. .

Here is my recipe for Apple Pear Sauce.

Great as a dessert or to accompany meat

Ingredients

• 3 pears pitted and peeled (combo of Bartlett & Japanese Pears)
• 3 apples pitted and peeled (I used Honey Crisp apples)
• lemon juice (I used the lemon juice from the little plastic lemons)

Instructions

1. Once your fruit is peeled, pitted and sliced toss it in a bowl with some lemon juice.
2. Place ingredients into a medium size sauce pan and cook over a medium heat until the fruit is soft enough to easily mash.
3. Remove from heat and place in a bowl to serve.
4. Sauce can be served hot or cold.

I find that no sugar is needed as the natural sweetness from the fruit is sweet enough for me. However if wanted you could add 1/8th - 1/4 cup of sugar.

Great to serve alongside a pork roast or to eat as is for a dessert. I find I like this apple pear sauce on top of oatmeal as well for breakfast.

Pork Loin Roast Sunday Dinner

This Cuisinart saucepan is one of my favorite pans, especially for making applesauce.

Kale Stir Fry

I had bought a large bunch of kale to make a sausage and kale soup one day and it I ended up having a lot of left over kale. Rather than waste it I made a kale salad along with a kale stir-fry. If you've bought kale before then you'll know exactly what I mean.

Kale stir-fry

This served five people a side dish of kale stir fry.

Ingredients for Kale Stir-Fry

• 1/2 - 3/4 of a bunch of kale approximately 6-8 cups torn
• 1/4 tsp of sesame seed oil or olive oil
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 1 large onion sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 tsp. of red pepper chili flakes

Instructions for Kale Stir-Fry

1. Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan
2. Add the onion and garlic cooking for 2 minutes
3. Next add the chicken or vegetable broth along with the kale and stir fry until the kale is limp.
4. Season with the red pepper chili flakes, stir, serve and enjoy. 

Kale is Packed with Vitamins and Nutrients 

Add Kale to a salad.

Kale added to a Salad

The wok you see that I've used is almost exactly the same wok by Cuisinart. I use my wok quite frequently for many stir fry dishes.

Roasted Orange Chicken With Bacon

As you can imagine when I saw that Wonderful Wednesdays theme was food I was ecstatic! Thinking about it and knowing that I'd already taken out a chicken to roast, I had to of course get a little creative with the bird in question.

Roasted Orange Chicken With Bacon

My one son that actually likes chicken moved out on June 30th, which leaves the twins at home and they refuse to eat chicken as I've posted before. So for them I made homemade mac n cheese. Wait till they see the chicken come out of the oven draped in slices of bacon. I bet they'll want some :)

Okay so here's how I made the roasted orange chicken with bacon.

Ingredients

• 1 - 3 1/2  pound bird
• 1 orange cut into 1/4's
• Fresh ground pepper
• 4 slices of bacon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F
2. Rinse off the chicken and place in a roasting pan. I used foil for easy cleanup because I hate scrubbing pans. 
3. Place the chicken in the roasting pan.
4. Cut up the orange and place 3 of the 4 quarters right into the birds cavity.
5. Squeeze the other 1/4 section of the orange over the bird and then place that 1/4 into the bird as well.
6. Sprinkle with fresh ground pepper, add a 1/2" of water into the bottom of the roasting pan, and place into the oven.
7. Cook for approximately 20 - 30 minutes and then remove from the oven.
8. Cut the slices of bacon in half.
9. Drape over the chicken and then pop it back into the oven to continue cooking until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 - 170 degrees.
10. Be sure to baste the chicken when needed.
11. When the chicken is cooked remove from oven and set on a plate for five minutes before carving.
12. Serve and ENJOY!

13. 

    Stuff the orange into the chicken

    
    
    
    

    

    Placing the bacon onto the chicken

Did my two sons have any of the roasted chicken? No they passed even with the bacon on it. They just don't know what they're missing.

There isn't a 13th step above. For some reason I could not edit it out.

This post is for Wonderful Wednesday. If you'd like to join in on the fun and link up, head over to Pictimilitude, which is hosted by Cyndi Calhoun.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

French Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cake Box Cookies

I'm turning into a cake box cookie monster baker. It has been a few weeks since I made cookies and the family is getting restless. So today I grabbed a French Vanilla cake mix that I got on sale for a dollar and made it into French vanilla chocolate chip cookies.

Cook Time
Prep Time: 10 minutes 
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Ready in:    22 minutes
Yield: 28 cookies

Ingredients 

Ingredients                                        

• 1 French Vanilla cake mix
• 3 Tbs. of vegetable or canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup of butter or margarine 
• 1/2 of a cup of chocolate chips

Instructions

Making the cookie dough
Adding the chocolate chips
Forming the cookie dough

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit placing the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Line a baking or cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Add the contents from the box of the French vanilla cake mix to a medium size mixing bowl.
4. Next add in the butter, canola oil, and one large egg, 
5. With an electric beater on the low setting, beat all the ingredients until well mixed.   
6. Fold in the chocolate chips. The cookie dough will be very thick.
7. With a teaspoon scoop out the batter and gently roll in the palm of your hand to form a ball. Place the ball onto the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Gently push down on the cookie dough ball.
8. Continue to do this until all the dough is used.
9. Bake for 11-12 minutes and ten turn the oven off leaving the cookies in the oven for another 1-2 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven and transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Butter Pecan with Coconut Cake Box Cookies using a Butter Pecan Cake mix.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake Box Cookies using a Devil's Food Cake mix. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Banana Strawberry Low Carb Gluten Free Bread Recipe

I've been testing out new recipes for for a lower carbohydrate diet that I started on back in February. Before I get to the recipe I have to tell you that I'm having great success with this lifestyle changing diet. In the past three months I've lost to date a total of 24 pounds, and that is without any strenuous exercise.

I must admit at first it was hard to give up bread other than low carb breads, as before I used to have bread almost every day for lunch and breakfast. But if I can do it, anyone can.  Occasionally I do have a small portion of rice or pasta, but never white. It has to be brown or whole wheat. Everyone in my family/household loves potatoes and I will cook them, but only for them. If I want potatoes I opt for sweet potatoes. 

A friend of mine asked me if I felt healthier. A month into the diet I started to have more energy, feel better about myself, and yes by all means healthier.

Enough about me and my diet, here's the recipe.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Ready after 40 minutes, which includes cooling time.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of almond flour
• 1/2 cup of brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup of ground flax seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp. of baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. of fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbs. of apple cider vinegar
• 2  Tbs. of liquid honey
• 3 large eggs beaten 
• 1 medium banana mushed
• 3-4 large strawberries sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Grease a loaf or bread pan with cooking spray or shortening.
3. In a medium size bowl combine all dry ingredients mixing well.
4. In another bowl mix the extra virgin olive oil with the apple cider vinegar and honey. 
5. Add the beaten eggs and whisk really well.
6. Add mushed banana along with the strawberries and stir.
7. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients mixing well.
8. Pour the batter into your loaf pan.
9. Pop into the oven for 25-30 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick into the bread and have it come out clean. 
10. Remove from the oven and cool for at least ten minutes.
11. Remove the bread from the loaf pan and let it cool on a rack.
12. Slice and ENJOY!

Thanks for visiting and please let me know if you try my recipe, and what you think of it.

Chicken Beef Chili

I started out the day planning on making spaghetti for dinner. After cutting up the onions, celery, green peppers, and frying the ground beef, I went to the cupboard to get out the tomato sauce. I could have sworn I saw tomato sauce in there a few days ago.  I must have imagined it as there was no tomato sauce to be found. Usually I would just nip out to the store but I really didn't feel like going out so .....
I improvised. I made chili instead.

Chicken Beef Chili

Why chicken and beef? Last night for dinner I'd made two roasted chickens and we had a bit left over. The ground beef seemed a little sparse so I cut up what was left from the roasted chicken and added that to the pot. One thing about chili, you can add just about whatever you want and it always seems to taste great.

Ingredients for Chicken Beef Chili

• 1 pound of ground beef fried and drained
• 1 Tbs. of vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1 shallot chopped
• 2 celery stalks chopped
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 of a large green pepper chopped
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of Aylmer Accents chili seasonings tomatoes
• 2 cans of black beans
• 1 can of kidney beans
• 2-3 cups of chopped cooked chicken

Spices that I used

• cumin 
• chili powder
• garlic powder
• hot pepper flakes
• Tabasco Sauce

Let's Get Cooking

1. Fry the ground beef in a pan seasoning it with a few shakes of garlic powder.
2. While the ground beef is cooking prepare the onion, shallot, green pepper, and celery.  Peel the garlic and set it aside.
3. In a large pot or dutch oven add the vegetable and heat it.
4. Add the celery, onions, scallions, and green pepper to the pot cooking on medium high, stirring  occasionally until onions are transparent. 
5. Add the can of diced tomatoes and the Aylmer Accents chili seasonings tomatoes, and stir.
6. Add your spices of choice. 
7. Drain the ground beef, and add it to the pot along with the chicken, and stir again.
8. Drain and rinse the black and kidney beans. Stir them into the pot mixing everything well.
9. Cut the cloves of garlic in half. Using a garlic press, press the garlic into the chili.
10. Let everything simmer for at least one hour.
11. Serve and ENJOY!

Dinner is Ready Let's Eat

Cake Mix Cookies-Butter Pecan With Coconut

A week ago I'd made chocolate chip cake mix cookies and my family loved them. Since then my husband had been asking for white cake cookies as white birthday cake is his favorite. The only other cake mix I had on hand was butter pecan so I thought I'd give that one a try. I changed the recipe slightly as to the oil I used, and ended up with a few extra cookies in the process.

Butter Pecan Coconut Cake Mix/Box Cookies

Cook Time
Prep Time: 10 minutes 
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ready in:    20 minutes
Yield: 28 cookies

Ingredients 

• 1 box of Betty Crocker Butter Pecan flavored cake mix
• 1/2  of a cup of butter or margarine 
• 2 Tbs. of canola or vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 of a cup of sweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit placing the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Line a baking or cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Add the contents from the box of the butter pecan cake mix to a medium size mixing bowl.
4. Next add in the butter, canola oil, one large egg, and the coconut.
5. With an electric beater on the low setting, beat all the ingredients until well mixed.   
6. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again to make sure there are no wet ingredients left. The cookie dough will be very thick.
7. With a teaspoon scoop out the batter and gently roll in the palm of your hand to form a ball. Place the ball onto the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Gently push down on the cookie dough ball.
8. Continue to do this until all the dough is used.
9. At this point you can decorate the cookies with sprinkles, or as I did using 1/2 of a maraschino cherry for some of the cookies. If you do use the maraschino cherries make sure to drain them really well before using them.
10. Bake for nine minutes and ten turn the oven off leaving the cookies in the oven for another 1-2 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
12. If you are going to use these cookies for a dessert hide them.
13. ENJOY!

Ready to go into the oven

Cookies are ready to cool

Thank you for stopping by. Please do come back and let me know if you made these and if you liked them.

Cake Cookie Recipe

My family has been complaining that I never bake cookies anymore. Well I do but usually it's cookies for my two dogs. Today I had remembered someone telling me that you could make cookies from a cake mix and I thought perfect, I'll whip up chocolate chip cookies and make everyone happy.

The recipe I was following was way too hard to mix so I added a few extra ingredients to the and the cookies came out delicious. Yes I've been on a low carb diet and these cookies are a definite no no, but I had to taste them to make sure they were edible. I've only ate one so I figure I'm safe. 

Chocolate Chip Cake Mix Cookies

Cook Time
Prep Time: 10 minutes 
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Ready in:    22 minutes
Yield: 22 cookies

Ingredients needed for Cake Cookie Recipe

• 1 box of Betty Crocker Super Moist Devil's Food Flavor cake mix
• 1/2 cup of butter softened or 1/2 cup of margarine 
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbs. of extra virgin coconut oil (melted and in liquid form)
• 2 Tbs. of water
• 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Instructions

Batter will be quite thick

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl add the cake mix along with the softened butter, 1 large egg, the coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of water. 
3. With an electric hand mixer beat on low until all the ingredients are well mixed.
4. Add the chocolate chips stirring into the batter.
5. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper drop dough by the tablespoon onto the cookie sheet.
6. Make sure to leave enough room as these cookies will spread.
7. Place in the oven for approximately 11-12 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and let the cookies sit for about one minute before transferring them either to a plate or onto a rack to cool.



Leave space as they'll spread

9. ENJOY!

I'll be making this recipe again and again as the options are endless for all the different kinds of cookies you can make with one box of cake mix.

Easy Sweet Potato Oven Fries

Healthy, delicious, and easy to make. A variety of spices can be used depending on how you like your fries.

Sweet Potato Oven Fries

The following ingredients made fries for 6 people.

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 4 tbs. of olive oil
• garlic powder
• sea salt
• onion powder

1. Preheat oven to 425 Degrees Fahrenheit 
2. Wash the potatoes really well and either peel or leave the peel on.
3. With a sharp knife cut the potatoes into strips.
4. Place the cut potatoes into a large bowl or a plastic bag.
5. Add the olive oil and coat the potatoes. 
6. Place the coated potato strips on a cookie sheet or a pizza pan.
7. Season with garlic powder, sea salt and onion powder.
8. Pop into the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Flip the fries and continue to cook for another 15 minutes.
9. At this point check the fries and see if they are cooked to your liking. If not cook a bit longer.

I like spicy so once the sweet potatoes came out of the oven I added Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning. 

Turkey Loaf

If you're a meatloaf fan but would like a healthier choice with less calories why not try a turkey loaf. The following recipe has approximately 250 calories per slice and will feed 6-8 people.

I find that ground turkey has a slightly blander taste to it so I added pepper flakes to the mixture to add a bit of zip and spiciness to it. If you don't like spicy simply omit the pepper flakes.

Dinner is Ready

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of lean ground turkey
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 shallot chopped
• 2 ribs of celery chopped
• 1 large garlic clove chopped
• 1 Tsp. of pepper flakes
• fresh ground pepper
• 2 big pinches of thyme
• 1 Tsp. of poultry seasoning or sage 
• 4-5 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup of bread crumbs
• 1 extra large egg gently beaten

Instructions

When it comes to safety I like to always check the internal temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Spray a loaf pan with vegetable or olive oil (easier to clean when it's time to wash the dishes)
3. In a large bowl combine the turkey, chopped onions, shallots, celery, and garlic.
4. Add all the spices  along with the Worcestershire sauce, and bread crumbs.
5. Add the beaten egg.
6. You can use a large spoon to mix everything together, but I find that using my hands to do this is just as easy. 
7. Transfer into the prepared loaf pan, and pop it into the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Check with a meat thermometer if you like. The turkey loaf should have an internal temperature of 165 - 170.
8. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.
9. Serve and ENJOY!

I served the turkey loaf with fresh asparagus and a baby spinach salad.

I've always wanted a meatloaf pan that I could use to lift the loaf out of the pan, and I think I've found one that I think would work quite well.
This pan called the Perfect Meatloaf Pan will drains the fat, cooks the meat evenly, and keeps it together.

Available at Amazon.com

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Mashed Cauliflower a Low Carb Recipe

Mashed cauliflower is a delicious alternative to mashed potatoes. Whether you're following a low carbohydrate diet or not this side dish is a must try. There are many variations to this dish depending on what you and your family likes.

Cauliflower cooks much faster than potatoes, and this dish can be cooked and on your table in a total of 15 minutes.

The following recipe will feed as a side dish, 5 people maybe six.

Ingredients

• 1 medium to large head of cauliflower
• 2 Tbsp. of cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• fresh ground pepper

Instructions

1. Clean the head of cauliflower and cut into small pieces.
2. In a large pot of boiling water cook the cauliflower until it is soft enough to mash.
3. While the cauliflower is cooking shred the cheddar cheese. (I used old cheddar)
4. Drain the cauliflower and mash.
5. Stir in 2 tablespoons of cream cheese, then fold in the cheddar cheese until it has melted.
6. Add fresh ground pepper and serve.

Last night I'd just finished preparing this dish and my husband comes into the kitchen asking what I'd just made, pointing to the cauliflower. I said, Mashed potatoes. He then says to me, Who did you make mashed potatoes for, I can't eat them. When I told him that it was cauliflower he said, OH ... okay, with a bit of a strange look on his face. Once he tasted the cauliflower he said, Wow is this ever good, I think I like this better than mashed potatoes. This coming from a man that could have eaten mashed potatoes every single night (before starting a low carb diet) was quite a compliment.

Black Bean Salad Recipe

After looking at what I had in my kitchen cabinets yesterday and seeing six cans of black beans I thought I'd use the beans as the main ingredient for a side salad.

Creating salads from this and that and with what I happen to have in the fridge is something I enjoy doing. This black bean salad is full of flavor and zip. Serve it as a side dish or eat it on its own.

Ingredients

• 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup of chick peas or garbanzo beans, rinsed
• 1/2 of a red pepper sliced into strips
• 5 slices of red pepper for garnish
• 1/4 cup of sweet onion chopped
• 1/2 of a large tomato chopped
• 1 avocado peeled, cut into small pieces and sprinkled with lemon juice to stop it from browning

Ingredients for salad dressing

• 1 Tbs. of lemon juice
• 2 Tbs. of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbs. of Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
• 1 Tbs. of red wine vinegar
• Fine sea salt to taste

Instructions

1. Put the black beans and chick peas into a medium size bowl.
2. Add the red pepper slices, sweet onion, chopped tomato and avocado, and toss gently.
3. In a small bowl whisk all of the salad dressing ingredients together, and pour over the salad.
4. Top with red pepper slices.
5. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
6. ENJOY!

Normally I would use fresh garlic cloves and press or grate them into the salad dressing. Yesterday I was a little lazy and used the powder instead.

Black Bean and Barley Salad

This black bean salad is made with
barley and is quite good. You can find
the recipe by following this link.

Thank you for visiting and I hope that you enjoy both of these recipes. Have a great day!

Cabbage Rolls a Low Carb Recipe

Normally I would make my cabbage rolls with rice, but because I am following a low carbohydrate diet I've omitted the rice. To be honest with you I prefer them this way.

The following recipe makes 18 large cabbage rolls. If you're not needing this many simply cut the recipe in half. I always make way more than we will eat and I freeze the rest.



Ingredients 

• 1 very large head of cabbage
• 2 pounds of ground beef
• 2 pounds of ground pork
• 2 cups of chopped onions
• 3 large eggs
• 6 large cloves of garlic (less if you like or more)
• marjoram 
• fresh ground pepper
• Worcestershire Sauce
• For the sauce you will need:
• 1 large can of tomato sauce
• 1 large can of diced tomatoes
• 1 small onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped

Instructions

1. Insert a knife into the core of the cabbage and try to cut out as much of the core as possible without disturbing the leaves.
2. Place the head of cabbage in a very large pot of boiling water and let it boil for at least ten minutes.
3. While you're waiting start on the filling.
4. In a large bowl combine the meat, onions,garlic,spices and Worcestershire sauce. Add the eggs and mix really well.
5. Remove the cabbage from the pot and let it cool long enough so that you can start to gently peel the leaves off.
6. Set the leaves on a plate until you're ready to stuff them.
7. You'll get to a point where the leaves are harder to peel off so at this point you put the cabbage back into the water to continue to boil. I have a spaghetti pot with an insert that works perfectly for preparing the cabbage. Repeat this process until you have 18 or 20 leaves.
8. In a saucepan add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, small chopped onion and 2 cloves of chopped garlic. Stir and let the sauce heat on low while stuffing the cabbage leaves. Stir every once in awhile.
9. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
10. Spray a large roasting pan with vegetable oil. (I do this for easier cleanup) 
11. In the bottom of the roasting pan place extra cabbage leaves or pieces that you have left from the unused head.
12. In the center of each leaf place a good amount of the meat mixture. You may need to cut away some of the stem to roll each leaf. Roll and place in the roasting pan seam down. (Some people use toothpicks but I find that the rolls steam together and don't fall apart)
13. Once all of your cabbage rolls are made and in the roasting pan pour the sauce over the top.
14. Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil and place into the oven for one hour.
15. Uncover and reduce the oven temperature to 250 and continue to bake for another hour.
16. Remove from the oven and let the cabbage rolls cool for at least ten minutes.
17. Serve and ENJOY!

All rolled and ready for sauce

Ready to go into the oven



A few items to help you along the way.

Thanks for visiting and I hope that you enjoy the recipe.

Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Recipe

The portobello mushroom is one of my favorites of the mushroom family. They're big, meaty, and delicious. It can grow in diameter anywhere from 4 - 6 inches. Use them as a side dish, appetizer, slice them up to put on a burger, fry them in oil with garlic and onions, or use them in a salad.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Pork BBQ Ribs

Last night I decided to stuff the Portobello's and bake them in my toaster oven. We had them as a side dish to go along with oven baked BBQ ribs. 

Ingredients for Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

• 4 large Portobello mushrooms
• 1/3 cup of chopped onion
• 1/4 cup of chopped green pepper
• 1 tbs. of chopped garlic
• good size pinch of Greek seasoning
• pinch of thyme
• fresh ground pepper
• Greek style Feta cheese (I used the feta that comes in a container in the brine)
• 2 tbs. of extra virgin olive oil

Let's Get Cooking

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Wash the mushrooms and pat dry.
3. Chop the onion, green pepper and garlic and put them into a bowl.
4. Carefully remove the mushroom stem (chop it), and the gently scrape the gills adding both of these to the bowl.
5. Add the Greek seasoning, thyme and pepper and mix everything gently.
6. Heat up the olive oil and sauté all the ingredients that are in the bowl for 5 minutes.
7. Equally spoon the mixture into the mushroom caps.
9. Top off with feta cheese and pop into the oven or toaster oven for about 15 minutes.
10. Remove, serve, and ENJOY!

Thanks for visiting and if you try this recipe please come back and let me know if you liked the mushrooms. Have a great day!

Bacon and Cabbage Recipe

Bacon and Cabbage

I'm getting geared up for St. Patrick's Day, and this year I want to make a traditional Irish meal which is cabbage and bacon. I didn't have any back bacon and thought okay well let's try it out with regular bacon slices. Most people think that the traditional meal for St. Patrick's Day is corn beef and cabbage. Apparently this is a North American traditional meal. One day I was talking to a friend online who lives in Ireland and she told me that on St. Paddy's Day they feast on bacon and cabbage.

A blogger that I follow, +Natasha Hoover over at Diary of a Plague Year , had posted an article about boiled bacon. I do boil bacon when making a few Lithuanian dishes but Natasha's post came to mind, while thinking about how to make the following bacon and cabbage dish.

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 pound of bacon (1 pkg.) of sliced bacon cut into pieces.
• 1 medium size head of cabbage chopped 
• 2 medium onions sliced
• 3 garlic cloves chopped
• fresh ground pepper

Instructions

1. Place the bacon in a large pot or dutch oven and cover with water. Bring the bacon to a boil and cook for approximately 20 minutes. 
2. Add the sliced onion and chopped garlic and stir. Continue to cook for another ten minutes.
3. Add and stir in the chopped cabbage.
4. Season with fresh ground pepper.
5. Cover and continue to cook over low-medium heat stirring occasionally for approximately another 20 minutes or until cabbage is cooked and wilted. 
6. Drain and serve. ENJOY!

You can either eat this as a side dish or all alone. This recipe will serve 6-7 people as a main dish.
We are a family of 5 and all of this went in one meal. I served a side salad along with the bacon and cabbage.

Quick and Easy Dinner

Yesterday I'd taken out two pounds of hamburger to defrost for dinner with no idea on what was going to become of it. Went along through my day working on a HubPages article that I wanted to get finished and published before thinking of making dinner. Before I knew it, it was five o'clock and realized that dinner prep was gonna have to be quick. So as I stood in the kitchen staring down at this defrosted meat a few ideas on what to do with it came and went. Shepherds Pie .... nah, didn't feel like frying the hamburger and wanted to skip that step of the preparation. Spaghetti ... no, would still have to fry the burger, and already had that this week. Then it came to me .... Meatloaf! Now there's something I haven't made in eons.

I'm not a big fan of meatloaf but the rest of the family loves it. I don't think I've ever made it the same way twice but after tasting last nights meatloaf I think I'll be making it this way again as I enjoyed it. When my husband saw meatloaf the first thing out of his mouth was, "You only made one?" He loves meatloaf.

Meatloaf with Baked Potatoes, Carrots and a Kitchen Sink Salad

Prep Time: 20 min.
Cook Time: 60 min.
Ready and on the table in 1 hour and 20 min.
Serves 4-5 people

Ingredients Needed for Meatloaf

• 2 pounds of lean ground beef 
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 1 cup of breadcrumbs 
• 1/2 tsp. of dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
• fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 cup of chili sauce 
• 1 egg

For the Meatloaf Topping

• 1/4 cup of ketchup 
• 2-3 tbs of Dijon mustard (or regular yellow if you don't have Dijon)
• 2 tbs of brown sugar

Let's Get Cooking

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray (much easier when it comes to cleanup)
3. In a bowl combine hamburger, chopped onions, breadcrumbs, spices, chili sauce and the egg.
4. With your hand mix everything together. You can use a spoon but I find it easier to use my hands.
5. Once everything is mixed together really well press the meat mixture into the loaf pan.
6. In a small bowl mix the topping ingredients together and then spoon over the top of the meatloaf.
7. Place meatloaf into the oven and bake for sixty minutes.
8. Wash and wrap 4-5 potatoes in tinfoil and place in the oven at the same time as the meatloaf.
9. While the meatloaf is cooking peel, wash and cut 5-6 medium-large carrots, and place in a pot with water to boil about fifteen minutes before meatloaf is ready to come out of the oven. 
10. Recipe for the Kitchen Sink Salad can be found by clicking on the link.
11. When carrots are cooked add butter or leave plain. If you'd like glazed carrots, drain the water from the pot leaving the carrots in the pot. Add butter or margarine with 2 tbs of brown sugar and place back on the stove burner stirring until butter is melted and brown sugar is mixed well with carrots. 
12. Serve and ENJOY!

Pork Stew with Cream of Mushroom Soup

Pork Stew made with Cream of Mushroom Soup
Photo by Susan Zutautas

At this time of year when the weather is starting to get a nip in the air there's nothing quite as satisfying as a home cooked stew to warm you up.

For this stew I used two and a half pounds of pork that had been left over from a very large pork loin roast that I'd cut up into several roasts and chops. When pork loin roasts are on sale I will buy several using them in many different recipes.

Cooking Time:
Prep: 30 minutes
Cooking time 1 1/2 hours
Ready in 2 hours
Will serve 5 - 6 people



Ingredients for Pork Stew                                                                    

• 2 1/2 pounds of defrosted pork cut into pieces 
• 3/4 of a cup of all purpose flour
• 1 tsp of Greek seasoning
• 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 tbs of canola or vegetable oil
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 tsp thyme
• 3 large carrots chopped
• 1 medium cooking onion chopped
• 2-3 ribs of celery chopped
• 6-9 small to medium potatoes cut into chunks
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1-2 cups of frozen or canned peas or a frozen vegetable of your choice

Instructions: Let's Get Cooking the Stew

1. Cut your pork into bite sized pieces. 
2. In a bowl or container mix together the flour, Greek seasoning, garlic powder and fresh ground pepper.
3. Dredge the pork in the flour mixture.
4. Heat oil in a large pot and add the pork. Brown and stir frequently. 
5. Add two cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and prepare the vegetables.
6. While the pork is simmering cut up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add to the pot and stir.
7. Add thyme and continue to simmer.
8. Wash and cut up the potatoes, then add them to the pot, and stir.
9. Continue to simmer for fifteen minutes.
10. Add one can of cream off mushroom soup and stir. 
11. Cover and continue to cook for approximately an hour. 
12. Add frozen vegetables and cook until heated through.
13. Serve and ENJOY!

Photo Tutorial for Preparing Stew

Dredge the pork in the flour and spice
 mixture

Brown the pork in hot oil

Once chicken broth has been added
and meat has simmered add veggies 

Cut and chop washed carrots, celery, and onion

Add cream of mushroom soup,simmer and  cook
        All Photo's are the property of Susan Zutautas         

To go along with this stew you may want to serve a side salad and fresh crusty rolls with butter, or a nice Italian or French loaf.

If you have any leftovers cool it completely and store in a bowl in the refrigerator. Heat it up the following day for lunch or dinner. It is just as good reheated.

If you'd like to see another pork stew recipe that is quite similar to this one but does not use cream of mushroom soup please click here.