HOW TO COOK LENTILS
Lentils are so easy to cook, you could cook them blind folded with ear plugs. And they great part is their very healthy food choice. I like to treat them as a seasoning to my food dishes. I add them to soups, cold lentils are great sprinkled on salads, use 1/4 cup as a filler to add to a left over meat dish, or create your own idea to make your dish great with lentils. Legumes is really a funny word. I use to pronouns it just for fun Le Gummys or Le goooms.
Lentils come is a wide varieties of colors, from brown, yellow, red, green and even black. And there are many more varieties world wide.
2 (1/4 cup) of Lentils.
2 cups water.
Bring water to a boil, then turn down to med-low, stir.
Now this is where you got to use your sense of taste to tell when their done.
1. If you bite into the lentil and it taste very hard and maybe breaks into hard bits. Nope not yet.
2. When you bite into the lentil it not hard, but not mushy. Kind of al denti or firm to the bite, but not hard or crunchy.
And here is something to consider if you add cooked lentils into a meat dish and cook it longer the lentils will hold up. They are really good at holding their shape.
Now if you want to cook more Lentils like say 1 cup, use three cups water.
When I have left over spaghetti meat or taco meat in the freezer. I will usually cook up a little bit of lentils and mix it into the meat and make into a soup for a quick meal.
Have fun creating your own Lentil adventure.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Monday, February 8, 2016
WHAT TO DO WITH LEFT OVER DIRTY NODDLES OR RICE MEAL?
WHAT TO DO WITH LEFT OVER DIRTY NODDLES OR RICE MEAL?
Idea 1: Soup
3 cups of soup broth
Left over rice or noodles
Left over meat veggie mixture.
Add a few table spoons of tomato sauce to soup (optional)
Bring to a boil, turn off and eat.
Idea 2: Tortilla
Open tortilla soup in meat veggie mixtuer, add a little salsa, cilantro and cheese. DONE.
Idea 3: Quick Spaggetti
Ate all the noddles? Cook up some spaghetti noodles and add the meat veggie mixture with the tomato sauce. Whalla!
Idea 4. Quick Chili
Have some beans of any kind? Add them to the meat with the tomato sauce and very basic easy chili.
HAVE FUN CREATING YOUR OWN MASTER PIECE OF YUMMINESS
DIRTY NOODLES OR RICE SECOND VERSION
Whether it Dirty rice or Dirty noodles this is a great money saving dish. Simple versitle and very filling. And you can use any veggies you want. Instead of carrots and celery, use broccoli, bell peppers, cauliflower, or any other veggie you have. Use your imagination and create your own yummy version.
Note: You can cook things separately and keep them in a gently warm oven until the rest of the food is done.
Important Note: The rice one freezes very well. However the noodle one does not. So I suggest do not mix in the noodles like you do the rice. Add the noddles to the bowl and add the meat on top. This way you can freeze the meat. Then make new noddles later on and they will taste fresh and yummy.
INGREDIENTS:
2 to 3 Cup cooked rice. Any type is fine.
1 to 3 Cup Cooked noodles. Any type is fine.
1 to 2 pounds of ground meat, your choice. I use Turkey.
1 (4 oz) can of tomato paste.
3 cup of Soup Broth of Stock.
2 Tablespoons of Rice Vinegar
1 Whole Sweet onion. DICED Or Red, or white, or your choice.
2 to 5 cloves garlic peeled and sliced. MINCE
8 Small Tricolor mini peppers or 1 Red bell Pepper DICED.
1 Green Bell Pepper. DICED
2 Teaspoon of each Cinnamon, Cumin, Thyme, Black Pepper, Turmeric, Taco Seasoning, Tarragon, Paprika.
FIRST: COOKING THE RICE
CONVERSION FOR RICE: 1 1/4 CUP = 288 KILO = 8 5/8 Oz = 245 GRAMS = 17 TABLESPOONS.
FOR WATER 32 TABLESPOONS IS EQUAL TO 1 3/4 CUPS
1 1/4 CUP LONG GRAIN RICE
2ND. ADD 32 TABLESPOONS OR 1 3/4 CUP WATER TO RICE.
3RD. PUT THE POT ON THE STOVE.
4TH. PUT LID ON, AND BRING TO A BOIL. AS SOON AS YOU SEE BUBBLES COME TO THE TOP AND TOUCH THE LID, TURN DOWN TO LOW.
5. AS SOON AS YOU SEE THE RICE IT SELF AND LITTLE TO NO BUBBLES COMING OUT OF THE RICE. SHUT THE BURNER OFF AND REST RICE FOR ABOUT 10 to 15 MINUTE MORE.
NOTE: This can be out on the burner until the food is done.
SECOND: IF YOUR USING NOODLES NOTE: NO LID REQUIRED.
Fill a large pot with water and turn the burner on High. As soon as you see small bubbles bubbling up from the bottom in little lines toward the top, put your noddles in. Stir frequently with wooden spoon to keep from sticking. As soon as the water really starts to boil, turn the burner down to Medium High. When you see white foam start to float on top of the water the noddles are close to being done, that means the starch is coming out. Take one our periodically, let it cool and taste it.
1. If it's chewy, it's not done.
2. If it's a little less chewy, but still not soft, it's still not done.
3. If it is soft and not mushy, it's probably done. Turn off the burner and drain the hot water off in a separate bowl, to let the water cool.
4. Lightly drizzle salad oil or olive oil over the noodles and mix in. This will keep the noodles from sticking togetheir.
Set aside and cover with a lid to keep warm and so they don't dry out. They will be find until the dinner is done.
THIRD: COOKING THE MEAT. Cook the Meat at Med-High
Get a large pan out enough to contain either 1 pound or 2 pounds of meat.
1. If the meat is frozen.
a. Thaw it in your microwave, if you have a inverter defroster.
b. Thaw in the refrigerator. The best thing to do is put it in the refrigerator the day before, toward the front front of the refrigerator.
Next minced the garlic and put it in the pan, Then dice the onion and sweet peppers and add to the pan. Add two tablespoon rice vinegar and sautee.
Next add all the spices with 1 cup of broth to the meat and with a wooden spoon break the meat into smaller and smaller pieces.
If you are add about 1 cup for 1 pound of meat or 2 cups or less to 2 pounds of meat.
Note: If the bottom of the pan is getting dry add more broth. It is also ok to add a little water, but soup has more flavor.
Cover the cooking meat with a lid and periodically lift the lid and chop chop chop, breaking the meat apart and watching all the pink meat turn brown. As you watch the pink areas turn brown, break more meat up to make sure their no pockets of raw meat. When you feel you can not see any more pink meat, turn the burner down to low, put the lid back on and let cook on low for about another 10 minutes more.
Next drain off grease. Tilt the pan gently and push all the meat to the higher side and ladle off the grease into a metal can to freeze, then throw away.
COOKING THE TOMATO SAUCE.
In a small pan add the paste with the one cup of broth and spices. Turn on Medium high and stir until the broth is absorbed into the paste.
till the noddle or meat is done.
ENJOY.
Friday, February 5, 2016
VEGGITARIAN FIJITAS WITH AVOCADO TORTILLAS
VEGGITARIAN FIJITAS WITH AVOCADO TORTILLAS
NOTE: The recipe of the Avocado tortillas is directly below this recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
1. Batch of home made Avocado Tortillas.
1 small or medium white onion.
8 small sweet peppers or 2 red bell peppers. Your choice in color.
1 can or Rosarita Beans. (This is my go to beans in case of an emergency.) Or home cooked beans.
2 cups of cooked rice or 2 cups left over rice.
1/2 teaspoon of Turmeric
4 cups homemade soup broth.
1 cup of lose packed cilantro leaves.
3 1/2 garlic cloves peeled.
2 Tablespoon olive oil
MEATHOD OF PREPARAION:
FIRST: COOKING RICE When cooking rice a glass lid is great.
Mince cilantro and garlic and saute at the bottom of a pot on Medium. When you start to smell the garlic, turn off the burner. Add 2 cups of rice, 3 cups of soup broth and then the 1/2 teaspoon of Turmeric. Stir everything to mix. Cover with a lid and turn to high. (Stay & Watch). As soon as the rice starts to bubble and the bubbles make their way to the top of the lid. Turn to low. Look into the pot if you see bubbles coming out of holes in the rice and the bubbles are not covering the rice all the way anymore. Turn off the stove top and let the rice rest for 15 minutes.
SECOND: VEGGIES
Peel the onion and cut it in half. Then cut it so the onion half look like a rainbow halves. Place in pan with 1 table spoon of olive oil. Next cut up small sweet peppers or large red bell peppers and add to pan with onion. Turn stove top on high and saute with a wooden spoon until you see the edges of the onion turn a brown or even a little black here and their. When you see this, it is called caramelization, and by this time the sweet peppers will be done too. When done do not cover, the food will over cook and turn to mush. Not good.
THRID: BEANS
In a small pot add the refried beans and add 1/2 cup of soup broth. Heat on medium and stir bean until they start to bubble and are cooked. Well they don't have to bubble, just as long as they are very hot.
FOURTH: WARMING TORTILLAS
Place about 5 tortillas into a paper bag, lay a damp paper towel over the tortillas and microwave for 15 to 20 second. Depending on your Microwave.
FIFTH: Have your favorite condiments ready. Cheese, sour cream, salsa and maybe some jalapenos.
YUMMY! Were having this tonight for dinner. :)
NOTE: The recipe of the Avocado tortillas is directly below this recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
1. Batch of home made Avocado Tortillas.
1 small or medium white onion.
8 small sweet peppers or 2 red bell peppers. Your choice in color.
1 can or Rosarita Beans. (This is my go to beans in case of an emergency.) Or home cooked beans.
2 cups of cooked rice or 2 cups left over rice.
1/2 teaspoon of Turmeric
4 cups homemade soup broth.
1 cup of lose packed cilantro leaves.
3 1/2 garlic cloves peeled.
2 Tablespoon olive oil
MEATHOD OF PREPARAION:
FIRST: COOKING RICE When cooking rice a glass lid is great.
Mince cilantro and garlic and saute at the bottom of a pot on Medium. When you start to smell the garlic, turn off the burner. Add 2 cups of rice, 3 cups of soup broth and then the 1/2 teaspoon of Turmeric. Stir everything to mix. Cover with a lid and turn to high. (Stay & Watch). As soon as the rice starts to bubble and the bubbles make their way to the top of the lid. Turn to low. Look into the pot if you see bubbles coming out of holes in the rice and the bubbles are not covering the rice all the way anymore. Turn off the stove top and let the rice rest for 15 minutes.
SECOND: VEGGIES
Peel the onion and cut it in half. Then cut it so the onion half look like a rainbow halves. Place in pan with 1 table spoon of olive oil. Next cut up small sweet peppers or large red bell peppers and add to pan with onion. Turn stove top on high and saute with a wooden spoon until you see the edges of the onion turn a brown or even a little black here and their. When you see this, it is called caramelization, and by this time the sweet peppers will be done too. When done do not cover, the food will over cook and turn to mush. Not good.
THRID: BEANS
In a small pot add the refried beans and add 1/2 cup of soup broth. Heat on medium and stir bean until they start to bubble and are cooked. Well they don't have to bubble, just as long as they are very hot.
FOURTH: WARMING TORTILLAS
Place about 5 tortillas into a paper bag, lay a damp paper towel over the tortillas and microwave for 15 to 20 second. Depending on your Microwave.
FIFTH: Have your favorite condiments ready. Cheese, sour cream, salsa and maybe some jalapenos.
YUMMY! Were having this tonight for dinner. :)
Thursday, February 4, 2016
AVOCADO TORTILLAS
AVOCADO TORTILLAS Note: This recipe is a bit more trickier than regular flour tortillas, the dough is a lot softer .
Tortillas are Awesome and Avocado Tortillas are the BOMB! Yeah I know that was cheesy! But yes they are very good. The is what I call a savory tortilla. I will probably make a video for these, so you can see the texture of the dough.
Additional up date as of 2/6/2016 Add two table spoons of Olive oil to the warmed milk. I have been leaving it out and it tends to make the tortillas a tad dryer. You might not like it that way.
INGREDIENTS:
1 LARGE AVOCADO
3 Cups Flour
2 Teaspoon of Baking Powder mixed in.
7 fluid oz milk warmed on the stove top.
1 or 2 Tablespoons olive oil added to warmed milk. Optional.
METHOD OF PREPARATION ((GENTLY WORK THE DOUGH))
Have a rolling pin, a clean cutting board and flour for dredging flour ready. All so a pan for cooking tortillas.
1. Pour two cups of flour into a medium bowl and mix in 2 teaspoon of baking power.
2. Cut avocado in half and scoop out all the flesh into the flour. Treat it like butter and work it into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs.
3. Gently warm milk on stove and then add olive oil to it and mix it in.
4. Pour all of the milk into the flour and mix until you have what appears to be a wet mass that looks like porridge. Add the other cup of flour and mix in with a wooden spoon really well. The texture of this dough is going to be a little or a lot weird. It reminded me of a sticky rubber.
5. For this version you are going to need extra flour for dredging, and you will not let the dough rest. Make sure your hand are covered in flour.
6. Make a walnut or bigger size ball and push the ball into the flour, turn over and work the ball into a disk in the flour. Flour the cutting board really good. If you want do like I did, the dough is so soft you can skip using the roller till the very end. Just use your finder to flatten out the tortilla, turn over and flatten out one more and at the very end then lightly roll out with the rolling pin.
7. You don't have to divide this dough, just pull off pieces.
8. Turn the burner to low or med low and place your pan on it.
9. Give the pan a little shake to keep the tortilla from sticking. Watch the top of the tortilla and you should start to see little air pockets fill and raise up. Use a metal spatula to check the bottom of the tortilla. As soon as you see light tan spots, flip your tortilla over and cook until more light tan spot appear. When both sides have tan spots on both sides your tortilla is done.
10. Stack finished tortillas on plate and use right away or cool and put in the refrigerator They will be ok for up to 3 days then you must freeze them. Or wrap in foil and freeze right away.
Have fun creating your own Fajita or Quesadillas with this one.
Tortillas are Awesome and Avocado Tortillas are the BOMB! Yeah I know that was cheesy! But yes they are very good. The is what I call a savory tortilla. I will probably make a video for these, so you can see the texture of the dough.
Additional up date as of 2/6/2016 Add two table spoons of Olive oil to the warmed milk. I have been leaving it out and it tends to make the tortillas a tad dryer. You might not like it that way.
INGREDIENTS:
1 LARGE AVOCADO
3 Cups Flour
2 Teaspoon of Baking Powder mixed in.
7 fluid oz milk warmed on the stove top.
1 or 2 Tablespoons olive oil added to warmed milk. Optional.
METHOD OF PREPARATION ((GENTLY WORK THE DOUGH))
Have a rolling pin, a clean cutting board and flour for dredging flour ready. All so a pan for cooking tortillas.
1. Pour two cups of flour into a medium bowl and mix in 2 teaspoon of baking power.
2. Cut avocado in half and scoop out all the flesh into the flour. Treat it like butter and work it into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs.
3. Gently warm milk on stove and then add olive oil to it and mix it in.
4. Pour all of the milk into the flour and mix until you have what appears to be a wet mass that looks like porridge. Add the other cup of flour and mix in with a wooden spoon really well. The texture of this dough is going to be a little or a lot weird. It reminded me of a sticky rubber.
5. For this version you are going to need extra flour for dredging, and you will not let the dough rest. Make sure your hand are covered in flour.
6. Make a walnut or bigger size ball and push the ball into the flour, turn over and work the ball into a disk in the flour. Flour the cutting board really good. If you want do like I did, the dough is so soft you can skip using the roller till the very end. Just use your finder to flatten out the tortilla, turn over and flatten out one more and at the very end then lightly roll out with the rolling pin.
7. You don't have to divide this dough, just pull off pieces.
8. Turn the burner to low or med low and place your pan on it.
9. Give the pan a little shake to keep the tortilla from sticking. Watch the top of the tortilla and you should start to see little air pockets fill and raise up. Use a metal spatula to check the bottom of the tortilla. As soon as you see light tan spots, flip your tortilla over and cook until more light tan spot appear. When both sides have tan spots on both sides your tortilla is done.
10. Stack finished tortillas on plate and use right away or cool and put in the refrigerator They will be ok for up to 3 days then you must freeze them. Or wrap in foil and freeze right away.
Have fun creating your own Fajita or Quesadillas with this one.
Monday, February 1, 2016
AVOCADO CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS
AVOCADO CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS.
These turned out better than I thought they would, and my hubby is now 100% hook on Avocado chocolate chip muffins. Yeah the batter is going to have a halloweenish greenish look, but don't let that stop you. This muffins are really rich and decadent.
2 Medium, Ripe Avocados.
1 Bag of Chocolate chips. (Optional) Find one that uses real vanilla. It's worth it.
About 2 Cup of all purpose flour.
1 Egg
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cups Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda.
1 1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Powder.
Paper muffin cups (optional). I don't really like using them, but that me.
METHOD OF PREPARATION:
Note: You will need a muffin Tin. You can spray it or butter it.
FIRST:
Cut the Avocados in half, remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh and add to bowl. Next break the egg into the bowl with the Avocado. Next add the brown sugar, baking soda and powder. Mix and smash with a mash potato masher. Now add the chocolate chips, mix every thing well.
Next add the flour. Add about a half cup at a time and mix until all the flour is incorporated into the batter. Add a half cup more and mix again until the second batch of flour is incorporated. The batter should have a thick and moist look, but not dry. It should not be runny. And make sure their is no patches of flour in the batter, so mix really good. Now take your sprayed muffin tin and add spoon fulls of batter to each cup until all are full. If they heap over a little thats okay to. But make sure their all sort of evenly filled. If you have empty cups in the muffin tray. Place the Tin in the oven and take care to carefully fill all the empty cups with hot water. This is help the muffin tray not warp as it heat up.
Now Set the oven at 325. Have a tooth pick ready to check the muffins. Remember the more batter the longer it will take, the less the shorter it will take to cook.
Note: Use the biggest muffin in the tray to help you judge them when their done. When you stick the tooth pick into it, it should come out clean. And the finished muffins should have a nice golden look to them. After their done pull the muffin tin out and remove the muffins and put them on a wire rack to cool.
Enjoy.
These turned out better than I thought they would, and my hubby is now 100% hook on Avocado chocolate chip muffins. Yeah the batter is going to have a halloweenish greenish look, but don't let that stop you. This muffins are really rich and decadent.
2 Medium, Ripe Avocados.
1 Bag of Chocolate chips. (Optional) Find one that uses real vanilla. It's worth it.
About 2 Cup of all purpose flour.
1 Egg
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cups Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda.
1 1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Powder.
Paper muffin cups (optional). I don't really like using them, but that me.
METHOD OF PREPARATION:
Note: You will need a muffin Tin. You can spray it or butter it.
FIRST:
Cut the Avocados in half, remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh and add to bowl. Next break the egg into the bowl with the Avocado. Next add the brown sugar, baking soda and powder. Mix and smash with a mash potato masher. Now add the chocolate chips, mix every thing well.
Next add the flour. Add about a half cup at a time and mix until all the flour is incorporated into the batter. Add a half cup more and mix again until the second batch of flour is incorporated. The batter should have a thick and moist look, but not dry. It should not be runny. And make sure their is no patches of flour in the batter, so mix really good. Now take your sprayed muffin tin and add spoon fulls of batter to each cup until all are full. If they heap over a little thats okay to. But make sure their all sort of evenly filled. If you have empty cups in the muffin tray. Place the Tin in the oven and take care to carefully fill all the empty cups with hot water. This is help the muffin tray not warp as it heat up.
Now Set the oven at 325. Have a tooth pick ready to check the muffins. Remember the more batter the longer it will take, the less the shorter it will take to cook.
Note: Use the biggest muffin in the tray to help you judge them when their done. When you stick the tooth pick into it, it should come out clean. And the finished muffins should have a nice golden look to them. After their done pull the muffin tin out and remove the muffins and put them on a wire rack to cool.
Enjoy.
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