WHAT TO DO WITH THE LEFT OVERS?

Left over are so good and making cooking just so easy.    This is all the tomato sauce from the Chicken Wrap recipe.   It has every thing in it.  Red bell peppers, garlic, a small piece of chicken.   So here is what I did.
I added a cup and a half frozen black eyed peas, that I had in the freezer.  One table spoon of olive oil and one cup of water.  I'm out of broth and stock.   Cover and turn the burner to medium let cook until it is all thawed and bubbly.

Well the tomato sauce is in their with the five boneless chicken.   I kind of got carried away.
Chopped up some carrots.
Broccoli and Cauliflower
And add another two potatoes diced up.
Then covered back up with my pancake pan and let cook on low for 1 hour.

Dinner never been so easy.   Almost like a quick stew and yes the sauce is in their.



Have fun creating your own  culinary delight.

CHICKEN WRAPS

CHICKEN WRAPS

INGREDIENTS:
8 Garlic cloves peeled.
2 or 3 Potatos.
1 16oz can diced tomatoes.
1 8 oz can tomato paste.
2 cups broth or water.
1 teaspoon of each.
Fennel
Cinnamon
Cumin
Thyme
Pepper
A packet of boneless chicken.
1 carrot
1 red bell pepper
1 lime.

Put garlic, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, spices, one cup of broth into a large pan.  Turn on medium high.  And add next cup of broth when it thickens up.

 Peel the carrot with a veggie peeler.
Slice the bell pepper.
And peel some skin off the lime, then cut it into wedges.

Add lime peeling to the tomato sauce.  Make sure as soon as every thing starts to bubble really good turn down to low.
This should cook for the whole time your preparing everything until the food is done.  Stir occassionally.




Lay out the boneless chicken

Cover with a plastic bag.  Make sure the print of the bag does not  touch the meat, it will transfer.





   Next with a meat hammer or a rolling pin gently flatten.  We want to flatten not kill.

Add one lime wedge, red bells and carrots. Like so.

Wrap

Using a spatula slid them into the tomato sauce, Chop the potatoes and add them here and their pushing them into the sauce.

Hey it's the pan cake pan again.   Double as a lid perfectly.     Let cook like this for 45 to 55 minutes on Low.  












                      YUMMMY!     ENJOY!    

SALMON, CAULIFLOWER & AVOCADO BALLS WITH PASTA

SALMON, CAULIFLOWER & AVOCADO BALLS WITH PASTA

This has been floating around in the back of my mind for a while and well it's what was going to be for dinner, but plans changed.  Between my tooth and another to issues all I can manage is typing.   I have been buying a lot of Cauliflower lately, because sooner or later it's going to jump back up to $5.65 a head.  The great thing about the recipe is the only thing your cooking is the salmon that it.  So let get started.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Big Salmon steak or two small ones.   Any fish you like will do.  

 1/2 Large Hass Avocado
1 Tablespoon Mayo
2 celery sticks
1/2 cup of white onion
2 cups cauliflower.
2 teaspoons dill
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
6 1/2  cup stock (optional cooking method)
2 cups bread crumbs (Panko)
A 1/2 package of Wheat Linguine or your favorite pasta.
1 Table spoon of olive oil
4 cloves garlic.

NOTE: Usually we use egg as a binder, but in this case the mushed avocado with mayo will do just fine.  

METHOD OF PREPARATION:

FIRST:  POACH OR PAN COOK THE SALMON YOUR CHOICE.

PAN SLOW COOK


These are two frozen salmon steaks on a pancake pan.  ;)   It works very nicely.  Turn the burner on low and cover.   Sense steaks are cut at different thicknesses it's better to watch them, rather than set a timer.  

The dark red spots are not cooked, the pink are cooked and you can see the fat coming out on the steak to the right.










It's all pink, but is it done.  Nope looks can be deceptive. 

Checking it very gently with a fork.  See how I pull the fish apart along the grain.  Look in side and if it's red steam some more.









When you stick the fork in and twist it and the flesh flakes off and their is no more dark red it is done.   Now let's say one is done and the other isn't.  Take off the cooked one and put the lid back on and cook a little bit longer.








POACHING THE SALMON.
In this method it very similar to the top method the only difference is that you be submerging the salmon steak in stock or broth.  Turn the burner on low and let it heat up very slowly.  To check it have a plate ready and with prongs or a flat metal spatula very carefully lift it out and put it on a plate. Check it as you would check the pan cooked one.   It's that easy. 

Next pull the bones out of the salmon.  Find them with your finger, by running a finger and gently pressing the cooked flesh.  They will poke you. Let the salmon rest for about 4 minutes and then flake 1 whole steak into a bowl.

SECOND: Mince.
Mince the Cauliflower into very small piece.  This will cook very fast so watch it.   Put the 2 cups of cauliflower in a pan with 1/2 cup stock if desired.  Turn to medium high and cover.  Watch and taste, we want the cauliflower to be nutty, not mushy.  Were not making mashed cauliflower.  Cool the cauliflower for a bit then add to the bowl with salmon.

Mince the onion, and celery add to bowl that has the salmon.  Next mash the Avocado and add a table spoon a mayo to it and mix it in with the salmon with the seasoning and add one cup of bread crumbs. Mix really good all together.   

Have a extra cup of bread crumbs in a bowl.   With a tablespoon scoop some mixture out and form into a ball.  (If need be, you may add a little bit more mayo if the mixture is too dry, and if it's too wet add a 1/2 cup more bread crumbs).   Form the balls and dip them in the bread crumbs and set them on a cookie tray.  

THIRD: Wheat Linguine
Fill a pot with water. Turn stove top to high. As soon as you see little bubbles starting to form break your linguine in half and put in the water. Stir noodles to prevent from sticking together.  If need be turn down the burner to Med-High  the noodles will still cook.  Leaving the water on high the entire time will only make the water boil up and over.  The noodles will cook at Med-High, Medium, and even Medium Low.   Test the noodles along the way.  When you see white foam on top of the water, that is when their close to being done.  That is the starch coming out.

When noodles are done drain very well.  In large pan add olive oil and garlic and heat on medium until the garlic become fragrant and soon as it does add linguine and toss to coat.  

Add 2 oz of linguine to a bowl and place three balls on top.   

 ENJOY

 

DIRTY CAULIFLOWER.

DIRTY CAULIFLOWER    Ok...... yeah I know it sound pretty weird, but it is good. ;)  

Something to think about. When people eat all these fancy meals at fancy and $$$$$ restaurants. A lot of the meal inspirations came from plebeian cuisine.  That's why simple food is the best food.  Food history is really interesting.

NOTE: DEPENDING on weather you use stock and broth, you might not have to add the tomato sauce.  Let your taste buds guide you.

INGREDIENTS:
 1 Cup cooked rice.  Any type is fine.  Or Left over rice.
1 1/2 of a Cauliflower head Chopped to the about the size of the meat.   
2 Tablespoons of rice vinegar.
1 pound of ground meat, your choice, or left over meat from another meal.
1   4oz can of tomato paste
1 Whole Sweet onion. DICED Or Red, or white, or your choice.
2 to 5 cloves garlic peeled and sliced. MINCED
5 Sage Leaves  MINCED
1 Teaspoon of each of these spices (YOUR CHOICE) Cinnamon, Cumin, Oregano, Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, White Pepper, Black Pepper, Turmeric, or  maybe a spice you have that I don't know about.

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

1ST WASH STARCH OFF RICE. RINSE ABOUT 3 TIMES AND DRAIN WATER THE BEST YOU CAN.

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: COOKING THE MEAT & CAULIFLOWER.  Cook the Meat at Med-High...
Get a large pan out enough to contain either 1 pound
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 add the rice vinegar to the pan with the minced the garlic, then dice the onion add to the pan and sautee.  If you don't like the rice vinegar leave it out.  Saute until the white of the onion starts looking transparent.  Add the meat and cauliflower cook together.

Next add all the spices and with a wooden spoon break the meat into smaller and smaller piece.
Note: This is a great time if you have it to add some stock or broth to the meat. mmmm my favorite thing to do.

 If you are add about  1 cup soup broth for 1 pound 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.

By the time the meat is done the cauliflower will be cooked.

Cover the cooking meat and cauliflour 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.

NEXT Put the  tomato paste in a small pan with one cup of borth and spices in a combination of your choice, turn burner on Medium and stir until the broth gets absorbed, then add another cup of broth and stir in.    If you do not have broth, water is ok.

Prepare in food bowl and keep everything separate so you can use left over as needed.

Now if you are working with lefter overs this become really easy.

Add one ladle full of both to a pan add frozen or non frozen cooked meat. Turn burner on low, add spices with cauliflower and let steam until meat is either defrosted and warm up.  Cook until the Cauliflower is tender.  Dinner is done.


ENJOY this recipe or Create your own version.

BANANA PANCAKES & MY THOUGHTS ON EGGS

My hubby and I use to go thought a flat of 4 dozen eggs in one month that a whopping 48 eggs and some times even more.  That's an average of  3,360 calories.  And over one year 40,320 calories.  As you may already know eggs are high in cholesterol. Looking back at what we ate on a  daily basis is really eye opening.   What I want to talk about here is the incredible edible egg.   Just because I'm leaving it out of our diet, you might be like no way, I can't live with out it and that's ok.    But if you chose to try the egg-less way it take some getting use to, because it changes the texture of the food.   For instance pancake are not as fluffy, their a tad on the moist side.  I made some Banana Pancakes and I like them, my hubby was fine with them, but like I said it all about the texture. Here is the Recipe if you want to try it for your self.
 NOTE: My hubby and I are not militant.  If a food item we happen to eat already has egg in it were not going to flip out, hence the mayo. Another thing mayo has way less cholesterol than one egg.  (This also depends on the size of the egg and the brand of the mayo).   One egg has 210 mg of cholesterol and 1 tablespoon of mayo has 5.0 mg of Cholesterol.  Sound pretty good to me. 

Banana Pancakes.

2 Very ripe bananas.
1 teaspoon of baking soda.
about 1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon Mayo
1 1/2 cups flour.  (add more flour or less according to the size of the bananas.)

Mash bananas first.  Add baking soda mix in, then add half the flour mix in good.  Add more flour and mix in. The batter should be thick. Now add the milk a little bit at a time and stir in until the batter is smooth, you might want to whisk it good at this point.  (add more milk if necessary).
If you think the batter is too runny add flour a table spoon at a time, or if you think the batter is too thick at milk a table spoon at a time. 
Spray a skillet with nonstick and heat on Medium.  With a small ladle pour a small round in the middle of the skillet and use the bottom of the ladle to make your pancake round, by pushing into the batter and making a circular motion.   When you see bubbles all over the surface of the pancake use a metal spatula and flip the pancake.  Turn down the burner to low if need be so they don't burn and turn back up to medium when neccessary. 
Top with fresh berries, fruit and lightly sprinkle with powder sugar.

JALAPENO BAGEL SANDWICH

JALOPENO BAGEL SANDWICH 

And YES! is was delicious and I licked my fingers.    My hubby avoid bread at all cost, but having it as a treat after a long ride make it taste even better.    I have never made home made bagels. And at one time I would have done it, but their so high in calories. So having them as a treat rather than a staple is fine with me. 

If your not into the Jalapeno heat, chose another flavor of bagels.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Jalapeno Bagels 
 1/2 Mayonnaise 
2 Slices of Low Sodium Turkey meat from the Deli.  
3 Big Slices of Avocado.  
Handful of Spinach 

Easy, Yummy & Quick.    

Don't forget to lick your fingers.   ;) 

GMO FREE & ORGANIC HEALTY DESSERT

GMO FREE & ORGANIC HEALTY DESSERT

Forget serving size.  Eat the whole cake.    ;)

INGREDIENTS

12 cups of chopped Pound Cake.  
8 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  

1 1 -pound box confectioners' sugar

1 Cup of crushed Organic Butterfinger candybars
1 Cup of organic m&m's
1 Cup of orgainic chocolate syrup
1 1/2 cup organic sugar
2 packages of organic chocolate cake mix.
6 organic eggs
1 grated Carrot. 
4 sticks of organic butter
12 cups organic dulce de leche
1 Pound organic salted roasted peanuts
3 cups of white organic chocolate chips
3 cups or organic milk chocolate chips.
LOT'S & LOT'S of whip cream and sprinkles.  

DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

 Trim  1/2 inch off of something and add the pound cake.  Stand something up on its side and slice.  Move around a whole bunch for no apparent reason.   

Microwave every thing except for the pound cake, whip cream and sprinkles for 30-second.  Then add every thing to a blender and blended all up.  Pour all into a large bowl and beat and beat some more.  Add more milk, if needed, to make the frosting spreadable.  

Spread some of the frosting on one short end of each cake and press together.

Spread the remaining frosting on the cake in a 1-inch-thick layer, making the edges slightly higher than the center. Smooth the top and sides with an offset spatula. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Mix the peanuts and dulce de 

  (APRIL FOOL DAY)  LOL  
Or if you don't know what that day is, This is just a joke.  Hope you have a good laugh.  :)