Recipe Link - Slow Cooker Chicken

Photo belongs to The Blue House Kitchen.

Here's a link for this yummy looking recipe on The Blue House Kitchen from Phoebe's World blog:

Cozy Slow Cooker Chicken Stew

Mummy Dash's Gumbo

I'm not sure where this traditional Southern recipe came from. It was contributed to The Home Maker's Corner years back. It may have been something my dad found somewhere, or it could have come from a reader. You will note that some of the ingredients don't have amounts. You will have to use your own judgement on that. :-)  It's adventure cooking. ;-)

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Mummy Dash's Gumbo

Mummy Dash celebrated her
100th birthday on August 23rd,1995.

I was raised on gumbo; in my house we also called it Okra Soup. Gumbo has been described as the "poor man's meal," or a "Saturday dish," prepared when you emptied your refrigerator at the end of the week. As far as I'm concerned, Gumbo is a luxury. It takes all day to prepare (to do it right) and the fresh Okra required to make it can be difficult to locate and expensive. As with many gourmets, Mummy Dash doesn't use precise measurements. For best results, rely on your own sense of taste.

2 lbs. of fresh short-stemmed Okra
3 medium Ham Hocks (or use smoked turkey)
Chicken
Beef
Shrimp
Tomato Sauce
Whole stewed tomatoes
2 medium onions
Fresh cut corn (or baby ears)
1/2 cup (cooked) lima beans
1 sliced green pepper
Sweet red peppers
Dash of sugar
2-3 cloves of garlic(diced)
Celery (instead of salt)
Parsley
Crushed Tomatoes

Cook ham hocks or smoked turkey with water in a very deep pot. Cook on low flame, keep adding water. Cook until the meat is falling off the bone (the bone sweetens the soup).

While the meat is still cooking, cut the tips and heads off the okra. Finely slice the okra: don't dice it! Chop your onions, pepper, garlic, celery and parsley.
Add the chicken and the beef to the pot when the meat is almost off the bone. Add tomatoes, onions, green and red peppers, celery and garlic. Continue to cook slowly.

When it's almost ready, add cut corn and crushed tomatoes. Add okra and shrimp in the last ten minutes of cooking. If the shrimp cook too long they will be tough.


 This soup should be eaten with white rice.

Editor: I recommend putting a scoop of cooked white rice in the bottom of each bowl before adding the gumbo on top.

Turkey Ham Special

This is an original recipe of my own as far as I know. I started making it years ago. You can make changes according to your preferences as it's very easy to make and switch up for variety or personal taste. You could use avocado or pickled beetroot in place of the tomato. You could also pop it into a bun or pita bread and eat it as a sandwich. 

This dish can be used for a quick lunch or for the meat dish of the main meal. If you use it for the main meal, you could slice the turkey ham a little thicker than you would for a lunch. Also feel free to change up the meat. It could also be made with sliced turkey or ham or roast beef or chicken breast. Just be sure it is fully cooked before hand. (Maybe a new use for leftovers?)

You will need:

Sliced turkey ham (or other meat)

Sliced tomatoes 

Sliced cheddar or cheese of your choice
Onion and garlic powder (optional).

Place a slice of turkey ham on a microwave-safe plate. Sprinkle lightly with the onion and garlic powder if you are using them. Place slices of tomato on top of this, and top with slices of cheese. Cook in microwave till the cheese is melted to your satisfaction. This is one serving. Repeat until you have a serving for each person being served.

If you don't use a microwave this could be done in a frying pan on the stovetop with just a little water and oil in the pan and a close fitting lid to hold in the steam. It will take a little longer than the microwave. 

If you are making this for a larger family you may want to try laying the turkey ham slices, etc. in a greased baking dish or pan, and baking it in a conventional oven. I have not tried this so, you will have to experiment. You probably should put the cheese on after the turkey ham and tomatoes are partially cooked.

The Thousand Word Project - August

Dahlia - Tennessee.

Spider lily - Texas.

Creatures Great and Small - The Little Red Hen

Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 

Loaded Chips and Cheese

You can make chips and cheese into a fully balanced meal! This is one of the great things about it – that and melted cheese. What cheese lover can resist that? :-)  (Note of our foreign friends – the kind of chips used for this are corn tortilla chips, just in case you don’t know that.)

To make the loaded chips and cheese pictured above I fully cooked some chicken breast strips and seasoned them with Mexican type seasoning (garlic, onion, red pepper, cumin, oregano) and salt.

Then, after spreading the corn chips on a baking sheet, I added the chicken, sliced black olives and grated cheese.  I added some more spices to make the entire batch more flavorful. I baked it in the oven (350F-375F)  just till the cheese melted and then sprinkled it with fresh, diced tomatoes before serving it. Supper in one pan! :-)

Pinto or black beans from a can or precooked (rinsed and well drained) could be used here in place of the chicken meat, or added to it to “stretch” it. You could also use cooked, drained ground beef.

Other toppings you could use to make a complete meal of it:

- mozzarella; pepperoni; fully cooked, crumbled sausage (drained and patted dry with paper towel); mushrooms; olives and other pizza toppings (use the sauce for dip if you want it, or sprinkle basil, garlic and oregano on top of the cheese before baking).

- good melting cheese of your choice, thin sliced steak (fully cooked); chopped, canned artichoke hearts (well drained and patted dry); and sautéed garlic cloves (drained). Add fresh chopped tomatoes after removing it from the oven. Season with herbs of your choice – maybe fresh, chopped basil? Mmmm.

- fully cooked, drained ground beef (drain on paper towel); garbanzo beans; pitted kalamata olives; lightly sautéed garlic; crumbled feta cheese.  (You could use mozzarella with this as well.)  Top this with fresh, shredded lettuce, chopped cucumber, and/or tomatoes.  You could also spray the top lightly with olive oil before to add flavor.

- cheddar cheese; cooked, drained ground beef; and finely chopped dill pickles. Add chopped, diced tomatoes; shredded lettuce; and diced onion or chopped green onions after it is finished baking. "Sprinkle" ketchup and mustard over it. (This is for a cheese burger type taste.) :-)

Notes:

Obviously all the cheese needs to be grated, or in the case of feta crumbled, before use.

You could use leftover meat for this such as shredded chicken, turkey, beef, or pork.

Anything you want fresh needs to be added after removing from the oven.

I have not tried all these toppings. I’m just thinking these through as I write. Be adventuresome and think up some of your own that sound good to you. Just remember not to use anything very wet or oily or the chips may get soggy.

Also, using safe cheese and other ingredients, this recipe can be made gluten free.

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First published here 1/2011. Edited.

Creatures Great and Small - Red and White

Creatures Great and Small - Chicken Chatter

And you thought you had trouble with facial hair. ;-)

The Thousand Word Project - Abundance

This picture was taken in 2011 or so, when we had a lot more chickens.

In Loving Memory of Aunt Helen

 

Psalms 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

In April of 2014 I posted a memorial to my great-uncle, Dana Mathna.  This past summer his dear wife, Helen Hoover Mathna, went to be with the Lord also.

I told a good deal about Aunt Helen and their family in the previous post, so I will not repeat it all here, but please to take the time to go back and read it if you can.  Uncle Dana was a great blessing also, and I mentioned a good bit about Aunt Helen there as well and various things that affected her life.

Added to the previous information, Aunt Helen was born on January 29, 1925.  She was the sister of my grandfather.  She is the last one on either side of the family from my grandparents’ generation.  Somehow that seems sad to me because we’ve lost a connection with the past that can’t be replaced.  But, this is one of the aspects of time that is unavoidable.

Uncle Dana and Aunt Helen were married in June of 1946 and Aunt Helen wore my grandma’s wedding dress.  I believe they planned their wedding for when my grandparents would be home (see picture at the other post).

Aunt Helen was primarily a homemaker and loved her family very much (you can see more pictures of them all at the post about Uncle Dana). 

She was a sweet Christian and a real prayer warrior.  She was also a member of the Shippensburg First Church of God for 78 years!  She worked in the nursery, taught Sunday School and served as a Deaconess for many years.  After Uncle Dana retired, she helped him with custodial work at the church building.

This is the old building of the Shippensburg First Church of God (Pennsylvania).  It was within walking distance from their house, which was convenient for church meetings as well as the custodial work.  I remember attending services there.

My mother always speaks lovingly of Aunt Helen.  She thought very highly of her.  Mom’s family visited them and Grandpa’s home church in Shippensburg whenever they came home on furlough, and those were happy times to her.

This is how I remember Aunt Helen.  She is the only great-aunt that I knew very well, and I’m very thankful I had that privilege. I remember her as a kind and gentle lady.  She didn’t always talk as much as some of the others when we were all together, but you could tell she enjoyed being with her family and she considered us as part of that.  We stayed with them a couple times that I can remember and it was a pleasure to visit there.  I plowed my way through a collection of her books one summer when we spent a couple of weeks there. :-)  She had one of the sweetest smiles, and my mom has inherited it from her dad and his youngest sister.

This is Aunt Helen with her mother, my Great-grandma Hoover.  Aunt Helen really makes me think of my own mother in this picture!

I love this picture of Aunt Helen having a meal (dinner?) with these ladies.  I know two of them were related to her, and the little girl is her daughter, Janet (wasn’t she a cutie?).  That was her sister beside her and her mother is the first on the left.  Please notice that all the ladies in this picture are wearing aprons!  :-)  I am SO happy we have this picture! (Thanks to my Uncle Jim’s notable efforts at scanning.)

One thing I remember about Aunt Helen’s house was that the food was good.  She was famous in our family for her Chicken Corn Chowder and Pineapple Bake, as they called it.

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I found this recipe from Aunt Helen in my mom’s write-in cook book.

Chicken Corn Chowder

Boil 2 C. water

Add:
1 envelope chicken noodle soup dry mix
1 Tbl. onion
1/4 C. rice

Cook until done.

Add:
2 C. milk
1 8 oz. can cream style corn
15 oz. boned, fully cooked chicken

Heat through and serve.

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I couldn’t find the following recipe in the book, so I looked online and was able to figure out what it should be.

Pineapple Bake

Heat oven to 350F.

Cream:
1 stick butter
1 C. sugar

Beat in:
4 eggs, one at a time

Drain and stir:
1 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple

Fold in:
6 slices day old white bread, cubed

Pour into a greased casserole dish (I think it was 2 qt.) and bake for 50 minutes or till top is golden brown.

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I can’t post many pictures of her from later in her life because they aren’t scanned into the computer, and the ones my parents have would be time consuming to locate.  Perhaps another day (or year) I may add some.  Here is one last shot of her, which I love.  This was taken in their back yard.

The Thousand Word Project – Summer Thoughts

 

Psalms 74:17  Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

Wren eggs

Figs

Okra

Sew Happy Friday – Cute Chicken Pincushions

 

Here’s another tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Co., only this one isn’t for a quilt, it’s for some nifty and easy chicken pincushions.  They’re made with just three squares of fabric and some other bits and pieces.

Enjoy!

By the way, I am not an affiliate of MSQC and receive no compensation for using their videos.  I just happen to like Jenny’s teaching style.

Delicious Roasted Chicken

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes.  I first published in on my birthday in 2009.  I hope you enjoy it. :-)  If you don't like thyme try another herb that you prefer.  It would be good with sage or oregano or basil or other similar herbs.

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Here is a simple recipe that makes great tasting chicken! This is based on a recipe which I altered slightly by Marcella Hazan that was published in AARP magazine.

Roasted Chicken with Lemons

3-4 lb. chicken, washed and patted dry.

Salt

Pepper

Dried Thyme, crushed

2 small lemons

Butter

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut excess fat off of chicken (Do Not remove the skin).  Rub with a generous amount of salt and pepper both inside and out.

Wash and dry the lemons. Soften by rolling back and forth on the county while pressing down firmly with your palm. Puncture it in at least 20 places with a fork or skewer. Place both lemons inside the chicken.  Close the opening with toothpicks or a trussing needle and string.  (Do not make it airtight.)  Tie the legs in their natural position with string, if desired. (This is mostly useful for making it easier to turn the bird.)

Butter a roasting pan generously and place the chicken in it breast side down. Dot the chicken with bits of butter. Sprinkle lightly (three or four pinches) with crushed thyme. Place it in the upper 1/3 of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and turn chicken breast side up. Try not to puncture the skin, but don't worry if you do as it will still be good. Sprinkle top of chicken lightly with crushed thyme. (The top should be pretty well buttered with what you used to grease the pan. No need to add more.)

Cook another 30-35 minutes, then increase the temp. to 400° and cook 20-25 more minutes or longer depending on the size of the chicken. Use a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat (the breast) to check for doneness.  It should read 180°. Make sure you are not touching a bone when you use the tester. There's no need to turn the chicken again.

If it seems to be getting too well done on the outside and the inner temp. is not high enough yet, you may want to cover it lightly with aluminum foil to continue baking.

Serve the chicken whole and cut it up at the table. Leave the lemons inside until the bird is carved. They add a wonderful flavor to the broth in the pan.

I recommend serving this with a rice dish and pouring some of the broth over it at the table!  Delicious!

Sister's Barbecue Sauce

A Rerun of my very first blog post ever! :-)  It was first posted in February of 2009, but I'm not sure of the exact date now.  I had a flub on this the other day as I tried to schedule it for today, but it went ahead and posted itself because it was an already existing post.  Oops.  So, those who follow by email may be seeing this for the second time.  (Rerunning old posts is one way to keep things active here while my computer is being treated for various mysterious illnesses.)

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My sister altered a barbecue sauce recipe once and improved it. Last week she called me and wanted to know if I could send her the recipe since she had managed to bury her copy in their store room. I knew just how she felt since a lot of my own things are still in boxes in the garage waiting to be unpacked! Anyway, I typed it into email for her, and so it seemed like a good recipe to start with on this new venture! Hope you enjoy it. (And remember, don't be afraid to make your own adjustments to suit your taste.)

Barbecue Sauce

1 C ketchup

2 Tbl. cider vinegar
3/4 C & 1 Tbl. packed brown sugar*
2 tsp. prepared mustard
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 C water

Combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaf. Can be stored in fridge for 2-3 months.

*Use more or less sugar to your liking.

This sauce is good with beef, pork, and chicken. It would also be good on burgers or fried potatoes.

Quotes from Julia Child

 

You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces -- just good food from fresh ingredients.

Always remember: If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know?

If you're afraid of butter, use cream.

The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook.

I just hate health food.

You can always judge the quality of a cook or a restaurant by roast chicken ... We never seem to tire of chicken in our house, even though I have fed my husband upon it for weeks, even months at a time … I can go on eating chicken forever.

The French are interested in vegetables as food rather than as purely nutrient objects valuable for their vitamins and minerals.

With enough butter, anything is good.

Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need.

Never name a dish before you serve it. Your souffle falls in the oven? You’re now serving Fallen Souffle.

A party without cake is really just a meeting.

(Two of my favorites, so I’ll rerun them): 

How can a nation be great if its bread tastes like Kleenex?

It's so beautifully arranged on the plate — you know someone's fingers have been all over it.

(Quick and pretty – sliced papaya with half a kiwi and mint.
Be sure to peel both fruits.)

Yogurt Caraway Chicken

 

This is an original recipe that I invented after reading another recipe using yogurt as a chicken coating.  It turned out quite well.  We liked the way the yogurt and coconut milk powder baked as a coating for chicken.  You could alter the seasonings to achieve different tastes.

Yogurt Caraway Chicken

5-6 drum sticks.  Place chicken in an oiled 9x13 cake pan, leaving room for cabbage.

Mix together in a small bowl:

3/4 C. plain yogurt
1/4 C. coconut milk powder
1/2 tsp. caraway seed powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Spread over the top of chicken, dividing it evenly among all pieces.

Sprinkle with Cayenne pepper to taste (optional).

In the empty area place 3-4 large wedges of cabbage.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, caraway powder and salt.

Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or till chicken tests done.  Check occasionally and turn cabbage over if needed.  If the food is drying out too much you may cover the pan with aluminum foil to finish baking.  (If you wish to add liquid be sure to add boiling water to a hot pan, especially if it is glass.)

Makes 3-4 servings.

Of course, this dish can be prepared gluten free.

Note:  I don’t know if caraway can be bought in the powdered form.  I think my mom or I ground what I have.  We use a designated electric coffee grinder to grind up herbs/spices.  You don’t want to use the same grinder for herbs and spices that you use for coffee.  It might result in “interesting” and undesirable flavor combinations.  We’ve picked up our “spares” at second hand stores.

Dumplings for Soup

 

I was inspired awhile back to make chicken soup with dumplings. I looked up some recipes for dumplings and ended up combining two – one from the internet and one from my Mennonite cookbook. :-)  You may use these on your favorite chicken soup recipe or on some other type of soup.  Please see the note at the end, though, as there are some soups and stews that probably would not work well with dumplings.

Dumplings

1 1/2 C. flour (I used white whole wheat)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbl. parsley flakes (optional)
1/4 C. milk (enough to make a sticky dough)
3 Tbl. butter
1 egg

Measure dry ingredients and mix in a medium size bowl.  In a measuring cup stir egg and milk together.  Add milk mixture and butter to flour mixture and stir till blended.  (Add milk if more moisture is needed.)

Drop onto top of boiling soup with a spoon, or roll with hands if dough is stiff enough. Cover and cook for 12 minutes at a medium boil without removing the lid.

Note: It’s important to have enough liquid in your soup when you add the dumplings. If there is too little it might cook away and burn on the bottom before the dumplings are done.  Also, I wouldn’t recommend them for thickened stews or heavy soups that require regular stirring to keep them from scorching or burning. Twelve minutes would probably be too long to not stir such dishes.

Quick Meals – Chicken and Mint

 

This summer I’m growing several types of mint in pots.  One evening I was cooking boneless, skinless chicken breast and decided to flavor it with fresh mint.  I cooked it a bit first in olive oil and a little water (it was frozen when I put it in the pan), cutting it into bite size pieces when it got partly done (using tongs and a pair of scissors).  This speeds the cooking time.  Then I added snipped fresh mint and salted it.  I may have added some green onion tops and black pepper as well, I don’t remember now.  But, it was absolutely delicious!  So very simple and yet so tasty! :-)  I served it with vegetables (use fresh or cooked), and a carbohydrate (something easy – bread or toast?).  A super simple and quick meal.

Chicken breast
Olive oil
Snipped fresh mint
Salt
Green onion tops (optional)
Fresh ground black pepper (optional)

Mint and Chives Chicken

The thousand word project: Golden Layer (not) Cake

 

The thousand word project: Big Red and friends