BRAD'S BLACK BEANS

BRAD'S BLACK BEANS

• bay leaf, small or 1/2 of one
• black beans, 1 can not drained
• garlic, 1 medium to small clove, chopped
• green bell pepper, 3 T chopped
• olive oil, 1-2 T
• onion, 1/2 large sweet, chopped
• onion, yellow cooking, 3 T chopped

1. Sauté finely chopped onion, green bell pepper and garlic in olive oil
2. Add liquid from a can of black beans and bay leaf
3. Simmer on very low heat for 20 minutes
4. Add beans to warm but not cook them
5. Garnish with chopped sweet onion

Serve plain or over yellow rice (I use Vigo brand).

If you don't have black beans, you can substitute any other kind and they will taste great with this recipe.

You can also chop or blend the finished product and serve cold as a chip dip.

I like to add a cup of water, 1 t chicken bouillon, and if I have any leftovers, chicken and rice from the chicken dinner I often serve with these beans.

 

CHICKEN IN THE WOK

CHICKEN IN THE WOK

• Chicken breasts, boneless, 4, diced in chunks or strips (or any meat you like)
• Chinese water chestnuts, 1 can, sliced and drained (I use the drained liquid when I cook the rice)
• Garlic cloves, minced, 2-4 (to taste)
• Mushrooms, button, sliced, about ½ c (canned or fresh)
• Olive oil, 1-2 T
• Onion, 1 hot, yellow, medium, slivered
• Sesame oil 1 T
• Sesame seeds, toasted
• Sugar
• Soy sauce 1-2 T
• Veggies – broccoli, snow peas, sweet sugar peas, scallions, bell peppers, bok choy, …whatever greens you like, cut thin enough to sauté easily
• Rice, white or brown, 1 c: I buy Lundberg Sushi Rice and cook according to directions adding sugar or Splenda and rice wine vinegar all of which are in the grocery store. This rice sticks together like rices in the sushi restaurants. It's wonderful!
• Rice wine vinegar

1. Put olive and sesame oil in a wok or big fry pan (add more oil as needed)
2. Saute diced chicken breast chunks until done and slightly browned
3. Remove from pan and set aside
4. Sauté slivered onion and garlic cloves in wok on low heat
5. Remove from pan and set aside
6. Add veggies and saute until done
7. Add water chestnuts, stir gently
8. Re-add all cooked ingredients until all is warmed, tossing gently, then add some soy sauce, sprinkle on sesame seeds and serve over rice with some soy sauce as a condiment
9. Serves 4 - correct ingredients to serving size desired

This was given to me by my dear friend Margaret. All our kids loved this. You can use a regular fry pan if you don't have a wok. It is very tasty and mild.

PORK LOIN

PORK LOIN

• beans, can of red drained
• pork loin, center cut fillet
• rice, Zatarain's red beans and rice
• steak seasoning, Canadian or Montreal

1. place loin on a plate
2. dust with steak seasoning
3. grill with lid closed until internal temp gets to 160 degrees or oven bake according to the package directions if you don't have a grill.
4. prepare rice
5. stir in a can of red beans when rice is done and let sit for 5 minutes before serving with stove turned off to warm the beans

You can substitute the rice and the bean type as I did here but I do prefer the red beans over any others.

These pork loins come in vacuum sealed packages and there are different flavors. I like the Lemon Garlic but you can choose anything you like. They are very lean, tender and delicious.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH OVEN BAKED

 BUTTERNUT SQUASH OVEN BAKED

• brown sugar, 1 T
• butter, 2 T
• butternut squash,1 
• ginger and nutmeg, ground
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Slice squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds
3. Place cut side up on cookie sheet
4. Melt butter and brown sugar together
5. Spread in squash cavities 
6.  Sprinkle with ginger and nutmeg 
7. Bake 40 minutes  

I separate the seeds from the pulp, bake them the last 5 minutes on a cookie sheet and throw them outside for the birds.If you have leftover squash, you can blend it and make soup by adding water and chicken bouillon to the blended squash.

How this should look

  prepare to bake

ready with butter and sugar added

sprinkle on spices

done, oops, I ate one!

yum!

POT ROAST

POT ROAST

This recipe reminds me of the one my mother-in-law Peg used to make on Sunday....George says this too as she was his mom! channeling Peg ;)

• *aluminum foil, heavy duty
• beef chuck roast, about 3 1/2 lbs, sides trimmed
• beef broth, 1 c
• carrot, 1 small, chopped
• celery, 1 rib, chopped
• **chef’s thermometer
• chicken broth, 1 c
• Dutch oven with lid
• garlic, 3 cloves, chopped
• olive oil, 2 T
• onion, 1 medium, chopped
• paprika, 1 T
• pepper, 1/8 t, fresh ground
• salt, 1/2 t
• sugar, 2 t
• thyme, 1 sprig fresh or 1/8 t dried
• Uncle Ben’s Original Recipe Long Grain and Wild Rice or potatoes 
• water
• wine, red, 1/4 c

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
   
2. Dry roast with paper towels
3. Sprinkle trimmed roast with paprika on all sides
4. Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat until shimmering (not smoking)
5. Brown meat 15 minutes on all sides (reduce heat if it starts smoking)
6. Transfer roast to plate and set aside
7. Reduce heat to medium
8. Add carrot, celery, and onion and cook, stirring occasionally until brown, 6-8 minutes
9. Add garlic and sugar, cook another minute
10. Add beef and chicken broths and thyme, stir to scrape bottom of pan
11. Return roast to pan and add enough water to come half way up sides of roast
12. Bring liquid to simmer, then place foil over pan to seal it tightly and cover it again with pan lid
13. Transfer pan to oven
14. Cook 3 1/2 - 4 hours (internal temp should be 200-210 degrees)
15. Transfer meat to plate and cover with foil
16. Skim fat off liquid in pan, discard thyme sprig, bring to boil and reduce to 1 ½ cups, about 8 minutes
17. Add red wine and simmer about 2 minutes
18. Season with salt and pepper and serve with pan liquids

This will melt in your mouth! I serve this with Uncle 

Ben’s Original Recipe Long Grain and Wild Rice to 

which I add a small hot onion chopped and chicken 

bouillon as it cooks. Sometimes I use Lundberg 

Christmas Rice, a red wehani rice with a slightly nutty 

flavor.


If I don't have any thyme, I substitute rosemary. If I 

only have one kind of broth then that's what I use for 

the two cups of broth.

Do NOT use anything but a CHUCK roast for this.

I use rice but potatoes are good, too and something 

green like green beans or a salad are nice sides to this 

roast.

I think you'll LOVE this....it is so good, so tender, kind 

of like pulled pork. The only tedious part is chopping 

up the veggies that go in with the meat. They are NOT 

the sides for the meal but are in the sauce that 

evolves.

*The secret of this is to cover the open pot tightly 

with the aluminum foil AND then put on the pot lid 

as it makes the meat extra moist and flavorful, rather 
 
than just with the pot lid alone.

** I recommend using a small chef’s thermometer to 

check the internal temp of the meat.

Err on the side of cooking it longer rather than shorter 

as it becomes better and better that way. 

Should look like this:

Brown the meat

Brown the meat sides

Set meat aside

 Gather veggies

Chop veggies

Brown veggies

Gather garlic

Three cloves

Slice lengthwise,


then cut across

Chopped garlic

Veggies done

Add broths

Ready to add meat

Add the meat

Cover tightly with foil

Cover and place in oven

Cooking Tidbit - Know How

Gosh, how do you know how to cook...if you do? how do I know how to cook? what if you don't have a clue how to cook? 

I never really thought much about this before I started this blog. I think we are influenced from a very early age about whether we even can cook as well as if we are doing well as novice cooks. Think about that any time you have an opportunity to have a very young person in your kitchen. Is it, "Watch out! hot! don't touch the stove! get away!" or is it, "It's hot, and I am here to teach you how to be careful around the stove so that you can learn to cook safely. You're smart and I know you can do it. I won't let you get hurt." Attitude can make all the difference in how you feel about cooking and in how you may influence someone else to feel about their ability, no matter what their age.

I am not a chef. I am not a professional. I am a humble housewife cook. Those are my roots, my beginnings and I am very proud of them. My very early memory is learning to cook from my mom, Adrienne. She would teach me and she would also tell me where the recipe came from, especially if it was one from her family or the neighborhood when she was growing up, which was pretty much an immigrant neighborhood of many peoples from other places than our country. My parents were both first-born Americans, their parents having migrated from Canada and England. Because my mom loved to cook, she also took the time to learn the recipes from her mother-in-law, Mary Jane, who was English, so I am very lucky to have gotten some of those treasured recipes in addition to the French recipes from my mom's side of the family. She also gave me the recipes of her mother, Zoe, who she lost to cancer when she was only fifteen years old. My mother had to learn to be my mother without the benefit of watching how her mother mothered. She had to become a "mother" to her younger siblings at fifteen. There were nine children and  she was about in the middle so there were younger ones to raise and she, who was a good student and loved school, quit to help my grandfather raise the children. She never graduated from high school. She never let me forget it and she was the one who made sure I graduated from college. She gave me an education college never could have and I will never forget it. I am always grateful. Thank you mom! I love you! Her recipes are my treasure.

In addition, when I married in 1965, I had the supreme pleasure of having the most wonderful mother-in-law ever, Peg. She never said a critical word or looked askance at anything I did. She also gave me some wonderful recipes which I still make for my husband, George, to this day. Thank you, Peg. I love you!

So, I say to you, get your recipes where you can but try to get some from a dear one to you. Why? because, somehow,they are there with you when you are cooking their recipe. It is truly magic....not to be missed in your life. Love to you, Linda

HEALING SOUP

HEALING SOUP

Postpartum Birth Warrior Chicken Soup for the Soul

This soup is a shot in the arm to postpartum mothers, so use only pure, organic, free range, local, when possible, ingredients.

This soup is also excellent for anyone who is convalescing from anything!!

It is very healing.

• bay leaf, 1
• carrots a handful baby cut up (or 3-4 big carrots)
• celery stalks -1,2 chopped (optional)
• Chicken -1 already prepped rotisserie from the grocery store – remove skin, use all the parts of the chicken: legs, breasts, wings, back, etc - anywhere there's meat, pull it off
• chicken stock, 1 box (32 oz) or cans of the liquid or use 1 t. Better Than Boullion chicken flavor per each cup of water
• greens,1 bunch, de-stemmed and cut into 1" pieces (you could use collard, mustard, spinach, kale too or a blend of greens – I use frozen chopped spinach)
• garlic - 4-5 cloves, minced
• Olive oil, 2 T.
• onion - 2 white or yellow, diced
• pasta,1 handful of (tube pasta or egg noodles)
• poultry seasoning blend - dash
• red pepper flakes - to taste
• salt & fresh ground pepper – to taste
• thyme, dry – dash
• water - 2-3 cups

1) Look at your chicken & thank it for giving its life for your meal, then, pick over the chicken to get all the good meat off, set aside.

2) Heat up a couple T. olive oil in a deep pot on med-high heat - sauté onion for a minute or two, then add garlic, stirring often so it doesn't burn.

3) Saute onion & garlic for a few minutes add chopped carrots & cook for a few minutes until slightly tender. Add chopped celery at this point if you have it.

4) Add stock & let come to a “gentle” boil

5) contemplate the chicken - thank it for coming into your meal with selflessness. Breathe deeply.

6) Add chicken and some water, let get back to high heat

7) Watch as all the flavors magically meld together and create your meal. Thank all the parts of this soup for nourishing the heart and soul. Breathe deeply.

8) Add herbs and seasonings - thank mother earth for bringing such rich flavor to your soup. - you might need to add 1-2 t. of salt, depending on your taste.

9) Allow soup to cook on med-low heat for 15-20 minutes until all flavors are mingling. Breathe deeply.

10) Add the greens (it will look like too much at first, but greens cook down to NOTHING - don't be afraid of the mound of greens). Give the greens a chance to cook down first, then add more water or stock if necessary.

11) Add pasta last - your soup will be piping hot at this point and the pasta will cook fast. Give it 5 minutes to bathe in the soup before serving.

This soup freezes well. Fill up a quart jar, leaving at least an inch at top as the soup will expand. Thaw in the fridge for about 24 hours before heating soup.

This soup recipe was submitted by Lanell Coultas, Birthing From Within Mentor, Austin, TX

www.consciousbirthingaustin.com

Grandparenting

Here are our grand kids enjoying their pastina. I am going to have some special things that I introduce them to that they will have some fond memories of when they grow up. My paternal grandparents, Mary and Joseph, died before I was born as did my maternal grandmother, Zoe. I barely remember my maternal grandfather, Hubert, as he passed on when I was seven. So I am trying to be the grandparent I would have wanted to have and so far, it's a lot of fun!

PASTINA

PASTINA

My mom used to make this for me when I was little and I still love it. I make it for my grand kids and if they don't quite finish it, my son (their dad) will, as I used to make it for my kids. It is wonderful comfort food and I still have it for breakfast a couple times a week.

• Butter, 1 t or less   
• Chicken bouillon, 1 t or cube – adds flavor
• Egg white
• Pastina, 2-3 T per person
• Spinach, frozen spinach or fresh (optional)
• Water

1. Put about 1-2“ water per serving in a small sauce pan
   
2. Bring water to a boil
3. Add chicken bouillon cube or 1 t paste
4. Add 2-3 T pastina per serving
5. Simmer uncovered on low heat
6. Add a little more water if too thick and not done enough yet
   
7. Stir frequently, don't leave, stay and attend
8. Cook until pastina is done and water is almost gone
9. Add egg white and stir until it turns white
   
10. Stir in spinach (optional)
11. Stir in butter and serve

I buy Ronzoni pastina that looks like tiny stars. Cooks in about 5 minutes.

If I can't find it I buy De Cecco - they make two pastas called Stellette and Acini de Pepe which are similar but with a slightly longer cooking time.

I use Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base. They also make a Vegetarian Base and have an organic line, too. This stuff is far better than bouillon cubes! Remember to keep it refrigerated.

Here is their website: http://www.superiortouch.com/retail/products/better-than-bouillon

Be sure to add more water if it is almost gone and pastina isn't done yet.

Keep an eye on it as it will stick to pan if not enough water. Don't put too much water as then it will be more like soup than like “baby” food.

Stir and taste frequently so it doesn't turn mushy (as it will if overcooked.)

Yummy comfort food for breakfast or a snack, kids and adults!

Substitute any veggie if you don't like spinach.

Alter this any way you like .... kids love it...I do too:))

Cooking Tidbit - Love

Cooking Tidbit - Love

I offered up the deviled eggs recipe partly to be in sync with Easter and what to do with all those boiled eggs! Putting a tray of them out for breakfast when we have company was a big hit. They are also a nice addition to hors d'oeuvres to serve at a party, especially if you substitute some of the other suggested fillings for the egg yolks.

Thinking about deviled eggs reminds me of a fond family story. My widowed mother-in-law, Peg, was getting on in years and she lived alone. Behind her home was a drive-thru store where you could get milk or bread on your way home. She would walk back to the store and, apparently, was purchasing many cartons of eggs. She would bring them home and lovingly prepare deviled eggs for us. 

She didn't learn to drive until she was fifty eight, after my father-in-law passed away and being a bit wild behind the wheel, I would make the children come in from the front yard when she was coming over. She sort "made tracks" as she drove up into our yard and I didn't want any children out there!

Well, she started visiting every few days and would bring us a large platter of deviled eggs. Soon I had about forty five deviled eggs in the fridge! that was when we began to realize she needed a little closer watching over.

What was so sweet about it was that I felt that she was trying to take care of us and this was her way of showing us how much she loved us, even though she apparently didn't realize just how many eggs she had brought us!

I learned so much from my mom and Peg. I hear their voices, telling me what to do next when I don't quite know what to do as I am preparing something. Setting the table with pieces I inherited from my mom brings her to every Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner. I used to be asked to set out certain serving pieces, very carefully so as not to break them, when I was quite young. I swelled with pride at the honor of being asked to do this. When I set the table with her things, I am transported, I am once again that small girl. It is magic I didn't even know she was making at the time.

So at every opportunity, put some love into your meal. Give the little ones in your life a special task. When you are preparing food, no matter how tired or how rushed you are, take a moment to be still. In the silence will come the voices of those who love you, who are sitting on your shoulder as you are preparing a snack or a meal. It is magic.

DEVILED EGGS

DEVILED EGGS
Just in time for Easter!

My mom, Adrienne, always let me help her in the kitchen and taught me how to cook from an early age. Although she is now in heaven, she was a wonderful cook and is always with me as I am preparing food. This is her recipe.

• Eggs, 12 large hard-boiled, sliced in half
• Mayonnaise,1/3 c
• Mustard,1 T Grey Poupon 
• Onion, yellow cooking, finely minced,1- 2 T
• Paprika, 1/4 t to garnish  
• Salt and fresh ground pepper, 1/8 t each 

1. Mash together egg yolks* with the mayonnaise 
2. Add mustard, salt & pepper 
3. Spoon the filling into each ½ egg 
4. Dust with the paprika

*if egg yolks are not on your diet, fill the eggs with hummus, pate, fish dip or anything that appeals to you instead

Hard Boiled Eggs

• Place eggs in uncovered saucepan
• Cover eggs with cold water so that water level is approximately 1” above eggs and add salt – will make them easier to peel
• Heat eggs and water over high heat until water boils rapidly
• Remove saucepan from heat and cover
• Allow water and eggs to stand for 18 - 20 minutes
• Pour hot water from saucepan
• Run cool water over eggs until they are cool enough to handle
• Drain
• Tap each end of egg lightly on counter to crackle the shell
• Roll egg between your hands or on counter to loosen shell
• Peel under gently running cold water