Leftover Sauce?

I've been in a cranberry mood lately. Maybe it's the season- who knows? But since I had quite a bit of left over Cranberry gravy from last night's Cranberry Pork Roast, I figured I'd put it to good use.

So, I baked a dish full of chicken tenderloins (I buy the large frozen bags of them and cook in large qualities to use as my "snack" protein) covered in the left over sauce. Took about 25 minutes cooked at 350 degrees.

I served the chicken with Near East's Wheat Couscous and green beans. Yuummmm. I sprinkled some Craisins in the Couscous for good measure.

**note- I don't put butter in my Couscous as the directions show, I just don't find it necessary.

Super quick dinner- took me less than thirty minutes and used up the sauce that I might have otherwise thrown away.

A little holiday warmup

We have had beautiful fall weather to herald the holiday season. We had a busy day of yard clean up and errands planned, so it was a good day for a Crock Pot comfort meal. This one fit the bill.

Cranberry Pork Roast

1 boneless rolled pork loin roast (2 1/2- 3 lbs)
1 16 oz can of jellied cranberry sauce
1/2 c sugar
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp cold water
Salt to taste

Place pork roast in a 5 qt slow cooker.

In a small bowl, mash cranberry sauce; stir in sugar, juice, mustard, and cloves. Pour over roast.

Cover and Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove roast and keep warm.

Skim fat from juices.

Pour juices into a measuring cup. Add water if needed to make 2 cups of liquid.

Pour into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir into pan with juices. Bring back to a boil.

Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Season with Salt.

Serve sliced pork with cranberry gravy.



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I made a couple substitutions. I used sage instead of cloves because I love sage with pork. I also added water in place of the cranberry juice because the last time I made this I felt the cranberry was a little too intense and I didn't have any juice in the fridge :). I will serve this tonight with either sauteed or roast potatoes depending on how much time I have, but its excellent with creamy mashed potatoes as well.

Mama's Creamy Chicken Chili

Mama and I are big fans of chili, especially chicken chili. So when she told me she had a great new recipe, I had to try it out.

Creamy White Chili

1 lb chicken breast, bite sized pieces
1 med chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp oil
2 can Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups chicken broth
1-2 can (4 oz can) chopped green chiles ( Mom uses 1 can)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
dash of cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream

Saute chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil in a large saucepan unitl chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chiles, and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and whipping cream.

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In the interest of losing baby weight and using what I had here in the house, I made a couple substitutions. I used two large breast halves (the ones with the ribs attached) to make my own broth since I find most of the prepared ones too salty. I used the meat from those breasts in the chili. I used fresh oregano from my hrb garden in place of dried. I also used Stonyfield Plain Low Fat yogurt in place of the sour cream, which is a usual sub for me. I decided to go ahead with 1/2 c of whipping cream because it's so little for the whole pot. Super yuuuuuummmmm.

Lasagna

Kevin had today off work for Veteran's Day, so I pulled out my lasagna ingredients. I've been meaning to make lasagna for a while but the little man hasn't really given me the time.

Lasagna
1/2 box lasagna noodles
Jarred Sauce
16 ozs shredded mozzarella
2 lbs ricotta
2 eggs
Salt
Pepper
Basil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare noodles al dente.

Combine 2/3 of mozzarella, ricotta, eggs, and season with salt, pepper and basil. Mix well.

Spray/Grease a 9"x13" baking dish.

Layer noodles, sauce, and ricotta mix to the top of dish (I did 3 layers of each).

Top with remaining mozzarella.

Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes or until bubbling.

Remove foil and bake for additional 10 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and let sit for 10 minutes to set.

Serve and enjoy

**Note: I normally use homemade sauce that has more veggie fiber and less salt and sugar, but I'm using up some open sauce that I keep for those baby emergencies where I don't have time for anything except boiling water for spaghetti.

Mama's Chicken and Dumplings

I love my mom's chicken and dumplings. It's just one of those comfort foods that tastes especially yummy in the fall as the weather gets cold. The first time I tried to make it on my own, we ended up with chicken and "dumpling", a sort of casserole instead of the thick-almost-soup that my mom makes. So during a recent trip home, I asked her to make it while I wrote down the steps.

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:

Whole chicken
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Poultry Seasoning
Salt and Pepper
Garlic Powder
Flour

Directions:

Put cleaned chicken into large stockpot and cover with water.

Slice carrots, celery and onion, adding to stockpot.

Bring to a boil and cook until chicken is done.

Remove chicken.

In a seperate bowl, put approximately 2 c flour (seasoned with salt and pepper). Add enough broth from stock pot to make a dough.

Roll out dough, with the thickness depending on preference.

Cut dough into strips, then diagonally.

Bring broth to a boil and drop in dumplings.

Debone cooled chicken, shred and add back to simmering broth.

Dissolve flour in cold water and add to broth until desired gravy consistency is found. (about three tbsp worked for me).

**Mama's Suggestions:

1. For those not from the south (and not used to traditional chicken and dumplings) roll the dumpling dough thinner.
2. 2-4 Chicken breasts works in place of a whole chicken with less cleaning. I like using the frozen chicken breasts with rib meat. You get all white meat, but still the benefit of bone for the broth.
   

More Progress

Yet another step.

I've decided to take advantage of the opportunity that MyCAA offers to add nutritional counseling and renew my personal training certification.

The more I learn, the more I find myself believing in a holistic approach to wellness. I know that my personal wellness has been greatly enhanced by changing the way I eat and the products I use in my home. I know that the more fit I am, the better I feel. (Although getting my thyroid functioning normally again will certainly help me in that regard!). I'm excited about this change.

Asaparagus Soup and Homemade pizza

Not the most likely pairing, but I'm trying to use the leftovers in my fridge and pantry. The soup turned out especially well. I halved my soup recipe because I was using leftovers. The pizza was prepared whole wheat pizza crust, 1/2 c or so of tomato sauce, grated fresh mozzarella and a sprinkling of chopped fresh oregano and basil from my window garden.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Ingredients

• 2 lbs asparagus
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 5 cups chicken broth
• Leaves of 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• Salt and pepper

Method

1 Cut asparagus into 1/2-inch pieces.

2 Cook onion in butter in a 4 or 6-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add asparagus pieces and salt and pepper to taste, then cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Add 5 cups broth, thyme, and simmer, covered, until asparagus is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

3 Purée soup in batches in a blender until smooth. If you want a very creamy texture, you can put the purée through a food mill or press it through a sieve. Transfer to a bowl (use caution when blending hot liquids), and return to pan. Stir in cream. Stir in a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.