Sensual Summer Strawberry Spinach Salad

Have you a craving for something light and refreshing that plays soft melodies across the tongue and makes the eyes close while savoring the delicate nuances of sweet, sour and fresh greens.

Sensual Summer Strawberry Spinach Salad

INGREDIENTS
½ c Apple Cider Vinegar
½ c Oil
1/3 c Agave Nectar (or ½ c sugar)
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 pkg Spinach or if buying loose 3 – 4 cups (2 handfuls)
1 ½ cups to 2 cups Strawberries
1 cup shelled Pecans

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix first 4 ingredients in bowl.
2. Set aside for later
3. Wash and spin the spinach leaves.
4. Put in salad bowl. (a glass bowl is nice to see the contrast of the red and green)
5. Rinse strawberries, remove tops.
6. Slice strawberries.
7. Add to spinach in bowl.
8. Allow the pecans to join the party
9. Toss spinach, strawberries and pecans.
10. Hold off adding the dressing until just before serving.
11. Do not use all of the mixture.
12. Pour some over the spinach and strawberries, toss and add more to taste.

Wait for it...Wait for it..
                   everyone will want the recipe. :)

Saucy Chicken Chili

With several leg and thigh chicken pieces in the freezer I had need of a recipe to help reduce the larder. We do not eat legs and thighs normally, preferring the taste of white meat, but free food is not something to shake your head at.

Turning to my daughter with my dilemma I was given 3 recipes complete with notations of her family reactions to each.

This is one I have already given a go and decided on for tonight's dinner.
Firstly, I began a good sourdough culture yesterday as hearty sourdough goes with most any stew, soup or chili.
Next I gathered all my ingredients as I was taught ...many years ago.

Saucy Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
1 -15-oz. can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 -16-oz. jar salsa verde (or 2 - 7 oz. cans)
1 - 4-oz. can diced green chiles
1 - 15 oz can corn
1 cup diced onions
3 tsp. Mexican seasoning (see note)
1 chicken leg and thigh; skinned and fat trimmed off
Note: The original recipe called for Mexican Seasoning and though I have 2 full drawers and one shelf dedicated to spices I had not one that said Mexican Seasoning so here is what I combined to fulfill that need. It worked quite well, in fact I keep a jar of it on hand now for other dishes.

Mexican Seasoning
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
3/4 tsp Chicken Boullin
Mix Well

Directions:
Place chicken in crock pot add enough chicken stock or water with chicken boullin to cover.
Cook on high for 3 hours or med for 6.
About 1/2 hour before the chicken is done dice up onions and saute' in large skillet.
While they are sauteing combine all the other ingredients into a bowl. (it takes a while to open the cans and do the seasonings and you need to be close to the onions while they saute' anyway.)
After you have everything measured out turn crock pot off, remove leg and thigh to bread board.
Strip the meat off the bones using one or two forks, your preference.
When onions are translucent add all other ingredients and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.
Then add chicken stir, cook for 5 more min.
Makes 4 servings.

Let chicken broth in crock pot cool down until you can bag it for freezing to be use in another meal.

Serve with hot buttered sour dough bread, a nice wine.
Enjoy!

Nutritional Information:
Nutrition per serving (375 g): 340 calories, 24 g protein, 15 g total fat (4.5 g sat., 0 g trans), 25 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 6 g sugar, 75 mg cholesterol, 1050 mg sodium, 7 points

The original recipe was found at the Raley's web site.
Any changes to the original were mine.

The Spice House is my preferred source of spices. http://www.thespicehouse.com/
Fresh delightful and a selection  that can make your head swim.
I would highly suggest buying there catalog with your first order. I did and found it to be unlike any catalog I have ever receive before. Filled to with a wealth of information on each spice it has a reserved space on my counter with my favourite cookbooks.
(All the other cookbooks reside on 3 shelves in the cupboard.)

A Game of Hide n Seek

I have been hunting diligently under bushes, in woodpiles and anywhere else that looks like a likely spot to find where the chickens have been laying their eggs.

Eight chickens but only 1 or 2 eggs a day :(

Then, while standing on a tall ladder helping to roof my new chicken coop I happened to glance down and there tucked under the branches of an evergreen cedar, that also is a protective part of my goose nest, I spied a myriad of eggs spilling out from under a bush.

I got down and went to investigate. Bending down on my knees arms stretching as far into the tangled branches as I could I retrieved my bounty.
33 whole eggs and 2 others that had been broken.
Unfortunately I could not tell when they were laid so I had to toss them into the compost, but took a pic first.
At least now I know an in the following days have been able to find fresh ones daily.

Eggs, Eggs Eggs -- Free Range are baaaackkk!

OOoooh, that time of year has rolled around again, the girls are laying their hearts out and I could not be happier.

After a winter hiatus the daylight has finally extended to the point that the girls began working again.

Last year my little flock increased by three and this spring they began laying when the other girls did. Not a moment too soon. I was getting so tired of those bland store bought eggs.

 

The variety of colours stems from the fact that my "girls" hail from a multi cultural background. The blue eggs come from my Ameraucana and my Americauna cross, The dark brown eggs are from my Rhode Island Red, The lighter brown eggs are from my Jungle Fowl and Barred Rock and the light tan eggs are from my Lakenvelder and Hamburg. All beautiful healthy girls.

Not only do my free range eggs taste so much better than the store bought ones there are several benefits that go with them.

Free range eggs have incredible nutritional benefits. From what I have read much of the cholesterol in eggs is the good kind (HDL). You can also get many benefits from the egg whites without the added cholesterol because most of the cholesterol is found in the yolk of an egg.  Just look at the difference:

The healthy rich deep orange coloured egg on the left is a free range egg. The anorexic pale egg on the right is one that is store bought, laid by a chicken that was probably kept in a 1 x 1 foot cage and never saw the light of day.

Eggs contain all essential amino acids and lots of protein that our bodies need. But free range eggs provide more of these things, as well as plenty of Omega-3 that they get from the insects and green stuff they eat. Chickens raised in factories don't have the opportunity to eat insects and grass that make the chicken and eggs so nutritious for us. 

Chickens that are allowed plenty of open space and clean air to roam free and forage are much less likely to carry food borne illnesses. To me there are many benefits to eating free range eggs. It is better for the environment; it is healthier for the chicken and healthier for me when I eat a free range egg. I also know when my eggs are laid.

An added bonus is the chickens work from sun-up to almost sundown catching bugs to make those healthy eggs and my yard is more pest free than it has ever been.

This seems like a win-win situation all around.

I got the following information from the Mother Earth News website:

LATEST RESULTS: New test results show that pastured egg producers are kicking the commercial industry's derriere when it comes to vitamin D! Eggs from hens raised on pasture show 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D as typical supermarket eggs. Learn more: Eggciting News!!!

RESULTS FROM OUR PREVIOUS STUDY: Eggs from hens allowed to peck on pasture are a heck of a lot better than those from chickens raised in cages! Most of the eggs currently sold in supermarkets are nutritionally inferior to eggs produced by hens raised on pasture. That’s the conclusion we have reached following completion of the 2007 Mother Earth News egg testing project.

Our testing has found that, compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain:
• 1⁄3 less cholesterol

• 1⁄4 less saturated fat

• 2⁄3 more vitamin A

• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids

• 3 times more vitamin E

• 7 times more beta carotene 

Please help us spread the word — eggs from hens raised on pasture are far more nutritious than eggs from confined hens in factory farms.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/eggs.aspx#ixzz1pVINMjq4

Cher's Ultimate Savory and Hearty Beef Stew

Cher’s Ultimate Hearty and Savory Beef Stew

Ingredients
4 to 4.5 Lbs stew meat chuck with fat removed
Flour - enough to coat meat
Olive Oil as needed
2 - 1 qt Beef broth
1 Bottle of good Cabernet Sauvignon
(Select a bottle of wine that you would drink DO NOT USE A COOKING WINE)
2 - Lg yellow Onions
10 - Garlic Cloves
(or minced garlic from The Spice House if you would like to cut back on some oil)
1 - large Costco container of Baby Bella (or Crimini) mushrooms
8 - Lg Potatoes
10 - Baby Carrots (quantity to your taste)
1 small bag of frozen peas

Spices are all to your taste
(quantities given are what Cher starts with; then she adjusts accordingly)
Kosher Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2 - 3 TBSP Hungarian sweet paprika
2 - 3 tsp cumin
2 - 3 tsp beef roast seasoning from the spice house
2 - 3 tsp rosemary
2 - 3 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
2 – 3 tsp Costco Kirkland Signature no salt seasoning

Directions:
Cube the beef into 1” cubes.
Heat 1.5 tbsp of olive oil in stainless steel pan.
Coat cubes in flour then add to hot oil (Cher uses a baggie that she can shake and get a good even coating)
Brown some of the meat on all sides in heated olive oil
(make sure there is only one layer of meat at a time. You will need to work in batches.)
When 1 batch is done remove, set aside and then add some more meat to pan.
Add more oil, if needed, to the pan and begin cooking meat again.
Repeat until all meat is cooked.
(The amount of time to cook the meat will vary with how large a batch you are making.)

Put cooked meat into large pot.
Add equal parts of the beef stock and the Cabernet to cover the beef cubes. Reserve the rest to add later.
Allow meat to simmer for 30 minutes

While the meat is simmering, coarsely chop up onions; add to a stainless steel pan and sauté in olive oil until translucent.
Once they are translucent add to beef stew

After the onions are done cooking and have been removed and added to the cooking stew meat, chop the 10 garlic cloves up, add to the pan you just used for the onions and then gently sauté 10 garlic cloves in the hot onion infused olive oil.
(If you cook them with the onions they will burn so be sure to do them separately.)
Stay with the garlic as it sautés. They cook quickly and will brown too much or burn.
Strain garlic from the oil and add garlic to stew. (I use a spoon to scoop them out and lean it against the inside of the pan so the oil can drip back into the pan.)

(If you use the minced or chopped garlic from The Spice House you can skip this step.)
Leave the garlic/onion infused oil in the pan for the mushrooms.

Add the remainder of the Beef broth and the wine to the pot.

Clean the mushrooms to prepare them for slicing.
Never run the mushrooms under water, instead wipe gently with damp towel.
This is very important. If you wash them under water they will become waterlogged and will not absorb all the luscious flavors that you will be trying to coax into them.

Slice mushrooms and then add mushrooms to stainless steel pan that you just used to sauté the garlic in. Cook mushrooms on med heat turning frequently as you sauté.
After the mushrooms have cooked for a few minutes a flavorful brown liquid will form.
As this brown savory liquid forms, spoon out of pan and add to stew.

When the mushrooms have cooked for a few minutes and most of the liquid is gone sprinkle kosher salt on mushrooms, continue cooking until mushrooms are crusty.
Turn up heat until mushrooms are sizzling and add enough cabernet to mushrooms to deglaze pan.
Let wine cook down for minute or two, continually sautéing, pushing them around until wine is fully absorbed.
It is very important that you stay with the mushrooms through this step to keep them from burning.
Add mushrooms to stew.

Cut carrots in half add to pot
Add kosher salt, black pepper, paprika, Hungarian sweet paprika, cumin, beef roast seasoning, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, and Costco Kirkland signature no salt seasoning
Simmer stew for about 30 minutes

While stew simmers cut potatoes into large pieces about 1” add to pot about 30 or 40 min before stew is to be served.

Stew is done when potatoes are tender
At this point add you may add the frozen peas or wait until just before serving stew
They only need about 2- 5 minutes to warm and you do not want to overdo it.

Serve with hot buttered sour dough bread, a good wine and enjoy!

Cher's Fantasmic Paprikash in a Crock Pot

I traveled to see my son's family yesterday and was treated to a sensual culinary experience. Cher had made a delectable delight that I had never partaken or heard of before; Paprikash. Doesn't that word just make you smile?

PAPRIKASH!

I love it, the word and the dish.

Paired with the bowl of Paprikash were generous slices of hot buttered home made sour dough bread that my son had made.

Mmmmm..... my mouth is salivating at the memory of the meal.

So without further ado, the meal:

And now, the recipe:

Cher’s Fantasmic Chicken Paprikash in a Crock Pot

Ingredients
3 tablespoons (to taste) Hungarian sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 large onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 whole chicken
4 - 6 cloves minced garlic
8-ounce Crimini brown mushrooms sliced
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 can drained diced tomatoes
1/2 cup Chicken Broth

To make Rice:
2 cups Rice (or more if you like more rice)
4 cups (1 qt) fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
Olive Oil

Loaf of Sourdough Bread

Directions
Add chicken broth and spices to the crock pot and stir well.
Gently mix onion, bell pepper and with the paprika mixture.
Nestle the chicken into the veggies, cover, and set for 8 hours.
Add the garlic and mushrooms 3-4 hours into cooking.
(you could add them earlier, but when my daughter in law waited to add them the mushrooms had better flavor and texture)
After 8 hours, remove chicken and let cool.
Taste the veggie mixture and add more paprika, black pepper, cayenne, and salt to taste.
Remove chicken from carcass.
Cut into bite size shredded pieces and add back to crock pot.
Add sour cream and drained diced tomatoes turn crock pot on medium.
Allow to cook for 30 minutes more, while rice is cooking.

To cook rice, add enough olive oil to pan to coat the bottom, stir in rice until rice is coated in oil. Using medium heat continue stirring rice as though you were sautéing it.
(This keeps the rice from burning.)
While the rice is cooking in the oil, heat chicken stock in microwave or over stove until very hot. After the rice has cooked 3 - 5 minutes add chicken broth and salt to taste.
Cover and cook until done; about 30 min.

Serve Paprikash over rice in a bowl.
Make sure you plenty of crusty slices of hot fresh buttered sour dough bread.
Enjoy!

Number of Servings: 6 -1 cup servings

For humor:

 

Tarragon Chicken Salad - Starbucks Style

At 5.75 the Tarragon Chicken Salad sandwich at Starbucks is a little spendy but is still one of my favourites.
So....  I wondered if I could make a sandwich that would be close to the same.
Here is my version:

1 lg can chicken breast chunks (I used Costco's)
2 - 3 Tbsp Mayonnaise ( I use reduced fat made with Olive oil)
1/2 stalk of celery
1 tsp Tarragon
1/4 tsp Poultry Seasoning
Dash of Salt to season
1/4 Mrs. Dash
1/4 c Craisens

1 can of whole jellied cranberries
Healthy bread ( I used Orowheat Heathful - Flax and Fiber)
red leaf lettuce

Drain liquid from chicken breast can. (cats and dogs love this treat).
Scoop meat into bowl and use a fork to flake it.
Add enough mayonnaise to give it the consistency you like. I use a couple of tablespoons.
Chop or slice celery into very small pieces; add to mixture.
Add tarragon, poultry seasoning, salt, Mrs. Dash to season. This is a personal thing. I gave the amount I used, feel free to adjust to your taste buds.
Mix thoroughly

Spread one side of a slice of bread with the whole jellied cranberries. If you like spread the other slice of bread with mayonnaise.

I put the leaf of red lettuce on the mayonnaise side of the bread and a layer of the chicken mixture on the cranberry side of bread.

Put both sides together and enjoy!
This tastes especially great with a cup of coffee.

 

Butterscotch Brownies, Fruit Salad and bad internet

Internet was down 3 days last week. I swear I went through withdrawals. Snapped at everyone. :(

Then it went down again yesterday and I now I am positive.. I am addicted. I sat there with the un-connected laptop in my lap willing it to connect to the internet. Just touching it. So sad. :(

Finally, I decided to do something constructive and got busy with my Disney video project. The "small" video of our April trip.

Right.. small... at least it started out small. Now I am working on cutting it down to one hour.

I am really enjoying looking at all the pictures though. I have decided to save up for the next trip. It might take 5 years to save the money, but I really want to go again.

I have been following Lacy's blog and got a recipe from her for Butterscotch Brownies.

For the recipe go to:
Tangled Oak Roots Farm

I really enjoyed making this delectable organic delight.


Organic ingredients


My free range eggs. Note the different colours. I have different breeds of chickens. Love the colours. :)


Mixing on the stove.
Note the darker colour of the yolks. Normal for free range chickens. More Vitamin A for the me.


All cooked! Now I just have to wait till they are cool. :)

Sunday I wanted to make a dessert a little more healthy so I made Fruit Salad.


Can't have fruit salad without strawberries.... yummm


A few more fruits to add.

Mix in the pineapple, layer in a Trifle Bowl with Whipped cream and...


Been trying to get more items up on ebay. So far I have the Organic baby toys, and the doll dresses.
Will try to get the baby slings and organic diapers on after this post.

Check out my items here:
Artigal's ebay listings

De.li.ci.ous Crock Pot Stew

I was watching the morning news last week while they were featuring their Crock pot recipe for that day. I happened to catch the one from Brookfields, a local restaurant that has good food for the price.
It just so happened that I had a fresh batch of chicken stock I had just made the day before and had planned to do something with for dinner that night. I added a little of my own flair to it and ended up with this version.

De.li.ci.ous Crock Pot Stew

1-2 lbs meat - cubed
10 New potatoes – quartered or cubed
1 onion sliced
1 c peas
1 clove garlic – pressed
1 ½ c fresh mushrooms - sliced
¾ c celery – sliced
1 - 2 c carrots – sliced
1 c fresh diced tomatoes
3 – 4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 – 4 dashes Tabasco sauce
1 tsp Cumin
1 Bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
½ c wine (good drinking wine)
1 ½ c chicken broth or water
flour

Lightly flour meat, add to the crock pot.Add all other ingredients, in order.
Lightly stir or toss.
Cook on High for 5 – 6 hours or Low for 10 – 12 hours

I used elk meat, any kind of meat will do. We are not big meat eaters and I did not use but ½ pound of meat. Instead we increased the veggies.

This could be totally Vegetarian by not using any meat and only using water not chicken broth.
Preparation time:Took me about 1 ½ hours to clean and cut up everything, put in pot and clean up the mess.
We compost all veggie scraps so I had my little bucket close by and dumped the veggie scraps as they accrued.
Have a Great day!
I hope you like the recipe as much as we did.
Kathleen