Feb 25
Chili is one of my family’s favorite winter meals. It is warm, hearty and quick to prepare – the ultimate in comfort food. This version is made with chicken instead of beef and white beans instead of red ones. The flavors are a little different than the traditional chili but I think you will find it a nice change of pace. I use a 6-quart slow cooker for my version, but the recipe divides easily for smaller crockpots.
Feb 3
A number of you have asked for a couple of recipes that my family has liked lately so I thought I would post those before I forgot how I made them.
This soup was inspired by a fantastic soup that was served by a family-owned Chinese restaurant in a town where a used to live. We jokingly called it miracle chicken soup because it seemed to cure the common cold. I always crave this yummy soup when I am getting a little sick. This recipe is my attempt to recreate that delicious and healthy soup.
1 cup Chinese rice sticks (also called rice noodles or rice vermicelli)
1 tsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts, sliced in bite-sized pieces
2 qts chicken or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon Oriental five-spice powder, to suit your taste
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup baby corn
1 cup celery, slicked diagonally
1 cup carrots, sliced diagonally
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup fresh green beans, snapped
1 cup fresh broccoli florets
1 cup garbanzo beans, cooked
1 cup snow peas
1 cup bok choy, pak choy or some of each, sliced diagonally
1 tsp sesame oil
Soak rice sticks in hot water for 10 minutes. While rice sticks are soaking, saute chicken in olive oil until no longer pink. Add small amount of stock and deglaze pan. Add remaining stock, ginger, soy sauce and five spice powder. Bring to boil. Drain and rinse noodles and add to stock. Reduce heat to simmer and simmer until chicken is tender (about 5 minutes). Add all vegetables except bok choy and cook until bright in color and almost tender (5 minutes) Add bok choy and cook for 3 more minutes until all vegetables are just tender and bright in color. Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil.
Dried beans are a real budget saver. I am aways looking for new ways to cook them. Inspired by the savory flavors of Cuban black beans, I designed this recipe for the crock pot. It is delicious served with brown rice. My kids liked it so much they named the recipe.
1 pound Dried black beans (turtle beans)
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
3 large cloves garlic, sliced
1 cupk celery, chopped coarsely
1 large sweet green or red pepper, chopped coarsely
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
3- 4 cups broth
1.5 cups salsa
4 – 5 chicken breasts
Soak black beans overnight (or do quick soak*). Drain and rinse beans and add to 6 qt or larger crock pot. Top with onion, garlic, celery and bay leaf. Add broth and enough extra water to bring liquid level almost to the top of beans. Top with half the salsa. layer chicken breasts on top of beans. Top with remaining salsa. Cook on high for 4- 5 hours, on low for 6 – 8 hours or until chicken and beans are tender and chicken juices run clear. Serve with brown rice.
* Quick soak for beans – Rinse beans. Place in medium stock pot and add enough water to equal twice the depth of beans (1 pound of beans will take a minimum of 6 cups of water). Bring to a boil and boil for one minute. Cover, turn off heat but leave pot on the burner. Leave beans to soak for 1 – 2 hours. Drain and rinse beans and cook as described above.
Now lest you think you have stumbled upon a cooking blog, here is my latest knitting. My latest pattern is one that I created for Sanguine Gryphon.
May I introduce you to Tess?
Tess of the D’Urbervilles follows the life of its tragic herione from maiden to mother to milkmaid to mistress to murderer. This corset-styled vest adorned with a delicate, crocheted lace edging is something I can imagine Tess wearing. The neckline is a flattering U-shape and the waist is shaped with ribbing for a snug but comfortable fit.
This vest is knit in one piece from the bottom up. Part of the waist shaping will be done with 1×1 ribbing, to reduce the number of decreases and increases necessary. This will allow a little more flexibility in the waist sizing.
The pattern is available from Sanguine Gryphon.
For a limited time, Sanguine Gryphon is offering a 10% discount if you purchase the pattern and yarn together. And as a bonus, I have a couple of copies Tess to give away. So let’s have a blog contest. Since the theme of the Sanguine Gryphon winter line was literature, leave a comment and tell me about your favorite book. To give you even more chances to win, if you mention this contest on your blog, Facebook or Twitter, I will add your name to the hat another time. Just leave another comment here telling me about each place you mentioned the contest – include a link to your blog, or tag me from Twitter or Facebook (I am @tabithaknits on Twitter and @Tabithas Heart on Facebook). I will draw one winner at random to receive a copy of the Tess pattern along with another of my patterns of your choice. Winner will be chosen on Valentine’s Day.
Sep 11
As the temperatures are cooling slightly, I start getting excited about the flavors of fall. Fall is the time for apple cider, pumpkins and the ever popular candy corn. Since it is no longer too blooming hot to cook, I like to start baking again – cookies, apple pies, pear tarts and all of our fall favorites. Last fall, I discovered two new recipes that are sure to become my fall favorites – spiced cider and candy corn cookies. In lieu of knitting talk, I will share the recipes with you.
This is a modification of the Crockpot Wassail recipe from the Crockpot 356 blog. Basically, I cut down on the sweet a bit.
Pour liquid ingredients into a 6-quart crock pot and stir to mix. Wash orange thoroughly, slice in rings and float slices on top of liquid. Float spices at top of liquid (you can put the cloves in a cheese cloth bag if you like). Cook on high for 2 hours or on low for about 4.
This is a wonderful warm treat for cool autumn evenings though my kids will slurp it year round.
I discovered this recipe on the PieKnits blog last fall. While you are there check out her cute hat patterns. I made notations about some lessons learned along the way (these are in italics) but essentially the recipe is the same.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line cookies sheets with aluminum foil (because the some of the candy corn will ooze out, stick to the pan and become a giant nuisance to clean up if you don’t).
Cream together butter, peanut butter and both sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix together well.
In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture stirring until blended. Stir in peanuts. (Chill mixture in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes for easier handling.)
Form 1 inch balls of dough, inserting one or two candy corns into the center. Make sure dough completely covers the candy on all sides (this is extremely important unless you really like peanut butter cookies surrounded by sugar goo). Place on baking sheet and slightly flatten.
Bake 13 to 15 minutes until lightly browned. (Don’t overbake because they will continue to cook on the cookie sheet).
Remove from oven and immediately press a few candy corns into the top of each cookie (when she says immediately she means do it in a big, gigantic hurry if you want the candy corn to stay attached). Let cool several minutes (baking sheet should be cool enough to touch. It will take 3 – 5 minutes for the cookies to cool enough to remove.). Carefully transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. These are just as good the next day – assuming they last that long.
Happy cooking. Hope you enjoy these treats as much as we did.
Almost forgot. The kids wanted me to share this photo of the new friend they found in the back yard. Gotta love living in the country.
He is pretty well camouflaged but you can find him if you look closely.
Aug 3
The crock pot adventure continues.
Last week, I tried Smoked Sausage and Bean Stew from the Crockpot 365 blog. I found it to be quite delicious even though I substituted veggie broth. The recipe was filled with yummy veggies and I didn’t have to stand over the stove or heat up the oven to prepare supper. The recipe made just enough for a good hearty meal with leftovers for lunch the following day.
Last night, I tried another crock pot veggie adventure – ratatouille. My youngest has been nagging me since that movie came out to make ratatouille. I had my doubts about whether he would eat it but a cold with its accompanying sort throat convinced me I wanted comfort food. I have cooked ratatouille the old-fashioned way, but I was curious about how it would work in a crock pot.
After searching diligently for a recipe, I settled on this one. I tinkered with the recipe a little. I used two medium-sized eggplants instead of one large, I sweated the eggplant with salt before adding it to the cooker so it wouldn’t be bitter, I increased the garlic to be closer to the traditional recipes, I used tomato paste instead of fresh tomatoes and I substituted yellow squash for half of the zucchini. I also cooked mine on High for the first hour and stirred the concoction mid-way. The results were as expected, everybody but the kid that has been pestering me to make ratatouille for years liked it. Mr H ate three servings. And with all those veggies and olive oil, it has to be good for you. It was exactly what my cold-infected body wanted. The recipe made enough for a hearty meal and enough leftovers for lunch, though SmallFry will probably be happier with a sandwich. If I make this recipe again, I would probably put the herbs and spices between the two layers instead of on top.
Today, I am going for something SmallFry will eat so the crock pot is already working with a chicken for roasting. To this, I will add his favorite veggies so there will be no tears at the table. I will wait until tomorrow to spring a new recipe on him. 
Jul 26
I love the convenience of cooking in a crock pot. I love the feeling of organization that comes from knowing at 9:00am that supper is totally under control. I love that crock cooking doesn’t use a lot of electricity and it doesn’t heat up the house. So what is the problem then?
Most of the recipes that I find are for a big slab of meat covered with some kind of sauce. While this is fine occasionally, we eat more vegetables than meat. So I have trouble finding high-veg crock pot recipes. If you know a great one, I’d love to have you share the recipe.
I am trying one out tonight that is made with dried lima beans and stew veggies. The addition of steak sauce should make it interesting. Sure hope it tastes good. More importantly, I sure hope the kids will eat it. I will give you my review later this week.
Mar 18
Yet again a conversation on a social network has spawned a blog post. This time the topic was my chickens. I have a hen and a rooster that were given to me by a friend moving into a subdivision that didn’t allow livestock. Now these chickens were pets but the city didn’t agree with that assumption so I gained two chickens.
I wouldn’t have chosen this variety of chicken for myself as they are more ornamental than functional. They are a variety of Bantam called Silkies. They are quite unusual looking chickens. Their feathers don’t have webbing which makes the feathers look like down or silkie fur. Their earlobes and beak are a blue/turquoise color and they have black skin. They have feathered legs and feet. Because they are so fluffy they look larger than they actual are. It is quite funny to seen them wet and realize how small they are.
The most unusual thing about them though, is not their looks, strange though they may be. They are unbelievable gentle and docile chickens who will follow you around the yard like a puppy. The don’t mind being handled and the are fond of the company of humans. My little hen will not eat until she has come over to my hand for a pat.
They are supposedly good mothers so I am planning to let my little hen hatch some eggs this spring. I can’t wait to see what the babies look like. The really will be little puff balls.
My friend Dana has decided that my chickens need knitted couture items so I have been hunting for just the right project for dressing up a chicken. I think I may have found a couple of winners in the latest edition of Knit on the Net. Perhaps a jaunty hat like Notorious with a multi-function scarf, like Recession Ruffle. So what do you think? What is the perfect item of knitted chicken couture. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think would be perfect knitted accessory for a little fuzzy chicken.
Another thing that came from my latest social networking was a discussion of cake icings. I happen to love the Coca cola Icing. It is chocolaty, creamy, goodness and one of the few icings that I will actually eat. Several have asked for the recipe, so rather than sending it to everyone individually, I am posting it on my website for download. You can download a copy of my Coca Cola Cake Recipe here (pdf format). I have been known to cheat and just make the icing. Works great on a cake mix chocolate cake.
Dec 11
SmallFry has had a loose tooth that is driving him crazy. He has tried everything. I even caught him trying to tie things to the tooth to toss down the stairs (like Scott Calvin did with the toaster in Santa Clause 2). This morning I baked some blueberry muffins for breakfast and that stubborn tooth finally decided to fall out. The kids decided that the muffins were “Knock Your Teeth Out” good. (For the record, no rocks were added to this recipe to facilitate tooth removal.)
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| From Blog Photos |
Knock your Teeth Out Good Blueberry Muffins
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (unsweetened)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup milk
Colored sugar or cinnamon sugar for topping (optional)
Mix dry ingredients together. Stir in blueberries and pecans. In separate bowl, beat egg, oil and milk. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Do not over mix. Spoon into lined muffin tins, filling about three-fourths full. Sprinkle tops with colored sugar or cinnamon sugar, if desired. Bake at 350o for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Dec 5
To me, the holiday season is all about the wonderful tastes and smells of wonderful home cooking. My family is all about making hot cocoa, spiced cider, sugar cookies and gingerbread and all the other seasonal favorites. You can imagine my excitement when I saw an entry on one of my favorite blogs about Making fudge in the Crock pot. My excitement was short-lived, however, as it turns out you cannot make fudge in the crockpot. I won’t be too hard on Stephanie though because her Brown sugar Chicken recipe more than makes up for any crock failures she may have had.
But since I don’t have great news about a crockpot fudge recipe, I will share one that is almost as easy as using the crockpot. We have made it often and it is always a hit. It is also perfect for a holiday gift for that hard to please person.
Microwave Rocky Road Fudge
It’s as easy as 1-2-3.
1 1/2 packages (12-ounce size each) semisweet or dark chocolate chips (3 cups)
2 cups miniature marshmallows or 16 large marshmallows, cut in half
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup additional miniature marshmallows (optional)
1/4 cup white baking chips, melted, (optional)
1. Grease bottom and sides of square pan, 9x9x2 inches, with butter, or line with aluminum foil.
2. Place chocolate chips, marshmallows and milk in 8-cup microwavable measure. Microwave uncovered on High 3 to 5 minutes, stirring every minute, until chips and marshmallows are melted and mixture can be stirred smooth.
3. Stir in vanilla, additional marshmallows and nuts. Immediately pour into pan. Drizzle with melted white baking chips for a festive look perfect for gift giving. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm. Cut into 1-inch squares.
This is a quick and easy recipe that doesn’t take a long time to prepare, except for that 2 hour wait while it sets. You can always lick the spoon while you are waiting.
You can personalize the recipe to your tastes by omitting nuts or additional marshmallows (you will need the 2 cups listed at the beginning). You can also stir in dried fruit, pretzels, toffee chips or peanut butter chips for a personal touch.
Enjoy.
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