ham corn chowder

It has been one of those wonderful Mondays. For lunch I made my favorite soup and have decided to share this amazing recipe because it is a perfect cool weather meal. Enjoy!

Ham Corn Chowder

3 cups cubed ham
1 can creamed corn
1 can whole kernel corn (or 1 pint frozen)
4 cups milk
1 cup sliced celery
 4 or 5 medium potatoes, cubed
2 1/4 cups water
1 large sweet onion, chopped
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
basil

Saute onions in butter in large pot until soft but not brown. Add water, potatoes, celery, and ham. Cook about 15 minutes then season with salt and pepper. Add corn and milk and allow to simmer until hot, but not boiling. Sprinkle bowls with basil when serving.

Almost Peruvian…..lomos saltados

While we were in Peru, we found a dish that we both really enjoyed called Lomos Saltados. We have been missing Peru lately, so I thought I would make my own version of this meal for dinner tonight.

Peruvian's typically have white rice. I substituted with wild rice.

This was the prettiest onion I had ever seen. It was perfect.

All the veggies cut.

Veggies on top of the steak in my stone crock to cook.

Almost Lomos Saltados

1-2 pounds beef sirloin tip roast
1 red onion, cut into 1" wedges
2 peppers, cut into strips (red & yellow; to be authentic use Peruvian aji amarillo)
3-4 garlic cloves, diced
8 small red potatoes, quartered (Peruvian recipes call for thick french fries instead)
3 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and quartered (I admit I omitted these tonight.)
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
1 dash soy sauce
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
cumin to taste

I put all this in my Pampered Chef deep covered stone baker and cooked for 40 minutes in the microwave. Check around 30 minutes depending on the thickness of your meat. (Mine was 2 inches thick, so the cooking took a little longer.)

Traditionally, Peruvian meals are served with white rice. We prefer the long grain, wild rice, so that is what I prepared. I must admit, it tasted amazing, and my hubby was glad to have a meal with steak.

baked chicken dinner

Yesterday I spent some time with my mother and she let me try a new recipe she had created. She has always made very good baked chicken, so when she told me she had tried something new with it, I wasn't sure how it could get any better. As always, her recipe was great. This new baked chicken recipe tastes like a gourmet meal, and is actually easier than her original recipe. I decided to make it tonight for my family (and so I wouldn't forget her directions).

Baked chicken, steamed potatoes, candied carrots

Baked Chicken

Thaw chicken breasts and trim fat. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with vegetable oil cooking spray. Place chicken breasts in dish. Coat topside of chicken with mayonnaise, then lightly layer with herbs. (I used basil, parsley, ground pepper, cilantro, oregano and an Italian spice mix.) Crush Ritz buttered crackers until fine and coat the top of the chicken breasts. (I crush the crackers by placing them in a ziploc bag and roll with a rolling pin.) Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Test the thickest part of the breast with a food thermometer; poultry should read 170 degrees when finished cooking. This chicken is so tender and the taste is absolutely delicious. Thanks Mom!!!!

baked chicken fresh from the oven

Candied Carrots

I like the look of petite whole carrots. I washed the carrots and trimmed the ends of the greenery. I put them in a microwave-safe covered dish with about 4 Tablespoons water and microwaved for 5 minutes. When done cooking, I brushed butter on the carrots and lightly coated with brown sugar. I put the lid back on the dish to keep the carrots lightly cooking until ready to serve.

Steamed Potatoes

I found a yellow potato in the fresh produce section at Meijer that is in a steamable bag. They cook in 8 minutes in the microwave and taste so good. These fresh potatoes are great without anything added, but if you prefer, you can add a little butter and herbs.

A gourmet meal start to finish in less than an hour. No leftovers, so I think we will do this again!

13 for Christmas

Christmas is a very favorite time of year for me because there are so many things you can do for other people, and with other people. It is giving at its best, and it should be love at its finest. My friend Olivia posted on her blog about Christmas Throwback, and it started me thinking about all that I love during Christmastime. So here is a fun compilation of things to do.....and things I have enjoyed at Christmas.

 

 

1 - Put up the Christmas tree. If you do it right, it should take all day. I use an artificial tree because I love nature and I don't want to cut down a tree....say I'm "going green" by saving a tree. :-) I made my own Pandora channel of Micheal Buble holiday mix. Turn it up loud and dance with the kids while decking out the tree. It's OK if they don't do it right.....what's right anyway? (Found my tree for $5 at a garage sale...score!) White lights, red and white wood beads, red ribbon and ornaments, and vintage candle holders. My dad bought me my angel on top - she looks vintage too.

2 - Watch White Christmas. It is a classic by Irving Berlin, and stars Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. I love how it shows people willing to put aside their holiday plans to help someone else and show them how much they are appreciated. Post WWII-era setting.

3 - Go to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. One of my favorite people attends this concert every year. It really is an amazing concert: the piro is great, the music is AMAZING, and it has a good "story" with the show.

4 - Story time with Kids. Read the Christmas story to your children while setting up the nativity scene. They talk about Jesus and His birth all through the season, and the wise men get moved all over the house. (Maybe they are trying to make the nativity more correct.) Frederick puts them all the in barn together so they can all see Jesus at once. Matthew 1-2; Luke 2

5 - See Christmas lights. If you like a destination, the Columbus Zoo has a great light show they call Wildlights. Our friends Toni and Marlen took us a few years back and it has more lights than I could imagine in any one location. Opens at 10AM (though I don't know why you would go during the day) and shows until January 1. We also look for Christmas lights while driving in the car because it is a great diversion when the oldest two in the back seat can't leave each other alone. Competition as to who can find the most lights first seems to quench the fussiness.

6 - Send a WorldVision Child a Christmas Present. There are so many creative things you can fit in an envelope and send to a child for Christmas. WorldVision does an excellent job of fighting poverty and injustice all the while bringing Jesus to children all the world over. You can sponsor a child or send a gift from their gift catalog. Here is a great gift idea: Thai bracelet for supporting this amazing ministry. Better yet, give the gift of life to a child! Sponsor: you won't regret it!

7 - Make Christmas treats to share. My mom does this every year and she takes plates of cookies and candies to share with their neighbors. I always enjoyed arranging everything on the plate to look nice. Jeremy's family would also make caramels, peanut butter balls, and pretzel turtles. As with all gift-giving, make sure nothing needs to be returned.

• Pretzel turtles recipe: melt caramel block, adding a little Eagle brand milk. Dip short pretzel rods into caramel, then into diced pecans. Let harden, then dip into melted chocolate.

8 - Thank a soldier / veteran. If you are out shopping and see a soldier or a veteran (the uniforms or hats will help identify), thank them for serving. It is a small gesture of appreciation, so small compared to what they give to us. If you know a soldier who is not home for Christmas, send him/her a card and/or send a care package to their families. It is hard to be alone at Christmas.

9 - Support a single mom. We have a gentleman at our church who has a Christmas ministry of supporting single moms and their children. This is a great way to teach children that Christmas is about giving to others, and that shopping does not have to be centered around them. Let children choose presents for other children, as nice as something they would like to receive for themselves. It is humbling to watch the generosity of children!

10 - Operation Christmas Child. Another great ministry is Operation Christmas Child - if you missed sending a package in November, you can stock up for next year. Again, we love to go to the Dollar Tree and get essentials and fun stuff to send to a child. My kids thought this was so fun and they wanted to help wrap the present too. Each child was able to send a box - so fun.

11 - Wrap presents. I LOVE to wrap presents....a little crazy, I know. Don't bag....how boring! (OK, in a pinch it will work.) How fun is it to start with a plain ol' box, take some cute paper, wrap it nice, then top it with a ribbon?! Here are my colors this year:

12 - Christmas Eve pizza. I adopted this tradition after Jeremy and I were married. His family would get together on Christmas Eve and they would make homemade pizza with the whole family around. They would eat their homemade pizza with frozen applesauce on top!  OK, I didn't adopt all of it....my applesauce gets eaten separate, but it is a tradition. My family opens one present on Christmas Eve, so we have merged traditions and have a fun time!

13 - Christmas Day meal. I love my mom's Christmas meal....maybe because the whole family is sitting around the table, and there - together - is one of the best presents I could receive. It is more than the food, it is fellowship. And don't forget the egg nog and custard pie.

Give LOVE. It truly is Christmas, when God - who is love - came to earth as a child, to bring us his love, to die upon the cross, to forgive us our sins. There is no greater love than to give one's life for one's friend. God has called us friend, and we call him Saviour. Share his love with someone this Christmas.

Give. Bless. Love.

pulled pork chili

I had some leftover pulled pork in the fridge and wanted to make a warm fall meal. I threw together a few ingredients for chili, cooked some noodles, added some cheese, and dinner was ready. Yum!

Pulled Pork Chili

2 pounds cooked pulled pork
2 16oz cans diced tomatoes
2 16oz cans light red kidney beans
2 16oz cans tomato sauce
1 1.4lb can whole black beans
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
salt
pepper

Warm the pork, add tomatoes, sauce, and beans. Simmer. Add spices and continue to simmer until flavors blend. Serve warm over pasta. Top with cheese.

a green find

Today at times felt like a mad rush to get everything on my list done, from teaching my daughter the date, to cleaning the inside of the car.....and somewhere in the middle of the day I remembered I needed to check my tomatoes too. I was picking away at the tomatoes when I looked at my pepper plants...I was so excited! This was my first year growing green peppers. (I actually had forgotten about them). I guess it is the little joys during the day that make me stop and appreciate all I have been given.

To celebrate my find, I will share a recipe. This was a recipe my mom learned in Home Ec when she was in high school.

Johnny Marzetti

1 - 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1 medium onion, diced
1 package egg noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 green pepper, diced
1/4 pound cheese
1 cup bread crumbs, buttered

Brown meat and onion in skillet. Add green peppers. Cook noodles and combine with meat mixture. Add tomato soup and mushroom soup. Put in 9x13 casserole dish. Add cheese on top to lightly cover, then add bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.


Extending your harvest: I keep green peppers in the freezer by washing them, quartering and removing seeds. Put in a ziplock bag and place in the freezer.

homemade pasta sauce

I was reminded today of the passage in Matthew 9:37 where Jesus was talking with his disciples and he said “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” The interesting thing about harvest is that it doesn't wait for when it best suits us to work. When the harvest is ready, we need to stop whatever else we are doing and gather the harvest. The same is true of the Lord's call on our lives. He is calling, and we need to act with obedience and promptness, because his call is an indication that his harvest is ready and he needs us to work.

My harvest today was tomatoes, and it was time to make pasta sauce. I wash them and remove the stems, then boil them in water for a few minutes. Next, I run them through my KitchenAid sieve, which removes the peel and seeds, and purees the rest. Then I add my spices to the tomatoes and cook again. Pour into the pint jars and process for 40 minutes. Pretty easy!

some of my tomatoes (small size this year)

my KitchenAid attachment

my pasta sauce

my kitchen help: Frederick and Elauna
note: one needed an apron :-)

summer's fresh lemonade

Fresh squeezed lemonade is one of my very favorite drinks. This recipe makes about a half gallon.

Start with 10 fresh lemons (reserving 1 for slicing)
6 cups cold water
1 cup sugar
Mint leaves

Roll lemons on hard surface to crush the tissues to make the juice easier to come out. If the lemon is on the firm side, put it in the microwave for a few seconds. Mix the cold water and the sugar. Squeeze the lemons into a bowl, then strain the pulp and seeds. Pour lemon juice into the water and stir.

Cut the reserved lemon into slices and add to the pitcher. Pick a few fresh mint sprigs and garnish the top for a little mint flavor. Enjoy!

raisin apple bread pudding

raisin apple bread pudding
4 cups white bread, cubed
1 cup apple, chopped
1 1/2 cups raisins
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup apple juice
1 1/2 cup carnation evaporated milk
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine bread, apple, and raisins in large bowl. Beat eggs in medium bowl. Stir in sugar, evaporated milk, apple juice, and cinnamon. Mix well. Pour egg mixture over bread mixture. Let stand 10 minutes. Lightly spray 9-inch square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mixture into dish. Bake in preheated 350 oven for 40-45 minutes or until set and apples are tender. Serve warm with ice cream. Yum!!!