Choice Morsels

  I'm sort of picky about salad. I'm not always in the mood for something cold and I don't care for sour tasting dressings. I also like a bite-size chop on the greens and the grape tomatoes sliced; not whole. So, looking for a new salad option, I ran across this Autumn Salad on Pinterest. It's got apple, pear, dried cranberries, pecans & feta! And it includes a very easy and yummy home-made creamy Poppy seed dressing! It's a pretty salad as well. The feta makes a good contrast to the sweet of the fruit, cranberries and dressing. I think it'd be good with Blue Cheese also. I did alter the original Pinterest recipe by adding red onion & julienned carrots. I like a colorful salad. Note: though recipe calls for Romaine, you can use any type of lettuce you prefer, except for iceburg. Also mix in chopped baby spinach leaves. It's my go-to salad now and I've found the Poppy seed dressing delicious on Raisin & Apple Slaw, too! (Photo is my own) Autu ...

 I tried this recipe for Slow Cooker Taco Chili (or Soup if you like it thinner) last weekend. It was the best Taco Chili recipe I've tried. It came from my MeWe food group I participate in. (MeWe is a social media much nicer & safer then Facebook.) Just add canned tomatoes, beans and corn, then brown some meat with onions, add a couple seasoning packets and cook on Low 5- 6 hours.  I prefer a thick chili to soup, so added 2 to 3 Tablespoons of cornstarch. That's it. Make & serve with cornbread. Yum! This recipe fills a 6 quart slow cooker, so definitely you want to fix this for 6 to 8 people!  (Photo is my own bowl full) Easy Slow Cooker Taco Chili 3 (15oz) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes,undrained 2 (15oz) cans low-sodium black beans, undrained 2 (15oz) cans low-sodium red kidney beans, undrained 2 (15oz) cans corn, undrained 1 lb. lean ground beef 1/2 cup diced onion 1 clove garlic, minced  1 packet taco seasoning 1 packet dry ranch dressing Directions:...

I love baked potato wedges. Grew up eating them. Before microwaves, it was a great way to use left-over baked potatoes. Russets work best. I have used Gold potatoes, but they're softer and don't work quite as well. When I was kid, Mother would try to make efficient use of any cooking in the oven because we used propane gas. A pair of 5 foot tall, large silver-colored tanks stood right next to the house, just outside the kitchen wall. Periodically, the gas man would wheel a new one in and replace a tank. So, if she was baking chicken or meatloaf, she'd bake a bunch of russet potatoes, enough for leftovers for wedges, and often a baked dessert, like bread pudding or chocolate pudding cake.  (We didn't have dessert every night, so this was a treat!) The next day, we'd have the leftover meat with baked potato wedges. Yum. Giant home fries you can eat with your fingers. I made some myself recently. I baked 6 russets just for the purpose of having baked potato wedges. (Pi...

A fresh, easy summer salad of tomatoes & fresh mozzarella in a creamy pesto Greek yogurt dressing! The tomatoes and cheese absorb the dressing flavor! I found this recipe in the weekly Publix grocery ad, as they always include and knowing I had tomatoes coming on in the garden, I held onto it. Having tried it once, I found it needed improvements---like onions and extra basil and more mozzarella! Photo is of the batch I made up for dinner today! Creamy Caprese Salad 16 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced & cubed 2 medium ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped 1/3 cup red onion, chopped 1  5.3oz size plain Greek yogurt 1/4 cup Basil Pesto 1 tsp sugar 1 to 2 teaspoons dried basil Directions: Chop your tomatoes into bite-size chunks of a size you like. Of the 16oz of Mozzarella, I use about 3/4 of it in the salad and save the rest to have with salmon. To cube your Mozzarella, slice, then cut each slice into the cube size you prefer. ( I do 1/2 in...

I found this recipe for "Easy Yeast Bread" on Pinterest. I was looking for a sandwich-suited bread. This recipe was easy. It's for hand-made bread. I like that it has olive oil in it, which makes it moist. It also only makes one loaf, which works perfect. I made it this morning and we had BLT's with it for lunch. Easy Yeast Bread Ingredients: 1 cup warm water (105 degrees) 1 packet yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons) 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour 1 Tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup olive oil Directions: In a small bowl: combine warm water & yeast. Let sit 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in medium bowl: add flour, sugar & salt.  Add yeast and oil and mix together. Knead for 5 minutes, adding extra flour as needed. As the dough was still initially a little sticky, I stirred in another 1/4 cup flour, that was enough to get it where I could handle it and knead it.  Once kneaded, shape into a ball, place on bottom of bowl, lightly ...

I tried a new recipe this week! Publix grocery includes a recipe in their weekly ad and I clipped and saved this one for Pineapple "Right-Side-Up" Bread Pudding a few weeks ago. I had a loaf of Nature Made Wheat Bread I wanted to use up, so decided the recipe a whirl. I love bread pudding anyway. It turned out delicious! Easy to make with just a few ingredients. It makes one 8 x 8 baking pan. We had some leftover and I had a cold piece and think it'd be better warmed up in the mircowave. So it's best served warm. Pineapple Right-Side-Up Bread Pudding  Ingredients 4 Tablespoons salted butter, softened 8 to 10 slices of bread, cubed 1/2 cup brown sugar  4 eggs (or 1 cup egg substitute) 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon OR apple pie spice 1 (20oz) crushed pineapple in 100% juice, undrained. 1 cup maraschino cherries, drained Directions: Preheat over to 350F degrees.  Cut butter in pieces in a large bowl to soften.  Meanwhile cut bread slices ...

So, I'm out of yeast and there's none to be had at the grocery right now---unless I want to order a pound online. I decided not to do that---I'm not sure I want to make that big a commitment to making bread.  So without yeast there are 3 basic options left for leavening: baking powder, baking soda & sour dough starter. There's recipes in Pinterest for making your own sour dough starter, which is basically home-grown yeast, but the process from scratch takes a week. Probably a little quicker if you know someone who can share some they have. I decided I don't want to mess with that. Which leaves baking powder & baking soda. So, today I'm trying out a quick batter bread recipe that uses a combo of baking powder and baking soda.  This recipe mixes up quick, creating a soft batter you just scrape into a loaf pan and bake.  I added Rosemary & garlic to mine, but we just like that flavor.  Results : I tried cutting it for sandwiches, but fo...

Really this Pinterest recipe had no name, so I made one up: Cheesy Baked Spaghetti Ring.  I think the original name was "Throw Noodles in a Bundt Pan & Bake." This is actually a very classy way to serve spaghetti. Just boil spaghetti noodles and combine with milk, eggs and assorted shredded cheese, pour into a bundt pan, bake, then turn out and server with sauce on the side. (picture my own) The recipe doesn't have any specific seasoning aside from pepper, so there's room to modify it any way you want. I added garlic and Italian Seasoning and would recommend that. It calls for 3 cheeses shredded: mozzarella, sharp white cheddar & a fresh Parmesan, but you could switch that up with some pepper jack for zest. A plain sauce was recommended in the recipe (a jar of your favorite) making this recipe a good meatless meal. However Hubby and I agree we'd prefer a regular meat and mushroom enhanced sauce over ours next time. Cheese Baked S...

This recipe for No Knead Rosemary & Garlic Bread is one I found on Pinterest and it makes the most delicious, tender bread! Super easy. Just stir together, let raise, move to a 10" iron skillet, raise 30 minutes more, bake. Eat. It makes a wide round loaf about 2 1/2 inches high at the middle. (Photo is my own) I cut it in half, bag the halves separately, then use them one at a time for sandwiches or garlic bread. I make it by hand, first using a spoon to mix in the first 3 cups of flour, then, working the last cup of flour in with my hands because it's starting to foam into a more solid dough and is past the point of using a spoon.  I find something satisfying about making bread with my hands. The original recipe used only water and yeast, but I prefer to add 1 teaspoon of sugar, because it feeds the yeast, which is alive, activating it more quickly, which helps the bread rise a bit faster and produces a more tender, soft bread texture. What's not ...

One dinner this week: meatloaf, baked sweet potato with cinnamon, butter & brown sugar and Minute Rice Brown & Wild rice! The meatloaf is a combo of lean beef and turkey. I'm trying to make things that feed us for several days---meatloaf is good for that. On the agenda after the meatloaf is gone will be spaghetti with kielbasa & mushrooms!

Here's something we had for dinner this week: Lombardy Chicken & Corn on the Cob! Lombardy is a region of northern Italy, which is perhaps where the name comes from. Dishes in that region of Italy are more meat-based & buttery. For Chicken Lombardy, I buy packages of thin sliced chicken breast, though I think pork scallopini, which comes thin-sliced would work just as nicely. You can, of course, slice & pound your own boneless chicken breasts if you prefer. I use a mix of flour & cornmeal seasoned with salt & pepper (about half & half) to dredge the chicken slices before frying in butter.  This gives a nicer crust then just flour. For something so simple, Chicken Lombardy is deliciously cheesy and rich tasting! The corn is something we got from the local farmers market held on weekends at a nearby plaza. Hubby picked up more ears at the Commissary last Sunday, so we grilled and enjoyed more corn for lunch today! Tonight: left over Panda Expr...

Since grocery shopping is challenging right now and it might be difficult to find specific ingredients, I'm just going to show you photos of meals we're eating.  I have plenty of stuff on hand for some cook home eatin'! This was dinner yesterday: rosemary-garlic thighs cooked on the grill.  Hubby likes to fold a piece of heavy foil into a pan shape and cook our chicken in that vs directly on the grill. That way it's tender, but not burned. Plus I made sauteed sweet potatoes and microwaved Green Giant Brussels in Butter Sauce. I think sweet potatoes are at their best just peeled, sliced into strips and sauteed in an iron skillet in olive oil with minced garlic and a little salt till tender. Delicious! Tonight, I'm making soup with the remaining 3 thighs, plus carrots, baby potatoes, cabbage and barley. Seasoning will be rosemary and garlic. Yum! Soup will make the thighs go further, so we'll get at least 3 meals out of it.

I found this soup in a group of recipes for beef entrees, so it calls for beef meatballs. I use Cooked Perfect brand of frozen Angus beef meatballs, since I don't like making meatballs, but you can make your own beef meatballs first, then just add them to the broth instead of frozen. The recipe is for the base meatballs, seasoning and broth, then you add whatever greens or veggies you prefer plus choose your own preference for pasta or couscous. The original recipe called for plain pearl sized Couscous, but Hubby prefers anything to that, so I used wide whole grain noodles in my most recent batch. And I dislike kale, so not the greens of my choice. I noticed soft greens like spinach "melted," if cooked too long, so if you like spinach, add it during the last few minutes of cooking. (photo is my soup topped with a little shredded Mozzarella) Beef Meatball Soup Ingredients 1 20oz bag frozen beef meatballs (about 20 for 4) 2 cartons of vegetable stock (3...

I've made this twice now, it's sooo good! Easy. It's just a simple Marmalade sauce you serve over a skillet-browned ham steak.  I think the Marmalade sauce would be good over a baked sweet potato and any number of things. The recipe is enough for one ham steak. If you want to serve more then one ham steak, you'll need to double it.  (The photo is mine. I sauteed garlic sweet potato strips with apple slices to serve on the side.) Orange Spiced Ham Steak Ingredients : 1 ham steak, bone in, fully cooked 1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter 2 Tablespoons water 1 Tablespoon Honey Mustard 1/4 cup Orange Marmalade 1/8 teaspoon Ground Ginger Directions: In skillet with a tad of olive oil, brown the ham steak 3 or 4 minutes on each side, drain, return to skillet. Orange Marmalade Sauce: In a small sauce pan combine butter, marmalade, ground ginger,  honey mustard & water. Bring to boil. Then spoon sauce over ham in skillet, cook c...

Today's Good Eating recipe, Easy Slow Cooker Beef Stew , is one I found on Pinterest that I've made several times with great success! Choosing Your Beef: I generally use Chuck Roast, though you can use any beef roast style or beef ribs or chuck style you prefer. Something laced with fat works better in slow-cooking and will be more tender. You don't need a huge quantity of meat---I usually choose the smallest, least expensive Chuck Roast. Searing: Any time you put meat in a slow-cooker or, I daresay, even an Instant Pot, which is a pressure cooker, you should always sear or brown it on all sides in a very hot skillet with a bit of olive oil. This seals in the juices and makes for a more favorful meat. Also gives it some color, if you're pressure cooking. So cut up your beef into stew chunks, salt, then sear in a hot skillet. I usually sear my meat with salt & pepper without flour, but you may dredge in flour, if you like. (For that use 1/4 cup flour w...

Back in December we pretty stopped eating bread--like sandwiches, grocery store bread, etc---mostly. Sometimes, I'll have a half-sandwich at Panera on whole grain bread or I'll eat bread if I've made it myself, usually to go with spaghetti or something. I've only made bread 3 times since December and today's Pinterest recipe I tried for Garlic Rosemary Foccaccia Bread is the 3rd. It was the best bread I've ever made! It was fantastic. Flavorful. Easy. It's kind of a flatish bread baked in a 10 x 13 pan. I stirred it up by hand, though an electric mixer with a bread hook can be used if you have one. (It's not a bread machine recipe) The recipe source recommended a mix of 1 1/4 cups bread flour and 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour.  Mine was a mix of wheat bread flour and unbleached all purpose flour, but she was right--- mixing them does make a good good bread! Also she had a cool technique for proofing (rising) the bread in a dryer---first y...

Something we had for lunch this week:  Egg combined with turkey spam, spinach, mushrooms. red onion & cheese plus Italian seasoning. Kind of a sloppy Turkey Spam Omelet It was yum.

I'm actually baking less sweet dessert items nowadays. I just don't have an audience to eat enough of it anymore, but I did have a cake mix sitting in my pantry that I'd purchased to make something for a Christmas party, which I never did.  So, when I found this recipe on Pinterest for a cake-mix based Pumpkin Bread, I decided that would be a great way to use up that cake-mix. (Photo is from the original Pin and it's pretty accurate looking as to what the loaves look like when made with a yellow cake mix.) It makes two loaves, each about 2 inches high in 5 x 9 bread pans, but very moist and tasty with a cake-like softness. Very nice and super easy. (Use 4 x 6 bread pans if you want taller loaves) Easy Pumpkin Bread with Cake Mix Ingredients 1 box either yellow or white cake mix 1 (15oz) can packed pumpkin 1 teaspoon Cinnamon or 1 1/2 teaspoons Pumpkin Spice 1 to 3 eggs, as directed on cake mix Oil & Water, as directed on cake mix Opt...

I'm sharing this video today that busts open all the myths about Cholesterol. I found it enlightening and it confirmed several things I already suspected were true. You'll be surprised what actually matters.

Today's recipe is "Grandma's Iron Skillet Apple Pie. I found it in Pinterest in a collection of "iron skillet recipes."  I suppose it's called "Grandma's" because using a iron skillet would be sort of a vintage method. Anyway, I tried it and it was delicious! I thought it so good, it made it into this years Christmas letter as "Recipe of the Year," that we enclose with our Christmas cards. I'm not huge on making pies, but this one was delicious! It was quite filling and a delightful breakfast with coffee. It's really easy, with the hardest part being slicing up all the apples. (I  leave my apple skins on, though some like to peel'em.)   You definitely need a 10 inch iron skillet for this recipe.  Some g ood "cooking apple" choices for this pie include: Rome Beauty, Jonathan, McIntosh, Gala, Fugi, Honey Crisp, etc .    Grandma's Iron Skillet Apple Pie Ingredients: 10 inch iron skillet 1/...