SLOW COOKER HAM AND POTATO SOUP

This one is a FAMILY favorite!

Yield: 8 servings

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 4 hours

From: dinner then dessert

INGREDIENTS

• 8 cups russet potatoes , diced
• 1 yellow onion , diced
• 2 large carrots , peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 16 ounce Cubed Ham 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 1/4 cup flour
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream (you can also use milk - I used whole milk)
• ½ cup sour cream

INSTRUCTIONS

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

1. Add the potatoes, onion, carrot, celery, ham, Kosher salt, pepper chicken                broth to your slow cooker and cook on low 7-8 hours, or high 4-5 hours.
2. Using a potato masher, mash about 1/3 of the potatoes (don't worry the ham          won't really mash that much)
3. Add the flour, heavy cream/milk and sour cream and stir everything together.
4. Cover and cook on high for an additional 15 minutes.

Roasted Acorn Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza

Roasted Acorn Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza

Total Time: 45 min

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 5 min

Yield:4 side dish servings

Level:Intermediate

Ingredients

1 (1- pound) acorn squash

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon

1 package fresh tortillas

1 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella

1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola

1 cup arugula

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Slice the squash in half from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds. Slice the squash into 1/2 to 3/4-inch wide half moons and place in a medium bowl. Toss the squash with the syrup, olive oil, red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place the squash on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake the squash until tender and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Keep the temperature on the oven at 375 degrees F. Place 1-2 tortillas on a piece of parchment paper to a 13-inch diameter. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and the Gorgonzola on the tortilla. Bake in the oven until golden and cooked through, about 3 to 5  minutes.

Peel the skins off the squash. Top the cooked pizza with the cooked squash. Top with arugula and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Slice and serve.

Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis- Original recipe done on a pizza dough.

Fabulous Fish Tacos

Fish

8 tilapia filets

4T. Butter

2-4 tsp peppery lemon seasoning or Fresh lemon and lemon pepper

Melt butter in 9x13 pan. Place filets on butter and sprinkle generously with seasoning. Cover with foil and bake 350 for 10 minutes. Flip filets over sprinkle again with seasoning and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until meat is white.

Taco Sauce

1 cup sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

2 T milk

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp garlic salt

½ tsp paprika

Juice from 1 lime

¼ cup minced cilantro

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.

Tacos

16 corn tortillas

4 cups shredded cabbage

2 cups diced tomatoes

1 cup shredded cheese

1 Taco Sauce Recipe

1 Fish Recipe

Wrap tortillas in wet paper towels and microwave for one minute to warm. Keep warm in a tortilla keeper.

Spread Taco Sauce on tortilla and cover with fish. Sprinkle tomatoes, cheese and cabbage on top.

Summer's Fabulous Chili

In a 4 quart sauce pan:

1 large onion diced

1 1/2 lbs hamburger

Brown hamburger and add:

2 cans chili pinto beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 can tomato soup

1 cup water

3-5 Tbsp. chili powder

1 1/2 tsp sugar 

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 chopped green pepper

Simmer for 1 hour. Best served the next day. Great with cornbread!

Flafels & Shawarma's

By Joan Nathan

YIELD: Yield: About 20 balls

INGREDIENTS

·         1 cup dried chickpeas (or canned, reduced sodium)

·         1/2 large onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)

·         2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

·         2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper

·         4 cloves of garlic

·         1 teaspoon cumin

·         1 teaspoon baking powder

·         4-6 tablespoons flour

·         Soybean or vegetable oil for frying

·         Chopped tomato for garnish

·         Diced onion for garnish

·         Diced green bell pepper for garnish

·         Tahina sauce by FOOD BABE (below)

·         Pita bread

PREPARATION

1. Put the chickpeas in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover them by at least 2 inches. Let soak overnight, then drain. Or use canned chickpeas, drained.

2. Place the drained, uncooked chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, hot pepper, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed.

3. Sprinkle in the baking powder and 4 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough bulgur or flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.

4. Form the chickpea mixture into balls about the size of walnuts, or use a falafel scoop, available in Middle-Eastern markets.

5. Heat 3 inches of oil to 375 degrees in a deep pot or wok and fry 1 ball to test. If it falls apart, add a little flour. Then fry about 6 balls at once for a few minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Stuff half a pita with falafel balls, chopped tomatoes, purple onion, green pepper, pickled beets, pepperoncini,cucumbers, and chopped lettuce or cabbage. Drizzle with Tihini Sauce.

Food Babe's Tahini Dressing

Serves: 10
Prep Time: 5 minutes 

Ingredients

• Juice of one large lemon
• 1 garlic clove minced
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup raw tahini
• 1 tsp maple syrup or honey
• 1 tbsp and 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 and ½ tsp tamari soy sauce
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tbsp hempseed oil or olive oil
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp raw sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Combine lemon juice, garlic and water into a blender and puree for 15 - 30 seconds
2. Add all remaining ingredients and puree again until smooth

Notes

Stays fresh in the fridge for one week. ***Please buy all organic ingredients if possible***

Island Pork Tenderloin

This dish is very delicious and different. Really great!

Serves 6-8

2 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2 pork tenderloins (2 ¼- 2 ½ lb total) 

2 TBS olive oil

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 TBS finely chopped garlic

1 TBS Tabasco (It's spicy so if you don't like kick go easy on the Tabasco!)

Preheat oven to 350.  Stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub.  Heat oil in oven proof 12 inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until just beginning to smoke, then brown pork, turning, about 4 minutes total.  Leave pork in skillet.  Stir together brown sugar, garlic and Tabasco and pat on the top of each tenderloin.  Roast in middle of oven until thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140 degrees, about 25 minutes.  Let pork stand at room temperature 10 minutes.  (temperature will rise to about 155 degrees while standing.) Slice in 1-2" pieces and serve with sauce. To make sauce pour the drippings in the pan through a strainer and then serve.

***For non pork lovers, I have made this with chicken too and it turns out just as great. Very Yummy!

Goes really well with Coconut Rice.

BBQ Chicken Spinach Wraps

These are super fast and super yummy!

Spinach Wraps
8 servings

Ingredients for shopping:

8 Spinach wraps (can use any flavor, but I think the spinach tastes the best)

Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce or your favorite BBQ sauce

Ranch Dressing

3 Chicken Breast (You can get about three servings per chicken breast.)

1/2 c Shredded Cheese (1-2 Tbsp per wrap)

1/2 c Corn (frozen or canned)

1/2 c Black beans Drained and Rinsed

2-3 Fresh tomatoes, diced

Shredded Lettuce or Spinach

Directions: 

Marinate chicken in BBQ sauce and then grill. You can cut the chicken into strips or cube it. If cubed, you can use about 1/4 cup of chicken per wrap. Let cool and serve cold. (At this point you can freeze the chicken for future fast serve Spinach wraps.

Take your spinach wrap  and spread

 1-2 tbsp. BBQ Sauce

 1-2 tbsp. Ranch dressing

Then place your chicken and sprinkle with shredded cheese, 2 T of corn,  2 T of black beans, and a spoonful of chopped tomatoes. 

You can then fill with shredded lettuce or spinach. 

Wrap it up and devour!!        

Indian Spiced Pork Skewers

by Our Best Bites
1 1/2-2lbs pork tenderloin or sirloin pork roast
2 red bell peppers
1 large onion
1 T pressed garlic (or minced)
1 T curry powder
1 1/2 t kosher salt (much less if you’re using table salt, but you shouldn’t be using table salt!)
1/2 T cumin
1/2 T coriander
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/4 C fresh lemon juice
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T water
Cut your pork into 1 1/2″ chunks and place in a zip-lock bag. Prepare peppers and onions by chopping into squares as well and then store in the fridge.


Mix the garlic and salt in a small bowl with the cumin, curry, and coriander and cayenne.

Add fresh lemon juice (not bottled!) and olive oil and stir it all up.

Pour spice mixture in the zip-lock bag with the pork. Seal bag, give it a good smoosh, and then let it sit in the fridge for 3-4 hours (longer is just fine)
Before skewering make sure to soak bamboo skewers in water for 20-30 minutes. Thread on pork chunks and alternate with red pepper and onion.

Grill on a preheated med heat grill for about 10 minutes total. Rotate them often to avoid burning. If you’ve cut your pork chunks an inch or smaller, they’ll be done pretty fast. Don’t overcook!


I get about 12 skewers each time.

My notes--I added mushrooms to these and really liked it. I cooked these on the good old George Foreman for 8 minutes and they were perfect. We also made fruit kabobs to go with these and the kids loves all the food on sticks. I also served this with the Coconut Rice and it was very yummy. 

Hawiian Chicken Sandwiches

4 slices canned pineapple (save 2 Tbsp of juice)
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp molasses
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp minced freah ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 Tbsp vegtatable oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced horizontally into roll-sized pieces, rinsed and patted dry with paper towels
Salt to taste
4 rolls or buns, halved and toasted or grilled if desired
Lettuce leaves

Lay the pinapple slices onto a paper towel and blot dry and set aside. In a small bowl, blend the reserved pineapple juice, soy sauce, honey, molasses, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, and ginger. Set a large non-stick skillet over med-high heat. When it is hot, add the oil. Add the chicken breasts and salt lightly. Fry the breasts about 4-5 minutes per side, turning once, until just done. Add the sauce to the pan and fry another minute or so, spooning the sauce over the chicken and turning to coat both sides. Remove the chicken to a plate and immediately add the pineapple slices to the skillet. Cook about 30 seconds on each side to glaze the pineapple and remove the pan from heat. Assemble to sandwiches by placing lettuce down first, then top with chicken and a slice of pineapple. Spoon a bit of sauce from the pan over each pineapple slice and serve. Makes 4 sandwiches.

Fajita Marinade

By Betty Crocker

Needs to marinade for 4 or more hours--makes about 1/2 cup.

1/4 c vegatable oil
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Place in plastic bag or shallow baking dish. Add 1 pound boneless beef, pork or chicken (can use 2-3 pounds if bone-in). Turn to coat with marinade. Seal or cover for at least 4 hours and no longer than 24 hours. Remove meat from marinade and reserve marinade. Cook meat as desired, brushing occasionally with marinade. Remaining marinade can be boiled and made into a sauce. If not boiled, marinade must be discarded.

Serve with sauted onions and peppers, guacamole, sour cream, tomatoes, salsa and tortillas.

Cheese Fondue

4 oz white grape juice
1 tsp. minced garlic
squeeze 1/4 of lemon (squeeze in another dish to avoid seeds)
8 oz swiss cheese grated
4 oz colby jack cheese
5 turns of pepper
A sprinkle of nutmeg

Warm over medium heat stirring constantly until creamy, careful not to get it too hot or it will clump and curdle. Pour into fondue pot and keep warm. Stir every few minutes to avoid over heating.

Serve with veggies, cracker, breads, anything that sounds good with cheese!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

By Young Louie

Sweet and Sour Sauce: (this doesn't look like much sauce, but it's enough-trust me!)
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. vinegar
2 Tbsp corn starch with water
Boil the first three ingredients. Add corn starch to the mixture, boil 1 min and cool. 


Sweet and Sour Chicken:

Marinade:(20-30 minutes)
2 chicken breasts sliced or cut into 2" cubes
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 egg
1 tsp salt
2 tsp soy sauce



Batter:
1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Water--only enough to make a crust as thick or thin as you like.

Swirl with finger to feel the texture. Heat oil to 350 degrees and deep fry until golden brown.

Black Bean Burger

This is a super quick and really yummy recipe for a meat free burger!

1 cups bread crumbs (or you can use one hamburger bun torn into pieces and chopped in a food processor)
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 tsp chopped garlic
1--15 oz can of black beans
1 tsp lime juice
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp fresh oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
Put bread crumbs in a bowl. Combine 1 Tbsp oil, garlic and beans into a food processor and pulse until beans make a thick paste. Scape bean paste into bowl with bread crumbs. Stir in remaining ingredients. Use hands to divide mixture into 4 equal portions (about 1/3 c.) and then shape into 3" patties.
Heat remaining 2 Tbsp of oil on a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add patties and reduce heat to medium. Cook for minutes on each side or until patties are browned.

Serve on a bun with ketchup, lettuce, avocado, Monterey jack cheese, purple onion, and tomato. You can spike your ketchup with hot sauce for a little more punch!

Calazones Dough

Makes 1 Calazone or 2 pizzas

2 cups warm water
2 tbsp instant yeast
2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
4 cups flour

Roll out onto a large cookie sheet until 1/4" thick. Cut with scissors into a circle and fill with toppings. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Toppings:
Pizza sauce
Pepperoni
Sausage
Ham
Bacon
or
Feta cheeses
Tomoates

Crustless Smoked Turkey & Spinach Quiche

3/4 c (4 oz) cubed smoked turkey ham
1/2 c chopped onion
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 c (3 oz) shredded Swiss cheese, divide
1 c fresh baby spinach leaves
1 c cottage cheese
1/2 c evaporated milk
1/4 c (1 oz) shredded cheddar chesse
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add ham, onion, and pepper to pan; saute 4 minutes or until ham is lightly browned. 
3. Sprinkle 1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese in a 9 inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Top with ham mixture.
4. Combine remaining 1/2 cup Swiss cheese, spinach, and cottage cheese, evaporated milk, cheddar cheese, eggs, and egg whites in a large bowl; stir with a whisk.
5. Combine flour and baking soda in a bowl and whisk. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, stirring with a whisk until blended. Pour egg mixture over ham mixture. Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in center of quiche comes out clean. Yields 8 servings.

Note: 3/4 c ham can be substituted for almost anything--mushrooms, chicken, bacon, carrots, peas, corn or any veggies.  The spinach can be substituted for Brussels sprouts or omitted.