Garden Gab, Week 7

Is there anything better than watching things you planted blossom and grow? Well, okay watching my children grow tops watching my plants grow, but watching my plants grow is still pretty awesome.

The warmth has taken hold here in Texas. The temps are holding steady in the mid to upper 80′s. I’d prefer the 70′s, but the plants love the warmer weather.

Beans....

Peas...

Lettuce eat some lettuce
I know, I'm phunny

Lots and lots of flowering is going on.

Cucumber flowers

squash flowers

More squash flowers

Tomatoes

Watermelons

Peppers...

;

A bird's eye view, or at least a pool landing eye view

How is your garden growing?

Check out Check out Allie’s new house garden

To check out Greg and Katherine’s Arkansas garden

To visit a beautiful little Brooklyn garden

Related articles

• Garden Gab, weeks 5 and 6 (adashofdomestic.wordpress.com)
• Garden Gab, week 2, 3 and…. (adashofdomestic.wordpress.com)
• Rainy Day Garden Gab (adashofdomestic.wordpress.com)

Chicken Taco Salad

Taco Salad, remade.

 

When I was young,  my mother made taco salad all the time.    Ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, pinto beans, Catalina dressing and Doritos.   We had this version of taco salad almost weekly.

When I married and became the “cook” I began making the salad too.

It’s very kid friendly, it’s easy to assemble and made with ground chicken it’s healthier.

This salad is also yummy, meat free.

Very simply….

• 1 pound of ground chicken, browned
• 1 head of lettuce or one bag of salad mix
• 1 tomato diced
• 1 cup of shredded cheese (more or less at your preference)
• 1 can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups of Doritos, (placed in a bag and broken up into small pieces *but not crushed*)
• 1/3 cup + of Catalina dressing, I make my own.  Recipe follows..

To make the salad, add all the ingredients (except the dressing) into a bowl.  Mix well, slowly add dressing until the salad is covered, but not drowning.

Catalina Dressing

Makes about 2 cups of dressing.

• 1/3 cup ketchup, any brand
• 1/3 cup of white sugar or 1/4 cup of honey
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup onion , grated
• 2/3 teaspoon paprika
• 1/3 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 2/3 teaspoon (to taste) salt and pepper

Place all the ingredients except the olive oil into a blender or food processor, pulse or blend until smooth.

Slowly add the oil, while continuing to blend.  Place into a mason jar or other container.  Store left over dressing in the fridge.  Shake before using.

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Chicken Migas

grab a tortilla and sit a spell.

Generally I agree with The Pioneer Woman on most food related issues.

To me though, Migas is not Migas without Chorizo.

Chorizo is really greasy and fatty though. A local market, I adore Sprouts Farmer’s Market, sells ground chicken chorizo. I decided to give the chicken a try and boy, howdy I’m glad I did. Chicken Chorizo is excellent.

I adapted a Pioneer Woman recipe, I added 1 pound of chicken Chorizo I browned it, drained off the minimal fat and proceeded with Ree’s recipe.

A few things I altered.

• I omitted the Jalapeño, due to a tween with a low spicy tolerance.
• I used 2% milk instead of Half-and-half
• I used cheddar cheese

Here is the original recipe ingredient list.

• 4 whole Corn Tortillas
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Seeds And Membranes Removed, Finely Diced
• 4 whole Plum Tomatoes, Roughly Chopped
• 1 whole Green Pepper, Roughly Chopped
• 1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Roughly Chopped
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
• 12 whole Large Eggs
• 1/4 liter Cotija Cheese, Grated (may Use Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Etc.)
• 1/3 cup Cilantro, Chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Half-and-half

To view entire recipe click here.

Serve with refried beans and corn or flour tortillas.

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Rainy Day Garden Gab

The wind blew away most of my seed markers.

Welcome to rain-apocalypse 2012

at least that is how the weather team on T.V. is treating it.   It’s  been raining here for a little over 12 hours.  Storming, wind howling, thunder booming, lightning flashing, big, cold drops of rain falling.

Since we just planted the garden, this is a blessing and a curse.   Water is great, a good soaking rain is great.

Puddles, not so much.

Yesterday we had high wind, crazy wind.  Crazy blowing away most of my seed markers wind.  This year the garden will be a little but of a surprise…. I can not remember where I planted everything. Ha!

Seeds are all about snorkeling, right?

Clearly we have some high and low areas....

Below the garden is a swamp....

My swamp.

These strawberries are survivors from last summer. They laugh at the water, they are already planning strawberry-topia 2

The raised bed is protected from much of the rain. The cats and birds are another story though.

There is no real update on my Grandmother, she is still hospitalized, they believe the mental confusion is due to a slight bladder infection.  She is fighting her treatment.  She keeps removing her I.V.

If you’re a prayer sort of person, I’d appreciate your prayers for her.

This week in FAIL….fishy edition

This has been my view since Thursday....mostly

I had one heck of a week last week. 3 visits to the doctor’s office, an x-ray, an MRI and a shot.

One doctor’s office visit was for my daughter, who stayed home most of the week with a sinus infection.The other 2 doctor’s office visits, the x-ray, the MRI and the shot were mine.

My knee has bothered me for about a year and a half. I had x-rays taken when it started hurting. The doctor said….bone spur in my knee. We began cortisone injections. I got very little relief from the shots. About 3 months ago the pain got worse. I did my best to ignore the pain, because I did not want to have surgery on my knee. However, the pain got so bad that it was affecting everything. I was sleeping more, grumpy and almost weepy at times.

Stupid? Yes.

I decided to make an appointment with an Orthopedic doctor. I had x-rays taken, yes I have a bone spur, but that is not the issue. I have OsteoArthritis in my left knee. After the x-ray I was scheduled for an MRI, to check for a Meniscus Tear. 45 minutes in an MRI gives you time to think or day-dream. I day-dreamed about new kitchen gadgets and new dishes….I’m a foodie through and through.

After the MRI.

I had to wait until Thursday for my results. Thankfully, there is no tear. Since there is no Meniscus tear, no surgery is needed at this time. I was given a shot. Synvisc-One. Right now, my knee hurts more than it did before the shot, which is so frustrating but it is feeling a little better each day.

I would really just like to be pain free. Is that too much to ask?!?!?!?!?

What does that have to do with a FAIL?

While at the doctor’s office this week, I watched a lot of Accent Health (by CNN) TV. On Accent Health I saw a recipe for Cioppino, which sounded interesting. I needed to make a few changes, because my people do not eat scallops and only 2 of us eat shrimp.

I used flounder and tilapia. I omitted the wine, because of the kids and used veggie stock instead.. The soup smelled lovely.

cooking away

Unfortunately, we did not love it. Three of us did not even like it.

Served with bread

It was too fishy or something. The fish overpowered the entire soup, and not in a good way.

We are calling this a FAIL.

Because of my knee, I may not post much this week.

Have you had any FAILS lately?

Slow it Down, Slow cooker beef stew.

The Winner of my Yoplait giveaway was Linda of Savoring Every Bite! She recently posted a lovely Pumpkin Rugelach recipe that you should totally check out!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I adore my slow cookers. Yes, I said cookers…as in plural, as in I have 3. Well, I have 4 of you count the little dipper (warming only). I make oatmeal, applesauce, soups, stews, roasts, cobblers, lasagna (the list goes on and on…) in my slow cooker.

Yes, I adore my slow cookers.

When I was a single gal, I loved making a soup or a stew via the slow cooker. I’d come home to an apartment that smelled lovely and be able to eat a healthy dinner without a lot of after work fuss. Which was good, because without my slow cooker the Taco Bell near my apartment would have known me even better than they already did.

What can I say? I’m a sucker for bean burritos.

Once I was a seriously dating gal and an engaged gal I was able to wow and impress my boyfriend/future husband with my chili and stews. It was in no small part due to the slow cooker. I have found that any meaty morsel that is allowed to cook low and slow for hours will become tender and wonderfully flavorful.

Anyhoo…. Allie and I are hosting a Slow Cooker recipe link-up. This link up will happen every 2 weeks for a while. So, if you have a slow cooker recipe to share please feel free to follow the little blue frog and enter a link to your slow cooker recipe post. We’d love to have you join in the slow cooker fun!

Beefy Stew

Ingredient List:

• 2 lbs beef or pork stew meat
• 2 cups sliced carrots
• 1 red pepper sliced
• 3-4 cups of stock (beef or chicken or veggie) I start with 3 add more if needed
• 2 + 1/4 cups of water
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 3 cups cherry tomatoes (poked with a tooth pick) or 1 can of chopped tomatoes.
• 1 large onion chopped OR 2 cups of frozen caramelized onions
• a splash of red wine
• 1/3 cup + 4 TBSP of corn starch
• 2-3 TBSP of garlic chopped
• 1 TBSP salt
• 1 TBSP pepper
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

What to do:

I like to use a liner in my slow cooker, it makes clean up easier. Reynolds sells slow cooker liners (in fact, there is a coupon on the Reynold website for $1.00 off your purchase in case you’d like to give them a go), and they work wonderfully.

• Mix your stew meat with 1/3 cup of corn starch (or flour if you prefer) making sure to coat each piece of meat.
• Add a little olive oil to a hot skillet and brown the meat, this is an important step that you should not skip.

Brown baby, Brown.

• While your meat is browning, chop your veggies. I prick my cherry tomatoes with a tooth pick so they will cook well and not be little tomato bombs. Trust me that you do not want tomato bombs in your stew. Tomato bombs= bad so poke your tomatoes or use canned tomatoes.

Whoa! Bright red tomatoes.

• Add the stock, wine and water to the slow cooker.
• Add seasoning and garlic to the slow cooker.
• Add the meat and veggies to the slow cooker.

One big happy stew-ey family.

• Stir to combine.
• Place the lid on the slow cooker and Slow cook for 8-10 hours on low or 6-8 hours on high.

About 1 hour before serving, add 4 TBSP of corn starch to the 1/4 cup of water. Mix well to combine. Pour into the stew and mix well to combine.
The corn starch will thicken the stew.

I’m sure you’ve noticed the shocking lack of potatoes in my stew. Shocking right? I do not care for mushy, stew-ey potatoes. So, I make mashed potatoes and serve my stew on top of them.

This one is for my husband.

Enjoy!

Chili cheese pies

This is my new personal pie maker. Don't mind the mess in the picture. Trial and Error.....it's messy.

I got a new iPhone 4S on Friday. The camera is amazing, it even has a flash.

Awesomesauce.

Because my new phone rocks, and because I heart Liz of a Belle, a Bean and a Chicago dog

I’m linking up for iPhone photo phun.

I made chili on Tuesday. Yummy turkey chili.

Now, I’m making personal chili pies. They are portable, cheesy and taste wonderful.

Place dough onto the pie maker. Any homemade or store-bought dough works.

Make sure the dough is slack, it needs room to move or it will break and you will be wearing the filling.

Trust me on this.

My dough is ugly, but trust me this is tasty.

Add a pinch of cheese to the dough.

Add some chili. I added corn to my chili. Just because.

Don’t over fill the pies, or they will be drippy. Using the handles of the pie maker seal the pies.

Place the pies on a baking sheet. Cut off any extra dough and set it aside for the other pies.

Brush the tops with olive oil and make a few small slits in the tops of the pies.

Bake the pies @ 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

This is my favorite pie.

These pies go beyond chili in a bowl, they go beyond chili and cornbread.

They are crispy, creamy and portable.

This is my pie, you'll have to make your own.

I bought the pie maker at Target. It was less than $5.

In totally random and unrelated news…..

My MyBlogSpark giveaway is still ongoing. Enter for a chance to win a $25 Walmart gift card and Star Wars themed General Mills Cereal.

My new favorite cooking show….

If you’re like me and you can’t sleep you either end up watching cooking shows or infomercials.

Okay, maybe that’s just me.

Of course, sometimes I watch crime TV, but I digress.

One night last week, I stumbled upon Nadia G and Bitchin-Kitchen.

Funny non?

I made Nadia’s Bitchin’ Kitchen’s Crispy Medallione (fried ravioli)

I used chicken ravioli.

Oh. My. Gosh.

These are sooooo fracking good.

Like, eat them all yourself good.

Like, defend your crispy kingdom with a super sharp fork good.

Like, slap your Momma good. Okay, not slap your Momma good, cuz really you’ll never live that one down.

Anyway, they’re really good.

Here is the ingredient list:

• 10 Ricotta-mushroom medallion, or any ravioli you like *I used chicken and ricotta ravioli*
  
• Buttermilk
• Italian season bread crumbs
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh Italian salsa

You can find the recipe here… Bitchin’ Kitchen’s Crispy Medallione

The ravioli are creamy and crispy and fabulous.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

If you haven’t already, check out my Yoplait Smoothie giveaway!

it ends on Saturday at 9:00 pm central time zone.

Oh! Heather of Squirrel Bread was the winner of the Swanson Health Products giveaway! Congrats Heather!

Comment #21

heather :

As a Registered Dietitian, I can definitely get behind the ingredients you’re offering in this giveaway. As someone who loves food, bring on the alternative flours, nut butters and anything coconut!

Cheers,

*Heather*

Meatless Monday….3 bean soup.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!   We’ve had a wonderful weekend here in central Texas.    The Texas State Fair opened on Friday, we’re planning to visit the fair tomorrow (Tuesday).  My children have Monday and Tuesday off this week, for the fair and a teacher in-service (6 weeks grade entering day).

On Sunday (yesterday) I decided to make 3 bean soup for Monday dinner.    I’ve got a repair man coming to fix my drippy ice maker today, so it’s won’t be a good day for cooking.

I’ve said it before, but it bares repeating…. I am not great at meal planning.  I usually have some sort of loose plan in my mind of meals to make, but I rarely plan more than 1 or 2 days in advance.  Horrible?  Yes.

Sunday morning  I decided to make bean soup, but I had not soaked my beans overnight.  OOPS!  I decided to throw caution to the wind and make soup without pre-soaking my beans.  Crazy right?

Fo Shizzle….that’s how I roll.

Monday’s meatless soup can become a meaty soup on Tuesday night, since I am going to be tired after my day at the fair.  Hopefully I will not gorge myself on fried Kool-aid, fried bubblegum and fried beer. 

This soup is wonderfully flavorful and so worth the extended time it took to cook it.  11:00 am to 4:00 pm cooking time.

*you could make this soup in the slow cooker, place everything into the slow cooker and cook on high for 6-8 hours, low for 8-10(+) hours*

Ingredient list:

• 4 cups of dried (mixed) beans.  I used a mixture of Organic Navy Beans, Organic Great Northern Beans and Organic Cranberry beans.
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green and 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 6 cups of veggie stock
• 2 cups of water (plus more if needed) I ended up with 4 cups of water in my soup.
• 2 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons of garlic salt
• 1 package of sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon of parsley

What to do….

Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a cast iron pot.  Saute the onion, garlic, and peppers until soft.

Add beans, spices, stock, tomatoes and water to the pot.

Bring the mixture to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer low and slow (stirring every so often) for about 4 hours.

If you need to, add more water or stock to the pot.  I ended up adding about 2 cups of water during the cooking time.

*You could totally cook this a lot quicker if you pre-soaked the beans*

 

 

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I’m making a whole wheat cornbread to enjoy with the soup. 

Are you meatless this Monday?  What are you making?

Red Tortilla Soup with Chicken

I love soups…love them…gobble them up. Soups freeze well, they taste better on day two or day three, I love soup. If it’s a Tex-Mex soup….even better.

Tex-Mex is one of my true food loves. Maybe it’s because I’m from Texas, maybe it’s just because Tex-Mex is Awesomesauce.

If you’re in the northern part of the United States, you may not have ever had true Tex-Mex. I’ve been to Pittsburgh, and although Pittsburgh has a fabulous sandwich with cole-slaw and fries in it (Bravo!) the Tex-Mex or Mexican food isn’t wonderful. (Think pasta sauce on an enchilada…) Meh.

Anyhoo…

We went to Taco Cabana over the weekend. If you’re unfamiliar with Taco Cabana…I’m sorry. Taco Cabana is an awesome Tex-Mex food chain (better than Taco Bell or Taco Bueno, but not as good as a “True” sit down restaurant).

Their cheese enchiladas come wrapped in these beautiful, red corn tortillas. I begged and pleaded my way into the purchase of 2 dozen uncooked red tortillas, for my tortilla soup. The cashier thought I was crazy, kept telling me they’d be uncooked…hard… “Didn’t I want fresh steamed ones?” Nope… I want the non-steamed red ones please! I convinced him.

Happy Dance!

I’ve never seen red corn tortillas anywhere else, although when I searched online Walmart claims to sell them. I have never seen them at Walmart though.

They are not necessary to make tortilla soup, but they sure are beautiful.

An adapted Pioneer Woman recipe via her post on Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients

• Cooked chicken diced or shredded (about 2-3 cups) *omit for Vegetarian soup*
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 2 teaspoons Garlic Salt
• 1 cup Diced Onion
• 1/2 cup Diced Green Bell Pepper
• 1/2 cup Diced Red Bell Pepper
• 1/2 cup Diced Yellow Pepper
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 can of yellow corn or fresh corn (1 & 1/2 cups)
• 1-2 cups of white or brown rice (uncooked)
• 1 can (10 Oz. Can) Rotel Tomatoes And Green Chilies (or 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 can of green chilies)
• 4 cups Chicken Stock or Veggie Stock for Vegetarian soup
• 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 4 cups Water
• 4 cups Black or Pinto Beans (frozen, canned or freshly cooked)
• 3 Tablespoons Cornmeal Or Masa*
• 5-8 whole Corn Tortillas, sliced into strips

Heat olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add onions, peppers, and minced garlic. Stir and begin cooking, then add the spices. Stir to combine, then add the chicken and stir.

Add the Rotel (tomatoes and green chilies), chicken stock, rice, corn, tomato paste, water, and beans to the soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.

*Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water, it will make a paste. Add the corn meal paste into the soup, then simmer for an additional 30 minutes. This will thicken the soup.

Turn off heat and allow the soup to rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Five minutes before serving, gently stir in tortilla strips.

I fried half of the strips to make a crunchy topping.

Place the soup in mugs or bowls and serve with

• cheese
• crisp tortilla strips
• avocado
• salsa
• hot sauce
• sour cream

or anything you like to top your soup with.

Enjoy!