Black Bean Chili with Red Onion Salsa

This is one of our favorite cold weather recipes. I found this when I was looking for a good black bean soup recipe as I wasn't too thrilled with the one I usually made. I'm thinking I could make this in the crockpot next time :)


A couple of notes on this recipe: If you don't think you would like lots of salsa on your chili, you can halve the ingredients for the Red Onion Salsa. I've also used it to top brats, burritos, or to mix with scrambled eggs. Okay, on to the recipe.

Black Bean Chili

4 cups dried black beans
5 to 6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
Black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Crushed red pepper or cayenne, to taste
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 medium-sized green bell peppers, chopped
1/2 cup tomato puree
2 (4-oz.) cans diced green chilies
Red Onion Salsa
Grated cheese and sour cream

1. Soak the beans in plenty of water for several hours or over night. Drain off the soaking water, and cook in fresh boiling water, partly covered, until tender. Check the water level during cooking; add more as necessary. Transfer the cooked beans to a large kettle or saucepan. Include about 2 to 3 cups of their cooking water.


2. In a heavy skillet, saute garlic, seasonings, lime juice, and bell peppers in olive oil over medium-low heat until peppers are tender.


3. Add the saute to the cooked beans, along with tomato puree and canned green chilies. Simmer, covered, over very low heat, stirring every now and then for about 45 minutes. (Make salsa at this time.)


4. Serve topped with Red Onion Salsa, grated cheese, and sour cream.

Red Onion Salsa
2 cups chopped red onion
1/2 cup packed minced fresh cilantro
2 cups minced fresh ripe tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed minced fresh parsley
Black pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients and mix well. For a finer consistency, give the mixture a brief whirl or two in a food processor or blender.

6 to 8 servings

I usually serve this with the Red Onion Salsa, sour cream or Greek-style yogurt, and tortilla chips.

Experimenting with Sticky Chicken

This is a repost from my other blog.
About a year ago I posted a recipe for Roasted Sticky Chicken. It is really tasty but sometimes it has been turning out rather dry, so I thought I would play with the recipe a little and do some adjusting. Last week my husband and I were grocery shopping and found 2 large roasting chickens for 69 cents a pound as a manager's special. (We always, always look for these bright orange stickers on meat for huge discounts!) They were very large, much larger than the fryers I usually buy at Aldi for 79 cents a pound. Here is the original recipe for the Sticky Chicken.

Roast Sticky Chicken

4 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 whole chicken

1 cup chopped onion

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove the giblets from the chicken, clean the cavity well, and pat dry with paper towels.

Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed. Place in a resealable plastic bag, OR, place in the roasting pan, and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roast the chicken, stuff the cavity with the chopped onions and place in a shallow roasting pan. Roast, uncovered, at 250 degrees for 5 hours. After the first hour, baste the chicken occasionally (about every half hour or so) with the pan juices. The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of the pan and the chicken will turn a golden brown. If the chicken has a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving.

I still do everything as the recipe suggests, however, this last time I doubled the spices and prepared the 2 roasters for the next day. I put them in the refrigerator, one in my crockpot and one in a roasting pan, covered. The next day I put the chopped onion in the cavity of each chicken and started the cooking. I also added a little water to the bottom of the crock pot. I put the crock pot on low and let it slowly cook away for about 8 hours.

About 4 hours before we wanted to eat the roasted chicken, I added a little water to the bottom of the pan, covered it with foil and put it in the oven, basting every once in awhile. About halfway through the cooking time, I uncovered it and let it continue cooking.

With the addition of the water at the bottom of the pan, both methods of cooking turned out very, very well. I like the crock pot method the best, though because I didn't have to do any basting or checking, although it does take twice as long as the roasted method.

*You may want to adjust the cooking time according to the size of your chicken. These roasters were large, about 5 pounds apiece, and fryers are usually about 3 1/2 pounds. Test your chicken for doneness in the following ways: using a meat themometer; if the juices run clear; or if the leg moves easily when you wiggle it.

I'm linking up with Friday Potluck

Creamy Mustard Meatballs

I found the original recipe for this on a blog a couple of years ago and what attracted it to me was not only the fact that it sounded so good, but it was a pretty quick recipe and made with ingredients that were almost always in my pantry or freezer. I've tweaked it a little to make it more the way we like it and it turned out so creamy and flavorful when I made it yesterday. The meatballs were very tender and moist. You could use ground beef with this dish instead of the turkey, too.

Creamy Mustard Meatballs

1 pound ground turkey
1 cup breadcrumbs
4 tablespoons chopped onion
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons, plus 2 teaspoons mustard (I've used dijon and spicy brown mustard-regular mustard would work, too)
1/2 bag (8 oz) egg noodles
2 1/4 cups chicken or beef stock
3/4 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons cornstarch
Salt and pepper
Chopped parsley to sprinkle over the top as garnish

Mix together the following in a medium bowl: ground turkey, breadcrumbs, chopped onion, 2 tablespoons mustard, salt and pepper. Shape into meatballs and bake at 400 degrees on a lightly greased cookie sheet about 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles until just tender in boiling water in a large pot. Drain and set aside.

In a saucepan, whisk together chicken or beef stock, remaining 2 teaspoons mustard, and cornstarch until smooth. Bring to a boil until thickenened. In a small bowl, stir about 1 tablespoon of hot mixture into the sour cream. Turn the heat to low and stir in the sour cream mixture being careful not to boil, just heating through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and stir in the meatballs. Serve over the noodles and sprinkle with parsley. Serves 4.

I'm linking up with Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Hamburger Casserole-Updated

I've blogged about this recipe a couple of other times on my other blog and there's probably a reason or two for that. It's really easy to put together and it's one of those dishes I grew up on, which takes me back to my childhood in my mom's kitchen. I've made this recipe for my daughters more times than I can count but I rarely make it anymore because I hardly ever use the canned cream of mushroom soups. But, now that I know how to make my own cream of "whatever" soups, I can make dishes like this more often. In fact, after making my homemade cream of mushroom soup the other night, I went ahead and made this casserole, too. I've only known this recipe as Hamburger Casserole and I have no idea where my mom got it but here it is, updated from when I was a kid.

Hamburger Casserole

*1 lb. ground beef
1-1 lb. bag of noodles or other pasta shapes
1 can cream of mushroom soup or make your own
2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cook ground beef until browned. Drain or rinse as desired. While that's cooking, start boiling water for the pasta. Add the mushroom soup and tomato sauce to the ground beef. Drain the pasta when cooked al dente and add to the ground beef mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the cheese and combine until the cheese is melted. Serve. OR, you can combine everything except the cheese, spoon into a casserole dish, sprinkle the cheese on top and put in a 375 degree oven until the casserole starts bubbling, about 30 minutes.

*You can use less ground beef here to save on the grocery budget :)

I'm linking up with Foodie Fridays.

Thai Style Pork Noodle Toss

We love stir fry dishes. It's a great way to use up whatever bits and pieces of vegetables or meats that you have in the refrigerator. I found this one on the Common Room site and stayed with the original recipe for the most part. I added about 1/2 of a red pepper to it since I had some in my fridge.

Thai Style Pork Noodle Toss

Serves 6

1 pound raw pork loin (I used tenderloin), sliced into thin strips

Combine:

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons minced ginger-root (or you can use ground ginger)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

Add the meat to the above marinade for about 1/2 hour. (I only marinated the pork for about 10 minutes because I was using tenderloin, which is a very tender cut)

Meanwhile:

4 1/2 tablespoons oil

2 cups thinly sliced onions

1 teaspoons crushed red pepper, or to taste

4 cups sliced Chinese Napa cabbage-or regular if it is cheaper

1 grated carrot

1/2 of a red pepper, sliced thinly

1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar

Sauce:

Mix together:

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

3/4 pound pasta, cooked al dente, drained (I used spaghetti)

In a bowl marinade meat for at least half an hour as stated above. Heat a wok or large skillet, add 3 tablespoons of oil and then the meat, stir-frying until no pink remains. Set meat aside in the serving bowl.

Add the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoon of oil and heat over high heat until hot. Add the onions and crushed pepper, and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add the cabbage, carrots, and any other vegetables you are using. Toss in the oil until the vegetables are cooked to the desired doneness (we like our vegetables more tender than crisp but not mushy). Add the sauce and heat until boiling. Add the cooked pork and noodles and toss to coat and blend.

I'm linking up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace.

Garlic, White Bean and Rosemary Chicken Stew

I was looking for a recipe that used what I had in the pantry and I found this, but for the life of me can't find where I found it online, so if this is your recipe, let me know and I will give you the credit you deserve for this recipe. I cannot believe the amount of flavor in this dish! My husband couldn't stop eating it, even with all the carrots in it, an ingredient he isn't too fond of. I also love how easy on the budget this is, too. While I used only chicken legs and thighs, you can use whatever chicken pieces you would like in this recipe, but I would recommend using bone-in pieces. If you only have boneless pieces, wait to add the chicken until later when you add the vinegar and first cup of broth.

Garlic, White Bean and Rosemary Chicken Stew

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 pounds chicken parts, skins removed
1 large onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
5 garlic cloves, chopped
4 ounces bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 cups chicken broth
2 cans white beans
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or pot. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to pot and brown on both sides. Take out the chicken and place on a plate. Add to the pot the bacon, onions, and carrots. Cook until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Put the chicken back into the pot. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and 1 cup of chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by about a third (this took about 6 minutes). Stir in the beans, rosemary, and the other 2 cups of chicken broth. Bring back to a boil and simmer, covered 20 to 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serves 4.

Chicken A La King

Chicken A La King is one of those old-fashioned dishes that have been around for a long time and for good reason. It's a dish that uses up what you have in the pantry or fridge and is welcomed at the table. I made it one day last week and my daughter liked it so much that she made it for her boyfriend on Wednesday night when he came over. It's so cute how they like to cook for each other.

Chicken A La King

6 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 cup sliced mushrooms, fresh or canned

1/2 cup diced green pepper

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup carrots, diced

1 cup peas, frozen or canned

1 1/2 cups well seasoned chicken broth

1 cup milk

1 cup cut-up cooked chicken

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add the mushrooms, green pepper, carrots, and onion and saute until the vegetables are soft, about 7 minutes. Add the flour, salt and pepper and stir to blend. Add the chicken broth and milk and cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly until bubbling and thickened. If it's too thick, add more milk or broth. Add the peas and chicken and cook until heated through. Makes about 4 servings.

You can serve this over rice, noodles, biscuits, or even as a filling for chicken potpie. You can also substitute the vegetables for whatever your family likes.

I'm joining Foodie Friday and the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap this week. Visit these sites for more great recipes.

June Freezer Cooking

I love using my freezer to store my food. When we aren't going to use up some leftovers or other food that is in the fridge, I label it and toss it in the freezer. I also like to make food ahead of time and put it in the freezer to make my life easier later. For those of you that read my other blog, you know that I am actively looking for work outside the home, so I will need meals that come together easily when time and energy are low. (Update: job found-Hallellujah!) Jessica at Life as Mom is doing another freezer cooking month and I'll be joining with her to fill up my freezer with meals or parts of meals that will save me time and money. My husband will be taking his annual fishing trip to Wisconsin with his best buddy, his twin brother, his brother-in-law, and our two sons-in-law this weekend, so I figured that will be the perfect time to get some cooking done and stocking up our freezer.





Here's the plan:



I have about 10 pounds of chicken legs and thighs that I plan on putting in the crockpot. It will not only cook the meat until it's incredibly tender for lots of dishes like my chicken potpie but it will also make a wonderful chicken broth for soups, sandwiches, and other dishes.

I already have some cinnamon rolls in my freezer that I plan on using for easy breakfasts and desserts.

I'm going to be trying Rhonda's method for freezing pizza dough, along with a couple of other breads and roll recipes so that we can have homemade bread even if I haven't been home to make it that day.

I have some white beans in the freezer now but I want to add some black beans, lentils, and pinto beans to that. I can make my Tuscan White Bean Soup, Black Bean Chili with Red Onion Salsa , lentil cakes, refried beans, and salads. I have yummy recipes for a chickpea salad and a black bean salad that I will be sharing soon since we are in the warmer months, which is when we enjoy salads the most.

I also have a whole chicken that I plan on cutting up and marinating in the freezer for the grill. Mary Ann-I will do a tutorial on how to cut up the chicken :)

Since it's often just my husband and myself at home to eat, I will set aside some of the leftovers for our daughters or for the next day's lunch, and put the rest in the freezer. I will be putting some of the leftover soups in separate small containers in the freezer for taking to work for our lunches, too. Even after I find the right job,(found it!) we want to try and eat as little fast food and premade foods as possible. We've been eating this way for so long that I think it will affect the way we feel and we are going to need extra energy!

What I Did With 10 Pounds of Chicken Leg Quarters

When I find a great deal at the grocery store, especially on items that are generally more expensive, like protein products, I usually snatch it up. So, every 3 or 4 months, my local grocery store advertises a 10-pound bag of chicken quarters for $3.80, it's hard not to buy. Thirty-eight cents per pound for any kind of chicken is just hard to pass up, even though it's not my family's favorite part of the bird. So what can I do with it?



Well, bring out the slow-cooker, of course!



I rinsed the pieces off in the sink and put all 10 pounds of them into the crockpot. I added some celery, onion, carrots, salt, pepper, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. The vinegar helps to bring out the minerals and nutrition from bones and into the stock. I let it do it's thing until the meat on the bones were practically falling off, about 6 hours. I then took a large slotted spoon and took out the meat pieces, allowed them to cool, and then took the meat off the bones.
I put the bones back into the crockpot and let it continue to cook for another few hours, and above is what I was left with. I love the rich color of the broth!
I poured the broth and bones into a large colander placed over a large bowl to separate the two and above is all that was left, just bones and cooked-down vegetables. Oops! There's a large piece of stray thigh meat. That goes in the with the rest of the meat.

I now have a very large bag of cooked chicken meat that I put into the freezer and a large bowl of homemade chicken broth that I put into the freezer overnight so the fat can rise to the top. In the morning, I scrap the fat off and save it for sauteeing vegetables and meats. With my chicken and broth, I'm ready to make possibly some chicken pot pie.

Or, I could make some yummy chicken and dumplings. Do you have some favorite recipes that you use for cooked chicken? I'd love to hear! I'm always looking for a new recipe to use up what I already have.

I'm participating in Foodie Fridays and The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap.

Cilantro Recipes

Sandra recently asked if I would post some recipes using cilantro, and I'm glad to do it since it is one of my favorite fresh herbs to use. I can always find it at my Mexican or regular grocery store for as little as 3 bunches for one dollar. I use it in salsas all the time and I even found a recipe to use it in as a rub for chicken.

This salsa recipe is my new favorite because I almost always have the ingredients on-hand to make it. It's adapted from a recipe I found on Fishmama's cooking blog and have made it several times as a sauce for our Mexican cooking.

Salsa

28 ounce can diced tomatoes

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, rinsed well

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

1/2 chopped canned chipoltle pepper in sauce or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or 1/2 chopped fresh jalapeno

1 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice

salt and pepper

In large bowl, combine all ingredients. Serve with tortilla chips or other Mexican dishes.

This is another one of my family's favorites that I got from the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. It is a vegetarian cookbook but she does such wonderful things with food that I really love trying some of her recipes. Lots of flavor! I originally posted this recipe and the next one on my other blog but since this is my new cooking blog, I thought I would copy onto this post so it would be available to me and to whoever else was interested.

A couple of notes on this recipe: If you don't think you would like lots of salsa on your chili, you can halve the ingredients. I've used it to top brats, burritos, or to mix with scrambled eggs. Okay, on to the recipe.

Black Bean Chili

4 cups dried black beans

5 to 6 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 1/4 teaspoons salt

Black pepper, to taste

2 teaspoons dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Crushed red pepper or cayenne, to taste

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 medium-sized green bell peppers, chopped

1/2 cup tomato puree (You can also use crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce)

2 (4-oz.) cans diced green chilies

Red Onion Salsa

Grated cheese and sour cream

Soak the beans in plenty of water for several hours or over night. Drain off the soaking water, and cook in fresh boiling water, partly covered, until tender. Check the water level during cooking; add more as necessary. Transfer the cooked beans to a large kettle or saucepan. Include about 2 to 3 cups of their cooking water. (You can certainly do this ahead of time and freeze the beans or put them in the refrigerator for a few days until you are ready to use them.)
In a big pot or Dutch oven, saute garlic, seasonings, lime juice, and bell peppers in olive oil over medium-low heat until peppers are tender.
Add the the cooked beans, along with tomato puree and canned green chilies. Simmer, covered, over very low heat, stirring every now and then for about 45 minutes. (Make salsa at this time.)
Serve topped with Red Onion Salsa, grated cheese, and sour cream.

Red Onion Salsa

2 cups chopped red onion

1/2 cup packed minced fresh cilantro

2 cups minced fresh ripe tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup packed minced fresh parsley

Black pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients and mix well. For a finer consistency, give the mixture a brief whirl or two in a food processor or blender.

6 to 8 servings

I wish I had a picture of this next dish for you. Better yet, I wish you could taste it and see how very delicious it is. I've made this once using skinless, boneless chicken thighs because that's what I had. It was also in the middle of January, so I used my cast iron grill pan to cook them on inside. The important thing is the rub you put on the chicken. So good!

Chile-Cilantro Grilled Chicken

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

3 tablespoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced jalapeno chile

1 tablespoon grated lime peel

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 bone-in skin-on chicken breast halves or whatever parts you like

Heat grill. Combine all ingredients except chicken in small bowl. Generously rub over chicken and under skin. Grill, covered, over medium heat or coals 14 to 18 minutes or until no longer pink in center, turning once.4 servings

For those of you interested, this dish contains per serving: 235 calories, 11.5 g total fat (2.5 g saturated fat), 28 g protein, 4.5 g carbohydrate, 75 mg cholesterol, 525 mg sodium, 1 g fiber

This is a recipe I got from the Cooking Pleasures magazine.

There are a couple of things to remember about cilantro: It is best to use cilantro at the end of the cooking time because it will lose some of it's flavor as it heats. As with all fresh herbs, they will only last about a week in the refrigerator. When I bring cilantro home, I will trim the stems a little and place the bunch in a glass of water and set it in the refrigerator. You can also store it wrapped in a damp paper towel placed inside a large baggie.

I hope this gets you started on using cilantro in your kitchen. In fact, I have some in my fridge that I need to use up before it goes bad.

I'm participating in Grocery Cart Challenge's Recipe Swap and Foodie Friday

Menu Plan Monday

I'm taking lots of help from my freezer again this week. In fact, I won't be doing much grocery shopping for the rest of the month, except for things like milk, eggs, and fresh produce. My two still-home daughters haven't been home much lately, so I've just been feeding my husband and myself for the most part, which means that we have lots of leftovers and sometimes I don't make everything that was on the previous week's menu plan.


Here's what's planned for our menu this week:


Monday: Spanish rice and beans, homemade tortilla chips, salsa, and all the trimmings (cheese, sour cream, lettuce)


Tuesday: Johnny Marzetti Spaghetti Pie, green beans, french bread


Wednesday: Black Bean patties, cole slaw, soaked whole wheat bread from the bread machine

Thursday: Greek Chicken (I made a double recipe and froze half) and roasted potatoes

Friday: Pork and Sauerkraut

For meal planning inspiration, visit I'm an Organizing Junkie to see other meal plans.

White Chili

This is comfort food at it's finest! I just love soups and stews and White Chili is one that I discovered only a couple of years ago and I just fell in love with it. I've seen lots of recipes for White Chili but I like this one because I usually have everything in my pantry for it. I had my beans, cooked and shredded chicken, and homemade chicken broth waiting for me in the freezer, so this was a breeze to throw together.

White Chili

4 cups navy or Great Northern beans (soaked and cooked), or 2 cans

4 cups chicken broth

1 1/4 cups chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 or 2 tablespoons oil, butter, or other fat

1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper

Shredded Monterey Jack cheese for sprinkling on top of chili

In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute until almost translucent. Add garlic and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients except cheese and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes or until flavors have melded together. Spoon into serving bowls; top with cheese. Makes 6 servings

We like to serve this with our healthier version of tortilla chips.

I'm participating this week in Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and $5 Dinners

Pancakes and Waffles

I love pancakes and waffles. My husband, not so much. He'd rather have a couple of eggs, over easy, thank you very much. But the rest of the family just loves pancakes and waffles. When my girls were younger I would buy the packaged, just-add-water kind of mix, but I remember one morning one of my daughters asked if I could make pancakes and I was out of mix. So, I got out my Pillsbury cookbook and found a from-scratch recipe for pancakes. The girls loved them. Fast forward a couple of years later, when I was learning about the benefits of whole grains and found a recipe for Whole Wheat Pancakes. We were hooked. They tasted so much better than the white flour variety and they kept the girls fuller for a much longer time, yet they didn't eat as much. Interesting, hmm?

Today my husband was in the mood for breakfast for dinner, so I made grapefruit halves, bacon, eggs (of course!), and waffles using my whole wheat pancake recipe. Yes, I know there are separate recipes in many cookbooks for pancakes and waffles but I've found that they are pretty interchangeable and I have used this recipe for either.

Whole Wheat Pancakes (and Waffles!)

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
2 cups milk
1/4 cup oil or melted butter
2 eggs

For pancakes: Heat griddle to 400 degrees or skillet on medium-high heat. In large bowl, combine first 5 ingredients. Add remaining ingredients; beat (or stir) just until large lumps disappear. Lightly grease heated griddle or skillet. A few drops of water sprinkled on pan will sizzle and bounce when heat is just right. Pour batter, about 1/4 cup at a time, onto the hot pan. Bake until bubbles form and edges start to dry; turn and bake the other side. Makes sixteen 4-inch pancakes.

For waffles: Heat waffle iron. Follow instructions above for mixing ingredients together. Bake in hot waffle iron until steaming stops (my waffle iron has a light that tells me when it is done) and waffle is done to a golden brown.

We love to add all kinds of things to our waffles and pancakes: nuts, bananas, blueberries, chocolate chips, or apples and cinnamon.

This is another recipe I tried last week for pancakes or waffles. This batter can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. After a couple of days they will develop a slight sour dough flavor. This is what the batter looked like after one day in the refrigerator. There were a few bubbles forming from the yeast.


Make Ahead Pancake and Waffle Batter

2 1/4 cups unbleached flour (I used half whole wheat flour)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter or oil
3 eggs

In large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. In small saucepan, heat milk and butter until very warm (120 to 130 degrees). Add to flour mixture along with the eggs. Beat at medium speed until smooth. Cover and refrigerate up to 4 days, adding 2 additional tablespoons of sugar after the second day. Prepare as you would regular pancakes or waffles.

Nowadays we don't usually eat a whole batch of pancakes or waffles in one sitting, so I have been freezing them for when we want them again.

Cheesy Broccoli and Rice with Chicken

As I continue in my quest to fill up my freezer with made-from-scratch ready-made meals, I think I'm finding my rhythm and what works for me. I don't think I will ever do a OAMC (Once a Month Cooking) session but I will be doubling and tripling my recipes as I go along making meals and snacks for my family. In the picture above I have a Cheesy Broccoli and Rice with Chicken Casserole ready for the freezer. It really helps me to label exactly what is inside the dish, the date of when I put it in the freezer, and directions on heating it up. It's a make-over recipe from a more common recipe made with canned soup, white rice, and processed cheese. I instead used my homemade cream of chicken soup, brown rice, cheddar cheese, and homemade chicken broth. Just about all of the ingredients used in this recipe can be made ahead of time and frozen as well, and when you are ready to make this casserole, just mix everything together.

This picture is the one that was to go right into the oven. And here's the recipe that I used, which is adapted from Amy:

Cheesy Broccoli and Rice with Chicken

2 cups cooked brown rice (I make lots of this at once and freeze in small baggies)

2 cups cooked, diced chicken (I usually have cooked chicken waiting for me in my freezer)

2 cups chopped fresh or frozen broccoli

1 cup cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup (I make at least a double recipe and again, freeze it)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, plus more for sprinkling over the top

1 1/4 cups milk or chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup bread crumbs

Mix together in a large bowl. Pour in a 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Here is my recipe for Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup adapted from Tammy's recipe.

Yield:
3 cups (about 2 cans)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups chicken broth*

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/4 teaspoon onion powder**

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder***

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt (or less; taste to test)

1/4 teaspoon parsley

dash of paprika

1 1/2 cups milk

3/4 cup flour

1. In medium-sized saucepan, boil chicken broth, 1/2 cup of the milk, and the seasonings for a minute or two (longer if using fresh onions or garlic).
2. In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 cup of milk and flour. Add to boiling mixture and continue whisking briskly until mixture boils and thickens.
Additional Notes:
*I use the broth from my oven-roasted chicken. Refrigerate broth and then take fat off the top and save it for sauteing vegetables in! You can also use chicken bouillon + water for your broth.

**Or, diced onions (boil with broth for a few minutes)
***Or, fresh minced garlic (boil with broth for a few minutes)
Preparation Time:
5 minutes
Cooking Time:
10-15 minutes