Tuesday Tastiness #22 - Italian Rice Bake

Did you miss Tuesday Tastiness last week? I have been battling a headache for a week now and am finally beginning to feel better. I used to have headaches on a regular basis and am so thankful that I don't suffer with them as I used to. This week has reminded me of that! It is very unusual for me to keep one for several days since I have changed our family's eating habits and I can't really put my finger on the reason for this one except that it might be hormonal. I'm at "that age", you know. But I'm feeling better now and on the upswing and can actually look at the computer screen for more than a couple of minutes without having to go curl up in my recliner in pain. I am very thankful for that today!

So on to this week's recipe!

This week's recipe is an Italian adaptation of the Mexican Skillet I posted a while back. Many of my recipes are very basic and similar in content which is a wonderful way to stretch those grocery funds when you are working with a limited budget. I can get by with the "basics" and create some very good meals out of similar ingredients. If you prefer pasta in your Italian meals, you could adapt this recipe to use pasta rather than rice. But I like the nutrition that rice brings to the dish, so I don't use the pasta.

My kids and one of their friends enjoyed this dish and gave it a hearty recommendation. I hope your family enjoys it, too!

Italian Rice Bake

1 lb. hamburger (I use grass-fed/finished when possible)

3 c. cooked brown rice (Cook 1 cup rice in 2 cups water)

4 cups (2 cans) diced tomatoes (fresh, canned, or frozen from your garden)

2 slices onion

1 t. garlic powder

1 T. salt (I use Real Salt)

2 t. Italian seasoning

3 cups cooked white beans (great northern or navy)

1/2 lb. grated cheese (or less if your family doesn't love it as much as mine)

Brown the hamburger. Cook the rice. (Hint: Cooked rice freezes very well. Make up a large batch and freeze in 1 or 2 cup portions to have available when needed.)

My children don't like chunky tomatoes or onions, so I put the tomatoes and onion in the blender and blend until smooth.

Stir all ingredients together, except cheese. Put into a 9 x 13 pan and cover with grated cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until bubbly.

Enjoy!!

This post linked to:


The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
 

Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family


Real Food Wednesday at Kelly The Kitchen Kop

Tuesday Tastiness #21 - Sausage Gravy

As promised, today I will post my recipe for the delicious gravy I make with last week's recipe for beef sausage.

I love to make homemade gravy. For a long, long time I bought the package of white gravy mix and added water. I decided it had too many ingredients that I didn't want going into our bodies, so I quit making gravy at all. Then I discovered that you can make delicious gravy with real, whole foods. And we are eating it again! This is a very basic recipe that many whole foodies use as a base for all sorts of good things. Let's get started!

Homemade Sausage Gravy

1/3 cup flour (I use a mixture of unbleached and whole wheat)

1/3 cup butter or coconut oil (real butter or good quality coconut oil)

3 1/4 cups milk (I use raw milk when available)

1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

Pinch of Italian seasoning (optional)

1/4 pound homemade beef sausage

Melt butter and add flour. Stir or whisk until smooth and cook for 1 or 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and cook til thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Add seasonings and sausage and heat through.

Serve over biscuits or toast.

Delicious!

This post linked to:


The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
 

Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
 

Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family

Tuesday Tastiness #20 - Beef Sausage

Welcome to this week's Tuesday Tastiness! I'm so glad you have joined me once again!

Today I thought I would let you know how I make beef sausage. If you have ever read the ingredients on a package of sausage, you know all the undesirable fillers that are there! The packages of the healthier versions are usually cost-prohibitive. So I love this idea! I found the recipe on allrecipes.com and follow it fairly closely to the original recipe posted (except I use beef instead of ground turkey and adjust the ingredients that give it heat).

Homemade Beef Sausage

2 pounds hamburger meat (I use grass-fed/finished when able)

3/4 t ground ginger

1 1/2 t salt (I use Real Salt)

1 t dried sage

1/4 t cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)

3/4 t ground black pepper (more or less to taste)

There are two different ways to make this sausage:

1. You can make sausage patties by mixing all the ingredients together with your hands, form into patties, and cook in a pan or on a griddle, on both sides, till browned.

2. You can crumble the meat in a pan, add the rest of the ingredients and stir till browned. If you like to drain your meat, cook the meat first, drain, then add the other ingredients and warm through.

I usually make a big batch using the second choice, and freeze in bags with 1/2 pound each, because I like to add a bit of the sausage to scrambled eggs and white gravy for a delicious meal of "breakfast for supper".
Next week, look forward to my recipe of wonderful, healthy gravy!

And enjoy your sausage!

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This post linked to:


The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
 

Ultimate Recipe Swap at Thursdays at Life As Mom
 

Tuesday Twister at GNOWFGLINS
 

Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
 

Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family

Tuesday Tastiness #19 - Easy Fruit-Sweetened Berry Crisp

This is my adaptation of a recipe a friend of mine gave me when she was on the Daniel Fast at the beginning of this year. I am not sure if this recipe is on a Daniel Fast website or not, but I think it is. The reason it is a Daniel Fast recipe is that it has no added sugar (only sugar from the fruits) and uses dairy-free margarine or butter. Of course, you know I will only suggest real butter. :o)

I thought it would be a great recipe to share this week since I gave my recipe for granola last week. What timing!

And it tastes wonderful!

Easy Fruit-Sweetened Berry Crisp

2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries

1/2 cup apricot preserves (fruit-only type like Smuckers Simply Fruit, etc.) (I am thinking any type of preserves would work if you don't want to use apricot)

1 1/2 cups granola

Butter

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, mix berries and preserves. Place berry mixture in a greased 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 dish.

Sprinkle granola evenly over the top of the berries and scatter dots of butter on top of granola (or melt the butter and pour it over).

Bake for about 25 minutes or until granola is a little browned and berries are bubbly. Serves 4-6.

Enjoy!!

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This post linked to:


The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
 

Food on Fridays at Ann Kroeker
 

Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life As Mom
 

Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
 

Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family
 

Tuesday Twister

Tuesday Tastiness #18 - Granola

It had been a while since I made granola and this week I decided it had just been too long. I made up a batch and am thoroughly enjoying it! I love this recipe because the only sweetener used is a natural one - honey.


As I have started my health food journey along the lines of Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions, this recipe is one of those controversial ones that she would not approve of. She believes in soaking grains to neutralize the effects of the phytic acids in grains and, although it seems to make sense to me, I have also read opposing arguments and, honestly, I AM JUST SO CONFUSED. So for now, I do my best. Maybe someday I'll soak. For soaked granola recipes, go here, or here. For more information on soaking grains, go here or here. And for all the information you ever wanted to know about the pros AND cons of soaking, go here.

Now that I have you thoroughly confused along with me, here's the recipe:

Granola

4 cups rolled oats (I DO use the rolled oats rather than the quick ones. I DO believe the less the processing, the more nutrition)

1/2 cup butter (I DO use real butter) (I have also used a combination of butter and coconut oil)

1/2 cup honey (I have a local supplier and love it!)

1 T cinnamon

1/2 cup coconut ( I buy from the HFS or food coop, not the kind with added sugar on the grocery store shelves)

1/2 cup pecans, almonds or other nuts

Also: Raisins, sunflower seeds, any dried fruit, anything else that sounds good - just throw it in

Melt honey and butter together and pour over all ingredients. (Some say to add the dried fruit after baking. I just add it all in together at the beginning.) Bake on a cookie sheet (I cover with parchment paper) at 350 for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Continue to bake until golden brown and crispy. (Do not overbake! Tastes burnt and icky! Not good!) Cool on cookie sheet. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!!

I attribute this recipe to an old friend, Tina, at Taste of Health. I could not find her website this morning, so if any of my friends who also know her can direct me to it again, I will be happy to post it here to give her credit. She credits Breadbeckers as her original source, but she modified it to suit her tastes. But I think since she posted this a few years ago, she has gone vegan and raw, so I don't know if she cares whether she gets credit for it or not at this point. lol

This post linked to:


Food on Fridays
 

Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
 

Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
 

Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family

Tuesday Tastiness #17 - Mexican Skillet

This week's recipe is one that I consider a healthy, made-from-scratch "hamburger helper". Delicious and easy!

Since I wasn't on top of things this evening, here is the "after" picture. See how much we love it?!

Mexican Skillet

1 lb. hamburger (I use grass-fed/finished when possible)

Onion, diced small, to taste (1/2 cup or so)*

1 16 oz. can tomatoes (I use fresh or frozen from the garden when I have them)*

1 can Rotel (I use mild)*

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

6 cups cooked rice (I use long-grain brown rice, organic when possible) (Cook 2 cups dry rice in 4 cups water for approximately 6 cups cooked rice)

1 or 2 T salt (I use Real Salt)

1 T cumin

1 T garlic powder

1 T chili powder

1/2 lb. grated cheese (or less if you don't like a lot. We like a lot!)

Brown hamburger with onion in 10-inch cast iron skillet. Add all other ingredients except cheese and simmer 10 minutes or so. Sprinkle cheese over top, cover, and simmer for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

*If you don't like "chunky", you can put tomatoes, Rotel, and onion in a blender and blend until smooth. This works well for kids!

This post linked to:


The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
 

Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
 

Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family

Tuesday Tastiness #16 - Simple Winter Salad

Today's recipe is a simple one. When making salads in the summer, I love using fresh summer veggies - tomatoes, cucumbers and green peppers from the garden or farmers market. But in the winter, I love to use vegetables that are more hardy and associated with the colder months.

Simple Winter Salad

Romaine Lettuce

Fresh baby spinach leaves

Carrots (I buy regular carrots, not baby carrots, since they are cheaper and I can buy organic for only pennies more than non-organic at Walmart)

Red cabbage

See how simple that is! I just tear the lettuce and spinach into bite-size pieces, slice a carrot (I don't even peel it when I buy organic carrots), and chop up part of a head of red cabbage. Toss it all together and top with my homemade ranch dressing. I usually fill a large serving bowl and have the salad available for two or three days that way. Since there are no veggies in it that break down quickly (like tomatoes in the summer) it will last very well for a few days in the fridge. These particular vegetables are reasonably-priced during the winter months, too, so it is a very cost-effective AND healthy way to eat salad during the winter.

Enjoy!!

This post linked to:


The Grocery Cart Challenge
 

Real Food Wednesday at Kelly The Kitchen Kop
 

Works For Me Wednesday at Rocks in my Dryer