Sixty, Single AND Cooking!

Judy's Veggie Bread-08/11

Judy's Veggie Bread First Time

I took a day of vacation today and around ten o'clock after watching Bobby Flay make a pizza on the grill, I became so hungry!

Now, as I mentioned before, I'm learning to like cooking.  Though for one person, sometimes it can be complicated.  I've bought some of the spices, dry, not fresh until I'm sure this isn't a phase I'm going through. Though I'm backing off of Rosemary, I think I may have overused it.  Anyway, I'm hungry and go into the kitchen to see if I have any of the items Bobby Flay mentioned.  I didn't but I remembered seeing another show last week about some kind of bread, seems like it starts with an "F".  It was dough spread out on a pan, olive oil drizzled over it, onions, garlic gloves and grapes of all things.  Well, I had the dough, sort of, pan, sort of, olive oil, onions, garlic and grapes, sort of, and Basil. Here's what I made (see above pictures-looks nice doesn't it?)

1 can of Pillsbury 6 biscuits

1 drizzle of Olive Oil (light for cooking)

1 pinch of Basil

1 qtr cup of chopped onions

8 grape tomatoes, sliced

10 green olives sliced

1 qtr cup of shredded Cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Now, I haven't bought any new pans, because as I've said before, this may be a phase.  So I took a long glass baking dish, about 9" by something, lined it with aluminum foil(pan doesn't brown and easy to clean up).

Chop the onions, slice tomatoes and olives. Now I mentioned gloves of garlic, but I forgot to use, so I'll try that next time. Now be careful on the veggies, you might do like I did and cut too many and have to stand at the counter and eat leftovers, which is okay, but be forewarned!

Open the can of biscuits, roll into a ball.  On counter or cutting board, press out and pull until thin and even or as even as you can, thin anyway without holes. Place in pan, drizzle(I mean a little) light olive oil over dough, then scatter a pinch of dried, chopped Basil across it. Evenly scatter cheese, then veggies.  I then sprayed butter flavored Pam over the veggies. Cooked at 450 for 12 minutes. (Need to watch as some ovens might be hotter and you don't want to burn). Ummm! It is good!

Now if you want it crisper, you might leave off that Pam spray, but I love my end result!

My Favorite Soup: Tomato

My homemade Tomato soup-08/01/2016

IT ONLY TAKES 30 MINUTES 

     I love tomato soup, especially with a grilled cheese sandwich.  When I buy soup, it's usually Campbell's; but there's some herb in any processed soup that hours, after I've eaten, I can still taste, one of those green floating oneS. Or maybe it's cilantro. 

     Over the weekend I got a craving for tomato soup. Going on line, I searched for an easy recipe for making it. On the food Network, I found one by Rachel Ray, "Quick Creamy Tomato Soup".

I modified hers a bit, she uses two 15 ounces of stock, while I only used 11/2. She recommends either chicken stock or vegetable, I used vegetable because I like the flavor better. I only use chicken with chicken.  I also added 2 cubes (1 teaspoon) of sugar as Rachel Ray's was a bit tart).As you can see in the picture, it  made quite a lot, so I froze individual servings as well as one large, for quests.

     Here's my recipe: 1 large can of pureed tomatoes (I use Hunt's, just use your favorite)

                                  11/2 to 2 15 ounce vegetable or chicken stock (I used Swanson)

                                  1 cup of heavy cream ( I used whipping cream which has less fat)

                                  Coarse salt and pepper (season to your taste ( I left the pepper out)

     Combine broth and tomatoes in a medium saucepan (see picture) over moderate heat. When soup bubbles, stir in heavy cream and reduce heat to low. Season with salt and pepper and simmer gently 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. From start to finish, it only takes about 30 minutes.

     Use your favorite toppers, I used toasted french bread and shredded cheese. Now me, I love red Kool-Aid, and for some reason, it goes well with tomato soup. My favorite is Tropical Punch. Hope you enjoy!

Low Fat, Low Sodium Soup-Judy's Crowder Pea Soup

Soup

Crowder Peas picture from New Hope Seed Company

     I don't know if Crowder peas are a Southern thing or not, but I love Crowder peas! Now, they're not to be confused with Black-eyed peas. They're not the same. The flavor and texture is different. Fall is my favorite season to eat Crowder peas. I realize it still feels like summer, but yesterday I had a craving for them.  The thing is, they need onions, tomatoes and baby gherkins, so I came up with a soup.

     The recipe:

          1/4 large onion

          3 Tablespoons of cooking olive oil (Crisco Light Tasting Olive oil-best for frying & baking)

          1 14 oz can of low sodium chicken broth (I like Swanson's best)

          1 14 oz can of low sodium diced tomatoes (WalMart's Great Value brand is good)

          1 14 oz can of Crowder Peas (low sodium if you can find them. Bush or Luck's )
                (with a potato masher, your hand or spoon, crush up 1/2 of the peas. This give thickness
                 to the soup without having to add cornstarch, etc)

          3 handfuls of fresh spinach

          Sea Salt pinch

          Black pepper ground

     Place a saucepan (see above pan) on medium high, pour three tablespoons of the olive oil into a saucepan, pour in the onions and let them cook while you open the chicken broth, tomatoes and peas, about 4 minutes, don't let them brown. Pour in the broth, tomatoes, peas, salt and pepper, bring to a boil for about three minutes. Put in three large handfuls of fresh spinach. Let cook until spinach wilts like picture above.  Just remember, we're cooking on medium high.  You can lower the heat once you cook the onions, but you will need to adjust the cooking times. 

     Ladle your soup into a bowl, add a gherkin (be careful with the gherkins, unless you can find low sodium, one gherkin has about 180 mg sodium) on the side and maybe a couple of rounds of Melba toast. Enjoy!

  

 

Low Fat, Low Sodium- Do You Like Brussel Sprouts

Picture from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook 

     Do you like brussel sprouts? I do, and what's so strange, I prefer the frozen rather than the fresh! I found a great recipe for baked brussel sprouts on the Food Network, under the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.  The only thing is, she uses fresh ones. So I modified her recipe a bit. 

     I only had an old cake pan to cook them in, but I placed a small bag of frozen brussel sprouts Green Giant, Birdseye or pictsweet (have you tried the pictsweet brand at Walmart-I was surprised, their food is really good), it so happens, the ones I used this time were the pictsweet brand. Spread them out as much as you can, drizzle three tablespoons of olive oil (the olive oil for cooking, which in my case is Crisco Light Tasting olive oil (best for frying and baking).

A pinch of salt, and ground black pepper. Mix well, until you see an oil sheen over all the sprouts. Cook 45 minutes in a pre-heated 400 degree oven, or until they start turning a golden brown and are hot all the way through. See the picture at the top of the page. To me, they were delicious and so easy to prepare!

      

Easy, Low Sodium Chicken Salad Or Lazy Night

I painted this....Do you think it looks like the one below?

Hmm! Maybe not! lol

     Have any of y'all seen "Fried Green Tomatoes?" I live and work near, well actually 5 to 15 miles anyway, the Irondale Cafe (setting for the Whistle Stop Cafe).  When my sister-in-law gets a hankering for fried chicken livers, she calls and we go eat lunch there.  Which was the case yesterday. She loves the chicken livers, mac and cheese.  I differ on what I eat except for the fried green tomatoes. I always buy the fried green tomatoes. Though yesterday they were a little more tangy than usual.  I guess it's getting near the end of the season for green tomatoes. We sat in the train room. She and I both called it that because the room walls were covered with pictures of trains, all vintages, sizes and colors. The two front rooms have windows so you can eat and watch the trains go by; which they usually do, one to two always. I don't just mean trains for show, but car after car, sometimes two or three engines that push & pull the cars. We didn't even know about the front rooms until last month.  We had always eaten in the center rooms or the room where the buffet line goes through. It's not fancy, each table has a checkered tablecloth, a portable paper towel holder that sits nearby for messy hands. Thankfully there's more than one way in and out to the restaurant. Otherwise people would be sit there a long time for each train to go by.  If a train is passes by when you go in or out, you feel as though you could reach out and touch the train.  Sometimes the drivers have their windows open and their arm resting on the window frame, they'll wave. The cafe is wedged in between a barber shop and another shop.  At the east end of the strip, there's a bookstore that sells used books. I love it's name, "The Doggone Bookstore." NH and I have been known to browse and buy books there.  

Whistle Stop Cafe

Irondale Cafe today

A passing train, so close!

       I tried a new recipe, chicken salad made from a baked chicken breast.  I don't feel guilty about this chicken salad as it's low sodium.  How many of you are on a low or restricted sodium diet? It is so hard to find good tasting, low sodium dishes.

     The first thing you do is bake a chicken breast or several chicken breasts seasoned with garlic powder and a pinch of rosemary. Cook at 400 degrees until chicken juice runs clear. Take out of oven and let cool, or eat one for supper and save one to make chicken salad the next night.

     Okay, now for the recipe, this is for one person, so if more people need to be served, you'll have to adjust by adding more chicken and condiments:

     1 baked chicken breast seasoned with garlic and rosemary cut into cubes, 

          place in your food processor

     11/2 teaspoon of mayonnaise

     1 teaspoon of sour cream

     1 pinch of basil

     1 slice of cubed apple (optional)

     You could even add nuts or celery.  If you do, a tad more mayo or sour cream will need to be added.  You can always use low fat mayo and sour cream to help cut calories.

     Place lid on food processor and push button. Now I like mine pureed, but you might like yours chunkier. Then you can pour into serving dish, eat as a sandwich with bread, Ritz crackers or spread it on a celery stick. I found this delicious! I hope y'all will try and enjoy!

A view from my cruise on the Fantasy

Center Pork Loin OR I Don't like Pork!

Ree Drummond-Confessions of a Pioneer Woman (Picture property of Ree Drummond)

Did y'all watch Pioneer Woman's first cooking show on the Food Network channel today? You had a look into her life on the ranch and her cooking the meals as well. Here in Alabama, she comes on Saturday morning at 10:30 am. I follow her blog and it was so cool seeing she has her own show. 

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     I try to like pork.  When my daughter, JB, cooks stuffed pork chops for Thanksgiving rather than turkey, I eat them and they are so good! Her stuffing is to die for (I'll try to get her to give it to me to post, I do know her secret is applesauce, yep applesauce!).

     I even buy the pre-seasoned center cut log and try to cook. My friends Liz & Marci, who are both good cooks, laugh at me because I can't seem to get it to cook right and end up giving or throwing the dish away. Well, Liz came up with a new way to cook it.  She takes the pork loin log, thinly slices it and then fries the slices. Her side dishes with this meal is mashed potatoes with gravy and I believe she said some yellow squash out of their garden or maybe it was Five's mother's garden. (yes his name is Five, I'll have to tell you that story some day, I mean it's on his birth certificate as Five!). He's a nice guy too.  Liz really deserves a nice guy like him or maybe he deserves someone like her, either way, it's good.

     The meal sounded delicious, so I decided to give it a try. Only problem is that I bought the original which didn't have the pre-seasoning added.  Though the meat was okay and I did cook it correctly for a change, I hadn't added spices or herbs, so it was kinda flat.  I'm going to try it again, but with the right log, so, I'll give you that recipe then.

Pork loin with beets and Sugar Peas

(don't you just love my fancy paper plate)

     The reason I brought up the pork loin is I came up with another way to use it, Tacos! That's right, Tacos.

For some reason, lately anyway, I'm off flour tortillas and soft tacos, they just don't taste right, so I'm substituting with crisp taco shells.  What I did, was to slice like fajitas then reheat the pork. At that point, I pulled out a couple of the shells, filled with the warm pork, sprinkled on some shredded cheese, mild chunky Pace Salsa, finely diced onions, shredded lettuce and finally a drollup of sour cream. Talk about good! Unfortunately, there's no evidence of the meal left. In other words, I forgot to take a picture. Next time, I think I might try to chop up or puree the pork, like hamburger meet, to use.  Though I did like the fajita style slices.

     Do y'all like pickled beets? I do, they seem to go well with pork. Sugar peas are okay, but I like crowder peas better, especially with a little bit of snap.  I had never thought about using sugar peas in a salad until I watched, Giada De Laurentiis, Everyday Italian show this week.  She first placed the peas in hot water for about five minutes, dipped them out of the hot into ice water so they wouldn't continue to cook.  Then they were mixed with endive, arugula, topped with roasted walnuts and her homemade dressing. This is what I'm going to try tomorrow. I thought the arugula would be hard to find, but guess who sells it, Walmart! It looked nice too. Well, until tomorrow....  

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Whether it is likened to a ghost that haunts, to a wounded spirit, or to a fractured body, all cultures and religions wrestle with the issue of guilt......Ravi Zacharias, Cries of the Heart.

All pleasure does not come with a warning label. ....(There are those who) offer pleasure without restraint and destroy people without apology.  Ravi Zacharias, Cries of the Heart.

Buck's Pocket, DeKalb County, Alabama (picture property of Judy Harper)

Won't be long till the leaves are changing!

China Doll

The Daughter Is A Better Cook Than The Mother!

The Daughter and Grandkids

JB, my daughter is a great cook, in fact, she loves to cook.  I can be a great cook, but I don't love cooking or haven't in the past.  As I've been watching the Food network I think I know why I don't enjoy cooking.  Growing up, meals were planned mainly to fuel having to work so hard.  I mean, living on a farm is hard work.  The meals were mostly meat and potatoes, gravy and biscuits.  This is good food, but it wasn't the kind of food I cooked after moving out on my own.  I have discovered that unless you use the right spices and seasoning, food is bland and it doesn't look appetizing. So I've armed myself with spices!

When my daughter and family visited over the 4th of July, she decided to cook dinner one night.  She got out the chicken and asked me where my cutting board was.  After she pulled out the board and placed on the cabinet counter, she asked for my pounder, that's right, the pounder.

What she did was take each chicken breast and pound it as thin as she could, then she sprinkled garlic powder and rolled it in Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce then grilled it. It was so moist and tender.

I've slightly modified her recipe by changing how it's seasoned and cooked.  I still pound the breasts and use garlic, but I only use about a teaspoon of SBR sauce and then I place in a baking dish sprayed with butter flavored Pam.  I then place in a 400 degree preheated oven, depending on how many pieces I have, for two or more I cook between 30 to 40 minutes.  Actually, JB said to cook until the chicken juice runs clear. Yes, it will run clear! I was sceptical until I cooked it for the first time.

I've also started buying family size packages of chicken breasts.  That way I can prepare for more than one meal.  I'm more likely to eat nutritionally if I have the food ready to cook.  That way, I package for one meal, or for dinner and then for lunch the next day at work. I also find that if I line the pan with aluminum foil, the spray won't burn on the dish making it difficult to wash clean!

With this meal I also cook a new rice I've discovered, Mahatma Jasmine Thai enriched fragrant long grain rice. This rice, when cooked, is so white and fluffy! It has the best flavor and it only takes 15 minutes to prepare.  I also bake or grill vegetables to eat with the meal.  If you cut the vegetables into quarter pieces, they will cook more evenly.  Spray you pan with Pam butter flavor, then lay out the vegetable, spray again and bake in the 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, depending on how crunchy you want them.

Borrowed photo-TLC cooking

Hey, just goes to show watching the Food Network is helping!