the incredible...egg!

Yes... we have been eating at home, but this new little toy is making things easy! We (I do not do a lot, more of a man's job!) but, we smoke pork on it ALL night or quickly grill whole chickens, beef, burger patties, and so on! But the BEST meal in it is our homemade pizza, crust is amazing! Not as many recipes because things are simple! So far I am thinking it was a good investment!

chicken andoullie jambalaya

Amazing!

1/4 c bacon drippings, or olive oil or butter

1 lb chicken breasts, chopped

1 pkg andoullie sausage sliced

1 c chopped celery

1/2 c chopped mushrooms

1 c chopped onion

1 c chopped peppers, red and green

1 heaping tbs garlic in oil

1 large box chicken broth

parsley

salt and pepper

1 box wheat noodles, cooked only 3-4 minutes

In a dutch oven or large pot, sautee chicken in oil, add sausage. Remove meat and leave oil, add all veggies to pot and sautee in oil until caramelized. Add broth/stock and meat and simmer 15 minutes... add seasonings and drained pasta and simmer at least 5 more minutes.

chicken in rice... 2 ways

another "old" favorite, BUT it has a cream of chicken or celery base... no longer allowed in our house, adapted it and was a BIG success! All liked! The original recipe was from my sister in law when we got married.

Old way:

4 chicken breasts, salt and peppered

1 cup uncooked rice

1 can cream of celery or chicken soup

1 pkg onion soup mix

1 1/3 can water

1 stick butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Mix last 5 ingredients in casserole dish or dutch oven. Lay chicken on top. Cover with foil or lid and bake 1-1 1/2 hours. (until chicken is done)

NEW way: (in dutch oven)

1 onion sauteed in 3 tbs veg based butter,

add 4 tbs flour and stir,

add 1 lg box chicken broth

add 1 c soy milk

1 3/4 c water

1 tsp celery seed

1 tsp onion powder

6 chicken breasts, cut (bigger family now!), salt and peppered

2 cup uncooked rice

1 stick melted veg based butter

This will be SOUPY... cook as above. Serve with broccoli or peas and carrots.

taco soup

1 large can crushed tomatoes

1 can chili beans

2 cans pinto beans

1 small box beef broth

1 cup corn

1 cup peppers and onions (sliced)

1 lb. cooked ground beef (or chicken)

1 pkg taco seasoning

1-2 c water

cook all in one pot, bring to a boil and then simmer 1 hour. serve over rice or alone with chips on top. Top with cheese and sour cream!

lunch "pockets"

We try to take our lunches to school every day and are fortunate to have microwaves at school...really puts leftovers to good use! These are made and frozen in ziplocs for easy packing! Use the pizza dough recipe that I posted earlier. Separate dough ball into 4 or more smaller ones and roll out pretty thin, using a pastry cutter or knife to cut (each ball) in 6-8 even-ish parts...can roll some more on individual parts. Put a small amount of desired filling and fold and seal edges with the end of a fork. Brush lightly with olive oil and bake at 450 on middle shelf for 8-10 minutes. Cool and place in bags.

We do pizza ones with pepperoni, turkey and cheese, ham and cheese, leftover chicken and veggies, etc!

vegan shortbread cookies

All of my kids LOVE these and they are easy, prepare well for later use and are safe for my dairy and egg allergy child!

2 c. all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 sticks vegetable based butter (can use regular), room temp

1/2 c powdered sugar

1 tsp almond extract (can use vanilla or other flavor of choice)

Mix flour and salt in one bowl, set aside and cream butter and powdered sugar with mixer. Stir in extract. Slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture, gently mix. Place between 2 sheet of plastic wrap and flatten into 1 inch thick circle, seal edges of wrap and place in refrigerator for 15 minutes, or until needed. We make 2 batches and keep one in there til the following week!

Remove and place on floured cloth and roll out dough. Easier to break off and do a little at a time. Use a small glass to cut circles, or use cookie cutters. or do bar (rectangle) shape. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet and place back in fridge 10 minutes. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Remove and let sit 5 minutes and carefully transfer to cool rack.

Variations: Top with sprinkles...press uncooked shapes in sugar sprinkles before baking. Or top with icing! We also do these black and white, where one half of the cookie is dipped in white icing and the other side in chocolate!

homemade pizza

delicious, easy, and addictive!

homemade dough:
(this is the recipe in our breadmaker book)
1 1/3 c warm water
1tsp honey or sugar
2tsp kosher salt
2tbs olive oil
3 1/4 c bread flour
3/4c whole wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp instant, active dry yeast
(Note: we have been out of bread flour and used all wheat flour and did fine!)
place in bread machine by directions, process takes 1 hour 40 minutes... the machine does the work! OR use above ingredients and mix with hook attachment in mixer and let rise in the mixing bowl, covered for 2 hours or until doubled in size) Take dough out of bread machine or mix bowl and punch down. We separate into 4-5 dough balls and roll really thin... it is delicious as a thin crust and with our family, it goes a lot further! We roll out on a little corn meal, you can use flour. Place on pan and brush a little olive oil over each dough crust.
Toppings:
ENDLESS! We like doing it this way (other than the health benefits!) because we have a daughter with a dairy allergy, she does a small pizza with soy cheese! We use blocks of mozzerella because it tastes better, doesn't take as much and doesn't have all the additives.
Sauce:
(obviously jarred pasta or pizza sauce works...or leftover spaghetti sauce)
1 large can crushed tomatoes (can use hand held mixer to puree)
2 tbs- 1 can of tomato paste, depending on thickness that you prefer!
1 tbs basil, oregano

spread a small amount of sauce on each pizza, sprinkle with cheese and add meats and veggies of choice. Bake 450 10 minutes or until "color" that you like!