Savory Holiday Ham

I decided to try something new for this year's Thanksgiving ham. I looked around at several recipes online and decided to give dijon mustard a try, and also substitute molasses for the expensive maple syrup. OMG, ya'll. This is slap-yo'-mama good. It was so good that I just made it again for Christmas dinner!

Ingredients:

• one large ham roast, butt or shank portion, unsliced (they are all cooked but get the plainest, cheapest one you can find. No fancy spiral cut or seasoning.)
• Dijon mustard
• dark brown sugar
• molasses
• whole cloves, about 3 Tbl or so
• 2 C water

Instructions:

1.  Open the ham and place it in a large roasting pan. Make sure you get that plastic thingy off the bottom of the bone.
2. Cut a grid into the ham, only about 1/2 to 1 inch deep. Try to make it as even as possible, and make the cuts about 1.5-2" apart.
3. Spread some Dijon mustard all over. 
4. Take about 1/2 cup (unpacked) of the brown sugar and rub it all over.
5. This is the time-consuming part. Take the cloves and insert one into each grid intersection, pointed part first.
6. Drizzle generously with the molasses. Don't bother to spread it evenly. It will cook and even out.
7. Pour 2 cups of water in the bottom of the pan. You don't need to put a lot of water in. As the ham cooks, it will release juices, so make sure there's plenty of room for that.
   
8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 275 for 6 hours. Pour the juice over the ham at least once during cooking.
9. After 6 hours, the ham should be falling apart. 
10. Pick all the cloves out and throw them away. Pull the ham apart into large chunks, pick out any bones and gristle, and push the meat down into the juice. Put it back into the oven for another 30 minutes and you're done!

Healthy Chicken Salad

Chicken salad revamped- lower in fat and packed with protein from chicken, almonds, and yogurt. It's so good and good for you!

What you'll need:

• one 12.5 oz can of chicken breast
• 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1.5 teaspoons ground mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• a few dashes of celery seed
• one rib of celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 pound of red grapes, washed and cut in half
• a mixing bowl and a fork

Instructions:

1. Drain the chicken breast.
2. Wash the grapes and cut all of them in half.
3. Wash the celery and mince it finely.
4. Throw everything together and mix well.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Yum!

This will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can make it a day ahead of time also. Goes great with crackers or used in a sandwich. Enjoy!

Homemade Vegetable Broth

Using broth instead of water is an easy way to add depth of flavor to your cooking. This vegetable broth can be substituted for water, beef broth, or chicken broth. Best of all, it's FREE to make since you'd be throwing this stuff away!

Every time you cook with fresh vegetables, there's always some bit that you throw away: the cores of bell peppers, the ends of carrots and onions, stems of mushrooms, potato peels, bases of celery stalks, roots of green onions. Instead of throwing these away, get a gallon ziplock bag and keep these odds and ends in the freezer.

When your bag is half full, that's enough to start making a batch of broth!


Instructions:

1. Add half a bag of your veggie mix to 2 quarts of water in a stockpot and boil for an hour and a half. 
2. Use a colander to strain the cooked vegetables out and throw them away. 
3. Pour the broth through a fine strainer to catch all the little particles and seeds. 

You can freeze this broth in plastic containers to keep on hand, or keep in the fridge for up to a week. Use in rice dishes, Asian and vegetarian dishes, recipes that call for broth or water, and all kinds of soups. Happy cooking!

Oatmeal Walnut Cranberry Cookies

When the holidays come around, I love to make cookies! These are a great oatmeal cookie variation, especially if you're like me and can't stand raisins in your cookies. It took me a while to get these just right. They're chewy with just the right amount of crunch at the edges. Delish. This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies, so feel free to cut it in half if you need to.

What you'll need:

• large mixing bowl
• cookie sheets (if cooking more than 1 tray at a time, make sure they are identical - different brands of cookie sheets will cook differently and you'l have one tray overcooked!)
• non-stick cooking spray
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbl vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups white flour
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats (do NOT use the quick cooking kind!)
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream the brown and white sugar into the butter.
3. Add the eggs, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix well.
4. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and fold in gently.
5. Add the 3 cups of oats, 1 cup at a time.
6. Add the cranberries and walnuts, and mix that in.
7. Grease the cookie sheets and use a spoon to make drop cookies. A dozen should fit on the cookie sheet.
8. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes; remove when the edges look dry.

This recipe will make about 4 dozen, depending on how large you make the cookies. 

Sweet Potato and Sausage Quiche

A little spicy, a little sweet, and a little bit healthier with egg substitute instead of 7 eggs!

What you'll need:

• one store bought pie crust
• a pie dish
• a large mixing bowl
• vegetable oil
• a toothpick
• half a roll of hot breakfast sausage
• one container of egg substitute
• 1/4 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 small sweet potato (or 1/2 of a larger one)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Grease the pie dish and place the pie crust inside. Pinch the edges with your fingers or press with a fork for a decorative edge.
3. Peel the sweet potato and chop into 1/2 inch cubes.
4. Crumble the sausage, add a little vegetable oil, and add the onions and sweet potatoes.
5. Cover and cook on medium-low heat and stir occasionally until the sweet potatoes are done.
6. Remove from heat, scoop everything from the pan into the mixing bowl, add the entire carton of egg substitute, and stir well.
7. Scoop this into the pie crust and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. It will start browning on top when it is done. 
8. Stick a toothpick in the middle to check and see if it is done.
9. Enjoy!

Servings: 4

White Chicken Chili

This recipe packs lots of fresh ingredients and a nice cayenne kick. This white bean chili takes a few hours to prepare, but it's worth it. You can also start the chicken a day ahead of time (see step 6). Overall, this is a hearty dish that costs me $7-8 to make, and will feed 6-8 people easily.

What you'll need:

• 2 Chicken quarters (drumstick and thigh together)
• One 16-oz bag of dry navy beans
• 3 Tbs salt for the beans
• 2 large pots, one to soak the beans and one to boil the chicken
• 1 smaller pot for the potatoes
• A blender, food processor, OR potato masher
• A fine strainer
• 1 avocado for garnish, if desired

• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbl ancho chili powder (or just plain chili powder will do)
• 1 Tbl paprika
• 1 small or 1/2 large poblano pepper, diced
• 1/2 sweet yellow onion, chopped
• 5 tomatillos, with the crunchy skin peeled off and washed
• 2 Tbl chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 small or 2 medium size potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped 
• 2 Anaheim green chili peppers, diced
• 4-5 green onions, finely chopped
• (Optional) 1.5 cups of shredded cheddar cheese 
• 3 Knorr "caldo de pollo" chicken bullion cubes - from the Mexican food section. If you haven't tried that kind, get it!! It's cheaper and better than other bullion cubes. The powdered Knorr caldo de pollo in a jar will work too. 
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. 1/4 tsp makes this about a medium spice level, a good kick but not too much. If you want nose-running, lips-burning chili, do 1/2 tsp cayenne. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Step by step:

1. We are using the whole bag of beans! Rinse the beans in a strainer and pick out the funky discolored ones.
2. Put the beans in a large pot with plenty of water to cover and add the 3 Tbl salt. This is called brining your beans, and it helps keep them from falling apart and getting mushy while you cook them. 
3. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, cover, and let them soak while chicken is cooking.
4. Cover raw chicken in 2- 3 quarts of water and boil for 1.5 hours. You don't want the chicken to just be done, you want it to fall apart.
5. Remove chicken from the pot, and save the broth! Pull all the meat off, keeping big chunks. Cover the meat and put in the fridge, it will be a while before you need it.
6. For the chicken broth, take a measuring cup and skim some of the grease off the top while still hot. (You can also do the chicken a day ahead of time, refrigerate the broth overnight to easily skim all the fat off, and THEN start your beans.)
7. Set the broth aside.
8. Drain the beans and rinse them well.
9. Strain your chicken broth back into the bean pot, add rinsed beans, and simmer gently for another 1.5 hours - uncovered.
10. While the beans are cooking, wash and finely chop all your veggies. The tomatillos can be quartered. Peel the potatoes and cut into rough chunks.
11. Throw EVERYTHING from the second set of ingredients (all veggies and spices) into the pot with the beans EXCEPT for the potatoes, tomatillos, cheese, and the chicken meat that's still in the fridge.
12.  Boil the potatoes in the small pot until soft, then drain.
13. If you have a blender or food processor: Add the tomatillos and potatoes with a little water in there and puree until smooth. If you have a potato masher: dice the tomatillos into small pieces. Mash the tomatillos and potatoes together. Get it as close to smooth as possible. It will be a nasty looking green mess and you'll have some tomatillo skins in there, but it will come out fine.
14. Add this to your pot of beans. Stir it well to incorporate it into the chili. You should notice it getting thicker after adding the puree. 
15. Cook that all together till the beans are done. Stir occasionally. 
16. Add the chicken meat, simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Don't stir too much or you'll end up shredding the chicken. 
17. Add the cheese, if using, and stir gently until it dissolves. Add a little salt to taste. Garnish with sliced avocado and fresh cilantro. You're ready to eat! 

Servings: 6-8

Perfect Rice

I'm not a fan of instant rice. There's something about the texture that makes it undesirable, and it's more expensive for something that doesn't taste as good as real rice.

This is what you need:

• A non-stick wide pan with a lid - a non-stick skillet with a clear glass lid would be best. The more surface area, the better the rice will turn out.
• Parboiled rice. It has a yellowish color and it will say parboiled on the bag. Not all grocery stores carry it, but the big ones do. It also packs more nutrients than regular white rice - just awesome all around. 

That's it. You don't need to rinse parboiled rice, and it comes out fluffy and perfect. However much dry rice you're making, measure out twice that amount in water, bring to a boil, throw the rice in your skillet, turn down heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until the water is absorbed.

The other trick to perfect rice to shake the pan back and forth to stir occasionally. If you don't see any water left in the pan when you shake it, it's ready! 

Kitchen Tools

This is for general knowledge and know-how to help people learn their way around the kitchen!

Homemade Vegetable Broth - An easy, FREE way to add flavor to your recipes.

No-Lump Gravy and Sauce - Don't buy those powdered mixes. Make your own gravy and sauces!

Perfect Rice - Easy, fluffy, fail-proof rice.


CHEFTAP! Honestly the best app out there to keep track of your recipes. You can input your own recipes and save recipes from ANY site, including this blog. I love this thing. It's FREE to keep 50 recipes and sync between devices once a week. You have to pay to get unlimited storage and syncing, but even the free version is awesome.

• For your computer : http://cheftap.com/
• For Android: ChefTap on Google Play
• For IOS: ChefTap for IOS

I understand that the IOS version still has some bugs, but it's still worth a try. I've been using it for over 2 years on my Android phone and tablet. The app locks the screen so the recipe stays there while I'm cooking. Go check it out!

Flaky Cinnamon Roll Bites

 Ooey, gooey, flaky, warm. Not exactly healthy, but oh-so-good.

Ingredients:

• One can of crescent roll dough
• About 1 cup of chopped walnuts
• Soft spreadable butter
• Cinnamon sugar
• Honey to drizzle on top
• Cooking oil spray

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. The trick to preparing this is to keep the dough cold until your oven is ready. If it gets too warm, you won't be able to roll it up and cut it neatly. Unroll the crescent dough into 2 rectangles and use your fingertips to smooth the cut edges together. You should have 2 rectangles of solid dough.
3. Spread butter all over both pieces of dough, then dust with plenty of cinnamon sugar. 
4. Spread walnuts all over.
5. Starting at one of the long edges, roll up your creation. Cut gently with a sharp knife in half, then cut each piece in half, and those in half. You should have 16-20 little bite size pieces.
6. Spray your cookie sheet with oil, put those little buggers on there, and bake for about 7-10 minutes until golden brown. Watch closely and remove when they start to brown on top.
7. Remove from the pan immediately, plate and drizzle generously with honey.

Servings: 2-4?  It's hard to stop eating these!

Recipe Roster

This is where you'll find every recipe on this site.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Country Style Pinto Beans

Creamy Orzo Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms

Flaky Cinnamon Roll Bites

Fried Rice

Healthy Chicken Salad

Homemade Vegetable Broth

Italian Sausage, Spinach, and Pumpkin Pasta

Mexican Rice

Mexican Shrimp

No-Lump Gravy and Sauce

Oatmeal Walnut Cranberry Cookies

Perfect Rice

Ruth's Best Cornbread

Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

Slow Cooker White Bean Stew

Sweet Potato and Sausage Quiche

Vegetable Potstickers

White Chicken Chili