Salsa - work in progress

1 medium/small jalapeño, diced
1 pepper (green, orange, red, yellow-whatever makes you happy), diced
2 cloves of garlic, put through the garlic press
1 lemon (just the juice)
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 tube (4.5 ounces) tomato paste
1/4 - 1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Everything goes into a sauce pan. Make sure you stir well at the start to incorporate the tomato paste. You want to bring this to a nice simmer and let it simmer for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally-be sure to use a rubber finger around the edges to get all that rich tomato goodness in the salsa.

Veggie Bars

2 – 8 oz. pkgs. Cream cheese, softened

2 tubes crescent roll dough

1 pkg. ranch dressing mix

¾ cup mayonnaise

¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese

¾ cup of the following (chopped fine):

green peppers, green onion, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli

Grease a jelly roll pan. Roll-out crescent dough to cover bottom of pan. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. Mix ranch dressing mix with softened cream cheese and mayonnaise. Spread on baked dough. Combine all vegetables and cheese and spread on top of cream cheese. Gently press vegetable mixture into cream cheese layer. Cover and refrigerate 2-3 hours. Cut into bars and serve.

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

2-10 oz. pkg. frozen broccoli, cooked & drained

3 – whole chicken breast – boiled & boned

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

1 cup mayonnaise

¼ tsp curry powder

½ cup soft bread crumbs

1 tbsp lemon juice

½ cup shredded (Sharp American cheese)

1 tbsp butter

Place cooked broccoli on greased dish 11x7. Place breast of chicken on broccoli. (I break it into small pieces). Combine chicken  soup, mayonnaise, juice, curry & pour over the chicken. Cover this w/the shredded cheese. Mix the butter w/the bread crumbs & put this over chicken. Bake 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Broccoli Rice Casserole

1 small pkg. frozen broccoli

3 Tabls. Butter

¼ cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 soup can of milk

1 small jar cheese whiz

2 cups cooked rice

Thaw broccoli in 1 cup boiling water. Sauté onion & celery in butter. Add chicken soup, milk & mix & add cheese. When cheese is melted, mix in broccoli & rice. Place in casserole.  Bake at 350°, 30-40 min. If using Minute Rice, use 2 cups water & 2 cups of minute rice.

Frozen Sweet Corn

4 quarts corn
1 quart water
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons salt

cut corn off cob first. Cook corn in water, sugar and salt mixture for 10 minutes and cool before freezing.

Tomato Sauce (2 ways)

1 way:
Wash and cut bad spots out of tomatoes. Quarter or half. Put in kettle until soft. While cooking, dip off water until enough pulp. Cook until mushy, run through blender until whipped. Pour it into colander and run through. Put back on stove and cook until consistency desired. Process for 30 minutes.

2 way:
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup oil
2 cups beef broth
4 teaspoons basil leaves
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 can tomato paste
12 large tomatoes
2 cups cooking wine or water

Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 1 1/2 hours.

Salsa - Jay Buss

1 gallon tomatoes, peeled and chopped (6 quarts)
3 onions
6 mild jalapeno peppers
1 yellow pepper
4 green bell peppers
1 teaspoon cilantro
1 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon coriander
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder or (4 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons chili powder)

Mix all ingredients together in a very large pan. Cook 3-4 hours on simmer. Cool and eat or process for 10 minutes in pint bottles.

Salsa Recipe - Greg's

6 cups tomatoes
3 medium onions (to taste)
1/2 cups of celery
1 cup bell peppers (to taste)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/8 cup white vinegar
hot peppers (1 or 2 is a mild sauce, 2-4 is a medium sauce, 4-8 is a hot sauce)

Put tomatoes in boiling water. After about 5 minutes place tomatoes in cold water and peel skin off and dice.

Mix all the ingredients and boil at least an hour. The longer they boil, the thicker the sauce. Skim off the top regularly.

Boil water and put jars to be filled and the lids in the boiling water just prior to filling. Fill jars with boiling salsa, whip rimes and seal tight. Each batch makes about 4 pints.

Marinated Cucumbers

1 large cucmber
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup vinegar

Mix and refrigerate.

Freezer Pickles

25 cucumbers
1/4 cup salt in 1 quart water
5 cups sugar
1 1/2 pints vinegar

Peel cucumbers and cut really thin Pour salt water over cucumbers. Work well with hands. Refrigerate covered for 2 days or 38 hours. Drain water, do not rinse. Put in freezer containers. Dissolve sugar and vinegar in saucepan on low heat. Pour over cucumbers. For variety, you may add thinly sliced onions, green peppers or celery seeds. Put in freezer. Thaw just before serving.

Frozen Cucumbers

2 quarts sliced cucumbers
1 tablespoon salt
1 large onion
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar

Prepare first three ingredients and refrigerate in covered container for 24 hours. Drain. Add sugar and vinegar. Let stand 24 hours in refrigerator again. Then put in a freezer container and freeze.

Frozen Green Beans

8 cups water
8 beef bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 quarts cut green beans

Combine water, bouillon cubes, onion powder and salt in 8 quart kettle. Heat to boiling. Add beans, cover and bring to a boil again. Boil 12 minutes. Remove cover and place kettle in ice water bath. Cool quickly. Stirring occasionally. Fill containers with beans and liquid. Be sure liquid covers beans. Seal and freeze.

Serves: 8 pints.

Sweet Pickles

10 medium cucumbers
8 cups sugar
1 tablespoon mixed picking spice
5 teaspoons coarse-medium picking salt
4 cups cider vinegar

Cover cucumbers with boiling water. Let stand until next morning. Drain. Repeat this procedure next three mornings. On the fifth day drain and slice in 1/2 pieces. Combine remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and pour over cucumbers. Let stand two days. On the third day bring to a boil and seal in hot sterilized jars.

Deep Freeze Pickles

2 quarts shredded or sliced cucumbers
2 tablespoons salt

Later drain and put in container.

When you get from deep freeze add:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 sliced onion

Dill Pickles (2 ways)

1 way:
Put heads of dill in jar.
Pack pickles.
Put in:
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
4-5 whole peppers
scant 1/4 teaspoon alum
1 clove of garlic
Top with another head of dill.
Measure and mix (cook and pour over pickles):
3 cups water
1 cup vinegar
1/4 cup pickling salt
Put on lid and steam to seal.
Double batch liquid = 5 quarts


2 way:
Wash pickles in cool water.
Slice them if you like and put them in jars. Pour boiling water over them.
Let stand 1/2 hour.
Take the following and bring to a boil:
3 tablespoons salt
2 cups water
1 cup vinegar

Put dill in jar and alum size of a pea.
Pour hot mixture over pickles and seal.
This makes mixture enough for 2 quarts

Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad

2 cups corn, cooked (fresh or frozen, for me it was about 2 ears of fresh corn)
1 to 2 avocados, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup finely diced red onion (which I omit because yuck)

For the dressing:
1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
juice from one fresh lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (I omit because I don't like the taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
pinch of cumin

This is so incredibly easy. I cooked the corn because I was able to buy some lovely fresh corn. While It was cooling I prepared the dressing by mixing all the ingredients. Then I cut the corn off the cob, cut the tomatoes and avocado and threw everything together in a bowl. I put it in the refrigerator for a few hours to chill and to let the flavors mingle. It was a lovely and refreshing side dish and I plan to make it many many times!

Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Coleslaw (Work In Progress)

This is a recipe I'm going to update as we get it perfect for our tastebuds. Here is what we have so far:

1/3 head cabbage (any kind you like), sliced and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1/4 cup coleslaw dressing
1 lime, the juice only
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Mix the above ingredients and refrigerate for at least an hour. (Over night is best)








Cole Slaw attempt #2
2 cups green cabbage, shredded
1 cup purple cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
2 tablespoon lime juice
pinch of cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Refrigerator Pickles

4 cups sugar

4 cups vinegar

1/2 cup salt

1 1/3 tsp turmeric

1 1/3 tsp celery seed

1 1/3 tsp mustard seed

3 onions, sliced thin

Cucumbers

Mix sugar, vinegar and spices together, do not heat.

Wash and sterilize three large peanut butter jars, or 8 small ones (quart jars). 

Slice 1 onion into each jar. Slice cucumber to fill the jar. Stir syrup well and pour over cucumbers and onions. Screw on lids. Refrigerate at least 5 days before using. Keep in refrigerator until read to serve. These will keep for up to 1 year refrigerated, but I bet they won't last that long!

Recipe from Alice Obering

Butternut Squash Soup

Nothing says Autumn like a trip to the pumpkin patch. This year, Emily's company sponsored a trip to our favorite spot, Bauman's Farm, located in Gervais, OR. Bauman's is a bit of a local spectacle; it attracts folks from all over the state and has lots of attractions for adults and children alike. Our favorite part of the visit is the store, which carries all kinds of local produce and fall delicacies. Among those are an amazing and varied selection of squash and other fall vegetables.

Job number one after a visit is to make the first of what will normally be a number of batches of soup, usually beginning with our favorite: butternut squash soup. It's really easy to make and it doesn't really require a recipe. Just play the small set of ingredients to produce a soup to your liking; this is just you cooking.

Ingredients (not exact)

1 sm. to med. butternut squash
1 - 2 cloves garlic
4 Tbsp butter
3 cu. chicken or vegetable stock
salt, peper, cayenne pepper to taste

The amount of each ingredient isn't super important. If you want a thicker soup, use less stock and vice versa. If you like just a hint of garlic, use less; if you love it and don't mind offending your family and co-workers, use more (I, personally, don't give a damn--I work from home).

Peel, remove the seeds, and cut up the squash into equally sized cubes. I aim for about 3/4" to 1" pieces. The size isn't important... just make sure the pieces are roughly the same size so they cook at the same rate.

Melt the butter in a heavy pot over medium high heat, I use a Le Creuset dutch oven, but any heavy sauce pot will do. Add the garlic when the butter starts to sizzle. Don't brown it! Just let it "bloom", so keep it moving. Then add the squash and stir for about three minutes. Then add a cup or so of the broth and deglaze the pot. Add the rest of the stock, 1/2 Tsp. of salt, and black pepper to taste and simmer on med. low (just a very gentle boil) until the squash is very tender; roughly twenty minutes. You should be able to squash the squash (Ha!) with a fork with no pressure.

Once the squash is fully cooked, kill the heat and let the soup sit for around fifteen minutes. Then you need to process the soup. I usually use my cheap wand blender that I've had for more years than I can remember, but you can also use a food processor or blender (be very careful). Adjust the seasoning (salt and pepper) and add roughly 1/8 Tsp of cayenne. The cayenne pepper doesn't really add heat; it's just a small amount to awaken your taste buds. Trust me on this; you should add a pinch of cayenne to everything!

Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream and enjoy. This is one of life's very simple pleasures.

~David

Ratatouille

Ratatouille (that's fun to say!) is not only a lovable animated film title, it's also a very common and tasty vegetable dish that happens to be compatible with a diabetic diet. Everybody who cooks it does so differently; this is my take.

Ingredients

1 medium eggplant, skin on, cubed
1 onion, sliced
2 red, orange or yellow peppers, cubed
2 yellow squash, cubed
2 zucchini, cubed
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced thin or minced
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes with juice
1 container Cherub (grape) tomatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 Tbsp fresh basil, ribboned
Salt and pepper to taste

Sweat onions in olive oil until lightly caramelized. Add garlic and cook for 2 min. Add in vegetables a cup or so at a time and stir into cooking ingredients. Add thyme and rosemary. When the vegetables are tender, add the canned and fresh tomatoes. Add salt and pepper. Cook until all ingredients are fork tender. Finally, add in basil and stir off heat.

This. Is. Delicious. And at 15 carbs per 1.5 cups, it's a winner. I'll eat 3 cups of this with a bit of chicken and call it a meal. 30 carbs ftw!

~David