Turkey Corn Chowder

We had a bag of about 10 half-sized pieces (about 5 whole) of corn on the cob that someone gave to us.  They had already been cooked (and buttered) and I wasn't quite sure what to do with them.  I finally decided a soup would be perfect.  This is a great way to use up leftover turkey as well.  You could also use chicken or use bacon or leave the meat out entirely.  I also used the leftover half-n-half that I used on my "Healthified" Creamed Corn recipe instead of Heavy Whipping Cream.  I adapted this recipe from Pioneer Woman's Corn Chowder with Chilies.

Turkey Corn Chowder

1 whole yellow onion, diced
5 ears of corn on the cob
1 whole Chipotle Pepper In Adobo Sauce, finely diced
32 oz. Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1-1/2 cups Half-n-Half (or fat free half-n-half)
1 tsp. liquid smoke
1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
cooked shredded turkey, about 1 cup
3 Tbsp. corn meal
1/4 cup water

Slice corn kernels off the cob.  Set aside.  Saute diced onion in olive oil or butter and cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add corn.  stir and cook for one minute.  Add chilies and stir.  Pour in chicken broth and cream.  Add salt and liquid smoke.  Add turkey.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Combine cornmeal with water.  Stir to combine, then pour into the chowder.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes over low heat.  If chowder needs more thickening, add another tablespoon of cornmeal mixed with water.  Cook for another 10 minutes.

Purple Cabbage

For Thanksgiving my family always has purple cabbage as one of our sides.  My mom had a purple ceramic dish that was shaped like a cabbage that she served it in.  It has always been one of my favorites and I always make sure it finds its place next to the dressing on my plate because the flavors go together perfectly.  That's right...I arrange my plate a certain way on Thanksgiving.  Things taste better that way. :)  Well this year I was getting ready to make it and added a few changes to the recipe that made it even BETTER.  I didn't think that was possible but wow...so good!  It still looks the same but has just a little bit more flavor.  I will post the original and my new version.  I am definitely going to try this new way without bacon for a vegetarian version because the flavors were to die for.  I think I would just cook the onions in olive oil instead of the bacon grease.  Mmmm...can't wait to try it!

Purple Cabbage-Original
1 package bacon
1 medium head purple cabbage, finely chopped
lemon juice (about 1/2 to 1 lemon squeezed or 1-2 Tbsp.)
salt to taste

Cook one package bacon.  Pour off grease.  Save brown drippings and about 3 Tbsp. bacon grease.  Crumble bacon into small pieces.  Set aside.  Chop one head of purple cabbage.  Cook in pan with brown drippings from bacon with a little salt water until slightly crisp.  Drain cabbage, add bacon and bacon grease.  Add lemon juice right away to hold purple color.  Add salt to taste.  Serve warm.

Purple Cabbage-New Version
1 package bacon, cut into small pieces
1 medium head purple cabbage
1 medium yellow onion, dices
1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/3 cup cider vinegar

Cook one package of slices bacon pieces until browned and most of the fat has rendered.  Add onion and stir to coat in the bacon fat.  Cook until the onion softens and the edges begin to brown, about 4-5 minutes.  Drain extra bacon grease.  Finely chop purple cabbage.  Add cabbage to bacon and onion mixture.  Stir to coat in bacon fat.  Cook until the cabbage begins to wilt about 4 minutes.  Stir in the brown sugar and mustard.  Deglaze the pan with the cider vinegar, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a spatula.  Add a little water or broth-up to a cup.  Season with a few pinches of Kosher salt.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until cabbage is soft and tender yet slightly crisp.  Serve warm.

Creamed Corn

I tried a new corn recipe for Thanksgiving this year.  I found it on the Betty Crocker website.  It is called "Healthified" Creamed Corn.  It had great flavor and I especially loved the red peppers with the corn.  With the green onions sprinkled on top it was quite colorful!  I think next time I might reduce the amount of cream cheese just a little bit more.

Creamed Corn

1 cup water

2 bags (12 oz each) Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ Niblets® frozen corn

1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)

4 oz (half of 8-oz package) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), cut into small cubes

¼ cup fat-free half-and-half

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 medium green onions, sliced (2 tablespoons)

In 3-quart saucepan, heat water to boiling. Add corn and bell pepper. Cover; reduce heat to medium. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender. Drain; return to saucepan.

Stir in all remaining ingredients except green onions. Cover; cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until heated and mixture is well blended. Spoon into serving dish; sprinkle with green onions.

Makes 8 servings (about 1/2 cup each)

Cranberry Slush Revisited

Are you all busy getting some pre-Turkey Day preparations done?  Don't forget this super delicious and easy to make Cranberry Slush drink!  Freeze it up today so that it will be ready for tomorrow's feast!

Cranberry Slush  

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Pie Bars

I love the crackly top on these bars.  Another yummy pumpkin dessert.  Best served with some whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice on top. Mmmm...

(By the way...the cake mix I used in this photo had black and orange sprinkles in it in case you were wondering what those spots were or why yours doesn't have spots when you make it =)

Pumpkin Pie Bars

Crust:

1 yellow cake mix (reserve 1 cup dry cake mix and set aside)

1 egg

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted

Combine dry cake mix, egg, and melted butter.  Press into a 9x13 baking dish.

Filling:

1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. ginger

12 oz. can evaporated milk

2 eggs

Beat together until smooth.  Pour over crust layer.

Topping:

1 cup reserved cake mix

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 Tbsp. butter, room temp

chopped nuts, optional

Mix dry ingredients.  Work in butter with fork until crumbly.  Sprinkle over filling layer.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour.  (Check around 45 minutes as oven temperatures vary.)  Cool.  Serve with whipped cream and sprinkled cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.

Mini Caramel Apples

I made these for a preschool Halloween party.  They were super easy, super fast, and super tasty.  I got the recipe from FamilyFun.  I did use caramel dip instead of the melted peanut butter/butterscotch chips but you might want to read the reviews to see that a lot of people have a hard time getting their caramel to stick to the cut part of the apples.  I didn't have any problems but I think the sprinkles kind of helped "hold" it on.  Plus...I think the longest the caramel had to stick to the apples was about 20 minutes.  They didn't last long! :)  I think next time I'm going to try dipping them in melted peanut butter or almond butter for an even healthier after school snack.  One apple makes about 8 pops.  You can find the sticks with candy making or cake making supplies at stores like Walmart, Michaels, Joanne's, or Hobby Lobby.  Cut each one in half at an angle to make them easier to put in the apples.

Mini Caramel Apples

4-inch lollipop sticks
Melon Baller
Granny Smith apples (one apple makes about 8 mini apples)
Butterscotch or peanut butter chips
Chopped nuts, nonpareils, sprinkles, shredded coconut, etc.
Small paper candy cups

1.  First, cut the lollipop sticks in half at an angle (the pointy end will go into the apple pieces easier). With the melon baller, scoop little balls out of the apple. Each ball should have a section of apple peel. Push half of a lollipop stick into the peel of each ball. Pat the apple pieces dry.
2.  Melt the chips according to the package directions. Dip and swirl the mini apples in the melted chips, then roll the apples in nuts, sprinkles, nonpareils, or coconut, if desired. Place the mini apples in paper candy cups to set. (I placed mine on waxed paper to set.)

Pumpkin Lentil Soup

Yet another spin-off of my favorite pumpkin soup.  But I pretty much think that anything with pumpkin in it is the best!  I used orange lentils and they just disappeared in this soup!  Perfect match!  This soup is packed with veggies, protein, and...fiber!  You could make this in a Crockpot and enjoy the smells all day.

Pumpkin Lentil Soup

2 carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

4-6 mushrooms, diced

1 head of broccoli, chopped (or you can use frozen)

1/2 cup lentils, sorted and rinsed

8 oz. whole wheat noodles (uncooked)

1 can pumpkin

32 oz. vegetable stock

4 cups water

1/4-1/2 tsp. allspice (start out with the smaller amount and see how "spicy" you like it.  I like it "spicy"!)

salt & pepper to taste

Saute carrots, celery, onion, and mushrooms for about 5 minutes in a large soup pot.  Add lentils, vegetable stock and water and bring to a boil.  Turn down to med-lo and simmer for 25 minutes.  Turn burner up to about med-hi.  Add noodles and cook for an additional 10 minutes.  Add broccoli during last 5 minutes or so.  You don't want to cook the broccoli too long or it will lose its pretty green color (but if you do it will still taste good.) Stir in one can of pumpkin.  Add allspice, salt, and pepper.  Enjoy!

My New Food Blog

I've been working on transferring all of my "healthy" recipes to a different blog.  This one will still be open and I'll still post (and everyone else who posts recipes here).  I just thought it would be nice to have all of my vegetarian recipes in one place to make it easier for me to do my daily cooking.  We eat a plant-based diet the majority of the time and my new blog will be for those recipes.  We do occasionally fix a treat or main dish that doesn't necessarily fit into the vegetarian category so those will be posted here.  I hope that's not too confusing.  My new blog is called Simply Real Food.  I'll link it here and on the side bar.  Stop by and visit any time.  It's still a work in progress but we're getting there!  Enjoy!  And as always...

Bon Appetite!

Zucchini "Crab" Cakes

With the use of Old Bay Seasoning, a classic herb mixture most often used for crab cakes, these little patties can justifiably be called Vegan Crab Cakes.  From the book The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.  Love that book!

Zucchini Cakes

2 ½ cups peeled and grated zucchini (about 5 small)

2 Tbsp. nondairy, nonhydrogenated butter (such as Earth Balance), melted

1 cup bread or cracker crumbs, seasoned or plain (crushed Saltines work great)

¼ cup minced yellow or red onion

1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning

 ¼ tsp. salt (or to taste)

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

¼ cup all-purpose flour

Canola oil, for frying

Spread grated zucchini on a kitchen towel, and roll up jelly-roll style.  Twist towel tightly to wring out as much liquid as possible.  (You may even need to do this twice with two different towels.)  If you fail to do this, your zucchini cakes will be too wet.

In a large bowl, combine zucchini and nondairy butter.  Stir in bread crumbs, minced onion, Old Bay Seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Mix thoroughly to combine.

Coat your hands in oil, and shape mixture into patties.  Coat each patty in flour.  In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot.  Fry patties until golden brown on both sides.  (Reheat in toaster oven or skillet.)

Yield:  8 servings

Strawberry Crown Tart

This is the recipe I used for Tory's birthday.  It was so good.  I love the hint of lemon in the filling and the red current jelly glaze and the crust tastes like shortbread.  For the birthday tart I put fresh blueberries and strawberries on top.  I recently was asked to make 150 servings of my favorite dessert for a women's conference for my church.  I decided to make this recipe.  I just doubled the crust and filling recipes and baked them in a sheet cake pan instead of a tart pan.  When they were done baking I cut them out to 1-1/2 inch diameter circles.  After they had cooled I dusted them with powdered sugar and placed half of a strawberry (cut side down) on each one and then glazed them.  Unfortunately I didn't get a single picture of the finished tarts.  That's too bad because when am I ever going to make 150 tarts again?  Just to give you an idea of how many there were, they were stacked side-by-side on a board that was 2 feet wide and 5 feet long!  It barely fit into the back seat of my car.  Wow!  Now that's a lot of tarts!  This tart is so easy to make and looks special.  Great to make when strawberries are in season!

Strawberry Crown Tart

FOR THE CRUST

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for handling dough

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

FOR THE FILLING

2 larg eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1/3 cup melted currant jelly
2 pint baskets fresh strawberries, stemmed

powdered sugar for garnish

Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, blend flour, butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt until moist crumbs form (this may take up to 1 minute). Transfer dough to a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom.

With floured fingers, press dough evenly into pan and up sides. Dip a dry-measuring cup in flour, and use it to press dough firmly into bottom and against sides of pan. Freeze crust until firm, 10 to 15 minutes.  (I skipped this step.)

Using a fork, prick crust all over. Bake until golden, 10-15 minutes, pressing down gently once or twice with a spoon during baking if crust puffs up.

Make the filling:  In mixer bowl beat eggs, sugar, lemon juice, peel and vanilla until thick and pale, about 10 minutes. Gently fold in one-third of the flour, then one-third of the butter. Continue folding in, alternating flour and butter until all has been incorporated. Do not over mix.

Brush bottom of tart shell with some of the jelly. Slice about 1/2 basket of the strawberries and arrange over jelly. Pour batter over strawberries (it will not quite cover).

Bake in 375°F oven 20 minutes until golden and filling is set. Cool on rack.

Dust with powdered sugar.  Arrange remaining whole strawberries, stem ends down, on top of tart. Brush with remaining melted jelly.

Makes 8 servings.

Caramel Apple Salad

This is a fun salad to serve in the Fall.  It reminds me of caramel apples.  It's very sweet...more like a dessert!

Caramel Apple Salad

1 (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed
1 (3 oz.) package Instant Butterscotch Pudding
1 cup crushed pineapple (do not drain)
3 cups (about 3 large) diced apples, I like a tart apple like Granny Smith but any variety will work
1 cup peanuts, dry roasted (I like to chop mine)
1 cup miniature marshmallows

Mix Cool Whip, pudding mix, and undrained pineapple.  Fold in apples, peanuts, and marshmallows.  Chill for an hour before serving.

Quick and Easy Pumpkin Spice Cookies

You can't make a cookie that's easier than these.  Two ingredients plus any add-ins and that's it!  You can add semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, raisins, dried cranberries, chopped nuts, or whatever you like with your pumpkin.  You can also top them with a powder sugar glaze or cream cheese frosting if you want to dress them up.  They hardly spread at all on the cookie sheet so the size you make them is the size they will be when they are done cooking.  Now the hard part is finding a can of pumpkin these days...Good luck!

Quick and Easy Pumpkin Spice Cookies

1 (18.5 oz.) box Spice Cake mix
1 (15 oz.) can solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, raisins, dried cranberries, or nuts (or any combination of those equaling 1 cup total)
1 cup cream cheese frosting or powdered sugar glaze, if desired

Mix cake mix and pumpkin.  Stir in any add-ins, up to 1 cup total.  Drop by large spoonful on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Remember they don't flatten or spread much while baking so how they look now will be what they look like when they are finished baking.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies.  Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.  Remove from pan and allow to cool completely.  Frost if desired.  These will be soft and moist cookies.