THANKSGIVING AND WASSAIL IN A CROCKPOT

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was different this year, but wonderful. It was a day full of family, friends that are like family, food and laughter. My brother had go to work that evening. He is a truck driver so he is gone a few days at a time. His beautiful wife went to Louisiana to have Thanksgiving with her sister, so my brother came and ate with us before he left for work. I am 15 years older than him, so I have always treated him more like a son than a brother. I am so thankful that God has blessed him with such a sweet wife that takes such good care of him. And I am so proud of him for being such a hard worker and taking care of her.

My new daughter in love is from Colombia, South America, and of course, since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, her family does not celebrate Thanksgiving. We invited them over to teach them about Thanksgiving. They enjoyed the food and even though they do not speak much English and we speak no Spanish, we are learning to communicate well. I think their favorite foods were turkey, dressing and broccoli & rice casserole.

That afternoon Kevin's Mom and Grandma came by to visit. Grandma will be 90 years old this month! She is moving a lot slower, but she still gets around.

Later that evening my dear friend, Jaree and her sweet girls came by to eat and visit. My heart was overflowing with thankfulness for all the wonderful people that God has placed in my life.

I started cooking on Sunday in order for everything to be ready to eat by 2:00 on Thursday. So, here is how the week went down:

Sunday - baked pecan pie (without corn syrup) and placed in freezer.

Monday - Made cranberry chutney.

Tuesday - placed turkey in brine (apple juice, orange juice, garlic, salt, pepper & thyme); cooked cornbread for dressing; baked brownies for trifle & made Cole's favorite chocolate crackle cookies.

Wednesday - Made lemon meringue pie, key lime pie, chocolate pudding for trifle and pumpkin roll. Boiled eggs. Took pecan pie out of freezer to thaw.

Thursday - Up early to get turkey out of brine & wash off excess salt. Baked turkey (stuffed orange, apple, garlic in cavity, rubbed olive oil, salt & pepper all over before roasting - juiciest turkey ever!).  Made broccoli & rice casserole in crockpot. Prepared cornbread dressing with sausage & apples; candied sweet potatoes with marshmallows; deviled eggs; Rhodes frozen Texas rolls (my guys' favorite rolls); put Grant's butterfinger brownie trifle together and made Wassail in another crockpot.












My neck decided to get stuck again on Sunday. Great timing! I have herniated discs, damaged nerves & all kinds of nice & painful things in my neck & back. It hasn't hurt that bad in several months, but my neck locked up on me and had a pinched nerve that shot through my right shoulder & caused my right hand to go numb. I am EXTREMELY right handed and had a whole lot of cooking to get done, so this was not good! I would get as much done as I could while Kevin was on the machine and when he got off dialysis, he would stir and mix for me. I hate taking pain medicine, but didn't have time to slow down, so I was popping Aleve and Advil just to keep going. I was in so much pain. I absolutely could not have gotten it all done without Kevin's help.

I didn't try to "healthy" everything up too much. I had way too much to do and not a lot of time to do it in and I wanted Tiffany's family to have a traditional Oklahoma Thanksgiving.  I did, however, use Truvia baking blend in all my baked goods. It is a blend of Truvia & sugar, so it's not sugar free, but it's low sugar. Everything baked up beautifully, except the meringue. As far as taste goes, you can't tell a difference in the taste or texture at all. But the meringue didn't get big & fluffy like it does with real sugar.

Hot apple cider or Wassail is one of Cole's favorite things. It also makes your house smell sooooo good! I make it in a slow cooker.  Tiffany's family loved it and so did Jaree's girls. Here is how we do wassail:

WASSAIL IN A CROCKPOT

2 - 64 ounce bottles of apple cider
1 cup orange juice
1 can sliced pineapples
1 or 2 oranges, sliced
5-6 cinnamon sticks
handful of red hots (optional)

Place all ingredients (including the pineapple juice) in a crockpot on low setting, or you can put on high, then turn it down once it gets hot.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season full of love, peace, laughter and happiness.

Lori

CRANBERRY CHUTNEY

I've been playing around with different cranberry recipes the last few years and the one I made last year was the biggest hit with my family. I was shocked that it became my teenage son's favorite Thanksgiving food, except for chocolate pie. Nothing will ever replace chocolate as his favorite food.

I'm not sure what to call it. It's not really a salad, maybe more of a chutney or relish. Adding a little jalapeno and serving it over a block of cream cheese really put it over the top. The tartness of the cranberries combined with the sweetness of the orange and pineapple plus the little kick from the jalapeno is delicious.

CRANBERRY CHUTNEY

1 - 12 ounce pkg of fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup sugar or 1/4 cup Stevia or Ideal
1/2 cup orange juice (or zest & juice of one orange)
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

OPTIONAL - chopped pecans or walnuts

                       1 jalapeno (seeded & chopped)

Place cranberries, sugar and orange juice in medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until it begins to thicken. The cranberries will burst open and will spit at you, so be careful and keep little ones away.

Once it thickens, stir in crushed pineapple, cinnamon, nutmeg and nuts or jalapeno, if using. Stir for a few minutes until thoroughly combined.

It will be chunky. If you want to leave it chunky, that is fine. Or, ONCE IT HAS COOLED, you can take an immersion blender and blend it up a little. You could also put it in a blender. This does help break up the tiny seeds that you get from the fresh cranberries.

Let it chill for a few hours or overnight. Can serve alone or over a block of cream cheese with crackers. If you love cream cheese as much I do, you are definitely going to want to try this.

NOTE: If you want to thicken it up a little more, add a little Wondra or cornstarch mixed with water. I found a great thickener online at King Arthur Flour Company. It thickens without clumping.

P.S. I just looked up chutney in the dictionary and it says chutney is a mixture of sweet and sour flavors, such as fruits, combined with spices. So, Cranberry Chutney it is!

Wishing you all a very blessed Thanksgiving,

Lori

STOCKING UP HEALTHY & ON A BUDGET

With all of the natural disasters that have been happening lately, we decided that it was time to stock up and prepare in case of a disaster or emergency. Preparing for an emergency or disaster was part of our home dialysis training. Since Kevin's life literally depends on having electricity and medical supplies, we have to be prepared. About 10 years ago we had a horrible ice storm and were without electricity for 7 days. Since then I try to always have flashlights and extra batteries handy as well as candles and lighters. Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast this week and stopped New York City, New Jersey and others in its tracks. Some people may be weeks without power. Please keep all of these people and the workers in your prayers as they try to clean up and get back to normal. Trying to stock up on non perishable foods while maintaining a healthy diet can be a challenge, but I've been doing some research and want to share with you what I've come up with.

MEDICAL - In home dialysis training they gave us a red folder with a list of Kevin's prescriptions; all of his doctor's contact information; emergency contact information; letters from his doctor stating that he is on life support and needs immediate medical attention in case of disaster or emergency.  They told us to keep that folder somewhere other than our home in case we lost our home, so I keep that red folder in my office at work.

MISC SUPPLIES - Hand held can opener; utility tool; flashlights & extra batteries; wet wipes; hand sanitizer; band aids; plastic forks & spoons; lighters; alcohol pads; dust masks, etc. You get the picture.

FOODS - Canned beans (great source of complex carbs, protein & fiber)
                 Canned veggies
                 Canned soups
                 Tuna (great source of protein)
                 Salmon (great source of protein)
                 Granola bars
                 Canned nuts
                 Crackers
                 Peanut butter
                 Juice boxes
                 Bottled water
                 Cans of V8 juice
                 Ensure, Slim Fast or other protein drinks
               
My local Homeland grocer has Libbys canned vegetables on sale for $0.69 a can this week and Big Lots has Green Giant canned veggies on sale for $0.65 a can. While they are that cheap is a great time to stock up. I also found Kashi and Nature Valley granola bars at Big Lots for $2.00 a box. They are great sources of energy and don't have a lot of junk in them. Big Lots also had canned and jars of nuts on sale. Nuts are a nutritional powerhouse.

Most canned soups are loaded with HFCS, MSG, preservatives, sodium, etc. But Progresso has some without all of that and Campbells now has a new line of "Natural" soups without all the junk in them. Big Lots has the Campbells Natural Soups for $1.25 a can, plus I had a coupon for $1.00 off when you buy 3 cans.

Big Lots also had wet wipes, bottled water, flashlights and jumbo packs of batteries very cheap.

Anyone that knows me knows that I do not go to my local Walmart. Our town has the worst Walmart in the world! I don't have the time or patience to go there. You can't get in and out in under an hour and always have to stand in line to checkout for 30 minutes. The only time I have to shop is my lunch hour, right after work (but I have to be home by 6 to get Kevin hooked up to the machine), and on Saturdays or Sunday afternoons. You couldn't pay me enough money to go to our Walmart on a Saturday. I watch the sale papers, use coupons and shop at Homeland, Walgreens, Dollar General and Big Lots. I can shop in any of those stores and be in and out in 30 minutes.

Eating healthy, stocking up and being prepared for an emergency can be done on a budget. It never hurts to be prepared just in case. If you have any other tips that I left out, please share.

God bless each of you and keep you and your families safe and healthy always.

Lori

QUINOA CHICKEN SPAGHETTI (GLUTEN FREE)

I'm really excited about sharing this recipe with you. This is a gluten free, high fiber, high protein, no processed foods, casserole dish. My husband, teenage son and his friends can't get enough of it. I'm going to have to start making two pans at a time. It also makes great leftovers.

I used to be the Queen of cooking with canned soups. I bought cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup 5 cans at a time. It was so easy to mix in a can of soup into some rice or pasta or pour over some meat, sprinkle with cheese and everybody loved it. Fast & easy. But, those canned soups are loaded with sodium, preservatives and lots of chemicals that apparently my liver didn't like too well and now I also know aggravates my arthritis. So trying to cook meals my guys enjoy eating without using the canned soups has been very challenging.

Also, since throwing out most of the processed foods, Kevin's blood tests have improved greatly. We have to draw blood once or twice a month and mail it to a lab for testing. The lab sends the results to his nephrologist that he sees once a month. The doctor and nurses are just amazed that his numbers have improved so much (i.e., calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, etc.). If that's what eating REAL food can do for someone whose kidneys don't work, just imagine what it can do for a normal person! All of those chemicals and preservatives put so much stress on all of your organs.

Since I can't eat regular pasta because of diabetes and arthritis, finding good pasta alternatives has been a challenge as well. I like whole wheat pasta and can tolerate it in small amounts, but have noticed my body feels better when I use brown rice pasta or quinoa pasta.

Quinoa is now considered a superfood. It is gluten free, anti inflammatory, high in fiber, high in protein, loaded with heart healthy fats, magnesium, Vitamin E, calcium and many other "good for you" things too numerous to list. Quinoa is great for diabetics and of course, anyone with celiac disease or gluten intolerance. This quinoa pasta can be found at any natural food store or in the organic section of the grocery store.

QUINOA CHICKEN SPAGHETTI

16 ounces quinoa spaghetti

3-4 cups chicken, cooked & shredded

 

½ stick butter or olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped (green or red)

1 cup mushrooms, sliced or chopped

3 tbsp flour (all purpose or gluten free) 

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups milk

2 tsp minced garlic

Salt & pepper

2 cups of shredded cheese (cheddar, Italian, your favorite)

Cook quinoa according to package directions MINUS 1-2 minutes, pasta will finish cooking in the oven. Drain & place in large bowl with shredded chicken.

Melt butter or heat olive oil over medium to medium high heat. Add chopped veggies and cook until veggies are soft.

Add flour to veggies in skillet and sauté until flour is incorporated into mixture. Whisk in chicken broth. Whisk a couple of minutes, then add milk. Continue to whisk until it reaches gravy like consistency. Add garlic, salt & pepper and mix in well.

Add sauce to pasta and chicken and stir together until thoroughly combined. Transfer to greased 13x9 casserole dish.  Top with your favorite shredded cheese.  Bake at 375 degrees 25-35 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

NOTE:  My husband loves cheddar cheese and I love white cheeses (provolone, mozzarella, etc.), so I put cheddar on half and shredded Italian cheese blend on the other half. My son's friend scooped out of the middle because he wanted both. Ha ha!

I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine does.

Blessings to you all,

Lori  

CHILI FOR A CROWD

The annual Red River Rivalry is this weekend. Oklahoma and Texas football fans will be glued to their television screens. It is supposed to be cool and rainy. All of these things add up to perfect chili weather. Here is my family's favorite chili recipe. Enjoy!    BOOMER SOONER! 

LORI'S CHILI FOR A CROWD

6 pounds of ground beef, ground turkey or ½ of each

3 packages Williams original chili seasoning unsalted

2 cans Rotel tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

3-4 cans tomato sauce (depending on how moist you want it)

1 large onion – chopped

Minced garlic (to taste, I use about 3 teaspoons)

Salt

Paprika

McCormick Hot Shot (Black & Red Pepper blend)

McCormick Mexican Chili Powder

Louisiana Hot Sauce (OPTIONAL – a few shots or more if you like it hot)

Shaved or chopped dark chocolate (OPTIONAL – 1-2 ounces at the end – adds great depth)

Brown beef and/or turkey with chopped onion in a family size skillet or 2 regular skillets.  Salt meat and add 3-4 shakes of Hot Shot (depending on how spicy you want it) while browning.

In a large saucepan, Dutch oven or crockpot, add browned meat, Rotel tomatoes and chili seasoning packets. Thoroughly mix together.  Add 2 cans of tomato sauce and 1 can tomato paste and mix thoroughly. If you need more moisture, add more tomato sauce.  After it reaches desired consistency, add minced garlic and a few shakes of Mexican Chili Powder.  You can also add the dark chocolate at this time. Mix thoroughly and let simmer for at least an hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so.

All ingredients can be adjusted to your specific tastes. If you don’t like it too spicy, leave out the McCormick Hot Shot and Rotel tomatoes.   

NOTE: I use a meat mixture of 80-90% ground round or ground chuck and ground turkey. It cuts down on the fat content, but when allowed to simmer so spices can meld together, you can’t tell it has turkey meat in it. I've also used 1/2 beef and 1/2 deer meat and it was just as good. Deer meat is extremely lean and good quality protein. 

Using low fat meat in this recipe makes it really healthy. Lots of lean protein, very low fat and loaded with antioxidants and vitamins. 

Blessings to you all,

Lori 

FALL CAMPING 2012

I LOVE FALL!! We go camping every Fall with our friends, The Beanes. Teri enjoys the gorgeous Fall weather as much as I do, so it works out well. We take a stack of books... now she takes her Kindle, I am still in the stone age and still take my stack of books. We relax, read, sit by the campfire & just enjoy the beauty of the season. This year, my cousin, Larissa, and her husband, Eric, borrowed his parents' RV & came with us. Larissa is related to both of us. Larissa's Mom is Teri's cousin. Larissa's Dad was my Dad's brother. The more we spend time together, the more we realize how much alike we are. I am so thankful to have her and her "Hottie" in our lives.

We had so much fun. Our wonderful hubbies cooked an awesome breakfast for us each morning.


We have always taken our dachshund, Slick, camping with us. She is almost 20 years old & not getting around very good, so she stayed home with Grant. As we were loading the RV to get ready to go, she sat at the bottom of the steps & cried. It was so sad.  I think it really hurt her feelings when we took Hank & Lucy instead. Hank & Lucy had a great time. They were very well behaved especially considering they are only 9 months old. They didn't stay the whole time. We were concerned about having them in the RV while doing dialysis, so I took them back home.

We take the dialysis machine & equipment with us & do it in the RV. We were getting ready to hook him up and realized that we forgot to bring needles. My son and his wife had come down to visit since we were so close to Durant and Tiffany remembered that she had seen a dialysis clinic in Durant. She quickly found the phone number and after calling Kevin's dialysis nurse, Tiff & I made a trip into Durant and "borrowed" needles from the Durant Dialysis Clinic. We are so thankful that we have an RV and that we can take the equipment with us, but we are sure hoping that this is the last time we have to do that. Hopefully he will have a new kidney and feeling great the next time we go camping.

One of the easiest meals to make while camping or anytime, is a "boil".  Everyone calls it something different. Some call it Frogmore Stew, others Shrimp Boil, Crawfish Boil, etc. We use a turkey fryer. Fill the pot with water (I think it would taste even better if you used chicken broth), add 2 packages of Old Bay or Zatarains seasoning. When the water starts to boil add an onion (cut into chunks), small potatoes or chunks of potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are tender, probably 10-15 minutes. Then add frozen small corn of the cob. Cook another 5-8 minutes. Then add smoked sausage and/or brats. Cook another 5 minutes. Add fresh or frozen shrimp and cook another 5 minutes. Serve on newspapers, platters or large bowls. You can add as much or little of each of these items as you want or need, depending on how many are eating and what your favorites are. You can use crawfish or frog legs or crab legs, etc. There's really no set way to do it. Just throw in whatever you like. Just remember to put the item that has to cook the longest in first, then the rest according to how much cooking time they require. Shrimp only requires a few minutes of cooking time. If cooked too long, it gets tough & rubbery. Easy one pot meal and very little mess.

Happy Fall!

Blessings to you all,
Lori

NOT YO MOMMA'S MEATLOAF

While growing up meatloaf was a regular at my family's dinner table. While the rest of the family ate meatloaf, I usually ate a bologna sandwich. I hated meatloaf. For years I thought all meatloaf was dry and flavorless and could not understand why so many people loved it so much. One night many years ago, my husband asked me why I never made meatloaf and I told him it was dry and disgusting. So we talked about what we liked and didn't like and I decided to try to make a meatloaf using the flavors that we knew we liked. Of course, as with a lot of my recipes, it has Rotel tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce in it. I do buy these items in bulk when I go to Sam's.

I know this meatloaf is not for everybody. But, if you are like me and have stayed away from meatloaf because you thought it was all dry and tasteless, I promise you that this is one the moistest and most flavorful meatloaf you have will ever eat.

Healthy note - This works well with 1/2 ground turkey and 1/2 ground beef. The tomatoes, onion and peppers add lots of nutrients and antioxidants. Adding oats to the mixture is a sneaky way to add some fiber.

I urge you to read ALL labels. Hunts is the ONLY tomato sauce that I have found in this area that does NOT have high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and other chemicals in it. Also Lea & Perrins is the ONLY Worcestershire sauce I have found without a bunch of junk in it. HFCS is scary stuff. It is toxic to your body, especially your pancreas and liver and it causes inflammation in the body which creates pain and stiffness. And if you are diabetic, you really need to stay away from it because when it hits your blood stream it instantly raises your blood sugar.  Since I have degenerative arthritis, which is an inflammatory disease, I have noticed that any time I eat anything with HFCS it causes swelling & inflammation in my body to the point that the pain is almost incapacitating. Since I have eaten HFCS FREE & focus on eating anti inflammatory foods, the swelling & pain has drastically decreased. If you have pain or any inflammatory disease (arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, etc.), try avoiding HFCS and eat more fruits & veggies. Try it for 2 weeks and I guarantee you will see a huge difference. It really upsets me that our government allows food manufacturers to put so many toxic chemicals in our food. Sorry. That is my rant for the day. I hope you try this recipe and that your family enjoys it as much as mine does.

MEATLOAF

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 tbsps olive oil or coconut oil

3 lbs ground beef (or ½ each ground turkey & gr beef)

1 cup Oats

1 sleeve saltine crackers (or 1 cup of breadcrumbs)

1 can Rotel tomatoes

2 eggs

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce (I only use Lea & Perrin’s – NO HFCS)

Garlic salt (to your taste- I use a LOT)

2-4 tsps McCormick Hot Shot (or just regular black pepper)

1/4 cup tomato sauce (I only use Hunt’s - NO HFCS)

Saute onion and peppers in oil until soft.  In a large bowl mix all above ingredients together with hands.  Place mixture in 13x9 pan and bake at 350 about 45 minutes. Pour sauce (recipe below) over top and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

SAUCE

1 regular size can tomato sauce

2 tbs mustard

1/4 cup ketchup (Hunt’s has NO HFCS)

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar + 1/4cup honey)

Mix together well and pour over top of meatloaf. Bake for 10-15 minutes more. 

Wishing you all many blessings and much love, 

Lori