I love trying different type of recipes and when Gabe asked what I was making he sure wasn't into this one.
Black beans are one of my favorites and I knew I had to try this when I saw this posted on ms.enPlace. Michelle (ms. enPlace) hosts, See Ya in the Gumbo. Joe and Sue's recipe peeked my interest and I wanted to try it. It's a keeper!
I had a few cans of black beans but they were all 15 ounces. This recipe calls for 19 ounce can of black beans. I finally found a 19 ounce can at Walmart- La Costena whole black beans
Ingredients:
19 ounce can black bean, rinsed and drained
4 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
pinch of salt
1/4 cup pecans- finely chopped and placed in a separate small bowl
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Joe and Sue used a 9 x 9 pan. I don't have one so used a 8 x 8. Cut the parchment paper to fit the pan and gave it a quick spray with Pam Baking Spray.
Added all the ingredients except the pecans into my food processor. You could also use a blender.
Pulse until smooth and pour batter into the prepared pan.
Sprinkle the batter with the chopped pecans.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
This stuff rocks! I found the recipe on Happy Herbivore
Ingredients:
1 15 ounce can black beans- drained and rinsed
1 14.5 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 16 ounce jar salsa verde
1 15 ounce can corn- drained *
dash of chili powder- used McCormick Hot Mexican-Style Chili powder
Few shakes of red pepper flakes
juice from one lime
Directions:
Combine the tomatoes with their juices, drained and rinsed black beans, drained corn, salsa verde, chili powder and the red pepper flakes into a large pot.
Heat over low heat until thoroughly warm.
At this point you can add the lime juice to taste.
Can be served warm ( which would be easy in a crockpot) or let it cool and serve it cold. It doesn't matter. It's delicious.
* The original recipe called for frozen corn, I had a can of corn so I used that.
We never waited this long to have a dog neutered but Max had a problem when he was about 3 months with his bones. We waited because we wanted to make sure his bones were good and strong and the vet at home suggested to have the surgery when he was between and year and a half and two years old.
They say it's also healthier for him and we love him and want him around us for many, many years.
Max needed a lot of loving when he came home.
I made this on New Years Eve. I wanted the last recipe I made in 2013 to be something sweet.
Preci emailed this recipe to me. She knows I love sweet potatoes and is always on the lookout for recipes for me to try. The original recipe calls for gluten free flour, I used all purpose flour.
Ingredients:
1 pound sweet potato ( used one large sweet potato which was about a pound)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar ( I cut it to 3/4 cup)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 large egg
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Peel, cube and boil the sweet potato for about 20 minutes or until fork tender.
Combine the cocoa, flour,baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl.
In a large bowl cream the butter and the sugar and then add the egg and the vanilla.
When the sweet potato is done, drain and puree the sweet potato in a food processor.
Once the sweet potato is pureed add it to the butter and sugar in the large bowl and mix until well combined.
Combine the dry ingredients to the butter, sugar, sweet potato, egg, vanilla mixture.
Pour batter into a prepared 8x8 baking dish
Bake 30- 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
I like a fudgy brownie and these were just what I wanted.
Gabe made this for my birthday- kidding!
I don't have a birthday cake but sure would love this one!
Gregory has this movie in 3-D, maybe when he gets back in we can have a bottle of wine and enjoy it.
Everyone has their "favorite" chocolate chip recipe. Jello Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookie is my personal favorite. Our friend Andy always requests that I make the Toll House Recipe.
There are so many recipes for chocolate chip cookies you almost have to ask which kind they like before you bake a batch.
I traveled to Savannah quite awhile ago. Gabe hates cities and I went by myself. The DoubleTree was near the riverfront along with many delicious restaurants. When I checked in they give you a warm chocolate chip cookie. I didn't know that when I made the reservation and was quite happy with the hotel and my free cookie!
Found this copycat recipe for DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies on Pinterest. Allrecipes had the recipe but after reading the reviews went with CSANDST1 recipe. She said it was closer to the original recipe.
When I took them out of the oven I always let them sit on the cookie sheet for about a minute ( Carol's hint) and then remove and place on the cooling rack. When I took the first cookie off the sheet and took a bite, I felt like I was back in the DoubleTree. These are so good. CSANDST1 was right!
Gabe came home from his dive and the cookies just came out of the oven and I told him to have one. He smiled and ate quite a few. Not bad for my hubby who doesn't eat sweets.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats ( used Quaker Old Fashion Oats)
1 cup unsalted butter- 2 sticks softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed tightly
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract ( used 2 tsp.)
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice ( had a Meyer lemon and juiced that)
2 large eggs( I let them come to room temp. before adding them to the mix)
2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups semi- sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans ( recipe called for walnuts but I had plenty of pecans)
Directions:
Placed the oats in my Cuisinart and pulsed a few times.Made sure they were pulsed quite a bit and very fine. Took them out, put them in a little bowl and set them aside.
Since the Cuisinart bowl was out I used it to pulse the pecans. Gave them a few short pulses, not as many as the oats and had chopped pecans without sitting and chopping each one up. Love that machine! Removed the pecans and placed in their own little bowl and set them aside for later.
Add the butter, both of the sugars, the vanilla extract and the lemon juice to a large mixing bowl. I used the kitchen aid so everything went into that bowl. Cream the ingredients together on medium until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and mix until the mixture is smooth. Scrape the bottom of the bowl a few times to make sure everything in the bowl has been combined.
Add the oats,flour,baking soda, salt and cinnamon to another bowl. I like using a soft plastic bowl so when I add the mixture I can bend the bowl and the ingredients flow directly into the kitchen aid mixing bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and and be careful not to overmix. Add the chocolate chips and the pecans and make sure they are nicely combined.
Refrigerate the dough for 2 to 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Drop a little over a teaspoonful of dough onto the cookie sheet and bake for 10 -11 minutes. I keep a close eye on them and when I notice they are just starting to turn light brown on top and they have a little crack in them - out they come. I let them "rest" on the cookie sheet about a minute and then off to the cooling rack they go.
Store in a sealed container. Sometimes I add a slice of bread. If the cookies get dry add a slice of apple to the container. I usually never have to do this. When I'm home I have my cookie guys and here I end up giving them away before I eat them.
Max has had a excellent week, someone new to hang out with!
Neil is one of Gabe's diving buddies spent the week with us.
Awhile back I made Split Pea soup for dinner. I forgot to pick up rolls and I had plenty of flour so I decided to try to make some bread.
With Carol's help I've made pizza dough, which is a favorite, but Gabe is the bread man and I decided to give this recipe a try. He loved it!
This recipe is from Allrecipes. I love reading the reviews on that site. So many good tips.
Ingredients:
2 cups warm water ( 110-115 degrees)
2/3 cups sugar ( I cut the sugar down to 1/4 cup)
1 1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast ( I used rapid rise yeast)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour
Directions:
1- Dissolve sugar in warm water in a large bowl. Stir the yeast. Allow to proof ( it will resemble creamy foam)
2- Mix the salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. I did this in my KA mixer with the dough hook. Mixed one cup at a time with the dough hook on low speed for 2 minutes. Once all the dry ingredients are combined increase the speed to medium for 5 minutes. Take the dough hook off and remove the dough and knead by hand and form into a ball. Oil the bowl and take the ball of dough and replace it in the bowl and turn the dough to make sure the whole ball has oil on it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it set in a warm area. It should take an hour to rise.
3- Check out the dough to make sure it doubled in size and then punch the dough down. Knead for a few minutes and divide in half. Shape into loaves and place in two greased 9 x 5 loaf pans. Allow the dough to rise 1 inch above the pan.
4- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap it on the bottom. Take it out of the pans right away and place on a wire rack to cool. Make sure it's cool before you wrap it in foil or plastic wrap.
Sort of a combined leftover thanksgiving and Christmas soup! I made the stock for the soup with the leftover turkey carcass and the nice ham bone was from the delicious ham we enjoyed at Christmas.
I've been making split pea soup almost 40 years. I use to add a little brown sugar but Gabe hates any sweetness to his soup so the brown sugar days were numbered.
When I first made split pea soup I always eye balled everything I added. I wanted to make things easy for you to follow so check out this recipe from Allrecipes. It's very close to what I make and the recipe below is how I've made it.
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon butter
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic- minced
2 carrots- diced
2 stalks of celery- diced
1 large russet potato- peeled and diced ( didn't use)
7-8 cups chicken stock- I used turkey stock
2 bags dried split peas- rinsed ( Gabe likes a thick soup)
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste.
directions:
Saute the onion in the garlic in a small saucepan.
Place the rinsed split peas in the crockpot and add the carrots, celery, turkey stock, the sauteed onion and garlic and the bay leaf.
Depending on your crockpot cook on low for 6 hours or temp can be adjusted depending on how hot your crockpot cooks.
I did the soup in two stages. I added one bag, held back on the second bag of split peas. Wanted to see if one bag would be the consistency Gabe liked. I used my emulsion blender once it was cooked , he liked it but said he said no, it needed the other bag because it was watery. Picked up another bag and cooked it in the soup( still in the crockpot). I added a cup more of stock to the crockpot. Didn't need to use the emulsion blender. The soup was nice and thick, more like a heavy pea stew and it was a carb overload for sure.
Max got to play with Isabella!
Gabe had Max on the lead. We weren't sure how he would behave. Max plays hard, he's use to the boys back home and we weren't sure how he would be with a little girl that is half his weight.
Isabella sure wasn't afraid of him as per the above pictures and when we put Max back in the car, Isabella went over to the window to "talk" to Max.
Rosa is a friend from a recipe board I post on. She added this recipe for Poppy Seed Chicken. I never made it and it sounded like something Gabe and I would like.
I wrote to Rosa and asked her if she would share where the recipe came from. On a personal note, I really love recipes like this.
Ethel ( I love that name) Merriman worked with Rosa's mom. They use to sell Avon. She lived in a Victorian style house and at Christmas would elaborately decorate each room. I bet that was something to see!
ingredients:
8-9 skinless,boneless chicken breast, stewed and chopped ( I used a package of thighs)
1 1/2 cup butter-melted
3 sleeves Town House crackers- Ethel made this recipe with Town House and I also used Town House. You can use any type of buttery type of cracker you like.
2 teaspoon poppy seeds
1 (16 ounce) container of sour cream
2 (10.75 ounce) can of cream of mushroom soup
Directions:
1: Place the chicken breast in a large pot of water. Bring to a boil over high heat , then reduce to medium, cover and simmer until the chicken is no longer pink. Might take about 20 minutes. Drain the water and shred the chicken.
Rosa used her kitchen aid with the paddle attachment to shred the chicken ( speed 2-3 for about 2 minutes)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine the butter, crackers and poppy seeds. Set aside.
Combine the chicken soup and the sour cream and mix well.
Pour half the mixture in a 9x9 baking dish ( I sprayed with Pam). Add the shredded chicken and then add the rest of the soup/sour cream mixture on top of the chicken.
Sprinkle the top with the cracker mixture.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cheese should be melted and sauce bubbly.
My guys will tell you I'm extremely difficult to shop for. I use to have a thing for coats but that isn't happening anymore since we spend the winter in Florida.
I've always been into anything for the kitchen but I've reached my quota for amount I can store in the new house. Cookbooks seemed to be the go to gift and now I'm giving away most of my collection.
Gregory said he had to dig deep this year to think of something that I would love.
No malls in the gulf and Gregory always shops amazon. I have to tell you, amazon needs to hire people who know how to wrap! They certainty are wrap challenged.
We haven't set up a garden in the yard yet. It's something I'm looking forward to.
In the meantime I now have
I have 7 pods of herbs- chives, mint, parsley, dill, basil, cilantro and Thai basil.
All the herbs can be planted outside and hopefully they will thrive this summer.
Great gift huh? Thanks Gregory!!!!!!!!!!!
Who would believe it would get down to 26 in Florida? Ok, I'm in northern florida and it's not Palm tree lined streets but still it's the south and it's suppose to be warm!
I wanted to share a few weather maps with you -
This one is the NOAA full loop mosaic map. You can click on any area but this Map is showing the central great lake area. You use in with your local weather report and it can hone in what is going to happen in your area within a few hours.
Want to check out wind- this ONE is pretty good.
Ok, the last one is Weather Spark.
This is another recipe adapted by Carol. I don't know what took me so long to make these but now that I have, they are a make again and again!
Carol's recipe is on Tasty Kitchen.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 to 3 pounds fresh carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup white or apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 can (11 oz) tomato bisque soup or you can use regular tomato soup
1 tsp. prepared yellow mustard
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small green or yellow pepper-chopped fine
Directions:
Cook carrots until crisp. Drain and save for later.
In a medium pot- combine the sugar, oil, vinegar, soup, mustard, black pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Stir constantly and bring to a boil.
Add to the "sauce" which is boiling the onion and the green or yellow pepper. Lower the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Pour the hot ingredients over the carrots that are in a large bowl. Stir to make sure all the carrots are coated. Add the bowl of carrots to the refrigerator over night.
Serve cold.
I've made this a few times. I wanted to make it without the sugar for Dottie, since she is always looking for recipes low or no sugar in a recipe.
I liked it both ways and it's on my ever growing favorite list.
You might of noticed I've been missing since after Christmas.
I came down with a horrible virus and Gabe unfortunately joined me a few days later in my misery. It's been difficult.
We both have horrific coughs. I would cough most of the night and Gabe has a wheeze.
Max isn't a snuggle bug. He likes his crate and will get on the bed before we go to sleep to bug us but then off to his little condo. Not so when we were sick.
I spent most of the day in bed, when I did finally fall asleep I would feel breathing on my face. The first time I didn't know what was near me. One peek- Max.
He would lie next to my face. Guess he wanted to make sure I was still alive.
Gregory came over to take me to the doctor and this was the only MM photo I got this week.
