Tag: not complicated

Raspberry Cordial

The other night we had an Anne of Green Gables party complete with raspberry cordial.  Truth be told, raspberry cordial takes too long to make, so this is actually raspberry lemonade masquerading as raspberry cordial.  But you know what?  No one cared.  It was quite good and very quick to make.  I also like that I could use the raspberry  pulp instead of throwing it out as so many recipes suggested.  That may be all well and good if you picked raspberries from the wild and have plenty to spare, but these were purchased for a price at a grocery store, so I didn’t want to throw out the pulp.   So here you have it: quick and easy “raspberry cordial”.

Ingredients:

12 oz. raspberries (I used fresh, but you could use frozen ones that you’ve defrosted)

1 1/2 c. lemon juice (I used 2 limes in there because that’s what I had)

1 1/3 c. sugar

4 c. water

 

Directions:

Crush raspberries in a bowl with a spoon.  Stir in the sugar and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.  Then, blend the raspberries in a blender until smooth (the seeds probably won’t blend and that’s good.  Strain them out later.)  Stir in the lemon juice and water.  Strain out the seeds.  Chill for 3-4 hours and serve- preferably while watching Anne of Green Gables :-).

 

Original recipe:

http://www.myrecipes.com/m/recipe/raspberry-lemonade-4

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Simple Peanut Butter Banana Frozen No-Bakes

The name is longer than the ingredient list.

One of my friends told me about these.  It is her husband’s dessert that he makes.  She didn’t, however, give me the exact recipe, so this is my experiment.  It is very simple and oh so good!  I think I am going to try it as popsicles sometime and I’ll let you know if they turn out.  This is a good, cheap, and healthy snack for kids too.

 

Ingredients:

1 large, very ripe banana, mashed

2 T. peanut butter

 

Directions:

Mash banana.  Add peanut butter and stir well.  Place onto wax paper and freeze for at least an hour.  I froze mine overnight.

 

Notes:

I tried adding additional ingredients, but it actually made them less tasty.  The only down side is that your fingers get kind of messy as the heat from them melts the “cookie” which is why I want to try them as popsicles.

 

Homegrown Garden Salad

This is the first year I’ve ever had a real garden.  My parents had them while we were growing up and I helped some, but I wasn’t responsible for it.  We have just started harvesting things from our garden.  It is so exciting!  Some of the sugar snaps are ready and we were able to harvest a few leaves of rainbow swiss chard as well as some basil.  The rest of the ingredients were from the store.  You can mix and match with whatever you have in your garden or your store, but here’s some ideas for starters!

Ingredients:

1 handful of spinach

1 handful of chopped leaf lettuce

1 leaf of yellow stem swiss chard

1 leaf of red stem swiss chard

1 orange pepper, chopped

tops of green onions, chopped

2-3 sugar snap peas

Handful of broccoli, chopped

Small handful of basil (I used sweet basil, ajaka, and red leaf)

Optional: Mild white cheddar cheese (obviously not dairy free)

Dressing of your choice (we used Ken Martin’s Sweet Vidalia Onion)

Optional: Add in baked chicken

 

Directions:

Harvest whatever you can from your garden that would go in a salad.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Top with dressing of your choice and cheese if you can eat it.  Enjoy!

Eggplant and Beef Green Curry

For me, curry is a quick meal that tastes like I went to a restaurant.  One of the great things about curry is that you can toss in almost any vegetable and it is very forgiving.  Salt and lime are essential to making it taste good.  Also, if you can’t find some sort of curry paste, I would hesitate to make this recipe.  We tried it last night without the curry paste and tried to piece together our own, but we were missing about half the ingredients and well…let’s just say, use the curry paste unless you know what you’re doing with seasonings!  With the curry paste, it’s great!

Eggplant and Beef Green Curry

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1-2 T. oil or grease from ground beef

1 eggplant, peeled and diced

3-4 medium potatoes (I used golden potatoes with skins on), diced

1 zucchini, diced

1/2 onion, diced

 

2 tsp minced garlic

2 inches fresh ginger, minced

1 jar Thai Kitchen green curry paste

1-2 cans coconut milk

2-3 limes, zested and juiced

salt to taste

Directions:

Brown the ground beef and set aside.  Add some oil or grease back into the pan.  Cook the potatoes over medium heat with lid on until they are softening a little.  Add the rest of the veggies, ginger, and garlic.  Cover and stir occasionally until they are all getting a little soft.  Add curry paste and cook for about 1 minute.  Add the cooked meat.  Add coconut milk, lime zest and juice, and salt.  Serve over rice (I make mine in a rice cooker.)

 

 

Mom’s Crockpot Chili

Sometimes people think eating gluten free is so complicated.  It doesn’t have to be.  You also don’t have to eat weird things.  This recipe of my mom’s is naturally gluten free.

 

Mom’s Crockpot Chili

 

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef or deer, browned

1 large onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1-2 tomatoes, chopped

4 carrots, chopped (optional)

3 cans tomato sauce (8 oz each)

3-4 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne red pepper

1/8 tsp paprika

1 can of beans (I cooked pinto beans in another crockpot because that’s what I had on hand, but normally we use kidney beans.)

 

Directions:

If using dried beans, soak overnight and then cook in a crockpot all day.

Brown the ground beef.  Chop all the veggies (I usually dice them into about 1/2 inch squares).  Add all ingredients to the crockpot and set on low all day.  See?  Isn’t that easy?  And no special modifications had to be made.

I usually serve with my Golden Sweet Cornbread.

If you are cooking for someone who is gluten free, always make sure your ingredients are gluten free.  If you are unsure, please ask the person so you make sure they can eat it :-).

Here is the progression:

First the pepper and onions
Then I decided to toss in some carrots
Add the meat
Add the tomato sauce and spices and stir
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