Sugar Free Frozen Bananas

The Matsiko World Orphan Choir visited our church recently.  To protect their vocal chords, they are not allowed to have milk products or sugar.  We had to develop desserts that were milk free and sugar free.  Here is one of the recipes I created.






 Peel bananas.
Cut bananas in half.
Insert Popsicle sticks in the cut end.
Place in freezer until frozen.
Heat about 1/4 cup of peanut butter for 15-20 seconds in microwave.
Dip frozen bananas in peanut butter.
Immediately roll in finely chopped peanuts.
Serve immediately or place back in freezer for another day.

Chicken Stew

Yesterday morning I was running late for church and needed to get lunch cooked.  Darn, the chicken wasn't completely thawed.  Now what? 

Here's what I ended up with:

One chopped onion--sauteed
Small pkg of frozen whole corn
Small pkg of frozen green peas
1 tbs. of chicken boullion
Five chicken breasts
Dash seasoning salt--to taste
Dash of Old Bay--to taste
One cup of water

Please all ingredients in crock pot.  I turned it on high because it only had a few hours to cook and the chicken was slightly frozen.  It was delicious. 

Have You Discovered Couscous?

Have you discovered couscous?

Couscous is small, round, coarsely ground pasta made from semolina wheat; each piece is about 1 millimeter in diameter. It has a hearty texture and slightly nutty taste and can be quickly prepared by adding a specified amount of boiling water and covering it for 5 minutes.

 For those watching their diet, couscous is an ideal food. It's low in saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol, and contains B vitamins, fiber and protein.

Read more: Couscous

The internet contains hundreds of sites with recipes for couscous.  A good place to start is facebook. Try these sites:

http://www.finecooking.com/item/5234/couscous
 

http://www.thekitchn.com/dinner-quick-10-flavorful-cous-96007

http://www.recipehub.com
 

Breakfast Sandwich

Recipe for breakfast sandwich.

My husband loves sausage and eggs.  He also loves onion.  One day I had only a small amount of pan sausage--probably one patty.  My husband is a bigger eater and I knew better than to put one sausage in front of him.  I decided to make a breakfast sandwich.  Here are the instructions.


Chop 1/2 small onion and saute it in a skillet.
Add the pan sausage to the onion, browning both the sausage and onion.
Add two beaten eggs to the skillet.
When the eggs are scrambled, place the entire mixture on toasted buns.

My husband loved it and requested it for the next three days in a row.  I got tired of cooking the same thing every morning, so I increased the ingredients as follows:
1 medium onion
1/4 lb. sausage
6 eggs

I refrigerated the leftovers and microwaved enough for one sandwich each morning.  Be careful not to cook the scrambled eggs too hard so they don't dry out in the microwave.

Roasted Potatoes

Recipes From the Heart

Roasted Potatoes    

I made this recipe several years ago at a ladies' retreat.  The following year, the ladies asked for the Roasted Potatoes.  They are delicious enough to be requested one year after introducing them.  They are also easy enough that even a child could make them.  Here is what I do:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Line pan with enough aluminum foil to completely encase potatoes.  This will keep potatoes moist during cooking and make clean-up easier.
•  Wash enough potatoes to serve guest.  (approximately 8oz. per person)
• Cut potatoes into one inch cubes.
• Place in aluminum foil lined pan.
• Sprinkle potatoes cubes with olive oil.  Toss potatoes to make sure each cube is coated. (Use enough oil so that each cube is coated, but not standing in oil.)
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Sprinkle two packages of Lipton Onion Soup mix over potatoes.
• Toss potatoes to coat cubes with soup mix.
• Encase potatoes in aluminum foil.
• Bake in oven until potatoes are fork tender.

The potatoes should be slightly crispy on the outside and tender in the middle. More roasted potatoes.

Asparagus Stuffed Chicken

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite creations.  I came about when I invited my work colleges for dinner.  I wanted something simple to make but elegant.  It was delicious and a beautiful presentation.

You will need:
1 chicken breast per person
8 oz. cream cheese
                            2-3 asparagus spears for each person
                            Spray olive oil
                            Season to taste

If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for about 20 minutes before using.  Butterfly each chicken breast.  Carefully place one hand flat on the top of the chicken breast.  Hold fingers straight out for safety.  Using a very sharp knife, slice chicken breast parallel to your hand.  Stop approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch from opposite end.  Open butterfly.  Repeat for each chicken breast.  Spray both sides of each chicken breast with olive oil.    Using your favorite seasoning, season each chicken breast to taste.  (I use salt, pepper, and seasoning salt.)  Place approximately 1/4 inch slice of cream cheese on the bottom half of the 'butterfly' close to the center of the chicken breast.  Place 2-3 washed asparagus spears over the cream cheese.  Spray asparagus with olive oil.  Close up the butterfly chicken breast to the original shaped chicken breast.  Secure opening with a skewer.  Place in a greased baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until chicken breasts are completely done.  Be careful not to dry out the chicken breasts. 

 

I hope you enjoy this.  Please let me know if you make any changes so I can try your creation.

 

Greenbean Casserole

My husband loves greenbean casserole.  One night last week I decided to make it.  I looked in the pantry and had no cream of mushroom soup.  So I decided to use what I did have.  This is what I did.




Drain greenbeans and place in sauce pan.
Cover with chicken broth.
Cook on stovetop until chicken broth reduces.
Place in buttered baking dish.
Cover with French's Fried Onion
Bake in 350 degree oven until warm.

My husband loved it.  When I told him it wasn't the regular recipe, he said he couldn't tell the difference and asked me to make it again.

I hope you try this and let me know if you make any changes.

Fancy Chicken Salad

This was not the recipe I had planned for my first post, but I was influenced by compliments for doing exactly what this blog is about--using ingredients on hand.  I wanted to take refreshments to a meeting, so began looking in my pantry and freezer.  Guess what--groceries a little skimpy this week.  I had plenty of boneless skinless chicken breasts and Rhodes yeast rolls.  That equals chicken salad sandwiches with yeast rolls instead of plain bread.  Every single person at the meeting raved about how delicious the sandwiches were.  One person asked what the filling was because she had never had anything like it.  Here's what I did:

Allow Rhodes yeast rolls to rise according to directions of pkg.

Cut the chicken breasts into bite size pieces to make grilling faster.  (I don't boil chicken--way to bland for me.)  

Browned the chicken pieces in a screaming hot skillet. 
Seasoned to taste.

Looked in the refrigerator one more time, saw chopped vegetables left over from the weekend.  I threw all the chopped peppers and onions into the skillet to saute'.  Allowed the grilled chicken and vegetables to cool.

Cooked rolls according to directions on pkg.  Allowed to cool.

Combined the chicken, vegetables, pickles, boiled eggs, and mayonnaise in food processor.  Once the mixture was ground into a relatively smooth consistence, sliced rolls and filled with chicken salad.

It was the best chicken salad I've ever tasted.  I hope you try this and please  let me know of any changes you make.