Slow Cooker Enchiladas

Courtesy of my friend Gina aka The Slow Cooker Queen:

2 (10-oz.) cans enchilada sauce
Tortillas to fit slow cooker
1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese
1 tsp. of cumin (or 1 pkg of taco seasoning)
2 cups of shredded cheese
1 lb. of cooked chicken or browned ground beef

Mix beef or chicken with cream cheese. Layer ingredients starting with a small amount of sauce then tortilla, meat, then cheese. Repeat until all of meat mixture is used. Top with remaining sauce and cheese. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Savory Chicken Pinwheels

 I'll try to get a picture of these soon. I made them Christmas Day and forgot to get one before they were all gone.

Savory Chicken Pinwheels

1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp. finely chopped celery
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 green onion thinly sliced, blades and white separated
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 (10 oz.) can chunk white chicken, well drained
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
1 Tbsp. Herb Butter (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter in small saute pan over medium-low heat. Cook onion, the white part of green onion, celery, garlic and the herbs until onions and celery are soft. About 5 - 7 min. Be careful not to brown.

Combine the onion-celery mixture, the green onion blades, cream cheese and chicken together. Mix well.

Unroll crescent dough and divide into two long rectangles. Pinch seams together. Spread half of filling on each rectangle leaving 1/2" space around edges. Roll into a log with the short edges of rectangle as the ends.

Slice each roll into 16 equal pieces. Place on a cookie sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.

Immediately brush each pinwheel with Herb Butter and remove to a serving tray.

Makes 32 pinwheels.

Herb Butter

1 Tbsp. butter, softened
pinch of dried rosemary, crushed
pinch of dried thyme, crushed

Mix butter and herbs together. Refrigerate if preparing ahead. Soften before using. Yields 1 Tablespoon.

Cajun Spiced Nuts (My Favorite Holiday Recipe)

My new favorite recipe, Cajun Spiced Nuts, is one that comes from a cookbook that I bought in Hattiesburg, MS. We were there twice last year. The first time when Thomas was deploying and the second when I went to pick him up. Even though one of the visits meant that Thomas was leaving for his first deployment, the cookbooks represent a very happy chapter in my life. I went to the same place to pick him up as I did to see him off. And, it was the first "vacation" that I'd had in a long time. Since I picked him up on December 20th the place is linked in my mind to the holidays and probably the best Christmas that I've ever had. The cookbooks are from The Crescent City Grill, a restaurant where we ate when we were there in March. The restaurant happened to be closed in December or we would have enjoyed a good second helping of some of the best food I've ever had in my life. I like his food so much that I bought two cookbooks (along with some Blackening Seasoning for a Christmas gift) while we were there and absolutely love them for their Deep South recipes and the Southern Humor/Food articles that punctuate each chapter. I started making Cajun Spiced Nuts last Christmas. I gave little packages of them as gifts. They are salty, sweet and spicy with homemade Creole Seasoning (also in the book). Robert St. John is my new cookbook hero. Here is the link to his website.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday filled with successful new recipes and the "oldies-but-goodies" that remind you of the joy of Christmases past.

Amber

Wheat Free Pumpkin Yummies

I adapted this recipe from one I found at Libby's Pumpkin. I halved the recipe and used cream cheese frosting from a can. I also made some other adjustments typical of my Recipes are Only Guidelines Philosophy. Please note that these cookies are not gluten free because I used rye flour.












Wheat Free Pumpkin Yummies

1/2 cup soy flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 can (15 oz.) Pumpkin Puree*
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract



*1/2 of a 15 oz. can is 1 cup minus 2 Tablespoons. I just eyeball it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger in a medium bowl. Beat shortening and granulated sugar in a large mixer bowl for 30 seconds. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; beat until blended. Gradually add flour mixture into pumpkin mixture at low speed until combined. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; removed to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies. (I didn't get an exact count. They were disappearing off the wire rack right before my very eyes.)

As always, I hope you and your family enjoy these as much as we did. I took a plate of them to school for the teachers at the Preschool. They all thanked me for them, so maybe he'll get good grades on his report card!

Gluten-Free Cornbread

Admittedly, the decision to eliminate wheat products from my diet was made light-heartedly. I really didn't expect to notice a big difference. I mean, I had tried many different things over the years; nothing had ever worked. But, just as I do most things in life, I plunged into this little experiment with my usual lack of forethought. However, I did learn from doing that, that it isn't as difficult to eat good food as my pity for others on a 'restricted' diet had led me to believe. It was with a little disappointment mixed in that I had to admit that wheat does seem to have an effect on me. I love food and that includes pizza, all kinds of pasta, deli sandwiches, Sonic onion rings, biscuits and gravy, and fried chicken.

As I stretched my brain around what I could make, I realized that the food I grew up on is largely free of wheat products. Greens, fresh and canned garden produce, beans and peas.  Traditionally, my mother made her cornbread with a little flour. After some research and one recipe that was decidedly not successful (we ate it anyway) I gulped and flew in the face of traditionalism and substituted rice flour for the wheat flour. And, Voila! Her exact recipe, only without gluten, or wheat. It bakes up lovely golden crisp on the outside, steamin' hot that soaks that butter and sorghum right up. Or bean juice or chili, as the case may be. So here is the recipe. I'm quite satisfied with it, but that doesn't mean that I'll quit tweaking since I've probably never made a recipe exactly the same twice in my whole life.

Please note that this is not a sweet cornbread. If you want your cornbread sweet, pour some sorghum molasses right out of the jar on top of a big fat slice with the pat of butter just melting and oozing into the cracks.

Gluten-Free Cornbread

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup white rice flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
Enough milk to make the wet ingredients equal 1 cup

Preheat your oven to 400 deg F before you start mixing up your ingredients. I usually remember to preheat about halfway through the egg/milk step and I end up frying my cornbread on the top of the stove for a few minutes while my oven preheats. It doesn't seem to ruin it, so I guess I'll continue to be in that habit since there is no negative feedback to train my brain otherwise. Drizzle about a teaspoon of oil into an 8-inch cast iron skillet and swirl around to coat. Heat the oil on the burner of your stove. This will give the cornbread it's wonderful crispy crust.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

Pour your egg into a measuring cup and add the milk until it equals 1 cup. I measure my liquids this way because sometimes eggs are larger or smaller than others. In my mind, this will make the finished product more consistent. I don't know why I go to these lengths, it probably won't matter if your cornbread does turn out a little dry once you pour half a cup of chili over the top of it.

Mix your egg and milk mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring until everything is moist. I like to use one of those spoonulas. Pour the batter into the skillet. Your oil should be pretty hot by this time so be careful. It will sizzle and could pop a little when it hits the hot grease. Now, if you forget to scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl and notice some dry cornmeal when you are pouring it into the skillet, don't panic! Just get a fork or a little spoon and gently mix it before you put it in the oven.

That's the next step. Put it in the oven. Bake it for about 20 minutes or until it's your favorite shade of golden brown on top. I guess you can check to see if a toothpick comes out clean, but you'll know when its done. I rarely set my timer for cornbread. I can always tell it's nearly done by the smell. Then, I just stay in the kitchen getting everything else ready while I wait for the top to brown.

Going Wheatless: Lemon-Herb Roasted Chicken

I am on Day 3 of giving up wheat for a week. So far, so great! But first,  let me tell you why I decided to try this little experiment. Monday afternoon I read a blog post about Celiac Disease. Let me make clear right away, that I am not diagnosing myself with Celiac Disease. As I read the post, I noticed that I had several of the symptoms that the author had. The dark circles under my eyes for the past I don't know how many years, the fatigue, digestive issues, migraines.... Then, my mind settled on my annual checkup with my doctor a couple of years ago. He told me that many people have a wheat allergy that they aren't aware of and when they stop eating bread and wheat products that their symptoms disappear. Then my ADD brain flashed-forwarded to my allergy test last year. The results were +/- for wheat and Dust mites. The allergist told me that meant that I was not allergic to either. But I know that I know that I have a severe reaction every time I dust. I'm sick for days after. That's at least part of the reason I don't. However, I digress. I also recalled how those same health issues always seem to get better when I'm watching my "carbs". In other words, not eating bread.

It was like an epiphany, or maybe I was seeing flashes of light because I ate too much whole wheat toast for breakfast. I decided right then and there to go wheat-free for a week as a trial.

All gung-ho for better health, I was pumped. Then it hit me like a pie in the face that I was going to have to cook without flour, and pasta, and bread. Oops! But, so far, I've done it. The first night I made Cajun Casserole (and no, I did not write down the recipe as I threw stuff in the mixing bowl) The second day, I decided on lemon-herb roasted chicken (didn't write that one down either, but the recipe follows) and I surfed around the internet until I found a cornbread recipe made with cornmeal and rice flour (which I just happened to have, lucky me!). It turned out with lovely results, but I'm still perfecting the recipe. I'll share it here when I get it right. It's a little more dense and cakey than I like my cornbread. It didn't soak up the bean juice all that well. By yesterday I wasn't sure what I was going to make, so I ran to the grocery store and grabbed a sack of potatoes. We had leftover chicken and baked potatoes. Mine was together, smothered in cheese and sour cream. I think I can get used to this.

So aside from the slight limitations, or maybe because of, I've had a wonderful time this week coming up with new and terrific things to cook for my family. And I feel great! I have more energy, I haven't had a headache since Monday, my digestive issues have all but disappeared and I think (possibly wishfully) that the dark circles are fading. And to top it off, I haven't gained a single pound from the increase in carbohydrates. So here is to happy and healthful eating!

Lemon-Herb Roasted Chicken

Prep Time: 15 min.
Cook Time: 45-60 minutes

*Chicken can be prepared ahead and refrigerated overnight. Our small family of two adults and a preschooler were able to eat plentifully on one breast of chicken and save the other for the next night and beyond.

2 split fryer breasts, with skin left on
1 lemon
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary and thyme, finely minced
EVOO (Extra-Virgin Olive Oil)
lemon pepper
salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. You may not want to do this right away, especially if you are preparing the chicken the night before.

Rinse thawed chicken breasts and pat dry with paper towels. Place chicken skin-side up in a glass baking dish or roasting pan.

Slice lemon in half. Squeeze juice from 1/2 of lemon on each piece of chicken. Save the rest of the lemon for garnish and your iced tea later.

Lightly coat chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle just a dash of lemon pepper and salt, and the herbs on to the chicken. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or so. Or not, if you don't have time.

In the meantime, prepare all the other great stuff like green beans, broccoli, salad, or potatoes to be started when you put the chicken in the oven. Pretty much anything goes with this chicken.

When it's about an hour until supper time, preheat your oven. Take the plastic wrap off the baking dish and stick it right into the oven on the middle rack. The high heat and olive oil will make the skin crispy. The herbs will brown but they should not burn. There is no need to baste, the juices from the chicken will pop right through the skin and run down over the chicken. You want it to be crispy anyway and basting will wash off all the seasonings. Get ready, the smell of the herbs will make your house smell fantastic. When you can't stand the waiting any longer and it has been about 45 minutes, get your thermometer out and check to make sure that the temperature inside the chicken is 180-degrees. Now, hopefully you used the cooking time to set the table and get everything else ready, because when your family smells the chicken when it comes out of the oven, there will be a stampede to the table.