Free $1 Coupons

Coupons

Here are a few of $1 off coupons you might enjoy. The first one is for Uncle Ben’s rice, and the second one is for Dreamfield’s pasta.

http://www.unclebens.com/Coupon2?CID=YahooGenome2013Q1OLA

 http://www.dreamfieldsfoods.com/ppc_buy/?gclid=CInst_679bUCFYqf4AodNUQAxQ

This one offers a buck off Tums. Ladies, did you know that you can get around 600 mg of calcium by eating a tums or two? This is great for people who find the traditional calcium to be a bit constipating.

https://www.tums.com/save-on-TUMS/coupon.html

 Feel free to add a coupon site of your own.

Weather Got You Down? Cheer up with Oven Jerky!

Saturday we woke up to 11 inches of snow, and a request to let the public works people get the roads cleaned up by staying home. So we decided to make oven jerky, a dish that's tasty but time consuming to make. Since we had ample warning of the potential storm, I assembled my ingredients beforehand. Even when the electricity goes out, our good old gas range keeps on going.

Ingredients

2lbs. of beef (or chicken, turkey, salmon). I chose a London broil.
1 bottle of Gyoza Dipping Sauce
1/3 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1 TBSP black pepper

Preperation

Freeze the meat for a couple of hours to get it a little more than half frozen. This helps you to slice the meat in thin pieces. It took my 2 lb. roast about 2 and a quarter hours. Slice it against the grain.
Prepare your brine: Just mix the above ingredients into a bowl. Add the meat and brine into a ziploc bag and let it marinate for 4 or 5 hours, turning it over occasionally to penetrate the meat.

I dried my jerky on racks that were placed on a cookie sheet, with a papertowel underneath to catch the drips. Set the oven at 150 degrees. Place a rolled up towel between the door and the oven so that it is open just a little, say 1/4 inch. This produces a warm "drying" effect instead of baking it. Let it dry for 1.5 hours and then use tongs to turn it over. I reversed my two pans, from the top rack to the bottom and vice versa. Let dry another hour to 1.5 hours to get to the texture you prefer. I like mine tough, to crispy, so 3 hours was about right. The final product turned out to be delicious.

My jerky is flavored the way I like it, salty and spicy. If you want less salt, you could cut the brine with a little water. Be sure not to feed the jerky to your pets! Remember, a little salt goes a long ways for an animal that ways around 20 or 30 pounds. Instead, make a separate amount of dried meat just for your critters' pleasure.

Making this jerky on a cold winter's day reminds me of fun snowy weather when I was a kid. We used to sled ride all day long. Sometimes we'd take our sleds into the woods, which was a real no-no with my mom. And usually, we'd slide right into a tree. We'd come home with knots on our head and she'd stand there like a towering inferno, hands at her waist, glaring at us. "You've been sled riding in the woods haven't you?" And then we'd have to stay in the yard for the rest of the week. It's amazing we ever survived child hood. Next time, I'll tell you about my uncle hauling us on ropes behind his pickup so we didn't have to walk up the best sledding hill...... yeah, it is amazing I'm still here to tell you about it. Bon appetit! And don't forget to feed my fish!

Diabetic-Friendly Desserts

More and more companies are offering no sugar added products that can be used by themselves or in combination with healthy ingredients to lower the carbs in what we eat for dessert. Edy's makes slow-churned ice cream varieties that are creamy and quite tasty. Lately we've been buying M-T Fine puddings that are made with splenda. We make the pudding 2% milk and eat it hot over fresh fruit. Chocolate and bananas, vanilla and just about anything.

Now Comstock is making a cherry pie filling that tastes better to me than the normal sugary kind. It's just a little more tart. We make it into a pie and sprinkle just a TBSP of splenda sugar blend on top and it turns out quite delicious. Sometimes we make a crumble for it rather than using pie crust, and it makes a great topping for sugar free ice cream.

Pillsbury is making chocolate and vanilla cake mixes and frostings that are sugar free but taste very much like the real thing. We were eating those for a while but I must say, we found the substitute to be gas-provoking! So don't eat it on a night before you have to go to work!

Feel free to add your comments and share what you've found for low carb, healthy desserts!

 

Savory Tomato Pie

I finally figured out what to do with those hard as rock, pinkish looking tomatoes that are available in Northeastern grocery stores from November to May. Savory tomato pie. There are a lot of recipes for sweet tomato pie, which tastes a little like apple pie. But the savory pie is a nice, winter comfort meal if you like crusted entrees. We do.

Prepare a bottom pie crust by brushing on an egg.

Slice 4 nice-sized tomatoes and season them with garlic salt, lemon zest and pepper. I use one of the Penzey's spices called Ruth Ann's Muskego Ave. Chicken and Fish Seasoning, which has those ingredients in it. Once seasoned, dredge the tomatoes in flour and set them aside.

Thinly slice a medium onion, and sautee it for 5 minutes in oil. Once it looks tender, add a teaspoon of basalmic vinegar, mix it in, and then spread the onions into the pie shell. Pour a couple of teaspoons of olive oil in the skillet, heat and then lightly saute the tomatoes, one layer at a time, just long enough to cook the flour a little. As each pan of tomatoes is done, put them in the pie, until you have 3 or 4 layers.

Sprinkle cheese on top, and add the top pie crust. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes until the crust is brown. Now.. this is the way I made it the first time but it was a little calorie dense from all that crust. I think it would be good with just the bottom crust, or maybe just into an oiled casserole with no crust. Make it a meatless meal because the tomatoes have a certain amount of oil absorption. A side salad would be best because the temptation to have more than one slice is huge!

This dish is so tasty, it may not even need the cheese. Recipes call for mozzarella and cheddar, but a little parmesan would probably suffice.

Enjoy!!

The Worst Meal Ever

If there was a show called, "The Worst Thing I Ever Ate," the soup I made today would have been in it. I was walking by the meat section and thinking about making a pot of soup for lunches this week, when I came across some smoked turkey wings. They were right beside the smoked ham hocks....which I SHOULD have bought.... but I was thinking that I could save a few fat points if the wing thing turned out. I carmelized the onions, carrots and celery, and added in the teeniest potato and 2 cloves of garlic. Then I put in the wings, chicken stock and dollop of basalmic vinegar and the dried peas, and let it go. YUK it was disgusting!! Sometimes a good idea goes horribly wrong.

Heard round our house yesterday. Paul: Hmmm...cornish game hens and a side of carrots. If you put in some noodles, this would have been a "deconstructed chicken soup." Robin: Ok, maybe we're watching too much food network.

Today I decided to turn over a new leaf so to speak... and save my egg shells and coffee grounds for the compost. Only problem was, I came to a sliding stop half way out because the whole compost bin is buried under about 3 feet of snow. Apparently, Paul ran out of room to put it. Next time.

We had baked porkchops for dinner, a good choice when you're busy because even the thickest ones only have to bake for 35 minutes after you get a good sear. But the star of the meal was the Swiss chard salad. I don't think we eat enough greens in this country because we don't know how to use them. Like spinach, chard requires a light sautee, and also like spinach, they are water-soluble so require just a touch of olive oil to bring out their great color and taste. The saute included a little bell pepper and small amount of onion, and then refrigeration until we were ready to use it. I added a chopped avocado and some raw red pepper and just a touch of basalmic. It was really good.

Dark greens like chard and spinach have phytonutrients (besides vitamins K, C, E and B) that ease the bodily inflammation that causes diseases such as diabetes. Greens are a natural way to fight osteoarthritis, and the beta carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin that greens contain keeps our eyes healthy as we age. So... if you have a good greens recipe please share it with us! Oh...and if you have a decent recipe for pea soup...that DOESN'T CALL FOR SMOKED TURKEY WINGS...please share that too. Happy eating!!

French Onion Soup!

We had brutally cold weather this week so I had to reach into the cupboards for some comfort food ingredients. Actually I had just been to Appleby's the night before and had my "dining out go-to food", small caesar salad and a crock of French Onion Soup. The soup wasn't too bad...I've had worse... but mine is much better. So here is how I made it. Anyone following a weight watcher's plan should love this soup, I doubt it has 5 points per serving.

Quick Soup for Two

4 large onions, sliced
Tablespoon of oil to carmelize the onions
2 large chicken bouillon cubes, or 5 cups chicken stock and skip the water item
5 cups of water
2 cans beef consomme
1/4th cup of red wine
2 slices of whole grain bread that is trimmed but a little larger than your crock.
Mozzarella cheese for the top of the bread

Just carmelize the onions in oil in a pan that is big enough to hold the other contents. After the onions are tan, add the bouillon and water. Let this simmer for about a half hour to reduce down. Add the consomme and wine, keep simmering while you trim the bread. Get your crocks ready, and trim the bread slightly larger than the top of the crocks. Fill the crocks with hot soup and lay the bread on top, making a slight depression in the middle. Put a couple of tablespoons or a slice of mozzarella on the bread and broil in the oven for a minute to melt the cheese and toast the bread. Be careful not to burn it. I love my small counter top oven for this task.

When Alton Brown makes his onion soup, he adds cider to it to give it a sweeter taste, but we have more savory palates and I don't need the carbs from the cider. This soup can also be baked, we usually just do it on top of the stove.

This week my sister sent me some jalapeno spices in a little baggie. We put it on porkchops and practically licked the plates after dinner. I just put some garlic on porkchops and let them sit in the fridge for a few hours, then dipped them in egg, and rolled them in jalapeno spice and panko. I sprayed the oven pan with Pam and roasted them for an hour. When I asked her where she got them, she said the Old Mesilla Valley Chili Co. so here's their website.  http://www.oldmesillachile.net/recipes.htm

Happy Cooking everyone!!

What's Happening at Our House

It has been quite a week around our house as we get ready to celebrate the holidays. Actually, our traditions have increased over the years to the point where we can barely keep up with them! This year we dug out the giant Bethlehem lighted tree, drug it up the stairs and set it up. Would you believe the middle portion lights didn't work? But, being an enterprising young....scratch that...middle-aged man, Paul quickly added some of his own and now you can't tell. One crisis averted. We were gonna scratch the Christmas Eve party this year...which btw, is a lot of work. We thought we'd just get together and go out somewhere. But people protested..."but it's so much fun"... so the party is back on.

I love my family! This year, they provided the high point of the week....and the lowest. Let's start with the lowest. My sister calls me and says "A separate package is arriving for Paul. Tell him he can open that one whenever he likes." So today when the doorbell rang... and the guy handed me a package for Paul, I laid it on his chair. When he got home from mass I announced that he could open the box on the chair. We opened it together with little quirky and fun smiles on our faces.... and it revealed....... Alton Brown's Good Eats III..... and Paul said "Oh shit." It was one of my presents he'd ordered. Of course he won't let me look at it, says it's getting wrapped for Christmas. I'm excited, I will have the whole set.

The high part of the week was an email from my niece Erin, with a recipe for a dish I like to order at El Pinto in Albuquerque (when I'm not having the giant taco salad). So thanks Erin, we love having it!

Also, if you haven't met my friend Joan Radell (who adds so much to this blog), try friending her on Facebook because she makes the most incredible Etsy bags you ever saw! Who knows, you may need an extra (quality) gift!

Green Chile Chicken Stew & Green Chile Sauce

By Jim and John Thomas of El Pinto restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico

INGREDIENTS

Green Chile Chicken Stew Ingredients

• 1/2 pound chicken tender or chicken breast meat cut into 1/4-inch pieces

• 2 cups chicken stock

• 1 cup medium sized red potatoes cut into 1/2-inch cubes

• 1 cup Green Chile Sauce (see recipe below or substitute El Pinto Green Chile Sauce)

• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

• 3/4 cup whole kernel corn (fresh or frozen)

• 2 Tablespoon all purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Green Chile Sauce Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

• 1 pound fresh roasted, peeled and chopped green chile

• 1 16 ounces can diced tomatoes

• 1 large white or yellow onion sliced

• 1 clove minced garlic

• Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Green Chile Chicken Stew Steal This Recipe® step-by-step Instructions: 1. Heat vegetable oil in a pot.
2. Add flour and make into a roux for the stew base.
3. Wisk in chicken stock so no lumps form.
4. Add chicken, potatoes, garlic and green chile sauce.
5. Bring to a boil.
6. Simmer for 40-45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked.
7. Add corn and bring back to a boil.
8. Season to taste and serve with warm flour tortillas.

Green Chile Sauce Steal This Recipe® step-by-step Instructions:1. Heat oil in a large pan.
2. Add onions and cook until caramelized, about 10 minutes.
3. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, approximately 1-2 minutes.
4. Add green chile and a can of diced tomatoes with juice.
5. Season to taste.
6. Bring to a bubble and then simmer for 10 minutes to let the flavors blend together.
7. Use as a base for enchiladas, green chile stews or to put over cooked meats.