Lemon Ginger Tea

This refreshing, naturally sweetened drink is so easy to make!

Ginger, lemon and honey are great for your health too.

Fresh ingredients are the best, but I just used what I had in my kitchen.

Ingredients:

ground ginger 

lemon juice
honey

hot water

cold water

ice

1/8 teaspoon of ginger:

1 tablespoon of lemon juice:

1 tablespoon of honey:
~Local honey is best!~

1/4 cup of hot water and stir:
~You could fill your glass and drink it hot instead of moving on to the next step.~

Fill your glass with plenty of ice and cold water.
Stir.
Enjoy!

Have fun!

Cheatin' Chili

Here's a super fast, easy and delicious chili that won't take y'all hours to cook!



Ingredients:

2 lbs extra lean ground beef, sirloin or turkey
1 cup of creole seasoning*
1 jar of Bertolli pasta sauce**
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of light kidney beans
1/4 - 1/2 cup chili powder***
2 tbsp (or whatever you want) of Italian Seasoning
Dash or two of Tony Chachere's (or your favorite season-all)
Dash or two (or more!) of cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf

Brown the meat and toss the creole seasoning on top.
Break up any big pieces of meat.
If you use extra lean beef or turkey you can skip draining it.




Drain and rinse the kidney beans.




Once the meat is browned, throw in the rest of the ingredients.




Stir.
Taste test.
Add more seasonings if you like.
Be careful because the chili will get stronger as it cooks!




Cover.
Cook on medium-low at least 30 minutes so the flavors can blend together.
Stir occasionally.




Spoon some into a bowl.
Top with shredded cheese and serve with saltine crackers.



So Yummy!

I don't add any extra salt or pepper, so that's why you don't see it on my list of ingredients.
Also, I try not to make mine too spicy so Serenity will eat it, but you can add extra cayenne pepper and/or Tony's (careful - it has salt in it) to give it a little kick.

Have Fun!!


* This is a combination of fresh finely chopped onions, bell peppers, celery, shallots, garlic and parsely.
We use this a lot in South Louisiana and can find it in all our gocery stores.
Each store has it's own favorite combination.

**I used Bartolli, but any pasta sauce you choose will be fine.

***Add more or less depending on how you like it!

(Crock Pot) BBQ Pulled Pork

I borrowed from a couple of recipes online, took away a few things and added others to make some melt-in-your-mouth BBQ pulled pork today.

Actually I started it last night - you've got to let it cook for a long time!

But oh my it's totally worth it!

It'll feed a small army, so it's perfect for big Football Sunday gatherings.

Freeze leftovers - if you have any!

Ingredients:
4 lb pork butt
3 cups ginger ale
12 oz BBQ sauce (I like Stubb's Moppin' Sauce)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup Sugar in the Raw
1 tbsp Cholula hot sauce
1 tbsp powdered cumin
1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 lg onion, chopped

1. Trim the fat off the pork.
2. Put the pork and ginger ale in the crock pot on HIGH for 8 hours.
3. Drain the liquid and fat; shred the pork.
4. Mix the remaining ingredients with a whisk in the crock pot.
5. Put the shredded pork back in the crock pot, stir and cook on LOW for 8 hours.
6. Serve on a bun topped with creamy cole slaw.


DELICIOUS!


Have fun!

Simple Lasagna Pan and Recipe

Recently I bought the Baker's Edge Simple Lasagna Pan from Amazon. I like that the pan is divided into thirds - it's easy to cook just a little or a lot and even a variety of lasagnas all at once. The pan is excellent quality and very easy to clean - nothing stuck to it not even the cheese! The custom spatula is perfect for cutting and lifting out the lasagna too.

On the Baker's Edge website, I found three recipes for the pan. Tonight I tried the Quick and Delicious Lasagna. It was so easy to make! It's available to download for free HERE.

I used the middle of the pan to make a small lasagna. Following the recipe from Baker's Edge, I had just a little bit of sauce mixture leftover - not enough to make another one. But I had plenty of the Ricotta mixture to make another small lasagna - so I froze it!


Gather the ingredients (I forgot to put the eggs in the picture):

Combine 6 cups of Italian cheese, the Ricotta, seasonings, eggs and mix together.

Brown the ground meat, drain, then add the sauce.

Now you're going to start layering your lasagna.

Follow the recipe and add the sauce mixture, dry noodles (I added two per layer), then the Ricotta mixture.


Repeat until the pan is full.

End the layers with the sauce mixture and a cheese topping.

I used Cheddar cheese.

Spray aluminum foil with Pam and cover the pan.

Bake for 60 minutes.

Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let the lasagna rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Serve!

I thought it was delicious BUT what's more important - Serenity declared she liked it too and ate it all!

Nothing sticks!

Cleanup is a breeze!

Have fun!

Pressure Cooked Creole White Beans

Ingredients:

1lb of dry white beans
1 small pack of salt meat
2 tbsp. olive oil
1-2 tbsp. Tony C's (or other "season all" seasoning)
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 large onion
1/3 cup of Zatarian's dehydrated sweet bell peppers (optional)
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup chicken broth
5 cups water

Start by allowing the white beans to soak until you're ready to put them in the pot.
Sort and drain before adding them to the pressure cooker.


Next, chop the salt meat into smallish squares and season with Tony's:



Add the oil to the pressure cooker:



Add the salt meat and cook on medium heat until browned (the bone adds flavor!):



Chop the onion and garlic.
Here's the Zatarian's sweet bell pepper - I forgot to add it in the picture with the ingredients:



Add the chopped onions, garlic, dehydrated peppers, and 1 cup of water to a chopper or blender and purée:



Add the puréed mixture and the rest of the ingredients to the pressure cooker:



Put the lid on your pressure cooker, make sure the pressure cooker is sealed correctly (refer to your owner's manual), and then turn the burner on High:



Once your pot has become pressurized (refer to your owner's manual) lower the burner to Med/High (generally 6 on your dial) and cook for 35 minutes.

I have a little yellow piece that pops up once my cooker is pressurized:



Start the rice:



After 35 minutes turn the burner off and allow the cooker to depressurize naturally.
Stir, then serve over rice.
All done!

Enjoy!



Have fun!

Spam Musubi Recipe

Spam Musubi

("pronounced moo-soo-bee, with no accent")


I know, I know - Spam!?
Well, I happen to like it (sliced thin and fried crispy with a little mustard to dip it in - yum!), but I know most people think "yew, yuck!" when Spam is mentioned.

But Spam Musubi is so good!
Really!
Trust me!

Even if you think, "ain't no way am I eating that ___", just give it a try - you might like it!

Spam Musubi is eaten in Hawaii - in fact, do you know Hawaiians eat more Spam than anyone else in the world?!
Neat little fact.
It's like a sandwich in Hawaii too, and it's sold everywhere - even convenient stores.
And it's so easy to make - ya gotta love that!


History of Spam

"Hawaiians have a love affair with Spam - they eat it as a delicacy, adding it to soups and stews, treating it as a side dish for breakfast, and enjoying it as the main event for lunch and dinner. Residents of Hawaii consume more Spam than populations anywhere else in the world: More than four million cans every year, or an average twelve cans of Spam per person per year. In fact, Hawaii is so well associated with Spam that Hormel even introduced a limited edition "Hawaii" can in 2003.

The Hormel Company, in Austin, Minnesota, developed America's first canned ham in 1926. After the ham's were cut, the company was left with thousands of pounds of nearly worthless pork shoulder. Jay C. Hormel, son of Hormel founder George A. Hormel, developed the ideas of using the pork shoulder in a new product called "Hormel Spiced Ham." Since the name was rather uninspiring, a contest was hehld at a new year's Eve party for a new name with a $100 prize to the winner. The winning name was the name it goes by today - Spam. Kenneth Daigneau, an actor and the brother of a Hormel vice president Ralph Daigeau, won the contest.

During World War II, sales of Spam soared. In part because it requires no refrigeration, Spam was perfect for the military and became a standard K-ration for U.S. soldiers. Military personnel introduced it in Hawaii and elsewhere."



Below is my favorite way of cooking Spam Musubi, but people cook it so many different ways.
Just Google "Spam Musubi recipe" and around 12,300 hits will pop up!

Well - 12,301 now!

Ingredients:
Spam (smaller can)
1 cup (dry) Jasmine rice
Nori
Rice wine
Soy sauce
Sugar (I like organic cane sugar) or honey
1 tbsp (or more!) minced Garlic

{Optional: grated ginger, sesame seed oil, onions, Chinese 5 spice, teriyaki sauce, or whatever else you'd like to toss in the brew! For something different, sprinkle furikake on the rice before adding the cooked Spam!}

Start the rice.

Here it is in all it's freaky pinkish glory!
Slice it up - for a small can of Spam, I get five slices. But this really depends on how thick you like it.
Did you notice I didn't give amounts for anything other than the rice and garlic?
It's because I do it all by taste.
Start with about 1/2 cup of the rice wine, soy sauce and sugar.
Mix it together, add the garlic and any extra optional ingredients.
Then taste test and add more of each ingredient as needed.

Put the Spam slices in the mixture and marinate until the rice is cooked (or around 30 minutes).
Before browning the Spam slices, get as much of the mixture to drip off before adding them to the pan.
Then just put the mixture aside for now.
Brown on medium-high heat according to your tastes - I like 'em dark!
Add the mixture to the pan - and immediately turn the heat down to low, 'cause it's going to boil like crazy!
Let it cook for a few minutes before taking the pan off the heat.
Leave the Spam in the pan.


Using a pair of scissors, cut the Nori into strips - the width depends on you, I use the lines on the Nori as my guide.

{Some people don't like the taste of Nori, and in that case you could use soy wraps instead. You can find them at your local Asian Market.}

You'll need to position the mold in the center and near the end of the Nori strip. I do it like this, but do it whatever way works bests for you.

{I have a neat little acrylic Musubi mold for my rice. But if you can't find one at your local Asian Market, try cutting off the ends on both sides of the Spam can and use it as your mold. Or just mold the rice with your hands. Using a Spam can or your hands will be kinda messy - so be prepared!}

Dump a bit of rice in your mold, and press down firmly.
Remove the mold and add a slice of yummy Spam.
Fold over the Nori, put a tiny bit of water on your finger then run it across the Nori to seal it.


All done!

Delicious!!

Wrap your leftovers in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Pop in the microwave for a few seconds to warm up and soften the rice since it'll get a little hard sitting in the ice box.


Happy Holidays!