It's a Blizzard - cold weather cooking!

Let's see there are two four-letter words I can think of for describing today. S-N-O-W and S-O-U-P!  I looked in the fridge and cabinets to take inventory and this is what I found:

• Leftover cabbage, potatoes, and carrots
• Stew meat
• Rutabaga
• Celery
• Onions
• Green bell pepper
• Cannellini (white Italian kidney beans)
• Beef broth (low sodium)
• Stewed tomatoes (low sodium)
• Small amount of leftover spinach
• Bay leaves
• Thyme

Sound like the making for a yummy soup or stew.  Have you looked around your kitchen yet?  Let's get started.

1. Brown the stew meat in a bit of oil (I'll use olive oil).
2. Chop and add onion and celery (chunky or small, however you prefer)
3. Peel and chop the rutabaga (brings great flavor to soups and stews)
4. Slice bell pepper into strips and add (I use for flavor and will remove when done cooking)
5. Add the stewed tomatoes
6. Add the beef broth
7. Add the bay leaf
8. After bringing to a boil, reduce to a simmer until beef is fork tender, keeping an eye on the liquid level and adding additional broth, water, or other liqud as needed to ensure having enough broth
9. After the beef has cooked, I will add my leftover veggies (adding earlier would have rendered them mush).
10. Drain and rinse the Cannellini and the spinach then add to the soup or stew (whatever you have ended up with).  Continue to cook for about another 30-60 minutes depending on how much time you have.
11. Season with the thyme, salt, pepper, or other seasonings of your choice.
12. If going with a stew, you might want to add a bit of dry red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir are examples). When flavoring with wine, I add at the end and cook for about 5 more minutes to make sure the flavor has time to blend.

Well, I think that's it for the soup. Topped with freshly shredded parmesan cheese and a warm crusty bread, Larry will have a delicious and hearty meal after all of the snow removal he will be taking care of today.  I'm sure it will be soup and a nap! 

Just remember you too can make wonderful soups and stews with leftovers, fresh vegies on hand, and other items found in your pantry. Until the next meal - enjoy your day - and Happy Cooking!

Breakfast on the Run

In the prior post, I talked about a breakfast that takes time to prepare and can be enjoyed in a leisurely fashion on a weekend morning. What about those mornings when you are in a hurry and need to rush off to work? Breakfast truly is an important meal and should include foods that are friendly to your blood-sugar levels and will sustain you until lunch or a mid-morning snack.

It took many years before I could convince Larry that breakfast was probably the most important meal of the day. Once diagnosed as borderline diabetic, he listened a bit closer and has now become the "breakfast monitor" of the house, making sure that I have eaten breakfast as well. If you don't consider yourself to be a breakfast eater, like Larry, I encourage you to start - be consistent - and it will become a habit.

If you have time to sit for a quick breakfast, here are some suggestions:

1. Cereal, hot or cold.  When purchasing cereals, I look for a fiber content of at least 4 grams per 100 calories and aim for less than 5 grams of sugars. Make your cereal more exciting by adding small amounts of walnuts, berries, bananas or other fruits.  McDonald's now has oatmeal on the menu that has chopped apples, raisins, and cranberries, I had never thought of that combination before, tried it and found it to be quite good. I encourage you to be adventurous and not to be afraid to mix-up what sounds good to you!
2. Yogurt - I really love taking plain or vanilla yogurt and adding fruit and nuts.  My favorite combination is fresh mango and roasted (no salt) pistachio nuts.  What do you add to your yogurt?
3. Eggs and toast.  Simply toast a piece of whole grain bread and top it with a fried egg (I use non-stick spray).   I find that the combination of the protein and complex carbohydrates really keeps me going though the morning.

No time to sit down and flying out the door? Many times, unfortunately, I need to get on the road and didn't give myself enough time to sit down for breakfast.  For those mornings, I usually pop a piece of bread in the toaster while getting ready and then top it with peanut butter or almond butter and eat on the road.  If I have two minutes, I might top the PB with 1/2 a banana and a small amount of honey.  Once again the protein and complex carbohydrates are a great help in the morning.

That's it for my breakfast on the run - how about yours?

Sunday Morning Hash

Sunday morning is the day of the week that Larry and I share breakfast together.  One of his favorite breakfasts is Hash and Eggs.  I make this dish usually using left-over meat from Saturday night combined with what I will call the Hash staples, which are listed below - the amounts used depend on your taste and how many you are cooking for.

• Onion and bell pepper (red or green), chopped into very small pieces in my very handy three cup chopper.  Variations - add celery as well if making turkey or chicken hash, either green or red peppers work well with corned and roast beef, red peppers would well with poultry and pork.
• Potatoes pre-cooked in the microwave (whole with the skin-on with a few fork pricks so they don't explode).  After they are cooked, I peel and cut into small cubes.

Add oil (not olive) to a skillet and begin cooking the onion & pepper mixture until soft and starting to brown.  Add the potatoes next cooking until the mixture is warm and beginning to brown.  You will next add your meat, cut into small cubes (or however you prefer). The meats can include cooked left-over meats (listed below) or meats you cook in a separate pan such as breakfast or chorizo sausage.

• Roast beef or pot roast
• Corned beef
• Turkey
• Pork roast
• Chicken

Seasoning - of course this depends on your taste.  Always start with small amounts and increase as your taste dictates.  Remmber, you can always add more; it's not easy to take it out.

• Salt and black pepper (typically hash uses lots of pepper)
• Sage - if using poultry or pork (you don't need a lot)
• Nutmeg - if using beef or corned beef

After the mixture has browned nicely (you want your hash to have a nice browned and somewhat crispy texture) - add a small amount of catsup for flavor (mix-up and taste) and then add enough milk to bind everything together and help blend the flavors.  Note:  If you have left over gravy, you can add this in place of the milk.  Continue to cook until it forms a nice brown crust on the bottom.

Finishing up: We serve our hash topped with an egg, fried over medium. Poached eggs are also very good with hash. 

Variations:

• Don't like meat?  Omit the meat and add additional vegetables - chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, grated carrots - whatever you like.
• Chorizo hash - serve topped with salsa and avocado slices.

Use your imagination! That's hash at our house - what about your house?