I have been craving cabbage.  It's actually one of my favorite veggies.  This is not my usual Oriental Salad, but it has become a close second.  I used cabbage with no lettuce because that's just the way I wanted it.  This is just a guideline,  it's okay to change a recipe to suit your tastes. For instance,  I added green onions and cashews to the original recipe.  I also cut back on the sugar and increased the sesame oil, garlic powder and soy sauce.  Play around with this recipe.  You will enjoy the results.

Oriental Salad 



1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1-2 tbsp. water
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
Dash soy sauce
6 cups torn lettuce
1/2 cup shredded carrot
2 green onions, slice
¼ cup cashews
1/2 cup shredded cabbage

1. Combine first eight ingredients and mix until well combined. Chill. Store in a jar with a tight fitting lid or air tight container. Serve over salad mixture of torn lettuce, shredded carrot and shredded red cabbage.  Store remaining dressing in refrigerator.   Yield: 6 servings.

Jambalaya

 A co-worker of my husband asked that I send Jambalaya and my personal recipe in to work.  This isn't actually my own personal recipe.  It is the creation of my older sister, Jo Ann who is a phenomenal cook.  I have tweaked it some to suit my families personal taste.  She uses Manda pork sausages while I use Turkey sausage.  The reason is that my children are allergic to pork fat.  I will admit that fat taste good.  If you use Turkey Sausage, you will need to add more seasoning.  They must have liked it.  They asked for Gumbo next week.

Jambalaya

1 lb. sausage (could also be ham)

2 Tbsp. Lard (veg oil or bacon grease could be substituted)

½ lb chicken (breast or thighs)

1 onion, chopped

1 stalk celery finely chopped

1 bell pepper . diced

2 cloves garlic, finely diced

1 tsp. salt

Pepper to taste

Hot sauce

2 cups uncooked Long grain rice

1.        Traditionally you would use a couple of tablespoons lard, but any fat could be used.  Slice that sausage and cook in a single layer in an iron skillet until browned.  Remove from pan. 

2.       Season chicken (I sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme to taste) and brown. Remove from pan and cut into bite size pieces.

3.       Reheat skillet and add onion.  Cook until translucent then add celery and bell pepper.  Cook until tender.

4.       Put meat back into the pan and stir well.  Add garlic and continue cooking.  Stir well.  It will burn if not stirred continuously.

5.       You can do several things at this point.  You can add 2 cups raw rice and toast lightly.  Then add 4 cups water and a couple of tsp. veg or chicken bouillon.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and then cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed.

6.       Sometimes if I have leftover cooked rice, I will add that to the pan instead of the raw rice, and add 2 tsp. bouillon dissolved in a half cup of water.  Heat through and serve.

7.       Salt, pepper and Tabasco are to taste.

8.       This is just a basic clean out the fridge, quick meal.

9.       The “Trinity” celery, bell pepper and onion can be purchased already chopped in the fresh veg department or in the freezer section.  You would use around 2 cups.

10.   This is Cajun Jambalaya.  Creole Jambalaya has a can of diced tomatoes added to it.

Last night I fell down the stairs and sprained my ankle and jarred my shoulder.  I'm fine, but I wasn't really interested in cooking anything complicated.  This meal totally fit the bill.  It took maybe 15-20 minutes and was really good. I saw this recipe on The Green Apple Home on Youtube.

Spicy Shredded Chicken over Rice

½ lb chicken, cubed and cooked than shredded

In a bowl mix:

                ½ Tbsp. water

                ½ Tbsp. soy sauce

                ¼ tsp. salt

                Dash pepper

                ¾ tbsp. cornstarch

Put shredded chicken in sauce mix and stir well.

Add to saucepan

                1 tsp. sesame oil

                1 tsp. chopped garlic

                Red pepper flakes to taste

When garlic is nice a fragrant, add chicken.

Add 2 yellow squash and 2 zucchini , cubed, to pan.  Add ½ cup nuts.

In a bowl mix:

                6 Tbsp. water

                5 Tbsp. soy sauce

                1 Tbsp. vinegar

                2 tsp. sugar

                2 tsp. cornstarch

Add to sauce pan and cook until veggies are done.  Serve over rice.

I didn't have squash or zucchini so I just subbed a package of broccoli.  She used peanuts, but I just subbed almonds.

Chicken Soup

Neil and I just drove 14 hours from our home in Louisiana to our home in Kansas City.  It was so exhausting, that we've mainly just hung out at home and rested this weekend.  Saturday we picked up a rotisserie chicken so we wouldn't have to cook.  It's only the two of us so of course we couldn't eat the whole chicken.  This is what we did with the leftovers.  It was perfect for a cool fall day.

Chicken Soup

1/2 rotisserie chicken, deboned an cut into chunks
1/2 onion, chopped ((I used leftover grilled onions, chunked)
4 carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1/8 tsp. Italian seasoning
4 cups water
1 veggie bouillon cube
1/2 tsp. sage
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 bay leaf

If your onions are uncooked, cook them first in stockpot with 2 tbsp. butter. I used grilled onions, so I skipped this step.
Since the chicken was already cooked, I tossed it in along with the rest of the ingredients and boiled to allow flavors to combine. You could toss this in the crockpot and come home to a nice dinner. We served over rice, but you could use noodles also. I always keep the rice or noodles separate because they tend to absorb all the liquid and become mush which I despise. This was really good and super easy. I should have used brown rice or dreamfield pasta for an "E" meal, but I just really used what was on hand because grocery shopping is tomorrow. Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

This menu is a Dukan  menu plan.  DH and DS have both decided to diet using this plan loosely.  I must say that I am hesitant to try again.  I had such severe gastro issues last year, that I am a bit afraid to try again.  It took months before I felt better.  I've since regained most of my weight lost.  I've decided that while I will diet, I will add more vegetables and fruit than the diet recommends.  I will limit but not avoid carbs.  Anyway this is the plan for this week.

Monday:  Italian Chicken, Salad
Tuesday:  Pizza Soup, Salad
Wednesday:  Lemon Chicken, Salad, Lemon Cheesecake
Thursday: Big Game Meatballs ( http://dukanitout.com/willem-jans-big-game-meatballs/ ) , Salad
Friday:  Roast Turkey, Mashed Cauliflower, Carrots
Saturday:  Tomato Soup, Salad

Oatmeal Scotchies

     When you've committed to making whole food in your home instead of using boxes, you make a lot of dirty dishes.  Yesterday I made bread, granola, and wheat bran flakes for my family.  It made for a lot of dirty dishes.  I can't seem to use less than every pot and pan when I cook. Today was spent re-arranging my kitchen to hopefully make it flow better.

 Since it's Valentines' Day today, I thought I'd make a treat for my family.  I gave them a choice of cookies and of course there was no unanimous decision, so I made Oatmeal Scotchies for my son and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for the Husband.  These are tried and true.  We love these cookies.  I wanted to post a picture.  Alas, I wasn't quick enough.  Maybe next time.


Oatmeal Scotchies

1 1/4 cup flour (I use a blend of whole wheat and unbleached all-purpose)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter (I've used all butter, all shortening, and 1/2 and 1/2--they were all fine)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups uncooked oats
1/2 pkg. (6 ounces) butterscotch chips (Aldis' chips are great)  for the husband I substituted raisins

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2.  In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
3.  In a large bowl, combine butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla.  Beat until light and fluffy--gradually add flour mixture.  Stir in oats and butterscotch chips.
4.  Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookies.  Bake 9 minutes for chewier cookies or 11 minutes for crisper cookies.  Yield about 4 dozen cookies.

Weekly Goals in Review

Purpose is a word that has been on my mind the last few weeks.  I'm the kind of person that makes New Year's Resolutions and a week later they are all but forgotten.  I mean well, but am weak on the follow-through.  When I began thinking about resolutions, and listening to others' resolutions, I thought that maybe I should try something different this year.  On the Homestead Honey Hour, Bexar Prepper talked about using  the Acronym SMART--Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic,Timely--when deciding on my resolutions.  My goal was that my resolutions have purpose.  I wanted this year of my life to be a year in which I looked back and said "I did something of value with my time."  I didn't want to waste this precious year that God has given me. Using Bexar's guidelines, along with information from Money Saving Mom, I made a list of projects that I wanted to accomplish, books I wanted to read, and relationships I wanted to nurture.  The month of January is half over and while I can't brag that I've accomplished all on my lists, I am content with what I have accomplished. I realize that this is only the beginning of a long process, but I am hopeful that this year will be different.  I am living with a purpose.

I finished reading Rhonda Barfield's book.  This is my third read of her book.  It is outdated, but I have found quite a few useful ideas that I want to implement.  I also found a few book recommendations from her book that I now have on order.  My desire is to bring down my grocery bill by shopping with a plan and a purpose.

I am currently reading A Love That Multiplies--by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. From this book, I am finding other new resources, including  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgT8jnG8uFY .     
Jim Bob also said something that so struck me.  I wish I had been told this when my children were young.  How my parenting would have improved.  He said that he had purposed to show his children how to react in difficult situations.  He taught them through his actions and reactions to life difficulties.  How powerful is that idea?  How differently I would have parented if I had been taught this principle.

The Last Lion Winston Churchill will be an ongoing read.  I'm reading it for our book club.  He is such a complex, interesting man. 

I totally failed on my personal goals.  I have no excuses, I just didn't do them.

My homemaking goals were accomplished to a lot of success.
      1.  My sink was shiny.  My counter hot spots were still a problem. My cabinets were organized.  My  
           pantry was cleaned and organized.
      2.  I managed to process all the cannery foods. 
      3.  I unpacked at least one box per day.
      4.  We cleaned  much of the master bedroom.  It is far from perfect, but oh so much better.

Marriage/Family
      1.  I did spend time talking with my husband.  We are making a lot of positive changes in our life.  We
           talk so much.
      2.  I didn't mail the box for my grandsons, but I did manage to get all the things that I wanted to send to
           them.

Blog/Business
      1.  I only blogged 2 times last week.  An improvement yes, but room to work more.
      2.  I haven't had time to begin this book yet.

Financial Goals
      1.  I continue working on this.  I'm really excited about the changes DH and I are discussing.  I will write
           a blog post once the details are worked out.
      2.  DD and I went out once this week.  This will change because of item one.

Tomorrow, I'll post my goals for next week.  DH and I are traveling for the next two weeks, so it will be a little different, but I definitely have goals in mind for next week.