January Food Post

Getting ready to do my monthly photo post and I am realizing that I took enough photos of food this month to make an entire entry!! Part of the reason is that I recently got a bigger cast iron skillet and actively sought out recipes to try in it.

Like this shrimp and sausage rice.

Food Post

I was going to do my monthly photo spam, and then I realized that the majority of the photos of my phone right now are pictures of what I've been eating lately. I've become that person. I take pictures of my meals and spam IG with them, usually without comment. I'm going to post the food stuff separately, and link to recipes for the things we made ourselves. I've been a little lax on the diet as far as eating out goes (Mike's been home and it's tough not to eat whatever he's eating). I'm currently getting enough exercise that it evens out, but I'm hoping to get stricter starting Monday when he starts the new job. Most of the things we cook at home are pretty healthy though!!

Mike has been making breakfast for lunch a lot lately. You can never have enough breakfast food. (Herbie would like to remind everyone that she too likes bacon...)

Gunner Photospam

Quick update on Booger: I rode her in the s-hack today and she absolutely loved it. She has never felt better. She was soft, supple, round, engaged, and so, so happy. Her lower lip was floppy and her ears were pricked as we trotted and leg yielded all over the place bareback. I'm thrilled! It's not addressing the bit conundrum, but it's good enough for me until we need to worry about showing (if we need to worry about showing).

Also, everyone should try this beef stew recipe. It's amazing.

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I continue to see Gunner on a weekly basis. With the weather being what it is, he isn't being ridden as regularly, and our progress has slowed a bit. Gunner has also taken to being pretty sassy from time to time. As a result, we've been lunging him before lessons. His movement on the lunge line has improved so much since last year. He is more balanced, rhythmic, and uphill than ever. Gradually, very gradually, those concepts have started to transfer under saddle as well. This week, he actually offered a lovely, lopey canter on a twenty meter circle, which was awesome! Jess is actively working to get him more in front of her leg. For such a feisty horse, he is also extremely lazy. It makes for an interesting combination at times. In the moments when he is soft, forward, and balanced at the same time, however, he looks amazing. 

There is nothing exciting to report, so this will mostly be a photo dump. Here are some b/w shots of Gunner looking artsy/rustic before last week's lesson:

Booger Update

This post is about Booger, but since I'm trying to keep this blog a little more well-rounded, I'm going to include a few other things first. 🐎

First of all, I found a great Mexican Chicken slow cooker recipe. It was absolutely delicious over rice and you could probably use it to make burritos, etc.

Photo from recipe site since I didn't take a picture before devouring it.

Kielbasa & Kidney Beans

This is a recipe near and dear to my heart. It's something my mom made frequently when we were growing up, and it's one of my favorite recipes from my childhood. It's also my go-to comfort food, and something I often get a wicked craving for. I stole this recipe from my mom, but I'll admit mine never seems to come out as good as hers does! Makes great leftovers, too!

Ingredients:

• 6 slices of bacon, chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1lb. Polska Kielbasa (I use the Hillshire Farms brand, red label)
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 tbsp flour
• Black pepper, paprika, marjoram (to taste)
• 1 can kidney beans (I prefer the red ones) drained and rinsed
• Mashed potatoes (Mike is in charge of this one. He makes the most amazing creamy garlic mashed potatoes and I would honestly drink them through a straw if it was socially acceptable.)

Preparation

1. In a large pan (I use a saute pan because I'm messy), saute bacon until it's half done.
2. Add onions and garlic. Cook until the onions start to get soft and glossy.
3. Add kielbasa and cook for about 15 minutes, until the kitchen starts to smell sausage-y and delicious.
4. Add a little bit of water (I do just enough to cover the ingredients) and cook covered for 10 minutes. 
5. This is also where I season the dish. Use more marjoram than you would think. It's the ingredient that gives this dish its awesome flavor, and it goes well with the smokiness of the kielbasa.
6. Stir in flour to thicken. You may use more flour than I do, depending on how dense you like your sauce.
7. Add tomato paste and stir to combine. I water down the paste a little bit to make it transfer more easily. 
8. Cook some more, adding more seasoning if desired. (Note to self-- no devouring before finished.)
9. Stir in kidney beans. Heat through.
10. Serve over mashed potatoes. 
11. Om nom nom nom nom...

Slow Cooker Curry Turkey

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1-1/4 lb ground turkey (this was a new ingredient for me and I loved it!)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 scallions, white and green parts sliced
• 1 bell pepper (we used green), diced
• 2 tsp red curry paste, or more to taste (I will probably be doubling this in the future, or switching to green curry paste for an extra kick)
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 6 oz coconut milk
• Cooked white rice

Directions

1. In a frying pan sauté the turkey in olive oil just until it loses its pinkness. Remove from heat and transfer to the slow cooker.
2. Add next seven ingredients. Stir to combine.
3. Cook on LOW for 3 hours.
4. Then, turn the cooker to HIGH and add the coconut milk. Stir, and cook for 30 minutes.
5. Serve over rice. 

Venison Taco Platter

I have been majorly (MAJORLY) slacking in the sharing recipes department on here. Mike and I cook from scratch nearly every night, and a lot of what we make turns out great. It's something we enjoy doing together, and I often post the results on Facebook. For some reason, though, it has been over a year since I shared any of our cooking here.

Recently, I was inspired by a post about taking pictures of food on one of my favorite food blogs, Some the Wiser. I'm always so jealous of the amazing food photos I see on my blog reader every day, and I decided to start trying to take pictures of what we cook from time to time.

The first recipe is adapted from one in Taste of Home. That magazine is our go-to when we're short on inspiration, and it's well worth picking up in the grocery store aisle. We now have the soups, casseroles, pastas, and ground beef issues.

As always, we put our own spin on it. Mike and I have stocked up on fresh venison this year, thanks to his hunting friend connections. It's tastier and healthier than store bought beef, and comes out cheaper in the long run. I honestly can't imagine going back to buying beef at the store.

Venison Taco Platter
Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground venison (or beef)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato puree
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 garlic clove minced (or garlic powder if you're lazy like me!)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 can kidney beans, drained
• 2 cups hot cooked rice

Toppings:

• Shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• Fresh tomatoes, chopped
• Sour cream
• 1 bag of Fritos (this is the key!)

Directions:

1. In a large skillet or Dutch oven, brown venison and onion.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, except beans. Simmer until sufficiently thickened (our stove cooks on the hot side and it's about 45 minutes). This is also when I cook the rice.
3. Add beans and heat through.
4. Serve over rice with toppings of choice, but definitely the Fritos! (You could probably also eat this as a burrito with great success.)

This makes a TON of food and makes excellent leftovers. It is also the reason why I should probably start running before ride season...

Recipe Recommendations

I've been pretty terrible about blogging lately, but it's not all doom and gloom around here. Here's something a little different.

We've been enjoying some good food around here lately. With Mike laid up and unable to do much in the kitchen, I've gotten to get back into cooking a good bit. Three recipes in particular stand out.

-Spicy Sausage Pasta from Kevin and Amanda's blog
-Spicy Corn and Potato Chowder from the Lilypad Cottage
-Rice-stuffed Tomatoes from Smitten Kitchen

All three were easy to prepare, affordable to make, and made a good amount of tasty food.

Kluski Recipe

Since I'm suddenly all about cooking AND my Polish heritage, let's share a recipe for Kluski (a Polish potato dumpling) in a mushroom gravy sauce. Mike and I sort of winged this one last week and I have to say I think it's my favorite recipe of the ones I've made so far. It was delicious. It also re-heated well over angel hair pasta. Om nom nom.

Ingredients
-1 medium sized Spanish onion, diced
-1lb cubed stew beef, cut into smaller chunks
-1 can mushroom gravy
-Captain Morgan Private Stock
-1 package Kluski (or, if you're really talented, you could make them from scratch. I'm not there yet.)
-1 cup (ish) heavy cream
-Salt, pepper... to taste

Let's Make It!
1. In a large pot, boil well-salted water. Throw in Kluski. Boil until they float (less than five minutes). As soon as they float, skim them out and put them aside.
2. In a large pan, sautee onions, using Captain Morgan instead of oil.
3. Once onions reduce, throw in cubed beef. Cook until browned.
4. In a separate pot, mix gravy with heavy cream (to taste). Heat until bubbling slightly around the edges.
5. Pour sauce into pan with meat and onions. Heat on low for about five minutes (to let the flavors soak a bit).
6. Place Kluski in a bowl. Pour sauce over. Dig in!

Kasha Recipe

I threw together a recipe while Mike and I were out shopping the other night. I saw buckwheat kasha on the shelf and it brought back memories of my mom's cooking. Mike had never heard of it, but was interested in giving it a try. I told him I couldn't make it like my mom, but I would give making up a recipe a go. When I made it, Bryce said it smelled tasty. He tried some and said, "This is so good and so ethnic! Good work, Dom!" So now if people ask Mike, "O, you're dating a Polish girl. Does she cook any Polish food for you?" he can reply, "She did once!"

So here's the recipe. It took about 15 minutes to cook and served me and Mike with leftovers. I forgot to take pictures so you guys will have to deal with related Google images.

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
1 cup buckwheat kasha
2 cups beef broth
2 cans mushroom gravy (you could make it from scratch if you're a better cook than I am)
1 cup heavy cream or half and half
1 package cubed beef (don't ask me how much was in it!)


Let's make it!
1. In a pot, heat butter until melted.
2. Stir in kasha until kernels are coated and pot starts to sizzle
3. Add beef broth. Bring to a boil. Cook covered until broth is absorbed and kasha is fluffy (about 8-10 minutes).

4. In separate pot, heat mushroom gravy until hot.
5. Stir in heavy cream, mixing constantly until sauce is even in color. Do not boil. I  waited until it was hot then reduced the heat and let it just 'warm' while the meat was prepared.

6. Cut cubes of beef into smaller pieces. The smaller the meat, the better it will absorb the flavor of the sauce.
7. In a large, non-stick pan, heat beef until cooked. Around here we like our meat on the rarer side, but well-done also works for this recipe.
8. Toss meat into sauce. Stir thoroughly. Allow to sit for 10-20 minutes to allow flavor to soak into the beef.*
9. Serve sauce/meat over kasha as if it were rice. Enjoy!

*In the future, I might try to actually cook the meat IN the sauce so that it absorbs for longer, but I wasn't feeling that brave.

Recipe Recommendation

It was a comfort food kind of day so I borrowed the recipe for Cream of Potato Soup from Katherine's Corner. It was easy to make and absolutely delicious. Definitely a recipe I'd recommend and one I plan on making again (and probably modifying as I go).

Cabbage Recipe

Today's recipe is stolen and modified from Alison over at Melbourne Seasonal Eating.It's really easy to make and I like it because you can cook to taste instead of watching the clock.

Ingredients:
1/2 head of cabbage
1 apple (I used red delicious)
2 tablespoons butter
1 polish kielbasa (I use Hillshire Farms all beef)

Preparation is super easy:
-Shred cabbage, dice apple, slice kielbasa
-Melt butter in pan
-Heat and stir cabbage until it turns glossy
-Add apples and sausage
-Cook to taste

I served with walnuts over top. Voila.

Chicken Alfredo

Another day, another meal. (It's been raining all week, ok?!?!) This time something on the salty side :) I loved this meal because it was so easy to prepare and was done in very little time. 

Chicken Alfredo (with peas and Super Sekrit Rice Replacer)

Ingredients-

1 stick butter

1 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup powdered Parmesan 

2 chicken breasts

1 can peas (drained)

1 cauliflower (raw)

Garlic powder

Preparation-

-Grate the cauliflower into a bowl and set aside

-Start the chicken in a pan greased with butter. Season to taste. (I used garlic powder.) Check every four minutes until done.

-Melt stick of butter in deep pot

-Once butter is melted, add cream and stir until evenly mixed

-Add Parmesan and continue stirring until all chunks are gone (I cheated and used a rotary egg beater)

-Season to taste (again with the garlic)

-Add can of peas and heat until peas are warm

-Microwave the bowl of cauliflower for 3 1/2 minutes (this is your rice replacer)

-Serve

More photos under the cut because I'm really getting into this cooking thing.

Sweet Chicken Recipe

Tonight's recipe is one I made up because I was craving something sweet. There are a few things I would change about the way I did it. I'm going to post the recipe as I think it should be done, not as I did it.

Sweet Chicken
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup strawberries (fresh is best, but frozen would work)
1/4 orange
2 handfuls dried cranberries
1 teaspoon guar gum (cornstarch or another thickener would work too)
Lime juice
1/2 cup white wine
Cottage cheese
Cinnamon


Preparation:
-Heat butter in a deep pan
-When butter is melted, add chicken breasts
-Add lime juice to taste
-Cover and cook for 4 minutes
-Season to taste (I added a shake of cinnamon)
-Turn over, cover, cook for another 4 minutes
-Turn again, cover, cook for 8 minutes
-Add strawberries (I left pretty big chunks, but you can dice them according to your texture preferences) and oranges
-Cover, cook for 4 minutes
-Remove chicken and set aside
-Add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup white wine
-Bring to a boil
-Boil for 2-3 minutes
-Add 1 teaspoon of thickener, stir thoroughly
-Simmer for 2 minutes, stir constantly
-Turn heat off, stir in dried cranberries
-Serve with sliced almonds on top

I served with a side of cottage cheese with cinnamon sprinkled over top. Next time, I think I'll let the chicken sit in the finished sauce for a few minutes to absorb flavor and serve the fruit chunks over the cottage cheese. That way the chicken will be less sweet and the cottage cheese will be more.