Alcohol Substitutes

I have been noticing that a lot of recipes I've been getting out of Cooking Light call for white or red wine. I know that not all of us have wine on hand so I thought this article I found on "Alcohol Substitutes" might help when you don't want to buy a whole bottle of wine for one recipe.

Beer or Ale

• Chicken Broth, white grape juice, or ginger ale

Rum (for all those desserts!)

• white grape juice, apple juice, or pineapple juice

Wine, Red

• red grape juice, cranberry juice, apple cider, or chicken broth,

Wine, White

• white grape juice, apple cider, apple juice, vegetable stock, or water

Hearty Beef and Potato Stew

I got a Le Creuset dutch oven for our wedding (3 years ago) and haven't made very many things with it. So this winter I've been on the hunt for good dutch oven recipes! As I've experimented I have to say I love cooking with it! I highly recommend getting a dutch oven, I know Le Creuset's are expensive but I think they are worth every penny! Ben requested a "beef stew" recipe and I had this one among my collection. We were very pleased with it.

Ingredients:

Serve 6 (or 4 with left overs for lunch the next day!)

• 8 cloves of garlic
• 1 onion chopped
• 1.5 lbs chuck roast, cubed (a lot of the time you can find beef specifically for stew already pre-cubed in the meat section)
• 1/2 cup red wine (if you prefer not cooking with wine you can substitute for more beef broth/stock)
• 3 carrots chopped
• 2 tsp rosemary
• S&P
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup water, divided
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes undrained
• 1 1/2 lbs baking potatoes cut into bite size pieces
• 1/2 tbsp flour (or cornstarch to make this recipe gluten-free, just be sure to dissolve the cornstarch in water before adding it to the pot)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Heat a medium-large dutch oven or medium-high heat. Coat pan with EVOO or cooking spray. Add garlic, saute 1 minute remove garlic with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl. Coat pan with EVOO; add onion, saute for 3 minutes. Add onion to garlic. Coat pan with EVOO add beef to pan; saute for 5 minutes or until lightly browned on all sides. Add beef and accumulated juices to onion and garlic mixture.
3. Add wine (or 1/2 cup beef broth) to pan and and loosen browned bits. Add beef mixture. Stir in carrot, rosemary, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Add 1/2 cup water, broth, and tomatoes; stir to combine. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; cover and bake at 300 for 90 minutes. Remove from oven; uncover and stir in potatoes.
4. Combine remaining 1/2 cup water and flour; stir with a whisk until smooth. Stir flour mixture into the stew. Cover and bake an additional 90 minutes until beef is tender. Discard bay leaves.
5. Serve with bread and a salad!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

I made this soup while Ben and I had some visitors in town. It turned out great, however, I added way too much rice so I ended up having to add more broth making the pot of soup HUGE! So even though the amount of rice sounds small it will end up being plenty. Don't double the amount like I did!

Ingredients:

Serves 4 (generous amounts)

• EVOO
• 4 carrots chopped
• 4 celery stalks chopped
• 1 small onion chopped
• coarse S&P
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 zucchini chopped
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cooked)
• 2/3 cup wild-rice

Directions:

1. Ahead of time I put some EVOO and seasoned chicken in a skillet and cooked until no longer pink. Chop the chicken in small bit size chunks.
2. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium high heat. Add carrots, celery, and onion; season with S&P. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender, 3-5 minutes.
3. Add broth, chicken, rice, and 2 cups water to pan. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cover. Cook for 10 minutes add zucchini and peas, cover and cook for another 10 minutes. (Or until rice is tender.) Season with S&P to taste, serve with bread and a salad.

Baked Soaked Oatmeal

Breakfast is seriously like my archnemisis. (Did I spell that right?) Anyway, I'm not a morning person, don't like feeling like a short-order cook, & at 36 weeks pregnant with baby #3, the thought of making something fancy for 2 kiddos for breakfast does not appeal. (It never really appeals though!) And... for those who know me, know that this year I've been taking baby steps towards a more "traditional" and whole food diet for our family. One of those baby steps has been researching soaked oatmeal recipes. I found this one and have adapted this recipe from http://thenourishedlife.blogspot.com/

While at Cannon Beach this past weekend I tried the recipe out on my family & everyone seemed to like it. (They were either lying or really did like it. HA!) :) So here it is! Super easy, and can be easily reheated for SUPER EASY breakfasts, and it won't make you feel like you're a short order cook! :)

Soak OVERNIGHT or all day:

• Cover 3 cups of steel cut oats (I like Bob's Red Mill) and 1 cup of walnuts with water

The next morning or in the later evening:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Drain off any excess water and set oats aside
• Beat 4 eggs and then combine with 1/2 cup maple syrup and 2 tablespoons coconut oil - set aside
• Add 1 cup toasted (whole) flaxseeds to oats, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, and a cup or 2 of dried cranberries, frozen blueberries... fruit of your choice. Stir until everything is well mixed into oats
• Add the egg, syrup, and coconut oil mixture to the oats - stir until well combined
• Add 2 cups milk to oat mixture and stir until until well combined
• Pour the oat mixture into a greased 9x13 pan.
• Bake for an hour or golden

Serve fresh and hot with fresh fruit, yogurt, syrup, and/or honey or reheat the next morning in individual bowls for an easy and quick breakfast!

BBQ Bone-In Pork Chops

I made these in my cast iron grill pan, but I'm sure you could make them in a regular skillet. This recipe is just the rub for the pork chops, it calls for quite a few spices. I didn't have all the spices but I found that Whole Foods Market has a bulk spice section where I could get just the amount of paprika, or dry mustard that I would need. This was a much more cost effective way to make this recipe!

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 1 tablespoon of light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/8 tsp. all spice
• 1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (or I used a few cracks of my black pepper)
• 4 bone-in center-cut pork chops (I used bone-in pork chops but if you don't want to purchase bone-in this rub would work just fine with boneless.)

Directions:

1. Combine the first 9 ingredients; rub over both sides of pork and let them sit (in the refrigerator) for about 30 minutes.
2. Heat your grill pan or skillet over MEDIUM-high heat. Coat pan with olive oil, add pork and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 8-10 minutes more or until done, turning occasionally. Remove from pan and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
3. Serve with potatoes and your favorite vegetable.