Update and Sauteed Mushrooms

I've had a few people ask if I've been sticking with my resolution to make every recipe out of my magazine clipping collection before I have any repeats. The answer is YES! It has been fun, but sometimes Ben gets depressed when I make something he really likes. He says, "You're really not going to make this again until your done trying every recipe?" I suppose I can make a exception here and there but so far I haven't had any repeats. The following posts are a few of my newest finds/favorites.

I've had fun tracking our poll lately. Soup continues to be the winner, so all you Dinner-Belles out there lets post some good soup recipes! Here are the rest of the results to the poll for those who are wondering:

Soup - 25%

Dessert- 14%

Easy Meals (5 Items or less) - 14%

Gluten Free - 14%

Crockpot - 11%

Salads - 7%

Vegetarian - 7%

Steak - 4%

Pork - 4%

Chicken - 0%

Now for the sauteed mushrooms... I was making a salmon dish one night and decided to serve it with mushrooms. Things got a little crazy, I had too many pots going at once so I hollered for Ben to help. He happily took care of the mushrooms. As he was making the mushrooms he was quoting from Julie and Julia, "don't crowd the mushrooms!"

Ben did an excellent job at sauteeing the mushrooms they turned out to be the best thing on the plate that night. The salmon I was making had a white sauce over it and neither of us cared for the sauce, so I won't be posting that one!

These mushrooms are truly tasty and would be a great side kick to any meal, try em out!

Ingredients:

Serves 2

• >1 tsp. EVOO
• 1/2 lb. mushrooms (I got the cheap cremini kind)
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 tsp. red wine vinegar

Directions

1. In a large skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms; season with S&P, and cook until tender and lightly browned, 12-13 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in vinegar.

Shredded Pork Tacos

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 1 large onion, chopped 
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbl. tomato paste
• a 2 lb (about) pork shoulder
• 1  28oz. can chopped tomatoes
• 1 large chipotle chile in adobo sauce (from a can) minced
• 8-12 corn tortillas
• shredded cheddar or jack cheese
• 1 c. fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

1. In your crock pot toss onion, garlic, thyme, oregano, tomato paste, can of chopped tomatoes, chipotle chili. Mix together.  Add pork shoulder and turn in mixture to coat evenly.  Place bay leaves on top, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
2. Uncover after 8-10 hours and discard bay leaves.  Using tongs transfer meat to a large bowl and shred with two forks, discarding any large pieces of fat.  Return meat to crock pot and mix with sauce. 
3. Spoon pork and onions into tortillas with a slotted spoon.  Top with cheese, cilantro, and Crunchy Slaw.  (See recipe below)

Crunchy Slaw

• 1/3 c. mayo
• 1 1/2 tbl white wine vinegar
• 3 tbl. lime juice
• 1 tbl. sugar
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 a Bag of Coleslaw Mix

1. Whisk together mayo, white wine vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, and pepper.
2. Pour over coleslaw mix, toss.
3. Place in refrigerator until ready to serve (up to 8 hours)

Chicken Curry

This chicken curry dish a easy to make and you can prepare it in the morning and let it cook in your crockpot all day long!  A great dinner for those nights when there is a lot going on and not enough time to make dinner.

Ingredients:

Serves 8 

I use the same amount of garlic, coconut milk, ginger, and spices, that the recipe calls for even if I am cooking less meat.  (I want the flavors to come out the same.)  So if you are trying to cut this recipe in half my reccomendation is to only reduce the amount of chicken, peas, and onions you use.

• 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I always use chicken breast just because it is what I have in my freezer.)
• 2 medium onions
• 8 cloves of garlic
• 16 thin slices peeled fresh ginger
• 2 c. unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 tbl. curry powder
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 packages frozen peas (if you don't love peas you could use brocoli, green beans, zucchini, really any vegetable you like would work great with this dish.)

Directions:

1. In your crockpot, toss chicken, onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder, coriander, and cumin.  Mix around to make sure chicken is well coated.  Season with salt.  Cover and cook for the amount of time you desire.  Cook on HIGH for 4 hours, MEDIUM for 6 hours, LOW for 8-10 hours.
2. Once your chicken is done uncover and stir in coconut milk, cover and cook for another 20 minutes.  Transfer chicken to a large bowl and shred with forks.  Return to pot; toss with sauce.
3. Heat peas in microwave/stove.
4. Serve chicken and onions with sauce over a bed of rice, top with cooked peas, add cilantro if desired.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Bread

Got brown bananas?  Toss them in your freezer, once you have 3 or 4 you can thaw and make delicious banana bread!
Ingredients

Makes one regular loaf or 3 mini loaves

• 1/4 c. vegetable oil, plus a little more for your pan(s)
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, plus a little more for your pan(s)
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. orange zest
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 c. mashed bananas (around 3 or 4 medium size whole bananas)
• 3/4 c. semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 c. coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a loaf pan, I have a large loaf pan that has four mini loaf sections.  (This recipe made enough to fill 3 mini loaf sections.)  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, zest, and salt.  Mix in oil, eggs, and bananas.  Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.  Pour into pan(s).
2. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 70-80 minutes.  For mini loaves about 40-50 minutes, in my oven.  If the loaf browns too quickly you can tent with foil and continue baking.
3. Cool loaf  10 minutes in pan; then remove from pan and cool completely, right side up, on a rack.

Poll Update

It was brought to my attention that a few of you were having difficulty voting on the poll.  I don't know what was happening, but I created another poll from a different website.  So we'll see if that helps!  Vote away!  I added a few categories from the comment section, but I had to remove "Seafood" because this poll would only allow 10 options.  I figured since we are in fall, seafood might not be what most people are looking for.  We can poll again in the spring/summer! :)

If you voted on the last poll please vote again.  As your last vote was erased when I changed the poll.

A Dinner-Belle Poll

Hey Dinner-Belles!  Have you noticed the "visitor map" on the right side of our blog?  The map was a suggestion from Jules to track our readers, how many we are getting and where they are from.  

I thought it would be fun to also create a Dinner-Belles Poll.  The poll is to find out what kind of recipes you and our other readers are searching for!  On the right side of the poll vote for whatever kind of recipes you are wanting more of.  The Dinner-Belles can keep their eyes on the poll and have the results in mind when planning meals and reporting/sharing recipes!  Fun huh?  

ANYONE can vote, and you can vote for more than one item!  The poll will end on Halloween!

If there are still other recipes you are looking for that aren't covered in the poll leave a comment and I can add them!

Homemade Chicken Stock

Ok ladies (and Colin!)... now I know what you're thinking... "I'm not Martha Stewart - I cannot possible make my own chicken stock!" Oh but you can! And with all the hype about flu and swine flu and colds and the sniffles there is really no reason not to make your own stock! Homemade stock has some of the best germ fighting-immune system boosting stuff ever! And how is this for a clincher - it's easy and it will stretch your food dollar!

First you need to, need to, need to, start with a whole ORGANIC chicken. If not, you'll be making stock and eating concentrated chemically filled chicken... YUCK! You can get whole organic chickens at Costco for $2.99/lb. - that's a deal in my mind. Especially when I consider the fact that 1 roasted chicken will get me through 2 dinners and then make enough stock for about 3 soup recipes!

Now, I can't claim this recipe as my own but I can tell you it's the one I've followed and it's way easy! Enjoy! (Oh and LEAVE the gelatinous fat on the top of the stock when it's done - it's really good for you too!)

Recipe courtesy of: http://www.musingsofahousewife.com/?s=chicken+stock

Chicken Stock
1. When the chicken is cooled down enough to handle without burning your fingers, you’ll want to remove the rest of the meat from the bones.

2. Place the chicken carcass (break it up some if you want) and any discarded chicken bones from dinner into a large stockpot. Throw in the "holy trinity of stock veggies" AKA some washed but unpeeled carrots (2-3) - you don't peel them because the good minerals/vitamins are right there under the skin, an onion - sliced in 1/2, and some celery stalks. If I have it, I also throw in some cilantro, parsley, and thyme.

3. Cover the bones and veggies with cold water, cover the pot, and place it on the stove over high heat until it comes to a boil. (For optimum health benefits, you should first soak the bones in a vinegar/water solution for about an hour. This draws the minerals out of the bones. Just add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the pot and let it sit for an hour before you start to boil.) Also, you’re supposed to skim off any junk that rises to the surface as it comes to a boil; supposedly this is full of impurities. I have never noticed anything. I doubt that my chickens are particularly clean; I’m just not that observant.

4. Once the pot is boiling, turn it down to low so that it’s just simmering. You may have to adjust the temperature a few times to get it right. I simmer mine for anywhere from 2-4 hours.

5. When you’re done, drain the stock through a colander set over a large bowl. Discard the pieces of bone and skin and veggies.

6. I usually drain again, this time through a wire mesh strainer, over a big glass liquid measuring cup – the kind with a spout. That gets the little bits out and makes a nice, clear stock. After it cools down a bit, I pour the stock into quart-sized mason jars and store them in the freezer. And I always have stock when a recipe calls for it!