Popeye Powder

Last year my daughter sent me an article on power foods, like kale and bok choy. My husband would have nothing to do with eating them. To solve this issue, I dried and powdered kale and bok choy. Then I added the powder to our meals (chili, spaghetti sauce, etc.). He never knew he was eating healthy.
This year I tried to grow broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. I ended up with lots of leaves and stems but no edible vegies. I read that the stalks and leaves are full of nutrients so I dried and powdered all of them.
My daughter heard what I was doing and wanted some powder too. So, I dried my carrot tops (full of vitamin C, potassium, vitamin K, etc.) and mustard greens. We named the powder, "Popeye Powder".
Popeye powder costs a fraction of vegetable powders that can be purchased on line. I keep a shaker of it by my stove and add it to almost everything I cook.

Turkey Balls

Flatten dough

add stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey

close up dough into a ball

bake in cupcake pan

cut in half and top with turkey gravy

Homemade Beef Bone Broth

400 degrees for 1 hour.

Roast beef joint bones, beef bones, beef scraps and meaty bones or steaks.Before roasting, cover bones with tomato paste. Sprinkle steaks with pepper and garlic powder.

Roast onions, carrots and garlic.Turn bones and meat after 30 minutes.

Remove bones  from oven and put in soup pots. De-glaze roasting pans (add 1 cup boiling water) and add to pots. Add 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Fill pots with cold water. Add roasted vegetables, bay leaves, thyme, onion greens and celery. Bring to a simmer. Cook on the stove for 1 hour.

Pour into slow cooker. Cook on low for 12-24 hours. Strain and cool in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Skim off fat and can.

Grandma Luekenga's Dill Pickles

Sanitize 4 quart jars
Boil lids

1. Begin brine, bring to a boil

• 1 c canning salt
• 1 qt cider vinegar
• 3 qts water

2. Add spices to quart jars

• 1/2-3/4 t minced horseradish
• 1 medium clove of garlic
• 1 inch dried red chile
• handful or large head of dill (1 bunch of dill will do 6 quarts

3. Stuff cucumbers into jars to neck

4. Pour boiling brine to nick of jar. 

5. Wipe rim and apply lid and ring.

6. Date jars 6 weeks out. 

Homemade stir fry

• • 

    1/2 c KRAFT Classic CATALINA Dressing (see below for substitute)
  • 3 T soy sauce
  • 1/4 t garlic powder
  • 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces 
  • 1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed, drained
  • 4 c hot cooked white rice

  • Mix dressing, soy sauce and garlic powder in large skillet until well blended. Add chicken; mix lightly. Cook and stir on medium-high heat 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through.Add mixed vegetables, cover. 
    Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 5 to 7 min. or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring frequently.
  • Serve over the rice.
  • Catalina Dressing
  • • 1⁄2c ketchup
    • 1⁄2c sugar
    • 1⁄2c red wine vinegar
    • 1⁄2c onion, grated
    • 1t paprika
    • 1⁄2t Worcestershire sauce
    • 1c salad oil
    • salt and pepper
    • DIRECTIONS

    1. Add the ketchup, sugar, vinegar, onion, paprika and Worcestershire to a food processor bowl.
    2. Pulse until blended.
    3. With the processor running, slowly add the oil.
    4. Check the seasonings.
    5. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Baked Chicken Chimichangas

1pint canned chicken, drained
1block softened cream cheese
3 Tbls taco seasoning
1cup cooked rice
1cup grated cheddar cheese. 
Flour tortillas

Mix all but tortillas together in a large bowl:
Spray a cookie sheet with Pam. Put about 2 Tbls chicken mixture on a flour tortilla(I use fajita size). Roll up tortilla like a burrito. Place burrito seam down and spray top of tortilla with Pam. Continue to make chimichangas until all mixture is used. Bake in preheated 350 degrees oven for 15 min. Turn them over and bake 15 more minutes. Serve with salsa for dipping. You can add chopped jalapeños or green chilies or cayenne pepper to make these more spicy.

Slow Cooker taco meat

10 lbs ground beef
2 large onions, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
10T taco seasoning


In slow cooker, low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Then freeze or can. To can, use a pressure canner on 15 lbs for 90 minutes for quarts, 75 minutes for pints.

Freezing mashed potatoes

 10 lbs new white or yukon gold taters boiled. 2 blocks of philidelphia cream cheese (dont' use light..it doesn't work as well to bind), and about 1/2 tub or so of sour cream. Some butter if you like. Mash them up and freeze. I actually freeze them in muffin pans. I spray the pan with cooking oil, scoop in about 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes,. Freeze them then once frozen I vaccum seal them into either single or two per bag portions. Ready to eat and perfect portions.

Canning Spaghetti Sauce

This came from Food.com
Spaghetti Sauce for Canning

18# fresh tomatoes (equals about 4 gallons washed, peeled, and chopped)
3 cups chopped onions
4-6 roasted garlic cloves
1-4 tsp. olive oil
1/8-1/4 cup canning salt, start with less and add more to taste
6-8 tbls sugar, start with less and add more to taste
2 tbls dried oregano leaves
1 tbls dried basil leaves
2 6 oz. cans tomato sauce

Prepare tomatoes, washed, peeled,chopped. reserve 4 cups. Set aside.
Prepare garlic. To roast place garlic cloves on aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil. Wrap foil around cloves sealing edges. Roast at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until tender. Cool and remove skins.
Sauté 3 cups onion until clear. Reserve 1 cup and set aside.
Mix all ingredients except reserved tomatoes and onions. Cook tomato mixture over medium heat until heated thoroughly. Simmer 30 minutes.
Using a food processor, puree tomato mixture until smooth.
Continue simmering for another hour to an hour and half until sauce thickens.
Add reserved tomatoes and onion.
Adjust seasonings to taste.
Heat thoroughly.
Ladle sauce into hot jars leaving a 1 inch headspace. Process pints 20 minutes and quarts 25 minutes at 10# pressure in a steam pressure canner.

Irish Cream Creamer

Makes: 2 1/2 cups
Prep: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Tbsp Chocolate Syrup
1 tsp Instant Coffee (add into 2 Tbsp hot water to dissolve)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp Almond Extract

Directions:
Combine all ingredients into a blender and mix to fully combine. Add cream into a cup of coffee and enjoy!

*This is to replace the Baileys my husband loves using in his coffee.