Southwestern Egg Rolls

I have a favorite website that I like to visit called dealstomeals.com she has great info on food storage and good deals.  Here is a recipe I tried this week.  Wow full of flavor and easy!

Soutwestern Egg Rolls

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked & cubed
1/2 red bell pepper, dicedpepper and saute (or bake) until cooked thoroughly. Add the cooked
2 T. green onion, sliced
1 can or 1 c. frozen or canned corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced green chilies
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. chili powder
1/2 t. salt
Dash of cayenne pepper
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Flour tortillas
Avocado Dipping Sauce:1 c. ranch dressing
1 avocado, seeded and mashed
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste
*FREEZER MEAL: Chicken mixture can be frozen for later.
Main Dish Recipes
1. To Make Marinade: Combine 2 T. chicken broth, 1 tablespoon mixture and mix together. Place chicken pieces in a glass dish or bowl and add marinade. Toss to coat. Cover dish and place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes. 2. To Make Sauce: In a small bowl combine chicken broth, soy sauce, oil, cornstarch/water mixture, chili paste, vinegar and sugar. Mix together and add green onion, garlic, water chestnuts and peanuts. In a medium skillet, heat sauce slowly until aromatic. 3. Meanwhile, remove chicken from marinade and saute in a large skillet until meat is white and juices run clear. When sauce is aromatic, add sauteed chicken to it and let simmer together until sauce thickens. Serve over rice. (If you like extra sauce, sauce can be doubled) *Recipe adapted from allrecipes.
Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and chicken cubes into a bowl and add the diced red bell pepper, green onion, corn, black beans, green chilies, shredded cheese, and seasonings. Take one flour tortilla at a time and place a 1/3 c.-1/2 c. of the chicken mixture into the center of the tortilla. Roll up the tortilla burrito-style as tightly as you can. Roll all of the tortillas and set aside. Cook the tortilla/burritos in a pannini maker or bake on a cookie sheet until golden brown (spray with cooking spray so they don't stick). For the dressing, combine the ranch, avocado, lime juice and salt & pepper until smooth (use a handwand or a blender). Dip the warm 'egg rolls' into the avocado sauce.

Spinach and Artichoke Hummus

Well I don't know if you can count this as actual hummus since I didn't put the full amount of chickpeas in the dish.  I planned on it except my blender overheated and I was too hungry to try and figure out a way to add the other 2 cups of beans.  But my laziness paid off it was delicious.  Even my 20 month old loved it.  I used tortilla chips since I didn't have pita bread and my baby would lick the hummus off the chip and hand me back a soggy chip wanting more.

This recipe came from Bob Warden's "Slow Food Fast" cookbook.  I have now tried several things and have had one failure, but it wasn't the recipes fault.  I used the wrong potatoes that were too starchy and ended up with a pot full of sludge.  It had a weird jiggle to it.  Are potatoes supposed to jiggle?  Anyway.... this cookbook has some fantastic recipes and I've had fun over the weekend trying them out. 

Chickpeas
3 cups dried chickpeas
2 quarts water, or enough to cover peas by 2 inches
2 tablespoons vegetable oil to prevent foaming
1/2 teaspoon salt

Hummus
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts 12-14 oz.
1 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS minced garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup fresh spinach leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the chickpeas, water, oil and salt in pressure cooker for 35 min on high. Let the pressure release naturally.  When done drain and cool chickpeas to room temperature.   Add chickpeas and all hummus ingredients to blender or food processor and blend until smooth. 

If you want to make it like I did only use 1 cup of chickpeas.  Yum!

Pumpkin Bars

2 cups flour ( I like 1 cup white and 1 cup of grain of your choice. Wheat or Spelt work well)
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 cup oil
16 oz. can/ 2 cups pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips on low speed until moist. Then beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour in greased jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 min. Cool completely before icing.


Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup softened butter
3 oz. softened cream cheese
1 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together until smooth.

Basic Whole Wheat Bread

I took a bread class at the Bosch store in Sandy and this is the recipe that we were given for wheat bread. I have made it 3 or 4 times now and it comes out great every time. Finally a wheat bread that is simple to make and that everyone in my family loves!

6 cups warm water ( as hot as your tap water will get)
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup honey ( I use Xagave)
8 cups freshly ground wheat flour
2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten
2 Tbsp. dough enhancer
2 tbsp. liquid lecithin
2 Tbsp. instant yeast (I like SAF yeast)
2 Tbsp. salt
4 - 8 additional cups of freshly ground wheat flour

Add water, oil, honey, lecithin, 8 cups flour, dough enhancer, and gluten and mix until smooth. This will allow the heat in the water to be cooled by the flour. Next add the yeast. Mix until the yeast is combined.Then let this set for 10 min. (This allows the flour to absorb some moisture so that you do not over flour the dough and end up with a brick instead of a nice loaf of bread.) After 10 minutes the dough will have risen to the top of the bowl. This process is called sponging. Next add the salt and enough flour so that when you quickly press on the dough with your finger it does not stick. With shortening on your hands form the loafs into 5 -6 pans. Put in cold oven with a pan of boiling water below them and let rise for 30 -35 minutes. Remove water from the oven. Turn the oven on to 350 and bake for 35 min.( yes you start with a cold oven.)
I promise if you use this method you will have great bread every time!!

Frontier Spices

There is nothing better than cooking with really good flavorful spices!  Chef Brad has a couple of favorite brands that I have tried.  Now I'm becoming a spice snob!  One particular brand is Frontier Spices.   My friend Ivy will be putting in an order soon and if you are interested you can join in on the order. She is able to get the spices at wholesale prices.  This is approximately 50% off retail.   I would do it ASAP because she wants to get the order in by the end of November.  Their smoked pepper is a favorite of mine as well as their pizza seasoning.  Here is a link to the catalog. This catalog is for their retail prices so remember you'll get a significant price cut.  When you touch base with me I can find out the actual price.  You can e-mail me at gretabetts@gmail.com

Remember Christmas is comming.  I'm giving my friends a small jar of my favorite spice this year.  Supper cheap and really fun to recive!

Rigatoni

4 Italian Sausages (turkey)
1/2 cup red quinoa or Teff
1- 28 oz can roasted tomatoes
2 large chopped roasted red peppers
2 tablespoons Frontire pizza seasoning (or what ever you have on hand)
1 TBS kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 lbs. rigatoni pasta
parmesan cheese

If you have a electronic pressure cooker brown the sausage and then throw everything in.  Add enough water to cover everything.  Cook on high pressure for 12 min.

If you do not have a presure cooker:

Cook sausages.  While cooking mash sausge into pieces.  Add tomatoes, peppers, seasoning, salt, grain, and olvie oil.  Simmer.  Cook pasta and drain.  Add to sauce and simmer for about 10 min.  Drizzle with ovive oil and serve with parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper.

Cooking Classes

Here is the link to the Sandy Bosch Center.  They offer a wide variety of cooking demonstrations as well as hands on classes.  Some are Free!

SANDY BOSCH CENTER