Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Red Beans & Rice!


* 1 pound dry kidney beans (approximately 6 cups cooked)
* 2 quarts of tap water
* 1 pound turkey sausage
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 4 stalks of celery chopped
* 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
* 2 teaspoons salt
* Good shot of Tabasco Sauce
* Hot Cooked Brown Rice or White Rice (double the recipe for the rice)

Soak the kidney beans overnight in the tap water, or you can use the quick soak method. Bring them to a boil in the tap water, and then let them sit, covered, on the back of the stove for an hour or two.

After you have done the initial bean preparations let them boil for about an hour or until they are getting tender. While they cook you can prepare the vegetables and the meat. The onion, celery and garlic will need chopping.

Fry the turkey sausage in a large skillet. Crumble it up with a fork as it cooks. Set the sausage aside until the beans have cooked at least an hour.

After the beans have softened up and are getting close to tender, it is time to add the rest of the ingredients. If your sausage is spicy, you may not want to add the Hot Sauce, so taste it before adding any willy-nilly. If your sausage is not spicy then a small shot of Hot Sauce will marry nicely with the rest of the dish. Simmer the beans, sausage and vegetables for about a half an hour longer, or until the beans are all the way tender. I put the brown rice on to cook right before I add the vegetables and sausage to the beans. This gets them both done at about the same time.

Serve this by scooping up a big glob of rice into a cereal bowl. Next ladle a goodly amount of the bean mixture on top of the rice.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Beef Barley Soup!

2 qts water
2 tbsp powdered beef soup base
1 c. barley
2 small diced potatoes
1 chopped celery
3 diced large carrots
1/2 lb ground beef
1 chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic minced

Saute onion, garlic and ground beef. Drain fat. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 1-2 hours.

If mushrooms are cheap they add a nice touch.

This is a great filling winter stew. Everyone loves it, including the men in the family. It really stretches a small amount of meat to feed everyone.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Still here...

We are getting ready to move next month (FEB) so I am only really making simple meals right now. I am currently working on using up things in the pantry right now so it isn't anything fantastic and sadly not the most healthy things around either, but it will make moving easier.

In other news, I started back to school on Jan. 19th so I am really busy right now. I go to school 4 nights a week and so my days are packed, except today when I spent most of it with a sinus headache. SO hopefully I can resume putting up our recipes after we get moved and begin the cooking process again.

For tonight though, we are returning to the scene of the crime and having our all time favorite of Turkey Taco Soup. Delicious, nutritious, and chocked full of protein goodness! I can't wait! It even makes Algebra seem better after a meal like that.

Take care everyone!