Green Soup with Italian Sausage

Put some

• olive oil in the bottom of a medium to large soup pot

Brown

• 1-6 italian sausages

While the sausages are browning chop and add

• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 1-2 celery
• 2-3 potatoes (don't have to peel)
• 4-6 garlic cloves

Pull out sausages, slice into fat coins, and return to pot
Deglaze pan with

• 1 can diced tomatoes with liquid

Add

• 1 can white navy or northern beans with liquid

Add

• water or broth or combination to cover about 1" above everything in pot (I put in the broth from roast beef this time.)

Bring everything to a boil, then turn down to a simmer while you remove ribs and thinly slice

• Large bunch of Kale or Swiss Chard or Spinach or combination*

Turn off heat. It is plenty hot to wilt the greens
Add

• Juice from 1/2 large lemon (I add the pulp too)

Taste and adjust flavor as necessary with

• Salt (might not need if used broth)
• Black pepper (optional)
• Red pepper (Italian sausages may have made it spicy enough)

 Ingredients are approximate. You can use 1 sausage for flavoring or if you really like meat add all 6 from the package. Same with the greens. I usually add a large steel bowl's worth of the raw greens. Swiss Chard is my favorite but right now we had a lot of Kale in the garden so used that. I don't think mustard greens would work.

Condiments:
hot sauce

Polish Casserole

Make 2 sets of layers in 13x9 pan, cook about 1 hour at 300-350F

Sauce Layer - blend the following together

• can mushroom soup
• can diced tomatoes (Traditional used milk.)

Potato Layer (Traditional uses about 1/2 pkg of cooked egg noodles.)

• 2-4 thinly sliced potatoes cooked until somewhat soft in microwave

 Sauerkraut Layer

• package fresh mushrooms sauteed
• package drained fresh sauerkraut
• green peas (If you have them)
• worchester sauce
• spicy brown mustard
• generous amount of fresh ground pepper

 Meat layer

• Onion chopped
• 2 carrots chopped
• 1 celery stalk chopped
• 1 # ground beef
• lightly salt to taste*

Optional
Sprinkle with crumbled bacon if you have it.

*Don't need a lot of salt due to sauerkraut and canned ingredients

Lasagne

13 x 9 pan or Lasagne pan, buttered or oiled,
bake 40' covered with buttered/oiled foil at 350F,
then 15' uncovered after sprinkle with cheese.

Ingredients and Directions
 
Regular Lasagne noodles about 6 for each layer for a total of 12 (Don't need to precook. Will cook in oven)

Meat mixture

Cook til soft, adding one at a time

• Onion chopped
• Green pepper chopped
• 1-2 celery stalks chopped 
• Mushrooms chopped
• Garlic minced

then set aside and brown

• 1# ground meat

 then combine meat with cooked vegetables.

Season if needed very lightly with

• salt (better to under season)

Cheese Mixture

• Thaw a bag of spinach in microwave 

while spinach thawing grate

• a triangle of Parmesan cheese into a large bowl

then combine with

• bag of shredded mozzarella

put aside (reserve) a small bowl of these 2 cheeses to sprinkle on top later

Then add the following to remaining cheese and mix well

• 16 oz cottage cheese
• thawed spinach
• 1 egg
• generous amount of cracked black pepper 

Tomato Sauce Mixture

Combine in large bowl  

• 24 oz tomato pasta sauce
• can of diced tomatoes
• 1/2 can of black olives chopped 

Put the mixtures as follows into greased lasagne pan

• 1/2 of tomato sauce mixture
• 1 layer of uncooked noodles
• 1/2 cheese mixture
• 1/2 meat mixture  

Repeat a second layer same as first.
Cover with foil and cook in oven 40'

Then remove from oven, take off foil, sprinkle on reserved cheese mixture and bake an additional 15' till cheese melts and browns.

Let sit about 15' or so until serving.

Candied Grapefruit Peels

This came from a variety of recipes. However it is very humid here so in the end I needed to use the drier/dehydrator to make the candied peels less sticky which was not in any of the recipes.

Cover in water in saucepan and bring to a boil, then put in colander to drain water

• Grapefruit peels from when a grapefruit has been sliced into 12 parts from about 2-4 grapefruits

While grapefruit peels are draining, bring to a boil in frypan/wide shallow pan until clear

• 2 parts water
• 1 part sugar

Then add drained grapefruit so it is covered by above sugar syrup. Bring to a boil, then lower to simmer and cook until liquid cooks down and is absorbed by the grapefruit peel.

Put on dryer rack. See if it dries overnight.
If not dry, dehydrate in drier about 2 hours each side. (Turn peels over 1/2 way through drying process). Should only be very slightly sticky.

Roll in sugar and store in fridge.

Mexican Lasagne

13 x 9 pan, oil generously
300 - 350F
30' covered, 15' uncovered

Layer in very well oiled 13x9 pan

• corn tortillas
• meat mixture
• salsa mixture
• pepper jack cheese (sprinkle) 
• Then repeat above layers once

Ingredients

• about eight 8" corn tortillas (cut in half to make rectangular layer)
• about 2 cups grated pepper jack cheese or cheddar

Meat Layer
Saute till soft

• olive oil
• 1 lg onion chopped
• 1 green pepper chopped
• 1-2 celery chopped
• 1-2 carrots chopped

Push vegetables to side of pan and brown meat, then mix veggies back in

• 1-2# ground chicken

Season to taste with

• abt 6 cloves fresh minced garlic (lightly cook after meat browned)
• Salt abt 1 tsp
• Chili powder abt 1 tsp
• Oregano abt 1/2 tsp
• Black pepper abt 1/2 tsp
• Ground cumin abt 1/4 tsp

Salsa Layer
Heat in pan to thicken

• olive oil
• 1 red pepper chopped, slightly saute
• 14.5 oz can chopped stewed or diced tomatoes with juice
• 15 oz can black beans with liquid
• 1 c corn (could probably use hominy)
• handful or so of chopped black olives (could probably use green olives)
• abt 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• abt 3 leaves chopped fresh lemon basil (optional, was growing in garden so just added it.)

Lemon pie

a variation of raw key lime pie from http://www.picklesnhoney.com/2015/10/28/raw-vegan-key-lime-pie-recipe/

Crust
Grind each separately in blender cup (unless it all fits) then put in pie pan to mix with hands

• 1/2 c almonds
• 1/2 c pecans
• 1 c dried dates
• 1/4 c flax seed meal

After mixing ground mixture with hands pour across ground mixture

• 1 T coconut oil

Then mix again, press against sides and bottom to make pie shell. Put in freezer while you make filling.

Filling
Grind in blender before adding rest of ingredients to blender

• 2 c cashews*

Then add and blend till smooth and creamy. Mixture may thicken.

• 3/4 c fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
• 1/2 c maple syrup
• 1/3 c melted coconut oil
• 1 t vanilla extract

Pour filling into crust and freeze. Slightly thaw before cutting.
Makes 12 slices.

*Tried using garbanzo beans beans because cashews are very expensive. Worked OK but filling tasted like beans. Beans are probably better for cookies.

key lime pie, 1st experiment

I looked at several recipes

• http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2014/08/14/avocado-key-lime-pie/
•  http://healthyblenderrecipes.com/recipes/raw_key_lime_pie_from_choosing_raw#section-recipe_method
•  http://www.picklesnhoney.com/2015/10/28/raw-vegan-key-lime-pie-recipe/

I went with the recipe from picklesnhoney because I didn't want to use avocados. It used 3/4c lime juice and 2 cups of cashews for the filling. Cashews are very expensive. I may try to replace 1 cup of cashews with garbanzo beans and see what happens. However the blend of 2 c cashews, 1/3 cup melted coconut oil, 1/2 c maple syrup and 3/4 cup lime juices thickened up just like pudding. I don't know if garbanzo beans and/ or avocado will do the same thing. The flavor mimicked key lime pie very well. However I am out of maple syrup, another expensive ingredient, so may end up using honey next time.

I was able to cut 12 small pieces after freezing it over night and letting it partially thaw enough to cut. Then I wrapped the pieces and put them back into the freezer. It turned out light tan in color because I didn't have matcha powder. Maybe next time I'll try putting in a teaspoon or so of lime zest. Or maybe an avocado.

The crust was a good tasting sweet crust. I didn't have unsweetened shredded dried coconut so used ground flaxseed meal instead.

I made everything using my ninja blender it worked fine. I don't like using food processor for small portions as it has a lot more parts to clean than the blender.

I calculated out that 1/12 of the pie is 238 calories.

Raw Key Lime Pie
Crust	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein
1 c whole dried dates	502	0.69	133.55	4.36	1 c pitted chopped
1/2 c almonds	413	36.21	14.11	15.2
1/2 c pecans	377	39.22	7.55	5
1/4 c ground flax seed meal	194	15.28	10.47	6.63
1 T coconut oil	117	13.6	0	0
filling
2 c cashews	150	24	16	10
3/4 c lime juice	46	0.13	15.53	0.77
1/2 c maple syrup	420	0.32	108.01	0
1/3 c coconut oil	620	71.94	0	0
1 t vanilla extract	12	0	0.53	0
	2,851.00	201.39	305.75	41.96
divide by 12	238	17	25	3

Chocolate Glazed imitation uncooked cookie dough bars

Here's a variation of Katie's recipe
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2016/05/23/unbaked-cookie-dough-bars-chocolate-chip/ . 
I cut the sweetener in half because I like less sweet and made it in a blender which worked fine.

Line an 8x8 pan with wax paper.

BAR MIXTURE
Put in blender and mix

• 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 c oatmeal ground
• 3/4 ground flax seed meal

Pregrind in ninja cup and add to blender

• 2 T. walnuts - ground
• pinch salt
• 1/4 t. baking soda

Then add to blender and mix

• 2 T. coconut oil
• 1/4 c. maple syrup
• 2 t. vanilla

Scrape sides as needed and blend until everything is well blended to the consistency of raw cookie dough. Pat out into 8x8 pan and put in refrigerator to chill (I put it in the freezer for about an hour).

GLAZE TOPPING
Blend together

• 2 T melted coconut oil (softened worked fine.)
• 2 T maple syrup

Blend in and mix till smooth 

• 1/4 c cocoa powder 

Spread topping over bar mixture. Cut bars into squares.

Yummy Beef Jerky

A recipe from my husband

Dry Ingredients

• 1 t. celery seed
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1 t. brown sugar
• 1 t. cayenne pepper
• 1 t. black pepper - fresh ground - you can skip or change any of the peppers
• 1 t. white pepper - can substitute red pepper flakes
• 1 t. onion powder
• 2 t. salt - if you reduce or add amount of water you must change salt with it

Wet Ingredients

• 1 t. liquid smoke
• 6 t. worcestershire sauce
• 1 t. (tabasco habanero tabasco (optional)
• 1 t. Suchi Chef Mirin Sweetened Sake (optional)
• 1 1/4 c. Water

This is not baking, so you don't have to be real accurate with your measuring spoon. I just pour into measuring spoon over a bowl large enough to mix ingredients and meat in. Mix ingredients with your hand and taste mixture before adding meat. That is how your jerky will taste.
Slice meat real thin and you get real thin jerky. This is hard to do. I like it a little thicker like the stuff I gave you, like thick-cut bacon 1/8 - 3/16". The important part is that all the pieces are the same thickness when cut into strips so they dry at the same rate. Do this before putting meat into marinade. Less messy and meat seasons better. Thin jerky dries faster than thick jerky meat.

• Before adding meat to marinade cut into strips. Don't put meat into marinade until all strips are cut or it can get messy. Use about 4 lbs. non fatty beef under $4/lb. like sirloin tip roast or whatever is on sale.
• Put meat strips into marinade and mix well in bowl
• Dump into 2 gallon double ziplock baggie, get out air, and put in refrigerator for 6-24 hours (Longer marinating imparts more flavor.). Flip bag every time you go in fridge.
• After marinating 6-24 hours pull out only the meat that will fit in your drier. (It never all fits.) Keep extra meat in marinade until the first batch is dry. Put meat strips in strainer over a bowl to catch drips. (Messy!) Blot meat strips between paper towels before putting on drier racks.
• Run Drier on high. It will smell wonderful and take 6-12 hours depending on your drier and how dry you like your jerky. Start looking at the jerky at about 8 hours.

Split Pea and Ham Soup in Crockpot - makes about 8 pints

Layer in Crockpot

• 1 pound dried green split peas, sorted and rinsed
• 5 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 4 medium celery stalks, diced
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms diced
• 1 large onion diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. tyme
• about 1 pound smoked ham diced, or smoked ham bone, or 2 ham hocks
• cover  with water

Cook over night or during the day for about 6-8-10 hours on low. Pretty forgiving recipe.
Can drain off clear fat on top or mix it in.

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Dakota bread for bread machine

This is a chewy dense bread with a thick, crispy crust.

Basic bread 3 hour cycle setting for bread machine. Doesn't seem to need the french bread or whole wheat bread setting. I've only made this in winter up to this point so might need to modify for hot humid summer.

• 3/4 cup 8 grain hot cereal mix, put in bread maker pan
• 1 cup hot water (heated in microwave like for tea about 2') - pour over cereal, let stand for 10'
• 1 T oil, pour over paddle
• 1 T honey, pour around edges

Once 10 minutes are up and cereal is softened

• 1 3/4 cup bread flour to make floating mat over top of hot cereal mixture
• 1/2 t instant or fast rise yeast, make small divot center of flour mat and place it there
• 3/4 t + 1/8t salt put around edges 
• 2 Tablespoons buttermilk powder (optional)

Turn on bread maker. I use the basic cycle for my Regal Kitchen Pro collection Breadmaker Model No. K6725. It works really well. Takes about 3 hours to process.

I usually look at the dough while it's kneading. Last 2 batches looked wet so I added

• 1 tablespoon of bread flour.

In 40' the timer goes off and if you want you can add

• 1 T pepitas (raw, unsalted, pumpkin seeds)
• 1 T sunflower seeds

Then about 1 hour 15' before the end. if you want to, you can brush top off loaf with

• beaten egg so seeds stick (I keep forgetting this part and the seeds don't stick very well)

and sprinkle on a mixture of

• 1 1/2 t pepitas
• 1 1/2 t sunflower seeds
•  1/2 t sesame seeds
• 1/2 t poppy seeds

(Or you can skip the egg and try to add the seeds earlier so they sink into the dough)

Notes: Best if ingredients such as flour and cereal are at room temperature. I usually store mine in the fridge.

This recipe came from a TV show where it was made by hand. I tried it. Too much work!
So revised the recipe for bread machine. Could only get Bob's Red Mill 8 grain hot cereal so used that successfully. Probably could just use oatmeal or another hot cereal if you can't get a multiple grain hot cereal. I like buttermilk so I added that.

5/24/16 Tastes good even without the seeds. I make it quite a bit and many times I miss adding the seeds. I haven't been adding the 1 T of bread flour. I just start my bread machine and forget about looking at the dough.