Sausage Soup

This recipe is based on this from allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

6 (4 ounce) links sweet Italian sausage ( I can only find a pack of 5 big sausages which I then use 3 of and have to pull the gross casing of off so I can break it up to cook it)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 can diced tomatoes with liquid
1/2 tsp dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried basil
8 cups chicken broth
1/2 package gluten free orzo (I dont even know if that exists so I just broke up GF spaghetti into little pieces.  You could even omit the pasta altogether.)
1 (10 ounce) package chopped frozen  spinach, thawed and squeezed dry ( I used 3 cups fresh)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place the sausage in a large pot over medium heat, and cook until evenly brown. Add bell pepper, onion, garlic, and tomatoes with their liquid. Stir in parsley, basil, and chicken broth. Cover, place over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and cook for 30 minutes.
2. Stir orzo pasta and spinach into the pot. Continue cooking soup 10 minutes, or until pasta is al dente. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Chops

I wanted to make the orange-mustard pork chops for dinner tonight but in looking in the fridge I realized I had no orange juice, which is an essential ingredient for that recipe, so I turned to the Internet for a pork chop recipe substitute and found this recipe on sixsistersstuff.com which always has a bunch of awesome recipes.

The picture from their website looked better than ours so I am using theirs haha. Ours still tasted delicious.  Here is the recipe:

4-5 boneless pork chops

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix together the sugar and spices and rub all over both sides of the chops.  Heat oil in skillet on medium to medium high heat.  Cook the pork chops until done.  

I had to turn the heat more to medium while they cooked because the sugar started to burn a little bit but they didn't taste burnt at all. We both really liked them and will definitely have them again.  So fast and easy!

Orange-Mustard Glazed Pork Chops

This is a super quick and easy recipe that tastes delicious and presents well for company.  In fact this is the recipe that convinced my husband that pork chops do not have to be dry and tasteless as he was previously led to believe!  Credit goes to my Uncle Steve for coming up with it years ago and making it a family favorite.

Pork chops resting.

6 pork chops
olive oil

Dry Rub:
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Glaze:
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Combine the ingredients for the dry rub and grind them up using a mortar and pestle.

Glaze cooking.

Prepare the pork chops (trim off visible fat and make sure they are a uniform thickness).  Lightly cover them with the dry rub and let them sit while a very lightly oiled pan heats.  Cook the pork chops in the pan, turning once while cooking.

When the pork chops are done, let them rest and deglaze the plan with the orange mustard glaze (in other words dump the glaze ingredients in the pork chop pan and cook).  The glaze will thicken and turn darker as it cooks.  As you stir, scrape up anything stuck to the bottem of the pan and mix it in.

Serve the pork chops with the glaze on top or on the side.  We like to serve with rice and the glaze is delicious on it as well!

Super Burritos

This is a recipe that Natalie gave me.  Ernie and KC both love it.  It is a great way to use leftover roast beef, or any other meat you have sitting around, and it makes a great thing to send with Ernie for lunch.  Last Sunday I made a roast and had leftovers so this week, it's Super Burritos!

*Warning:  this is a recipe that is different every time I make it!  I just use what I have on hand and change it up, but they love it every time.

1/2 onion, diced
1 tablespoon coconut oil
Leftover roast (or any other meat), shredded
Leftover rice (if you have it) or cook 1/2 to 1 cups of rice
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper
Cheese, shredded
Large corn tortillas
Possible add-ins:  green chilies, corn, salsa, etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute the onions in the coconut oil.  Add the roast and saute for a minute or two.

Add the rice, beans, and spices and saute for another minute or two.  Add anything else you would like.  Cook until all is warmed through.  Taste and adjust seasonings.

Warm the tortillas, wrapped in a dish towel, in the microwave for a minute or two to soften.

Put about 1/3 cup of the mixture in each tortilla, cover with cheese and close tortilla with a toothpick.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes until crisp.

Great served with avocado, tomatoes, salsa, etc.  Or just pick them up and enjoy!

Lo Mein

I love when the Bountiful Basket has the "Asian Pack" option.  It means bok choy and subsequently lo mein for dinner!  While not originally a GF recipe, just sub in some GF spaghetti (I prefer the Ancient Harvest quinoa/corn blend) and you are good to go!  Just be careful that your asian sauce ingredients are GF as a lot of brands are not.  Credit for this one goes to my aunt who actually introduced our family to a GF way of thinking!  Thanks J!

3 tablespoons soy sauce (La Choy)
2 tablespoons oyster sauce (Panda Brand)
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce (Sun Luck)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder
1 pound pork loin chops, sliced into 1/8 inch pieces (I've also done with chicken as shown in the picture.  Both are delicious!)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons grated ginger root
olive oil
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced (sometimes I sub snow peas, I happened to have both this time so used both!)
2 bunches scallions
1 head Chinese cabbage or bok choy (happend to have bok choy and some asian cabbage so used both!)
8 ounces GF pasta noodles
1 tablespoon Asian chile garlic sauce

Whisk soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and five-spice powder together.  Place 3 tablespoons of mixture in a large ziplock bag, add pork.  Seal bag and squish around so all pieces are coated with marinade.  Refrigerate at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour.  Whisk broth and cornstarch into remaining soy sauce mixture.  In separate small bowl, mix garlic and ginger with 1/2 teaspoon oil, set aside.

Heat 1 tsp oil in skillet over high heat until just smoking.  Add half of pork in single layer.  Cook until browned on all sides.  Transfer pork to medium bowl and repait with remaing pork and more oil. 

Return skillet to high heat, add more oil.  Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown.  Add scallions and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until scallions are wilted.  Transfer vegetables to bowl with pork.

Add more oil and cabbage/bok choy to now empty skillet.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to wilt.  Clear center of skillet; add garlic/ginger mixture and cook.  Return pork/vegetable mixture and broth/soy mixture to skillet; simmer until thickened and ingredients are well incorporated.

While cooking pork and vegetables, cook pasta noodles.  After draining noodles, transfer back to pan and add cooked stir-fry mixture and chile garlic sauce.  Toss noodles constantly until sauce coats noodles.  Serve immediately.

Ham and Bean Soup

I love love LOVE ham and bean soup.  I always get excited to make a ham because it can make sooo many yummy leftovers... ham and eggs, ham fried rice, ham sandwiches, (well... I guess not anymore) and this lovely soup. I first found this recipe on allrecipes.com but I can't find it there anymore... luckily I printed it out when I first found it! A made a couple of small changes.  Here it is:

Ham and Bean Soup

2 medium carrots, sliced
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 onion chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 cloves minced garlic
4 cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf

In a large saucepan, saute the carrots, celery, and onion in butter until tender.  Add garlic and saute for a few minutes.  Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Cover and turn down the heat to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.  Eat it up.

If you have a ham bone, toss it in and let it simmer with everybody else in the pot.
I could eat this everyday. Seriously.

Parmesan-"Breaded" Pork Chops w/ Balsamic-Roasted Vegetables

Long title, I know, and yes it is as amazing as it sounds!  Once again my Wheat Belly book came through.  The driving force for trying this recipe was the eggplant.  I get them in my bountiful basket every so often, and never know what to do with them.  Until now, I have never found a recipe that didn't result in Joey reminding me how much he hates eggplant.  But I keep trying.  And I thought this dish would be perfect because the eggplant would be cut in tiny little cubes and he wouldn't even know it was eggplant (He doesn't spend much time trying to figure out what I make, he just eats it like a good husband)!  Best part, it worked!  He ate his entire serving and just raved about how delicious it was and told me I could always make pork chops like this (he's also not a huge fan of pork chops, dates back to his childhood.  I was taking a huge risk making this meal, could have been an epic fail).  At that point I told him it was eggplant - you should have seen the look on his face.  Didn't deter him for long, he ate a second entire helping.  You can bet I will be making this one again next week as I still have another eggplant to use!

1 white onion, thinly sliced
1 small eggplant, unpeeled, but into 1/2-inch cubes
1 green pepper, sliced
1 yellow or red bell pepper, sliced
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or more as needed
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
sea salt and ground black pepper
1 large egg
1 tablespoon coconut milk (the kind in a can, not a carton)
1/2 cup ground almonds or pecans
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
4 bone-in pork chops (I prefer boneless pork loin)
1 lemon, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine the onion, eggplant, bell pepper, and garlic in a large baking pan.  Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil and the vinegar.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and toss to coat the vegetables.  Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the egg and coconut milk in a shallow bowl.  Combine the almond or pecan meal, parmesan, garlic powder, and onion powder in another shallow bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dip each pork chop into the egg, coating both sides.  Then dredge both sides in the ground almond-parm mix.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the pork chops and cook just until nicely browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

After the vegetables have been roasting for 30 minutes, remove the baking pan and place the pork chops on top.  top the pork chops with the lemon slices.

Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, until the pork chops are just cooked through and the vegetables are very soft, about 30 minutes.

Ham and Lentil Soup

So what do you do when you have a ton of left-over ham, and you've already made ham and eggs and ham fried rice?  You start searching the internet!  As a result I found this keeper on All Recipes.  It's supposed to be made in a slow cooker, but since none of the ingredients take very long to cook I just make it in a pot on the stove.  Then I have soup within an hour instead soup in 11 hours.  Very convenient since I'm not always the best at planning ahead!

Ham and Lentil Soup

1 cup dried lentils
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onion (I use 1/2-3/4 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups diced cooked ham
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
32 ounces chicken broth
1 cup water
8 teaspoons tomato sauce

In a 3 1/2 quart or larger slow cooker combine the lentils, celery, carrots, onion, garlic, and ham.  Season with basil, thyme, oregano, the bay leaf and pepper.  Stir in the chicken broth, water, and tomato sauce.  Cover and cook on low for 11 hours.  Discard the bay leaf before serving. 

**OR**

Throw everything in a pot on the stove, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat and simmer on low until the vegetables and lentils are tender and you are ready to eat!