Category: Recipes

I’ve been making ginger beer for a couple months now. I have no idea how it compares to other ginger beers, I just know it is simple to make and works for me. It’s both a great mixer and a great tummy settler. Let me share!

I have a half-gallon wide mouthed glass bottle I use for my starter. Each time I need to make ginger beer I drain off four cups of the liquid leaving the fresh ground ginger in the bottle alone. I don’t dump it, I don’t replace it. I learned early there is no point in dumping the ginger in the bottle. I think it’s actually detrimental. I’m treating this like sourdough starter, adding to what I’ve already got instead of starting from scratch. To prep the ginger I scrub it with a vegetable brush under running water, cut it into chunks and run it through the food processor. If you end up grinding a lot I divide it up into 1/8th cup amounts and store it in the freezer so it doesn’t go bad.

So . . . maintaining the starter . . . I add an 8th cup (two tbsp) of organic natural cane sugar and 1/8 cup (two tbsp) of fresh ground organic ginger to my starter every day or so in the beginning and about twice a week once the bug has matured. I can’t swear I remember to do it other than when I see it and I’m not going to obsess.

Once the bug has matured I keep it going by adding 1/8 cup (two tbsp) of fresh ground organic ginger a couple times a week. With the frozen ginger cubes I stir in the sugar, drop a frozen cube on top and screw the cap on. Stir well so the sugar dissolves completely. Stirring in the sugar the next time I add it mixes in the now-thawed ginger cube. This works really well and is low effort. Screw on silicone fermenting lid and ring. Easy peasy. Rinse and repeat.

To start a batch of ginger beer I draw off four cups of the liquid from my starter jar. To that I add 2/3 cup organic cane sugar, 2/3 cup organic pineapple juice (shake before dispensing to get the sediment off the bottom of the bottle) and enough filtered water to make 80 ounces (ten cups). Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Dispense into 10 8oz swing top glass bottles leaving two inches of head room. You should have enough to completely fill ten bottles.

Burp the bottles in 24 48 hours and remember to feed your starter. If the silicone fermenting lid and canning ring are difficult to remove rinse them well in running water, wipe the top of the bottle with a clean damp rag and lightly screw the ring and lid back on. Sugar on the rim and or bottle threads is usually the issue.

Burp the bottles again in 24 hours.

24 hours after the last burp refrigerate the bottles. That’s three days of fermenting. Any longer than that and too much of the sugar is used up and the ginger beer is a bit dry for my taste. If you like it that way, great. You can absolutely tailor this to your taste. I prefer a milder brew so 72 hours of fermenting works for me.

Yup, it truly is that easy to have awesome tasty ginger beer. As a plus it’s an awesome pair with tequila if you need a bit of a kick.

At some point there will be too much ground ginger in your starter bottle. Spoon some off using a slotted spoon, add 2 tbsp of fresh bit of fresh ground ginger and continue on! You know you’re on the right track when bubbles float to the top and bits of ginger hang out in the middle of the jar.

UPDATE: I’ve stopped doing the first burping. I’m now doing one burp at the end of the second day. I wait another day and then put the bottles in the fridge. I’m getting a very consistent flavor.

 

I’m currently stuck on chunky chili. If you follow me you know me getting stuck on something is a thing. I find something that works and I obsess on it until something else comes along. Squirrel!!

So . . . chunky chili. It’s got a lot of bits so bear with me.

I love rib steak. Not so much the cut as the flavor and tenderness of the meat . . . so I tend to use it a lot. Because I’m a cheapo I want the best quality for the fewest dollars I can spend. I buy boneless rib roast and cut it into steaks. When I want something like chunky chili I cut the steaks into small pieces. I get the flavor, I get the tenderness, I get a reasonable price. Win win.

I love flavor. I’ve got a chili seasoning recipe that delivers flavor. It’s not too spicy. I could probably serve it to Wadly who is a not-spicy guy though I’d probably leave out the chili sauce in that case. I make this up in batches and tailor the amount I add to my recipe depending on how I like the flavor.

• 1/2 tbsp cardamom
• 1/2 tbsp coriander
• 1/2 tbsp paprika (I use organic smoked paprika because it’s awesome and another layer of flavor)
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp cilantro (if cilantro tastes like soap to you, leave it out)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp garlic (if you’re low FODMAP use 1/2 tsp hing)
• 1 tsp black pepper

For chunky chili I cut my meat into small bits. Diced? Yeah, probably diced. I heat my skillet until it’s just short of smokin’, add garlic oil and a couple tbsp of butter, throw in the meat, give it a quick stir or two and sprinkle my chili seasoning on top, give it another quick stir and then add 2-3 tbsp chili sauce (I use Sambal Oelek), 1/2 cup bone broth, 1/2 cup petite diced tomatoes (canned), 1/2 diced tomato, sliced and diced green onion, diced green and red pepper to taste (totally okay to leave them out) and 1/2 cup drained/rinsed black beans.

Stir to combine, turn down to a low simmer, plop a lid on top and leave it for a while. This really is a quick-to-fix meal and the back side doesn’t take that long . . . ten minutes maybe.

After the broth has reduced turn off the burner. Leave it to sit or not, your call. This truly is a delicious chunky chili.

On the canned diced toms thing . . . I distribute the can into a silicone muffin tray and stick it in the freezer. No worries about left overs. Once frozen I stick ’em in zippered bags. Any time I want chunky chili or something else using diced toms I can grab out what I need . . . fast and convenient.

Bone broth . . . I make it by the batch. We get bones from our local butcher from good grass fed beef. In my instant pot I process with cardamom pods, leak tops, a bit of salt and filtered water. Once cooled I package in zippy snack bags, place the filled bags on a tray and freeze. Once frozen I pop them into a gallon zippy for convenient access. When I make a recipe I whack off the amount I need (cutting board, big knife and brass hammer), place the remainder in the next size up zippy and stick it back in the freezer. Really convenient.

 

 

I really like meals that involve one pan, one bowl. It’s weird, I know, but it’s what works for me. My latest fav is a surf and turf “stew”, though it really isn’t a stew. And it’s not really a stir fry and it’s got a bit of liquid at the end that creates a nice broth.

My latest iteration has leeks, green onion, cubed rib steak, medium shrimp, rosemary and salt. Yup. That’s it.

Cube/slice a bunch of stuff. Beef, salmon, shrimp, leek and green onion.

Heat a cast iron frying pan. While it’s heating season the beef (use the beef of your choice) with rosemary and salt. Once the pan is sufficiently hot add garlic oil and butter. Add the seasoned beef and over the next minute or two give it a couple good stirs.

Add everything else. Stir occasionally until cooked through. Side with a veg. Wadly likes corn. I tend to not side with anything. Personal preference.

That’s it. I bet you thought this was going to be more complicated. Nope. Not. Fast, simple, delicious.

 

Anyone who follows me knows I cycle through foods I like. I may do pizza for a month and then switch to frittatas and then go for taco stir fry . . . it’s an ever changing landscape. Apparently I’m in a “beef stew” cycle. Who knew?

Wadly had a molar pulled and is on a “soft food” diet. That meshes pretty well with my current beef stew fetish.

I hate have veges in the fridge that go bad before I can use them up. Toward avoiding that I’ve taken to buying bags of prepped fresh organic veges, generally broccoli and broccoli slaw. I toss the bags directly into the freezer. No waste, no ick.

So, my current iteration of beef stew is . . . sauté a couple big handfuls of broccoli slaw, a few broccoli florets, some green onion and a fresh organic tomato in garlic oil and plenty of butter. Once the veges hit al dente move them to a bowl and re-oil/butter the pan. Season cubed meat with rosemary and salt. Once the meat starts to brown I add bone broth, ground ginger, merlot and Worcestershire sauce. If I’m cooking just for me I add chili sauce. I stir and cook for a bit and then add back the veges I’d set aside. Then I add drained and rinsed canned black beans, turn to med-low, add a lid and let it simmer a bit.

I am not kidding. This is such a warm and hearty one bowl meal full of really awesome flavor.

I’m having tacos again. Being a celiac and sensitive to every darned thing I can’t begin to tell you how awesome that is. Many meat departments and butcher shops use a cleaning chemical that destroys my stomach so I buy roasts, rinse in running water, pat dry, cut them into cubes and grind them using my handy-dandy meat grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer. Having my stomach burn is SO not fun. I had to give away half a pig I bought even after the butcher assured me they’d not use their normal cleaning agent. Ugh. Never again.

I mix my own spices because most companies are not careful about where their spices come from or how they’re processed. Cross contamination is a HUGE thing. I buy certified gluten free spices and mix my own. It’s a PITA but it’s SO worth it for the increased variety in things I can eat. The plus side of this is getting to curate my own blend of spices. Stuff for Wadly is not spicy, stuff for me . . . yeah, bring it on.

So, with ground pork and ground beef, I’m doing tacos!

Because I’m eating low carb (yes, it IS helping) I’m eschewing the taco shell though I did see a recipe a few days ago for a carnivore taco shell (I have all the ingredients and am going to try that soon) I’m doing a taco-in-a-bowl thing. Today’s effort was fairly fabulous.

I brown equal parts ground pork and ground beef. I mix in taco seasoning and add bone broth. I let that simmer for a bit until the liquid has evaporated. This is standard how to prepare taco meat. You’ll see the “mix in spices, add liquid, simmer” instructions everywhere.

Divide the browned and seasoned meat into single serving sizes (once cooled I store in zip snack bags in the freezer for quick tacos on demand).

I have a flat bottomed soup bowl that makes a great vessel for this dish. I spread the taco meat in the bottom, top with cheese (I’m using pepperjack, my fav cheese) and heat until the cheese melts. Top with sour cream (I make my own), diced toms and diced green onion.

I am not kidding. This is SO good and it makes my tummy happy.

This is a smarter not harder recipe.

Put a bit of water in your Instant Pot. Not much, about 1/2″. I’m using my small Instant Pot as I’m doing chicken soup just for me so only one chicken hindquarter. Place the chicken hindquarter skin side up.

Sprinkle with poultry seasoning, salt and powdered onion. Set the pressure cook timer for 20 minutes.

While that’s doing it’s thing, sautee a carrot, some halved broccoli florets and a bit of fresh cabbage in 2-3 tbsp butter. Don’t scrimp here, butter is awesome flavor. Add some bone broth (1/2c). At this point your Instant Pot chicken should be done. Add the broth and the rough chopped deboned chicken (including the skin).

Cover and let simmer for a little bit.

There ya go, awesome fast easy keto chicken soup.

I’ve got a new fave . . . and it’s both keto friendly and absolutely delicious.

On YouTube is a video on spaghetti squash pizza bowls. That’s where it all started. The idea was really good . . . but was lacking. It was fussy to fix and fussy to eat . . . not my cup of tea. After fixing it twice I abandoned it and went another way.

The spaghetti squash as a crust ingredient is unparalleled for those of us who can’t do grains. Yes, I eat it with a fork but . . . it’s still an awesome pizza. The flavor of the sketti squash compliments the pizza ingredients in a really lovely way, something that nothing else I’ve tried can do.

Here’s what I did.

Wash then slice the spaghetti squash lengthwise into 3 or 4 equal pieces. Scoop out the guts and salt and pepper the flesh side of the squash. Place it flesh side down (skin side up) on a rack and bake it at 350º for an hour and 15 minutes. Don’t undercook it or it will hang onto the skin.

Scrape the squash out of the skins. This squash is very moist. The more moisture you can remove the better. What works best (but is really time consuming) is to freeze it. Once it thaws put it in a strainer and let the excess moisture drain off. Save the liquid as it makes great broth for soups and gravies.

Place the squash into a big bowl. I use my KitchenAid mixer bowl because I can automate the mixing and save my arm.

Add an equal amount of cheese. My favorite is pepperjack. For Wadly I use mozza as he’s very un-spicy. Add egg white protein. I added about half a cup per sketti squash. That’s what felt right to me so that’s what I did.

Mix thoroughly. This is your pizza dough mix. It’s very unlike pizza dough (more moisture) and it requires a different method of handling. I use 8″ round parchment papers. I create a 6″ pizza crust on the parchment paper using a big spoon. I create a ridge around the outside to hold the stuff in though this isn’t really necessary. Dock the dough or not as suits you. It will puff up as it bakes so be aware of that. Cover in a light layer of grated parmesan. Bake at 350º for 20 minutes.

To prepare the pizza, brush the baked crust with oil. I use home made garlic/onion oil. Cover with pizza sauce and your favorite toppings. My favorites are home made Italian sausage, sliced olives, peppers (bell, usually green and orange), onion, sliced or diced mushrooms (shiitake) and grated pepperjack cheese. Bake at 350º for 20-25 minutes.

I really do love this pizza.  Everything in it makes my body happy. I hope it does the same for you.

 

Apparently other peoples’ idea on what should go on pizza and my concept of what a pizza should contain don’t match. I grew up on Pizza Hut. I think that’s what set my standard.

 

Some days I just can’t. Today is a fish day. I’m hurting so bad I am medicating/staying distracting/using the hot tub – turned up to 11. If you don’t know what “turned up to 11″ means just move on.

So, dinner. Some days I just can’t. It’s a good thing Wadly likes having an excuse to eat hot dogs. He doesn’t get them often so he relishes those days. Usually I’m stuffing him with good stuff. Today is one of those days. This meal is so simple I can do it on a hurting day.

We have an elderly cat who is beyond being a fussy eater. She doesn’t like eating something more than two or three meals in a row and she eats tiny meals six+ times a day. She does not get dry food. She pukes it up with flare, usually on someone’s pillow or exactly where they’re going to step bare footed. Yeah, that’s our girl. So, I grind food for her often. When I do chicken . . . I buy 10lb bags of chicken hindquarters for less than $0.90 cents a pound . . . I put the skin, bones, etc. in a snack bag and stick those into a gallon ziplock in the fridge. When I get lots of them I pressure cook them with an extra thigh or three to add extra meat, seasoning with poultry seasoning, leeks and salt.

So I did that yesterday then separated the non-meat soft tissue bits and small bones for the dogs, chucked the bigger leg bones into the trash and put the chicken meat and broth into the fridge for . . . chicken something. I really don’t know what else to call it. Chicken cabbage stew? Maybe that.

This is SO fast and simple. Sautee in butter . . . thin leek slices (1/8″ or less), bell pepper slices (I used green and . . . orange? I think the not-green color Wadly got last is orange) and 1/4″ strips of cabbage (cut into 4” lengths). Once the veges are al dente add the chicken and broth. Simmer on low. I think the prep time on this (not the chicken pressure cook/separate bones bit) was less than ten minutes. Truly that fast. It took more time to take things out and put them away than it did to make it.

Truly, it was really good. I’ll do this again.

 

It’s hard to come up with a treat that works for me. I’ve got a new one I think is going to work.

1 egg, 1 tbsp coconut flour, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/3 cup Rebel Triple Chocolate Ice Cream

Mix, dump into a ramakin and microwave for 90 seconds.

Add butter to the top when it’s done (lacks fat) and it’s pretty darned good and fast to make.

Instead of an omelet this morning I did a weird no-idea-what-to-call-it thing with all the same ingredients. It was good, dare I say better than my normal omelet.

I mixed uncooked shrimp, an egg and a couple handfuls of mozzarella cheese in my little food processor then I spread it over sauteed peppers, onions and mushroom. I covered it and cooked it on low until it was done. Diced tomato on top and it was awesome!

Next time I’ll stir the sauteed veges into the mix before cooking. It was fast, easy and little effort.

I haven’t had battered fish in . . . well . . . it feels like forever. Once I understood I’m a celiac a lot of things vanished off my menu. When Wadly was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic even more things vanished off our menu. The result is way better health but it’s a change that takes time to incorporate. We started out feeling we couldn’t eat anything and found out we can eat really awesome stuff.

So . . . fried fish. I have always loved deep fried fish. Everything I’ve tried since switching to celiac/keto has been a huge disappointment . . . until . . .

The world of keto advocates is awesome. People are trying things and sharing and it benefits us all. One of the outstanding contributions is a recipe for battered fried fish. It. Is. AWESOME.

• 2/3 cup almond flour. Don’t substitute with anything else. I was low on almond flour and tried to substitute something else to fill out the recipe . . . just don’t.
• 1/4 cup protein powder. The recipe I followed recommended whey protein powder. I don’t have it so I used egg protein powder instead. It worked just fine.
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix all that together . . . add

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 to 1/3 cup of one of the following – sparking mineral water or club soda. The original recipe says sparking mineral water. Don’t have that, used club soda and it works fine. Anything carbonated is apparently the thing, sparking water, club soda, tonic water . . . Although the original recipe said 1/2 to 1/3 I’ve never needed anything beyond 1/2 cup. YMMV

Mix all the dry stuff, add the wet stuff, mix well and let it rest for 10 minutes so the almond flour can soak up all the moisture it can.

Fish – I used Pacific cod (my favorite white fish) but any white fish will do. Pacific cod or orange roughy will be the tastiest. Walmart has a nice frozen pacific cod. If you’re using frozen fish defrost and remove all the extra moisture before dipping in the batter. I pressed it between paper towels to remove the excess moisture.

Deep fry (I use home made garlic oil, original recipe says avocado oil) at 355º until golden brown. Cool to edible on a layer of paper towels. Save the oil for the next time you deep fry fish.

Not kidding, this is awesome! I’ve had it three times so far and it rocks! I’m eating battered fried fish again! Woot!

 

Tonight’s dinner was fabulous! Does anyone else open the spice cupboard and throw in whatever looks like it will work? That was tonight’s dinner. I marinated the cubed pork in sesame oil, chili sauce, fish sauce, Italian seasoning, aged balsamic vinegar, merlot, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke. The veges where red, yellow and green bell peppers, carrot, yellow onion and cabbage. It was REALLY good.

Update on the keto hot cocoa thing. I’ve streamlined the process and wanted to share.

Put 3/4 cup of your favorite granulated keto-safe sweetener into the bottom of your blender jar. Put 3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s Special Dark) on top the sweetener.

Cut open a Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk box. I use this brand because it has two ingredients, coconut and water. No sweeteners, no fillers . . . of course that makes it a little more difficult to deal with . . . you can’t shake it and mix it up. It just doesn’t work. When you look at the customer rating for this brand you’ll see it’s rated at ~3.5 stars. It can’t be because of the quality of the product, it has to be because you can’t mix the settled out solids into the liquids by shaking. I solve the problem by dumping it in a blender. Open the box by folding out the ears and flattening the ends. Hold it bottom end up and cut off a corner and pour some of it into a blender carafe, then cut the entire end off and dump liquid and solids into the carafe. Tilt the carafe and carefully dump the solids to avoid splashing the liquidy bits everywhere.
Stick the lid on and blend until fully mixed.

Pour into a quart jar, put a lid on and refrigerate. Don’t try and scrape the carafe clean. Add 2/3 of a cup of almond milk (JMPO, Walmart’s Great Value brand is the best I’ve tried). Scrape the sides down into the cocoa, put the lid on and blend.

Pour into a cup and microwave. Enjoy.

You now have cocoa mix that can be used hot or cold. 1/4 cup mix, 2/3-3/4 cup almond milk according to your taste. Fast, easy, hot or cold.

Don’t forget the MaxMallow Marshmallows if you need the extra oomph.

I had a frittata for breakfast. SO good! Plus I have half left over for another meal!

• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 2/3 cup cheese (I used Colby/Jack)
• 6 large shrimp cut into thirds
• 3-4 green onions
• handful of shiitake mushrooms halved and sliced
• 2/3 cup chopped cooked broccoli (I cook it in my instant pot and put it in the fridge for adding to soups, stews, omelettes, etc.)

Sautee the mushrooms and green onions in butter. Add more butter if the pan starts to look dry. Mushrooms absorb oil while cooking and stuffing them with butter makes them extra delicious. Add the shrimp and broccoli. Cook until the shrimp is opaque.

While the veges are cooking mix the eggs and cream cheese until smooth. I use the whisk on my immersion blender. It’s fast and cleanup is pretty easy. Add the cheese.

Once all the cooked stuff is ready add it to the egg mix and stir until combined.

Pour it in a buttered dish/pan. Bake at 350 for 30 min. Serve it with diced tomato.

This one is fabulous, contains no dairy and has maybe 1 carb.

Mix equal parts Dutch processed cocoa powder (I’m using Hershey’s Special Dark) and the sweetener of your choice. I’m using xylitol. Yes I know it’s poisonous to dogs but chocolate isn’t good for dogs either so I’m good. Plus I’m not about to share my hot cocoa. Once you taste it I think you’ll agree. I mix a cup of cocoa powder and sweetener at a time and store the result in a glass jar with a well fitted lid where it’s available whenever cocoa craving strikes. If you don’t want to premix, add 1 heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder and 1 heaping teaspoon of sweetener. I know that seems weird but when you mix cocoa and sweetener together it takes up close to the same volume as the sweetener because the cocoa nests into the spaces between the grains when they are mixed together.

Put a heaping teaspoon of the mix in the bottom of a cup. Add ~1/4c coconut milk (make sure you shake the carton first). Using a spoon mix the cocoa/sweetener/coconut mix until all the cocoa powder has been incorporated. Add another 1/4 cup coconut milk and 1/2 cup almond milk (make sure you shake the carton first). Stir. Microwave for 2 minutes or whatever time is suitable for your microwave. Mine’s low powered so 2 minutes works.

If you can use erythritol (I can’t) add two Max Mallow marshmallows to the top. They are fabulous and yes, it breaks my heart that I can’t eat them. Regardless, with or without, the hot cocoa is fabulous. ‘Scuse me while I go fix a cup . . .

 

Wadly brought home some chuck steak. I already had a cabbage. I’ve looked and looked for good simple recipes for beef and cabbage and am truly underwhelmed. I’ve tried cabbage rolls which are time intensive, carb heavy (rice) and not very good. Today was a headache day and there’s no way I was up to anything but simple, so I improvised. The result got an “absolutely delicious” from Wadly so I’m rating this one as a solid win.

Cube the beef. Brown it in equal parts garlic/onion oil and butter.

While that’s browning add to the Instant Pot 1 cup of water, 1/4 cup of red wine (I used a good merlo), a couple dashes of Worcestershire Sauce and a good sprinkling of rosemary (I used dried ground).

When the beef is done browning scrape everything out of the pan into the Instant Pot. Add salt and pepper. Lay the tougher outer leaves of 1/3 of a leek on top. Save the tender inner leaves for the cabbage mix. Pressure cook on high for 45 min.

Slice half a cabbage. I halved the head, cut one half into quarters and thin-sliced the quarters so I wouldn’t have long strips of cabbage leaf. Thin slice 1/2 a bell pepper. I used orange for a nice splash of color. Diagonally slice the remaining leek leaves . Sautee the three ingredients in a dash of garlic/onion oil and 2-3 tbsp butter. Don’t overcook. You want it done but still with crunchy bits.

When the pressure falls off the Instant Pot (natural release) pick off and dispose of the leek leaves, add 1/2 small can of diced tomatoes (1 cup), bring up to a simmer, add corn starch to thicken. Serve over the cabbage. Amazingly good. I’ll do this again. My tummy thought it was really good as well.

I know you think I only share this stuff for your benefit but I also do it because I can’t remember what I did from one time to the next and recording my recipes here gives me a place to go to when I need to know exactly what I did.

Update: I need to add a tweak and a comment. I was trying to use up some peppers and onion. I only had about 1/3 of a large orange bell pepper so I added a few scraps of green bell pepper and a slice of yellow onion to the cabbage mix. When the Instant Pot finished venting I pulled the leak leaves and taste tested the liquid. It was a little on the sour side so I added a tablespoon of keto friendly sweetener. When the entire dish was assembled it tasted fabulous. Lots of rich subtle flavor. Wadly loved it.

I’ve been buying ten pound bags of chicken hindquarters and packaging them individually to freeze. I use them for chicken enchiladas, gravy and soup. I’ve developed a couple of recipes I really like; chicken gravy with stuffed baked potatoes for two and two generous servings of an easy and delicious chicken soup.

Stuffed baked potatoes with chicken gravy

Thaw two chicken hindquarters, separate legs from thighs, and brine for an hour. Easy brining is kosher salt in a gallon ziplock bag. Add water, dissolve the salt, add chicken and zip it shut while expressing the air. I set it in the sink if it’s not going to be brining long or set it in a bowl in the fridge if it’s going to sit longer than that.

In the instant pot add 1 tsp italian seasoning, 1 tsp of poultry seasoning, 1/4 tsp hing (or a garlic clove and a quarter of an onion) and 4 cardamom pods. Place the chicken skin side up in the bottom and add enough water to come halfway to the top of the chicken. DO NOT cover the chicken in water. The goal is a beautiful flavorful broth and more water isn’t the answer. Put the lid on, set to pressure cook for 24 minutes. When the chicken is done separate out the meat and roughly chop it. Strain the broth into a container.

Put 2/3 of the chicken in a pan with butter and onion/garlic oil. Once the chicken is warmed up nicely add enough of the broth to do gravy justice. When the broth in the pan starts to simmer mix cornstarch with a bit of broth and thicken the gravy.

Bake a russet potato. Once it’s cooked, cut the baker in half lengthwise and scoop out the potato.

In the bowl with the baked potato guts add sour cream and butter and mix well. You don’t want completely smooth and you don’t want big lumps. You can use the skin to present the potato. Wadly likes the skin, I give it a skip. If you’re using the skin, mound half the potato mix into one of the potato skin halves. Place the potato in a soup bowl (with or without skin). Keep the potato to one side of the bowl. Add gravy to the other side of the bowl. Serve with a slice of buttered sourdough or a biscuit and a bowl of steamed veges.

Put the left over gravy in with the same container as the chicken and left over broth and refridgerate for later use.

This has become one of our favorite meals. In addition to being easy, it’s really easy on the budget.

Easy and delicious chicken soup

Dice broccoli stems and quarter florets. Dice carrots. Sautee in butter and onion/garlic oil. While they’re cooking cut up mushrooms, green onion, peppers (I use green and something else, red or yellow or orange). Once the carrots have started to soften add the remaining vegetables and more butter. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the left over chicken/broth/gravy. If the soup is too thick add 1/2-1 cup broth (bone, vegetable or chicken – be aware commercial broth is loaded with salt). Simmer until all the veges are done.

I did say easy didn’t I? And really delicious! All the flavoring has already been added, it’s just a matter of cooking the veges and adding the left over chicken/broth/gravy.

If you’re like most folks you’re eating more chicken and pork and less beef. Inflation sucks. Until the government stops printing money and agrees to live within a budget, this up and down cycle is our life. So, for now, chicken and pork is on the menu!

I bought a new chili sauce and it was crying to be used. It’s got a bit of heat but it’s also got flavor, really nice flavor! So, pork stir fry for lunch!

This was REALLY good. The marinade recipe is for a generous single servering. Wadly doesn’t do stir fry if he can avoid it. He’s like really plain unspicy food and this is not in that category.

Marinate cubed pork in red wine (2 tbsp), worcestershire (1 tsp), fish sauce (1/2 tsp), balsamic vinegar (1 tbsp), honey (2 tsp) and the onion/garlic oil I make (1 tbsp). The pork sat in the marinade for about an hour before I managed to get to cooking. I fried the pork really quick in butter and my onion/garlic oil, dumped the contents out of the pan into a bowl, added more butter and onion/garlic oil to the now empty pan, sauteed halved broccoli florets and carrot (sliced thin on the diagonal). Once they started to be something other than dead raw I added sliced mushrooms and sliced green onion. I pushed that around the pan for a little bit before adding the meat and meat juices back into the pan and gave it a stir. I added two teaspoons of my new chili sauce and some bone broth to the marinade and added most of that mix to the pan. While it was coming up to temp I mixed a bit of corn starch into the remaining bit of marinade. Once the sauce started to reduce I added the corn starch mix, got it thickened and served it up. DELICIOUS.

I bought a marinade that I really enjoyed . . . except for the burning stomach it caused. Why? Not sure. Probably coconut aminos, one of those things I should be able to eat but can’t. So the quest is . . . duplicate the taste without upsetting my gut. What I’ve got is really close and delicious.

This is a one-person recipe because I like sauces and spices and Wadly likes simpler stuff.

• 1 medium tomatillo
• 1 tbsp garlic/onion oil (I make it because I love the flavors)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp bone broth

I process it with an immersion blender. You could do the same thing with a blender, it’s just more things to wash when you’re done.

Cube the pork and dump it in a bowl with the marinade. Stir.

Do your veges . . . broccoli, carrot (saute these two while cutting up the other veges), yellow onion,  bell pepper (I used green and orange), mushrooms (I used shiitake).

Add the remaining veges to the carrots/broccoli. Cook until al dente, transfer to a bowl.

Add the pork and marinade to the pan. Cook until mostly done. Add the veges back to the pan and finish cooking.

It’s simple and really good!

Have you every had egg salad that was actually a salad? It’s really good.

Of course I have to add lots of other things . . .

• 2 hard boiled eggs (crumble the yoke, dice the white)
• diced dill pickle
• diced red pepper
• diced yellow pepper (you don’t really need both but I like ’em)
• sliced green onion
• diced tomato
• spring salad greens
• Sir Kensington Mayo

This is a lovely salad. Stir the mayo into the egg and diced veges, stir in the lettuce . . yum!

For me, a big bowl of this is a lovely dinner. If you don’t want to have it as a stand alone dinner, pair it with pork chops or steak!