Slow cooker black beans

These are good! I made them yesterday and ate them today

Recipe is from Cafe Johnsonia

Slow Cooker Black Beans

Substitute any dry bean in this recipe. Variations included below the main recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb. black beans, picked over to remove broken or wrinkled beans or small stones
6 cups water
1 onion, halved or diced
2-3 whole garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon salt (this seems like a lot, but is fine with this much water, you can use less if desired)

Instructions:

Place the beans in a big bowl, cover with water, agitate the beans a few times to remove any dirt, drain in a colander and rinse again.

Place black beans, onion, garlic cloves, and bay leaf in a slow cooker. Add water.

Cook on high for about 3-4 hours, testing after 3 hours. To test doneness, spoon out a few beans and blow on them. If the skins peel back, they beans are ready. Taste just to make sure. If all of the water has been absorbed, add more. Beans must stay completely covered to prevent them from burning. If cooking on low for 6-8 hours, test the beans at the 6 hour point.

Add the salt and let cook, or sit with heat off for another 20-30 minutes, to absorb the salt. Remove the bay leaf, garlic cloves, and onion before using, if desired.

Use immediately, or allow to cool before transferring beans and some of the cooking liquid to a zipper-lock freezer bag or airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze up to 3 months. If freezing, flatten bag in freezer–it makes for easier defrosting. Defrost in warm water.

Variations:

White beans (Great Northern, Cannelini, navy, black eyed peas)
*add to the slow cooker: chopped vegetables (carrots, fennel, celery), rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic, onion.
*use in salads, soups, purees, braised (side dish)

Pinto
*add to the slow cooker: a few sprigs fresh cilantro, dried oregano, a diced chile (serrano, jalapeno, etc), ground cumin, onion, garlic, bay leaf.
*use in chili and soups, salads, refried, etc.

Kidney
*cook the same way for pinto or black beans
*for use in Italian soups–proceed as for the white beans

Of course there are other flavors you can infuse, these are the most basic ways we use them in our house

Indian Lentils and Spinach

I found this on allrecipes

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 white onion, halved and sliced into 1/2 -inch rings 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups chicken broth 1 cup lentils 1/2 cup water 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander 1 teaspoon salt (decrease salt if you use salty broth) 1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (quite spicy - maybe decrease a bit) 1 bay leaf 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach (I used fresh and stirred it into the hot lentils 1/4 cup water

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Heat oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in the hot oil until beginning to turn golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add minced garlic to onion; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
2.	Mix chicken broth, lentils, 1/2 cup water, crushed garlic, coriander, salt, cumin, chili powder, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, cayenne pepper, and bay leaf into onion mixture; bring to a boil. Cover pan, lower heat to medium-low, and simmer until lentils are soft, about 35 minutes.
3.	Place spinach in a microwave-safe bowl and add 1/4 cup water; heat in microwave for 5 minutes. Stir spinach and continue cooking in microwave until heated through, about 5 minutes more. Let spinach cool, about 5 minutes; drain water and squeeze excess water from spinach.
4.	Mix spinach into lentils; cover pan and simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes.

Sicilian Chocolate Gelato

This is my absolute favorite homemade ice cream recipe

3 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup good quality cocoa powder (cocoa powder quality is important - I like sharffenberger - but best of all my local Ghana Goldentree cocoa)
1 1/2 Tbs cornstarch

In medium saucepan bring 2 cups milk to a simmer. Meanwhile whisk the remaining cup of milk with the sugar, cocoa and cornstarch.

Scrape the cocoa mixture into the hot milk.

Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and bubbles a little at the edges. Stir and cook for one minute longer.

For extra smoothness, strain though a wire mesh strainer. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions.

Makes 1 quart.

Homemade syrup

It's hard to find pancake syrup here in Ghana

This recipe actually tastes better than store bought syrups at home (but not better than real maple syrup)

1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
maple flavoring (optional - or use any flavoring you like)

combine and boil for a few minutes until just slightly thicker than water.

Healthiest cereal ever!

This recipe is from Reeve Neild - she's one of three totally amazing LDS professional golfers. Here's an article about them,


I don't thing amounts really matter - just make a nice mixture that looks good to you.

Mix it up and store it in ziplock bags.

Reeve's Cereal Mix Recipe 
(Bulk items purchased at ‘WinCo Grocery Store’)


Bran Flakes 

Bran Sticks (All-Bran) &

Bran Buds
Multi-Grain Cheerios 


Cracklin' Oat Bran

Sesame Seeds 


Sunflower Seeds 


Flaxseed (ground) 


Almond (chopped)


10 Grain Cereal (more of a powder)


5 Grain Cereal  (Crunchier/Whole Flakes) 


Coconut (unsweetened) 


Wheat Germ 


Oat Bran


Wheat Bran


Banana Chips (break them) 


Pumpkin Seeds (green)


Almonds


Regular Old-fashioned Rolled Oats (And ANYTHING else healthy & delicious that you might like to add!)

Lettuce wraps

without the lettuce :)

we are in Ghana

I found this recipe on Pinterest and tried it the other night. It's a delicious way to eat chicken and rice (or quinoa).

I modified by cutting the chicken in strips, using rice instead of quinoa, and ate it salad style, rather than wrapped in lettuce.

Recipe from Natasha's Kitchen

Chicken Quinoa Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce

Print

Prep time

50 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

1 hour

These are a meal in themselves. They are quick to make and easy to assemble. They’re really self serve and definitely encourage fun conversation at the dinner table. I love the addition of quinoa; making it a well-rounded meal and the quinoa keeps you full longer. About the sauce: we've tested other recipes for peanut dipping sauce and nothing compares to this one. This sauce is BOSS. It's creamy, easy, and has just two ingredients. It definitely induces serious cravings! P.S. the kiddos love these best with ranch.

Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com

Skill Level: Easy/Medium

Cost To Make: $20-$23

Serving: 6-8

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled or sautéed and thinly sliced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated, or ¼ tsp dried ginger powder
• ½ Tbsp sesame oil

For the Wraps:

• 2 heads of Boston, Bib or Butter Lettuce
• 2½ cups cooked Quinoa (*see notes below on how I made it)
• 1 medium or 3 small cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1 large or 2 medium Carrots, sliced into matchsticks
• ¼ bunch of fresh Cilantro

For the Easy Peanut Dipping Sauce:

(I put the recipe I used below - in case you can't find bottled dressing)

• ¾ cup Newman’s Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing (P.S. this dressing contains wheat so if you’re gluten free, try: Braggs ginger sesame)
• 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter (microwave 30 sec if peanut butter refrigerated)
• ⅓ cup chopped peanuts, optional topping

Instructions

How to Prepare the Teriyaki Chicken:

1. In a small bowl, stir together all the ingredients of your marinade: 2 Tbsp olive oil, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 pressed garlic cloves, 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated ( or ¼ tsp dried ginger powder) and
2. /2 Tbsp sesame oil
3. Place chicken breast in a medium bowl, add marinade and stir to coat the chicken evenly. Refrigerate for 20 minutes (prep your veggies in the mean time).
4. Once chicken is marinated, heat a large skillet over medium heat, add the chicken along with some of the oil in the marinade and sauté until caramelized and browned on both sides and fully cooked. If chicken breasts are very large, you might cover with the lid when sautéing the second side for the chicken to cook through.
5. Remove from heat and let chicken breasts rest on a cutting board 5 minutes before cutting into it, then slice into thin strips on the diagonal.

*How I Cooked Quinoa:

1. Rinse quinoa in a fine colander until water runs clear to get rid of any natural bitterness. Quinoa is cooked similar to rice. The ratio is ¾ cup dry quinoa to 1½ cups filtered water. I cooked mine in the rice maker on the white rice setting without adding any salt or butter and it was done after about 20 minutes. Transfer quinoa to a bowl to cool. You want it to be room temp or cooler before using in lettuce wraps.

How to make the best peanut dipping sauce

1. Combine ¾ cup sesame ginger dressing with 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter and whisk together or shake together in a tupperware with a tight fitting lid. Transfer to a small bowl and top with chopped peanuts if using.

How to Serve:

1. Place all prepared vegetables on a platter: lettuce, sliced cucumbers, sliced carrots and sprigs of cilantro. Add your bowls of chicken, quinoa, and peanut sauce to the serving platter.
2. You can either pre-assemble the lettuce wraps or let your hungry folks assemble their own (my favorite method!). Start with the lettuce leaf, add a heaping Tbsp of cooked quinoa, a strip or two of chicken breast, sliced cucumber and carrots along with a couple sprigs of cilantro. Drizzle with prepared creamy peanut sauce and be prepared to love this.

Recipe from Allrecipes

Asian Ginger Dressing

Rated:  Submitted By: DIETER_WEBER Photo By: LynnInHK Prep Time: 9 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Minute Ready In: 10 Minutes Servings: 20

"Terrific salad dressing for all salads - especially great for use on cabbage salads. Everyone who has had the dressing wants the recipe."

INGREDIENTS:

3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root 3/4 cup olive oil 1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce 3 tablespoons honey 1/4 cup water

DIRECTIONS:

1.

In a 1 pint glass jar or larger, combine the garlic, ginger, olive oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and water. Cover the jar with a tight fitting lid, and shake well. Remove lid, and heat jar in the microwave for 1 minute just to dissolve the honey. Let cool, and shake well before serving. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Quick Lemon Meringue Pie

Crust:

Of course, you can make or buy a traditional pie crust. But to keep it quick (and because Reid doesn't really like pie crust) I just use melted butter and cookie crumbs. Here in Ghana you can buy yummy McVites Digestive Biscuits. They are easy to crumble and are delicious. Graham cracker or other cookie crumbs would work. I just crush about 1/2 or 2/3 cup crumbs (enough to cover the bottom (not sides) of a pie plate. Then I melt enough butter for the crumbs to begin to stick together - maybe about 2 tablespoons. I pat the crumbs in the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate. This is done quickly and without precision (as you can see). I wonder if you could even use whole cookies cut to fit the bottom of the pie pan. The purpose here is fast and easy!

Lemon Filling:

4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (opt)

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.

Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue (instructions below) while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:

4 egg whites

1 pinch cream of tartar (opt - can't find it in Ghana)

2 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.