Country Cornbread

Country Cornbread

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 large eggs

1/4 cup cooking oil 

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, and grease the inside of a glass 8x8 baking dish to prevent the cornbread from sticking. (you can also use a cast iron skillet)

2. In a large bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, and oil.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients, and stir just until everything is combined. (don't over stir) 

5. Pour the batter into the baking dish, and bake for about 20 minutes. (or until the top and edges are golden brown)

Enjoy! 
 

{Instant Pot} Razorback Soup

{Instant Pot} Razorback Soup

2 pounds Italian sausage (or wild hog, like we used)

2 14.5 oz cans cannellini beans, drained

1 14.5 oz can carrots, drained

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 14.5 oz can collard greens, drained

1 large onion, chopped 

1 clove minced garlic 

4-6 cups chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon each of: salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder

1/4 teaspoon ground thyme 

1. Push the Saute button on the Instant Pot, and cook the sausage and chopped onion together. Cook until sausage is browned. 

2. Add all other ingredients, and stir to combine. 

3. After putting the lid on the Instant Pot, and making sure the valve is on sealing, push the Manual button on the Instant Pot. Set for 5 minutes. 

4. After the Instant Pot has finished cooking, release the pressure, and taste test to make sure you don't want to add any more of the above seasonings. You can also make this ahead of a meal, and leave it sitting on the 'Keep Warm' feature that the Instant Pot automatically goes to after it finishes cooking. 

Southern Style Dumplings

 

Southern Style Dumplings

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt 

2 heaping Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

1. Using a pastry blender, mix butter into 1 cup of flour and salt. (use grater to add butter)

2. Add 1/2 cup hot water, and 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour. Mix until a soft dough ball forms. (firm enough to roll out)

3. Divide dough into 2 balls, and let rest for 10 minutes. 

4. Flour a work surface. Roll out each dough ball. (thin like a pie crust)

5. Cut dough into strips 1 1/2 inches wide. Cut each strip into pieces approximately 2 - 3 inches long. 

6. Drop dumplings into hot boiling broth, and cook for 10 minutes. 

Garlic Cheddar Drop Biscuits

 

Garlic Cheddar Drop Biscuits

*Makes 12 biscuits 

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

*For the butter topping:

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. 

2. Mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, baking soda, and garlic powder. Cut in butter until crumbly. (I prefer to grate the butter, then cut it in)

3. Stir in milk and cheese.

4. Drop dough by heaping spoonful onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

5. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

6. While baking, combine the topping ingredients. 

7. Remove from oven, and let cool for 3 minutes before brushing with the butter topping. 

Enjoy!

{Thrice Favorites} Kale Chips

Jana here with a super easy recipe!  We grow kale in our garden, and this is one of our favorite ways to eat it. It is loaded with antioxidants, and a great source of vitamin C, A, and K.

These are SO light and crispy...it's hard to just eat a few!

Kale Chips

1 head of kale, or kale leaves from your garden
olive oil
salt

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

2. Remove the leaves from the thick stems, and tear the leaves into bite size pieces.

3. Lightly brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt.

4. Bake for 15 minutes, turning once halfway through.

Enjoy!

Curried Lentils

Jana here with a delicious way to cook lentils! We like to include lentils in our diet, because they are an inexpensive, healthy way to add fiber and protein!  I typically make these Curried Lentils as a side dish, along with a vegetable and chicken, but you could easily double the recipe and eat it as a soup as well. I was using green lentils for this recipe, but also buy red split lentils sometimes too. Either would work well with this.

Curried Lentils

1 cup dried lentils
2.5 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
1.5 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Combine the dried lentils and chicken broth in a medium size pot. Bring to a boil, then cook on low heat for 20-30 minutes.

2. Stir in the coconut milk, and spices until well combined. Cook on low heat for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

{Thrice Favorites} DIY Taco Seasoning

Jana here with a very versatile recipe - Homemade Taco Seasoning!   This is great for several reasons.  It is good make in a pinch if you were planning to use taco seasoning in a packet, but are out.  It is much cheaper to make it yourself, and healthier!  There is less salt than the packaged seasoning, and you know exactly what is in it!  I found this recipe at All Recipes. 

Homemade Taco Seasoning

3 tablespoons chili powder

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon onion powder

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients.  The measurements above will make about 9 tablespoons.  Two or three tablespoons of the mixture will be equal flavoring to a taco seasoning packet.  You can easily make more or less of this, to serve your needs.  I like to make at least this amount, and store it in an air-tight container so I have some on hand! 

Moana Hawaiian Meal for Monday Funday

Becca here with a fun idea for a meal to go along with the Disney movie Moana that is coming out on DVD next week.  To decide if it's one your family wants to view, my two favorite sites to read reviews on are Common Sense Media and Focus on the Family's Plugged In.  My husband and I have been able to visit Hawaii a few times, and I was excited to share a small part of this unique culture, with a quick and easy meal, with the kids as part of our "Monday Funday".

We started the meal off talking a bit about how pineapples grow.  We were using canned pineapple slices for this meal, but get fresh pineapple often enough that the kids know what one looks like.  However, they were all surprised to learn that pineapple doesn't grow on a tree!  This is a cool video by Dole, showing exactly how pineapples are grown.  The kids loved that our pineapple was Dole brand also ;)

Next, we talked about Hawaii being the 50th state added to the United States, when their grandparents were about their ages, in 1959.  Hawaii also is the only place on US soil that has a royal palace!!  After the kids' questions about the palace and royalty exceeded my previous knowledge, we skimmed this article and learned about the history of Hawaii's Monarchy being overthrown.  It's definitely not a cheerful history, but is a prime example of how money, power, and greed can lead to disastrous results.  The kids noticed and found it very interesting that the "Dole" name is also a key player in this story as well.

I tried to get a 'real' whole coconut, but Arkansas in February meant that I wasn't able to locate one.  So we ate dried coconut instead, and will save the cracking a whole coconut open experience for another day.

The final part of our meal was Spam Musubi.  If you haven't traveled to Hawaii, or aren't aware of their food culture, this might seem shocking or crazy!  However, as I was telling our kids, this modern quintessential Hawaiian dish is served everywhere; at the 7-11 gas stations, restaurants, and even the Sam's Club Cafe!  Spam's popularity rose during and after World War II, because it was shelf stable, and able to make the long journey to Hawaii without spoiling.  Some Hawaiian chefs in fine restaurants have included Spam on their menu.  I used short grain brown rice, cooked in my Instant Pot at 15 minutes on high pressure, and an onigiri rice mold to form the rice.  I just topped it with a small slice of Spam I had browned in a skillet, and wrapped the whole thing in a seaweed wrap.  I will say that I had several people that were very skeptical about the taste of the Spam Musubi, but everyone actually really thought it was tasty, and had seconds.  President Obama even made the news when he ordered Spam Musubi while golfing in Hawaii!

The natural next discussion was about the history of Spam, which was really quite interesting!

We ended the night watching Moana.  The movie was okay to me, but the graphics were really amazing, and that's not something I usually note or comment on.  The water and scenery were really beautiful!!

Let me know if you have a Moana Meal, and what your family thinks!! Enjoy!

{Instant Pot} Southwest Chicken Stew

Jana here with a new Instant Pot recipe that is really easy to prepare, and delicious!  I got inspiration for this here.

{Instant Pot} Southwest Chicken Stew

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2.5 cups chicken broth
1 can black beans (15 ounce), drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces)
1/2 cup quinoa
2 cups cubed chicken, uncooked (I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs...you can also use chicken breast)

1. Choose the Saute function on your Instant Pot, and add the oil to the stainless steel pot. Once this has warmed, add the diced sweet potato and onion. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring some, and then add the garlic. Cook for an additional minute.

2. Stir in the chicken broth, seasonings (chili powder, cumin, salt, black pepper, paprika), black beans, tomatoes, quinoa, and chicken. Stir to combine, then lock lid in place. Choose the Manual function, and set for 4 minutes. Once this has finished, let the steam release using Natural Release. (10 minutes)  If you want the stew to be less runny, either let it sit on the keep warm feature until you are ready to serve it (the quinoa will absorb the liquid as it sits), or turn on the saute feature for a few minutes, stirring constantly.

Enjoy!

{Thrice Favorites} Creamy Chicken Chili

Jana here with a recipe that the whole family absolutely loved!  Add a garden salad, and some whole wheat bread, and you have a delicious meal!  This is also made in the slow cooker, so it is very low maintenance, and easy to prep!  I found the recipe that I based this on here.  For a quick meal on a busy day, you will definitely want to try this!

Creamy Chicken Chili

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, undrained

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 package ranch dressing mix

1 teaspoon cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon cilantro

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

2 chicken breast halves, or 1 cup shredded chicken

1. Place the chicken in the bottom of your slow cooker.  Add beans, corn, and tomatoes on top. 

2. Add ranch mix and seasonings on top, and stir with the beans, corn, and tomatoes to combine.

3. Put the block of cream cheese on top of the mixture, and cover.

4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

5. Stir cream cheese in, and shred the chicken. (if you have used chicken breast halves)   Mix together, and serve.

Enjoy!