Egg Drop Soup – sooo easy and yummy – light too

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Grandma
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I love noodles – of all kind. And chicken soup is soothing – still cannot find proof that it helps ( empirical proof that is) – just the goodness of the way I feel when I eat it! And that is enough for me! Here is a picture of one of our farm grown eggs – with a little quail egg which is the speckled one there too. About 6 of them with salad is my preferred low calorie lunch. Yum!Eggs and quail eggs broken

Egg Drop Chicken Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 (16 ounce) can chicken broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, or to taste
  • 1/4 cup finely broken udon noodles
  • 2 teaspoons water
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch (optional)
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • sea salt to taste
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Combine chicken broth, soy sauce, and sesame oil together in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Stir udon pieces into broth and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through but are still firm to the bite, 10 to 12 minutes.
  2. Whisk water and cornstarch together in a bowl. Whisk cornstarch mixture into broth mixture until smooth and thickened slightly. Gradually pour in eggs, stirring gently and constantly, until eggs are wispy and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
  3. Be careful to keep stirring the soup while you add the egg or it will clump up. Stir briskly if you’re worried about this. Over-stirring is not as much of a problem as under stirring.

 

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Beef Barley Soup – Ina Garten Style with Little Farm Modifications

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Grandma
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My husband loves Beef Barley soup especially on a cold day. Here is a great recipe from Ina Garten – with a few modifications.

Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon good olive oil
  • 2 pounds beef oxtails
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper ( we go light on the pepper)
  • 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)
  • 2 cups (1/2-inch) diced carrots (4 carrots)
  • 1 cup chopped yellow onion
  • 1 cup (1/2-inch) diced celery (2 stalks)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 10 cups  beef broth made from Better than Bouillon
  • 1 cup pearled barley

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the oxtails, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until browned all over. Remove the oxtails with a slotted spoon and reserve.

Add the leeks, carrots, onion, celery, and garlic to the fat in the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the vegetables start to brown. Tie the thyme sprigs together with kitchen string and add to the pot along with the bay leaves. Return the oxtails to the pot and add the broth, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Discard the thyme bundle and the bay leaves, and skim off the fat.

Meanwhile, bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add the barley. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, drain, and set aside.

When the soup is ready, add the barley and cook the soup for another 15 or 20 minutes, until the barley is tender. Depending on the saltiness of the saltiness of the broth adjust seasoning.

Serve hot, with or without the oxtails. We love the bones and the meat that comes off it . It also makes the soup more filling. This is definitely a one course meal.

Oxtail raw

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Claire Finkel’s Cranberry Chicken

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Grandma
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The amazing mom ( now in her nineties) of one of our dear friends makes this chicken and her kids do too. Yummy and so easy!

Claire Finkel’s Cranberry Chicken

 

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken breasts ( I mixed thighs and breasts – and use skinless and boneless – they reduce to quite small so you might want to double this)
  • One can whole fruit cranberry sauce
  • Juice of one lemon ( I used Meyer lemon as we grow them)
  • I packet of Lipton onion soup

Directions

  1. Combine Chicken breasts whole fruit cranberry sauce one can and I packet Lipton onion soup and lemon juice
  2. Mix all put some mixture on bottom and then chicken breasts on top then sauce on top
  3. Bake 350 for 25 min
  4. Serve with steamed rice ( cook in a rice cooker – so easy)
  5. This is a great dish to cook with your children as they can mix all the ingredients together easily. YUM!

Chicken thighs raw skinless

More lemons

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A new way to do Cauliflower and Broccoli – so that kids will LOVE them!

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Grandma
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These tend not to be favorite vegetables although when they are cooked as below – they become really delightful and our grandsons love them! Give it a try! I have included some lower calorie options for you below – after all it is that time of year when we long for summer and think swimsuits…. BTW  for a change you could also add a little curry and turmeric to the cheese – for a more exotic taste.

Roasted cauliflower or broccoli 
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 3 tbsp olive oil ( use spray and only 1 tbsp)
  •  1 large head cauliflower, separated into florets ( or broccoli !
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (use less maybe half of this for less calories )
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease a large casserole dish.
  2. Place the olive oil and garlic in a large resealable bag. Add cauliflower, and shake to mix. Pour into the prepared casserole dish, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
  3.  Bake for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through.
  4. Top with Parmesan cheese and parsley, and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown.
We grow our own vegetables – here they are below. Yellow cauliflower and broccoli and broccolini.
Broccoli and Cauliflower LF
And even as a 3 year old – our one grandson LOVED his broccoli and green beans!
Jonah beans Broccoli
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Went to a lovely wedding of dear friends – the best organized wedding I have attended in a while!

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Grandma
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Kay and John married – surrounded by grandkids, children, siblings and friends – what a gorgeous wedding. Exactly as one would dream about!

Kay Napier and John Zanotti Wedding picture Jan 3 2016

And now as we hope and wait for rain – here is a great rainy day recipe! Enjoy – this recipe is for two people  since we are empty nesters – and works well in a slow cooker or even in the oven

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Brown beef in butter over medium heat.
  2. Add onions; cook until lightly browned.
  3. Sprinkle with flour and salt.
  4. Gradually add water and apple juice.
  5. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
  6. Place the bay leaf, allspice, and clove in a cheesecloth bag; add to slow cooker ( or pot).
  7. Turn to high  if you want to eat in 4 hours and low if you want to eat in 6-8 hours, cover and cook in the slow cooker until meat is almost tender.
  8. Add carrots and apples; cover and cook until meat, carrots, and apples are tender. This will probably be about 3/4 way through the cooking process.
  9. Discard spice bag and thicken with additional flour if desired.

 

And here is the stew BEFORE the carrots and apples are added

Beef Stew

Apples

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Trifle – South African Little Farm Style – yum!

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Grandma
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A dessert that is easy but fabulous is English Trifle. But our South African version with some Little Farm Additions is quite unique. So toss whatever recipe you have seen in the past and use this one! Note this is not for kids as there is quite a lot of liquor in it – of course you can leave that out if you like – its still yummy.

English Trifle South African Little Farm Style

Ingredients

  • 2 Sara Lee Pound Cakes – cut into fairly thick slices – then into half again
  • Bird’s Custard Powder – the instructions on the packet make a fairly thin custard – you want to THICK custard. So use 2 pints of milk plus DOUBLE the amount of custard and sugar ( ie 4 tbsp of powder and 4 tbsp of sugar per 1 pint of milk) You can adjust as needed to make it thinner if you wish.
  • Cream – heavy whipping cream – I used ¾ pint – and added 4 tbsp of sugar to make it sweet. Whip till stiff but watch out that it does not become butter!
  • Strawberries – 1 lb – half slice into two and half keep for decoration.
  • Kiwi’s 8 – peeled – cut all into thick slices
  • Almond Amaretti Cookies  – put 12 into a plastic bag and hammer them until they become crumbs. I use cookies that have nuts in them. You could use your favorite biscotti if you like- I use ones from Crete that have nuts in them.
  • Amaretto Liquor   – half a cup ( more or less to your taste)
  • Apricot jam – ½ cup
  • Another jam ( I use Melon Ginger jam which I bought from The African Hut) commonly used in South Africa – ½ cup

Directions:

  1. Smear the jam onto the cut cake half with apricot and half with the other jam you use.
  2. Place the pieces into the bottom of a glass cake dish ( see the picture below) and then drizzle some liquor over the cake, then add a layer of cool custard ( since the hot custard will crack your glass dish!) and then place the layer of fruit – I put kiwis around the glass dish on top of the sides of the cake so that they can be seen through the glass  – then put a layer of cream – then more cake ( with the different jam) then the custard then the strawberries around the side ‘ looking out’’ so they can also be seen – then another drizzle of liquor then more custard then cream – then a layer of crushed almond amaretto cookies and more liquor – and then repeat the layers one more time if you have enough room in the dish.
  3. Finally end with the whipped cream and at the last moment decorate with slices of kiwi, and crushed cookies.
  4. READY TO SERVE!!! Here mine is without the final layer of cream – which I waited until the last moment to do

Trifle 2015

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Getting ready for a great 2016

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Grandma
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How are you preparing for a great 2016? More time with family? With friends? Doing exercise? Eating right? Sigh. So many resolutions. Small steps seem to work best – one day at a time? I always set such high standards for myself that it is hard to ‘get there’. As I get older I am learning to set smaller goals, longer times within which to see success and patience – not my best quality.

Here is a really super recipe for getting the body back into shape – provided to me by my trainer Michael Cavalieri. It works – fish and vegetables – that is it! And in the mornings – juice up one piece of fruit with greens ( spinach, kale, a teeny bit of raw ginger, water and half an apple) and drink that down daily. In addition 8 glasses of water along with eating something ( hard boiled egg – no cheese or dairy, no more than one fruit a day) every two hours.  Tough to start – but you could have a different fish each day – salmon, sea bass, scallops, tuna ( no oil or mayo), sole, shrimp, whitefish, tilapia and so on.

My favorite way to cook salmon is as follows:

Ingredients

8 ounces of salmon filet ( for two people)

1 meyer lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

Ground pepper

Directions

Put the salmon into a chafing dish, squeeze half the lemon onto it, season with pepper ( lemon pepper is even better) and sprinkle with olive oil – place into the oven at 350 for 20 minutes ( or less if you life your salmon rare) – and eat with steamed spinach, green beans or broccoli that you have roasted in the oven with lemon pepper on it along with Pam Olive Oil Spray.

This is a low calorie high satisfaction dinner – due to the addition of the olive oil and the richness of the salmon. And you will feel VIRTUOUS as well !

Enjoy!

SalmonMore lemons

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So wonderful to give back – here is our Larraine Segil Scholars Family Holiday Party – parents, children and siblings of many of our 13 scholars joined us

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Grandma
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We are so blessed to have these outstanding young women in our lives – and here they joined together for a holiday party at The Little Farm – it was such fun! Our son James and daughter in law Donne and our four grandsons were with us – you can see middle grandson Jonah has his hand on my head – so adorable how he and his older brother Jack are hugging! We had a bouncy and there was swimming and farm tours, tasting of farm products and goody bags and gifts for everyone to take home. We missed the presence of some of our scholars who were away and the two young ladies Georgia and Chantel,  who live in Johannesburg and just received our first two Kingsmead High School scholarships – but most of the LA group were with us – Denver based Jacqueline flew in and was joined by four of her six adult children and a friend. Hindi was there with her five boys and husband ( another boy on the way!) and Lauren with her husband to be – and her two children and one on the way. Phoebe brought her adorable daughter as did Linda. Meredith introduced us to her fiance and Mehrnaz joined us in between studying for finals and more.  We were a happy bunch!

2015 Holiday party at the little farm 2

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Apple Mincemeat Crumble – a very English dessert

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Grandma
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Apple and mincemeat crumble (4- 6)

 This is an English Recipe from my sister so I have kept the UK measurements and put the USA ones next to them.

Ingredients:

  • 500 g sliced cooking apples  ( 1.1 lbs)
  • 150 g mincemeat ( 6 ounces) I bought this from THE AFRICAN HUT ( online store with all sorts of goodies from the UK and the colonies!)
  • 2 tbl sugar
  • 2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
  • 1 teaspoon butter
  • ½ teaspoon ground mixed spice ( I made this up – see the recipe below – it may be too spicy for American tastes so do not use too much – maybe one tablespoon is enough and keep the rest in an airtight bag labeled in the pantry for the next time)
  • 2 tbl brandy

 Directions:

Cook apples in enough water to cover for 10 – 12 minutes until cooked but firm.  Drain well or the end result will be too juicy – my result was that way as you can see from the picture. The water is good to drink – apple water!  Heat oven to 400°F.  Grease a medium sized baking dish with the butter.  Set aside.  Mix apples, mincemeat, 1 tsp of the rind, mixed spice and brandy.  Place in baking dish.

Mixed Spices:

Ingredients.

Here is a typical blend of spices used to make mixed spice –

1 Tbs ground allspice.

1 Tbs ground cinnamon.

1 Tbs ground nutmeg.

2 tsp ground mace.

1 tsp ground cloves.

1 tsp ground coriander.

1 tsp ground Ginger.

Directions:

Mix them all together.

Topping

Ingredients:

  •  180 g ( 6.5 ounces)  sifted flour
  • 90 g (3.1 ounces) butter
  • 100 g  (3.5 ounces) sugar
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
  • ½ teaspoons ground mixed spice

Directions:

Pulse flour and butter until like coarse bread crumbs.  Stir in sugar, lemon rind, mixed spices and mix until blended.  Spoon over apple mixture spreading out evenly.  Bake for 30 – 40 minutes till brown and crisp. It is best served with icecream or ( if you are saving calories) Cool whip!

Apple Mincemeat Crumble Dec 2015

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Cooking for the cold weather – yummy stews in the slow cooker!

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Grandma
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Beef Stew in the Slow Cooker

    • 4 medium potatoes , cut into quarters (4 cups)
    • 2 cups fresh OR frozen whole baby carrots
    • 1 stalk celery , cut into 1″ pieces
    • 1 medium Italian plum tomato , diced
    • 2 1/2 lb. beef bottom round roast or beef chuck pot roast
    • 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
    • 1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Campbell’s® Condensed Tomato Soup
    • 1/2 cup water
    • 1 tbsp. chopped roasted garlic * or 1 tbsp. garlic
    • 1 tsp. each dried basil leaves , dried oregano leaves and dried parsley flakes, crushed
    • 1 tsp. vinegar

Directions

  1. PLACE potatoes, carrots, celery and tomato in 3 1/2-qt. slow cooker. Season roast with pepper and place on top.
  2. MIX soup, water, pepper, garlic, basil, oregano, parsley and vinegar. Pour over all.
  3. COVER and cook on LOW 10 to 12 hr. or until done.**
  4. TIP: For thicker gravy, mix 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup water. Remove roast from cooker. Stir flour mixture into cooker, cover and cook on HIGH about 10 min. or until mixture boils and thickens.
  5. *To roast garlic, place whole garlic bulb on piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with vegetable oil and wrap. Roast at 350°F. for 45 min. or until soft. Peel and chop garlic.
  6. **Or on HIGH 5 to 6 hr.

Here is a picture from Campbell Soup’s library – it looks as good as it tastes!

Campbells Kitchen Pot Roast

 

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I promised the grandkids that I would bake each of them a cake – what fun we had! Paw Patrol, Spiderman, Batman & Ninjas!

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Grandma
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The Segil Bakeoff! A sugar high for about 3 days! WHOOPIE! You can see that much of the chocolate frosting missed the cake and went into little mouths. But that is what being at Grandma’s house is all about right?? We have lots of healthy food most of the time but holidays are exceptions…….paying the price for it today but it was worth every mouthful!

Jack jonah and Noah with Granda and paw patrol cake 2015 Noah Gabe Jonah and Grandma THanksgiving bake session 2015 Gabe and his finished Spiderman cake 2015 Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving 2015 at The Little Farm – more pics – my husband loved the food – so did everyone else! My favorite holiday!

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Grandma
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Thanksgiving day involved a lot of cooking and tons of food – appreciated by all!

Here is my husband – and the quote that our son put to this montage – we laughed a lot!

“My father’s three stages of Thanksgiving feasting. Stage 1 (left frame): fill your plate with three layers of food. Stage 2 (top right frame): eat without stopping, breathing or distraction. Stage 3 (bottom right): get ready for seconds while admiring your empty plate like a lion who ate a gazelle. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!” 

12276758_483587595147379_1148611151_n

 

 

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Love the holidays – The So Cal Committee of 200 Scholars at The Little Farm to Celebrate the holidays

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Grandma
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Joy is family togetherness. And this holiday season we have much to pray for and much to be thankful for.

Living with fear is debilitating – and many around our world are doing that. I feel it when I think about how I want to protect our family and friends from crazies. I feel it when I think of the illness, cancer, that lives ( and will hopefully disappear soon) from members of our family. And I feel it when I think of how fragile and vulnerable our peaceful free America is.

So I push it out of my mind because all we have is the moment and that should not be marred by fear.

So this last week has been one of celebration – first our Committee of 200 Scholars whom I hosted at my home for a holiday brunch. The conversation is always stimulating as we learn from each other and celebrate the evolving success in their careers – also discussing areas where we can help each other. A wonderful group – here some of them are with the youngest honorary member Zara who is nearly 2, and rescue dog Goldie!

C200 SCholars holiday brunch 2015 LIttle Farm

 

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Larraine Segil Scholars and families 2015 holiday party – such fun!

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Grandma
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On the weekend before Thanksgiving we also held a holiday party that I created for my personal Larraine Segil Scholars ( LSS GROUP) and their families – at our Little Farm – with a bouncy ( of course, for the little ones) , lots of snacks and gift bags for everyone. My son and daughter in law and our grandkids joined the fun – it was a truly fabulous time to relax and the weather was wonderful – lucky us!

2015 Holiday Party at The Little Farm

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EY are in the forefront of bringing about Gender Parity – keeping the discussion and change actions going!

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Grandma
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The panel that our son James and I were on at EY with EY leadership and Charlotte Guyman, Board member on Berkshire Hathaway,  has caused a stir! Thanks to EY who keep this conversation and change actions going! The last post had an incorrect link – here is the correct one! Thanks to Lisa Schiffman of EY for correcting!

http://www.ey.com/US/en/Services/Strategic-Growth-Markets/Strategic-Growth-Forum-EVTD-USDD-9W7KBC#4611829355001

 

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Bread making – what joy! Here is the recipe for family togetherness – don’t only break bread – make bread!

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Grandma
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I know a few posts ago I told you about making bread with the grandchildren – well I finally got the video to work and wanted to share it with you. Such fun – and I could not be happier!

Challah 2

Making bread is really easy – and so fulfilling. Here is the best recipe I have ever had for Challah ( egg bread):

  • 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup honey or 1/2 cup of sugar
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds (optional) ( our children do not like them but we do!)

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over barely warm water. Beat in honey, oil, 2 eggs, and salt. Add the flour one cup at a time, beating after each addition, graduating to kneading with hands as dough thickens. This is great fun for the children as they call out the numbers of the cups as we add them.
  2. Knead until smooth and elastic and no longer sticky, adding flour as needed. This is where the REAL FUN comes in – the dough benefits from lots of kneading and as you can see from the video its a giggle for all of us.
  3. Cover with a damp clean cloth and let rise for 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in bulk.
  4. Punch down the risen dough and turn out onto floured board.
  5. Divide in half and knead each half for five minutes or so, adding flour as needed to keep from getting sticky.
  6. Divide each half into thirds and roll into long snake about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Pinch the ends of the three snakes together firmly and braid from middle. Either leave as braid or form into a round braided loaf by bringing ends together, curving braid into a circle, pinch ends together. Each of my grandsons had his own ball and divided the ball into three and learned how to braid the bread
  7. Grease two baking trays and place finished braid or round on each. Cover with towel and let rise about one hour.
  8. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  9. Beat the remaining egg and brush a generous amount over each braid. Sprinkle with poppy seeds if desired.
  10. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 40 minutes. Bread should have a nice hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Cool on a rack for at least one hour before slicing.
  11. YUMMY YUM YUM
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Had an amazing experience at EY Entrepreneur of the Year Strategic Growth Forum 2015

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Grandma
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I had the privilege to serve on a panel on Gender Equity and Parity with Charlotte Guyman, Director on Berkshire Hathaway, as well as Stephen Howe Chairman and Managing Partner EY USA and Uschi Schreiber Global Vice Chair Markets EY – and most remarkably, our son James. It was the first time a mother and son were on an EY panel together and certainly the first time when not from the same company. It was a magical moment – both because of the topic which is dear to my heart, and which all members of the panel have shown leadership in, and because I am so very proud of our son and his accomplishments. How blessed we are. Note there are two clips – one with James speaking and one with me speaking along with Charlotte, Stephen and Uschi.

http://www.ey.com/US/en/Services/Strategic-Growth-Markets/Strategic-Growth-Forum-EVTD-USDD-9W7KBC

We also had a really fun time! EY certainly know how to throw a party for thousands of CEO’s and families – amazing on every level!

Jame Clive and larraine at EY SGF 2015

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Weird but worth trying! Banana Tea!

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Grandma
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I tried this – and it tasted good – and has no calories I LOVE bananas – we grow them – but they are pretty high in calories if you have more than one.

This tea is supposed to help you sleep. I have no trouble sleeping so do not know if it helped or not but it sure was tasty. If you must ( adds calories) you could add one tbsp of brown sugar but it really does not need it.

Banana Tea ( only use ORGANIC BANANAS as there are no pesticides on them)

  1. Boil water. Cut off both ends of banana and place in water. Boil for about 10 minutes.
  2. Pour water through colander and into mug. Drink one hour before bed.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can also eat the banana and its peel an hour before bed. For an extra flavor kick, sprinkle with cinnamon.

Below are just some of our crop of bananas – yummy!

Bananas Little farm 2015

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Halloween is always such fun! This year was no different – just better! And a quick slow cooker vegetarian recipe!

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Grandma
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The grand-kids start preparing weeks in advance – such excitement! Here they are – and of course we got into it too. Last year we were Mustard and Ketchup – this year we were – (what else!) Hot Dog and Cheeseburger! Here are the four boys ( cops and wild man  Jack in mask with robber parents)

James Donne Jack Jonah NOah Gabe Halloween Oct 2015

Are these two so cute or what?

Noah and Gabriel Halloween 2015

Slow Cooker Curried Vegetables on Couscous  – beyond easy!

Ingredients

  • 4 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled baking potato (about 1 1/2 pounds)
  • 4 cups cubed tomato (about 1 1/2 pounds) ( we grow our own but you could use canned tomatoes in puree if you wish)
  • 1 cup chopped onion ( I like white sweet onions)
  • 1 cup (1/4-inch) diagonally cut carrot ( I like the baby ones as they are sweeter)
  • 2 tablespoons curry powder
  • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper ( we leave this out as we do not like spicy stuff)
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained (  I do not like chickpeas so I exchange beans red or white or black for this)
  • 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 4 green onion tops, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 3 cups hot cooked couscous
  • 6 tablespoons mango chutney ( we make our own)
  • 6 tablespoons raisins
  • 6 tablespoons plain fat-free yogurt ( we make our own from our goats milk)

Mango from Little Farm

Above mango from The Little Farm

Preparation

  1. Place potato in a 4-quart electric slow cooker. Combine tomato and next 9 ingredients (through garlic) in a bowl; stir well. Spoon over potato. Cover and cook on LOW for 9 hours. Stir in cilantro and green onions. Serve over couscous; top with chutney, raisins, and yogurt.
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Getting cooler – time to bring out the Slow Cooker! And making bread with the grandsons!

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Grandma
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I LOVE making bread with my grandsons –  such fun kneading it just a few Fridays ago! Lucky me! Fortunately throwing the dough around to pick up the pieces helps it taste even better! Clean hands for all little boys and Grandma are essential of course before starting!Challah for shabbatRound challah

And a great slow cooker recipe – easy and gooyd for this time of year. We leave off the red pepper as we do not like spicy stuff – but dont have to!

Slow Cooker Turkey and Oranges

Ingredients

  • 3 cups thinly sliced red onion (1 large onion)
  • 3/4 cup riesling or other slightly sweet white wine
  • 2/3 cup fresh orange juice (2 large oranges)
  • 1/3 cup orange marmalade ( we make our own)
  • 2 teaspoons tamarind paste ( most specialty markets have this but if you cannot find it you could leave it out)
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (we leave this out)
  • 3 3/4 pounds bone-in turkey thighs, skinned ( only organic of course)
  • 2 teaspoons five-spice powder ( Chinese spice – most markets have it)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 cups fresh Satsuma mandarin orange sections (about 7 oranges) (If you cannot find Satsuma – you can use any other sweet oranges you have – we love the small clementines which we grow that are divinely sweet – below are navels)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • Sliced green onions (optional)

Oranges

Preparation

  1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a 5-quart oval electric slow cooker.
  2. Rinse turkey with cold water; pat dry. Sprinkle turkey with five-spice powder and salt. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add turkey; cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Place turkey in a single layer over onion mixture in slow cooker, overlapping slightly. Add orange sections. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.
  3. Remove turkey from slow cooker. Remove bones from turkey; discard bones. Place turkey on a platter. Pour cooking liquid and orange sections into a medium saucepan, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Combine reserved cooking liquid and cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Stir cornstarch mixture into orange mixture in saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute or until sauce thickens.
  4. Serve sauce over turkey. Sprinkle with green onions, if desired.

 

 

 

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Posted in Blog, Fruit, Jams, Poultry, Recipes, Recipes to Make with Children, Slow Cooker | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment