Turkey Soup

We cooked a turkey over the weekend, mainly to get it out of our freezer, but also because we had family in town and figured it would be best to cook it with a few extra eaters on hand. Even though it was "only" a 13-pounder, we have lots of leftovers.

I thrive on variety, so I've been attempting to find some good recipes for leftover turkey. I just can't handle the same thing more than about 2 days in a row! Also, thanks to a suggestion from the man of the house, I've started trying new recipes in manageable portions (due to some disappointing flops on a large scale...). This has been very helpful to me. I hate throwing food out, and I really hate throwing food out because I can't stomach it even though the recipe seemed promising!

Anyway, a friend gave me some homemade bread & recommended having it with soup, so I took her up on it! I found a recipe that suggested adding beef broth to turkey soup, so I tried that out, too.

I'm not a huge soup person, but I thought this was AMAZING!

I used some OLD cannery soup mix, mainly to try using it up, but you could alternately use rice or pasta (just decrease the cooking time by a lot!). In fact, with pasta, I would probably omit the first hour of simmering (below) and add noodles a few minutes after everything else.

Turkey Soup

1/2 cup LDS cannery soup mix (contains alphabet macaroni, rice, split peas, lentils, dehydrated onions) (Do they even sell this anymore? I can't find any information online.)
5 cups water
2 tsp chicken bouillon
1 tsp beef soup base
**Alternately, use chicken stock and beef stock and decrease water proportionately**
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 cup cubed cooked turkey
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dehydrated onions
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine soup mix, water, chicken bouillon and beef soup base in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until boiling.
2. Cover and reduce heat to maintain a simmer for about one hour.
3. Add celery, carrots, turkey, and spices. Cover and continue to simmer for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add additional water as needed if too much is boiling off, or if flavor of broth is too strong.
4. Remove bay leaf and serve with heavily buttered, warm homemade bread.

Lentil & Beef Sloppy Joes (& Cheesy Hamburger Buns)

The sloppy Joe: I hadn't had one in years, but one day browsing recipes I saw one for a lentil sloppy Joe. I was intrigued, and it kind of sounded good. I bookmarked it and came back to it a few weeks later. The original recipe I saw did not suit me, so I looked around a bit more and found this one which was a better match for what I had on hand.

You may notice that the recipe I followed calls for 1/2 cup ketchup. In an odd turn of events, we had used more of our ketchup than I had realized (although, honestly, I hate ketchup and didn't check before I started the recipe. When you dislike ketchup like I do you never dream you'll run out... I only use it in recipes, and the only other thing I've used it in that I can think of is meatloaf, maybe twice. We occasionally have hot dogs or other dishes that Thomas likes ketchup as a condiment on, but I really didn't think we'd have less than 1/2 cup!). Pondering possible substitutions, I came up with barbecue sauce or tomato sauce. I asked Thomas' opinion and we decided to try the barbecue sauce. It was a success! It added a really nice flavor and sweetness that I don't think it would have had otherwise. In the future I think I will always do half ketchup and half barbecue sauce.

Lentil & Beef Sloppy Joes

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 cup diced onion

1 small carrot, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup dried brown lentils

~1 cup water
1/4 tsp. oregano
8 ounces ground beef
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1. Sauté onion, carrot, bell pepper, and ketchup in vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat until vegetables are tender. Add garlic and continue to cook for about a minute.
2. Add lentils, oregano, and water. Boil about 5 minutes, then reduce heat and cover, simmering about 35 minutes. Check occasionally to ensure there is enough water. Add more water in 1/4 cup increments if necessary.
3. In the meantime, brown ground beef in a skillet. Drain off fat.
4. To ground beef, add Worcestershire sauce and barbecue sauce, stirring until combined.
5. Add fully cooked ground beef mixture to lentil mixture. Continue cooking until lentils are done.
6. Serve hot, on hamburger buns.

I don't keep hamburger buns around, so I made my own to go with my sloppy Joes. I used this recipe. They turned out pretty good, but I did goof up a little: where the recipe said to make 6 buns, I split my dough 6 ways and ended up with 6 buns, but they were such a funny shape I couldn't justify slicing them. The result was basically 6 bun halves. Which was fine, but they were kind of big and it would have been better to have 6 actual buns. So, if you want 6 buns, divide your dough 12 ways...

Cheesy Hamburger Buns

2 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup finely grated cheddar cheese

3/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast

4 Tbsp. softened butter

1 large egg

2/3-3/4 cup lukewarm water

1. Mix all ingredients until well combined, sticky, and gooey. Cover and let rise about an hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Divide dough (taking into account my advice above). Your dough will still be sticky. You can add a little bit of flour to make this process less messy. Place on baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper. Shape into small rounds. The original recipe uses a hamburger bun pan. I used a baking sheet, which resulted in misshapen buns, but it's what I had :o)
4. Let rise another 30-60 minutes, or longer if you have time.
5. Bake about 20 minutes.

Curried Chicken, Lentils & Rice

In an attempt to eat a healthier diet, I've been trying some new recipes lately. I was seeking lentil recipes when I came across this one. Although the original recipe is missing some information, I made some guesses and have come up with a dish that I like quite a bit.

The combination of spices in this turns out a pretty hot dish. I've played around with it a little (I think the ginger is what really gives it its kick, along with the chili flakes) but have not yet successfully toned it down (I have only made it about 3 times). So, if you don't like spicy, you might want to skip this recipe.

Curried Chicken, Lentils & Rice

2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion (I've used a handful of dehydrated onion)
1 Tbsp. curry powder
1 Tbsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 cup brown lentils
3/4 cup rice (I've used long-grain white rice; the original recipe suggests Basmati, I bet brown rice would be pretty good)
1/2 cup minced carrot (I've used a small handful of dehydrated carrots)
1/4 tsp. red chili flakes
2 cups chicken broth/bouillon
~1 lb. chicken breast, cut to about 1" cubes
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 cups chopped fresh spinach leaves (optional; it's good with it, but if you don't have spinach, it's fine without)

1. Combine olive oil, onion, curry powder, ginger and cumin in a saucepan. Sauté on medium-high heat 4-5 minutes until onions are transparent. 
2. Add the lentils, rice, carrot, and red chili flakes, stirring to coat with spice mixture. Pour in chicken broth. Turn heat down, cover, and simmer about 15 minutes. Check occasionally to be sure it is not dry; you can add water about 1/4 cup at a time if it looks too dry.
3. In the meantime, stir-fry chicken cubes in a separate pan with a little bit of oil until cooked through. Season to taste with salt, pepper, perhaps some garlic powder.
4. Add cooked chicken and lemon juice to saucepan with rice and lentil mixture. Cook another 5-10 minutes, covered, until rice and lentils are done.
5. Remove from heat; stir in chopped spinach leaves. Cover and let sit 5-10 minutes, until spinach has wilted.
6. Serve hot. The original recipe calls for serving with a minted yogurt garnish.

Chop Suey

Almost two years ago, when I met Thomas' sister Elizabeth and her family for the first time, she and her husband, Saki, prepared a meal of chop suey for us to enjoy. It was delicious! We tried the recipe they shared recently, and although I didn't make it as well as they did, it is worth sharing!

Chop Suey
garlic
ginger
oil
meat (optional)
various vegetables, sliced/shredded: shredded carrots, bok choy, mushrooms, peppers, celery, or broccoli slaw, for example. We also used zucchini.
soy sauce
rice, ramen noodles, or rice noodles (hard to find... but inexpensive at WinCo)

1. Sautée some garlic and ginger in some oil. Add meat if using meat, and a bit of soy sauce.
2. Add in vegetables and more soy sauce, oil, garlic, and ginger to taste.
3. Cook until veggies are heated but still crunch.
4. Serve with/over prepared rice, ramen noodles (sans seasoning), or rice noodles. The rice noodles we used were very thin and stringy; Elizabeth and Saki had some fatter-looking noodles that I liked better when we had them... Use what suits you!

Grandma Lee's Chicken & Dumplings

While living at home, it was not uncommon (especially for my younger sister's birthday) for my mother to put a chicken in the slow cooker and make dumplings for dinner. She used a recipe that her mother, my grandmother Lillie Lee, used.

My grandparents were originally from Missouri. They moved to California in the 1940s and that is where my mother was born. My grandparents stuck to their southern cooking styles - fried chicken was one of my grandma's favorite foods, and my grandpa loved beans.

We enjoyed this yummy meal with some friends recently. We hope you like it, too!

Grigsbys & Bradshaws

Chicken...
1 whole chicken
1 slow-cooker/crockpot
spices : sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper
enough water to cover the chicken in your crockpot

1. Thaw chicken, if it is frozen (preferably in the fridge for about 2 days). Remove it from its packaging and rinse it. You will probably have to remove the neck and giblets from the breast hollow.
2. Place chicken in slow-cooker. Season with a lot of sage, then with rosemary and thyme to taste. Add some salt and pepper. (You can add quite a bit of salt, because you will add a lot of water)
3. Add water until chicken is covered or nearly covered.
4. Slow-cook until done; it took about 5-6 hours for ours.
5. Once cooked, remove most/all of the broth, placing broth in a pot that can be placed on the stovetop. You can take your chicken apart at this point, for ease in serving.

chicken

spices

cooked chicken

...& Dumplings
2 cups flour
1 egg
1 tsp salt
water
flour for rolling out dough

1. Combine ingredients.
2. Add water "'til it looks right" - you will want to end up with a thick, sticky dough.
3. Pour dough out onto a flat, floured surface. You will want quite a bit of flour. Roll out your dough to about 1/4" thickness.
4. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into strips and then into squares about 2" * 2".
5. Boil chicken broth on the stove, and once at a rolling boil, add dumplings a few at a time. If you add too many, they will clump together.
6. They will all be ready for you to eat after a few minutes of cooking.

We usually used a slotted spoon to remove the dumplings from the broth and served them up with the chicken. The broth does not keep very well, as a lot of the flour from the dumplings is left inside.

removing broth from original location (crockpot)

dry ingredients

adding water

this is about the right consistency

dough, amply floured and ready to roll out

cutting dumplings into squares

dropping dumplings into boiling broth

cooked dumplings

My family's favorite side dish with this meal is something Thomas has recently termed "carrotized honey." It is cooked carrots, with honey added to make them even sweeter.

Carrots with Honey
fresh carrots, we used 4
a pad of butter (approx. 1 Tbsp)
about 2 Tbsp honey

1. Cut carrots into bite-sized pieces and boil until tender.
2. Drain water from carrots.
3. Add butter and honey to carrots and serve.

carrots with honey

 oxox

American Chinese Food : Part II

Earlier this summer when we were under the weather, Thomas made a yummy egg-drop-style soup for dinner one night. Recently, he decided to re-create it with some tips from a recipe he found online. We took photos so we could share it with you!

Egg Drop Soup

about 3 cups of chicken broth (we used water with bouillon cubes)
2 eggs
ginger
rosemary
cornstarch
frozen vegetables (or fresh, of your choice)

1. Bring broth to a boil.
2. Scramble eggs. Add them to boiling broth, while stirring. The eggs will begin to coagulate, and the stirring will ensure they break apart. Turn down the temperature so your soup is simmering.
3. Add spices to your liking. Ginger will add a Chinese-food taste. Thomas has also added rosemary. We like rosemary a lot. I like the flavor it adds to this. You can also add a small bit of soy sauce, and perhaps some garlic powder.
4. Stir in a few teaspoons of cornstarch to thicken soup.
5. Add vegetables. We just added some frozen mixed vegetables - the kind with corn, carrots, green beans, and peas. Cook till these are no longer frozen/fresh vegetables are tender.
6. Serve and enjoy!

We ate ours with some chicken & veggie stir-fry on rice.

oxox

Carrot Cake

 

This was introduced to Thomas by a missionary roommate and adapted to U.S. specifications. It's been much enjoyed by many a person, but the most devout connoisseur would be my brother-in-law, Saki (blog).

Carrot Cake

Cake
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1 C oil
4 eggs
2 C flour
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 t cinnamon
3 C shredded carrots (about 3 large carrots)

1. Mix sugar, oil, and eggs together.
2. Add dry ingredients and then carrots.
3. Pour into a 9x13 pan.
4. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 350°F.

Frosting
1/2 C soft butter
8 oz. cream cheese
2 C powdered sugar
vanilla

1. Beat soft (but not melted) butter and cream cheese together.
2. Mix in vanilla and powdered sugar.
3. Spread on cooled cake.
4. Chill the tempting delicacy in the fridge.

David G., Lisa's friend's husband (the couple with which we had dinner a couple weeks ago) enjoying our carrot cake

American Chinese Food: It's What's For Dinner

We are proud to present, after a few weeks' hiatus, a delightful meal that we highly recommend to our readers: Fried rice with homemade egg rolls. This is even good for leftovers and quite cheap, so make plenty and save money.

Homemade Egg Rolls (makes 24)

Wrapper Ingredients
2 C flour
1 egg
1t salt
1/2 C ice water

1. Pour flour into a bowl.
2. Beat egg and salt in a second bowl. Mix 1/4 C ice water into egg mixture.
3. Add egg mixture to flour along with the remainder of ice water. Mix thoroughly.
4. Knead dough for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth.
5. Cover the dough and let sit for 30 minutes (you can work on the egg roll innards while waiting).
6. Knead the dough briefly, then divide into 24 equal parts.
7. Roll each part into 3 to 4 inch squares.
8. Stack them with a thin dusting of cornstarch between to prevent them from sticking.

Egg rolls
24 egg roll wrappers
1/2 head of cabbage, in small pieces
10-15 baby carrots, grated
2 chicken breasts, diced
pepper
salt
garlic powder
ginger
soy sauce
oil

1. Fry chicken in oil along with pepper, salt, garlic powder, ginger, and soy sauce.
2. Mix the cabbage and carrots in a bowl.
3. Lay out wrapper. Fill it with about two spoons of vegetables and a few pieces of chicken, then wrap it up.
4. Fry each egg roll in oil, using tongs to turn and remove them as they begin to brown. Don't cook them beyond a golden brown.

Fried Rice
rice
2-3 eggs
peas
soy sauce

1. Cook rice as normal.
2. Begin to fry rice. Add copious amounts of soy sauce.
3. Mix in eggs and peas.
4. Let simmer for a few minutes.

There you have it: a simple yet delightful meal. Bon appetit!