Alfresco Chicken Sausages Recipe, Stirfry

Pretty and Delicious

Thank you so much to all who responded to yesterday's prayer request. I will keep you posted when there are any updates to share.

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I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. Yesterday we went to look for the new front door to the addition. (Not that the addition is built yet, of course, but just planning ahead). Every door I was looking at (with sidelight) was about $1200 minimum. Are you kidding? When did doors get to be so expensive?? And besides that, there will be so many expenses by the time you add new refrigerator and dishwasher and stove (and that's just for the kitchen) that we pared down our expectations a bit and purchased a lovely door that was on sale for $289.00. The glass in the door reminds me of the Prairie style - Craftsman. I'm not an expert on these things, so there probably is a real name for it. No side light, but there will be so much light coming in from patio doors that it really doesn't matter.  And, we got it home without breaking it - which is always a plus.

On with the show, this is it ♫

This is a variation on a theme -  Angela's breakfast. Not exactly like hers, but enough so that it should have her name attached. It's one of my favorite meals, but I never eat it at breakfast. I like it better at dinnertime.

Angela's Breakfast, Alfresco Chicken Sausages & Veggies Recipe:  (Spicy Jalapeno and Sundried Tomato are my 2 favorites)

Flowering Kale (I raised this stuff a couple years ago as an ornamental plant in my flower garden. I had no idea it was edible!)

Black Beans, rinsed and drained

Alfresco brand gluten-free chicken sausages (all are good), pkg. of 4, thinly sliced

Onion, 1, chopped

Garlic, 1 clove, minced

Parsnip, pared and diced

Sweet potato, pared and diced

In a couple T. olive oil in a large skillet, brown the chicken sausages along with the garlic and onion. Lift sausages from oil and set aside for now.

In a steamer, steam parsnip and sweet potato for just a couple minutes.

Place parsnips, sweet potato, and chicken sausage mixture back into the main skillet. Add flowering kale, rinsed black beans. 

Sprinkle with a little salt and cayenne. Stirfry until everything is thoroughly hot and kale is slightly wilted.

Let me know if you love it! :-)

Hope you had a great Labor Day!

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Castile Soap

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This post may be linked to one or more of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and Efforts and Assets and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and Crafty Texas Girls and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Girl Creative, Thursday and  Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and From the Farm and   Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and Share Your Creativity and   A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

Chicken Bok Choy Recipe, Gluten Free

Chicken Bok Choy

(I wonder why my fingers want to type 'Chow' instead)

Many of the dinners at our house are simple variations on a theme. So they start with beef or pork or chicken, then vegetables, then a sauce, then they're topped with nuts of one kind or another. Simple. Of course. But, there's nothing to apologize for here, because they taste good and are healthful dinners. Besides, there's always dark chocolate for dessert, so what's not to like?

Well, actually, I'm not sure that I like bok choy, but I like the exotic sound of the name, so that counts for something. I just looked it up. The name means, literally, 'white vegetable.' How boring. I'll stick with Bok Choy which, I discovered, is of the same species as turnips! (and I've never liked turnips, so it's understandable that this wasn't my favorite dish).

Chicken Bok Choy, Recipe: (and as soon as I can learn to pronounce 'qin cai', I'm switching to celery)

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced (Do this while they're partially frozen or you'll probably never do it again. No one likes to try chase a squishy, slimy chicken breast around the cutting board.)

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 

Olive oil or Coconut Oil (Appx. 2 T.)

1/2 stalk bok choy, (that means like half of the whole thing, not just a 'rib') washed and sliced on the diagonal

2 c. snow peas

1-2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms

Sauce:

2 T. white wine

1/4 c. Pacific Organic Free Range Chicken Broth (You can turn the remaining broth into chicken broth ice cubes for later use)

1/2 - 1 T. corn starch

1 t. honey

Salt & Cayenne

Nuts:

Roasted, salted cashews

Directions:

In a large skillet, stirfry chicken and garlic in oil. When chicken is browned, remove from skillet and place on a plate. 

Steam the bok choy and snow peas for about a minute, then place them in the skillet and stirfry for a couple minutes. OR you can just skip the steaming part and simply stirfry them. When the bok choy stems are translucent and the peas are tender but still a good green color, add the chicken and garlic back into the skillet, along with the sliced mushrooms.

In a small bowl, stir together the ingredients of the sauce. Now pour that over the chicken mixture that's in the skillet. Stir and bring to temperature. (I like to use two pancake turners to stir/flip/fry). Keep skillet over heat, stirring, until the sauce has made a nice glaze.

Serve with cashews.

This can also be served with rice, but when it's a choice between rice now and dark chocolate later, you know which I choose (which might explain why I have a hard time sleeping some nights).

 

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with Essential Oils

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This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and  Cure for the Common Monday and Mealtime Monday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Mosaic Monday  and Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and On the Menu Monday and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and   What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and Love Bakes Good Cakes and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and  Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and  Saturday Nite Special

Gluten Free Recipe, Healthful Eating for 2013, Brussels Sprouts, Black Beans, Gluten-free Chicken Sausages

If you'd like to check out all my gluten-free recipes, just type 'gluten' in the search box on my sidebar.

 The final product

I'm not sure what possessed me to buy a large bag of fresh Brussels sprouts, but maybe it was that they looked so pretty and I hadn't had Brussels sprouts in a very long time.

From Livestrong.com:

One cup of Brussels sprouts has just 38 calories. That cup of Brussels sprouts has nearly 8 g of carbs, with more than 3 g from fiber. There's nearly no fat and almost 3 g of protein. In addition to these macronutrients, you get vitamins C, E, B-6, A and K, folate, lutein and choline when you eat Brussels sprouts. Brussels sprouts also have the essential minerals calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and selenium.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/512313-why-are-brussels-sprouts-nutritious/#ixzz2GvHLf476

Anyway, it all started with my purchase of Brussels sprouts. Then one day, near dinnertime, when I was busy packaging soaps, Kevin started rattling around in the kitchen. The next thing I knew, he had a gorgeous skilletful of vegetables, including Brussels sprouts, sizzling away in olive oil and butter. Don't they look gorgeous? Who doesn't love beautiful food!

 Before the black beans and chicken sausages are added

As he was trying to decide what else might be good in this mix, I suggested the addition of gluten-free chicken sausages (Alfresco brand) and black beans.  The top photo is the final product.

This meal is nutritious, delicious, and gluten free. And are the Brussels sprouts bitter? Not a bit! They are almost sweet, probably because they were stirfried rather than boiled, and they started out fresh, rather than frozen.

SO,  here is the recipe, should you want to add another delicious gluten-free meal to your diet. It is now among my favorite dinners.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS, CHICKEN SAUSAGES, and BLACK BEANS STIRFRY, RECIPE:

1 large onion, sliced
1 large red sweet pepper, sliced (I use my frozen Carmens all winter)
1/2 jalapeno, diced
Several fresh Brussels sprouts, sliced in half
1 can black beans (drained)*
2-3 gluten-free chicken sausages, sliced or diced
olive oil
butter

Stirfry the onion, peppers, sprouts in a little olive oil and butter. The butter just helps add a little flavor and slightly browns the sprouts.

In a separate skillet, brown the sausages in a little olive oil.

Combine contents of skillet 1 and skillet 2. Stir in black beans. Bring to temperature. Serve.

*And here's a tip for always having black beans on hand, without having to purchase canned beans:

Buy dried black beans. They're lots cheaper. Soak and cook them according to package directions, then cool them down quickly in cold water, drain, package, and store in the freezer. That way, you'll always have black beans when you need them. I usually cook up about 4 cups of dried black beans at a time, giving me several packages in the freezer. I try to keep track of them, so that if I take out the next-to-last package, I make up another batch.  Planning ahead is so helpful. :-) 

Brussels Sprouts in the garden

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Don't forget:  Downton Abbey Season Three

Begins Sunday, January 6

PBS, 8 PM CST

Downton Abbey - inspired vegan soaps!

'Oh, Matthew' and 'Lady Mary'

...and more! Check out all our handcrafted soaps at

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and at

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***

This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday   and Mealtime Monday and   Amaze Me Monday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Mosaic Monday  and Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and On the Menu Monday and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and   What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and Love Bakes Good Cakes and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and The Self-Sufficient Home Acre and  It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and I'm Lovin' it Thursday and  Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and  Saturday Nite Special

 

Cashew Pork - Five Spice Powder - Recipe

 

Cashew Pork with Five Spice Powder

I've been making stir-fry recipes for eons. I love them. My kids grew up on them - well, except for one who hardly ever ate real food. I think he's so well preserved that his corpse will never rot.  But that's another story.

There are a few tricks to successful stir-fries. They are:

• Keeping fresh vegetables on hand
• Keeping a variety of meats on hand
• Planning 24 hours ahead, which means either
• Taking meat out of the freezer the night before (to partially thaw in the refrig) or
• Using meat fresh from the market if you don't mind cutting squishy meat. Ew.
• Keeping sauce ingredients on hand

So here we go.

Cashew Pork with Five Spice Powder - Recipe

Lean pork loin sliced in small, thin strips

1 hefty clove of garlic, minced or sliced

Olive oil, 1-2 T. in a large skillet

Heat oil over med-medhi heat and add meat and garlic. Stir-fry til meat is browned. Remove from heat.

In a second skillet, also with a bit of olive oil, stir-fry the following:

4 stalks of celery, sliced on the diagonal (more surface area to stir-fry, and it looks prettier)

1 onion, halved and sliced

Red sweet peppers, seeded and sliced (I use my Carmen peppers)
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

Whatever other vegetables you have on hand, e.g. broccoli, carrots, snow peas

Throw in drained water chestnuts if you have them.

After onions and peppers are translucent, remove that skillet from heat. Combine contents of both skillets into one. Actually, I start with both skillets going at the same time (one with meat, one with veggies) to make this getting-dinner process go faster.

In a small bowl, mix sauce ingredients:

1/2 c. GF Organic chicken broth (I find that Pacific is the one brand that doesn't give me a headache!)

2 T. white wine

1 scant t. honey

1 T. corn starch

Stir to dissolve honey and corn starch. Drizzle over stir-fry and re-heat stir-fry (stirring constantly - I use two pancake turners to do this) over med. heat until sauce is a clear glaze.

Sprinkle on 1/2 t. (or to taste) Chinese Five Spice Powder, a little salt, and a healthy dose of cayenne.

Serve.

Have a bowl of cashews on the table. I don't stir cashews into the recipe itself, for I don't want to ruin any possible leftovers with soggy cashews.

Some people like to serve rice with a stir-fry. If you want to do that, have your rice cooking while you're putting together this recipe. If it's basmati rice, it should be ready about the same time that your stirfry is ready. That's always handy! And over the past two years, I've made the shift from a bed of rice with stirfry on top - to just a sprinkling of rice on top of the stirfry.

This whole thing, from start to finish, takes no more than a half hour.

Be sure to let me know if you make this recipe, okay? And don't forget about that cayenne! :-)

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This post is linked to some or all of the following: Amaze Me Monday and Skip to My Lou and Bedazzle Me Monday and  What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Made By You Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and Tip Me Tuesday and  Made from Scratch Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Two Maids a Baking and Overflowing With Creativity and What's Cookin' Wednesday and Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Link it Up Thursday and Threading Your Way and Lisa's Gluten-Free Blog and Favorite Things Friday and I'm Lovin' it Friday and It's a Hodgepodge Friday  and Creative Bloggers and  Serenity Saturday and  Home and Family Friday