JANET'S EASY-PEASY HOMEMADE CHICKEN SOUP (with a little help from Trader Joe's)

INGREDIENTS

minced onion (1-2 cups)
chopped carrots and celery (1-2 cups total)
Olive oil
grilled chicken tenders - cut into small soup-size pieces
2 - 32 oz. containers of Chicken Stock

2-3 cups brown rice (already made)

DIRECTIONS:

In a big soup pot -
Saute the onions, carrots and celery in the olive oil until tender
ADD in the chicken tenders
STIR
ADD the 2 containers of Chicken Stock
ADD in (already cooked) brown rice

SEASON with salt and pepper, Mrs. Dash, seasonings of your choice

OPTIONAL:
Feel free to add in a package of frozen chopped spinach, or chop up a zucchini, or other green vegetable of your choice.

Keep cooking on low for a couple of hours for flavors to mingle together nicely

SERVE in your favorite soup bowl and ENJOY!

You can make this soup in less than 15 minutes with all of these ingredients which can be purchased at Trader Joe's  (the chicken already grilled, e.g.) They even have already cut up celery, carrots, and onions if you want to make things even quicker! And, I think they even have an already cooked brown rice that you can use, though I cook up a batch weekly and just add it in to my pot of "Soup of the Week" (in the cold weather season!).

EASY-PEASY!

Of course, you can make you own chicken broth easily enough, too. After finishing with a roasted chicken you can always take the carcass and put it into a soup pot - covered with water. Add salt and pepper, bring to a boil. (you can also add carrots, celery and onions for flavoring) Keep cooking it until the meat is falling off the bone and the room smells nice!
POUR through a strainer and separate all the broth from the bones, skin, meat, veggies, etc.
Put the broth in freezer container for future use (or pour into an ice cube tray to get small servings to add to meals), or use it right away as a base to make your own soup - if chicken - add in new pieces, not the "tired" roasted/boiled pieces!" Same with carrots, onion, celery...cut and saute fresh ones for the soup.

BAKED AVOCADO ROLLS

INGREDIENTS:
3 medium avocados, diced
½ Cup red onion, diced
½ Cup sun-dried tomatoes, diced
3 Tbs cilantro, chopped
½ tsp kosher salt
½ lime, juiced
8-10 egg roll wrappers

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl combine the avocado, onion, sun-dried tomatoes, cilantro, kosher salt, and lime juice. Toss gently to combine.

Position egg roll wrapper so that the corner is pointing toward you. Add roughly 2 TBSP. of avocado filling to the center of the wrapper. Fold the bottom corner up, ¼ of the way, over the filling.

Fold both sides in toward the center. Brush the top corner edges with water then roll the egg roll closed.

Placed finished egg rolls on a sheet pan, spray both sides with cooking spray and bake for 30-40 minutes. Flipping halfway once the bottoms have browned.

Serve with Sweet Cilantro Sauce -

For Dipping Sauce: 
1 Tbsp White Vinegar
2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 tsp Tamarind Pulp 
1/3 cup Honey 
pinch of Turmeric 
1/2 cup Cashews, chopped 
2/3 cup fresh Cilantro 
2 cloves of Garlic 
2 Scallions 
2 Tbsp Sugar 
1 tsp black pepper 
1 tsp ground cumin 
1/4 cup olive oil 

FROM: - http://tiphero.com/baked-avocado-rolls/

COUSIN MARGARET'S CHICKEN LASAGNA PRIMAVERA

OVEN - 350 degrees

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
3 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 large onion, diced
3/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/2 C butter or margarine
4 C shredded zucchini
3 C shredded carrot
1/2 C all-purpose flour
2 C chicken broth
3/4 C milk
2 tsp Tabasco Sauce (I used 3 and it was good - not over-spicy!)
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 C ricotta cheese
8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
9 pre-cooked lasagna noodles
2 C shredded Monterey Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS:
CUT chicken into thin strips/chunks. 
HEAT 1 TBSP oil in large skillet over medium heat. ADD chicken w/half of salt; cook until browned and tender, stirring frequently. Remove to bowl.
Over medium heat, heat remaining oil in same skillet and SAUTE onion and mushrooms; add to chicken.
HEAT 2 T butter in same skillet over medium heat; add zucchini. Cook 3-5 mins until tender and liquid has evaporated, stirring frequently. Remove to bowl. REPEAT procedure w/carrots and remove to another bowl.
MELT remaining butter. 
STIR in flour and cook 2 mins. 
Gradually INCORPORATE (whisk) chicken broth and milk, stirring until mixture thickens. 
ADD Tabasco sauce, nutmeg (and remaining salt - I didn't, since Tabasco is salty)

Preheat oven to 350. 

In a medium bowl, STIR together ricotta and feta cheeses.
In a large baking dish, spread 1/4 of sauce, top w/3 noodles. 
COVER noodles completely w/ 1/2 of zucchini, 1/2 of carrots, 1/2 of feta cheese mixture, 1/2 of chicken mixture and 1/3 of Jack cheese. 
REPEAT for a 2nd layer.
Make final layer w/remaining noodles, sauce, and Jack cheese. 
COVER dish w/foil and bake 30 minutes. 
Remove foil and bake 10 mins. 
Let cool slightly (about 10 mins). 
8 servings.

MARGARET and her dogs in Colorado

CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
  1 pound ground chicken (or other meat/fish)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha, or more, to taste
• 1 (8-ounce) can whole water chestnuts, drained and diced
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 head butter lettuce
• (feel free to add other veggies - steamed peas, broccoli, snow peas, etc.)

DIRECTIONS:

• HEAT olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add ground chicken and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the chicken as it cooks; drain excess fat.
• STIR in garlic, onion, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger and Sriracha until onions have become translucent, about 1-2 minutes. 
• STIR in chestnuts and green onions until tender, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• To serve, spoon several tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the center of a lettuce leaf, taco-style...
• ADD Hoisin Sauce  to wrap for flavor 

GRAMMIE'S NO FRY DOUGHNUTS

OVEN - 425 degrees

INGREDIENTS

2 pkgs. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening (Crisco)
4 1/2 cups flour
About 1/4 cup melted butter
Cinnamon/Sugar or vanilla and/or chocolate icing for topping

DIRECTIONS:

In a large mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. 
ADD milk, sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, eggs, shortening and 2 cups flour
BLEND - 1/2 minute on low speed scraping the bowl
BEAT - 2 minutes medium speed
STIR in flour until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl
COVER and let rise 'til double in size (50-60 minutes)

TURN DOUGH onto well-floured board; roll around lightly to coat with flour
(dough will be soft to handle)
ROLL to about 1/2" thick
CUT with doughnut cutter
LIFT doughnuts with spatula and place 2" apart on greased baking sheet.
BRUSH with melted butter
COVER
Let RISE 'til double again (about 20 minutes)
Heat oven to 425 degrees
BAKE 8-10 minutes until golden brown
Immediately brush with melted butter and shake cinnamon/sugar or spread with vanilla or chocolate glazee icing

If FREEZING - no longer than one month 

(HA! who was she kidding? 
No matter how many she made, these tasty treats 
didn't even last a day in our house!)

HOMEMADE ALMOND MILK

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup raw, organic nuts or seeds of your choosing
5 cups of filtered water
1 small, fine mesh strainer or nut milk bag
1 large mason jar or glass container to store it in

DIRECTIONS:

Step 1: Soak 1 cup of nuts over night 

Step 2: In the morning, rinse the nuts and place them with 5 cups of filtered water into the blender.

Step 3: Blend on high for a few minutes until all of the full nuts have been processed.

Step 4: Place a very fine, conical shaped strainer or nut milk bag over a mason jar and pour small portions of the blender contents in at a time. Stirring and emptying out the strainer after each little batch. 

Some people like to add a touch of vanilla for flavoring

I've also added the strained almond "bits" to cooked oatmeal in the morning, or it's also a nice addition to a granola mix.

JANE'S SPINACH SQUARES

INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs beaten

10 oz. chopped spinach (thawed)

16 oz. Jack cheese (shredded

1/4 cup butter 

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder


DIRECTIONS:

MIX all the ingredients together and spread in a 9x13" pan.

BAKE at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

CUT into squares

Can be served warm or cold.

****

NOTE of INTEREST -

Jane Kenny met up with Colorado Cowboy Cousin, Jim Lane. Jim 

decided to hang up his spurs and head East this Fall (2015) to join Jane in 

Stonington, CT. 

Welcome to the Family, Jane!

Jane would also like it to be known that this is the only item that she makes 

and brings to pot-lucks, meal-shares, etc. So, when you get together with her, 

don't even think about bringing a batch of "Spinach Squares," as the chances 

are good that that is what she will be bringing!

********

Did you know that spinach is high in iron as well as an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C and folic acid, and a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron and vitamin B2. Vitamin K is important for maintaining bone health and it is difficult to find vegetables richer in vitamin K than spinach.

So, on the plus-side, if we all bring Spinach Squares, and that's all we have...we'll be good to go with all of these Spinach vitamins and minerals!

:)