White Bean Soup
6 cups water
2 ham hocks
1 lb. great northern beans (pre-soaked)
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 Tablespoon fresh minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 1/2 Tablespoon fresh
1 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 Tablespoon fresh
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
15 ounce can tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Place water, ham hocks, and pre-soaked beans in stock pot. Cook for 1 1/2 hours. Add onion, carrot and celery to stock pot. Add spices and garlic. Cook one hour. Drain tomatoes and add juice to stock pot. In a skillet, saute the tomatoes in olive oil for about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the parsley then add to stock pot. Remove ham hocks, cook and trim meat off bones. Add meat to soup. In a blender or food processor, puree 1/3 of the soup and add back to soup. Serve hot.
Crock Pot French Dip Sandwiches
1 Tablespoon oil
3-4 pound chuck roast
1 onion, cut into wedges
1 14 ounce can low sodium beef broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup red wine
1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped basil, or 1 teaspoon dried
Water
Hoagie rolls
Heat oil in a large skillet. Brown roast on all sides. Place onion wedges in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add roast. Mix broth, wine, soy sauce, peppercorns and basil in a bowl or large liquid measuring cup and pour over roast. Add enough water to come up the roast’s sides halfway – usually about 1 cup or so. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, depending on slow cooker.
Remove roast from slow cooker and slice thinly or shred. Fill hoagie rolls with meat. Serve with au jus (strained liquid left in the slow cooker) on the side.
Cuban Flank Steak
I picked this recipe up online, but when I went to search for it, couldn’t find it again. I greatly enjoy this recipe, so thank you to whomever posted it.
1 1/2 pounds flank steak, cubed
3 1/2 Cups water
1 Tablespoon salt
1 bay leaf
2 medium-sized onions, one halved, one chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
juice of 1 large orange
juice of 1 large lime
salt to taste
Place the steak, water, 2 onion halves, bay leaf and salt in a medium-sized pot and place over medium heat to boil. Once a boil is reached, cover pot, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.
Remove steak and let cool. Shred meat using two forks . Mix the orange juice and lime juice together in a measuring cup or small bowl.
Preheat the oven’s broiler. While the oven is preheating, in a large skillet saute the chopped onion in oil until browned, about 5-7 minutes. Add the shredded steak and half of the juice mixture. Saute for 2-3 minutes then add more of the juice and salt to taste.
Spread the contents of the skillet onto a cookie sheet and place under the broiler until the beef and onions crisp and brown, about 10 minutes. Serve with rice and salad or in a sandwich.
Crout-Burger Roll
For the filling:
1 teaspoon canola (or other vegetable oil)
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 head cabbage, quartered and thinly sliced
In a large skillet over medium heat, saute onions and garlic in oil until onions are translucent, about three minutes. Add ground beef and cook until browned and no longer pink, stirring occasionally. Add cabbage to pan, distributing evenly. Cover with lid and reduce heat to low. Allow mixture to simmer for about eight-ten minutes or until cabbage is steamed. Set aside to cool in the refrigerator until dough has risen.
For the dough:
1 Cup warm water (105-110 degrees F)
1 package yeast (about 1 teaspoon)
3 Tablespoons honey or sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon canola oil
3-31/2 Cups flour
Dissolve yeast in water. Add honey (or sugar), salt and oil. Mix in about 2 Cups flour; dough will be sticky. Incorporate remaining flour, adjusting as needed for dough. Knead until dough is smooth and satiny and set aside to rise – about 45 minutes to an hour.
After dough has risen, roll into a 9”x12” rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Carefully spread cooled meat mixture evenly over dough, leaving one inch uncovered on both long sides of the rectangle. Starting on one long edge, roll dough jelly roll style, encasing meat mixture within dough. Pinch edges and ends to seal. Carefully move loaf to a greased cookie sheet, seam side down, and allow to rise again – about 30 minutes.
You can brush the dough with an egg wash (1 yolk and 1 Tablespoon water) before baking to help the crust bake to a rich, shiny brown color.
Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes or until done and crust is brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Slice and serve.
Variations: Sprinkle shredded cheese over meat mixture before rolling or add mustard to the meat mixture before spreading over dough.
Post-Holiday Decluttering
Before packing up all the ornaments, lights and decorations, take a hard look at your inventory. Do you really need everything you have? I make it a habit to sort through my items and toss those things I don’t absolutely love. The result is I’m not repacking stuff I don’t want or use and I know that what I do have is what I want to keep.
Once I have decided what to keep, I make sure those items get a good cleaning before I pack them. This saves me a step next Christmas season when I unpack and decorate. A feather duster and even a bucket full of a mild dish soap should be all that is required. Once clean, I packed the items in clear storage boxes with an inventory list attached to each box.
The decorations that I have decided to part with are donated to a charity or listed on Freecycle (check freecycle.org for a location near you). This is also a good time to sort through toys and donate or list them as well. For those items that just aren’t in good enough condition, I don’t mind pitching them in the trash.
Here’s another tip: place all those wonderful hand-made school projects in scrapbooks. If you happen to have three-dimensional gifts, you can take pics of them and include them in the scrapbook as well. If you cannot part with these precious gifts of love, pack them carefully and store them for next year. In our home, we have a tree that we set up downstairs that showcases all those beautiful hand-made ornaments and decorations.
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