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2/29/16

Sugar Free No Bake Cookies - Oatmeal and Cocoa (no peanut butter version)




No Bake Cookies

1 c granulated sweetener or sugar
4 T butter
1/2 c milk, coconut or almond milk
1/3 c cocoa
1-2 t vanilla
3 c oats - quick or regular


Combine sugar, butter, milk and cocoa in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Boil 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in oatmeal and vanilla.  Drop portions onto foil or parchment paper. Let stand until firm.




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2/26/16

An Update to my Homemade Spinach & Feta Chicken Sausages - Round 2! Chicken, Garlic and Spinach Sausage



The last week of December I posted a recipe and photos of the process I used to make homemade chicken sausages.  This week I made more and wanted to update about the casings as well as how I made them this time - tweaking the recipe a bit.
 

 I am VERY thrilled with this version - a little more fat, heavier on the spices and the addition of the bacon.
Another important item to update:  The casings were still perfect to use.  According to the package, you store unused casings in the bag with the addition of more salt.  I did this in December, pulled them out and they were exactly the same as when I bought them.  Worked great and were fresh.  I used a couple more, re-added some salt to the package and back into the back of the refrigerator they went! 

 
Homemade Chicken Sausage with Spinach and Garlic

5 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts - cubed
2 - 1 lb. packages fatback, cubed (I found this at Walmart - it adds the moisture you need in this recipe)
6-8 slices bacon
1 1/2 T ground coriander
2-4 t salt (start with 2 and adjust after you taste test.  I like to use 3)
2 T fresh garlic, pressed, chopped or minced
3/4 c spinach (I used frozen, chopped style)
1/4 c olive oil
dash or two of lemon juice
dash of lemon pepper
Meat Grinder
Casings of your choice

Follow the directions on your meat grinder.  Grind the chicken, fatback, bacon, garlic and spinach into a large bowl.  Add the rest of your seasoning ingredients to the ground mixture in the bowl.  Mix well.  Taste test by cooking a small patty of your mixture on the stove in a bit of oil.  Adjust the flavorings to your liking and test again.  When you are happy with the cooked taste of your sausage, continue.

Attach the stuffing tool per your grinder's instructions.  Attach the casing onto the stuffing tube per your grinder's instructions and your casing instructions regarding whether your casings need to be rinsed first, etc.  Re-feed the chicken now ground and seasoned, into the machine and form long tubes per your casing instructions being sure to secure the end first so your sausage doesn't come out!  Be sure not to overstuff, you want to leave room to twist and form sausages.

Holding the rope in small sections in my hands like a tiny jump rope, I spin the sausages a couple times away from me to twist the ends. This forms a sausage.  Now I moved my hands down a little more and holding the first twist in my left hand, and squishing the sausage up about an inch on the right, I placed my fingers there and I spun another chunk of the sausage, but this time spinning towards me (the opposite way).

Continue moving your hands down small sections of the sausage rope, alternating spinning the 'jump rope' away from you and towards you, which forms the twists between the sausages. Make sure you are squishing enough room between the sausage links (about an inch) to form the twists.  Let the ropes set while you finish all the chicken mixture.  You can store as is, or snip them apart with scissors.  These freeze well.  I seal them in food saver style packages, and place in freezer.  To prepare, thaw and boil, broil or grill.  I like to parboil them in 2 inches of water in a saucepan on the stove and then when I'm ready to serve, I just quickly grill or broil them to make them golden brown and crisp on the outside. 



Here is a copy of the original post from December, 2015




I made this up as I went along and 'taste tested' it at 2 different points which I recommend you do too.  To taste test - take some of the mixture when you think are pretty happy with it - and form a small patty.  Cook it in a pan on your stove top and then taste.  Do you think it needs a little more salt?  Garlic?  Add.  Taste test again.  

My Homemade Chicken Spinach and Feta Sausages

4 - 4 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts - cubed
1 - 1 1/2 lb. fatback, cubed (I found this at Walmart - it adds the moisture you need in this recipe)
1 T ground coriander
2-4 t salt (start with 2 and adjust after you taste test.  I like to use 3)
1 T garlic, minced
3/4 c feta cheese, crumbled
3/4 c spinach (I used frozen, chopped style)
1/4 c olive oil
Optional:  dash or two of a lemon, garlic mixture of your choice brand or lemon pepper)
Meat Grinder
Casings of your choice

Follow the directions on your meat grinder.  Grind the chicken, fatback and spinach into a large bowl.  Add the rest of your ingredients to the ground mixture in the bowl.  Mix well.  Taste test by cooking a small patty of your mixture on the stove in a bit of oil.  Adjust the flavorings to your liking and test again.  When you are happy with the cooked taste of your sausage, continue.

Attach the stuffing tool per your grinder's instructions.  Attach the casing onto the stuffing tube per your grinder's instructions and your casing instructions regarding whether your casings need to be rinsed first, etc.  Re-feed the chicken now ground and seasoned, into the machine and form long tubes per your casing instructions being sure to secure the end first so your sausage doesn't come out!  Be sure not to overstuff, you want to leave room to twist and form sausages.

I don't have the little wires to form sausages, so I used the 'twist it' style.  Holding the rope in small sections in my hands like a tiny jump rope, I spin the sausages a couple times away from me to twist the ends. This forms a sausage.  Now I moved my hands down a little more and holding the first twist in my left hand, and squishing the sausage up about an inch on the right, I placed my fingers there and I spun another chunk of the sausage, but this time spinning towards me (the opposite way).

Continue moving your hands down small sections of the sausage rope, alternating spinning the 'jump rope' away from you and towards you, which forms the twists between the sausages. Make sure you are squishing enough room between the sausage links (about an inch) to form the twists.

I let the ropes set while I finished stuffing another casing.  You could store them as is, but I wanted to cut mine apart and seal them in groups of 3 or 4 in individual food saver style bags in the deep freeze.  I snipped them apart, and only had 2 open up on me that I had stuffed a little tight and had to redo.  You could probably par-boil them at this point, let them cool complete and freeze them, or use them right away.  I sealed mine, and put them in the deep freeze.  When I make them, I put them in the refrigerator to thaw and then put them into 2 inches of water in a pan on the stove to pre-cook them - then finish them on the grill or under the broiler.  We don't have to serve anything 'with' these as a condiment - they are so good all by themselves.  We have them plain with a side dish or serve in a bun like a brat or a hotdog.





My very simple, one speed Weston meat grinder.  Nothing fancy!


Grinding the chicken breasts

 I packaged some ground chicken as is - unseasoned - to use in taco's later


The fatback adds moisture to the sausage.  Don't skip this or they will be dry and crumbly!
I found mine at Walmart in the packaged meat department.

 Adding the spinach


The casings I bought online come like this - and you have to rinse them before use

Yeah, they kind of look gross. Ha ha.

Put the stuffing attachment on your machine and have a couple casings ready.
I only used 2 long strips (but I didn't know so I had more ready just in case)

Threading the casing on the attachment.

Ready to tie off the end and begin stuffing

Don't push or pull.  Just let the machine fill gently and guide it.  Don't overstuff.

If there are any air bubbles you can poke through the casing with a clean pin to make them disappear.

Resting while I finish a second casing.


I snipped them apart and packaged them into 3 and 4 sausages per bag to freeze

We ate 4 right away and sealed the rest to store in the freezer

Marked and ready to store








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2/15/16

My Homemade (Cold Stone Style) Sugar Free Chocolate and Caramel Ice Cream Cake





While most people are celebrating Valentine's Day, we are more focused on my husbands birthday.  While I was fine with heading over to Cold Stone Creamery and picking up his favorite layered ice cream cake full of chocolate everything with a little bit more chocolate, caramel and... chocolate in it, I was reminded at how he really wanted to eat sugar free as he was texting me photos of the unhealthy snacks and amazing desserts that were being served at the frou-frou resort he was at in Las Vegas for business all week, and telling me he was avoiding them and trying to eat healthy and find healthy options.  Even when I said "enjoy yourself - eat!"  he just really didn't want to.  He wanted to continue to eat sugar free - even when away on business.

Since he was gone all week, I was able to throw together a copy-cat version of his favorite ice cream cake (without him in the kitchen to see it)- but sugar free.  He loved it.  Loved it so much he mentioned it more than a few times, had seconds two nights in a row so far and even brought up again last night how good it was and how he hopes I make it again soon and often.

I did not have any recipe in mind.
I did not look up any ice cream cakes.
I didn't even look up what layers a Cold Stone version has.

I just thought about what I had on hand and what I wanted to throw together.  That's about it.

This is what I ended up with.

NEEDED

Homemade Chocolate Cake (sugar free, almond flour, etc. whatever you wish here is one version)
Sugar Free Chocolate Ice Cream
Sugar Free Vanilla Ice Cream
Sugar Free chocolate sandwich cookies (like Oreos but not)
Sugar Free caramel sauce
Sugar Free hot fudge sauce (make it sugar free)
Sugar Free chocolate candy bar to crumble or curl for decoration


Bake cakes.  Cool.  Leave whole or split each so you have 2 or 4 layers
One cake on the bottom, spread with chocolate ice cream.
Spread some hot fudge sauce.
Spread some caramel sauce.
Sprinkle crumbled cookies.
Repeat layers as you wish.
End with a cake on top.
Put back in freezer for 24 hours.
The next day use crumbled (food processor) cookies scattered on wax paper, and since the cake will start to melt a little bit, use the moisture to your benefit and roll it over the crumbs to cover the sides in cookie crumbs.
Refreeze while you microwave the vanilla ice cream just long enough to soften a little bit so you can scoop it out into a food processor and make it smooth.
Take out the cake and 'frost' it on the top.  Add a decorative edge if you like - work fast!
It will start to melt quickly so be ready to pop it back into the freezer.
When you are ready, chop the candy, crumble on top and drizzle with caramel.
















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2/7/16

Southern BBQ Pulled Pork

Southern BBQ Pulled Pork




Southern BBQ Pulled Pork

1 pork butt roast
1 c white vinegar
1 c apple cider vinegar
1 T white sugar
2/3 c (or less if you wish) brown style sweetener if you are low carb or brown sugar if you are not
1 t liquid smoke
1 T dried red pepper flakes
1 T cayenne powder
1 T yellow mustard or beer mustard* optional (I usually leave it out as I don't like mustard)
Salt and pepper 


Cook in a slow cooker or crock pot all day until it's done and so tender you can shred it with 2 large forks.  Serve on soft buns or rolls with condiments such as dill pickles and mustard with some coleslaw on the side and big glass of sweet tea.

This makes a good bit of liquid and if you wish, you can drain all but about a cup of it off and then shred for a drier mix. However, the meat really soaks up the liquid - if you choose to refrigerate it for later, or if you know you'll have leftovers I'd use all the liquid as it will soak almost all of it by the next day.  If you wish, shred the meat and then start with a cup of liquid, mix it and add until it's the consistency you wish.  We use all the liquid and just use two large serving forks to scoop up the meat, stop and let some of it drip back into the pan and then place it on our buns.

(At this point you can let the whole thing cool down and refrigerate over night or even package it up and put it in the freezer for a later date. The setting time allows the flavor to really set in and it's amazing. However you can serve it right away.)  













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2/3/16

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches using Ground Chicken





1 lb. ground chicken
BBQ sauce of choice (I used a sugar free bbq sauce)
Options:
additional ketchup (I used sugar free)
onion powder
yellow mustard
salt, pepper
brown sugar (I used a natural sweetener)

Brown the ground chicken on the stovetop over medium high until done.  Add the bbq sauce and any additions to taste.  Warm through and cook down until the sauce is as thick as you wish.  Serve on buns.  We use Nature's Own as they have the lowest sugar I've found available in store-bought easily available buns in our local grocery stores.




I grind my own (thus; the really awesome packaging... ha ha)

cook until done and no longer pink

add bbq sauce of your choosing and optional additions to taste



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2/2/16

#WhatsForDinner? Freshly Ground Hamburger Patties (from a chuck roast)




Tonight we are having bbq chicken sandwiches using chicken I ground myself using boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Two nights ago we had burgers (one of my husbands all time favorite meals) with meat I also ground myself, seasoned and made into patties. 

If you are thinking that sounds way too hard... you would be wrong.  It's fast and easy and the flavor of grinding your own meat just can't be matched with store bought frozen patties.  Not to mention the fact that those pre-made and frozen patties often have fillers in them, not to mention preservatives and additives.  I know what goes into my burgers...  meat. And uh, meat.  And meat.

I do NOT have some expensive, crazy intimidating grinder.  As a matter of fact, my husband picked mine up on sale at Lowe's.  It's simple, basic and I have grown to love it.  If you're a regular reader of "An American Housewife" then you know I use it to grind chicken, beef, pork as well as making my own chicken, spinach and feta sausages. 

There really isn't a 'recipe' to this.  That's the beauty!

 

 

Hamburgers

1 Chuck Roast (you can use other cuts like sirloin, or can mix them if you like.  Chuck has great taste for burgers)
Salt, pepper, MSG, onion powder

Cut your roast into small chunks for easier grinding.  Grind according to your grinders instructions.  If you wish (totally optional) you can add seasoning now, before you form patties, or later when you cook or grill them.  If you add it now (I do) I add salt, pepper, MSG and onion powder.  Taste is up to you but I tend to add approximately a teaspoon of each to a batch of a 3-4 pound roast.  Mix well by hand (it's why God gave you fingers).

An easy way to make uniform sized burgers is to divide the meat by half.  Divide each of those halves by half.  And repeat.  When you are to the size patty you like, or the size that will fit well on your bun of choice (store bought buns can run from 2 inches to 5 inches wide!), just flatten to about 1/3" - 1/2".  I like to make a slight indentation in the center - this helps the burgers cook uniformly and as the center cooks, it 'fills in' the indentation and you have a better chance of evenly cooking the burgers without the centers being under done and the edges over done.

Serve as you wish after broiling, frying or grilling!












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