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Chicken Cordon Bleu Grilled Cheese

On Sunday nights we eat fun, simple foods. We’ve got some ham lunch meat (locally made) that needs to be used up. So last night I figured we’d do grilled ham and cheese. Always delicious.

Then I remembered that recently Justin asked me to make chicken cordon bleu (I haven’t made it yet by the way). And we had roasted chicken for lunch…with leftovers. So I combined the two and made a chicken cordon bleu grilled cheese.

I didn’t taste it myself, but Justin said it was good 🙂  It sure looked good to me! Plus it’s always fun to have another variation of grilled cheese.

This post is linked to Fat Tuesday and Real Food Wednesday.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Grilled Cheese
serves one

2 slices bread of choice
2 slices ham lunch meat (nitrite/nitrate/HFCS/MSG free)
3 slices swiss cheese
1/4 cup shredded cooked chicken
1 – 2 Tbsp. homemade mayo (ours is sweeter like miracle whip)

Spread mayo on both slices of bread. On one slice layer cheese, ham, chicken, cheese, ham, cheese. Top with the other slice of bread.

Butter the bread and cook on a buttered griddle until both sides are golden and the cheese is melted.

Zucchini Soup | Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

Zucchini Soup

Zucchini soup is a great way to use up some of your larger zucchini and get kids to eat it! Pair it with zucchini crackers and cheese…lunch is served.

Zucchini Soup | Homemade Dutch Apple Pie

Zucchini just keeps coming.

I’m still working on using up the last of the zucchini from our garden. Sound familiar? You can only make so much zucchini bread!

One nourishing way to use that extra zucchini is in zucchini soup. It is so good! And so simple. Just cook and puree some vegetables in broth. It turns into a creamy, flavorful nourishing soup.

Zucchini is the base. But you can add any vegetables to complement the zucchini.

I like to use the zucchini that gets a little too big for soup. You can’t tell the difference.

Getting ready for fall.

As fall approaches and I think about school…I also think about sickness. Once all of those kids are together the germs start spreading.

Eating zucchini soup during the summer is a great way to build up the immune system ahead of time. Getting your family to consume broth year round is a great idea.

Soup for breakfast.

I eat soup for breakfast most days. I love it when I have leftover soup that I can just grab out of the fridge and eat cold. Zucchini soup is perfect for an easy breakfast or lunch that you don’t have to cook.

It also makes a great dip for raw vegetables or crackers.

Are you struggling to come up with more ways to use your zucchini? Try zucchini soup!

Zucchini Soup

3 medium zucchinis, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
1 cup diced, cooked chicken (optional)

  1. Cook vegetables in broth until very tender, about 30 minutes.
  2. Add seasoning.
  3. Puree with an immersion blender or regular blender.
  4. Return soup to pot, taste and adjust seasoning.
  5. Add diced, cooked chicken and simmer for 10 minutes.

Here are a few more zucchini recipes you may enjoy:

Zucchini cake with two frostings

Zucchini crackers

Zucchini pizza bites

Chocolate zucchini scones

Zucchini salmon cakes

Chocolate zucchini cupcakes

BLT…and P?

I’m finally playing catch up with some recipe posts after finishing all of my other writing assignments. Recently we had BLTs for dinner. But we made one addition…we added peanut butter! I know it sounds crazy and kind of gross. I thought the same thing when I stumbled on this idea at Simple Organized Living. But after reading the comments and seeing how many people really liked it I gave it a try.

Turns out it’s pretty good. It gives you the delicious salty/sweet combo. It’s important to put the peanut butter on the bacon side of the sandwich.

I’ve always loved BLTs. Most of the time I also put avocado on them. Now there is one more ingredient we can add.

Have you ever tried peanut butter on your BLT? What do you think?

BLTP

2 slices bread
3 strips cooked bacon
2 slices fresh tomatoes
leaf lettuce
homemade mayonnaise
peanut butter

Toast bread. Spread one slice with mayonnaise. Spread the other slice with peanut butter. On the mayonnaise slice add lettuce, then tomatoes, then bacon. Top with the peanut butter slice. Enjoy!

Ham and Peas Casserole

I subscribed to Every Day with Rachael Ray a while back…like years ago. I would often rip out recipes that looked good. I had a big pile of things I was going to try making…at some point. Well, last week I found that pile of recipes. I went through it and got rid of all but two of them 😛  I saved the two that I thought I would actually make and put them on the menu this week. I tried the first one last night. It’s a simple casserole. And it’s delicious!! Ham and peas casserole is like cornbread mixed into quiche. It almost reminds me of the flavor of creamed corn with the subtle sweetness from the cornbread. We all really enjoyed this casserole. It’s great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And the leftovers are great too (I had a delicious breakfast today :). Plus it’s very easy to make (as long as you have ham and cornbread on hand…which we actually did this week!).

I didn’t actually measure anything. I just used 2 leftover corn muffins and about a half cup of ham we had left from Sunday’s dinner. I also used more eggs than the recipe called for. And in typical RR recipe fashion I had to modify the cooking time/temp. If I had cooked it at 350 for 40 minutes we would have been eating ham and pea soup for dinner 😛  I baked mine at 400 for about an hour. I’ll post the original recipe with a few of my mods. Overall this was a great recipe. I plan to make it again.

Ham and Peas Casserole

1 1/2 cups ham, cut into small pieces
7 oz. cornbread, cut into small cubes (about 2 cups)
1 cup frozen peas, thawed (I used more than this)
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme (I used dried)
2 cups whole milk
3 eggs plus one yolk, lightly beaten (I used 3 whole eggs and 3 yolks)
salt

Heat oven to 350 (I baked mine at 400).

Butter a 9″ casserole dish. In a bowl toss the ham, cornbread, peas and thyme. Transfer to the baking dish.

In the same bowl combine the milk, eggs and salt. Pour into baking dish. Let stand 15 minutes.

Bake until the custard is just set in the center, 40-45 minutes (I baked mine for 1 hour).

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Grilled "Cheese"

I wouldn’t normally post a recipe for grilled cheese. Most people know how to make grilled cheese. But this one is  a bit different. It’s from my Deceptively Delicious cookbook. I did some last minute change of meal plans yesterday. I had taken squash out of the freezer for risotto…but then didn’t feel like making it. So I was trying to think of what else to do with the squash. I found this recipe. It worked great! We all enjoyed it. A delicous grilled cheese…with some veggies added 🙂  The funny part is that it looks like they are made with American cheese. In reality all of the cheese I used was white. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly. I just shredded a mix of cheeses (cheddar, parm and mozzarella) and mixed in some squash and a little softened butter. I didn’t measure anything. I made a bit more than we really needed, so our sandwiches were pretty full. But still delicious! I will definitely try this again. You can probably do it with quite a few different veggies, depending on what color you want your cheese to be 🙂  The recipe says sweet potatoes or squash. I’ll post the original recipe…minus the reduced fat cheese and “trans fat free margarine spread”…shudder 😛

Grilled “Cheese”

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or any cheese you like)
1/2 cup sweet potato or butternut squash puree
1 Tbsp. softened butter
1/4 tsp. salt
4 slices whole wheat bread

Mix the cheese, puree, butter and salt.

Spread on two slices of bread. Top with the other two slices. Coat a griddle with butter. Cook sandwiches on both sides until golden and the filling is melted.

Broccoli Noodle Soup

For lunch on Saturday I made a batch of broccoli noodle soup (trying to use up some milk). This is a recipe from my MIL. A soup Justin grew up eating. It’s very simple to make and very filling. You could make it healthier by using homemade noodles. I used wide egg noodles. And you can use any kind of cheese you like. The original calls for Velveeta. I used sharp cheddar. You can add any veggies you like. I added a few carrots and peas in addition to the broccoli. I’ll post the recipe the way I make it.

Broccoli Noodle Soup

2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup noodles (homemade or egg)
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup chopped broccoli (I use frozen)
1/2 cup chopped veggies (carrots, peas, beans, etc.)
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 – 1/2 cup cheese (cheddar, mont. jack)

Saute onion and veggies in butter about 4 minutes. Add broth. Cook 3 minutes. Add noodles and seasoning. Cook 5 minutes. Add broccoli. Let simmer 5 minutes. Add milk and cheese. Cook until soup is hot and cheese is melted.

Avocado Bird’s Nest (grain free, dairy free, nut free, GAPS-legal)

I’ve been watching The Next Iron Chef on Food Network. And on this week’s episode someone made a bird’s nest using avocado. I’ve seen it done with bread, zucchini, various things. But never avocado. I thought it sounded like a neat idea since one of my absolute favorite things to eat with egg is avocado. So I made one for lunch yesterday. Yum!! I don’t think I’ve ever actually cooked an avocado. But they are quite good when they get warmed. This is a quick, nutritious breakfast, lunch or dinner. I let the yolk sit in the hole and the whites run over the edges to cook. I’ll definitely make this again! I added a little extra butter and another egg yolk to mine for extra nutrition just before taking it out of the pan.

This post is linked to Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager.

Avocado Bird’s Nest

1/2 avocado
1 egg
butter, coconut oil or lard for cooking

Remove pit from avocado. Slice a little piece off the back of the avocado so it can sit flat. Make the hole large enough for an egg yolk all the way through. Heat butter in skillet. Add avocado. Crack egg over avacado so the yolk sits in the hole. Push the whites over the edge/onto the pan surface to cook. Sprinkle with salt. When the whites are cooked remove the bird’s nest.

Cooked Yogurt

After making raw yogurt I decided to try a cooked version. At first it looks hard. It seems like there are a lot of steps. But in reality it’s very easy. You’re basically doing 4 things – heat the milk, let it cool a little, add the culture and let it sit. So it’s really not much more work than making raw yogurt. You just have to heat it and let it cool a little first. I followed my SIL’s directions at Today’s Menu Take It Or Leave It. Very easy to follow.

And the outcome…great! This produced a very smooth, creamy, flavorful yogurt. I made some vanilla yogurt with it for Justin this morning. He thought it tasted great. I’m sure Rebecca will like it too. This will definitely be my go-to method for making yogurt. I still want to play around a little with how long I let it culture. This batch was very mild…not much of the tang of normal plain yogurt. But that’s not a bad thing.

I’m so glad I FINALLY got around to making my own yogurt (I’ve been wanting to for about a year now…don’t know why I never did). There are several reasons I’m glad to be making this now. First…it’s healthy! Lots of healthy bacteria. Second…it will save a lot of money! That’s a big one. I buy yogurt every week. It’s one of the biggest expenses. I hate spending so much for so little. This will be a huge money saver…especially since we’ve got all this great raw milk to use up anyway. Third, it will save me trips to the store 🙂  I don’t have to worry about running out of yogurt. If we’re getting low I can just make more. This will really help me with my goal of only going to the grocery store every other week instead of every week. Finally, you can make any flavor you want 🙂  If I want to buy organic full fat yogurt at the store I can get plain, vanilla, strawberry or chocolate. That’s it. Now I can make whatever flavors we want. I made vanilla this morning. But we can make any kind of fruit flavor, peanut butter, chocolate, apple cinnamon, whatever. And I don’t have to worry about feeding my family unhealthy sugar. I can use honey or maple syrup to sweeten it…and I’m sure less of it than the boughten variety.

Now that we have this great yogurt I am so anxious for me to be able to eat it!! Yogurt is one of the foods I miss the most from going dairy free. I used to eat it daily. Hopefully in a week or two I can add it back in. That will be a happy day 🙂

If you have never made your own yogurt I encourage you to try it! It really is very easy. It does not require much hands on time at all. And if you get it going in the morning you can have some ready by the afternoon. I thought it was easy the first time I made it. So I’m sure it will be even easier now that I know how. Even if you don’t have raw milk, you can make your own yogurt. It will still be healthy and much cheaper.

I didn’t take step-by-step photos like my SIL did. If you want a really detailed description check out her blog. Here’s the slightly condensed version of her recipe.

Homemade Cooked Yogurt

Ingredients and Equipment:

milk (preferably raw, but pasteurized willwork…NOT ultra-pasteurized)
yogurt starter (I used some plain, boughten yogurt for my first batch and I’ll use my homemade yogurt from now on)

quart sized jars with lids
large stockpot with lid
water for boiling
a dish rag
a thermometer, either candy or meat will work
a large cooler or incubator
a large towel

Put your dish rag in the bottom of your stockpot. This helps stabilize the jar(s). Then pour milk into your quart sized jars. Make sure you leave about an inch or so of room from the top of the jar. Place the jar in the pot and fill the stockpot with water at least half-way up side of jar. You’ll want to bring this to a boil. I place my thermometer in the water so that it sterilizes.

Once your water is boiling, turn the heat down a little, to around medium to medium-high… enough to maintain a good simmer. Move your thermometer to a jar of milk… having it in the water till boiling sterilized it. You’ll want to keep it going until it reaches 180-185 degrees (this only took a few minutes for me once the water was boiling).

Once the milk has reached 180-185 degrees, turn the burner off. Lift the jar out of the water and onto the counter. Put a cap on the jar. Do not pour the water out of the pot. Put a lid on the pot and place it inside your cooler, making sure the towel surrounds the pot so that it doesn’t melt your cooler. Leave the lid on the pot and put the lid on your cooler.

Now you wait for your milk to come down to between 90 – 120 degrees. I’ve found that between 100 – 105 is optimal for me… this makes a nice, thick, creamy yogurt. This takes about an hour and a half. You can either check the temperature with your thermometer once you think it could be reaching the proper temperature. Or you can just feel the outside of the jar. Remember that our body temperature is 98.6 degrees, so you want it to be slightly warmer than your hands. If its too hot to hold, its not there yet. I checked the temperature with the thermometer the first time I made yogurt, but haven’t checked it since. I just go by feeling the heat on the outside of the jar.

Once your milk is at the proper incubation temperature, you will need to stir in about 2 Tablespoons of yogurt starter into each quart of milk. Be sure to stir gently, as you are stirring in living organisms and don’t want to jostle them too much.

Next, place the lid back on the jar tightly. Open up your cooler and place the jar(s) into your cooler next to the warm pot of water. Remove the lid from the pot and be sure the towel is nestled around your jar(s). Place the lid back on the cooler and let it incubate for 4-24 hours.

The longer it sits, the more tart it will get. I’ve incubated my yogurt for anywhere from 6 hours to 14 hours. I found that at 6 hours, it wasn’t quite thick enough for my liking. 8 hours seemed to produce a good, thick, creamy yogurt with a hint of sweetness. I didn’t notice much change in thickness by increasing the time, just a more tart taste. I try to only let mine go 8-10 hours normally (I did 8 hours…it was good!)

Once your incubation time is up, transfer your jar(s) to the freezer for about an hour. Don’t open them before you do, just put them right in there. After that time is up, transfer them to the refrigerator. You’ll get a true sense of the consistency of the yogurt at this point. Don’t be alarmed if there is some whey on top of the yogurt, this is totally normal. Just stir it into the yogurt.

Before you start enjoying your new batch of yogurt, be sure to reserve a couple tablespoons of your fresh yogurt in a small glass jar in the fridge. This will be your yogurt starter for your next batch. And remember to reserve more than a couple tablespoons if you make more than a quart at a time.

———————-
That is a lot of wording for a simple process. Here is the shortened version:

1. Heat milk in a quart jar in a pot of boiling water to 180 -185 degrees.
2. Remove from water, cover and let milk cool on counter to 90 – 120 degrees.
3. Stir in yogurt culture.
4. Cover and keep in a warm spot for 4-24 hours to culture.
5. Chill.

Flavored Yogurt

You can mix in anything you like to flavor your homemade yogurt. To add extra nutrition stir in egg yolks and coconut oil. Here are some ideas:

Vanilla – stir in homemade vanilla extract and maple syrup or honey
Fruit – blueberry, strawberry, cherry, raspberry, peach, banana (you can mush up whole fruit, mix in pureed fruit or use homemade fruit preserves/jams) with honey or maple syrup for sweetness if needed
Apple Cinnamon – stir in homemade apple butter and honey
Pumpkin Pie – stir in pumpkin puree, honey and cinnamon (we’ve even added a little crumbled pie crust for a real treat)
Peanut Butter – stir in smooth, natural peanut butter and honey (or any kind of homemade nut butter) (add a few chocolate chips for a real treat/dessert)