Crock Pot Turkey

2 Turkey Breasts (use more if feeding more than 2 people)
14 ounces of Broth (I used Chicken)
1/2 Cup White Wine or Vinegar (I used Red wine because I had no white)
Salt, Garlic and Pepper to taste
Veggies of your choosing (if you want to eat them after cooking they are more of a stew than veggies)

I also cooked some veggies on the side to eat

Place Stock, garlic, salt, pepper, wine and veggies in the crock pot.  On top of that place the Turkey Breasts, cut each breast in half first, they cook better.  Cook on low for 5-7 hours until turkey is tender and meat thermometer registers 170 degrees.  If having veggies on the side I like them crisp so they were steamed for about 5-10 minutes. 

I have been having LOTS of stomach problems so I have had to be careful what I eat.  In reality most days I don't feel like eating because I often feel sick after I eat.  I have found that semi-raw veggies, lean proteins, and wheat flour not only help me feel okay but they also are healthy for me.  Several of my recipes can be tweaked.  For example this recipe can be used for chicken and pork as well.  It makes a great stew if you would rather not eat the turkey as a single dish.  My husband enjoyed the leftovers as a stew the next day. 

Fresh Pea Soup St. Germain

small knob of butter (about a tablespoon and I used fake butter)
2-3 Scallions Minced
3 Cups shelled Peas (I used Frozen)
2 3/4 Cups Water
3 Tablespoons Whip Cream
salt, pepper and garlic to taste

In a heavy bottom saucepan or medium pot melt butter and add scallions.  Cook until scallions look limper.  Add peas and water.  Cover and simmer for between 12-25 minutes until the peas are soft.  Make sure to stir the peas occasionally so that they don't burn.  When the peas are tender and ladle them into a word processor or blender with a little of the cooking liquid.  Once cool Blend.  DO NOT BLEND IF HOT!!  Once blended put in rinsed saucepan or pot and add whip cream.  Heat up until a soft simmer and voila...serve and enjoy.

I know, I know, so far every soup I have made has been green.  Don't worry I have a white and orange soup coming up and of course another green one.  More soup next month!

I have decided I really enjoy cooking.  I have all these cookbooks that I never look at and it really does relieve stress.  It is almost as good as yoga.

Peanut Butter Pie

I love this recipe because it takes absolutely NO cooking (except for the hot fudge) so it is a great recipe for a hot day!

1 chocolate cookie crust (store bought or homemade is good choose your poison)
1 Cup Peanut Butter (I used low sodium natural peanut butter)
1/2 Cup Sugar
8 Ounces Cream Cheese at room temperature (I used low fat low sodium Cream Cheese)
3 Cups Whipped Cream (if you can find the low fat use it)
1 Jar Hot Fudge (I like and use Dark Chocolate when I can Hershey's makes a great one)

In a medium bowl mix peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar.  Mixture whipped cream into peanut butter mix slowly.  The mixture will stiffen a little as the whipped cream is added and become almost a pudding like consistency (a little tougher than that).  Spoon mixture into the pie crust and heat up fudge.  Spread fudge over the top of the pie to the edges of the pie.  Place pie in the refridgerator for at least 2 hours and then enjoy.

Warning: This pie is very rich and should only be enjoyed in small slices.  If you eat a slice that is too large you may experience peanut butter overload, chocolate overdose, and you may never be able to eat another pie again.  No seriously it really is a very rich pie.

Fudge Brownies with melted Peanut Butter Cups

1/2 Cup fake Butter (you can use real butter)
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Powdered Cocoa
2 eggs
1 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Wheat Flour
Lastly I had some melted peanut butter cups and I chopped those up (which was messy and oh so tasty) and mixed them in lastly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a baking dish for brownies.  Some people use different sized so that they end up with different thickness in the brownies.  I used a 9x5 pan that was 2 inches thick and ended up with brownies that were less than an inch thick.  Melt butter and in a large bowl mix butter, powdered cocoa, eggs, and sugar until well mixed.  Slowly add flour 1/4 Cup at a time.  When the flour is well mixed in the batter add the peanut butter cups.  Pour batter into the baking pan and cook for 30 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and pulled out clean.

These were an experiment for me because I had these melted Peanut Butter cups that I had no idea what to do with.  I was going to make cookies but decided to try something new.  My advice if you make this recipe is make sure that the baking dish is well greased because some of my brownies didn't want to come out of the dish.  Lessons we learn when experimenting with food.

Carrot Leek Soup

4 Tablespoons Butter (I use fake butter)
3 Leeks, Diced
3 Cups Sliced Carrots
1 Tablespoon Ground Coriander
1/2 Cup Think Plain Yogurt (Don't use Greek Yogurt it is too think and clumps)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 1/4 Quarts Chicken Stock

Melt butter in a large pan.  Add Leek and Carrots.  Cook for 10 minutes covered until the vegetables just start becomming soft.  Stir in the ground coriander and cook for another minute, stirring occasionally.  Pour in stock and add salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Lower heat to low and let soup mix simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.  Leave to cool (you NEVER want to put hot soup in a blender or food processor).  Once cool puree until smooth.  Return the soup to the rinsed pan and add yogurt.  Taste to see if you need to add more salt and pepper.  Heat but do not boil.  Ladle the soup into bowls and enjoy.  If desired you can garnish with cilantro or to make it Vegan use Vegetable stock instead of Chicken.

Still working on photographing soup so it looks good...ugh!

Mango Drop Scones

2 Cups Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Butter Chilled (I melted mine and used fake butter)
3/4 Cups Milk (You can also use soy or coconut milk)
1/4 Cup Honey
1 Egg
As many cut dried Mangos as you want

     Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a medium bowl mix Butter, Baking Powder, Salt, Milk, Honey and Egg.  Mix thouroughly.  Add flour and stir until all is well blended.  Add and mix in mango pieces.  With a large spoon drop dough onto a baking sheet.  Bake for between 15-20 minutes depending on your oven.  Let cool before eating.  Instead of Mango you can also use Pineapple, Papaya, or shredded Coconut if you like (especially good if using coconut milk - chocolate not plain of vanilla).

I know they look like cookies but they aren't the same texture as cookies, a little more doughy and fluffy than the average cookie.

Flat Coffee Cookies

1/2 cup fake butter (you can use real butter if you prefer)
1 cup sugar (I accidentally put in an extra 1/3 of a cup, but they are still delish, just put in more other stuff)
1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 C flour (I added 1/4 more since I had so much sugar)
2 Tbs Cinnamon (use it to taste, more if you want the cookies cinnamony, less if you don't)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a bowl melt butter, add sugar, egg, baking soda, and vanilla.  Mix until well blended.  Add flour 1/2 Cup at a time.  On a foil lined baking dish drop spoonfuls of dough.  Cook for 10-12 minutes or until edges start to become a darker brown.  Let cook.  These should turn out flat and crunchy.  They go really well with coffee as my husband can attest to.  He thoroughly enjoyed them as if they were biscotti (Which in a way they are except not double baked or in strips).

 

My Husband with a cookie

Fish Tacos

2 fish steaks (I used Mahi Mahi)
1 Tablespoon Cumin
2 Tablespoons Lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Lime juice
salt to taste
1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon flour
1 Tablespoon distilled White Vineger
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

In a bowl combine all the ingredients except the fish.  Once everything is well mixed put in a large resealable bag with the fish as a marinade.  I suggest leaving in the bag 6-8 hours turning the bag over several times and kneeding the bag so that the spices don't settle. When ready to eat grill the fish for about 8-9 minutes turning over half way through the cooking process.  Broiling works as well just make sure to turn the fish over half way through the cooking process.

I used the Avocado soup previously made as a avocado base, as well as tomato, spinach (I prefer this over lettuce), the homemade salsa, a little cheese and some corn tortillas grilled so the edges are slightly burnt.