Red Beans and Rice, Peach Cobbler—Life Is Good

Easy Red Bean and Rice

Another month has disappeared! Where do the days go? Your guess is as good as mine. But we're still here. Still kicking. And still eating.

We have a peach orchard local to us. Nothing like fresh-off-the-tree peaches. The weather was brutal to this year's crop. But there were enough of a harvest for us to have our two favorite summer recipes. I'll link them below instead of rewriting the recipes. 

 

Homemade Peach Ice Cream

I asked Daddy-O to stop and get peaches on. his way home from the lake this week. I really wanted homemade peach ice cream. I have a countertop 1-1/2 qt electric churn. It's so quick and easy. Stir the ingredients together, pour the mixture into the churn and push the button that says ice cream. (Gelato and sorbet are the two other buttons.) And 25 minutes later, you have soft serve ice cream. Of course, we eat it soft the minute the churn turns off. The rest goes into the freezer and I'll need an ice cream scoop next time.  

      Click "homemade peach ice cream" to find the recipe.

Peach Cobbler

Daddy-O gets credit for baking the cobbler while I was in a piano class this afternoon (on zoom.) I could smell this baking while I was trying to pay attention to the class. It had just come out of the oven when I finished. It tasted as good as it smelled. We've used this recipe for ages and ages.

Click "peach cobbler" to find the recipe.

  

And glory be, here's a new recipe. Needed to find something for supper a few days ago. Of course, I had not been to the grocery store yet. But I had a turkey smoked sausage in the refrigerator. There was the first green pepper ready to be picked in the garden. Thankfully I had two cans of kidney beans in the pantry. If you are a true red beans and rice connoisseur, this is not authentic by any means. But it was quick and it was easy and it was delicious. 

RED BEANS AND RICE

2 cups water

1 cup uncooked rice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 (16-oz) package of smoked sausage (I used turkey) cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 teaspoon minced jarred garlic

2 (15-oz) cans light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (16-oz) can whole tomato, chopped (use the juice, too)

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice according to package directions. While rice is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet. Add sausage slices and cook about 5 minutes. Stir in onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook until tender. Add tomatoes with juice, oregano, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered about 20 minutes. Serve over rice.

If you don't find a 16-oz can of whole tomatoes, you can do like I did and use a can of diced tomatoes. The recipe says to chop the tomatoes anyway. So what's the difference? I can tell you. There is not nearly as much juice in a can of diced tomatoes as there is in a can of whole tomatoes. So I added some water as it started to look dry while it was simmering. If I'd had tomato juice I would have used that. But we work with what we have. 

I put 2 pint containers of the bean sausage mixture in the freezer for another time. I'd be happy eating it without the rice even. But the name is so classic—red beans and RICE. 

I'm posting this supper photo from earlier in the week just for fun. About once a year I fry chicken and make gravy so I don't completely forget how to do it. Roasted green beans and mashed potatoes finished the plate. Daddy-O usually has clean up duty when I cook. As much as he loved this meal, I think he might be glad he only cleans up after this meal once a year! Frying anything is messy. But, oh, it was so good.

I'll leave you with a couple of summer photos. We have been so lucky to have had days to enjoy being outside. The screened porch is my favorite spot. And this week it hasn't been too hot and the humidity hasn't been too high.  A cup of coffee in the morning. A book in the afternoon. Every now and then a glass of wine in the evening. There's no place like home.

One Old Recipe & One New Recipe

Garden Pasta Salad

Don't faint. Two recipes in one post. I made the pasta salad for a church dinner last Sunday. It's a never fail kind of recipe. I first posted it here on the blog in 2011 when Little Sister was one year old. She has her drivers' permit now. I could not begin to tell you how many times I've made this salad. I like all the pasta salads (except the ones with olives) but I like this one best because it's loaded with vegetables. I use five cups of cut up veggies—every color I can put in. You get vegetables with every bite of pasta. Some pasta salads are mostly pasta. You know what I'm talking about. 

GARDEN PASTA SALAD

16-oz. box of rotini pasta, cooked and drained

14-oz. bottle Italian salad dressing (use your favorite--I like Wish Bone Italian)

3-4 tablespoons McCormick's Salad Supreme seasoning

about 4-5 cups of fresh vegetables, cut up

Stir all ingredients together and chill for at least an hour. But it's better made the day before.

I typically use a mix of broccoli, grape tomatoes halved, cucumbers, red and yellow bell peppers, fresh corn (cooked and cut off the cob), diced onion, celery and carrots.  This time I only had red pepper, I skipped the celery and added zucchini and yellow squash. Use the vegetables that you like. I make sure to have a lot of colors. 

This salad keeps for days in the fridge. We finished Sunday's leftover salad today at lunch. The only issue I've had with the recipe is what to do with all the vegetables left that didn't go in the salad. Yes, I could buy one yellow squash. But it's hard to buy one carrot. And red onions are so big, I only used half. And I used half a red pepper. Fresh corn usually comes in a 4-pack. 

Here is a photo of my cut up vegetables. You can see how many vegetables I used. With this many different vegetables, you get to five cups quickly. I had half of this and half of that left in the fridge.  The internet fairies must have known my dilemma. The day after the church dinner, a quick, one-pan recipe popped up. It called for the same vegetables that needed to be used up. Perfect!

I used the rest of the red onion, the other half of the red pepper. The rest of a broccoli crown. It was perfect! I almost always have a can of pineapple chunks in the pantry. Plus, I had bought a pack of chicken thighs without a particular recipe in mind. 

 

Is this the most delicious recipe I've ever made? No. But it's plenty good. Where it shines is in the ease of making it. It took me make 10 minutes to cut everything up and put it on a baking sheet. After it was seasoned and in the oven, I got to sit down for nearly 20 minutes. Line the pan with foil before cooking and the clean up is a breeze.

Sheet Pan Pineapple Chicken

SHEET PAN PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

1-1/2 lb. boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt, pepper, garlic powder (or House Seasoning*)

1/2 can pineapple chunks, well-drained

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into one inch pieces

1/2 red onion, roughly cut

1 cup broccoli florets

1/2 cup teriyaki glaze

Preheat oven to 400º.  Toss chicken, pepper, onion and broccoli with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. 

Spread the chicken, vegetables and the pineapple evenly on the pan. Bake for 16-20 minutes, until the chicken is done. 

Remove from oven and drizzle teriyaki sauce over it all and stir.  (I didn't measure anything. No real need to with this recipe.)

I fixed a bag of microwave jasmine rice to finish our super easy supper. 

PS...we finished the leftover pineapple chicken tonight. I declare it was better than the first time.  

Now the weekend has rolled around again. And thinking about what to cook starts all over.  Ever calculated how many meals you've made? It's probably best if we don't. 

*House Seasoning:   Mix 1/4 cup salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper and one tablespoon garlic powder. Store in an airtight container. 

Still Here, Still Standing

 

I've been asked if I've stopped writing my blog. I guess the honest answer could be yes AND no. I haven't posted for two months. I haven't stopped completely but the posts do seem to get further and further apart. We seem to get busier and busier at the same time as we are moving slower and slower.

We had a full house for a good portion of my "missing in action" time. Grandchildren (and parents) were here at the farm during spring break. 

I've totally lost track of who was here when. There was a lot of coming and going. Lots of back and forth and lots of here and there. But everyone had some time here. Making "remember-ies" as Brother says. 

We had part of the family here for Easter. No new recipes this time. Just our favorites. This is pretty much the same menu that my mother always had for Easter. 

That long highway runs the other way, too. We made a couple of trips down their way. One to see Little Sister—who isn't so little now—in her high school musical. And one other trip to attend the Atlanta Master Chorale's jazz concert. 

They were back here for Little Sister's piano recital last weekend. (They live there, her piano teacher lives here, so zoom lessons work well for them.) In addition to seeing our family musicians, Daddy-O and I attended several concerts this spring. We got to see Samara Joy, an up and coming jazz singer, in concert and a few weeks later, we saw Yo-Yo Ma perform. Seeing him has been on my bucket list for years. I can check that one off now. 

And during this very busy season I have continued filling in for our church pianist. Lots of practice time at the piano. I had to set other things aside—like this blog—to keep up with that. Next week is my last Sunday to play. I am counting on a slower month of May. I'll let you know if that happens!

The flowers mixed in with the other photos? These are all in bloom in our yard now. I am not a gardener. Never have been. Never will be. But I love flowers. So I'm thankful for the old varieties that come back year after year without any help from me. 

Longevity Soup

Longevity Soup

Let's see, in the month since I last posted, I needed an antibiotic for something, a week later I had a severe reaction to the antibiotic and a side effect of the drug used to treat the reaction (it did help) is sleeplessness. I am now at an age that if I were involved in an incident, the news anchor would be reporting, "An elderly woman..." Everything I took to help a problem caused the next problem. I think that my age means my body handles these drugs differently than it did years ago. 

So when I saw this recipe pop on social media, the name caught my attention. Eating for longevity. Eating for independence. That should be our goal now. This recipe contains 9 superfoods. You can read all about the nutritional benefits here at Joy Bauer's website. She calls this a pot of goodness. 

Now, I've been a vegetable soup lover forever. Most of the time I don't use a recipe. I have tried some and found variations that I like. Couldn't hurt to try another one. So glad I did.

Oh my goodness! What a delicious recipe. Joy Bauer was right—a pot of goodness. And, despite the long list of ingredients, it was simple to make. It involves opening cans, some chopping and measuring a couple of spices. I already had celery washed and "de-stringed" in the refrigerator. And the recipe calls for "1 to 2 cups" or "2 to 3 handfuls." That says amounts aren't very specific, so I didn't measure any of the vegetables. Just a rough chop and toss some in. 

Peeling carrots would have taken time, but I didn't have any. I ordered carrots but they were left out of my delivery. (Did I mention I hit a deer and my car is in the shop? Needed to have groceries delivered.) Of course, you could leave them out, but the pot of soup looked like it needed that orange color. So I added some frozen mixed vegetables. No peeling. No slicing. Made the prep even easier.

This soup is one of the best soups I've made. It's well seasoned. It' has a creamy broth because you've pureed beans and broth. I forgot to remove the rosemary before I added the spinach. When I added that much extra green, I almost never found it! I had thought I'd share some of the soup but I couldn't share until I removed that rosemary. Putting a hard stem in your mouth is not a good surprise. I finally spied the last bit as I was putting the soup into a container. 

This is how I made it. I made small tweaks. My garlic cloves were huge so I only used 2 instead of 3. I subbed the mixed vegetables for fresh carrots. I also measured out 3 cups of broth and poured in the pot, then in that 4-cup measuring cup I added that last cup of broth and the beans and used an immersion blender to puree. Easier than washing the blender. Again, check out the original recipe for the options she offers. 

LONGEVITY SOUP

2 (15-oz) cans small white beans, drained & rinsed (I used navy beans)

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided  

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced 

2 ribs celery, chopped

About 1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables (instead of the carrots)

1 to 2 cups broccoli florets, chopped

1 to 2 cups cauliflower florets, chopped

2 cups canned crushed tomatoes (a 15-oz can)

1 (14.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 fresh rosemary sprigs

1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

2 to 3 handfuls fresh spinach, roughly chopped

Ground black pepper, to taste 

In a blender, combine 1 can of drained beans and 1 cup of broth and puree until smooth. Set aside.

Generously coat of pot with cooking spray and warm over medium heat. Add the onion, and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, 3 cups of broth, frozen mixed vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, crushed tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, oregano, basil, the 2nd can of beans and rosemary.

Stir. Bring to a boil, Reduce heat and simmer about 25 minutes uncovered.

REMOVE the rosemary. Add the pureed beans and spinach. Simmer another 10 minutes, until spinach wilts. 

This is a long list of ingredients and sometimes I stop looking when I see this kind of list. But it took me about 15 minutes to have everything in the pot. Don't let the ingredient list scare you off. It's worth the chopping.

Fun note:  After I had made the soup, eaten lunch, cleaned up the kitchen, our doorbell rang. It was the grocery delivery driver. He discovered that the carrots were left out my order and drove back to bring them. 

 

Easiest Soup Ever

Spicy Black Bean Soup

We made it through Christmas and New Year's and all the meals that holidays and visiting families need. I was lucky that the daughters and sons-in-law did much of the cooking. But after the holidays I felt like I needed a food vacation. We enjoyed so many good meals and desserts and snacks. It was definitely time to back away from the table.

I also have craved some days that don't require cooking. Daddy-O is the best. He never complains if I don't cook or if I what I cook is not his favorite. Like so many of us, deciding what to cook is harder than the actual cooking. On Tuesday I opened the freezer door to see what I could find. A pack of chicken street taco fell out. Literally. Fell out at my feet. It was Tuesday—taco Tuesday! That was the easiest dinner decision ever. And it was as delicious as when we had it over the holidays. Glad we froze the extra chicken

Tonight nothing fell out of the freezer. But I had a recipe I had saved from NY Times Cooking. Many of their recipes are more involved than I want to make now. Or, they call for ingredients that are harder to find in my small town grocery store. This recipe, however, looked easy and I had the ingredients on hand. I wasn't sure if Daddy-O would like tonight's supper, but it's cold and staying home sounded better than going out.  

Such an easy recipe. There is no chopping. No browning. Just dump it all in the pot. Can't get easier. You can see I made cheese quesadillas with tortillas left from Tuesday's chicken street tacos. Perfect combination.

Turns out he did like it. Soup was perfect for the cold evening. I'm giving you the recipe exactly like I made it. The NY Times version made twice this much. But the recipe called for 4 cans, 2 cans, etc, so it was easy to cut it in half. We both had a bowl of soup for dinner and enough left for a small bowl each lunch tomorrow. I always think it's hard to make a small amount of soup. But this was perfect for the two of us. 

Enough chatter. Here's the recipe. 

SPICY BLACK BEAN SOUP    makes 3-4 servings

2 (15-oz) cans black beans

1 (roughly 16-oz) jar mild salsa verde

1 (4-oz) can chopped green chilies (I used only 2/3 of the can)

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

In a 3-qt pot bring all ingredients to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are soft enough to mash easily, about 10 minutes.

Use an immersion blender or potato masher to smash the beans to your desired consistency. (I used a potato masher and left about half the beans whole.)

Serve with toppings such as sour cream, tortilla chips, avocado, etc. 

Notice that I didn't use all of the green chilies and it was plenty spicy enough for us. Make it suit your family.

Be Someone's Light

 I'm taking a short break from packing to say a quick hello and wish you Merry Christmas. It's the time of year we head to the mountains and enjoy a few days with family in a Christmas wonderland. We've visited this same place since our daughters were 2 and 4. And it is an extravagant display of things that glitter, things that sparkle and things that dazzle. The decorations at my own house are pretty simple this year. So I'll enjoy looking at the festive decorations at the resort.

But I always am reminded that not all Christmases are filled with glitz and glitter. People have sad Christmases. My grandfather died on December 18 many, many years ago. I was nine but still remember that different, somber Christmas. Some people skip Christmas out of necessity. One year after the holiday I asked a friend if she and her daughter had a good Christmas. She told me that they went to church but there were no gifts. None. There was no money that year. 

And there are many who are sick at Christmas. The sad little tree in the photo was the only Christmas tree at my daughter's house a decade ago. Our 9-month-old granddaughter spent her first Christmas in the hospital. And her 4-year-old sister was distressed that they had no Christmas tree. So she took matters into her own hands. She found the Charlie Brown tree and decorated it by herself. 

That little tree also reminds me of hearing how kind people were during that stressful time. My daughter and family were living a thousand miles away from us then. So strangers and neighbors and friends showed up. Gifts were delivered to the hospital. Food arrived at the door. 

So as we celebrate during the next couple of weeks, remember those who are not in a place to celebrate. Keep your eyes and your ears and your heart open. Today is the winter solstice. Tonight is the longest night—the longest period of darkness—we will have this year. Be someone's light. 💫

Christmas Time Is Near

Hamburger Soup

I'm back! Finally here with a new recipe that is good enough to share. Yes, I do try ones from time to time that are okay, but not good enough to make again—or share with you. To be honest most of what I cook are recipes that are already on this blog. Like most of us we have our favorites. It was fun to try something new.

Since I posted last month I had a birthday (and today is Daddy-O's birthday), a terrible cold, a house full of family for Thanksgiving, and too many doctor appointments. (We're okay.) It's been busy. Yesterday was the first "stay home all day" kind of day I've had in ages. The weatherman had promised cold temps and heavy rain. So I was prepared. A soup day! Turns out it we missed the rain, only got the cold. I made the soup anyway. This is nearly a stew. A bowl full of meat and vegetables. It's a soup that a Daddy-O could enjoy. (Not going as far as "love it.")

We had it for lunch. And we had it again for supper. It was better at supper time. The flavor is more complex than basic vegetable soup. The Italian seasoning, the olive oil, the Worcestershire. It's "more." But not they're not crazy flavors. Keep this recipe in mind if you need a make ahead dish. Would also be good if you want to take soup to a neighbor. It's a meal in a bowl. 

HAMBURGER SOUP

                   serves 6

2 tablespoons olive oil'

1 lb ground beef (preferably 10% lean)

1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)

2 large celery stalks, diced

3 large cloves minced garlic (I used jarred)

3 tablespoon tomato paste

1 (14-oz) can diced tomatoes with juice

3 cups low-sodium beef broth

1-1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1-1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

12 oz. gold potatoes, cubed (I used tiny potatoes and didn't peel)

12-oz bag frozen mixed vegetables (2-12 to 3 cups)

1 to 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add ground beef, onion and celery. Cook until meat is no longer pink. Stir in garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to coat everything. Cook 1 minute.

Add Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

Stir in potatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered about 10 minutes. Add frozen vegetables and continue to simmer until everything is tender, about 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. 

This looks like a long list of ingredients. But it was quick to put together. Gather all your ingredients before you start. I didn't measure everything exactly. Poured in some olive oil. Used up the celery left from Thanksgiving.  Then it was a matter of opening a box of broth, a can of tomatoes, and a bag of frozen vegetables. See? It's really easy. 

We enjoyed having some extra time with family during Thanksgiving week. These grandchildren are growing up quickly. I'm happy they still like to come visit. One of the best things we did was to spend an evening by a bonfire. It was 28 degrees but we went outside anyway. It was so cold that the toasted marshmallow would not melt the frozen Hershey bar on the graham crackers! Our son-in-law even found chestnuts so he roasted those. We all tasted and decided that singing about roasting chestnuts was better than actually roasting and eating them. Now we know.

We have reached the age where the younger folks want to help us get ready for Christmas. We glad take the extra help. So the girls decorated our tree and set up the nativity scene. And took the boxes back to the basement. Now if they would just come back and help wrap gifts!

And mixed in with all the cooking and decorating and general business of life, I'm continuing on with my jazz journey. So hard but what a blast I'm having! This is the ultimate brain exercise.