I’ll be honest. If the super bowl failed to take place, I probably wouldn’t know it until I got out and about and some grief-stricken fan informed me and even at that, I’d give it a shrug, try my best to register sympathy and concern and force myself to say, “Really? Oh, my!”
But they had better not cancel National Hot Chocolate Day! I’m into this one – big time! I can hear your shouts of “Amen!” to that. It gives us all permission to stop, smell the cocoa and just be still for a bit while we enjoy that mug (or, in my case, tankard, says Smuffy) of smooth chocolate wonderfulness.
But what about those of us who are watching the waistline or those who have come to the realization that, if we care about our health, sugar has got to go?
Speaking of love, within that post is a great recipe for Eat ‘Em All Chocolate Covered Strawberries – another way to indulge without the sugar and without sacrificing yummy flavor. This recipe will carry you through Valentine’s Day without the guilt.
Click on the FREE PRINTABLE banner at the bottom of the original post and you’ll be able to easily print those out to add to your recipe collection.
I’m off now to find my tankard and indulge. In case you’re a little foggy on where to begin, let me show you the ingredients that will help you get the most out of National Hot Chocolate Day –
That’s right! All you need to make your day complete:
Cozy Chair
Furry Throw
One Tankard (or maybe two) Not Apologizin’ Hot Chocolate
One Sleepy Kitten
Gather your supplies and enjoy!
SUBSCRIBE NOW – First Friday Freebie Day is on the way for subscribers only!
READERS TAKE NOTE: This soup recipe was posted prior to my eating according to the Trim Healthy Mama plan or becoming a THM Certified Lifestyle Coach. It would qualify as an “S Helper” or a “Crossover” depending on the amount of sweet potatoes you add or the amount of soup you consume. Keep that in mind when planning your meal. This one is WORTH IT, so at least have it for special occasions!
For those of you who read my earlier post about this fabulous soup but never took the time to stir up a batch – this is for you!
Each year for the last six years, I enter a soup in a contest that our church sponsors for the benefit of the area food bank. Soups – LOTS of soups – are judged (rather scientifically, I must say) on taste/flavor/texture, appearance, Originality/Creativity, Appeal (Would a wide variety of the general population want to try this soup?) and Aroma. “Golden” (but most certainly not food safe) ladles are awarded to the top five soups. Then, the soups are served to the throng of two hundred or so salivating soup lovers at $5 per cup for the winners and $1 per cup for all the others. I’ve taken home five golden ladles so far.
So, what can I say? I am some sort of Soup Queen, I suppose. Just don’t ask me to make gravy. I mean that – never let me make the gravy!
This year, I decided to re-enter my soup that won five years ago. I invented this soup just after I made changes to my eating plan that included getting all sugars and grains out of my diet, so if you are looking for gluten-free recipes that won’t make you feel that you are missing out on a thing – this one’s for you! It’s a winner twice over for a very good reason. It is fabulous!
The original post gives detailed instructions on how to make Creamy Leek Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potato here, and it also offers a free printable recipe so check it out and, by all means, make a batch!
I did have a friend tell me that she used a substitute for the cream to accommodate her dairy-free diet and still her husband said it was the best soup he’d ever eaten in his life!
Here I am, honored to stand with the other winners (minus Larry, who somehow wandered off just before the announcement).
All the great recipes on my Food Freedom page come with free printables, so you can put them all in a notebook and try them out soon. I do my best to offer you healthy recipes that won’t make you feel deprived or overworked.
We are due to have a high temperature here tomorrow of 4 degrees. Sounds like soup weather to me!
NOTE TO READERS: These recipes are old family favorites that appeared here on my blog prior to myeating according to the Trim Healthy Mama plan or becoming a THM Certified Lifestyle Coach. While they taste fabulous, I cannot recommend them for healthy lifestyle or blood sugar control. However, I am working on adapting them to the plan so watch for future posts!
I promised to share this “award winning” recipe. I believe it was back when the trees were shedding their leaves of red and gold. Lately they’ve been laden with heavy snow – perfect weather to cozy up with some real comfort food and a bean story!
This recipe is an old favorite for my family. I found the original in one of those tiny booklets that came with the old-style Crock-pots. You know the kind I mean – the tall, skinny crock that did not lift away from the heating base, making it very difficult to clean. Their thermostats seemed to come with unexplained variances. My mom’s didn’t seem to have a LOW setting. It just boiled away no matter how you adjusted the knob while mine, on the same setting, would make you wait a couple of days for your dinner.
That little book
contained an entry that did little to tempt the imagination or the palate. It offered up, simply, the “One Pot
Dinner”. I’d never tried the recipe
because, frankly, it just didn’t strike a chord within my romantic nature. I’m the “Anne of Green Gables” type and am
inclined to agree with her theories on naming things. (Example: Why call it Barry’s Pond when you can call it
The Lake of Shining Waters?)
I have always been
this way.
Anyhow, a dear
friend of mine, upon hearing me say that I’d been in one of those moods that
leaves me only two options – escape for a change of pace or give in to a crying
jag – took pity on me and offered the use of her cabin in the woods. It may not have been a villa perched on the
Italian coastline, but it had three gleaming attractions. It was free.
It had indoor plumbing. It wasn’t
my house. I jumped at the offer.
I got excited. I wanted to crawl into Timber Hill and forget about the rest of the world. Our daughter would take a friend. There would be no TV and one emergency cell phone. We’d play a few board games. Smuffy would fish, explore and read books. I would read and take naps.
Ahh! Thanks, DeDe, for the memories (and the sanity check).
The last thing I wanted was to make endless trips to town for restaurant meals or supplies. I started charting meals like a paid planner. I wanted everything we ate to fit in with that log cabin feel. We would make homemade pancakes. I’d take homemade cinnamon rolls along to warm. Cornbread sounded good. For a main dish that would leave us lots of great-tasting leftovers, I wanted something special – something new. Research led me back to the lack-luster little Crock-pot book.
If these beans,
which sounded like they had possibilities, were going along on my grand
adventure, they simply couldn’t go as the “One Pot Dinner”. I re-named them “Timber Hill Beans” and they
were a huge hit, especially with Smuffy.
In all the years we were graciously invited to spend our fall retreat at
Timber Hill, we never left home without the namesake beans.
When our church
began to sponsor an annual “Souper Bowl of Caring” as a benefit for the area
food bank, they asked for soup – a lot
of soup. People brought in slow-cookers full
of deliciousness in hopes of taking home a golden ladle in a contest for top
soups.
Smuffy gave me a
meaningful look and prophesied, “If you take Timber Hill Beans, you’ll win!”
“You think
so?” I hadn’t given much thought to
entering the contest and I’d never really thought of those thick, hearty Timber
Hill Beans as “soup”.
“I know so!” He seemed certain of it.
I did come home with a golden ladle,
thanks to Timber Hill Beans and Smuffy’s encouragement!
I can’t help but wonder,
though, if “One Pot Dinner” would have ranked a little lower with the judges.
You may remember our educational and slightly embarrassing discussion on the subject of beans. You can refresh your memory here. Along with tips on cooking beans and avoiding their after-effects, I shared my own recipe for “Hearty, Healthy, Homemade Pork and Beans”. You’ll find a free printable recipe in the post. I now use these in my Timber Hill Beans to avoid the mushiness that usually results from overcooking canned beans, not to mention all the sugar and other nonsense that the canned versions contain. You can prepare these and the bacon a day or two before assembling this recipe. If you choose not to follow this simple, from-scratch step, you’ll need to substitute 4 (14 ounce) cans of pork ‘n beans and use care to avoid over-cooking them.
The other beans in this recipe are also not of the canned variety. If you absolutely do not want to rinse and soak your beans, you can use one can of kidney beans and one can of butter beans (drained and rinsed), but – I promise – you’ll be happier with the end results if you avoid the cans.
If you’re planning meals and feeding supper to hungry people, the best way is to brown the meat, prep the bacon and pork and beans a day or two before. Then, soak the beans overnight, get up in the morning dump everything into theCrock-pot, set it on LOW and don’t give it another thought until supper other than checking it when you get home to see if you need to adjust it to the WARM setting.
Let’s get cooking!
Timber Hill Beans
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef or venison
1/2 pound uncured bacon, baked on a broiler pan in a 200-250
degree oven for about an hour. (Should
not be crispy, but have the better portion of the fat cooked out.)
3/4 cup red kidney beans, rinsed and soaked overnight
3/4 cup butter beans, rinsed and soaked overnight
1 cup catsup
1/4 cup palm sugar or raw honey
1 Tablespoon liquid smoke (or to taste)
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 Tablespoon Celtic sea salt
Instructions:
Drain beans and rinse well. Brown ground meat and onion in skillet. Drain off fat. Cut bacon into one inch pieces. Place all ingredients in slow cooker. Stir well.
Cover and cook on LOW for 5-9 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours.
LOW is best in order to avoid sticking.
Makes 14 cups.
Over the years, I’ve
tweaked this recipe to take out refined sugars, avoid mushy canned beans and bring
it to “golden ladle standards”, so please comment and let me know how you like
it.
Normally, I steer away from adding corn to our diets anymore, mostly for the reasons given in this article by Dr. Axe and at the advice of my holistic M.D. Once in a while, however, Smuffy says the occasion calls for cornbread, I give in and we cheat. I’m giving you my Gluten-free cornbread recipe which includes a dry mix that you can whip up in a “jiffy”, if you get my drift. (Perhaps you don’t if that little item is available only here in the Midwest.) I hate having my cupboards full of endless little boxes and packets and feeling like I have to run to the store for something as simple as cornbread mix. Years ago, I figured out the secret to that little box mix everyone uses and I’m sharing it with you today.
A word about buttermilk: Smuffy and I often have differences of opinion on foods, but on buttermilk, we agree. We hate the stuff! It does make a fabulous batch of pancakes or cornbread, but we always had to throw out the leftovers. Keeping a dry buttermilk mix on hand solves the problem beautifully. Grocery stores will most likely have Saco“ Buttermilk Blend” in their baking section and if you can find a way to order in bulk, you can get a great price on a one-pound bag of buttermilk powder from Frontier Co-op Wholesale Store, where they have member and non/member pricing. They both keep well on the back bottom shelf of the refrigerator for what seems like forever.
Gluten-Free Cornbread or
Corn Muffins
(You may use all-purpose wheat flour rather than corn flour in
these recipes. If so, omit the xanthan gum and one of the eggs.
This option will, of course, not be gluten-free.)
Ingredients:
1 cup yellow organic, non-GMO cornmeal
1 cup organic, non-GMO corn flour
1/4 cup dry buttermilk powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup water
1/4 cup raw honey
2 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the
beaten eggs, water, honey and melted butter, mixing just until there are no dry
areas.
Pour into greased
muffin tins or a 9″X9″ baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for
about 25 minutes. Remove from pan immediately.
Now for that mix to
keep help you whip up things in a “jiffy”.
Cornbread Mix for Recipes in a “Jiffy”
Mix the following ingredients together and in a “jiffy”,you’ll have the equivalent of the commonly used boxed mix.
1/2 cup yellow organic, non-GMO cornmeal
1/2 cup organic, non-GMO corn flour
2 Tablespoons dry buttermilk powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
Add 2 Tablespoons raw
honey to the recipe’s wet ingredients.
Thanks to the great folks at Crock-Pot.com for the original “One Pot Dinner” recipe and for all the improvements to the Crock-pot over the years. The newer versions, with their removable crockery, warming features, digital settings and – best of all – those clamp-on lids that put an end to nasty spills in the car have made life so much easier. Check out their latest products here. Hey there, sports fans! They even have NFL logo pots!
I confess to having four slow-cookers. My new favorite is this in-between size I found one day out flea-marketing. I like to think of it as a casserole. I find myself using it all the time.
Click below for your
free printable for Timber Hill Beans and Gluten-free Cornbread!
If you prefer biscuits over cornbread, check out my Zesty Pumpkin Soupwhich comes with a bonus recipe for Billy’s Biscuits. This savory soup is not what you’re expecting!
Questions? Comments?
“Leave a Comment”. And why not
SUBSCRIBE, so you’ll receive an email reminder each time Midwest Storyteller
has something new.
I have a great recipe to share today. It’s revised. Yes, I am confessing here and now that I have a past. It’s my “Middle-of-the-road Past”. That makes it not quite so bad as my “Deep Dark Past”, but nowhere near as sparkling as my “Practically Pristine Present”.
You, see, I didn’t always eat healthy. The Trim Healthy Mama eating plan wasn’t always a part of my life and I certainly wasn’t always a certified lifestyle coach who helped people get their health on the right track.
In the really olden days, it was donuts (lots of donuts), coffee (by the pot full, day and night), big block candy bars, bags of chips, soda, giant chocolate malts. And I should perhaps mention that I could have been crowned the Bread and Pasta Queen – hands down. Mysteriously, and for a long time, I never gained an ounce. Little did I know, however, that there were wheels within wheels and not all bad eating habits turn into fat. I was not making the gut happy. The hormones were cruel, nasty things and as far as pain and energy levels, I was too tired to cry. No, wait! The hideous allergies were taking up all my tears.
After I’d switched it all up and moved on to natural sweeteners (honey, agave, palm sugar) and whole grains and become a walking herbal concoction, I felt like I’d taken a giant step, only to find out later that it was a baby step with good intentions.
Then came my whole episode with a cancer diagnosis, which you can learn a little about here.
A high-quality whole food supplement helped immensely, but I really can’t think of a greater hormone disrupter than chemotherapy. Then came the poundage.
Now, with Trim Healthy Mama, I eat lots of yummy food and keep my goal weight without starving myself all the time or just being plain cranky.
This recipe came about in a search for healthier, better tasting version of a canned “old stand-by”. If ever a side dish needed to be re-thought, “pork ‘n beans” is at the top of the list. The canned version focuses on the sauce, leaving us all short on beans and almost devoid of all pork as we try to keep everything else on our plates out of the path of the runny mess and avoid the two little squiggly, fatty pieces of pork that seem to have been dropped in just for show. Finding pork and beans lacking, we often give them a miss, considering them a mere ingredient in other recipes which they also succeed in making way too runny.
Beans play an important role in our diets, but to be honest, most of us have a love-hate relationship with them.
What summer barbecue is complete without a huge casserole dish brimming with baked beans? What fall camp-out or retreat has ever been planned that excluded a pot of beans?
As members of the legume family, beans are cousins to lentils, peas and the like. Loaded with nutrients, we can count on them as a valuable source of protein, fiber, magnesium, iron and zinc. That means they can help us with fatigue, weakness, heart palpitations, loss of appetite and irritability. Beans are a healthy carb and those make our hormones happy – oh, yes, they do! The sugar in canned pork ‘n beans, however, makes our hormones very, very unhappy.
Beans have been found to contain anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory properties and in certain studies have clearly been shown to have a positive effect on those with coronary heart disease and to lower cholesterol.
Now, if we must, we’ll discuss the down-side of beans. Must we, really? Their reputation has been wrecked by the endless jokes directed at the poor, humiliated souls who succumb to digestive discomfort because of them.
Why, we all ask! Why? It’s like this: Beans contain their own natural sugars – stachyose, raffinose and verbascose – and we cannot digest those due to the fact that we are missing an enzyme that is required to break them down. Therefore, when beans reach the colon, the bacteria there ferments those sugars and need I tell you what fermenting substances do? They give off gas. That, dear readers, is the awful truth in a nutshell.
Beans have never really bothered me much. This mystifies Smuffy, who fluctuates between begging me to make beany recipes and then begging me to never do it again. I’ve always figured there must be some way to make it easier for him to eat his favorite foods.
The answer always eluded his mother. I remember sitting in her living room once after a meal. Smuffy, after offering to help his dad with a project in the yard, exited through the back door as though carried along by sheer self-propulsion. She turned to me, sighing. “I tell you what,” she muttered with a shake of her head, “I’ve raised five of the beaniest boys there ever was!”
I challenged myself to eliminate (if you’ll pardon my expression) the bean predicament or at least get to the bottom (goodness – there I go again!) of the problem.
I tried to convince Smuffy that one of the main issues lay in the fact that I’m a fabulous cook. I suggested that he limit his portions rather than eating four bowls at a sitting. This remedy brought about no results other than an eye-roll directed at me.
Then, of course, succumbing to advertising, we tried the tiny bottles of drops that you were supposed to add to beans upon consumption. No measurable results there – not that we were measuring! Is this blog post over yet?
Then, I had a revelation. My mother had seven children. She spent decades feeding us beans – lots of beans. I couldn’t remember any real issues with beans, but then she had always used dry beans, soaking them overnight. Another flash of the obvious came to mind. Each time I opened a can of beans for a recipe that called for draining and rinsing them, there were bubbles galore! Perhaps we’d been ingesting all those bubbles! Then, another realization hit me. The beans with the worst effects seemed to be “pork ‘n beans” – that meant they were not only canned, but never rinsed!
Here are my conclusions after much research and experimentation.
Never use canned beans! What could be more simple that measuring dry beans into a bowl and adding filtered water? Soak 8 hours or overnight, then POUR THE SOAKING WATER OFF, add fresh water and salt and simmer the beans until desired tenderness. The added advantage to this is that you’ll have control over the doneness. Canned beans are always extremely overcooked and by the time we get them into our soups or casseroles and cook them even longer, we tend to end up with mush.
Need “pork ‘n beans”? No problem! I’m giving you the super easy recipe today. The canned version is loaded with syrupy goo that your doctor and your body would rather you didn’t have anyway, so just stir up a batch of your own!
Watch what you eat with beans. Do eat lots of greens, making your insides a happy place. Don’t eat sugars or things that turn to sugar such as bread or white potatoes. Use high-quality stevia (at least 95% pure) and other natural sweeteners in bean recipes. If you want a great bean recipe that needs no sweeteners at all, you can make a big skillet full of my fabulous chili con carne (recipe coming soon.)
Since digestion starts in the mouth, savor your beans by chewing them well. This is also a little easier to do when you start from scratch as we are today because your beans won’t be overcooked and mushy like canned beans are.
Rinse. Rinse. Rinse! Never cook beans in the water you soaked them in. Wash them, rinse them, soak them, rinse them again, add fresh water and salt, then cook your beans according to package directions and your personal preference as to doneness.
Forgot to soak your beans the night before or before you left in the morning? There is usually a quick-soak method on the package, that will work if your schedule permits.
Use fresh beans. Their effects increase along with their shelf life, so buy them when you need them from a store that keeps its inventory moving. I know it’s tempting to keep dried foods around forever, but it’s not a great idea if you’re trying to lower the risk of after-effects.
Let’s get started with easy homemade Pork ‘n Beans:
After doing lots of research, I began with a “clone” recipe fromwww.palatablepastime.com for Campbell’s Pork and Beans, but it changed drastically as I went along! Theirs was designed to remove high-fructose corn syrup. Mine is designed to be less “beany” and healthier all around. Thanks to Sue Lau for getting me off to a great start!
This recipe is equivalent to a little over four cans (11-15 ounces each) of beans. You can cut the recipe in half if you like, but they are super easy to divide into containers and freeze. Since they are way yummier than the canned version, your family will probably eat more than you expect.
You can use chunks of pork, but I prefer bacon. Who doesn’t? I always bake my bacon – no mess in the kitchen and it turns out perfect every time. I fix the whole package and layer it between paper towels to freeze. I recommend baking it slightly less crispy than you normally enjoy it. Then, when you use it in this recipe or heat it in the microwave to enjoy with breakfast, it will come out perfect! Keep in mind that adding lots of bacon straight into the recipe will make it a crossover (XO), but adding one slice of chopped bacon to your own serving will keep this an “E” for you to enjoy.
Everybody’s busy! The bacon and the beans can be prepared a day or two ahead of time, making this a “throw-together” recipe!
Hearty, Healthy Homemade Pork ‘n Beans
Ingredients:
8 slices uncured bacon, baked on a broiler pan in a 200-250 degree oven for about an hour.
1 pound navy beans, rinsed, soaked 8 hours or overnight, rinsed again and cooked in salted water until tender. Drain and rinse again in warm water.
1 – 2 cups water
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup molasses
¼ cup raw honey
1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
1 ½ teaspoons sweet or smoked paprika
1 ½ teaspoons Celtic sea salt
3 Tablespoons arrowroot powder shaken in ¼ cup cold water
Prepare the bacon and beans as directed.
Mix all ingredients in a large saucepan and simmer until flavors are blended (5-10 minutes). Add arrowroot and water mixture and return to a soft boil, stirring constantly until sauce reaches desired thickness (1-2 minutes).
Makes 8-12 servings or the equivalent of about 4 (11-15 ounce cans).
Enjoy! But if you eat them all, you’ll need to be prepared to make another batch, because we’re about to take those Pork ‘n Beans and create a slow-cooker masterpiece!
Click below for your free printable of the recipe and bean tips!
Searching for luscious fall soups? I have two ultra-simple recipes you’ll love! Try Creamy Leek Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potatoes, a “Golden Ladle Winner” and if you’re like me and can’t get enough pumpkin right now, check out my Zesty Pumpkin Soupwhich comes with a bonus recipe forBilly’s Biscuitsthat is guaranteed to please.
Questions? Comments? If you make the soup and/or the biscuits, let me know how you liked it! Scroll back up to the title of this post and “Leave a Comment”. And why not SUBSCRIBE, so you’ll receive an email reminder each time Midwest Storyteller has something new.
As Valentine’s Day approaches, I can’t think of a better thing to discuss than chocolate. I love chocolate! It dominates the candy aisles in stores on a regular basis, but at this time of year, people purchase more of the stuff than ever. I’d venture to say that it puts the fall pumpkin rush to shame.
The other thing lurking on the candy aisle, however – that troll hiding under the bridge waiting to ambush you – is sugar. If you haven’t figured out yet that sugar takes a toll on your body in more ways than just the addition of unwanted pounds, you’ve got your sweet head in the sand.
This spring, I’ll begin my fourth (Really? Wow!) year of feeding my body all kinds of wonderful things except for sugar and grains. If you’re not humming “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” with your fingers in your ears, you might want to learn a little more about your body and my journey here.)
Yes, I still eat my chocolate (of course) birthday cake. Yes, I still have a big slab of pie at Thanksgiving and cookies at Christmas. Once a week, if that often, I might eat something on a bun. However, my former lifestyle as the Bread & Pasta Queen is over and SURPRISE! – I don’t miss it.
One of the first things I had to figure out was how on earth I was going to get my chocolate – and plenty of it! Chemical sweeteners, such as aspartame (Equal), sucralose (Splenda) or saccharine (Sweet ‘n Low) were not an option. I’d learned enough to realize that would be akin to exchanging strychnine for cyanide. Stevia seemed the only option and, though sweet, sometimes it just didn’t taste “right”.
Dedicated and determined because I had a health issue to conquer, I plunged in, reminding myself that Thomas Edison had far more failures than he had successes and yet, he kept going until he finally got a bright idea!
Today, I’m sharing two recipes that you can enjoy not only in the current chocolate season, but all year round. And, with the FREE printable at the end of this post, you can get started right now!
I have stated in previous blog posts that when it comes to stevia, you get what you pay for. My favorite brand has always been Sweet Leaf and, of the store brands, I still prefer it.
Last week, however, my friend, Sarah, introduced me to the Pure Stevia Extract Powderby Trim Healthy Mama. Again, you get what you pay for, but I found that instead of using a tablespoon of Sweet Leaf in a recipe, I could use ¼ teaspoon of THM stevia! It has no bitter aftertaste and I think I’m in love! It’s available in one ounce and four ounce bags.
It’s February! What are we waiting for? Let’s have some chocolate!
Not Apologizin’ Hot Chocolate
12 ounces milk
2 Tablespoons Dutch Process Cocoa Powder
¼ teaspoon Trim Healthy Mamma Pyure Stevia or 1 Tablespoon Sweet Leaf Stevia
1/8 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
In a Pyrex measuring cup, heat the milk in the microwave until hot but not boiling. While it is heating, mix the cocoa powder, stevia and salt in a small custard cup with a mini whisk.
Pour an inch or two of the hot milk into the bottom of a large mug. Add the cocoa mixture and whisk until fairly smooth. Add vanilla. I call this my “sludge” – a rather unsavory name for something so wonderful.
Continue to whisk while adding the remainder of the hot milk. Add the heavy cream, stir and enjoy! To make my experience complete, I scoop up Phoebe June and settle into my favorite chair. Since you don’t have Phoebe June, you’ll have to make do with your own kitty, borrow one or just pretend.
Traveling Version:
When I’m away from home, I don’t like to miss out on my hot chocolate, but toting milk around becomes a problem. I’ve tried using powdered milk in the dry mix so that I could “just add water”, but it failed to give me the texture and flavor I wanted. I’m being nice – it was nasty. I’ve discovered that adding 1 ½ scoops of Reliv Delight makes a wonderful dry mix.
Reliv Delight, a whey-based milk substitute and nutritional supplement, provides the benefits of milk — plus additional nutrients — in a delicious low-fat formula. It supplies your body with a good source of proteinand an essential nutritional balance of vitamins and minerals. And at only 90 calories per serving it is also a great way to help maintain a healthy weight. Mix Reliv Delight with water and use it as an alternative to milk — while cooking, in milkshakes, with cereal or simply as a refreshing, creamy beverage. It’s a healthy choice for adults and kids alike.
As promised in the disclaimer on this blog, I’m disclosing the fact that this product must be purchased through a Reliv distributor and that I am a Reliv distributor who may receive monetary compensation should you decide to purchase the product through me. You may do so by contacting me at barb@midweststoryteller.com
This is a great way for me to take a travel mug while on the road and stop for some hot water so that I can have my chocolate fix. All I have to remember is to never leave home without my pre-mixed little baggie of dry ingredients, my little bottle of vanilla and my mini whisk!
Are you ready for no-guilt Valentine treats?
Almost everyone seems to love those beautiful chocolate-covered strawberries that cost an arm and a leg. We all indulge without too much guilt because, after all, strawberries are fruit and fruit is good for you and therefore, legal – right? Those sold in stores or special ordered are most likely made with shortening. (Repeat after me: “Shortening. Is. Evil.”) Not only that, but the chocolate coating is loaded with that ever-present, ever-enticing culprit – sugar!
I came up with this recipe to remove the culprits. The results were fabulous and I’ve served them up several times to people who tell me how yummy they are. I usually make them to share, so this recipe makes quite a few! The ones in the photo were gigantic berries and I had enough coating to do twenty-five berries. If they had been “regular” sized strawberries, I think I could have done about forty! What could be easier than dipping whole berries into chocolate sauce and letting them dry? This, combined with the fact that you get to lick your fingers and that your recipients will think you’re oh, so special ought to get you going on this recipe.
Oh, you weren’t going to give any of them away? Well, just be sure and wipe the chocolate off your chin before anybody sees you.
Wash berries and pat them dry with paper towels or allow them to dry completely on a drying mat.
In a double boiler, small ceramic coated saucepan (or a Pyrex bowl over a small saucepan), melt the coconut oil and butter over low heat. Add cocoa powder, heavy cream, stevia, vanilla and salt, whisking until smooth.
Grasp each berry by its stem and dip into the chocolate mixture. Be sure not to cover all the lovely red part! Allow the excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl before placing the berries onto waxed paper-covered cookie sheet. Place the berries far enough apart so they do not touch.
Leftover chocolate? Consider re-dipping!
If desired, sprinkle some or all of the berries with shredded, unsweetened coconut while the chocolate coating is still soft.
Do not attempt to rearrange the berries on the waxed paper until the chocolate coating is completely hardened.
Refrigerate until ready to serve or give as a gift. Remember, the chocolate coating will begin to soften at about 76 degrees, so be sure to store your beautiful berries properly. I did, with good intentions to take most of them to some cherished friends. But then, we had this icy weather and didn’t get out and, well, you know how it goes…now you know why they’re called “Eat ’em All Chocolate-covered Strawberries!”
You can share more than chocolate with a friend. How about sharing this post? You can do that through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest!
Enjoy your chocolate and don’t forget your FREE printable recipes. Just click on the banner below.
I invite you to join me for true confessions! Tell me about your favorite chocolate obsession and how often do you indulge. Scroll back up to the top of this post and “Leave a Comment”.
NOTE TO READERS: These recipes are old family favorites that appeared here on my blog prior to myeating according to the Trim Healthy Mama plan or becoming a THM Certified Lifestyle Coach. The soup recipe fits the Trim Healthy Mama plan as an “S”. The biscuits? Well, they’re Frankenfood. While they taste fabulous, I cannot recommend them for healthy lifestyle or blood sugar control. I am working on adapting many of these recipes to the plan so watch for future posts!
America’s annual love affair with pumpkin begins where Labor Day ends and soothes us all with it’s warm flavor through Thanksgiving and its weekend of yummy leftovers. I thought I’d share this recipe to give you just one more pumpkiny thing to delight in before the season comes to a halt and all our fickle hearts leave it behind in search of the perfect Christmas cookie.
Let me introduce you to Zesty Pumpkin Soup – a favorite of mine that I make at least a couple of times during the fall. Why I don’t make it year-round is a mystery because it’s so yummy. To go along with it, I’m going to give you my recipe for Billy’s Biscuits, because what’s better than a great bowl of soup and a light and airy, buttery biscuit?
I’ve had the Recipe for Zesty Pumpkin Soup for years and years and I’ve tried my best to remember the source so that I can give credit where credit is due. I think I’ve finally remembered where I got it! Years ago, at a local shop, I picked up a super-cheap set of four paperback cookbooks which I believe were called, “Home Cooks’ Easy Recipes”. The pages were printed on newsprint and other than the cover, there were no photos. I tried all sorts of recipes in those books, but eventually parted with them in a garage sale – I think. I’ve looked online and can’t find any such books to reference here, or I would be happy to do so.
The interesting thing about Zesty Pumpkin Soup is that it is savory! Almost all pumpkin recipes are some variation that requires brown sugar and reminds you in some way of the eternal favorite, pumpkin pie. This is really different, but absolutely delicious. The original recipe called for the finished soup to be pureed until smooth. However, I forgot to do this once and ended up discovering that I actually preferred the “bits”, as long as they are finely chopped.
“Billy’s Biscuits?” you ask. “Who on earth is Billy?” I believe these biscuits began with a recipe known to some folks as “Southern Gal Biscuits”, but I got the recipe from my friend, Billy, after he served them up for breakfast when I was a houseguest. They were the best biscuits I’d ever had.
Here’s Billy –
I miss Billy, but know that breakfast in Heaven has been kicked up a notch ever since he arrived. I admit to tweaking the recipe for my own use, because I steer clear of shortening and refined sugars, but I’m sure if Billy were here to taste them, he’d approve! Normally, I also steer clear of wheat, but I do have an occasional cheat day. I’d sooner cheat and have these biscuits than almost any other treat. They’re worth it! Since I’ve never made these without thinking of Billy while I’m doing it, I can’t call them by any other name.
I see you shaking your head and muttering, “Soup – maybe. Homemade biscuits – no way! Where’s the can?” I’m about to take away all your fears about not having enough time or know-how to make these. They are lightning-fast and fool-proof, due to a few little tricks I’ll share with you.
And, best of all, there’s a FREE printable recipe.
Let’s get started –
Zesty Pumpkin Soup
1/4 cup real butter
1 cup chopped onion (chop this fairly small)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 cups chicken broth or stock (sugar free)
2 (14 ounce) cans pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Sour cream
Chopped fresh chives
Saute onion in butter until soft. Add garlic, curry powder, sald, coriander and red pepper; cook 1 minute longer.
Add broth; boil gently, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes.
Stir in pumpkin, milk and heavy cream. Cook an additional five minutes.
(As you can see in the photo, I tend to use my favorite ingredients from Aldi and Costco. Finding broth without added sugar is sometimes more difficult than catching the chicken and making your own, so I really appreciate Costco carrying the Kirkland Signature Organic Chicken Stock.)
Garnish each bowl of soup with a dollop of sour cream and chopped chives.
Makes a 3-quart saucepan of soup.
Now, before you nix the idea of making biscuits to go with this quick soup recipe, let me give you four fabulous tips that will make life so much easier!
Mix your dry ingredients ahead of time! If you know you’ll be preparing the biscuits for breakfast (when you are not exactly wide awake and ready to read a recipe and fumble around for ingredients) or if you want them hot and fresh for company, but don’t want to mess up your kitchen and be separated from your guests, this can save time and temper! Just measure all the dry ingredients into a medium-sized mixing bowl and set aside until biscuit time.
Grate the butter! I saw this tip somewhere gave it a try. I could kiss the hand of the genius who thought of it! Whether biscuits, pie crust or any other recipe, I’ll never “cut in” the fat again! All I do is grab a stick of frozen butter and my handy-dandy grater that catches all the bits and work fast. Peel back the paper on the butter and grate it against the grater with the small holes. Pop the lid onto the container and put it immediately back into the freezer! All those frozen little curls of butter will stir into your dry ingredients in about three seconds and you’ll be thanking me for passing on this grand idea. Seriously – always grate the butter!
Invest in a large silicone countertop rolling mat. Oh my goodness! I still dust with flour, but nothing sticks! You can roll out and cut cookies, biscuits – whatever you like – directly on the mat and best of all, when guests arrive, you can just roll it up, tuck it away and clean it later. No messy counters! I got mine at Aldi for a really reasonable price and the holiday baking season would be a good time to check there. Big name brands tend to be super expensive.
A dough scraper. I mean – really – where have these been all my life? Also, I have a marble rolling pin and I freeze it ahead of time if I know I’ll be making biscuits, cookies, etc. Nothing sticks!
Billy’s Biscuits
1 1/2 cups all purpose non-GMO wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
4 teaspoons non-aluminum baking powder
2 Tablespoons coconut sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
7 Tablespoons real butter, grated and re-frozen
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Quickly add the frozen, grated butter and stir to coat the butter with the flour mixture before the butter begins to melt.
Beat egg in milk; stir into dry ingredients, just until moistened.
Turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead the dough 15 times by folding the entire ball of dough in half, giving it a quarter turn and folding it again. Roll out the dough to 3/4” thickness. Cut into circles with a large 3” biscuit cutter.
Transfer biscuits to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
Yield: About 8-10 biscuits.
Enjoy your quick and heart-warming autumn meal. If you’ve prepared your dry ingredients and butter for the biscuits ahead of time, you can whip up the biscuits while the soup is simmering and have them ready to serve!
Have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends! And…don’t forget your free printable recipes below.
Questions? Comments? If you make the soup and/or the biscuits, let me know how you liked it! Scroll back up to the title of this post and “Leave a Comment”. And why not SUBSCRIBE, so you’ll receive an email reminder each time Midwest Storyteller has something new.
When I look at the stats that turn all of you into a mass of numbers and bar graphs – my, that sounds so impersonal and unfriendly – I can tell that the fans of Midwest Storyteller really enjoy the humor. It seems like you need a good laugh and are quick to pass it along to brighten someone’s day.
I love it! That’s my favorite part of what I do!
However, when I’m out and about, chatting with people, it seems that many share a common request: RECIPES!
People don’t need to spend much time around me to know that I eat “clean”. Those who don’t know me very well assume that I live on wild hickory nuts and tree bark, something that they, unless they’re out of their ever-lovin’ minds, would never choose to do themselves.
Those who know me well enough to get a taste of what comes out of my kitchen are surprised at the yummy-ness.
They (whomever the mysterious “they” are) used to call us health food “nuts” and it wasn’t because people like me sat around eating cashews and pecans. It implied that a certain degree of loopy-ness swirled inside the heads of those who didn’t think the world revolved around, and was made a better place by, granulated sugar and plenty of Crisco.
Reason is beginning to dawn for Americans at last. People are being advised by doctors, nutritionists and friends to feed their bodies the fuel it really needs and to avoid the stuff that they know is taking them down the same road of pain and ill health they’ve watched friends and family travel.
At the top of the list of culprits, lurking everywhere, is –
If you are making the wise choice to get sugar out of your diet, I am on your side! The delightful-tasting stuff only makes your body more susceptible to inflammation, diabetes, cancer and other ailments. I’m not picking on any particular brands here. As you can tell, it’s not been eradicated from our house entirely.
The biggest challenge lies in how to avoid hidden sugars. Companies love to put it in everything. Is it really addictive? Well, rats aren’t people, you might want to see a study in which rats, already addicted to cocaine before given the choice, preferred sugar to cocaine 8:1. It’s difficult to read the details and not be bowled over by it!
The stuff is practically omnipresent. If you don’t believe that sugar is in everything, I challenge you to purchase a bottle of salad dressing without any!
When I walked away from sugar, I spent two weeks in foul temper! Each time I got ready to prepare a meal, I examined the back labels of all my ingredients. Soy sauce, seasoned salt, chicken broth – why did any of these contain sugar in the first place? I would’ve have started a letter writing campaign if I hadn’t been so busy trying to find something to eat!
One particular group of convenience items really had me steamed! All those little packets we’re so accustomed to tossing into recipes and those little shaker bottles that we sprinkle over our food – almost every one of them had sugar.
“Oh, but it’s gotta be such a tiny amount! That’s not going to hurt anybody.”
I hear your pathetic, whiny voice. Not only do small amounts add up if it’s in everything you eat, but these small amounts keep the cravings alive! If you remove all sugar from your diet, the cravings go away. Yep! I promise.
“It all sounds like so much trouble when I can just grab what I need when I’m at the store. Who wants to mess with stirring up all this stuff?”
Oh, now you’re really sounding like you need me to send you to your room! It all seemed like a big chore to me at first, too. However, since I’ve pioneered the territory for you and am furnishing you with all the recipes, I’ll just stand here with my hands on my hips, tapping my foot, waiting for you to man up or pull up your big girl panties – whichever.
I’m not perfect in my attempts to stay completely off the stuff. Christmas does roll around and if I’m going to make cookies for everybody else, then by golly, I’m gonna eat a couple of ’em! There are also some Belgian truffles that come into Aldi storesevery year during the holiday season and, I mean to say – YUM! One of my dreams is to develop a sugar free recipe for those, but I am wandering from the point. Where were we? Right – MIXES!
I’ve come to realize that making my own mixes is much more convenient, and cheaper, than buying the packets at the store! Once a few basic ingredients become a staple on your pantry shelves, you’ll no longer be running to the store, wasting gas and precious time, all for that silly (and expensive) little packet. You’ll either stir up the simple ingredients within a couple of minutes, or you’ll grab one of your pre-made packets because, yes, you are talented enough to measure all the ingredients into little snack baggies or mix up a whole jar of the stuff to keep on the shelf!
Spread the love! Mix up several batches in snack baggies, spice jars or other food safe containers, apply a cute computer or hand-made label and fill a basket for a thoughtful, homemade gift.
Ready for the recipes? Let’s have all the fun, all the flavor – and none of the sugar!
There are also a free printables below, so be sure to print those out.
I’ll post more mixes soon. Be sure to hop on over to the side bar and sign up for free. If you are on a phone or tablet, you can go to the “Contact Me” page to find the subscription form. IMPORTANT: You must confirm the subscription in your email or it will not work!
Hopefully, my recent round of “technical difficulties” is over and posts will now be coming to you in a more timely manner.
Let’s mix it up!
Italian Salad Dressing Mix
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon dried flat-leaf Italian parsley
¾ teaspoon garlic powder
¾ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
¼ teaspoon citric acid
Measure all ingredients into a snack-sized re-sealable bag.
Make several packets up ahead of time, store in a freezer container and grab one whenever you have a recipe calling for a package of Italian dressing mix.
NOTE: The mixes you buy in the store also contain a small amount of dehydrated carrots. You might want to grate a little carrot into your recipe to give it those little flecks of color that are so appealing to the eye!
Taco Seasoning Mix
(for seasoning one pound of burger)
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion
½ to 1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
In a 10-inch skillet, brown the burger. Drain off any excess fat. Add the taco mix and ½ cup water. Simmer until onion bits are tender and excess moisture is absorbed.
Cream of Whatever (or “S.O.S” – Soup or Sauce)
2 cups powdered non-fat dry milk
¾ cup arrowroot powder
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground savory
1 teaspoon dried flat-leaf Italian parsley flakes
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried tarragon
¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
OPTIONAL: 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning.
Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Store in an airtight container.
One batch equals nine (10.5 ounce) cans of creamed soup.
For one can of cream soup:
Combine 1/3 cup of dry mix with 9 ounces COLD water in a saucepan. Whisk until well blended. Heat, stirring constantly with the whisk until thickened.
Add to casseroles or other recipes just as you would a can of soup.
Need Cream of Mushroom Soup: Stir in chopped mushrooms with the dry mix and water.
Need Cream of Celery Soup? Add 2 Tablespoons dried celery flakes to the saucepan.
Need other flavors? Use your imagination!
NOTE: I have seen variations of this recipe all over the internet, but I have changed it so much to eliminate sugar, wheat and corn products that I am calling it my own. However, I’d like to thank Jillie, over at One Good Thing by Jillie for all the tips I’ve received from her blog. She’s a great source for gluten-free recipes, safe cleaning solutions and more.
Seasoned Salt
½ cup sea salt
¼ cup paprika
2 Tablespoons ground tumeric
2 Tablespoons onion powder
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon citric acid
NOTE: If you truly feel that something is “missing” as compared to the seasoned salt you buy, it is, without a doubt, the sugar. If you like, you can add 1/8 teaspoon Sweet Leaf stevia powderto this mix. Sweet Leafreally lives up to their claim as the best-tasting stevia. I purchase my Sweet Leaf stevia at Natural Grocers, my local health food store. It’s available in drops, a powder canister and individual packets. I use whichever form I need, depending on the recipe. If you’ve yet to make friends with stevia because you don’t like the taste, you probably need to switch to this brand. It’s a bit more expensive, but lacks some of the extra ingredients that cause that “off” taste. Another tip on stevia – USE LESS! It’s tough to get it through our heads, but it really is so much sweeter than sugar. Yet, we ignore the label and use too much, causing us to complain about the taste and the cost. How silly is that?
BONUS: Here’s a link to another great mix – Dry Buttermilk Ranch Mix – submitted by Scotdog on www.allrecipes.com I use allrecipes.com often. It’s especially great when you have excess of a certain ingredient. You can do a word search and see all the recipes that have that ingredient.
Back to the Buttermilk Ranch Mix: We have found it to be absolutely yummy. You can print it out from their site. I have a few tips in preparing and using it –
We had to cut the garlic powder in half. It seemed just a bit too potent when made according to the recipe. Adjust this to your liking.
For dressing, I mix it with ½ cup milk and ½ cup full-fat mayonnaise. I like a mayonnaise I found at Trader Joe’s. It has no sugar.
For a dip, use ½ cup mayonnaise and ½ cup sour cream. :
IMPORTANT: I found that “as is”, this worked great for mixing into a dip where you prefer to see all the wonderful little bits of herb and spices. However, when made into a dressing, they tended to make things separate and appear “not so lovely”. I solved this by putting all the ingredients except for the buttermilk powder into my small blender and turning them into a fine powder. Now, I have a smooth, herbed ranch dressing!
Comments? I’d love to hear how you use these simple mixes. Also, I’ll do my best to answer your questions. Just scroll back up and click on “Leave a Comment” under the title of this post.
In my last post, I shared the recipe for a soup of my own invention, “Creamy Leek Soup with Chicken & Sweet Potato”. However, in the FREE PRINTABLE, I somehow managed to cut out the heavy cream from the bottom of the ingredients list.
My thanks to Judy, one of my eagle-eyed subscribers, who noticed and sent me a comment to let me know.
I’m always eager to fix my mistakes, so I encourage you all to call such things to my attention.
I fixed the FREE PRINTABLE on the original post, but here it is again in case you need to print it out again.
