Tag Archives: Recipes

Cookbook Cover Preview

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Remember me? I hope so but I understand if you don’t. I haven’t written in so long that you may have also forgotten that I was writing a cookbook! It’s nothing fancy – no photos, because everyone knows what a stuffed bell pepper or tacos or spaghetti looks like, right? Besides, photos just raise the cost of printing and I would have to charge too much. Right now, I think the cost will be around $25, including shipping. It will be 6″ x 9″ and coil bound, with over 200 recipes. Here’s a preview of the cover!

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I may change the cover for the umpteenth time but so far this is what I’m using. I’m still editing but all of my recipes have been typed and formatted. When I think I’m done, I will order just one book so I can see what it will look like in print, make any changes and/or corrections, and then fingers crossed, it will be ready! I will keep you posted but in the meantime, please leave your feedback in the comments!

See ya next time!

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One Thing, Then Another!

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It’s been a while since I posted. I finally got through January and I had just a couple of days to go before February was in the rearview mirror when all of a sudden my lower left molar decided it was going to give me a hard time. I babied it for a week and then Sunday evening the pain was so intense I thought I might cut my own head off!

I was able to get an emergency dental appointment on Tuesday morning. I’m a big baby when it comes to the dentist. I just don’t go unless I have to. I may have gone more often had I known my insurance covers some (but not a lot of) dental services. I was told a long time ago that they didn’t cover dental at all. Ugh. Anyway, I opted to have the tooth pulled because a root canal was not covered and I can’t afford that cost. I have already resigned myself to the fact that I will eventually lose all of my teeth. Seems like when my legs start giving me new troubles, I have problems with my teeth. It’s all connected they say. I believe it.

So, onwards and upwards. The tooth extraction was unlike the other two extractions I have had in the past. This little shit of a molar decided it was going to be stubborn as hell. The dentist had to cut it out and remove it in pieces! The sound of the dental saw (which wasn’t really a saw, just high-powered water) almost caused a panic attack. I breathed through it but it was awful! Two hours later, the tooth was out. I was swollen and so glad to get out of there. I was exhausted and went to sleep as soon as I got home. They gave me Vicoden, which I didn’t really need but I took it twice Tuesday and one before bed the next 2 nights. My gums are still a bit tender but the pain is minimal. I was on a soft food diet for several days and I’m done with that! I feel so deprived!

On to more exciting news! Before the dreaded tooth extraction, I was working diligently on my cookbook! I have nearly all of them typed out and organized. I’m not sure but I think I may not need recipe testers. Most of the recipes in the cookbook have been “tested” by me, friends, and family through the years. That’s enough testing, yes? Anyway, I still may call upon friends to test a couple recipes that I’m not sure about; for example, my Grandmother’s recipe for Light Bread. All of the ingredients and amounts are listed except for the flour! My oven doesn’t work so I can’t make the recipe to figure it out. I guess Granny knew exactly how much flour to use!

Also, I have decided that I won’t be adding too many photos. I don’t think it’s necessary, although photos do make things look appealing! I have some photos, which I will use but honestly, everyone knows what a stuffed bell pepper looks like, or a bowl of salsa, guacamole, biscuits, or potato soup. Right? Besides, I won’t be listing this cookbook with online retailers or libraries. The cookbook will not have an ISBN. I will be selling through word of mouth, to friends, family, and others interested. Nothing fancy and most likely not perfect, just a book of the recipes I’ve collected over the years.

So, friends. Please refresh my memory on who was interested in recipe testing. I may call upon you for your help. Please use this FORM to send me your email so that I may contact you in the next couple of months.

I thank you all for reading this silly blog and being patient with me over the last couple of years while I work on the cookbook! Have a great weekend!

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A Freebie For You!

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Some of you may remember that I have been working on a cookbook…for several years now. Ugh. Actually, it’s been in the back of my mind for 30 years or so! I’ve been collecting recipes, making notes, and saving the best since I was around 17 years old!

Over the years I have tried and tried to make a homemade sweet and sour sauce and I have a stack of recipes with notes all over them! None of them were ever quite right. One was too sweet, or one was too tangy. One might have had too much ketchup (for color) and one might have had too much onion and not enough bell pepper. You get the idea.

Today, I decided to give it another shot. I took all the notes I wrote on all the other recipes and put them all together in my feeble mind. I wrote my own recipe and made Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Meatballs. I even made a batch of sauce to save for later! The sauce was the best I’ve ever made!

It may be a bit too sweet for you, or it may have too much onion or too many chunks of pineapple. But the thing about recipes is that you can tweak them to your own taste!

Here’s my recipe and I hope you like it. Call it a freebie before my cookbook is finished!

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Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks, undrained
1 green red or green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup rice vinegar
4 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch in 2 tbsp water, to make slurry

Add all ingredients to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Let simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Add cornstarch slurry and stir constantly, until thickened to desired consistency. Let the sauce cool before storing it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Use it as a dipping sauce or with your favorite sweet-and-sour recipe.

If you want to make Sweet and Sour Meatballs, just add frozen meatballs during cooking but in the end, you may need a bit more cornstarch slurry. If you want to make this in the Instant Pot, add everything to the pot except for the cornstarch slurry. Cook on manual or high pressure for 7 minutes. Manually release pressure when the timer goes off. Add the slurry to thicken. Serve over rice.

If you like Sweet and Sour Chicken, add cooked (and still hot) breaded chicken bites at the very end and stir until coated, then serve over rice.

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Well, I hope you like this recipe! Let me know what you think if you try it!

aunt-debbie

Russian Beans

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I made my great-grandmother’s Russian Beans the other day. I wish I knew the specific origin of this recipe. My great-grandparents were German citizens who migrated to Russia to take advantage of the offer of free land. At least, that’s what I have heard since I was young.

What’s funny is that as I was growing up, all of the German recipes I loved were possibly not even German at all. Some were probably German dishes but many had other origins completely. I wish I had more details about those recipes. I had asked my grandmother many times the name of some of those things. She would tell me the name in German but she didn’t know how it was spelled or what it meant in English, or even where it came from. Now I have these recipes that I’ve had to call something – something I had to make up! For example; she made little potato filled pockets that I can only call pierogis. She called them something else in German that I can’t recall. Many recipes I wrote down many years ago because I knew my grandmother wouldn’t be around forever. She didn’t have them written down! They were only in her head.

I have searched and searched and searched some more to find a Russian Beans recipe online and in cookbooks. I wanted to compare it to my great-grandmother’s recipe. I can only come to the conclusion that my great-grandmother must have adapted a Russian recipe to what she had access to or that she possibly just made it up and called it Russian Beans because she was in Russia! Haha! Maybe she made it up after they migrated to the United States. I haven’t a clue. In any case, this recipe and more from my great-grandmother Yunker, will be in my cookbook!

Yes, I’m still working on that blasted cookbook! I had hoped for it to be ready for print by Christmas 2022 but I never even made it to the recipe testing phase! I’m back to work at it and I will be asking for recipe testers this year. That is, if things don’t get in the way like last year.

By the way, Happy New Year! I hope 2023 is a good one for all of us!

Salsa Verde Chicken Soup Recipe

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I was sitting here scratching my head, trying to decide what to write about today and thought, “Why not share a recipe?” I chose Salsa Verde Chicken Soup because it was something I made just a few days ago and it was delicious! I made a few changes to the original recipe and I am happy with the results. This is basically a dump and heat recipe and is much simpler if you have cooked, diced chicken in the freezer already. This recipe can be made in a crock pot or instant pot, but it’s so quick on the stove top that it’s hard to do it any other way! I regret not taking a photo of my soup but I hope you will try this recipe! If you do, let me know how it turned out!

Salsa Verde Chicken Soup

Ingredients

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
8 cups chicken broth
2 cups salsa verde
3 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans corn, drained
4 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1 – 1 1/2 tbsp. ground chili powder
4 -5 tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. dried cilantro
Salt & Pepper to taste

Optional toppings: Tortilla chips, avocado, sour cream, cheddar cheese

Add all ingredients, except for salt & pepper, and optional toppings. Cook on medium-high heat until hot and bubbly. Adjust seasonings to taste; you may want more salsa verde and less cilantro. You may want to thicken your soup a little with a masa-water slurry. Your taste is perfect for you!

aunt-debbie