‘Cluck’ or ‘Moo’: It’s Up To You!

Why is it a bit intimidating to make a whole roast chicken or a pot roast? It seems like a lot of work, but I found that it can be quite easy and the results are a savory roast chicken or succulent pot roast filling your home with wonderful smells! Here are twin recipes with 4 ingredients each:

Roast Chicken w/ White Wine & Rosemary

A Whole Chicken

1 & 1/2 cups of warm water mixed with a level Tablespoon of Reduced Sodium Better Than Bouillon (Chicken)

2/3 cups of white wine

Sprigs of fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 400

Step 1. Remove neck and giblets from inside of chicken and discard. Then rinse and pat dry. Next, place chicken in a large pot (dutch oven), breasts facing down.

Step 2. Mix the warm water with a level Tablespoon of the RS Boullion, 1 teaspoon of garlic salt and 8 cranks of pepper. Next pour this mixture along with 2/3 cup of white wine over the chicken. You then place four rosemary sprigs in the liquid.

Step 3. Roast the chicken for 30 min. then flip the chicken over and roast for 45 more minutes or until a meat thermometer placed in a thigh reads 165 degrees.

*To thicken the gravy you can remove about a cup of the liquid and whisk in 2 Tablespoons of flour. You then microwave this combo for 1 min., whisk it some more, then stir it back into the pot.

*Serve with rice and roasted vegetables or whatever you like and garnish with more fresh rosemary sprigs.

Pot Roast w/ Red Wine & Thyme

This mouth watering pot roast recipe was adapted from one I got from my dear friend Margy Coleman in Chicago. Here’s what you’ll need:

2-3 lb boneless chuck roast

1 & 1/2 cups of warm water mixed with a level Tablespoon of Reduced Sodium Better Than Bouillon (Beef)

2/3 cups of red wine (Chef Margy says the better the wine the better the results:)

Fresh thyme sprigs

Optional: 1-2 lbs of small potatoes and a bag of baby carrots

Preheat oven to 350

Step 1. In a dutch oven heat a tablespoon of oil over med-high heat. Add roast to a large pot (dutch oven) and brown for about 5 min. on each side sprinkling generously as you go with garlic salt and pepper.

Step 2. Stir in broth mixture, wine and 4 thyme sprigs. Cover pot and roast at 350° for 1 & 1/2 hours.

Step 3. Turn roast over, stir liquid, then add carrots and potatoes, (opt.) and roast covered for 1 more hour.

*Garnish with more fresh thyme leaves (after discarding original sprigs) and serve with lots of french bread to soak up the delicious juice!

My husband wants a salad every night! (I swear I live with a bunch of rabbits!) Anyway this delectable Sweet and Blue Spinach Salad is a perfect complement to either the roast chicken or the pot roast.

A Little Known Fact about Depression/Anxiety and Cooking!!!

According to Behavioral Neuroscientist Dr. Kelly Lambert of the University of Richmond, regularly making or doing things with our hands (cooking, gardening, creating an art piece, etc.) ignites the “Effort-Driven Rewards Circuit” in our brains, which in turn significantly reduces depression and anxiety! We are doing less and less of these types of things in our instant society today so let’s reverse the trend: get cooking and be happier people!

Check out Dr. Lambert’s podcast : mikemahler.com/podcast/episode-17-lifting-depression-author-kelly-lambert-phd

Colorful Sayings

“Your goose is cooked,” “You’re a dead duck,” “You’re in hot water,” and my personal favorite, “You’re up $%#&* creek without a paddle”—these are all colorful ways of saying, “You’re in big trouble sister!” Gotta love it!

Sweet and Savory

Lamb with Garlic-Mint Sauce

Growing up lamb was a special dish and we always had it with mint jelly. Have you tasted that jelly lately? You might as well pour sugar directly onto your lamb! Here is a grown-up recipe that I'm convinced you'll love, and of course it has 4 ingredients:

4 Tablespoons of olive oil

3 finely minced cloves of garlic (I like the ease of using the frozen cubes of minced garlic from Trader Joes or the jarred minced garlic.)

4-6 lamb loin chops or lamb chops

2 Tablespoons of mint jelly

Turn the oven on to 200. You then heat the oil in the skillet on medium high. Next sprinkle each side of the lamb chops with garlic salt and once the skillet is super hot add the chops. Cook about 1&1/2 to 2 min. on both sides until each side is browned and has a nice crust. Turn off the pan, cover it, and remove from heat to allow the lamb to cook through. About 3 more min. for lamb loin chops and 2 min. for lamb chops.

BEFORE the chops have reached the desired color inside, remove from the pan, wrap tightly with foil and put in the oven. You then turn the eye on low and return the pan to the heat. Next with a wooden spoon stir in one more tablespoon of olive oil and the garlic into the leftover liquid. Don't forget to scrape the bottom of the pan, so you can get all the yummy stuff. You then stir in the mint jelly long enough for it the liquify. Remove chops from the oven, place on plates, pour sauce over chops and serve immediately.

If you are making 2 batches, cook each batch in the oil before you do the sauce. After your chops are warming in the oven, add 2 more Tablespoons of oil, 6 finely minced garlic cloves,  4 Tablespoons of jam and stir.  Pour sauce over lamb and serve immediately.

TRY THEM YOU'LL LOVE THEM!

Made to Order

This is a super easy way to make earrings just how you want them! Here's what you'll need:

Beads (1 to 4 different kinds) Your own jewelry is a great resource. In this case, I cut off a strand of a 3 strand bracelet that I got at TJMaxx.

Head pins

2 earring hooks

2 Jump rings

Step 1. Gather your materials: beads, head pins, earring hook and jump rings.

Step 2. First you design your earrings, then you put half the beads on a head pin. Next you snap off the head pin 1/2 inch above the top bead.

Step 3. You then take your rounded needle nose pliers and make a loop. 

Step 4. After that you close the loop using your regular needle nose pliers.

Step 1.

Step 2.

Step 3.

Step 4.

Step 5. You then attach your earring hook to the beaded head pin using a jump ring. (See a couple posts ago on working with jump rings.) Now you have a darling pair of earrings that you can wear yourself or give as a gift!

Step 5.

* We will pick back up with simple jewelry making tips after Christmas. The holiday season is upon us!

Fun Saying:

The other day one of my friends said, "That's no skin off my nose." OW Another variation of this quote is also "That's no skin off my back." (OW) And a totally weird variation that makes zero sense is: "That's no skin off my teeth." The only thing I can think of is back when this saying originated people didn't brush their teeth, so they had a layer of scum on their teeth like skin. GROSS!!!

Iron On

Did you grow up with your mother or grandmother using a cast iron skillet? I know I did, but when the new fangled non-stick teflon pans came out, all iron skillets got the shaft. Now they are back in style and all the rage.

I was curious so I asked my nephew, Chris Nunzita, to explain the big craze. (His creations are below.) He said: 1. They cook the food evenly, so the food in the center doesn't cook faster than the food around the edges.   2. They hold the heat in ; thereby, keeping the food warm even after you turn off the stove. 3. They don't emit harmful chemicals like teflon pans do. They are in fact a healthy source of iron. Hence the "iron" in iron skillet. 4. They are very affordable and they last forever. You could actually will them to your children and grandchildren. 

There are also iron grills. My good friend Lara Lanfried uses hers everyday to cook anything from Pancakes in the morning to steaks at night. She never even puts her's away! One of her favorite things to make on her iron grill is what she calls "Skillet Steak".  Here's what you'll need:

1 Lb of Tri Tip

1/3 cup of olive oil

 2 Tablespoons of red wine

Cut the tri tip into 2 inch pieces then place in a large baggie with olive oil, red wine, sea salt& pepper. Marinate meat anywhere from a few hours to overnight. When ready to cook, melt some butter over high heat and add the meat. (High heat will sear or brown the outsides.) Cook on each side on high for 2&1/2 to 4 minutes or until just before inside of steak reaches your desired degree of pink. Simply mouth-watering!

Beer?

Linda who is my favorite checker at Ralph’s gave me this tri tip marinade recipe:

2 lbs. of tri tip

1/2 cup of your favorite beer

1/4 cup of soy sauce

2 teaspoons of fresh garlic

(Opt. 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger)

She mixes all the ingredients and adds the mixture to the tri tip pieces in a large plastic bag. She then lets the meat marinade for 2 to 3 days. (I guess it’s almost impossible to marinade meat for too long.) Finally she barbecues it or cooks it in an iron skillet. Linda says that it’s the alcohol in the beer that tenderizes the meat. I have since talked to others who marinate their steak in beer. Go figure.

Try it You'll Love It!

Fun Saying

My  childhood friend, Bradley, (She was the first girl in history that had a boy's name, and believe it or not my other good friend was named Gregg.) I've gotten way off track. Anyway Bradley recently reminded me of the saying, "I put a bug in his ear." Gross!!!!!! I can just envision a cock roach climbing into someone's ear. The saying means to plant a thought into someone's head. Now isn't there a better way to put that?