Sorrel soup

Sorrel Soup

• 3 tablespoons
 • 1/3 cup Onion, minced
 • 3 cups sorrel leaves, washed, dried, and cut into thin strips 
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
 • 2 tablespoons all­purpose flour
 • 6 cups chicken stock, boiling
 • 2 large egg yolks • 3/4 cup heavy cream

 1. In a large saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, without browning, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add sorrel and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir over low heat for about 5 minutes.

 2. Sprinkle in flour and cook, stirring, over moderate heat for 5 minutes.
Stir in boiling stock. Simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

 3. In a small bowl, beat yolks lightly with cream. Whisking constantly, slowly pour 1 cup hot stock mixture into egg mixture, then return back to saucepan.
Do not let soup boil after egg yolks have been added or yolks will curdle.

 4. Separate into serving bowls, stir in a 1/2 tsp softened butter and serve hot with a dollop of sour cream. If serving the soup chilled, leave out the softened butter.

Makes 6 servings

Sausage Casserole

 Morning sausage casserole

 Ingredients:

 2 LB. Bulk sausage ( hot or mild both work well).
 8 Slices of bread with the crusts removed (save the crusts).
 3 /4 LB Grated sharp cheese (cheddar).
 8 Large Eggs.
  3 Cups milk.
 1 1/2 TSP Salt.
 1 1/2 TSP Dried Mustard.
 1/4 tsp of black pepper.

 Brown the sausage, crumble and drain well.
 Into a 9x13 inch, casserole dish ( buttered).
 Cut the bread into bites sized pieces, lay them in the bottom of the pan.
 Place the sausage bits on top of the bread, Sprinkle the grated cheese on top.

 In a separate bowl mix the eggs, salt , pepper and dry mustard together, Blend  them well.
 Pour the mixture evenly over the other ingredients, put the saved bread crusts on top.

 Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.
In the morning, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes uncovered.

 When done slice into squares and enjoy.
 They are also very good cold
 You can use an apartment sized toaster oven as well.

SMOKED SALMON DIP

CAJUN SMOKED SALMON DIP

1/2 cup sour cream
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 packet ranch dressing mix,(works well with other dressings as well)
4 ounces smoked salmon, flaked
1 green onion, chopped
1 teaspoon chives, minced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon  chile powder, adds a little bit of zing into the taste.

Puree everything in a

 food processor until smooth. Sprinkle  with slivered almonds and serve.

Makes 1 1/3 cups.


This does not freeze well.

Chicken Casserole and Southern Pear Salad

Chicken Casserole
2 - 3 lbs. cubed cooked chicken
16 oz. sour cream
1 4-oz. jar sliced mushrooms
1 can (10 and three quarter oz.) cream of mushroom soup
1 cup chicken broth
8 oz. seasoned stuffing cubes
One half cup butter

Mix chicken, sour cream, mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup and chicken broth together in large baking dish. Place stuffing over chicken mixture. Melt butter and pour over stuffing. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.


Southern Pear Salad

Boston lettuce leaves
3 cans (15 oz.) pear halves, drained
One quarter cup mayonnaise
One half cup shredded cheddar cheese

Place 2 - 3 lettuce leaves on salad plate. Place 2 pear halves on lettuce leaves. Place 2 Tbsp. of mayonnaise on top of the pears. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

The Skinny: Use low fat cheese and low fat or light mayo.

Flax Meal Bread (Flax Seed)

If you are looking for a nice healthy change to the normal bread you buy in the grocery store.

This is a very healthy bread and you can cook it in your Microwave Oven in about 7 minutes 

Here are the things you will need, Fine ground Flax seed,(you can use coarse ground Flax Seed if you want a courser texture to your bread) Baking powder, butter, eggs and  Splenda. ( remember this is a healthy Bread)

You will need a glass pan with tapered sides (makes getting the finished bread out of the pan easier) 

The glass pan you will need  for this recipe measures 4" wide by 9" long and 3" deep. 

Into the glass  pan, put 3 cups of Flax Meal, 3 teaspoons of Baking Powder, 1/4 cup of Spenda, mix well, add 6 eggs and about a 1/4 cup of butter (in chunks) mix in well.

Pop into the microwave for about 7 min at high heat, when done take it out of the oven and turn it over and tap it onto a piece of Parchment paper , let cool and then slice.

(Not all Microwave ovens cook at the same rate so you will have to adjust the time  to suit your microwave oven. My oven is 1000watts, some are only 600 watts).

planing a meal for two

The planning of a meal takes time and commitment to make a healthy and nutritious meal that will fit into ones lifestyle and time frame.

The planning part is made harder when both of the parents work, or in a lot of cases of single parent families, sometimes there is not the time or the will to do it.

This is when the fast food, or take out is used, to save time. This is never as healthy or nutritious as putting together a solid meal that does not include a lot of sugars and other non healthy ingredients .

Not everything has to be done just before the meals are served, there are many parts of the meal that can be prepared well in advance of the meal, this is when the planning beforehand bears the most fruit.

One quick thing that can be done is to buy a dozen eggs. boil them up and put them back into the egg carton making sure you mark them as cooked, now you have part of the meal done and these make a great healthy snack anytime.after-retirement.blogspot.com