Cuban Bean Soup

This recipe is one of my favorites. It takes a lot of time to make just because of the bean-soaking and the simmering, but it's not too terribly labor intensive. It makes a huge pot and I usually freeze some of it for later.

Although it's called "soup", it's a lot thicker than that, and I always make a ton of rice to eat it with. We usually call it beans and rice, because it's not really very soupy at all. Just tasty.

Ingredients:
1 pound white beans (I've used pinto too and that's fine)
2 cubes each beef and chicken bouillon
4 slices bacon
1/2 slice ham steak, cubed
2 small green peppers (I usually use one)
4 garlic cloves
1 large onion
1 can tomato sauce
4-6 packets Goya Culantro y Achiote spice (this stuff is in an orange box in the Mexican food aisle. I used to have to go to a mexican market to get it but it's gotten pretty mainstream. It's BRIGHT orange spice.)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup cooking wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar

Soak beans overnight and rinse. Then cook with two quarts of water and the bouillon cubes. Bring to boiling, lower heat, and simmer till beans are done. (It usually takes at least two hours.)

Make Sofrito:
Slice and dice ham and bacon. Saute with diced peppers, onion, and garlic. Fry till soft. Add tomato sauce and Goya spice, salt, pepper, cumin, and wine. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes and then add to beans.

Cook, covered, for at least 90 minutes. Before serving, add oil and vinegar. Serve with lots of rice.

Good for most allergies- dairy free, nut free, gluten free as long as you are careful what brand of bouillon you use. It's really flavorful but not spicy- my kids will eat it. Good stuff all around.

Paw-Paw's Killer Sweet and Hot Pickles

I love pickles. And I'm willing to eat them lots of ways (in a box, with a fox...) but these are my absolute favorite. I eat them straight out of a bowl as a snack. In fact, when I was pregnant with my daughter I ate SO MANY that this conversation ensued:

my father in law: "baby girl, don't you think you should slow down on those pickles?"
me: "no. your granddaughter loves them and they're healthy!"
fil: "honey. you've had EIGHTY SEVEN."
me: (shamed) "seriously?"
fil: "no. but you should really stop eating them."

I really thought I might have eaten that many. I'm glad he wasn't actually counting.

So I got the recipe, which is my husband's grandfather's as far as I know, and it's written in his handwriting, which I love. Get your grandparents to give you recipe cards that they actually write out- I LOVE going into my recipe box and getting handwritten love from somebody who's not around to hug anymore.

I don't make them very often, but last time we went to visit this was waiting for me in the fridge, with my NAME on it so everybody else would keep their grubby mitts off:

And yes, that is a half gallon jar, why do you ask? So what if I've eaten almost the whole thing in less than two weeks?

Paw-Paw's recipe:
1 gallon sliced dill pickles
4 pounds sugar (yes, POUNDS)
1 bottle tabasco sauce (I use a small one because I am a pansy, but you can adjust this to taste)

Drain liquid from pickles, reserving 2 cups.
Bring liquid to a boil. Add 4 POUNDS sugar, stir till dissolved, add tabasco. Stir well and add pickles back in.

If you're making a smaller recipe, basically it's a quart of pickles for every pound of sugar.

When I got these out the other day, my sister's husband ate some and said "wow. These are REALLY sweet. And not that hot." And then he kept eating them and soon his throat was on fire. They sneak up on you. At first you're lulled into complacency by the sugar and then the tabasco bites you.

My two year old asked for one today. I told him they were spicy but he insisted on tasting a "bee-ko". He ate it. He liked it. He had another. And another. And then number four...


He's now on his second string cheese to cool off his mouth and I may have turned him off pickles forever. Good. More for me.

Friendship Soup

It's cold here! We need some more soup! I made this for lunch today so I am reposting it. If you read my daycare blog, you've seen it before.

Here's a soup recipe that every kid in my house except for one has loved for the last four years. Even if they don't like the individual ingredients, there's something about the way it comes together that makes it palatable for everybody. I first got this recipe mixed in a jar for a Christmas present, and it's incredibly easy to recreate if you want to give it as a gift.

In a jar or cutesy container:
1/2 cup split green peas
1/3 cup beef bouillon granules (in a pinch I've used cubes, and it takes about 10 to get the same flavor. Knorr's and Herb-Ox are gluten free, Wyler's is not.)
1/4 cup barley
1/2 cup lentils
1/4 cup dried onion (or slice real if you're making it fresh)
2 t. Italian seasoning
1/2 cup rice

in a little separate baggie in the top of the jar, put 1/2 cup small macaroni. I've used orzo, tiny stars, and that bitty alphabet pasta. The kind in the mexican food aisle that's about 20 cents works great.

Add a tag that says you need to add 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained, 3 quarts water, and 28 oz diced tomatoes, undrained.

Put everything except the macaroni in a big pan. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 45 minutes. Then add the macaroni, cover, and simmer 15 more minutes.

It makes a ton, is really thick and hearty and healthy, and is even better the second day. It's really good with club crackers (my favorite way to eat it!) or cornbread or just by itself.
Here's the first round of bowls ready to serve- everybody loves it~! Most kids eat at least three bowls of it.
And here's how much I had left, I put the tomatoes in there as a size guide. That's a really big Tupperware container, we have enough for probably 2 more meals. It freezes well too.

Now that I have to be gluten free, I leave out the barley and the macaroni, and just add more of the other ingredients. It tastes a little different, but not so much that people complain, which equals success around here. I also usually put a little fresh Parmesan cheese on top now- it adds a tiny bit of that sharp nutty flavor that I lose by taking out the barley. But if I didn't, it would be dairy free as well.

Combo Meal Skillet

One of the things I miss about being gluten and dairy free is that I can never just order something off the menu. If I do get a burger(no bun) it is normally in a place where I can't eat sides. One day last month I really wanted a burger and some fries. I didn't have any but I threw a few things together and WOW!

I started with an onion and some hamburger and some seasoned salt. While that was frying those up I checked my freezer for fries that I wished were there but I knew were not and I found tater tots. Score!

I knew I didn't have time to bake or fry them so I nuked them for a few minutes and threw them in the skillet and squished them up with the meat and onion. (We made it again at my sister's house and fried the tots and left them whole and that was great, too.) After that I put in ketchup, mustard and mayo to make a slurry of deliciousness.

The first time I made this I added dill pickle relish and I loved it but my husband said the pickles made it weird so now I put pickles and fresh tomato on top and serve it with gluten free rolls.

The great thing about this is that you can make it how you like it. I'm sure it would be great with bacon or cheese or even piled on a big gluteny bun! It is quick and easy and it really does taste like fast food.

Ingredients:

hamburger, onion, seasoned salt, tater tots, ketchup, mustard,mayo, tomato, pickle or WHATEVER you like!

Mint Chocolate Chip Muffins

Before I went dairy free I LOVED mint chocolate chip ice cream. I have yet to find it in the dairy free variety. Leaving the ice cream part aside even most chocolate is made with milk fat so it a challenge to find anything I can just buy and eat that satisfies my mint/chocolate craving. So I got a little creative. I once saw a recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine that called for chai tea bags. You rip open the bag and use the tea in the cookies! Thus was born the idea for my Mint Chocolate Chip Muffins!



I start with a box of gluten free muffin mix. I pretty much follow the directions on the box. Two eggs, 6 tablespoons oil (butter) and a cup of rice milk (milk). Here comes the brilliant part! Instead of vanilla I add mint extract, 2 bags of herbal peppermint tea and 5-10 drops of green food coloring depending on how green you want them to be. Throw in some chocolate chips and you have the perfect gluten free, dairy free Mint Chocolate Chip Muffins!

The ingredients:

muffin mix

2 eggs

6 Tbs oil

1 cup rice milk

1/2 tsp mint extract

2 peppermint tea bags

green food coloring

Chocolate chips (I use the Enjoy Life that are dairy free, gluten free, soy free, and nut free)

I was going to take pictures of the batter because it looks and smells JUST like melted mint chocolate chip ice cream but my camera battery died. :( I pulled some out of my remote control while the muffins were baking.

The finished product:

They also freeze really well if you need a quick snack, breakfast or dessert.

Award winning chili

I didn't win the award, but my little sister Teri won an informal chili-cookoff at a friend's house with this recipe. It's a quick and easy recipe, yet tastes better than any mix or chili starter I have tried.

It is the best kind of recipe...easy to make, easy to double, and extra can be frozen for future weeknight meals. I always make a double batch and freeze half. When it is cold and wintery outside, it will be quite delightful to warm some up for a no-cook meal after work. I serve it with brown rice and a little bit of shredded cheese when I am trying to be respectable...fritos and a whole lotta cheese when I'm not.

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (optional)
1 small can chopped green chiles
1 can chili beans (I use Bush's mild)
1 can petite diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a dutch oven. Add onion and peppers, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes, and add the ground beef and garlic. Season again with salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is no longer pink, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. Add the chili powder and cumin and stir it into the meat. Add green chiles, tomatoes, and beans. Stir, and simmer on low for at least 10 minutes...longer if you have time. I simmer mine uncovered because I like it thicker. Check for seasoning before serving, and simmer a few minutes longer if you end up adding more salt and pepper.

If you like it spicy, it is really good with a minced chipotle pepper and a little bit of the adobo sauce it comes packed in. But since Gabby eats it too, I leave out the chipotle and jalapeno (I still use the green chiles).

Welcome! 5

HI! I am so excited about Can you Eat This!! I am KatieBug, Kelli's little sister, and as she mentioned we are a mess. Allergies abound. Our entire house (including me, my Love, Bubby~6, FireCracker~5, CreamPuff~3 and Peanut~6 months) is gluten free. I am also dairy free and we just found out CreamPuff is allergic to fish and shellfish. So when Kel had the great idea to start a recipe blog I was all over it! I could really use some fresh ideas.

Needless to say we read labels like crazy and can't usually eat food that other people prepare. We also don't eat out much except the occasional double cheeseburger no bun (and no cheese for me) so I cook a lot. I feed my kids by the food program so as long as it has a protein, a carb, and 2 fruits and/0r veggies we call it a meal. Sometimes it gets very.....creative. :)

I really like to cook and am getting to the point I will eat just about anything that is safe because my standards are so low. Kelli and I joke about how often we say "Not bad!" about foods we try. I do a lot of tweaking to recipes just because there are so many ingredients we can't have. Sometimes it turns out great and I pat myself on the back and bring the tasty foods to my friends so they eat the food that was prepared by a culinary genius. Other times I take one bite and put the whole thing in the disposal. You will not be finding those recipes on this blog.

I love to take pictures. I probably won't do a step by step how-to picture post very often but if I think a recipe is good enough to blog about there will be at least one picture. Sometimes I take pictures of my food just because. For me if there is no picture it didn't happen.

I can't wait to see what we can do here!!