No Tomato Chili

For those looking to avoid night shades to avoid any inflammation they made contribute to....

No, it's not "the same" as "real chili"... but it sure is nice and yummy on a cold winter night!

No Tomato Chili

1 lb of ground meat (lean turkey, beef, chicken)
2 cans of beans (light/dark red kidney beans or mix one can of black with one can kidneys)
1 small onion (if tolerated)
1 Tbsp garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cilantro
salt (to taste)
black pepper (to taste) 
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin (or carrots)
1 15 ounce can of beets
1 small can mushrooms (optional, if tolerated)
Extra water

1) In an adequate sized pot, brown ground meat, onion, and garlic in a skillet on med/high heat.
2) While meat is browning, place canned pumpkin and beets in a food processor and puree'.
3) Add seasonings into pot with the browned meat mixture.
4) Finally, mix in pumpkin mixture and simmer on low heat until seasonings blend through.

Helpful Hints:
*For those unable to use canned ingredients or those just wanting to save $$$, dried beans can be soaked and cooked ahead to add to this recipe. Also, fresh pumpkin/carrots/beets can be steamed and pureed for the  sauce.

*We like our chili rather "stew-ish."  You may prefer a chili with more liquid (hence the "Extra Water" in the ingredient list). Do what works for your pallet! 

*You will note that there is no chili seasoning in this chili. That is because of the nightshades in the red pepper  in the seasonings. If you can tolerate night-shades, by all means add in chili seasoning! It adds to the flavor immensely.

Crock Pot Roast & Cobbler

There's a nippy feeling in the air. I even saw a small flock of geese in their V formation flying over just the other day! Fall is coming. It makes me think of the fair, hay rides, wearing jackets in the morning waiting on the bus and running barefoot in the afternoons when the day warmed. Also, the last of the garden was usually coming in and grandma would make lots of soup. Mom would have that crock pot a bubbling.... the smells getting off the bus would make you run to the house to just get a taste!

I got so excited last week I ran out and change my lawn decorations then came in and threw a roast in the crockpot! 

Then I tried something I had wanted to for a long time.... Crockpot Cobbler!  It worked wonderfully. 

I threw it all in and we came home Sunday to a dinner my sweet grandmother would have been proud of!

My crockpot seems to be my best friend on busy days. One of the few things you can just leave running and come back in a few hours to enjoy! With not eating out very often I have come to appreciate this little device in so many ways in the last several years. So dearies.... pull that thing out of the back of your closet, remove the dust and crank it up! It's time for some yum!

Cobbler in a crock pot!

Easy Roast!
Roast
Salt
Garlic (opt.)
Onion
Carrots, celery, potatoes (or sweet potatoes!), green beans or other fresh veggie.
Water (apprx. 2 cups)

Brown the roast in a pan first with the salt, onion and garlic then place in the bottom of the crockpot.  Chop veggies and mound on top of the meat.  Pour water over the top.  Place on lid and turn it on.

3-8 hours depending on your crockpot settings!

Tip:  You can make cobbler in your crock pot too!  Just place the fruit and liquid in the bottom, pour on the topping, place the lid on and keep the setting low.  Fresh fruit or frozen fruit works best for this.

Hamentaschen (Feasts of Purim Cookies)

We are studying ancient history right now with the kids.  We've reached the Persian Empire days and it's been quite enlightening!  Floating bridges, conquering armies, the orginal postal system and.. ah, yes!.... the story of Esther (Hadas'sah).  The Feasts of Purim actually don't occur until February/March-ish... but we decided that since this is the season of Thanksgiving... why not!  We're a having our feast tomorrow along with making the Hamentaschen Cookies for the neighbors and finishing our "shoeboxes" for the poor (actually Operation Christmas Child... but it works).

I was totally excited to find a gluten free version of the triangle cookie (said to be shaped like the hat of Haman... "boo...hiss!"). 

Check out this website for more info on the Feasts and other interesting info.
http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday9.htm

Hamentaschen

2/3 cup butter or Spectrum margarine

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg  (we will use the flax-egg replacer)

1/4 cup orange juice (the smooth kind, not the pulpy)

2 cups GF buckwheat
1/2 milled flaxseed
1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

Various preserves, fruit butters and/or pie fillings.

Blend butter and sugar thoroughly. Add the egg (or replacer ) and blend thoroughly. Add OJ and blend thoroughly. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, alternating buckwheat and flax seed, blending thoroughly between each. Add the baking powder and cinnamon with the last half cup of flour. Refrigerate batter overnight or at least a few hours. Roll as thin as you can without getting holes in the batter (roll it between two sheets of wax paper lightly dusted with flour for best results). Cut out 3 or 4 inch circles.

Put a dollop of filling in the middle of each circle. Fold up the sides to make a triangle, folding the last corner under the starting point, so that each side has corner that folds over and a corner that folds under (see picture at right). Folding in this "pinwheel" style will reduce the likelihood that the last side will fall open while cooking, spilling out the filling. It also tends to make a better triangle shape.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown but before the filling boils over!

Traditional fillings are poppy seed and prune, but apricot is yum. Apple butter, pineapple preserves, and cherry pie filling all work quite well.

The number of cookies this recipe makes depends on the size of your cutting tool and the thickness you roll. I use a 4-1/4 inch cutting tool and roll to a medium thickness, and I get 20-24 cookies out of this recipe.

The resulting hamentaschen will have an unusual pumpernickel color, but they taste great!

Make sure the buckwheat flour you use is wheat-free/gluten-free! Sometimes buckwheat flour is mixed with white or wheat flour. The Hodgson Mill buckwheat and flax linked above are gluten-free and have reliable kosher certification.

List of Dates

Purim will occur on the following days of the Gregorian calendar:

Jewish Year 5769: sunset March 9, 2009 - nightfall March 10, 2009

Jewish Year 5770: sunset February 27, 2010 - nightfall February 28, 2010

Jewish Year 5771: sunset March 19, 2011 - nightfall March 20, 2011

Jewish Year 5772: sunset March 7, 2012 - nightfall March 8, 2012

Jewish Year 5773: sunset February 23, 2013 - nightfall February 24, 2013