Neddy's Palaver

These recipes are from Carolyn of “Angel Grace Notes.”

CHRISTMAS BROCCOLI (0- pts.) Steam 1 cup of broccoli and cauliflower until barely tender. Marinate in Walden Farms 0-pt. Italian dressing. Toss with thinly sliced red bell pepper. BEAUTIFUL AND DELICIOUS!!!

ITALIAN TORTELLINI SOUP — (A beautiful and delicious supper that refrigerates and makes GREAT LEFTOVERS for busy December days)
Makes eight 1 1/2 cup servings at 3 pts. each

1 cup coarsely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp. olive oil
5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
2 cups chopped tomatoes (or 1 large can stewed low-sodium)
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cup sliced zucchini
2 cups frozen cheese filled tortellini
3 Tbsp. fresh parsley
1 medium green pepper, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces.

Saute onion and garlic until tender in olive oil. Add beef broth, water, tomatoes, carrots, seasonings and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in tortellini, zucchini and green pepper. Simmer an additional 30 minutes.

CHICKEN AND RICE SKILLET DINNER — 4 SERVINGS @ 6 POINTS each

One 1-oz. envelope onion soup mix, divided
4 4-oz skinless, boneles chicken breast halves
PAM
1 1/2 cups water
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can reduced-fat, reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups uncooked instant rice.

1. Sprinkle half of onion soup mix over both sides of chicken breast halves; coat chicken lightly with cooking spray.  Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until chicken is browned. Remove chicken and set aside.

2. Add remaining onion soup mix, water, mushroom soup and pepper to pan; bring to a boil.  Stir in rice. Top with chicken.  Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 8 minutes, or until chicken is done. ~~Serve with a big salad or lots of steamed veggies!

~*~MORE THANKSGIVING RECIPES~*~

PARMESAN DINNER ROLLS - 3 points each.  THESE ARE SHOW STOPPERS FOR COMPANY IF YOU LET THEM RISE LONG ENOUGH!!!!
Use 1 bag of frozen roll dough. Spray muffin tin with PAM.  Place 2 roll balls in each cup (I like to cut them in half so I have 4 pieces for a cloverleaf roll) Spray tops lightly with Pam and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese (sesame seeds are fun too.) Let rise — I allow at least 2 1/2 - 3 hours and let them get very large) Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

ONION TOASTED GREEN BEANS About 6 servings @ 2 points each
Mix 1 can Cream of Mushroom (98% fat free) with 1/2 cup skim milk, 1 tsp. soy sauce, dash pepper and 4 cups cooked green beans. Top with 1 cup crushed onion melba toast crackers.

Recipes from Carolyn Allen of Angel Grace Notes.
And don’t forget the “Smoked Beer Can Turkey!”

Watch closely and learn to make the amazing “fluffernutter” that has the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts in one big kerfuffle. There are but three ingredients: bread, peanut butter and fluffer butter. Apparently, some in that great state are concerned that kids do not get enough nutrition from the fluffernutter and are calling for Spaghettios instead. Hmmm - which would have more nutritional value, a fluffernutter made with whole wheat raisin bread and banana slices or Chef Boyardee’s canned noodles? The Fluffernutter

This is a very old and “expensive” recipe. The “fluff” part of the recipe was originally sold by its inventor for $500, a lot of money in the days of The Great Depression. He had been selling “fluff” door to door in Massachusetts … and people were buying it. The formula for fluff is amazingly simple; a well-beaten mixture of only four ingredients: corn syrup, sugar, dried egg white, and vanillin.

Fluffernutter

• Marshmallow Fluff
• Peanut butter (smooth or creamy)
• 2 slices bread

Spread peanut butter onto one slice of bread. Cover with Marshmallow Fluff. Top with second slice of bread and enjoy! A favorite with kids of all ages.

On this page is video: Fluffernutter How-to

Nutritional Value Per Serving (Two Sandwiches): calories 412, fat 22.2g, 45% calories from fat, cholesterol 3mg, protein 12.4g, carbohydrates 49.8g, fiber 2.2g, sugar 28.0g, sodium 386mg.

The image, fluffernutter excellence, was originally uploaded by 2inches. It is posted here from Neddy’s favorites.

A Martha Stewart Easter Tradition

Martha Stewart / March 25, 2006

For many years, I have designed new versions of the old-fashioned dyed Easter eggs that I grew up coloring with my brothers and sisters under the supervision of our mother as she prepared the Easter feast. I have dyed them with onion skins, marbleized them, embellished them with gold and silver leaf, beaded them and dipped them in glass glitter.

After a trip to Brussels, Belgium, where I had my first sampling of chocolate-filled eggshells, I came home enthusiastic about trying to devise a system for doing a similar thing at home.

What resulted was the how-to technique that you will find below. (The chocolate needs to be tempered, or heated and cooled to precise temperatures. If you don’t take these steps when melting chocolate, it may become grainy or develop grayish patches, called bloom, once it hardens.)

Made with dark chocolate, the resulting eggs are wonderful decorations, beautiful gifts and lovely fillers for Easter baskets. And they really are quite easy. Here’s how to make them: Martha Stewart’s Wonderful way to make chocolate-filled eggshells

If you do not have the time to drill two tiny holes into each egg shell, puncture each yolk with a pin, blow out the eggy insides with an ear syringe, boil and dry the eggshells, melt gourmet chocolate ever so carefully as to avoid any lumping, and then drip the melted concoction into the tiny holes in the egg shells, all without breaking any of them, here is a much easier task to consider: Make your own Easter egg dye. By the way, what does one do with the chocolate-filled eggshells? How can one eat them?

The image, painted eggs, was originally uploaded by nuanc. It is posted here from

Gingerbread Waffles (4 servings @ 190 calories)

1 1/4 c unbleached flour
2 T brown sugar, packed
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 T molasses
3 T fat-free sour cream
3/4 c Fat-Free Buttermilk, * see note
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c raisins

Heat a standard waffle iron and spray with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. In another mixing bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, molasses, sour cream, and raisins. Add dry ingredients with wet ingredients just until moistened. Pour enough batter onto hot waffle iron, or filling two-thirds of the waffle iron. Bake for four minutes, or as directed from your waffle iron instructions.

From Free Weight Loss Support Newsletter

YES! They’ve found the cure, and it is “oh, so easy“! Kimchee - as in “you are in deep kimchee“. According to “Sauerkraut.com”

SUPERFOOD STRIKES AGAIN:
Scientists Find Kimchi Sauerkraut May Cure Avian Flu - A cure in a meal: U.S. Sauerkraut sales expected to skyrocket

Fremont, OH—October 18, 2005—In yet another indication that Sauerkraut is the super food of the 21st century, scientists at Seoul National University have successfully used Kimchi Sauerkraut to treat chickens infected with avian flu. Kimchi is a seasoned variety of sauerkraut that shares Lactobacillus bacteria with traditional Sauerkraut, which may be the critical element in preventing Avian Flu. Both Kimchi and traditional Sauerkraut are made by fermenting sliced cabbage, producing a high level of lactic acid.

According to an October 2005 BBC report, Kimchi was fed to 13 infected chickens and 11 of them started recovering within a week. South Korean Kimchi consumption is up as a result of this report and U.S. sales of Sauerkraut are also expected to spike up.

Well, here’s hoping that whatever miracle cure is contained in kimchee, is also contained in German-style sauerkraut, as the German dish is a simpler and more palatable food than the Korean kimchee. In fact, if kimchee is the cure for bird flu - most people would prefer to take their chances with the disease. I wonder about the birds too - would they really eat kimchee?

The results of a recent study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry concluded that sauerkraut is a cancer inhibitor. The study discovered that the fermentation of cabbage (how sauerkraut is made) produced a substance called isothiocynates, which prevents cancer growth, particularly in the breast, colon, lung and liver. Packed with vitamins, iron, and fiber, sauerkraut is also rich in cruciferous phytochemicals, which have long been proven to have disease fighting powers. (Sauerkraut.com)

If kimchee does work, it is most probably a preventative, rather than a cure, as one serving of the garlicy kimchee will keep everyone, even including chickens, far, far away.

Ruffles & Flourishes to Sahmwhere Ntranzishn.

Here’s a great way to get your favorite guy to cook the Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey this year; especially if he is an engineer. Send him off to Cooking For Engineers where he can learn this “easy” (as in HA!) recipe:

“The use of a beer can inserted into a chicken is an old barbeque trick to provide flavored steam to the inside of the chicken as it cooks. At the same time, the beer supposely adds flavor to the chicken. Problem is, I don’t quite buy it. If the beer is giving off steam, then most of that steam is just going to be water… most of the beer flavor will just be concentrating in the can. However, it seems that it would be sacrilegeous if I used the beer can but left out the beer.”

Whatever he does - don’t let him forget to … at least open the beer can! Otherwise, you will be treated to “bombed” turkey.

If this “Smoked Beer Can” recipe is a bit too easy for your engineer, a reader suggests going for Turducken! Turducken is a deboned chicken inside a deboned duck inside a deboned turkey. Three different dressings are interlaced between the birds (Oh Glory): cornbread, oyster and sausage. The reader claims this recipe is from Paul Prudhomme, but I believe it originated in America by none other than our own Martha Washington (George’s wife), except that she baked it in a crust and included more birds. Her recipe included goose and quail I believe. Anyway, Mr. Engineer says that the first time he made this dish, he spent three days in preparation and drank two bottles of bourbon. Since then he has learned to speed up the process by buying deboned birds. That way it takes about one day and only one bottle of bourbon.

Enjoy - before the Avian flu arrives and ruins all of our fun. Linked at The Political Teen’s “Open Trackbacks” and Wizbang’s Carnival of Trackbacks.

Someday …

Be present at our table Lord,
be here and everywhere adored.
We creatures bless, and grant that we
may feast in paradise with Thee. Amen.

Irish Beef Stew

Rice Pudding (Boiled Version)

Edna’s Bobotie (South African Casserole)

Turkey Tetrazzini