It may be a Pandemic but we’ve never eaten better …🦀

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Last night’s entree 🦀

We’re pretty landlocked when we’re up north, so finding a reliable source of great seafood is truly exciting. It’s even better when you’re purchasing directly from an Alaskan fisherman.

Not only is their fish fresh, it bears the name of the vessel that caught it. Even their packaging is sustainable. I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Sitka Salmon Shares

https://sitkasalmonshares.com/products/9-month-premium-sitka-seafood-share?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2af-BRDzARIsAIVQUOd_SNiC7F4CscTrpFjogbMY4DAolafyrFrJHYBfFjHgPVycH2SWNk4aAuDDEALw_wcB

Pan Roasted Sesame Salmon

Pan-Roasted Sesame Salmon

Main Dish, Seafood

Prep Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 20 mins Servings: Servings: 4 Source: eatingwell.com

INGREDIENTS

4 scallions, whites and greens separated

1 clove garlic, grated

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, plus more for garnish, toasted

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon mirin

1 ¼ pounds skin-on salmon fillet, cut into 4 portions

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon canola or grapeseed oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Finely chop scallion whites and place in a small bowl (chop and reserve greens for garnish). Add garlic, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, honey and mirin and stir to combine.

Pat salmon dry and sprinkle with salt. Heat canola (or grapeseed) oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the salmon, skin-side up, and cook until the underside is browned and releases easily from the pan, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the salmon and spoon the sauce over the top.

Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the salmon flakes easily with a fork, 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle the salmon with scallion greens and more sesame seeds, if desired.

NUTRITION

265 calories; fat 13g; cholesterol 66mg; sodium 561mg; carbohydrates 6g; dietary fiber 1g; protein 29g; sugars 3g; exchange other carbs; niacin equivalents 10mg; saturated fat 2g; vitamin a iu 354IU; vitamin b6mg.

Carrot 🥕Cupcakes 🧁

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I just made this recipe for carrot 🥕cupcakes. It only makes 6 and there’s just 3 left. THAT’s how much I cannot resist cream cheese frosting🙃

INGREDIENTS

Carrot Cupcakes
★★★★★
Makes 6 servings
Source: Two’s Company – a cookbook for couples

Carrot cupcake with cream cheese frosting 🧁

½ cup flour
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
dash salt
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
1½ teaspoons vanilla
¾ cup carrots — grated

DIRECTIONS

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine well. Stir together oil, egg, and vanilla, and pour into flour mixture. Add carrots and stir well.

Grease 6 muffin cups and pour batter in to come 2/3 the way up the cups. If batter almost fills cup, make a 7th cupcake. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, then carefully work a knife around the edges of the cupcakes, to gently remove each one to cool thoroughly.

Prepare frosting. When cupcakes have cooled, spread each top generously with frosting. Either serve immediately or refrigerate. If refrigerating for more than a few hours, chill first to firm up frosting and then loosely cover cupcakes with plastic wrap.

Makes 6 generously frosted or 7 adequately frosted cupcakes.

FROSTING:

3 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Cream together cheese, butter, and vanilla until light.

Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar.

with Sprinkles 🧁

Turn Leftover Mashed Potatoes into Fluffy Biscuits

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Source: bonappetit.com

DIRECTIONS

Start by preheating the oven to 400°. Using a cheese grater, grate ½ stick of butter. The long, thin strands of butter guarantee a biscuit that’s flaky AF. To keep the butter cold, which also promises a well-layered biscuit, pop it into the freezer once it’s grated. While you’ve got the grater out, shred some cheese—you can use any kind of hard cheese you like, but I’m partial to a super sharp cheddar—until you’ve got ¾ cup cheese, plus a little extra for topping the biscuits.

In a large bowl, whisk together 2⅓ cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp. salt, and 1 Tbsp. baking powder. Gather up whatever herbs you’ve got and finely chopped enough so that you’ve got 2 Tbsp. I like a combo of rosemary, sage, and thyme. Chives, parsley, or dill all work well too.

Add the chilled, grated butter to the dry ingredients and toss lightly just until the butter is coated in flour. Then, add 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes and continue tossing lightly until the potatoes have broken down into pea-sized pieces. There’s no need to worry so much about whether your mashed potatoes are super fatty or plain Jane—I’ve made this recipe with both, and both work great.

Using your hands, make a well in the middle of the ingredients. Fill the well with ¾ cup buttermilk. Slowly mix the ingredients together until a dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat down into a 10-inch circle.

To cut the biscuits, grab an empty soup and remove the lid from the bottom so you have a hollow cylinder. Using the empty can, cut 10–12 biscuits. (If you’d rather use a 3-inch biscuit cutter, that works too.) Once cut, place them into a 10-inch cast-iron pan.

Brush the tops with buttermilk and top with more cheese, a sprinkle of herbs and a pinch of freshly cracked black pepper. Bake the biscuits for 20–25 minutes or until they’ve doubled in size and are golden brown on top.

Enjoy the biscuits warm, with a slather of butter, served alongside some eggs or, for the ultimate leftover treat, break open a biscuit to build a slider-sized, but also superior, turkey sandwich. Once you’ve tried ‘em, I can all but guarantee that next Thanksgiving you’ll peel an extra potato or two with the next day’s biscuits in mind.

Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

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Roasted Chicken Soup

★★★★★

Soups & Stews

Servings: 12 servings

Ingredients:

For broth:

1 leftover turkey or large chicken carcass (or 2 store bought)

5 quarts water

1 onion (skins left on, cut in half)

4 rough cut stalks of celery

2 rough cut carrots

For Soup:

5 qts broth

1 cup celery chopped

½ cup celery leaves chopped

1 cup onion chopped

7 chicken bouillon cubes

1 tablespoon salt

1 bay leaf

1 cup carrots sliced

½ cup parsley chopped

¼ tablespoon pepper

4 cups egg noodles (fine)

Directions:

In a large kettle simmer turkey or chicken carcass with onion and celery (one onion roughly chopped and several chopped stalks of celery) until tender. Strain all, keeping only the broth. Add ingredients to broth with meat (reserving noodles) and simmer until tender (about an hour). Add noodles and cook uncovered for 10 more minutes.

OPTIONAL **Melt 1/4 cup of butter in frying pan and stir in 1/4 cup of flour. Cook stirring until slightly browned. Stir into boiling soup Reduce heat and continue to simmer 5 minutes. I do this if using store bought roast chicken, but you really don’t need it if home roasted.

I use EVERYTHING from a roast chicken dinner, including gravy & stuffing, in my soup.

No Peel Applesauce 🍎🍏🍎 in your Pressure Cooker👌🏻

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No Peel Instant Pot Applesauce

Fresh Fruit, INSTAPOT/Pressure Cooking

Cook Time: 10 mins Source: instantpotluck.co

INGREDIENTS

6–8 medium to large apples, or more. (Honestly, it really doesn’t matter, just keep the number of apples under the fill line.)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Wash the apples

Cut up the apple — any size you want – toss the cores and seeds

Place the sliced/diced apples into the Instant Pot with 1 cup of water

Add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Close the lid and set the valve to “sealing”

Pressure Cook or Manual for 4 minutes.

Do a QUICK RELEASE

Drain excess liquid — AND KEEP THE LIQUID. (I love the cinnamon flavored apple juice and use it in a smoothie or on my oatmeal or yogurt.)

Transfer the apples to a food processor, blender, or use an emulsion blender and blend until it’s the texture you like.

Enjoy!

Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

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★★★★★

Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Crock Pot/Slow Cooker, Mexican

Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 6 hrs Servings: Yield: 4 servingsSource: skinnytaste.com

INGREDIENTS

4 medium, (about 6 oz each) sweet potatoes, skin on

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon garlic power

1 cup enchilada sauce, I recommend my homemade (recipe below)

chopped scallions, for serving

1/4 cup light sour cream or Greek yogurt

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon chopped scallions and/or cilantro, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Wash and dry the sweet potatoes. Wrap the potatoes individually in foil.

Season the chicken with salt and garlic powder and place on one end of the slow cooker, cover with 1/4 cup enchilada sauce.

Place the potatoes on the other end, stacking 2 on top of 2.

Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or until potatoes are tender.

When done, remove the potatoes and chicken.

Transfer chicken to a small bowl and roughly shred with 2 forks and add the remaining enchilada sauce.

Split open the sweet potatoes, then top with 2/3 cup of the enchilada chicken.

Drizzle each half with 1 tablespoon cheese and place under the broiler 2 to 3 minutes, or until melted.

Garnish each potato with 1 tablespoon sour cream and scallions or cilantro.

NUTRITION

Serving: 1potato, Calories: 413kcal, Carbohydrates: 47g, Protein: 34g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 4.4g, Cholesterol: 101.5mg, Sodium: 809.5mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 9g Blue Smart Points: 8 Green Smart Points: 10 Purple Smart Points: 3

The Best Homemade Enchilada Sauce

★★★★★

Mexican, Sauce

Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 10 mins Servings: Yield: 16 servingsSource: skinnytaste.com

INGREDIENTS

1/2 tsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 -1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth

3 cups canned tomato sauce

2 tablespoons chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, chopped (to taste)

1 tsp Mexican hot chili powder, or more to taste

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

fresh black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the oil and garlic; sauté until golden, about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, tomato sauce, chipotle chiles, hot chili powder, cumin and salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 7-10 minutes. Set aside until ready to use. Makes 4 cups.

NUTRITION

Serving: 1/4 cup, Calories: 21kcal, Carbohydrates: 4g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 0.5g, Sodium: 355mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 2g Blue Smart Points: 0 Green Smart Points: 0 Purple Smart Points: 0 Points +: 1

Marcella Hazan’s Famously Quick & Easy Tomato 🍅 Sauce

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Bon appetite

★★★★★

Italian, Main Dish, Pasta, Sauce

Servings: Serves 2 Source: Marcella Hazan

INGREDIENTS

1, 28-ounce canned tomatoes, puréed or hand crushed

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, peeled, halved

Kosher salt

1 pound dried pasta of your choice, but for extra saucy goodness 8oz. fills the bill

Parmesan cheese, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Simply toss the tomatoes, butter and onion in a saucepan over medium low heat. Season with salt and bring to a steady simmer. Allow the sauce to simmer for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, making sure to scrape the sides of the pot. Adjust the seasoning and remove the onion (although I’m told it’s pretty delicious in its own right.)

Boil the pasta according to the package instructions, drain and toss the pasta into the hot sauce. Keep tossing until every strand is well coated. Serve among two warm bowls and scatter with Parmesan cheese.

Don’t Toss That Gift 🌸Orchid Out – It’s probably still VERY much ALIVE

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You know the drill. Orchids are irresistibly gorgeous and yet, you kill them off in record time.

I’m good with houseplants too, so it’s a double embarrassment. It wasn’t until I noted a friend’s post on Facebook. She was showing the progression of NEW growth. The blooms lasted so long I just assumed the Orchid was a goner when they dropped.

The gal that looks after our home when we travel south, had left the bare plant in our east facing kitchen window. When we returned those weeks later I recognized the signs of life. THRILLED. I’ve since gone through two more cycles of blooms dropping, followed by new growth.

I thought I might not be the only one whose orchids were winding up in the compost heap, so I decided to write this post.

Buds showing the color of the blooms to be
Won’t be long now …
SO worth the wait 🌸🤗
anticipation …
Oh happy day🌱

Hearty Ham and Navy Bean Soup

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Honey Baked Ham and Navy Bean Soup

My parents loved this recipe. It’s the perfect supper served with a side of homemade cornbread.

I’d visit a Honey Baked Ham store just to purchase a few ham bones for our freezer.

Freezes beautifully and recipe is easily doubled (or in my case tripled) by doubling or tripling ALL ingredients, save for the ham bone.

Hearty Ham & Bean Soup

★★★★★

Soups & Stews

Servings: Servings 8 Source: keyingredient.com

INGREDIENTS

1/2 pound navy beans

Ham bone and any leftover ham

1 medium onion, chopped and sauteed

3/4 cup shredded raw potatoes

3/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup celery leaves

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup fresh green onion tops

1 cup chopped tomato (fresh or canned)

DIRECTIONS

Wash beans well, then cover with 6 cups warm water. Let stand overnight. Next day pour beans and water in which they were soaked into a large saucepan.

Combine all ingredients except tomatoes and green onion tops. These two ingredients may be omitted, but they add much color to the dish. Add them the last 10 minutes to retain color. Cook soup in a covered saucepan slowly about 3 hours or until beans are very soft. When done, taste and season further if necessary. If soup appears too thick toward end, add a little water or stock. If it appears too thin, cook uncovered a few minutes. Add tomatoes and onions last 10 minutes, and cook slowly uncovered.

Can easily double the amount of soup made by duplicating all ingredients EXCEPT for the ham bone 🙂

InstaPot Beef and Barley Soup

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An hour’s time start to finish makes me VERY impressed with this recipe.

Beef and Barley Soup

★★★★★

Beef & Barley Soup

Healthy, INSTAPOT/Pressure Cooking, Kid-Friendly, Soups & Stews

Source: rootitoot.com

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp oil

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef or diced stew beef

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 cup water

4 small carrots, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 14-oz can whole or diced tomatoes, with juice

6 cups beef broth

1/2 tsp thyme or rosemary

1/2 tsp dried basil

1 bay leaf

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 – 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

½ cup pearl or pot barley

DIRECTIONS

Hit Saute and add the oil to the pot, swirling to coat the bottom. When it’s shimmering, add the beef and brown it well, breaking it up with a spoon. Drain off excess fat and add the onions. Continue sauteing for a couple of minutes.

Add the water and thoroughly deglaze the pan: scrape every bit of the brown off the bottom into the water. Hit Cancel and add all other ingredients.

Close the lid and make sure the valve is set to Sealing. Hit Pressure Cook (or Manual) and adjust the time using the + and – buttons to 24 minutes. When it beeps that it’s done, flip the valve to Venting for a quick release. When the pin drops, open the pot.

Remove the bay leaf and taste and add salt and pepper to taste. This is one of those “even better the second day” recipes. And it freezes beautifully.