We have FOUR winners!

Congratulations to the four winners!!! If you could please email me at the.upper.crust@tds.net with your name and mailing address, I will get your bread mixes out Monday!

.beef and butternut squash couscous.

My car has been in the shop all week so we've been relying on using Jim's car for any running around. He retires from the U.S. Navy in 8 days and has been on job hunting leave the past 3 weeks, but he had to go in this week to assist "the new guy" to get him ready for a big training that's coming up. Did I mention we're moving to New York in a month?

So anyway.. back to where I really mean for this story to go. I have basically been stranded at home with no vehicle and the only available vehicle has been taking my husband to and from work. Meaning I have to figure out meals using ingredients I have in the kitchen. It wouldn't be so bad, but I really do need to go grocery shopping. We had Jim's retirement party this past weekend and most of my good stuff went toward making food for that.

Yesterday I stood in front of my extremely messy fridge, staring into the abyss of nothingness. Can't really make much with condiments, hm? I remembered I had a little beef made for stirfry in the freezer. I didn't use all of it when I made minestrone soup for my friend last week. So I pulled that out and started thawing it.

I also had a butternut squash that I had been debating making soup with, but everybody has been making that recently and I wanted to give you all something NEW to make with it. So. Beef. Butternut Squash. I peeked in my thinning pantry (trying to use things up before the move) and found a box of Pine Nut CousCous. Yum. I'm starting to get an idea!

I noticed a jar of roasted red peppers in my fridge so I grabbed those too. Oh and I had green onion! I began my meal.


I started by making the couscous according to the directions on the package. It doesn't take that long to make, but that's okay. This was a VERY quick meal to make. We're talking under 30 minutes!


While the couscous steams on the stovetop, I sliced up one bunch (about 1/3 cup) of green onion. Slicing on the diagonal so it looks pretty.


I only needed to use the flesh of the neck on the squash. Cut it off just above the bulb part and cut the top off. Use your knife to cut off the rind.


Then dice into bite-sized cubes. Pretty easy. Man this squash smelt soooo good.


What you want to do next is cook the squash a little. Put in a small pan of water and boil for about 5 minutes.


Strain after those five minutes and let sit.


While the squash cooked and drained, I made the dressing. In a bowl put: 3 Tbsp olive oil, 3 Tbsp lemon juice, 3 Tbsp white wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and crushed (see next picture), 1/4 tsp cardamom, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, and a dash of salt. Mix everything well using a whisk.


To toast the coriander seeds, heat up a skillet. Dump in the seeds and shake to toast. You might hear tiny popping sounds as the oils start releasing. I used the side of a mug to crush them. Once crushed, dump into the dressing.


Using the same skillet you toasted the coriander in (I hate messing up more pans than necessary), put a little olive oil. Start cooking the beef and butternut squash.


Add the green onion. If you don't like onion, I really suggest you try it this time. You'll cook out a lot of the onion flavor that you probably don't like. Cook those with the meat and squash for a couple minutes.


Add a couple spoonfuls of roasted red bell pepper. Season with a little salt and pepper.


Add a small shake of red pepper flakes. You could use red chilies but I didn't have any on hand. I wanted just a little heat so I used one quick shake. Cook another minute. The heat will release the oil from those seeds.

Now add the cooked couscous to the pan and mix everything together.

If you want to get fancy, you can spoon some of this into a round shaped bowl. Press firm, and then release it onto a plate to give you a formed shape. Drizzle with dressing. Otherwise just spoon into bowls and drizzle with dressing.

The box of couscous doesn't make much. We had just enough for Jim, me, and our 7 year old. It was really good. My almost 11 month old loved it so much she ate almost half of mine!


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_120gbgbrkg8

J.B. Dough -- GIVEAWAY!

Yes! It's time for another giveaway! In my previous entry, I used a bread mix from the company J. B. Dough. I had the opportunity to speak with John and Beverlee, the owners and dreammakers of this company. What a great couple they are. The business is family owned and operated. Everything used from ingredients, to packaging, to supplies, are 100% made in the USA, which at this time is a comfort.



I am a breadmaker. But I know many people are intimidated with the idea of making anything requiring yeast. Well, now you have something to help you out that tastes wonderful and like you made it from scratch!



I have tried a few of these mixes for myself and was happy with the product and feel good sharing it with you. At this time, JB Dough can only be purchased online, unless you live in Michigan where they do sell in retail outlets locally. It was also really neat to learn they offer their bread for fundraising! I'm definitely going to remember that next time I am in charge of fundraising efforts for Girls Camp at church.



John and Beverlee were very generous when they shipped me product to sample. I have extra and while I would be more than happy to use it for myself, I thought I would give what I have away to some of my readers. No worries.. I think I will be getting more from them and will have another giveaway in the future! Woot!



I'm going to make this giveaway a little more fair. If you would please leave a comment, making sure you leave your NAME, tell me what your favorite kind of bread is! I have FOUR mixes to give away so I will be picking FOUR winners! I will put the names in a hat and have my daughter draw for me. Winners will be announced FRIDAY!

.chicken cordon bleu pockets.

I love Chicken Cordon Blue. Traditionally it's a pounded out chicken breast a layer of ham and a slice of swiss cheese all rolled up. Then breaded and baked. I was in the mood to try something a little different and take these three ingredients but wrap them in bread dough.

Recently, another company contacted me asking if I would try their product too. This company is J.B. Dough. They're located in Benton Harbor, Michigan and I have to say, their bread mixes are pretty tasty. You can make them by hand, or using a bread machine, but with this recipe, I used my Kitchen Aid.


Open the package and put the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Dissolve the yeast packet in warm water. Follow the directions on the package.


Knead out on a floured counter and cover to let rise until almost double. Punch dough down and knead again.


Chop up some slices of ham.


Cut up some swiss cheese.


And then chop up some chicken breasts. You want to cut them into chunks to ensure they're baked thoroughly. If you used whole chicken breast, you run the risk of the bread pocket overbaking and having raw chicken in the middle. Ick.


Divide the dough into 4-6 pieces. You can make some larger and some smaller for kids if you want.

Take each piece and roll out into a circle.


Put some chicken, ham, and swiss cheese in the center. Season well with salt and pepper.


Pull all the edges up into a little pouch and pinch closed.


Turn the pouch upside down so the seam is on the bottom. Place on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam. Repeat until all the dough and filling ingredients are used up.


In a bowl, put one egg and one Tablespoon water. Mix up.


Brush the eggwash on top of each of the bread pouches. Make sure you get as much of the surface as you can. Place the sheet in a 350* oven for about 40-45 minutes. If the tops start browning too much, put a sheet of foil on top.


The tops will be beautifully golden. Pull from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes.


See how yummy that looks. The chicken was so tender and moist. The swiss cheese coated the chicken and ham and the fresh baked bread surrounding it soaked in all of the flavors. A perfect twist on a traditional meal.

Something that would be really awesome? Make these mini sized for parties! I think you'll have people inviting themselves to your get togethers if you start serving these. Enjoy!

Congratulations to the winners!

Congratulations to the winners for The Spice Depot giveaway!

They are:

1)Kari
2)Shanin
3)Connie
4)Gilles Family*
5)Kathleen* (from Utah)
6)Lorilee*
7)Jenifer
8)Regan*
9)Kristen*

If your name has an asterisk by it, you need to email me at the.upper.crust@tds.net ASAP with your mailing address so I can get it to The Spice Depot. Please choose one of the flavors below so I can let The Spice Depot representative know which grinder you'd like. Thank you!


Spice options:
BBQ Burger
Garlic Pepper
JoJo Potato
Salads
Sea Salt
Spicy Chicken
Black Peppercorns
Hot and Spicy
NY Steak
Seafood
Smokey Rib
Spicy Sea Salt

To those who weren't able to get in on the giveaway, you can find these awesome grinders at your local Walmart (US and Canada)! Please leave a comment here thanking The Spice Depot for being SOOOOO generous in giving me the extra grinders for this giveaway! We appreciate you!

And never fret... I have another giveaway coming up NEXT WEEK so keep your eyes peeled! ;)

The Spice Depot -- GIVEAWAY!!!!

A couple weeks ago, I was contacted by a representative of The Spice Depot asking if I would try out their product and share it with my readers. I gladly offered and am very excited about what I have to tell you.

If you have never heard of this company, they offer fresh spices and herbs to compliment your meals. Their spices come in little grinder jars with organic (ORGANIC!) herbs, spices, and often times sea salt and peppercorn.

In my previous entry, Beef Minestrone Soup, I used their SALAD grinder to season the soup. It has the perfect blend of black pepper, sea salt, garlic, mustard seed, onion, rosemary, chive, and basil.


To find out more about this company, you can find them at The Spice Depot online, or you can look here to find out where you can get some for yourself. Their website offers recipes and even gives you ideas for wine pairing!


Now for the exciting part. I have NINE of these little beauties to give away to the first 9 readers to comment on this thread. The product will be shipped directly from The Spice Depot warehouse at no cost to me or to you and I would like to thank them for offering that!

So don't waste any time! Let me know if you would like to try this product in your home. :)

Suzanne

.beef minestrone soup.

This is the best soup you will ever make. It's rich, full of vitamins, full of vegetables, some meat, protein, iron and it's delicious!

Yesterday I was on the phone with a sister from Church who is very sick. She does so much for everyone, that I thought I would do something for her. So I told her to just relax and I was bringing a big pot of soup over for her and her husband.

My mom is a really good soup maker. I have actually gotten better at making soup the past 5 years or so. This one is my daughter's favorite because she plays a game -- figuring out what I put in the pot. So much fun. If you have kids that might shy away from soup, try this one and let them have a contest to find the most items in the pot!


First, chop up 2 stalks of celery. I left them in nice slices so visually they look good.


Find two skinny carrots.

Peel and chop. Again, I leave them in their round shape -- that's why I pick skinny carrots so they're bite sized.


Peel one big, or two small gold or white potatoes.

Dice into bite sized chunks.


Dice one small onion. I had some red onion that needed using so I used that. It's okay to use white, yellow, or red!


Mince two cloves garlic.


Take 1 lb stew meat or stir fry meat.

The stir fry meat, that I used, was cut into long thin strips. I cut those strips into smaller pieces.


In a soup pot, heat a little olive oil. Put the meat in with one bay leaf and cook.


When it's almost cooked, add all of the vegetables and garlic to the pot. Stir around and cook.


Season well. I used a brand from the Spice Depot. This blend is great on salad, but I used it in my soup because it had all of the herbs I wanted.

In my next entry, I want to share a little bit about this company and their products. Some great stuff. I think you'll be interested in hearing more about them.


When the potatoes start looking glossy, add 3 cans beef broth and 1 can chicken broth.

I always add a can of chicken to my beefy soups because beef broth can often taste very flat.


Then add 1 can diced tomatoes (undrained), and 1 can white beans - either great northern or navy. Do not drain these either. Just dump it all in.

Mix well and re-season with the spice depot spice grinder.

Bring to a boil.


Once the soup starts boiling, reduce heat to low and add 1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas.


Add 1/2 cup corn, fresh or frozen.


And add 1/2 cup green beans cut, fresh or frozen.

**At this stage, I did add about 1 tsp sugar to the pot. This is optional.

Cover the pot and let cook for about 30-40 minutes. Before serving, remove the bay leaf. Serve with rolls, bread, crackers, and salad.

NOTE: If you want to make this in the crockpot, first cook the meat almost to completion on the stove. Spoon into your crockpot and add all of the remaining ingredients. Season well. Cover with the lid and turn on medium or high. Cook until vegetables are cooked through - about 6-8 hours.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_119f6hgtqfs