Easy after Christmas Taco Casserole

This dish starts with cornbread on the bottom. Now if you are doing keto or trying to reduce your carbs, start this with a recipe previously posted on our Facebook page for keto cornbread. But if you’re not counting carbs, a simple Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix will do. One box of Jiffy in a small cast iron skillet makes just the right amount.

After the cornbread comes out, just open a can of Pace Taco Complete.

Spread the Taco Complete over the cornbread.

Top with shredded sharp cheddar and place back into the hot oven for five minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Top with salsa and serve.









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Copyright Judie McMath and The Center for Unhindered Living

Hamburger Skillet Stew with Cornbread

Cold weather demands a nice big pot of hot soup or stew. And even though it’s only October, this is COLORADO. It’s our third snow day so far this season.

Hamburger Skillet Stew can be made with extra large meatballs, or with ground beef scrambled and browned. Today I was looking for something simple, so just scrambled it.

Cornbread is hard for those trying to eat low carb, but this is a great recipe for low carb cornbread. If you’re not trying to watch carbs, just use any regular cornbread recipe. This one tastes just as good.

Stew

1 pound grass fed ground beef
1 cup uncooked organic basmati rice (preferably grown in California)
1/2 carton organic stock (beef, chicken or vegetable, your choice)
1 jar organic spaghetti sauce
1 package frozen organic mixed vegetables
1/2 cup medium picante sauce
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Brown ground beef in large Dutch oven. While it is browning, add rice to big saucepan of boiling water. Boil rice for 20 minutes or until tender. Strain out water and add rice to Dutch oven. Add all other ingredients and stir to mix well. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes with lid on. Turn off heat and leave lid on while making cornbread.

Cornbread

4 pasture-raised eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup melted butter
1/3 cup Stevia
1 1/2 tsp sweet corn extract
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1 tsp baking powder

Whisk together eggs, butter, corn extract and Stevia. Add dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Pour into a small greased cast iron skillet. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. 

Allow to cool before cutting.

Take the lid off the pot of stew. By now the rice has probably absorbed most of the liquid. Add a little more stock or just a little water and stir to desired consistency. 


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Copyright The Center for Unhindered Living and Judie McMath

One Pot Butternut Squash

This makes a great vegetarian meal, but throwing in some sausage crumbles makes it good as well. Tailor it to your own needs.

If you are trying to get the highest amount of nutrition in your food that you can, you may be tempted to use brown rice. And you’d be right, brown rice has a nice nutty taste and more vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. But there’s something you may not be aware of about rice.

It all contains arsenic. Very small amounts, but some kinds of rice have higher levels than others. Brown rice has 80% more arsenic than other varieties. Because rice is grown in flooded conditions, the water often contains arsenic picked up from the soil as well as other pollutants. So rice absorbs more arsenic than other average food crops.

Jasmine rice and basmati rice seem to absorb less arsenic than other varieties. Therefore, my choice is always organic jasmine or basmati rice grown in California. Never buy rice grown in China.

According to Consumer Reports, “You may be able to cut your exposure to inorganic arsenic in rice by rinsing raw rice thoroughly before cooking, using a ratio of 6 cups water to 1 cup rice for cooking and draining the excess water afterward. That is a traditional method of cooking rice in Asia. The modern technique of cooking rice in water that is entirely absorbed by the grains has been promoted because it allows rice to retain more of its vitamins and other nutrients. But even though you may sacrifice some of rice's nutritional value, research has shown that rinsing and using more water removes about 30 percent of the rice's inorganic arsenic content.”

My new favorite butternut squash recipe.

2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup organic jasmine rice
1 1/2 cups organic chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup chickpeas
1 1/2 cups butternut squash, cubed
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1 cup sausage crumbles or Morningstar Farms Griller Crumbles
Chives

In Dutch oven, sauté onion in oil. Add rice and stir until coated in oil. Add stock, chickpeas, squash and spices. Heat to boiling, lower heat and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is done and liquid has been absorbed. Add sausage crumbles and stir into rice mixture. Spoon into bowls and top with fresh chives.

Baked Acorn Squash and Review of Penzey’s Tsardust

Nothing says fall like a fresh baked acorn squash. It’s also a great time to try Penzey’s Tsardust Memories Russian style seasoning. It’s great on meat and vegetables.

Recipe:

1 acorn squash
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp Tsardust seasoning
2 tsp Stevia or sweetener of your choice
1 cup jasmine rice
2 tsp beef bullion granules
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 package Morningstar Farms meat crumbles
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chives

Cut acorn squash in half and scoop out seeds. Place 1 tablespoon butter in each half. Sprinkle the Tsardust seasoning and sweetener. Cover with foil and bake in 350 degree oven for one hour.

Cook rice according to package direction. Add bullion to the cooking water before adding the rice. While rice is cooking, add olive oil to a skillet and heat. Sauté crumbles and bell pepper until warmed through. Add crumble mixture to completed rice along with garlic and salt. Stir until combined. 

Stuff the center of each acorn squash with the rice mixture and sprinkle the tops with chives and serve. 

The Penzey’s Tsardust seasoning has the taste reminiscent of cloves. It is an excellent companion spice for the slight sweetness of the squash. 

Visit Penzey’s HERE


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Autumn Cinnamon Apples

What says autumn more than the smell of apples and cinnamon? 

This is an easy breakfast you can put in the crock pot, set the timer, and the beautiful smell of this breakfast will greet you as you awaken. 

Start this dish two hours before you intend to eat. 


Apples cook down a lot when heated, so 6 apples only makes two servings, one for my husband and one for me. If you want to serve more people, you’ll need three apples for each person.

Recipe:

6 organic gala apples, cut into chunks
1/2 cup organic raisins
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup Stevia
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup butter, cut into slices

Pour the olive oil into the bottom of the crock pot to coat it and keep apples from sticking. In a bowl, toss apples, raisins, cinnamon and Stevia together. Pour into crock pot and top with slices of butter. Put on lid. Cook for two hours on high without lifting the lid. 

Serve with buttered toast.


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Copyright  Judie McMath and The Center for Unhindered Living

Old Fashioned Filled Cookies

When I was growing up, we had an old Betty Crocker cookbook that came in a loose leaf binder. Copyright 1946. This is a scan of one of the pages, containing a recipe for Filled Cookies which we frequently made throughout my childhood. They were just sugar cookies filled with jelly or jam in the middle. 

But this represents the nostalgia of childhood. Food is much more than sustenance. It is tradition, it is family. It is community. It is comfort. It is memories. 

What I wouldn’t give to be cooking in that kitchen again on those ugly green counters. 

Recipe:



1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3 cups cake flour
1 tsp Clabber Girl Baking Powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ginger
1/4 cup milk

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough and cut into rounds. Put a small amount of jelly in the center. Then use a donut cutter to cut a second round with a hole in to and lay over the top of the first round.

Instructions say to “cook until done.” I guess they are expecting all cooks to automatically know how long that is, about 12 to 15 minutes depending on your oven.

Now if I were making it today, of course I’d substitute butter for shortening and Stevia for the sugar. And because Clabber Girl baking powder contains aluminum, I’d use Rumford instead. The bottom of the page says this recipe has the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Of course, back then we didn’t know aluminum, sugar, and trans-fat were bad for you. 

And of course, a version of this could be made with almond flour, almond milk, and almond extract.


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Diabetic Kitchen Cinnamon Pecan Granola

For those living the low-carb lifestyle, whether diabetic or just trying to do Keto, one thing you sometimes miss is just being able to pour a bowl of cereal once in a while for breakfast. The problem with most granola is it’s usually got rolled oats or some other grains that make it high carb.

This product, however has no grains and tastes delicious with some heavy cream poured over it. Ingredients are:

Sliced Almonds, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Pecans, Chicory Root Fiber, Coconut Chips (coconut, sodium metabisulfite), Puffed Brown Rice, Organic Coconut Oil, Natural Flavor, Cinnamon, Organic Stevia Extract, Monk Fruit Extract.

Only one gram net carbs per serving. Outstanding!

This product can be found HERE

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