Vegetable Night! Winter Fruit Salad, Baked Potato, Spinach Casserole, Honey Ginger Carrots,

Folks, it's been very cold here the last few days. I've been making a lot of soups! Yesterday I made Cream of Pea Soup, for my husband to take to work the next day, while also cooking this dinner. I'll not include the recipe at this time, as I believe the last few entries have been soup recipes!! So goes it with the cold! I don't eat peas, but I did give him a sample of the soup last night while it was piping hot, and he did eat it for lunch today, and he claims it hits the spot. So, I will include that in an entry soon.

Last night we had vegetable night. I try to incorporate veggie night in at least once a week. I am not always successful, but it's becoming easier to do with all the different vegetable recipes that I have been able to find and experiment with. My husband is my guinea pig; my kids, not so much! However, I read reviews for this spinach casserole and saw where tons of people claimed that their kids loved it and asked for more. There's hope!! Kids asking for spinach. I shall try it myself soon and see if it works on my picky eaters. It really was very, very good.

For the baked potato, there's nothing to it, really. Pick out the number of baking potatoes that you need to feed your crew. Scrub them and cut a big X across the top, deeply. Rub with oil, wrap in aluminum foil individually and bake at 425 degrees for an hour, or more, depending on the size of the potatoes. If they're especially large, up the degrees to 450 and cook about an hour and a half. Fix them as you please. I like to use a smidgen of butter and low fat sour cream. D eats his plain.

*******************************************************

Winter Fruit Salad

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons diced onion
• 1 teaspoon Dijon-style prepared mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
• 4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 apple - peeled, cored and diced
• 1 pear - peeled, cored and sliced

1. In a blender or food processor, combine sugar, lemon juice, onion, mustard, and salt. Process until well blended. With machine still running, add oil in a slow, steady stream until mixture is thick and smooth. Add poppy seeds, and process just a few seconds more to mix.
2. In a large serving bowl, toss together the romaine lettuce, shredded Swiss cheese, cashews, dried cranberries, apple, and pear. Pour dressing over salad just before serving, and toss to coat.

Honey Ginger Carrots
(this dish is gluten free!!)

• 1 lbs baby carrots
  
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
  
• 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1 pinch ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add carrots and cook until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes. Drain.
2. In a large skillet over low heat, melt butter with honey. Stir in ground ginger and lemon juice. Stir in carrots and simmer until heated through.

Spinach Casserole

• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
• 3tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
  
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 5-7 Ritz crackers, crumbled finely

1. In a saucepan, cook spinach in a small amount of water for 2-3 minutes; drain thoroughly. Add pepper, cheese, eggs and milk and stir together. Spoon into a shallow baking dish, about 1 qt. Sprinkle finely crumbled ritz crackers over spinach mixture. Drizzle melted butter over top. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until almost set.

(This is a dish that is even tastier cold!)

Spinach Salad, Pineapple Pork Chops, Sweet Red Cabbage, Baked Yellow Squash & Bread Pudding in Bourbon Sauce

Yum Yum for this meal, I must say! I love trying new recipes and this one did not disappoint me.

Of course, I live with a man who will eat just about anything, and kids who eat just about nothing. Ha ha, so maybe that's not entirely true. The kids eat some things, but experimenting is out when they are around. My daughter might have eaten a good portion of this meal, so maybe we will try again at anoth

er time with the kids around.

I love salads made of spinach. Fresh spinach makes such wonderful salads, particularly baby spinach. Spinach is also very, very good for us too. It is high in calcium. It is also high in Vitamins A and C, as well as magnesium and folic acid. The flavonoids i

n spinach help protect our memory, and the luteins in spinach are believed to guard against cancer, cataracts, macular degeneration and a world of other ailments. Yes, spinach is certainly good for us!

Pineapple is a natural complement to pork, and adds a bit of sweetness. It also aids you in getting in a fruit serving! Red cabbage, too, has many health benefits. It's high in Vitamin A, C, E and B. Cabbage has actually been shown to boost the immune system's ability t0 produce more antibodies. It also contains compounds shown to stave off certain cancers. And recently, studies have shown that red vegetables, like red cabbage and beets, have the ability to treat ulcers with quite a bit of success. There was a good reason why Mother said to eat your vegetables!!!

Everything in this post is gluten free, with the exception of the Bread Pudding, obviously!!!

Be healthy!

Dinner is

Wilted Spinach Salad

Pineapple Pork Chops

Sweet Red Cabbage

Baked Yellow Squash

Bread Pudding in Bourbon Sauce

*********************************************************************

Wilted Spinach Salad

• 1 lbs baby spinach (washed, dried, crisped)
• 2 hard cooked eggs (coarsely chopped)
• 1/2 cup water chestnuts (thinly sliced)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 small garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons lite soy sauce (walmart brand is gluten free)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked peppercorns

Cook olive oil and garlic over medium heat in saucepan for 2 minutes

Add soy sauces, water chestnuts and peppercorns. Cook for 1 minute, tossing lightly. Blend in lemon juice. Add spinach and toss.

Transfer to salad bowl and garnish with chopped egg.

Pineapple Pork Chops

• 4 center cut pork chops
• 2 tablespoon acceptable vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 small can pineapple slices (save the juice)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Trim fat from chops. Heat oil in skillet then brown the chops on both sides. Season with kosher salt (optional) and pepper.

Add enough water to the pineapple juice to make 1 cup. Add this and cloves to pan with chops. Bring to boil, then turn down heat to simmer.

Simmer covered for one hour.

Add pineapple, and simmer until heated thoroughly. Remove from skillet and place on serving platter.

In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with a little water then add to skillet. Whisk until thickened, making gravy. Pour gravy over chops and serve.

Sweet Red Cabbage

• 1 lb cooked red cabbage, shredded
• 1 small apple, grated
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/4 lb bacon, chopped
• 1/2 cup peach juice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 2 cloves
• 1 tablespoon raw white potato, finely grated

Fry the chopped bacon until slightly browned. Add onion and apple. Cook 5 minutes. Add the rest of ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes.

Baked Yellow Squash

• 4 yellow squash
• 1 stick of butter, or butter substitute
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion (use a food processor)
• 2 tablespoons parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan (optional)

Boil whole, un-peeled squash for about 15 minutes.

Drain, cut off stem and cut in half lengthwise. Place in baking dish cut side up. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Cut butter into small pieces and sprinkle over top of squash. Sprinkle with onion, parsley and Parmesan.

Bake in preheated oven (350 degrees) for 30 minutes.

Bread Pudding in Bourbon Sauce

This is NOT kid friendly. Definitely a grown up treat. However, I will include an alternate sauce for your bread pudding if you wanna treat your kids to some as well.

Grown Up Bourbon Sauce:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup bourbon whisky

Bread Pudding:

• 1 loaf french bread, cut into 1 inch squares
• 1 qt milk
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablspoon vanilla
• 1 cup raisins (soaked in 1/4 cup bourbon)
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

In a saucepan, melt butter; add sugar and egg, whisking to blend well. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. (Do not allow to simmer, or it may curdle.) Whisk in bourbon to taste. Remove from heat. Whisk before serving. The sauce should be soft, creamy, and smooth.

Bread Pudding:

1 Preheat oven to 350°F.

2 Soak the bread in milk in a large mixing bowl. Press with hands until well mixed and all the milk is absorbed. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, and spices together. Gently stir into the bread mixture. Gently stir the raisins into the mixture.

3 Pour butter into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan. Coat the bottom and the sides of the pan well with the butter. Pour in the bread mix and bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes, until set. The pudding is done when the edges start getting a bit brown and pull away from the edge of the pan. Can also make in individual ramekins.

Serve with bourbon whiskey sauce on the side; pour on to taste. Best fresh and eaten the day it is made. Makes 8-10 servings.

Kid Bread Pudding Sauce

• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Cook over medium heat in saucepan until thickened. Can be served hot or cold.