Salmon & Scallop Chowder

Salmon, scallops, organic gold potatoes, uncured bacon, organic onions, garlic, organic 21 seasoning, organic half-half, Old Bay seasoning, and to thicken (final step) add a little instant potatoes. You can use flour but I have gluten-free guests so I use instant potatoes to thicken and black seaweed to season and it is delish!

I first chop up and brown the bacon, and while it is browning, I'll start boiling the chopped taters.

Half-way through the browning, I'll add chopped onions, and if I have it, a little bit of fresh garlic (very small).  I'll also add the 21 seasoning to it. Drain the bacon pan and dump into the boiling taters. Once the taters are over half-way done, I'll lower the temp and I'll add the salmon, scallops, Old Bay seasoning. During the last 10-15 minutes of cooking, I'll add the half-half and dried taters.

One of my ultimate comfort foods!

 The Ultimate Dream Spread 

Fresh salmon, salmon seasoning, Alaska gold rush seasoning, cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, horse radish, onions and pickles. Serve on Sailor Boy Crackers 

Easy Salmon Alfredo

My friend Jacque told me about this. It’s so simple. Salmon Alfredo. I baked the salmon with olive oil, pepper, and salmon season. Then added to the Alfredo sauce, and mixed with the wide egg noodles. I’ll be doing this one again!

 Love Green Pea Soup

Another one of my favorite recipes! I love homemade green pea soup! And the ham I’m using is the smoked ham chunks from Mr. Prime Beef. I trimmed some of the fat and left a little on some pieces to give the soup a mellow smoky flavor. Add fresh white onions, carrots, and a little bit of finely sliced celery. Yum yum!

Put a lopsided lid on it, bring to a low boil, reduce heat to a simmer. I simmer for up to an hour or more coz I like really thick green pea soup - but it's all preferences. If you like it watery, you would only simmer for about 30+ minutes. The second picture is how it turns out if you let simmer longer, which in this case I did for 1.5 hours. YUMMMMMM

Easy Crockpot Reindeer Sausage Jambalaya

Well like everything I make, I adapt, and do not measure so well ;) but here's my version of Jambalaya with Reindeer Sausage made in a smart crockpot.

Ingredients:

Celery
Onions
Cilantro
Garlic (minced - organic)
Organic diced tomatoes, no sodium - 2 cans
Organic low-sodium chicken broth (3/4 of a box to a box, depending on how much ingredients you want to use)

Reindeer Sausage
Leftover chicken

Shrimp
Rice

Add all ingredients except the shrimp and rice. You will add the cooked rice (I'll be using brown) and shrimp one hour before the soup is done. I'll post a picture of the finished soup later.

I always use no sodium or low sodium when I'm cooking in a crockpot:

Why? Because sodium has a tendency to dry out your meats when cooking in a crockpot - I know weird eh? But it does.

I have my crockpot set for 6 hours today. I'll go run my errands, be back in time to add the rice and shrimp and will still be eating hot soup for dinner, and lunch, and dinner ;) Leftovers rule!

Here's the type of crockpot I use, and it's kinda inexpensive to get (no I'm not affiliated or getting paid to say this - just sharing what I use).

It has 4, 6, (high) and 8, 10 (low) hours settings, which works for me!

Update

I decided not to add rice to it, I liked the broth so much I didn't want rice in it. Next time, I will also put less chicken, I put too much leftover chicken in it. The reindeer sausage was DIVINE! Since reindeer sausage from the Alaska Sausage Co. is spicy, it added just enough mellow heat to this soup 💗

Paul's Easy Green Chili Chicken Soup

Want some chicken soup with a little attitude?

This is so wonderful and tasty! The heat can be as much as you want - I like mine medium but last week I made this soup with jalapeno salsa and frozen green chilies and oh my! It cleared your sinuses!

Ingredients - Fresh is always better, but sometimes you have to improvise

Cooked Rotisserie Chicken deboned
3 cans of garbanzo beans
48 oz of chicken broth
Fresh cilantro
Ground Cumin
Jar of green salsa
1 small onion
(salt and pepper if you like)

Dollop of Sour Cream (optional to put in your bowl)

Tortilla Chips (optional instead of crackers)

Here's what I used today (I also used ground cumin but I didn't take a picture of it):

Put on the stove and heat - I low simmer for an hour plus to let the ingredients all come together. This soup will cure whatever ails you I'll tell you what!

p.s. I've also made this in a crockpot, and due to the onions, it needs a minimum of 4 hours or they are kinda crunchy still, but not bad that way :)

Happy souping!
Laura :)

Another Crockpot Roast

There are so many wonderful ways to make roast! This one is made with a large round roast and is cooked for 6 hours (high) in the crockpot. If I had the time, I'd cook it for 8 hours on low for the tenderest pot roast!

As with any roast - remember to trim the fat (that's why I used a round roast this time, it was already trimmed of extra fat) and use no SALT in your ingredients.  Salt and fat will dry out your meat - don't know why, it just does :P

Ingredients:

3-4# round roast
Fresh garlic - sliced (I bought a bag of presliced garlic)
Sweet yellow onion - 1 large
Fresh mushrooms
Yellow potatoes - 4 to 6
Fresh carrots - 2 to 5
Low to no sodium beef broth (only need about 1/4 cup max)
Organic cream of mushroom (1 small box)
Seasonings: Prime Rib/Steak seasoning & Mrs. Braggs organic seasoning

Prepare:

Slice the carrots, onions and put in the crock pot, and add the mushrooms and garlic.

Add your cream of mushroom soup, and beef broth and mix. You do not need much beef broth, only enough to cover the bottom and to help mix the cream of mushroom.  Crockpots are high moisture to begin with, so it does not take much liquid.

Add your roast and meat seasoning. Add more mushrooms, carrots and onion.

Now slice your potato into quarters and add. I like my potatoes on top and not at the bottom of the crockpot. Some recipes say to put on the bottom as root vegetables cook slow in crock pots, but I don't like the way the potatoes taste when cooked this way so I put it around the top of the meat and the potatoes come out soft and creamy like.

I used about 5 potatoes quartered and I added Mrs. Braggs seasoning to the potatoes.

Cook on high for 6 hours (I have a rival Smart Pot - which has the temp and hours listed together). If I had the time, I would have cooked on low for 8 hours but I'm kinda in a hurry today for this GREAT FAMILY MEAL on a rainy day :) 

Quick No-frills Crock Pot Beef Roast

As with any of my recipes; the seasonings, etc., is personal preference and this is my personal preference.  If you love onions and garlic then knock your socks off ;) but don't put so much that you'll have some family member who is usually the family wise-guy say: "why don't you add a little meat to your garlic and onions." 

This is no frills because sometimes I just want a beef roast without all those vegetables or as in this case, I didn't have any and I didn't want to run to the store but I still wanted a roast :)

Ingredients

• 3-4 pound roast - hormone-free & grass-fed beef for me!
• Minced Garlic - 1-2 tsps (more if you have a bigger roast)
• Fresh Onion - as much as you want
• 1 box of Cream of Mushroom soup - low or no sodium
• Roast Rub - Gluten-free is what I use
• Avocado oil - for browning the roast and coating your crock pot

Preparation

Prep-time: 15 minutes

While you are preparing your roast for browning, use cooking spray or the avocado oil to coat your crock pot so that nothing sticks.  Turn on your crock pot on low and throw in your chopped onions and garlic.

Heat up a frying pan that has avocado oil in it - I have the dial on 6 or 7, and that's part of the reason why I use avocado oil, it can handle the high heat without setting off the smoke alarm ;) not only that, it is yummy.

While the frying pan and crock pot are heating up, rub your seasoning into your roast.

Rub your roast generously and make sure the Rub you're using is low to no sodium.  Salt has the tendency to dry out your meat when cooking in crock pots - yuck.

I usually wear latex-free gloves when I do this, as I prefer not to touch the meat - personal preference.

After you rub it, throw it into your heated frying pan. I cook my meat for 2 minutes on each side as I don't want to fry it I just want to fast brown it.

As you can see, at this high heat, 2 minutes is good, some folks like to brown it 4 minutes on each side - it doesn't take much.

While your roast is browning, now throw your cream of mushroom soup in your crock pot.

After browning your roast, throw it on top of the onions, garlic and cream of mushroom soup.

Cook on low for 8 hours.  I like cooking it slow, but you can also cook on high for 5ish hours.

Cooking times Considerations

I cook a lot of my meats and fish on low; I just prefer it as I usually prepare crock pot dinners in the morning and then forget all about it. By time the cooking is done, I'm usually ready for dinner.  

A 4 pound beef roast will cook for 8 hours on low and 5-6 hours on high.

Here's a link to Crockpot.com's site that talks about cooking times:

Crock Pot Frequently Asked Questions on Cooking Times

So experiment and enjoy a yummy roast for dinner tonight! Just follow some basic cooking guidelines for safety purposes and enjoy!

Here's to Happy Crockpotting!

Laura

Crock Pot Roast

I love crock pot roast!  I have a 6 quart Smart Pot by Crock Pot that you can set to 4, 6 hours (high) and 8, 10 hours (low).  With roast, I find it always better to cook on low for 8 hours.  Also when cooking in a crock pot, it is best to try to use little to no salt in any of your ingredients or as one of your added spices.  Using salt will dry out your meat :p plus your heart will thank you :D)

Ingredients - in the order that you layer in crockpot:

Olive oil Pam Spray your crock pot (so ingredients won't stick to your crock pot)

Organic low or no sodium mushroom soup
Shallots or yellow onions (your preference really)
1-2 tbsp of minced garlic
Fresh Mushrooms
Worcheshire Sauce
Pepper

• Stir the above ingredients

Beef non-hormone/antibiotic-free beef roast (lay in the center)

1 bag of Organic no sodium frozen mixed veggies (sprinkle around the meat)

• In place of frozen veggies, I have chopped carrots, one or two celery stalks, and I still add frozen peas and corn because I like them; but more often then not, I use the frozen organic mixed veggies as I like easy cooking ;)

Organic yellow potatoes - quartered

• Note about the potatoes:  Some recipes say put your potatoes down first and rest your roast on top of it, I don't care for my potatoes all soggy so I prefer to place them around the meat and on top of everything else so then my potatoes turn-out creamy instead of soggy - it's your preference.

Herbs: usually more garlic, onion, pepper - I usually use like Chef's Seasoning (no sodium, no msg) or any other kind of garlic-based seasoning for beef that is sodium-free.

It takes me about 20 minutes to throw this all together and then I cook on low for 8 hours - fantastic 1-pot winter meal.

Enjoy!
Laura

My Favorite Soup - Cioppino

Step 1 - chop up celery, onions, chopped garlic (I use the minced garlic in the jar about 3 tsps. - depends on your taste) and warm in about 1-2 tsps. of olive oil; add Italian seasoning and Zatarains Creole seasoning.  Warm for a few minutes.

Step 2 - add two cans of diced petite tomatoes, more Italian and Creole seasoning.  I also add at this point some Miso; if you can't find Miso cubes, I've used .5 to 1 envelope of Miso-Cup (instant vegan and gluten-free soup from New Sagayas) and 2-3 cups of water (can add up to 4 depending on your preference).

Let this simmer about 30 minutes.  Then rinse off your frozen seafood mix (for this recipe I used the one from Costco).  I have also used other frozen seafood mixes and added my own scallops and cod that was chopped into cubes (yum!).  Bring back to a simmer.

Let it simmer 15 minutes and waa-la!  Cioppino in under an hour!  Yummers!!

I have made this in a crock pot before too.  You put all base ingredients, except no water, instead add a can of tomato sauce into a crock pot on low for 4-5 hours; then add the seafood mix, and cook on high for an hour.  Both ways are good - I'll do the crock pot recipe on a Saturday, I'll start it before I go running around and when I come home, plop in the seafood mix and get ready to enjoy!

Wishing you the best,

Laura