This post is obviously not going to be for everyone. Venison is one of those meats that some people just cannot eat, and while that is so foreign a concept to me it makes my brain hurt, I do understand that it's so. Me, I grew up on venison (and all manner of other game and fish), so for me it's worth its weight in gold. I was lucky enough to be gifted a pound of venison burger a short time ago, so I made a batch of chili.
About chili: There are two camps of people, and they're so adamant about being right they remind me of Capulets vs. Montagues, Hatfields vs. McCoys, or Republicans vs. Democrats. I'm talking about beans in chili, of course. I fall somewhere in the middle... Until very recently, in my world beans were for if you didn't have or couldn't afford enough meat for your chili. I'm good with or without them.
You know what I love? When a recipe born of sheer necessity comes together and turns out to be something absolutely amazing. That's what happened with this one, which started with me rediscovering two jars of Alfredo sauce on my lazy Susan that were dated the end of this month. I kept forgetting they were there since I usually just make my own, but they kept staring at me, demanding I do something with them.
And then I thought... Lasagna rolls! But not the ones I usually make with tomato sauce. I should do chicken and spinach and Alfredo sauce, and they're going to be fabulous. Turns out I was right, and I also actually documented what I was doing as I did it. Wins all the way around!
Sweet potatoes are a godsend for us, because they let us have potatoes periodically while still being high in fiber and definitely allowed under my mother's diet. Not that we can eat them all the time, but I do serve them about once a month. The challenge is in finding recipes that don't incorporate a bunch of sugar or syrup or both, because that pretty much negates any healthy benefits of eating them.
This recipe comes from Eating Well, and it's definitely staying in the rotation.
I'm pretty sure this is one of those things that there is no middle ground: Either you love it or you hate it. Around here, we love it, although we don't eat it very often since it's not even remotely good for you. But since we're in this ridiculous stretch of hideously cold weather (had you told me a week ago I would be giddy over it being a whopping 5 degrees today I would've said you were crazy), I wanted some. Because it's total comfort food, and requires ingredients I always have in the house.
However, I did make some changes to the way my family has made it since well before I was born in an effort to cut down on calories, fat, and carbs. It's not exactly the same, but it was pretty close and really darn tasty.
Do you ever buy something and then realize you have way too much of it and you don't have any idea what to do with it? That happened to me with rice noodles. In the city where my niece used to live is this fabulous little Asian market, where everything is cheap and they're genuinely nice people. But she and her family moved from that city to mine last fall, so I made one last shopping trip and bought an ungodly amount of stuff.
Enter this recipe, originally posted at Recipe.com. Which didn't call for rice vermicelli at all (it said udon or whole what spaghetti), but which was easily adapted so I could use a bunch of my rice noodles. I made a couple of other minor changes as well, but for the most part followed the recipe as written.
One of the biggest challenges in being restricted to an ultra-low-carb diet is side dishes. I used to rely on rice, pasta, or potatoes to fill out a plate, but those aren't really options any longer. Lord knows there is an incredible variety of vegetables, but even so I find myself stuck in a rut after a while.
This is a recipe from Eating Well, and it was just different enough that I couldn't resist trying it. And it was pretty darn tasty, too! Next time I'll probably add more cheese because we are big fans of cheese around here, but there definitely will be a next time.
Sure, there was football. And right up until the last minute or so it was a fabulous game. It's not that I particularly wanted the Seahawks to win, it's that I truly cannot stomach the Patriots. But we're not here to talk about football, we're here to talk about food!
It wasn't until I sat down to write this blog that I realized I never took a picture of the spread. Or of a full plate of food. But by golly I certainly got pictures of each step of each of the things I made! In addition to the three recipes you'll find here, we also had a nacho bar (tortilla chips, meat and beans, black olives, diced jalapenos, salsa, sour cream, diced onions, avocado, and melted cheese with Ro-Tel... each person made their own based on their own taste).
I had a bee in my bonnet about these two boxes of Omaha Steaks burger patties in my freezer. They were each received free with an order, and they were virtually burning a hole in my pocket. Then I remembered I also had some shredded Mozzarella cheese from another recipe, and from there I decided to come up with my version of what I was told was a traditional Southern recipe.
Being winter, I had to use canned tomatoes and dried herbs, but I suspect I'll be making this again come summer when all of those things are growing in my yard. Because it was amazingly tasty as it was.
Do you ever set out to make something, and all of a sudden realize you've never made it before and you have no earthly idea why? That happens to me not regularly, but more often than I like. For instance, the first time I ever made mashed potatoes was when I was darn near 30, which makes no sense whatsoever.
It also happened with broccoli cheddar soup. I wanted some, and I decided I should make it. I started looking for my recipe, and after about an hour suddenly realized I don't have one. I'd never made it. How odd! But, I headed to the internet, starting with some food blogs with which I have had great good luck in the past. And as it turns out, Sweet Jeanette came through for me again. Thank goodness!
Last summer I ended up with a box of steel cut oats, and no idea whatsoever to do with them. The internet is your friend, of course, so I searched out a bunch of recipes. Once I wrapped my head around the fact that oatmeal neither had to be breakfast food nor had to be sweet, a whole new world opened up for me. This was also during my baby bella mushroom obsession, so it pretty much demanded I try it.
This recipe (which comes from Foxes Love Lemons) was not exactly what I was hoping for, but it wasn't a bad way to fix steel cut oats. I'll make it again, although with some tweaking.
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