Bread-Machine French Bread

Adjusted recipe from BREADMAN- instead of using bread machine yeast and bread flour... 

Ingredients:

Water (80°F-90°F)	scant 1.5 Cup(s)
Sugar Quick Rise Yeast	1 Tbsp 1 ½ tsp
Salt	scant 1 ½ tsp
White Flour	4 Cup(s)
Vital Wheat Gluten	6 tsp

Directions:

Dump the first 3 ingredients into the bread machine bowl. Stir and then set aside to let yeast begin feeding, about 5 min. Add the rest of the ingredients. Place bowl in machine and select French Bread 2 LB, and light crust. Let the machine do it's thing! It takes a little over 3 hours to finish.

Instant Pot Quinoa

INGREDIENTS

• 1  cup quinoa, rinsed 
• 1/2 Tbsp oil or butter 
• a little chopped onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 can chicken broth 
• Spray cooking oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Spray instant pot with cooking spray oil. 

2. Press sauté on instant pot and add oil. 

3. When hot, add onion and sauté for 3 min. 

4. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.

5. Add quinoa and brown for about 2 minutes. 

4. Press cancel on instant pot and add broth. 

5. Secure lid and make sure it’s set to sealing.

6. Select Manual for 1 minute. 

7. When timer rings, let the quinoa sit for 10 minutes and then quick release. 

Instant Pot Brown Rice

Easy. Pretty fast. Yummy.

Spray Instant Pot bowl with Pam.
Set to Saute.
Add 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil and 1.5 cups of Brown Rice.
Stir until browned, about 4 minutes.
Turn Instant Pot to Off/Cancel.
Add 1 can of chicken broth.
Seal Instant pot (lid and knob).
Select Manual for 25 minutes.
Let the rice sit for 5 minutes and then use the quick release.
Stir and serve!

Great Grandma's Stuffing

My mom made this for Thanksgiving and it rocked! I am not a huge stuffing fan, but I couldn't get enough of this. I wrote down the recipe, but haven't tried to make it yet. I want to post it here before I lose it!

Ingredients:

-1 1/2 loaves of french bread, cut up and dried out
- 4 slices of bacon
-2 stalks of celery, chopped
-1/2 onion, chopped
-1 cube of margarine
-1 cup hot water with 1 bouillon cube dissolved
-1 egg, beaten
-sage and oregano, to taste

Directions:
1. Fry the bacon. Remove from pan and chop into little pieces.
2. Cook onion and celery in drippings. Combine with bacon pieces and bread pieces.
3. Get water really hot, stir in margarine. When just warm, stir in egg.
4. Mix sage and oregano into egg mixture. Toss lightly over bread mixture.
5. Cover. Bake at 375 for 20 min, then turn down the oven and bake at 350 for 30 to 40 more min.

Spanish Rice

This was a great side dish. It had lots of flavor. I found the recipe on line and tweaked it a bit for our taste.  Here's what we came up with:

Ingredients:
2 Tb butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped
1 cup of white rice, rinsed well
1 can of chicken broth
1 can of mexican style tomatoes, juice drained
1 tsp of chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:
1. Melt the butter in a large skillet.
2. Add onion, pepper, and carrots.  Cook until veggies are soft.
3. Add rice and fry until browned.
4. Mix in broth, tomatoes, and chili powder.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer covered for 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.

Spinach N Strawberries Salad

I found this recipe on Pinterest. It was pretty basic, but I had never made it before. And holy cow. It's a winner! Love the flavor combination here.
(It called for sliced red onions too, but I left them out since I don't care for raw onions.  Also, I added chicken nugget pieces to make it into a meal)
Also, sorry this isn't the prettiest picture. Halfway through eating the salad I decided it was blog-worthy and took a picture, hence it's all disheveled. 

Ingredients:
-Baby spinach
-Feta cheese
-Strawberries sliced
-Pecan pieces (the recipe calls for candied pecans, I just used regular pecans)
-Berry Vinaigrette Dressing

Directions:
1. It's a salad.  You just throw it all together and then devour. 

And here is the amazingly delicious strawberry vinaigrette dressing recipe, slightly modified to my liking: (the original recipe called for raspberries and poppy seeds, both of which I would love to use but didn't have on hand)

Ingredients

• 1/8 cup onion
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar (I used plain ol' white vinegar)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 strawberries
• 1 squirt of mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1-1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds 

Directions:
1. Place onion in food processor and pulse til finely chopped.
2. Add vinegar, sugar, berries, mustard, and salt.  Pulse til combined and smooth.
3. While processor is running, drizzle in the oils and the poppy seeds.
4. Enjoy!

http://www.theyummylife.com/blog/2011/07/211/Spinach+Strawberry+Salad+with+Candied+Pecans%2C+Feta%2C+%26+Raspberry+Poppyseed+Dressing

Roasted Green Beans

Such a great way to bring out the sweetness in fresh picked beans. Mmmm.
Ingredients

• 2 lbs green beans
• 1-2 tablespoon olive oil (or just enough to lightly coat beans)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste, may substitute with Mrs. Dash if desired)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (or to taste, omit if using Mrs. Dash)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Wash, dry well, and trim green beans.
3. Put green beans on a jelly roll pan.
4. Drizzle with olive oil.
5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste
6. Use your hands to be sure all the beans are evenly coated and spread them out into 1 layer.
7. Roast for 20-25 minutes, turning after 15 minutes, until beans are fairly brown in spots and somewhat shriveled.
8. Serve hot or at room temperature.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Roasted-Green-Beans-133821