Pampered Chicken Salad

A little Kitchen Witchery today. I have been making an effort to get myself back on track, in every area of my life. My Path has suffered from our time in The Vardo, simply because I like to have altars everywhere, and I don't really have one here at all. So, I have been working on prayers and blessings to use and keep my mind in a spiritual place.

I was thinking of this as I made lunch today, and realized that I was not utilizing my best tool for Everyday Magick. I need to get back into Kitchen Witchery. I feed my family, and I should use that opportunity to feed our souls.

So, I took a moment and thought Magickally about how I wanted to make the dish. What do I need right now, in this moment, and how can I use this food to put that intention into the Universe?

Here is the end result. I skewed this toward loving and pampering myself and my family. I am not one for measuring, I just tend to throw things in the mix, so adjust your amounts as you see fit

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded (or about 2-3 cups of chicken) 

3 small avacado, diced (Avacado represents luxury, beauty, and love)

1 green onion, diced (onion for protection and healing)

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (to center and bring love into your heart)

1/2-3/4 cup mayo or plain yogurt

1/4 cup mustard (for protection and to help love be fertile)

salt and pepper to taste. (The chicken I used was seasoned, so I did not add any)

Mix together (I took it a step further here and used a blue spoon, and then served it on blue dishes for peace and calm)

Let sit in the fridge for an hour to let the mixture meld, then serve.

It was super yummy, and made me feel awesome that I took the first steps back toward one of my favorite Magickal practices!

Processing Pumpkins

We got exactly one pumpkin out of the two patches we planted, thanks to the squash bugs. We were pretty on top of it until our trip to Kansas, and they took those four days to complete the destruction. Our buddy Stubby saved the day by bringing over two sugar pie pumpkins from his garden. I processed them this morning and they are in the freezer, waiting to become yummy pumpkin pie next month!

 Cut each pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. I kept about one half of one pumpkin worth of seeds for next year...and will hopefully not lose those pumpkins to squash bugs too.

 I roasted them for 45 minutes, cut sides down, at 400 degrees. This made the flesh soft enough that it fell right out of the skins, and got a little nice caramelization on the bottoms.

 I threw it all in the food processor, added two tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice, one for each pumpkin, and pureed it all up.

 The Hubs helped me bag it up, and it's all ready for me on Thanksgiving!

Apple Butter

Apples were on sale last week at my neighborhood market, so I grabbed 4 bags of them and tried out apple butter in the crock pot, and used my new canning skills to preserve it.

Luckily for me, a friend of mine has one of those peeler/corer things and let me borrow it, saving me probably an hour peeling and slicing. If I continue to make apple butter, I must buy one.

I also got to use my mortar and pestle for the first non-spell time to crush the cloves. I have had it probably 6-7 years and have never used it in a cooking capacity!

Here is the recipe:

Fill a 5 qt crock pot to overflowing with peeled, sliced apples sprinkle over 4 c sugar, 2 t ground cinnamon, 1/4 t ground cloves, and 1/4 t salt

put lid on and cook on high for one hour

(if the lid wont fit on tightly that's ok, it cooks down very quickly)

after an hour, stir and turn down to low for 9 hours

(leave lid off for the last hour for thicker apple butter)

ladle into 4 pint jars, lid and refrigerate if using right away, or boil in a water bath canner for 10 minutes to preserve.

Super easy, super delicious, and great as a gift! My sister had English muffins waiting when I brought her down a jar.

H.W.

Crock-Pot Pulled Pork

Here is our recipe for easy, Pulled Pork Barbecue in the crock pot. It's not very exact, but I tend to be a "that looks about right" kind of cook! Crock pots are very forgiving, anyway...

One pork roast

1/2-1 cup orange juice

(amount depends on the size of the roast) 

2 big pinches of salt

4 big pinches black pepper

1/2-1 cup barbecue sauce

(again, depends on size of roast)

Place roast in crock pot, pour juice over then salt and pepper

cook on low heat 6-8 hrs

pull meat apart with forks, pour in sauce and serve

I made this Saturday because we had a BIG honey-do day, and dinner tends to sneak up on me when we get busy. I served it on home-baked bread I made and fried red-skin potatoes. Yum! This leaves enough for 3 big, hungry adults plus leftovers with a medium sized roast.
H.W.

Minty Peas

I said last year we should plant more peas...but forgot and still only planted four. I just cleaned out the peas in our box and we got about one cup of peas. Not to be discouraged, the girls and I shelled them and cooked them up for the Hubs, who loves peas and has been known to open a can of them and eat them directly out, cold. So our measly little cup 'o peas became Minty Peas with Onions!

Here is the recipe for a normal amount of peas.

2 cups fresh or frozen peas

2 Tbl butter

1/2 medium onion, diced

1/2 tsp mint

(if using frozen peas, thaw or blanch first)

melt butter in a saucepan over low heat, toss in onions and peas

saute over low heat until onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes

toss in mint and cook an additional minute, serve.

These are a big hit at our place, the Hubs only got about half of them before the girls jacked them, and they have become an official Thanksgiving side dish.

In other news, I finally pulled the radishes which had bolted like mutants. Again, a meager harvest, but I am still feeling out what we will actually EAT out of the garden with what I would like to grow.

The lettuce is still grooving along, but the spinach bolted and will probably be pulled up this week. I need to get going on what to plant in the new empty spots!

H.W.

Thai for dinner

I made this for dinner tonight. It is several recipes cobbled together and tweaked a little. I look at recipes as guidelines and change it up! We enjoyed it, (we ate it all before I thought of taking a pic...sorry) hope you do too.  H.W.

Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce

1lb Chicken breast

1 Tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 Tablespoon Canola oil

1 Cup thawed frozen or fresh peas

coat chicken in soy and oil and grill in a dry skillet until done, about 6 minutes if cut into strips. Let rest, then dice and mix into peanut sauce return to pan, add peas and warm through (recipe follows) serve over rice with cucumber salad (recipe follows)

Spicy Peanut Sauce

• 4 tablespoons smooth natural peanut butter
• 4 tablespoons "lite" coconut milk
• 2 tablespoon lime juice
• 4 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste

Whisk together peanut butter, coconut milk, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar and crushed red pepper in a small bowl until smooth.

Thai Cucumber Salad

• 1/2 seedless cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced on an angle
• 2 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 1 cup shredded carrots, available in pouches in produce department
• 3 scallions, sliced on an angle
• 12 leaves basil, chopped or torn
• 3 tablespoons chopped mint leaves (4 sprigs)
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or white vinegar