Spicy Lady Saves the Day
I had a hankering last week for french dip sandwiches. So I finally decided to bite the bullet and get the ingredients to make some French dips. Our little kiddo has been very picky lately about what she eats. It's usually noodles or chicken nuggets or hot dogs. She's also a fan of steak and green beans. I decided to just shoot for the stars with this and make something the whole family would love and it worked. The meat stayed so tender and juicy because it's cooked in the Instant Pot. And if you add bones to the pot before you cook the meat, you get a Heavenly bone broth. This is a double duty recipe because not only do you get a delicious kid-friendly French dip sandwich, but you also can store this bone broth for up to a week in the fridge or freezer for a year. Use a frozen cube of bone broth next time you make a pot roast, soup, or any recipe calling for broth. This bone broth would also make a stellar pho if you just add some lemongrass and Ginger. French Dip with Bone Broth Au Jus
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Up until a few weeks ago, I had only heard the work "harissa" from food network. That was until I inherited a meal prep kit from my parents. They were going to be unable to use it and kindly figured the foodie in me would enjoy it. I took it home, but was only really interested in the harissa from the kit. It included collard greens, which I figured shouldn't go to waste, so it was time to use the harissa and collard greens to develop my own recipe. Harissa is a commonly used chile paste from North Africa and the Middle East. It usually contains smoked hot chile peppers, garlic, spices, and olive oil. It can be used in anything! It is spicy, so only use a little! I love that it added a hint of spiciness to my recipe and a pretty red color. To tone down some of the spice, use yogurt with the harissa paste as a marinade for chicken, steak, pork, fish, or as you'll see below, shrimp. It can be used in place of sriracha too! Can't find harissa? It's possible to make it on your own with dried chiles, some spices like coriander, cumin, caraway seeds, a little garlic, and olive oil. Now onto the recipe! Harissa Shrimp with Cajun Collard Greens
I'm loving this Instant Pot! Not only is it easy to use, I can sit and relax while the Instant Pot does the hard work. I decided to try my meatloaf recipe tonight and steam some potatoes under the meatloaf. The plan was to mash the potatoes after the meatloaf was done. Well, it worked! I followed the prep for this recipe: spicyladysavestheday.weebly.com/blog/spicy-lady-saves-the-day-and-makes-saucy-meatloaf and made a few small adjustments on the cooking method. I cut up about one and a half pounds of potatoes and placed them in the IP. I added 12 ounces water and a sprinkle of salt. Then I put the IP trivet in and put a layer of tin foil on top. I placed the meatloaf on the tinfoil, put some sauce on top, then let my IP do its thing! I set it fot 25 minutes on the stew/meat setting. The IP won't cook in exactly 25 minutes. It does take 5-15 minutes to get to pressure. It's not the quickest way, but when you start the machine, it does the cooking for you. I let my IP release pressure naturally for 10 minutes, then turned the vent. After removing the meatloaf, I drained the potatoes and put them back in the IP. I left the IP on the warm setting and added 3/4 cup warm milk, 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup shredded parm, and 2 teaspoons Alvi's Incredible. >Get your free (plus s&h) jar here: www.alvisincredible.com and enter consultant code 813432.< Using a potato masher, mash until you get the consistency you desire. Then enjoy! Made a goal towards financial freedom? Start the year off with unlimited possibilites! Save the Day Seasonings is a new and growing Direct Sales company looking for more individuals who want to share our healthy and natural seasonings with the world. It's an amazing time to get in on a "ground floor" opportunity with so much potential. We can't WAIT to see what 2018 will bring!!
PM for details or visit savethedayseasonings.com/spicylady Hubby sure spoiled me this Christmas! Not only did he get me some sparkly jewelery, he also got me an Instant Pot! I've been torn on them for a while. I figured I could just continue to use my slow cooker. But then I saw all the amazing things it could do! Pressure cooker, slow cooker, saute, rice cooker, it can even make yogurt! For our first dance, I decided on creamy chicken. It's an easy recipe! Bacon, chicken, chicken broth, Alvi's Incredible, cream cheese, corn starch, and cheddar cheese. Serve it on rolls, baked potatoes, tortillas, rice, egg noodles or on its own. I recieved a yum from the hubby and my newly picky eater. Instant Pot Creamy Chicken
It's that time of year again. Sickness season. I was hoping that I would not already be afflicted but alas I have a dreaded sinus infection and cold. What is the one thing your mother always told you when you were sick that you needed to eat? Chicken noodle soup. There have been recent studies regarding chicken noodle soup and why it has such a healing power. Scientists are finding that chicken noodle soup is an anti-inflammatory. When a virus enters your system, your white blood cells rush to wherever it is to fight it. It causes inflammation which is the reason why your chest and lungs can feel tight when you're sick, as well as your throat and nose. A 2000 study by Dr. Stephen Rennard showed that white blood cells were less likely to move from one chamber to another if there was chicken noodle soup in the filter between the two Chambers. Scientists believe that chicken noodle soup reduces inflammation which can make cold symptoms less bothersome. Other benefits of giving chicken noodle soup to someone who's sick is increased hydration from the broth, a serving of vegetables, protein from the chicken , and it's easy on the stomach. So this means that when someone in your house has the sniffles, sore throat, or is just not feeling 100%, it's time to make a batch of chicken noodle soup. One great thing about chicken noodle soup is you can make it and freeze servings. In our little house of three people, an entire Dutch oven of chicken noodle soup can sometimes go to waste. But with a little pre-planning I will have chicken noodle soup to last us through a few illnesses. My secret for a flavorful chicken noodle soup is to use store-bought rotisserie chicken. When you go to cook your chicken noodle soup put your onion celery and carrots in with about half a stick of butter and one tablespoon of Alvi's Incredible. You can also substitute other Save the Day blends*. As soon as you get those vegetables sweated and soft, you put the entire rotisserie chicken in the pan then pour in all your chicken stock. Let that simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. Because you are simmering the entire chicken in the stock you are actually creating a more flavorful broth. Anytime anyone makes chicken broth, the key is to use vegetables and chicken bones, as well as chicken meat. The bones add extra flavor that can't be added you just boil water and chicken. After the 30 to 45 minutes pull out the chicken add your egg noodles. Cook those according to the time directions on the back of the back. While those are cooking shred your chicken and dice it a little bit you won't bite size pieces. Add it back into the broth and then add a little cornstarch and some cold water and then pour that in. That's going to give you a thicker soup consistency. It makes it not so watery. Don't forget to have some saltines or crusty rolls for a cold busting, satisfying dinner. Incredible Chicken Noodle Soup
During a Save the Day Seasonings vendor event, my sister and I heard a rumor that a SDS consultant put our Jamaican blend on vanilla ice cream. My sister and I both thought that was kind of weird, but at an event, we got some Almond Joy ice cream and sprinkled Jamaican on top. HOLY COW! It tasted so good! The Jamaican blend gave the ice cream a gingery, allspice flavored saltiness and was a perfect accent to the sweet, creamy coconut ice cream. Needless to say, we are both believers in Save the Day Seasoning Jamaican blend on ice cream. Since then, I've been inspired to try sweet Jamaican blend dishes. When I got home from the grocery store, I realized my bananas from last week were looking a little brown... Then it hit me: Jamaican banana bread with coconut and semi-sweet chocolate chips. I put on my Willy Wonka hat and started experimenting. I altered a traditional banana bread recipe and created this beauty. This banana bread is completely customizable. If you don't like coconut, throw in some nuts or seeds. Avoiding chocolate? Just leave it out. You can even use all white sugar or all brown sugar. Feel free to add coconut extract for extra coconut kick too or even rum extract!
Jamaican Banana Bread
A few years ago, while on vacation with my family, my dad introduced my daughter to smoked turkey drumsticks. Of course, she loved feeling like a viking with a huge turkey leg in her little hands. Lately, she's been requesting chicken drumsticks. How can I refuse such an easy and inexpensive request? I was thrilled today when I found Kroger had chicken drumsticks for $0.77 per pound. I may have purchased three packs (about 12 ish pounds) and three packages of thighs too! My total for 24+ pounds of chicken was less than $20 bucks. I knew I needed to do something that would blow hubby and kiddo out of the water with those drumsticks, so I went with chicken drumsticks with a soy, ketchup, honey glaze. Of course I wanted to add some extra flavor, so I added about one tablespoon of Save the Day Seasonings Chinese blend. Since hubby and kiddo DO NOT like spicy food, I made my own spicy batch of marinade. It's so easy to customize meals to what my family likes. I'll have my Chinese Inferno drumstick and my loves with get a mild Chinese blend. One of the reasons I love the Chinese blend (and all Save the Day Seasoning blends) is no MSG! Have you ever visited a Chinese restaurant only to feel headache, facial pain, numbness, heart palpitations, chest pain, nausea, or weakness? You can likely blame that on MSG. MSG may also trigger asthma attacks and cause hives. You may be wondering, "What is MSG?" MSG (Monosodium Glutamate is a flavor enhancer. It's commonly found in Chinese food, as well as canned goods, breakfast sausage and a lot of highly processed junk food. Well, why is MSG bad? That's where things can get a little complicated. There have been thousands of studies on MSG, some say MSG is harmless, but others say it is dangerous. A 1997 study found that MSG caused muscle weakness, numbness and flushing (Yang). Another study, from 1986, noted that in their double-blind study, mice who were injected with MSG suffered from obesity, inactivity, and hormone fluctuations (Lorden). Finally in 2002, a long term study of 3-6 months found that animals exposed to MSG suffered from significant retina damage (Ohguro). Chinese Soy Honey Drumsticks
This was just announced at our Convention! For a limited time, get a FREE jar of Alvi's Incredible seasoning just to try!! We know you will love it and use it (and all our seasonings) on ALL your food. Just go to:
www.alvisincredible.com and enter Consultant Code 813432 Yep, we'll buy the jar, and you just pay $3.99 in shipping. Hurry and get your jar! You know how every year at New Year's you make a resolution, keep it for a month or two, then in the heat of the moment, eat an entire birthday cake on your own? Studies are finding that it takes about 21 days to form a new habit. Now 21 days doesn't seem like much, until you try to eat better or exercise more. I'm planning on both. So I've started a pre-New Year's resolution. That gives me enough time to get the habits in place and start the year off right. One thing I love about Save the Day Seasonings is how easy it is to customize meals. It comes in handy if you have family members with allergies, diet restrictions, or food aversions. Hubby and daughter don't like spicy, so I can sprinkle Alvi's Inferno or Super Strong A.R.M. on my serving. It made for an easy dinner on Sunday. I made tinfoil packets for each of us. Hubby and kiddo had chicken and I had salmon. I sliced zucchini, tossed it with Alvi's Incredible, olive oil, and parmesan cheese, and placed them on the tinfoil. Then I placed each protein on top of the zucchini and sprinkled the Save the Day Seasonings on top. My hubby's chicken had Strong A.R.M., kiddo had Alvi's Incredible, and I topped my salmon with a mix of The Real Dill and Lemon Pepper. I wrapped up each packet and put them in the oven at 400 degree F for 25 minutes. When they were done, we had individualized meals with a healthy protein and flavors we loved. |
The Spicy LadyHi! My name is Amanda and I'm the Spicy Lady. I have had a love for cooking since I saw my first episode of Emeril. Although I've worked mainly in the customer service sector, my love of cooking and recipe development was sparked by a friend and I'm here to share my recipes! ArchivesCategories |