Wild Rice Hotdish

 This is the recipe I received for wild rice hotdish while going to college. The young lady, my classmate, Kristen Larson, was from the White Earth Indian Reservation, and we had the opportunity to go to her family's home and listen to an elder tell stories. They also served us the wild rice hotdish there, and it was delicious!  Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Wild Rice Hotdish

1 pound wild rice

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 can of cream of potato soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can of mixed vegetables (optional) - * I just chop some fresh carrots to add into the rice as it cooks

a few chicken bouillon cubes

1 package regular Jimmy Dean sausage

Rinse the rice. Dissolve the bouillon cubes in a pot full of water and add the onions and celery.  Once the water boils, add the wild rice.  It really puffs up a lot, so a little rice will go a long way! I don't really have a time estimate as to how long it will take to cook the rice.  You just need to keep an eye on it and sample it every once in a while. While the rice is cooking, mix together the two soups and cook them as the instructions say on the can.  You will add 2 cans of milk.  Also, brown the sausage.

After the rice is cooked, drain any excess water and put the rice in a large casserole dish.  Add the soups, the sausage and a drained can of mixed vegetables.  Cover and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Ta da!

Browning the sausage...

I used a rice cooker instead of making the rice on stovetop- much faster!

carrots and red onions

I cook mine in the slow cooker /crock pot for 2-4 hours or so.

Orange Toast

A few days ago I made a loaf of gluten free honey oatmeal bread. While my attempt came out rather dense and a little dry- I have a feeling it was due to the flour blend I used-I didn't want the bread to go to waste, so I thought "Orange Toast!"

My mom would make Orange Toast out of the thinly sliced Pepperidge Farms bread, but since trying to go gluten free, I have not had the luxury of that treat. The ingredients are simple- just 4- and the taste is AMAZING.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel 
• 3 Tbsp fresh squeezed juice
• 1 loaf white bread, thinly sliced (about 18 slices)

Directions:

 In a small bowl, combine butter, sugar and orange peel; mix well.

Spread on both sides of bread and place on parchment lined baking sheets.

1. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes. Turn slices over; bake 7 minutes longer (watch carefully). Yield: about 3 dozen.

***Originally published as Orange Toast in Quick Cooking May/June 2000, p37 ****


I will note that the gluten free bread did not get as crisp as regular white bread does, so the day after you can toast it lightly in a toaster oven. Store in a covered container in the fridge.

Swedish Meatballs

I keep forgetting that I have this blog as well, and should do better at posting things here. I'm transferring my grandma Mamie's Swedish Meatball recipe here from one of my former blogs, since this one is linked to my facebook page.

Grandma's Swedish Meatballs

Heat oven to 350º F
Spray a 2 quart glass casserole dish and set aside.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
1 12 ounce roll Jimmy Dean's light pork sausage
1/3-1/2 cup bread crumbs (you can use seasoned or plain)
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 small onion peeled and chopped fine
1 small peeled russet potato, grated fine*
2 tsp ground sage
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine above ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well. On a counter top pull out a 3 foot long sheet of waxed paper. Dump meatball mixture onto one half of the waxed paper and fold the other side over. Using the waxed paper to keep your hands clean, flatten out the meat mixture into a roughly rectangular slab approximately 1" thick. Then peel back the top waxed paper and with a long knife score the meat into equal 1 " grid portions for easy, uniform rolling.

Then roll each square by hand into a meat ball and set aside until all of your meat mixture is rolled.

In a heavy skillet spray with light non-stick spray and heat on medium. Add several meatballs at a time to the pan turning gently to brown on all sides, until no pink shows. Transfer browned meatballs to the greased casserole dish. Continue until all of the meatballs have been browned.

Then, in the same skillet, drain any excess grease, then add 1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup (your choice of brand,) and 1 can of milk. Heat through, then pour over top of meatballs. Cover casserole dish heavy aluminum foil, and bake for 30-40 min in preheated oven. Serve with mashed potatoes or noodles.


* My Grandma Mamie always added grated potato, and this recipe can be made gluten free by omitting the bread crumbs and using a large potato instead, as well as omitting the mushroom soup gravy unless using a gluten free variety of soup.

Today I was in a crafting mood and decided to use some of the peeling paper birch bark from one of the trees in the yard to make a festive votive holder.

I drew star shapes on the back side of the birch bark and then carefully cut the stars out.

A little dab of glue.. I used a wood glue but I think that a different type might work better next time.

The glue kind of smudge around the outside of the star, so I used a dry q-tip to wipe most of the excess off.

Added the candle holder to the glass jar.

And finished off with a bit of tied raffia.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome. I started posting on a facebook page about two years ago, where I could keep recipes, as well as tips and trials in cooking and gardening, in one locale. Since then, though I've not always been diligent with postings, I have gained a few faithful followers. Most of whom I know personally, but some who have stumbled upon my page and "liked" me. This past week I hit over 30 followers, so thought it was time to branch out into a blog.

This last year has been a challenge for me, as I had to move 90 miles away from my hubby and cat to take a long awaited for teaching position. This meant becoming an apartment dweller for the first time in my adult life, as well as the first time I've ever lived alone. Through trial and error, I have learned that I do miss my yard and garden, but have several apartment plants to keep me company.

I have also worked on eliminating gluten and excess starches from my diet. Not always easy, but I  have been experimenting with new recipes and have become an avid label reader! I am also very much anti-GMO's! This tends to make me clash a bit with the science teacher in my school (as she's also a farmer and wholeheartedly embraces and teaches the "goodness of GMO's"...ugh!).

My background includes growing up living in the country, where I  worked in my parents' garden, weeding, picking veggies and berries (strawberry and raspberries), as well as other outdoorsy pursuits such as fishing, cutting and stacking wood, and generally seeing how dirty I could become in the course of a day.  My parents still live in the country, and own/operate Lake Ida Apple Farm in west-central Minnesota, not far from where I live, so I still am able to glean produce from their still abundant gardens!

Also I have a grown daughter of 26. She lives and works in Alaska, and though I do not see her often, we are close. I couldn't be more proud of her!

Guess that is about all by way of an introduction. I'll try to blog at least once a week, but my facebook page will likely have more traffic.

God Bless.