Tag: onion

Summer Vegetable Turkey Chili

My friends, Sandra and Alan, recently shared their abundant harvest of squash and zucchini with me. We have grilled it, fried it, and baked it. Most recently, I decided to make a summer vegetable chili. I know chili is something we usually all make in the colder months, but it was terrific!

I started with ground turkey for a lighter chili. I removed the seeds from both the zucchini and yellow squash, and I cooked it just long enough for the squash to be tender-crisp.

Made with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and the fresh squash, I will most definitely keep this recipe around! Not only was it delicious, but it was also low in carbs. I served the chili with shredded cheese and sour cream.

Print

Summer Vegetable Turkey Chili

Course Main Course, Soup
Servings 8
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 1 (14.5-oz.) can petite diced tomatoes undrained
  • 1 (15-oz.) can black soy beans rinsed and drained
  • 1 (4-oz.) can green chiles
  • 1/2 cup chopped poblano pepper (approximately 1 pepper)
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 8 ounces water
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons chicken boullion powder
  • 1 cup chopped yellow squash
  • 1 cup chopped zucchini

Instructions

  • Cook turkey in a Dutch oven until no longer pink.
  • Add tomatoes, soy beans, chiles, pepper, onion, water, chili powder, paprika, cumin and chicken bouillion powder. Cook on medium-low for 30 minutes.
  • In the meantime, cut squash and zucchini lengthwise. Discard the seeds buy using a small spoon to scoop out. Chop and set aside.
  • Add the squash and zucchini to the Dutch oven. Cook until the squash is tender-crisp.
  • Serve with desired toppings.

Notes

Nutrition:  Net Carbs = 5 g.; Fat = 11 g.; Protein:  15 g.; Calories = 196

 

Beef Tamale Pie

While living this new normal life, my thoughts of cooking are changing. My once passion for cooking is turning into a thing I dread daily. I am getting tired of making a mess, I am over cleaning the kitchen constantly, and quite honestly, I am sick of my own cooking! On top of that, when I place my weekly grocery order, I find out that the store is out of many of the items I requested.

And while it is so easy to be petty, there is much to be thankful for, though. We have food in our freezer and plenty in the pantry. We have not lacked for food on the table and in our bellies. My family is still healthy. We do not battle the loneliness of isolation because we have each other. No matter how much I complain about being in the kitchen, I am oh so thankful!

I found a handwritten recipe from my Aunt Janis last week. I knew, without a doubt, it would be delicious coming from my aunt. This recipe for Beef Tamale Pie seemed simple enough, and I almost had all the ingredients. Since I had no chili mix in the house, I substituted taco seasoning, and it was terrific! I cooked everything in one skillet, so I had minimal cleanup, which is always a plus.

*Note:  My cousin, Regina, told me that she often puts chopped jalapeños in the corn meal mixture for a little extra zip!  Sounds great to me!  

Print Pin

Beef Tamale Pie

Course Main Course
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1 medium green bell pepper chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 envelope chili mix
  • 1 (14.5-ounce can) petite diced tomatoes drained
  • 1 (15.25-ounce can) whole kernel corn drained
  • 1 cup self-rising yellow corn meal
  • 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
  • water

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400℉.
  • In a large skillet brown the beef, drain.
  • Add onions, bell pepper, salt, chili mix and tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Stir in corn.
  • In a bowl mix corn meal, shredded cheese and enough water for spreading consistency.
  • Drop mixture by spoonfuls over beef mixture and slightly spread out.
  • Bake 20 minutes or until the cornmeal mixture has browned.
  • Serve warm with desired toppings.

Italian Sausage and Cheese Tortellini Soup

Italian Sausage and Cheese Tortellini Soup

What a year 2019 has been! I know that you thought I had disappeared! I’m still here! I have wanted to post, but quite honestly, life is for living, and I have lived it this year. As I have mentioned in previous posts, our son married his soulmate, Ashley, in June, in our yard. We spend the first five months of the year working in the yard! Also, our daughter, Savannah, graduated college and moved to Atlanta to start her career. In fact, we moved Savannah and had a wedding all within two weeks.

Everything has worked out well, and I am one proud mother! However, I suppose being an empty nester is an adjustment.

I feel like I am finally settling into this new season in my life. Have you ever had one of those moments where you just sit back, take a deep breath, and know everything is okay? That is how I’m feeling right about now.

With that being said, I am going to start reposting some of my old recipes I removed from the blog back when I had decided to shut the blog down. I have had so many people contact me trying to find some of the favorites. I hope you enjoy seeing some of your old favorites again!

Thanks for sticking with me through life!

Amye

My longtime friend, Loretta, shared this fantastic Italian Sausage and Cheese Tortellini Soup with me several years ago. It’s not one of those show simmering soups for the crockpot, but it is still incredibly simple to make without spending hours in the kitchen. Serve with toasty garlic bread and a salad for a delicious meal!

Italian Sausage and Cheese Tortellini Soup
 
Author:
Print
 
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. Italian sausage
  • 1 c. chopped onion
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 5 c. beef broth
  • ½ c. water
  • ½ c. red wine
  • 2 (14½-oz.) cans Italian diced tomatoes
  • 1 c. thinly diced carrots
  • ½ tsp. dried oregano
  • 1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce
  • 1½ c. diced zucchini
  • 3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
  • 8 to 9-oz. fresh cheese tortellini pasta
  • fresh basil
  • grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Remove casing from sausage and brown sausage. Drain and set aside.
  2. In the meantime, cut zucchini in half and scrap out seeds. Discard seeds and dice zucchini, set aside.
  3. Saute onions and garlic in same pan.
  4. Stir in beef broth, water, red wine, diced tomatoes, carrots, oregano, and tomato sauce.
  5. Add cooked sausage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
  6. Skim any fat from top. Stir in zucchini and parsley and simmer 30 minutes.
  7. Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes.
  8. Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil and grated Parmesan cheese to serve.

 

Broccoli Casserole

Broccoli Casserole

Once a year, when I was growing up, we would go to a huge dinner, with people I barely knew.  I would have my cheeks pinched multiple times, and we would pose for a ton of pictures then have a meal with delicious home cooking.  The only people I knew well at these dinners were my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and first cousins.  It was the yearly family reunion.   
 
I was not such a fan of family reunions as a child.  However, to this day, when I run into one of those distant cousins at Chili’s, we recognize each other and speak.  No, we don’t know everything about each other, but we share a common bond, and it’s a good feeling.  
 
Today, family reunions are on the decline.  Families do not care or have time, to know their distant relatives anymore.   Growing up, we would claim anyone who shared one common gene with us.  Now people barely know their first cousin, much less a second cousin once removed.  
 
My mother’s family, the Boltons, started a family reunion this year for all descendants of my grandparents.  I am thrilled.  I have lost so many aunts and uncles over the past ten years that our big family gatherings have dwindled tremendously.  We had a pretty good turn out for our first reunion, although some of the younger ones are still not on board.  For those of us planning it, we are hoping it will grow as time goes by.  
 
My mother-in-law’s family, the Halls, still have their reunion every year.  I have heard some complaints over the years, but I admire them for keeping it going.  Even on the slim years when they wondered why they bothered, they have never stopped meeting.  It has allowed me to know members of his family that I would have never known otherwise.  
 
With the Hall reunion coming up next weekend I have been searching my recipes.  I try to find recipes the majority like because I do not want to bring leftovers home.  This year I have pulled out some old tried and true recipes.  This broccoli casserole is one of my all-time favorite recipes.  Many broccoli casseroles have frozen broccoli, but I prefer to use fresh.  Only cook your broccoli to tender-crisp.   I always tend to be heavy-handed on the cheese, and the end result is delicious!

Broccoli Casserole
 
Author:
Print
 
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. fresh broccoli florets
  • 1 c. mayonnaise
  • 1 small onion, finely minced
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
  • ¼ c. butter, melted
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325℉. Spray baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
  2. Chop broccoli into large bite-size pieces. Steam broccoli to just past tender-crisp, set aside.
  3. Combine the mayonnaise, onion, mushroom soup, and eggs until blended. Stir in the broccoli and cheese and pour into prepared baking dish.
  4. Mix crushed crackers with melted butter. Sprinkle over the casserole.
  5. Bake at 325℉ for 30 minutes or until brown.

 

Greg’s Venison Balsamic Chili (Keto, Low-Carb, GF)

Greg's Venison Balsamic Chili

I love it when Greg is in charge of dinner! You can bet that more often than not, it’s going to be something smoked on the Traeger, or he will doing something with venison. Something he had hunted and put on the table himself brings out the manly man in him.

I love it, even more, when he does a little research and creates a whole new recipe for us to try.  Some of my favorite recipes to date are recipes that he has found and tried. He did his homework and made this wonderfully yummy chili over the weekend. I would have never guessed that he would dare to put balsamic vinegar in chili, but he did and wow, what a fantastic addition!

You can always change up any venison recipes that I post for ground beef, and I think ground turkey would even be good in this recipe.

(The chili pictured is not actually the Venison Balsamic Chili.  The Venison Balsamic Chili is darker in color with the black soy beans instead.)

Greg's Venison Balsamic Chili
Print Pin

Greg's Venison Balsamic Chili

Course Main Course
Servings 8
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lb ground venison
  • 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 c. onion finely minced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 (26.46-oz.) Pomi finely chopped tomatoes
  • 1 (10-oz.) Rotel Chili Fixin's
  • 2 Tbsp. chili powder
  • 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1-2 dashes hot sauce
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 pkt. Pyure sweetener optional
  • 1 (15-oz.) can black soy beans rinsed and drained

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven.  
  • Add onion and saute until soft.  
  • Add garlic and sauce until fragrant.  
  • Add venison and cook until brown.  Drain fat if desired.
  • Add tomatoes, Rotel, chili powder, balsamic vinegar, salt, hot sauce, cumin, Worcestershire and Pyure.  Stir to combine.
  • Stir in black soy beans. 
  • Simmer for about 1 hour.

Notes

Nutritional Information:
Net Carbs: 7 g.; Fat: 8 g.; Protein: 17 g.; Calories 191