Italian Bread Crumbs

Italian Bread Crumbs

1 cup dried bread crumbs

½ tsp salt

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp oregano (dried)

¼ tsp basil (dried)

¼ tsp thyme (dried)

¼ tsp parsley (dried)

Directions:

1.     Prepare Bread Crumbs: If you don’t already have bread crumbs lying around, you can take bread cubes and let them dry out and then process them in a food processor.

2.     Combine and Mix: Combine all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until mixed well.

3.     Storage: You can use these right away, or make up a bigger batch (I made a huge batch out of bread that didn’t rise the right way, as I was learning to make it) and freeze it.

Cream of Chicken Soup

Cream of Chicken Soup

1 ¼ cups chicken broth                                   ½ cup milk

¼ cup milk                                                       1/3 cup flour

Seasonings (about 1 Tbsp/3 tsp)

Directions:

1.   Warm up broth: Combine chicken broth and ¼ cup of milk in a small saucepan. Heat up until it reaches a low boil.

2.   Make a roux: Whisk flour, ½ cup milk and seasonings until a smooth mixture forms. As far as the seasonings go, you can mix it up however you want. You can use as much as 3 tsp total to season it (depending on how seasoned your broth was). I like to use at least ½ tsp each of salt, parsley, oregano and garlic powder (when doing casseroles), but you could mix it up and use a little basil and or rosemary (if doing a soup).

3.   Mix together and thicken: Pour the roux (flour mixture) into the broth, cooking it over low heat and stirring continuously as the sauce simmers. Continue to whisk and simmer for another 5-10 minutes (until it thickens). It will thicken even more as it cools.

4.   Use or store: It is possible to freeze this and use it another day. I use it immediately.

Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Soup:                                                               Dumplings:

3 cups chicken broth                                       1 cup flour

1 cup water                                                      ½ tsp salt                    

1 16 oz bag mixed vegetables                            2 tsp baking powder                           

½ tsp basil, dill, oregano, parsley and salt        ½ cup milk                  

1tsp garlic powder                                          

1 cup milk                                                       

1/3 cup flour                                                   

2 cups chicken

            1 ½ cups egg noodles

Directions:

1.     In a large pot combine chicken broth, vegetables, basil, dill, oregano, parsley, salt and garlic powder. Bring to boiling. Simmer about 5 minutes.

2.     Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine milk and flour. Stir into vegetable mixture.

3.     Stir in chicken. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

4.     Stir in noodles. Simmer covered for about 5 minutes.

5.     Meanwhile, prepare dumplings. Mix flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. Stir in milk and beat until stiff.

6.     Drop batter (one tablespoon at a time) into soup. Cover and cook for 10 minutes (the dumplings should be puffed).

Chicken Broth

Chicken Broth

1 gallon bag carrot, celery

1 whole young chicken

2 bay leaves

5 sprigs parsley (or 1 Tbsp dried)

5 sprigs thyme (or 1 Tbsp dried)

5 sprigs basil (or 1 Tbsp dried)

5 cloves garlic

Directions:

1.    Place chicken in crock pot.

2.    Place all the veggies and seasonings around the chicken.

3.    Fill crock pot with water to the top.

4.    Cook for 8-10 hours on low.

5.    Remove chicken (you can use it to make a soup or a casserole).

6.    Strain broth (using cheesecloth) and throw out the extra stuff.

Notes:

The gallon bag is just frozen left over carrot and celery peelings and chunks we would have thrown out. Just slowly fill the gallon bag in the freezer so it is ready to make the broth. You really can just play with this until you get the right flavor. I usually will taste the broth before it is done to make sure I like the flavor, and add more spices if needed. 

Some of the tips I have learned since creating this recipe, is that the bones contain the most flavor. So you can actually cook the chicken for about four hours, then remove the meat, and throw the bones back in, and continue cooking it. You could even just save the bones from a chicken that was already cooked to make the broth (we did this with turkey bones at Thanksgiving and it made delicious broth). This will give it extra flavor. 

I have also learned that most of the flavorings in vegetables come from stems/skins. So that is why we save the extra stuff from our veggies. The leaves of the celery contain the most flavor. I have recently been starting an herb garden in my window sill. I can't wait to try this using my own home grown herbs.

You may have noticed I didn't use onions at all in this recipe. Onions are on the IC "try-it" list for when your bladder is doing really well. Since I can't say that I am quite there yet, I am just using garlic instead. I have learned you can substitute 2 cloves of diced garlic for about every 1/2 an onion. The recipe I started with called for a whole onion, so I added just a little more. I just throw the garlic cloves in whole. 

Also, I have heard that if you refrigerate the broth before straining it, it will make all the fat rise to the top, so you can just skim it off, and it seals in the flavors more.

Oh, and one last note. I like to make this huge batch up, and then freeze it 
in 1 cup and 1/4 cup portions because I usually use a cup and 1/4 to make up my cream of chicken soup, and most recipes call for a few cups to make a soup. It can freeze for up to a year. So just freeze it and then pull it out the morning before you make your soup or casserole and it is good to go! This recipe often makes about 11 cups of broth. See picture below: 

Wheat Bread for the Bread Maker

Wheat Bread for the Bread Maker

1 ½ cups milk 2 cups wheat flour

¼ cup applesauce 2 cups bread flour

¼ cup honey ½ cup ground flax seed

1 tsp salt ½ cups ground oats

1 Tbsp yeast

Directions:

1. Add wet ingredients to bread maker: Add milk, applesauce, honey, and salt (in that order) to the bread maker.
2. Add the dry ingredients to the bread maker: Add wheat flour, bread flour, flax seed and oats (in that order) to bread maker.
3. Dig a well and add yeast: Dig a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour yeast into the well.
4. Select the cycle: Do whatever suits your bread maker best. I usually do a 2 lb loaf, medium crust, wheat bread cycle.
5. Let the machine do the work and enjoy: Let it cook up your yummy bread for you and enjoy!

Notes:

Adding salt to the wet ingredients helps the yeast to rise better. I used to mix the dry ingredients in a bowl first, but got lazy. You can do it either way. So really save time. Make up a batch of bread, and then make up a few extra bags of just the dry stuff and store it in a gallon sized ziploc in your pantry. When you need more bread, just grab and go! Also you can store your bread in a bread bag and it will stay fresher longer. If you don't eat your bread fast enough, cut it up in small pieces and dry it out for bread crumbs (also great if you happen to mess up). Each bread maker reacts differently, so feel free to play with the recipe until you get it perfect for your family! Also, be sure not to put homemade bread in the fridge as this can actually dry it out faster.

Updated November 2014 :)

Butterscotch Granola Bars

Butterscotch Granola Bars

3 cups quick-cooking oats                                      1 cup sunflower seeds

3 Tbs flax seed                                                       1 cup shredded organic coconut

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk           1 cup butterscotch chips

¼ cup applesauce                                                   2 Tbs honey

Directions

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan using Baker’s Joy.

2.   Place unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in a bowl of hot water. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flax seed, sunflower seeds, coconut, and butterscotch chips with your hands until well blended. Then mix the sweetened milk, applesauce and honey together, and add it to the dry stuff. Mix well. Press flat into the prepared pan (spray hands with Baker’s Joy if sticky).

3.   Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars.

4.   Once finished. Immediately pull them out and cut them with a cookie cutter. Then flip the entire pan onto a sheet of foil. Let cool. Then place into individual snack bags. Enjoy!

Broccoli Chicken Casserole

Broccoli Chicken Casserole

2 Cups cooked broccoli                                          ½ cup bread crumbs

2 cups cooked chicken                                           1 cup mild cheddar cheese

1 recipe cream of chicken soup                              Garlic, basil, rosemary, thyme

Directions:

Cook chicken with desired amount of spices. Steam broccoli. Arrange broccoli over bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Add a layer of cheese. Add a layer of cut up chicken. Make up cream of chicken soup using chicken broth (or use 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 3 Tbsp milk, and ½ a cup of milk mixed together). Pour over the top of broccoli and chicken. Sprinkle with cheese and bread crumbs. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve over a bed of rice.

Notes: This used to be one of my favorite meals before having IC. But it used things like cayenne pepper and lemon juice. I am starting to learn that if you use your own IC friendly spices, anything can taste yummy! It may not be exactly the same, but it is yummy.

Pasta Primavera with Chicken

Pasta Primavera with Chicken

4 carrots, peeled and sliced                           1/8 cup olive oil

2 zucchini, sliced and quartered                    ¼ tsp thyme          

1 red pepper, cut into small pieces                 ¼ tsp marjoram

2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced             ¼ tsp oregano

¼ tsp garlic powder                                        ¼ tsp basil

8 oz noodles, cooked and drained                  ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1.    Preheat Oven and Prepare Veggies: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut up veggies as stated above. Place veggies on a large cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil over veggies. Sprinkle thyme, marjoram, oregano and basil over veggies. Mix veggies in oil and spices so the veggies are evenly coated.  

     

2.    Bake Veggies: Cook veggies for about 15 minutes (stirring them half way through the baking time). You want the veggies to bake but still be a little firm. A good test is to try a carrot, if it is to your liking, then the rest should be good as well.

3.    Cook Chicken and Noodles: Cook the noodles as directed on package (in a large pot). Any noodles will do. We used shell macaroni. Cook the chicken with the garlic powder to give it a little flavor (you can add other spices if your bladder can handle it).When chicken and noodles are finished cooking, drain the extra juices/water.

4.    Mix together: Return the noodles to the pot. Add in the chicken and the veggies. Mix all the items together. Then add the mozzarella cheese (you could sub this for grated parmesan if your bladder can handle it), and mix again. Serve immediately.

Notes: Tonight I was really wanting to try something new. I had a whole bunch of veggies and remembered that a friend said I might enjoy "Pasta Primavera." So I decided that it might be fun to try out. As I researched recipes most of them used chicken broth or heavy cream. Since I am new at this whole IC thing, I'm not always sure what is or isn't good for me to eat. The IC website says that you can use homemade chicken broth, but I haven't quite figured that one out. As far as the heavy cream goes, I am not too sure if it is okay to use (feel free to let me know how these items work for you). So anyway, I kept searching and found a recipe similar to the one I used. The original recipe used tons more veggies, including onions (some recipes also used tomato) and parmesan cheese (instead of mozzarella). It also didn't contain chicken, but I have been trying to get a little more protein in my diet since there is so little we actually can eat. Anyway, I am doing all I can to try and find the safest, yummiest IC recipes, so I just played around and this is what we had for dinner tonight. It was actually super easy and super yummy. You could really use whatever veggies you want. I do have to say I loved the peppers and the carrots most. The carrots provided a sweet flavor and the peppers gave the pasta a little zest. I was truly amazed at just how yummy the dish turned out! It is also quite healthy, which is a bonus. Even my hubby loved it. I will definitely be making this again sometime. Hope you enjoy it too :)