Tag chicken

Cranberry Sauce

Mrs. Rhodes 2 Comments

This time of year I love having a few cans of cranberry sauce on hand to use in several ways. You can just open a can and pour into a dish to slice and eat along with your holiday meal. It is also good for making a sauce for cocktail lil’ smokies or meatballs. I have also made cranberry chicken or cranberry pork roast in my crock pot.

Some years ago I started making my own cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries when I saw how easy it is to make. I prefer the taste of it over the canned version so now I take the time to make the homemade version every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here is how I make it:

Crockpot Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
1 12oz. bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup of sugar (I like using 1/2 c. white and 1/2 c. brown sugar)
1 cup water or orange juice (I like doing 1/2 c. orange with 1/2 cup cranberry, apple, or Cranapple juice)

Directions:
Spray a small crockpot (under 5 quarts) with cooking spray.  Put clean cranberries in crockpot.  Pour the sugar and juice of choice on top.  Cover and cook on High for 1 hour. Stir and continue cooking another hour. Stir every 15 minutes as the cranberries will soften and pop. Once it is the consistency you want turn off and cool down. Pour into a container and refrigerate over night for the flavors to blend.

Note: This tastes even better made a day or so in advance so that the flavors will have time to sit and blend together. I do a mixture of white and brown sugar to give it an extra flavor boost. Using juice instead of water enhances the flavor as well.

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Homemade Breakfast Sausage

Mrs. Rhodes 6 Comments

I have made my own breakfast sausage many times using ground pork (for pork sausage), ground beef (for beef sausage), ground venison, ground chicken, and ground turkey (for chicken or turkey sausage). I have even done a 1/2 and 1/2 mix with beef and pork, beef and venison, or chicken (or turkey) and pork. They all come out tasty and much cheaper than buying name-brand sausages filled with MSG and other unhealthy additives. Once you see how easy this is to make you’ll wonder why you haven’t tried this before.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs. ground pork, venison, beef, turkey, or chicken (can use any ground meat of your liking)
1 tsp. Salt (I like sea or Real Salt)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. ground sage
1 tsp. regular or smoked paprika
2 tsp. brown sugar (or Maple Syrup- see note below)
3/4 tsp. thyme
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. ground fennel seed (optional)
1/4 tsp. marjoram
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (use more to make it spicy if you’d like)
1 Tbsp. olive oil (if using only venison, chicken, or turkey)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. The flavors blend in better if you make this a few hours ahead of time. After mixing in a bowl, cover and chill (or refrigerate it overnight) before cooking. When ready to cook, shape into 8-9 patties and cook in a heated skillet with a little olive oil (if using chicken or turkey) about 4-5 minutes per side or until done. Serve with your breakfast, or freeze cooked sausage in Ziploc bags for later use. These are good with biscuits!

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Chicken Corn Chowder

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Chicken Corn Chowder

Ingredients:
6 strips of bacon
1 medium onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
4 medium potatoes (2 cups), peeled and diced (sometimes I sub with 2 sweet potatoes)
10.5 oz. low sodium cream of chicken soup
14.5 oz. can creamed corn
1/2 of 16 oz. bag of frozen corn (or 1 can of corn, drained)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 Bay leaf
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups of chicken broth (or water but it won’t be as flavorful)
1 c. milk or 12 oz. can of evaporated milk (see note)
2-4 Tbsp. cornstarch (start with a little and add more if needed)

Directions:
Sauté bacon in a skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels but keep 2 Tbsp. of the grease in the skillet. Cool bacon off, crumble and put in a covered container to use later. In the same skillet add onions, celery, carrots, and cook until soft. Can cook the potatoes for a few minutes as well. In crockpot add potatoes, cooked veggies, cut up chicken breasts, cream of chicken soup, corn (s), seasonings, butter, and broth.  Cook on low 6 hours or until potatoes are done. Stir cornstarch and milk together in a bowl. Stir this mixture in the last 30 minutes of cooking to help thicken the soup. Remove Bay leaf. Sprinkle cooked bacon on top of chowder when serving.

Serve with a side salad and buttered crusty bread.

Serves 4-6

Note: You can sub any milk you prefer like almond or coconut milk. You can make this without the chicken for it to be a regular corn chowder with bacon. You can also sub out and use precooked shredded chicken.

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Chicken Salad (for sandwiches)

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Classic Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked and shredded chicken (or 2 cans of chunk chicken breasts)
1/4 medium yellow or white onion finely chopped (or use 1/4 tsp. onion powder)
1 stalk of celery finely chopped
3 hard-boiled eggs chopped
2/3-3/4 cup of Mayo
2 Tbsp. Sweet Pickle Relish
salt and white pepper to taste (or use 1 tsp. curry powder)

Directions:
If you are using canned chicken, drain and break up the chunks in a medium sized bowl. Finely chop up onion and celery. Add in the bowl along with the remaining ingredients. Stir together and pour into another container with a lid. Let chill for a few hours if using this to make sandwiches or use right away if you want to eat it with lettuce as a salad. I love eating it on top of crackers too. Another version we like:

Chicken Salad (w/fruit and nuts)

Ingredients:
4 cups cooked and shredded chicken (or 2 cans of chunk chicken breasts)
1 cup of red or green grapes cut in half (or diced apples)
1/4 cup onion finely chopped (or use 1/4 tsp. onion powder)
1/2 cup of celery finely chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or nut of choice but it can be omitted)
3/4-1 cup of Mayo (or your choice of a creamy replacement like plain Greek yogurt)
salt and white pepper to taste (or use 1 tsp. curry powder)

Directions:
If you are using canned chicken, drain and break up the chunks in a medium sized bowl. Cut grapes in half, and add to bowl. Chop onion and celery. Add in the bowl along with the remaining ingredients. Stir together and pour into another container with a lid. Let chill for a few hours if using this to make sandwiches or use right away if you want to eat it with lettuce as a salad. I love eating it on croissants.

Note: If you choose to use the Greek Yogurt, be aware that your salad may be more watery upon sitting in the fridge overnight.

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