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Instant Pot Chicken

  Thaw chicken, sprinkle top with seasoning of choice. Mrs Dash, garlic salt, etc. Place on rack in instant pot and fill with water until it touches the bottom of the chicken. Cook on high for 20 minutes, allow natural release to retain juiciness. Could try shorter cooks for even tenderer chicken?

Mom's Stuffing

 Ingredients 1 large loaf of bread (white works well), torn into pieces. 1/2 c milk 2-3 medium onions, chopped 2 eggs, beaten 1 tsp nutmeg (level) 1 tsp poultry seasoning 1 T butter, softened Salt and pepper to taste Instructions Add milk to bread.  Add onion, eggs, butter, and spices.  Mix well. Should be clumped together.  If it seems too dry (whole wheat tends to be drier), add more milk. Cooking Stuff in turkey and cook: not supposed to do this anymore for bacterial reasons.  Remove from turkey and store separately if you do it anyway (we never suffered for it). Casserole: cook at 350 for 45 minute? Compare with other recipes, this is just a guess.

Mom's Gravy

Ingredients Giblets and neck from a ~10 lb turkey (optional) Chicken livers 2 celery stalks, chopped 1 can mushroom pieces Flour Drippings from the turkey Instructions Wash giblets and place in 2 quart saucepan.  Cover with water. Add celery, cover, and simmer for ~1 hour. Cut up giblets and remove meat from neck when they are cooked, returning parts to the pan. Add can of mushroom pieces and their liquid. After turkey is cooked, set it aside and prepare gravy in it's pan (heat on 2 burners on medium-low). Add flour to turkey drippings while stirring constantly to loosen anything stuck to the pan.  Mixture should brown and thicken.  As it does, gradually add giblets / celery / mushroom mix. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and keep stirring until gravy reaches desired thickness.  Adjust with flour and water as needed. If adding more flour, mix separately with a small amount of water to make a paste, then add that, to avoid lumps.

Campbell's Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients 2 cans (10.5 ounces) cream of mushroom soup (or unsalted cream of mushroom, or cream of celery) 1 c 2% milk 2 t soy sauce (and/or Worcestershire) 8 c cooked cut green beans (or 4 cans) 4/3 c fried onions (for mixing) 4/3 c fried onions (for topping) Instructions Preheat oven to 350F Mix everything, except topping onions, in a 9x13 glass baking dish.  Add salt and pepper to taste. For an 8x8 dish, halve the recipe quantities. Probably reduce cooking time for a metal baking dish. Bake 40 min (30 min for half recipe), then stir. Top with 4/3c onions and bake another ~5 min, until browned.

Ratatouille

Ingredients 4 T olive oil 1 eggplant, diced (500 - 550 g per eggplant) 2 zucchini, diced (~300 g per zucchini) 1-2 onions, diced (400 - 450 g per onion) 2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green), diced (210 g per pepper) 6 garlic cloves, slivered Tomatoes (choose 1) 7-8 Roma tomatoes, diced 3 cans of stewed tomatoes (Italian seasoning) 1 t sugar 1 tsp red wine vinegar (optional) Herbs Thyme (6 fresh springs or 2 tsp dry) Parsley (2 fresh stems w/ leaves or 2 tsp dry) (italian flat-leaf preferred over curly, but either works) Basil (2 tsp) (optional) Oregano (optional) Rosemary (optional) Sea salt and black pepper to taste Instructions Prep veggies. In a wide pot or pan, sauté the eggplant.  Heat 2 T oil to lightly smoking on high heat, add eggplant and season w/ salt (~1/4 tsp).  Brown/sear for 2-3 minutes (1 or 2 sides browned).  Set aside to cool in a single layer. Repeat with zucchini (1 T oil, 3-4 min) and set aside to cool in a single layer. Repeat with onions (1 T oil, 4...

Italian Wide Green Beans and Tomatoes

 Ingredients 1 lb Italian wide green beans (28 oz can is okay) 2 T olive oil 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced 3 medium tomatoes, cubed 1" 1/4 t pepper 6-8 basil leaves, chiffonaded (roll up and slice in 2 mm slices) or 1 t dried basil leaves Instructions If using raw green beans, blanch them with salt. Sautee olive oil and garlic. Add tomatoes, pepper, and a pinch of salt. Cook until they release liquid and soften. Add beans.  Cook to taste.  Add basil last and cook briefly.

Carrot Salad

Ingredients 4.5 c grated carrots (baby works well) 8 oz crushed pineapple, unstrained 3/4 c raisins 1/2 c mayo 1/2 c + 2 T sugar (can substitute partially w/ allulose, etc) 1.25 T lemon juice Instructions Mix and chill for a few hours.

Tzatziki

Ingredients 1.5 c plain Greek yogurt 1.5 c grated cucumber (~1 English or 6 Persian) 1 t (heaping) minced, fresh garlic 1 T lemon juice 2 T olive oil 2 t dried dill 1/2 t sea salt Instructions Grate cucumber w/ course grater, w/ peel on. Squeeze moisture from cucumber w/ cheesecloth. Mix all ingredients.  Best if allowed to mingle for ~1 hr.

Banana-Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients 1.5 c milk or milk substitute 1 banana, chunked 2 c frozen strawberries, loosely-packed 0.75 c greek yogurt 1 T honey 3 splenda packets 1 T protein powder A splash of orange juice Instructions Add ingredients to blender.  Blend until smooth (a few minutes).. Pulsing blend mixes in less air.

Seven Ingredient Steamfry

Ingredients  1-2 T soy sauce 1 T honey 1/2 c water Toasted sesame oil 1/2 head cabbage 1/2 - 1 lb beef, sliced thin 1 medium onion Optional Secret Experimental 8th Ingredient: garlic (black pepper might also be nice) Instructions Brown beef in sesame oil. Chop cabbage into bits, wash. Perhaps saute cabbage in oil a bit. Mix remaining ingredients, beef, and cabbage in wok, bring to a boil. May hold back beef until toward the end to prevent overcooking. Reduce heat and cover, simmer until cabbage is soft (~15 min?).  Add more water if it's drying out. Eat (beano or absence of other people recommended)