Lady Ford's Blog About Everything!

Brad made an awesome stew tonight with tons of fresh veggies. Plus, the crock pot does all the work! - 1 lb stew meat, cut into bite size pieces - 5 beefsteak tomatoes, cut into 6 sections each - 1 med. yellow onion, sliced or diced according to preference - 2 med. portabella mushroom caps - cut into ~ 1'' x 1'' pieces - 3 home grown jalapenos, seeds removed * - 1 1/2 tsp vegetable bouillon or beef bouillon + coordinating water msrs - 1/3 stick butter - Season with: 1 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1 T Hickory salt, 1 T chipotle powder, 1 T garlic powder - 1 can stewed tomatoes (to be added later) Roux (added near end of cooking) 1/4 stick melted butter & 1/4 cup flour Layer all ingredients in crock pot, except mushrooms. Mix together. Layer mushrooms on top so they steam & don't get to soggy. Cook on high 3 1/2 hrs or low for 7-8. Near end of cooking time, make roux by melting butter and then mixing in flour. Add mixture to stew, mix well. Add 1 can stewed tom...

Tried out a few new recipes and concoctions last night, great results! Mexican Inspired Salad: Dressing: - 1 cup plain low fat yogurt - 1 cup lite sour cream - 4-6 T. Jalapenos - 1/4 cup cilantro - Juice of 1 lime (add more if you like) - Fresh minced garlic, 5 cloves - S & P to taste Chop garlic, add to food processor along with jalapenos & cilantro. Add yogurt, cream, lime juice & s/p. Can be used immediately or chilled in fridge for a few days. Also, great as a vegetable dip! Salad: - 1 Head Romaine, torn into bite size pieces - 1 large tomato, diced - 1 Red Pepper, diced - 1 Avocado, diced - Bacon Bits 1/8 cup (reduced fat) - Grated Manchego cheese, 1/4 - 1/2 cup Toss salad with dressing. Top each serving with prepared tortilla strips. Enjoy!

Last night Brad and I had the pleasure of joining the Stein's for dinner at Le Fou Frog in the City Market. Absolutely the best meal we have eaten in Kansas City, hands down! Seriously, check it out. Not a mexican priced dinner by any means, but totally worth the Benjamin's. 5 courses, champagne, wine and port (decision on that following). A 3 1/2 hour dinner, full of excitement, delicious flavors and laughter. This was a night we will always remember!!!!! 1st course - cleansing dish: totally interesting bit of chicken liver something w/ a pickle inside. Weird. 2nd course - appetizers and bread. We shared escargot, cheese, and shrimp gruyere pastry puff 3rd course - soup/ salad: lobster bisque for me, manhattan clam chowder for Brad and a bite of our friends warm fig and goat cheese salad. 4th course - entre: Brad had rack of lamb, seasoned with fresh herbs, horseradish and mustard with a side of ratatouille. I had Branzini on a bed of crab and goat cheese risotto (amazing!). ...

Amazing pasta dish, great for getting a good mix of carbs and protein Sauce: Olive Oil 16 garlic cloves chopped or pressed 1 Onion diced 1 Bell pepper chopped Lots of spinach (used about 12 cups or 1 bag) Sliced mushrooms Prepared Pesto Skim Ricotta Cheese Ground turkey 96/4 (cook in other pan, drain, add to sauce when complete) Season with sea salt, pepper and red pepper Prepare pasta of your choice while sauce cooks. We use protein pasta. Once veggies are simmered add 1/8 cup pesto per serving to sauce. Cook additional 5 min till warmed. Add ricotta and cook a few additional minutes till warm.

Great alternative to regular hamburgers... 1 lb. 97/3 ground turkey season with: chipotle seasonings flavored bread crumbs sea salt pepper top grilled buns with: grilled onions & mushrooms Layer buns w/ onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, sliced avocado, diced canned green chilies, low fat pepper jack cheese. This can definitely be made kid friendly by substituting the chipotle seasoning for another seasoning such as Lipton onion soup mix. Sub out pepper jack for cheddar or American cheese.

This is another crock pot chicken recipe. Very easy and can be prepared the night before. The list of ingredients are below, but I definitely think it could be modified. 1 Whole Chicken Chopped Sun Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil about ¼ cup Diced Garlic Cloves – about 20 1 cup tomatillo salsa or “Salsa Verde” ¼ cup onion Marinade: ½ cup lime juice Garlic Powder ½ tsp Sea Salt Pepper ¼ cup bbq sauce (this was a Brad add) ¼ cup Asian Sesame dressing (“ “ , thought I was going to be really made when I tasted it, but honestly it was really good!) Brad injected the chicken right before putting in the crock pot. Cook on low about 4-5 hours. Served with protein pasta & light sauce Sauce: 1 can light coconut milk 2 T brown sugar 2 T Soy Sauce About 1 ½ cups chicken juice moved from crock pot (ok if tomatoes, onions are moved) ¼ - ½ cup flour Mix all ingredients except flour. Sift in flour slowly till combined. Pour sauce over pasta and chicken. We topped with more garlic (yes I know!) and a ...

This recipe comes with warning: 1. This is a weekend recipe. 2. I make a LARGE batch, enough for 2 or 3 lasagnas, and freeze the extra. 3. Total prep time varies by how many veggies you want to include and chop. Also, a food processor is super helpful! 4. BUT, the perks are, at least 1 or 2 additional dinners are ready and waiting in your freezer for you! Ingredients in today's recipe 2 large sweet onions, diced 25-30 cloves garlic (like I mentioned before, I am a garlic freak. Just found you can buy pre-peeled cloves in a giant jar at Costco.) Fresh or dried Basil Fresh of dried Parsley Olive Oil Salt & Pepper Sugar (1/8 cup for sauce, 2 T for Ricotta) Crushed Red Pepper 1 package fresh broccoli florettes (diced in food processor) Spinach - hard to estimate how much I used, but I used a lot. I would say 1 grocery store size package Portabella mushrooms, chopped Green Onions 1 Red Bell Pepper - diced 1 Yellow Pepper - diced 1 Orange Pepper – diced 1 frozen package chopped zucch...