Tangy Marinade

1/3 c Bragg's Liquid Aminos
2 T. rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1/3 c. ketchup
1 t. thyme
1/4 c olive oil or salad oil
1 t  dry or prepared mustard

Mix thoroughly.  Marinade for 24 hours in refrigerator.  Cook as usual.

This is a good marinade for pork or beef particularly London Broil or flank steak.  I will occasionally use this with boneless, skinless chicken breasts as well.  Then I will make chicken kabobs.

Easy Roast Pork Loin

1-2 pound boneless pork loin
thyme
salt

Heat oven to 400.

While heating oven, pat the pork loin dry.

One side of the pork loin will have a layer of fat.  Do NOT trim that fat as it is what helps keep the loin moist throughout the roasting process.

Mix thyme and salt together.  I use 2 parts thyme to 1 part salt.

Pat all over the pork loin.

Place on a rack, fat side up in an oven safe baking dish.  I use either a shallow quiche like pan or even a cast iron skillet.

Cook for 10 minutes.

Reduce oven heat to 200 degrees.

Continue cooking for between 60 to 80 minutes.  An instant read thermometer should register 150 when done.  Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Resting allows the juices of the loin to saturate the meat thoroughly.  If you cut this prior, all the juices will run out and the loin will become tough and dry by the time you get it to the table.

A good accompaniment is the Braised Red and Green Cabbage.

Mom's Lentil Soup

This recipe is compliments of my mother, Esther Ruth (Hostetler) Zook who would often make this in the fall when the Midwest weather would turn crisp and cold or would become cold and rainy. "Good soup day!" would be my mom's comment as she began to pull the ingredients out of the cupboards. I think of her every time I make this soup.

Mom's Lentil Soup


1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
2 T olive oil
3 -4 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
6 cups boiling, gf chicken broth
1 c lentils
1 pinch thyme
1 large can stewed tomatoes (minimum 14.5 ounces) *Personally I like to use Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes because of the flavor that it adds to the soup.

Directions:

(1) Put chicken broth on to boil.
(2) Saute onion and garlic in oil.
(3) Add carrots and celery, saute 2-3 minutes more.
(4) Add chili powder, boiling chicken broth, lentils and thyme.
(5) Cook covered for 35 minutes.
(6) Add tomatoes and cook for 5 more minutes.

Make sure to use boiling water. This decreases that amount of time needed to cook the lentils.

Notes:

This is the basic recipe. There are many things that you can add to make even more yummier soups.

Crock pot Version:   Do NOT use hot water as this will quick cook the lentils.  Use room temperature water or chicken broth.  This should be done in about 4 hours in the crock pot on high.


Lentil and Lamb Stew
Add 1 - 2 cups lamb meat, cooked (Or ground beef, stew meat or sausage.  Even chicken apple sausage is good with this.)
Decrease the water by 2 cups
Add some oregano...Greek oregano if you have it


Today we added cooked chicken, leftover rice and some browned turkey meat. So yummy.


Enjoy!

Roasted Apple Chicken

1 whole chicken (5 to 7 pounds), cleaned inside and out, patted dry inside and out
6 stalks of celery, cleaned and trimmed
1 sweet apple, sliced
1 semi sweet apple, quartered
1/2 an onion, cut into chunks
4 - 5 garlic cloves, skins on
1 - 2 tsp freshly ground salt
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp ground pepper

Combine salt, thyme and pepper.  Rub the inside cavity of chicken with this mixture.  Loosen the skin from the breast of the chicken, lay the sliced apple between the skin and the breast meat.  Fasten the skin to the breast of the chicken with toothpicks so that the skin does not recede back during the breast meat as this will dry the chicken out during the roasting process. Stuff the cavity with the remaining ingredients:  celery, quartered apple, chunked onions, garlic cloves.

Roast at 425 for approximately 90 minutes.  An instant read thermometer should read 170 when checking the thigh.  Juices should run clear.

Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Poultry Seasoning

Growing up many of the lessons that I learned about frugality in the kitchen had roots in the Mennonite community.  Mixed seasonings were made at home NOT bought at the grocery store.  Here is a way to stretch your pennies although minimally but still... :)  It also helps use up the spices in your rack so that they do not go stale before they are used.

3/4 tsp rubbed sage
1/4 tsp marjoram OR thyme

Mix together as needed.

Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing

1 c cranberries
1/2 c water
1/4 c sugar
4 c corn bread stuffing or dried corn bread crumbs, gluten free
1/4 c finely chopped celery
1/4 c finely chopped sweet onion
2 T dried parsley
1 t dried thyme
1 t dried marjoram OR rubbed sage
1/4 t salt
Dash of pepper

Combine cranberries, water and sugar.  Boil for 10 minutes.  Add to the other ingredients.  Mixture will be just slightly wet.  Stuff up to a 15 pound turkey.

If you want to bake the stuff separate from the turkey, you will need to add enough chicken broth to make it quite moist.  Otherwise it will be very, very dry.

Italian Seasoning

2 Tablespoons basil
2 Tablespoons marjoram
2 Tablespoons oregano
2 Tablespoons rosemary
2 Tablespoons thyme


Mix together BEFORE using as Italian Seasoning in recipes. This will keep indefinitely and is less expensive than buying it at the store.