What Else is Cooking?

On a personal note, John and Natalie enjoy sharing special recipes from their home to yours, bookmark this page and check back frequently to see what's cooking!

These are a few recipes developed in John and Natalie Clawson’s kitchen. These foods come about as a result of seeking full-flavored foods while avoiding food sensitivities:

• Monosodium Glutamate
• Refined Sugar
• White Flour
• Corn Sweetener (such as High Fructose Corn Syrup)
• Trans Fat
• Corn Starch

Banana/Chocolate Smoothie sweetened with Maple Syrup

• Two big handfuls of fresh ice, crushed in the blender
• 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla
• One Cup or so of ½ and ½ (get the real stuff. Watch out for artificial ingredients like corn sweetener. Why would they put that in ½ and ½? I buy HEB store brand or Wal-Mart store brand.)
• Tablespoon or two of Honey to taste (I use Southern Gold Wildflower Honey from Vidor, TX. The sweeter the honey, the better the smoothie.)

1. Crush the ice.
2. Add other ingredients and blend well. Be sure the ice is completely obliterated before adding liquid. Otherwise you risk chunks of ice and that wouldn’t be a smoothie at all.
You may prefer to blend the ½ and ½ with water. Use cold water and blend to taste. Prep time 8 minutes. Makes about 20 oz. of good stuff!

Variation - Strawberry Smoothie:  Add Six average-sized strawberries while crushing the ice.

Variation – Orange Juice Smoothie:  Use Orange Juice instead of ½ and ½

Chicken/Cheese/Vegetable Soup

Combine the following ingredients in your favorite large crock pot in the morning and have a very flavorful soup ready to feed a family of 5 after work.  This is no chicken noodle soup.  Be prepared for flavor.  It is really good after refrigeration on the second day.
Prep suggestion: combine spices and veggies in a storage container on the previous night so that you have the cutting and slicing done and ready to assemble in the morning.

• 1 bunch of celery sliced
• 4 diced chicken breasts (I use boneless/skinless)
• 2 pints of chicken stock (I use Kitchen Basics) We’ve also substituted boneless, skinless chicken thighs and the stock after boiling the thighs instead of purchased stock
• 2 Dinner sized potatoes sliced
• 2 – 3 cups of baby carrots
• 2 boxes frozen spinach (optional)
• Up to 2 cups of Corn
• 1 tbsp garlic salt
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon tarragon
• ¼ teaspoon marjoram
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 12 – 16 oz water (water to taste)

Top each bowl with grated cheddar and stir after presentation.  Pearl onions could be substituted for the onion powder.  We recently made a variation that had 2 cups of cheddar cheese in the soup. Superb!

Coconut Delight

This provides a healthy daily snack that requires a little prep once a week or so.

• 1 Coconut (select dark shell, listen for plenty of fluid, reject any signs of cracking or mold in the three “eyes”)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of raw honey
• Dash of vanilla

Drain the coconut and save the water, remove the white meat from the coconut and place in a food processor with the coconut water, vanilla and honey. Chop until fine. Place in container and refrigerate.

This is a versatile snack starter because it can be eaten with a spoon right from the container.  Or, try putting three tablespoons of the starter in a cup. Add 4 oz. of half and half or milk. Blend with a hand mixer and enjoy. For variation, add one teaspoon of coco.

Add the starter to your favorite smoothie recipe.

Enjoy!

Redneck Ambrosia

• One cold peeled banana mashed in a cold glass dessert bowl
• One tablespoon of honey
• Splash of vanilla
• Sprinkle cinnamon to taste
• Stir in heavy cream until slushy
• Serve very cold

Also good with cocoa, sprinkled to taste.  Enjoy!

Hearty Harvest Cornbread

• Two packages Pioneer Cornbread Mix
• Two eggs
• 1 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 to 2 TBS vinegar
• 1 cup frozen corn
• Olive Oil

Oil a cast iron skillet with enough oil to coat the bottom and sides with about a  couple tablespoons of extra oil in the pan. Preheat the oiled pan in the oven following the package directions. Add the vinegar to the milk and stir. Prepare the batter as directed. Add corn to the batter and stir. Once the oven and pan has preheated, carefully pour the batter in the pan and bake as directed. The oil should surround the sizzling batter as it is poured into the pan. Let the oil slosh onto the top of the batter as well.

Bake as directed and enjoy!