White Chicken Chili w/ quick soak and cook methods for beans

I still has some turkey leftover from my 22 lb bird and wanted to make a favorite recipe. But alas, I hadn't soaked the beans overnight.
Never fear - there's a quick way to soak and cook beans. When I say quick, I mean 3 hours, not overnight + 5 hours.
sort and rinse 2.5 cups of white great northern beans (equivalent to 1 lb). bring 8 c of water to boil. Add beans to boiling water. Boil for 2 minutes. turn off heat, cover, add 1 tsp baking soda (you'll get the volcano effect - no worries). Set aside and soak for 1 hour.

For this recipe, I place my spices and cooked meat and most of the chicken stock (hold back 1/2 c of broth for step 2 below) in the crock pot at this point and let things blend on low. You can do this for any recipe. Just don't add veggies or dairy products this far ahead in the crock pot. You're still 2-3 hours from being done.

Back to the beans: After the hour is over, Drain and rinse thoroughly. With the beans in the pot, Cover with water, add 2T of veg oil, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 1-2 hours or until tender.

Once beans are tender, add to the crockpot where the meat and spices are already simmering. For this recipe- reserve 1 c of cooked beans.

White Bean Chicken Chili (makes 10 -12 servings)
(from tasteofhome slow cooker recipe book)
* 3/4 lb chicken (boneless & skinless) cubed-  cook in 2 T olive oil til no pink remains.
or 1.5 c cooked cubed meat (chicken or turkey)
1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper
1 med onion chopped (or 2T minced dried onion flakes)
1 tsp cajun seasoning
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
4 grated or minced garlic cloves (or 1 T garlic pwd)
2 cans (15 oz) white beans, rinsed and drained (or 1 lb cooked beans as made above).
3 c chicken broth (reserve 1/2 c of this)
6 oz shredded mozerella cheese
sour cream and minced fresh cilantro (opt.)

My tweaked recipe: Add 2.5 c. chicken broth to cooked chicken and all of the spices (using dried onion flakes + pwd garlic) in the crock pot right after you start soaking the beans (above). Put crock pot on Low. These should be cooking together for about 2 hours while the beans soak and then cook. Add soft, cooked beans (be sure to do step 2 below). Go on to step 3, but since the beans are hot and meat cooked with spices, this will only take 30 min, not 3 hours. Continue with step 4. Enjoy.

Original instructions:
1- Sprinkle raw chicken with salt and pepper. Cook chicken and fresh onions in oil 3-4 min. Add garlic, cook 1 min longer. Place in slow cooker.
2- In blender or small bowl, blend/mash 1 c cooked beans with 1/2 c broth. Add to slow cooker.
3- Cover and cook 3 hours or until chicken is tender.
4- Stir before serving. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Dough enhancer recipe

Homemade Dough Enhancer #1
Gluten: use ½ T. - 1 T. per cup of flour (before you measure a cup of flour put ½ T.-1 T. gluten in the bottom of your cup then measure flour as usual)
WHITE Vinegar: use the same amount of vinegar that you are using for yeast (for example 1 t. yeast - 1 t. vinegar)
Potato Flakes: use 1/8 to ¼ c. per loaf of bread you are making, experiment to see what works best in your recipe. (Do not substitute potato pearls they won’t work!)

see http://preparedness365.blogspot.com/2011/03/homemade-dough-enhancer.html

I noticed this ingredient on a few of the recipes I haven't tried yet. Apparently it helps the bread with whole wheat perk up and be less heavy when done. I'll try these with this enhancer recipe and let you know how it goes. 

Black Bean Chili - crock pot method

• "Fantastic Black Bean Chili" (see allrecipes.com #23336)
• The original recipe does it over the stove, putting oil in large skillet and cooking onions and garlic til soft, then adding ground turkey til cooked, then other ingredients (see the end of the post for these instructions). I chose to do it in the crock pot, with no meat. I used some black beans I had cooked and frozen a few months ago, added some chunky homemade speghetti sauce with additional spices - chili pwd and basil. Then I added a little more water, without the 1T oil and vinegar. Placed in the crock pot on low til the house smelled really great (4 hours).  I wanted to add some hidden cooked veggies, so I blended 1 c. cooked carrots and 1 can green beans in the blender and added them too.  
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced (or 1 T dried onion, chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 T granulated garlic)
• 1 pound ground turkey (opt)
• 3 (15 ounce) cans black beans, undrained

• 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• Original directions: after cooking onions, garlic and meat, stir in beans, tomatoes, chili powder, oregano, basil and vinegar. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 60 minutes or more, until flavors are well blended.

Apple Cinnamon Snack Mix

Apple Pie Chex™ Mix

Ingredients

• 3 cups Cinnamon Chex™ cereal (or Cinnamon Toast Cruch)
• 3 cups Rice Chex™ cereal
• 1 cup walnut pieces (opt.)
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 cups dried or freeze-dried apples, coarsely chopped if necessary
• 1 cup white vanilla baking chips (6 oz) (these two are opt.)
• 1 teaspoon shortening

Steps

1. In large microwavable bowl, mix cereals and walnuts.
2. In 2-cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave butter on High 30 seconds or until melted. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg uncovered for about 1 minute, until smooth and bubbly. Pour over cereal mixture; stir until evenly coated.
3. Microwave uncovered on High 4 minutes, stirring after each minute. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool. Sprinkle apples evenly over cereal mixture.
4. In small microwavable bowl, microwave white vanilla baking chips and shortening uncovered on High about 1 minute or until chips can be stirred smooth. Drizzle over cereal mixture; let stand until set. Break into bite-size pieces. Store in airtight container.

[Note: I thought the mix was sweet enough. Drizzle not needed for my version.]

Tips

• Recipe/Ingredient Facts: Freeze-drying is another method of dehydrating. Freeze-dried apples will be crispier and lighter because they contain less moisture than regular dried apples.
• Techniques: For easy drizzling, spoon the melted white vanilla baking chips into a small food-storage bag. Snip off one tiny bottom corner and squeeze the melted chips over the cereal mixture.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: Calories 190 (Calories from Fat 70); Total Fat 8g (Saturated Fat 4g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 5mg; Sodium 115mg; Total Carbohydrate 27g (Dietary Fiber 1g, Sugars 17g); Protein 2g
• % Daily Value*: Vitamin A 6%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 6%; Iron 15%
• Exchanges: 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 0 High-Fat Meat; 2 Carbohydrate Choice
• MyPyramid Servings: 1 tsp Fats & Oils; 0 oz-eq Grains; 0 oz-eq Meat & Beans
  *% Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Makes: 24 servings

Gingersnap Muffins

Gingersnap Muffins

1 3/4 c Whole wheat flour           2 T brown sugar

   1 1/2 tsp cinnamon                    1 T baking powder

1/2 tsp each: ginger, cloves, salt                          

(alt flours: 3/4 c whole wheat flour & 1/2 c oat flour).

1- Stir together and set aside                           

         2- Mix 2 c. bran flakes (or 1 1/4 c. 100% bran cereal) and 1 1/4 c. milk.
             Let stand for 2 minutes.        
         3- Then add 1/4 c. molasses, 1 lg egg, 3 T olive oil. Combine and mix well.

4- Add to cereal mixture
5- Pour wet into dry mixes and stir until moistened

6- Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake at 400 F for 18-20 min.
If using muffin cup holders, allow muffins to cool down before taking them out of their holders.
Makes 12 medium sized muffins.

Egg in a Hole

Egg in a Hole

• 1 1/2 teaspoons margarine or butter
• 1 slice bread

• 1 egg
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 
  
• 
  

1. Melt the margarine or butter in a non-stick pan or griddle over medium heat
2. Cut a 1 1/2 to 2-inch hole from the center of the bread slice; lay in the hot skillet. When the side facing down is lightly toasted, about 2 minutes, flip and crack the egg into the hole; season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook until the egg is cooked and mostly firm. Flip again and cook 1 minute more to assure doneness on both sides. Serve immediately.

 (taken from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/187850/egg-in-a-hole/ )

Old Fashioned goodness: Mormon Muffins