Sweet & Spicy Slaw w/ Stove Top BBQ Beans

What's better on a hot 95 degree day than some cool slaw and some spicy beans?

 This past weekend, my husband and I went to a BBQ that was serving Tennessee Tacos.

I had one and promised myself I'd make a healthy version with less sugar and more spice.

The soft tortilla is a great way to combine these two flavors. 

You get a little of this and some of that in each bite.

When I went to the store to get the basics for this meal, I thought about how many types of beans there are available, but not many healthier brands.  I did get organic black and kidney beans but this meal could have a lot of extra sugar.

So I decided to make the beans and slaw myself and control the sugar with Stevia.

I have never made homemade baked beans before but in looking at a few of the cans, they didn't seem that hard to cook up on my own.

These definitely look a little different than store bought.  I thought that they were going to taste

like pasta sauce when I first saw them cooking.  But they don't at all.

They have a sweet background with a pinch of spice that can easily increase with more red pepper.

Stove Top BBQ Baked Beans:

Mix all ingredients in a 3 Quart Sauce Pan -

3 Cups Water
3 Cans of Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 Can Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz. can Tomato Paste
2 Vegetable Bullion Cubes
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
1 Tbs. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
4 Tbs. Brown Sugar
1/8 Cup Honey
1/2 Cup Spicy Brown Mustard


I used my homemade brown sugar in this
and it really was nice to have fresh soft sugar to work with.

1-3 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1/8 Cup Ground Flax Seed (optional)

Heat on low at least 1 hour, stirring to prevent burning.
Serve with Spicy Slaw inside a wrap or soft tortilla.

*Optional:  Chop one cooked Pork Chop and add that in.

I used my homemade Whole Grain Spicy Brown Mustard
in the beans, so good and easy to make.

Sweet & Spicy Slaw:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
Keep refrigerated.  Flavors are best next day when they've had time to meld.

3 Cups chopped Cabbage/Carrot Slaw mixture
3/4 - 1 Cup of Miracle Whip Mayo or Vegan Mayo
(start with 3/4 cup and then add more if you'd like it creamier)
1 tsp. Powdered Stevia
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
1/4 Cup Spicy Brown Mustard
1 Tbs. Celery Salt
1 Tbs. Honey *optional

An easy Summer meal with lots of fiber, a little sugar and a whole lot of flavor.

Enjoy!

Peach Apple Salsa

 Sometimes recipes come from strange places in our imaginations...........           Other times, we just need to clean out the fridge.

Dice up your ingredients

Apple Peach Salsa

(Makes about 4 Cups)
4 Jalapeno Peppers, diced
1 Red Onion, diced
3 Celery Stalks, diced small
1 Small Can of Peaches, drained and diced
1 Granny Smith Apple, diced, toss in lemon juice to prevent browning
1 Can Black Beans, rinsed well
Small bunch of Cilantro, leaves only, chopped
1 Cup of Enchilada Red Sauce
2 Tbs. Honey
2 tsp. Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp. each)

Mix all ingredients and allow to sit in the fridge
for a few hours to meld the flavors.

This can be also be 'canned' to preserve.
15 minutes processing time - water bath.

Find a good Gluten free chip or make your own!

This one would work as a topping for fish or chicken too.  It's light with a good punch of flavor.

If you'd like it spicier, just leave in the seeds when you dice the jalapenos. 

Used up a lot of good fresh ingredients for this one.
Enjoy!

Be sure you're entered in the NuNaturals giveaway.  Contest ends Saturday.

Vegan Poblano Corn Chowder

This Dairy Free version of one of my favorite soups is still creamy and spicy.  Just like a cream filled recipe.  It goes well with just chips or along side of any main Mexican dish. 

 Freezes well for quick meals on busy nights. 

Vegan Poblano Pepper Corn Chowder

6 Cups of Vegetable Stock
5 Cups of cubed white potatoes
3 Roasted Poblano Peppers cut into small pieces
1 large (29 oz.) Can of Corn
1 tsp. Celery Seed
1/2 Tbs. Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large Dutch Oven sized pot.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for at least 1
hour until potatoes and pepper have softened.

Remove from heat.
If you have an immersion blender, carefully puree
most of the soup leaving some chunks of corn and potato.
Or
Carefully blend 2/3 of the soup in a blender until smooth
then add it back into the pot.

Serve with chips, tortillas or bread.  Makes about 4 quarts
Freezes well.

Congratulations again to Margaret Sarro, winner of the Kindred Bliss Bath & Body giveaway!

Lemon Curd Jam with Red Pepper Flakes

If you've followed Canned Time for any amount of time

you'll quickly realize that I occasionally enjoy spicy foods and that I have a passion for citrus.

So basically when I tasted how this jam came out................I was thrilled with the taste.

Two of my favorite tastes in one jar!

This recipe is loosely based on one from my new favorite website:  SBCanning.com!  http://www.sbcanning.com/2012/04/meyer-lemon-and-tarragon-marmalade.html. 

Please see this site http://www.sbcanning.com/ for exact instructions on water bath canning methods.  Below are the ingredients and times that I used for my batch:

Be sure to check out SBCanning for more great canning recipes and techniques. 



Check out this Lemon Jam for sure.

Giveaway winner will get
1 lotion, 1 soap and 1 sugar scrub!

DON'T FORGET:   sign up to enter the Giveaway running until Saturday May 19th from Kindred Bliss Bath & Body.
3 luxurious skin care products free for one lucky reader.

Click here for details and get your entries in today!

Enjoy!

Spicy Sausage & Pepperoni Calzone

You could bake these together in the oven as well at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Poke a few slits in tops if you bake to release enough steam while they bake.

The meats are already cooked here so you're really just browning/ cooking the dough.

 Great warmed up the next day as well..................

Enjoy!

Pepperoni Chicken Fra Diavolo

This was such an quick and easy dish to make.  I put everything in the crock pot for about 4 hours on low, took 10 minutes to cook up some pasta and viola.........dinner.

Adjust amounts to your own cooking method:

2 jars of Paul Newman's Fra Diavolo Sauce
4 Boneless Chicken breasts
1- 2 Cups of sliced Pepperoni

Stir and let cook up until the chicken is done through at least but all day in a crock pot if needed.
The sauce just gets better and better cooked slow with the chicken and pepperoni flavors.

About an hour before serving, I adding in a sliced Zucchini to make it a complete meal.


I served this with refrigerator biscuits that I buttered with Earth Balance Vegetable spread and some garlic salt and sesame seeds on top.  Perfect weeknight meal and even better warmed up the next day.

If you can't find the Paul Newman's, just take your favorite spaghetti sauce and add a little heat to it.  Red Pepper flakes, or other.  You could also change this up to a vegetarian version using fried Tofu although I'm not sure it would hold up to the crock pot method.

Anyone have a quick recipe they love for those nights when you just want a good meal without having to think about it?

Thanks for the Holiday LEDS giveaway entries!

Chicken Artichoke Vegetable Soup

Rosemary Paprika Sea Salt

Ingredients:
2 Cups of cooked Chicken cubed
1 28 oz. Can of Diced Tomatoes
1 Cup Vegetable broth
1 Yellow Squash sliced
1 Can of Artichoke Hearts, drained
1 Cup of Sprouted Beans, your choice
1/2 Cup Black Lentils
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Black Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes to taste
2 tsp. of Rosemary Paprika Sea Salt

Combine everything in a pot and heat..............serve with chips, crackers, bread.




I would recommend these gluten free chips to go along as well:










I also used the Rosemary Paprika Salt on some cubed white and red potatoes.
Fried them up in some Olive oil until they were nice and browned. 

Sometimes it really surprizes me how 'leftovers' can turn into a whole new dish.......

 

Spicy Asian Plum Dipping Sauce

Dreary day here to end out February.
Rain, cold.  Ready for spring...............