Taste-bud Journey: Sausage and Peppers Rice Bowl

During the pandemic, I am taking taste-bud journeys as I self-isolate rather than physical journeys. Here is my adapted recipe for Sausage and Peppers Rice Bowl cooked in my Ninja 4-in-1 with Auto IQ number 13 Layered Bowl. With only few minor changes, I used the recipe directly from the provided Ninja cookbook.

In my effort to not waste food, I had bought some red, green, and yellow chopped bell peppers a few days prior and had forgotten about them in the fridge. So, I started to look through the Ninja cookbook to see if there were any recipes that called for bell peppers plus other ingredients I already had in either my freezer, my refrigerator, or my pantry. This recipe fit that criteria.

Conclusion: This recipe, by my wimpy-mouth standards, was one of the spiciest things I have ever made. By my 'brave-palette' younger brother's standards, he probably would have found this to be only somewhat spicy. To add a bit of crunch, I garnished the recipe with some pine nuts. The recipe was definitely within my tolerance zone; however, to neutralize the effects, I had a yummy dessert of some Chia Fruit Pudding that features plain yogurt as its major ingredient. That absolutely did the trick! 

FYI - This recipe makes four serving. I ate one, and I stored one in the refrigerator to have the following day. I also made another round of Chia Fruit Pudding to be ready at the end of that meal, as well. As for the other two servings, I stored them in the freezer for two future meals. 

The following day, to add a bit of creamy cheesiness and variety to the leftovers, I added some Mexican Cream. It made it a bit 'less hot;' plus, it was quite tasty, as well. 

 

In case you're interested, this is the link to the blog post on making Chia Fruit Pudding.

This link will open in a new window.

Taste-bud Journey: Safe way to prepare Chia Fruit Pudding or Parfait

Recipe

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium chopped & peeled onions

• 2 bell peppers, chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, minced (opt.)
• 16 oz. smoked sausage, sliced

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked jasmine rice
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1.5 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp dried oregano (I substituted Rosemary as I was out of the other spice.)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• Pine Nuts (optional garnish)

Procedure

• Step 1: Set to STOVE TOP HIGH and preheat pot for 5 minutes.


• Step 2: Heat oil in pot for 2 minutes. Then, add onions, bell peppers, and garlic cloves. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• Step 3: Add all remaining ingredients to pot. Stir to combine. Then, cover pot.

• Step 4: Select Auto-IQ Layered Bowls: Recipe 13 and press the START/STOP button. It defaults to a cooking time of 25 minutes.

• Step 5: Stir and serve. Garnish with pine nuts, if desired.

Please note: This is the leftovers I enjoyed the next day. I stirred in a good quantity of Mexican Cream and microwaved it for 2 minutes. Once again, I garnished it with a handful of pine nuts. Quite tasty!

  

Cooking Sites that have inspired me:

• Gemma's Bigger Bolding Baking website that includes over 100 great cooking videos.

• All Recipes Website that includes all kinds of sweet and savory recipes.

Books written by Debbie Dunn:

Here is the Amazon Link to all anti-bullying curriculum books plus all children’s books written by Debbie Dunn (both paperback and Kindle). It will open up in a new window.

• Author’s Page on Amazon.com

Taste-bud Journey: Crockpot Pot Roast

During the pandemic, I am taking taste-bud journeys as I self-isolate rather than physical journeys. Here is my adapted recipe for pot roast made using my Ninja 4-in-1 with Auto IQ. Long ago, I learned how to make this from a cookbook plus from a dear friend. Mostly, I made this so that I could use the leftovers to make roast beef sandwiches. 

I do this in memory of both my parents, may they both rest in peace. My dad used to make wonderful wheat bread. My mom would have frozen packets of roast beef I could thaw out and utilize. Longing to replicate those 'warm fuzzy' memories motivated me to once again make this particular recipe.

 

Whenever I make a pot roast:

• I enjoy a meal that first night.
• I usually set aside enough leftovers to have that meal the next day.
• The rest of the roast beef I freeze in separate packets - each one to be used in a future roast beef sandwich.

Recipe

• Roast beef. Lately, I order this pre-sliced by the butcher. It saves me having to dig out my electric knife at the end of the cooking process.
• 2 teaspoons of beef bouillon powder dissolved in two cups of water.
• A packet of Lipton Onion Soup powder dissolved in another two cups of water. [I got this idea from my dear friend, Terry, who invited me to dinner and made a yummy onion infused pot roast. Thanks, Terry!]
• Two tablespoons of onion flakes
• Pot Roast veggies such as potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• Seasoning salt to use on both sides of each slice of roast beef prior to searing

GRAVY:

• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch stirred into 1/2 cup of water
• A few tablespoons of cooking liquid stirred into the cornstarch mixture before adding all of this to the liquid at the bottom of the crockpot.

Please note: With the leftover gravy not used with your pot roast servings, you could place that in a soup mug along with some canned mixed veggies and make your own vegetable beef soup to enjoy at a future meal.

Please also note: Here is the soup recipe link from one of my blog posts called Taste-bud Journey: Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup

 

Procedure

• Step 1: Wash the beef.

• Step 2: Turn on the stove top setting on the Ninja 4-in-1 with Auto IQ to high. Pour in some cooking oil such as olive oil to keep the meat from sticking. Then, sear both sides of each slice of beef after seasoning it with seasoning salt. Then, turn off the stove top setting.

• Step 3: Place the seared beef slices into the cooking basket.


• Step 4: In the bottom of the Ninja 4-in-1 with Auto IQ pot, spread out your pot roast veggies such as potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and mushrooms.

• Step 5: In a two-cup measuring cup, dissolve two teaspoons of beef bouillon powder in two cups of water. In another two-cup measuring cup, dissolve a packet of Lipton Onion Soup powder mix in two cups of water. In either one of those cups, add 1 teaspoon of sat plus two tablespoons of onion flakes. Pour that four cups of liquid into the pot.

• Step 6: Place the basket of beef slices on top of all of that. Then, put on the lid. Turn on the crockpot setting on the Ninja cooker. It defaults to a four-hour cooking session.

• Step 7: At the end of the four hours, pull out the basket of beef and all the veggies. Now, it is time to make the gravy.

• Step 8: Spoon in one tablespoon of cornstarch into 1/2 cup of cold water. Stir until there are no lumps. Then, add a few tablespoons of the hot beef liquid from the crockpot and stir until there are no lumps. Afterward, pour that mixture into the pot.

• Step 9: Turn on the stove top setting on the Ninja - set to high. Put on the lid. Heat the gravy until boiling. The liquid should now be nice and thickened like gravy.

• Step 10: Turn off the Ninja cooker. Unplug and allow to cool.


• Step 11: Plate your food and add gravy on top to meet your particular taste-preference.


• Step 12: Save any leftover gravy to make a vegetable beef soup that I will blog about tomorrow.

Cooking Sites that have inspired me:

• Gemma's Bigger Bolding Baking website that includes over 100 great cooking videos.

• All Recipes Website that includes all kinds of sweet and savory recipes.

Books written by Debbie Dunn:

Here is the Amazon Link to all anti-bullying curriculum books plus all children’s books written by Debbie Dunn (both paperback and Kindle). It will open up in a new window.

• Author’s Page on Amazon.com

Taste-bud Journey: First try at making Lasagna

During the pandemic, I am taking taste-bud journeys as I self-isolate rather than physical journeys. Here is my adapted recipe for Lasagna. It was inspired by combining a recipe from C (keeping her real name private) and a recipe from the Ninja 4-in-1 with Auto IQ cookbook.

 

Please note that two things caused me to not be able to slice this that neatly. Thankfully, those two things only interfered with the presentation but not the taste. I found this to be just as delicious as I anticipated.

• FIRST: The Ninja 4-in-1 with Auto IQ recipe called for the use of zucchini to help hydrate the uncooked lasagna noodles plus add some extra nourishment. Next time I make this, I will chop these up into smaller pieces. That way, the knife will have an easier time scooping this out of the pan.

• SECOND: Because I did not want to scratch up the inside of the no-stick pan, I did not dare use a knife to divide the long lasagna sheets. Next time, I may try breaking those sheets into smaller pieces. That way, when I go to scoop it out of the pan, I won't have that to get in my way.

Recipe from C that uses a 9 x 13 inch cake pan 

• 1 ½ lbs. ground beef
• 6 lasagna noodles
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 24 oz. Prego Traditional
• 8 oz. Mozzarella Cheese

Procedure from C's recipe that uses a 9 x 13 cake pan

Step 1: Brown and drain meat.

Step 2: Return to stove. Preheat oven to 350° F.

Step 3: In a large measuring cup, mix egg, spaghetti sauce, and cottage cheese. Stir.

Step 4: Add sauce mixture to meat and simmer.

Step 5: Coat bottom of 9” x 13” pan with spaghetti sauce.

Step 6: Lay down 3 lasagna noodles in pan. Do not overlap. Sprinkle liberally with Mozzarella.

Step 7: Add half of meat mixture. Top with 3 more lasagna noodles. Cover with Mozzarella.

Step 8: Top with rest of meat mixture. Top w/cheese.

Step 9: Bake for 1 hour in uncovered pan.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Recipe from the Ninja cookbook

From p. 46 in Ninja 4-in-1 with Auto IQ Cookbook

• 1 pound ground turkey (or beef)
• 1 jar marinara sauce
• 8 uncooked no-boil lasagna pasta sheets
• 1 medium zucchini cut in 1/4-inch thick rounds
• 1 pound whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Please note: I combined what I deemed the best from each recipe. So, this is what I ended up with.

Final Recipe

• 1 ½ lbs. ground beef
• 7 lasagna noodles
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 24 oz. Prego Traditional
• 8 oz. Mozzarella Cheese
• A combination of zucchini and yellow squash slices

Please also note: Thank goodness I had ordered a zucchini and yellow squash mixture from Publix just the day before. I know when you cook both of those vegetables, they add a lot of water to the recipe. So, I'm certain that is why the Ninja cookbook has you using this to hydrate the lasagna noodles. I just wish I had cut those slices into smaller pieces. 

   

Procedure

• Step 1: In a large measuring cup, combine the Prego sauce, the cottage cheese, and one egg.

• Step 2: In the Ninja 4-in-1 with Auto IQ, set to the stove top setting at HIGH. Pour in enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Then, add the ground beef. Brown the beef, drain it, and set it aside. Turn off the stove setting. Use a paper towel to soak up any olive oil residue.

• Step 3: Now, it is time to layer the ingredients. Layer 1 is to coat the bottom of the pan with a light layer of the sauce mixture. This will prevent the lasagna noodles to sticking to the bottom of the pan.

• Step 4: Layer 2. Add three lasagna sheets side by side. Don't allow them to overlap. [Please note: Next time I make it, I may try to split each sheet into three separate pieces to make it easier to scoop out the finished product.]

• Step 5: Layer 3. Scatter the zucchini and/or yellow squash slices on top of the lasagna sheets. This will help with hydration plus extra nourishment of the recipe. [Next time I make this, I will cut each 1/4-inch slice into smaller pieces.]

• Step 6: Layer 4. Add a thin layer of the shredded Mozzarella cheese.

• Step 7: Layer 4. Add in half of the drained ground beef.

• Step 8: Layer 5. Add half of the sauce mixture.

• Step 9: Add in three more lasagna sheets side-by-side. I added up broken-up pieces of a fourth one here to cover up any other parts of the mixture.

• Step 10: Add in your remaining zucchini and yellow squash pieces to help hydrate the noodles.

• Step 11: Add in some more of your shredded Mozzarella cheese.

• Step 12: Add in remaining ground beef.

• Step 13: Add in remaining sauce mixture.

• Step 14: Cover with the rest of your Mozzarella cheese.

• Step 15: Put the lid on the Ninja cooker. Hit the Quick Cook button and dial it to recipe number 20 for the lasagna. The Ninja cooker automatically sets itself to cook for 30 minutes.

• Step 16: At the end of the 30 minutes, the Ninja cooker turns itself off. Unplug it. Remove the lid. And let the Lasagna mixture rest for 10 minutes before serving.

• Step 17: Please note: Since I did not want to risk using a knife that might scratch up the no-stick surface, I really struggled to dish up a pretty-looking serving of lasagna. This is when I realized that it might have helped to have the zucchini and yellow squash slices to be cut up into smaller pieces. Additionally, I think I would like to somehow split the lasagna sheets into three so that perhaps I would be able to dish up more well-defined servings. As it was, this is the serving I managed to dish up.

 

Please note: It was delicious but messy-looking.

 

Please also note: I plan to eat the leftovers for two more days. The rest, I froze for later.

  

Here are 2 videos from people using the Ninja 4 in 1 with Auto IQ to make lasagna. I found it extremely helpful to watch both of these before attempting to make lasagna for the very first time ever.

After watching the video that cautions that we need to use oven-ready lasagna noodles instead of the regular kind, I did a bit of Googling. Since I had never made lasagna before, I didn't have a clue there was more than one type to purchase. So, I may try to purchase this the next time I make it now that I know the following:

From article by Danielle Centoni:
'... Which is why no-boil noodles are such a boon. They're thinner than regular lasagna noodles, precooked and then dried, so they can soften during baking with just the moisture from the sauce. Put the dried noodles in the casserole and voila! They cook while the casserole cooks.'

Cooking Sites that have inspired me:

• Gemma's Bigger Bolding Baking website that includes over 100 great cooking videos.

• All Recipes Website that includes all kinds of sweet and savory recipes.

Books written by Debbie Dunn:

Here is the Amazon Link to all anti-bullying curriculum books plus all children’s books written by Debbie Dunn (both paperback and Kindle). It will open up in a new window.

• Author’s Page on Amazon.com