Monthly Archives: December 2012

Happy New Year

Are you a traditionalist about eating a new year’s day meal for good luck? Or are you superstitious? For me the tradition is an excuse to eat a bunch of favorite southern foods. This year’s menu will be pork chops cooked with collard greens, served with a side of Hoppin’ John. Here are the recipes:

RECIPES

Hoppin’ John

Ingredients:

1 cup dried black eye peas
1 cup uncooked brown rice
3 cups water
½ cup chopped onion
1 can tomatoes and green chilies
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon Cajun spice seasoning

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a 4-6 quart/liter pressure cooker and bring to a boil. Add remaining ingredients, bring to pressure, lower heat, and cook under pressure for 15 minutes.

Remove from heat, allow pressure to drop for 10 minutes, then quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions. Carefully open cooker, fluff rice mixture with a fork, and serve.

Serves 4-6

Pork Chops and Collard Greens

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork loin chops
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups water

16 oz. collard greens, washed, stemmed, and chopped
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. sugar or sweetener of choice
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
½ tsp. ground nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat the pressure cooker pot (use at least a 6 quart size). Brown the pork chops in oil on each side. Remove the pork chops and add salt and pepper to the chops.

Add the water to the pot, bring to a boil, then add the collard greens in bunches, allowing each bunch to wilt down. Add the vinegar and sugar to the greens. Place the pork chops on top the greens.

Secure lid, and bring to pressure. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove pressure cooker from heat and release pressure according to the manufacturer’s directions. Remove pork chops, toss the greens with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Secure lid and bring to pressure.

Secure lid and bring to pressure.

This menu won’t guarantee a prosperous, trouble-free 2013, but it will provide you with lots of fiber and nutrition. Enjoy!

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Filed under black-eye peas, cooking, Healthful Eating, Pork Chops, Recipes, Vegetables

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for the Hasty Tasty Meals Kitchen. I’m surprised by some of the data. For instance, who knew Quiche for Two would be so popular a recipe!

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 11 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Filed under Healthful Eating

HASTY TASTY HOLIDAY COOKIES

All you need!

All you need!

I’m not a great baker, so I’m a fan of cake mixes. I seldom make cakes, but the mixes make good cookies, muffins, etc. During the busy holiday season, I whip up these cookies in half an hour, which qualifies them as “hasty tasty” treats. They’re simple and as reasonably healthful as cookies can be because I use coconut oil. Coconut oil is a good choice for cookies because it is solid at room temperature like Crisco or butter but without the trans fats. Coconut oil is monounsaturated fat. Still, it’s fat and 120 calories per serving, so it isn’t a free pass. Hey, it’s cookies and it’s the holidays. Live a little!

RECIPE

Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients:
1 standard box cake mix
½ cup coconut oil
1 egg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°.
Combine the oil and the egg (I soften the coconut oil about 15 seconds in the microwave, but no more. You don’t want scrambled egg!).
Add the mix and stir to combine. You can use a pastry blender, but I use my hands. The heat from my hands helps soften the coconut oil.
Press or roll out the dough and cut out cookies (or you may drop rounded teaspoons of dough onto the cookie sheet).
Bake cookies on an ungreased baking sheet for 8-10 minutes, just until they start to brown at the edges.
Remove cookies immediately to a cooling rack.
Enjoy!

holiday2

Hasty Tasty Holiday Cookies

(Makes approximately 3 dozen, depending on how large your cookies. One-inch diameter cookies yield about 3½ dozen)

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Filed under Cookies, desserts