Autumn at Spottswood Place

Welcome to Spottswood Place, I'm glad you stopped by. . .

My new centerpiece for my dining room table.

My sister gave this doll to me decades ago.  She said it reminded her of me.  Once upon a time, in my young days I had long black hair and was able to make some braids....*whimper*

 And that's it!  Autumn is one of my most favorite times of the year to decorate.  I also love the pumpkin, cinnamon apple scented candles that come with this season, I constantly have one burning.

It's the start of the weekend.  Savor every moment!

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Tablescaper Seasonal Sundays

Zucchini Crust Pizza

Copied from Seattle Local Food
 
2 small eggs
3 small zucchinis (about 8"), grated and drained (I used a net strainer and a rubber spatula)
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsps olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small container sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 lb. ground turkey or chicken
1 cup marinara sauce
1 cup grated low-fat or non-fat mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil leaves, sliced

Preheat oven to 450F degrees.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

 Combine the eggs, grated zucchini and parmesan cheese

Spread mixture into circle, about 1/2" thick

 Bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven, leave on pan and set aside.

While the pizza crust is baking or cooling, heat the oil in a saucepan on medium low heat.  Saute the onions and garlic until translucent.  Remove and set aside.

Saute mushrooms in same pan until softened.  Remove and set aside

Turn heat up to medium.  Combine the onions and garlic with the ground turkey breaking it apart until brown.  Remove and set aside to cool.

Spread the marinara sauce over the crust

Sprinkle on the chicken, mushrooms and top with mozzarella cheese.  Bake for another 5-7 minutes until the edges start to brown.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with sliced basil

Doesn't it look like real pizza??  I was so impressed!

A very low or no carb pizza, imagine that?  Another recipe I found on Pinterest and knew I had to make it.  If you're like me, making it is half the fun.  I was amazed how good it tasted but the only thing I'll change next time is not add so much chicken.  I think I went over board that I ended up taking some of it off each slice I ate.  I just didn't like the way it tasted, other than that, like I said, I was amazed. 

As far as my meat and potatoes man, I made him a fancy DiGiorno pizza that he enjoyed.  He tried my pizza and didn't like it one bit, lol!

It's almost the weekend!  Until then, savor every moment!

Spanish Chicken Rice

2 tbsps paprika
2 tbsps Goya seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1-2 tbsps olive or canola oil
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and peppers
1 green pepper, sliced
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 can tomato sauce
2 tbsps tomate paste
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 pinch of red pepper flakes

Heat oils in large pan.  Sprinkle both sides of chicken breasts with Goya seasoning, paprika, salt and pepper.  Brown chicken both sides for 3-4 minutes each.

While the chicken is browning.  Add the onions, green peppers, canned tomatoes and tomato sauce to a large dutch oven or crockpot

After the chicken has browned, transfer to pot and place on top of vegetables.  Save drippings and pan for next step:

To the drippings in the pan, add the two tablespoons of tomato paste.  Stir and blend for 1 minute.

Add broth to tomato paste and stir completely, making sure to scrape up drippings.

Add the tomato broth to the chicken in the pot.  Sprinkle in the pepper flakes.  Simmer for 4-5 hours in crockpot OR 2-3 hours in dutch oven.

These ingredients are not part of the recipe but if you have any leftover vegies in your refrigerator, by all means add them to the simmering pot.  I had fresh green beans and some shiitake mushrooms to add.

Add the cup of rice 10 minutes before it's all done.  Stir and simmer.

Serve and enjoy!

I'm trying to be creative in making healthy minded dishes especially now that I have to be careful in what I eat.  I lessened the amount of oil down to just 1 tbsp and it worked perfectly.  I was thrilled to have had enough green beans to add since I have to eat a lot more vegies, more than anything else.  The brown rice was just enough and added enough substance.  The spiciness from the red pepper flakes was perfect.  Hubby and I enjoyed this dish very much with just one serving.  There's plenty of leftovers for tomorrow!

Hope you're having a wonderful week!

Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Recipe by girlversusdough at Tablespoon.com

2 tbsps. olive oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 lb. ground chicken

1 cup chopped shiitake mushrooms

1 shallot, chopped

1 cup matchstick-sliced carrots

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/4 cup sliced almonds, plus more for garnish (I used two tsps. flax seeds)

3 tbsps. soy sauce

2 tbsps. brown sugar

1 to 2 tbsps. sriracha

1 tbsp. rice vinegar

1 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1 head bibb or butter lettuce, leaves removed

Sliced green onions for garnish (optional)

In a large frying pan or a wok, heat olive oil and sesame oils in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken, mushrooms and shallot; cook until chicken is browned, about 5-7 minutes.

Add carrots and garlic; cook until carrots are slightly softened, about 2 minutes.

Add sliced almonds (I used flax seeds), soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha (add 1 tablespoon for less spiciness, 2 tablespoons for more), rice vinegar (image above) and grated ginger.  Simmer until sauce has thickened, about 3-5 minutes.

Spoon chicken filling into lettuce leaves.  Garnish with sliced almonds and green onions (optional).

I really do enjoy Asian food, especially the spicy kind.  I might even like it more than Mexican food (shhhh! don't tell my family). I'm trying to eat low carb and low fat foods and when I found this recipe online, I couldn't wait to try it out.

Cooking it was half the fun.  The wonderful aromas permeated throughout the house, I love that!  Because I knew hubby wouldn't want to eat his with a lettuce leaf I went ahead and made him some white rice.  He was happy and I was very happy, these lettuce wraps were almost as good as the ones you find at PF Changs.  I'm very satisfied with this recipe and will keep it!

Hope you're having a great week!

Season of Changes

For the record, I have yet to decorate for Fall.  I have to be in the mood, temperature wise that is.   It’s been so warm and humid here, just two days ago it felt like 100F degrees.  But I fret not,  crisp cool air is on its way this weekend so I can now pull out my pumpkin scented  candles and harvest decor.  This weekend’s low will be in the high 40’s (eeeeeek! I’m so excited) and guess what I’ll be doing as I listen to college football?

In just a few weeks, another event will take place.  The season will change to Autumn and we will witness the Almighty’s hand in action.  Vibrant oranges, reds, yellows, purples, and even browns will come to life on all the trees throughout the country.  One of my most favorite times of the year.

Have you ever wondered what leaves have to go through to finally be turned into a beautiful vibrant color?  As leaves having to go through the process of change and as we get older we realize, our lives also go through a process of change.  Which is  where I am in my life today.  Nothing confirmed it more than this morning’s devotional from Lisa Allen at www.proverbs31.org  ministry.  Today’s devotional is titled, “When Change is Hard”.  This last year and a half, it seemed that my life was starting to change and get very hard.  It started crumbling one event after another.  A new boss...again, the Derecho of 2012, a loved one’s marriage falling apart, broken relationships, my elderly mother-in-law who had been living with us was  admitted to the hospital and then to rehab center  for two months, where it seems that hubby and I spent every waking moment.  Six months later she’s back in the hospital and passed away soon after.  A few months later, because of some changes in my position at work, they wanted to go in a different direction, hence unemployment.   A few weeks later I’m hearing these words from my doctor, “anxiety/depression/stress, high cholesterol, diet and exercise”.

Gadzooks!

“God!  what is going on with me?! What am I doing wrong??”   Maybe I hadn’t been faithful enough to Him.  Maybe I haven’t been having my devotions, tithing or praying like I should.  Perhaps I didn’t confess this sin or that sin.  With so much going on, it took a toll on me and I started waking up every morning feeling blue, anxious and physically sick.  But then I think, when a leaf goes through it’s changes to become this majestic glorious color in the Fall, does it complain?  Does it fight and resist?  Does it sit back and have a “woe is me attitude”?   Amazingly, not!  I’m not familiar with the exact science a leaf goes through, but I do know that the leaf begins during the dormant frigid cold, then there’s  a small bud at the end that cold winter, it has to have plenty of rain showers in  the spring, plenty of heat from the scorching sun and plenty of thunderstorms and rain in the summer and finally, plenty of chilly nights awarded with glorious days in the fall.

In some ways, I’m glad I am not a leaf but perhaps it’s an example God uses to encourage us and to show us that our lives are similar.  We will have seasons of dormant cold winters, spring showers, scorching hot (and humid) summers, and then in fall something wonderful seems to happen.  With the chilly nights and long awaited beautiful days, this once green leaf turns into a vibrant purple-ee, yellow color that we humans can only sit back in awe or take out our iPhones and snap gazillion pictures of the same tree we’ve been taking pictures of for the past 20 years.

To quote Lisa Allen in today’s devotional, this is where I was encouraged:

Perhaps you are facing a season of change and would be encouraged by some "reframing" and a fresh perspective. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says God has made everything beautiful "for its own time." God has designed our lives into beautiful seasons, but there is a time limit on each one. Some seasons are wide-open doors for our passions and calling … and some seasons are closed doors when God asks us to grow spiritually, professionally, relationally, or maybe emotionally.

In this season of transition I am now starting to “get” the picture.  God has great plans for me.  How can I ever not trust Him when He has always provided for me and my family, overly and abundantly.  There’s no reason for Him to let me down now, that’s not the kind of God he is.  I have stopped asking why.  I have stopped moping around.  I don’t feel stressed or depressed.  I am almost a week into “healthy eating” and it really hasn’t been all that bad.

Only God knows though whether I am finally ready for those glorious colorful days.  I just have to continue to trust Him knowing that He’s working on me at this moment.  He hasn’t given up on me no matter how many times I asked why and I will then be rewarded whether it’s tomorrow, next month or next year.  All I know is that my new season of vibrant, glorious, rich colors is coming.

So yes, when it’s your turn to go through your season of change and when it hurts, trust Him.  He has some glorious, vibrant, colorful days ahead, waiting just for you. 

He has made everything beautiful in its time.  Ecclesiastes 3:11a

P.S.  I think I'll go pull out my Fall stuff and start decorating.  I'm all of the sudden in the mood!!

Savor your weekend friends!

 

Chicken Stew with Squash & Quinoa

Recipe by Cooking Pinterest

1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2" pieces (I used an acorn squash)
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs. chicken thighs (I used two boneless chicken breasts)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 med. yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano (I used 1 tsp. fresh minced)
1  14oz. can petite diced tomatoes
2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
3/4 cup pitted and quartered kalamata olives (I did not have these)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, minced

In a medium saucepan, steam the squash for about 10 minutes (I just boiled it on low and watched it very close so it wouldn't burn) just until barely tender.  Remove half of the squash, set aside.  Continue to steam the squash left in the saucepan until very tender, about 4 more minutes.

After the squash in the saucepan is very tender, remove from heat and mash with a fork.

In a large pot, simmer the broth then add the chicken.  Cook until done, about 20 minutes if using chicken breasts.

Remove broth from pot and place in a bowl.  Set the chicken aside to cool

In the same large pot, heat olive oil on medium heat.  Add onions until they are browned, about 8-10 minutes.

To the onions, add the salt, minced garlic, and oregano and stir for one minute.  Add tomatoes and squash pieces and mashed squash.  Stir completely.

Add the reserved broth

Stir in the quinoa.  Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa is translucent

Shred the chicken with your fingers or a fork

Add the shredded chicken, olives and pepper into the stew and simmer, uncovered, to heat thoroughly, for about 5 minutes.  Stir in parsley.

Pour in bowls and serve.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this stew but when I found it on Pinterest, it intrigued me.  I was looking for a chicken recipe that was low carb and fortunately I had most of the ingredients on the list.

My first bite was full of flavor, I could taste everything in one mouthful, from the garlic, tomatoes, quinoa and chicken broth.  My meat and potatoes man even thought it was delicious.  

I was thrilled to use the Organic Red Quinoa I found on my recent trip to Northern Michigan, in a small Amish store.  I would be really curious how the olives fit in this recipe, I must use them next time I make this recipe.  I will also have to use Butternut Squash, but I only had an Acorn Squash.  I'm sure it will taste a lot better.  I really didn't like the Parsley and won't add it next time.

A lovely recipe find, you must try!