got kids?
so maybe you know about that precious 2 hours between getting home from school, daycare, and work and going to bed. it's not enough time to play! i work hard all day and want to be with my boys when i get home, not spending half our time together in the kitchen while they play. the other night, i found a solution. my 5 year old got out the shredded mozzerella and the pepperonis from the fridge and set them up at the table. i pulled out the spaghetti sauce that i made a few days earlier (literally a large can of diced tomatoes and wildtree hearty spaghetti blend) and let him grab the spoons and plates and a big cookie sheet. i made the whole wheat pizza dough. it took 10 min TOPS, and split it into 3 mini pizzas. we set them up at the table and had a great time making our own personal pizzas together! we made faces out of pepperoni and my three year old put about 3 servings of cheese on his, but as we made them we laughed and shared and had fun. i sliced some carrots and poured some milk while the pizzas baked. after dinner, we had strawberries dipped in wildtree's rich dark chocolate fudge sauce....yum!
do you know what an immersion cooker is? i didn't either....
so, an immersion cooker is a water bath for meats to make them super juicy and flavorful. don't have one? neither do we, but my culiary artist husband came up with this one...
use the blends (see below) to marinade the meat; he used chicken. i wanted chicken on my salad for lunch, and he offered to make it (sweetie pie). he brushed the blend/oil mixture on the chicken, wrapped in in plastic wrap, like a sausage or a piece of candy, with the ends twirled and sealed. he then placed the chicken in the SLOW COOKER filled with WATER!!! he let it cook on high overnight, and when he opened it, the chicken was cooked through and flavorful. and the best part is that even when i heated it up in the microwave later that day at work, it was STILL juicy and had lots of yummy flavor. so good!
basic uses for herb blends and oils
use complementary infused oil and spice blend...for example, zesty lemon grapeseed oil and the lemon rosemary blend, or the roasted garlic oil and the garlic and herb blend.
*mix 2 tablespoons of oil with 2 tablespoons of spice blend in a small bowl. coat chicken breast, pork chops, or skirt steaks in mixture and place in individual ziploc bags. freeze bags until ready to use. morning of use, move enough bags for family to the fridge. when you get home, place them in a baking dish or pan-sear on the stove. add rice, pasta, or place on top of a fresh salad.
slow cooker meals
great for game nights or long work days!
*place 4 lbs pork tenderloin or spare ribs into a slow cooker and add 1/3 cup Wicked Good Slow Cooker Sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve with easy steamed veggies and our Texas Corn Bread (see wildtree's own recipe page)
*add carrots, celery, onions and beef to the slow cooker with the Home Style Beef Stew Sauce and cook on low during your workday. when you get home, make the Buttermilk Biscuits to serve on top. great for a cool fall day!
*game day favorite! add tomatoes, sausage, chicken and shrimp to the slow cooker with our Jumpin Jumbalaya and water the morning of the big game. Serve with our Whole Wheat Beer Bread, which you can LITERALLY make during a commercial (mix one package with 1 beer and place in a loaf pan, how easy is that?). Serves 8 hungry pig-skin fans during half-time!
