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Tag: #food #reinventionqueen

Reinvention Queen Meets the Meat…Meatloaf that is!

In this time when prices are high, we can get creative and try our hands at reinventing our meals/ingredients and stretch that frail dollar. I can eat leftovers if I reinvent them to “fool” me into thinking it’s not the same old same old. This week I had my creative fun making a great meatloaf into three meals and all three were excellent.

First, I love meatloaf and I have posted my meatloaf recipe several times and I am smiling as I just throw it together and don’t have a recipe per se.

Arline’s Meatloaf

2 lbs of ground chuck
1/2 Onion chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup Carnation Evaporated Milk
2-3 slices crumbled bread or hamburger buns
2 T. Minced Onions
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce
1 splash hot sauce
1/3- 1/2 cup Catsup
1 heaping T. Bone Sucking Mustard (or substitute spicy brown mustard
1 T. onion salt
1 -2 T. Everyday Seasoning
Sea Salt and Pepper

Mix meat, onion, eggs, milk, and crumbled bread with seasonings listed in bowl until completing mixed together and make two loaves.Sprinkle Panko crumbs on top of loaves.Place in foiled casserole and top with onion slices and bell peppers and add catsup lines before placing in oven 375 degrees for 1 hour.

Meatloaf ready to be eaten with veggies, potatoes or by itself. What’s next?

Here is how I reinvent the humble but delicious meatloaf.

First, we make meatloaf sandwiches. I will admit I didn’t take this picture so we will give credit to https://www.meatloafandmelodrama.com/the-best-leftover-meatloaf-sandwich/

Our sandwiches looks so similar and it is a free meal to us. I usually slice or just warm a portion of the loaf in the microwave, but you can warm in a pan on top of the stove or air fryer. We cut a good slice, add whatever we want on ours and will use soft white bread or toast whatever bread is available. If you are counting, this is meal #2 of the same meatloaf. Also, a meatloaf sandwich gives the meatloaf a totally different taste by whatever condiments/relishes you add.

What is better than a spaghetti made from meatloaf? Have you tried it? I thought why not. I have made the vintage School Cafeteria Spaghetti and that was a hit with us. I wondered looking at that beautiful meatloaf and thought to myself, Why Not? Here is the third meal which was over the top good and took such a short time to prepare it that this idea will be a part of the reinvention process when I make the next meatloaf.

In a sprayed pan, I placed some spaghetti sauce from a jar after crumbling the meatloaf, adding a pkg of dried spaghetti sauce mix, a pkg of Italian Seasoning mix, and the rest of the spaghetti sauce as shown in the picture.

I cooked some thin spaghetti until al dente and placed over the meat mixture. I mixed the spaghetti and meat together and then added the cheeses I had freshly grated. The cheese is your choice. I used Monterey Jack and Sharp Cheddar Cheeses and they worked great, but it’s because I had them in my refrigerator. I baked them in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes but anywhere from 20-30 minutes is okay. This is a great way to have spaghetti without the fuss. You have already done most of the work making the meatloaf so why do a lot more. Waste Not; Want Not!

I wanted to give you even more hints on how to keep reinventing meatloaf especially if you find the beef on sale and make a large double meatloaf like I always make. Here’s a list:

  • Stuffed Bell Peppers by mixing the crumbled meatloaf with the other ingredients and stuffing in the prepared peppers.
  • Make soup easier by adding crumbled meatloaf .
  • Believe it or not….Tacos….Crumble meatloaf and add a packet of Taco Seasoning and make tacos so easy. It totally changes the flavor but adds another level.
  • Stir fry by adding Italian Sausage and vegetables. The added flavor of the meatloaf enhances the other ingredients.
  • Create your own reinvented meatloaf as I intentionally left some of my ideas off so you can figure them out.

Have fun, and we will reinvent more dishes in the near future. I have a lot of Reinvention Queen ideas already on the blog so go to Search menu on right and type in Reinvention Queen and have an adventure with food.

(C) Copyright 2012-2023 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced, if known, to original location/author for credit references.

IT’S THE UNWRAPPED PRESENTS THAT BRING THE MOST JOY

Unwrapped Christmas Gifts


Yes, I had gifts so prettily wrapped and I loved them all.
A lot of thought went into them for my joy to befall.
Throughout the celebration of Christ’s birth
The love was obviously shared in its true worth.
What came to me some presents weren’t tied up with a bow.
Gifts of love come in all kinds of ways that love can glow.
It’s those best wishes, kind acts, giggles through the phone from those who are alone.
The thank you for what you do, the smiles and laughter from your children that send love to your bone.
It’s the gentle stranger opening the door to a old lady, the patience shown for others and more.
Think back over the holidays and you will begin to think like me.
Sometimes the love of Jesus gifts are not under the tree.
They are unexpected acts of unselfish love that others may see.
The gifts we do for no reason but amplify the reason for the season.
Give of yourself and love like Jesus without any personal reason.

Written by Arline Lott Miller with hopes that your Christmas was filled with love of Christ with thanks for His Eternal Gift to Us. 2022

This Christmas time, instead of the usual huge family gathering with the big Christmas dinner and as many of the family members who can come, was different and we still have our upcoming time with one of the sons and his family in the next couple of days. We split time between the oldest son and his family with a BBQ sandwich some fixings and a big spread of desserts. It was so much fun but different that the usual gathering.

Then, Saturday Missy, my daughter came over for the weekend and we had a huge time in the kitchen as I told her I would be her Sous Chef so Saturday was our Mexican Cuisine theme with Missy’s homemade enchiladas, both cheese and chicken cheese filled and the enchilada sauce she made from scratch, Street Corn which I made, Missy’s famous guacamole and fresh mango and pomegranate salsa, and we made black beans and rice too.

I may have duplicated some slides as my mouth was drooling but onto Christmas day dinner. We bypassed the traditional dinner and went Surf and Turf with Greg grilling his famous ribeye steak that melts like butter, Missy pan seared Scallops with assistance from her Sous Chef in prep, Grandma’s cheesy green chilies bread (not really our Grandma but we would gladly adopt her), my pan sautéd green beans, Missy’s homemade Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and desserts Missy’s Blueberry Delight so if you think we missed traditional, no way.

After all the food, entertainment, gift exchanging, cleanup, yes that was part of it and then it was over. Our loved ones who had dropped in, visited and left, the poem you see at the beginning inspired me. I remembered all of the unwrapped gifts of love that were showered. They are too many small gestures of love given and received. Love for Jesus was shown in large quantities, understanding that we have to be flexible as life isn’t always about just us, and compassion for those who could use some love at this time. I will cherish this different kind of Christmas and this poem. I hope all of you had a great Christmas and we wish you a Wonderful New Year.

As a side note and a preface to a future blog post, my husband had a big surprise that is deserving of its own post as I feel a life lesson and it has inspired me to write it separately, but I will post it soon as it is a heartwarming story. Stay tuned my reader friends.

(C) Copyright 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party Material is sourced, if known, to original location/author for credit references.

Reinvention Queen’s Tips and Bits II

It is now July, 2022 and I thought I would repost my tips and bits of ideas on reinventing food. I am adding a few ideas that I have reinvented from existing food. If you reinvent a dish, please share with us through comments. Let’s see what I have been up to lately.

Reinvention Queen goes from Grilled Garlic Lemon Pepper Fresh Asparagus to Arline’s Garlic Asparagus Cream Soup. Don’t let a good leftover go to waste. Reinvent a new dish.

I had made squash the regular way and had been gifted some onions too. I didn’t use a recipe but threw self rising cornmeal mix (2 parts) and self rising flour with a beaten egg and some seasonings, garlic and onion salt, everyday seasoning with salt and pepper. I added a small amount of cayenne powder and fried the patties you see. Waste Not, Want Not.

I save my leftover biscuits, cornbread, raw vegetables, leftover peas, corn, beans, tomato gravies and freeze them in zip loc freezer bags. Soups come easy as well as my cornbread dressing and then there is as Southern as it gets, Biscuit pudding (slightly different from bread pudding) but saving leftover bread and freezing it gives you the ability to make delicious croutons seasoned to your preference. See these ideas on future blogs. Here is the original post from January 2022. Happy Reinventing to all of you and thanks for your support and welcome to all the new subscribers.

Don’t forget leftover cake and create a new dish from adding the leftover cake into another cake recipe. It is like a rebirth when combined with new ingredients and a good use from the leftover cake.

Today, while it is chilly or rather colder than I like it to be, I am staying inside and while I am hibernating, I thought I would share some of my tips and even some I have learned from others with my readers. I love reinventing dishes from leftovers and I have some awesome spaghetti sauce that needs to be eaten but you know as well as me, that making the same spaghetti dish gets mundane. While looking this morning, I found an easy way to make personal pizzas in the air fryer using English Muffins. Look at this easy way to use that spaghetti sauce:

Recipe by Gilat Split the English Muffin in half Place the English Muffins split side up in the air fryer for 3 minutes at 400 degrees.Remove from air fryer and top each with pizza sauce and cheese (optional: mini pepperoni, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.Place back into the air fryer for 4 minutes at 400 degrees.

These are ideas that can be used to add ingredients you have on hand and make it your own.

Don’t you find that you always have more salad that you can eat when you order from a restaurant that have awesome salads, especially Caesar Salads with the delicious super greens? Next time, you could use one of my tips by removing some of the greens into a storage container for later. Make sure that you keep the greens with no dressing to stay fresh and crisp. Yesterday I shared this tip on FB when I made homemade tuna salad that I used one of the dressing containers of Caesar Dressing in the tuna mixture which was an awesome taste.

I have learned to save the extras from take out, store immediately, and use. Do you save the condiments like soy sauce, ketchup, duck sauce, Arby’s sauces (the horseradish sauce is great for making your own tartar sauce). Waste not, want not is Reinvention Queen’s motto.

Another great tip for saving extra rice from Chinese take out as you know they give you too much to eat at the time you get it home: Place extra rice with a paper towel in a zip loc bag or container. You can make a quick soup by using the rice along with a tomato condensed soup, a vegetable can of soup, or a cream of whatever soup with a little broth added to the leftover rice. Wallah, instant soup and usage of food. Never waste, make something new instead. BTW, add some leftover cooked veggies to whatever soup you make.

How about making your own seasonings? This is a handy reference and we all know we have so many bottles of spices in our pantry. Why buy the blends? Make some from what you have on hand.

What to do if you find your favorite bread on sale and know that you would love to stock up but worried about keeping it fresh? See this tip:

Photo tip by Thehomesteadsurvival.com

One of my dear friends cooks with fresh veggies and fruits to keep her immune system cranked up and here is a great tip from Debra Brown:

This is where I use creativity by looking at what I have in the refrigerator and adding it to some pantry items. Deb and I think alike.

Note from Arline Miller, Reinvention Queen: I have posted several dishes made from an original dish on my blog and if you search on my home page on the right side and type in Reinvention Queen, it will bring up several posts focused on making the most of what you have. When I bake, broil, fry, meats, I do more quantity in the first round to save energy (both mine and the stove’s).

Jon Taylor provides a great tip for making Nature’s Flu Shot and my thoughts are make this up by using excess lemons, pineapple juice, and garlic that you may have in your fridge.

Let’s get our minds to working to use up the pricey items we are buying so that we don’t waste and conserve our money. Inflation hurts but we can beat the odds by using what we have in oh so many ways….Until we cook/bake again…..Arline Miller, Reinvention Queen.

(C) Copyright, 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced, if known, for credit references.

REINVENTION QUEEN HAS BEEN BUSY REINVENTING LEFTOVERS

While I played nurse to my husband who had a total knee replacement a month ago, we were homebound except for physical therapy and follow up visits. Since we work from home, I have cooked a lot for us and I love finding ways to reinvent a meal to eliminate that dreaded “leftover” syndrome. If it looks the same, we have a tendency to feel the Oh No, not that again. It has become a challenge, a fun one, to see what and if I can make it look new. Here are a few of my latest reinvention meals to share with you.

Remember, I am not trying to give you recipes but I want to encourage you to use what you have, try a few tricks of my trade, and waste not, want not. Open the door to your imagination, feel flavors, sense what will go with what, and experiment.

STUFFED BELL PEPPERS FROM LEFTOVER PORK AND RICE

My husband wanted to give me a break as I have cooked the three square meals while he recovered, and he made some awesome pork and rice in our InstaPot. He used cream of mushroom soup, can of mushrooms, chicken broth, salt and pepper. The rice, which I suggested he use Success Rice made in microwave and added at the last few minutes to prevent the rice from getting too soft or mushy. It was great but it made a lot so I thought what can I do to make a new dish.

Look at how great the InstaPot Pork and Rice made by Greg Miller looks and tasted.

I thought about some bell peppers I had in the fridge which needed to be used. Hmmm, remembering how a recipe I had created making stuffed peppers had rice and tomatoes and how could some yummy chopped pork not add flavors?

I cut the bell peppers in half, cleaned out the insides and coated with a small amount of EVOO and placed on the pan with a rack on top.

I mixed the pork and rice in a bowl. In my small chopper I combined a can of drained fire roasted tomatoes, garlic, chopped shallot, some leftover yellow onion pieces, chopped fresh garlic, seasonings and blended. This became the filling once mixed together with the chopped pork and rice. I added some grated Havarti cheese with dill too. Of course, I added some mirin, tamari sauce, and even a tsp of Worcestershire sauce. I added some goat cheese on top with fresh cilantro. I filled the peppers and baked on 350 degrees for 30 -40 minutes. See the photo for the results. For my summary, you could do this with leftover chicken and rice.

Here are the reinvented peppers I made.
Now, here is how I think when I make a dish, what can I do with the leftovers even from a reinvented meal….I placed the leftovers in one of our food saver bags and we sealed this for a future meal from our freezer. Free food…Love it.

Garden Peas with Leftover Spam Made Easy

I have made this easy breezy lunch all the way back when my daughter was in college. She makes it often without the meat, but this was my first time adding leftover Spam and it was delicious.

A quick summary as this is so easy, you don’t need a recipe: I can of Garden Sweet Peas, 1/2 macaroni, Spam which I had in fridge, butter 2 tsp., 1/4 cup half and half, Seasonings including Onion and Garlic Salt and enough chicken stock to cook macaroni. Saute’ Spam to give it a browned taste in pan, add butter and chicken stock and when hot, add macaroni. After about 4-6 minutes, add half and half, seasonings, and then add garden peas. Cook for same amount of time or until macaroni is cooked but don’t overcook macaroni. Cover and allow to sit for a few minutes and liquid will reduce into macaroni. This is cooked in less than 15 minutes. You can add boiled eggs, pimentos, and even cheese.

This doesn’t need a recipe. I seal leftovers such as small lima butterbeans cooked with leftover pieces of baked ham in our food saver bags and frozen. I had the cheese muffins leftover and thawed the butter beans and heated in pot. I added chopped shallots and chopped chives as a topper. This meal tasted fresh and took approximately 10 minutes.

I hope you will begin to experiment with leftovers by adding cheeses, meats, seasonings, make fritters from leftover veggies, and I am contemplating reinventing some of my great salmon patties into a breakfast dish with eggs so watch out for more from Reinvention Queen.

(C) Copyright, 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced if known to original location and author for credit references.

REINVENTION QUEEN REINVENTS LEFTOVERS

What do you do when you have leftovers in the refrigerator and don’t want to waste food? You can do what I did by thinking what dish would these leftovers were combined with a few extra goodies added? I thought I should help “stir” your imagination on how you can make a great “new” dish from foods you have handy.

DECONSTRUCTED CHICKEN POT PIE

Here is how it looked when I mixed it together
Finished Deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie. Would you ever believe it was made with leftovers?

Here was what I had in the fridge:

Leftover Chicken Thighs I had cooked in the InstaPot this week (6 thighs)

Leftover Sweet Carrots and Zucchini with Onions from a local restaurant

Leftover Rice from a local Chinese Restaurant which they always give too much rice.

Chicken Broth in box leftover from other meals which I didn’t want to waste.

Butter (always have butter handy)

1 can each Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom (pantry always has these on my shelves for helping a reinvention recipe have instant flavor)

Seasoning (I keep seasonings handy at all times to spark up flavors to reinvent leftovers as the Poultry Seasoning in this dish)

Chives this time but I would as easily have used parsley, thyme, rosemary, or basil. Fresh chives don’t last long in the refrigerator so they needed to be used.

Mix the pulled chicken pieces with the other ingredients and add the soups and broth in large saute’ pan and once ingredients are blended, place on low heat and simmer until you are ready. Remember everything is already cooked so it is only for flavor blending. Enjoy and think you can substitute other items as long as you remember an important key factor in reinventing a dish. Think of your plate of food and would you serve all ingredients together as separate dishes? Such as the carrots would always go with chicken, what soups taste good with what meats/veggies, and seasonings should be compatible with the main ingredient………..Until we cook/bake again…..Arline Miller, Reinvention Queen

(C) Copyright 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third Party material is sourced, if known, to original location/author for credit references.

Cupid’s Calling All Chocoholics

Each year, as Valentines Day creeps closer, that urge to have chocolate increases. It’s not like we haven’t indulged during the holidays, but it pulls at our minds and tummies even more when it is associated with love and passion. I find myself saying it’s okay because it’s Valentines. I have been able to cut down on chocolates while on my mission to find better health. However….it will be Valentines Day soon! Here is my post from a few years ago for all Chocoholics.

FOR THE BEGINNING OF FEBRUARY 2021, I found a great post about the big event so I thought I would repost it on the first of February to whet our appetite.

Calling all Chocoholics (Chocolate Lovers who might need intervention)! Valentines Day is coming soon so excuses are not needed as it is the reason for the season but WHY? Let us consider the pros and cons of downing the chocolate, milk, white, dark, or mixed with nuts, fillings, or whatever form we can get it. Is there a link to Love? Is it a feel good reason we have to have it. Today, we enter the river of flowing chocolate and get our mouths drooling. Here is an enlightening article I found giving us the psychological reasons and we already know the real reason is “we can’t live without it.”

Why Do We Crave Chocolate So Much?

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Why Do We Crave Chocolate So Much?

The psychology behind why we love chocolate

Posted Feb 11, 2014

Source:Why do we crave chocolate so much? I consulted a professor of psychology and neuroscience, Dr. Amy Jo Stavnezer, to help us understand why we desire chocolate so much (just in time for Valentine’s Day!).

Dr. Albers: On a biological level, why do we crave chocolate?

Professor Stavnezer: We crave chocolate because it is good! It tastes good. It smells good. It feels good when it melts on our tongue. And all of those ‘feelings’ are the result of our brain releasing chemicals in response to each chocolate experience. The experience of eating chocolate results in feel good neurotransmitters (mainly dopamine) being released in particular brain regions (frontal lobe, hippocampus and hypothalamus—definitions a bit later).

Dopamine is released when you experience anything that you enjoy—sex, laughing, or watching your favorite Olympian claim the gold. This reward circuit is partially hard-wired by genetics, but it learns, changes and responds to your specific preferences based on your life experiences. This malleability of the brain is what makes each of us unique. In fact, there are supposedly people in the world who do not like chocolate.

By simply using one neurotransmitter system to associate rewards with actions, an efficient and powerful brain network evolved so that a positive outcome would be repeated. The dopamine signal sent through the reward circuit brings about positive feelings and assessments of the situation in the frontal lobe (just behind your eyes), creates a memory of the experience including where, who, what and why and links that to the positive experiences via the hippocampus (about an inch inside of each ear), and when food is involved, the hypothalamus (a few inches above the roof of your mouth) gathers information about the caloric and nutrient content for future hunger and satiety signals.

It was originally thought that chocolate contained compounds that could activate this dopamine system directly (like cigarettes and cocaine do). Chocolate does contain theobromine that can increase heart rate and bring about feelings of arousal, caffeine which can make us feel awake and increase our ability to work and focus, and fat and sugar which are preferred food sources for humans because they are calorie dense. However, elegant experiments in which the components of chocolate were separated out indicated that just ingesting the chemicals in chocolate without the mouth-feel and taste does not decrease craving.

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Photo courtesy of goodhousekeeping.com



Maybe this is why we eat chocolate?

I found an excerpt from an article on the history of how chocolate became the ruler of Valentines Day. It is from National Geographic and is titled Why We Want Chocolate for Valentines Day

THE PLATE

Why We Want Chocolate for Valentine’s Day

3 MINUTE READBY APRIL FULTON

So how did chocolate become the ultimate Valentine’s Day treat?

The origins of the historic combination are far from clear. Chocolate has been considered an aphrodisiac since the time of the Aztecs, and was once only available to the wealthy. Spanish conquistadors brought it back to Europe, and according to The Oxford Companion to Food, Italian chefs were shaving blocks over their risottos in the late 17th century. The French made pastilles in the 18th century, a favorite of the marquis de Sade. But it wasn’t until the cocoa butter extracted from the beans was processed into the rough form of a candy bar in England in 1847, according to Cadbury, and later rounded out with milk, that its appeal began to grow. Once candy became cheaper to produce, more people got to taste it. And once they tasted it, well, you know the rest.

Meanwhile, the origins of Valentine’s Day are even more complex. They can be traced to Roman times and Lupercalia, a Pagan festival that involved fertility and feasting in mid-February. The Romans “were drunk. They were naked,” Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder, told NPR in 2011. Young women lined up for the men to hit them, Lenski says. They thought would make them fertile.

Not too romantic, was it? It gets crazier. The early Catholic Church martyred a rebel priest named Valentine and tried to take the nakedness out of the Lupercalia festival by declaring Feb. 14 as St. Valentine’s Day. Chaucer combined the essence of the pagan rituals with courtly ideas of love in one famous Valentine’s poem about bird sex: “And, Lord, the blisse and joye that they make! For ech of hem gan other in wynges take.” And then Shakespeare took the notion of romantic love even further in the sonnets.

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Hopefully, this will get your Valentine craving for chocolate flowing and from this Sipping Cup of Inspiration blogger, Happy Valentines Day and now it is official, you have a natural reason for loving chocolate. My deeper thought is to LIVE LIFE, LOVE LIFE, AND LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST by digesting all that life has to offer as long as you add to other’s lives and not make their lives unhappy. Eat chocolate or don’t, but love always.

(C) Copyright 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and Reinvention Queen with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material, if known, is sourced to original location for credit reference

Let’s Keep the Power Up with Power XL

I have to say getting the Power XL Air Fryer Grill Oven for Christmas is better than a lot of gifts I have received and they were all wonderful. Most of you know how much I love to cook. Yes, I said it. I love to cook. I find a challenge learning how to make something even more delicious and most importantly, even more easy and time friendly. I thought I would continue to share my testing series. Here are some of my other goodies:

BAKED BEANS AND GRILLED HOT DOGS VIA POWER XL

Look at the caramelization which came from baking beans and pre-cooked bacon in the Power XL Oven


The Grill Pan is awesome and places great grill marks on the hot dogs. It doesn’t matter if it rains outside, we can grill inside.

Yummy and Quick with the flavors of traditional cooking/grilling in the Power XL
This is how a chili slaw dog should look without having to deal with a grill.

I made my baked beans with the traditional recipe you can find anywhere on Pinterest but I used pre-cooked bacon since the oven does the caramelization quicker. Bake selected and it took 25 minutes. I sprayed my casserole dish and so no scrubbing afterwards. The hot dogs were done on Grill in the oven’s grill pan for 7 minutes and then I flipped for an additional 5 minutes. Perfect dogs!

FRIED MUSHROOMS IN THE AIR FRYER

The Crisper Tray works like a charm and our oven came with two. Mushrooms are terrific in the air fryer.
I made a sauce horseradish blue cheese dressing and wow, it hit the spot.
If you wonder about the crunch, don’t worry. Look at the crust.

I dredged the mushrooms in an egg buttermilk soak, then in seasoned flour, and back into the egg mixture then into panko crumbs. Easy and tasty. Garlic salt, onion powder, paprika, and seasoned salt and pepper.

I have several more to test and report on but I am happy to say that it is going very tasty in my kitchen. I love the ease of clean up which has been incredibly easy so far. I made french fries last night so watch for more exciting blog messages. I will demo stuffed mushrooms, burgers, french fries, and will make a cake.

Click on this link to learn more (Image just for display)

https://powerxlairgrill.com/https://powerxlairgrill.com/

Please feel free to make comments on your experience if you have a Power XL Air Fryer Grill Oven and maybe I can get some ideas from my readers….Until we Cook and Air Fry Again……..Arline Miller, Reinvention Queen and Blogger

(C) Copyright 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced, if known, to original location/author for credit references.

REINVENTION QUEEN REINVENTS NEW POTATOES

2022 Kickoff for Reinvention Queen “New Potatoes are reinvented into Clam Chowder”. I posted this idea in 2021 and the other day, I used this idea to make some fantastic chowder. Before I throw any food out, as long as it is still safe to eat, I figure out what new dish I can make from the leftovers. During this year, I will walk you, my readers, through the creative approach I use. Let’s revisit one of the many posts I did. If you are looking for some ideas, search in the search box by typing Reinvention Queen and you will see several selections. Here is the original post:

Yesterday, we were the recipients of one of my husband’s long time friend, David Fletcher who is an avid gardener, first bounty freshly dug new potatoes and awesome fresh garden grown onions. I was over the moon with the sight of the vegetables and I washed them off and thought of my childhood. Before I share both of my dishes, I thought I would reminisce a little.

When we were little, times were not easy but they were good. I don’t have a memory of a horrible childhood but rather a time much simpler than all the craziness in the world. We had neighborhood playmates and if we could be called a gang, it was an innocent one, and we now call ourselves the Willow Street Gang. One of those neighbors is smiling if he is reading this, as Duane Tucker and I jokingly refer to our days on that little street in my hometown of Douglas GA. Now, for the background story of the new potatoes or potatoes in general. To say our Mother could stretch a dollar for a mile, would be to insult that crafty lady. How she could make a meal out of almost no cost is still a mystery but one I remembered after I became an adult.

We may not have had a bounty of food but she always had just enough to feed us all. There were four children and two adults and one can of salmon would feed us and we left full. A mess of potatoes and we had the creamiest, tastiest, and filling meal. She would make bread to go along with it and sometimes if a neighbor had surplus and we got vegetables, oh yeah, we ate well. As I stated, she could make enough for us growing children to leave the table satisfied. When I made the fresh new potatoes, I was smiling while cooking them. Now, let’s move on to how I made two meals from this yumminess.

A large pot of stewed new potatoes with so much flavor.

Arline’s Stewed Potatoes:

  • Approximately 2-3 lbs of potatoes (new for me but regular russet potatoes can be used)
  • 1 large onion preferably sweet Vidalia or similar sweet garden variety chopped
  • 1 large box chicken or vegetable broth (chicken used)
  • 1 stick of salted butter
  • Mixture of garden herbs with more dill than others
  • 3 Tablespoons of Flour (either type, SR or AP)
  • 3/4 cup – 1 cup Heavy Cream or Half and Half Cream
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1 T Onion Powder

Scrub potatoes and cube into large bite size pieces. Place them into large pot with the broth. You can use some water in addition to broth if you need to fill to above potatoes. Add butter cut into cubes with crushed or finely chopped herbs as stated above. Cook until potatoes become fork tender on medium heat.

In a small cup, place some of the broth and flour and whisk until flour is dissolved. Add to pot and mix together. Add cream to potato broth with salt and pepper and onion powder and turn on low heat. Cook until they are very tender. Turn heat off and let the potatoes soak up some of the thickened liquid. (Tip: If liquid is not thickened enough, you can add a small amount of corn starch or mix small amount of flour to thicken to a sauce of richness.

These were so delicious that I almost didn’t make the next dish from the leftovers but I couldn’t resist the reinvention from them to the easiest clam chowder I have made. I made my simple but you can go wild with carrots, celery, whole kernel corn and use canned clams. The possibilities are endless but this one was put together in a couple of minutes with the biggest task of opening cans.

Reinvention Step of Enhancing Stewed Potatoes into Clam Chowder in Five Minutes.

To the pot of new potatoes, I opened three cans of Bar Harbor New England Clam Chowder but may I say, there are numerous brands of canned great chowders on grocery shelves so I used what was in my pantry. I added some celery seeds, garlic salt, mushroom seasonings, oyster sauce, and some Old Bay Seasoning to pump up the chowder flavorings. This I leave to all of you fine cooks, use your creativity. You can make it spicy and/or hot, but I go the middle of the road.

In a few minutes, I have a new meal so that it doesn’t reflect leftovers. This morning, I will return the chowder to the stove top and cook it very low and slow for all of the flavors to blend and when it is lunchtime, it will be Chowder Time at Millerville. All of this done with very little effort.

Here is the clam chowder complete with grated white cheddar cheese.
I seared some scallops marinated in buttermilk and herbs galore and seared them in a hot skillet with butter, grape-seed oil, soy sauce and oyster sauce. I made a roulade sauce. Definitely a delicious accompaniment to the chowder!

Until We Cook Again……Happy Meals……Arline Miller, Reinvention Queen.

(C) Copyright 2012-2022 Arline Miller of Sipping Cups of Inspiration with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material if used and original location and author are known, it will be sourced for credit reference.

My Oh My Do I Smell Pumpkin Pie?

TODAY THE WORDS ARE HOLIDAY SCENTS

No blog message on the HOLIDAY Scents would be complete without the scents of mountain air and beautiful leaves with their awesome display of color. This photo was from our wondrous changing of the leaves vacation.

Pumpkin flavored everything seems to be in all ads, coffee, shakes, lattes, cookies, pies, tarts and breads bring the strong allspice and cinnamon flavors. Answer me this…..As I listed these tasty and fragrant delights, did your smell sense rise especially when I mentioned cinnamon? Let’s go on a little memory trip and visit the gingerbread land.

When I was young and always ready for something Momma had baked; I looked forward to her tea cakes, her pound cakes (which we would always catch her out of the kitchen and jump up and down to cause it to fall; bless Momma’s heart it was years before she realized her cakes would have been beautiful if we hadn’t sabotaged her efforts to have it taste better), but I remember her gingerbread best of all. I could smell the fragrant aroma of the gingerbread loaf before I made it home from school. Walking up to our house, I could smell it’s wonderful smell and I was so excited. I am speaking from my heart but this was a unanimous contention for all of my siblings. It was a wonderful and joyous moment and now a great memory of those spices and more importantly, the love shown by our Mom.

We, as humans, are susceptible to smells as much as taste. We are usually expressive either pro or con about smells and aromas. Fall presents strong aromas and seemingly tied to family gatherings and holidays. This brings me to my focus for this message.

The Health Benefits of Pumpkin Spice

Tis the season … for pumpkin spice, that is. This seasonal spice blend might have its naysayers who believe that the pumpkin spice love has gotten a little out of control, but to them, we say: bring it on. Even Trader Joe’s is embracing pumpkin spice mania — or, as they put it, “Pumpkintopia”.

If you don’t know what pumpkin spice is, we have to say, you are missing out. Contrary to the name, it doesn’t contain any actual pumpkin, but the warming blend of spices pairs oh-so-well with pumpkin pie and the famous concoction that has stolen our hearts over the years: the pumpkin spice latte. Unfortunately, the most mainstream example of our beloved latte, the Starbucks PSL, is not and cannot be made vegan, but worry not — it’s easy to make your own vegan pumpkin spice latte at home.

Bonus: this homemade version comes with some health benefits. Let’s break down the reasons why.

Ahh, pumpkin spice … A warming symphony of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
Cinnamon has been shown to have antibacterial and antifungal properties. Studies have also suggested that it may have anti-inflammatory properties.

Ginger boasts a variety of health benefits, such as combating stomach ailments, reducing inflammation, reducing headache pain, aiding in digestion, and increasing metabolism.

Nutmeg is rich in manganese, which helps regulate blood sugar, absorb calcium, metabolize carbs, and helps form tissues and bones.

Allspice, also known as pimento, is rich in antioxidants, has anti-inflammatory properties, may help improve blood circulation and more.

Cloves are a rich source of manganese and an active component called eugenol, which functions as an anti-inflammatory substance. It has also been the subject of studies on the prevention of toxicity from environmental pollutants like carbon tetrachloride, digestive tract cancers, and joint inflammation.

Make Your Own Pumpkin Spice Blend at Home
Ready to make your own pumpkin spice blend? First, make sure you have your supplies. You’ll need an empty bottle (save the bottles from spices you use up just for moments like this) and a kitchen funnel. You could also make your own kitchen funnel by cutting a sheet of printer paper in half diagonally, shaping it into a cone, and taping it.

Then, combine 1/2 cup ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoons ground ginger, 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1 teaspoon ground cloves.

Now, you’re ready to use your homemade blend in homemade pumpkin spice lattes and more! Here are a few of our favorite recipes, courtesy of the Food Monster App:

Pumpkin Spice Latte With Homemade Pumpkin Seed Milk
This dairy-free version of the ever-popular Pumpkin Spice Latte by Courtney West is made using homemade pumpkin seed milk! The latte is a concoction of the pumpkin seed milk, pumpkin spiced maple simple syrup and cold brew concentrate. Though this may seem a little involved for a coffee drink, the recipe will make enough for about four drinks, so you can keep sipping on PSLs all week long

I thought I would share my own Pumpkin Pie Recipe which I created over the years, but it is a winning combination of just enough spices and sweetness to satisfy any pumpkin pie lover.

Yummy, yummy to the tummy Pumpkin Pies

Now for the deeper thought……As our senses tell us what aroma is filling the air; we need to be as conscious of who and what is filling our lives. We need to “sniff”our home environment and smell out what children are hearing and watching.

We need to appreciate the warm, comforting times we spend with our family and friends. We can seek out God more and take time to thank Him for all the sweet blessings and treats of life. We want to cherish the good taste of life while we smell the cinnamon aroma of living and loving life.

FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Proverbs 15:17 ESV
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.

(C) Copyright 2012-2021 Arline Miller with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material is sourced to original location/author if known for credit reference.

WHAT’S UP WITH THE JACK-O’LANTERN?

THIS IS A REPOST FROM 2016 but I thought it was an interesting post so I decided you might like to read it too.       WHAT’S UP WITH THE JACK-O’-LANTERN? A young man, Blake Lott posted on Facebook “When and why did it become a social tradition for people to sit around a table and carve spooky vegetables together? 🎃 👻 Did you know the original jack o’ lantern was actually a turnip ”     “”

I thought, “How interesting are those questions!” I decided to do a little digging and I hope everyone enjoys this post about our pumpkin carving tradition which is really not American but is tracked back to Ireland. I found this article on the legend:

THE LEGEND OF “STINGY JACK”People have been making jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.” According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.Did You Know?The original jack-o’-lanterns were carved from turnips, potatoes or beets.Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.”In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o’lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack-o’-lanterns.

Article Details: History of the Jack O’ Lantern  

I have heard a discussion back and forth whether Christians should or should not celebrate Halloween. This is a personal decision and I leave it to individuals but I decided to do a little digging on the holiday itself. Here is a definition from Wikipedia on Halloween:  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Halloween&oldid=745513786
This article is about the observance. For other uses, see Halloween (disambiguation).

“All Hallows’ Eve” redirects here. For other uses, see All Hallows’ Eve (disambiguation).

Halloween, or Hallowe’en (a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening),[5] also known as Allhalloween,[6] All Hallows’ Eve,[7] or All Saints’ Eve,[8] is a celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide,[9] the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.[10][11]
It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from Celtic harvest festivals which may have pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, and that this festival was Christianized as Halloween.[1][7][12][13][14][15] Some academics, however, support the view that Halloween began independently as a solely Christian holiday.[1][16][17][18][19]
Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising), attending Halloween costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing and divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories and watching horror films. In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows’ Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular,[20][21][22] although elsewhere it is a more commercial and secular celebration.[23][24][25] Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows’ Eve,[26][27] a tradition reflected in the eating of certain foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes and soul cakes.[27][28][29]

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I thought it would be interesting to find out more about Trick or Treating tradition’s history too. Why not? Here is an article from Smithsonian.com (link below article)

 It’s almost that time of year when underaged kids get into costume and traipse around the neighborhood ringing doorbells and begging for treats. When you think about it, trick or treating is kind of a weird thing. Where did it come from anyway?

Today I Found Out discovered that the practice began with the Celtic tradition of celebrating the end of the year by dressing up as evil spirits. The Celts believed that, as we moved from one year to the next, the dead and the living would overlap, and demons would roam the earth again. So dressing up as demons was a defense mechanism. If you encountered a real demon roaming the Earth, they would think you were one of them.Fast forward to when the Catholic Church was stealing everybody’s holidays and trying to convert them. They turned the demon dress-up party into “All Hallows Eve,” “All Soul’s Day,” and “All Saints Day” and had people dress up as saints, angels and still a few demons. Today I Found Out writes:

As for the trick or treating, or “guising” (from “disguising”), traditions, beginning in the Middle-Ages, children and sometimes poor adults would dress up in the aforementioned costumes and go around door to door during Hallowmas begging for food or money in exchange for songs and prayers, often said on behalf of the dead.  This was called “souling” and the children were called “soulers”.You might think that this practice then simply migrated along with Europeans to the United States. But trick or treating didn’t re-emerge until the 1920s and 1930s. It paused for a bit during World War II because of sugar rations, and it’s now back in full force.The term “trick or treat” dates back to 1927. Today I Found Out explains:The earliest known reference to “trick or treat”, printed in the November 4, 1927 edition of the Blackie, Alberta Canada Herald, talks of this,Hallowe’en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.The British hate Halloween, apparently. In 2006, a survey found that over half of British homeowners turn off their lights and pretend not to be home on Halloween. Yet another reason by the United States is happy to be free from British rule. No funs.

          Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-history-of-trick-or-treating-is-weirder-than-you-thought-79408373/#vWJK4Mu5ro0d2pUI.99 Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

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All in all, Halloween is on its way, whether you carve the Jack-O-Lantern, Trick or Treat. You can choose to participate or not. I find it interesting to read the history and how these traditions have come about. However you decide is fine with me. I am 67 years old and I have never felt an evil feeling about Halloween and over the years my husband and I have enjoyed the small children coming to our door with their little costumes yelling Trick or Treat. May your holidays be bright and cheery.

(C) Copyright 2012-2021 Arline L Miller with all rights and privileges reserved. All third party material sourced to original location for credit.

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