Hunting Season

There are many things to enjoy about hunting season:

-being outside in the woods
-feeling fully justified to take an afternoon nap after getting up early
-the wonderful contrast of coming inside where there's a fire going after being outside shiveringly cold
-being able to share the fun with those you love
-filling the freezer
-knowing where our meat comes from
-how warm it makes the rest of winter feel (in contrast to sitting and not moving for 3-4 hours)



I am thankful for the opportunity to have watched Joshua hunt and then to do it at KRiv with Dad and Naom and now to be able to share hunting with Denver. We are thankful for the bounty of this year. Word over here in WI is that the numbers are down, but Denver still has seen quite a few and has gotten two with his bow. When we went home to MN for opener weekend he got two there also. We are so thankful for full freezers!

Thanks to other's generosity we have a dehydrator and I made our first batch of venison jerky- it's amazing!

A craving for Peanut Sauce

I was at work on Thursday morning thinking about what I was going to make for dinner. Thursday dinner is always a bit interesting, because we have Bible study at 6pm and I get home around 3:45-4pm. When it was warmer I used to bring a picnic lunch and meet Denver after he got done with work (4:45pm). So, basically Thursday dinners need to be quick. Because of the need for speed we usually have leftovers and I try to plan ahead on Tuesday and Wednesday to have something extra by Thursday.

But back to this week: we didn't have anything made in the fridge...and I was really wanting peanut sauce. So I looked up quick recipes during my prep period and found Thai Peanut Noodles. Over lunch I ran to the grocery store and picked up the few things we didn't have in our kitchen. I was SO excited for dinner!

I'll be the first to admit that normally it takes me about DOUBLE the time estimated on a recipe to actually finish baking or cooking what I set out to make. I was hopeful that this would be different. The recipes (I was going off of two) both have estimated time of 15-30 minutes. It took me just under an hour, but I added meat to the dish. :) My chicken was frozen, which easily added 20 minutes to the cooking time. I bet this could be a 30 min meal when perfected!

Here's the recipe I came up with, combining the two:

Sauce:
1/2 C. Coconut milk (I kept adding to thin out the sauce and used the whole can) 1/4 c. in the chicken
1/2 C. Creamy Peanut Butter
2 T. Ginger minced + 1 t. in the chicken
2 T. (or to taste) reduced sodium Soy Sauce  1 T. in chicken
1-2 T. Hot Chili Sauce

Chicken:
2 Chicken Breasts Sliced (or smaller would be ok)
olive oil for the pan when cooking the chicken
Listed above: Soy sauce, coconut milk, ginger

When chicken is cooked add vegetables: Broccoli in small pieces, sweet peppers sliced, carrots, sugar peas, (asparagus - the recipe listed, I'm curious how this would taste).

We used Linguine noodles and layered all three on our plate: Noodles, Chicken/Veggies, Peanut Sauce, topped with some chopped peanuts.  It was delicious! Denver commented many times how fun it was and tasty too!

We both thought it could used a little bit more salt (non was added and it was reduced soy sauce). If you have regular soy sauce it will probably taste fine, or you could add chicken broth to the peanut sauce and the chicken. Another fun addition would be sesame oil to cook the chicken.  Enjoy!

Cranberry Apple Crisp

I was feeling rather festive the other day at the grocery store and bought a scoop of frozen(ish) cranberries out of an open freezer bin (much like the large nut display that I'm used to). I scooped up a small bag and wondered what they would turn into once they got into our kitchen  :)  All the possibilities were exciting to my cooking-loving brain.

After having them defrost in the refrigerator for a couple days I told Denver that I really must make them into something. Originally I was thinking of Cranberry (Pound) Bread - I'm not sure if there is such a recipe, but it sounded good!  Then I was going to make a Cranberry Apple Pie (the picture online looks so pretty). But at 8:30pm on Saturday night I didn't feel like rolling out pie dough. So instead I made an Apple Cranberry Crisp - and it was fabulous!

The apples turn red color from the cranberries

this is on a glass plate - tricky :)

Here is the recipe if anyone wants to try it:  50 65  

• 3 cups chopped peeled tart apples  (I used more than 3 cups)
• 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1 cup sugar (I did 3/4 c.)
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• I added cinnamon - probably about a 1-2 teaspoons
• TOPPING:
• 1-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped Diamond of California® Pecans
• Again I added some cinnamon - probably about 1 teaspoon

Directions

• Combine apples, cranberries, sugar and flour. Pour into a greased 11-in. x 7-in. (I used a 9x13) baking dish. In a bowl, mix topping ingredients until crumbly; sprinkle over apple mixture. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until fruit is tender. Yield: 6-8 servings.