When I asked for easy recipes with simple ingredients on Facebook to share with you, someone shared this link with me. I haven’t gotten to explore this YouTube channel as much as I’d like, but you might find it worth checking out. During The Great Depression things were much tighter than they are now and people survived it. There are so many things we can learn from the past…we shouldn’t lose that knowledge.
Monthly Archives: March 2020
Simple Eating – Cherry Dump Cake
Ursula Raphael is a book reviewer that I meet online. She quickly became one of my favorite ladies in this world. You can find her reviews here: Astradaemon’s Lair. And you can find a quick and super easy recipe for cake she shared with me below. No eggs, butter, or milk required (scarce ingredients right now)!
Cherry Dump Cake
by Ursula Raphael
Ingredients:
1 box of cherry cake mix
1 can of Cherry Dr. Pepper
Instructions:
Mix and bake as instructed on the box.
It doesn’t get much simpler than that! Enjoy your cake.
Copyright © Ursula Raphael 2020
New Release – Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus by Jonathan Fortin
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus
by Jonathan Fortin
England, 1876. Twenty-year-old Maraina Blackwood has always struggled to adhere to the restrictive standards of Victorian society, denying the courage and desire that burn within her soul. But after a terrifying supernatural encounter, Maraina’s instincts compel her to action.
Maraina soon discovers a plot to unleash a new world—one of demonic aristocrats, bloody rituals, and nightmarish monsters. Putting her upbringing aside, Maraina vows to fight the dark forces assuming control of England. But as her world transforms, Maraina finds that she too must transform…and what she becomes will bring out all that she once buried.
Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus is the first chapter in an epic dark fantasy saga, proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.
Copyright © Jonathan Fortin 2020
Simple Eating – Fresh Salsa
This is a recipe that can be changed every which way to accommodate any preferred taste, but it’s also great straight forward. I’ve used it for chili, chips and salsa, tacos, and even lettuce wraps. You can put it on almost anything for any meal to add flavor with fresh veggies! It’s also cheap and easy to make. I guarantee you’ll make it time and again.
Fresh Salsa
by Rebecca Besser
Ingredients:
3 large tomatoes
1 medium to large onion
2 jalapenos
1 tsp salt
Instructions:
Dice tomatoes. Finely dice onions and jalapeno peppers (remove veins (the pith) and seeds if you don’t want the heat from the jalapenos).
Add salt to taste (you don’t have to use it all–add in half and see if it’s enough, and add additional if/as needed).
Mix well until combined.
It should look like this:
Optional ingredients:
You can add a can of drained corn, black beans, and/or black eyed peas.
You can add lime juice if you want more acid.
You can add a tablespoon or two into smashed avocados, lime juice, and cilantro (if you like it) and wham you have guacamole!
You can use different peppers–poblano peppers or even bell peppers–instead of jalapenos.
You can use frozen or canned jalapenos if that’s what you have.
Best if eaten within a week.
Copyright © Rebecca Besser 2020
Simple Eating – Build A Mountain
Kim Curley is a a wonderful woman and one of my closest friends. She was also one of the first to step up to share recipes when I expressed my idea for this section of my blog on Facebook.
Build A Mountain
By Kim Curley
Ingredients:
Canned Tuna mixed with mayonnaise (like you’re making tuna salad, except don’t add pickle relish or anything else to the mix)
Mashed potatoes
Lettuce
Instructions:
Make sure your canned tuna and mayo are pre-mixed first and set aside. You can even do this earlier and let it sit in the fridge.
Cook enough mashed potatoes according to instructions for the amount of people you’re feeding (2, 4, 6, etc.). Set aside.
Now, the building phase:
On plates or bowls, shred or tear your lettuce into bite size portions. Place mashed potatoes on top of lettuce, followed by tuna mixture.
You’ve built your mountain!
If you want, you can stir the mixture all together, or you can eat it as layered.
Extras: add a little extra butter, salt and pepper to taste.
To really spice it up, if you’ve got a little Tabasco, a few drops-not a lot!-might make it taste better for some folks.
We’ve used this numerous times when we’re down to nothing in the pantry, as well as an inexpensive, but filling meal when the purse strings need to be tightened! Enjoy!
Copyright © Kim Curley 2020
Simple Eating – Crock Pot Chicken And Dumplings
Gwen Wells is a lovely woman that I know IRL. When I posted online about starting a simple recipe section on my blog to help people eat better with what they have available, she was one of the first to step up to share a recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
Crock Pot Chicken And Dumplings
by Gwen Wells
4 chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
salt, pepper, oregano to taste
2 Tbsp butter
onion (chopped)
2 cups chicken broth (or 2 chicken bouillon cubes and 2 c water)
2 tubes refrigerator biscuits (to be used at the end of cooking)
Directions:
Put chicken breasts in crock pot.
Mix remaining ingredients (except biscuits) together and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. When the chicken is cooked, take 2 forks and shred chicken in the crock pot.
One hour before eating, cut biscuits into quarters and drop into crock pot mixture and stir. Cook one additional hour. Serve.
Substitutions:
You could use canned chicken, or thighs etc. You’d just have to debone after cooking.
Gwen says this recipe’s leftovers are even better than fresh, so don’t throw any away!
Copyright © Gwen Wells 2020
Simple Eating – Marinades
Marinades
by Chris Redding
This is adapted from a workshop I teach called Cooking on a Deadline.
Right now it could be called: Cooking During the Apocalypse or When Every Night is an Episode of Chopped.
This blog post will focus on marinades. They are an easy way to flavor your meat. When you’ve marinated something you can then grill it, broil it or sauté it. Your choice.
The marinades I use have several basic components. You will probably have these in your kitchen so you can keep social distancing or for introverts, Tuesday.
Start with an oil, but I don’t use too much and if you have to watch your fat this is the part you can skip. The next is an acid. Most of the time I use vinegar which was on my list of kitchen must haves. I like to keep a variety of vinegars in the house. They don’t go bad and can be used for many things. Lemons and limes work also. Lemon juice in that plastic lemon will work also. No need to be too proud during this crazy time. Acids help break down the meat making it tender.
Next there are herbs and/or spices. You can do ANYTHING here. Choose whatever combination you like or whatever you have in the cupboard. Pull out that bottle of rubbed sage you only use at Thanksgiving. Someone sent you Hawaiian sea salt or Sel de Mar from France, put it in there. The sky, or your cabinet, is the limit.
For an extra kick, tabasco sauces which I think I need to add to my kitchen must haves. Or Dijon mustard works also. Hey, at this point, salad dressing works, too. There are no marinade police so do what you want.
Using this formula, you can make any kind of marinade. I usually make these a day ahead or that morning. Beef and pork can be marinated for a while. Chicken or fish don’t need as much time.
Let’s try one:
Oil, olive oil is best and extra virgin has the most flavor, but any will do.
Acid, we’ll use balsamic vinegar this time. White vinegar works if that is all you have.
Herbs/spices, this time of year I have fresh basil, so that gets cut up and put in along with salt and pepper and maybe even some fresh chives. Sadly right now unless you planned for it, you won’t have those. Stick whatever dried stuff you have in there, but rub it between your well-washed hands to bring out the esters.
If you want it a little spicy, but some chipotle tabasco sauce in it.
Easy, peasy. Now put your meat in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Pour the marinade over it. Zip it, then rub the marinade into the meat. Put it in your fridge and it will be ready to go that evening or the next evening. Voila!
Note: You can marinate fresh vegetables too, for some extra flavor!
Chris Redding writes paranormal romance mostly involving gargoyles. There is often at least one of them who loves to cook. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. She is a ghostwriter, developmental editor and writing coach. www.chrisreddingauthor.com or email, chrisreddingauthor@yahoo.com
Copyright © Chris Redding 2020
Simple Eating – Cooking With Limited Options
Currently the world has gone crazy. People are buying out the grocery stores in an effort to keep themselves and their families fed during social distancing, stay at home, and shelter in place orders. This is making desired and even common food items hard to get. In turn, it’s getting increasingly harder for people who don’t have a good selection of goods to make a decent meal.
And there are even the people who don’t have much, if any, experience with cooking who can’t afford take-out every day/night because they might not currently have an income. Their limited funds add another challenge into the mix of simply eating.
All of this puts a lot of people in a difficult position. What do you make to eat? How do you make something your family will eat with what you have? How do you make something edible with just a couple, odd ball ingredients?
Since I can see this becoming a bigger and bigger issue for people over time, I’ve decided to add a recipe section to my blog (Simple Eating). I plan to post simple recipes from myself and others that anyone can make, or that can be made using just a few ingredients people might be able to get their hands on. There will also be posts to resources or other simple recipes when they can be found online.
Together we can get through this, and to do that, we all need to eat! I hope you find these recipes helpful as you and your family navigate the dietary challenges of your grocery stores, pantries, and skills.
Nurse Blood Blurb – Justin T. Coons
Justin T Coons is a freelance artist & illustrator. Neo-pulp, horror, bizzaro, & pinup.
His painting, Have a Heart (https://www.facebook.com/HorrorArt/photos/a.122997937731725.14121.122995884398597/122998014398384/?type=3&theater), was the inspiration for Nurse Blood.
Justin’s art has graced the cover of my book, Undead Drive-Thru, twice; he did the internal art for the first version. And he did the cover art for the first version of Nurse Blood.
Find his art by following the link below, and see what he has to say about my novel, Nurse Blood!
https://www.facebook.com/HorrorArt/
Click here to get Nurse Blood for free on Kindle from March 13-17, 2020!
Nurse Blood Blurb – Courtney Rene
Courtney Rene is a very talented author who is mainly published with Rogue Phoenix Press. She has two amazing series that are geared toward teen/YA ladies. She’s also a guest author in my title, Zombies Inside! We live close together and coordinate books signings (she likes dark fiction too). We are also both graduates of the Institute of Children’s Literature!
Find her books by following the link below, and see what she has to say about my novel, Nurse Blood!
https://www.amazon.com/Courtney-Rene/e/B004X6SS2Y/
Click here to get Nurse Blood for free on Kindle from March 13-17, 2020!
Life With Words 