Cooking Day

Today I didn't have much freelance, and spring break is coming up and with the in-laws out of the country, I decided to do some cooking. We made what I call my 'pot of stuff'. It's an easy thing that started out years ago when one evening I didn't know what to make, and so I threw some stuff into a big pot. It so happened that it came out really tasty. The basics that you must have are onion, bell pepper and ground meat. The bell pepper is not optional ever. It's not the same without it. Everything else is negotiable. Here's what I put into my 'pot of stuff' tonight:

"Pot of Stuff"

a few tablespoons of bacon grease
1 onion - chopped
2 green bell peppers - chopped
2 lbs. venison (yes I hunt)
1 lb. wild pork 
2 cans of black-eyed peas
1 can of Rotel (or chopped tomatoes)
1 can of green chilis
1 can of corn 
2 potatoes

Basically, you fry up the onion and bell pepper in the bacon grease and when they are soft, you put the meat in. I also put spices on it, but I couldn't tell you how much because I never measure. I usually put garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and a little cayenne pepper. After the meat is cooked, I put the rest of the stuff in and let it simmer for a while.

I usually don't put corn in (don't usually eat grains), but it was in the cabinet and usually I put pinto beans in, but we didn't have any, and since the mum-in-law wasn't here, I put it in (she can't have any grains at all because she has Hashimotos). See, it's whatever you have on hand. It doesn't take any time to make really and you can walk away from it if you're busy. Just make sure the temperature isn't too high and cover it.

Then as if that wasn't enough, I decided while looking to see if we had any pinto beans, that I was tired of tripping over canned pumpkin. We have so much canned pumpkin in the cabinet that it's ridiculous. I don't know why we have it but it's been in there forever, so I decided I needed to make something that would use it. I'm allergic to dairy and soy, so I can't make your typical pumpkin pie or bread. I looked around online at what generally goes in pumpkin bread and looked through some cookbooks here, and came up with the following recipe:

Dairy-free Pumpkin Bread

 Bowl 1:
1 1/2 c. almond flour
1/2 c. coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp all spice

Bowl 2:
2 large eggs
1/2 c. non-hydrogenated pure lard (melted)
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp molasses
1 c. splenda
2 packets stevia

1 c. chopped pecans or walnuts 

Grease a 9" bread pan with lard.

Whisk Bowl 1 ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Whisk Bowl 2 ingredients together in a second medium sized bowl. Whisk until smooth.

Fold Bowl 1 into Bowl 2. Cut in pecans/walnuts.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Let cool on wire rack after.

The bread came out a little moist, but the hubby approves. I think it tastes very good. Next time I might try putting just a little more coconut flour in so that it might hold together a little better. At any rate, I'm completely stuffed now.