Charlotte’s Kitchen

Archive for April, 2007

Tomorrow is Easter and the tradition at our church is that the elders make an Easter breakfast before the service. Since he’s an elder, John is out in the kitchen making up one of his favorite foods; Sausage Gravy.

We don’t have this very often since we’re both trying to lose weight but it sure is a nice treat once in a while.

• 1 Pound Sage Sausage
• 2 Tablespoons Chopped Onion
• 8 Tablespoons Flour
• 1 Quart 2 % Milk
• 1/2 teaspoon Poultry Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Dash of Garlic Power
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce
• Dash of Hot Pepper sauce

1. Brown the sausage.
2. Add chopped onion and cook two minutes over medium heat.
3. Drain well.
4. Add flour, mix and cook over medium heat until golden brown.
5. Add milk and stir well.
6. Add remaining ingredients.
7. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened.

Serve over fresh biscuits or toast.

Nutrition Information per serving
Calories 684
Fat 54g
Protein 23g
Carbohydrates 25g
Dietary Fiber 1g
Cholesterol 11omg
Sodium 1016mg

Part of the beauty of this recipe is that you can make it as thin or as thick as you like. I find that everybody likes it a little different so you can make it your way.

Even though my husband and I are trying to lose weight, we still like to eat. Rather than dieting we are just being more careful about what and how much we eat. Here’s a french fry recipe that tastes great and isn’t fried. How cool is that? I hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray

1-1/2 pounds all-purpose potatoes, unpeeled and scrubbed

1-1/2 tsp Onion Liquid Spice

1/4 tsp or to taste Seasoning Salt

To taste Black Pepper

Cooking Directions:

Set oven rack on upper level; preheat oven to 400º.

Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Cut each potato lengthwise into 8 wedges and place in a large bowl.

Toss with Liquid Spice.

Sprinkle with Seasoning Salt and pepper.

Spread potatoes on baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes.

Loosen and turn the potatoes; roast for an additional 10 to 15 minutes longer or until golden brown. Serve hot.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutritional Information Per Serving
Calories 130
Protein 3 g
Carbohydrates 29 g
Sodium 50 mg
Fat 1 g
Saturated fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Dietary fiber 3 g

You’ll notice that I’ve got a link to Garden Web in my sidebar. This is the best gardening website on the internet. They claim they are the largest gardening site on the web, and I believe it. There’s a bunch of different forums, tons of articles, directories and answers to just about anything you could want to know about gardening.

One of my favorite spots is the seed exchange forum. You can post lists of seeds you have extras of or lists of seeds you are looking for. Then you basically swap with other people, or in some cases you can get the seeds just for sending them a stamped envelope.

The other spot I spent a lot of time at last fall was the Winter Sowing exchange. I’d never heard of winter sowing before I’m trying it this year, because of the information I found here, and the seeds that I got through the exchange.

If you like gardening, you really need to do yourself a favor and check out Garden Web.

GardenWeb is the largest gardening site on the Web, with garden forums, articles on gardening, directories of nurseries, gardens and gardening organizations, a botanical glossary, an events calendar, a plant database, contests, and much more!

Last Sunday night in church we had a presentation about evolution. I found it to be very interesting. It was a video put out by Answers in Genesis. The scientist who narrated it was a staunch evolutionist until he started studying and came to realize that the science couldn’t back up what he believed. It was an older video since I see they have Volume 3 on the Answers in Genesis website.

Last year we spent several weeks going through the “Answers Academy”, another course put out by AiG. It was a 13 week course in looking through at the world from a biblical viewpoint. It dealt with things like geology, geography and evolution.  Very interesting material.  If you ever get a chance to see any of the stuff from AiG you should.  They have some really good stuff, and it’s all done by scientists.

But enough about that, I’ve got 40 pounds of potting soil screaming at me to get my annuals planted so I’m off to play in the dirt.