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July 25, 2011

A Summertime Salad Recipe

 

Time for trying out some new salads in the summertime fun–here’s a great one on a super hot day like the Midwest and Eastern seaboard have been experiencing lately.  This salad is great for your family picnic or backyard picnic table or deck—great to cool off by–enjoy!

                                            Canteloupe Cucumber Salad

1 medium to large cucumber, peeled

4 cups canteloupe cubes

12 large fresh mint leaves

1 Tablespoon lemon or lime juice

1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 Teaspoon Watkins ground chile pepper powder

Directions

Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and remove the seeds, then cut into 1/4 inch slices.  In a large bowl mix in with the canteloupe cubes, lemon or lime juice, mint and olive oil.  Add optional salt to taste if desired.  Chill thoroughly and sprinkle with Watkins chile powder right before serving.   

Have a great week out there!

Sherry and Natures’ Heritage staff

To order Watkins products or find out about Business Opportunities www.watkinsonline.com/martinez1

March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick’s Day—

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and of course many of you are wearing green in honor of this special day.  And making corned beef and cabbage, the Irish dish actually more celebrated in the United States than Ireland, for dinner or supper.  Corned beef would have been a delicacy in the old days in Ireland, mostly reserved for Kings and nobility,  and that’s no blarnery!  However, it is popular in America and there is a traditional recipe listed below for it–enjoy. 

A Traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe Ingredients

 5  Pounds corned beef brisket

 2  Cloves of fresh garlic

 1  medium onion, quartered

2  Whole cloves

 10  Whole black peppercorns

½  Teaspoon Watkins mustard seed

2  Bay leaves

 1  Large head of cabbage

 Place the corned beef brisket in a large heavy pan and cover with cold water. Add garlic, onion, cloves, peppercorns, mustard seeds and bay leaves. Bring all ingredients to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for a few minute, discarding the film that forms and making sure the brisket is still covered with water. Cover the pan and continue to simmer for 3 to 4 hours, until the brisket is very tender. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Add the cabbage and continue until cabbage is tender, about 20 minutes. Slice corned beef and serve with cabbage.  Enjoy!

 A common phrase heard on St. Patrick’s Day is “Erin go braugh” which is a phonetic version of Éirinn go brách which in Gaelic means “Ireland Forever.”  It was an Irish blessing used to express allegiance to Ireland in the olden days. 

And with that I think we will investigate some Irish Oatmeal, more popularly known as steel cut oats, and Irish coffee recipes–complete with a dollop of whipped cream and those little green cookies that look like shamrocks–to celebrate the day by.

Keep looking for those 4 leaf clovers!

 Natures’ Heritage Staff

Home Based Business Opportunity at www.watkinsonline.com/martinez1

February 28, 2011

Oscar Night

Filed under: The Chef's Hat — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 3:17 am

Enjoying some great French Onion Soup tonight made with Watkins fine spices and ingredients while taking in the Academy Awards, or more commonly known as when “Mr. Oscar” comes to town…

All the ladie’s gowns are stunning, the gents great looking in their tuxes and the clips of the movies wonderful to see again.  Here’s hoping the “King’s Speech” takes the grand prize–we’ll soon know…and as they used to say in the old days “Film at 11:00″…

And now back to that Academy Award winning soup while we wait!

January 9, 2011

Tasty Chicken Flatbread

Filed under: The Chef's Hat — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 3:04 am

 

Natures’ Heritage staff has been experimenting with flatbreads and pitas lately.  Here is one of our favorite recipes to date to come from this fun activity.  Enjoy!

4 Flatbreads

4 Boneless chicken breasts

4 Tomatoes, peeled and sliced

2 Ounces feta cheese, crumbled

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 Cup olive oil

Salt and Watkins Pepper to taste

Lettuce of choice, Kalamata or black olives

Grill chicken and cut into slices.  Mix tomatoes, cheese, lemon juice and olive oil.  Season with salt and Watkins pepper.  Fold in the chicken and place on the flatbread.  Add the lettuce and tomato mix mixing in olives.  Fold the flatbread in two and serve.

Yogurt sauce can also be added to the top of the flatbread mixture for an additional treat.  A good yogurt recipe is –

2 Cups Yogurt

1 Clove Garlic, minced

3 Walnuts, chopped

1 Teaspoon olive oil

Salt and Watkins pepper

Place the 2 cups of yogurt in a bowl and mash the garlic, walnuts and olive oil together.  Mix in the yogurt and season with salt and Watkins pepper.

December 19, 2010

Cranberry Salsa (Ole!)

 

 

One of my favorite food items during the holidays is Cranberry Salsa, with just a hint of  Watkins Vanilla in it.  The salsa is a delightful mix of sweet and tangy for your taste buds and will definitely liven up any food or side dishes, including stuffing, tacos, turkey, gamebirds, etc.  Great by itself on chips as well.  Here is the basic, original recipe I make every year.  Feel free to vary the ingredients according to your taste and tolerance for “heat”.  Enjoy!

 Cranberry Salsa (Ole!) 

2 cups fresh cranberries (frozen cranberries can be substituted)

½ to 1 Serrano or Jalapeno chili, chopped (adding more than ½ of a chili will add to the “heat” of the salsa, so you might want to experiment)

4 Tablespoons Sugar

1/8 Teaspoon Watkins Vanilla

2 Tablespoons of fresh cilantro, chopped

Pinch of salt

1/8 Teaspoon lemon or lime juice 

Mash up the cranberries a bit or use the blender to create a pulpy mix of cranberries.  Do not overblend.  Combine the shredded, pulpy cranberries with the chili, sugar, and Watkins vanilla in a bowl and let sit for about 20 minutes, after which add the cilantro, salt, lemon or lime juice to the cranberry mix.  Mix together well.  That’s all there is to it.

Sherry

Home Based Business Opportunity at www.watkinsonline.com/martinez1

“Where the past and present meet to fill your needs”

December 12, 2010

Some of Natures’ Heritage Favorite Food and Cooking Sites

 

From time to time we get asked what some of our favorite sites for cooking, baking and foodies are.  

Growing up in Minnesota with General Mills headquartered in Minneapolis, Betty Crocker, the Pillsbury Dough Boy and the Jolly Green Giant provided many ideas and recipes that became standard fare in our homes.  So I’ve started the list off with these three old favorite standby sites, with eight more newer ones to get you started–for added enjoyment use Watkins spices and extracts when the recipes call for these ingredients!

Betty Crocker–      http://www.bettycrocker.com/

Pillsbury–                http://www.pillsbury.com/

Green Giant–          http://www.greengiant.com/

The Reluctant Gourmet– http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/ 

Foodgeeks.com–  http://www.foodgeeks.com/

Good Cooking–      http://www.goodcooking.com/

Rachel Ray–            http://www.rachaelray.com/

Paula Deen–            http://www.pauladeen.com/

The Food Channel–http://foodchannel.com/

Emeril.com–             http://emeril.com/

Martha Stewart–     http://www.marthastewart.com/

Happy exploring!  And if you have a favorite site you’d like to have Natures’ Heritage check out, please send it along–

Sherry

Home Business Opportunity at www.watkinsonline.com/martinez1

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December 6, 2010

Some Easy Holiday Favorites to Share

Filed under: The Chef's Hat — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 1:07 am

 

Tasty Cranberry Relish—a great condiment for your holiday dishes–

3 Cups fresh cranberries, chopped

2 Tomatoes, chopped

3 Tablespoons green chilies

1 Teaspoon Watkins ground Cumin

1 Teaspoon ground coriander

1 Cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all of the above ingredients and refrigerate for 2 hours.  Enjoy!

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Fruity Sweet Potatoes

2 Cans packed sweet potatoes

Watkins gourmet Cinnamon

1 16 oz. can crushed pineapple with juice

Mash potoates in dish and mix in crushed pineapple.  Add Watkins cinnamon to taste.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or completely baked through.  Apples can be subsituted for the sweet potatoes if desired.

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Crab Stuffed Avocados –appetizer or fun idea for salads 

2 Cups fresh crabmeat, drained and flaked

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

1/4 Cup  vegetable oil

1/2 Cup sliced green onions

2 Tablespoons wine vinegar

1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

3 small avocados—remove the avocados from their skins 

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Lettuce leaves

Combine crabmeat, oranges, oil, geen onions, vinegr and garlic salt mixing well.  Cut avocados in half lengthwise, removing the pit and brush the halves with lemon juice.  Fill with the crabmeat mixture and place the avocado halves on lettuce leaves.  Serves 4-6.

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Crawfish Ettouffee

1 pound crawfish tails

1 medium onion, chopped

a stalk celery, chopped

1 medium bell pepper

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 Cup parsley, chopped

1/2 stick butter or margarine

1 Can celery soup

Saute onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic in butter or margarine until cooked.  Add crawfish tails and season with salt, red pepper, garlic salt or Watkins powdered garlic salt, and Watkins ground pepper to taste.  Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup water and stir in the celery soup.  Close to the crawfish tails being complete, add in the fresh green onions and cloves.  Add 2 tablespoon of bread crumbs to thicken and serve over cooked rice of your choice.

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The statements made and opinions expressed on this page are those of Sherry Martinez, Independent Watkins Associate #390282 who is the publisher of this document, and are not to be construed as the statements or opinions of Watkins Incorporated. All rights reserved.