Fall Foods: One Dish Meals

The other day I was looking in the refrigerator for some ideas for  dinner. I had no meat in the frig but had  some  Black Angus cooked Hamburgers patties in the freezer. No buns though. So, I looked in the cabinet, had some  whole wheat elbow noodles and some gluten free elbow noodles. A package of onion and mushroom soup mix, can of  diced Roma Tomatoes and a  shallot. Of course I had all sort of  salts and spices.

So, I decided to make a Hamburger Helper type of meal. I need to make sure it was good for our health needs. Not causing a spike in glucose and being  lower in calories but high in fiber.

this is the recipe created:


Fall One Dish HH.

3 Black Angus hamburger patties ( pre cooked)
1 (14.5 oz) can of diced Roma tomatoes
1 cup of each Barilla Gluten Free Elbow noodles and Barilla Whole wheat grain elbow noodles
1/4 cup of minced shallots
 Avocado Oil
1 envelope of Lipton Mushroom and onion dry soup mix.
AlderWood Smoked Salt*
Fine Sea Salt
ground white and black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder.
 1 tsp McCormick Perfect Pinch Italian Seasoning
1 cup water.
1 Tablespoon Honey ( I used A German  Black Forest Honey)


Boil 4 qt of water for the noodles. Once the water is boiling put 1 tsp of Alderwood Smoked salt and 1 tablespoon of Sea salt in water. This will season the noodles.  very important step! make sure the salts are dissolved, taste the water is should taste like sea water. Place the noodles in the water and boil for 8 minutes.

Now saute the shallots in about 1 tablespoon of avocado oil. add the tomatoes,  garlic and Italian seasoning. stir bring to a boil,
Add the soup mix and water stir bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes ( uncovered).   add the Honey and stir.
 cook the Patties as directed in the microwave. The ones I use are precooked and I cook them for 2 minutes. Remove them and  chop them up. place into the sauce. add about 1/8 ( pinch) of Alderwood salt. about  a pinch of cracked pepper and stir together. simmer. about  2 minutes.

Drain the pasta and add it to a pasta serving bowl with 2 tablespoon of room temp butter and a pinch of Alderwood salt. toss until all the butter and salt are Incorporated  into the pasta. Add the meat sauce and mix well. Taste and add more sea slat and pepper as needed to your taste.

I  grated a little Parmesan cheese over it  and place the cheese grater on the table for folks to add more if wish.

Enjoy, serves 6 people.
 Recipe copyright 2017 by "Auntie E Cookbook/EM Dubros"


*You can find the Alderwood Smoke salt on Ebay and Amazon. I have a place where I can get all sorts of smoked salts  the Olive Tap.
 Smoked salts add great flavors to your recipes with out having to smoke them in a smoker for hours. I will post about these amazing salts and how to use them in a later post.

Peach Time

 photo is by Beth Whitesell

I love Peaches. Somehow the end of summer and into the fall, are my favorite time to have peaches! Peach season is in August frame.  The Peaches taste sweeter and better then. Really haven't decided what type of Peach dishes I like best. Whether it is a Crisp, Cobbler, Cake, Ice cream or just a Peach Tea, all of it is good.

I have been drinking a lot of Peach Green Tea this summer. But now I am in the mood for a dessert.
Today I am going  to pick up some local Peaches. Thinking about doing a Almond Peach upside down cake.  I will post my recipe so soon as I create it. For now just try some Peaches this year. We have had a good amount a rain this summer and that is very good for the fruit Trees!

Beth Whitesell has a wonderful Peach Kuchen on her cooking site. Try it out.

Meyer Lemon pound cake.

 It's been a while since I posted. Life has been so busy. Daughter  got married in May!So we had been busy planning her Disney Wedding. Vendors and all the details. It was Fun and everyone enjoyed it. We are also in the process of Relocating my Dad to Maryland. That just takes time to decided what to do with the Virginia Home. I have been managing his health also. Have been Cooking  a lot and Creating new recipes that  he can enjoy with his diabetes. It did not spike his glucose numbers at all, with a normal serving.

I found a recipe for a lemon pound cake. Treak it a little to make more health friendly.Turned out wonderful! so I thought I would Post it  for you all to try. Come back and tell me how you liked it.

Still summer here, Lemon and Blueberries go well.


Meyer lemons are more sour and have a stronger flavor than regular lemons. Found using them in recipes gives more lemon flavor. I also find that using Quark**  gives it a  smoother taste. You can use Sour Cream however it does increase the calories and it has Sugar in it. The Quark does not have sugar and with half the calories of sour cream It is great for weight watchers! The blueberries give it the sweetness needed. The recipe does have sugar added, however the mixture of  Brown sugar and Cane is a good choice for those watching their Glucose levels."Sucrose, also known as table sugar, has a glycemic index of 68, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Glucose ranks at 96; fructose, 22; brown sugar, 64......." It has to do the the absorption of the glucose. Reducing the spikes in the blood.

 Meyer Lemon Pound Cake with Blueberries.

1 cup Softened unsalted butter
1 cup White Cane Sugar
3/4 cup Packaged Light Brown Sugar
4  large Eggs
1/8 cup Meyer Lemon Juice
1/8 cup Meyer lemon Zest Grated
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
 8oz container of Quart  cheese**
200 Grams of Fresh Blueberries dusted with 1 Tablespoon Flour
342 grams Unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt.

Grease and flour a  *Large bundt pan ( 12 cup one)
 Preheat oven to 350°F

 the Batter:
1. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy about 3 minutes
Add eggs one at a time  blending well after each addition.
 Add lemon zest , juice and vanilla beat well.

2. Sift the flour, Baking Powder and Soda, and the salt together.

3.  Add the one cup of the flour mixture to the butter mixture blend well
add 4 oz of Quart to the mixture, blend well
 Add another cup of the flour mixture to the mixture, blend well
add remaining 4 oz of the quart to the mixture, blend well
Add the  remaining flour mixture to the batter blend well.

 4.With a wooden spoon fold into blueberries  batter.

5. Pour into  prepared bundt pan and spread evenly
 Bake in preheated over 350°F for *45-50 minutes for the bundt pan
 cool on a rack and remove from the pan, to a serving dish.

16-18 Servings.
Recipe copyright 2017 by "Auntie E Cookbook/EM Dubros"
* You can use a smaller one, just fill it half way up and use a muffin tin ( grease and floured) for the extra batter ( fill them 3/4 ) . If you use a small pan bake for only 30-35 minutes and for the muffins 25 minutes.
** What is Quart Cheese you ask? here is a link to it, You  can purchase it at the grocery store. in the diary section.

Time For Chicken Noodle Soup.

Today is a Snowy and sleet and icy day. The temps are in the 20's. Yes it is Middle of March. It is not uncommon for winter to linger on well into Spring (April time). When I lived in Colorado and Upstate New York Winter lasted well into the April months.  Winter is one of my Favorite Seasons. Soups, Cinnamon Buns, Hot Cocoa and Stews are my Favorite dishes. They fit right in during the cold months. So, Today when I got up and it was Winter out side, My thought was Chicken noodle soup.

I make it from Scratch today.  the great thing about this recipes is you  probably have the ingredients already in the cupboards.Here is the recipe.



4 Quarts of water, 
2 Tablespoons Peppercorns ,
3 teaspoons of salt.
1/2teaspoon Rubbed Sage,
1 teaspoon thyme.
2 bay leaves.
3 stalks celery with tops,
3 Whole Carrots, 
3 Small Whole Shallot.( or 1 small onion.)
5 gloves garlic.
1/8 cup Rosemary Olive oil (or use regular olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon Rosemary).
 chicken backs and necks.( when I bake a whole one I bag the pieces and put them in the freezer til I need to use them)

Put all of the ingredients  into  a soup Stock pan. Bring to a boil and simmer from 1-2 hours.  This is the broth. You will be straining this.

strain the vegetables out. return stock to pot. taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste.  Add 2 cooked chicken breast roughly cut up and 1bag of  medium egg noodles. bring to boil and boil for 8 minutes.

scoop out about 1 cup of hot broth. Put in heat proof bowl add 2 tablespoons Cornstarch . Stir until dissolved. slowing add this to pot while stirring 

add ultra thin sliced;3 medium carrots and 3 stalks rib celery. cook on medium low for 6 minutes.

Stir and serve.

Recipe copyright 2017 by "Auntie E Cookbook/EM Dubros"