Healthier Corn Chowder with Butternut Squash and Bacon

After making the corn chowder I posted earlier, I found out there was some hidden sugars in it.  So I came up with a little bit better recipe that I like even more.  Apparently cream corn and ham have sugar in them.  Most things have sugar in them, you can miss them if you are not looking for the right things.  The recipe is not free of sugar completely, but has less than before, a scant amount that should not be a problem, when it comes to weight loss.

1 carton of Organic Chicken Stock (Kirkland's brand from Costco)
1 butternut squash, peeled and seeded, cut into small chunks (1-2 inches)
1 large yellow onion, minced or diced
1 Tbsp of minced garlic, fresh or from the jar (fresh is best)
2-15 oz. cans of corn, blended in your blender (I used my Magic Bullet.)
2-15 oz. cans of corn, left whole, you can use frozen corn too (I did not have any on hand.)
   (The corn I used is also Kirkland brand, it has no added sugar.)
1-8 oz. package of cream cheese, cut up into chunks
   (check your labels, some cream fat free cream cheeses have corn syrup)
1 cup of bacon crumbles (I used the fully cooked kind, but you have to watch them, some have sugar in the   curing process)

Put everything in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours. Stir and smash the squash with a potato smasher.  Serve hot and enjoy!  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Corn Chowder with Butternut Squash

It has been pretty cold the last few days and snowy too.  So I decided to make some soup before going to work on Monday.  I love my crock pot and use it a lot, especially in the winter time.  I wanted to make some Duane friendly soup, so I started looking for a bean or corn variety on Pinterest.  I remembered seeing one that looked good a while back.  Well, I could not find the one I was thinking of, but I did find an interesting corn chowder.  The recipe can be found  here, but remember, I like to change things up a bit and make them a little more Duane friendly and use what I have on hand. I will give you my recipe as we go.

This picture is of the leftovers. I was at work when Duane ate it and did not get to take the final picture in the crock pot.  It still looks tasty though.  Much better tasting than I thought it would be.  I added butternut squash instead of potatoes and I am not a big fan of squash.  The ham gives it just the right amount of flavor to make you almost forget their is even squash in it.  Although my kids loved it as babies, they won't even touch it now, but they don't like to try new things.  Someday they will learn that it's not so bad after all.

  

The recipe I found called for potatoes, creamed corn, canned corn, chicken broth, ham, onion, butter and cream or milk.  I had on hand cream of chicken soup, ham, onion, creamed corn, frozen corn and butternut squash.  I figured the squash was similar in texture and cooking time as potatoes and Duane can't eat potatoes but he can eat squash and likes it very much.  He will cut it in half and bake it for an hour or so and then eat it with cinnamon on it or plain.  Yuck, I can eat it that way, but do not like it much.  Something about the way it sits in my stomach, I just don't care for it that way.  But I did like it in the chowder.  It was a pretty big squash, so I only used half of it.  I cut it into halves, quarters and then eighths.  I shaved the outer layer off with my knife, very carefully, so as not to cut myself.  I like not having seeds to clean out, that is a plus with butternut squash.  Then I cut it up into about 1 inch thick chunks, so it would cook quicker.

I figured that cream of chicken was just about the same as chicken broth, butter and cream.  I did rinse the can and add the water into the mixture.  I think it worked out just fine.  You could use 2 small cans, but this is what I had on hand, so I used it.

I had some ham left over from the chicken Cordon Bleu last week.  I chopped it into about 1/2 inch or slightly larger squares.  It was pre-sliced and they were thick, so I only used 2 slices.

Chop and add the onion.  I used a nicer dicer, it works great.  If you don't have a fancy chopper or slicer, just cut it into small chunks.  I like them small, but it is up to you and how big you like them.

 Add the can of creamed corn and about 1 or 2 cups of frozen corn.  Stir it up a bit and cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours.  I started on low for about 2 hours, but thought it would take too long, so I turned it up to high just before I left for work at 1:30.  Duane ate around 6, so it was on high for about 4 or 5 hours.  I left him a note to smash up the squash a little before he ate it.  He said it was a little runny, but still good.  I think if you smash them up and let it cook for another 30 minutes or so, it would thicken up more.  It was thicker the next night, when we ate leftovers.  I always like my crock pot concoctions the next day.  Something about having the flavors meld together and congeal a little more.  I think I might add a little garlic next time or some other seasonings, just to see if it will make it even better.

Chowder mixture before cooking.

It was a very yummy dinner, both times around.  That is another thing I love about making stuff in the crock pot, you can make a big batch and eat leftovers once or twice.  I hope you enjoyed the post.  If you have any suggestions or recipes to share, pleas leave a comment.  Happy Cooking!!!

Feeding the Missionaries

   In my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, otherwise known as Mormons, we have young missionaries that share the gospel with others.  These missionaries pay for the mission themselves.  As members, we try to help them by feeding them dinner.  I have not been able to sign up to feed them in a while, so I was excited to have them over and made a really big meal.  Our ward, or congregation that meets together, has two sets of missionaries.  One set are Elders, single young men 18 or older, and one set are Sisters, single young women 19 or older.  They both came to dinner last week.  I used to have them over at least once a month, but have been busy with life and I am in the Primary at church, so I do not get as much of a chance to see the calendar and sign up.
   The Primary is what we call our young children's group.  It consists of children from 18 months to 11 years.  Once they turn 12, they go to Young Men's or Young Women's classes.  When they turn 18 they go to Priesthood for the men and Relief Society for the women.  It is a wonderful program that the Lord set up for us.  I just love it!
   Anyway, I made a big dinner and tried a few new things for Duane, my husband.  He has been on a diet that is anti sugar and amylose, which is a sugar like substance that is in a lot of root vegetables, wheat and grains, and stuff like that.  So he cannot eat potatoes, bread or any desserts.  I have made a lot of changes in my diet since I have been with Duane, but that is something I am not ready to do.  I love potatoes, I love breads and I love desserts!!  I have cut back a little on all of those, just because I think it's rude to eat them in front of him and I like to be around my husband.  He got the diet from a book called "Loose the Weight You Hate!" by Ritchie C. Shoemaker, M.D.
 

We eat a lot of salads.  This is just as American blend salad mixed with some romaine lettuce that we had in the fridge.  Nothing fancy, but tasty.  We like to put avocado oil or olive oil on our salads, instead of dressing.  Some Parmesan cheese adds a little extra flavor too.

These are some really yummy biscuits that are supposed to taste like Red Lobster's cheddar bay biscuits.  I got the recipe from a Pinterest post which you can find here.  I have adapted this recipe to what I have on hand.  I had Krusteez pancake mix instead of Bisquik biscuit mix, so I omitted the sugar and buttermilk.  I just added water as the liquid, since Krusteez is a buttermilk mix.  It tastes almost the same and is still good.

These tasty little cornbread like biscuits are my invention.  Duane can eat corn, for some reason it has a different type of sugar in it, which is ok for him to eat.  So he eats a lot of corn tortillas and corn chips instead of noodles or rolls or regular chips.  So I wanted to make something he could eat instead of the cheesy biscuits.  I started out just making them like I would regular biscuits.  I added the corn flour, some baking powder, some baking soda, some salt and water.  I did not measure, sorry, I don't like measuring unless it is a recipe that I am following for the first time.  This was just one I was making up, so I did not keep track.  I believe it was 2 cups corn flour, 1- 2 tsps. baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 Tbsps. powdered buttermilk, 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese and 2 cups water.  I was trying to make it similar to the cheesy biscuit recipe, but stuff Duane could eat.  So no sugar and he can eat mozzarella cheese more so than cheddar cheese.  I added some more water until I got about the same consistency as the other recipe.  Corn flour is different from wheat flour, I have learned this by experimenting.  Almond flour, rice flour, graham flour, soy flour, whole wheat verses white flour, they all have different properties and work for some things better than others.  So just try a little hear and a little there and you will find what you like best.   

This is what the dough looked like.

 

I made some rice for everyone else, since that is what I like, besides potatoes, with my Chicken Cordon Bleu.  I just followed the cooking directions on the package of brown rice and left it in a little longer, so it got sticky, which is fine for pouring the chicken over.  I made my Chicken Cordon Bleu crock pot style.  I also found the recipe for that on Pinterest and adapted it to my needs and what I have on hand.  The recipe can be found here.  I am not sure if that was the original site I went to, but it looked like the same recipe.

My version is 6 to 8 frozen chicken breasts, 2 cans of cream of chicken soup or one family size can, rinse can and add water from can, cubed ham (about 2 cups), cubed swiss cheese (8 oz. package), salt and pepper to taste.  Sometimes I add garlic powder or onion powder to it, if I think it needs more flavor.

We had a good time and everyone liked the food.  Do you have some favorite recipes that you have adapted and would like to share?  Please leave your comments and suggestions, I can always use more ideas.  Happy Cooking!!!