Smashwords COVID19 Crisis Promotion

 Only 4 Days left!!!!!

Smashwords Authors are offering many of their books at discounted rates or for free to help you get through the COVID19 Crisis.

Check out Ria Stone's books at:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/RiaStone

Don't forget to check Smashwords Forum authors too:

https://smashwords-forum.proboards.com/ 

Including the Smashwords Writers Anthology:

Tales From Indies

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/SmashwordsForum

Stay home, stay safe!

Hotplate: Rice, Chicken and Vegetable Stew

I love the works of Dick Francis, a famous British Steeple Chase Jockey. I have lived in the worlds of horse racing that he created in my mind for years.

So, of course, when I found these recipes in an article about Jockey's diets (http://www.greatbritishracing.com/latest/the-jockey-diet/), I had to give them a try.

The idea for this recipe came from: Hayley Turner’s Chicken and Vegetable Risotto.

I have tried to make risotto several times without success, meaning the rice never got very soft. But, this turned out to be a tasty, filling dish.


Rice, Chicken and Vegetable Stew


Ingredients:

2 Cups water
1 Cube chicken bouillon
1-2 TBspns vegetable oil
1 Tspn onion powder
1 Tspn garlic powder
Ground black pepper
1 dash of hot sauce
1 cup rice
1 Can chicken, drained
2-3 TBspns frozen mixed vegetables
2 TBspns frozen red bell peppers, sliced
1 Can 8oz mushroom slices, drained and rinsed



Process:

In a 2-cup measuring cup, add water and bouillon cube.
Microwave on high for 3 minutes.
Remove, stir to dissolve bouillon.
Add oil to large pot.
Add onion and garlic powders.
Heat on medium.
Stir.
Add ground black pepper and hot sauce.
Stir.
Add rice.
Stir.
Cover.
Heat on medium for about five minutes.
Stir frequently.
Add 1/3 of chicken stock.
Bring to a boil.
Stir.
Reduce to a simmer.
Stir.
Cover.
Cook until the liquid has been absorbed.
Add remaining stock.
Stir.
Cover.
Simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
Add vegetables to a large bowl.
Add black ground pepper.
Stir to mix.
Microwave vegetables on high for 3-4 minutes.
Add chicken to rice.
Stir to mix and break up chunks.
Allow mixture to heat thoroughly.
Add vegetables.
Stir and mix.
Let mixture heat thoroughly.

The recipe made a lot of stew. So, I froze half of it in single serving containers. I also added some of the stew to the Quick Tomato and Vegetable Broth to make a hearty soup.

#GERD-friendly

Hotplate: Quick Tomato and Vegetable Broth

This is a "Kitchen sink recipe", meaning toss in whatever vegetables you can find in the frig.

Quick Tomato and Vegetable Broth



Ingredients:

4 cups water in a pot
1 cube tomato bouillon
1 dollop canola oil
5 dashes garlic powder
5 dashes onion powder
1 Tspn thyme, crushed
2 dashes oregano powder
2 dashes hot sauce
2 grinds ground black pepper
6oz leftover tomato-pasta liquid
6 snack carrots, diced
6 stalks celery, diced
1 1/2 cup cooked small white beans
3 TBspns canned mushroom pieces, drained


Process:

Add bouillon cube to pan of water.
Add oil.
Add spices.
Bring to a boil.
Add diced vegetables and beans.
Stir.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium, to a simmer.
Add mushrooms.
Simmer for 15 minutes.

Hotplate: Scallop Squash Slices and Cheese

I've made this before but I did it wrong.

This time the dish was much better.


Scallop Squash Slices and Cheese

Ingredients:

1 Scallop Squash, washed
1 Pot about 1/4 full of water
1 dash of hot sauce
Ground black pepper
Mozzarella cheese (or other cheese)

Process:

Cut the squash in half. remove seeds, if desired.
Cut each half into thin slices.
Place slices in pot of water.
Add a dash of hot sauce.
Stir.
Bring to a boil.
Simmer about 15 minutes until squash is soft.
Drain squash.
Place squash into a microwave dish.
Sprinkle mozarella cheese or chunks over squash, be generous.
Sprinkle mixture with ground black pepper (Optional).
Microwave on high for about 30 seconds to melt cheese.

This was so good, I ate the whole thing.

I need to make this recipe more often. It is delicious and healthy.

#GERD-friendly

 

Hotplate: COVID19 Quick Chicken Vegetable Broth

I will be posting about my experiences self-quarantining.

I am a small portion eater to begin with but, after a recalculation of my pantry supplies, I decided to try making a soup to stretch my vegetable and protein stock. I adapted my Hotplate: Simple Chicken Vegetable Soup recipe as a trial.



Hotplate: COVID19 Quick Chicken Vegetable Broth


Ingredients:

1 Chicken bouillon cube
6 cups of water
3 Dashes Onion powder
3 Dashes Garlic powder
2 Dashes Hot sauce (Optional)
1 Grind black pepper
4 TBspns frozen mixed vegetables
1 Heaping TBspn canned chicken, drained
2 TBspns canned diced potatoes, drained and rinsed
Use What You Have regarding additions, I found:
2 Snack carrots, diced
2 TBspns canned salsa
Small quantity of cooked white beans


Process:

Add 2 cups of water to a microwaveable container
Add 1 bouillon cube to the water.
Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes.
Remove and stir until bouillon cube has dissolved.
Add stock to large pot.
Add 4 cups of water.
Add spices.
Stir.
Cover pot.
Cook on high.
Cover pot.
Bring liquid to a boil.
Add vegetables and leftovers.
Stir.
Recover pot.
Cook on medium for about 15 minutes.
Check vegetables, if they are soft, the soup is ready, if not, cook for 5-10 minutes more.

This recipe could make 6-8 servings.

Cool remaining soup. Freeze in portions.


#GERD-friendly, if you determine which and how much of the spices you can tolerate.

 

Book Summary: Books by Four Primatologists

Note: This is a book summary written years ago.

I feel lucky enough to have the time to read a whole book, but I do not have enough time to write a full review.

After, I got Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey, I picked up In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall; Almost Human by Shirley Strum; and Return to Eden by Biruté Gladikas.

As you may know, the authors are the famous primatologists of the 60s and 70s who overturned existing theories and practices of previous primate observers.

Goodall was paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey's first log-term primate observer to begin a study of chimpanzees. Fossey and Biruté followed studying gorillas and orangutans. Strum (not a Leakey protege) studied baboons.

This is what I enjoy, reading perspectives of a time and events by the main participants. Without the simultaneous readings, I would have missed a lot of the references to the underlying politics and personality conflicts. This knowledge added to the pleasure of reading about four women who lived in isolated pieces of wilderness with their particular primates as essentially their only companions.

Biruté and Strum benefited from Goodall's and Fossey's experiences, both refer to them and from that knowledge chose actions and outlooks that helped them avoid actions and attitudes that brought Goodall and Fossey adversity.

Both Biruté's and Strum's books reveal a depth of perspective regarding not only the primates but their environmental and local culture.

What surprised me was all the books covered as much as a thirty-year timespan and that all the authors witnessed dramatic changes in their study group due to the effects of increased human population. Each of the primates' territories faced severe destruction from logging, hunting, and farming. Each observer had to find a way to work with local jurisdictions to find a solution to save the primate's habitat.

While I enjoyed all the books, Strum's went the furtherest. She even briefly mentioned the reentry problems long-term primate observers face when returning to civilization. For every problem she encountered, she sought a rational, logical explanation and solution.

A New Batch of Vegetables - How Meals Will They Make?

I went to a local Expat market to get 1 cucumber and came home with 9 vegetables.

How many meals will they make?

Day One:

Quick pickles
Cucumber water with cucumber slices
Cucumber and Apple salad with yogurt
MW Baked potato topped with beans and cream cheese
Sliced up lime and froze for use in various drinks

Day Two:

Baked Apples
Vegetable Soup with potatoes
Sliced up Bell peppers and froze for future recipe

FYI: The cost for the 9 vegetables was $62MX. This was an Expat market, so I assume the prices are higher than at a local market.

$62MX = $3.30US (based on $18.77 exchange rate for 1$ on this day.)

I looked at an American Grocery flyer (I do not have a car, so I choose a store near my home that I can reach by bus) online and came up with this cost comparison:

Apples $1.79 - 2.49 a pound
Potatoes $3.50 for a 24oz bag or 3.99 for a 5lb bag
Peppers and/or Cucumbers 3 for $5
.10 or .25 for a lime, a Key lime or a Persian Lime

Estimated cost:

1.79 - 2.49 Apples
1.25 Potatoes
5.00 Peppers and Cucumbers
0.10 Lime
--------
$8.14 - $8.84US