Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake

by Farmer Melanie | Recipes

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake

There are tons of protein shake recipes out there, but if you love that chocolate and peanut butter combo, a chocolate peanut butter protein shake is a great way to curb the craving without reaching for the cookies or peanut butter cups. This chocolate peanut butter protein shake can be whipped up in your blender or smoothie maker in no time. It is packed with protein to keep you full, satisfied, and healthy.

Prep Time5 mins

Course: Beverage, Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 banana
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder or 1 cup cheese whey plus 1 – 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon honey optional

Instructions

• Blend all ingredients for 30 seconds
• Serve

Hot Buttered Rum

by Farmer Melanie | Recipes

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Hot Buttered Rum

This is a rich and delicious beverage. It can be made with or without alcohol so everyone can enjoy it! This is as large recipe that makes 52 servings. No problem though. It is a mix that stores well in the freezer.

Prep Time10 mins

Course: Beverage

Cuisine: American

Servings: 52

Ingredients

• 2 cups butter softened
• 3 ¾ cups 10x powdered sugar
• 2 ¼ cups dark brown sugar packed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 quarts vanilla ice cream softened

What You Need to Make a Serving

• ¾ cup boiling water
• 1 to 2 tablespoons rum or brandy optional
• Ground cinnamon and nutmeg to taste
• ¼ cup butter mixture

Instructions

• Cream butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in vanilla and ice cream.
• Fill freezer containers. Store in freezer until needed.

What to Do to Make a Serving

• Place ¼ cup butter mixture in a 10 or 12-ounce mug.
• Stir in boiling water and rum.
• Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg to taste.

Skillet Chicken with Neufchatel Spinach Artichoke Sauce

by Farmer Melanie | Recipes

Quick and easy, this recipe serves 4. Give yourself 15 minutes to prep the ingredients and about 18 minutes for cooking. In just about 33 minutes you’ve created a masterpiece.

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Skillet Chicken with Neufchatel Spinach Artichoke Sauce

You just can’t go wrong with skillet chicken and a good cheese sauce! Perfectly golden brown, tender pan seared chicken breasts are topped with an easy to make, rich and flavorful spinach artichoke sauce. It might remind you of my crab and artichoke dip recipe but much lighter.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time18 mins

Total Time33 mins

Course: Hot Entrée

Cuisine: American

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 24 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and black pepper
• 4 Tbsp butter divided
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 3 ½ cups fresh baby spinach chopped
• 1 (14 ocan artichoke quarters drained and chopped
• 1 ¼ cups milk
• 4 oz Neufchatel cheese diced into small cubes
• 1/3 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup sour cream

Instructions

• Pound chicken to an even thickness using the flat side of a meat mallet. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
• Heat 2 Tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden brown on bottom, about 5 – 6 minutes.
• Turn chicken to opposite side. Continue cooking until chicken is golden brown on bottom or center registers 165 on an instant read thermometer, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to a plate, cover and keep warm.
• Melt remaining 2 Tbsp butter in skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and flour and cook 30 seconds then add in spinach and artichokes and sauté about 1 minute or until spinach has wilted.
• Pour in milk and scrape up browned bits from bottom.
• Add in Neufchatel cheese and parmesan, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook and stir until mixture has thickened slightly and cheeses have melted.
• Stir in sour cream then return chicken to skillet.

Home Made Yogurt

by Farmer Melanie | Recipes

I make mine in my Corsori multi-function pressure cooker. It has a yogurt setting. I believe it would be similar with the Instant Pot or any other multi-function pressure cooker with a yogurt setting. You don’t have to have one. I also have a rather inexpensive yogurt maker. The reason I no longer use it has to do with how much yogurt I make in one batch. The small, inexpensive yogurt maker works for a quart or two. But I make a gallon and a half at a time now. Yogurt will last a very long time in the refrigerator.

So what do you need? Ultimately, what you need is a way to keep the temperature constant between 110 and 115 degrees for anywhere from 4 to 8 hours. That’s why all the fancy equipment is sold. It makes it easy. You don’t have to baby sit it while it ferments. Just set it and walk away.

Your Oven

You can use the pilot light in your oven. Better still would be to preheat your oven to 120 or so, then turn it off. Wrap your milk with its yogurt culture in towels and use the oven’s retained heat to keep the temperature up. Placing a baking stone in there will also help hold the heat.

Using a Thermos

Another method is to use a thermos. Some of the best cost as much or more than a cheap yogurt maker but, of course, the thermos would have more uses. And you may already have one on hand. No need to purchase anything extra. Come to think of it, I have a thermal cup that I bought to keep my tea hot over long periods of time. It’s one of those that you can buy at your local gas/convenience store or truck stop. That cup holds nearly a quart of liquid and will keep it hot, and I mean hot, for hours. That’s modern technology for you. You might have one or two of those on hand and, again, no need to purchase anything extra.

A Warm Corner

The last method I will mention is trying to use a warm part of your kitchen or other place in your house during the summer. This would require experimentation and keeping a consistent temperature would be dicey at best.

Crock pots get too hot. Don’t try that. Even the lowest setting is over 150 degrees. That will kill the yogurt bacteria. I’ve seen people give recipes using a crock pot and maybe they have a special one, but all of mine even on warm are heating way too hot for yogurt culture to survive.

Let’s get on to the basics of making yogurt.

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Home Made Yogurt

Making your own yogurt is easy. It's an excellent way to ensure that you know what's in the food that you eat. Try it!!

Use your yogurt maker, multi-function pressure cooker, your oven pilot light or a thermos to maintain the temperature.

Prep Time1 hr

Cook Time8 hrs

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Greek

Servings: 8

Equipment

• Instant Pot or other multi-function pressure cooker

Ingredients

• 2 quarts Full fat milk do no use ultra-pasteurized
• 2 tbsp yogurt with active cultures

Instructions

• Heat the milk to 180 degrees. This destabilizes the proteins in the milk which makes the yogurt thicken nicely.
• Quickly cool the milk to about 118 degrees.
• Stir in the yogurt with active cultures with a small amount of the milk to make sure it is incorporated well.
• Add the active culture yogurt and milk to the rest of the milk, stir well.
• Set it in your chosen place to keep it warm for 6 to 8 hours.

Notes

• If using the multi-function pressure cooker, use the slow cook setting to heat the milk. On my Corsori, I set it to 193 degrees for 1 hour. As soon as the hour is up, I check the temperature which is usually 180 something by then. I immediately take it to the kitchen sink and fill the sink with cold water. It only takes 5 minutes or less to cool it back down. Then once the cultures are stirred in it is a matter of putting the pot back in the device, closing and securing the lid and pressing the “yogurt” button. Mine is automatically set for 8 hours, though I could take it out sooner if desired. It’s so easy.
• Using a saucepan on the stove is also an option for heating the milk. In this case, stay nearby to stir often so the milk does not scorch on the bottom of the pan. This requires a little more attention, but it still quick and easy. Once 180 or more degrees is reached, put in the pot in the kitchen sink with cold water to quickly cool it down. Add the yogurt with active cultures and mix well. Now use your desired device or method.
• The longer your yogurt sits, the sharper it will be. It will also be thicker if it cultures longer.
• For thicker, Greek-style, yogurt strain it through butter muslin. Line a colander with the butter muslin and pour in the yogurt. Tie the ends together and hang your makeshift bag somewhere to drain. This will allow some of the whey to be filtered out and will make a much thicker yogurt. The longer it drains, the thicker it will be.

Instant Pot Quail

by Farmer Melanie | Recipes

The reason that I go for the Instant Pot Quail rather than oven roasted quail is the heat. It is really hot outside and to roast quail requires a 500-degree oven. That’s right 500 degrees. The roasting time is short but just the thought of preheating an oven to 500 degrees makes me sweat.

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Instant Pot Quail

Without the Instant Pot, your oven would have to be hot, hot, hot. Not bad in the winter. But in the summer, go with the quick and easy Instant Pot method.

Simple but luscious seasoning.

Prep Time12 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Course: Hot Entrée

Cuisine: French

Servings: 4

Equipment

• Instant Pot or other multi-function pressure cooker

Ingredients

• 4 whole quails 4 to 5 oz each
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• 3 Tablespoon cooking oil of your choice
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 6 oz bacon chopped
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 bay leaf

Instructions

• Season quail with salt and pepper
• Stuff cavity of quail with fresh thyme
• Place oil in Instant Pot and select “Sauté”. Add the bacon, onion, dried herbs, bay leaf, and cook for about 3 minutes.
• Place quail in the pot, breast-side down and cook for about 4-5 minutes or until browned, then flip breast-side up.
• Select “Cancel” and add the broth to the pot.
• Secure the lid and cook using “Manual” and “High Pressure” for about 7-9 minutes.
• Select “Cancel” if needed and carefully do a “Quick Release”.
• Remove the lid, transfer quail onto a plate. Remove the herb sprigs from cavity.
• Strain liquid into a bowl.
• Return broth to Instant Pot and select “Sauté”. Cook for about 3 – 4 minutes.
• Add the quail back to the broth for about 2 minutes, basting with the broth/sauce.
• Remove from Instant Pot and serve with the sauce.

Ginger Tea with Honey and Lemon

by Farmer Melanie | Recipes

Ginger tea has been used for thousands of years as a cure for nausea and digestive problems. It offers a variety of health benefits and healing compounds to alleviate upset stomach. Many people reach for the ginger ale when feeling symptoms of stomach pain or nausea, but ginger tea contains higher concentrations of the compounds that alleviate these digestive issues; making it the better choice for feeling better faster.

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Ginger Tea with Honey and Lemon

This tea is made using fresh ginger root and packs a punch when it comes to healing symptoms of upset stomach. Ginger is a natural remedy for nausea and is often used to treat morning sickness in pregnant women and motion sickness caused by planes and boats. In fact, a Thai study examined pregnant women with symptoms of morning sickness and found that 28 out of the 32 individuals saw an improvement in nausea when given a daily dose of 1 milligram of ginger root. As a rule of thumb, one cup of ginger tea contains about 250 milligrams of ginger so aim to drink two to four cups of this tea to alleviate feelings of nausea.

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time5 mins

Course: Beverage

Cuisine: Herbal Health and Healing

Servings: 2 cups

Equipment

• Grater
• Glass container or teapot
• Strainer

Ingredients

• 1 ” Fresh ginger root grated
• ½ Lemon
• Honey to taste
• 2 cups water

Instructions

• Peel one-inch piece of fresh ginger root and grate into a glass container with a filter.
• Thinly slice lemon and add it to the container with the ginger.
• Add honey.
• Pour boiling hot water into the container and steep for five minutes.
• Strain and serve hot.