How to Reuse a McCormick Sea Salt Grinder

I love the little sea salt grinders from McCormick. I do not love the $2.99 price for a little bottle. I love the little mechanical grinder. I do not love throwing out something that works.

What to do....what to do?

I know...I'll take it apart while I watch David Letterman. Speaking of late night TV....isn't that Craig Ferguson funny? I only watch Dave while I wait for Craig. I miss Jay. I do not understand Conan at all.

After twisting and twisting and twisting some more I realized the top was not coming off. So lets be methodical about this. I got out a kitchen knife and pried on it. What? Oh come on.....tell me that isn't what you would do?

Well, the kitchen knife did allow me to slightly see inside the cap/grinder and made me realize that I could remove the cap/grinder if the plastic would give just a wee bit (no, I am not Irish). So I put a bowl of water in the microwave and heated up the water......not boiling but hot. You will only need enough water in the bowl to cover the plastic cap/grinder when the the bottle is placed upside down.I let the grinder sit in the water for about 5 minutes. Then I pried some more with the knife, moving the knife around the edge prying as I go. Thirty seconds later the cap was off.Now what? Besides sea salt and peppercorns....what can I put in these bottles?

Green Beans with Soy Sauce and Peanut Butter

I know...it sounds gross, doesn't it?

My nail tech Virginia gave me the recipe and assured me everyone loved it. I had to try it because it just sounded so unusual and I have a ton of green beans.

Here's the ingredients....

Green beans washed with ends cut offThinly sliced onions ( I used 1/2 of a small onion)
Olive oil
Soy sauce
Minced garlic (1 clove or I used 1 teaspoon of freeze dried minced garlic)
1 Teaspoon to 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter depending on amount of green beans

In a skillet pour about 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Once oil starts to shimmer add onions and garlic. Once onions start to get translucent add green beans and soy sauce (enough to coat the beans lightly). Cook over medium low until beans are slightly limp. Add peanut butter and allow to melt and coat green beans. Serve.Do not add salt as the soy sauce is salty enough.

Just to make sure R was unbiased in his opinion, I kept all ingredients a mystery. I waited until he had ate all of his green beans and then asked, "how did you like the beans?" He said, "they were good but you did something different." That's when I told him what was in the beans. I saw a weird look come over his face and then he said, "not bad."

Stuffed Chicken Breast Wrapped with Bacon

This is a modified recipe I found in Gourmet or Food Network magazine. * I just found the recipe and it was in bon appetite magazine. The original recipe called for the chicken breast to be wrapped in prosciutto ham and stuffed with a slice of butter.I chose to stuff the chicken breasts with chicken flavored Stove Top Dressing. I bought the dressing in a canister because I only needed a cup or two and not the amount I would have made if I bought the box.

Stuffed Chicken Breast Wrapped with Bacon

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups of cooked Stove Top Dressing, chicken flavor
1 lb bacon uncooked

Make stuffing according to directions on box or canister. Trim excess fat off of chicken breasts. Using fillet knife (be careful) cut a pocket into the breast. Stuff with stuffing. Wrap uncooked bacon around the breast. If you hold one end of the bacon slice with your thumb you can wrap the bacon quite tight around the breast. Each breast take about 3 slices.

Place the breast in a hot skillet with the loose ends of the bacon on the bottom of the breast. Fry until bacon is almost completely cooked. Be careful and flip the breast over and cook until bacon is almost completely cooked. Transfer the breast to a baking a dish and bake breast uncovered for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Check temperature and when interior of breasts are 165 degrees or greater the breasts are fully cooked. Watch carefully so that the breasts do not burn. Nothing worse than burnt breasts!!!!I have also cooked the chicken in the same skillet I used to cook the bacon. I just reduced the temperature setting to medium low and placed a lid on the skillet. Depending on size of breasts, cook between 35 and 45 minutes.
I cook four breasts but we usually only eat 2 between us. The remaining two warm up nicely in the microwave the next day. What is interesting is that as the bacon cools it shrinks and gets tight around the chicken so the stuffing stays in and does not fall out.

Today's meal was completed with fresh green beans and a tossed salad made with veggies from our garden and B's Mom's garden. The tomatoes are heirloom varieties called Pineapple (yellow with pink tinge) and Amish Paste (Roma style).

Pea Pods and Beef with Rice

I sent R to the store to get a bag of frozen pea pods....he came home with a bag of green beans. I specified on the list.......pea pods. So back to the store he went and then he came home with a bag of sugar snap peas. Ladies....he's all mine.....you can't have him.

While I was preparing the food he walked by and said, "those aren't pea pods." Then I gave him 'the look' and he went away.

Even those the pea pods weren't pea pods it was still very good.
1 London Broil steak sliced thinly
1 small white onion sliced thinly
1 bag of frozen pea pods
1 can of sliced or chopped portobello mushrooms
3 C of cooked Jasmine or Basmati rice
1 T flour
2 beef bouillon cubes
salt, pepper, garlic salt to taste

Cook onions until they start to get translucent, add sliced meat. Cook at medium to medium high until meat is cooked. Add 1 C of water and two beef bouillon cubes, until dissolved. Add 1 tablespoon of flour to make a slight gravy. Add pea pods and mushrooms. Cook at low medium until pea pods and mushrooms are cooked.

While meat and pea pods cook prepare the rice according to directions.

Spoon beef mixture over rice.

Easy Chicken and Rice

This is one of those cheap and easy recipes.1 package of boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken strips
1 bag of frozen veggies
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 can of water
1 cup uncooked Basmati or Jasmine rice
2 cups of water

Brown chicken on both sides in a deep skillet. Cook for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low. Add two cans of cream of chicken soup and one can of water. Mix thoroughly. Add one bag of frozen veggies. Mix together and cover skillet with lid. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Season with salt, pepper, and a dash of dill weed.

While chicken is cooking. Boil 2 cups of water and 1 cup of Basmati rice. Once mixture comes to a boil reduce to simmer and cover. Cook on simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit with lid in place for 5 minutes.

Serve chicken and veggies on top of cooked rice.

I have substituted frozen veggies with a large can of stir fry vegetables drained thoroughly. Cooking instructions are same as above.

Guacamole Burgers

I'm stealing a recipe from Barbara and Gavin.Several Sundays ago we were at their house and decided to BBQ. Gavin concocted some sort of guacamole, he says it is a secret recipe but I saw salsa being added to smashed avocado and he was using some seasoning too.Well anyways we then put this guacamole on our burger and it was great.This was the first time I have ever had guacamole on a hamburger and I must say I was surprised at how well it went with hamburger.

I don't have any recipe details but I guess you could use any guacamole recipe.

Strawberry Coconut Cake

Both R and Barbara (my daughter in law) have June birthdays just several days apart. So what better way to celebrate a birthday than with a cake made with fresh strawberries. This recipe came to me by way of the blog, Daisy Cottage. If you love the cottage look...this blog is for you.
This cake recipe combines both store bought packaged items and fresh items. The cake is very very moist and holds together well when sliced...even the first slice (always the hardest) came out perfect.

Strawberry Coconut Cake

1 1/2 boxes of white cake mix
5 eggs
2 C water
3/4 C vegetable oil
1/2 box strawberry jello (3 oz size)
1/2 C chopped strawberries (I used 3/4 to 1 C)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Fold in strawberries. Fill three (3) round cake pans that have been sprayed with vegetable oil spray each with 1/3 of batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 22 minutes or until toothpick is dry when poked into cake. Let cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry Coconut Icing

16 oz sour cream
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 box of jello (3 oz size)
7 oz bag shredded coconut
1/2C chopped strawberries
1 8 oz cool whip

Combine all ingredients except cool whip. Mix thoroughly. Use a 1/3 of mixture between layers 1 and 2. Another 1/3 of the mixture between layers 2 and 3. Fold cool whip into remaining mixture. Use this mixture to frost the entire cake. HINT After I folded in cool whip I placed the mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set up. I also placed the cake back in the fridge also. After frosting the entire cake I decorated with sliced strawberries. Store cake in fridge until ready to serve (because of the sour cream and cool whip).

This cake is very tall because the 3 layers are thick layers so make sure your cake cover is tall enough. If it is not...you could always trim the top of the individual layers to make them thinner. This would also make the cake flatter and less likely to have a layer slip or have the cake not level. Mine was slightly askew but it seems all my cakes are like that. I blame it on the oven.....it just couldn't be me!!!Enjoy!!!