Only One Jalapeño Could Win

The Winner of the “Which Jalapeño Recipe Should Melanie Make” Survey is…

Thanks so much to everyone who read “More Than One Way to Slice a Jalapeño” and voted for the recipe they would like to see most! (Rachel, get your camera crew gear on, we are going to make a video!)

My family is very excited about the winner because it is one of their favorites, and they will benefit from all the jalapeño goodness that comes from cooking them.

The survey also asked what topics readers would like to have more of in 2025. Here are the results.

It looks like we are going to put our Intentergy into battling stress and anxiety as a priority and make some good, faith-filled food along the way. Thanks so much to everyone who gave their input!

Comments are always welcome, and some folks were kind enough to add a few to the survey.

As far as all of my writing being wonderful, I appreciate your bias, but I’m going to keep trying to get better. Friendship and its importance are definitely worthy topics for future posts. As for the jalapeño jelly recipe, we might be able to work something out while the bacon-wrapped alapeños are grilling.

Intentergy is energy with positive purpose. Writing for this blog has buoyed me through some not-so-positive times and having people who are willing to read and seek out the Intertergy in their own lives makes the world a better place. Thank you!

I’m excited to get the winning recipe out there for others to try and eager to publish more posts spreading Intentergy. Here’s to spicy, happy eating, and joyful, inspired reading!

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. Always feel free to comment… even if your Jalapeño recipe choice didn’t win.

More Than One Way to Slice a Jalapeño

What do you do when your buddy Timmy gives you four 5-gallon buckets of jalapeños? You get creative with jalapeño.

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Hubby took Timmy up on the offer to pick some peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and squash from his massive garden late this past summer. I was excited about the fresh produce and eager to give at least one new recipe a try. Little did I know I would soon be up to my eyeballs in stems, seeds, and researching ways to preserve the plentiful peppers.

Each day I spent 2 hours slicing and seeding peppers by hand for the first two or three days. These carefully crafted slices went into pickled jalapeños. Of course, I wore gloves to protect my skin from the spicy juices but my hands and wrists started to get a little worn out by Day 3. I pulled out my little Pampered Chef food processor and started blending away at the buckets of peppers, but didn’t make much headway because of the blender’s small capacity. Plus, I had moved on to trying a second new recipe. This time I was attempting to make jalapeño relish, and we weren’t too sure if we would like it or use it much. (*We did like it. ** We used it a lot.)

Hubby asked why I didn’t have a bigger blender. I told him because Santa hadn’t brought it yet. Well, Santa came in August with a fancyshmancy, BIG blender. It was going to be perfect for peppers, zucchini, slaw, all the things…. but it was really BIG. The jalapenos were plentiful but petite. This is when we really had to shake things up with how we sliced our peppers.

Continue reading “More Than One Way to Slice a Jalapeño”

Turkey 30 Ways – Part #2 (From the Farmer’s Table)

Here is the 2nd installation of “Turkey 30 Ways.” These are all turkey recipes that my family enjoys and I hope you will too!

11th Way: Sweet Hawaiian Crockpot Turkey

Ingredients: 2 lb. turkey breast chunks, 1 Tblsp olive oil, 1 cup pineapple juice, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup soy sauce

Steps:

  1. Mix pineapple juice, brown sugar, and soy sauce in a bowl.
  2. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Lightly brown turkey in skillet before adding to crockpot.
  3. Place turkey in crockpot and cover with pineapple juice mixture.
  4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with warmed rice.

***If the dish looks too soupy, fry turkey and sauce in skillet until sauce is at a light boil. Boil until it thickens.

12th Way: Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Turkey

Ingredients:
For the turkey: 2 lbs. turkey breast cut into chunks, sea salt and black pepper to taste, 1/2 cup cornstarch, 2 large eggs beaten, 1/4 cup olive oil

For the sauce: 1/2 cup brown sugar packed, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp garlic minced

Steps:

  1. In a large bowl, whisk sauce ingredients until well blended.
  2. In a separate bowl, season turkey with salt and pepper. Add cornstarch and eggs. Mix until turkey is coated with egg and cornstarch batter.
  3. Heat olive oil in large skillet and cook turkey until it is golden brown, usually 4-5 minutes.
  4. Put turkey in crockpot and cover with the sauce. Stir evenly until turkey is coated.
  5. Cook 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Serve over warm rice or noodles.

13th Way: Cashew Turkey Stir-fry

Ingredients: 1 lb. turkey breast sliced into thin strips, 1 clove garlic minced, 1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms, 1 medium green pepper sliced, 1 cup carrots thinly sliced, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tsp. granulated sugar, 1 Tblsp cornstarch, 1 cup chicken broth, 4 Tblsp vegetable oil, 3 scallions sliced, hot cooked rice, 3/4 cup cashew nuts

Steps:

  1. In small bowl, mix soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, and chicken broth. Set aside.
  2. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook turkey in oil until done.
  3. Add garlic, green peppers, mushrooms, carrots, and scallions and cook for 2 minutes. Stir frequently to keep from uneven cooking.
  4. Lower heat and stir in sauce. Cook until sauce thickens.
  5. Serve over hot cooked rice. Sprinkle with cashew nuts.

***I like to add my cashews before plating. Having a little extra sauce on the cashews is extra yummy.

14th Way: Apricot Turkey

Ingredients: 2 lb. turkey breast sliced 1 – 2 inches thick, 1 – 10 oz. jar of apricot preserves, 1 bottle Russian dressing, 1 package instant Onion Soup Mix, 1/4 cup flour

Steps:

  1. Coat turkey breast with flour and place in 9×13 baking dish.
  2. Mix preserves, dressing, and Onion Soup Mix in a small bowl.
  3. Pour preserve mixture over turkey breasts.
  4. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.
  5. Serve alone or over warm rice.
Continue reading “Turkey 30 Ways – Part #2 (From the Farmer’s Table)”