Saturday, February 09, 2008
Why yes, I am still alive.
Sorry for being quiet this week. I've had some medical problem, liver related. I hope to be back to normal posting although hubby is starting to come down with what I'm afraid looks to be the flu. :( We'll see what happens. You might just get a recipe for chicken noodle soup. Anyone know how to build an autoclave?
Monday, February 04, 2008
Recipe Review: Caldo Tlalpeno
YUM! Hubby gives it an 8, but with this note: "I would give it a 9, but I don't really have a spot to hit at this moment thanks to the dental work this morning." Poor dear. This soup worked out perfectly for this. I was going to make quesadillas to go with it as noted in the directions, but after making it, it looked like it would definitely be enough for both of us with just a few tortilla chips, and I was right. Hubby didn't eat lunch (we got back from the dentist about lunch time), and we both went to bed after taking our respective pain meds (him: Ibuprofen, me something a lot stronger). I didn't make it totally as directed, I had some already cooked, shredded chicken in the freezer already, so I skipped that part and just pureed the garlic with the chipotle in the broth and warmed everything through when I cooked the instant brown rice (which I was surprised I actually did have in the pantry). The chipotle made the broth smell heavenly as it was cooking, and it was just spicy enough as it was cooking. As for the pepper with the onion, I'm not sure what I used, since it was one of the ones that I grew this summer on my back porch that I had just thrown into the freezer. This would definitely be a good dinner for when you've got a cold and are all stopped up too! AND I think it would be good with some white beans or pinto beans instead of chicken meat too. I froze the other chipotle peppers in individual sandwich baggies and then put them inside a larger gallon ziploc bag for later use.
From Eating Well Magazine http://eatingwell.com/recipes/caldo_tlalpeno.html
Caldo Tlalpeño
NUTRITION PROFILE: Low Calorie | High Fiber | Low Sodium | Low Cholesterol | Low Sat Fat | Heart Healthy | Healthy Weight
Although there are many variations of this Mexican chicken soup, spicy chipotle chiles are always part of the broth. Make it a meal: Serve with a Mexican beer and cheese quesadillas.
Makes 4 servings
ACTIVE TIME: 30 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes
EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy
6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 poblano or Anaheim chile pepper, chopped
1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (see Shopping Tip)
1 cup instant brown rice
4 radishes, sliced
1 small avocado, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, quartered
1. Bring broth, water, garlic and chicken to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, skimming any foam that rises to the top, until the garlic is tender and the chicken is cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Transfer the garlic with a slotted spoon to a blender and the chicken to a clean cutting board.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and poblano (or Anaheim) chile and cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add to the broth.
3. Add 1/2 cup of the broth and chipotle pepper to the blender and process until smooth (use caution when pureeing hot liquids). Pour the mixture back into the broth in the pan. Stir in rice. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the rice is tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Shred the chicken and divide among 4 bowls. Ladle the broth over the chicken and top with equal portions of radish, avocado and cilantro. Serve with a wedge of lime.
NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 318 calories; 13 g fat (2 g sat, 7 g mono); 39 mg cholesterol; 31 g carbohydrate; 22 g protein; 6 g fiber; 264 mg sodium; 517 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (60% daily value), Selenium (16% dv).
1 1/2 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 2 lean meat, 1 1/2 fat
TIP: Shopping Tip: Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are smoked jalapeños packed in a flavorful sauce. Look for the small cans with the Mexican foods in large supermarkets. Once opened, they’ll keep 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer.
From Eating Well Magazine http://eatingwell.com/recipes/caldo_tlalpeno.html
Caldo Tlalpeño
NUTRITION PROFILE: Low Calorie | High Fiber | Low Sodium | Low Cholesterol | Low Sat Fat | Heart Healthy | Healthy Weight
Although there are many variations of this Mexican chicken soup, spicy chipotle chiles are always part of the broth. Make it a meal: Serve with a Mexican beer and cheese quesadillas.
Makes 4 servings
ACTIVE TIME: 30 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes
EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy
6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 poblano or Anaheim chile pepper, chopped
1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (see Shopping Tip)
1 cup instant brown rice
4 radishes, sliced
1 small avocado, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, quartered
1. Bring broth, water, garlic and chicken to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, skimming any foam that rises to the top, until the garlic is tender and the chicken is cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Transfer the garlic with a slotted spoon to a blender and the chicken to a clean cutting board.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and poblano (or Anaheim) chile and cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add to the broth.
3. Add 1/2 cup of the broth and chipotle pepper to the blender and process until smooth (use caution when pureeing hot liquids). Pour the mixture back into the broth in the pan. Stir in rice. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the rice is tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Shred the chicken and divide among 4 bowls. Ladle the broth over the chicken and top with equal portions of radish, avocado and cilantro. Serve with a wedge of lime.
NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 318 calories; 13 g fat (2 g sat, 7 g mono); 39 mg cholesterol; 31 g carbohydrate; 22 g protein; 6 g fiber; 264 mg sodium; 517 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (60% daily value), Selenium (16% dv).
1 1/2 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 2 lean meat, 1 1/2 fat
TIP: Shopping Tip: Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are smoked jalapeños packed in a flavorful sauce. Look for the small cans with the Mexican foods in large supermarkets. Once opened, they’ll keep 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
My Menu Plans for Next Week
Ok, I must admit I don't have much planned out, a lot of it will be eating leftovers, depending on how I'm feeling. I'm having a lot of liver pains, which not only make me feel bad, but also make me tired, but when I take the pain pills, also make me even more tired. So, since I've been taking them this weekend, I'm glad I can even focus! Luckily I started working on this a bit early.
Check out http://orgjunkie.com/2008/02/menu-plan-monday-feb-4th.html for more great menus!
Monday: Hubby has his dentist appointment and possible root canal. Caldo Tlalpeno - from the current Eating Well Magazine: http://eatingwell.com/recipes/caldo_tlalpeno.html
Tues: It's Shrove Tues (Fat Tues) so it's going to be Pancake Night (how easy is that!)
Wednesday: Green Chicken Enchiladas (already in the freezer, just need to thaw and put together)
Thurs:Chinese New Year - steamed dumplings: Frozen from the Chinese Grocery Store - we buy a big bag of these (it's like $8) and they feed us for many, many meals).
Friday: Leftovers or homemade pizza whichever I feel like (pizza makings are in the freezer)
Sat & Sunday: usually also leftovers, but sometimes I cook. I'll know more when Thurs rolls around, usually my day for errands when I'm in town.
Check out http://orgjunkie.com/2008/02/menu-plan-monday-feb-4th.html for more great menus!
Monday: Hubby has his dentist appointment and possible root canal. Caldo Tlalpeno - from the current Eating Well Magazine: http://eatingwell.com/recipes/caldo_tlalpeno.html
Tues: It's Shrove Tues (Fat Tues) so it's going to be Pancake Night (how easy is that!)
Wednesday: Green Chicken Enchiladas (already in the freezer, just need to thaw and put together)
Thurs:Chinese New Year - steamed dumplings: Frozen from the Chinese Grocery Store - we buy a big bag of these (it's like $8) and they feed us for many, many meals).
Friday: Leftovers or homemade pizza whichever I feel like (pizza makings are in the freezer)
Sat & Sunday: usually also leftovers, but sometimes I cook. I'll know more when Thurs rolls around, usually my day for errands when I'm in town.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Tasty Dinner Tonight
Dinner tonight was very much a no thought deal. I had a small loaf of pumpernickel leftover from last weekend (I had froze it). I sliced it in half and filled with some Thousand Island Dressing, pressed sauerkraut (so it wasn't as wet), sliced deli Pastrami (as in packaged Hillshire Farm on sale) and Kraft 2% Milk Swiss slices. Closed it up, wrapped in Reynolds nonstick foil and popped it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. I served it with the following salad out of the current Eating Well Magazine. I left out the caraway (I don't like them, although I like the taste if they are ground and did top with a bit of gorgonzola). I doubled the amount, but didn't add the lettuce, that way I can keep it in the fridge (the vinegar should keep the apple from going brown). Hubby gave it an 8. Oh! I also didn't have a shallot (I don't often keep them on hand) so I used a green onion and added a bit of powdered garlic.
I've got chicken legs marinating in some Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy, a bit of cider vinegar and Texas Pete for Baked Buffalo Chicken Legs and I'll make some chili tomorrow too. One or the other will be for lunch and one will be during the game, not sure which will be which. Doesn't really matter in the long run since we don't really watch the game. ;)
Creamy Chopped Cauliflower Salad
Makes 6 servings, about 1 cup each
5 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 cups chopped cauliflower florets (about ½ large head)
2 cups chopped heart of romaine
1 tart-sweet red apple, chopped
Whisk mayonnaise, vinegar, shallot, caraway seeds (if using) and pepper in a large bowl until smooth. Add cauliflower, romaine and apple; toss to coat.
Per serving: 54 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 0 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 9 g carbohydrate; 2 g protein; 2 g fiber; 128 mg sodium; 257 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (53% daily value), Vitamin A (22% dv), Folate (15% dv).
1/2 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1/2 fat
I've got chicken legs marinating in some Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy, a bit of cider vinegar and Texas Pete for Baked Buffalo Chicken Legs and I'll make some chili tomorrow too. One or the other will be for lunch and one will be during the game, not sure which will be which. Doesn't really matter in the long run since we don't really watch the game. ;)
Creamy Chopped Cauliflower Salad
Makes 6 servings, about 1 cup each
5 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 cups chopped cauliflower florets (about ½ large head)
2 cups chopped heart of romaine
1 tart-sweet red apple, chopped
Whisk mayonnaise, vinegar, shallot, caraway seeds (if using) and pepper in a large bowl until smooth. Add cauliflower, romaine and apple; toss to coat.
Per serving: 54 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 0 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 9 g carbohydrate; 2 g protein; 2 g fiber; 128 mg sodium; 257 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (53% daily value), Vitamin A (22% dv), Folate (15% dv).
1/2 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1/2 fat
Friday, February 01, 2008
Toasted Sesame Strips
Gayle over at http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/ wanted some thrifty snack ideas. While we don't make many snacks around here, usually going for the fruits, or leftovers, and occasionally popcorn, cereals or cheeses. I have been sometimes known to make some.
This is one is one I used to make as a kid. First off I should mention that my parents were born and grew up in Baltimore, MD. I was born there also, but pretty much grew up in Va. Why do I mention this? Because one of my favorite trips, was when we visited the Inner Harbor. We used to stop by the McCormick's place they had there and take the tour, EVERY time. I would beg to go every time. They no longer have that place there, but I still remember it and the teashop we'd always get tea at. I have a little cookbooklet from them, "Kids' Cookery: A Learn to Cook Book for Children". No date is on it, and I used it quite a bit when I first started to cook. And this is one treat my sister and I made quite a lot when we got home from school in the toaster oven. We also liked to have it instead of garlic bread too. And that was all to say that's why the instructions seem so simplistic too. As we got older we wouldn't bother cutting off the crusts, unless we wanted it fancy. And even got to the point were we would just spread softened butter and sprinkle on the garlic powder, but you use less butter/garlic powder if you go the melted route instead. :) You can just toast the slices whole instead of baking too. And a cheap place to get sesame seeds, the Asian grocery stores! Big bags for what you'd pay for a small jar. Same thing for poppy seeds, especially if you have an Indian Grocery store for those.
Toasted Sesame Strips
You will need:
Measuring spoons
A saucepan
a knife
a pastry brush
a baking sheet
2 Tbsp butter
1/8 tsp garlic powder
4 slices of bread
1/ 1/2 tsp sesame seeds or poppy seeds
Have an adult turn the oven on to 425 F.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic powder to the butter.
Cut the crusts off the bread slices
Use a pastry brush to brush the butter and garlic powder mixture on each slice of bread
Sprinkle sesame seeds or poppy seeds on top of each slice of bread
Cut each slice of bread into 3 strips
Place the strips on a baking sheet
Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Makes 12 strips, 3 per serving.
This is one is one I used to make as a kid. First off I should mention that my parents were born and grew up in Baltimore, MD. I was born there also, but pretty much grew up in Va. Why do I mention this? Because one of my favorite trips, was when we visited the Inner Harbor. We used to stop by the McCormick's place they had there and take the tour, EVERY time. I would beg to go every time. They no longer have that place there, but I still remember it and the teashop we'd always get tea at. I have a little cookbooklet from them, "Kids' Cookery: A Learn to Cook Book for Children". No date is on it, and I used it quite a bit when I first started to cook. And this is one treat my sister and I made quite a lot when we got home from school in the toaster oven. We also liked to have it instead of garlic bread too. And that was all to say that's why the instructions seem so simplistic too. As we got older we wouldn't bother cutting off the crusts, unless we wanted it fancy. And even got to the point were we would just spread softened butter and sprinkle on the garlic powder, but you use less butter/garlic powder if you go the melted route instead. :) You can just toast the slices whole instead of baking too. And a cheap place to get sesame seeds, the Asian grocery stores! Big bags for what you'd pay for a small jar. Same thing for poppy seeds, especially if you have an Indian Grocery store for those.
Toasted Sesame Strips
You will need:
Measuring spoons
A saucepan
a knife
a pastry brush
a baking sheet
2 Tbsp butter
1/8 tsp garlic powder
4 slices of bread
1/ 1/2 tsp sesame seeds or poppy seeds
Have an adult turn the oven on to 425 F.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic powder to the butter.
Cut the crusts off the bread slices
Use a pastry brush to brush the butter and garlic powder mixture on each slice of bread
Sprinkle sesame seeds or poppy seeds on top of each slice of bread
Cut each slice of bread into 3 strips
Place the strips on a baking sheet
Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Makes 12 strips, 3 per serving.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
And for a Repeat Performance!!!!
Ok, so I am making it a day early (I realized that I since the recipe is a bit more time involved, it would go better today than tomorrow where there's a chance that I might be home late tomorrow), so tonight's dinner is finishing in the oven as I type. It's one we've had before, and I can't wait! It's Mediterranean-Style Baked Lima Beans from Veganomicon. I am really surprised that no one else has really written about it. Doing a quick google, the other person that wrote about it, didn't have mint and thought it was ok (and yes, I think that does make the dish, and I just use dried and it works fine for me). I forgot to pick up pitas and I don't have time to make any right now. I am not feeling so great today, and ended up taking like a 4 hour nap today! Good thing I cooked the dried (soaked) limas in the crockpot. Because of the previous nap, my limas got a bit over cooked, but they still look great. AND I even have some soy feta to put on them (Sunergia) brand.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Note to self:
Next time when you decide to do your mile walk with Miko and want to do it at a faster pace than the normal leisurely and without the normal stop and smell everything that sticks up that Miko normally does: make sure you're not wearing the pants that are now two sizes to big that you have to hold up, because they are hard to hold up while walking fast AND holding a leash at the same time.
Misc stuff
So, the fudge turned out fine, except that it ended up being too warm in my my sister's kitchen and we had to scoop it out anyway. Oh well, warm chocolate isn't a problem :) The rest of the food was yummy, and it's been a while since I've had sauerbraten. But, as hubby said, we've had our meat quota for the month. We've really pretty much gotten off the red meat train, almost. It's hard to be totally off of it at this moment when I'm trying to eat from the freezer and that's what is mainly in there since we don't eat it that much and that's pretty much what my sister gave me. Poor hubby. There's not much other meat frozen in there, and I'm really trying to use it up and I think hubby's trying to call a truce. I'm not really sure what to do. Doesn't help that I want more sauerbraten either. I almost wonder if hubby did better on the vegan diet (he has IBS), with occasional forays into meat instead of meat with occasional forays into vegan. I've tried to ask him, but he doesn't really answer me, probably because he doesn't pay that much attention to it.
I had a bit of a ....well...went off my spending plan a bit. I stopped at B&N. *hangs head in shame* I bought some magazines. *doesn't look anyone in the eye* Cooking magazines, and one knitting one. *stares intently at her shoes* I wasn't horrible mind you, but still. *sigh* I originally went into town to return a candy thermometer that I had bought at Target that was just way to big and I ended up not even opening up the package. I know, I know, I should have just waited until I went into town for WW, but I wanted to get it over with before then, because I hate fighting the lunchtime traffic to get there, since I go to the WW meeting that is right before lunchtime and when I get out, everyone is out on the roads for their lunch and it's a madhouse. I realized that I really get stressed driving around to run my errands, and it makes me dread doing my shopping.
As I pulled into my parking space between two HUGE SUV's I look over to notice that the one on my right is a brand new Suburban. (I think that's the name) Either way, the sticker's still on it. It gets 14 city/19 highway miles to the gallon with an estimated yearly gas cost of over $2, 600 !!! WTH would someone buy a car that gets lousy gas mileage like that? It's just stupid! And you know the gas estimate was before the gas prices started going up. Course that's kinda like the people that drive Hummers in Richmond. You don't need a Hummer in Richmond, it's FLAT people!
I had a bit of a ....well...went off my spending plan a bit. I stopped at B&N. *hangs head in shame* I bought some magazines. *doesn't look anyone in the eye* Cooking magazines, and one knitting one. *stares intently at her shoes* I wasn't horrible mind you, but still. *sigh* I originally went into town to return a candy thermometer that I had bought at Target that was just way to big and I ended up not even opening up the package. I know, I know, I should have just waited until I went into town for WW, but I wanted to get it over with before then, because I hate fighting the lunchtime traffic to get there, since I go to the WW meeting that is right before lunchtime and when I get out, everyone is out on the roads for their lunch and it's a madhouse. I realized that I really get stressed driving around to run my errands, and it makes me dread doing my shopping.
As I pulled into my parking space between two HUGE SUV's I look over to notice that the one on my right is a brand new Suburban. (I think that's the name) Either way, the sticker's still on it. It gets 14 city/19 highway miles to the gallon with an estimated yearly gas cost of over $2, 600 !!! WTH would someone buy a car that gets lousy gas mileage like that? It's just stupid! And you know the gas estimate was before the gas prices started going up. Course that's kinda like the people that drive Hummers in Richmond. You don't need a Hummer in Richmond, it's FLAT people!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Some help with my grocery savings
I've been checking out websites, reading along for a while before deciding to jump in and do a freezer/pantry challenge of sorts. I've always kind of menu planned, but it was usually what we felt like eating and what recipes interested me, not necessarily what I had on hand. It's a bit different for me to to it this way. I thought I might list a few blogs that I've been using to help me. Eventually I'll sit down and get them migrated over to the side and actually make them as links too [once of the drawbacks of dial-up is that it takes so gosh-darn long to do things that it takes longer than Flylady's 15 minutes to do one thing sometimes].
http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/ I've just recently found this blog, and she mentioned earlier this week that she was going to have a thrifty recipe on Friday (last) which got me thinking. Thanks to Gayle and going through a pile of old recipes, I found two recipes that I loved and realized were thrifty (Lentil with Greens Soup and Curried Celery Soup).
http://orgjunkie.com/ This one not only helps with my clutter (like FlyLady but different) but it's the place for Menu Plan Monday. I've been reading it for quite a while now, but actually participated for the first time (as in sent in what I planned) today. It's a bit scary since they usually have over 200 people doing it! It's a good place to get ideas!
http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm This is the home for the Dollar Stretcher I had been reading their for a long while, and love the website and they even have forums now!
http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/ Because well, it's cheap, healthy and good food. What more can I say? :)
http://www.home-ec101.com/ I am lucky that I learned a lot of stuff from my mom, but I didn't get to take this in school, actually we had to fight for me to be able to even take band since I was on the college bound courses, which left me unable to take any other thing besides a foreign language *sigh*. I really wanted to take Home-ec even though I knew how to sew and cook and all that stuff anyway. I really wanted to take some shop classes and stuff, but there was no way that school would have let me do that. This site gives you some hints for lots of stuff!
http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm A great bit of everything really. I unfortunately am unable to have kids, but after reading how much Crystal has to do, there are days that I don't have to. I must admit, I wonder with my ADD how adding a child would make my life, would it force me to become or organized, or would I just deteriorate? Anyway, she's always got such great ideas, and I downloaded her Supermarket 101 Course and it's given me a place to start with coupons.
http://likemerchantships.blogspot.com/ I wish I had thrift stores around here like Meredith has! The ones around here aren't that great, and the consignment shops usually charge too much for me. But I still go in, trying to keep her tips in mind. She's got a great eye, and such great tips! Even if I do suffer a bit of the green-eyed monster while reading about her great finds, I always come away with a great idea to keep in mind while looking at what I want to do with my house while decluttering it.
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/ Tammy just had a new baby girl (Welcome Ruth!), so things are going to be a bit quiet on her site for a bit I'm sure, but she's had some great recipes! She's stocked up a bit before hand, and has a great treasure trove of recipes on her site already. I love hearing about how she teaches her two young sons to help her around the house, and how they enjoy helping her cook - or spray the dishes. ;) She always gives such great ideas on how to freeze or can those surplus foods (pumpkins or bananas anyone?). And one of these days we'll try her homemade pepperoni.
http://burbanmom.blogspot.com/ OK, this doesn't outright help with grocery savings, but in essence it does because it helps to keep me from buying STUFF. Because if I think about the impact of what I buy on the environment, then I think about do I really need this in the first place. Hubby and I aren't all "Hippy, crunchy granola" type people, but we are trying to be gentler on our world. After all- it's all we've got, and who else will?
OK, last one for now.
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/ I've been reading Trent for a while now too. He's another one that makes me think about STUFF. Helps me to keep me from buying it, and helps me to focus on where we want to go with it. He's also starting to get into cooking and I'm looking forward to when he comes out with his cooking blog too!
http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com/ I've just recently found this blog, and she mentioned earlier this week that she was going to have a thrifty recipe on Friday (last) which got me thinking. Thanks to Gayle and going through a pile of old recipes, I found two recipes that I loved and realized were thrifty (Lentil with Greens Soup and Curried Celery Soup).
http://orgjunkie.com/ This one not only helps with my clutter (like FlyLady but different) but it's the place for Menu Plan Monday. I've been reading it for quite a while now, but actually participated for the first time (as in sent in what I planned) today. It's a bit scary since they usually have over 200 people doing it! It's a good place to get ideas!
http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm This is the home for the Dollar Stretcher I had been reading their for a long while, and love the website and they even have forums now!
http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/ Because well, it's cheap, healthy and good food. What more can I say? :)
http://www.home-ec101.com/ I am lucky that I learned a lot of stuff from my mom, but I didn't get to take this in school, actually we had to fight for me to be able to even take band since I was on the college bound courses, which left me unable to take any other thing besides a foreign language *sigh*. I really wanted to take Home-ec even though I knew how to sew and cook and all that stuff anyway. I really wanted to take some shop classes and stuff, but there was no way that school would have let me do that. This site gives you some hints for lots of stuff!
http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm A great bit of everything really. I unfortunately am unable to have kids, but after reading how much Crystal has to do, there are days that I don't have to. I must admit, I wonder with my ADD how adding a child would make my life, would it force me to become or organized, or would I just deteriorate? Anyway, she's always got such great ideas, and I downloaded her Supermarket 101 Course and it's given me a place to start with coupons.
http://likemerchantships.blogspot.com/ I wish I had thrift stores around here like Meredith has! The ones around here aren't that great, and the consignment shops usually charge too much for me. But I still go in, trying to keep her tips in mind. She's got a great eye, and such great tips! Even if I do suffer a bit of the green-eyed monster while reading about her great finds, I always come away with a great idea to keep in mind while looking at what I want to do with my house while decluttering it.
http://www.tammysrecipes.com/ Tammy just had a new baby girl (Welcome Ruth!), so things are going to be a bit quiet on her site for a bit I'm sure, but she's had some great recipes! She's stocked up a bit before hand, and has a great treasure trove of recipes on her site already. I love hearing about how she teaches her two young sons to help her around the house, and how they enjoy helping her cook - or spray the dishes. ;) She always gives such great ideas on how to freeze or can those surplus foods (pumpkins or bananas anyone?). And one of these days we'll try her homemade pepperoni.
http://burbanmom.blogspot.com/ OK, this doesn't outright help with grocery savings, but in essence it does because it helps to keep me from buying STUFF. Because if I think about the impact of what I buy on the environment, then I think about do I really need this in the first place. Hubby and I aren't all "Hippy, crunchy granola" type people, but we are trying to be gentler on our world. After all- it's all we've got, and who else will?
OK, last one for now.
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/ I've been reading Trent for a while now too. He's another one that makes me think about STUFF. Helps me to keep me from buying it, and helps me to focus on where we want to go with it. He's also starting to get into cooking and I'm looking forward to when he comes out with his cooking blog too!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Menu Plan for this week
We're still trying to mostly eat out of the pantry this week.
Monday: Buffalo Chicken Wraps with Mrs. T's Pierogies (using leftover buffalo chicken chunks: going to chop smaller, mix with some wing sauce since the Shake & Bake stuff wasn't all that, put in a tortilla with some salad mix [on sale this week], some carrots and celery and blue cheese dressing and bake the pierogies)
Tues: Rice with beef - I pulled some unlabeled cooked rice from the freezer. Not sure what actual flavor this rice is, but it should be fine with some cooked ground beef added to it, if not I'll add some beans to it instead. :) Either way, we'll live. Salad on the side.
Wed: Spicy "Chicken" (Bean for us) Tortilla Soup - recipe posted earlier
Thurs: Mediterranean Baked Lima Beans (from Veganomicon)
Fri: Southwest Stuffed Turkey Burgers (my sister gave us a few of these made from turkey when she gave us a bunch of frozen foods when we were really low on money: it's from the Kraft foods Magazine. They were so good, we're making more and will be freezing our own this time. (edited to add the recipe since I can't find it on their website anymore)
Southwest Stuffed Burgers
Not all smart burgers are the same. Ours has a taco-flavored filling sandwiched right in between the two patties
1 1/2 lb extra lean ground beef or lean ground turkey
1/4 cup Kraft Light Mayonnaise, divided
1 pkg (1 1/4 oz) Taco Bell Home Originals Taco Seasoning Mix
1/2 cup Kraft Natural 2% Milk Reduced Fat Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese Crumbles
1/4 cup Taco Bell Home Orginals Salsa, divided
6 Lettuce Leaves
6 slices tomato
6 whole wheat hamburger buns, split
Preheat greased grill to medium-high heat. Mix meat, 3 Tbsp of the mayo and the seasoning mix; shape into 12 thin patties. Combine cheese and 2 Tbsp of the salsa; spoon over 6 of the patties. Cover each with one of the remaining patties; pinch edges together to seal.
Grill 7 minutes on each side or until cooked through (160 F) Meanwhile, combine remaining 2 Tbsp salsa and remaining 1 Tbsp mayo.
Place lettuce, tomatoes, and burgers on bottom halves of buns; top with salsa mixture. Cover with tops of buns.
Makes 6 servings, 1 burger each.
Extra lean ground beef: cal 340, fat 13 g (sat 4.5g), chol 75 mg, sod 830 mg, carb 26 g, fib 2g, sugars 2 g, prot 30g
93% lean ground turkey: cal 360, fat 17g (sat 5g) chol 95 mg, sod 870mg, carb 26g, fib 2 g, sugar 2g, prot 28g
Make ahead: Stuffed patties can be covered and refrigereated up to 4 hours before
grilling.
[EDITED TO ALSO ADD: I'm joinig I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday http://orgjunkie.com/2008/01/menu-plan-monday-jan-28th.html after reading it for ages!!!! Go check out some other great menu ideas, theres usually over 200 other people participating!]
Monday: Buffalo Chicken Wraps with Mrs. T's Pierogies (using leftover buffalo chicken chunks: going to chop smaller, mix with some wing sauce since the Shake & Bake stuff wasn't all that, put in a tortilla with some salad mix [on sale this week], some carrots and celery and blue cheese dressing and bake the pierogies)
Tues: Rice with beef - I pulled some unlabeled cooked rice from the freezer. Not sure what actual flavor this rice is, but it should be fine with some cooked ground beef added to it, if not I'll add some beans to it instead. :) Either way, we'll live. Salad on the side.
Wed: Spicy "Chicken" (Bean for us) Tortilla Soup - recipe posted earlier
Thurs: Mediterranean Baked Lima Beans (from Veganomicon)
Fri: Southwest Stuffed Turkey Burgers (my sister gave us a few of these made from turkey when she gave us a bunch of frozen foods when we were really low on money: it's from the Kraft foods Magazine. They were so good, we're making more and will be freezing our own this time. (edited to add the recipe since I can't find it on their website anymore)
Southwest Stuffed Burgers
Not all smart burgers are the same. Ours has a taco-flavored filling sandwiched right in between the two patties
1 1/2 lb extra lean ground beef or lean ground turkey
1/4 cup Kraft Light Mayonnaise, divided
1 pkg (1 1/4 oz) Taco Bell Home Originals Taco Seasoning Mix
1/2 cup Kraft Natural 2% Milk Reduced Fat Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese Crumbles
1/4 cup Taco Bell Home Orginals Salsa, divided
6 Lettuce Leaves
6 slices tomato
6 whole wheat hamburger buns, split
Preheat greased grill to medium-high heat. Mix meat, 3 Tbsp of the mayo and the seasoning mix; shape into 12 thin patties. Combine cheese and 2 Tbsp of the salsa; spoon over 6 of the patties. Cover each with one of the remaining patties; pinch edges together to seal.
Grill 7 minutes on each side or until cooked through (160 F) Meanwhile, combine remaining 2 Tbsp salsa and remaining 1 Tbsp mayo.
Place lettuce, tomatoes, and burgers on bottom halves of buns; top with salsa mixture. Cover with tops of buns.
Makes 6 servings, 1 burger each.
Extra lean ground beef: cal 340, fat 13 g (sat 4.5g), chol 75 mg, sod 830 mg, carb 26 g, fib 2g, sugars 2 g, prot 30g
93% lean ground turkey: cal 360, fat 17g (sat 5g) chol 95 mg, sod 870mg, carb 26g, fib 2 g, sugar 2g, prot 28g
Make ahead: Stuffed patties can be covered and refrigereated up to 4 hours before
grilling.
[EDITED TO ALSO ADD: I'm joinig I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday http://orgjunkie.com/2008/01/menu-plan-monday-jan-28th.html after reading it for ages!!!! Go check out some other great menu ideas, theres usually over 200 other people participating!]
Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Got this from my sister today. Her whole family likes it (her kids are pretty picky and she doesn't make it too spicy for her kids, and her kids like to use it more as a dip since she pretty much blends everything (but the chicken) and they just put what they want on top and dip the chips. I am thinking of leaving out the chicken and putting beans in it. I might even throw in some of the dried refried bean mix (I think it's by Fantastic Foods - at least it used to be I get it at the HFS in the bulk bins) to thicken it up instead of the flour mixture and I will have to add less of the cumin/chili powder too. I got all excited the other day to find out not only is our local food store (FoodLion) not only carrying Better than Bouillon now, but it is also even carrying the fake chicken flavored one too! Yay! Anyway, here's the recipe. It came from one of those checkout booklets from Prevention for Preventing Diabetes.
Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup
15 oz diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 jalapenoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (14 1/2 oz) reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup fat-free sour cream
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
4 oz reduced fat tortilla chips, crushed
In food processor, combine tomatoes with juice, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and hot pepper. Process to smooth thick consistency and set aside.
Warm oil in large pot over medium high. When hot, cook chicken, onion, jalapeno, and garlic, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and onion is softened. Reduce heat to low, add tomato mixture and broth and simmer, uncovered 15 minutes.
Meanwhile in small bowl, whisk flour and water until smooth paste forms. Add to soup and raise temperature if necessary to keep soup barely boiling. Simmer 5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add sour cream and stir until well blended. Stir in cilantro and garnish with tortilla. Serve.
Makes 8 (1 cup) servings
190 cal, 22 g carb, 3.5 g fat, 2 g fib
Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup
15 oz diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 jalapenoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (14 1/2 oz) reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup fat-free sour cream
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
4 oz reduced fat tortilla chips, crushed
In food processor, combine tomatoes with juice, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and hot pepper. Process to smooth thick consistency and set aside.
Warm oil in large pot over medium high. When hot, cook chicken, onion, jalapeno, and garlic, stirring frequently, 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and onion is softened. Reduce heat to low, add tomato mixture and broth and simmer, uncovered 15 minutes.
Meanwhile in small bowl, whisk flour and water until smooth paste forms. Add to soup and raise temperature if necessary to keep soup barely boiling. Simmer 5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add sour cream and stir until well blended. Stir in cilantro and garnish with tortilla. Serve.
Makes 8 (1 cup) servings
190 cal, 22 g carb, 3.5 g fat, 2 g fib
Hamburger Pinwheels
This is from the Hot Meat and Poultry Snacks section of "Mary Margaret McBride's Encyclopedia of Cooking" It sounds quite interesting, although I think I would add some sauerkraut and mustard to the corned beef pinwheels - although the sauerkraut might make them hard to cut nicely. These would be very easy to make veggie too, and I think would be great made with some leftover roasted veggies too!
Hamburger Pinwheels
1 small onion, minced
2 tbsp butter
1 pound ground beef
1/4 lb pork sausage
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 recipe baking powder biscuits
Cook onion in butter until tender but not brown. Add meat and cook until browned. Season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
Roll out biscuit dough into a rectangle 1/4 inch thick. Spread meat on dough and roll jelly roll fashion. Cut into slices about 1 1/2 inches thick.
Place cut side up, on greased baking sheet and bake in hot oven (400 F) about 15 minutes. Serves 8.
Ham Pinwheels: Use chopped ham and hard cooked eggs with sweet pickle and mayonnaise instead of beef mixture. Bake as above.
Corned Beef Rolls: Blend 1 12-ounce can corned beef with 3/4 cup evaporated milk. Use instead of beef mixture.
Hamburger Pinwheels
1 small onion, minced
2 tbsp butter
1 pound ground beef
1/4 lb pork sausage
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 recipe baking powder biscuits
Cook onion in butter until tender but not brown. Add meat and cook until browned. Season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
Roll out biscuit dough into a rectangle 1/4 inch thick. Spread meat on dough and roll jelly roll fashion. Cut into slices about 1 1/2 inches thick.
Place cut side up, on greased baking sheet and bake in hot oven (400 F) about 15 minutes. Serves 8.
Ham Pinwheels: Use chopped ham and hard cooked eggs with sweet pickle and mayonnaise instead of beef mixture. Bake as above.
Corned Beef Rolls: Blend 1 12-ounce can corned beef with 3/4 cup evaporated milk. Use instead of beef mixture.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Some older appetizer recipes...
So, this week has been a bit stressful,and I haven't been doing Weight Watchers so well. That's ok. I'm still doing it, just not as well as I should. The fact that I didn't plan is really biting me on the behind, and that's my problem. I expect a slight gain this week. It also doesn't help that I've got a migraine (and felt kinda crappy) thanks to the weather all this week too (I think the Topamax will have to be increased by another pill).
On Sunday we're heading back to where I grew up for my my mom's belated birthday dinner. My mom requested Sauerbraten. My sister is handling that bit, along with a cake - probably angel food and the veggies. I'm making rolls (and some Pumpernickel bread since my SFiL has never had it) and fudge. I've never made fudge. My mom and sister love fudge, so that's why I'm making it. That way it's not sitting around their house. I have my grandmother's cookbooks. She wasn't a cook by any stretch of the imagination, my great-grandmother was (Nana). BUT she loved desserts. And the cookbooks where there are fudge recipes are all dirty. :) So that's the recipes I'll use. I need to go buy a candy thermometer. The last time I made candy it was hard candy and I was living at mom's still. I hope I don't end up with Chocolate soup! Anyway I am going through a few of the cookbooks (one of them is a set of 'encyclopedia of cooking' types. The one most of these recipes is coming from: "Mary Margaret McBride Encyclopedia of Cooking"). There's some interesting recipes. Sauerkraut Cocktail anyone? I thought I'd post them here so I can hopefully remember them - Not all of them I actually want to make, some of them are just...odd. There's a whole section on Party Sandwich Loaves. Those Sandwiches that where sliced or hollowed out and filled with usually savory fillings and then put back together and frosted with usually a mayonnaise based "frosting" to look like a cake along with "pies" that were made with round loaves of bread too. Like this one:
Canape Pie
1 round loaf of rye bread
1/3 cup softened butter or margarine
1/4 cup mayonnaise
caviar
sieved egg yolk
cream cheese
sardine paste
shrimp paste
salmon paste
pickled onions
Cut a slice horizontally (1/2 inch thick) from the widest part of the loaf of bread. Trim off the crusts.
Mix the butter or margarine and mayonnaise and spread generously on the slice of bread. Mark the slice in concentric circles, using cutters and bowls of various sizes.
Fill the center ring with caviar, marking the center ring with a sieved egg yolk. Fill the next ring with cream cheese pressed through a pastry tube. Fill the next rings with sardine paste, shrimp paste and salmon paste, separated by cream cheese.
Pipe an edge of cream cheese around the outer edge. Line the rim of the plate with tiny pickled onions.
Cut the canape in wedges like pie. Serve cold.
This one actually sounds pretty good:
Caraway Cheese Custard
1 1/2 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 medium sized onion, minced
3 Tbsp sour cream
3/4 cup finely shredded Swiss cheese
3 eggs, well beaten
1/2 tsp salt
dash of black pepper
1/2 tsp caraway seed
pastry
Put bacon in frying pan and cook until lightly browned but not crisp. Add minced minced onion and cool. Add sour cream, cheese, eggs, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Line an 8 inch pie pan with pastry having top crust come just to edge of pan. Pour in filling and sprinkle with caraway seed (or ground caraway).
Bake in moderate oven (350 F) until custard is set.
Cut into thin wedges when cool and serve as an appetizer. This is an appetizer that requires plate and fork and usually is accompanied by wine.
There is an unusual fascination with hot dogs (frankfurters) and this cookbook is dated 1958. There is even a canape topping of mashed baked beans, topped with sliced hot dogs and stuffed olives. But this recipe I might actually make, it's basically Cheese Biscuit covered hot dogs, kinda like a homemade hot pocket I guess. It's odd to me in that it contains oatmeal.
Hot Dog Round-Ups
1 1/2 cups sifted enriched flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 c uncooked oats
1 cup finely grated cheese
4 Tbsp shortening
2/3 c milk
6 frankfurters
paprika
Barbecue Sauce:
2 cups cooked tomatoes
1/4 c ketchup
1 Tbsp vinegar
2 tsp prepared mustard
1 tsp salt
Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder; mix with rolled oats and grated cheese.
Cut in shortening until particles are size of rice grains; add milk and mix just until dry ingredients are dampened.
Roll out on lightly floured board to 1/8 inch thickness; cut into 6 rectangles, about 6x4 inches.
Wrap each frankfurter in biscuit dough, sealing edges with tines of a fork. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake in a very hot oven (450 F) 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with hot barbecue Sauce.
Combine all barbecue sauce ingredients and cook for 15 minutes.
Ok, that's all for now...or at least as much as my headache will allow me to type.
On Sunday we're heading back to where I grew up for my my mom's belated birthday dinner. My mom requested Sauerbraten. My sister is handling that bit, along with a cake - probably angel food and the veggies. I'm making rolls (and some Pumpernickel bread since my SFiL has never had it) and fudge. I've never made fudge. My mom and sister love fudge, so that's why I'm making it. That way it's not sitting around their house. I have my grandmother's cookbooks. She wasn't a cook by any stretch of the imagination, my great-grandmother was (Nana). BUT she loved desserts. And the cookbooks where there are fudge recipes are all dirty. :) So that's the recipes I'll use. I need to go buy a candy thermometer. The last time I made candy it was hard candy and I was living at mom's still. I hope I don't end up with Chocolate soup! Anyway I am going through a few of the cookbooks (one of them is a set of 'encyclopedia of cooking' types. The one most of these recipes is coming from: "Mary Margaret McBride Encyclopedia of Cooking"). There's some interesting recipes. Sauerkraut Cocktail anyone? I thought I'd post them here so I can hopefully remember them - Not all of them I actually want to make, some of them are just...odd. There's a whole section on Party Sandwich Loaves. Those Sandwiches that where sliced or hollowed out and filled with usually savory fillings and then put back together and frosted with usually a mayonnaise based "frosting" to look like a cake along with "pies" that were made with round loaves of bread too. Like this one:
Canape Pie
1 round loaf of rye bread
1/3 cup softened butter or margarine
1/4 cup mayonnaise
caviar
sieved egg yolk
cream cheese
sardine paste
shrimp paste
salmon paste
pickled onions
Cut a slice horizontally (1/2 inch thick) from the widest part of the loaf of bread. Trim off the crusts.
Mix the butter or margarine and mayonnaise and spread generously on the slice of bread. Mark the slice in concentric circles, using cutters and bowls of various sizes.
Fill the center ring with caviar, marking the center ring with a sieved egg yolk. Fill the next ring with cream cheese pressed through a pastry tube. Fill the next rings with sardine paste, shrimp paste and salmon paste, separated by cream cheese.
Pipe an edge of cream cheese around the outer edge. Line the rim of the plate with tiny pickled onions.
Cut the canape in wedges like pie. Serve cold.
This one actually sounds pretty good:
Caraway Cheese Custard
1 1/2 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 medium sized onion, minced
3 Tbsp sour cream
3/4 cup finely shredded Swiss cheese
3 eggs, well beaten
1/2 tsp salt
dash of black pepper
1/2 tsp caraway seed
pastry
Put bacon in frying pan and cook until lightly browned but not crisp. Add minced minced onion and cool. Add sour cream, cheese, eggs, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Line an 8 inch pie pan with pastry having top crust come just to edge of pan. Pour in filling and sprinkle with caraway seed (or ground caraway).
Bake in moderate oven (350 F) until custard is set.
Cut into thin wedges when cool and serve as an appetizer. This is an appetizer that requires plate and fork and usually is accompanied by wine.
There is an unusual fascination with hot dogs (frankfurters) and this cookbook is dated 1958. There is even a canape topping of mashed baked beans, topped with sliced hot dogs and stuffed olives. But this recipe I might actually make, it's basically Cheese Biscuit covered hot dogs, kinda like a homemade hot pocket I guess. It's odd to me in that it contains oatmeal.
Hot Dog Round-Ups
1 1/2 cups sifted enriched flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 c uncooked oats
1 cup finely grated cheese
4 Tbsp shortening
2/3 c milk
6 frankfurters
paprika
Barbecue Sauce:
2 cups cooked tomatoes
1/4 c ketchup
1 Tbsp vinegar
2 tsp prepared mustard
1 tsp salt
Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder; mix with rolled oats and grated cheese.
Cut in shortening until particles are size of rice grains; add milk and mix just until dry ingredients are dampened.
Roll out on lightly floured board to 1/8 inch thickness; cut into 6 rectangles, about 6x4 inches.
Wrap each frankfurter in biscuit dough, sealing edges with tines of a fork. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake in a very hot oven (450 F) 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with hot barbecue Sauce.
Combine all barbecue sauce ingredients and cook for 15 minutes.
Ok, that's all for now...or at least as much as my headache will allow me to type.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Two Cheap Recipes
Well, since hubby's got to have some dental work done (root canal and a cap put on) and I go to the dentist on Friday and I think I have a cavity, we're trying to do a bit of eating out of the pantry. We had Lentils with Greens Soup last night. I found it in a Family Circle magazine and I still have the page, it's dated '98. It makes quite a lot, and we love it. The most expensive part is the sausage- but it only uses 1/2 lb enough that you can either double (and freeze some) or freeze the extra sausage, both of which I've done. I usually use a block of frozen chopped spinach too (10 oz) and change the way I make it - my notes at the end of the recipe.
The other recipe is one I'll be using later, especially since I've got a bit of celery that is getting a bit limp. It's vegetarian, and actually, vegan without any changes. I know I also got it from one of the women's magazines, but I didn't write down from where. It's for Curried Celery Soup. I usually just throw everything into a crockpot and use my immersion blender and blend it all together right before serving. It's just so much easier! And I usually just use dried herbs - especially in the winter.
Lentils with Greens Soup
1/2 cup dried lentils, rinsed and picked over
8 cups water, divided
1 lb escarole or spinach
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 lb Italian sausage, casing removed
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 tsp chicken broth granules
1/8 tsp hot pepper flakes
4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Combine lentils and 4 cups of water in saucepan. Simmer, uncovered 20 minutes or until just tender. Drain.
Meanwhile, cut out and discard escarole stems; separate leaves. Rinse. Chop coarsely.
Heat oil in a 4 quart pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook, breaking up any clumps with a wooden spoon, for about 3 minutes or until no longer pink. Add onion and escarole; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining 4 cups water and broth granules. Bring to a boil, lower heat; simmer, covered 15 minutes. Add lentils and pepper flakes; simmer 3 minutes more. Ladle into 4 bowls. Top with cheese.
HOW I MAKE IT: Saute sausage and onions, breaking up clumps of sausage, until no longer pink. Add 6 cups water, lentils, pepper flakes, 10 oz box frozen chopped spinach (still frozen) and bring to a boil. Lower heat; simmer, covered 20 minutes until lentils are tender. Ladle into 4 bowls and top with cheese.
Family Circle Magazine 2/1/98 244 cal/12 g fat/6 g fib
Curried Celery Soup
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, washed and sliced (or 2 cloves garlic, minced)
1 1/2 lbs celery, chopped
1 Tbsp curry powder
8 oz potatoes, washed and diced
3 3/4 cup vegetable stock
1 stem parsley, for bouquet garni
1 stem thyme, for bouquet garni
1 bay leaf, for bouquet garni
2 Tbsp mixed herbs, chopped fresh for garnish
salt
celery seeds & leaves, for garnish
Cook onion, leek and celery in oil, covered, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add curry powder, and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add potatoes, stock and bouquet garni. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
Remove and discard bouquet garni and set soup aside to cool slightly. Puree. Add mixed herbs and season to taste. Return to pan to warm up.
The other recipe is one I'll be using later, especially since I've got a bit of celery that is getting a bit limp. It's vegetarian, and actually, vegan without any changes. I know I also got it from one of the women's magazines, but I didn't write down from where. It's for Curried Celery Soup. I usually just throw everything into a crockpot and use my immersion blender and blend it all together right before serving. It's just so much easier! And I usually just use dried herbs - especially in the winter.
Lentils with Greens Soup
1/2 cup dried lentils, rinsed and picked over
8 cups water, divided
1 lb escarole or spinach
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 lb Italian sausage, casing removed
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 tsp chicken broth granules
1/8 tsp hot pepper flakes
4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Combine lentils and 4 cups of water in saucepan. Simmer, uncovered 20 minutes or until just tender. Drain.
Meanwhile, cut out and discard escarole stems; separate leaves. Rinse. Chop coarsely.
Heat oil in a 4 quart pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook, breaking up any clumps with a wooden spoon, for about 3 minutes or until no longer pink. Add onion and escarole; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining 4 cups water and broth granules. Bring to a boil, lower heat; simmer, covered 15 minutes. Add lentils and pepper flakes; simmer 3 minutes more. Ladle into 4 bowls. Top with cheese.
HOW I MAKE IT: Saute sausage and onions, breaking up clumps of sausage, until no longer pink. Add 6 cups water, lentils, pepper flakes, 10 oz box frozen chopped spinach (still frozen) and bring to a boil. Lower heat; simmer, covered 20 minutes until lentils are tender. Ladle into 4 bowls and top with cheese.
Family Circle Magazine 2/1/98 244 cal/12 g fat/6 g fib
Curried Celery Soup
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, washed and sliced (or 2 cloves garlic, minced)
1 1/2 lbs celery, chopped
1 Tbsp curry powder
8 oz potatoes, washed and diced
3 3/4 cup vegetable stock
1 stem parsley, for bouquet garni
1 stem thyme, for bouquet garni
1 bay leaf, for bouquet garni
2 Tbsp mixed herbs, chopped fresh for garnish
salt
celery seeds & leaves, for garnish
Cook onion, leek and celery in oil, covered, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add curry powder, and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add potatoes, stock and bouquet garni. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
Remove and discard bouquet garni and set soup aside to cool slightly. Puree. Add mixed herbs and season to taste. Return to pan to warm up.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
A few weeks ago, one of hubby's tooth cracked. It's now started to hurt and he's finally made an appointment with a dentist. He hasn't seen a dentist for as long as we've been married, and I don't know when he last saw one before we got married. I can't say that I've been much better, I've only seen one once so far during that time. Mostly because we haven't had dental insurance with our jobs. Anyway, we've got some insurance now, and a need. He's found some one and he's got an appointment on Monday. We are both hoping it's not going to be too much money. So in preparation for this, we're eating out of the pantry/freezer this week, and maybe more. This means I can buy fruit/veggies, and some deli meat for him and milk this week and maybe even for a few more weeks. It'll make Weight Watchers intersting, and if it goes on for long enough, could make dinners interesting. (Oh, speaking of WW - I lost 2.2 lbs last week. Yay!)
Anyway, the first dinner this week is: Swiss Steak. I have some Cubed Steak in the freezer that was given to me by my sister when she had to clean out her freezer when her new "shipment" of her part of butchered cow was coming in. This recipe is from "Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook" and I make it all the time. The book automatically opens at this page actually. I like it because it contains no cream-of soup and it's different since it contains dry mustard. Today we're trying it with Hunt's Fire-roasted tomatoes, but I expect it will be tasty. Since the meat wasn't thawed I skipped the dredging and browning and just threw everything into the crockpot. I also added a cup of beef broth (leftover from roasting the hunk of beef last week that I had frozen) so we'll have more juice that I can make into gravy to serve over mashed potatoes (of which I actually only have 3 real potatoes but plenty of dehyrated type since I bought some from Costco a while back and made potato bread using it but still have a bunch left. It's not as bad when you use buttermilk to make it instead of milk It's also good when you're sick and hubby doesn't know how to cook *grin*.). Anyway, without the extra cup of broth it still makes enough sauce, I just wanted extra. This will probably fall apart, especially since it's using cube steak- but since this is from a butcher it's not formed ground beef it won't be quite so bad. I will probably even have enough leftover since there's just the two of us to make either a small cottage pie (shepherd's pie) or a pasta sauce.
Swiss Steak
From "Fix-It and Forget-It: Feasting with your Slow Cooker by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good"
Recipe contributed by Marilyn Mowry, Irving, TX
Makes 4-6 servings
3-4 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 1/2 -2 lbs round steak
oil
1 cup sliced onions
1 lb carrots
14 1/2 oz can whole tomatoes
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Combine flour, salt, pepper, and dry mustard
Cut steak into serving pieces. Dredge in flour mixture. Brown on both sides in oil in saucepan. Place in slow cooker.
Add onions and carrots.
Combine tomatoes, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Pour into slow cooker.
Cover, cook on Low 8-10 hours, or high 3-5 hours.
Anyway, the first dinner this week is: Swiss Steak. I have some Cubed Steak in the freezer that was given to me by my sister when she had to clean out her freezer when her new "shipment" of her part of butchered cow was coming in. This recipe is from "Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook" and I make it all the time. The book automatically opens at this page actually. I like it because it contains no cream-of soup and it's different since it contains dry mustard. Today we're trying it with Hunt's Fire-roasted tomatoes, but I expect it will be tasty. Since the meat wasn't thawed I skipped the dredging and browning and just threw everything into the crockpot. I also added a cup of beef broth (leftover from roasting the hunk of beef last week that I had frozen) so we'll have more juice that I can make into gravy to serve over mashed potatoes (of which I actually only have 3 real potatoes but plenty of dehyrated type since I bought some from Costco a while back and made potato bread using it but still have a bunch left. It's not as bad when you use buttermilk to make it instead of milk It's also good when you're sick and hubby doesn't know how to cook *grin*.). Anyway, without the extra cup of broth it still makes enough sauce, I just wanted extra. This will probably fall apart, especially since it's using cube steak- but since this is from a butcher it's not formed ground beef it won't be quite so bad. I will probably even have enough leftover since there's just the two of us to make either a small cottage pie (shepherd's pie) or a pasta sauce.
Swiss Steak
From "Fix-It and Forget-It: Feasting with your Slow Cooker by Dawn J. Ranck and Phyllis Pellman Good"
Recipe contributed by Marilyn Mowry, Irving, TX
Makes 4-6 servings
3-4 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 1/2 -2 lbs round steak
oil
1 cup sliced onions
1 lb carrots
14 1/2 oz can whole tomatoes
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Combine flour, salt, pepper, and dry mustard
Cut steak into serving pieces. Dredge in flour mixture. Brown on both sides in oil in saucepan. Place in slow cooker.
Add onions and carrots.
Combine tomatoes, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Pour into slow cooker.
Cover, cook on Low 8-10 hours, or high 3-5 hours.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Excuse me, but is that a water bottle in your tea?
I bought one of those new Lipton Pyramid teas a while back. I know Lipton teas aren't the best teas around (fannings and all) but there are times when I'm not really picky. And the one I got on sale with a coupon was the Black tea with caramel. Caramel people! :) Anyway... I opened the box the other night and was disappointed in the bag that the pyramid is made of. I don't think the actual bag is compostable - something we do out here at ComfortHound Corner. We have a green Rubbermaid thingy just for it. Anyway, I went on Lipton's site just to look up what the bags were made of without being able to find anything on the box or on the site. I sent off an email. Got this back the next day:
"Hello Jennifer,
Thank you for writing.
The translucent Pyramid tea bag is made of PET, the same food grade material clear water and juice bottles are made of. As with any plastic, it would not be considered biodegradable. PET is completely safe and is 100% recyclable within the plastics waste stream."
Great. We've stopped drinking bottled water for a while now just so we wouldn't add to the stream of plastics added to the landfill. In Louisa, plastics aren't recycled, just paper, cans and glass. As it is, I don't even like getting all my prescriptions refilled because I end up with all these prescription bottles (and no, they won't re-use the bottles, I asked). Luckily I like our water (it's well water) and we have plenty of containers to carry around water if we go somewhere.
The long and short of this post: I won't be buying these tea bags again, even if they were worth it. At least I have plenty of other teas, including loose that I like.
"Hello Jennifer,
Thank you for writing.
The translucent Pyramid tea bag is made of PET, the same food grade material clear water and juice bottles are made of. As with any plastic, it would not be considered biodegradable. PET is completely safe and is 100% recyclable within the plastics waste stream."
Great. We've stopped drinking bottled water for a while now just so we wouldn't add to the stream of plastics added to the landfill. In Louisa, plastics aren't recycled, just paper, cans and glass. As it is, I don't even like getting all my prescriptions refilled because I end up with all these prescription bottles (and no, they won't re-use the bottles, I asked). Luckily I like our water (it's well water) and we have plenty of containers to carry around water if we go somewhere.
The long and short of this post: I won't be buying these tea bags again, even if they were worth it. At least I have plenty of other teas, including loose that I like.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Roasted Brussels Sprouts!
Roasted Brussels Sprouts! I love Brussels Sprouts. I always have, even though I never got to eat them much as a child since my mother didn't like them. And yes, I even liked them boiled. My mother didn't over-cook them. I always asked for her to make me "those little cabbages" and most of the time she made a face and told me no. I just keep forgetting about them now that I'm older. Well, the other weekend we had PBS on, and the RealSimple show was on. They had a recipe that had Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Salmon. I was more interested in the Sprouts and since hubby eats most anything I asked if it was ok if I made them. He said sure. I picked some up yesterday. I should have picked up two containers. I basically used the recipe from Veganomicon, although I roasted at 450 since the other recipe I made (a fish recipe) was cooked at that temp. It worked out fine, was just cooked for less time. It's a good thing that hubby walked in the door soon after they came out of the oven, because there may not have been many left. Course we were both picking at the pan while I finished cooking up the rest of dinner (mac & cheese). We probably would have been happy with just the roasted Sprouts. And they were actually the first things to be finished. YUM!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Made these on Friday for Jennifer's Birthday from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I just dipped the tops in the Melty Ganache instead of drizzling. They turned out well. I would have more to say about them, but well, I must admit I am one of those people who doesn't really like peanut butter. But Jennifer is, and that's why I made them. It helped me to stick to my diet though. :)
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Christmas Mixes
This is what I made to give this year:
Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Pint Jar.
From: Layered Soup Mixes in Jars by Jackie Gannaway
Seasonings: Mix in a small bowl (I just mixed in the bottom of the jar)
1 Tbsp dried minced onion
1 Tbsp chicken bouillon granules
1 Tbsp dried celery (actually called for 1 tsp celery powder which I couldn't find)
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups wide egg noodles (I used medium which I personally like better)
1 (5 oz can chicken) to attach to jar
Place ingredients in jar in this order
Place seasonings in jar first. Seasonings are place in jar loose. Press seasonings down firmly.
Fill jar with noodles
Put lid on jar.
Attach can of chicken to top of jar.
Attach recipe to jarl
Chicken Noodle Soup
Bring 5 cups of water to a boil in a medium pan.
Add soup mix and chicken. Break up chicken meat well with a fork
Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer uncovered 12-15 minutes or until noodles are tender.
Makes 4-5 cups soup.
Homemade Whole-Grain Pancake Mix
Whole grains are coming on strong, and our aim at King Arthur is to make them easy for you to swallow—literally! The following pancakes are just shy of 50% whole-grain; and they're absolutely delicious, featuring the sweet-nutty taste of oats.
This mix not only makes an exceptional pancake, it's remarkably easy to use. The proportions couldn't be simpler: 1 cup of mix, 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 egg. If you're not in the habit of having buttermilk around, reconsider: you can freeze leftover buttermilk, in 1-cup portions, for future batches of pancakes. You can also use buttermilk in yeast bread, muffins, quickbreads... most anyplace milk is called for, buttermilk is a rich-tasting, creamy-yet-low-fat stand-in.
These pancakes taste wonderful, puff up beautifully, hold in a low oven for half an hour without getting tough or rubbery, and they're more than willing to act as a vehicle for any kind of fruit addition. A partial list of combinations that have made successful appearances so far: peach, raspberry, banana-walnut, cheddar-apple, blueberry, and cranberry-apricot.
This recipe comes from Susan Reid, editor of King Arthur's Baking Sheet newsletter and co-author of The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion and The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. Each Christmas she prepares a giant batch, divvies it up, gift-wraps it, and gives it to family and friends. We've beefed up its whole-grain content with a touch of whole wheat flour, but other than that have left her original pretty much alone. Thanks, Susan!
Pancake Mix
4 cups (17 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
3 1/2 cups (12 1/4 ounces) old-fashioned or rolled oats
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup (7 ounces) vegetable oil
To make the mix: Grind the oats in a food processor until they're chopped fine, but not a powder. Put the flour, oats, and all other dry ingredients into a mixer with a paddle. Mix on slow speed, and drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. When all of the oil has been added, stop the mixer and squeeze a clump of mix in your hand. If it holds together, it's just right. If it won't hold together, stir in tablespoonfuls of oil, one at a time, until the consistency is correct. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature, or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer. Yield: 10 cups dry mix.
To make pancakes: Whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup of buttermilk (you can use soured milk, but buttermilk gives noticeably superior results; a combination of half plain yogurt and half milk also will do), and 1 large egg. Don't worry if it seems thin at first: the oats will soak up the milk, and the mix will thicken a bit as it stands. Let the batter stand for at least 15 minutes before cooking.
Heat a lightly greased griddle to 350°F (if you've got a griddle with a temperature setting; if not, medium-hot will do). Drop the batter onto it in 1/4-cupfuls (a jumbo cookie scoop works well here) to make a 3 1/2-inch diameter pancake. If you have English muffin rings, use them; they make a perfectly round, evenly thick pancake. When the edges look dry and bubbles come to the surface without breaking (after about 90 seconds, if your griddle is the correct temperature), turn the pancake over to finish cooking on the second side. Yield: a batch using one cup of the mix will make about ten 3 1/2-inch pancakes.
Note: If you don't have buttermilk in the house, but do have buttermilk powder, try this: In place of the buttermilk, add 2 tablespoons buttermilk powder to 1 cup of dry mix, then stir in 1/3 cup water and 1 large egg.
Variation: Add 1 tablespoon orange juice to the dry mix along with the buttermilk. We've found that the acidity and sweetness of the orange juice helps mellow the tannic taste some people perceive in whole wheat flour; while the pancakes won't have any orange flavor, they may taste slightly milder to you, if you're not a fan of whole wheat flour (but still want to get more whole grains into your diet).
Nutrition Information per Serving (2 pancakes, 86g): 16g whole grains, 139 calories, 6g fat, 6g protein, 16g complex carbs, 1g sugar, 2g dietary fiber, 44mg chol, 254mg sodium, 155mg potassium, 17RE vitamin A, 1mg vitamin C, 1mg iron, 67mg calcium, 133mg phosphorous.
©2007 The King Arthur Flour Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Nutrition Information per Serving (2 pancakes, 86g): 16g whole grains, 139 calories, 6g fat, 6g protein, 16g complex carbs, 1g sugar, 2g dietary fiber, 44mg chol, 254mg sodium, 155mg potassium, 17RE vitamin A, 1mg vitamin C, 1mg iron, 67mg calcium, 133mg phosphorous.
Pumpkin Pie Raisin Snack Mix
From: WW Five Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook Winter 2008 (actually they used apple pie spice)
3 cups crispy wheat cereal squares (such as Wheat Chex
1 Tbsp "measures like sugar" calorie-free sweetener (Like Splenda)
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Butter-flavored cooking spray
1 cup unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts
1 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 250 degrees
Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl; coat evenly with cooking spray. Arrange in a single layer on foil-lined jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 250 degrees for 18 minutes, stirring once. Stir in nuts and raisins. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1/4 cup) Points: 2
Per serving: cal 110 (39% from fat) fat 4.8 g, (sat 0.6g); pro 3.2 g, carb 15.7 g, fib 2g, chol 0mg, iron 0.7mg; sod 49mg, calc 15mg
Bread in a Bag
From Centsible Nutrition
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 package rapid rise yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water (125-130° F)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1. Combine 1 cup of the flour, undissolved yeast, sugar, dry milk, and salt in a 1 gallon heavy duty freezer bag with a zipper lock. Squeeze upper part of bag to force out air. Shake and work bag with fingers to blend ingredients.
2. Add hot water and oil to dry ingredients. Re-seal bag. Mix by working bag with fingers. Add whole wheat flour; re-seal bag and mix thoroughly. Gradually add enough remaining all-purpose flour to make a stiff dough that pulls away from the bag.
3. Take bread from bag and place on a floured surface; knead dough 2 to 4 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Cover dough and let it rest for 10 minutes. Roll out dough to a 12x7 inch rectangle. Roll up from narrow end. Pinch to seal. Place in a greased loaf pan and let rise 20 minutes or until double in size. Bake at 375° F for 30 to 35 minutes or until brown.
Variations:
Breadsticks- Add 1.2 cup rolled wheat or other rolled grain to bag after mixing in wheat flour. Then, gradually add enough all-purpose flour to make a stiff dough. Roll out dough in a rectangle ½ inch thick. Cut dough into strips ¾ inch wide. Twist strips while placing on baking sheet. Bake at 375° F for 15 minutes or until brown.
Cinnamon Rolls- After kneading allow dough to rest for 10 minutes. Roll dough into 12x7 inch rectangle on floured surface. Spread ¼ cup margarine on dough. Sprinkle with ½ cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Add ½ cup raisins or chopped nuts if desired. Roll up dough and seal edges. Cut into 1 inch slices. Place in greased baking pan. Cover; let rise 20 to 30 minutes. Bake at 375° F for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan. Makes 12 rolls.
Rolls- After kneading, allow dough to rest for 10 minutes. Roll out dough to ½ inch thickness. Use a round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to make rolls. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375° F for 12 to 15 minutes.
Hot Cocoa
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Show:Good Eats
Episode:Art of Darkness II: Cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste (I left this out - we can add if we want)
(I also added 1 cup powdered coffee creamer to the one I am gifting since they will probably want it a bit creamier the one here I left as is since we are fine with it as is)
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and incorporate evenly.
Use 1/4-1/3 cup per mug (to taste). This also works great with warm milk.
Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Pint Jar.
From: Layered Soup Mixes in Jars by Jackie Gannaway
Seasonings: Mix in a small bowl (I just mixed in the bottom of the jar)
1 Tbsp dried minced onion
1 Tbsp chicken bouillon granules
1 Tbsp dried celery (actually called for 1 tsp celery powder which I couldn't find)
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups wide egg noodles (I used medium which I personally like better)
1 (5 oz can chicken) to attach to jar
Place ingredients in jar in this order
Place seasonings in jar first. Seasonings are place in jar loose. Press seasonings down firmly.
Fill jar with noodles
Put lid on jar.
Attach can of chicken to top of jar.
Attach recipe to jarl
Chicken Noodle Soup
Bring 5 cups of water to a boil in a medium pan.
Add soup mix and chicken. Break up chicken meat well with a fork
Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer uncovered 12-15 minutes or until noodles are tender.
Makes 4-5 cups soup.
Homemade Whole-Grain Pancake Mix
Whole grains are coming on strong, and our aim at King Arthur is to make them easy for you to swallow—literally! The following pancakes are just shy of 50% whole-grain; and they're absolutely delicious, featuring the sweet-nutty taste of oats.
This mix not only makes an exceptional pancake, it's remarkably easy to use. The proportions couldn't be simpler: 1 cup of mix, 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 egg. If you're not in the habit of having buttermilk around, reconsider: you can freeze leftover buttermilk, in 1-cup portions, for future batches of pancakes. You can also use buttermilk in yeast bread, muffins, quickbreads... most anyplace milk is called for, buttermilk is a rich-tasting, creamy-yet-low-fat stand-in.
These pancakes taste wonderful, puff up beautifully, hold in a low oven for half an hour without getting tough or rubbery, and they're more than willing to act as a vehicle for any kind of fruit addition. A partial list of combinations that have made successful appearances so far: peach, raspberry, banana-walnut, cheddar-apple, blueberry, and cranberry-apricot.
This recipe comes from Susan Reid, editor of King Arthur's Baking Sheet newsletter and co-author of The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion and The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. Each Christmas she prepares a giant batch, divvies it up, gift-wraps it, and gives it to family and friends. We've beefed up its whole-grain content with a touch of whole wheat flour, but other than that have left her original pretty much alone. Thanks, Susan!
Pancake Mix
4 cups (17 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
3 1/2 cups (12 1/4 ounces) old-fashioned or rolled oats
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup (7 ounces) vegetable oil
To make the mix: Grind the oats in a food processor until they're chopped fine, but not a powder. Put the flour, oats, and all other dry ingredients into a mixer with a paddle. Mix on slow speed, and drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. When all of the oil has been added, stop the mixer and squeeze a clump of mix in your hand. If it holds together, it's just right. If it won't hold together, stir in tablespoonfuls of oil, one at a time, until the consistency is correct. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature, or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer. Yield: 10 cups dry mix.
To make pancakes: Whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup of buttermilk (you can use soured milk, but buttermilk gives noticeably superior results; a combination of half plain yogurt and half milk also will do), and 1 large egg. Don't worry if it seems thin at first: the oats will soak up the milk, and the mix will thicken a bit as it stands. Let the batter stand for at least 15 minutes before cooking.
Heat a lightly greased griddle to 350°F (if you've got a griddle with a temperature setting; if not, medium-hot will do). Drop the batter onto it in 1/4-cupfuls (a jumbo cookie scoop works well here) to make a 3 1/2-inch diameter pancake. If you have English muffin rings, use them; they make a perfectly round, evenly thick pancake. When the edges look dry and bubbles come to the surface without breaking (after about 90 seconds, if your griddle is the correct temperature), turn the pancake over to finish cooking on the second side. Yield: a batch using one cup of the mix will make about ten 3 1/2-inch pancakes.
Note: If you don't have buttermilk in the house, but do have buttermilk powder, try this: In place of the buttermilk, add 2 tablespoons buttermilk powder to 1 cup of dry mix, then stir in 1/3 cup water and 1 large egg.
Variation: Add 1 tablespoon orange juice to the dry mix along with the buttermilk. We've found that the acidity and sweetness of the orange juice helps mellow the tannic taste some people perceive in whole wheat flour; while the pancakes won't have any orange flavor, they may taste slightly milder to you, if you're not a fan of whole wheat flour (but still want to get more whole grains into your diet).
Nutrition Information per Serving (2 pancakes, 86g): 16g whole grains, 139 calories, 6g fat, 6g protein, 16g complex carbs, 1g sugar, 2g dietary fiber, 44mg chol, 254mg sodium, 155mg potassium, 17RE vitamin A, 1mg vitamin C, 1mg iron, 67mg calcium, 133mg phosphorous.
©2007 The King Arthur Flour Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Nutrition Information per Serving (2 pancakes, 86g): 16g whole grains, 139 calories, 6g fat, 6g protein, 16g complex carbs, 1g sugar, 2g dietary fiber, 44mg chol, 254mg sodium, 155mg potassium, 17RE vitamin A, 1mg vitamin C, 1mg iron, 67mg calcium, 133mg phosphorous.
Pumpkin Pie Raisin Snack Mix
From: WW Five Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook Winter 2008 (actually they used apple pie spice)
3 cups crispy wheat cereal squares (such as Wheat Chex
1 Tbsp "measures like sugar" calorie-free sweetener (Like Splenda)
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Butter-flavored cooking spray
1 cup unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts
1 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 250 degrees
Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl; coat evenly with cooking spray. Arrange in a single layer on foil-lined jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 250 degrees for 18 minutes, stirring once. Stir in nuts and raisins. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1/4 cup) Points: 2
Per serving: cal 110 (39% from fat) fat 4.8 g, (sat 0.6g); pro 3.2 g, carb 15.7 g, fib 2g, chol 0mg, iron 0.7mg; sod 49mg, calc 15mg
Bread in a Bag
From Centsible Nutrition
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 package rapid rise yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water (125-130° F)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1. Combine 1 cup of the flour, undissolved yeast, sugar, dry milk, and salt in a 1 gallon heavy duty freezer bag with a zipper lock. Squeeze upper part of bag to force out air. Shake and work bag with fingers to blend ingredients.
2. Add hot water and oil to dry ingredients. Re-seal bag. Mix by working bag with fingers. Add whole wheat flour; re-seal bag and mix thoroughly. Gradually add enough remaining all-purpose flour to make a stiff dough that pulls away from the bag.
3. Take bread from bag and place on a floured surface; knead dough 2 to 4 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Cover dough and let it rest for 10 minutes. Roll out dough to a 12x7 inch rectangle. Roll up from narrow end. Pinch to seal. Place in a greased loaf pan and let rise 20 minutes or until double in size. Bake at 375° F for 30 to 35 minutes or until brown.
Variations:
Breadsticks- Add 1.2 cup rolled wheat or other rolled grain to bag after mixing in wheat flour. Then, gradually add enough all-purpose flour to make a stiff dough. Roll out dough in a rectangle ½ inch thick. Cut dough into strips ¾ inch wide. Twist strips while placing on baking sheet. Bake at 375° F for 15 minutes or until brown.
Cinnamon Rolls- After kneading allow dough to rest for 10 minutes. Roll dough into 12x7 inch rectangle on floured surface. Spread ¼ cup margarine on dough. Sprinkle with ½ cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Add ½ cup raisins or chopped nuts if desired. Roll up dough and seal edges. Cut into 1 inch slices. Place in greased baking pan. Cover; let rise 20 to 30 minutes. Bake at 375° F for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan. Makes 12 rolls.
Rolls- After kneading, allow dough to rest for 10 minutes. Roll out dough to ½ inch thickness. Use a round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to make rolls. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375° F for 12 to 15 minutes.
Hot Cocoa
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Show:Good Eats
Episode:Art of Darkness II: Cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste (I left this out - we can add if we want)
(I also added 1 cup powdered coffee creamer to the one I am gifting since they will probably want it a bit creamier the one here I left as is since we are fine with it as is)
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and incorporate evenly.
Use 1/4-1/3 cup per mug (to taste). This also works great with warm milk.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Christmas Dinner
Roast Tenderloin of Beef
Makes about 8 servings
This luxury cut of beef deserves VIP treatment. Here it's brushed with a store-bought browning sauce to give it deep color, and an herb blend to intensify the flavors.
1 Tbsp olive or canola oil
2 tsp browning sauce
1 3/4 lbs beef tenderloin, trimmed
1 teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tsp dried tarragon leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 cup water
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Stir together the oil and browning sauce in a small bowl; brush all over the meat. Combine the herbs, garlic, salt and pepper in another small bowl and rub the mixture all over the meat.
Place the meat on a rack in a roasting pan. Pour th ewater into the bottom of the pan. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat reaches 125 degrees F (rare), 130 degrees F (medium rare), or 135 degrees F (well done), 15 -25 minutes. Cover loosely with foil and let stand 15 minutes before slicing.
Per serving (3 oz), 174 cal, 9 g fat, 3 g sat fat, 0 g trans fat, 57 mg chol, 203 mg sod, 1 g carb, 0 g fib, 21 g prot, 14 mg calc. POINTS: 4
Oven Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary: Slice 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes into 1-inch chunks. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp each crumbled rosemary, salt and pepper. Spread on a shallow baking sheet and roast at 375 degrees F until tender, about 45 minutes.
Per Serving (3/4 cup) : 2 POINTS
Green Beans with Pickled Onions: Combine 1/4 c red-wine vinegar, 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar, and 1 minced garlic clove in a zip-close plastic bag; add 2 small red onions, thinly sliced, and marinate 2 hours. Steam 2 lbs green beans until tender-crisp. Cover with onions and their juice; let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Per serving (1/2 cup): 0 POINTS
White Lily "Light" Biscuits
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 12 min
Makes: 6 servings
2 cups White Lily® Self-Rising Flour
1/4 cup Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening, or butter or lard
2/3 to 3/4 cups milk or buttermilk
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Place White Lily Self-Rising Flour in mixing bowl.
With pastry blender or fork or fingertips, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Blend in just enough milk with fork until dough leaves sides of bowl.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently by folding the dough 2 to 3 times.
Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thick.
Cut with 2-inch floured biscuit cutter (or other size as desired), dipping cutter into flour between cuts
Press cutter straight down without twisting for straight-sided biscuits.
Place on baking sheet 1 inch apart for crisp sides or almost touching for soft sides.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Colonial Gingerbread
2 C All-purpose Flour
1 C Molasses
3/4 C Buttermilk
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 C Butter -- softened
1 Egg
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Ground Ginger
1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Salt
Confectioner's Sugar -- for topping
Preheat oven to 325F.
Grease and flour 9" x 9" x 2" baking pan.
Into large bowl measure all ingredients except Confectioner's sugar; mix at low speed and beat until blended, constantly scraping bowl with rubber
spatula. Increase speed to medium and continue beating 3 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl.
Pour batter into pan and bake 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely on wire rack.
Makes about 8 servings
This luxury cut of beef deserves VIP treatment. Here it's brushed with a store-bought browning sauce to give it deep color, and an herb blend to intensify the flavors.
1 Tbsp olive or canola oil
2 tsp browning sauce
1 3/4 lbs beef tenderloin, trimmed
1 teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tsp dried tarragon leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 cup water
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Stir together the oil and browning sauce in a small bowl; brush all over the meat. Combine the herbs, garlic, salt and pepper in another small bowl and rub the mixture all over the meat.
Place the meat on a rack in a roasting pan. Pour th ewater into the bottom of the pan. Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat reaches 125 degrees F (rare), 130 degrees F (medium rare), or 135 degrees F (well done), 15 -25 minutes. Cover loosely with foil and let stand 15 minutes before slicing.
Per serving (3 oz), 174 cal, 9 g fat, 3 g sat fat, 0 g trans fat, 57 mg chol, 203 mg sod, 1 g carb, 0 g fib, 21 g prot, 14 mg calc. POINTS: 4
Oven Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary: Slice 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes into 1-inch chunks. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp each crumbled rosemary, salt and pepper. Spread on a shallow baking sheet and roast at 375 degrees F until tender, about 45 minutes.
Per Serving (3/4 cup) : 2 POINTS
Green Beans with Pickled Onions: Combine 1/4 c red-wine vinegar, 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar, and 1 minced garlic clove in a zip-close plastic bag; add 2 small red onions, thinly sliced, and marinate 2 hours. Steam 2 lbs green beans until tender-crisp. Cover with onions and their juice; let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Per serving (1/2 cup): 0 POINTS
White Lily "Light" Biscuits
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 12 min
Makes: 6 servings
2 cups White Lily® Self-Rising Flour
1/4 cup Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening, or butter or lard
2/3 to 3/4 cups milk or buttermilk
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Place White Lily Self-Rising Flour in mixing bowl.
With pastry blender or fork or fingertips, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Blend in just enough milk with fork until dough leaves sides of bowl.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently by folding the dough 2 to 3 times.
Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thick.
Cut with 2-inch floured biscuit cutter (or other size as desired), dipping cutter into flour between cuts
Press cutter straight down without twisting for straight-sided biscuits.
Place on baking sheet 1 inch apart for crisp sides or almost touching for soft sides.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Colonial Gingerbread
2 C All-purpose Flour
1 C Molasses
3/4 C Buttermilk
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 C Butter -- softened
1 Egg
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Ground Ginger
1 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Salt
Confectioner's Sugar -- for topping
Preheat oven to 325F.
Grease and flour 9" x 9" x 2" baking pan.
Into large bowl measure all ingredients except Confectioner's sugar; mix at low speed and beat until blended, constantly scraping bowl with rubber
spatula. Increase speed to medium and continue beating 3 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl.
Pour batter into pan and bake 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely on wire rack.
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