I Have To Cook Anyway

Riddle Me This

2009-04-22T22:47:00.002-05:00

So, Hypatia picked out her clothes the night before. On the top of the stack is a pair of underwear, two socks, and four cotton balls. what are the cotton balls for?

Hmmmm???

Randomosity

2009-04-22T21:58:00.001-05:00

See how I changed my title? Random. I can do that. I can be random. But, can I be random consistently?

Probably not.

If not, am I being random?

I made a wicked good Banana Cream Pie

2008-08-05T13:38:00.002-05:00

It is difficult to be sure just how many grams of carbs are in a slice, though. So, Dylan just guessed. For every 15 grams of carbs that he eats, he takes one unit of Novolog (fast acting insulin). Knowing that the pie would have a LOT of carbs, he took six units of Novolog.

Well, six units was too much. His blood glucose tanked. This was shortly before bedtime, and if he is chasing a low, he can't go to bed. It is too risky to go to sleep with low blood sugar, because you might not wake up.

By 11:00pm, he was at a good number, so he wanted to check just one more time, around 11:15. He plopped down on the couch and fell fast asleep. At midnight, I tried to wake him up, but he was too sleepy. I figured I could just check his sugar myself, but he had left the test strips in some odd place, and I couldn't find them. So, I kept trying to wake him up. Finally, he woke up enough to realize that he needed to go to bed. He was still dressed, so he went to the laundry room to take off his clothes (he does this rather than worry about having dirty clothes in his room).

I was in the kitchen, waiting for him, so we could check his sugar when I realized that he wasn't undressing. No, he was standing there and I'll be darned if it didn't sound like he was pouring water on the dirty clothes. Water? Where would he get water? WATER??? Yikes!

"Dylan!! Are you peeing???" No response.

"Dylan!" I ran to where he was and sure enough, he was sleepily relieving himself all over the pile of dirty clothes!

I started howling with laughter! "Dylan! You are in the laundry room! You are peeing on clothes! This is the laundry room!!"

He looked at me with a vacant stare, laced with a bit of annoyance.

I was laughing until tears ran down my face! Dylan was peeing on my laundry! He was clearly annoyed with me for yelling at him. Poor child was still asleep, apparently. I suggested to him that he stop peeing and finish in a more appropriate place, but was met with obstinate resistance. Not gonna happen. He couldn't figure out who this crazy woman was, much less why the crazy woman was yelling and laughing.

With no choice left but to wait, I tried to maneuver my hand around the yellow stream, and remove items that might benefit from not being covered in pee. When he was finished, I immediately filled the washing machine.

By the time he was finished peeing (it was a looong pee), he was awake enough to check his own blood sugar. He was high (245 mg/dl). Typical. It happens every time he has a bad low. He eats sugar to bring it up, but his liver spills extra sugar into his bloodstream an effort to compensate. Before long, he is way above normal.

Just for reference, normal BG (blood glucose) readings in a non-diabetic stay pretty close to 100 mg/dl, with a little fluctuation up and down. Even after eating a lot of sugar/carbs, a non-diabetic would never have a reading over 200 mg/dl. As a matter of fact, if a person ever has a reading of over 200 mg/dl (as long as it is accurate), he/she would be diagnosed with diabetes

I really need a new title.

2008-06-12T13:05:00.001-05:00

Since I obviously don't do much posting about my food anymore. I really should have picked a more generic title, don't you think?

Little Chickies!

2008-03-30T21:41:00.005-05:00

My son has been incubating eggs, and they started hatching today!! What an exciting day!

I have been learning about raising and hatching chickens on backyardchickens.com. So, as they hatched, I was reading up on what to expect. One of the first things I learned is that while it is best to let the chicken hatch fully on its own, sometimes the chickens don't hatch properly and intervention may save their lives. How many of you have heard that if you help a chicken hatch, it will die because it needs to gain strength while hatching? Well, that is not really true. If the chick is too big, it will not have room to rotate and it will die, unhatched. Also, if the chick pecks through the shell and there is not enough humidity, the membrane will dry out, and make it impossible for the chick to hatch. In both cases, you can hear the chick peeping, and it is healthy, but if it doesn't get out of the shell it will die. At this point, careful intervention can save the chicks life.

Out of the 5 that have hatched so far, we assisted with 2 of them. They are looking good so far!

I've been tie dying

2008-03-25T14:07:00.004-05:00

I love to tie dye. I don't do it often enough! My daughter has been bugging me to do some more. She loves all the things I dabble in, such as jewelry making, tie dye, etc. She is my little "mini me".

So, she helped, and this is a sampling of what we made:

Life happens...

2008-03-03T08:54:00.013-06:00

While I have been neglecting this blog, life just kept on coming. And with it came some changes.

For months, my in-laws had planned to take my son with them on a 6 week trip to Europe. Because my in-laws don't like to go to Europe in the summer (high tourist season), they were going from late August through mid-October. Dylan would have to miss the first 8 weeks of school. We discussed this with his school Principal in May and he said it would not be a problem. We got his passport and we were good to go! He was so excited!

In early August of '07 to we made the trip to Atlanta drop him off at his Grandparent's house. We stayed there for a few days. While we were there, I noticed that he was getting up in the night to pee. This was unusual. Usually he slept right through the night.

We left for Arkansas, and Dylan stayed. He (and his Grandparents) left for Europe on Aug 28. They rented a car and they drove through Italy, Germany and France for 6 glorious weeks.

While they traveled, they noticed that Dylan was thirsty all the time. They had to carry bottled water with them and he just couldn't get enough. Of course he peed a lot. And when I say peed a lot, I mean A LOT!! He couldn't go much more than a half an hour without feeling a desperate need to pee. He finally got to the point that he would just go find a spot and pee, even if it was in front of everyone at the Eiffel Tower. While they drove, his need to pee was so irritating, that they finally gave him a pee bottle, and told him to pee in that, so they wouldn't have to stop every half hour. He filled bottle after bottle. They also noticed that he ate more food than the two of them put together! He could finish a huge Kebab sandwich and start in on his Grandmother's! They could barely keep up with his appetite.

And yet, he was getting thinner.

We returned to Atlanta to pick up Dylan in late October. My in-laws joked about how much Dylan could eat, drink, and pee. On our 10 hour drive home, we realized just how bad it was. He would sit in the back seat howling because of his desperate need to pee!

So, Dylan had missed the first 8 weeks of school. He is a smart child and the principal and counselor had no problems with us wanting to pull him out of school to go to Europe. They were sure that he would slide right back into school with no problems.

He didn't.

He just couldn't get back into the swing of things. When I had my first parent/teacher conference a few weeks after his return, the teacher said "Is Dylan an underachiever?" I didn't know what to say.

He brought home C's on his report card for the first time ever, and I just didn't know what to do. Last year, he almost had a C in math and we knew it was due to speeding through his homework so he could read. He would do it as fast as he could in the classroom and then read books. He never even brought homework home. We grounded him from the computer until the grades were up, and, boom, he brought up his grades. It was no big deal.

This was different. He had two C's, and he just wasn't keeping up with his school work. He was making bad grades because he couldn't do the work! I would help him with homework and I could tell that his brain was fumbling over all the information. In a months time, he hadn't even read 1 book! Not one! Very unusual!

I was wondering if we had made a huge mistake letting him go to Europe.

One night he just sat up in his top bunk and threw up all over everything. It was a huge mess! My husband told him to get a big drink of water, and I followed him into the kitchen. He drank a large glass and immediately threw up what seemed like a gallon of water onto the floor. He felt ok in the morning, so we did nothing. Little did we know, we should have taken him straight to ER that very night!

The continuous thirst and urge to pee continued. Meanwhile, new symptoms emerged. He had constant heartburn, and very painful canker sores in his mouth. His skin was chapped and very dry. He was eating massive quantities of food, more than what a normal adult would eat, and yet he was so thin. And his personality was just...different. He was so irrational! He would cry easily, over the silliest things. Where was the son I knew before he went to Europe? This child was just so changed!

One day, I tried to get him to walk to school (maybe 1/4 of a mile or less) and he just wouldn't do it! He used to love walking to school! He just whined and moaned and complained until I drove him. I was so annoyed with him!

On November 28th, Dylan attended a chess tournament with his GATE class. During the lunch break, he ate a few bites and then threw up all over. He seemed to feel ok, so no one bothered to called me. He continued to play chess, winning 4 out of the 5 games he played (amazingly!). The last game was a stale mate. He came home and told me about throwing up, and he threw up several more times after he got home. He was very hungry, but was convinced that he needed pizza. We had eaten pizza the day before, and somehow he felt that pizza would make him feel better. He was completely irrational about it. He kept telling me that he HAD to have pizza. I kept telling him that we were not getting pizza and he just kept asking me where we could get pizza.

He wasn't feeling well. That much was obvious. But when I would ask him if he felt sick, he would say no. He was so lethargic. All he could do was just lay on the couch with a blanket over his head. I kept checking him for a fever, but there was none.

He looked terrible (and had for days). His skin was pale gray and he had dark circles around his eyes. His hands were bright purple-red, though. It was very noticeable. At this point, I also noticed that he was starting to make a strange labored breathing sound. Additionally, his breath smelled funny. I kept asking him to breathe on my face, so I could figure out the smell.

I started looking online for symptoms involving strange smelling breath. That led me to reading about a fruity odor on the breath, which led me to Diabetic Ketoacidosis, or DKA.

Ah, well, obviously it wasn't that, because Dylan doesn't have diabetes. So what if his symptoms matched DKA? It had to be something else, because he doesn't have Diabetes!!!! And yet, every time I googled his symptoms, DKA was always the top match.

I called our insurance's health line. I talked with the nurse. I can't remember just what I told her, but she never came up with the idea that he had Diabetes. She just said keep an eye on him.

Dylan had been telling me for the last few days that I needed to make an appointment for him to see the doctor. He knew that something was seriously wrong and wanted me to take him in. So, thinking that he was right, I made an appointment for him to go to the doctor on Fri. (two days away). I figured we could test for Diabetes on the off chance that it was that. But, at the same time, I knew that if it was Diabetes, we'd never make it that long, since he was throwing up already, which was a sign of severe DKA. Once you are at the point of throwing up, you need to be hospitalized.

Obviously, I was able to intellectually grasp the concept of diabetes, but I was completely unable to believe that this was what my son was actually suffering from. I knew he didn't have diabetes. I knew that if we took him to the ER, we'd laugh at ourselves for getting all anxious over some silly thing that wasn't diabetes.

Initially, my husband discouraged me from taking him to the ER, pointing out that I had wasted $50 when I took my daughter to the ER for hitting her head on the floor. She momentarily lost consciousness and I decided to take her in. She was absolutely fine. We rarely go to the ER.

As the night wore on, my son breathed heavier and became more lethargic. I didn't want him to be alone in his bed, so I slept next to him on our double futon. His hands were still bright red. Finally, it got to the point that he couldn't sleep due to his labored breathing (lack of oxygen!!). Finally, I woke my husband at 2:00 AM and told him that Dylan just couldn't breathe. Sean took a shower and Dylan got dressed. My other children were asleep and had school that morning, so I stayed home. As they walked out the door, I told Dylan not to worry, that it was probably no big deal (serious denial on my part).

They drove the 1/2 hour to the Children's Hospital. During the drive, my husband knew that it had to be Diabetes. Upon arrival, my husband mentioned Diabetes, and since Dylan was struggling to breathe, they acted quickly. They had his blood tested, and an IV in, and a diagnosis within 15 minutes.

My husband called me and simply said "It is Diabetes." After talking with him for a minute, I hung up and started shaking and crying. It was early morning, Thursday, November 29. A date that my son (and I) will always remember.

My son was put in PICU for a day and a half and then we were transferred to a regular floor, where we received diabetic training for the next 2 and a half days. They don't let you leave the hospital until they feel you are at least somewhat competent in caring for your newly diagnosed child.

In retrospect, I now know that my son was very near death. When he was struggling to breathe, we waited. My husband showered. We drove the 1/2 hour. The poor child should have been life flighted to the hospital. It was that serious. He was almost to the point of cardiac arrest when he finally got to the ER. His body chemistry was so out of whack that they couldn't even give him insulin right away. His blood was highly acidic, which is very dangerous and cannot be tolerated for very long. His potassium levels were low and insulin will cause them to drop even more. If they had given him insulin right away, he would have had a heart attack. After several hours, they gave him insulin and Dylan slept while his body chemistry began to correct.

Dylan is a Type 1 diabetic. His pancreas does not make insulin and it never will. He will be required to take insulin for the rest of his life (or until there is a cure). It has been 3 months since diagnosis and Dylan is doing great! He needs to have insulin shots every day. At every meal, he checks his blood sugar, and then counts the carbs in his food (before he eats) and gives himself a shot of fast acting insulin (Novolog) at a ratio of 1 unit to every 15 carbs. At night he gives himself a shot of slow acting basal insulin (Lantus). He is allowed to eat almost any food, with one caveat. He has to cover it with insulin. Random snacking and thoughtless eating just doesn't work.

Life as a diabetic is so complicated. He checks his blood sugar a minimum of 4 times a day, and sometimes as much as 10 times a day. Every day (every minute!) is a balancing act of getting enough insulin to keep his sugars from being too high, but not getting so much insulin that his sugars drop dangerously low. Dylan is remarkably responsible about his own care. He is simply amazing!

I'm still cooking, but ...

2008-03-01T10:03:00.004-06:00

Here are my latest creations.

Hmm...

2008-02-05T00:14:00.001-06:00

So, I am indeed alive. I love that picture that I took of the pasta (the one in the logo up top, she said as she points upwards).

Sigh. Maybe I'll post...

Maybe not.

Like I said: When I get around to it. Apparently I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I think I have ADD.

Hmm...

2008-02-05T00:14:00.000-06:00

So, I am indeed alive. I love that picture that I took of the pasta (the one in the logo up top *points upwards*.

Sigh. Maybe I'll post...

Maybe not.

I think I have ADD.

Pasta

2007-05-28T23:05:00.000-05:00

See those beautiful noodles in my new logo? Uh huh. I made them. And when I get around to it, I'll post about it. You'll just have to wait until then, m'kay?

Cream Puffs

2007-05-13T15:59:00.000-05:00

My daughter wanted to make dessert for me for Mothers Day, and when she suggested Cream Puffs, I just knew we had to make them! Today was definitely a Cream Puff Day!!!

They are quite simple to make and they are oh so fun to eat!

For the Filling:

Make 1 recipe vanilla pudding. (I made homemade vanilla pudding from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, but a box of pudding made according to directions works well too). Whip about 1 cup of cream, adding vanilla and sugar. Fold the whipped cream into the pudding until fully incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.

For the pastry:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.

When the shells are cool, either split and fill them with the pudding mixture, or use a pastry bag to pipe the pudding into the shells.

When I split the shells, I pulled out a little of the inside to create a little pocket to hold the filling, but this is optional.

Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle some homemade hot fudge sauce on top.

Yes, that's an orange and blue birthday cake.

2007-05-09T12:11:00.000-05:00

We've had two birthdays these past few weeks. Hypatia is a Cinco de Mayo baby, born on May 5, 2000. She turned 5 on 05/05/05!! And I didn't even plan it that way!! May 5, 2000 is also special because of the way the planets aligned that day, too. I'll have to google it:

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/alignment.html
http://stardate.org/nightsky/may05.html

So, now she is 7 and I had to decorate a cake. She wanted pink frosting, but I accidentally used peach. When I informed her, she got excited and said "YES!! I really wanted orange, but I didn't know you had it!! Make it MORE orange!!" Serendipity! So I kept adding peach until we had an orange that would rival any Halloween cake out there. Then, for the accent color she insisted on a nice blue color. So, this is what we ended up with. It suited her just fine.

Dylan turned 11 on April 25. Due to the rush of the day, and things going on in the evening, I didn't get a cake made. Dylan wasn't bothered in the least. He stuck some candles in some cookies he had made and opened presents anyway:

And, for a laugh, I have some good blackmail photos for when my 3 year old grows up:

Ok, so I took a cake decorating class a couple of years ago at Michaels.

2007-02-15T10:17:00.000-06:00

I decorate cakes for my family, but thats as far as it goes, lol. I'm really not very good. This is the cake I made for Sean for Valentine's Day.

I'm also going to give a little lesson in photography. Not that I know much at all, but I do know one thing. Natural lighting beats out flash any day. When you are taking pictures of food, use natural lighting, or your pictures will suffer from an ugly yellowish cast. If you take pictures when natural lighting is simply not available (say, during the winter in Alaska), then I would suggest buying or making a light box. While I have yet to do this, I've read many tutorials about this on the internet, and it seems to work very well.

Now I'm going to tell you a little secret: When photographing my food, I usually put the plate on a dining room chair and scoot it next to the window. High tech, huh? Its just the place that has the best natural lighting. The table is a little too far away to take advantage of the natural light, and I don't want to bother with moving the whole table, then moving it back. So I just move the chair and take the picture there.

So, here are the pictures. See what you think!

A close up of my dandy cake. I placed it on a chair and scooted it next to the window.

This next picture was taken the same way, on a chair next to the window.

This next picture was taken on my dining room table, and the flash was used. As you can see, the window is nearby, but just not near enough. The picture is yellow and ugly. All of these three pictures were taken within minutes of eachother.

CARROT CAKE
This next picture is of some carrot cake that I made some time ago, way back in October, I think. When the cake was ready to eat, it was dark outside, so there was no natural lighting available. So, for comparison, I took one picture with a flash and one without. Then, the next day, I took a picture in the middle of the day, when there was plenty of natural light coming in through the window.

This one was taken inside, with a flash.

This one was taken inside, without a flash.

And this one was taken the next day, with natural lighting and no flash.

So, you can see the difference that lighting makes.

Wasn't that educational?

Carrot Cake Recipe:

1 cup pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
3 cups finely grated carrots or zucchini, or a mixture of the two
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated white sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In the bowl of an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the oil, sugar, applesauce, vanilla and eggs until combined.

Sift flour, soda, salt and cinnamon together in a bowl. Fold gently into egg mixture, until just combined.

Fold walnuts and carrots into batter.

Bake in a greased and floured 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In bowl of electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter, on low speed, until very smooth with no lumps. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract.

This is like my recurring dream...

2007-01-27T10:18:00.000-06:00

For years I had this recurring dream. Not frequently, but maybe once or twice a year. It was something like this:

Phone rings. I answer, but forget to say hello. Because I never say hello, noone responds. I'm sure that someone is there and I know that if I had just said hello, that person would respond. But, since I missed my chance to say hello (and there is an illogical dream rule that states that once missed, I couldn't get that chance back). The mysterious caller and I would just sit there in a dreamy stalemate, listening to silence. At this point I would wake up, rather frustrated.

A few weeks ago, I realized that this blog had turned into something like this dream. Once I had gone a couple of weeks without posting, I felt like I had lost my chance! I would look at it and just continue to wait...

Well, this morning, I made crepes, and they were fabulous!!! Oh my! I can't just let this one slip by my blog, oh no.

So here goes. I just woke up from my dream, and now I'm going to post again. Wish me luck!

This recipe comes from my Mother-in-Law. When she made it for me the first time (just after I was married), there was no fruit in it, just the crepes, syrup, and whipped cream. It was so good! We have added the fruit and I think its even better!

Fruit Filled Crepes with Orange Syrup

For the Crepes:
1 c. milk
3 eggs
3/4 cups flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine the ingredients in the blender and blend on high speed 1 minute until smooth. Allow to sit for a while (I made the syrup during this time).

Heat an 8" crepe pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle a few drips of water on the pan; if they sizzle, the pan is ready to use. Coat hot pan with a spray of oil, or a drizzle of butter.

Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the skillet. Immediately pick up the pan and tilt and swirl it so that the batter covers the entire bottom of the pan. Pour any excess batter back into the bowl.

Loosen the edges of the crepe with a metal spatula. You can use a spatula to turn the crepe, or you can use your fingers. Using both hands, pick up the loosened edges with your thumb and index finger and quickly flip it over.

Cook on the other side until lightly golden (usually less than a minute). and slide it out onto a plate. I stacked them on top of each other and they didn't stick. If you are making them for later use, you may want to separate them with wax paper.

For the Syrup:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 teaspoon orange peel
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Bring honey and butter to a boil, remove from heat and add the orange juice and orange peel. At this point, I added a bit of vanilla.

To Serve:
Sliced bananas
Fresh or frozen fruit: blueberries, strawberries, etc.
Unsweetened or lightly sweetened whipped cream
Orange Syrup
Crepes

Roll crepes with fruit inside (and a little syrup). Top with additional fruit, syrup and whipped cream.

Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake

2006-12-21T07:42:00.000-06:00

Recently, my children were introduced to the concept of "dessert for breakfast" in the form of coffee cake. While we were visiting my husband's relatives for Thanksgiving, my Mother-in-Law made us a coffee cake on the morning we left to drive home. My daughter, Hannah, was so excited, she giggled to her sister: "Its like dessert! For breakfast!!" She really thought we were getting away with something! Can you tell that she doesn't like oatmeal for breakfast? As far as she is concerned, this is a dream come true.

So, shortly after our return, the children begged me to make a coffee cake for breakfast. I had been eyeing a recipe in a recent issue of Cuisine at Home. It looked so good but so...high calorie. Oh well, I made it anyway.

Oh my it was wonderful!!! I have to say that it is too rich for every day fare, but Sean has now declared it our official Christmas Morning breakfast, thus displacing our typical Christmas breakfast of Blueberry Muffins. I think it is a good idea to only associate this particular recipe with a once-a-year tradition. That many butter, nuts and eggs on a regular basis could result in the onset of premature death!

"Cinnamon Roll" Coffee Cake
Makes one 9" cake
Total time: About 1 1/2 hours
Only about a million calories!

For the Caramel-
Stir Together:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
Pinch of salt
Sprinkle:
1 cup chopped pecans

For The Streusel-
Process:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/4 tablespoons salt

For The Cake-
Whisk Together:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt (I used plain)
2 eggs
Sift Together:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Cream:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; coat a 9" cake pan with nonstick spray. [It should be a pan with rather high sides; my pan was a bit short and the caramel dripped out the sides a bit. I just used a regular 9 inch round pan.]

Stir together brown sugar, cream, and salt for the caramel. Pour into prepared pan and spread to coat the bottom. Sprinkle pecans over the caramel.

Process brown sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, and salt for the streusel in a food processor. Pulse until small clumps form; set aside

Whisk buttermilk, yogurt, and eggs together for the cake in a measuring cup with a pour spout.
Sift flour, baking powder, soda, and salt onto a paper plate.

Cream butter and sugar with a mixer just until combined. Alternately add dry and wet ingredients, starting and ending with the dry. Blend each addition just until incorporated.

Spread half the batter over the caramel, then sprinkle with half the streusel. Carefully spread remaining batter over that and top with remaining steusel. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool cake for 5 minutes on a rack, then run a paring knife around the sides to loosen. Invert onto a serving platter while hot, then let cool slightly before slicing. Due to the sticky top, an electric knife is best for cutting, but a sharp, thin bladed knife is fine too.

Low Calorie Chickpea Stew

2006-12-07T08:37:00.000-06:00

I've just been downright lazy lately. I have things to post, but what I apparently lack at the moment is the motivation. I'm not going to promise to post more often or anything, but I just wanted all 3 of my readers out there to know that I'm alive and posting occasionally...

This was an adaptation of a recipe from a WW cookbook. I really liked it and it filled me up nicely. It has chicken in it, but I think it would be good without the chicken too.

Chickpea Stew

In a large dutch oven or sauce pan, melt and brown (but do not burn):
2 teaspoons butter

Add, saute for several minutes:
1 frozen chicken breast half (mine was huge, so I used only one, feel free to use as much as you want), thawed and cut into chunks
1 med onion, chopped
1 annehiem chili, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped big
1 turnip, peeled and chopped
1 cup diced eggplant
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon tumeric

Add, simmer until vegetables are soft, and liquid has cooked down (about 20 minutes):
1 1/4 cups chicken broth (I opened a can and used the other 1/2 cup in the Harissa sauce)
1 can diced tomatoes

Add, simmer 2 minutes more:
1 zucchini, chopped big
1 cup cooked chickpeas
2 tablespoons raisins

Serve with:

Red Pepper (Harissa) Sauce

1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 jarred roasted red peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Blend in a food processor until smooth

Sushi

2006-12-01T12:02:00.000-06:00

So, I made sushi a few weeks ago! Looks beautiful, doesn't it! There are many tutorials online about making sushi. Take a look!

Sushi FAQ
Sushi Tips
Stash Tea
I Make Sushi
Whats Cooking America (california roll)
Sushi for Beginners at About.com

I filled my sushi with cucumbers, radishes, avocado, and tofu. I didn't have any fake crabmeat on hand, but I did have some tofu. So I sliced it into strips and marinated it in some teriyaki sauce for a while. To be on the safe side, bacterially speaking, I cooked the tofu in a fry pan before using it in my sushi. Everyone loved it, so I guess it worked out fine, lol.

If you and your family love sushi, you really need to give this a try. We also bought some wasabi and pickled ginger to go with it, although I think I'll try pickling my own ginger next time.

Lastly, I also made some absolutely wonderful miso soup to go with it. Alas, I have yet to actually get a decent picture of it, so you will have to forgive me for this picture. Here it is:

Miso soup really deserves its own entry, and I'll do just that some day. Until then, read about it at Maki's blog: I Was Really Just Very Hungry.

Thanksgiving Highlights

2006-11-30T09:22:00.000-06:00

Because we don't like traveling for Christmas, we usually go to Atlanta to visit Sean's family at Thanksgiving. Being a family of foodies, they LOVE Thanksgiving and it is fun to visit during this time. Also, my youngest was born right around Thanskgiving and so far, we have celebrated all of his birthdays at his grandparent's house in Atlanta. Since I was visiting, I didn't have to do much cooking. I did make Greek Meatballs for them on Sunday for Wade's birthday, though.

The following pictures are some of the highlights from the meal and Wade's birthday.

My Father in Law prepping the cooked turkey.

An Orange Roll Tradition

It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them!

Orange Rolls

heat:
1 cup milk

add:
1 yeast cake (how quaint! I would guess about 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast or 1 packet of active dry yeast)
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup flour
let rise for 2 1/2 hours

add:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
let rise til double (will be sticky)

In a separate bowl, make a paste with:
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
Zest from one orange

When dough is doubled, divide in 2 parts and roll to 1/4 inch thickness. Spread each with orange paste. Roll as jelly roll. Cut into 1 inch thickness. Place in greased muffin tins. Rise til center cones. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Yum!

Wade's Birthday

Wade's birthday is Nov. 26, always close to Thanksgiving.

More Eggs!

2006-11-21T09:04:00.000-06:00

Oh the thrill of having chickens! We now have several of them laying! Every day, the children come home from school and dash to the hen house to see if there are any new eggs. We have averaging one a day, and lately now, its been 2 a day. On Sunday we got our first green egg! Many of the chickens are called Easter Egg Chickens, and they are supposed to lay eggs of various colors. They are a mix of a couple of different breeds, bred specifically for colorful eggs.

Once all of the hens (we have 17 hens) start laying, we'll have more eggs than we will know what to do with!

Baked Chili Relleno and Brazillian Black Bean Stew

2006-11-20T10:38:00.000-06:00

These were both based on the Brazillian national dish called Feijoada. I made these over a month ago. I guess I should at least post the pictures, lol! They were pretty good, but I don't think I'll ever make them again because they both had polish sausage in them and I really have a hard time enjoying food that is so closely related to a hotdog. I'm just not able to enjoy sausage much anymore. As I eat, I picture all the mixed meat and fat going into it and I get a little grossed out, lol. So if I do anything like this again, I'm leaving out the sausages. Lesson learned!

Greek Meatballs with Lemon Couscous and Feta Yogurt Dressing

2006-11-16T14:22:00.000-06:00

I think this is my son's favorite meal now. It has become the standard by which all other meals are now judged, as far as he is concerned. You should hear it: "Mmmm...Mom this is really good! I almost like it as much as the Greek Meatballs!"

This recipe comes to you curtesy of our subscription to Cuisine at Home. It is a great magazine, but alas, I may let the subscription go, because I'm trying to eat healthier. Sigh.

I made this with ground turkey instead of ground chuck. I used green olives instead of Kalamata olives. Not that I prefer green to kalamatas, but I can't get kalamatas around here without going to a specialty store. Yeah, we ain't too cultured 'round these here parts.

I served the meal along with a salad of diced cucumber, parsley, and green onion.

Greek Meatballs with Lemon Couscous and Feta Yogurt Dressing

Greek Meatballs
Makes 12 meatballs; total time: 1 hour

1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk (whole or 2%)
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbles
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons scallions minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 lb ground chuck
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted, halved
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
6 cups tomatoes, quartered, or 2 cans whole tamatoes (28 oz each)
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine crumbs, milk, feta, parsley, scallions, salt, oregano, and egg in a mixing bowl.
Stir in the ground chuck and mix lightly but well. Shape the mixture into balls about 2" in diameter.
Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high. Add meatballs and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and keep warm.
Add olives, garlic, and pepper flakes to the pan and saute 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and cook 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, return meatballs to the pan, and simmer 5 minutes, or until cooked through.
Serve over couscous, topped with feta dressing and garnished with cucmber and lemon zest.

Lemon Couscous
Makes 2 cups; total time: 10 minutes

3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon salted butter
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup dry plain couscous

Bring broth, lemon juice, butter, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat, add couscous, stir and cover. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Feta Yogurt Dressing
Makes about 1/2 cup; total time: 5 minutes

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir well. Cover and chill until ready to use.

Cheese Fondue

2006-11-11T22:29:00.000-06:00

This is seriously one of my family's favorite all time recipes. They beg for it, they plead for it, they cheer when I make it. Even my pickiest eater loves it! I'm sure that part of it is the fun of dipping the food into the fondue. But they love the flavor too!

When I make it, I often can't find the right cheeses, so I substitute whatever looks closest. The recipe calls for 2 main cheeses: a strong swiss (Gruyére), and a bleu (Roquefort). I keep that in mind when I substitute. If I can't find Gruyére, I use Emmentaller. But if I can't find either, I don't make it. Without a strong Swiss, the fondue just wouldn't taste right.

So far, I have never used Roquefort. Last time I made it I used Danish Bleu Cheese. I have also substituted non-bleu cheeses with great success. I'll just pick a fancy cheese that seems good and use that instead.

I always make a nice chewy french bread for dipping. I have found that we also like a variety of other dippers, with carrots and apples being our favorite.

This recipe came from an old Bon Apetit magazine (from probably 15 years ago). It was in my mother-in-law's collection.

Gruyére, White Wine and Mustard Fondue

5 cups lighly packed grated Gruyére Cheese (about 13 ounces)
2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups white wine (or apple juice)
2 medium garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 cup crumbled Roquefort cheese
1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Combine Gruyére cheese and flour in large bowl. Simmer wine and garlic in heavy medium saucepan or fundue pot 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add Gruyére cheese mixture to saucepan 1 handful at a time, stirring constantly until cheese melts before adding another handful. Whisk in Roquefort cheese (mixture will look grainy). Whisk in mustard. Boil until smooth and thick, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Place pot over canned heat burner to keep warm.

We always serve with: bread cubes, diced carrots, and apple slices.
The recipe recommends to serve with: bread cubes, steamed red potatoes, and grilled sausages.

Bread

2006-11-09T19:27:00.000-06:00

Mmmm...bread...

I don't make this bread too often, but it is dense, chewy, and perfect!

Its just a basic homemade french bread, allowed to rise long, cool, and slow, for a total of 3 rises. It was just flour (with some vital wheat gluten added to make it a bit chewier), yeast, salt, and water. I also spritzed it with water a few times while it was baking in the oven.

Simply the best.

A picture of the underside. It was pretty too, lol! I baked it on a pizza stone and used polenta to keep it from sticking.

This is warm, out of the oven, with a bit of melting butter on it. I've started eating healthier, so I didn't really eat much of this bread. This was my daughter's piece.

I made it to go with my next post...

Update on me

2006-11-06T13:25:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't been updating as often as I used to. I'm still lovin' the blog thang, but there are a few things that are slowing me down.

1. In the summer when I started the blog, the sun was pouring into our dining room window between 5 and 7 pm every night. It was so easy to get good lighting for my photos. Now, its dark at 5 and it has really made it hard to take a good photo. I keep planning on making a light box to take pictures in, but of course, I haven't gotten around to it.

2. I'm fat. I'm losing weight (you know, that lifestyle change thing) and I'm cooking and eating a little differently and I'm hoping to turn this blog into a little bit of a healthy eating blog. Right now, I'm still posting recipes from a few weeks ago and they are still pretty fattening at times. Actually, I don't intend to completely cut out all the fattening goodies, but I hope to cut down on them.

3. As I previously posted, I'm spending too much time on the computer lately. Since I've never experienced the misery of being a victim of substance abuse, I figure I have to have some sort of habit that ruins my life and turns me into a zombie. I could sit here for hours, unaware of my life slowly ticking by. I can't let that happen. So I've cut down on my time on the internet. The fact is that I don't want to part with the internet (and this blog), but sometimes I feel like living in a house with internet connection is somewhat akin to a recovering alchoholic who lives in a bar. Sometimes I have my son lock up the mouse in his treasure box (I don't know the combination to his lock, lol). That way, I can't get on the computer the whole time the kids are at school! Clever, huh? Or sad...really.

Well, there you go. Not that anyone really cares, lol!

Tortilla Chicken Soup

2006-11-06T13:23:00.000-06:00

Ok, so this picture is not so great. It actually looks a little better than the real thing, lol. It was a great recipe, nonetheless.

This one is another from my Cuisine at Home magazine.

I used canned tomatoes instead of fresh in the black bean salsa, and I added some avocado. Overall, it was good, but the tomatoes and the avocado made the texture more gooey instead of like it should have been, if that makes any sense.

Turkey (or Chicken) Tortilla Soup
Makes 8 cups; total time: 45 minutes

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups onions, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
3 corn tortillas (6"each), cut into 1 inch pieces
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies (10.5 oz.)
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 cups cooked turkey or chicken, shredded or cubed
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded (I used pepper jack)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Salt and pepper
Black Bean Salsa (recipe follows)
Sour Cream

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high; add onoins and garlic, and saute 3 minutes. Stir in tortilla pieces and saute until they are no longer crisp. Add tomatoes, broth, and spices, and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat; let cool 5 minutes, the puree soup base in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return sup to pot.
Add turkey, corn, and cream. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes, or until beginning to theicken. Reduce heat to medium, sprinkle in cheese, and stir until melted. Add lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Black Bean Salsa
Makes 3 cups; total time: 10 minutes

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (15 oz)
1 cup tomatoes, seeded, diced (I used canned since fresh is so expensive right now)
1/2 cup red onion, slivered
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
(I also added some avocado)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, tossing well to coat. Chill salsa until ready to serve.

Our First Egg!!

2006-11-04T19:48:00.000-06:00

So we had resigned ourselves to not getting eggs until spring or something.

But lookie what Sean found yesterday! It was like Christmas; we were so excited!!

Its small, but its a real live free range chicken egg!

Check out the bright orange yolk! We fried it up and each of us got a little bite. Yummy!

Asian Carmelized Chicken

2006-11-03T15:17:00.000-06:00

I'm not going to post the recipe for this because honestly we didn't like it that much.

Basically, you carmelize some sugar in a pan and then add chicken breast and a bunch of asian flavorings and spices. Actually, I didn't have a lot of the things it called for, so maybe if I had made it correctly, it would have tasted better, lol!

Tortilla Casserole

2006-10-30T14:39:00.000-06:00

This is just one of those Mexican inspired casserole dishes. Nothin' fancy, but it does taste pretty good!

Tortilla Casserole

1 can cream of chicken soup
yogurt (equivalent to one can, measured with the cream of chicken soup can)
1/3 cup milk
3 green onions, chopped
garlic
1 can green chilis
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
8 oz. cheese, grated
tortilla chips

Combine the cream of chicken soup, yogurt, milk, green onions, garlic, and green chilis in a bowl. Stir to mix thoroughly.

This casserole goes together in layers. First, spray a 9X13 baking dish with cooking spray and crush enough tortilla chips to cover the bottom of the pan. Then layer the cooked chicken over that. Then layer the creamy soup mixture over that, and finally, top with a layer of grated cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1/2 hour, until bubbly and hot.

Curried Split Pea Soup

2006-10-27T23:14:00.000-05:00

I'm posting slowly lately. Its not for lack of things to post, though. At any given time, I have a backlog of 5-10 drafts just waiting to be finished and posted. My problem is that I've been spending too much time in cyberland. Yes, my friends, I am an internet addict. I have had to pull back and only get on the computer just a little here and there. Its hardly given me time to get my posts up! Oh well. Its all about balance, isn't it? I'm working on that balance.

This recipe is a wonderful and unique split pea soup recipe. Its from one of Lorna Sass' cookbooks (I don't remember which one, since I checked it out from the library ages ago). Anyway, she specializes in pressure cooking. Some of her cookbooks are vegan, some are not. This particular recipe is vegan (though I added a dollop non-vegan sour cream on top of mine).

I use the recipe as a guideline and vary it as I need too. For instance, it calls for butternut squash, but if I don't have any on hand, I'll use carrots instead. The picture I took has a little sumac sprinkled on top for color.

Curried Yellow Split Pea Soup

1 tablespoon oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
1 1/2 lbs. butternut squash, crubbed, seeded, and cut into chunks
2 cups yellow split peas, rinsed
1/3 cup raisins
6 cups water, or broth
1 tablepsoon + 1 teaspoon mild curry powder
3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
bay leaf
1 teaspoon sea salt

1. Heat oil in pressure cooker and saute the onion and ginger for 2 minutes. Stir in all remaining ingredients except salt.
2. Lock the lid into place. Over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just ehough to maintain high pressure and cook 6 minutes. Reduce pressure with a quick-release method. Remove the lid, tilting away from you to allow excess steam to escape.
3. Add salt. Remove bay leaf, and simmer a few moments. Stir well, and thin with water if necessary.

Pumpkin Bread

2006-10-24T21:27:00.000-05:00

This was originally a pumpkin muffin recipe. I wanted pumpkin bread instead. So instead of putting the batter into muffin pans, I put it into loaf pans.

Actually, I wanted pumpkin bread with a swirl of cream cheese filling in the center. Thinking that I was supercook, I used my creative little mind, and I sort of did my own thing. The cream cheese filling turned out ok, but not fabulous. So I'm going to reccomend that if you want a recipe for pumpkin bread with a cream cheese filling, go find one yourself, 'cause all you're gonna get here is just the pumpkin bread recipe, sans filling.

This recipe has been circulating on a certain attachment parenting forum that I frequent. Everyone was raving about it, so I had to make it too. Mmmm...pumpkin bread...

My family loves banana bread. As soon as it comes out of the oven, they have it sliced and they are slathering butter on it. I gently point out that there is already a stick of butter in the bread, so there is really no need to put any butter on the bread, but they don't pay me no never mind, and they continue to slather away. So, of course, as soon as the pumpkin bread came out of the oven, they were ready to eat it, hot and buttered. Well, my friends, let me tell you that pumpkin bread straight out of the oven is ok. Just ok. But, if you really want to enjoy pumpkin bread at its perfection, you have to let it cool completely, maybe even wait the next day, and then eat it. I don't know why this is, but there you go. It just is.

Pumpkin Bread (or muffins, if you must)

3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup applesauce
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Mix together until combined

3 1/2 C flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp baking soda

sift dry ingredients, then add wet to dry

2/3 cup milk
1 3/4 cups pumpkin (canned - just a regular size can)

Add half the milk, mix, then add half the pumpkin, and mix again. Then add the rest of the milk, mix, then add the rest of the pumpkin, and mix.

Fold in:
1 cup chopped nuts

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Curried White Bean and Kale Soup

2006-10-20T14:08:00.000-05:00

Oh, great. I made this a few weeks ago and now that I'm finally getting around to posting about it, I can't remember the recipe.

Usually when I make up a recipe for the blog, I'll make sure I draft a post and record at least what I put into it! That way, when I get around to posting it, I have a guideline for writing out the recipe, even if its been a few weeks. Apparently I didn't do that this time. All I have is a picture.

I do remember that I really liked this soup!

Curried White Bean and Kale Soup

Ok, so this is what I probably did:

I had some white beans on hand that I cooked earlier in the pressure cooker.

I sauteed some onion, garlic, and maybe celery. After the vegetables were soft and fragrant, I added some curry powder, maybe a teaspoon or so. At this point, I pureed the sauteed veggies with a can of chicken broth (or vegetable broth) and beans in the food processor. I wanted a thick soup with pureed beans and whole beans, so I only pureed about half of the beans. I returned everything to the pan. Then I added about 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin (I had made pumpkin bread earlier and I had some left over), and the rest of the beans. I probably used about 2 cups of beans.

After all this, I added a cup or so of chopped kale and simmered gently for a few minutes to soften and lightly cook the kale.

Apple Crisp

2006-10-18T10:24:00.000-05:00

As the cool fall weather hits, we all start dreaming of those wonderful comfort foods...

Mmmm...apple crisp! Its like a pie, but easier!

Sean makes me double the topping.

The recipe calls for quick oats, and I never buy quick oats. So I use old fashioned oats that have been given a quick whir in the food processor. Actually, I only whir about half of the oats, and I keep the other half old fashion-y.

Apple Crisp
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Slice and peel enough apples to fill an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish about 3/4ths full.

For the topping:

1/2 cup quick oats
1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter

Combine oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and dash salt. Cut in butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle crumb mixture over all. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream. Serves 6.

Roasted Garlic Alfredo Sauce

2006-10-15T17:03:00.000-05:00

Mmmm...this tastes a lot like Olive Garden's Alfredo Sauce. It is very tasty!

I made it again today and I forgot to add the butter. It tasted just as good, so if you want to cut out some of the fat, then leave out the butter.

If you don't have any roasted garlic, then just mince up a few cloves and add it instead.

The side dish is a mixture of vegetables (onion, zucchini, yellow peppers, broccoli, and mushrooms) sauteed in olive oil and a splash of balsalmic vinegar.

Roasted Garlic Alfredo Sauce

1 bulb of Roasted Garlic
2 cups milk (or 1 1/2 cups milk and 1/2 cup cream)
1/3 of an 8oz pkg of cream cheese
3 tablespoons butter (optional)
1/2 to 3/4 cups grated parmesan (I just used the cheap-o kind)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard powder (optional)
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch (you decide how thick you want it)

In a small saucepan, combine the cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups milk and butter together, stirring frequently until smooth and heated through.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, dry mustard, and reserved 1/2 cup milk. Stir slowly into the sauce and heat until thickened. Remove from heat.

Mash as much roasted garlic as you want and stir it into the sauce. Stir in the parmesan.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

I used a thickener because I used milk. If I had used all cream (holy calories, batman!), I don't think I would have needed to thicken the sauce.

Serve hot, over noodles, and garnish with chopped parsley.

Teriyaki Beans and Rice

2006-10-13T18:30:00.000-05:00

I was all "eh, what am I making for dinner...do I really have to cook???" Apparently the family expected it or something.

This is what I came up with, and it was actually quite good! I should have made more.

Teriyaki Beans and Rice
This was a throw together meal, and I didn't measure. So keep in mind that all measurements are approximate and can be adjusted as you please.

1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
stalk broccoli, chopped
1 1/2 cups navy beans (probably equivalent to 1 can)
2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup Soy Vay Teriyaki Sauce
tablespoon rice vinegar
2 stalks green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Saute the mushrooms and broccoli in the teriyaki sauce. Add the garlic and ginger. Saute for a few minutes more. Add beans, rice vinegar, green onions and cilantro and cook until heated through.

Serve with rice.

Falafel

2006-10-12T09:55:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'll have to admit that I was very nervous about trying falafel again. I had made it before, and never met with any success. It always just fell apart when fried. It was a complete failure!

So, I decided to give it a try again, this time with the help of internet research (yeah, the last time I tried was probably 10 years ago, pre-internet).

So, prepared with what seemed to be an authentic recipe, I gave it a try, and was I ever happy!! It was a beautiful sight to behold!

See for yourself!

Ain't she purty?

So, I used a recipe from a Syrian website. When I had tried to make falafel before, I used cooked chickpeas and mashed them, adding spices and such. Well, this is a recipe for disaster. The cooked chickpea mass just falls apart when it touches the hot oil. For a perfect falafel mixture, the key is to only soak the chickpeas. No need for cooked ones in this recipe! A food processor is really essential for this recipe. The website says you can also use a meat grinder. I don't think a blender would be able to do the job very well, though.
For the Falafel Mix:
*500 mL (2 cups) dried chick peas (absolutely not canned)
*1 medium onion quartered
*2-3 cloves garlic
*2-3 slices stale bread
*50 mL (1/4 cup) parsley (I also added the same amount of cilantro)
*110 mL (2 tsp) salt
*3 mL (3/4 tsp) black pepper
*10 mL (2 tsp) cumin
*10 mL (2 tsp) oregano
*10 mL (2 tsp) ground coriander
*5 mL (1 tsp) red hot pepper flakes
*20 mL (4 tsp) flour (I used whole wheat)
*10 mL (2 tsp) baking powder
*50 mL (1/4 cup) water

Directions:
Pick out foreign matter from between the peas. Place in a large bowl, cover generously with water and soak overnight.
Drain peas. Add onion, garlic, bread, parsley, and red sweet pepper. Run through the fine blade of a meat grinder. (You may process in food processor until mealy.) Add spices, flour, 10 mL (2 tsp) baking powder and water. Mix well. It should look like this:

For Forming the Balls:
*5 mL (1 tsp) baking powder
*125 mL (1/2 cup) water
*vegetable oil for deep frying
In a small dish mix the remaining baking powder and water. Use it to moisten the palm of your hands and form balls of the chick peas mixture the size of walnuts, then flatten a bit. It should look like this:

Deep fry in oil at medium high heat until golden brown. Serve piping hot.
Arrange in halved loaves of pita (Arabic bread), topped with salad vegetables and tahina sauce. Some people love it topped with sauerkraut, wedges of tomato and tahina sauce. Hot pepper may also be sprinkled on top.
I made a sauce to accompany the falafel. I chose to do a yogurt based cucumber-tahini sauce. You can also eat it with plain tahini, or hummus. We sprinkled a little Sumac on it also.

Falafel Sauce
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons tahini
1/4 cup grated cucumber
1 clove minced garlic
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
If you like it richer, more like a whole milk yogurt, add a little cream, or substitute sour cream for all or part of the yogurt.

Mix all ingredients and allow to sit for an hour for flavors to blend.

Oven Crisped Tofu

2006-10-11T16:19:00.000-05:00

I didn't grow up eating tofu. Nope. So I'm having to learn the art of eating tofu as I go. It doesn't help that Sean isn't very, well, appreciative of my tofu efforts. So far, I mostly just make it for lunches for myself and leave him out of the equation.

This is a recipe from the Passionate Vegetarian.

I had to return the book to the library, and I didn't write down the recipe. Lets see if I can remember:

Oven Crisped Tofu

Tofu
Minced garlic
Mirin
cornstarch
fresh ground pepper

I'm not sure of the quantities. If I check out the book again, I'll update this post.

Anyway, mix all the ingredients and add the tofu and marinate it for at least one hour. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray. Line the slices of tofu on the sheet and bake for 10 minutes, then flip over and bake 10 minutes more. I think it was baked at 500 degrees.

I'm really going to have to update this recipe, aren't I?

I served it on some stir fry vegetables with Soy Vay Teriyaki Sauce.

Spiced Pork Chops

2006-10-10T12:56:00.000-05:00

The apples and squash are a nice accompaniment to pork chops. The major flaw in this recipe is that they were all baked together.

Dh took one look at it and said "um, you know I like my pork grilled, right?"

This wasn't so bad, but for it to be perfect, I'd have to grill the pork, and then make a side dish of apples and squash.

Meatloaf and Hashbrown Pie

2006-10-09T16:34:00.000-05:00

This was just plain gross!

As I was making it I knew it was all wrong. For some reason, I made myself follow the recipe, even though I was just aching to "fix" it. The meatloaf portion had way too much bread crumbs and not enough liquid for moistening. Ew.

Want the recipe? I'll sell it to you for a dollar.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post. Its gross too.

Blueberry Pancakes with Blackberry Syrup

2006-10-06T16:11:00.000-05:00

Ok, Sean is crazy about blueberry pancakes. Just plain crazy. He makes a rich blackberry syrup every summer and carefully hoards it in the freezer. Maybe, just maybe, if you are nice, he will give you a taste. No guarantees, though.

For the blackberry syrup, we don't really have a recipe. We just cook the berries a bit and strain out the seeds and pulp, and make a syrup by adding sugar and boiling for a while. Sean freezes it and gets it out for his pancakes, and returns it when he is done.

I make waffles/pancakes pretty much every Saturday. The kids aren't usually allowed to eat the special blackberry syrup, so they usually stick with waffles and homemade maple syrup, or homemade *buttermilk syrup. Sean always wants his made into blueberry pancakes.

I found that I have eaten as many pancakes (blueberry or not) in my life as I will ever need, and that I just do not require more, ever. For some reason, I do not feel the same way about waffles, and I am more than happy to eat waffles. Just don't give me pancakes. Sean is more than happy with that because, as his equal (i.e., I'm not one of the kids), I have every right to the blackberry syrup. Since I don't want blueberry pancakes, I don't really require the blackberry syrup. Less for me=more for him.

When I made pancakes/waffles, yesterday, I made raspberry syrup. It was not nearly as rich as Sean's blackberry syrup, but I thought it turned out rather nice.

Blueberry Pancakes

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, separated
fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries (slighly defrosted)

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add buttermilk, egg yolks and oil. Stir to combine.

Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into the batter until fully incorporated. Do not over mix. You want the batter to be light and fluffy.

Butter a hot skillet. Add about 1/3 cup of batter. Top with a handful of blueberries. When the top of the pancake bubbles, then carefully flip the pancake. After a minute or two, flip the pancake again and check around the blueberries to see if the batter is cooked through. If there is any oozing batter, then cook a little longer.

Raspberry Syrup

1 cup water (or less, if you want it thicker)
2 cups sugar
1 pkg frozen unsweetened raspberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (or more, if you like that flavor a lot)

Combine the sugar, water, and frozen raspberries in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over med-high heat. Boil for 1 minute. With a fork, stir and mash the raspberries. Strain, using a fine mesh sieve. Press the solids to extract every last bit of flavor that you can. Flavor with the vanilla and almond extract.

* I'm not giving you the recipe for buttermilk syrup because it is evil. It involves large amounts of butter.

Spaghetti and Brussels Sprouts

2006-10-05T09:07:00.000-05:00

Dh really doesn't like Spaghetti, never has. I can only get away with making it very infrequently. He'll eat it, but he just doesn't love it.

Well, here it is: Whole wheat spaghetti with sauce, roasted Brussels Sprouts, and sauteed mushrooms. At least I liked it!!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts, cut in half, with the outer leaves removed
Garlic, minced
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Lightly toss the sprouts and garlic in enough olive oil to coat, and sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 350 (or 400 maybe) degrees for about 15 minutes.

Night Night, My Little Chickens!

2006-10-04T08:50:00.000-05:00

Here are my chickens, getting ready for night night.

We started out with 25 and we are down to 23. A dog managed to catch one, and another was sick and died. They endured a hawk attack a couple of days ago, but none were harmed!

The remaining 23 are alive and strong, although it looks like we won't be getting eggs until this spring, I think.

Guacamole

2006-10-04T08:41:00.000-05:00

Yeah, my cilantro is a bit wilted.

Guacamole

4 avocados chopped up
2/3 cup chopped sweet onion
some lime juice (tsp or so, not too much)
salt and pepper to taste
1 can of Rotel Tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup sour cream (more or less, you decide!)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Garnish with additional cilantro. OOOOHHH Delicious!!!

Hungarian Meatballs

2006-10-02T11:59:00.000-05:00

Everyone really liked this recipe. Dylan and Hannah definitely loved it!

I was supposed to serve it with couscous and peas, but I served it with rice and peas instead. I'm thinking egg noodles would be good too.

The meatballs are supposed to be threaded onto skewers, kabab style. I didn't bother.

When I make meatballs, I use the leanest ground beef I can find. Because all the extra ingredients (like bread or crackers) in the meatballs just soak up the fat, they will be much more fattening if you use a higher fat ground beef. I used a 93/7% ground beef, I think.

The recipe calls for wine, but I didn't have any on hand, so I just increased some of the other liquids in the recipe. We only use wine for cooking, and so we really don't keep much on hand. I've never been a drinker, and so going to the liquor store is just so foreign to me, lol! It just feels weird and I have to either force myself to go or talk dh into going.

Meatball Kebabs
with creamy paprikash sauce

Makes 18-24 meatballs, 3 cups sauce
total time: 1hour

For the meatballs-
Combine; shape;
1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground criander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup milk (whole)
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Brown in; Skewer:
2 tablespoons olive oil

For the sauce-
Sweat; Add;
2 cups red or yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 cup onion, sliced
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
Deglaze with; off heat, stir in:
1/2 cups dry white wine
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup tomatoes, seeded and chopped
salt to taste
1/2 cup sour cream
Serve with; Garnish with:
Couscous and peas, halved kalamata olives, chopped fresh parsley, and lemon wedges

Combine ingredients (except the oil) for the meatballs, then shape into 2" balls using a scoop or spoons (yeah, right, I just used my hands, lol!).
Brown meatballs in batches in oil over medium-high heat in a nonstick saute pan coated with nonstick spray. Saute 5-8 minutes (do not cook though), transfer to a plate, and cool. Thread 3 meatballs on 6"-long skewers and set aside.
Sweat the peppers and onion for the sauce over medium heat in the same pan used for the meatballs (add more oil if needed). Cook until softened, 8-10 munutes; add paprika and garlic, and cook 2 minutes, stirring often.
Deglaze with wine and simmer until reduced by half, 2-3 minutes. Stir in broth, tomatoes, and salt; cook 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened. Return skewers to the pan, cover, and simmer until meatballs are cooked, 4-5 minutes. Transfer skewers to a plate.
Off heat, stir the sour cream into the sauce until incorporated.
Serve meatballs and sauce over couscous garnished with olives, parsley and lemon.

This was another great recipe brought to you by the folks at Cuisine at Home.

Chicken Wraps

2006-09-30T17:33:00.000-05:00

This was supposed to be called Chicken and Spinach Salad Wrap, but spinach has been pretty scarce now for a while, with the E. coli scare going on. So I had to make do. Instead of spinach, I used lettuce and fresh parsley. A nice leaf lettuce would have been pretty, but for some reason, I only had boring old iceberg. So that's what I had to use. No one complained, lol! It tasted great! I really wish I could have had fresh spinach, though. It would have been even better!

I didn't cook the chicken the way they said to in the recipe. Instead, I cooked it on the cast iron griddle. I just didn't feel like dealing with dredging it in flour for some reason.

Oh, yeah, one last thing: I mashed some avocado and spread it on the tortilla before adding the other ingredients. You can only improve a recipe by adding avocado as far as I'm concerned!

I know the pictures are not quite in focus. I really am an amateur, learning as I go. It was shortly after taking these pictures that I learned how to use the macro feature on my camera. Duh. I really don't have any clue when it comes to photography, lol!

Thanks to Cuisine at Home April '06 issue for the recipe!

Chicken & Spinach Salad Wrap

Makes 4 wraps
Total time: 35 minutes

1/4 cup slivered almonds
3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 teaspoon Cajun spice mix
salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons vegable oil
4 strips thick-sliced bacon, chopped
1/2 cup Braeburn apple, thinkly sliced
1/2 cup red onions, slivered
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (seemed like too much to me, so I used 2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup apple jelly
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
6 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled
4 flour tortillas, 8-10"

Toast almonds in a skillet over medium-high heat, about 6 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Season chicken wtih Cajun spice and salt, then dredge in flour. Heat oil in the same skillet over medium high, then saute chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Remove from pan and slice lengthwise into 12 pieces. Wipe out the pan and return it to the burner.
Saute bacon over medium-high heat until crisp. Drain bacon and pour off all but 1 tablepoon drippings.
Add apple and onions to the drippings; saute until softened, about 1 minutes.
Deglaze with vinegar; simmer until liquid is nearly evaporated.
Add the jelly and mustard; cook until jelly is melted and dressing has thickened, about 3 minutes. Stir in almonds and bacon, season with salt, then toss dressing with spinach and goat cheese.
Heat tortillas according to package directions or over a gas burner.
Assemble wraps by arranging about a cup of salad on each tortilla; top with chicken. Roll tighly secure wit a toothpick, and serve immediately.

Hannah's Cake

2006-09-30T09:03:00.000-05:00

I've recently started subscribing to the Family Fun Magazine. Every issue has a section that spotlights a child making a recipe with a parent's guidance. Hannah always gets excited and wants to make that recipe.

This is the result:

Honestly, we didn't like this recipe so much. The cake was a little dry. We prefer the Amazing Tunnel Cake. For some reason it was much better.

The Fabulous Four

2006-09-29T13:00:00.000-05:00

Tamale Cakes

2006-09-29T10:18:00.000-05:00

I haven't eaten polenta much my lifetime, but I like it. This recipe is basically polenta that has been cooled and then cut into rounds and lightly battered and fried. I thought it was quite good, if you like polenta. The family wasn't to impressed though, lol!

The recipe was for the whole meal, which included the corn cakes, topped with Pico de Gallo and Carnitas (meat). I could tell that the meat was not going to be good. I made a little just to prove myself right. It was more like a sweet barbeque sauce flavor, which just didn't work with the simple flavors of the corn cakes and Pico de Gallo. Because I knew we wouldn't be eating the meat, I made the Pico de Gallo heartier by adding some black beans. I also added cucumber because I couldn't think of a good reason not to.

This recipe came from the Aug 2006 issue of Cuisine at Home.

Tamale Corn Cakes

Makes 10-12 corn cakes; Total time: 1 hour + chilling

For the corn cakes:
3 cups simmering water
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1/3 cup masa harina
3 cups fresh corn kernels (I used frozen extra sweet corn)
1 cup Parmesan, grated
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
salt to taste
For the batter:
2 eggs, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Fry in:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Top with:
Pico de Gallo
Goat Cheese

Lightly coat a 9x13" baking dish with nonstick spray
Whisk cornmeal gradually into simmering water, then whisk in the masa harina. Stir in the corn and cook until mixture is thick and smooth, about 5 minutes. Off heat, add Parmesan, cayenne, and salt. Spread mixture into prepared dish and chill for 1 hour. When firm, cut into cakes. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
Dip cakes into the egg mixture, then dust with flour. Fry in oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat, browning both sides. Transfer cakes to a paper towel-lined plate or baking sheet; keep warm int the oven.
Serve warm cakes with Pico de Gallo and goat cheese.

Pico de Gallo

1 cup black beans
1/2 cucumber
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.

We had some avocado that would have been wonderful with this, but I completely forgot to use it!

Tostadas

2006-09-28T20:16:00.000-05:00

This is basically like tacos, but actually a little easier to eat, lol! No need for a recipe, just use what you have/like.

I like having refried beans for the first layer. It helps all of the other toppings hang on.

If you have a pressure cooker, then you can have refried beans in no time at all. I put the dry beans in the cooker, add water and a little oil, and bring to high pressure. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes and then turn off heat and allow pressure to drop on its own. Once I can open the cooker, I fill the food processor with beans, a little olive oil, and a clove of garlic. Process until smooth (adding water to thin as needed), add salt to taste, and there you go! The whole process takes about 1/2 hour.

Evolution of the Sticky Bun: Maple Walnut Sticky Buns

2006-09-27T13:30:00.000-05:00

Remember my Walnut Sticky Bun Post? And my Sticky Buns Revisited? Well, I'm going to repost the recipe. I find that if I make a recipe often enough, it goes through changes. While this recipe is still very similar to the previous ones, I just wanted to update everyone on what I do now. Yes, I actually make these more often than I'd like to admit.

I now call these Maple Walnut Sticky Buns. And they are good good good!

To get a nice close up of this sticky bun, click on the picture. Its just beautiful!! Brings tears to my eyes! Seriously, click on it right now. I'm not joking. After you have looked at the full size picture, you have permission to keep reading this post.

Ok, now that you have looked at the full sized bun, wipe the tears (of joy) from your eyes and proceed:

Maple Walnut Sticky Buns
Dough:
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (the kind that you add to the flour without proofing)
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup milk
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4 to 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (I used 4 cups in the dough)

Filling (the way I make it, which is doubled):
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter

Topping:
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (yes, the good stuff!)
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) coarsely chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons cream or half and half

The Dough:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 2 cups of the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Stir to combine.

In a microwaveable bowl (I use a two cup pyrex measure), melt 1/4 c. butter. Then add the milk and microwave for about 30 seconds. Add the eggs. Whisk until smooth.

Add the liquid mixture into the dry, and mix on low speed until blended. Switch to a dough hook and then, again on low speed, slowly incorporate the remaining 2 to 2 1/2 cups of flour. Increase speed to medium, kneading dough until smooth and slightly sticky (adding a little more flour if too wet), 3 to 5 minutes. I like to make sure the dough is quite sticky at this point. It makes for a more tender dough.

With oiled hands, remove the dough from the mixing bowl, and place in a large, oiled bowl. Turn dough over in bowl to coat with the oil from the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour (or 2 hours if not in a warm place).

While the dough is rising, I make the filling and topping.

The Filling:

I just melt the butter in a microwaveable bowl and then add the cinnamon and sugar and stir until smooth.

The Topping:

In a 1-quart saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, and maple syrup over low heat; stir until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Pour mixture into a greased 9" x 13" pan and sprinkle walnuts on top.

After the dough has risen, gently punch down. Turn out onto a lightly floured cutting board or counter top and let sit for 5 or 10 minutes (ok, I don't usually let it sit, but I think that if you let it rest for a few minutes, the dough will relax a bit and be a little easier to shape).

Roll dough out into a 12" x 18" rectangle (I never measure and my rectangle is never picture perfect). Spread cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the top of the rolled dough.

Starting with the long side, roll dough into a long cylinder. (my cylinder is always pretty lopsided, but it still works just fine). Place seam side down on a flat surface and cut crosswise into 12 slices. Dental floss is good for this, but I often just use a serrated knife.

Place dough slices, flat side down, on top of prepared topping in the 9x13 pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake buns until golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove pan from oven and immediately (and carefully as not to spill hot topping on your toes!) invert onto a serving tray or baking dish.

Let buns cool slightly and serve warm.

Doing some housekeeping...

2006-09-26T15:01:00.000-05:00

I'm cleaning up some dusty drafts from my blogger dashboard. These are posts that I never got around to posting for whatever reason. Often it was because I didn't think they looked appetizing enough. Well, that, and the fact that some of the pictures are out of focus.

Here ya go!

Carmelized Garlic Chicken

I made this quite a while ago (more than a month, I think), but was reluctant to post it because it just looks so unappealing to me! It is called Carmelized Garlic Chicken. The name conjures something much more pretty than I made. See if you agree:

It just looks sad, lol! It tasted very garlicky and slightly sweet. Definately nothing special!

Quail

Thats right. I said Quail. It looks horrible! I couldn't get a decent picture and it didn't taste great either.

ugh!
Beef Stroganoff

1/2 lbs beef, cut thin
flour
salt and pepper
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb mushrooms
1 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons dry sherry
sour cream
noodles

These next two recipes tasted good, but I didn't get good pictures. The rice pudding needed some perfecting. Of course creme brulee is simply heavenly!

Creme Brulee

Rice Pudding

Another Chicken Salad

2006-09-26T11:57:00.000-05:00

I've got some drafts that are sitting around getting dusty in my blogger dashboard. I'm just gonna post 'em, ok?

This was another chicken salad. Quite delish as far as chicken salad goes!

Yet Another Chicken Salad

Chicken
mayonnaise
Cucumbers
dried cranberries, chopped
Walnuts, chopped
onion, chopped
garlic, chopped
curry powder
lime juice

Just toss in what looks right, and stir to combine. Eat!

Chocolate Fodue

2006-09-26T09:18:00.000-05:00

The kids were begging. I relented. We ate Chocolate Fondue.

Chicken Hash with Squash and Kale

2006-09-25T12:10:00.000-05:00

This was supposed to be Chicken Hash with Squash and Kale, but it has sweet potato and kale in it instead. There was no winter squash at the store! Nope, none! Last year we grew some good eatin' squash in the garden, but we didn't get anything this year. I think it was a lethal combination of heat, drought, and being out of town. Ok, that, and I'm a bad gardener.

Anyway...

I followed the directions the same whether for squash or sweet potato. They require about the same amount of cooking time. I think I cut back on the dried cranberries. One cup just seemed like too much.

I got the recipe from the Oct '06 issue of Cuisine at Home. It was pretty good, though I wouldn't say it was a hit with the family. They mostly just tolerated it. Dh said it was a waste of real maple syrup, lol!

Chicken Hash with Squash and Kale

4 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into large chunks
4 cups kale, stemmed, chopped
1 lb. boneless, skinless chiken thighs, cut into 2" chunks (I used breasts instead)
Salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup red onion, sliced
1 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage (I had to use dried, no fresh at store)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Blanch squash in a large pot with salted boiling water until almost cooked through, 3-4 minutes; Off heat, stir in kale and let stand, uncovered, for 3 minutes; drain vegetables and st aside. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in the same pot over medium-high and saute chicken until browned on all sides.
Add the onion and saute 2 minutes. Stir in the prepared squash and kale, cranberries, and sage; saute another minute.
Whisk broth, syrup, and Dijon together; pour over the hash. Simmer until liquid reduces by half, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Cute Overload

2006-09-21T21:24:00.001-05:00

I think I have found the best website in the whole world. Hours of good clean cute fun!!! My kids and I just spent an hour hovering around the computer, going "ooooohhhh", and "aaaaaahhhhhhh"! Definitely check it out!!!

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

2006-09-21T10:21:00.000-05:00

This was a nice soup! My kids didn't totally love it, but I thought it was great! I got it from the Oct. '06 issue of Cuisine At Home. I love this magazine. Most of the recipes I try are above average. I have had a few that were so-so, but none that were downright bad. I also like that there is no advertising in the whole magazine! I have from time to time subscribed to Bon Apetit, which I like, but I hate the pages and pages of ads. When I was getting it, the first thing I would do is go through each page and tear out the ones that were only ads!

I was in a hurry when I made this, so I made it in a pressure cooker. I just threw everything in and cooked at high pressure for about 3 or 5 minutes (I can't remember now). The only problems I had were that the lentils were not quite done, and there was too much liquid. When using the pressure cooker, none of the liquid gets to escape during cooking and sometimes you have to cut down the liquid a bit in the recipe. Oh yeah, one more change to the recipe: I substituted orange juice for the wine.

I found that my cilantro pesto was a perfect complement to this soup. I stirred some in with the sour cream right before I ate it.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup
with lentils, tomatoes, and yogurt

There's a lot of flavor in a bowl of this quick soup! Be sure the curry powder you use is fairly fresh or the soup's intensity will suffer.
Makes about 4 1/2 cups; Total time: about 40 minutes

1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup carrot, diced
1/4 cup celery, diced
1 T. fresh ginger, minced
1 bay leaf
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 T. vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sweet potato, peeled, cubed
1 t. curry powder
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup brown lentils
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt to taste
Plain yogurt or sour cream

Saute onion, carrot, clelery, ginger, bay leaf, and pepper flakes in oil in a pot over medium-high heat until soft, 8-10 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and curry powder; saute 1 minute.
Deglaze with wine; simmer until almost evaporated, then stir in broth, tomatoes, and lentils. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until lentils and sweet potatoes are tender, 25-30 minutes.
Off heat, stir in 2 T. cilantro, lemon juice, and salt. Garnish each serving of soup with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream and some of the remaining cilantro.

I'll admit it.

2006-09-20T10:14:00.000-05:00

I'm addicted to playing with my template code and creating new backgrounds and logos. I hope its not annoying to you readers, because I'm not sure I can stop.

Chili Chicken Skewers with Cilantro Pesto

2006-09-20T09:13:00.000-05:00

This was a muy muy good recipe! The chicken skewers themselves were pretty good, but when eaten with the pesto and the sweet potatoes, it was out of this world!

I grilled the chicken on a cast iron griddle on our stove inside the house. Dh refuses to buy a gas grill. When we barbeque, its only in our authentic ceramic hibachi grill, and Sean is always in charge. Our cast iron griddle has a flat side for cooking things like pancakes, and the other side has ridges, like a grill. You place it over the burners to heat it. I used it to grill the chicken and it worked perfectly. I swear that it tasted like it was grilled over coals. My house got a little smokey and I had to do a little extra cleaning around the stove, and the griddle itself is quite hard to clean afterward, but its worth it!

I got this recipe from the Feb '06 edition of Cuisine at Home, but of course I made several adaptations.

Isn't the pesto beautiful!?

Chili Chicken Skewers with Cilantro Pesto

2 cups fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup fresh parsley leaves
1 deseeded, coarsly chopped anneheim chili
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil (I used 1/4 cup oil, 1/4 cup water)
Kosher salt to taste
1 1/4 lb. boneless, skinless chiken breast halves
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Process cilantro, parsley, anneheim chili, peanuts, lime juice and garlic in a food processor until minced. Add 1/2 cup oil (I used half oil, half water), blend until smooth, then season with salt.
Cut the chicken into twenty 1 1/2 to 2" chunks. Combine brown sugar and seasonings in a bowl, add chicken pieces, and toss to coat. Thread 5 pieces of chicken onto each of 4 skewers.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a grill pan thats been coated with nonstick spray over medium-high. Grill chicken untill browned well, about 5 minutes, turning occasionally. Thransfer pan to the oven and roast an addtional 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooded through (I didn't do this because I didn't read the directions thoroughly, I think it would have worked better if I had). Serve with sweet potatoes, and cilantro pesto for dipping.

Chunky Banana Sweet Potato Mash recipe accompanied this recipe, but I just made baked sweet potatoes instead. I knew that adding bananas to the sweet potatoes would be a major turn off for my family. The plain sweet potatoes were great with this recipe!

The cilantro pesto went perfectly with the next day's meal, also...

Dinner

2006-09-19T18:31:00.000-05:00

Lemon pasta with kale, mushrooms sauteed in basalmic vinegar, and sauteed yellow squash with onion. Nothing fancy, just our dinner the other night.

I knew I wasn't going to give a recipe, and I tried not to take a picture. But I couldn't put that first bite in my mouth until...

I'm hopeless.

Corn Bread

2006-09-18T07:48:00.000-05:00

I guess I had forgotten that my kids really like corn bread, because I was a little suprised when they got all excited over eating this. It was moist and yummy.

This recipe is adapted from the Better Homes and Garden's red binder cook book.

Corn Bread
1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup fresh or frozen sweet corn

Stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs milk, and oil. Beat just till smooth (do not overbeat). Fold in the fresh or frozen corn. Turn into 9x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 8 or 9 servings.

Cole Slaw

2006-09-16T14:51:00.000-05:00

This is just some basic cole slaw I made to go along with my pinto beans.

I never do the exact same thing twice when it comes to slaw. There are some basic rules I follow:

Go easy on the mayo. Less is more. Its high calorie, and I really don't like an over dressed slaw. I usually add as little as I can, and add more if I really think it needs it. This time, I had some homemade ranch dressing, so I used it instead of mayo this time.

For a basic sweet and sour dressing, use equal parts mayo, sugar, and vinegar (I got this tip from my sister-in-law, Sesika). I usually don't measure, though.

I always like shredded carrot added for color. Its not really neccesary, but I think it looks better.

Another great addition to slaw is crushed pineapple. Actually, my parents always made slaw this way when I was growing up. Just cabbage, mayo, and pineapple. I like it that way, but I like the added vinegar.

Cole Slaw
cabbage
carrot
homemade ranch dressing
onion
vinegar (don't add to much or you will be puckering while you eat.)
sugar
salt
pepper

Pinto Beans

2006-09-16T14:47:00.000-05:00

Hmmm..What to make for dinner? I didn't have anything planned and we needed to go to the store. I had some dried pinto beans, a pressure cooker, and everything to make corn bread and cole slaw. That sounded yummy. These beans turned out to be like a vegetarian chili, I guess. With the cole slaw and the corn bread, it was indeed an excellent meal.

Of course I didn't really measure. Just throw in the amounts that feel right. I tried to give approximate amounts.

Pinto Beans

about 3/4 lb dry pinto beans, cooked (about 2 cans)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup diced red pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
can of diced green chilis
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
14 oz can petite diced tomatoes

Saute the onion, red pepper, and garlic until the onion is translucent. Add the chili powder, paprika, and cupmin, and saute a minute or two more. Stir in the green chilis, tomatoes and pinto beans and simmer until everything is cooked just right. Add water if the mixture gets too thick.

Ranch Dressing

2006-09-13T07:12:00.000-05:00

Come here and lean in close. I'm going to tell you a secret. One that Hidden Valley doesn't want you to know. Shhhh....

Ok, let me whisper in your ear...

The secret to great tasting Ranch dressing is the mayonnaise and the buttermilk.

Yup, thats it! You don't need to buy an expensive seasoning packet. All you have to do is mix those two ingredients together and toss in some seasonings from your pantry, and you are good to go!

Send all money saved from this hint to me, ok?!

1 cup mayo
1 cup buttermilk
some minced garlic (or garlic powder)
some chopped fresh parsley (or dried)
some parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
not too much dillweed (or fresh would be yummy!)

optional: a little mustard (not too much, maybe 1/4 tsp), finely minced (or shredded) onion, fresh cilantro, whatever you can think of.

Mix the mayonnaise and buttermilk and then add the seasonings to taste. I promise that you will like it.

Onion Rings

2006-09-12T08:19:00.000-05:00

I only make onion rings once every 2 or 3 years. I made them a week or so ago. The recipe wasn't perfect, so I'm not giving it to you.

But, here's a picture! Ta-da!

Chocolate Cake

2006-09-10T21:34:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. I make desserts too often. You don't have to tell me. My fat arse already knows.

I used the chocolate cake recipe from here:

Homemade Chocolate Cake Mix Recipe

The frosting is a basic butter frosting recipe.

The top of the cake frosting is way too thick. I know. I used it sparingly for the middle, and had tons left for the top, lol. Also, the plate I put it on caused it to dip a bit in the middle, so I leveled it out with the frosting. We had to scrape it off as we ate, to avoid overload!

Parfait?

2006-09-10T08:54:00.000-05:00

Ever since he first watched Shrek, Dylan has been asking about parfait. He has been wanting me to make it. I mean, if Donkey says its good, then it must be good. Finally, he specifically asked for it for his birthday last April. I had to do something that resembled parfait.

So just what is a parfait? I really couldn't figure it out so I just sort of made something up. I made some yummy cake from scratch. And then I just layered the cake in the goblets, along with lightly sweetened strawberries, and sweetened whipped cream.

The result was yummy, even if it may or may not have been actual parfait.

This picture was taken on Dylan's birthday, last April.

I'll Never Win

2006-09-09T09:14:00.000-05:00

Ok, so the other day, I didn't have anything for dinner. We had been gone much of the day and it was getting late. So I ran to the local grocery store and bought some cheap-o pizza. Red Baron brand.

I cooked it and served it to my kids. Do you want to know what Hypatia said when she took her first bite?

"mmmmm...This is the best cheese pizza I ever ate!"

Why do I even try with this girl!!??!! I made homemade cheese pizza the other day, and she prefers this?!!

Sloppy Joes

2006-09-08T14:46:00.000-05:00

For some reason, our grocery shopping has gotten all out of whack. I haven't been able to take my list and buy everything I need for a week. All of the decent grocery stores are 20 miles away, so its no small thing to go and do all my shopping. I've just been running to our local store (which is pretty limited) every day to get whatever I think I might need. What happens as a result is that I'm making a lot of those stand-by recipes that I just throw together, without measuring.

Thats what these sloppy joes are. Just put in what tastes good and let it cook. No measurements. I'm sure you have done this too, so I'm guessing I'm not really inspiring anyone here. I'm just showing you what I made.

Sometimes I add my own secret ingredient: crushed pineapple! It just mixes right in and adds a nice sweet flavor. I didn't have any on hand, so I didn't do it this time, though.

I like cole slaw with my sloppy joes. I eat it right on it, with the bun. I'm the only weirdo in the family who does this, though.

Sloppy Joes

ground beef, about 1.5 lbs
onions, minced
garlic, minced
green pepper, diced
ketchup, a couple long squirts
worcestershire sauce, about 2 tablespoons
mustard (small amount),maybe 1-2 teaspoons
barbeque sauce, a few dollops

In a skillet, saute the ground beef and drain off excess fat. Add the onions, peppers, and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes. When the onion is translucent, add the ketchup, worcestershire sauce, mustard, and barbeque sauce. Simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, and adding a little water if the mixture gets to thick.

Okra

2006-09-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

We were at a local vegetable stand that had some fresh picked okra. I thought to myself, "Ok, I'll try it again". Okra takes some getting used to. I'm not used to it yet. That slimy inside is just not always pleasant.

I tried roasted okra, inspired by Susan of FatFreeVegan.

I added thinly sliced garlic.

We are still trying to like Okra.

Soba Noodles

2006-09-06T15:50:00.000-05:00

I've never eaten Soba Noodles before. Nope, not once. So, when I was wandering through the aisles of an Asian food market, I spotted some and thought I'd give it a try. When I returned home, I looked on the internet for a suitable recipe.

I found one by Emeril that seemed interesting. So I gave it a try.

It had good flavors but it wasn't really a big hit. I think it had to do with the texture created by combining the peanut butter sauce and cold soba noodles. It was a little wierd. I also think that the sesame oil flavor was a bit strong. I use sesame oil, but I use it rather sparingly. I guess I like a hint of it, not getting hit over the head with it.

I probably won't make it again.

This is the dried noodles, before being cooked. Aren't they pretty?

Emerils.com

COLD PEANUT, CHICKEN, AND SOBA NOODLE SALAD
Ingredients needed:

* 12 ounces dried soba noodles, or other buckwheat noodles
* 3 tablespoons sesame oil
* 1/4 cup chopped green onions (green tops only)
* 1 jalapeno, seeded, stem removed, and minced
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1 teaspoon minced gingerroot
* 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 1/4 cup chicken stock
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* 2 tablespoons fish sauce
* 1 tablespoon Sherry
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 1 teaspoons sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
* 1 whole skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into strips and lightly poached, and chilled
* 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
* 2 tablespoons chopped roasted unsalted peanuts

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil, cover and refrigerate.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine 2 tablespoons of the green onions, the jalapenos, garlic, and ginger, and process on high speed. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, the peanut butter, soy sauce, chicken stock, cilantro, fish sauce, sherry, lime juice, sugar, and pepper flakes. Toss the sauce to taste with the noodles.

To serve, toss the noodles with the chicken strips, bell pepper, cucumber, peanuts, and remaining 2 tablespoons of green onions, and serve.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Chickens

2006-09-05T21:24:00.000-05:00

Um, ok, yeah, we have chickens. 25 to be exact. We've been considering getting some, so Sean buys 25. Is he crazy?!

I'll let you know how this goes. For now I need to read up on chicken-y stuff.

No we don't keep them all in that little cage. Thats just what we used to transport them to our house. They get to roam around a lot!

Greek Pasta

2006-09-04T18:15:00.000-05:00

Ok, I just called it Greek because it has feta and olives. Sounds like Greek to me, lol! Anyway, its just one of those quick throw together meals that wasn't measured.

Hmmm...I guess I didn't put any garlic in it. I'm sure it would benefit from it. Also, if I had any fresh parsley, I would have thrown it in too. Fancy shmancy olives such as kalamata would be nice here too. I don't keep them on hand (special occasion food here), so I just used green olives.

Greek Pasta

Noodles
cooked chicken diced or shredded
roasted red peppers
marinated artichoke hearts
green olives
green onions
Caesar Dressing (or homemade)
feta cheese, crumbled

Otai

2006-09-03T18:21:00.000-05:00

I worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center back in 1989-90, in the Gateway Restaurant. We would serve the tourists that came through, but they also did catering for local events. One time, as part of a catering job, we made Otai. It is a Tongan drink. I think it was tasty. I don't remember, lol.

Well, we had some watermelon on hand, and I was trying to decide just what to do with it and I got the idea to try some Otai. We excitedly sliced the melon open and upon seeing the interior, my daughter stood there, with her mouth gaping open. "Wha??? Look! Its ORANGE!!" She thought that we had somehow gotten a mutant melon from Mars. I waited a minute before I told her that some melons are orange, on purpose. Heehee. I just had to watch her suprised face a minute longer.

I wasn't expecting an orange watermelon. Sean had bought it and he's notorious for not noticing details when buying things. He handn't realized it was orange either.

Hmmm...would this work for Otai? Eh, why not? So I made the saddest looking Otai in history. Just see if you agree...

Otai

watermelon
coconut milk
pineapple
sugar
ice

You are supposed to smash the watermelon with your fingers, then add the other ingredients and stir. I think I ended up blending it in a blender. It wasn't too sweet, so I added some sugar.

It was nothing special.

We made popsicles wtih what was left over, and they were pretty good.

Key Lime Pie

2006-09-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

We got this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine a few years ago. Its simple and fabulous. If you can get your husband to juice those teeny tiny key limes, then its even better!

But first, a little history...

Community Bakery in Little Rock makes fabulous desserts. Sometimes Sean and I go there when we have a night to ourselves, without the children. Sean's favorite is always the same, French Silk Pie. Mine, on the other hand, is the Key Lime Tart. Of course, I started working on the recipe. I knew if I could figure out just what was in it, I could make it at home and charge my family $3.50/slice. I'd be rich!

It was at that time our current Bon Apetit issue arrived. In it was a recipe for a two-layer Key Lime Pie. We tried it. I recognized the first layer to be the same as the Community Bakery Tart. The second layer is a cream cheese layer. The cream cheese layer is very good, and Sean considers it essential. If this dessert were being made just for me, and me alone, I would leave it off. We always make it with the cream cheese layer.

I have made the crust as the recipe states, with granola, but usually I just make a simple graham cracker crust.

Two-Layer Key Lime Pie

8 servings

Crust
3/4 cup granola (with no raisins or other dried fruit)
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (from about 6 whole graham crackers)
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons sugar

Baked Layer
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh Key Lime juice or lime juice
3 large egg yolks

Chilled Layer
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup fresh Key Lime juice, or lime juice
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sweetened whipped cream

FOR CRUST: Prehaeat oven to 350 degrees F. Using on/off turns, blend granola in processor until coarsely ground. Transfer granola to meduim bowl. Mix in graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar. Press crumb mixture over bottom and up sides of a 9 inch diameter deep dish glass pie dish. Bake until crust is golden brown, about 8 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Remove crust from oven and cool completely.

FOR BAKED LAYER: Whisk condensed milk, lime juice, and egg yolks in medium bowl to blend. Pour into pie crust. Bake until custard is set, about 25 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

FOR CHILLED LAYER: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, condensed milk, lime juice, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl. Pour over cooled baked layer, smooth top. Cover and chill until firm, at least 4 hours. Pipe sweetened whipped cream decoratively around edges of pie. Cut into wedges and serve.

Hummus

2006-09-01T09:32:00.000-05:00

Many of you already know about the joys of eating hummus. And for those of you who don't, let me be the first to educate you. Its good stuff. Eat it.

My first introduction to hummus was at the ripe old age of 24. I was just married and visiting my new in-laws in Germany with my new husband (no, they are not German, they lived there for work). We made several trips to this falafel stand in Berlin. I hadn't heard of falafel either, but since it was rather "normal" looking, I just ate it up and didn't think twice, (tasted great!). I was a bit skeptical the first time I saw the hummus, though. What was that pasty looking stuff? I don't think I dared taste the hummus until the second or third falafel trip.

Since those days of ignorance, I have developed a deep and abiding love for hummus, (and my in-laws!). Upon our return from Germany, I began the process of learning how to cook. Eventually I tried making hummus. Wow! So easy to make and yummy too!

We now eat hummus regularly and everyone in the family likes it! Yes, even Hypatia. She doesn't want the vegetables with it, but she likes the hummus with pita bread. You know its good if she will eat it!

It is a nice summer meal because it doesn't require any cooking, unless you cook dry beans rather than opening a can (I usually cook them in a pressure cooker). Other than that, you just need a food processor or blender.

I don't really measure anymore, but the ingredients for hummus are basically this:

2 cans chickpeas, drained, reserve liquid
2-3 cloves minced garlic (more or less, you decide how strong you like it)
juice of 2 lemons (again, I keep adding lemon until it tastes right)
1/3 cup tahini (some recipes call for as much as 2/3 cup)
1/4 cup olive oil
water or reserved bean liquid for thinning
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor, add the chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, garlic, and extra add-ins. Process until smooth. If its too thick, thin with water. When its just right, stir in salt and pepper to taste.

That's it.

I usually add in one or more of these ingredients:
1 tsp. freshly ground cumin
1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro
1/4 cup loosely packed parsely
some roasted red pepper

This time, I added cumin and fresh cilantro. I also used roasted garlic instead of fresh, which was really nice. It was a much mellower flavor. I added many cloves of the roasted garlic, much more than I would of the fresh. If you overdo the fresh garlic, you end up with an extremely sharp garlic flavor that can be hard to handle, expecially for kids.

Oriental Slaw

2006-08-30T15:42:00.000-05:00

To go with my potstickers, I made salad with some of the left over napa cabbage. It was so yummy!

The recipe is approximate because I just chopped this and squirted that and ended up with a salad, you know?

Remember how I made the potstickers two nights in a row? Well, I made this salad two nights in a row also. The first picture is how it turned out the first night, and the second picture is how it turned out the second night. The main difference is that on the second night I added cucumbers and tomatoes and forgot to grate in the carrot. Both were good!

Oriental Slaw

Bok Choy Cabbage
shredded carrot
green onions
minced garlic
toasted sesame oil
minced ginger
Thai sweet chili sauce
soy sauce
cashews or peanuts
cilantro
chopped tomatoes
sliced cucumber
whatever else you can think of!

Edited to add: I forgot that I left Rice Vinegar off the list! I had rice vinegar in the salad too! Sorry!

Potstickers

2006-08-29T22:47:00.000-05:00

I'm steel reeling from the beauty of this experience. I'm not sure if I have words to describe how good this recipe was. My kids were begging me to make this more often before I had even finished cooking it! They hadn't even tasted it. Once it got to the table, they were fighting over just how much they could eat. Of course Hypatia didn't like it, but she doesn't like anything exept for rice, noodles, eggs and kiwis (well, maybe more than that, but not much more, lol).

I got this recipe from the February 2006 Cuisine at Home magazine. It was in an article featuring chef Martin Yan. While this recipe tasted excellent, I had a hard time making it look as good as the photos. But who cares? I practically had my family falling to their knees praising my name this time! Dylan wants me to make some for him to take for school lunch. He says, with a huge grin, "I would love to see the other kids faces when they see me eat this!" Good idea, Dylan, but there is never any left over for lunch the next day!

One more thing. Chef Yan says that if you can't find the round wrappers, thats ok, just buy the square ones and cut them round with a biscuit cutter. I couldn't find round, so I used square. End of story, no cutting involved.

Potstickers

Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt:
2 1/2 cups napa cabbage, thinly sliced

Add:
8 oz. ground pork or chicken
1/4 cup chicken broth (I left this out for some reason)
1 tablespoon soy sauce (oops, I accidently left this out too)
1 tablespoon cornstarch (ok, I've lost my mind. I left this out too. Was I high or something? Maybe this was why it didn't turn out perfect, duh)
1 tablespoon scallions (is that the same as green onions? I used green onions)
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
1/2 teaspoon white pepper (I used black)
I added 2 cloves garlic, minced

Fill, brown, and steam:
30 potsticker or gyoza wrappers
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2/3 cup water, divided

Toss with:
Hot and Sour Chili Sauce (recipe follows)

Sprinkle cabbage with salt and let stand for 15 minutes. Squeeze cabbage tightly in your fist to remove all excess liquid (I didn't do this).

Add remaining filling ingredients and combine thoroughly.

Fill each round wrapper with a teaspoon of filling, wrap and seal. Heat a large saute pan over medium until hot; add 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, swirling to coat. Add half the potstickers, seam side up and cook until bottoms are golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Add 1/3 cup water, cover, reduce heat to medium low, and cook until water has evaporated, 5-6 minutes. Remove potstickers and keep warm. Wipe out the pan with a paper towl, then brown and steam the remaining potstickers. Toss the warm potstickers with sauce to coat.

Hot and Sour Chili Sauce

Combine:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons scallions (green onions?), minced
2 teaspoons hot chili oil
2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

UPDATE: Since I had exactly enough ingredients left over to make this again, I made it again the next night. This time, I remembered the forgotten ingredients and I didn't really steam the potstickers like the instructions said. I put extra water in, but I didn't put the lid on. They turned out prettier, and they tasted heavenly!

The first picture in the post is from when I made it the second night. The second and third pictures are from the first time I made it. I think it definitely looks better the second time I made it.

Buttermilk Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

2006-08-28T09:28:00.000-05:00

Once in a rare while, I go all out and make biscuits and gravy. My kids adore it, and Sean is getting used to it. Of course Sean eats the biscuits like crazy, but he prefers them with homemade strawberry freezer jam, which, I admit, is pretty darn good.

Dylan says, "Mom, you make the best buttermilk biscuits!"

Thanks, sweetie. Its not my recipe, though. I just use the Better Homes and Gardens recipe.

Buttermilk Biscuits Supreme

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons sugar (I usually forget this, lol)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup shortening (I always do half shortening, half butter)
3/4 cup buttermilk

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in shortening (and butter) till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center; add buttermilk all at once. Stir just till dough clings together. Knead gently on a lightly floured surface for 10 to 12 strokes. Roll or pat to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, dipping cutter in flour between cuts. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or till golden. Makes 10 to 12 biscuits.

Sausage Gravy

To make really flavorful breakfast gravy, you need to cook either sausage or bacon, and then use the pan to make the gravy. All of those crispy bits of sausage or bacon will make that gravy taste yummy!

The basic recipe is this: For every cup of milk, you need 1 tablespoon of grease (butter or oil) and 1 tablespoon of flour. We usually only make the recipe with one cup of milk, which doesn't seem like a lot, but its just right for us.

In the pan where I cooked the sausage, I sprinkle a tablespoon of flour into the drippings. If there is enough grease (at least a tablespoon) leftover from cooking the sausage, then I just stir in the flour with a whisk till smooth. If not, I add a bit of oil or butter, and then stir.

Heat up 1 cup of milk in the microwave (cold milk increases your chances of lumpy gravy), and pour it into the grease/flour mixture slowly while whisking. Heat to boiling, stirring the whole time.

When thickened, remove from heat and salt and pepper to taste.

Oh yeah, I usually add a crumbled sausage patty to the gravy.

Pizza

2006-08-28T08:47:00.000-05:00

Yum...

Sprinkle some Feta on your pizza next time. You'll be glad you did!

Chicken Salad

2006-08-26T11:52:00.000-05:00

This was a lazy Sunday afternoon supper. You know the kind that you look into your pantry and fridge to see what's there and make dinner accordingly. Well, this is what was there.

Oh, this was sooooo delish! I had it all planned out, and then I saw the lone avocado, sitting there on the counter. I diced it up and tossed it in. Wow. What a great addition! I found myself anticipating each bite, wondering if it would be one of the ones, you know, with avocado in it!

I had a can of mandarin organges in the pantry, so thats what I used, but I imagine that any variety of fruits would work, such as grapes, pineapple, mango, peaches, etc. This is a variation on a pretty basic recipe.

Mmmmmm...

Chicken Salad

2 chicken breasts, cooked in lemon juice and curry powder, shredded
2 stalks celery
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 15 oz can mandarin oranges, drained
1 avocado, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1-2 teaspoons curry powder
juice of 2 or 3 lemons
Some mayonnaise (or 1/2 mayo, 1/2 yogurt; or all yogurt, if you like)
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients but the avocado and mandarin oranges. Stir to combine. Add the avocado and mandarin oranges right before serving, and gently stir (just trying to keep them from falling apart).

Serve on lettuce leaves, with a dinner roll. Of course, I didn't serve on lettuce leaves, but I thought that would look nice if you wanted to do it that way.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2006-08-25T10:05:00.000-05:00

My son was begging me to help him make cookies. I finally gave in. He wanted Cherry Walnut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. I told him we were out of dried cherries and oatmeal. So we made Chocolate Chip Cookies with walnuts. Later I found the cherries and oatmeal (can we say disorganized?). I guess I didn't look too hard for them because I didn't really want them in there. I like my cookies simple!

This particular recipe came from a cookbook called Lee Bailey's Country Desserts. He called for chocolate chunks; I just used chocolate chips.

I'm not giving the recipe since its pretty much like any other chocolate chip cookie, which is to say that it tastes great!

This is Dylan, helping. He loves doing this sort of thing.

Confetti Chowder

2006-08-24T10:03:00.000-05:00

Sean thought that Confetti Chowder was a dumb name, but that's what the soup made me think of, so that's what I'm naming it.

I usually make this soup as a potato corn chowder. I didn't have any frozen corn, so I had to do something else. I had zucchini, carrots, mushrooms and broccoli, though. It was a very good meal!

Its sort of a cheater meal in that it uses canned soup. If you make it with corn and none of the chopped up veggies, it goes together in a very short time. Adding the veggies increases the cook time and the prep time.

Confetti Chowder

Step 1:
3 medium Russet potatoes, diced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 head cabbage, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup

Combine ingredientsa in a pressure cooker and cook for 4 minutes on high pressure. Release pressure immediately by placing cooker in the sink and running water over it. Open and check softeness of potatoes. They should be soft.

Step 2:
Add to pot:
1 zucchini, grated
1 carrot, peeled and grated
4 mushrooms, chopped
1 stalk broccoli, peel and grate the stalk, and chop the top part

Reseal the lid and cook for 5 minutes, total time. Do not worry about pressure. If you cooked at 5 minutes high pressure, then you would have mush. We just want to lightly cook the veggies. Again, release steam immediately by running water over.

Step 3:
Stir into soup:
1/2 cup cream
1 cup cheese, shredded (any kind: cheddar, swiss, pepperjack)
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cooked, diced chicken

There you have it!

If you want it to be only corn then skip step 2 and just add a cup or 2 of frozen corn along with step 3.

Garlic Lime Chicken

2006-08-23T09:06:00.000-05:00

If you've ever eaten Cajun barbequed shrimp, then you'll know what this tastes like. Its spice mix is very similar to a cajun seasoning, and then its cooked with a lot of lime. I really enjoyed this recipe!

As per usual, I didn't use a full 6 breast halves, and I cut the breasts into strips. We just don't eat one whole huge breast per person in this family. That's a lot of meat!

I also forgot to add the paprika. Am I ever going to make a recipe in which I don't forget something?!

Of course I used fresh garlic instead of powdered, but I'm sure you knew that already.

Garlic Lime Chicken

1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder (or a couple cloves of fresh, minced)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cup chicken broth

Hmm...lemme see, I think I cooked the chicken breasts in the spices and oil and butter, and then added the lime juice and chicken broth near the end. When the chicken was done, I took it out of the pan and boiled the broth and the juice for a while until it reduced a bit.

Garnish with parsley if desired, and then eat!

Maple Walnut Topping

2006-08-22T21:16:00.000-05:00

This topping is incredible on a good quality vanilla ice cream. It is decadent, elegant and down home all at the same time. Sean wanted to copy Haagen Daz's maple walnut topping, so we searched the internet until we found a suitable recipe. Actually, it was the only recipe we found for it.

Sean is the one who makes this recipe, because he likes to take it past the edge of reason. He overloads it with way too many walnuts. He even admitted it this time. I like just a reasonable amount of walnuts. Of course we use real maple syrup.

Sean loves this recipe, and the following picture is how he likes to eat it, with a banana and whipped cream. When I eat it, I don't have a banana and I try to have less of everything else.

Its pretty expensive to make and we don't keep it on hand all the time. We just make it for special occasions. Sean usually doesn't let the children eat it, and he can barely handle it when I eat it. He gets crazy when it comes to his special treats!

There is too much whipped cream in this picture. We are not always that indulgent (ok, sometimes we are!), but I think I got carried away, knowing I was going to take a picture of it!

Click here for the recipe:
Maple Walnut Topping

I thought I'd also add that if you want to make a copy of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, then Hillbilly Housewife has a simple, perfect recipe. The texture and appearance is the same and the flavor is better. I won't be buying chocolate syrup anymore.

Chocolate Syrup

Messed Up Lemon Bars

2006-08-22T08:48:00.000-05:00

Well, you're not getting a recipe for this because it was all wrong. It turned out more like a shortbread cookie with a thin lemon top. I've made lemon bars before, but you'd never know it with the way these turned out. I realized after I started that I was using the wrong sized pan, so I doubled the recipe and it didn't work at all, lol! I was making them to take to a pot luck. I was going to take them even though they were messed up. But I forgot to bring them, lol!

I wasn't going to take a picture because I knew that I wasn't going to post the recipe, but I couldn't stop myself. I had to take a picture anyway. The sun was shining so bright in the window, I knew it would be a nice picture, and it is.

Sean told me that I shouldn't post every little thing I make, including the mistakes. But my thinking is that I'm just trying to show what I cook and how it turns out, even if its a failure. It didn't make sense to him, though.

Here ya go!

Messed Up Lemon Bars

Father's Day Trifle

2006-08-21T14:02:00.000-05:00

For Father's Day this year, our family went to my parents house. If I remember correctly, my mother was out of town, so my brother's family and my family made sure our Dad had a decent Father's Day. One of Sean's favorite desserts in the whole wide world is what we call trifle. We got this recipe from Sean's parents who got it from an English couple they know well. Its still not a totally authentic English trifle, I think; there is no sherry soaked cake. It is a fabulous dessert, though! Its best when made with fresh fruit, and we had just picked up a few gallons of fresh blueberries a few days before. So, for Sean, my brother (Stuart), and my Father, I made trifle for Father's Day.

Since I made it before my food picture obsession craze started, I was thinking that I didn't have a picture of it. Well, I had forgotten that my sister-in-law, Esther, had taken a picture of it for me. It looks oh so good! Hannah had helped me design the top with a blueberry heart. Take a look:

Blueberry Trifle

To make the trifle:

Make or buy a plain cake with no frosting. I used this recipe: Yellow Cake Mix. When the cake is cooled, put it in the bottom of a trifle bowl, keeping it in one piece or breaking it into chunks. Make some red Jell-o with cranberry juice instead of water. Pour the warm Jell-o over the cake to fully saturate it. Cover it with saran wrap and chill for several hours or overnight. Meanwhile, make some vanilla pudding. You could make it from scratch, but I often use a box of pudding mix. Chill that too. Once the pudding and cake are fully chilled, layer the pudding over the cake. Then put a layer of blueberries over the pudding. Whip some cream with sugar. Spread it over the top of the blueberries. Top with more blueberries. Make sure it is a nice pattern. Don't want a confusing jumble of berries or anything, do we?

Take a picture and then eat it!

These two pictures show us enjoying the trifle. Dylan is my son, age 10, Hypatia is my daughter, age 6. Wade is my son, age 2. John is Stuart and Esther's foster son. Emma is their daughter. Sean is, of course, my husband. Some chubby woman is me. And Janell is my sister.

By the way, this by no means represents anywhere near all of my family. I come from a family of 10 children. Only Stuart and I live near enough to my parents to be there for these little holidays. Janell was only there for a short visit.

Spicy Chick Pea Stew

2006-08-21T11:04:00.000-05:00

This recipe is from a Weight Watcher's cookbook that I borrowed from my parents. They never use it, so I figure they'd never miss it! I did ask for it and I'll happily give it back if they want.

The overall flavors in this recipe are good. Ultimately, I like it. Its just good vegan style eating, which makes Sean a little nervous. I guess I just used the recipe as a guideline, because it seemed off kilter to me. It called for a pound of dried chick peas, cooked, and a whole eggplant. But then it called for a tablespoon each of chopped onion, carrots and celery. Um, what? I love chickpeas, but I thought this recipe could do with a little less of them, and definitely more carrots, onion and celery. In the end, I had to use less chickpeas because as soon as they were cooked, my kids were looking for a snack and I let them eat some, plain, with a little salt. By the time they were done, I had about half of the chickpeas left, which turned out to be just the perfect amount for the recipe.

I think I screwed up the eggplant. I normally like eggplant, but this time it had a slimy texture that really turned me off, so I ended up picking it out. Afterward, I remembered that when I set my eggplant in a colander to drain (like most recipes call for), I forgot to salt it first, so no liquid drained out. Maybe that made it slimy? Or maybe this was just a bad eggplant. I don't know.

Other changes: I added some tomato sauce and extra diced tomatoes, and I forgot to put the peas in at the end, like the recipes tells me to do. I did remember to add them in when we ate this as leftovers.

Spicy Chick Pea Stew

1/2 eggplant, diced
1 teaspoon salt
olive oil
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced fine
4 cloves garlic, minced finely
handful of raisins
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cans of petite diced tomatoes
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup frozen green peas

Toss eggplant cubes with salt and place in a mesh strainer or colander; drain for 30 minutes. Press out excess liquid with wooden spoon.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat; add onion, carrot and celery. Saute, stirring occasionally , until vegetables are wilted, about 5 minutes. Add ginger and garlic; cook 30 seconds.

Increase heat to medium high; add eggplant. Toss and saute until eggplant begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add raisins, cumin and cinnamon; stir well. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and hot pepper sauce; bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is tender, about 15 minutes. If mixture becomes too thick, add hot water gradually, until sufficiently thinned.

Add chickpeas and green peas; simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley if desired, and serve over couscous (or rice).

Teriyaki Chicken with Zucchini and Noodles

2006-08-20T17:41:00.000-05:00

If you haven't tried Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce, now is the time! It has become a favorite among my family. My kids can't get enough zucchini when its sauteed in this stuff!

This is an easy, throw together meal. Nothing fancy; it hardly qualifies as cooking. Saute some veggies, debone a rotisserie chicken, and cook some noodles, and you're done! I had some roasted garlic on hand, so I threw some into this meal, but usually I just chop a few cloves of fresh garlic.

Teriyaki Chicken with Zucchini and Noodles

3 medium zucchinis
1/2 med onion, sliced
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced, or roasted garlic, mashed
Some Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce (my kids use too much)
a cup or so of shredded chicken (I often use a rotisserie chicken)
2 tablepoons chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon sesame oil
addtional cilantro and sesame seeds for garnish
fresh oriental noodles, cooked

Saute the zucchini, onion, and garlic in a few splashes of teriyaki sauce. Add the chicken and heat through. Stir in some toasted sesame seed oil and add the noodles. Top with cilantro and a sprinkle of sesame oil. At this point I add in more teriyaki sauce until its flavored to my (kids) liking.

Sticky Buns Revisited

2006-08-18T08:52:00.000-05:00

Update:find an updated recipe at Evolution of the sticky bun.

Remember my popular Walnut Sticky Buns? Well, I made them again, but this time I had a bag of pecan halves. I loved the walnuts, and I don't want to be a traitor to their cause, but I thought I'd use pecans this time. Yum!!! Like children I give birth to, I can't pick a favorite. I love both nutty buns (and children) equally. :)

I made one change to the recipe (aside from the kind of nut). I thought that the sticky goo was slightly too chewy when it cooled. I wanted it to be softer, even when it was cooled. So I thought that I could add a bit of cream to the sticky part of the recipe. Thats what I did, and it was PERFECT! I'm pretty sure I added 2 tablespoons of cream (it could have been 3).

Oh Wow! This really is one incredible recipe!!!

Avocado with my Favorite Breakfast

2006-08-18T08:12:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine, from this blog, suggested that when I make my Favorite Breakfast, I should add diced avocado. So, this morning, I tried it! It was most excellent!! Thank you, Val!

Laurie's Favorite Breakfast, with Avocado Added!

When I looked at all the pictures I took this morning of my breakfast, they all had a sort of fuzzy, ethereal quality. A haze surrounded the right side of each picture. Hmmm...how did this happen? I thought back to the past day. Hmm.... Using my keen intellect, I was able to reconstruct recent events, and I realized that my 2 year old had smeared his grimy fingers on the lens when he felt the need to return my camera to me from a place where I had put it away (he can climb). Ack! I've wiped it off with a lens cloth and maybe it will be alright.

My poor little camera is suffering anyway. It takes pictures just fine, but you have to know how to hold it just right or it thinks that the lens cover is closed instead of open. The track is broken and so it doesn't put enough pressure on the mechanism that tells the camera...blah...blah...blah. I won't bore you further, but I'm really wanting a new camera now that I'm taking pictures of food! I'm hinting to dh that I need a Canon Digital Rebel XT. Its what many of the foodie (and non-foodie) bloggists use. I want...I want...I need...I need. 'Nuff said.

Roasted Garlic Quesadillas

2006-08-16T09:24:00.000-05:00

I've made tortillas a couple of times, about 5 years ago. So, I thought I'd try making tortillas again. Maybe I'll try it again in 5 more years. I'd roll 'em out so thin, but when I put it on the griddle, they'd shrink up and be thick. They weren't really too thick, but I wanted them perfect, you know? And round. They definitely were not round. I also had some uncooked tortillas (you buy them raw and cook them yourself, and they are soooo good!), so I used them too. Then I made roasted garlic. I didn't actually roast a whole chicken, though. I cheated and bought a rotisserie chicken.

I remember making something similar to this a couple of years ago. Whenever I think of adding roasted garlic to a quesadilla, I get excited and imagine my family eating it and falling to their knees, overwhelmed with the beauty of the experience, praising my name forevermore. Somehow, that didn't happen last time, and it didn't happen this time. They liked it ok. Just ok! What in the H E double hockeysticks did I make homemade tortillas for??!!! Its a good recipe, but I guess it isn't spectacular. I liked it, though!

I used Cabot Extra Sharp Vermont White Cheddar (our everyday cheese, its so good!), but I imagine that this recipe would be better with Tillamook brand Pepper Jack.

Ok, guess which picture is of my homemade tortilla, and which is raw storebought, but cooked by me. I'll tell you at the end of the post.
Quesadilla #1

Quesadilla #2

Ok, the recipe: Its pretty simple to make, and definitely nothing too fancy.

Roasted Garlic Quesadillas
1 1/2 cups chicken, shredded or chopped (I used a deboned rotisserie chicken)
juice of one lime
1 teaspoon cumin
2 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 heads roasted garlic
shredded cheese (cheddar or pepper jack)
tortillas

Combine the chicken, lime, cumin, green onioin, and cilantro in a skillet and heat through (with a little olive oil if you want or need it). Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

In a small bowl, squeeze out the garlic from the cloves and mash to make a paste.

Heat a skillet and add a little olive oil.

Assemble the quesadillas:

Spread the paste thinly on a tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and top with chicken. I only put the chicken on 1/2 the tortilla, but put the cheese and garlic thinly on the whole tortilla. Fold the tortilla in half and toast in the skillet, about a minute or two on each side, til cheese is melted.

I served this with a mixture of chopped tomato, green onion and cilantro. If I were to do it again, I'd chop the tomatoes finer, more like a salsa. I think avocado and/or sour cream would be excellent also.

Ok, I made the tortilla in picture #1. I only cooked the tortilla in picture #2.

Roasted Garlic

2006-08-15T19:44:00.000-05:00

Have you made roasted garlic before? If you haven't, you really need to. It's easy and the result is heavenly! You will need to heat up a big oven for just a little garlic, so if you happen to be baking some potatoes (or anything else), then that is the perfect time to roast a few cloves of garlic.

When you roast garlic, the flavor mellows and is very easy to handle, gastronomically speaking. There is none of the sharpness associated with raw garlic. It also becomes very soft, and you can just mash it into a paste which can be spread directly on to bread or stirred into almost any recipe.

I roasted 3 bulbs of garlic the other day and used them to make my roasted garlic quesadillas. I had plenty left over, and so I would mix a bit of the roasted garlic in just about any savory dish I made. I stirred some into my egg mixture for my favorite breakfast, and wow! It was fabulous! It improved every recipe I added it to. Oh, wait, lemme use some proper English...It improved every recipe to which it was added. There, no hanging participle.

This is a popular, tried and true recipe that has been around for many years (I'm thinking centuries). If you haven't tried it, do it now!

Some links for directions:

What's Cooking America
Elise.com

I was baking some sweet potatoes to go with my chili, so I put 3 bulbs into a loaf pan and covered the pan with foil and let them roast alongside the potatoes. It turned out perfectly!

This garlic has been prepped and ready to go into the oven. The top was sliced off and olive oil was rubbed onto it.

As it comes out of the oven. Notice the beautiful carmelized color and the aroma, oh it smells good. Yum!!!!

Black Bean Chili

2006-08-13T18:59:00.000-05:00

I've adapted this recipe from a church cookbook that I got years ago. I like the unique spice combinations given. The cinnamon and clove are not too strong, yet they impart just a touch of their own flavor.

I also used a fresh Aneheim chile instead of using canned. While this is not among the hottest of chiles, I found that it did leave a residue on my hands that burned when I touched my face. You may want to use plastic gloves while cutting. If you want a very hot chili, feel free to substitute something much stronger, like jalepeno, serrano, or, heaven help you, habenero chiles. Definitely wear gloves if you use one of these chiles. Sean once had a friend who was cutting a fiery chile and absentmindedly wiped his forehead with his chile coated hand. He had a line of blisters across his forehead!

I used ground turkey instead of ground beef, but you may use whichever you prefer. Alternatively, you could leave out the meat altogether and substitute a variety of vegetables.

Crescent Dragonwagon, in her book, Passionate Vegetarian, suggested that black bean chili is best when eaten over sweet potatoes. I tried it, and I heartily agree. I often eat it over plain mashed sweet potatoes. The flavors accent eachother nicely.

This is a picture of Aneheim chiles, the kind I used in my chili.

Black Bean Chili

1 pound dried black beans, cooked and drained
1 pound ground turkey (or beef)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 Anaheim chili, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon clove
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can chicken broth

If the meat is very lean, then saute the meat, onion, peppers (bell and anaheim), and garlic. If not, then cook the meat first and drain off the fat, then saute the vegetables and add the meat. When vegetables are soft, add paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, cumin, oregano, thyme, basil, cinnamon, and clove. Stir to combine.

Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, and beans. Simmer for up to 1 hour until the chili is thick.

You may top it as pictured: over sweet potatoes and with a bit of sour cream. Yum!

Lemonade/Limeade

2006-08-12T02:12:00.000-05:00

This is a classic beverage that is worth making. If I'm going to drink lemonade or limeade, this is what I'm going to have. No Country Time for me!

I'm lucky though. I never actually make it. Sean makes it for me (well, its really for him, but I reap the benefits too!). We have one of those citrus presses that helps make the job a bit easier.

For the recipe, I remember I heard someone on a cooking show making lemonade and I wrote down the proportions and its what we have used ever since.

We always have mint growing by our door, so we pick some and toss it in. It is a wonderful complementary addition.

Limeade

1 cup lime juice (of course you can use lemon if you want)
1 cup sugar
4 cups water
Mint leaves

Mix the lemon juice, sugar, and water. Stir, stir, stir. Add mint leaves. Refridgerate untill chilled. Stir once more before drinking.

You could make a simple syrup by boiling the water and sugar first, then cooling and adding the lemon juice. I never bother.

Happy Anniversary!

2006-08-11T08:20:00.000-05:00

Thats our engagement photo from thirteen years ago, and a picture of us today. We were married on August 11, 1993.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Dylan came home!

2006-08-11T07:51:00.000-05:00

My 10 year old son, Dylan, has been staying in Georgia with his grandparents for a while during the summer vacation. He has only been a little homesick. He has uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents to keep him busy. The granparents took him and his cousin on a great trip to HiltonHead. They had loads of fun. They even had a cheese tasting party.

These are two pictures of Dylan. One is before he got his hair cut, and the other is after (obviously!)

Anyway, his twin uncles brought him home last night! We've been missing him, so we are glad to have him back.

I think my 6 year old daughter, Hypatia, thought that she had finally gotten rid of Dylan for good.

Our conversation yesterday:

Me: The twins are going to be here tonight. They are bringing Dylan home.

Her: Why? Is he sick?

Me: He's been gone a long time. Its time for him to come back.

Her: Oh

Me: Did you think that he was going to live there forever?

Her: Yeah

Me: And you were happy about that?

Her: Uh huh

So much for my kids loving their siblings.

Pasta Salad

2006-08-11T07:40:00.000-05:00

I was needing something to take to a friends house for a sort of a potluck thing. I thought a pasta salad would be nice. I wasn't really planning on putting it on the blog, so I really didn't measure the ingredients. Of course, once I made it, I figured I could go ahead and take a picture, just in case. Once I had the picture, I thought I might as well post it. So here it is. Nothing fancy, just a quick and easy pasta salad.

This is one of those salads that you just look in your fridge to find your ingredients. A big ripe tomato and some cucumber are definitely needed, but after that, you could add whatever you can find. Some good additions to this salad would be broccoli, cauliflower, fresh spinach, carrots, zucchini, and mushrooms. I can't give exact measurements for the dressing; I just poured the ingredients right in without measureing. If you must measure, I think that you could find a recipe for basalmic vinegar salad dressing and use that.

If you love garlic, put plenty in. Because it isn't cooked, the flavor will be quite strong, so if you aren't sure you can handle it, start with just one clove. If you know its not a problem for you and your spouse adores garlic breath, then add 2 or 3 cloves of garlic. If the pasta sits overnight, the flavors meld and the garlic gets even more potent.

Oh yeah, one more thing. If you are an olive snob, then by all means, use better olives, like kalamata, or some other fancy type. I love good olives, but I didn't have any on hand. They are wonderful, but they cost a lot of money! So I just added a can of plain ol' black olives.

Summer Pasta

About 12 ounces penne pasta, cooked
One whole big juicy ripe tomato, chopped
3 green onions, sliced
black olives
1/2 cucumber, chopped
pecorino romano cheese, grated
a quick pour of olive oil
a glug or two of basalmic vinegar
a squirt of mustard
salt
pepper

Cook the noodles and set aside. In a bowl thats big enough to hold everything, add the rest of the ingrediets. Stir to combine. Add the pasta and toss to coat.

My favorite breakfast

2006-08-10T08:12:00.000-05:00

I came up with this breakfast over a year ago. I love it and I eat it regularly. I am the only one in my family who eats it, though. Sean and the kids all prefer cheese with their eggs (usually omelette style), and I wanted to avoid adding too many extra calories. This recipe has about 250 calories. If you need more calories, then you can add avocados. Its a fabulous addition!

In the time that I've been making this recipe, it has gone through its own little tomato metamorphosis. Originally, I ate it with RoTel style tomatoes (canned tomatoes and green chilis). When summer hit and I had tons of garden tomatoes, I made it with my freshfromthegarden tomatoes, and I would top it with a little sriracha sauce. After the summer tomatoes were gone, I found that I didn't like the RoTel on it as much as I thought, and I started using the canned petite diced tomatoes, which I actually like a lot. Instead of using the very spicy sriracha sauce, I started adding a light dusting of cayenne pepper, which added just the right amount of spice. So now when I make it, I use either garden tomatoes or canned petite diced tomatoes.

Should I delete that last paragraph? Does anyone really care? LOL! Without tomatoes, this recipe would be nothing. I have to eat it with the tomatoes, or I don't eat it at all.

Oh yeah, one more thing. When I try to cook this like an omelette, it doesn't really stay together well. The finished product turns out somewhere between an omlette and scrambled eggs.

Um, yet one more thing. Theoretically, freshly roasted red peppers would be best to use. If I could get red peppers cheaply, I would use them. Well, that, and if I weren't lazy too. But, I can get a jar of them at our local grocery store for $1. Cheap, and easy! So that's what I use.

Laurie's Breakfast Eggs

2 eggs
about 2 tablespoons minced onion
about 2 tablespoons chopped roasted red pepper
salt and pepper to taste
tomatoes, chopped
cayenne pepper

Heat a skillet. In a bowl, wisk the eggs. Add the onion, roasted red pepper, salt and pepper. Wisk briefly.

Lightly oil the hot skillet. Pour the eggs onto the hot skillet and cook for a minute or two. fold over like an omelette and then flip over. Cook until desired doneness.

Transfer to plate. Put tomatoes on the side and top with cayenne.

My Weekly Menus

2006-08-09T19:47:00.000-05:00

I've decided that I'm going to put my current weekly menu in the sidebar. Each week I plan a flexible menu. I plan 5 or 6 dinner recipes and one desert recipe for the week. Breakfast and lunch pretty much work themselves out, so I don't really write out menus for them. My daily post doesn't coincide with what I'm actually making each day because I'm a week or so ahead of myself. What I'm making today will be posted around the 17th or 18th of August, and what I'm posting today, I made last week.

Here is a sneak peek of the recipes that will be posted next week:

My Favorite Egg Breakfast

Pasta Salad

Fresh Lemon/Limenade

Blueberry Pancakes with Blackberry Syrup

Roasted Garlic Quesadillas

Teriyaki Chicken with Zucchini and Noodles

Last week I was writing out my menu and shopping list for this week and Sean came and looked over my shoulder.

"Whatcha doin? Making plans for next weeks pictures?"

Guilty as charged, lol.

Cashew Chicken

2006-08-09T08:28:00.000-05:00

A Delicious Stir Fry! I got this recipe from a book called Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely. The only changes I made were to use fresh garlic and fresh ginger as opposed to powdered. I also used less chicken, so I had plenty of extra sauce. Oh yeah, I forgot, I also added some mushrooms because I had some that needed to be used.

Sean is, for some reason, not a lover of stir fry. He puts up with it, but its best if I don't make it a lot. I think he became jaded towards them when I started cranking them out using the frozen stir fry vegetable mixes. I liked them just fine, but he got sick of them. Now, if I make stir fry, it has to be good. Sean declared this one among the best. I think the fresh ginger is what put this stir fry solidly in that category.

I used something called ultra gel to thicken the sauce. Sean likes a less thick sauce, so if I were to use cornstarch, 3 tablespoons seems like way too much. Personally, I would cut it back to 1 or 2 tablespoons.

Cashew Chicken

3/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced finely
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced finely
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
Some red onion, sliced
2 large carrots, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 inch strips
1 cup cashews

Directions:
In a bowl, combine juice, honey, soy sauce, cornstarch, garlic, and ginger.

In a wok or large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil until it begins to smoke. Stir fry vegetables for several minutes until the onions become fragrant. Set aside and keep warm.

In the same skillet, heat another tablespoon of oil until smoking and stir-fry chicken strips until browned and tender.

Add cooked vegetables, cashews, and sauce mixture. Continue cooking until sauce bubbles and thickens.