Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

2012-01-27T04:32:00.000-05:00

Although I am actually starting to enjoy the whole gluten free thing, I am sure YOU don't want to keep hearing about it. However, I do have to admit one thing. I went back over the 900+ posts on my blog to see how many of the old recipes were gluten free. I was shocked (though I don't know why) to see how many were wheat based carb loaded desserts or breads. Really, I don't know why I didn't name this blog "Carb Town" and just get it over with!

So, having admitted my addiction (that is the first step, right?), I am heading right back to what I know best. I can make sugar loaded wheat flour treats and not eat them, right? Yup. So, I made the kiddos some peanut butter cookies. But I was bored. I think it had to do with seeing the two packages of 75 corn tortillas I had just purchased every time I opened the refrigerator. So I added a little life to the cookies; a little jelly (which was really jam, but who's keeping track?) My sons each wandered through the kitchen and said in rather offended tones, "what have you done to our cookies?!" I don't know if they got together before hand and planned it or if they are all more alike than they'd like to admit. Anyway, I repeated myself 4 times, "I am making peanut butter and jelly cookies. You will like them, trust me." They should know by now that I know their taste buds and that I would never lead them astray. An hour later, after dinner, all the cookies were gobbled up.

I used my tried and true peanut butter cookie recipe and instead of criss crossing the top with a fork I made a little indentation and spooned on some strawberry jam. Bake as normal. They weren't exactly thumbprint cookies. The dough is different. But the idea is similar.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Add egg and vanilla and mix. Combine dry ingredients and add. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet by teaspoons. Press a little indentation with your fingers and fill with a little spoonful of jam or jelly. Bake 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Roasted Sweet Potato Slices (glutenfree)

2012-01-25T21:05:00.001-05:00

These are my new favorite snack...besides cheese and peanut butter and cashews and raisins and apples and olives and okay, I don't have one favorite, just a list of favorites...and these are now on that list. I used to think I didn't like sweet potatoes all that much. They were more something that I endured at my in-laws' house on holidays. Once I removed all of the marshmallows, sugar and spices, I found a veggie that wasn't too bad!

I don't suppose there is a real recipe involved here, but I will do my best to list one at the bottom. Besides peeling, slicing and seasoning, there isn't a lot done with these luscious orange buddies. I took a suggestion from Debbi Does Dinner Healthy and threw some lime juice on them. I took a cue from Drick's Rambling Cafe and sprinkled a bit of Slap Ya Mama cajun season salt on them and then I followed my own love of garlic and doused them with a bunch of garlic salt, too. I think the operative word in the seasoning process is salt. I really like the way it combines with the sweetness of the taters.

Roasted Sweet Potato Slices:

enough sweet potatoes for your crowd (plan on one small per person or one huge per three people), peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick

olive oil

l -2 limes (depending on how many sweet potatoes)

cajun season salt (if desired)

garlic salt

Pour some olive oil on your baking sheet (it should be a pan with edges). Lay the sweet potatoes on the oil in a single layer. Sprinkle with salts. Splash with lime juice. Drizzle on another layer of olive oil. Bake 375 for 40 minutes. Remove from oven to serving plate and go ahead and sprinkle more garlic salt on them. Eat and enjoy! These make the best snack! (note: they won't be crispy)

Citrus and Blueberry Casserole

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

This breakfast is full of Florida goodness at its best: lemons, limes, blueberries, and local honey. Before moving here, I associated blueberries with nothern states, but actually, I am within 10 miles of multiple blueberry farms. The only difference is that they are DONE producing here by June and in places like Washington, they don't even start until mid-July!

I am submitting this recipe to the Breakfasts of the World Challenge over at Very Good Recipes. I am labeling it a recipe from the USA because of the ingredients, so I am not calling it a French Toast Casserole (despite the loaf of French bread in it)(and the white stuff is 1/3 less fat cream cheese instead of Neufchatel)

So we have bread, cream cheese, blueberries and zest of multiple citrus fruits soaked in a milk, egg, honey mixture topped with a citrus/blueberry syrup. My children said all sorts of lovely things as they ate this. I can tell you that the syrup made the dish. I used a combination of lime and lemon, but you could throw some orange into the mix, too.

Citrus and Blueberry Casserole:
1 loaf of bread, broken into small pieces
1 8 ounce brick cream cheese, cut into small cubes
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 lemon
2 limes (normal sized, not key limes)
1/3 cup honey
10 eggs
1/4 tsp lemon extract
2 cups milk
2 cups sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
Layer the bread cubes, cream cheese, zest of both the lemon and limes and 1 cup of blueberries two times each in a greased 9 X 13 pan (bread, cheese, berries, zest, bread, cheese, berries, zest). Mix the eggs, milk, extract and honey in a bowl and pour over the bread mixture. (The honey will want to clump up, so whisk it well, especially as you pour the last 1/2 cup of liquid in the bowl) Cover the pan with foil and let it sit for 30 minutes on the counter. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes covered and 30 minutes uncovered. Meanwhile, juice the three fruits. Add enough water to make 1 cup (about 1/2 cup water). Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add the juice/water mixture and heat to boiling. Stirring constantly, boil for 3 minutes. Add the remaining 1 cup blueberries and continue to cook and stir until mixture thickens. Serve warm.

Honey Lime Enchiladas (glutenfree)

2012-01-23T00:00:00.001-05:00

(sorry the colors are off on these)

When you read a recipe and see a bunch of comments that say things like, "I made this two times last week, it's that good!" or "This is now our favorite recipe!" you know that it's going to be good. I found this recipe on pinterest. Then I followed it through four blogs to the original post at the Sisters' Cafe. My first ever "your recipe, my kitchen" post, Caramel Apple Cake, in Jan 2011 came from their site, too. It's definitely a site worth looking through.

(still green...don't know why)

These enchiladas are different than most because the chicken "marinates" after it's cooked. I actually found the finished enchiladas too sweet for my tastes, but my children RAVED about them. I think I may just decrease the honey from 1/3 cup to 1/4 next time, just to see. I will be making them again, though!

(I am devestated that Picnik is closing down. Must learn photoshop)

Just in case you are worried that this blog is going to become a gluten free zone, it isn't. I am still feeling my way through my new diet, but I am not forcing the other 6 people in the house to give up some of their favorite food items. There will still be a fair amount of "regular" foods, too, especially desserts. I have, however, stocked my pantry with such things as potato starch, xanthan gum, sorghum flour and corn meal. Plus! I have a new grain grinder (never touched gluten) to grind rice, millet and corn myself. Woot Woo!

Honey Lime Enchiladas (adapted from this recipe)
1 pound cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1/3 cup honey
juice of two limes
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 28 ounce can green enchilada sauce
cheddar cheese
corn tortillas
Place the shredded chicken in a large glass bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the honey, lime juice, cumin, chili powder and garlic powder. Pour the "marinade" over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Pour some enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Fill corn tortillas with chicken and cheese, placing them into the pan seam side down. After you have filled the pan, pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas. Top with cheese. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cheese has a hint of brown to it. Garnish with sour cream, tomatoes, olives, avocado or lettuce if desired.

Your turn! What did you make???

Book Review: Anti-Aging Cures

2012-01-21T09:13:00.003-05:00

I recently had the opportunity to read and review the book Anti-Aging Cures: Life Changing Secrets to Reverse the Effects of Aging by Dr. James Forsythe. It was quite an interesting read. Like other books along the same vein, it suggested sleeping well, exercising and eating correctly. What was different about this book was Dr. Forsythe's suggestion that using Human Growth Hormone injections would stop and even reverse aging. He spent a chapter on nutrition and suppliments. The rest of the book was on the merits of Human Growth Hormone.

Here is an article written by Dr. Forsythe:

Nutrition Helps to Keep You Youthful
By Dr. James Forsythe,
Author of Anti-Aging Cures: Life Changing Secrets to Reverse the Effects of Aging

Remember that as we mature, our ability to appear and feel young involves more than human growth hormone replacement therapy, though that can certainly be an essential key. Exercise, proper sleep, food selections, minerals and vitamins all combine in a synergy to play integral roles in this process. People who employ a balance of these factors position themselves for healthy, quality-filled aging -- while lessening the possibility of chronic degenerative diseases like cancer.
Whether you are young or advanced in age, a nutritious diet is indispensable to maintaining exceptional health and a longer life, with or without the use of injectable HGH and its natural precursors.
That's why I put so much emphasis on your absorption of healthy nutrients. Nutrition literally defines what you are made of because it is the foundation for every living cell and organ in your body. Nutrition in the blood supplies the body with the very fuel for existence. It supplies strength, energy and vitality, while empowering the body to fight disease and illness.
Hunger is more than just a reason to consume food. This vital craving serves as your body's essential communication, conveying a basic need for important nutrients. When you consume natural, nutrient-dense foods, you satisfy your body's need for high quality fuel and that empowers your immune system to combat illness and disease.
Want to know more about the most nutrient rich foods on earth? Here is a list of Nature's Superfoods:
Nine Groups of Organic Superfoods You Need In Your Diet

Super Greens such as kale, spinach, broccoli, beet tops and all dark green leafy vegetables in both whole and juice form; also nopal cactus, nettle leaf, and cabbages.
Maca root from the Andes and maca root juice.
Mushrooms, in particular these: reishi, cordyceps, maitake, chaga, mesima, lion's mane, turkey tail, shitake.
Spirulina and chlorella: these include Klamath Lake Blue-Green Algae.
Herbs and spices like garlic, dandelion leaf, nettle and parsley: the most potent spice is curcumin from the turmeric plant, a staple in Indian cuisine.
Bee pollen and royal jelly.
Dark red and purple fruits and berries: these include blueberries and raspberries. Also, goji berry juice and hawthorne berry.
Kelp and sea plants
Taro root, orange tomatoes, carrots, and orange vegetables

Other additions to the Superfoods list include: cacao (raw chocolate), sweet mesquite pod, and sprouted flax.
I also urge our patients to consume healthy smoothies that they prepare at home on a regular basis. Most of these recipes include soy milk, non-fat yogurt, berries such as blueberries, blackberries or strawberries, bananas and a raw egg, plus a couple tablespoons of flaxseed oil and whey protein. Many patients consider such smoothies delicious, and they're also good for digestion.
Two Reasons To Always Eat ORGANIC Superfoods

Wise consumers will want to avoid the residues of pesticides, herbicides and other synthetic chemicals applied to plants and fruits. Washing the produce with water will not remove all of the residues. These chemicals can cause health problems in humans, including neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's disease.
Organically (non-chemically) grown Superfoods contain higher levels of phytochemicals. These nutrients have been documented in thousands of medical science studies as being important to good health and a long life. Phytochemicals are produced by plants in response to stress and to protect against insects and disease. When pesticides and other chemicals are applied during the growing process, plants produce lower levels of these important phytochemical nutrients.

Make Your Food Selections a First Level of Defense
Adopting a proper food selection or diet program should be your primary first step in any serious anti-aging program.
While maintaining a trim, ideal weight might sound merely vane or narcissistic, various medical studies through the years strongly indicate that excessive or unnecessary weight contributes to cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus. Maintaining an ideal body weight can go a long way toward preventing or at least lowering the probability of such negative health factors.
Read more about what foods to avoid and ones that prevent cancer in my book;, "Anti-Aging Cures".
Copyright © 2012 Dr. James Forsythe, author of Anti-Aging Cures: Life Changing Secrets to Reverse the Effects of Aging

Author Bio
James W. Forsythe, M.D., H.M.D., author of Anti-Aging Cures: Life Changing Secrets to Reverse the Effects of Aging, has long been considered one of the most respected physicians in the United States, particularly for his treatment of cancer and the legal use of human growth hormone.
In the early 1960s, Dr. Forsythe graduated with honors from University of California at Berkeley and earned his Medical Degree from University of California, San Francisco, before spending two years' residency in pathology at Tripler Army Hospital, in Honolulu. After a tour of duty in Vietnam, he returned to San Francisco and completed and internal medicine residency and an oncology fellowship.
Dr. Forsythe is a world-renowned speaker and author. He has co-authored and written chapters in numerous bestsellers. Today, in Reno, Nevada, Dr. Forsythe maintains a conventional medical clinic, the Cancer Screening and Treatment Center, and a homeopathic practice, Century Wellness Clinic. A former associate professor of medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Dr. Forsythe has conducted numerous original clinical outcome-based studies on many natural substances. For more than twenty years, he has been interested in integrating complementary and conventional medicine.
For more information please visit http://www.antiagingcures.com, and follow the author on Twitter.

My own personal opinion? We get old. So what? Sounds pretty harsh, but my son is on human growth hormone shots because of pituitary dwarfism. If those shots weren't covered by his health insurance, they would cost me $6,000 per month! As long as I eat right, exercise and get a good night's sleep, I will take what time sends my way.

I was given a free advance reader's copy of Dr. Forsythe's book, however all opinions were mine.

Posole (glutenfree)

2012-01-21T06:17:00.008-05:00

My mom developed this recipe after tasting Posole in a Mexican restaurant. It's an easy and frugal version of the Latin soup. Usually we use leftover pork roast and chicken broth, but I happened upon a package of pork neck bones at Winn Dixie the other day for $.60 and couldn't resist making my own broth. I have to tell you right now that I have never before seen pork neck bones in a store. It threw me when I first looked at them, but who could resist the price? So into a pot went these strange bones that really looked an awful lot like the ends of ribs. I covered them with water and then dug out three bags of vegetable ends and peels from the freezer. After three hours of simmering on the back of the stove, I had a nice brown broth with a ton of flavor. I tried to get as much meat as I could off of the bones and then strained the broth.

After making the broth, the rest is just a matter of opening a few cans and throwing everything together. This gluten free soup has kept me in lunches all week!

Posole:
2 cups of cooked pork roast , cubed
2 onions, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
6 cups broth (either homemade or canned, pork or chicken)
2 14 ounce cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 4 ounce can chopped green chiles
1 28 ounce can hominy, drained
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
Saute onions and garlic in oil. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes to meld flavors.

Mediterranean Pizza: Sour Cream and Lemon Improv Challenge

2012-01-19T07:00:00.004-05:00

Welcome to another month's Improv Challenge! January is all about Sour Cream and Lemons. I fully intended to make lemon hand pies with sour cream crust this month. I had it all planned out. I had found a couple of recipes to use as spring boards to create something wonderful. And then BANG! My mind was beset with thoughts of pizza. And oh boy! What a pizza this was, especially seeings it was my last wheat pizza.

I mixed store bought pesto with sour cream for the sauce of the pizza. The cheese was mozzarella and sun-dried tomato feta. The toppings were roasted peppers, lemon zest, chicken breast and sauteed shiitake mushrooms. Ooodelally! This was Fan.Tas.Tic!! The lemon gave the pizza an unexpected zing that I really liked.

Mediterranean Pizza:
pizza crust
1/4 cup pesto sauce
1/4 cup sour cream
3 ounces cooked chicken, cut into little tiny pieces
zest of one large lemon, chopped
1 roasted red pepper, cut into small pieces
4-5 mushrooms, sliced and sauteed in olive oil
3 ounces feta, crumbled
3 cups shredded mozzarella
garlic powder
Roll out the dough to make a large pizza (or two small ones). Combine the pesto and sour cream in a bowl and spread over the unbaked pizza dough. Sprinkle with the cheeses. Add the toppings and sprinkle the whole pizza with a healthy dash of garlic powder. Bake 450 degrees for 12 minutes.

Now look what everyone else did! If you are interested in joining the group for next month's Improv (carrots and ginger), drop me an email after you check out my Improv information page.

Pizza Stuffed Potato (glutenfree)

2012-01-18T07:18:00.001-05:00

French bread went on sale, buy one get one free. When I can find things at the prices I remember in the 90s, I get excited, and of course, I buy them. So I had French bread pizza all planned for a Friday night's dinner. I knew my kids would love it. I would have liked it, too. However, that particular Friday, I had a doctor's appointment with the kind of doctor I had been searching to for for 5 years. The kind of doctor who could help me manage a particular non-digestive disorder that I was diagnosed with 8 years ago. Anyway, long story short, in the course of my visit, the doc told me I needed to cut gluten from my diet. I never saw it coming. I was like Wile E. Coyote looking down to see that he'd left the cliff 2 steps back.

So, I drove back home that morning, sighing as I passed Popeye's chicken and biscuits, crabbing as I passed my favorite pizza joint and almost sobbing as I thought about Italian foods, hoagie sandwiches and homemade bread. I knew I had to start looking for a silver lining or I'd just become a puddle of goo. Luckily, I realized that most Asian foods and Latin foods are rice and corn based. And then there are potatoes. Thank goodness for potatoes. Yes, I think I can do this.

So while the kiddos ate their French bread pizzas, I did a little number on a baked potato and it was good. It wasn't pizza. Once I gather some gluten free flours, I will tackle that. But for now, a pizza potato will do the trick.

Pizza Stuffed Potato: (makes one)
1 potato
1 Tbsp pizza sauce
1 Tbsp ricotta cheese
1/4 tsp Italian Seasoning
4-5 slices pepperoni, chopped
enough milk to moisten
2 Tbsp mozzarella
1 Tbsp Parmesan
Bake the potato in the oven or microwave. Cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out most of the flesh into a bowl. Add the pizza sauce, ricotta, herbs and pepperoni. Mash together until smooth, adding milk as needed to get a good mashed potato consistency. Stir in 1 Tbsp mozzarella and Parmesan, then spoon back into the potato skins. Top with the remaining cheese and a few slices of pepperoni for pretty. Heat in microwave until bubbly or return to the oven for a few minutes.

Lasagna Soup: Your Recipe, My Kitchen

2012-01-16T00:01:00.002-05:00

I have had my eye on this soup for a long time. The idea of a bowl full of pasta in a sausage filled tomato sauce with a dollop of ricotta/parmesan on top really had me excited to try it. What I needed, though, was a cold day. Luckily, Mother Nature obliged.

This recipe has made the rounds of the internet. I always try to find the original source to site. I think this came from the cookbook 300 Senstational Soups, but I found it on A Farm Girls Dabbles. I did just a little bit of adaptation to the recipe because I had what I had in the fridge and, as a rule, I never run to the store just for one recipe.

Lasagna Soup (adapted from This Recipe)
1 pound Sweet (mild) Italian Sausage
1 onion + 1 bunch green onions (the original recipe called for 3 cups of onions)
2 heaping teaspoons of minced garlic (or 4 cloves)
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 28 ounce can crushed Italian style tomatoes
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups beef stock
8 ounces whole wheat fusilli pasta
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup ricotta
1 cup grated Asiago or Parmesan
In a large Dutch oven, brown the sausage. If it is too lean, add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Remove the meat from the pan and add the onions. Saute over medium heat until softened. Add the garlic, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes, cooking for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes until the paste changes to a brownish red. Add tomatoes and stocks. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add pasta, cooking for 10 more minutes or until pasta is just done. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta and other cheese. To serve, ladle soup into bowl, add a spoonful of cheese mixture to center of soup. Sprinkle with more Italian seasoning if desired.

Now it's your turn to show off what you have been making!

Hashbrown Casserole

2012-01-13T14:21:00.000-05:00

My house doesn't really have heat. We live in Florida, so it's not supposed to get really cold, I guess. We have a fireplace and we have a button on our thermostat that says "emergency heat." When the temperatures get down below freezing, that is the button the AC guy said to press....for short periods of time. So about 10 days ago, we had a cold snap come through with temperatures down in the 30s at night for three nights. Neighbors rushed out to cover their palm trees with blankets while I got out extra blankets for the humans in my house. We woke up each morning with the inside temperature at 65....and we ninnies were COLD! So I threw on the oven and made hot meals each morning. Luckily, we have a fairly small house with an open floor plan, so only the bedrooms remained chilly once the oven got going.

For this breakfast casserole, I simply grabbed what I had on hand: eggs, frozen hashbrowns, leftover ham,a green pepper, an onion and some cheese. It was a very hearty breakfast and gave the shivering children something to warm their insides...along with the mug of hot chocolate they all drank.

Hashbrown Casserole:

1 24 ounce bag shredded hashbrowns

12 eggs

2 cups chopped ham

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped
1 pound Velveeta (or other shelf stable solid cheese product), cubed
In a skillet, saute the green pepper and onion in a little bit of oil. When soft, combine with remaining ingredients in a large greased casserole or a 9X13 pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees or until browned and bubbly...but not burned.

Chocolate Chip Cherry Muffins

2012-01-11T18:00:00.000-05:00

My little girl had a play date this afternoon. When I was chatting with the friend's mom, she offered to bring snacks over for the girls. The first thing that popped into my mind was, "Oh shoot! Snacks." Why? It wasn't that I didn't want to feed the kids, it's just that we have developed a weird schedule of eating dinner around 4:30pm. At that moment, I realized that I was going to have to serve dinner later and that all of my kids would be filling up on snacks beforehand.

My five kids are on 3 different schedules. The oldest two come home around 2, then youngest two around 3 and the middle one around 4. The minute that the Engineer walks into the house, I try to have dinner almost ready. We eat early and then later, around 7pm, the kids can start looking for snacks. This way, I guarantee that they eat good food first. It also doesn't hurt that I still have daylight for any photos that I need to take of dinner.

When I started thinking of all of the snacks I could make, muffins ended up on top of the list. I know that my daughter would actually enjoy eating a pile of nuts, raisins and cheese, but with no clue as to the little friend's preferences, I thought I'd best stick with a baked good. Muffins seemed like a little meal anyway, so after a few hours of play, if Princess Pat doesn't want dinner, I will have to be okay with that.

Chocolate Chip Cherry Muffins:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
2/3-3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cherries
In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients, including the sugar. Add the egg and oil and enough buttermilk to make a smooth, thick batter. Fold in the chips and cherries. Bake in a greased muffin tin 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until mostly golden brown. (The buttermilk keeps the muffins on the pale side)

Growing Mushrooms in my Dining Room

2012-01-10T16:11:00.000-05:00

I know. This is the weirdest thing ever. Imagine the look on my face when I opened a large present from my husband on Christmas morning and found a wet sawdust block in a plastic bag with instructions on growing Shiitake mushrooms. And there was the Good Guy, anxiously looking at my reaction, saying, "I just wanted to show that I support your blogging, honey." What a sweet husband.

And oddly enough, growing fungus in my dining room was a kick. Every day, my sons would ask if I had "spritzed" my mushrooms lately. It became a whole family effort to grow them. When it came time to harvest some and cook them, I had an audience. And they were quite delicious. With all of the dried mushrooms I have gotten to play with since starting this blog, it seems I have not bought any fresh shiitakes. I love the buttery taste!

Would you like to grow some, too? It's really easy. My husband bought them from Mississippi Natural Products. They say you can use the block to grow about 7 sets of mushrooms. Watch out for future posts with mushrooms sneaking in. The Engineer, who hates mushrooms, has a long-suffering expression permanently on his face.

Fluffernutter Pancakes

2012-01-09T00:01:00.004-05:00

Pancakes are one of my favorite go to meals....for breakfast or dinner. My kids love them any time of day. But I get bored serving the same old normal pancakes. So every once in a while, I throw in something different. Like these: Fluffernutter pancakes: peanut butter pancakes with a marshmallow fluff sauce. Oh how my kids' dentists love me!

These have got to be the easiest pancakes ever. Three ingredients plus water. Yup, these are convenience all the way. Of course, you could use a basic homemade recipe for the pancakes. Just add the peanut butter with the wet ingredients. The results should be the same. It's like a subtle(?) peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich: the Fluffernutter.

Fluffernutter Pancakes: (from krusteaz.com and Cooking for Isaiah)

3 cups add-water pancake mix (like Krusteaz)
2 cups water
9 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 small jar marshmallow fluff
2 Tbsp boiling water
Combine the pancake mix, water and peanut butter. Add a little more water if the batter is too thick. Cook pancakes on a greased griddle. Combine the fluff and boiling water in a bowl, stirring until smooth. Spoon over the cooked pancakes.

***Note: if the marshmallow sauce is too much for you, these are great with a little jam instead.

What's cooking in your kitchen this week?

Chicken Noodle Soup: Crazy Cooking Challenge

2012-01-07T12:00:00.004-05:00

This is my first month participating in the Crazy Cooking Challenge hosted by Tina of Mom's Crazy Cooking. Each month, she chooses a dish and those who participate must find a recipe for it from another blog, make it and post about it. This month was Chicken Noodle Soup. This past month was also a month that I just could not shake a virus. So I started looking for a chicken soup from a Jewish grandmother. Why? Because it's supposed to be a magical cure and I needed to get well!!! Why not kill two birds with one stone?

I found a blog called Jewish Penicillin - My Grandmother's Chicken Soup. It contains one post; the recipe for chicken soup posted in 2007. I don't know if the author originally planned to do more or if her only objective was to publish that recipe and call it good. Either way, it was a delicious soup. It was also a little more involved than I usually get for chicken soup, so I am not too sure that I will ever follow the instructions again. The ingredients, however, were great, the taste was great, and I soon felt great. So I will definitely make it another time. In fact, I am thinking of making up some just to freeze until the next virus gets me in its dastardly clutches.

Chicken Noodle Soup (taken from Jewish Penicillin)
1 whole chicken or 3 hindquarters
1 Tbsp salt
2 whole onions
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
2 ribs of celery, sliced
1 large parsnip, peeled and sliced
1 bunch fresh dill
1 Tbsp powdered chicken bouillon
parsley for garnish
8 ounces spaghetti
Place the rinsed chicken into the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Skim off any scum that forms at the top of the water. Turn down the heat, salt the water and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the chicken and put it into a bowl in the fridge. Add the vegetables and bouillon to the water and simmer another 1 1/2 hours. Throw out the onion and dill. Place in the fridg e over night. The next day (yes, this is about where I started to roll my eyes thinking I was putting way too much work into this soup), remove the fat that has hardened at the top of the soup. Put the soup back on the stove to heat. Chop up the chicken and add it to the soup. When it starts to boil or simmer, break up some spaghetti and add it in. Cook 15 minutes or until the noodles are soft. Sprinkle with parsley when you serve it.

***Next time, I will cook the chicken for only one hour, add the veggies, but chop the onion because throwing out two whole onions about killed me. After another hour or two, I will remove the chicken, chop it up and add it back in along with the noodles and serve it that night. It also needed a lot more salt; 2 Tbsp at least!

Ham and Spinach Soup

2012-01-05T21:50:00.000-05:00

This was supposed to be a smoked sausage and turnip greens soup. It was supposed to be made in the crock pot. A friend of mine gave me the recipe and I have actually tasted it the way it was originally intended, and it's really good soup. Only I had ham. Lots of ham. And then there was this package of fresh spinach in my bin that needed using. It went in instead of greens...but spinach is green and leafy so that counts. Sort of.

And you don't even want to get me started on the Glory butter beans I used. I might start typing in a southern accent if I tell you how amazing they are. And I definitely do not have a southern accent. There is food in the south that is simply not available anywhere else in the country. It's like the first time I went to an Uwajimaya store in the Seattle area or a Latin grocery in Arizona, except this isn't foreign food...it's hidden American food that 3/4 of the country doesn't know about!!! Who knew that you could buy canned rutabaga or yellow summer squash or cabbage-that-isn't-sauerkraut???

So I give you a 30 minute version of a 4 hour soup. With changes. And bubbles apparently, now that I am looking at the photos again. The soup was fresh from the hot pot and I had been stirring it to get the steam to go away. I must have been a little too vigorous in my efforts.

Ham and Spinach Soup:
2+ cups cubed leftover ham (as much as you want)
1 10 ounce package fresh spinach
2 quarts chicken stock
2 cans white beans, drained
1 package Knorr vegetable soup mix
Combine the first four ingredients in a large Dutch oven and heat to boil. Turn down heat and simmer. Add soup mix and continue to cook 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste.

Creme Brulee Is Much Easier Than You Might Think

2012-01-03T18:20:00.000-05:00

Every time I have an excess of half & half in the fridge, I either make ice cream or creme brulee. Mostly the decision to make either depends on the weather. Right now, it's a wee bit colder in Florida, so when I picked up some half & half for a ridiculously small amount of money, I knew most of it was destined for my ramekins. I received a kitchen torch for Christmas 2010 and hadn't tried it out yet. Let me tell you, I had way too much fun with that torch.

If any of you have been hesitant to try making creme brulee because you thought it might be hard, let me put your mind at ease. It is completely easy peasy. Truly. Heat a little half & half, add it to an egg sugar mixture along with some vanilla. Bake. Cool. Torch.

Creme Brulee (from the Joy of Cooking)
2 cups half & half (or whipping cream)
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
extra sugar for caramelizing
Heat the half & half in either a saucepan or a microwave safe bowl until hot but not boiling. In a bowl, mix eggs and sugar. Gradually pour in the half & half, stirring quickly so the egg does not cook. Add the vanilla bean paste. Transfer the egg liquid to a pourable container through a sieve. You want to get any bits of egg that didn't mix OUT. Pour the liquid into 6-4ounce ramekins. Place them into a water bath and bake in a 325 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. You want the contents to still jiggle, but to seem set. Cool on the counter for 30 minutes, cover with a tight plastic wrap and then refrigerate for 8 hours or over night. Right before serving, sprinkle with some sugar and either broil until the sugar melts or torch it. (as a recently converted torcher, I vote for the FLAME!).

The Fabled Chocolate Chip Cookie: Your Recipe, My Kitchen

2012-01-02T00:01:00.003-05:00

This is an oldie but goodie, or should I say "greatie." If you haven't heard the story of the woman who thought she was buying a chocolate chip cookie recipe for $2.50 and ended up with a bill for $250, you just haven't been keeping up with your Urban Legends. My mom clipped this recipe from a newspaper in the 1980s. The crazy idea of buying a recipe for way too much money goes back to at least the 1940s, though some sources I found say someone bought a cake recipe in the 1920s for a whopping $35 and then sought revenge by sharing it with the world. In fact, all of the stories are false, but this recipe is worth sharing.

After all, who wouldn't like to eat a cookie filled with not only semi-sweet chocolate chips and oatmeal, but also a grated up 8 (now 7) ounce milk chocolate candy bar, too? This treat packs a serious chocolate punch! The version I have seen all over the internet is double what Mom had in her recipe file. Her recipe makes 6 dozen large cookies, so unless you are baking for an entire school, summer camp or four teenage boys, you may not want to even look at the other recipes which will yield you 12+ dozen.

If you don't have a great chocolate chip recipe, or even if you do and want a little change, you have got to try these cookies. They are thick, soft, chocolate-y and wonderful. Add nuts or dried fruit. Go a little crazy. You will love these.

The $250 Chocolate Chip Cookie: (no one knows who created the legend or cookie)
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups oatmeal flour (blend 2 1/2 cups regular oats in blender until flour-like)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 12 ounce package semi sweet chocolate chips
1 7 ounce Hershey bar, grated (pulverized in blender)
1 1/2 cups toasted pecans or walnuts (optional)
Cream butter and sugars. Scrape down bowl and add eggs and vanilla. Scrape down bowl. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Stir or mix in chocolates and nuts. Scoop on to ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool.

Your turn! What's cooking in your kitchen this new year? Are you going healthier in your meals?

The Best of 2011

2011-12-30T21:00:00.001-05:00

At the close of each year, I like to look back and count progress. Sometimes I have to measure it in things like "no one broke a bone this year, no one caught the plague, everyone passed in school, we had enough to eat." Other times there have been spectacular events like "The Thinker lost his first tooth, Princess Pat said her first word, The Musician was on the honor roll, The Engineer made a touchdown, and The Comedian learned to ride a bike." 2011 was a mixture of both.

We started the year like the few before it. We were in financial hardship, living with my parents in Arizona. My husband was mostly gone, working in Florida and Washington, trying to pull things together so that we could be on our own again. The kids were in good schools, had good friends and I had my blog.

In March, the Good Guy was hired by a company in San Fransisco. And we decided to move to Florida. Really, don't ask. We often do things that seem crazy, but things work out for the best. And they have. The Good Guy and I found a few homes online to look at, and he picked the best one. We moved to Florida in July and despite some ridiculous apprehensions on my part, we have settled in nicely. Yes, the Good Guy is gone at least 2 weeks of the month to the other side of the country. Yes, I find part-time single parenting 4 teenage boys and a young girl frustrating and overwhelming sometimes. Yes, we are still struggling with some pretty massive financial issues. But we are happier than we have been in a long time.

The Musician is the president of the student council of his high school. The Thinker finally got to play golf with a school team. The Engineer is enjoying being at a school all by himself and played a great season of football. The Comedian has found some amazing neighborhood friends who say, "yes Ma'am" without a second thought..and it's rubbing off on him. Princess Pat has started her school career and loves it. I have made some wonderful neighborhood friends as well as gotten the chance to meet food bloggers IN REAL LIFE!! The Good Guy's blood pressure is down, his ulcer isn't acting up and he is pleased to be providing for his family again. Yes, I'd say that 2011 has been a great year for us.

Actually, this was going to be a post with the top five posts of 2011. You know, food. I went looking to see what my stats said were the most popular and was surprised at the foods that got the most traffic. Some of them were stumbled by the right people and went a little crazy, but all of it is just plain food...nothing fancy. I guess that's okay. Because there is nothing fancy about me, either.

#5 Peanut Butter Banana Bread
#4 Oatmeal Raisin Muffins
#3 Brown Sugar Pound Cake
#2 Asiago Garlic Rolls
#1 Mexican Stroganof

Have a wonderful, safe New Year's. See you next year!

My New Favorite Dinner Roll Recipe

2011-12-29T19:45:00.000-05:00

I have a lot of roll recipes that I have used over the years. When I am in a hurry and want a lighter, easy roll, I make Spoon Rolls which are made in a muffin tin and look like yeast muffins. They are really good. Sometimes, though, I want the flavor of a potato bread, so I make these rolls. However, this year I wanted something even better. I think I found it in this recipe.

I also started playing around with the color on my photos. The one below is pretty true to real life. The others were just fun. The rolls themselves were thick and chewy and just what I wanted.

This recipe called for brown sugar as the sweetener. It gave the rolls a browner color than usual. I am thinking that the next time I make them, I will put in some whole wheat flour. No one will notice a little more brown.

Really, Really Great Dinner Rolls: (adapted from the Busy Family Cookbook)
2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 cup warm water plus another 1 1/2 cups water
1 stick butter
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp salt
6-7 cups flour
In a mixing bowl, add the yeast to the 1/2 cup warm water. In a microwavable container, combine the butter and remaining water. Heat until butter melts. Add sugar, salt and eggs to the butter/water mixture, stirring to combine. Add to yeast mixture. Mix or stir in 5 cups of flour. Continue adding flour until a nice soft, non-sticky dough forms. Cover and let rise one hour. Punch down and form rolls. Place them in a greased pans, cover and let rise 40 minutes. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven 12-20 minutes, depending on how many you put in a pan. If they have a lot of room around them and aren't crowded it will take less time.

Easy German Chocolate Frosting

2011-12-28T18:07:00.000-05:00

My husband loves German Chocolate Cake. Actually, he loves the idea of it. I don't know if I have made him a real, homemade version ever. I tend to grab a chocolate cake mix of any variety, throw it in a 9 X 13 pan and plop this frosting on top. What he really wants is the coconut frosting on chocolate cake....sans nuts. And that is the beauty of making your own frosting. You can control the amount of nuts or the total lack thereof.

Most recipes call for 4 egg yolks....such a waste of whites...or more work for me while I make something that calls for them. This recipe calls for only one whole egg. Just what a frugal person such as myself loves. This tme, I got fancy. I made a two layer cake and put half of the coconut frosting in between the layers. Then I opened a can of chocolate frosting and covered the edges. It turned out much prettier than my usual efforts.

Easy German Chocolate Frosting:
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup canned evaporated milk
1 egg
4 Tbsp butter
a pinch of salt
7 ounce bag coconut (double this if not using nuts)
1 1/2 cups toasted chopped pecans (if desired)
In a saucepan, mix together the sugar, milk, egg, salt and butter. Stir and heat until it thickens, watching out not to cook the egg! Remove from heat and stir in the coconut and nuts. Let cool. Frost cake.

Holiday Green Salad

2011-12-27T15:06:00.000-05:00

I found this salad recipe years ago in a Taste of Home magazine. It was called Merry Berry Salad and is perfectly colored for a Christmas dinner. However, I was thinking that if you threw a bag of fresh cranberries in the freezer right now, this would make a lovely addition to a Valentine's dinner, too. After all, it is red. And it is kind of fancy...sort of...for a tossed salad. Let me just tell you the dressing is TO DIE FOR. Because the recipe always makes way more dressing than salad, and because I never remember to write that on the recipe, I am thinking of trying it as a marinade for some chicken.

Holiday Green Salad: (adapted from Taste of Home)
for the salad:
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 head green leaf lettuce
1 red apple, chopped
1 green apple, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup grated Parmesan, Romano or Asiago cheese
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
for the dressing:
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup frozen juice concentrate (any kind as long as it's 100% juice)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp onion powder
1 cup vegetable oil
Place all of the dressing ingredients except the oil in a blender and pulse until smooth. Turn on the blender and open the hole in the lid. Slowly pour the oil into the blender in a thin stream until all of it is incorporated. Toss the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Serve with the dressing on the side.

Cauliflower Gratin: Your Recipe, My Kitchen

2011-12-26T01:00:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was lovely. My mother trained me to have a big huge dinner on Christmas Eve so that there were enough leftovers on Christmas Day that no one had to cook. Knowing that I'd need a post for today, I added a new dish to our lineup: Cauliflower Gratin.

I am a visual person. When I look for recipes in blogland, I will search three places. 1. Pinterest 2. Foodgawker or Tastespotting and 3. Google image search. I find the picture I like best and then I look at the recipe. If the recipe itself is a stinker, I head back to the photos until I find one whose recipe lives up to the deliciousness of its image. Sometimes I strike gold, like in this recipe from The Cook's Atelier. I tweaked a few ingredients according to what I had and my cheese addiction. It was SO good; definitely not diet food, but great for a feast.

We also had our first Tur-duc-ken. My brother brought it to me from Houston earlier in the month. He had planned to ship it to me, but the un-named shipping company wanted $300 to ship it fast from Houston to Jacksonville. Because he travels for his job, he had accrued enough miles to visit for a whopping $7.50. He threw the bird(s) in his luggage, checked the bag and had it to me so fast that it hadn't even started to thaw by the time I put it into my freezer. I have always wanted to try one, so I was tickled pink that he was so generous.

Back to the cauliflower, the recipe called for Gruyere and Parmesan cheese. I had Swiss and Asiago. I pretty much doubled what was called for. I really like to sop up gravies and sauces with rolls, so the extra sauce left on my plate from the cauliflower made its way to my now new favorite rolls.

Cauliflower Gratin (adapted from this recipe):
1 head of cauliflower cut into small florets
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups hot milk
1/4+ tsp grated nutmeg
2 cups grated Swiss cheese, divided
1 cup grated Asiago cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
Parboil the cauliflower for about 5 minutes. Drain and let sit. Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and stir until thickened, but not browned. Microwave the milk in a pourable container (like a glass Pyrex measuring bowl) until very warm, but not boiling and add to the flour mixture, stirring constantly. When thickened, remove from heat and stir in the nutmeg and all of the cheese but 1/2 cup of the Swiss. Pour 1/3 of the sauce into a greased baking dish. Put the cauliflower on top of the sauce. Pour the rest of the cheese sauce over the cauliflower. In a small bowl, combine the remaining Swiss cheese with the bread crumbs. Sprinkle that combination over the cauliflower. Melt the last 2 Tbsp of butter and pour over the breadcrumbs. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Your turn! What's new in your kitchen? Did you post all of your Christmas dishes before or after the big day?

Merry Christmas to You All, My Friends

2011-12-23T15:30:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I have a huge tur-duc-en to cook as well as pies, rolls, a fantastic holiday salad, cinnamon rolls, veggies and whatever else comes to mind. So, I am signing off until Monday. May all of you who celebrate have a safe and Merry Christmas.

Mexican Stroganof

2011-12-22T08:59:00.000-05:00

I had no idea what to call this dish. It came about because I didn't read a recipe all the way through. Have you ever done that? It happened to both me and my son yesterday. When I started to make dinner using a recipe that I had clipped out of a Taste of Home magazine years ago, my momentum stalled when I came to the line that said stir such and such ingredients in a bowl. Wait, how was this supposed to get hot? Reading on I realized I had picked a baked dish and I was in this for a quick skillet meal! I had already spent my usual dinner prep time at the dentist with one of my children and we all had somewhere to be later in the evening. With time being of the essence, I decided to punt. This is the result and it was good enough to enter our regular rotation AND it lends itself to variations (see recipe).

The Musician often makes cookies using my blog while over at friends' homes. Yesterday, he came running into the house looking for spices to make gingerbread men. He started taking all of the contents of my spice cupboard out (not a great thing for me, but I digress) looking for ground cloves. I kept telling him that I didn't think I had any. When he had the entire cupboard almost empty, he yelled "aha!" and turned to me with a bottle of whole cloves. I suggested that he not make gingerbread men, but he had already started. He had left a bowl full of unflavored dough in a mixing bowl just down the street. So, a bit unwillingly, I let him get out my spice mill (aka electric coffee grinder). He ground up what he wanted and then left me with a very clove smelling mill. I threw in a slice of bread and whirled it around to pick up all of the brown specks of cloves, but that did little to get rid of the smell. I was getting a little desperate that everything I ground in the future would be tainted with cloves when I saw the little plate of kumquats I had picked up a few days ago. Granted it was a little messy, but that little guy saved my grinder. I wiped out all of the pulverized bits and was pleased to have no cloves left.

Mexican Stroganof:
1 pound cubed chicken, pork or ground beef
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 cup salsa
3 ounces cream cheese
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
pasta, rice or baked potato
Cook meat in a large skillet. If cooking chicken or pork, use 2 Tbsp olive oil. If cooking ground beef, drain when cooked. Keeping the heat on medium low, add the remaining ingredients and stir until all of the cheeses are melted and incorporated. Serve over carbs of your choice.

French Bread

2011-12-20T09:42:00.000-05:00

I have an arch nemisis; an enemy that appears to want to thwart me at every turn. With insidious precision, it waits for me to be right in the middle of a new project to pounce. Then, it acts innocent, as if to say "Who me, no, I'd never do that. See how I cooperate?"

My sworn adversary is... My Oven.

Its weapons: four burners and a temperature gauge. Both work only when they feel like it (or when the repairman is watching), but not for long periods of time or as hot as they should. Oh yeah, this appliance has it in for me.

Case in point: French Bread. It was my first attempt at a nice chewy loaf. The recipe instructions from Better Homes and Gardens say: "Cover loosely with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning." Do you see the pale color of my loaves? I did not cover them. I was lucky to get any browning at all. They almost look un-done.

Because the Oven won't show its true colors to repairmen (plural!), I have to deal with its nefarious ways. Therefore I give you a delicious, if pale, pair of loaves. Both are baguette sized. They made wonderful garlic bread served with spaghetti and meatballs.

French Bread (from BH&G Old Fashioned Home Baking)
5 1/2 - 6 cups flour
2 packages yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp water beaten with 1 egg white
Combine the yeast, salt and water in a mixing bowl. When the yeast is bubbly, stir or mix in the flour until you have a smooth, not sticky dough. Cover and let rise until double, about 1 hour. Punch down, divide in two and form two long loaves, tapered at each end. Place them on a large baking sheet, cover and let rise for another 40 minutes. With a sharp knife or scissors, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts on the top of each loaf. Brush with the egg wash and bake in a 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes (and if you have a cooperative oven, think about tenting the loaves with foil during the last 15 minutes or so to prevent over-browning).