Quinoa Bowl

I've been eating quinoa for a while now, but usually only in a quesadilla. I can recognize the potential, though- it's a great base for adding other flavors. I prepared some the other day for my usual quesadilla but then I didn't want it that way after all, so I made a quinoa bowl instead. I threw in a lot of the fixings I would have used on the quesadilla and a few others- here's the throw-it-all-together recipe for one serving:

Quinoa, cooked, about 1/2 a cup if you're going for portion control*
Organic canned corn, rinsed, about 1/4 cup
Canned black beans, rinsed, about 1/4 cup
Diced plum or Campari tomato (or about the same amount of a larger tomato, although you can add more if you have a really good tomato sitting around!!)
Small Hass avocado, diced
Diced sweet onion cooked with a little olive oil until translucent
Diced bell pepper (any color) cooked with the onion
Shredded cheese, about 1/8 cup

Extra virgin olive oil, maybe a couple of teaspoons to drizzle
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together up through the cheese, salt and pepper to taste, drizzle on the olive oil, then dig in!

I thought about adding a dressing of some sort, other than just the olive oil, but the avocado I had when I made this was so creamy it acted as a dressing. The drizzle of olive oil was all it needed. It kept well in the refrigerator over night so I also had it for dinner the next day when a take out meal from a new restaurant left a lot to be desired. This would make a great picnic or travel meal.

*How to cook quinoa: when I first posted the microwave recipe for quinoa (thank you Melissa D'Arabian) I tried to get all fancy and use vegetable broth as the liquid, but it never turns out when I do that for some reason. It always has crunchy bits when I use broth. Just use one cup quinoa to two cups water, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a little bit of olive oil, microwave in a glass bowl with a lid (and put the lid on it!) for 9 minutes on high. (Results may vary depending on your microwave.) Let it sit and finish absorbing the liquid for a few minutes then you're good to go!

Green Smoothies

I've been hearing about green smoothies for a few years now from many, many different sources. They are touted as the latest health miracle, keeping cancer at bay and doing all sorts of good things for your body. While I can't verify or deny the health claims, I do think it's a good idea for all of us to up our intake of greens. I've made a few green smoothies with that end in mind but it's such a pain to try to keep fresh greens on hand. Well, today I made a discovery. (And there are probably tons of people out there who already know this, but it's new to me.) FROZEN GREENS WORK IN GREEN SMOOTHIES! They are so much easier to buy (I can get them at my local grocery instead of trucking out to Whole Foods) and keep on hand. (Frozen lasts a lot longer than fresh.) I can make green smoothies whenever the mood moves me, much to the chagrin of my children. (They just want regular fruit smoothies, hold the greens, please.) Today I made one that was absolutely perfect! I'll give a sort of recipe here, but it's one of those "throw it all in there" kind of things. I don't have amounts for you for every ingredient, but I'll estimate a few of them. It also helps to have a high powered blender; I have a Vita Mix that I love, love, love.

Here's what I blended up:

~ 4 to 6 pitted dates (they are the sugar for the smoothie)
~ frozen collard greens (about a cup)
~ pineapple juice (enough to wet everything down so the blender would work and not freeze up)
~ 1 banana
~ about a tablespoon of coconut butter, maybe a little less (it was the bottom of the jar so I just threw in the remainder; it gives a nice pina colada flavor)
~ frozen fruit to fill the rest of the blender jar to about 3/4 full: strawberries, blueberries, pineapple chunks, mango chunks, peach slices

The dates don't want to blend up with the whole batch or by themselves (they stay too chunky with everything or stick to the sides of the jar by themselves) so I threw them in first with just one or two of the next ingredients and some of the juice and blended that up before proceeding with the rest of the ingredients. With so much frozen fruit you have to use the plunger to get it all going. Blend it all to smithereens and don't look at the color. If you use blueberries, it's not really a green smoothie, it's more... brownish purple. Drink in a dark room. If you don't use the blueberries it's a neon green, also not normally a color you would think of for something you eat, but it works. It's amazing how something that looks so odd can taste so absolutely delicious, but it really does!!

There are a lot of other green smoothie recipes out there that use a lot more greens than I do, both leafy green veggies and green fruits like grapes, honeydew, and apples, and a lot of them come out with more visual appeal than my recipe, but not more flavor! Some of them are sweet like mine, some are more grassy if you like that kind of thing, but they are all so good for you. Cure cancer? I don't know, but a yummy glass full of fruits and veggies can't hurt!

The Earth's Bounty

The little ones and I did manage to sneak away for a few hours on Monday to pick strawberries. (But I didn't pull out the camera; we were too busy!) The Wild Child was mainly useless; Martha Jr. and I picked about 4 quarts of berries between us. We also bought goodies from the farm stand store- more produce, jam, bread, and cookies. We had what my grandmother used to call a "vegetable dinner" that night, with a pot of black eyed peas, fresh tomato slices with green onion, squash cooked with sweet onion, and bread sticks. Our modern days twists included some rice to go with the peas and steaming the squash instead of boiling it to death. She would have made corn bread, too; we went with the bread sticks we bought at the market. And of course, we always have "vegetable dinners" now with menus she never would have dreamed of.

Some of the recipes we've been enjoying lately are the mushroom soup from Poor Girl Eats Well and variations. I had some broccoli I needed to use up so I subbed broccoli for mushrooms in the same recipe and it turned out to be delicious. We've also been enjoying the tomatoes and basil from our garden. DH puts tomato slices on an open baguette, tops it with basil and cheese, then pops it in the oven until the cheese gets melty and the bread gets toasty. We had that for lunch today and EVERYBODY ate it, which is rare around our house. (Well, everybody who got to the table fast enough. The Eldest is still sleeping at 3:45 in the afternoon. She's on spring break so she's taking full advantage.) He says don't try it with store bought tomatoes; they won't even come close to being any good.

We tend to cycle through recipes. We go crazy for one recipe or another, having it once a week or so for the longest time, then we get sick of it and that's it for a while. Or permanently. I've been sick of just about ALL of our regular recipes lately, yet too swamped to search out new recipes, so we've been in quite the culinary rut. Luckily I pulled out that PGEW recipe and gave it a try; it was a hit with 3 out of 5 of us, which counts as a win around here! Then I modified it with the broccoli and DH came up with his sandwich, and just like that we've got 3 new recipes in the rotation. We're also pulling an old recipe back in the mix since DH found a miso made out of chick peas instead of soy. It's a recipe from a Robin Robertson cookbook; it's for White Bean Cassoulet if I remember correctly, and the miso is an essential ingredient. We really liked it so I'm looking forward to having it on the menu plan again.

Cargamanto Bean Stew

I've been working on updating my master list of recipes, which I use for menu planning, and decided to type up my very own original recipe for Cargamanto Bean Stew while I was at it. I found a package of cargamanto beans, also known as cranberry beans, in the grocery and thought they looked interesting so I bought them. I decided to make them the same way I've made kidney beans in the past based on a recipe from my aunt, but then I got a little creative and added a few things. It's still a fairly simple recipe but it's very tasty. The cargamanto bean is now my favorite bean.

Here's the recipe:

Cargamanto Bean Stew

1 package dry cargamanto (cranberry) beans (kidney beans work too but aren’t as good)
Water
1 sweet onion, diced into “rustic chunks”
Several carrots, cut into circles (at least 5 or 6)
2 large or 3 medium potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
½ a tablespoon, more or less, minced garlic from a jar
Olive oil to taste
Veggie broth, 1 large container
Veggie bouillon cube, 1 large if needed

Seasonings, add to taste:
Salt
Pepper
Old Bay (at least a tablespoon)
Bay leaf, at least one

1. Soak the Beans: Dump the beans into a colander and pick through them for any bad beans, small stones, or other non-bean debris; rinse well. Place the beans in a container with a lid and cover with water. (Water should come up at least a few inches over the beans; they will swell in size. Add more water if needed.) Cover and soak over night. Drain before cooking.

2. Put the beans in fresh plain water in a large dutch oven with no seasoning and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until they are tender, about 2 hours. (DO NOT SALT them at this point; it will prevent them from getting tender.) Test for doneness. Near the end of cooking time remove the lid and let the water cook down until the beans are not quite covered; watch carefully and stir frequently to avoid burning.

3. When the beans are almost done, in a large sauté pan sauté the onions in olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic and let cook for one minute longer. Add the carrots and potatoes and sauté a few more minutes until the potatoes start browning a little around the edges.

4. Add the veggie broth and seasonings to the beans, reserving a few tablespoons of the broth. Add olive oil to the beans for flavor, a couple of teaspoons or so.

5. Add vegetables to the beans in the dutch oven. Swirl the reserved veggie broth in the sauté pan to deglaze the pan and add that to the beans. If more liquid is needed add water along with the veggie bouillon cube.

6. Simmer with the lid on until the vegetables are tender. Stir occasionally; add more water if needed.

7. It can be eaten as is or over rice. Serve with whole wheat bread for soaking up all of the yummy liquid.

This recipe makes a lot of stew; it’s great for leftovers!

Yummo

This vegetarian thing isn't so bad! After a day of nothing but rain and more rain, including some local street flooding, I wanted something warm and satisfying for dinner. Luckily I had some kidney beans soaking that were just the ticket. I loosely modified a recipe from my aunt and threw them on the stove top in my dutch oven and let them cook for hours. I also put some frozen turnip greens on to cook right beside the beans, some rice in the rice cooker, (I'm all about the convenience appliances), and at the last minute I put a whole wheat frozen baguette from a local sandwich shop in the oven. (Yes, they will sell them to you frozen, then you can pop them in the oven whenever you want some fresh bread.) The Middle Child rounded it out with a salad. We had a wonderful vegetarian comfort meal. I am so stuffed now I feel like I'm gonna pop! So much for portion control.

Here are the recipes; enjoy!

Kidney Bean Stew

1. Rinse and pick through a bag o' beans
2. Park the beans and water, at least a couple of inches over the beans, in a plastic container with a lid. Put the lid on and let the beans soak overnight. (My aunt skips this; she just cooks them and they turn out fine. The cookbooks say it helps reduce gas if you soak and then discard the soak water, however.)
3. When you're ready to cook the beans, drain and rinse and set them aside.
4. Saute some diced sweet onion (one medium to large onion will do) in olive oil in a dutch oven or soup pot. When the onions are translucent, throw in a little bit of garlic and let that heat up as well.
5. Add some veggie broth (low or no sodium; salt will make the beans tough, according to the cookbooks) and some water to cover the beans by a few inches. Add some seasoning but NOT SALT. (The toughening thing.) I added pepper and a couple of bay leaves.
6. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, until you're starving and you can't take the delicious smells filling your house anymore. Or for several hours; test along the way to see if the beans are getting soft.
7. Stir every so often. You don't want the beans to stick to the bottom and burn. If you need to add more water, go ahead, and if you have too much water and you want a thicker broth, leave the lid off for a while. Be REALLY careful about the stirring if you leave the lid off, though!!!
8. Toward the end of the cooking time, when they are edible but still not quite as soft as you'd like, throw in some potato chunks, peeled depending on the type of potatoes. (You could also use carrots or whatever veggies you'd like to have in your stew. I just put potatoes in tonight.)
9. Did I mention the stirring? You don't have to stand over the pot every second, but when the broth was super thick I set my kitchen timer to beep every 7 minutes and stirred when it went off. I would do that more often if it was thicker, or add some water. I just happen to like a thick broth, which will burn more quickly if not tended to.
10. Salt, salt, salt to taste. Really- taste it. You'll think you are way over salting but it takes a bit.
9. When the potatoes are fork tender and the beans are soft, it's done. The amount of time that takes will vary depending on the size of your potato chunks; start checking them at the 10 minute mark if small, 15 if larger.

Serve over rice. The turnip greens were yummy mixed in. Here's what I did for those:

I haven't been able to find fresh turnip greens at the grocery but I've been wanting to add greens to our diet since they are so darn healthy. I finally realized they might carry them in the frozen foods section, and sure enough, there they were. (At one local store but not the other, go figure.) (And we only have ONE store in the area; several locations, but all the same store.) ~:-P

Turnip Greens
I pretty much followed the package directions, leaving out the pork. I sauteed some diced sweet onion in olive oil until translucent, added some garlic, then threw in a cup of veggie broth and a cup of water. I brought all that to a boil, turned it down to a simmer, slapped the lid on, then, aside from an occasional stir, left it alone until the beans were done. Oh, I added a little extra olive oil when I put the greens in the water, along with some salt and pepper. I had to add pepper and quite a bit of salt when I taste-tested before serving, though. I think they were delish, and better than Cracker Barrel's, which are bitter.

PS: And a happy birthday to my brother. Both of my brothers have birthdays just a few days apart, January 29th and February 1st; go figure.

This Vegetarian Thing...

All right, all right, I know I've been getting all radical on everybody, but when a person is learning so many new things, and many of them are downright scary, it's hard not to be passionate about it. Now we're going veg. OK, I'm saying to myself, now what? We have a couple of meatless meals but we can't eat those everyday. I have a ton of vegetarian/vegan cookbooks, and not all of them are recent purchases, I just never took the time to look through them carefully before with an eye toward eating that way on a daily basis.

Meatless Monday to the rescue! For today, anyway. I found a recipe for Lentil Bolognese that looks like it could work for us with a few modifications so that's what we're having tonight. Last night I pulled a recipe from one of my cookbooks for Rice, Black Beans, and Squash en Papillote which was pretty good. We had Quick Chicken Stir Fry for lunch with some of the meat I'm trying to use up from the freezer. (I'm not going to throw out what we already have, I'm just not buying any more once that's gone except for special occasions.) DH makes lunch so I'm having him make the meat dishes to use up what we have on hand then I make vegetarian meals for dinner to try out new recipes.

I know I could continue to use the Maverick Ranch beef I've been buying (although it is increasingly difficult to find at my local grocery store) since I'm pretty comfortable that they raise their cows in a humane manner, but then there's still the health issue. (There's also no chicken equivalent to the Maverick Ranch beef, at least not that I've been able to find.) People who eat a largely plant based diet LIVE LONGER, HEALTHIER LIVES!!! You just can't refute that.

I'm also kind of excited because I think I'll be able to eat more. I like to eat. I like to eat a lot, which is how I gained the 45 plus pounds I lost a few years ago in the first place. It's a daily struggle to keep that weight off and one of the things I do is measure out any animal protein I eat, keeping it to no more than 5 ounces per day. I won't have to do that anymore! Although I'll still have to exercise some portion control (I also measure out carbs) I don't think I'll have to be quite as strict about it. I mean, when I ate out the other day for The Middle Child's birthday and had the Pasta Pomodoro, I didn't eat it all (it was a HUGE portion) but I did eat a lot more than I would have if there had been meat in it. My weight actually dipped a little the next day, which is totally cool. (I have to weigh daily or I stick my head in the sand and wind up gaining.) I'm going to have to figure out what I can eat now and where I will still need to weigh and measure, but I think I'll be feeling a little fuller on a vegetarian diet. :)

Recipes from My Grandmother

I'm still working on getting my grandmother's recipes on-line, I'm just not posting them here. In an effort to keep them together and easier to access, I'm putting them on another blog.

I've just posted a bunch of her "C" recipes (and there are more to go) which include cookies and cakes. She had quite the sweet tooth! I think the "C" section is the largest in the whole box. ;)

Grandmother's Recipe Box

I'm now putting all of my grandmother's recipes on another site in order to keep them together. It's too difficult to find them all on this site since the content here is varied. I just posted a lot of recipes from the "c" section- candy, cookies, casseroles, and a chicken recipe to boot. There are a lot more "C"s to go, but I'm tired of typing for now. ;)

I'm anxious to get this done, though; we have an upcoming family wedding to attend and I'd like to return the recipe box to its rightful owner, my aunt, when I see her there. :)

Ah Ha!

I figured it out! After much aggravation over not being able to organize my old posts, I had a light bulb moment and figured out a way to archive my menu plans, recipes, and food posts in one easy to access area. I can use the "links I like" widget, re-name it, and link back to my own blog! Not very elegant or efficient, and I have to manually add each post that goes in that category, but it works. :) Scroll down the right hand side, just under the regular chronological blog archive, and you'll see all of my food related posts all in one place in alphabetical order for your viewing pleasure. (Well, all of the ones through January. I'll get to the rest of them eventually.)

A Food Post! Leftover Chicken Quesadillas

And my own recipe! I so have to start taking pics like the food bloggers do, you know, here's a lovely picture of the ingredients with a few sprigs of something green, here's a lovely pic of step one, followed by a charming pic of step two, all the way to, ta da, a mouth watering photo shopped picture of the finished product. Yep, that's what I need to do. Yep, I'll get right on it. In the meantime, how about just the recipe? Actually it probably isn't original since it's some pretty basic quesadilla ingredients, but I've never seen it written down anywhere so I claim it!

Leftover Chicken Quesadillas

1 flour tortilla per person
1 large sweet onion
1 bell pepper (I prefer red, yellow, or orange)
olive oil, enough to cook the onions and pepper in
butter, enough to toast the quesadilla with
leftover chicken pulled apart into smallish pieces or strips (mine was from the slow cooker recipe for Saucy Italian Chicken Thighs so it was a little tomato-y)
shredded cheese (your choice; I like Colby-jack)

Start by slicing the onion and bell pepper into strips. Pour a little olive oil in a frying pan and get it heated up. (But not too much- you don't want the olive oil to burn.) Add the onion and pepper strips and cook over medium to medium high heat until nicely browned, caramelized, and yummy. (Patience; it takes a while, and it's really helpful to have little ones eager to assist by stirring occasionally.) I also throw on a lid so it's lower maintenance, and stir every few minutes as I'm moving around the kitchen. Once they are done set them aside.

Put a little bit of butter in a non-stick frying pan and swirl it around as it melts. Once the butter is covering the bottom of the pan add a tortilla. Toast it for a few minutes, turning a time or two if you'd like, then, on one half only, add a layer of chicken, some of the caramelized onions and peppers, and a sprinkle of cheese. Fold over the other half and continue cooking, turning once more, until it's all golden and toasty and the cheese is a little melty. Slide it out onto a plate and cut in half. (Or quarters, whatever.) Best eaten immediately, even if the kids are clamoring for you to help them make their pizza, since they are heathens and turn their noses up at quesadillas.

And, OK, so I don't have a photo, so you'll have to trust me, this is one delicious quesadilla. It's crispy on the outside with a sweetness to the flour tortilla, then you get the taste of the chicken and the other fillings in your mouth along with that slight crunch, and it's all about the mouth... yummmm.

Fruit Cake Recipes From My Grandmother

Fruit Cakes

My grandmother loved to make fruit cakes for Christmas; there are several recipes in her recipe box. I think her favorite was from her son-in-law’s mother; it’s the one she made the most in recent years.

McC. Fruit Cake

This recipe is handwritten on a piece of paper from the kind of writing tablet my grandmother always used. On the outside it says “Imp. McC. Fruit Cake Recipe”. (Full name omitted for privacy.)

1 lb pineapple
½ lb mixed fruit
1 lb raisins (½ white, ½ dark)
1 lb cherries
1 lb dates
½ lb of each kind of nuts:
English walnuts
Almonds
Brazil nuts
1 lb pecans
6 cups cake flour
6 tsp baking powder
Salt
1 lb butter
1 lb sugar (2 cups)
1 doz eggs
½ cup white corn syrup
1 cup of coconut milk or any kind of juice you want to use
2 cups coconut

Chop nuts and fruit and mix well. Dredge with 6 cups of flour. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, add syrup, coconut milk and pour this mixture over fruit & nuts. Add coconut.

Bake in 275° oven 3 ½ to 4 hours. Watch

Fruit Cake (McC, a 2nd version)

1 lb pineapple (candied)
½ lb mixed fruit
½ lb lemon peel
1 lb raisins
1 lb cherries
1 lb dates
½ lb of each kind of nuts, English walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts
1 lb pecans
6 cups cake flour
6 tsp baking powder
Salt
1 lb butter
1 lb sugar (2 cups)
1 dozen eggs
½ cup white corn syrup
1 cup coconut milk or fruit juice
2 cups coconut

Chop nuts and fruit, mix well. Dredge with cake flour and baking powder. Cream butter & sugar, add eggs one at a time, add syrup & coconut milk & pour over mixture. Add coconut.

Bake in 275° oven 3 ½ to 4 hours. WATCH


Fruit Cake

From Minnie Lee N. of NC, friends of Frances J.

This recipe is handwritten in someone else’s writing.

2 lb candied fruit cake mix
1 box white raisins
4 cups pecans (chopped)
1 lg (14 or 16 oz) bag of coconut
Small can crushed pineapple
½ cup wine
½ or 2/3 cup flour rolled in fruit

Mix all ingredients in very large pan. Be sure to mix in ½ cup or 2/3 cup dry flour before putting in batter. This keeps the fruit from settling to bottom of pan while cooking.

Batter
10 eggs
1 lb butter
2 cups sugar
4 cups flour (self rising)

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour a little at a time. Mix well; batter will be very thick.

Pour the batter with the fruit mix. I use my hands to mix really well.

Put into 3 conf (?) pans (4 x 8 x 2.5) lined with foil. Cook on 250° until they start rising. Then reduce to 200° and cook 4 to 5 hours.

When cakes have completely cooled I take them out of the foil they are cooked in. Wrap each cake in saran wrap then foil and put in plastic bags. (Bread bags will do.)

They will keep moist for months in refrigerator.

Fruit Cake (Norma)

1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)
5 eggs
1 ¾ cup flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 lb glazed pineapple
¾ lb glazed cherries
4 cups pecans
1 cup sugar
½ oz bottle vanilla flavoring
½ oz bottle lemon flavoring

Chop fruit and nuts in medium pieces. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add well beaten eggs. Add flour, baking powder, add flavorings. (*Part of flour should be put over nuts and dry fruit.) Add egg & sugar mixture. Bake 3 hours at 250° (grease and wax paper tube pan if not teflon).

Fruit Cake (G.)

1 lb butter
2 cups sugar
4 cups flour
1 dozen eggs
1 large glass strawberry preserves
½ cup honey
½ cups pineapple juice
3 Tbsp almond extract
3 Tbsp sherry extract
2 lbs candied pineapple
2 lbs candied cherries
2 lbs mixed fruit
2 boxes white raisins
2 lbs English walnuts
2 lbs pecans

Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs & flour- alternating. Add preserves, honey & extracts. (Save some flour to pour over candied fruit and nuts.) Add fruit & nuts to mixture.

Bake 325° til straw comes out clean (1 hour at least)

More Recipes From My Grandmother

Here are a few more. You may notice a theme, here; my grandmother had a sweet tooth!

Brownies (Polly C.)

1 can Eagle brand
1 – 6 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Mix and spread in small oblong pan. Bake at 375° for about 20 minutes.


Sky-High Biscuits from Collector’s House, Inc, “My Great Recipes”

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Baking Time: 12 to 15 minutes
Oven Temperature: 450° F

“Flaky and golden, these biscuits have pleased diners since pioneer days. They are quick and easy to make and so much better than those in a can. You can make and shape them ahead; bake and serve hot from the oven.”

For about 20 biscuits you will need:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 ½ tsps baking powder
2 Tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp cream of tartar
¾ cup butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk

Tip: To lower fat content, use skim milk. To lower salt content, eliminate the salt.

Preparation:
1. In a bowl combine the flours, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar
2. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
3. Add egg and milk, stirring quickly and briefly. Knead lightly on floured board.
4. Roll or pat gently to 1-inch thickness. Cut into 1- to 2- inch biscuits. Place in a greased 10 inch iron skillet or a 9-inch square pan. For crusty biscuits, separate on a cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 450° F for 12 to 15 minutes.

Good served with: Crisp bacon and eggs in place of toast for breakfast. They are also tasty, split, spread with mustard and thinly sliced cold turkey and cheese.


Unlabeled Card

2/3 cup catsup
1/3 cup red currant jelly
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp hot sauce

Corn Flake Squares (Anne)

1 cup sugar
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
4 ½ cups corn flakes

1 can coconut

Mix sugar and corn syrup- boil one minute. After it reaches a rolling boil, add peanut butter and stir til mixed. Pour over corn flakes and coconut that have been mixed. Mix well and pour into greased pan. Cut into squares when cool.

Pumpkin Bars (Jane)

4 eggs
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup oil
1 – 16 oz can pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
1 – 3/4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Mix and beat eggs, oil, pumpkin and 1 2/3 cups sugar til fluffy. Stir together, baking powder, flour, soda, salt. Add to pumpkin mix. Spread batter in ungreased pan. Bake 350° 25 to 30 minutes. Cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting (for Pumpkin Bars)

Cream cheese & butter, stir in vanilla, add powdered sugar slowly. Beat well & frost. Cut into “BARS”

Grandmother told me she remembers her mother, who died when my grandmother was 12 or 13, making tea cakes. She didn’t have her mother’s recipe but tried to get it from her sisters. There is a letter in her personal papers with a tea cake recipe from one of her older sisters, and I think it’s different from the two here. Her sister noted that she didn’t know the exact recipe their mom used, either, but thought the recipe she sent was close.


Tea Cakes

1 ¾ cup sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
3 cups cake flour
1 tsp vanilla

After combining- place on floured board & roll thin. Cut out with cookie cutters or glass (floured). Bake at 350° until brown. (8 – 10 minutes)

Tea Cakes

2 cups self rising flour
2/3 cup Crisco
2 eggs
1 ¾ cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Cream butter & sugar, add well beaten eggs, vanilla, add flour a little at a time. If dough gets too thick for mixer, finish mixing with a wood spoon. Take 1/3 of dough at a time and knead it on floured surface. Cut teacakes with cookie cutter. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes.

Fudge Ribbon Cake from Sue D.

This recipe is typewritten. I believe Sue D. was a woman from her church. Grandmother wrote a note on the back- “Keep – good recipe”. She also made some notes on the recipe which I will try to incorporate as I transcribe.

Combine: (cream cheese mixture)
1 – 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp butter (room temperature)
1 Tbsp corn starch
Beat until creamy smooth then add:
1 egg
2 Tbsps milk
½ tsp vanilla
Beat again.

Set aside greased and floured pan 13 x 9 x 2, or tube pan

Put in large mixing bowl: (chocolate batter)
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp soda
Sift together, add
one cup milk
½ cup Crisco or softened butter (room temperature)
Blend low speed 1 ½ minutes
Add
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
4 envelopes of Nestle’s pre-melted unsweetened baking chocolate
1 tsp vanilla
Beat until smooth, about 1 ½ minutes

Spoon half of the batter into pan and smooth
Spoon in cream cheese mixture and smooth
Add remaining ½ of chocolate batter over cream cheese mix and smooth

Bake 300° for 50 to 60 minutes

Frosting

Bring to boil:
¼ cup milk
4 Tbsps butter

Remove from heat and add:
2 envelopes Nestle’s pre-melted baking chocolate (unsweetened)
1 tsp vanilla
Add:
3 cups of 10 x confectioner’s sugar*

* Sometimes more sugar is required for thickness

Mix until smooth and cover cake.

Will serve at least 20 people or more

Granmother's Recipe Box

I have my grandmother's recipe box, which actually belongs to my aunt now. I have it since I've promised to transcribe the recipes... one of these days. Since it's been over a year now I figure it's about time I get the job done. I was thinking of typing the recipes up in Word then making copies for everyone, but then I thought, why not put them on the blog? Now family members can access them freely on the web. I'm not going to sit here and type them all in at once, but I will post a few at the time. She didn't have a lot of recipes in her box, sadly, since she cooked mainly from experience and memory. When I get the recipes from the box typed in I'll go to the recipe/memory book she made for me and post those recipes as well; after all, those are probably the ones everyone in my family wants anyway. I need to get the box done first, however so I can get it back to my aunt!

To start, she had a handwritten note about equivalents:
4 tbsp - 1/4 cup
5 and 1/3 tbsp - 1/3 cup
8 tbsp - 1/2 cup

The Recipes:
Monkey Bread, from Lori
3 cans biscuits
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1.5 sticks oleo

Cut each biscuit into 1/4s, roll each 1/4 into a ball and roll each ball separately in brown sugar/cinnamon mix. Drop balls into buttered bundt cake pan. Combine oleo with rest of sugar and cinnamon. Cook until all runs together. Pour over biscuits; cook one hour at 350.

Banana Bread
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 tsp soda
dash salt
1 cup ripe mashed banana
1/2 cup walnuts

Cream sugar and shortening
add eggs (beaten)
add dry ingredients alternately with milk
add bananas

cook 350 degrees 45 to 55 minutes

Apple Pan Dowdy
8 large apples peeled, cored, and cut into thick wedges
3/4 cup apple juice, cider or water
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp butter, melted
3 tbsp cornstarch

Crust: 2 cups flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 tbsp butter or shortening, 2/3 cup milk

Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and line the bottom with the apple wedges.
Pour apple juice over apples, bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until apples are barely soft. Mix together brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, butter, and cornstarch, then pour over apple mixture and stir gently.

Make crust: Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter or shortening with knives or a pastry blender until butter is cut into pea size bits. Stir in the milk, then spread batter over apple slices in the baking dish (if you want the result to be pretty, roll out dough and cut into rounds.) Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes until lightly brown. Serves: 10 to 12.

Pasta with Chicken, Broccoli, and Walnuts

Yes, another recipe; sorry. (My family fusses when I post too many cooking entries.) This is a good one, though- another quick and easy meal modified from a recipe I found in Real Simple magazine. The original recipe is Orecchiette with Roasted Broccoli and Walnuts but there were a few things I didn't like about it. First of all the fat content is WAY too high, so I eliminated most of the butter and olive oil. 1/4 cup? I mean really. Olive oil is a healthy fat but still needs to be consumed in moderation. ~:-P I didn't like the walnuts roasted for as long as the recipe called for either; they got bitter. So if you're not roasting the walnuts there's really no reason to roast the broccoli, so now I either boil or steam it. I also added left over chicken to up the protein. (I need my protein; I might try this with canellini beans instead of the chicken to keep it vegetarian one of these days.) Well, anyway, you'll see.

Pasta with Chicken, Broccoli, and Walnuts

~ One package of pasta, I like medium shells, cooked according to package directions and drained, reserving a cup of the cooking water
~ One head of broccoli cut into bite sized florets OR one bag of frozen broccoli florets (if you use the frozen this can be a "pantry meal")
~ Cooked chicken chopped into bite sized pieces (I fished some chicken out of leftover chicken soup) (would probably be good with other proteins as well)
~ 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (they sell them chopped; why get the whole ones and have extra work?)
~ Romano or Parmesan cheese to taste
~ Drizzle of olive oil
~ 1/4 pat of butter or less per serving
~ Sea salt and black pepper to taste
~ Garlic powder to taste (start with just the barest pinch; it's strong!)
~ Basil, either fresh or dried, to taste

This is a cook-everything-then-set-it-out kind of meal, like tacos, where everyone can put their own bowl together. Cook the pasta per package directions; if you are using fresh broccoli you can throw it in for the last 4 minutes of cooking time. (More or less depending on how al dente you like your broccoli; I like mine slightly soft but not mushy.) If you are using the frozen florets follow the package directions. Drain the pasta but do not rinse; it needs to stay warm to melt the butter and cheese. Warm the walnuts, watching them carefully, by putting them into a skillet and cooking them for a few minutes on high heat. Shake the pan several times during cooking and DO NOT let them go too long or they get bitter, bitter, bitter. Remove them from the heat. Set everything out and let each person make their own bowl with the ingredients they choose along with a splash of the reserved pasta water per serving for moisture.

This is quick, easy and yummy; we like it so much better than the original recipe. :)

Enjoy!

Summer Squash Recipe

When we picked strawberries the other day I also bought some summer squash at the little market they have there. We ate it yesterday and it was so good. It tasted like it had a stick of butter on it but there wasn't any; it was just steamed.

Here's how I did it:
Several yellow squash, washed, bad spots peeled off, and cut into bite sized pieces
One sweet onion, diced
Salt and Pepper to taste

Throw everything in the top of a steamer basket and place over boiling water, making sure the water is below the bottom of the basket. Cover. Steam until the texture you like is reached. Test frequently by taking one of the larger pieces out with tongs, running it under cool water, and eating. I think I started with 10 minutes on the timer since the squash pieces were a good size and the basket was full. I like my steamed veggies softer than most; use less time for al dente.

Recipe Gold Mines

I know they are out there, it's just a matter of finding them! I'm on the hunt for recipes and the internet is an almost endless resource if you know where to look. I have links to a few of my favorite sites, my local grocery store, Cooking Light, and Food Network, over there on my "Links I Like" list. There are others- I just discovered one for Swanson broth when I was poking around over at Cooking Light looking for new recipes for next week's menu. There's also Kraft (although they use a lot of heavily processed ingredients in their recipes), Whole Foods, and King Arthur Flour. A lot of the cooking and lifestyle magazines have a ton of recipes; I've used some from Real Simple and Southern Living. And the blogs, the blogs!! All of the blogs that link to Menu Plan Monday, of course, are wonderful recipe resources, then there are the "Top 50 Food Blogs" to check out. Some of the blogs I've stumbled onto several times are in the top 50- Pioneer Woman, Smitten Kitchen, and Joy the Baker. I've corresponded with Pioneer Woman- it's like I've communicated with a celebrity! (I told her she should be on Food Network or have a book out; she said I was very nice to think so, or something along those lines.) The photography on the better food blogs is amazing too; it's food porn, to use the term DH introduced me to. Makes your mouth water just looking at it, which is why I liked the Design Sponge Christmas post so much. ;)

Do you have any favorite sites? Let me know because I'm always looking for more recipes!!

And with all these wonderful resources, I still can't resist buying new cookbooks.

PS: Update on another blog and website I just discovered when I was looking for Apocalypse Chow, one of my favorite cookbooks. One of the authors had a website a while back and I tried to find it, oh, a month or so ago (more or less) but it was gone. I checked again, clicking on the book on Shelfari, and that led me to her NEW website! She also has a blog and the very first recipe I found on there looks yummy; I'm probably going to try it next week. I put the links on my "Links I Like" and "My Blog List" lists.

Jamie Oliver's Tender & Crisp Chicken Legs with Sweet Tomatoes

Delicious, delicious, delicious! I made what I planned on making tonight and it turned out so good; wowee wow wow. Check out the recipe here. I tweaked it a bit, which I'll share. I've already mentioned that I throw in cannellini beans; I used THREE CANS of them tonight along with triple the amount of chicken legs since I can't find "jointed" ones at my grocery. (I've also used thighs in the past which are quite good.) I used a whole 6 ounce jar of pre-peeled garlic cloves to save the work of getting those ready. I don't mind a couple of cloves, but mass quantities- no, thanks. You want them in the recipe, though; the kids even fight over them they are so good, especially spread on bread or crackers like butter. It takes WAAAYYY longer to cook than the recipe calls for. He says an hour and a half; it's more like two and a quarter, although I'll admit it could be the pan I use or my oven that makes it take longer. ??? I stir it at the 90 minute point and see how it's looking before I add the extra time. I leave out the "fresh red chilli" since my kids wouldn't like it; we don't miss it at all. We don't go for the optional potatoes, either. I tried it once and the potatoes were good, but the beans are better and a lot less work. He doesn't say anything about using a lid; we leave it off.

As an added bonus, all that garlic roasting with those tomatoes makes your house smell amazing! It's hard to wait for it to get done. ;)

Chicken Soup Recipe

I thought I had this recipe on the blog already but couldn't find it when I went back through to link it to my last post, so here it is. I cheat a little with the mix but then I doctor it up. This is one of those "throw it in there without measuring" recipes.

Chicken Soup:
1 box Manischewitz Matzo Ball and Soup Mix (I totally had to get a box to know how to spell that!) *You could use homemade broth instead of the mix, but if you are a dedicated enough cook to do that then you won't need this recipe! ;)
Lots of water
Drizzle of olive oil (use a little more if you are using skinless chicken)
Salt, to taste (I use a pretty hefty amount- a good grab or two out of the kosher salt jar which I'm guessing is around a tablespoon?)
Dill, maybe a couple of tablespoons or so (my family LOVES their dill)
Large cube of chicken bouillon
Carrots, a whole bunch of them peeled and cut into discs
Celery, 2 or 3 stalks (more if your family likes celery; DH and 2 of the kids don't care for it so I only put enough for me and The Middle Child)
Large sweet onion, cut into "rustic chunks" as they say on the Food Network
Chicken: we like 3 or 4 drumsticks, with or without skin, and a few chicken tenderloins, but you can put in whatever pieces-parts you like, and in the amounts your family will eat

For the matzo balls, which are optional: (you either love them or hate them; they're little dough balls so what's not to like, IMHO) ;)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons oil
matzo ball mix

Fill a large dutch oven or stock pot about 3/4 full with water. Throw in the contents of the broth packet (don't mix it up with the matzo ball packet) from the Matzo Ball and Soup Mix along with the bouillon cube, olive oil, dill, and salt. (Depending on the size of your pot and how much soup you want, I might leave out the bouillon cube for a smaller pot or add another one for a larger pot. You just want a decently flavorful broth.) I usually slice up the veggies at this point and throw them in the pot as I cut them, but if you do your prep in advance then throw the carrots, celery, and onion right in the pot and let it rip. Next throw in the chicken, and since I use smaller pieces of chicken I throw them in the pot frozen; you don't have to defrost! (You don't want to over cook the chicken; it will get tough.) Once the chicken goes in make up the matzo ball mix following the package directions, which include letting the dough chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. (Be sure not to over mix the matzo dough; it gets really tough if you do anything more than just barely incorporate everything. I scramble the egg and oil together first then add the dough, stirring as little as possible.)Once the matzo dough is ready, make up the balls and throw them in the soup too. Cover the pot and let it simmer for 20 minutes and that's it!

We also make noodles to go in the soup because we love our carbs, but it is very important to make them in a separate pot and add them only to the individual bowls of soup. If you cook the noodles in the soup they will over cook, expand, get mushy, and you won't have any broth, you'll just have noodle mush; blech.

This makes enough for my family to have at least 2 meals, so I'll make it at night when I know we need to get out the door the next day and will need a quick lunch. Or when we're under the weather; it really is comforting.

Mommy's Famous Roast Chicken & Broccoli

Here's the recipe for The Youngest's favorite food (that I cook) which he dubbed "Mommy's Famous Roast Chicken". He's so cute.

One whole chicken, apx. 3.5 to 4 pounds
1.5 to 2 pounds skinless chicken thighs

Seasonings:
Poultry Seasoning (I like the store brand from The Fresh Market)
Dill
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder

Pre-heat oven to 465 degrees; 475 for a larger chicken. Trim the whole chicken and thighs of all visible fat and place in a roasting pan with a lid. (I use a black one with white speckles I picked up at Wal Mart; they come in different sizes and I think the one I use is the medium size.) Sprinkle the seasonings as follows:
Heavy on the dill
Salt to taste
Heavy on the poultry seasoning
Sprinkling of pepper
Sprinkling of garlic powder (I put this only on the thighs since DH doesn't like it but I do)

Cover the pan and cook in the oven for 80 to 90 minutes depending on the size of the chicken. When you take it out of the oven and remove the lid let it rest for 10 minutes or so before cutting it up. We pair this with plain pasta and steamed broccoli for an everyday family meal or homemade mashed potatoes and gravy for company.

If you are going to use the leftovers for another recipe the easiest time to "pick the chicken" is while it's still warm. We use the leftovers for several recipes the next day; our current favorite is the Turkey Philly Sandwiches, only with chicken. We had them tonight and they were YUMMY.

Steamed Broccoli:
One to two heads of broccoli; make sure there are no brown or yellow spots
Salt
Water to go in the steamer pot

Rinse the broccoli and trim it into roughly bite sized pieces, discarding any brown or yellow bits if there are any. (I just read an article that says you should plunge broccoli into a bowl of water and swish it around then rinse it to get it clean, just FYI. I only rinse it.) Meanwhile bring water to boil in a steamer pot, making sure the water level is below the floor of the basket when it's in place. Put the broccoli in the steamer basket and salt well. Steam with the lid on for 5 to 7 minutes, depending on how full the steamer basket is and how large the broccoli pieces are. Check at the end of 5 and a half minutes to see how done it is by grabbing a piece with tongs, running it under cold water, and tasting. I like mine soft; you may like it more al dente. Cook further according to your preference. When it's done the way you like it, get it off the heat and out of the steamer immediately or it will get mushy on you.

My kids LOVE broccoli this way; I don't use any cheese sauce or butter or anything and they eat it up. The comparison to "little trees" doesn't hurt!

Menu Plan Monday!

Hot off the presses, here's my weekly menu plan:
Monday Lunch: Breakfast sandwiches (eggs and cheese on either a bagel or an english muffin)
Monday Dinner: Roast Chicken with Pasta and Broccoli (will post recipes for chicken and broccoli following, probably tomorrow)
Tuesday Lunch: Healthy Burgers, Waldorf Salad, Oven Fries
Tuesday Dinner: Chicken Philly Sandwiches
Wednesday Lunch: Shrimp Scampi from "There's a Chef in My World"
Wednesday Dinner: Beef-a-roni
Thursday Lunch: Spaghetti with garlic bread and bruschetta
Thursday Dinner: Chicken Orzo Skillet from "Taste of Home Healthy Cooking Recipe Cards", current issue, page 3
Friday Lunch: Eat Out
Friday Dinner: Tender and Crisp Chicken Legs with Sweet Tomatoes from Jamie Oliver's web site*
Saturday Lunch: Grillades and Grits
Saturday Dinner: Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Tenderloins with rice and a salad
Sunday Lunch: Jambalaya*
Sunday Dinner: Mom and Dad eat out; order pizza for the kids and the sitter

*Notes: When I make the Jamie Oliver chicken I add the cannellini beans that are mentioned as optional ("if you fancy") in the recipe, and I add at LEAST 2 cans of them. They are absolutely DELISH! We make our JAMBALAYA from the Zatarain's mix and throw it in the rice cooker with cubed pork tenderloin (I buy a 2 pound pork tenderloin and use half for this recipe, half for the Brown Sugar Glazed Pork), a chopped onion, a chopped pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. The rice cooker does the rest; it's one of the easiest meals we make.

Make sure to check out the other Menu Plan Monday links on Organizing Junkie's web site!