gathering up the fragments

Sometimes you hit "post" and nothing happens!  This was one of those times, when I thought I'd posted Saturday, but chrome crashed and lost a third of my post.  ah, well...

I thought we should have some well-rounded, home-making bloggy fare for a bit before I launch into the next exciting trip journals!  This is a post I've been thinking about for a while, and I'm actually borrowing the phrase "gathering up the fragments" from the old More with Less Cookbook.  My mother regularly relied on this Mennonite book, and she kindly found me a copy when I was in college. It's full of budget-friendly, use-what-you-have recipes, and many of them are vegetarian.  That's about as connected this post will be to that book, though, because this is my own giant list of what I do with leftovers!  (I'd love to see yours!)  And just for fun, I'm including some really old, unedited food-related photos of Gemma Grace.  (Ruthie wears those clothes now!)

Of course, I will happily reheat leftover meals for my lunch, or even make extra on purpose to freeze for other days.  This list is less about fully-prepared meals and more about, say, leftover rice.  So let's start there.

Leftover Rice

• Rice pudding
• Fried rice
• Casseroles that require cooked rice, like Chicken/Broccoli/Rice or pizza rice casserole
• Also, Gemma will gladly eat cold rice for lunch . . . 

Stale or Leftover Bread

• French Toast
• Bread pudding (I make a marvelous Blueberry-Lemon bread pudding.  It's a Southern Living recipe!)
• Cube it, toss in some oil and seasoning and roast on a cookie sheet to make croutons or stuffing mix.
• Crumble or zap in a food processor to make bread crumbs for chicken parmigiana, etc.

Leftover Potatoes

• Slice them and fry them up for breakfast :)
• Or if they're already mashed, form them into little pancakes and fry them up for breakfast
• Mash them up with some milk and use them as the topping for shepherd's pie (I often freeze them and do this later).
• Add to chowders, or make extra potatoes on purpose to make potato soup!
• Sweet Potatoes:  make muffins

Leftover Meats

There are, of course, many recipes that call for cubed, cooked meat.  If I have only a little bit, I usually slice it up for pancit or stir fry . . . in fact, we're having steak stir fry tonight!  :)  There are always sandwiches, too.  Whenever I have a bone with some meat on it, though, I make soup.

Ham

• Slice and fry for breakfast along with eggs
• Quiche
• Hawaiian Pizza
• Ham and dumplings
• Chicken Cordon Bleu
• With a ham bone, I usually make Lentil Soup

Chicken/Turkey

• There are lots of recipes for cooked chicken, so I'll just include a link to chicken pot pie
• With a chicken carcass, there's always chicken noodle soup, but my husband prefers thick soups like white chicken chili.  

Red Meats

• Hot roast beef sandwiches, especially if you have leftover gravy
• I've dabbled in curry, but need to practice some more
• My favorite soup for beef and venison is barley soup! 

Miscellaneous

• Waffles - I make up all my batter and save the rest for a quick breakfast for my children later in the week.  They're very tasty warmed in the toaster-oven.  (I hear they can be frozen, too, but we never get to that point!)
• Pancakes - these I don't care for as much on the second day, so I tend to just refrigerate remaining batter and use it as soon as possible.
• Oatmeal - Make oatmeal bread!
• Boiled eggs:  Egg salad, or add to many cold salads
• Scrambled eggs:  Add to fried rice
• Coffee:  Make a chocolate cake.  (But usually I just reheat and drink!!)

How's all that for gathering up the fragments?  I still have no good uses for leftover pasta . . . are there any out there?  Pasta salad, maybe?  I suppose if all else fails, there's composting, or maybe you're one of those happy people who have chickens.  :)

Slow Cooker Honey Baked Chicken

Are you ready for some falling-off the bone sweet/savory comfort food for fall? That photo is kind of ugly...It was very tasty yesterday, though! Here's a little food-break from the Ireland adventures. 

Everyone probably already knows about this dish. Mom used to make it, and another church friend gave me the recipe in my bridal shower cookbook. I've seen it called Honey Curry Chicken, Honey Mustard Chicken and Honey Baked Chicken, which is most familiar to me. I love it because it's very fast (no chopping of vegetables necessary!), easy to leave it to bake and quite delicious.

It's been one of my favorite dishes to make for company on Sunday afternoons. Usually I leave it in the oven on time-bake and start my rice cooker before we leave for church, because it switches to "warm" automatically when the rice is cooked. At least three times, though, I've made some mistake in programming the oven and come home to raw chicken. Yikes. Since it takes an hour to bake, that's lots of time for cheese and crackers and small talk while everyone waits for their food! Then recently when I was scrubbing the oven knobs, I did something funky to the little clock knob and I just don't trust it anymore. So, yesterday I decided to try putting it in the crock pot for just us. I'm never looking back! Here's how I did it.

Notes on ingredients: the recipe originally called for butter, but I tried substituting coconut oil this time and loved it. Also, the cuts of chicken can be flexible (you can even do a whole chicken, cut in pieces). I halve the recipe for our little family.

Slow-Cooker Honey Baked Chicken

6-10 chicken thighs with skin removed

1 stick butter or 1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup honey or brown sugar

1/4 cup mustard

1 teaspoon curry powder

Turn slow cooker on high and measure all ingredients except chicken into it. Go do something else for 5-10 minutes while the butter/oil melts. ;) When it has melted, whisk the sauce together. Drop in chicken pieces, turning once to coat. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours (or probably on low for 8-10 hrs, but I haven't tested this!). Serve over rice.

Can-less Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice

Was your lunch this yummy today? Mine was, but then I'm a leftovers-lady. :) I  mentioned that we'd be eating turkey, broccoli and rice casserole on Monday and thought maybe you'd like to inspect my version of the recipe! 

The old stand-by uses a can or two of cream-of-something soup, as so many of the casseroles of our mothers and grandmothers did. Of course, canned soup is not the healthiest or most natural thing you can put in your body, but it is such a yummy winter meal! Inspired by a few recipes I saw on Pinterest, I decided to try making my own cream base and adding cream cheese for the richness factor. I included some fresh lime juice for added dimension and, of course, lots of freshly ground black pepper! I suppose the original dish was quicker to make, but if you're used to making your own roux base for macaroni and cheese, this won't seem so bad. :) 

Can-less Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice Casserole

1 head of broccoli

Approx. 1 pound of chicken, cooked

Approx. 2 cups rice, cooked (1 cup uncooked, and I usually use brown)

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

2 cups milk

Juice of half a lime

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 box (8 oz) cream cheese (easier if softener!)

Approx. 1 cup cheddar, shredded

1) Cut broccoli into bite-size pieces and steam. Cook rice and chicken, if necessary. Cut/pull chicken into bite-size pieces as well.

2) In a heavy saucepan (I prefer a Dutcj oven), melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir constantly for 1-2 minutes until nice and fragrant.

3) Stir in milk all at once and cook several minutes, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and boils.

4) Reduce heat and season with lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cream cheese until smooth.

5) Remove from hear and stir in chicken, broccoli and rice! Pour into a greased casserole and top with shredded cheese.

6) Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes, until heated through and bubbling a little bit.

I hope you like dairy, because there's a lot of it in this dish! It might be fun to substitute chicken stock for some or all of the milk. Thankfully, my version is heavy on the broccoli, too. :)

Blue plate and sweet potato casserole optional but recommended. :) 

Some Comfort Food at its Essence

edited to add:  I just realized that I posted about pot-pie on pi day!  Completely a fun accident, haha!

It's technically still winter, right?  :)  In spite of my focus on simpler cooking lately, I've taken a few diversions.  One Friday recently, we had chicken pot pie!  It doesn't get much simpler in concept or taste, but it is a bit time-consuming to make, at least in comparison with a lot of the other meals we've been having lately.

Chicken pot pie is one of those dishes I grew up on but don't remember my mother using a recipe for, so I consulted my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, tweaked it quite a bit, and think I can truly call the results my own.  And they were very, very yummy!

One thing I did differently was to use evaporated milk for the roux, instead of the cream or half-and-half (which I didn't have on hand) or just plain milk which the recipe presented as options.  I have grown to LOVE evaporated milk!  It's like poor man's cream!  It's only 65 cents a can at our Aldi, tastes marvelous in tea.  It may not be fresh or organic . . . but it's yummy.  :)

Another thing I've grown to love is freshly ground black pepper!  A friend gave me a can of Watkins black pepper for our wedding shower which lasted us until a few months ago, at which point I decided to buy one of those self-peppercorn grinders at Aldi.  Such flavor!  Let's put pepper in everything!

Enough rambling . . . here's the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 large boneless chicken breast, uncooked
1 1/2 stalks sliced celery
2 big fat carrots (or a few smaller ones)
4 small red potatoes (I prefer organic so you don't have to peel them!)
1 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup evaporated milk
pastry for top crust

1.  In a small/medium saucepan, cover chicken breast with water and simmer on medium-low heat until cooked through.  Remove meat, reserving broth.  Chop meat into bite-size chunks.
2.  Peel carrot.  Chop carrot and potatoes into fine, even slices.  Cook until tender in broth reserved from the chicken breast.  Reserve the broth again to add to the roux later!  (You might be able to save time by cooking the chicken and vegetables together?)
3.  Finely chop celery and cook in a large saucepan (or Dutch oven!) in hot butter over medium heat until tender, about 4-5 minutes.  Stir in the flour, poultry seasoning, salt and black pepper, and cook roux, stirring constantly for 2 minutes or until it's nice and fragrant.  Add 1 1/2 cups of reserved broth and evaporated milk all at once.  Stir and cook until thickened and bubbly.  Stir in meat and vegetables and pour into your favorite earthenware baking dish.  :)
4.  At some point, make your pastry . . . I decided on a very basic crust of 1 cup flour and half a stick of butter, cut in with a pastry cutter.  Stir quickly with a fork, adding ice water in small amounts until the dough forms into a ball around the fork.  Gently roll out on a floured surface, fold it in half, and use it to top the meat mixture.  Flute the edges if you like and cut a few slits into the top with a sharp knife.
5.  Bake, uncovered, at 375F for 30 to 35 minutes, or until filling starts bubbling out the slits.  Let stand for 20 minutes before serving.


Wouldn't it be marvelous with a few other root vegetables added to the mix, like some parsnips or turnips?  Perhaps you're still enjoying this cooler weather for baking, or perhaps you're looking for a traditional dish to make for St. Patrick's Day?  I don't know that it's particularly Irish, but savory pies are certainly an old, old concept!

Supper this week (and part of next!)

Well, yesterday I pulled some tortilla dough out of the freezer and cooked up enough for the three of us, then cooked up a chicken breast in homemade taco seasoning (recipe found via pinterest!).  We added lettuce, cheese, salsa and refried beans (canned this time) to our tacos, and they were yummy!

And today I roasted a chicken.  I haven't done that in a while.  :)  This time, I stuffed it with an onion and a  little bouquet garnier of rosemary and thyme (my remaining living herbs!).  I rubbed it down with some olive oil and sprinkled on dried parsley and sage. The potatoes and vegetables got drizzled with olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper, too.  It smelled so yummy cooking!  It's so much fun that fall is coming, and oven-season and chili and stew season is almost here!

So, the plan for the rest of the week is . . .

Wednesday:  {Thai}
Thursday:  Lasagna (with noodles and riccotta leftover from Sunday!)
Friday:  Salmon and Rice
Saturday:  Chicken pie?  Or something else with chicken leftover from today.
Sunday:  We're having company!  We've found that it's easy for John to grill chicken and have mashed potatoes, salad, probably carrots, and probably some sort of pie for dessert.
Monday:  Rachel Ray's pasta with bacon, tomatoes, and cheese (but I use red pepper instead of the tomatoes; just our personal preference)

I guess this week is a bit chicken-heavy!  But it is my sweetie's favorite meat . . . and it's cheaper than beef . . . and doesn't have pink slime in it . . .

I share my plans partly for accountability, and partly to share my ideas!  But I'm always interested in new ideas!  What are you making for dinner this week?

Green is in

 . . . that is, in the smoothies this season!  It's time for our annual summer smoothie post, and this year I have a sipping partner:

It started when she was interested in my smoothie, so I let her have a sip, and she quickly monopolized the glass!  So, now I fill up her straw cup with her own.  

Since that picture was taken, however, my sweetie and I have watched two documentaries, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, and Forks over Knives.  (Both are available on Netflix, which is how we watched them.)  I came away with the conclusion that at the very least, we should be eating more vegetables.  And so green is in!

The first time, I threw in a bunch of spinach leaves, but now kale is on the weekly shopping list and I appreciate its milder taste.  Besides that, lately I've simply been throwing a frozen banana, strawberries (or a peach or other berries), a big scoop of plain yoghurt, half a dozen ice cubes, about a tablespoon of coconut oil and enough fruit juice to make it blend nicely into our ordinary old blender, and they come out so yummy!    I guess they've gotten quite a bit fancier since last year and especially the year before!

Supper this Week

Happy Tax Day!

Last week, I'd planned to make Chicken Tikka Masala on Saturday night, but we ended up just have ziti and jarred sauce!  Thankfully, my husband is always up for pasta!  We were kind of busy getting the house and dinner ready for our company on Sunday, to whom we served baked spaghetti, salad, easy french bread (made into garlic bread!) and chocolate cake.  Oh, and green beans for the babies.  It was yummy.  :)

Here's the plan for this week:
Monday:  Chicken Tikka Masala and rice
Tuesday:  Lentil Soup (from ham bone)
Wednesday: {Thai}
Thursday: Chicken Broccoli Alfredo (I plan to try this recipe, found via pinterest)
Friday:  Salmon & Rice
Saturday:  Chicken Marsala with Cacio e Pepe
Sunday:  Chicken Cordon Bleu with rice

It seems this week is heavy on chicken . . .

A Pinteresting St. Patrick's

Saturday was Saint Patrick's Day.  :)  And this year we actually were invited to a cookout/party!  When I heard that my sister was hosting  party of her own and making her own ice cream flavored with Bailey's, I knew what I wanted to bring.  That sounded amazing.

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

So, of course, I checked pinterest, and found this recipe and started it the night before.  I only used half the Bailey's, because I didn't realize it was going to be so expensive . . . I bought four mini bottles and it came to about $10!  I guess it's a once-a-year (or less!) treat.  Anywho.  That was plenty of Bailey's to give it a very strong flavor, so I wouldn't recommend using any more.

The recipe didn't make a huge amount, but since about half of the people at the party were pregnant ladies understandably a bit skittish of taking more than a taste, it worked out, haha!

Source: crushculdesac.tumblr.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

Anyway.  I also really liked this simple little tutorial for felt shamrocks.  In spite of having real shamrocks growing in pocket-handkerchief front yard, I stitched up a couple of them on our way to the party and made this little pin!  I love it.  The felt and the silk violets were left over from a little corsage project back in December, so it was quite free.  And I could have put a pin back on it which was also left over, but since I was making it in the car, I just affixed it to the shoulder of my top with a straight pin.  :)

So, my must-make-something urges were satisfied this past weekend thanks to pinterest. :) 

In Sunday School the next morning, we were surprised to hear Pastor Andy share with us a portrait of the life of Patrick of Ireland.  I was so excited that I took three pages of notes! He stuck to original documents for his sources--Patrick's Confession, which was likely modeled after Augustine's autobiographical work of the same name, and a Letter to Coroticus.  In other words, the lesson was heavy on fact and very light on the many myths surrounding him as a historical character.

The neat thing is that apparently Patrick was a very strong Christian with a mission-mindset unusual to his time.  He spent the better part of his adult life as a missionary to Ireland, which at the time (4th century) was the ends of the earth, and certainly outside the protection of Roman England in which he grew up.  He was the type of missionary who preached the gospel without really trying to change the culture of the people around him.

I shared some musings on celebrating Saint Patrick's Day a couple of years ago (here they are, if you're interested).  Since then, I have learned much about the man, Patrick.  And while we certainly feel no religious obligation to observe the day as a holiday and have no desire to be affiliated with the drunkenness so commonly associated with it, I think we have new reason and freedom to celebrate it as we wish.  :)

A little late, but . . .

Merry Belated Christmas!

This year, John's side of the family decided that we should all do a homemade Christmas!  I was quite excited!

Thankfully, store-bought gifts weren't officially outlawed, because I'd already started my shopping when this announcement was made.  But our gifts for our Mom and Sisters-in-law were completely homemade. 

I made them these "helping hands" (apron-dish towel-pot holder hybrids which I found via pinterest. (The tutorial was from here, but the pattern pdf's don't work.  Thankfully, I found pictures of the patterns here and was able to sketch them myself.  They're quite simple!)

They turned out nicely.  I'd like to try making one again from terry cloth, as the tutorial alternatively suggested!

Inspired by this blog, I also made lemon curd using her recipe!  It was easy, delicious, and actually yielded enough to fill five 8 oz. jelly jars, with some to spare! 

Oh, and there are sooo many other things on pinterest which I would have loved to have made, if only there had been more time.  I propose another homemade Christmas for next year, yes? 

A Smoothie a Day?

It's smoothie season again. :) By that, I mean that once again this year I've marveled at how quickly the bananas on my counter turn brown, and started popping them, peel and all, into the freezer. However, unlike last year's simple additions of berries and milk, the smoothies this year have gotten a little fancier. :)

Now that I'm regularly making my own yoghurt, it's not such a big deal to dump in a good bit with the frozen banana and extra fruit of choice. Then, about four nice ice cubes and just enough 100% fruit juice to make it blend . . . oooh, they are lovely!

This summer's favorite combinations have been strawberry/banana with apple juice, and lots of peach/banana with "fruit punch" (and occasionally a little plop of coconut oil to add to the tropical twist! yum!). I've done no-dairy smoothies with just the juice, fruit and ice, which are lovely, too. And one afternoon when I had a banana but no extra fruit around, in went some peanut butter and chocolate syrup. Ooooh. I think I am addicted!

They really are a great way of satisfying one's sweet tooth, though, without the added sugar. In fact, I tried a smoothie sample at the mall recently and it was just too sweet. Mine are better. :) I still haven't thrown any greens in mine . . . but I have now tried the green smoothie by Naked, so I know that it is, indeed good! Maybe next year . . .

It will almost be a shame when peaches and berries are out of season and apples are in! Almost . . . I've already told John several times how excited I am for fall. :)

Anniversary Pie

Source: evilchefmom.com via Gretchen on Pinterest

Last week's anniversary post was getting a bit long, so I thought I'd save my comments on the pie for another day!

My pie doesn't quite look like the one above! I skipped the garnishes and made my own crust from 2 cups of crushed store-brand "oreos" and 1/4 cup of butter. But I liked this version because it called for actual heavy cream instead of Cool Whip.

I had my doubts about the recipe when I was folding the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. It was more globby than uniform. However, once it was chilled, it wasn't globby at all!

I also used a substitution for the semi-sweet chocolate required for the topping. 3 tablespoons of cocoa + 1 tablespoon of cooking oil is roughly equivalent to one ounce of unsweetened chocolate, and much more convenient since I don't keeping Baker's chocolate in the house. The only problem was that I forgot that the recipe called for semi-sweet, not unsweetened chocolate, so I threw in some confectioner's sugar with the chocolate. The topping was on the less-sweet side as a result, but I thought it nicely balanced the very sweet crust and filling. I also added a touch of vanilla extract to both the filling and the topping, because vanilla is just splendid. :)

This is definitely not a low-calorie dessert! But it was very rich and tasty, and a nice treat for my chocolate-and-peanut-butter-loving husband. :) It was also quite quick to make, and being an "ice box" pie, it was an energy-smart choice for the summer months. I do think it was set better after chilling overnight.

Since I had picked up two boxes of cream cheese by accident, by the end of the week I had nearly enough ingredients to make another! So I did, except that I had to take a chance and substitute half and half for the cream base in the topping. The result was not noticeably different, so I would recommend that change, as well as the use of reduced-fat cream cheese, for the cholesterol-conscious cook.

Overall, excellent recipe! Thanks to pinterest, and to "evilmomchef," whoever you are . . . I don't care for the way you present your pie recipe (language, etc.), but the product is great.

"I made chicken soup, and it actually came out well!"

Sometimes I intend to blog about something I've cooked or baked, but by the time I get around to it, the chosen food item has already been consumed, so there's no picture! I do so like pairing photos with my words that I often just cancel the post! Such is the case today, except I decided to blog anyway. My mother told me to. ;)

A couple of days ago, I was talking with Mom on the phone and told her essentially the title of this post! My brother, sister and I grew up knowing that when you were just about finished with a whole chicken or turkey, you made soup with it! Muffins and "Bone soup," as Mom still calls it, was one of our favorite meals, in fact. Going into marriage, I felt confident that I could follow suit. Yet my first couple of attempts were failures. Most recently, I remember trying to make soup in the crock pot, but the carrots and celery never got soft and the noodles I added quickly turned soggy.

This week was different! When I pulled the partially eaten rotisserie chicken out of our freezer, I dumped it into the top part of the beautiful pasta pot my dad and mom-in-law gave us for Christmas. It has a mesh insert which is separate from the bottom part of the pot and made the soup-making easy-peasy! I added sprigs of fresh parsley, rosemary and thyme from our herb garden and dried sage from my mom-in-law's to the chicken. Several chopped carrots and celery stalks went into the bottom part of the pot, and it was ready to go! Once the water boiled, I let it simmer for at least an hour and then let the fragrant, newly-made chicken stock cool.

The next step was to debone the chicken. Normally, I'd pull it out of the pot with a giant fork, or perhaps dump it into a colander over a second pot, but the mesh inner-pot made the job a breeze! Good pieces of chicken went back in with the carrots and celery. Bad pieces went home (to the trash . . . "home" just sounded like it fit!).

Another thing I learned recently was that a can of diced tomatos adds a nice dimension to chicken soup, so I added one of those. I learned it from my mom-in-law who learned it from a veteran homemaker in New England. :)

I think I added some salt and pepper. I simmered it some more.

And I also boiled up some noodles separately to add to the soup as we ate it. No more soggy noodles!

Ah, it would be so much better with pictures, but such is the life of the mother of a darling five-month-old! Any soup-maker knows that you can go a lot of different directions with soup; with another recent chicken carcass, I added white beans, salsa, cheddar cheese, sauteed onion, and maybe some frozen corn? It would have been good with frozen corn. John loved it. :D But, despite the flexibility, it IS possible to mess up chicken soup, as I know too well . . .

Last Night's Supper, Today's Lunch

"Do you like Indian food?" That was one of the first questions I asked John at the onset of our relationship. I'm not saying I wouldn't have married him if his answer had been "no," but I certainly was pleased to hear him reply, "Yeah. Chicken Tikka Masala is awesome."

I'd never had that dish before, but I ordered it at one of the Indian restaurants we later visited and discovered that he was right! You can imagine my joy to find a from-scratch recipe for it at another girl's blog.

When I was pregnant, the strongest morning-sickness trigger for me was the smell of onions, so I avoided this and many other of my favorite recipes for a while. It's like a new recipe to me again, and, oh, it is delicious!

This time, I used some of our homemade yoghurt and fresh ginger for the first time. I get my coconut milk at Trader Joe's and freeze the remainder of the can for another time. (And I do use the forbidden light coconut milk, as well as half and half instead of heavy cream.) I also double the amount of cayenne pepper because the recipe is a bit mild as-is.

We eat ours over brown jasmine rice, but one of these days I'd like to make up some of the yoghurt sauce for the top and try my hand at some naan.

Did I mention that we also have cheesecake in the house? Awesome food day!

On Making Yoghurt

I love yoghurt, and, yes, I enjoy spelling it with the "h."

When my mother was here a few weeks ago, we picked up a container of Greek-style yoghurt at Trader Joe's and I was smitten. The stuff is amazing! A facebook status to that effect generated a good bit of conversation, and a former classmate ended up directing me to this website for making yoghurt in your crockpot. She even strains a portion of it to make it Greek-style, confirming what I'd read on Wikipedia. "Greek" yoghurt simply has been strained of much of its whey, giving it its rich, delightful creaminess.

I knew that it was possible to make yoghurt because my mom has done it before. She used a yoghurt maker, but I also knew it was possible to do so without a special machine. Several of the recipes I'd examined before sounded kind of complicated, and when I was pregnant I was afraid of messing with bacteria, so I put that thought aside for a while. This crockpot recipe, however, is extremely simple and works beautifully! For my first batch, I used 2% organic milk, and while the result is a bit thinner than the yoghurt you buy in the store, it is nonetheless delicious.

As the recipe suggests toward the end, I also put a portion of it in a coffee filter-lined colander for 12-18 hrs (don't remember exactly how long!) and made my own "Greek" yoghurt as well. My second batch is in the crock pot right now and I can't wait for it to be done!!!

Making Squirt Squirt

When I married John, I had cleaning products galore . . . some that were his, some that were left in the house by the previous owners, and some that were gifts. I think I still have three partial cans of Comet around! Oh, and then last April John helped one of his buddies move, and inherited all his left-behind cleaning products. It's been pretty nice. :-)

I'm [finally] just about through all the all-purpose stuff that we had, so I knew it was time to call Mom and get the recipe for "Squirt Squirt." It came to us from another friend at church, I believe, under the title "Glass Cleaner that cleans just about anything." Sweet, but a bit long for those of us who like to name things either after their looks or the sounds they make. ;-) I bought the necessary ingredients and made up my first batch last week. Here's that recipe:

"Squirt Squirt"

1/2 cup sudsy ammonia
1 pint rubbing alcohol
1 tsp. dish soap

Combine in plastic milk jug and fill with water to make 1 gallon.

I think it works great, and since a pint of rubbing alcohol is about 50 cents and a big jug of ammonia is around a dollar, it's quite cheap as well. :-) I filled up an empty squirt bottle from one of the products I finished up and still have the better part of a gallon of solution under my sink.

Another thing I inherited when I married John was a Swiffer WetJet. I learned to mop by watching my mother on her hands and knees with a rag, so it's not something I would have purchased for myself. But since we have it, I may as well use it, right? I used it until I ran out of the disposable pads, then bought more pads since there was still liquid, then bought more liquid since there were still pads . . . repeat this cycle. It's a trap! I finally decided that enough is enough. It certainly is convenient (especially when I was pregnant and really tired!), but it doesn't even mop that well.

So, I determined to fill the bottle with squirt squirt, despite the warning on the back, "do not attempt to refill . . . " I think they just want us to keep buying $5 refills! But, it's well nigh impossible to take the cap off those things. I tried using a plastic syringe to go through the rubbery top, but that didn't work, either. Enter John with a hack saw. He cut open the bottle, filled it up and attempted to reseal it with duct tape. Did it work? Nope.

So, John googles something about refilling Swiffer WetJet bottles and runs to the kitchen before I can pour the boiling water off the pasta I'm making him for lunch. Someone has shared that immersing the top of the bottle in boiling water for about a minute enables you to screw it right off. We save the pasta water, try it, and it works!

That bottle is ruined, thanks to the hack saw. But another $5 later, I think I'll try again . . .

P.S. I'm sure there are lots of recipes for homemade cleaning products! Anyone have one to share?

Fajitas for Supper?

I was thinking of posting about our two beautiful baby showers from this past weekend! But facebook, whence I was hoping to get some pictures, is acting funny for me, so perhaps that post will be coming soon. Instead, here's a post which I've meant to share for a while.

Fajitas! They're soo yummy and healthy, and although they may be ideal for summer-time because the insides get grilled, it's still quite warm here on Cottage Lane.

First of all, I make my flour tortillas, although this can be done in advance. Tortillas aren't very expensive to buy, but every package I've checked so far has listed some form of hydrogenated fat among the ingredients--one good thing to avoid. I basically follow a recipe from the More with Less Cookbook, and here it is:

Combine in mixing bowl
2 cups unsifted flour (I've been using half unbleached and half whole-wheat, and they come out great!) 1 tsp. salt

Cut in with pastry blender (I usually just zap it all in a food processor, and it's very fast and easy!)
1/4 c. lard or shortening (I use butter)

When particles are fine, add gradually:
1/2 cup lukewarm water

Toss with fork to make a stiff dough. Form into a ball and knead thoroughly on lightly floured board until smooth and flecked with air bubbles. (I toss it into my Kitchenaid and let it knead for 5 minutes!) To make dough easier to handle, grease surface, cover tightly, and refrigerate 4-24 hours before using. (Sometimes I just stick it in the freezer for one hour!) Let dough return to room temperature before rolling out. (I don't!)

Here I'm going to stop using their directions because I just do it the way I do it . . . :-) I now preheat my largest frying pan (since I don't have a griddle) to medium heat, though the recipe calls for "very hot." Next, I roll the dough into a log with my hands and slice into the recommended 11 disks.


And roll one out on a floured surface until it is very thin.



Then I drop it onto the ungreased pan and let it cook until it starts to bubble up!


This one is ready to flip! While it is cooking, I start rolling the next. As each one finishes, I set it in a towel to keep warm. The whole cooking process takes a little while, but the results are not only healthier but much more tender and delicious than store-bought tortillas!

For fajitas, I marinate some chicken breast in lime juice and cilantro at least a few hours before supper, and chop up some colored bell-peppers. (You're supposed to include sweet onions, but onions have sounded terrible to me for most of my pregnancy!) While the chicken breast cooks slowly over low heat on the grill, the veggies get wrapped in foil and steam until tender on the grill's upper rack. They're usually done when the chicken is done.

At some point, I mash up an avocado with lime juice, chopped cilantro, some salsa or preferably diced tomato, and a little salt and pepper. My brother learned how to make awesome guacamole when he was in Costa Rica, but as long as it has lime juice in it, my mouth is happy. :-)

It all gets served with salsa and shredded cheese (and sour cream, if you like), and, boy, do they hit the spot!

Apple Oven Pancake

By request.  :-)  This is the recipe from Williams-Sonoma's Essentials of Baking.  (Hopefully that's not a violation of copyright or anything.)  I left out the weight measurements for the ingredients and some other parenthetical remarks (e.g. metric measurements), because I'm not that fancy of a baker. 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cups diced peeled tart apples, such as Granny Smith (3 medium)
2 tablespoons firmly packed golden brown sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon, strained
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup whole milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven, and preheat to 425F.  

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter.  Add the apples and saute, turning as needed, just until tender, 5-7 minutes.  Sprinkle with the brown sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon and stir to combine.  Remove from the heat.

Place a baking dish 12 inches in diameter or 9 by 13 inches in the oven to heat for 5 minutes.  Remove the baking dish from the oven, add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to it, and tilt the dish to coat the bottom and sides with the butter.  Spoon the sauteed apples over the bottom of the dish to make an even layer.  

by hand:  In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, vanilla and salt, just until blended
by food processor:  Combine the eggs, milk, flour, vanilla and salt.  Pulse 2 or 3 times, just until blended.

Carefully pour the batter over the hot fruit.  Bake until puffed and golden brown, 20-25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and, using a fine-mesh sieve, dust the top with confectioners' sugar.  Serve immediately.   

There you go.  :-)  My comments:  I never bake anything at 425 . . . maybe I should, but 375 worked just fine, too.  I'm pretty sure my mother never used lemon juice, and I didn't have any on hand the other day, either.  She used to do the sauteeing and baking all in her lovely large cast-iron pan, but I used a frying pan and baking dish like the recipe called for since I don't own the cast-iron.  The apples get all syrupy in the butter and brown sugar, and then the egg-mixture puffs up beautifully high . . . ahh.  Since our pancake is long-gone (2 breakfasts and 1 lunch for me, though it says it serves 6!), I don't have a picture of my own, so I'll share a picture of the pumpkin I bought the other day.

It's a Cinderella pumpkin from Trader Joe's, and isn't it beautiful?  :-)  There should be many pumpkin pies when I decide it's finished decorating the kitchen!

Blueberry-Lemon Bread Pudding

Bread pudding.  It's so delightfully English, isn't it?  Thanks to the lemon and blueberries, this version has a delicate flavor which is just right for spring.  It comes from Southern Living's 2001 Annual Recipes book.  I love it.

Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 cups whipping cream [I used half and half]

1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (16-ounce) loaf stale French bread, cut into 2-inch cubes

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Method:

Beat sugar and eggs at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Add whipping cream and next 4 ingredients, beating until blended.  Fold in bread cubes and blueberries, and pour into a lightly greased 13- x 9- inch pan.  Let stand 10 minutes [or longer].

Bake at 375F for 40 to 45 minutes.  Cool in pan on a wire rack 5 minutes.  Serve with Blueberry-Lemon Sauce and, if desired, whipped cream.  Yield:  8 servings

Blueberry-Lemon Sauce

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Method:

Bring first four ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat; add blueberries and simmer, stirring constantly, 3-5 minutes or until thickened.  Yield:  1 1/2 cups.

Happy April Fool's Day!

"Like a madman who throws Firebrands, arrows and death, So is the man who deceives his neighbor, And says, 'Was I not joking ?'"  Proverbs 26:18-19

I don't believe in using today as an excuse for lying, not at all.  But I do like practical jokes!

Here's our favorite waffle recipe (not a joke!).  I got it from my my mom, who got it from my great-aunt, who might have made it up.  It's sooo easy and makes many light, fluffy waffles.  I halve the batch for John and me, and it halves very easily!

Our Favorite Waffle Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups buttermilk or sour milk (I use regular milk with just a little apple cider vinegar)

2 eggs

6 Tbsp. oil

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda 

2 tsp. baking powder

Method:

Heat waffle iron; measure all ingredients into blender.  Liquefy; make waffles!

[food coloring optional.]  ;-)

Grandma Smith's Chocolate Cake

On Friday night, John was coming home from a week in Minneapolis.  I surely am glad that he doesn't have to travel often.  I made him a special welcome-home dinner with some help from my mom, who was here for a visit.

 

The dinner table ready

For dessert, we made a chocolate cake using my Great-Grandma Smith's recipe.  I never met her, but I hear marvelous things about her.  Her name was Flossie and, naturally, she was my Grandma Smith's mother-in-law.  I know what it is to be blessed with a great mother-in-law.  

I love moist cakes, and this one is very moist, very easy, and very chocolaty.  

 

Deep Black Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

2 c. flour 

2 c. sugar

1 c. cocoa

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder  

1 tsp. salt

2/3 c. shortening (I used 1 stick of softened butter)

2 eggs

2 c. boiling water

Method

Mix all ingredients and add boiling water.  Bake in greased [and floured] pan at 350F for 25-30 minutes. 

I chose to frost it with Rich Chocolate Buttercream from my Southern Living cookbook, which, after I'd made some substitutions, also had an entire cup of cocoa in it!  Rich, chocolaty, yummy . . .

Our table after dinner and dessert

One thing I did learn was that it's not the best idea to serve a hungry man spicy Indian food and deep black chocolate cake around midnight and right before bed.  My poor husband had reflux for over a day!