Trying to be a organic mom.

My last post here

2008-08-31T14:16:00.002-05:00

I have decided to change my blog to http://luv2cooktoomuch.blogspot.com/because I don't focus as much on organics as I planned to. Even thou I feel it is vital to care for our body and our earth I didn't seem to focus on it so I thought I would change to show my love of cooking all different things. I am taking about a week off as I am remolding my bathroom and laying hardwood floors down! Yikes it is a big job but it is VERY needed as my house is tiny, dark and the carpets are so old they are affecting my son's asthma. Thanks for reading me and I hope you check out my new blog. Have a Happy and Restful week, as mine will be horrid but worth it. :)

A New Chocolate Chip Cookie

2008-08-28T09:06:00.005-05:00

In my quest for perfect cookies I have been trying a LOT of different recipes. I am thinking I should have picked a name about baking instead. Anyhoo, here is a very, very good recipe. It remains chewy and soft and yet has a crunch. I use large industrial bake sheets that are aluminum and I was worried they would stick so I lightly sprayed my pans. Don't do it as I felt him made them to slick (ugh). The butter should keep them from sticking. I again went to trusty recipezarr.com and then modified one that I liked.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips (I used 60% cocoa disks)
1 cup walnuts, chopped (or pecans)

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and shortening; gradually mix in sugars, creaming thoroughly.

Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt; blend into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Chill for a few minutes or let stand at cool room temperature for 30 minutes.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets.

Flatten slightly and smooth edges to make 1/2-inch thick cookie.

Bake in a 375°F oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and still slightly under-baked in the centre. Let stand on baking sheet for 5 minutes; remove to racks to let cool completely. They do spread slightly just so you know

I am in a quandary regarding using shortening, It isn't really a great choice and I know that Crisco makes a non hydro one but I am unable to find it. I bought shortening to make soap with (i use it as a base). and had some left over so you could just use butter if you prefer but in this recipe I didn't try it - it will probably make it softer. I know there is a fat over whether it is "natural" or not so this week I am using it, next week I will most likely think it is poison as that how I work. :)

New Item of the Week - Lemon Grass!

2008-08-27T20:43:00.004-05:00

Well, I have heard about lemon grass many times but I have never seen it in my markets ... until today! Now here is the dilemma, I have NO idea what to do with it. I believe it is popular in Asian cuisine but other then that, no clue. So I am off on a web hunt for yummyness. I rarely see or find new things so today was a good day. I guess because we are in the middle of the Midwest some things don't transport well like they do on the coasts.I did notice when I lived in DE we found a lot more variety then here in Oklahoma. I am happier when I find a new item as I am becoming more aware of cooking then in the past. Before kids we were dinks Double Income No Kids (i love that) and we always ate out because we were usually travelingor just to tired. When the kids were added I started feeding them the Gerber Organics line and we still ate out but due to my sons health issues I started cooking more at home and as natural as possible. I am very very flawed but I am enjoying learning every day so now that I prattled on I will get to the point.

I want to know how you use lemon grass and what you enjoy cooking. I feel like I have learned so much from everybody online and I just want to say thanks for all the great ideas and the pure delish so much of you have shown me.

I will show you what I made so come back soon and I will be ready :)

One Red Leaf

2008-08-26T10:31:00.003-05:00

This has nothing to do with food but guess what I say today????? Wow, you are right it was a red leaf a bright red fall looking leaf!!! I am unsure how it happened as the rest of the tree is bright green but it has been in the 70's all week so maybe it will be cooler soon all the time. It was just such a suprise as I have no idea why only one leaf would be bright but i am ready for fall

now !

World's Greatest Banana Bread

2008-08-26T09:22:00.004-05:00

OK, so that may be an extreme opinion but it is super good. I like a soft and not dry banana bread and this one is extremely moist. My hubby ate about half a small loaf last night and was on the hunt for the rest. I sent one loaf across the street to MIL to have as I had a ton of bananas. My local market had huge bas of bananas for $1.25, there were about 20 bananas in the bag so I used half and froze the rest for later. Bananas are about 75 cents a pound here so I felt like I had a bananaza (ha). I got this recipe from recipezarr.com and tweaked it only slightly. I am finding they offer better recipes then allrecipe.com. I have a ton of cookbooks and I collect them but it just seems i prefer to get them online as i have more variety and can compare ingredients easier. I like reading peoples reviews as well to see what worked for other people. Here you go;

Ingredients for one loaf pan

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ginger, ground

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, ground

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, grated

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (optional)

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups ripe bananas, mashed (4 medium)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease 9 x 5 inch loaf pan or use cooking spray

Sift flour,baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg together in bowl.

Add lemon zest

Stir until combined.

Set aside.

Beat butter in large mixing bowl until soft and creamy.

Beat in sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs and beat until thoroughly blended.

Beat in flour mixture alternately with bananas until mixture is well blended.

Add walnuts and mix in by hand unless you have a big mixer.

Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in center of oven 1 hour to 1 hour 5 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes.

It gets better the longer you leave it alone. It is perfect the next day.

Invert from pan and cool completely on rack.

I used my silicone loaf pan as I LOVE silicone bake ware as it usually is super easy clean up however, the bread went wide instead of up. so the silicone gives to much for breads I have metal for yeast breads so I will need to use it for banana bread as well. I hope you like it :)

Just For Fun

2008-08-24T14:01:00.003-05:00

OK, this is fun! This is from http://newlywedcooking.blogspot.com/ Do you have the spirit of adventure in your food? Do you wonder if your diet is boring?

Here's the simple rules:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (I'll try anything once, remember!)4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

If I counted correctly, I have 41/100!

Omnivore's 100

1. Venison (my daddy was a hunter)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare never gonna happen
5. Crocodile (in Fl at gatorworld!)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (from ny several times. yummy germs:)
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras This is a sad food to me
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (One of the best things in the world)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain (I had this in purto rico and it was yummy!)
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (does cooking as a newlewed count?)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail - I think so but I can't remeber where so i didn't bold it :)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.(I wish!!)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse (I'm a horse lover but this one kind of scares me like eating puppy!)
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (rattlesnake sausage!! I had this at Disney world’s Coral Reef Resturant)

I must admit there are some things on this list I had never even heard of- and some I can't find like unusual fruits. The midwest is not a wide source of new things but I am thinking of buying a fig tree from ebay so I can FINALLY try figs.

mini Garfield cakes

2008-08-24T08:07:00.005-05:00

I have a brother and when we were kids he LOVED Garfield. I think he had every book there was. If I remember right it was like 30 books back then. Now I have kids and they love Garfield too, they are to small for the books but they love the tv shows, NOT the movies that are live action that is just wrong! :) So as I was making these cakes I was thinking of my brother and remembering how mad he would get as I was not careful with his stuff and often ruined a book or 6 . Thanks for being a great big brother Herbie. I may have to make these for him some time.

This is a simple yellow cake with a buttercream frosting. I used a shaped Wilton pan. They are about the size of a fist.

Yellow Cake (from recipezarr.com with changes made)

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter

1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
Directions
Heat oven to 350*.

Add butter, milk and vanilla.
Mix well and add dry ingredients.

Beat on med for 2 minutes.
Add eggs and beat for 30 seconds more.
Bake in greased 13x9 pan for 35 minutes, or until pick comes put clean

For mini pans or cupcakes bake for 20-40 minutes depending on size.

Cool 10 minutes in pan and then remove to let cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.

I used a simple Buttercream for the frosting.

1/2 c butter

1/2 c shortening- I debated over this but pure butter melts to fast

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 lb powdered sugar

2 Tablespoon milk

Cream butter and shortening together

add vanilla

add sugar mixing completely scraping bowl as needed

add milk last

divide into bowls depending on what colors you will need. try and make all the color you will need as it is very, very hard to match up later if you need more.

I get all my bags and tips ready and put the buttercream in the fridge as I have hot hands. You don't have to put it in the fridge but for me it makes it easier to manipulate the frosting.

Hope you like them. I did think about rolling out some fondant so the eyes would be super smooth but decided since it was just for the kids and they love buttercream just to go with lumpier eyes. I also noticed a few spots that needed another star spot so I added them after I took the pictures.

Tired of cooking your ice cream?

2008-08-22T20:27:00.003-05:00

I wanted a quick and easy recipe that didn't involve a long prep time for my ice cream. No making custard and cooling in fridge overnight. Sometimes you just want to make it and not wait overnight so I did some looking around and a bit of tweaking and I made a really delish base vanilla. I think this would be great with chocolate drizzled in or some fresh peaches or some type of fruit.

No Cook Vanilla

2 c cream or half n half
1 c milk
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon or pinch of salt

Mix it up thoroughly and start your machine.

That is it!

I like that it requires no preplanned thought. Company coming, it can be dressed up. Hot and just want something sweet and smooth, done. I think it would be yummy with some fresh peaches mixed in as well. We have tons of peaches in Oklahoma from the Porter Peaches Festival and it is peaches time of year here, so dig in everybody! :)

It's BLT time

2008-08-22T13:24:00.003-05:00

I think I know when I like a tomato. Slather it in Mayo and peppered bacon and they are delish! I was going to take a picture but it got eaten so fast I didn't get a chance. The Dairy here in town has a man that grows tomatoes when he feels like it and they are producing now. (If he doesn't want to grow them he just doesn't plant any.) But they are so fresh and pretty they have that smell unlike what you can find in a box store tomato. My daughter (she is 3) adores tomatoes and she ate 2 whole tomatoes at lunch and wanted more but I don't want her to get an upset tummy. I am very lucky that both my kids love their veggies. Carrots are often served for dessert. How crazy is that??? But anyhoo as I am supposed to have recipes;

Perfection on bread

2 slices of white bread (store bought or homemade)
1 luscious red tomato
a few leaves of butter lettuce
Mayo (store bought or homemade)

Slather the bread with mayo stack lettuce then tomato then bacon then bread again. I like mayo on one side and bacon on the other piece of bread to balance the fats . Does that count as a balanced diet?

In my defense my mayo is made with olive oil and is low fat but still has the right taste to it.

So that is it a yummy bit of summer as it seems like we are getting near the end, for the past few days it has been so cool and wonderful it is hard to believe it is still summer. Fall is my favorite season so I am ready!

grilled stuft burrito

2008-08-21T09:54:00.002-05:00

I made enchiladas the other night and had some of the bits and pieces were left over. I assumed that I could just mix it all up and boom lunchtime! I used premade enchilada sauce and had a little left so I mixed it in there as well. I had buffalo meat cooked with onion and some taco seasoning. I had some Spanish rice. I finished it off with sour cream and cheese, roll it up and put it in a hot pan to crisp up. I think they came out really nice and I used a cast iron fry pan to get a nice crust. I didn’t make the tortillas because I tend to have them laying around for wraps, I am WAY to lazy to make tortillas for only 1 or 2. So this is 3 recipes from my first dinner and then the leftover lunch.

To make enchiladas

1 lb ground buffalo

Taco seasoning – you can use premade pkg

1 onion chopped

¼ c water

Enchilada sauce 16 oz can

Cook the buffalo and onion together add taco seasoning and water cook for about 5 minutes- just till the water is gone.
Put ½ enchilada sauce in bottom of a 8x8 pan
Put filling in tortilla and wrap up lay in pan in a row.
Pour rest of sauce over the top and add about ½ c cheese over the top cover with foil bake 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

To make awesome rice

Use the same pot you cooked the buffalo and spices in add 2 cup water, 1 cup rice and ¼ c salsa. You can leave a little of the leftover meat in the pot as well if you want to add another layer flavor. When it starts to boil turn to lowest setting on stovetop and leave alone for 25 minutes.

They should both finish at about the same time. Dinner is done. (and yummy)
If you don’t want to use buffalo just use hamburger, you may need to drain off the fat if you use hamburger meat.
I used all the ingredients (except for cooked enchilada as you don’t want double tortillas) mixed up put in a tortilla with sour cream, cheese and put in a hot lightly oiled pan till it is hot and crispy for next day lunch.

You can use homemade enchilada sauce and your personal favorite spice mix or you can use premade for both.

Yogurt

2008-08-20T14:26:00.002-05:00

I tried a new technique that i thought would be easier then boiling the milk. I used dry milk and added it to room temp milk. Then added the yogurt base and blended smooth. It did make a smooth and thick yogurt so i think this is a preferred way to do it as it is much faster.

42 oz raw milk
6 Tablespoon dry milk
6 oz Stoneybrook Plain Yogurt.

By the way I am typing this on my new flamingo pink dell laptop as my other is trash thanks to the virus. It came today by DHL and was a whole day early!!!!!!!!!!!! I may have scared the delivery lady as i sort of declared my love for her. :) Have a happy day.

I am on a quest.

2008-08-19T13:18:00.001-05:00

I need your help. I am trying to make the perfect spritz cookie. So far I have tastes kind of weird, tastes kind of blah, tastes good but crumbles right away and doesn’t crumble but is tough. Wow! That is a lot of different recipes. I like spritz because it is the cuteness of cookie cutter without the rolling out work. I want one that is perfect for a school lunch or as a gift quickly. I have been having fun trying except I have gained about 5 lbs so far this week! Please send me any recipes you have for a good spritz cookie and I will try them all. I appreciate any help you can give me as I am starting to hate spritz cookies!!!!

Fresh Fettuccine in a lite sauce

2008-08-17T11:47:00.002-05:00

Yumm, fresh pasta! I decided to make a fettuccine as I like hearty pasta when it is fresh made. My kids aren’t picky but if they don’t like it they don’t have to eat it. I am not a short order cook - I make 1 dinner not 5. :) My daughter often eats a bite or two but that it but this she came back and asked for more! Even hubby was surprised by that. I did a simple smooth tomato and garlic smooth sauce as I wanted the pasta to shine. It would have been prettier if I had some fresh basil to scatter but alas my black thumb has struck again and my basil has DIED (again). One of these days I will give up but for now….. I did a simple Mario pasta;

3 c AP flour

4 eggs

1 splash water

Put the flour in a large bowl, make a well and put the eggs in the middle and beat the eggs first then start incorporating the egg into the flour. If it is wet add more flour if it seems dry add a bit of water. Mine seemed dry so I added about ½ teaspoon water and it was perfect. I knead it in the bowl as well just to make cleanup easier. Knead it for a few minutes until it is smooth and somewhat elasticity. Let it rest for 15 to 20 min at least. I let it rest for about 2 hours as I made it ahead of time and was perfect. I let the remainder rest for about 8 hrs as I had some left over dough and was curious. It changed to a darker color and deeper smell that I did not find a good smell. J So I didn’t make pasta with the over rested section. Make sure that you seal it airtight to rest, either with cling wrap or a covered bowl, it helps to keep it moist as you don’t want it to dry out. Keep a wet towel over the waiting portion if you don’t have a tight fitting lid so that while you are rolling out sections you can take your time. I made a super simple sauce so the pasta would stand out. I also had some Italian bread I smeared with garlic I had grated and some unsalted butter I popped into the broiler till edges were crispy.

Homemade Rocky Road

2008-08-16T13:14:00.003-05:00

Rocky road is hubby’s favorite flavor. I made the base the night before and let it refrigerate over night. I got my base recipe from kitchn.com. It sort of tastes like a cup of chocolate milk, it is a light color not a dark brown as you might expect.

Old Fashioned Cocoa Ice Cream
about 1 1/2 quarts

1/4 cup powdered unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 water
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups half and half (I used 2 cups cream and 2 cups whole milk)
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk the cocoa, sugar, water and salt together in a 2-quart saucepan. Heat over medium heat until boiling then simmer for 2 minutes. Whisk in the half and half and heat just until bubbles appear around the edges. Pour a cup of the cream mixture into the egg yolks and whisk until tempered, then add back into the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, over low-medium heat until it reaches a temperature of 170F. You may want to stain it before refrigerating in case you have a few random bits of egg.

Chill overnight and then process in an ice cream maker.

It took about 30 min to reach a nice smooth and thick consistency and then I added the marshmallows and you can add chocolate chips or mini chips or almonds at this point.

Yogurt try #2

2008-08-15T09:57:00.002-05:00

As you can see in the picture- smooth as silk!!!!!!!!!! I did a few things different then my lumpy try number one. I used the same amounts of ingredients;

42 oz raw milk from my local dairy
6 oz Stoneybrook organic yogurt- plain flavor

I boiled the milk longer this time, I allowed it to crawl up the sides in a boil for about 2 minutes (last time I took it off early). Then I allowed it to cool to room temp naturally (last time I used a water bath and let it get cold). I let it cook in the machine for 10 hours (last time I did 8 hours). I also drained the whey off 2 and stirred one and left the rest untouched. The untouched is smoother and perfect so I learned I need to leave it alone. I am so happy and my daughter thought they were perfectly yummy.

Baked doughnuts

2008-08-14T12:30:00.003-05:00

You have most likely seen doughnut cake pans and many people say the doughnuts that come out are to hard and don’t rise. I looked at a lot of different recipes and decided to mix a few for a light and soft doughnut that requires no rolling out. You could put it in a muffin tin as well. The pictured doughnuts are from the mini doughnut bake pan, you can see the flecks of spices in them.

Baked Spice Doughnuts

2 cups AP flour

½ c sugar

1 t cinnamon

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 egg beaten

1 teaspoon yeast

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 teaspoon oil

1 t baking powder
Oven at 325 degrees
Take a 1/c cup milk lukewarm add one Tablespoon of the sugar and dissolve the yeast. Let sit for a few minutes while you get the rest together.
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, spices together add the egg, vanilla and oil add the milk. Mix well and let rest for about 10 minutes. It will be very loose and very sticky but it has some body to it. Spray with non stick spray. I used Bakers Joy with flour in it. Pour it into the molds. Let bake about 12 minutes. They should pop out easily but you could use a wooden skewer to help pop it out if you need to. You can frost them or dip them in cinnamon sugar. You can also leave them plain, whatever you like is wonderful.

Homemade yogurt Try #1

2008-08-13T11:20:00.003-05:00

I made my first batch of yogurt and it tastes good! If you look at the picture it looks more like cottage cheese. The darker color is due to the fact I made vanilla flavor. I like the vanilla as it stains less if my daughter has a spill. I think I know where I went wrong as I messed up a few different steps. I added my entire yogurt to the milk at once and the directions said to add a small amount of milk to the yogurt and mix until smooth. That is why I think it looks chunky. I also don’t think I boiled the milk long enough yesterday. Today I boiled the milk longer and also made it super smooth before I put it in the little cups. I made them all plain except one that I made strawberry to see what it tastes like to cook it that way instead of adding the flavor after, which is what I did yesterday. At 8:30 tonight it will have sat on the heat for 10 hours so let’s see what happens. It does look different today as it is much smoother then yesterday.

42 oz of 2% raw milk from the local dairy (I am lucky) :)
6oz Stoneybrook Farms organic plain yogurt

Cook milk until boils and starts to crawl up the side I stirred it slowly to prevent burning, let cook 2 minutes. Then let sit till room temp or to speed it up use a ice water bath. I forgot to pull it out and it got very cold (another mistake from yesterday). Have the 6 oz yogurt in a bowl and add some of the milk that you let cool to room temperature, mix until smooth I whipped it to get it super smooth. Then if you have a machine divide into 6 oz cups (mine are glass) and set the timer for 8-10 hours depending on what your machine says. If you don’t have a yogurt maker you can look on http://www.seriouseats.com/ and they discuss other ways to make yogurt. One of the techniques is to use a heating pad. So come back tomorrow and we can see if I succeeded.

I think I will make yogurt smoothies with the batch that is lumpy.

1 banana
Cup of vanilla yogurt - I think it is runny enough I won't need milk
Half handful berries
Little bit of ice

Blend and eat

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

2008-08-12T23:25:00.003-05:00

I haven’t tried the hot “now” recipe from the NY Times because I forget to leave myself the resting time but these are awfully good. They are a nice simple go-to type cookie.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

8 oz block of chocolate broken up or a bag of chocolate chips

you can add nuts walnuts or pecans would be good about 1/2 cup ( I didn't)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 cookie sheets with silpat or a silicone sheet. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
Place the butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla and eggs. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and continue to mix until a smooth batter forms. Add the chocolate chips.

To form the cookies, scoop about 1/4 cup of cookie dough into your hands and roll it around into a ball; place them about 3-inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets; you should get about 4 cookies on each pan. Press down the tops of the dough slightly and bake until the cookies are light brown, 12 minutes for chewy cookies, or about 15 minutes for crispy cookies.
I use a scoop so that I don’t have to worry about hand forming matching sizes.

On a different note, my laptop computer is now trash. I got a Trojan virus that ate a great deal of my computer! How someone could find that fun is just……… Anyway I got a new Dell and it is PINK! I am very excited it should come by the end of the month so my posts may not be everyday until the end of the month but hopefully I will have no problem posting as my ice cream machine is coming on Thursday so tomorrow I will get my chocolate base ready and I will be posting how it goes.

See you soon. I hope you all have a healthy computer tonight :)

My laptop is sick!

2008-08-11T20:13:00.002-05:00

My laptop got a virus and isn't working so I am unable to download pictures today. I will be posting a super yummy chocolate chip cookie recipe tomarroso please come back. BTW you can't cath my virus - in case you were worried :) . Hubby sealed it off and now we have to repair the harddrive but all will be well soon. He is off to the big box store to see if they have what we need as we are nowhere near a computer shop.

Chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting!

2008-08-10T13:09:00.003-05:00

Ok, I am proud of my cake. It is a football helmet with a removable faceplate. I was trying to decide what to use it for when the Packers made a giant oopsie. I did a Jets cake, just for fun. My MIL & FIL are coming over for dinner and I though it would be a fun dessert. I made a chocolate cake and let it cool then I put a crumb coating of cream cheese frosting on it and put it in the fridge for the night. I took it out in the morning and let it get to room temp before smoothing it out and adding a fondant layer. The cake must not be cold or you WILL have fondant problems. Also please note that fondant really shouldn’t be put in the fridge unless you have no choice and it makes it gummy and doesn’t form properly. Trust me; I learned this the hard way! I used a cake recipe I got from foodnetwork.com
.

Chocolate cake

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/4 c vegetable oil

1 cup boiling water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl and slowly whisk in wet ingredients. This will be very loose. Don’t worry it bakes up perfect. Pour into greased 9 by 12-inch baking pan and bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool. If you are baking a large pan or a specialty pan cook as 325 for 50-80 minutes

I used my favorite cream cheese recipe as I thought it just sounded good and I had a package of cream cheese that I needed to use.

8 ounces cream cheese softened
1 stick unsalted butter softened

1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cream the butter, cream cheese and vanilla till fluffy. Slowly add the sugar with the mixer on low so you don’t make a giant mess. To make a crumb coating use it while still freshly made as it is much easier to smooth out.

For the rest of the dinner I am going simple stuffed baked pork chops and sweet potato casserole but (hopefully) the star will be my cake as I am really working on improving my decorating skills.

Summer is Yummy

2008-08-09T22:21:00.003-05:00

To many summer is tomatoes. NO SIR! Summer is corn bought of the back of a truck or from a neighbor so fresh you can smell the sugar. When you go to the market it is super cheap and super easy to prepare. I take a huge pot of water so that all the ears are submerged. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and a dash of salt throw in the corn, when the water is boiling start counting ten minutes. And boom dinner is ready! If the corn is super fresh I don’t add any sugar but that is very hard to find unless you are lucky (I am not). I read that corn starts to lose its sugar as soon as it is picked- I have no clue where I learned that but that is what I have always heard.

By the way come back later as I am making a cool chocolate cake I want you to see!

My day to burn!

2008-08-08T17:03:00.002-05:00

I was making strawberry cheesecake muffins today and didn’t hear the timer go off. After 45 minutes I started to smell that smell and lo and behold –black as night! Ok, so maybe I was distracted. I had ordered some cinnamon oil earlier in the week and it came today so I thought I would make some jolly ranchers. Cinnamon is hubby’s favorite flavor and so he asked me to make them so I was thinking of what time I would start them. I haven’t burned two things in one day in years! I was so annoyed with myself I made hubby go thru a drive thru for dinner as I was to nervous to cook. Oh well tomorrow is another day and I have cooking to do tomorrow as I need to make cookies and also the candy. I hope I don’t burn anything. Do you ever have a day when nothing at all goes right?

School lunches and my baby is growing up!

2008-08-07T17:13:00.002-05:00

I am so excited. School starts in 1 week! I will miss my little man but I am excited because he will now be in full time kindergarten, no more half day running around like when he was in pre-k. I am a little sad as I am used to having him around 24/7 so this may be a big change for both of us. I will be going to take him his lunch for the first 2 days of school to help him adjust to full days and then (hopefully) he can take his lunch himself in the mornings. I thought it would be fun to doll up his lunch and I know the bento style is very popular but I was worried he would have trouble with the boxes. I didn’t want him to get confused at school as he is autistic and could get vocal when confused. I did however decide to do a modified bento box. I bought a new fun item to help him smile when he opens his lunch box.

They are egg shapers. You put a shell removed hardboiled egg in it and close it. It creates a 3-d design on the egg. They are so hard to find so I snatched these up on eBay today. I was so excited to find them. I will post the lunch I make with them as I thought it would be fun to match the shape of his sandwich to the shape of the egg! I will only show him one shape to explain that it is an egg for him to eat and the rest of the shapes can be a surprise.

Please tell me if there are any tricks I need to know about using these egg shapers.

Homemade yogurt

2008-08-06T18:36:00.001-05:00

I have been following the person on www.seriouseats.com who is trying to make her own yogurt. (link here http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2008/08/homemade-yogurt-my-second-attempt.html) I have decided the easiest thing to do to make my own is to buy a yogurt maker. My town doesn’t have anywhere that would see this kind of item so I went to my friend the internet and as always I found just what I needed. Euro Cuisine YM100 Automatic Yogurt Maker Machine So needless to say I am excited. Yogurt is a big expense and my daughter loves it every morning. The first thing she says every morning is “ you get my ugert now right mommy” how she hates it when I run out. I don’t mind her love of it s it is a good choice for her breakfast. I am so excited to make my own sour cream and cottage cheese as well. Please let me know any good recipes you have for making your own milk products as I am having a dreadful time finding recipes. I will post recipes after I get my machine. I expect it to take about a week. I never ever get presents so this has been quite the week for me.

Hobby Lobby Lust

2008-08-05T18:45:00.003-05:00

I have a problem with loving craft shops. We have one tiny scrapbook store in my town and I desire every single thing it stocks. I already own about half but dream of the rest. Hobby Lobby however is a giant superstore of everything I need or want or think I might need sometime in the future. I went today as I am on the hunt for a specific type of cupcake holder. I didn’t find what I needed but I found much I wanted. I am now the proud owner of a frosting edger for around the outside edge of cakes as I can never get them to look right. I also got some different cupcake holders as they were on sale and therefore needed. I got some black gel food coloring as my local market never has it in stock. I can’t remember why I needed black but I am sure that I do. I put the football shaped cake pan on my personal wish list as I won a helmet cake pan on E-bay yesterday and have tons of football items like a crock-pot shaped like a football. Someday I might get friends and then I can have a super bowl party! I am excited to get busy using all my new tools to decorate cakes and cookies. We shall see if I can make anything amazing as every time I go to craft stores I get about a million ideas. I am thinking this might be a baking week as I have seen some really great recipes this week. I will report back tomorrow on what I picked to do first.

Oh I forgot that I already used some of my new toys. I made suckers using my new race car molds. It is important to remember to make sure any molds are high temp for hard candy as I made grape hard suckers and they are hotter then chocolate candy. I can guarantee that it is very hot as I really burned my finger badly. I make candy often but this is the first time I splashed myself. OUCH!!! I wish I knew what to use as the FDA says corn syrup is natural but I don't kno whaqt else to use so.....I do use corn syrup in my recipe. Here is the link to my recipe. Here is little man unable to wait to get one. The race cars have more definition in real life. the powdered sugar to keep them from sticking also highlights the details.

http://organicandnaturalmom.blogspot.com/2008/02/treat-day_27.html

Doggie Treats

2008-08-04T13:59:00.003-05:00

I have 2 dogs that are best friends. They love each other very much.Well I should say that I might only have one dog now. The dogs ran off after a rabbit Friday afternoon and we called and hunted for hours. We searched all weekend and then on Sunday my chocolate lab named Star was in her doghouse like she never left. My other dog is a miniature pincer named Chirrpy. She hasn’t come home yet so that makes 3 nights that a 10 lb 8 month old dog has been out on her own! Needless to say, I am extremely worried. The dog catcher said she would be on the lookout and give us a call if they find her. I am bursting with nervous energy as my other dog is so sad without her. Star just lies around the house and last night she cried for her. She is 8 months old as well. We got them 3 days apart after they were weaned. Anyway before I start crying I will move on. I thought it might cheer up Star to have a treat so I decided to make her some doggie biscuits. I used a website that I have enjoyed many times they have a lot of doggie treat options http://www.desertculinary.blogspot.com .

Pumpkin Canine Cookies

2 cups oats

1/2 cup butter

2 cups boiling water

5-6 cups whole wheat flour, divided

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 cup non fat milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup mashed pumpkin

Preheat the oven to 350

Lightly coat cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the oats, pumpkin, and butter in a large bowl.

Carefully pour in the boiling water.

Stir in 2 cups flour and remaining ingredients.

With a wooden spoon, mix until it forms into a big ball, adding flour as needed to make stiff dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface, adding flour as needed, until the dough taken on a roll able consistency. In total I used about 5 cups flour.Roll out the dough to 3/8 inch thickness. Cut out cookie shapes using your favorite cutters. Place them on the cookie sheets and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. Cool completely.

The only thing I did different is I used my mixer for the dough, instead of by hand. I also only baked them for 15 minutes as they were completely done in that time. I also used my silicone pan covers instead of spray oil.
I did taste it to see what the general taste is and it tastes like a non sweet cookie. I always taste what I make for the kids or the dogs as I assume if it tastes bad to me it will taste bad to them however I will not taste beef or chicken as that would be truly repulsive. :)

Sunday quick pasta dinner

2008-08-03T19:32:00.003-05:00

A good pasta sauce simmers slowly all day getting dark and thick. I did not have all day but I still think it came out delish. This is a perfect meal in 30 minutes start to finish. I think of the pasta sauce as cheater sauce as it is;

1 bottle of pasta sauce
1 med onion chopped
3 large cloves garlic, I grate it so they melt all away in the sauce.
16 oz mushrooms sliced thick so they hold up well
Pinch of rosemary
¼ handful of parsley dried as my herb plant is having “issues”
¼ handful dried oregano
I Mortar and pestle the herbs to release the oils
2 Tablespoons olive oil I used no meat and so I need the fat.
1/3 cup water

I get the oil hot add the garlic and onion and let sweat till onions are a bit translucent.. Ass the mushrooms and still so the mushrooms get a but of the garlic oil all over them then add the jar of pasta sauce and water and herbs. Let simmer about 30 minutes. While it cooks make whatever pasta you want. While the water is getting to the boil point get the garlic butter on the bread;

4 Tablespoons room temp butter
4 cloves of garlic grated or chopped fine
1 loaf Italian bread sliced in half

Have the oven preheated at 350 degrees. Mix the butter and garlic and spread over the bread pop into oven for 10 minutes. It is just the perfect mix of butter and garlic without it being greasy and after 10minutes it is lightly brown and crisp but not burned. I always mess up if I use the broiler so this takes care of that problem. I was buying my garlic bread but again a lot of unknown items for a small level of convenience. This I know exactly what I am eating and it isn’t greasy like the pre made bread tends to be, and really it is no work at all.

Hope all had a safe and happy weekend.

Update on the cookie flowers

2008-08-02T22:19:00.001-05:00

My sister loved it! She thought I bought it at a store!! That made me so happy.

Before I took it over to her I wrapped each flower in a clear poly décor bag and closed it with some curling ribbon. I sealed it as tight as I could so it would last so she could look at it for a few days before eating. I also wrapped a bright ribbon tied with a bow around it.

I didn’t get to see her when I dropped it off as she was having a very bad day and was asleep when I went over but her hubby took it for her. She called me later after she got up. She sounded so happy so I was pleased. It will be quite some time before she is better but I am glad I was able to make her smile.

Thank you to everyone for the compliments I really appreciated the advice and opinions of everyone.

Decorated Cookies as a Gift!!!

2008-08-01T14:27:00.004-05:00

I am so excited! Please tell me what you think as I am thinking I will give these to my sister as a get well gift. The round one says Get Well Sis with a funny face on it. I got a close up of it but it didn’t look great. The big yellow tulip is sparkly with yellow sugar on top. I made green fondant for the leaves. The cookies are a basic sugar cookie with royal icing. This is my first attempt at cookie decorating. I usually don’t decorate except for my carrot cake and I just do a lot of simple stars over the whole thing. I made a LOT of cookies before I got it right. The trick to keeping it on the stick is to put a ball of dough down then the stick the then flower on top. I would then use a piece of wax paper to gently push down to adhere it all together. This took the longest of time to get right as I tried a lot of different ways. I used a piece of wax paper to avoid finger marks and also it avoids sticking. The butterflies are a separate pic as I think they look ugly so I didn’t put them in the flower pot. I used brown/gold curling ribbon for dirt. I notice in the pic I have a few spots where you see the green of the foam so I will add more ribbon. PLEASE tell me if you think it is ugly as I am headed to my sister’s tomorrow. Here are the recipes I used.

Royal Icing From Wilton.com

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Meringue Powder
1 pound (4 cups) Confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons warm water

instructions

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer). Recipe makes 3 cups.
And then to thin it for filling the edges I added 1 teaspoon water per cup of royal icing but as it was a HOT day I kept a bowl of water and a measuring spoon and added ¼ teaspoon water as needed.

Sugar Cookies from Wilton.com

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) Butter softened
1 1/2 cups Granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon No-Color Almond Extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Salt

instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. In large mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in egg, vanilla and almond extracts. Mix flour, baking powder and salt; add 1 cup at a time to butter mixture, mixing after each addition.
3. Do not chill dough. - I did anyway it helped me work longer on the dough.
4. Divide dough into 2 balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball into a circle approximately 12 in. wide and 1/8 in. thick. Dip cookie cutter in flour before each use.
5. Bake cookies on ungreased cookie sheet on top rack of oven for 6-7 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned I used a silpat sheet to make it super easy to remove.
I didn’t have any almond extract so I used 2 teaspoon vanilla. These bake super fast I was really surprised.

Don't move the cookie right away LET THEM REST on the cookie sheet for about 10 minutes as it helps them set up. I rushed it at first and they were to soft I have about 50 1/2 daisies.:(
Thanks for any input you have.

Everything is new!!

2008-08-01T00:47:00.003-05:00

I have changed everything and hope it has a fresh new look. Please let me know what you think or if you hate it. I thought the brown was getting boring. Is the green better?I am learning so much as time goes by that I felt I could use a little spice. I thought this seemed a little crisper just like summer is crisp and bright. It is about 103 avg temp here in Oklahoma so I don't mean crisp as in cold, just as new and fresh. :)

Tool Time!!!

2008-07-31T15:28:00.002-05:00

It has been awhile since I got a new toy but I have been looking for a tortilla press. I have looked everywhere and last week I finally saw a Mexican grocery store and thought “ummm yeah hello go in” but sadly I didn’t have time until today. I got a wooden press that looks great. I love to make my own tortilla as they are so delish. Fresh made has a totally different flavor then the gummy store bought ones. I do buy the store bought ones as I don’t always have time to make my own. When I lived in St Louis there was a restaurant called Chevy’s Fresh Mex and they had no cans or pre made items allowed in their kitchen. They had a person who made their tortillas right there on a giant griddle type machine. I have spent the last 4 yrs looking for tortillas at every Mexican place but alas none compare. Before we moved to Indiana I bought the cookbook available in the restaurant so the following recipe is for amazingly perfect tortillas. Be warned they must be eaten fresh or they do get dry.

Chevy’s Famous Tortillas

Makes 16 8 in tortillas

6 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable shorting cut into small pcs
2 ½ cups warm water

Mix flour, baking powder and salt then add shorting turn mixer to low and add the water slowly. Mix about 2 minutes on low.

Scrape the dough out divide the dough in half- cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes. Divide each half into 8 balls. You will have 16 balls. Lightly flour your work surface. Roll out into 8 inch rounds stack the rounds with a piece of plastic wrap between each layer. Let rest 1 last time for 10 minutes. Heat your skillet medium heat and spray with vegetable oil spray. Cook for a minute on each side. You will see some brown spots and BOOM! It’s done

Basically it is a super fast recipe the main time is resting time. During that time is perfect to get the rice and other things going.

My perfect dinner

2008-07-30T19:30:00.001-05:00

I am feeling yucky tonight. I’m not sick just blahhhh. I made my second favorite feeling blah meal. My favorite is crepes and my next favorite is an egg sandwich. Not just plain egg but I lightly toast a slice of bread then slather strawberry jelly on top. No butter and NO grape jelly. I cook the egg until the white is set but the yolk is runny then add salt. I break the yolk on top the strawberry toast. To me this is bliss. It is sweet and salty and soft but crunchy but chewy. It is nice comfort after a long day. The kids love eggs for dinner because they love breakfast at night they always act like it is so silly.

update on the sushi experiment

2008-07-30T14:04:00.002-05:00

I made a few shrimp rolls extra as I thought they would be good the next day. I sealed them carefully to keep them moist and tight. They did not do well overnight. I think that may be the main difference with using sticky rice and using what I had; they got very dry and crumbly so I am going on another quest to find sticky rice tomorrow. If I can’t find sticky rice then I know that I must make less rice as the regular long grain doesn’t hold up well. I just thought I would let you know as I am sure other people have had trouble finding sticky rice and have tried other methods to make sushi.

Sushi Time

2008-07-29T17:11:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite things about living in Delaware was the sushi restaurants. They were everywhere and they were all so yummy even the grocery stores had it. Then I moved to Oklahoma where tuna comes in a can and that is it! I was at the market the other day and saw some dried seaweed and thought maybe the time had come to try my own. Well I must admit I am pleased. I was unable to find sticky rice anywhere so I decided to just wing it and I used regular rice. I laid out my sheet of seaweed put the rice on top in a even layer and used thinly, I mean super thinly, sliced onion and green pepper along with some shrimp. I used only what I had in the fridge because if it was repulsive I didn’t want to waste money. I loved it!!! I was surprised as I really didn’t plan ahead or I would have got a cucumber and made California rolls. What I did learn is roll as tight as I could and don’t stuff it or the seaweed will break (I cracked one).I also learned that it was a great way to use up some veggies. I am not a green pepper fan but I used some in my salsa so I had some in the fridge, because I sliced it so thin it had a slight taste and a nice crunch but didn’t overwhelm it. I am a fan of the empty the fridge roll and I think that it will become a staple in the house. :)

Yippee, it's Monday!

2008-07-28T22:21:00.002-05:00

Ok, I am not that happy it's Monday. I hope everyone had a great weekend. I normally stick to food but I had a super exciting weekend. I saw my niece for the first time in a decade. I was so happy to see her! She looks so much like my sister. My sister died 10 years ago but when I saw her daughter it was amazing how completely similar they are.

working on pictures

2008-07-24T12:08:00.002-05:00

I am having a dreadful time with pictures. They seem to photograph great but then I put them online and they look gross. I am having trouble editing them so if the pic isn’t as pretty as you are used to just think of it as yummy but ugly – that is what I should have called my blog. :) Bear with me I am working on the problem, thanks for viewing my site anyway.

SALSA!!!

2008-07-24T11:40:00.005-05:00

Why am I excited when I hate tomatoes? This is awesome salsa that is why. The hubby made it and that makes it pretty spectacular. It really is the best fresh salsa we have ever made. He chopped everything super tiny so the flavors really mixed well. We were unable to find any jalapeños at the market and we assumed it was due to the recall but we used some that had been pickled so it still had that great spice to it. I didn’t exactly measure it as we love onion so we added more and don’t care much for green pepper so we used less. I think you could add as much as you like and it would be yummy. If you like a lot of spice I would add more jalapeño. You could use a lemon or a lime for the acid and it would add another awesome layer of flavor. The way we did it it isn’t real “runny” but only has the juice from the melding of flavors so it taste really fresh and bright.

Hubby’s Salsa

3 tomatoes
¼ of an lg red onion
¼ green pepper
¼ c rings of pickled jalapeño
Big handful of cilantro
1 Tablespoon vinegar as I forgot to get a lemon
Salt to taste

Chop everything as fine as you are able. Mix it in a bowl. Add enough salt to help the tomatoes to juice up and flavor the salsa. Last step is to add the vinegar and then put in fridge at long as you can stand it. We only lasted about half an hour before we dug in and ate half, the other half is marinating in the fridge for tonight. I adore the scoops shaped chip more then any other type so that is what is in the pic. I am unable to find an organic chip in this town. I also haven’t found a good natural chip that I like. If you have one you like let me know as I am always on the hunt.

Just because

2008-07-23T09:39:00.003-05:00

UPDATE: Not all of these cakes may make you laugh as a coupla of the new one are slightly risque. I don't think any are NSFW but I just thought I would warn you.

This has to be one of the funniest sites because it is cakes people have paid for. This doesn’t make fun of the home baker or the person who is learning to decorate. Check out http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/ .

update on the dinner

2008-07-22T18:57:00.002-05:00

The hubby LOVED it! I was a little worried as it seemed dry to me. I am used to the cottage cheese/egg mix and just the ricotta was drier then my usual. He said that he preferred the ricotta. I may change my old style as he really liked it. So I guess it was better then fine after all.

Day 3 of Crock Pot cooking

2008-07-22T16:46:00.006-05:00

I made lasagna in my crock-pot. The picture is with the lid on as it steams up my lens otherwise. The cheese looks all bubbly and the noodles are peeking out,so i thought it looked tasty. I normally make my own pasta sauce but I really like an organic pasta sauce at the market so because of my bum ankle I assumed it would be fine. It is ….ok. Very plain, it appeals to my little ones but it doesn’t have the strong onion and garlicky smell and bite I am used to. I think the first problem is I was careless and grabbed the wrong bottle of sauce. I normally use an egg, cottage cheese and parsley mix and I only used ricotta cheese. It just seems flat. It is fine and acceptable I am sure hubby will eat it later as he is working late tonight. The recipe called for no spices AT ALL! What kind of a recipe is this? The sad thing was I was hurting and so I didn’t even notice the problem till it was too late. I still say this would be great if you tweak it a bit. I am going to post the recipe that I used with no changes.

Crock-pot Lasagna

1 lb bulk Italian sausage ( I didn’t use any meat)
1 26 oz jar of chunky pasta sauce
¾ c water
12 no boil noodles
1 15 oz ricotta cheese
1 8 oz pkg cheese (I used about 3 cups)

Cook the sausage
Add water and the pasta sauce together with the sausage
Start layering with the noodles and the ricotta cheese just like always except you are doing it in a crock-pot. I lined my crock-pot with a bag made for that purpose- it makes a huge difference in cleanup time.

Cover cook low for 4-6 hrs or high for 3 hrs

How odd is it no mention on onion or garlic? I would add it to the sausage or whatever meat you like to use and sauté it with some parsley, oregano and maybe a pinch of rosemary.

I still think this is a great option to pop in for dinner after work. This recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens Dinnertime Easy Slow Cooker Recipe book.

frito chili pie

2008-07-21T19:36:00.002-05:00

Well as expected I had no desire to stand in the kitchen and cook. I soaked a bag of dried pinto beans (16 oz, I think) overnight. I rinsed them this morning and popped them into the slow cooker with a medium onion rough chopped in larger pieces. I prefer to have larger chunks so that as it cooks all day they don’t melt into the sauce to much. I covered the beans with water and set it on high. At noon I added about ¼ cup of chili seasoning and 3 cloves of garlic that I super fine chopped and smashed. I then served it for dinner over Frito chips with finely chopped raw onion and cheese with a dollop of sour cream. I did not get a picture as I am terrible at remembering to photograph my food. This meal was rapidly consumed by my entire family so I feel safe saying it was delish. I was worried about the pinto beans having a good flavor as I normally don’t slow cook dried beans but this week I am experimenting every day with a different recipe. Tomorrow I think I will try slow cook lasagna that looks so nice and easy. I normally make my own sauce but due to the ankle issues I am using a bottled organic sauce that I think is really good. I will go into it tomorrow.

Well, I broke my ankle!

2008-07-20T21:04:00.002-05:00

I can’t believe I could do that. I hurt it Thursday and have been being pampered for several days. I am in a walking cast or as my daughter calls it a “ robot foot”. She is three and thinks it is a funny shoe. I have no idea how I did but it is nice to be taken care of. Today I started getting up and around a bit. I was hungry for crepes but my hubby only knows how to cook frozen burritos I was out of luck. I have wanted crepes for 2 days as it is my comfort craving. I suddenly had inspiration and decided to make a Dutch baby. I could mix it and then rest while it baked. It satisfied my cravings and made me happy.

INGREDIENTS
¾ c flour
3/4 cup milk
1 pinch salt
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Put the 2 T butter in the pan in the oven to make it melt and preheat the 9 inch pie or cake pan.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, milk, eggs and salt. Stir until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. Or, you can do it in the blender it makes it smooth as silk and no need to wash a mixing spoon.

Swirl the butter to coat the bottom of the hot pan and dump the smooth mix into the pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees cooking for additional 10 - 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

You can dust with powdered sugar or put fresh berries on top. You can even use jam or pie filling. Basically anything you like you can dress this up to pure yummyness.

Sorry I have no picture, I ate it before I even thought about it!

So tomorrow I want something that requires no standing time so I decided to do a crock-pot bean chili. I think this will be a long week. :)

Carrot Cake was a HIT!

2008-07-11T22:16:00.001-05:00

So the carrot cake was delicious and everyone seemed to like it. There were 23 family members at dinner at our family get together. I forgot to take a pic of my cake with my camera so I just took a quick pic with my phone. I will download it later as I am extremely tired from this exhausting day. Here is the carrot cake recipe I used. I got the recipe from Foodnetwork.com

Gigi's Carrot Cake
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002

3 sticks, plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped toasted pecans (I used Walnuts)

Pecan Cream Cheese Icing:
8 ounces cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped toasted pecans (I used Walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter 3 (9-inch) cake pans with 1 tablespoon of the butter and set aside.
I sprayed with organic pan spray
In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer.
Add the sugar, and beat. In a medium bowl or on a piece of parchment, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the eggs, beating well after the addition of each. Add the vanilla extract and mix. Add the carrots and beat on medium speed until well incorporated, about 2 minutes. Fold in the nuts. Divide between the 3 cake pans and bake until set and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest in the cake pans for 10 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, remove from the pans, and let cool.

For the Frosting: In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, beating constantly. Add the vanilla and pecans.
I did NOT add the nuts into the frosting as i thought it would look ugly I set them aside to use around the outside.
When the cake is cool, place 1 cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread the top with cream cheese frosting and top with a second and third cake layer, spreading the icing between each layer. Spread the icing around the sides of the cake and let harden slightly before serving. To serve, cut into wedges. I used a large star tip to put the icing on so I doubled the recipe. I did a crumb layer and then added a thicker layer after I refrigerated it. I was very pleased with the outcome.

Family Time!!!!

2008-07-09T22:39:00.002-05:00

I am so excited. My family is getting together on Friday/Saturday and much of my extended family I haven’t seen since my wedding (12 yrs ago). I am making the desserts. I am making my “famous” triple choco brownies that I have blogged about before here http://organicandnaturalmom.blogspot.com/2008/04/peanut-butter-chocolate.html
I am going to use white chocolate and milk chocolate instead of peanut butter. I am also doing a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I will blog about the recipe and do a pic later tonight. I am nervous and I hope that everyone will be pleased.

On Saturday we are all going to Woolaroc in Bartlesville, OK it is a really neat nature and Indian museum. It has buffalo roaming all over and it is very interesting. This is the town I grew up in and also the world headquarters of Phillips 66. This is just a side note to the point but it is a lovely spot to visit especially in the summer as they have a sweet petting zoo.

I am trying to decide if I should also make some fresh bread as there will be about 25 of us(yikes)! I want it to be a little easier on my mom as this is a event bigger then my mom usually has in her home.

I will post recipes and pictures later tonight.

My name is Amanda and I am addicted to bacon.

2008-07-08T08:39:00.001-05:00

I do not like meat. I generally cook it for only my hubby and the kids and I don’t eat it. The kids can eat whatever they want I do encourage them to eat meat and veggies as small children do need to eat a wide Varity of food to grow well, they just aren’t big fans of meat. I digress I can go weeks or months with no meat – why not years you ask. BACON is my weakness. The funny thing is I don’t eat any other pork i.e. pork chops or pork steak or sausage but bacon I adore. I wish I could break my love for bacon, every time I eat bacon I feel I should send a donation to PETA. I know that many of you love meat and eat it often and I would never ever judge you for loving animal so I do post meat recipes but it is not something I like. I never did even as a child.

Ok, I feel better now that I have gotten this off my chest. :)

Long time no see

2008-07-07T10:13:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone,

I am very sorry that I haven’t posted in awhile. I was so surprised to realize it has almost been 2 months! I have been very busy in that time. I gutted my master bathroom and put in a new tub and vanity and am going to add some cabinets. It seems so much bigger now. The bathroom was light yellow everything tub, sink, walls, EVERYTHING - it always looked dirty and dark. Now it is all white and bright. I am trying to decide what color to do the walls they are white for now but I am thinking of doing a color. I am so proud of all our work as it has been just me and my hubby that did everything. My brother helped gut the bathroom and cut the tub in half but after it was gutted it was all me and the hubby. We also laid a wood floor down so we have been working very hard. I have not been cooking big meals as we are so tired at the end of the day we have been eating a lot of sandwiches. I did make some yummy pancakes the other night for dinner.

My kids love breakfast for dinner.

Pancakes adapted from FoodNetwork.com

3 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 tablespoons unsalted butter or oil , plus more as needed

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, beat the eggs and then whisk in the milk, vanilla and oil.

Let rest for a few min and then drop by ¼ cup onto a hot oiled griddle. Flip over after bubbles are on pancakes.

This makes a lot of pancakes. I prefer smaller pancakes but I make 2 large ones for my hubby.

I also made some bacon I got from my local butcher. So all were happy.

Slow Cooked veggie soup - hubby approved!!

2008-04-12T17:34:00.002-05:00

I was startled to realize how long it has been since I posted. I have been busy looking for the perfect new fridge. I found one!!!!! I am super excited. I also got a new dishwasher, soon I will have a whole new kitchen. Today I have 2 sick kids and a husband that is crankier then the kids so i needed something that i wouldn't have to think about but could cook thru the day. I rarely use my slow cooker, I have no clue why as it is a wonderful appliance and super handy. So today was the a soup kinda day. With my new fridge coming I needed to use up my food so that it will be no big deal to switch over. This soup was so good my hubby ate 2 bowls! He even paid me a compliment, which is not normal.

Amanda's Great When You Feel Cruddy Soup (working on the name)

24 oz chicken stock (canned or homemade) could use veggie stock if want meat free

1 onion chopped

7 stalks of chopped celery I used the leaves too

1/2 yellow pepper

1/4 orange pepper

1 reg size can chickpeas rinsed

1 reg size can chopped tomatoes with juices

3 chicken bouillon cubes low salt or else don't add salt later

4 medium potatoes chopped in bite size chunks

about a 1/4 c of fresh basil and fresh parsley (from my window)

about 1/4 of fresh herbs for later too

1 sm zucchini add 30 min before serving

I threw everything in the pot at noon on high, at 4:30 I added the zucchini and it was ready at 5 pm. About 5 min before serving I added the fresh herbs I hand shredded to small bits. By adding the herbs in the beginning and again at the end it gives you more depth of flavor. I added about 2 teaspoons salt and to clear our noses LOTS of pepper i think I did about 30 grinds, but it was not strong it was just right-but if you are not sick i would maybe use just 15 grinds. This filled my big crockpot so i am thinking i will make grilled cheese sandwiches and soup tomorrow for lunch.

Something Fresh!!!

2008-04-03T17:06:00.001-05:00

Don’t tell Whole Foods but I am cheating on them. I went to Reasor’s the other day and the veggies looked amazing! I got red, orange and yellow peppers all for only 50 cents each. Wow, as normally they are about 2.50 each I was excited they also had great squash. So last night I made a simple squash fry. I used one small yellow squash and wished I had made more as the hubby took most.

1 yellow chopped in about ¼ in pcs squash
¼ orange pepper chopped
1 teaspoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced

I melted the butter added the olive oil, and then simmered the garlic in it for a minute. Then threw in the veggies stirred it up and let it cook about 10 min. SOOO good I loved the taste and it was nice and garlicky. If you don’t love garlic I would use less as this is a small amount of veggies. I used my tiny fry pan. I am thinking I might make this again tonight. I am glad to see some pretty things as you know I have been whining on the lack of veggies. I also saw asparagus finally but there was only one bunch left so none for me, today anyway.

So finally I can say Welcome Spring and, of course, living in the Midwest Welcome Tornadoes.

Peanut butter + chocolate

2008-04-01T21:00:00.002-05:00

Yummy, I love math! Today I made
Reese’s Peanut Butter And Milk Chocolate Brownies.
It is from the Best Loved Hershey’s cookbook my dear friend and sister in law,Lorry, got for me. I have been collecting cookbooks from second shops and tag sales but she bought me a thick luscious new book that lies flat and has thick glossy pages. It is a pretty book just to look at but this is delish.

¾ c Hershey’s coca
½ teaspoon baking soda
2/3 c organic butter melted you will split this up
½ c boiling water
2 c fair trade organic sugar
2 cage free organic eggs
1 1/3 c flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 full pkg peanut butter chips
1 c milk chocolate chips I did closer to 2 cups to make it super chocolatee

1. heat oven to 350 degrees grease a 13x9x2 pan. I like to line with release foil and it makes for quick cleanup.

2. stir together coca and baking soda. stir in 1/3 c butter and boiling water stir until it thickens. then add the eggs, sugar and remaining 1/3 c butter. Add flour, vanilla and the salt. Blend completely. Stir in the chips. Pour into pan.

3. bake 35 minutes until it pulls away from the sides. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cut it how you like it.

4. try not to eat entire pan.

It took 30 min to cook in my oven. This looks amazing, it has a crackly glossy top. I think we have another hit because my husband was panting as I mixed it up. The smell was so strong of chocolate it was amazing.

$$$$ and groceries

2008-03-31T18:09:00.002-05:00

I am sure everyone that reads my blog is super rich and hasn’t noticed high prices at the grocery store.:) Here in the mid west prices on everything are going up. I have family in Indiana and they buy less because prices are so high there. I am noticing how hard it is to buy healthy as the prices are so high. Do you notice that junk food is cheap and things that are good for you are a fortune? I wonder who thought that plan up. I notice that to buy organic is harder then before and there aren’t even any veggies that look good. Where are the veggies? I haven’t seen any good looking veggies in about 4 weeks. I don’t count onions or potatoes by the way. Onions and garlic is more like air, it is in everything I make. I thought it was asparagus time but I have yet to see any. I am hoping that soon will be farmers market open and maybe then……I am feeling forlorn from the lack of ingredients available. Do you have this problem? Am I alone? I am having trouble even thinking up recipes or trying some in my file tonight I made Papa John’s pizza. I had onion and mushroom. Yummy! Here is my recipe

Call in
They deliver
Open box
Inhale the smell
Dish up for kids
Dig in

This is a complicated recipe but worth all the steps.

I hope that everyone had a great March and I welcome a new month as the chance for great things and hopefully great veggies.

The cookies were a HUGE hit!!!!

2008-03-26T15:40:00.002-05:00

Everbody loved the cookies. They were all eaten in less then a hour! Hubby had to hid a few for his afternoon snack or he wasn't going to get any. I am so glad my baking groove is back. Now to think of next week.......

TREAT DAY

2008-03-25T19:06:00.002-05:00

Ok, I think I got my groove back. Today I made a super delish triple chocolate chip cookie. I had trouble making them as I kept sampling the batter. I was going to make chocolate chip muffins but it called for sour cream and I was out. I thought that was unexpected in the list so I wasn't prepared

Triple Choco Cookies adapted from allrecipes.com

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. I actually cooked more like 13 min but I use a large cookie scoop. This makes about 30ish for the size scoop I have but I bet you could make more as my scoop is large.

I didn’t use any nuts as I am out at the moment but I think that would be a delish addition to the cookie. I used a mix of white and milk chocolate chips but I think you could use dark and milk or any combo you like. I am pretty much over my cold so this should be great for everybody (hopefully). I am more worried then usual after last weeks debacle. I do have a reputation as a fabulous cook to uphold after all:) .

Polenta New Item Of The Week

2008-03-24T19:30:00.000-05:00

This is something I heard about and saw but never made. I was at whole foods last month and scooped some out of the bulk bins. It has just been sitting and waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. I thought it was much harder then it was, so I brushed aside my fear and boiled some water. It tasted a bit like grits so I thought you could doll it up or down easily. I just took a little bowl to taste it and I liked it. The rest I poured while hot into a loaf pan to get hard. I am planning to slice it and roast it until crispy, I heard that’s yummy

6 cups boiling water
1 cup polenta that is how the bin was labeled
About 1 t of salt you could do however much or little you like

Whisk the polenta into the boiling water so it’s not lumpy and just stir till it firms up it took like two min I turned the heat lower as I stirred as it bubbled furiously and I didn’t want to get burned or burn it. I was surprised how fast it cooked I thought it would take an hr I was misinformed but I love how fast it was a super easy side dish. I saw something that used spicy shrimp in the middle while it is still hot and soft so I may try that next. If you do something yummy please share as I love “new item of the week” time

Update on TREAT DAY

2008-03-24T19:21:00.000-05:00

Well as you know I have a cold so I tried the cookies and thought they were bland but fine. I was WRONG about the fine part. One person actually spit it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK so flavorless in a nasty way. these are now on the NO list for repeats. About half the cookies came home! This is the first time this happened. Hubby told everyone I had a cold and they didn’t want to hurt my feeling but the comments weren’t kind. I was fine with that as I tried a new recipe but I was embarrassed. This didn’t help my slump but I have kind of taken the week off from cooking so I am ready to get out of my slump. I am making the tripe chocolate muffins for treat day so hopefully they are well liked and it can knock me out of my slump. I will post the recipe tomorrow.

Thanks to all who have commented I just so excited when I get a comment. Thanks for being there worldwide as I succeed and fail. Hey, we all learn sometime right?

TREAT DAY

2008-03-19T09:27:00.001-05:00

I forgot to get cocoa powder so my thrice chocolate muffins are out. I am also almost out of brown sugar and white sugar! I know, I was surprised too. So I did some hunting to see what I had and I decided to make 2 different treats that have nothing to do with each other. I made my “famous” cinnamon suckers. I also made something new Lemon Poppy seed Cookies. They were a two day process as you let them sit in the fried for at least 3 hrs after mixing so I just did it for overnight. I made them Monday, baked them Tuesday and he took them this morning. Hubby liked them

½ c white sugar
2 T brown sugar
½ t salt
12 T or 1.5 sticks unsalted butter
2 t vanilla extract
1 ½ c flour
¼ c poppy seeds
1T lemon zest

mix white and brown sugar till combined and brown sugar is not lumpy add softened butter mix for about 30 seconds
scrape down sides and add flour pulse till dough forms
add poppy seeds and lemon zest and just combine it in
turn out onto a floured surface and roll out about a 10 in long I made it more like 14 inches but the end cookies were smaller. Wrap in plastic wrap and keep in fridge a few hours it will harden up quite a lot. Then you simply slice about ¼ in thick and bake in a 350 oven for 15 min they aren’t brown they look the same color as raw I left one batch in about 5 min to long and they got brown I actually like them a little browner they had a nice crunch.
This recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen. They recommend that you use a food processor but I used my beloved mixer before I noticed the fine print about the processor I modified the lemon zest as they used orange. But my kitchen is getting low on supplies and so I had lemon already so that is what I used.
I felt this were good but not spectacular. I still have my cold but they just seemed a little bland I thought about dipping them in chocolate but I thought with the poppy seeds it might be worse rather then better. They were fine and had a buttery feel and nice crunch.

Lost my mojo

2008-03-17T09:43:00.002-05:00

I think I lost my mojo. I can’t seem to cook anything or at least I have no desire to. Ahh well I am gonna have to get it back as I have not been cooking all week! I think I may have the answer in treat day. I found a recipe for triple chocolate muffins that sound divine. I will post when I make them, I have to go to the store a get cocoa powder first, as it is not a staple item for me. I don’t usually need it as I normally only use chunk chocolate and rarely make a batter out of it.

Due to the fact I have not felt like cooking I have some veggies that are looking sad so I figured I would make a goulash type dish and use everything up.

2 green peppers
1 sweet yellow onion
4 cloves garlic (you could use less)
I softened all that up and then browned
1 lb ground buffalo it has no fat so it didn’t add a lot of grease like hamburger would
If you use hamburger I would cook it first drain the fat then add the veggies to soften
2 large cans of chopped tomatoes with juice
3 T basil
1 t sage as it seems to have a strong taste I use less
1T ground pepper
It is almost like a pasta sauce but I thought pasta would not be great so I added
4 c veggie stock I use organic whole foods brand
2 cups rice
and just let it simmer on med heat for about 45 min because the water didn’t boil like regular rice it takes a few extra minutes to get the rice soft.

UPDATE: Hubby did not love it he said it was bland but with my cold i thought it was good.
so if you wantto make it you can spice it up more to your liking.
I made it early in the day to feed my husband when he comes home for lunch. He works about 4 min away so he usually comes home for lunch. I don’t feel like making bread this early so I can’t make sandwiches.

A note about buffalo- I love it because it is so low fat. The first time I cooked it I was amazed that no fat dripped off! I always cook hamburgers in a George Forman grill so it is not so fatty. We also prefer the taste as it is just a nicer feel in the mouth, that sounds weird but it is hard to describe. It is a lot like hamburger just less fatty. I usually get it at whole foods they have it in the meat dept but now that I have my new butcher I was so pleased he carried it as well. It is about the same price as lean hamburger. I even made simple burgers for a little group dinner and we didn’t tell them what the meat was till dinner was over but everyone wanted to know what I did different, they all were surprised it was buffalo. They all loved it.

no TREAT DAY

2008-03-12T20:18:00.001-05:00

If you are wondering where the treat is I fell down some stairs and bruised my hip yesterday(prime baking time). I am fine simply bruised my hip but they where very nice and said they missed the treat but I can make something extra good next week. I ‘m thinking brownies? Just wanted to let you know no yummies this week.

Spring is COMING!!!!

2008-03-12T19:52:00.001-05:00

I am so happy that spring is coming. It is 80 degrees in Oklahoma today. I have fresh veggies dancing in my head. I just found out about a farmer co-op here that I am trying to join. But I don’t know if there is an opening so I am waiting to hear. I miss light and airy veggies and all the varity spring offers. I love broccoli but I would like something else. I am excited to compare the farmers market’s here as opposed to out east in Delaware where I lived last spring/summer. I think that every state I have lived in has a different variety I have lived from Oklahoma to Delaware/ Maryland so I (favorite was Florida) have the east side covered. In the 13 yrs I have been married this is our 10th state so I think we should head to California next but I think we are settling in to stay.

I thought I would do a perfect boiled egg today as spring is coming and that is the eggy season. Also I haven’t posted anything about food and I am feeling guilty. I put as many eggs fit to cover the bottom of my pan, mine holds 14- oddly enough. Then I use cold water to cover throw in 2 T salt and bring to a rolling boil while tightly covered. Put heat on lowest setting after the boil starts and leave for 10 min. pull off the heat and run cold water over it. This should give you a lovely bright yellow yolk with absolutely no grayish tinge. Perfect for slicing in salads or any other egg needs.

Junk Mail

2008-03-12T17:45:00.001-05:00

This is more of an environment post then a food post. I hate junk mail it is annoying and completely not needed. I never even look at all the stuff I just stick it straight in the recycling. I always wished there was a do not mail list kinda like the do not call list. This is a petition to make a do not mail list I thought that was pretty cool so I thought I would link up. http://donotmail.org/index.php so just give it a click and we can see what happens.

less fat then Mcdee's but just as good

2008-03-11T07:52:00.003-05:00

Since I have been diagnosed with diabetes I have now lost 12 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am extremely excited (can you tell?) I have been trying to be super careful because you can eat healthy and still manage to make sweets. For proof see last week’s treat picture, organic chocolate chip cookies. This website isn’t a “diet” blog but I felt so happy I will likely still share when things are going well. The goal of organic and natural eating is to be healthier and be kind to the earth. Weight loss results in a healthier and happier body so it works out for everyone. This morning I was hoping for a mcdee type breakfast so I used a whole grain English muffin and 1 egg scrambled with a little onion and green pepper. This was a great way to add a little veggie early in the day. I toasted my muffin and used Smart Start butter, I miss real butter but I changed at my cardiologist request. I buttered the kid’s muffin with real organic butter. I used a bit of cheese one thin slice of cheddar, about an ounce. Then I simply stacked it up so easy and I got the taste of a buttery biscuit without all the gross things they slather on the biscuits. I don’t always have time to make eggs in the morning but the kids were up by six am that should be against the law, as I don’t have to get up till 7 am. This was a nice change to cook a warm breakfast mid week as the term stay at home mom should be changed to sitting in the minivan mom.

Out of Town

2008-03-10T08:27:00.001-05:00

I have been out of town this weekend. I went to a town in Oklahoma called Muskogee. We went out to dinner and it was so wonderful. We went to an Italian restaurant called Johnny V’s. I had the shrimp scampi with fettuccini Alfredo. This is not a meal I would usually cook but it is more of a treat food. The portions were huge and I could share my meal with my 2 and 4 year old and still have leftover for sunday breakfast. I enjoy having someone else cook for me for a change. This is a small town and not a lot of choices as far as places to eat but I feel we had a good time and made a good choice. I hope everyone had a great weekend.

WOW 300 people have seen my site!!!!

2008-03-07T13:43:00.001-06:00

Wow, I am so happy that so many people have looked at my site. I have had so many changes to my life in the past month and I am happy that people want to see how and what I am cooking. Thank you so much for being there. Thanks for putting up with all my errors as I learn how to blog. This has been a great month and I promise to add more pictures and get better at my punctuations!

I got a new toy!

2008-03-06T13:48:00.001-06:00

My husband works dreadful hours. He leaves at 5 am and sometimes isn’t home till midnight. I try to have food ready so if he walks in at 7 or 9 I have something ready. This is not easy. I cook dinner for the kids at 5pm but he is rarely home then. I found a gadget that cooks a frozen chick breast in 9 min yes start to finish 9 min. I can prepare chicken or meat before in a marinade and throw it in when he is on the way home. I was leery to spend 100 dollars on a new product but on sale 50 percent off I decided to give it a whirl. It is called the Rocket Grill. It has parchment bags it cooks the food in so there is zero cleanup. I was concerned about the bags as I try to leave as small a carbon footprint as possible but it is paper so I thought I could recycle it. I love that because it cooks in the bag there is no cleanup time. Let’s face who wants to clean the kitchen again after you already did it right? So last night I made a simple garlic and balsamic vinegar breast. I threw a couple of cloves of garlic in with the breast and it cooked PERFECT. I made a quick dinner a 8 pm and cleanup took just 30 seconds. All in all I am happy and now if I forget to defrost I can still cook a healthy and delicious dinner.

TREAT DAY the picture !

2008-03-04T21:22:00.003-06:00

This is my very first picture! I used a dvd on the bottom to show the size. i used a 1/4 measuring cup and then pressed down. I put a normal one on top to show the luscious chocolate and walnuts better. I did about 10 super size and the rest are small using a tablespoon scoop so each on is the same size. I assumed not everyone would like a big one so I tried to cover everyone.

rice cookers

2008-03-04T17:55:00.001-06:00

I am a lone wolf, at least that is how I feel lately regarding kitchen gadgets. Am I the only person in the world who doesn’t have a rice cooker? Every blog I read and every site I visit comments on their rice cooker. What happened to using a pot on the stove? For about 6 mos last year I lived in a 20 foot long trailer it was about 7 feet wide. I had 1 husband and 2 kids living with me so it was slightly crowded. My kitchen (including storage) was about 2 feet total, no you read that right, 2 feet. I learned on this voyage what a person REALLY needed. I was surprised to discover I didn’t need a lot. My large and luscious kitchen aid mixer was in storage as it was the same size as my stove. I had a mini rechargeable mixer system that hung on the wall to replace it. I also had no room for extras like a salad spinner or extra appliances. I had 1 nonstick fry pan and one larger cast iron pot for everything else. That is right 2 pans. Now I am in a larger place with all my bits and pieces and I wonder what I did without it! I do not however have a rice cooker. I am wondering if I need it as I never needed one before but I am thinking I need what the rest of the pack has. I love kitchen items. I read kitchen magazines with lust in my heart. Napa style catalog has so many types of salt I have no clue what they are for, but they are pretty. I pour over the catalogs dreaming of what I need and then I realize I don’t need a two hundred dollar olive oil bottle. I think for now I will leave the rice cooker on the shelf. I make rice rarely so I probly don’t need one but I bet I will need it later after I dwell on my desire. I’m gonna need a bigger kitchen.

TREAT DAY

2008-03-04T16:45:00.001-06:00

It is treat day again and I decided to make a simple chocolate chip and walnut cookie. I discovered my hubby has eaten all the walnuts but I went to the store and got more as I think the cookies need it. I forgot to make a yummy last week so this time I thought - easy but fun. I decided to make them jumbo size to make them a little different. Instead of using a tablespoon I will do a ¼ cup that is a nice size for holding I thought. I decided to go fancy or unique as home cooking seems to be most popular; they still seem perplexed by the pumpkin cookies.

I am so happy that they like my treats. It makes it fun when I am appreciated even for something simple. I know the parents out there can understand that. Now I still need to make dinner and the kids are fighting ahhh, normal life. Have a healthy and happy day.

Sunday is In-Law Day

2008-03-02T12:54:00.001-06:00

Every Sunday that we can my mother and father in law come to dinner. They live across the road from us and I try to make sure we see them often as my kids love them. Today I am thinking a large roasted chicken. I got a gorgeous chicken from my new butcher and it is rather large so this is perfect. I am going to make a lemon and onion stuffed chicken. I cook my chicken longer then I have seen other people do but I love a super crispy skin. I salt and pepper inside and out and put a cut up lemon inside and squeeze the juice of another lemon on the outside. I have a few potatoes roaming about so I will cut up some red potatoes and put around them, they can all roast at the same time. I love onion so I cut up one onion inside and another cut up outside with a clove or four of garlic. I use onion and garlic like some people use salt and pepper. I will pop it all into the oven at 2 pm at 350 degrees and will serve it at 5 pm.

I am not making a loaf of bread because if I can’t have any no one can. I am still in phase 1 of south beach so I haven’t make bread once this week. I normally bake a fresh loaf every morning but the smell is just so yummy I don’t want to be tempted. My husband is starting to whine about the lack of bread but one more week and I can start to add it back in.
I must go and clean my living room so I can pretend it isn’t always covered in cars and trains. :)Have a restful Sunday.

National Pig Day

2008-03-01T11:53:00.002-06:00

According to the wonderful people at http://www.seriouseats.com/ it is national pig day. Now if that isn’t a reason to celebrate what is?
I have been looking for a local butcher that knows his meat and I found one! This may not excite you but in tiny towns in Oklahoma that have a wal-mart and NOTHING else- this is great news. They smoke all there own meat and I happen to have gotten bacon on my voyage yesterday. I am thinking I will make a tuna salad inside a tomato with bacon on the top, still healthy enough to please my cardiologist and yet plenty of tasty bacon.
I believe bacon should be its own food group. I am not normally a fan of meat. I was deeply saddened by the recent news on cattle mistreatment and I rarely ate meat until my doc said no more pasta. BUT, I always loved bacon I know it seems like a double standard and it is- I admit it. If I was stuck on an island with one food I more then likely would pick bacon, even thou I don’t love other parts of the pig i.e. pork chops. Don’t ask me why I am just a little crazy I assume.
More importantly - What will you eat on pig day?

TREAT DAY

2008-02-27T10:33:00.003-06:00

OH NO, I forgot it was Wednesday! I was just preparing to make tomorrow’s treat when I realized today is Wednesday. Not feeling well makes it easier to mix up the days and I was feeling kinds puny this week. I called my hubby and everyone was wondering where the treat was. I did make suckers yesterday, for one of the guys who asked for cinnamon last week. My hubby just told them that is the treat so ….. I may make them something for tomorrow.

I use the highly concentrated flavor you get in the tiny bottle, it is the perfect amount. The smell was so strong when I added the flavor my husband in the next room asked if I spilled an extra bottle. I was worried the flavor would be to strong but once they were shaped and cooled the flavor was perfect. I don’t use artificial colors in my suckers and the cinnamon flavor has no color so they were a light carmely color. They were a big hit with the guys but I better make some cookies for tomorrow.

2 c fair trade organic sugar
1 c water
2/3 c light corn syrup
Powdered sugar for later

Stir till the sugar dissolves and then let it boil without stirring till the candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees then take off heat let the boiling sugar settle and then add 1 dram of flavor. Any flavor is the same recipe I made grape last week for the kids. Immediately start to put in molds or just pour into a silicone pan once cool break it apart. Put it in a plastic bag and add a little powder sugar about a teaspoon should be enough. Shake it up and it will keep the candy from sticking. If you use a mold or make a cute design you can sprinkle more delicately so you don’t break them up. You can use sticks or not depending on what your needs are I use both. I also lay sticks in a silicone mat and with a teaspoon pour a little on each stick I go back after they cool for a minute and add another layer so they are a little thicker but just make sure the sticks are not to close. Just do this quickly as they set up fast as soon as it comes off the heat it starts to set up.

It does seem to take a few minutes to go from 225 to 300 degrees but just leave it alone and let it boil without stirring or bothering it.I always want to rush it but I try to be patient.

Tonight is Sesame Chicken with Broccoli and Brown Rice Night

2008-02-23T22:25:00.004-06:00

This is a great meal for company as it smells good and looks good. We used to order Chinese delivery at least once a week but as I try to cook at home more and no one delivers in this town I found this. It smells just like our favorite sesame chicken takeout but I used sweet rice that adds to the sweet flavor of the dish. I used bulk rice from Whole Foods that still has the outer hull. This had a nice flavor and even the kids liked the chicken.

Sesame Chicken with Broccoli and Brown Sweet Rice

1 cup organic brown rice
6 tablespoons local honey
4 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted till slightly golen
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 organic garlic clove, minced
2 large free range egg whites
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 pounds boneless/skinless organic free range chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2"chunks
salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds organic broccoli, cut into large florets

Cook rice according to package instructions.
In a small bowl, whisk together honey, sesame seeds, soy sauce and garlic.
In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites and cornstarch.
Add chicken, season with salt and pepper and toss well to coat.In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Place half of the chicken into the skillet - cook, turning occasionally, until golden and cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and repeat with remaining tablespoon oil and chicken. Place all of the chicken back into the skillet and pour in the honey sauce - toss well to coat and remove from the heat.Meanwhile, roast broccoli until crisp-tender, about 44 min.
Serve sesame chicken over the rice and broccoli.
Makes about 4 servings

New Healthy Diet May be to Late

2008-02-21T11:26:00.001-06:00

Well I come from a long line of diabetics and now it is my turn. I had a bunch of blood work done and it appears I am now a diabetic with high cholesterol. I am on a new diet from my doc for 2 weeks no bread no sugar and even no fruit!!!! Argggg! Will I survive it? I am still planning to feed my family the same as always and just modify my plate. We eat healthy enough that it might work ok. I have not always been as concerned about eating more fruits and veggies so I am glad they are already a part of my and the kids diet so this won’t be a big change. If you are wondering I am 31 and my kids are 2 and 4. I will still be adding yummy items but I may need to have my hubby to describe the taste. :( Have a happy and healthy weekend.

TREAT DAY

2008-02-20T09:34:00.004-06:00

Today is Wednesday so that means treat day. I try to have him take something yummyish every week. It seems to help them to relax a little bit so this week I made a spiced pumpkin cookie with vanilla sugar icing. I left one batch in the oven a little long, about 20 min extra, but it still came out great in fact my husband ate all the crispy bottomed ones first. I use a cookie scoop that is about a tablespoon size. These hardly spread at all so you can fit a lot on the cookie sheet my first batch I put them few and far between but the next time I fit 16 on a medium size sheet. The dough doesn’t look like cookie dough it is very light and fluffy. The cookies are also very airy and light. My changes are in bold

Pumpkin Spiced and Iced Cookies (Adapted from Nestle)

For the cookie batter

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
I used 1T of pumpkin pie spice instead of all the different types
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
8 tablespoons spectrum organic shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups mashed pumpkin
1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
Dark block of chocolate 3.2 oz chopped up
1/2 c chopped walnuts

For the glaze1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
4 T milk I just kept adding till it was smooth and creamy
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375

To make the cookie batter
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Beat in pumpkin and vanilla. Slowly mix in the flour mixture and beat until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.Scoop out dough using a tablespoon cookie scoop and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden, about 13-18 minutes. 16 min was perfectRemove and let cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.To make the glazeIn a small bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cookies.
Makes about 66 cookies. It only made about 30 cookies for me. I don’t know how they got so many as I wound up with smallish cookies about 1 inch across. My husband really, really loved these. He likes pumpkin pie so i assume...

I again used all organic including the canned pumpkin I got from Whole Foods.

If I am feeling bold I may start adding pictures but for now i am dreadful at taking pictures.

New Food of the Week - Brociflower

2008-02-19T17:10:00.001-06:00

I have made a decision my food is dull. Yes, I cook many meals every week but I wonder is there more out there? I have been reading lots of blogs lately and realize as I meander thru Whole Foods I have no clue about certain foods. I was raised on mcdees and pizza then as a single gal on my own it was Raman or Mac n cheese (out of a box). The foods my mom did cook were fatty like real Mac n cheese and chicken and rice both are two of the best foods in the world and nothing compares after a bad day but I am trying to change how I think about food. Food was the most important thing to my dad if he was in a burning building and had to choose between his child or the pork chop, the pork chop would win no contest. My memories of my daddy are always food related. Trips are remembered for the food good or bad. So now I am going to try one new item every week. This week I actually got two new items brociflower was the first I had heard about it for years but never found it in a store. The other item is also a kind of cauliflower but it is purple so pretty. I got the purple as it is my friend’s favorite color and she was coming to visit so I thought it would be fun. In the oven I have the brociflower roasting with olive oil and salt. It just came out. OHHHHHHH the taste is amazing I am eating it just like I cooked it olive oil and salt. The taste is so different from boiling or mixing it with other items in a heavy cream. The taste stands out and it is perfect. A little crunchy and crisp but still soft so good. I roasted carrots last week so I am in a roasting mood. I may not share with my husband this is so good. I love not boiling all the good stuff out of the veggies. I roasted for 45 min at 350 yes some edges were crispy but I like that but if you don’t you could always cover them to cook. GO Roast that will be a theme in Oklahoma come summerJ.

What makes a person ORGANIC?

2008-02-16T15:30:00.002-06:00

Can a person who eats organic ever eat at a fast food restaurant? I am surprised at the anger some people have about this. I feed my kids as natural and organic as possible. I use fair trade items like sugar and coffee as I think everybody should get their piece of the pie. All people deserve a safe working environment. I also feel that when you buy local and organic it is better for the earth. I sometimes am running late and I run thru a fast food place. Panera Bread has a great organic selection but alas they are not in my town. I live in a tiny, I mean TINY, town which means if I want fast I get grease. I say does this make me a bad person? So if my choice is they don’t eat or they get something I wouldn’t normally feed them what would you do? I think that every person has the right to do the best they can without being mocked for being different. In my home I buy all organic, all natural and fresh as possible but if I need something and it isn’t available in an organic form I may choose to buy the item as is or I may not make the item after all. I choose how my family will live and I think everybody has the right to eat how they want. I welcome herbivores, carnivores, vegans, vegetarians that think fish is ok and vegetarians that don’t eat fish. Everyone has the right to be themselves. Don’t you think so?

Wow did you catch how bad I spelled?

2008-02-12T14:43:00.000-06:00

Oh my that is some spelling i wasn't paying as close attention as i should as i was also having a conversation re thomas the train. The pre-k is closed for student teacher conference and so my son is home. He lives for 2:30 on pbs. Today we meet Neville!!!! A high five of excitment is required when life is that good.

Making Hamburger Buns

2008-02-12T14:25:00.001-06:00

Well I was going to my mothers house sunday afternoon, I always want to make something to bring. I try to make something divine but last time i made a very rich and i mean VERY rich carrot cake that was roll your eyes back good but my stepdad is a dieabetic and i put his sugar really high. He only ate a tiny piece,i swear i like him. I decided to make hamburger buns because mom is making sloppy joes i offered to cook something else but that is what she wanted. I thought i would make the buns in the bread machine and try something new. I love my bread machine for kneading it enables me to get alot more done while it works. I always bake it in the oven even if i am just making plain bread. I didn't use a good recipe for it to be a soft light roll. It did however make a wonderful harder roll. I used a egg wash and added some sesame seeds so thye seemed more like packaged bread. My mom is a big fan of processed foods so i try to make it resemble what she likes.

Hamburger Buns
1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
5 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
21/4 teaspoons instant yeast
Egg wash
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon water

In a small saucepan, add milk, 1 cup water, sugar, butter and salt. Heat over low just until the butter melts - cool to lukewarm.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour with the yeast.Pour the milk mixture into a large mixing bowl. Mix in the flour/yeast mixture, 1 cup at a time, until all 3 cups are in, beating until smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make stiff dough.Scoop the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8-10 minutes), adding enough of the remaining flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. Move dough into a large bowl lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 60 minutes.Uncover and punch down the dough. Evenly divide into 12-16 pieces, depending on how large you want the buns to be. Form each piece into a tight ball and place about 2" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet - you may need to use 2 sheets depending on the size. Slightly flatten each ball. Cover and let rise until doubled - another 30 to 45 minutes.Preheat oven to 400In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and water. Gently brush egg wash over each bun.Bake about 20-25 minutes, until golden and they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
I got the recipe from http://desertculinary.blogspot.com/2005/06/hamburger-buns.html . It came out delish but i couldn't change it to a bread machine it just wound up getting a wee bit tough. Next time i will just do it 100 percent by hand.

Of course, i used unbleached organic flour and organic butter. I used farm freash local eggs. My salt is a natual sea salt that is a browish color that is lovely. I also use fair trade sugar.

This is my very first post so i plan to get better and if anyone asks i will post the carrot cake recipe. I hope that you will visit again as my posts will get better as i learn how to do this:).