SALSA!!!

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!!!!

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.

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

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!!

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!!!

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

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

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!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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.