In Need of Ideas

I am planning a dinner and I need ideas.


The main course is sausage stew and biscuits. The dessert is birthday cake and ice cream, with homemade caramel sauce.


I have no idea what to serve as an appetizer/first course.


Not exactly the problem of the year, but any ideas?


Any other food questions out there? 




I am participating on the October 2017 Ultimate Blog Challenge. A blog post every day in October. #blogboost 

Lentil Sloppy Joes

This is what we are having for supper tonight. We aren't vegetarians, but try to do meatless meals a few times a week for the sake of the environment and our health. Lentils work well for this because they can be made to almost look like ground beef. 

Enjoy!

Serves 6

• 1 cup brown or green lentils, rinsed
• 2 to 3 cups water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup white or yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green or red bell pepper, chopped (about 3/4 to 1 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 cup tomatoes, diced
• 1 tablespoon organic brown sugar or maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon  vinegar
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoons salt (adjust according to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth (or more as needed)
• 6  buns
• Toppings of choice (Tabasco sauce, sriracha, pickles, onions, sauerkraut, coleslaw, avocado slices, etc.)

1. Place lentils in a large pot, and cover with water (enough so that there's at least a full inch or two of water above the lentils). Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes, or until the lentils are chewable, but still have some firmness to them. Drain them and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and pepper, and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the onion is soft and clear, stirring frequently. Add the garlic, chili powder, and paprika,  and continue cooking for another minute or two, until the garlic is quite fragrant.
3. Add the lentils, tomatoes, brown sugar or maple syrup, vinegar, salt, pepper, and broth. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Add more broth as needed. Simmer until the mixture has thickened to your liking, about 15 to 20 minute, until as thick as preferred
4. Remove mixture from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Divide sloppy joes onto the buns and top with toppings of choice, including some Tabasco or sriracha for heat, if desired. Serve. 

What are you having for supper?  

I am participating on the October 2017 Ultimate Blog Challenge. A blog post every day in October. #blogboost

An Old Stove and A Recipe...And a New Stove

I got  a new stove today, replacing an old one that I inherited with the house.




The old one had been a good one but had long ago ceased being self-cleaning. Knobs have been missing for a while. None of the timers worked anymore, though one would set it's alarm off at random times. I am happy to have a new one.













It's Christmas time, so I have been baking. I didn't think of it at the time, but it seems fitting that the last item baked in my mother's last oven was a recipe she was famous for in her circle. I used her recipe, my copy in her handwrtitng, to make what she always called Pecan Pie, though it is actually made with walnuts. Here it is:





Three pie shells, ready to bake
1 stick of butter
1 1/3 cup of sugar
1 16 oz bottle of dark Karo syrup
2 tsps of vanilla
Dash of salt
3 eggs
3 cups chopped walnuts.

Melt butter over low heat in a medium to large saucepan. Remove from heat and add sugar, vanilla, Karo syrup, and salt. Mix. Beat in eggs one at a time. Set aside a handful of the walnuts. Add the rest to the mixture and stir.

Spoon mixture into prepared pie shells. Add reserved walnuts where needed.

Bake pies at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes and then at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

This pie makes a great gift.


Just to round things out: Here's my new stove. I am very excited.

Happy baking everyone!

A Recipe (for saving bread scraps)

When I make bread stuffing, I end up with crusts and loaf ends leftover, so I make this bread pudding. Easy, yummy, and keeps food out of the garbage.


Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
Put bread scraps and about 1/4 cup of raisins per loaf's worth of scraps in a casserole dish.

In a saucepan warm about 1 cup of milk or cream per loaf's worth of scraps over low heat. Add a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar and stir until dissolved.  Add cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon of each works well.)


Pour milk over scraps and raisins.

Put in oven for about 45 Minutes.

Enjoy!



What's your favorite recipe for saving scraps and leftovers?

Reboot & Recipe

It's been a while since I have posted regularly, so I joined the Ultimate Blog Challenge to get myself restarted. That means I'm committed to 30 posts in the next 30 days.  (Yikes?!)





What to look for:

• A series on the environment, specifically plastic pollution
• A series on forgiveness
• Songs for Sunday
• Miscellaneous posts like today's recipe.  

We'll see if I can do this.

For today, I have one of my recipes. The kind I make up from stuff I happen to have around the house, imprecise measurements and all. I apologize to my readers who like scientific precision in cooking.

This recipe is gluten, dairy, and soy free. It uses simple ingredients and has no added salt. It contains fruit and whole grain. It is fairly high in sugar and carbohydrates. 

The main ingredients I had this time around were bananas, shredded coconut, cocoa powder and millet.

Millet is a sweet, whole grain. I had never used it before.


So here we go:


Pour a single layer of millet into the bottom of  the pan. Add water to barely cover and place in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven. Slice 2-4 bananas, enough to make a single layer of banana pieces over the millet.

In a medium saucepan, drizzle about 1 tablespoon of honey. Place over low heat. Add a half cup of sugar and a quarter cup of water. Cook, stirring frequently, until you have a syrupy consistency. Add two rounded tablespoons of cocoa powder and mix. Pour over millet and bananas, spreading evenly.

Sprinkle shredded coconut to cover.

With a fork push the mixture down.

Back in a 325 degree oven for about 10 minutes.


Cool slightly before serving. (Can be served warm or cold.)


Let me know how you like it.

Happy Cooking and Happy April!!

Post #1 for the April 2015 Ultimate Blog Challenge!

Pancake Tuesday

Pancake Tuesday is the name people in Britain give to the day before Lent. Traditionally, it was for the purpose of using up milk, eggs, sugar and other items that were not allowed during the fast. It is more vestigial for most people now, including my family.


We had pancakes today, as we do every year. Here's the recipe I used:



2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 T baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 egg and 1 portion egg substitute (1 Tground flaxseed soaked in 3Twarm water)
2 cups vanilla soymilk
4T olive oil


Mix and then cook on griddle over medium heat.


Meanwhile cut up one apple person into 8 sections and place in pie plate. Sprinkle 1/2C brown sugar over the wedges. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.

Layer pancakes and apples on each plate. Serve with maple syrup and butter or whatever you like on yout pancakes.

Enjoy!

And have a blessed Lent, focused on our Lord. 

Chocolate-Drizzled

I enjoy chocolate. So much so that I will go out of my way to get it. Some days I feel I simply must have it.

When I say I enjoy chocolate, I mean sweetened chocolate of course. Chocolate on it’s own tests terrible. Really terrible. I gave a taste of baker’s chocolate to the kids once during a unit study on chocolate. The looks on their faces were of sheer disgust. Can’t say I blame them.

One day recently I found that the only chocolate in the house was a tin of unsweetened cocoa powder. I really wanted some chocolate so it was time to get innovative. It actually took a few days to perfect this recipe but the result is quick, easy and very chocolatey.

Grease a loaf pan and fill with about 4 cups of flaky cereal, such as Special K. Cheerios might work, too.  Set aside.

Melt a stick of butter over low heat.

Stir in:

3        Tablespoons of granulated sugar

1½  Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

Cook for about one minute until ingredients are well blended. Pour mixture over cereal. Refrigerate for 30- 60 minutes.

Enjoy.

We found it delicious. Let me know how you like it.

What’s your favorite chocolate recipe?

Apple Gravy

This is a savory gravy for meat or potato or savory pancakes. I made the recipe up because I wanted to include a cooked apple in my dinner last night. I'm like that.


Boil a cored apple (I put mine in with the potatos and onions) until soft.

Meanwhile: Combine about 3 cups of chicken broth with about a cup of flour and cook over medium heat, wisking constantly. Add about a teaspoon of raw sugar (or granulated sugar, if you prefer) and about a tablespoon of brown sugar.

Remove the skin from the boiled apple and add the flesh to the chicken broth mixture. Stir constantly until all is well combined.

Sorry for all the approximations. I don't measure much.

My family liked this. It might need something to bring out the flavor a bit more or sharpen it up. Lemon juice maybe?


Let me know if you try it.

What new recipes do you have to share?

The Frosting (A follow-up)

Following up from yesterday's post, Family Recipes.

So my aunt came over and we frosted cookies.

We had to tweak and stir and tweak some more, but we finally got it the right consistency. We had a great time.

I found out that my aunt uses a different recipe than my Mom did. My aunt didn't know where my mother got her recipe. My aunt got hers from her hairdresser. Neither of them used my grandmother's recipe.

Over the years though, my mother's and my aunt's techniques had begun to mirror each other. They each use a bowl rather than the board my grandmother used. They both began putting the cookies in collander, rather than on a rack, to cool. They both started dipping the coookies in the frosting rather than drizzling it over them.

I had forgotten about the collander trick. I think I'll use it next time.

I had a good time with my aunt this morning, sharing cooking tips and stories.


When has your family enjoyed cooking together?

Family Recipes

My grandmother always made the best Toll House Cookies. She used the recipe on the bag. The rest of us use that recipe, too, but our cookies don't come out like hers did. We have never been able to figure out what she did differently to what we do.

My mother was famous for her biscottis. They were small lemon cookies with lemon glazing. I think she got the recipe from my father's family.

I have been trying to make those biscottis since she died. I think I have mastered the cookie, but the frosting has yet to come out right. Tomorrow my aunt, my father's sister, is coming over to help. We are going to see if we conquer this frosting.

I hear many stories like this. Recipes have been passed down... but something is different. I don't know why that is. It would seem that if we use the same recipe and techniques, we should get the same results. I, suppose, that a person who makes a recipe standout must make minute, unconscious adjustments. They just have a flair for getting it right.


Are there any recipes like that in your family?

Bread Pudding

This is a "recipe" I often use to make use of the bread crusts that are left when I make bread stuffing. It bears a resemblane to traditional bread pudding but it's not quite it.


 Heapingly fill a 13x9x2 pan with bread crusts

Mix about 1-1/2 cups vanilla soy milk, 2 lightly beaten eggs, 1/4 C brown sugar, a few shakes of cinnamon and a half cup of raisins in a bowl.

Pour the mixture over the bread crusts. Turn crusts until they are coated.

Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours.


We like this recipe for supper after a large lunch of other leftovers or as a dessert.

Hope you enjoy it, too.

Vegan Baked Apples

Usually when I bake apples I fill the space where I have cut out the core with butter, brown sugar and raisins. Yesterday, though, we had vegan friends over and decided to have baked apples for dessert. Cooking oil didn't sound appetizing as butter alternative and neither did the vegan margarine I had on hand.

I looked around and realized that maple syrup might work. So I used that and raisins in the apples. I cooked them for 90 minutes at 275 degrees and then turned the oven down to warm for an hour until we were ready to eat them. They were actually quite good.

For Jordan's birthday party we had the same family over, so I did a second cake with a vegan cake mix, egg replacer and vegan margerine. I used a confectioner's sugar and water glaze as a frosting, and that cake served for several kids with allergies as well.

There are many forms of diversity and dietary philosophies and restrictions are one of them. It's fun to learn about how different people eat and use a variety of foods to accomodate their needs.


What types of diversity have you encountered lately?

Chocolate Chip Banana

• Awhile back, my son wanted to make chocolate chip banana cookies. I didn't have a recipe and neither did my Mom. The next day Mom called me though and said that she had read that banana could be substituted for fat in cookie recipes. So Jordan and I gave it a try. 

I took your basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, changed half the flour to whole wheat and substituted bananas for the butter. Here you go:

• 
  
• 1 cup very ripe banana
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chcocolate chips

Cream banana and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in flours, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Add chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspons onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 7-9  minutes at 375F,

Hope you you like them as much as we do. 

What's your favorite cookie recipe?

My blog site is currently a "work in progress." I am playing with the look, reducing the amount of advertising and consolidating the labels so that things are easier to find. Comments and suggestions welcome. Look for changes over the next few weeks.

This is my eleventh post for the October 2012 Ultimate Blog Challenge. I'm trying for 31 posts in 31 days, plus commenting on two posts by other people every day.

Rhubarb-Raisin Pie

My husband really likes rhubarb. And raisins. And pie.

I decided to combine the three and came up with this recipe.


Per usual all amounts are approximate and should be varied to taste.


Cut six stalks of rhubarb (throw leaves away, they are poisonous) into small pieces and add to a cup and a half of boiling water in a medium saucepan. Add a cup of sugar. Simmer until soft, about 30 minutes.

Remove from heat. Let stand about 10 minutes, to thicken. Add a 1/4 cup of raisins and a 1/2 cup of white flour.

Pour into a pie shell and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.


Good served warm, but quite a soupy pie. Bowls might be good. I might add two eggs next time to act as a binder.


What new recipes have you tried lately?

Iced Teas

I have been preparing iced tea lately, it being rather refreshing in these hot days. Rather than just drink it plain, I've been trying out some different flavors. Here are two of my more successful "recipes".


Mint Iced Tea

4  orange and black decaffienated tea bags
2 Bigelow Mint Medley tea bags
1 gallon of water
1 pound ice


In a large saucepan, place the tea bags and water. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for one minute.

Take pan off heat. Add ice. Let sit for 10 minutes. Remove tea bags. Refrigerate.
Add sweetener to taste. I like this one unsweetened.


Calming Iced Tea

5 orange and black decaffienated tea bags
1 tea bag of Yogi Calming tea
1 gallon of water
1 pound ice


In a large saucepan, place the tea bags and water. Bring to a rolling boil.

Take pan off heat. Add ice. Let sit for 10 minutes. Remove tea bags. Refrigerate.
Add sweetener to taste. I find this one best with a half teaspoon of sugar per glass.


What are your favorite iced teas?



Have a blessed day!



This is my 16th post for the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

New Cookies

Recently my brother's girlfriend brought Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies to my house. They were yummy. Here's a link to that recipe if you are interested.

Oreo -Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies


My husband doesn't eat chocolate unless it is fair trade, but he was kind of intrigued by those cookies. So, for an anniversary gift (today's our 18th) I decided to try to make a similar cookie that he would want to eat. Here's my recipe.

• 1 cup plus two tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 /2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup Hershey's cinnamon chips

1 package vanilla creme cookies

Cream the butter and sugars together. Add egg and orange extract. Beat. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt. Add cinnamon chips.

For each cookie put one spoonful of dough on cookie sheet, place a vanilla creme cookie on top, and cover with another spoonful of dough. Leave plenty of room between cookies as they expand quite a lot. Bake at 375 degrees F for 11-13 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on sheet and then move to a wire rack until thoroughly cool. Makes 6 cookies.

They weren't too hard to do and they look and smell good. We'll see how my husband likes them. 

What new recipes have you tried lately?

For the whys and wherefors of my husband's choice not to eat regular chocolate, check out Slavery: A Global Investigation.

This is my ninth post (all caught up!) in the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I'm going for 31 blogs in July,

Mash Ups

Saturday, I got to try some yummy cookies that my brother's girlfriend brought to the house. Boy were they good!

They were an interesting recipe -- oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies. A mashup.

I have also seen a picture of a pie stuffed cake recently. Three types of pie each cooked into a layer of cake. Not sure what to think of that one. Might be good. Might be sickening.

This mash-up craze didn't start with food. It started somewhere in medialand -- whether with books, photos or movies, I don't know and I am not going to research it. But it seems to be permeating more and more of our culture.

I wonder what lead us into this mash up phase. Why are we combining things in this way? Are we bored with what was, but not wanting to create new things, are putting old things together in new ways?

I don't know. It's an interesting thing to observe. I wonder what part of our lives it will migrate to next.

Have a blessed day!

Experimental Recipe

Sometimes I look around, see what I have for ingredients and experiment. Now and then, something is successful.

The other day, I had an extra pie shell, some black beans I had soaked and cooked, some peas and small container of broth leftover from cooking corned beef. All frozen. And a few potatoes and some bread crumbs. So I got to defrosting. I turned the potatoes and broth into mashed potatoes. Then I took the beans added some barbecue sauce and black pepper and heated them on the stove. I put those in the bottom of the pie shell, added a layer of peas, piled on the mashed potatoes, topped it with bread crumbs and baked it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

My family enjoyed it. My son had trouble explaining to Dad what we were having for dinner, so I called it a variant of Shepherd's Pie. It's now in our meal rotation.



What's been your favorite food experiment?

Another Kitchen Experiment

I made too much oatmeal yesterday, a problem I have from time to time. Reheated oatmeal is pretty yucky so I decided to try something else. After some thought and a little trial and error I came up with this breakfast cake:


2 C cooked oatmeal (mine was prepared with brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins with a little Malt-O-Meal thrown in)

4 T all purpose flour
2 T whole wheat flower
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 egg
1 T butter


Mix ingredients together, spread in a 9 x9 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Cake will be very moist.


Results: Acceptable. The cake might be better with some type of  hard vanilla or cinnamon icing.


Do you have any good recipes for leftovers?


Have a blessed day!

Christmas Ginberbread What?

We were cutting out gingerbread cookies yesterday. We made plenty of angels, reindeer, trees, people and camels. But we also cutters for other holidays, so Jordan decided to go with a Watership Down theme. We, therefore, have a whole warren of gingerbread rabbits.


A bit unusual for Christmas, I admit. But it does show that a really good story can stick with you. Jordan has been joyously busy getting ready for Christmas and is excited about his upcoming trip to Disney World. We finished reading and discussing Watership Down two weeks ago, but even given all that it is still on his mind.


Watership Down is about rabbits, but it's a real boys story. It has danger, fights, even war. Parts of it are downright brutal. It's full of examples of courage, leadership and self-sacrifice. Well - written, conversational in style and real, this is what Charlotte Mason would call a living book. No twaddle here.


I am happy to have gingerbread rabbits because it shows how deeply Jordan has connected to a good piece of literature.


Merry Christmas!