Greek Salad

Tip of the day- Greek Salad!

Oh, the taste of summer is in fresh tomatoes! My friend and follower Jennie introduced me to greek salad several years ago and I cant stop. The real deal is in the feta. I get a sheep and goat cheese blend at Costco that is the bees nees. When I first started buying the cheese it was French and now it is greek. Mt Vikos Feta is the brand and it is written in Greek style writing. It is $6.99 for 18 oz which is a lot for me. So, I cut the block into 4-5 slices and freeze the extra that I dont need today in baggies. This way I can have feta ready whenever my own tomatoes decide to spring up and sing.

Greek Salad

Tomatoes diced

Cucumber peeled and diced (I use English cucumbers from Costco)

Red onion sliced thinly and chopped up a bit

Olives of choice, I use black

Feta

I put equal amounts of tomato and cucumber. Toss in onion until it looks like enough and the olives. I keep the feta on the side for people to add to their liking.

Greek Dressing

1/4 EVOO

1/4 balsamic vinegar

3/4 tsp oregano, basil, garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt, pepper, onion powder, dijon mustard

Shake it all up in a tight sealing container. I also serve on the side because if there is leftovers it will trash the salad

Sweet Potato

Tip of the day- Sweet Potato!

In our house we love sweet potatoes. Baked, baked fries, and grilled are the normal. Reasons to eat more of them is because they have almost twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 42 percent of the recommendation for vitamin C, four times the RDA for beta carotene, and, when eaten with the skin, sweet potatoes have more fiber than oatmeal. All these benefits with only about 130 to 160 calories! Well here are three new ways to use them. (foodreference.com)

Potato Pocket

Yukon gold potatoes

Sweet potatoes

Yellow onion

Thinly slice potatoes and onions. Put in foil with salt and pepper and dot with butter. Seals the foil pocket and grill until potatoes are tender.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Add 2-3 medium cooked and mashed sweet potatoes to pancake batter. I add spices like clove, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and/or cardamon.

Sweet potato burritos

This is a recipe I plan to try soon. Here is an example from allrecipes.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Addictive-Sweet-Potato-Burritos/Detail.aspx

Bacon'n Pancakes

Tip of the day-Bacon'n pancakes!

This is one of the few life's lessons I learned from my Papa. He introduced Guy and I to the revolutionary idea of cooking your bacon into your pancakes. With real bacon some of the fat is sucked up in the batter but with turkey bacon (my lot in life) no so much, but still good.

First partial cook your bacon, or at least on one side.

Then mix up your batter, I use the old fashion pancake recipe on allrecipes, with aluminum free baking powder.

Then pour out your batter and place the bacon on the uncooked side.

Then, partake in the goodness.

Eva is always a great help. While I cooked these up she rearranged the spices. Sweet girl!

Homemade Granola

Tip of the day- Homemade Granola

I realized some time back that granola is expensive to buy yet so easy to make. All the ingredients can be purchased at Aldi, better yet, you will not add HFCS! I have given this as gifts, and eaten it as a snack or meal. Feel free to add wheat germ or ground flax seed. I will warn you that those are types of fiber and fiber can add results on the other end.

Granola

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cups rolled oats
• cinnamon to taste
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• cinnamon to taste
• 1-2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1/3 cup dried fruit
• 1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oats then cook and stir until starting to brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and spread out on a cookie sheet to cool.
  2. Melt the butter in the same pan over medium heat. Stir in the honey and brown sugar; cook, stirring constantly, until bubbly. Return the oats to the pan. Cook and stir for another 5 minutes or so. Turn off heat, add cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and toppings. Pour out onto the cookie sheet and spread to cool. I will leave it out over night.
  3. Once cool, transfer to an airtight container. Can break it in large sectionals like granola bars, enjoy ;-)
  4. 
     

  Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

What's for dinner?

For dinner tonight is leftovers from the shrimp boil along with a salad. For dessert is my new creation, lemon curd truffle! Here is what I did...

1 pound cake

2 cups of lemon curd, mine was leftover from my mini lemon meringues

1 tub of whip stuff

1 pint of raspberries

Cube the cake. I did mine in an 8x8 because I have a lid for it. I divided the ingredients for two layers: cake, curd, cake, curd, whip, raspberries. Enjoy ;-)

Shrimp Boil

Tip of the day-Shrimp Boil!

We have had 2 shrimp boils with our friends the South's. It is always a wonderful night filled with cooking, eating, and laughs. If you have never done this before, please consider it. We had each person bring a pound of shrimp and the host, Mrs. Jennie provided the rest. Like I mentioned in the previous post, I made mini lemon meringues for dessert. The mini is preferred because the crust to curd ratio is wonderfully right on.

So here is how an Old Bay Shrimp Boil is done.

1) In an 8-quart stock pot, bring 1/2 c. Old Bay, 2 tbsp salt, 4 qt water and 12 oz beer (we used Sam Adams to a boil.

2) Add 8 medium red potatoes, cut in quarters and 3 large vidalia onions, cut in wedges; cook over high heat for 8 minutes.

3) Add 2 lbs smoked sausage, cut in 2 inch lengths; continue to cook on high for 5 minutes.

4) Add 8 mini ears frozen corn on the cob, thawed to pot; continue to boil for 7 minutes.

5) Add 4 lbs shrimp in shells, cook 4 minutes

Steven and Alice (AK)

6) Prep table by lining the center with newspaper, dump drained goodness on newspaper. We saved the broth for a future use like gumbo.

7) Sprinkle with additional Old Bay and enjoy

I love my girls Eva, my daughter, and Leila, my niece, first at the table for shrimp. Eva was looking forward to the sausage that she calls hot dogs

The gang, minus Jennie who was the photographer. From the left: Guy, Me, Eric, Eva, David, Leila, Briana, Levi, Alice, and Steven.

Recipe from recipezaar.com

What's for dinner?

A follow up on the Bessy's Zesty Grilled Garlic-Herb Chicken recipe we tried Thursday night, good. The sugar caramelizes and gives a nice sweetness. Not all the marinated zucchini fit on the grill but was so good raw.

Last night we had BLAT's. That is a BLT with avocado. We smash the avocado and use it in place of mayo. They were very good. On the side we had fried okra. Mama Eppler showed me how she makes it, which is the best I have ever had. If they are fresh she washes and slices them. If frozen thaw or defrost in the micro. While they are wet toss with whole wheat flour. Then pan fry in a bit of EVOO until golden. Salt and serve, enjoy.

Tonight we are going to the South's for a shrimp boil or frogmore stew. There are a lot of different seasoning options but old bay is what we are using. So you boil up potatoes, mini corn on the cobs, sliced kielbasa, and shrimp. It should be finger likin good. If I was not expecting I would enjoy a pale ale with it.

For dessert I made mini lemon merigue pies. I will not be giving out that recipe!

Gram Crackers

Tip of the day-Gram Crackers!

I have been spending a lot of time with 2 families on the block since the weather has been so nice. We are all fans of Aldi and Costco. I learned something very interesting from Stacey that I must pass on. If you buy gram crackers at Aldi, the cinnamon ones dont have HFCS (lets break that down, high fructose corn syrup) but the regular honey ones do.

Here is why HFCS is bad for you, from healthmad.com

When HFCS is ingested, it travels straight to the liver which turns the sugary liquid into fat, and unlike other carbohydrates HFCS does not cause the pancreas to produce insulin; which acts as a hunger quenching signal to the brain. So we get stuck in a vicious cycle, eating food that gets immediately stored as fat and never feeling full.

Read more: http://healthmad.com/nutrition/dangers-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup/#ixzz0nIh4luel

What's for dinner?

Tonight we are going to try Bessy's Zesty Grilled Garlic-Herb Chicken. I plan on serving it with grilled zucchini and couscous. For dessert peanut butter rice krispies.

Bessy's Zesty Grilled Garlic-Herb Chicken

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 pinch dried sage

1. Place chicken in a shallow dish. In a medium bowl, mix together the olive oil, sugar, honey, saffron, garlic, basil, thyme, cayenne pepper, salt, oregano, parsley, and sage. Pour the mixture over the chicken. Cover, and marinate 20 to 25 minutes in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the grill for medium heat.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Discard marinade, and place chicken on the grill. Cook for 10 minutes on each side, or until exterior is charred and juices run clear.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

3 c. Rice Krispies or Chex

1/2 c. peanut butter

6 oz butterscotch chips, that is 1/2 a bag

Melt the chips and butter together. Mix in the cereal. Chill and store in the fridge. A childhood favorite!

What's for dinner?

What's for dinner you ask, lentil tacos! I actually followed the recipe on allrecipes, man these things are GOOD! I usually use taco seasoning so this was nice to mix it up.

Tasty Lentil Tacos

• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup salsa
• 12 taco shells
• 1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
• 1 cup chopped fresh tomato
• 1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
• 6 tablespoons fat free sour cream
• 1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Mash lentils slightly.
  2. Stir in salsa. Spoon about 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tasty-Lentil-Tacos/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

Tea

Tip of the day- Tea!

So I knew you could use tea bags to dye linen or for a beverage that most like but I dont. I learned two new ways to use tea just today. Tea baths, to sooth a sun burn or for after giving birth. Tea compress to help any particular area of the skin. For nursing mothers this includes your sore nipples. Sorry guys, this is a real issue that can greatly be helped by tea. I think any tea will work but green is known for healing.

Cast Iron

Tip of the day- Cast Iron!

I have wanted cast iron in my kitchen for some time. Due to the greatness of God I have 4 skillets and a dutch oven. The dutch oven is enamel coated and washes very easily. My skillets are all pretty well seasoned but there are still times I need a little extra help getting them clean. I have a very stiff bristle scrubber which gets most things off. With baked on food you can ball up foil and scrub it off. Every now and then I like to get them really clean. Put some extra virgin olive oil and coarse salt in the pan. Then scrub with the foil. I then rinse it out, pat dry, then put more oil in it and set in on the stove. I get the pan nice and hot then whirl the oil around. You are set for some time now. I do the same if there is a rust spot.

I read in a book once that it is really good to "burn" your cast iron. This old lady would burn her leaves once and year. She would put her skillet in the fire, she swears by this.