What's for dinner?

Potato flake chicken!

This was a common dish growing up, but apparently all for all. It is a wing it kind of meal. You take chicken, dredge it in butter, coat it is seasoned potato flakes, and bake until cooked through. We had baked sweet potatoes and corn with it.

For dessert we had mug cake. Guy and I eat a lot of these.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg, dont substitute flax!
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil, applesauce is a good substitute
3 tablespoons chocolate chips
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

pinch salt

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour
in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract,
and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake
will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and
tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous). And why is this
the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of
the day or night!

Vinegar and Baking Soda

Tip of the day-Vinegar and Baking Soda!

Sounds like a science experiment, but really Windex is more of one. I prefer to clean everything with these two ingredients. They fit very well into my principle of buy less things that do a lot for you, like powdered milk. I know this may not be revolutionary to some but if you have been sucked into commercialism then you probably believe the only way to sanitize a counter is with bleach. But anything with a PH of 2.6 or lower will kill germs...vinegar! There are some things like mold that is it not wise or safe to clean with bleach. In truth, if you clean mold with bleach, it bleaches the color but does not kill it, releases toxic gases. Another pro is that Eva can help me clean and I dont have to freak out that she might get some on her hands or mouth, heck, I use the same thing in my food. A side affect of vinegar is that as it dries it deodorizes. So, I freshen up my couch, my mattress', shower curtain and so on with it. I keep a giant bottle in the laundry room as well. Washing diapers, throw a 1/2 cup in the rinse, a Downey ball will release it at the right time and you dont have to wait for it. I now do the same in loads of towels and sheets, they just come out fresher.

Here is what I have going on:

Green top spray bottle with full strength vinegar

Yellow top spray bottle with 4 cups water and 2 tablespoon vinegar

Baking soda in a shaker

I clean most everything with the green. I clean wood or the hard wood floors with the yellow. To clean my toilet or tub I shake baking soda around, spray it with vinegar, and scrub. To kill weeds in the crack of the sidewalk I spray with green top vinegar then sprinkle with salt. My homemade deodorant is made with baking soda, here is the recipe.

Missy's Deodorant

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup baking soda

10- 20 drops tree tree oil

Mix it up and put in a shaker. I usually shower every morning. When I am drying off I dont dry my pits, I powder them with my deodorant. I have friends who love my mix, some do natural deodorant sticks and then my stuff on top for days they feel they might need a little extra help in that department.

Things I want to do:

Use watered down baking soda and vinegar to wash my hair.

Use baking soda to brush my teeth.

I watched No Impact Man the other day. The things he started doing for his experiment to not harm the earth for one year, I have been doing for a long time. It took him living with out gas powered vehicles, electricity, and farmers market only food to change his ways. He had been using 'green' cleaning products, but then learn you can do all the same stuff with vinegar.

Detergent

Tip of the day- Detergent!

For about a month I have been using homemade detergent. I have a couple of friends who also use it and love it! Everybody seems to have their own spin on it. I made up two different kinds, one for diapers and one for everything else. Diapers need very little soap, surprising, I know. One tip is to grade your soap then let it sit out to dry. Then when you process it, it will get finer. Fels, washing soda, and borax are available at most Price Choppers (Roe and 63rd/Blue Ridge for sure). I get the glycerin at Whole Foods. Borax is available at Target. You can get Oxiclean at the dollar store.

Missy's Diaper Mix

1/2 cup unscented glycerin soap grated

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 cup borax or Oxiclean, both are non chlorine bleaching agents

Mix it all up in a food processor, a double batch fits in a 32 oz cottage cheese container. When you are ready for wash'n put in 1 tbsp, fill up the machine, put in the diapers, and a 1/2 cup vinegar in a Downy ball.

Powdered Laundry Detergent

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar, grated and dried

1 cup Arm and Hammer super washing soda

1/2 cup borax

Grate soap and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)

What's for dinner?

Tonight we had chili and cornbread. The 55 degree had me a bit chilled so I wanted comfort food. The cornbread is so tender and yummy with butter and honey fresh from the oven.

Missy's all bean chili

Chili seasoning

1 can chili beans

2 cans kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can corn

2 cans diced tomatos

Throw it in the crock pot all day

Cornbread from Allrecipes

1/2 c butter

2/3 c sugar

2 eggs

1 c milk

1 tbsp vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp soda

1 c whole wheat flour

1 c corn meal

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 8 inch pan. Mix milk and vinegar, set aside. Melt butter in pot on the stove. Remove from heat add ingredients in order. Bake 30 minutes.

What's for dinner?

Tonight I am trying a new recipe. I have all these ingredients in the house, so that is what we are having. I should add this to my meals on hand menu. The rice is already cooked from making a big batch for stir fry and porridge. We sure eat more brown rice if I just cook some every week.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cheesy-Beans-and-Rice/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

Substitutions

Tip of the day- Substitutions!

If I have said it once, I will say it a thousand times, the less you go to the store... the less you spend. Making what you have work for you takes a bit of thinking sometimes. The internet is a wealth of information on substitutions. Just google it. Here is an example.

I need cake flour for a recipe. Substitute 2 cups with 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour and 1/4 cup of cornstarch. Now I dont have one more ingredient in the house and I did not make a special trip.

Brown sugar is simply sugar with molasses. In pastry school we always made our own.

One more, this one will really come in handy for those of us making our own ranch dressing. For 1 cup buttermilk, use 1 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice/white vinegar. Mix and let it sit a minute then add the rest of the ingredients

Brown Rice

Tip of the day- brown rice!

I love brown rice and it really is good for you. A major problem with it is in the amount of time it takes to cook it. There is also the energy it takes. Here is how I cook it that cuts down on both of these things. This method works for both short grain and long grain brown rice. I prefer long grain.

Combined the rice and water in a pot that has a lid. There should be 1 cup of rice to 1 1/2 cups of water. I make 3 or 4 cups of rice at a time (then I have dinner and rice for porridge ready). Set the heat to high and bring to a boil uncovered. Then place the lid on the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook the rice for 20 minutes...no peeking. Then turn off the heat and let it set for 10 more minutes, longer is fine..no peeking.

That is it! Instructions that come with rice tell you to simmer for 50 minutes, that is too much. Enjoy!