It Was Supposed to Snow Today.

Day 46.

That's what the weatherman said. Snow. It didn't snow. I live in Georgia, so it's no surprise that we get almost no snow. But I was expecting snow, so I planned a cold weather meal. Thankfully, it really is chilly outside. So the cold weather meal still applies.

Oh -- by the way, I made cheesecake today. For the first time. Ever. I can hardly stand to wait until tomorrow to tell you about my experience, but I must, because I'm supposed to wait until tomorrow before cutting the cheesecake. The flavors have to mellow and combine. It's not easy to be patient. I took tons of pictures. I look forward to sharing them with you tomorrow. :)

For now, something healthier.

Quick Stove Top Beef-Barley Stew

serves 4 to 6, depending on appetite

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds of stew meat


• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil


• 1 medium onion, diced


• 1 tsp minced garlic


• 1 cup baby carrots


• 2 cups beef stock
• dash of Worcestershire sauce


• 1/4 cup cooking wine


• freshly cracked black pepper to taste


• 2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley


• 3/4 cup uncooked quick cooking barley
  
  

How it's Done:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add stew meat and brown on all sides.



2. Add the diced onion and the garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the onion softens a bit.



3. Dump in the baby carrots, Worcestershire sauce, and the beef stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for 30 minutes to allow the carrots to cook.



4. Next, add the barley and return to a boil. Once more, reduce the heat and cook, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. During the last two minutes of cooking time, add the parsley and pepper. Because of the rich beef stock, I didn't see the need to add any additional spices, but you're welcome to spice it up a bit if you prefer.



5. Serve with warm dinner rolls or cornbread for a hearty winter meal.

Menu Plan Monday

Many people dread Mondays. I've never shared that dread. I love Monday mornings. They're a new start. A fresh week. And they're menu planning days! I hope you'll come back for my recipes each day this week, and I encourage you to visit I'm an Organizing Junkie for roughly 300 more menu plans.

Here's this week's plan:

Breakfasts:

• bagels from scratch
• huevos rancheros
• butter pecan waffles
• other days will be oat bran hot cereal, oatmeal, cream of wheat, or scrambled eggs

Lunches:

• All lunches this week will be leftovers from other meals for adults.
• For children, packed school lunches will include sandwiches, fruit, carrots & ranch, cookies, and juice.

Dinners (I plan this menu a month in advance, so this is tentative. It depends on last minute schedule changes, appointments, and whims. I will get to every dinner item in the month of February, but here's what I have planned for the week ahead):

• Honey-Nut Chicken over vanilla rice, with gingerbread men for dessert
• (something I meant to get to twice this month already) chicken nuggets (homemade) with Alton Brown's mac & cheese
• Chicken Noodle Soup and Garlic Bread Sticks
• Beef-Barley Stew and corn muffins
• Mini Meatloaves and Twice-Baked Potatoes
• Red Beans & Rice, Cornbread, and Turnip Greens
• Lentil-Rice Tacos

Planned Snacks and Desserts:

• New York Style Cheesecake
• Cinnamon-Sugar Soft Pretzels

Oat Bran Doesn't Sound Very Tasty

Day 45.

Do you have a picky eater? I do. Boy, do I ever! This kid won't even eat popcorn chicken because it has the word popcorn in it. Keep broccoli away. It seems she's repelled by it. And if I ever mentioned the words oat and bran together, there's no way she'd try the recipe. It's rather shocking to have such a food-phobic kid in the house with me being a foodie and all, and I'm always trying to coax her into trying new things. We have a Three Bites Rule in our home. Just try it. Have three bites. If you don't like it, that's fine. There are always other things on the plate that you can eat instead.

Lately, I've turned to masking foods in order to get different things into her. Not long ago, I made some vegetable fritters. I minced the veggies so finely that you couldn't tell what was in them. Onions, broccoli, mushrooms, and more were all in those fritters. She loved them.

Today, I made oat bran muffins. My mother made oat bran muffins regularly when I was growing up. I loved them. I still do. I love the natural sweetness of the oat bran. My Picky Eater doesn't share my appreciation of simple oat bran. So I mask it. By calling these muffins Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins. Shhh. Don't tell her.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins (a.k.a. my own version of the recipe on the back of the Quaker Oat Bran box)

makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of oat bran (uncooked)


• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 1/2 tsp sea salt


• 1 cup milk (vanilla almond milk works great here)


• 2 eggs, lightly beaten


• 1/4 cup honey or pure maple syrup (the maple syrup is awesome)


• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (not required if you use vanilla almond milk)


• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (try coconut oil - melted)


• 1 mashed banana


• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

How it's Done:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with liners.


2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine oat bran, sugar, salt, and baking powder.


3. In a separate bowl, combine milk, eggs, honey, banana, and oil. Add all at once to dry ingredients. Stir to combine.


4. Fold in chocolate chips.


5. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Mama Had a Little Lamb

Day 44.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. For tonight's dinner, a little lamb. Lamb chop, that is. With mint sauce and roasted red potatoes with thyme. It sounds complicated, but it's really not! This is another one of those Super Secret Impressive Meals that makes it seem like you threw in tons of effort but it goes together in minutes. And it really is impressive. I mean, it's lamb! With fresh mint! Save this recipe in your back pocket for a day when you need to impress someone, like the mother-in-law, or a new beau, or your friends. Or just use it when you feel like being Super Cool Chef Who Isn't Afraid To Try New Things. ;)

Minted Pan-Seared Lamb Chops

Ingredients:

• 6 smallish lamb chops


• a handful of fresh mint, chopped


• 3/4 cup granulated sugar


• 1/4 cup white wine


• 1/2 cup water


• sea salt and cracked black pepper


• olive oil

How it's Done:

1. In a small pan, combine mint, sugar, wine, and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lamb is ready.


2. Meanwhile, preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brush chops with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sear chops 2 minutes per side. They're served pretty rare. Move to plate.


3. Serve immediately, topped with mint sauce.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad

Day 43.

This recipe was born of use-it-up necessity. Here's what I had that needed to be used up:

• a whole cooked chicken, which I had stored in the fridge a couple days ago, intending to cut up and use in several recipes. I finally cut it up this morning and it's ready for about 4 recipes.


• a package of bacon. Yeah, this stuff lasts a long time, but it's begging to be used Right Now.


• cheese. Not in need of being used up before an expiration date, but I needed a reason to get it shredded.


• sour cream and mayonnaise and chives. For the dressing.


• bagged salad and some arugula.

It was pretty obvious what I needed to do. I needed to make a salad with chicken and bacon and ranch dressing. So here it is.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad

servings depend on amount of ingredients used.

Ingredients:

• cooked chicken (diced into bite sized pieces)


• cooked bacon (2 strips per person ought to do it)


• shredded cheese (I used cheddar)


• lettuce/greens for salad (about 2 cups per person)


• ranch dressing (recipe follows)
  
  

How it's Done:

1. Simple! Place greens on a plate. Toss chicken with ranch dressing. Put chicken and bacon on bed of greens. Top with cheese. Serve with more dressing on the side. Tomatoes and onions are optional add-ins.

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sour cream


• 1 cup mayonnaise


• 1 cup buttermilk


• 1 tsp sea salt


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice


• 3 tbsp finely minced chives


• 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley


• 1 tsp dried dill


• 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
  
  

How it's Done:

1. Whisk all ingredients together. Store in the fridge, tightly covered.

Homemade Valentine's Day Goodies

Day 42.

Valentine's Day is this weekend and foodie bloggers everywhere are gearing up for it by making homemade treats. I am no different. This year, my gift recipients will be given little take-out style boxes filled with homemade peanut butter cups, salt water taffy, and chocolate chip cookies. It is a very lucky day indeed to be my friend. ;)

Heart-Shaped Peanut Butter Cups

You will need:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
a dash of sea salt
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
2 cups of milk chocolate chips (you could use a different chocolate but I am going for Reese's flavor)
3 Tbsp additional creamy peanut butter

First, combine 1 cup of peanut butter, the salt, and the sugar in a mixing bowl. Keep at it until it's smooth again, with no white specks.

Then, shape 1/4 cup hunks of your mixture, by hand, into rough heart shapes. Don't be a perfectionist. The rustic, homemade look is really, really hip for this project. Place each heart on a piece of waxed paper. Work quickly. The less you touch the peanut butter, the better, because it likes to melt when it gets warmed up.


When you're done, pop the tray into the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour, until the hearts are good and firm. Now, melt your chocolate chips and 2 Tbsp peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chips are melted. Go get your frozen peanut butter hearts.

Push one heart onto a skewer gently.

Use a spoon to coat the peanut butter center completely with chocolate. Place coated heart on a smooshed muffin tin liner. Put it back in the freezer until firm.

Then invite someone to come take a bite out of one. And see if they can stop at one bite. They won't be able to. And they'll want milk, so have some ready.

Tomorrow I'll post about the salt water taffy. I promise.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'...Keep that Dinner Rollin'

Day 41.

I love beautiful food presentation. You don't always have to spend hours in the kitchen to produce gorgeous results that inspire awe from your food audience. Here's another dinner that goes together fairly quickly but looks like you spent a long time preparing it. This large steak bakes around a roll of stuffing. Serve it sliced into rounds with sauce spooned over the top.

Stuffed Flank Steak

serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb flank steak


• 1 box stuffing mix (I used chicken flavor because it was in my pantry), prepared according to package directions


• 1 small can of whole kernel corn


• a handful of baby portabella mushrooms (maybe 1/3 cup), sliced


• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese, divided


• 1 1/2 cups beef broth


• 1 Tbsp corn starch


• 1/4 cup red wine

How it's Done:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.


2. Pound your flank steak until it's wider and thinner than when you began. The thinner you can get it, the better. Try not to pound it too hard so that the meat doesn't split.


3. Prepare stuffing as directed. Mix in mushrooms, corn, and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Spread stuffing mixture on steak, leaving about 1/2" border.


4. Roll the steak around the filling. Place seam side-down into a rectangular baking dish.


5. Heat 1 1/4 cups beef broth in a small sauce pan until boiling. In a separate dish, whisk cornstarch into 1/4 cup beef broth. Whisk into boiling broth and cook & stir constantly for a full minute. Remove from heat and stir in wine.


6. Pour sauce over beef roll. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.


7. Bake for one hour. Let the meat rest for five minutes before slicing into round portions.

Cooking for Kids' School/Club Parties

Day 40.

Forty days and forty nights is a concept that appears frequently in the Bible. Did you know that? There is something spiritual about doing something for forty days. Here are some biblical events that took forty days:

• The Great Flood. 40 days and 40 nights of rain.


• Moses on the mountain with God -- 40 days.


• Goliath - he was around for 40 days before David killed him.
• Elijah had a meal that sustained him 40 days.


• Nineveh, the city in the Jonah & the Whale story? They had 40 days to change or else.


• Jesus had a 40 day fast in the wilderness.

There is a scientific significance of the number 40, too. Every 40th day marks the end of a solar year or something or other which I don't really understand so won't try to explain. ;)

Anyway, no, there's nothing spiritual about my 40 days of cooking, although sometimes I do utter my thanks to the Good Lord for my wonderful creations, sometimes quite verbally and with great enthusiasm. I just wanted to share the significance of 40 days of doing something with you. A little trivia for you to store away, if you will.

I'm told that my daughter needs something tasty to bring to her club's Valentine's Day Party, which is this afternoon. Of course, I was only just told an hour ago, as she was kissing me goodbye in the doorway of her school. Never to fear! Mommy is here! And Mommy is always, always armed with real butter, sugar, and flour. And thanks to Daddy's hard work in the Army, Mommy can stay home and bake up a delicious something for the club. (I love my wonderful, hard-working husband and am thankful to be able to do what I do.)

So as I was running my dishwasher, I softened my butter on the counter above it. Try that trick. It works really well on days when you lack a sunny windowsill.

And then it took me about five minutes to whip up a batch of Alton Brown's Sugar Cookies dough. (I love Alton, don't you?) Then I put it in the fridge for a couple hours and went about my business.

>>>Fast Forward Two Hours>>>

When you roll out your dough, use powdered sugar, not flour, to keep the dough from sticking. This will keep your cookies from tasting floury when they're baked. Also, keep your rolling pin dusted with powdered sugar. Don't over bake your cookies. You want them to have lightly browned edges and that's all. Over baking causes burnt cookie taste and brittle or rock-hard cookies. None of those are pleasant, especially for the baker who just invested several hours into her work.

I made my dough into heart shapes, and decorated them to look like conversation hearts. I had fun choosing the sayings from my memory and from the internet. I hope the kids have fun eating them. :)

I'm Not Martha

Day 39.

I am blog-crazy! I started another one to chronicle my efforts to be as handy around the house as Martha Stewart. Have you ever watched her show? She's Super Woman! She can do ANYTHING with a few simple items found around the house. I envy her raw talent. Or her writers. One of those two. I'm not sure which.

Anyway, I always have all these grand schemes to make things. Right now I'm collecting denim to create an oval, room-sized denim rug. My first braided rug. Ever. And I choose to start with room size. I have Martha envy. She could probably pop one out in an afternoon. Between tea party and dinner party, of course.

I found this recipe on her site. I couldn't leave it alone, though. I tweaked it to my liking. I like how mine came out. I think I even topped Martha on this one. Dare I even write that? ;)

Sausage & Peppers Linguine (adapted from Martha Stewart's Linguine with Turkey Sausage and Peppers)

serves 6

Ingredients:

• about 1 lb smoked turkey sausage (mine was Luis Rich and was 14 oz)
• 1 lb linguine pasta
• 3 bell peppers: all different colors (I used green, orange, and yellow)
• 3 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup butter
• handful of arugula
• salt and pepper to taste
• shredded Parmesan cheese to serve

How it's Done:

1. Start your water boiling for the linguine.
2. Cut your sausage into little pieces. I sliced the sausage in half lengthwise, then diced those pieces into 1/4" thick pieces. Cook in 1/4 cup of butter for five minutes.
3. Meanwhile, slice your peppers into 1/2" wide ribbons. Add to sausage.
4. Boil the linguine.
5. In the last two minutes, add the garlic and arugula and 1/4 cup butter & 1/4 cup water. Cook and stir.
6. Serve over linguine. I topped my dishes with raw arugula and shredded Parmesan cheese and served the dish with some rustic garlic bread.

Menu Plan Monday 2/8 - 2/14

Happy Valentine's Week! This is such a fun week to cook for -- I can cut things into hearts, X and O shapes, and dye things pink. :)

Here's my menu plan for this week. I hope you'll come back each day for the delicious recipes and photos! For over 300 more inspirational menu plans, visit OrgJunkie!

Dinners:

1. Stuffed Flank Steak




2. Chicken Divan




3. Sausage & Pepper Linguine




4. Minted Lamb Chops with Roasted Red Potatoes




5. French Onion Soup




6. Oven-Fried Chicken Nuggets and Alton Brown's Macaroni & Cheese (didn't get to this last week)




7. Split Pea Soup with Ham

Snacks and Desserts:

1. Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream




2. Bagels

Valentine's Day Food:

1. heart-shaped mini pizzas



2. salad with pink dressing



3. hand-molded heart-shaped chocolate-covered peanut butter cups

Super Bowl Sunday

Day 38.

It's Super Bowl Sunday. It's a day of football. And a day of food. Super Bowl food should be portable, scoopable, and not require a utensil. But what rule says it needs to be spicy, cheesy, or even cooked?

Stuffed Strawberries

Ingredients:

• strawberries


• cream cheese frosting

How it's done:

Cut the stem off of the strawberries. Make a flat cut so it will sit straight on a platter. At the pointy end, make a cut 3/4 the way through the berry. If desired, you can make an X in this fashion like I did.

Now, pipe cream cheese frosting into the space until the strawberry is overflowing with it.

Serve chilled.

If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd Have Baked a Cake

...or at least a cupcake! The sweet treat I chose to make this weekend was a batch of cupcakes. I put together a bunch of ingredients and I'm calling my creation Banana Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. Here's how it's done:

Mash three over-ripe bananas in a large mixing bowl.

Add 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 cup vegetable oil. If you have whole milk, use it. The creamier, the better. If all you have is skim, so be it. Spend some time stirring this up so it's very well combined.

One at a time, add in 3 large eggs. Beat well between additions.

Add in 2 cups of granulated sugar. Now set this bowl aside and grab another one.

In this new bowl, measure out 3 cups of cake flour. If you don't have cake flour, all-purpose flour will do, but sift it first, or at the very least, give it a good stir with a spoon before you measure it.

Into the flour, stir 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, and 1 tsp sea salt (I use sea salt for everything. Table salt will do just fine).

All at once, add the flour mixture to your wet ingredients and stir thoroughly to combine.

Line muffin tins with liners, or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Fill 3/4 full with batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting. It's a good time to begin your frosting. I forgot to take pictures of this part, but it's really easy. Just dump 2 8 oz boxes of softened cream cheese, along with 1/2 cup of softened butter into a mixing bowl. Beat on high until light and fluffy. Beat in 3 cups of confectioner's sugar gradually, and also add 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Use this to frost your cupcakes. Then, sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar (1 part cinnamon to 3 parts sugar).

Enjoy!

More Stuff You Can Make Your Own

I have a tiny back yard with a teeny tiny patio. I have a vision:

Two comfy seats and a small table between them, on the patio, surrounded with a container garden of various pot and containers. There will be bell peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, zucchini, dwarf blueberry bushes, and dwarf lemon trees. There will be some mint, and also some floral plants. It will be an edible paradise.

That's the plan, anyway. I've been reading books about container gardening and planning my spring/summer garden. Those are the things I'd like to see growing on my patio.

I'm collecting containers. Some, I'll paint. Some, I'll leave natural. I've already begun some cooking herbs in small pots indoors. I started these from seeds.

I bought these adorable chalkboard pots in a set of three. It's an herb garden set from Buzzby. I don't recommend using their seeds or soil, but the pots are just so cute I couldn't resist. I picked up packets of seeds at Lowe's right next to these cuties. I've been growing them since January. It's been fun to watch them come up out of the soil. I'm not a green thumb gardener, so I'm trying to be extra careful with these.
You're not supposed to water them much at all. Herbs, according to what I've read, thrive in dry conditions. I give them a little water every few days.

I can't wait to start cooking with my own, fresh herbs (and vegetables, too)!

Turkey Loaf with a Side of Prostitution

Day 36.

I'm still on the mend from my oral surgery. Sadly, I won't be eating this lovely dish today, but I had fun creating it. I hope you'll try it for me and tell me all about it.

Today I had a checkup at the dentist. Afterward, I treated myself to window shopping. I perused aisles of consignment boutiques. I read cookbooks at the big bookstore. I peered into windows and looked around. And then It Happened.

Someone solicited me for prostitution.

Now, let's back up a bit. I want to preface this by saying that I don't feel like I looked the part. I was wearing a white button-up blouse under a buttoned, classic jean jacket with matching crisp jeans, and sturdy, sensible, flat black shoes. I wore modest makeup and my wedding ring set, and was carrying an umbrella and my pocketbook. I had shopping bags in tow (okay, so I did more than window shop).

So why was I solicited?

This man with bad breath and dirty clothes leaned in close to me and announced that he had mad greens in da bank and would I like hook up sumpin?

At least, that's what I, a rather unversed street walker, thinks he says. Pardon me? I inquire.

He actually repeats himself. Two more times before I get it.

I giggled, I think, when I "got it" and told him, no, thank you. He walked away muttering to himself. I'm probably lucky he didn't hit me, or worse.

Immediately I take out my rather middle class Blackberry and IM my husband to please hurry up and come get me because I've been solicited and I would like to go home and wash. A lot.

I guess I always had certain ideas of what a prostitute looks like (such as the woman working the parking lot of Motel 6 off Victory Drive in Columbus, Georgia, with her thigh-high boots that almost reach her mini skirt, or the set-ups that are shown on TV shows like Cops). And I never fit that bill in my opinion. I guess I was wrong.

One more thing before I move on to a delicious dinner recipe: If that's how hookers are picked up regularly, with cheap, sleazy pickup lines like that, it's all the more reason to pity them. I wish I could save them all and show them a better way. How demoralizing and degrading it must be, day after day, to have ugly, stinky men act like they are da bomb diggity for offering them money for sex. Ugh.

Now I must thank you, dear reader, for putting up with my diatribe. And here is your promised bit of deliciousness. Enjoy.

Pesto-Stuffed Turkey Loaf

makes one loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey breast



• 1 1/4 cups Italian-style dry bread crumbs



• 2 large eggs



• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese



• 1 sprig fresh thyme (leaves only)



• 1/2 tsp sea salt



• 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper



• 1 clove garlic, minced



• 8 oz pesto

How it's Done:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl or food processor and combine well.



2. Shape into a 7x10" or so rectangle on a piece of greased parchment paper.



3. Spread with pesto.



4. Roll up jelly roll style, starting at a short end. Pinch to close seams. Place loaf, seam side down, into a shallow baking dish.



5. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

Lemon Garlic Scallops

Day 35.

My mouth is still healing from oral surgery, and I can't really eat anything with texture, so I'm taking this opportunity to cook some special things for my husband. I don't like any seafood at all, but he does. Since I'm the one who does the planning, shopping, and cooking, we might have seafood (that doesn't come from a tuna can) once a year or so. I decided to surprise him with some scallops. As I type, he's happily munching away on his scallops and I'm waiting for my pain meds to kick in so I can have some applesauce and milk. :)

Pan-Fried Lemon Garlic Scallops

serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh sea scallops
• 2 Tbsp salted sweet cream butter
• fresh thyme to taste
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• a splash of white wine
• the juice of 1/2 a lemon
• sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper to taste

How it's Done:

1. Melt the butter in your saute pan over medium heat (if using stainless steel. If using nonstick, you might need higher heat). Add thyme and garlic.
2. Add scallops. Sear them in the butter. Don't turn them over until they've been cooking about 5 minutes.
3. Turn them over and let them cook another 3 minutes or so. Add a splash (maybe a 1/4 cup. Sorry, I didn't measure) of white wine and squeeze 1/2 a lemon onto the scallops. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Scrape bottom of pan to deglaze.
4. Serve over pasta if desired. I served this dish over linguine. I added butter, parsley, and garlic to the linguine.

Sick Momma Dessert

Day 34.

So. I had oral surgery on Monday. I feel awful. But life does go on. And I was up to the task of cooking (albeit on pain medication). But I was only up to partial cooking. And this is what I made for dessert:

Brownies a la Mode:

Ingredients:

• one batch of brownies, prepared (I used a boxed mix! gasp! I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate)


• Vanilla ice cream (one scoop per serving)


• Hot fudge sauce


• chopped walnuts

How it's Done:

1. Place a brownie on a plate.


2. Top with a scoop of ice cream.


3. Drizzle hot fudge sauce over the top.


4. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.


5. Serve. Knowing you can't eat it yourself, serve to everyone else. And wish your mouth felt up to eating brownies. ;)

Bear with me!

I'm still cooking. I just got a new notebook and my teeth done. Tomorrow I'll post my brownies a la mode and another recipe. Tonight, I'm a bit...loopy and need to get back to bed.

Happy Cooking!

Menu Plan Monday 2/1 - 2/7

My laptop died.

It's a sad, sad day.

Now it's back to the desktop, which lacks the portability of my trusty notebook computer. Oh well. I'm lucky to have one of each, anyway. Blessings counted.

My whole menu plan was on my laptop (for the whole month of February, not just one week) so I had to scramble to get them written down by memory before I forgot them. Happily, I was able to remember every idea I had. :)

Here's this week's dinner and dessert plan:

Monday - Spinach Tortellini Soup and crusty bread

Tuesday- Black Bean and Rice Sliders

Wednesday - Butter Seared Scallops over linguine

Thursday - Stuffed Flank Steak

Friday - Homemade Chicken Nuggets and Alton Brown's Macaroni & Cheese

Saturday - Chicken Divan

Sunday - Beef Stroganoff

Dessert this week: Vanilla Ice Cream over warm fudgy brownies

I hope my menu inspires you. Come back daily for recipes and pictures. For more menu ideas, visit orgjunkie.

Who Says Vanilla is Plain?

Day 32.

I used to be able to rely on the day of the month to tell me which day I was on in my year-long challenge to cook everything from scratch. Not anymore! Now I have to rely on my memory. Uh oh.

So I was thinking, and it occured to me that I can make pretty much anything at home, instead of buying it at the store. There are many more convenience items in the grocery store than we often thing of. Beef jerky. That's easily made at home with a good cut of lean beef, some seasoning, and a slow oven. Shredded cheese. If you don't have a food processor, please get a Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupon, or some store's coupon, and go buy yourself a good food processor. Buying cheese in blocks and shredding it yourself is such a huge money saver, and the food processor makes it almost effortless. It takes me less than five minutes to shred a 3 pound block of cheese.

Another convenient item that we don't give much thought to is vanilla extract. All that's in vanilla extract is vanilla bean and hard liquor...and sweetener if you buy it at the store. It's super easy to make your own vanilla extract, and it's so much cheaper than buying it premade. Here's the breakdown:

Store-bought real vanilla extract: $7.99 for 2 ounces ready-made extract

Homemade vanilla extract: $7.49 for one vanilla bean at Publix (local grocery store) - You'll need three beans for a batch of extract ($22.47), plus $6 for the cheap vodka that comes in a plastic bottle. You don't need the good stuff for this project. Total cost - $28.49.

But wait.

If you buy your beans in bulk online, you get a much better price. I just bought 15 beans for under $20 at The Boston Vanilla Bean Company. But let's go with simplicity and use the Publix price.

When you make homemade vanilla extract, you don't make two ounces. You make eight ounces per batch. Let's do the math:

Vodka = $6 for just over 25 oz -- 3 new batches' worth.

So the vodka cost is $2 per batch.

Vanilla = $22.47 per batch if bought locally.

Total cost per batch $24.47.

Cost per 2 ounces of homemade vanilla extract = $5.62

Cost when purchased ready-made = $7.99

Savings for the first batch = $2.37

But wait. There's more.

Vanilla extract isn't a one time only event! Once your batch is complete, and you start using it, you can replenish it by topping it off with more liquor! You just keep topping off, and occasionally, you add a new vanilla bean, and you keep your supply of vanilla going endlessly. The savings increase more and more over time.

So try making your own vanilla extract. Not only does it save money -- it's also really, really neat, and it has the added benefit of needing very little hands-on time! Impress your friends with a gift of homemade vanilla extract presented in a little bottle with a bit of ribbon or raffia tied around the neck. Maybe you could even print out homemade labels for your blend.

To make your own:

Slit three vanilla bean pods lenghtwise to expose the beans. Put them at the bottom of a glass jar that has a lid.I used a Ball canning jar. Add 1 cup hard liquor (vodka, rum, bourbon). Shake gently. Cover securely. Set the jar in a dark cabinet somewhere. Every now and then, give it a gentle shake. It's ready to use in 8 weeks.

Don't forget: When you're using it,remember to top off the liquor now and then, and add a fresh bean a few times a year (depending on how often you use it).

Here is my batch of vanilla extract on day one. I'll be back to update it as the weeks go on.

And here it is a week later. Already, it's taking on a beautful amber color.

And here it is, well past 8 weeks old. I've been using it and adding more beans and vodka to it for a couple weeks now!