Breakfast for Dinner

Day 167.

Whew! It's been a busy day for me! I meant to cook beans and make flour tortillas, but with everything I've had going on, my time ran out and I had to improvise. (This is where a well-stocked pantry comes in handy. When you have extras for busy days, it's easy to deviate from your original plan. I'll go into that more on another day...when I have more time!)

What's quick, easy, inexpensive, and relies on foods I usually have in my kitchen? Anything made with eggs. We have breakfast for dinner at least a few times a month around here: scrambled eggs & biscuits, fried eggs with buttered toast, pancakes, waffles, omelets, crepes, and more! For dinner tonight: potato frittata.

Cheesy Potato Frittata

What You Need:

• 3 large baking potatoes, scrubbed clean, peeled if desired, and sliced into 1/4" thick slices
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 6 eggs
• splash of milk
• salt & pepper to taste
• green onion, chopped (green only)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

How it's Done:

1. Heat an oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Add oil.
2. Cook potato slices in oil, turning to brown on both sides. Cook until tender, about five minutes. Arrange the potatoes so that they cover the bottom of the pan evenly. You will end up with several layers of potatoes.
3. Beat eggs with milk, salt, and pepper. Add eggs to the pan. Don't stir. Sprinkle on some green onion.
4. Cook the eggs until almost set. Lifting the very edges of the frittata with a spatula will help get some of the uncooked egg closer to the heat and speed up the process.
5. When the eggs are almost set, put the skillet under a broiler for a few minutes to set the top. Sprinkle cheese on top and broil until the cheese is melted.
6. Let the frittata sit undisturbed for about five minutes before serving.

Help! I have no food in the house!

Do you find yourself in a panic at the end of a pay cycle? Don't know how you're going to make your food stretch? Many, many people find themselves in this situation every month. I would like to devote a day to talk about food hardships and how to get through them.

First, take inventory of what you do have on hand. Chances are, it's more than you think.

I have flour, baking powder, salt, and some sort of fat/oil (butter, margarine/shortening/cooking oil):

You can make lots of things! You'd be surprised at how frequently you can leave out the eggs if you don't have any. The texture will be different, but it will taste fine! Use oil instead of butter for biscuits. Use water instead of milk if you have none. Use what you have. Here are some bare-bones recipes for things you can make with your ingredients:

Pancakes -Use water if you have no milk. Add powdered creamer if you have it!
Waffles - Skip the sugar if you have none.
Biscuits - Use water if you have no milk.
Flour Tortillas

I have all of that plus a can of tuna, some eggs, and some cheese:

Make biscuits. Cut them in half. Fill with canned tuna & cheese. Broil. Serve.

Breakfast burritos: Scrambled eggs with cheese on homemade tortillas.

Crepes: Thin pancakes. Fill them with eggs and cheese. Or tuna and cheese. What the hay!

Impossible Tuna Pie: Mix together 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of shredded cheese, a can of tuna, a cup of water (milk if you have it), 3 beaten eggs, whatever herbs you can spare, and 2 Tbsp melted butter/marg/oil. Grease a pie plate and cook at 350 for about half an hour.

Eggs served any way you like. Make some tortillas or flat bread to go alongside.

I have oats, sugar, and maple syrup (real or artificial), too:

Great! Oats are fabulous. They're filling and quick and you can do a lot with them. Use the syrup to flavor the oatmeal or to top the pancakes and waffles.

I have dried beans, canned tomatoes, and rice:

You have a feast. One pound of dried beans equals four cans of beans. Soak the beans overnight in water. Drain. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 2 hours. Beans and rice make a delicious, high-protein meal. Adding tomatoes makes it healthier and tastier. Add whatever herbs you have.

I have a bunch of random ingredients. What can I do with...

A lot of times, we end up with weird ingredients and we don't know what to do with them. Here are a few I've ended up with and what you can do with them:

Canned Chickpeas: Rinse them off. Drain well. Pat dry. Shake some salt and pepper onto them and bake them at 350 for about 45 minutes. They get crunchy and they make a good, nutritious snack that satisfies the salty snack monster in you.

Raisins: Add to anything: oatmeal, biscuits, rice, you name it!

Sweetened Condensed Milk: When money gets tight, sweets go out the door, but if you have a can of sweetened condensed milk, you can make a yummy pudding from it.

Mayonnaise: Believe it or not, mayo is great for spreading on bread and frying it in a skillet. It makes terrific garlic toast: Spread both sides of a slice of bread with mayo. Plop into a hot skillet. Cook until browned on one side. Sprinkle with garlic powder and flip it over to cook some more. YUM.

Here are some more resources for cooking with what you have:

Cooking By Numbers is my favorite one. You tell it what you have. It spits out recipes. Con: it doesn't have all foods.

Super Cook is wonderful because you tell it exactly what you have, and it tells you exactly what you can make.

Recipe Matcher is another site that lets you input your ingredients. I like Super Cook better though.

I'm really in a crisis here. Where can I get emergency food?

First, I'm so sorry that you're having trouble getting enough food. I know how that feels. I've been there. Here are some resources for you to consider:

Apply for food stamps. Here's a site that helps you determine your eligibility and tells you how to apply.

Find a food pantry. In the United States, visit Feeding America. They have a toll-free number and will help you get food in your area.

Start gleaning! Gleaning food means taking unharvested food. Live near an orchard? Ask the farmer if you can take fruits that have fallen. Many farmers will happily allow you to do this. You might also ask if the farmer will exchange work for some crops.

I've got $10 to spend on food. What should I buy?

This is really hard to answer, because food prices differ so widely across the country. But if I had $10, here's what I would buy:

• a 5# bag of white flour for $2
• a 1# box of margarine for $1
• a 3 pack of active dry yeast for $1
• 1# of dried beans for $1
• a head of cabbage for $1
• 1# of rice for $1
• a dozen eggs for $1
• a can of tomatoes for $1
• a small carton of oats for $1

I have $20 for food. What should I buy?

All of the above, plus:

• 3 more pounds of dried beans for $3
• another pound of rice for $1
• frozen broccoli, 2 pounds for $2
• a pound of cheese for $3
• generic peanut butter for $1

I don't like your lists. Do you have more lists I can choose from?

Yes. Check out any of these lists for more options.

Just Peace has 3 lists to choose from: emergency, bare bones, and the Money-Saving 100.

Hillbilly Housewife used to be a $40 emergency menu, but times have changed. Still, it's cheap.

Budget 101 has a $10 list and gives examples of what you can make with what you buy.

More ways to get food:

• Visit grocery stores on the weekend. Many have samples available throughout the store. You can eat an entire lunch this way.
• Register for free samples. This is not a regular or reliable way to get food, but some food will come your way. Arlana's Corner lists new freebies every day
• Learn which foods grow naturally in your area. Forage! Wild berries are a good thing to find.

Add to this list of resources! What methods have worked for you?

Winging It

Day 165.

The Hubs got a nummy lunch yesterday. See, it's low carbing right now, so most of his meals are Hunk O' Meat and Raw Salad Vegetables or Egg with or without Meat, Cheese, and Veggies. BORING.

I surprised him with some chicken wings yesterday for lunch. They were really easy to make, low-cost, low-carb, and he loved them.

Chicken Wings
Amounts shown are for 18 wings

What You Need:

• chicken wings (rinsed and patted dry)
• oil for deep frying
• 1/2 cup hot sauce
• 1/2 cup butter

How it's Done:

1. This is so easy if you have a deep fryer. We just happened to score one for cheap at a yard sale a few weeks ago. Heat the oil to 375 degrees.
2. Cook wings for 14 minutes or until cooked through. They will be nice and crispy.
3. While the wings are cooking, combine melted butter and hot sauce in a large bowl.
4. As the wings finish cooking, drop them into the sauce. Stir them around in the sauce so that they get coated nicely.
5. Serve right away with blue cheese dressing and celery.

Aren't those little dishes cute? They're from Pier One. I found the whole set at a thrift shop for $9.00 :)

Menu Plan Monday 6/14 - 6/20

Last week went well. I managed to pretty much stay on plan for my menu. Here are a couple of the things we enjoyed:

Cornell Bread

Soy Milk

S'Mores -- Homemade Marshmallows AND graham crackers!

This week's menu plan includes lots of fresh veggies. I haven't listed what my husband's eating (He's on Atkins) because we just play it by ear each day based on his appetite.

Monday:

Breakfast: Hand-held Omelets (recipe follows) & Orange Segments
Lunch: (Kids eat lunch @ school summer program) Lunch for me: Jaime Oliver's Cheesy Corn
Dinner: Burrito Packets, Seasoned Potato Wedges, and Fresh Veggies

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Toast with Blackberry Jam, Boiled Eggs, Orange Segments
Lunch: (Kids eat lunch @ school summer program) Lunch for me:  Vegetable Fried Rice
Dinner: Pinto Beans, Flour Tortillas, Rice, and Veggies

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Biscuits with Gravy, Orange Segments
Lunch: (Kids eat lunch @ school summer program) Lunch for me: Vegetable Fried Rice
Dinner: Beef Stroganoff & salad

Thursday:

Breakfast: Peanut Butter & Jelly French Toast & a big glass of milk
Lunch: (Kids eat lunch @ school summer program) Lunch for me: Veggie-Pasta Stir-Fry
Dinner: Veggie Scramble with Popovers

Friday:

Breakfast: Huevos Not Quite Rancheros
Lunch: (Kids eat lunch @ school summer program) Lunch for me: Vegetable Strudel
Dinner: Orange Chicken with Rice & Fortune Cookies

Saturday:

Breakfast: Bagels with Fresh Farmer's Cheese
Lunch: A Picnic at the Park!
Dinner: Some sort of baked chicken breast dish, Potato Salad, and Glazed Carrots (Possibly some dinner rolls)

Sunday:

Breakfast: Muffins & Juice
Lunch: Quinoa Garden Salad & Italian Bread sticks
Dinner: An Italian Feast!

Hand-held Omelets
Serves 6

Note: I am not known far and wide for my pie crusts, so feel free to use your own recipe. The one I've provided worked really well for this recipe, and tasted fabulous, but I'm well aware that my methods would elicit deep, dramatic gasps from true pastry chefs.

What You Need:

• 9 eggs
• a splash of milk
• salt and peppers to taste
• cheese, meats, and veggies as desired
• 1 2/3 cups flour
• 10 Tbsp butter, cut into cubes
• a dash of salt
• 3 to 4 Tbsp ice water

How it's Done:

• If you're using veggies or meats, cook them as desired. I only used egg and cheese in mine. I recommend cooking your veggies in a little butter in the skillet right before you add the eggs.
• Beat your eggs with milk, salt, and pepper. Add to hot, buttered skillet. Cook and stir until the eggs are firm and set. 
• Remove from heat. Let cool slightly while you prepare your pie crust dough.
• In a food processor (cue gasping here), pour flour and salt and butter cubes. Pulse 15 times or so, until butter is pea-sized. Turn the food processor on (more gasping...someone get that woman an oxygen mask!), and slowly add the water until the dough forms a ball. Turn off the food processor. 
• Move the dough onto a floured surface and roll out to 1/4" thickness. Using a 4" round cookie cutter, cut into 12 rounds. 
• Line a large cookie sheet with parchment, silpat, or nothing at all (I don't use Teflon and don't advise it) if you're brave. Move half of the rounds onto the cookie sheet.
• Mound the filling, about 3 Tbsp or so, onto each round. Cover the filling with the remaining rounds. 
• Press the edges together to seal completely. Using a fork, prick holes in the surface to vent.
• Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or so, until slightly browned. 

Oh, and my garden? Thriving. We're producing more than we can eat and I'm going to start freezing and drying some of what we're harvesting. Here are a few pictures of some of this week's progress:

Watermelon! I think that out of all of our garden, this is the thing I'm most excited about. We have somewhere between 15 and 20 melons growing on our plants.

Our big tomatoes -- the red ones

Our bell peppers are doing well!

One lone Mr. Stripey tomato growing on the vine

I post recipes daily, so please do come back throughout the week to see what's heatin' up my kitchen (or not, as the case may be!) Like what you see? Click Follow! :) For more menu plans, visit Org Junkie today.

Bites Around the Blogosphere 6/13

Good morning, dear readers. Welcome to the 200th posting on this blog! As today is only day 164, you can see that I write quite a bit. ;)

As of this posting, there are 182 public followers here. I'm humbled and honored that you would consider this blog a part of your regular reading. I hope you've enjoyed my recipes and banter so far, and I look forward to many more.

I'm hoping to reach 200 followers before July 4th. I have another giveaway for you at that time!

But for now, let's focus on other blogs. Here are some from the past week that I think are worth checking out:

Frugal Fresh Pineapple Salsa at 2 Make Ends Meet

A Book Club is forming (Reading The Help) at A Year of Slow Cooking. Want to join in?

Mediterranean Pasta Salad at Andrea the Kitchen Witch

Fire Roasted Ketchup at Beantown Baker

Pastry-Wrapped Cream Cheese and Pesto at Confessions of a Bake-a-holic

Rhubarb Meringue at Finding Joy in my Kitchen

Can All You Can -- Check out the vintage posters at Girl Gone Granola. I love them!

Blackberry Jam at Joy of Desserts -- Check out her Vintage Recipe Meme -- It's fun!

Edamame-Stuffed Wontons at kitchen meditation

Pistachio Brownie Wedges at Meet Me in the Kitchen

Blueberry Buckle at One Crazy Cookie

Are any of these blogs new to you? I encourage you to compile your own list of neat blogs for your readers to check into. I know I'd love to read more blogs, and what better way to find them than through word of mouth?

I Make Milk. What's YOUR Super Power?

Day 163.

When I was nursing my youngest daughter, nursing shirts with that slogan were popping up all over the place. I wanted one. I never got one.

The same slogan popped into my mind when I made soy milk yesterday. I do so love stickin' it to The Man by not buying processed foods. So it felt empowering to be able to make my own milk. Plus, as I've shared with you before, dairy doesn't agree with me. Nothing gross... I just experience chest congestion and cough for hours and hours. So it's nice to have dairy alternatives to fall back on.

(although I do love me some cheese...)

Anyway, I bought some soy flour this month, because...well...because it was for sale right next to the graham flour that I had on my list, and I thought it would be fun to try something new. :) Sometimes that's all the motivation I need. I've been using it in breads and as a thickening agent. I noticed a recipe for making soy milk from it on the side of the bag, and thought I'd give it a go.

It worked. But it needs work. I'm looking for a cost-effective source of organic soybeans to use at home. Until then, I'm willing to play with the flour. Learn from me here.

Soy Milk from Soy Flour

What You Need:

• 1 cup soy flour
• 6 cups water
• sweetener of some sort
• some salt

How it's Done:

1. The directions say to bring 6 cups of water to a boil, then slowly add in a cup of soy flour, stirring constantly. I say, bring FIVE cups of water to a boil. When it's boiling, combine the soy flour with the last cup of water to make a slurry, whisking until all the clumps are gone. I should have gone with my gut here and treated it like gravy but I went with the directions. Add your slurry to the boiling water and reduce heat to medium. Oh...the directions also don't tell you to use a large pot because soy milk bubbles up very, very quickly when you add the flour to the water. So use a large pot.
2. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. I would say keep an eye on it because mine created a crusted layer on the bottom of my pot. Could be because I didn't mix the flour with water before adding it in. As a matter of fact, I'm sure that's what went wrong.
3. Strain through a mesh strainer into a pitcher.
4. Add sweetener. And salt. The recipe doesn't call for salt but it really does need a pinch. I used vanilla and honey to sweeten this batch. I am going to play with sweetening in the future.
5. Refrigerate immediately for several hours before serving.

Now, there are people who think soy is very, very bad and won't touch the stuff. In huge doses (like, 6 servings per day or more), it can be less than good for you. But for folks like me, who cook from scratch and don't have any soy in their diets coming from processed foods (soy's in so many things that if you intend to truly avoid it, you had better cook from scratch), soy milk is just fine. But do your own research, and draw your own conclusions. I won't debate the merits of soy with you. It works for my family. :)

Coming soon: More soy milk, and rice milk. Someday, perhaps almond milk, though that would be awfully hard on my budget. So I might do it only once. Rice milk, though...that's affordable. :)

**WINNER** Easy LunchBox System

And we have a winner! Thank you for the enormous response to this giveaway! Seventy entrants!

Our winner, drawn by Random.org, is Comment #19:

Julia! Congratulations, Julia!

Julia said...


I think the subway sandwich with fruit and veggies looks delicious!



I will be contacting you via the email address you provided to get your information!
 
 
Didn't win today? You can still get a set! Act now before the back-to-school rush! Consider shopping through my affiliate store, please. The link can be found in the left sidebar on my blog.
 
Happy Cooking!

An Award! And a warm welcome to new friends!

Look at what I woke up to this morning!

Joy of Desserts gave it to me! Thank you so much for viewing my blog as award-worthy! What a great feeling!

The guidelines for accepting this award are...

• Thank the person/people who gave it to you.
• Tell 7 things yourself.
• Pass the award on to 15 bloggers, whom you have recently discovered, and think are fantastic.

 So, seven things about myself. Hmmm... I'm a fairly simple sort of gal, so it's going to be tricky coming up with seven new things I haven't yet shared, but I'll try...

1. I can't cook fish. Not only do I hate the smell and taste of all sea, lake, pond, drainage ditch, and puddle creatures , I really can't cook it. It never comes out right. Probably because my heart's not in it. Because it's gross.
2. I love tempeh (it's fermented soybean cake), but the way it's made really grosses me out. Essentially, it's controlled rotting. I can only consume tempeh if I don't think about the process. The same goes for cheese.
3. I have a mildish dairy intolerance. I love cheese. Love it. And ice cream. And heavy whipping cream. And yogurt. And sour cream. However, after I eat the stuff, I am congested for hours. That can't be a good thing. I really want to get off the dairy.
4. I can't/won't eat meat on a bone, veal, rabbit, venison, bison, ostrich, or any other exotic meat. I can't physically get the fork past my lips.
5. The first time I attempted gravy, I ended up with milky-colored water on top and a solid mass of cornstarch cemented to the bottom of my pan. To this day, I don't know what I did wrong. That was 12 years ago. Yes, I've only been cooking 12 years. I'm only 31 -- a veritable baby!
6. I always send extras in my children's lunchboxes so that they can share with friends. Because their friends always want to try their home-made lunch goodies, and I don't want my kids trading allllll of their wholesome, well-planned lunches for packaged, processed junk.
7. It's hard for me to go out to eat and enjoy my meal, because now that I cook everything from scratch, restaurants don't measure up. I think it would be better for me to save my money and go out once or twice a year to a 5 star restaurant and be dazzled by creativity.

Whew! I did it....and managed to keep the focus on food, which is what my blog's all about!

And now, onto fifteen awesome blogs that I've recently stumbled across that are great!

1. Laurie at Simply Scratch, who, like me, strives to make everything from scratch.
2. Betty Crapper :o), because her name brings a smile to my lips and her honest writing is fresh and fun.
3. Christy at From Glitter to Gumdrops. She's so creative. She doesn't know it yet, but she just posted the perfect gift for some of my Army friends who are moving away this summer.
4. Megan at Confessions of a Bake-A-Holic, for her inspiring food photography and delicious recipes.
5. Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom, for her fun Cooking Thursdays meme.
6. Anjanette at Eat from Your Pantry. Another blogger striving to serve and eat real foods. :)
7. Susan at FatFree Vegan Kitchen for her delicious, healthy creations that anyone can enjoy!
8. Keli at Feeding Four, for her awesome reviews, giveaways, coupon-sale match ups, freebies, and more!
9. Yenta Mary at Food Floozie. She was on the Early Show for her award-winning cupcakes. Run. Go to her. Now.
10. Hip Mountain Mama for her down-to-earth, green, natural way of living in the most beautiful state in the country (Yes, in my opinion), Colorado.
11. Amy at Just Another Manic Momday, who writes about her adorable son and all things motherhood.
12. Mickey at Monster Mama for her Kid-Friendly recipes
13. Angela at Soap Mom's Kitchen. Check out her desserts.
14. Jules at Stone Soup. Great pictures. Great directions. Killer recipes.
15. The Answer is Chocolate. So crafty! Go congratulate her on 100 followers. :)

If you're visiting from a blog hop, thanks for stopping by. I will always follow back, so be sure to leave me your blog link in your comment so it's easy for me to find. Have a happy Friday!

Friday Follow

Blog Hop Friday

Friendly Friday

On Being a Foodie

Day 161.

I don't just cook. I search for food news. I read books about food. Yes, cookbooks, but also fiction books where the story centers around food. I look for and attend food events. I like to talk about food. I like to write about food.

Food can be interesting. Food can inspire heated debates. Food is a rich part of the human history.

Here are some interesting factoids about what you put in your mouth:

• Did you know that the average person consumes 35 tons of food in a lifetime?
• Like Ice Cream? Thank the Chinese. And Marco Polo. He brought it back from China with him.
• Peanuts are used in making dynamite!
• A banana tree is not actually a fruit tree. It's a big ol' herb. The banana? It's a berry!
• Coconuts are deadly. They kill about 150 people each year -- that's more than shark attacks!
• Do you like your water bottled and fancy? Drink Evian? Spell it backward. Naive. Yeah.
• Like caramel? Thank Arab women. They used it to remove body hair. :)
• The kernels in a row of corn will always be an even number.

Do you read in the tub? It's one of my favorite ways to unwind at the end of a hard day. Many times, I bring cookbooks, instead of fiction. It's true. I mark, in pencil, recipes I'd like to try, and I write all over the margins my notes for changing the recipe.

I love older recipes, too. This one is relatively young for an "older" recipe. It's fun to make recipes from centuries gone by. I enjoy connecting with my culinary past.

Cornell Bread from Cornell University

Makes 3 loaves

Cornell bread was created in order to provide low-cost, nutrient-dense bread during war rationing. I don't know about you, but low-cost and high-nutrient are two phrases I strive to reach every single day!

I adapted the recipe based on my experiences with it and what I had on hand. Please refer to the link above for the original recipe.

What You Need:

• 3 cups warm (110 degrees or so) water
• 2 packets active dry yeast
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 6 1/2 cups flour (I used 3 cups whole wheat and 3 1/2 cups all-purpose)
• 1/2 cup soy flour
• 3 Tbsp wheat germ
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

How it's Done:

1. In your large mixing bowl (I used my KitchenAid as usual), combine water, yeast, and honey.
2. Let it rest while you stir together 6 cups of flour (save 1/2 a cup for later), the soy flour, wheat germ, and sea salt.
3. Add oil to the mixer bowl. One cup at a time, add your flour mixture, beating well. Add the extra 1/2 cup if you find your dough is too sticky like mine was.
4. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic. It took my stand mixer ten minutes to accomplish this.
5. Turn dough out into a well-oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. It took my dough 90 minutes to double.
6. Punch your dough down. Fold in the edges. Divide dough into 3 portions. Rather than make 3 sandwich loaves, I made mine into one 8x4" sandwich loaf, one round loaf, and six rolls. You use the combination that suits you. Make sure your pans are well oiled. Cover the dough and let it rise to double again. This took about 45 minutes for my dough.
7. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Bake for about 20 minutes. My rolls were done in 15; my 8x4" loaf was done in 24.
8. I brushed my finished breads with melted butter. I find that it adds to the flavor and also helps keep the crusts softer.

For more Vintage Recipes (and to participate!) visit Joy of Desserts today!

And for even more recipes, visit Cooking Thursdays at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

Day 160.

My daughter got braces at the end of April. Everyone told us that she would be sore for days after they put on the braces. She needed Tylenol once, and then she was fine.

And then we had to go back so that the orthodontist could install her palate expander. And we came home. And she was sore.

Then night came. And it got worse. She couldn't chew. Couldn't open wide. I made her a Muscle Milk shake.

The next day, she was still very sore and couldn't eat much. More Muscle Milk. Poor kid.

It's day 3 now and she's still sore. This is expected and normal. Some folks have suggested I should take her in and demand that they remove the appliance. However, this is for her benefit and it's important that we carry on. She has teeth impacted because her mouth is so crowded. Braces and the "roof rack" as I call it are important to her oral health (which is important to her physical health) and her self-esteem as she grows up. Sometimes, we have to do things that aren't any fun. Sometimes, we have to do things that hurt.

But it hurts this mama that she can't make her little girl feel better. :( Since it's day three, and the soreness should start tapering off, I decided to make her some soft pancakes and see if she could tolerate them. She was able to eat, but it didn't feel good to do so. I'm making her some mashed potatoes later. Any ideas on how I could add nutrients to those?

Healthy Peanut Butter & Chocolate Pancakes (No, really. They're healthy!)

What You Need:

• 2 1/2 cups flour (I used equal amounts of whole wheat, white, and soy)
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 3 cups of milk (almond, soy, rice, cow, goat, you choose!)
• 2 eggs (I used Ener-G egg replacer though)
• 1/4 cup natural peanut butter melted with 2 Tbsp coconut oil

How it's Done:

1. Preheat your griddle or skillet.
2. Stir together the dry ingredients, then incorporate the wet ingredients.
3. Put melted peanut butter and coconut oil (mixture will be thick, like frosting) in a piping bag or a plastic baggie which you've snipped the corner off of.
4. Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto griddle or skillet.
5. Make a design on each pancake using the piping bag.
6. Flip after 2 minutes, and cook another minute or so.
7. Serve with more peanut butter, maple syrup, or honey.

If only I had cacao beans...

**Don't forget to enter to win an Easy LunchBox System!**

Day 159.

What says summertime better than S'mores? As far as I'm concerned, nothing! I have wanted to try my hand at marshmallow and graham cracker making for ages, and I've finally gone and done it. Those puffy cylinders at the grocery store and those sugary graham cracker stand-ins can't hold a candle to homemade. Sure, it looks delicious in my pictures, right? But is it worth YOUR time? I believe so. This is such a yummy, rewarding treat.

Be the cool mom on the block. Make your own marshmallows and graham crackers. And find some cacao beans and make chocolate bars. Just kidding.

Sort of.

I found my marshmallow recipe at The Hungry Mouse. Since I'm not in the habit of copying someone else's recipe verbatim, please go visit The Hungry Mouse for the actual measurements. I'll just give you a pictorial tutorial with my suggestions and opinions thrown in for good measure.

My chocolate graham cracker recipe is inspired by The Prepared Pantry. I changed it up a bit so I will list my recipe here. See The Prepared Pantry for original specifications.

Ready?

Here we go.

First, you will want to make your graham cracker dough. Stir together the following in a mixing bowl:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat graham flour (you can substitute whole wheat instead. graham is just a coarser grind)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Set it aside for the moment. In your mixer bowl, beat 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted sweet cream butter until it's creamy.

Beat in 2/3 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup honey. Next, mix in 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 large egg.

Slowly stir in the dry mixture. You should end up with a firm, sticky dough. If it's too wet to make a ball, add a little more graham flour to the mix.

Move your dough to the fridge and let it chill for several hours to firm up.



Now it's time to start your marshmallows.

First, you mix your gelatin with your cold water in your mixer bowl and stir it up really well.

Don't smell it. Don't do it.

Next you prepare your pans for the marshmallow to set in. This is a very messy process so wear an apron and keep a cloth and broom handy. Sift powdered sugar onto your desired molds. I used a 10" square dish and a 9x11" rectangular dish. In retrospect, two 10" squares would have been better. My marshmallows would have been higher.

prepared pan for marshmallow fluff to turn into marshmallows

Then, it's time to make the sugar syrup. You'll need a tall pot, a whisk, a pastry brush, a bowl of cold water, sugar, corn syrup, a candy thermometer, and salt.

The Hungry Mouse says that you will need to brush sugar crystals from the sides of your pot. I never experienced much of that at all. Anyway, you will whisk together the water, sugar, salt, and corn syrup.

Then you need to clip on a candy thermometer. I have never owned one of these until this week. Trust me. Use it. What I thought was firm ball stage based on my perception was actually nearly 60 degrees colder than it needed to be! Use a thermometer. Here's mine:

Bring the sugar syrup to a boil and keep it there, on high heat, DON'T STIR, just leave it alone, until it reaches 244 degrees Fahrenheit. It takes longer than you think.

Remove it from the heat. Now, go see your gelatin. Stir it up. It will be dry-ish and chunky.

DON'T SMELL IT. DON'T. TRUST ME.

Put your splash guard on your stand mixer's bowl. Slowly pour the sugar syrup into your gelatin, with your mixer on low speed.

Even though you've now added your sugary goodness to the gelatin which you have not, to this point, sniffed,

DON'T SMELL IT. For the love of Pete, DON'T SMELL IT. You'll regret it and doubt your final product. Don't smell the stuff.

Now, set this to mix on medium-high for a full twenty minutes. Amazing things will happen. But for now, get back to your graham crackers.

Go get your dough. Divide it into three pieces to make your work easier. Roll each piece out onto parchment paper, to 1/4" thickness. Use a pizza cutter to cut squares/diamonds, but leave them all connected while they bake. Prick each piece with a fork several times. Slide your parchment onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 for about ten to twelve minutes.

Let them cool. They will still be soft when you take them out of the oven, but they'll harden up as they cool. Once cool, break them into pieces and enjoy!

Don't eat them all because we're making S'Mores, remember? Right about now, your marshmallow goo should look like pretty, shiny, puffy, white marshmallow fluff!

DON'T SMELL IT!

Instead, add your massive amount of vanilla extract (1/4 cup!) and beat it again for five more minutes.

NOW you can smell it. Go on. I know you're dying to smell it. Pour your fluff (well, scoop...or plop, or whatever) into your prepared pans.

This is a messy, messy process. You need lots of hot soapy water when you're done.

You think this is bad? you should have seen my fingers!

Now, dust the tops of your molds with powdered sugar and leave them alone for the night, uncovered, on your counter.

The next day, unmold your marshmallows. Use a sharp knife to cut around the edges of your pan. Lift the marshmallow up and out and only a clean surface for cutting. I cut mine into squares, You can do whatever you want. Dip the cut edges into more powdered sugar so they don't stick together.

Voila! Marshmallows!

Since I can't do it all ;) I bought some high-quality chocolate for my S'Mores.

Yum.

For more yummy recipes, visit Blessed with Grace for Tempt my Tummy Tuesday!

Welcome, New Friends!

It's time for Tuesday Tag-Along! If you're new to my blog, why not stop by and enter my giveaway for an Easy LunchBox System?

Without further ado...


Here's how it works:



Create a new Tuesday Tag-Along blog post. Include the Tuesday Tag-Along button by copying and pasting the code above. (You are also welcome to copy and paste these instructions in their entirety, or any portion of this Tuesday Tag-Along blog post!)

Add your blog name and the URL of your TTA post to the MckLinky below.

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