Did It Myself Curry Powder – Take 1

One of the things I came to love from our stay in Atlantic Canada was their curry.  Hubs’ dad had a good recipe, and showed me the basics of a good curry sauce for chicken, beef, and veggies.  I bought his Venetian Gold recommendation, and used it up.  On one of our return trips there, I procured another bottle, and have since used it up.  All my attempts to find the stuff here have fallen flat, even Amazon failed me…so, I am on a mission to find a good diy recipe to rival it….stay tuned.

I found this recipe on deliciousobsessions.com.  I love how it is in parts, so I can make large amounts or small, without having to “math”.  Today I used tablespoons, and a repurposed jelly jar…if it works, I’ll use 1/8 cup and store in a larger jar.  It smells like heaven!

Here is the recipe:

4 parts coriander
2 parts turmeric
2 parts dry mustard
2 parts chili powder
1 part cayenne
1 part cumin
1/2 part cardamom

I am not a product snob by nature.  The spices I used are not fancy ones, I usually pick them up on sale.  Again…my house smells amazing and I haven’t even started cooking yet.  I believe tomorrow we will have chicken and veggie curry with cauli-rice.  I can’t wait.

Tomato Basil Soup

We do meatless Fridays here at Les Buissonnets, and the husband has suggested grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for supper.  This is a timely request, because my patio basil was starting to go to seed, so I harvested (forgot to take before pics, dang me) it to make tomato basil soup.

Because…regular tomato soup from a can cannot compare.

I used about a cup of fresh, chopped basil leaves, and sauteed with half an onion, finely chopped, and a couple tsps. of minced garlic in a smidge of olive oil until onion is translucent and the smell of basil reaches to the back of the apartment.

I rarely measure when I’m doing soup…I just throw in a little o’ this and a little o’ that.  This is the way my dad taught me to cook, may he rest in peace.

I add a large can of the cheapest, lowest sodium tomato soup, a small can of diced tomatoes (undrained), and 2 cups of whey…this is a good way to use up the whey after making yogurt in my instant pot, and adds probiotics and protein to an otherwise low nutrient soup.

Let it simmer…enjoy the aroma until supper time…then brag about it to all your wordpress and facebook friends.

Happy Friday.  Enjoy.

 

My Amazing “I can’t believe it’s low carb” Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

My husband was diagnosed with diabetes last summer, and we have been on a journey of discovery in the kitchen.  Learning to cook low carb has been a fun challenge, and he has lost over 50# since we started.

He has never been big on sweets, so that part has been easier than it would be for me. Still, he occasionally does want a cookie, and his favorites are oatmeal craisin.  I have been playing with a few recipes I found online and have finally got it to what I consider the perfect cookie.

Here it is.  Don’t say I never gave ya anything.

WHAT I USED:

1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup SPLENDA® Sugar Blend

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon molasses

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups steel cut oats, uncooked

1 cup craisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

 HOW I DID IT

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Stir together flours, soda, and spices in a separate bowl for later.

Beat butter and SPLENDA® Sugar Blend at medium speed in the Bosch Universal (using whisk attachment) until fluffy. Add eggs, molasses and vanilla, beating until blended. Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended.

Change to cookie paddles, as this gets very thick and will bend your wire whips.

Stir in oats and craisins.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto lightly greased baking sheets.  

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly on baking sheets. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.  The consistency of these cookies is very dense, so I like to kind of smoosh them flat after putting them on the cookie sheet, otherwise they cook in the rounded shape, and get too done on the outside and not enough on the inside.  Smooshing seems to do the trick 😉

I make a double recipe of this, unless we are having a crowd over, then I triple it.  While the first batch is baking, I drop dough as above onto a parchment lined cookie sheet (as many as will fit on that sheet, barely touching) and place in the freezer for later.  When they are frozen, I collect them all into a large ziplock baggie and keep on hand for a rainy day.  These last about forever for just the two of us, but they are nice to have on hand when the grands come over and help us eat them.

These make GREAT breakfast cookies, they are so filling and satisfying.  In the future, I may add sugar free chocolate chips to the mix, just for grins and giggles.

What’s for dinner

We are having planned-overs for dinner tonight.  Easy beef pot pie:

• 1 leftover steak, diced
• 1 potato, diced
• 1 pkg. brown gravy mix
• 1 can mixed vegetables, drained
• 1.5 cups bizquick baking mix
• milk – for baking mix batter

Cook potato in salted water until tender, add brown gravy (prepare according to directions, diced beef, and veggies, incorporate all together, then pour into 4×4 glass baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine baking mix with milk until consistency of pancake batter, pour over top of beef mixture.  Bake at 375* until batter is browned on top, and toothpick comes out clean when inserted into crust.

This is a great way to use up leftovers.  Mashed potatoes can be substituted for the biscuit crust, and any left over veggies would work in this.  Top with cheese and serve with a green salad and you’ve got a plate of good old fashioned comfort food, quick and easy!

Burrito mix

In my little kitchen this month, I concocted a delicious, frugal yet filling supper to feed a crowd.  I had two of my children and three of my grandchildren sharing this one, and there was still plenty leftover to pack in husband’s lunch the next day.  Here is the recipe (I loved it so much, I added it to my journal for future reference).  Enjoy.

The Altar

The Kitchen has been called the heart of the home.  Family life is nurtured in the kitchen; conversations, tears and laughter coexist and comingle; food is prepared and consumed.  Generally, because of use and abuse, the kitchen is the messiest room in the house. If the kitchen represents the heart, the sink would be its altar.

The sink is where used vessels are gathered, scraped, washed clean, sorted and prepared for future use.  You can’t serve up a fresh hot meal on dirty dishes, now, can you?

In the same way, to be used effectively by God, we need to be cleansed regularly. Everyday use leaves the remains of what we had to offer on the surface of our heart.  Regret and unforgiveness will harden into bitterness if we are not careful to remove it promptly.   In the quiet of your kitchen, bring the dirty dishes of your life to the altar.  While you are scraping and scrubbing the congealed mess from the dishes, rinsing them clean, and putting things straight in your little kitchen, Let the Lord do the same thing on the altar of your heart.  With contrition, make a plan to right the wrongs that you have committed, and ask the Lord for the strength and resolve to follow through.  As you are putting away the clean dishes, and wiping up your workspace, thank the Lord for His goodness to you.  Ask Him to prepare you and enable you for the work that He has for you.

Regret, Guilt, and Shame are the ugly stepsisters of Contrition, the daughter of Truth and Pardon.  These stepsisters are hateful, ruthless, unforgiving, and usually gross exaggerators.  Don’t let them “help” in your kitchen.

Kalua Pork and Coconut Rice

When my kids were all still at home, and before freezer cooking really caught on, I had three tricks for keeping up with meal prep, the first was double or triple batching, or what I called Cook once, eat twice (or 3x).  When cooking dinner, I’d double or triple the recipe for the evening, and put it in the freezer for one of those days that I didn’t have time, or energy to make a meal from scratch.  This is also handy for cookie dough…Mix once, bake often 🙂

My second trick was “Planned-overs”.  Sundays I would make a large pot roast or roasted chicken (or turkey if I hit a great sale); what wasn’t eaten that night was cut up and placed in the freezer for a recipe or two later in the week.  Beef could be used for stir fry, pot pie, soup or stew, or hash.  Chicken/turkey could be used for chicken salad, pot pie or stir fry as well.  If I had leftover side dishes (veggies, potatoes, rice), that were not enough to use for a whole meal, I didn’t throw them out…I saved them in an ice cream bucket or ziplock in the freezer.  When it accumulated to enough, I made soup.  Waste not, want not, we made it through some very lean years with this approach.

My third trick was YO-YO night, short for “you’re on your own”, otherwise known as “clean out the fridge night”.  Kids could eat whatever they wanted out of the fridge, as long as they fixed it themselves.  We had seasons of YO-YO’ing it…one kid fixing breakfast, another having a sandwich, or cleaning out the leftovers from the night before…it worked well for us, I actually miss those days.

Now that the kids have all left home, I still find myself in this mindset.  Today I made Kahlua Pork with coconut rice.  I’ll have enough pork left over for at least a couple more meals, and the coconut rice might just be gone by tomorrow…YUMMMM!  Here are the recipes:

Coconut Rice:  No different than regular rice, except you substitute coconut milk for half the water called for.  It’s delish!

Kalua Pork:  Pork loin roast, washed, patted dry, pierced all over, and rubbed with 1 TBSP liquid smoke flavor and 1 TBSP sea salt.  Cook on low in slow cooker for 15 hours, turning once midway.  When done, remove meat from crock pot, and shred, adding liquid back in as needed.  Serve over coconut rice, with pineapple on the side.

Spicy Crackers

This snack  is fast becoming a staple here at Grammie’s house.  When we were in Alabama, my niece shared the recipe with me, and I’ve been hooked ever since.  It’s tasty, simple, and inexpensive…three of my favorite things!

Here’s how I do it:

I measure 1 1/3 cups of canola oil in a pyrex measuring cup, and add a package of ranch dressing and 2 tsp. red pepper flakes.  Mix it all up well and set aside while preparing crackers.  Open and place a box of the least expensive saltine crackers available  into a gallon sized ziplock baggie, pour seasoned oil over the top of crackers and seal the bag.  Let it set until oil mix accumulates at the bottom of the bag, then turn the bag over so it can continue to soak into crackers evenly.  I turn my bag over a few times, just to make sure the crackers in the middle get the good stuff on them 🙂

If you can wait, they taste the best after 24 hours…but I can never wait that long.

Here’s a picture of my latest batch…try them at your own risk.  They are VERY addictive.