A Cozy Breakfast

I happened to stumble upon this concoction a few weeks ago, and now it's my new favorite breakfast. It's not really oatmeal with fruit, it's not really compote, but it is yummy, warm, and filling. Perfect for cold mornings! Feel free to tweak it to suit your taste:

1 generous pinch raisins, cranberries, or other dried fruit
dash water
small handful of oatmeal
1/4 - 1/2 C applesauce (I use No Sugar Added plain applesauce)
cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in microwave-safe bowl, crumbling oatmeal slightly as you add it in. Microwave 1 minute, sweeten if desired. You can easily throw in a bit of wheat germ, ground flax seed, etc. if you want to boost the nutritional content.

Yummy Scratch Mayo

I wanted to make tuna salad yesterday, but I didn't have any mayo. So I made my own. Surprisingly tasty and easy!

Into the tuna salad -

And into a yummy lunch!

The recipe I used:
1/4 C egg whites
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon mustard
ground pepper to taste (optional)
3/4 C oil
Combine all ingredients except in a food processor and pulse several times. Add oil and pulse until proper consistency.
I'd like to make a low-fat version of this mayo. I've read that you can substitute fat free cottage cheese or yogurt for the oil. Has anyone tried this with success?

Family Fall Favorites

I originally posted these recipes here on the blog back in October of 2008. These two remain my family's favorites as well as guests. I hope your family loves them as much as we do. I'm linking these up today to Kelly's Korner's Show Us Your Life.

Irish Stew

• 1 C fat-free low-sodium chicken broth (I prefer to make my own)
• 1 tsp dried marjoram leaves
• 1 tsp dried parsley leaves
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 LB small red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 LB lean lamb stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes (beef can be substituted)
• 8 oz frozen cut green beans
• 2 small leeks, diced (or 4 stalks celery)
• 1 1/2 C coarsely chopped carrots

Combine broth, marjoram, parsley, salt, garlic powder and pepper in crock pot and mix well.
Add potatoes, lamb, green beans, leeks and carrots (in that order).
Cover and cook on LOW for 7-9 hours.
6 servings


Beef Bourguignon

• 3 LBS beef stew meat, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/2 C AP flour
• 4 slices thick-sliced, hickory smoked bacon, diced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 8 small new red potatoes, unpeeled, quartered
• 8 - 10 mushrooms, sliced
• 20-24 pearl onions (can use 1 regular onion, coarsely chopped)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried marjoram leaves
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• black pepper to taste
• 2 1/2 C Burgundy wine or beef broth

Coat beef with flour, shake off excess, and set aside.
Cook bacon in a large skillet until partially cooked. Add beef, cook until beef is browned. Remove beef and bacon from skillet and drain off excess fat.
Layer carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, bay leaf, marjoram, thyme, salt, pepper, beef and bacon mixture and wine in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on LOW 8-9 hours or until beef is tender.
Remove and discard bay leaf before serving.
10-12 servings.

Bread and Spread

I made this last night for my Bible study group. I was surprised at how easy it was to make, and how delicious it tasted. Since my Bible study group reads my blog, I thought I would post the recipes here so that they (and my other readers) can make this for their own homes.

Focaccia (makes 2 loaves)

Total time: 2 ½-3½ hours (1½–2½ hours rising time)

2 pkgs. fast-rising dry yeast

2 C tepid water (110 degrees)

2 TBS sugar

4 TBS olive oil

½ C salad oil

1 tsp table salt

5 ½ C unbleached white bread flour

topping:

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

¼ C olive oil (herb-infused)

1 TBS rosemary

1 TBS kosher salt

2 TBS Parmesan cheese

Dissolve yeast in the tepid water. Add sugar, olive oil, salad oil, and table salt. Mix in 3 C of the flour and whip until the dough begins to leave the bowl (I use a wooden spoon for this; the dough doesn't seem to stick to wooden spoons). If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer, you probably want to use it for this step. If you whip the dough by hand, it will take about 10 minutes of constant, firm whipping.

Mix in the remaining flour by hand or with your mixer's dough hook. Knead the dough until it is smooth. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with a dishcloth or wax paper, and allow the dough to rise twice. Punch down the dough after each rising. Rising times will vary; I would allow 30-60 minutes for each rising.

Oil 2 cookie sheets, 11x17 size. Insulated or air-cushioned sheets work best, but are not necessary. Divide the dough in half and use your fingers to spread each half of dough out to the edges of the pans. Cover and allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes. Using your finger tips, lightly press down into the dough to create dimples over the entire surface. Mix up the topping ingredients and brush over the dough. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes.

Tomato, Garlic and Herb Dip

½ LB cherry tomatoes, diced

1 can peeled, petite diced tomatoes

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

6 TBS olive oil, plain or herb-infused

1 TBS vinegar, plain or balsamic

2 TBS Italian seasoning, if using plain olive oil

Drain the fresh tomatoes in a strainer and place the strainer into a pot of boiling water. The water should just cover the tomatoes inside the strainer. Keep the tomatoes in the water just until tender, about 1-2 minutes. You do not want the tomatoes to be mushy. Drain off the excess water and place tomatoes in a medium-sized bowl.

Drain the canned tomatoes thoroughly and add to the fresh tomatoes. In a separate bowl, combine the garlic, olive oil, vinegar and spices. Slowly add the olive oil mixture to the tomatoes until the dip is the desired texture. You may need additional olive oil and vinegar, depending on your personal taste and preference.

Chill and use as a topping for focaccia bread, toss with your favorite cooked pasta, or in place of tomato sauce on your pizza (just add cheese to this mix, spread on dough, and bake according to dough directions). Enjoy!

* Focaccia recipe based on recipe found in “The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian” by Jeff Smith

Mexican Casserole

I found a wonderful recipe for a dish called Mexican Casserole over at Bits and Pieces from My Life. I served mine with cheese, sour cream and Fritos. DH and I found about 1 C of this to be plenty for an adult's meal. When prepared, the recipe makes 11 cups, so if you figure 1 cup = 1 serving, that's 11 servings! Being the frugal/OCD person that I am, I also calculated the price per serving; if you serve the dish with the toppings that I used and use the 11 servings calculation, it comes out to around $0.80 a serving. I didn't have all of the items in the recipe on hand, so I had to buy some items at full price. The cost would be much less if you shopped for these items on sale. For those diet conscious, here is the nutritional information: 184 calories, 2 g fat, 32 g carbs, 11 g protein (nutritional info doesn't include toppings). Cheap, delicious, and pretty nutritious!

Laundry Detergent

Here is my recipe for making homemade laundry detergent. As a recipe, it just so happens to be in a list :)

You will need:
1. 1/2 C Borax
2. 1/2 C Arm and Hammer baking soda OR washing soda (I use baking soda, as washing soda is hard to find)
3. 1 full-size bar of soap, grated (makes about 1 cup)

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Use 1-2 TBS (yes, tablespoon!) per load, depending on how dirty the clothes are.

A few notes:
1. You can either grate the soap using a grater, or you can cut up the bar into small pieces and then use a food processor. The pieces of soap will be a little larger, so either mix the detergent up before you measure it out each time, or let the soap pieces dry out for a few days and then grind them up again.
2. Cheaper soap seems to work best (yeah!). You DON'T want to use any type of moisturizing soap, as it will clump together and make a HUGE mess!
3. Zote or Fels Naptha soaps are called for in the recipes that I found, but I haven't been able to find these soaps. I hear they're available in Mexican grocery stores, but I haven't checked there.
4. I figured out the cost per load to make this, using WalMart prices for Borax and baking soda (I used the cost of 33 cents per bar of soap), and determined that this recipe cost 3 CENTS per tablespoon! The cheapest laundry detergent (which has a lot of phosphates), I have found at 5 cents a load. This detergent works better than my ALL free and clear detergent that I was using, at 12 cents a load.
5. There is also a liquid version of this recipe, if you don't like powder detergent, that can be found over at The Simple Dollar. The liquid recipe makes about 5 gallons.

A big thanks to Frugal Upstate, where I found this recipe!