cooking

Back In the Lab 2

by ladypbwiggins

If you are like me, long blog posts sometimes get to be tedious. That’s why I broke Friday’s laboratory experiments into several parts. Continuing.

Country-Style White Loaves
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I tried to find the link for this recipe but there was only links to the book. It is The Art of Cooking Recipes and Techniques(The Cooking Club). The basic elements were all purpose flour (white), yeast, sugar, butter, milk and water. Those who know me personally, this recipe is healthy sacrilege. I must tell you I paid the price. I believe it was the source of gastrointestinal disturbances and inflammation pain in my joints. The reason I used these ingredients was because I bought the flour for Christmas desserts that we did not make. I decided to use it up and then replace it with oat flour or gluten-free flour. It was okay. Heavy like my great-grandmother’s.

Homemade Ketchup20160115_131340

This recipe is found in The Daniel Plan Cookbook. I used this recipe but I didn’t have enough sun dried tomatoes. Once again I substituted. I used ripe Roma tomatoes. I guess we are so used to the store bought kind that the sweetness was a little much. I don’t know if the tomatoes and honey combination was the source. I will use it and make the next batch with the sun dried tomatoes as instructed. I also checked the ingredients on the organic ketchup I had bought before. It contained more spices. Maybe I will add some of these spices on the batch after that. Continuing to experiment until I get the taste we want.  Ketchup

 

Vitamix Minestrone Soup

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I’ve wanted to try making minestrone soup for a while. I found a recipe that appeared to be similar to The Olive Gardens’ Ministrone. Before I had a chance to try it, I discovered a recipe in my Vitamix cookbook.  I tried it with a few changes. I used black beans instead of kidney beans and vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. I guess I blended it a little longer than necessary because my soup looked creamier than theirs. However, it tasted good. My husband and I decided mine would make a good spaghetti sauce. Here is the link for the recipe. It is worth a try. It is a tasty, quickly made soup. Vitamix Ministrone.

Some adjusting and changes will be made to better suit our needs and lifestyle.

Happy Experimenting.

Back In The Lab

by ladypbwiggins

On Friday January 15, 2015, I finally re-entered my my lab (kitchen). I have cooked meals but after the holidays I just was not interested in doing any “new recipe” cooking. I awaken quite early but I did not enter the lab until about 6:30 AM. I put the coffee on and moved into action.

The first order of business was to prepare for breakfast before my husband joined the conscious world.

20151026_091752Turkey Sausage I seasoned the ground turkey so that the sausage seasoning would have time to penetrate. This time I made more to freeze for future breakfasts.

 

Oatmeal and Dried Fruit Muffins 

I didn’t particularly care for bran muffins until I made these. Usually, I experience20160115_122020d very dry muffins. The black strap molasses and unsweetened applesauce make them quite tasty and moist. In stead of purchased applesauce, I put a fresh apple and a little water in my Vitamix and let it rip. The recipe is in Dr.Steven Masley’s 30 days Heart Tune-Up.
I cannot publish the recipe because of copyright laws. I would recommend purchasing the book, especially if you have heart problems. There is a lot of good information for heart health and many tasty recipes.

Mini Potato Corn Meal Cakes

Have you ever had boxed potatoes flakes and didn’t know what to do with them. I never used them and now that I am trying to prepare fresh, unprocessed foods I was at a lost. I didn’t want to throw them away. They were a blessed and appreciated gift in a Thanksgiving basket. While having my first cup of coffee, I noticed a recipe on the box that was interesting. It was Mini Potato Corn Meal Cakes. Why not, I said to me. I followed the recipe and it yielded more than I needed for that morning’s breakfast.You got it. I froze the rest. Here is the recipe with my real time changes.

2 cups Idaho Spuds Classic Mashed Potatoes

1/3 cup cornmeal

1 tablespoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne or chipotle pepper

2 cups milk

2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed  (I didn’t use)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3 green onions  (I used yellow onions)

Combine potato flakes, cornmeal, garlic salt and pepper in a large bowl.

Stir milk, corn kernels, cheese and green onions.Let stand for 2 minutes.

Scoop into 1 inch balls and place on a baking sheet. Flatten into 1/2 inch thick patties. (I skipped this. I went straight to the skillet.)

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.

Place patties in a single layer in pan. Brown [patties about 4 minutes per side, spraying with additional cooking spray as needed. Repeat with remaining patties.

Serve warm garnished with a dollop of sour cream and green onions or shredded cheese. (I skipped this. It would defeat my healthy plan.)

My husband said the cakes were good. My omissions did not affect the taste.  Next time I will use fresh potatoes.

This is getting to be pretty long so I will put the other recipes in another blog.  Friday was a busy day.

Happy Experimenting.