A Family Heirloom to Treasure

The cover of the book is plain, black, and worn on the edges. The pages are yellowing from age, but Mom’s handwriting is as eloquent as ever. Each recipe written with love and care for the family of eight children that she raised and cooked for; four boys, then four girls followed as if she planned that too.

Recently I opened this book, yes a big step for me, and to my astonishment (and opening it from the back end) I discovered that Mom had dutifully kept our family geneology handwritten in the back of her cookbook! I shared the news with my family and everyone was quite surprised. Thanks Mom!

I’ll share more from what I find in her cookbook in future posts…stay tuned!

I think this photo of the hot chocolate my daughter ordered at a local cafe shows what “perfect” whip cream looks like.

Next time we go there I’m going to ask why hot chocolate is served in mugs twice the size of their coffee mugs…I had to wait for refills!

Sweet Memories

I remember when I was young my mom would make homemade hot chocolate mix using powdered milk as one of the ingredients. She would store it in a big container for all eight of us kids. It was delicious! Over the years as I’ve purchased Swiss Miss for my kids I’ve often thought back to mom’s version of hot chocolate.

She made us lunch and it warmed me right up. I wanted to share a photo with you as she presented the meal to me. It was so cute

Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese on Homemade Bread!

1. Stacking dirty dishes in the sink. Why do this? Will they then wash themselves? Won’t we need to use the sink for something else, like meal preparation perhaps?
2. Using the flour sack dish-drying towel as a hand towel. You know who you are, you wipe your wet paws on these towels rather than the hand towel.
3. Using the “show towels”. Okay, if you don’t know what a “show towel” is, I don’t think I can help you.
4. Soaking dishes in the sink. Why? For how long? Oh and my favorite, who gets to reach into that scuzzy cold water later to pull the drain plug out?
5. Leaving an open jar of olives (juice included) in the fridge where I can easily knock it over. Yes this has happened more than once!

So there you have it. Wow, this is food therapy for me, I feel better already just getting them off my chest. Can anyone relate to any of these pet peeves I have? Please share!

I really liked the flavor of the iced chai tea and my daughter thought it was “unusual”. We had brought our dog with us on the walk and on the return home we had to call for a pick up, we had pooped the poor pup out!

English Breakfast Tea or Chai Tea

Ever since I met my hubby, John, we have had evening tea time, if we’re at home in the evening, and if it’s before 9 pm. He prefers Bigelow’s Decaffinated English Breakfast Tea or decaffinated Tetley Tea. I don’t have a preference really.

I recently discovered Bigelow also makes a superb (okay I’ll admit I haven’t compared it to anything other than Stash Tea) decaffinated hot chai tea. That’s my new favorite.

With a little milk, or half and half, and a small teaspoon of sugar it is divine I’m sipping some now as I write this post!

It’s Glad Press ‘N Seal and it works just like saran wrap…well, without the struggle that is. Just ask my son-in-law how much he loves fighting with the saran wrap at meal clean-up time

Individual Freezing

John really likes using this wrap to seal and store fresh hamburger patties just as they show on the front of the box. He is extra careful with freezing any foods, so he slips them inside a freezer bag for extra protection.

Cover Your Leftovers

When we have burgers he just cuts them apart with scissors as we use them. No more prying frozen patties apart, that’s a thing of the past. I like to use this wrap to cover bowls of leftovers in the fridge. You don’t have to fight with it like saran wrap, and because you cannot see what is in the bowl you are more likely to check on your leftovers! Isn’t that tricky?

With a family of pancake lovers (my favorite being banana pancakes), it can get really frustrating real quick to use a frying pan to make pancakes.

We like to eat every Sunday breakfast together, so when pancakes are on the menu, we pull out the GE grill.

From Burgers to Bacon

This grill has a temperature gage on it and a tray that collects run-off grease so it’s great for cooking burgers or bacon too. We’ve made eggs on it too.

It’s a nice appliance to have in the kitchen if you can find the storage space for it. John is always the one that operates it, so that’s probably why it still works after all these years!

It’s my George Foreman G-5 Grill!

We use this nifty appliance with the 5 interchangeable grill plates quite a bit. We mostly use the grilling plates and make hotdogs, hamburgers and grilled chicken. It heats up quick and cooks evenly. It comes with a cleaning sponge that wears out quickly, so be prepared to replace it or use a soft sponge to clean it.

The Fat Drains Away From Your Food

You can cook with it flat or inclined so the yucky fat drips down into the tray (don’t forget to place the tray there!). The other night when we had two extra kids to feed we cooked up kosher hotdogs on the G-5, as it is fondly referred to in our house. We also offered chilli and onions, now that’s a quick hot meal…well except for the non-existant vegetable.

Stop When You See Black Smoke!

So whirl, whirl around the blade goes, when it’ll chop up the ice no one knows. Soon I have black smoke and a horrible electrical-burning smell surrounding me. What gives? No milkshake for you! Wow, what a disappointment.

Cusinart – Because I’m Worth It

So it takes a few months to get over the thinking that all blenders are built the same. We venture out to see the Cusinart Blender, what a machine! Milkshakes for everyone! Ice chopping is no problem at all! It also came with a food processor attachment, we’ll go into that gadget later. I think we’ll skip the story about the hand mixer…it wasn’t me, it was my daughter that broke that!

Their delicious pasta is served to your butcher-paper-covered table and they always give you enough so you can take some home for lunch the following day.

Creamy Basil

Imagine my surprise to see the box mix version of this delightful pasta dish, my favorite! Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken & Pasta!

The kit includes; linguine pasta, grated parmesan & romano chese blend, basil & cheese seasoning, creamy sauce and sun-dried tomatoes. All you need to add is 1 pound of checken, 2 Tablespoons of butter and 3/4 cup of milk.

The best part of course besides it being quite delicious is that it’s ready to eat in 20 minutes!! You know we ate it so quick that I forgot to take a photo…this is a picture of what was leftover after three people ate this meal.

Limited Counter Space?

She’s such a clever girl, my daughter, with limited counter space in her kitchen, she has found a way to safely keep her knives in an easy to grab area on the side of her kitchen cabinet. I say “safe” because my grandson won’t be able to reach those knives for quite some time and that’s good news

Knife Wear and Tear

I heard once that the wooden blocks for knife storage can actually harm your knives if you are not careful when you are inserting them and removing them from the block. Rubbing the blade against the wood inside the block is not healthy for the life of your knife, this makes sense to me.

Shop for a magnetic knife strip at Amazon!

Take ‘n Bake Taco Shells

We like to cook our own taco shells and we were able to find them at a great price at WalMart. They are in the refridgerated section of the store. Four shells come in each box. You will want to take them out of the fridge so they can come to room temperature.

Taco Bowl Tips

Yes, we do have cold salads in these shells as well. You can also use them as chilli bowls too. Just yummy! So now you take out the paper forms that create the little tables that help to shape your shell while it is being cooked. Put them together and place them face down onto your cookie sheet. Place one uncooked taco shell over each little table. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes. Do not overcook them – it happens quickly, so watch out for this (can you tell I’ve burned a few of these?)

So here you can see what they look like when they are done. I left one of the little tables inside the shell so you could see how the shell forms around it as it cooks. Next we gathered our ingredients for making our tacos.

Ingredients Can Vary

After I took this photo John said, “Oh wait, you forgot the tomatoe.” To which I replied, “No big deal, I won’t miss it!” Common thing in my family of 8 kids, half of us kids hated tomatoes! I still do to this day. Okay, so here we have the chicken, seasoned with taco seasoning, shredded cheese, onion, avocado, sour cream, olives, ranch dressing, taco sauce and lettuce.

Taco Bowl Masterpieces

So we all wanted to share our unique taco bowl creations with you, so here they are;

Okay, this gal, Stephanie is a woman after my own heart. She has made the New Year’s resolution to prepare and eat meals cooked in her crockpot every day for the whole year of 2009! Talk about creativity, she shares her adventure on her blog, so perfectly named Crockpot 365. Stephanie also brings up a good point too, it’s quite frugal to cook this way.

Start Your Own Kitchen Sisters’ Club

Here’s a creative idea from In Pas sionate Pursuit, start your own Kitchen Sisters’ Club. Invite some friends over and have some fun cooking up several meals in one night. Share what you cook so everyone leaves with meals to freeze, wow! Fill your freezer and do some bonding with friends at the same time!

Pinto Beans and Ham Anyone?

How about an easy-to-cook recipe for pinto beans and ham in the crockpot? Well, Mommy’s Kitchen is sharing this recipe and a tip too; if you add some baking soda to the water you soak the pinto beans in, it helps to alleviate some of the gas usually associated with eating beans!

Chicken & Black Bean Soft Tacos

I really like black beans when we have Mexican food for dinner. I visited Cristi’s Chefability blog this week and read about how she started cooking at the sweet age of 9. Her family owned a restaurant while she was growing up and she learned everything about cooking from her mom. Her recipe for Chicken & Black Bean Soft Tacos is on my list for our next Mexican dinner.

A Talented and Young Foodie

I really admire today’s youth that take the time to learn to cook and also share with the rest of us. Visit Brooke’s blog, Simply Vegetarian. She’s a 19-year-old chronicling her “food affliction”. Brooke shared a lovely recipe for Lemon Pepper Papparadella Pasta that is sure to entice you.

1 Whole Chicken (cleaned, yucky parts removed, including the skin)

1 Teaspoon Mexican Chile Pepper

1 Teaspoon Poultry Seasoning

3 Tablespoons Italian Salad Dressing

1 Yellow Onion – quartered

This was easy to make! Lay the chicken in the crockpot. Stuff the onions in the cavity. Put the remaining ingredients on the chicken and do not add any water. Place the cover on your crockpot and let it cook on low for about 8 hours.

We Didn’t Miss the Chicken Skin

The chicken was delicious and you can see I even captured the steam coming off of it in this photo! There was plenty for the 4 of us and we already knew what we wanted to have with the leftovers the following day…taco bowls! Watch for that post coming soon! Cooking in the crockpot allows for free time away from the “slaving” over the stove. I wanted to share with you what John (grandpa) did while this chicken was cooking in the crockpot…see below

Grandpa John and Grandson Colten

Sometimes I get frustrated in the kitchen with difficulty opening jars or learning to use a new gadget. I would have to say the one item I struggle with most is the cooking spray caps. They tend to get a bit greasy, and they snap on so hard that I struggle to get them off. First I’ll wipe it clean, then grab one of my rubber jar openers. Of course if this doesn’t work I’m seeking out my son or John to help me out.

He Cooks and He Shops

Yes, it’s true, I’m totally spoiled. John does all the shopping and cooking. If you think about, how the heck would I know what to buy when the recipes seem to reside in his head? Well he brought me a lovely gift from his last shopping trip, he found Crisco Cooking Spray in a capless can. Can you believe it? Well perhaps you already know about it or even already use it. I’m thrilled! Plus think of how many caps the environment won’t be subjected to. Way to go Crisco!

My First Taste of Salmon

In 1999 when my family moved to the great Pacific Northwest, we became friends with a park ranger, Eric, and his wife, Joanie. One day, after helping Joanie with some gardening, she invited me to her little cabin in the woods, on 10 forested acres. She prepared lunch for us outside, under the evergreen trees; smoked salmon (cold) on top of a bagel with cream cheese. Yum! This is my favorite way to eat salmon!

Making Smoked Salmon Yourself

If you are the adventurous type, perhaps you would like to make the smoked salmon yourself. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, like I do, you probably know of a few people that will do it for you right after they catch the salmon! Off-season you can always find it in your favorite grocery store.

Hesitant Salmon Tasters No More

So my dear friends and hesitant salmon tasters, give this a try and let me know how you feel about salmon. I believe you may just fall in love with this wonderful fish. When you come to the Pacific Northwest, be sure and do so when the salmon are “running” it’s quite a sight to see.

Get your taste of the official Inaugural Luncheon at home! This informative site is quite colorful and surprisingly easy to navigate, for a government website. Here you’ll find the menu and you can easily download all the recipes. Be sure and check out the Lenox crystal gifts for the President and the Vice President too, they’re beautiful!

Have a Picky Eater in Your House?

Well does your picky eater like brownies? (Yes! My picky eater does.) I found a creative mom who shares her recipe for putting more than one veggie into mini brownies. You can find the recipe on Mama Loves Food where she also posted proof that her picky eaters eat them! Watch the video and see Casey gobbling them up whole!

Get the Kids to Eat Cauliflower

On the Work it Mom blog this week I found a most interesting side dish. Chris calls it “Spicy Roasted Califlower with Honey”. Now before you holler, “Yuck!”, I have to tell you that half of her kids (I don’t know how many this is) liked it, so you have a 50/50 chance of not getting cauliflower thrown at you! Be brave, and give it a try.

Comfort Food Anyone?

Over at the Mixing Bowl they are hosting a “Comfort Food Cook-Off”. For this contest you send in your recipe for your favorite comfort food, like lasagna or homemade chicken pot pies. If you are chosen the winner, you will recieve (in addtion to my admiration), $350.00! Wow! That will buy quite a bit of groceries to fill up your pantry! Hurry and get the details and enter as the deadline is February 28, 2009.

Can’t Get Enough Salmon?

Well I noticed that Marlo and Elaine shared a salmon recipe this week also. They call it, “Super Easy Costco Salmon Recipe”. I tell you, any recipe with the word “Easy” in the title gets my attention! Now where do you suppose I can purchase some Hawaiian salt?

Sumptuous Salmon

The salmon fillets (thawed) are placed into the frying pan (previously sprayed with nonstick spray). John seasons them with the same seasoning he used for his 12-Minute Tilapia, garlic and greek seasoning. He says that you can use any seasonings you like, these two happen to be his favorites.

Cook the salmon for approximately 5 to 6 minutes on each side (be sure and cover it). Then serve! We had melt-in-your-mouth red potatoes and peas and carrots with it as shown below.

Slice and Serve – My Way

I like to slice them up (well actually I like for John to slice them up) and put them in a covered bowl in the fridge. Then throughout my day I will have a couple of bowls full while working at my desk.

Slice and Serve – His Way

John, on the other hand, likes to slice them up, put them in a bowl, add a bit of water and sprinkle with sugar. This creates a syrup for the strawberries to soak in.

Put ‘em in a Pie

I really don’t think the strawberries need any “doctoring” like that as I enjoy the sweet and tart flavors in fruits. As for actually making something with strawberries from a recipe, they usually aren’t around long enough to accomplish that! In the past I used to wash them, slice them and put them in a cooked pie shell. Then pour that yummy strawberry glaze over them, add whip cream and devour!

Burnt Toast

Usually I burn (and I do mean burn) through a toaster oven on average every 3 years. Don’t know if it’s a toaster tantrum or what, but they always seem to leave me via a small internal fire.

My Intern Toaster

I suppose I’m a hazard in the kitchen, ah yes, yet another reason to stay out of it! So here is a photo of my newest toaster oven, I suppose like me, it is an intern I actually like this one best, it is a Euro Pro that I found at the Lowes store. I never heard of this brand before and took a chance. I found it strange that you have to set the oven temperature around 400 degrees, then set the selection to “toast” in order to toast. I got over that real quick as I was so pleased that unlike my last toaster, this one toasts both sides at once! So dear readers tell me your toasting tales.

John’s 12-Minute Tilapia

We purchase our tilapia frozen and individually wrapped. Unwrap it and place it on a microwave-safe plate and defrost it for approximately 30-seconds. Your microwave oven time may defrost differently than ours, which tends to kick bootie.

Defrost the Tilapia

Unwrap the fillets, place on a microwave-safe plate and defrost for approximately 30 seconds using the defrost button on your microwave. Place the fillets in your frying pan after you spray it with a nonstick cooking spray. We use canola or olive oil spray. John sprinkles garlic salt and Konriko Greek Seasoning on the fillets and cooks on low heat.

Cover and Cook

Cover the pan with the lid from your larger pot. After cooking the fillets for 6 minutes on each side, they are ready to eat. We served the tilapia with green beans (I prefer fresh green beans not canned, however I am out-numbered on that) and an Italian salad.

Dinner is served!

Clip Some Coupons

Who doesn’t love to save money? My sister recently sent me to a Coupon website that lets you choose the coupons you want and then print them out. These are some great coupons for major brand name items and most are for $1.00 of savings! Get your scissors ready and go check it out!

Is it Okay to Cook Your Omega 3s?

As a wife to a heart patient, I am keenly aware of the benefits of increasing the Omega 3s in our diets. We love to grill salmon and halibut on our George Foreman Grill (I’ll tell you about that in an upcoming post). I did have a questions though about whether or not Omega 3s were still present once the fish was cooked. Well, I found out I wasn’t the only one with this question. I found the answer is yes, they are still present,  per a post by Dr. Brent Ridge’s on the Care2 Blog, a blog for people who care about making a difference; in animal welfare, environment, green living and human rights.

It’s All About the Presentation!

This week I had the mouth-watering opportunity to view the gallery of submissions for the 2008 Cooking Club Challenge. I found this yummy gallery on Food network’s food for thought blog. You can browse through the lucious display of the most memorable submissions of 2008. The beautiful photography is worth seeing as well.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Anyone?

I visited Paula’s blog this week, Great Recipes By Paula and the photo of the fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies caught my chocoholic attention! In her quest for baking the very best chocolate chip cookies, Paula gathered input from other foodies and condensed the suggestions into 3 critical steps that resulted in her victory dance in the kitchen!

More Crock For You!

In my research this past week, as a newbie on this blogging internship, I wanted to focus on the beauty of using the crockpot. Well, Easy Crock Pot Recipes is a resource I have bookmarked and I am sure you will want to also. A wonderful tip I found was to keep apple cider warm in your crockpot during the day. During our cold winter days this will be a great way to greet my visitors, plus it makes the house smell so good!

Spanish Omelet

• 2 teaspoons reduced-calorie margarine
• 1/4 cup diced onions
• 1/4 cup diced green pepper
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 2 eggs beaten

Melt margarine in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onions, green pepper and celery. Cook until tender, adding small amounts of water if necessary, to prevent drying.

Add tomato sauce to onion mixture. Reduce heat to low and simmer while preparing eggs.

In a small nonstick skillet, cook eggs until done to taste. Transfer to a serving plate. Pour sauce over eggs.

1. A Simple Guide to Meal Planning, Coupons and Sales Circulars
2. 200 Problem Solving Tips for Your Home and Health
3. 89 Money Saving Tips

Did You Make A Resolution to Get Out of Debt?

Cara goes on to say that she also has a Powerful Debt Strategies Report available and you can download it right away! If you made the get-out-of-debt pledge for ’09 here ya go!

Healthy & Frugal

I saved the best part for last – well okay, the best part for me, for last Last year I learned I have become sensitive to chemicals. We have had to eliminate all harsh chemicals from our home, forever. This is actually a good thing, at the same time, how do you keep your home clean and fresh? Well bless Cara’s heart, she put together the guide to help us all. She has 60 uses for vinegar and baking soda in there, wow! Not only is this a healthier way to clean your home, it’s frugal as well.

But Wait! There’s More!

Don’t I sound like that infomercial guy on TV? Seriously though, Cara is running a contest that will have two winners of two cleaning starter kits! See the details on her site and good luck!

Kudos Cara! Go get your giveaways!