Pet peeve, recipe

I am left handed.  I carry bags and babies on my right arm so my left hand is free to grab runaway children open doors.  But!  Businesses and doctors offices and post offices like to play tricks on unsuspecting lefties and unlock ONLY the right-hand door of a set of double doors.  Why?  WHHHYYY?  This necessitates shifting the baby/diaper bag/purse combo to my left arm, all the while keeping track of the children orbiting around me.  The children who aren't quite strong enough to open big doors yet because I like to run errands when at least ONE child is in school, preferably two.  Every once in awhile I'll be prepared for this, as at church yesterday, where I reached for the right-hand door, and... it was locked.  Just unlock both doors, people, as a Christmas present to me.  I promise I will stay out of the way of the people exiting in the other direction.


We had corn pudding last night.  This is the easiest corn pudding ever, from our local library cookbook.  (Another business that unlocks only one door. *cough*)

Corn Pudding, adapted from library cookbook, and Leftover Corn Pudding Cakes

2 cans creamed corn (Creamed corn is dairy free.)
1 package Jiffy corn muffin mix (They sell Jiffy at Aldi now!)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Fleischmann's unsalted margarine, melted (Only the unsalted is dairy free.  Go figure.)

I melt the margarine first in a 2-quart casserole dish, then mix in the rest of the ingredients to avoid dirtying a bowl.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Now, here's my mother's brilliant invention.  The next morning, shape the leftover pudding into little cakes and pan fry them in margarine.  Serve them with warm maple syrup for breakfast.  Mmmmm.

Breakfast for Dinner

I love breakfast for dinner. It's easy and everyone likes it, especially when we've been under the weather. Again. We can't quit you, sinus/ear infections.

I mixed things up a bit the other night with a new waffle recipe. Krazy!

Glorious Morning Waffles from Bisquick Breakfast and Brunch

2 c. Bisquick
1/2 c. peeled, shredded apple
1/4 c. shredded carrot
1/4 c. walnuts (optional)
1 1/3 c. milk alternative
2 T. canola oil
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 egg

Heat waffle iron; grease if necessary.
Stir all ingredients until blended. Pour batter by slightly less than one cupfuls onto center of hot waffle iron.
Bake about 5 minutes or until steaming stops and waffle is golden brown. Carefully remove waffle.
Serve with maple syrup. And bacon.

Sweetheart Rolls

EDITED TO ADD: BOTH VARIETIES OF BISQUICK ARE DAIRY FREE. I PROMISE.

Sweetheart Rolls from Bisquick Breakfast & Brunch (2002)*
(for Not Your Aunt Bea)

4 1/2 cups Original Bisquick
1 1/3 cups soy milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract**
2 T. dairy-free margarine, softened
1 package (4-serving size) raspberry- or strawberry-flavored gelatin (not sugar-free)
Powdered Sugar Icing, if desired

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper or grease with shortening. Stir Bisquick, soy milk, and almond extract until soft dough forms. Place dough on surface generously dusted with Bisquick; gently roll in Bisquick to coat. Shape into ball; knead ten times.

Divide dough in half. Roll or pat each half into 12x7-inch rectangle. Spread 1 tablespoon of the margarine over each rectangle. Sprinkle half of the gelatin over each rectangle; spread evenly with back of spoon. Roll up each rectangle tightly, beginning at 12-inch side. Pinch edge of dough into roll and seal. Cut each roll into 12 one-inch slices. Place on cookie sheet. To make heart shape, pinch one side of slice to form a sharp point; make deep indentation in opposite side of dough with knife to make top of heart.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove rolls from cookie sheet to wire rack; spread Powdered Sugar Icing over warm rolls.
* I made half of a batch (12 rolls) which was more than enough for us.
** or vanilla

Powdered Sugar Icing

2 cups powdered sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons soy milk or water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients until smooth and spreadable.




Image from advertisingcookbooks.com

If you can ever find a copy of Bisquick: Breakfast & brunch (Gold Medal Flour), buy it! There are a lot of cute recipe ideas in it.

Holy Crepe

Wow. I didn't realize how long it's been since I posted. Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I know we did.



Katherine received an apron and the Ratatouille cookbook for Christmas, among many other things. The night she received the cookbook, she immediately began altering recipes to make them dairy free and/or to use ingredients she likes better. She and Daddy prepared dairy-free crepes for New Year's Day brunch, and they were fantastic! Katherine has decided that she's going to be a "cooker" when she grows up, which is fine with me.

Colette's Crepes, adapted from What's Cooking? A Cookbook for Kids

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain soy milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons melted soy margarine (Katherine likes Soy Garden.)

Put all the ingredients in a blender in the order listed and blend until smooth. Remove the lid and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Briefly blend the mixture again. Set the covered blender in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight.

When it's time to cook the crepes, spread 1 teaspoon of dairy-free margarine in the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch shallow nonstick frying pan and place over medium heat. Blend the batter again to smooth it.

Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter into the pan. Immediately tilt and swirl the pan to evenly coat the bottom. This should take about 5 seconds. Cook the crepe on the first side for about 45 seconds, then quickly flip it with a spatula and cook the other side for about half as long. Remove to a plate, folding if desired. Spread a little more margarine in the pan before cooking the next crepe.

Katherine recommends serving the crepes with thawed raspberries from the freezer and powdered sugar.

Bridal Shower Report

Wanna talk about wedding stuff? Oh, good!

Thank you all so much for all of your bridal shower game suggestions! At the shower I hosted for my sister, we played this Martha Stewart game that Theflyingmum found for me. Each person wrote an abbreviation of their relationship to Emily, the bride, under their name on their nametags. (I opted for MOH - Matron of Honor, instead of SOB - Sister of Bride.) There were no prizes handed out for it; we just used it as a get-to-know-you game since there were so many people who didn't know each other.

The second game we played was given to me by my friend, Heather. Each table had a flower centerpiece with a poem placed next to it. The poem was passed from one woman to another after each line. ("Emily and Jarred, what a wonderful pair/Give this to the woman with the longest hair." Etc.) The last line of the poem was about whose anniversary is closest to the wedding date. That person got to take the centerpiece home for her prize.

In the invitations, we asked everyone to bring a favorite recipe and a spice or seasoning from the recipe for Emily to stock her recipe file and spice rack. We had planned to play a third game where we'd list the spices and people would have to guess what the corresponding recipe was. We ran out of time, though.



The favors were little packets of coffee, cocoa, and tea, since the wedding has a coffee theme. Everything was done in Emily's colors, pink and dark brown. The menu was quick breads, baked oatmeal, fruit trays, ham and egg cups, and tea cakes. We had coffee, iced tea with mint, orange juice, and water for the beverages.

The egg cups recipe is from Scholastic Parent & Child magazine, and the tea cakes recipe is from American Girl Tiny Treats.



That's right, I get all of my cutting-edge culinary ideas from children's resources. While I did bake the ham and egg cups, my friend Renee made all of the tea cakes. Because she is a saint, and also crazy. The cakes are made from Oreos (No dairy! So healthy!), and she used dairy-free frosting and decorations. (No, I didn't let Katherine eat the espresso beans, even though they, too, are dairy free.)

Ham-n-Egg Cups (from Scholastic Parent & Child magazine, April 2007 issue)

nonstick cooking spray
4-inch square slices of deli ham*
1/2-inch thick slices plum tomato
large eggs
[salt and pepper - added by me]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the cups of a regular-sized muffin tin with cooking spray. For each serving, lay one slice of ham over a muffin cup, place a tomato slice in the center of the ham and gently press down to insert into cup. [Salt and pepper the tomato slice.] Pour contents of one egg on top of each serving. Place pan in oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the egg yolk is cooked to your liking. Remove from oven and allow to cool for one minute. Using a spoon or spatula, lift each egg cup from the muffin tin and serve. [I served them on a bed of chives, to look like flowers and their stems.]

*Be careful about what type of ham you buy, as some varieties have dairy filler. Also, if you have the ham sliced at the deli, make sure they wipe down the slicer so there aren't any traces of dairy left from the last item.

Baked Oatmeal

Here's a great holiday breakfast. It serves a lot of people and can be prepared the night before and reheated in the morning. The original recipe came from a Harrisburg, PA bakery that is now out of business.

Baked Oatmeal

2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 scant cup sugar
3 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1 can peaches, drained*
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the eggs, oil, and sugar. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the peaches, and mix. Pour into a 9x9 or 8x11 inch baking pan. Top with peach slices, and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for thirty minutes.

The oatmeal can be served warm or at room temperature. Extra soy milk can be served on the side.

* You can replace some of the soy milk with the reserved peach juice, if desired.

Happy Easter!

One Banana, Two Banana...

What's your favorite way to use up really, really ripe bananas? We like muffins, and also:

Banana Fritters
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons flour
salt, optional

Mix ingredients together and drop by the spoonful into/onto a hot, greased skillet or griddle. Cook until browned on the first side, then flip and cook until browned. Make the fritters small, or they'll fall apart. Dust with cinnamon sugar or confectioner's sugar. Makes about 10 baby cakes.

Your turn. Keep in mind, I have seven bananas slowly rotting on my kitchen table.

Second Breakfast: Steel-Cut Oatmeal

This recipe takes a little while, so we don't find it to be the best choice at 6:30 or 7 in the morning. Eat a piece of toast, and then enjoy your oatmeal a little later. Or on Saturday.

Steel-Cut Oatmeal
1 cup steel-cut (pinhead) oats
water
dairy-free margarine
brown sugar
salt, if desired

Equipment: steamer

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add one cup of steel-cut oats and boil for three minutes. Be careful, as sometimes they boil over. While they are boiling, fill the bottom of the steamer with water at the lowest level. When the oats are finished boiling, drain as much water from them as possible and put them in the top of the steamer. Steam the oats for 12-15 minutes. Mix the oatmeal with dairy-free margarine, brown sugar, and salt to taste.

Aw, shucks

I just got my first mention in someone else's blog; thanks, theflyingmum! I'd better start brushing up on my photography skills, since right now I'm better at photographing plastic food by accident instead of real food on purpose.


Oooh, black and white film. A daring choice for the plastic frankfurter.






Um, the lack of focus makes our vintage kitchen counter look less repulsive?

Broiled Grapefruit
1 grapefruit
2 tablespoons melted dairy-free margarine
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Cut grapefruit in half crosswise. Cut each section of the fruit to loosen it from the membrane. Remove seeds. Pour one tablespoon of the margarine on each half and top with one tablespoon brown sugar. Broil for 5 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Makes two servings.

P.S. As for the blogs I'd tag, officially or unofficially, the ones I'm reading are listed to the left.