At Last!

Well, after months of not being able to log in, here I am. No idea what happened or why but I couldn't even get an answer from the blog world itself! Personally, I think it had to do with the firewall we had on our computer. I think it kind of went haywire. Once we changed that, BAM! All sorts of things we were having problems with got fixed. Who knew?

I will get back to posting once or twice a week now that I know I can get in here. The next recipe will be coming soon and it was a HUGE hit tonight. My DD with all the allergies said "This is awesome! I love it. Do we have enough for leftovers?"  Later in the meal, she asked when I was going to make it again. I think this one was good.

And a preview for more things I can't wait to share with you:
granola bar no bake cookies (they are healthy and yummy!)
a couple of cool websites I have come across
a bread recipe
muffins
and more....

I am glad to be back and hope you will continue to join me as I stumble along my way making Food In The World of YES!

Vegetables and Grits

The grits were a hit! Yea! The veggies were not. Boo! I can't seem to hit a home run very often but I will keep trying.

Once again, I really liked these veggies. They had a sweet and creamy flavor, without being too sweet. I think I have to figure out how to hide the green and red bell peppers. I am guessing that is why two of the three girls wouldn't eat these. I enjoyed it and will have plenty of leftovers for a couple of meals for myself.

The recipe is what I think of as easy. I hope you do, too. Here it is...

VEGETABLES AND GRITS

• Grits - prepare as instructed on package
• 2 T total canola oil and/or margarine
• 1 onion - diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper - diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper - diced
• 1 carrot - cut into thin disks
• 1/2 C frozen peas
• any other veggies you want to include
• 2 T flour
• rice milk - about 2 C, more or less to consistency desired
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• paprika
• parsley

1. In a large saucepan on the stove top, add the oil and/or margarine. Put in the onion and bell peppers. Cook for a few minutes and then add the carrots. Cook for 5 or 6 minutes, until the carrots are tender enough to stab with a knife or fork but not so tender they mash. Add the peas and any other veggies that need to go in. Cook for another minute.
2. Add the flour. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly to help avoid lumps. Continue adding the rice milk until the consistency you want is achieved.
3. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and parsley to taste.
4. Serve with grits. You could also substitute a rice or a pasta for the grits.

The menu for this meal was grits and veggies, baby oranges (mandarin oranges), and broccoli.

I hope you try grits. They are so much better than the reputation they get from so many of the old books. I really enjoy them and with the veggies they make a great main dish.

Dinner Menu

Dinner the other evening was a success. Of course, when I choose sausage, it is seldom anything else. The girls all love sausage. Usually, I just cut up the smoked sausage links and brown the pieces in a skillet. I needed something different though.

I took the turkey sausage, about 14 ounces, and boiled it with the juice from a large can of pineapple chunks. It turned out sweet, with a nice citrus flavor, without being overwhelmingly pineapple-y. I just simmered it until the rest of the dinner was ready and the sausage was heated through.

So our menu was this:

• turkey smoked sausage boiled in pineapple juice
• canned pineapple
• sliced red bell peppers and cucumbers
• black beans (prepared ahead and frozen, then thawed for this dinner)
• carrots and broccoli (from a bag of frozen veggies)

That's all. It was simple and easy because much of the prep work had been done ahead of time. I seem to get bogged down in side dishes a lot of the time but these ended up being quick. I will have to remember this menu.

Snickerdoodles

Cookies are always a hit. One of my favorite things to make in the kitchen has always been cookies. I love cookies.

 

However, if you have food allergies in your family, you know just how few recipes are out there without something that your child is allergic to. Well, here is a good one that does not have milk or eggs. It comes from my childhood and my mother, who taught me so much. Actually, I modified the one from my mom so that it does not include eggs but she won't mind. So here we go.

SNICKERDOODLE COOKIES

• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C margarine, softened
• 1/2 C vegetable shortening
• 4 T arrowroot flour
• 4 T water
• 2 3/4 C flour
• 2 t cream of tartar
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 T sugar
• 3 T ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 400. Mix sugar, margarine, shortening, arrowroot flour, and water. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Shape dough into walnut sized balls.

Mix 3 T sugar and 3 T ground cinnamon. Roll balls in mixture. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 - 10 minutes. Cook on rack. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Enjoy this treat.

Baked Beans Recipe

I learned to cook from my mother. She was, and is, a wonderful teacher. She taught me well. By the time I was a teenager, I could cook (and clean up) an entire meal. When I was able to drive, I could go do the shopping by myself, too. So, why in the world am I finding it so difficult to cook for my family now? One word: staples.

No, not the metal kind. The keep-the-pantry-full, go-to-meal kind of staples. Hamburger meat, potatoes, tomatoes, rice, tomato sauce, pasta, frozen veggies, etc. I have always stocked my pantry with those things and many more and relied on them for cooking. Due to the food allergy diagnosis, much of that has flown out the window so I have to reconfigure this. One day at a time.

Today, that looks like baked beans. We need a good source of protein. Our go-tos were milk, cheese or peanut butter. Now, I don't know what it will be but beans are pretty good. Baked beans, though, was a new one for me. It was a hit. Most recipes call for canned pork and beans as the basis of the recipe or included bacon. Due to a pork allergy, those were not great for us. So I created my own. Here is what I did instead.

BAKED BEANS:

1 lb bag of dry pinto beans
2 T mustard*
3-5 T Worchestershire sauce*
1/2 - 3/4 C brown sugar*
Prepare your beans according to the package directions, omitting any salt. (I did the quick soak method - boil for 5 minutes, turn off heat and soak for 2 hours, simmer until tender.)

Place your beans in a large pot and add the mustard, W sauce, and brown sugar. Start with just a little of the brown sugar, mix it up really good, and taste. You may want more, you may not. I was probably a bit shy of the 1/2 C mark but I know some folks like their baked beans nice and sweet. Bake them next. Put them in the oven at 375 for about 25 or 30 minutes, just to let the flavors blend. I skipped baking them because I didn't want to heat up the house and wasn't going to use them for almost another 24 hours. I decided the flavors would blend well enough and they did. Serve these hot or cold. This makes a ton! We have a couple of containers in the freezer but all 3 of my children loved these beans.

*I just guessed at these amounts but like the results that I came up with. Feel free to adjust them to whatever suits your tastes.

If you try this, please let me know how it turns out. I welcome feedback. Things that I put down are trials that worked out (or maybe not) for me. Every recipe is open to interpretation and substitution. That is how something good becomes better. Enjoy!