A little "bite" and switch!

About 4 years ago I found myself on Kraft's mailing list. Occasionally they'd send me nice calendars, coupons and other goodies, all courting me to buy Kraft products, but what began arriving in my postbox three times a year was their Food & Family magazine, a slick production chock full of ways to combine Kraft products into tasty-looking treats. I admit I enjoyed reading it and figuring out how to use less expensive generic products to replicate their recipes or transform them from concoctions of processed chemical food-like substances into real food.

Imagine my surprise when I received my copy today with an urgent "Last Issue" stamped on an interior envelope containing an invoice where I can now get the "preferred subscriber discount" of $6.99 a year! Yes, that's only $6.99 for a glorified advertisement!

I'm sorry, Kraft, but you can keep your magazine. I've enjoyed your freebie while it lasted, but, well, I'm just not that into you. We've gone "real food" around here, and in these economically dismal times, I'm not interested in helping to bolster your advertising budget. It's been nice, albeit not "real." So, ciao. (Or should I say, "chow?")

Jumping over the Clif

When at his office, my husband used to survive on microwave popcorn and pots and pots of coffee; not the healthiest thing in the world. For a while I packed him a lunch but most of the time it came back uneaten. I’ve fitted him out with nuts and dried fruit only to have him complain of gas. (Believe me, this is an occupational no-no! Who wants to spend an hour talking about his problems shut up in an office with a gaseous man?) He really likes Odwalla Bars and Clif Bars but in order to eat them regularly they’d need a budget line item of their own. So I experimented with ingredients and came up with these moist and tasty bars.

Homemade Energy Bars

Ingredients:

2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup natural peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
2 2/3 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup unsweetened dried coconut
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup dried mango, chopped
1/2 cup slivered raw almonds

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix honey, peanut butter, vanilla, and eggs.

3. In a separate bowl, stir together the rest of the ingredients. Stir this mixture into the peanut butter mixture to make a uniform dough. Press it into the pan.

4. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cut into bars while still warm but allow to cool completely in the pan. Wrap each bar individually and store in an airtight container for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 1 month.

I used apricots and mangos because that’s what my husband requested, and almonds because I had some left over from making granola. Feel free to substitute other fruits and nuts or add chocolate chips, and leave me a comment about what you came up with.

Stormy Day Activities

It was rainy and nasty outside so we made this today. Figured anyone willing to call themselves "Two Fat Als" had to know what they were doing. All I can say is, "Wow. Will somebody please, pass the butter?"

Breaking Fast

I'm trying to get into the habit of actually making my family a healthy breakfast instead of saying, "there's cereal and bread for toast in the cupboard." In order to accomplish this task it has to be fast to make, easy to clean up, and eagerly accepted by the taste buds of my tribe. I adapted this recipe from one I found on Spark People:


Make-ahead Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins
( this is the original recipe)

1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup 1% milk (any variety will do)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Sucanat (brown sugar will work fine)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt (or regular salt)
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together and put in the refrigerator over night. In the morning, heat the oven to 400 degrees while putting the batter into a greased muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Popcorn!

Maybe I'm the only one on the planet that didn't know you could do this, but tonight the kids and I made homemade microwave popcorn. I'm sorta-maybe-kinda trying to slim about 8 pounds off the old frame and popcorn makes a much healthier snack than the cookies I love to munch. So here's how we did it:

1 brown paper lunch bag

1/3 cup popcorn

1 piece of tape

Put the popcorn into the opened lunch bag. Fold over the top of the bag and secure with tape. Cook in microwave on the normal popcorn setting. Voila! You've got microwave popcorn with no additional icky stuff or mess, and you can even reuse the bag. It's fast, frugal, and fun!

Yum!

The refrigerator shelves are looking a bit empty as we approach shopping day but I was looking for something hot for our supper-sans-daddy tonight. The kids and I made a big batch of waffles and cooked them in the new waffle iron we got for Christmas. (Thanks, Gramma!) We had plenty to eat and some for the kids' breakfast tomorrow.

Sunday Night Waffles
(from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking)

2 eggs
3/4 cup oil
2-1/2 cups milk (we sour ours with 1 Tbsp. vinegar per cup)
2-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 Tbsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder


Combine eggs, oil, and milk in mixing bowl and blend thoroughly. Combine dry ingredients and add to egg mixture. Beat until well blended. Bake until golden brown.



And for those of you who are into Mrs. Butterworth or are, like us, cringe while watching a child cover his plate with pricey pure maple syrup, I found a very tasty and inexpensive alternative made from things already on hand.

Homemade Pancake Syrup
(from Sheri Graham)

2 cups warm water
1 cup brown sugar
3 cups white sugar
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 tsp. maple flavoring


Combine water, sugars, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat and take off lid. Let sit for 15 minutes. Stir in maple flavoring and store in a clean jar. Makes a little more than 32 oz.

Spiced Iced Tea

My husband and I used to love to go to this little restaurant in Severna Park called Garry's Grill. No matter what else we ordered, we always got their spiced iced tea. It reminded me of the Russian tea my mom would make for Christmas from Tang, powdered tea mix, and spices, but when I tried the Russian tea cold, it was gritty and left sludge at the bottom of the glass like Metamucil. Yuk!

After a few tries, I think I've found a recipe that duplicates the wonderful taste of yesteryear.

Spiced Iced Tea
(a slight variation on Brenda's recipe found here, which she originally found here--you know, credit to whom it is due!)

6 cups water
1/2 tsp. whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick

3 black tea bags

1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

In a saucepan, bring water, cinnamon, and cloves to a boil. Add tea bags, remove from heat, and steep 10 minutes. Cool slightly, then strain out spices. In another saucepan, bring sugar, orange juice, and lemon juice to a boil. Combine tea and juice mixtures. Chill and serve over ice.

Ice Age

We've been hit with a slow moving ice storm that continues to drop freezing rain that's collecting on anything standing still and we are hoping to make it through the night with power. Believe it or not, the kid-os are enjoying this drippy freezing stuff and have been playing out doors! (The only kids in the neighborhood who want to do so!) This is what the trees in our yard look like:

But on a cold night like this we need some good hot vittles to warm us up. Here's my menu:

Corn Chowder

(A twist on one Anika snagged and adapted from Marilyn)

6 Tbs. butter
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
3-4 Tbsp. flour
1 qt. half and half
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 lb. frozen corn
2 cans (4 cups) chicken stock
1 lb. diced cooked ham
dash cayenne pepper
green onions, chopped

Melt butter in a soup pot on medium heat. Add onion and celery and saute until onion is translucent. Reduce heat to low and add flour a bit at a time, stirring constantly. When the mixture is no longer shiny, cook another minute. Add half and half very slowly while stirring to avoid lumps. Add salt, pepper, corn, stock, ham, and cayenne. Bring chowder to a boil and simmer 20 minutes. Serve hot garnished with green onions.

Oatmeal Bread
(adapted from a recipe found in The Occasional Cook, by Cyndy Salzmann)

1 cup warm water
3 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. oil

2 Tbsp. dry milk
1 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal
2 tsp. active dry yeast

Add ingredients to your bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. You can use the machine for the whole process, but I use the dough setting only and take it out of the bread machine after the first rise, form a loaf and place it in a greased bread pan, and then let it rise a second time for about 50 minutes. Cook dough at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Best if cooled about 20 minutes before serving.