Chilly with a chance of Chili

This morning it was cool... Right now in the afternoon it is only 56 degrees.And to think that this week-end it was in the 90's.... Welcome to Northeastern Ohio if you don't like the weather wait it will change in a day or two.  So I am so in the mood for chili.... I did get some apples earlier in the week and make apple crisp.  ( I love cooking in the fall!!)

Vegetarian Chili

1 can of red beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can of pinto beans
1/2 cup of TVP
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 can whole peeled tomatoes
1 8 ounce can tomato paste
1 envelope of chili seasonings
Water 

Make the TVP by adding 1/2 cup to 1/2 of a cup of boiling water let sit 5 to 10 minutes. Rinse beans to remove salt.  I really can't cook beans from dry beans. I've tried and I always burn them! Throw everything into the crock pot. Cook for 8 to 10 hours or 4 hours on high.  I add water to the whole tomato and  tomato paste cans to rinse them out plus get that last little bit of tomato goodness... I don't really measure it I just add it to the crock-pot. 

I use McCormick mild seasoning cause that is what they like.  I have tried my own seasonings and the family don't like it... oh well.... Just like the fact they love extra beans so I tried different types of beans together in the chili and they liked that idea.. Win some; lose some!!

Oh plus hot sauce for Tech and G-Pa will not think this is hot enough!

Secrets

I love that guy that does the don't eat this eat that. Because he puts it in terms everyone can understand. So when I saw this slide show about Cooking  Secrets I had to check it out. Ok some things I knew but somethings I didn't know...


Drain your  pasta about 1 minute early it will finish cooking when you are adding the sauce...  Must remember that one......  we eat a lot of pasta here...


Plus add some of the pasta cooking water to the sauce, the starch helps the sauce stick to the pasta.. making it creamer and flavorful.   Have to try that.... add only as needed.... 


Ok I did fly by the meat eating tips....




Buy your vegetables on Wednesday.   I have to say I work at a grocery store and guess what? We do get a delivery  on more then just Wednesday.  Of course I work for Sam's and we cater to the business owner but really you should ask about deliveries... I know many people don't have the time to go shopping during the week....  But then I also heard that the European way was to shop more than once a week or every two weeks.  .. Because how good is it if buy fresh fruits and vegetables and don't use them for a week?  (Yes Many vegetables can be stored for a week or longer. )

But again I do work at a grocery store I can do that.... I also have a chest freezer that I get extra vegetables and berries that I freeze when the price is great!!


Zap that citrus in the microwave for 15 seconds to get the most juice. I have been rolling mine on the counter!! 


Blend butter with olive oil to keep from the butter from burning easily. 


Keep out of the refrigerator. tomatoes, peaches, potatoes, onions, bread, garlic, and coffee
Crap I read somewhere that coffee stays better longer in the refrigerator... 

Making your own vinaigrette is easy!  3 part oil to 1 part vinegar. Add salt and pepper or herbs..

Too much salt add a splash of vinegar. Oh if I only knew that years ago..... 

Fast food and Moods

Watching the news tonight I hear that there was some researchers that found fast food makes people cranky and depressed. They had a senior medical adviser presenting the story.........
Our brains need nutrients and when they  don't get it, we get cranky.  Oh yea you don't have to tell  a mom about that.  You can overhear a mom saying Oh someones hungry!  to a cranky little one. (that or is it nap time??)  That's what wrong with the society today, we need to eat healthier.  




But there is research  from the University of Toronto study shows that people became impatient simply considering fast food. I really have a problem with the label fast food for yes it is fast food but not all of it is bad for you, you can get some healthy choices at fast food places. Plus you can make some food fast in the microwave and if it is fresh;  it's not bad for you either.  I used to work at a fast food place and yes people can get very impatient...... that and lose all sense of time.  If they have wait in line for 3 minutes it turns into 20 minutes when they scream at you for 5 because they had to stand in line... Can I take your order now please??............

Also they found if they shown a logo or a menu from a fancy restaurant, people used better manners. Wow just the logo or menu.  When they saw the logo of fast food places they became impatient


Maybe that is the answer to our school crisis.  With Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution; Mrs. Q blog Fed up with Lunch, and Farm to School Network all working on making it the norm to have fresh foods at our schools.  Need more proof... I found this site. A School in Wisconsin changed it food program and found it's  violence, drug problems, drop outs and expulsions changed to 0... Zero... and this is the school for behavior problems, they even had a cop there.  They had a problem with hand guns inside the school and all this from fresh healthy food.  That is  Central Alternative High School

We also know that many food colorings and syntactic sugar  are being blamed for behavioral problems like ADD and hyperactivity.


Why is this even being questioned. That our student need healthier food... that there is a connection to food and learning........... So why is the government talking about cutting the food stamp program and dragging their feet on the  Child Nutrition Women, Infants, and Children Reauthorization Act (CNRA).  


Many eastern countries use fresh food in the lunch program and even teach our children about the food they are having for lunch.  I has so shocked when I watched Food Revolution and saw that most of the kids didn't know what vegetable was what.. Time to go back in time and start cooking food for the students and giving them the best advantage to  secede.

Second Chance Potatoes

Yesterday we had our cook out seeing how Miss Animal Rights and I had to work. We had some baked potatoes that has left over from the cook out.  Tonight we planned on twice baked potatoes.  But Miss Animal Rights has problems with splitting the potato to refill. SO I planned on cooking. Our potatoes were very round but kinda flat. Not the potatoes you see at the restaurants. That's ok I like my farmer markets potatoes and sweet corn.   So we cut them in half. Then we added a little milk, a little butter  and cheese.

4 medium potatoes
2 tablespoons of milk
1 tablespoon of butter
1/4 cup of cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon of season salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder.

Cut potatoes in half.  Spoon out the inner part of the potato place in bowl. Make a hollow "bowl" center.  After you have done all the potatoes add the rest of the ingredients.  If too dry you can add more milk if needed.. Mix together. Spoon the mix into the potato "bowls".  You can add extra cheese to the top if wanted.
Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until the cheese is browned.

Very yummy easy meal that you can use something that is considered  a left over....


.

Slow and Easy Lasagna

My dad loves lasagna and I have heard that he really isn't eating very well lately. It's just him and he eats way to much fast food and heat and eat food. SO to avoid a haunting from his wife the woman that raised me and would  home-cook meals for our family... Miss Animal Rights and I (with a little help from the Linebacker... my nephew who now lives in the area going to college, on football scholarship) we have a plan to cook when he comes over and send food home with him ... well tonight the daughter talked him into Subs.... So I found a recipe for crock pot lasagna I was thrilled! I could cook a big batch of lasagna and not heat the house up. Oh maybe a small crock pot for meatballs... For the Gpa and Tech...

Box of regular lasagna noddles (broken)
a jar of spaghetti sauce
ricotta cheese/ cottage cheese

egg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Bag of Italian blend cheese
1/4 cup of water


I like a lot of sauce so I would add a 15 once can of tomato sauce also.
Mix together egg and ricotta cheese and or cottage cheese. 

First layer is a scoop of spaghetti sauce.
Next place the noodles on top, broken to fit in the crock pot.
Top with the ricotta cheese/ cottage cheese spread. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top of that
.
Keep layer that way until you reach the desired amount... around 4 layers....
Last layer left the cheese off (reserve some in the refrigerator)  
After using all the spaghetti sauce add the 1/4 cup of water to the jar shake to get all the sauce left in jar... and pour over the crock pot lasagna
Cook on high for 4 hours low for 8
Add your reserved cheese at the last hour.
You can push those noodles down to keep them from getting to dry and burning.

Making Vinegar.

Seems cool...Make your own Vinegar! (Please check out that site if you need a idea on what you can use for the flavor ..She has a great list!  Or help from this site... ) but makes me wonder if our great grandparents did this and if they could they would be yelling  at us for not knowing these types of things....


A glass jar, bottle, pot, or enamelware pot.

cheesecloth

peelings from clean, organic fruits or vegetables. anything that contains sugar or a starch.Frozen juices work...but don't use bottled one they have added chemicals that keep it from turning into vinegar.

distilled water


If you are worried that this won't work; you can add a 1/2 cup of unpasteurized, unfiltered vinegar like Braggs Apple cider vinegar. Just think of it like a vinegar starter....

Sanitize the bottle by filling with boiling hot water let sit for 10 minutes. Dump out water carefully. Add leaves, fruits.  A wide opening is a good idea for the fermenting part and smaller bottle for the finished product... 
Cover them with the distilled water.
Use some cheesecloth to cover the bottle it needs the airs to help it ferment.  The natural bacteria and wild yeast in the air helps ferment the mix  into the vinegar.
Place in dark place.  And you might find some flies trying so hard to get to the mix. It might be a good idea not to leave in the kitchen.
Stir once a day.
After a few weeks it will start to smell like vinegar. Let steep until it reaches as strong as you want or when you notice it is getting weaker.

Strain through cheesecloth into smaller bottles. Keep a 1/2 cup for the next batch!!!

Let that sit for 6 months or so before using to make a smoother vinegar.

hummm I might have to write a blog on how this works out.

I do have some red wine "vinegar" that I use for a hair rinse.... It was one of those box wines that was forgotten about.... I was told that is taste like vinegar but it really doesn't have a very strong vinegar smell... so it is nice to use as a hair rinse and it doesn't go to waste.
 

drunkin' cupcakes

Irish car bomb

cupcake recipe
1 c Guinness
1 c unsalted butter
3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 c flour
2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 c sour cream

Ganache Filling
8 oz bittersweet chocolate
2/3 c heavy cream
2 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1 to 2 tsp Irish whiskey (optional)

Baileys Frosting
3 to 4 c confections sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter, at room temperatue
3 to 4 Tbsp Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

Make the cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Make the filling
Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.

Fill the cupcakes
Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Those are your “tasters”. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

Make the frosting
Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.

When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.

Ice and decorate the cupcakes.

You can bake the cupcakes a week or two in advance and store them, well wrapped, in the freezer. You can also fill them before you freeze them. They also keep filled — or filled and frosted — in the fridge for a day.

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

3 C. Flour

1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
1/2 C. Non-Fat Dry Milk
2 C. Sugar 
1/2 C. Butter, softened

3/4 cup bottled strawberry-flavored nonalcoholic margarita drink mix
1/3 cup tequila

3 Eggs

350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix together the flour, non-fat dry milk and baking powder and set aside.

Cream sugar and cream together. Add the liquids. Mix in one egg at a time. Add in flour mixture 1/3 at a time. When flour is thoroughly mixed, batter will be slightly lumpy.

Bake for 20 minutes.



Strawberry Margarita Buttercream:

1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tbsp tequila
3 tbsp strawberry preserves