A little Ditty about Cucumbers (who knew)

This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of their "Spotlight on the Home" series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems.

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job intervi ew and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won' t harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

It's Taco Thursday!!!

My kids and their friends have this "Taco Thursday" joke. I find it a bit cruel, but they have their friend from Switzerland convinced that Americans celebrate Taco Thursday every Thursday, and schools serve tacos every Thursday in celebration of Taco Thursday...I don't get why they picked this, but I googled Taco Thursday and there are tons of links about Taco Thursday...restaurants that feature it, families that have it, there are even groups on facebook for it.

It makes no sense at all to me, as I would think Taco Tuesday sounds better...the T sounds together are more musical to the ear than T and TH sound? Whatever.

I told my kids, sure thing, we can have Taco Thursday every Thursday. I don't buy ground beef, so we do things like have a chuck roast cooked in the pressure cooker with taco seasoning, and shredded. I also take the roasts and before cooking, grind them up into ground beef.

Fish tacos, chicken tacos, and even black bean tacos. We don't have the same taco every week...but every week we have tacos.

Having a weekly meal tradition, not only gets the family together for dinner, but it makes dinner planning simple. An Italian Wednesday for instance, makes it easy for you to know, that is the day we will have spaghetti and meatballs, baked ziti, or lasagna, Italian wedding soup or any Italian meal and each week. Make it different every week..even if you only have four or five Italian recipes you make, a different one each week of the month makes dinner more interesting.

The nice thing about it is, you can make double batches and freeze one, things like taco meat, baked ziti and lasagna freeze well for next month, and then you are only cooking every other month or even every other week for your Taco Thursday or Italian Wednesday , depending on how you plan it.

You can even plan a sushi night, even if its only once a month, say the second Friday of every month. Sushi is fun to make and you can even make it with cooked foods if you are not really into raw fish.

"Kick it up a notch" and make that night a Game Night too. Play some Boggle or Apples to Apples or any game you like. Or you can make it a Family Meeting night, to discuss things vacations, weekly plans, chores, school etc.

Meal planning can save you a lot of money, because it saves on you having to get take out because it got too late to make dinner, you don't have anything to make dinner with, or you just don't have time. Making double batches to have leftovers the next day or freeze it for another day in a week or two can help make life just a little bit easier. Everyone knows that everything tastes better the second day after its made!

and here is what I have for breakfast on Friday mornings.

Tacos, the breakfast of champions!

Perogi Lasagna

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This is just a basic recipe, I have changed it up to include things like bacon, sausage, ricotta cheese, hot peppers, spinach, add whatever you like, make this and every recipe that you make, your own!

I got this basic recipe from a cookbook I got from PBS for donating quite a few years back called "No Takeout Tonight". It was a supplement included with the book, that was printed on just a piece of paper with a thank you for donating, stuffed inside the book.

Perogi Lasagna

1 onion chopped
1½ sticks butter
8 c warm mashed potatoes
1 lb velveeta cheese, cubed
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 T parsley flakes (plus 2 T for top)
2 T salt
¼ c grated parmesan cheese
9 pcs cooked lasagna noodles

Preheat oven to 350°. Melt butter, add chopped onion.
Saute until onions are clear. Remove from heat and set aside.
Combine mashed potatoes, velveeta cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, parsley flakes, salt and ½ of butter and onion sauce. Stir with heavy wooden spoon until smooth (expect some velveeta not to melt).
Place 3 noodles on bottom of baking pan, spread ½ of potato mixture, layer 3 more noodles, spread remaining mixture, cover with last three noodles.
Pour remaining butter and onion sauce, sprinkle with parm cheese and parsley flakes.
Bake 35-40 mincut into squares like lasagna.

FREE COOKBOOK! another one!

Taste of Home has their newest cookbook on the digital site for download, or reading online.

http://www.tasteofhomedigital.com/tasteofhome/20091011/

Homemade mixes and spices

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I made this little graphic/directions tag and printed it on stickers I stuck to canning jars last year for Christmas.

You can make your own homemade mixes very inexpensively and if you can't figure out on your own what ingredients used, you can google it online and find it, although it may take a little detective work and trial and error.

There are home sales companies that sell the beer bread for over $5.00 a box..add to that, a beer, butter and turn on the oven, what do you suppose that loaf of bread is not costing you?

They are easy to make at home and cheap!

Make a few batches up, and put in a canning jar and give as a gift with a can of beer and a cute tag attached with baking instructions. You can put a batch in a plastic bag too and have several on hand.

I gave these out last Christmas with cans of beer..such a cute gift.

I promise you won't know the difference between this and the one's that sell for 5+ dollars.

Shannon

The first four ingredients are what you put in a bag, or canning jar to give as a gift and include the instructions on what else to add to bake it.

Beer Batter Bread Makes

1 loaf

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 bottle (12 ounces) beer, at room temperature

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Add the beer all at once, mixing as little as possible; the batter should be lumpy. Pour the batter into a 9-x-5-x-3-inch loaf pan and brush with the melted butter. Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

PS you can add cheese to this or jalapeno peppers or whatever you would any other beer bread.

Here are some recipes I got from a friend.

Taco Seasoning Mix Ole'

3/4 cup dried minced onion

1/4 cup salt

1/4 cup chili powder

1 Tbsp. dried oregano

2 Tbsp. each cornstarch, crushed dried red pepper, dried minced garlic, ground cumin

Add 2 Tbsp. dry mix to 1 lb. ground beef and 1/2 cup water.

Heat through.

This Taco Mix makes almost 2 cups of mix, enough for 12 batches using 1 lb. beef each.

I keep LOTS of this on hand to flavor soups, stews, sauteed chicken breasts , meatloaves,meatballs, and for bean and cheese tacos as well as chicken meat tacos.

Italian Seasoning

1/3 c. dry crushed oregano

1/3 cup dry basil

2 Tbsp. rosemary

1/4 cup each thyme, sage, and marjoram

Makes 1-1/4 cups.

Onion Powder and Garlic Powder

Did you know you can make your own onion powder by grinding dried minced onions? And garlic powder can be made by grinding dried minced garlic in a blender or coffee mill.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/4 cup cinnamon

1 Tbsp. allspice

1-1/2 tsp. each ginger and nutmeg

1 tsp. cloves

Homemade Chili Powder

2 Tbsp. cumin

1 Tbsp. each cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

1 tsp. each allspice, cloves, oregano

Makes about 1/3 cup.

We found this one to be less economical than store-bought chili powder, so always be sure to figure out prices! This is one project where growing and drying your own herbs and spices would be a tremendous benefit.

Down Home Apple Pie Spice

1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground allspice

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Store, tightly covered, in a cool dry place

Self-Rising Flour

Combine:

1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix well. Store in an airtight container.

Homemade Confectioner's Sugar

Have you run out of confectioner's sugar and need some FAST?

Just whiz:

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 c. cornstarch

in your blender until mixture is a fine powder.Use as confectioner's sugar.

To get you started, here is a site that has homemade mixes. You can google and find dozens and dozens more.

http://www.budget101.com/convenience_mixes.htm

Amish Friendship Bread revisited

I posted this before but some don't know how to get to my archives. I was going to just post it on my facebook page but for some reason the notes are not publishing on there today.

This is tried and true..I have made it many times!


Amish Friendship Bread Starter

AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD (STARTER)
1 pkg. active dry yeast1/4 c. warm water1 c. flour1 c. sugar1 c. warm milk (110 degrees)

Mix all and divide into one cup portions in Ziploc bags.

Follow the directions for the amish friendship bread as it needs to be fed and tended to or it will die. If it turns green discard.

Amish Friendship Bread Directions
Important: Do NOT use any type of metal spoon or bowl for mixing. Do NOT refrigerate. If air gets in the bad, let it out. It IS normal for the batter to rise and ferment. The date lines below ccan be used to help keep track of the date or day you are at in the process.

¨ Day 1- Do nothing, this is the day you receive the bag, unless told otherwise.
¨ Day 2- Mush the bag
¨ Day 3- Mush the bag
¨ Day 4- Mush the bag
¨ Day 5- Mush the bag
¨ Day 6-Add to the bag: 1 c flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk and mush the bag
¨ Day 7- Mush the bag
¨ Day 8- Mush the bag
¨ Day 9- Mush the bag
¨ Day 10- Mix and divide the starter. Directions below.


Dividing directions: Pour the entire contents of the bag into a non-meal bowl. Add 1½ cups flour, 1½ cups sugar and 1½ cups milk. Mix. Then measure 1 cup of the batter into each of four Ziploc bags. Keep one for yourself and give the other 3 starter bags away with a copy of the recipe instructions.

Note: Starter should be passed to a friend on the 10th day. Be certain to tell the recipient what day the bag is at when you present it to her. If you keep one starter yourself, you will be baking every 10 days.

This bread makes a great gift.

Baking Directions: To the remaining batter in the bowl add:

3 eggs 1 cup sugar ½ tsp salt
1 c oil 2 tsp cinnamon 2 c flour
½ c milk 1½ tsp baking powder 1 large or 2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding
½ tsp vanilla ½ tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease two large loaf pans. Mix together and additional ½ c sugar and 1½ tsp cinnamon. Dust greased pans with half of this mixture. Pour the batter evenly into the pans and sprinkle remaining sugar on top of the batter. Bake for 1 hour. Cool until bread loosens from the pan evenly (about 10 min). Turn over onto serving dish. Serve warm or fool.

Options: Add 1 cup chopped nuts, raisins or chocolate chips. You can also use chocolate pudding instead of vanilla if you prefer. ( Its really good with banana and walnuts)

If the starter turns green or gets an awful smell discard and start over.
It should have a beer like smell, that is normal.

Dino Bbq Mac and Cheese Shepherds Pie

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This is from the Dinosaur Barbque recipe book. Its a restaurant in upstate NY that I have not been to yet, a bit of a drive for me, but everything from their recipe book is soo good, I want to go and always am checking for a new book from them.

The recipe that follows is for Mutha Sauce...make it another day before making the Mac and Cheese Shepherd's Pie. You will think its time consuming to do it all in one day, but if you do it another day, make a huge batch, and freeze portions (one cup or 3/4 cup) for use when making this or grilling out..its awesome on grilled chicken!

My friends who don't cook big meals often, cook this after tasting it at my house! Its delicious!

I must say, their Drunken Spicy Shrimp recipe is out of this world..but you have to buy the book to get that recipe, I can't give away all of their secrets! Trust me, the book purchase is worth its weight in gold!

When I make homemade mac and cheese, I just do the mac and cheese part of this recipe, because its the best! (of course, minus the measuring part lol...a little of this, a lot of that lol)

Shannon

PS to see their recipe book, and some other super recipes, including a chocolate cake made with dr. pepper..go to http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/

See below for pics. 

Dinosaur Barbque Macaroni and Cheese Shepherd’s Pie

3 T kosher salt
1 pound small pasta shells
2 T vegetable oil
2 c chopped onion
1 c chopped green pepper
5 large cloves garlic, chopped
1¼ pounds lean ground beef (its fabulous with chicken, lamb and or pork too, or a combo)
1 T black pepper
¾ c mutha sauce
¼ c butter
¼ c flour
2½ c half and half or milk
3 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 c freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1 t Dijon mustard
Tabasco sauce
Preheat oven to 375°. Bring a big pot of water to a bubbling boil. Add 2 T of the salt, and stir in the pasta shells. Cook till al dente and drain and rinse in cold water, set aside.
Throw a skillet on medium heat and swirl in the veg oil. Add half the onions and half the peppers, cook them till soft. Toss in the garlic and cook for about 1 more min. Dump in the ground beef, breaking it up with a spoon, and cook it with the veggies till it loses is pinkness. Season with 1½ teaspoons each of salt and pepper. Mix in the Mutha sauce and take off heat.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, and fry up the rest of the onions and peppers till soft. Add the flour and whisk like crazy till very well blended. Slowly dribble in the half and half, whisking as you go. When the mixture bubbles and thickens slightly, remove it from heat. Stir in 2 c of the cheddar, the Parmigiano-reggiano, mustard and the remaining 1½ t of each salt and pepper. Spice the sauce up with Tabasco to your liking. Stir till the cheeses are melted. Fold the cheese sauce into the drained pasta and set aside.

Grease up a 9x13-baking pan. Spread the ground beef mixture in the pan, then spread the mac and cheese over it. Top everything with the last cup of cheddar and pop into pre-heated oven and bake 30-45 min, or until the cheese sauce bubbles lightly around the edges. Let rest 15 min before serving (can ya wait?)
Feeds 6-8

Mutha SauceJust like the name says, this is the basis-the true mother of all the sauces at Dinosaur Barbque. It is a balanced blend of sweet, spicey, savory and smokey flavors. It can stand alone as a slatherin sauce for chicken or ribs too.
¼ C vegetable oil
1 C minced onion
½ C minced green pepper
1 Jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
pinch of kosher salt and cracked black pepper
2 T minced garlic
1 can tomato sauce (28 oz)
2 C Heinz Ketsup
1 C water
¾ C Worcestershire sauce
½ C cider vinegar
¼ C lemon juice
¼ c molasses
¼ C Cayenne Pepper sauce
¼ C spicy brown mustard
¾ C dark brown sugar packed
1 T chili powder
2 T coarsely ground black pepper (yes it lists it again)
½ t ground all spice
1 T liquid smoke (optional, if you like it smokey)
Pour the oil into a large saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Toss in the onions, green peppers and jalapenos and give them a stir. Season with pinch of salt and pepper and cook till soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook 1 min more. Dump in everything else except liquid smoke. Bring to a boil, then lower heat so the sauce simmers. Simmer for 10 min. Swirl in the liquid smoke if you are adding it. Let cool and pour into a container, cover and store in fridge till ready to use.
Makes 6-7 cups
Variation
Hot BBQ sauce
Add 2-3 T minced Habanero peppers along with the inions and peppers and jalapenos. Also add ½ t cayenne pepper along with the other ingredients to add punch.

From my freezer...

I added some pics to this old post. I also tweek this with my own ingredients. I love a chunk of cream cheese in my Mac and cheese. I also use organic grassfed beef.