Saying Goodbye to a Classic :The Easy Bake Oven (as we know it)

Incandescent light bulbs are no longer going to be sold after Jan 2012...That's this January!
  Sadly, this is what the Easy Bake Oven uses to cook the batters.   The CLF bulbs don't give off enough heat to cook the baked goods. Stock up on those bulbs if you have one.

Kenner came out with this cutie in 1963 and it is currently marketed by Hasbro.  They have sold more than 16 million of these ovens, and almost every woman I know had their hands on one of these as a child.

It won't be totally gone....The company is bringing out a new improved model, it will cost a bit more, and it will include a heating element, but what parent can leave their child unsupervised with a heating element?  I don't have mine anymore but am tempted to run out and get one for my future grandchildren and a lifetime supply of incandescent light bulbs.

If you have an easy bake oven, here are some recipes for your kids to make, you won't have to run out and get the mixes.
Easy Bake Oven Recipes
    

Cowboy Stew : My version of Tortilla Soup

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We have a huge Halloween Party almost every year and soup is one of the things I always make for the party.  It's chilly at night and soup warms the soul.  I threw this together one year, and everyone raved about it. I still get requests for it all of the time.  My daughter just came to town and said she missed it, so I sent her home with a jar of it.  It's super easy to make, and you can modify this with using either canned beans or pressure cook your own.  Canned are faster and they don't change the taste just remember to rinse them of that slimy stuff they get from being in the can.
  I also add pork to this at times. A piece of a pork shoulder,cooked and shredded makes a nice addition. Really, you can omit or submit almost anything into this. I have made a small batch in my pressure cooker and its great but normally this is a gigantic stock pot recipe because it goes fast.

My Cowboy Stew

3 (32 oz)  boxes chicken broth 
4 chicken quarters ( or really any meat, pork leftovers etc)

2 cans garbanzo beans
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans black beans
2 cans corn
mushrooms
1 large onion
celery
jalapeno pepper or two (if you like)
 water (you want it soupy, add it early so you get the flavors) 
2 packs George Washington seasoning (chicken bullion)
2 t chili spice
4 T garlic garlic (freeze dried garlic)
2 packs taco seasoning
2 T Cajun spice
1 t cinnamon
1 t curry powder
4 oz crumbles gorgonzola cheese or feta
few turns of the peppermill
Tortilla chips
Sour cream
Avocado (add it near serving time diced up)

You can add more or less ingredients, pretty much things I have in my pantry is all I use. Potatoes etc.  

Put chicken broth in a big pot and turn burner on medium.  Add water and George Washington Seasoning (bullion).  Add all spices and taco packets, onion and celery.

Put chicken in the water and bring to low boil and cook until done.  Remove, debone and cut up small, and throw it back in.  Add mushrooms, beans (drained and rinsed) and corn (drained) and cheese.

Serve in a bowl with broken up tortilla chips and if you like, a dollop of sour cream.
Can also serve over rice if you wish.

Gourmet Cupcakes

Okay, I have ranted about these new gourmet cupcake places that are popping up everywhere.  I have never been much of a cake fan to begin with, but 3.50 a cupcake?  Really?  That's highway robbery!  I can make a batch of cupcakes for that price and make a bunch of teenagers at my house very happy.

Last night at the fair, it was so cold, I got coffee.  I decided to try one of the gourmet cupcakes they had, because when I am cold, I love comfort food.  The gourmet cupcakes at the fair were only 1.75.  I got a chocolate cherry and hub got a pineapple right side up cupcake.  They were good, but really, its a cupcake...its not rocket science.

I have always purchased cupcakes for my kids birthday parties, because I know when I have a houseful or patio full of people over, the last thing I want to do is cut a cake (or dish out ice cream for that matter, the good old portable ice creams work with cupcakes just fine, things like dixie cups, ice cream sammiches, popcicles etc)



This morning my book club book came from  The Book of The Month 2 Club .  I ordered the Southern Living Big Book of Cupcakes  because every Southern Living cookbook I ever bought has amazing recipes in it.  No kidding, pretty much every one of them I made, my family or friends requested the recipe. This book has 150 cupcake recipes in it. Tiramisu, Caramel Apple, Pina Colada, Pecan Pie, The Don Vito Italian Cream cupcake ...all cupcakes that look amazing.  My son is taking Culinary Arts in Vocational School this fall, so he will have fun with this book too.  He loves to cook.

There is a merry cherry mushroom cupcake that looks like The Smurf's houses, would be adorable for a Smurf themed Party.  Due to copy right reasons, I won't share their recipes, the book is cheap and you will have all of the recipes in one spot.  My favorite cupcake to date is the ever classic Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcake.  Click the link to go to my post of this recipe.  Nothing fancy, just joyful indulgence.  I can't say I won't have a new favorite after making some of the recipes in this new cookbook I got, but I can guarantee, I will never get tired of this recipe.

While I am on the subject of cakes....there is a cute little cafe near us that I love to eat it called Good Eatz.  They make the best carrot cake I have ever tasted in my life...and its gluten free... I am not on a gluten free diet, but I order this every time I am there.

Anyone have an amazing gluten free carrot cake recipe they wanna share?  I am dying to make this.  I see tons of recipes online but really dislike trial and erroring recipes that don't measure up.  I only have time to make the best so please share your tried and true recipe with me.
  margaritastewart@aol.com

Here is another favorite cookbook The Professional Chef by the Culinary Institute of America. .  I got this for my son whose culinary arts book from his school is just beginner  basic...this is really detailed.  Also the grilling book is neat, lost of rub recipes and sauces too.  Dessert and pizza etc on the grill.

  

Creamy Mac and Cheese in the Rice Cooker

 

I'm hungry for some macaroni and cheese. I have tweaked my mac and cheese recipe over time and ended up with this yummy version that we love! 

 I love my pressure cookers and use them to death, but I also love my rice cooker for fast meals too.  These are great for college students who are allowed to cook in their dorms or have their own place. Fast meals, cheap. You can make ziti and all sorts of things in this little machine.  It does all of the work for you and only one easy to clean bowl. 

Creamy Mac and Cheese in the Rice Cooker

Serves four

1½ c water

2 cups macaroni or small shells pasta

a dash of salt

Hit cook and walk away (this takes about 10-15 mins)

Then, when it goes into keep warm mode, open the lid, add:

1½ cups shredded cheese

1 cup milk, half and half or cream

¼ cup cream cheese cubed

¼ c sour cream

¼ c  parmesan cheese 

 (note: I don't really measure, just eye it, its not a big deal, its all good)

Put the lid back on and let the cheese melt or to make it go faster, hit cook but stir w a wooden spoon so not to over cook the cheeses. 

You can add hot sauce with the cheese if you want it buffalo style, or let everyone add their own to their bowl of it, if some don't like it hot. I love to add finely diced jalapenos to mine too when adding the cheese but again, some aren't into hot. 

You can also add chopped broccoli about halfway thru the cooking cycle to add some green veggies to it. 

Some people hate cream cheese, just sub in the same amount of sour cream (basically double the sour cream)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Okay this is going to be short and sweet.  My mom made this for my boys a few years ago and they loved it. It's so fast to make, especially if you use store bought Rotisserie Chicken or even canned chicken works.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

1 package cream cheese (8 oz)
1 cup sour cream
½ C Louisiana Hot Sauce
3 cups cooked chicken

Beat the cream cheese, sour cream and hot sauce until smooth, stir in chicken.

Pour into an 8 inch baking dish (baking stones will keep it hot longer).  Bake at 350° for 18-22 mins.  Serve with crackers and celery.

Basil Pasta Dough

I LOVE basil..it is by far my very favorite herb.  It's a rainy day so I decided to make my homemade linguini with clam sauce and add some of the delicious basil that is in my herb garden to the pasta dough.

I cut the big stems out of the basil.

Oh there's the crackle blue polish some of you asked for a pic of. The pink undercoat was too loud. Light blue undercoat and dark blue crackle now.

It's one cut if you fold it in half.

Then throw it in the food processor and hit the spin button.

Then I just follow my pasta dough recipe

3 C flour

1 T salt

(give it a whirl)

In a measure cup, fork whisk 4 eggs and some oil (olive if you like, I have really grown to hate olive oil, I use grapeseed or avocado)

Pour into food processor and whirl for a min or two.

It's gonna look grainy.  Like cornmeal.  Dump it on the wooden cutting board or whatever ya knead on.

Knead together (I do half at a time, my hands are small)

If it seems dry, just run your hands under the water and continue to knead.

Than put it into plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours before getting out the rolling machine.

    I prefer the manual pasta machine, just because I can control the spin of it, and back up if I need to.  It's easy to do once you use it one time.  Cheaper too and you don't have to lug out your kitchen aid stand mixer to power the electric one.


You can roll this out to any desired pasta...keep it flat and uncut out of the pasta roller and make lasagna or manicotti.  I have a homemade ricotta recipe I make often that is super easy!  You must try it, its so much better than store bought ricotta.


This cookbook is really cool.  Giada even has a fried ravioli in it!  YUM  I will have to make that next!.  I love anything fried!

When you put it through the pasta machine, cut each half batch into about three or four and flatten it out slightly with the palms of your hand.  Then, on setting 2 (or the wide setting) roll it through, tugging upward slightly to lengthen it (that's what she said).

Fold in half and run it through on the same setting four times.  Then move the setting to the next smallest, 3 in my case. Run it through twice, tugging upwards without tearing it, to lengthen it. Do this twice at each setting up to setting five or six, whatever you prefer for thickness. I like mine a little thicker so I keep it on five.

You can lay it out and dry it out, I usually let mine dry a tad before I boil it. 

Boil about 4-5 mins. 

 This recipe makes the equivlent to one box of pasta.

YUM  I love to eat it raw....

Super Foods: Chia Seeds.. Ch-ch-ch-chia

 Everyone's heard of them.  They aren't just a novelty gimmick to be found growing on dinosaurs,  Barack Obama and Scooby Doo. These seeds are one of the healthiest super foods.  These seeds are virtually tasteless so you can add them to your diet quite easily. Sprinkle it over your salad, eat them plain, but make sure you eat them.

Chia means "Strength" in Mayan and is nicknamed the Indian Running Food.  It contains 2 X the protein of any other grain, 5 X the calcium of milk, 2 X the potassium of bananas, 3 X the iron of spinach.  It has a high Omega 3 concentration and is a complete protein

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Chia is very rich in omega-3 fatty acids, even more so than flax seeds. And it has another advantage over flax: chia is so rich in antioxidants that the seeds don't deteriorate and can be stored for long periods without becoming rancid. And, unlike flax, they do not have to be ground to make their nutrients available to the body. Chia seeds also provide fiber (25 grams give you 6.9 grams of fiber) as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc.

Chia has a nutlike flavor. You can mix seeds in water and add lime or lemon juice and sugar to make a drink known in Mexico and Central America as "chia fresca." As with ground flax seeds, you can sprinkle ground or whole chia seeds on cereal, in yogurt or salads, eat them as a snack, or grind them and mix them with flour when making muffins or other baked goods. I find them tasty and an interesting addition to my diet.

Read more about Chia on Dr. Weil's page..

7 GOOD REASONS TO START EATING CHIA SEEDS

1. Help weight loss. Chia seeds are popular for weight loss. They reduce food cravings by preventing some of the food that you eat from getting absorbed into your system. This blockage of calorie absorption makes them a great diet helper.
2. Feel fuller faster: They can also help your diet by making you feel full. This is because they absorb 10 times their weight in water, forming a bulky gel.
3. Hydration for athletes: They are also great for athletes because the "chia gel" can hydrate the body.
4. Reduce your blood pressure: There's evidence to suggest they can reduce blood pressure.
5. Omega-3: They are the richest plant source of Omega-3 (the vital fats that protect againstinflammation—such as arthritis—and heart disease). In fact, they contain more Omega-3 than salmon!
6. Benefits for diabetes: Because chia seeds slow down how fast our bodies convert carbohydrates into simple sugars, studies indicate they can control blood sugar. This leads scientists to believe chia seeds may have great benefits for diabetics.
7. They are easier to digest than flax seeds, and don't need to be ground up.

Runner Friendly Recipe:  Chia Fresca

Raw Chocolate Chia Energy Bars Recipe

Chia is referenced in the following books.