Some Old White Chocolate Chips

They have lost their fresh flavor, among other things, so its  time for them to go.  Oh, and some leftover popcorn.  

White-ish Chocolate Popcorn
Well I can't put yellow chocolate popcorn.
Adapted from C.C. 

24 oz white almond bark
5 bags of microwave popcorn (light)  

Pop popcorn, and remove kernels.  One bag of microwave popcorn makes 5-6 cups so I used 25 cups of leftover popcorn (the reason my popcorn is yellow).  Yes I did have that much.  And more.  Dump cooked popcorn into a big brown paper grocery bag.
 
Melt Almond Bark in microwave for 2 minutes, and stir.  Put in microwave for another 30 seconds and stir.  Or alternatively place chocolate in a heat proof bowl and place over a pot of simmering water.  My white chips were old, dry and clumped and seized up when I try to melt them.  I added butter, shortening or both during the melting process to re-emulsify them.  

Pour melted almond bark over popcorn and shake bag for a minute or two.
 
On a table, carefully rip seam of bag open and spread popcorn out with a spatula, ensuring all is evenly coated.  Good luck with that.  After shaking, I stirred a little then placed mine in a large bowl, mixed well and spread on waxed paper to cool.  

Calories: about 160 per cup

Some Kind of Jam

And I don't mean difficulty.  Well, maybe I do.  I had ancient sugarized jam in my fridge and I didn't know what kind it was.  I'm thinking either plum or blueberry.  It worked well in this recipe.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Serves a crowd

4 pounds meatballs  (not Italian)
32 oz grape jelly or 1 quart of homemade jam or jelly
24 oz chili sauce

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and mix.  Some people put the sauce on the bottom first, some pour it over the top.  Heat on low for about 4 hours.  

Variation: Use cocktail wieners  

Getting Rid of Some Old Nuts

I sure you can think of something to say here.

Chex Mix
Yield: 10 cups
1/2 cup butter or margarine 
4 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1-1/4 teaspoons seasoned salt 
2 1/2 cups Wheat Chex square cereal
2 1/2 cups Rice Chex square cereal
2 1/2 cups Corn Chex square cereal  
1/4 cup nuts
1/2 cups small pretzel rods

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Melt butter in a shallow pan. Stir in Worcestershire sauce and seasoned salt.  Add Wheat Chex, Rice Chex, nuts (peanuts, pecans or cashews), and pretzel rods. Mix until all pieces are coated with the butter mixture.  Bake for 60 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool.

Nuts.

I had been keeping my pecans in the basement fridge so they would keep longer.  Now they just taste like old fridge.   This heavy dose of cinnamon fixed that.  Kind of.

Candied Cinnamon Pecans
From food.com
Makes: not enough

1/3 cup pecans, sliced-lengthwise (I didn't slice mine)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar  (or light)
1 1/2 teaspoons butter, melted

Mix together the cinnamon and brown sugar.  Toss pecans with melted butter, then with the cinnamon/sugar mixture, tossing well to ensure a thorough coating.
Put the nuts on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 5 to 8 minutes, until sugar is caramelized.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven, slide the parchment together with the nuts off the sheet to cool, and set aside.

Bubbly Buttermilk

Don't throw it out.  It makes a great dressing or dip.

Buttermilk Dressing

From Betty Crocker

 

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 t.  dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon instant minced onion

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt 

1 garlic clove, crushed or 1/8 t. garlic powder

 

Shake all ingredients in tightly covered container. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Shake before serving. About 3/4 cup dressing.

Aged Velveeta

You know, like aged to perfection.  Not like something that has been sitting around for years.  Wait, that is aged.  Oh yeah, so Velveeta, only better. 

Cheesy Dip or Potato Topper
Great served with Fritos

1 stick butter or margarine 
1 small package Mexican Velveeta (16 oz)
1 box broccoli, cooked according to directions. (10 oz)
1 small can mushrooms (4 oz)
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Melt butter in saucepan.  Add cheese and melt.  Stir in soup.  Stir in broccoli and mushrooms.  Serve warm. Crock pot works well. 

If I can't find Mexican Velveeta or I am using what I have dug up on hand, I will use regular Velveeta and add one jar of salsa or one can of stewed tomatoes per 2 pounds of cheese used or to taste.  

CEVICHE!

You can't just say ceviche.  It's CEVICHE!  It doesn't get much fresher than this.

 
Ceviche
From simplyrecipes.com
The recipe says it serve 4-8 but depending how you serve it, i.e. salsa style, it will serve more.

Preparation time: 15 minutes to prepare, 3-4 hours to let sit. Always use the freshest fish possible. Make the same day you purchase fresh fish.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of firm, fresh red snapper fillets (or other firm-fleshed fish), cut into 1/2 inch pieces or smaller, completely boned
• 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 1 cup of chopped fresh seeded tomatoes
• 1 serrano chili, seeded and finely diced
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• Dash of ground oregano
• Dash of Tabasco or a light pinch of cayenne pepper

• Cilantro
• Avocado
• Tortillas or tortilla chips

Method

In a non-reactive casserole dish, either Pyrex or ceramic, place the fish, onion, tomatoes, chili, salt, Tabasco, and oregano. Cover with lime and lemon juice. Let sit covered in the refrigerator for an hour, then stir, making sure more of the fish gets exposed to the acidic lime and lemon juices. Let sit for several hours in the refrigerator (3-4 hours), giving time for the flavors to blend.

During the marinating process the fish will change from pinkish grey and translucent, to whiter in color and opaque.

Serve with chopped cilantro and slices of avocado with heated tortillas for ceviche tacos or with tortilla chips.

8 loaves in 6 days

That's what is it going to take.  A loaf and a third a day. Plus there are 3 packages of hot dog buns, two packages of rolls, two packages of bagels, two packages of tortillas, some focaccia bread and a partridge in a pear tree.  That's what happens when the cooks don't coordinate on a family vacation.  Did I mention the 4 pounds of butter?  And the toaster is broken!  I am not throwing out bread.  It goes against my principles.  This recipe put a small dent in the situation. 

Cinnamon Toast

From thepioneerwoman.com

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 16 slices bread (whole wheat works great)
• 2 sticks salted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar (more to taste)
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (more to taste)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Smush softened butter with a fork. Dump in sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg, if using. Stir to completely combine.

Spread on slices of bread, completely covering the surface all the way to the edges.  About 2 T per slice.
Place toast on a cookie sheet. Place cookies sheet into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil until golden brown and bubbling. Watch so it won't burn!
Remove from oven and cut slices into halves diagonally.

Posted by Ree on April 25 2010

The Perfect Match

Around these parts when milk is going to expire soon gets marked down to $1 a gallon. So I stock up. Sometimes it takes a little chocolate to polish off those 10 gallons I bought.

Big Single Serving Chocolate Milk

2 T. cocoa or to taste
3 T. sugar or to taste (or powdered sugar, honey, or maple syrup)
dash of salt
2 T. water
1 1/2 c. milk


Place cocoa, sugar, and salt in a 12 oz. microwavable glass. Stir in water. It will be lumpy. Microwave for 30 seconds until mixture is dissolved. Stir in milk. Chill if you can wait. See pic.

Salted Chocolate Milk
From the foodnetwork.com
Serves 4

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 cups cold milk
• Kosher salt

Make the chocolate syrup: (Make more and keep for later)

Combine the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Let cool completely.

Spoon about 2 1/2 tablespoons of the chocolate syrup into each glass. Add 1 1/2 cups milk and a generous pinch of salt. Stir until the syrup and salt dissolve.

 

Rich Chocolate Milk
From the foodnetwork.com
Serves 2 (or one :) )

Bring 2 cups whole milk to a simmer, then whisk in 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder and 1/3 cup superfine sugar (or powder sugar) until smooth. Puree in a blender to fully dissolve (if desired); use right away or chill.

Fresh Salsa for Wimps

After planting 200 red onion bulbs and listening to the jeers about how all that onion that was going to ruin everyone's lives, I ended up with little or no onion. The poor little things were dug up by woodchucks, trampled by the cable guy, the electric guy, the gas guy and a million other workers. I manage to salvage a few puny ones.
Fresh Salsa for Wimps (i.e. not hot, no peppers)

Tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Red onion, chopped
Garlic, minced
Cilantro, minced
Lime juice
Salt

The amounts really depend on taste.
These are the amounts I used. Oooo, just got the thumbs up from the Arizona guy.

2 pounds tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 c. red onion, chopped (use more if desired)
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
3 T. fresh cilantro, minced (can use 1 T. dried)
1 T. lime juice
Salt to taste

Combine all the ingredients. Let sit at least for an hour. If the onion flavor is too strong, add less or let the onion sit in boiling water for a minute.

Overripe Cantaloupe

Smoothies are great for undesirables.

Cantaloupe Smoothie
Serve 2

1 cup orange juice
1 cup cubed cantaloupe
1 cup ice


Blend until smooth. Sweeten if desired.

Ripe Yogurt

Oct 2010:
Ooooo, I'm going to buy some yogurt and use it to make my own. Didn't do it. Still have it.

Nov 2010:
Ooooo, I'm going to buy some yogurt and use it to make my own. Didn't do it. Still have it.

Dec 2010:
Ooooo, I'm going to buy some yogurt and use it to make my own. Didn't do it. Still have it.

Is there a pattern here? Lucky for me the last one I bought I mistakenly picked up vanilla flavored.

Yogurt Parfait
Makes 1

3/4 c. vanilla flavored yogurt, divided
2/3 c. frozen strawberries in sugar, thawed
1 T. blueberries
2 T. granola

Spoon 1/2 cup of yogurt into a parfait or other glass. Top with strawberries. Next add blueberries. Spoon the rest of the yogurt on top of the fruit. Sprinkle with granola.

You can use fresh strawberries. Wash, remove tops and slice. Sprinkle with desired amount of sugar and let sit until juice is made.

Amounts for a McDonald's size yogurt parfait:

In a 6 oz cup layer:

1/4 c. vanilla yogurt (bottom)
1/3 c. frozen strawberries in sugar, thawed
5 blueberries
2 T. vanilla yogurt
1 T Nature Valley granola (top)

Asparagus Peelings

Am I suppose to peel asparagus? Does peeling it make it more tender? I have no idea but I thought I'd give it a try. The only thing I ended up with was a pile of asparagus peelings and there was no way I was going to throw them out. I couldn't decide what recipe to use them in: soup, sauce, souffle or pizza? The exploding "fresh" mozzarella cheese cast the deciding vote.

Shaved Asparagus Pizza
From The Tasty Kitchen
For a step-by-step go here

• 1 whole batch of pizza dough - enough for one 12-16 Inch Pizza
• Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling the dough
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
• 1 bunch asparagus, place in a glass of water until ready to use
• 5-¼ ounces, weight Boursin cheese (or similar herb and garlic spreadable cheese)
• Fresh cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 F.
If not already shaped, stretch your pizza dough into a large circle 12-16 inches in diameter and place on your pizza pan or stone. Drizzle dough with a thin stream of olive oil.
Slice fresh mozzarella as thinly as possible and arrange in a single layer over dough.
When you’re ready to prep the stalks, bend each one until it breaks. Discard the bottom part that breaks off.
Then take a vegetable peeler and peel off the outer-most edges and leaves. Discard those. Then keep peeling until you have nothing left but the tip.
Use the entire bunch, as you might only get 3 or 4 good ribbons from each spear. Pile asparagus shavings on top of the mozzarella. The asparagus WILL cook down so you want to use more than you think is necessary.
Top asparagus with several cranks of black pepper and dot generously with Boursin cheese. (about 1/4-1/2 a package per pizza or more if desired)
Bake on pizza stone or baking sheet for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let cool for 2-3 minutes before slicing and serving.

Diet Tip (see previous post)

If you have some stale pretzels lying around, smoother them with ketchup. It takes just like a hot dog.
You're welcome.

Crummy Tortilla Chips

Don't throw out those crumbs from the bottom of the tortilla chip bag. Make something yummy. Of course we excel at crummy around here. The 14-month old sees to it that the chip bag gets flung around enough to make a boatload of crumbs. Thanks to J for the idea and saving the bag of chips. Would it be cheesy to say yummy crummy?

Nacho Bowl

Tortilla chips, broken up
Shredded cheese
Fresh salsa
Guacamole
Sour cream

Place broken chips in a bowl. Top with cheese and microwave until cheese is melted. Top with desired remaining ingredients. Eat with a spoon.

Pumpkin Granola Muffins

The following conversation may or may not have been between me and myself.

Oh, look! Libby's pumpkin pie mix is on sale for a dollar and it was $2.50!

You don't use the Libby's pumpkin pie recipe. 

But it's only a dollar!

Who want's to eat pumpkin pie now?

I can save it until next year.

Again, you don't use the Libby's recipe.

It says here on the can there are other recipes on their website like pumpkin muffins! Maybe there will be a chocolate pumpkin muffin recipe.

Fine.

 Oh sure, mention chocolate and you cave.

You are only getting four.

Meanie.

Pumpkin Granola Muffins
From Libby's

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups granola with raisins
• 1 can (30 oz.) LIBBY'S® Easy Pumpkin Pie Mix
• 1/2 cup egg substitute or 2 eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup crushed granola (use the stuff at the bottom of the bag) or 2 tablespoons sesame seeds or flax seeds

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 400° F. Paper-line 24 muffin cups and spray with non-stick cooking spray or spray 24 muffin cups.

COMBINE all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Stir in granola. Add pumpkin pie mix, egg substitute and oil in another large bowl. Pour pumpkin mixture into flour mixture; stir until just moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle each with crushed granola.

BAKE for 15 to 17 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. (Mine took 20-22 minutes to bake.) Remove from pans to wire rack; cool slightly. Serve warm or cool to room temperature and place in airtight container.

FOR PUMPKIN GRANOLA LOAVES:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Spoon batter into two greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Sprinkle with crushed granola. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutritional Information (using egg substitute)

• Serving Size
  1/24 muffins (2 dozen) of recipe
• Calories 220
• Calories from Fat 60

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

% Daily Value *

• Total Fat 7g 11%
• Saturated Fat 0g 0%
• Cholesterol 0mg 0%
• Sodium 180mg 7%
• Carbohydrates 36g 12%
• Dietary Fiber 3g 11%
• Sugars 13g
• Protein 4g

• Vitamin A 35%
• Vitamin C 0%
• Calcium 4%
• Iron 6%

Biting the Bullet

Facing the music. Taking the bull by the horns. Showing it who's boss. Grabbing the tiger by the tail. That seems dangerous. Hmmm. I guess dangerous fits. Using apples purchased in 1992, made into applesauce in 1993 and using in 2010 is a little dangerous. Especially when it looks like this.

Apple Fruit Leather

Applesauce
Lemon juice or other anti-browning agent (optional)

Preheat oven to lowest setting. The lowest setting for newer ovens is 170 degrees. Older ovens will go lower.

Lay parchment paper on a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Make sure that it lies flat and won't fold back onto sauce. (You can use microwave safe plastic, however plastic and heat is not recommended anymore.) Spray with cooking spray or grease with butter or coconut oil.

If your applesauce doesn't have an anti-browning agent in it, add some. You will know if you made it and didn't add it. A little lemon juice works great. A couple of teaspoons per pan should be enough.

Pour applesauce onto greased parchment paper. Spread sauce evenly so it is a thin layer, about 1/8 inch thick. Sometimes shaking the pan or tapping it on the counter will help level it.

Place in oven. Remove when applesauce is dry to the touch. It will be somewhat sticky but not wet. This will be about 8-15 hours. It could take longer depending on your oven. Drying it overnight works great.Remove fruit leather from oven and let cool. Peel from parchment paper and roll up. Wrap in plastic and store in a cool dry place.

If you are drying during the day and need to use your oven, simply take out the fruit leather put it on your counter while you use your oven. Let your oven cool down before placing the leather back in the oven.

For a yummy treat, spread cream cream cheese on a piece of fruit leather and roll up.

Look Away! I'm Hideous!

"What is it?"
"It's the Evil Eye."
We are in the middle of musical appliances. Moving this one here and that one there. I was forced to clean out the basement refrigerator. I found lots of fodder. First item up for bid, a very large jar of fresh dill pickles. Frozen. And of course upon thawing, they became limp and mushy. This recipe hides that fact.

Ham and Pickle Pinwheel Appetizers

1 package ham slices
Jar of dill pickles, whole, patted dry
8 oz cream cheese softened

Cut the ends off of the pickles. Spread a layer of cream cheese on a ham slice. Ham can be patted dry for ease in spreading creme cheese if desired. Starting at one end, roll up the pickle. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until cream cheese is firm, about 2 hours. Slice into 1/2 inch thick slices.

My pickles are spears, not whole. Thus the odd shape. Yours will look better. I hope. Either way they are tasty.

Corn Tortilla Chips

If you have some dried out corn tortillas, make these. If you have some fresh corn tortillas, make these.


Homemade Corn Tortilla Chips

Corn tortillas
Oil for frying (corn, coconut, or lard)
Salt

Cut each corn tortillas into 6 wedges. Can cut into rectangles or strips if desired.
Heat oil to 375 degrees in fryer or in fry pan. If using fry pan, oil should be at least 1 inch deep.
Place a few chips in pan, leaving plenty of space around each. Don't crowd when frying.
Fry 1-2 minutes on each side until lightly brown and crisp. Drain on paper towel. Salt while still warm.

These can be baked instead of fried. Place chips on cookie sheet or wire cooling rack. Bake at 350 for 5 min. or until crisp. Salt while warm.

A 12 oz package of corn tortillas will yield 72 chips or 12 servings, each serving being 126 calories and 8 grams of fat

Doughnut Disaster

I love apple cider doughnuts that are available this time of year. Since I have some apple cider from last year in my basement fridge that I need to get rid of, I thought I would make my own.

In my effort to eat more healthy, I decided to make them whole wheat. Isn't that mutually exclusive? Healthy doughnuts?

Then I got it in my head they were going to be so delicious that I needed to quadruple the recipe.

Can't I just be normal?

I didn't have enough sugar for those healthy doughnuts so I went to the store to get some, came home and realized I forgot to get the sugar.

Next, distracted, distracted. And more distracted which led me to forget that I didn't put any sugar in it. Fourteen cups of whole wheat flour and no sugar. Obtained sugar and tried to add it. Keyed word there: tried

I could tell they were not going to be the tasty little morsels that were dancing in my head so I made some the dough into graham crackers. After eating one cracker the verdict on those were "I can't eat another one." I am thinking graham cracker crust.

Bottom line. Stick to the recipe.

Apple Cider Doughnuts
Yield: About 15 doughnuts and 15 holes (serving size: 1 doughnut and 1 hole)
Cost per Serving: $0.48
From All You

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
• 6 cups vegetable oil, for frying

Preparation

1. Line baking sheet with parchment. Line a large plate with paper towels. In a paper bag, combine 1 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp. cinnamon; shake to mix well. Set aside.
2. Bring cider to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cider has reduced to 1/2 cup, about 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
3. In a large bowl, whisk baking powder, salt, 1 cup flour and remaining sugar and cinnamon until well combined. In a small bowl, whisk butter, eggs, yolk and cooled cider until well combined. Add cider mixture to flour mixture; whisk until smooth. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups flour and mix until just combined. Dough will be slightly sticky. Refrigerate 10 minutes.
4. Pour oil into a large pot and attach a candy thermometer to side (thermometer should not touch bottom of pot). Heat oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 375ºF, watching and adjusting as needed to keep oil from overheating.
5. Turn dough out onto a well-floured countertop and coat fingertips with flour. Pat dough out to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a doughnut cutter or 2 round cookie cutters (one large and one small), cut out doughnuts and holes. Transfer both to lined baking sheet. Gather scraps and re-pat dough, cutting as many doughnuts as possible.
6. Working in batches, carefully slide doughnuts into hot oil. After about 1 minute, doughnuts will rise to surface and begin to brown. At that point, turn over and fry 1 1/2 minutes longer. Transfer to lined plate to drain. Bring oil back to 375ºF before frying another batch. When doughnuts have cooled for 1 minute, add to bag with cinnamon sugar and toss to coat. Remove to a clean plate and serve.

Nutritional Information

Calories:480

Fat:18g (sat 5g)

Protein:6g

Carbohydrate:79g

Fiber:1g

Cholesterol:65mg

Sodium:322mg