Taste Test Tuesday: Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

When I first saw this recipe (maybe on Our Best Bites?? can't remember where), I thought really? can you really make good cookies without flour?  Yes.  These Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies turned out great.  I used crunchy peanut butter (that is why you see lots of nuts in the picture of the cookies) and it still turned out fine.

Enjoy!

Taste Test Tuesday: Fruit Leather

Today is a very simple recipe for making yummy and colorful fruit leather.  The ingredients:  apple sauce plus flavored gelatin or flavored drink mix if you want to flavor and color the fruit leather.  Plain applesauce without the gelatin or drink mix works just fine too.  Making a variety of colors, you can make a variety of designs.

Simply mix the gelatin or drink mix into the applesauce, mixing more or less in to get the color you want.  Yellow doesn't need drink mix or gelatin, I just added lemonade mix to it to flavor it.  I found that orange and blue needed more mix to reach colors that actually were orange or blue and not yellow or green.
 
If you don't have fruit leather trays for your dehydrator or even if you do and you want a very easy clean up, you can use plastic wrap.  Put the plastic wrap on the tray, getting it as flat as you can.  To make removal easier, spray it with cooking spray before putting the applesauce on it.  Spread a thin but even layer of applesauce onto the plastic wrap.  And dehydrate away at the fruit setting of about 135 degrees.  When they are dried, let them cool and then simply roll them up with the plastic wrap and store in an airtight container.  I use kitchen scissors to cut the rolled up fruit leather into about 1 to 2 inch wide strips for those that aren't specific designs.

Enjoy making very easy fruit leather!

 

Miscellaneous Monday: Children's Cookbooks

I have found that when my kids help make the food we are going to eat, they are more excited to eat it. One way to get them excited to help in food prep is to use cookbooks made for children.  The 3 listed below are the ones that I & my family have liked the most for the layouts, and of course the great recipes that are easy to make.

Betty Crocker's Kids Cook!:  This cookbook has some fun layouts and easy recipes.  Puts the finished product into a fun layout.
Mom and Me Cookbook:  Shows some pictures of ingredients and the process as well as the end product--a great help for visual learners or those not reading yet.
The Disney Magic Kitchen Cookbook:  Uses Disney characters in the layouts of the finished product, as well some fun names for the food like "Body Shop Black Bean Salad."  Also has great information about creating healthy menus, activity ideas for being physically active.

Each of these cookbooks have main dishes, sides and salads, snacks and treats and more.  Have fun preparing food for the family with the family!  There are other great recipe books out there, these are simply the ones I recommend based on actual use.

Taste Test Tuesday: 3 Dry Milk recipes

Today I will be sharing 2 dry milk recipes that I got from www.everydayfoodstorage.net.  The first is a main dish, the second a dessert recipe.  The 3rd recipe I have shared before (see this post), but will share again because it is used in the dessert recipe.  I have really liked the recipes I've gotten and tried from www.everydayfoodstorage.net and highly recommend them.

Cheeseburger Mac & Cheese  http://everydayfoodstorage.net/2008/05/21/the-magic-of-magic-mix-recipes-perfect-for-kids/food-storage-recipes

2 C. White Sauce from Magic Mix 2 C. Uncooked Macaroni 

2 C. Cheese 1-2 tsp. salt or garlic salt (optional)
1/2 C. Ketchup 1 T. Yellow Mustard

1 lb. Cooked Ground Beef (I also like to add cooked cracked wheat to this)
1/4 C. Dehydrated Onion hydrated in 1/2 C. Warm Water, drained (optional)

1 Bag Frozen Mixed Vegetables or fresh tomatoes to top

Directions:  Cook Macaroni. Cook hamburger while macaroni cooks. Drain macaroni and make white sauce in empty pot. Combine all ingredients and heat through. 

**My notes:  This isn’t your store bought mac & cheese, but it IS yummy and a great way to use food storage including adding cooked wheat to the ground beef after it is browned.  MMM....

Ice cream Cups  http://everydayfoodstorage.net/2008/06/09/food-storage-ice-cream-cups-powdered-milk-food-storage-recipes/food-storage-recipes

2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips or PB chips)

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (can use homemade)

1 c finely chopped nuts, pecans, oreos, cookie pieces, etc.

In heavy saucepan over low heat, melt chips with sweet milk (can make own sweetened condensed milk), remove from heat and stir.  Stir in pecans.  In individual paper lined muffin cups, spread about 2 T of mixture.  With lightly greased spoon spread on bottom and up sides of each cup.  Freeze 2 or more hours.  Before serving, remove paper liners--it is easier to remove if allow to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes first.  Serve with icecream.

Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 c hot water 1 c dry milk

1 c sugar 1 T butter (optional)

Blend in blender, until thoroughly blended (a few minutes).  Can use immediately or freeze or put in fridge.   In the post I did before sharing this recipe, I also shared a couple other recipes using dry milk--like no bake cheesecake, and homemade yogurt.

Enjoy!

Taste Test Recipe catch up: Wheat recipes

The recipes I am sharing today use wheat (or not).  The first, Hamburger Casserole, I didn't include wheat in the recipe but it is the same as the other ground meat recipes, simply add 1/4 c or more of cooked wheat berries or cooked cracked wheat.  The great thing about adding wheat to ground meats, is it doesn't stand out taste wise.

Next is Hamburger Pie, again a great recipe to add wheat to as well as beans and dried veggies.

And now chip dip.

Popped wheat doesn't use ground meat, but I wanted to share it anyway.  Be sure to pop wheat without any oils or butter so that when it starts popping up, it won't hit you and burn you.  Simply add any oils & seasonings after it has been popped.  I noted that this is much harder to chew than popcorn, so I wouldn't recommend giving it to young children or anyone who can't chew hard/crispy foods.  It is a tasty snack otherwise though.

Taste Test Tuesday: Taco go'ins

Today's recipe uses wheat.  Cooked cracked wheat adds well to ground meats.  Like taco meat.  Simply brown the meat, then add the cooked cracked wheat along with any seasonings or veggies.

Add more or less cooked cracked wheat.  If just starting out using wheat start with only about 1/4 cup per pound of meat, then slowly increase it to even half and half or more if want.  Cooked cracked wheat has a similar size and texture as browned ground meat so it fits in nicely.

And since refried beans go well with tacos, here is a recipe for using the dried refried beans from LDS home storage centers:

These refried beans with salsa and cheese go great with tortilla chips, but also work well to add to tacos and burritos.  If you like dryer or runnier refried beans, adjust the water amount, with the amounts listed above it is just the right consistency to scoop with a chip and have it stay and not break the chip while trying to scoop.

Enjoy!

Taste Test Tuesday: 5 Dry Milk Recipes

Milky May:  Today as sort of a grand finale of Milky May I will be sharing 5 recipes rather than one that use dry milk.  First, I will highlight 3 recipes I have tried from the wonderful dry milk recipe handout found here:  http://peaceofpreparedness.com/Resource%20Library/Recipies/Got%20Milk%20Recipes%202011.pdf.Then I will share a recipe using a recipe from www.everydayfoodstorage.net that I have tried and liked.  And lastly a peanut butter no bake cookie using prepared dry milk.

The recipe in the handout for this is actually called Bacon Brunch Pie, but as I was making it I thought it was more like a crustless quiche and so thought of it as Basic Quickmix Quiche, with either name, it is good.  I thought it would go great with sausage or other meats like ham or even browned ground beef.  I used fresh eggs instead of egg powder when I made it.  I also didn't use bacon bits as the original recipe calls for but cooked bacon crumbles/pieces.  I also added the tomatoes thinking to serve some shredded lettuce on top for a kind of BLT quiche.  Whether by itself or with lettuce with it, it had the consistency of quiche or scrambled eggs with veggies in it.

Another recipe from this great handout:  Country Gravy

MMM.  This gravy was yummy.  It is much like the gravy that can be made with Magic mix.  I like them both as they are both quick and easily seasoned to taste.

And again from peaceofpreparedness handout:  Pasta Primavera

I added cooked chicken to this as well--adding it with the rehydrated veggies--it did make it so there wasn't as much creamy sauce--just enough to coat everything lightly so if you do like more sauce with your veggies and pasta, you will need to add more of the sauce ingredients:  flour, dry milk, sour cream and water.  Depending on how hot or mild you want it, you will want to adjust the dried pepper and crushed red pepper amounts.  As is, it was ok for me but a little hot for others--it really depends on individual likes.

Now onto another source for great food storage recipes:  www.everydayfoodstorage.net.  The Chocolate Cake Cookie Mix recipe below is using the chocolate cake mix found here:  http://everydayfoodstorage.net/2012/02/27/making-your-own-cake-mixes-food-storage-style-dark-chocolate-cake/food-storage-recipes, there is also a great handout about making your own cake/muffin mixes and how to adapt recipes to mixes--see the above post link for that.  So onto cake mix cookies using this cake mix recipe.

I'll admit I like this cake mix made into cookies much better than when I made it into cake using the recipe shown on everydayfoodstorage.net.  When it comes to chocolate cake I like the homemade-made-from-scratch chocolate cake much better than this cake mix or store-bought cake mixes.  But this cake mix does make excellent chocolate cookies!!!  They are so yummy!  The variations my family has tried:  using peanut butter chips (I think we also added chocolate chips when using peanut butter chips); using white chocolate chips and chocolate chunks, just chocolate chunks.  ALL variations were delicious.  When using teaspoon to tablespoon sized balls, it makes around 50 cookies.  Also, if using melted butter instead of softened butter, you will need a little more mix.  Also, this is a batter that unless you have a powerful mixer, you will need to mix by hand--especially as you add more mix to make the dough stiff and add chocolate chips--a wooden spoon works great for mixing.

And now for another cookie recipe:  Peanut Butter No Bakes

This no bake cookie recipe comes from a church congregation cookbook that I have, it simply calls for milk, I simply adapted it to use dry milk and even cooked cracked wheat.  Great with or without the cooked cracked wheat.

Enjoy!

I hope the recipes I have shared this month, as well as in the past, have been helpful in giving ideas on using dry milk.  For more recipes that use dry milk, click on labels then dry milk or go to the recipe index page and look for recipes that indicate they use dry milk.  Enjoy!

Taste Test Tuesday: No Bake Cookies

MMM... cookies!  This recipe isn’t much for any new year’s resolutions to lose weight, but at least it has whole grain in it!

This recipe is adaptable to your tastes.  I added about 2 tablespoons of cocoa this time.  You can also increase the oats to 1 1/2 c and omit the wheat or decrease the oats and add more wheat.  In the past I have made no bakes using cooked whole wheat berries.  Just a note about using the wheat berries--the day after, the wheat berries were much harder to chew--I don’t know if it is because the sugar in the recipe crystalized within the berry or not, but I would suggest that if you are going to use wheat berries, make sure the cookies are eaten the same day they are made.  This recipe is also good adding some shredded coconut, sunflower seeds or chopped peanuts (I use crunchy peanut butter anyway).

As far as the milk goes, I used reconstituted powdered milk this time.  It turns out just the same.  If you don't have reconstituted milk on hand, here is what you need to make just 1/4 c worth:  1/4 c water, 3/4 T dry milk powder, mix well until no clumps.  I suggest using a container larger than 1/4 c to do the mixing, the other option is to simply put the water and dry milk powder in with the sugar and butter and mix it up that way-- (I added it already reconstituted). The dry milk powder amount is for non-instant dry milk powder.  If using instant you will need to double the amount.

Enjoy!

Taste Test Tuesday: Dry Milk Recipes

A few recipes using dry milk powder for today, hope you enjoy them!  I had originally thought of spreading these recipes over a few weeks, but since they go to together (kind of anyway), I decided to share them together.  

I originally got this recipe in a basic food storage recipe booklet my family was given for Christmas a few years back.  I finally found this recipe booklet here on theideadoor.com, here and then later here on mormonshare.com, as I searched for it in the hopes of finding who made it and whether it is copyrighted or not--so that I could know if I could share the recipes or not, as of yet I haven’t found any such copyrights, so I hope it is ok to share the recipe(s).  And for whoever put this wonderful recipe booklet together--thanks and wow!!!

Then a few years later, I came upon this website:  www.everydayfoodstorage.net.  Can I just say that I love this site!  I have tried multiple recipes from this site as well as in the recipe book she put together (I Can’t Believe It’s Food Storage), and haven’t been disappointed.  Anyway, on this website can be found this recipe, as well as recipes using this recipe.  Here is one of those recipes, homemade blender cheesecake--mmmm!

You can also use homemade yogurt cheese in this recipe, see the site for a video on using and making it, here.  I'm also including the recipe to making yogurt below.  The picture above shows the cheesecake I made using homemade yogurt cheese.  I have made it using regular cream cheese as well, and it is good that way too, but I do love that the yogurt cheese reduces the calorie and fat content of this yummy dessert.  From the picture you see it was too good to wait to take a picture of the whole cheesecake:) and my crust was crumbly--oh well.  I measured out 8 oz of yogurt cheese with a simple kitchen scale this time, but in times past I guess-timated.

The recipe below is adapted from other websites to use homemade sweetened condensed milk.

The carmel recipe that I adapted to use food storage (dry milk sweetened condensed milk) I originally found here (jamiecooksitup:  I love this site too, great recipes!).  It was linked to this site, where this recipe is shared, but also a great tip on using a candy thermometer for this recipe.  These two recipes differ in the time it says it takes for the mixture to turn to carmel, I would go with the longer times--as when I made it it took at least 20-25 minutes for it to turn carmel color.


I'm still trying to decide whether this was a success or a yummy failure...

It did work to use homemade sweetened condensed milk.  The carmel was VERY chewy and sticky--not something you want to eat if you have braces (or a weak jaw)!  Coming out of the fridge after setting, it is lick-able, but not bite-able, at least not without effort.  Your jaw gets a work out here, not sure if all carmel apple carmels are this chewy or not--or if it is because I used homemade sweetened condensed milk.  I would let the carmel apple sit at room temperature for a good 20 or so minutes before trying to bite into it.


And finally, for today:  how to make homemade yogurt, and yogurt cheese.

This recipe is similar to one found in the basic food storage cookbook mentioned earlier in this post, and a recipe or two on allrecipes.  I combined and adapted them to find what worked for me, the above recipe has worked and continues to work for me in making homemade yogurt with dry milk.  You can see it is very near the consistency of store bought yogurt-not a liquid yogurt.  I sometimes do actually measure out dry milk powder and the yogurt, other times guess-timate-so sometimes I end up with more--whether you use the lesser amount or the greater amount it still works great.  Though using the greater amounts shown I have gotten a slightly thicker yogurt than when I use the lesser amounts.

To make yogurt cheese from this:  you will need a flour sifter/strainer that can rest on top of a bowl.  The bowl will need to be deep enough that the sifter doesn't touch the bottom.  You will also need coffee filters (or cheesecloth--I've only used coffee filters to this point).  Line the sifter with 2 or 3 coffee filters.  Fill about 1/2 full of yogurt that has been chilled.  Cover with more coffee filters then put something to weigh it down--a ziploc bag filled (and sealed) with water works great.  Let is sit like this for several hours--the longer it sits the thicker it gets, after overnight, it is about the consistency of soft cream cheese.  It can now be used in place of cream cheese for a low-fat version!  I have also used just the coffee filters attached to empty yogurt containers without a strainer.  (see pictures below for a visual of what I just described)

To see a video tutorial on making yogurt and yogurt cheese see www.everydayfoodstorage.net, she has done a great job of showing how to do this here, she also has a yogurt making handout.  Like I said, I love that site!

The pictures aren't that great, but hopefully they help.  I do prefer the sifter over the bowl--It does seem to work better for some reason.  I really like the creaminess to the cheesecake recipe above when I use yogurt cheese-mmm so good!

I hope you enjoy making and tasting these recipes!

Miscellaneous Monday: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

MMM... pumpkin!  Pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin dump cake, pumpkin seeds...mmm mmm mmm good.

The nice thing about roasting these pumpkin seeds (or roasting other veggies) is you can choose your spices and flavor--sweet, salty, spicy, etc.  With the recent pumpkin carving FHE my family had, we roasted our seeds with some Garlic & Herb Mrs. Dash with a little sea salt sprinkled on it as well.  The seeds are better tasting (I think) once they’ve completely cooled off, or even the next day.  Warm right out of the oven aren’t quite as tasty I don’t think.

Enjoy!

Taste Test Tuesday: Nutty Granola

I love granola, dry or as a cereal.  This recipe has been adapted slightly from one found on everydayfoodstorage.net, but either way, granola is yummy!  This is easy to make and adaptable to family tastes.  Use what nuts you have on hand or like, add any extras and you have a delicious breakfast or snack.  Some dried fruits that go well with this recipe:  dried cranberries, dried apples, dried blueberries and strawberries and more.

Enjoy!

Miscellaneous Monday: Lunch!

Miscellaneous Monday:  Lunches

Always relying on the same things for lunches-day in and day out?  Need ideas for making your mouth water at lunch time?

A little while ago, I highlighted menu themes, these can be used for either lunch or dinner or both (and breakfast too for that matter).  This is a great way to get started on what to have for lunch.

Some great lunches are those that can be made ahead:  frozen leftovers, homemade pizza pockets (or other interior yummy gooiness), sandwiches, salads, etc. 

Need other ideas?  Below are some websites that have ideas for little kids as well as adults.

Websites to munch on:

for the kids:  meals based out of muffin tins:  http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/search/label/Muffin%20Tin%20Monday

anyone needing a portable lunch:  brown bag lunch ideas:  http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/15-fresh-brown-bag-lunch-ideas

lots of ideas for home or on the go (and recipes for some of these):  http://recipes.kaboose.com/lunch-recipes.html, 

http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/lunch.htm

Remember:  when you plan your grocery list--don’t forget lunch!  Have the ingredients for 5-7 meals (lunches, dinners, breakfasts) on hand so that at any given time you can make a family favorite.

Lunch Break!  Fast Food done right--at home, for on the go: 

BLATs--bacon, lettuce, avocado & tomato as a sandwich or rolled in a tortilla served with salad dressing for dipping  (I got this idea from a friend-mmm!)

Quesadillas--cheese, cooked meats & veggies grilled between two torillas  

Grilled sandwiches--cheese, cooked/deli meats & veggies grilled to delicious toastiness

Burritos--heat some refried beans with salsa, browned ground meet (optional), taco seasoning.  Spoon into a tortilla and fold up.  Eat now or fry:  Fold it and if need us a toothpick to hold it together and fry in a little oil.

Sandwiches--PB&J with or without added fruit slices, Deli or cooked meat with veggies

Leftovers--heat up and eat up leftovers!

Are we there yet?

You can’t take it with you! Or can you?  Road Trip Preparedness

Planning a road trip?  Can you hear the grumbling of stomachs and kids yet?  One way to help combat those grumbles:  prepare snacks at home to save money and time while driving (also saves shotgun passenger from having to pass back the food).  Instead of taking the time while on the road to stop somewhere to buy food, spending money to buy it, then trying to divvy it up while in the car, plan ahead.  Before leaving, make snack bags for each person in the car.  Each person is then responsible to budget their snacks during the drive to that far off destination.

Things to remember when preparing snack bags:  1. prepare food so it is ready to pop into the mouth:  wash, (peel) & slice fruits and veggies; open bags/packages that may be hard for younger kids to open by themselves; etc.  2. Only give food that you would want to possibly clean up when the trip is over.  3. Give instructions/ideas to passengers on how to budget their food during the trip.  

Foods that work well for road trips:  apple slices, orange/clementine slices, grape tomatoes, grapes, carrot sticks, celery sticks, trail mix, crackers, chocolate candy, nuts, marshmallows, dried fruits, slices of bread, for older kids/passengers:  popcorn, granola bars

Now all you have to worry about is remembering the toothbrushes, right?