Aug 13, 2009 | Green Living, In-Edibles, Recipes, Uncategorized
Liquid Laundry Detergent
1 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
a bit of tea tree oil (to cut the mildew smell front loaders can have!)
1/4 cup or so of Dr. Bronner’s Baby Castile liquid soap
4 cups hot water (first) then added about 8 more cups
**My mom pointed out that this makes a VERY concentrated soap. It does! If you use this recipe you’ll only need a tablespoon or so for each load. She uses quarts instead of cups of water in her recipe (same amounts of everything else) and it makes a not-as-concentrated recipe that you’d use a capful of a normal washing bottle. I am using the quart method now myself because the other was overflowing!
I mixed it in a bowl with a whisk because the washing soda (soda ash) gets hot when it gets wet. (Luckily I knew this from my pool or I’d have probably burned my hands trying to get the clumps out.) I did put the end of it in the blender and mixed it there to try and get all the clumps out. Here are more recipes.
Aug 7, 2009 | Main Dishes, Recipes, Uncategorized
(I really need to find my camera! My cell phone doesn’t take the best pics.)
ground turkey 1 1/2 lbs or so (you could use another meat or sub more beans for this if you wanted)
1 onion (chopped finely)
3 or 4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
Olive Oil
Chili powder (I used Penzey’s Chili 3000) add as much as you’d like
1 can of Bush’s Chili Starter
1 can of Bush’s Chili Beans (or any beans)
1 bottle of Corona beer
1 28 oz can of Muir Glen diced tomatoes
about 1/2 cup of Herdez Salsa Taquera
Brown onions in olive oil in large pot. Add garlic and meat and brown with spices.
Add chili beans, starter, tomatoes, beer, salsa, and cook til it’s done!
Best served with homemade cornbread, hot from the oven! (Fritos will do in a pinch though!)
I like mine with cheese and a dollop of sour cream on top.
Jul 24, 2009 | Main Dishes, Recipes, Uncategorized
New York Pizza Crust
(Makes 2 12” pies)
¼ teaspoon sugar1 cup warm water1 envelope (¼ oz.) active dry yeast (I use the quick rising)1 teaspoon salt3 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting7 Tablespoons olive oil
If using a pizza stone, set it on lowest rack of oven. Preheat oven to 550 degrees.In a small bowl dissolve sugar in warm water. Add yeast and stir. Let sit 5 minutes or until a layer of frothy bubbles appears.
In food processor (or bowl) combine salt and flour. Add frothy yeast mixture and 2 Tablespoons of oil. Mix until dough is smooth and pliable. Remove dough and knead on a floured surface for about 10 minute.
Oil inside of a bowl with olive oil and place dough in bowl. Cover with a dish towel and let dough rise until double in size (30 minutes to 1 hour)
When dough has doubled punch it down and knead 10 times. Form into a ball and cut in half. Roll each half out into a 12” circle.
Transfer each pie to a pan or a peel if using a stone. I dust the bottoms with a bit of cornmeal so they slide better when removing.
Spread tomato sauce (or sauce of choice) on pie, put desired toppings on pizza and top with cheese. Drizzle with olive oil if desired.
Bake on lowest rack of oven for 6- minutes or until it looks yummy!
*We love this recipe. I think we make pizza about once a week! It is so fast if you use a stand up mixer or food processor and quick rising yeast. Probably faster than delivery.
Jul 24, 2009 | Recipes, Sweets, Uncategorized
“Cinnamon Crispy Hearts”
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 c warm water
3/4 c flour
3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/8 tsp salt (I used salted butter and leave this out)
2/3 c butter
1 egg yolk
1 Tblsp. melted butter
2/3 c sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used the fresh, strong stuff so only used 1 tsp.)
Sprinkle yeast over warm water, stir until dissolved and set aside.
In large bowl stir flour and salt. Mix in butter with a pastry cutter until crumbly.
Stir in yeast mixture and egg yolk until well blended. Cover tightly with wrap and
refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and knead until smooth, folding over at each
turn, about ten times or so. Roll out into a 12″ x 10″ rectangle.
Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. Starting with a long side
roll dough up “jelly roll” style to center of the rectangle. Then on other long end roll up that side
to center mark also. Cut into 12 slices.
Sprinkle some of remaining cinnamon sugar on waxed paper and place a slice on the paper.
Flatten slightly with hand, pinching into more of a heart shape as you flatten, then roll with a
rolling pin to 1/8″ thick. (Turn slice as you go to sugar both sides.) Repeat with other slices.
Place hearts on ungreased baking sheet and bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.
*This recipe is not my original (although I made a few minor changes.) It is from “Farm Journal’s- Homemade Breads”
Jun 8, 2009 | Recipes, Sweets
Here is the cake from H & K’s wedding yesterday. I have sugar everywhere, trying to get it out of my pores and off the furniture!
May 24, 2009 | Recipes, Sweets
Patience is a virtue (and not one of my strongest qualities- ask my family) but chocolate helps.
The rain is back. Thank goodness it didn’t rain yesterday while we were at Riverfest. Scott’s cousin, Chris, was playing with Nik and Sam and his family sat with us and watched him play. It was so cute to watch Liam- “That’s my daddy!” he said with a big smile. So cute!
I am so wishing I had rain barrels installed. I think we wouldn’t have had to pay for city water for at least six months if we’d had them. I feel like we are in Seattle or London.
So the kids had become obsessed with clips they saw on KidZui of the newer version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Not my favorite movie. Why would they remake the original? Much better music. I love Johnny Depp most of the time, but let’s be real- he was the absolute freakiest in this movie as Willy Wonka. Ick. So, we had to go get the dumb movie for them last night to pacify the obsession and I think it’s backfired. They LOVE it and have already watched it twice. Great. Thus enter the patience…
So this rainy morning (more patience) I woke up to Jac asking for chocolate for breakfast. Chocolate pudding to be exact. I thought, well it does have eggs in it so it could be a breakfast food. We can’t do mixes here because of the food dyes (yes, almost ALL pudding mixes have yellow and/or red dyes.) But, this is an easy and inexpensive recipe (and tastes better too!)
I use the Gourmet’s Best Desserts cookbook’s recipe:
Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 c milk (I use whole organic)
2 egg yolks, beaten lightly
3 ozs of chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
In saucepan off the heat whisk together first three ingredients. Gradually beat in milk, egg yolks, and chocolate, mixing well. Put over moderate heat and bring to a boil (stirring constantly.) Boil one minute and add butter and vanilla. Pour into buttered ramekins or dishes. Cool and YUM!
