I Never Thought...

I never thought that I would ever own a pressure cooker!  As a child, I remember pinto beans being plastered all over the ceiling when Mother's pressure cooker blew up.  From that day forward I never even wanted to be around one, much less cook in one.

Fast forward to the digital age.  I was doing research on another cooking appliance and several references to digital pressure cookers kept popping up.  All with good reviews I might add...and with "safety features!"  My friend Norma has a stove top pressure cooker that she uses all the time, especially for cooking beans.  Thoughts of Grandma's pinto beans with thick juice came to mind so I purchased an Instant Pot Digital Pressure Cooker. 

I love this Instant Pot.  It has changed the way I cook.  I had gotten in the *not liking to cook mode* but this appliance has change my thinking.  Things cooks so quickly and the keep warm feature has it ready when I come in from a tiring day of yard work.  I can't use the excuse of not having time to cook any more.  This pot is a pressure cooker, slow cooker, steamer, rice maker, sautee pot, yogurt maker, food warmer.  I even bake cakes and brownies in mine; the perfect size for Poppa and me.  I have not tried my favorite cornbread recipe yet, but I think it will do well.  Did I mention I love this pot! Also want to mention I am not affiliated with Instant Pot.

Until next time...

Happy Cooking and Good Eating!

~E~

Chewy Granola Protein Bars

It's rainy and chilly today; a perfect time to be in the kitchen baking something quick and good!

Chewy Granola Protein Bars
Preheat oven to 325*

2 Cups Oats

1/2 Cup Vanilla Whey Protein Powder

1/2 Cup all purpose Flour

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 Cup dried fruit ( I used dried cranberries this time)
1/4 to 1/2 Cup Ground Flax Seeds

(You can add up to a total of 2 Cups of dried fruit, chopped fruit, coconut, chopped nuts, seeds, chocolate chips)

1/2 Cup (1 stick) melted Butter

1/2 Cup Honey

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

Mix well.  Add a tiny bit of water if you still have some dry ingredients that have not mixed; just enough to make the mixture moist.  You don't want it runny.  Press into a greased 8" x 8" pan.  Bake at 325* for 20 minutes.  Cool.  Cut into bars.  Store in fridge or freezer.  Enjoy!

Easy Homemade Fruit Fritters

Cooler Autumn days will be calling for some comfort goodies.  We may never buy donuts or cinnamon rolls again!  These Fruit Fritters are so easy to make from scratch and delicious.  I used peach pie filling for these tasty morsels, but you can use chopped fresh fruit of any kind...or leave out the fruit all together if you so desire.  They still make tasty sweet treats!

Fruit Fritters

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

3/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/3 Cup Milk

1 Egg

1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla

1 Cup chopped Fruit (or Fruit Pie Filling)

Glaze:

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 Tablespoon Milk or Water

Oil for cooking ( I used Coconut Oil)

Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon.  Stir in milk, egg and vanilla just until combined.  Fold in fruit.  Pour oil into skillet to coat the bottom and only about 1/4" deep. I used a 1/4 Cup measure to carefully add the dough to the hot oil and spread it out. Cook until brown, flip over with a spatula and cook the other side.  Keep an eye on these so they won't burn because they cook fast.  Transfer to a cooling rack.  Mix up your glaze and drizzle over the top of the fritters.  Add a wee bit more milk if your glaze is too thick.  Enjoy while warm, or cool. They also freeze well.

StoveTop Corn Bread

Poppa's Aunt Toady cooked her cornbread on top of the stove.  She could flip it in the skillet with her spatula.  Ummm....I tried that one time and made a big mess so I flip mine over with the skillet. This is my recipe and I love cooking corn bread on top of the stove; it's much faster and you don't have to heat up the oven.

StoveTop Cornbread

1 Cup Yellow Corn Meal

3 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Egg

2 Tablespoons Oil (vegetable, coconut, olive oil or melted butter)

3/4 Cup Buttermilk

I use an 11" slanted side non-stick skillet (T-Fal) with a lid.  Spray the skillet with cooking spray.  I put the skillet on medium heat, #5 on my electric stove, while I quickly mix up the batter.  Pour the batter into the skillet and add the lid.

Cook with the lid on until the batter no longer is shinny on the top, about 8 minutes.

Slide the cornbread out of the skillet onto a cookie sheet.  Turn the skillet down over the top of the cornbread then flip the cookie sheet so the top of the cornbread is now on the bottom and you can now brown the top.

Brown the top of the cornbread to your desired color (WITHOUT THE LID this time). Remove from the skillet and enjoy!

This freezes well if you have leftovers or you can get a head start on your holiday cooking for turkey and dressing.

When is the last time you ate Rutabagas?

I had a hankering for something my Granny used to cook.  I thought it was mashed turnips but when I tried them, nope,  it wasn't the same.  So I called my Auntie and she said Grandma loved rutabagas and cornbread.  So, today I cooked rutabagas.  They turned out just like I remembered and I am delighted.  The Rutabaga has very strong antifungal properties so I will add this to my list of healing foods to help me make better choices for a healthier lifestyle.

Mashed Rutabaga
Peel off the waxy peeling, wash and cut into chunks like you would do if you were cooking potatoes to be mashed.  I also added a slice of chopped uncooked bacon.  Cover with water and add salt.  Cook until tender.  Drain and add one tablespoon of coconut oil or olive oil ( or butter if you prefer) and a pinch of sugar.  Mash with a potato masher; I left some lumps in mine.   Enjoy!  Now I need to make a pan of corn bread on top of the stove...



Freezer Breakfast Fixin's

When I get in a cooking mood/mode, I have been cooking things for breakfast and utilizing our freezer.  I cook a pound of bacon at a time, freeze the individual slices and then store them in a freezer bag.  I do the same thing with sausage.  Then all you have to do is heat what you need in a skillet, griddle or microwave.  I also do pancakes and waffles, freeze them and store in freezer bags.  This past weekend, I cooked Oats and froze them in my jumbo muffin pan.  Take the pan out of the freezer, put it in a larger pan of hot water and you are able to get the individual servings out of the muffin pan and store them in a freezer bag.  Breakfast is easy peasy at our house.

Six cups of water, boiling
Add Three cups of Old Fashioned Whole Grain Oats

Cook until water is absorbed.

Remove from heat
Add lid and let set for five minutes
Divide into Jumbo Muffin Pan
Let cool
Place in freezer until frozen
Remove servings and store in freezer bag

Heat individual servings in microwave when ready to use.



Gone crazy...One more time!

These days I have traded my Studio/Nest for our kitchen.  Yesterday it was cold outside and a perfect day for baking bread.  I started my Sour Dough Starter a few days ago and now it's time to make some bread, so I opted for a loaf of San Francisco Style Sour Dough Bread as my first experiment.  It turned out delicious!!!

Not only did I make sour dough bread, I also made Hamburger Buns from scratch.  These are not sour dough but they were fun to make...and we had burgers for supper with grilled onions.  Did I mention YUM!!??





Sour Dough Starter

Today I started on a new adventure in bread making.  I started a sour dough starter.  This should be interesting...

 

It sounds easy.  1/2 Cup of filtered water and 1/2 Cup all purpose flour.  Feed it this same mixture every 24 hours for five days.  Then remove one cup for a recipe or to discard and feed it again.  We shall see!

Drying dishes...

Every time I dry dishes I think about my Momma and giggle.  She told me one time that when she was young they lived in an old house and it was very cold.  The girls had to dry the dishes and put them away before they could go out on their date.  They put the dishes up with some water still on them and the next morning the dishes were frozen together!  Hehehe...I love it!  I'll bet Grandma wasn't too happy...





Pickled Veggies

Fill quart jar with washed bite size pieces of

Cauliflower

Carrots

Celery
Sprigs of Dill or Dill Weed

Mix together and heat until salt is disolved
1 Cup Water

1 Cup White Vinegar

2 teaspoons Salt

Pour over veggies and seal.

Refrigerate after jar has cooled.

Let sit 24 hours to marinate if you can wait that long!

Mother's Tomato Soup...comfort food

This super simple Tomato Soup is great comfort food for those cold, rainy days!

Chop two celery sticks and a medium size onion into bite size pieces.  Sautee in a pan with a lid in a small amount of canola oil.  When veggies are almost tender, add 1 can of chicken stock and about the same amount of water.  Add egg noodles and a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic. You may need more water to cover noodles.  Cook until the noodles are tender and then add one can of diced tomatoes.  Season to taste and enjoy!  It helps if it is served in a homemade bowl, too.  :)

Microwave Those Cream Pies and Puddings

I have never really cared for cream pies and puddings that had to be cooked in a double boiler on top of the stove and stirred constantly.  Recently I tried a Chocolate Cream Pie filling in the microwave.  It turned out so good that I made a Pineapple Coconut Pudding with a Meringue topping.  Same as a pie, just no crust.  It's easy and yummy!

Seperate 3 eggs, yolks in one bowl, whites in another.  Room temperature eggs do better than directly from the fridge.

To a blender, add 3 cups of evaporated milk (2-12oz. cans), 1-1/4 cup sugar, 6 tablespoons flour, 3 egg yolks, 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Blend about 30 seconds until well blended.  Don't worry about the bubbles.

Pour mixture into a glass microwavable bowl.  I have a large 8 cup glass Pyrex measuring bowl that I love to use in the microwave.  Microwave the mixture for 9 minutes 30 seconds (microwaves vary) stirring the mixture with a whisk about half way through cooking and close to the end of cooking.  Mixture will be thick and hot!  Take mixture out of the microwave, add 4 tablespoons of butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla along with 1 cup of shredded coconut and 1 cup of drained crushed pineapple.  Mix well.  Pour into dish.  Top with meringue. Cook under broiler until meringue begins to brown.  If you want chocolate filling, just add 6 tablespoons of cocoa and delete the coconut and pineapple.

Meringue:

Beat 3 egg whites, 1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla in a mixer until whites form stiff peaks.  Slowly add 6 Tablespoons of sugar.  Spread meringue on top of pie or pudding.

Bread Crumbs

I am forever needing bread crumbs for something; dressing, meatload just to name a few.

When we have the heels or a slice or two of bread left over, I pinch them into small pieces and store them in a plastic bag in the freezer.  Just reach in and get what I need while cooking. It saves time and money.

For those seasoned bread crumbs, toast the pieces in the oven for a few minutes, blend them in the blender until fine adding McCormick's Italian Seasonings to taste.

A new pan

I bought a new cast iron drop biscuit pan by Lodge.  It's preseasoned and is wonderful for my yeast rolls.  Now they look like biscuits!  This pan will be great for shortcakes for all of those wonderful fruits and berries and also I'm thinking double fudge chocolate brownies will be just the right size baked in this pan.  Yum!



Super Easy Yeast Rolls

2 cups warm water...add

1/4 cup sugar and
1 pkg. of yeast (or 2-1/4 teaspoons dry yeast in jar)
stir to dissolve yeast
add 1 egg and
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
mix to break up egg

Dry ingredients in a bowl:
4 cups self rising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Add wet ingredients and mix well until all flour is wet. I use a whisk.

Store in air tight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

You can use this dough right away after mixed. No waiting for it to rise. Spoon into a greased muffin pan. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown at preheated 350 degrees. Yummy!

It must be September - First Day of Autumn!

Thank you Lord!

September ushers in a wonderful supply of pears waiting to be made into delicious pear preserves. Making pear preserves is an annual event in our household. It is time consuming but worth the effort.  You can't buy pear preserves at the grocery in our part of the country.  Are they available in your area?

The supplies are gathered.  Wide mouth pint canning jars.

Aren't these just the cutest half pint squatty canning jars?  I can see them filled with all kinds of goodies other than food.  Beads and buttons come to mind.

To make the tedious job of peeling and slicing interesting, I always try to peel each pear in one big long peeling.  It's fun to see if I can do it!  Once peeled, the pears are sliced in thin slices.

Sugar is then added and mixed well.  I usually do 8 cups of sliced pears and 2 cups of sugar.

Start cooking, bring to a nice slow boil and cook for a couple of hours or until pears just begin to turn pink and translucent.  You have to stir frequently during the cooking process or these sweet morsels will burn.  This is not a time to multi-task!  They need a constant watchful eye. Ask me how I know...

Have your supplies on hand and ready for the canning process.  Steralize your jars BEFORE the pears are ready to can.  You will need a ladel, a funnel, a magnetic thingy to get the jar lids/rims out of the hot boiling water, your jars and lids/rings.  THIS STUFF IS HOT SO BE CAREFUL!  Ladel the pears and syrup into the jar, make sure the rim of the jar is clean.  Put on the hot jar lid and then the ring.  Just barely tighten the ring.

When you are finished with all of the pears, place a cover over the jars and let them cool naturally.  Such good eating with hot buttered biscuits and sausage on cool Autumn/Winter mornings.  They are also delicious in the Spring/Summer if you have any left by then.  Enjoy!

Did your jars seal after they cooled?
You can feel the top of the lid.  If it makes a noise when you gently press on the lid, it did not seal well.  If your jar did not seal, these preserves need to be refrigerated and eaten before opening the sealed jars.  I have heard they will last in the fridge for several weeks but ours don't last that long so I can't say for sure.

Bake that cake at 300 degrees...

For a moist cake, bake it at 300 degrees until it is set in the middle.  You can test by sticking a knife in the center.  If it comes out clean, it's done.  Also, oh so yummy if baked in a cast iron skillet.  This baked in one hour in my seasoned skillet that was sitting in an Air Bake jellyroll pan which keeps things from burning on the bottom.

Shown:  Duncan Hines Orange Supreme Cake with Betty Crocker Cream Cheese Frosting.

Not your average Meat Loaf...

We love this easy cook on top of the stove one dish meal.  I don't measure but just add ingredients so I can't really tell you how much of each item.  Just add to your taste. 

Meat Loaf

About 1-1/2 pound ground beef
chopped onion

chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup oats

1 egg

ketchup (maybe 1/2 cup)

salt & pepper to taste
mix well and

form into about 3 large patties

brown on top of the stove on both sides
in a small amount of vegetable oil.

When brown on both sides, add
cut up bite size unpeeled red or yucon gold potatoes
onion slices
carrots
1 can tomato soup mixed with 1 can water
more salt and pepper

Put the lid on and cook on top of the stove
for about an hour and a half until meat
is well done and vegetables are tender.

Serve with a green salad and crusty bread.

Good eating!

Steamed Sweet Potatoes and Cobbler

Sweet potatoes are really nutricious and we love them fixed in the steamer.  Just wash them and cut them in hunks, put in the steamer and cook for 30 minutes.  Yummy hot drizzled with honey!

At one time I had a neighbor that said her husband would kill for a sweet potato cobbler.  We had never eaten a sweet potato cobbler until today.  I needed to do something with our left over steamed sweet potatoes so I used my favorite easy Fruit Cobbler recipe and I'm hear to tell you that this cobbler is delicious and fit for company!!!

Sweet Potato Cobbler

Remove skin from cooked sweet potatoes and cut into bite size pieces.  Add just enough water to cover and sprinkle in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar.  Let sit while mixing other ingredients.

Melt 1/2 stick of butter in a dish with a lid.  I use Corelle 3 qt. casserole with lid.

In another bowl mix:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
slight sprinkle of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk.....mix well 
Pour this batter into the dish with the melted butter.  DO NOT MIX; just pour in the batter.

Next, pour the sweet potato mixture in on top of the batter.  DO NOT MIX; just pour in the sweet potatoes.

Add the lid and bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour.  Enjoy!

Looks like a little mouse has already been into the cobbler!



You can substitute any kind of fruit for the sweet potatoes and depending on the fruit, you may want to leave out the cinnamon.  This is a delicious and easy cobbler.  It makes it's own topping! Prop your feet up and pretend you are company and enjoy!

What to do with all of that left over ham?...

We have a lot of ham left over from Easter. Here are just a few ideas.

Freeze it for later
Ham & Cabbage
Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwiches
Ham & Eggs
Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry
Ham & Scallop Potatoes
Chef Salad with Ham
Ham & Large Butter Beans

How about a nice Ham Salad?


Chopped ham, chopped celery, chopped eggs, pimento, salad dressing or mayo and add any or all of the following; dill or sweet relish, dijon mustard, onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, olives, shredded cheese. I had left over hot dog buns so they got used. Yum it was good for lunch!