Whole Wheat Waffles-Soooo Good!

My mom and dad gave me a grain mill for my birthday last year and I have to say that I am in love it! It’s wonderful! I really like that I can adjust the coarseness of the grinder so the grain being milled is course enough for cracked wheat cereal or fine enough for bread flour. It means I can have freshly ground grains whenever I want. It also enables me to rotate through food storage when I need to.

My parents also compiled a spiral bound book for each of their children teaching emergency preparedness basics—like how to use food storage, how to plant a garden, etc. The book contains a really, really good whole wheat waffle recipe that they received in an emergency preparedness manual in Rexburg, Idaho shortly after the Teton Dam broke.

Whole Wheat Waffles
recipe from the Rexburg Flood Manual
printable version of this recipe

1 cup sifted whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 ¼ cups milk
¼ cup oil

Sift dry ingredients together. Add egg yolks and milk gradually, beating on low speed. Add oil. Batter will be very thin. Beat hard for 2 minutes. Fold in beaten egg whites. Bake in preheated waffle iron.

Orzo with Peas and Parmesan

What it the world is orzo? It’s the word for “barley” In Italian, a language that is foreign to me, but delightsome and fascinating nevertheless. Grains of orzo resemble grains of rice but they are in fact pasta, making this quick side dish Italian in only one way: orzo is the main ingredient.  It's tasty nevertheless.

Orzo with Peas and Parmesan
recipe from For the Love of Cooking
printable version of this recipe

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 green onion, diced
8 button mushrooms, chopped
1 clove crushed garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup frozen peas, heated
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan (fresh Parmesan melts and tastes so much better)
Scant handful chopped parsley
1 cup orzo

Cook according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a medium skillet. When the oil is hot, add green onion and mushrooms and cook through. Add garlic and cook for about one minute, stirring frequently. Remove pan from heat and add salt and pepper.

When pasta is cooked, drain and return it to the pan. Stir in the mushroom mixture, peas, Parmesan and parsley; taste and season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Cookie Dough Brownies

At Christmas a few years ago my sister-in-law, Heather, received a data CD of family recipes from her mother. Heather was kind enough to install the files on my hard drive so I could also have a copy of their beloved recipes.

These decadent brownies are from their family collection, and they are every bit as good as their title sounds—delicious chewy brownies topped with creamy cookie dough and decadent chocolate glaze.  They are really, really good.  I didn't have walnuts when I made them this time, hence the brownies sans walnuts in the rather blurry photo above. 

Cookie Dough Brownies
recipe from Heather
printable version of this recipe

Brownies:
2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup cocoa
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts, divided

Cookie Dough Filling:
½ cup butter
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour

Glaze:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon shortening

Directions:
Coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, and salt. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in ½ cup walnuts. Spread mixture into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes; cool completely.

For cookie dough filling, blend butter and sugars in mixing bowl until creamy. Add milk, vanilla and flour; mix well. Spread over cooled brownies; refrigerate until firm.

For glaze, melt 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon shortening in a saucepan, stirring until smooth. Spread over filling. Immediately sprinkle with remaining ½ cup of walnuts; press down on them lightly. Return brownies to refrigerator and allow glaze to set up completely. Cut into 2 inch squares and serve. Enjoy!

Strawberry Salad Dressing

Strawberry Salad Dressing
½ pound strawberries
½ cup sugar
½ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup canola oil

Puree the remaining ½ pound of strawberries with the sugar, red wine vinegar and canola oil in a blender. Keep left over dressing in a container fitted with a tight lid for up to 2 weeks.

Salad with Pecans, Apples, Strawberries and Strawberry Dressing

One of my dear friends introduced me to this salad last summer. It’s something she and her mother came up with and it is really tasty. I made it all summer long and have made it a few times already this year. You can adjust all the ingredients to your liking. For the dressing, if you like more strawberries and less sugar, start without sugar and taste and add sugar as you go. Same goes for vinegar. It’s really easy to experiment and make it to your liking. The salad is easy, pretty, and really good. Add grilled chicken breasts to make it a meal.


Salad with Pecans, Apples, Strawberries and Strawberry Dressing
printable version of this recipe

Salad
½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped
½ pound strawberries, chopped (I had raspberries on hand so I used them instead)
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 apple, chopped

Dressing
½ pound strawberries
½ cup sugar
½ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup canola oil

Toast pecans in a 350 degree oven for 7-8 minutes. Allow pecans to cool, then chop them roughly on a cutting board; set aside. Wash strawberries, remove stems and chop half of them, reserving the rest for the dressing. Toss the chopped strawberries and torn lettuce together in a salad bowl.

Puree the remaining ½ pound of strawberries with the sugar, red wine vinegar and canola oil in a blender. Chop apple and coat all surfaces a few tablespoons of dressing to prevent it from browning. Add apples to salad bowl.

Add pecans to salad and drizzle with dressing just before serving. Keep left over dressing in a container fitted with a tight lid for up to 2 weeks.

Baked Oatmeal

My sister told me about a delicious way to serve oatmeal a few months back and I've made it at least once a week since.  While the recipe below is not the same my sister first told me about, it is similar and I'm convinced now that I cannot go back to the traditional stove top method of preparing oatmeal; something magic happens when it's baked.  My daughter and I loved this.  Regrettably, my husband did not, but he's not a huge fan of oatmeal.  I found the recipe on allrecipes.  Enjoy!

Baked Oatmeal
printable version of this recipe

3 cups oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
½ cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup dried cranberries

Coat a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, combine oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, egger, melted butter and vanilla extract. Add dried cranberries and stir. Spread mixture into baking dish and bake for 40 minutes. Serve with milk.

Lemon and Thyme Roasted Chicken

I made my first roasted chicken ever and for the most part I really liked it, but there was one thing I didn't like at all.  Touching a raw bird was gross, but then I had to reach into its wet chicken cavity to remove a bag of innards.  GROSS.  Next time I'll use gloves.  Once the chicken was in the oven, the bleach was out and I was scrubbing the kitchen. 

I’ll do it again. No, not because I am anxious to feel around a dead bird's insides, but because it turned out really tasty.  Once I was passed the giblet part it wasn't too bad.  Besides, I paid $1.47 per pound for a free-range organic chicken, which turned out to be $0.53 less per pound than I normally pay for chicken.  It made a big difference on my food budget. It also allowed me to make several meals with the left over meat.

Lemon and Thyme Roasted Chicken
printable version of this recipe

One 4-5 pound free-range organic chicken
2 lemons
Fresh thyme
2-3 cloves garlic
¼ cup chopped onion
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 300. Line the bottom of a roasting pan with foil to catch drippings; put the vented roasting tray on top of the foil lined pan. Remove chicken from packaging and remove giblets from chicken cavity. Rinse the chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Put the chicken on the roasting tray and squeeze fresh lemon juice over entire bird; put peels inside the cavity of the chicken. Remove thyme leaves from stems with a sharp paring knife and sprinkle them generously on top. Put left over stems inside the cavity of the chicken along with the garlic and onion. Sprinkle salt and pepper over top.

Roast uncovered for 3 ½ to 4 hours, or until meat thermometer registers at least 170. Baste with pan drippings every ½ hour after the first 2 hours of roasting. Stop basting 1 hour before removing from oven for crispy skin. Keep in mind slow and low cooking will make the meat moist and tender. Enjoy!

Fried Rice

What should I do with left over steamed rice? My mom freezes and uses it later meals, something I do as well. It’s a great way to avoid food waste and allows for quick rice preparation for a future dinner. Just reheat, fluff with a fork, and serve.  But I stumbled across a recipe that uses steamed rice that has to be prepared 24 hours before hand.  Wow.  A recipe for me and my frozen rice.  This couldn't be more perfect for me and my rice loving husband.

Okay, I was supposed to use steamed rice that had been cooked and refrigerated 24 hours before using it as an ingredient in fried rice, but I used my frozen variety instead.  No mushy rice.  In fact, it couldn't have turned out more perfectly.  It was delicious.

Fried Rice
recipe from “Blue Ginger,” by Ming Tsai
printable version of this recipe

3-4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1-2 tablespoons canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ginger, grated
1-2 green onions chopped—divide white from green
4 cups cold rice—made at least 24 hours ahead of time and chilled
2-3 eggs
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce, to taste
½ teaspoon white pepper

Cook bacon until crisp in a large skillet; drain on paper towels and crumble.

Remove all but 1-2 teaspoons bacon grease from skillet; add canola oil to the skillet. Return skillet to medium heat and sauté garlic, ginger, and white pieces of onion. Add rice, bacon, green pieces of onion, soy sauce and pepper; mix well.

Coat a separate skillet with non-stick cooking spray and cook scrambled eggs. Add cooked egg to rice. Taste and re-season with pepper or soy sauce as needed. Garnish with chopped green onion stems.

Sour Cream and Brown Sugar Dipped Strawberries

I bought my first container of strawberries last week and ate most of them myself. I guess I was making up for lost time during the long wintry months of fresh strawberry bareness. I'm so happy they are back in season and within reasonable purchase price.

Strawberries dipped in sour cream and brown sugar may sound a bit strange, but trust me; they're really easy and really good.

Sour Cream & Brown Sugar Strawberries

strawberries, wash and pat dry
sour cream
brown sugar

Wash strawberries and pat dry. Do not remove stems—they look pretty and it makes dipping easier.  Roll strawberries in sour cream, making a thin sour cream coating on each berry then roll in brown sugar.