Down Mulberry Lane

Tried another new recipe...

Sweet Potato Quesadillas.   I got the recipe from Angela and I thought they were really good.  A bit spicy, but not too bad.  I actually reduced the spices a bit and was fine with the taste.  I just know I couldn't have done all that chili powder!  LOL.  But, they were good, I really liked them.  (We substituted cheesey sauce for cheese).

However... I had two daughters try them... and one spit it out.  I had another two refuse to try them.  My husband said they were good, but would have like them with real cheese (I used a cashew sauce).  I didn't see anything wrong with them and we eat fried sweet potato slices all the time... ???  I served them with our homemade tacos and everyone LOVES those homemade corn tortillas and perhaps it was just too much food. 

I asked if they would eat them just as a meal and eyebrows raised.  I don't get it because this was actually quite good and I saw nothing wrong with it at all.  I get the feeling sometimes that they are ganging up to veto foods so that I will just give up. 

A funny, we're out of the colby-jack cheese that they love and use on everything.  We ran out last week and I had already said that we wouldn't buy more food until payday.  I can make a cheesey sauce and I wasn't that worried... they eat it at potlucks at church, so I figured we'd be fine.  But they got some pizza cheese... mozzarella/provolone/ and cheddar cheese mix that they put onto their tacos... (it was in the freezer).  I figured they have got to be desperate... , but not desperate enough to give into eating more healthy. *sigh*

I really don't think they are out to veto things, but they are holding my trials up to a higher standard, meaning it needs to taste as good as Thanksgiving dinner, in order to join the menu.  Seems a bit unfair and I believe they are missing out on some good food by being so particular.   I'm going to have to just make my own recipe file for me... what I like, because it's beginning to look after 2 months that I will be dining alone.  : (   I just hope my attitude about doing so doesn't bring me down.  I feel so much better not eating dairy... I'm less sore, less tired, I have clearer thinking... and less grumpy days.  Plus my health will be much better as well... heart disease is a huge factor in each side of my family and I just don't want to be another statistic. 

I have to remind myself daily that this IS worth it!  

Warmly, ~Melissa 

Sour Cream Patties... Dairy Free.

This weekend, I tried making Sour Cream Patties, but without dairy.  Beings dairy is a main theme of this recipe, I was hoping it would turn out.   It was fine.  My daughters said it was just like the regular version... my only change was that I used tofu sour cream in place of the dairy version. 

Sour Cream Patties:

Patty:

One can of vegetarian burger, 4-5 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 2 packets of george washington's broth (just the powder)... a chicken or beef flavored seasoning is a good substitute for this, and a 1/2 teaspoon of sage.

Mix together and fry in a non-stick skillet... no oil necessary if you let the pan heat up first.

Sauce:

2 cups of sour cream, 2 cups of a seasoned broth (I've done both vegetarian chicken or beef... both are good), mix together.  One small can of mushrooms/drained, and one onion sliced into rings.

Layer patties, mushrooms and onions in a pan... can use a 9 by 13 or layer in a 3 quart crockpot.  Pour sauce over it.  Let the crockpot cook on low for about 4 hours.  OR bake at 350 F for 45 minutes until bubbly and onions are soft. 

This is one recipe my husband enjoys and me going dairy free was killing him because the only vegetarian dishes he likes contain dairy.  *grin*  My girls said Dad won't even notice a difference.   He didn't get to try them...since he was at work and they were gone before he had a chance to try them. 

One more recipe to add to the approved list.  At least I have a nice meal for special occasions that I can count on.  This recipe is a bit pricey and I tend to double it and put it into my 5 qt. crockpot when I do make it.  Left-overs are still just as great! 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Today's meals...

We had an odd assortment of meals.  Sundays tend to do that around here. 

Breakfast:  oatmeal and ww toast.

Lunch:  Submarine Sandwiches.  Everyone had turkey subs, but me... I had roasted vegetables with cashew cheese sauce on my sandwich... delightful!  Dh had roasted veggies with his sandwich as well. 

Supper:  Multigrain waffles and (some had eggs). 

Extras:  I hear them talking about banana shakes since we have over a dozen spotted bananas downstairs.  Paige and I are hidden upstairs, so we will stay out of the late evening sweet treats. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Breakfast!... homemade powdered sugar!

I made cinnamon roll dough in the bread machine last night.  As I was putting the rolls aside to rise, I began to make the frosting and discovered I had not a DROP of powdered sugar in the house.  Town is 20 minutes away and really not worth the drive, so we were trying to figure out if we could make our own.  And we discovered we could!  

First, I tried white sugar and I was thinking blender, but my daughter suggested the coffee grinder.  So we pulled out the coffee grinder and added about a 1/4 cup of sugar to it and started grinding.  Soon I had some nice fine puffy white sugar.  I ground about 3/4 cup and got a little over a cup of powdered sugar. 

I then tried cane sugar.  (AND got my camera out).  Below are pics of the cane sugar and the ground cane sugar.

My husband was wondering why in the world I was taking pictures of sugar.  I told him I was going to blog about it.  He laughed and said... you're going to blog about making breakfast??  I asked him if he knew how to make powdered sugar and he said... ummmm.... "beat it to death?"   I laughed and said... well, that's why I'm going to blog about it... maybe someone else might run out of powdered sugar and wonder what to do next...!

Here are the two frostings I made with our home ground powdered sugar.  The brown one is from using the cane sugar.  I also had soy cream cheese in that one, which is why I had TWO frostings.  The other frosting is white sugar ground and was nice and fluffy.  I didn't  add quite enough sugar to the soy icing, but I was satisfied for myself and I knew it would melt into the rolls anyways, so I didn't bother making it quite as fluffy.  The color difference is soley from the difference in sugars, though, as I've made the soy icing with white sugar and it looks just the same as the one on the right. 

As for the rest of breakfast, we had our own style of Perkins skillet bowls on the side.  Layer in a bowl, hash brown potatoes (or those flat tater rounds), top with scrambled eggs, sausage of some sort if you prefer (dh uses beef sausage or lamb sausage... I go without), then top with a cheese sauce.  (Melting velveta with a tad of milk in a double boiler works great... however, I used a cashew alfredo sauce for my cheese sauce and found it quite tasty).  Todays doubles... cheese sauces and icings. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Ginger Cookies

I thought I would share the pic of our ginger cookies.  They are nice cookies.  The family is enjoying them.  They are flatter than I expected, but they are staying soft, with a crisp edge.  We have a small melon ball sized ice cream scoop that we make cookies with and these are a rounded scoop and they ended up over 2 inches across.  The recipe was for large cookies, to make 24.  I made 30 and I still think they are quite large.  This box is about a 9 by 9 box that they are sitting in. 

I got the recipe from ALLRECIPES.  They are called Big Soft Ginger Cookies and were submitted by Amy1028.  Just in case you want to look up the recipe yourself! 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Tonight's Supper Table

Tonight we had chili and cornbread for supper.  I don't know why, but I really dislike chili the "first day".  The flavor is much better after it sits in the fridge a day. 

I tried a new recipe.  Dh's is as always, but I tried a new vegetarian chili.  It had rave reviews, but the flavorings are not to my liking at the moment.  I will try it again tomorrow and see if I like it better.  It is quite spicy, like Dh's favorite chili, and it had alot of oregano so tonight it tasted like chili with a jar of spaghetti sauce in it.  Weird is all I can say.  LOL. 

I also made two batches of cornbread.  One with soy milk and one with almond milk.  I actually liked the almond milk version better.  It was moister for some reason.  I had actually used the soymilk and forgot about my little one, so I had to whip up a second batch for her as well. 

Supper filled us up, but it wasn't our favorite.  My daughter suggested next time I make chili to let it sit in the fridge a day and THEN serve it the next day... for the first round.  Maybe next time I will.  *grin*

Warmly, ~Melissa

Picking Berries...

I am having Chelsea read through some readers to try and improve her fluency with reading.  Today's story was about picking berries.  It was a nice warm story of one family picking blueberries. 

This afternoon, I was working in the garden and got what onions I could find out.  We also got some tomatoes and then I remembered that Dh showed me last night that the elderberries were ripe. 

I called Megan and Chelsea and asked them to come help me.  I grabbed three buckets and out we went to collect some elderberries.  We have a small patch that is quite easy to get to.  A second batch cropped up this year in a pile of brush.  In trying to reach the elderberries, I had to climb onto crackling logs and branches which were buckling under my weight, but thankfully did not come crashing down.  The girls enjoyed my gymnastics and had a good time out there together picking berries... just like in our story.  Chelsea even commented on us picking berries... hope we don't find any bears... just like in her story earlier.  She is 16yo, and was poking fun, but it was a smiley fun and she didn't mind picking berries at all. 

I have spent some time pulling berries off their stems, but I needed a break, so thought I would let you all know what I will be doing the rest of the evening!  My fingers are already purple and I smell of berries.  My hope is to get enough berries to make a batch of elderberry jelly and a batch of elderberry muffins.  We will see what we come up with. 

Well, I guess I had better get back to plucking berries into the bowl.

Warmly, ~Melissa

Pepper Jelly...

Yesterday I made 14 jars of pepper jelly.  A friend had asked if I would make some for them at the beginning of this summer.  I've been thinking about it for quite some time, waiting for the peppers to ripen... and finally I had enough to make some.  I was really glad to get that job done. 

I will be making some raspberry pepper jelly as soon as I get to the store or Farmer's Market for some jalapeno's.  Dh requested that jelly.  My jalapenos didn't come up in the garden, so I'll need to purchase those. 

Nice to get something into the pantry for a change! 

Warmly,  ~Melissa

Wednesday's Kitchen

Breakfast:  Waffles (with syrup or peanut butter and applesauce)

Lunch:  Assortment... Steve had leftover cavatinni, The girls had  turkey sandwiches, and I had lightly fried zucchini, yellow summer squash and onions with a bit of leftover spaghetti

Supper:  Rice, chicken and CORN ON THE COB (again! LOL)

Harvest/Freezer:  20 Quart bags of corn, 4 gallon sized bags of corn on the cob.

Warmly, ~Melissa

Tuesday's Kitchen...

Breakfast:  Waffles (either with syrup or peanut butter with applesauce on top)

Lunch/Supper:  Spaghetti and Sauce, with a green salad and french bread

Baking:  French Bread, made 3 small loaves, one for us and one for Dh and one for DH's leftovers

Warmly, ~Melissa