Beef For Dinner? Yep, In My House!

Thanks once again to my mother-in-law for the magazine subscription or else I would not have stumbled upon this simple beef stir-fry that has become a monthly staple in my house!  About a year after my hubby & I were married, he asked me sweetly "do you think you could make red meat once in a while?"  I have never liked the taste of beef, but in order to score some points in the wifey book and make something I could stomach I went on the hunt!  I substitute Trader Joe's brand instant chicken broth packets.  Since I use chicken more than beef anyway I figured it wouldn't make a huge difference.  We didn't notice a change in the taste, and now I don't have to waste a can or box of broth.  I just use the full cup of the broth packet mixed with water.  The trick is to mix the cornstarch with all the other ingredients before adding it to the broth or it will get all clumpy & gross.

I also made a cold cucumber "salad" with thinly sliced cucumbers using my mandoline, a little soy sauce and some rice vinegar.  I tossed it all in a bowl together and stuck it in the fridge when I put the meat in to marinate.  That way it was chilled by the time we ate.  It was a nice addition to the meal!

Apples in My Muffins!

I received a new cookbook for Christmas!  I found a recipe that I had most of the ingredients for, and it had apples so I had to try it!  Instead of running to the store, I just improvised!


2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. raw sugar
2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
2  eggs
1/2 c. oil
4 medium apples, peeled, cored & chopped (I used Galas)
1/2 c. pecans
1/2 c. dried cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Grease that muffin tin!
2. Mix flour, sugar, powder, soda, and cinnamon (in your mixer, YES, I finally used mine again).
3. Separately, in a medium bowl, mix eggs, oil, apples, pecans, and dried cranberries.
4. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and set that mixer on slow speed, and make sure to scrape the sides & bottom of the bowl.
5. Spoon the mix into muffin cups until it just reaches the top.  Use less if you don't want that nice "muffin top" experience.
6. Bake for 20 minutes and cool muffins on cooling rack.

These are not very visually appealing when they come out of the oven, but I had friends over the morning that I baked them, and they pretty much devoured them!

A Whole Chicken, It's What's For Dinner!

I know I've mentioned before that my mixer is one of the appliances I fear in my kitchen, but my Crock-Pot is a very close second!  Since I'm apparently into facing my fears these days, I looked up a chicken recipe to try out in the ol' slow cooker (I have a feeling that I will become a frequent reader of this Crock-Pot blog).

My mom used to cook up whole chickens when I was young, and they were on sale for 77¢ per pound during my last shopping trip, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  Ooh, giblets for gravy!  Chicken gravy did not turn as tasty as turkey gravy, but it worked.  I also made a salad consisting of baby spinach, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, celery, goat cheese, and ranch dressing.  I sliced up some potatoes with the slicer that my grandma gave us for Christmas, and boiled them up to make mashed potatoes for the gravy.

It was a pretty yummy meal, and pretty inexpensive too.  I have leftover chicken for sandwiches now since a five pound bird is a little much for two people!

Refreshing Cucumber, How I Love You So!

It's that time of year again when I start acting like a health conscious food critic.  You know the type, I put away the chocolate cake recipes (somewhere not too secret so that I can find them again in about a week), and I start looking for those healthy alternatives for my residual holiday cravings!

This may not be the healthiest item on the menu, but it got me to eat carrots.  I got the idea for this cucumber dip from a magazine, and I don't remember which one!

Ingredients:
1/2 Cucumber, peeled
1 package (8 ounces) Neufchatel Cheese (or cream cheese if you don't want the "lite" version)
1/4 onion, grated using the small holes of the grater
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. In my "special blender" I stuck the cucumber in & pulsed it to a puree.
2. I poured the cucumber puree into a fine mesh strainer and got as much liquid out as possible.  (I reserved the liquid for something else, you'll see).
3. I put the cucumber puree, cheese, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper into the blender & spun it until it was all creamy & dip-like.

Pretty simple, huh?  It tastes great with carrots, and I'm not a huge carrot fan.  I used the leftover liquid to make a tasty cucumber-lemon-water.  I juiced one lemon, and poured the lemon juice and cucumber liquid into a two-liter pitcher.  I added ice and filled the pitcher with water.  It's a little tart, but very refreshing!

Unbaked #5 - Sewing! Aprons for Sisters

I have a super cute apron that I got as a wedding gift, and last year for Christmas I used it as a pattern to make a similar one for my sister.  This year I made another one for my new sister-in-law (pictured above)!

What I used:
1 yard of fabric
1 package of bias tape (3 yards)
1 spool of matching thread

What I did:

1. I ironed my new fabric.
2. I laid my apron over the new fabric.
3. I pinned my apron to the new fabric to keep it from shifting.
4. I cut around my apron (avoiding the straps on my apron so as not to cut them off).
5. I unpinned my apron.
6. I folded the new fabric in half to trim it up symmetrically.
7. I cut new straps from remaining fabric and sewed them into tubes, then turned them inside out.
8. I pinned the bias tape and straps onto the apron.
9. I sewed the whole thing together.

The pockets on my sister's from last year were very time consuming and confusing.  To be honest, I'm not a great seamstress!  I did not have the time or patience this year to try to get them onto my sister-in-law's apron.  I think it turned out pretty well without them, and my mother-in-law (my sewing teacher & only reason I currently have possession of a [her] sewing machine) said "who needs pockets on an apron?"  I agreed.

This is my sister's from last year...

My Favorite Chocolate Cake for 3 Occasions!

The picture does not do this cake justice (it always gets gobbled up before I can snap a good shot)!  I found this recipe in the September, 2008 edition of Gourmet Magazine and made it in December that year for my mother-in-law's birthday.  It was a risk for me because I'm a very visual person and there was not a corresponding picture when I found it toward the back of the mag.  Though, I could easily imagine the cake once I read over the recipe.  I've made it quite a few times in the last few years, and I made it for our New Year's Eve/friend's birthday/another friend's anniversary bash yesterday and it was a hit!  It's a very rich cake, and small pieces are advised with a dollop of whipped cream.  A word to the wise, there are 3 steps to making this cake and there is a waiting period between each step, so you might want to make the crust and the filling the day before, and then glaze it about an hour before you present it, but making it all the day of really tastes the best!  Enjoy...


The changes I made to accommodate my kitchen:


Buy one 11.5 ounce bag of Ghirardelli 60% cacao baking chips for the following - 


FOR THE FILLING -- change:  9 oz bittersweet chocolate (not more than 65% cacao if marked), chopped ---> 1 1/2 Cup Ghirardelli Chips


FOR THE GLAZE -- change: 1 3/4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped  --->  1/3 Cup Ghirardelli Chips


I also use a 9" springform pan and it works just fine!