Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Summer Slaw

Summer Slaw

6 cups shredded cabbage
1 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 large red delicious apple, cored and chopped
¾ cup raisins
2 Tbsp lemon juice
½ cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans*
6 oz container vanilla yogurt


Toast pecans (*optional) by heating a cast iron skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes, lightly spray pecans with vegetable oil.  Place in skillet and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon allspice.  Stir or shake skillet every minute for five minutes.  Remove from pan and let cool completely.

Place cabbage, carrots, apples and raisins in large bowl; sprinkle with lemon juice and mix well.

Stir in yogurt to combine and sprinkle with pecans.  Chill before serving.

This can be made with your favorite yogurt, not just vanilla.  Next time I’m going to try piña colada yogurt.



© Crackerberries 2013

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Asparagus Omelet

Fresh Asparagus Omelet



3 large brown eggs, beaten
1 medium green pepper
6-8 fresh picked asparagus spears
½ tsp celery salt
¼ tsp fresh ground pepper
¾ cup shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese
1 medium onion, diced
1 Tbsp bacon bits

Heat non-stick fry pan to over medium high heat. Dice the green pepper and combine with onion and celery salt. Cook over medium heat just until crisp tender (about 2 minutes).  Add asparagus and sauté a few minutes longer.

Remove from pan, set aside; wipe the pan clean with paper towel. Spray with non cooking oil and heat over medium high heat. Add fresh ground pepper to egg mixture and pour into pan. Using spatula, pull egg mixture carefully toward you to let uncooked portion drain off cooked portion. Once you have all of the egg cooked, layer ½ cup cheese, onion, green pepper and asparagus mixture onto the highest side of the egg mixture.  Sprinkle with bacon bits and top with more cheese. Carefully fold the egg over with spatula and let stand five minutes before serving.

Serves 2

© Crackerberries 2013

Monday, May 20, 2013

Bo-Bo Cake

BO-BO Cake
Crackerberries version of chocolate-strawberry shortcake



1 quart fresh or frozen strawberries
1 recipe chocolate fudge brownies
1 recipe meringue topping

In large glass bowl crumble half of the brownies into the bottom of the pan.  Layer with half of strawberries, and half of the meringue; repeat.  Save a few strawberries to got on top of the meringue.

A store bought brownie mix can be used, but a homemade version is below.  If using fresh strawberries wash, cut and sprinkle with a tsp of sugar and let stand in fridge for an hour or two before using.  The juice from the strawberries pour over the crumbled brownies makes the dessert moist and tasty.


Brownies:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1½ tsp vanilla
Preheat oven 350°. Grease 13x9x2 inch pan.
In medium bowl mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In sauce pan combine butter, cocoa and 1 cup water.  Bring mixture just to boiling, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and add to flour mixture, while beating with electric mixer on medium to high speed until thoroughly combined.  Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and mix for one minute (batter will be thin).  Pour into prepared pan and bake 25 minutes or until toothpick stuck in middle comes out clean.  Let cool completely.


Meringue:
2 egg whites
½ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp cream of tartar
6 tbsp sugar

Let egg whites sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.  In large mixing bowl combine egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar.  Beat with electric mixer until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes.  Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high until stiff peaks form, about 5-6 minutes.

© Crackerberries 2013

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Cheesy Tata Bites

Cheesy Tata Bites



 

3-5 medium size red potatoes
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tbsp bacon bits
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sea salt
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven 400°

Wash and slice potatoes to ¼ inch thick rounds. 

Combine parmesan and cheddar cheeses together and season with salt and pepper.

Grease cookie sheet with olive oil and place tata rounds on cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with one teaspoon sea salt.

Bake 20 minutes and flip rounds; season with one teaspoon sea salt.

Bake 15 minutes; remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese mixture.  Top with bacon bits and pepper and bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese bubbles.


© Crackerberries 2013

Monday, April 29, 2013

Breakfast Taco Bowls


Breakfast Taco Bowls
4 eggs
2 flour tortillas
½ onion, chopped
½ green pepper, chopped
2 oz Jimmy Dean bulk sausage
1 cup shredded cheese, preferably cheddar but mozzarella works too
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 tbsp bacon bits
Texas Pete

Preheat oven 400°
Place flour tortillas in baking dishes.

Cook sausage in skillet with onions and green peppers until no longer pink and onions and peppers are tender.

Place ¼ cup of cheese in bottom of each tortilla.  Divide the sausage mixture between the two bowls. Pour eggs over top and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon bits.  Bake in preheated oven for 10-13 minutes until eggs are set. 

Serve with fresh fruit or hot sauce.


© Crackerberries 2013


Friday, March 29, 2013

Ground Beef Pea Wiggle

Beefy Pea Wiggle

When you need to use up leftovers in the fridge and cupboard, sometimes when you mix them all together, they turn out pretty good.

¾ lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1¾ cup chicken broth
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 pkg onion soup mix
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
¼ cup parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
2½ cups egg noodles

Preheat oven 375°
In medium skillet heat oil and cook garlic just until aromatic; add onions and cook for 3-5 minutes.  Add ground beef and cook and scramble until no longer pink.
Under-cook noodles by two minutes according to package instructions; drain in strainer and set aside.  Add chicken broth and onion soup mix to pan and heat just to boiling; add cream of mushroom soup and stir until well blended.
Add beef mixture, noodles, corn and peas to soup mixture and combine.  Pour into greased baking dish.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and Swiss cheese.  Bake 375° 35-40 minutes until bubble and cheese is slightly browned.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
© Crackerberries 2013

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Fried Chicken Spicy Slaw

Fried Chicken on a Bun

 

Slaw and Sauce

2 garlic clove, finely grated
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1 tablespoon Texas Pete hot pepper sauce
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
2 Chile peppers, thinly sliced
4 cups thinly sliced cabbage
1/2 cup Mustard Pickles slices, plus 1/4 cup pickle juice

Chicken

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 chicken legs and thigh pieces, skinned and de-boned
Vegetable oil (for frying)
4 crusty/bulky rolls
Unsalted butter, room temperature

Spicy Mayo Cole Slaw

Mix garlic, Miracle Whip, and hot pepper sauce in a small bowl; cover and chill. Toss onion, jalapeño, cabbage, pickles, and pickle juice in a large bowl to combine; cover and chill.

Fried Chicken and Assembly

Combine flour, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoons salt in a shallow bowl. Pour buttermilk into another shallow bowl. Work with 1 piece at a time, dredge chicken in flour mixture, shaking off excess. Dip in buttermilk, allowing excess to drip back into bowl. Dredge again in flour mixture, shaking off excess. Place on wire rack until ready to cook.  This prevents pieces sticking together.

Pour oil into a large cast iron skillet to a depth of 1/2-inch and heat until hot (approximately 350°).

Fry chicken until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a wire rack, season with salt if desired.

Spread cut sides of rolls with butter. Cook rolls buttered side down on hot grill until browned and crisp, about 2-3 minutes. Spread with spicy mayo. Build sandwiches with rolls, chicken, and cabbage slaw.


I borrowed this recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine and made a few changes to accommodate what I cook with.  If you want to see the real recipe click here


© Crackerberries 2013


Friday, March 22, 2013

MEATLOAF

Mini-Muffin Meatloaf
 The Queen of Comfort food  

I found this recipe in a supplement of the local newspaper and wanted to try it.  I’m not plagiarizing really, because I changed the recipe a little bit to accommodate our taste buds.  But this is way better than Annie Wilkes Spam Meatloaf!!


¼ lb Jimmy Dean regular sausage
1¼ lb lean ground beef
2 eggs
1-2 slices oatmeal bread (preferably the end pieces) crumbled
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp chili powder
2 tbsp ketchup
1 med onion, chopped
1 med green pepper, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven 375°

Heat butter and oil in small skillet until butter is melted, add garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add onions and green peppers and sauté about 5 minutes, just until onions are translucent.  Remove from heat.

In large bowl combine beef, sausage, bread, eggs, ketchup, chili power, Italian seasoning and pepper.  Mix well and add cooled onion mixture.  Grease muffin tin.  Divide meat into equal portions in 12 count muffin tin.  Pack meat in tightly.

Bake at 375° for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before removing from tins.

Creamy Soy Sauce
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp corn starch mixed with 1 tbsp water

In medium sauce pan heat cream and soy sauce until just starting to bubble; stir in corn starch mixture and stir constantly until thickened to gravy consistency.  Spoon over mini meatloaves and serve with favorite side dish.    


© Crackerberries 2013

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Corn Custard

Corn Custard

I love corn and Tall Cool One doesn't care for it all that much, so I'm always looking for new ways to have it for din-din.  This is an excellent side dish that goes good with chicken... yum yum.  Hope you like it. 




6 oz cream cheese
15 oz can cream corn
1 cup frozen corn
½ cup corn meal
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped hot peppers
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 tbsp butter
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°
Grease 1 quart baking dish
Melt butter in medium skillet and cook onions and peppers in butter until tender.  Add frozen corn just to heat. 

Beat egg in medium mixing bowl and add cream cheese and mix to combine.  Add milk, corn meal and cream corn and blend well.  Stir in onion mixture.  Pour into grease baking dish and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.  Bake at 350° for 50 minutes.  Let stand ten minutes before serving.


© Crackerberries 2013

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake

¾ cup butter flavored Crisco
1½ tbsp water
4 eggs
2 cups flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1½ cups milk  

Preheat oven to 350°

Grease and flour 13x9x2 inch baking pan

Combine all dry ingredients except sugar in one bowl.

In large bowl cream Crisco and sugar together.  Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition.  Add vanilla.

Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk until all combined.  Beat medium high for two minutes.

Spread into 13x9x2 inch baking pan and bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from pan to cool completely. 

Frost with peanut butter frosting and decorate if desired.

Peanut Butter Frosting

2 cups Confectioner’s sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 tbsp unsalted butter

Cream together until spreading consistency and spread over cooled cake.


© Crackerberries 2013

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Cranberry Apple Coffee Cake

Cranberry Apple Coffee Cake

CAKE
3 cups flour
3 cups apples, peeled chopped
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar

TOPPING
½ cup butter, melted
¼ cup sugar
1 tbsp dark corn syrup
1½ tsp vanilla

Preheat oven 350°

Grease and flour Bundt pan.

Combine flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in large bowl.  Combine eggs and oil together and add to dry ingredients.  Blend well.  Batter will be stiff.  Fold in apples and cranberries gently.  Spoon into Bundt pan and bake 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Mix topping ingredients together and pour over hot cake when it comes out of the oven.  Let cool 30 minutes and remove from pan.  Let cool completely and dust with powdered sugar if desired.

© Crackerberries 2013

Friday, March 1, 2013

Conclusion


Part 5 – Conclusion

The incidents I’ve written about this week have become part of our every day life.  These kinds of things are normal in the society we live in.  Do we choose to accept this as normal, become complacent and accept that the world is what it is?  I remember a time in my life that I would have handled each of these incidents in a much different way than I did.

è    The boy in the parking lot who chose to take his penis out in a public area to pee should have been confronted.  My husband would have confronted him, but we discussed it briefly and after weighing the pros and cons, decided it would be better to not engage the situation.  He could have had a gun in the SUV, we didn’t know if he was psycho or just plain disrespectful.  These are things to think about before any type of response to a situation is made.

è    The kissing girls were not worth the effort it would have taken to confront them.  People that don’t have enough respect for themselves are not going to respect anyone criticizing them, constructively or not.  Unfortunately there are too many of these types of people in the world and you just have to decide how you want to deal with their ignorance.

è    The deceitful meat is one issue I am having a hard time accepting.  Trickery by supermarkets to consumers has probably been going on for a long time.  It seems like now we are being made more aware of it.  It will get worse based on supply and demand.  The container size shrinks while the price stays the same or goes up.  Some super centers are changing packaging to increase sales.  My thought is they are covering up the poorly made product to make the consumer think they are buying a new improved product.

è    The self-check-out is the luck of the draw.  Do not put your faith in technology and computers.  They were created by humans and humans are not flawless. 

I believe in absolutes.  I believe there is a right way and there is a wrong way.  I believe people have been lead astray for so long that they don’t know the difference between what is right and what they think is right.  I believe too many people have grown weary and tired of fighting the good fight.  They lay down and are complacent to let things be the way they are instead of standing up for what is right.  There are absolute truths and absolute rights just like there are absolute lies and absolute wrongs.  If we don’t take a stand for them, what good are they?

The society and the world are ever changing.  Rules change, regulations change, people change, for the good as well as for the bad.  One thing that never changes is God.  He is the same today as He was yesterday and He will be the same tomorrow. Take a stand and do what is right.  Everyone has the knowledge.  Don’t ignore it when it speaks.

Repent!  For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!  Matthew 3:2.  We need to change our attitude and our outlook on the way we look at things.  Reversing our thinking is life changing.  Instead of reacting to bad circumstances, we need to take a minute, look at the situation and respond in a way that helpful, not only to us, but perhaps to the other party.  Just remember, the ignorant are ignorant of their ignorance.   


© Crackerberries 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Self-Check-Out


Part 4

We try to consolidate and only do grocery shopping twice a month to save money by not purchasing more than we need.  We go to the super center where we can expediently obtain everything we need in one convenient stop.  This is a story about our last adventure of shopping.  We had a long list of items so we used the rest rooms before we got started.  Both the men and the women’s rest rooms needed serious attention.  This was early in the day on a Saturday morning. 

It took us over an hour to locate everything we needed.  A lot of this had to do with the fact that a lot of the shelves were not stocked (confectioner’s sugar, razor blades, mozzarella cheese, to list a few) and we had to ask or wait for someone to bring them out from the warehouse.  I consider this a bit unusual for mid-morning on a Saturday. 

As we made our way to the check out lines, we saw that there were five out of twenty registers opened.  We proceeded to one of the self-check-out registers.  I prefer to bag my own groceries, so it worked out well.  We spent another forty-five minutes or so, scanning, waiting for the attendant to push buttons when the computer voice instructed us to “please place item in the bagging area,” and bagging and loading the groceries back into the cart. 

We had four items left which were price match items.  This meant the attendant was needed.  We pushed the call button and a few minutes later a young woman came to assist us.  The first two items were carrots and cucumbers and she did the price override and put them in the bag.  The next item was sweet potatoes.  When she put them on the scale something malfunctioned.  She pounded the buttons and then put her hands on the scale and rested with her head down, for several minutes. 

We weren’t sure if she was having a nervous breakdown or just crying.  Finally I asked her what the problem was.  She began to push buttons again and said something inaudible and again with her head down, and hands resting on the scale, not talking, not doing anything for several minutes.  She did this one more time before a patron in need of assistance with her self-check-out came over and asked for her help.  As the cashier went to assist the other patron, she screamed, “Bobby!” right in front of us to help.

Ten minutes passed and finally “Bobby" A.K.A. Jerry Garcia, the store manager showed up.  Okay, it really wasn’t Jerry, but he had a long, gray braid and I could have sworn he was wearing a tie-dye tee shirt.  He started pounding on the buttons and plugged some gadget into the scanner.  After pressing buttons for a couple of minutes, he told the cashier she would have to re-scan everything.  He never spoke to us once.  We had been in the store for two hours and fifteen minutes at this point.  She called us over to a little quick check out and says, “Pass me the stuff and I’ll scan it.”

Excuse me, but you’ve got to be joking?  Pass you the stuff?  Are you serious?

Apparently they couldn’t override the computer to get the items we had already scanned into the system to go over to her register.  It was as if we were starting over with our check out as they all needed to be rescanned in order for us to check out.  Instead of going to a regular register and putting the groceries on a belt and scanning them in a neat and orderly fashion, we stood at this little quick check out passing one item at a time out of the bags to the cashier to scan and repacking into the bags.  We had 107 items. 

While she was scanning the items there was a young man standing their conversing with her and making comments about the items we were purchasing the whole time.  At the end, there was no apology for the inconvenience.   It was quite the adventure.


© Crackerberries 2013