Brown Rice Pudding

Phew! Apparently, I wasn't the only one getting sick of looking at whole wheat pasta! This post is gonna be a quickie, but keeps in the whole grain theme. I'm a huge fan of my rice pudding recipe. I make it as often as I dare. Not too long ago, while browsing through the selection of rice for sale in our commissary, I saw short grain brown rice. The grains are exactly the same shape as those Arborio/pearl type that I use for rice pudding, only whole grain! I was immediately intrigued. I wanted to see whether it made as good of rice pudding as the white grains.

Good news! It does! As you might imagine, the whole grain version has a bit more chewiness, which is actually quite pleasing in this dish. There's a slightly "fuller" flavor, and - overall - I was just as happy eating the whole grain version as I am the regular.

You make it virtually the same way, I just switched a little bit of the water and milk around and added a little more time to the first step. I simmered the brown rice in 3 cups of water for 40 minutes (instead of 2 cups for 20 minutes) and then only added 2 cups of milk to finish it off (versus the 3 cups in the original recipe). Otherwise, do everything else the same. Delicious!

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

It never ceases to amaze me how something so simple can end up being so hard. Snicker, snicker. At least, we hope that it ends up hard. There's nothing more frustrating to me than to go through the motions of hard boiling eggs and then crack one open and find it's still soft in the middle. Or how about the opposite problem? I've had that happen too. I'm not a big fan of eggs that are rubbery with yolks starting to green.

Previously, I always used this process: place eggs in cold water, place on stove, bring to a boil, boil for fifteen minutes, cool with ice water. Ninety-plus percent of the time, this technique worked great, but occasionally, I'd end up with overcooked eggs. In my attempts to correct this issue, I started trying myriad methods found online and in cookbooks. The attempts just went from bad to worse.

Fortunately, when doing my research on sous vide, I came across a graphic that showed the characteristics of eggs when cooked to various temperatures. This image, which I found in the massive tome, Modernist Cuisine, showed an ideal temperature of 176° F. So, here's the great thing about having this knowledge: if you keep the water at this temperature, you can never overcook your eggs! Every time, you can have perfect, hard boiled eggs.

Here's how: place your raw eggs into a pan and submerge with cool water. Place the pot on the stove and turn the heat on high. Rig a thermometer so that you can keep track of the water's temperature. Heat the water up to 176° and then adjust the burner to maintain that temperature. Cook the eggs for 20 minutes. Unless you are cooking extra-large eggs, they'll probably be done at 15 minutes, but you can cook them for 20 without any adverse affects as long as the temperatures stays at 176°. Cooking for a full 20 minutes insures they are cooked all the way through. Drain the hot water and fill the pan half with cold water and half with ice to chill the eggs.

By the way, if you are frustrated with hard to peel eggs, make sure you use eggs that have been around for a little bit. In fresh eggs, the shell can be very difficult to remove. I try to use eggs that have been in my refrigerator a couple weeks before hard boiling them. It sounds weird, but it makes all the difference in the world.

Pretzel Bites

photo from getoffyourbuttandbake blog

Oh wee!  So, so divine.  So, so good.  So, so easy since you just use Rhodes rolls.  I made both the cheddar dip and the cinnamon sugar ones.  Oh my goodness, so good!

PRETZEL BITES

Recipe from getoffyourbuttandbake.com

Texas size Rhodes Frozen roll dough

*as many as you like – each roll makes four bites

coarse salt, parmesan, garlic, cinnamon & sugar

Vanilla glaze (optional)

Take a thawed roll.  Cut it in four equal sections.  Place dough bites on greased sheets. I placed five across and five down on large baking sheets.  Cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, and let dough rise until double in size. (about 35-45 minutes) Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil.  When dough has risen, plop about 10 pieces into the boiling water, tossing gently for about 45 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon, and place bites on paper towels to drain slightly.  Move bites to greased baking sheets, and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until done and golden brown. 

Brush bites with melted butter, sprinkle with Kosher or Sea Salt, garlic and toss in Parmesan cheese.  You can also make Cinnamon and Sugar bites. Make a mixture of Cinnamon and sugar:  About 1 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, and mix together well. After you butter the pretzel bites, toss in cinnamon and sugar mixture.

You can serve the Parmesan Pretzel bites with a cheddar dip, and the Cinnamon and Sugar Pretzel bites with Vanilla glaze.  So yummy . . . so simple!

VANILLA GLAZE

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract.

Combine sugar, milk, butter and vanilla and mix well. 

CHEDDAR DIP

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 1/2  to 2 cups of grated Cheddar Cheese.

Melt the butter in a med. size saucepan over medium heat.  Add the flour and stir until blended, and

butter has turned lightly golden brown.  Slowly whisk in the milk and cook until thickened slightly.  Remove from heat and stir in the Cheddar Cheese until smooth and all of the cheese has melted.  Season with salt and pepper.  Shake a few red pepper flakes into sauce for added zing!

Easy Candied Pecans

Last year, I posted a recipe for candied nuts. They are delicious and beautiful. However, they are kind of a pain in the tuckus to make... relatively speaking, anyways. They're fine if you are making a dish of them to put out as appetizers or what not. What they're not so great for is that moment when you decide you're in the mood for a tasty salad with some candied pecans for crunch and you want them to basically prepare themselves while you put your salad together.

So, I came up with this little recipe. They are just as tasty as the original version, although they don't have quite as crunchy a kick. They aren't quite as pretty either, since they don't end up encased in beautiful sugar crystals. What they are is quick, easy, and delicious. I can put them on the stove when I start making my salad and they are typically done before I have finished putting the salad together.

The first step is to mix together a little brown sugar, kosher salt, and cinnamon. The proportions here are up to you. I usually mix together about two tablespoons of sugar, a dash of salt, and dash of cinnamon. I simply toss the three of them together with my fingers.

Throw your pecan pieces in a dry saute pan over medium to medium high heat. I store my nuts in the freezer, so it takes a few minutes for them to thaw out before they start toasting. Keep an eye on them and shake the pan periodically to move them about. When they start to brown and you can smell their toasty nuttiness, throw in some of the sugar. Don't go too crazy adding sugar; you don't want the nuts swimming in it. In the following picture you can get an idea of the proportions I use. Stir until all the sugar is melted and starting to brown a bit.

The last step is to pour the nuts out onto a sheet of parchment paper to cool. Some of the sugar will be left behind in the pan. Pull the nuts apart with a fork or other utensil, otherwise they'll all stick together as they cool. Give them about five minutes to cool and harden before serving.

Beef Jerky

I honestly just don't know what's wrong with me! Twenty something days since my last post... you know why? Because I just haven't felt like cooking. .:GASP:. Say it ain't so!! Really. I've done very little cooking since July came around. The few times I have put something together, it very often is something I have already posted. The good thing is that means what I have posted so far are things that I think are good enough to make over and over.

I'm not sure what is to blame for this lack of kitchen-ness, but I suspect it might have something to do with our recent attempts to tame the jungle in our back yard. Most days, I can only make it out there for 2-3 hours, lest I kill myself from heat stroke. I don't know what my problem is... I mean, it's only been 117 degrees with the heat index lately. Fortunately, the yard is really starting to look like something. Anyway. I'm really not sure what has caused my recent reluctance to cook, but I'm sure it will go away soon. It better!

One thing that I did make recently, mainly because I saw London broil on sale at the market, was beef jerky. Homemade jerky is really nice because you get to determine the seasonings and how much salt you want to use. While some salt is really required if you want your jerky to have any staying power at all, it doesn't have to make your tongue burn!

I think London broil is really a good choice for making jerky. There are other cuts you can use such as flank or skirt steak, but London broil is so easy to cut into nice strips and it isn't overly fatty. This is a good thing because too much fat means your jerky can turn rancid on you pretty quickly.

I slice mine about 3/8 of an inch thick. You can partially freeze the meat to facilitate cutting even strips, but I find as long as my knife is sharp, I can do a good job with thawed meat. Cut the meat across the grain, unless you really like to chew and chew... and chew.

Marinate the meat in a seasoning mixture. I like to use soy sauce as my base, but you could use teriyaki or even just use spices alone. You can experiment with spice blends, but my favorite is Chef Paul Prudhome's Meat Magic. It has a slight smokiness and blend of spices that I think is great in a jerky. Set the meat aside, covered, for about an hour.

Lay the strips out on the racks of a dehydrator leaving plenty of space between each slice. You can do this in an oven, but I find the results are less than spectacular. I think the reasons are two-fold: the lowest temperatures available in most ovens are not low enough and there isn't as much air flow.

If you don't already have a dehydrator and are in the market to get one, I strongly advise getting one that provides some temperature control. Depending on what you are dehydrating, you'll want to use different temperature settings. To dry meats, you want a temperature somewhere between 150 and 170 degrees, but most herbs want a more delicate temperature of less than 100 degrees.


Beef Jerky
Yield: approximately 3/4 lb of jerky

2 lbs London broil, trimmed of fat and sliced across the grain 3/8 inch thick
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 TBS Chef Paul Prudhome's Meat Magic seasoning blend (or any other you prefer)
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

Marinate meat strips in the soy sauce and seasoning, covered, at room temperature for one hour. Place, spaced out, in a single thickness on the trays of a dehydrator. Dry at approximately 165 degrees for 4-6 hours. The time it takes will vary depending on the meat and the climate. Be careful not to over dry or the meat will end up very hard to eat. When you take it out of the dehydrator it will be somewhat inflexible. Place in an airtight container immediately to store. Jerky will soften somewhat once cooled and be easier to eat than when fresh off the dehyrator tray.

Waffles

I love waffles, but I really don't love dragging the waffle iron out on a regular basis. Fortunately, I can get away with getting my waffle iron out once every couple of months and still enjoy waffles on a regular basis. Waffles are the perfect candidate for convenience freezing. Making your own freezer waffles allows you to have the convenience of the store-bought version without the nasty taste (sorry if you actually like them; I personally think they are a travesty).

When I do get around to making waffles, I simply make a big batch and then freeze all the left overs. Whenever I want a quick and easy breakfast (or snack, for that matter), I just pull out the toaster. Three minutes later, I am enjoying delicious, homemade waffles.

Just as a heads up... I don't know if you were aware, but traditional waffles are not waistline friendly, to put it mildly. The first time I looked at the nutritional profile of the waffle recipe I use (from Better Homes and Gardens), I was shocked. No, I was aghast. A single serving of waffles claimed over 700 calories!! I couldn't believe it. I was so disappointed and sad thinking that I might have to relegate waffles to the "only for special occasions" category.

I decided to fight back, though. After realizing that the majority of the calories must come from the cup of cooking oil, I wondered if all that oil was really necessary. Good news! It's not. I cut the oil down by half and still enjoy the results immensely and I'm sure that you will, too. Because there is so much milk in this recipe, it also makes a difference what type of milk you use. If you are watching your calories, you can use lowfat or even skim milk.

One of my biggest pet peeves with waffles is when they don't make complete waffles. Who wants three-quarters of a waffle? And then the syrup or honey always falls through the cracks. That's just no good at all.

It takes some figuring since you don't want the opposite problem of too much overflowing, but eventually you can figure out just the right amount of batter needed for your waffle iron. I also find it helps to not simply pour the batter into a big puddle in the middle of the iron. I pour mine in an "X" pattern and slightly smooth it before closing the lid. I still get a little overflow, but I prefer that to the incomplete waffle. You may not have this pet peeve, and - in that case - ignore this last paragraph of silliness.

After cooking the waffles, I let them cool on a rack. On the left in this picture, you can see the most recent, still intact waffle cooling. On the right of the rack are the stacks of already cooled waffles. After they are fully cooled (important if you don't want a bunch of condensation in your packaging), I place them in a bread bag. I can fit 12 to 13 per bag. I suck the excess air out and close them with a twist-tie.

This recipe makes about three bags worth. That's including the eating of 2-3 waffles on the day they're made. I just can't help myself! If you're going to go to the trouble of making waffles, you might as well enjoy some fresh.

A word of caution, place the bags into the freezer right away. If you leave them on the counter too long, they start to soften and smoosh, leaving you with an unsightly leaning tower of waffles.

When you are ready to use the frozen waffles, simply place them into the toaster still frozen. Just keep an eye on them! They reheat and crisp up very quickly.

Waffles
Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
Yield: about 3 dozen single waffles

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, and oil. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Do not over mix or your waffles will be tough. The batter will still be slightly lumpy.

Heat a waffle iron. Spray the surface with a little cooking spray. Cook the waffles in batches, cooling on a rack as they are finished. When the waffles are completely cooled, place in bread bags by the dozen. Suck out the excess air and close with twist-ties. Freeze immediately.

When ready to use, place frozen waffles directly into the toaster until they are lightly golden.

Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles

Did you miss me? All I have to say is: 38 more wake-ups and I'm done with this school year. I am at least grateful to hear that I am not the only one at my school counting down already... and some of the others are teachers that have been at the same school with the same subject matter for multiple years. That makes me feel a little better. Doesn't stop me from counting, though.

Not only am I counting down to not working like a demon 10-14 hours a day, but I am counting down to being able justify spending hours a day thinking about and playing in the kitchen. It's siren song calling to me. I have a stack of recipes four inches high to try!

In the meantime, I make do preparing my old standbys and quick meals (most of which I have already posted) and only occasionally venture into new ground for quick meals or snacks. I recently broke down and purchased a popsicle mold set I've had my eye on for some time. I guess it was the 89 degree day two weeks ago that prompted me to think about frozen goodness on a stick. I bought the set through Amazon and couldn't be happier. While I have tried two types of popsicles so far, the one I am going to share with you today is the quickest. I can put a batch together in less than 5 minutes and they are so delicious!

You can mix any combination of fruit and yogurt that you would like for these. I think the main issue is keeping the proportions about the same for the best texture. You can also make them without the guar gum, but it doesn't affect the flavor at all while giving a much creamier, less ice crystalline product.

All I did was mix together 2 cups of vanilla yogurt and 1 cup of macerated, sweetened fruit - in this case, strawberries. To this, I added 1/4 teaspoon of guar gum, mixed it together and placed it into the molds. You can use any molds you like, but I am a big fan of the new molds I purchased. After they are completely frozen, I remove the top and run warm water over the back of the molds until the popsicles slide out easily.

I then wrap each one individually in wax paper and tape it closed. They are then ready to hang out in the freezer to be called up to duty. The wax paper comes off cleanly, so it's a great way to package them.


Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles
Yield: 9-10 popsicles

2 cups vanilla yogurt
1 cup macerated, chopped and sweetened (to taste) strawberries
1/4 tsp guar gum

Mix the ingredients together and spoon evenly into molds. Do not fill the molds completely, as expansion will occur during the freezing process. Freeze at least five hours, or until hard. Remove the frozen popsicles from the molds by running the molds under warm water. Eat immediately or wrap each popsicle in a piece of wax paper and tape it shut. They keep for at least a couple of weeks.

NOTE: You can use any combination of fruit and yogurt you want for this recipe. If you use the mold set that I have, they recommend soaking the sticks before using to keep them from floating. I found that soaking them causes other issues because the water, which then freezes in the stick, causes it to swell enough that it becomes hard to slide the aluminum top off. I found clothes pins work much better. The picture below shows how I use them. I also find the clothespins help keep the depth of the stick constant, which is nice.

Guilt-Free Potato Chips

Tara’s mom here. Just thought I’d offer a blog post to a very overworked daughter. Besides, I received a new kitchen toy for Christmas and I’ve been having a great time with it and would love to share my biggest success so far. Have you ever used a mandoline? I never realized I needed one, and actually probably don’t, but if you want to make potato chips, it’s a necessity. I will eventually try other sliced veggie variations, but for now, potato chips have captured my attention.

I love potato chips, but they are way too calorific and salty for someone my age. (Don’t ask.) When you make your own – ‘from scratch’ as the blog title says – you can have them your way. The potato-y taste and crunchiness that comes from having absolutely no oil on these things is fantastic, and you can use only as much salt as you think you can tolerate…or not.

This mandoline is stainless steel, with an adjustable blade that will take your fingertip off, so you want to make sure to use the pusher and keep those fingers safe. It also has four other cutter inserts that make various-sized veggie strips from julienne to french fry. But you don’t need this fancy a mandoline; you just need one that can cut veggies into very thin, even slices so that they dry fairly evenly into crispy slices.

Now I’m not saying these are quick – they definitely are labor-intensive, and you can’t make a lot each go. But I’ve found that the more I make, the quicker I get at it, and I only have to watch closely during the last minute or so in the crisping process. For me, they’re worth it because I usually try to avoid store-bought potato chips; they’re just not that good for my health.

Guilt-free potato chips require two ingredients (russet potatoes and salt) and four basic steps.

1. Slice the potato with a mandoline. I start with one monster russet potato, the fatter and rounder the shape, the better. I’ve tried new potatoes, but the russets are bigger and they have better flavor. You might experiment with Yukon Gold or others too. I cut 1/16” slices on my mandoline, which produces very thin chips that crisp easily.


2. Soak the slices in cold water to remove excess starch. You could skip this step if you’re in a hurry, but I think the chips taste better and are crunchier if you soak them. Maybe that’s my imagination, but when you see the murky water that results when you soak the slices, somehow it just seems better to get that out! I‘ve tried both ways, and prefer soaking.


3. Sandwich the slices between two towels, paper or cloth, to dry; the drier they are, the faster they’ll crisp. After pressing them a bit, I uncover them and add whatever salt I want (for me, not a lot). This will pull out a bit more water, which you can daub off after a few minutes. Then you can let them dry a couple more minutes. But I often get impatient at this stage and put them right into the microwave.


4. Nuke the slices in a microwave oven. I cut a piece of parchment paper the diameter of my glass rotating tray and lay the slices in a circular pattern on that. Depending on the size of the slices, I can do maybe 20 to 30 slices at a time. Since they shrink as they dry, I sometimes overlap them a bit to cram more in, but they can stick together if you don’t separate them after the first five minutes. Microwave on high for five minutes. You will have to do some experimentation here because every microwave oven is different. Your times may be more or less than mine. The first five minutes releases a fair amount of water from the slices.

After the five minutes, I gently pull out the parchment with the slices on it onto the counter in front of the oven. I find if I mop up the water that collects on the glass tray beneath it, things go a bit faster. You will discover your own shortcuts as you keep at it, depending on your oven and patience.


You can either slide the paper with the slices back into the oven, pushing them around a bit to make sure they’re not sticking, or arrange them directly onto the glass tray. It goes somewhat faster without the wet paper. Also, my oven tends to cook the center ones faster, so since I’m rearranging slices anyway, I eliminate the parchment.


Now I turn the oven on for three minutes. If the slices are big and they haven’t started to crisp much in the first five minutes, I ignore them again for this time period. As you continue for one minute bursts, you’ll notice some are starting to get tan, then brown. I happen to like my chips a bit on the brown side, but some of you will consider that too done, so watch them and take them out when they suit your taste. You do need to get them crisp though. Put them on a paper towel, and they will crisp further as they cool. If I am going to store a bunch of these, I want to make sure they are all very dry, so as each batch comes out of the microwave, I put them onto a cookie sheet and hold them in my regular oven at only 150 degrees. That way, by the time I’m done with all the slices, I know every one of them is crisp and they won’t become soft in the storage bag.



These are great as appetizers with dips, and just for snacking. What more could you ask for? Fantastic guilt-free potato chips!

Banana Nut Muffins

I eat a lot of muffins. Because I get up so early during the week, I need a portable breakfast. Muffins are my go-to breakfast. There are plenty of other quick and simple starts I enjoy, but these are really the only ones that I turn to Monday through Friday. My favorites are my mini-chocolate chip muffins. Good as they are, I occasionally need a little variety.

Banana nut muffins are one of my regular alternates. First of all, I always have too-ripe bananas on hand. I'm one of those people that loves bananas provided they're within that 12 hour window of perfect ripeness. After that, I won't touch them. This is a great way to use those past their prime bananas. I also like how substantial these are. The whole grains and nuts really pack a great morning nutritional punch, and - most importantly - they taste really good!

They're super easy to make, too! Mix together the wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Notice that the batter may look somewhat curdled. That's fine. In fact, if you let it sit, the honey may separate out a bit. Just give it a stir before adding the dry ingredients.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate, small bowl. Chop up some walnuts and toss into the dry ingredients. Stir to mix and then add, alternating in batches with the smashed bananas, to the wet mixture.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line standard sized muffin tins with papers. This recipe makes an uneven number of muffins. Someday, when I have time, I may try to standardize it, but currently, it makes about 17 muffins. Be sure not to fill the cups too full.

To help them look great and to add a nice sweet crunch, I sprinkle two things on top: some old fashioned oats and some turbinado sugar. I especially like the turbinado sugar because it holds its shape and crunch not only through baking but through freezing, if you go that route.

If you're not familiar with turbinado sugar, it is a coarse grained, minimally processed sugar that has a tan color and more complex flavor than table sugar. You can find it on the baking aisle of nearly any grocery store and it keeps forever in an air tight container.

Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes or until they are puffed and golden. Remove from the oven, remove from the pans, and let cool on a rack. If you are going to bag them up to put in the freezer, make sure they are completely cooled before doing so. Frozen muffins can be thawed in the microwave. In mine, it takes about 40 seconds to thaw out two of them.


Banana Nut Muffins
Yield: 17 standard sized muffins

2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup shortening

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

1 cup mashed, ripe bananas
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 TBS old fashioned oats (optional)
2 TBS turbinado sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Mix together the first four ingredients in a medium bowl. Do not worry if it looks a bit curdled; it does not need to be perfectly smooth. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix together the flours, baking power, salt, and wheat germ. Stir to mix, adding the walnuts. In another small bowl, mash the ripe bananas until they are well pureed.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and bananas to the wet mixture. Do not over mix. Divide batter evenly between 17 standard, paper lined muffin cups. Sprinkle each with a small amount of turbinado sugar and old fashioned oats. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes, until the muffins are puffed and lightly golden. A toothpick or cake tester should come out clean. Be careful not to over bake. Cool completely on wire racks.

Ingredient Notes: I get my wheat germ at the bulk food store for much, much less than it costs at the grocery store. However, I then need to toast the wheat germ myself, which I do in a dry saute pan over medium heat. Simply stir occasionally until the germ has a nice toasty smell and has obtained a nice golden color. As for the bananas, you can use bananas way past when you might think you should. I've even used bananas after the flesh is completely brown and has a slightly fermented smell.

Perfect Buttered Popcorn

Have you ever tried making buttered popcorn at home? I don't mean that microwave stuff, either... it doesn't really taste like butter. You know, real, subtle, finger-licking good butter. I wish that I could be satisfied eating plain popcorn, I really do. But I can't. I've come to terms with it, and I've found a way to make it work.

Air poppers are a great tool for popping corn. They're cheap and quick, but they won't apply the butter for you. I used to melt a little butter in a bowl and then pour it over the popped corn in as thin a stream as I could. I would then grab a spoon as quickly as possible to toss things around. It never worked. Invariably, I always ended up with kernels that were so coated in butter they were soggy and some that were naked as the day they were born. I knew there had to be a better way.

And there is. All you have to do is brush the stuff on. I use a pastry brush to apply it. For a half cup of unpopped kernels, I only need to use about 1 tablespoons of butter and I am completely satisfied with the flavor.

Just blot the popped kernels with the brush, tossing them in the bowl as you go to get all sides covered. You'll end up with a perfectly even coat every time. At this point, you can add a sprinkling of popcorn salt and curl up on the couch with your favorite movie while happily crunching away. Yum!

Gelatin Fruit Cups

Part of being a teacher is the acknowledgement that you can't go out to get lunch every day. I know that a lot of schools have been trying to improve their food, but even if they were serving the best food ever, I still would pack a lunch. When you only get a 26 minute break, the idea of walking all the way down to the lunch room and fighting my way through a line to get some chow is less than appealing.

I often need to get to work by 6:10 in the morning so that I can use the copy machine without waiting, and that means that I need quick packing lunches. Yogurt is a regular star as are those small bags of chips... and I've always been a fan of fruit cups with gelatin.

Until recently, I'd made my own using the artificially flavored stuff at the store. I started to find, however, that I'm not a fan of the acrid after taste that the artificial stuff tends to have. And it somehow felt wrong to be putting home canned pears into such overwhelmingly sweet, fake flavor. So, I decided to see how much trouble it would be to use unflavored gelatin and fruit juice... the good news? It's absolutely no trouble at all!

The only extra steps are the requirement to soften the gelatin in some cool liquid before mixing and making sure you have an appropriate fruit juice on hand. While you can use whatever juice you want, I wanted to go for a 100% juice variety. I really love cherries, so I purchased sweet cherry juice. There are all kinds of juice blends out there. Experiment! Try all kinds. The good news is that the sky is the limit.

To soften the gelatin, pour 1/4 cup of your still cool juice in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and let it sit until the gelatin is absorbed and swells up.

As I was taking pictures, I help the bowl up so that some light was coming through. I got so intrigued by the shapes and colors! The geologist in me was screaming, "Look at the lava!"

Heat the juice to almost boiling. To keep a nice fresh flavor, try not to overheat the juice. Meanwhile, fill some plastic containers with the fruit of your choice. I like to use diced peaches or pears. These containers are 4 ounces each and work perfectly.

When the juice is heated, add the softened gelatin and any sugar or other flavorings you want to add. Swirl the contents in each slightly after they are filled to evenly distribute the fruit. Put on their covers and place in the refrigerator to firm up.

A single batch makes six containers, if you use the 4 ounce size. Just enough for one per day plus an extra for good measure.

Gelatin Fruit Cups
Yield: 6 - 4 oz. containers

1 packet (or 1/4 oz. or 2 1/2 tsp) unflavored gelatin such as Knox
2 cups fruit juice of your choice
1 - 16 oz jar or can of fruit (such as diced peaches or pears)
sugar, as needed, up to 1/4 cup (if you add too much sugar, you will need to add more gelatin)

Pour 1/4 cup of the still cool fruit juice into a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the juice and let it soften and swell while the remainder of the juice heats. Heat the rest of the juice until it is almost boiling. For the freshest taste, try not to overheat.

Add the softened gelatin and any needed sugar to the hot juice. Stir until all particles of gelatin and sugar are dissolved. Prepare the plastic containers by evenly dividing the drained fruit from one 16 ounce can between them. Pour the hot juice evenly between the containers. Swirl gently to evenly distribute the fruit. Cover and refrigerate. Requires at least 3-4 hours to full chill and set.

Candied Nuts

This is one of those recipes that's been on my back burner for a number of years now. Ever since I had a salad with candied walnuts in it that made my heart swoon. Somehow, I never got around to giving it a try. I did know that all of the recipes I came across for candied nuts just didn't seem like it would turn out a product like I was looking for. I knew I would have to just trial and error it. Yesterday was my second try, and I got what I was looking for!

Two weeks ago, while out doing some last minute Christmas shopping, I came across a guy selling farm fresh pecans. This might be my favorite thing about the south! So, despite the fact that the salad I still dream about had walnuts on it, I figured it might be a sin to use the grocery store walnuts in my freezer when I had beautiful, farm fresh pecans ready to be eaten... 'course, they were still in the shell.

If you ever find the need to shell pecans, please remember this simple axiom: pecans shell much more easily when they are frozen. Trust me on this one.

Once you have chosen your nut, be sure they are roasted. Candied nuts need to be crunchy and raw nuts simply won't do. You can dry roast them over medium heat in the pan before you get started or you can roast them in the oven at about 250 degrees for a few minutes until they just start to show some color. Set the nuts aside and start working on the candy part.

The proportions of this recipe will vary depending on how many nuts you want to candy. I did about twenty pecan halves in this trial run. I used 3 tablespoons of sugar. You can make as much of the candy coating as you want! This is the most simple coating ever; just be careful, because sugar can get very, very hot and can cause serious burns.

Simply place the sugar in the bottom of a skillet over medium heat. Let it melt and then let it start to caramelize and turn a glorious burnt sienna color. There is not need to stir. Just let it do its thing. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together 2 TBS granulated sugar with 1/8 tsp table salt and a dash of cinnamon. Stir to mix. Here is a picture of my sugar about halfway there.

When the sugar on the stove is dark but not too dark (dark caramel can have a bitter flavor), turn the heat down and grab a pair of tongs that you have liberally sprayed with oil. Set up a little assembly line like shown below. I covered a cutting board with parchment as a cooling station.

Using the tongs, coat all sides of each nut with the molten sugar mixture. The nuts will really stick together if you let them; I find it's best to keep them apart as much as possible. Working one nut at a time, coat it with the hot sugar and then transfer it to the small bowl of coating sugar. Toss it around to coat all sides and then place it on the cooling board. While they are tasty almost immediately (please wait long enough to not burn the heck out of your tongue!!), they are best after they have time to completely cool and harden. Then they are crunchy and sweet with just a hint of salty. Great as a snack or as a garnish to salads or desserts!

Candied Nuts
Yield: 20 candied nut halves, can easily be adjusted for any yield

20 whole nut halves, such as pecans or walnuts
3 TBS sugar

2 TBS sugar
1/8 tsp table salt
dash cinnamon

Toast the nut halves in a dry skillet over medium heat or in a 250 degree oven until they just start to show some color. Set aside to let cool.

Place 3 TBS of sugar in a small skillet over medium heat. You do not need to stir the sugar, an occasional shake of the pan if it appears to be melting unevenly is all that is necessary. Let the sugar melt and darken to a light brown color. Do not let it go too far or it will have a bitter flavor.

While the sugar on the stove melts, mix the remaining sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Spray a pair of tongs with oil and set up a cooling rack by placing parchment paper over a bowl or cutting board.

When the melted sugar is ready, reduce the heat to low and, one by one, coat the nuts on all sides with the hot sugar and then dip them in the granulated sugar to coat all sides. Shake off the excess and place on the cooling rack. They should be completely cool, crunchy, and ready to use in about half an hour. Keeps for two weeks in an air-tight container.

Baked Black Bean Dip

The first thing I want to do is challenge you to try saying "Baked Black Bean Dip" five times in a row! Now that's a tongue twister. Fortunately, who cares if you can say something when your mouth is busy downing some of the best chip dip around.

This recipe is in honor of my recently horrible diet. I figure by the week's end, I've hit all of the food groups, even if I don't within a day. Last night's dinner was a huge plate of broccoli. Tonight, it was this dip with chips. Well, maybe a lot of this. I feel a little roly-poly...

... but it was worth it! So tasty!

I've been fiddling around with some new ingredients lately. I bought my first jar of crema mexicana last month and tonight was its second use. I also recently purchased some queso fresco, which despite having talked about it before, was used in my kitchen for the first time tonight. That is some good cheese. And when they talk about it being a "crumbling" cheese, they ain't a-kidding. It was so fun! See how it's so beautifully crumbled on top of this dip that's ready to go in the oven?

When it came out, it had melted, but had not lost its integrity (which I appreciate since I'm rather fond of integrity). It has a great flavor, but even better, I love the texture. It's a bit... I'm afraid to say chewy because I don't want you to get a negative connotation. But - dang it, it was chewy, and I mean that in the best sense possible! The bits of cheese were my favorite part of this concoction. It's so velvety and flavorful with these great bits of chewy cheese in it.

I must warn you, though; I think if you are planning on serving it at a party, you might want to bake it in two smaller dishes so that you don't end up with a fight at the dip bowl!


Baked Black Bean Dip
Yield: approximately 2 1/2 cups of dip

1 - 16 oz can of black refried beans
1/2 cup crema mexicana
1/4 cup salsa (drained of excess juice)
1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco (divided)
2 TBS shredded cheddar

Mix the beans, crema mexicana, salsa, and 1/4 cup of the queso fresco thoroughly in a bowl. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a shallow 10-inch round baking dish (or other similar sized dish) with cooking spray. Spread the bean mixture into the dish and smooth out with a rubber spatula.

Sprinkle the top with the remaining queso fresco and the cheddar. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25 minutes. Be sure to let cool five minutes before serving. If desired, you can garnish the top with sliced olives (before or after baking) and sliced green onions.

NOTE: If you do not have queso fresco, you can substitute mozzarella cheese. If you do not have the crema mexicana, you may substitute sour cream. Also, be aware that most beans are very salty and pre-seasoned so no additional salt or seasoning is necessary. If the beans you are using, however, do not fall in this category, you can add salt, garlic powder, and cumin to taste.