Menu Plan 9/6/2010

Not only is it Meat Free Monday, it is also Menu Plan Monday. :)  Normally I plan my menus on Sunday, but I was a bit lazy this week. And we had so many leftovers that we just had leftovers Saturday night, and I made the fish tacos last night...

It's been a good week menu-wise. Dinner has been done in a timely manner, and there hasn't been any scrambling. And since we are homeschooling again this year, that has been a huge help. Hopefully this week will go as well. And since we are talking about homeschooling...we are still using the Virtual Academy through k-12.  Last year was crazy because we started in the middle of the year, and then discovered that we were expected to complete a year's worth of studies in a semester. Well, we were up for the challenge. And the new challenge this year is that school started last week, and there have been some last minute schedule changes, i.e. they've placed my son in some high school classes (he's in 8th grade), which aren't completely loaded yet. So I expect we will be playing some more catch-up this week. So MENU PLANNING IS CRUCIAL!    :)

So, without further ado, here is this week's menu:

Sunday

Fish Tacos

Corn Salad

Monday

Cream of Celery Soup

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Salad

(I know this is a repeat, but this soup is so good, 

and I got yet another bunch of celery in my Bountiful Basket...)

Tuesday

Pasta with Caramelized Onions, Cabbage, and Ham

Salad

Wednesday

Black Bean Chili over Sweet Potatoes

Salad

(this one sounds weird, but the reviews are all good)

Thursday

Roast Beast

Carrots

Potatoes

Salad

Friday

Swiss Chard Manicotti

Salad

Saturday

Spaghetti Supper with Friends

(Potluck)

Hopefully this will be an awesome week. It's a busy one, that's for sure. And just while I'm mentioning stuff...my daughter turns 21 today. Of course, she lives 2 hours away from me, so no cake and ice cream, but I wanted to mention that I'm thinking of her, and of course I've called. her. :)

It's a Cookie Swap!

Yay! The holidays are here and I am working on our 2nd annual cookie swap. We are at a high this year with 13 people participating. We will have a potluck dinner and swap out cookies. We don't really have a lot of rules--just a "step it up" rule. That means, you can make chocolate chip cookies, but if you do--step it up. Make them really special.

Robin over at RobinsWeb has some handy tips to host your own cookie swap:

Important Cookie Exchange Planning Tips!

1) Send the invitations out a month before the party. Everyone's calendar fills up fast in December! I hold my Maryland party on Sunday afternoon. All the dads can watch the kids from the sofa in front of the football game. (Except my husband, he has to the leave the house and entertain the kids, he traditionally takes them to the movies.) The California ladies prefer a week-end evening. For your first exchange, take a poll and see what your attendees prefer.

2) Tell everyone to bake their cookies at least three days in advance. The biggest reason for no-shows is that they didn't have time to bake their cookies. This is the busiest time of year. Don't be upset if people that rsvp and say they are coming don't show up. I always invite way more than I expect to show. The average number that usually shows up for me is anywhere between 13-20. One year I had 23 confirmed and only 12 showed up. Usually two or three days before the exchange I say to myself "If this wasn't my party, I probably wouldn't go, I'm too busy!"

Another reason to bake the cookies early is so that they can "dry out" a bit. A freshly baked cookie is not a good cookie to transport. When we're swapping, we're piling different types of cookies on top of each other and the fresh ones crumble terribly, especially if it's a fragile cookie to begin with. After the cookies have been baked, they should sit out all night on a rack to cool and loose their moisture, with a piece of wax paper over them. Then you can put them into a cookie tin, with wax paper under and over them and between the layers.

I'm keeping my list here, so it's easy for everyone to find. You can ignore this part if you aren't part of my swap. :)

Cookies

1. Whitney — Pomegranate Linzer Cookies
   
2. Vicki — Frosted Sugar Cookies
3. Eva —Chocolate Mint Cookies
   
4. Lisa — Chocolate Pinwheels
   
5. Julie —Russian Tea Cakes Julie's had to drop out, but I am taking her cookies anyway--feel free to participate!
   
6. Victoria —Pepparkakor Cookies
   
7. Jocelyn — Rocky Road Candy
8. April —
9. Holly —
10. Kara —
11. Cindy —
12. Stacey — Italian Fried Cookies
    
13. Mary Beth —Poppy Seed Cookies
    

Dinner

1. Whitney — Salad
   
2. Vicki — Penne Rustica
   
3. Lisa — Salad
   
4. Julie — Garlic Bread
   
5. Victoria — Sparkling Grape Juice/Punch
   
6. Jocelyn — Cheese & Crackers or Chips & Dip
   
7. Carol — Cheese & Crackers or Chips & Dips
   
8. April — Bottle of 7-UP or Sprite
   
9. Holly — Orange Juice
   
10. Kara — Sparkling Grape Juice/Punch
    
11. Cindy — Veggie Side Dish
    
12. Mary Beth — Garlic Bread
    

Jelly Making

So, I've been kind of caught up in this whole jelly making thing. You might even call it slightly obsessed. It started out innocently enough...I just wanted to make pomegranate jelly. But then I needed to get creative, so I started looking online for "creative" pomegranate jelly recipes.

And, by the way, there aren't a lot.

So then I started looking at jelly recipes at RecipeZaar. I started by searching "jelly" which gives some 650 results, but not necessarily all jelly recipes. Many of them just have jelly in the title (think PB&J). So then I clicked on one of those jelly recipes and, down at the bottom of the page, clicked on the jellies category. This brought the total down a little to around 250 recipes.

But now that I've browsed hundreds, maybe even thousands of recipes, I've got the bug. The jelly and jam bug. And not for your normal jelly or jam recipe. Nooooooo....I want to make the weird ones. The ones that make people say "What is this again?"

I started with the Pomegranate Wine Jelly. Yep, my own recipe. Because, hello...wine and pomegranate juice...in a jelly...really....I made a bunch of this. I used two different wines that I had in my little wine refrigerator: a pinot grigio (which is my favorite wine, ever) and a white zinfandel (which is the wine for non-wine drinkers). I had a huge bottle of the white zinfandel. It had been in the cupboard for at least two years (for two reasons: I don't really drink white zin--it was a gift--and it was too big to fit in the wine fridge). Both of these jellies are to die for...just the perfect amount of pomegranate zing with a dash of tipsy grape thrown in at the end.

And then I made regular pomegranate jelly. Because my darling son (who is NOT 21) wanted pomegranate jelly for his PB&J's. And toast. So, there you go. It was a necessity.

But then I had one little cup of pomegranate juice left. Just one. Not enough to make another batch of plain pomegranate jelly. And I already had a LOT of pomegranate wine jelly. So I got creative. I'd already bookmarked the (ummm, weird!) recipe for Mountain Dew Jelly. Because I have a couple of friends who are addicted to the stuff. So, I just decided to get a bit creative. And this is the result of that experiment: Pomegranate Mountain Dew Jelly. I did this in pint jars rather than 1/2-pint jars, because, well...I don't have THAT many friends who would dare try it...and I ended up with four jars. And it actually tastes pretty darn good!

And then there is the Tang Jelly (The Drink of Astronauts!). This one is just so out there that I had to try it. See, I have these Boy Scouts...well, one of them in particular just cannot go on a camping trip unless there is tang along. He drinks it hot in the morning. Which I think is gross, but honestly, I remember liking tang as a kid, so I've given him the benefit of the doubt. I made this as Christmas gifts for those scouts...in homage to him. And I tasted it. It really is pretty good, as a jelly.

And now my son, who thinks Mountain Dew Jelly is probably gross, is stuck on the idea of Dr. Pepper Jelly. And I'm thinking Root Beer Jelly might be a nice addition to our Soda Jelly Collection.

Help me! I'm jelly and I can't get up!

Now I've bookmarked recipes like:

• Roasted Garlic and White Wine Jelly
• Apple Core Jelly
• Red Zinger Tea Jelly
• Spiced Beer Jelly
• Corn Cob Jelly
• Red Onion Jelly
• Candy Apple Jelly

The only thing holding me back is the trip to the store to buy more jars and pectin...Oh Lord...

Bookmarked Recipes 10/28/09

I have a pumpkin roasting in the oven right now, and I am perusing the various forms it can take. These recipes sound particularly yummy!

• Pumpkin Gnocci
• Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
• Spicy Black Bean Sweet Potato Burritos
• Pumpkin Ravioli

A New Blog?

I'm tossing around the idea of starting a blog similar to Stephanie O'Dea's A Year of Slow Cooking. Not necessarily with crockpots, though. Does anyone have ideas of what they might like to see? I am tossing around a couple of ideas, but I am always open for more:

• Bread (a bread a day)
• Putting Up Stuff (I obviously need a better name!)--which would be canning, freezing, and drying food--putting it up to use later
• Lunchbox lunches (which would really only be 5 days a week)
• Breakfast--something I need to do better on eating.
  
• 365 Days of Vegetarian Meals. This would be interesting, because it is really something I would like to learn more about. But it is so easy to fall back on meals with meat in them.

Please share your ideas! I am open to pretty much anything. And you are welcome to leave your opinion in the comment section. :)

Pomegranates

It's that time of year again. The weather is cooling down and fall is in the air. And in the desert of Southern Nevada, the pomegranates are ripe. Some people find it somewhat easy to grow things in this desert--but I am not one of them. I am surrounded by miles of clay that I can't seem to grow a darn thing in. And my attempts at container gardening have been less than dismal.

When we moved into this house, the property was lined with pomegranate trees. Twenty-one, to be exact. These beauties grow with almost no help from me. The pomegranates at the front of our property line the irrigation ditch that flows with overflow irrigation water from the hay and alfalfa fields that dot the valley. The pomegranates up the side of the driveway capture the overflow water from our neighbors trees, which line the other side of our fence. I don't even have to water them!

Pomegranates sell at a premium in the grocery store, selling for as much as $2.50 each. Many years earlier I had been gifted quite a lot of pomegranates. After calling my grandma on proper jellying procedures (or, in this case, jam), I ended up with cases of gorgeous pink jam which my husband happily handed out at work. The past several years I have been too overwhelmed to pick all the pomegranates and then make them into juice, so I let friends and neighbors harvest my bounty.

Two years ago, my husband chopped down the most sickly looking trees. The next year they came back healthy and strong looking. No fruit, though. This year the trees were dripping with the most gorgeous pomegranates. I was still intimidated by the idea of harvesting all those rosy globes, juicing them, and then processing them into some type of nectar for the Gods.

But fate was on my side.

Several enterprising Boy Scouts stopped by and said they would pick my pomegranates for me, separating the good ones from the bad. I only had to contribute to their National Jamboree Fund. In less than a day, I had mounds of beautiful pomegranates just waiting to be juiced. I called some friends because I just knew there was no way I would be able to use all those pomegranates myself.

I was left with enough pomegranates to collect around three gallons of ruby red juice. Beautiful! Now I just needed to come up with some exciting recipes to start creating my nectars of the gods.

There are many, many recipes out there for basic pomegranate jelly. I have that recipe down, though, so I was looking for something more exotic. Something that would tempt Persephone to do more than just nibble.

Exotic recipes are few and far between. So I made up my own.

I came across several wine jelly recipes that sounded divine. I adapted several for my own use, using a lovely Pinot Grigio and adding some of that luscious ruby red juice. I ended up with an amazing jelly--with hints of both the white grapes and the red pomegranates.


Pomegranate Jelly

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups wine (your choice)
• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 (2 ounce) package dry pectin
• 4 1/2 cups white sugar

Directions

1. Combine wine, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, and pectin in a large pot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
   
2. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
   
3. Skim foam off top, if necessary.
4. Ladle hot jelly into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Tighten 2 piece lids.
5. Process for 5 minutes in boiling water bath.

*Note--you can use any kind of wine you like.

Mmm...Pepperoni Breadsticks

So, I am so enamored of my new baking mix that I am searching out recipes to use with it. And this one sounds good. Really good. Plus the fact that my darling son loves pepperoni. Pepperoni plain. Pepperoni sandwiches. Pepperoni pizza. We might as well add in these pepperoni breadsticks.

Pepperoni Breadsticks
Ingredients

• 2 cups Quick Mix (or a baking mix such as Bisquick)
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup chopped pepperoni (about 2 oz)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup pizza sauce

1. Heat oven to 425°. Mix baking mix, cold water, and pepperoni until dough forms. Beat 20 strokes. Turn dough onto surface dusted with flour; gently roll to coat. Knead 5 times.
2. Roll dough into 10-inch square. Cut in half. Cut each half crosswise into 14 strips. Twist ends of strips in opposite directions. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, pressing ends onto cookie sheet to fasten securely. Brush generously with melted butter. Sprinkle with cheese.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Heat pizza sauce until hot. Dip breadsticks into pizza sauce.
   

Makes about 28 breadsticks.

It's a Mix, It's a Meal...It's a...Wait?

Did I ever tell you that I collect cookbooks? I really love to cook, and I really love to read, and I actually really love to read recipes. My poor family rarely eats the same thing twice for that reason. In my kitchen I have a floor to ceiling bookshelf that is filled with cookbooks, and I have run out of room. But, to be honest, I can't stop buying cookbooks. I love them that much.

In my new frugal lifestyle, I've started going through my cookbooks looking for ways to save money. I have two wonderful cookbooks, Make-A-Mix Cookery and More Make-A-Mix Cookery (circa 1978 & 1980, respectively) that really answer that money saving question.

In today's world we rely on convenience foods so much, even though most of us recognize that they really aren't that healthy for us. With all the added preservatives we are preserving our own bodies. Eugenia Bone, in her book Well-Preserved, states, "A serious canner friend of mine told a story about a mortician in her town. He said in the past morticians used to have to get a body into the earth real quick, but nowadays a human body will hold for two weeks due to all the commercial preservation he's eaten." Ummm....gross!

Anyway, I wanted to share a mix with you. This is the master mix Quick Mix. Use it as a substitute for any Bisquick recipe.

Quick Mix (makes about 13 cups)

• 8 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 tsps cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups instant nonfat dry milk
• 2 1/4 cups vegetable shortening

In a large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Blend well. With pastry blender, cut in shortening until evenly distributed. Mixture will resemble cornmeal in texture. Put in a large airtight container. Label. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 10 to 12 weeks.

Variation (and a much better one for you!):
Use 4-1/4 cups all-purpose flour and 4-1/4 cups whole-wheat flour. Increase baking powder to 2 tablespoons.



Light and Tender Biscuits

1-1/2 cups Quick Mix
1/3 cup milk or water

In a medium bowl, combine quick mix and milk or water. Stir with a fork to blend. Let dough rest 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 450°F. On a lightly floured board, knead dough about 15 times. Roll out to 1/2-inch thick (in a rectangle). Cut into 2-inch squares with a knife. Place biscuits about 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in a preheated oven until golden brown. Makes about 6 biscuits.

Vegan, Vegetarian, Omnivore...

A friend of mine sent me a link to an article about Vegan and Vegetarian Children. Her family eats vegan only, but we are only part-time vegetarians. I am looking for healthy food options for my family, though, and we often eat vegetarian meals, with the occasional meat filled meal thrown in for good measure.

One of the exciting things about the article, though, is the abundance of child friendly recipes. My kids pretty much eat whatever I feed them, but these recipes will allow me to get healthier food into them.

The one I am drawn to immediately is The Happy Herbivore's recipe for Black Bean Brownies. She has a White Bean Blondie recipe as well, but fudge-y, chocolate-y goodness is really just right up my alley.



I am mostly set on ingredients. I have a ton of both white and black beans in my freezer from some cooking sessions I did early this month. Hubby is going to the mexican market for meat (for the dogs--that is another story!) after work, so I will set him looking for the agave nectar there. And bananas will be purchased at the store this afternoon. I will let you know how they turn out.

Back to School

Crazy times are here again! School started Monday and we've been trying to get back into the school routine. So far, so good. We've had dinner every night, and my son Steven has had a lunch every day. I thought I posted about the trials and tribulations of finding the perfect lunch box, but it must have just been a post in my head.

No. I found it. I must be a bit crazy.

Anyway, we settled on the To Go Ware Two Tier Tiffin Box.


Our backup plan is something similar to this:


He prefers the tiffin box, however, because it does a better job of keeping his food separate. Very important, especially when you are 13.

We were at the store shopping for possible lunch options, and they were offering a sample of this pasta salad. It was so good, we immediately picked up all the ingredients (except the tomatoes--the girl didn't make it with tomatoes and he loved it exactly the way it was).

Smoked Cheddar and Turkey Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked wagon wheel pasta
• 8 ounces smoked cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 8 ounces smoked turkey breast, cut into 1/2" pieces
• 2 cups small broccoli florets
• 3 plum tomatoes, sliced (optional!)
• 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup green onion
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/3 cup milk.

Cook and drain pasta. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, parmesan, and milk; blend well. Combine pasta and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add mayo mixture and toss to coat. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. Prepare for gifts and accolades once your friends and family taste this salad.

It's All About the Food...

I've cooked a lot of beans in my crockpot this week, so I can stock up my freezer. But today's recipe calls for garbanzo beans (chickpeas, if you will), and that is something my local grocer does not carry dried. So I will have to use canned, and have my husband or daughter check one of the stores in Vegas. Anyway, I am heading out the door to get the garbanzo beans and chicken. And this is what's for dinner tonite!

Moroccan Chicken Thighs with Chickpeas

6 chicken thighs
1/2 tbsp olive oil
2-16 oz cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1-15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and largely diced
1 medium sized red onion
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch of paprika
2 tbsp creamy peanut butter

Serve over:
hot cooked couscous or brown rice

1. In a medium pan, heat olive oil. Brown chicken thighs on both sides.
2. Put garbanzo beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, raisins, tomato paste, water, cumin, and paprika into a crockpot; stir well. Place browned chicken on top. Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours, until chicken is cooked through and tender.
3. Remove chicken. Stir peanut butter into vegetables in crockpot. Serve with hot couscous or rice.

Ultimate Rotisserie

I checked this book out from the library:


Oh. my. oh. my. I. think. I've. died. and. gone. to. heaven.

I've had my rotisserie for years. I got it from my grandma when she passed away. I don't think she even ever used it. But I had seen all those cool Ronco commercials stating that I can have a delicious rotisserie chicken for half the cost in the same amount of time it would take me to get to the deli and back, so I just had to have it.

Well. Those statements aren't exactly correct because for some reason whole chickens uncooked in my meat department cost the same as the cooked ones in the deli. And it only takes me ten minutes to get to the deli and back, but, whatever.

I do love it. And the idea of all the things I can do (but never did). So I checked the book out. And now I've tried it. On a whole chicken no less (which happens to be on sale this week for half of the price of buying it already cooked in the deli, so I've saved some money there!).

Anyway, the recipe I picked is the It Isn't Easy Being Green Basil Pesto Chicken. Which is really basic, but ohhhhhhh....so yummy!


So basically, take 1/2 cup of store bought or homemade basil pesto and smear it under the skin of your whole chicken. Roast according to your rotisserie instructions. Ummm...yum.

We served this with Zucchini Parmesan Rice. It was good. Really good. I'm actually surprised it lasted long enough for me to take pictures.

Anyway, I need to go to the store and buy a bunch more chickens so I have a frugal reason to make my own rotisserie chicken. Because $4 for a chicken is sooooooooo much better than $8.

On Feeding Boys...

Food is one of my passions. In fact, when I was a child I would cook in the kitchen, all the while pretending to be on a cooking show (á la Julia Child). I used to be a professional baker. I just love to cook. Mmmmmm...

Anyway, my love of food has been passed on to my children (although I am not so sure about my love of cooking, although both of my children do just fine in the kitchen). Anyway, we have a houseful of boys this next weekend (ummmm...starting today, actually) and I am trying to get healthy yummy food into the ones who live on chicken nuggets and corn dogs. Hmmmm...

I've been searching the internet for quick, easy recipes and stumbled across The Pioneer Woman Cooks (by way of 365 Days of Crockpotting).

Oh. my.

I think I've died and gone to heaven.

For dinner tonight, we are making (yes, ALL of us--ummm, that is, me and the boys):

Roasted Ricotta Tomatoes
Spicy Shrimp
Peach Crisp (not with the Maple Sauce, though)

and
Cinnamon Ice Cream, doubled of course

My philosophy is (and I hope it works with the more picky among the crew) is that if you help make it, you are more likely to eat it. And they all love shrimp (so they all tell me!). The tomatoes might be a bit iffy with the one who likes ketchup, but hates tomatoes...and loves pizza, but hates tomatoes. Ummm...we'll see.

And after dinner, I'm hoping everyone will be full enough to just chill and watch the first four episodes of Torchwood: Children of the Earth. Except I've just been reminded that softball is tonight. So, Torchwood will have to be tomorrow.

Sigh.

But, the boys will be gainfully employed (volunteering, that is) at the concession stand during softball. Which will keep them off the computer and various game systems. And out in the fresh air. So, it's all good.

Bento, Anyone?

For the last couple of days, I've been thinking about lunches. School starts again next month, and I am trying to figure out how to make lunches interesting for both my husband and my son. And help keep us within our grocery budget. To that end, I have been researching bento lunches. Last year I was looking at the laptop lunch system for my son, but he just wasn't interested. This year, though, we've been looking at stainless steel bentos (and tiffins) and he is much more interested. Especially since he now realizes that this is what kids his age in other countries do for lunch. He's all for being different!

My husband will take whatever I pack, but it makes more sense to make complementary lunches rather than two different things--which is why I needed my son to decide he was up for trying it. We are spending time this summer testing recipes--Just Bento has a ton of them. We are also trying to narrow down which box we are going to start with, although I am sure we will end up with a couple just because of the different ways you can use them.

Here are some of the options we are looking at:



We are still looking, but my son is leaning towards the tiffin box (2-tier stainless steel). I am excited about not having to pack ziploc bags (NOT an option in our previous lunch incarnations), and also about the variety (this is my own fault--it is just way easy to make a pb&j, stick in some fruit and a drink and be good to go).

Some fun bento sites:
Adventures in Bentomaking
Just Bento
Cooking Cute
JB Bentos
Lunch Bucket Bento
My Bento Diet
Obento Baby
Be My Bento
Bentobabe

I hope I've inspired you to be more creative with your lunches!

Freezer Gourmet

Hi all! I've started a new blog devoted to feasting from your freezer. It is called The Freezer Gourmet, and my hope is to share everything I've learned from OAMC (Once a Month Cooking). Although OAMC is kind of a misnomer for me--I generally do more mini sessions with one kind of meat. I have done full cooking days, but it is harder for me to fit that into my schedule--so a mini session works. I also do mini sessions when I do my monthly dinner swap. I make the same meal X amount of times (depending on how many people are participating in a given month) and freeze them. Depending on the type of meal, I can do this in one afternoon (for a marinade type meal), or two (for a casserole).

In December of last year, not only did my group do a dinner swap, but we also did a cookie swap. Cookies are another great thing to freeze--both the cookie dough, and the cookies themselves. In fact, the cookies from that swap graced school lunches for a couple of months into the new year.

If you are interested in freezer cooking, go check my blog out. I think you will be glad you did!

Twitter Tea

One of the amazing things about Twitter is the randomness of the posts, which end up leading to a whole new appreciation for the world. John Chow, the blogger known for teaching bloggers to make money with their blogs (lol!), posted a picture of his dessert last night--Bubble Tea. Which I had never heard of. And which caused me to Google Bubble Tea to discover what it is. And now I want to try it myself.

One of the many variations of Bubble Tea that I want to try:
Ingredients:

2 cups prepared brewed green tea
1/3 cup sugar
4 cups water
1/2 cup pearl tapioca (Raw, black or pastel-colored)
4 cups honeydews or cantaloupes or watermelon, chunks
4 cups ice cubes
2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup coconut milk

Directions:

Combine green tea with sugar and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, bring water to boil over high heat; add tapioca pearls. Stir lightly and let pearls float to top. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let pearls sit in water 25 minutes until chewy and translucent.
Drain and rinse under cold water. Combine in medium bowl with sweetened tea. Refrigerate until needed.
Blending in 2 batches, combine melon, ice cubes, orange juice and coconut milk in blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
Place about 1/4 cup tapioca mixture in bottom of large glass. Fill with melon mixture. Serve with straws if desired.

Other Bubble Tea Recipes:
Bubble Tea Basics
Bubble Tea Cookbook from RecipeZaar
Thai Mango Coconut Bubble Tea

Now I just have to find a source for large tapioca pearls. Looks like a trip to Vegas is in order.

Summer Fun Series Week 1 Wrap-Up

Well, we had 10 kids show up to make Thai Chicken Wings today. We separated them into 2 groups (middle school and elementary school). The younger kids pretty much just dumped everything in a bag and squished it together. The older kids cut wings apart, pressed or chopped garlic, grated fresh ginger, and then dumped it all in a bag and squished it together.

We made a sample batch of the wings for them to try before they started cooking--needless to say, those wings are all gone. But I do have a new batch in the freezer for another day (that my son made).

Next week we are making deviled eggs. Lots of people around here have chickens, so we have an abundance of fresh eggs.

Woohoo! Summer Fun Series Commence!

Remember that post a couple of weeks ago about summer plans? Well, it has kind of evolved (on Tuesday, anyway) to include a bunch of neighborhood kids. School gets out today, and starting next week, the fun will commence! The first cooking thing we are doing will be a freezer meal (or appetizer--depends on how you look at it) for the kids to take home.

Thai Chicken Wings
Ingredients

• 24 meaty chicken wings, tips removed, cut into wings and drumettes
• 8 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 4 tsp soy sauce
• 4 tsp honey
• 2 tsp dried coriander, crushed
• 2 tsp fish sauce

1. Place chicken wings into a large resealable plastic bag. Add garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey, coriander, and fish sauce. Seal bag, turn to coat. Freeze. Or refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.


2. Preheat oven to 350°F.


3. Place wings on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake, uncovered, 15 minutes. Turn and bake 5 minutes more or until chicken is no longer pink.

That darn fish sauce smells really bad, so I'm thinking of providing nose plugs (you know those things they sell for swimming without getting water in your nose?). I will also have wings done before they get there so they know what the wings taste like before they make them.

Unite for Hunger and Hope

I was going through my email (you know--deleting the junk mail, responding to the important stuff, and enjoying the rest) this afternoon, and I came across an email inviting me to UNITE FOR HUNGER AND HOPE. Well, sheesh--I am always up for a good uniting, so I clicked the link, read the info, and decided that I would definitely participate! I personally have never experienced real hunger (and I hope I never do), but that doesn't mean I would wish it on anyone else. You all know how much I love food--and that love is something I certainly want to share with the rest of the world. Good food, that is. Although I imagine that for some people, any food would be better then nothing. Or maybe not.

Did you happen to see Wall-E? It occurred to me whilst I was watching it that the food they were eating was not the best food for them. Actually, what really struck me was that we (the U.S. and the world) are heading right in that direction--that if we don't watch ourselves, the human race will end up just like the human race did in Wall-E. Social commentary. At least that's how I saw it. Which isn't to say I didn't love the movie--because I actually did. But--sheesh, people. Take care! You are what you eat!

Luckily, we can help those who don't have food get some. Bloggers, Unite, ya'll. :)