Monday, March 3, 2014

Every once in a while, I crave Greek. Here's my desire in Greek.

Lets do GREEK!!!
I love gyro's.  They are the best!  So below here is an easy way to get what you want without having to go out.
MEAT FILLING
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground lamb
2 eggs
1/2 cup minced onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried marjoram 
Mix together all of the above ingredients and mold into a loaf and place in a loaf or bread pan.  Cook for about an hour at 325 degrees.  Please check temperature to make sure that meat is at 165 degrees internally.  Drain grease away and remove from pan.  Place on a platter and slice in 1/4 inch slices.
SAUCE
Prepare cucumber sauce:  
16 ounces sour cream, 
1 cucumber shredded, 
3-4 mint leaves minced, 
pinch of salt and pinch of pepper, 
1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar,
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
Mix all ingredients together until creamy and well combined.
For assembly you will also need:
8 heated pita bread pockets
Shredded lettuce,
chopped tomatoes
thinly slice red onion
feta cheese
TO ASSEMBLE:
Grill the pita bread pockets.  I do this in a cast iron skillet or on a grill.  Place several slices of the meat in the middle of the pita pocket.  Top with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, red onion (I leave this out) and nicely crumbled feta cheese.  Drizzle the top with your cucumber sauce and serve.

In the next few weeks I will do over any recipe that you wish to make it a little easier and maybe, just maybe a little cheaper.  Just comment and let me know.  I will take it as a challenge to do your request proud.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

A little Kitchen Tip--The Best Fried Chicken

Okay so today, I am watching the food network again and it dawned on me that one of our classic favorites in the south has yet to be redone in a way that is actually healthy for you and yet provides EXACTLY what we want.  Fried Chicken.  Now before you baulk about it, let me explain.  I am a great believer that yes, you can coat and bake chicken and it will be good.  I love baked "fried" chicken.  However, it's not the same.  So here's what I do.  And while my father, who is an executive chef, "hated" the idea and said that it took away from the flavor when I told him about it, when he tasted it, loved it.  Below, I am going to explain everything to you.
I love to use chicken breasts, but I have done the whole chicken pieces.
1.  choose your chicken parts.
2.  in a pot of water, add salt, pepper, and whatever other "seasonings" you want to.
3.  add 2 chicken bouillon cubes
4.  boil chicken until it is "almost done".
5. while waiting for the chicken to get par cooked mix flour, salt, pepper, and again your same seasonings if you would like, that you added to your water.
6.  remove from boiling water and let it "drain" on paper towels, but do not dry the chicken, it needs to be wet
7.  dip your chicken in flour mixture
8.  in a pan or deep fryer, heat your oil appropriately to 350 degrees
9. fry the flour dipped chicken for just until the coating is sufficiently browned.  It will only take a couple of minutes because your chicken is almost completely cooked.  It needs to be 165 degrees when finished.  Because you have cooked the chicken previously, the amount of oil soaked up in the cooking process is SIGNIFICANTLY LESS.  You get the crunch of the fried chicken and you cut down on the calories and on the unhealthy oil.  You have incredible flavor because you can season it however you want to.  It's amazing.
ENJOY!!!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Change is good right?

Well it's been a week since I posted, and not that anyone else is reading this or that it is public or anything since I am "computer blonde" but here I am again..  Tonight I was just thinking about all the changes that are happening in this world and in life.  My third daughter gave birth to a pre-mature son 8 days ago.  February 13th.  It was a unique situation since I had given birth to her 9 weeks pre-maturely almost 26 years ago. (May 14, 1988).  It changes your life.  And just like her, he is extremely jaundice and has the same blood disorder that their father did and all four of my girls did.  Sadly, there is nothing that can be done as it is genetic.  You learn to live with it and eat what you must and avoid what you must and that's that.

Change.
When I was younger, I would get sick with a cold and my grandmother, who lived with us would make an "onion soup".  This was a soup that was really just onions caramelized and then added to a broth.  Mind you it made me gag when I was a girl.  I hated it.  It stunk up the house and I refused to eat it and was force fed many a spoonful on the supposition that it was "medicine" for the cold.  Now, I love onion soup.  That wonderful deep brown beef broth mixed with those thoroughly caramelized onions and then topped with a thick slice of French bread with a thick melted slice of mozzarella cheese.  It is amazing and I will order it almost every time I am able in a restaurant.  Saying that, last night and the night before, there was some cooking going on in my house by others and the smell of the onions with their garlic and butter nearly took my breath away.  I had to sleep with two fans on me.  The smell filled the house and the garlic, while overpowering was only a distant memory by the time you inhaled the smell of the sharpness of the onions.  How then can I love them cooked to pieces and hate them raw?  The composition of them changes.  And they become something that they were meant to be.  Now I know people who eat onion sandwiches and dice up or slice up raw onions on EVERYTHING!  But that's not me.  I would rather have them transformed into the near translucent perfection that clings to the dipped spoon in a hot bowl.

I like the change that is wrought when we put an onion through the paces and turn it into something wonderful.  Even if it is just onion soup.  The point is, that we need change.  Change is good.  We can only grow if something changes us.  It can be from the inside out or from the outside in.  There is something wonderful that can happen if we but let it.  Much like that onion that has sat in the basket for way too long, we peel off the layers of skin and finally get down to who we are.  We present ourselves sometimes in a way that isn't really truth.  It is a facade.  Much like that "onion soup" that my grandmother used to make.  It was only the beginnings because she didn't know any better.  But with people, that facade hides what we truly want out of life.  Sure there are people out there that are just as good about not hiding but they are usually the ones that aren't afraid to be a little rude and a little uncouth.  However, for most of us, we have these layers of outer skin that hides our fears, our tears, our dreams, and our desires.  In order to move towards a more perfect us, we must allow those layers to be peeled away.  We must allow our inner goodness and desires to come out of us.  Because the change that can happen is, we begin to look for that change ourselves.  We can see what we will become and will reach for it.  I am excited about all the changes that are going to occur in my life in the next 50 years or so.  I do expect, even though now it doesn't always feel like it, that I will live another 5 decades.  I will, now that the layers have been pulled back and the pungency of my core has been revealed, I know now, what I can become.  It is my goal to reach my fullest potential between now and that next 50 years ending.  I will become, what the core of me dreamt me to become.  Yes, change is good.  And I will embrace it.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

MockTails?

Today I watched a show on the Food Network channel called "The Kitchen" and one of their segments every show is:  "It's 5 O'clock Somewhere".  This is where they create drinks with alcohol.  There are several shows that do this and it drives me insane.  Sandra Lee does Sit on her show "Semi-Homemade".  Again it drives me nuts.  It feels like these people believe that we, as American's are constantly drinking.  Really?  For years I have created combination drinks.  I've never called them cocktails or mocktails or whatever, I called them "punch".  And so I set about creating unique combinations.  Now, I don't drink, but I love uses wine glasses, champagne flutes, etc.  I think they are elegant and beautiful and classy.  So, I create sparkling drinks that add some excitement. So it doesn't have to be alcohol to look lovely and add to a meal.  I love using grape juices to sparkle up the table.  I will take a lemon lime soda and freeze them into little cubes or balls, I prefer balls, and drop them into the juice.  The juices have to be very cold.  Also, frozen grapes make a wonderful addition to any drink.  I love to freeze fruit period for drinks.  Pineapple chunks, strawberries and blueberries make for a punch that is both fun and amazing and as they thaw, they add a great flavor.  Don't be afraid.  Even frozen cranberries and oranges make a delightful holiday drink served with white grape juice.  It doesn't have to be alcoholic.
So create your own "Mocktails" and enhance even your normal "everyday" meals.  Family is more important than any guest but it's fun to treat them as guests at every meal.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

The BIG GAME!!!

I am a sports enthusiast.  I love watching sports.  I love them live and I love them on the TV and I love throwing super bowl parties.  I watch as much of the Olympics as I can and I really do follow certain teams in sports that I love.  I'm very eclectic in my choices I suppose.  But at any rate, I love watching great athleticism. Having said that, I am in awe of the wonder and amazing things that people do to themselves.  Drugs, alcohol, self mutilation, self loathing, self destruction.  I am aware of them all.  I am a victim of two of those.  Self loathing and self destruction.  I don't like my physical form.  I hate it.  And because of that, I have let it become my disability and it has led to a destruction of certain aspects of my body.  Looking back, it wasn't intentional, it was simply a bi-product of my circumstances and of the abuse that happened to me.  It's not an excuse.  It is what it is.  However, I have had in my life one reoccurring poem that always gives me hope.  Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I would do everything I could to turn back the clock.  And I know that reading the scriptures should inspire me to do what is necessary to pull me out of my situation.  BUT  Below is the Poem.  I hope it will remind you that there is always hope.  For all of the hype and fun and everything that goes on around these athletes and how amazing their skills are and how amazing this Super Bowl will be, there is one game that is far more important.  The game of life.  And this life...well, it truly is THE BIG GAME!
The Touch of the Masters Hand
T'was battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while, to waste much time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile; "What am I bidden, good folks," he cried, "Who'll start the bidding for me? A dollar, a dollar; then two! Only two? Two dollars, and who'll make it three? Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice; going for three.." But no, from the room, far back, a gray-haired man, came forward and picked up the bow; Then, wiping the dust from the old violin, and tightening up the loose strings, he played a melody pure and sweet as the caroling of angels sing.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was now quiet and low, said; "What am I bid for the old violin?" And he held it up with the bow. "A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two thousand! And who'll make it three? Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, and going and gone, said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cired, "We do not quite understand, what changed it's worth?" Swift came the reply: "The touch of a master's hand."
And many a man with life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin, is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. A "mess of pottage," A glass of wine; a game, and he travels on. "He is going : once, and "going twice, he's going and almost gone." But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul and the change that is wrought by the touch of THE MASTER'S HAND.------Myra Brooks Welch

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Seriously $10 dinners for four? Trust me, I can do better.

So today, while waiting on the snow, I was watching TV and since I hate soap operas but wanted to stay in tune with the weather situation, I was flipping through channels and caught the last few minutes of a show on the food network about $10 dinners for four.  And so, when I saw what she made, I thought, wow, I can do that meal better.  And so here is my take on her onion soup, salad and breadsticks.  First of all, I love the bread on top of the soup and toasted with cheese.  And so, here it goes:
4 large onions ($1.38 for 7 equals .20 each so .80 total)
Beef bouillon cubes times 6 (equals about .30 total)
4 slices of french bread (16 slices for $1.39 equals .09 each slice so .36 total)
4 tablespoons margarine  (.25)
1/2 head of lettuce ($1.09 / 2 equals .55)
8 tablespoons ranch dressing (which she didn't count--.50)
1 tomato (.33)
1 cucumber (.33)
4 slices mozzarella cheese ($2,59 for 12 slices so .88 total)
I made almost the exact same meal, for $4.30
And yes those are the real current prices.
PREP:
Slice all onions in half forming a half circle and then slice them thinly. (no chopping)
In a pan, add your 4 tablespoons margarine and your onions and caramelize them.  Then break up your cubes of beef bouillon.  I put them in a ziplock bag and smash them with a rolling pin if they are too hard.  Sprinkle this over your onions and margarine mixture and slowly add 4-6 cups of water.  Stir until it is nice and bubbly.  In four oven safe bowls, fill with your onion soup leaving enough room at the top for the bread slices.  Toast the bread slices and place them gently on top of the soul in the bowl.  Cover each bread slice with the cheese slice, don't worry about overhang, it is a great crispy treat.  Bake for about 5 minutes at 400 degrees or until cheese is melted and BEGINNING to turn golden.
Slice lettuce or tear it, dice tomato, slice cucumber thinly.  Toss together with the 8 tablespoons of dressing and serve on a plate.  Remove the bowls of soup and place beside the salad on the plate.  Serve.

We can always cut costs.  There are specials and deals and coupons and we should take advantage of them.  I know it sounds silly but with the printing costs being what they are and companies putting coupons in the papers at least 2 times per week, are we really going to waste them? USE THEM!  Don't be embarrassed either.  The stores are reimbursed for the money lost.

Why did I do this blog?  Because there are going to be times when money is super tight.  We almost always go through times when we wish for more but simply can't do it financially.  This is a wonderful meal. Especially on days when you are not in the mood to spend even 30 minutes on making a meal.  Now there are some add on's if you want it to be more filling and more protein laden.  Brown off seasoned ground beef or beef carne picada (sold at Wal-mart) and nice fresh button mushrooms and add these to the onion soup concoction.  This will add cost but by using just a half a pound, you add texture and flavor and proteins and it becomes a filling dinner.  It is still a simple dish and the meat and mushrooms can be cooked at the same time as the onions.  If you would like to remove the cheese and bread, and add a little flour as you finish sauteing the onions, meat and mushrooms, this becomes a savoury thick dish that can be served over rice.  Variations are a wonderful part of life. Enjoy!

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Have I done any good?

There is a talk that I love that brought to mind the change in the title of this blog.  "Remember This:  Kindness begins with me"  In that talk, there is a specific quote from President Monson of the Mormon Church that I also love.  I will type it below for your viewing:
"I please with you to have the courage to refrain from judging and criticizing those around you, as well as the courage to make certain everyone is included and feels loved and valued".
The speaker, Mary N. Cook of the Young Women's General Presidency, goes on to say:
"We can follow the example of the good Samaritan and 'change the world' of just one person by being benevolent.  I would like to invite each of you to do at least one Samaritan-like act this coming week.  It may require that you reach beyond your usual friends or overcome your shynes.  You may courageously choose to serve someone who doesn't treat you well.  I promise that if you will extend yourself beyond what is easy to do, you will feel so good inside that kindness will start to become a part of your everyday life.  You'll se that benevolence can bring joy and unity to your home, your class, your ward, and your school.  'Remember this:  kindness begins with me.' "
There are several things that are brought to mind when I read and remember this talk, first, I am old.  (giggle) This talk actually took place in 2011.  But I remember the lesson from way back when I was a child.  In our church the 13th article of faith states the following:  "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul, We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things.  If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."
Now lots of people remember that lost part easily because it does talk about endurance and seeking after good things, but for me, I love the part of it that says: "and in doing good to all men;".  We believe in doing good to all men in spite of their circumstances. Somewhere in my tutelage, I remember someone teaching me to never judge and say I'm not going to help someone because they will probably drink it away or they made their bed so now they lie in it?  The Savior didn't think that way and in fact offered his service and love to all. The love of the Savior is shown in so many incidences but one of my favorites that goes along with this train of thought that I have started is, that of the harlot. She was about to be stoned to death when the Savior intervened and stopped the stoning by saying:  "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."  This is such an important lesson in doing the little acts of kindness that will change a life.  Never judge or analyze why they are in the circumstances.  Just serve.  Serve others.  It should never be a choice to serve only the ones that look like they are down on their luck verses the person you presume is a druggie.  I have been guilty of it.  I have been afraid.  But now, it matters not.  I have learned my lessons.  I will talk about that in another blog.  For today, well, serve others without restraint and without pause and without judgment.  It will change you and change your life.
So,,,for your pleasure please enjoy the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIeA_5yYgB4