Jan 28, 2011---Black Bean Soup....and other (inexpensive) Deliciousness!

So...I tagged this as "almost vegetarian" because I suppose you could take out the bacon.  Seeing as everything is better with bacon, this meal made eating-in very easy (and uber-affordable).

One of my gal-pals over at Kitschen Feast suggested using this recipe from Dave Lieberman for Black Bean Soup.

For better or for worse, here is my altered version (as I'm coming to realize I alter 96% of my recipes).**

4 cups Black beans (do it cheapy version and use 2 cups dried and bagged version....just be sure to cook the beans before you add to the recipe) (reserve the cooking water)
10 strips of bacon ***
1 cup of fresh cilantro
1/2 onion
2 T ketchup
A few shakes or Worcestestersterieisties sauce
6 garlic cloves
1 1/2 cup tomatoes
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp cumin
Green onion (for garnish)
Sour Cream (just a dollop for garnish)
Shredded Cheese (just a sprinkling...for garnish)
Poached Egg (for added richness....if you don't think the bacon is enough)****

1.  Cook beans (remove cooking water)
2.  While bacon is cooking, you can do the following:  Chop and shred remaining ingredients...AND cook in cook onion and garlic til clear, add rest of spices and ingredients (except garnishes)....let simmer for 7 mins
3.  Marry 1 and 2
4.  Add cooking water as necessary, mash beans a little with potato masher) and let simmer til you can't stand it anymore (Mine was for a whole 10 mins)

So overall, dinner took 30 mins...and the cost was soooooo little.   With some deviation due to error, I estimated that our dinner cost 4.26....for our whole family (and then some).

**I altered this recipe primarily because, as a whole, my family has a very delicate palate.  We enjoy seasoning, but not hot spice.

***Easiest way I've found to cook bacon (and not have to actually tend it and get your stove-top all greasy) is to find your broiler pan [place bacon on top slotted layer], crank your oven up to 400, and let it cook for 20 minutes.  Result=degreased crispy bacon (without having to slave over your stove)

****We did not add a poached egg to the recipe tonight, however in other black bean recipes I've used, I've added this and appreciated the addition...and it wasn't included in my cost analysis (however seeing as eggs are at most .20 [for the type I buy]...this would add a whopping 1.20)

Enjoy!!!!

W

Jan 28, 2011---"Swap Following" Linky Party ...and how to make new friends but keep the old

So I follow a gal (Nicole)...who is following a gal (Homemaker on a Dime)....who had this quirky idea of creating a "Swap Following" Linky Party...and it's a share and share-alike kinda deal.  Kinda like those jean swap parties or housesitting ventures (you know who you are...but you are required to let my dog out when we go on our 17 vacations this year).  Anyway, kinda different, just for fun...and I always wanted to be stalked (in the best kind of way).

Doing it...Brownie style.

W

Jan 28, 2011---Ugly Cake

So, we celebrated chocolate cake day yesterday.  But in the ugliest of fashions.  Let's just say that this cake reflected my sentiments toward yesterday---it was unpleasant to look at no matter what angle you choose.

Here are some tips if you want to have an ugly cake experience too: 

• have a crappy day, make sure you struggle to keep ankle-biters away from the hot oven while separating constant bickering from your older two children
• be hungry and cranky too
• don't properly grease your pans (or allow your 6 yr old to grease them)
• pull your cake out of the pan when it's too warm
• be sure to laugh maniacally if you start icing your cake and it falls apart
• continue laughing maniacally to prevent crying, but continue icing until either you need alcohol or a trip to the head shrinker
• get neither but indulge in super-chocolatey ugly cake

ahhhhh....can I say I'm glad chocolate cake day is over? 

W

Jan 27, 2011---Chocolate Cake Day (and other trips off of the wagon)

Today is chocolate cake day, and it's still up in the air if I will make some:)  Maybe I'll pass some down to one of the [MANY] pregos I know who might need a little chocolate in their life.

And in other news, we used our first gift card.  Let it be marked forever and indelibly in the annals of history---January 26, 2011, our little family ate out for the first time in over three weeks.  Actually, we ate in.  Jeff got take-out with one of our three cards (so tally it...we're down to two...two cards hahahaha).  What did we get?  The all-American fast food---McDonalds.  I had a southern chicken sandwich (with lettuce and tomato) and some EXTREMELY salty fries.  I'm thinking my tastebuds are in the process of regressing back to a time when we didn't have salted EVERYTHING. We broke down mostly because I think we were both suffering from headaches and "I don't wannas."  That's fine.

Tonight is a black bean soup recipe that a gal-pal passed along.  It has bacon, and as we all know, you can't go wrong with bacon, butter or chocolate.

Life is good and we're back on the wagon.

W

Jan 23, 2011--- National Peanut Butter Day (and other sticky ventures)

Peanut butter day is a great holiday to celebrate....that is unless you are allergic. 

I truly don't know the reasoning behind the latest surge in peanut allergies, but I know there are several current cases in my son's classes.  When I was a kid, I don't remember a single case which meant that my mom could make any sort of treat for my birthday.  It's not that I don't have sympathy for these kiddos---I do---but I would like to make my kid some cupcakes for his class without freaking out about where the nearest epi pen is.  If only George Washington Carver could see this.

That being said, we enjoyed the simple pleasures found within a PB & J for lunch, without an epi pen.

Dinner was pretty simple (out of necessity)---just chicken with lemon pepper, squash and potatoes.  Pretty tasty and cooked in less than 27 minutes. 

And today is day 24.  But who's counting?

W

Jan 23, 2011--- Potatoes Au Gratin

Pork day #1 (last night) turned out pretty good.  I used the rotisserie and one of my Christmas presents (a mandolin).  I don't know why I've always wanted one of these, but....I have.  Just like I'm not-so-secretly in love with infomercials. 

Anyway, I made potatoes au gratin with said mandolin.  And....ta da:

Beautiful potato...chips!

Of course, you could always use a knife...or force your husband to use a knife, but this was a fun adventure in gadget-land for me;)

I used this recipe but I'm not completely sold on it.  Of course I didn't follow the directions to a T, so maybe I'll try it again and use a deeper pyrex container.

W

Jan 23, 2011--- Measure Your Feet Day (so you know whose not to step upon) and Rotisserie Pork

I messed up.

We are having pork again today.   Not so ingenuous, however it is mostly because I messed up when freezing my pork 4 weeks ago.  It is no secret that I love a good deal, but sometimes even I make mistakes.  I bought a humongo pork loin for .99/lb and divvied it up to several pork roasts.  Smarty me put two roasts in one freezer bag...and they froze together.  My time would have been better spent banging my head against the wall.

So tip #1 for the day?  Freeze things appropriately

Problema #2?  Making things twice in a row makes my husband cranky.  He can only stand leftovers so many times and he can only stand the same kind of protein so many days in a row.  He gets burned out (understandably) like we all do (think Turkey day....and 24 days following when you make a 70 lb turkey).

So for day #1 (last night) I made Rotisserie Pork in the rotisserie (but you could use an oven).  I painted on a bit o' olive oil (so my spices would stick a little better) and cheated for the spice part (used Cavender's Greek seasoning [salt-free]).  Can I tell you that it makes a mama happy to see her babies eat the food she has labored on?  (Ok, even though the labor was all of 4 minutes). 

So for day #2 of pork pork (thank you Swedish Chef) I want to use the rotisserie again (as it's still on my counter) but I think I want to make this version and ramp it up with more garlic.  I suppose I could chop the beast up and make pork chops, but I think this will be less effort.

That being said, time to go start!

Happy eating!

W

Jan 22,2011--- National Blonde Brownie Day (And Macaroons and how to gain 1000 lbs this winter)

How to gain 1000 lbs this winter, by me

When trying to put your body into hibernation, one should first love carbohydrates.  Love your carbohydrates in any form you can get them...into your mouth.  You should also love to bake, or know where you can acquire baked goods.  If you know how to bake, bake a ton (under the premise that you'll share) and then just share with yourself...some more...and some more.  And finally, if you are going to meet your 1/2 ton quota, please be sure to have reasons to indulge yourself everyday (it is great if you have some unresolved emotional issues that you need to address or it is also fabulous if you have raging hormones, even better if you have both). 

All jesting aside (kinda), coconut macaroons are the bomb-diggity.  I've always wanted to try my hand at making them, and last night was the night.  Of course, they are only good for those people who actually like coconut, as they consist primarily of ...coconut.

I dug around the internet searching for a recipe (as I was too lazy to get off my couch to look through the 1700 recipe books I have) and found numerous recipes for coconut macaroons...with sweetened condensed milk.   Alas, I didn't have nary a can of SCM, so....I hunted some more and found Alton Brown's recipe...and only slightly altered it (the tail-end).  After you put the finished macaroons on a cooling rack, place the parchment paper underneath.  Warm choco in the your-crowave, put it in a ziploc baggie, nip the tip, and drizzle over macaroons.  All I could hear was Sinatra singing "Heaven, I'm in heaven.....blah de blah....cheek to cheek...."

They might not be beautiful, but my tongue thought they were a w e s o m e. 

Just two few small tips:

• For the love of all that is holy, please don't scorch the chocolate.  There is nothing worse in this life than wasted chocolate...and the smell that emanates from said scorched chocolate.

• Pay veddy careful attention to the coconut when toasting it.  Very quickly it goes from a beautiful white to a not-so-pretty black (no joke, like 30 seconds).  It will be in your oven, oh-so-innocent, and go to char in a blink of 70 eyes.

W

Jan 21, 2011---National Granola Bar Day (and other funny mental images of hippies drinking)

I wonder how many hippie bars exist.  Ones where dread-locked hair and bare feet are dress codes.

I suppose when they say Granola Bar day...they mean something more like this...instead of my distorted image.

And if you're interested in a Nature Valley Coupon, click here.

So, last night we celebrated Cheese Lover's Day with ....twice baked potatoes (with....ooooey gooey cheese).  And tonight for dinner is a take on a take on Mark Bittman's mustard herb baked chicken.  I did a lazy girl google (i.e. looked at the first thing I found) and came upon this article.  And now noticing that it takes 60-90 minutes to bake, I should probably start dinner....now. 

Toodles

Wondermom



Jan 20, 2011---National Cheese Lover's Day (or other things that stop up...traffic)

So it is yet another day off from school due to Mother Nature.  A deluge of beautiful snow crystals not so innocently created used parking lots out of our major highways.  But fortunately for his, time stands still briefly and we get to truly enjoy childhood pleasures like snow angels, board games and hot chocolate.

I did celebrate National Cheese Lovers Day by....enjoying some cheese.  I had a cheapy (but oh-so-good) fat-free refried beans and cheese burrito.....with some extra cheesy cheese cheese.

Check out this coupon if you need a less expensive way to celebrate this holiday.

http://brands.kraftfoods.com/naturalcheese/

$1/1 mozzarella w/ creme cheese added?!? potentially yummy!!! 

Wondermom