It's a process

Earlier in the year, I put the smack down on all things white flour. I read the ingredients on every label for bread, cereal, crackers, and snacks to ensure that the it was indeed made with 100% WHOLE wheat. The first ingredient needed to read Whole wheat.
It wasn't as easy it seems, and we had to make a few switches for the good cause. I purchased a great whole grain cookbook and have made muffins, cookies, and other goodies and you really wouldn't know that I had replaced the refined white stuff with whole wheat goodness. I am currently working on mastering the art of a great whole wheat sandwich bread.

This one simple change led to other healthy choices, most recently the ban of hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup.

Someday I will tell you about partially hydrogenated/hydrogenated oils, but suffice to say they aren't good for you and we won't be partaking in them any longer. There is a reason the FDA started forcing trans fat to be listed on nutrition labels a few years ago.

For many the jury is still out on high fructose corn syrup, but I don't really trust the Sweet Surprise commercials. I mean sure it's made from corn, but french fries are made from potatoes and last I checked no one was encouraging us to eat those.

Cutting out foods with these items seemed like the obvious thing to do. Actually doing it was a process. I spent so much time reading labels, that I think the staff at Publix were worried I would never leave.

The ingredients seemed to pop up everywhere. Even the things that seemed ok before are now banned. My normal coffee creamer has partially hydrogenated oil, the cereal bars that seemed like a decent snack have both high fructose corn syrup and partially/hydrogenated oils, even ketchup has high fructose corn syrup. I think I spent 10 minutes reading every wrap label until I found a sandwich wrap without shortening or hydrogenated oils. It was frustrating.

The search for all the answers and ok foods just led to one conclusion: eliminating, or at least cutting way way back on processed foods.

I guess I should be clear here. Lots of things are processed. Milk is considered processed since it is pasteurized to kill bacteria, frozen vegetables can considered processed. I think we all know what I am getting at though. Here is what we are avoiding

• canned foods with lots of sodium
• white breads and pastas made with refined white flour, which are not as healthy as those made with whole grains
• most packaged snack foods, like chips and cheese snacks
• high-fat convenience foods, like cans of ravioli
• frozen fish sticks and frozen dinners
• packaged cakes and cookies
• boxed meal mixes
• sugary breakfast cereals
• processed meats
  

I won't say it was simple, but with a bit of planning we have done well. I was never a fan of boxed meals and I cook dinner 5-6 nights a week, so most meals weren't an issue. The occasional grab and go breakfast would be tricky, as well as snacks.

Processed foods are a convenience. It's easy to grab a granola bar or snack pack on the way out the door. The best advice I can give is to plan. Each Sunday, I spend a bit of time preparing easy yummy non processed foods for the week for snacks and/or breakfasts. It's time well spent in my opinion.

My unsolicited advice:

• Try plain yogurt and add your own fruit or a bit of honey to it. Greek yogurt is amazing and when combined with some berries makes a great breakfast. The brand we recently found makes a vanilla flavor that I love with no HFCS
• Figure out your favorite convenience (processed) food and see if you can make it yourself. I am not claiming that everything I prepare is extremely healthy, but I like that I know what is going into the food.
  
• Portion out the healthy alternatives you create into single servings. The recipe below does that. I also make a fruit salad and place it into individual servings in reusable containers. Jim can grab one to eat at the office if he is running late, and its nice to have it all ready when you want a snack.
  

Remember that granola/cereal bar that is now banned from our diet? Well, it has been replaced with this yummy favorite. (you didn't think I would leave you without a recipe did you)

Granola Bites

1/3 cup almond butter * (see notes)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup *
2 egg whites
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon)
2 1/2 Cups low fat granola*
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 250
Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray

In bowl, whisk together almond butter and maple syrup

Add egg whites and spice and whisk again until smooth

Stir in granola and raisins

Divide mixture evenly into muffin cups.

Bake for 45 minutes on center oven rack. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on wire rack before removing from muffin tins.
Store in airtight container

Notes
* You can use natural peanut butter if you prefer. Almond butter is sold at most grocery, but I get the best deal at Whole Foods since they have several brands to choose from. Regular peanut butter has hydrogenated oils, so we avoid it. If texture is an issue, check a natural food store, deli or market. They now make a lot of different varieties of a more natural peanut butter, including no stir varieties that are much creamier and do not have to be refrigerated. Earth Balance is a good one
* You want pure maple syrup. Imitation syrup is basically maple flavored corn syrup
*Watch the sugar content in your granola. Granola with added fruits and raisins may make these two sweet. I buy the granola in bulk. Our favorite is pumpkin flax sold in the bulk section at Whole Foods

Weighing in...

I have mentioned on more than one occasion that I converted to weighing ingredients when I bake. It is much more consistent and ensures accuracy with your baking. I resisted the idea at first, however after reading several cookbooks and articles (and with Alton Browns prompting), I realized this was the way to go.

It can be a bit tricky since not all recipes include weight. I was able to find weights for AP flour, sugar, and brown sugar. Now that I am making a switch to whole grains for baking, I will eventually have to find weights for whole wheat, and white whole wheat flour. Luckily "King Arthur Whole Grain Baking" uses weights.

To illustrate the benefit of using a scale, I conducted a little experiment. A cup of all purpose flour should weigh 4 3/4 ounces. I had Jim measure out 1 cup of flour (scooping out of the flour canister and then leveling off by sliding the knife across the measuring cup), I measured 1 cup of flour as I normally would in the past (same method as Jim), and I then measured 1 cup of flour using the scoop method recommended on websites and food blogs. This method tells you to fluff the flour, scoop it in to your measuring cup, and level it with the scoop.





We weighed each of the three measurements and here are the results:
Jims "cup" of flour weighed 5.3 ounces
My "cup" of flour weighed 4.6 ounces
My scooped "cup" of flour weighed 4.4 ounces

None of these weighed 4.75 ounces and my scooped cup weighed nearly one full ounce less than Jims.

Convinced? Give it a try. It really will make a difference in your baking.

Here is my scale. It was around $20. My recommendation is a scale with a tare function. This means you weigh your flour, hit tare and the scale goes back to zero. Now you can weigh the next ingredient in the same bowl. Keep weighing, taring, and weighing in the same bowl. One bowl is surely better than eight measuring cups to wash.

Getting real about cooking and baking

If you have read from the beginning you know that this blog started out with recipes and cooking tips. That was it. It has since expanded, but my love of all things culinary is still quite evident. I started recipe of the week for 2009 and hope you enjoy it. Some weeks are quick and easy, some will be a little more complicated. Either way, it will be fun and I will keep it real.
In that same light, I want to tell you this. Its quite a confession, so I hope you are ready:


I use boil in the bag rice.
There I said it.

OK, I am saying this because as much as I love cooking and baking, often its about necessity over desire to do it. We have to eat. We don't do fast food, and I am not a fan of prepared boxed meals. This leaves going out to dinner or actually cooking as the only two options (I guess there is always not eating as an option). Cooking and baking for fun happens on the weekend.

To be fair, my reason for being against boxed meals is first, I don't like the flavor, second, I don't like the preservatives and sodium. We are by no means health nuts, but every person/family has their views on what they eat and that's ours. I still by some boxed side dishes, and will always have a deep love and devotion for Macaroni and Cheese in the blue box.

I am not a cooking expert, but over time I have come up with a few tricks that can take the pain out of the necessity that is cooking. Feel free to follow along.

1. Make a list and check it twice. I work until between 5 and 6 every day and trying to figure out what to make after that is a drag.
I meal plan a week at a time. I found two weeks to be too overwhelming and would get frustrated. Frustration translates to being discouraged, and that will have you hating cooking.
Scan the cupboards and refrigerator and make sure you have it all. Put it on the list and head to the grocery.

2 Post the list. Anywhere you will see it helps. You may need to rearrange if your schedule changes and its good to know what meat needs pulled from the freezer.

3 Plan a leftovers meal. I don't do this every week, but it is a regular on the meal plan.You don't have to have Mondays meal on Tuesday as leftovers. Wait til Wednesday or Thursday. It gives you a night off!
It may seem like this is not a possibility for larger families. I can't speak to this from experience since there are just two of us. However, if you have a recipe/meal that easily doubles (spaghetti and meatballs, cheeseburger or chicken pot pie) give it a try. Double the recipe, make two, etc. Save the extra portion and pull it out for dinner
I don't have children, so I don't want to be one of those people. However, I do have a husband who was anti-leftovers. I played along at first, but then I stopped. Is it a little boring? Of course. Is it easier for the person doing the cooking? Um, yeah, and sometimes that just wins out. It's leftovers or whatever you can find on your own to eat. Tough love baby!

4 Have ingredients for standby/backup meals on hand all the time.
You would be surprised what you can make with baking mix (like bisqu!ck).
I keep bacon and baking mix on hand. Bacon thaws quickly and there is nothing like an occasional breakfast for dinner.
We always have two boxes of pasta and spaghetti sauce in the pantry, and garlic bread in the freezer. Quick, filling meal that doesn't take long. If you want to jazz that up, try this:
Cook 1 pound ground beef. In large pan or bowl add the cooked ground beef to two jars of spaghetti sauce. Divide between two freezer containers and place in freezer. You now have hearty sauce for two spaghetti dinners. You don't even need to worry about thawing. Just can toss the frozen sauce in a saucepan and slowly heat through. (If it won't come out of the container right away, place the sealed container in hot water to start the thawing and then remove)

5 Try new things. Pork chops every Monday, Chicken every Tuesday, and Lasagna every Wednesday gets boring. Not just for the people eating the food, but for the person cooking it as well. Try to change it up and be confident about what you are cooking.
Allrecipes and Betty Crocker are two great sources for recipes with reviews by recipe users and tips to help you cook.

6 Slow Cooker love.
If you are gone for long days, you can get a slow cooker with several temperature settings, a removable cooking container, and a timer that turns the heat to warm for less than $50 if you watch sales. Or you can buy a basic slow cooker and an appliance timer (keeping in mind that the appliance timer will turn the slow cooker off completely and since I have never done this I can't attest to its quality)
Its great to literally plop some food in the slow cooker, turn it on and have a tasty meal 6-8 hours later.
The slow cooker gets its feelings hurt when people think it can only be used for roasts and stews.
Try Stephanies site (one of the first blogs I ever visited) for great ideas, google search crockpot and any word (chicken, pork, etc), search slow cooker in All recipes. Also, the Fix it and Forget series of cookbooks is great.
Not everyone is cool with leaving the slow cooker on all day unattended, and I understand. However, Saturdays and Sundays require dinner too. This could be an option for weekends so you can spend more time relaxing, enjoying family, nurturing your hobbies, etc. You're still home, and dinner is magically cooking away. If this is how you will use the slow cooker, you won't need any fancy bells and whistles and a simple, inexpensive slow cooker will serve you well.

7 Treat yourself. Going out to dinner may not be an option every week, but try to plan a meal out, take out, or pizza night every once in a while.

I hope this helps some of you. If you have questions, email me or ask in the comment section. I would love to answer.

I am a thrifty one...

I am not even kidding...I should pay someone to come up with titles for my posts.

Anywho...
If you saw this post on Coq Au Vin, you got a glimpse of one of the members of the family. The Dutch Oven. Her name is Betty. I'll save how some of the items in my kitchen get their name for another day. She was the only thing I asked for for my birthday. (I lead an extremely crazy life).
The reason I post this is because when most of us think of glorious enameled cast iron dutch ovens, we think of Le Crueset. And at least for me, the next thought is Holy Lots of Money for enamel coated cast iron. I still really really wanted one, but at $230.00 I debated on asking for it. The truth is, Jim probably would have bought it for me, but I would have thought about what we could have spent that money on EVERY time I used it.
That is where Cooks Illustrated magazine (the magazine I could not live without - again, I tell you - crazy life) once again saved the day. My birthday is in Feb, and in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue was a review on dutch ovens. Le Crueset was their favorite, but they also tested and recommended two much lower price models as an alternative to the Le Crueset. The brands tested and recommended were Tramontina (6.5quarts) and Lodge Logic (6 quarts). At 39.99 and 49.99 respectively, both were much more budget friendly. I would not question the quality of the Le Crueset and think its a beautiful (really, I do) and the Le Crueset is 7 1/4 quarts at $230.00, however, I do think there are times when high price doesn't always mean better. I went with the Lodge Logic, because the only place I could find Tramontina was Wal Mart and EVERY store I went to/called/searched online for was out of the 6.5 quart. I love my Lodge Logic and I have never had an issue with its size of 6 quarts.
So, if you have been wanting a dutch oven (if my brother or any other guy is reading this, GROW UP), but didn't want to shell out $200.00 give one of these two brands a try.

Say it ain't Soy...

Tip for the Soy milk drinkers out there (thats me!):
You can drink it, you can cook with it, you can bake with it, but my friends you can't make instant pudding with it. I have tried not once, but twice and failed!

I ended up with a chocolate soup and then cookies and cream soup (oreo pudding is an amazing center for a chocolate layer cake).

After my second failed attempt, I went a "google-ing". Turns out soy milk does not contain casein which is needed to make jello, well jel!

Kraft suggests using a half soy, half milk mixture. We drink Silk based on flavor and nutrition content, so using milk is fine for pudding.

So, fellow soy drinkers, if you have had instant pudding issues now you know why.

Name that pasta!

Do you know what this one is?

I don't, so I am hoping you can help.

More on where it came from later....

A shout out to AllRecipes.Com

If you read the previous post, you know that I got my recipe from AllRecipes and made some changes based on reviews.
This is another reason I love allrecipes. The recipes are tested by others, rated, and reviewed. If you take the time to read the reviews you can get helpful tips and tricks to make sure your recipe is just right. If you sign up as a member (no cost, just create a username), you can review the recipes, participate in recipe exchanges, and create a recipe "box" which saves your favorite recipes for quick, easy access.
I refer to allrecipes often. Once I know what I am looking for I sort by rating. I pick recipes with a rating of 4 1/2 stars or more (sometimes 4) based on at least 100 reviews, read through them, and make my selection. If you think that's obsessive, you should see my spice cabinet.

Recipe Update

Creamy Lemon Blueberry Bars



I would definitely recommend allowing these to chill for a few hours in the frig before serving. Like I said, these were great before the chill, however, allowing the bars to chill allows them to set, making for easier cutting/serving, and they taste even better!


Dutch Baby - Round Two



I made Dutch Baby for breakfast again this morning, and used my leftover blueberries for a yummy blueberry sauce. It was a nice compliment to the powdered sugar and lemon. I found the recipe on allrecipes, and a lot of the reviews stated that the orange juice taste was a little overwhelming unless you allowed the sauce to sit for a few hours. I didn't have a few hours, so I decreased the orange juice from 1 Cup to 3/4 Cup, and increased the water added in the beginning of the recipe from 1/4 Cup to 1/2 Cup. The orange juice provided a nice citrus note to the sauce, without being overwhelming. Here is the recipe as I found it. Feel free to modify as I did, or follow as instructed.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blueberry-Sauce/Detail.aspx

Be prepared to be amazed.

I would like to share with you all the best $2.99 I have spent in a long time. It is called a cake leveler. I happened upon it in the cake aisle at Michaels Arts and Crafts, and my cake decorating life hasn't been the same since that day.

So, you bake a cake, take it out of the oven and it looks like this:




But you don't want this. You want the cake to be nice and level and smooth so you can layer it and frost it, and make it pretty.

That is where the $2.99 leveler comes in. The leveler is a curved base bar with a piece of wire that runs across. There are little notches on each side of the bar so you raise and lower the wire depending on the desired height of your cake. So, you set the height, gently saw across

And then you have a nice flat stackable, frostable top. (More on the icing dam to follow)

When you bake a layer cake and want to fill it (I like to use pudding). You can create an "icing dam" around the edge. This will keep the filling from oozing out the sides as you frost and layer your cake.

Have fun!

Site-seeing

Whoa - I just took dork to a whole new level with that one.
Here are some blogs and sites I love. You will also find them under my favorites below the blog archive.

Cookie Madness - Anna was the 2006 Pillsbury Bake off winner and makes a cookie a day. I'm very jealous. Seriously!

Crockpot 365 - Stephs new years resolution is to use the crockpot everyday in 2008. She is funny and I have made two of her recipes so far. I just love the crockpot

Cupcake Project - Stefs offer to make cupcakes for a friends wedding turned in to a really neat site with yummy (sometimes, how do i say it - odd) ideas and lots of helpful tips. Its amazing the ideas she comes up with.

AllRecipes - Great site. Recipe users rate the recipes and comment. Read through some of the reviews before making a recipe - lots of tips and some changes to help make the recipe just right.

FoodNetwork - Do I really need to elaborate?

Fall is in the Florida Air (kind of) - Pumpkin Cupcakes

It may seem odd to make pumpkin pie, roll, or in this case, cupcakes in April. After all, the taste and spices and smells that are part of these recipes all are associated with fall. The thing is, Florida doesn't have fall. Or winter, or spring...just summer. It is nearly a year since we made the move from Ohio to Florida and even though I thought the holidays would be rough, what I miss most so far was the changing of the leaves and that first day when it just cool enough that you need a sweater but no jacket. I am starting to get off track, but the point was I get a pass, because if I wait for fall in Florida these cupcakes will never happen. Unless of course I wait for the day when it hits 55 degrees again, since that seems to be fall and nearly winter like for Floridians. Its 55 - is a winter coat really necessary?

I liked these cupcakes a lot. I liked them more than the jelly roll cupcake. Pair one with a nice cup of coffee and it makes perfect mid morning snack.

To make this treat, I used a pumpkin cupcake recipe I found on Martha Stewart online and took a basic cream cheese frosting and changed it up a little. Some cream cheese frosting recipes will call for butter, and some won't. I like to use butter for the flavor and consistency it gives. I find it makes the frosting creamier.

Pumpkin Cupcakes - Makes 18

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree***

***Pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin is what you need for this recipe. It can be found in the bakery aisle. You do not want pumpkin pie filling. Be sure to check the can.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Once cool, frosting with cinnamon frosting (recipe below)


**Tip**
My cupcake pans are dark metal. I heat my oven to only 325 and bake for 25 - 27 minutes. This is a tip from boxed cake mixes and I follow it for anything I bake in a dark metal pan. Basically, you should decrease the oven temp and add about 5 minutes to bake time. In this case, I bake for the full 25 minutes suggested as a max bake time.

Cinnamon Frosting

• 1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 C butter, room temperature
• 4 C powdered sugar (feel free to adjust to get the flavor and consistency you want)
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 t almond extract
• 1 T cinnamon

1. Mix the cream cheese and butter until well combined
2. Add vanilla, almond extract, and cinnamon
3. Slowly add powdered sugar until combined.

Frost away!
I like to pipe frosting on cupcakes for two reasons.
1. It is easy. Wilton actually makes a cupcake decorating set. It comes with some disposable
bags, 4 tips (one is the #230 tip for a filling center in your cupcake) and a pamphlet with a few simple techniques. I really do think its easier to pipe frosting on the cupcake than to
spread it on.
2. It looks pretty.

As a note to Nick - I apologize for the lack of an actual pumpkin on the cupcake. I just didn't like the way my frosting looked when I colored a little bit of it orange, and a blob of uncolored frosting trying to look like a pumpkin just ends up looking like a blob. Not to worry though, I am sticking to the clown ban.

The truth abut allspice

I love Alton Brown. I didn't always, and I will explain that another time. Today though, I thank him for this Good Eats Fact.
Allspice is not, as is mistakenly believed by those who come across it in ground form, a mixture of spices! Huh - imagine that.
Since its flavor suggests a blend of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg many believe it is a combination of spices. And lets face it - the name allspice makes the idea that it is multiple spices very believable. It however, is actually a single spice that comes from the dried, unripened fruit of a small evergreen tree, the Pimenta Dioica.
That crazy, mysterious AllSpice!
Thank you Alton and the McCormick EnSPICElopedia.