New banana protein smoothie

While smoothies and protein powder certainly shouldn't be the mainstay of the family diet, I need the supplements right now because the amount if protein I consume doesn't get close to what the guidelines suggest for a person trying to build muscle.

I bought Pure Protein vanilla cream whey powder at Target. Certainly not as wholesome as the products I've been trying from the natural food store but economical. I started blending it with skim milk and a banana, in part because I bought real cow milk to play with my matcha powder I got for Christmas.

I also started putting honey ginger crystals in my smoothie for some zing. 

Today I tried this:

- 1 cup (maybe 1 1/4, not sure) skim milk

- 1 banana 

- 1 scoop protein powder

- 1/2 serving Prince of Peace honey ginger crystals

- 1 heaping tablespoon matcha

The ginger level was almost perfect, maybe a tiny bit strong, and in my opinion the matcha could have been doubled but I love matcha.

On Milk Options

My daughter has had a lot of problems with fluid in her ears. She doesn't get colds per se, it all goes into her ears. We've found that a dairy-free diet helps her get rid of that fluid.

With back-to-school, she had her first incident last weekend-- on a day we were scheduled to meet friends for pizza. Instead of pizza, we had fried chicken.

I'm a big believer in moderation, so I struggle to find a go-to substitute for dairy milk. I think it partially depends on the purpose. I like to rotate my milks, primarily because I don't want to feed everyone too much soy.

Silk Very Vanilla (soy) is the family's favorite drinking milk, though the chocolate is my husband's favorite. I often use the Unsweetened for cooking.

Silk Pure Almond is common in this house, usually vanilla for drinking. My husband likes the dark chocolate, daughter does not. 

Silk Pure Coconut in vanilla is often in the house for drinking (and fruit smoothies) and plain coconut milk for cooking (especially for dishes like Mac and cheese). 

These are the alternative milks that Target carries. Coconut milk is full of fat, which for those on a paleo diet would be considered a good thing. I'm not really a low fat cook, so I don't think we need extra fat.

Almond milk doesn't have protein and since I usually need the extra protein... But we recently tried the protein fortified So Delicious Almond milk which did not have calcium.

Today we tried Good Karma flax milk, which had lots of omegas, but no calcium or protein. But no real fat either.

We also occasionally use the almond milk and soy milk from Aldi. My daughter swears their vanilla almond milk is the best.

15 years ago I always used Rice Dream rice milk that I used to purchase by the case. The nutritional value was minimal and it was all carbohydrates. 

So I still don't have a go-to milk. And rotation is not a bad thing.

Hot Chocolate

My daughter had to write "steps in a process" in her second grade class. She's only seven, but of course her selection for the assignment was a recipe! (beaming here!)

In case the photo doesn't capture it:

Making Hot Chocolate
1. First you get hot chocolate miks and milk, a ovon (ummm... Microwave oven, love Mom) and a cup

2. Then you put the milk in a cup.

3. Next you heat it up.

4. Next you put the chocolate micks in the oven (in the cup, dear, with the milk, love Mom)

5. Finally you ster it and injoy it

Bliss

The Coffee Mate folks have launched several new creamers that don't have soy as a base or artificial chemicals. They are tasty, but extremely potent. I love the simple packaging. When I saw these at Target, I wanted to try one but couldn't decide which... I bought them all. Which one did I like best? I don't remember. I do remember that these tasted better than the soy creamers. Since I traveled to France last fall, I really can't stand the taste of creamer. Matter of fact, I got used to heavy cream in my coffee.

Ravioli in Leftovers

On Wednesday, while my daughter was in dance class, I recycled the leftover chicken stuffed with broccoli from Williams' on Monday night into a fabulous ravioli with cream sauce dish.

I started by heating two tablespoons butter over low in my Le Creuset skillet. When it melted, I whipped in two tablespoons of flour my stirring it around with the bottom of a plastic measuring spoon. Then I added one cup half and half and one cup 2% milk, a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of four color peppercorn. I used a wooden spatula to stir until it boiled.

Separately, I prepared one bag of Wegmans Ravioli Florentine. I always get raviolis with green vegetable matter inside. It's an easy way to increase our vegetable content.

I chopped the remaining chicken breast until the chicken, broccoli and ham were all diced into small pieces. Then, I added this to the cream sauce and let it simmer. I added the cooked ravioli and let it soak over very low heat, stirring frequently, until everyone came home from dance class.

Farm Fresh Cream Sauce

I didn't go to the grocery store yet, in part because the tire on the car exploded and in other part because we have so many random items in this house that I like the challenge of using what we've got.

This morning I was thinking vegetables rolled in cold cuts. But then I decided on pasta for dinner. We have some tri-color rotini, and some lunchmeat ham my mother-in-law brought last week. I thought I could combine those. We also have some raw milk that's a week old and we always have plenty of butter.

Ingredients:
- Tri-color rotini
- Leftover cold cut ham
- About 4 tablespoons butter
- About 1 teaspoon organic four color pepper
- 1 cup raw milk
- 2 tablespoons unbleached white flour
- dash nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon fresh dill
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 2 cups peas

So I made the rotini.

In my Le Creuset skillet, I started with with a pat of butter and some four color peppercorn. I tossed all the ham into the skillet, heated over medium and fried both sides. I removed the ham from the skillet and put it on a cutting board. I added two tablespoons of butter to the skillet, reducing heat to low. Stirring constantly, I added the butter.

The base of this recipe came from the Betty Crocker 25th Anniversary Cookbook.

This is probably the first time my flour-butter base for the cream sauce actually came out as liquid and not as a lump. I think it's because of the even heating in the cast iron skillet. After stirring it until bubbly, I removed the skillet from the heat and added the milk. Stirred until everything melted and mixed together.

I returned the skillet to the heat, added the rest of the herbs (dill, garlic salt, remaining pepper, nutmeg) and stirred constantly as it thickened. When it got almost bubbly and a nice consistency, I added the peas and the ham and stirred until everything was warm.

Then I added the rotini, and stirred together.

My stirring technique for this involved a wide plastic turner where I scraped back and forth across the skillet.

It was my best cream sauce ever.

Sweet Potato Crunch/Casserole hybrid

So, yesterday I thought I would serve some sort of sweet potato with the chicken. The cordless can opener battery died a few turns into the can and the manual can opener just would not latch. (Husband even tried.)

Now that the Gizmo is recharged I got the can open. And I made a use-up-leftovers kind of baked sweet potato dish.

For the potato base:
- 1 can sweet potatoes, drained
- 2 handfuls brown sugar
- About one-half cup farm fresh milk
- 1 egg
- 1 handful raisins

Over top, mix and spread:
- 1/4 cup walnuts (all I had)
- about 1/4 cup leftover pie crumbs
- about 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon

Coat with three tablespoons melted butter.

Arrange in Pyrex bread loaf pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes

Apple Sausage Waffles

For the gaufres:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
  
• 2 cups milk
  
• 2.5 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder

They suggest ham, roquefort & fresh parsley.

I'm adding:

• dried parsley
• 2 chicken sausages with apple
• some cheddar (about a cup)

And tossing it in the waffle iron.

WOW! The best waffles ever! Cooked to a perfect golden brown in five minutes flat!

Converted from a French recipe:
http://www.supertoinette.com/recette/1924/gaufres-au-jambon-en-amuse-bouche.html

Blueberry Crumb Bread Pudding

My daughter seems to have the plague we've all been harboring, so I gave her some trail mix with extra cashews and dark chocolate powder-coated almonds to tide her until I got something hot and comforting whipped up.

This is what I thought I'd make, the apple crisp bread pudding, but with blueberries as we have a big bag of frozen blueberries from the warehouse club. Here is the original recipe:

http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2009/11/apple-crisp-bread-pudding.html

But, as one should anticipate, I have a tendency not to read the entire recipe before cooking... I ended up improvising more than I thought and what should have been a nice 11 x 13 pan of pudding ended up filling a cake pan.

So, here goes:

In a large skillet, combine

• 3 cups blueberries
• 1/4 cup blue curacao
• 3 tablespoons butter

Let come to slow boil and reduce heat.

Now, I used a good 14 cups of bread chunks, because I started with a two-day old baguette from Wegmans, ran out, and used the remaining breadchunks I had in the freezer... the same ones I used for my homemade stuffing.

I buttered the bottom of my cake pan and sprinkled with about 1 tablespoon sugar. Then I added the bread hunks from the baguette. I poured most the blueberry mixture over this and spread it around as best I could.

Then I added the frozen bread to cover it and sprinkled about 1 cup of frozen blueberries on top.

Now, the custard:

My custard was...

• 7 eggs (it was what I had)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup 2 percent milk
• almost 2 cups vanilla soy milk

Whisk until a nice even texture. Pour onto bread, pressing down with a spoon to make sure the bread absorbs the liquid.

Now, the oven should be preheated to 350 degrees. I layered a thin layer of brown sugar on top and then added about a cup of my mother-in-law's pie crumbs on the very top. She always makes extra when she makes a pie and usually throws them away, but I freeze them.

Bake for 40 minutes or until set.

I hope it works...

We had the first serving after 40 minutes in the oven and it was incredible! I put it back it for another 15 minutes because it didn't seem quite set enough...

More of an update:
Now what? I have made a ridiculous amount of bread pudding. This is where 'cheap' comes in. We each had about 1.5 cups for breakfast. It accounted for about 1/6 of this pan. I scooped an equal amount into a Tupperware container for tomorrow's breakfast.

There are several approaches for the rest...

1. Eat until we are disgustingly full. (Wouldn't be cheap or healthy.)
   
2. Share. (No one really to share with)
3. Store.

I opted to freeze. Bread pudding is already mushy, so it shouldn't affect the texture too negatively to freeze it. And I placed approximately three servings in each one quart freezer bag. So each bag will serve my whole family for breakfast. I ended up with four bags, which I will place inside a large freezer bag once the little ones cool. I have them in my unheated mud room so it shouldn't take long.

Now, a dessert that required a lot of eggs, bread and blueberries will serve a family of three for six comfort food breakfasts. Serve with a side of vegetarian sausage and I think that's a great start for a winter day.

Tracy's Yellow Cake

My friend Tracy said yellow cake is her favorite. So, I tried to hook her up.

From:
http://bakingbites.com/2005/10/happy-birthday-to-me/

Yellow Sheet Cake

2 ½ cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×13 inch sheet pan with parchment paper, or lightly grease it with shortening or oil (butter will produce a harder “crust”).
Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add sugar and, using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed to blend. Cut butter into 4 or 5 chunks and drop into the bowl with the flour. Blend on low speed until mixture looks sandy and no large chunks of butter remain, 1-2 minutes.
In a large measuring cup, combine eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat lightly with a fork until combined. With the mixer on low, pour 1 cup of the egg mixture into the bowl. Turn speed up to medium and beat for 1 ½ minutes. Reduce speed back to low and pour in the rest of the egg mixture. Continue to beat at low speed for an additional 30 seconds, until liquid is fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for a few more seconds, if necessary.
Pour into prepared 9×13 pan and spread batter evenly with a spatula. Tap gently a few times to eliminate any bubbles.
Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool for 30 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a rack to cool completely. You can leave it in the pan if you’re serving it casually.
Serves 16 (or 12 birthday-sized pieces)

I really followed this one and made Betty Crocker's chocolate icing.

That I deviated from the recipe...
Chocolate Frosting (from Betty Crocker)
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
(I didn't have unsweetened so I used semisweet)
2 cups powdered sugar (I reduced to 1 and 1/3 cups because of the semisweet chocolate)
1.5 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons milk

Combine butter and chocolate until well mixed. Not when hot. Stir in sugar. Beat in milk and vanilla. Use enough milk to make desired consistency.

I also gave Tracy some Heath baking bits to sprinkle on top. Turns out Heath is her favorite candy.

The cake didn't cool before she had to leave so I sent her on her way, with the cake in the pan, icing in a separate container and the Heath bits.

Mystery Crustless Quiche

I've made quiche several times for this blog, including the crustless version and the mystery version. When I scanned my past entries, the original quiche entry did not appear under any of the logical tags ('French' and 'eggs,' though I'm not sure if I checked 'betty crocker' or 'cheese.') I've decided to retype the original recipe, from the Betty Crocker 25th Anniversary Cookbook, for ease of use.

Quiche in this house is a good way to use of leftovers. Today we have garden green beans, black olives and salsa/cheese dip in there. I also made today's quiche with farm fresh raw milk and brown eggs. And somehow, my family has managed to use TEN eggs since Sunday.

Quiche Lorraine
By Betty Crocker

One 9-inch pie crust
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded swiss cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
4 eggs
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Heat oven to 425. Press pastry into pie dish. Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion in bottom. Beat eggs slightly. Beat in remaining ingredients. Pour into pie dish. Bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven to 300. Bake another 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Today's Mystery Quiche
By Angel
note: I always include a vegetable in my quiche. I rarely use anywhere near the cream and cheese recommended, so my quiches sometimes require less liquid and more cooking time to gel. Honestly, Americans eat a ridiculous amount of protein, so three sources of protein in one dish (bacon, cheese AND eggs) is overkill. By reducing the amount of protein sources in a meal, you reduce the cost.

I oil or apply cooking spray to the pie dish and avoid the crust.

In the bottom of the pan, I arrange, in this order:
1 cup green beans, French cut
1/3 cup sliced black olives
1/2 to 3/4 cup American cheese/salsa dip I made for dipping the other night

In a separate dish, I whisked 4 eggs and 1.5 cups raw milk. Add to pan. Follow cooking directions above.

To the farm!

I want my daughter to understand where her food comes from. I also want to support local farms, and since eating local reduces shipping times for merchandise, it improves nutritional content and freshness.

Plus, then I see how the animals are treated.

Today we spent $29. We bought two packages of smoked bacon, one half-gallon of milk, one large container of their blueberry yogurt smoothie, one container of lemon cheese spread, a half dozen ears of corn and a dozen brown eggs.

Chocolate

I found this recipe close to ten years ago in an issue of Bon Appetit. It's for iced hot chocolate, though it works just fine without the "iced." I made this for a rainy, chilly Father's Day treat. I made a half batch, because we had limited amounts of milk.

This is one of those recipes that needs to remain gourmet to retain its yumminess. And it's not cheap, but it certainly can dress up any occassion. Food can be mix and match like fashion, a blend of high-low style. Serve a cheap or plain cookie with fancy drink. Heck, this recipe is so delicious I would settle for a slice of bread.

My ingredients:
3.5 ounces Lindt Swiss bittersweet chocolate (about $3)
1/6 cup organic sugar (I bought it a long time ago with a coupon and save it for special recipes)
1.5 cups farm fresh milk (I recommend Klein farm for those in the Lehigh Valley. Store-bought milk is NOT the same)
1/6 cup water

For garnish:
Whipped cream (I used light)
rainbow sprinkles
two m&m's for each glass

The recipe as originally printed:
Iced Hot Chocolate
This iced chocolate is served at Ladurée. For best flavor, use a good quality imported bittersweet chocolate.

4 servings*

3 3/4 cups whole milk
1/3 cup water
6 ounces imported bittersweet, not unsweetened, chocolate, very finely chopped

12 ice cubes

Bring three cups milk, 1/3 cup water, and sugar to summer in heavy large saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Refrigerate about four hours until well chilled.

Mix 3/4 cups milk into chocolate mixture. Working in batches, blend chocolate mixture in blender until frothy. Put three ice cubes in bottom of each glass and divide liquid evenly.

*My ingredients, the 'halved' recipe, as listed on top yielded the three servings in the photo.

Notes: I have never used a whisk on this. Or the blender. I serve hot or cold. And the chocolate usually leaves the milk looking mottled, as opposed to one consistent color.

Klein Farm

Lots of people go to Klein Farm for the cheese... I go for milk.

Klein Dairy sells their homemade cheese, yogurt and raw milk. We've probably been going there for as long as my daughter has been around and they keep expanding their products, and they work with other farmers and bakers to have yummy stuff. I'm going to investigate a CSA through them.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. I did one years ago thanks to my colleague Lisa at the Chronicle. You buy a share and the farmer gives you produce every week, whatever is harvested. I swear that's why my daughter is a good eater, because we exposed her to everything when she was one...

But today we bought a half-gallon of milk, a yogurt for me to eat right away, a larger container of the smoothie-yogurt in strawberry banana, brown eggs, three packages of ground beef, one package of beef cubes and one package of bacon. $33.

We're at the midpoint of the month and I've now spent about $11o on food.

Crêpes with strawberry-banana filling

I decided to make crêpes with strawberry filling.

That may sound unremarkable, but somewhere I stumbled off the tried and true path and started experimenting.

Ingredients for Strawberry-Banana Crêpes
Butter
Lots of fresh strawberries, sliced
2 to 3 bananas
powdered sugar (for dusting)
1/2 cup flour
canola oil
1 egg
2 tablespoons Chambord
4 teaspoons organic raspberry jam
4 teaspoons organic sugar
water
sea salt
3/4 cup milk (or in my case, soy milk)

I had my husband slice about a quart of fresh strawberries. While he did that, my daughter and I poured two tablespoons Chambord and the jam into the bottom of a one-cup pyrex measuring glass. We added water so it would hit the one cup mark. We put it in a small saucepan and boiled. Then we added the strawberries and the four teaspoons sugar. We ended up adding some corn starch later to thicken the mix, and we boiled it so long the strawberries were reduced to a lumpy syrup, but oh, well, lesson for next time.

For the crêpe batter, we put the flour and a pinch of salt in the bottom of a mixing bowl. We stirred in the milk and the egg. And then a drizzle of canola oil, about half a teaspoon. We stirred until smooth and then I whisked until my arm got sore. Crêpes cannot be lumpy. This batter ended up my smoothest yet.

I rinsed out the glass measuring cup and poured the batter inside, for two reasons: 1. to make sure there were no lumps and 2. for better control pouring the batter into the pan.

I took a sliver of real butter and heated it in the skillet over medium high. Once the pan was hot, I swirled the butter in the skillet and, preferably with the skillet not on the heat, poured about 1/8 of a cup batter. I eye-balled it, aiming for a pot about the size of my palm and thinner than a pancake. Then I swirl the pan so I can get it as thin as paper. I returned the pan to the heat. It only takes about 30 seconds for the crêpe to cook. It won't exactly bubble like a pancake, but it will solidfy. I have heard that a crêpe that is appropriately thin will not need to be flipped. But mine need to be flipped for about ten seconds.

Add new butter every third crêpe or so.

When all the crêpes are done, arranged those to serve on plates. Arrange sliced bananas in a line down the center. Add some syrup (because that's what the strawberries became). Roll. Add more syrup and sprinkled powdered sugar.

Chai

I wanted something different so I tried my darneddest to make something as yummy as Oregon Chai. I think I did it. I put two Celestial Seasoning Honey Vanilla White Tea Chai tea bags in a big old mug and poured in 32 ounces of boiling water. Then, I left it sit, covered for about ten minutes. Then I took a teaspoon of honey and put it in the bottom of a glass. I added half a mug (about 4-6 ounces) of the tea. Then I added a couple tablespoons of half and half and topped the mug with about 4 ounces of one percent milk. I loved it, and I even served some to my daughter. She loved it too and said I should save some for Daddy.

French Toast

I have taken the last of the homemade bread from the freezer and using it to make French toast. French toast, for the record, is not French but American. An eighteenth-century innkeeper made the recipe for his guests. His family name was French. French toast is a great item to keep in the freezer for busy mornings, if your family leaves any to freeze.

Ingredients:

1. heap of homemade bread, sliced.
2. 1/3 cup apple juice
3. 1/3 cup soy milk
4. 1/3 cup milk
5. 3 eggs
6. cinnamon
7. nutmeg
8. 1 individual serving natural applesauce
9. about 1 tsp. vanilla
   
10. oil and/or butter for the pan

Mix ingredients 2-9. Whisk well. Dip bread in mix, fry.
I discovered a tin of beef burgundy in the freezer that I have put in the fridge for dinner tomorrow.

Ode to Kelloggs

My husband opened a box of cereal this morning. We haven't had cereal in this house since before I started this blog. So it seemed an occasion worth marking. Of course, my daughter had hers with a side of chocolate soy milk and a banana smothered with extra-crunchy peanut butter.

Slacker food day: Rotini with pine nuts and creamy buttered veggies

So, my husband honored my daughter's request for a sandwich for breakfast in a totally different way that I would have. He made an egg sandwich with cheese and bacon on a deli bagel. We each got half a bagel. He took the leftover sausage and peppers for lunch. I got peanut butter on graham crackers and some homemade granola. My daughter stayed with her grandparents today, so she had grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly, pickles and chips. I am not a proponent of the sandwich, pickles and chips lunch but... Because of the sheer volume of cheese we've had recently, I have vetoed cheese as an ingredient in tonight's dinner. My husband is whipping up some sort of whole wheat pasta and vegetables... and if I ever get my shoe off I will help him and toast some pine nuts... I know whatever he puts in dinner won't be enough protein for me. Especially since I'm starved.

Once I got into the kitchen, I mixed up some olive oil, butter, half and half, milk, basil, four colors of pepper, garlic pepper, It's a dilly (The perfect herb mix for cucumber sandwiches... Mmmmm), in the skillet and tossed in the california blend vegetables. When that was good and hot, I mixed in some italian breadcrumbs to change the texture. I served with the last of the fresh pineapple.