Spinach-Cheese Balls

Here's another goody I made for New Year's that I'm just now getting around to posting.  Even people that don't like spinach found themselves liking these snackable balls of yum. 

Spinach-Cheese Balls

3/4 cup flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp butter

1 10-oz box of frozen spinach (or homegrown equivalent), thawed and squeezed to drain

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 egg

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried majoram

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried sage

1 cup tomato sauce, for dipping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease baking sheet.  In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.  Cut in butter until it resembles fine crumbs.  Mix in remaining ingredients except tomato sauce, using clean hands if necessary to blend well.  Form into 1-inch balls and place on baking sheet.  Bake about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Immediately remove from baking sheet.  Serve with tomato sauce.

Red Velvet (or not) Snowcapped Cookies--Week 11 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

The good news: I finally got a chance to test my homemade natural beet-based red food coloring and you can't taste the beetiness.

The bad news:  it isn't strong enough to show through the cocoa powder in a red velvet environment.

So my "red velvet" snowcapped cookies aren't very red.  More of a brown really.  They're still yummy and velvety though!

My followers on Facebook may recognize this concept from a Mr. Food segment I mentioned last week.  I thought his snowcapped red velvet cookies were cute as heck, but I was very disappointed when I saw the "recipe" on his website.  The "ingredients" for the "recipe" were red velvet cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil, water, white chocolate chips, and a container of cream cheese frosting.  Good golly, Miss Molly!  Shouldn't someone whose name is Mr. Food use ingredients that are actual, ya know, food???

So here is my adaptation, using food, not premade mixes and packages of garbage.  I have included how much artificial food coloring you would want to use if you choose to use such things, but if you use a natural version, you may need to use much, much more to get that pretty red color.  Or you could remember that food is about taste, not so much color, and just omit it for a chocolaty cookie without the fancy trappings.

Red Velvet (or not) Snowcapped Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp red food coloring (optional)
2/3 cups cocoa powder
3 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
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6 tbsp butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375.  Cream together 1 cup butter, sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer.  Blend in egg and 2 tsp vanilla until smooth.  Beat in food coloring, if using.  Stir in cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt, making sure to scrape down sides.  Stir in white chocolate chips.  Place byrounded tablespoons on an ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake 10-15 minutes, until set.  Cool completely.

Blend together butter, cream cheese, and vanilla.  Slowly add powdered sugar and cream until smooth.  Scoop frosting into a plastic baggy, cut a corner of the baggy with kitchen shears and squeeze peaks of frosting onto each cookie.

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Let's see what everyone else is baking up this second to last week of Christmas Cookies:

Soft Pretzel Recipe, Felt Breakfast & Eating Steak on Food Stamps--X-Treme Food Stamp Challenge

Yesterday for breakfast, we ate the blueberry bread that had been my blueberry bagel fail with cream cheese.  Not super exciting or delicious, definitely not something I'll make again, but edible and at least fairly nutritious.

For an afternoon snack, I made soft pretzels from scratch.  I initially put cinnamon & sugar on them, but everyone except my daughter decided they were better plain with mustard instead.  Either way, they were a lot healthier than anything you could buy at the store and they were a lot lower sodium!  The kids had milk with their pretzels and I had my second Diet Coke of the day.

Soft Pretzels

1 package yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp honey
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
cinnamon & sugar for topping (optional)
pretzel salt for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 425.  Mix yeast, water, sugar, salt, and honey in a large mixing bowl.  Add the flour and stir in completely.  Sprinkle a small amount of flour on a clean surface and knead dough 5-10 minutes, or until smooth.  Divide dough and form into desired pieces (letters or numbers would probably be fun for small children).  Place shapes on greased baking sheet.  Brush with beaten egg and add any additional toppings you desire.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool slightly before serving.  They can be frozen and reheated in the microwave.

We couldn't end up having pasties for dinner as I had planned because we were almost completely out of butter, so we ended up having a steak dinner instead.  People always rail against people on food stamps eating steak dinners, but, let me tell you, this was a super cheap thing for us to be eating.  First off, the steak was venison that my husband had killed himself.  We did end up paying to have it professionally processed (because he was still working at the time and didn't have time to do it, or a good place, since around the time he shot it was when they were supposed to be remodeling the garage), but even that works out to be about $0.70 a pound and we only ate a pound of meat for dinner between all of us.  The bulk of the dinner consisted of a deluxe baked potato.  The potatoes were the last couple of a 10# bag I had gotten at a farmers market this fall for $3, which was more like $1.50 for the bag with the Double Up Food Bucks program (or free, depending on how you look at it, since they were grown in Michigan and purchased with the free tokens because of that).  The broccoli was some that I'd gotten free from the Broccoli Lady, a person that offered up a bunch of broccoli on Freecycle that I was happy to receive from her.  The cheese sauce was made with the fat drippings of the steak, a little flour, a little milk, and a couple ounces of cheese (so about $0.40 worth at what I paid for it).  So all in all, with the sour cream and steak sauce thrown in there, we paid probably less than $1.50 for all of us for that dinner!  The kids and I had milk for dinner, which might have put us over that $1.50 mark, but it was covered by WIC.

A bit after dinner, my husband asked if I could bring him some chocolate chips.  I told him I didn't think we had any, but he said we did because he had gotten into some the night before.  Sure enough, I looked and he had found the chocolate chips I'd hidden in case of a chocolate emergency.  *sigh*  So he and the kids had chocolate chips for dessert.

Late at night, to celebrate the completion of my first piece of felt bread, my husband and I had a bit of ice cream with homemade chocolate syrup on top.  That turned out to be a bit of a mistake though, since then I was shivering like crazy as I worked on the second piece of bread.  I got it done though, so now mt felt food totals are 2 eggs, 4 pieces of bacon, and 2 pieces of bread/toast.

Caramel-y Popcorn--Week #10 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

Good grief!  Are we seriously already to week 10?  How did this happen?  I gotta get started on making the kids' Christmas presents, I guess!!!!

Anyway, this week's recipe is another tasty fail.  (Like how I fail tastily, so I can still use the recipe, just change what it is a recipe for?)  I was hoping to make popcorn balls without corn syrup, since A) I don't use the stuff often enough that it fits in my X-Treme Food Stamp Challenge lifestyle and B) I question how healthy the stuff is.  I found that my alternate sugary substances didn't give it enough sticky cohesion at the end to hold a ball shape.  It did make for a darn tasty caramel corn though!  You probably could even substitute turbinado or Sucanat for the sugars in this recipe if you try to avoid processed sugar, if those kind of fancy-schmancy sugars fit in your budget.

One more thing to note: when making the coating, if you taste it right after you put everything in, it will taste really molasses-y, but the taste will fade and transform into more of a caramel flavor as it cooks.  I was scared when I was making it, so I figure I should warn you!

Caramely Popcorn

6 tbsp sugar

6 3/4 tsp water

pinch of cream of tartar

2 tbsp molasses

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 tsp salt

 8 cups plain popped popcorn

Combine sugar, water, and cream of tartar in a large pan or Dutch oven.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Reduce to simmer; cover for 3 minutes.  Uncover and simmer, stirring often until mixture reaches a temperature of 235-245 degrees.  Add molasses, brown sugar, butter, and salt.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; boil for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in popcorn until well coated.  Spread out coated popcorn onto waxed paper and let cool.

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Let's see what tasty treats are popping on the other blogs in the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies this week!

5 Flavors of Pumpkin Seeds

The seasonings I made for this project, BBQ, pizza, chocolaty, cinnamon, and ranch could be used for flavoring other things too, like popcorn or other seeds, so even if you don't have any pumpkin seeds around, you may want to take note.

I finally got around to doing something with our pumpkin seeds left over from jack-o-lanterns yesterday!  I knew it would take a while before I got around to them, so I stuck the pumpkin guts, including seeds, in the fridge after my husband and kids carved their pumpkins Monday.  Tuesday, I cleaned the seeds off and discarded the pumpkin guts.  I have read that pumpkin seeds can have an enzyme in them that can upset stomachs if too many are eaten (and knowing I have a tendency to overeat yummy things), but that enzyme can be neutralized if the seeds are soaked in salt water for 8-48 hours.  I figured this would also give me some extra time before I had to deal with them, so that was an added bonus.

Yesterday, my 48 hours was up.  I needed to do something with them.  I rinsed off the seeds, patted them dry with a towel, and mixed up my seasoning blends.  Then, I tossed a bit of olive oil and a bit of seasonings (I found more is better.  Too much won't stick and if there isn't enough, the seed dominates enough that you can barely taste the seasoning), and baked at 350 degrees, checking for done-ness and mixing up about every ten minutes.  When they were toasty enough, I pulled them out and ate.  I liked all the flavors I made, my kids just liked the cinnamon and chocolaty ones, and my husband thought the seasoning was fine, but didn't like the seed flavor, so there wasn't anything to be done for that, other than stop wasting them on him!

I wrote these blends using "parts" as the units because I found that to be a very useful way to measure seasonings.  That way, you can use the same recipe for a tiny, single serving or an industrial size batch for a huge party or long time use.  Just use a tiny scoop or 1/8 tsp or something for a small batch and a bucket for the big one.  It really doesn't matter as long as you keep the proportions the same.

Zesty BBQ Seasoning

1 part ground cayenne pepper

6 parts salt

6 parts black pepper

6 parts chili powder
6 parts cumin
12 parts paprika
12 parts granulated sugar

Ranch

1 part dried thyme

2 parts onion powder

4 parts garlic powder

6 parts black pepper

8 parts dried parsley

8 parts salt

Pizza

1 part red pepper flakes

4 parts dried oregano

4 parts dried basil

4 parts garlic powder

64 parts Parmesan cheese

Chocolaty

1 part cocoa powder

1 part powdered sugar

Cinnamon

1 part cinnamon

1 part granulated sugar

Baked Kale Chips

I finally found a way I'll eat kale!  Yay!  Don't know about the kids or hubby yet, since everyone was sleeping by the time I made them, but who cares!  More for me if they don't!

Our family had our first experience with kale last year, when I was given a lot of it as part of my share in a community garden we were working in.  My family did not like it.  The only way I found that they would eat it was to slip a little into the stir fry vegetables for chicken teriyaki. 

Yesterday, the broccoli lady, a woman from a local Freecycle group that gave me some herb plants in the spring and has now given me excess produce from her garden twice, gave me more kale.  It wasn't a lot, since I confessed that I hadn't had much luck getting the kids and hubby to eat it, but I'd said before that I never refuse free produce, so I felt like I had to take at least some. 

I'd heard of kale chips last year, but was kind of scared to try them, since how could that possibly be good so I put it off and put it off until the kale that was still in the fridge shamefully went bad.  This time, the day I got it, I made me some kale chips.  I admit, I was pleasantly surprised.  They aren't my favorite food, but they are something I definitely would be interested in having again, to the point that I'm considering on growing some next year.  I've long loved how hearty the plant is, perfect for Michigan gardening, and how nutritious it is, so here's my chance to use it!

My biggest issue with the kale chips I made was that they were pretty bland, so next time I might try these seasoned kale chips instead, but the Parmesan cheese ones I made would be worth repeating as well.  They definitely have a satisfying crunch, but are healthy enough for guilt-free late night snacking.

Kale chips before being baked (the ones on the left were seasoned with sea salt and Parmesan.  The ones on the right just with sea salt).  They aren't as cute coming out, when they are more brownish and dry looking.

Baked Kale Chips

kale

olive oil cooking spray

sea salt, Parmesan cheese, or any other seasoning you want

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Thoroughly wash kale (seriously.  Those icky green cabbage caterpillars like this stuff too, so you don't want extra protein creeping in, literally, like that!).  Tear small pieces, about the size of a smallish potato chip, of kale off the thick center rib.  Pat dry with a towel.  Arrange pieces on a baking sheet.  Lightly spray with olive oil cooking spray.  Move pieces around to ensure even coating of oil.  Sprinkle with desired seasonings.  Bake 10-20 minutes or until dry and crispy, flipping chips every 5-10 minutes to prevent sticking and to watch for doneness.

No-Bake Energy Bars--the perfect disaster food?

Note:  Even though this post is for Sunday, I'm letting it go live quite a bit early because it is such a good survival food.  With hurricane Irene bearing down on some of the most populated areas in the country, I wanted to give people in those areas a chance to print it out before the storm hits in case they lose power and don't have enough shelf stable supplies on hand without making something.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the people in the hurricane zone today and tomorrow.

These energy bars are absolutely amazing in their versatility, as well as in that they require no heating or refrigeration to prepare.  They should store okay at room temperature for at least a few days, but if you want to keep them longer, they should last about a month in the refrigerator, or even longer in the freezer.  They are so yummy that it is unlikely that you will need to worry about storing them for a long time!

At their most basic, these energy/protein/fiber bars are 3 1/2 cups of fibery stuff, primarily oats; 1 cup liquid sweetener, whether you use honey, molasses, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, agave syrup, or, as a last resort since it is by far the most unhealthy option, corn syrup; 1/4 cup crunchy stuff, whether it be seeds, nuts, or a crispy rice cereal; 1 cup nut butter; and sweet tasty stuff, either dried fruit of your choice or candy bits.  Below is the exact combination of things that I used to make them today (in large part that this is what I had on hand that met the requirements I figured I needed) and they were delicious!  My kids kept calling them brownies and my husband likened them to no-bake cookies.

No-bake Energy Bars

3 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix oats, flax seed, and sesame seeds in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, mix honey, molasses, maple syrup, vanilla, and peanut butter until thoroughly blended.  Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture and stir until oats are evenly coated.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Grease a 9"x13"in pan or cover with waxed paper (I went the waxed paper route--much easier to remove, since the bars stay pretty soft, at least that first day).  Press mixture into pan, using another piece of waxed paper to make it firm.  Let set an hour or two to firm up (or eat immediately, but it will be very crumbly!) before cutting.
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This recipe and many other great whole food recipes can also be found on Fresh Bites Friday at Real Food Whole Health.