On My Mind: BBQ chicken, Cherries

Still hate my camera; still don't feel like posting. Life goes on here tho'. Still cooking as many meals at home as possible. Mostly because home cooking tastes MUCH better than that found in most of the restaurants around here. Hubby barbecued a (humanely raised) chicken for us the other day and we ate its leftovers tonight. Oh, YEAH! (Btw, Hubby tests a chicken for doneness by twisting the legs; that's why the leg bones are missing.)

Just discovered that I still have some cherries in the freezer! When my disorganized freezer yields such an unexpected gift, I'm thinkin' jam...plan to try a new recipe, but then again, we really liked it last time I made Cherry Jam using the basic recipe on the box. I do plan to check out Rhonda's blog first. Maybe she's got something more interesting for me to do with those cherries? (Photo taken at Kentucky State Fair 2011.)

"Grimm" is on TV...intriguing me. Maybe it's time to get off the PC and watch? Hope something FAR MORE INTERESTING is going on with you tonight. In fact, hope you have a wild and wooly weekend!! Don't you just love the holidays?

On My Mind, conceived by Rhonda at down-to-earth

On My Mind: Great Grandma sews, inspired by Joel

Inspired by the DIY Baby Sun Ray Toy over on Made by Joel, Great Grandma (my mom) sewed a baby "book." Needless to say, the book's a big hit with Grandbaby!! 

Great Grandma's creation, inspired by Joel. Gotta love those crafty folks who can turn scraps into something fun. Grandbaby says THANKS, GREAT GRANDMA!

   Thanks, Rhonda at Down-to-Earth, for this On My Mind concept. What's on your mind today?

On My Mind: No such thing as waste!

Thanks, Deb Goes Green, for this video..."There's no such thing as waste, only stuff in the wrong place!"

Cannot tell you how VERY HAPPY it made me to find a local place, GreenWorks Recycling, that reclaims/recycles so many of the items that would otherwise make their way into a landfill: used batteries of ALL types and sizes, plus loads of electronics and appliances. They'll even shred your hard drive while you watch if you donate a CPU. GreenWorks recently took our broken dishwasher off our hands, oh, yeah!! Clearly thrilled to be a part of the process, this man was such a peach to show me all around--even called off the dogs first! *wink* (Hope you're lucky enough to find this kind of jewel in your neck of the woods.)

   Well, that's what's on my mind today. What's on yours? Hope you'll share your link here or on down-to-earth!

On My Mind, conceived by Rhonda at down-to-earth

On My Mind: Hubby cooks in self defense

Hubby cooked for us last night: lightly fried wild turkey breast, leftover sweet potatoes, raw carrots and sliced tomatoes. He'd made a sweet potato casserole for us to take to a family get-together the night before but cooked too many sweet potatoes to fit in the pot. (Dunno why he boiled the sweet potatoes before baking the casserole.) I made a lazy crab dip--layers of cream cheese, crab meat and cocktail sauce--and some margaritas to take.

I'm sort of a feast and famine sort of cook, but I don't always starve when going through my "lazy days." (Y'know, the kinda days when you don't feel like doing a bloomin' thing!) I cook like crazy for a few weeks and then go for at least a week not knowing what to cook...so I don't.
   That's where Hubby comes in. When I don't feel like cooking, he pinch hits very well. Gotta love that!

Tonight I ate a Clif bar and an apple for dinner. So, Hubby made himself a sandwich and these potato cakes, using some leftover parsley potatoes I'd made the other day. He always comes up with something better than I do on the nights we just scrounge! BTW, this is our new non-stick skillet with a porcelain finish. Maybe I've finally found an alternative to those scary non-stick skillets that are usually made with iffy chemicals. I'll let you know if this kind holds up!

   Well, that's what's on my mind today. What's on yours? Hope you'll share your link here or on down-to-earth!

On My Mind, conceived by Rhonda at down-to-earth

On My Mind: Partly greening baby

Guess cloth diapering is like riding a bike...it comes back to you. Some 28 years ago, we used only cloth on our DD, but after all those years, here's my second attempt at getting one on the grandbaby. Now, I'm back up to pro status! 

  As an at home mom those many moons years ago, with only Hubby's income to meet all our needs, cloth diapers were our ONLY option financially. When Grandbaby comes to visit, DD brings us plenty of disposable diapers to use, but I can't stand to see the dirties pile up in the trash, headed to the landfill. So, once Grandbaby gets past her usual couple of morning poopy "blowouts," I switch to using cloth.
   Using cloth diapers for the majority of the time when Grandbaby is here saves DD from buying quite as many disposables, so she's all for it! Even when they're at home, DD's not up for using cloth herself, and I can't blame her, 'cause I still get grossed out by washing out the poopy diapers. Ugh!
   When Grandbaby begins eating solids and her stools aren't as loose as they are now, you can bet I'll be watching her face for signs that it's time to hold her over the toidy. By keeping a watchful eye out when we were home, I seldom had to clean out a poopy diaper once DD was about 4-5 months old! (They even have books out on the subject now.)

Would you believe they had NO infant-sized diaper covers available locally? Finally decided to order some online but the ones I'd bought were too tight on baby's legs. Then I came across and bought this adjustable Thirsties Duo Diaper Cover online...lovin' it!! Now that I know it works, I'll order more, 'cause it doesn't take long to get one dirty if Grandbaby decides to surprise me with an additional blowout.

   Well, that's what's on my mind today. What's on yours? Hope you'll share your link here or on down-to-earth!

On My Mind, conceived by Rhonda at down-to-earth  

On my mind: One person CAN make a difference!

While driving in town one day, I came across someone's stuff "kicked to the curb." And in the paper today, I learned that 28.5% of all the children in our county here in Kentucky are living in poverty. Our county even beat the state average. Not the kind of statistic you want to be "better than the rest."

Stumbled across a grand opening of a Kroger in Columbus, Ohio, when we stopped to find some 'local foods' to bring home with us. Free samples of $18 dollar a pound cheese are NOT to be found around here!

   An article in today's newspaper was so depressing...high unemployment, growing numbers of underemployed, rising homelessness. As they say, "I don't have all the answers. Heck, I don't have ANY answers." *sigh*
   The only thing that I can think of that might help, though it will take some years, is EDUCATION. That's why my charitable giving is focused largely on educational endeavors. (Don't get me wrong--there are lots of worthy charities out there; Hubby's soft spot is for the Red Cross.)
   Fortunately, not having all the answers doesn't stop some people. A friend of mine single-handedly started a charity to collect new shoes for the kids in one of the city schools in which 98% of the kids enrolled are considered poverty level or below. (Figures like that take my breath away.) She enlisted the help of family and friends, staged some fund-raisers and ended up with 253 pairs of shoes to donate. The school resource officer was blown away!! As a result, there were enough donated shoes to share among several needy schools in the district.
   Anyway, the new grandbaby spent the day with us today, and my friend came to visit bearing gifts in hand. Since she left, I can't stop thinking about her and the difference she has made in my life but also in the lives of 253 little school children she doesn't even know. Gotta love that!!

On My Mind, conceived by Rhonda at down-to-earth

On my mind: Doing vs. wish I were doing

Wish I were out bike riding, like this quintessential bike guy I captured a shot of the day we were coming home from the fair and our trip to Ohio. 

Making pizza is what I've been doing instead. Cool enough inside the house that my pizza dough didn't rise, so it ended up being a thin crust pizza. Forgot to buy any mozzarella, so I used Asiago and Parmesan cheeses instead.

This is what I wished I were eating at lunch. Mushrooms, red onions and pepperoni on three quarters of the pizza; plain pepperoni (for DD) on the rest. Olive oil drizzled on top.

   Tomato, cottage cheese and watermelon are what I ended up eating instead.  Hubby and DD must've liked the crust...only two pieces left. Cheat day is Saturday--can't wait!
   I'll go see now if the other half of that pizza dough has risen. Hope so, I'd like to try making some hot dog buns out of it. Guess the bike riding will have to wait for another gorgeous, breezy day. What's your doing vs. wish you were doing?
   Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. What's on your mind today? Share your link here or on down-to-earth. 

On my mind: Family recipes, yard sales and homemade yogurt

Reading a book about stories of family recipes reminded me that I have a cookbook compiled by folks on my dad's side. Seemed the perfect time to recreate my beloved Aunt K's yummy eggplant casserole. Full of buttery goodness (recipe below), this casserole takes me back to the Thanksgiving spent at my aunt and uncle's...the one where someone passing the roll basket let the napkin under the rolls get a bit too close to the candle. My uncle doused the flames with his beer!

This Taste of Home recipe for Yeast Corn Bread Loaf makes a lovely textured loaf that tastes like cornbread but with a soft-bread bite.

This is my "Doing vs. Should Be Doing" pic. Here's me making a pie, instead of dealing with the tomatoes. But since I needed to bake bread, might as well get another use out of the stand mixer bowl before washing, eh? (Ended up making tomato juice to use up the tomatoes.) Incidentally, these tea towels were once a charity sale-bought tablecloth. The tablecloth had a stain but seemed the perfect weight for towels, so I bought it and the mumsy sewed it into four towels for me.

Gotta love it when a plan comes together.

Yesterday, Mom and I hit a yard sale at a senior citizens' housing tower. Mostly a bunch of junk but I found something I'd been putting off buying retail!

I've been wanting more canisters! By the time I took this pic, I'd already emptied the flour into the compost bin. As it's of unknown origins, can't bring myself to eat the sugar either, so I'll use it to make a sugar body scrub. Please let me know if you have a tried and true recipe that seems better than the one I just found!

By jove, I think I've got it...my own homemade yogurt! Love, love, LOVE my new yogurt maker! (Just 42 ounces of room temperature organic whole milk mixed thoroughly with 6 ounces of room temperature plain whole milk yogurt...no cooking involved for the thickness suitable for smoothies!)

Hubby teased that the yogurt probably just had a skim on top and was watery underneath, but this stuff is THICK! Perfect for my morning smoothies! (Made my smoothie in a jar using the immersion blender this morn.) I'd been paying $3.50 per 32 ounce container of Stonyfield Farms plain organic yogurt, and I use around 6 ounces every day. Though I did manage to get free magazine subscriptions to Organic Gardening and Martha Stewart Living with the Stonyfield reward points, seems more cost effective to make my own yogurt, buying the stuff only as needed to jumpstart my own.

Aunt K's Eggplant Casserole (my version)
1 medium to large eggplant, sliced and pan-roasted 'til cooked through
Combine:
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese--divided
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed--divided
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted--divided
Starting with the eggplant and ending with the mixture, layer cooked eggplant with the egg/milk/cheese/cracker mixture in the baking dish. Top with 1/2 cup of crumbs tossed with a couple of tablespoons of the melted butter. Then sprinkle top of casserole with 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese. Bake in a covered casserole at 350F for 30 minutes.

   I think I'll bake a cake today so something fresh will be on the table for tomorrow's cheat day! I'm thinking chocolate. ?? Maybe I'll head over to Foodgawker to get some ideas. What kind of cake sounds good to you today?

   Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. What's on your mind today? Share your link here or on down-to-earth. 

On my mind: Cakes, cakes everywhere but nary a bite to eat

Kentucky State Fair Brown Sugar Caramel Cake Recipe

By the time we got to the Kentucky State Fair, these cakes were even a few days old, but that didn't stop me from mooning over each and every one. All these pictures are incentive for me to spend some time baking blue ribbon cakes of my own.
   I had planned to include pics of some other goodies at the fair, but Blogger's acting finicky this morn, so I'll leave it at cakes for today.
   The Brown Sugar Caramel Cake recipe that made its way into the Louisville paper looks astonishingly decadent, and one thing's sure, that recipe does not look like a piece of cake to make! I'm thinking a chocolate cake with salt sprinkled on top is in my near future. Anything baking at your place today?

   Thanks, Rhonda, at down-to-earth, for this photo sharing concept. Please feel free to share a link and let us all in on what's on your mind.

On my mind this moment: Why, chocolate, what else?!

Freshly made Spago Chocolate Cake*** and Chocolate Cherry Peanut Butter Chip Cookies alongside a slice of MIL's blackberry pie made a couple of days ago. Which do you think Hubby chose to eat after his lunch? Why, his momma's pie of course! ...I am somewhat consoled by the fact that he stole nibbles of the two I'd made. ;)

Chocolate Cherry Peanut Butter Chip Cookies --I'm hoping these are reminiscent of a PB&J, but I won't know for sure until cheat day tomorrow! Grandgirl2 helped me to throw these cookies together; they're a riff on the infamous Neiman Marcus Cookies.

Grandgirl2 is a big chocolate cake fan! ***Unlike I Dream of Baking (where I found the recipe so I wouldn't have to take the time to type it), I did use coffee in my cake. Though I don't like to drink coffee, I love the way it kicks chocolate up a notch.

   Thanks to Soulemama and Rhonda at down-to-earth for this photo sharing concept. Please feel free to share a link to your moment.

On my mind: Chocolate Malted Peanut Butter Chip Muffins

Dark Chocolate Malted Peanut Butter Chip Muffins

On my mind: sneaking more whole grains into our diet. These muffins do NOT taste whole grain...just wicked good! I only stole one taste, and it is taking ALL my willpower not to eat a whole one of these bad boys 'til cheat day.
   The hubby, the mum, the pop, and the DD seemed mighty pleased and not the least bit guilty eating these muffins in front of me, but don't cry for me, Argentina, some Dark Chocolate Malted Peanut Butter Chip Muffins with my name on them are waiting out in the freezer!
   Anything healthy-ish sneaking into your diet this week?

  Adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking 

Dark Chocolate Malted Peanut Butter Chip Muffins
Batter Ingredients:
1 cup (4 ounces) whole barley flour
1/2 cup (2 ounces) white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (2 ⅛ ounces) unbleached bread flour
3/4 cup (2 ¼ ounces) unsweetened Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
1/4 cup (1 ¼ ounces) malted milk powder
1 cup (7 ½ ounces) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
1 & 1/4 cups (10 ounces) buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (6 ounces) peanut butter chips
Glaze Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons (2 ¾ ounces) packed light brown sugar
2 Tablespoons (⅝ ounce) malted milk powder
2 Tablespoons (⅜  ounce) unsweetened Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 cup (2 ounces) plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
To Make Batter:
Whisk together the flours, cocoa, malted milk powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the butter, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing until the batter is evenly moistened. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Scoop batter by 1/2 cupfuls into a lightly greased 12-muffin tin.
   Bake in a preheated 375F degree oven 23-25 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.
   Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn muffins onto a rack to finish cooling.
To Make The Glaze:
Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat and drizzle over the tops of the cooled muffins.
   Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. What's on your mind today? Share your link here or on down-to-earth. 

On my mind: Not buying lemonade mix or Benedictine Spread

Homemade semi-scratch Lemonade and Benedictine Spread

Our packaging waste still weighs heavily on my mind, so add lemonade mix and Benedictine Spread to the list of commercial products I no longer buy.
   Besides, this homemade stuff is super easy!
   I use a food processor and just 3 ingredients for the spread. And while squeezing fresh lemons would be even better, I use concentrated lemon juice most of the time. Yes, I WISH I had a lemon tree in my back yard for a ready source of organic lemon juice, but even using concentrate, this lemonade tastes MUCH better than the packaged powders do. With homemade, just adjust the amount of lemon juice to suit your taste!

I still haven't given up on trying to use ALL the garden produce, but boy, are the cucumbers ever hard to keep up with! Along with the usual cukes and onions salad, I made a cucumber spread, which consists of only 8 ounces of cream cheese, 1 medium cucumber, seeded, and 1 teaspoon of onion salt. I could eat this stuff by the spoonfuls! Since I'm not eating crackers except on Saturdays, I use cucumber chips for dipping and get a double dose of fresh cuke flavor. For a variation on the theme, check out this Taste of Kentucky recipe.

Semi-scratch Lemonade ingredients...double click to enlarge recipe.

Finally got around to taking a shot of that cherry pie I made the other day. Hubby was impatient to eat his slice (imagine that!), so all I got was this fuzzy shot. I gave a couple of slices to Mom/Dad yesterday, so all but one frozen slice of the ugliest pie ever is gone.

   Hope everyone has an outstanding weekend lined out?!! Me? Kinda hoping Hubby goes to the farm tomorrow, so I can get some time alone! Y'know, some quality time with that piece of cherry pie waiting in the freezer for cheat day. ;)

   Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. What's on your mind today? Share your link here or on down-to-earth.  

On my mind: Edible landscaping and using up zucchini!

Okay, I'll give this edible landscaping a shot...in a little bed at the front entry no less! To an existing bit of blue rug juniper, a couple of small bushes, some chives, white phlox and a mum, I've added red cabbage, fennel, thyme, Greek oregano and Texas tarragon. Added a couple of non-edibles: two coleus whose variegated leaves will add a blend of green plus the deep red color as found in the cabbages. I figured I'd let this bed grow a tad and then fill in with some types of flowers once I decide what more color is needed to keep it from just looking like a vegetable patch. Wish me luck!

Toted my plants bought on clearance home in the marine cooler that pretty much lives in my car. Absolutely LOVE having a cooler ready on hand whenever I need one!

Hey, I'm keeping up with the zucchini so far!! Used up the harvest today with a zucchini gratin and a crustless zucchini quiche. I love pie crusts, but trying not to eat anything but "slow carbs," except on cheat days.

Little grandgirl hands were a big help when adding herbs and layers of zucchini, onions, panko crumbs & dairy to the gratin.

I thought I had heavy cream in the fridge, but Hubby had used it all for his coffee! Had to fall back and punt: used a mixture of sour cream and mayo instead.

   Isn't it fun to be in the thick of summer nowadays? For those of you down under, I guess the reverse is true: likely you're happy to get a bit of a cool down! Wherever you are, hope today shone brightly upon you, whatever the temperature or weather!!

   Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. What's on your mind today? Share your link here or on down-to-earth.

On my mind: Baked Beans are great for using stuff up; Sweet, Tangy Sausages; and NOT killing spiders!

These Baked Beans with Sweet Potatoes turned out to be quite tasty. Started them in the SunOven but finished them in the indoor oven. Trying to stay good to my vow to do more back-to-back cooking once the oven is heated. In this pic, you can see my frozen Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie dough thawing behind the bean pot.

Baked Beans after three hours outdoors in the SunOven. Couldn't get the temp over 225°F...too much cloud-cover for much progress some days!

Baked Beans are a great way to use up some stuff. This time, to add to the drained cans of pork-n-beans and black beans, I threw in a couple of minced jalapeños, some diced sweet potatoes, the last dregs of a jar of mustard (water added to clean it out), a tablespoon of some Tomato Jam (very fresh tomato taste but a bit unsettling if you're used to fruit jams), a couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce and a tablespoon of frozen tomato paste. Emptied daily, we use the blue plastic container with its no-longer airtight seal for gathering scraps for our compost bin.

Eating raw yellow squash from the garden in our salads these days. This was my quick, slow carb lunch when Hubby was out running errands. Really enjoyed this fast and easy Sweet & Tangy Crockpot Sausage, a recipe brought to my attention by Blessings! Almost forgot to add sprouts to this salad (yes, my OWN HOME GROWN sprouts) and unfortunately, I did forget to take another pic of the salad once I added the sprouts. Those are dried cherries, by the way.

Slow cooked some Polish sausages and onions in whole grain mustard, honey, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. I worried the honey AND brown sugar would make these too sweet, but guess the mustard and vinegar tempered the sweetness, 'cause they were just right! I'm trying to buy organic sausages these days, but first have to use up what's in our freezer. I just mention this to say that this recipe would have been even better with higher quality sausages, but still, this brand bought on sale a couple of months ago tasted pretty darned good cooked in the sweet, tangy sauce!

Okay, this spider I found on one of my cookbooks in the kitchen tripped me out! Fortunately, I was able to carry it outside to our deck without incident (meaning, I didn't scream, faint or get bitten!). Guess I've got a little Jain in me; I don't like to kill anything unless absolutely necessary. Though I want them OUT NOW, I don't usually mind finding spiders in the house, because I've heard that if you never find spiders, it might mean you have a brown recluse. But this spider is weirdly marked, so it worried me more than the more innocuous looking ones. Hope it's not a bad one, but if it is, glad I got it OUT!

   Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. What's on your mind today? Share your link here or on down-to-earth. 

On my mind: Works in progress like fried chicken, hardscaping the new garden bed and foodgawking

Hubby is hardscaping the new garden bed. No more mowing the little strip of lawn between the garage and the driveway! Hubby collected the stones from our hobby farm, a little place we co-own with some other family members.

Oh, my, am I ever thankful that I visited Niki over at Debt Free by Thirty this morn. She brought FoodGawker to my attention; that site is full of eye candy. If you need pictures to motivate you to get off the couch and into the kitchen, you'll love FoodGawker! (More to love: check out Niki's post on how watching The Twilight Zone teaches her about personal finance.)

   We don't have cable, but while at the folks the other day, Food Network's 5 Ingredient Fix was on. Claire's Roasted Curry Chicken inspired me, but I wasn't willing to pay for all that Greek yogurt, so I subbed out buttermilk to use in the marinade instead.
   And because I'm feeding DD today, I decided to fry instead of roast this chicken, so I'll have to let you know later how it works out.

Pureed red Thai Curry Paste, garlic, roasted cumin seeds, salt and pepper and then stirred the mash into 2 cups of buttermilk for the marinade.

Yum, 20 blueberries harvested from our yard went into this morning's Blueberry Strawberry Almond Nutmeg Smoothie. The phytochemicals in blueberries greatly benefit our brains and hearts, as well as fight off cancer-causing free radicals. They are so easy to grow, why didn't I plant some blueberry bushes years ago? Think of the money I'd have saved!

I am so proud of my growing sprouts. There's a BIG salad in my future!

   Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. What's on your mind today? Share your link here or on down-to-earth.