Soft apples now Apple Walnut Cake; Salvage fishy cooking oil

Waste Not: Apple-Walnut Bundt Cake.  This cake recipe was the perfect match for my too-soft-to-eat apples. Not having any apple juice on hand, I used a combo of sherry vinegar and water instead. Also subbed out chopped dates for the raisins in the recipe. The pic is somewhat dark; I was in the process of drizzling the glaze atop the cake here.

Because I believe cake is not cake without icing (and glaze doesn't count!), I enjoyed my cake with a vanilla sauce. Hubby likes it with or without. Really, really enjoying reading Nella Lasts' Peace: The Post-War Diaries of Housewife, 49. I love reading diaries dating around the Great Depression...those folks have so much to teach me about being FRUGAL and conscientious about every purchase. I've learned how Nella "saved" her cooking oil that'd been tainted by burned fish: pour the boiling oil into water. The oil congeals and the burned bits fall to the bottom. Repeat if needed. If times are ever so dire that supplies are hard to come by, I'll have another trick up my sleeve!

So, that about does it for my Independence Challenge for today. Love, LOVE that the "Eat The Food" part of this challenge is making me think about using up things that have been around too long. I added a couple of barbecue sauce packets to the homemade bean soup we ate for supper. My folks can't seem to refuse those little condiment packets which they never use, as a result my fridge is cluttered with little packets. Time to use them!!

Fat Tuesday calls for King Arthur's Carrot Cake

No King's Cake for me this Mardi Gras! This Fat Tuesday calls for a Carrot Cake from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. Oh, MY, this tastes soo good! At least there are some slow carbs to balance out the sweet stuff, as this cake is made with whole wheat flour, grated carrots, pineapple, coconut and pecans. The cream cheese frosting is sprinkled with candied ginger--something in my pantry I've been needing to use up. (Couldn't find exact recipe online...similar recipe may be found here. Just sub out whole wheat for the all-purpose flour and sprinkle frosted cake with 1/2 cup of candied ginger. I used pecans and pineapple, not raisins and walnuts.)

We had BIG salads for supper, followed up by Carrot Cake. What's on the menu for your Fat Tuesday??

Eating Coconut Cake fits in with this Independence Challenge

Baked this Three Day Coconut Cake before The China Study got me interested in eating less animal protein/eggs/dairy. I've some ideas on how to make this cake a tad healthier but maybe even tastier for the next time I make it. Meantime, Hubby and I have to finish eating the hunk of it that I just took out of the freezer, so there's no worry about me fulfilling my "Waste Not" challenge for today! ;)

Just learned of an intriguing challenge over on The Good Life Down Under. Chatelaine's Key's Independence Challenge calls for daily advances--and weekly accountability--in each of these categories:

• Plant something:
• Harvest something:
• Preserve something:
• Waste not:
• Want Not:
• Eat the Food:
• Build community food systems:
• Skill up: 

   With such a challenge, even if I were to fail miserably in some categories, an increased focus on moving forward in each category would doubtless lead to great successes as well, don'cha'know. Viva la Independence Challenge! What do you think? Doable?

Minimal animal protein and dairy for life--can she do it?

Made spaghetti recently with only a 1/4 pound of Italian sausage, and Hubby didn't even notice I'd reduced the meat! Had enough leftovers to make chili, and since it was chock full of black beans, onions and peppers, Hubby didn't even notice that there was VERY minimal meat. Any time I make chili or other casual, stain-producing meals I use our oldies-but-goodies cloth napkins. BTW, Grandbaby serenaded us during this lunch with her baby drum--that girl can jam! ;)

My most recent pot of Potato Soup contained only scant pieces of chicken from the homemade broth made from the carcass of my most recent Roasted Chicken (a variation of this one). Actually, the majority of our meals contain minimal meat, except for the first night of eating a newly roasted chicken or smoked pork loin, for instance. My challenge will be to keep Hubby from eating mega meat on those first nights, to spread the animal proteins even further. Aside from any health benefits, no doubt this challenge will save us money!

Oh, yes, I DID eat my chocolate ice cream with peanut butter mixed in while in my car with a copy of The China Study glaring up at me! The kinda folks who praise this book are impressive, to say the least, including a Nobel Prize winner. Not even finished with the book, I am convinced that eating MINIMAL animal proteins/eggs and MINIMAL dairy is the way to go for optimum health. (Starting right after eating this free ice cream gotten with a previous purchases reward card!)

A BIG Thank You!
Thanks, Yummy Little Cooks, for thinking me Liebster Award worthy! Of course, her lovely, absolutely yummy site would definitely make my short list of the blogs with less than 200 followers that I enjoy immensely. (Never got around to becoming a "follower" of any blog; I subscribe to folks' RSS feeds.) I have a tough time making lists because I hate leaving anyone out, so very many of you edu-entertain me. I will have to name another five very soon!

1. Yummy Little Cooks (Like my own private cooking school with glimpses into an exotic cuisine.)
2. Minting Nickels (Dunno how many followers Lindy has, but she makes me laugh while reminding me of my goal to save $$.)
3. Simply Self Sufficiency (Becky mixes frugal, simple living with preparedness.)
4. Sue's Garden Journal (When I visit Sue's site, I feel like I'm looking over the shoulder of a master gardener.) 
5. Living a Little Greener (Bruise Mouse offers a little bit of everything. Always worth a visit.)

   Time to close this post and go read an intriguing article over on Organic Soul's site: Fighting Your Nature Deficiency: Tips for Natural Health. Oh, and I cannot wait to try this recipe over on Seasaltwithfood's site: Baked Potato Skins Pepperoni Pizza. Where are you headed next??

Making over flopped Amish Friendship Bread; Free garden seeds at TreeHugger

My Cranberry Walnut Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce is a riff on Charlie Trotter's Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Pudding with Vanilla Anglaise. Actually riffed on his Cinnamon-Cranberry Bread Pudding recipe but couldn't find the recipe online, and you know I am too LAZY to type it up myself! I used 3/4 cup of dried cranberries and 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts with the last of the Amish Friendship Bread that was in the freezer. I'd screwed up one batch of the Amish bread by forgetting to add oil, but the bread pudding recipe made DRY AS TOAST friendship bread into something moist and yummy! (My vanilla sauce recipe is much simpler than Charlie's: Put 1/2 cup melted butter, 1/2 cup canola oil, 1 cup milk, 1 tsp. vanilla extract into a small pan, add 1 cup sugar with 3 tablespoons flour whisked into it. Cook and stir 'til the sauce thickens and coats the spoon.)

Hey, check this out over at TreeHugger's site: "5 Ways to Get Free Seeds for Your Garden." Okay, time for me to get off the computer and do some seriously mindless activity for awhile. Such a BUSY day...my brain could use a rest! *wink* What mindless activity is in store for you tonight?

Make Over: Pimiento Cheese to Cheesy Baked Onions

Did Hubby REALLY put all that roasted garlic on his hotdog? Oh, yes, he did. Ugh!

Hubby finds my fondness for Cincinnati chili just as gross!

Just to prove hotdogs aren't all we eat--this pork loin came off the grill tonight. We'll eat it mañana, and of course, the leftovers from that meal will likely go into another three or so minimal-meat meals.

Made Blackberry Farms Pimiento Cheese recipe again. First time I used vinegar 'cause I didn't have any pickle juice on hand and we LOVED the stuff. Well, guess what? I don't like the pickle juice version as well. So, using the pimiento cheese and a bit of olive oil, I made Cheesy Baked Onions for Hubby, who is more of a pickle lover than I am.

Cheesy Baked Onions

Any leftovers being transformed over at your place?

You're either getting better--or you're not

"I challenge everyone to

consider the direction and the value of your days–

because like it or not, those days are going by and

either you're getting better at something, 

getting stronger and more experienced…

or you're not."

Steve Richert, Living Vertical

Trying to improve upon the original Cherry Swirl Coffee Cake (which we like but always room for improvement, eh?), I subbed blueberry pie filling for the cherry filling and added grated orange rind for my Blueberry Swirl Coffee Cake. Less sweet than a regular "cake," this is perfect for breakfast. Mighty fine for after dinner dessert too!

Roasted a chicken yesterday...
will get at least four meals out of this bad boy.

On surfing the top ten adventure blogs (link shared yesterday), I came across the quote above and absolutely fell in love with it. I figure "you're either getting better or you're not" applies to just about everything, including recipes. Never had a problem motivating myself to tinker with recipes. Wish I could say the same when it comes to motivating myself to exercise!
   Any tinkering going on over at your place lately?

Had planned to make chicken pot pie using some of the chicken leftover from the roasted chicken, but since we had Grandbaby today, I didn't have time to make a pie crust. So, we had Chicken Pot Pasta instead. ;)

Wish I hads and had nots

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

Carl Sagan

Wish I had not been wishing there were more hours in the day. Woke up this morn at 2am and couldn't get back to sleep. Ugh! Blame it on the decongestant I'm now on. Guess the bright side is my loss of appetite. I cooked a soup at lunch (a riff on La Cuoca Ciccia's Chard Chick Pea Stew recipe), so I ate a protein bar for supper. As you can see from his plate of Venison Stir Fry, Hubby had something better in mind.

Wish I had bought this motion-sensing nite lite years ago for night trips to the mud/laundry room. Now I don't have to turn on the multi-bulb ceiling fluorescent light when all I need to do is put one little thing in the washer. Btw, LOVING my new camera (Sony Cyber-shot; sure beats the TWO that I tried and then returned. Wish I had bought this one first!

Wish I had tried growing mung bean sprouts long before now. Soo easy--some of these are destined for our salads at lunch today. Not sure if the leaves should be discarded. Anyone know? Guess I'll find out soon enough!

Hope your wish I hads and wish I had nots grow fewer and fewer every day...and I wish the same for me!

Ten On Ten: Lovin' November

Thanks, A Bit of Sunshine, for this Ten on Ten Photo Project, capturing some element of our lives at the top of every hour. I will add photos throughout the day...might need to refresh the page if you visit again.

No sun—no moon—no morn—no noon,
No dawn—no dusk—no proper time of day,
No warmth—no cheerfulness—no healthful ease,
No road, no street, no t’ other side the way,
No comfortable feel in any member—
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds,
November!

Thomas Hood

Almost Six O'Clock-ish: Yup, takes a little effort to get me out of bed when the sun's no help. Ten to fifteen minutes of my "Happy Light" glaring at me gets me off my tuchus every time!

Seven O'Clock-ish: Every time Grandbaby comes to visit, I get on the exercise bike for at least fifteen minutes while she watches. I aim to make an exercise lover out of her by example! ;)

Eight O'Clock-ish: Making bread pudding with some Butterscotch Amish Bread that was baked without any oil (OOPS!).

Nine O'Clock-ish: Snack time--roasted soybeans. These were as dull as dishwater 'til I added some seasonings.

Ten O'Clock-ish: Bread Pudding out of the oven. Not a fan of the stuff, I think this pic looks gross. (Hubby likes it!)

Eleven O'Clock-ish: This little one is much easier to entertain than her older sisters! ;)

Twelve O'Clock-ish: Let there be lunch! Some minced jalapeño sure revved our salads up!

One O'Clock-ish: See our little mistletoe crop up in the maple tree? The apple tree is hanging on to its leaves for dear life; most of our other trees have already shed theirs here in western Kentucky.

Two O'Clock-ish: Story Time! (SHORT story!)

Three O'Clock-ish: I prefer to pop my own on the stove, but this stuff I bought from the Boy Scout who lives next door isn't bad.

   Would love it if you'd leave a link to your own Ten on Ten...or to anything else you'd like to share!

Hubby's outdone himself lately: Triggerfish with Spicy Lemon Caper Sauce, Cajun Meatloaf, Smoked Pork Loin

Hubby cooked this Triggerfish with Spicy Lemon Caper Sauce from the first recipe that came up when he Googled "trigger fish." Luckily, he came across an excellent recipe on a blog that hasn't been updated in years...this is one of the BEST fish dishes we've EVER had!! I think Hubby's plate here also has some mackerel on it. The fish was gifted to us by a friend when who went deep sea fishing on his Florida vacation--$75 for the two hour ride out to the deep, two hours fishing, two hours back. That's the cheapest price I've ever heard of for deep sea fishing. Wonder if the oil spill is still affecting Florida tourism?

I may be the chief cook and bottle washer around here, but as I've said, Hubby can hold his own. Moreover, he is the Chief Grill Cook and Chief Fish Cook in this family, and I probably have a pound or two to show for his expertise in these areas! ;)

Back in the day when I bought and cooked as much beef as the average American, I came across Paul Pruddhome's Cajun Meatloaf recipe. We promptly fell in love with it...even me, despite my lifelong aversion to meatloaf. Since I learned of beef's high carbon footprint, the only beef I eat anymore are Hebrew National Beef Franks and the occasional burger. These days, Hubby makes Pruddhome's recipe with his ground venison and likes it just as well. (I'll have to take his word for that. I don't much like venison, so I've never tried his venison meatloaf!)

Hubby's most recent Smoked Pork Loin. I got nervous when I saw how he'd slashed this loin, thinking it would let the juices run out, but instead the slashes just let the smoke flavor in as he roasted this bad boy "low and slow" in his Big Green Egg. Smokey...Juicy...YUM!!

   I'm not crazy about the time change, but maybe I'll find more time for the computer now that it gets dark so soon. *SIGH* I miss the daylight already!! And for some freaky reason, I've awakened at 4:30 the last two mornings. UGH!! Hope you're adjusting to the time change in a more reasonable way than I have?!! 

Lazy cooking: Roasted Chicken; Treehugger's Backyard House

Oven Roasted Chicken. Oy vey, I forgot to take an "after" pic...until we'd demolished the bird! Seriously, we don't generally eat half a chicken at one sitting, but this one turned out too yummy to resist.

Back before Hubby retired and I stopped working, boneless/skinless chicken breasts were the order of the day. I seldom bought anything else, because I figured boneless/skinless was the quickest way to get dinner on the table when I finally got home at night. (Those were the days before I was turned on to the concept of eating like our ancestors did and started consuming poultry WITH the skin. Y'know, eating Real Foods.)
   Besides, now that I've switched to buying only humanely raised chickens, I can't bring myself to buy anything but the whole chickens, which are cheaper than buying parts. That's when I discovered roasted chicken, and OH, MY, they are soo easy...easy enough for a lazy, don't-feel-like-cooking day!!

Roasted Chicken before. Just took out that innards sack, stuffed the cavity with a microwaved bacon end, rubbed the thing with a chili lime seasoning, Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, and then sprinkled with a little bacon grease and Worcestershire sauce. For the last 10 minutes of its baking, I poured some salsa over the bird's top and dotted it with a couple of tablespoons of butter.

Made a quick taco soup to use up the last of the leftover chicken: Bush's Black Bean Fiesta, leftover navy beans, salsa,  powdered vegetable soup base and a little water. I got a boat load of Bush's beans at Target at closeout sale prices awhile back. Gonna really miss that stuff when I use 'em all up, 'cause they sure make for quickie soups.

   On another note, I want one of the Backyard Houses I saw over on Treehugger's site! Too cute!! Hope you're having a terrif weekend!!

This Moment: Um, is that a chicken in my egg?

Since switching from regular eggs to Cage Free, Organic, Humane Certified, I've been finding occasional specks in my eggs. This one was the largest yet, which made me wonder... Hmnnn, I could Google it to find out what it might be, but I figure some things I'm better off NOT knowing, eh?!

Well, yeah, I ate it anyway! (After taking out the speck, of course.) I HATE wasting food, so if it's in my house and it's still edible, I'm eating it. And if I won't eat it, Hubby often will. When Hubby's not around, I'll fix me some egg salad, which he's not that crazy about. Tried these Wickles in it instead of chopped pickles--good stuff!

Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Hope you'll share a link to your moment!

Savin' the bacon for minimal meat meals

Don't remember where I came across this idea, but once discovered, I've been doing it ever since: separating the bacon to freeze. If I don't freeze some bacon, Hubby will soon have it all cooked and eaten for his breakfasts before a week is out. This way, I manage to keep some bacon on hand for when I need it for seasoning a soup or a stew or a pasta or...
   Freezing the stuff saves us money, since it stretches a pound of bacon into several meals. But don't feel too sorry for Hubby--he took four slices out of the freezer this morn to cook for his breakfast!

A couple slices of bacon were just the thing to perk up this week's veggie soup!

   This peppered bacon that Kroger started carrying recently is pretty good, but why can't I find any of that good tasting applewood smoked bacon that they serve in restaurants? I am forever trying new brands, searching for the holy grail of perfect bacon. To me, some brands' bacon smells just like a pig farm while it's cooking. Am I the only one who thinks that?
   And am I the only one who thinks bacon ice cream sounds good right about now? Hmnnn...just realized that just about anything sounds good right now. Must be dinnertime!!  

Not buying it: Ice Cream Sauce

Homemade Chocolate Sauce. Hot Caramel Sauce in container on right.

Chocolate sauce cooking. Being out of cocoa (looking for organic), I used some chocolate baking squares. I was even in a hurry and didn't bother to make sure every last little chocolate fleck melded. Tasted just as good! Oh, goodie!

Caramel sauce at full rolling boil.

Caramel sauce that's boiled awhile and arrived at the desired golden color.

Hubby had the sundae above on a Chewy Chunky Blondie out of the freezer. Here's the one I ate yesterday on top of a couple of Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops. (Freshly baked from dough that'd been balled and frozen.) Oh, yeah!!

These relatively inexpensive sauces are soo very easy to make that even lazy ole me will decide to make them in a heartbeat. No more commercial sauces with their scary ingredients!
Chocolate Sauce
1/4 lb. butter (1 stick)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup cocoa (or two chocolate baking squares)
Combine all ingredients; bring to a boil, stirring constantly until completely blended. Thickens as it cools. (Sorry, unknown origin of this recipe.)
Hot Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until color is golden, skimming off foam as you go. Makes about 2 1/2 cups. Recipe from Babi's Bed and Breakfast, Iowa, as seen in Specialties of the House Cookbook by Julia M. Pitkin. Sauce will separate upon refrigeration. Just reheat to serve.
   Hope you're having a fabulous weekend. It's soo gorgeous outside here in western Kentucky--what am I doing on the computer!?! Whassup for you after you finish surfing the computer today? Something memorable, I hope!!

Better than pop tarts: Whole Wheat Applesauce Cake

Whole Wheat Applesauce Cake

Gonna have to trust me on this one, since I don't know how to make a picture of a whole wheat cake that makes it look tasty: this Whole Wheat Applesauce Cake is absolutely yummy! As quick to grab in the mornings as Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts but WITHOUT the excess packaging, high fructose corn syrup and preservatives.
   My cake is a riff on an American Heart Association recipe I came across years ago. Hubby, who likes eating healthy for breakfast and only eats stuff like waffles and sweet rolls occasionally, will eat this cake for breakfast each morning 'til it's gone with no complaints. Super easy to make, Hubby even makes this himself now and then to take hunting with him on hunting trips--that's how much he likes it!
Whole Wheat Applesauce Cake
1 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1 cup raisins
1/2 to 1 cup nuts or seeds (we like almond slivers but I used sunflower seeds this time)
Whisk together dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients, stirring 'til thoroughly combined. Spread into a jelly roll pan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. (Alternatively, halve recipe and bake in 8" cake pan, adjusting baking time.)
   Of course, I had my usual smoothie for breakfast, but blended smoothies are hard to make when we're camping, so this is my go-to breakfast for those times. And if you care to satisfy my curiosity, what was on your breakfast table this morn?

Ten on Ten: OH, October!

Thanks, A Bit of Sunshine, for this Ten on Ten Photo Project. This October 10, 2011, I hope to capture some element of our lives at the top of every hour. Might need to refresh the page if you visit again to see all ten photos.
 

Six O'Clock-ish: My breakfast smoothie misses its banana, but the immersion blender was dirty. Hubby brought me a perfectly ripe persimmon home from the farm. Yummy!

Seven O'Clock-ish: Resistance is futile! There's no real way to protect the precious pecans on this tree at the back of our yard from predatory squirrels, but Hubby hopes to slow them down by wrapping the trunk in aluminum and trapping them to release elsewhere. Sadly, nothing will stop them from jumping to the tree from atop the neighbor's fence or our compost bin. *sigh*  

Eight O'Clock-ish: Today's the day that Hubby will start our front door makeover. (Yea!) While he's at refinishing the door, I've convinced him to replace this hardware, because I find lever door handles soo much easier to open when my hands are full...say, with the Grandbaby!

Nine O'Clock-ish: Almost always change the bed linens on Mondays; helps me to remember when they were last changed. Chose Mondays as the designated day each week due to Laura Ingall's Ma! Y'know: "Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday, Mend on Wednesday, Churn on Thursday, Clean on Friday, Bake on Saturday, Rest on Sunday."

Ten O'Clock-ish: Oh, yes, I DID just burn my finger while pulling these Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops out of the oven a few minutes ago. As they are from a recipe in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours, I've a feeling they'll be worth it!

Eleven O'Clock-ish: I know, I know, it's not cheat day, but I just HAD to try these bad boys. Just ate a half but the other half is calling me still, because oh, my, YES, Dorie's Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops are as good as I thought they'd be! I balled the remaining cookie dough for the freezer, so I'll be enjoying some of these baked fresh on Saturday. Meanwhile, lucky Hubby!

Twelve O'Clock-ish: Made some more Black Bean Sweet Potato Soup on Saturday, added cashews again too. It's Meatless Monday, don'cha'know! Hubby's gone to town to get some plywood to cover our front entrance while he refinishes the door. (Won't that be attractive?!) Now that my belly is full, I'll be checking out some of the websites mentioned in a book I'm reading: EcoMind: Changing the Way We Think, to Create the World We Want by Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet.

One O'Clock-ish: Hubby's back with the plywood, with BIL's fishing boat in tow. His brother's hauling his pop-up camper up to The Lakes to camp with his family for a few days. After SIL and our lovely niece return home, Hubby will join BIL for a couple of days of camping and fishing. The wood on the driveway and in the trailer is fencing from my folks' place. Hubby replaced their back fence with all new; he'll clean up and salvage the usable old slats to repair the fencing on each side of their yard.

Two O'Clock-ish: Not really expecting this look to catch on! ;) Door's removed for refinishing; Hubby's taping all the little gaps now to keep any spiders and bugs OUT. This temporary fix wouldn't be much protection from people intruders, but Hubby will have our door refinished in no time.

Three O'Clock-ish: Time for my favorite bicep exercise: vigorously shaking a pan of popcorn on the cooktop!

Well, that's the roundup for October! Feel free to share a link to your "ten on ten" or to anything else that strikes your fancy!