Who says you can't have your cake and eat it!!!!

I have a friend that I have the hugest amount of respect for because she has done something that I am not capable of doing. She has converted to a completely carb and sugar free life for her health. Not only has she lost weight but she looks so fabulous now. 

Well after her conversion I had a dilemma, I love to make birthday cakes or cupcakes or something for a friends birthday and well cake and cupcakes are no longer an option for her. So last year I got the idea to make a fruit cake, not your Granny's fruit cake that is dry and soaked in ten million gallons of alcohol. It's a cake made from fruit and nothing else. Now if sugar had been option then something with cream cheese and sugar could have been added but we're sticking with straight fruit.

Anyhow it isn't the best looking cake but it's definitely better than no cake.

I made the base of the cake from seedless watermelon. This was messy as the melon was juicy. A little freezer time would make it easier to carve.

I used wooden skewers and placed a round slice of kiwi on the watermelon then added green grapes with a strawberry on the top. To add a little decoration to the bottom I sliced green grapes and placed them around the bottom edge.

I really don't recommend that this cake travels too far and like I said I'm sure some sort of glaze or frosting would have help secure everything but if you want just fruit.

I will have to revisit this idea later and maybe be more adventurous. 

Happy Home Cooking! 

My Personal Meal Plan

I sat down this morning and took a look at the meal plan for the rest of the month. Just in case you ever wondered what my personal one looks like by the end of the month, I thought I would share it.

As you can see nothing is written in stone or permanent ink for that matter. It's constantly being reevaluated as the month and our needs change. 

That's the whole point to the Month Meal Plan system, it's a starting point from which you can explore. Usually when I get to this stage I redo the whole thing and make it look neat and tidy. It also helps me when I go to do next months plan.

And before you say anything, yes it's not exactly the same as the one that I post on here. Some of the recipes are not refined enough yet and I do make changes to my personal one to suit our family.

If you are wondering the top food name for each day is lunch. I'm trying to some sort of schedule for that so that I don't have 2 screaming kids starving and me trying to figure out what I can make them quickly before my last thread of sanity is severed!!! Again work in progress!!!!

I just thought I would share this with you to show you that it doesn't have to perfect and it is OK to be flexible!!!

Happy Home Cooking!

Beef & Vegetable Soup

Recently I've started making soup at the weekends for lunch. Something comforting about soup in the winter, really any time of year. Anyhow I want to share one of my family's favorite soups, Beef & Vegetable Soup. It's delicious and it's even better the next day!!!!

Beef & Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs stewing steak

1/4 cup butter

1 cup coarsely chopped onions

1 cup coarsely chopped celery

1 cup coarsely chopped green bell pepper

1 cup slice carrots

1/4 cup minced garlic

8 cups beef stock

1 pint diced tomatoes

8 oz can tomato sauce

6 cubed red potatoes

1 cup corn

1 tin red kidney beans (drained)

Directions:

1. In a stockpot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Sear meat to nice brown coloring then add onions, celery, bell peppers, carrots, and garlic. Saute for 3 - 5 minutes or until vegetables are wilted.

2. Add beef stock, tomatoes and tomato sauce and cook until meat is fork tender, about 2 hours.

3. Add potatoes, corn and beans. Cook an additional 25 minutes.

4. Season to taste using salt and black pepper. Additional beef stock may be added to retain the volume of liquid.

Happy Home Cooking!

I made BUTTER!!!

OK before I get starting I have to warn you this post comes with a RANT warning!!!

BUTTER...

I mentioned in the Rice & Gravy recipe post about my love of butter and that I would save the comments well I decided to not wait too long. One of my facebook friends posted about margarine and some interesting facts so I am jumping deeper into the situation.

If I had my way ALL margarine would be BANNED! Please people stop eating it!!!

Lets take a look at the ingredients:

American Margarine: Country Crock

Vegetable Oil Blend: (Liquid Soybean Oil, Partially Hydrogenated soybean oil, Hydrogenated cottonseed oil) Water, Whey, Milk, Salt, Vegetable mono and diglycerides, Soy Lecithin, Potassium Sorbate, Calcium Disodium Edta, Citric Acid, Artificial Flavor, Vitamin A (Palmitate), Beta Carotene (for color)

American Butter: Land O Lakes

Sweet Cream, Salt

So 15 ingredients versus 2!!!!! And two natural ones at that!!! Plus lots of vague mystery items like Artificial flavor which could mean anything. The most alarming ingredient is the Calcium Disodium Edta, which is made using FORMALDEHYDE! 

British Margarine: Flora

Water, Vegetable Oils (seed oils 83%), Buttermilk, Salt (1.4%), Emulsifiers (Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids, Sunflower Lecithin), Flavouring, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Citric Acid, Colour (Beta-Carotene), Vitamin A and D

British Butter: Kerry Gold

Milk, salt

So again about 11 ingredients versus 2.

Now I know all the cholesterol arguments and trust me I grew up in a house where Flora was the stable and I hated the taste of the stuff. On my journey over the last few years of looking at what I'm eating, labels have become somewhat interesting to me. I am a recovered Diet Coke addict, and yes I was addicted and yes I think rehab would have helped me kick me, it was that bad!!!! What really stopped me with the Diet Coke was when it came out in the news that Benzene, one of the ingredients, is a component of gasoline. So when I looked at the label and saw the chemistry experiment that is Diet Coke it didn't seem very appetizing anymore. We really don't drink soda anymore in our house and if we do I tend to make it Coke or 7 Up which both seem to have non chemical ingredients. So margarine is that same category for me, a chemistry experiment disguised as food! Let's face it margarine was not created by a culinary genius but by a French Chemist in 1813.

Back to the cholesterol issue, yes we have heart disease but I've heard many people state that the low-fat/non-fat diet has not done a thing to reduce heart disease and in fact since the whole thing began obesity and diabetes have increased astronomically. So really is fat that bad? Is cholesterol in our diet the killer? Have we really looked at the long term effects of a preservative that is made from FORMALDEHYDE? A molecule here and a process change there and some of these 'food' items are one step away from plastic! And if they are preserving the food what are they doing to our bodies? Never mind the fact that they have to add artificial flavorings to all this to make it consumable. 

So in my book a little butter is a much safer risk than a chemistry experiment. It's flavor is natural and before you say anything I use unsalted butter and rarely the salted variety. I was watching an episode of Paula Deen's show and she had the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, on and Ree made the comment that she doesn't count the butter she has in her refrigerator by sticks but by pounds. I had to giggle because I'm the same. Two of my favorite cooks and they are both like me butter fans!!!

So this whole thought process got me thinking about the whole making it myself instead of paying other people to thing and I decided to give it a go. After watching numerous videos on the internet (and there are numerous videos on the subject) I got busy. Thankfully modern technology has made it easier for us than my grandmother and I didn't have to get a butter churner out, although I want to give that a go!!!! My Kitchen Aid mixer is by far one of the best gifts my husband has given me (after our two gorgeous precious sons of course, and my sewing machine)! The whole process was done in less than 10 minutes!!!

Now a quick note of the by-product, buttermilk! I have heard of people drinking a glass of buttermilk as a treat before bed, but the buttermilk I've got at the store never seemed appealing in that way! Well I tried the buttermilk from my experiment and it was delicious!!!! OK now I understand!!!!

So go on, if you have some heavy whipping cream and a mixer give it ago. Trust me you will not be disappointed. I can't wait until the next time I'm in Northern Ireland because the milk over there is a million times more superior to here and I can only imagine how much more delicious that butter will be!!!!!

Oh one last note, care of my husband. The TV show Modern Marvels is a favorite in this house and it just so happened that yesterday butter was the subject. They said that they store butter in containers that you can't see through because light can cause the butter to go rancid quicker. So just a tip for storage, keep an old butter container and use that.

Homemade Butter

Ingredients: 

2 cups of heavy cream (at room temperature)

Ice water

Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. With the whisk attachment on the mixer add the cream to the mixer and set to high (or whatever level is going fast but not sending cream flying everywhere!!).

2. Sit back and wait, all of a sudden the butter and the milk will separate, if you do walk away you will hear a sloshing noise all of a sudden.

3. When they separate switch the whisk attachment for the paddle, it will make life easier. Turn the mixer back on for a few minutes more.

4. Carefully drain the buttermilk into a jar and set aside.

5. Add a little ice water (but make sure not to get ice in it!!) to the butter and start the mixer again. You are sort of washing the butter to get the last of the buttermilk out. Pour out the milky water and discard.  Repeat this process until the water stays clear.

6. Add a pinch of salt and mix one last time and store in the refrigerator!

Happy Home Cooking!!!!

Rice & Gravy

Ok rice and gravy is probably the most unimaginative name for this one but over the past 10 years when my hubby asked what's for dinner that's what I told him and he knew what I meant.

I use round steaks and cook them in a gravy. And yes, you guessed it, I serve it with rice! Although the Northern Irish comes out in me and I have to have potatoes of any form with it! Recently I've been on a roast potatoes kick, although honestly they have always been one of my favorite ways to eat potatoes. There is nothing more glorious than a perfectly crisp roast potato, with it yummy fluffy inside, smothered in gravy! YUMMY!!! At this time I'll take a moment to wipe the drool from my face and compose myself!

OK back to meal in hand, Rice and gravy as I call it. This is a little more involve meal and requires starting early (although if you went to play in Pinterest land and lost track of time like I do frequently, a hotter stove and constant attention can reduce the time.)

This is also an amazing dish for the crock pot. Left alone all day to cook makes this dish perfect and I need to use my crockpot more!

I use butter for my roux with this one, oil will work too but I prefer the taste of butter and the creamy feel it adds. I'm sure somehow I'm a close relative of Paula Deen! However the butter issue will be a for another day and post, trust me I have strong opinions there!!

As the title suggests you can serve the steaks and gravy over rice but really any side dish works great with this, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, wild rice...and the list goes on. We have rice and potatoes the perfect Cajun/Irish mix! I always do some sort of vegetable too, again whatever works for your family.

Oh and one other note, I'm crazy about garlic, so I add a nice amount of it. You can omit it or reduce it to your taste.

Rice & Gravy

4 eye of round steaks, trimmed of fat

1 onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup flour

4 cups beef stock

1 teaspoon kitchen bouquet

Tony's seasoning to taste

1. Season steaks with salt and pepper (or Tony's if you are me!).

2. Add onion and garlic to skillet. Place the steaks on top and cook until the steaks turn brown. A little debris at the bottom of the skillet is OK, if it gets too bad add a little water.

3. When steaks are brown remove to a plate and set aside.

4. Add enough water to the skillet to deglaze it and pour liquid into a bowl. You could use wine although I've never tried.

5. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in skillet and add flour. Stir constantly for 5 minutes.

6. Using a whisk, stir in the beef stock (it's always a good idea to have the beef stock warm). When nice and smooth add kitchen bouquet and seasoning.

At this stage you can add it to the crockpot and let it do its thing all day.

7. For the stove top method, Cook on low for about 2 hours stirring regularly to prevent burning. Trust me on this one!!!!

Happy Home Cooking!

Happy New Year!

Well it's January 1st again! To be honest I'm beyond hopeless at keeping resolutions! Last years was to be healthier and happier. I don't think I can say I achieved either. Life is more stressful and I still need to lose 30lbs and get into shape.

However...I did try! That's the point, we try!!!

So this year I'm not really making resolutions. Although today is a good place to hit the reset button! So that's what I started doing yesterday (because Mondays are neat and tidy weekly fresh starts!).

I'm back to P90X and watching what I eat. I'm not going carb free, I love food and especially carbs! However there will be a dramatic reduction in their consumption. I'm starting a new trend Reduced Carb because sometimes you just need a chocolate cupcake and a carrot won't cut it!!!

My main focus food wise is to reduce the amount of pre-made food I consume. We are too convenience orientated and we now pay more for our food because we are paying for someone else to make it. Bread is a prime example!!! So that's my mission for this year to make the things I can make myself! Not only will I save money and reduce the preservatives and additives that are in food but they will taste better and I may even burn a few calories in the process!

Example in point Burger Buns! Saturday night we made burgers and I decided that I wanted to make my own buns. I did buy some burger buns at the store as standby, always a good idea when trying something new! They were so simple and beyond delicious and a fraction of the cost. Plus why do buns come in packs of 8, at most we use 3. And I hate to say it but more times than I care they end up going stale and the chickens get a bonus meal.

Tonight I'm trying bread. I've made it before but not consistently. I figure all that kneading will help with stress relief and calories!

The latter half of 2012 was beyond chaos and I did get lax with my meal planning. It only leads to frustration, waste and more stress so back on track. Like I said I'm hitting the reset button.

Happy Home Cooking in 2013!!!

January Meal Plan

It's here the meal plan for January. I will try to add the missing recipes this month!

Go to the meal plan page for links to the recipes. January Meal Plan Page

Happy Home Cooking!!!