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Cooking Oatmeal in Your Rice Cooker

If you are similar to our family at all there are days when it is pretty difficult to break out of the cereal in a box or cereal bar rut morning after morning.  Luckily, someone told me about being employed at Quaker oatmeal, where you can get hot Quaker oats at any time of the day, courtesy of the staff cafeteria.  The way they work this magic is to cook the oatmeal in giant rice cookers, brilliant!

Sure enough, throw in the oats and water as directed on the back of the Quaker box, turn on your rice cooker and wait for the beep some 20-30 minutes later and you will be the recipient of perfect oatmeal.  I do recommend making more than one serving; I usually make enough to bring it to work for myself and a friend, or for Diva and I to sit down and enjoy.

Add ins make it even yummier, cut up an apple in pieces, sprinkle some cinnamon, a little brown sugar and let all of that cook with the oatmeal in the cooker.  It will all be just right when the timer goes off.  Slice a banana, sprinkle in some chopped walnuts, cinnamon and maple syrup and you have banana bread oatmeal ready in no time.

Make sure to invest in a rice cooker with a delay timer.  This allows you to throw in your oatmeal and water the night before, select the number of hours you want the cooker to turn on in, and then go to bed.  You will awake to a delicious, healthy breakfast. 

What suggestions do you have for making fast, healthy meals for busy families?

Taco Cups

Kids will love these quick little personal tacos with no crunchy shell mess.  They make great man food for Sunday football too.  We like to have a veggie tray first then just these for the main course. 

Recipe:

Cook a pound of ground beef and drain.  Optionally you can add 1/4 c. chopped onion and a tablespoon or two of tomato paste or sauce.  Add a package of taco seasoning mix and follow the directions on the package.

Open a 10 count can of Layered Buttermilk Biscuits (I used Publix Hearty Buttermilk Biscuits).  Press each biscuit into the bottom and up the sides of a muffin cup.  If you are using two 6 count muffin pans fill the two empty cups with a couple tbs. of water.  Spoon the ground beef taco mixture into the biscuit cups.  Sprinkle each cup with a little Mexican Blend cheese.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 11-12 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown. Cool slightly and remove taco cups from muffin pan.  Serve with salsa and sour cream if desired.

Variations: fill with barbecue beef or sloppy joe filling.

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting

Tonight was relaxing, I took an OAMC meal out of the frig and put it on to cook, then asked Diva to help me make some pumpkin bread.  She was game!  It's wonderful to make the house smell all spicy when there is a nip of cool fall weather in the air.

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Bread

1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
3 c. sugar
1 c. water
1 c. Canola oil
4 eggs
3 1/3 c. flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Cream Cheese Frosting

4oz cream cheese softened
3/4 stick real butter softened
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbs vanilla
1 tbs milk

Directions:

Pumpkin Bread

• Combine pumpkin, sugar, water, eggs and oil, beat until mixed.  
• Place all dry ingredients in a separate bowl, mix.
• Add dry ingredients in small batches to pumpkin mixture and beat until well mixed.
• Grease and flour two loaf pans, divide batter between them.
• Bake at 350 for one hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean and center bounces back to touch. 
• If you are making muffins the recipe will make 2 dozen muffins and one loaf or 48 muffins. Bake time 20 min.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• Cream butter and cream cheese. 
• Add powdered sugar in batches and beat well. 
• Add vanilla and milk and beat until creamy. 
• Frost loaves or pipe onto muffins. 
• Not a thick frosting so put in freezer for a little while to thicken if you have trouble working with it piping.
   
  YUMMY!!!
  
  

Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

I is for Indian Food

The other day the kiddos came home and we checked the frig calendar only to learn that particular day was designated I day.  A day to think of things that start with I.  Igloo, Ice Cream, Ice Cube you say.  Duh! Indian food, I say!  That day I came home at a relatively decent hour and began cooking it up. I made Lentil Dal and then began preparations for my favorite, Chicken Tikka Masala.  Mmmm.  It's a spicy dish with a hint of coconut, tomato and it's just amazing.  UberGeek claims not to like Indian food but he loves this, go figure.

Tikka Masala Recipe

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs

Marinade

1 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground red pepper (can double this if you like spicy)
1 teaspoon black pepper (can double if you like spicy)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 piece minced ginger (1-inch long)

Sauce

1 tablespoon butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (I half this when making for UberGeek and kids)
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala (buy in Indian market or most grocery stores including Publix carry in spice section)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup regular or lite coconut milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro for garnish if desired (leave off if feeding men you are already married to or children, save your money)

Directions

1. For sauce, melt butter on medium heat.
2. Add garlic& jalapeno; cook 1 minute.
3. Stir in coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala& salt.
4. Stir in tomato sauce.
5. Simmer 15 minutes.
6. Stir in cream and coconut milk, simmer to thicken- about 5 minutes.
7. Marinate chicken thighs (in the refrigerator) for an hour or so. Place thighs in slow cooker. (Do not pour in remaining marinade with thighs) Discard marinade.
8. Pour sauce over thighs
9. Slow cook 3-4 hours high or 6-8 hours low
10. Garnish with cilantro if desired. Serve with basmati rice

The Traveling Crab Cooker

The Traveling Crab Cooker

Whenever anyone talks about visiting my in laws in their home on the Northern Neck of Virginia on the Corrotoman River the first thing they speak of fondly besides my in laws is the crabs. Every weekend during the summer my in laws steamed crabs and Silver Queen corn on the cob in a big pot outside. Then everyone would go out on their huge screen porch and sit on a picnic table covered in a roll of heavy paper and crack crabs, eat and drink lemonade. Afterward, I would usually pass out on a hammock on the back porch, this was long before our children were born when rest was part of my life.

Five years ago my in laws sold the dream home they built and retired in; it was a difficult decision. Although it was the perfect home for them it was in a rural area and not near family or high quality medical care. They decided to move to North East Florida to be closer to the Mayo Clinic where they receive medical care. Their new home is beautiful, navigable water front, Granddad got a new boat, it has an indoor pool and great neighbors. There is just one thing, the crabs in Florida are just not the same, they don't taste right. They have blue crabs but they are not sweet the way they are in Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina. Don't even get us started on the whole garlic crab thing, ick.

After five years my in laws decided to pass the torch, the propane kind that is. We were headed up to Virginia for a quick family picnic on my side of the family. On the way back home we were going to stop at UberGeek's brother's new beach home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. UberGeek's parents asked us to take the crab cooker with us to give to his brother. We packed it lovingly into the minivan along with all our other trappings.

When we arrived at the beach UberGeek's brother fired the cooker up once more. Great big jimmies met their fate steamed with beer, Old Bay and a touch of vinegar. Even the ceremonial crab hammers with our names on them were there. Whenever a new person marries into the family they receive a crab hammer with their name engraved on the side.  Sitting there with our two families it wasn't quite the same tradition but maybe it was a new one getting started.

Key Lime Cheeseball

Key Lime Cheeseball Recipe

I have been buying the mix for a Key Lime Cheeseball from Tastefully Simple and a couple other companies for years now. Finally I decided to try and create my own recipe. It turned out really yummy and people seem to like it. I have served it quite a few times. Kids especially like it due to the green color. I personally wish it was less green but I will not complain too much since I used to pay $6 per pack of mix and now I pay .89 cents for a box of Lime Jello.

1 8oz package cream cheese
1 box lime jello
3-4 tbs. sweetened shredded coconut
2 tbs. softened butter
zest from 1 lime
1 tbs. fresh lime juice
2-3 graham crackers crushed into crumbs

Mix cream cheese and butter at middle mixer speed until blended. Add 2/3 to 3/4 pkg of lime jello and the coconut to the mix and mix again. Add lime zest and lime juice and mix a final time. Scrape mixture from sides of bowl etc. and shape into a ball. Roll into graham cracker crumbs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving.

Serve with graham crackers, graham pretzel twists or Keebler Bug Bites.  People will be licking the serving dish clean.  

Download Keylime Cheeseball Recipe

Summer Sangria Recipe

Summer Sangria Recipe

Around my house we also call this "Mother's Little Helper" but you can give it whatever nickname you wish. Once you bring it along to one gathering people will be requesting it all the time. That's OK because it's easy, elegant and inexpensive. Perfect for picnics, cookouts, beach gatherings, parties or showers. Usually I use my Pampered Chef Mix & Stir pitcher but for fancy company you could put it in a pretty cut glass or crystal pitcher. So nice with the fruit slices floating on top. I have also served it in those glass dispensers with the valves.

1 regular size bottle inexpensive red wine
1.5 cups orange juice
1/2 cup brandy
1/4 cup sugar (I use turbinado raw)
2 Tbs. Cointreau, Triple Sec or other orange liqueur
2 Tbs. Pomegranate liqueur (if you have it but don't make special trip, it's fine without)
2 Tbs. Grenadine syrup or Pomegranate flavored syrup
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 orange sliced
1 lime sliced
1 lemon sliced
1.5 cups lemon lime soda like Sprite

Mix all ingredients except sliced fruit and soda. Add sliced fruit. Add soda just before serving. I usually double this recipe with the big ol' bottle of cheap red wine.

Download Sangria Recipe

Karen's Super Summer Potato Salad Recipe

My mother and father had a very contentious divorce. Neither of them had a good word to say about the other for many, many years. They divorced when I was only two years old and I did not see them in the same room again together until my wedding day. There is one thing my father admits to however, he sure does miss my mother's potato salad. Even after thirty plus years of divorce he occasionally asks me about it. So here you go, the potato salad that rises above even the bitterest of divorces:

Karen's Super Summer Potato Salad

5 lb bag red potatoes (the smaller ones work best)

Hellman's mayo (light is OK but Fat Free is NOT, don't even think about using Miracle Whip)

Salad Supreme (in spice aisle)

1 onion

dozen eggs hardboiled

salt & pepper to taste

Put potatoes in cold water and bring to boil. Let boil until you can stick a cake tester through them without resistance. Do NOT peel them before you boil them. Makes em too mushy. Once they are ready, pour off the hot water, add cool water, let sit for 5-10 minutes, then remove water again. Put potatoes on a dish rack or dish towel to cool.

Peel and cube potatoes into 1" chunks

Cut eggs into chunks (I use the ones you can already buy hardboiled these days)

Dice onion

Place onion, potatoes and eggs in very large bowl. Add 1/3 jar Hellman's mayo to the mix. Mix it up and add more if necessary, depends on how wet you like your potato salad.

Add 1/3 container of Salad Supreme to the mix and stir. Taste, add more as necessary.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle Salad Supreme on top.

Voila!

Greek Pasta Salad Recipe

I have a few easy recipes to share for the hot summer that is already upon us. They are those staples that I rely on to bring to picnics and summer parties on the lanai. This first one, please don't tell anyone that it starts out with a box. Invariably someone asks for my "recipe" for this and is shocked when I tell them how easy it is.

Greek Pasta Salad Recipe

2 boxes Suddenly Salad Classic pasta salad mix

1 container grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half

2 small cans sliced black olives drained

1 container crumbled feta cheese

Prepare Suddenly Salad as directed (be sure to use Olive oil as the oil) then add the tomatoes, black olives and feta cheese in and toss. Serve to your unsuspecting friends and relatives and pass off as your own homemade creation.

Easter Basket Cupcakes

 

Tonight we made Easter Basket Cupcakes for the kids preschool Easter party. Diva and Eddie Haskell decorated one each for dessert. I saved the rest to decorate after they went to bed. They were so excited about seeing them all decorated tomorrow morning, they couldn't go to sleep. I kept hearing doors opening, whispering and then scurrying feet back to bedrooms.

The recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, sometimes I make them vegan and sometimes I use milk, depends on what I have in the frig. Either way, you can safely taste the batter since there are no eggs, yummy! Here is the recipe. The authors of that book wrote another awesome cookbook called Veganomicon which has really tasty food even if you are not vegetarian or vegan. We try to eat meatless meals  a couple times a week so I've found that to be a helpful resource.

The icing we love is definitely not healthy and not vegan:

Buttercream Icing:
1/2 c. shortening (organic, no cottonseed oil)
1/2 c. real butter softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
5 c. confectioners sugar
2-3 tbs. milk

1. Cream butter and shortening, then add vanilla. (Dissolve dash of salt in the vanilla to cut sweetness of icing)
2. Add sugar one cup at a time beating on medium
3. Add milk 1 tbs. at a time, sometimes 2 tbs is enough, depending on how stiff you like your icing.

50 calories per serving if used to frost 24 cupcakes

To make baskets:

Tint coconut with several drops of green food coloring and stir
On each frosted cupcake make a small nest of colored coconut, place three jellybeans and insert Twizzler as basket handle.

So Happy Pesach, Passover starts tomorrow, and a Joyful Easter to everyone, hope they are sweet.