Recipe Test: Northwoods Wild Rice

When we have salmon for dinner, this is the side dish I make.

Northwoods Wild Rice

Ingredients
1/1/2 cups uncooked wild rice, rinsed 
→　I used 1 cup of Lundburg Wild Blend® instead
4 cups of water
→　Per the cooking instruction, 1 3/4 cups of water
1 teaspoon salt
→　Reduced to 1/2 teaspoon
1/4 cup butter, cubed
→　1 Tablespoon of olive oil used
4 slices bacon, diced
→　Skipped
1/2 cup celery, sliced
→　Increased to 1 cup
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms
→　Increased to 1 cup
Seasoned salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup salted cashews
→　Skipped

Yield: 6-8 servings

Here are the ingredients:
Chopping veggies ahead of time helps reducing the total cooking time. 

Let's start cooking!

Recipe Test: Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread

I have been using this cornbread recipe for a while. 



Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (that is 1 stick of butter)
→　I use 4 Tablespoons of butter (1/2 stick)
2/3 cup white sugar                             
→　I use 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar instead
2 eggs
1 cup butter milk                                 
→　1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar) + milk to make 1 cup of butter milk substitute

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
→　1/4 teaspoon salt

Yield: 6-8 servings

It is very easy and quick to make.  Let's begin!

Recipe Test: Vegetarian Chili

I made Vegetarian Chili and corn bread (for my family) last Saturday dinner.

Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch

Published by William and Morrow, 1993.

At first, I was overwhelmed by the list of ingredients!  I skipped some of the veggies as I did not have them.  

Here are the list of ingredients I used (I marked my changes in pink): 

1 Tablespoon (instead of Tablespoons) canola oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 cup chopped red bell peppers
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 to 3 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded, and minced, depending upon taste (I didn't have any)
1 medium zucchini, stem ends trimmed and cut into small dice
2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears) (I skipped it as I am not able to eat corn while on the elimination diet)
1 1/2 pounds portobello mushrooms (about 5 large), stemmed, wiped clean and cubed (I used 8 large white mushrooms instead.)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespooon ground cumin
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (I skipped it as I don't like it too spicy)
4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
3 cups cooked black beans, or canned beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce (I used tomato paste + water)
1 cup vegetable stock, or water
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

I skipped the following (I made corn bread instead):
Cooked brown rice, accompaniment
Sour cream or strained plain yogurt, garnish
Diced avocado, garnish
Essence, recipe follows, garnish
Chopped green onions, garnish

 I usually chop onions, mushrooms and celery on the day I purchase.  This reduces overall cooking time tremendously.  Another tip: buy dry beans and cook at home.  Not only this will reduce the cost, but also will reduce the amount of cans for recycling.  

What is an easy way to peel tomatoes?  Make a shallow X in the bottom end.

Put the tomatoes in the hot water.

 

See how easy it is!?  This technique can be used for peaches.

Let's start cooking!

Applesauce

We bought 50 lbs. of apples in Hood River, Oregon at the end of the year 2012. As I often substitute applesauce for oil and sugar, I wanted to try making apple sauce!

We visited Kiyokawa Family Orchards. They had some rare apple.  The lowest price was 39cents per pound!  We should have bought more.

 

I used a few different kinds of apples for the applesauce.

 

 First, I pealed apples and chopped them.

 

Next, I cooked them in my pot.  Finally, I mushed the cooked apples.

The whole process took some time, but it was easier than I had thought. I froze half in a ziplock bag, and I canned the other half.

Useful Websites

Boy!  I have not posted anything about two months!  I try to update at least once a week from now on. 

I would like to post a few useful websites:

Calorie Count
I modify baking recipes A LOT to reduce the amount of sugar and fat.  I use this web site to find out how much calories I was able to reduce. 

The tool I use is called "Recipe Analyzer."

Once a Month Mom
I found this website recently.  I have quite a few freezer friendly recipes already, yet this site offers more than recipes!  I haven't fully utilize this website yet.  I'm hoping to add more freezable recipes to my recipe collections.

Meal Planning: 40 Recipes for Shredded Chicken
We buy chicken already frozen.  This is something I would like to try. 

King Arthur Flour
For baking recipes, this web site is my go to site.  I found most of the treats recipes are way to sweet for my taste.  I cut sugar by 1/2 at least. 

Japanese Hamburger （ハンバーグ）

My husband does not complain if I make stir-fried veggies, but he gives me a hint that he wants to have beef or pork in the dish. 


Okay, okay. 


How about this?  Japanese Hamburger

Freezing Nutbutter and Honey Sandwich

We don't buy bread from store for a few reasons: 1) cheaper to make than buy, 2) no yucky stuff in the bread, and 3) who doesn't like to eat the freshly baked bread?

I'll post my bread making process at another time. 

I bake two loaves of sandwich bread at once and freeze one loaf.  I read the other day that you can freeze peanut butter sandwich!  We like peanut butter and honey sandwich.  Some web posts say that honey gets crystallized when frozen.  Hmmm...  When not sure, test it out!

Here are my loaves of bread.  I mixed all purpose flour and white whole wheat flour this time. 

I decided to use my almond butter this time. 







Assembly line.

Mmm...

Ready to go into the freezer.

I was not sure how the texture of honey would turn out when thawed.  Therefore, I only made three sandwiches. 

Sandwich was at least frozen eight hours before taking it out from the freezer.  I took the frozen sandwich to work today for part of my lunch.  I could not tell it was frozen!  Honey was a tiny bit grainy, yet it did not bother me.  This will save tons of time for prepping lunch in the morning.