The
other day, I woke up to raindrops dancing across my roof tiles, and hankering
for a taste of the oatmeal-molasses bread recipe I have been wanting to try. I
also had a couple seriously overripe bananas … so, I whipped up a banana
muffins recipe to sample – and stash in the freezer for quick grab/thaws
when I go hiking 😉
Keeping
with my “trying new things” agenda, I have been busy in the kitchen trying a
few new recipes 😊
And I'm sticking to my weight loss goal – I am averaging a 2 to 3 pound drop
a week; without avoiding bread! I like bread, Scripture encourages the eating of
bread … I don’t avoid, or skimp on {certain} foods: I just
figure in the calorie tally and work around it.
My body is what it is: I will never be a Twiggy, I am a curvy woman – my body was created
for ME, in the shape it is designed, and I’m okay with that.
I like
to eat more than lettuce leaves. I like to eat breads, meats, starchy foods, and desserts: but I limit them in my meal
planning. Dieting (aka depriving oneself of certain foods) does not work
… it never has, it never will; the body will crave whatever you attempt to
eliminate, so I just cut back on what I like. That way, my body is happy and
functioning properly, and I’m happy with the woman in the mirror 😊
The
recipes I chose for this cookathon are a varied mix of breads, beef, pork,
fowl, fish, and veggies; all are suited for Fall & Winter appetites.
The
Oatmeal-Molasses Bread recipe, comes from my 1979 Gold Medal
Century of Success Cookbook; the Banana Wheat Germ Muffins
recipe, comes from my Autumn 1985 Country Living/Country Cooking cookbook;
the Meatballs In Spicy Tomato Sauce recipe comes from a clipped November
1981 WD $-Saving recipe page – and I teamed it with the Minnesota
Mashed Potatoes recipe from a November 1996 Good Housekeeping
magazine page; the Autumn Pork Chops is a casserole, and it
smells heavenly as it bakes; the recipe comes from my Betty Crocker ‘New American
Cooking’ cookbook; the Krupnick recipe comes from my ‘A
Lexicon of Jewish Cooking’ cookbook; the Turkey & Leek Casserole,
72 Market Street Meat Loaf and Basic White Bread are
repeat recipes, posted to this Blog 😉; the Herbed Brussels Sprouts and Carrots
recipe if from my ‘Southern Living Cooking Light’ cookbook; and the FISH
AMANDINE recipe, is a new one for me, and it comes from my ‘WW Meals
in Minutes Cookbook’.
I eat real food that I grow myself in my urban lot garden space my husband deisgned and crafted for me – food with medicinal proprieties, and I calorie count – that’s what works for me. However, I am not including the
calorie count for these recipes because different food brands have a different
scale for calorie counting. If you count calories … it’s easy to compute:
it takes time, but it’s relatively simple to do.
Since there is only 1 of me now, and I like my own homecooked meals (instead of the store bought-packaged-ready meals); I also work a full menu around the main dishes of the cookathon recipes, and freeze the bulk of the dishes in meals easy to pull from the freezer, and reheat ;-)
==OATMEAL-MOLASSES BREAD ~1 loaf
Bob
didn’t like the taste of molasses … but I do; especially when fall &
Winter rolls around – it seems to me, that it wakes the tongue up, and sets
warm on the tummy. So, as soon as I drank my first cup of joy juice to get the
blood flowing and the cob webs cleared from the thought process, I got busy and
baked a loaf 😊
It
is a dense bread – but it also has a surprisingly light texture: I
know that sounds contradictory, but it is true. This will be a repeat
recipe!
¾
cup boiling Water * ½ cup regular Oats * 3 Tablespoons Shortening * ¼ cup light Molasses * 2 teaspoons Salt * 1 package dry Yeast * ¼ cup warm Water (105- to 115-degrees) * 1 Egg * 2-3/4 cups all-purpose Flour * 1 Egg white, slightly beaten * ¼ cup regular Oats, crushed * ¼ teaspoon
Salt
Ingredients.
Mix
boiling water, ½ cup oats, shortening, molasses, and 2 teaspoons salt in a
large mixing bowl; cool to lukewarm.
Mixing of water, oats, shortening, molasses & salt.
Dissolve
yeast in warm water. Stir yeast, 1 egg, and 1½ cups of the flour into the oat
mixture; beat on medium high speed, scraping bowl frequently, for 2 minutes.
Stir in remaining flour until smooth.
Smooth
and pat batter in a greased 2-pound coffee can with floured hands: brush top
with egg white. Mix ¼ cup oats and ¼ teaspoon salt; sprinkle over top. Let rise
in a warm place until doubled – about 1½ hours. (I skipped the coffee can,
and used a regular bread pan – it worked fine).
Batter placed in oven to rise under pilot light.
Batter & bread pan covered with large bowl to aid in rising.
Heat
oven to 375-degrees. Bake until loaf is brown and sounds hollow when tapped –
about 50 to 55 minutes. (If loaf is browning too quickly, cover with foil
during last 15 minutes of baking). Remove from can (or pan); cool on
wire rack.
Bread baked in a Coffee can.
My bread done; dense, but surprisingly light - and delish, too!
Bob
always liked bananas – they were a steady staple in the house for 44 years of
our life together; and since he started riding the clouds, I have developed a
taste for them too: so, they continue to be a house staple in my solo lobo life.
But
I don’t eat them every day, and they tend to get overripe very quickly. I
hate wasting $$$ … so, I have started incorporating the overripe bananas into
various foods; this time, I folded them into muffins 😊
The house smells
wonderful while they bake!
I substituted
pecans for the walnuts (that’s what I had on hand) – and ground them in
a coffee grinder to a paste state (this works best for my body): and I also
doubled the recipe, so my pictures will show quite a bit more than the recipe
cites.
==BANANA-WHEAT GERM MUFFINS ~makes 12 count
Moist, slightly sweet, with a good crust; these muffins are delicious with
butter or a wedge of sharp Cheddar cheese.
1½
cups all-purpose Flour * 1 cup toasted Wheat
Germ * ½ cup light Brown Sugar * 1 Tablespoon Baking
Powder * I teaspoon Salt * 1 teaspoon ground
Nutmeg * 2 large Eggs * ½ cup Milk (dry
milk is workable) * ¼ cup (1/2 stick) Butter or
margarine, melted * 1 cup ripe Banana, mashed (about
2 large) * ½ cup chopped Walnuts
Ingredients; my bananas were seriously overripe ...
Heat
oven to 425-degrees; grease 12 muffin cups.
In a bowl, combine all
dry ingredients – except nuts – and blend well.
Combining of dry ingredients.
Blending of dry ingredients.
Beat
eggs with milk, butter, and banana until smooth; add to dry ingredients, and
blend until well moistened. Stir in nuts.
Addition of wet ingredients; and nuts.
Spoon
batter into muffin cups and bake until a rich brown – about 20 minutes. Serve
warm.
Filling the muffin tin; 1 fourth cup used.
Placed in the oven ...
A little dark - so, I lowered the oven temp by 5-degrees, for the next batch.
They look like little volcanoes; hahaha.
2 & a half batches; I had doubled the recipe.
==MEATBALLS IN SPICY TOMATO SAUCE ~serves 4
8
ounces lean Ground Beef * 1 Tablespoon cooking
Oil * 1 medium Onion, chopped * 1 can (16 ounces)
Tomatoes, cut up * 1½ teaspoons Chili Powder * 1 small Bay leaf * 1 clove Garlic,
crushed * ½ teaspoon Salt
Mix
the meat and onion; form into 12 balls. In a large heavy skillet over medium
heat, brown the meatballs in hot oil.
Browning meatballs & cooking spuds.
In
a medium sized bowl, blend the tomatoes and spices – add to meatballs. Bring to
a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Discard bay leaf. .
Sauce ingredients.
Meatballs cooking in sauce.
==MINNESOTA MASHED POTATOES ~makes 8 accompaniment servings.
These mashed potatoes are a bit “soupy” – if I make them again, I will add
more potatoes, to stiffen them up some.
3
pounds all-purpose Potatoes (about 9 medium), peeled and cut into 1-inch
chunks * 1 teaspoon Salt * ¼ teaspoon ground
Black Pepper * 1 container (8 ounces) Sour
Cream * ½ cup Milk, warmed * 3 Tablespoons Chives, chopped.
In
a 4-quart saucepan, heat potatoes and enough water to cover, to boiling over
high heat. Reduce heat to low – cover and simmer 15 minutes, or until potatoes
are fork-tender. Drain.
Return potatoes to saucepan. With a potato masher,
mash potatoes with salt and pepper. Add sour cream, milk, and chives – mash
until well blended.
Minnesota mashed potatoes.
Meatballs & potatoes prepped for freezer.
==AUTUMN PORK CHOPS ~6 servings.
Good source of protein, thiamin and vitamin A. This dish adds color, as
well as taste, to a cold gray-clouded Fall day 😉.
6
Pork Chops, about ½-inch thick * ¼ teaspoon Salt * 1/8 teaspoon ground Black Pepper * 2 medium Onions,
sliced and separated into rings * 2 medium Acorn
Squash, cut into 1-inch rings, and seeded * 3 medium Apples,
cored and cut into 1-inch rings * ¼ cup Margarine (or
butter), melted * 2 Tablespoons Honey * 2 Tablespoons Water * 1 teaspoon Pumpkin
Pie Spice (recipe follows)
Cook
pork over medium high heat until brown on both sides.
Browning pork chops.
Place
pork in an ungreased rectangular baking dish – 13 x 9 x 2-inches; sprinkle with
salt and pepper. Arrange onions. Squash. And apples on pork. Mix remaining
ingredients; pour over apples.
Casserole ingredients.
Cover
and cook in a 350-degree oven until pork is done, and squash is tender – about
55 minutes. Serve pan drippings with pork.
Layering of squash & apples atop chops.
==KRUPNICK ~makes 6 to 8 servings
This is a Jewish crockpot dish, and it is delish this time of year 😊 I teamed this stewed
dish with a slice of Oatmeal-Molasses Bread, and a cup of fruit cocktail.
1
or large peeled Onion * 2 Marrow Bones * ½ pound stewing Beef (short ribs, or Lamb shank) * 1/3 cup Pearl Barley * 3 cans sliced button
Mushrooms (or ½ pound fresh, washed mushrooms; or 1 cup dried mushrooms,
soaked first for several hours) * 5 Carrots, scraped
clean and cut crosswise * 2 potatoes, peeled
and quartered * 1 large (28-ounce) can
stewed Tomatoes * 1 Tablespoon Sugar * 1 teaspoon Sea Salt * ½ teaspoon ground Black Pepper * Water to cover
Combine
all ingredients in a crockpot, and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours.
Krupnick prepped for freezer; teamed with a slice of Oatmeal-Molasses bread & fruit cocktail.
==TURKEY & LEEK CASSEROLE ~serves 8:
Making this recipe – today – I used a combination of light and dark turkey bits
… and fusilli noodles, “just for the fun of it” 😊. I teamed the casserole with herbed brussels sprouts/carrots,
and a banana muffin.
http://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2017/12/turkey-leek-casserole.html.
Casserole baking.
Meal prep for freezer; teamed with Herbed Brussels sprouts-carrots, & a Banana-Wheat Germ Muffin.
==HERBED BRUSSELS SPROUTS & CARROTS ~6 servings
¼
pound fresh Brussels sprouts * 2 cups Chicken broth * ½ pound baby Carrots * 1 Tablespoon Lemon
juice * 2 teaspoons Margarine * ½ teaspoon dried whole Tarragon leaves, crushed * dash of ground Nutmeg
Wash
brussels sprouts thoroughly, and remove and wilted outer leaves. Cut a cross in
the root end of each sprout. Bring chicken broth to a boil in a 2-quart
saucepan; add sprouts and carrots. Return to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and
simmer 6 to 8 minutes – or until veggies are tender.
Brussels sprouts & carrots cooking.
Drain
veggies, toss with lemon juice, margarine, tarragon, and nutmeg.
==72 MARKET STREET MEAT LOAF ~8 servings
I
was invited to a friend’s home a week ago for Supper, and she was making meat
loaf. That supper got me to thinking about meat loaf sandwiches … so, I pulled
out this recipe and baked a tasty loaf; and also baked a loaf of white bread 😉
My
Supper tonight was a meatloaf sandwich – the cozy aromas of the spicy meatloaf,
and homemade bread, warmed up the chilling evening 😊
==Meat Loaf: https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2019/09/fall-meals-cookathon-tuesday-wednesday.html
Meat Loaf ingredients.
==Basic White Bread: https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2018/06/white-bread-basic-master-recipe-makes-2.html
White Bread loaves.
==FISH AMANDINE ~2 servings
I tried this fried fish because the recipe sounded good; I teamed it with
mashed sweet potato and peas.
2
Sole (or flounder) fillets; ¼ pound each * 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon all-purpose Flour * 2 teaspoons Olive (or vegetable) Oil * 1 Tablespoon whipped Butter * ½ ounce sliced
Almonds * ¼
cup dry White Wine * 1 Tablespoon Lemon juice *
1/8 teaspoon EA Salt & White Pepper * 1 teaspoon chopped
Parsley
On a large plate,
dredge fish fillets in flour; lightly coating both sides – reserve remaining
flour. Spray a 10-ich non-stick skillet with non-stick cooking spray; add oil
and heat. Add fillets to skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning once,
until fish is lightly browned and flakes easily when tested with a fork –
about 2 to 3 minutes each side. Transfer fillets to serving platter, and
keep warm.
Lightly dredged fish fillets.
Lightly browned fish fillets.
In
same skillet melt butter; add almonds and sauté over medium-low heat, stirring
frequently, until lightly browned – about 1 to 2 minutes.
Browning the almonds.
Add
remaining reserved flour and stir quickly to combine; stir in wine, lemon
juice, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced
by 1/3 and slightly thickened – about 1 to 2 minutes.
Thickening the almond sauce.
Pour
sauce over fish; sprinkle with parsley.
Meal prepped for freezer; Fish, mashed sweet potato, & green peas.
Wrapped
in the kitchen aromas wafting through the house, I am relaxing with a banana
muffin and a cup of flavored coffee … looking out the windows at the Fall’s
fading colors; and watching the little chickadees at the bird feeder Bob
designed and built for me in November of 2014 – the feeder and bird house will
need to be cleaned up and bleached come Spring; I have been gone so much
finding new road routes to adventure on, that time got away from me 😉 I’ll finish the lapghan
this afternoon, and enjoy it’s warmth tonight while indulging in another meat loaf sandwich supper 😊
Life
is different without Bob, but it’s still a good life – and I am reshaping the scraps left, to
suit the new me. I don’t know yet, what all that will entail … but I do know,
that just like my meal menus, it will include the best of US, as well as the
newness of the now. And that’s a winning combination.
