Pancakes

This recipe is a wonderful staple to have in your recipe book. It's whole grain, but you can substitute white flour if you must. I don't like whole wheat flour from the store. The oils in whole wheat begins to go rancid very quickly. Instead, I buy whole wheat kernals (wheat berries) from the cannery and grind up what I need for the week. What I don't use that day is put in the freezer to preserve the vitamins. Whole foods also sells wheat berries in the bulk food section. To grind my wheat berries, I use is WonderMill http://www.amazon.com/Wondermill-WonderMill-Grain-Mill-110V/dp/B000CPJKWC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1289746153&sr=8-4 . Fresh ground flour is amazing. I highly encourage you to invest in the grinder. We use both white wheat berries and red wheat berries. If you're new to whole wheat, I would purchase the white wheat. Your family will not be able to tell the difference with white flour.

I buy egg powder for my food storage at http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/powderedwholeeggscan.aspx . You can also find it at Emergency Essentials and Blue Chip Group. For my family of four it is recommended that you have 4 # 10 cans in your food storage.

Pancakes

Nonstick Spray
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup quick oats
1 egg or 1 Tbsp. egg powder and 2 Tbsp. water
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup cooking oil
pinch of salt

Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Use a pan with a nonstick surface or apply a little nonstick spray.
In a blender or with a mixer, combine all of the remaining ingredients until smooth.
Pour the batter by spoonfuls into the hot pan, forming 5-inch circles.

When the edges appear to harden, flip the pancakes. They should be light brown. Cook on the other side for same amount of time, until light brown.
Makes 8 to 10 pancakes.

Buttermilk Dressing

I was really thrilled when Jessica announced that she is getting married on December 30, 2011. Then I remembered the pictures from Rachel's wedding. I hated the way I looked in those pictures. Trying to find something beautiful to wear is very hard when you're fat. Since Jessica also wanted to lose weight, we decided to go to Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers is a heathful way to lose.

I must admit that I really like food. My Mama and sisters are all excellent cooks. I am an excellent eater. Food has to be flavorful if I will eat it a second time. I've failed at dieting before, because I couldn't find lower calorie foods that I loved. If you eat higher fat foods, of course, you must eat less. As well as needing very flavorful foods, I need to not be hungry. I will fail if I'm hungry all the time.

I know to succeed at this diet, I need to eat a lot of salad, but I hate fat free salad dressing. I experimented and found a homemade salad dressing that I can eat and best of all is low fat.

Buttermilk Dressing

1 cup buttermilk (I used my fat free homemade buttermilk)
2/3 cup plain yogurt (I used my fat free homemade yogurt)
2/3 cup low fat mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. mustard powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 tsp. dry dill
1 tsp. dried chives
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 Tbsp. cider vinegar

Toss everything in the blender. Blend until smooth. Chill.

This dressing is 1 point per tablespoon. Best of all, it's really yummy.

Menu Plan Monday

In an effort to better utilize my food storage, I've decided to return to menu planning. Organization is not really my forte, but I want to get a better handle on my grocery budget, and I know menu planning works. With Neil only working a couple of weeks a month, I am very grateful for a deep pantry and full freezer. Of course I am also grateful that I can continue to shop sales to maintain my food storage. I'm only including dinners because we really don't eat breakfast during the week. In general, on Saturdays we have an egg breakfast and Sundays we have a sweet breakfast. Lunches are usually leftovers, sandwiches and soup, or fish sticks, chicken tenders, etc.

Sunday:
BBQ Chicken, Baked Beans, Salad
Monday:
Pinto Beans, Rice, Cornbread, Salad
Tuesday:
Sloppy Joes, Baked Fries, Salad
Wednesday:
Jambalaya Pasta, Salad, Dinner Rolls
Thursday:
Baked Pork Chops, Creamed Corn, Mashed Potatoes
Friday:
Pizza, Salad
Saturday:
Potato Corn Chowder, Salad, Rolls

For More Great Menu Ideas, go to www.orgjunkie.com/menuplanmonday

Potato Soup

I have been waiting for Fall to arrive. I think Fall has always been my absolute favorite season. To me it means beginnings. I know, I know, Spring means rebirth, but I live in South Louisiana, and Spring is a wet month or so before the scorching summer begins.
Now Fall....Fall is crisp air, less rain, and lower humidity. Fall is when we begin to get back into our yards. Fall is when you can finally draw a deep breath outside because the air is not so heavy. Fall is the beginning of school when so much is still possible. Fall is football. The smells of Fall abound with the sweet spiciness of cinnamon, apples and pumpkin. I love Fall colors, Fall clothing, and Fall foods.
As soon as the temperatures dip into the low 70s, the Gumbo pot comes out. Fall is a time for soups and stews. Although I love Gumbo, I'll post that recipe nearer to Christmas, as that is our traditional meal for Christmas Eve.
Today, I want to post a recipe for my next favorite soup. This is not a soup I grew up on. Moma never made potato soup. It's made with milk and Daddy thought if the gravy wasn't brown, it was disgusting. I learned to love milk based gravies in college at Louisiana Tech. I'm sorry Daddy never gave it a try, because this is inexpensive, and yummy. We like to eat this soup with a bagette and salad. Heaven!

Potato Soup

2 slices bacon
4 large potatoes, peeled and rough cut into chunks
1 1/2 Tbsp. dehydrated onion (or 1/2 onion)
1 carrot, sliced
1 stalk of celery sliced thinly

4 cups of water
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
1/4 tsp. garlic granules, or 1 clove garlic, chopped

1 1/3 cup powdered milk dissolved in 1 cup water (use 2/3 cup powdered milk if using cannery milk) (You can also use 1 can evaporated milk instead.)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Cajun Seasoning to taste ( We like Tony's)
Cheddar Cheese to top

Fry up the bacon in the soup pot. Remove from pot and rough cut and set aside. Inthe bacon grease add the potatoes, black pepper, carrots, onions and celery . Cook until potatoes begin to get a little color on them. Add the water,garlic, and bouillon cubes. Simmer until potatoes are tender. Turn down the heat. Mix the milk and water together before adding to the soup. Simmer gently. If the heat is too high, the milk will curdle. Add the bacon back before serving.

Because the bacon is so salty, we don't add more to the soup. There is also salt in the Cajun seasonings.

Notes: if you don't have celery, you could use 1/2 tsp. celery salt, or just leave it out. I also like sweet peas in this soup, but have to put it in seperately as my son does not like peas. You can stick blend the soup for a creamier version, but I never do. I like vegetable bouillon because it adds a richness of flavor. If you prefer it, chicken broth is more traditional.

Making Bread: Part 1 (More Food Storage Recipes)

Home-Made Bread

There is nothing like eating a slice of fresh, hot, homemade bread. I love the way it makes my whole house smell like home. Moma never made homemade bread, but Miss Tontsie, our next door neighbor, did. I loved her fried dough made out of her yeast bread dough. Moma always made hot chocolate to dip the dough in. Sweet memories of home. Now I make bread for my family. I hope one day that the smell of bread baking will evoke loving memories of home for my children. I think I'll fry up a batch of dough for my kids this weekend.

One of my favorite bread dough recipes is not my own. It comes from www.everydayfoodstorage.net She has a great video that shows how simple the process actually is.

Here's her recipe:
1 1/4 c water
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/4 cup honey or 1/3 cup sugar
2 3/4 cup whole wheat ( don't use store bought whole wheat flour. If you can't get fresh ground, just use unbleached white.)
1/4 c. gluten
1 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. dry milk
1 Tbsp. butter, margarine, or oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1/4 cup potato flakes

Throw in bread machine. Set to dough setting. When it's run through, pull it out, and shape it. Place in bread pan. Let rise again for @30 min. Put in 350 oven for 35-40 minutes. When you tap the bread it should sound hollow. If it does, it's done.

This is my usual bread recipe:

1 cup cultured buttermilk
1 Tbsp. yeast
1/4 cup honey
1 3/4 cup white wheat flour
1 cup cooked quick oats, cooled
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup gluten
1/4 cup potato flakes
1 Tbsp. butter

Same procedure as above. I like to mix the ingredients in the bread machine, but bake in the oven for best results. Happy baking Lisa!

To make Miss Tontsies' Fried Doughs:

After the first rising pinch off golf ball size dough and stretch it out. Fry up in oil. Turn to get both side cooked. It goes great with coffee or cocoa. I'll add a picture on Sunday.

Buttermilk Sauce

Now that we can make buttermilk, we have a wide variety of new recipes open to us. When I discovered how to make cultured buttermilk, I wondered if it would make this sauce like "real buttermilk". I'm happy to report that yes it does.
The recipe is really simple and has many great uses. Originally this syrup was used on our Saturday morning pancakes, but once we tasted it, we thought it would be great on bread pudding and ice cream. Jessica thinks this tastes like Werthers Caramel. It tastes so good. Please try it.

Buttermilk Syrup

1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 stick butter
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine the first 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil and boil for 7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve over pancakes and waffles.

Homemade Buttermilk

Homemade buttermilk is easy, cheap and so convenient to have on hand. Buttermilk can be used in making salad dressings, biscuits, breads, pancakes and buttermilk syrup. It can easily be made with powdered milk.

1 1/3 cup milk powder (if using cannery milk, it will be half this amount)
4 cups water
1/4 cup buttermilk ( you have to start out with storebought buttermilk, but can use homemade buttermilk for the next batch.)

Pour in a quart size jar. Gently stir to mix. Close jar and place in a dark cabinet for at least 7 hours. When it's thick, it's done and when it is done, just place in fridge. It's ready to use.