Belated Happy Thanksgiving!

Greetings to all my readers this Thanksgiving weekend.  May your thoughts be focused on all the things you have to thank God for, rather than on the things of this present evil world!
Galatians 1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: 5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
When I Think of Thee – by Annie Johnson Flint

Crawfish Etoufee

November 9th was “Cook something Bold and Pungent Day”.  I intended to post this recipe for that, but I didn’t manage to get it up.  (I apologize that I haven’t been keeping up with this blog too well lately.)
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Here’s an unusual dish to try.  We learned this from a “Loosiana boy” who lived with us for a while and from his mother.  One warning – it smells a little weird when it’s cooking, but it tastes good when you eat it!
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Melt 1 stick of butter in a non-iron pot.
Season 1 lb. raw crawfish tails with Cajun Seasoning. Mix well.
Add 1 Tbl. of paprika to the butter. Stir in. Add crawfish tails. Sauté crawfish for about 5 minutes.
Add:
Onion and garlic powder (to taste)
1 Tbl. Worcestershire sauce
2 C. water or chicken broth
Simmer 40 minutes, stirring often.  Check taste.  Add salt if needed, or garlic or onion.
Add 2 Tbl. cornstarch mixed with a little water or broth spooned from the pot.  Cook till slightly thickened. Serve with rice. 
4 servings

C's Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

1 C. softened butter
1 C. palm shortening (non-hydrogenated)
1 C. sugar
2 C. packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
4 1/2 C. all-purpose flour (try putting in half white whole wheat)
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
2 C. chocolate chips
1 C. chopped pecans (optional)


In large mixing bowl, cream butter, shortening, sugars and vanilla.  Beat in eggs.  Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.  Bake at 350F for 10-12 min. or till lightly browned.  Remove to racks to cool.
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I have had these come out a bit too thin at times.  If this happens (they spread out too far) add a little flour to stiffen them up.  I got this recipe years ago from Country Extra magazine and made a few changes.  Also, I would not try to reduce the sugar.

Just A Bite

I am a snacker first and last.  I get the munchies on a fairly regular basis.  Eating smaller meals and having a late morning and later afternoon snack can actually be beneficial, and is sometimes necessary for me, but eating healthy snacks is sometimes the challenge, especially with my sweet tooth.

I do not happen to eat a lot of bread.  I used to, but since our whole grain bread is heavy and carbohydrate rich, I like to get my carbs from things that I like better.  Because of this I don’t always get all the jam I’d like – especially our wonderful homemade jam.  When I have a craving for some jam, instead of spreading it on a cracker or piece of bread I will sometimes eat it on a slice of cheese. :-)  I probably get more jam than I should sometimes, but with some of our recent efforts at lower sugar jams this is not as much an issue as it once was.  Also, the freezer jams are more like eating fresh fruit spreads to me.

It’s not only tasty, it’s colorful too!  Yum!

Dairy Free Cashew Cheese

Ingredients:

1 cup Water

1/3 cup plus 1 rounded TBSP of Emes unflavored gelatin (do not use Agar)

1 1/4 cup boiling water

2 cups cashews

1/4 cup yeast flakes

1 TBSP salt

2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 pimento or 1 carrot grated or 2 tsp paprika

Directions:

Soak gelatin in the 1 cup of water in blender while assembling the other ingredients.  Pour the boiling water over soaked gelatin and whisk briefly to dissolve.  Cool slightly.  Add cashews and blend thoroughly while adding remaining ingredients.  Blend until mixture is the consistency of a cream sauce, with no pimento or carrot seen.  Pour into a quart mold, cool slightly.  Cover before refrigerating.  Refrigerate over night before serving.  After this firming period, it can be frozen.  This melts over hot dishes.  Leave out the gelatin for a fondue type of cheese. 

Makes one quart.

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This recipe came from my friend, Theresa.  She said that she couldn’t find the raw cashews that the recipe originally called for so she substituted roasted, salted ones.  She said it turned out fine and that her family liked it grated onto food in place of cheese.

I have not tried this recipe myself.  I am posting it for those who can’t have dairy products but like grated cheese on their food.  I hope it works out for you.  It’s worth a try.

As I mentioned, the original recipe called for raw cashews.  I changed this because I have heard that raw cashews are not safe to eat without a specific processing which was not included in this recipe.  If you wish to try them instead please find out the proper way to treat them before use so that they are safe to eat.

The Great Ice Cream Experiment

This is at once both disgusting and humorous.  It shows rather graphically what kind of gross stuff is in low quality ice cream.  Is it food?  Is it filler?  What is it??!! 

This project was undertaken by Laura at the Heavenly Homemakers blog.  She has done quite a good job with it so I feel no call to repeat it myself.  Besides that, I’m not really surprised at the results.  It was probably predictable to some degree.

Read, look and learn:

The Ice Cream Experiment: Take One

The Ice Cream Experiment: Take Two

I agree with her conclusions.  Buy ice cream with real ingredients, even if it costs more or, better yet, make homemade!!

Guacamole

Here is our recipe for guacamole - to go with the Taco Soup recipe, or for any time you want to make guacamole. We used to make a different style of guacamole, but after a friend expressed how he like the taste and/or texture of the store bought variety better, I came up with this alternative. Interestingly, though the mayonnaise is non-traditional, we like it better this way.

Guacamole

3 - 4 ripe avocados (med-small, non-sweet variety)
1/4 - 1/2 C. sour cream
1 - 2 Tbl. mayonnaise
Garlic powder - to taste
Onion powder - to taste
Red chili pepper (powder)
1/4 tsp. cumin
Pinch of oregano
1 - 2 tsp. lemon juice – preferably fresh
Salt to taste
Mix all ingredients in a small - med. bowl. If avocado does not mash enough just from mixing you may wish to smash the chunks against the side of the bowl in order to make a smoother texture.
Serve with chopped black olives and tomatoes, and grated cheese. You may mix these in or use them to garnish the top. A dollop of sour cream and a black olive on top also looks nice when serving it.