Corn Bread Mix-Monday Mix Up

CORNBREAD MIX

This has a lot more potential than just cornbread, don't worry.

But first, let me show you what's outside my kitchen this morning.


Yeah, I know. look at all of that stuff.


Now, on to our mix!

• Corn meal
• Flour
• Sugar
• Powdered milk (I use soy)
• Salt
• Baking powder
• Baking soda

Put everything together nicely in a bowl. You'll be making about 5 cups of mix. Of course, if cornbread is something you eat all the time, feel free to double, or triple. But you have to figure out that math. I was an English major in College. I don't do math.


Ahhh, everything's all mixed together good. Put it in an airtight container and label it. This needs to be used within the next 2 months.

Cornbread Mix
Recipe Courtesy of: Recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• 2 cups cornmeal
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup powdered milk (I use soy, use whatever kind you like best)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 /2 Tbsp salt
• 1/2 Tbsp baking soda

Combine everything in a large bowl, until it's mixed together thoroughly. Store in an air-tight container with label and use within 2 months. Makes about 5 cups mix.

Now, we're going to make corn dog bites for my baby girl.

Mix together your mix with an egg, some flour, and water. If you want, add some seasoning like dry mustard or paprika or cayenne. But my girl probably won't care if there's not much flavor.

Cut up 2-3 hot dogs in smallish chunks. I did about 4-5 chunks per hot dog.

Now, head on over to Mommy's Kitchen, and read about how she did her corn dogs and take some tips from her. I didn't, so mine aren't very pretty and the batter didn't stay on very well. (hint: she coated the hotdogs in flour after drying them off--I'll try that next time)


Dip each hot dog into the batter, cover it completely. Then fry in hot oil (about 2-3 inches deep), turning as needed to brown all the sides.

Drain on a paper towel, and serve 'em up! my girl happened to like the hot dog part the best, and kind of picked around the breading. Oh well.

Corn Dog Bites
Recipe Courtesy of: Recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• Oil for frying
• 2-3 hot dogs
• 1/4 cup Corn Bread Mix
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp water

assorted seasoning of your choice (dry mustard, pepper, cayenne)
Heat about 2-3 inches of oil in a pan. Dry the hot dogs with a paper towel, and cut into bite size chunks. Mix together all the other ingredients. The batter should be stiff. Dip each hot dog into the batter, covering and fry in the oil. Turn them as they brown, to make sure all sides get browned. Drain on paper towels. You could also make full size corn dogs.

Look what I learned!

As you know, I've been searching for dairy-free recipes, and cooking with soy milk instead of regular milk, as well as using soy powder instead of milk powder in my mix recipes. Our munchkin is getting tested in a few weeks at her 15 months appointment (!!!15 months already!!!) to see how strong the dairy allergy is. We 'self-test' every few weeks, just by rubbing a little bit of milk on her arm to see if the hives come. (this is probably NOT endorsed by ANY doctor, ANYWHERE, but we do it anyway) On saturday when I 'tested' her arm there were no hives!! Here's hoping she's grown out of it, but we're not pushing out limits yet. Still living dairy-free.

We're also trying to eat less processed foods, and more fresh. Even with the convenience foods. I made tortillas the other day, I'll post the recipe soon. This helps us live healthier, as well as not having to worry as much about dairy 'sneaking' its way into our meals.

Anyway, check out this site: foodstoragemadeeasy.net and their post today was about using bean flour to make cream'o'chicken soup. Go check it out, they have a video tutorial showing how they made it.

Here's the recipe for you (which I haven't tried because I have no wheat grinder. Soon. . .soon. . .)

Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup Recipe:

• Grind: 4 T of any white bean (lima, navy, etc.) to make 5 T bean flour
• Combine: 5 T bean flour, 1 ¾ c. water , 4 t chicken bouillon into a saucepan
• Cook: On stovetop at medium temperature until thick and delicious (whisk frequently).The soup should cook in 3 minutes! (this may be longer if your grinder makes a very coarse flour).

Use this with cooked veggies and or meat for a complete meal. You can also add this to recipes calling for cream of chicken soup cans (I have found this replaces a can plus the water or milk in recipes).

Sushi--a Krystal Roll

SUSHI--A Krystal Roll and TEMPURA

Sometimes I get in the mood for Japanese food. Ok, OFTEN times I'm in the mood for Japanese food. And oftentimes we're too poor to go out to eat it. Which is one of the reasons we have Gyoza a lot, and I almost always have a bag full in my freezer.

Finally though, I broke down and made my own sushi. I had plans of making something authentic, but well, my fridge, in it's infinite goodness, didn't want to bless me with the ingredients to make something like this california roll. Or even anything like Pioneer Woman's sushi.

So I decided to make my tempura. I had a ton of vegetables to use anyway, and some shrimp. If all else failed, we'd have tempura and gyoza for dinner. Captain Jax wouldn't complain!

But I made sushi rice anyway, from PW's blog, or at least close to what she made. Because I REALLY wanted sushi. And I got out everything for tempura:

• veggies of your choice, in smallish chunks
• tempura mix
  
• water
• rice
• nori (seaweed sheets)

I mixed up the tempura, and started frying things up.

I did asparagus first, because I've never had asparagus tempura before. It was good. but I think all tempura is good.

Wait, I should back up. Tempura, for those who aren't aware, is basically a batter you dip foods in and then fry. That's it. and it's good!

I stole this tip off of PW's blog as well. I froze my shrimp all stretched out, so when I fried it (while it was still frozen) it doesn't curl up! them when I decide to make sushi, which I sure did! it's flat and the roll will roll properly.

I drained my tempura, because no one likes oily-looking food. Well, I don't.

I mixed together some cayenne pepper and cream cheese, again, taking a concept from PW and altering it to what I had. I thought this would give the sushi some good flavor.

I also lined my bamboo mat with saran-wrap, because I don't like cleaning things. Anything.

Spread my beautiful sushi rice out on the nori, and tried my darnest to fill the whole thing. Sushi rice is not the easiest thing to spread.

(and because we're friends, I've got to tell you, this was my second batch. I totally ruined the first batch by following some stupid recipe on how to cook sushi rice and I had W-A-Y too much water in there)

Then I laid out my tempura shrimp (tails chopped) cream cream mix, and tempura asparagus.

Rolled it up all nice and pretty.

Mmm, see? Pretty.

And sliced and diced it.

I also fried up more tempura with my other veggies. It was good. I learned that the thinner you spread your rice, the better.

And it's fun to make something up and name it after yourself. :)

The Krystal Roll
Recipe Courtsey of: Recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• shrimp tempura
• asparagus tempura
• sushi rice
• nori sheets
• cream cheese
• cayenne pepper

Spread sushi rice over the nori. Mix together some cream cheese and cayenne pepper. Lay shrimp tempura across rice, then cream cheese mixture, then asparagus tempura. Roll up the nori tightly. Slice in half with a wet knife, then slice the half in half, and so forth. THis will give you even slices.

Chicken Mix--Monday Mix Up

CHICKEN MIX

First, I want to say that my pup is doing great. She got the staples taken out of her side, and the vet said it looked like everything healed perfectly! yay! And my neighbor, was very apologetic about her dog (a chow, which I've heard often bite with no warning) and paid for our vet charges.

We're happy, and my Indy puppy is even happier to go on walks again. But then yesterday, we got some bad news. My dear hubby Captain Jax had applied for a promotion, and was a shoo-in. As in the manager deciding who got the position had told him previously (about 2 months ago) that the next store (He is an assistant manager at Gamestop) would be his. He'd finally be a manager, after 3 years of waiting and working for it!!!

And then she gave it to someone else. He's pretty bummed about it (as am I) since she told him it would be his. *sigh* that's life for ya ain't it?

Anyway, on to our MONDAY MIX-UP!!! (On Tuesday. . .again)

We're making a basic chicken mix, which has a lot of potential. Here's what you'll need:

• 12-14 chicken breasts
• 4 carrots
• salt
• pepper
• parsley flakes
• dried basil leaves

Throw everything into a pot of cold water (4 qts to be exact). Let it start boiling, then turn it down and simmer it for about an hour, until the chicken's done.

Drain out the broth (feel free to save it and freeze it for later uses)

shred up your chicken, and mix everything together nicely.

Mmmm. . . . .

Divide the mixture into 2 cups per bag, since that's the amount that's needed for most recipes. Label it and freeze it for up to 6 months.

CHICKEN MIX
Recip courtsey of: recipesofacheapkate.blogspot.com

• 12-14 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
• 4 qts cold water
• 4 carrots, cut up
• 2 tsp pepper
• 4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 3 Tbsp parsley flakes

Combine everything in a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook for about an hour, until the chicken is cooked. AFter the chicken is done, strain the broth out (you can save it for later uses). Shred up the chicken and mix it together with the carrots. Add about 1/4 cup of the broth, to help the chicken not dry out. Divide into baggies of 2 cups each and freeze for up to 6 months.

Now, my older sister reads my blog. She doesn't comment (but she should!!) but she thought of me as she made Chimi's a few nights ago and she took pictures for me! She rocks.

This meal though, when I saw it, I thought "This would go perfectly with my chicken mix!!" So here we go!


Take 1 bag of your chicken mixture, and mix it together with some sauteed onions and peppers. Feel free to add some cheese. We all know how I feel about cheese.


Take 2 packages of crescent rolls and roll them out into rectangles. (2 triangles per square) Make sure you pinch the seams together, otherwise you might have some difficulty cleaning your pan later on. Spoon some salsa onto each one.

Add some chicken mixture and roll up from the short end. It is more or less just folding the edges up on the rectangles, and pressing the seam into itself (place seam side down on baking sheet). Don't worry too much about the ends, just kind of gently push together a little. Sprinkle with some more cheese (You might have to push it down a little bit to have it stick)

Bake for about 20 minutes at 350degs.


Top with sour cream and green onions.

Or don't. My sister didn't (I bet she didn't have any in her fridge :) )

CHIMI'S
Recipe Courtesy of: Recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• 3 Tablespoons Oil
• 1 small onion (chopped)
• 2 cups Chicken Mix
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 2 (8-count) cans crescent rolls
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions

Heat oil in skillet and cook onion and pepper and shredded meat in skillet. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup cheese. Unroll crescent rolls, and separate into 8 rectangles (using 2 triangles for each rectangle)- be sure to pinch seams together, or they will leak out later. Spread 1 tablespoon salsa onto each rectangle (stay about a 1/2 inch from edges if you can) Spoon meat and cheese mixture onto the rectangles and roll them up from short end. It is more or less just folding the edges up on the rectangles, and pressing the seam into itself (place seam side down on baking sheet). Don't worry too much about the ends, just kind of gently push together a little. Sprinkle with remaining cheese (I found this to be easier if you kind of pat the top of the chimichangas a little so the cheese will stay on the top and not fall onto the baking sheet). Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes (until golden brown). Top with sour cream and green onions.

And I bet these would freeze well before you cook them too! then just pull out and let defrost and cook as normal.

Rice and lentil burritos

RICE AND LENTIL BURRITOS


This is poor-man's meal, as I like to call it. It's also a nice camping/backpacking meal. The overall cost of this meal, is probably less than $.50 a person. I'd guess it to be about $2-4 dollars for the entire meal. The most expensive part is the chicken, which is totally optional, and the cheese. And if you make your own tortillas, then it could be even cheaper.

Here's what you'll need:

• tortillas
• cheese
• rice
• lentils
• taco seasoning
• sour cream
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and diced or shredded up
  

Cook your rice and lentil's together. I always have to call my mama when I'm cooking rice, because I can never remember if it's 2x's a much water, or equal parts water. Either way, cook them together. Yes, the lentils will turn your rice a funny brown color, but that won't hurt anything. you can cook them separate if you like, I just hate doing dishes.

I just opened up this rice cooker I got as a wedding gift. . .three years ago. . .I had never used it!! I went through a phase where I HATED rice and would NOT eat it. Now, I like it again. :)

You want your chicken in small chunks, or even shredded up, so it mixes up good.

And of course, a good pile of shredded cheese. This is completely optional, if for example you're backpacking. . .cheese doesn't pack very well.


After your rice and lentils are cooked, mix them together with your taco seasoning and chicken. if you're feeling really poor that day, omit the taco seasoning and chicken, and spoon a little bit of salsa over your burrito to help give it some flavor.


Mmmmm, this freezes really good too, so you could make a large amount and divide it into containers and freeze.

Take your mixture, spoon some into your tortillas, top with sour cream and cheese and enjoy!

Rice and Lentil Burritos
Recipe Courtesy of: recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• Rice (I use 1 cup)
• Lentils (I use 1 cup)
• Tortillas
• Sour Cream
• Shredded Cheese
• Taco seasoning mix
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and diced/shredded
• Cook the rice and lentils together. When they're done, mix them together with the taco seasoning and chicken. Spoon onto tortillas, and top with sour cream and cheese. Freeze leftovers, or make a larger batch to have plenty to freeze!

"I'm feelin' Poor today" Meal Options: Omit chicken, cheese, and sour cream. Use salsa instead of taco seasoning.

No Monday Mix-up

I had plans for a monday mix up, I promise I really did. Instead, I spent a good chunk of my weekend taking care of my dog, who got attacked by another dog while we were walking. It was completely out of the blue, and unprovoked. The dog was three times her size!


But she got all stitched up, and is doing much better. Although, I still have to keep a close eye on here, not let her lick her stitches, or bark, or try to play. . . .it's hard to keep an energetic terrier calm!!
There's her lovely battle wounds. It'll make a nice scar in a few months. . . .

anyway, so I'm taking a bit of a hiatus the next few days to take care of my puppy dog. but I'll be back soon! (I hope!)

Chicken'n'dumplins ala Jessica Simpson

CHICKEN'N'DUMPLINGS ALA JESSICA SIMPSON

I was watching Rachel Ray a while back. . .her talk show, not that cooking one, I'm not lucky enough to have the Food Network. *sobs*

Anyway, she made these chicken and dumplings that were so easy! (and by she, I mean Jessica Simpson was on the show, and SHE made them for Rachel) I had to give them a try. Plus I had everything on hand, which is great. and of course, I added stuff to make it more suitible for my house.


You'll need:

• 1 can cream'o'chicken
• rotisserie chicken--shredded
• cheese, grated or sliced
• chicken broth
• crescent rolls
  

The ingredients are pretty flexible, so you can make as many, or as few as you feel like. I did a 8x8 pan, made about 5.


Roll out your rolls, pile on some of your shredded chicken, and cover with some cheese. I did slices, but next time, I think I'm going to mix grated cheese in with the chicken. The sliced made it kind of hard on this next step.


Fold the dough around everything, forming pockets. Because I had rectangle slices of cheese, I ended up with rectangle pockets. This is why I'm grating the cheese next time.


Spoon the can of cream'o'chicken soup over everything. if you're doing a larger pan (9x13) you'll want to have two cans. Or maybe 1 can cream'o'chicken, and 1 can cream'o'mushroom. Then pour around 1/3-1/2 cup of the chicken broth. Just enough to give some moisture in there. Sprinkle with some pepper. Then, since you'll probably have some of the dough left over, cut it into strips and layer it across the top, making a little pie crust looking top.


Bake it at 350degs F for about 20 minutes or so. . .just long enough to get everything all heated up.

Chicken'n'dumplings

• 1 can cream'o'chicken soup
• 1 can crescant rolls
• shredded rotisserie chicken
• chicken broth
• cheese

Roll out your crescant rolls, pile some chicken, and then some cheese inside. Fold up and make little pockets. They don't have to be pretty, or even have everything sealed up inside. Place the pockets in the pan and cover with the cream'o'chicken soup, then pour about 1/3-1/2 cup chicken broth over everything. Season with pepper. Take some of your leftover rolls and cut until strips and lay across the top. Bake at 350degs F for about 20-25 minutes, or until everythings all heated up.

Here's the link to the Rachel Ray segment: Jessica Cooks With Rachel

Sweet Bread Mix--Monday Mix Up

SWEET BREAD MIX

Happy Monday! It's a cold dreary day here, a perfect day to heat up the oven and get some baking done!

This a very basic mix, but it had a lot of potential!
You need:

• Flour
• White (granulate) sugar
• Brown sugar
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Salt

combine it all in a large bowl--this makes about 10 cups of mix

Mix it together good to get all the lumps out. We all know how brown sugar loves to clump together.

Store the mix in a sealable container, and mark it with what it is, and when it needs to be used by (within 6 months for this one)

Sweet Bread Mix
Recipe courtesy: recipesofacheapskate.blogspot.com

• 6 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp baking soda
• 1/2 Tbsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar--packed

Mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk, this helps break up all the clumps. Store in a air-tight container, with label and date to use by (within 6 months)

Now, let's make some banana bread with this. I was sorting through my freezer the other day, and found a few bags of bananas that I froze to use for bread sometime. And then I promptly forget about them as soon as I closed to freezer door.
You need:

• Sweet bread mix
• eggs
• bananas
• oil
• lemon juice

Mix everything together. At first I thought I didn't have enough wet ingredients, but it came together nicely!

See? that perfect, sticky bread mixture.

Grease your bread pan up good, and dump the mixture into it.

You'll need to cook it for a while, and make sure to test it for doneness. . . .I always have a hard time making sure the bread is done. . .this was a little underdone, and it cooked for over an hour!

Banana Bread

• 3 1/2 cups sweet bread mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
• optional: 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325degs F. Grease a bread pan. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour into your bread pan and bake for about 1 hour o until done--test with a toothpick, when it comes out clean, it's done. Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then dump it out and cool completely on a wire rack.


Yum, it's great toasted with some butter on top! that's my favorite way to eat it.