Kitchen tip Tuesday-soften brown sugar-make your own

Have you ever had brown sugar get hard? It is impossible to use in that state. You certainly cant measure it.

An easy fix. Put it in the microwave for a min. or two until it softens up. Easy peasey lemon squeezy.

Make your own brown sugar with regular white sugar and molasses. Just put some white sugar into a bowl and add a tablespoon or two of molasses. Take a spoon and mix it thoroughly. If it is not dark enough add more molasses. If its too dark or wet add more white sugar.

Rice and Sausage Bake

1 # sausage, cooked with;

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

When the meat is done and the pepper and onion too add in;

1 small can of mushrooms, drained

2 to 2 1/2 c. left over rice

3 well beaten eggs

Place this into a 9X13 baking dish and top with shredded cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is melted and golden. About 25 min.

Kitchen tip tuesday-Healthier Homemade bread

For today's kitchen tip Tuesday I want to share how I make our home made bread healthier.

When I grind my wheat I like to also grind several types of beans, peas, and lentils, rice, corn, barley, etc. I use about 1/4 c of each. All in dried form of course. I keep this dried bean flour in a quart jar in the freezer. When I am making bread I add 1/4 to 1/2 cup to the flour when I am measuring it. It helps the wheat to be a complete protein. It is also my version of Ezekiel bread.

Yummy veggie burgers

I use my rice cooker for this.

Rinse 3 1/2 c. lentils

and 1/2 c. rice

Place in rice cooker with 7 cups of water (I find that brown rice and lentils take more water or they end up hard)

When the lentils and rice are done, place them into a very large bowl.

With a stick blender blend and moosh the lentils. This doesn't have to be completely mashed.

Add 1 c. chopped walnuts

4 eggs

2 t. oregano

2 t. cumin

12 -15 chopped cloves of garlic

2 onions (diced)

2 c. wheat germ (I use freshly ground wheat flour)

4 T. olive oil

salt

pepper

Mix well. Form into burgers and fry in olive oil for 3-4 min on each side. This makes about 30-32 burgers. I fry what I need for the meal and make the rest into burgers. Layer on a cookie sheet covered with parchment or wax paper. Place in freezer for a few hours. When frozen, place into a freezer zip lock bag. Then you can take out how many you need when you need them. My kids love these. Me too.

A frugal meal.

Homemade cough syrup-easy

A very effective and easy way to make homemade cough syrup is as follows. Cut up one onion and place into a bowl. Pour honey to cover. Let set at least 12 hours. Strain into a container with a lid. Use a teaspoon or two when needed. Children will take this just fine. Just don't tell them there is onion in it. I just say here is some honey cough syrup and it works great.

Rice in a rice cooker

To make tasty rice in a rice cooker is easy. First measure how much rice you want to cook and place it in a wire colander. Then rinse until the water runs clear. Now the fun begins. Place the clean rice in your cooker with twice as much water. At this point you can add onions, bullion, seasonings finely chopped veggies or other yummies.

Litchen Tip Tuesday on Monday again.

Easy Salmon Patties

Open and drain salmon. Place salmon in a bowl. I use my clean hand and smash it all up, bones and all. Crack two eggs into bowl. I then sprinkle oat meal or crushed crackers into the bowl and mix it up. I never measure but I would guess we used 3/4 c. oatmeal. Mix this up with your hand and gently form into patties. Carefully place formed patties into a skillet that has a little bit of oil in the bottom. Cook over medium heat until nicely browned on both sides.

I like fried potatoes with this. Serve a nice vegetable and there you have a frugal meal.

Just for fun here is a cost breakdown.

Salmon on sale $1.00

2 eggs 13 each or .26 I have chickens so 0 for me

3/4 c. oatmeal .20 (guess)

3 lbs potatoes 1.50

oil .50

canned vegetable .34

total $3.80 or $3.54 for me.

Kitchen tip Tuesday on Monday LOL

Easy,easy stuffed jalapenos. Wearing plastic gloves cut the top off of the jalapeno. Cut the pepper in half lengthwise. Scrape out all the seeds. When you get them all cleaned have someone else wash them. Every time I do this I start to cough. Isn't that silly? OK, now put some cream cheese in the empty pepper and wrap a half slice of bacon around it and secure it with a toothpick. Place in a pan. Bake at 350 until its done.

preserving pears

Yesterday and today I have been making pear honey. Its quite delicious and easy. It just takes a long time. I canned 8 pints this morning with my steam canner from back to basics. You can see it here. http://www.canningpantry.com/steam-canner.html

The steam canner is so easy to use. It takes just 6-7 cups of water. It is much lighter than a water bath canner and it can be used over and over without waiting for all that water to boil.

By the way, I learned about the steam canner from Paul and Bernice Noll's canning web site last year and have been using mine for two years. Remember it does not replace a pressure canner only a water bath canner. The Noll's web site is listed on my right sidebar.

Oreo Ice Cream cake and budget version

Mollie has her 14Th birthday coming up and she asked me to make this dessert. There are two ways to make it, the regular way and the budget way.
Regular
1 package oreo's crushed
1/2 c. melted butter or margarine
mix these together and press into the bottom of a 9X13 pan
1/2 gallon ice cream (the rectangle kind works good)
slice ice cream and place over cookies.
Freeze
when ready to serve melt some of that expensive fudge sauce and drizzle over each piece.
Yum Yum

My version
1 package off brand sandwich cookies crushed
1/2 c. melted butter or margarine
mix together and press into the bottom of a 9X13 pan
1/2 gallon ice cream, slice ice cream and place over cookies.
freeze
when ready to serve, cut into pieces and place on plates, melt some inexpensive fudge frosting and drizzle over each piece.
Using my version you should save at least $3.00.

homemade Mayonnaise

I always make our mayonnaise. Its just so expensive at the store. We were always running out. Its so simple and quick. Here's what you do.
In small mixing bowl place:
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. powered mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 t. lemon juice
Using a stick blender I then mix this up and slowly pour in 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil. It doesn't take long, the blender makes it quick. Place into an correct size container and keep in the fridge. If you want, you can make less using only one egg. I find that this keeps about two to three weeks in the fridge.