Savings Event Calendar

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Damsels in the Kitchen: Olive Oil Butter

This recipe comes straight from my NatPath. I just love her to death!

The olive-oil butter is a great basic kitchen item to have on hand. It’s wonderful for saute-ing things like eggs, veggies, etc. And, it won’t make you fat!

It’s also wonderful as a spread. For example, you can add some dried parsley, chives, and other dried herbs to make a nice tasting vegetable or bread spread.

I make a 16-oz jar of it each time I buy a new bottle of olive oil. It usually last me a month or two.

Okay. Time for the recipe.

Ingredients

1 pound butter

1 cup extra virgin olive oil (from new dark bottle)

Directions:

Put butter in glass jar. Bring to room temperature. Add extra-virgin olive oil from new unopened bottle.

Carefully mix together until there are little to no lumps. Store in the refrigerator.

Print Olive Oil Butter

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Damsels in the Kitchen: Swiss Chard Gratin (gluten free)

Swiss chard is so full of vitamins and minerals. It is soo good for you. And it taste really good too.

Since I posted a snack recipe, and a protein, it’s time for a vegetable. This might not be a good match for the cilantro chicken, but it works nicely with something like a fish dish, or baked chicken.

I got the recipe from the Whole Foods website. But, I am totally unable to keep my hands to myself when it comes to recipes. I love to play, play, play!

I adapted this recipe to make it gluten free. I’ll give both versions of it.

Here is the original recipe

Ingredients

2 bunches Swiss chard leaves, chopped (about 8 cups packed)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, more for the baking dish
1 cup low fat milk
2 tablespoons unbleached white flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Comté or Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tablespoon whole wheat bread crumbs

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place chard leaves in a saucepan with the water and cook over medium heat until leaves are just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Set chard aside. In the same saucepan, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. When butter has melted, whisk in the flour until blended. Whisk constantly for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk and reserved cooking liquid. Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in half of the grated cheese. Stir in the cooked chard and transfer to a buttered 9×9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbling. Serve immediately.

And here is my gluten-free version (which tastes too good by the way).

Ingredients

2 bunches Swiss chard leaves, chopped (about 8 cups packed)
1 C water
1 T extra virgin olive oil –|
1 T unsalted butter      –|  or use 2T olive oil butter
1 C low fat milk (I used powdered milk)
2 T unbleached white flour sub cornstarch or potato flour (I buy potato flour at Uwajimaya)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 C Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tablespoon whole wheat bread crumbs 2 to 3 individual packets rice crackers (which I buy at Uwajimaya). Make sure they don’t have soy sauce or any other forms of wheat in them.

Here is a pic of rice crackers HERE. This particular flavor have soy sauce, but I just want to give you an idea about the rice cracker packets.

Method

1. Spray swiss chard with vinegar water (see recipe below). Let sit for 5 minutes. Rinse well.
2. In the meantime, turn on the oven and preheat it to 350°F.
3. Crumble the rice crackers. Not an easy task, so I used a wooden mortar & pestle. I also used a large knife and cut them to see how that would go. It works well also.
4. Place chard leaves in a saucepan with the water and cook over medium heat until leaves are just tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.
6. Set chard aside.
7. In the same saucepan, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. When butter has melted, whisk in the flour cornstarch or potato flour until blended. Whisk constantly for 1 minute.
8. Slowly whisk in the milk and reserved cooking liquid.
9. Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes.
10. Season with salt and pepper and stir in half of the grated cheese.
11. Stir in the cooked chard and transfer to a buttered 9×9-inch baking dish.
12. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs rice crackers.
13. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbling.
14. Serve immediately.

Print gluten free Swiss Chard recipe HERE.

Vinegar Water Vegetable Wash
1 T lemon juice
1/2 C vinegar
1/2 C water
Spray bottle — make sure you label it!

Pour all ingredients into a spray bottle. Spray on. Let sit. Rinse off.
I put my veggie wash in a cute green bottle I got from Target. The green bottle reminds me of what it’s for!

Print Veggie Wash Recipe HERE

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Damsels in the Kitchen: Cilantro Chicken

I posted a snack recipe already. Now, it’s time for a protein. And this one is a yummy protein. Cilantro chicken! It’s super easy and very flavorful! You will love it!

4 chicken thighs
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 C chopped onion
3 cloves garlic minced
1 large bunch cilantro with large stems removed, smaller ones are okay
4 C chicken stock
2 C chopped vegetables (carrots, potatoes, peas)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel and chop onion and garlic.
2. Wash and dry the cilantro. Remove large stem pieces.
3. Melt butter with oil in large pot over medium heat. Lghtly brown chicken pieces. Remove to a plate and set aside.
4. Add chopped onion and garlic to sauce pan. Cook over medium-low heat until soft and translucent.
5. Return chicken to the pot. Add cumin, chicken stock, and cilantro. Simmer until chicken is almost done.
6. While chicken is cooking, peel potatoes and cut into wedges. Wash carrots well and slick into ¼” slices.
7. Add in vegetables after about 10 minutes. Simmer until all is done.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste. I personally do not like pepper in this dish.

Remove from heat when chicken and vegetables are done.

Server over rice. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

This is a very basic recipe. You can get so many variations from it. For example, add more garlic to make it more garlicky (is that a word?). Substitute chickpeas for the veggies, or eliminate the the vegetables altogether and have plenty of broth (I cooked mine without the veggies). Squeeze in fresh lime juice during the last 5 minutes of cooking time. I suppose, a person could even add curry powder, and yogurt, or coconut milk.

Don’t be afraid to experiment (a little)!

Enjoy!

Print HERE

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Damsels in the Kitchen: Spiced Toasted Almonds

If you like to snack, but want something healthier than chips and cookies, you will love this recipe. It tastes good and will help keep your blood sugar level since it is a protein.

Ingredients
2 c raw almonds
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp maple syrup (I used warmed honey)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Toss almonds with the remainder of the ingredients. Spread evenly onto a baking sheet. I lined mine with wax paper.
3. Bake 7 to 10 minutes, until aromatic and slightly browned. Watch carefully, it burns easily. The smell will also let you know it’s ready.

Almonds will become crisp as they cool.

Serving Options:
Eat as is, or server over yogurt, chopped apples or other fruit.

Also, add toasted almonds to popcorn, chocolate chips, hulled sunflower or pumpkin seeds, dried fruit, etc. for your own style of trail mix.

I personally like the recipe without the salt.

Substitute the ginger and cinnamon with ¼ tsp each of thyme, sage, and rosemary.

Enjoy!

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Menu Plan Monday

حديقة أزهار

Whether you plan your family’s meals on Monday or on some other day, doing so can be a great blessing for you and your family. You can improve health, save money, and be more organized all in one sitting.

This Week’s Menu

(Gluten Free & Halal)

♥

Monday		Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Tamale pie, guacamole, salad		Tuna in rice paper wrappers, cassava chips, soup	Cilantro chicken, rice, saute swiss chard	Red beans w/gremolita, cheese quesadillas	Frito chili pie
Saturday	Spanish chickpea stew, pan de yuca
Sunday	Turkey salisbury steak, swiss chard gratin, rice
Snacks	spiced toasted almonds, sesame bars, gluten free banana bread

What’s on your dinner table?

Org Junkie Meal Planning

Blank Printable Menu Planner

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Get calcium without drinking milk

People in this country are a little paranoid about getting enough calcium. I think we’ve all been scared to death by bone doctors warning us about osteoporosis. How do we react? By drinking milk. And lots of it. Is this the best approach?

There are other better sources of calcium than milk. For example, 1 cup of collard greens has just as much calcium as milk. Not only that, but the calcium in the greens are absorbed better than the calcium in milk. And, it does not have the high-fat content that milk has.

The US Dept of Agriculture has put together a long list of the calcium content is foods. Get it HERE (pdf).
 
Read more about calcium in this article by the Harvard School of Public Health — Calcium and Milk: What’s Best for Your Bones and Health?

You may also like this article too,
Get Calcium Without Relying on Cow’s Milk

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Eating Well on $1 a Day

I have been reading about the $1-a-day grocery challenge over at Grocery Coupon Guide.

It has been very interesting so far. You might want to check it out. Could you live off of $1 a day? Some days I could do it (give me chocolate). But, most of the time, not really! I like love food!

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eCoupon roundup

Have you checked the electronic coupon sites this week?

* CellFire (cell phone & store cards) HERE
* PGeSavers HERE
* Shortcuts (store card) HERE
* 8coupons (cell phones only) HERE
* Mobile Coupons HERE
* Valpak (cell phones only) HERE
* Zavers.com HERE

Stores

 * Fred Meyer/Kroger HERE
 * Safeway HERE
* QFC HERE

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Shortcuts coupons

New! Shortcuts.com Printable coupons.

Remember to load up on eCoupon too.

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Giveaway of the Day – soothing sounds

Listen to or create your own relaxation sounds. Mix background sounds such as rain, wind, campfire, ocean, and stream, with 60 random sounds including various insects, birds, wind chimes and thunder.

Go HERE

And sign up to get their daily email, RSS, or twitter alerts.

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