Free ebook: Processing Pumpkins

I saw this over at the Homeschool Freebie of the Day:

“Christina Wong from Youthful Homemaker.com has written a brand new ebook, “Processing Pumpkins” which will give you a simple, easy-to-follow guide for how to easily make a fresh pumpkin into delicious pureed pumpkin for baking and cooking. Making your own pumpkin puree (or as Christina’s family calls it, “cooked pumpkin guts”) is an easy process, and she’d love to show you how!”

Click here to go to the download page!

Damsels in the Kitchen: Chilaquiles

Here is a recipe I think you will love. It his called chilaquiles (chee-lah-KEE-lehs) and it is a traditional Mexican breakfast food.  There are many variations on the recipe. Once you learn the basics of this one, don’t be afraid to experiment.

If you think your family won’t like it, you will have to trust me when I tell you they will love it! I served this to guests one time. During the meal, there was very little conversation but plenty of clinking-scraping fork noises and a whole lot of smacking!

I think this would be a great suhoor option during Ramadhaan. And since that great month will be here soon, now is a great time to start practicing making outstanding chilaquiles.

The basis of this recipe is corn tortillas. Corn tortillas (real corn tortillas), is made from masa harina. I’ve price masa harina at Fred Meyer and Winco. A 4 pound bag at Fred Meyer is $5.59. At Winco, $2.48! I buy 2 bags at a time and use this coupon HERE to save $1 off of 2 bags making it cost $1.98 per bag!

Making your own tortillas is extremely economical (not to mention healthier). One bag of masa harina makes 132 corn tortillas. At the Winco price minus the coupon, hand-made corn tortillas cost less than 1½ cents each.

If you’re not up to the task  of making your own tortillas, then buy the already made kind, or use tortilla chips. I’ve included recipes for both.

Recipe #1 — Chilaquiles de Huevos
(HERE)

Supplies:

• 6 stale corn tortillas
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 2-4 tablespoons half & half
• 6 ounces shredded cheese

Instructions:

• Cut tortillas into 1-inch squares or strips. I use a pizza cutter for this.
• Fry pieces in oil and butter until they are slightly crispy.
• Add onions and saute for about 2 minutes.
• Beat eggs with salt and cream. Add egg mixture to tortillas and onions. Rotate skillet and pull eggs back away from sides of the pan with a spatula to get all of eggs cooked.
• Cook until eggs are soft set. Add cheese. Keep on the heat until cheese melts.

How I do this:

• pour home made sauce just before adding the eggs.
• sprinkle the cheese, then put entire skillet under the broiler for about 30 seconds. It makes the cheese very bubbly and give the dish a nice brown color.
• another variation is to put the soft-cooked egg/tortilla & sauce mixture in layers in a smaller baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.

Serve with salsa.

Makes enough for 3 people.

Recipe #2 — Chicken with Chilaquiles and Salsa Verde

The Chicken Chilaquiles recipe from Epicurious (one of my fave sites). This recipe uses tortilla chips instead of tortillas. Go HERE to get this recipe.

6 alternatives to sugary drinks

I think everyone knows that sugar is bad. But sometimes drinking plain water is, well, a little “predictable”.

Here’s 6 ideas to brighten up our fluid intake.

Infused water
Add sliced citrus fruit, citrus zest, fresh mint, ginger or even cucumber to cold water. Stir and serve

Tea
Sweeten with honey, brown rice syrup, or stevia.

Coffee
Caffeine free of course. Sweeten with one of the same items used fte sweeten tea.

Sparkling water
Add an ounce or two of fresh juice to 12 ounces of sparkling water.

Fresh fruit coolers
Water, fruit, and a blender. Go HERE for a recipe.

Low-sodium broth or miso
This drink is not sweet but it is flavorful and low in salt.

Fresh Fruit Cooler Recipe
Source: Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Source

• 1/2 cup of ice
• 3/4 cup of sugar-free sparkling water
• 1/3 cup of melon or berries
• Chopped mint leaves or citrus slices (optional)

Place all ingredient except mint leaves and citrus slices in a blender. Blend til slushy. Pour into a glass. Decorate with mint and slices. Serves 1.

Article Source: Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Source

Mango Aqua Fresco
Source: Whole Foods

• 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon agave nectar or honey, more or less to taste
• Lime wedge and mint leaves for garnish

Blend mango and water until smooth. Strain into glasses. Stir in lime and sweetener. Add ice. Decorate with lime and mint. Serves 2.

Damsels in the Kitchen: Gluten free carrot cake

This carrot cake is a real treat. All of the ingredients are well-known except for maybe one: masa harina. I’ll explain a few other ingredients before the recipe.

Masa Harina
A flour made from specially processed corn. I wrote about it HERE. You will find it in the Mexican/Hispanic section of the store or in Mexican stores.

Rice Flour
You can buy rice flour in stores like Uwajimaya and Winco or India stores. Don’t use brown rice flour for this recipe. If you can’t find rice flour, simply make your own. Search the web for articles on how to do this.

Orange
Veggie Wash Recipe HERE. Clean the skin of the orange very well. Spray with a home-made vegetable cleaner. Let sit for 2 to 3 minutes. Then sprinkle with baking soda and rub baking soda into the skin with your fingers. Rinse well with water.

Zest the orange first. The juice it. It’s a little messy but fun.

The picture below is my carrot cake photo log.  Let me know what you think!

Gluten Free Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

8 oz. butter, bring to room temperature
2 C. sugar

4 eggs

1 C. rice flour
2 C. masa harina flour (maseca)
1½ T baking powder

1 orange: Juice and zest
8 carrots, finely shredded
1½ T cinnamon
½ C. walnuts

½ C.  milk

Instructions

Turn on oven to to 350°F (180°C) before beginning.

Measure baking soda, rice flour and masa harina into a bowl. Mix together well. Set aside.

Mix orange juice and zest, carrots together in a bowl. Set aside.

Put sugar and butter in bowl. Use a mixer to cream together well, about 3 to 5 minutes or long enough to create a smooth texture and for the sugar to dissolve.

Add one egg at a time to the mixture.

Now, mix in batches of flour slowly into batter.

Next, add carrot-orange juice mixture in batches into the batter with the mixer still running. Sprinkle in cinnamon, and walnuts. With mixer continuing to run, slowly pour in milk. Let beat for 3 minutes until everything is combined and mixed well.

Grease a cake pan and dust with rice flour or masa flour. Pour in batter pan. Spread evenly. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool before removing cake from pan.

Can top with vanilla icing.

Yield: 10 – 12 servings
Preparation time: 50 minutes

Source: HERE.

Damsels in the Kitchen: Pan de Yuca

I want to introduce you to one of my most favorite breads. It’s called Pan de Yuca, but I call it bahn-bahn (my own made up word). You’re gonna lick the computer screen when you see the pictures below.

This bread is common throughout the Americas. It goes great with so many foods. It’s easy to make, taking about 25 minutes from mixing bowl to oven to your plate. I especially love it warm for breakfast with honey drizzled cream cheese.

There are two main ingredients in this bread that may be new for some readers: tapioca flour/starch, and queso fresco cheese. Both can be found in the Mexican stores or in the Latin/Hispanic section of the grocery store.

Winco sells it in the bulk sections. Uwajimaya also sells it. I buy 16oz bags at Uwajimaya since I save money buying it in this size. However, if you want to purchase an amount for this recipe only, then buying from the bulk section of Winco is better.

Learn more about world-wide cassava production and use HERE.

Enjoy the photos and the recipe that follows.

Pan de Yuca bread on a platter with sliced pickles.

Recipe for Pan de Yuca

Ingredients

1 C tapioca starch (yuca harina)
2 C queso fresco (can use other cheeses: mozzarella, shredded Mexican 4 Cheese, Asiago)
1 ½ tsp baking powder (some recipes use 1 ½ Tablespoon baking powder)
¼ tsp sugar
¼ C milk or heavy cream

Directions

1. Set the oven to 450°F to let it warm while you put the bread together.

2. Put all dry ingredients in a food processor. Process until mixed together very well.

3. Keep the processor running. Then add in the eggs slowly. I have made this recipe using a fork to mix everything instead of a food processor. However, the food processor creates a more even textured bread.

3. Remove dough from food processor. Separate into 12 equal size portions. Roll into balls.

4. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place rolls onto sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the tops are golden. Don’t let them get brown, they should be golden, not brown.

Best served warm.

A quick note about using different cheeses–

Before playing around with the other cheeses, make this using queso fresco until you get a good feel for the how the dough should be.

When using shredded cheese, reduce the amount of cheese to 1½  cups. Sometimes I will do a mixture of cheeses like half queso fresco and half shredded.

Pulse the shredded cheese in the food processor to get the pieces a little smaller.

Queso fresco is a wet cheese. Mozzarella, shredded Mexican 4 Cheese is dry. So, the dough may be too dry. If this happens, add milk or heavy cream 1 tsp at a time until the dough is tacky to the tough (very slightly sticky).

Let me know if you make this. Trust me, when you family smells this bread baking, they will come running to the kitchen!

Recipe source: Colombian Yuca Bread <– And check out the other wonderful recipes on the site!

Haggen + canning jar coupons and sale

Haggen has all (4-12ct) Ball, Kerr, MCP, and Sure Jell canning and preserving supplies 25% off regular price [Go HERE to view Haggen's sales flyer for the week].

Use these coupons in the upcoming Sunday (6/6) paper to save even more:

• Ball Canning Discovery Kit Save $2.00/1
• Ball or Kerr Canning Jars Save $1.50/1
• Ball Park Angus Product Save $.55/1
• Ball Park Products Save $.75/2

One great use for these canning jars (other than for preserving food), is to use one as a Magic Bullet wanna-be. Go HERE to see how!

Damsels in the Kitchen: Masa Harina

Masa harina comes from an ancient method that Native Americans, Inca, Aztec, Maya, etc., used to process corn. Each group of people have their own name for this kind of processed corn. The processing releases niacin, prevents niacin deficiency disease caused by corn, and is high in calcium.

To make masa harina, corn is cooked in an alkali substance. Then the corn gets rinsed very well and ground up into a dough. The ground corn can then be used as specific dish. Or, it can be dried into a powder which Mexicans call masa harina.

My grandfather ate alkali treated corn as a porridge for breakfast. I find that although I had to adjust to the taste (it tastes like very strong corn chips), it energizes me. I use masa harina to make tortillas, enchiladas, cakes, cookies, and other dishes. All gluten/wheat free.

If you want to buy some masa harina, here’s a coupon to save $1 when you buy 2 (4lb) bags. Go HERE.

Damsels in the Kitchen: Lemon Parsley Green Beans

This is one of the best tasting green bean recipes I’ve had. And it’s very easy to make. I like to use fresh green beans, but, the ones from the can works also.

• 1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed

• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel (I used bottled lemon juice when as a sub once)

Cook beans in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain. Place beans in bowl of ice water to cool. Drain well. (**Skip this step if using canned green beans)

Melt butter with oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; stir 30 seconds. Add beans; sauté until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley and lemon peel. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to platter.

Recipe came from HERE

Enjoy!

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Damsels in the Kitchen: Moroccan Lentils

This recipe is economical, very easy, extremely healthy, and so very tasty! You’ll love it. If you make it, let us know what you think.

Moroccan Lentils

• 8 cups water
• 3 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1 pound dried brown lentils, rinsed, drained

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar ** I use balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons ground cumin, divided
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Combine 8 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt in heavy large saucepan over high heat. Add lentils; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well; rinse with cold water and drain again. Place in large bowl.

Whisk 1 cup olive oil, vinegar, 2 tablespoons cumin, 2 tablespoons chili powder, garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt in large measuring cup. Pour 1 cup dressing over warm lentils and toss. Cool.

Recipe came from HERE

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Damsels in the Kitchen: Green Smoothie

Umm Z writes,

Here is my green smoothie recipe.  My day does not go right if I do not have a green smoothie, LOL.

1 cup kale
1 cup spinach
1 cup almond milk
1 tsp black strap molasses(for sweetness and iron)
1 banana (optional)
1 tsp flax seed
1 tsp chia seeds

Throw everything into the blender.  Blend, blend, blend.  Pour into a pretty glass and enjoy the yummylicious goodness!

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Healthy Damsels: Sodium-Man

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a cloud! It’s a drone! It’s Sodium-Man!

A kind visitor from another place, who came to your dinner table with facts and figures far beyond those of ordinary men! Sodium-man, who can change the course of mighty meals, crush salt with his bare hands, and who, disguised as Derwyn Guntur, mild-mannered university research scientist, fights a never-ending battle for carrots, home-made granola, and a less salty America!

Sodium-Man says, are you aware of your hidden salt intake? Use this top 10 high sodium offender list as a guide:

1. Meat pizza
2. White bread
3. Processed cheese
4. Hot dogs
5. Spaghetti with sauce
6. Ham
7. Catsup
8. Cooked rice
9. White rolls
10. Flour tortillas

(source: HERE)

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Damsels in the Kitchen: Sesame Bars

Like most people, I love snacking! But, I like healthy snacking (I like the bad-for-me stuff too; I just don’t talk about it publicly *smile*).

You will love this snack recipe. It’s easy, delicious, and nutritious. Whenever I make this, which is often, it never lasts past a few days around here. This is one of those recipes that would be great for suhoor or after fatoor.

This recipe comes from The World’s Healthiest Foods website. My natpath recommended the site to me.

My natpath says to cook everything I eat, including fruit. Nutrients are absorbed better when cooked. The other reason for cooking everything, is that it keeps the intestinal mucosa healthy.  And if damaged, helps the body to repair itself. A healthy digestive tract leads to better health.

With that in mind, I adjusted this recipe. I’ll give the original inshallah along with my changes.
Here goes! And let me know if you make this.

My Recipe

Sesame Bar

Prep and Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole walnuts ** do not chop them
• ½ cup sesame seeds
• 1½ cups pitted dates
• 1½ cups raisins
• 1/8 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Heat a dry frying pan/cast iron skillet over medium heat. Make sure there is no oil in the pan. Add sesame seeds. Shake the pan every 20 seconds or so or stir with a wooden spoon. Lightly toast the seeds until they are a light to medium caramel color, about 2 minutes. Make sure not to burn. You will need to not look away when toasting sesame seeds. Remove sesame seeds from pan or they will continue to cook.
2. Return pan to heat. Add walnuts. Toast lightly, about 1 to 2 minutes, shaking the pan every 20 seconds or so or stirring with a wooden spoon. Remove from heat. Allow to cool.
3. Add all ingredients to a large bowl. Mix together with a wooden spoon.
4. If using a small food processor (like the ones at Walgreens), separate the mixture to the food processor in 3 or 4 batches.
5. Pulse the first batch until mixture holds together when pressed. Remove from food processor and place in square pan. Repeat for remaining batches.
6. Press mixture into 9-inch square pan, and chill. Cut into squares to serve. I use a pizza cutter to cut mine; it’s faster and easier.

Makes 30 1-1/2″ bars

Healthy Cooking Tips:

Pulse the ingredients in your food processor just long enough so it holds together without turning into a paste.

Original Recipe (HERE):

Sesame Bar

Prep and Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup walnuts
• ½ cup sesame seeds
• 1½ cups pitted dates
• 1½ cups raisins
• 1/8 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Pulse all ingredients in food processor until mixture holds together when pressed.
2. Press mixture into 9-inch square pan, and chill. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 30 1-1/2″ bars

Healthy Cooking Tips:

Pulse the ingredients in your food processor just long enough so it holds together without turning into a paste.

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Damsels in the Kitchen: Chicken Adobo (gluten free)

This week’s protein recipe is Chicken Adobo.

I love this recipe for 3 reasons.

1. it’s super easy.
2. it’s super flavorful.
3. best of all, a former student of mine from the Phillippines cooked this for me! It was the first time I ever had it and it was great! Thanks Laurisa!

This dish is packed with flavor. Whenever I serve it to guests, they always ask for the recipe. And, they keep eating, and eating, and eating (just like I did the first time I ate it)!

The great thing about this recipe, is that first, it’s super easy to cook. Second, it has very few ingredients.

Just a few quick notes about the recipe:

1. I like to use San-J Organic Tamari Wheat-free Soy Sauce because it is not made with wheat. I buy it at Uwajimaya. New Seasons Market also sells it. Most likely, other health food related stores also sell it. And guess what? There’s a coupon for it! Click HERE to sign up to receive Mambo Sprouts coupons in the mail.
2. Buy spices like black peppercorn and bay leaf from the bulk bins at places like Whole Foods. I know the prices say a trillion dollar a pound. But you’re not buying a pound. You only want a few leaves. Buying spices this way really does save you money since it won’t be sitting in your cabinet loosing its mojo.

At the end of this recipe is a step-by-step utube vid on how to make chicken adobo. Enjoy! Oh, and let me know if you cook this! Okay!

Recipe: Filipino Adobo  

• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup San-J Organic Tamari Wheat-free Soy Sauce **use whatever soy sauce you have including low sodium
• 3/4 – 1 cup water (you may not use all of it)
• 3 chicken drumstick and 3 chicken thighs (about 1.5 lbs of chicken)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
• 8-10 cloves garlic, just slightly bashed, skin still on (do not peel!)
• 2 to 3 bay leaves
• 1 T butter or oil (like olive oil)

Method:

- Put oil in in a Dutch oven or any heavy duty pot and heat over medium heat. Add the chicken and brown lightly.

- Add 1/2 cup water, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer. Most of the vinegar’s acid will cook off.

- Keep simmering over low heat until the chicken is very tender – 25 minutes or so. Do a taste test. If too salty, add more water. I usually end up using 3/4 cup total.

- When chicken is tender, remove the pieces from the pot and set aside. You can mash some of the garlic and mix into the remaining sauce if you like.

- Keep simmering the sauce until reduced to your desired consistency. I hear that adding a pinch of brown sugar is good but I have not tried it.

- When the sauce has reduced to your desired consistency add the browned chicken back to the pot. Toss gently and remove from heat.

**Tastes great served over steaming hot rice!

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