Storm Watching

A couple of weeks ago we had a storm come from the SouthEast. It is VERY unusual for a storm to come from that direction unless it a hurricane. This storm looked like it was going to be a bad one.
The clouds were so heavy.

Oh look. You can see where I work in this pic. There it is. That big massive white building at the bottom of the picture. The commute is great, but it kinda sucks living soooo close to work.

We were preparing for a pretty bad storm, but it just turned out to be heavy rain and some wind. No thunder and lightning. I was amazed at how angry the clouds looked.

Have a great day!

Corny Cornbread

E wanted cornbread with his taco salad the other night so I told him that I'd make some. While he was at the gym I looked all over for the Jiffy cornbread mix but realized I was out. Ahh! I've never made cornbread from scratch before! I found a recipe that sounded good and decided to change it up a bit. It turned out so good!

Corny Cornbread

1 1/2 cups cornmeal
2 1/2 cups milk (I used 1%)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 can whole kernel corn, drained (or 1-2 cups fresh corn---I used a mix of both)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine corn meal and milk; let stand for 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile in a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Mix in the cornmeal mixture, eggs, and oil until smooth. Mix in the corn. Pour batter into prepared pan/s. I used two greased cast iron skillets. One large and one small. You could probably use a greased 13" x 9" pan or cornbread molds.

3. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes (depending on which pan you use. It only took my two skillets approx. 25 mins), or until knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

E loved it! I think it may have been a little more golden if I had poured some melted butter on top before baking; not quite sure. We've been eating the leftovers every day since I made it. I'm seriously thanking about heating some up for breakfast and slathering it with butter and maple syrup. It's THAT good!

Enjoy!

Update 8/14/09: I warmed a piece of the cornbread up, slathered it with butter, put a hot fried egg on top, and poured some real maple syrup over it all. YUM! Oh, I was in heaven. When E got home, I told him what I ate and he gagged! He thinks eggs and syrup are disgusting. I so disagree. It's so, so yummy!

Gnu Bars and Larabars

I've been looking for healthy, yet yummy, bars that I can take to work with me when I have a snack attack and keep in my purse. There are sooo many "healthy" bars out there, but most are full of crap (high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, etc.) and I refuse to put stuff like that in my body (if I can help it!) I read my labels VERY carefully. I came acrose Gnu Foods Flavor & Fiber bars this past weekend at The Vitamin Shoppe. I decided to give them a try along with Larabars. I have to tell you, I found two winners. TheLarabar is tasty and completely healthy (only ingredients on the Cherry Pie bar are dates, almonds, and unsweetend cherries). There's 4 grams of fiber and 190 calories (at least in the Cherry Pie bars.) I'm definitely going to make them apart of my pantry. What's better than having bars handy that are only 3 simple ingredients and that taste great?

The Gnu bars (I tried the Banana Walnut and Orange Cranberry) are very yummy. The only downside is they have a bunch of ingredients (compared to the Larabar) but they are all good ingredients. There's only 130 calories and 12 grams of fiber (in the Orange Cranberry bar). That's 48% of your daily value for fiber! Wow!

You can go to www.GnuFoods.com and www.larabar.com to check them out. And just to make it clear, I'm not getting paid in any way to write this blog. I just found two great bars that I'd thought others should know about.

Have a great day!!

Happy Independence Day!!

Have a happy and safe 4th of July! I'll try to remember to post some yummy recipes I've been cooking/baking up these last few weeks. Unfortunately remembering is my downfall.

An old pic of me and my cousin eating the brownie or cake mix left in the bowl. I still do this!

Farmer's Market

Here are some pics from the Farmer's Market last Saturday.

A selection of my jams, salsa, and hot sauce. I really need to start making more flavors. I usually have a bigger assortment than this.
Brookies and Rhubarb Coffeecake. I'll have to remember to post the recipe for the coffeecake. It is delicious and has been a hit.

Chocolate Chip Cherry Scones, Blondies, Coffee Lovers' Coffeecake, and more Brookies.

Indian Fry Bread. These are such a HUGE hit. We made them two years ago but didn't make them last year because I started waitressing again. Now that I quit, we have time to make them again.

I have one gourd bowl that I'm selling. I really, really need to do more gourd and craft work but I've been so busy. I have a table on the right hand side where I sell plants and vegetables. In the middle of the food table, I have samples in the cake dish. Samples ALWAYS gets more sales.

Sesame-Tofu Stir-Fry

I made this for dinner last night and boy was it good. Yes, I did put shrimp in it only because E wanted me to. We had it a couple of weeks ago without the shrimp and he loved it, but this time he wanted something meaty. That, and he's afraid of getting too much soy.

Sesame-Tofu Stir-Fry
adapted from Fitness Magazine

1 12-oz package extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Cornstarch
1/4 cup finely chopped unsalted peanuts
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 16-oz bag frozen stir-fry vegetables*
2/3 cup bottled stir-fry sauce
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 cups hot cooked brown rice

1. Lightly coat tofu with cornstarch. In a bowl, combine 1 Tbsp of peanuts, the sesame seeds, ginger, and red pepper. Add tofu; toss gently.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add tofu mixture to skillet. Cook briefly, stirring gently, until sesame seeds are toasted and tofu begins to brown.

3. Remove tofu. Add vegetables to skillet; cook and stir until heated through. Add stir-fry sauce; cook and stir gently until mixture is bubbly. Stir in tofu; heat through. Sprinkle with remaining peanuts and the scallions. Serve over rice.

*The original recipe says to thaw vegetables. I didn't. I put mine in the wok frozen and cooked until they were thawed and heated through.

**I cooked the shrimp in the wok before I cooked the tofu.

Egg Drop Soup

Oh yummy! I love egg drop soup. I've tried making it at home before with just chicken broth and eggs and I've even used a flavor packet from the grocery store, but this recipe is the bomb. I hope you enjoy it. E and I certainly did.

Egg Drop Soup
adapted from Simply Recipes

3 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups of chicken stock
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp soy sauce
3 green onions or chives, chopped
1/4 tsp of pepper
3/4 cup of sliced mushrooms (I used baby portobello, but shiitake would be really good).

1. Reserve 1/2 cup of chicken stock and mix with cornstarch until dissolved.

2. Place the remaining chicken stock, ginger, soy sauce, green onions, mushrooms, and pepper in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir. Reduce heat to a simmer.

3. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs while stirring the soup. The egg will spread out into ribbons. Turn off the heat and garnish with a few more chopped onions or chives. Serve immediately.

This was even really good re-heated the next day. It's a definite keeper! I ate mine with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. This would be great with an egg roll.