euphrasyne

Pasta squid are a thing too. poke uncooked spaghetti into a 1" hot dog section and boil the whole thing. Kids LOVE this. More picky eater ideas from my kids: 1. cut shapes out of carrots or other veggies with small cutters. Cut carrots on diagonal to get big pieces then press out shapes. Rest of the bits can be chopped up for soup/freezer. 2. Toothpicks can make lunch fun 3 & 4 Personalize lunchboxes by stamping on them then go over the stamp with fabric paint. Fun lunchboxes make kids want to use them. 5, 6, 7 Sandwich cutters are amazing. They are cheap, square and press into the sandwich. If you have leftover bits, just cut into big chunks at the break points and put those in with the shape. I have elephant, cat, puzzle, and penguin cutters. 8. Carrots can be fun. The divided plastic containers are a godsend. You can put ranch or yogurt in them. I have smaller containers that I can sit down in them too so it is tight and doesn't spill. 9. Leftover easter peep kabobs. Somehow we always end up with peeps on the verge of stale and no one will eat them. Kabobs fixed that. 10. I cannot seem to find King Cake up here, so I usually make one when wanted. One of the kids did the frosting for this one so it looks like I had a lot of 'help'

Naan is India Indian. They also make roti and Paratha. Afghanistan has noni afghani. It has egg, does not use yogurt, and much less yeast. It is cooked on a tandoor similar to Naan. You can usually cheat the tandoor by using cast iron. You can also hold the bread to the flame on the stove for a second to get the customary black dots Naan or other type breads have. This is a sample recipe of noni afghani: Noni Afghani (Afghan Bread) Recipe - Food.com

While I'm at it....I found a few other delicious things I made. I don't cook as much as I used to; I need to treat the husband more. 1. Pineapple upside down cake made in a cast iron skillet with pecans instead of cherries. 2. Seitan loaf. This was part of a vegan thanksgiving. Its basically wheat gluten washed till the starch is gone then mixed with flavoring and baked. I served it with a mushroom gravy. 3. My 2 most used cookie recipes. I make lots of variants of these 2. 4. Polenta shapes. Halloween cookie cutter to polenta. Super easy to make. Cornmeal and water baked on top of stove till thick. Pour into greased dish and bake a bit, allow to cool and press out shapes. I usually add cheese during original stovetop bake. 5. Pool Cake. Make a cake. Hollow out center and fill with half set jello. Add peach rings and those bear cookies kids love. 6. Polenta just scooped out of pot and hotdogs cut into octopus with a dot of polenta for eyes. Kid favorite. Cut the hotdog before you boil it --also works with sausages.

I love bread. I'm sad that I can't eat it like I used too. I still take a nibble here and there. It is a running joke that my husband married me for my brown bread rolls. I was looking at some old pictures and thought I'd share a few bread ideas: 1. homemade christmas gifts. Cordial, lavender bath salts, peanut butter fudge made with sugar (no scm here), White chocolate cookies, apple tarts, cranberry braids, spiced pecans, caramel frosting in jars, brown bread wrapped behind caramel. Orange clove balls mixed in. 2. close up of cranberry braids. Its just a sweet dough with cranberry jam braided into the shaping and baked. 3. Turkey Lurkey bread. Its just white bread dough shaped into a turkey, painted with food coloring and a brush. Egg wash and bake. 4. My most used bread machine recipes 5. Braided cornucopia for Thanksgiving. Shape a cone of crumpled aluminum foil. Wrap bread dough around it to form horn. Braid a section and wrap around front. Bake. Cool. Pull out foil. Fill with veggies and serve with hummus.

Yep. This. Anytime you add anything to bread, it is best to add it after the first rising. My old flour sifter usually is fine enough to catch brand from fresh flour. Yours may be good for that. I clean sift into one bowl then dump the bran into another.

Tortillas and Naan are super easy. Tortilla 2c Masa (cornmeal) 1 T oil 1/2 t salt 1 1/2 c warm water more as needed Combine all. Stir to form ball. Add more water as needed to get play-doh consistency. Kneed until it is elastic and 'cleans' bowl as you move it around. Wet hands as needed if they become sticky. This takes forever. I use my mixer dough hook. Divide into 10 balls and set aside with a damp cloth over for 10-30m. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. Shape tortillas by putting a piece of wax paper over dough and flattening it with a cast iron skillet. Don't roll it out. Cook about 2m per side as you would a pancake. Naan 2 t yeast 1 t sugar 1/2 c warm water 1/4 c oil 1 egg 1/2 c yogurt 2 1/4 c flour 1/2 t salt Combine yeast, sugar, water and let sit 5-10m till yeast foams. Add oil, yogurt, egg. Stir well. Combine Flour and salt. Add in yeast mixture and mix for a few minutes in mixer or by hand until dough ball forms. Add more flour if it is too wet. It should be soft but not sticky. Allow to rise in an oiled bowl. I stick mine in an oven I preheated to 200F and then cut off. It should double within 30-60m. Divide into 8 balls. Heat about 1 t oil in a skillet on medium high. Roll out balls to about 1/3" thick and 5" long. Oval or round doesn't matter. Fry for 1m per side. Brush with butter and garnish with parsley. *notes. I usually add garlic to the dough and top because I like garlic. These will also puff like pita bread and I often eat them like you would pita.

I use my insta pot for beans. pretty much just beans. it is a huge time saver. 30m setting for most and no soaking. They are done in about an hour with the pressurizing, cooking, and release.

I use mine several times a week. I use the dough function a lot. But....I can't eat much bread because of the GI issues. My DH and kids chow down though.

Antique cookbooks are my favorite hobby. Things to note: Modern cookbooks give you a recipe that is science where you follow step by step and measure by measure. Antique cookbooks give you art. They assume you know how to cook and are giving you a shopping list. They often assume you understand how to scale the recipe for the number of people and that you know how to adjust the dry and liquid ratios of baked goods depending on humidity and item texture. Modern eggs are MUCH bigger than antique eggs. Use medium and reduce by 1 to get closer to what the recipe calls for. The acidity of older foods was different. That is why you see people adding things like baking soda to tomato soup. It was too acidic and curdled the milk without the soda. Refrigeration wasn't a thing until after the depression. Starting with room temp items makes a big difference in cook time and in final product.

Is it worth it? It depends on how much you like kneading and going back and forth. For me completely worth it. Look for one that has multiple loaf sizes. Some of them are easy as pushing start, some of them are super complicated. Don't use the small yeast packets. Buy a jar of bread machine yeast or buy a pound of regular yeast. Yeast will store for years in the freezer. I keep some in a small mason jar in the cabinet and the rest in the freezer. I refill as needed. A pound of yeast costs about what 2 of the 4oz jars do so It is well worth it to get the pound. I think my current batch is Red Star brand, but Fleishman's is good and brand isn't a big issue. What flour you stock depends on what you want to make. Self rising is not useful for yeast items. I stock all purpose & whole wheat. Sometimes I get specialty if I'm making something specific--cake flour, oat flour, almond flour, rice flour, rye, barley. Basic Italian Bread scant cup hot water 1 1/2 T oil 1 T sugar 1 t sald 1 T dry milk 2 1/4 c flour herbs to taste 1 1/2 t yeast. Layer in machine in order listed and run on Italian cycle 1lb loaf. Other advice: look at youtube videos of people using the brand you plan to buy before you buy it. Make sure it is the amount of complicated you want. My current one is complicated, but I got it because I wanted those features.

There has been some interest in making homemade dairy from shelf stable ingredients. Shelf stable ingredients: nonfat and full fat powdered milk. Almond, rice, coconut milk. Coconut cream. Vegetable oil, crisco, olive oil, coconut oil. Drinkable milk: If you do not like the flavor of your shelf stable milk, here are some tips: Use less water and more powder when making up your milk. Add vanilla or almond extract to whatever milk you are drinking. Add a bit of any type of sweetener to the milk Most milk tastes better when very cold. Butter from powdered milk: 3/4 c non instant powdered milk 1/3 c water 1/4 c oil Blend or shake till butter forms This is a basic recipe. You are going to find that different brands of milk need different amounts of oil. The oil adds the fat that makes it butter. You can achieve similar things using oil added to any type of milk. Almond, rice, coconut, etc. How much oil you need will vary by brand and fat content. Normal butter is made by processing heavy cream --which is milk with all its original fat. Margerine: 1 1/2 c oil (preferably coconut) 1/4 c any liquid milk (cow, goat, powdered made up, rice, almond, coconut, whatever) Blend until you get a pale paste. Chill for at least half an hour. Whip like frosting for about 2m or so. You can add a pinch of salt for flavor and a pinch of turmeric for that classic yellow color. Yogurt 2 quarts any milk liquid 1 c yogurt sweeteners or flavoring Put milk in crockpot on low for 2 hours. Turn it off. Stir a bit of milk into yogurt then add it to pot (like you would cornstarch). Wrap crockpot in a towel and let it sit 12 hours (turned off.) Strain mixture through cheesecloth. Chill. Whisk in sweetener and flavoring as desired. Save some for the next batch. *notes the fatter the milk the creamier the yogurt. You can add extra fat to the milk by blending it in before you start. Sour cream: Make yogurt as above. At the straining point, sit cheesecloth in a colander in sink or suspend over bowl with spoon by hanging and allow to strain for a few hours till sour cream consistency. Chill. Cream Cheese: Make yogurt and at straining point, suspend cheesecloth over bowl in refrigerator overnight. Farmer's Cheese 4c milk (any) 3c regular milk to 1c heavy cream makes a creamier texture 1/2 salt 4 Tab vinegar or lemon juice flavoring of choice Mix milk and salt in pan. Cook on med low until bubbles start at pot edge. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice with 4-5 gentle stirs. Allow to sit 10m. Strain in cheesecloth 2-3 hours. Flavor as desired. This woman describes paneer way better than I can: How to make paneer - Swasthi's Recipes (indianhealthyrecipes.com) I absolutely love paneer. Shahi paneer is my favorite dish. While I'm at it, this fits as best here as anywhere: Vegan Pie or shelf stable cheesecake pie 1 baked or no bake pie crust of any sort 16oz tofu or 16 oz homemade farmer's cheese 1c chocolate chips or 1c flavoring like pumpkin (melted if solid) Blend Tofu/cheese with melted chocolate/pumpkin. Add sweetener as desired. Place in pie shell. Chill till firm. Can be made gluten free. Can be served as pudding. Can be made from coconut milk farmer's cheese for soy free. This is my go to 'I have a ton of allergies/dietary restrictions but would like to feel a part of something' recipe. It is much requested and always goes over well with the food issue crowd in gatherings. It can be modified to fit any situation.

We did the big shopping trip yesterday. Went to Aldi, Food Lion, and Kroger. Aldi was mostly stocked, but there wasn't even shelf space for the teriyaki and Asian sauces I usually buy there. They were low on olives, apple juice, and cake/bread type mixes. The price of canned oranges and chicken kiev had gone up significantly. >33% DD1 was fussing a bit as we bagged things and 4 separate people told me 'that is a nap whine.' It is impossible to stay strangers when you have a baby. Food Lion was low on water, paper goods, frozen pizza, frozen breakfast items, ice cream. The cost of rice items, canned soup, and meat was all higher than usual. Baby passed out with her head on bar of the shopping cart. At least 10 people came up to me to say 'that is a sleeping baby.' Everyone loves a baby. Went home, unloaded, put away cold items. Left baby with her older sister when she came home and went to Kroger sans baby. Kroger: Frozen breakfast items were non existent. Canned meals like ravioli and Ramen were very low. Many boxes of potatoes and rice type things were only 1-2 boxes deep on the shelf. Asian/Indian foods were very sparce and empty shelves. I need Terriyaki and soy sauce. At least the soy sauce so I can make terriyaki. Both FL and Kro did not have the armour balogna snacks (like lunchables). The price of canned soup was astronomical. I cannot imagine anyone paying that much for it. Boxed starches were also up significantly in price as well as salad dressing. We spent a fortune because we bought a lot of easter/birthday stuff. DD13 helped me put everything away properly after we got back. It took 90m to organize the pantry because it had become a bit of a mess on the bottom shelf (where DH stores his stuff). We condensed some items, moved a few things about to reflect on current eating patterns/season and had a late dinner of leftovers. This morning, I assessed the pantry, straightened the last few things and took note of holes. Sometimes it is good to look at the food you eat rather than the spreadsheet to see what you are wanting. It looks like I am mostly missing asian/mexican/indian condiments so a trip to the Asian and Indian groceries in VB is in order.

Sometimes I do that when the kids are not here. I have a fancy smancy dishwasher and the drying cycle gets extra hot to complete the sanitize cycle--which I need for the tots and teens.

I usually make full size pancakes. I have an 8 pancake electric griddle I cook on for large batches and I just scoop the batter out with a metal 1/4 c measure. It clings to the measure so it is a bit less per pancake but they are maybe 4" pancakes. I usually make them flavored--pumpkin, chocolate chip, apple, sometimes oatmeal pancakes or applesauce pancakes. DH gets up at 415 and leaves the house by 5; he eats breakfast and lunch at work. He has a giant lunchbox--think coleman camping type thing. I pack lunches 1-2 days before and put them on a special shelf in a specific spot in the fridge because he is completely incapable of seeing it if I put it anywhere else. Even the kids know not to put anything in that spot because it is the 'lunch spot.' Anyway, he grabs a lunch from the spot and picks a breakfast he wants. Into the giant lunchbox along with all his meds, etc. and off he goes to work and I get to sleep longer. He loves mason jar cereal too. I can pack a small jar of milk and a jar of cereal and ta-dah. I have been warned that if I try the 'pintrest salad mason jar' again he will be very angry. Apparently the salad is too hard to eat out of one and I'm only allowed to pack them in tupperware. I have all these weird bento shape cutters and sometimes I will press shapes out of cheese, lunchmeat, carrots, etc. and put them in his lunch--especially if it is a salad. It drives one of the women at his work crazy because 'he should be making his own lunch not forcing his wife to.' I love to annoy her with cute lunches.

Ambergris its good to see you again. One of the major things I cook specifically for the freezer is breakfast meals so everyone can DIY. I make huge batches of pancakes, flash freeze them on cookie sheets, then put them in a 2.5 gallon bag. I cook sausage and scrambled egg and layer it with cheese and english muffins, flash freeze, place vertically in english muffin box (like cookies) and put that in a large bag. Muffins get the same treatment as pancakes. Scrambled eggs with cheese and meat rolled up in tortillas--flash freeze and place in large bag. People grab and do their own thing for breakfast. DH grabs whatever and puts it in tupperware and takes it to work. Sometimes I put oatmeal, cream of wheat, or grits in packets (bought or homemade snack bags) in a pint mason jar with oz markings. It is easy for him to measure the liquid in the jar, dump the bag and microwave at work.

We've eaten out more since my accident, but I usually provide 3 meals and 2 snacks each day. I also do seasonal canning or baking. It can vary wildly per day but weekly it averages out to be about 3-4 hours a day cooking and 1-2 hours a day cleaning.

I freeze powdered items, then pull out to store dry so that any insect issues do not pop up. I've never had condensation or sweat issues as the powders are put in dry. I put the whole package of whatever in a giant ziplock bag, freeze that, then take it out, decant it into dry storage and reuse the bag to freeze the next batch.

Dystopian adult the Altered Carbon series by Richard K Morgan Humor that makes me smile at any time anything by Terry Pratchett Romance Jayne Anne Krentz. pen names: Jayne Ann Castle, Amanda Quick, Stephanie James. she has contemporary, historical, futuristic, and thriller mostly under each name YA I prefer the classics. Anne of Green Gables series, Little Women series

I'm super jealous of that farmhouse sink. It looks amazing.

Heh she wants an ex service dog but not a breed specific. I've had dogs in the past but am currently dog free and like it that way. If I was to get something else it would most likely be a German shepherd or a Huskey. My MIL has a huge thing about chihuahuas, but I cannot stand yappy little dogs. We currently have 2 cats. One came from the shelter (Terry the Great) and the other followed us home as a stray on a evening walk. Both are indoor only. Most of my previous cats were shelter cats.

I was tidying up today and thought I'd share some organization hacks. I tend to be erratic in storage and I will repurpose things all the time. 1. Pen storage--empty tea tins & mason jars inside an old Ikea desk organizer that wasn't working for anything else. Having the pens sorted by type in a jar lets me move one set to another area easily as needed. 2. Old pretzel jar for cereal. its small enough to pour, large enough to scoop and the lid seals enough to keep it fresh. I mix different types of cornflakes together in it. 3. office divider from walmart from decades ago in the pantry to store packets of seasoning/gravy. 4 & 5 . Two old checkbook boxes from the old bank into index card/match storage. These were a bit of work. Each box is 2 checkbook boxes so 4 in total. I hinged the larger box tops together with patterned duct tape. Then I covered the outside and sides in scrapbook paper and modpodge--this hides the hinge. Then I glued the smaller checkbook box bottoms inside the tops to make it clean and pretty inside. Decorate outside and fill with stuff. All boxes are basically chipboard--checkbook, cereal, detergent. You can cut, glue, etc any box. Save the ones with sturdier chipboard. 6. Scrapbook paper folded into a box to sort things. It will be 1/3 the size of the paper. 12x12 makes a 4 in box. Make one out of 12x12 and one from 11x11 (etc) and you can make nesting boxes or a lid. I have other shapes of box in my baking drawer to separate the cutters etc but I didn't get a pic of that. Origami only, no glue/staple. 7. Kid recliner redneck version. It is a box with two pillows and a stuffed animal. The Blanket (TM) is draped over the top pillow.

Skylights you can curtain. Ours slant and I took the curtains down b/c I didn't like them. I have 2 in the sunroom and another 2 in the master bath. 2 rods one at top and one at bottom and velcro strip along sides to keep in place was what was there. In an emergency situation you can just take your heavy duty staple gun and tack a blanket or some fabric stash up. I may or may not be redneck enough to have done this in the past.

Heh. Thanks. Most of my house looks like a bomb went off. I've given up trying to keep areas organized where the family uses. My office, closet, nursery, and pantry only I really use so they stay organized. I'm pretty OCD. Last night we lost the remote for the fire stick and could not find it so I downloaded an app for my phone and it worked. We did eventually find the remote later. This morning I was thinking about being OCD and preferring a certain number of items ie 36 cans of soup are better than 25 cause that is 3 flats of 12. I started thinking about what being prepared meant to me. I started thinking that only prepping for the apocalypse (no power, food, etc.) was a poor use of prepping because that is only one scenario. Downloading the firestick app was a good use of resources. I think prepping for me should be more like using available resources to achieve goals in any given situation. Its about thinking creatively and stocking resources that can multitask.

Great info! Women account for about 6 in 10 stroke deaths. While men are more likely to have a stroke, women are more likely to die from one. Risk factors for women Along with the shared risk factors of stroke for both genders, women can have some unique risks, including: Birth control pills: Taking oral contraceptives can nearly double the risk of stroke, particularly in women over the age of 35 years. Pregnancy: The risk of stroke increases during all pregnancy because of changes in blood pressure and stress on the heart. Hormone replacement therapy: Used to relieve the symptoms of menopause, hormone replacement therapy can increase the risk of stroke. Thick waist and high blood fat (triglyceride) level: Common to women, these factors may increase the risk of stroke five times over. Migraines: Migraines increase the risk of stroke three to six times in women. Obesity Atrial Fibrillation: Atrial fibrillation is a type of irregular heartbeat that is more common in women. Symptoms of stroke in women During a stroke, both men and women often report that the following signs appear suddenly: Numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body Confusion, trouble speaking or understanding Trouble seeing in one or both eyes Difficulty walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination Severe headache with no known cause Women, however, may also have hiccups, nausea, chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath and a racing heartbeat. Being aware of all of these symptoms can save your life. It may also lower your risk for disability. Compared with men, women have a lower quality of life after a stroke. Think FAST The National Stroke Association’s acronym FAST can help you quickly determine whether someone is having a stroke: F (Face): Ask the person to smile. Does one side of his or her face droop? A (Arms): Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? S (Speech): Ask for a simple phrase (such as,“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”) to be repeated. Is speech slurred or hard to understand? T (Time): If you observe any of these signs, call 911 immediately. If you or someone else has any of these symptoms, act FAST and call 911. With stroke, time lost is brain lost.

The current edition of are you faster than a toddler: Nope. And someone left the baby gate open so she got up all 15 stairs, all the way down the hall, down the 2 steps into my bedroom and up 2 steps into my bathroom before I caught her. The only thing allowing me a small break is her willingness to sit in a box full of pillows and watch Backyardigans. I did Franklin Covey back in the day, day runner, traveler's notebook, leather journals. Recollections, Erin Condren, and currently yes the Happy Planner. I may have a small addiction.