Mashed Potatoes Gettin' Good

~Probably my favorite food in the whole wide world! But what is in these would surprise you.~

Mashed Potatoes. Ok, not the most shocking of all posts, but my favorite food so I'm writing about it. This particular batch is a little bit different though, even as far as my usual mashed potatoes go. This was one of the key "I'm not sure about this" recipes from my new Deceptively Delicious cookbook. Ok, well, this isn't exactly her recipe .. I make some rocking mashed potatoes on my own, but I did try her add in. So, here we go:

"New" Mashed Potatoes:
the title in the book is just "mashed potatoes" and you can find it on page 80

1) Get yourself some potatoes. I always use organic potatoes, locally grown when possible, grown ourselves is the best. Again, I make enough for seconds and leftovers, so I used a 2lb bag.
~ Wash your potatoes, peel if you'd like. I leave the skins on, more nutrients there (plus I'm allergic to peeling potatoes, no joke). Cut the potatoes into at least quarters, if not a little smaller.
~ From here you can toss them into your pot of water, OR you can add some extra nutrients by using some homemade chicken stock!
~ Boil 10-15 minutes till they're easily pierced with a fork. -- Eco-Note - put a lid on the pot when you set it to boil. You'll save energy that way and your potatoes will cook faster.

2) Add some Goodness. There are several things you can add to your mashed potatoes to increase the goodness but I'll start with the Deceptively Delicious add-in to be fair.
~ When you're ready to get mixin' add 1 cup pureed cauliflower. (The recipe calls for 1/2 c., I doubled the recipe, so there ya go). Like I said earlier, this is one recipe I wasn't sure about. To date, every time I've tried cauliflower I've HATED it!! Yes, like a little kid!! UGH!! But I was curious to try this out ... "let's see if she can make a believer out of me" kinda thing. I steamed the cauliflower like she said and have to admit it smelled pretty good. I was looking forward to making the potatoes!
~ I also LOVE garlic. Again, organic & local are the best. We planted a respectable sized garlic garden this year, yay!! Garlic is really good for you too. Roast a head of garlic and then put the cloves into the mixer. Yummy, and now a must-have with my potatoes.
~ Garbanzo Beans! I cheat here and use a store-bought can. Organic as often as possible. When adding these to mashed potatoes, toss them into the pot to boil with the potatoes!!! <-- NOTE THAT, cook these babies first! They'll soften up and mush into the potatoes perfectly when you get them all into the blender.
~ Some Dairy: You know to add some butter. Use real butter & don't be afraid of it. You also know to add milk, which you can substitute with buttermilk if you'd like. Add the milk last. If you want some "zest" add sour cream. If you like adding sour cream but want it to be a little healthier, add plain yogurt. You can't tell the difference, and you'll be adding B vitamins as well as saving some calories & fat by not using sour cream. This last batch I didn't add sour cream or yogurt to, and I used milk with. My final dairy add-in, which I did put in there was a package of cream cheese. Insanely delicious with mashed potatoes. Don't cheat yourself on flavor here by trying to get reduced or fat-free ... go for the real thing!

Mash It All Up:
~ Drain your potatoes and get them into your mixer. You can also mash by hand if you want and I will give you massive points for doing so!!
~ For these potatoes I added butter, 1 cup pureed cauliflower, 1 roasted garlic bulb (minus the cloves I couldn't resist eating first), and a package of cream cheese.
~ Get the mixin' going on and see how the consistency is. If it is how you like it, you don't need milk. I did decide to add some milk though.

The Result:
Oh MAMA!! These were some GOOD potatoes!! I didn't notice the cauliflower at all, so she convinced me there. Everyone else liked them as well. Definitely try this out. Don't be scared to add some stuff to your mashed potatoes. Make them healthier for you and your family. Comfort food just got even better.

Mama Taney's Hokie Ham Biscuits

~The Hokie Bird running onto the field at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, VA~

My apologies for the lack of food photos once again. These are ham biscuits that I first tried at a tailgating party at Lane Stadium before a Virginia Tech game. I've since adapted the recipe into a really kick-ass recipe. For those of you who don't know, we're avid Hokie fans. If you don't know what a Hokie is, or just need some team-spirit reminders, click here: http://www.vt.edu/about/hokie.html. Now, back to the recipe.

Mama Taney's Hokie Ham Biscuits:

1/4 cup butter
1 TB mustard
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 TB garlic powder
pinch of dill
6 slices Swiss cheese, quartered
1 1/2 lb ham, sliced thinly
24 (approx. 2 packages) rolls, Parker-House style

To Make:
~Melt your butter. Add next 4 ingredients to melted butter and blend together well.
~In a greased 13x9 pan, place the bottom halves of the rolls (I find it best to completely separate the rolls from each other, but try to keep matching tops and bottoms). On each roll place a little bit of ham and a one of the quartered pieces of Swiss cheese. Put the tops back on. *If you want, you can add a little extra mustard here on the rolls, we personally don't though*
~Spoon/Pour the butter mixture over the biscuits. This is where it is nice to have the biscuits separated from each other, as it helps the mixture get in between each biscuit.

Cook at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. We don't tend to cover them when cooking them, but you can if you'd like.

The Result:
Prepare for these to go quickly. In fact, double the recipe and have more ready, because they will seriously disappear on you!! These are must haves at tailgating parties, but great for other gatherings (such as holiday parties). They're so good, that this is the reason I've posted the recipe - it's gotten that many rave reviews and requests for the recipe. Hence also the lack of photo.

"Burgers 1" ~ a review

I wrote about getting this new cookbook in my last post. Since I've decided to try it out, I thought I would review the recipes as I go. My apologies in not having a photo to match this recipe .. sometimes cooking dinner for a hungry family and taking photos just do not go hand in hand.

~My new cookbook, as I try to sneak more fruit & veggies into my/our diets~

In the interest of space, I'm going to type out how I made the dish, which may or may not follow the recipe in the book to the letter. Sometimes you run out of things, or inspiration calls me elsewhere. I will make sure to note the proper title of the recipe though, as well as the page it can be found on, for those who want to look it up themselves. Here we go.

Burgers 1 - page 111:

*1 lb ground beef (pasture-raised & from Bright Farm in Floyd)
*1 cup breadcrumbs - at the suggestion of my sister-in-law, Gemma, I used fresh, homemade bread & crumbled it up. Our homemade bread is made with a mixture of local unbleached white & whole wheat flour, flax seed meal, and local honey.
*4 TB Ketchup - again, I used my homemade ketchup that was made with our own organically grown heirloom tomatoes.
*1 cup carrot puree - made with organic carrots
*4 cloves garlic, minced

~ Blend all ingredients well, and form into small patties. I tried to keep in mind that a serving size of meat is approximately the size of a deck of cards & made the burgers no larger. I got 9 patties of varying sizes.
~ Heat up your skillet, I used my trusty cast-iron one as it holds heat so well. I heated it up on high, then kept it somewhere around medium, adjusting higher or lower as needed. Pour a little olive oil in, no more than a tablespoon or two. Put your patties in the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes or so per side.
~ We served these with a slice of American cheese for the kids, and then for us a slice of American cheese, homemade zucchini relish, homemade ketchup, and mustard. All of the burgers were served on whole-wheat hamburger buns (store-bought) that I had open-face toasted in our little toaster oven.

The Substitutions & Changes:
*The recipe was actually for 1/2 the amount of meat, but since I had thawed a pound I decided to double the recipe and freeze the leftovers. *A good idea for a quick meal for a night where time is rushed!*
*The recipe also calls for using 1/4 cup (or in my case, 1/2 cup) skim milk. 1) We don't have skim milk and likely never will. 2) I was worried this would make things too moist, so decided to leave out the milk till the end to see if it was needed. Gemma, my Italian sister-in-law, swears that using fresh bread for breadcrumbs will increase the moisture, while using store-bought will make meat dry. I trusted her knowledge here (you gotta try her meatballs!). Our moisture content was fine.
*The recipe also called for using low-sodium soy sauce. We use tamari in place of soy sauce, but happened to be all out. Since I put carrots into my basic tomato sauce I made the decision to use some homemade ketchup in place of the soy sauce. 1) Ketchup & Burgers just go hand in hand. 2) I know the veggies that go into my ketchup and felt it was a healthy decision.

The Review:
These made themselves into patties quite nicely, and we only had minimal problems with crumbling - no more than we would usually have as we test out new burger recipes.
Justin got worried that these really were not cooking as quickly as the cookbook said they would. We decided to try grilling them, but it seems our grill doesn't like cold cold weather and wouldn't work right. The recipe says to finish them off in the oven, at 400 degrees. We were already baking some fries at about that temperature, so we tossed the first round of burgers on a pan and into the oven to finish off. The second round of burgers (can't cook them all at one time on the skillet!) seemed to cook with better timing. Perhaps it's just been a while since we've cooked burgers indoors on the skillet?? One thing we did notice was this: as the carrot cooked it seemed to darken a little, which gave the appearance of the meat not being done. All said and done though, this was only a minor hiccup.
Taste - actually very yummy!! The kids didn't notice that these burgers were any different than ones they've had before. They did have a slightly more "veggie" taste to them that I noticed, however I've also noticed a very intense beef flavor when we've made just straight-up hamburgers. I'm wondering if using the soy sauce wouldn't help give it more of a beefy flavor. However, it didn't taste like a veggie-burger, and was still really good. It was moist and delicious!!

Overall:
I will definitely be making this one again. All four of us liked it, and that's good enough for me. I liked knowing there were extra veggies in my burger. I am eager to try it using soy sauce (or, more accurately, tamari) instead of ketchup. If the results are significantly different I will let you know. Otherwise, if you want to make your burgers a little more healthy for you, then I would definitely recommend making these!


~~A Follow-Up Review: ~~
Like I said, I made a double batch of these for freezing and serving again later. Leftovers rock, plain and simple. I heated the kids each up a burger for lunch one day this past week, zapping it in the microwave. They crumbled. <-- The burgers that is, not the kids.
Perhaps it was some of the substitutions? Would "true" bread crumbs have been better at keeping it a little drier? Was that the problem? Justin blames the carrots. I'm not certain. It wasn't necessarily a end-of-the-world, awful crumbling, but a crumbling none-the-less, which made lunch messy. Shannon didn't have such a hard time (he's almost 6), but it did take Tristan a bit to get the hang of how to eat it without it all falling out of the bun (he's 3 1/2).
Points deducted.
I'll still try the recipe again. But it is really a big thing to be able to have leftovers we can eat again. We'll see, and I'll let you know!

Fuzzy Brain Findings

~Ok, first I want to acknowledge that the title there sounds more like it ought to be for a Halloween recipe than anything else. Just stick with me, I'll get around to making sense eventually~

I've been wondering why it was that, as much as I love to cook and, even more, as much as I love to bake ... why don't I make Christmas cookies? For the holidays I do make fudge, but that is usually only done a day or so before our Christmas Eve Open House Party and more for gifts than anything else. Shoot, I think this is the second year Santa has not gotten cookies from us. (Don't worry, we're pretty certain he just helped himself to some of the fudge instead!) I see friends posting about all the holiday goodies they're baking and wonder ... why am I not doing this?? The only things that become absolute must-haves this time of year for us are: 1)Chex-Mix & 2)Sausage Balls ~ the latter of which we reserve, again, for gatherings.

So, I keep wondering what is up with me, with us, not demanding more sweets. I was pondering this as I snacked on some Sugar Cookies that someone brought as a gift. I ate 4, maybe 5 of those. Then, it began to hit me. My tummy began rumbling ~ I always begin to think of that silly old Pooh Bear when that happens. I felt like I needed to go for a jog ... or into detox or something.

And then, something really magical happened. My fuzzy little brain began adding things up! If you know me, you know how fuzzy my brain gets when it comes to mathematical stuff, so wow ... a Christmas miracle of sorts.

I noticed that, when I'm not feeling well, when my tummy is rumbly, and especially if all of that is caused by a night of too much drinking, I reach to my one tried and true remedy: Dr. Pepper. We each have our things, Dr. Pepper is mine. Then, because I haven't been feeling too good, I start making bad decisions about what to eat. Sipping on soda, snacking on cookies, almost ready to give in and order take-out pizza for dinner. Yikes.

~I finally bought this book when I found it at Big Lots today or $3, down from the cover price of $24.95~

Now, if you know me at all, you know my love for Nina Planck and her book 'Real Food.' I had checked 'Deceptively Delicious' out from the library after hearing lots of raves about it. It was pretty intriguing, but I let it go without too much thought. When we left the house to run a few quick errands today, I was starting to feel the need to detox. So, when I spotted this book on the shelf for $3 I snatched up a copy for myself, then ended up going back and grabbing one for a friend as well.

I have to admit that right now I actually have that Activia commercial running through my head. Thanks Jamie Lee Curtis. You know, you feel like crud so you make bad decisions with your eating, which just makes you keep feeling like crud. Well, Activia isn't what I am needing, but veggies are!

'Deceptively Delicious' is, according to the cover anyway, "simple secrets to get your kids eating good food." Ok, I don't but into trying to sneak healthy food into my kids. We have a pretty darn lush garden, we don't give them lots of sweets (Santa brought always brings apples and oranges and, seriously, I probably have the only kids who would be delighted to be enrolled in the Fruit of the Month Club as a gift), they know about veggies and love them.

But I realized something today -- it isn't exactly OUR kids I'm worried about at the moment. It's my own damn inner child that needs to be tricked!! I was the picky eater growing up, and I am still really, embarrassingly horrible about eating veggies. I want to be better, I really do, but it's a long road ahead of me. I'm working on it.

This is where I would really recommend this book. That, or if your kids are picky eaters like I was. The basic idea she goes with here is using pureed foods (veggies and fruits) in places you really wouldn't expect them. There is a recipe for Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes that includes, among other things, yellow squash puree, blueberry puree, and spinach puree. A recipe for Mozzarella Sticks that uses: whole-wheat bread crumbs, flaxseed meal, & cauliflower puree, along with mozzarella. ~ Now here I will follow the advice of Nina Planck and try finding raw, whole milk mozzarella instead of the skim-milk advised in the recipe. This book has gotten a LOT of hype as well as some seriously rave reviews, so I'm hopeful about the sneaking of extra veggies into our daily routine. If any of these dishes can actually get me to eat cauliflower, something my own inner-kiddo immensely detests, then I'll know it's a real keeper! Here is a link to her website if you wanna check it out: http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com

And, if by New Year's Eve you are starting to make a resolution of hitting the gym because you are feeling funky from all those sweets, I encourage you to pause for a moment. Take a deep, cleansing breathe in. Look at the food around you. Adding more exercise is almost always a fantastic idea, but look at what you're eating on a regular basis. Maybe the answer is right in front of you.

Homemade Bisquick Mix

It's that time of year again: time for Sausage Balls!!! I used to have my grandmother's recipe (and still likely do ....... somewhere ..), but since it has gotten lost in the archives, I've been using other recipes. Not too bad, except they ALL call for the same ingredient, as did my grandmother's --- Bisquick!! UGH!!!! That crap will NOT enter my kitchen!!! Turns out Homemade Bisquick is cheap and easy to make. And a lot better than the stuff in the box. So, here we go.

~A pastry cutter really would've helped here. See my broken, wooden fork?~

Homemade Bisquick Mix
(recipe adapted from http://www.recipezaar.com/Homemade-Bisquick-Mix-69051)

*6 cups all-purpose flour
*3 Tablespoons baking powder
*1 Tablespoon salt
*1 cup lard

~ Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together well. Cut in the softened lard with a pastry cutter. I made two mistakes here: I used frozen lard thinking it would warm up quickly enough .. it didn't and it took me slowly, gently heating the mixture to get it to melt. Also, this is one of those times when you realize why you really ought to own a pastry cutter. I used my wooden fork, and ended up breaking off on of the tines. Don't worry, it was a clean break, no splinters in the food!
~Once it is all well-mixed together, store in air-tight containers in the fridge. This makes 7 cups of "mix" and will last up to 4 months in the fridge.

~Ta-Da!! The finished product, just waiting to be called upon for use in Sausage Balls~

Ok, now I know some of you have probably just cringed at one of the ingredients in my list .. but before I address that I'm going to go in order as there is something to be said about almost all the ingredients.

*The flour - I used about a 1/2 & 1/2 mixture of unbleached white flour and whole wheat flour that I get from a local mill. Justin doesn't care for all whole wheat flour, so we've found blending the two works quite well for us.
*The baking powder - I used Rumford's Baking Powder as it is aluminum free. There has been research done that links Alzheimer's disease and aluminum. Aluminum builds up in your body, mostly in your brain. It is damage that is done over time. It also can give things a metallic, "tin" taste to them. Enuf' said for me.
*The salt - We've switched to Real Salt. To quote their homepage: Real Salt is an all-natural, kosher-certified sea salt extracted from deep within the earth, crushed, screened, and packaged. Real Salt's unique flecks of color are the result of more than 50 natural trace minerals essential to human health (including natural iodine!). For more info - http://www.realsalt.com/

And this brings me to the last ingredient, the one ingredient that I simply HAD to change from the original recipe. The original recipe called for vegetable shortening. I used lard. Not store-bought lard. This is lard that I rendered myself. The fat came from the farm where we get our meat, and was pasture-raised and organic. This is real lard.
Most people still have a hard time getting over using lard. I'll admit, it even took me a bit. Then I read Real Food; What to eat & why by Nina Plack. Get this book & change your life. To quote Nina about lard: The thing about lard is that it is mostly unsaturated fat, which nobody knows, and the monounsaturated in it is the same one in olive oil. (this was from this Q&A with her -http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/17130/)
Vegetable shortening also contains hydrogenated oils. Something really not good for you. Again, read her book, and you'll know why you won't ever look back.

A spoonful of sugar

Have you got Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins going through your head yet?? I know I do. So now we have before us the days when the sunlight is limited, the winds whip through us, and the cold chills to our very bones. Now are the days, especially mornings, when coffee beckons us more than ever. You might think you need that java to get you going in the morning all year long, but when your feet leave the warmth of the covers on your bed and land on cold, wooden floors .... well, then you really want the coffee!!
And, of course, you want to make sure you're drinking some organic, fair-trade coffee. Not only is "regular" coffee grown with an INSANE amount of chemicals and pesticides (on the list of things grown most saturated, coffee ranks high up there), but also, the farming business isn't kind to small farmers or the region that is good for coffee. So, if you love your coffee, then love where it comes from and how it got from plant to your cup.

But the main reason I am writing this isn't so much about the coffee itself. It's about the sugar you use. Or, more accurately, how much sugar you're using.
Personally, when I started drinking coffee I was one of those "would you like some coffee with your sugar?" kinda drinkers. Pour it on! Now, I'm trying to cut back. And one of those ways I've found is a pretty damn obvious one. Use a smaller spoon.

~Sometimes, size really DOES matter .... sorry guys, but it's the truth!~

For me, I "need" two spoonfuls of sugar. I've managed to wean myself down to that, but I just can't seem to be content without two spoonfuls. Still, I wanted to use less sugar. That's when I noticed my old baby spoon gathering dust. *TA DA*
Just like the wise advice of using smaller plates for meals to make you feel like you've gotten just as much food, this tiny little spoon still allows me to have two spoonfuls, heaping spoonfuls at that, but with obviously much less sugar! I wasn't even fully aware at how much sugar I was able to keep out of my coffee until I took this picture, but it is a darn significant amount.

~My new favorite mug for coffee and my two new favorite spoons~

I also usually drink out of one of those mega-mugs. You know the bad boys I'm talking about. But, I've noticed that when I drink coffee out of it I tend to get the coffee jitters, as well as the fact that I'm more likely to have a headache get triggered. So, my "new" favorite mug for coffee is one that was my Mom's and that I grew up seeing in the cabinet. Just the right size.
Another thing that is really cool is that I get to use my baby spoon again. I mean, where is the logic in giving an infant or toddler a silver spoon??? Not like they can fully appreciate it! You might be able to just barely make it out in the photo, but my spoon has my initials on it. I'm pretty certain it was, many years ago, a gift from my grandmother. So, 1) proves the well-known logic that grandparents have no clue what a good gift is when you're a kid (JUST KIDDING!) and 2) it reminds me of her. Sweet nostalgia and familial ties.
The other spoon is one of those super-hip spoons that I'm sure have some proper use, but I just don't know what it is. It came to me as many things do, passed down through the generations. Don't tell Miss Manners or Emily Post on me please, but I just don't know my formal table settings that well. All I know is that it makes a really cool, kinda Art Deco-ish sugar spoon for me. I feel hip, and that isn't something that happens that often.

If you don't have your baby spoon, or you don't have the random little spoon that only very proper ladies know what to do with (and I have my doubts there too), head to your local antique store. Hell, look on ETSY. Either way, you can probably very easily find a spoon for you for less than a cup o' joe (do they still make those) at Starbucks. You'll be using less sugar and you'll be recycling! Makes that morning cup or three of coffee suddenly a lot sweeter, doesn't it?

Leftover Turkey Ideas

My apologies for the lack of snazzy photos to accompany this post. What can I say? When you get cooking in the kitchen a lot of time the camera is the last thing on your mind. And, besides that, my kitchen is often such a clutter that I am not really sure I would WANT a photo of it up! hahaha

Every year we order our turkeys from Bright Farm in Floyd, Va. They're pasture-raised, we pick them fresh out of the cold water, and there just is NOT any going back to the store for some wanna-be sad turkey. Last year we had a good 25lb bird, this year we managed to pick out a smaller bird ~ 17lbs. For five adults and two kids! Everyone took home leftovers and still we were left with a LOT of leftover turkey to eat.

Obviously, we are not the only people with this "dilemma" as websites abound with ideas on ways to serve leftover turkey. But, something leaves me very disappointed with most of these sites and the things I've seen. I STILL feel like I'm eating turkey!

I know "DUH!! You ARE eating turkey!" But, who wants to feel like they're still eating turkey? BBQ'd turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey with cheese, turkey casserole, turkey with mayonnaise ... I'm beginning to feel like Bubba talking about shrimp.


~You know you love this scene!~

Anyway, so here are a couple new ideas. Pardon me for only having two, but seriously, you gotta meet some serious criteria to make this worthy albeit tiny little list: pretty much, you gotta make me feel HAPPY to be eating this and NOT feel like I am trying to finish off something in the fridge before it goes bad!

Idea #1: White Turkey Chili ~ here is the link for the recipe we use: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/White-Chicken-Chili-11452 ~ substitute turkey for chicken (duh!) and before you know it you're actually hoping you have leftovers!! This is a really rocking dish for football season too, so bring on the game!

Idea #2: Jambalaya ~ this was a first for us this year. Seriously, I've never made jambalaya before today, but I gotta say this was a kickin' dish! Here is the link for the recipe we used: http://www.recipezaar.com/Chicken-Shrimp-and-Andouille-Jambalaya-28165 ~ Again, switch out turkey for chicken. In this dish I gotta tell you, it REALLY isn't noticeable! Another recipe that makes me look forward to eating more turkey the week after Thanksgiving.

And, of course, the really big reminder of things to do with leftover turkey .... MAKE STOCK!!! Turkey stock is awesome and works magic just like chicken stock does! If you are tossing out those bones from the carcass without making stock you are tossing out some liquid gold folks.

So ... what do you do with your leftover turkey?? Got any worthy recipes? I wanna hear them!