I recently had the chance to check out the new Nature Valley Oats 'N Honey 100 Percent Natural Cereal. This is some seriously good cereal. It's crunchy beyond belief and the flavor is just plain yummy. I love the little pieces of granola bar tucked in with the two types of flakes they have going on; in fact, it was really hard not to dig them out just to munch on. One type of flake is full of rice crunchies and the other tastes corn based. The box states rice, wheat, corn and oat, but I couldn't tell beyond the rice and corn what was what.
At any rate, it is definitely 100 percent natural which is a plus, but there's quite a bit of sugar in there too. The cost isn't economical, but I would buy it again for special mornings or to pack with us for a trip since it's such a sturdy cereal. You can pour milk on this baby, forget about it for 15 minutes, and still have crunchy cereal. It's definitely anti-mush.
Check it out if you get the chance to!
NOTE: Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey Cereal provided by Charlie Kondek of Hass MS&L .
This is NOT a paid product endorsement.
Alrighty then...the Best of Blogs award categories are now up for voting. Click on over and vote for your favorites!The 2006 Best of Blogs Awards
Vegetable Strudel
I made this last week and it was so delicious. I don't really have a recipe so I'll just try to lay it out for you.
I had one sheet of puff pastry left from my Salmon Napoleons and, since it was thawed, needed to be used. I chopped up tri-color peppers, a medium zucchini and a small onion into a small dice. I sauteed these in some olive oil. I added a bit of veggie broth and about a tablespoon of Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb. I let it cook down until everything was soft and all the liquid was gone. I then cooled the whole thing and spooned it in a strip down the center of the puff pastry. I closed up the sides and baked in until it was golden brown.
I think mushrooms would be fabulous in this and I wish I'd had some!
Deborah Dowd over at Play with Food tagged me with this meme and contrary to what she might think, I only have one refrigerator and a small one at that. We had a much larger one that was mega huge, but it died and this one was here, and completely usable, when we moved in.
So, what does 'lobster-taste' on a 'tuna-budget' get you? You'll be sorry you asked.
This is the front. The bottom half isn't covered in artwork since the 2 year old would just whisk it away to an unknown location and do his own artwork to it. The top is a conglomeration of magnets and pictures and notes the kids have put up. Look closely and you can see a red stripe of crayon across the bottom half.
Next is the freezer. 
At the present time there are such things as IQF chicken breasts, ground beef, fresh herbs (now frozen, haha), a bag of potato puffs, half a bag of sausage patties, leftover Italian Wedding Soup, a pound of frozen peas, flour tortillas, boneless pork ribs, half of a Happy Indulgence Decadent Dips Chocolate Covered Banana that nobody liked but was so expensive that I couldn't throw away, half a gallon of PB cup ice cream, shredded cheddar cheese, gram flour, onions and celery, hot peppers, leftover bread, hamburger rolls and ice cream sandwiches.
Lastly is the main section of the refrigerator. It's a wreck. I do the shopping and the bringing in of the bags and spend the next week trying to sort out where my older girls stored everything when the put the groceries away..
In the drawers there is bagged salad mixes, oranges, carrots, cheddar cheese, American cheese and pepperoni.
On the shelves we have 2 1/2 gallons of milk, margarine, fresh broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, 2 1/2 Gatorade (EW-hubby drinks those), 3 cans of Guinness (again, hubby-YUCK), 2 jars of salsa, Parmesan/Romano cheese mix, a bunch of fresh dill, leftover veggie chili, leftover creamed spinach, 2 dozen eggs, 2 containers of sour cream (I picked one up, forgot I did and then asked my daughter to go back and get one; every shopping trip is an adventure), apple juice and a full bottle of ginger ale unopened-got that for tummy sickies and didn't drink it.
In the door is Condiment Central; the standard mayo, mustard (several types), ketchup and relish; anchovy paste, capers, balsamic vinegar, Kikkoman soy sauce, jar of applesauce, cocktail sauce, pickles, olives (2 jars of green), maraschino cherries, 2 kinds of jam/jelly, Ranch dressing, lemon juice, heads of garlic, and lavender seeds (necessary for germinating).
Not very exciting this week, sorry folks. The cupboards are packed out with stuff that I don't even want to get into!
I didn't tag anyone and probably won't~if this looks fun to you, go with it!
I love biscotti-made these two days ago and they're gone. Obviously, the kids like it too.
I'm cheating here; this is not the recipe I used, but close enough. I don't have time to type it out today so copy-and-paste was in order. It's definitely my photo, though!
Chocolate Almond Biscotti
From Sean Paajanen About.com
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tbsp shortening
Preheat oven to 350F. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until smoothly blended. Add eggs and almond extract, beat again until smooth. In another bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
Blend into butter mixture until smooth. Stir almonds into dough. Divide dough in half and shape into 2 logs, about 11 inches long. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes. Use a serrated knife to make 1/2 inch slices. Place slices back on sheet, and bake for another 6 minutes. Flip slices over and bake for 6 minutes more. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
Make chocolate glaze: Mix chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 minutes on high in the microwave. Stir until mixed and smooth. Drizzle glaze over biscotti.
Makes 36 biscotti
Nary a recipe to be found. Not to worry, I don't have one either. I am busy lately with several things, one being some new blogging at Family.com. Not one to give up easily, I have decided to carry on Ready, Set, Cook! nonetheless, but have once again modified the rules.
R,S,C will now be a monthly game with a full week to come up with and post recipes.
Here are the rules as modified:
The first Tuesday of every month we play Ready, Set, Cook! based on the TV show that once aired on The Food Network.
We play our own non-competitive version (at the moment!) and here are the basic rules:
1) Three ingredients are given and each player must come up with a recipe that uses all three ingredients without "losing" any of them in the dish. In other words, while they must not be prominent they must be noticeable in the dish.
2) Your "virtual" pantry is fully stocked with whatever you wish. This is not a REAL game, although I have some players that like to purchase the ingredients and actually come up with a recipe, I don't expect anyone to do that. Basically this is a "virtual" game only. The ingredients will not have amounts listed to allow for greater creativity on the player's part.
3) Once you have decided what you would create with the ingredients, post it to your own blog by the second Tuesday of the month and send me the permalink to your post so I can post it for others to see. Likewise, link back to my blog so your readers can see other submissions. Mail your permalink to me at:
irishones7 (at) juno (dot) com.
Feel free to comment that you will or won't be playing!
If you would like to submit three ingredients for play let me know and you will be credited with that.
~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~
So, stop by my newest blog venture and check out the entire site while you're there. I really like it and find it to be a great resource!
Way back in 2000 a bunch of us from AOL Food Chat got together at the home of my friends Nancy and Len (aka mom and dad) on Long Island to meet and EAT. We had a blast meeting each other, most of us for the first time. I'm not on AOL any longer and I miss my friends dearly!
Katie's hubby, Ivan, brought this dip~it was awesome.
Ivan's Guacamole
2 ripe avocado's scooped out and mashed
1/2 red pepper chopped fine
1/2 green pepper chopped fine
1 medium onion chopped fine
5 stalk of scallion w/green part chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic chopped fine
1 jalapeno pepper chopped extra fine-seeded
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1 lime or three tablespoons
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of sugar
Add all veggies together including garlic, jalapeno and
cilantro. Add avocado LAST to prevent browning.
Add the lime juice and season with salt, pepper & sugar.
Decorate with sliced lime rounds and cilantro.
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*NOTE: How could I forget?? Today is the first day of spring! This isn't a "veggie recipe", but I posted a really FAB recipe for Spring Chicken over at Family.com~check it out!
OK boys and girls, before you take a look at today's ingredients, PLEASE click the link above for the NEW rules of play. They were changed just last week and it's important that you check them out.
Today's three are from my third child. She called them; we'll play them.
sausage
eggs
green pepper
Easy, no? I'll be "seeing" you Thursday with links to submissions!
*Note: If you want to play but don't want to post your recipe to your own blog for whatever reason, let me know and I will post it here for you.
I got around to making the Napoleons I mentioned in the Ready, Set, Cook! recipes this week. There is a little difference in these; there was NO WAY I was going to pay $6.50 for 4 oz of smoked salmon (that's $26 a pound!). Not this week at least.
So, using canned (I know-wet noodle lashing coming up) I went ahead and made them. They turned out well and tasted great. I would still recommend using smoked salmon if you can afford it; the flavor is just better against the subdued flavor of the cream cheese.
I didn't write out a full recipe, but this is what I did;
Using one sheet of puff pastry, separate into thirds on folds. Cut each third into three squares. Bake as directed on package. Separate into halves when they are done and cool completely.
Cream 4 oz neufchatel cheese with a mixer. Turn speed up to high and add 1/2 cup of heavy cream in a thin stream until fluffy. Fold in 1 T each fresh dill and sliced green onion. Fold in 1 clove minced garlic.
Spread a tablespoon of cream cheese mixture on the bottom half of each puff pastry square. Top with salmon-smoked or otherwise, enough to cover the cream cheese. Top with the remaining pastry squares. Serve at room temp for best flavor.
The one in the photo was the first one-I was assembling it in the classic Napoleon style. Three layers of pastry was too much, though so the rest were done with a single top and bottom.
of a Bookaholic. Yes, another "new" book. I can unabashedly say, I ADORE Peter Mayle.
You knew that already, though.
Here are links for this week's game of Ready, Set, Cook!
The first is from Krista at Going Gluten-Free, Salmon Newburg Cups
The second is from Cassi at Finding My Inner Cook, Salmon Wellington
My own idea was to make Salmon Napoleons, but I actually wanted to make them, not just post a recipe. I have 5 out of the 7 kids sick with fevers and didn't get that done. I'll do it sometime this weekend and post it then.
While it's warming up in many areas right now, where I live is still a bit chilly. So, while we're looking forward to our gardens, but still eating warmer foods, this soup seemed to be appropriate. I think the terms used are fun, the book it is from was published in 1915.
Spring Soup
2 carrots
1 turnip
1/2 head celery
10 small spring onions
1 tea-cup of cauliflower cut into little branches
heart of small white cabbage lettuce
small handful of sorrel
1 leaf each of chervil and of tarragon
1/4 pint of peas
1/4 pint asparagus points
1/4 pint croutons
1 quart of water
Cut the carrots and turnip into small rounds, or to shape;
add them with the chopped-up celery, whole
onions, and cauliflower, to a quart of water, and bring to
the boil; simmer for 1/2 an hour.
Stamp the sorrel and lettuce into small round
pieces, and add them with the leaf of chervil and tarragon to the soup, together with 1 teaspoonful of sugar.
When all is quite tender add the peas and asparagus points, freshly cooked; serve with croutons.
The Allinson Vegetarian Cookery Book,
by Thomas R. Allinson
Before we get to it, PLEASE click on the button above, even if you have played before, for full NEW rules of play.
Today's three ingredients are:
puff pastry
smoked salmon
heavy cream
Bit of a challenge, but I have no fear that you all are not equal to the task.
Number one son is sick today so chicken soup is on the menu.
*After I got the soup together I had to come back and update with a photo. There may be no one else who feels this way, but I think this is beautiful.
Chicken Soup
Cheese Scones
Nana's Apple Cake
Chicken Soup
1 whole chicken-2 to 3 lbs or more
1 large onion-cut in eighths
3 large carrots-cut in chunks
4 large celery stalks-cut in chunks
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
5-6 whole garlic cloves-peeled
1 tsp dried dill
Place all in a large pot-add cold water to cover. Bring
to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for several
hours until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are
soft. Strain all and chop veggies and chicken to add
back to the pot. Add noodles or rice and simmer until
done.
Best part about this recipe is this-you can use almost
any version of the above ingredients that you want and
still get almost the same results. You can use dried or
fresh herbs-dried or fresh onion-a whole roasting chicken
or a whole frying chicken or even just parts as long
as the bones are attached. You can add turnip in small
amounts or even parsnips. Chicken soup is incredibly
versatile and almost everyone has their own favorite
version.
Cheese Scones
2 c flour
3/4 c grated Parmesan
2 t baking powder
1 t dried Oregano-crumbled
1/4 t salt
4 T butter-chilled-cut into small pieces
1/2 c milk
2 eggs-lightly beaten
1 t Tabasco
3/4 c finely chopped onion
Preheat the oven to 400F. In a large bowl mix the flour,
cheese, baking powder, oregano and salt.
Cut in the butter until the mixture
resembles coarse crumbs.
In a small bowl, stir together the milk, eggs and
Tabasco sauce. Make a well in the center of the dry
ingredients and add the milk mixture, stirring to
combine. Mix in the onion. The dough will be sticky.
Lightly butter a baking sheet. With lightly floured
hands, pat the dough into a 9 inch circle in the
center of the baking sheet.
Cut the circle into 8 wedges.
Bake the scones for 20 to 25 minutes, or
until lightly browned.
Nana's Apple Cake
5-6 apples peeled,cored,sliced on bottom of 9x9 baking pan.
Mix together 1c. flour
1/2c. sugar
1t. baking powder
1 egg
1/3c. margarine or shortening
Press over apples and top with cinnamon
and sugar.
Bake 375 for 30 minutes
From Emma Keyes, my husbands late grandma
