Foodie Non-Friday: Lemon Blueberry Bread

So I truly don’t know what’s up with all the cooking (ok, mostly baking) I’ve  been doing lately but aren’t you lovely folks fortunate to reap the benefits of it?

Well, actually my family is b/c they get to eat whatever is tasty (it’s not ALL been tasty…lest I lead you on about my cooking overall).

But you get kitchen-tested, Always Random Family-approved recipes.

And this lovely little number is no exception.

And you can totally trust us because we have eaten about 2 loaves of it in the past 24 hours.

Don’t judge.

So I am certain you all are asking: “What prompted this foray into blueberry bread…because I thought you had an aversion to whole blueberries in baked goods?”

And yes, you are correct I do have an aversion to whole blueberries in baked goods. (And don’t worry…I realize that most of you, perhaps all of you, have no idea what I am talking about, so I shall explain):

When I was a child, my mother made fresh blueberry muffins, utilizing fresh blueberries. Well, apparently I could not wait to eat one and bit into a piping hot blueberry, whose lovely juice burned, dare I say SCALDED, my tongue.

Totally my fault…I blame my mother not at all.

Now…I know, I know, you are all surely thinking, “Get over it, Dude!” but I could not completely get past it.

For years, I would only eat those crappy blueberries muffins which had used dried blueberry powder (or whatever they use)…chopped up bits of blueberry? I don’t even know, but it was how I got by.

Until yesterday…when I realized that all those pints of blueberries I bought last summer and diligently washed and froze on cookie sheets (you know…so they wouldn’t all stick together in one big pile of mush upon defrost) and then lovingly collected and placed in baggies…all those blueberries were sitting in the freezer…mocking me.

I had thought I would make some lovely cobbler or something like that…but then I remembered that I don’t care much for cobbler. Or pie…another viable option.

Disgusting, but viable.

So…I Googled “easy blueberry recipes” and much to my chagrin, the top response was for blueberry bread.

Argh…

But I decided to forge ahead. Conquer my fears. Look at all this growth, right?

I looked at several recipes, but decided on this one…it had the addition of sour cream or yogurt (which I got to use my crockpot yogurt, so that was kind of fun).

Also, you may be wondering how we have eaten almost 2 loaves…because this recipe only makes one loaf. Clearly, I doubled it…I could just tell that I would love it and trust my instincts (and also, I seriously have a lot of blueberries to use too).

NOTE: I did not, however, double it when I listed it below, so you’ll have to do that higher math if you want two loaves.

Please feel free to contact me for assistance with this; I don’t mean to brag, but I am a trained professional.

So…without further delay, I give you Lemon Blueberry Bread:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup oil (vegetable or canola)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream, or homemade yogurt!)
• Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons if you have the bottle…I don’t judge that)
• NOTE: I also added a tablespoon of lemon extract, but did NOT use the glaze…I wanted more lemony flavor without the additional sugar…clearly I’m watching my caloric intake…
• 1 cup blueberries
• Lemon Glaze (¾ cup powdered sugar and 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, vanilla, eggs, sugar, yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
• Combine the wet and dry ingredients, just until smooth. Do not overmix or your bread will come out tough.
• Fold the blueberries into the batter.
• Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. The bread will be finished when a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. NOTE: If bread begins to brown too much on the top, tent with aluminum foil. I used some foil for the last 15 minutes of baking.
• Once bread is finished, remove from oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan. Run a butter knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the bread and then remove it from the pan; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once bread has cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Start with one tablespoon of lemon juice and whisk well. If your mixture is too thick, slowly add up to one more tablespoon of lemon juice. You want the glaze to be thin enough to drizzle, but thick enough to set up on the bread.
• Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze on top of the bread. The glaze should harden up a little more after about 15-20 minutes.

Will store in an airtight container on the counter for up to five days (supposedly, but who would really know...by my estimation it is more like 24 hours on the counter...), or freeze well for up to two months.

Foodie Non-Friday: Hill of Beans

You guys...we eat a lot of beans in our house. Beans and quinoa.

Often together. It’s yummy…you should try it.

The quinoa is expensive (but it wasn't when we first started eating it...now I'm addicted and am willing to pay whatever the store is charging. I think that was their plan all along.).

But the beans are cheap.

I have always bought canned beans because according to the label on the shelf, the canned beans were cheaper per ounce than the dried ones.

Duh...I'll take the cheaper ones please.

But I kept hearing people talk about dried beans being cheaper. And one day the 2 pound bags of dried black beans (my favorite kind of beans…because I’m certain you were wondering) were on sale at Aldi for $1.99. So I decided to give it a whirl.

And to be fair, the unit price was still more, but I thought, "Other people can't all be wrong about dried beans, right?"

So...they have been sitting in my pantry for weeks. Mostly because...get ready for my confession here...I have never in my life prepared dried beans.

Never.

Let me pause right here and say this: I do not RECALL ever having made dried beans before. If you have known me to ever undertake such a task, please do not call me out in my comments below…I honestly do not remember. And frankly, no one should be surprised by this because really is this a memory-making activity? Probably not, unless it is eventful.

Spoiler alert: I will probably recall this experience.

And we’re back: I had heard tell that there was soaking involved. And it was just more overwhelming than I could handle.

And I had heard of "crockpot refried beans"...but again, that was intimidating for some reason.

Homemade bagels? No problem. Beans in a crockpot? Paralyzed with fear.

So, like any normal person, I avoided it.

Yes...I was avoiding beans.

Don't judge.

But then this week, I found a recipe which contained "refried beans". Now, I am not a HUGE fan of refried beans, mostly b/c of the fat content. And the "canned fat free" ones are kind of gross. As in they look and smell like canned dog food...which, I am pleased to report, I have never once found the desire to eat (neither the dog food nor the beans).

But I thought, "OK, here's my opportunity to face these dried beans once and for all. I shall Google and thusly attempt the "crockpot refried beans" (which, as it turns out, are not really fried or refried at all...who knew?).

So Google it I did and found a plethora of recipes. Argh…something else to deal with!

I waded through a few and they basically said the same thing…so I chose one and dove right in.

The conundrum (not really…that implies major issues and this was not…I just wanted to use that word) was this: my recipe called for 2 cups of beans. I was doubling my casserole recipe, so I needed 4 cups (you’re welcome, you math-impaired folks).

But the recipes I found only used two cups of beans. So clearly I had to double mine, right, which meant I needed to use the whole 2-pound bag of beans?

(If you’ve made dried beans before, you know where this is heading…please don’t spoil it for the newbies.)

So…the recipe I ended up using said to put 2 cups of beans in the crockpot (as well as other ingredients), and 6 cups of water. Which I thought seemed like quite a bit, but as I read through the recipe, blah blah blah, it mentioned something about “draining the excess water” (which I could only imagine would be a lot…) so I wasn’t worried.

NOTE: you DO NOT soak the beans ahead of time!

Though I did only put in 10 cups of water in with my 4 cups of beans instead of 12 cups (lest I truly be doubling it…), because, well, 10 would be MORE than ample, right?

But I am getting ahead of myself a bit, so instead of backing up, I shall fast forward (mostly because it has taken me 3 days to get this little, drivel bit of writing done and I need to pull the rip cord on it) and tell you this: they turned out just lovely with the right amount of liquid (no need to drain any off, but the beans were not too dry either).

However…they made a lot. The word “gargantuan” comes to mind. As you probably have discerned by this point, they soaked up all that water, leaving me with 10 cups of “refried” beans, instead of the 4 I actually needed.

So yeah…we’ve been eating some beans this week. A lot of beans…anyone want to come over for some beans?

Now, because I’ve really sold it here (they were good…just overly-bountiful), here is the recipe in the original ratios for you.

You.are.welcome.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 2 cups beans (I used black, but the original called for pinto)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced,
• ½ fresh jalapeno or other hot pepper, seeded and chopped
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 6 cups water

Instructions

• Combine all the ingredients in the crockpot.
• Cook on high for 8 hours (so either overnight for those who love some refried beans first thing in the morning, or during the day)
• Remove the bigger onion chunks and drain any excess liquid (as mentioned, I had no excess liquid…you can save some of the liquid to add back in if needed after mashing)
• Using a potato masher, mash the beans and tah-dah! Enjoy!

Foodie Non-Friday: Homemade Bagels...Because Clearly I Have That Kind of Time

So yeah...I haven't been around much lately. It's not for lack of wanting. It's mostly for lack of material.

That which I would like to write I cannot (by law and such...) so I haven't written.

Except my clever, some may call them pithy (I know you beloved readers would never...haters, they're gonna hate), posts on FB (You can "like" Mrs. Always Random on FB...did you know that? Tell your friends!)

Frankly it's the best my brain can do for the moment.

I'm ok with that because I know that other good stuff is going on in the lives of our family and the time I previously devoted to you, my lovely readers, is now devoted to The Little Man.

Someday, he will probably leave us and I'll be back to blogging more. (I'm sure you are all screaming, "WHEN? How soon can he leave? We MISS your beautiful and eloquent writing, Mrs. Always Random!" and to you I reply, "Patience, dear children...all in due time...")

I must confess that in addition to taking care of The Little Man, I have also been filling some of my time with extra attention to my kitchen.

And trying to cook a little bit healthier.

And fresher.

Christmas was kind of killer, I'll be honest...I'm trying to get back on the wagon.

I made yogurt for the first time in a few weeks...I have missed it.

My digestive system has also missed it...(Too much info too soon? Come come, we are among friends...)

And I've also introduced kale into our diets...much to my family's chagrin. I blame my friend MM, who apparently puts it in "everything".

("Kale is a super-food and it's special power is tasting bad..." ~ Jim Gaffigan...I know I have shared this before it bears repeating...)

So not to be outdone by MM, I, too, have, also begun using it.

Just to be clear, I have not put it in "everything"...mostly salad at this point.

And it's on the menu in the black bean and kale soup for later this week...I'll keep you posted. ("And I wanted to throw the bowl at her...")

But I didn't come here today to talk about kale.

I came to talk about homemade bagels...because who doesn't love that? Well, I suppose if you have committed to not eating carbs, or are gluten-free...but you don't have to be such a downer...you can still read and enjoy. Promise.

So yeah, I made bagels from scratch this afternoon. Because I have that kind of time...to sit around and wait for dough to rise.

And boiling water.

And boiling bagels (for one minute...no more, no less, apparently).

And baking bagels.

All just so they can be eaten.

OK, so I don't actually have that kind of time...but I blame my friend JP for posting the link I am about to post below. He posted it on his wife's FB page.

I didn't stop to ask if it was a joke, although knowing his wife, it probably was not. And she probably has made them. More than once. And they were amazing.

Because she's amazing...and I'm not just saying that because we're friends.

But I am not her. And I don't typically "make bread" unless it is a) a quick bread (which is really just cake that we eat for breakfast...no one is fooled here), or b) in the bread machine (which only requires me to put a list of ingredients in a specific order into a machine and hit a couple buttons. And in 4 hours voila...delicious bread).

In fact, I had to text the aforementioned MM (who is quite a domestic goddess...she cooks, she sews...I would kind of hate her if I didn't love her) to ask about using my Kitchenaid mixer for the dough. The picture in the link below (you'll see...I know, I'm such a tease) shows the paddle when it mentions "kneeding"...but I thought the bread hook (which, let's be clear, I had NEVER used prior to today...look at me being so brave). So she told me she uses the bread hook and then kneeds by hand.

Well, I'll go ahead and tell you that I used the paddle to mix and the bread hook to kneed and my hands never touched the dough until it was time to roll it into the greased bowl for rising. (which, I must add, was NOT a step she included, but in looking at the pictures, it appears that she did it...in case you didn't know, when the dough is mixed and kneeded, you scrape it into a ball and put it in a well-oiled bowl...and then you turn it over so the top of the dough is also oiled and won't dry out when it's rising.)

Also (and she didn't mention this so I thought I would) you should cover the bowl as the dough is rising.

AND...it will take about an hour or more for the dough to rise...important tip to know for all you fellow non-bread bakers out there.

Just so my mom doesn't feel that all my childhood was in vain, I did have a niggling memory from childhood of making bread with her (or maybe I watched...I don't recall that part exactly, but she probably had me help)...but I remember a big bowl that was green on the outside and white on the inside and that's what she used to let the dough rise, and I remember it being covered with a towel. So looky-there mom! Aren't you so proud?

So now after all this build-up, I shall give you the link I used. Sure, I could have just written out the steps for you myself...but I do not have the kind of time that would necessitate...so here you go:

My homemade bagel reference!

Ta-dah!

Well, please let me continue with my story...because we you may have recalled, I was only at the "letting the dough rise" portion of the event.

And yes, it was an event.

A couple other things I would like to mention before you jump on the bagel-making bandwagon:

* Don't forget about the oiled bowl for rising...and cover it too.
The "rising" part of the dough will take at least an hour...so don't rush it!
* Have some flour accessible to coat your hands when shaping the dough.
* Give plenty of time to get your water up to boiling...and use a larger pot otherwise it will feel as though this part takes forever.
* You can add all sorts of goodies to the bagel dough but I made plain for my maiden voyage.
* Your bagels will NOT be pretty...but they will be delish.

Thanks for stopping by!

My finished product...yes, some of them look a little bit scary.
And yes, all that work for 11 bagels.
But the PBA and Mr. AR all said they were "very good" so I think it's totally worth it...

Foodie Friday: Pistachio Bread

So because I have so much extra time to bake lately, I thought I would include a Foodie Friday post for you lovely people.

When we were on vacation, back in October (was that REALLY almost 2 months ago?!?), at The Indigo Inn (you surely recall my trip down memory lane about Larry, right?), we had fabulous breakfasts.

Fabulous, I tell you.

My mouth is watering as I type. Don’t judge.

But…one thing none of us had previously encountered was a quick bread that was bright green.

I am talking GREEN.

But it was ah-mazing. I can’t even tell you what was so wonderful about it but it was divine.

Insert watering mouth again.

When I got home, I Googled it and found it…it was pistachio bread. And please don’t ask me HOW I Googled it b/c just now (for purely journalistic reasons…I like to be full-service, you know) I wanted to be able to report to my adoring fans exactly WHAT I Googled…but now I can’t find it.

Trust me…that was it.

So there were actually MANY recipes for it (which were actually, basically variations on a theme), but I went with the one on the Betty Crocker website.  Odd, right? Nope…they are all based on a cake mix.

So while this technically may be a cake, we are calling it a “bread”…which means we are free to eat it for breakfast or a snack with no major caloric ramifications.

Don’t quote me on that last part, as I may be mistaken…it’s what I am personally claiming, but you do what you feel is best.

Two things to note: I have not made this in loaf pans as the recipe instructs…I actually used a bunt pan (which the spelling on that looks incorrect…I want to put a “d” in there: “bundt” pan. But I get a red squiggly line under it, so clearly I am mistaken…

But I still maintain that it is NOT a cake.

Also note that it is NOT bright green. Far from it, in fact…I am making the presumption that a generous amount of food coloring was added to the bread at The Indigo Inn. I don’t judge their use of artificial color…but I chose not to employ it in my cake…I mean BREAD!

I have included directions for both loaf pans (it makes two loaves if using the loaf pans) and bunt pans.

So now…without further delay:

Ingredients

• 1 yellow cake mix (I used the butter yellow but yellow would be lovely too!)
• 1 box instant pistachio pudding (I used a small box b/c that's all I could find...and I had to go to 3 grocery stores to find it...)
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 pint sour cream (which is also 1 cup...I don't know why Betty Crocker listed it that way...just to be confusing, I guess, or making it simple for the math-impared)
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup crushed walnuts or pecans (I omitted these b/c not everyone at my house would like it with nuts, but I think it would be lovely)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease the pans (or pan singular if you're making a bunt...seems obvious but I like to point it out nonetheless)
• Blend cake mix, pudding mix, oil, sour cream, eggs and water with a mixer until blended (I recommend on low speed).
• In another bowl mix brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon
• Start with a layer of the bread mixture, then sprinkle on the nut mixture, another layer of bread mixture, and at the end sprinkle the top with the nut mixture and marble it all with a knife through the batter.
• NOTE: This does not have to be exact as far as the layers as long as you distribute it in both loaves and then marble.
• Bake for one hour for loaves or 50 minutes for the bunt pan; or when toothpick comes clean.

I do not add a glaze or anything to it, but a nice one made of just powdered sugar and water might be nice. And maybe sprinkle some crushed pistachios on top as well? Try it and get back to me on it, ok?

We Are So Progressive

So I am certain you have all been eagerly anticipating my post for today...because, as I KNOW you all remember...today is my birthday.

Now don't get yourself all in a tizzy if you forgot.

I will happily accept gifts for days past the actual day.

But note: I prefer cash. Mostly 10's and 20's...K?

Well, if you DID remember that it was my birthday, then you've been waiting to see if the PBA and I made our "Annual Progressive Lunch" pilgrimmage.

I am happy to report that we did.

And Mr. Always Random joined us.

And Little Man did too (no visitations on Friday)...I can only imagine how fun it was for a baby on an NG tube who eats nothing by mouth to be schlepped from restaurant to restaurant, and watch people enjoy a variety of tasty foods.

But Little Man is not your everyday, run-of-the-mill baby. He is a go-with-the-flow kind of kiddo, and was just happy as a lark.

The whole time.

Amazing.

So, because it is getting late (yes, it is only about 8 but I am always ready for bed by this time so it FEELS late...that and the blasted Daylight Savings Time...but I shall save that soapbox for another day), I shall not tarry and will cut to the chase.

I will begin by saying that we took bottles of water...because we don't typically pay for squat on Birthday Progressive Lunch Day. (We did pay $1 this time, but I shall get to that shortly. Try not to be too terribly disappointed in me.)

And there were no drinks offered on the freebie list we had going.

Except for Dunkin' Donuts...and I wasn't feeling like washing down all my sweet and savory treats with some coffee...free though it was.

I'll save that little treat for another day.

Like when the PBA are at art lessons and I don't have to share with nobody.

Don't judge. I did my sharing today, pretty please and thank you (BTW that's all for you, DK).

We began our rounds with Steak N Shake...it was a free double cheeseburger and an order of fries. We each got a fourth of the sandwich, which amounts to amout 2-3 bites each.

And a few fries.

But it was all quite lovely.  And free.

And yes, we ate in the car. While the PBA and I don't mind going into restaurants and just getting the freebie, Mr. AR was a little more reticent about it...so we indulged him.

Next stop: Firehouse Subs and a free 8-inch sub of your (ok, MY) choice. I selected the beef brisket and cheddar.

We each enjoyed approximately 2 inches of sub (2-3 bites...more if you took small bites and savored, which I did not) and it was fabulous.

NOTE: I did give them a donation in the box on the counter, lest you think I totally stiffed the fireman. I did not.

Yes, we also ate this in the car...and it was a little messy but we were in Mr. AR's car so it was ok.

Third stop: Jack in the Box. We had not done this one before, so it was an addition to the rotation. And just so I am completely forthright with you: I did pay $1 at this one.

My coupon was for "2 free tacos with purchase." So I did pony-up the cash and bought two other tacos (lest you be unaware, tacos are 2 for $1 at the Jack in the Box; I don't judge your ignorance on that, b/c I didn't know until today either). So we each had our own taco. And though they didn't taste like I thought a taco would/should, we all thought they were pretty tasty.

Well to be hoenst, 3 of the 4 of us liked them...the 11yo was not a fan. Still, 75% favorable rating is pretty good, I think. I'd be happy if I had that rating at my house.

I apologize for not being total full-service on this b/c I did not capture pictures of the tacos themselves. Too messy. And (again) we were eating in the car.

I drew the line at the next stop and insisted that we go inside. There was no way we were going to share bowls of pasta from Noodles and Company in the car...even if it was Mr. AR's car.

And Little Man needed to get out of his seat. Not that he was complaining, mind you...because he's go-with-the-flow (remember?).

This worked out well because Mr. AR doesn't sign up for all the birthday freebies like I do, but he did get the Noodles and Company one. And he decided to share with us today.

So short story boring, we had two bowls to share.

Which is good b/c the PBA are getting bigger and it takes way more food to fill them up.  We had the Pad Thai Noodles with Shrimp, and the Wisconsin Mac & Cheese with Meatballs.

Yum-o.

I promise you that the bowls were the same size...it is simply due to my stellar photography skills that I made one seem about 1/3 smaller. That takes real talent.

And finally, we went to McAllister's Deli. I had a birthday coupon for $5 off any purchase.

And because we'd been so loaded on savory foods, it was definitely time to bring in something sweet. And it just so happened that their ginormous cookies were (are) $1.25 each. And being the math genius I am, I quickly realized that 4 cookies would be $5.

So I walked out of there with a cookie for everyone...except Little Man. But he was asleep by then so he didn't even care...or know...what he was missing.

Again...we ate them in the car: one was sugar and the other three were toffee crunch. Perfectly under-baked in the middles. Love.

So that's all for our lunch today...but I will keep celebrating for the rest of the month: I still have a Smokey Bones Free Dessert, Applebee's Free Dessert, BOGO at Qdoba, a Free Drink at Dunkin' Donuts, a Free Drink at Starbucks, and two Free Sundaes at Culver's.

And because I lack all creativity at this point...that's it, this is the end. I'm out. And also because I'm off to eat my Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcake from The Flying Cupcake, which was, most assuredly, NOT free.

Foodie Friday: Strawberry Bread

So I'm certain that you're all shocked that I am writing two days in a row. 

I'm not really certain how it happened, and frankly am more surprised than you, I assure you.

But time being what it is, I won't prattle on.

Much.

Today the PBA’s Life Skills food was Strawberry Bread.

I use the words "Strawberry" and "Bread" loosely at best.

You'll soon see why...stick with me.

To be fair, this wasn't even on my original list. Today was supposed to be Chicken Noodle Soup...but a) that seemed too ambitious for the week I’d had, and b) my 13yo had been reminding me of the "tradition" of strawberry bread on the first morning of vacation.

Let me explain...when we go on vacation we drive 95% of the time. And we leave early. And stop at a rest stop to have breakfast.

Clearly we bring our own b/c I am too cheap to eat from a vending machine. And that stuff will kill you.

Not that I am above eating junk, but I TRY not to do it right out of the shoot in the morning.

And most of the time (I don't think it's every time) I bring a quick bread for our rest stop buffets.

I used to bring Lemon Poppy seed. And one time I apparently decided to mix things up and bring strawberry.

I would venture to guess that I did not have the ingredients for Lemon but had them for Strawberry; in fact, that's probably the whole reason, b/c Lemon is WAY better than Strawberry.

My blog, my opinion.

But my 13yo (apparently) fell in love with the strawberry so that's what he always asks for.

And being the dutiful mom that I am, I acquiesce to his desires. (I actually don’t care very much what kind we have and since he has expressed an opinion, while no one else has, I’ll go with it.)

So…before I begin, I must explain that this recipe can be made in any flavor, just depending on what flavor cake mix you use.

Yes, I said “cake mix”.

I warned you that I used the term “bread” loosely.

One more thing while we're making true confessions, if I’m using a cake mix for the flavoring, it clearly does not contain the fruit listed in the title either.

Yes, I am serving cake to my family for breakfast and calling it bread.  And clearly I'm not above eating eating junk right out of the shoot, as I had touted just a few lines above.

Don’t judge.

So this recipe was originally for my Lemony Poppy Seed Bread, but I have adjusted it here to make Strawberry.

If you prefer lemon poppy seed (such as I do), just use a lemon cake mix, and add 2Tablespoons of poppy seeds.

One other thing…I pretty much let the PBA take the reins on this Life Skills lesson…so if it doesn’t turn out well, I am totally throwing them under the bus.

AND (and this is B.I.G.) it was their maiden voyage with my Beloved.

By “Beloved” I mean my KitchenAid Stand Mixer.

I never knew how much I could love a kitchen appliance…and I don’t even use it for nearly half the things I could.

Mostly just mixing, in fact.

But it’s just so pretty, sitting there on the counter…all red and shiny.

Begging me to make a cake (like I need someone to beg me to make a cake…)

I kind of love her.

Don’t judge.

They had never used it, so in addition to making this “bread”, they got their first lesson in the mixer.

I may or may not have hovered over it like a mama with her newborn babe.

Don’t judge.

But they did ok…not quite as gentle as I would be, but it was ok. They even remembered to wipe her down when they cleaned up the counters.

Bonus points for them. I mean they’re not ready to use it unattended, but it was ok.

Anyway…I have digressed. And the hour is getting late.

Without further delay, here you go:

Strawberry Bread

Ingredients

• 1 box strawberry cake mix
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ cup oil
• 4 eggs

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bottom of 9x5 loaf pan. If you don’t have a loaf pan that big, you can spoon out some of the batter into muffins (some may call them “cupcakes”) and bake them for 20 minutes each.
• In a large bowl, blend all ingredients on low speed until moistened. Then beat 2 minutes on medium speed.
• Pour batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.
• Cool 15 minutes in pan. Run a knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen the loaf and remove from pan.
• Wrap tightly and store in fridge, or freezer.

Follow me on Facebook! Or on Instagram (look for "mrsalwaysrandom")

Foodie Friday: Cooking with the PBA

So, as you may or may not recall, I am doing a “life skills” lesson with the PBA each Friday. In addition to our regular house cleaning, and sheet & towel washing, I have added cooking to the docket this year.

Apparently I chose this due to a momentary memory loss…did I fall and hit my head?

I can’t recall. 

Oh the irony.

I am trying my best but oh.my.word. Cooking with the PBA sometimes makes me want to rip out all my hair.

They are sweet sweet boys, but thus far they do not seem to have much of a penchant for this whole cooking business.

And maybe I am not being entirely fair. "Cooking" might be ok. The mac and cheese came out fine, as did the roasted chicken. And the scrambled and hard-boiled eggs (two separate lessons, lest you be confused).

Frankly, it’s the baking where we really struggle.

And when I say “we” I mean (of course) “they”.

Measuring things, leveling them off, refilling the sugar and flour jars, greasing pans, using parchment paper = torture to be sure.

And of course today we made chocolate chip cookies. With the assistance of an almost-4mo baby. Who is very cute but not what one might call “helpful” in the kitchen.

Now why did I opt for this? Because it was on the schedule. 

And because I promised myself and the PBA that foster care would not disrupt our entire schedule…as best as we can, the two schedules will combine and neither one will dominate.

Hence Home Ec Friday lived to see another day.

And frankly, this mama wanted some chocolate chip cookies.

Ergo…the PBA made chocolate chip cookies today.

Now, as you may (or may not) also recall, I insist that the PBA write down the recipe prior to making the dish.

Today, my 11yo insisted he would remember the recipe; this coming from the child who wrote down instructions to scrambled eggs…and then also USED said directions the next time he made scrambled eggs.

Needless to say (although I’m going to say it anyway) I insisted that he write it down; he does have an uncanny knack for memorizing long passages and such, but I had my doubts that a chocolate chip cookie recipe would make it into his long-term memory.

Much to his chagrin.

Now…the recipe I opted to use was the Kairos Cookie recipe. (As an aside, I KNOW I have posted this recipe on here before but I can't find it...so here it is again. You.are.welcome.)

I chose this particular recipe because

1. It is tasty, and 
2. It does not require softened butter, but instead uses shortening…which I know is horrible for you but I figure if you’re making chocolate chip cookies, you may not necessarily be concerned about “what is good for you”.

No, because I clearly have a death wish, I made the PBA double the recipe. To be fair, it was because the printed-out version of the recipe I have only makes 3 dozen. And that is just not enough.

Now…I DID write out on my recipe what each ingredient would be doubled…they only had to pay attention when copying it and write the DOUBLED amount.

Well, because I was apparently speaking in tongues, with no one here to translate for me, that message failed to compute and neither PBA member wrote it down doubled.

Not one to easily cave due to lack of fortitude on the part of the PBA, I forged ahead and made them figure out what each item was doubled, using their own copies.

(Now don’t pretend that you wouldn’t have done it too…)

So an hour later (that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not my much…) we finally had our cookie dough.

Which was really dry.

Clearly something was missing...perhaps some of the milk?

Not even knowing how much of ANYTHING they had put in, with the exception of chocolate chips (I knew they put in the whole bag of chocolate chips), I added a couple splashes of milk.

I was quick to point out that I had been baking long enough to know about such things, but for rookies such as themselves, they still needed to measure...no "splashes" of anything.

I totally used those words of wisdom and advice from my daily word allotment, knowing full-well that these boys are NEVER going to make chocolate chip cookies on their own.

At least probably not. I mean, of course I HOPE they do…it’s the whole reason behind the “life skills lessons” but, I am realistic and know that the chances are slim to none.

But I digress...

Now once the actual "baking" was in full-swing (we did have to pause and discuss that the goal was NOT to see how many unbaked cookies we could get on one sheet…case in point, 20 is too many, unless you want them to all merge into one another), I realized that (perhaps) we had made too many cookies.

I know, I know...that sounds like crazy-talk, but I really didn't want to have all those cookies hanging out around the house. They are nothing but trouble.

But, being a problem-solver, I asked the boys, “Wouldn’t you like to take some of these to our neighbors…to thank them for the meat pies?”

(We all recall the meat pies, right? If not, here's your refresher)

I had been laboring for WEEKS (yes, I may have a touch of the obsessive/compulsive disorder…literally weeks) about what to take next to them…when this was so nicely laid in my lap.

And because I am a full-service mean-mom, I even made the boys write a note explaining the “gift” and then deliver it themselves.

So really that’s all I have to say about that. 

No funny/punny little way to wrap it up; no clever (at least clever in my mind) ending, bring it home with a pun about cookies or baking or anything like that.

In fact, you might even say that this ending is half-baked.

Photo of actual first batch

Follow me on Facebook! Or on Instagram (look for "mrsalwaysrandom")

Foodie Friday on Saturday: How We Have Done "7"

Well, since I know you were all curious as to whether or not I could eek out a second Foodie Friday while on this “fast”, I shall give you one.

But on Saturday.

And not including a recipe.

BTW it’s only one week left…can you believe it?!? It feels like it’s only been 3 weeks and wow, now it is almost over.

Actually, on some days, it feels as though it has been years since I ate some of the delightful food I see around me, and that it will be an eternity until it’s over.

I'm clearly still a work in progress so don't judge.

Also, I caution you to be careful of judgement about its difficulty and the range of emotions you feel until you give this a whirl...it truly is more difficult than a) it looks and b) it should be.

But I digress…

Since I have no recipe to share, I shall give you my list of ingredients and share with you all the various ways we have found to combine them to give us some variety…because I know you’ve been wondering.

Just as a recap, our foods are:

• Yogurt
• Quinoa
• Chicken
• Eggs
• Spinach
• Berries
• Black beans
• Whole wheat bread (which is an added 8^th food, which I haven’t eaten every day, but sometimes…don’t judge)
• Water
• Coffee (typically I only drink 1 cup in the morning, but a couple times I have indulged in a mid-afternoon cup too; and once I added some sugar b/c iced black coffee is beyond disgusting. Who knew?)
• AND we could use as much salt and pepper as we wanted (this means I have used more salt and pepper in the past three weeks than I believe I have used in all the rest of my life combined), as well as sparingly-use olive oil.

So…how have we managed to survive on this? Well, first of all because it is plenty (in fact, still MORE than plenty) of food.

Originally, I wasn’t sure how handy that would be, but trust me: it is. If I have been hungry during these past weeks, it's because I opted not to eat what was available to me...not because the food was in short-supply.

But since our American mind-set needs variety so this is how we have accomplished it:

• Berries by their own lovely selves, separated according to type, or mixed up together
• Yogurt with berries (notice we used “berries” the generic term so we could mix it up a bit…excepting no “Crunch Berries” which Mr. AR is still trying to sneak in)
• Spinach salad with berries (also provides variety with the different types of berries…I know that sounds crazy, but different berries do make it different!)
• Spinach salad with roast chicken and boiled eggs
• Chicken and black bean soup (utilizing stock I made from the chicken carcass of the whole chicken I made in the crock-pot…still chicken and water…nothing added!)
• Chicken sandwich (with or without spinach)
• Roast chicken
• Chicken and quinoa
• Chicken, quinoa and black beans
• Sauted spinach with quinoa and chicken
• Black bean burgers (recipe here)
• Boiled eggs (with or without toast)
• Scrambled eggs (with or without toast)
• Scrambled eggs with spinach (with or without toast)
• Scrambled eggs with spinach and quinoa (with or without toast)
• Toad in a Hole (which is sunny-side-up eggs in the middle of toast brushed with olive oil)
• Frozen yogurt (also a “cheat” but once I began having a small bowl of it before bed, my restless legs calmed down and I could sleep…my conscious is ok with it. Don’t judge.)
• Sunday Addendum: fruit smoothie (yogurt, fruit, ice...why did this not occur to me before now?!?)

See…it’s not so bad.

Follow me on Facebook! Or on Instagram (look for "mrsalwaysrandom")