I don’t even know what to tell you about these crackers except that you really must make them immediately. They are addicting. Buttery. Slight twang from the sourdough. Nicely cheesey without cloyingly so. So yummy. I originally wanted to develop a recipe for a good cheese cracker for my son, and in the interim found my new favorite thing. These are so good. Trust me. Go, make them now. Sourdough Cheese Crackers makes about 6 dozen 1″ diameter crackers 1-1/2 sticks cold butter (3/4 cup) 1 cup flour 1 to 1-1/4 Cup sourdough starter, freshly fed and room temperature 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon smoked paprika* In a food processor, [... To read more, click here ...]
I love making up a quick batch of this no-cook play dough whenever Lloyd wants to “help” in the kitchen, but I’m doing something that would be best to keep toddler’s hands out of. I like to scent my play dough with various spices, cinnamon is my favorite, but it can be left unscented as well. This dough only lasts a few days (for a longer lasting recipe, try this cooked version), but at pennies to produce, it is a great way to keep little ones occupied and happy. Get out your little rolling pins, butter knives and seasonal cookie cutters and have fun! Quick and Easy Play Doughenough for one small child 1/2 cup white flour1 teaspoon cinnamon or other spice or extract, optional*1 teaspoon of any additional smoosh-ins, [... To read more, click here ...]
These are one of my son’s absolute favorite treats, and a staple in our home! I make a batch of these up regularly (sometimes making a double batch and just storing half of the dough in the freezer until I’m ready to bake again) and cut them out using seasonal cookie cutters. The original recipe is from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Nancy Silverton of LaBrea Bakery. I’ve adapted it to using whole wheat flour, increased the milk as whole wheat tends to need more moisture than white flour, and added whey to help make the flour more digestible and the cookies more tender. I also added cinnamon directly to the dough, rather than covering them with cinnamon-sugar, as the original recipe suggests. Whole Wheat Graham Crackers adapted from [... To read more, click here ...]
My first iron-rich recipe experiment was a success! Lloyd loved them, as did his mama! Now I’m seriously eyeing a blowtorch for creme brulee . . . what else can I use a blowtorch for (other than, you know, welding)? Old Fashioned Egg Custardfrom The Fannie Farmer Cookbook * 2 large Egg Yolks * 3 large Eggs * 1/2 cup Sugar or Rapadura * 1/8 teaspoon sea salt * 3 cups Milk * 1-1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract * Nutmeg To the left – chocolate egg custard. Mmmmm. See variation details below. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 1-quart baking dish or 8 ramekins. Set a shallow pan large enough to hold the baking dish or ramekins in oven and fill it with 1 inch of hot water. Heat [... To read more, click here ...]
It is my personal opinion that there needs to be another category added to the list of food groups. Crispy-Salty. I am a Crispy-Salty kind of girl. Popcorn, tortilla chips, roasted, salted nuts . . . if the item has a satisfying crunch with a hint of saltiness, I’m a fan. And lately, being pregnant, I’ve been craving this combination more and more. Unfortunately, too many nuts make me break out, popcorn gets stale and tortilla chips don’t fall under the “nourishing, protein-rich” category that my doctor keeps recommending me eat. However, after flipping through the December ’08/January ’09 issue of Cookie Magazine, I found the perfect new snack. Crispy, Roasted Chickpeas. Now, the original recipe was for a cinnamon/sugar-based flavoring, but I augmented it to fit my cravings (I’ve [... To read more, click here ...]
Lloyd loves crackers, as does his mama, but it is hard to find whole grain crackers in the store that I’d feel comfortable feeding him that aren’t filled with preservatives or canola oil or corn syrup. I went in search of a good recipe (trying out a few duds in the meantime) and have discovered one that I love! It is whole grain, uses sourdough (a great way to use your sourdough a day after you feed it!) and tastes remarkably like one of our favorites, Wheat Thins! I found the dough to be very easy to roll out as thin as it needs to be to make crisp crackers (a problem I’d had with other recipes was that it was difficult to roll out the dough thin enough) and [... To read more, click here ...]
Step One – Put a kettle of water on to boil.Step Two – Open a bag of Ramen* (which I bought recently for 13 cents a package – my favorite kind is Chile which is also good for Fridays during Lent!)Step Three – Put one quarter of the dry noodles in a little mug and the remaining 3/4s in a bowl. In the bowl, put the majority of the seasoning packet (none in the mug)Step Four – Pour boiling hot water to cover noodles in both bowl and mugStep Five – Do something else for five minutes.Step Six – Take the noodles out of the mug and put on a cold, clean salad plate. Discard water. Put bowl and plate on the table.Step Seven – Wrangle up baby and coerce [... To read more, click here ...]
This was the second of two recipes that I made for Lloyd this week using beef. I made them on the same day and it only took me about a half an hours worth of work for probably 6 weeks worth of food – and a total of $8.00 or so. Beef Vegetable Stew The key thing when making baby food is to dice everything VERY SMALL. Every ingredient below is diced in at least 1/4-inch dice, if not smaller, or grated on a box grater. As your baby gets bigger, feel free to dice a bit larger. For vegetables, I recommend slicing them into matchstick size and then dicing from there. I promise, in the small quantities we’re talking about, this won’t take but a few minutes. 1 pound [... To read more, click here ...]
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