Category Archives: Vegetarian

I Think My Kids Need Yeast Interventions

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Buttery Yeast Rolls

I swear… I don’t starve my boys. Or at least not daily. Only on alternating Tuesdays and in months with a Y in it.. Generally speaking though, I actually allow them to eat. You would never know it though when I make something yeast risen. I can put it in the oven and come out and find the three of them huddled around the oven, drool sizzling on the glass door as they stare at whatever is in there and ask me “is it done yet? How bout now? NOW? Awwww mannnn… NOWWWW???!”. It’s the cooking version of “are we there yet!?” Thank God 3 of my kids are grown and moved… there wouldn’t be enough room around the oven and I would probably have to call in The National Guard to prevent bloodshed.

So when I made these yeast rolls the other night, I was prepared. I put on my riot uniform and hoisted up my bulletproof shield. I put up cement barriers all around the kitchen, had 911 pressed into my phone ready to press send and had a nice bottle of something high in alcohol at hand to calm my nerves. Then I got to work.  After a few hours, a new bottle of high octane hooch, as well as a few cans of food for the guard dogs and there they were. Hot, buttery, yeasty, “omg, I am gonna fight the kids for these” Buttery Yeast Rolls.The original recipe called for rolling the dough out and cutting it into crescents and yep, they were adorable looking. But…. I was soooo not feeling that ambitious. So I made regular rolls from these instead but with the added twist of a schmear (I love that word) of butter inside the roll before cooking. The original called for smearing the rolled dough with butter and then cutting it into the crescents. I got to the smearing part and got impatient; thus the making it into regular butter filled rolls part. What can I say? I was lazy. Continue reading →

Carrots Are Yucky

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Really. They are. Would I lie to you? I love you all to death so I would never lie about something as important as the ickiness factor surrounding those orange…things.

I don’t like carrots (in case the above sentences didn’t clarify that). I will eat baby carrots if they are cooked almost to the point of mush and then covered in about 16 pounds of butter per carrot and salt. I will eat carrot cake. I mean c’mon, it has cream cheese frosting and is gooey and…well…it’s cake. I can forgive it for having carrots.

I’m also that person who, upon getting one of those bagged salad mixes, picks out every single carrot shred out of my bowl and throws it in my husbands serving. Raw carrots are even yuckier than cooked ones.

But… BUT I say! I like carrot cake. So when I saw a recipe for a quick bread that had a strong resemblance to carrot cake or would once I got through with it, I knew I had to make it. The original recipe is from Food And Wine. For the most part, I was true to the original but I seriously wanted it to be a bit more carrot cakeish but in quick bread form. That way if I wanted six slices for breakfast, I could honestly say that 1) I was NOT eating cake for breakfast and 2) it has carrots in it so it’s good for me. Right? So I added more spice to it, a TOUCH more oil (and I do mean just a little; just enough to increase the moistness w/out compromising the stability of the bread), raisins and the crowning touch of a cream cheese glaze.

This is good. Really good. I may or may not have eaten three slices already and scraped all the excess glaze out of the bowl with my tongue finger.

Don’t judge me.

Tender moist cake bread, stuffed full of raisins and sweet spices and a tangy sweet and creamy cream cheese glaze. And oh yeah, those orange things. What are they called again? Oh yeah… carrots.

Go buy some orange things and some cream cheese.

And you’re welcome. Continue reading →

Back Away From The Asparagus & No One Will Get Hurt

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Marinated Asparagus. The taste will "Stalk" you in your dreams. HA! I slay myself! (If you click on the photo, the dressing shows up better)

I was a weird kid. Yes, I know I’m also a weird adult but my point is that it started years ago. It was just a hobby then. Now I have it down to an art form. But moving on. I was a weird kid. I never turned up my nose at things like spinach, brussel sprouts or asparagus. On the contrary, I inhaled them. Which was great until the one time that asparagus spear got stuck up my nose upon inhaling…

What? You really expected me to make it through a paragraph without a bad one liner? You must be new to my blog.

But I really did love all of them. No inhaling involved *insert bad Bill Clinton joke here* Mind you, the spinach and asparagus I had a kid were always canned. Sad as it is, I didn’t have fresh of either until I was well into my 30’s. For the longest time, I preferred the canned versions because they were familiar. The fresh tasted funny to me. But they grew on me. No really. They did. Makes wearing a skirt interesting.

I’d lie and tell you that I’ll stop now but you’d know and I’d know that I was lying so why bother?

“It was the dawning of the Age of Asparagus, age of asparagus”

Ahem. Yeah. Again; moving on. Loved them, ate them, wore them. Ok, I think that catches us up now. Continue reading →

Doing The Can Can :-P

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Yes, yet another bad pun from me. This one is based on the fact that I did a little bit of canning yesterday. What did I make you ask? You DID ask didn’t you? Please tell me you asked. Otherwise I’ll cry and believe you me, I do NOT look pretty when I cry. Middle aged fat women lacking good teeth rarely do.

On topic… I’m a jam, jelly, preserve, marmalade fanatic. Also chutneys, relishes, etc etc. If it can be spooned up out of a jar, chances are that I’ll like it. So it was natural that at some point I would teach myself to do home canning. I started about ten years or so ago and haven’t stopped since. I absolutely ADORE canning my own jams and such. I like coming up with new flavors and I like knowing what is going into them.

So yesterday, I wanted to find a way to preserve some of the precious Meyer Lemons I had on hand. As much as I loved the pound cake I made, I wanted something that would keep the flavor going for a few months. So what else would I do other than can some?

My family isn’t as big on marmalade’s as I am, but I could eat it straight out of the jar. The chewy peel, the sweet tart jelly…yum! This one was particularly good being made with the Meyer lemons. There isn’t as much pith in Meyer lemons (the bitter white part) so this didn’t have that slightly bitter edge to it that some marmalades can have and while I don’t really MIND that, I like it better if it isn’t bitter. This was slightly chewy from the peels, nicely tart but not overwhelmingly so as it could be from regular lemons. I swear, I could just stand there with a spoon and the jar.

Give this a try. If the idea of canning scares you, you could also refrigerate this. Just put it into plastic or glass containers with lids. It will last a few months stored cold. This recipe comes from Gourmet.com

Now excuse me while I go  eat this straight from the jar.

Meyer Lemon Marmalade

  1. 6 Meyer Lemons
  2. 4 cups water
  3. 4 cups sugar
  • Halve lemons crosswise and remove seeds. Tie seeds in a cheesecloth bag. I used a coffee filter tied shut with a bread tie lol. Hey, whatever works right?
  •  Quarter each lemon half and thinly slice. Combine with the bag of seeds and water in a large pot (non aluminum) and let mixture stand, covered, at room temperature 24 hours.
  • Bring the lemon mixture to a boil over moderate heat.
  • Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to 4 cups, about 45 minutes. Stir in sugar and boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally and skimming off any foam, until a teaspoon of mixture dropped on a cold plate gels, about 15 minutes. This part took 35 minutes for me. Just don’t let it cook TOO much or you will end up with impossible to chew lemon goop.
  • Ladle hot marmalade into jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of top. Wipe rims with dampened cloth and seal jars with lids.
  • Put jars in a water-bath canner or on a rack set in a deep pot. Add enough hot water to cover jars by 1 inch and bring to a boil. Boil jars, covered, 5 minutes and transfer with tongs to a rack. Cool jars completely
  • Alternately, store this in tightly covered containers in the fridge. I got a little over 4 half pints from this recipe. I canned the 4 half pints and used the extra 3/4 cup or so in a chicken dish last night.

 

Yes, You MUST Have Marshmallows…

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This TASTES 9000 times better than my horrid photo attests to. Like I said, use GOOD quality sweet potatoes, not cheap ones. Mine just looks like a casserole dish of caramel sauce covered in marshmallows lol

When you have sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving, you HAVE to have marshmallows on top of them. I am pretty sure it’s the law in all 50 states as well as 492 small countries, all 7 continents and the planets surrounding Earth (this includes Pluto because it IS a planet darn it no one will ever make me say otherwise!)

Sorry… tangent there. Erhmmmm… where were we? *Rewinds head cassette* Yes btw, my head works on cassette. I’m old. Be glad I don’t rewind my mind via 8 track tape or 78 rpm albums. We’d be here all day. I mean… you DO rewind your brain don’t you? Or am I the only one special enough for that?

I just went into tangent mode again didn’t I? Sigh. Well, we’re used to that, you and I. Aren’t we? I was thinking that….

ARGHHHH!! Marshmallows Janet! Marshmallows!

As I was saying about three pages ago before I got distracted… ooo, shiny things! , marshmallows are the law on top of sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving. If not, there SHOULD be a law and I may just go petition congress on this issue. If for no other reason than they look pretty on top of them, all toasty and gooey. One can never have enough gooey.

I normally make the typical sweet potato casserole on Thanksgiving. You know the one. Brown sugar and butter mixed with either fresh cooked or canned (depends on my time constraints) sweet potatoes, then covered in a bag or so of mini marshmallows. Everyone then eats it and falls immediately into a diabetic coma even if they aren’t diabetics. (And yes, I know sugar doesn’t cause diabetes contrary to popular legend. Literary license here people… if we can call anything I do literary… or even literate.) The only thing I do differently is to add unsweetened crushed pineapple to mine because it adds a nice tart taste and kind of gives it a sweet potato/pineapple upside down cake taste.

But in planning to post that one for you, I came across a recipe for sweet potato casserole that while basically the same, had enough difference to make it worth trying. And it had marshmallows on it! Though I suppose if you are really strange and in massive need of marshmallow haters rehab, you could leave them off.

This has sweet potatoes as well as apples all smothered in a caramelly sauce, then baked and topped with marshmallows. This was really quite good. The apples add that tart flavor that I crave when I eat the very sweet sweet potatoes and marshmallows. The original recipe came from
Just Get off Your Butt And Bake and her photo is much much prettier than mine. The blog is great; go give it a look if you never have! I didn’t change her recipe much at all. Just swapped out cream for some of the water and used some spices in it and also increased it some because I live with gluttonous pigs aka teen males :-P. Otherwise, this is all hers. If you make this, I suggest using a good quality canned sweet potato if using canned. The ones I used were from a low cost chain; the kind that specializes in bulk buy and while the casserole TASTED delicious, the sweet potatoes were so overly processed in the can that they practically dissolved into the casserole as it cooked and it really didn’t have any nice chunks in it. Thus why you are only getting a photo of the casserole as a whole lol; not of individual servings 😛 .

So if you’re wanting something traditional yet not quite, give this a try. Sweet tart apples, tender sweet potatoes, caramel sauce and marshmallows all combine to make this yummy to the max!

Apple & Sweet Potato Casserole

(Covered In Gooey Marshmallows Cause I’m Not A Law Breaker)

  • 3 15 ounce cans sweet potatoes (or about half a dozen fresh ones, cooked, peeled then cut into chunks)
  • 4 tart apples such as Granny Smith, sliced thick (I used an apple corer & didn’t bother peeling them)
  • 2 1/3 cups boiling water
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream (brought to boiling with the water)
  • 1 cup Brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
  • 4 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter
  • 1 cup mini marshmallows
  1. Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, salt & nutmeg with the cornstarch in a large measuring cup & blend well. Add the water/cream mixture to the sugar.
  2. Mix until well blended. Microwave at full power for about five minutes, taking out and stirring every minute, or until the sauce has thickened and is translucent.
  3. Combine the apples and sweet potatoes in a large greased baking dish (mine is a 2 quart ceramic dish)
  4. Pour the glaze over the yams and the apples.
  5. Bake for 1 hour at 300 degrees, or until the apples are tender.
  6. Sprinkle the marshmallows on top and broil until the yummy marshmallows that are totally legal are nicely browned. Do not NOT use them or I WILL call the law on you.
  7. Eat. Enjoy. Buy more marshmallows.

Hello? This Is Exotic Deliciousness Calling You! Pick Up Please!!

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Recently I was contacted by the wonderfully gracious Jen; one of the lovely people from Kelapo, which is a  company that sells coconut oil. Very very yummy, OMG this smells fantastic coconut oil. Jen asked me if I would be interested in receiving  some of their coconut oil to use and tell all of you about. I of course jumped on that chance because I am a piggie butt foodie who loves coconut oil.  Hmmm, it probably would have sounded better had I said that I graciously accepted out of the kindness of my heart and because I am the consummate professional food blogger wouldn’t it have? Yeah, well, we all know better. That piggie butt factor was a large part of it though I DO like the idea of being able to maybe give some exposure to a growing company, as I understand the “trying to grow” part myself.

Seriously (well, as much as is possible for me) I really do love coconut oil. But all I had ever used before was the large vats of it you can buy from your local grocery store. That stuff is pretty darn good but Kelapo’s coconut oil just blew me away.  I spent the first few days after getting it just taking it out of the cabinet 75 times a day and smelling it. The smell is so…. pure. It is the essence of the tropics in a small jar. Again, comparing that to the store bought, the store bought smells good but there is always a bit of an off smell to it… the smell of something produced in large large large quantities without any love behind it. Kelapo’s oil wasn’t like that. Like I said, the scent was pure. Coconut, nothing added.

Coconut oil can be used in so many ways that you can’t really use vegetable oil or olive oil for. Well, I suppose you could but it just wouldn’t be the same. One of the things I did with this and it’s not so much a recipe as a technique which is why I’m not posting it as a recipe (but yes, facebook fans, this is the bonus I was referring to.) is make a body butter from it. Just go buy a small tub of cocoa butter. Mix the full tub with about 1/2 cup of Kelapo’s coconut oil (easiest if you melt all this over a low heat). Stir while it melts to mix well, then pour into a clean jar (small canning jars work well). You can scent this with maybe two drops of coconut extract (or maybe a drop of peppermint oil to create something a bit more energizing. Mmmm, coconut mint scented) to intensify the scent but it’s not really needed. This smells fantastic as is! Just scoop out a small bit after your shower and rub in well to those rough spots like your knees or elbows or wherever your skin is really dry. You will be sniffing yourself all day (though if you manage to sniff your elbow, I want photos) and you will be soft as a baby’s tushie. You can also use a small amount of plain coconut oil in a hot bath. But be careful! It IS oil and will make it quite slippery.

Cooking wise, I wanted to make something simple with this; something that highlighted the flavor of the coconut oil but yet had more flavors to it… flavors that fit with it and didn’t overpower it. I think I succeeded quite nicely if I do say so myself. I oven roasted some potato wedges in coconut oil and some Indian spices. God help me, I can’t stop eating them lol. I WAS going to have these as a side dish to my dinner (the rest of the family ate earlier) but this has BECOME my dinner, they are so good. The coconut flavor is wonderful. It’s subtle yet definitely present and mixed with the flavors of the curry and spices it is out of this world. My husband was grinning at me saying he hasn’t seen me eat this well in a long time. And yep, it is because of the Kelapo’s coconut oil and NO, I’m not just saying it because they gave me some. I have given bad reviews before and won’t hesitate to do so if it’s deserved. This however deserves every single glowing word I’m saying. Before I get to the recipe for the potatoes, I wanted to share the coupon code that the Kelapo people are giving my readers. It is good for 20% off of your purchase until 9/29/2011. Seriously; go buy some of the coconut oil. Cook with it. Slather it all over your body lol. Smell it 75 times a day like I did. But buy some! It’s wonderful!

Coupon code to be used at Kelapo is Cupcakes20 (case sensitive). It’s good through 9/29 so go…shoo… buy. Ummm, after you read the recipe and drool.

Indian Spiced Roasted Potato Wedges With Coconut Oil

  • 2 pounds potatoes (I used Yukon gold), cut into 4 to 8 wedges (depending on potato size)
  • 1/4 cup Kelapo coconut oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon good quality mild curry powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
  2. In a small bowl, mix together all your spices and the salt.
  3. Spoon (if solidified which coconut does at fairly high temps compared to other oils) onto a foil lined 13×9 inch baking sheet. Put into oven long enough to melt the oil.
  4. Tilt the pan to let the oil cover the bottom of it.
  5. Making sure to coat each one in the oil (just turn it over and move it around in the oil… it isn’t rocket science 😛 ), lay your potato wedges on the baking sheet in a single layer.
  6. Sprinkle the potatoes with the salt/spice mix
  7.  Roast at 425 until the potatoes are tender and golden brown, about 45 minutes. It helps to brown them if you put the pan on the lowest rack on the oven about halfway through cooking.
  8. Transfer to a serving plate; taste to see if it needs more salt and then enjoy them… because I promise you, you will. Then go buy 322 containers of coconut oil. 😛

*I received a jar of Kelapo Coconut Oil to use and review. All opinions in here are my own*

Yes, We Have No……Tomatoes.

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Hard to make a bowl of roasted tomatoes look good. You just have to trust me 😀

 

When I was a kid, I was allergic to tomatoes. I was also allergic to strawberries which back then, bothered me a great deal more than the tomatoes, even if tomatoes ARE a fruit. You try being a little kid and not allowed a peanut butter and strawberry preserves sandwich. *sobs piteously* I guess I must have outgrown that one fairly young though because I remember eating strawberry things in my childhood. Oh well… moving on. Tomatoes. Allergy. Hives. Itch. Ouch. Mom!

The tomato thing lasted into early adulthood then just disappeared as childhood food allergies can sometimes do. It didn’t hurt that I didn’t really like tomatoes anyway other than ketchup which didn’t seem to bother me. It was only raw maters and I was happy without them. Such a young stupid pup I was. I think growing up in Chicago the tomatoes I had were hard store bought rocks so I thought they all tasted like that. This was before the day of farmers markets in cities, of CSA’s, Heirloom tomatoes, etc etc etc. If you didn’t live in the country and/or grow your own, you got pale pinkish rocks for tomatoes. End of discussion.

As I grew older and started cooking more outside my comfort zone, I was forced by the circumstances of cooking to try tomatoes. Surprise surprise (please use a Gomer Pyle voice when you say that; it’s much more fun), I liked them. Still not the type to really pick up a tomato and salt it and eat it (though I get in the mood at times) but I love to grow them, I love to cook with them and I love to eat them in salads and other ways. But my favorite way to eat plain tomatoes is oven roasted. I love love love them. Did I mention that I love them? I have kind of given a condensed version of this recipe in This Post but it was tucked into a separate recipe so I wanted to give it by itself. The recipe being, btw, oven roasted tomatoes. These are soooooo delicious made this way. The flavor is concentrated but they aren’t as chewy as sun dried which means they make a good accompaniment to things like sandwiches and salads. You can eat them without trying to take a bite and having the whole piece of tomato pull out BECAUSE they aren’t so chewy. They are also extremely simple. If you can slice a tomato and turn on an oven, you can make these. The possibilities for uses are endless. Where ever you would use sun dried maters, you can use these yet you can use them MORE places because, as I mentioned (because I’m repetitive like that) they aren’t so darned chewy. They are yummy just eaten out of hand…erhmmm… bowl… and you can’t get much healthier snack wise than something like this.

Oven Roasted Herbed Tomatoes

  • 1 pound Roma (Plum) tomatoes, sliced in 1/4 inch slices (You can of course use more or less tomatoes. I tend to do them about a pound at a time.)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons McCormick Grill Mates Garlic and Onion Medley Seasoning (don’t use garlic and onion powders. Part of the tastiness of this comes from the caramelized pieces of garlic and onion)
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed Rosemary
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Line a 13×9 inch baking sheet with foil (trust me… use the foil.)
  3. In a large bowl, CAREFULLY toss the sliced tomatoes with the olive oil.
  4. Put the tomatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with the garlic/onion medley and the rosemary.
  • I had some cherry & grape tomatoes I needed to use so I just tossed them in there too.
   5. Roast the maters at 325 degrees until they are slightly shriveled (remember; we’re not going for the tough chewiness of sun dried or many hours of 200 or so degree heat like some oven roasted tomatoes. These will still be soft and pliable.) but still moist, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. You’ll end up with a sheet of this-
6. Let cool and then transfer them to your mouth a bowl. Store covered in the fridge.

I Actually DO Like Veggies (Foodbuzz Tastemaker Product Review)

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If I do a review, I don’t suddenly have to lose my warped sense of humor and start talking in a high faluting accent and use really large words do I? I can do the review and just be me, right? Because I willingly am making a post that doesn’t involve mass quantities of chocolate, heavy cream, snack cakes or pork. That alone gives me the right to have fun doesn’t it? Although thinking about it, talking in a high faluting accent and using really large words is quite in line with my personality ANYWAY, so that works too. 😀

Seriously though… or maybe I should say, “moving on” (hehehe… did you notice that it has been a while since I’ve said that?), I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers to try a Birds Eye product that will be coming out in stores soon. I was tickled to be chosen and even more tickled to eat the veggies. Even if they didn’t come covered in chocolate. Is that showing veggie love or what?! I received this *points down*

Birds Eye Chefs Selection Creamed Spinach

I saw this and knew I would be trying it as it and as soon as possible. Contrary to my self made rep as a person who subsists on fats, sweets and caffeine, I actually DO eat healthy foods voluntarily and actually enjoy them. And I love Spinach; always have. Did you hear that and have you snapped a photo of those words in case I deny it later? I’ll say it again just in case.

I LOVE SPINACH! ALWAYS HAVE! And to top it off, I want THIS Spinach every night for a year or three… for dessert. And dinner. Maybe even lunch and breakfast. Then I may have to fit in a snack cake and some caffeine.

This creamed Spinach was AWESOME! I…erhmmm… ended up eating the whole bag… by myself… over the course of the evening. No one else in my family likes Spinach so it was a sacrifice I willingly made 😀 It tastes wonderfully fresh; like I just chopped up some fresh Spinach myself and mixed this up. But yay of all yays, I didn’t have to go to that kind of trouble. Nope! Not at all. I just popped this bag into the microwave for five minutes and then poured it out. Like I said, very very fresh tasting. And even better, it had NONE of that icky dried milk sort of flavor that I have found in so many other types of creamed spinach, even those from a restaurant. I would put this up against them any day. It has a slight garlic flavor which I liked. But nothing overpowering. The flavor is that of fresh creamy Spinach overall. I will be trying this again…and again…and again.

I can’t WAIT for this to come out at the stores. I am planning to eat lots of creamed Spinach.

Hmmm… I wonder if Birds Eye needs a really strange middle aged, fat spokesperson? I would work for Spinach. Just sayin’.

*I received four packages of Birds Eye Chefs Favorites as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program*

Spicing Things Up

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I asked a while back on my facebook page (you can find me under this blog name if you’re interested btw. Well? What are you waiting for?  Go look for petes sake!) if people were interested in my making posts about home made spice blends. The answer was a resounding yes. So being the person that I am, one who is always on top of things, strictly organized and gets things done the second they come up, I made a post on the subject immediately.

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STOP LAUGHING!!! It’s not nice! MOM!!!! They’re being mean to me!!!!

Ok, you can stop laughing now. Really. I don’t blame you though. I grinned as I typed that. Actually, I laughed hysterically and had to stop to wipe my streaming eyes. It took a while cause I couldn’t find the kleenex.

But here I am…right here…right now… finally making this first post in what will over time (probably much much time since I am so NOT organized I may have trouble finding my own spices) become a series of sorts. Today I chose what is my personal favorite. Back story- 1) I love love love dill weed. I don’t particularly like dill pickles but I love most things made with dill, be it fresh or dried. I love the smell, the flavor… all of it. And 2) I have always liked the Spice Hunters brand of spices. They are outstanding. My favorite was one called “Deliciously Dill”. The problem is, I don’t have the disposable income it takes to spend 6 bucks per bottle and shipping costs whenever I want it. So I decided to make it. This is a blend that goes great on sooooo many dishes. We love it in scrambled eggs (or “Janet Eggs” as my husband calls them), on fish, over steamed vegetables, in potato salad…. you name it, where ever dill can go, this can go. Making it at home saves so much money. You have the initial outlay for the bottled spices to make it but then you can make so many batches of this from those bottles.  So if you enjoy different spices (and chances are you wouldn’t be reading a food blog if that weren’t the case lol) try this. It’s easy (if you can pour and use a spoon, you’ve got it 😛 ) and so worth it. If the quantities listed are too much for you, you can cut this in half easily. This is a salt free blend but feel free to add salt if you want.

Dill/Onion Spice Blend

(For Use On Fish, Veggies, Eggs & Lots More :-)   )

  • 1/4 cup dried dill weed
  • 1/3 cup dried minced onions
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons dried lemon peel
  • 3 tablespoons dried chives
  1. Mix everything together.
  2. The end. Added this yet again just cause one instruction looks funny 😛

The Humble Potato Isn’t Always So Humble

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Sometimes it can be anything but humble and anything but just the boring spud.
Normally, on holidays like the 4th of July, I make the typical American standby of potato salad made with mayo, pickle relish and other things. I love it and I will post the recipe for my version at some point this Summer but today I just felt like doing something different. I thought of loaded baked potato salad and then decided not to. I thought of plain mashed potatoes and then thought that to me, they are meant to be a Thanksgiving or Christmas tater side dish. Potato pancakes… nope, need a pork roast and sauerkraut. Can’t make much in the way of dessert from them and they don’t magically turn into Cheetos or Twinkies; mores the pity :-D.

So I played. At first bite, this was so different than what I usually make and I am such a creature of routine and such a traditionalist that I was disappointed. Until I took another bite. And another. And then I needed to stop because otherwise there was going to be nothing left to feed my husband and kids. And while I knew I could open boxed mac and cheese and they’d be ecstatic, I couldn’t bring myself to do that. So I shared. Cause I’m cool like that. I feed my family 😛 Sometimes anyway.

Truthfully though, this turned out quite good. The mix of the potatoes, dressing, tomatoes and onions was yummy. I had planned this to be a warm salad but my husband, who has to have his food hot enough to blister his tongue, said it was even better hot and I thought it was good both warm and cold. So take your pick. It works at all temps 🙂 This is supremely simple yet so good for the lack of time and effort you put into it.

Honey Dijon Roasted Potato Salad

  • 2 to 2 1/2 pounds Idaho Russet potatoes (about 7 medium potatoes), cubed into bite sized pieces
  • 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 large tomatoes, seeded and cut into bite sized chunks
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 to 2/3 cup Honey Dijon vinaigrette depending on how saucy you like your potatoes. I used half a cup and that was fine. (you can use home made or store bought dressing. Just use your favorite. I used Kraft but I am also going to try making  it with home made)
  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with foil. I used the non stick foil because beyond the no sticking which roasted potatoes seem to like to do, I have found that potatoes brown better when you use this foil as opposed to regular foil.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, onion powder, garlic powder and oil. Toss well to coat.
  3. Scoop out onto the baking sheet and level them as close as possible into one layer.
  4. Bake at 375 until they are tender and nicely browning, making sure to turn them once or twice so all sides can get browned well. This took about 45 minutes for me.
  5. Combine the potatoes, tomatoes and dressing in a large bowl. Again; toss well to coat. Pour into a serving dish and EAT! Like I said above, this can be served at room temp, heated up or from the fridge. It was liked all ways.