1/2 Brown & 1/2 White Rice Rice-Pudding Recipe

I promised to post this several days ago and just haven't gotten to it. But it did give me time to make 2 more test batches.

I love rice pudding!  It's one of the few perfect foods. Versatile: it can be tweaked for almost any type of food allergy (except for rice). It can be improved upon and made healthier or can be made to be ridiculously bad for you.

But any way you cook it, it's YUMMMM! I'm working on a 100% Brown Rice Rice-Pudding Recipe, but it's not quite ready yet. So until then . . .

1/2 Brown & 1/2 White Rice Rice-Pudding
Yields: 2 to 3 servings (can be doubled, but it will increase the cooking time slightly)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup Brown Rice (I like Jasmine Brown Rice, but any should do)
• 1/4 cup any Long Grained White Rice (I used White Jasmine rice for this, but any long grain should do)
• 4 cups Milk (I use whole, but any kind can work, even almond or rice milk)
• Pinch of salt (a really tiny pinch)
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 cup brown or normal sugar (your choice)
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/3 cup Raisins (or other dried fruit - I like dried cranberries!)

 Directions

1. In a medium sized sauce pan, with a heavy bottom (no judgment here. Seriously, heavy bottomed sauce pans are a good thing.) place both types of rice, the milk and the pinch of salt. While stirring often, on Medium-High heat, bring to a boil. Make sure you do stir regularly or the rice will stick to the bottom and the milk will scorch.
2. Reduce the heat to low/simmer, and let the mixture simmer with the lid on for a total of 1 hour. Adjust the heat slightly higher and lower to make sure the mixture stays at a simmer, not a boil and not an "almost simmer." 
3. How often to stir once the lid is on and it's simmering (make sure the lid is securely on when not stirring): 

• 0 to 10 minutes: stir every 2 minutes.
• 10 to 30 minutes: stir every 5 minutes.
• 30 minutes to 1 hour: stir every 8 to 10 minutes
• Why? The steam caused by the simmer is necessary to cook the rice, so we are trying to lift the lid as seldom as possible. But milk and rice tend to scorch, so you have to stir. This method of gradually increasing the time between stirs seems to work the best.
4.  While the mixture is simmering, in a small mixing bow, whisk together the egg and sugar until it looks well blended.
5. Once the hour is up, the rice should be cooked, but there should be liquid left. Pull out a grain or two of both types to test it. If they are still crunchy, place the lid back on and recheck in 10 minutes. If there is no liquid left, heat 1/2 cup milk in the microwave or in a small pot. Then add this milk to the rice mixture.Once the rice is done, remove from heat.
6. Now, temper the egg mixture. That means you want to bring the temperature of the egg mixture closer to that of the rice mixture before mixing them. It helps you not have "scrambled eggs" in your pudding. Plus it encourages the egg to mix better with the rice mix in order to thicken it. Temper the egg by adding the hot rice liquid a tablespoon at a time to the egg mixture, until you have mixed about 1/2 cup with the egg. While you are adding the liquid, whisk the egg mixture. It should start looking like the pic below.
7. Next pour the tempered egg into the sauce pan with the rice mixture while whisking. Keep stirring until fully incorporated. Replace the lid, place the pot back on very low heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. Make sure that it does NOT come to a boil or even a hard simmer. You are just thickening it at this point and letting the egg temp increase to kill off any germs.
8. After 10 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, cinnamon and raisins (or other dried fruit). Put the lid back on and let it "rest" for about an hour. Then pour it into a storage container and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 12 hours.
9. Final step: EAT!!! It is much better chilled, but you can eat it fresh.

Dragon Droppings Recipe

It's the time of year to make Hogwart's themed snacks.  According to my daughter, this was the best dragon pooh she's ever had! Think Reese's Peanut Butter Cups meets rice crispy treats.

Dragon Droppings Recipe
yields about 40 dung pieces

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups peanut butter (can sub sunflower butter)
1/2 cup butter (can sub margarine)
3 cups powdered sugar
3 cups crisp rice cereal
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (about a bag and a half)
3 TBSP shortening (can sub coconut oil)

Put the butter and peanut butter in a very large pot. Yes, it will look too big, but it will make sense later. Over low heat, stir until melted.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the rice cereal and powdered sugar.

The peanut butter and butter mix will look like this when fully melted - no  more lumpies.

Now you're ready to pour the sugar/cereal mix into the peanut butter/butter mix. Stir well, but try not to mash the crispies.

Line 2 baking sheets with waxed paper. Take 2 soup spoons. With 1 spoon, scoop out about a tablespoon of the mix. With the other, scrape the spoonful onto the waxed paper.

About 20 fit on each baking sheet. When one baking sheet it full, with freshly washed hands, shape the blobbies into a  more rounder shape. Then pop the baking sheet into the freezer.  Fill the second sheet, then, if there is room pop it into the freezer. If not, pop it into the fridge.

Meanwhile, while the blobbies are chilling, place the chocolate and the shortening (or coconut oil) into the smallest pot it can actually fit in. Over very low heat, melt the chocolate, stirring often enough so that it doesn't burn.

Take a fork that you don't particularly like, and bend it like the one in the pic. It helps when dipping the blobbies. Leave the blobbies in the freezer for at least 20 minutes. By then, the chocolate should be melted. Take the first sheet of blobs out of the freezer, and if the second one is in the fridge, move it to the freezer. If it is already in the freezer, leave it while working with the first sheet.

Remove chocolate from heat. One at a time, place a blobbie on the bent fork. Lower it into the pot of chocolate. Dunk it in the chocolate. You can use a spoon to ladle the chocolate onto the blob. It's okay if the blob isn't evenly coated - maybe the dragon's digestion was a little off.

Place the now coated piece of dung back on the waxed paper.  When you're finished with the first sheet, pop it back in the freezer and take out the second sheet. The reason you do these one at a time and one sheet at a time is that the peanut butter melts fairly easily. You want it as hard as you can get it when dipping it. Otherwise, it could fall apart.

When you're done with the second sheet, pop it back into the freezer or fridge.  It should take about 30 minutes to set up and harden, then you can remove them and enjoy. If you used coconut oil and the ambient temperature is about 70 F, then store them in the fridge. Otherwise you should be fine storing them at room temp.

10 Minutes or Less Coconut Ice Cream Recipe

I feel like my titles often sound like infomercials.  Maybe I missed my calling in that industry. Anyway . . .

Life is insane, and I suspect that that's just life. Will the insanity of it ever end? Probably not, therefore I should just accept it, go with it, and embrace the insanity. I've even been contemplating adding to the insanity, or at least more than I've already added.

So I volunteered to teach cooking at my church's summer-camp to kids that range in age from 2 to 17. That may be the definition of insane. So this spring, beside the normal craziness of life, I've been cutting and sewing about 50 aprons in various sizes, testing recipes and planning for two weeks of cooking classes.

For the most part, things have been going smoothly, but there's one class with whom I've been struggling to find a recipe that fits all of my criteria (I know, I know. Me and my criteria are good buds. But without standards, my world will just fall apart).

What are my criteria:

1. Age appropriate. It has to be something which that specific age group can fully participate in. For example, I'm having the 2 yo's dip pretzels in chocolate and decorate them with nuts and sprinkles. Later that week, I'm having the 14-17 yo's make sushi from scratch.
2. No meat. With the exception of the sushi, I'm trying for mostly vegetarian foods. Not that I'm a vegetarian, but I don't want to deal with the extra bonus of meat germs, e-coli and salmonella.
3. Time. We have to start, finish and clean up in 45 minutes or less. This is my deal breaker for most recipes, since many of them take longer than 45 minutes to prep and cook. 
4. Tasty. I'd like to make things that most of the kids will eat. We are trying out new recipes, but having 5 children, I know something about what most kids will and will not eat. There's no way the majority of them will eat stuffed grape leaves or moussaka, but they might eat hummus and homemade flat bread.
5. Whole foods and real food. I want to use basic food as ingredients. Using one of Michael Pollan's definitions of food: Things that your great-grandmother would recognize as food. I may use can garbanzo beans to save time, but I want no box mixes or no artificial food like stuff. If the kids learn nothing else, I want them to learn that food does not have to come from a box or can to be tasty and easy to make.
6. Allergies. Most people have food allergies at one time or another. I would like for these kids to learn that they can still eat tasty, easy to make, real food despite their allergies.

So here's my problem. I have one class where the allergies are dairy and eggs. It's one of my younger groups, so I don't want to do Middle Eastern food with them.  I also want to tire them out a bit so that they're not so rambunctious. And I want to actively participate in what they make.

One of my main ideas is "Ice Cream in a Bag." Not a new concept, but it's something many kids have never done before. Just google "ice cream bag," and you'll get hundred of sites.  Now add coconut milk to the search field, and after 200 sites, still not a single recipe for "Coconut Ice Cream in a Bag" that doesn't contain eggs or dairy.

After some experimentation yesterday, here's what I came up with. Though, after 4 experimental batches, I don't think I'll be eating anything with coconut in it for a long while.

Coconut Ice Cream in a Bag (10 minutes or less)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coconut milk (make sure it says milk, not juice or cream)
• 1 TBSP powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• a pinch of xanthan gum or guar gum
• ice - about 4 cups
• rock salt (most grocery stores sell this all summer long. A bag's about $2, and will last quite a while.)

You also need sturdy gallon and quart zipper bags. Freezer bags are usually thicker than storage bags. Storage bags will break.

In a medium sized bowl, pour in the coconut milk, add the powdered sugar and the vanilla. While you are briskly whisking, sprinkle the pinch of gum into the mixture. By a pinch, I mean about 1/4 of a 1/8 tsp measuring spoon. Just a little bit. Sprinkle it slowly. If you pour it too fast, it will clump.

Place the quart zipper bag in a large cup (you can see this above). Pour in your mixture. This process keeps the mixture from sticking to the sides and concentrates it at the bottom.

Zip the bag, then take a bread tie and tie off the bottom area where the mixture is. This helps keep the ice cream together during the freezing process.

Place 1/2 cup rock salt in the gallon zipper bag. Pour in enough ice to fill it about half way. Mix the salt and ice together until the salt is distributed evenly throughout the bag. Place the quart bag with the milk mixture into the center of the ice mixture. Zip the larger bag and wrap with a towel.

Now set your timer and shake vigorously for 5 minutes. If you're like me, you'll dance around and filk songs to pass the time. "Shake, shake, shake. Shake, shake, shake.  Shake Your Ice-cream, shake your ice-cream."  Or the more popular: "Well, shake it up, baby, now, (shake it up, baby).
Shake that ice-cream, (shake that ice-cream). Shake it up high (shake it up high). Shake it down low (shake it down low)" Well, you get the point. It makes the whole thing quite a work-out and keeps the kids from getting too bored by shaking a bag for 5 minutes.

Now check the quart bag to see if the mix has a nice ice cream consistency. It'll be more like soft serve than boxed freezer ice-cream. If it's not, shake it some more. If it's good, remove the inner bag, wipe or rinse off one corner, nip the corner with scissors and squeeze it out into a bowl.

You're done. Eat up. Put some toppings on it. Add some sprinkles. Or eat it plain. It has a strong coconut flavor, but it's really good. Just don't make and try to eat 4 batches in a row. Sometimes it's okay to waste failed experiments.

No More Microwaving Popcorn!!

 
Let start a movement (yes, another one). Google "microwave popcorn," and for every advertisement site that shows up, you find one telling you how bad microwave popcorn (MP) is for your health. There's even a special "Microwave Popcorn Lung Disease" that MP factory workers can get. I'm not making this up. It's out there.

But MP is so easy and tastes so yummy! True, but it's just as easy and almost as yummy to make it using nothing but a large pot. Stores actually still sell plain, dry popcorn kernels, and the store brand works just as well as the named brand - for around $1 a bag, you'll get plenty of batches of popcorn.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry popcorn kernels
3 TBSP your favorite type of oil (I use coconut since it has such a great taste)
 Optional:
3 TBSP melted butter (you can, of course, microwave this)
1/2 to 1 tsp salt
OR
Spray oil (butter or plain flavored)
Popcorn seasoning

Place your oil in the big pot. If it has to melt, turn on the heat and melt if first. Then add the popcorn.

If it's liquid, add the popcorn.

Shake the pot a little so that the kernels are an even layer on the bottom of the pot (like the picture on the right).

Turn the heat on high and place the lid on the pot.  Be patient. Depending on your stove, it may take up to a couple of minutes, but the popcorn will start popping.

Once it starts popping, every now and then, pick up the pot, give it a shake, and then put it back on the heat. This helps the heavier un-popped kernels fall to the bottom near the heat source.

Just like with the older microwaves (the ones without the popcorn button), you can tell when this is done by the slowing of the pops. When the popcorn popping slows down, remove from heat, but keep the lid on. The popcorn will still pop for another half minute or so.

Be careful, at this point, it is possible to burn. If it does, scoop out the top, good popcorn and throw the burnt stuff on the bottom to the birds.

Flavoring: You can eat it plain, but it really is plain.

Or you can melt 2 to 3 TBSP butter and slowly pour over the top while mixing the popcorn with your clean hands.  You can also add a little salt to the process.

Or you can alternate spraying it with spray oil and sprinkling it with a popcorn season (like the ones pictured on the right) or plain salt. Spray, sprinkle, then mix the popcorn with clean hands and repeat about 2 or 3 more times.

If you have all your ingredients on hand, and the pot is clean, all-in-all it takes less than 5 minutes. That's a little longer than microwave popcorn, but not by much. Other than being way cheaper and producing less waste, it's also a good deal better for you.

Just writing about it, I can smell popcorn. I wonder if the kids would wake up if I made a batch!

Enjoy!

Swifter WetJet Refill Recipe - Antibacterial Formula

Yes, I'm frugal. I also believe children should have chores. My children do the sweeping an mopping of the main rooms, but I'm not an ogre. About a year ago, I bought a Swifter WetJet battery operated mop to make mopping a little easier for the kids.

The first time they mopped, they used an entire bottle of the WetJet solution. At $7 a pop, with mopping 2 to 3 times a week, my easy solution quickly turned into a $50 to $90 a month problem.  So I put on my frugal mom hat (cheapskate hat is too vulgar), and I figured out how to refill the bottles and what to refill it with.


First step: remove cap.

The easiest way to do this without destroying the bottle is to use pliers, squeeze the cap like you would a childproof medicine bottle, and twist. I've used the same 2 bottles for the last year now, and I've had no problems with leakage.

Some people say that the rubber center of the cap pops in and out, but when I tried it with my first bottle, it leaked everywhere and I never could get it to work well again.

Cleaning Solution Recipe

• 2 tsp Murphy Oil Soap (found with other cleaning solutions at the store). Has a mild scent and adds that extra soap factor to it.
• 1/2 cup plain vinegar
• 1 tsp Tea Tree Essential Oil (for its antibacterial properties)
• warm water

Pour the ingredients into the open Swifter bottle. Add warm water to about 2" from the top.  Replace the cap by HAND-tightening it. Use a towel if it's slick. Don't use the pliers to tighten it (I broke the top to the bottle right after the picture was taken. The plastic is not sturdy enough to tighten that way.)

Where do I get my Tea Tree Essential Oil? Where I get most of my essential oils: online at Camden Grey. Their shipping time can be a bit slow, but they don't overcharge for either their products of shipping. If you don't like tea tree, you can also use Lavender 40/42 essential oil, Eucalyptus essential oil, Peppermint essential oil, or try a different one. Be careful that some are a little caustic and can eat through things like vinyl floor. Test it first, but remember that it is really diluted.

And DO NOT use fragrance oils. They are not natural and don't have the antibacterial properties that EO's have.

Very Easy Quick and Dirty Fruit Wine Recipe

Don't be thrown off by the name. It's quick in that it takes 6 weeks from start to drinking. It's dirty in that you really should drink it within a year. I've pushed it to two, but since the yeast is still active, it will just continue to ferment and get stronger. If that happens, add sugar to taste.

If you are a real connoisseur of wine, then you'll probably hate this. Although you can try out batch #3. It's most like real wine, and real wine drinkers who've tried it have liked it. But if you're like me and dry wine makes you pucker and what you really want is fruit juice with a bite, then you'll really like this. Actually very few people who've tried it have not like it. So give it a go. What do you have to lose?

I'm posting my experiments just to give you an idea at how versatile this recipe can be. Try something new and different, and then post it to my comments. Eventually we will convert the world into making wine with their own local fruit!

I got the recipe from my husband's foster mother, Sheila. She had an acre of blueberry bushes in her back yard that grew the tastiest blueberries I've even had. She wrote the recipe on the back of a paper plate about 15 years ago, and there it stayed for years shoved into the back of my recipe book. I think I still have that paper plate. Where it came from before that, I don't know.


Blueberry Wine Recipe

1. 1 Qt. plus 2 handfuls ripe blueberries.
2. Wash, drain and mash.
3. Put in gallon jar. Do not use a jar larger than a gallon, and glass works best - you can buy the gallon iced tea jars during the spring and summer. Spigot or no spigot, makes no difference. Just make sure to remove the spigot and wash separately between batches.  
4. Add 3 lbs sugar in jar  (6 3/4 cups = 3 lbs;   2 1/4 cups = 1 lb. If you like it sweet you can reduce it to 5 3/4 cups, but less than that and you have dry wine)
5. Dissolve 1 package yeast in 1 cup warm water - if you are like me and buy yeast in bulk, 2 1/4 tsp is one pack.
6. Add 1/4 tsp sugar to yeast.
7. Wait a few minutes until frothy, add to jar.
8. Pour in cold water and mix thoroughly.
9. Fill to within 2" of top of jar.
10. Place clean cloth on top of jar and cover w/ saucer.
11. Leave in a cool place for 5 weeks. NO STIRRING! It may explode out of the jar. That's okay. Just clean up the mess and LEAVE IT ALONE!! 
12. Spoon off pulp, strain into another jar. Use cheesecloth or a sterilized (boiled in water) washcloth. Anything else will leave it too gritty or not filter. 
13. Leave 2 or 3 weeks. ( I never leave it for 2 to 3 weeks unless I have the stomach flu. I drink it right away.)
14. Siphon into bottles and cap. I use mason jars, but anything will do. Plastic or glass - it doesn't matter.

My Experimental Batches

• (#1 & 2 were normal) 
• #3 1 xtr handful berries, 2 lbs sug; 6 wks 1 d (very dry - more like "real" wine) 
• #4 2 quarts berries, 3 lbs sugar; 6 weeks (okay)
• #5 2 quarts 2 handfuls berries, 2 lbs sugar; 6 weeks 1 day (too much berry taste)
• #6 2 qts juice, 2 lbs sug; 8 weeks 3 days (not bad. A bit dry, but full of flavor)
• #7 regular; 8 weeks 4 days (more of a kick than normal)
• #8 2 qts 2 handfuls berries, reg sugar; 8 weeks 6 days
• #9 2 qts juice, 1 1/2 lbs sugar; 8 weeks 4 days (not good, like blueberry syrup gone bad!)
• #10 Reduced sugar to 6 cups – still tastes good and sweet
• #11 Reduce to 6 cups sugar, normal everything else, but sub blueberries to ½ blackberries, ½ raspberries. Very good. Like a spring morning!
• (Lord knows what happened to #12-13, either I lost them or forgot where I was and started at 15)
• #15: 2 ½ cups frozen blueberries in a quart jar, Filled rest of jar with “Just Cranberry” Juice. Blended in blender. 6 cups sugar. Thoughts: Wonderful!!!
• #16: Used frozen fruit measured in 2 cup glass container. 3 cups blueberries. 1 cup blackberries. Blended in blender with warm water. 6 cups sugar. Good, real good.
• #17: 2 cups Strawberries measured in glass measuring cup then transferred to quart jar. Smashed down, then filled with blueberries, plus 1 handful. Blended in blender with water. 5 ½ cups sugar. (needed to add more sugar after straining. I added sugar to taste - my taste, that is) 
• #18: Filled quart jar to bottom ring with blueberries. Filled rest of jar with grape juice. 5 3/4 cups sugar. (not bad)
• #19: 4 cups blended muscadine (measured after blending). 6 cups sugar. (As of today, it's still in the back of my cupboard waiting to be strained. It's been there 8 months, not 8 weeks. I'm a little afraid of it now)
• #20: All measured pre-blended. About 2½ cups muscadine. About ¼ cup blackberries (frozen). About ½ c raspberries (frozen). About 1 ½ cups blueberries (frozen). All blended very well. 6 cups sugar. (I'll call this one "Cleaning out My Freezer Wine," but alas, it too is still waiting to be strained.)

 Have fun making wine and post your results!!!

Turning Trash into Treasure: Recycling a Useless Dress into a Child's Apron

I found a beautiful ramie (think of it as Asia's version of linen) dress with lovely delicate flowers embroidered onto it at a local thrift store. In my size too! While I was trying it on at home and thinking about wearing it to our church's auction, the zipper broke. I didn't even wear it once, and with a broken zipper (Oh, how I HATE replacing zippers), I couldn't even send it back to the thrift store. So there's the beautiful fabric that's going into the trash.

I hate waste. I hate needless waste more. I'm the person who cuts all of the buttons off of worn shirts before throwing them out because those buttons will still be around when the shirt has disintegrated into nothing. Buttons are useful too. So this dress laid around the house for weeks, and I couldn't get rid of it. 

Then came along my newest project. My church has a Hogwart's / Harry Potter themed summer camp, and I'm the cooking teacher this year (Edible Transfiguration: Professor Thomasina Natalie Crumpets or T.N. Crumpets for short).  I need aprons for the kids since I don't want them to get dirty while we create our tasty treats.  I've been sewing aprons for several days when the thought hit me - there is probably enough fabric in that dress for a child's apron.

I used Simplicity's Sewing for Dummies pattern #2824, not because I'm a dummy at sewing, but since I knew it would be a quick and easy no-frills apron.  And when one is making about 40 of the same thing, quick and easy are important.

Laying out the pattern pieces was a little tricky. Since real women have curves, dresses for real women have curves too. I had to cut some pieces out first (like the main body) before the fabric in some places would lay flat so that I could cut the others.

I try to get all of the ironing of seams and edges done at one time. At one point I never ironed when sewing, but in the end it does save time and looks much less sloppy. One cool thing about using a finished garment is that I can use the existing bottom hem. One less thing I have to do.

I learned a trick years ago on how to turn straps right side out once the inner seams have been sewn. Use a large safety pin or a diaper pin. It's easier to show you:

All total it took me less than an hour to make, including the time to glue back on legs for a couple of action figures. And the button is reused - told you buttons are useful.