laundry detergent

I've been seeing ways to make laundry detergent for a long time, and just never got around to making any.  I finally accumulated the last few ingredients I needed for this recipe from How Does She? (minus the scent crystals) and then sat on it all for a few more days before mixing it all up!  some days I'm just not up for extra projects.

I had baked the baking soda to make washing soda back when I made pretzels, so grating the Zote was the next most time consuming part.  great arm workout, though.  I can't imagine if I'd made the full recipe with two bars of Zote!  this would have been a 2 day project so I could rest up after the first bar was grated ;)

the Zote smells pretty good, kinda lemon-y, but I can't really tell that there's a scent after the clothes have been washed, which is fine.  I couldn't find the white bar so I went with pink, and after I got the pink I found the white.  way it goes!  so next batch I'll use the white in case the pink tints our clothes, as was suggested by someone else online.  I haven't noticed anything turning pink, but I'd rather be safe than sorry with a house of non-pink-wearers.

it made quite a lot more detergent than I was expecting (this is a 8QT mixing bowl!), so halving the recipe worked out fine, but I had to go find a larger container to hold it all so I didn't have a bunch of smaller containers full of detergent on top of the washer.

what I really like is I hardly have to use any at all so it should last a while before I need to make more.

soft beer pretzels!

on Hilah's Texas Kitchen she shows how to make soft beer pretzels.  I wasn't sure they'd be all that great because I've never had luck with homemade stuff like this in the past, but I was surprised!

I used Honey Brown Lager in mine.  I don't know how much the brand impacts the flavor because I couldn't taste it after they were baked, but I'd like to think it made them extra awesome.  Leo and Jack liked them as well.

they're best when they're fresh out of the oven, so we ate them smothered in caramel and nuts and powdered sugar the next day when they lost a little something while sitting all night and had that pruned look to them.  the salt absorbed up the moisture from the bread and they were a little soggy, but when they had sugary goodness all over them ya didn't notice!

these will be added to our backyard movie night recurring menu for sure - yay!

chocolate butterflies and pistachio cream cheese pie

I watched a video from How To Cook That showing how to make chocolate butterflies, and I thought it would be perfect to decorate a pie I made for Nana.

I did the butterflies with candy melts because I didn't want to mess with tempering chocolate.  a few of them didn't work out because they were too thin and it's HOT right now, so if they didn't crack while I was trying to peel them from the wax paper they melted when I touched them, but I made them a little thicker they did just fine.

I thought I came up with the pie recipe myself, but after a quick search I found it on cooks.com and it was exactly how I thought about doing it, so I went with just the addition of cream cheese to the pudding like it was written.  I would double the cream cheese next time, use less milk as if for a pie (1 3/4 cup instead of 2 cups), and maybe use heavy cream or evaporated milk instead of regular whole milk.  it was still good as it was - just a little mild for my taste! O:)

lemon blueberry bread

I was up late last night and saw this recipe from Sweet Pea's Kitchen on Facebook for lemon blueberry bread.  it looked so good, and I was going to the grocery store in the morning anyway, so I whipped it up today after we got home from Jack's 6 month checkup.

when I tasted the batter it reminded me of some bread a friend of mine gave me last summer.  possibly the same recipe, I dunno.  the thing I did different from the recipe was melted butter instead of oil... because I didn't have any, but it came out alright as far as I can tell.  took over an hour to bake, which might be the difference, also not sure my pan was the right size, so I'll try it with oil next time to see how it does and maybe divide the batter in two smaller loaf pans.

Matt doesn't like lemon so this might be all for me and Leo, and that's totally fine with me!  this is definitely one for my recipe book.

Monte Cristo with Raspberry Dipping Sauce

while I was thinking of things to put in the Snakmaster I remembered the Monte Cristo - such a great sandwich!  simple enough, too.  I gave it a shot and it was actually good.  it's not the fried outside like you'd get from Cheddars, but we really liked it.

 

MONTE CRISTO SANDWICH WITH RASPBERRY DIPPING SAUCE:

sliced ham and turkey
Swiss cheese slices
sourdough bread slices
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups frozen raspberries
1/4 cup maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

powdered sugar

For the sauce, heat the raspberries in a pot on medium heat with sugar and maple syrup until the sugar is dissolved, the raspberries are breaking apart, and the sauce has thickened.  Let cool.  This can also be done in the microwave, but watch to make sure it doesn't boil over - it's a big mess.

Whisk together egg, milk, and 1 tsp sugar (optional, but better with it) and set aside.  Layer ham, turkey and cheese together, cut diagonally and lay between two slices of bread.  Dip in egg mixture and place in the preheated Snakmaster making sure the diagonal lines in the wells matches up with the cut made in the meat and cheese. Close the lid for 30 seconds - this will be a tight squeeze if you really layer the filling up - then open the latch and let sit for another 30 seconds or so.  Cut sandwiches in half, dust with powdered sugar, and serve with the raspberry dipping sauce.

 

Mexican Horchata

I don't have many shows I watch on TV anymore, but I subscribe to new YouTube channels all the time.  my newest is tastemade.  I saw them do Mexican Horchata in an ad before something I was waiting to watch on foodwishes, and it looked really good.  I finally got a chance to make it this week after waiting forever to get to try it... and I forgot to get almonds!  I substituted walnuts and it was okay.  I ended up adding almond extract and that made it better.

I generally don't like when recipes make you wait to eat them, but I figured I would give it a shot because even though I hate waiting, all the recipes I do that require a day or so in the fridge are usually awesome, and this one was pretty good.

there were two things I didn't like about it, though: 1) there's a lot of pulp that gets strained out and I feel like it's a lot of waste, 2) even though there was a lot of pulp that got strained out, it was still a little too gritty for my liking.  I have some ideas of how to fix this, and because the cinnamon made me think it would be a better Christmas beverage, I think I'll revisit it later in the year and tweak it a bit.

Eclair Cake

Friday night, Matt and I watched how to make an Eclair Cake on Cook's Country - it looked soo good!  so I told Matt I'd make it for him for Father's Day, which meant I had to start it the day before so it'd be all set up (unlike in their video... tsk-tsk!).

I added extra graham cracker layers and it almost didn't fit into my pan!  it makes a lot of cake so this would be good for a group of people.  the pudding isn't that sweet (to me!) but the chocolate on top is.  I'm a little torn on it, but Matt liked it so that's all that matters.  I think I'll half it next time I make it for just us, or use two smaller pans and give one away.

melted ice cream



I made this lovely cake recently.  I used a recipe from Cookies and Cups for the cake, which calls for eggs, a box cake mix, and melted ice cream instead of oil and water.  my favorite store-bought ice cream is Blue Bell's homemade vanilla, so that's what I used with a yellow cake mix.  sometimes simple is awesome, but I really wanna try this with my homemade praline ice cream one day.

 

it came out bigger than any other box cake I've baked in a bundt pan, and it tasted really good by itself.

I melted some more ice cream and added it to powdered sugar for the glaze.  I think I'd just frost it with cream cheese or use a chocolate glaze next time, but it was still really good.

foodwishes

I was browsing videos on youtube a few weeks ago and came across something (I don't remember what) on foodwishes.  that's my new favorite subscription :)  he's entertaining and makes it all look so easy and doable!  Leo even likes to watch with me.

my sister-in-law brought us a pineapple from Hawaii, so we grilled that up and I used the leftovers from that to make the cake.  turned out pretty good.  I forgot to get a picture, but it looked just like Chef John's - honest!  I was pleasantly surprised :)

Chicken Tetrazzini

one of my favorite casseroles mom made growing up was Chicken Tetrazzini, and it's still a treat to have now.  I made some this week with some leftover grilled chicken - so good :)  Matt told me that on America's Test Kitchen they tell you to soak your meat in a salt brine to make it juicy when cooked.  we did some chicken quarter in a salt and brown sugar brine and threw them on the grill.  they came out really well!  I shredded the chicken and put them in seal-a-meal bags in the freezer so I could pull small portions out when I needed them.  worked perfect for this.

 

Chicken Tetrazzini

 

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

1 can chicken broth (I use 2 cups of water and add 2 bouillon cubes) 

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 cup milk

1/4 lb. pasta (I use penne or spiral when I have them, otherwise I use spaghetti)

sliced toast, bread crumbs, or croutons

1/4 cup butter

3 TBSP chopped onion

4 TBSP chopped bell pepper

1 cup chopped celery

shredded jack cheese (pepper jack is the best!)

 

Reserve 1/2 cup of chicken broth and use the rest in the water to boil the pasta.  Sauté vegetables in butter until tender, turn off heat add in the reserved chicken broth, milk, cream of mushroom soup, chicken, and cooked pasta.  Pour into casserole dish and top with cubed toast, bread crumbs, or croutons.  Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.  After baking, cover top with cheese.  This is best made the day before.  Once assembled in dish, cover and refrigerate until ready to bake - overnight is best!

peach hand pies

I had some cans of peaches in my pantry and decided to try making some hand pies with them, and they came out really well!  I don't have much luck when I try to just throw something together, but this one is going in my cook book :)  I had to search online for an idea of how to do them and decided to mix together a lot of the information I came across.

you'll need enough dough for two pie crusts, or you could make one and just use half the filling recipe for 12 hand pies and save the rest of the filling in the fridge for later.  I like using the tart crust recipe below, but I found a good looking one the other day at FoodWishes that I really wanna try.

 

RECIPE FOR ONE 9" CRUST: (double this for full recipe of 24 hand pies)

1 cup flour

6 TBSP cold butter

1 egg yolk whisked with 2 TBSP cold water

 

cut the butter into the flour until just blended - don't over work, add egg and water mixture and form into a ball.  wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge.  the things to keep in mind about pie dough is to use cold ingredients, work it cold, and keep it cold.
 

FILLING:

1 can of peaches (or other fruit) in water

1 cup sugar

2 TBSP cornstarch

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1 TBSP butter

 

mix sugar, cornstarch, and nutmeg in a sauce pan and add butter and juice from the can of fruit.  cook over medium heat stirring constantly with a whisk until thick enough that when stirred it leaves momentary open spots in the bottom of the pot,  add fruit back in and stir until fruit is warm and in small bits.  let sit and cool.

 

section the dough evenly into 48 balls (or 24 if you only made one dough recipe) and roll each one out thinly between sheets of plastic wrap with a rolling pin, or press flat under a plate until it's about 4" across.  brush the bottom round of dough with egg white to act as a glue for the top round, spoon about a tablespoon of filling in the middle and place the top round over that.  mash the edges down, then roll them over themselves and crimp to make sure they don't open up when they cook.  add a few slits in the top so steam can escape, brush the tops with egg white, and then sprinkle them with sugar.  bake at 400°F for 18 minutes or until lightly browned.

I baked mine in a greased glass baking dish so I could check on the bottoms, but a baking sheet is fine to use, too.  you can also buy pre-made dough, and just thicken pie filling from a can or use marmalade so these are even easier. 

bread pudding muffins

being as absent minded as I've been lately I bought a loaf of bread, forgot I had it and bought another!  I'd usually freeze the extra loaf for later, but I noticed the date on the older bag said November 30 :(  it wasn't moldy, didn't smell and was still mostly soft, but the thought of "expired" bread made my sandwich taste bad to me even though it was probably fine.  I figured I'd make cinnamon toast, French toast or just regular toast out of it, but remembered I haven't made bread pudding in forever! I laid out all the slices to make it really dry and stale and made this recipe from Joy of Baking.

I used craisins and raisins, but I forgot to grab pecans at the store and forgot to add the apples (never tried that before and was curious to see how it would taste, oh well!) but it was fine.  doughnuts are still my favorite to use for bread pudding, but the plain wheat wasn't too bad once I put the sauce on top - that's really what makes any bread pudding wonderful!

for the sauce you'll need:

1 cup sugar

1 stick butter

1/4 cup whiskey (Jack Daniels is our favorite)

just enough water to make it liquid

heat a sauce pan up and pour the whiskey in - carefully! - and let it smoke to burn off the alcohol.  toss in the butter and let that melt before adding the sugar.  stir constantly, adding water as needed to make it nice and liquid.  pour over the bread pudding before serving.

breakfast treat

I buy a can of biscuits for Saturday mornings and usually make egg and cheese sandwiches with them, but one morning I woke up thinking about monkey bread.  I only had one can of biscuits and the recipe called for two, so I looked to see what else I could make that would be comparable.  I found myself on the Pillsbury recipe site and found this recipe.  I tweaked it a bit and left out the nuts and lemon (didn't have those) and used craisins instead of raisins (didn't have those either) and added brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and doubled the butter! O:)  the biscuits I had were the honey butter layer biscuits, which are bigger than what the recipe called for.

I put the craisins in the bottom of the pan, threw the sugar coated biscuit pieces on top, sprinkled the rest of the sugar and spice on top of that and drizzled the melted butter over the whole thing.  it smelled sooo good while it was baking!

Leo kept checking the oven window for me and saying "Mmmmm!" :)  when it came out it wasn't very gooey and caramelized like I expected, so I made a simple glaze and drizzled that on top and then I was saying "Mmmmm!", too :)

soup recipe

Leo used to love butternut squash when he was eating mush, but then he discovered bread and other good things and never went back.  unfortunately I had a leftover squash that never got used.  I'm not sure how long I had it for, but it's been quite a while!  it never showed signed of going bad so I never threw it out... but I think it'd possibly been a year.  the skin was still firm and it didn't smell, so I cut it open to see how scary it was inside.  it was fine!  it was a crummy squash to start with because it had so many seeds in it :(  but it smelled good so I baked it up and made soup.

I found some tasty sounding recipes online and just sorta mixed and matched with what I had in the pantry.

I used:

• 1 medium/smallish butternut squash - pre-baked
• 3 cups chicken broth (made from chicken bullion)
• 1 cup water
• water from a can of peas
• one apple, peeled and cubed
• 2 small potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
• 1 tsp of nutmeg
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• dash of Gourmet Burger seasoning (I use this in practically everything!)
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• peas

I boiled the water and threw in the bullion cubes, cut up the potatoes and apple and boiled them in the broth and added the spices.  once the apples and potatoes were soft enough to mash I added the pre-baked butternut squash, cream, and the water from the can of peas and let that all simmer covered for a while. when it was time to eat I tossed the peas in to warm them up and served it with potato bread.

it was so good!  the day ending up being warm, but we were all a little under the weather/worn out so it really hit the spot.

banana spread

I always seem to have an abundance of bananas in my freezer, but due to weevils attacking my flour recently I thought I'd see what I could make without flour (my usual is banana bread or banana roll) and I found a few recipes online.  I decided to just wing it going from what I found and what I had on hand.

I used:

• 1/2 stick of butter
• 5 frozen and mushy/liquidy bananas
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup sugar
• cinnamon
• pumpkin pie spice
• salt
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

put it all in a sauce pan and brought to a boil, stirred with a whisk until it was thick and mostly smooth.  I pulled it off the heat and added some vanilla extract and stuck it in a jar to put in the fridge.

I spread it on some plain toast and it was wonderful :)  when I finish all this up (which probably won't be too much longer!) I wanna try it with brown sugar like in this recipe:

• 2 firm-ripe medium bananas
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup light or amber rum

Cut bananas crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Melt butter in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, then add brown sugar and cook, whisking, until smooth and combined well, about 1 minute. Add rum and bananas, then simmer, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes.

another recipe called for pecans!  I really want to try adding that, chopping them up real fine in my coffee grinder and spreading it over biscuits :)

Valentine stuff

I found an awesome dessert to try for Valentines day :) Dulce de Leche mini cheesecakes! it's really good. it's pretty easy, too. I substituted Nestle's La Lechera Dulce de Leche that I found on the Mexican isle at the store instead of making my own from sweetened condensed milk like the recipe says to do.

I baked mine in silicone baking cups instead of in a muffin tin because I thought it'd be easier... but I ended up having to cook them for a LOT longer than the recipe said to, so next time I'll put them in something metal. lesson learned!

I made some cupcake boxes at the last minute from some small shirt boxes I got from the Dollar Tree and some stuff I already had. it was a pack of 3 for $1 and I made 2 boxes that held 6 mini cheesecakes each!

while I was at the Dollar Tree I couldn't help but look around for other stuff because it just seems silly to not browse! I found a hand held fan that was white with striped blades and a red blinking light. looked very 4th of July, but Leo has always loved fans. it's the first thing he looks for in a room. not sure why. anyway, it wasn't very Valentine-y, so I took the blades off (they had a stiff plastic coating on the front side of the foam that hurt while it was spinning :\) and replaced them with plain red craft foam. I added some Hoops and Yoyo stickers to the white handle part and called it done. I think it came out pretty cute :)

I also found some real photo picture books. I never liked this type of books, but Leo really seems to enjoy them more than cartoon lookin' books.

I found a cup at Wal-Mart for a buck that's a frog hugging a heart that I had to get. I was gonna fill it with candy, but the opening is small so I might just leave it empty and keep the candy separate.

I made Matt something that I might show some other day - it's up in the air weather or not I'll give it to him on the 14th.

happy valentines day!