Lemon Raisin Scones Using Homemade Baking Mix

So I have a weird fear. It's a fear that I've had as far back as I was 18 and hasn't gotten much better. I hate voting in person. I know it's sounds weird, but as soon as I was old enough to vote I voted by absentee. Since I grew up in Washington I never had to have a reason to want an absentee ballot. Now that I live in the state of WV it's another story. You can't vote by absentee unless you have a reason. I would love to say that I have voted in every election and am a great citizen even though I have a panic attack every time I try to vote in person. I don't. I vote in presidential elections, but in-between I am not a great voter. My kids are growing up already going with my husband to vote, and love going to the court house to early vote like they did today. I'm hoping that they will grow up without my anxiety associated with voting. I inherited it from my father and having the behavior stop with me would be a  good thing. It's a weird fear, but I hope by sharing it that other people that share my anxiety will feel a little less alone.

So I shared a homemade baking mix last week that can be used for a variety of baked goods. My kids are in love with the baking mix since it can be used for pancakes, scones, biscuits, you name it. Pretty much anything you could use Bisquick for, except that this mix has fresh butter in it. Here is a recipe for Lemon Raisin Scones using Homemade Baking Mix.

Lemon Raisin Scones

Ingredients

• 2 cups homemade baking mix
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup chopped raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Cooking Directions

1. Combine baking mix, granulated sugar, raisins, and zest.
2. In a separate bowl combine cream and egg.
3. Stir into dry mixture until it comes together.
4. Add more cream if neccessary.
5. Hand pat into a 6 inch round.
6. Cut into 8 wedges.
7. Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.
8. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes.
9. Let cool on a wire rack.

Tips: 

• If the mixture doesn't come together well, add more cream. Keep adding cream until a usable dough comes together. 
• Try not to overwork the dough. The less the dough is worked the fluffier your scones will be. 
• If you don't like raisins, Craisins would also work. 

Banana Muffins Made with Homemade Baking Mix

The men in my family can't seem to find the clothes basket or the trash can. When I wake up in the morning most of my first hour of the day is spent picking up dirty clothes from the living room and bedroom floors. I have tried training them and it lasts for about a week. Then they are back to leaving things throughout the house. It's almost like they are Hansel and Gretel and need a trail to find their way between the bathroom and their bedrooms. My husband isn't much better than my kids. He normally keeps his clothes in one pile, but he has pairs and pairs of shoes all over the house. Seriously the man changes his shoes 3-4 times a day. I tried charts to modify their behavior and honestly the charts became more of a chore than picking up the mess. Maybe I need to train myself to not pick up after them so they start doing it themselves. Realistically though I can only go a couple of hours before it would start to drive me nuts.

My kids run in the house every afternoon and ask what I made for their after school snack. They are always starving after school and will literally eat everything in the cupboard if I gave them the chance. I try to make foods that are easy to hold such as muffins, crackers, etc so they can do their homework while eating. Having a baking mix made up ahead of time is a nice way to save time, making it so I only have to spend less than a half an hour in the kitchen. This recipe for Banana Muffins is made using a Homemade Baking Mix that can also be used to make scones and biscuits (recipes to come).

Recipe Adapted from Martha Stewart Living. 

Homemade Baking Mix

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 sticks frozen unsalted butter, grated
• 6 cups all-purpose or bread flour

Cooking Directions

1. Combine sugar, baking powder, salt, and flour.
2. Stir in butter, making sure there aren't any large clumps.
3. Store in fridge for up to a month, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Banana Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups homemade baking mix, room temp
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2-3 bananas)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large egg, beaten

Cooking Directions

1. Combine baking mix, sugar and cinnamon.
2. Break up any large butter clumps with your fingers.
3. In another bowl combine milk, eggs, and bananas.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
5. Stir well until completely combined.
6. Divide batter into a greased (or paper lined) 12 muffin cup muffin pan.
7. Fill each cup about 3/4 of the way full.
8. Sprinkle each cup with granulated sugar.
9. Bake muffins in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 22-25 minutes.
10. Let muffins cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan.

Tips: 

• This is a very versatile baking mix. You can also use it to make scones, biscuits, and pancakes. 
• If you want to add a little chocolate to your banana muffins this recipe would work well with dark chocolate chunks or with a few tablespoons of peanut butter. 

Polenta with White-Bean and Roasted Pepper Ragout

I hate going to the doctor. Not just a little bit, I dread the whole experience. During my twenties I was horrible about going, I pretty much didn't go other than when I was pregnant. Then I had pneumonia and I go at least twice a year now. However, I still hate it. Growing up my mother had diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure in addition to being over weight and having horrible anxiety. I have been lucky to have only inherited the horrible anxiety, especially when it comes to doctors. A large part of it stems from having kidney problems growing up and spending a lot of time in the hospital. It made me avoid going to the doctor unless I was sick. Since my mother had so many problems I always have to have a lot of blood tests, which come out normal every time, but I still hate the whole process. Yuck.

One way I try to stay healthy is by cooking meals that are either vegetarian or use meat as an ingredient rather than the main part of a meal. My kids have grown to love beans as much as meat, which is a win in my book. Last week I tried a new recipe for Polenta with White-Bean and Roasted-Pepper Ragout from Martha Stewart Living Magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time. 30 minutes of which is active, and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, I used homemade chicken broth, the taste is better and you can control the amount of sodium. Second, I used quick-cooking polenta, I prefer it since it's quick and easy. I doubled the amount of polenta since my family loves polenta.

I liked that this recipe was simple and easy to prepare. My husband and I enjoyed the combination of the beans and polenta, it was a nice change from having pasta or rice. I wasn't sure what my two boys would think, but they loved the beans and ate their whole servings. This would be a nice summer meal since it's light and doesn't take much time to cook.

For the recipe go to Polenta with White Bean and Roasted Red Pepper Ragout.

Caramelized Fennel, Celery, and Sardine Pasta

Caramelized Fennel, Celery, and Sardine Pasta

Growing up I never wanted kids. I wasn't one of those girls that loved baby dolls and wanted to be a mommy. I wasn't even planning on getting married. I told anyone that would listen that I was going to  get a degree and live by myself in a great apartment. Everyone always laughed at how planned out I had everything. A lot of it had to do with my mother being the oldest of 12 kids. My grandmother had passed away before I was born and my mother had taken over the role of a second mother for my aunts and uncles. Growing up I was surrounded by cousins and since I was an older than most of them I had to watch a lot of my younger cousins. I loved my cousins, but they could get into a lot of trouble and me along with them. Plus my mother was always on the phone, visiting or generally interacting with family members. It was hard not to be a little jealous that I wasn't the center of attention, especially since I was an only child.

I met my husband in grad school. I had moved 2500 miles away from home and knew no one. He was one of the first people to be nice to me in my very first evening class. Gradually we became friends, he drove me home from work study, we ate dinner together in the school cafeteria in-between classes. We moved in with each other a month after officially dating and were married 5 months later. The girl that was never going to get married walked down the aisle before most of her friends. On our second anniversary I found out I was pregnant with our first child. I had my second 2 1/2 years later. I still went to graduate school, worked a great job in bio-tech for 7 years, I just achieved everything much younger than I thought I would. I have two smart, beautiful and talented boys. I never thought that I wanted to be a mother, but now that I am I can't imagine my life anything other way. They complete the love that my husband and I formed so quickly more than 10 years ago.

While my family will eat gluten free pasta, they prefer the real thing if given the choice. Every couple of weeks I make a pasta meal for them to enjoy using regular wheat pasta. A while back I tried a new recipe for Caramelized Fennel, Celery, and Sardine Pasta from Martha Stewart Living magazine.

Caramelized Fennel, Celery, and Sardine Pasta

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, my family doesn't like whole wheat pasta. I have tried every brand, half whole wheat etc. and they hate them all. So instead I used regular pasta, it wasn't worth the battle. Make sure to salt the pasta water, if you don't the pasta will need a lot more salt after cooking. The only other change that I made was to add more pasta cooking water than the recipe suggested. I found it necessary to make sure that the pasta was well coated and the flavors combined.

Lake Vesuvius 

My husband really enjoyed this recipe. He is a huge fennel fan and this was a nice way to use it in a  pasta recipe. My two kids were skeptical when they say the sardines, they were hesitant to eat the bones. After trying the dish though they loved the fennel and sardines. The recipe is definitely geared towards adults, but if you have adventurous kids like mine it would also make a nice family meal. Plus since it takes less than 30 minutes it would be great for a busy weeknight.

For the recipe go to Caramelized Fennel, Celery, and Sardine Pasta.

Hearty Blueberry Muffins

Hearty Blueberry Muffins

I think I may be a bad blogger. When I first started my blog over 2 1/2 years ago everything seemed exciting and new. There were things to learn, new blogs to read and the Internet wasn't completely saturated by 5,000 different social media possibilities to waste endless amounts of time. I blogged everyday, sometimes more than once. If I missed a day I would write twice as hard the next. Fast forward almost 3 years and I feel a little blah. I miss more blog posts a week than I would like to admit. My blog almost feels like a chore some nights. After chasing after two very active boys my blog seems a little less important than it was when my youngest had just turned two. Next month my youngest will be 5 and my oldest will turn 8 this spring. They were babies when my blog started, my oldest hadn't even started school yet. Part of my blog taking a back seat is coming naturally with age, as my kids and I get older I feel less compelled to sit behind a computer and not interact face to face. My mother started having serious health issues in her 40's and I try my hardest to avoid this fate. Part of that plan means spending less time on the computer and more time with friends and family. It also means instead of computer time, I am remembering the joy of a good book or a movie snuggled up with my husband. I don't know where my blog will be in another 2 1/2 years. It has evolved endlessly since I started it. So if you don't see me posting everyday it isn't that I have forgotten about my blog, readers and food. It's just that life has a way of becoming more important during certain periods of our life. I do promise that the posts that I end up having the time to write will be truthful and hopefully an enjoyable read.

I have been trying to make sure that my two boys eat at least a small breakfast every morning. They both have a bad habit of skipping breakfast or choosing cereal and then becoming cranky a couple of hours later. In order to combat this problem I have been trying a number of new breakfast recipes. Last week I tried a new recipe for Hearty Blueberry Muffins from Martha Stewart Living magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes an hour of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 12 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, I used coconut oil for the fat. Coconut oil is nice since it keeps for a very long time and turns into a solid when cool and a liquid when heated. Plus it doesn't have a strong flavor so it's great for baking. My two boys had eaten a bunch of my blueberries by the time I made this recipe so my muffins were not as full of blueberries as the original recipe. Finally, I used foil baking cups, I love them they are so much easier to get the muffins out of than regular paper liners.

I like that these muffins have both wheat germ and whole wheat flour. My boys liked that they had blueberries and were sweet and didn't notice that they also had added nutrition. They kept well on my counter and with a couple of seconds in the microwave tasted like they were fresh baked (according to my boys). Overall a nice breakfast option that is kid friendly.

For the recipe go to Hearty Blueberry Muffins.

Hearty Blueberry Muffins

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Summary:

A blueberry muffin recipe using coconut oil, wheat germ and whole wheat flour. A nice way to start the day!

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 1h, 0m

Yield: Serves 12

Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves from Martha Stewart

Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves

Today reminded me that I'm not in my 20's anymore. Since my oldest had the day off school I thought it would be a good day to paint the ceiling in our dining room. The last time I had painted a ceiling was 7 years ago when I was in my late 20's. This evening I am sore, very sore. What was relatively painless in my 20's is an entirely different story in my middle 30's. I'm positive tomorrow is going to be a day for painkillers and my neck and back are not going to be happy. It's days like today that remind me that I have gotten older. On a daily basis I tend to forget my age, but when a task that was easy 10 years ago takes twice as long and makes me feel twice as bad I remember that I'm not the same early 20 year old I was before kids. I also remind myself that that's okay. I might take a little longer and feel a little more sore, but I'm also smart enough to know how to do something right the first time due to the wisdom I have gained with age. I would much rather be where I am now, being in my 20's was confusing and tiring. In my 30's I am older, wiser, and happier. I know who I am and can stand up for myself with no qualms. My younger self was quick to judge, talked first, thought later and could be more than a little selfish. My 30 year old self is pretty great, I listen first, talk later, look at most situations from all angles and have the wisdom to know how to deal with most situations. So tomorrow as I take a few aspirin with my morning coffee I will smile knowing that even though I am older, I am also only getting better with age. Now on to the recipe! Tonight I tried a new recipe for Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves from the Martha Stewart website.

Cabell Huntington Hospital Huntington, WV

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 1 hour 50 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 1 large loaf or 3 mini loaves. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First I was out of curry powder. So instead I used a mixture of the spices I already had on hand to make homemade curry powder. I love making my own spice blends and they are oftentimes cheaper than the pre-made varieties. For the rice I used arborio and homemade black beans instead of canned. Make sure to let the loaf sit after cooking in order that the loaf doesn't fall apart when sliced.

Harris Riverfront Park Huntington, WV

My husband isn't a big fan of meatless meals. He did however, like this recipe. It had the right amount of salt and I added cayenne to my curry powder so the loaf had a nice amount of heat. Finding vegetarian recipes that my family will actually eat can be really hard. This recipe was nice since everyone in my family ate it without complaints.

For the recipe go to Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves.

Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A vegetarian recipe for Curried Lentil and Rice Loaves. Full of lentils, black beans and curry powder.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Cooking Time: 1h, 0m

Total Time: 1h, 50m

Yield: Serves 8

Martha Stewart's Baked Ravioli Recipe

Baked Ravioli - Martha Stewart Website Recipe

I loved pasta growing up. I would come home from school, run for the fridge and eat anything I could find. One of my favorite foods was pasta and in particular ravioli. My mother would cook it for me at least once a week. She was always worried that I wasn't eating enough since I was rail thin growing up. My mother took me to the doctor multiple times thinking that I was sick or malnourished. I wasn't, I just didn't put on a lot of weight. Pasta was a food that she felt was hearty and I loved, so it was a great food match. I have carried on my pasta addiction with my two boys. They will take cold spaghetti out of the fridge and eat it straight from the container. No sauce, no butter, just the olive oil it was initially tossed with. Since my family loves pasta and I hadn't made any ravioli dishes in a very long time, I decided to give a new recipe a try. I tried the recipe for Baked Ravioli from the Martha Stewart website. It is as follows:

Everyday Food, September 2003  

http://www.marthastewart.com/331829/baked-ravioli

• Prep Time 25 minutes
• Total Time 50 minutes
• Serves 6

Ingredients

• • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme, or oregano
  • 1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes
  • 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
  • 2 pounds store-bought frozen ravioli
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, breaking up tomatoes with spoon, until sauce is thickened and reduced to about 5 1/2 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water just until they float to the top (pasta will continue to cook in oven). Drain pasta; return to pot.
3. Toss sauce with pasta. Pour pasta into a large gratin dish or 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and sprinkle with cheeses. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

Here are my modifications and review: 

First I used frozen beef ravioli. My husband isn't a fan of having cheese as the main protein of a dish, so I either add beans, tofu or meat to any dinner dish I prepare. I used dried oregano from my garden. Homemade dried herbs have a much better flavor and are fresher than store bought. Plus it's very easy to do just wash the fresh herbs, tie the ends with twine, hang upside down in a brown paper bag with air holes cut out and let dry for a week or two. Very easy. I found that I had to bake the ravioli a little longer than the recipe suggested. I ended up adding 2/3 cup of Parmesan on the top of the pasta the last 15 minutes. This added about 10 minutes to my cooking time in order for the sauce to fully thicken.

My kids absolutely loved this recipe. I did add a little bit of salt at the table, but my family is big on salt. Even my husband was won over by this dish. It was definitely a recipe that everyone in my house could agree upon. Obviously since I eat gluten free I couldn't taste the pasta, but it smelled so good! I did sample the sauce before the pasta was added and it had a nice sweet flavor.

For the recipe go to Baked Ravioli.

Recipe published with permission from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Baked Ravioli

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

Martha Stewart's Baked Ravioli Recipe. Plus a tip on how to dry your garden herbs.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 1h, 50m

Yield: Serves 6

Thai Coconut Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

Thai Coconut Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

We live in a college football town. Once the college football season starts, during every home game the city gets a little crazy. Everyone literally bleeds green and white. This past Saturday I had forgotten it was a game day until we pulled into the drive thru and the person in front of us had painted themselves green. Yeah, it's that kind of city. Everywhere I went - the bank, grocery store you name it everyone was wearing green. Our state is divided. There are two big schools, Marshall and WVU (West Virginia University). Since there are no professional teams in our state, college teams reign king. While both schools have a large alumni base, most of the fans of both teams never went to school at either university. Somehow though they feel a connection to their football teams and get very adamant that their team is the best during games. According to my husband twitter gets a little crazy with back and forths between fans. So for Saturdays during the season we are a Marshall town through and through. Football season means lots of chili and game day foods, but with 95 degree days we are still enjoying food that sticks to the ribs a little less. I am a little behind on posts, so the recipe I am sharing tonight I actually made a few weeks back. I tried a new recipe for Thai Coconut Chicken with Pineapple Salsa from the April 2012 issue of Martha Stewart Living.

B'nai Shalom Synagogue Huntington, WV

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 35 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, since I have never actually seen a fresh Thai chili at any store in my area, I substituted a jalapeno. I left the seeds in since my kids weren't going to be eating the dish. For the oil I used peanut oil, I love cooking at high temps with peanut oil, it's great. The recipe states that the dish turns out brothy, but I found that it didn't make as much broth as the photo in the magazine showed. It was still enough for three servings, but not like the soup shown in the photo.

B'nai Shalom Synagogue Front Steps Huntington, WV

My husband and I were big fans of this recipe. The flavors from the fish sauce and ginger were delicious and the spicy kick from the jalapeno was perfect. I liked that the broth was slightly sweet and savory, while the salsa was a little on the spicy side. They worked perfectly together and the flavors played off of each other nicely.

For the recipe go to Thai Coconut Chicken with Pineapple Salsa.

Cream Scones with Strawberries

Cream Scone with Strawberries and Whipped Cream

I miss having tea with my mother. From the time I was 10 we would go to tea at one of the fancy hotels in downtown Seattle. They had a full high tea and it was fabulous. We would dress up, eat cucumber sandwiches and talk. After I had a job I paid for my mother and I to stay at the Empress hotel in Victoria (BC) and we had high tea. If you have never been it is a great and beautiful experience and one of the favorite memories I have of my mother. After my mother passed away my aunt sent me the teacups that had been my grandmothers. I keep them in a special cupboard and a couple of times a year I take them out and have tea. Last year my boys joined me and it felt complete, my mother would be smiling. There are certain foods that I always associate with having tea. Tea and scones go hand in hand to me, I love them. I am constantly experimenting with new scone recipes and this week I tried a new recipe for Cream Scones from Martha Stewart Living.

Downtown Huntington, WV From Marshall University Campus

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 8 scones. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I always freeze my butter when making scones. It helps to keep the butter from melting while it is being handled and makes for richer scones. Make sure to minimally blend the dough. Just mix until it comes together and hand pat the dough before cutting out the scones. The less you touch the dough, the better the texture and it keeps the butter from melting. I chose to serve half of these scones with cut up strawberries which I tossed with a bit of sugar and real whipped cream.

Downtown Huntington, WV

My two boys loved this recipe. I think they ate 4 of the scones as soon as they came out of the oven. Obviously I did not eat any of them, gluten free scones are just not as delicious. Before anyone disagrees I promise I have tried a ton of recipes, bakeries etc and they just aren't as good as regular flour. These scones were great though and made nice strawberry shortcake. They were also delicious with jam for breakfast.

For the recipe go to Cream Scones.

Cream Scones with Strawberries

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Summary:

A simple cream scones recipe that also make great strawberry shortcake. Only 30 minutes start to finish.

Preparation Time: 0h, 10m

Cooking Time: 0h, 20m

Total Time: 0h, 30m

Yield: Serves 8

Leftover Herb Pesto

Leftover Herb Pesto

It seems to be bug season in my back yard. I made the mistake of going out to trim my tomatoes this evening. Very bad idea. I literally came in and had to take a benadryl since I had so many bites. Cicadas are the other fun visitor my yard now has. They arrived a couple of weeks back. In previous years they have arrived earlier, but this year they didn't arrive until August. Growing up in Seattle I had no idea what a cicada was when I moved here. The first night I tried to fall asleep in my new apartment I was driven crazy by a deafening noise. I had a giant tree outside my window and between the train that went through at 2 am and the cicadas I decided I would never sleep again. Over the years I have gotten used to their deafening noise, but they still aren't my favorite summer sound. Apparently we aren't even supposed to have cicadas this year, wrong. They are in my front yard and they are huge. Plus I don't trust any insect that is part of a horde. It just sounds wrong. So I am avoiding my yard for a couple of days until the bugs leave me alone. Yesterday I had to venture into my yard to cut back my herb garden. It has gone crazy in the last week and I am swimming in basil, so time to make pesto. I tried a new recipe for Leftover-Herb Pesto from Martha Stewart Living.

Virginia Point Park, Kenova, WV

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 5 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 3/4 cup of pesto. For the pesto I used basil and tarragon from my garden, pine nuts for the nuts and an extra clove of garlic. I prefer my pesto to have a pretty strong garlic taste. I also added part of the cheese to the food processor and then added the other half to the finished pesto. I prefer the texture with this method. Plus the flavor of the cheese come through better.

View From Virginia Point Park, Kenova, WV

I love making quick and easy recipes. Pesto is a great way to use herbs that you have leftover in your fridge or garden and the taste can be easily adapted based on what ingredients you have on hand. In addition to serving with pasta, this recipe would be great with chicken or fish. I love using pesto with grilled salmon, it's wonderful.

For the recipe go to (video form) Leftover Herb Pesto.

Leftover Herb Pesto

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A very simple 7 ingredient pesto recipe. Can be made with any leftover green vegetable in your fridge and a variety of nuts.

Preparation Time: 0h, 5m

Total Time: 0h, 5m

Yield: 3/4 cup

Homemade Limeade

Homemade Limeade

There is something that just screams summer about lemonade and limeade. Growing up my family had big summer picnics. My mother was the oldest of 12 so there was always tons of things to eat and drink. To this day I think of my family when I have picnic foods. During the summer I always seem to have a large amount of leftover lemons and limes. More often than not the price of a bag of limes is less than buying 3 or 4 individually. So I buy the bag and then I have 7 limes leftover after I make my recipes for the week. Too many times I have just let them go bad on the counter. Then last year I thought to myself, what a waste. So I made limeade. It was refreshing and a wonderful way to use leftover limes. Last week I tried a new recipe for Limeade from Martha Stewart.

My Two Boys at Ritter Park Rose Garden Huntington, WV

This recipe has 3 ingredients. It takes 10 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 6 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. I used a juicer for the limes, my hands aren't that strong. For the sweetener I used sugar. I found that only using 1/2 cup of sugar wasn't as sweet as I would prefer so I added 1/4 cup more. The recipe would also work very well with honey.

Steps Up To Ritter Park Rose Garden Huntington, WV

I am a big fan of limeade. This recipe had a nice tart and sweet combination. I was a big fan of this recipe, my kids liked it, but they preferred the homemade lemonade that I made the day before. If you like your limeade sweet, I would suggest adding more sugar. If you like it more on the tart side than I would follow the recipe as written.

For the recipe go to Homemade Limeade.

Homemade Limeade

Recipe Type: Drinks

Summary:

A 3 ingredient recipe for limeade. A great way to use leftover limes.

Preparation Time: 0h, 10m

Total Time: 0h, 10m

Yield: 6 Servings

Tuna, Cotija and Corn Tacos with Lime and Mango

Tuna, Cotija and Corn Tacos with Lime and Mango

Growing up I told everyone that would listen that I was never having kids. If I did I had already decided that I would adopt and then it would just be one. I grew up an only child, but my mother was the oldest of 12 so at all times one of my aunts, uncles or cousins was either living with us or at our house. It could be a little crazy. Then I met my husband and everything changed. I was overcome with this strange new emotion of wanting kids. Not just any kids, but our kids. It's funny how life can hit you without much warning. What I didn't expect at that time was that I would have two boys. I love my boys tremendously, but having two boys is more work than I ever expected. Right now they are at each others throats everyday, all day. This morning they had a big fight over magnets. While this might sound harmless I have boys so they aren't just verbal fights, they wrestle, shove etc. My oldest starts school next week and I am more than ready to going back to only having one child during the day. I think that I needed a better manual before having all boys, my house can be complete chaos. One of the few things that my two boys can agree on is seafood, they both love it. Today I tried a new recipe for Tuna, Cotija and Corn Tacos with Lime and Mango from the May 2013 issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine.

Cabell County Courthouse Huntington, WV

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 12 tacos. I did make a few significant changes to the original recipe. First, the original recipe is vegetarian. With three males in my house they just wouldn't have gotten full with just corn and cheese. Therefore I used frozen tuna steaks, which I grilled and then sliced. Then I added the tuna to the tacos along with the rest of the recipe ingredients. I cooked my tortillas in a pan on my gas stove until they had grill marks. My cilantro went bad before I was able to make the recipe so I left it out.

Ritter Park Huntington, WV

The fresh corn in this recipe was delicious. Without the tuna this dish would not have much protein. The addition of the tuna made the recipe for my family. Tuna steaks really are a great source of protein and they have great flavor in tacos. My boys were huge fans of the fresh mango, they ate a whole mango by themselves. If you aren't a fan of tuna, Mahi Mahi would work as well.

The two photos (not of food) in this post are of the town that I live in Huntington, WV. There are a number of large parks which my kids love spending time walking and playing in. 

For the recipe go to Cotija and Corn Tacos with Lime and Mango.

Cotija and Corn Tacos

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A simple recipe for tacos using fresh corn and cotija cheese.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 0h, 25m

Yield: 12 Tacos

A Delicious Combination: Apple Sage Cake

Gluten Free Apple Sage Cake

There are few household chores that I really hate. The one exception is ironing. My husband has to wear dress shirts to work everyday which means that every Sunday I spend my evening ironing. I don't mind washing dishes, laundry or any other household duties. However, there is something mind numbingly boring about ironing. I just can't enjoy it, even after 10 years of marriage. Many Sundays I put off the ironing forcing myself to have to wake up at 5:30 Monday morning to iron shirts for the week. It's a little better if I do the ironing while watching TV, but only slightly. I try to treat myself to a food I like after finishing my ironing for the week. It makes the whole experience seem better. Tonight I tried a new recipe for Apple Sage Cake from Martha Stewart Living.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 12 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe.  First since I eat gluten free I replaced the all purpose flour with gluten free. I mixed the dry and wet ingredients separately and then combined them. The recipes does it all in one bowl, but I prefer doing them one at a time. The edges and the top of the cake brown quickly so if they start to over-brown put a piece of foil over the top.

The granny smith apples in this recipe work really well. The sage is mild and blends nicely with the apples. This cake would be perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. My youngest didn't even notice that the cake had fresh herbs, so don't be intimated by using them.

For the recipe go to Apple Sage Cake.