Banana Crunch Muffins

I am a bit of an insomniac. When I cannot sleep, I like to bake. There are many reasons for this:
1) I think the smell of goods baking is soporific.
2) Baking is relaxing.
3) I get to eat the results.

So last night at 1 AM I made these:




Banana Crunch Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3 mashed bananas
1 stick of melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 T vanilla
1 egg
1/4 cup strong coffee

1 cup granola

METHOD:
Preheat the oven at 350.

Combine the first three ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside

In a smaller bowl, combine the next six ingredients. Add the wet stuff to the dry stuff. Stir until it barely comes together. Add 1/2 cup of the granola. Stir until it barely comes together.

Scoop the batter into a paper lined muffin pan.

Sprinkle the remaining granola on top of the muffins.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Made 11 muffins.

Remembrance in a Manhattan

Yohbohs' granfather passed away last week. Yohboh remembers him always drinking these. He came from a time when people actually drank cocktails, not flavored martinis. The glass pictured actually belonged to the old fella.



Yohboh's Manahattan

Layer in a glass:

1 marachino cherry and a bit of the juice
1/3 of a glass of vermouth
1/3 of a glass of whiskey
1/3 of a glass of ice

Sip slowly and think about your grandfather.

Asian Not Meatball Soup

So remember the albondigas soup I made? I really like it and it is tasty. But today, I was thinking about a soup my mother would make with meatballs and noodles. So I improvised with this:



The meatballs fell apart hence the name

Asian Not Meatball Soup

For the meatballs:
1/2 bunch of scallions, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro, minced
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 pound of ground beef
1/2 cup of rice
1/2 bunch of scallions, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro, minced
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
2 eggs

For the broth:
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 32 ounce carton chicken broth
2 Tablespoons chicken base

Take the first four ingredients and saute them in a skillet until it gets to be a gungy mush. Let cool.

Put the next six ingredients in a large bowl. Add the cooled gungy mess. Combine really well. Roll into meatballs and let sit while you make the broth.

Toast the ginger and garlic in a bit of oil. Add the broth and the chicken base. Bring to a boil.

Drop the meatballs into the broth. Let simmer 30 minutes.
I ended up adding an Asian style frozen veggie mix. Because I can never leave well enough alone.

Chinese Southern Belle's Dumpling Class

Yohboh, the kidlet and I went to a dumpling class at the Buford Highway Farmer's Market. It was hosted by the Chinese Southern Belle, Natalie and her mom, Margaret. I found their mother/daughter workshop utterly charming.

The class was about two hours, and it was a lot of FUN. We made our dinner during the class with leftovers! Also, the class is only ten dollars per person, you get a ten dollar gift card at the end of the class. So really, it was free.





These are the dumplings I made.


These are yohboh's:

Eating alone

So for the bulk of the day today, I was alone. I do not get much time alone nowadays and I enjoy it. Oddly I was reading: Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone and got hungry.

This book made me feel inspired that perhaps I would not eat alone but DINE alone. Perhaps I would pour a glass of wine, nibble on cheese, sup grandly.

But then the reality of the amount of dishes I would have to wash reared it's ugly head.

I ate a salad in a tortilla, standing up.

Not Cheetos

I was issued a cooking challenge a few months back: Homemade Cheetos.

I thought about how to do this. Would I fry them? Make them with cornmeal? Put that weird hydrated cheese powder on it?

This is the end result:



It is a play on the Southern Cheese Straw.

Not Cheetos

INGREDIENTS
1 stick of butter, very soft
8 ounces of finely shredded cheddar cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup of flour
2 Tablespoons hot sauce
Salt
Pepper

METHOD
Combine all ingredients until well mixed. Roll worm like shapes between your hands. Bake in a preheated oven ot 350 for about 10-12 minutes.

Makes enough to last through one baseball game watching.

Fried or baked?

So today, I did an experiment on meatballs.

Are they better fried?




Or baked?


They are better fried for me.

And they are good in a meatball sub.

Quick Meal

This is one of my favorite quick meals. I always have shrimp in the freezer. I always have pasta. I always have garlic, butter and olive oil. It can be made for one to four people. More than four can be done, it just needs two skillets. I can make it in about eight minutes depending upon the pasta.



Minjenah's Quick Shrimp and Noodles

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon butter per person
1 tablespoon olive oil per person
1 clove of minced garlic per person
8 shrimp per person
4 ounces of cooked pasta per person, drained
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Salt
Pepper
Shredded Italian Cheese


METHOD
Melt the butter and olive oil together in a skillet. Add the garlic. It should smell good. Add the shrimp until they are cooked or heated through (depends on if you have frozen cooked shrimp or raw frozen shrimp). Add the pasta. Salt and pepper to taste. Right before serving, sprinkle a bit of cheese.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are perfect as they are. As the toddler said, "They are yummy!"



It only made 36 though. I think my idea of a portion is off.

Gateau au Yaourt avec Citron

Yogurt cake is one that French schoolchildren first learn to make. The size of a yogurt tub is four ounces. So if you used one four ounce yogurt tub as a measuring tool, you could make this cake.


Gateau au Yaourt avec Citron

INGREDIENTS:
2 eggs
1 cup of yogurt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
Zest of one lemon

METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a cake pan (I spray with Baker's Joy--does anyone else worry about getting Baker's Joy lung? Everytime I use that stuff I hack like crazy).

In a large mixing-bowl, gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, oil and zest. In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Let stand for ten minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.


It is particularly appealing with strawberries and whipped cream:

April 2010- the $150 dollar challenge

So this month, I have decided to try to buy 150 dollars worth of groceries. Last month, I happily stocked the pantry and freezer to the point that I think I need to empty them out again. I think this is a metaphor for life.

Here are the full details:

1) Meals out do not count.
2) That being said on average we eat one meal out a week.
3) I eat most of my meals at home, as does my child. Yohboh brings lunch with him most of the time. He also seems to get a free meal at his job every week or so.
4) I have spent $35.38 on food so far this month.
5) This does not include other items like garbage bags or light bulbs. Groceries are food stuffs in my definition.

If you do not agree with the details of my challenge, GET YOUR OWN BLOG.

Limeade or Margarita Mix

So in a never ending quest to save money, I present to you:
FROZEN LIME ADE VS FROZEN MARGARITA MIX

First of all:


Frozen Lime Ade
Cost: 89 cents for six ounces or about 15 cents an ounce.


Ingredients:

Sweeteners (high fructose corn syrup, sugar), pure filtered water, concentrated lime juice, lime pulp, natural flavors

It is produced for the Coca Cola Company.

Secondly:

Frozen Margarita Mix
Cost $3.87 for ten ounces or 39 cents an ounce.

Ingredients:

Water, sweeteners (high fructose corn syrup, sugar), concentrated lime juice, lime and lemon pulp, natural flavors and green #3.

It is also produced for the Coca Cola Company.

So to make this:



you can use frozen lime aid or frozen margarita mix.

I have to say, the marketing is probably why you would buy the frozen margarita mix. To which I tell the large multinational corporation Coca Cola: Well played comrade, well played.