Good Food on the Cheap- 3 Stir Potatoes (Fried)

I know we all crave that one dish your Mom perfected growing up. For me, it is fried potatoes. You would think with only spuds, grease, and some salt, nothing could go wrong? It's an accident waiting to happen.
Potaoes stuck to cast iron skillet like cement, burned on the outside, but oh-so-raw on the inside. Here's a fool-proof method for pan frying potatoes. By the way, you might want to clear the kiddos out of the kitchen for this one. Popping grease is hazardous to your skin :)

These directions are courtesy of Jerry @ cbsop.com (Cooking by the Seat of My Pants

Dorris’ Fried Potatoes

Ingredients:

4-7 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾” pieces (this depends on the size of the potatoes and the size of the skillet. My skillet is 11½”, so I can generally fit 6 medium sized russet’s comfortably. A different sized skillet means a different amount.)
3-7 tbsp bacon grease (or butter, or olive oil, or Crisco… I’d go with the bacon grease if possible)
1 small onion, chopped
Salt
Pepper

Method:

Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. When hot, add fat of your choice allow to come to a shimmer. (Just before smoking.)

Add potatoes to skillet as quickly (and safely) as possible in a single layer. If you’ve cut too many to fit in the pan, make them in batches.

Reduce heat to medium low, then walk away. Do not attempt to move the potatoes around, they’re stuck to the pan like cement at this point, and that’s exactly what you wanted to happen. Hang out, have a cup of coffee and use your ears and nose to guide you.

When there’s nearly no sizzle left in the pan and the potatoes start smelling almost sweet, it’s time to stir it up(stir #1). Use a stiff spatula and carefully dislodge the potatoes from the bottom of the skillet (if they’re sticking at all.) then walk away.(I calculated about 6 minutes to get them brown on one side)

Moving things around in the pan too often will irrevocably damage the process. Wait about 5 minutes and stir the potatoes again(stir #2).
Take stock of the amount of grease in the pan. If it looks dry, add another tablespoon.

Salt the spuds profusely. Don’t worry, they’ll soak almost all of it up without a noticeable effect on taste, but now is the time we want them to start letting go of the moisture we’ve trapped inside. Wait about 5 more minutes and toss the onions into the skillet(stir #3). Add pepper.

By now it should be safe to keep them moving more often, and you’ll need to do so if you want to keep the onions from burning. Caramelized is fine, burnt isn’t.

When the onions are cooked to your liking and the spuds are fork-tender, you’re done.

Restaurant Review-Big Al's Texas BBQ-Provo, Utah

I am a true Southerner. I have spent the last 36 years of my life in the Southern part of the United States, and I am what you call a "GRIT"
(Girls Raised in The South)
I know my barbeque, and the best part is every place I have visited, I have tried the regional flavor,ie. Kansas City, Memphis, Texas, Oklahoma, etc...I have to say Memphis Style is my favorite. There is something about taking a bunch of spices and sugar, throwing them in a bowl, and rubbing it onto a thick rack of ribs! I dont profess to be a master griller, I just know what I like. Dry rubs! For those of you not familiar with BBQ, Memphis Style is dry rub-doesn't include BBQ sauce(unless you want to put it on afterwards.)

There are some decent BBQ recipes out there. Americas Test Kitchen has a Memphis Style Rib recipe,that is fairly simple, that includes grilling, and finishing in the oven.

Now onto our review. We went to Big Al's Texas BBQ in the middle of the week, about 2pm for lunch. Even at that time, there were patrons getting thier BBQ grub on! My husband got the daily special, which is a type of BBQ sloppy jo, with beef and pork, in thier Texas sauce.
I had a small lunch portion of ribs, with baked beans, and coleslaw, which are both gluten free sides. Sorry to say, I found out the fries are not GF. FYI-they do have a list by the cash register of items that are gluten free.

The beef ribs were tender, and fall of the bone. If you like a little bit of heat, I would recommend the Spicy BBQ sauce. The coleslaw was incredibly good, but the baked beans had BBQ meat in them, and I kinda prefer a vegetarian baked bean. My husband gladly inhaled the beans :)

As far as price, this place ain't cheap. My lunch portion of ribs was 13$ and the daily special, was around 8$. On a scale from 1-10, I give this place a 7.

Now onto the next BBQ houses, Tommy's BBQ in Provo, and Sticky Bones, in Spanish Fork, Utah.

Carry on, BBQ lovers!

Monkey Bread!

When I was in college, say 20 years ago( yes,I am old..lol) Monkey Bread was all the rage. With a few cans of biscuit dough, brown sugar, and an oven, you could satisfy your sweet tooth.

Saturday is my baking day, and last Saturday I required something sweet. All I had in the house was a pkg of Grandpa's Kitchen Bread Mix on my pantry shelf, so I decided to give it a go.

The only thing I modified from the package instructions was I used 1.5 cups of milk, instead of the yogurt it calls for.
In addition, I melted 4 TBSP butter in shallow bowl, and prepped some cinnamon-sugar for rolling the balls of dough.
I basically used my smallest pampered chef cookie scoop, and dipped the dough balls in the butter, then rolled them in brown sugar.
I packed them loosely into a greased bundt pan, and let them rise for 45 minutes.


Heat the oven to 400 degrees, and bake the bread for 25 minutes. Cool the monkey bread in the pan for three minutes, then invert onto a plate, and enjoy!

Babycakes cookbook/ Cake Pop Machine Review

Okay, I must admit, about a year ago I read this book by
Erin Mckenna, owner of the famous Babycakes Bakery in NYC. I was a little intimidated. She used a lot of strange flours, ingredients like agave nectar, coconut oil, and stevia-things I have never heard of.
Well, fast forward to today. I started doing some research on weight loss, and this book was referenced as having "healthy" indulgent snacks. I started out small, using only the recipes that called for agave or stevia as sweetners, since I knew my local market carried them.
I noticed that after I ate these snacks, I wasnt reaching for another snack 2 hours later, because I was hungry. I learned that agave and stevia have lower glycemic index, which means it won't spike your blood sugar. The finished products were very good. I moved onto the recipes that also included coconut oil, and these recipes were especially moist and decadent. The coconut oil is pricey-anywhere form 6-10$ per 16 oz. jar.
I'm sure you can buy it wholesale, but havent found that source yet. I'm happy to say that when I feel the need to bake(which I enjoy as my hobby), or have a rich dessert, this book had helped me to feel better about my need to snack! Watching what I am eating, and learning to bake without refined sugar, has helped me to lose 18 pounds in 3 months!

Now onto the Cake-Pop Maker...

My daughter received a Babycakes Cake-Pop Maker for Christmas, and I finally got to use this little gadget. I have to say, it makes round mini- muffins, and gf donut holes perfectly! Those little balls cooked up in 3 minutes, and were delicious. I used an apple cinnamon muffin mix from Hodgson Mills to test the muffin balls.

I hope this information has been helpful, and wishing you luck finding the Baycakes Maker. It was hot item this past Christmas, but I located them at Kohls, and Bed Bath & Beyond in my area.....Happy eating!

Losing weight

About four months ago, I decided it was time to lose some baby/nursing weight I had put on. My baby is four now, so I was really running out of excuses!
I started out by making small changes, cutting out chips, cheeses, and chocolate, my three favorite go-to snacks. I replaced my cheese with hard cheeses, such as parmesan, or lower-fat cheese sticks. I also substituted baked chips, and on one day a week, I do indulge in a few peices of my favorite chocolate.
I also stopped putting mayo on my sandwiches, and stop drinking Cokes. I'm sure skipping all that sugar each day has really helped.

My morning breakfast usually consists of a smoothie, or some low-fat homemade granola, over yogurt. My mid-morning snacks is usually a peice of fruit, or toast, with Best Life spread.

I'm happy to say, making these small changes I've lost almost 15 lbs. Now, if I added some exercise, I'm sure I would see more results.

Here is my recipe for my morning smoothie.

Yogurt Fruit Smoothie

2 cups Frozen fruits(berries, peaches, etc.)
1 cup fruit juice(I like orange)I use apple in a pinch.
5 ice cubes
1 container greek yougurt, plain or flavored
1 banana
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 packet Stevia

Blend all until smooth, in blender.

Thanksgiving prep and other shortcuts

How is everyone? Totally stressed out yet? Sometimes going gluten-free on Thanksgiving involves a little more work, but aren't you and your family worth it?

One thing that helps me, is to prepare the side dishes the day before.
Now I realize, there is no way to make those fluffy mashed potatoes early.(I suppose you could freeze them.) This year, I prepped my green bean casserole, candied sweet potatoes, and stuffing early.

Another tip I use, to save time, is when I prep my dishes, I cover them with foil. To finish, I take a sharpie and mark the item, the degree, and time, that the dish takes to cook. It saves a ton of time, and no searching through that cookbook to find the information you need.

My third tip is, if you are able, order ready made desserts.
If you are lucky enough to live near a dedicated gluten free bakery, or
if you can online order, many companies now ship GF pies. This year I skipped the mess, and the high cost of pecans(9$ a pound) and ordered my pie from Charolette's Bakery in Salt Lake City. True, it costs about 3 times the price of a regular pie, but it's worth it to me.

Hopefully these tips will help take some of the stress out of your
Turkey Day. Everyone have a great gluten-free holiday!

Southern Cornbread Dressing

Okay, is you are not from the South, you probably have no idea what I am talking about, but believe me, you are missing one of the great dishes of Southern Cuisine.

Thanksgiving is upon us, and instead of wasting your loaf of $6 GF bread on stuffing for your turkey, try this recipe instead. Although this is a two-part process, it is well worth the effort.

First: Prepare the Classic Cornbread recipe( I often do this the night before)

Classic Cornbread Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups yellow or white cornmeal
1 cup GF flour mix (spooned and leveled)
6 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs


Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. In a large bowl, stir together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, and eggs. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and stir just until combined (do not overmix). Transfer batter to pan and smooth top.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Once the cornbread has cooled enought to handle, take a large bowl and crumble the cornbread into it.

Cornbread Dressing

2TBSP Butter
2 medium onions, chopped
3 stalks of celery, sliced
1/2 lbs of white mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp salt
fresh black pepper to taste
1 14.5 GF chicken broth(like Swansons)
1/2 tsp sage
1/4 tsp thyme

Heat heavy pot on stovetop, and add 2 TBSP butter to melt. Add diced onions and sliced celery, and cook until onions become transparent. Add mushrooms, and saute until slightly softened. Add salt and pepper, sage and thyme. Transfer the hot vegetable mixture to the bowl with the crubled corn bread. Mix, then add chicken stock to moisten. Turn into a 9x13 greased casserole dish, and bake at 350 degrees, for approximatley 30 minutes, or until crisp around edges. Serve with turkey or ham.