Category Archives: healthy and quick recipes

Wordy Wednesdays Cookbook Review

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Book Review, Books, healthy and quick recipes, Recipes, Recipes, Thomas Nelson

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We had the joy of experiencing Southern cooking first-hand when we lived in Waxhaw North Carolina many years ago. I became a huge fan of crusty cornbread, fried chicken and, even, Hoppin’ John! Traditional Southern cooking is not known for being health food, however, and it is easy to err on the side of fat, sugar and lack of fresh ingredients.

Tammy Algood (a food personality on Nashvilles ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates) has created recipes which use farm-fresh ingredients yet remain faithful to tradition.

Farm Fresh Southern Cooking Straight from the Garden to the Dinner Table is a delicious way to enjoy traditional southern cooking with a nice,fresh twist.

Recipe Sections include Appetizers, Soups, Salads, Sides, Breads, Entrees, Desserts, Breakfast and Brunch as well as Canning Instructions. The cookbook is paperback and printed on high quality paper with gorgeous photographs. Recipes such as Fresh Peach Salsa, Mixed Pepper Turnips, Dried Pear Bacon Bread and Citrus Zest Waffles will inspire you to try something deliciously different.

The cookbook is also sprinkled with the names and addresses of Southern suppliers of catfish farms, pecan orchards and farmers markets. This cookbook is delightfully different. I highly recommend it!

Lighter-Than-Air Peach Mousse:

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons cold water
2 Teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1 8 ounce package cream cheese
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup peach preserves, melted
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 Cups heavy whipping cream
1 Tablespoon sugar
Fresh peach slices for garnish

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the water and gelatin. Let stand 1 minute; then microwave on high power 1 minute. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the cheese, confectioners’ sugar, preserves and butter. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Beat in the reserved dissolved gelatin until stiff peaks form. Fold into the cheese mixture until well combined. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Garnish individual servings with fresh peach slices.

I received this cookbook free of charge from Thomas Nelson/Booksneeze for review.

Easter Recipes and Ideas

05 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in Crafts, Easter, Fun and Easy ways to Celebrate, Gifts to Make, healthy and quick recipes, Holy Bible, Homemaking, Practical Help, Recipes, Sharing Jesus

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I’ve been enjoying doing a little Spring cleaning this week so I can relax and enjoy some Easter cooking in a more organized kitchen. An easy and delicious bread to make at Easter is the traditional Jewish Challah bread. It’s easy because it is made with yeast and eggs which makes it very light. It makes a beautiful centerpiece or a nice Easter gift. I have even made it with colored eggs tucked into the braid and then baked. It was beautiful that way.

Another wonderful cookie recipe that teaches the Easter story is a recipe for Resurrection Cookies(scroll down) or Empty Tomb Cookies.
These are really very simple meringue cookies that are put in the hot oven on Saturday night and then left in the oven after you turn the heat off. When the family wakes up on Easter and checks on the cookies, they find that they are hollow inside! Very fun (and a delicious bit of sugar to start your morning off with a zing!).

And to throw in an Easter activity that also counts as a history lesson, why not make eggs colored with onion skins? They really are beautiful and it is such fun to tell the children that great-grandma may (possibly) have colored her eggs this way! These would also make a sweet little gift to a shut-in or elderly friend, perhaps in a little basket?

When the kids were all much younger, my primary goal was to get the house clean and to read several books on the Easter story throughout the week. If we got some eggs colored or a special cake baked, it was a bonus. I was usually nursing a baby in those years so I did what I could with the time I had. Every season of life is different and we all have different challenges and priorities but Easter is such a wonderful world-changing event that impacted history forever, it is certainly worth a little extra effort!

Alleluia, Christ is Risen! How are you shouting His praises this Easter week?

How to Cook an Egg

29 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in healthy and quick recipes, Homemaking, Practical Help, Recipes

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“Mama had begun to think about what kind of eggs people would want for breakfast. This kept her awake. She wondered if the man liked scrambled eggs for breakfast or what kind. She hadn’t asked, for the man might not know the night before, what sort of egg he fancied in the morning.

I hope it’s not omelette, Mama thought, because I’m not so good at omelette.

Her family always knew what sort of egg they preferred. Each one had an egg prepared in a different way. Rachel had a hard, hard fried egg. Jerry had a hard fried egg but not quite so hard as Rachel’s and just with a very little of the yellow way inside soft.
Uncle Bennie had his like an Easter egg, hard boiled and with a little mayonaise if possible. Odd for breakfast, but that’s what he liked.

Papa liked scrambled eggs. The cats and dog ate any sort of leftover egg with equal interest. Mama herself also liked any sort of egg. And whatever sort of egg Mr. Bish liked, he could have. Probably every way of cooking an egg that she knew of would have to be put into operation in the morning.

Mama tried to count sheep in order to stop thinking about eggs, but she soon lost track and fell back on eggs and hoped she would not be too tired to prepare a wonderful breakfast for their guest. After all, one needs a good night’s sleep in order to fry one’s best egg.” Pinky Pye by Eleanor Estes

Fast and Easy; Healthy Yogurt and Fruit Parfaits

21 Saturday Jan 2012

Posted by in Easy, Health, healthy and quick recipes, Homemaking, Practical Help

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Our family has been enjoying these easy parfaits for several years now so you can imagine my surprise when we stopped at a MacDonald’s and discovered they had stolen our idea! I had no idea that children everywhere went to MacDonald’s to get these but was reassured by my ten year old that ours were better (mothers, be sure to teach your children to compliment you on whatever you do in the kitchen. It will make your world a little brighter).

You can make these delicious and healthy parfaits for less than fifty cents each if you make your own yogurt and granola. Both are surprisingly easy to make so give them a try.

Even if you buy all your ingredients you will still save loads of money over a store-bought parfait. They are so easy to assemble your children can do it.

I use short, hard plastic cups, cover them with plastic wrap after they are filled and freeze. They are refreshing to eat cold on a hot summer day.

Tired mothers whose young children need breakfast at an early hour would be wise to have a few of these on a refrigerator shelf where children could grab one for breakfast. Use a rubber band to attach a plastic spoon to the cup and you earn yourself a few minutes more of hard-earned sleep.

Ingredients:
Yogurt (plain or vanilla)
Granola (plain or flavored)
Berries, rhubarb sauce or jam
Chopped nuts or coconut
Do you see the potential for an infinite variety of choices here? Choose what you want! Throw in some chocolate chips if the mood strikes you. The choice is yours!

To assemble:
In a plastic cup or pretty parfait glass layer:
1/2 inch or more of yogurt, then fruit, granola and/or nuts. Repeat until glass is filled, ending with fruit or jam.

Enjoy immediately or cover the top of the cup tightly with plastic wrap and freeze. Eat when thawed.