Homemade Strawberry Shake

Our family has made shakes at home occasionally using ice cream and milk and sometimes adding other ingredients. I am trying to watch what I eat to keep it dialysis and kidney friendly, and also to try to lose weight. So today, while my family made shakes with ice cream, I tried something a little different. I really enjoyed it and feel a lot better about having the shake!

2 cups frozen strawberries (cut up)
1½ cups milk
2 heaping teaspoons icing sugar

Blend in Magic Bullet or blender until all ingredients are well blended. You may need to stop and shake the blender if the strawberries get jammed or the thick part of the shake is stuck in the bottom.

Enjoy!

Aunt Leona's Bread

When I have time, I love making bread. I find this recipe really easy, although I have modified it a bit. It is from a family cookbook called Collections from Country Kitchens. 

I have found one of the keys to making bread is to make sure you knead it enough, but not too much. And as you make it, you will find the right consistency for the dough. I always think of the flour measurements as "suggestions" rather than set amounts. Also, keep your dough warm - I let mine rise in my oven with the oven light on.

Prepare 1 package or 1 Tablespoon yeast with ½ cup warm water in which 1 teaspoon sugar has been dissolved. Let stand 10 minutes

In a large bread pan* mix:

1 blob lard (the size of an egg)

1 or 2 Tablespoon(s) salt – the recipe calls for 2, but I use 1 because of my low sodium diet

4 cups warm water - I start off with hot and make sure it is warm when I add the yeast. I like that the lard melts in the hot water. But if you add yeast to hot water, you will kill the yeast

Add prepared yeast. Gradually mix in 6 cups flour, stirring thoroughly after each cup is added. Mix this well before adding about 5 more cups of flour, again mixing well after each cup is added. Knead this well adding extra flour if necessary, until dough is just slightly sticky. Grease dough generously, top and bottom, with butter or margarine. Cover and let rise 1½ hours; knead well. Let rise again 1 hour; knead well**. Cut dough into 6 equal pieces, shape and put into greased pans. To prevent air holes, use a fork to poke holes every ½ inch in the dough. Brush tops lightly with butter, then let rise for 1 to 1½ hours. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°. Brush hot loaves with butter again, when they are cooling.

 
*I use a Tupperware Thatsa Bowl - the dough doesn't stick to plastic as much as it does to metal.
** I only punch the dough down before putting it in the pans. I found otherwise I overworked the dough.

Note: I don't use margarine or butter to grease or brush the bread. If I use a metal bowl, it is cheaper for me to use canola oil to grease it so the dough won't stick. And I like the bread without brushing it with butter.  
Also: I sometimes substitute some of the white flour for whole wheat, but I don't use more than half whole wheat or my bread is too heavy.
 

Cheesed Cauliflower

The following recipe has become a Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner staple in our home. It is from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (new in 1976).  I "borrowed" the cook book from my mom years ago and still love that I have it.

Remove leaves and trim base from 1 medium head cauliflower. Wash. Cook whole in boiling salted water 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Drain. Place on ungreased shallow baking pan. Sprinkle with salt. Mix ½ cup mayonnaise and 2 teaspoons prepared mustard; spread over cauliflower. Top with ¾ cup shredded sharp process cheese (we use medium or old cheddar instead of process cheese). Bake at 375˚ about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Note: we do not salt the water or sprinkle the cauliflower with salt since I am on a low sodium diet, and it still tastes great.

Fruit Crisp

This year our family has an abundance of frozen apples, rhubarb, strawberries, blueberries and mixed fruit. I thought one of the best and easiest ways for our family to consume all this frozen fruit was to make desserts. I don't have a lot of time, so was looking for fast and easy recipes.  I have a Lazy Day Cobbler recipe (which will hopefully make it onto this site eventually). The other fruit dessert I thought would be easy are crisps, but I couldn't find a good "crisp" topping. I have been experimenting and think I have finally come up with something we all enjoy, so I am putting it here for the next time.

Enough fruit to cover the bottom of a 9" x 12" baking pan (can use frozen fruit, but do not use canned fruit)
corn starch (optional)
Topping
1 cup (cold) margarine
1 cup brown sugar
3 cups quick oats
approx. 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon*
*I added ground cloves when I used strawberries and blueberries. You could also use ground allspice or nutmeg, if you like.  Add as much or as little as you like.

Preheat oven to 350°.  Place fruit on bottom of pan.* If using frozen fruit, sprinkle corn starch over the fruit if you do not want a runny crisp.

In separate bowl cut together margarine, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon until it looks crumbly. Evenly spread topping over fruit. Bake approximately 40 minutes or until done.

*If you want a sweeter dessert, you could sprinkle sugar over the fruit. You could also sprinkle cinnamon on the apples.

This crisp was approximately ¾ strawberry/blueberry and ¼ apple. Our kids both asked for 3 helpings after they already ate their supper. I didn't think it was too unhealthy, so I let them. 

Soft Tacos

Our family enjoys eating these as we can each make a custom taco by filling our shell with what we like best. I don't remember when I first thought of doing these. I don't think I ever saw it in a recipe book. I probably got the idea after eating at Taco Time.

Quick Tip: Grate cheese in advance and store in Ziplock bags. To keep from sticking, add corn starch or flour
Quick Tip 2: You can cut your lettuce so that it is shredded and keep it in a Ziplock bag for ease of use. Mine will keep for about a week in the fridge. I find our family will eat more lettuce if it is pre-cut.



1 pound Ground beef
½ Onion (chopped)
2 tablespoons Mexican Spice
*Note: the above amounts are only approximate. You will need to adjust amounts to your taste.

Tomato (chopped)
Green Pepper (sliced or chopped)
Lettuce (shredded)
Cheese (grated)
Salsa
Sour Cream
Tortilla shells

Brown ground beef with chopped onion and Mexican Spice. Place cooked ground beef with remaining ingredients on counter or table. Place tortilla shell on plate. Fill in layers across the widest part of the shell with desired ingredients. (Example: ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomato, green pepper, salsa, sour cream) Fold in both sides then roll.

You can adjust the fillings to whatever you would like. We often use other coloured peppers than just green. My kids don't put much veggies in their tacos, but I put a lot. You can also make these ahead without lettuce or sour cream and then re-heat in the microwave.

Mexican Spice

Our family enjoys Mexican foods like Soft Tacos and Nachos. I used to buy the packages of spice mix from the store, but one day I thought it would probably be better if I made my own mix so that there wasn't so much sodium as three of us in our family have PKD (polycystic kidney disease). So now I have this recipe which tells me which spices to mix. Since we use it a lot, I buy the spice refill bags. Each spice is one bag (or jar, if it doesn't come in a refill bag). The amounts are what the container from the store says. I guess you could adjust it to your family's taste.

100 g Onion Powder/Salt
100 g Garlic Powder/Salt
85 g Chili Powder
80 g Paprika
50 g Cumin
20 g Oregano Leaves (can use ground oregano)
32 g Red Chili Peppers
approx 1-2 tablespoon(s) Salt (if using onion/garlic powders. Omit if using onion/garlic salt)

Mix all spices well in bowl. Store in airtight container.

These are the packages I used the last time I made this batch of spice. And the bowl I mixed them in.

I store my spice in a Tupperware Modular Mate. It is a long oval 1, which is the perfect size.

Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake

This recipe is from a Philadelphia Cream Cheese box. I think it must be a Kraft idea, because it is actually one of those kind of recipes that is basic with different sets of ingredients for you to make your favourite kind of cheesecake. They call this one Chocolate Lover’s Cheesecake, but I always think of it as Chocolate Amaretto or Chocolate Almond.

Base
1¼ cups chocolate crumbs
¼ cup melted butter

Filling
3 pkgs (250 g each) softened cream cheese
¾ cup sugar until smooth
3 eggs
6 squares semi-sweet chocolate (melted and cooled)*
¼ cup Amaretto liqueur

Topping
Enough melted chocolate to drizzle over top
Toasted almonds

Combine chocolate crumbs with melted butter. Press on bottom of 9 in. springform pan.

Beat softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until just blended. Stir in semi-sweet chocolate (melted and cooled) and Amaretto liqueur.

Bake at 350°F for 45-50 min. or until centre is almost set. Cool completely, then refrigerate 3 hr or overnight.

Add the finishing touch – drizzle melted chocolate and top with toasted almonds.

*Note: I usually use about 6 oz melted semisweet chocolate chips because that is what we usually have in the house at all times rather than buying the squares of chocolate. It still turns out nice.

My cake always cracks, but after I drizzle chocolate and add the almonds (and sometimes I drizzle more chocolate on top of the almonds) you can’t really tell until you are cutting into it.

Mom's Spareribs

This recipe is one that I got from my Mother-in-Law. The (almost) first time I had these was before we were dating. His mother was bringing spareribs when she came to visit, and he invited me, not thinking that I had mentioned I didn’t care for pork. Somehow he hadn’t made the connection that spareribs is pig meat. We joke about it now, and I eat these ones. Partly because we have children, so I eat everything, and partly because we use beef sausages, so I have the choice to eat beef instead of pork if I want to.

Sauce:
2 medium onions
3 Tablespoons vinegar
1½ Tablespoon Worchestershire
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
Approximately ¾ cup lemon juice
1 cup + chili sauce/ketchup
Optional: 1 can of tomatoes, 1 can mushrooms with juice, celery

Cook ribs in roaster with water and cover (to steam) approximately 1 hour at 350° (to get rid of fat). Turn over part way through (can put frozen ribs in). Drain fat. Cut into smaller pieces.
Cook sauce approximately 20 minutes until onion is cooked. Use whatever ingredients are on hand and feel free to substitute where necessary. Pour sauce over ribs and bake 350° for an hour or so.
If adding pork sausage, cook with ribs initially to drain fat. If beef sausages, add with sauce and cook.
If thicker sauce is desired, add cornstarch.

We usually use a large family pack of ribs, or a couple of smaller packages as well as a family pack of sausages. I don't think the type matters, although our family prefers the ribs that have bones rather than just the cartilage, and as I mentioned, we usually use beef sausages instead of pork.

Brownies

This has become my ultimate favourite brownie recipe. It is found in a family recipe book that was collected and compiled in 1991 and was submitted by my Auntie Susan. What I especially like is how quickly you can make up the batter, so it is that much sooner to be able to enjoy eating the brownies!

½ cup butter or margarine, melted (1 cup)
1 egg (2)
1 cup brown sugar (2 cups)
3 Tablespoons cocoa (6 Tablespoons)
½ cup nuts or coconut, optional (1 cup)
¾ cup flour (1½ cups)
½ teaspoon baking powder (1 teaspoon)
½ teaspoon vanilla (1 teaspoon)

Mix melted butter and sugar; beat in egg, then remaining ingredients. Pour into pan and bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until done.

The recipe doesn’t specify what size pan, but I use a square pan (about 8 x 8 or 9 x 9). The amounts in brackets are doubled, and I bake this in my 9 x 12 pan. If I make this for a church lunch, I double the doubled amounts and bake the brownies in a Costco pizza pan (approximately 12 x 17).

Plumi Moos

(Dried Fruit Soup)
This recipe is from The Mennonite Treasury of Recipes. Since we have joined the Orthodox Church, it has become a Lenten staple in our house. I use mostly prunes, raisins and dried apricots, and add other dried fruits, such as apples, mangos, and berries for variety. This dish has elicited many positive comments when brought for potlucks and can be a main dish or dessert.

4 quarts water
3 cups mixed dried fruit (I use 4 cups)
1 package cherry jello
4 Tablespoons cornstarch
1½ cups sugar

Cook fruit in water until very well done. Mix cornstarch and sugar with enough water to make a thin paste. Let it cook a few minutes to take away the starchy taste. Remove from stove and add cherry jello powder.

I have stopped adding sugar as dried fruit bought from the store often already has sugar added to it.