Friday Favorites: It’s What’s For Dinner…

22 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by Tracey Somos-Gehring in Friday Favorites

≈ 2 Comments

from Tracey G.

This weekend Harry & I have our Birthdays. Hard to believe 10 years ago tomorrow he was born, and I was still in the hospital for my 40th.

So yeah, via that math thing that puts me at 50 on Sunday. Yikes. Another “milestone”, but – keeping fingers crossed, lol, I’m not celebrating this one with hospital fare!

I don’t know what the meal will be, we usually try to go out, and Harry and I have a shared dinner because we usually pick the same kind of place. And that can vary – I love our favorite home-style diner, certain fast foods and even some of the “nicer” places. Just depends what I’m in the mood for!

And this weekend, I’m good with anything I don’t have to fix myself (although at some point either this weekend or this week I’m making my own Birthday cake because I want to!)

But, the The February Birthday Weather Curse That has plagued me from the time I started wanting to “do things” for my Birthday, appears to not be letting me down this year either – we’re in a Winter Storm Watch for freezing rain/ice on Saturday and snow on Sunday. So Birthday Dinner Out, may have to be tonight!

from Kris B.

What’s for dinner is a question that gets asked almost every day at our house. During the work week, I usually fix something quick and easy, something that doesn’t require too much effort or too many pots and pans. And during the work week I find myself thinking, I can’t wait until the weekend so I can spend some time making a nice meal.

Not only do I like to bake, I like to cook as well. I enjoy the task of daily meal preparation most of the time. What I don’t like is to feel rushed. Over weekends, I often cook big batches of soup, pasta sauce, beans, or other freezable fare. During the week we then can have a decent home-cooked meal without the prep time. Most of the time, this works well.

So here it is Friday, the start of the weekend for me. The last thing I feel like doing today is cooking. I’m not sure why. The anticipation and excitement That I had Monday through Thursday about finally having time to prepare good food has disappeared. Even the thought of just making a sandwich for lunch was unappealing. The thought of eating, however, was quite appealing. So, we went out for tacos this afternoon. They were delicious!

The big question still remains…What’s for dinner?

The answer…leftover pasta and salad from a bag. I cooked the pasta itself Wednesday night and served it then with sauce from the freezer. There is enough left for another meal. Tonight’s the night to finish it off. It’s bad when you are having leftover leftovers on a night when you had all the time in the world to cook. Go figure!

My meal prep mojo better come back tomorrow or next week is going to be rough…sandwiches and cereal for dinner may suffice for a night or two, but they wont work for an entire week! I may need to make my way to Michigan and crash Tracey’s birthday dinner!

What’s for dinner at your house?

Mix It Up Monday – Celebrate With Cookies!

18 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by Tracey Somos-Gehring in Mix It Up Monday

≈ Comments Off on Mix It Up Monday – Celebrate With Cookies!

Tags

baking, cinnamon, cookie decorating, cookies, easy, Holiday baking, Mix It Up Monday, roll-out cookies, snack

from Tracey G.

This week’s offerings are more about the stories surrounding the recipes rather than the recipes themselves but that doesn’t make them less yummy!

My planning for a class treat for Harry’s upcoming Birthday started months ago. I’d seen the Paint-Your-Own cookie stencils at my 2 favorite online places for my cookie decorating supplies – The Cookie Countess & Flour Box Bakery – and thought that would be an easy and fun thing for the kids to do. They could do them in class if they had time, or take them home. The ready-to-decorate cookies get packaged with a little brush and food color paint palette – it’s pretty neat! So a few months ago I went ahead and ordered the Birthday Cupcake stencil, with Harry’s blessing of course.

Fast forward to last week – I was as getting the rest of the supplies ready to order: cookie bags, palettes, brushes and the little bags to package the palettes & brushes in. I went to show Jeremy the stencil we were going to use and Harry decided oh no no no, the cupcake was stupid, he didn’t want that at ALL. Needless to say mama was not pleased at ALL. I was ready and willing to scrap it all. Done.

Then, I talked with Kris later and she mentioned possibly a different stencil or something. I wasn’t too sure because most of the PYO (paint-your-own) stencils Are holiday-specific etc. So, I went and looked. I ran across a llama. Now, with Fornite being the hit video game of the moment, and they have “Loot Llamas” in-game, the llama he was all for. Okaaaaaaay. Llama it will be. He’d better not change his mind again because it’s too late now!

For the longest time I used KAF’s Holiday Butter Cookies for my cookie making, but it just wasn’t working as I’d wanted it to, my cut edges weren’t staying nice and “sharp”, which I also knew was partly due to process too (cold dough etc). So, I started looking around and ran across the Bearfoot Baker’s recipe, AND her rolling/cutting method which got me the edges I was looking for and a cookie the boys really liked! Bingo!

I do modify her recipe slightly, I don’t add any baking powder at all. Here’s the ingredients list:

*Butter

*Sugar

*Eggs

*Vanilla

*Salt

*Baking Powder

*Flour

All the usual suspects as you can see. And here’s a link to her recipe and she talks about her method too!!

The Bearfoot Baker’s Sugar Cookie Recipe

Her recipe is so easy and produces a really nice cookie for decorating or as Harry prefers, plain or with a soft frosting. Give them a try next time you’re in the mood to decorate some cookies!

from Kris B.

I suspect that for most kids, the first kind of cookies they learn how to make “all by themselves” is chocolate chip. For me, it was Snickerdoodles. I don’t know why this was the case. I also don’t know where my mom’s recipe originated. I only ever knew it as being on a vanilla-stained recipe card written in her handwriting and being perpetually misfiled in her recipe box.

When I got married, I no longer had mom’s recipe box at my fingertips, so I turned to the The New Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (copyright 1981), which I received as a wedding gift, for a Snickerdoodle recipe. I couldn’t remember mom’s recipe exactly, but the one in the cookbook seemed fairly close, and now has been my go-to Snickerdoodle recipe for thirty-five years.

Here is a link to that recipe:

Better Homes and Gardens Snickerdoodle recipe

At some point, I did get my mom’s recipe. It is written in her handwriting on a clean blue index card; her recipe varies slightly from the above – a little less flour, a little more sugar, an extra egg, and salt. I still use the one from the cookbook.

At the beginning of last week, one of my college level classes started talking about the lack of good coffee on campus. Since our next class meeting after this discussion was Valentines Day, I told them that I would bring coffee as a Valentines Day treat. Someone then said that if we have coffee, we need doughnuts too. I offered cookies instead. That was received well. The conversation continued with them saying that maybe we needed snacks every week. I told them that I was good with snacks, but someone was going to have to volunteer to be our room parent and organize it all. I had done my time in that particular role. With that, the idea of weekly snacks quickly died.

I did keep my promise and took them fresh coffee and cookies – Snickerdoodles. I chose to make Snickerdoodles not only because they are a favorite of mine, but also because they avoid many of the common allergy ingredients found in cookies – chocolate and peanuts or peanut butter. And let’s face it, the cinnamon-y goodness of Snickerdoodles is the perfect companion to a good cup of coffee!

My students, who range in age from 18 to 65, were most appreciative. And as is often the case with the younger ones, there was amazement in the fact that the cookies were homemade. It’s funny to me how such a simple gesture of hospitality can transform the dynamic of a group of people. We had the best time in class that day – sharing stories and ideas…and eating cookies and drinking coffee. Very little of what we discussed had anything to do with our class material, but does that really matter? Sometimes the most important lessons in life come from spending time getting to know others, especially in a group like this that is diverse in age, gender, race, and, obviously, life experiences.

As a bonus, someone did bring doughnuts, as well. We had quite the feast!

It was such a great day that I may have to rethink being not only the professor, but also the room mother.

Friday Faves: What He Said…

15 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by Kris Baker in Friday Favorites

≈ Comments Off on Friday Faves: What He Said…

In this week of Valentine’s Day, which is all about sharing the love, we thought we’d ask our Valentines what they love, and maybe don’t love about living with a food blogger and photographer.

What is the best thing about living with a food blogger and photographer?

Weber: There is always LOTS of food around…

Jeremy: Food. Lots of food!

What is the worst thing?

Weber: Never knowing when it’s OK to eat the food. Has it already been photographed? Were the photos usable? I have to have a lot of restraint not to eat things until the OK is given.

Jeremy: Dirty dishes. (He also said not knowing if it’s ok to eat it yet!)

What do you wish we’d make more of…or less of?

Weber: I wish there was a little more savory stuff and a little less sweet stuff.

Jeremy: Dinner! (Laughing) But seriously more breakfast pastries! (There wasn’t a less, lol)

What advice do you have for others who may find themselves cohabitating with a food photographer?

Weber: Be patient. If you volunteer to model you get to eat the food faster. Diet on non-blog days.

Jeremy: Have a job that burns LOTS of calories and always ask before eating…

Mix It Up Monday – Soups On!

12 Tuesday Feb 2019

Posted by Kris Baker in Mix It Up Monday

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Cheddar Cheese, cheddar cheese soup, chicken, dinner, dumplings, easy, hearty, King Arthur Flour, lunch, one pot meal, soup, Vermont Cheddar Cheese

Fast and Easy Chicken Stew with Dumplings

Even when the calendar and the weather don’t agree on winter, my head tells me that soups and stews are perfect winter month meals. I had some frozen oven roasted chicken that needed to be used so I figured a hearty chicken noodle soup might be a good use for it. I then stumbled onto this recipe for Fast and Easy Chicken Stew with Dumplings on the King Arthur website. It sounded warm and heart; that’s what I was looking for so I gave it a try.

I must say, that when it comes to dumplings, I normally prefer slippery to fluffy, but I decided to keep an open mind and follow the recipe exactly for these fluffy dumplings.

I liked the way that the recipe was written because it presented the instructions in a way that the pacing for preparing the various components worked well – no wasted time. The first step was to make the stew.

STEW

butter
King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
chicken broth
thyme
bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
Worcestershire sauce
diced cooked chicken
frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and/or cooked; or a mixture of cooked peas and carrots

You begin by making a roux, to which you then add the broth and seasoning. This simmers for 15 minutes and then the bay leaf is removed and the chicken and vegetables are added. The mixture then simmers while you mix the ingredients for the dumplings.

DUMPLINGS

King Arthur Unbleached Self-Rising Flour
chopped fresh chives or parsley or dried. optional
buttermilk
egg
butter

I don’t normally keep Self-rising Flour. I purchased some specifically for this recipe. (Watch for it as an ingredient in an upcoming post. :-)) You can make your own self-rising flour by adding 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt for every cup of flour.

The dough for the dumplings comes together easily. It neither too sticky or too dry. Once mixed, it is dropped by 1/4 scoop on top of the simmering stew. The pot of is then covered and placed into a 350 degree oven to bake for 25-30 minutes.

That’s it! Serve the stew and dumplings hot for a warm and cozy winter meal!

I did use a cup more broth in my stew than the recipe called for.
For me, the thyme was a little overpowering. Next time I will probably use poultry seasoning for a more varied flavor. I might also use a bit more Worcestershire sauce. With almost any recipe, we have to play with the seasonings to get them “just right.” That is part of what makes cooking fun!
The dumplings were delicious! I don’t know if it is because they were baked or what, but these were the best fluffy dumplings I’ve had. This dumpling recipe can be used with any of your favorite stew recipes, though you may have increase the liquid in your recipe a bit.

I will definitely make this recipe again. It is good as it is, but tweaking the flavors just a bit will make it even better. I’m always thrilled when I can find an easy and delicious one pot meal!

from Tracey G.

Vermont Cheddar Cheese Soup from King Arthur Flour

I’m going to be honest here, I love cheese soups – but usually they are restaurant fare because I can never seem to get the right flavor at home that I’m looking for. I’ve tried numerous times to make them at home, and the only one I’d liked up this point was the mix by Frontier Soups, sold by KAF for Broccoli Cheddar Soup. (Post for this can be found here). Well, this soup is a game changer for me – I can have my homemade cheese soup whenever I want, and I usually have everything on hand to make it!! This recipe surpassed my expectations, I am so glad I tried it!

Ingredients are simple, the only thing that is “special” for it is the KAF Vermont Cheese Powder – that is one thing this recipe would fall flat without! I will say, I discovered that this is another fabulous reason to have the King Arthur Flour Vermont Cheddar Cheese Powder on hand – I’d only originally bought the stuff for purely using on my popcorn! (I am confident though that you could use any cheddar cheese powder!)

Ingredients:

butter
celery, diced
onion, diced
carrots, diced
garlic, minced
dried thyme
chicken or vegetable broth
cornstarch dissolved in cool water
cheddar cheese powder (optional, for extra cheese zip)
extra-sharp or sharp Vermont cheddar cheese, grated
cream or half & half
salt and freshly ground pepper
cayenne pepper, or hot pepper sauce, optional

I did veer from the recipe slightly:

I didn’t have shredded/grated Vermont sharp cheddar, so I just used the regular shredded sharp cheddar I always have on hand.
Because it sounded good, the other thing I did was add a can of drained, diced potatoes. But let me also say that broccoli (or cauliflower!) would be a fantastic addition as well!
It called for heavy cream or half and half (I used half and half), but I think it would be ok with milk too, as, part of what thickens it a slurry of cornstarch and water. I will try it with milk, because I usually have that around, but not half and half.
Lastly, I didn’t use thyme because Jeremy doesn’t care for the taste, I love it, but I wasn’t interested in eating all the soup by myself!

Anyway, the base it simple. It’s a vegetable combination of carrots, onions, celery and minced garlic, sautéed in butter. To that you add your chicken broth (or vegetable broth), and simmer until your carrots are tender. At that point you add the cornstarch/water mixture, half and half (or cream), Vermont Cheese Powder and shredded cheddar and thyme. At this point you can adjust your seasoning of salt and pepper, as that’s the last thing to do, or you can season in your own bowl if you prefer! I really like that control.

I am seriously excited to add this to my recipe book – I can say it’s one that I will be making when I get the craving for cheddar cheese soup, or cheesy potato soup or even broccoli cheddar soup – maybe all of the above! Do give it a try – it’s easy and delicious!

Friday Faves – How We Spent Our Friday

08 Friday Feb 2019

Posted by Tracey Somos-Gehring in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

from Tracey G.

Well, to be honest I’ve started to forget what day it is, as we’ve had so many Snow Days in a row, it’s crazy. The kids made it to school one day this week – Mother Nature has been in quite a state!

Today was Day 3 (in a row, but 4th day total this week) of Snow Days due to icy conditions thanks to lots of freezing rain and quickly dropping temps. It’s just cold, snowy and blustery here today, and that made for a day of wanting to just curl up and hibernate in my chair, with coffee and the current book I’m reading! And, that’s exactly what I’ve done, and it’s been glorious!

Some days you just need to be able to indulge in the lazy, and that’s what I’ve done today and relished every minute. Curled up in my chair, drank too much coffee (I know, that’s totally not possible) and finished a fun read I started a few days ago.

It was a good day. A very good day.

from Kris B.

I have a love-hate relationship with Valentine’s Day. (That sounds terrible funny to me as I type it.) Anyway, I don’t like all of the commercialism surrounding the holiday, but I do like the idea of celebrating love for the people in our lives that matter most. Since I don’t teach on Fridays, it often becomes our day of togetherness. Today became our pseudo Valentines Day celebration.

The dogs actually let us sleep in this morning until 8:30! That certainly beats our normal alarm at 5:15-5:30. Those extra hours of sleep are a precious gift themselves. It did mean, however, that we got a late start on our daily intake of coffee! I spent a few hours drinking coffee and getting a little work done before Weber suggested we go “do something.”

We ended up going to the mall (a rare thing for us) to do a quick errand. That turned into a stop at the Brighton Store. Though I am not a big jewelry fan, I do like many of the Brighton styles. I ended up getting a little something. 🙂 Next stop was the Lego Store. I am worse than a little kid. I wanted some of the new series of minifigures from the new Lego movie. Because we had so many VIP points, I was able to get 25 minifigures free. (Don’t do the math. It’s scary; but, I have never redeemed any of the points, so that was my Lego career take of points.) Of the 25 packages, I got all of the Wizard of Oz figures (Yay!) and only seven duplicates. I’m missing only three to complete the series. I am a happy girl. Yes, simple pleasures. And lest you think that spending money on Lego might be a waste, I read an article the other day that said that over that past fifteen years, there has been a better return on investment in Lego sets than there has from the stock market. 🙂

This evening, we are going out to dinner with a friend to a nice-ish restaurant. Then it will be time to come home, put on my warm jammies, and curl up in the recliner to knit the rest of the night away. It has been a perfect day all the way around.

Tomorrow morning I’ll need to get up and finish the work I started (and then abandoned) today, but that’s OK. I’m rested and relaxed and in a good place to be productive…

Warm and cozy wishes to all of you! And, Happy Valentine’s Day a little early.

P.S. I want Tracey to define, in concrete terms, what too much coffee means!!!

Mix It Up Monday – Bake or No-Bake…The Choice Is Yours!

04 Monday Feb 2019

Posted by Tracey Somos-Gehring in Mix It Up Monday

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

baking, cinnamon, dessert, easy, energy bites, ginger, gingesnaps, King Arthur Flour, Mix It Up, molasses, no-bake, peanut butter, snack

from Tracey G.

Gingersnaps from King Arthur Flour

These cookies kind of found me this week. I went to the KAF website to find my recipe for the week, fully intending to search for some recipes with specific ingredients as this past week of being stuck home during snow storms and Polar Vortexes really hit my pantry hard, and no real chance to stock up – so I was low on butter and sugar. I knew whatever recipe I found would have to have very little butter or rely on shortening. And it also had to use a very small amount of granulated sugar or an alternative, like brown sugar.

When I started my cookie search, this recipe popped right up, before I even had a chance to recipe-search using specific ingredients! It was meant to be! It really must have been – as it relied on vegetable shortening and only one cup of sugar, I found my recipe first shot, and didn’t search any further.

These are super-duper easy to make, and that’s not an exaggeration one bit. The ingredient list is simple as well:

COOKIES

vegetable shortening*
sugar
salt
baking soda
egg
molasses
King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
ground ginger
ground cloves
ground cinnamon

*Can you substitute butter for the vegetable shortening? Yes; but the cookies will be soft, not crisp.

COATING

sugar
ground cinnamon

The making of the dough is really fast as well, I had these done in no time at all!

You start by beating the shortening, sugar, salt and baking soda together. After that’s blended well, you add the egg and the molasses. Next is the flour and spices, and, I whisked my spices right into my flour so it would be a bit easier – one step in the adding of them to the mixing bowl.

Once you get it all mixed up, mix your additional sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl (I use a small cake pan so I can shake/roll the dough balls easily and fairly neatly too), this will be what you coat your dough balls in. Form the dough into about 1″ balls, and then coat with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. I used a teaspoon cookie scoop and this phase went really quick! Scooped and plopped into the sugar mixture and then onto the parchment lined cookie sheet.

These are baked at 375° F, and you have your choice as to how long to bake, depending on how you want your final cookie to be – 11 min for crisp edges, slightly chewy center, or 13 minutes for a fully crisp cookie. I did both and love both!

That’s it. The hardest part about these cookies was making sure there were still enough left by the time I needed to get my photos taken! Some never even made it off the cookie sheet, Jeremy and I couldn’t stay away from them!

I am most certainly adding these to my cookie recipes, they are so fast and easy and taste wonderful, a perfect combination in my opinion! Easy to whip up if you need some cookies FAST for anything from bake sales to holiday gifts/treats!

If you like spice cookies, do give these a try!

from Kris B.

No-Bake Energy Bites

I’m not going to lie, one of my favorite weeks of baking for Sifted Together is when cookies roll back around in the rotation. That furry blue monster on Sesame Street and I are most certainly soul mates, though I have a hard time getting behind his new philosophy that “cookies are a sometimes food.” Well, not really…cookies are definitely should be a sometimes food; for me, they are a weak spot and may be the number one reason that I needed to join Weight Watchers. Like Cookie Monster, I have learned to moderate my consumption. But…I do still love a good cookie!

As I searched for a recipe, I was sort of looking for a healthy cookie recipe. What that means, I’m not exactly sure. I was considering those recipes that used oats, applesauce instead of fat, whole grains, fruit…and then I stumbled upon these – No-Bake Energy Bites. They are energy bites, not cookies, despite showing up in my search for cookies, so they must be healthy! Mind games are a wonderful past-timer! 🙂

Whatever…they use ingredients that I love and that I had on hand. It was a win-win.

BASIC DOUGH

nut butter (peanut, almond, sunflower)
rolled oats, old-fashioned or quick
honey
dried whole milk
vanilla extract

All of these are pantry staples, making this a recipe that can be whipped up on the spur of the moment, especially since it is also no-bake!

Once the basic dough is mixed, then the real fun begins! To this dough, you stir in “add-ins” of your choice – mini chocolate chips, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, cookie crumbs – really, the possibilities are endless. A total of two cups of add-ins are used in the recipe. You can choose as few or as many as you like, in any proportion, as they as they total two cups.

I added mini chocolate chips, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and pecan pieces in equal amounts. Once the dough and add-ins are mixed together, the energy bites are scooped out onto a parchment lined baking sheet using a TBS scoop. It helps to place them in the refrigerator to allow them to firm up and hold together.

Oh my goodness! These things are fantastic! They are the perfect pick-me-up mid-morning or afternoon snack. And unlike cookies, at least for me, one of them is plenty. My sweet tooth is satisfied. Because there is so much packed into these little bites, I’m not even tempted by a second one.

As I said, the combinations of add-ins that one could use are endless. I think that cereal pieces or pretzels would be good in addition to those things mentioned in the recipe. The sky…well maybe the contents of your pantry…is the limit.

As I said, I am thrilled to have found this recipe. These No-Bake Energy Bites may themselves become a staple item at my house! The recipe makes two dozen bites and they can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks.

If you give these a try, please share your add-in combos with us.

Happy baking…or no-baking, as the case may be!

King Arthur Flour Gift Card Giveaway #2 Winner!

02 Saturday Feb 2019

Posted by Tracey Somos-Gehring in Announcements

≈ Comments Off on King Arthur Flour Gift Card Giveaway #2 Winner!

Hey everyone, Kris and I really had a post planned along with the winner announcement, but it’s been a long week for the both of us, and we just didn’t have the energy to do it.

Soooooo, instead we’re just going forth with the Winner announcement!! And that is…. drumroll please… Larraine Formica!!! Congrats Larraine and thank you for reading our humble little blog! We appreciate it greatly! Kris will contact you through FB to get your info!

And again, thank you to everyone who spends some of their precious time reading our posts!! We are thankful for each and every one of you!!

Kris & Tracey

Mix It Up Monday – Warm Meals for Cold Temps

28 Monday Jan 2019

Posted by Kris Baker in Mix It Up Monday

≈ Comments Off on Mix It Up Monday – Warm Meals for Cold Temps

Tags

baked beans, baked beans mix, beans, chili, chili mix, dinner, easy, frontier soups, ground beef, King Arthur Flour, King Arthur Flour Mix, lunch, Mix It Up, Mix It Up Monday, savory, side dish, soup

from Kris B.

Cider Baked Beans

I am a big fan of beans…almost any kind of beans. Unfortunately, my husband is not. If you know anything about homemade bean recipes, they almost always make A LOT of beans. I ask a believer in black-eyed peas on New Years day. My preferred way to eat them is in Hoppin’ John. Rather than try to cut down the recipe, I made the full version, which called for a pound of black-eyed peas…and I ate Hoppin’ John every day for the first week of the year! Based on this, I should be quite prosperous in 2019!

Three weeks later, I am now ready for more beans. I was intrigued by Bountiful Pantry’s Cider Baked Beans, which are sold by King Arthur Flour. Half of the liquid used to cook the beans is apple cider. In addition, one to two pounds of diced green apples are also added.

The mix comes with the beans and a seasoning packet. To this, you add apple cider, broth of your choice, (I used vegetable.), and ketchup. The mix offers stove top, oven, and slow cooker instructions. Because I am now back at work and don’t have as much time to cook, I took the lazy way out…I threw the mix and all the other required ingredients into the Crock-Pot in the morning before I left for work, set it to cook on low for 10 hours, and didn’t think anymore about them until I got home that evening and smelled their deliciousness.

The “sauce” is not as thick as that of canned baked beans, but don’t let that disappoint you. The flavor is amazing. I’ll admit that I was a little worried about the beans being too sweet because of the apples and the cider, but they are not. They are perfect blend of sweet and savory!

The package instructions suggest adding either bacon or sausage to the pot while the beans are cooking, which I did not do. I did, however, slice a little bit of uncured turkey kielbasa into my bowl of beans once they were cooked, making them a meal rather than just a side of beans. Since the kielbasa is fully cooked, this makes it easy to adapt the mix to both vegetarians and carnivores.

As tasty as these beans are, I was not keen on another whole week of bean eating, so I froze several small containers of leftovers. Hopefully they will be just as good when defrosted and reheated!

If you make the Cider Baked Beans in a slow cooker, they take time, but no real energy on your part. If you need them to be done a bit quicker, I have no doubt that the stove top and oven method will yield equally delicious beans.

This mix is really good as is, but those of you who like to be creative in the kitchen can probably add a few secret ingredients to make them your own.

from Tracey G.

Frontier Soups Montana Classic Chili Mix from King Arthur Flour

I love trying the soup mixes from King Arthur Flour, because I’ve not been disappointed yet! Around this household, they wouldn’t be enough for a dinner for 3, but for us, they make a perfect lunch!

I was really anxious to try this particular mix, because chili is a popular dish around here, and it would be fun to have one that would make something a little different than I could, and easily. This soup mix fit the bill – it was easy and none of it went to waste! Plus I served it with some cornbread muffins and it was a perfect meal!

The items you add are simple: 1 tbsp vegetable oil, ground beef (although that is optional!), can of petite diced tomatoes, 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar, 2 tsp of sugar and 12 oz of beef broth. I even deviated away from the petite diced tomatoes because I’m the only on around here who likes them, so I just used a can of tomato sauce – and it worked just fine.

It comes together easily, brown the ground beef if you’re using it, in the tablespoon of oil. Next you add the mix, combine it with the meat and cook for about 30 seconds. At this point you add in the rest of the ingredients, and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Now all that’s left to do it eat it – dish it out and dig in! And it tastes even better the next day, as I can personally attest to!

If you’re looking for a chili mix for a little something different in your routine – this is a great one. I will admit, spicy, but in my opinion it’s just enough!

Leave us a comment and let us know how you are keeping warm during these cold winter days and you’ll have a chance to win our $50 gift card to be given away on Friday February 1st!

January 2019 – Where We Are

25 Friday Jan 2019

Posted by Tracey Somos-Gehring in Uncategorized

≈ Comments Off on January 2019 – Where We Are

from Tracey G.

Ah January. Where I live that means a few things, and not exactly pleasant, in my humble opinion anyway!

This time of year is when we get some serious cold snaps, the kind that cause the schools to call a “Snow Day” because the windchill temps are at -25F or lower. Ugh. And then it’s also the time of year for Snow Days due to, well, actual snow! Since I drive Harry to school in the mornings, I keep a close eye on the weather at all times. There’s nothing I hate more than getting home from a morning school drive in a really bad mood because the roads were awful!

It’s also the time of year the sicknesses start circulating the school. Strep throat is always popular, as was the actual flu last year. I hate the years a stomach bug goes around – since it usually means at some point the whole household will have it before it runs it course. Yuck.

And then there’s dealing with the snow. Every. Day. Walking in it, driving in it and tracking it everywhere. It can be so pretty for a bit, then you get over that real fast when you have to deal with it every day. And it’s a pain to just flat out dress for the cold and snow. Takes forever to get ready to head out the door!

But, on the plus side, it’s a great baking season. You not only get treats, but it warms up the house too! It’s a win-win!! And on that note, I’m cold so I think I’ll go make some bagels! 😉

from Kris B.

I kept dragging me feet when it came to writing this post and it finally dawned on me why that was…January is Texas is just plain blah!

Everything is brown and ugly. The temperatures are not warm, but they aren’t really cold either. But when it rains it’s a usually a cold rain. Rarely, however, is it cold enough for the precipitation to freeze. It is just cold enough to be uncomfortable when you are outside. On the rare occasion when the precipitation does freeze, it’s just that…frozen rain and sleet. And that is just plain ugly!! A nice beautiful blanket of snow would be wonderful. But nope. We get ice…

I too feel kind of blah. I never buy into the energy of a brand new year. This is probably because I run on an academic year. My “new” year starts at the end of August with the beginning of the new school year rather than with the new calendar. year. The only thing that says “new year” to me in January is that I now use an Erin Condren planner rather than an academic planner so I do start fresh there. Also, I have to remember to write the new year when I am asked to write dates. Other than that, nothing really feels new to me in January.

Statistically, February is when winter, at least what we know as winter here in Texas, hits hardest. We’ll see what happens this year…

For now, my blah self is enjoying spending evenings curled up in the recliner with a blanket, a dog or two or three, and my knitting. I’m looking forward to spring. Not so much because I don’t like winter. Real winter would be great. I don’t like the blah winters in Texas!

What is January like where you are?

Leave us a comment and let us know. This is another opportunity to enter the drawing for a $50 King Arthur Flour gift card!

Tuesday in Texas – Listen To Your Limits

22 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by Kris Baker in Tuesday In Texas

≈ 1 Comment

from Kris B.

After a relaxing five-week break, it was back to work for me today. In the week leading up to my return to school, I always dread the fact that it is almost time to go back to work. All the things that I had hoped to accomplish during my time off, but didn’t, swirl around in my head. Having to adhere to a rigid schedule that begins early in the morning and often runs until late at night weighs heavily. But then I walk into the classroom and meet my first class and I am excited. I am energized. Being back at work feels good.

Right before I walked into my first class this morning, I read the above that a friend had posted on Facebook. For whatever reason, these words cut deep. They are exactly the words that I needed to read today. For that reason, I shared them on Facebook and I am sharing them again here.

I am a master of pushing myself to my breaking point. Let’s just say when I do that, it is not pretty. I decided that this year I needed to learn how to say, “I’m sorry. I can’t do that right now…or today…or this week…or maybe ever.” I need to take care of myself in ways that I have failed to do previously.

I think what this means is that being “our best” is fluid, “best” changes from day to day, maybe even from hour to hour. And, that’s OK. Very little in life is static. It is when we believe that it is, when we believe that things, people, times, ourselves, don’t change that we find ourselves in unhealthy places.

“Listen to your limits.”

What powerful words…important words…profound words.

They may become my mantra for 2019.

“Listen to your limits.”

I can, and do, do many things reasonably well most days. But some days, I can’t do anything well. Admitting that, in my opinion, is not a sign of weakness, but one of humility. It means that today I recognize and embrace the fact that my best is different from what it was yesterday. But, it is still my best at present. Humility means that you see yourself, your abilities, your actions, as no better or no worse than those of others.

“Listen to your limits.”

Honor yourself and your limits in 2019.

______________________

Leave a comment sharing how you might practice listening to your limits this year. You will be entered into our drawing for a $50 King Arthur Flour gift card to be given away on February 1st.