Cuban Bread

This is just about the easiest bread recipe I have ever found ( book- Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn).
It only takes about an hour and 15 minutes from start to finish! And almost an hour of that time is IN THE OVEN!
No butter or oils needed!

I love the way it looks & smells when it comes out of the oven. It is a big hit with my family.
Texture:
It has a firm crust and chewy middle.

Note:
I replaced one cup of the flour with 1/2 cup of oatmeal and 1/2 cup of ground flax. I used ground flaxseed on the top.

Cuban Bread
5-6 c. all-purpose flour
2 T. dry yeast (yes, that's 2 tablespoons.  Really.)
2 T. sugar  (I doubled this for extra flavor)
1 T. salt
2 c. hot water (not boiling, just from the tap)
1 T. sesame or poppy seeds or oats (I used ground flaxseed)

Mix 4 cups of the flour with the yeast, sugar, and salt.  Pour in hot water
and beat 100 strokes, or 3 minutes with a mixer.  Stir in the remaining
flour until the dough is no longer sticky.  Knead 8 minutes.  Place the
dough in a greased bowl and cover with damp towel.  Let rise 15 minutes.
Punch down.  Divide into 2 pieces, shape into 2 round loaves and place on
baking sheet.  Cut an X 1/2 inch deep on top with sharp knife.  Brush with
water and sprinkle with seeds or oats.  Place on the middle shelf of a cold
oven.  Place a cake pan of hot water on the lowest shelf.  Heat the oven to
400 degrees.  Bake 40-50 minutes until deep golden brown.

Milk-less Potato Soup

Ingredients needed:

• Potatoes (I used 20, although a small family would need less.  For this recipe, calculate about 4 potatoes per person and you will still have some left-overs)
• a small amount of oil
• Celery  3-5 stalks or less
• carrots (one is enough, but if you love carrots, you can add more)
• onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste
• corn starch

*I added a small amount of sour cream and a small chunk of Velveeta cheese to mine that I had leftover, but it is not necessary.

For us, I normally use about 10-12 potatoes when I use milk, but for this recipe I use 20 (the creamed pototoes give it a creamy consistency). 

My grandmother gave me a great tip for speeding up the process for cooking potatoes.  After you add water, add a little oil, then slit the potatoes.  Place a lid on the pot.

While the potatoes are cooking, skin and cut up carrots (however many you want in your soup.  I would use one to two for this recipe).  I cut mine into little strips.

Chop celery.

In a frying pan, add your carrots and celery and enough water to cover them. I added about half a stick of real butter (you may want to add less if you are making a smaller portion). Boil the water (add a lid so that the water won't evaporate and the veggies will cook faster).  Add a couple of tablespoons of onion powder and about a tablespoon of garlic powder.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir well.

When the carrots and celery are tender and the water is still boiling, get a separate cup of  cold water and add about 4 tablespoons of cornstarch.  Mix well (make sure there are no lumps), and pour this into your celery/carrot water.  Stir the water until you have a nice gravy and then turn on low.

After the potatoes are soft, pour out the hot water and cover the potatoes in cold water.  Peel the skin off the potatoes.  Take half of your potatoes and cream them well.  Take the other half and chop them into bite-sized pieces.

Pour your celery/carrot gravy into a large soup pot, add your creamed potatoes, and add your dices potato bites.  Mix this together into your soup pot and turn on low.

Test your soup and add  whatever salt, pepper or spices you may need to have the perfect flavor.

My husband loves to eat Cuban bread with this.  Click here for the recipe.

Very tasty!

Milk-less pancakes

from: http://www.grouprecipes.com/24644/easy-pancakes.html




We added chocolate chips! Yum!


Ingredients


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1 C. flour shopping list

1 Tbsp. sugar shopping list

2 tsp. baking powder shopping list

¼ tsp. salt shopping list

1 beaten egg shopping list

1 C. water shopping list

1 Tbsp. oil shopping list

How to make it

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In mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another mixing bowl, combine egg, water, and cooking oil. Add to flour mixture all at once. Stir mixture just until blended but still slightly lumpy. Pour about ¼ C. batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet for each standard sized pancake or about 1 Tbsp of batter for each dollar-sized pancake.

Cook until pancakes are golden brown, turning to cook second side when pancake has bubbly survace and slightly dry edges. Makes 8 to 10 standard-size or 36 dollar-sized pancakes.

Using contact paper: storage ideas

I've been posting lots of recipes, but since this blog is about everything home-making, I thought I'd share some other home-making ideas.

A few years ago,  I really needed a place to keep our library books, but I didn't really have a lot of extra money to spend on the large storage baskets (which can be quite expensive even at Wal-mart).  So, I found the idea that you could choose a sturdy box and get decorative contact paper and cover it.    It was a very fun project, and I was pleased with my box.

Wouldn't you know, even though that box was covered YEARS ago, I still have it!  It has outlasted some of the wicker baskets on which I spent more money.

Another way I used contact paper was to cut into cereal boxes and book/magazine holders similar to these and then cover them with contact paper.   I still have them as well and they help keep the cookbooks in my cabinets organized.


Here are some links with more ideas for using contact paper:

http://interiordesign.lovetoknow.com/Decorating_with_Contact_Paper


http://www.ehow.com/how_6710827_decorating-contact-paper.html

No Guilt Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

From my friend Mary Ellen:


181 calories and 3.5 gram of fat!!!!

• 1 choc devil food cake mix
• 1 small can of pumpkin
•  no eggs, oil or water,
• May add walnuts if you like

Regular size:
20 min. at 400 degrees
mini muffins, cut down on the time to 10 minutes

Self -Rising Rolls

Do you want a quick roll recipe? 

These are absolutely delicious, and they remind me of a mix between a biscuit and a muffin.  They turn out light and fluffy and they are so easy!  They do not even need to rise even though you use yeast.  I got the recipe from Heather Dickinson who is an excellent cook.

Self-rising Rolls

In a small-medium bowl, dissolve 1 heaping Tablespoon of yeast (or 1 package) in 2 cups of warm water (not too hot, not too cold!)

In a large bowl:
Melt 3/4 cup of margarine or butter (a stick and a half) in microwave.
Add: 1/4 cup of sugar (she always uses 1/2 cup, but it might rise higher with less sugar.)
1 egg
4 cups of self-rising flour (or just add 2 teaspoons of salt and 4 teaspoons of baking powder to 4 cups of regular all purpose flour)
Add the yeast/water mixture, stir well, and spoon into well greased muffin tins.  Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. 

THESE DO NOT HAVE TO RISE, even when the dough is cold!  You may refrigerate dough for 1 week, pull out, and spoon into well-greased muffin cups, and bake!

(Since this is the week before Thanksgiving, I am thinking these are great to make ahead!)

Home-made Cleaning Wipes

My cousin Tawana sent me her recipe for home-made cleaning wipes:

You need:

• 1/2 cup liquid Lysol
• 4 capfuls of bleach
• a clean, plastic container such as an empty butter tub  

Mix fluids into the container.  Add water to the top, and fill with paper towels.
After the paper towels are fully soaked, you have inexpensive disinfectant wipes!

Thank you,  Tawana!  Just in case anyone is wondering, Lysol and bleach are o.k. to mix.  Just use caution while cleaning just as you would anytime you use bleach.

See:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_happens_when_you_mix_bleach_with_Lysol