Food – Page 13 – a hippie with a minivan

Green onion love…

I love green onions and they would often make their way onto my grocery list because I use them so often… then I read a great tip and thought I would share it…

When you use your green onions, you usually use just the green and then most people throw away the rest…. instead of throwing away the whites, put them in a bit of water and watch them grow back… Within a few days you will have considerable growth and will be able to use them again… just clip off what you need…

I used these last week and just had the whites left, so I put them in some water (left the ring on so that they would stay upright) and not even a week later they are even taller then the original ones… I can’t believe I hadn’t tried this before!

Homemade marshmallows…

Since realizing that all grocery store marshmallows have blue food colouring in them to look more “white” and artificial vanilla (both petroleum based products that we can’t eat) the boys haven’t eaten any marshmallows… which honestly took some of the fun out of campfires and hot cocoa…

I knew that marshmallows could be made at home and I have seen the recipes everywhere on the net, but I never thought it was so easy! If I knew I would have made them long ago!

This is a recipe I think originally from Martha Stewart which I have seen many places around…

3 packets (2 1/2 Tbsp) of gelatin
1 1/2 c sugar
1 c light corn syrup or Maple Syrup*
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 c Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting*
1/4 c corn starch

Mix together corn starch and confectioners sugar in a small bowl. Lightly grease 8X12 pan and coat with the mixture. Put the remaining mixture back in the bowl and set aside.

Combine the gelatin and a 1/2 c water in the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment.

While that sits, mix the sugar, syrup, salt and 1/2 water in a saucepan and stir until sugar dissolves.Cover and heat on med-high heat for 3-4 min , then uncover and with a candy thermometer in place, bring the mixture to 240 degrees without stirring and immediately take off heat.

Start the mixer on low and slowly pour the syrup over the gelatin mix. Increase speed to high and beat until almost triple in volume and the mixture is lukewarm (about 10- 15 min). Add vanilla near the end.

Pour the marshmallow mixture in the prepared pan with a slightly oiled spatula and smooth out the top. Dust with confectioners sugar/corn starch mixture and let sit for at least 4 hours (or overnight)…

When they are ready, dust a cutting board with confectioners sugar and turn the marshmallow block out onto it and cut into small pieces. Place in a airtight container to store.

These marshmallows are fluffy and delicious! I can’t wait to make more and try different flavours… peppermint marshmallows would be amazing in hot chocolate I am thinking!

Speaking of Hot Chocolate… I’ll share my recipe next 😉

Notes:

* I have used both Maple syrup and Corn syrup to make these. I have to say that I loved the way that the house smelled as I made the Maple ones. The Maple syrup ones have a slight maple aftertaste which I love, but the difference in taste is really not that noticeable if you are trying to taste it. The maple ones are also sweeter.

* To make confectioner sugar, put sugar in food processor or blender and process until it is a very fine grain.

* I have used both methods of using Powdered Sugar or the confectioner sugar/corn starch mix to coat the pan and marshmallows. I found that the powdered sugar method needed a lot more to keep them from sticking, was messier and wasn’t always efficient… especially when storing.

(They also toast beautifully)

Growing boys…

Over the last few years I have seen my grocery bill go up… a combination of things costing more and us adding to the family and those additions growing up and eating more…

I have been making meal plans for a few years now and try not to buy too much extra… but I find it crazy that before we had kids a large trip to the grocery store was 80$ and now I have trouble getting out of there with less than 125$… I can only guess how much more that would be if I didn’t make as many things from scratch including many snacks, desserts and of course bread!

I roasted a chicken the other day and served it with roasted potatoes. It was a medium sized chicken (2 Kg) and in the past was enough to feed us and have some left over for a sandwich or two… but now the bones are cleaned, the potatoes are gone and the boys are asking for more… and then I offer dessert just to complete the supper because there is nothing left…

Of course it depends on the meal I make and how much they like it, but it is amazing to see how fast food can dissipate with three kids around… making sandwiches takes up a whole loaf of bread, an omlette for just the boys is at least 8 eggs, I need to make a triple batch of pancakes to have enough, when we order pizza we need two X-larges.. When I make Annie’s Mac and Cheese I need to make 2 boxes and even then they are asking for more!

Costco is seriously a great place to shop now… though I already bought a few things in bulk, the family sizes of certain products are well worth it… I was needing to buy peanut butter every week or two before, and the organic PB at the local grocery store is about 5$ for a small jar (250g)… whereas at Costco I can get a 2kg jar of organic PB for about 9$… I would have never thought that we would get through such a jar without it going bad, but with the boys and with recipes etc, after a month I need to head back for another… It is also great place for that Annie’s Mac and Cheese that I mentionned above which is a great easy lunch, especially when Simon is with the boys and there are so many other things that really are worth the trip.

I can’t just imagine when they are teens… or actually… I don’t think I want to right now…

Menu for the week…

I needed a few items that are a bit more expensive so my total for this week is a bit higher at about 150$

We still don’t have an oven, but I will be trying the rotisserie feature on my new “toaster”oven… and though my brain wants to eat more veggies at the moment, my body is craving meat so I guess I need to listen to that for now…

So this week

Hunan Dumplings (didn’t make them last week)
General Tso
Rôtisserie Chicken
Stew in the crockpot
Hamburger steak (my mom used to make this and I vowed that I never would but I suddenly had a craving for it!)
Quick Spaghetti (another recipe from my childhood)

I will probably be getting the oven back on the 30th… so I went to ask my neighbour this morning if I could use her oven on Friday night or Sat morning to make Khéna’s cake for his upcoming birthday…

He is going to be 3!!!

Raclette…

I love meals that are cooked at the table and have the ability to be whatever the person eating wants it to be.

One of those is Fondue, which is either thinly slices of meat and veggies cooked in a hot pot of flavourful broth on the table and served with sauces, bread and whatever else you want, or pieces of bread dipped in melted cheese.

(Eating Chinese Fondue a few weeks ago)

The other is Raclette.

Not only are these meals easy to prepare, but they are meals that bring everyone together at the table for more than a few minutes.

This year for Simon’s 10y anniversary of working at his job, he got a raclette grill. It was on the gift list and we had been wanting one for a while so it worked out very well.

Traditionally, Raclette comes from Europe and is the name of a semi-firm salted cheese. The cheese is warmed next to a fire or by a machine and is then scraped onto the diners plate which has potatoes, cured meats, gherkins among other things.

(colourful potatoes)

The modern way of eating raclette is by using a raclette grill. The top part heats up letting you grill whatever you please… we like having marinated beef, potatoes, shrimp and bread on top of the grill (along with other veggies depending on our moods)

Under the grill you have little wedges called “coupelles” to melt cheese. You can either melt the cheese and then pour it over your other food (this is what the boys do) or you can gather the things you have grilled into the coupelle, top with cheese and then place under the grill to melt the cheese.

Though it is very easy to find Raclette cheese around here, it is also very expensive, so to make this an easy and pretty cheap meal, we use a sharp cheddar that has been thinly sliced.

Of course, because it is cooked at the table, the preparation for this meal is also really easy.

Though the grill we have now is OK, I would really like to get a better one with a stone top that heats up better and is easier to clean up after, but for now, we are happy to have this one and it will provide us with many meals to come…