Food – Page 4 – a hippie with a minivan

Amazing Apple Fritters

I had used my wok for frying supper but the oil was still good, so I wanted to use it for something before I had to discard it.

The first thing that came to mind was Apple Fritters. I had a bunch of apples in the fridge and while looking through my recipes I found the perfect one..

Oh gosh…

and yes, I said oh gosh…

these are really, truly, amazing…

What you need…

1 cup + 2 Tbsp of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tbsp melted butter
1 egg
1/3 cup milk )I used Almond
1 – 1 1/2 cups of your favorite apple, chopped into tiny pieces (I use Gala)
oil for frying
apple cider and confectioner’s sugar for glaze
Cinnamon and Sugar to coat

Directions:

Chop apples into small pieces. Mix dry ingredients together in one bowl and then wet ingredients together in another (I use a measuring cup) and then slowly add the wet ingredients, and stir until combined, taking care not to overstir. Gently fold in apples. It should look like a light cake mix.

Heat oil to about 375 degrees. Use a wok or a pan that will allow dough to be completely submerged while frying. (To test oil is ready when you drop a bit of batter into it and it rises to the top.) Using a spoon, scoop golf size balls of dough into oil, being careful not to overcrowd. Watch for underside to turn golden brown, and then using tongs, flip over and continuing to fry until done. Test one fritter to ensure they are frying all the way through. Adjust the cooking time if necessary.

Apple Fritter Glaze
1-2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 cup apple cider (I didn’t have any so I juiced an apple to make some fresh cider)

(1 apple ~ see how little pulp is left!)

I decided that I was going to use less powdered sugar and instead dunk them into some cinnamon sugar to make them even more decadent… but if you want a true glaze, then use all of the powdered sugar.

Whisk cider and sugar together until combined and glaze is smooth. Straight out of the oil, dunk fritters into the glaze. If you are using the cinnamon sugar after the glaze, do that now…and then immediately set on a baking rack with parchment paper underneath to catch drippings.

These are best served warm but are great when cooled too…

Amazing Apple Fritters

I love my juicer!

I had been hesitating buying a juicer for a long time before i finally took the plundge. You hesitate before buying an specialty appliance like this because it is expensive and you have to go out of your usual way to use it and make it into a habit. If you don’t do that it will just gets stuck in the cupboard collecting dust.

So, I bought it because I love the idea of juice and I really think that it is an amazing way to get more veggies in my diet. I like veggies well enough but I really don’t eat as many as I should. But now i do and I can feel the difference. I make juice on *almost* a daily basis.

This is the is the Omega 8600, it is not the most expensive high end juicer but I did a lot of research and it was the one that best fit my needs a a reasonable price.

The boys enjoy fruit juice and don’t mind if I add spinach to our smoothies but they are not really the green juice fan just yet. Hopefully that will change. However, Wilhelmina loves it which is great because she eats like a bird most of the time.

My usual juice is as follows…1 head of romaine, 1/2 cucumber, handful of baby carrots, 1/2 lemon, a few handfuls of spinach and kale if I have any, a bit of ginger, an apple and a pear. I also add bits of other veggies that may be in the house. This makes a Litre of juice… Isn’t that amazing! I can eat all of that in one easy meal…

Because I have a masticating juicer, the juice could technically last up to 72 hours, but I drink it right away as a meal. Willa has a large glass and I have the rest, sometimes adding a tsp of chia seeds to it to to give the extra nutritional punch.

I have been buying the veggies at Costco to keep costs a bit down. I can buy a weeks worth of juicing veggies for about 25$ and we don’t just use them in the juice but in other meals as well so many of them enter our meal plan. The great thing is that we don’t lose many veggies either because I use them us easily when I see then need to go.

Another fun thing about this juicer is that it has the ability to make pasta… Well… You can make a quick pasta dough and put it in it and it comes with the little plates with different pasta size. I am not a big pasta fan, but I made a chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles when we were feeling under the weather and it turned out amazing,

It also has the ability to make sorbets and nut butters and more… With the blank plate, you just place frozen fruit such as bananas, strawberries, pear etc through the feeder and what comes out is like a soft serve ice cream. Especially bananas. It makes a quick, easy and healthy dessert that all the kids love. And for nut butters, groud seeds etc you just put them through… The more times you do it the more it breaks down and becomes creamier…

I am loving the machine…

Do you juice? I would love to hear about your favourite combos!

General tso

When I was in university there was this little restaurant seconds away that I had to stop myself from eating at more often. It is called Nouilles Express and they made ( and still make) the perfect general tso.

The chicken is crispy, the sauce is a perfect balance and an order of fried noodles on the side completes the deal. Even now when we’re in Montreal we sometimes head there just for that.

A few years ago I shared a recipe for General Tso here on the blog. However, there was something about it that did exactly fit with the general tso I used to love. I don’t exactly remember how I found it, but I had this recipe in my recipe app for a little while and I finally decided to try it..

It is amazing!!

Though the other sauce is a great base for other stir-fry type dishes, if I am in the mood for General Tso… This will be my go to recipe from now on… I make it with with chicken or tofu depending on my mood.

For the chicken (or tofu):

4 chicken breasts or 2 blocks of tofu (cut in bite size pieces)
2 tbsp tamari
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp cornstarch

In a bowl or ziplock, marinate meat or tofu in tamari, sesame oil and garlic and a few tsp of cornstarch for at least 30 min.

With enough oil to cover the pieces, fry the chicken or tofu then set aside.

For the sauce:

1/2 cup stock (veggie, chicken or even water with a bit of Braggs.)
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp hoisin
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp tamari

Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl until sugar dissolves and set aside.

You also need:

3 cups of broccoli cut into bit size pieces (optional)
4-5 stalks of green onions cut into 1 inch pieces
About an inch of ginger, minced.
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
Sesame oil

If you are making the broccoli, stir fry the brocolli until the colour changes but don’t over cook, and then set aside.

In your hot wok, add a bit of sesame oil and then stir fry the green onion, ginger and garlic. Add the sauce to the wok and let boil for a minute or two. The sauce will change colour and become thick and glazed.

Once the sauce is thick, add the chicken and the broccoli and toss in the sauce.

Serve with rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds for the final touch…

Oatmeal cream pies

Oh…. These are good…

I mean… If you like vanilla icing sandwiched between the perfect buttery oatmeal cookie.

They are very sweet and rich and I admit that I won’t be making them too often because of that but I had to try them when I saw the and I am so glad I did, because in doing so I think I did find the perfect oatmeal cookie recipe! Now i am going to work on tweaking the cookie part so that it will be a bit less rich but keep what I love about them… Slightly crisp but still tender…

The kind of oatmeal cookie that I have been searching for and not cakey cookie that I often end up with….

For the cookie….

1 1/4 butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
11/2 cup flour
3 cup oats
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

For the creme filling

1/2 cup butter
2 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp whipping cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 375
Beat butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy, add egg and vanilla
In another bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and then add oats.
Add to butter mix and blend well
Drop by rounded tbsp 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheet
Bake for 10 min
Cool on racks and when cool, fill with filling

Zoku Quick Pops…

This is the Zoku quick pop maker.

It is one of the gifts that the kids got for the holidays. It is definitely not a cheap kitchen gadget so I was a bit hesitant that it would not be used much, but it was on their list (they all wrote that they wanted 1/3 of the maker) and I decided to go for it. The Zoku quick pop maker does exactly what it’s name says… It makes popsicle in about 7 minutes. Because the pops are so fun and easy to make we have been using it often and I went ahead and got a few more accessories for it and I am even thinking that I might get the lone pop maker so that we can make 4 at a time…

There is no electricity needed, all you need to put the maker in the freezer for 24 hours and in doing so you will be able to get 9 pops out of it… that easy.

What is so fun about these is that because they freeze so quickly you can make pops with layers, with fruit suspended in them and even pops with one flavour on the outside and another on the inside…

What goes in them… well that is your choice 🙂

The only guidelines are that you make sure that your pops have enough sugar (no artificial sugar in these) so that they will release from the pop maker when done. They also recommend that you don’t use mixes that are too thick or too fatty as they won’t hold the stick well and again, you will have trouble releasing.

(this “super tool” screws on the end of the stick and when you turn it you are able to release the pops with ease)

I was making mostly smoothie pops for a while. Frozen fruit with juice and yogourt and honey or maple syrup.

Then I got the recipe book free with an order of accessories, and the ideas started to flow. (the book is great and is all about the most natural and fresh ingredients)

I had some pumpkin in the fridge I needed to use so this is a pumpkin pie pop: the pumpkin layer is purred pumpkin with a bit of cream, brown sugar and cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and the white is cream and vanilla with a touch of brown sugar.

So good!

The accessories that I got were the storage case so that we can make some pops in advance, extra sticks, and the accessory kit that includes 3 measuring cups, a slanted holder to make zig zag pops, a sort of turkey baster tool to make filled pops, fruit shape cutters and the tool to suspend said shapes in the pop.

The next thing I want is the new chocolate station… (but it doesn’t seem to be available in Canada yet)