Pirate Booty-Pineapple Cake (not upside down)-Podiatrist Report

PIRATE'S BOOTY , man do I love that stuff. It is soooo good, we all love it in fact. 2 weeks ago I received a box of 5 samples to check out. Yeah, I wanted to run off to my room, shut the door and snarf them down alone. No such luck, my eagle eye five year old was there when I opened the box and of course he wanted some. I had to share.**sigh** In the box were 5 small bags, 1 Veggie Booty, 1 Aged White Cheddar, 1 Salt and Vinegar, 1 Bermuda Onion and a bag of Tings. The first to get picked was Salt and Vinegar, um yes it was good but gone way to quick. I do love Salt and Vinegar but the flavor powder on most commercial chips literally wears the skin off the inside off my mouth. Not good. Pirate Booty Salt and vinegar does not do that, it has just a great flavor that is mild but definitely there. Next up was Veggie Booty, I loved it and my kids were not that into them. I made them wait a few days to crack the other packs and when we did they picked the Tings. Oh those were salty crunchy deliciousness, yum. Again, I had to share, (dang those kids!) apparently kids know whats fair even if you they are only 3 and 5! I really liked these, a lot. We tried the Bermuda Onion and we all liked those too. Unfortunately I can't get them up here, or else I'll just have to expand my search. Thankfully I can order them online. We all agreed that the ultimate all time favorite is Aged White Cheddar which we can buy in bulk at Costco. Thanks Robert's American Gourmet for the awesome snacks!! I love that they are baked and lower in fat than chips, I feel like I can give my kids a cool snack that's good for them.

Here is the recipe for the pineapple cake from the luau on Saturday. I simply changed up the Banana Cake recipe, it turned out very well and we only had a small slice leftover. Someone else made a Hawaiian Wedding cake covered in cool whip, maraschino cherries, coconut and cream cheese, it was pretty but they left with 3/4 of a cake leftover. Sometimes simple is better.

Pineapple Cake-

1 ½ cups AP flour

3 tsp baking powder

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cup pineapple chunks

2 Tablespoons pineapple juice

1 ⅔ cups castor sugar-superfine is the same as castor

2 eggs

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small chunks

1/2 cup buttermilk-make your own by adding vinegar to milk and letting it set up

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Roasted pecans

ICING

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature, cut into small chunks

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small chunks

4 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 ½ tsp pineapple juice

Preheat your oven to 350F

Butter and flour a deep 26cm ring tin- I thin a 10 inch round is about right

Put the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda into a food processor and whiz them together for 15 seconds, then tip them into a bowl

Puree the pineapple and the juice in the processor until smooth

Add the sugar and eggs and whiz together for 1 minute

Add the butter and whiz it for another minute or until the mixture is thick and creamy

Now add the buttermilk and vanilla extract and pulse the processor in quick on/off bursts to just mix them in

Add the reserved flour mixture and again mix it in with quick bursts, scraping down the sides once or twice with a rubber spatula, until it’s only just combined (don’t overdo it or the cake will be tough) Scoop the batter into the prepared tin and smooth it out evenly.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean; it won’t have risen much because it’s quite dense

Don’t open the oven any earlier than this or the cake can sink in the middle-very true!!

Cool the cake in the tin on a wire rack for 7 minutes, gently loosen the cake around the edges with a butter knife or fine palette knife, then invert it onto the rack and leave it to cool completely

While the cake is cooling, make the icing. Whiz the cream cheese and butter in the food processor until they’re well mixed

Add the powdered sugar and pineapple juice and process until the icing is smooth. Scrape it into a bowl and chill it for about 15 minutes to firm it up if it seems a bit too soft (this usually only happens in really hot weather)-- HA not in Alaska

When the cake is cool, sit it on a serving plate or cake stand and carefully cut through the circumference widthways with a *long serrated knife to split it into two even layers. Spread some icing on the bottom layer, then sandwich the two halves back together again. Spread a thick layer of icing all over the top and sides of the cake and smooth it as best you can with a long palette knife

Serve the cake straight away or refrigerate it. It keeps well for up to 1 week – just bring it back to cool room temperature before eating it. Either leave the top plain or decorate it with roasted pecans

I went to the podiatrist yesterday, I love this guy, he is a great doctor. In one week (I am so excited I can hardly stand it!) I get to wear regular tennis shoes again! I may need physical therapy to get some flexibility back in my toe but I am healing. New to my blog? Here is the original story.

Mt. Redoubt

Isn't this an awesome photo? It looks like a painting!

Picture Date: March 31, 2009
Image Creator: McGimsey, Game;

Image courtesy of AVO/USGS.

Going to the podiatrist

so I won't be posting most of the day. I will be getting my ankle and bunion surgery sight looked at and then just hanging out, being a hoodlum at the mall. Oh, wait, no mall hoodlum, that was 20 years ago. I will be kicking back in Anchorage for the day, hitting up thrift stores and checking out the health food stores and generally (ahem) enjoying myself except for the foot check up part. OW! Hopefully though I will be closer than ever to getting out of this dang walking boot cast and into semi-regular shoes.

Seventh Generation Starter Pack Giveaway WINNER!!!!

And the winner is #34!!! I tried to cut and paste the number generator but to no avail, maybe someone can clue me on how they put the actual thingy thing on their posts. Anybody? Anybody?!?!


The




winner



is




Molly!!!! At Stilettos and Diapers!! YEAH!!! Molly!!! So go check her out and say hi. I have emailed her and if I don't hear back from her in 24 hours I will pick a new winner!!


Thanks Seventh Generation, I love your products!!

PS if anybody quits following me I'll cry

Eggs BSI

After looking over the other entries for this weeks BSI I am a bit embarrassed that mine is so simple. This week has been crazy with constant Redoubt eruptions and spring cleaning, so simple was the key or not at all. Here goes nothing.


Eggs Palmer -------------- oven 400 degrees F

2 cups frozen shredded hash browns
cooking spray
4 farm fresh eggs
salt and pepper to taste
4 small 6oz Pyrex bowls

Lightly spray each Pyrex dish
evenly divide the frozen hash browns between bowls and form a bit of a nest by pushing the potatoes to the edges of the bowl but do leave some on the bottom of the dish too
salt each bowl lightly and bake for 15 minutes until the nest has begun to brown lightly
remove from the oven and use a spoon to push the potatoes against the side of the bowl not mashing so much and resetting them
crack an egg in each bowl salt and pepper if desired
return to oven bake an additional 15 minutes or until eggs are set

I prefer my eggs un-runny and they were cooked pretty thoroughly with these cooking times
feel free to cook the potatoes longer and the eggs less if that's how you like it

Simple, easy, awesome.

If you are looking for the Seventh Generation Starter giveaway you can comment on any of my post from this week for entries, followers and link get extra entries. The contest closes at 6 pm my time, today.

Spring Clean and Win Week! Seventh Generation!!

All you need to do is cruise over to Seventh Generation, check them out, come back and leave me a comment about which products you liked or why you will switch to any product on ANY post this week for an entry. I will be combining all comments and running the contest through random.org! (2)Followers leave me an extra comment saying you are following me and that's an extra entry. (3)Blog it with a link back and that's a third fourth and fifth entry, please leave a comment for each entry so I can easily keep track of all enrties. (4)Also leave a comment any day on my cleaning or cooking for the day for an extra daily entry. WHEW!!


Please come back later for an updated post we have 65 MPH winds, volcano dust and much more going on. The contest ends today and I will be drawing a winner at 6 pm my time and will post it by 7 pm my time. Hopefully!

Saturday Earth Hour 8:30 PM-Pineapple Cake-Daring Bakers

Shut off your lights tonight for Earth Hour at 8:30 PM. This is a global effort to show symbolic solidarity to end global warming. I will be sitting quietly playing scrabble with my husband in the twilight, yes it is still light here, hopefully kicking his bu*$. What will you be doing?

Pineapple cake? Well my friend is having a Luau tonight and I was going to make The Better Than Anything Banana Cake but I am thinking I might change it up and try Pineapple Cake? Or Banana Cake with Pineapple frosting? I am also making up a tropical chicken skewers recipe, we'll see how that goes.

I also joined the Daring Bakers group this month. The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge. This isn't your normal sauce and cheese stuffed lasagne. Rather it is made with homemade spinach pasta, ragu, and bechemal sauce layers and dusted with parmesan cheese. It was a beautiful day of baking spent mostly by myself quietly cooking and panicking over handmade spinach pasta. Only a slight heart attack there you know. The how and hunh(?) of incorporating 10 ounces chopped spinach and 2 eggs into 3 1/2 cups of flour was just scary to think about. I ended up adding an extra egg and all was good. Other than that followed their recipe to a T. Awesome!

Frugal Fridays-Dirt Cheap Eating + Some Cleaning

I grow a LOT of our food. I enjoy it. And it's cheap too. As in frugal. Where else can you buy all the Bok Choy you might ever eat in a summer for $1.89? Or basil? Have you bought enough basil to make pesto lately? Yeah, it's not cheap but I just bought 4 different kinds to grow this summer for 10 bucks. A while back I ordered all of the onions we are going to grow for about 50 bucks. Growing your own food can be a great way to say money and doing it organically means you get(at least) triple benefits :
1)cheap organics of course + no money spent of fertilizer
2) healthy for you
3)healthy for the earth
I'm sure the list can go on and on but I can't.


What? you say you don't garden? Well, why not start small with an herb garden in a container? Small, easy to maintain and delish results. Or a salad container garden. Tomatoes can grow just about anywhere outside, OK except here we need special varieties or a greenhouse. But you get my drift, there are many options for all people.

No experience at all? Seek out your local Cooperative Extension office, they usually offer free gardening classes and composting classes among many other services. They wealth and breadth of their knowledge is amazing. And get this they are paid, highly schooledprofessionals employed by land grant universities (a few examples? Cornell and Purdue!) to HELP YOU FOR FREE. Seriously they are there to spread the wealth of knowledge from land grant universities. They can tell what kind of bug you just found, where to plant a garden, why your compost isn't heating up all for FREE. It's their job so before you go out to your local yokel MEGA BuyAlot Boxopoly check out this free trained resource near you. They are in ALL 50 states and they are there for the express purpose of helping people like you and me. You can also look for their Master Gardeners who usually run springhotlines to answer questions about gardens. Master Gardeners are trained as extensions of the extension office so more people benefit from the huge amount of research that these universities do. Even if the university is no where near you they all have many branches throughout the state.

I started some plants the other night, in less than 48 hours I had Bok Choy and lettuce up and reaching for the sky. Yes, you do need to buy some initial pots and flats and some soil but those are small investments that can, for the most part, be used again and again. Something don't need to be purchased and this is a great time to stretch your recycling mind. I use old yogurt cupscut in strips as plant markers and dish soap bottles (rinsed out really well) for gentle watering of new seedlings.

Growing your own food can really be empowering, I love to go out in the cool evenings and walk around my gardens thinking I did this and it's all mine. Actually it's not though because my kids have gardens and my chickens make the compost and my husband tills and we all harvest. But still, in my mind, it's all my creation.


recycled plant markers

dirt cheap eating starts here


newly planted flats and my watering jug

Still working on the kitchen, little bit #3 seems better but we'll have to wait and see.

Thursday Cleaning Roundup-Pirate Booty Snack Break-Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice

Today was spent cleaning my kitchen and nursing a sick little boy. Boy #3 'felt yucky' and spent the day on the couch or attached to my leg. I think he is going to be fine and eventually the kitchen will be fine too.

My intention was to completely clean my kitchen but once again life thwarted my plans and I didn't finish the kitchen so I will have to work on it again tomorrow to get it done. You know it's really hard to clean and move swiftly with a 35 pound boy hanging off your leg. I did get my entire stove torn down and deeply cleaned. I washed everything with the Kitchen Cleaner - Wild Orange and Cedar Spice, mmmmm it smells so good. Once again I was able to use these products without gloves on. I have terrible eczema so to be able to use cleaning products that don't hurt my skin is a wonderful plus to these products.

I also love the information they have on the back of the package it looks alot like this:

from the Seventh Generation website


It just helps me remember why I want to keep using these products!


Snack today was PIRATE BOOTY!!! My kids get zero junk food. No granola bars (Gnu Bars yes but they are not junk food), no gummy fruits, pop tarts or chips. One thing I do find acceptable is Pirate Booty. What you have never heard of Pirate Booty? Well it's actually a healthy snack that is low in fat and absolutely delicious, my kids LOVE it. I do too. Roberts American Gourmet sent me a sampler pack of 5 flavors to try out. I'll give a full review later this week but I do have to say we all enjoyed them immensely. Thankfully we were at Costco last week and happened upon a double bag package of Aged White Cheddar Pirate Booty and snatched it before you could say "Ahoy Thar Matey" so now they can munch on it with out me gasping "is that the last of it" (Ok skrieking it but whatever).


Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice
1 lb of red beans
salt to taste
Luzianne or other Cajun Spice mix
1 lb of Hilshire Farms Smoked Turkey Sausage
water
Beef broth optional in place of water
cooked rice


The night before you want to cook this dinner wash and sort beans
in a large dutch oven cover beans with water and bring to a boil
boil for 2 minutes
turn off the burner, cover and leave beans to sit over night
the next day you should rinse the beans and pour them in to your crockpot
cover with fresh water(or broth) about 2 inches above the beans
cook on high for 30 minutes then reduce heat to low and cook for 6-8 hours
1 hour before dinner add some salt and spices to taste then slice the sausage and add it in too
Make sure at this time you have rice to eat with the beans either cook some or reheat it
To serve put rice in a bowl and pour a scoop of beans and sausage over it serve with red wine vinegar and shave parmesan (yes it sounds nasty weird but it is so so good)


Tomorrow I will be finishing the kitchen and washing windows. Come back and enter to win again then, thanks.

Pictures coming in 20 minutes!

Wednesday Cleaning-Seventh Generation Giveaway-Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken UPDATED

This is a quick and early update for Wednesday and cleaning and life. I am getting ready for pre-school, the chicken is ready for the crock pot and I am so ready to clean out the refrigerator. Come back later for results and recipe. Have a great day!

Crock Pot 'Rotisserie' Chicken
4 pieces of leftover aluminum foil rolled in to balls
1 roasting chicken
Lawrys seasoning salt to taste/your own favorite rub
Large Crock Pot


place the 4 balls of recycled foil in the bottom of the crock pot
wash the chicken inside and out
pat dry and place on the foil balls
sprinkle on the seasoning salt or your favorite rub
gently rub in the seasoning until the bird is coated
cover cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4 hours


Ours was done by 1PM so I took it out and popped in another chicken; in my opinion you can never have too much cooked leftovers on hand especially when cleaning or napping heavily

Now on to more important things...THE FRIDGE-cue creepy haunted house music.

*******UPDATE*******

Wow the fridge was much LESS yuck than I thought it would be. I used the Kitchen Cleaner sprayed on damp rags and wiped it down. It was very quick and easy. Hmmmm also not at all as painful as I figured it would be. Whew dodged a bullet on that one.

The Crock Pot 'Rottiserie' Chicken was delish! I cooked the second one for about 4 hours and served it sliced with tortillas for wrapping or Barbecue Sauce for dipping. HFCS free bbq sauce no less! I'll post the brand on that tomorrow.

Tomorrows projects include washing down my kitchen cabinets, mucking out the cabinets, adding shelf liner and maybe washing windows. I have three 8 foot by 6 foot windows to wash and I can't wait to see the results from Seventh Generation Ruby Grapefruit and Herb!

Leave me a comment and you could win a HUGE starter set of Seventh Generation cleaning products for your self!---->

Day 2 of Operation Spring Clean & Seventh Generation Giveaway **UPDATE**

Today we are tackling the bathroom and mudroom. These are both situated at the back of the house along with our pantry. I think the bathroom is my favorite room in our house right now because we just finished remodeling it. It is beautiful. The 'counter' is an Amish work table we made in to a vanity by dropping in a sink and plumbing it through-LOVE-. The closet is an old hoosier cabinet that sure does hold a lot of stuff. My husband and I tore this room out down to studs in 2007 and built it back all on our own. I really love my bathroom. Today it is getting the cleaning blitz along with our mudroom.
My favorite room!

We will be using the Seventh Generation Glass Cleaner in Grapefruit scent, Toilet Bowl Cleaner- Emerald Cypress and Fir and Tub & Tile Cleaner in Emerald Cypress and Fir. I'm sure the All Purpose Cleaner-Green Mandarin will be used in there somewhere too. One of a plethora nice thing about the Seventh Generation products is that I am never worried that the fumes from 2 different products are going to mingle and blow up my bathroom. I remember when I was little hearing about someone who was cleaning their bathroom and blew the entire thing up. That has stuck with me for 30 odd years and it still freaks me out! Also my tongue doesn't get numb when I use the shower cleaner, something I can't say when I use other commercial cleaners. Again today my kids will not actually be using the cleaning products but simply helping with other parts. And providing comic relief. Like that picture in my last post of my 3 year old "kung-fu cleaning" in front of the giant pile 'o stuff. It's always something around this place.

And for dinner, Black Bean Soup in the crock pot! I'll be posting the recipe later during "quiet (or Mommy might go insane) time.

Want to win these awesome cleaning supplies? All you need to do is cruise over to Seventh Generation, check them out, come back and leave me a comment about which products you liked or why you will switch to any product on ANY post this week for an entry. I will be combining all comments and running the contest through random.org! (2)Followers leave me an extra comment saying you are following me and that's an extra entry. (3)Blog it with a link back and that's a third fourth and fifth entry, please leave a comment for each entry so I can easily keep track of all entries. (4)Also leave a comment any day on my cleaning or cooking for the day for an extra daily entry. WHEW!!


**UPDATE**
Let me say this first. When my ex-husband left me high and dry w/ a 7 year old and the house I parents 'gave us' (long story short we paid off the debt and took it over) he demanded that I sell the house and give him half the money. Instead I put my lawn mower in the back of my truck and started a lawn care business that branched in to a cleaning company which I ran until my current lovely perfectly wonderful husband pretty much said quit whenever you want because I can take of you and our sons. To which my immediate response was to put my feet up and live a lifestyle of chocolate and bonbons(hahahaha). The point of that little glimpse in to my life and where I come from is to say this: I know my stuff when it comes to cleaning, I know what works and what doesn't and I know how hard I should have to scrub and how long each job takes. I know the harsh tongue numbing chemicals that remove the skin from un-protected hands, these are not those products.

Seventh Generation products work! Today was a serious workout of these awesome cleaners and they really do work and I really love them. Plus at the grocery store today the coupon machine spit out a 2 dollar off coupon for MORE cleaner goodness. WOOT!

I think I will go through each product that I used today and give a quick review.
To start I used the Seventh Generation Glass Cleaner in Grapefruit scent oh man no stinky ammonia smell here. It was a lovely fresh, light smell and it really cleaned the windows to a squeaky clean. I also used 2 of the paper towels to wash the windows with. I don't use disposable paper products anymore I gave them up last year and use washable napkins and rags made from old clothes. So I was at a loss what to do with paper towels, I finally decided to use them. Just 2 did ALL FOUR WINDOWS, strong little guys! I think I will save them and use them sparingly to see how long they last. They are made from 100% recycled paper and it felt good to only use 2.
I cleaned the toilet next with their Toilet Bowl Cleaner- Emerald Cypress and Fir it worked great and had a nice mellow scent too. I used the All Purpose Cleaner-Green Mandarin to clean the rest of of the toilet. It sure was shiny! On to the tub. I have a brand new tub and surround so it was not too icky. I sprayed on Tub & Tile Cleaner in Emerald Cypress and Fir and let it soak for a bit and while it was soaking I washed out the sink and filled it with hot water and a shot of the all purpose cleaner for washing walls. The shower sat for about 3 minutes and all I had to do was easily wipe down the walls, my tongue did NOT go numb and I didn't even wear gloves!! I always wear gloves because I have eczema but my hands felt great and still feel great. WOW! On to washing walls, this was really quick and easy but the bead board and trim did give me trouble but only because it is cream and prone to scudge-iness. I vacuumed and wiped down the floor and was OUT of there in 42 minutes. Wahoooooo.

Uggg the laundry box, clean now!Wall washing anyone?

Oh my can I crawl away now?!?

It sure looks good now! YES??

The other big plan was to hit the mudroom but reality and plans clashed today and I had to be in 2 places at once so the mudroom took a miss as did the bean soup. We had a leftover buffet as a way to gear up for tomorrows FRIDGE CLEAN OUT!! Eweeweweew....but I will brave just for you guys. No befores though, you'll just have to imagine the mess of 3 boys (1 teenager) who rummage pretty freely and NEVER shut things.

My tentative menu plan for the week is something like this:
Crock Pot Roasted Chicken, salad, green beans
Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice, salad, broccoli (from last years garden)
Crock Pot black Bean Soup, tortillas, crudites
Left Over Buffet anything and everything left

Plan for tomorrow:
Co-op preschool
attack mudroom
clean out fridge

Spring Clean and Win Week! Seventh Generation!!

My house is a wreck. I have been recovering from ankle and foot surgery for 1 month now and by the time my kids go to bed I am wiped out. I don't seem to have enegry to do the little things that make my house clean and decent. Besides now that spring has sprung it really is time to for a deep spring clean. That's my mission for the week, spring clean! Of course I will be cooking too, all my recipes will be easy crock pot or busy day recipes that require minimal work and attention.

All week I will be cleaning, deep cleaning my house. I will be using my favorite cleaning products, Seventh Generation!! The fine folks were so awesome to me! They sent me an entire starter pack to try out and review. The starter pack includes-
Glass Cleaner - Grapefruit
All-Purpose Cleaner - Green Mandarin
Toilet Bowl Cleaner - Emerald
Shower Cleaner - Green Mandarin
Tub & Tile Cleaner
Kitchen Cleaner
(2) Natural Paper Towels - 120 Count
Reusable Tote


They actually went beyond awesome because they gave me one and I have one to give away to a lucky reader!! The winner will pick either the above starter pack or this one:

FREE & CLEAR STARTER KIT

Free & Clear Natural Glass & Surface Cleaner
Free & Clear Natural All Purpose Cleaner
Free & Clear Natural Dish Liquid
Free & Clear Natural Laundry Detergent, 50 oz
(2) Natural Paper Towels - 120 Count
Reusable Tote

All you need to do is cruise over to Seventh Generation, check them out, come back and leave me a comment about which products you liked or why you will switch to any product on ANY post this week for an entry. I will be combining all comments and running the contest through random.org! (2)Followers leave me an extra comment saying you are following me and that's an extra entry. (3)Blog it with a link back and that's a third fourth and fifth entry, please leave a comment for each entry so I can easily keep track of all enrties. (4)Also leave a comment any day on my cleaning or cooking for the day for an extra daily entry. WHEW!!

Today I am cooking this delicous looking Crock Pot Asian Peanut Butter Pork From Dinner at Christina's. It looked so good and it is the perfect no worry meal.


Crock Pot Asian Peanut Butter Pork

1.5-2 pound pork tenderloin
1 onion, sliced in rings
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar -I am using red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp water
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter-I am using crunchy because it is all I have
2 Tbsp chopped peanuts (garnish; optional)
1 lime, cut in wedges (garnish; optional)

Use a 4-6 quart crockpot. Put onion slices into the bottom of your crockpot. Put the pork on top. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic, and peanut butter. No need to stir - the peanut butter needs to melt before you can. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-6. The pork will be more tender the longer you cook it. 1 hour before serving, flip the meat over in the crockpot to allow the other side to soak up the peanut buttery goodness. Garnish with chopped peanuts, and serve with lime wedges.


Currently I am knee deep in my pantry mucking it out. I will adding pictures in about an hour or so. Please understand that Mt. Redoubt has erupted and in the event that I am unable to post for a day or 2 I will be extending the contest. I will be posting daily otherwise and updating with pictures and reviews. We are currently in a holding pattern with the ash cloud at 50,000 feet and heading northwest. We are northeast and might be missed, fingers crossed. Come back soon for a review and pictures now let me go CLEAN!!!!

Ok I am SO embarrassed! I did not know my pantry was such a MESS!!! So to start I had my kids help me by moving out all the food and other stuff that doesn't even belong there. What the heck?!? So here is a before:



Here is the mega pile o'stuff: (and a kung-fu cleaner)


Once everything was out I used a damp rag and small spritz of the kitchen cleaner and wiped down all the shelves. Then I vacuumed out all the crumbs. I let my kids use dry rags to wipe down all the shelves. They always want to help but since they are so young I did not want them using the cleaners themselves, drying was quite fine by them. Now Seventh Generation Kitchen Cleaner safe does not create any harsh fumes and it is totally non-toxic and boy does it smell good! The scent is wild orange and cedar, yum! This is the first time I have used their kitchen cleaner but it will not be the last. I do use their dish soap, toilet paper and, ahem, ladies products, I love them all.



Here is the drying crew.





The finished product!

Redoubt Finally Blew

There's never a dull moment living in Alaska! Mt Redoubt finally blew her top tonight, finally. We have been waiting for 2 months now and I just put away our air masks the other day figuring it wasn't going any time soon. Here is a link to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

As soon as pictures of the current eruption become available I will be posting them.

What happens to daily life when a volcano erupts? Well for one thing my husband works for the local government and he will be assisting in the Emergency Operations Center and working 12 hours on 12 hours off. People are usually advised to not drive their cars unless necessary. You have to wear a special mouth and nose mask to keep the ask from scratching up your lungs and mucus membranes. The snow will soon be gray and very dirty and our cars will be covered with thick, gray ash. We will stay indoors if the ash fall is thick enough. And I may very well go absolutely batty crazy, cabin fever is running rampant here!

UAF photo taken by R. Clucas of the 1990 eruption. Isn't that beautiful?

My BSI entry-Not Coleslaw

Where did this week go? It seems like just yesterday I was completely freaked out about having to choose a BSI winner and Now I am almost late with my entry. But not too late! This weeks host is the lovely Christina at Dinner at Christina's and the ingredient for this week is CABBAGE!

Oh my I do love cabbage but all my recipes are so simple and nothing that fancy really. I love cabbage because it is one of a handful of vegetables that grow really well in our valley. The biggest cabbages grow here actually and the sweetest carrots too because the days are 20 hours long and warm. The nights cool and crisp. These are vegetables I can relate to yet I was at a loss for my BSI entry.
Enter panic mode. Finally I decide well it's now or never and I'm going for it. I had decided on a simple cabbage salad even though my husband wrinkled his nose at the idea. In general he doesn't like coleslaw but I thought he might like this. Ha, I was right he ate 3 servings and LOVED it.

Not Coleslaw--needs to be refrigerated 2-4 hours before serving
1/2 head of cabbage core removed
2 carrots peeled and ready to go
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup feta + extra for garnish if desired
1/4 cup raisins

dressing
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup yogurt
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch of sugar
dash of pepper

in a food processor fitted with a shredding blade shred the cabbage and the carrot
tip in to a mixing bowl
add the corn, feta and raisins
make the dressing
start by mixing the milk and yogurt together, add the vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes while you measure out the other ingredients(this step lets the vinegar thicken the milk)
add all the other spices mix gently
pour over the salad stir carefully and cover it
place it in the refrigerator to let the flavors meld
stir before serving and sprinkle with extra feta if desired


It's a simple little recipe but it is delicious and a perfect summer salad. I also love this salad because it features vegetables that grow here and that keep all winter. Just one more step towards locavore life in Alaska.


Oh yeah!



This is my 3 year old working on his second bowl.

Frugal Fridays-A budget, the pantry+More Gnus

Budget-So I have decided to cut our grocery costs in half. I am regularly spending 200 bucks a week on groceries and that is just too much. I am again hauling myself back under control and making sure I follow a list with coupons and sales marked. This week I was able to spend just 74 dollars on my weekly groceries. I used my reward dollars at Fred Meyer and was a vicious couponer using several store coupons w/ sale prices and manufacturer coupons to lower prices to just pennies.
I think the real challenge of 'cheap' shopping is actually eating healthy foods and buying local these things don't often come with coupons and are more expensive. I am back to my old mantra 'I am doing the best I can for right now'. Local milk and veggies, whole grains and beans, local meats (augmented with sale meats). Going meatless is a great way to save money too, Mrs. JellyBelly has a great post on that idea read it here.

Pantry- To really make living on a budget work you have to be able to buy whats on sale, when it's on sale and store it for when you do need it. Behold the pantry. Or as my son likes to call it "the pant-ree". You must have a place to store food. Or 2. A dry pantry and if you can swing it an extra freezer somewhere. You also need to EAT the food you buy. So as you stock up make sure you pull the first bought items to the front. This is not the stock up and never eat it lifestyle, because when you do go to eat it you want it to still be good. If it's not still good when you want to eat it well then you are throwing money down the drain.



I don't know about anybody else but 6 months out of the year I need heavy duty fabric softener because Alaska is so dry the static sparks can literally light up a room. The rest of the year I line dry and don't use it at all.


This is a picture of the Leprechaun trap we built on St. Patricks day. My children are so funny. I thought I would revive the old game I played with my oldest son...we have a leprechaun loose and he is dying our milk green-hiding our shoes-causing trouble and generally being naughty. So when they got up that day the carafe of water from the night before was dyed a deep green and there were green cookie sprinkles thrown all over the counter. They were intrigued. Who? What? Why? Talking between themselves excitedly, they were trying to figure it all out. I let it ride as I made coffee but when I poured the green milk for #2 son he burst into tears saying how he hated the naughty leprechaun. I could hardly contain myself and stepped in to my room to smother a laugh and get it together. That leprechaun was doomed though. They hatched a plan, after I showed them a magazine with traps to catch the pesty little guys they had it all figured out. They were going to wait until he climbed the ladder to take the honey nut cheerio bait and then the youngest would bang him on the head with a Lincoln log and down into the box/trap he would go. Thankfully the leprechaun avoided his undue persecution and the entire day was spent devising ways to make the trap bigger and better. All in a a cheap, fun and creative day. WE NEED SPRING! And melting snow. Simultaneously.




Can I just say how very sad I am to see the end of the Gnu Bars? I am sad. They are SO good. My kids are saying "these are the best ones, oh, wait, no this flavor is better" 3 & 5 year olds having discussions over their favorite Gnu Bars, it's hilarious. So the results for my kids are in. They have each tasted/eaten every flavor and they picked their favorites. My 5 year old adores, I mean ADORES, the Orange Cranberry! The binary super dark black boy(our nick name+his favorite color) 3 year old loved them all but his ultimate "best ever in the whole world" was the Peanut Butter Bar. Oh and how weird is this? I can take or leave bananas but I really fell for the Banana Walnut Bar. I like fresh bananas. I usually can't take anything 'banana flavored', this has no banana flavor it is FLAVORED WITH ACTUAL BANANA. And WOW too good to be true. It tastes like the moistest banana bread your mother ever made. Truth be told I left this one until last to taste, then finally drug it out and of course it blew my doors OFF! If you missed my original review you can find it here.
Thanks Gnu Bar folks! The bars were so delicious and it was fun to put them out as family taste tests and ask each person what they thought. We enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Do these children make me look old?

Just wondering...

2 meals in one-Tamale Pie and Stuffed Chiles

Two friends of mine are having babies this month, both girls! Ohhhhh. Too cool right? Right! I get to buy PINK baby stuff, finally. I am also reviving an apparently long lost tradition, bringing dinner. So this is a tale of new babies, old traditions and good food.

In the 'old' days when people actually cooked real food, if someone was sick or having a baby or if someone died, women would cook a meal and bring it to the family 'to help out'. Whether that meant keeping a new mom off her feet, or feeding a hungry or grieving family, you did it because that's what you did. After my ankle/foot surgery 3 weeks ago only one person brought a dish to help ease the strain for my husband. Now it could be that all my friends knew I had eight meals planned, cooked and frozen ahead of time or it could be that this valuable part of community building is gone. I am on a mission to revive this lost tradition and it starts with me. So as my friends are waiting for babies I am cooking up a storm for them. Heheh.

I am making each family Lasagna, Tamale Pie and Cheese Enchiladas. It's been good for us too because I am making our daily dinner right along side their dinners but while we eat ours, I freeze theirs. This is my present to each family because chances are they both have a TON of pink stuff. I will buy pink stuff just not yet.

This is the basic recipe for a favorite dinner I make for us. When I made it this week I doubled it and made 3 tamale pies and 4 stuffed chilies.


Tamale Pie and Stuffed Peppers preheat oven to 350
4 poblano chili peppers or sweet bell peppers
1 pound 93% lean ground beef
1/2 medium onion chopped
2 chopped garlic cloves
1 20 ounce can of Rosarita Enchilada Sauce-I like this one best you can use others
1 cup frozen corn
1 1/2 cups dried polenta
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of grated sharp cheese
sour cream or Mexican Crema to cut the heat of the peppers

Bring the 4 cups of water to a boil add the salt and polenta whisking to incorporate
reduce heat and simmer slowly for 20 minutes stirring occasionally
brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic
drain any fat and add the enchilada sauce and corn stirring to mix thoroughly, reduce heat
to low and just keep warm

spray a pie pan with non stick spray carefully take 1/3 of the polenta and form a crust in the bottom of the pan and up the sides
bake for 10 minutes int he 350 degree oven
meanwhile wash the peppers and carefully cut a small piece out of one side making a pocket big enough to remove the seeds-check your peppers to see which way they lay best
take 1/3 of the polenta and evenly split it between the 4 peppers saving a bit tip top each pepper
on top of the polenta add a spoon full of beef mixture then pop on the last of the polenta
place the peppers in a pie pan and set them aside
then remove the pie pan from the oven add the rest of the beef mixture and top with the last of the polenta to form a top crust

pop the peppers and the pie in the oven and bake for 25 minutes
remove and sprinkle both with the cheese let them rest for 5 minutes and serve with the cour cream

If you have no desire for stuffed peppers then by all means simply bake this in an 11X7 pan, 2 regular pie pans or 1 very deep pie pan. I make the stuffed chili peppers for my husband and I and the pie for my kids because my kids can't take the heat. If you are a small family this can definitely be 2 meals, cook one and freeze the other.

Here is the pie, pre cheese.


The peppers-this is actually a picture of the first batch I made where I cut them in half, a very big mistake. They wanted to wallow every where so I used a couple big toothpicks to hold them together. I have since refined the process to simply cutting a small piece out of one side and stufing them that way.


And this is a boy who wants spring to come. Yes, he is wearing sandals. No, he is NOT wearing pants.


Also, on another note: People with the dog in my local coffee shop-Coffee shops do not want your dog lunging for fresh bread and cookies. We the patrons DO NOT WANT to have your stanky dog leaping around hairing everyone and being a PAIN. We are not MEANIES who hate 'doggies' we just don't want your dog in THE COFFEE SHOP. And please do you realize how stupid you look as a grown up calling your dog "doggie" yeah I thought so. Doggie...sheesh.

Why I had to buy a new printer...

Well it looks like the link went bad? Hunh. I'll try to put it back up later.

Better Than (ahem) Anything Banana Cake

I have to thank Mary from gossip, hearsay and tittle tattle for this fabulous cake recipe. It uses very ripe bananas which makes it perfect for my house where poor untold amounts of bananas come to rot to death every year. They do make great additions to the compost heap but I'd rather eat them and compost the peels only. So if you have overly ripe bananas try this cake before they have to get composted.

THE MOST FABULOUS BANANA CAKE taken from Belinda Jeffery’s Mix and Bake cook book

1 ½ cups AP flour - I, of course used whole wheat to see if I could, I could

3 tsp baking powder

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

2-3 large very ripe bananas (to yield 1 cup mashed banana)

1 ⅔ cups castor sugar-superfine is the same as castor

2 eggs

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small chunks

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Roasted pecans to serve (optional)

ICING

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature, cut into small chunks

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small chunks

4 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350F

Butter and flour a deep 26cm ring tin- I used a 9X13 I will continue to look for a smaller but deeper pan

Put the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda into a food processor and whiz them together for 15 seconds, then tip them into a bowl

Mash the bananas and measure out 1 cup banana pulp. Scrape this into the processor and puree it until it’s smooth

Add the sugar and eggs and whiz together for 1 minute

Add the butter and whiz it for another minute or until the mixture is thick and creamy

Now add the buttermilk and vanilla extract and pulse the processor in quick on/off bursts to just mix them in

Add the reserved flour mixture and again mix it in with quick bursts, scraping down the sides once or twice with a rubber spatula, until it’s only just combined (don’t overdo it or the cake will be tough) Scoop the batter into the prepared tin and smooth it out evenly.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean; it won’t have risen much as it’s quite dense

Don’t open the oven any earlier than this or the cake can sink in the middle

Cool the cake in the tin on a wire rack for 7 minutes, gently loosen the cake around the edges with a butter knife or fine palette knife, then invert it onto the rack and leave it to cool completely

While the cake is cooling, make the icing. Whiz the cream cheese and butter in the food processor until they’re well mixed

Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and process until the icing is smooth. Scrape it into a bowl and chill it for about 15 minutes to firm it up if it seems a bit too soft (this usually only happens in really hot weather)-- HA!

When the cake is cool, sit it on a serving plate or cake stand and carefully cut through the circumference widthways with a *long serrated knife to split it into two even layers. Spread some icing on the bottom layer, then sandwich the two halves back together again. Spread a thick layer of icing all over the top and sides of the cake and smooth it as best you can with a long palette knife

Serve the cake straight away or refrigerate it. It keeps well for up to 1 week – just bring it back to cool room temperature before eating it. Either leave the top plain or decorate it with roasted pecans

*use dental floss for a super easy cut

I left a lot of the terminology that came with the original recipe because I like the way it reads, it's very different than any recipe I have read. I also converted the ingredients to something Americans can understand easily.

When Mary asked if I wanted a great cake recipe I was a little apprehensive about a banana cake. Banana? I had never heard of Banana Cake but Mary is from Australia and according to her this is a true blue Australian recipe. OK that right there said " you must make this cake" I love to try recipes that have not been grabbed by the commercial world and processed to death and zealously marketed. I bet Outback Steakhouse doesn't have a humble banana cake. I am making that statement having never actually been to a Outback Steakhouse as I truly try to avoid nationwide franchise chain frankenfood 'restaurants' so correct me if you want but even if they do it can't hold a candle to this simple fabulous cake. Thanks Mary, it was better than you said and I can't wait to make your chocolate cake.

I do have pictures but I am sitting quietly in a coffee shop, alone, sans camera so when I get home pictures will, of course, be added.

BSI Winner and a New Host!

I bet this is late for you folks on the East coast but here it is still mid-morning. I'm sorry if I am posting too late, but well anytime anybody wants to wrangle the hooligans so I can write just let me know! So on to the news! First of all I have had a heck of a time picking a winner, wow, so many amazing recipes!

The entries went down like this:
Becca had these fabulous pesto stuffed chicken breasts-
http://bitesoftheday.blogspot.com/2009/03/bsi-strawberries.html
Christina made an amazing strawberry banana pie-
http://www.dinneratchristinas.com/2009/03/bsi-strawberry-strawberry-banana-cream.html
Emily came up with this killer sandwich-
http://eatingchalk.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/bsi-strawberry-entry/
Ruth fixed this great PI for a real treat-
http://plentifulplants.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/happy-strawberry-pi-day/
Sarah rocked the whole grain world with these-
http://talesofexpansion.wordpress.com/recipes/balsamic-strawberry-oaties/
SweetiePie came up with some delicious bars-
http://thisisjustsweetenough.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/very-strawberry-almond-butter-snack-bars/
Hallie reproduced her favorite salad, woot!-
http://healthytwists.wordpress.com/2009/03/15/bsi-entry-arugula-with-strawberries-and-balsamic-shallot-vinaigrette/
Brandi just about blew my mind with samosas, yeah that's right, samosas-
http://one-bite-at-a-time.blogspot.com/2009/03/bsi-entry-sweet-strawberry-samosas.html
Mara whipped up some cake that looks so fab!-
http://www.imadedinner.net/2009/03/15/spring-has-sprung/
Biggest Diabetic loser Came up with this delicious combo-oh yum I love balsamic vinegar! SORRY! I am apologizing here because I some how forgot/messed up my final draft and left her fab recipe out!
http://biz319.wordpress.com/2009/03/15/bsi-strawberries/

The winner? Oh my the winner is......................................................











SweetiePie and her homemade Very Strawberry Almond Butter Snack Bars!! Yeah SweetiePie!! Congratulations! I am so making those this week! Email me so I can send you your prize.

All the recipes looked so wonderful I will definitely be working my way through the list. Thanks to everyone who made my week of hosting BSI a total, roaring success. I have had a BLAST!

I have asked Cristina of Dinner at Christina's to host this week and she has agreed so I am officially handing over the torch to her. I can't wait to see what she comes up with for the ingredient and get cooking. Thanks for all the fun this week, seriously, it has helped me fight the winter blues that are still hanging around here.

BSI Reminder! Tonight at 11:59 PM Your recipes are due!

Hey all just a quick reminder that all BSI recipes submissions are due at 11:59 pm tonight! If you have sent one and don't see it let me know! I think I have received and posted every recipe but it is possible I might have missed yours, that would be a bummer. I don't know how the hosts pick the winning recipes, they all look so good. I am SO impressed.

Thankfully I don't have to create each recipe and taste each recipe because for sure I would gain back the 2 pounds I LOST this week. Yes, my scale is moving downward, finally! DH and I are on a mission to lose excess winter (haha) weight. Our weigh in day is Sunday to help us keep those movie watching nights honest. You know popcorn is so easy to inhale! So wish us luck!

UPDATE---WOW 9 recipes!! Check them out here!

What's Gnu?? A sweet review

Just today I received a sweet delicious surprise! A nice sampling of Gnu Bars from the UPS man (OK, really the fine folks at Gnu Bars sent them) and they arrived about 2 hours before dinner, boy was my 5 year old excited to open the box and see FOOD!! He of course instantly wanted to sample each and every bar right away. I on the other hand had to show adult restraint and protested a bit before happily giving in. So we looked through the box and checked out all the flavors and talked about which one sounded best and which one we should sample. It was a hard choice to make, the flavors broke down like this: Banana Walnut Bar, Orange Cranberry Bar, Chocolate Brownie Bar, Peanut Butter Bar, Cinnamon Raisin Bar. After looking through them we both agreed it had to be the Peanut Butter Bar and we were not disappointed. OH! Chewy and crunchy and sweet. A perfect bar I think. It is what I look for in every health food bar I try and I finally found it and had to share it with my son. At least he was enjoying it too. We finished the bar and I asked my son what he thought he replied that it was "600% good" high praise indeed from a five year old. As we sat there mulling over the bar and kind of lost in thought we were both secretly planning how to get the other one to agree to eat one more. No worries there we just smiled at each other and dug through the box until we hit the Orange Cranberry Bar. Hunh, man was it a hit as soon as the wrapper was pulled back. Instantly the room filled with the sweetest scent of orange, like a tangerine opened right in front of you. WOW. I thought the Peanut Butter Bar would be my favorite but I think the Orange Cranberry Bar beat it out. Delish!

I think what I like best about Gnu Bars, besides how dang good they are, is that they have NO high fructose corn syrup (which is EVIL and don't let the corn growers of America tell you any different it is NOT THE SAME AS SUGAR) so it is something I don't mind my kids having. That right there is gonna blow their doors off because we do not buy any 'granola' bars or 'kid food' stuff. This is a bar I will not worry about feeding to my kids while we are out for a ski or a hike. I will definitely enjoy a bar too while playing outside.

The base for these bars is what they call the Gnu High Fiber Blend, which includes whole rolled oat, whole wheat flour (guys know I LOVE that!) wheat bran, organic kamut, pysllium, flax and millett. That is quite an awesome mix, for a little snack bar and it's also what gives it the delicious bit of crunch. Need fiber? These bars provide 12 grams of fiber PER BAR! A yummy way to make sure your insides are running right, most sedentary American are not running right, if you know what I mean. I would definitely eat one of these a day to make sure I get in my fiber.

You guys know me. I would never write a review of a product I didn't truly think was good and good for you. You also know that I would NEVER let my kids eat them either. So just because a company sends me free food or product does not mean I am going to roll over on my principles, NO WAY! These seem to me to be a great, handy carry along snack to have when carrying fruit, nuts and a piece of cheese are just NOT feasible, like oh I don't know when we are climbing a mountain with 2 teenage boys, 2 toddlers and one geriatric yellow lab. You know the last thing you want is your backpack pulling you ever backwards!

So that is my first product review. Mind you we only tried 2 flavors and we'll keep trying the other flavors and telling you about them as we go along. Of course in my house everyone is clamoring for a bar and proclaiming 'shouldn't we have a Gnu Bar you know to try them out!'. Not me I'm a saver, I wanna save them until everyone is gone!! I'm joking! I am going to send one to Alexis at Running Away? I'll Help You Pack! in her purse that she just won from me! Thought I should share the wealth a bit!

Frugal Fridays

I love to save money. I'm not cheap, I just have to save money when and where I can to make sure we stay with our heads above the water while we actively save money for retirement. So I am always looking for a GOOD deal.
This last week was a good money saving week for us. I went to my favorite thrift store and scored big time. On Saturday I found a beautiful light wood toddler bed and practically a WHOLE summer wardrobe for me. For 40 dollars I got one bed, 4 pairs of capris, seven shirts, 2 funky brown bead bracelets and a scarf plus a Discovery Toys tangram set. That's a ton of stuff, in the retail world:
toddler bed on target.com 99.99
capris at target 19.99X 4=79.96
shirts at target 15.99 X 7=111.93
bracelets 2.00X 2=4.00
scarf 5.99
tangrams (price unknown)10.00
------------------------------------------
retail total 311+change WOW

With that purchase at my thrift store I saved 270 bucks.

Session #2 Wednesday money spent 17.51 items purchased-5 pairs of boys pants, 1 yard of blue gingham, roll of cotton cord, 1 small plane, 18 BRAND NEW IN WRAP! plastic tumblers, 1 mug, 1 vintage Saint Patty's day card. In the retail world:
5 pairs of boys pants target 10.00X5=50.00
fabric @Joanns 5.99
cotton cord @Joanns 4.99
plane @Target 1.99
18 tumblers 36.00
mug and card 6.00
JarJar Binks party hats priceless!!
----------------------------------------------------
Retail total 104+change

I saved us about 87 bucks right there! Another great way to save money and recycle too. I donate a ton of stuff here, too. I always joke when I drop stuff off that I don't know how I can still have anything left in my house because I donate so much stuff.

Winner Number 2 and BSI reminder!!

So the winner yesterday never contacted me so I am falling to plan be which is this: pick another name. So out of Random dot org comes......................................(that's a drumroll)
















Alexis at Running Away? I'll Help You Pack. Now I know Lex from the blogosphere and I really enjoy her blog so go check her out and tell her to get her hiney over here to check in (gloat) and generally accept all the well wishes (rub it in). Lex email me stat! and give me a snail mail address or else I swear I WILL pick someone else. And if you let those boys get any boy dirt on it, I'm coming down there to personally rip it right out of your hot little hands and give it to someone with girls! Got it??

Also any good strawberry recipes out there are fully welcome to enter the BSI contest. All you have to do is email me or leave me a comment with a link to your blog. This is not a closed contest. All recipes will be featured on a previous post about 2 down so if you enter make sure you bookmark the post and come back often to check out the competition! If this keeps up(no entries) I'll be the winner and I'll give myself the prize. I might be whipping up a batch of simple strawberry jelly made with fabulous Pomona Pectin. Pomona Pectin lets you choose how much sweetener to use and you can even go sugar free, use honey or artificial sweetener. I might make strawberry lassi. Or ice cream. Heck at this rate I'll just put berries on a plate and call myself the winner. I don't want to do that. I want an absolute inundation of recipes so whip up something fabulous so I can give you a prize!!!!!

Simply Divine Honey Shortbread

I was at a loss the other day trying to figure out a good recipe to send with my dh and our 2 littlest boys and their best buds who were all going sledding in the mountains without their dear ol' mum. It had to be delicious, packable and delicious. Hmmmmm I was casting about in all my cook books looking for something but I didn't know exactly what. I even hit up recipe sites looking and searching for just the right cookie. Then I remembered the last cookie I saw that I really wanted to make. It was on a fellow foodbuzz blog but which one? Thankfully I was so moved by the cookie recipe I had saved it to my favorites box and there it was just waiting for me. The blogger is Half-Baked.

Here is the recipe as I made it I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did. It was pretty late at night when I finally got around to baking these so I didn't take any pictures. Check out Half Baked for some really beautiful shots of the cookies but don't linger too long I don't want anyone to see how gorgeous their food pictures are. My, I really need a better camera.

Honey Shortbread

bit of butter to grease the pan
1-2/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 Tbs. honey
1 tsp. kosher salt

Rub the bit of butter in a pie pan to grease it well-I also use the wax paper that butter comes in for a bit of recycling!
In a food processor, briefly pulse the flour and sugar
Add the butter and pulse until incorporated and the mixture is sandy and uniform
Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan with your fingers it should be pretty well packed you may have some crumbs left left on top
Refrigerate for 30 minutes

Pre-heat oven to 350
Remove from the refrigerator and poke gently with a fork all over
Bake the shortbread until golden in the center, 40 to 45 minutes.

Heat the honey in a small oven proof bowl until it is hot just right along side the shortbread-all you users of that new fangled microwave thingy can use it if you like just do not boil
when the shortbread is done pull it out and pour the heated honey over the top, spread it if you need to by tilting the pan and swirling it around a bit, you can use a pastry brush too
Sprinkle the salt evenly over the honey
Return the pan to the oven and bake for 3 minutes more

Remove to a cooling rack and while it is still warm gently score cutting lines as if you were Cutting a pie but make it into 12 slices cool completely
Gently slide it out of the pan place it on a cutting board and cut it completely through

These were absolutely the perfect cookie to send with the guys sledding, they packed beautifully and they were delicious. I think this a nice recipe to use whole wheat flour in, it is well packed, which seems to work nicely with the whole wheat, they were not too crumbly or crisp just about perfect. Of course you can use all purpose flour but I used whole wheat because I like to see what I can do with whole wheat flour.

Drum Roll please!...............................^

I had a HUGE response to my SITS Spring fling giveaway, it was amazingly fun and I am so glad I participated. Thanks to every single person, blogger or otherwise, who joined in with comments to win the purse. I will be visiting every blog within the next week to comment, read and have fun. Some of them I have already checked out and I am amazed at the awesome blogs out there! Wannh wa wa wanh wwwwwanh wa do I sound like Charlie Browns teacher right now? I know you all just want to know the winner of the purse and I am blathering on and on so the winner is.....................












Joy to the Blog!!!! Yeah! JOY!! Happy Happy Joy Joy! WAY TO GO!! So send me a snail mail address and I'll send this right down. Everyone else? Thanks for stopping in and playing in the SITS Spring Fling it was so much fun. I can't wait to do it again!


OK and to anybody who read it for the 20 minutes it was up I did NOT intend it to say DUM ROLL that's what I get for typing without my glasses!!! Arrrggg it's changed now. Thanks dear husband!! Love you and your glasses.

TAP TAP TAP is this thing on??? I have a winner but have not been contacted by said winner and their is no email in her profile.....I guess I will wait until 8 am and draw another number for a winner.

BSI host....It's me!!

I didn't win but I was picked as the host for the BSI contest this week, that's almost as fun as winning!!! Like I said I didn't win but this fabulous recipe did. Basil strawberry scones? Who would have thought to put basil in scones? They look so pretty and I really like the fact that they are made with whole wheat flour. I can't wait to try them! Great recipe Brandi, way to go!

So now it's up to me to choose an ingredient. I have been wracking my brain on this one, I want it to be something seasonal, healthy and delicious plus it can't have been used before. I went to Mara's site to look at previous ingredients and thought I would compile a list here for future hosts to build on. I may or may not get back to post links to each blog, 3 boys do require some taming you know.
Previous BSI Ingredients
Basil
Black Beans
Kale
Spinach
Dates
Zucchini
Peppermint
Ginger
Walnuts
Pumpkin
Sweet Potatoes
Egg Plant
Pears
Cranberries
Lentils
Polenta
Butternut Squash
Apples
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Quinoa

That's quite a list hunh? So without further adieu this weeks BSI is:


STRAWBERRIES!!!!

Why? Well they have not been done and I am finding them in the stores in Alaska which means that they are pretty much available everywhere. They are also my favorite harbinger of spring, I mean after a long bananas, apples and oranges winter aren't we all glad to see strawberries in the store, reminding us that summer really is coming and soon the snow (if you are lucky enough to have it!) will be gone. The strawberries can be fresh, frozen or dried. So hop to it ladies, you have one week to submit your entry using strawberries. The entry deadline is Sunday March 15 11:59 pm. I will be including all recipe submissions and links on this post so be sure to come by often to check out the competition. You can email me any recipe links or leave them as a comment here!!

Oh and thanks Spiceaholic for the chance to host the contest, I am so excited! Oops also forgot to mention the prize, (the prize!! how could I forget to mention the prize??) well ladies it's going to be a surprise. I'm having so much fun, thanks for letting me play.


entries-
http://bitesoftheday.blogspot.com/2009/03/bsi-strawberries.html
http://www.dinneratchristinas.com/2009/03/bsi-strawberry-strawberry-banana-cream.html
http://eatingchalk.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/bsi-strawberry-entry/
http://plentifulplants.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/happy-strawberry-pi-day/
http://talesofexpansion.wordpress.com/recipes/balsamic-strawberry-oaties/
http://thisisjustsweetenough.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/very-strawberry-almond-butter-snack-bars/
http://healthytwists.wordpress.com/2009/03/15/bsi-entry-arugula-with-strawberries-and-balsamic-shallot-vinaigrette/
http://biz319.wordpress.com/2009/03/15/bsi-strawberries/
http://one-bite-at-a-time.blogspot.com/2009/03/bsi-entry-sweet-strawberry-samosas.html
http://www.imadedinner.net/2009/03/15/spring-has-sprung/

Sits Spring Fling Giveaway!

My contribution to the SITS Spring Fling massive giveaway is a Coach purse. This is a bag I got on Ebay and I just never used it because it was so pretty and pink and vulnerable to boy dirt. Boy dirt is something we have in abundance, so this cute pink purse needs a good new home....maybe yours? So It's pretty straight forward contest simply leave me a comment, followers get 2 entries. I'll be drawing a winner on Thursday at 8:00 AM my time and I will be contacting the winner by email so make sure I have a current email address from your blog! Let the comments begin and have fun ladies!