Working on my Christmas desserts...& Thanksgiving recap

I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out what I want to do for dessert this year.  I've made four different lists, crossed out more than I've left uncrossed, and re-written the list on way too many scraps of paper.  Good thing we are recyclers!  I have a few favorite recipes I love to make, but we are such a small group that I feel like I am the one who ends up eating mostly everything.

I've gained ten pounds since my gallbladder surgery.  SIGH.  VERY LOUD SIGH.

A nurse friend told me last night not to stress about it, that my body needs time to adjust, but I know the truth,  I've grown lazy and have a tendency to binge eat with no ability to portion control.  I need to get off this emotional path I am on and get healthy again!  I am realistic and know that this is NOT the time of year to try to change.  Too much going on, too much stress with work and life and getting everything done in time.

So where was I?  Oh, yeah.

For Thanksgiving, I made a wonderful assortment of single serve desserts.  Mini Cannolis, mini peanut butter cheesecakes, mini apple pies and turtle cookies.  Much easier to watch how much you eat when you are only having a small piece, right?  As long as you don't keep going back for more and more, right?

I had a picture of these yummy desserts on my iPhone, but someone (who shall remain nameless) deleted all the food pics from the Photo Stream in effort to make more room in our cloud storage.  :(

So here are the links for Thanksgiving yumminess (all recipes were made with clean ingredients, of course:)

Peanut Butter Cheesecakes

Mini Cannoli

Apple Pies

Turtle Cookies

Well, I gotta say while I enjoyed not having pies, and doing something different, I think my sister-in-law and her family were disappointed.  They expected and wanted pies.  I think all the time and effort I put into making all of the above went unappreciated.  So next year they will get a boring apple pie and a boring pumpkin pie.  Hmpf.  I ended up with a lot of leftovers (left a lot at their house too) and some even went in the garbage after a few days.  So so much for that.

Now I am back to Christmas...do I stick with my traditional cookies to avoid disappointment by my guests, or do I make what I want?  LOL Or do I do a combination?  There are only eight of us; eight.  Four adults, three teen boys, and a pre-teen girl.  Most who have experienced teen boys would argue that three teen boys = six adults, so I should count them as double.  I don't want tons of leftovers, no one wants me bringing plates of cookies anymore (I used to LOVE baking for an entire weekend then giving it all away) so what to do?

I'm so overthinking this.  Kathy

Okay, I'm such a terrible blogger!!

Yes, I admit it. I am a terrible blogger.  I just can't seem to find the time to keep up with all the things I want to do each day.  Having two teen boys, two part-time jobs doesn't help either.  So I'm sorry!  I'm going to try to better this summer.

So before Easter I was on a hunt for "clean' Easter candy.  Have you ever been to this online store?

http://www.naturalcandystore.com/

Lots of great choices!!! And not an artificial color in the whole place!  Their prices are a bit high, but you are paying for a premium product, so to me it's worth it.  Especially when it's just for a holiday. Jelly beans, chocolate eggs, it's all there.  Not every product is completely clean, but ALL are better choices than what we can buy in the store.

Happy shopping!
Kathy

Welcome Spring!

Tomorrow is the first day of spring and boy I hope that means the cold weather will be gone!  As I type, I'm sipping an extra cup of coffee - one more than my acid reflux allows - as I am freezing!! It is so cold.  My New Jersey winter has given us more snow that I'd like to ever see in one season again; we've lost spring break from school, and we will have some tired stressed out kids come June.

But with spring approaching other things start appearing too...wish it was colorful flowers.  But alas, it's colorful candy as Easter season takes over the stores.  All those artificial colors and flavors calling my kids...jelly beans, marshmallow Peeps, spring colored chocolate eggs...need I say more?  Sigh.

St. Patrick's Day was easy; I have veggie-based food coloring that made everything green; I brined my own brisket for corned beef.  And breakfast, a substitute for Lucky Charms: Mallow Oats not perfect, but better. And the kids don't feel like they are missing out.

I am going to work hard trying to find substitutes for my kids this season.  I hate to deprive them of things they love, and they understand that their overall health is more important than that squishy, soft, sugary purple bunny, but they are teenagers after all, and peep pressure almost always wins out.

So let's see what I an find!!

Happy Eating!
Kathy

P.S.  Rita's Ices gives away free cups on the first day of spring each year.  I contacted them and they have two flavors free of artificial colors and flavors; Alex's Lemonade and chocolate custard, in case you wanted a free treat. :)

Happy snow day!!

Well I had planned on going to Costco today to do all my pre-Christmas shopping.  The things you can buy now, and put either in the freezer or set aside until you need them.  Around here it is so busy in the stores the week before Christmas, I'd prefer to not have to fight my way to the butcher section.

Mother Nature had other plans for me.

So here we are, stuck home for a snow day.  My 14 year old son & I decided to have some bonding time by searching for cookie recipes on Pinterest.  If you have not joined yet, what are you waiting for?? Be forewarned, it is addicting.

We had an enjoyable time picking out new cookie recipes and decided which old recipes to skip this year.  We only have a gathering of 10 people, so I don't need a LOT of desserts.  I decided this year to do a small cookie assortment, skip the heavy pies or cakes, this way we could pick as the evening goes on,  We're making a mulled wine to serve after lunch, to smell up the house nice and festive.

If you want to follow me on Pinterest, I am KathIsMath - click on my name to find my page.  Some of my recipes are under Christmas 2013; others are in my cookbook and not online.

If you are interested in my Christmas fun last year, search back by clicking the labels below the post; I had a lot of fun celebrating "The Twelves Treats of Christmas."  I'm off to re-write my shopping list with the new ingredients I need.

Happy Eating!
Kathy

Post Thanksgiving Yumminess

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Thanksgivukkah, or how ever you spent the day.  Our meal was delicious, and very filling.

We spent the day at my sister-in-law's house.  Alas, as hard as I tried I could not get good photos of most of our meal.  Hard when it's not your place.  I wanted a pic of my herb infused olive oil & artisan bread from my bread maker, but it was not displayed in a form pleasing to the camera.  Again, hard when it's not your house.  I should have done it at home before I left.

But I can share some of my desserts; again, not nicely displayed but in their travelling containers.

 Pecan pie rugelah 

Sugar cookies in seasonal shapes.  Only veggie based colors used. 

Apple pie!! 

My hubby made this yummy veggie turkey for an appetizer!

Now...time to plan Christmas!

Happy Eating!

Kathy

Clean Thanksgiving Meal

So what's on your table this year?

I am going to my lovely sister in law's house, so most of my meal will be out of my control.  How to handle that? Luckily my clean eating is not a secret to them, and in the recent past my sister in law has started cleaning up what and how they eat.  But they still have a long way to go...and...she works full-time.  So what will that mean for me? A yummy meal with family.  And a no thank you to most of the leftovers.

My contribution to the feast are the appetizers and the desserts.  Nice healthy, clean appetizers and desserts.

Did I mention that my sister in law's husband is Jewish?  In case you haven't heard, the first night of Hanukkah is also Thanksgiving.  So we are blending the two traditions for a unique meal this year.

Being raised Christian, I don't know too much about Hanukkah traditions, so I hit the internet to see what traditional foods are served for the holiday, so I could plan something fun.  I found out it's all about oil and cheese.  Deep fried foods, especially.  Well...my gallbladder does not agree with fried foods in general. Soooooooo...a challenge was to be had here!!

I've got some ideas, working on ways to clean them up.  Come back tomorrow to see what I came up with!!

Happy Eating,
Kathy

Avoiding Toxic Chemicals in your Thanksgiving Feast

This was shared with me today; am curious about what they say about rice.  I use organic brown rice on a regular basis...must research this more!!

http://healthychild.org/10-ways-to-avoid-toxic-chemicals-in-your-thanksgiving-feast/

Happy Eating!
Kathy

Non-GMO Thanksgiving

Okay, so it's been a bit longer than I had planned, but I've been really busy.  Doing great keeping with my increased clean eating, but I do admit I indulge a bit every now and then. Very little now, so much  more so then. :)

This came across my Facebook page today, and I had to run and share it.

 http://farmersmarkets.streamshare.com/posts/8531#/8531

I can't figure out how to post the picture here; but it's a guide to help you when planning your Thanksgiving meal.  Tells you which foods are safe, and which ones to be cautious of.  Now, keep in mind, this is for GMOs only; does not take into account pesticides or anything else used by farmers.  It is not an organic list.  Just to help you figure out which foods would contain GMOs and which ones do not.

Happy Eating!
Kathy

The 12 Treats of Christmas Song

"On the twelfth day of Christmas, the treats lovingly baked by me...

Rachel's fudgy wreath
snowman & reindeer
s'more cookies
savory Chex Mix
peanut butter kisses
yummy yule log
time to reflect & remember
chhhhooooocccooolate cake!!

homemade marshamallows
meringue cookies
popcorn cake
and...
banana bread size mini!! 

LOL Merry Christmas everyone!!!  Kathy

The 12 Treats of Christmas - 12th

"On the twelveth day of Christmas, the treat lovingly baked by me...
 
Rachel's Fabulous 5-minute Fudge Wreath!"

Yummmmmmmm...is all I can say about this. YUM.

Rachel Ray's Fabulous 5-Minute Fudge Wreath 

I won't bother with the how to on this one, as Rachel Ray has a video showing exactly what and how to do it, if you click on the link.  Only changes I made: low-fat condensed milk, craisins instead of raisins, and pecans instead of walnuts.  Pretty much because that is what I had in the house. 

I am not a fan of candied cherries, so I used some of those mini M&Ms I had purchased for another recipe.  Whalla! My fudge wreath!

Happy eating!! Kathy

The 12 Treats of Christmas - 11th

"On the eleventh day of Christmas, the treat lovingly baked by me...
 
snowmen and reindeer!"

What is Christmas without some sugar cookies? Last year my kids decided that they were not interested in rolling out dough, cutting out shapes with cookie cutters, then decorating afterwards.  My husband and I ended up doing all the work.  So this year I found some fun cookies to make that still kept it seasonal but did not require all the work.

My sugar cookie recipe of course is not clean, but as we established earlier I'm trying my best to make clean and tradition work together, and a little every now and then does not hurt.  My way, :).

I have a Cookie Book from Betty Crocker dated 1975 that I get most of my recipes from. The peanut butter cookie recipe that did not clean up well came from this cook book too.  I am going to make this recipe as written, cause I want to make sure these come out well.

Mary's Sugar Cookies
Source: Betty Crocker's Cookie Book 

1 1/2 c sifted confectioners sugar
1 c softened butter
1 egg (I used 2 egg whites)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond flavoring
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tarter

Mix sugar & butter, blend in flavorings.  Mix dry ingredients together then blend into sugar/butter mixture.

Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.  By hand, roll balls of dough and flatten to make circles  For the reindeer, I squished in the sides to make a face shape.  Bake at 375.  The recipe says 7-8  minutes, but time will depend on the size & thickness of your cookies.  Once the cookies are baked & cooled, decorate. 

I made a drippy icing with confectioners sugar, bit of vanilla, a some milk to thin.  I usually use 1 c sifted confectioners sugar, 1/4 tsp vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk.  Adjust milk to the consistency you want.  For chocolate, add 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder. 

For the reindeer I used red peanut M&Ms for the nose, broken pretzels for the antlers, & candy eyes that I found.  I have seen on the internet people used chocolate chips or brown M&Ms for eyes as well.  Here they are drying on the tray, sorry they don't look pretty!

For the snowmen, I took a large marshmallow (I am saving the ones I made for hot cocoa) and some icing. I did not buy this icing for these cookies, all are leftovers from my pre-clean days.  I hate wasting money, so I don't want to throw away anything I paid for!

Happy Eating!  Kathy

The 12 Treats of Christmas - 10th

"On the tenth day of Christmas, the treat lovingly baked by me...
 
s'more cookes!"

Yes, making "some more" cookies!  But these are SMORE cookies!

Whipped up a batch of home made marshmallows.
      (Marshmallow post)
      (this time I used Alton Brown's marshamallow recipe)
Bought a box of graham crackers (or you can make your own, see this recipe here:  Serious Eats Gluten-Free Graham Crackers)
Bought a bag of chocolate chips (you choose your favorite)

Inspiration for this recipe came from Christi at Tip Junkie. I cleaned it up a bit and took it off the stick.  You can find her original recipe here: S'mores Pops

So here we go!!

I pre-prepped the graham crackers before making the marshmallows. Got everything ready cause I knew the marshmallow would be sticky.  I wanted to have the pans ready for both the s'mores and to make more marshmallows (cause we already ate up the first batch.)  While the  marshmallows were mixing, I melted the chocolate, and put a dollop of it on one side of the graham cracker. Spread the marshmallow on the other half, put the sandwich together...and yum!!

The recipe says to put in freezer for a bit, but mine is so stuffed with my holiday meal I just stuck the tray in the fridge while I cleaned up.  The melted chocolate had got a bit hard, so I microwaved it a bit.  Some I sprinkled with mini Christmas M&Ms, for the kids of course. Not for me. :) Once a year artificial coloring can't hurt too much, right??

Yumm!! Happy Eating!  Kathy

The 12 Treats of Christmas - 9th

"On the ninth day of Christmas, the treat lovingly baked by me...
 
a savory Chex Mix!"


Not every treat has to be sweet, does it? A treat can be savory too!  A tradition in my home was to make Chex Mix on the holidays.  Now a days that is not so special, since you can buy it already done for you in a bag.  But...we all know that those bags are not clean.  There are so many varieties of Chex Mix too.  The more stuff you put in it, the less clean it gets.

One of the BEST things about making Chex Mix is that you can make it as clean as you want by choosing what you put in it.  YOU choose whether the pretzels are clean or not. YOU choose the peanuts, and most importantly, YOU choose which cereal goes in.

The recipe card left to me basically puts in a box each of Corn, Rice and Wheat Chex.  It adds a bag of pretzels, a box of plain Cheerios, and a box of Cheeze-Its. For that much dry, it says 2 sticks of melted butter mixed with 2 tablespoons of worchestire sauce, some garlic and onion powders to taste, and some seasoned salt.

I looked up what is in seasoned salt and there is a lot! But it is easy to make, according to this recipe: Seasoned Salt

In an effort to stay true to my mom's recipe, here is mine:

This is pre-baked. Busy evening coming up, and I know I won't have time to get a picture when it comes out of the oven.  250 degrees, about an hour or so, stirring every 15-20 minutes.

Here is a link to the Official Chex Mix site:  Original Chex Mix Recipe

You'll notice it's not the same as mine.  Quite honestly, if you look at the recipe ingredients, this is not original. The bagel chips give it away. There were NO pre-packaged bagel chips in the 1970s when my mom made this recipe. But you see the spices are the same as mine. At the top of the page, you'll see where you can scroll thru other Chex Mix ideas.

Happy Eating!! Kathy

The 12 Treats of Christmas - 8th

"On the eighth day of Christmas, the treat lovingly baked by me...
 
peanut butter Kiss cookies!"

I used my old stand by recipe, substituted my clean versions of the ingredients, and was disappointed. Here they are anyway, one with a Kiss on top and one without (since I know the Kisses are not clean I wanted some for just me.)  The cookies came out too dry; they cracked too much when putting the Kiss on top.  Even the ones I did not put the Kisses on were dry. I know I did not overbake them, as the middles were still a bit uncooked.  Even the dough was dry & crumbly before baking.  But they taste okay. For next year I will research a better clean peanut butter recipe.  I won't post the one I used here since it was not so awesome.

But I will give you a picture!! 


Happy Eating! Kathy

The 12 Treats of Christmas - 7th

"On the seventh day of Christmas, the treat lovingly baked by me...
 
a yummy yule log!"

 We have wanted to order one of these for years!  So this year I got a bit..ummmm...brave and tried to make one. Came out pretty cute.  And pretty clean too!!

Using the King Arthur Flour moist chocolate cake recipe from Day 5, and the whipped cream recipe I talked about for Thanksgiving, a buche de noel was born!!

I was going to stop here and just lightly dust with confectioners sugar to look like a light snow had fallen, but a friend of mine talked me into adding a chocolate layer on top. Hard to do cleanly, but I found something on the internet I was able to adapt.

And whalla!!  What do you think? I was going to make it look pretty, make little mushrooms from the marshmallows I made the other day, maybe paint some leaves with the chocolate, but my kids dug into it as soon as the chocolate was hard. I was lucky I got this picture!

The chocolate coating is made from chocolate chips (use whatever brand is clean enough for you) and oil (again, which ever type you feel is clean, as there is so little the taste is not important.) 1 cup chocolate chips, melted in microwave, stir then stir in 1.5 tablespoons oil.  Spread over the top, let cool.  Give you a slight crunchy coating, kind of like a Yodel. :)

Enjoy!! Kathy

The 12 Treats of Christmas - 5th

"On the fifth day of Christmas, the treat lovingly baked by me...
 
chooooooclate cake!"

 Make sure you  sing that line properly!! Feel like I am stretching this song a bit, but it's all in fun, right?

My most favorite flour, King Arthur, has a very yummy chocolate cake recipe on the back of it's box. You can find it here: Moist Chocolate Cake

I use the King Arthur Cake Flour and organic white sugar for this recipe. I have a mini cupcake pan with tree shaped holes, so we made some trees, a round cake, and saved some to make the base for tomorrow's treat; the yule log!  My kids are not big on frosting, so we eat the cake as is.

Come back to tomorrow to see how that turned out.   Happy Eating!! Kathy

The 12 Treats of Christmas - 4th

"On the fourth day of Christmas, the treat lovingly baked by me...
 
home made marshmallows!"

OMG this was so much fun!! And for those of you who do not eat sugar, well. just move onto Day 5. Cause this was ALL sugar!! My mixer took a beating, would have been better with a KitchenAid, but my friend who makes them who DOES have one says it puts a strain on hers too when it gets to about 10 mins of mixing.

What you need:

1/3 cup cold water
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
large bowl
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
confectioners sugar
colored sugar (optional)

Step 1: pour the 1/3 c cold water into large bowl. Sprinkle gelatin on top and set aside.

Step 2: in a medium saucepan on stove, combine white sugar, 1/4 c water, corn syrup & salt.  Over medium heat, stir until dissolved.  Stop stirring and heat the mixture until it boils; maintain slow boil until mixture reaches 240 deg on candy thermometer. Looks like this when done:


Step 3: carefully pour hot mixture over gelatin then beat with an electric mixer on high speed for 10-12 minutes. Looks like pic 1 first, then will turn to pic 2 when done.

Be careful this does not happen. Sigh.



Step 3: Blend in the vanilla extract.


Step 4: Prepare your pan. My recipe says to lightly coat with cooking oil. My friend's recipe says to coat with oil then dust with a mixture of confectioners sugar and cornstarch. My recipe wants one side kindof sticky, so you can dip that end in colored sugar once they are done. I won't do artificial colors on  my house, so that option was not okay for me.  I lightly oiled the pan, then when I was done just lightly dusted the other side with confectioners sugar.  Getting the  mixture INTO the pan is difficult, I will NOT lie to you.  My recipe was NO HELP WHATSOEVER in this; my friend's recipe said to lightly oil the spatuala.  Wish I had know that, would have helped. So I suggest you do.  You can see by the pic on the left that it is really sticky.

Step 5: Spread into pan, and let dry.  My recipe says 12 hours...friends, 4 hours. You be the judge.  Next time I will lightly coat the top with confectioners sugar so they have that extra layer of protection from sticking once cut.

Final step: Lightly oiled or wet hands will help you get them out of the pan. Flip them onto cutting board lightly dusted with confectioners sugar.  I cut them in all sorts of  shapes and sizes.  My kids loved them!!  I think they were just excited to see a marshmallow again, it's been a REALLY long time!! Those top two circles? They were cut using the top of our cocoa cups...perfect for the cocoa we had to have once the marshmallows were done.  These stayed sooo creamy in our cocoa; and were still there once we got to the bottom of the cup, unlike the store bought marshmallows.

Lot of work, and clean up, but lot of fun and enjoyment. May make again this winter season.  What's up next tomorrow?  I'll give you a hint...chocolate. :)  Happy Eating!! Kathy

Edit: found this and thought I'd share...alternative ways of making marshmallows using liquid agave or honey.
thegraciouspantry.com marshmallows

The 12 Treats of Christmas - 3rd

 "On the third day of Christmas, the treat lovingly baked by me...

was 3 ingredient meringue cookies!"


This recipe was brought to me by my son, courtesy of his French teacher.  They were having a party and the teacher asked for parent volunteers to make some traditional French foods.  My kids are programmed to volunteer me for anything baked.  This recipe came out so yummy he asked me to make them again for Christmas.  Perfect recipe for the season, as they look like little white piles of snow.

You will need:
4 egg whites 
1 cup white sugar 
       (I know, not clean but some recipes you just HAVE to use the white stuff, so I used the organic I keep in the house for just that.)
1/4 tsp cream of tarter



 


Beat the egg whites until stiff; make sure you keep ALL the yolk out, as it will ruin the consistency and hence ruin the cookie.






Mix together the cream of tarter and the sugar in small bowl; SLOWLY add the sugar mix to the egg whites.  The recipe says 1 tablespoon at a time. Well, to me this seemed like it would take forever so I dumped it in 1/3 at a time. Big mistake, and had to start over. The next batch I followed the instructions and perfect they came!!  




The recipe says to brush the cookie sheet with oil & lightly flour, I used parchment paper and it worked good.  When the cookies were done, I could slide them off the baking stone and let cool on the paper. They come off the paper so easily when cool!  I tried to use a scoop to put the dough on the paper, but it kept getting stuck, so I just used a tablespoon and my clean finger. Easy!!



Bake the cookies at 300 for 10 minutes, lower heat to 250 and bake for 25 minutes more.   They came out a little browner than you can see in the picture.  They do not spread at all, so you can put them as close together as you want.

So yummy!!!  Come back tomorrow for day 4!  Kathy

The 12 Treats of Christmas - 2nd

"On the second day of Christmas, the treat lovingly baked by me...

2 batches of popcorn cake!"

OMG there is NOTHING clean about this recipe. But it is a tradition in  my husband's family, handed down to me by his aunt, so make them I will.  We eat soooooo good, that this treat is okay once a year. And yes, I do make it only once a year.  

This recipe is one of those that you have to control yourself when eating. I can easily eat the whole batch in one sitting. Easily. Thank goodness I only make it once a year.

You need: 
1 10.5 oz bag mini marshmallows 
1 c vanilla chips
6 T butter
12 c air popped popcorn (what for small kernels)
1 c salted peanuts
1 tsp vanilla extract
red & green gumdrops, sliced into small pieces

Melt the butter in large saucepan. Add vanilla chips, stir till melted. Add in marshmallows, stir till melted. Quickly stir in vanilla and peanuts, then remove from heat.  Mix in popcorn (make sure you have removed all kernels and hard pieces) quickly; like a rice krispie treat the marshmallow mixture can get cool fast. 

Spread into buttered baking dish; 13 x 9 or slightly larger.  Using lightly greased wax paper, lightly press mixture down into pan.  Lightly press the gumdrops around the top of the popcorn cake, randomly or in patterns.  Let cool, then enjoy!!  

Also makes a pretty gift. Line cookie tin with wax paper, press warm mix into any shaped pan to make more festive, then give it away in the tin or wrapped in a fun way.

Enjoy!! Come back tomorrow for day 3...Kathy

The 12 Treats of Christmas - 1st

"On the first day of Christmas, the treat lovingly baked by me...

was banana bread, size mini!"

It does not look mini here, but it is!! This yummy banana bread recipe comes from Elise at Simply Recipes.  So easy, one bowl, no mixer.  Delicious every time!!  I use King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour and Turbinado sugar, which gives the banana bread an extra touch of flavor.  Super!!!

Banana Bread Recipe

The pan is a four-loaf mini loaf stoneware pan by Pampered Chef.  The recipe above makes all four mini loaves.  You can find it here: Pampered Chef Mini Loaf Pan

The beauty of these mini loaves? You can eat a whole one and not feel guilty, as a whole mini-loaf is 1/4 of  a normal banana bread. They are also perfect gift sized - wrap up in something pretty!!  The loaves freeze well too, so you can make in advance.  You need to adjust baking time from the recipe, don't forget!

Come back tomorrow to see the 2nd Treat of Christmas!  Kathy