Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Hello there,

Guess what, I'm still alive. :)   I hope to keep this up better from now on, so please be sure to look in each time you read the blog.

For those of you who are setting up your kitchen in the RV, I wanted to tell you what I did and how pleased I am with it. 

I wanted a way to keep things like flour, sugar, etc from going bad, either from the different climates we visit, flour bugs (even though I am not sure what they are) etc.  So, Sue and I headed to IKEA in Dayton Ohio and found some wonderful storage boxes that were just the right size and shape to fit in the overhead cabinets.  We found a wonderful variety there but I now understand that Target also carries the same style of storage boxes.  They lock really tight so no air or moisture can get in.  Plus they don't accidentally spill either.  I bought a lot of different sizes (actually 4) which stack on top of each other and save a lot of room usually lost to boxes and jars.  I put my noodles, cereals, baking supplies, nuts, raisins, cranberries, rice, etc in them and it works great.  Even my brown sugar does not get hard.  I am extremely pleased with this system and highly suggest it.  Almost forgot, I labeled them using Avery labels so it is easy to find what you want.   If you have any questions, please let me know.

Recipe of the day:

I have been using my crock pot and bread maker a lot lately so here are a couple of recipes for you to try.




Albondigas

½ onion – minced
½ pound ground chuck
¼ cup rice instant – uncooked
2 TBS chopped parsley or cilantro
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
4 oz chopped green chilies – canned and drained
1 carrot shredded
4 c water
2 cloves garlic - minced
14 ½ oz stewed tomatoes – canned (if large, dice to smaller pieces)
2 cups low fat beef broth
1 tsp dried oregano

In a bowl, combine beef, onion, garlic, rice, egg, salt and pepper to taste

Form into 1 ½ inch meatballs.

Place chilies and shredded carrots in bottom of slow cooker.

Spread tomatoes evenly over top of the chilies and carrots.

Place meatballs on top of tomatoes. 

Pour in water, broth, oregano, and parsley or cilantro.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.  

Note:  Keith and I both loved this soup.  It was a little spicy, so if you don't like spicy, use less green chilies.  I served it with a dollop of sour cream and warm flour tortillas. . 

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Steakhouse Wheat Bread for the Bread Machine

Original recipe makes 1 loaf

1 cup and 2 tablespoons warm water

1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons butter, softened

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons honey

3/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules

1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons white sugar

1-1/2 cups bread flour

1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1-3/4 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Directions

NOTE: Recipe directions are for the original serving size of 12.

Place the warm water, butter, honey, salt, coffee, cocoa, sugar, bread flour, whole wheat flour, and bread machine yeast in the pan of a bread machine in the order listed. Put on regular or basic cycle with light crust.

PREP 10 minute
COOK 3 hrs
READY IN 3 hrs 10 minutes

Note:  This bread is wonderful tasting and we really enjoyed it.  Taste just like the bread in steak restaurants.  Nothing like warm bread from your bread maker.





See you next time and take care.

Brenda