December 2011

Fun Winter Break Project: DIY Marshmallows & Cocoa

by Sally on December 28, 2011

Looking for something to do with your little people while they’re home from school this week? Making homemade marshmallows is easier than it sounds–and your kids will be amazed by how a few simple ingredients whip up into white, gooey, sticky deliciousness. (And it goes without saying, but from-scratch cocoa trumps Swiss Miss any day of the week.)

Homemade Marshmallows

3 envelopes unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup corn syrup

1/4 cup water

1/4 t. salt

1 T. vanilla extract

  • In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Let it stand for 10 minutes.
  • Combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.
  • Pour boiling syrup into gelatin and mix at high speed. Add the salt and beat for about 12 minutes. Add vanilla and beat for another minute. Pour into a 9×9-inch pan lined with plastic wrap that’s been generously sprayed with cooking spray. Spread evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and let the marshmallows sit for 4-5 hours.
  • Remove marshmallow slab from pan and dredge with confectioners’ sugar. Cut marshmallows into pieces with scissors. Dredge each piece in confectioners’ sugar.

Hot Cocoa Mix

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred, though I used regular)

2 1/2 cups powdered milk

1 t. salt

2 t. cornstarch

1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional; I didn’t add it)

  • Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and incorporate evenly.
  • Place 1-2 heaping teaspoons of mix (more or less to taste) into a mug and fill with hot milk. Top with homemade marshmallow.

Both recipes are from The Food Network.

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Finally! A Lentil Recipe I Love.

by Sally on December 19, 2011

This year, I resolved to cook more meatless meals. One of the biggest hurdles to this has been my lifelong aversion to beans and lentils. But as a recovering picky eater, I’m trying very hard to grow up and get over it.

In my quest to like lentils, I’ve tried lentil casserole, lentil tacos, and a version of lentil “sloppy joes” that someone promised I would like (I didn’t). Then I remembered a lentil soup I’d had years ago at a friend’s house and asked for the recipe. At last! A lentil recipe I really, truly love.

I like to serve soup with homemade bread or rolls, especially when I can let my bread machine do all the hard stuff. So I’m also including my family’s current favorite, a recipe I got from my sister-in-law for Oatmeal Yogurt Bread.

Make a batch of this soup and a loaf of this bread and you’ve got two easy, hearty (but healthy) meals perfect for cold weather.

Turkish Wedding Soup

4 T. olive oil

2 onions finely chopped (I puree them in a mini food-chopper until they’re smooth)

1 t. paprika

1 cup red lentils

1/2 cup bulgur (at my store, this is stocked right next to the red lentils in the “ethnic cuisine” aisle)

2 T. tomato paste

8 cups vegetable stock

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 lemon

Saute onions in olive oil. Add paprika, lentils, bulgur, and tomato paste. Add stock and cayenne pepper and cook about an hour. Squeeze a lemon wedge into each bowl before serving.

Oatmeal Yogurt Bread
Print
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/3 cup very hot water
  • 3/4 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 T. butter
  • 2 T. sugar
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1/2 t. baking soda
  • 1/4 cup oat bran (I use Bob’s Red Mills, which is found at my grocery store alongside the flaxseed)
  • 1 2/3 cup flour
  • 1-1/2 t. yeast
Instructions
  1. Put the oats in your bread machine’s bread pan.
  2. Add the hot water, stir, and let sit for 15 minutes.
  3. Put remaining ingredients in bread machine pan in the order they are listed (with a spoon, make a little well in the flour for the yeast).
  4. Set machine on the dough setting.
  5. When done, restart dough cycle and allow the machine to “punch” down your dough for about 30 seconds.
  6. Turn machine off and take out the dough.
  7. Shape it into rolls or a loaf and place on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkled with cornmeal.
  8. Brush the tops of the rolls or loaf with butter or beaten egg white. (To get fancy, crush up some oats and sprinkle on the tops of the bread.)
  9. Make slits in the tops of the rolls or loaf.
  10. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise about an hour.
  11. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown (roughly 20 minutes for rolls, 30-45 minutes for a loaf).

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What I Learned from the Fitness Challenge

December 12, 2011

It is with a mixture of pride and embarrassment that I announce: I exercised 12 days in a row! Pride because I haven’t exercised 12 days in a row for about two years. Embarrassment because well, I haven’t exercised 12 days in a row for about two years. I started the 12 Days of Fitness [...]

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Giveaway: Adjustable Resistance Band

December 11, 2011

You may remember that I once mocked the mere suggestion of exercising while doing mundane household chores (see that post here). But since starting the 12 Days of Fitness Challenge and struggling to find free moments in the day to work out, I’ve warmed up to the idea of that kind of multitasking. So when [...]

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Recipe + Giveaway: MyPlate for Moms, How to Feed Yourself & Your Family Better

December 5, 2011

Remember the Food Guide Pyramid? It’s, like, so last year. In its place, the government’s experts have given us MyPlate–which is basically what a lot of dietitians have been telling people for years: Fill half of your plate with fruit and vegetables and divide the other half between protein and grains. But of course it’s [...]

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Fitness Challenge Giveaway: My (Second) Favorite Workout DVD

December 3, 2011

I am hopelessly devoted to Jillian Michaels’ exercise DVDs. It all began two years ago with the 30 Day Shred, which brought me back from the depths of a post-baby funk that I wrote about here. I love that workout because it’s fast (25 minutes!) and efficient, with circuits of strength training, cardio, and abs. Though [...]

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