How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter

I have this really great peanut butter in my cupboard -- Chocolate Cherry. YUM! There is a small hometown business near my sister in Michigan called "Naturally Nutty" and they make all kinds of super healthy, flavored peanut butters. Between my sister and my mom, I always have at least one jar in my cupboard. The problem with Chocolate Cherry is that it has big old dried cherries in it. The kids are not fans.

I also have about 8 jars of dry roasted peanuts in my pantry. The grocery store had them on sale for $1.50 and the each had a $1.00 off coupon on them. I could not figure out why they had any left! I stocked up.

The other day when it was impossible to NOT get cherries out of the Chocolate Cherry peanut butter, I tossed some of those dry roasted peanuts in the mini-processor and voila -- homemade peanut butter!

Just keep processing... it will get smooth all on its own.

I'm guess this would work for all types of nuts. I'm thinking of throwing in some flax seeds or something else good for them next time. Just because I can!

This peanut butter is unbelievably delicious. I'm keeping it in the cupboard, but the fridge might be better (because all the natural peanut butters tell you to keep it in the fridge, but I have no idea why. I never do.).

Cheese Puffs: How to Replace Fish or Bunnies

If you have small children, you know of their immense love for those small, orange, fish shaped crackers. If you go the organic route, those crackers have "better" ingredients, are probably shaped like bunnies and cost a small fortune. I don't really like feeding my kids crackers simply because there is really no nutritional value at all in them (they are after all processed). But crackers hard to beat when a melt down is occurring and you are in public!

I ran across a recipe for "Cheese Shortbread" in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (the book is absolute gold mine for healthy alternatives) that seemed to fit the bill to replace any crispy "cheesy" snack item.

I love these! My husband says they are just tiny cheese biscuits (he's right). My 4 year old didn't like them at all, but the cayenne is a tad spicy. If you are making these for picky eaters, skip the cayenne or at least halve it. I used 1 cup of sharp cheddar and 1 cup extra sharp cheddar and the paprika (mine is sweet Hungarian) on top is delicious.

These are super easy and fairly quick to make. My 4 year old did most of the ball shaping on her own. Now if I can get used to the gigantic mess she makes while "helping", we'll be all set.

Cheese Puffs (because kids don't eat "shortbread"!)

1 stick cold butter, cut in to cubes
1 1/2 cup flour
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 cups semi-hard cheese, grated (cheddar, Emmental, Gruyere)
Paprika (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Put all ingredients except the paprika in to a food processor. Pulse to mix just until mixture resembles a coarse meal, but will stick together. You can also do this by hand with a pastry blender or fork in a large bowl. Roll dough in to 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheet (you can place them fairly close together) and press down slightly. Bake for about 10 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove to rack to cool. Sprinkle with paprika if desired.

From Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

Make It Homemade: "Healtheier" Caramel Corn

Most days I feel like the ONLY thing I do is feed my kids. The two home with me full time are 4 and 1 and they pretty much eat NON-STOP. I often find myself at 2 o'clock in the afternoon trying to find another health snack for them. While caramel corn isn't exactly "healthy", it is lots of fiber and something I can make ahead of time and keep around.

I somewhat "healthified" this recipe by substituting sucanat for brown sugar and honey for corn syrup and it worked!

"Healthier" Caramel Corn
1 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)
1 stick butter
1/4 cup honey (or corn syrup)
pinch of salt
pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
16 cups of popped popcorn

Put popcorn in a very, very large bowl. In a saucepan, bring the sucanat, butter and honey to a boil, stirring constantly. Once boiling, continue to stir for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and add baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Pour mixture over the popcorn and stir well (and quickly). Pour popcorn on to a large baking sheet (I put parchment down in case the honey stuck). Bake at 200 degrees for 1 hour. Break apart -- it cools quickly so work fast.

This post is linked to Heavenly Homemaker's Recipe Parade!

Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Scones

Scones are quickly becoming one of my all time favorite things to make for breakfast. It also helps that everyone in my family loves scones! When I ran in to a recipe for bacon scones in a recent issue of Taste of Home magazine, I knew I could make my husband's day.

I'm not sure why, but these scones were the lightest, flakiest ones I've ever made. I've always wondered about instructions to make a well with dry ingredients and then add wet ingredients. Well, according to Alton Brown, the well makes it easier to mix the ingredients together resulting in a more tender dough. So I did it this time and perhaps that made the difference.

Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Scones

1 3/4 cup flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
14/ teaspoon pepper
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup cheese (or more!)
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (or more!)
Optional: chopped onion

Combine 1st five ingredients in large bowl. Whisk to combine and make a well. In a small bowl whisk together egg and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix only until moistened. Add in cheese and two-thirds of the bacon. Mix just to combine. Pat dough into a round disk on a parchment lined cookie sheet (I bake mine in my toaster oven). Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cut in to 8 wedges and serve warm.

NOTE: This dough is very sticky so plop it on the cookie sheet and just pat down!

Adapted from Taste of Home magazine

Crock Pot French Dip Sandwiches

A few weeks ago my neighbor mentioned that her husband makes French Dip sandwiches in the their slow cooker using lunch meat roast beef and an envelope of au jus mix. The conversation got me craving a French Dip, but I am not a big fan of processed meat or mixes so I improvised. These sandwiches are delicious!

Crock Pot French Dip Sandwiches

3-5 lb roast (I used a chuck roast)
1/2 onion chopped, diced, or sliced (however you like it -- I diced mine)
2.5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup red wine (optional -- you can increase the water)
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
pepper to taste
Crusty rolls
Cheese (provolone, swiss, mozzarella, white American)

Trim fat from roast. Heat oil in a large skillet. Season roast with salt and pepper. Sear roast in pan on both sides until browned. Put roast in slow cooker. Add onions and then all liquids (broth, wine, water). Add onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and celery salt and stir to dissolve. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours or until meat is tender enough to shred.

Remove meat from slow cooker and shred. Place shredded beef on rolls and top with cheese. Broil sandwiches, open faced, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Dip top of rolls in to au jus in the slow cooker and place on top of the broiled bun. Serve sandwiches with a small dish of au jus for dipping.

Make It Homemade: Corned Beef Hash

One of the only reasons I can ever think of to go out to eat for breakfast is so I can have corned beef hash. I LOVE that stuff! If you have an Original Pancake House around, they have THE BEST corned beef hash (and it comes with the best latkes!). I wanted to try making my own hash so when corned beef went on sale this past March, I stocked up.

This hash is chunky -- not fine like the restaurant. I think I need to chop it up more (thankfully, I have plenty leftover to fiddle with). But it is still yummy and so filling that we skipped right over lunch the day we had it for breakfast.

Homemade Corned Beef Hash
1 pack of corned beef
6 potatoes (or however many will fit in the bottom of your slow cooker)
1 onion, chopped

Wash potatoes and place in the bottom of a slow cooker. Place corned beef on top. Cook on low overnight or until done (mine cooked for about 7-8 hours). Take corned beef and potatoes out of slow cooker and dice into small pieces (whatever size you want). Saute onion in large frying pan until translucent (use oil or butter as needed). Add in corned beef and potatoes and allow to fry until browned.

Margherita Pizza

I spent a summer studying in Athens while I was in law school. Around the corner from where we lived was a little pizza shop that specialized in hemp dough. I always stuck with the good old fashioned white dough made in to a margherita pizza. Margherita is still my favorite pizza.

Margherita Pizza

Favorite Pizza Dough recipe
2 roma tomatoes
1 clove garlic, diced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mozzarella cheese (as much or little as you like)
Parmesan cheese (as much or little as you like)
Basil, chopped fresh or dried

In a small bowl, combine diced tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and salt. Set aside. Make your pizza dough. Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees. Spread dough on to pizza pan or peel. Brush dough with olive oil. Top dough with mozzarella cheese and then tomato mixture. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake pizza for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. After pizza is out of the oven, sprinkle on basil and Parmesan cheese.


Enjoy!

Make It Homemade: The Perfect Pita

I have been messing around with homemade pitas since last summer. I love the idea of a simple homemade flat bread that is quick and easy and delicious. They were anything but! Oh, they were delicious, but they were not quick and easy. They also were not proper "pitas" because I could never get them to puff correctly (thus creating the desired pocket). I tried them on the grill. I tried them in the oven. Nothing worked. I went back to buying pitas in shame.

And then I decided to try no knead, artisan bread dough. I should have known. That bread dough is hands down the most versatile "pantry staple" in my kitchen. It makes absolutely perfect pitas.

I took a handful of dough and rolled it as flat and round as I could get it (using plenty of flour!). I popped the flattened dough right on to the rack in my toaster oven and baked at 450 degrees. A few minutes later -- POOF! I took the pita out, put it in a basket and kept it well covered with a towel to keep it soft. I varied the sizes and shapes to find the perfect size and ended up being able to cook 2-3 at a time. There was one pita leftover and it was still soft and delicious the next day.