Random MomBlog

I don’t like the aftertaste of Biscuik, but I do like the convenience. So I looked at the Buttermilk Pancake recipe (I usually add 2 Tbs wheat germ, and replace some of the white flour with wheat) on the can of Saco buttermilk mix, quadrupled it, left out of the moist ingredients, and put it in a jar. Here’s my mix:

1 cup SACO Buttermilk Blend
3 cups unbleached enriched flour
1 cup white wheat flour
2 Tbs wheat germ
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Everything I’ve made with this mix has turned out to my liking, but I avoid fussy recipes. Other than making pancakes with this mix, I don’t add the missing shortening or oil of other pre-made biscuit mix recipes. So it seems very easy to me to make fat-free buttermilk bisquik; maybe I’m just picking the right recipes. I’ll post some of them!

Cooking, Recipe

This recipe is adapted (to reduce fat, and to match what I had) from an old “Kenmore Microwave Cookery” cookbook.

Mix in a 1 quart (or larger) glass container:

Microwave for 5 minutes.

Chop these in the food processor, and then add to the microwave container:

Microwave for 3 minutes.

Now chop these in the food processor, and then add to the microwave container:

Microwave for 2 minutes.

My microwave was set to 100% power, and it’s rated for 1100 to 1500 Watts depending on which label you read. You may need to adjust the times for different microwaves.

Amazingly enough, this tastes exactly like stuffing! (However, I’m not a fan of it. I made this anyway because my dear husband likes stuffing.) I used Tone’s Turkey Gravy Mix.

For storage, it freezes well.

Just so you know that I’m hopeless with recipes, here’s the original.
Mix 1/2 cup butter, 1/3 cup onion, and 1/4 cup celery in a 4-cup glass container and microwave for 10 minutes or until onion is transparent. Add 3 cups dry bread cubes, 1 cup water or chicken broth, 2 tsp parsley flakes, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper. Makes enough stuffing for a 5 to 6 pound roasting chicken. Can replace 3 cups bread with 2 1/2 cups wild rice, 1/2 cup slivered almonds, and 1 cup sliced mushrooms.

Cooking, Easy, Recipe

It’s important to start with all ingredients refrigerated or soft frozen! Room temperature ingredients cause the pie to melt more than you’d like.

1 crumb pie crust, graham or shortbread
1 quart vanilla ice cream or fat-free vanilla frozen yogurt
2 bananas, refrigerated
1 pint strawberries, refrigerated
dribbles of chocolate syrup
dribbles of caramel syrup

Slice the bananas into 3/8″ coins, and layer on pie crust.
With a large spoon, take shallow scoops out of the vanilla ice cream. (Sometimes ice cream is too hard to scoop easily, and that’s when frozen yogurt shines! It’s always a bit softer, so you can more easily make your own banana split pie or blizzard.) Place a layer of ice cream covering the banana slices.
Slice and layer the strawberries on the pie.
Cover the strawberries with another thin layer of ice cream.
Drizzle chocolate syrup and caramel syrup on top.
Place in the freezer for 15 minutes or more if you started with refrigerated ingredients. Otherwise this pie will need to freeze overnight, and then the strawberries will be frozen solid little bricks. (Strawberries don’t take freezing as well as bananas!)

Simple and tasty!

Cooking, Recipe

1-4 pounds pork roast
1-2 pounds tomatillos
1 onion
salt and pepper to taste
instant mashed potato flakes
water
crockpot with removable liner

Remove strings if the pork roast came wrapped. Trim visible fat. Put the pork roast in the crockpot.
Remove husks from the tomatillos, and wash them. Cut them in quarters or eighths, removing the stem. Toss them in the crockpot.
Chop the onion and toss it in the crockpot.
Add a tiny amount of salt (1/4 tsp) and freshly ground pepper (several grinds).
Add water to the crockpot until it just barely covers the pork roast. Let it cook on low 8 hours or more.
Put the crockpot liner in the frig for several hours until the fat congeals on top. Skim the fat, and put the liner back in the crockpot without the lid to cook again. (Some people skip this step. Not me!) Cook the pork roast until it falls apart easily.
Now that the pork roast is hot again, it’s time to reduce the water. (Some people let it cook with the lid off, watching to make sure it doesn’t burn. I prefer to the faster method.) Add some potato flakes to thicken it as much as you like. Serve it up!

My friend Dan suggested this recipe off the top of his head when I asked him on the phone what to make with tomatillos. I suspect I’ve mangled his original recipe, but this does taste good!

Cooking, Easy, Recipe