Tag Archives: salt

Pumpkin Pie Spice

October 27, 2010
popcorngirl12
2 comments
cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, salt

As promised here is my recipe for making your own pumpkin pie spice at home. It’s so much cheaper than buying the pre-made stuff in the stores too and at least you will know what is in it! I’ve been making quite a bit of my own seasoning mixes these days. Anyway I can save a little money is a good thing! This recipe will make almost ½ a cup. There are many versions of this recipe around but I found this combination to work well. Some call for ground mace also. Which is actually part of the nutmeg seed before you get to the nutmeg. Some call for sugar. If there is a spice you want to add to it go ahead, experiment!

INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup cinnamon

cinnamon

2 tablespoons ground ginger

ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cloves

ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients and store in a tightly closed container. Keep in a dark, cool place with the rest of your spices!

Homemade “Boursin” Cheese

September 28, 2010
popcorngirl12
1 comment
basil, butter, cayenne pepper, cheese spread, crackers, cream cheese, dip, garlic, homemade boursin, lemon juice, oregano, parsley, salt, snack, spread

Years ago I discovered Boursin Cheese. But that little container (only 5.2 ounces!) can be very expensive. I haven’t bought it in years because of that. It would also be gone in minutes because there isn’t much to it. This recipe may not give you a huge amount either (8 ounces at least) but you can also double the recipe and use lighter ingredients as well to save some calories and fat. It’s a cream cheese base so use the light cream cheese. I will not use fat-free cream cheese because I feel that it really loses all it’s flavor when you take away ALL the fat. But that’s just me. It’s up to you and what you wish. If calories are no object then by all means use the full fat version of cream cheese in the recipe. Another great thing about this recipe is that all the herbs and spices in it are very common and I would think most of us have them all on hand in our pantries. This recipe actually comes from The Queen Victoria Bed & Breakfast Inn. I had stayed there many years ago. The Inn is in Cape May, New Jersey and was a wonderful place, not far from the water. So give this a try and remember to make it the night before. It’s better that way, trust me! The spread itself is mild and is accented nicely by the crushed peppercorns. It’s a great spread with crackers during cocktail hour!

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried basil

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

freshly ground black peppercorns

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

2. Shape into a ball or log and roll in crushed black peppercorns or place in a serving dish and sprinkle generously with coarsely crushed black peppercorns. Or just serve it in a decorative serving bowl! Your choice!

3. Best if refrigerated at least overnight before serving.

Makes 1 cup

Garlic Roasted Garbanzo Beans

First of all I would like to thank CC Recipe for this incredibly delicious snack! She had three different types of roasted garbanzos and I attempted the garlic ones today. OMG! I could sit there and eat the entire batch on my own, no problem! Like she said they reminded me of corn nuts (yes they still sell those) and I had a really bad experience with corn nuts before I moved to Florida. Lost half of a molar! While at the Pindar Harvest Fest on Long Island! (My cousin Linda will vouch that I was less than calm about the incident!) So no more corn nuts. I do think I could have roasted these another 5 minutes but they still came out incredible. I changed the recipe slightly by adding more garlic powder, because I am obsessed love garlic! I also added some garlic salt when I took them out of the oven. I am also salt obsessed. I admit it, I am a Salt Monster. Anyway, they are so good. I am making a double batch next time and they are so good for you too. Oh one other thing I changed was I used soy flour instead of regular flour (my husband is carb obsessed). More fiber this way too so it’s all good. I have a few more recipes from CC Recipe that I am going to try. Awesome stuff!

INGREDIENTS:

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans

salt and pepper

¼ cup soy flour (or regular)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.

2. Drain the garbanzo beans and gently pat dry. Let sit on paper towels for 20 minutes or until they are mostly dry. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and garlic powder. Add garbanzo beans and toss lightly to coat. Shake off any excess flour.

4. Lay garbanzo beans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and bake 25-35 minutes. Check on them and shake the baking sheet every 10 minutes or so. I stirred them up each time. When they are done they will be golden brown and crunchy. (Not break your teeth crunchy though! ) Just keep an eye on them the last 10 minutes or so that they don’t burn.

Enjoy!

Homemade Feasts For Your Pets!

September 13, 2010
popcorngirl12
1 comment
bonemeal, bread crumbs, carrots, cat food, cheddar cheese, cooked liver, corn oil, dog food, egg, ground beef, ground meat, pet food, rice, salt, tomato paste

Yes you read that correctly. Homemade food for your pets. I know there are many readers out there that have pets. I myself have two cats. Gus, our 8-year-old male orange tabby. He is named after John’s dad. Quite the ladies’ man, just like the original. He is also my little shadow. Though little is not how we’d describe him these days. He’s a solid 17 pounds. He’s not fat! He’s big-boned! He actually does not eat all that much but he doesn’t run around much either. Hates exercise, just like me! Gus is a Florida native. He found us when we lived in Lake Worth. Best thing he ever did! Our other cat is Toonces (aka The Driving Cat) who is a 10-year-old female calico. She is a Long Island cat, south shore. We brought her with us, as a kitten, from NY. She had a wonderful trip down too. We drove from NY in our Corolla and Toonces had the entire back seat and window ledge. Snuck her into motels on the trip. She loved it. And she actually LOVES car rides. No joke. Gus however, hates the car. Toonces is a svelte 10 pounds and still runs around like a little kitten, she loves exercise. Just like John.

The last few years we discovered that Gus had urinary issues. So we’ve changed his diet several times. But we wanted something both cats could eat. Have you ever tried to get two cats to eat two different foods? Doesn’t really work. Toonces actually always finishes her food first and then pushes Gus out-of-the-way and eats his! So both foods need to be the same. I now feed them all natural foods, no by products etc. But I’ve also been looking into making the food for them. Not all the time, I have a hard enough time feeding us humans! But every so often. This post will have a recipe for dogs as well as cats. So give it a try! Your pets will love you for it!

CAT RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup water

1/3 cup dry rice

2 teaspoons corn oil

½ teaspoon iodized salt

2/3 cup ground meat (beef or chicken or turkey is good)

1 tablespoon bone meal

2 tablespoons cooked liver

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring water to a boil, add rice, corn oil and salt. Simmer 20 minutes.

2. Cover the meat with bone meal and add liver to the rice mixture. Simmer 15 minutes.

3. Let cool and serve. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers.

DOG RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

½ pound ground beef

1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 carrot, finely chopped/grated

½ cup bread crumbs

1 egg, whisked

1 teaspoon tomato paste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Scoop out by the spoonful and roll into mini-size meatballs.

3. Place the meatballs on a cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes. Store in the refrigerator.

Emeril’s Seasonings at Home

Everyone is familiar with Emeril and his TV shows, books, food, restaurants and so on. Years ago he listed some of his spice recipes we could make at home by ourselves. I have made them in the past and they are of course terrific. Today I am going to give everyone the recipes for his Creole and Southwest Spice seasonings. They are very easy to make on your own and there is nothing weird or crazy in them so you will be able to find all the spices in your grocery stores or spice stores. Just remember to store them in airtight containers, especially in climates that can be humid, like Florida! All of the ingredients are ‘dried’ spices/herbs as well.

Emeril’s Creole Seasoning (shown below)

INGREDIENTS:

2½ tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon oregano

1 tablespoon thyme

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients, mix thoroughly and store in an airtight container.

Makes about 2/3 cup

Emeril’s Southwest Seasoning Spice

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.

Makes about ½ cup

Paradise Cookies

I believe there is room for a cookie or two in everyone’s day. I can rationalize that they are smaller than a piece of cake so therefore it’s better! I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a favorite cookie. Whether it’s chocolate chip, oatmeal, thin mints, peanut butter or whatever you like, it’s always fun to find a new treat. I found the basics for this recipe and tweaked it to make it a little different. These cookies have a Hawaiian taste with the pineapple, coconut and macadamia nuts. (Leave out the nuts if you are allergic to nuts)

Photo for illustrative purposes only

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

8 ounce can crushed pineapple, drained well

1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar at medium-high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

4. Beat in the flour mixture at low-speed. Stir in the coconut, pineapple and nuts.

5. Place rounded teaspoons of dough about an inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake until the edges are golden, 10-12 minutes. Let cook on a rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Easy as Pie

July 9, 2010
popcorngirl12
0 comments
blender, butter, deep dish pie, easy pie, eggs, flaked coconut, flour, holiday, milk, salt, sugar, vanilla extract

I came across this recipe in a holiday book. (Christmas is just 168 days away you know!) It claims to be the easiest pie in the world to bake. While reading it over I would have to agree. I think even the “baking challenged” as I tend to be sometimes can bake this pie. I don’t have a picture but it is a custard pie and has coconut in it. So sort of like a coconut custard pie. One of my favorites. So practice for the holidays and get baking everyone! I think I will make it myself next time I have an ‘event’ that needs a dessert! By the way it is NOT a low-calorie dessert. But that’s ok now and then! Moderation! Heck I may even make it this weekend to see if it actually works! Then I will have an actual picture to show. If anyone makes it before I do, please send me a picture and I’ll include it! I will put in a “temporary” photo until then.

Photo is for illustrative purposes only

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups milk

4 eggs

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup sugar

1 stick butter

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Place all ingredients into a blender. (Yes a blender!) Turn the blender on medium speed and count to ten. (Not 9, not 11, but 10!)

Pour into a 9″ deep dish pie pan.

During the baking process the flour drops to form the crust and the remaining ingredients form the filling. (I admit I am a bit skeptical on this!)

Bake at 350º for 45 minutes.

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff (Light Version)

I really love beef stroganoff but with all the fat calories in the sour cream and other rich ingredients I never make it anymore. Till now that is. This recipe uses a slow cooker or crock pot. Most of us have one somewhere in our cabinets so take it out and get ready to make this simple dish. I used to use our crock pot to heat wine for my mulled wine recipe in the fall. No more! Now I use it all the time. I even went out and bought a brand new one! I have an old one from my first bridal shower way back when and it still works but I wanted a more up-to-date model.

Serve this dish with no-yolk noodles or my favorite Shirataki Tofu Noodles keeping it low cal! This recipe calls for fat-free sour cream and 98% fat-free soup, but you can substitute the lightversions for it as well, adding a bit more fat to the recipe but it’s still lower calorie.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ lbs. lean beef stewing meat, trimmed of fat, cut into bite size pieces

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped (use 1 clove if you don’t want too much garlic)

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 pound fresh mushrooms (small white or baby bellas are a good choice), sliced or chopped

10¾ oz. can 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup

1 cup water

1 cup fat-free sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine all ingredients except for the sour cream into the slow cooker. Best size slow cooker for this is 4-quart but any size is ok.

2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

3. Stir in sour cream.

4. Cook on high for a few minutes more to heat the sour cream. Serve!

Makes 6 servings

Per serving (if made as shown above): 240 calories; 7 grams fat, 15 grams carbohydrates, 800mg sodium, 1 gram fiber, 6 grams sugar, 27 grams protein, 75mg cholesterol.

If calculating points the each serving is 5 points, without the noodles.

Chilled Strawberry Bisque (Carnival Cruise Lines)

This is a refreshing chilled soup/bisque that tastes more like ice cream than a soup! It’s sweet, creamy and delicious! Great for those hot cruise days when you just want something refreshing before dinner. When the staff serves you they put some fresh strawberries in the middle of the soup bowl and pour the soup […]

Escargot Bourgignonne

Full disclosure, this blog post appeared on my other site What’s Cooking at the Genua’s? almost 8 years ago! I’ve updated the copy a bit but it’s still the same delicious recipe. Cruises are a wonderful thing. In the last 27 years I’ve been on 19 (20 this January 2019), so far. Most (12, […]

Alchemy Bar’s Cucumber Sunrise (Carnival Cruise Lines)

Yes, another cocktail. Hey what can I say, I love new and refreshing cocktails on a hot summer day, on a cruise, in the Caribbean…Anywhere really! And anyone who has cruised on Carnival knows all about the Alchemy Bar! It’s a great bar, if you can get a seat or place at the counter! Always […]

Baked Alaska (Carnival Cruise Lines)

Years ago on most of my early cruises they always served Baked Alaska on the Captain’s Night or some other elegant night for dessert. They still serve it BUT with one difference, it is no longer flaming. Yes, flaming. I remember the first time I saw this, the waiters all came dancing into the dining […]

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Tag Archives: salt

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Homemade “Boursin” Cheese

Garlic Roasted Garbanzo Beans

Homemade Feasts For Your Pets!

Emeril’s Seasonings at Home

Paradise Cookies

Easy as Pie

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff (Light Version)

Top Posts & Pages

Follow my other blog! : Cruise Ship Recipes at Home

Chilled Strawberry Bisque (Carnival Cruise Lines)

Escargot Bourgignonne

Alchemy Bar’s Cucumber Sunrise (Carnival Cruise Lines)

Baked Alaska (Carnival Cruise Lines)

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