Kitchen Chaos

Last night I couldn’t figure out what to do for dinner – I really need to start planning our meals. I was still not sure what to do when I started browning the ground beef.   I thought about chicken enchilada soup but I had ground beef cooking.   I then thought about beef enchilada soup but that just didn’t sound that great.   Then I thought about cheeseburgers. Yum, I love cheeseburgers. How to carry that into a soup? I eyed the v*lveeta and that gave me the idea. I cooked some rice for the starchy bit and then began cooking a new creation.   I got some strange looks from my family when it was served and I told them what it was – especially from Hubby when he asked where I got the idea and I told him I made it up.   They loved it though. There was talk of me making it again and soon. Daisy said it wasn’t good, it was excellent.   I have to admit, it really isn’t very healthy. It could probably be made healthier – even using brown ri...

I just . . . .   I don’t know what to say other than please pray for my family.  My husband’s mother unexpectedly passed away today and we are just stunned. We knew she wasn’t extremely healthy but no way did we think she was this sick.   My heart is breaking for my husband and his dad as well as my kids.   My kids have lost 2 grandparents in barely a month – my husband and I have each lost a parent.    I just don’t know.

After making 4 batches of brownies this week, you would think I would have some pictures but you would be wrong. I forgot to take any and now . . . They are all gone. Every single one. While we like them, I didn’t know that they would be such a big hit. We made 2 batches for the 4-H meeting with no leftovers. Several commented that they enjoyed them and wanted the recipe. I made 2 more batches for my Bible study class this morning and several more asked for the recipe. One of the ladies in the class was delighted that it was a snack she could enjoy (she is gluten-intolerant as well). We also had one of the preschool teachers look for us because there was a little boy who was gluten-free dairy-free and had no snack and they wanted something for him. These are unbelievably good and no weird ingredients. . . Ok, let me rephrase that, no ingredients you won’t find in a normal grocery store. But one of the ingredients is decidedly weird for brownies. Are you ready for it? ...

I was going to do a post on homemade instant gluten-free oatmeal individual servings because they are really easy and my kids said they were wonderful. And perfect. And yummy.   Until today when they told me that it needs a little work. Apparently some of the oatmeal doesn’t get completely soft. And they want cinnamon in it. And can we dry some fruit to put in it.   So no oatmeal post yet.   Last night I made cabbage roll soup which nearly caused my children to run away from home. Could you leave out the cabbage? Uh, no.   I had planned on it being ready before Hubby had to leave for work, but it was done 5 minutes after he left. So I was the only one who was actually wanting to try it.   Daisy however was shocked that it wasn’t as horrible as she thought it would be. We decided the recipe needs more work (different spices) but it is a good base so when we get that the way we like it, I will post that.   The end.

We buried my dad today.   To be honest, it was both expected and unexpected. He had end stage cancer but we really thought we had a few more weeks or even months.   For his sake I am so very, very glad that he is no longer in pain and has energy again.   For his sake I am glad that he is in heaven with his precious savoir.   For our sake, I miss him. I wanted him to meet his other grandchildren who are yet to be born. I wanted him to dance with my mother at my daughter’s wedding. I wanted him to call me up a few more hundred times to just say “hi.”   But I would not have asked him to live one more hour in pain.   Posting may be somewhat sparse in the next few weeks but I will be back soon-ish.

Sometimes you start thinking about a food you enjoyed as a child and want to recreate that. Even a quick version of it, just something to give you a taste of the childhood comfort food. The other day I was in Sams and saw a 4 pack of canned salmon which led me to thinking about the salmon croquettes we ate when I was a child. I loved them, it was one of my favorite meals – not that I was a picky eater, I liked most anything my mom cooked. It wasn’t one of my dads favorites, I am not sure why. Maybe it wasn’t something he grew up eating. I am not sure why I have such a vivid memory of this,  it is strange the stuff you remember from childhood. Anyway, most of the recipes I have seen call for crackers or bread crumbs crumbled up with the canned salmon and maybe some egg as a binder. Crackers aren’t gluten free but corn chips are. Those little crumbs at the bottom of the bag (that are too small to dip in the guacamole) are perfect. Because I didn’t know how it would turn out...

After all that whining about having to make pizza because I promised but didn't feel like it - I didn't make it that night. We had gotten some bad news about my Dad's health and I was crying to hard to focus on making pizza. So tonight I made pizza. Actually I made three. I wanted to compare two Bette Hagman recipes to see which one we like better. And it seemed to be a better taste test to have them side by side. Get it? The third? The third . . . well . . . its like this, cooking pizza on aluminum foil is just so much quicker cleanup-wise. And for one of the pizzas it worked great. Absolutely perfectly. The other pizza not so much. It might as well have been super-glued to the foil. I could not get them separated. So I quickly threw together the third where I used a wheat flour recipe and just substituted sorghum flour (instead of the wheat) and added an egg to help bind it. Honestly it was my favorite (although it does need a bit of tweaking - maybe ...