Unleavened Bread

We eat lots of tortillas in our family. These are healthier than the white flour tortillas which are made with hydrogenated vegetable oil. These are made with vegetable oil and whole grains,and chilis, etc. Yummy!!!!Usually we fill them with fried onions, refried beans and gaucamole.

Craving

One day last month we got a flyer in the mail:BUY ONE 6 DOLLAR BURGER FROM CARL'S JR., GET ONE FREE. They are 3.99 plus tax actually. Well, I resisted, but I instead went to the nearby grocery store: Stater Brother's, and bought a big fat Italian beef burger patty(1/2 pound)raw for $2.00 and went home and cooked it and served it on a whole wheat bun with my favorite add-ons. It was so good! John doesn't like beef and Kelsy is a vegetarian, so this as a special treat just for me.

Let Them Eat Popcorn

So we hear about wheat prices going up! Some stores now have to put a limit on the number of pounds of rice you can buy at one time because people are fearing a shortage and are trying to buy so much to stock up. I say: Stock the most delectable of all grains: Popcorn! Some people call popcorn instant bread. Indeed...you do not have to grind it, or make a dough with it after proofing your yeast, etc, etc. Bread is carbs. Rice is carbs. Popcorn is carbs. But popcorn is a good whole grain carb for sure! All that yummy fiber. White rice and white bread have basically no fiber. So if you like white and quick- nothing beats popcorn

So here is a picture of a 2 pound bag of popcorn I bought for 99 cents at Food-4-Less grocery store here. On the back of the package, it says 24 servings in this bag. So 5 cents a serving. One serving is 3 Tablespoons of popcorn grains...which yield 4.5 cups of popped corn containing 5 grams of dietary fiber. I used 9 Tablespoons of popcorn grains in my skillet and popped them and ended up with a lovely bowl of popcorn . That's 15 grams of the most delicious fiber! I use a touch of melted butter and a very light sprinkling of salt. Cost: 15 cents worth of popcorn and 15 cents worth of butter..and maybe 10 cents max for the oil. So: 40 cents to fill up on one of the most nutritious and quick whole grain meals available to man.
This bowl can serve 1-3 people or more, depending on how hungry they are. 13 cups of popcorn!

Round MoJo's

I got a phone call from Tommy at 3:00 pm Friday:"We are leaving Santa Ana now and will be there by 4:30pm" I invited them to supper...but did not know what to fix. Then I decided on: Turkey burgers on whole wheat buns, steamed broccoli and steamed carrots, and mojos. I dashed to the store for the ingredients. 5 lb. bag potatoes for 99 cents...wow!
This time, I decided top do rounds intead of "steak fry" shape. I peel and cut the potatoes, soak in water, pat them dry with paper towels, add olive oil, paprika and Italian seasoning, toss to oats (they will all look a bit orange from the paprika) and bake on oiled baking sheet in 425 degree oven until golden brown (usually 35-40 minutes depending on how thick the potatoes are cut.) I used all the potatoes ecept one and filled two baking sheets. They are so good with ranch dressing or ketchup or any dipping sauce you prefer..or plain. The secret is enough oil and a very hot oven...and baking them long enough.

Ideal Refrigerator

True confession: I tend to over pack our refrigerator. It gets frustrating because then you cannot see what you have and sometimes, things go bad. This is a picture of Elizabeth Hulihan's (John's mom) fridge on a typical day. Her fridge is neatly organized and sparkly clean. I sure wish I could have my fridge looking like this.

And I ask you who are reading this:
Do You Know What Is In Your Fridge?

High Fiber Candy (Chocolate Easter Eggs)

A rare treat. Very rare. They are so good, I dare not make them often.
I used to make these at Easter time because John especially liked them. I made some when David and Amber visited. They are really satisfying.

Chocolate Easter Eggs
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa (I use hershey's)
3/4 cup milk (soy milk is fine)
1/4 cup butter (that is one half of a stick)
1/2 cup peanut butter (all natural, of course)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 or 4 1/2 cups quick cooking oatmeal.

~Combine sugar, cocoa, milk and butter in saucepan. Bring to a boil over med. heat. Boil for one minute only. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining ingredients, mixing well. Let mixture cool awhile in saucepan. Shaoe spoonfuls into egg shape (or round balls) and roll in shredded coconut (the unsweetened finely shredded coconut you get at health food stores.) Store in covered plastic container in fridge.

Tonight's Supper

Tonight's supper included salmon burger patties (see picture of package) I buy at Costco and slow fry them in a bit of olive oil in a covered iron skillet. I do not flip them so as it slowly cooks through the omega 3 oils rise to the surface and pool on top into a creamy savory "sauce". I season them with a bit of black pepper and some powdered pico de gallo seasoning. I steamed some sweet potato rounds and cooked up some kale in a bit of water. The salad has lots of ingredients: sliced celery, chopped cukes, radish, chopped tomatoes, pickled beet slivers, red onion, lettuce. In the stemmed glass is Welch's unsweetened grape juice. Kelsy, John and I heartily and gratefully enjoyed this delicious meal, of which I now present a picture of in this post.

Pomelo

This is a pomelo...like a gigantic grapefruit. I paid 25 cents for it. It weighs over a pound.

Naan Bread

Lately, every time we go to Trader Joe's, I get a package of Naan Bread. It is so soft and delicious, tasting almost like a dinner roll. It says on the package to spread it with butter and warm it up, before eating. MMMmmm. I have a quest now..to learn how to make it myself. Naan Bread is from India and is served with dahl (spicy lentil or split pea soup)

I Love Blenders

..and I love raspberries and my very nearby grocery store now sells organic raspberries in a 10 oz. bag for 2.99. There are 3 cups of frozen raspberries in this bag. My recipe today:

Raspberry Shake
1 cup soy milk (25 cents)
1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries (1.50)
1/2 small banana (.10)

So $1.85 for this shake. I know this is pricey and I can't afford top have it every day, but raspberries have ingredients that help your body not get cancer! Plus this tastes so good, it keeps me happy all morning just remembering how delicious it was!
This raspberry shake was my "second breakfast".
I had 2 oranges earlier this morning for my "first" breakfast. I am grateful for people who grow and sell organic raspberries.