Berry Lemon Skillet Custard Pie

Breakfast, snack, dessert -- doesn't matter, this Berry Lemon Custard skillet pie got eaten for all of them. It was pretty delicious and easy to make. I had a bunch of blackberries and boysenberries from my bushes that needed eaten so I decided to go a different route than my normal blackberry tarts and adapt a recipe from Family Circle for a plain blackberry custard. 

I didn't have quite enough blackberries and boysenberries so I added raspberries to the mix. Really you could use any mixture of berries you have on hand. This recipe is simple to make but does take a good 40 minutes to hour of oven time. So, plan ahead. But this recipe is just as good served cold as it is warm so it can literally be eaten the next day and was in my house. All day, in fact, for breakfast, snack and dessert. 

I made mine lactose free for the lactose intolerant kids in my house. 

Your custard is going to look like this before it goes in the oven, 

Berry Lemon Skillet Custard Pie

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups milk (we use LACTAID milk but you could use a coconut milk in this recipe).

1/3 Cup plus 2 TB sugar

2/3 Cup flour

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 TB lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

lemon zest (from about 1/2 a lemon)

3 Cups of fresh berries (I used blackberries, boysenberries and rasberries)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit

2. Spray an oven safe skillet with nonstick spray

3.Combine milk, 1/3 cup sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, lemon juice, four and salt in a blender. 

4. Blend until smooth. 

5. Pour blended batter into skillet. 

6. Place berries on top of batter (they will sink).

7. Sprinkle with lemon zest.

Bake for 40 minutes to an hour until inserted toothpick comes out clean and sides begin to puff. Serve warm or chilled. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar if desired. 

Forgotten Choco Chip Cookies

Pantry Recipe:

don't forget to always have nuts and chocolate chips on hand

The title of this recipe was screaming my name. Baking cookies is not exactly my forte. I always forget something, the eggs, the oil, the actual cookies baking in the oven.

Last time I made cookies I thought for sure I had it made. I took out prefrozen cookie from the freezer and put them in the oven. 30 minutes later my daughter said "Hey Mom, the house smells like cinnamon." Well that is weird I thought to myself. Until I realized that it smelled like burnt cinnamon. I had completely forgotten the cookies and due to the fact that my husband's band was belting out 80s music in the basement that was literally shaking the house, I had not heard the buzzer. 

Sooo, the whole concept of the Forgotten Cookie recipe completely appealed to me. I could do this. I could make cookies put them in the oven, turn off the oven immediately and completely forget about them for hours.

In the end these 5 ingredient meringue like cookies were delicious and easy to make. And I totally would have forgotten about them if my kids had not been nagging me. "When are they done, When are they done?"

Forgotten Cookie Recipe
 2 egg whites
2/3 Cup sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 Cup chopped pecans or macadamia nuts (I used macadamia)
3/4 Cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. 
Adding sugar gradually, beat until very stiff.
Add salt, nuts and choco chips.
Drop by teaspoons onto greased foil covered baking sheet. 
Put cookies in the oven and turn oven off immediately. 
Leave overnight or until oven is completely cooled.

Balsamic Crockpot Pork & Hot Pork Salad

Recipe Trial
So, for my first new recipe of the year I tried a recipe I found on my new addiction. Pinterest. I have to try those recipes too. But I will be getting to the ones floating around my kitchen on scraps of paper as well. I stayed pretty true to the original recipe but I added a few twists. Every kitchen needs a little tweaking going on. 

I buy these 4 packs of pork sirloin tip roasts at Costco. They are cheap but there are not a lot of recipes out there for them. Plus I ALWAYS need good crockpot recipes. I get tired of shredded Mexican pork.Don't you?

So I took this recipe http://sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com/2011/09/slow-cooker-brown-sugar-balsamic-glazed.html from Six Sisters and turned it into this tasty moist pork dinner.

Their recipe called for ground sage and I used a poultry seasoning instead. I loved this pork. It's a KEEPER! The glaze is really sweet but amazing. 

But my favorite part of this recipe was the next day leftovers which I made into a hot pork and spinach mushroom salad topped with a fried egg. MMMM!. I heart leftovers. That recipe is below too.

Balsamic Crockpot Pork Roast

1 two to three pound pork sirloin tip roast or pork loin roast

1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 Cup water

Glaze

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Rub roast with poultry seasoning and salt. Add roast and water to slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Brush with glaze during the last hour of cooking time every 15 minutes.

For Glaze:

Combine glaze ingredients in saucepan and heat on medium heat until thickened. Reserve remaining glaze to pour over pork when served.

Hot Pork & Spinach Salad
(Salad for 2)

leftover pork roast cubed. (however much you want in your salad. I used about a half cup for 2 servings.)
1/2 TB olive oil
about 6 mushrooms sliced
3 cups fresh spinach
2 eggs
4 TB freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add sliced mushrooms and saute until they start to soften. Add 1 cup spinach and pork and saute until spinach is wilted and shriveled. Add remaining 2 cups of spinach and saute until slightly wilted but not shriveled. Some can still be crisp but warmed.

Remove from heat and plate for two people.
Add a little more olive oil to an and heat. Add eggs and fry until desired doneness. I like mine a little runny.
So delicious. So easy. And if I do say so myself, it makes this mom who works from home feel a little gourmet for lunch.

Tomato Powder --My New Pantry BFF

A Quick Reminder: Don't forget to enter the giveaway for $50 in Thrive food products. Enter HERE

Who knew tomato powder was so awesome? I am pretty sold on the Thrive tomato powder I received to review from Your Own Home Store. I am a hoarder of tomato products. I store tomato sauce, paste, pizza sauce, stewed tomatoes and now tomato powder.

Tomato powder is cool because it has a ridiculously long shelf life and I don't have to worry about cans with puffy tops that have gone bad. Oh I am keeping my cans too but now I know I have something in my food storage that lasts longer and stays safe longer than canned liquids.

Plus -- So easy to use. Add water to achieve the desired consistency and spices to taste and voila a lovely paste, sauce or marinara. You can also use the powder in other ways but I was challenged to recreate my saucy egg recipe and so I did. I also got some freeze dried mozzarella to try with this recipe. That stuff is pretty cool melted too. I am not sure I am all for eating it just straight rehydrated. But it is awesome melted. I couldn't even tell the difference between my normal melted mozzarella and the freeze dried rehydrated in this recipe.

So here is how easy it is to use.

2 cups water
1/2 cup tomato powder.
Spices to taste.
I used basil, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, salt, pepper. Sorry, I didn't measure I just kind of seasoned by eye and taste. That is pretty much how I roll with homemade marinara.
Still, here is a good recipe for marinara from tomato powder

Saucy Eggs Recipe

Mix powder, water and spices in large saute pan. Heat until  sauce starts to bubble around edges. Add eggs on top of tomato sauce. Add 1/2 cup freeze dried mozzarella on top of eggs and sauce.

Cover and cook until eggs are desired doneness. Do not overcook or your sauce will get to thick.
This tasted really good and the eggs were beautifully poached and saucy as always. I love that this is an easy and affordable meal I can make straight from the food storage. Add some waffles and you have a filling meal.

Breakfast With a Twist - Saucy Eggs and Pancake Tacos

Italian Sauce Poached Eggs and Pancake Mango Tacos.

National Breakfast Day yesterday. What better day to post this tasty Brinner we had the other night. . I love Breakfast for Dinner for so many reasons and these two recipes definitely portray why. I love Brinner but I like to give it a little twist some nights
Eggs poached in marinara sauce are so heavenly and filling and easy. I could make these every day. It is a little more hearty way to eat poached eggs making it a perfet luncheon or dinner entree. Something about the marinara sauce infuses flavor into these eggs. I promise they are delicious and beautiful.

I decided to serve these eggs with this breakfast loving families new favorite twist on pancakes or Pacos as my daughter dubbed them. A buttermilk pancake with ingredients straight from the pantry filled with a few other favorites. Mascarpone ( find out how to make your own here) pear pineapple jam or strawberry mango jam, and sliced mangos folded into a paco. DELISH. Of course, the possibilities are endless! Make your own paco version.


Italian Sauced Eggs
1 Can of spaghetti Sauce (about 2 Cups)
5 eggs
1 tsp dried Basil
1/2 cup of grated mozarella or Italian Cheese blend

Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce and allow to warm until it starts to bubble on the sides. Carefully crack each egg on top of the sauce, allowing it to sink in a little into the sauce. Cover and cook on medium low for 5 to 10 minutes or until eggs are done your way. I like mine hard softboiled so like the center to be mostly firm.

Sprinkle with dried basil and shredded cheese. Cover and cook until cheese is melted. Remove eggs with some sauce to plates and serve immediately.

PACOS
Butternilk pancakes
1 tb of mascarpone per pancake
1 tsp of pear pineapple or strawberry mango jam per pancake
3-4 slices of mango

Place ingredients in center starting with mascarpone. Fold pancake like a taco and eat. Yum.

DIG IN

Savory Pancake Bowls

We have a breakfast dinner at our home at least once a month. We rarely eat more than cereal, smoothies or toast for our real breakfast. But we will still love breakfast food. So we have Brinner. One of our favorite dinners is eggs and veggies baked in ham cups. So, when I saw this recipe for Savory Egg stuffed pancake cups in the Costco cookbook I had to give it a try. Their version is way more gourmet and that would have been awesome for the adults in this house that appreciate such things. But I was cooking for the picky kiddos who think mac and cheese is the most awesome dinner ever. I had to make the recipe a bit more practical. Although, I added mushrooms to my husband and mine's pretty little cups.

The original recipe called for Krusteaz pancake mix. I used the pancake mix I had on hand but I had to add a little more water to thin my pancakes out since it was a wheat pancake mix, This recipe needs a thinner pancake so that you can easily mold the pancakes into muffin tins.


Recipe
1 Cup Pancake mix
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 Cup water.
1 Tb butter
1/2 Cup chopped onion
1 Cup fresh spinach or mushrooms
6 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 Cup milk
Salt and pepper
Shredded cheddar or swiss cheese.

Preheat a lightly greased griddle to medium heat. Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin.

Stir together panckake mix and batter (batter should be thin) Let stand for 2 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto griddle. cook for 1 to 1 1/4 minute per side. ( Do not overcook your pancake)

Carefully place warm pancakes into muffin tins, forming bowls. Bake in oven for 4-5 minutes until edges are slightly crispy. Set aside.

Melt butter in skillet and saute onion for 3-4 minutes. Add spinach or mushrooms and cook for about 3 more minutes. Remove from heat and drain well.

Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, milk and salt and pepper.
Scramble over medium heat until eggs are set. Remove from heat and fold in sauteed veggies.
Fill pancake bowls with eggs. Top each with shredded cheese.
Bake 7-10 minutes until cheese has melted.

12 servings.


Giveaway: My magazine Alive! Utah is having one awesome giveaway this week on perfect pantry and food storage foods by Shirley J. We are giving away $50 worth of product to one lucky winner. So go enter at http://aliveutah.com/ You do have to be a subscriber to my site. But it is free.

Egg Substitute for Baking

Suggested Food Storage/Pantry Item: unflavored gelatin

So let's say something crazy happens like over half a billion eggs are recalled for salmonella. I know its crazy. Who would ever imagine such a thing happening. But let's say after such a food disaster you throw out your eggs and head to the farmer's market to buy fresh local eggs. Local eggs taste better and are usually healthier but they are also more expensive and in my neck of the woods less available in large quantities. Therefore I treasure each of those eggs and prefer not to use them for baking. Reason #1 this week that I am grateful for unflavored getlatin.

Reason #2. Let's say you are baking in the kitchen with 10 eight and nine year olds and some of your eggs get broken and there are no more left to finish the baking product. Voila! unflavored gelatin.

Unflavored gelatin combined with water may be a little bit of magic. I almost can't believe that you can replace it and water for eggs. Not only is it a great emergency substitution, it is a guilt free solution for those who are watching their cholesterol or want to lick the batter bowl.

And it works. I recently made zucchini bread and I often find myself using it when I have a shortage of eggs. Granted it only works for baking.

So here is how it works.
For 1 egg
Combine 1 tsp unflavored gelatin with 3 Tablespoons cold water and 2 Tablespoon plus 1 tsp boiling water. Allow to stand while preparing other ingredients.

Unflavored gelatin is available with the flavored gelatins or you may buy it in bulk at a health food store or google unflavored gelatin bulk on line.

Good luck and be brave and give it a try.

Hashbrown Ham & Egg Bake

First I have to give a shout out to foodie blogroll because I am one of their winners. If there is anything foodies love more than food it is free food. YAY, yummy organic popcorn mixes from 479 Popcorn is on its way to my doorstep

That said I am going to share a simple layered egg casserole that is a pretty common brunch menu item. I am twisting it up a little by adding my food storage hashbrowns and canned smoked ham. This simple egg bake was a perfect fit for these storage items. You can certainly use frozen hashbrowns or fresh ham. This recipe is so simple that I am going to teach it to a group of 8-10 year old girls. Ooh I love passing easy recipes onto the younger generations.

Egg Bake
1 box of hashbrowns rehydrated or a 2 pound pkg of frozen hashbrowns. You can learn more about my favorite hashbrowns here
1 can of smoked ham or 1 cup chopped ham
2 -3 green onions thinly sliced
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped tomatoes (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 2 quart baking dish or a jelly roll pan. Place the hash brown potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish.


Combine ham and onions.

Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, milk, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and pour over the potatoes. Layer with half the cheddar cheese, the ham mixture, and the remaining Cheddar cheese. Top with chopped tomatoes if desired. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 1 hour. Remove cover; return casserole to the oven and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Green Tip: We will be adding a little green food coloring to this recipe to make green eggs and ham for St. Paddy's Day.

Cheesy Tuna Broccoli Crepes

Featured Food Storage: Tuna Fish
Suggested Food Storage or Pantry Item: Cheese Powder (Morning Moos available at Wal-Mart)

First, I know that I have fallen off the blogging wagon but during Christmas I was busy baking and playing. But now Christmas is over and I am realizing that no matter how hard I tried I still went over budget. Therefore, it is time to get back to cooking from the pantry and the food storage a little more religiously. Maybe you are looking at your tuna fish or your pantry staples with a little more appreciation. How can you bring delicious to the table on a tight food budget this year? I hope that in 2010 I can continue to bring you economical meals that will get you through the thin times.

And so I bring you a recipe that I am ridiculously proud of. It is sooo cheap to make and yet it is just a little bit of fancy. I mean seriously, when doesn't the word "crepe" class up the joint a little bit. Crepes are really an economical and versatile dish. I love a good dessert crepe but I also love a dinner crepe. I made these crepes a little more savory by changing out the regular butter for some of my homemade herb butter from the freezer storage. I also left out the sugar. 8 filled dinner crepes came in under $5.

Instead of making my own cheese sauce from fresh cheese, I decided to give the cheddar powder sitting in my pantry a try. I mean what is the good of food storage that sits on the shelf. I have to say that the sauce from the cheddar powder worked great in this dish. I used Morning Moos brand because that is what I had. I am going to include both the regular cheese sauce recipe and the recipe using the cheese powder blend.

Don't be intimidated by the multiple steps in this recipe. As my eight-year-old would say it really is "easy peasy, lemon squeezy."

Crepes -- This is my favorite fail safe recipe for crepes. They turn out fantastic every time.
Savory version
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 Cup flour
3/4 cup milk
2 Tb butter, melted ( I used herb butter to give it a little gourmet twist)
Vegetable oil

With an electric mixer on medium beat the egg, egg yolk flour and 1/2 cup of the milk until well blended. Beat in melted herb butter and remaining milk to form a smooth batter. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

To cook the crepes, heat a lightly oiled crepe pan or 8' nonstick skillet to low/medium heat. Drop batter by 1/8 cupfuls onto pan while turning pan to spread out banner in a thin, even and circular layer.

Cook until underside of crepes begins to brown and then carefully lift and flip the crepe to lightly brown the other side. Stack crepes on a plate.


Cheese Sauce
Morning Moos
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup of Morning Moos cheese powder blend
1/8 cup of milk

Gradually combine cheese mix with hot water and milk. Stir together until smooth. Set aside

Fresh Cheese Sauce
1 1/2 Cups milk
1 1/2 Cups shredded American cheese
1/4 Cup chopped onion
3 Tb butter
3 Tb all purpose flour
1 Tb prepared mustard
1/8 tsp pepper
In a medium sauce cook onion in butter until tender but not brown. Stir in flour, mustard and pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Add cheese. Stir and cook till melted. Remove from heat.

Crepe Filling
1 ten oz. bag of frozen chopped broccoli, cooked according to directions
3 cans (6 1/2 oz each) of tuna, drained and broken into chunks
Cheese sauce

Combine tuna, broccoli and 3/4 cup of the cheese sauce. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of tuna filling down center of each crepe. Roll up. Place crepes seam side down in a baking dish. Bake covered in a 375 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through. Reheat remaining cheese sauce, (add additional milk if needed) Pour over crepes.