Cheesy Potatoes

I received a cookbook as a gift from Temple United Methodist Church. Carol M. gave me the book as a thank you for visiting their church this morning. The minister was on vacation, Susan Harrison Wolffis was the guest speaker. Susan writes a lovely human interest column for the Muskegon Chronicle. I have always enjoyed reading her columns. Tonight, for dinner, I prepared a side dish of Cheesy Potatoes from page 20 of the cookbook. As I write this, I just realized that the person who submitted the recipe is Susan's mother.

Cheesy Potatoes

3 T. butter
6 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp salt (optional)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 c. milk
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Chopped fresh parsley

Melt butter in large non-stick skillet.
Cook potatoes until almost tender and lightly browned.
Sprinkle salt and pepper and pour milk over all.
Boil gently until milk is absorbed.
Sprinkle with cheese and allow to melt.
Garnish with parsley.
Serve immediately.

I cut the recipe in half and it made more than enough for the three of us. Very easy to prepare and delicious to eat. I can't wait to try other recipes from my new cookbook. I do enjoy locally produced cookbooks. I noticed the lovely lady who presented the cookbook to me has some healthy choice recipes in the book - maybe tomorrow.....

Mickie

When I was a child, I had several imaginary friends. First, there was Bear - he was well known for being blamed when mom asked "Who did it?" Yes, the Bear was the one who ate all the butter, spilled the tomato soup and left toys where they did not belong. Bear lived with us when I was four years old. Shortly after Bear left (I think he was tired of being the fall-guy), Mickie moved in with us. Mickie left the wagon out in the rain and also sat in the seat next to me so my brother could not sit there. Unfortunately, my brother could not see Mickie and often sat on him which could make me very upset. My mother tells me Mickie left when we took him to Florida and they (the parents) convinced him to stay in Florida when we returned home.

Now, around 50 years later, I have hooked up with a wonderful website called Inner Kiddies. The instructions on the website tells us to name our inner child. This inner child is going to take the "blame" for the mistakes I make - like eating too much or not eating the right foods. I have not embraced the idea because I could not come up with a proper name for my inner child.

Today as I did some sprints on the treadmill, my inner child spoke to me. My lovely inner child was trying to convince me to skip my workout and go home. At that point, I decided I need to give this inner child a name and realized the proper name would be Mickie!

So my friends that know me well, my computer is named Gracie, my Nook is Ethel, my Jeep is Yella and my inner child is Mickie. If you hear me talking about the trouble Mickie is causing - you will know who is really to blame.

It's all about attitudes

"My life tomorrow will be the result of my attitudes and the choices I make today" - Unknown

Snow Day Pretzels

Today was a rare occurrence - our school was closed. Out of boredom, I shuffled through and organized a pile of recipes I have printed & clipped but never had a chance to try. During the shuffle, I opened another link on-line and found yet another recipe - I stopped what I was doing and made these pretzels - they were terrific.

Snow Day Pretzels:

Makes 6 large pretzels

1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2-3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm milk (approximately 110 degrees)

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix together until it forms a ball. Start with 2 cups flour and mix it together until it forms something like a thick batter, then, add more flour a handfull at a time until it'll form a nice ball. I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer but you can knead it by hand. Knead for 5 - 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and satiny.
2. At this point, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Also, put a medium saucepan 3/4 full with water on to boil.
3. Cover the ball of dough with a towel and allow to rest 5-10 minutes.
   
4. Cut the dough into 6 pieces and shape each piece into a short log. Cover with a towel and let the dough relax for 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Once it has relaxed, roll it out and stretch it out. Let it relax again for another 5-10 minutes
6. Now, stretch the dough out until it is approximately 15 - 20 inches long and about as big around as your index finger. The dough will nearly double in size as it bakes so it is no problem if the dough is quite thin.
7. Shape the dough into a pretzel. Shaping is quite easy. Place a rope of dough on the work surface in front of you. Take each end in a hand, loop the dough away from you, and bring the ends back toward your stomach, crossing them about an inch above the rope. Apply a little bit of pressure to make the loops stick together, but not too much because you don't want then to flatten out.
8. To boil them: If you want to boil them, bring a pot of water to a boil. Dunk each of the pretzels into the boiling water for 5 seconds, then place them onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt (I use the kosher stuff that is easy to find at the grocery store) or other toppings. I left the prezel shape on my spatula and dipped it in the boiling water.
9. Place the baking sheets into the oven. It took around 15 minutes for my pretzels to get golden and brown. Remove from the oven and eat immediately.
10. After baking, I spritzed the pretzels with a little water and sprinkled some sour cream and onion topping over the pretzels - they were good with and without the topping.

(I'll post the sour cream and onion topping in another post)

Italian Wedding Soup

I'm always looking for a new soup recipe, this one appeared in an e-mail from FlyLady.net today. If I try it, I will use ground chicken. Please let me know if you get a chance to try this before me - your opinion matters.

Italian Wedding Soup
Serves 6

1/2 pound ground beef, extra lean
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
1 tablespoon Romano cheese
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
5 3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups kale, thinly sliced
1 cup orzo pasta
1/3 cup carrot, finely chopped

In a medium bowl, combine bread crumbs, meat, egg, cheese, basil and onion
powder, shape into 3/4 inch balls.

In a large saucepan, heat broth to boiling, stir in kale, orzo, carrot and
meatballs. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook at a slow
boil for 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Stir frequently to prevent
sticking.

Per serving: 280 Calories; 8g Fat; 24g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 58mg Cholesterol; 578mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain (Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1 Fat.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: I like bread with soup so either bake some in your
breadmaker or buy a nice loaf of crusty bread to go with this. Add a salad
if you want, but you've got tons of green stuff going on this hearty soup.

VEGETARIANS: Skip the meatballs by omitting first 3 ingredients. Add extra vegetables to vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

KOSHER: Use beef broth instead of chicken.