Chicken burgers and homemade barbecue sauce. And why we won't go totally whole wheat.

Ground chicken is finally making its way to this part of the country. Thank goodness. I've been reading recipes that call for ground chicken for years now and I'm just now finding it in the store. We got two packages the last time we went shopping and I'm using the first package today to make barbecue chicken burgers. I've made chicken burgers one other time and we really enjoyed it.

The last time I posted I had two recipes involving whole wheat. We both like whole wheat anything, but not only whole wheat. We've decided that we like a little *gasp* white flour mixed in. Eating healthy will only go so far when you're not liking what you eat. And that's a big part of it, liking what you eat. If you're eating something healthy that's making you second guess why you're doing this in the first place, you're not going to continue. With a little medical help, I've lost three pounds in three weeks. It normally takes at least three months to lose that amount. I consider that a success.

If you can make it homemade it's automatically going to be better for you. I failed at whole wheat tortillas and whole wheat banana bread, but I'm going to try again. I've got plenty of bananas for more bread and I have everything necessary for tortillas. So, on my next day off I'm going to try tortillas again. Just not all whole wheat, but maybe one-fourth.
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Homemade barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 cup water
1 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons mustard powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar


1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and place in the refrigerator.
2. Use on your favorite barbecue recipe or in the chicken burgers below.


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Barbecue chicken burgers
1 pound ground chicken breast
1/4 cup finely grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup barbecue sauce

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

2. Shape into four patties.

3. Fry in olive oil.

4. Serve on favorite buns with toppings of choice.

A lot going on.

Today is my last day off this week and in an effort to bring more real food into our life, I will be making homemade whole wheat tortillas and homemade whole wheat banana bread. Now, hubby doesn't know this, but I am going to slowly limit what processed foods comes into the house. I don't think I'll ever cut out his diet soda, but I can add in other stuff and hopefully balance it. I've wanted to do this for quite awhile, but after binge reading 100 Days of Real Food, I've seen what a good idea it is. The problem is we can't do organic or locally raised, grass-fed meat. Despite living in Southwest Iowa, this stuff isn't readily available. Isn't that weird? We do have a couple of options that do half a hog, but when I inquired about it they were already ordered. We also can't find whole wheat bread, rolls, buns at a reasonable price. And when you're living on a tight budget, price is fairly influential. So, I guess I'll be making bread and things myself. And I am terribly bad about baking. It's just not in me. I can't even do cookies right. I guess I'll learn if I want to do this, huh? That means my days off will not be restful. I mean eating healthy is a good cause and everything, but I enjoy lazing around. Which of course is the reason for my weight problems. I could blame PCOS, but for the most part it is me, my food choices, and my lack of exercise. PCOS does make things more difficult, but it is doable.

I've made four things over the last couple of days. Yesterday, I made homemade apple sauce. I thought it was really good, but my husband didn't like that I left the skin in it. I wasn't going to peel the apples when most of the good stuff is there. Today I'll be making dinner--pot roast with dijon mustard and molasses with mashed potatoes; and green beans, I think--and at least whole wheat banana bread and whole wheat tortillas. And as a note to myself, I think I should probably add at least another bag of whole wheat flour to my shopping list for next Friday. I think I'm going to be using a lot of it. Starting on Monday's trash day, I'm going to very slowly begin throwing processed food out. Starting with flour. It's not something we use often and it's definitely not something that hubby is going to miss since he doesn't use it. I've decided hubby is like a stubborn child and I'll have to very slowly get him used to this new way of living. Wish me luck on that one. I'm going to need it. I may do the cooking and shopping, but he doesn't have to eat it.

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Crock pot applesauce
8 apples
1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons honey
Splash of apple cider
Cinnamon stick

1. Core and cut apples into half-inch pieces.
2. Place in crock pot with the juice of half a lemon, 2 tablespoons honey, a spash of apple cider, and the cinnamon stick.
3. Cook on low for 6 hours.

**I put mine in single-serve containers and put it in the fridge.**
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Sweet mustard roast
**adapted**
3 pounds beef
1/3 cup molasses 
1/3 cup dijon mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1. Dump meat into cooker. 
2. Mix together molasses, dijon mustard, garlic powder, and apple cider vinegar.
3. Pour over roast. 
4. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.


**I served this with mashed potatoes and green beans.**
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Whole wheat tortillas
2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour 
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water (heat in the microwave for 1 min)


1. Pour the flour, oil and salt into a bowl. Mix with a hand-mixer or stand mixer with dough hooks 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape the sides as needed. 
2. With the mixer running, gradually add the warm water and continue mixing until the dough is smooth, about 3 minutes.
3. Take out the dough and divide it into 12 equal sized pieces. I do this by rolling out a log shape that is about 8 – 10 inches long. Then I cut it in the middle. Then I cut each of those pieces in the middle and so on until you have 12 pieces.
4. Roll each piece into a ball and flatten it out on a baking tray or board. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes or up to one hour.
5. Heat a cast iron skillet, griddle or 12-inch skillet over med-high heat. The pan should be fairly hot before you begin cooking the tortillas.
6. On a lightly floured board or countertop, roll each ball into a 8 to 10 inch circle (measure against your recipe if printed on a 8.5X11 sheet of paper). Be careful not to use more than a teaspoon or two of flour when rolling out each ball of dough because too much excess flour will burn in the pan.
7. Grease the pan with a touch of oil (or ghee) and then carefully transfer each tortilla, one at a time, to the pan and cook until puffy and slightly brown, about 30 to 45 seconds per side. Set aside on a plate to cool slightly. Eat within an hour, refrigerate or freeze.


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Whole wheat banana bread
2 ¼ cup whole-wheat flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed
¼ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup honey
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease pan.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl mix mashed bananas with yogurt, honey, eggs, oil, and vanilla.
4. Fold the banana mixture into the flour mixture until blended. Do not overmix.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake large loaf for 40 – 50 minutes or until it comes clean with a toothpick.

Hanging Christmas lights. And a little baking.

I got into the holiday spirit quite unexpectedly the other day. I decided that today, before the weather changed for the worse, I was going to put up lights with Mr. Bah Humbug. Commonly known as my hubby. Since he's been sick he's been alternating between extreme grouch and pain in my butt. I cannot wait until they find out for sure what's wrong and hopefully manage his pain.

Before I put up lights I started a huge pot of ham and beans. This is one of hubby's favorites and I've started liking beans. I made this along with sweet potato biscuits and apple fritter cupcakes. It was a wonderful almost Thanksgiving dinner. I dirtied a lot of dishes and Mr. Bah Humbug didn't even care because I was cooking again. I will definitely make the ham and beans and the sweet potato biscuits again, but probably not the apple fritter cupcakes. There was probably a reason they were supposed to be fried. They were boring. The apples were very good, but the rest was kinda bland.

(Recipes are below with links in the title.)
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Crock pot ham and beans
1 lb dry beans
2 bay leaves
2 lbs ham hocks or shanks
1/2 an onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Soak beans and bay leaves over night in six cups of water.
2. Place beans, ham hocks onion, garlic, and nutmeg in crock pot.
3. Cook on low for eight hours.
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Sweet potato biscuits
**adapted**
1 cup sweet potato
3/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons grated, frozen butter

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Microwave sweet potato for 10 minutes.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, and salt.
4. When sweet potato cools scrape the flesh from the skin and mash it in a bowl.
5. Whisk milk into sweet potato.
6. Grate the frozen butter into the flour.
7. Use your fingers to break the butter into the flour until crumbly.
8. Mix the sweet potato and milk into the flour.
9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
10. Use a 1/3 measuring cup to make 8 biscuits.
11. Bake15-20 minutes.
12. Let cool and serve with butter and honey.
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Apple fritter cupcakes
**Very adapted to suit my needs.**
2 granny smith apples, cored and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup apple cider
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 butter

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup apple cider
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


1. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Spread the apple chunks in a single layer on the sheet, and pat them completely dry with more paper towels. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the cider, eggs and melted butter.
4. Stir the apples into the flour mixture. Add the cider mixture, and stir until incorporated.
5. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray.
6. Divide batter between tins.
7. Bake for 20 minutes.


To Make the Glaze:
1. Place the confectioners’ sugar, cider, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl, and whisk until smooth. 
2. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of glaze on top of each fritter, and let it set for 10 minutes before serving.

It's raining. It's snowing. The hubby and cat are snoring.

Okay, they aren't really snoring. But it is raining and here shortly it will be snowing. It'll be the second snow of the year, but I'm not sure if I count the first. Not even an inch accumulated and you could still see the fairly green grass. Today's snow should be worthy of being called the first winter snow. One to three inches of snow should be blanketing the ground around nightfall. Yay!

As long as my little house is warm, I love the winter. I love snow. I love ice--in the trees. Driving 50 miles a day back and forth to work, I hate ice on the roads. The problem with rural roads is that they don't always get sanded and they can get downright dangerous. Of course not having the luxury of being able to call in means that hubby and I get to brave the elements. Boo!

Tomorrow is grocery shopping day, so I hope the bad weather stays away for a little while longer. After not doing a proper grocery shopping trip in a month or so, my list is enormous. I don't think I've ever had a list this large. The problem is, I let myself run out of staples, most of my staples, and now I'm paying. Paying a lot. If I keep it under $300 I'll be happy. Under $200 and I'll be ecstatic.

Not having a lot in the house, we've been scraping the bottom of the figurative barrel. I was lucky enough to find goodies in the freezer--crock pot chicken and black beans with cream cheese-- and make something snacky for dinner. Per hubby's request.

(The links are in the title of the recipe.)
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Baked mozzarella sticks
**adapted**
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups dry breadcrums
2 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
12 pieces mozzarella string cheese
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter, melted

1. In a small bowl, beat eggs.
2. In a plastic bag combine Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and freshly ground pepper.
3. Coat string cheese in flour, then dip in egg and bread crumbs.
4. Chill for at least 4 hours.
5. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and drizzle with butter.
6. Bake uncovered in a 400F over for 6-8 minutes.
7. Let sit 3-5 minutes. Or as long as you can.

What to do with apples you bought on sale?

The other day at HyVee, I bought four pounds of apples. I thought about making apple sauce or apple butter, but truth be told I'm too lazy to go to all the work it entails--peeling, coring, canning. Now, a cake I can make. And I got lucky enough to find one on my first Google click.

The recipe is from Monica at Lick the Bowl Good and she adapted it from "Southern Cakes." I decided to bake this cake based solely on the picture. It looks amazing. And I really like glazes. That helped, too.

For supper I decided to make sweet and sour meatballs. I have frozen meatballs and hubby gets off at 7pm tonight, so I thought it would be a good late dinner. Now I just have to find the recipe.

There's always something it seems.

So I've tried bits and pieces of the cake. The cake itself tastes a little like a caramel apple and the topping is blondie-like. I think it'll be awesome together, but I won't be trying it until hubby gets home, so that's probably a good thing or it would all be gone. Not that he would care any, because he's not a dessert kind of guy. He wants his meal and that's it.

He's weird.

Now for the meatballs. I made a few changes from the original recipe that I included in my adapted recipe. I had no lemon juice, so I used three tablespoons of cider vinegar. Feeling lazy on this first snow day in Iowa, I didn't chop up an onion, but instead used a bottle of dried onion. And I put them in a crock pot instead of simmering them on the stove. The sauce I microwaved for three minutes to melt the brown sugar.

These were super simple to make and are a great late dinner. I was hoping to have something cooking away in the crock pot during the first snow fall and I did.

(The link for the recipes are in the title.)

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Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze
**adapted**
Apple Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples


Brown Sugar Glaze:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sweetened, condensed milk


For the cake: 
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch pan (round or square) and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.Stir with a whisk to mix everything together.
3. In a large bowl, mix the eggs til light in color and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and beat well.
4. Stir in the flour mixture with a spoon and continue stirring the batter til the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts (if using) and stir to mix them into the batter.
5. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Place the hot cake on a wire cake. While it's still hot, prepare the glaze.


For the glaze: 
1. Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
2. Spoon the hot glaze over the still hot-from-the-oven cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan.


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Sweet and Sour Meatballs
**adapted**

Your favorite meatball recipe

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 bottle dried onion

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons vinegar

1 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1. In medium saucepan, fry onion in oil until tender. Add all other sauce ingredients and simmer 20 minutes.

2. Place in crock pot on high and cook for two hours.
3. Serve over rice.