Recycling Project......Broken Plastic Hanger & Candied Orange Peel

Do you believe in reduce, reuse & recycle ? I do. I hold on to lot of (recycling) stuff on the name of craft but I've been doing some cleaning as I don't have enough space & time at this moment to put all the recycling stuff to good use. So, while doing one of such cleaning other day, I found this plastic hanger with hook(top part) broken, I was not sure if I can recycle it or I have to trash it. Little yarn from my stash & some time and this hanger got a new look & on the plus side lot of my cloth rubberbands(which were also given new life by just changing the elastic from them ) also got a new place to stay on. But now I'm thinking, using this new Ms. hanger as my necklace holder wouldn't be bad idea too. That way there are more chances that I'll wear them & not only keep them.

Picture is not good at all. As I was being lazy to take it off from the wall & to well lighted place for click, but still wanted to share the idea with U guys.

Now for today's recipe, that also belongs to recycle category. Here we are going to use the orange peel to make a delicious candy. I bookmarked it in last January & made it in this January, only regret why I didn't made it earlier, but I'm happy I made it. I had some organic oranges on hand. While peeling them, just remembered that I wanted to try candied citrus peel from so long and there I go. Before anyone want to try this recipe let me warn U......these are very addictive. I made a small batch & made so many plans in my mind about using them in various bakes but nothing was left after couple of days , out of these 2 days one day was drying period. Yes! I kept eating them even when they were still in the process of making(technically...they needed that rest period). Last couple of pieces were lucky :) they got to appear on this blog.....

For recipe you can click here. I might update this post whenever I make another batch, as mine were good taste wise but some of them had large sugar crystals. So whenever I get my hands on some Organic oranges I'm gonna give them another try. But let me clear one thing no matter how they looked,  they were delicious....sweetly & citrusoly (i know it's not even a word but I hope U understand the word flavor I'm trying to say).DO NOT try to skip the blanch step, I reduced it by 10 minutes in total & could taste a little bitterness at the end while eating nothing to hold U back but  I believe at least 30 minute of blanching would have been better. Time worth spent. I googled for the same recipe & here's another one I like.

So, go find some organic oranges, not that U can't use regular ones but organic will be better option, make some of this candied peel & enjoy it.

Heart Healthy, Valentine's Day Pancake : with Whole Grains, Almond & Eggless too

You read it right Valentine's Day Pancake. Valentine's Day is all about your loved ones. And on a food blog what can be better than heart healthy food to show your loved ones that U not only love them but care for their heart too. Back in DEC. 2009 I posted egg less pancake in this blog & that is fourth most popular post on this blog. That time I use to use store bought Pancake Mix & fortify it with some healthy stuff  from my kitchen, but that was the last box of store bought pancake mix I bought. No, my kids didn't stopped eating pancakes it's just that I started making my own mix. I started with all purpose flour based & now from almost last one year we are having totally whole grain pancakes with few other good stuff thrown in and these are egg less too. And no more non-stick pans too.

What I used :
For Pancakes :

• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour(I use regular atta, staple in Indian kitchen)
• 1/3 cup oatmeal/oat flour (grind regular oats using coffee grinder)
• 1/3 cup almond meal/flour (use coffee/spice grinder to turn almonds into flour)
• pinch of cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 cup / 6 oz. buttermilk *(see notes)
• 1/4 cup / 2 oz. water

optional *(see notes):

• 1 TBSP. ground flax seeds
• 1 TBSP. wheat germ

Toppings & Syrup :

• 7-8 strawberries
• 1/2 TBSP. of regular sugar
• 1 TBSP. of slivered almonds
• maple syrup or honey

Notes :

1. I do not always use buttermilk, most of the time I use home made curd/dahi/yogurt as that is always available in my fridge. I thin it out with some water to get the consistency of buttermilk.
2. If using flax meal & wheat germ, I always add them to the ready batter at the last moment only as I notice if I add them before the batter resting period, it makes the batter little starchy/gooey. I tried to use it as egg substitute here in this recipe but outcome wasn't welcomed by my kids.
3. To make these pancakes egg less I use combination of buttermilk & baking soda. Though I'm using flax meal also which is a good egg substitute but I'm not using it as egg replacer instead just to add some more nutrients.

what I did :

1. Wash, hull, dry & slice the strawberries. Put them in a bowl & sprinkle 1/2 tbsp. of sugar on them,U can use more if berries are more on tart side or if U like more sweet. Gently toss them. Keep aside. This simple step of macerating strawberries really bring out the flavours and add a special touch to otherwise routine breakfast of pancakes. U can also use other flavours like orange juice or balsamic vinegar to macerate the strawberries.
2. In a big bowl, mix cinnamon powder & all the three flours we r using for pancake. I like to use whisk here. Add liquids(buttermilk & water) to the flour mixture & whisk them together. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
3. When ready to cook heat a cast iron skillet on no more then medium heat.
4. Add baking soda & if using optional items( wheat germ & flax meal) add them. Gently mix adjust the consistency of the batter. In case if u r using flax meal & wheat germ chances are U will need little extra liquid.
5. Put few drops of oil on the skillet & pour a ladle full of batter, using the backside of ladle gently swirl it around in round shape.
6. Cook on med. heat. When turns little brown on the bottom side flip the side & let it cook on the other side around 40-50 sec. on each side. Do not press on the pancake with spatula while they r cooking on the other side.
7. To serve put some strawberries with their juice on top of the pancake, top it with maple syrup or honey and finally sprinkle some slivered almonds.

Please, do not spoil all your efforts for making it so healthy by using store bought pancake syrups, they are full of high fructose corn syrup. If U like the syrup make your own. Mix together 1 part honey with 2 part water & boil it, turn the heat to slow & let it reduce little bit. Serve it when it's cool. If planning to serve with Syrup make sure U make it before hand so that when U are ready to dig into your warm pancakes, syrup is also ready for U.

Note : these are not very fluffy kind but still very good and melt in the mouth kind pancakes and no need to mention totally Heart Healthy. As per my experience if I'm planning to make regular fluffy kind pancakes I usually replace half of whole wheat flour & oat meal with all purpose flour & also add a tiny pinch of baking soda in addition to the regular amount I'm using.

These pancakes are not only perfect for breakfast but occassionaly my kids love to have them for dinner too, with a cup of warm milk. To surprise your kids this valentine's day U  can also pack them for lunch, just use medium size heart shape cookie cutter to cut a big pancake into bite size hearts. Pack some honey in a small container & some macerated strawberries in another. Don't forget to pack a fork to eat them with.

And a special note to tell them how much U love them, not only today but always & O'course don't forget to mention the magic words for the day "Happy Valentine's Day".Hope U all have nice one.

Super Bowl Sunday 2012- Football Cake for Game Day

I'm assuming all you football lovers out there must be getting all the food ready for munching during NY Giants & New England Patriots Game today for 46th Super Bowl. We are also all set, with no major cooking done today at home it's gonna be store bought chips with some home made salsa(will post the recipe later) and pizza from Papa John's with garlic sauce(R decided that 2 weeks in advance) and o'course we have dessert "Super Bowl Cake" to honor both the finalist teams. As R(my 10 yr. old) is mainly a Eagle fan(we lived in Philly suburbs for a long time) and when they are not in the game, her strategy is to cheer for the team who is more closest to us.....geographically....distance wise.....so her vote goes to NY Giants this Super Bowl. So here's to both the teams & some fun time.....

No recipes only the clicks & a little description. It's an egg less vanilla cake with whip cream & chocolate chip filling and most amazing frosting. I had few different icing/frosting/ganache in the fridge from last few baking projects. So I kinda mixed buttercream icing, chocolate glaze and some home made caramel sauce and believe me the taste is so awesome.

Happy watching & snacking everyone.

Surviving Cold and Flu Season : Natural Remedies

So, what's the first thing you reach for when cold or flu symptoms knock at your door. Actually I had been thinking about this post since the beg. of Nov. but lazy me or let's put it in this way one by one kiddos & me getting sick and all the festivities going on(Nov. to first week of Jan.), never got around to write this post. But I believe it's still not too late as we have cold weather going on and cold days means more cold & flu cases(as I'm writing this again got cold, hope it won't last long with all the stuff I'm going to share with U guys today, Yes! home remedies worked again). Below are some of the home remedies I have been relying over the past few month and  have been using these from few years now.. My older one did took 2 doses of regular pain reliever as she was crying but other than that these home remedies did took care of our sore throat, cough & cold symptoms(runny nose & headache etc.), possible ear infection & fever.

Disclaimer : I would like to tell my readers that these remedies are practised by me & my family for years and we rely on these as they have been quite effective for us. If you or your child is not well, please seek the assistance of a competent health care provider. I or this blog is not responsible in any way.

1) COUGH  : In case of first signs of cough I always start my family on this tried & tested home remedy of honey & turmeric which is not only anti-inflammatory but is also a natural antiseptic and anti-bacterial too. For ages Turmeric has been used in India as an instant antiseptic & anti bacterial to deal with wounds, cuts & cough, cold.. I believe it's better to take some sort of natural anti-biotic when ever cough & cold starts so that possibility of having infection can be reduced.

2) COLD : Same way cold in my family calls for raw garlic. It also comes under the category of natural anti-biotic, anti-fungal and anti-viral food. Some of U might find it difficult to eat, Yes! U gotta eat one small clove of garlic. You don't have to chew on it but cut it into small pieces & swallow them with some warm water, twice in a day, once in the morning & once before bedtime. If it's too big of a clove take only half of it at one time, also the big clove usually have inner part (sometime which is greenish kind), in that case take inner part & discard it as that can cause indigestion. If U have a sensitive stomach eat it with some food, don't eat it on empty stomach. In my family we all eat it empty stomach specially the morning dose.

When to start taking it, when U get that first sign of cold knocking on your body in terms of little tickle in your throat, runny/stuffy nose or U just know it with that sneeze that cold is coming. Keep taking it till the cold bug is gone as garlic helps in building the immune system in general also.

3) FEVER : Now coming to the another symptom which is kind of next stage of cold is fever. Last month as I mentioned above we all were sick one by one so here's the story how it started..... on a weekly grocery trip, while I was waiting in the check-out line, my little one playing hide & seek behind the big metal pillar(big enough for a 3 yr. old to hide behind), when she didn't show up after may be 30 sec. of hiding I looked back the pillar to check on her & she was licking the pillar. I know, I know it's gross, but that's what she did and  next day she fell sick. She do get little cold occasionally because she won't wear warm clothes and I normally take care of that with this home made decoction but this time it was fever & cold. I immediately started her on fennel/saunf tea & ajwain/carom water alternating them every couple of hours. I don't exactly remember from where I picked this fennel tea remedy but It's simple & no harm kind so I don't see why not to use it. It's simple take 1 cup of water & roughly 1/2 tsp. of fennel seeds, boil them till the water is half in quantity, strain, cool a bit. Same way make ajwain water. I gave her couple of tablespoon of this decoction alternating it with ajwain water, repeated thru out the day. Made these mixtures twice a day, continued her on these teas for couple of days and from third day kept her on only ajwain water. In case of adults half  a cup can be taken twice a day.

Do not make a big batch of these teas as these are more effective when used freshly made, if U are really busy may be make it for a day, keep it in the fridge, warm it a bit before using it  & discard any leftover by the end of the day.

Note: I've been using this fever reducing remedy since last 4 years or so for my kids. For my now 9 yr. old I do sometime use conventional medicine(minimum dose) along with this remedy, and I believe it does fasten up the recovery process.

4) EARACHE / EAR PAIN : Now, fever was under control, cold was also kind of gone passed to the next member of the family, that is big sister. She was already on these remedies so continued the same process. But now a new thing happened for the little one. She asked me I no want to nene(sleep), aise kyon hota hai(why it's happening like this) and she did the action of yawning & point to one ear. All right, when I had similar situation some 7-8 yrs. back I use to rush to the pediatrician & come back with 5 or 7 day course of anti-biotics. Yes! U guessed it right it was an earache or may be possibly an ear infection(as she did had a fever....which is normally a sign for infection).She was little cranky, keeping T.V on, did helped a lot. Next thing was google to the rescue and I landed up on one forum about natural remedies. It was simple nothing to put in the ears as I'm scared of doing that even in my ears so no way for little one. I tried it & it did worked, now I'm not sure how much exactly it helped(because it can be kinda a tricky to get an answer from a 3 yr. old about how much pain is gone) but it did helped for sure & in the forum about 80% were the positive response to this remedy. Big kids & adults had used them & some even assured that pain was gone totally, after 10-20 minutes,  of first time use. I'm not able to find that link but if I do find it I'll for sure add the link here. Now for the remedy....

What I used :

1 red onion

some glass jar/mug/bottle with wide mouth, size no bigger then mug

a thick cotton sock/towel

What I did :

• Take a red onion & bake it for around 45 min. to 1 hr. on 350-400 degree.  I used only half a onion as it was big & I needed it for child only. I used bake setting on my toaster oven for this purpose.
• Cover the jar(from bottom) with sock & fold it over so only mouth part is open, this is just to make handling of the jar/mug easy as once U put hot onion in it, it's gonna be difficult to handle it. Alternatively wrap a hand towel around the jar. But I felt sock method much better so my 3 yr. old could also hold it.
• Once the onion is baked, use tong to handle it as it's gonna be very hot. Put it into the jar using fork prick some holes in it to release the heat. I just used knife to make some cuts.
• Now, hold this jar/mug next to your ear that is in pain. It's better if U can cover your ear with the jar opening but first make sure that steam coming out of it is not too hot.
• Take that steam for around 10-15 minutes or till it's there.

There's one more thing I'm really a big fan of : Essential Oils, specially during this time of the year but that's for the another post. So stay tuned in.

How about you, do you have any natural remedy for cough, cold and flu season which you would like to share with us here.

Vegetable Soup with Roasted Red Peppers and a surprise visit from a Fairy

I know it's 10th of Jan'2012, we are already in the second week of 2012 but I believe it's not too late to wish my fellow bloggers 

"A Very Very Happy New Year......Hope 2012 brings lots of happiness around the world"

And to contribute a little to this happiness around the blogging world, I have something to share with you guys, I have been visited by Fairy Hobmother, Yes! U read it right Fairy Hobmother, of Appliances on line  was here last week to inform me that I won little prize in the form of Amazon gift card(Isn't it a good start to 2012)  and also told me that she loved my  Eggless Chocolate Banana Cake with Toffee Bits. Now coming to the happiness part, so, Fairy Hobmother told me that she's on the spree to spread some New year cheers among the bloggers. Now, those of you who would be interested in a visit from a Fairy and have a wish granted please leave a comment on this post with your wish for Fairy Hobmother. Sometime soon she will be visiting here to check the comments. what are U waiting for??? check the recipe for the soup below & go to the comment page and U never know......."Dreams do come true".

Now, for today's recipe I'm sure all of us have more than one version of vegetable soup. In my kitchen most of the time I make vegetable soup, it's always a new version, as it totally depends upon what kind of veggies do I have on hand & also how much time I want to spend. But no matter what, it always comes out tasting yummy. The soup I'm going to share right now is the mixture of 2 different kind of soups I make. And it was served with home made fresh Bread. Now for the recipe :

What I Used :
 6-8 large size garlic cloves (in case of small ones double the quantity)
 1 stalk/stem celery
 2 med. size carrots
 1 small beetroot (depending upon how much beet root U use, color of soup will change....from red to pink)
 1 small zucchini
 3 med. size tomatoes
 1 bay leaf
 3-4 cloves
 black pepper as per taste
 salt as per taste
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 cups of water/chicken stock/vegetable stock

veggies for roasting :
 2 medium size red bell pepper cut into half, seeds removed
 1 large onion cleaned, cut into quarters
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
pinch of salt

Note : roasting veggies is totally worth the effort, as it does give very good flavour to the soup.
What I did :

In a baking sheet arrange veggies from roasting category & sprinkle them with olive oil & salt. Use your hand to rub oil & salt onto them,arrange them in a single layer. In case of bell peppers keep the cut side down. Place it in a pre heated oven for around 25 minutes or so at around 400 degree F. In my case I usually use my toaster oven for this purpose, no pre heating required & also saving on electricity by not using the big oven.

While some of the veggies are roasting. Clean & wash rest of the veggies. Roughly chop them.

Take a large pot or pressure cook( that's what I use), heat it & add olive oil followed by bay leaf & cloves. After few seconds add chopped up garlic, all the veggies  & saute them for few minutes.

Add 4 cups of liquid, salt & black pepper. If using vegetable/chicken stock with sodium adjust the amount of salt or better don't add any extra salt.

Boil it covered till all the veggies get soft. In case of pressure cooker I put it on slow flame till one whistle & then turn the gas off. Once the steam is all gone open it.

Check for roasted veggies, once they are done put bell peppers in a bowl & cover them, let them sit for around 10 minutes. This process will make the peel loose off from the peppers. Once they are cool enough to handle just take the peel off & discard it.

Combine all the veggies (boiled & roasted ) fish out the bay leaf & discard it, once the veggies are cool enough puree them using a hand blender or food processor. Strain it for smooth texture or let it be like that for little rustic kind. Adjust the seasoning, add little butter and serve it with your favourite toasted bread or better, plan ahead and have fresh one ready.

Note : another version of this soup is by roasting all the veggies, specially if U r using big oven for roasting purpose.

Reminder : Do not forget to write your wish in the comment section.....Fairy's do exist.

Eggless Royal Icing for Eggless Sugar Cookies and Season's Greetings

Wishing all my readers a Very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season. It's officially Christmas here at our place. Girls have decorated little X'mas tree, just big enough to place gifts underneath. Personalized hand made Stockings are hung with  no special directions for Santa this time, only a wish list. Gifts are bought for the kids & tucked away somewhere, where they won't explore anything.  R also bought gift for us, while doing shopping with me, though it seems Dad is already quite satisfied with cookies, every time he entered the kitchen he asked when can I eat these. R has also taped her wish list on the wall behind the Christmas tree for Santa. And just for records here's the glimpse of her list :

    - black retriever puppy on 3rd no.
    - horse on the 7th no. &
    - parrot on the 10th
(it did took around 5 yrs. for horse to reach on  #7 it use to be up at #1 few years back)

But Thank God what I already bought for her is on 1st no. on her list. As for little one Ms. S, I have to say she has good observation. Couple of days back I asked her "What do U want for Christmas dear" and she answered "I want my Birdays" means birthday cake. Today I asked her "What do U want for Christmas dear" & answer was "I need presents, like yellow & red, and U can have candy in there, I'm gonna open it & we gonna eat it we can share it with all friends" and when I said why U want presents answer was "I NEED Presents". And she added Santa is like my "Grandpa Santa", he gonna come & eat one cookie. Thanks to Clifford & Calliou.

As for me I baked 6 batches of Eggless Sugar Cookies Couple of days back for R's school party. I've already posted these Eggless Sugar cookies back in January but this time I decorated them with eggless Royal Icing. Recipe for the icing is again from Aparna's blog who has further adapted it from veglicious.

What I used :

• 1/2 cup Icing Sugar
• 1&1/2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• few drops of food coloring
• 2-3 tsp. milk(use soy/almond milk/water for vegan version)

What I did :

Mix together sugar & cornstarch. Add lemon juice & milk(one spoon at a time) & mix it until the mixture become smooth but thick paste.

Divide the icing into different bowls & add few color drops in each as per your requirement, Mix.

Keep it for about 5-7 minutes, so that if any air bubbles are there will come to top.

Adjust the consistency of icing by using few extra drops of liquid(water/milk) for thin version or little extra icing sugar for thick version.

Transfer the icing to piping bags as otherwise it will harden.(I got the icing ready in piping bags a night before).

Note : If U need some tips for icing cookies please visit this post on Aparna's blog or for detailed version check this one out.

R also tried her hands on cookie decoration, I would say really good for her age.

Note : Cookies without any decorations can be kept in an airtight container for few weeks. Other day I read it on some website that they can be freezed also for almost a year.

But when it comes to decorated cookies, keep them in the airtight container once they have dried completely.Will stay fresh for around 3-4 weeks on the shelf. Any Royal Icing decorations are not suggested to refrigerate.

Eggless Baking : Oatmeal Sandwich Bread.....Mini Loaves & Buns

Though the official name for this bread is Oatmeal Sandwich bread, it doesn't contain Oatmeal but plain rolled Oats. I adapted this recipe from King Arthur's Bread Flour bag with minor changes only so I didn't felt like changing it's name. But telling you the truth, at home it was called bread just plain bread because sometime it's better to not mention everything to 9 yr. olds. I made it yesterday for dinner & I'm posting about it today, so that means it was not only good but really good def. a keeper recipe specially if U are new to bread making, as this is one easy recipe and I wanted to save this recipe before I loose it with all the minor changes I made.  As I'm already trying hard to figure out one green spaghetti recipe my daughter asked me yesterday to make again, because it doesn't happen everyday that your kid ask U "can U make that green spaghetti again which was not very green, didn't look good kinda but I loved it".

Now, to prove my point about it's taste....so here's this thing, I made it left them on the counter top for resting, came back home after an hour or so....first thing I hear is "tumhare bread khatam ho gayi"(your bread is finished). He ate at least one third of the bread, with butter O'course, occasionally dipping it in the soup. DD sat for dinner, first bite & she goes I will take one of this tomorrow for my lunch with jelly & give me something along with it. And little one who is not very fond of crust on the bread as it is sometime hard for her baby teeth's(chewing on hard candy is all together different thing) voluntarily picked one bun & ate at least 75% of it and returned the rest of it to me which was actually the centre of bread, she ate crust from all sides. Yes crust was not to crusty only little chewy as it's suppose to be. Crust has always been one of my major concern because most of the time my breads have hard crust, though I love that but kids don't, so this one was perfect. I'm not sure if it was because of additions of Oats or just because bread flour is used or b'coz I used buttermilk instead of regular milk. Now to the recipe.....

What I used :

• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 1 cup quick-1 minute Quaker Oats(recipe called for old fashioned)
• 3 tablespoons EVOO(recipe called for 2 TBLSP. butter)
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tablespoons honey (can use brown sugar also)
• 2 tsp. Rapid Rise Yeast( recipe called for 2 tsp. instant yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast)
• 1 & 1/4 cups lukewarm buttermilk (recipe called for milk)

Note : Actual recipe also have an optional ingredient 3/4 cup of raisins/currants.

What I did :

I simply followed the recipe and as per that Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl to form a shaggy dough(means it's still not smooth ). Knead dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (5 minutes) until it's smooth. I used stand mixer here.

Once the dough is done I normally take the dough out of the mixing bowl & grease that same bowl & leave the dough covered in that same bowl for resting. Recipe ask for 1 hr. till it become quite puffy though it may not double in bulk. Mine was resting for 1 & 1/2 hr. & was almost doubled.

To Shape : Lightly grease the loaf pan/pans U are planning to use. Transfer the dough to lightly floured surface, slightly punch & shape it into desired size. This recipe is for one 9x5 size loaf so if U want to do that after U shape the log place it into 9x5 inch loaf pan. But I planned to do it differently.

I cut the dough into five equal parts 2 of them were rolled into small loaves, I used ceramic mini loaf pans, size from top of these pans is 5x3 & height is 2 inches.

Rest of the 3 parts were again divided into 2 each so 6 in total. These went into large size muffin tray(muffin capacity in these one is almost double the regular size muffins) . 3 shaped like small log 3 just rolled into ball.

Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap and let the dough rise for 60-90 minutes (I spent only 60 minutes here).

Bake the bread in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 35-40 minutes for regular 9x5 inch loaf. But in my case I baked 25-30 minutes, 25 minutes for muffin tray/buns & 30 minutes for mini loaves. Towards the last minute of baking I brushed them with the melted butter & baked for another minute or so.

Notes : As I'm always little unsure impatient when I'm baking bread so I did took out one bun out of the tray & without waiting I opened it up from the centre & it felt good. Mission accomplished.