Mixing Bowl

I bought a new magazine the other day on our way home from Maine called Mixing Bowl from Better Homes and Gardens. It's the magazine for the web site mixingbowl.com. Who knew about this site already? I didn't but it's a pretty cool premise. You can use the site and join groups based on your food preferences so you can share and swap recipes that fit your needs. Pretty cool, huh!? I think I might just browse through the Guiltless Desserts, Live Healthy America, Nutrition Unplugged, Calling All Canners!, and Fast & Fab Chicken Recipes groups.

We tried one recipe from the magazine/site last night for dinner and it turned out great. Here it is for you:

Caribbean Fajitas

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients:

8 6-inch flour tortillas
4 1-inch slices peeled fresh pineapple (about half of a medium pineapple)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 small red or orange sweet peppers, seeded and cut in strips
2 teaspoons Jamaican jerk seasoning*
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
fresh cilantro and lime wedges

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Wrap tortillas in foil and heat in oven. Meanwhile, coat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high. Add pineapple slices; cook 4 to 6 minutes or until browned, turning once. Remove from skillet.

Cut chicken in strips; toss with sweet peppers, jerk seasoning, and pepper. Heat oil in skillet; add chicken and peppers. Cook and stir over medium-high heat 4 to 6 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink. Core and chop pineapple. Serve with chicken, tortillas, cilantro and lime.

*We used McCormick Caribbean seasoning from the regular spice aisle. It wasn't nearly as spicy as real jerk seasoning (like the real stuff that Jan brought back from her cruise that could have burned the taste buds right off of your tongue, yeah this isn't as spicy) but it does have some kick so use according to your children's tolerance. You could sprinkle extra on your individual fajitas if you want more than they can handle.

Wonder Flour

I have a confession to make: we don't have much of a food storage to speak of. "Where would I keep it? And how would I use it?" are the two main questions that keep me from doing much toward food storage. We took a big step in the last few weeks and bought a grain mill. I figured I can at least start using grains and learning how to use them better, so when we can afford to get more serious about food storage, I won't be so overwhelmed because I will actually know how to use it all. It makes sense to me at least! Our experiment this week has been with Chef Brad's Wonder Flour.

In a bowl we put:

2 cups long grain brown rice

2 cups pearled barley

2 cups spelt

(I did 2 cups of each because that seemed like a reasonable amount for us to use initially, but as long as each grain is added in equal parts, you can do more or less.)

We mixed the grains together and then we ground them up on the finest setting.

Apparently you can use this flour in any recipe that calls for all-purpose flour, except in recipes that use yeast. Usually you have to add about a 1/2 cup more of the Wonder Flour (if your recipe calls for 3 cups of all-purpose flour, add 3 1/2 cups of Wonder Flour).

Experiment #1: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I used the Wonder Flour instead of the usual white flour in my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. The first time I tried this, the cookies came out wafer thin. I later learned that the nature of these grains required less moisture. The second time I only used one egg and reduced the amount of butter. They turned out much better! However, I may experiment with a different recipe until I'm completely happy. In both cases though, the cookies were delicious.

Experiment #2: Waffles

I used a simple waffle recipe and used the Wonder Flour instead of the all-purpose flour. Unlike the cookies, I didn't need to make any other adjustments to the recipe. I take that back, I did add a bit more sugar and vanilla, but that had nothing to do with the type of flour I used, just my preference. They turned out great!

2 1/2 c. Wonder Flour

1 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp white sugar (I did 4 Tbsp)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups warm milk (I was being lazy and just added it cold, I don't know what difference it made)

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla (I added about 3 tsp)

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar; set aside. Preheat waffle iron. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, butter, and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture; beat until blended. Ladle the batter into a preheated waffle iron.

Benefit: The comfort foods we enjoy are now healthier!