Tuesday Tip of the Day!

Here's another money saving tip!!!

Growing your own green onions is sooooo easy. Simply snip off the bulb end of the scallion, place in a jar of water, sit in a sunny window and watch your onions grow. You can almost see them grow a little every day!!!

Just snip off what you need and you'll have green onions indefinitely. Once in a while though you do want to remove the bulb, rinse it off and replace the water.

Tuesday Tip of the Day!

In today's economy, we need to learn how to stretch our money and our meals. And with so many two person income families or single working parent families, time is also not easy to come by. Today's tip: Buy larger quantities of ground beef when it is on sale. Since cooked ground beef freezes well, fry the ground beef and freeze in one pound portion sizes (or larger depending on the size of your family) in freezer safe containers or to save on freezer space, freezer safe Ziplock bags. So easy to thaw and add to your favorite recipes and a real time saver too!!!

Tuesday Tip of the Day!

When making pasta, always salt the water - not the pasta!!! When the water comes to a boil, add salt, then the pasta. For a 4 quart pot, add approx. 1-2 TBS of salt. Does sound like a lot but the pasta will only absorb a small amount of the salt.

If you wait to salt the pasta until after it is cooked, the pasta will taste bland.

Go ahead! Give it a try!!!

Valentine Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Sanding sugar

Dove heart chocolates or Hershey's kisses

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, cream together butter and peanut butter. 

Beat in sugars until blended. 

Add eggs and vanilla.

Add flour mixture, beat until well blended.

Chill dough for about 1 hour.

Shape dough into 1" balls, roll in sanding sugar and place 2" apart on ungreased or parchment lined baking sheet. (Do not flatten.)

Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 12 minutes. As soon as you remove them from the oven, place either a heart shaped chocolate or Hershey kiss in center of cookie. Press down lightly. Wait about 1 minute and remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

Yield: 6 dozen

Vegetable Soup

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

4 tsp. olive oil

1 onion, diced

Salt & Pepper, to taste

2 cloves minced garlic

2 large carrots, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 cup kale, chopped

1/4 parsley, chopped

1 small red peppers, chopped

1 small zucchini, chopped

2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 large tomato, seeded and chopped

1 quart Chicken or Vegetable Broth

Directions:

Prepare all vegetables by washing, drying and chopping.

Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add carrots, celery and garlic. Season again with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until the garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add kale and parsley. Season again with salt and pepper. Cook an additional 5 minutes.

Add red peppers, zucchini, potatoes, tomato and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 15 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese.

Goes great with Cheddar Muffins. For Cheddar Muffin recipe, click here.

Additional Suggestions:

• You might want to make this an even heartier soup by adding a can of your favorite beans. No need to rinse and drain if you don't want to. The starches from the beans will thicken your broth slightly.
• If you prefer spinach over kale, just add the spinach near the end of your cooking time. Spinach is more tender than kale and only requires a few minutes to wilt in your soup.

Tuesday Tip of the Day!

Tip #1 - Want to get the most juice out of your lemons or limes? Simply roll it hard under the palm of your hand on your table or counter top. You can even microwave it for a few seconds. This will get the juices flowing!!!

Tip #2 - When squeezing your lemons or limes, cut in half, hold in your palm cut side up and squeeze. This will prevent the seeds from falling into your bowl. Or, squeeze the cut half into your palm with fingers closed to catch the seeds that fall out.

Tip #3 - To remove the smell of onions from your hands, rub lemon juice into your hands for a couple of minutes and then rinse off.

Tip #4 - If recipe calls for a small amount of lemon juice, don't waste your lemon! Cut into quarters and wedges and freeze in freezer bags until ready to use. Then take out what you need. ***

Tip #5 - For fruits that brown due to oxidation, such as apples and bananas, drizzle a little lemon juice on the fruit. This will help to preserve the fruit a little longer.

Lemons are super versatile. They can be used for lots more than just cooking. Consider using them in the laundry, as cleaning products, wound care, hair care and a whole lot more!


***How to freeze lemons. Quarter or slice your lemons. Place in single layer on cookie sheet and place in freezer. Once frozen, put into zip lock freezer bags.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Don't be afraid to try something new this year. How about a new recipe or a new ingredient? Maybe host a cooking class for teens? Or take a cooking class at a local college? Whatever you decide to do, do it with joy!!!