Egg Salad Wrap - Happy Easter

It's snowing. "Utah Spring" is what my mom calls it. At the River Bottoms near my work the trees are tipped in green. So, since there were so many eggs in the fridge I made Egg Salad wraps. On the way I learned how to make the perfect hardboiled egg. Hopefully nobody was meaning to dye those eggs... luckily there are still some left.

Step 1. Mix up the egg salad dressing so the flavors can start melding. Put in the fridge to keep it cold. 

My version of the Egg Salad Dressing:

1 C (scant) Light Mayonaise

2-3 T Mustard (to taste)

1-1 1/2 t Onion powder

1/2-1 t Dill Weed

1/2 t Kosher Salt

Pepper (fresh ground to taste)

Recipe Source: All Recipes: Egg Salad Sandwiches by Sara Slade

Step 2: Hard Boil 8-10 eggs - (Here's how to make "perfect" hard boiled eggs from Kalyn's Kitchen). Summary: Single layer of eggs, covered with 1 inch water. Bring to boil, turn off heat and cover. Time for 12 minutes. Drain. Add cold water and ice cubes. Time for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Peel, then chop the eggs.

Step 4. Combine the dressing and the eggs.

On a tortilla add fresh spinach then layer on spoonfuls of egg salad. Fold the tortilla.

Probably. And I think they eat Egg Salad too.

Happy Easter!

Suz

Amish Baked Oatmeal

Amish Baked Oatmeal (with Blueberries)
1/4 cup butter, melted 

2 large eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla 

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 1/4 cup milk 

3 cups oatmeal 

1/2-1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 C chopped walnuts 

Directions: Combine eggs, brown sugar, baking powder, vanilla, and cinnamon. Whisk in butter and milk. Add oats. Pour in to greased dishes. Sprinkle blueberries and nuts over and press into the oatmeal. Bake at 350, 35-45 min, or until set. Serve hot with milk.
Recipe adapted from: Barbara Bakes, Amish Baked Oatmeal (and RecipeZaar)

Kidney "Cooking" School: Module 9 - Nutrition

I started Kidney "Cooking" School this morning because my mom is on dialysis. What have I learned? The pd solution serves up 400-800 empty calories every night. It's like I've always feared, calories by osmosis. Certain things will build up in the body and cause problems, gotta be careful about what's going in.

Things to Avoid

• Salt
• High potassium like: beans, avocados, oranges, bananas and plan- tains, dried fruits (raisins, figs, and currants), and chocolate" (cheese?)

Okay to Cook With

Protein (protein powder is encouraged)

Beef, chicken (not chicken breast), turkey, shrimp, fish, eggs

Watch For

Calcium, potassium and phosphorus levels in labs. May need to adjust diet according to results.

Initial Menu Ideas

• Salsa Verde Turkey Burger (sans avacado & pepper jack cheese)
• Taco Pasta, Taco Seasoning (sans salt)
• Jalapeno Popper Dip (mayo and cream cheese are allowed - made this with sour cream instead of cream cheese and it was very good)
• Greek Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers
• Nachos (salt free chips - maybe make at home)
• Meatloaf (easy to chew... does that mean easy to digest and process? was listed)
• Beef stir fry
• Tunafish casserole or spread and crackers
• Blueberry Muffins
• Blackberries, apples
• Chicken salad

Links: 

• DMOZ Cooking/Special Diets/Renal
• http://kidneyfoodrecipes.com/ 
• Sample Menu with Recipes

Compost Cookies

Compost cookie dough with the candy bars ready to mix in.

Did you see the "compost tea" in Twilight? Gross right? Make the jump to "Compost Cookies." Definitely a different kind of compost. These cookies seem to have popped right out of the 70's show "In Search Of!" They have taken on a kind legendary appeal (See the links below). I think however, the name should be "Leftover" Cookies. The idea is to use up bits and pieces of snack food leftovers. I added a little extra flour and reduced the salt by half. I did not put the cookies in the freezer.

Stack of Compost Cookies.

They have a light texture and taste kind of like corn flakes, and malt. Got milk?

Get the recipe here or read an article about "Amnesty Cookies" here.

Suz
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PS: I used Kit Kats, Twix, Bugles, Triscuits, and Walnuts.

Orange Nut Bread?

I've been making muffins and quick breads as grab & go breakfast's that are "less processed" than say a pop tart or a bowl of cereal. Today I decided to make apple bread, but when I went to reach for the apples, they were gone. They'd headed out to pasture. Eric suggested I make some "orange bread." We did have a bowl of oranges...

My Version of "Orange Nut Bread"
2 oranges
hot water
2 T butter (melted)
1 t vanilla
1 egg
2 C flour
1/4 t kosher salt
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 C white sugar
1 C chopped walnuts

Zest 1 orange and set aside. Juice 2 oranges into a "1 C" measuring cup and add enough hot water to fill to the 1 Cup line. Combine all ingredients including zest. Pour into 2 prepared loaf pans. Top with chopped walnuts and Turbinado sugar. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Recipe Source: All Recipes: Orange Nut Bread by Gwynne Comstock

The whole house smells good! Suz

PS - I added the glaze from my mom's Carrot Cake and wow this bread is good!

Glaze: 

1/4 C sugar 

1/8-ish C orange juice (or half of an orange juiced)

Mix juice and sugar and pour over the bread as soon as you get it out of the oven. I took them out of the pan pretty quickly after that to cool.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookie

Peanut Butter Cookies
2 C Peanut Butter
2 C Sugar
2 eggs
6 and 1/2 T Flour

Mix and bake in quarter size rounds until crackles appear 8-10 min. (I scooped mine out with a melon ball-er with a release, then I pressed them down with a fork.)

Recipe Source: All Recipes: Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies. I've made these before and they fell apart and didn't work out so I went with the notes in the comments to make them "less fragile." That's why there's flour in them. I'd maybe use 2 1/2 T less, next time.

Squirrelly was a big fan of the cookies. Yes, that is a JIF jar in the bottom left corner of his bed.

Suz

"Back at the Hall of Justice"

Last night we had a homemade "tv-dinner" night. We watched the Justice League "Crisis on Two Earth's."

Emily helped cook, making the chicken strips (they were really good). I made baked beans that roasted our poor taste buds right off. "Super Calamity!" Accidentally using "wicked" chicken wing sauce instead of BBQ sauce.

"Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice..." the movie snack, Blackberry Cobbler, revived our poor taste buds. Thanks to Batman, the "alternate" Flash, and the Justice League, we survived to tell the tale. All three recipes were good. Here are the links to the recipes:

• Quickie: Homemade Chicken Strips
• The Best Baked Beans Ever
• The Great Cobbler Debate: Blackberry Cobbler #2 (Vanilla Ice Cream Required)

PS: Honey Mustard Sauce

2 T Dijon mustard

1-2 t honey

Suz

Super Friends image courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Friends

Elinor's Peanut Butter Waffles

I never met Elinor Jennings, but tonight's "Breakfast for Dinner" was brought to us by her Peanut Butter Waffle recipe. Today was a peanut butter kind of day. A few clouds outside, some rain, some blue skies, snowy mountains - waffles seemed like a good choice for an early spring evening. I'm glad they worked out. They turned out good. They drew comments like "where's the chicken?" They made the house smell good. They made us really thirsty! We're now out of milk.

Elinor's Peanut Butter Waffles

1 3/4 C flour

3 t baking powder

3 T sugar

1/4 t salt

1/4 C plus 2 T  butter

6 T crunchy peanut butter (room temp)

2 eggs

1 1/2 C Milk (plus 1-2 T)

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Mix butter and peanut butter, then add eggs. Combine with a portion of wet then dry ingredients until mixed. Cook with waffle iron until golden brown. We served these with options: sliced bananas, raspberry jam, syrup, or Cool Whip Lite.

Recipe found in "Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters," pg. 35

Suz

Homemade Pop Tarts

A couple of weeks ago I used a leftover pie shell and some Ikea blueberry jam to make a few really happy "pop tarts." I've heard this kind of delightful snack referred to as a "smackerel."

Homemade Blueberry Pop Tarts

Blueberry Jam

Pop Tarts
Pie Crust (I used 1 leftover frozen crust)
Blueberry Jam
Sprinkles

Icing
1/2 C Powdered Sugar
1/4 C Milk (or less)

Directions: Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch, then cut into matching rectangles. Place a spoonful of jam (not too much - it won't seal right) on half of the rectangles. Top with the remaining rectangles. Using a fork, press the edges together. Bake at 450 until golden brown. Cool. For the glaze mix milk into  powdered sugar (you don't need much glaze it goes a long way.) If the glaze is too thin add enough sugar to thicken it a little. Glaze the pop tarts and add sprinkles.

Source: I was inspired by Cake Spy's blog post about Homemade Pop Tarts. These are so much better than pre-made.

Suz
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P.S. Don't miss the Pop Tart phone pocket project!