Sushi Plates

I simply must share. I stumbled across this lunch earlier this week, by combining a few things I knew about my kids (they love pickled daikon sushi, they love korean salted seaweed, and playing with your food is awesome) and I came up with a lunch that was a huge hit.

 The plate is a hand-me-down from a neighbor, but she said it came from Pottery Barn. The kids loved all the little sections. Clockwise from the top, I have: soy sauce, oshinko (pickled daikon radish), salted seaweed papers, rice sprinkled with sugar. 

Both of the kids had thirds on their rice, and cleaned their plates. Success! I may have to remember this for lunches next year for school...

Marshmallow Popcorn Treats

Marshmallow Popcorn Treats

Makes two 9x13 pans- can be halved

Pop one cup of popcorn. 

In a large pot over medium low heat, melt 3/4 cup shortening.  Add 1 large bag of mini marshmallows, about 10 cups, and melt them, stirring occasionally.  You want to keep the heat low, so the sugar doesn't cook too much and make your treats crispy!  Stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Pour the marshmallow mixture over the popcorn, and mix quickly before it cools off too much.  I did this in another large pot, or you could do it in batches in a big bowl.  This is a LOT of popcorn!  The easiest way is to grease your hands and just dig in and mix it around- wait just a minute or two for the sugar to cool enough to handle.

Press lightly into two well-greased 9x13 pans and let cool.  Turn onto a cutting board and cut into squares.

The Big Girl Bakes A Soda Pop Cake

Please don’t hate me, but I’m about to show you a recipe that I would NEVER make myself. Never would I look at the calendar, see that I have guests coming, and say, “Oh! I know! I’ll make that thing I blogged about the other day!” Not this time.

But I would totally let my four year old make it, and if she did…I would serve it to you with a smile. Because sometimes, teaching culinary confidence to the pre-k set is more important than from-scratch and gourmet. (All that said, this cake is surprisingly tasty, and very addicting. It has the added benefit of being egg and dairy free, other than whatever is already present in your ingredients.)

(Oh, and if you’ve been reading Chow Review for a while, you will totally recognize this recipe. Last time, we used a yellow cake mix with a store-brand lemon-lime soda. This time, it was chocolate cake mix with 7Up. It was very good!)

Behold: Soda Pop Cake!

So, you take these two things…

…and give them to a child with a bowl and a spoon.


When she says, “Hey! Let’s add dried cranberries!”, just nod and say yes. It’s her cake, after all.



While she’s doing all her mixing and mastering, spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and pre-heat your oven to 350.

Help her pour all the batter into the pan, and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.



Enjoy!

Soda Pop Cake
makes one 9x13 cake

Ingredients:
1 boxed cake mix
1 can of soda pop

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a bowl, stir together the cake mix and soda pop.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Potato Pancakes (i.e.–Easter Redux)

Edited to add: My father reminded me that these pancakes are also awesome with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chives.


According to family tradition, this is my father’s absolute favorite way to use up leftover mashed potatoes. (Also, according to tradition…this recipe goes back to bachelor days, so we know it’s a goody!)

The biggest surprise was that the four year old ate it! The two year old had two bites, in exchange for two strawberries. (But he did finish all of his ketchup.) Eh – you win some, you lose some.

So, here you go – Easter on a plate!


Poppy’s Potato Pancakes
Ingredients:
3 cups mashed potatoes
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cheese (I used swiss)
1/2 cup ham, cut into bite-size chunks
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl
Preheat a griddle over medium heat, with some canola oil.

In a bowl, combine all ingredients with a spoon. Use a small scoop to scoop out balls of the dough and put it on your pre-heated skillet. Cook until brown and toasty on the one side, then flip over and use a spatula to smash it into a patty shape. When the second side is golden, you might want to flip it back to the first side just to crisp it up.

Enjoy hot, with a little ketchup. Delish!

Low-Lactose Mushroom and Chicken White Sauce

The big girl requested macaroni and cheese for lunch today, which I agreed to on the condition that whatever I made, she ate! I didn't have to worry, because she LOVED this. (Who doesn't love white sauce?)

I made this low lactose, because my lactose-intolerant daughter currently has some wiggle room in her "I can handle that" lactose bucket. I included cream for a bit of richness, but you could easily take out the cream entirely, and replace the butter with something like bacon drippings, to make this completely lactose free. Soy milk has the same amount of fat as whole milk, so you'd still have a silky sauce I think. The soymilk I make for my daughter and use in my cooking is lightly sweetened and flavored, about 2 tablespoons of sugar for 2 quarts of milk, plus 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla. Unsweetened and unflavored is preferable, but harder to find as most plain soy milk isn't actually plain. I figured that the extra sugar would make this taste more like my kids' favorite packaged noodles, and I was right.  The mushrooms and extra browning steps, plus chicken base, added enough depth of flavor that she never noticed I didn't actually put cheese in.  Thus proving that macaroni and cheese from a box doesn't actually taste like cheese.  (I did let them sprinkle parmesan on top, though.)

Low-Lactose Mushroom and Chicken White Sauce

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
soy milk, about 1 1/2 cups
cream, about 1/4 cup
1/2 teaspoon chicken stock base
1 can button mushrooms, undrained
pepper to taste

1/2 pound dry pasta, cooked
1 cup reserved pasta cooking water



Make a simple white sauce by melting the butter over medium heat in a saucepan. If you want a little extra flavor, let it cook just a bit longer to get some color. Whisk in the flour, and again if you'd like some extra flavor let this roux get some color. Start slowly adding soy milk, stirring to completely break up clumps of the roux, and gradually add all of the soy milk, plus a splash of cream. Add the mushrooms with their canning water (again, for a bit of extra flavor), and let the sauce simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Pepper to taste.

Stir into hot cooked pasta over low heat or just residual heat if the burner is still hot, and add 1/4 cup of pasta water at a time and let cook briefly until thickened and the noodles are coated with sauce. (I like to place my colander in my serving bowl to drain the noodles- the bowl catches the pasta water I need when I sauce the noodles, and the hot pasta water heats my serving bowl. Just dump out the water when your noodles are ready, and fill!)

Creamed Tuna with Peas

When I was a little girl, I adored something called Tuna Wiggle. (I think it could also be called Tuna Noodle Casserole, but I had my trusty little Klutz cookbook, and they called it Tuna Wiggle. So…Tuna Wiggle it is.)

Tuna Wiggle was one of the first things I learned to cook. It usually came in the form of Creamed Tuna on Toast. This was even easier to make, and the recipe went something like this: In a medium saucepan, combine one can cream of mushroom soup, one drained can of tuna, one 1 lb. bag of frozen peas. Add a little milk if it’s too thick. Serve it on toast, and eat with a knife and fork.

 

As tasty as that was, when I was craving something creamy and warm and tuna-ish the other day, I knew I could do better. (Besides, I had not one can of cream of anything in the pantry.)

 

And I think I’ve done it. It starts with a basic white sauce, using the recipe that my father taught me. He, in turn, learned it from his grandmother. Add to that a can of your favorite tuna, as many frozen peas as you like, and a few generous handfuls of cheese, and you have a delicious and grown-up version of a childhood favorite!

 

We served this over rice because I’d been craving some creamy, cheesy casserole-type rice, but it would be equally delicious over noodles, toast or quinoa!

 

(Ok, so nothing’s different from the original recipe except that I used a homemade cheese sauce instead of the canned cream of mushroom soup. Still, it’s something that I don’t keep in the pantry anymore. If you do…well, then, follow the recipe above.)

Creamed Tuna with Peas

Ingredients:

2 T. butter

4 T.  flour

2 cup milk

2 cups grated cheese

1 pound frozen peas

1 can tuna, drained

salt and pepper, to taste

 

In a skillet, melt your butter. When it is good and melted, add your flour and stir it up. Cook this for 2-3 minutes to make sure your finished product doesn’t have a Raw Flour Taste. (Not good, my friends!) Pull out your milk jug and add milk, a little at a time, whisking as you go to make sure you don’t get any lumps. Continue to stir in milk, whisking like mad, until you get the consistency that you want. (2 cups is really an approximation. I usually just pull out the jug, and keep adding milk until it looks right.) As the sauce continues to cook, it will thicken, so this whole process will take a few minutes.

 

Once your sauce is to the consistency that you like, it’s time to add your peas and tuna. When the peas are cooked through, then it is time to add the cheese. Make sure it doesn’t boil after this point, because the sauce will revolt and leave you with…something not great. (I’m not sure what will happen. This fact was so drilled into me as a child, I’ve never let it boil! I think the cheese will cook and fall apart, leaving chunky, oily sauce.) Season with salt and pepper, and you’re golden!

Serve over rice, noodles, quinoa, boiled wheat or anything else that would benefit from a creamy, lovely sauce!

LoLo Coconut Pumpkin Masala Chicken

I’m not really sure what to call this. I don’t understand what the individual words mean, but as I understand it “tikka” means “pieces” and “masala” is…the gravy the Brittish added to Chicken Tikka because they like gravy! Heh. Either way, this is oh-so-tasty. To an American palate, this would be Chicken Coconut Pumpkin Tikka Masala…or something like that. Whatever. (Oh, and the pumpkin? It was a shot in the dark to get more veggies into my fruit n’ bread ONLY kid. It was a success!)

Yummy!

Aunt LoLo’s “Secret Ingredient” Chicken Coconut Tikka Masala

Ingredients:

2 split chicken breasts (bone in, skin on) (You can substitute any chicken here. If your chicken is already cooked, add it at the end.)

1 tbsp. oil

1 medium onion

1 tbs. minced garlic

1 tsp. tikka masala paste

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

2 cups pureed pumpkin (yes, really – it takes on an awesome earthy quality and really rounds out the sauce! Besides- SNEAKY VEG. Yes, please.)

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. chicken base

1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk

 

In a dutch oven, heat up your oil and throw in your diced onion and minced garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent, about five minutes. Add tikka masala paste, tomato paste, pumpkin, water, chicken base, and a few scoops of the thick stuff on the top of the can of coconut milk. (Don’t shake it before you open the can! Coconut milk naturally separates into the cream, and the water.) Stir to combine.

Add your chicken, splash the sauce over it to coat, cover the pan, and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

When the chicken is cooked, carefully remove it from the sauce, remove and discard the skin, and then use a fork to tear the rest of the chicken into pieces. Discard the bones, and return the cooked meat to the pot. Add the rest of the coconut milk, stir to combine, and allow to thicken over low heat. Season to taste with more tikka masala paste and chicken base or salt. A spoonful of sugar is nice as well. (I was making this for kids, so I went pretty light on the tikka masala paste!)

Serve with rice spiced with a pinch of cinnamon, a half pinch of cloves and a teaspoon of chicken base mixed in before cooking.

Spicy Black Bean Eggplant

Every once in a while, I will make a dish that even my Chinese-food-raised husband will sit up and notice. This eggplant? One of those times.

Don't let the "spicy" in the title scare you - the fine chili sauce in this recipe is very mild. Even my toddler loved this dish!

In a skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Add one eggplant, sliced into thick strips (approx 3" long) and toss to coat. Add enough water to coat the bottom of the pan, cover and cook over medium heat until the eggplant is cooked through. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup water, 1 tsp. cornstarch, 1/2 tsp. black bean and garlic sauce (available at Asian grocery stores - Lee Kum Kee is our favorite brand), 3 tsp. fine chili sauce (very mild, like spicy ketchup), 1 tsp. oyster sauce, 1 tsp. soy sauce and 2 tsp. sugar.

When the eggplant is cooked through, remove the lid and add your cornstarch slurry. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce starts to bubble and thicken. If the sauce looks too thick, add a little more water, 1/4 cup at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. Serve over rice.

Curry-Chicken-Noodle-ish Noodles with Carrots

Just dashing in to share this recipe before I forget it. Both kids love it, it was relatively painfree to make, and it's just as good the second day.

Aunt LoLo's Curry-Chicken-Noodle-ish Noodles with Carrots
2 carrots
1/2 pound pasta (macaroni works well)
2 tsp. chicken base
1 pinch curry powder
1 tsp. olive oil

In a soup pot, bring water to a boil (enough to boil pasta). Add the carrots and simmer until nearly tender. Add the pasta, chicken base and curry powder. Boil until the noodles are cooked to desired tenderness. (I like to boil it a bit past al dente when serving it to my little guy. He's not a fan of hard foods yet.)

Strain, toss with olive oil and serve!

Soda Pop Cake

This recipe is listed so many places, I hardly even know who to credit for it! I originally heard the recipe linked to the Jenny Craig weight loss system...so we'll go with that. The cake is egg free, fat free...and really, just fun to make!

Ingredients and supplies:
1 box cake mix (the two-layer size) (I used yellow cake)
1 can soda pop (12 oz.) (You can use diet if you're into that sort of thing, but I used regular because Aspartame scares me. I used Sprite, to give my yellow cake a sort of lemon lime flavor)
1 toddler, in an apron
1 long wooden spoon
1 enormous mixing bowl
9x13 pan, greased


1. Preheat your oven to 350 and grease your pan.
2. Stand your toddler on a chair next to you. Show her how to dump the whole bag of cake mix into the large bowl.

3. Open the can of soda, and let your toddler dump all of that into the large bowl. (Try to stop her from drinking it, if you can - you need the soda for the cake, and it will give her cavities. Trust me.)
4. Give said toddler the long wooden spoon, and let her go to town! When she has mixed the cake to within an inch of its life, wrestle the spoon back and give it a few good whipping stirs. You want to get all the lumps out. (You could do all of this in a mixer, as well, but then your toddler wouldn't get to play with a wooden spoon!)


5. Dump the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake according to package directions. Mine took about 33 minutes.

6. Hand the messy spoon and bowl over to your toddler. Come on - when else are you going to have a batter bowl that is completely egg free??!

Let the cake cool completely before cutting it. The cake is very sticky and crumbly...but moist. (I know - that sounds like an oxymoron, but trust me. The cake really, really wants to just crumble down to moist, sticky chunks.)

(I've heard that chocolate and Dr. Pepper is a great combination for this, or chocolate and cola. Oooh...how about confetti cake with strawberry soda! The mind boggles.)

Aunt LoLo's Pumpkin Bread

When I was about 17, I had a girlfriend who was crafty/domestic in really quirky ways. She didn't bake, but she made centerpieces out of silk butterflies. She never served cookies at Christmas, but handed out homemade jelly, sealed with paraffin.

One year, for Halloween, we decided that we simply should not throw out our jack o' lanterns after the evening's festivities. Instead, she showed up at my house at 9:30, when it was time to blow the candles out and call it a night. We sliced, diced, steamed, baked, peeled and mashed those jack o' lanterns into about 30 cups of pumpkin puree. We split up the spoils around 2 am, when we finished, put them in our freezers, and continued on our merry Holiday Season Way.

When it came time for Christmas baking, I knew just what to make - Pumpkin Bread! We had a fabulous party, every year, with all of our singing-type friends and would go around my neighborhood, carolling at every door. This year, I decided to give them something more than just a song. Pumpkin Bread for everyone.

Unfortunately, I didn't count before I started baking. I baked and I baked and I baked. All day long, I baked mini loaves, working in an assembly line fashion. At the end of the day, I had over 90 loaves of pumpkin bread...and not nearly that many neighbors. We dragged the loaves around in a red wagon, handing them out to everyone within 5 blocks of my parents' house. The remainder went to a church party that weekend, where we were barely able to hand out the last 20 loaves.

I've only ever used one recipe, and I just don't think I could switch now! Last night, as BBJ and I were preparing and freezing some of the pumpkin left over from Halloween, I knew it was time to make my Pumpkin Bread!

Note - when using pumpkin from a large jack-0-lantern type pumpkin, it is important to drain it before using it. Otherwise, your dough will be much too water-y. I sliced, seeded and peeled my pumpkins, then steamed them. When the pumpkin was nice and soft, I pureed them with an immersion blender and piled the whole mess into a "draining contraption" of my own design - a large bowl fitted with a tea-towel lined colander. I left the pumpkin there for at least 8 hours, to let the water drain away, and then packed it into sandwich-size zip top bags and put those in the freezer.

Aunt LoLo's Pumpkin Bread
(adapted from Joy of Cooking)

Makes 1 large loaf or 3 small loaves or 12 muffins and one small loaf.
(I used to quadruple the recipe and bake in small, disposable loaf pans. I loved the pretty, fluted edges.)

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together:

1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Add 1/3 cup powdered milk. Set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together until light and fluffy:
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
2 eggs

Add 2 cups pureed pumpkin, mix to combine.

Prepare 1 cup of water. Set aside.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet in three installments, alternating with the water. (1/3 dry mixture, 1/3 water, 1/3 dry mixture, 1/3 water, etc.)

Bake in a greased pan, of your choice, until the bread shrinks away from the sides of your pan and a toothpick comes out no more than crumby. The bread should be moist, but not doughy.

A large loaf pan will bake for about an hour. Small loaf pans will bake for about 45 minutes. Muffins bake for about 35 minutes. Check often as the timer nears "O".

This is delicious spread with a little butter for breakfast, or plain, straight off the counter, for afternoon tea!

MKMW- Indian Week

I was honored when Susie Homemaker of My Kitchen My World asked me to choose the country for this week's journey. China, of course, was my first choice, but it was a very sneaky one. My (Chinese) Mother in Law is visiting this week, and it would have been super easy to snap a picture any evening this week and have a fabulous record of authentic Chinese food!

Since China has already been done, I consulted with Lo Gung (the Reigning Stomach) and we came up with India. We haven't had good Indian food in a while, so it seemed worth a shot!

(We still haven't had good Indian food...but at least there was lamb involved. Even BBJ liked this, so it's earned the Toddler Food label.) I still have most of a jar of Tikka Masala, and another pound of ground lamb in the freezer, so I think this dish will be making a comeback. Next time, I will leave out the coconut milk and use cream, instead, if I still want it creamy.)

If you'd like to see more Indian Offerings, head over to My Kitchen My World and check out the blogroll!

This makes a fairly hot Tikka Masala dish. If spicy isn't your thing, cut the Tikka Masala paste way, way back. Start with about 1/2 a teaspoon and work up from there.

Tikka Masala -

1 lb ground lamb

1 onion, diced

2 tsp. minced garlic

2 tsp. Tikka Masala paste (Maggi Brand works well)

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

4 T. tomato paste

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup coconut milk

3 tsp. white sugar

handful of fresh basil, chopped

Brown lamb in a skillet, breaking it up with a spoon. When lamb is cooked all the way through, remove to a bowl. Discard the oil in the skillet, leaving 1 T.

Saute the onions in the reserved drippings until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute another 1 minute.

Add the Tikka Masala paste and kosher salt and stir to combine. Add the tomato paste, water, coconut milk and sugar. Simmer to combine. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Add the basil.

Serve with rice.

MKMW - Lithuania Week

I know what you're thinking - what on earth does a Lithuanian eat? What could Aunt LoLo have possibly made that would represent the cuisine of such a culturally rich place?

The answer? Not much. After a quick perusal of the Lithuanian recipes Google had to offer, I discovered that Lithuanians like soups...using lots of root vegetables that have not yet come into season in my part of the country.

However, since I have a reputation to keep up (do what you promise, but never less than three hours after you promised to do it!), I give you - My Lithuanian (Inspired) Soup!

I knew I was craving potatoes...and I knew that I had very little in the way of soup-fixin's in my refrigerator. This is what I came up with. It was a little salty, but overall quite tasty! (I think I overdid it with the chicken base.)

Aunt LoLo's Potato Broccoli Cheddar Soup

In a soup pot, melt 1 T. butter, then brown 1 T. minced garlic.

Add to that:
5 smallish potatoes, peeled and chunked
2 cups raw broccoli florets
2 teaspoons Chicken Base (my answer to chicken stock - it has no MSG, and I can make my stock as salty as I like it.)
Enough water to cover all the vegetables, plus a few inches. (I wanted to have enough left overs to feed my in-laws when they get in tonight from a long airplane flight!)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I read that Lithuanians like mushrooms :-))

When all the vegetables are tender, blend the soup. (I used an immersion blender, but a normal blender would be fine, in small batches.)

Add in about 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese and 1 c. whole milk. (Next time, I think I'll use Velveeta or American - the cheddar had a rough time melting into the soup.)

Season to taste with fresh ground black pepper, kosher salt and Worcestershire Sauce.

Even my toddler loved this! Then again, it's rare to find a soup she doesn't love.

Crockpot Chili

This is my second chili recipe posting, not the last of my bean dishes! I've eaten this for three days, served over rice and topped with cheddar and sour cream. It is with sadness I can see the bottom of the serving dish.

Also, Ernie has eaten second helpings of this two nights in a row. Major bonus points for this recipe!

My changes are in parentheses

Slow-Cooker Hearty Beef Chili
from Fall 2008 Kraft Food and Family

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef (I used about a cup of cooked ground beef, from the freezer)
1 can each dark and light kidney beans, 15 oz. each (I used two cans dark)
1 1/2 cups "Taco Bell Home Originals Thick n' Chunky Mild Salsa" (I used large jar of spicy)
1 can tomato sauce, 16 oz.
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 onion chopped (I used a few good shakes of dried)
1 cup frozen corn (didn't include this)
(I added about a cup and a half of water too, because it looked dry)

Brown meat and drain. Add to slow cooker with remaining ingredients. Stir and cover with lid. Cook on low 5-6 hours, or high 3-4 hours. Stir just before serving. Serve topped with cheddar cheese and sour cream.

One Pot Pasta

Last night found BBJ and I home, alone, with not much energy for cooking or scrubbing. I wanted to make something that I knew BBJ would eat, so I turned to an old standby - LoLo's Pasta. I made it up a few years ago, but I'm sure it's not an original idea. This can, of course, be doctored up to suit a more adult palate, but I aim to please here in Casa LoLo. I served this with a very simple salad of torn romaine leaves and lots of ranch dressing. (Not healthy, but again - a favorite with my toddler!) (To see a video of my toddler eating salad, go here to my BBJ Blog.)

LoLo's Pasta Bake

1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 jar Pasta Sauce (I had a can of very salty Hunt's Pasta Sauce that wasn't good for anything else, so I used that - this method of preparation mellows out any saltiness in the sauce.)
1 lb pasta (I used a pound of dried tortellini that was languishing in my pantry)
1 can of mushrooms, drained

Heat the oil in a large skillet or dutch oven and add the garlic, stirring to make sure it doesn't burn. When the oil and garlic are fragrant, add the pasta sauce, pasta and mushrooms - stir to combine.

Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until pasta is tender.

Top with grated parmesean or cheddar cheese. Enjoy!

*This could very easily be "adultified" with the addition of caramelized onions, other cheeses melted in (ricotta or bleu cheese would be nice), or other vegetables. Consider this a skillet version of lasagna, and you're on the right track.