Dough 2-Batches Start: 8:50PM End:1:30AM

I knew last night that we'd be bringing food to a potluck gathering with visiting family from New Hampshire. I worked yesterday, and we had some errands to do before I came home for the night so I knew I had to start something that I could prepare this morning. I wanted inexpensive, easy, quick, tasty, and filling foods. We decided to prepare four items: Pizza in multiple varieties, Mini Quiches, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Rice Krispie Treats.

Sometimes I make refrigerator dough. It's a potato and flour based dough made in a very large batch meant to be kept in the fridge for up to a week so chunks can be removed and used/baked every day. Overall it saves time and money, however the initial work required is more than I wanted to do last night. I chose my common method of cheating where I make the dough in my machine and then remove it after the first rising and refrigerate or use in the oven. I never bake in my machine. First, I hate the hole that the paddle makes. Last, the bread honestly tastes better and is chewier when you bake in the oven.

My favorite dough recipe:

4 Cups Flour (I use unbleached white or white/wheat combo)
1 TBS brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp olive oil (any oil will be fine)
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/3 cup warm water (1 1/2 if using at least 50% whole wheat flour)

I run this on my bread machines dough setting which takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes. I usually let it sit in the machine for another 10-15 minutes before dumping it all into a bucket of flour then letting it rest on a baking pan if I'm baking right away. (Or in a large glass bowl if you are storing it in the fridge for a day or two)

If baking bread, divide this into two loaves and let sit on the pan covered by a damp cloth for 20 minutes or so. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes or until knocking on the bottom of the loaf results in a nice hollow sound.

This dough makes great pizza, cinnamon rolls, and fried dough. I find it to be the most versatile use-today-or-tomorrow recipe I've ever used.

(Pizza was made this morning, but I've included the photos)

Oops. Disaster identified: 10:30PM

I overcooked the lima beans. Way overcooked them. I hoped that putting them in the fridge all day would somehow make them magically bean-ify again but no luck. I'm thinking I'll have to make these into a soup...or I might try that white bean and cheese sauce I've heard a lot of people talking about.

Whatever I do, it's not happening tonight. I'm exhausted and sore from ripping up carpet tack and I'm done doing productive things for the night.

Update: 8/17 I made the cheese sauce. I poured the beans into the blender and whipped it. I heated in a pan with salt, butter, garlic and pepper and then added yellow and white cheddar cheeses. The whipped beans were the same consistency as a rue and it worked out fairly nice. Although I'd recommend using less pasta when making a baked dish with it because it's heavier and the pasta at the bottom of the pan remained uncoated. Tasted nice though and the kids liked it.

Honey Oat Almond Muffins Start: 10:35PM End: 11:25PM

We like muffins in our house. They're quick, easy to make, and generally very inexpensive. My children like muffins a lot and on mornings when I'm very very tired, it's an easy "help yourself" food.

I chose a nut variety tonight because we don't have to worry about school until Wednesday and because I have some slivered almonds I thought would be nice in something. I debated mincing up some of the dried fruit I posted about but I'm going to hold out to see if there are any suggestions that roll in that I can try.

As an aside, I've just thrown my dining room curtains in the wash. That probably hasn't happened in an amount of months (years) I'm embarrassed to admit. However, I've just learned that our house will be shown as part of a realtor tour on Wednesday so I felt I needed to at least get one productive thing done tonight. I imagine that I'll have a heavy baking night tomorrow as I tackle some dining room packing. I've started some lima beans soaking tonight, which is another family favorite but I'm thinking those will get cooked earlier in the day.

Honey Almond Oat Muffins:

1 cup unbleached flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup whole oats

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup slivered almonds, slightly crushed in hands

1 egg

1/4 cup oil or butter

1/3 cup honey

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp almond extract, if you have it

1 1/8 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together until well blended. Let sit for 10 minutes. Fill 12 muffin cups with equal amounts and bake at 350 degrees until knife inserted into center comes out clean and tops are slightly golden.

These are VERY good with cherry preserves if you have it but any sort of berry jam is nice too.

Suggestions Please!

I need ideas on what I can do with these dried cherries and peaches from last season. I welcome your suggestions!

Mini Quiches Start: 10:32 PM End 11:31 PM

The last thing I thought I wanted to do tonight was cook. But at 8:45, I found myself getting home ridiculously late from the Magic Show/Surprise-all-the-kids-get-free-ice-cream-sundaes bash at the library and I still had two loads of laundry to finish. That's when I figured to throw caution to the wind and make quiche. It's breakfast. It's lunch. It's options.

I'm not a very good pie crust maker but months ago after getting a handheld pastry tool I stubled upon a recipe that mixes all of the ingredients into one bowl and presses it into the pan. No rolling involved and no dusty flour counters. My hands get really greasy using this method but the crust is buttery and rich and exactly the way it should be in the end.

My crust is:

1.5 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 stick of butter

2.5 tablespoons milk

Mix everything into one bowl until it's completely blended. I have a pastry tool that helps me but honestly, you can do just as well and even better by kneading the whole thing with your bare hands. With this mix, you don't have to cut the butter into pea sized pieces and you don't have to roll it at all which eliminates the dreadful "roll as soon as it starts to stick together" method of traditional crusts.

When fully mixed press into pie pan to evenly cover bottom and sides. I prefer to use a coated muffin tin and it's the same method for each muffin cup.

My quiche filling base is:

4 eggs

1 cup milk

Beat together well and pour into molds. Before this step, you'll want to add whatever ingredients to the empty pie shells. Tonight I just added shredded cheese. Often I make it with cheese and spinach. It's important to add the non-egg ingredients first and then fill with the egg.

Baking time varies. I usually bake at 375 until edges are golden and egg is set. I finish off with 5 minutes at 450 just to get the top done a little more. If you are doing these in muffin tins, they'll come out rounded like cupcakes but as they cool they'll set nice and flat.

Granola Start: 10:20 PM End: 10:48 PM

Techincally, I won't put the lid on this granola until a bit closer to midnight to give it a chance to cool and crust a bit. But the prep and bake time for this incredibly easy, incredibly cheap granola is fast enough that it's something I can just make on a whim if I want it for the next day.

About a year ago I started reading all three volumes of The Tightwad Gazette. My main motivation was to look for little things to help me save money and also cook a variety of inexpensive and wholesome foods for my family while using all real ingredients. I borrowed the books from the library and read them all in a few days. Aside from the tips I found useful in other areas, I did walk away with about 15 recipes added to cards in my recipe box.

Muffins and granola are most often made as well as a great lentil bulger base which makes an amazing "crumbled meat" substitute in just about anything. For dinner we had burgers from this base and they were delicious enough to be consumed in multiple quantities by two out of three of my children (o.k. my oldest only ate one). I rarely make this late at night, so we might not see them on this blog.

This granola is made from seven real food ingredients: Whole oats, cinnamon, salt, raisins, honey, oil, and brown sugar. I add a handful of slivered almonds if we are eating it at home but since the kids go to a no nut school, I don't add them prior so they always have the option of packing some. And the total cost for what you see is less than two dollars. Yum!

Maggie's Birthday Cake Start:8:30 PM End:12:07 AM

Seems like a fitting start. Although I'll say it took me 20 minutes to just get a name for this blog address because it seems like all of the good original ideas are already taken in the blog world.

My little girl turned two yesterday and we'll be having her cake tomorrow evening. To be fair I started the baking process around 8:30PM when I got home from work. The cooling process took quite a while. I started making the icing around 11:30 and the completed cake didn't emerge until 12:07.

My basic vanilla cake is a mix of average kitchen ingredients. Flour, milk, sugar, eggs, baking powder, vanilla, butter, salt, and in this case a touch of orange extract which makes it taste a bit like one of those famous brand packaged cupcakes with the orange icing and the white swirl line on top.

My basic icing is confectioners sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla extract. I'm not a huge fan of chemical dyes but I made an exception tonight because I ran out of my vegetable based dye set..and it's a birthday after all.

I love to bake and cook and I love making as much real food for my family as I can. I like the outlet of having something to do at night while I wait for yeasty bread to rise, or muffins to bake, or compote to set.