Friday, July 4, 2008

Independence Day


Happy Independence Day!

I, for one, would like a day of independence from feeding everyone around here. (I would also like independence from the horrific gas prices, but that will have to be another post.) With the kids home all day, every day, I can’t keep up with the feeding frenzy! When the kids are working outside or swimming, they seem to work up a mondo appetite, and can’t last the 4-or-so hours between meals.

My sister was accusing me of having cookies in the house all the time {and I wonder why I can’t lose any weight!} so I thought I would change it up a bit and try some healthier recipes. My kids will eat just about anything as long as it isn’t nailed down. Actually, now that I think about it, they might try prying it off to eat it, or just gnawing it off around the nail!

Peanut butter muffins
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 egg
¼ cup shredded carrots
¾ cup flour ¼ cup rolled oats
1 tsp. Baking soda
1/8 tsp. Salt
½ cup skim milk

Beat brown sugar and peanut butter; add eggs and beat well. Stir in carrots. Add remaining ingredients and mix just until blended. Pour into paper lined muffin cups and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Makes 8-10 muffins.

King Kong Chips
2 bananas sliced
½ cup orange juice
½ cup wheat germ

Dip banana slices into orange juice, then into wheat germ to coat. Arrange on cake pan or plates in single layer. Cover with plastic and freeze. Makes 4 servings.

Apple Nutties
1 cup apple butter
½ cup peanut butter
1 tsp. Vanilla
¾ cup instant nonfat dry milk
¾ cup flour
¼ tsp. Cinnamon
½ cup raisins

Beat apple butter, peanut butter, and vanilla together. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Flatten with fork. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Makes 30 cookies.

And, since we don’t want to go cold turkey off of the junk, we’ll be making some ice cream today!

Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream (from cookbook Kitchen Classics)
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Dash salt
3 cups whole milk
5 ounces evaporated milk
2 egg yolks
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups strawberry slices
2 cups peach slices

Combine sugar, cornstarch (or 2 tablespoons flour), salt and milk in medium saucepan. Blend well. Cook over medium heat until hot but not bubbling. Mix lightly beaten egg yolks and 1 cup of the hot milk mixture together, stirring constantly. Pour this back into the pan with remaining milk mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat until slightly thick; about 2-3 minutes.

Add evaporated milk, whipping cream and vanilla. Cool to lukewarm. Gently stir in the strawberries or peaches. Freeze in ice-cream freezer according to manufacturer's directions. Refreeze any leftover ice cream.

Makes about 2 to 2-1/2 quarts.

Homemade Ice Cream (from cookbook Fabulous and Flavorful)
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups granulated white sugar
1 quart milk, scalded
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla
1 pint whipping cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Add sugar to beaten eggs in a bowl. Scald quart of milk in a pan. Pour egg mixture into milk.
Add vanilla and refrigerate.
Pour mixture into ice cream freezer. Add cream, sweetened milk, and top with additional milk if necessary.

1 comment:

Amy said...

Oh yum! Those all sound way too good! I'm going to have to try the first three definitely!

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