My very dear friend Melanie back home in Texas (I really need to call her - it's been a long time) gave the RS this recipe, and I've used it often.  I'm grateful I had this, because when I went off milk, I found out that most chicken boullion has milk protein in it - go figure!  So this has been an absolute lifesaver for me.  It makes really good broth, and I make all kinds of things with it, starting the chicken soup with rice we'll be having tonight, the chicken pot pie in two days, and the Spanish Rice side dish we're having tomorrow.  Yum Yum.

BASIC CHICKEN BROTH

In large soup pot cover 1 whole chicken with water.  Add chopped onion, celery, and carrots.  Add 1 TBSP Salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, and 1 large bay leaf.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer until chicken gets tender and falls apart when you try to pick it up.  Take chicken out to debone.  Strain veggies out of the broth, and you're done!  And, for the same price as you spent for your chicken, you now have in addition a gallon or so of really good broth (with no additives!).  You'll never buy the canned stuff again (seriously - I never have!).

This broth freezes well and has many uses - for soups, casseroles, along with making rice that is flavorful. 

TO MAKE FLAVORFUL RICE:

To use it with rice, just put 2 parts cold broth and 1 part rice along with salt (for each cup of rice you need 1 tsp of salt when you use plain water - if you salted your broth (sometimes I don't) you may not want to add as much salt to your rice) .  When your broth and rice come to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 min.  Make sure and use a thick bottom pan or it will scorch.



TO MAKE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP:
(This is the recipe I use for chicken and rice soup, but I just add a cup of rice to my soup instead of noodles - easier)


Use recipe for broth above, discard the veggies you used and add fresh chopped onion, 2-3 stalks of celery, 3-4 carrots which have been peeled and sliced into rings.  Let those fresh veggies cook in broth while you make the noodles.


Homemade Egg Noodles

2 C. flour
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 C. water

Place flour in bowl.  Make a well in the center of the flour.  In another bowl mix together the egg yolks, whole egg, salt, and water.  Mix with fork adding flour to make a workable dough.  When too stiff to stir with fork, work with fingers until soft enough to form into a ball.  Knead until smooth.  To roll dough, place on lightly floured surface.  Roll paper thin.  Cut into 1/4 inch strips.



Add noodles to boiling broth and veggies.  Cook until tender, stirring occasionally.  Add chopped chicken meat, and a spoonful of dried parsley.


I like to serve this with my no-knead dinner rolls (a recipe also shared by Melanie) or cornbread.  I may have those recipes in my archives - I'll have to check later.  Mmmm!  And if you have sick little ones (like I do right now), it's perfect.

Athena and a friend got together this weekend and created a new recipe for chocolate cake.  She revised it to create a vanilla version for me (the caffine in chocolate is bad for my thyroid, so I obstain.)  So, here's the recipes for you to try - I heard rave reviews from all the kids concerning the chocolate version, and the vanilla was quite tasty.  :)  If you have any suggestions for her, she'd like them.  She's enjoying creating in the kitchen immensly.  She gets it from her dad.  :D

C & A's Chocolate Cake

3 C. flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 TBS cocoa powder

3 eggs

1/2 c. butter or margarine

2 1/2 C. sugar

1  C. milk

Mix together the flour baking powder, and cocoa.  In another bowl cream together eggs, butter, & sugar until smooth.  Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients.  Add milk.  Mix until smooth.  Pour into greased 9X13 pan and bake 350 F for 35-40 min., or until knife inserted comes out clean. 

Vanilla Version:

Omit cocoa.  Add 1 TBSP of vanilla extract (less if using real vanilla) to wet ingredients before adding to dry ingredients.  Continue as instructed.

Easter was low key - we're still waiting on Redbeard to get home from his trip to Boise.  We're just having ham, green beans, and mashed potatoes for Easter dinner.  Nothing fancy.  :)

Our breakfast today - the pancake syrup recipe is from the hillbilly housewife site - my favorite homemade maple syrup.  The pancake recipe is from the lady that made my wedding cake.  :)

Pancakes

2 eggs

2 C. flour

5 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 C. milk (I use Rice Milk, of course)

6 TBSP. vegetable oil

1 TBSP sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix together and fry.

Pancake Syrup recipe can be found  HERE.

Sometimes I try a different flavoring for fun.  Today's change was almond extract.  Sometimes I use 1/2 white flour 1/2 spelt or whole wheat - the recipe is very versatile.  Enjoy.

Well, imagine my shock to mosey on over to the HILLBILLY HOUSEWIFE, to find it had a new owner!  OH MY! 

So I did some searching and I found Miss Maggie on another domain - FRUGAL ABUNDANCE.

It looks like all of Maggie's old recipes are still on the Hillbilly Housewife domain, just has a fresh look and a new author.  I don't know if Suzanne has new recipes on there or not - I didn't dig that deep into it - I have school to do with the kids.  Maggie's new site seems to be more about healthier eating, which is pleasing to see.  If you want to know why she left (I was curious) the go HERE.

I have always loved Maggie's recipes.  I've made her Flour tortillas, refried beans, rice dishes - last night we had her creamed peas on to of potatoes and it was delicious.  I just substitute Soy or Rice Milk for everything (side note - you can curdle soy milk the same as regular milk to substitute buttermilk but rice milk won't do it.)  That and using the NUCOA margarine that I use, and we're good to go.  So if you're looking to cut your food bill down, check out these two websites.  They're very good.  I have yet to make anything of Maggie's that we didn't like.   I even substitute whole grain flours for some of the white flour to make it a bit more healthier - but Maggie is pretty conciencious about what her kids eat.

Anyway, thought I'd give a heads up to anyone that frquented there (or would like to.)  :)

First, I want to acknowledge the kind words of those of you who have commented or left me emails.  Your words give me strength to continue on, especially when I question myself, wondering if my words are, ewll, a bit strong.  You have been the angels that keep me going.  Thank you.  :)

Last night, I got frustrated.  I had focused on some other tasks, and just flat forgot about dinner.  Have you ever done that?  It was 6:00 pm (the time we normally eat) and Athena comes in and says, "Mom, are we eating tonight?"  YIKES!  So I run over to the fridge, open the cabinets... I don't know about you, but there are days I have that I am just completely uninspired.  This was one of those moments.  Finally after 15 min. of rummaging through cookbooks (I still haven't found some of my favorites) and staring at shelves of food, I literally exclaimed outloud (I say exclaimed because I didn't yell, but it wasn't in a reverant, quiet voice either), "Dear Father!  I need to fix something!  Help me find something to feed these children!"  Yes, I really did this.  I know I did, because Venus turned and looked at me like I had lost my marbles. 

I looked again at the cookbooks, and saw the family cookbook I had written for my family containing recipes from my grandmothers, aunts, cousins, mother, sisters, and myself.  I grabbed it and opened it up, and it fell open to a page I had written a recipe for meatballs and rice.   had only made it once, and everyone in the family loved it so much that I had written it down.  Funny thing was, I have no idea where I got the recipe - I can't remember.

I've said this before - no task is too menial for the Lord.  He knew I was desperate and needed help, and supplied it,  We had dinner at 7:15, but the kids really enjoyed it, and the recipe made enough for everyone and there was some leftover for Redbeard's lunch today.  I am grateful.  So I share this miracle recipe with you.  :)

Meatballs & Rice

2 lbs. ground beef

2 C. rolled oats

2 eggs

1 1/2 C milk (I used rice milk)

2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

salt, pepper, & garlic powder to taste

Mix above ingredients & roll into 1 inch meatballs - put in 9X13 pan.

In saucepan combine:  (I doubled this)

1 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. vinegar

1/4 C. BBQ sauce

squirt of mustard & dash of Worchestershire sauce

Bring to a boil & pour over meatballs.  Bake at 350 F for 20-30 min.

Serve over cooked rice,  (I make 3 C. of rice - makes just enough with enough for Redbeard's lunch the next day.  Of course, when the twins get bigger that won't be the case!)

This is really good and Athena kept talking about how wonderful it smells.  So, you might give it a try, unless you're Vegan, and then you probably didn't read this far anyway.  :)  hugz to my Vegan friends.

Hercules had a high fever about 2 days ago - one dosage of Motrin though and he was fine.  I thought it was his teeth.  Well, Apollo needed two dosages today, and Orion just came down with it too, so I had to make a near-midnight run into town for some Motrin for him.  He was so cold his teeth were chattering, and Orion doesn't handle illness well.  He goes into hysterics and makes himself throw up.  Ew.  It's so much fun being the mom.....  until someone throws up that is! 

The up side is that I spent the day holding Apollo and finishing The Scarlet Pimpernel!  I'm finishing collecting the quotes I want from it and organizing my thoughts, so I should have that finished.  I'm a quarter of the way through Gone with the Wind (it's HUGE!) and I just recieved Tramp for the Lord and The Hiding Place to read.  Maybe I'll get to snuggle Orion tomorrow.....  hehehe. 

Athena took pity on everyone, and made them some oatmeal-choc. chip cookies - with the Nucoa "butter" and imitation choc. chips so I could have some.  Wasn't that sweet?  She used a recipe off of The Hillbilly Housewife website since I still have yet to find my elusive cookbooks!  They turned out really good - tomorrow I want to try them with raisins and spelt flour and use coconut oil in place of the Nucoa margarine...   should be interesting.  Here's the recipe in case you wanted it:

 
Fred's Oatmeal Cookies

• 1 cup margarine (2 sticks) ***Nucoa for non-dairy folks
  

• 1 cup brown sugar
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar 
  
• 2 medium eggs
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
  
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt  
  
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  
• 3 cups rolled oats
  
• 1 cup raisins (optional)  ***Choc. chips are yummy too

Soften the margarine in the microwave, or by leaving it on the counter for a few hours.  In a large bowl combine the margarine, both sugars, egg and vanilla.  Beat with a whisk until very fluffy and shiny.  Measure in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.  Use a big spoon to mix it all up.  Finally stir in the oatmeal, and the raisins if you are using them.  The mixture will be thick.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375° for about 10 minutes.  Do not overbake.  Makes about 3 dozen.

The Hillbilly Housewife's Tip:

These are a real favorite in our house.  Fred would eat them all in one sitting if he could.  My kids don't like the raisins, but Fred and I both do, so we do half a batch of each.  First I bake 2 panfuls without raisins, then I add 1/2-cup of raisins to the remaining dough and bake them last.  That way everyone is happy.

Um, is there such a word as "moistest"?  Probably not, but I'm not kidding.  This is Venus's favorite.

Sometimes it's not a matter of being capable.  I have had years of my life where I cooked from scratch EVERYTHING and loved it - loved how it stretched my pocketbook, the closeness I felt with my family, the domestic feeling of caring for their needs, and sometimes, yes, it was even FUN.

However, there have been other times, like now, that the kitchen is, er, a CHALLENGE.  I admit it - at this point in my life, I HATE cooking, HATE dishes, HATE even having to think about meals.  I'll just get things cleaned up from one meal (because I procrastinate), and it will be time for the next.  Ugh.

I ran across this article from Thehomeschoolmom.com - Home Cooking.  You know, I needed this article.  Didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but sometimes you just need a little nudge in the right direction, and this was a nudge I was looking for.  Yes indeed, I am really struggling in the Core Phase.  Eating is, I hear, a basic need. 

Now if I could just unpack my box full of cookbooks, I'd be doing fantastic!  LOL!  Thank goodness for the Hillbilly Housewife!  :)

 Since we're on the subject of food, I'll post a from scratch recipe that we really enjoy, although I use spelt flour (it's easier on my stomach) and Rice milk.  When you substitute Rice Milk it's thinner than regular milk, so you have to add a little more than the recipe calls for.  And I admit it - I don't bother with the egg white.  Don't know what that does for the recipe, but I just don't have time to beat an egg white to stiff peaks, so I chuck it all together and the kids still think they're great.  :)  I got this somewhere off the net AGES ago - but I don't know the source.

Totally From Scratch Waffles (or Pancakes)

3/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat lour
1 heaping tablespoon ugar
1 well-rounded ablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk (add 1/4 cup more for pancakes)
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg white, beaten stiff.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the wet ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients very slowly. It's important to just trickle the wet ingredients in while mixing the dry
ingredients vigorously with a fork. It may seem at first that there isn't enough liquid to moisten the flour, but it'll come out just fine.

Once the batter is made, fold in the stiff-beaten egg white.

If you're making pancakes, make sure that your griddle is hot enough so that water droplets dance for a second or two. For waffles, you may want to leave the waffle in the waffle maker as much as a minute longer than the manufacturer's recommendation to ensure a crisp waffle that's still moist and tender within.

Back when I could have dairy products, I loved this stuff.  My MIL made it a staple for a few years at every family gathering - everyone just loved it.  I don't know if she still does or not.  I look forward to getting my food allergy clered so I can eat this again.  :)

Orange "Stuff"

(Very easy to double/triple for larger crowds/families)

2 (3 oz.) boxes Jell-O tapioca (the blue box)

1 can mandrian oranges

1 (6 oz.) box orange Jell-O

1 medium container Cool Whip

Take juice from oranges and enough water to make 3 cups.  Over medium heat cook pudding until it becomes clear and thickens.  Mix in Jell-O, place in fridge or freezer till cool.  Mix in orange pieces and cool whip.  Nummy!

I made these this weekend - they are wonderful.  I made them with Rice Milk and Nucoa non-dairy margarine for me, plain for the kids - they were a BIG hit!  This is from Maggie's Hillbilly Housewife website - there hasn't been ANYTHING, so far, that I'v tried of Maggies that wasn't good.  Her website address is www.hillbillyhousewife.com.

Here's the recipe:

• 1/3 C. shortening (do NOT sub with margarine or butter - will not come out the same!)

• 1/2 C. sugar
  
• 1 medium egg
  
• 1 1/2 C. flour
  
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
  
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 
  
• 3/4 C. milk  (I used 1 C. of Rice Milk for me)

    also...  

• 1/2 C. powdered sugar, mixed with:
  

• 1 tsp. cinnamon 

   and...

• 1/4 C. melted margarine

In a mixing bowl mash together the shortening and sugar.  Add the egg and whisk it all up until it is smooth.  Measure the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg into the bowl.  Pour in the milk.  Mix the batter with a whisk until it is smooth.  Drop the mixture into 12 oiled muffin cups.  Make sure not to over fill the muffin cups, 1/2 to 2/3 full is full enough. Bake the muffins at 350° for 25 minutes, or until the muffins are brown on top.  Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool slightly.  Take the muffins out of the pan.  When they are cool enough to handle, dip the tops of the muffins into the melted margarine. Then dip them into the powdered sugar/cinnamon mixture.  Arrange the prepared muffins on a large plate and serve while still warm.  Makes a dozen.  Very good for breakfast and after school or midnight snacks.