Substitutions

to our first born grandchild -

Ashtyn McCrae Baker turns 17 today!

HOW DID THAT HAPPEN???

She's a gem..and a beaut...and yes, a redhead!

With the busy busy holidays coming upon us quickly, I thought it would be good to share these great ideas for substituting ingredients in the kitchen.

I love being able to DIY, and not having to run to the store when you can use what you have on hand.

These are some of the substitutes I often use in my kitchen....

Powdered sugar: Put 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 Tb. cornstarch in the blender; Blend on high continuously until the mixture is of uniform powdered consistency. Keep the lid on the blender until the powder settles.
(Saves you $$ too)

Pumpkin Pie Spice: 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. allspice and 1/4 tsp. cloves.

Apple pie spice: 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg,
1/8 tsp. allspice, 1/8 tsp. ginger

Unsweetened Baking Chocolate: For each sq. of chocolate needed, add 3 Tb. baking cocoa to 1 Tb. melted butter; stir until smooth.

Semisweet Chocolate, 6 ozs. pkg. (2/3 c.) Melted:

2 squares (2 oz.) unsweetened chocolate plus 2 T. sugar

Self-Rising Flour: For each cup of all-purpose flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Mix to combine.

Cornstarch: 2 Tb. flour or 4 tsp. quick-cooking tapioca.

Buttermilk: Place 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice in 1 cup measuring cup. Add enough milk to fill.  Let mixture stand for 5 minutes before using.

Sour Cream:

Use plain yogurt in place of sour cream.

Heavy Cream Tip: To get maximum volume when whipping heavy cream, first place mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Heavy Cream:

3/4 cup evaporated milk plus 1/3 cup butter = 1 Cup Heavy Cream

Corn syrup:  1 cup = 1 c. sugar and 1/4 c. water

or 7/8 cup honey (baked goods will brown more)

Eggs: whole, uncooked, 1 large =

 1/4 c. egg substitute (examples include: Egg Beaters,
Second Nature, Scramblers)


or 2 yolks and 1 T. water (for cookies)


or 2 yolks (in custards, cream fillings, and similar
mixtures)


or 2 whites as a thickening agent


or (up to half the eggs called for in a baked recipe)
3 Tb. water + 1 Tb. flax seed meal, mixed together first


Tomato sauce: 2 cups = 3/4 c. tomato paste plus 1 cup water

Source: Mommy's Kitchen and Google

EXTRA: FROM MAMA'S BIG HOME KITCHEN

Brown Sugar: 1 cup granulated sugar

            1 Tb. molasses

 In a medium mixing bowl, add the sugar and molasses and use a hand mixer to combine. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides as needed and continue to beat until all the molasses is combined. It will take up to 5 minutes, so be patient and you will have light and fluffy brown sugar.

Note: If you want to make dark brown sugar, use 2 T molasses per cup of sugar.

Buttermilk Pumpkin Pancakes with Honey Cinnamon Butter

One of my favorite things about fall is PUMPKIN!  I've been making many dishes with this wonderful fall food, and am excited to share this one with you.

I had just baked up a couple of pie pumpkins (post soon to come) and had fresh pumpkin in the fridge just waiting to be used.

I'm not a big fan of pancakes.  They always seem to heavy to me...and I can't eat much of them at once. I normally prefer ordering french toast or oatmeal when we go out to breakfast.

But let this time of the year roll in, and I am ALL ABOUT Pumpkin Pancakes.  I just love them. 

I was excited to find this recipe at Making Life Delicious and made them for our dinner that very same day.

These are light and fluffy and oh so tasty. 

I love the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves combo along with the wonderfulness of pumpkin. The recipe calls for freshly grated nutmeg...I LOVE IT!

MMMMMM!

I didn't make any changes to this recipe and thought it was perfect 'as is'.

Enjoy these cooler fall days by warming up with a plateful of pumpkin pancakes.

(say that quickly 5 times!)

BUTTERMILK PUMPKIN PANCAKES

1-1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

(I used Splenda)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. nutmeg, freshly grated

pinch of ground cloves

1 c. buttermilk

(Place 1 TB. vinegar in 1 cup measuring cup-allow to sit 5 minutes-a great substitute)

1/2 c. pumpkin puree

(I used fresh cooked)

1 large egg

3 Tb. canola oil, plus more for the griddle

In medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spiced; whisk to combine.  (It already smells like pumpkin pie - oh my!)

In liquid measuring cup, whisk buttermilk, pumpkin puree, egg and oil. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir just until combined.

Preheat griddle or electric skillet at 300*. Using a 1/3 c. measure, pour the batter onto hot griddle.  Cook first side until bubbles begin to break on top and edge starts to look cooked, about 3 minutes.  Flip and cook the second side until golden brown, a couple more minutes.

Yield: about 9 pancakes.

Serve with butter, maple syrup or even honey cinnamon butter.
This is a delicious topping for any fruit breads also - pumpkin, banana or zucchini also

HONEY CINNAMON BUTTER

1 stick butter, room temperature

2 Tb. honey (or maple syrup)

1/4 - 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together in bowl until smooth. Store in refrigerator.

​

Linked to

Totally Tasty Tuesday
Wonka Wednesday
    Breakfast Ideas Monday

Scrumptious Oven-Fried Chicken

I love fried chicken, but rarely allow myself to indulge in it, so my curiosity was definitely peaked when I saw this lovely recipe by my good blogging friend, Lark at

Lark's Country Heart.

Yepper - another one of Lark's awesome recipes being shared here!

Believe me when I say I have learned to trust her judgement. 

We think a lot alike in the kitchen, and she's proven to me that she's a great one to create dishes on her own.

This is a combination of a few recipes that she put together and we really enjoyed it.

The only thing I added is a little bit of parmesan to the bisquick mix.

Subway has their version of oven-crisp chicken...now you can make your own at home!

I prefer Lark's photo...I took more, but mine didn't turn out, so I'll share hers as well.

Photo credit: Lark's Country Heart

OVEN-FRIED CHICKEN

6 Tbsp. margarine (I used light)

2/3 c. bisquick

1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese, optional

1-1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning

1-1/2 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. cumin (I didn't use)

1-1/4 tsp. salt (I used salt substitute)

1/2 tsp. pepper (I used more)

1/4 tsp. garlic powder (I used a tad more)

1/4 tsp. onion powder

4 lbs. chicken (I used boneless skinless breasts)

Preheat oven to 425. Place margarine in 9" X 13" X 2" pan and put in oven to melt.

Mix all dry ingredients together until well blended.

When margarine melts, remove from oven.  Set aside.

(Lark keeps the chicken in a bowl of water. Removing one piece at a time, lightly shake off water, but do not pat dry.)

If using skin on chicken, place skin side down in pan.

Bake uncovered for 35 minutes.  Then turn each piece over and return to oven for another 15 - 20 minutes more, making sure chicken is cooked thoroughly.

(Chicken breasts bake faster - about 40 minutes total, but be sure to check yours as oven temps vary).

Laundry Day

   

OH HOW THANKFUL I AM THAT I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO THE RIVER TO WASH MY CLOTHES!!

Can I get an "Amen"?

************

I do enjoy doing laundry...with a washer & dryer! 

I love folding warm clothes, and love the fragrance of the soap and the softener...MMM!

It's a little embarrassing to admit this, but when we were first married, if I didn't have enough dirty clothes for a load, I would pull clean ones out of the drawer to add to the washer. (RED face - I know!)

I DON'T DO THAT ANY MORE!

We lived in military housing and they furnished a washer/dryer for us and I didn't work outside the home, so doing laundry was a 'chore' that I really did enjoy doing.

I want to share some easy and helpful hints to help you with the process of drying your laundry.

Be sure to shake and untwist items before tossing in the dryer. This not only reduces wrinkling, but allows the clothes to dry a bit faster, and this saves energy.

 

I love using liquid softener, but just recently began using it in a different way, after my sis-in-love suggested this idea that works well for me. In a plastic container with a lid, I mixed the softener with twice the amount of water, cut a sponge in half and put it in the liquid. When I throw the clothes in the dryer, I lightly wring out one of the sponges and toss it in the dryer. The clothes will not have static, and the product lasts much longer. I think it's a wonderful money-saving tip.

{Caution: Be careful to squeeze the sponge enough when drying white clothes, so you don't get little blue spots on them=}

 

Cleaning your lint filter before drying every load reduces drying time significantly - another money saving idea.

Don't overfill the dryer - it will take much longer to dry and things will be more wrinkled.

 

Dry loads back to back so the dryer doesn't have time to cool down, then heat up again.

A general rule for drying: If clothes were washed in hot water, most likely they can be dried on high, but if they were washed on permanent press/cooler water cycle, they should be dried at 'medium' or 'permanent press' setting also.

 

I believe one of the most important things to remember when drying clothes, is removing them from the dryer right away so they don't have time to get wrinkled.

Keep clothes hangers handy and don't ball everything into the basket when removing, as that can add a lot of wrinkles too. When I don't get right to my dryer when it stops, I turn it on to reheat the clothes a little bit before I remove them. Makes the task of folding the clothes a little nicer when they are warm.

 

HAVE A HAPPY LAUNDRY DAY!!

(Remind yourself of the women at the river, and maybe it won't seem like such a daunting task?=)

Blueberry Morning Muffins

I had been eyeballing some blueberries in my freezer...just hearing them call my name...when I spotted this lovely recipe at Country Cooks Across America posted by my sweet friend &

co-blogger, Lark.

I really love blueberries and I spose my body was 'hankerin' for them cause it had been a while since I'd made anything with blueberries, so I hopped right on this recipe.

I'm partial to muffins too, so this recipe was perfect to satisfy my longing.

The muffins were perfect too!  Very light and fluffy.

I didn't roll them in butter after baking or dip them in cinnamon/sugar mixture. 

Instead I just sprinkled them with cinnamon/sugar prior to baking.  It was great!

Hope you'll give them a try.  They're great for breakfast, snack, or anytime. 

You'll want M.O.R.E....

BLUEBERRY MORNING MUFFINS

2 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1 Tb. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 c. milk (I used skim)

1/2 c. margarine, room temp (I melted it)

1 c. frozen blueberries

lemon zest

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

In medium mixing bowl, stir together all dry ingredients and set aside.  Beat together egg, milk and margarine.  Stir in berries.  Add dry ingredients plus lemon zest.  Do not over beat.

Drop batter evenly into prepared muffin pan. (I like using my large spring-loaded scoop).  Bake 20 - 25 minutes.

Remove muffins from pan to cool on wire rack for 15 minutes.

While muffins are cooling, mix the following:

In a separate bowl mix: 1 Tb. lemon juice & 1/2 c. melted margarine or butter

Blend 1 c. sugar mixed with 2 Tb. cinnamon in bowl.

When muffins are cool, dip into melted margarine and then roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture.