German Pancakes or Eirkuchen

It has been a long time since I have been here, but I am ready to start this project again.  It will have to be a little different because My job has changed and Monday through Thursday I will not be doing any projects because I am at work 11 hours a day.  I am only home to sleep, eat and take care of the family.  However, Saturday and Sunday are my project days, but I will make enough stuff to post several times during the week maybe even every day. 

I am going back to my heritage today and making a recipe I found.  They are different than regular pancakes.  They are eggy and light and puff up into fun shapes.  You will need the following ingredients:

6 eggs
1 cup milk (I used skim lactose free)
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar (optional)
lemon juice (optional)
syrup (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray muffin tin with cooking spray to prevent sticking.  Mix the eggs, milk, flour and salt together. 

 

Don't beat it to death.  You want lumpy batter.



Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 of the way full and put in the oven.

 

 

Bake for 18-20 minutes.  I put mine in for 20 minutes and I think they were a little dark so just be careful with them.  They still tasted wonderful.

 

 

They are easy and they taste terrific.  I tried mine two ways.  I had the first one with a little lemon juice and powdered sugar sprinkled on top.

 

 

The second one with sugar free syrup.

 

 

I preferred the the lemon juice and powdered  sugar, but they were both good.  I have extras and I am going to try and freeze them to see if they are any good.  I'll let you know what happens.   Bye for now!!

Do you need a cool summer treat?  The yogurt smoothie bars from Krogers are creamy and delicious.  And at a great price.  Being a bzzagent is a real treat, but being able to try available, delicious food at the right price makes it even better.  I hope you and your family enjoy this as much as I do.

A side note

<img src="http://img.bzzagent.com/image/privateSelectionSummer.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=3204199940&Campaign=6490548621&Uid=144623&token=91f8d6ece6ef64e5b7a8aa0cab3acdf9" alt=""/>

One of the things that I love to do is try new projects.  I found a great site where I can try things and then get to give my opinion.  I am a bzz agent.  I try new products and then tell people about them as a part of this website.  I am currently enrolled in a bzz campaign for Private Selections which is a brand that is in Krogers stores.  I tried their Private Selections Sea Salt and Black Pepper Kettle Chips and they were delicious.  I made a cilantro and lime dip with it and the combination was really good.

Over the weekend, I also got to try their angus beef in the form of burgers. Yummy and very juicy. 

The most delicious product I tried was Private Selections Salted Caramel Pretzel Ice Cream.  It was heaven.  I can't wait to try the other flavors, especially if they are half as good as that.  Thanks for reading.  I hope you will go out and try some delicious, well priced foods from Private Selection at your local Kroger BRand stores.

Fried Chicken

I am currently on a kick to use all the food in my fridge and freezer.  The only thing I am buying currently is fresh fruit and veggies.  I have to admit that I have inherited my Mother's food hoarding habit.  She grew in Germany right after the war and will talk about the struggle she used to see her parents go through to ensure that there was food to eat.  When I moved into my house, I bought a chest freezer and I have filled it to the brim.  I am a bargain shopper and tend to buy in bulk.  My favorite tool for this is my vacuum sealer which admittedly gives me an excuse to overbuy because I can make it last longer in the freezer my vacuum packing it.  So this is my first adventure in fried chicken.  I had a pack of chicken thighs that I didn't vacuum seal so I needed to use them.  I figured this would be a good time to fry because I am out of propane and need to go get some this weekend so I can grill.  Here is the recipe I used.  It was very good.

Triple Dipped Fried Chicken

 3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons garlic salt

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 egg yolks, beaten

1 1/2 cups beer or water

1 quart vegetable oil for frying

1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces

One quick tip to season your chicken, is to put it in a brine of salt water.  I usually put salt enough in the water to season each piece of chicken.  Cover it and put it in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

In one medium bowl or I used a Ziploc bag, mix together 3 cups of flour, garlic salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper, paprika and poultry seasoning. 

In a separate bowl, stir together 1 1/3 cups flour, salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, egg yolks and beer. I  had to thin with additional beer because the batter was too thick.

Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Moisten each piece of chicken with a little water, then dip in the dry mix. Shake off excess and dip in the wet mix, then dip in the dry mix once more.

Carefully place the chicken pieces in the hot oil. Fry for 15 to 18 minutes, or until well browned. Smaller pieces will not take as long. Large pieces may take longer. Remove and drain on paper towels before serving.

I also took the excess batter and poured it into the flour and made crunchies. 

My family loved it and they ate up all the crunchies.  It was also good the next day heated up in the oven at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes.  Enjoy and see you next post.

Here we go again!

After computer issues, graduation and being sick, I am back to the blog.  I have made many fabulous recipes,cards and projects during the past weeks and I will be sharing them with you during the next couple of days as well as attempting some new projects.  One of my biggest projects for today was getting my lawn mowed.  I started at 7:45 this morning on the front lawn and finished the back yard at 9:30am.  It was my first time bagging the grass and so it definitely took a little bit of time.  I usually break up the project and do the front and back yards on different days, but it was perfect weather this morning.  73 degrees with a slight cloud cover.  I probably woke my neighbors but oh well.  Then I came inside to start the next thing.....laundry.  Egads, the chores never end.  At 10:00, I started my pot roast for dinner this evening.  I am trying a new recipe of course so I thought I would share.  I got the recipe off of pinterest but tweaked it to what I have in the house because I refused to go to the store. 


Bacon Mushroom Cola Pot Roast

It is made in the crock pot, so it get it out and get ready.

3-4 lb  pot roast
1/2 lb of bacon
3-5 Tablespoons of bacon drippings
1 package baby portabello mushrooms, sliced
1 package dry onion soup mix
2 tablespoons dried garlic
1 can of cola
2 Tablespoons butter

First, pour the cola into the crock pot which is set on low.  I used cherry coke zero.  Place the pot roast in the crock pot and sprinkle the onion soup and garlic over the roast and cola.  Put the lid on and move on to the next step.

Next, take the bacon and cook it until crisp.  I used turkey bacon.  I added a little bit of Crisco to infuse the bacon flavor and crisp it up since there aren't really drippings with turkey bacon.



After it is crisp, pour the bacon along with the drippings over the pot roast and cover.

Next take the mushrooms and the butter and lightly saute.

Then, pour them over the pot roast and cover.

Set your timer for 6-8 hours on low and let it do its thing.  You can use the juice and make a gravy, but my family does not enjoy gravy so I didn't make it.  Use a slurry of water corn starch and flour to thicken it up about I hour before serving and then let the roast cook in it for the remaining hour.  Here is the final product without the gravy. 

I got rave reviews.  It was moist and tore apart without a knife.  The bacon and mushrooms were terrific with it and added a lot of flavor.  I served it with potatoes and green beans.  I will definitely be using this recipe again.  Enjoy everyone. 

May 8th

It is now my second day of living on $1.50 a day.  I was a little hungry last night.  Kept wanting to eat something from the pantry and couldn't.  As I was preparing my price list for today, I realized how lucky I am to be able to campare shop.  I have stores that I go to to get great deals that if I were living below the poverty line I probably could not afford to drive to.  For an example, there is a bread store by my place of employment.  It is an oulet.  I get great prices on bread and then if I spend $6, I get a free item.  The last time I went I bought some bread and three 24 packs of hot dog buns for $6.50 and got a 24 pack of bagel thins for free.  So I estimate that the bagels thins are $.05 each.  

My Breakfast was an egg with cheese on a bagel thin.   

The price of this breakfast was $.05 for the bagel, $.12 for the egg and $.07 for the cheese.  I also put some mayonnaise on it, generic brand, 1/2 tablespoon for both slices for $.05.  My breakfast sandwich was $.29.  I will probably eat the same thing tomorrow for breakfast because it was a great meal.

For Lunch,  I ate some ramen $.10.  I also had a coke $.25.  The coke was wonderful, and I might have to eat it again tomorrow just to have another coke.  Lunch cost me $.35.  This brings my total up to $.64.  Leaving me $.74 for supper.  I didn't take a picture.  It was Ramen, we all know what it looks like.  I also got some almonds from a co-worker, but they were free so I didn't count them in my total.  I am not afraid to mooch if it is offered.

For dinner, I got kinda lazy and made pasta and made up a recipe to flavor it up.  They were really good.  I cooked the 85 g pasta according to the directions adding 1/4 of a stock cube.  In a saute pan, I put 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon  sesame seed oil, about 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, and 1/4 teaspoon of dried cilantro.  I turned on the heat to medium and let it heat up and reduce slightly.  When the pasta was done, I drained it and added it to the saute pan and tossed it in the sauce.  It was good.  I would definately make it again. 

 The cost of the pasta was $.29 and I am estimating the cost of the spices at $.20,  for a total of $.49.  Grand total of the day is $1.23.  I am trying to decide what I will snack on this evening.  Something less than $.27 a serving.  Yum!  Tomorrow at work, someone is bringing cupcakes for a birthday.  More free food, yeah for me!!

May 7th

It's the first day of living below the line.  It is difficult, but manageable.  I can't imagine doing this on a monthly basis.  Cheap food is not very healthy.  I could eat Ramen every day for $.10 but that is not very good for you.  Anyway, Here is my menu for the first day.

Breakfast: Oatmeal Porridge with honey

50 g rolled oats
1 cup of milk
1T sugar
1 T honey
dash of cinnamon

Mix rolled oats and milk and microwave for 2 minutes.
Stir, and add water if dry.  Add sugar and cinnamon, stir and put back in microwave for 1 minute. 
Sprinkle with cinnamon and add honey.  Stir and enjoy.

This lovely breakfast cost me $.21 for the oats.  $.15 for the milk and $.05 for the flavorings for a grand total of $.41.

It was surprisingly good and if I can afford it another day, I might add some banana. 

Lunch: Rice, Vegetables and Sausage

80 g of rice
1/2 cup frozen vegetables
1 or 2 sausages
1 cube stock
oil

Boil rice as directed using half of the stock cube.
Boil the vegetables with the other part of the stock cube.
Fry sausage until browned.

Mix together and enjoy.

The rice cost me $.23.  The frozen veggies cost me $.15.  The sausage cost me $.14 and the stock cube was $.03.  The total cost is $.55 and the total for the day was $.96 leaving me $.54 for dinner and a snack.

That's right Mom.......I ate peas (yuck!).  The sausage isn't in there yet.

Dinner:  Macaroni with Hot Buttered Corn

85 g of Pasta 
1/2 cup of corn (or any other frozen veggie)
3/4 oz of butter
In a medium saucepan, bring salted water to a boil and add pasta.  Cook as directed.  Then there is three minutes left, add the corn.
Drain and return to saucepan with butter.  Season to taste.

The cost of this was $.29 for the pasta, $.15 for the corn, and $.05 for the margarine.  I also added an egg matzo cracker for a whopping $.03 for a total of $.52, leaving me $.02 for the day.

In case you were wondering.  I drank water all day which was quite difficult because I am a sodaholic.  I may eat Ramen for lunch tomorrow and splurge on some coke for $.25.  We'll see.  Planning my food for tomorrow and cooking my breakfast and lunch now.  See you tomorrow.