Click the above picture for more info on Cinco de Mayo!
Enjoy pictures from my visit to Mexico.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Food & Wine
Enough With The Comfort Food Already!
This has been a long, hard winter for all of us. I am sick of the severe cold and all the shoveling and I’m sure most of you agree.
I lost my job, again, right before the holidays and my only sister soon after. It looks like I will be losing my home by the end of this year unless I find another job soon and I have to say I have not had the time nor the inclination to look under the circumstances.
Being snowed in and being depressed does not make for a healthy person mentally or physically when you decide to self-medicate with food. I do not drink or have any other vices and have found through the years what a great comfort food can really be. One of my overweight friends once explained to me “You cannot eat and cry at the same time.” I see what she is talking about now because for most of my life, I would lose my appetite if I was upset about anything. Now I become ravenous!
I am still working out regularly, but not happy with the fact that I had managed to lose over 20lbs last year and have now found myself putting that weight right back on again.
I have tried to take walks on several occasions only to start slipping and sliding on the mess that has continued for the last two months in my area so about the only time I am out is when I have to get supplies. I dig out if the snow is deep enough. For a couple of inches of snow I just drive right over it all. The unfortunate result of this is that snow becomes so compacted down that I am not able to shovel it at a later date because of the severely cold temperatures.
This comfort food actually comforts my stomach as well.
Po’ Girl’s Rice Pudding
Combine 2 cups cooked rice with 2 cups milk and 1/4 cup sugar. Cook on medium-low heat stirring regularly for approximately 20 minutes until thickened. Then add an additional 1/2 cup warm milk with one beaten egg (to temper egg), one teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder stirring continuously for an additional 10 minutes or so. I slowly added a few spoonfuls of the cooked pudding to the 1/2 cup with the egg before adding this to the hot pudding to prevent the egg from curdling.
This makes a very delicious, but not super sweet rice pudding that I much prefer to store-bought. Much better for your sugar levels. The following video gives you an idea of how thick the pudding becomes when it is almost done. Please stir enough to prevent scorching keeping your eye on the heat, adjusting as needed.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Treasure
Po’ Girl’s Pudding Treasures!
Quick and delicious these cookies are hard to resist and just too easy to make!
Mix all ingredients together dry to wet. Completely incorporate all and drop in teaspoon size balls, flatten and bake at 350 for approximately 8-10 minutes. Use any flavor instant pudding of your choice. You don’t really need the chips at all. Makes a very tender and delicious cookie.
Chinese Eight-Treasure Rice Pudding.
Hearty Vegetarian Soup
Place the onion, carrots, turnip, potato and squash in the pot of water that covers the vegetables at least a couple inches and bring to a boil, turning down to a simmer for approximately 30 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients bringing back to a boil. Turn heat to the lowest setting to simmer an additional 30 minutes or until the pasta gets soft which should only take an additional 15 minutes. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the ingredients and seasoning to your taste but this soup was delicious! The amount of the vegan bouillon or soup base depends on the amount of water you use and soup you end up with. This soup did not need any thickening due to some of the vegetables breaking down and the small amount of tomato paste.
Please see the following slide gallery for dessert!
Po’ Girl’s Peanut Butter Cookies
Weekly Photo Challenge: Unexpected
I have only made cinnamon rolls a couple of times in the last 40 years or so. I stopped trying because the dough was never soft enough and they never turned out well at all even though I followed the recipes to the letter.
This may have been the problem.
After refusing to pay what Cinnabon charges for a sweet roll I decided to try one more time while changing up the basic recipe. I was very pleasantly surprised to finally have made a batch of cinnamon rolls that were tender and delicious, an unexpected delight!
I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Please do not over bake them or they will be on the dry side. That is what happened with my next batch even though they still were tasty.
Sloppy Po’s for Dinner!
You’ve all heard of Sloppy Joes, now try Sloppy Po’s!
SLOPPY PO’S RECIPE
- 1 LB ground turkey (Butterball Everyday good quality and price) 1 Small minced onion 2 cloves of minced garlic
- 1/2 Cup turkey gravy 1/4 Cup cherry wine 1/4 Cup cranberry juice
- Season to taste with salt and/or pepper
Simmer meat, onion & garlic til meat is well browned. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to simmer approximately 15 additional minutes. Serve on a bun of your choice and add a salad, fruit and/or vegetable for added nutrition.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Good Morning!
I have been obsessively starting my days for the last few years with coffee. I had quit all caffeine except that which was found in chocolate for many years because I didn’t need it. I had always loved a good cup of coffee and when my son moved back home for a short time, he got me drinking it again.
Created my own coffee T-shirt a few months ago by transferring one of my coffee photos with the simple message “Coffee.” I printed the word coffee in Vladimir script in reverse so I could go over it with a transfer pen and iron on. I then went over the lettering with fabric markers.
Clipping Coupons is Not Healthy
Extreme couponing is a hyped fad that couldn’t last since people have to have real food to live on. Typical coupons are for 30 cents off two packages of refrigerated rolls which don’t come close to homemade in taste and ingredients. It also does not save you money when you compare the prepared food to cost of the ingredients for homemade most of the time. Most of us don’t need the additional carbs in our diets from rolls anyway.
Weigh the pros and cons of joining any price club or warehouse. Most cost you an annual $50. fee and offer large sizes of high-end items. You will save much more just shopping the sales in your local markets. Part of the large quantities may end up wasted if you cannot store in properly or use it up fast enough. It does not save money if the product goes bad before you can use it all. Most of the food offered is frozen or processed as well. The best idea is to get together with friends or family and chip in for one family membership that you can go in on so you can divide the food as needed. It has the mental health perk to commune with others while shopping, as long as your relationships are not dysfunctional. Some people prefer to shop alone.
Quick Meal With Healthy Carbs
Tuna & Whole Wheat Rotini Salad
Made the above tuna pasta salad with very few ingredients.
1/3 Box of whole wheat rotini (any whole wheat pasta will do)
1/4 C mayo or salad dressing
2 Tbs water
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tb sugar
2 Tbs honey mustard
2 Tbs reg or spicy mustard
season salt
2.6 oz pkt of tuna used
After preparing noodles, mixed the dressing ingredients of heating the water, vinegar and sugar to dissolve, then adding the mayo and mustards with season salt to taste. After thoroughly mixing add however much tuna or other seafood you desire. I never salt the water for cooking noodles to keep my sodium level down.
Weekly Photo Challenge: LUNCHTIME
Po' Girl Shines 
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