comfort food

Daily Prompt: It’s a Fact

I like to bake to calm myself down.

Yesterday’s blog post was very cathartic for me and I was so happy to finally release some of my true feelings into the universe.  Just because someone’s truth is not pleasant does not mean that they should bury it inside feeling shame for things they could not control and did not want.  It’s one thing to harp on things another to finally state the facts.

So last night I wanted to use up the rest of my sour cream before it goes bad and found this great recipe that I divided in half and changed ever so slightly to lower the sugar and sodium content.  It was from my vintage Betty Crocker’s Cookbook that I received as a gift at my wedding shower in 1972.  

The recipe was for Sour Cream Coffee Cake.

This book has been well used through these many years and it shows.  Below is the recipe I prepared because I only wanted one loaf and the recipe above is for two loaves.  I also did not add any additional salt, used low sodium/sodium free baking powder and cake flour instead of all purpose.  If you are using all purpose flour, you only need 1 1/2 cups flour.

To me, less is always more when it comes to ingredients and seasoning.  You have to be careful in baking to have the right fats and leavenings with your binding ingredients but you can play around with recipes to get desired flavor or results.  No recipe is carved in stone so to speak.  Much like the recipe below is not exactly half of the above recipe but it came out great.

When the cake was finished baking in the loaf pan, I microwaved 2 Tbs butter with 1/4 C brown sugar for a few minutes, checking every 30 seconds or so to thicken, then stirred in about 1/2 cup pecan halves to coat.  When the cake was finished I spread it evenly across the top while it was hot and everything set when it cooled.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Relaxing Snow Day!

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No better time to relax than when you get snowed in.  You can relax, take a nap or watch TV, read a book or just play on the computer.  You could also freak out and pace the floors knowing that you are trapped like a rat.

Great time to overeat or you could just work out.  Many years ago I would be working out.  Today I baked an almond tart for the first time.  I found some recipe online for a Lemon-Almond tart.  Did not sound like a great combo to me, though I love both by themselves.  Turned it into an Almond Tart recipe with only had 4 ingredients.  Pleasant flavor and quite dense but should be gluten-free with no flour.

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Almond Tart

4 eggs 1            C almond meal
1/3 C sugar               1/3 C almond flavored creamer

Mix eggs and sugar then add the almond meal/ground almonds then blend in the flavored creamer                                                                                    Butter and flour tart or tiara pan      Bake at 350° for 15 minutes    Dust with powdered sugar as desired.

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Relaxing with more comfort food.

Chicken and Dumplings!

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Cooked chicken thighs til tender and took off bone.
Boiled minced onion, carrots, a potato and peas.
Made a medium white sauce seasoned with
chicken seasoning to taste, added the other
previous ingredients, simmering, added the following
cornbread dumplings on top in teaspoons, covered
and simmered for additional 20 minutes til done.
Cornbread Dumplings
1 C flour 1/2 C cornmeal pinch salt
1 Tb baking powder 3 Tb oil 2/3 C milk

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.

http://youtu.be/tZISpHkvSoM

Hearty Vegetarian Soup

With no sign of a thaw in sight
With no sign of a thaw in sight
craving comfort food that sticks to the ribs!
craving comfort food that sticks to the ribs!

hearty vegan 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

 

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