We are heading out to visit our kids and grandkids this weekend. My grandson is so into play dough these days, his mom can barely keep it in stock. I offered to find a recipe and make some, and she suggested the grand and I make it together during our visit. So last Saturday I made a practice batch–it’s been a long time since my kids and I made it–and it worked!
The original recipe didn’t call for the Koolaid, but it’s an easy way to add color and scent to make it even more fun for kids. The recipe also makes a big batch, so I put half the ingredients in one saucepan and the other half in another. Then I added a package of Koolaid to each pan and cooked one panful and then the other. Next weekend, the grand and I will make blue and orange (his favorite color) dough before getting our hands dirty until we both need naps.
Scented Play Dough
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2/3 cup salt
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 packages unsweetened Koolaid
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups water
Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients together in a sauce pan. Then add the oil. Add the water, about a quarter cup at a time, whisking as you go.
Keep whisking until all the lumps are gone. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan frequently…
….until the dough stops sticking to the side of the pan. Let the first half-batch cool while you make the second. Then, turn the first batch onto the counter and knead a few times. Once the second batch cools, do the same thing again.
Biscuits are a cold weather favorite at our house. For the past few years, I’ve experimented with my old biscuit recipe, substituting different ingredients for the butter and milk to make them dairy-free. The experiments have gotten mighty close to perfection, but I’ve not quite nailed it yet. So when my niece posted a recipe on Facebook called the Best Damn Vegan Biscuits, I had to give it a try.
The original recipe found at the Minimalist Baker website had many, many steps and many, many pictures and many, many reminders to follow the directions exactly for the biscuits to live up to the recipe’s name. Not exactly minimalist, but I overlooked the discrepancy, and followed the directions exactly, hoping to finally achieve dairy-free biscuit perfection.
The biscuits were very good, but in my opinion they fell short of perfection, too. That said, they were good enough to give the recipe one more try, this time using lard (remember, I’m not vegan, just dairy-free) as the shortening to see what happens. But until then, here’s the recipe.
Dairy-Free Biscuits
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks
1 cup unsweetened, unflavored almond milk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. If using a baking stone, slip it in the oven to heat. Put 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a one cup measure. Pour in almond milk to 1 cup line. Allow it to sour for 5–15 minutes.
Combine dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut cold Earth Balance stick into thin patties on top of the dry ingredients. Cut in the shortening with fingers or pastry cutter until the mixture looks like coarse sand. Work quickly so the shortening doesn’t get too warm.
Make a well in the dry ingredient/shortening mixture. Stir gently with a spoon while pouring in the almond milk mixture 1/4 cup at a time until the dough is slightly combined and sticky. You may not need all the almond milk mixture.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Dust the top with flour and then gently turn the dough over on itself 5-6 times, handling the dough as little as possible. Form into a 1 inch thick circle. Cut dough into circles with thick dough cutter or drinking glass. Push straight down through the dough, then slightly twist. Place biscuits on baking stone or baking sheet in two rows, making sure they just touch – this will help them rise uniformly. Gently reform the left over dough and cut out one or two more biscuits for a total of 7 or 8.
Next brush the tops with a bit more of melted non-dairy butter (1 skipped this) and gently press a small divot in the center using two fingers. (I did that step, but the dough was so sticky I had to flour my finger first. Hence the flour circles on some of the biscuits in the picture.)
Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until fluffy and slightly golden brown. Serve immediately. Let remaining biscuits cool completely before storing them in an airtight container or bag.
This recipe for Italian wedding soup comes from my sister and brother-in-law. They served it during our Thanksgiving stay with them. The Man of Steel raved about it and couldn’t get enough of it. So our hosts graciously pointed me to the recipe which they found at allrecipes.com.
They made in dairy free by not adding Parmeson cheese to the meatballs. Instead, they put the cheese on the table so diners could sprinkle some on top of each bowlful. Even with that alteration, this soup immediately received Hiram’s coveted seal of approval. And it received a second ringing endorsement when I served it recently at our house, too.
Soup ingredients:2 1/2 quartschicken broth 2 cupsspinach – packed, rinsed and thinly sliced 1 cupseashell pasta
3/4 cup diced carrots
Directions
In a medium bowl, combine the beef, egg, bread crumbs, basil and onion. Shape mixture into 3/4-inch balls and set aside.
In a large stockpot heat chicken broth to boiling; stir in the spinach, pasta, carrot and meatballs. Return to boil; reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring frequently, at a slow boil for 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente, and meatballs are no longer pink inside. Serve hot with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
The original recipe comes from the 1983 Camp Crook Centennial Cookbook and was submitted by Betty Louks, the woman who babysat our son when he was just a baby. The recipe is super easy, as you will see, and it is delicious! The above picture shows a batch and a half because I needed enough for a church fundraiser.
Dairy Free “Buttermilk” Brownies
Bars:
1 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon soda
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup soured original Coffee Rich*
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 375°. In saucepan, combine Earth Balance, cocoa, and water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, soda, and salt. Stir in eggs, soured Coffee Rich, and vanilla. Add cocoa mixture. Mix till well-blended. Pour into a greased 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 inch baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Immediately pour frosting over bars. Spread evenly. Cool and cut into squares.
In saucepan, mix 1/4 cup Earth Balance, 1/4 cup soured Coffee Rich, and 3 tablespoons cocoa. Cook and stir until boiling. Remove from heat. Beat in powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Pour over bars as soon as they come out of the oven. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.
*To sour Coffee Rich, put 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Fill cup to the 3/4 cup mark with Coffee Rich. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes before using.
Confession time…I’ve been doing a lousy job of remembering to photograph meals for the past 2 months. Blame it on Camp Dorothy frivolity in December. Blame it on the holidays. Blame it on being distracted by house guests. But wherever the blame may fall, recent food photographs leave something to be desired.
Like the above photo of Hearty Hamburger Stew. The picture is of a double batch. But you can see how much the Man of Steel, with a little help from me, managed to tuck away a good portion of it. This stew was hit and very, very easy to make. The original recipe comes from Once a Month Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg. The original cook book is out of print, but a revised version came out in 2007.
Hearty Hamburger Stew
1 pound lean ground beef or turkey (2 1/2 cups browned)
1 1/4 cups chopped onion
2 cups peeled and sliced carrots
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 16-ounce can cut green beans, drained
1 16-ounce can cut corn. drained
3 stalks sliced celery
1 46-ounce can tomato juice
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon celery seed (I omitted this)
Salt and pepper to taste
Brown grown beef or turkey (I used a half pound of each) in a large dutch oven. Add onion, green pepper, and celery. Saute until tender.
Mix in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer covered 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool and freeze. Can be frozen and thawed for later.
For most of December and January, I made double batches of slow cooker meals for supper a couple times a week. The Man of Steel and I ate half the food and the other half went into the freezer for later transport to my son and daughter-in-law, who have a new baby this winter.
This recipe comes from Loving My Nest, which features all sorts of freezer meals/slow cooker meals. My version, found below, received the coveted Hiram seal of approval. He liked it so much, there was barely enough left of the double batch to freeze for the new parents!
Slow Cooker Pork and Veggies
1 pound pork roast, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, sliced
4 medium carrots, sliced
½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Combine ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low for 6–8 hours. Serve over rice or with French bread or baguette. Feeds 6–8.
Add the water, about a quarter cup at a time, whisking as you go.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan frequently…
Let the first half-batch cool while you make the second. Then, turn the first batch onto the counter and knead a few times. Once the second batch cools, do the same thing again.
