Grandma Stories» Recipes

Homemade Do It Yourself Blogs – Make Your Own Shampoo and Conditioner, Household Cleaners

Grandma — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:33:19 +0000

I absolutely love do it yourself blogs, where easy to follow instructions and “recipes” are given to learn how to make your own this or that. Whether it’s making your own shampoo and conditioner, do it yourself style, or making homemade “green” household cleaners and homemade laundry soap to avoid harmful chemicals or just to save money, I love them all.

Even though we haven’t yet tried some of the homemade shampoo and conditioner recipes quite yet, experimenting will be fun, in order to find which recipes for shampoos and conditioner’s work the best and don’t strip color from color-treated hair.

I’ve been coloring my hair for many years, and the fact that there are ingredients and additives in shampoo that actually strip color from your hair, cause hair loss, and is very irritating to your scalp, makes the idea of making your own chemical-free shampoo and conditioner quite interesting.

Common “bad” shampoo ingredients to avoid at all costs, often found in “cheap” shampoos, especially if you color-treat your hair include:

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
Ammonium Laureth Sulfate
Ammonium Xylene Sulfonate
TEA Lauryl Sulfate
Sulfur, in dandruff shampoos
Selenium Sulfate, also in dandruff shampoos
Magnesium Sulfate
Sodium Thinsulfate
Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate
Alkyl Sodium Sulfate
Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate
TEA-Dodecylbenzene
Sodium C12-15 Alkyl Sulfate
Sodium Dodecyl Sulfonate

Color-treated hair already takes a beating from the chemicals and additives found in over the counter color-treating products to color your hair at home, as well as those used in hair salons. Spending the money to color or highlight your hair can get quite expensive over the long-term, so having chemical-laden shampoo and/or conditioner strip the color right back out of your hair is a lose-lose situation for anyone. Homemade, natural shampoo and conditioner recipes are a great idea, aren’t loaded with harmful chemicals, and are a huge cost savings.

Homemade Laundry Soap and Household Cleaners

Make your own laundry detergent and homemade fabric softener? Sure! There are lots of homemade laundry soap recipes available online, as well as recipes for natural fabric softeners, that have only a couple of ingredients and without the all-too-common chemicals more and more people would like to avoid. The quick and easy directions for the recipes are great, and many include pictures and even video how-to details to show the step-by-step instructions, proving that anyone can make their own laundry soap, shampoo and conditioners, and chemical-free household cleaners.

Matt and Betsy Jabbs of Do It Yourself Natural have created a downloadable homemade cleaners guide, with 84 pages of natural household cleaner recipes and instructions that you’re going to want just as much as I did, and explanation of why using natural cleaners is so important. In it you’ll find chapter after chapter full of easy recipes for making your own household cleaners such as:

Homemade Laundry Soap and Fabric Softener
Homemade Spray Starch for Ironing
Homemade Stain Pre-treaters
Homemade Liquid Dish Soap
Homemade Automatic Dishwasher Detergent
Homemade Kitchen Sink Scrubbers
Homemade Drain Cleaners
Homemade Garbage Disposal Freshener
Homemade “Green” Countertop Disinfectant
Homemade Granite Cleaner and Polish
Homemade Fruit and Vegetable Wash
Homemade Fume-Free Microwave and Oven Cleaners
Homemade Shower Spray and Soap Scum Preventer
Homemade Toilet Bowl Cleaners
Homemade Mold and Mildew Cleaner Recipes
Bathroom Cleaners
Natural All-Purpose Cleaners
Homemade Wood Dusting Sprays & Cleaners
Natural Hardwood Floor Cleaners

Natural wall cleaner recipes for removing wall marks and sticky hand prints, natural air fresheners, carpet cleaners and deodorizer’s are also included in this very well created publication. The DIY home cleaning guide covers everything you want to know about how to make your own cleaning products that are chemical free, good for your health and the environment, and at great savings to your wallet. Visit the homemade, DIY Natural blog for information on how you can get this great ebook download stocked full of how-to home cleaning, natural personal care products like shampoo and conditioner, and make your own laundry soap and fabric softener recipes. You’ll be glad you did.

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What is Quinoa? Nutrition Facts and Recipes For Quinoa

Grandma — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:19:13 +0000

Quinoa? What is that?, I asked. Pronounced “Keen-wah”, not Kee-no-wah, quinoa is something I had never heard of until very recently and wanted to find out more. Friends were discussing a website called “Cooking Quinoa“, which has recipes for cooking with quinoa with lots of delicious looking pictures of foods made with it.

Based on everything I’ve read so far about quinoa, its numerous health benefits and the nutritional facts shown on bulk packages I found, adding quinoa to our diet is a smart choice. We’re not vegetarian or vegan by any means, we do enjoy eating lean meats for sure, but we have been reducing our consumption of fatty meats over the last few months.

So, my next question was, where can I buy quinoa? I happened to find some organic quinoa, made by the brand called Nature’s Earthly Choice, while browsing around in Costco yesterday. The package says quinoa is a 100% whole grain, gluten free, wheat free and an excellent choice of protein. Quoting from the back of the 4 lb resealable bag of quinoa, the nutritional benefits of quinoa are described as follows:

“Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is a highly nutritious gluten free seed, originally from the Andean region of South America. It’s mild, slightly nutty flavor makes it a terrific substitute for rice or couscous. Quinoa, praised for its excellent nutritional profile, is an exceptional source of protein, containing all eight amino acids, making quinoa an excellent option for people looking to reduce their consumption of meat. Quinoa is also a good source of dietary fiber and contain B vitamins and iron.

More and more consumers are seeking great tasting and nutritious gluten-free options. Our organic Quinoa is one of the very best. Quinoa is extremely versatile and easy to prepare. Cooked quinoa makes a delicious side dish when mixed with vegetables and seasonings. You can use our quinoa for everything from breakfast cereals, to soups and salads, or add to your favorite chili recipe. Quinoa is also great as a filling for fun and healthy burritos or tacos. Our quinoa is pre-washed so you can simply cook and eat, no need to presoak or rinse.

Using two cups of liquid per cup of quinoa, combine liquid and quinoa in a sauce pan or rice cooker. Bring the mixture to a vigorous boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered, until quinoa is tender but still chewy and white spiral-like threads appear around each grain, about 15 minutes. You can make a larger batch of quinoa and store it in your refrigerator. During the week as you need it, pull the desired amount of cooked quinoa from your refrigerator and add to your favorite recipes.”

Cooking quinoa ahead of time and refrigerating portions is a great idea for busy people like us who don’t have a lot of time for meal preparation, but actually prefer quick and easy recipes. Quinoa leaves are eaten like a leafy vegetable, which would make growing quinoa in a garden a great addition to all the other vegetables and fruits, if the soil and climate requirements are met.

Wikipedia has an extensive description of what quinoa is, including detailed explanations of the nutritional facts about quinoa in general, and the red and black quinoa varieties. Quinoa is incredibly versatile and there are so many different ways of using it on a daily basis. Considering how healthy and beneficial quinoa is for overall health and wellbeing, it just makes sense to buy quinoa in bulk and always have it in stock.

Quinoa can be prepared and used in many different recipe dishes, including breakfast meals. Use quinoa in cereals, yogurt, pudding, smoothies, juices, burgers, salads, soups, breads, muffins, pancakes, chicken recipes, and more. I found some quinoa flakes too, besides the seed variety, so we’re going to be buying both types.

I’m anxious to try quinoa seeds or flakes in a lean turkey meatloaf recipe I have, but I would imagine meatloaf made with lean beef and quinoa would be delicious too. The quinoa cooking website mentioned above has spectacular pictures and How-To instructions of meals prepared with quinoa, and there’s even a quinoa cookbook available for free download.

But, where do you find and buy quinoa? Not all stores carry it, but many health food stores do. I found the one brand of organic quinoa at Costco but I don’t want to be limited to just the one brand, and I want to buy quinoa in bulk vs smaller bags or boxes found in some grocery stores. Searching online for where to buy quinoa, including black and red quinoa in 10 or 25 lb bulk sizes, I found quinoa pasta, noodles, flour, flakes and seeds offered by different brands. Brand names like Ancient Harvest, Nature’s Path, Earthly Delights, Roland, Bob’s Red Mill, Arrowhead Mills, Eden Organic and others.

I don’t think you can ever have too many cookbooks, so when I heard about the quinoa cookbook called Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood and another cookbook called The Quinoa Cookbook: Over 70 Great Quinoa Recipes, I just had to have all three. The rice cooker/steamer is plugged in and ready for some major cooking and experimenting with quinoa recipes this week and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.

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Submit An Article

Grandma — Sat, 07 May 2011 21:38:44 +0000

“Do you accept guest articles on your Grandma Stories blog? If so, what are the requirements for submitting a guest post?” I’m often asked if would accept guest articles on my blogs. Yes, I do accept guest post submissions on Grandma Stories, and you don’t have to be a grandma to write for this blog. I only ask that potential guest writers carefully review the guidelines and requirements for submitting guest posts here before emailing me to ask questions.

To submit articles for publishing on this blog, guest writers must be careful to follow legal standards for content and use of images within their guest posts, and adhere to a few specific guidelines for guest posts. Submitting guest articles for this blog is easy – just email me through the contact form with any specific questions or post topic ideas and I will respond promptly, or just email me with a copy of the guest article being submitted with whatever image is appropriate for the content.

Guest Article Submission Questions and Answers:

Do guest writers have to have a blog or website of their own? No.

Do you pay for guest posts? No.

Do you require guest writers to agree to write and submit articles on a weekly/monthly basis? No.

How many external links are allowed? Usually two, but sometimes three depending on the length of the article being submitted.

If you have your own website or blog, you can embed a link to it within the guest article and/or linked within your self-written byline paragraph at the bottom of your article that describes you and your site as a way of promoting you and/or your blog site or business.

No affiliate links and no “sponsored posts” are permitted. Guest writers who do not have a website or blog of their own may link to their Facebook page, Myspace page, Twitter page etc, or none at all – it is up to you.

Submit a Guest Article? Why?

Writing guest articles for publication online is a great way of expressing your creativity through words. If you don’t yet have a blog or website of your own but have been considering starting a blog, submitting guest posts helps to “get your feet wet” so to speak. There are many reasons for guest writing on blogs, especially for beginner blog writers wanting to get a couple links pointed at their site to build its search engine rankings.

I often find that people are more creative than they think they are, and writing articles is a great way of expressing that creativity. I’ve had people tell me in detail about a book they read or a product they tried, what they liked or disliked and why, and without even thinking about it for very long they discover they’ve just verbally written a guest article on that topic. When I ask them to write it down or type it out on the computer and send it to me as a guest post, they become very excited about the idea of doing more creative writing projects in one form or another.

Some blog writers are strictly confined within a specific niche on their own blogs and want to widen their horizons by guest posting on other topics of interest to them and others, but don’t want to start a new blog on that topic for various personal reasons.

Before submitting guest articles to me for possible publication on this blog, take the time to consider the kind of articles and subjects that fit best on this site. Grandparenting, Grandparent Visitation Rights, Aging, Health, Recipes, Crafts, Skin Care, Hair Care, Older Women’s Issues, Older Men’s Issues, Gardening, Canning, Recycling, Holidays, Religion/Spirituality, Technology and more. I prefer not to allow guest posts on Politics, nor do I write political opinion articles on any of my blogs, although I’ve been known to share my views on Facebook from time to time.

If you are unsure about a topic you would like to write and submit as a guest post, contact me and ask. I’m pretty easy. Religion, spirituality, bible/scriptural matters relevant to real life and family living are fine, as long as the content of the post is not highly controversial or inflammatory to individual beliefs or that negatively target specific religions or denominations.

Submitted guest articles do not have to be perfect, and I rarely ever reject guest posts unless the article has so many spelling/grammar mistakes that I would end up needing to virtually rewrite the entire article myself. Guest articles are run through spell checker and grammar checker, and I verify outbound link destinations and punctuation. Other than that, no changes will be made to the actual content of your guest article.

Submitted guest articles must be your own original work and must not be republished anywhere else on the web. No duplicate content. Articles are checked for duplicity with copyscape and google. Articles must have a minimum of 650 words, 800 + words are preferred, and image(s) must be free of copyright use restrictions and optimized appropriately. If you have an idea for a guest post you would like to submit, pitch your idea by emailing me through the contact form and I will reply promptly.

Guest articles should be submitted via word doc with desired image(s) attached. Once the submitted article is approved and published on the blog, the author will be notified via email along with a courtesy link to their published article. I retain the legal right to publish, edit or reject any/all article submissions for this site to maintain the integrity and reputation of the site and site owner (me). Guest article submissions requiring extensive editing will be returned to the author for rewriting, and if necessary rejected.

To submit a guest article for publication or if you have further questions about guest posting on my blog(s), email me your questions and check your inbox (or possibly the spam folder as it may filter there) for my prompt reply.

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Power Juicers, Jack LaLanne Juicers or Breville Juicers, What is the Best Juice Extractor to Buy?

Grandma — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:41:51 +0000

I wanted to buy a power juicer for fruit and vegetable juicing before we decided to start an organic garden of our own, and I’m thrilled with our recently purchased Breville Juice Fountain Elite 800JEXL juicing machine. After consulting with Consumer Reports juicer reviews of various brands and models and reading many other online customer reviews of juicers, the decision to buy a Breville juicer was an easy one.

While researching juice extractors, reading about the differences between a simple citrus juicer vs. a power juice extractor for fruit and vegetable combinations, and understanding the terminologies used for juicers was a great help in deciding which juicer to buy. I’ve of course heard of the Jack LaLanne juicers and seen the infomercials more times than I care to count hyping the LaLanne juicer as being the best juicer, so I was somewhat surprised to find it had the lowest ratings on Consumer Reports.

With so many types of juicers on the market today, trying to understand the difference between centrifugal juicers, centrifugal ejection juicers, masticating juicers, wheatgrass juicers, manual or industrial/commercial juicers and so on, can leave customers wanting to buy a juicer very confused. Plainly put, if you plan to juice fruits and vegetables together or by themselves, look for what you feel is the perfect juicer that meets your needs, preferences and budget.

Consumer Reports reviewed juicer brands including Black & Decker, Cuisinart, Hamilton Beach, Jack LaLanne, Juiceman, Oster, Breville, Waring, West Bend, Dr. Weil and Omega brand juicers. Evaluations and comparisons were made based on overall juicing performance, convenience and noise levels. Prices of all the juicers reviewed ranged between approximately $80.00 all the way up to about $300.00, give or take a little.

CR ranked the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro juicer as its choice for “best buy”, receiving very good to excellent ratings for convenience and overall performance, but a fair rating for noise. It is also listed as being one of the cheapest juicers evaluated, with the Oster 3167 juicer model being the least expensive at a cost of just $70.00 on average.

Interestingly enough, my favorite Breville juicer is only given a fair rating for noise (I completely disagree), but received very good reviews and high marks for convenience and overall performance. If you haven’t yet subscribed to Consumer Reports magazine, I highly recommend you do. It’s the best money I’ve spent on a magazine yet. For me, choosing the Breville Juice Fountain Elite was a no-brainer; it works perfectly and one of the best features is the extremely quick and easy cleanup.

The Breville has a wide mouth food chute, a powerful motor with two speed settings (low and high), and most of the components are dishwasher safe. Visiting family and friends have enjoyed experimenting with different juicing recipes and have come up with some great tasting fruit and vegetable juice combinations that leaves us wanting more. The remaining pulp, skins from veggies and fruits etc do not go to waste nor are thrown away; these can and are used in salads, soups and stews, or can be recycled as organic garden mulch.

So, CR rated the Jack Lalanne PJP Power Juicer Pro the absolute lowest among all the other reviewed brands, makes and models of juicing machines, well below the Breville. I certainly didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a new power juicer, so price comparisons between the different brands was carefully evaluated in an effort to keep costs down. Looking for the so-called “best juicer” really depends on what the consumer intends to do with the machine. People who just want to juice fruits really only need a citrus juicer, whereas those who wish to juice vegetables and fruits in various recipe combinations need what is called a juice extractor machine.

The health benefits of juicing are well known, documented and highly recommended by many physicians and healthcare professionals. It’s very interesting that people who may have difficulty digesting certain fruits or vegetables, or those who don’t like eating certain vegetables or fruits, quickly discover juicing to be a great alternative and are able to easily digest and actually enjoy consuming the very healthy, fresh uncooked foods they’ve been avoiding.

It’s exciting and fun to watch young children and teens quickly consume fruit and/or vegetable juices made with a home juicing machine, who usually turn their noses up at eating fresh, cooked or uncooked vegetables or fresh fruits. I have observed very “picky” young children, toddlers even, who absolutely love drinking juices made from the same vegetables they typically would say no to. These same “picky eater” kids actually ask mom or dad to make them these great tasting juices; juices that include tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, kale, carrots, beets, cauliflower and other “yucky” veggies.

Personally speaking, I love and enjoy eating just about every kind of vegetable there is on the market, as our organic vegetable and fruit garden shows. Buying a quality juicer is a big help in ensuring we are getting our recommended daily allowance of vegetable and fruit servings, and cranking up the stainless steel “silver bullet” Breville juicer first thing in the morning means we are doing what is necessary to get all the vitamins and nutrients needed for healthy living throughout the day.

The final push that lead me to buy the Breville Juice Fountain Elite was the several hundred positive reviews by consumers who purchased theirs on Amazon, love it above all other juicers, and highly recommend this particular model juicer. The fact that the Breville is among the top listed and best selling juicers on Amazon, along with the free shipping and discounted price, told me everything I needed to know before buying a Breville juicer.

Cooking.com and Epinions.com have also accumulated many great reviews of the Breville juicer, making this particular power juicer machine highly sought after by consumers, even though it is a little more expensive than a cheap basic juicer. We love our juicer and whichever brand and model electric juicing machine you choose that best serves your intended purposes, you’ll be glad you have joined the countless number of people who are adding fresh fruit and vegetable juices to their daily diet. Carrots, apples and beets juiced together. Yum!

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Super Bowl Snacks – BLT Dip and Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipes for Super Bowl Sunday

Grandma — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:27:39 +0000

Super Bowl XLV kickoff starts in just a few hours from now, and we’re preparing our favorite Super Bowl snacks, dips and recipes for a fun Super Bowl party with family and friends. We’ve decided to add two more snacks for our Super Bowl Sunday gathering, the BLT Dip (bacon, lettuce and tomato dip), and the delicious Buffalo Chicken Dip commonly referred to as Buffalo Dip.

Our Super Bowl watching party would not be complete without many of the most popular snacks football fans want to have and enjoy while watching the Big Game. Buffalo Chicken Dip, BLT Dip, hot and spicy chicken wings, Frito chips and bean dip, popcorn, shrimp dip, stuffed mushrooms, guacamole, vegetable tray with dipping sauces, bbq chicken, potato skins, pasta salad, pizza, and my famous Mexican 7-layer dip. We’re skipping the chili this year.

Buffalo Dip recipes can be made with chicken, franks, blue cheese and various other ingredients, and can be prepared quickly or slow-cooked in a crock pot. We’re making the quick and easy Buffalo Chicken Dip and BLT Dip for our Super Bowl party this year, so we can spend more time enjoying guests and less time in the kitchen. Our favorite BLT Dip recipe uses cream cheese, but other times we’ve used light sour cream and light mayonnaise for a more healthy snack.

BLT Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Dip Recipe

Ingredients:

8 oz softened cream cheese

1/2 C ranch salad dressing

1 medium size seeded and diced tomato, reserve 1 T for garnish

6 crisply cooked and chopped bacon slices

1/2 C finely chopped celery

2 T finely chopped onion

1 t sugar

Medium size serving bowl, chilled

Lettuce leaves

How to Make BLT Dip

Place softened cream cheese in a medium size mixing bowl. Gradually stir in dressing; mixing until blended well together.

Add to the cream cheese mixture: chopped bacon, celery, onion, tomato, sugar; mix well.

Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to allow flavors to blend.

When ready to serve, line your chilled serving bowl with lettuce leaves, then fill with the chilled BLT Dip. Lightly garnish the dip with reserved 1 tablespoon of diced tomato. Serve with your favorite dippers such as crackers, chips or toasted bread.

Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe

Ingredients:

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (10 ounce) can chicken, drained (or freshly-cooked, rotisserie, chopped chicken)

1 cup ranch dressing

3/4 cup Frank’s RedHot Buffalo Wing Sauce red hot sauce

Cheddar cheese, (amount to your liking)

Frito corn chip scoops, crackers, celery/vegetable dippers, toasted bread

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Dip

With your mixer, beat the softened cream cheese, ranch dressing, and red hot buffalo wing sauce until blended well.

Gently fold in shredded chicken. Spread buffalo chicken dip mixture onto pie plate lightly sprayed with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Add cheddar cheese on top and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Serve the buffalo chicken dip hot with your favorite dippers, Frito scoops, chips, crackers, toasted bread, etc.

When we make the Buffalo Chicken Dip, sometimes we use Texas Pete Buffalo Style Chicken Wing Sauce, but other times whatever hot sauce we have on hand.

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Super Bowl Recipes and Party Ideas For Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium

Grandma — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 19:52:05 +0000

By now, everyone should know when Super Bowl Sunday is this year since the date, time, schedule, and predictions of who will win the Super Bowl have been plastered all over the news and online to the point of overkill, but there are a lot of people who are still confused about the date and time for the big game.

I’ve grown weary of hearing about Super Bowl 45 on television, radio or sports news sites, so all that noise is turned off now so Grandpa and I can plan the menu for our Super Bowl party with friends and family, including healthy snacks and not-so-healthy party snacks for party guests to munch on before, during and after the Super Bowl is over with.

We’re not going to all the trouble of planning a big Super Bowl party with sports themed decorations, nor are we going to spend needless money on buying football themed paper plates and napkins. We’re just going to have a simple, but fun little party for the big game with party guests, who are all pitching in and bringing super bowl snacks and treats for all to enjoy.

From past Super Bowl parties we’ve hosted before, the popular and pretty much standard snacks for football games and this year’s 2011 Super Bowl XLV have to include chicken wings, chips and dips, popcorn, finger foods and nachos of various kinds, meatballs and meatball sandwiches, shrimp cocktail, stuffed mushrooms and other appetizers, guacamole and spicy cheese dips, vegetable tray and ranch dressing for dipping, grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, bbq chicken, bbq and ranch style beans, potato skins, hot and cold salads, pizza, my famous Mexican 7-layer dip and maybe even chili.

We’ve still got plenty of time to come up with more Super Bowl recipe ideas, especially for desserts, but I’m not worried at all. Between my own dessert recipes and cookbooks, and the ingenious cooking skills of friends and family, it won’t be hard to come up with a spectacular list of recipes for cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, chocolate fudge, Mexican desserts (homemade flan) and more to send our football party guests home after the game with a good sugar rush.

My 7 Layer Dip recipe is quite popular as a delicious and somewhat healthy snack, depending on how much of each ingredient I decide to throw in, and it’s always requested for Super Bowl Sunday. I think this year I’ll make my seven layer dip as usual, but I’m also going to make Rachael Ray’s 7 Layer Dip that Rachael calls Lucky 7 Layer Dip, for another quick and easy recipe that only needs to bake for 5 minutes.

Rachael Ray Lucky 7 Layer Dip

Rachael Ray’s recipe for her 7 layer dip only serves about 6 people, according to the recipe, so we’ll have to double or maybe even triple her recipe to make sure everyone that comes for our Super Bowl party is able to enjoy this dip.

To make Rachael Ray’s seven layer dip, you’ll these this list of ingredients:

1 15 oz. can of refried beans

2 (T) tablespoons hot sauce (mild, medium or hot)

Olive oil, extra-virgin olive oil preferably, to drizzle

4 scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 16-18 oz. jar green chili sauce or tomatillo salsa

2 (T) tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 15 oz. can black beans (we prefer pinto)

2 (t) teaspoons ground cumin

1 16-18 oz. jar of chipotle salsa

2 cups sour cream (light sour cream if you prefer)

1 fresh lime, juiced

2 ripe avocados

2 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped

1 fresh lemon, juiced

1 jalapeno, seeds removed and finely chopped

Salt to taste

2 fresh plum tomatoes, diced

Jumbo size Spanish olives, pimiento stuffed, chopped

Tortilla chips, whatever chips are your favorites

How to Make 7 Layer Dip Rachael Ray’s way:

In a small, nonstick frying pan, heat refried beans over medium heat and season to taste with hot sauce until beans are hot. Transfer the refried beans to a small but deep casserole dish (a larger casserole dish if doubling or tripling recipe). Using a rubber spatula, scrape the frying pan clean and return to heat.

Add a little bit of the olive oil to the frying pan and turn the heat up to high. Once the olive oil smokes, add in the scallions and sear them for two to three minutes. Add the green salsa to the hot scallions mix and heat through. Then add the cilantro, remove salsa mixture from the heat, and layer on top of the beans in the casserole dish.

Once again, using the same frying pan on the stove top, lower the heat to medium and add black beans (or pinto), heat thoroughly and season with cumin, then layer refried beans on top of the green salsa.

On top of the black beans, layer with the chipotle salsa. Then, mix sour cream, lime zest and lime juice and spread the mixture all over the top of the chipotle salsa.

Make a chunky-type guacamole from the meat of 2 ripe avocados with garlic, lemon juice, jalapeno and salt, then layer the guacamole mixture on top of the salsa. Garnish your 7 Layer dip with a layer of diced tomatoes and sliced olives. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips and enjoy.

Rachael Ray‘s recipe for her Lucky 7 Layer Dip doesn’t call for any cheese, but considering our love for cheese on our own 7 layer dip recipe, we like to change up Rachael’s recipe a little and add some grated cheese to our layered dip on each layer. We’re enjoying trying out recipes from several Rachael Ray cookbooks we’ve bought so far, and Rachael’s dip recipe would be a healthier dish than our own, but hey, it’s the Super Bowl!

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Mexican Christmas Traditions – Christmas Mexican Food For Christmas Eve Dinner

Grandma — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:34:17 +0000

We’ve been serving traditional Mexican food for Christmas Eve dinner for many years now, and Christmas this year is no different. Christmas Mexican-style, at least for the Christmas Eve meal, is one of our favorite things to do rather than the traditional foods we’ve all enjoyed over the Thanksgiving holiday.

By the time Christmas comes around, we’ve had all the turkey, ham, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, corn, deviled eggs, peas and carrots, bread rolls, cornbread, hot and cold salads, pumpkin and pecan pies etc that we can stand from a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Since we actually had two separate Thanksgiving’s this year, on the same day, switching over to some authentic Mexican foods for Christmas is a welcome alternative.

Traditional Mexican Christmas Foods

We won’t be including some of the Hispanic Christmas traditions from Mexico, like the nine-day observance of Las Posadas. Posada is the Spanish word for “lodging” or “accommodation”, and posadas (plural) is the Mexican celebration honoring Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem and their search for lodgings, in time for the birth of Jesus.

Reading the historical origin of Las Posadas and its meaning to the Mexican culture includes the start and end dates of December 16 to Christmas Eve on December 24th for a traditional Mexican Christmas and how Las Posadas is reenacted throughout the Mexican holiday. The special Christmas celebration of Las Posadas focuses on the celebration of the birth of Jesus, being together as close-knit family and friends, as well as genuine hospitality shown towards neighbors and people who have no family in the area to celebrate Christmas with, and plenty of food and drink to go around.

A Christmas candy and sweets-filled piñata is broken during the celebration, along with joyous celebratory readings and singing, and lots of authentic Mexican foods for all to enjoy. Authentic Mexican Christmas foods for Christmas Las Posadas include bacalao a la vizcaina (dried, salted cod fish, potatoes, tomatoes, onion, olives, red bell peppers and capers), menudo or tripe soup, tamales, buñeulos de navidad (sweet fritters), chocolate caliente (hot chocolate), ponche navideno (punch), ponche con piquete (hot punch with wine or spirits added for adults) served with a cinnamon stick.

Feliz Navidad Christmas Mexican Style Foods and Recipes

Serving Christmas Mexican food for everyone on Christmas Eve at our house includes a variety of authentic Mexican Christmas recipes, mixed with a few dishes that are really Mexican-American Christmas recipes that are simply called Mexican cuisine. While I know how to make authentic tamales, and made homemade beef, pork and chicken tamales for years, I don’t have the time or desire to make homemade tamales anymore.

Making homemade tamales takes a lot of time to prepare and cook, and I have fortunately found a great place to buy authentic Mexican tamales at a very reasonable price locally. I much prefer to spend the Christmas holiday preparing and making Mexican foods that are quick, easy and cheap to make, added to the various Mexican dishes and desserts each of our guests will be bringing for a so-called Mexican Christmas smorgasbord.

Besides the delicious and handmade beef and pork tamales, our Christmas Eve dinner would not be complete without enchiladas, pozole (pork and hominy stew), Chiles Rellenos, Chicken tortilla soup, Mexican rice and beans, spicy hot salsas, avocado/guacamole, Tamales de Dulce, Sopapilla cheesecake, Mexican cookies (Mexican Wedding Cakes) and flan, and so much more.

Mexican Cookies for Christmas

Mexican wedding cake cookies are called by many different names (Russian Tea Cakes, Pecan Sandies, Italian Butter Nut, Southern Pecan Butterball, Snowdrop, Viennese Sugar Ball and a Snowball), but these Mexican cookies are a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie rolled in powdered sugar after baking and are very popular at weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, christenings and at many other festive celebrations.

The real secret to making great tasting Mexican wedding cakes is to use high quality butter and pure vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla. The Mexican wedding cakes recipe for these cookies is one that kids and grandchildren can make, with help from mom or grandma when it’s time to put the cookies in the oven to bake or when finished baking. I’m asked quite often for my recipe for Mexican wedding cakes, so I usually have a few pre-written recipe cards made whenever these cookies are made and brought to gatherings.

Mexican Wedding Cookies Recipe

Ingredients list:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

¼ cup powdered confectioners sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup finely chopped or crushed pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

(Powdered sugar for rolling cookies after baking)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a mixer, cream butter and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy in a medium to large size bowl (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts. Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 1-3 hours (the longer the better). Shape cooled cookie dough into balls or crescents. Place shaped cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake in the oven 15-20 minutes until tops and bottoms are light brown (oven temperatures vary).

Remove from oven, and while still hot from the oven, using soup-size spoons (to prevent your hands from getting burned), begin gently rolling the cookies in powdered sugar. Allow to cool completely on wax paper, parchment or aluminum foil, then re-roll in powdered sugar one more time.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes about 3 dozen Mexican wedding cookies, depending on the size of rolled balls or crescent shapes. I usually double or triple the recipe because these cookies are eaten and gone so fast that I like to make a “secret stash” of these Mexican cookies for Grandpa and I to enjoy ourselves. Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah to you and yours!

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Best Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas of Last Minute Gifts to Make or Buy

Grandma — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:00:42 +0000

No one can accuse me of being a procrastinator, waiting until the last minute to buy Christmas gifts for everyone on our list. Shopping for Christmas gifts at the last minute, within days, hours or minutes of Christmas gift-giving exchanges would make this Grandma stressed out and unable to enjoy the fun festivities of the holiday season. Christmas Eve gift shopping? Yikes!

Even though our Christmas shopping is often finished well ahead of time, gift-wrapped and ready for Christmas gatherings with family and friends, sometimes there is a need to buy or make a last minute Christmas gift for an unexpected guest. It isn’t much fun watching or participating in opening Christmas gifts when someone is invited at the last minute to a Christmas dinner party when there is not a single present for him or her to open. Awkward is putting it mildly.

I like to keep a list of a few last minute gift ideas for those “just in case” moments at Christmastime, gifts that are inexpensive but still thoughtful, and certainly something the child, teen or adult would actually like and enjoy receiving. If I were as crafty as I’d like to be, I’d have a few pre-made, homemade knitted or crocheted hats, scarves, mittens etc in a nicely decorated Christmas-themed box for those surprise moments when a last minute gift is needed.

Since I don’t know how to sew very well yet, and I certainly have no experience with knitting or crocheting or making other handmade crafts to give as gifts, I have to stick with quick and easy cheap gifts from a retail store or homemade gift ideas of things that can be quickly made and given from my kitchen. Homemade Christmas sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles, brownies, fudge, Pecan Sandies tea cookies, soup mixes in a mason jar, my pecan pie muffins with a recipe card attached etc.

Homemade Christmas food gifts like: rum cake, coffee cake, pumpkin bread, popcorn or granola mixes, caramel corn clusters, chocolate bark with or without nuts, homemade biscotti cookie samplers, canned jams and jellies, chocolate-dipped peppermint sticks, homemade hot chocolate mixes presented in a holiday-themed coffee cup or mug, all make easy last minute Christmas gifts to make and enjoyed by the recipient.

Last minute gift ideas for wine drinkers isn’t hard either; just make a small homemade gift basket out of a good quality bottle of wine, add some cheese and cracker selections along with a new bottle opener, wrap it all up in a pretty basket or box with some colorful cellophane and ribbon and you’re all set to go.

A last minute trip to our local grocery store or pharmacy offers some quick and inexpensive gift ideas of fruit and nut gift basket selections, varieties of bubble bath or novelty soaps, great smelling candles, gift cards for restaurants or movie theaters or electronics stores etc, gourmet coffee and tea gift sets, women’s perfumes or men’s cologne’s, just to name a few of some of the best things that can be found last minute.

Shopping last minute for Secret Santa Christmas parties at work with co-workers can sometimes be a challenge, especially when the maximum price for a gift is no more than five, ten or twenty dollars. We found a cheap webcam within the required price range and it was one of the gifts everyone was fighting over. Inexpensive tools for men or women, small electronic gadgets, digital photo frames, barbeque/grill tool sets, books from a top-notch author, movies, CD’s, magazine subscriptions all make excellent, quick and easy to find last minute gifts.

Last minute Christmas gifts for kids or grandchildren might include a couple of the most popular board games for kids, building blocks, jigsaw puzzles, stuffed toys, high-bounce balls, toy cars or trucks, etc. The possibilities are endless if you really put your mind to it. Gift shopping at the last minute before Christmas still means putting some thought into what the gift recipient likes and enjoys, specifically needs or wants for Christmas.

Even though we’re finished with all of our Christmas shopping and ready for just about anything, there is always the possibility that an additional guest or two will be added last minute to our dinner guest list. We’re not worried at all though, as we’ve got lots of ideas for gifts we can make at home, in the kitchen, or quickly run to a local store and buy a small gift for our house guest just in case.

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No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

Grandma — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:58:22 +0000

The No Bake Chocolate, Oatmeal, Peanut Butter Cookies is a family favorite throughout the year, but these delicious cookies are especially requested around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and I’m happy to oblige.

I’ve been known to make these cookies and ship them overnight to family and friends living out of state, or make them and give a batch or two to friends as a “just because” gift. I’ve recently heard that some people refer to these cookies as “Reindeer Turds” and I can understand why, based on how they cookies look when they’re done setting up, but if you like chocolate, oatmeal and peanut butter, you will love these cookies.

My Pecan Pie Muffins are made every year during the holiday season at the request of family, as are my Pecan Sandies cookies baked and rolled in powdered sugar. If you haven’t yet made these easy no bake cookies that have been popular for many years, I would highly recommend spending the few minutes of preparation time and give them a try. These chocolate oatmeal peanut butter cookies require no baking in the oven at all, as all the “baking” is done on the stove top and only take a few minutes to prepare.

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Measure out the ingredients for this cookie recipe ahead of time because you’ll need each item listed pretty quickly and you don’t want to burn the mixture as it cooks on the stove.

3 1/2 cups dry quick-cooking oatmeal

1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy, crunchy or extra crunchy)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 stick butter (8 tablespoons), cut into pieces

2 cups sugar (white granulated)

1/2 cup milk

4 tablespoons cocoa

How to Make No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Place the butter, sugar, milk and cocoa in a large saucepan, gently mix together. Turn the heat on high and bring cookie mixture to a full, rolling boil. Let the mixture boil for exactly 1 minute uncovered, no more and no less than a minute. Remove from heat and add vanilla, oatmeal and peanut butter. Use a large wooden spoon to quickly stir the ingredients together completely and thoroughly.

Using two spoons or a small ice cream scoop, drop the hot cookie mixture by tablespoons on wax paper. Allow the cookies to cool until set, approximately 30 minutes.

We usually double the recipe for a larger batch of these delicious cookies to last longer than a day. I’ve noticed some people suggest making individual cookie batches and repeat the stove cooking process for each additional batch desired because the cookie dough can become rather difficult to mix once the oatmeal, peanut butter and vanilla have been added. That hasn’t been a problem for me, so you’ll have to decide for yourself if separating batches is really necessary or not.

These no bake cookies ship well overnight boxed up in an airtight container. I also like to include a index card with the recipe for the recipient to enjoy making them on their own and share with loved ones. I haven’t tried it yet myself, but I bet this cookie recipe would do very well as a Christmas “jar” mixture gift, where dry ingredients are layered in a mason jar and the jar lid is decorated with Christmas ribbon and a recipe card attached. Enjoy!

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Easy Homemade Chicken Pot Pie – Easy Yummy Quick Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Grandma — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:00:04 +0000

Making a homemade chicken pot pie is quick and easy, if not downright simple. Chicken and turkey pot pie recipes are so easy that even a beginner cook can easily make any kind of pot pie and quickly realize it’s not impossible at all.

The Bisquick chicken pot pie is quick and easy too, but Pillsbury and Betty Crocker also have their own recipe for chicken pot pie, and both recipes are easy, yummy and super fast. Marie Callender’s chicken pot pie tastes a lot better than the Banquet chicken pot pies in the grocery store, but beef or turkey pot pies are nowhere as good as the chicken.

Banquet recalled all of their frozen turkey pot pies and chicken pot pies a couple of years ago, after a salmonella outbreak caused 100 people to get sick, so Grandma’s Kitchen hasn’t had Banquet brand pot pies for awhile now. After reading the Marie Callender and Banquet chicken pot pie nutritional chart and seeing the astounding amount of sodium, fat and other unhealthy facts in both, the decision to make our own turkey or chicken pot pies was easy.

Some might say that this homemade chicken pot pie recipe isn’t really homemade because it calls for a ready-made pie crust vs. a pie crust make from scratch with dough, but to each his own on that regard. Quick and easy is best for our schedule, so a ready-to-bake crust fits perfectly with our busy schedule, but if you have the time and desire to make your own pie crust, by all means go for it. Just follow these easy instructions and you’ll be enjoying homemade chicken pot pie in no time flat.

Easy Yummy Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, boiled

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of celery soup

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of potato soup

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Line a 9 inch pie dish with pastry.

Blanch frozen mixed vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain.

Dice chicken and place in a large bowl. Add vegetables, thyme, celery soup and potato soup. Stir together.

Pour filling into pastry lined pie dish. Arrange top layer of pie crust, seal and flute the edges. Cut slits in the top of the crust to allow for steam to escape.

Place pie on cookie sheet. Put aluminum foil around the pie crust edges to help prevent burning.

Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes and then serve. Quick, easy, homemade chicken pot pie that is yummy too!

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