What Every Kitchen Should Have: Spices

Here at Living Well, if you don't already know, I make a lot of dishes homemade.  I even go as far as inventing some, which turn out really, really well.  So, in order to do this, I have my favorite go to spices in my cabinet.  Now, I'm not going to go and tell you what you absolutely have to have, but what you should have according to the cuisine that you cook most often.

So, where to start?  Let's start with the basics, and go from there.

1) Salt - not only for flavor, but for baking as well.
2) Whole Peppercorns (and of course a pepper mill) - I enjoy the pepper mill so much more than ground pepper.  I use it on all my recipes, and never, ever, buy ground pepper again.
3) Different Salts: Onion Salt, Garlic Salt, other specialized salts.....that you may want to add to this list.
4) All in one seasoning - Season All and/or a Mrs. Dash seasoning.  
5) Paprika
6) Chicken & Beef Bouillon cubes or packets.
7) Rosemary
8) Poultry Seasoning
9) Pumpkin Pie Spice, and/or Nutmeg, Ginger, Cloves & Allspice
10) Cream of Tartar 

And that about sums it up for the basics at least.  Since I tend to do A LOT of Italian cuisine as well as an occasional Spanish inspired dish, I also keep the following:

1) Red Pepper Flakes
2) Cumin
3) Chili Powder
4) Oregano
5) Basil
6) Bay Leaves
7) Mediterranean Blend

Now, your spice rack is yours to customize as you wish.  This, is however, just a brief list of what I maintain on my spice rack, and an idea of what you should have on yours.  

Now, get out there and continue to Live Well. 

Coming up Next Week:  Take that Dream Vacation!

Coming up in Two Weeks: What Every Kitchen Should Have: Baking Ingredients

Blog Update

Hello followers.  

I know that this was supposed to be a recipe for chicken and dumplins, but if you haven't already realized, I've changed my blog design.  That is because I wanted to have a separate page just for recipes, and the home page will be for most everything else.  Here's why:

1) I'm always cooking up something good, and I want to be able to post recipes any time.  I don't want you to have to wait for all my yummy goodness.  I want to be able to share them with you any time I invent something new and exciting.

2) With all the recipes on 1 page, you'll have a centralized location in order to find your favorites.  I hope to get better at this blog design, and eventually move toward a more professional look, with more professional results.

3)  I hope to be able to expand to more pages, as more and more ideas come to mind.  I can do this better and not clutter up my main page.

So, please continue to enjoy my blog, and my recipes.  I promise to continue to help you live well, on a Military Budget.

-MD

Next Week's Blog:  What Every Kitchen Should Have: Spices.

Why You Should or Should Not Purchase a Keurig.

When I returned from Afghanistan, I purchased a Keurig.  I did not go into the purchase lightly, but gave it much thought and consideration before my purchase.  I did a pro and con list, asked my friends which single serve coffee maker I should buy, and did days and days of research.  After all the careful consideration, and weighing all my options, I decided to purchase one.  Here's exactly how I came to my decision.

Why you should not buy a Keurig:

If you are a moderate to heavy coffee drinker (more than 2 or 3 cups a day) then you should not buy one.  The individual k-cups can get quite expensive over the course of a month.  Stick to a traditional coffee pot.  You'll get more for your money with a traditional coffee maker. 

Another reason why not:  if you have hard water, you'll have to use bottled water.  Since I live in Germany, the water is quite hard here, and we use bottled water anyway, so there is not a cost difference for us.  However, unless you are already not purchasing bottled water, or have a filtering system already installed, then it can get quite expensive.  There is a filtering system that you can purchase for the Keurig. 

Unless one or two of the above statements apply to you, then you should consider purchasing a Keurig, and here's why:

For my husband and I, we only drink 1 cup of coffee each, so there is no need to make an entire pot of coffee.  When we were making 1/2 a pot, about 1/2 of that was going to waste.  This was not economical for us.  It was actually costing us more money to make 1/2 a pot at a time, and having to discard what was left over.  With the Keurig, and a k-cup of Folgers Black Silk Coffee (a nice dark, rich brew) we pay about 50 cents a cup.  Add a little sugar and cream (which we both do) and it may cost as much as 63 cents a cup.  With a more expensive brew such as Starbucks, Caribou (which is my favorite) or Dunkin Doughnuts, you are looking at 60-65 cents a cup. That is if you are purchasing the k-cups from the store!  (Recently, I've scored coupons for Starbucks k-cups!)  Which, brings me to my next point.

Starbucks and Dunkin' Doughnuts drinkers: You can make your speciality brew at home, depending on the model of Keurig that you purchase.  Yes, that's right.  Instead of paying upwards of $3 for a regular cup of coffee (forgive me if that's not the price, I'm not a regular at those stores), you can get a nice cup for about 50 cents.  If you take the time to learn the ingredients of your favorite Starbucks drink, you can easily make those at home.  With the Keurig, you can brew a Starbucks k-cup on the espresso setting, throw that into the blender with some vanilla soy milk, caramel flavoring and ice to get a custom Frappuccino, for a fraction of the cost and without all the additional sugar.

For those of you who love having different flavors of coffee around, you can definitely do that with the Keurig system.  You can purchase (or order online) several different flavors, and store them all on a cute little carousel right on your kitchen counter.  So, if you drink regular caffeinated coffee, and your spouse drinks a half-caff or decaf, you can both have your own flavors readily available.  Why, you may ask?  Because there are over 200 different varieties of coffees, teas, and hot chocolates.  What you can't find in the stores, you can order online, and many times, email deals show up in your inbox.  

To save even more money, you can purchase a filter cup that uses regular coffee.  You can completely customize how strong you like your coffee.  We have one, and we use it with regular Starbucks, or Dunkin Doughnuts whenever we run out of the k-cups.  It tastes just as good.

If you are one of those persons who love a hot cup of tea, the Keurig brewer quickly warms a cup a water to a perfect 190 degrees for a quick cup of tea, or hot chocolate.

Keurig is a quick single cup brew.  After the initial warming of the water (about 1 minute), you'll have a cup of coffee in about 30 seconds.  Much, much quicker than a traditional coffee pot.  When I come home from PT (Physical Training), I can brew my cup of coffee, and have time to enjoy it before going back to work.

Not only does the Keurig deliver a quick brew, clean-up is quick too.  No pots to empty and wash, no filters to throw away, no monthly maintenance with a vinegar bath.  You do have to use vinegar to clean the system, but not as often.  It will tell you when you need to clean your system, and I've had my system for 7 months now, and haven't had to clean it yet.  To clean, open the k-cup holder, throw away the k-cup, and presto, you are ready for your next cup of coffee.  About once a week, I wipe down the outside, clean the drip tray, and use hot, soapy water to clean the water reservoir.

Here at Living Well, we enjoy our Keurig, and wouldn't trade it for any other coffee maker.  We DO save money using it, even after the initial purchase of the machine.  There are several models available, one for every budget.  Do your homework, ask around, and then decide if it's right for you.

Coming up next week:  Cooking Like the Cracker Barrel: Chicken and Dumplins.

Coming up later this month:  What Every Kitchen Should Have: Part II, Spices.

What Every Kitchen Should Have - Part I: The Pantry.

This has been a very busy week for Living Well.  I started my classes for this semester, submitted an application for a speciality assignment, and well, what else is new with 4 kids, a full time job, and a husband?  

So, while I was in deep thought for this blog, I was thinking, if I listed what every kitchen should have, all the things you should have, then the list would go on forever, so I'm going to divide this up into several segments, the first one being what you should always have in your pantry, in your spices, in your baking rack, in your refrigerator, and finally, necessary kitchen gadgets.  

So, let's get started, shall we?

1) Whole Grain, Brown, or White Rice - to use a side dish, main dish, soup additive.  
2) Dry Pasta, Whole Grain, or Enriched - to use as a side dish, main dish, soup additive
3) Diced Tomatoes, Whole Tomatoes, or Stewed Tomatoes (2-3 cans) - You never know when you'll have short time on your hands and need to throw together a soup or chili.
4) Tomato Paste (1-2 cans) - for homemade spaghetti sauce or chili.
5) Plain Tomato Sauce  (1-2 cans)- Again, for soup, chili, or spaghetti sauce.
6) Emergency Spaghetti Sauce (1 can, or Jar) - For when you don't have time to make your own.
7) Canned Beans (Kidney, Pintos, White Beans) - very versatile.  Soups, chili, salads, what ever you can think of.
8) Dry beans - For those days when all you want is a big ole pot of beans and cornbread for dinner.
9) Cream of Soups (mushroom, chicken, celery, potato, etc.  At least 1 of each, or 2 of the ones that you use the most) - Casseroles, one pot dishes, pot pies, etc
10) Canned Mixed Veggies (Veg-All) - I normally keep two cans of these on hand whenever I need to make  a quick chicken vegetable soup, or beef vegetable soup, or pot pie.
11) Quick Oats - I can't say enough about this breakfast staple.  (Notice I didn't say instant oatmeal.)  I've learned how to make the flavors that I love for just pennies a serving, not to mention it can be used in breads, home made granola, etc.
12) Cheerios, Chex Mix, or any cereal that isn't too sweet.  Not only can this be made for breakfast, but also snack mixes, school snacks, and thrown into yogurt for an extra crunch.
13) Peanut Butter - Good for school lunches, a quick snack, thrown into a protein shake, or a smoothie for the kids.
14) Soup Crackers (Saltines) - Good for those soup and sandwich nights.
15) Ritz or Club Crackers - Top with peanut butter or cheese for a quick after school snack, or use a few and top with tuna for lunch.
16) Canned Tuna or Chicken - sandwiches, salads, dips, etc.

Those are the items that every pantry should have.  You can add to or take away from this list as needed, or use this list verbatim.  The point is, once you organize your pantry with the key ingredients that you use the most, then the list of dinner combinations are endless.  It's easy to replace these items as you need to, and this is a good 'getcha started' list.  Whenever I move to another duty station, I make sure to stock up on these items on my very first grocery trip.

Another bonus to these items, they are often featured on coupons.  Normally, the coupon will say, $1 off of 4, and normally you don't need for cans of tomato sauce.  However: if you are stocking, or restocking your pantry, then this is a great place to use those coupons. hint, hint.

COMING UP NEXT WEEK: Why You Should or Should Not Purchase a Keurig.

COMING UP IN NEXT MONTH: Cooking Like the Cracker Barrel: Chicken and Dumplins.

Marshmallow Fondant Recipe

Here at Living Well, we make a lot of home made food, from scratch.  Not only do they taste better, they are better for you as well.  You know exactly what goes into the dish, and what your kids are eating.  So today, in celebration of my 9 year old's birthday, I'm going to share with you a Marshmallow Fondant Recipe that'll have you making fun, festive cakes for your kids, or any special occasion.

Decorating with MMF (Marshmallow Fondant) takes practice, but with each new birthday, my cakes get better, and more creative.  To start out, I would recommend that you start with simpler designs.  I made the mistake of trying more complex cakes (a NASCAR cake with Jimmy Johnson winning the race) and have since become more patient with myself to make simpler cakes that kids will love just the same.  So, while I have your mouth watering for this delicious recipe, let's get started, ok?

Here's what you'll need.

1 bag mini Marshmallows.  (Some people prefer a name brand, but I use whatever is on sale.)
1 - 1 1/2 boxes powdered sugar 
1-2 Tablespoons water
Crisco (I use butter flavored.  I'm not sure that it actually tastes like butter.  It does give your fondant an off white color, but it's what I use.)
1 tsp vanilla flavor

To start:

Liberally grease your counter top with crisco.  Place marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl, and sprinkle with water.  Melt marshmallows 30 seconds at a time until melted.    Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and vanilla and stir well with a well greased wooden spoon.  Pour mixture onto greased counter top.  Grease hands with Crisco.  The marshmallow mixture is sticky, so you'll want to remove any jewelry and grease your hands all over.  Knead in enough of the remaining sugar to form ;a nice, soft ball of MMF.  At this time, you can tint your MMF to any color you want or store it away for later use.  I recommend using gel coloring for tinting since it does not water down the MMF, and the colors are more vibrant.

To tint your MMF, using a gel color and a toothpick, start with just a little bit of coloring and smear it onto the white MMF.  Knead MMF until color is consistent.  If the color is not as bright as you want, gradually add more color and knead until you get the color that you want.  I used two different yellows to get this bright yellow.  You should experiment with different color combinations on smaller amounts of MMF in order to get the color you want, before coloring a large amount of MMF.  For best results, us a color chart.

To Store MMF, grease the ball of MMF, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in an air tight container.  To use, simply lightly grease and knead the MMF until it become pliable again.

Before covering your cake with MMF, level your cake and lightly ice it with any icing that you like.  I like butter cream.  This helps the MMF stick to the cake.

To roll MMF, liberally dust counter top and rolling pin with powdered sugar.  This keeps the MMF from having a shiny look.  If you cover your counter top and rolling pin with Crisco instead of powered sugar, the MMF will have a shiny appearance to it.  The powdered sugar keeps the finish matte.  Don't worry about it leaving white spots on the cake, it easily dusts off.  You'll want to roll the MMF until it's about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick.  Once the MMF is rolled out, you can roll it onto your rolling pin (like you would a pie crust) and roll out onto your cake.  Using a pizza cutter, cut off excess MMF and set aside for future decorating.

You can use the left over MMF to shape into anything you like; keep in mind that the bigger the object, you may need support, such as toothpicks, or small wooden dowels.  You can also use Rice Crispie treats to make bigger items, such as cars, trees, people, etc. and then cover with MMF.  MMF will have the consistency of play dough in order to mold into figures.  To attach decorations to your cake, use icing as a glue, or mix up an edible glue to use instead.  You can use cookie cutters to cut shapes, and get your kids involved to make 3-D shapes.  The end result is a nicely decorated cake that your kids will love.

The total cost for this cake was under $5.  All the kids thought it was cool, and my 9 year old has memories that will last a life time.  Practice makes perfect, or at least perfect enough for your kids to think you are a cool mom.

Enjoy decorating with MMF.  Decorating takes lots of patience and time, but it's well worth it.  So, the next time you have a special event coming up, and you are standing at the cake counter, think, do I really want to spend $30 on a store bought cake that has been sitting on a shelf for days, or should I invest the time to make one that every one will love.

COMING UP NEXT WEEK: Staple Ingredients Every Home Should Have in Order to Live Well.

COMING UP IN TWO WEEKS: Why you should, or should not invest in a Keurig Coffee Maker.

Make Your Own Trail Mix

         
     At Living Well, we are on a journey to a happy, healthier, money saving New Year.  I'm not into resolutions, but what I am into is saving money, being happy and healthy.  So, onto this week's blog.

     Tomorrow we are going to go on a road trip, which for a family of six can get quite expensive, especially since we live in Europe.   We love to have snacks and drinks while we travel, but we mainly resort to pre-made granola bars, chips, and soda.  Not only are those snacks bad for you, they are expensive as well.  So, while surfing Pinterest, I came across another blog about grocery shopping, which included a blurb on making almost everything home made.  I already make most things home made, but I've never made trail mix.  So, I'd thought I'd give it a try.

     In order to do this so that you save money, you should already have all the ingredients, or the majority of them, on hand.  Basically, they should be staple ingredients already in your pantry.  Raisins and nuts, for example, can be on hand for a snack, or baked into recipes, and cereal such as Chex or Multigrain Cheerios have a slight sweetness to them, which also doubles as a breakfast food (who knew?).  If you normally have all these on hand, then you may have to go and and purchase M & Ms and pretzels, which brings the price of Trail Mix to about $4 for 6-9 servings.  Considering you would pay more than $1 for a single serving (that is mainly peanuts) at a gas station, I'd say you get a pretty good deal.

     Here is the recipe I used today for tomorrow's road trip.

Chex Cereal (Cinnamon flavor)

M & M fun packs (plain)

Raisins

Pretzels

Peanuts

1/4 cup butter

1/4 - 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (to taste)

     Use your own combination of measurements.  I did about 2 handfuls of peanuts, 1/2 bag of pretzels, and used cereal to fill a large bowl until almost full.  

     Combine all ingredients except raisins, candy, butter and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Melt butter in microwave and pour over ingredients.  Stir well, place mixture in a cookie sheet, and bake in a 250 oven for 15 minutes.  Return to bowl.  Add cinnamon and stir well.  Let cool for about 10 minutes.  In individual zip lock sandwich bags, add 1 fun pack of M & Ms, and a handful of raisins.  Using a tablespoon (non-measuring), scoop about 6 spoonfuls into bags.  Zip and toss.  Makes about 6-9 servings.

     Feel free to change up this recipe any way that you like.  The entire idea is to save money while providing your family with a healthy snack to use on road trips, camping, as an after school snack, or during family movie nights.

     Enjoy your snack time!

COMING UP NEXT WEEK: Pictures of Evan's B-day cake and MMF (Marshmallow Fondant) recipe.

COMING UP LATER THIS MONTH: Staple Ingredients Every Home Should Have in Order to Live Well.

My weekly posts will always be on a Saturday unless other wise noted.  Next week's blog is currently scheduled for Sunday instead of Saturday due to the birthday is on Sunday.

Happy New Year! Let’s Bake a Cake!

Two days early on this one, but it fits the occasion.

My family always celebrates the New Year with a month of Birthdays!  The month looks like this:

1 Jan – Niece Alexis

2 Jan – Brother Jimmy

11 Jan – myself

19 Jan – Brother Chuck

20 Jan – Son Evan

And that’s just the family members who have birthdays this month.  Let’s not forget so many friends of mine that celebrate birthdays as well.  With each Birthday, there is a Birthday cake.  And with each cake, an unnecessary, but very necessary added expense to the budget for the month.

When Tyler was younger, his first few birthdays were celebrated with store brought cakes, highly decorated with tons of super sweet icing, and cheap toys.  The cakes cost anywhere from $16 and up.  That was a decade and a half ago, and of course it was just for a plain cake with just Happy Birthday on it, not fancy plastic balloons, and toys, and tri-colored icing.  So, one day, so long ago in the past, I was pricing a Spider-man cake, and it was over $30, which was way over ½ of the Birthday budget!  So, instead, I ordered just the toy on the cake for $4.99 and bought a regular chocolate cake, with white icing that I dyed, as well as gel for writing.  (And for anyone who knows me, know that my handwriting is horrible, so I used the gel icing for the spider web for Spider-man.)  The total cost for the cake, $8.16 plus tax. 

This gave me an idea, which only grew with each child, and each passing birthday.  I will make and design my own birthday cakes for now on.  What a revelation!    How inexpensive would it be to bake, and decorate my own birthday cakes!  On top of that, my children love the idea that their mom makes them custom Birthday cakes, shaped as robots, race tracks, mountain tops, soccer balls, etc.

At first, the cakes started out as flat, 2-D cakes with just the images cut out, decorated with icing.  Then, I started watching Cake Boss, and secretly wished that I could make cakes like they did on TV.  One day, I Googled fondant recipes, as well as recipes for the best cakes to carve, and slowly, I learned how to make Marshmallow Fondant, and very dense sponge cake used for carving.  3-D cakes were born!

What I’m saying is, with a little creativity, some hard work, patience, powdered sugar and marshmallows; beautiful cake dreams do come true.    It’s still a learning process for me.  I get tips from my Aunt Tina, and I hope to one day make cakes as fabulous as hers.

So, to Live Well when you have a month full of Birthdays to celebrate, take a little time to learn even a little bit about cake decorating.  Your children will love that you took that extra time and effort to make a cake as special as them, even if it’s not perfect.

In the upcoming weeks, I will post pictures of Evan’s Birthday Cake, with directions and recipes as well so you can try your hand at cake decorating.

Happy New Year from Living Well!  May this year be prosperous, full of fun, and full of home made cakes that you and your family will love!