Fish Chowder

 

Do you ever get down to random items in your kitchen before shopping day and wonder how you can make supper with them? I had a day like that last week. I had two packages of fish fillets that didn't match each other. And two is just not enough for our family of ten. It was a chilly damp day so maybe that inspired my next thought - fish chowder.

 

I didn't feel like endlessly scrolling through recipes to find one I liked. I've done enough cooking that I thought I could pull this off on my own. It worked and I am so excited. I don't often step out on my own to create something. I tweak recipes A LOT, but doing my own is a fairly new experience. My family loved it so I know I'll be doing it again. Not only that I loved it, and generally speaking I don't like fish (unless it's deep fried in a thick batter ☺).

 

This recipe is easy and fast and can easily be adjusted according to your family's likes or what you have in the pantry. I added some bread I had made that day, and we had a filling and comforting meal.

 

Fish Chowder

 

fish fillets - whatever amount works for your family

oil for frying

1/2 cup butter

2 medium onions chopped

1 can mushrooms (284ml/10 oz)

1/2 cup flour

4 cups cream (or milk, but cream makes is tastier)

2 cans corn (341 ml/12 oz)

1 tsp salt

 

Cut the fish into bite size pieces and place in a pan with oil. As they cook add pepper to taste.

 

In a pot melt the butter. Add the onions and mushrooms and cook until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the flour to form a paste.

 

Whisk in the four cups of cream and stir until thickened. Add the cooked fish, corn and salt. Stir frequently and serve when hot.

 

cooking the fish with pepper

 

onions and mushrooms

 

with the flour forming a paste

ready to eat

 

What is your favourite way to eat fish?

Whole Wheat Crackers

 

Today I made something that I've been wanting to make for a while. I've made crackers before, but I would really like to get into the habit of doing it regularly. The thing that got me going was my baby. He loves crackers for a snack, but I don't like giving him the saltine crackers everyone normally buys. They're made with white flour which once it enters our body is basically treated like sugar. So I made my first attempt today. It's a bit of work, but the flavour of whole wheat crackers is incredible.

 

Basically, I took my biscuit recipe and left out the baking powder and halved the baking soda. I was happy with the results but feel like I need to do some more tweaking. I'll update you as I go along. In the meantime, if you would like to make your own crackers here is how I did it.

 

When you cut the butter into your flour, salt and baking soda the crumbs should be about the size of small peas.

 

 

After mixing the dough I put it on my counter to knead for a few times to make it smooth.

 

 

I rolled the dough out and then cut it into squarish shapes. These aren't pretty crackers that all line up evenly (unless you're better than I am at rolling a perfectly square shape to cut your crackers from), but the taste is great so looks don't matter. ☺

 

 

To go along with it we had homemade tomato soup for lunch.

 

 

And the baby? He loved them. Now if I can just keep the older children out of them long enough to have a few days supply for the one I made them for.

Whole Wheat Crackers

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk mix some yogurt with milk)

Mix the dry ingredients together and cut the butter into them. Add the egg and buttermilk and mix well. Turn out onto a floured board and knead several times. Roll out the dough as thin as you are comfortable with - aim for at least 1/4 inch. Transfer to an ungreased cookies sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Chocolate Macaroons

I mentioned a while ago that I had started making macaroons for my husband so he wouldn't need to buy any when he went through a drive-thru for a coffee. What I came up with isn't the same as what he was buying, but he likes it - that's what's important, right?

I've tweaked the original recipe so that I could make them chocolate and add sweeteners instead of honey. This recipe is easy and comes together quickly. Using my ice cream scoop to shape the cookies I always get exactly thirteen. My oldest daughter believes that each batch needs quality control. She offers to eat the thirteenth to check that the batch is okay for her dad. Don't you love a daughter who is so self-sacrificial. ☺

Coconut Macaroons

3 egg yolks
2 tbsp xylitol
1/4 cup butter - softened
1 egg
1 1/4 tsp almond extract
2 heaping tbsp stevia
1 tbsp cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 3/4 cup finely shredded coconut - unsweetened
1/3 cup almond flour

Beat the egg yolks, xylitol and butter until creamy (about three minutes - I use my stand mixer so I can do other things ☺).

Add the whole egg and beat for another minute. Then add the almond extract, stevia, cocoa, and baking powder. Beat until mixed.

Add the coconut and almond flour and mix by hand or on low speed with your mixer.

 

I use an ice cream scoop to shape the cookies and put them on a greased baking pan.

 

Bake them for 7-12 minutes in an 335 degree oven.

I pack the dough down in and smooth it out around the edges. It slides
out of the scoop easily.

I love how they all come out uniform.
 

On my favourite Snoopy cookie plate

Fudge Glorious Fudge

 

I'm starting to feel better although still not quite up to full strength, but at least I can cook and bake again for my family. Their appetites are starting to return too so the timing is good. This also means that I'm ready to get back 100% to my Trim Healthy Mama diet. One of the things that makes this diet so enjoyable is the chocolate I can make for myself. It is absolutely delicious, glorious, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth fudge.

I'm going to share the recipe for you today with my tweaks. First of all the ingredients : cream cheese, coconut oil, butter, peanut butter, xylitol, stevia, vanilla and cocoa.

I dump everything into the pot which I have set to low.



 

Then here's what I've learned that has made this recipe go from okay to awesome. I use a stick blender to mix it. I used to mix it with a spoon and try to smash the cream cheese up and make it blend in, but I always ended up with little pockets of cream cheese in my fudge. I put up with it for the sake of having chocolate. Then one day I decided to see what my stick blender would do - instant 100% improvement. I now have thick, creamy fudge...so delicious and feel good in your mouth.

It also took me a lot of trial and error to come up with a mold for the chocolate. I tried mini-muffin cups but they just weren't right. This was the solution I came up with that has worked for many countless batches now...a plastic lid lined with wax paper. (Note: I no longer use the wax paper and the fudge comes out of the mold just fine.)

 



And here we have the finished product. I keep it in the freezer. My husband likes it hard. I like it a little softer so I like to take it out and set it on a plate. Okay, let's not kid ourselves...I eat most of mine straight from the freezer. But if I can exercise the self-control it only takes about ten to fifteen minutes for it to soften up.

 



Waiting to be eaten...need I say more?

Glorious Fudge

1/4 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 rounded tbsp. stevia
7 packets (tsp) xylitol
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 tbsp. cocoa

Put it in a pot on low and mix. Once blended move to a shallow container so it can set. The freezer is best but it can go in the fridge. Allow to harden, eat and enjoy.

 

This recipe is an "S" according to Trim Healthy Mama plan. I try to limit myself to approximately a 3" square for a serving. It is so good I could probably eat half a batch without giving it a thought. It's also a good way to get more coconut oil into your diet...just saying. I have absolutely no guilt eating this and that's another wonderful feeling.

 

What is your treat to yourself when you're watching your weight?

 

A Productive Afternoon

I like to read about other people's lives. I enjoy posts that give me a peek into what someone else has been doing. I'm guessing at least some of my readers are the same so I thought I'd give you a peek into my afternoon yesterday.

 

I had a lot of baking but I wasn't feeling that great so I had a nap first. I didn't get going until after 3:30. First I had to make a list - I love lists remember - of what I needed to do. Here's my list... 

• bread
• sourdough bread
• meat for supper
• chicken broth
• grape nuts cereal
• dessert? (not sure if I was going to do this)

3:36 - finished my list...time to start

 

3:37 - children decide to go play in the snow so I stop what I'm doing to dress my toddler (I was actually glad they wanted to go out because the house was quiet and they were burning off excess energy in a non-irritating way ☺)...then the phone rang...take a pencil case and its contents away from the baby

 

activating my yeast with warm water and honey

3:45 - try again...start the wheat mill going with six cups of spelt...take a picture of the baby watching his siblings outside...start my sourdough...start proofing the yeast for my yeast bread

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3:57 - the phone is ringing again and I search frantically because I never put it down in the same place twice

 

3:59 - decide I better have a tea to get me through this

 

4:06 - finish mixing up my sourdough bread...I won't need to do anything else with it until tomorrow

 

4:07 - start mixing my bread...As an aside, why am I making two kinds of bread? I need bread tonight and the sourdough won't be ready until tomorrow. Also, the sourdough only makes two loaves which will be gone in a blink and my regular recipe makes four loaves which will last a tch longer.

 

4:10 - more pictures of the fun outside

 

He's wearing the leg warmers I made.

4:16 - finished kneading my bread and set it aside

 

4:19 - time out to change the baby's diaper and nurse him. I enjoy my tea while he's nursing and may or may not have played a couple of rounds of Candy Crush also. ☺

 

4:42 - the phone again

 

4:49 - finish my tea and start mixing the grape nuts cereal. My husband loves plain cold cereal that he can share with the baby. This fits the bill, but it could be jazzed up with fruit or coconut or nuts (or chocolate chips - just saying)...the phone again - my dad this time.

 

5:00 - the cereal is ready to be baked...punch down and flip my bread dough over

 

5:02 - finally decide that yes I will make dessert...brownies...a double batch with walnuts and chocolate chips added

 

much later- the finished product

 5:05 - my teenage son agrees to chop up the stewing beef so we can use it in spaghetti sauce...we use the food processor for this

 

5:12 - the meat is ready

 

5:21 - the brownies are ready...phone rings...another nursing break...call my teenage daughter from her bedroom because she offered to make supper

 

5:38 - nursing the baby again...it's just that time of day when he wants to nurse a lot...the bread needs to go in the pans now for the final rise

 

5:43 - bread is in the pans...wash some more dishes

 

 

5:48 - put the chicken broth I made two days ago into Ziploc bags prior to putting them in the freezer

 

my method for holding the Ziploc bag so I can fill it

 5:57 - call my second son to take the chicken broth to our freezer in the basement

 

 

 

6:01 - supper is ready

 

So I now have six loaves of bread (in various stages of readiness), cold cereal, supper, brownies, and enough chicken broth for six meals. Not bad for a couple of hours of work. It feels good to get a bunch of stuff done all at once.

 

Do you ever do a bunch of stuff all at once in your kitchen?

 

 

English Muffin Bread to the Rescue Again

I have to say - the fun has not stopped around our house. Just as we're all more or less recovered from the flu my oldest son woke up this morning with some mysterious rash all over his back and spreading rapidly. This was only my husband's second day at his new job so guess who was elected for the hospital run? We woke the baby up and once again I was thankful I breastfeed because it was one less thing to get ready.

The doctor couldn't really help us as to cause just gave us a prescription and sent us home. The medicine made my son drowsy so he slept it off the rest of the morning. My toddler had continuous meltdowns because he does not handle change well and his whole life was upside-down when he woke up. So my morning was a write off.

After nap time I was going to make bread, but now it's the baby's turn to fuss. The house is a mess since everything was switched up this morning so I need to clean it. BUT we really need some bread. English muffin bread to the rescue once again. Here is my original post with the recipe and directions. I love this bread. I can make four loaves in about half the time of regular bread, and it's very tasty and simple. You only need flour, water, yeast, honey and salt. It's my go-to bread when I need lots of bread in a short amount of time. Of course, short is relative. It still takes a little over two hour from start to finish, but that's about half the time of my regular bread.

What is your favourite comfort food that you go to for something nutritious and filling?

Fishy, Fishy

Fishy, fishy in the brook

Daddy caught him with a hook

Mommy fried him in a pan

Baby ate him like a man.

Let me start by saying that I DO NOT like fish (unless it's battered and deep-fried) but my family does. I desperately needed a fish recipe that I could enjoy as well as my family. I think I've hit on it. Success is sweet.

 

 

First I covered the bottom of two greased pans with frozen vegetables. You could use anything here that appeals to you.

Then I ground up 1 1/2 cups of almonds and got about 2 1/3 cups of almond flour. I mixed in salt, garlic powder, paprika, etc. Again, use what appeals to you in the amounts you want. I put this mixture on a plate. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it so you have a picture of the empty plate after the fish was breaded. ;)

I then rinsed each fillet off and dipped it in the flour mixture; then layed it on the vegetables.

Next I sprinkled grated cheese over everything and put it in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Instead of covering my pans with foil I just put a baking sheet over them.

Beautiful, delicious fish - two words I never thought I would pair with fish. It disappeared in moments, but then again that's the fate of most food around here.

 

 

 

Do you like fish? What is your favourite way to cook it?