Author Archive
Cucumber & Onion Salad
This recipe comes from a good friend. This is an old school salad that was made through the summer months, as you take cucumber and onion out, simply add more back, as easy as that.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cold water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
- 2-3 fresh cucumbers, peeled and sliced, use 2 first and go from there
- 1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings
Instructions
- Prep the cucumbers and onion, gather the rest of the ingredients.
- Add the cold water, sugar, and vinegar to a container and stir until the sugar is dissolved, add the onion, cucumber, and celery salt, stir to mix together.
- Cover with a lid and place in the fridge for at least two hours before serving. As the contents are used, simply add more cucumber and onion as needed. Serve as a side with any main dish.
Notes
Low cost.
Variants: 1. Use white vinegar in place of apple cider vinegar. 2. Use celery seed in place of celery salt. 3. Add a small amount of fresh chopped dill.
Recipe adapted from Just A Pinch Recipe Club, Amy Herald, and the original recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Dill Pickle Bacon Grilled Cheese
Pickles, bacon, Cheddar and Mozzarella cheeses, what is not to love? Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon, cooked crispy, drain on paper towels
- 2 slices bread, of your choice
- butter, butter as needed
- 1 large dill pickle, sliced lengthwise, or even round pickle slices
- 2 slices Cheddar cheese
- 28 grams Mozzarella Cheese, shredded, (1 oz), or even 1 slice will work fine
Instructions
- Everything prepped, I cannot get large sandwich slices of Cheddar or Mozzarella, so I slice from blocks, very easy but 1 sandwich slice is 3 thin slices from a block for me. I have pickle spears, homemade, so just sliced a couple of those to make slices to cover a sandwich.
- Place a slice of bread on the counter, add a slice of Cheddar, then a layer of pickle slices, then the Mozzarella, then a layer of bacon, another slice of Cheddar, butter the other slice of bread and place that on top, butter side up. I assemble this before going into the pan as I want the heat to go through and melt the cheese from the start.
- Heat a non stick pan with about a tablespoon of butter, when melted and hot, pick the sandwich up and place in the pan.
- Cook until the bottom is golden brown, then carefully flip the sandwich over and cook the other side until golden brown.
- Remove to a plate, slice in half, enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per sandwich.
Shortcut: Fridge Pickles.
Variant: 1. Use mayo on the bread in place of butter.
Inspired by Spend With Pennies and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Russian Mushroom Julienne
This sounds like a wonderful way to prepare mushrooms. This can be an appetizer or a side dish. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (8x8 inch)
Ingredients
- 500 grams fresh white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
- ½ cup onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
- ¼ cup white wine
- 1 cup sour cream, Shortcut
- salt and pepper, as desired
- 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Quickly rinse the mushrooms, shake dry and place on paper towels then thinly slice.
- Prep the onion and gather the rest of the ingredients. Having all the ingredients on hand minimizes the chance of not using an ingredient.
- Preheat your oven to 190° C (375° F). Get out a 8x8 baking dish.
- Heat a large non stick pan on medium and melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the mushrooms, onion, and garlic.
- Saute until the mushrooms have reduce to half the quantity and let out their liquid.
- Pour the contents of the pan into a colander to drain the mushrooms.
- Return the same pan to medium heat and melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter then stir in the wine, stir and simmer for 2 minutes then stir in the sour cream and mix together. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. Add the mushrooms to the pan and stir into the sauce.
- Pour the contents of the pan into the baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese and place in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and just starting to lightly brown.
- Serve as a side dish with any meal or as an appetizer with toasted bread. Enjoy.
Notes
Shortcut: Sour Cream.
Olive Oil Pie Crust
An alternative to butter or lard based pie crusts.
Equipment
- Oven
- Pie Dish (8 or 9 inch)
Ingredients
- ½ cup extra light olive oil
- ½ cup milk
- 352 grams all purpose flour, 2¾ cups if not using a scale, (12.4 oz)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- sugar, as desired, for fruit pies
- cold water, as needed
Instructions
- One hour before you plan on using the pie crusts, measure out the olive oil and pour into a small plastic container and place in the freezer until solid, 1 hour. About 30 minutes after the oil goes into the freezer, preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F).
- In a mixing bowl, add the flour and salt and whisk together. In a measuring cup, add the milk and the oil from the freezer (the oil will chill the milk).
- Add the milk and oil all at once to the flour then cut mix with a large sturdy fork or pastry cutter until well mixed to form a shaggy ball, if the ball is not forming, add a tablespoon of cold water and mix in until you get the right consistency. Divide mixture in half and shape each half into a thick flat disk.
- Wrap each with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for at least 15 minutes. Don't have plastic wrap, just put each half in a zip lock bag and pat down to a disk shape.
- Lightly flour your work surface, unwrap a disk of dough and roll out to desired thickness, place in your pie dish.
- Add prepared fillings of your choice.
- Roll out the second disk of dough and place on top of the pie, or you can cut strips to make a lattice, or cut shapes to place on top of the pie. Flute the edge as desired.
- Brush the top crust with the beaten egg, and sprinkle with some sugar for fruit pies.
- Bake until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes or more.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Pear Pie, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Ham & Swiss Broccoli Quiche.
- Chicken Pot Pie, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Mushroom Pie, made it, GO-TO recipe.
Curry Mushrooms
This sounds really good, feel free to use canned or fresh button mushrooms. On my to make and taste list.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 1 sprig curry leaves, or zest of 1 lime
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 cardamom pods, or 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 240 grams fresh button mushrooms, (8 oz) or 1 can whole, drained, which will equal 8 oz
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon curry powder, this would be the yellow powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder, if using Thai chili powder, reduce to ¼ teaspoon
- 1 small tomato, sliced
- 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
- ½ cup coconut milk
- salt, as desired, to taste
Instructions
- To prep the mushrooms, just give them a quick rinse and simply slice each in half. To prep canned mushrooms, just drain and rinse, then slice each in half.
- Gather up the remaining ingredients to get them ready.
- Heat the oil in a non stick pan, when hot, add the onion, curry leaves, garlic and cardamom. Stir often and cook until the onion is browning on the edges.
- Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often until they are just starting to brown, about 3-5 minutes depending on using fresh or canned, canned will brown sooner than fresh.
- Sprinkle in the turmeric, curry powder, and chili powder and let the mushrooms cook for a few more minutes.
- Add the tomato sauce and stir in, taste and season with salt as desired. Cook for just a few minutes until the mushrooms are nicely browned.
- Add the coconut milk and reduce heat to a low simmer and cook until you have a thicken the curry sauce to your liking.
- Serve over toast or with rice.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variant: 1. Top each serving with a crispy fried egg. 2. Use Straw mushrooms in place button mushrooms, fresh or canned.
Crock Pot Roasted Pork
This comes from a good friend, and is highly recommended. My friend's words "one of her best roast pork dinners in 31 years. It just hit me we've been together for almost 31 years. I guess I better decide if she's a keeper." That tells me, this is good! I cannot wait to try this recipe! Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 kilo pork roast, (3 lbs)
- cooking oil, as needed
- butter, as needed
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 bottle Tony Chacherie's, Roasted Garlic & Herb Injectable Marinade
- meat injector, this item is needed
For the Dry Seasonings
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried marjoram
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 teaspoons seasoned salt, (Shortcut)
Instructions
- Heat a skillet to medium high to high heat with a tablespoon or so of cooking oil. When hot, add the roast and brown on all sides, if the pan is getting dry, add a tablespoon or so of butter at a time.
- Once the roast is browned on all sides, remove from the pan to a plate. Pour the juices into your slow cooker.
- In a bowl, mix together the Dry Seasonings.
- Use the bottled marinade and an injector, and inject the marinade throughout the pork roast. Place the roast into your slow cooker.
- Sprinkle the dry seasonings on all sides of the roast, turn the roast in the cooker while you do this, the reason in the cooker, all the seasonings are in there and will season the pork as it cooks. Turn the slow cooker to Low setting and cook for 4 hours.
- Just before the 4 hours on Low setting are complete, preheat your oven to 100 C (200 F). Line a baking sheet with foil and fold up the edges to hold in any liquids.
- At 4 hours on the slow cooker, remove the roast and place on the prepared baking sheet, tent with foil and place in the heated oven. Turn the oven off., you are letting the roast rest. While the roast is resting, prepare your sides.
- Slice the roast and enjoy with sides of your choice. Here, served with roasted potatoes and a garden salad (not in the photo), enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Seasoned Salt.
Beef Stir Fry
This recipe comes from a good friend that learned this many years ago, his words, "the secret is in the sauce." Amounts are listed for the sauce ingredients, for the beef and veggies, base those amounts on what you would like for making two servings, basically use equal amounts of each, so this is more of a guide on what you want to use for veggies. The main part of the recipe is the sauce.
Ingredients
- beef steak, sliced thin
- snow peas, or snap peas, in the pods
- tomatoes, sliced into wedges
- green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
For the Marinade
- 2 tablespoons tamari, or soy sauce (tamari is preferred)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
For the Sauce and Cooking
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Sriracha Chili Garlic sauce, (Rooster Sauce as it is called in the US)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, smashed and sliced
- fresh ginger, juliened, about 1 teaspoon or so
- cooking oil, as needed
Instructions
- Slice the beef first and place in a bowl, add the tamari and sugar and mix into the beef, set this aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
- While the beef is marinating, prep the vegetables and gather up the sauce ingredients.
- Heat a non stick pan with about 1-2 tablespoons of oil, when hot, add the garlic and ginger, stir fry until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the beef, marinade and all and stir fry until the beef is about half pink, then add the vegetables, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and Sriracha sauce.
- Stir fry until the pea pods and pepper are tender (the beef will be just cooked through at this point).
- Place on a serving plate and serve with rice. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Fried Egg Tofu
This is a new one for me as I have only seen egg tofu used in is soups, so I look forward to testing this out.
Ingredients
- 2 small tubes egg tofu, 105-120 gram tubes, (3.5-4 oz)
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- sweet chili sauce, as desired
- 1 spring onion, green part only, sliced
Instructions
- Cut off the end of the tofu tube that looks like a spout (that is actually where the tube is filled), gently squeeze the other end of the tube the tofu will slide right out. Cut into 1 inch thick slices, and slice a bit off the blunt end to make it flat as well. Repeat with the other tube.
- Place the slices on several paper towels to drain off some of the moisture. Leave on the paper towels for about 10 minutes. Then dry the side facing up with a paper towel, and dry the outer edge as well.
- Heat the oil in a non stick pan on medium high heat. Place the cornstarch in a small bowl, coat each slice on the flat sides with cornstarch.
- Add about 2 or so tablespoons of sweet chili sauce to a serving plate and spread it around a bit, sprinkle some of the sliced spring onion greens on top of the sauce.
- Fry the slices for 1-2 minutes on each side or until nicely browned.
- Place the slices on the serving tray, drizzle with additional sweet chili sauce, and sprinkle on the remaining spring onion greens.
- Serve as a appetizer or as a side dish.
Notes
Low cost per serving, one tube of egg tofu is about 10 Baht.
Herbal Eggs
An excellent alternative to just plain hard boiled eggs. These turned out perfect, the family loved these. This recipe already assumes you have hard boiled eggs ready.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 quarts water, (6 cups)
- 1 packet Bah Kut Teh, herbal seasoning
- 10 fresh Shiitake mushrooms
- 2 whole star anise
- 4 cloves, or 1/8 teaspoon ground
- 1 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 1/2 inches fresh ginger, peeled
- 1 head garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, or 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 10 hard boiled eggs, peeled
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, or cane sugar
Instructions
- Most everything ready, mushrooms were in the fridge.
- In a large pot, add the first 10 ingredients, bring to a boil. reduce heat to a low boil and boil for 30 minutes.
- Once you have the pot boiling, add the eggs to a mixing bowl and add the dark soy sauce, mix the eggs around to coat them and stain them evenly. Mix the eggs occasionally and set them aside while the pot is boiling.
- When 30 minutes have passed, add the brown sugar, light soy sauce, and the eggs along with the dark soy sauce from the mixing bowl. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, simmer for 45 minutes.
- Remove eggs and drain, allow to cool, then place in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Enjoy as a snack or with a meal for lunch or dinner.
Notes
Low cost
Shortcut: Perfect Hard Boiled Chicken Eggs.