Berries and Beverages

Okay so we all know how important water is to our health and most of the time I love plain water, but from time to time I want something more. I love unsweetened iced tea more than life itself but I live in Texas and man does it get hot!!! At times I tend to get a little dehydrated which triggers migraines for me so I know I need just water. Here's a little trick I decided to try when one day I was craving some Kool-aid from my childhood days but didn't want all the sugar. I grabbed a handful of raspberries from my freezer and added them to the water with some ice. I just let the berries infuse the water and they naturally sweeten it just a hint.

Now a little treat later for my husband I'll be making some Italian sodas with some blueberries I have in my freezer. Back in high school I was on the school newspaper as a staff writer and Features editor and on my lunch break while out running errands for the paper I would stop at the local coffee shop for turkey on a croissant and a raspberry Italian soda. It's still one of my favorite meals but since I can't handle the calories now quite like I used to, it's an occasional treat.

Here's how I do it:

Blueberry Simple Syrup:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup blueberries

I cook the ingredients together in a medium saucepan on the stovetop until the sugar is dissolved and the berries have mostly burst. Drain the mixture with a mesh colander to catch the blueberries. I store the syrup in a mason jar in the fridge for up to a month (although it never lasts that long!).

Italian Soda
8 oz Carbonated water
Ice
4 Tbs Blueberry syrup (more or less to taste)

Over the ice, I pour the syrup followed by the carbonated water (I prefer seltzer water, my husband likes tonic water). To make this a French soda add a little milk or half-and-half.

Some frugal tips for you:
*If you don't like the taste of tap water, try an under sink water filter which eliminates about 99% of impurities in tap water. Since we have poor quality water where we live we further filter the water in a Brita system and the water tastes clean and crisp after the dual filtering.

*This simple syrup works great for other dishes too. Try it on pancakes or waffles for breakfast and pound cake for dessert. Also make the simple syrup with only the sugar and water to add to tea or kool-aid and eliminate sugar granuals in the bottom of the pitcher. Hmmm... thinking about it, the fruit syrup would be very yummy with iced tea too!

Au Jus

French dip sandwiches are one of my all time favorites. I make them at home from time to time but in an effort to cut down on our grocery bill I thought I'd try to make the Au Jus myself. I tried looking online for a simple recipe using just beef stock but didn't have much luck, so I winged it with some ideas I got from looking at various recipes, and it turned out wonderful!!! A friend did mention that Au Jus no matter how you make it is hard to mess up, but I'm very happy with the results I got.

Au Jus

3 cups water
3 reduced sodium beef bouillon cubes
1 tsp cornstarch (you can use a little more or omit)
1 tsp Kitchen Bouquet (browning sauce)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Heat until boiling, add sliced roast beef (I just used deli roast beef) and cook until meat is heated through about 1-2 minutes. I'll make a French dip sandwich with the roast beef and either Provolone or Baby Swiss on a toasted French baguette or Mexican bolillo bread.

Orangeade

Winter is orange season in Texas and I've been buying them up by the bag every chance I get. Unfortunately hubby and I don't always get them all eaten before they start to go soft. So tonight I made some orangeade that my dear friend Lupita taught me how to make from her days growing up in Central Mexico. When she comes over to cook with me she always heads straight for my fridge to see what citrus I have on hand to make this wonderful beverage. We use any citrus on hand and combining them is always an adventure for the taste buds and takes me back to my childhood days of 5 Alive. Remember that??? Anyway, I digress...



Orangeade (or any kind of Citrusade)

8-12 oranges (lemons, limes or grapefruit work as well)
1 cup sugar
2 quarts of water

This is almost exactly like making a pitcher of Kool-Aid only you're using fresh juice instead. Juice the oranges into a pitcher, add the sugar and stir. Gradually add water stirring as you go until sugar is dissolved.

A couple of tips for you, first I cut the oranges into quarters to make juicing easier, second if you have a hard time getting sugar to dissolve try making a simple syrup of 1 cup sugar and 1/2 water (the ratio for a simple syrup is always 2 parts sugar to 1 part water), cook in a sauce pan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Then add to fresh squeezed juice and remaining water, stir and serve over ice.

A bit of trivia for you as well. Texas produces very sweet, juicy oranges and grapefruit from October to May. They are grown in the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas/Mexico border. The warm, humid South Texas climate produces an orange that is lighter in color with a thinner peel than oranges from California, Arizona or Florida.

Spicy Chicken and Rice Soup

I have a sinus infection today which is making my head feel like it's about to explode, so that combined with the cool, cloudy weather we're having made me want some soup. When I'm sick I usually make tortilla soup but I wanted to use up some frozen veggies I had left over from the summer and some rice I have on hand. So here we go...

1 lb chicken
chicken bouillon
adobo paste
oregano
chipotle powder
black pepper
garlic powder
onion powder
chili powder
2-5 garlic cloves minced (we like a lot of garlic)
1 onion chopped
frozen veggies (I used bell pepper, onion, zucchini, yellow squash and corn; use what you have on hand)
1 cup uncooked rice

In a large pot bring approx 8 cups of water to a boil and add chicken, bouillon and adobo (I just followed the instructions for the proper amount each of bouillon and adobo to be added to that amount of water). Once chicken is cooked, remove and either shred or dice returning to broth.

Once cooked chicken is added back to broth, add about a tablespoon each of oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder. Add about a teaspoon each of chipotle powder and black pepper. Also add garlic and onion, other veggies, and rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Serve with jalapeno cornbread. For this I just use a box of Jiffy cornbread mix, add a half cup of frozen corn and 1 diced jalapeno and cook according to directions.

Easy Fried Rice

I was sitting here tonight editing a friend's book and started getting the munchies. I made a roast beef wrap, ate a few bites and realized it wasn't what I wanted to eat. So I gave the rest of the wrap to a doggy and suddenly realized I was craving rice. I wanted to make something with the incredibly aromatic and yummy Texmati Basmati rice I had in my pantry. I Googled "easy rice recipes" and when I saw the words "fried rice" I knew that is what I wanted, one of my all time favorite foods. A perfect comfort food and good for you too! Now let me tell you that all those nutritionists out there claim that white rice is horrible for you and don't eat it. Well, they can go shove it. My botany prof in college is convinced that rice (white or brown) is an almost perfect food because of the high level of amino acids (and if you eat beans and rice, depending upon the type of bean, you can potentially have a complete protein, and this is a very, very good thing!). But I digress...

I have found the Texmati brand of Basmati rice (grown in Texas) has the most incredible aroma when toasted to a light golden brown and cooked. The air is filled with the scent of buttered popcorn. I've even seen Alton Brown suggest it as his rice of choice on Good Eats. Yay! So on to the recipe we go...

Ingredients:

1 cup Texmati Basmati rice
1 Tbs Olive oil
1 3/4 cups water

1/8 cup vegetable or canola oil
3 Tbs seasame oil
1 yellow onion chopped (I prefer sweet Texas yellow onions)
2-3 cloves garlic chopped
1-2 cups frozen peas & carrots
2 eggs scrambled
1/4-1/2 c low sodium soy sauce

In a sauce pan over medium heat add the olive oil and rice, stirring rice to coat. Cook, stirring frequently, until rice is a light golden brown. Add water, heat until boiling, cover and cook for 13-15 min. (The package says 15 min but mine was done after 13, and make sure you open the lid away from your person, I did not do this and now have a nasty steam burn on my forearm!).

While rice is cooking in water, heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat and add veggie or canola oil and sesame oil, mixing together w/a spoon or spatula. Add onion and garlic, cook until onion is translucent then add frozen peas and carrots cooking until heated about 1-2 minutes. Push veggies off to side and add egg mixture. Scramble and once cooked, incorporate into veggies.

Now drizzle veggies with some of the soy sauce and mix until coated. Add 2 heaping spoonfuls (or spatula-fuls) of rice to skillet, drizzle with a little more soy sauce, mixing to incorporate and coat, and keep repeating until all rice is incorporated.

Let leftovers cool for about 20 minutes, place into a storage container and refridgerate. I would guess this is good in the fridge for up to a week.

Optional: Drizzle a little soy sauce or sesame seed oil on top of rice as garnish.

Rockin' Black Bean Chili

I love how recipes created out of scrounging tend to be some of the best. Tonight for dinner I made the most rockin' black bean chili. Here's what I used:

1 lb stew meat
olive oil
kosher salt
black pepper (I use McCormick Grinder, Black Pepper Medley)
cumin
onion powder
garlic powder
chili powder
3 chopped garlic cloves
1 chopped onion
2 beef bouillon cubes
heaping tablespoon adobo paste
1 can Rotel (undrained)
1 can fire roasted chilies (undrained)
2 cans black beans (undrained)
couple handfuls crushed tortilla chips
2-3 tablespoons lime juice

In my cast iron dutch oven, I cooked the meat with a liberal sprinkling of all the seasonings until it was mostly browned, then I added the onion and garlic and cooked until soft.

I then added the beef bouillon, adobo, Rotel, chilies, and black beans, heating until boiling, covered and reduced heat to low. It cooked for about 30 minutes before I added the tortilla chips to thicken the mixture, which I let cook for another 15-20 minutes to allow them to dissolve. About 10 mintues before serving I turned off the heat, added the lime juice, stirred to incorporate, and let the chili rest before serving. I topped with some grated mozzerella cheese I had on hand.

I would have taken a photo but we ate it all before I remembered to write down the recipe.

My first CD review!!!

My first CD review is now posted at The Music City Muse . Go check it out!!!!