CookieD-oh

Guess what the girl ordered for her special birthday dinner?  OK, you'll never guess. Toad-in-the-hole and macaroni and cheese from a box.  So much for healthy eating.  And all of the wonderful from-scratch macaroni and cheese I've made over the years. So, have you heard of toad-in-the-hole?  It's British.  Only I didn't know it was British when I first started making it.  The first recipe I found for toad-in-the-hole wasn't a really good one, but I knew it should be good. If only I knew what to do. So I did some digging and found out the "hole" is Yorkshire Pudding.  Seriously awesome stuff.  The toad is sausage.  I believe you're supposed to use something called "bangers", but that's not an item I can easily get here.  So Bob Evans bulk sausage it is! **If anyone reading this blog knows how to make real, authentic toad-in-a-hole, feel free to leave me some pointers.  But this is how I make it and it's the girl's favo...

So we've been going to this awesome little cafe lately. It's called Portia's Cafe , and Portia serves mostly raw, totally gluten free, mostly soy free, completely vegan food. She's a lifesaver. And very nice, to boot! Unfortunately, she's on the other side of town, so we are limited to one visit every week or so. On second thought, that's probably fortunate. Now, my absolute favorite is her raw Pad Thai served over kelp noodles. It's not technically on the menu, though.  It's frequently on the "Specials" board, but sometimes I can't get it. So on one of those shattering occasions, I ordered a NoTuna Wrap (a.k.a Sunny Walnut Pate), and I fell in love. So I came home and figured out how to make my own.  It's not exactly like Portia's, but it's close. It kind of looks like tuna salad. It doesn't taste much like it. Which is good, because I'm not a fan of tuna. I piled it on some Ezekiel 4:9 bread with shredded car...

Who wants to make bread?!?!  I mean the good stuff...100% whole wheat with no refined sugars!?!? Since we started this whole foods diet thingy, I have discovered that almost none of the bread in the bread aisle at the grocery store is really 100% whole wheat, despite what the labels claim. And the ones that are 100% whole wheat still contain preservatives and refined sugars. So I moved it on over to the freezer case, where I found Ezekiel 4:9 bread. Made with 100% sprouted grains and NO sugars or preservatives of any kind. The only problem is that it's $5.00-ish a loaf. I really can't work much of that into my budget. But if you can, I totally recommend it. Faced with overwhelming adversity, I did what any other slightly imbalanced mom would do. I decided to make the dang bread myself. I'm just a glutton for punishment, I guess. Hang on to your knickers, here we go! I always use King Arthur flour.  It costs more, but it's worth it. I really don't get t...

Hello again. The hubby and I have decided to go on a 10-day juice fast.  (It seemed like a good idea at the time.)  So we bought a bunch of fresh veggies and fruits, borrowed my mom's juicer, broke out the blender, and got to work! Check out that juicer... That's vintage 1984, Baby! But guess what?  It works just fine. I guess you're really supposed to drink the juice as you make it, but because of my odd work schedule, we needed to make some in advance.  We started with homemade V-8.  It was then that we discovered my husband has a deep-seated hatred for beets.  Go figure. Anywhoo, here's some of what we came up with: Aren't they purty?  From left to right: Pear-cucumber-mint, watermelon, carrot-parsnip, and Mean Green.  Mean Green includes kale, celery, cucumber, apples, ginger, and lemon.  It grows on you.  And the green stuff is best for detoxing. Not pictured are the V-8, grape, and pineapple-watermelon t...

Well, I think we're all recovered from Christmas.  And on New Year's Day we went to my Great Aunt's house for dinner.  And she sent us home with a ziplock bag full of leftover turkey. SCORE! I made pot pie, at the request of the boy. I use this recipe here with just one small change.  We love it. However, I'm pretty sure it is NOT very good for you, as far as calories go.  But it's good for a special treat every now and then. This may be a post without pictures.  My computer is being a complete butt-head.  Of course, it may be Blogger, but I'm going to go with the computer. ****************************************************************************** OK, the nice ladies at www.cookiedecorator.com (aka Cookiers R Us) told me to upgrade to a new browser to make Blogger work again.  So, one Google chrome update later, and I am in business.  Sorry you have to look at my photos again. So let's get started, shall we?  Dice so...

I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  I don't really like to cook.  I can cook.  I'm a pretty good cook, actually.  But it's not something I really enjoy doing, like baking.  (And no, cooking and baking are not the same.)  So when it comes to making dinner, I like to go with as little fuss as possible, unless it's a special occasion.  (I do love to put on a big Thanksgiving dinner...I'm really not sure why...)  Although, in an attempt to be a little more healthy, I make our dinners from scratch, and don't buy ready-made food from the grocery store.  Go figure.  Anyhoo, this recipe fits the no-fuss rule.  And it's very popular at potlucks.  It's a win-win. Now that we've got all that out of the way, here's the recipe.  It's really yummy, too.  I make this when I don't feel like making real macaroni and cheese.  Which is pretty much all the time.  First, gather your ingredi...