Glazed Carrots

Glazed Carrots
ingredients:
1 pound carrots, peeled
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
pepper

1. Slice carrots on the bias. Combine carrots, broth, 1 tbsp of the sugar, and the salt in a 12 inch no stick skillet. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and continue to cook covered, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are almost tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Uncover, return to a boil, and continue to cook until the liquid has reduced to about 2 tbsp, about 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the butter and remaining 2 tbsp sugar. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots are completely tender and the glaze is lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Off the heat stir in the lemon juice and season with pepper to taste.

I got this recipe from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and we LOVE it!!

Macaroni and Cheese...IN THE CROCK POT!!!

Once again I am experimenting with my crock pot... I don't know maybe it is the cooler weather that just makes me want to utilize this totally under utilized tool in my kitchen!

Macaroni and Cheese
The Ingredients:
cooking spray
1 large egg, whisked
4 cups milk (2 percent or lower in fat content)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dry mustard
4 cups shredded cheese (I used a combination of cheddar, mozzarella, and left over block sharp cheddar)
1/2 pound uncooked macaroni or hearty pasta

The Directions:
Use a 4 quart slow cooker. This is one of those dishes you need to keep an eye on. It will cook quickly, and you will need to stir every so often. Spray the crock well with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, whisk egg and milk together. Stir in the seasonings. Add the cheese and noodles, and stir well to combine. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker. It will be very liquidy. Cover and cook on low for 2 to 5 hours, or on high for 1 to 3, stirring every 30 to 45 minutes. Don't wander too far away.

I got this recipe from "Make it fast, Cook it slow" page 158

Honey Medicine

I do not have a picture of this because when I was sick I made this and forgot about it leaving it in the crock pot for over 12 hours!! Regardless it smelled great, but I was not able to use it...

Combine the following ingredients in a glass covered baking dish and cook on your oven’s lowest possible heat for 4 hours. Strain out solids (which are really tasty) and the liquid is the remedy. I store mine in glass jars and it does not require refrigeration.

A little less than 2 quarts of honey which has not been heated
1 fist full of ORGANIC garlic, peeled and smashed
1 fist full of ORGANIC ginger, peeled and sliced
1 ORGANIC red onion, peeled and sliced

(The organic produce has a much higher concentration of the phytochemicals (chemical factors in the plants) which we need in the medicine, so it really needs to be organic produce.)

The Honey Medicine is is good for sore throats, laryngitis, colds, flu, general upper respiratory and coughs, allergy type coughs, that kind of thing.

Dosage--For everyone (but babies) the dosage is up to you really. The Bio-chemist/Nutritionist said "I usually take it by the tablespoon every couple of hours. The kids would take a little less but it's just food so you should not have to worry. The babies are still too young to do honey safely by many doctors advise so I would not go against that."

I put 1 tablespoon in warm water and suck it down with a straw due to its strong taste. It's great to sip hot when you're really stuffed up.

Re-Purposing..

I was trying to find a new kitchen compost bin. I have this very large aluminum bowl I have been using so far, but everyone could see the compost in it and there were starting to be gnats in it...so I was on the search. I looked on Amazon, Google, everywhere I could think and all of them were $30 plus.. the only ones I could find that were cheaper were 19.99 and had bad review for a handle. So I was on the search....

I found this cookie jar at Target for $9.99 I just made a little label for it and it works perfectly.. and it is pretty cute!
.
I had this old Mason jar with no lid and wanted to use it for something.....I decided on a
cotton ball holder, I think my grandma did this... little reminders of her around the house are always nice, except the mess behind it that is all me:)

Before...............just lonely crates that were filled with green beans and radishes


now I have my green onions planted in it. I was just about to send Todd to Home Depot to buy a square box for the green onions and it dawned on me I have 3 of these crates sitting in front of the house that I tried to freecycle. Well, I was able to get rid of 2 and here is my third.... we will see if my green onions continue to grow in here.....