Saturday, May 28, 2011

Shake and Bake (FYI: I'm not talking about meth)

What's in a box of Shake and Bake?

Who knew that when I looked it up, I would find the ingredients list for methamphetamine. Clearly not me.

Wikipedia's page on Shake n'Bake lists the ingredients as the following.

Original flavor Shake and Bake includes: enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate Vitamin B1, riboflavin , folic acid), salt, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, sugar, contains less than 2% of paprika, dextrose, dried onions, spice, caramel color, yeast, annatto (color), and natural flavor.
Barbecue flavor Shake 'n Bake includes sugar, maltodextrin, salt, modified food starch, spice, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, brown sugar, mustard seed flour, dried onions, dried tomatoes, dried garlic, beet powder (color), citric acid, natural flavor, caramel color, vinegar, and sodium silicoaluminate as an anticaking agent.

Because I can't identify or pronounce the things in that list... because I'm trying to avoid soy (as a filler) and things like maltodextrin (click on the links to learn more about the products), and because Dave LOVES Shake and Bake.... Here's a quick easy alternative that is soooo yummy, none of the additives, easy to keep in your freezer and costs less...

2 cups dried bread crumbs, crushed crackers
1/2 c corn meal (to make it a little crunchy)
2Tbs Fry's Seasoning Salt
2Tbs parsley
2Tbs dried onion
1Tbs garlic powder
1tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1tsp rosemary
1tsp cumin

 (feel free to add other spices as your taste dictates... but this was a good mix)


 I used crackers, added the spices, then used my rolling pin to crush and mix it all together.
 Crush it to a fine powder.
 Beat an egg. I added 1/8 cup of milk and 1/8 cup of olive oil as well.

 Beat with a fork.  Dip your chicken or pork in the mixture. I used pork.

 Cover in the Shake mixture.

 Place on a pan (I put it on tinfoil so that I would not have to clean the pan later)

Bake at 350ยบ for about 45 minutes.
Served here with Green Beans & Roasted Potatoes (I poured the extra egg mixture on them with a shake of seasoning salt and re-baked them. They were left-overs from another meal in which they were steamed with beets which explains the pink tinge to them)  Yummy yum. You want this. Go!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Hair and Hockey Go Together like Henrik and Daniel, Coffee and Bailey's, Babies and Diapers.

I have fine memories of hockey... and hair... together.  Saturday Nights were hockey nights in our house, and it was also the nights us kids took regular baths.  My hair was past my bottom and in an Ontario winter, I could not go to bed with it wet.  My dad would blow-dry my hair and watch the hockey game that was on.  The other thing that made it pretty special was that it was the one night of the week that we were allowed to eat chips and have half a pop.  I found myself re-creating old memories the other night during Vancouver's Game 4 against the Sharks.

Twirling Kaelyn's hair while the Vancouver Canucks played Game 4 of their series with the San Jose Sharks.
Dave and Wes were out running errands.
Kaelyn and I watched the game... and did our hair.

Luongo under seige.
Our attempt at trying to create curly hair. I did not blow-dry it though... I can't even imagine the noise intrusion during a game... I'm sure my brothers resented my hair and were pretty happy when I cut it just before hockey season when I was in grade 3.

Bringing my girls up right!!!  The curly hair was a disaster, but the Canucks won 4-2!!!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

So Yummy I made this two days in a row.

Bumbleberry Crisp
Modified from Pioneer Woman 's raspberry crisp.... her pictures are prettier... but mine is better... you'll see why at the end. 
 5 cups fruit
in a large bowl
2 T corn starch
1 cup sugar (less than original recipe)

2 T vanilla... yes marie... that's an actual measuring spoon!
1.5 cups butter... chopped into bits.

2 cups brown sugar
2 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup pecans chopped fine (optional)
Mix until crumbly.
Pour ontop of fruit in an 8 by 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden.
So... the best part about this and why MINE is better than PW's is... the topping.  It's almost double hers.... yup.  I love the topping. Everyone loves the topping.... why not satisfy your crumb topping craving? so good.
The second best part about this crisp?  You can cut a piece out and eat it with your hands... sans plate.... sans napkin.... just pick a piece of leftovers up and pop it in your mouth...  It holds together that well.  You will eat the entire rest of the pan this way I promise... when no one is looking.  Just don't ask me to explain what happened to the rest of the pan to your significant other.... there will be no dishes or cutlery to expose you... it can be our little secret.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Nov-ie Dov-ie


Special thanks to Joanne Abraham for capturing these shots.

Sooo... I'm not all that crafty.... I mean I try... I'm just not like the UBER-TALENTED Dave Vegt. 

Everything that guy touches turns to sweet sweet art.  But I'm just wondering if it gets any more stunning than this..... one of the four of my best creations ever. 


I'll do a tribute post to each of my 4 kids at some point... but here's sweet, quirky, chatty, caring, cute Nova.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Yogurt Results

You're waiting with baited breath, I can tell.

I ended up heating up the oven a little bit.... I stuck the thermometer between the two bottles and got a reading of 85 degrees about half-way through the process.  Not an entirely accurate way to take the temperature, but I thought it was perhaps a little telling?    I turned on the oven (CRAZY I KNOW, WHAT WITH THE TOWEL IN THERE AND ALL).... waited a few seconds and turned it off... worrying that the slight jostling from opening and closing the door might disturb those lovely bacterial cultures.

I heated it up only slightly.  The top vent that comes out of the oven to my stove top was also blocked off in an effort to keep the heat in the oven.

At 9pm I pulled it out of the warm oven.
 Yummy warm yogurt.  It's a little thin.  When I scooped out the first scoop it was a little runny.  After being in the fridge for 12 hours though it thickened a little with liquid forming on top where I had scooped out some.  I drained if off. I could have stirred it in, but since it's a little runny, I poured that liquid off and the rest is great.

Can't wait to serve it to the kids with, honey, maple syrup, or jam in it... yum