Chit Chat

Sort of a boring post today.  I know not everyone can afford "organic" groceries anymore, but wanted to share some things.

 I have been reading the ingredients on the black eyed peas in stores here, and we cannot buy "organic" canned in any of the stores in the area.  

The non-organic cans of these beans contains an ingredient I was not familiar with - diosodium EDTA.

I did some searching on google (I know it's not the best resource), but I did find this information.  I am reading it is mostly used in cosmetics.  Anyway, I found organic black eye peas do exist, but I have to order them online.

Organic canned black eyed peas do not contain the Diosodium EDTA.  In the brand we found, it contains Kombu Seaweed.

By the way, you can buy these dried, and soak and bake them yourself. I am looking into that variety as well.  I found another "dip" recipe that calls for black eyed peas to try, but I think we love the last one we found (in moderation with other healthy foods).

The holidays usually involve a lot of cookie baking, candy making and other comfort food making.  One is the traditional "Chex Mix" recipe that most people love.  Over the years, we stopped buying the three Chex cereals, and my Mom (when she was with us) started making it with just Crispix cereal.

It was Mom's favorite holiday treat to eat.  I have found a way to make it, but with organic/non-gmo ingredients.

The cereal we used this past Christmas, was Cascadian Farm multi-grain squares.  By the way, of course we could not find this in any stores in the area either.  I had to order it.  It was about as expensive as Crispix cereal is, but with no shipping cost.  It's a once a year treat, so I did order it to try.  By the way, it was kid tested too, and we all agree it was a good swap. 

I buy a non-gmo nut mix, which is also hard to find, but I can buy them in an area store.  There are no added bad oils in these deluxe mixed nuts.  Many nuts sold in stores have bad (unhealthy) oils added to them, and most people don't read the labels, because they think it's just "nuts" in the container.

And finally, you can now buy organic/non-gmo pretzels in stores.  They are sold in many stores here actually. 

That brings us to the last ingredient - garlic bagel chips, rye chips, or rye bagel chips.  You cannot find them organic anywhere, but you can bake your own sourdough rye bagels and make your own bagel chips if you prefer to add them.

As for the seasoning, I make my own onion powder, garlic powder, and our own homemade seasoned salt.  You can

 make your own butter as well, but we buy organic.

I have a question for sourdough bread bakers. . .

Do you have a recipe for sourdough rye bagels?    Is there such a thing?  Or can you direct me to a resource that has a recipe?  I have been looking online and have not been able to find a recipe.   I have not located a recipe book with such a recipe either, and our stores do not sell a sourdough rye bagel.  Or even just a rye bagel recipe maybe?  I don't mean a rye bread recipe either.  A bagel recipe.  Crazy request, but I thought I would ask here first.

We have a friend who is a sourdough baker, and she is just now experimenting with rye.  I may be visiting her for a sample yet.  We are just exploring more on the bread department of our diet.  She has offered me a sourdough starter, and I just might take her up on the offer.

As for more boring news, we took down the outside Christmas lights yesterday.  The weather is very warm this weekend, but rain is in the forecast for the entire day Sunday.  We have been talking about taking our tree down this weekend as well, and packing up the Christmas decorations.  I hope to be back with a more interesting blog spot next time.  Have a great weekend.  Enjoy the joy in every moment.

Chit Chat © December 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Homemade "Velveeta" Review

 

We tried the homemade "Velveeta" in my traditional Christmas dinner Cheesy Potato Casserole.  It was pretty good, but we have a review on the taste.  Overall, it made the potato dish turn out a creamy texture and gooey goodness.

The original recipe (potato dish), that was given to me so many years ago, actually does not require "Velveeta" in the recipe.  Over the years, it was added for more creamy potatoes, as well as sour cream.

The original recipe for the homemade "Velveeta" called for mild cheddar cheese.  We both tasted it before using it, and we both felt there was not enough "cheese" flavor with using the mild cheese.  I will be making this again, but with medium cheddar.  Not sure if sharp would be too much, considering we use sharp cheddar in our potato dish as well.  We only bake this potato dish at Christmas time.

Results:  It's a heathier version of a creamy addition to a recipe.  First, the Velveeta spread sold in stores is not real cheese (and it's expensive for not even being real cheese).  The homemade version is very delicious, and you can rest knowing it's real cheese.  In my opinion, it's basically used to add a creamier cheese texture in whatever cheese dish you are cooking.

I would only be using this homemade version to make the traditional cheesy potato dish, or to make a stove top version of homemade Macaroni and Cheese (we have yet to try it in this).  I don't think I have any other uses for it in my recipes.  It may be a good substitution for a crockpot cheese based dip as well.

There are many recipes for homemade "Velveeta" online, but for ours, I used 1/3 cup powdered milk (organic is available), one packet of unflavored gelatin (you can also find this organic if you prefer), and one cup of boiling water.  Mix the ingredients in a food processor, and add 16 ounces of mild cheddar cheese (or cheddar of your choice) that has been grated (do this first, so it's ready to add right away).  The cheese mixture will thicken quickly.

Mix everything until it is creamy, and spread into a lined mold of your choosing (we just used a food container).  Place in the refrigerator until it's firm and use in any recipe.  I'm told it will last 2 weeks in the refrigerator, but I'm also reading you can freeze it.  I have not had the chance to try the freezer for this yet, but it may change your final texture of whatever you are using it in.

Homemade "Velveeta" Review © December 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart