Hopscotch Camis GIVEAWAY!!!!

Hopscotch Camis GIVEAWAY!!!!

Do you Dukkah?

Have you ever heard of dukkah? Dukkah is, by definition, an Egyptian dry mixture of chopped nuts, seeds and Middle Eastern spices and flavors.

It most commonly uses Hazelnuts or Chickpeas as a base & then a mixture of sesame seeds, cumin seeds, corriander seeds, black peppercorns, & salt. It is traditionally eaten with bread & olive oil. I found my recipe through Closet Cooking, who also used almonds, which I really liked. I dressed some pork tenderloin with olive oil, salt, & ancho chili powder. Then I coated it with the dukkah. Next, I seared it in some olive oil on the stove & then transfered it to a 400 degree oven for about 12 minutes. I then served it with brussel sprouts & some left over sauces from my husband. Next time I think I will serve it with some sweet potatoes!

The fun part about Dukkah is you can tailor it to your personal preference. I think next time I will reduce the amount of cumin. I can't wait to see how my dukkah evolves for each dish.

You will have enough left over to keep for future uses. I plan to try it later this week on chicken. Here is the recipe:

Dukkah.

1/2 c hazelnuts
1/2 c almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tbs corriander seeds
1 tbs cumin seeds
1 tbs black peppercorns
1 tsp kosher salt

*roast nuts in oven on 350 for 15 minutes
*toast seeds & spices, excluding salt, on stovetop for about 3 minutes
*once cooled, transfer all to food processor & chop.
*add salt

Our MSG Story.

As many of you have probably read, my motivation for our homemade revolution was the onset of my son's severe allergy to MSG. The discovery of this allergy was long & painful, so I hope by sharing our story, it may help some of you in diagnosing a problem you or someone you know may be having.

My son began having problems with eczema around one year of age. It affected his entire body, even around his eyes, which were always red & scaly. Following advice from our pediatrician, we took him off of dairy & soy, which did not help. We had to bathe him every night in a salt water bath, apply special lotions & steroid cremes, & occasionally bath him in bleach. Even after all of this, he still suffered. One night a short time later, he broke out all over his body in a rash & was completely swollen. We rushed him to the ER where they immediately asked what he had "gotten into". We then informed them that we had no new chemicals or pets in our home & that the only new item that was given to him was a cool ranch dorito. They informed us that this type of reaction was from a chemical or antibiotics, none of which applied to our situation. The rash was big red circles with white targets in the middle called Erythema Multiforme. They gave him Benedryl & Progesterone which worked to eventually relieve his rash. Still we left the hospital with no answers as to what had caused this reaction.

We went to his pediatrician the next day who had no answers for us either. After that incident, there were two more occasions that he had the same reaction. One after eating ranch dressing & another after cheetos. We began to look into what ingredients these items had in common. Through a suggestion of a close friend, we realized that the common ingredient was MSG.

We got rid of every item in our home with the ingredient Monosodium Glutamate. It is in more than you think. We can't figure out why Chinese food gets such a bad rap when it is in nearly every snack food or canned soup that you eat! The reactions stopped occurring but yet the eczema still plagued him. After much research online, we discovered there were many other names for MSG. We again raided our cabinet only to find these labels throughout our food items. So we took it all to the dumpster & tried again.

Almost immediately after cleansing our diet of these substances, my son's skin cleared up completely & his eyes were not red & scaly. We no longer had to bathe him in salt & dairy was added back to his diet without a problem.

Since then, we have been to an allergist who tested him for all sorts of things, all turning up negative. We asked her about MSG & she said that there is no test for that since it is a chemical. She & our pediatrician are baffled by our experience & have no other answer for us than, "If it's working, then keep doing it." They also inform us that there are no cases of MSG causing a reaction of this kind, but was this case reported?

It was hell having my son go through this with no clue as to what would help him, but I am so grateful we were able to by some miracle, come across the solution. If you ask us now though we consider his allergy a blessing because it truly has opened our eyes to the harmful things they throw into our food & that we don't even question. Sometimes when people find out about this they feel sorry for us because it must be so hard, but I could never feel bad about being enlightened & we will never turn back. We are so lucky.

peanut butter cups.

Sometimes when I make something from scratch, it causes me to yell, "Why not!" over & over again in my head. Yesterday as I was making these homemade peanut butter cups I could not stop saying this. I kept waiting for something to change my mind as I went through the process, but it never happend. This recipe is ridiculously easy & over the top delicious. My husband was on the phone with his mother when he first saw & tasted them & told her, "She looks like some kind of chocolatier!" So yes, why go out & buy overly salty junky Reese's cups when you can get that kind of reaction for such little work.

I delivered these to friends in paper bags I cropped with my scalloped scissors. Couldn't have been easier.



Peanut Butter Cups.

1 bag of really good milk chocolate chips
1 cup really good nothing added peanut butter
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1. melt half of the bag of chocolate in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.

2. grease mini muffin tins lighlty with canola oil.

3. spoon chocolate into layer on bottom of tin, then bring up to coat sides.
( i used baby spoons with a silicon tip which worked perfectly!)

4. put in freezer to set, 15-30 minutes.

5. hand mix peanut butter & sugar together.

6. form peanut butter into balls & place into chocolate covered muffin tins.

7. heat remaining chocolate, & cover top of peanut butter allowing the chocolate to run down the sides & spreading to edges of in.

8. freeze for 30 minutes, turn pan upside down to pop them out, & enjoy!

BPA Free Update.

So. Tonight I spent a lot of time researching which sippy I wanted to get for Sobe & ended up deciding on the Thermos Foogy thanks to the folks at SafeMama. I was hoping that I could find it at my local Target store so I wouldn't have to wait for it to be shipped, & sure enough, their website said that they did indeed have it "Available" at my local store. So I loaded up the kids & headed out only to find that they did indeed NOT have it in their store. The employee acted completely weirded out that I was asking for that brand & informed me that they had Gerber & Nuby sippy cups. Duh. So I picked out two others hoping they might be o k. I just checked online & of course they both contain BPA. Do you know how angry this makes me!

So, next time I go shopping I will have in my wallet this handy BPA Wallet Card along with texting instructions for immediate answers on products not listed. How could you not love a site that would do that for you. I just wish I would have used my better judgement & printed it before I left tonight!

*update- so i went to target tonight again, this time to the sporting goods section & happend to notice that they had the thermos product there! it is a really great cup & can be tipped upside down without a drop. it is really easy to get water from & best of all, the material prevents bacteria! i am very pleased...

Angel Food Cake with Yogurt & Three Berries.

There must be something in the name Angel Food Cake. Tonight I decided to try out making it from scratch for the first time, & after my experience, I think the name must come from the fact that only an absolute angel would make this from scratch. I might not have ventured had I known what I was getting into, but now that it is all said & done, I am glad I did.

What makes this so painstaking is the fact that it takes 30 minutes, literally, of beating the egg mixture with a hand mixer to achieve the "medium foamy peaks". Once you get past that step it is all smooth sailing, & if I had a KitchenAid Mixer, you probably wouldn't hear me complaining. But, I didn't, so I am. I am including pictures of the peaks so that you know what to look for. I was unsure the whole time if I would ever reach that stage or if I had botched it up some how, but waited it out anyhow. If you mix it they will come. So don't give up!

The results were delicious & quite rewarding after all the time & effort. I topped mine with raspberry yogurt & a mixture of three berries-plain & simple. I have seen recipes that add sugar & cream to yogurt but this would have overdone it for me since the cake is so sweet. Here is the recipe adapted from Alton Brown's.




Angel Food Cake with Yogurt & Three Berries
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cake flour
12 egg whites
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a food processor spin sugar about 2 minutes until it is superfine. Sift half of the sugar with the salt the cake flour, setting the remaining sugar aside.
In a large bowl, whisk thoroughly to combine egg whites, water, extracts, and cream of tartar. After 2 minutes, switch to a hand mixer. Slowly sift the reserved sugar, beating continuously at medium speed. Once you have achieved medium peaks(30 min), sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.
Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer. (When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry).
Cool upside down on cooling rack for at least an hour before removing from pan.

music to love.

i don't know why i don't run into more fans of the innocence mission. to me, there is nothing better. i will always & forever name this as my number one favorite band. if you don't listen to them, you should. i am going to make it easy for you, so click on the link above. they are a christian band from Pennsylvania. i wish i could be karen peris. when i first met my husband & we swapped favorites, i told him about the innocence mission & described them as magical. he then told me about the rachels.

the only two songs that make me cry without fail every time: lakes of canada, t.i.m. & outside these walls, brett stubbs.

such sweet music. please listen.