Mung Bean Hash

Vegetarian dish, and a great way to use up that bag of dried mung beans I know you have sitting in the back of your cupboard.

1 Cup dry mung beans
2 cups diced potatoes
2 carrots, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
6-8 mushrooms, sliced

Seasonings to taste:
Balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper
season salt
olive oil


Cook 1 cup of dry mung beans according to package directions. (Usually boil them in twice the amount of water for 10 minutes and simmer for an hour)
Add olive oil, salt and balsamic vinegar


Saute' the rest of the ingredients in olive oil in one big pot.
Add one ingredient at a time according to how long it takes to cook.
Like, potatoes first, then celery, carrots, onion, bell pepper, mushroom in that order.

Season it to taste.

Normally, I would be tempted to throw this all into a crock pot. However, the vegetables are so much better when they're not over-cooked and still crunchy.
Also, I liked to dice everything, so every ingredient is the same size. It seems more appealing that way.

Home Made Yogurt

I attempted to make yogurt with my Mom's yogurt maker a few days ago. It tasted great, but I didn't get the texture I wanted. It was too watery with a few clumps. However, I was able to use it for alot of things anyway.

It's easy to make. You just heat up milk on the stove with the yogurt cultures.
I was supposed to use 5g culture powder for 24oz milk. I don't think I put in the whole 5g's because I didn't measure.
Also, I think slowly cooking the milk for a longer period of time while stirring should help thicken it up before you pour it into the little yogurt containers.
After pouring the milk in the containers, you just turn it on for10 hours.

Like I said, it had a really good tangy taste in the morning, but it was too watery. I didn't want it to go to waste, so here's some things we did with it.

Used it instead of milk to make smoothies. I put banana, papaya, honey & the yogurt. The yogurt taste offset the sweet taste of the other ingredients perfectly.

Put it in my chili instead of sour cream.

Mixed it with jelly and granola for breakfast.

It was really good each of these ways. So if your attempt at yogurt fails, don't dump it!
You could also make salad dressing, or spread it on sandwiches. Even use it instead of mayo for chicken or tuna salad.

Rice Krispie Treats

I could eat an entire pan of these. This is the original recipe. They have alot of variations on their website at http://www.ricekrispies.com/

3 tbsp butter or margerine
One package (10 oz or about 40) regular marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies


1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
2. Add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.
3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

Lemon Chicken Marinade

Got this recipe from cooks.com

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor until liquids are fully combined and garlic is well pureed. Mixture should be opaque and fairly thick. Pour over chicken and marinade for 4-8 hours.

This has a good taste. I marinated boneless chicken breasts and broiled them in the oven. Afterward, I made salad wraps with them.

Cream Cheese Cookies

1 stick real butter
3 oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 375

Cream butter and cheese. Add sugar and mix well. Add flour, vanilla and nuts.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake until brown. 8-12 minutes

Chocolate, Banana & PB Smoothie

This was so good!

In a blender, mix

2 bananas
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter
1-2 cups milk (depends on how thick you like it)
Sweetener **

** I found that one packet of stevia worked really well. Prior to that, I used a tbsp of honey which was fine.

New House Cleaning Routine

Here's my new routine to keep up with the house. It's going really well.

Daily

Before bed,
Make sure kitchen is clean and ready for tomorrow's breakfast (do after dinner)
Take 15 minutes, run through the house as quick as possible putting left-out items where they belong.
Vacuume the parts of the house that get the most traffic
Lay out clothes for next day

Every morning
Make bed
Bath, get dressed. Wipe down tub, sink and toilet while getting ready. Scrub toilet bowl quickly with old shampoo that's there.
Make breakfast, and clean up afterward

Sometime during day
Do 1-2 items on my 'kitchen detail' list
Do 1-2 items on my 'basement detail' list

*This is how I incorporate spring cleaning with my routine. I made a list of 25 items that need to be done periodically in the kitchen, though maybe not every single week. This can include changing the foil on the range, cleaning the oven, organizing cabinets etc. I made a detail list on every section of the house, and focus on a new section every 2 weeks or so. Before you know it, the whole house has been spring cleaned over a span of a few months.

Weekly (spend 15 minutes on each item, and move on when time is up)

Feather dust entire house
Wipe down surfaces, walls and doors that get fingerprints.
Vacuume entire house
Change sheets
Mop non-carpeted floors