My Version of Grandma America's Pasta Salad

My Grandmother, America Zamora, is a great and well known cook.  For as long as I can remember, my grandmother has been catering weddings, community events and for relatives.  I love my grandmother's food.  Every time I go home, Grandma always makes us something special for our reunion.  I decided to blog on one of her well known dishes, her macaroni salad.  However, I decided to add my twist to the recipe since I can't eat her recipe anymore because it is founded in cream cheese and cheddar cheese.  No can do.  I've been wanted to try this for a while so here you go.

Sarith's Spin on Grandma America's Pasta Salad

Ingredients For Pasta:
Pasta - 1 to 2 cups uncooked pasta
1.5 cups marinated artichoke hearts
1 cup kalamata olives
1/4 cup capers
1 to 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
1 handful of chopped cucumber
Optional: 1/2 cup water chestnuts to add some crunch. And feta or goat cheese to taste if you can handle it :)

Ingredients for Sauce:
1 tablespoon mayo
2 tablespoons fat free greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon fresh chopped chives
1 tablespoon dill
dash of salt and pepper
dash of hot sauce

Note: feel free to add more of each ingredient as you like.  I tend to prefer a stronger flavor.

Instructions:
Boil pasta according to package.  Chop the remaining ingredients into bit size pieces.  After the pasta has boiled drain and rink in cool water.  Add remaining ingredients and sauce (see sauce directions below) and mix well.  Eat immediately or serve chilled.

Sauce Instructions:
Chop and mix all ingredients very well then add to pasta.

Enjoy!

In honor of my lovely Grandmother America who turned 88 years young on July 23, 2013!  Love you Grandma!

Angel Biscuits

This is a treasured recipie from my Surrogate Grandmother, Para Lee. Widely known as the best cook ever, her best recipies were not written down but prepared by taste and feel. Thus, I am in a never ending quest to make ''PL's Sweet Potato Casserole'' or ''PL's Macaroni and Cheese'' though it just never can quite compare... This recipie, however, we got nailed down pretty well with the help of PL. 

Big disclaimer... this recipie is an art! I enherited the job of making the Angel Biscuits for all family gatherings, and for a few years they were lovingly called Hockey Puck Buiscuits... But I learned to be gentle with them, handle with care, and above all not to use hot water when disolving the yeast ;) 

I'm not sure why they are called Angel Buiscuits, perhaps because they are as white and fluffy as clowds? Or they fly off the plate in your mouth? Or they are so heavenly delicious?? All I can say if if you can master these biscuits, you will know true bliss...

 

 

ANGEL BISCUITS

 

5 cups sifted self rising flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups buttermilk

1 tsp. soda dissolved in milk

1 cup Crisco

2 packages dry yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup luke warm water

 

I left the old language of the family recipie because it is all about Heirloom, right?? Happy Cooking!!!

 

Cut Crisco into flour to which sugar has been added.  Add dissolved yeast to milk to which soda has been added.  Stir well to mix.

Add liquid to flour mixture and mix as for any biscuit - being sure all flour is moistened.

Put dough into a greased bowl.  Brush top with melted butter and cover.  Refrigerate over night for best results.  Dough will keep in refrigerator for a week.

When ready to use, take out enough for amount of biscuits you want.  Knead lightly on a floured board and roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Brush half of dough with melted butter and fold other half over this.

Cut with biscuit cutter and place on greased baking sheet.

Brush top with butter, cover and let rise at room temperature for about an hour or so.

Bake in 425 degree oven.  Takes about 12 to 15 minutes to bake. 

July: Recipes from our Grandmas

Last month, we circulated this article with "Portraits of Grandmas and Their Cuisines from Around the World,"

. . . which left some of us grateful, some of us hungry, some of us itching to travel,

. . . and left all of us feeling a bit nostalgic for our grandmas (and their famous desserts).

So this month, we're digging through our family archives and sharing some of the flavors from our favorite memories, as well as the step-by-step instructions for recreating them. 

Thanks for sharing. I can't wait to see what you post! And as you type, remember these inspiring words from the best cook I know:

Never trust a woman who doesn't share her recipes. - Ada Mae Batman

Slow Cooker Chocolate Banana Oatmeal

Slow Cooker Chocolate Banana Oatmeal

 

On the surface this is an unusual choice for me since as a general rule of thumb I dislike oatmeal and bananas. In fact it is somewhat of an understatement to say that I strongly dislike oatmeal. I don't like it as a breakfast cereal, as a cookie, as a bread, or in any other fashion. Prior to this recipe, the only exception to this rule was Instant Apple Spice Oatmeal made with Apple Juice because the flavor reminded me of apple cider. Even then I have to make myself eat it by reminding myself with every bite that it is good for me. And the only time I will voluntarily eat bananas is when they are buried in Banana Pudding. I am a sucker for a traditional Southern Banana Pudding and I don't delude myself into thinking it is healthy for me. 

But as fond as I am of a traditional Southern Banana Pudding, I LOVE chocolate! So when I discovered a recipe that let me have my chocolate for breakfast, is super fast and easy to assemble, was gluten and lactose free, relatively healthy, and used my beloved crockpot... well I decided I could overlook the oatmeal and bananas.

So here is my lovable cast of primary ingredients:

 

Now it should be noted that the original recipe called for water instead of milk and a granular no-calorie sucralose sweetener (such as Splenda®) instead of regular granulated white sugar. This obviously makes the recipe healthier. However I don't use granular no-calorie sucralose sweeteners like Splenda® and chose to substitute Fat-Free, Lactose Free Milk instead of water to make it creamier and add the additional vitamins, calcium, etc. milk provides. And you can find certified gluten free oats in almost every grocery store. The one's in the picture are not but I had given the Bob's GF oats I had to a GF friend earlier in the month.

 

And below is my pretty crockpot. And yes I did buy it for it's pretty pattern even though I already had a larger, programmable crockpot. I would love to justify it as needed purchase due to a desire to it using less electricity, it being smaller and easier to clean, it taking up less room on the counter, it causing me to cook smaller portions (in theory), etc. But the truth is I thought it was pretty and couldn't resist.   

The original recipe instructed the cook to lightly spray a 5-quart or larger slow cooker crock with cooking spray. Personally I am a fan slow cooker liners as they prevent sticking and make clean up a snap. So I recommend inserting the slow cooker liner into the crock pot. But either way works, so do whatever is most convenient for you.

I poured my oats into crockpot.

Added the sugar and Cocoa Powder. (I only have a photo of the cocoa powder being added. I forgot to take a photo of the sugar being added. Sorry! But it is in there I promise.) 

Mix all the dry ingredients together. (You could probably keep the dry goods premeasured and premixed in a zip lock baggies to save time if you like to make this recipe.) If you want to add a dash of cinnamon, now would be the time to add it.

Now the recipe calls for hand mashing the bananas. But since we are going for fast in addition to healthy, let me introduce you to my little friend the mini food processor.

In a matter of seconds it purees the bananas and I can throw all the parts into the dishwasher. It is great for small jobs like this but doesn't compare to the pretty full size food processor a very dear friend gave me as a Christmas gift.

Dump the mashed/pureed bananas into the crockpot onto of the dry ingredients.

Mix well.

Add the milk, or water if you prefer, to the mixture in the crockpot.

Mix together one last time. Place the top on the crockpot and turn the crockpot on low. Go to bed and allow the oatmeal to cook for 6 hours. I would really recommend a programmable crockpot that defaults to warm when done cooking so that you won't burn the oatmeal if it stays in the crockpot too long at low. Not that I am speaking from personal experience with my pretty, but non-programmable, crockpot or anything.

When you wake up after 6 hours, your house smells divine and the oatmeal comes out looking like the below. It is very creamy and has small chunks of banana. I added vanilla to taste in the crockpot and mix very well before spooning it out into the bowls.

I topped my Chocolate Banana Oatmeal with chocolate chips. But you can also garnish with sliced bananas, flaked toasted coconut, white chocolate chips, toasted nuts, butterscotch or peanut butter chips, or even raspberries might be good. But the melting chocolate chips were a yummy addition and there is never such a thing as too much chocolate!!! 

Slow Cooker Chocolate Banana Oatmeal
Serves 6
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time:6 hours
Total time: 6 hours and 5 minutes

Ingredients:
cooking spray or a slow cooker liner
5 cups of milk {can use water instead}
1 cup steel-cut oats
1 pound ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons sugar {a granular no-calorie sucralose sweetener (such as Splenda®) can be used instead}
Add Cinnamon or Vanilla to taste
Suggested Toppings for the oatmeal include, but are not limited to: sliced bananas, milk chocolate chips, flaked coconut, white chocolate chips, nuts


Instructions:1. Lightly spray a 5-quart or larger slow cooker crock with cooking spray or insert the slow cooker liner into the crock pot.
2. Mix milk (or water), oats, mashed bananas, cocoa powder, and sugar (or sweetener) in prepared slow cooker.
3. Cook on Low for 6 hours.
4. Before serving, add Cinnamon or Vanilla to taste.
5. Finish with your toppings of choice.

The Classic Egg Sandwich

Every so often, the husband and I will eat breakfast for dinner.  He loves breakfast.  I on the other hand, often feel guilty after eating bacon, pancakes, waffles and other delectable breakfast foods.  One of our go-to healthier breakfast foods is the Egg Sandwich.  The husband requests this entree at least once a month.  Here is my version of the easy making and eating meal.

Ingredients:

Sandwich Bread: I used a sourdough bread, but you can use any bread that suites your taste buds.

Eggs: To try to be a little healthier, we often use more egg whites than whole eggs.  In this recipe I used 4 egg whites and 2 whole eggs.  I recommend a 1 egg/2 egg white ratio per person. To prep your eggs, whisk eggs in a bowl and add a splash or water or milk to help fluff your eggs.  Salt and pepper.

Fun Ingredients: You can add anything you want here.  I had some tomatoes I had to use so this is how I prepared them in advance of preparing my eggs...Slice tomatoes and add a pinch of salt, pepper, garlic powder and cumin.  Roast the tomatoes under the broiler to desired preference.  I like my tomatoes a little shriveled up and and concentrated so I broiled mine for about 4 to 5 minutes.  

Egg Sandwich Instructions:

First prepare bread by toasting in the pan.  I add a little bit of margarine to the pan, let the pan get hot, add my bread slices and let them toast on both sides by flipping the bread about 2 to 3 minutes.

I'm lazy and don't like washing too many pots and pans so after my bread has been toasted, I prep the same pan for cooking the eggs.  I add some more margarine and cook my eggs slowly on a low/medium heat stirring the eggs about every 20 seconds so the eggs will be chunky and slightly wet.

After your eggs are cooked, your toast is toasted and your sides are prepared you are ready to assemble your sandwich.  Assemble and enjoy!