Focaccia Bread

Focaccia Bread to me =

• Scary idea
• I can't it's to hard
• I will mess it up
• Oh no not yeast again
• I got this recipe from here it worked great and was easy
  

It started with 1 packet of quick rise yeast . a shake of salt and 1 tbsp. of sugar




Place the above ingredients in a large bowl with 3 1/4 cup of flour give a quick whisk to mix the ingredients together.



Get 1 2/3 cup of very warm water ready to drop/pour into the flour mixture make sure the water not to HOT or it will kill the yeast.




Grease a pan 9 x 13 as well as turn the oven on to 375 *F




Pour the warm water into the flour mixture




Grab some oil could use extra virgin or veggie in this mix above


Spread batter into the pan (I used a spatula sprayed with oil to avoid it sticking)


I used a lint free type of towel to avoid (lint on my bread YUCK!!) allow bread to rise to double to size it took 30 mins


Drizzle top with 2 tsp. of oil spread over the whole loaf of bread


I used the bottom of a large handled spoon



Grab whatever spices you wish- I used Italian spices as well as garlic powder (next time I would use minced garlic and saute in oil as well as add the spices to the bread dough mix)


Cook until golden brown it took 30 mins :O) on 375*F

Verdict- Perfect except it lacked flavor from the spices see above note to fix issue next time plus since there is only 2 people I would only do a half of a batch

Menu Feb 20-

Feb 20- Chicken/Peppers/Mushroom/Onion/Quesadilla
Feb 21- Chicken Noodle Soup w/ Focaccia bread
Feb 22-
Feb 23-
Feb 24-
Feb 25-
Feb 26-
Feb 27-
Feb 28-

Pets

Yeah I know not food related but you know pets are part of my family. So I want to share with you what I have been working on as of late...Doggy sweaters for my mom's Maltese poodle who gets cold really easy however the average dog sweater runs about $10-20 for a good quality on from most any store...
My mom really wanted me to learn to crochet them YEAH ME??
What was she thinking? I can't do that they are to hard!!
I can barely read a pattern.... Where do I start?
I started with a pattern for a cat sweater that I located online that I thought I understood.

I made the sweater want to see it?


Doesn't look great for the first time trying but it fit the dog sorta.
Here where the issues to start..

1. To small in length no big deal just make longer simple to fix
2. Belly Band wrong spot to close to rear - No big deal just move forward right?

So I corrected those ( as my first pattern was really for a cat for a friend) and just used it to try on my mom's dog I decided to create the dog a sweater all her own here it was below..


EMMA'S DOGGIE SWEATER

Changes #2 Well the sweater fit but was still a little too big so I made those changes & the sweater keep rolling up Emma's back ( ROYAL PAIN)...

Changes # 3 I changed the underbelly to be solid to keep it from rolling up plus Emma loves to scratch her belly raw when she has allergy issues after seeing the groomer.



Perfect I have made about 8 of these for my mom....
5 for a guy at work as he has 2 adult dogs and 3 puppies
1 for another guy at work for his female dog
4 over the weekend for a lady my mom knows..
** note to self boy dogs need less under belly bands lol** lesson learned

So give pet sweaters a try trust me for the price of a ball of yarn and a little time it takes me about 4 hours.. I do it watching TV at night..

For my mom's dog I use peaches and cream brand cotton usually $1.25 on sale or $1.99 when regular price for her sweater I need 2 balls ( just over one ball ) so I have leftover yarn (which I will use the leftovers for a scraps to create a scrap sweater)

For other the other dog sweater I have used yarn I had on hand usually picked up from thrift store deals over the last year which ran me about $2.99 for 3 balls of yarn..Regular price for this type of yarn (Red Heart Brand) in a regular store is $2.23 at Walmart per roll.These rolls yield me 2 sweaters per roll with leftover yarn for ( scrap crafts)

** I have a fave yarn now that I pick up from Micheal's...LOVE IT... called Impeccable (Loops and Threads brand) Soft Soft easy to work with no issue snagging or getting knotted...Regular price is $3.99 for a roll which will yield me 2 sweaters. (My have leftover just started using this yesterday) ( scrap crafts)

Verdict: For the time to find a pattern print for free and the price of a ball of yarn lets say you got the $3.99 ball it will yield you 2 sweaters for under $5.00 just using some of your time to create it :O) plus it is hand made :O) even better....

Spring Cleaning???

I think it should just be for my house called cleaning...plus aka I am a hoarder... Yep....I said it.. I have been working on cleaning my house simple task one room at a time...
We started (when I say we my mom and me) it is hard for me to even start much less get anything done..so with her help-pushing and throwing crap away I am almost done in my bedroom and the bathroom it is

Crazy Prices

Not a great picture but the best I got....:O) Anyway the point of this picture is grocery prices are crazy. Today I stopped at Trader Joe's to get ground turkey usually at most places Jenni-o brand is around $3.49-$4.99 well I was going to get Trader Joe's Butcher Brand of Turkey it was priced $4.99-$8.99 however KOSHER Ground Turkey was cheaper.....yes you heard me right usually Kosher products are a lot higher but today I got this really nice price....under $3.49...

Day 2 No Kitchen Sink

It all started with a leaking drippy noisy faucet that has been doing this for almost a year...My dad come over to help fix this issue on Sunday they day when all the stores close early and anything that can go wrong does...

1. D-Dad turned the water off outside(u see I have a very old mobile home 1972 so we have no turn off valves inside )
2. D- Dad took faucet apart to pull out the washer assuming this was the issue just needed new ones so off to the store for those.
3. Got those washers in turned the water back out everything then was leaking around the faucet even underneath it under the sink. Coming down from the top turned water back off.
4. D- Dad went back to the store to get turn off values to put in the house to keep from running in and out of the house while working on this issue….
5. Wrong those turn offs didn’t turn off the water in the mobile home under the sink the water was still leaking out…
6. D-Dad went back to the store to get value turn off/cap it off for right now….
7. Put those in finally still leaking some (very little) then D-Dad went home for the night as he was not feeling well….
8. Monday morning D-Dad was to come back and fix the sink Dad was sick- with a very bad something so he was home in bed….
9. No kitchen sinks what the heck to do?

Step 1 Off to the dollar store I went to get 2 wash basin to uses in the sink

Step 2 Got back home and filled those 2 basins in the bath tub and carried them to kitchen sink trying not to accidentally spill them or drop them…..I did neither... but figured out a better way AFTER I did this…Get a water pitcher (Kool-aid Jug) and fill with hot water and carry with no issues at all.

Verdict: I am thankful from running water in the home…I can’t ok don’t want to imagine pumping water out of a water spigot or even caring water in pails from a creek & heating over an open flame….

Ghetto Veggie Rice Bowl

This is basically just leftover ingredient I created a rice bowl for my lunch at work...

I had leftover onions so some went into my veggie bowl and the rest into a mason jar as they are glass and the onion smell won't stink up my frig...

Left over pepper why toss them out? Just drop into this dish as well

Leftover Mashed beans and Mexican Rice went into this dish as well

My all time fave ingredient next to onions is cheese I used what I already had pulled out of the refrigerator to make the burritos so this went in as well.
Verdict: Can go wrong with basic leftovers

Mexican Rice Veggie & Cheese Burritos

Free tortilla from my mom worked perfect for this recipe...

I used waxed paper as it's my preference for burritos wrapping/making..

I love to make up Mexican Rice Recipe or white rice ahead of time to use in recipes. This allows for them to come together quicker. I used in this recipe.

I had these in the freezer I was going to just nuke to heat but then decided sauteed would be better nice and caramelized.

I picked these red onions already pre-diced this morning for $2.00 for 2 containers and that was perfect for this recipe and all I had to do was cooking them until nice and caramelized...

Any kind of cheese is good in these I had some hot pepper cheese but sometime my mom stops over and grabs thing for her and my dad that I keep in the freeze and would hate for my dad to get a hot pepper cheese..(sensitive tummy)

I love beans however I prefer lentils but I had these to use up and that is what I did I mashed them up with some salsa

As stated in the picture ingredients in the center then roll up & wrap in wax paper this allow 4 you to write easily on the wax paper in-case your burritos have different ingredients... it is easy to see in those Freezer Ziploc bags.

Spinach Black Bean Quesadilla

It started off with a basic recipe here on Thursday morning before work....however I played just grab the leftover ingredients from the refrigerator (as not to waste thing and went with that) as most of you know I am just that way........

I used what type I had on hand from my mom giving me 2 packages of this brand...:O) FREE!!!


The answer is not every picture is perfect as is life and cooking so I like to add a little character to my blogging...I mashed up the leftover chili beans from the lasagna meal the other night..

I yet again a sauteed up some more spinach had I thought this through lol it would already have been done in the frig for this recipe way do 2 batches when you can do it all at once and keep it in the frig until ready to use.

I love my electric skillet for making quesadillas it is quick and easy...I do one with Beans/Spinach/Mushrooms/Green onions and one with cheese..Then I put together and squish with a plate on top :O)
Beans/Spinach/Mushrooms/Green onions

Verdict: I couldn't get enough of this I made 2 and cut into wedges that I took to work to eat later in the afternoon it was perfect can't want to make them again....

Spinach Black Bean Lasagna

Canned Chili Beans
Leftover Lasagna Noodles
Cream Cheese



Fresh Baby Spinach perfect for this Recipe



I filled the pan and see how much it shrinks down when steams/cooks in a little butter..



I just grabbed a bread pan to layer since it was just for me I would be able to get 2 pieces to eat and 2 to freeze.



Quick Ready the Beans


Do the Layer thing many times



Used the Homemade Veggie Sauce I made earlier that day

Verdict: needed to add more sauce the beans and noodle sucked up the extra broth from the sauce.

Venison Wonton Wraps

Leftover Venison Roast From My Mom's House
Wonton Wraps
My Mystery Pantry Items Cocktail Onions


Mozzarella Cheese and Box of Mushrooms


Bag of Diced Pepper since right now 1 pepper is colored pepper is $.79 to over a $1.30 each so this was better for me in the long term

Those Cocktail onions were soaked in a vinegar so I want to try to rinse/soak it off to reduce the strong taste..


Butter and some olive oil I sauteed these nice onions :O) YUMMY & squished them up some as well.


Easiest way to do this is get all the ingredients in an assembly line and just roll roll roll


REMEMBER THESE WRAPS IS SMALL NOT LIKE A TORTILLA SO LESS IS BETTER OR IT WILL BREAK..

Damp towel over the wraps so they don't dry out.


This batch I didn't spray with butter and you can see the tops dried some but still very tasty I had to try one...I froze them and gave mom 4 to try...