Fast and Cheesy Veggies (in ten minutes)

Fast and Cheesy Veggies

Broccoli and cheese. When you are short on time, that is when the cheese sauce comes out of the jar in the fridge and gets popped into the microwave... Don't do it!  Don't "Whiz" on perfectly good vegetables! You know what's in that stuff? (Me, neither. I have heard rumours, and have attempted to read the tiny print of the ingredient list many-a-time.) 

You can make a cheese sauce from scratch, using real cheese and real milk, in a few short minutes. As an entree or as a side, vegetables in this cheese sauce are a win at our house. 

Fifteen Minute Mac 'n' Cheese Dinner (gluten free option)

Fifteen Minute Mac 'n' Cheese Dinner

"If I had a million dollars,
We wouldn't have to eat Kraft Dinner
But we would eat Kraft Dinner
Of course we would. We'd just eat more..."
      - Barenaked Ladies, If I had a Million Dollars

K.D. That's what we called the stuff in school. It was cheap, fast, and, well... fast. What if you could make real macaroni and cheese from scratch in the same time, or less? Our boys would eat this every day if we let them.

Gather up two pots- one to boil the pasta and one to make the sauce- a mixing spoon, a silicone-coated whisk, and a colander. Fetch these ingredients:

2 tbsp flour (sweet rice flour for gluten free*)
2 tbsp butter
2 cups milk (whole works best)
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 12oz package of macaroni shells, elbows, or alphabets. Use gluten free if you wish.

Ready, set, GO!

Butter Biscuit Bake-Off

Butter Biscuits

Several months ago, I emailed Clabber Girl Corporation to thank them for offering a non-GMO baking powder. Rumford is non GMO and aluminum-free. The company sent me a generous sample of the Reduced Sodium version to try. (The sample arrived just before the heat wave, so it was a while before I could go anywhere near the oven. )

Would reduced sodium baking powder get the same results? To find out, I baked up two batches of Butter Biscuits using both versions of the baking powder.

To make the trial as fair as possible, I mixed both at the same time and baked them at the same time. First, the low sodium were arranged on the left side of the baking sheet and the regular on the right, then I reversed them for the next sheet. (That way the only variable was the baking powder. They were rolled the same thickness at the same time, baked at the same time at the same temperature and any inconsistencies within the oven were controlled.)

Here is my Butter Biscuit recipe, adapted from the Tea Biscuits recipe in the Five Roses: A Guide to Good Cooking book:

Fiesta Hummus (gluten free, vegan)

Fiesta Hummus

It all started with the limes. Fresh, ripe, organic limes were hiding in our fridge, waiting for a purpose. We did not have any tequila... Somewhere along a long train of thought, the limes picked up garbanzos, olive oil, tahini, and chili peppers. Garlic, paprika, and coriander joined the party. It was Fiesta Hummus!

2 cups cooked garbanzos (chick peas)
1/2 cup tahini
2 limes, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp cilantro
1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp salt (omit if you used canned garbanzos)
1 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves peeled, fresh garlic
1 tsp paprika
4oz can green chilies (or two cans, to taste)

Blend the ingredients together. Serve with warm tortillas or grilled pitas.



I shared this post with Slightly Indulgent Tuesday,  Real Food Wednesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.


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Quick Cinnamon Rolls

Quick Cinnamon Rolls

How long does it take to open up a tube of refrigerated cinnamon rolls? Add five more minutes' of prep time, and you could make these delicious cinnamon roll biscuits from scratch. I used whole wheat flour but white would be fine. Compared to the chemistry lesson required for the store-bought kind, this ingredients list is simple and you likely have everything on hand:

2 cups flour (either whole wheat or unbleached)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (optional)
1/3 cup butter, still hard from the fridge
1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder

Sauteed Red Peppers and Mushrooms on Whole Wheat and Flaxseed Biscuits

Sauteed Red Peppers and Mushrooms on Whole Wheat and Flaxseed Biscuits

Who says lunch at home has to be boring? At  Chez Stealthy Mom, we enjoyed Sauteed Red Peppers and Mushrooms on Whole Wheat and Flaxseed Biscuits. While the biscuits were in the oven, I sauteed the peppers and mushrooms in butter. Just before serving, I added a small slice of marbled cheddar atop each biscuit and served  them with a side of Roasted Garbanzos. 

For a dozen Whole Wheat and Flaxseed Biscuits:

Pineapple Hummus (gluten free, vegan)

Pineapple Hummus

We love hummus. Warm, it's a great dip for tortilla triangles and veggies. Straight from the fridge it's a sandwich spread or burrito filling. Traditionally, hummus made with cooked garbanzos, tahini (sesame paste) olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice.

We were out of lemon juice.  I had the garbanzos, olive oil and tahini in the blender and made that grim discovery. No lemon juice... But we had a fresh pineapple. Why not? Once the pineapple was blended in,  we separated the mix into different bowls to try out seasoning combinations. Would you believe that pineapple overpowers coriander? Bummer. The best combination was ginger and garlic. A little heat would have been nice, but our kids are in a no-heat phase. Perhaps some crushed red chilies?

Perfect Pancakes with Blueberry sauce

Perfect Pancakes with Blueberry sauce

"Pancakes!" was one of the Cadet's first words. Around here, we like them morning, noon, and night. The kids especially like them coin-sized presented on a platter as finger food. This is the second batch today, and no one is complaining. (I did not get a photo the first time because they were devoured.)

This recipe has a shorter ingredient list than boxed mix. There are seven, compared to Aunt Jemima's seventeen, not including their list of "enriched flour" ingredients. Seventeen! You will find this recipe to be just as easy as boxed. A double batch is a great idea because they freeze really well for an even quicker breakfast in the future.

For a batch of about two dozen 4" pancakes:

2 cups unbleached flour (I get away with whole wheat flour and the kids don't mind.)
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar

1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup milk

5 tbsp vinegar

Mix the dry ingredients well in one bowl, and whisk the egg, milk and vanilla in another. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together and let the batter rest for at least ten minutes.

Coat a griddle with non-stick spray and heat it up. (I use olive oil in a pump sprayer from Pampered Chef.) Stir in the vinegar, folding the bubbles into the batter.

Drop batter onto the griddle by spoonfuls. When the bubbles break, the bottoms should be golden brown. Flip the pancakes and brown the other sides.

Serve with butter, syrup, or blueberry sauce.


Blueberry Sauce:

2 cups frozen blueberries
1/2 cup sugar

Heat the sugar and blueberries together in a sauce pan until bubbly. Serve immediately.




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This recipe was shared at Make Your Own! Monday.

Fast Veggie Fajitas (vegan)

Fast Veggie Fajitas

Sometimes it seems hard to get enough veggies on a given day. This dish will take care of several servings plus add the goodness of beans.

Try making your own tortillas to save on sodium, big time. Just before you start to roll them out to cook, sautee these ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
3 sliced bell peppers. (One each of three different colours makes the meal pretty)
pinch coriander
pinch cilantro
1/4 tsp salt or lite salt

If your kids like them, add

1 small sliced onion
1 sliced chili pepper

When the peppers are soft, add:

2 cups beans,  precooked and frozen, or one can (red, pinto, black, kidney or great northern) drained and rinsed

The beans might get a bit mushy, like a refried bean. If you prefer them to stay whole gently place them under the sauteed peppers to warm them up. Serve with tortillas, and add grated cheese or sour cream if you please.

Dinner is served.


www.stealthymom.com

Fast and Cheesy Noodles

Fast and Cheesy Noodles

Short on time? Kids are hungry and they want to eat NOW? That is when many parents will grab for a big can of spaghetti. I don't know too many kids who don't like that squishy canned pasta, swimming in tomato sauce. It is also swimming in sodium, (600mg per cup of Spaghettios brand) corn syrup, and "flavourings."

This dish is not innocent, but is a better alternative to the o's and our kids really like it. (If I could buy ramen noodles locally without the silly foil packets of MSG I would. ) It has the has the goodness of tomatoes, olive oil replaces the mystery vegetable oils, and it contains about 250mg of sodium per serving. All in less time than it takes to cook up a box of macaroni dinner.

Basic No-Knead Pizza Dough (low sodium)

Mmmmm, pizza. Here is an easy basic recipe for a 14” pizza crust that you can make in one bowl without kneading. It turns out just right for toddlers: neither too deep nor too crisp to bite into. If you prefer a thin and crispy pizza, oil the pan well underneath.

You can use this basic dough to make Mini Pizzas from leftover cheese dip.

1 tsp sugar

1 pkg yeast

3/4 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 cups flour (unbleached or whole wheat)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

olive oil

In two-cup measure, dissolve the sugar and yeast in lukewarm water.

Meanwhile, mix flour and garlic powder in a mixing bowl. After ten minutes, the yeast mixture should be frothy. Pour it over the flour and mix with a plastic spoon until all the flour is mixed in and it is a soft dough. Try to mix in all the flour from the sides of the bowl.  Pick up the dough. Pour about a teaspoon of olive oil into the bowl. Spin the dough in the oil until it is coated, and flip the dough over, oil-side up. This will keep the dough from drying out while it rests.

Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.  Pour a tablespoon of olive oil into the center of the pizza pan. Spread it around on the pan a bit with your hands. Pick up the dough ball, keeping it oil-side-up, and smash it with your hands into the pan. There should be oil under the dough to keep it from sticking, and a little on top (from your hands and from the bowl) to keep it from drying out.

Preheat oven to 400F, giving dough time to rise. After at least 10 minutes’ rest, top dough with sauce, cheese, and whatever toppings you wish. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crust is slightly brown underneath.  

[You can speed the process up by mixing everything together in a bowl off the bat. Be careful to mix the dry ingredients well and add the water last.]


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