3 Easy Steps to Perfectly Stirred Peanut Butter in Less Than 2 Minutes

This post is brought to you by our first Test Kitchen Entry Question from Annie J. 

Annie, from Chicago asked, 

"I buy Natural Peanut Butter all the time, but hate stirring it. I want the full benefit of Natural Peanut Butter without the all the added stuff that comes with pre-stirred. I normally turn my jars upside down and continue to turn them to loosen things up, but I still have the messy part of stirring it later. Any suggestions?" 

As part of our test kitchen, here at Saltbox House, we took the challenge and went out to find a better way to stir Natural Peanut Butter. First, we went out and purchased a few jars of all natural peanut butter in various brands. We found that the larger jars where not only a better value for your dollar, but easier to work with when testing out stirring methods. 

If you are not sure, this type of peanut butter we are testing only contains peanuts and sometimes a small amount of salt. The separation of oil with the peanuts is a big giveaway that no Palm or Hydrogenated oils (to name a few) have been added to it to keep it from separating. Don't be confused just because it says All Natural . Always look at ingredients. Not all brands are the same, however as far as brands that carry peanut butter with those 1-2 ingredients, they did not make a difference in the stirring factor.

The first two attempts were to test the traditional methods. The traditional stirring methods of natural peanut butter consisted of sticking your butter knife or long spoon into the jar and making your best effort to stir it. These both ended with the same results:

Time consuming 

Messy

Uneven Stir

The third attempt was with an immersion blender. This didn't seem like a bad idea for a larger jar and it cut the traditional time almost in half. However, the heavier layer on the bottom of the jar, did not mix together with the rest, so we ended up having to stir it by hand after all. 

So, after those three attempts, we opened our last jar, dumped it into a mixing bowl. In this way, ALL of the peanut butter came out of the jar with ease. Use that butter knife or rubber spatula and that heavy layer at the bottom comes out completely in 1-2 scoops.  

Next, we took an electric hand mixer (I am sure a stand mixer would would fine) and blended it together in less than a minute. 

Then, we guided it back into the same jar with a rubber spatula. 

It turned out to be perfectly smooth stirred peanut butter. 

The results:

• Mixed within 2 Minutes
• Perfectly Stirred
• Less Messy 

An Added bonus: We found that because we whipped this peanut butter, it stayed soft and spreadable even after refrigeration. It never got heavy or hard to spread on anything and lasted this way until we used up the entire jar. 

Downside:
We did have to wash one mixing bowl, one rubber spatula, and two mixing beaters.

Thank you for your Test Kitchen Entry Annie!

If anyone else has an idea of a way to stir natural peanut butter, please share with us in a comment. 

Food Challenge: Grab and Grill

It's that time of year, time to get outside and cook the way nature intended, over an open fire. That's right, it is grill and barbecue season and that means we at Saltbox House challenge our readers and authors to do just that; to grab and grill something.  There's nothing hard about grilling on a simple gas grill, but when it comes to Charcoal grilling it may get tricky. Either way, we challenge you to fire up your long time favorites or venture out and try something new. Good luck! 

Fun facts about Barbecuing

Briquettes were invented by Ford and Edison- in 1920, Henry Ford made his own briquettes from sawdust and wood chips that where laying around in his car factory. he put it together with the help of Edison. Later on, Kingsford bought the invention and commercialized it (It was a success).
 

Father's Day is the biggest BBQ day next to the 4th of July
 

* When it comes to who will be barbecuing it is dad 60% of the time. But, when it comes to who chooses what to BBQ, it is mom 100% of the time ;).
 

The Most common BBQ items are: burgers, chicken, hot dogs, and corn on the cob

General Grilling and BBQ Tips:
 

SETTING UP A CHARCOAL GRILL-

Use high quality hardwood charcoal to make the hottest, longest lasting fire.

Line the bottom of the fire bowl with aluminum foil.

Allow the starter fluid to remain on the coals for a minute before lighting.

Let the coals burn for about 35 minutes before placing food on the grill.

Allow 1 inch space between the coals.
 

STORING BRIQUETTES-

Charcoal briquettes should always be stored in an airtight plastic bag since they will absorb moisture very easily-that way, you will have as good as new briquettes next time.
 

CLEANING TRICK-
Window cleaner sprayed on a warm grill (not a hot grill) will make it easier to clean. Do this shortly after you are done barbecuing your food.
 

A COMMON MISTAKE-

Always turn steaks and chicken with tongs to avoid puncturing them. By not puncturing them, your meat will not dry out and will remain as juicy as ever.

BBQ SAUCE & POULTRY-

BBQ sauce generally has sugar in it so it can burn easily.

Don't put the BBQ sauce on until it is almost fully cooked.

The best way to BBQ Poultry is to cook on a lower heat and for a longer time period.

COOKING AHEAD OF TIME (GRILLING FOR MANY)-

You can have burgers ready to go by reducing their grill time.  Layer your patties between tin foil on a cookie sheet and bake them at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Then finish them on the grill. For hot dogs, bake for 10 minutes.

Flavor Tricks:

Bury an onion wrapped in foil in the coals for an hour, you love the flavor it gives to your burgers.  

Different herbs can be placed on the coals to flavor food. Some of the best are Rosemary and Basil .

When wrapping corn in tin foil for barbecuing, place a sprig of marjoram next to the ear of corn.
 

Wood chips on the coals will add flavor

Nut Shells on the coals will also add flavor

Safety Tips:

If coals ever get inflamed or too hot, you can always lay lettuce leaves on them.

Coat your grill with oil (spray is best) before starting the fire then clean it shortly after you are done barbecuing.
Never spray the oil on the grill after the fire is started if you want to keep your eyebrows ;)

Never re-use the same plate or utensils that you handled your raw meat with.

Barbecue Resource- Bader, M. 2003. 20,0001 Food Facts, Chef Secrets, & Household Hints. USA, Bader Publishing.

Bean Flour (gluten free)

So I decided I wanted to expirement with different flours.  Our favorite berad mix (hodgson mill) uses fava and garbonzo beans in their mix.  In researching on the internet there is not a lot out there on bean flour. So here is my 3rd trial with bean flour.

These are Garbanzo beans also known as chick peas.  Below are Fava beans.

 The first step is I took 1-2 handfuls at a time and threw them in my dry container for my vitamix and turned it on 10 for about 15-20 seconds. Be warned it is LOUD.  It scared me the first time and my poor 18 month old ran screaming and shaking...   After the 15-20 seconds I turned it off and dumped the contents into my strainer (nothing fancy, a cheap one from ikea a few years back)  and shook it some.  What fell out went into a bowl and what didn't went back into the vitamix with another 2 handfuls of beans.  I did this process 44 times with the chick peas and 2 maybe 3 with the fava (sorry I lost count)  This is what it looked like after that.

 This is my nutramil grain mill and what I have it set on.

 I had to baby it a little bit as it doesn't flow as well as rice.  sometimes I had to pull stuff up so the chute was not clogged and other times I had to knock some in.it ended up making just over 6 cups.

This last picture is of the completed flour.  I mixed up some of the GF all purpose flour found here http://saltboxhouse.blogspot.com/2011/09/gluten-free-all-purpose-flour.html  So I did 6 cups sorghum flour, 6 cups rice flour (which was milled with equal parts rice, sweet and brown) 6 cups of the bean flour, 9 cups tapioca starch,4 1/2 cups potato starch or corn starch (I have switched to using corn because it is MUCH cheaper) 2T salt and 6T xanthan gum.

I have made cinnamon rolls ( a regular every day recipe just switched out this flour for wheat flour, no extra xanthan or anything) Cookies (Regular recipe again) and the classic white bread found here http://saltboxhouse.blogspot.com/2011/07/gluten-free-bread.html  For this one I used 4 1/2 cups of the all purpose flour replacing the flour,and the starches. and I did not add in xanthan gum since it is already in the flour.
They all have turned out well and have some added protein in them!

Oh and I made a really good coffee cake (I will post a recipe for that too) and pizza crust!

I feel this is till a little bit in the experimentation process though so if you find something that works well or something that does NOT work, please tell me!

gluten free all purpose flour.

I derived this recipe mostly from Silvana's all-purpose flour blend and partly from Carol Fenster's sorghum flour blend.  For the rice flour I throw in equal amounts of white, brown and sweet rice into my grain mill and mill it.  I use this for so many things.  I use it as flour for non gluten free recipes. Like my moms cookie recipes, or the pumpkin cookies recipe that I got from a friend...  You can also use it as your four in GF recipes, just omit the xanthan that the recipe calls for ( and the starches unless it calls for extra starch)

6 cups rice flour.
6 cups sorghum flour
6 cups tapioca flour
3 cups potato starch
2 T salt
4 T xanthan gum

Ovens and summer CAN mix!

SO I have found a great way to use my oven this summer wihout heating up my apartment too much.  While the oven is on after it has been preheated I turn the fan on to low.  As soon as it is done baking and I shut it off the fan goes on high and I crack the oven door open.  it sucks the majority of the heat up and out.  about 15-20 minutes later I shut the oven door and turn off the fan.  It has helped TREMENDOUSLY!

My family's favorite cracker

Blue Diamond makes some of the best Gluten Free crackers!  MMMMMM.... My family loves them.  We buy them by the ton.  I really don't like the cheese flavor at all, but the kids love it.  Here are some uses we have found for them, outside of eating them straight from the box :)
1. I scoop tuna fish onto them. The tuna I make is as follows: 2 cans white albacore tuna, drained. 4 eggs hard boiled and diced 1/4 onion diced.  a little salt, a little pepper, a little garlic.  mix with Mayo and yummy!
2. scoop egg salad onto them Hard boiled eggs diced mixed with mayo, salt, pepper, and mustard.
3. Recently my son (kindergartener) asked to have pizza for lunch like those kids that make their own.  After a little more questioning and thinking we figure he was talking about those pizza lunchables.  So He takes crackers, a little pizza sauce some cheese cut into squares that fit the cracker, and some pepperoni.  He loves doing that.  I haven't actually tried it, but I bet it is good.

They as you can see from our favorite things to put on them, are a great alternative to bread.  I have trouble with gluten free bread.  I don't like the store bought stuff and I have tried and failed to bake a good loaf multiple times.  It has never really bothered me until recently.  Before since it was just the kids that couldn't have wheat, I ate regular bread.  now though my nursing daughter can't handle it and so I cant eat it anymore. Bread is something that I greatly miss, but these crackers help fill the void because I can now enjoy some of my favorite sandwich fillings now :)

GF cookie brownie bars.

There is a video here on betty crocker.com.  I used the Betty Crocker line of GF chocolate Chip cookies and Brownie.  They are great.  I LOVE the brownies with cream cheese frosting!  The cakes are great too.  The best part of them (besides being good and fast to make) is that if you dont have a GF kitchen, but want to make something GF for someone or for one event, then it is great because you dont have to buy a lot of ingredients.  you just need butter, eggs, and the mix.

STEP ONE:
In seperate bowls, following directions on boxes make the brownies and the cookies.

STEP TWO:

With a spoon or a cookie dough baller place the cookies in the pan (I used an 8x10 pan)

STEP THREE:
Fill in the blanks with the brownie mix

STEP FOUR:
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Some Great Tips

Many of you probably recieved this e-mail but, I thought it would be something good to put on this blog.

Bananas

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Cheese

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Ground Beef

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

Eggs

To really make scrambled eggs or omelettes rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

Easy Deviled Eggs

Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Brownies

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt chocolate mint patties in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Garlic

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Pizza

Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Reheating refrigerated bread

To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away

Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass

Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

Flexible vacuum

To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling

Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and.. ta da!... static is gone.

 

Measuring Cups

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?

Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope

If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Get Rid of Ants

Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can'tdigest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS

The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something else; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like.. Well ...the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit.You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box .well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!

Survey of Learning

 Nichole and I decided to start this year off with some more educational posts. Well, that idea brought together another idea for a cooking school section in the blog. Nothing fancy really. We will be following an agenda that will teach our readers and authors something new daily, weekly, or monthly depending on our own learning pace. These posts will include videos (our own or by other source) and pictorials. We have a big month planned for February so, we wanted to get it annouced and start it off with a little survey for everyone to take part in. This sruvey will also be in connection with February's giveaway (that will be announced soon).

Survey Question:

What Cooking tips have you learned?

(i.e. old wives tales, do's and don'ts etc.)

Simply leave a comment or if you are an author, you are welcome to make it post with or without a picture.

A cooking tip I would like to share is the secret to why

Chocolate cakes should NEVER be leavened with baking powder.

Chocolate has a high acid level that is would offset the balance of the Cream of Tarter in the Baking Powder. In addition, when baking soda is used, recipes usually call for some kind of sour mixutre (sour cream, yogurt, buttermilk etc.) so that the batter will not become too alkali and bitter. If it does become too alkali, it can also turn red instead of brown.

Gluten Free Sugar cookie

With Christmas season here we are in search of a good sugar cookie. I found this recipe on www.celiac.com so I thought I would give it a try.  Well It calls for a GF flour mix by Better Hagman.  Not a huge fan of hers, as I prefer Carol Fenster.  So I don't have a lot of the stuff she uses.  I figured I would follow the recipe and substitute my own choice of flour.  So I did.  I used 2 cups of Gluten Free Mama's Rice-Almond flour (HUGE fans of her flours, though they are EXPENSIVE!) and 1 cup sorghum flour.  So first, the recipe:

3 cups gluten-free flour mix*
2 eggs
1 teaspoon soda
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon almond (or flavoring of your choice)
1 cup gluten-free margarine

Sift flour, soda & cream of tartar - cut in margarine or butter (I find that margarine is easier when rolling out the cookies). Beat eggs, add sugar & almond - mix well. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and mix well by hand.

Chill at least 15 min (several days is also ok). Roll out to desired thickness on floured surface and cut into shapes. Decorate with colored sugar, or if you prefer, after baked & cooled frost and then sprinkle with colored sugar, etc.

2 cups powdered sugar mixed with some melted butter & lemon juice frosts one batch. Bake at 350F for 9 minutes.

* Bette Hagmans Four Flour Mix (from The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread).
Garfava Bean Flour 2/3 part
Sorghum Flour 1/3 part
Cornstarch 1 part
Tapioca Flour 1 part

I refrigerated them for a couple of hours because we got side tracked Here they are ready to go in the oven:

and fresh from the oven.

And the final off the pan result: a pile of crumbs. Very, very tasty crumbs!  Oh they are soooo yummy!

So what happened?  I am asking myself the same thing!  I think I know.  The recipe does not call for xanthan gum.  I read it 3 times just to make sure.  I figured that maybe because of the chilling it didn't need it.  Boy was I wrong.  That's ok though.  Since having to go GF because of my 2 children (and myself, shh... don't tell anyone cuz I love the after the kids go to bed pizza!) We have learned that some things are cooked and tossed.  I do think that maybe because they used bean flour in their recipe that holds things together so you dont need the xanthan?  so most likley tomorrow we will be re-doing this recipe with xanthan gum, because those crumbs really are very good.  I feel bad for my son, he wanted to deliver the cookies to neighbors tonight.  Oh well.

The Amazing Cucumber!

I stole this info from my friend Megan. Thanks!
This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of their "Spotlight on the Home" series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems.

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B 3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!


7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa?
Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel?
Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

Money saving tips...

Tip #1: Did you know that milk can be frozen for up to two months? When it is on sale, we buy a few gallons and throw them in the freezer. When it looks like we will be needing more soon, we pull it out and let it thaw on the counter for a day. It taste just as good as it would have straight from the store. For some reason, it looks yellow when it is frozen but don't worry, it is fine. Tip #2: Meat is expensive. Use it wisely. We buy beef chunks and stir fry meat when it is on sale (and lets face it, we do this even when it's not on sale) and break it up for individual meals before freezing it. Just open the container and put a small hand full into a freezer bag.

You'll quickly discover that you don't need tons of meat in your stir fry or in your strogonof and when it's not all frozen in one chunk, you don't have to use it all at once. I also like that when I make crock pot meals, I don't have to thaw my meat. I just rip the bag so that the meat comes out in one chunk, pour on my ingredients, and let it cook.

Tip #3: Pancake syrup is a waste of money. Make your own, it is a LOT cheaper.

Ingredients
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1/8 tsp mapeline, maple extract or imitation maple flavoring

Mix the water and sugar together in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup and heat for five minutes in the microwave. Stop and stir every minute (or close to it- sometimes mine only gets stirred two to three times but it still works. Just make sure the sugar is dissolved when it's done). Add your maple.
When you're done, put it in a container with a lid and store in the fridge. If it is not covered, it will start to form sugar crystals. We used a canning jar at first. Later we bought syrup for a camp out, making sure the container was microwave safe. We fill that with our home made syrup after it is made.

Rice Porridge (What do You Do with leftover Rice?)

 This particular recipe was brought up because we get a lot of questions about leftover rice.  Well, I like to do a lot of different things with leftover rice like fried rice, creamy cheese rice, and throw it in soups or baked dishes. But, one rice recipe stands out to me more, and that is one I have enjoyed since I was a little girl. We called it "sweet rice", when in fact it is much like a porridge. It is the fastest and easiest recipe I know of that involves cooked rice and few ingredients.

Re-heat your rice with some butter (to melt) so it is even throughout.

Add as much or as little milk as you like (cream is great too).

Add white sugar and cinnamon to taste.

If you like rice pudding, this flavor is right up your alley.

Serving it hot with cold milk, is the best way in my opinion.

Food Storage Items:

Rice and Sugar

*

What Do You Like To Do With Leftover Rice?

Next time skip the lettuce...

Cooking Tip of the Week

*

" Next time, skip the lettuce"

Want to enjoy a juicy grilled burger on a warm summer night? You need a soft bun, juicy hamburger, cheese, onion, tomato, pickles and crisp lettuce...or how about something little different? Next time, skip the lettuce and use some fresh Alfalfa Sprouts! You will be pleasantly surprised with the fresh crisp and earthy flavor that sprouts provide your hamburger experience.

Give it a try!

*

What Other Substitutes Do You Have in Mind?

Ham and Eggs Benedict

Easter is over and you are left with a ham that could last you for weeks. Actually, ham can last for weeks if you store it in the fridge with a kitchen towel over it. However, if you want catch up on other ham recipes or freeze some for later then you won't have to look at it in the fridge for much longer. I made this ham for an Easter party and it turned out very nice. Hams can be one of the easiest meats to cook not only because they are pre-cooked usually, but because they take little to no work. Just place it in the oven and let it heat. It you choose to glaze it, like I did, it will look even that much better.

Don't forget to save the bone off the ham, it makes for a great soups later. Just place it in a freezer bag and take it out when you are ready to use it.

Some of the ways I like to use my left over ham is in Eggs Benedict. If fact, I think that roasted ham tastes better than Canadian Bacon sometimes. It has more flavor that adds to the Hollandaise sauce, which results in a great combination with the egg and English muffin.


I also wanted to share a little trick I learned about poaching eggs right in the water. If you add a pickle or two to the water, it will make the proteins in the egg to stick together which will help you get the most of your egg than if the egg white is all over the place.


Anyway you make it, Eggs Benedict is always a great choice for breakfast, it is definitely my favorite.
*
Here are some other ways I like to use my left over ham:
Freeze for soups later
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Grilled ham and cheese
Hawaiian Pizza
Pork Fried Rice
*
What do you like to use your leftover ham for?