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7/24/16

Can eggs be frozen? How long can eggs be stored? I just bought 15 dozen eggs!

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STORING EGGS
Refrigeration and Freezer



Eggs are perishable and must be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Many factors can affect how long eggs last. When properly handled and stored, eggs rarely spoil. However, if you keep them too long, they are likely to dry up.

Refrigerator Storage: Refrigerate eggs at 40°F or less. Store them in their original carton on an inside shelf and away from pungent foods. The temperature on an inside shelf remains more constant than one on the door, which is opened and closed frequently. The carton keeps the eggs from picking up odors or flavors from other foods and helps prevent moisture loss.

Raw eggs that have been removed from their shells should be refrigerated in a tightly covered container. Refrigerated whole egg yolks should be covered with water to prevent them from drying out; drain before using. The following chart shows how long hard-boiled eggs and raw eggs last when stored in the refrigerator.

Eggs Refrigerator (35°F to 40°F)
Raw whole eggs (in shell) 4 to 5 weeks beyond the pack date or about 3 weeks after purchase
Raw whole eggs (slightly beaten) Up to 2 days
Raw egg whites Up to 4 days
Raw egg yolks Up to 2 days
Hard-boiled eggs (in shell) Up to 1 week
Hard-boiled eggs (peeled) Use the same day for best quality

Freezer Storage: If you have more eggs than you can use within a few weeks, you can freeze them, out of their shells. Freeze only clean, fresh eggs. Place them in freezer containers, seal tightly and label with the number of eggs, whites or yolks and the date. Defrost frozen eggs overnight in the refrigerator.
Egg yolks thicken (or gel) when frozen. To hinder gel formation, beat in either 1/8 teaspoon salt or 1-1/2 teaspoons sugar or corn syrup per ¼ cup yolks (4 Large) before freezing. Indicate “with salt” (main dishes) or “with sugar” (desserts) on the label. The following chart shows how long hard-boiled eggs and raw eggs last when stored in the freezer.

Eggs Freezer (0°F or colder)
Raw whole eggs (in shell) Not recommended
Raw whole eggs (slightly beaten) Up to 1 year
Raw egg whites Up to 1 year
Raw egg yolks Up to year
Hard-boiled eggs (in shell) Not recommended
Hard-boiled eggs (peeled) Not recommended (the white become tough and watery)




Source:  American Egg Board
The American Egg Board (AEB) is appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.





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7/22/16

Taking liberties with Slow Cooked Mississippi Roast - and I came up with Ranch & Peppers Slow Cooked Roast





Ranch and Peppers Slow Cooked Roast
Similar to Mississippi Roast

1 chuck roast (3-4 lb)
2 T olive or other oil
2 T flour
salt and pepper
banana peppers or small yellow or orange peppers, sliced
2/3 c prepared Ranch style dressing
2 t apple cider vinegar
3 T butter
1/2 t dried dill weed
dash paprika

Heat the crock pot or slow cooker on high with the 2 T oil.  Sprinkle the bottom of your roast with flour and place it flour side down in the slow cooker.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add sliced fresh yellow banana peppers or mild yellow and orange pepper slices to cover. (I used 2 small peppers to accomplish this).  Add the apple cider vinegar, ranch dressing and dill. Sprinkle paprika on if you wish.  Top with cubed or sliced butter pieces on top.  Cover and cook on high for about 6 hours or low for 8-10 - until your roast is incredibly tender and smells delicious. 

SERVING CHOICES AT THIS POINT:  Serve as is with the dressing on top and clear juice spooned over from the crock or flip the roast over using a couple metal pancake flippers or spatulas so the dressing and ingredients blend with the juice in the crock.  Push the roast to the side a little bit so you can whisk the juice all together, blending the juice, ranch dressing, flour, etc. into a nice smooth sauce.  Serve as slices with extra sauce over, or you can shred it up in the crock all together and serve on buns or over pasta.




Fresh peppers add flavor to the finished product but are not spicy so kids can easily enjoy this dish

Getting ready to cook

So delicious! Can be shredded, sliced or flipped and the sauce blended - so many options.



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7/20/16

Wheat Free & Sugar Free! Healthy Homemade Strawberry Newton Style Cookies (Fig Newton, Blueberry Newton, etc.)



THIS ONE IS WHEAT FREE AND SUGAR FREE.  A 'regular' version using flour and regular jam fillings is coming soon!

I don't usually buy any cookies and we eat very few as we are not a big 'cookie' or 'sweets' family.  I make our sweets from scratch and they are usually 'healthy' versions.  One of the cookies I buy once in a great while are Fruit Newtons - blueberry, strawberry or the triple berry whole wheat version. YUM!   I decided to try my hand at making them one day but doing it 'healthy' with almond flour and flax meal and no white refined sugar.

Wheat Free and Sugar Free Homemade Fig Newtons - Strawberry Newtons, etc.

2 c almond flour
1/3 c flax meal
1/2 t dried orange peel
dash cinnamon
1 t vanilla
1/3 c almond milk
1/4 c Truvia Sweetener

Jelly or Jam of your choosing; if you want to stay sugar free, use a sugar free jelly or jam.

In a mixer, combine the almond flour, flax, dried orange peel, vanilla, almond milk and sweetener.  Add a dash of cinnamon.  Taste test.  Depending on your sweetener of choice and personal level of sweetness, you may want to add about 1/4 c more.
Combine to form a dough ball.  At this point you can roll it immediately or cover and chill in the refrigerator until needed.
Roll the dough on parchment paper or a silpat mat - aiming for a long rectangle about 6 inches wide and as long as you wish.
Spread spoonfuls of jam down the center of your dough.
Use the parchment to help you roll the dough up.  You will fold the dough up and over the jam filling with the bottom third.  Then repeat and fold over from the top with the last.
Use a pizza cutter to slice 'cookies' or 'newtons' into 1 1/2" - 2" pieces.
Although I tested this recipe two different ways (the dehydrator and the oven) I do not recommend the dehydrator.  It takes almost 2 days to cook them that way; much easier to simply bake them and to be honest we liked the texture of the baked cookie better and ended up putting all the dehydrated cookies into the oven and baking them a bit to make them nice and golden with a crisp outside while still being moist inside.
Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes.  I baked on parchment paper as I found out the filling gets hot and bubbles out and spills.



Taste test the dough - you want it to be almost a tad too sweet as the sweetness fades in baking

Roll out nice and thin - remember you are making triple layers so it will be thick in the end


I used strawberry preserves - sugar free (quick and easy!)

Use the parchment to help fold up your dough over the filling


Ready to slice into cookies!
I found a knife squished them down too flat but a pizza cut was perfect for slicing

You can slice as large as you wish. I did about 1 1/2"

I tested dehydrating verses baking - we overwhelmingly prefer baking







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7/14/16

Homemade Blueberry Muffins with a Crumb Topping


My youngest daughter brought home a baggy of fresh blueberries from a weekend trip she took to the mountains.  With blueberries on my mind, I was going through some of my recipes this morning and saw I posted my favorite blueberry muffin in July of last year; but I think it's worthwhile to run it again since blueberries are bursting all over right now.









Blueberry Bread and Muffins

1 c butter
3 c sugar
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t lemon extract
6 eggs
3 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 c sour cream
2 c fresh blueberries - rinsed and completely dried on paper towels before using

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  Beat in the extracts.   Add eggs, beat well.  Combine the flour and baking soda.  Add to the  mixture alternately with the sour cream.  Fold in the blueberries.   Spoon into about 28-30 muffin tins lined with cupcake liners if desired.  Bake at 350 degrees 15-20 minutes  or until the center is done.  Although you don't have to use the cinnamon crumb topping, if you choose to, it adds a great texture and flavor.  Just sprinkle some crumb mixture onto each muffin before baking.  

Crumb Topping:

3/4 c all-purpose flour
A scant 1/2 c brown sugar
2 T granulated sugar
dash salt
1/4 t cinnamon
3/4 stick butter cut into pieces

In  a bowl, mix the 3/4 c flour, 1/2 c brown sugar, white sugar, salt and  cinnamon.  Cut in the butter and working with your fingertips, work in  butter pieces, until large clumps form.  Store in a baggy in the freezer  and use as needed on pies, muffins, granola, ice cream, muffins, quick  breads or desserts.  In this case - use it to top the blueberry muffins  before baking.







Batter is ready for berries!









Folding in the berries








Fresh blueberry muffins










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7/13/16

Homemade English Muffins: Recipe and Step By Step Photos






Homemade English Muffins
(Not a crumpet - which is a little different and cooked longer so they don't need to be split and toasted in the toaster like English Muffins do)

Have ready;
corn meal for dusting
English Muffin Rings are completely optional
An electric skillet for cooking
Butter for the skillet

Yeast Mix:
1/4 c warm water (just warmer than room temperature - about 100 degrees)
2 t instant yeast (or a little packet which is 2 1/4 t)
1/2 t sugar
1/2 t flour

I blended mine in a Mason jar.  Let it set for 5 minutes while you do the next step;

In microwave safe bowl mix;
1 1/4 c whole milk
1 T sugar
1 t salt
1T sour cream (or plain yogurt) (2 batches tested; 1 with and 1 without; I found this does add to the best flavor but is optional)

1 T butter

Microwave for about 1 minute until it's warm (longer depending on the strength of your microwave).  Stir until the butter melts.  Your milk mixture needs to be about 100-115 degrees but not hotter or it will kill the yeast when you mix them.

In a mixing bowl pour the the milk mixture, add the yeast mixture (which should now be very bubbly and have increased in size) and add;

2 1/2 - 3 c flour (I used hard white, fresh ground with a mixture of about 1/4 c fresh ground whole red wheat)

Mix with a bread hook attachment for about 5 minutes.  The dough will be sticky but should not be runny.  If it's runny, add another 1/2 cup flour.  If it's just sticky, don't add more.  If it's way too dry, add tablespoons of warm water little by little until it's a more stretchy, sticky dough - not dry.

Scrape down the dough with a greased scraper or your hands; and turn out into a greased bowl.  As soon as you do this, the dough should have come to a beautiful dough ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and now you have two choices;

refrigerate for at least 12 hours (basically just make them the next day)
OR
let rise for about 1-2 hours on the counter and make them immediately

I did two batches and did not notice a big difference between the two different rises.  They both turned out similar in the end. 

Remove the dough and divide into about 12-15 equal sized portions.  If you are using English Muffin rings, grease them, and lay them on a piece of parchment paper sprinkled with corn meal, on a baking sheet.  If you are not using rings, form the dough ball into nice round ball, flatten like a hamburger patty, and round off the edges. Lay then on the corn meal sprinkled parchment. If you are using the rings, lay a ring around the dough patty.  Sprinkle the tops with more corn meal. Let rise until they are a little puffy (about an hour or two depending on the time of year, temperature of your house, etc).

When you are ready to cook them, heat an electric griddle to about 350 degrees.  Place a pat of butter on and lay a dough muffin or carefully transfer the muffin ring with the dough inside to the griddle.  Cook for 5-7 minutes, gently pressing the top with a spatula to flatten a bit.  If your heat is too high or your griddle runs hot, the outside will be too dark too fast.  Aim for a nice constant heat to cook 5-7 minutes before flipping.  Cook the other side (add butter to the griddle if you need) until both sides are nice golden brown.  The insides will just be a touch under done.  Remove from heat.  Remove the rings if you used them.  Let cool.

To slice do not use a knife.  Part of what makes the nooks and crannies is pulling them apart.  Use a fork to fork-split around the muffin and then pull apart with your fingers.  Toast in your toaster and top as you wish.  These can be frozen just like store bought English Muffins can.

Notes:  I've mentioned in the recipe where I tried different things with different batches.  I actually found I loved the look of the English Muffins made without the rings as I was careful about shaping them with my hands.  I liked the flavor of the batch I used sour cream in better than the batch I left it out of.  The rise time in the refrigerator overnight verses just letting the dough rise for an hour in a warm environment made no discernible difference.  If you use rings, make sure your dough balls are big enough to fill them.  Mine were a little small and I had to go back and add more dough and reshape bigger balls so they would fill when they rose.   I'm still playing with this recipe as I mentioned in my opening paragraphs.  I have a great artisan bread recipe that I like that I want to try with this one.  I'll update in the future if I ever get around to doing it.  Until then, this is a good one to use.


Blending the yeast with warm water and a bit of sugar and flour


Warming the milk mixture in the microwave and then stirring to melt the butter in


After warming the milk mixture my yeast had proofed beautifully


The dough looks a bit sticky but is perfect once it's turned out of the bowl


Same dough a minute later after being scraped down and turned out into a nicely greased bowl
It formed it's own ball.


Dividing the dough into equal portions


I did some with rings and some without as I had 8 rings and the recipe can make 12


Sprinkling with corn meal..


Cooking the muffins on an electric griddle and pressed gently to keep them from rising too high


Looking and smelling so good....



Homemade English Muffins



Fork Split - don't cut with a knife.
Then toast in a toaster until golden and crisp







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7/11/16

Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms (mushroom caps) - and they're low carb too!









When it comes to stuffed mushrooms I don't really use recipes.  (Gee, big surprise there?).  I play with the idea, see what sounds good in my head and then add some things and taste test.  Funny thing though; these were supposed to be crab stuffed mushrooms.  Because I knew I had 2 cans of crab in my pantry.  So I grabbed the mushrooms, cleaned them, removed the stems. Chopped the stems and started them cooking in a pan with a little garlic, green onions....  got out the cream cheese and seasoned the mixture a little.  With the chopped stems and green onions tender and yummy, I turned off the heat, added the cream cheese and went to the pantry to grab the crab.

The crab that wasn't there.  Instead, I had two cans of clams.  Oh yeah.... I remember now.  I was going to make Linguine and Clam Sauce with those.  And never did.  And in my head, had switched clams for crab.  Which makes sense.  Because crab is $20 per can and clams are like, $3 - which would make waaaay more sense for me to have bought 2 cans of clams instead of $40 on crab.  Darnit me and my seafood mental transposition.

So, in the end;  Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushroom Caps.  Which were oh-so-yummy even if they weren't crab stuffed.
 



Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

12-15 mushrooms (the 2 bite size; not huge portabella)
1/2 block of cream cheese (about 4 oz.)
1 stalk green onion, trimmed and washed and chopped
salt and pepper
fresh minced garlic
olive oil

Clean the mushrooms, trim the woody end off the stems and chop the rest of the stems.  Heat a little olive oil in a pan on the stove and cook the mushroom stems, adding the chopped green onion and about 1/4 - 1/2 t of fresh chopped or minced garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.  As soon as it's tender, turn off the heat and add the cream cheese in cubes for easy melting.  Stir until it's blended.  Fill each cap with a spoonful of filling and bake on a baking sheet in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.  Remove the caps and set them on a folded piece of paper towel to drain the bit of liquid off the bottoms and then place on a serving tray.  Serve warm.






  
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7/10/16

Homemade Mozzarella Cheese - Step by Step Photos





I will put links to the actual products I order, own and use, at the end of this post so you can see exactly what I use. Once you invest in a few key ingredients, you won't have to order them again for a long time because you only use about 1/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of them for each batch.  Keep your rennet and lipase in the freezer and it will last at least 6 months.



Homemade Mozzarella

1 gallon whole milk - not 'ultra' pasteurized
1 t citric acid - dissolved in 1/4 c cold water
1/4 t lipase - dissolved in 1/4 c cold water
1/4 t liquid rennet (or 1/4 of a tablet cheese making rennet) - dissolved in 1/4 c cold water
1 t non-iodized salt (use cheese salt, sea salt, kosher salt, ice cream salt, Himalayan salt, etc.)

Pour the milk into a clean stainless steel pot.
Heat to 55 degrees.
Add lipase water mixture and stir slowly.
Add Citric Acid water mixture and stir slowly.
Heat slowly to 90 degrees. Remove from heat.
Add the rennet water mixture, stir slowly but stir well for 10-20 seconds.
Cover and let stand 5-10 minutes.
During this time the curd should separate from the whey and become a firm jello like layer on top.
After 5-10 minutes check for a clean break with a knife or frosting spatula.
Cut a checkerboard pattern across the curd to cut it into 1 inch cubes.
Swirl the pot a little and put back on heat.
Slowly heat to 105 degrees.  Remove from heat.
Swirl the pan again (no need to stir, but you can if you must).
Slowly spoon out the curds with a slotted metal spoon into a colander sitting inside a large bowl to catch the whey - or if you only have a wire strainer, line it with cheesecloth or a gauzy fabric so the curds don't get stuck in the wires.
Pour the last bit of the curds into the cloth from the pan.
Set the whey to the side, you don't need it for this recipe any longer.
Gently press on the curd to press out a bit more whey liquid.
Place in a microwaveable bowl.
Microwave 1 minute.
Drain again.
Knead and press to get more whey out.
Drain.
Microwave 35 seconds.
Knead and press again and drain.
Add your salt.
Microwave 20-30 seconds more and continue to knead and pull.
You can wear food safe heat resistant gloves if you have them as you are microwaving to get the cheese hot so it will stretch - and you will kind of burn your hands a bit.  It's hot!
You are hoping to be able to stretch it like taffy.
If it breaks more like bread dough, it's not hot enough.  Heat again and stretch again.
If you've reheated 3 times and it's still not quite as stretchy as you would like, that's ok, it will still look and taste great.
Form whatever shape you want (twist or balls, etc.) and plunge them into a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes.
Remove, wrap and refrigerate.






Read through the directions, and look at the photos so you know
what to have ready or on hand before you begin.


HINTS AND HELPS


You need rennet - liquid or tablet (either vegetable or animal).

Do not use the Junket brand in the grocery store - it's made for custard and you want a thicker curd than that. Get real rennet or you may not end up with a good curd.

Citric acid and lipase - Lipase is kind of optional; some people don't use it, but it adds flavor.





Heat your milk S L O W L Y so you don't scorch the bottom and you never accidentally boil it.







When you mix your citric acid, lipase and rennet with water, do NOT use chlorinated water, as chlorine kills the rennet.  If you do use tap water (which is chlorinated), some people add a bit of milk to it to neutralize it first. I have made it that way and made it without adding milk. I've not found a big difference either way but I've had great results from adding 1/4 t calcium chloride dissolved in 1/4 c water.  Works either way but much better curds with the calcium chloride.







  Have a thermometer.  You HAVE to know the correct temperature of your milk.  Some people have a digital - I bought a super cheapy on Amazon, calibrated it right before starting so I knew it was on target.  






 This is the "clean break" you look for after adding the rennet.
When you insert a knife or icing spatula you can see it is thick, like jello and breaks away from the liquid whey under it.






Cutting across, turning the pan and cutting across the other way gives you cubes.
This is giving the curds more surface area so the whey can separate from it.







Heating to 105 degrees before removing from the heat and starting to drain and knead.







After you heat to 105 and remove from heat, you can let the curds sit for 5 minutes.
During this time have your colander or strainer ready over a bowl to catch whey.
Have your cheese salt ready.  You can also get your bowl of ice water ready.








Starting to remove the curds from the whey.

 





Pour the last of the curds in.  The yellow liquid is the whey you will be pressing out gently and draining off.




After the 1 minute microwave to heat it, press and drain.


 


This is after the second microwave, knead and drain.

You can see it all comes together.

Keep heating and pulling until it pulls like taffy.

Yep, it's hot - you'll get burned hands if you don't have food safe gloves.  I didn't own any for the first few times I made cheese and it really burns your hands and it's hard to get it hot enough to 'pull' when you can't touch it.
I finally ordered some from Amazon and I'm so happy I finally caved and bought them.






Shape into whatever shape you wish.  I do balls.  Plunge in ice water 5 minutes.






SO GOOD!  The salt brings out the flavor so you don't need anything else, but you CAN add whatever herbs you wish to it.  (Basil, chives, etc.)







These are the products I ordered from Amazon and Used;

Lipase Powder-Italase-(mild) 1oz
NOW Foods - Citric Acid 100% Pure - 4 oz.
Organic Liquid Vegetable Rennet, 2oz.
Gerber Birdseye 10 Count Flatfold Cloth Diapers, White (24in x 27in)
Chefaith Silicone Oven Mitts [Red]

           



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