Lemon Simple Syrup:
4 Lemons, Juiced
1/2 C White Sugar
Bring to a slight boil. Let it cool off the burner to room temp before using in cold drinks.
Author Archives: stacey
Mocktails
Millionaire Sour:
2 oz (60 mL) each: Lemon Simple Syrup / Ginger Ale
1/4 C Crushed Ice
1/4 oz (7 mL) Grenadine Syrup
Lemon Slice
Yield: 1
Arnold Palmer:
1 C Brewed Black Tea
3/4 C Lemonade
Ice
1 Shot Lemon Simple Syrup
1 Lemon Slice (or thin slice of Jalapeno cut lengthwise)
Yield: 1
Ginger Beer Mule:
1 C Ginger Beer
3 Tbsp Lime Juice
3/4 C 7-Up or Sprite
1/4 C Simple Syrup
Ice
Mint & Lime Wedges
Yield: 2
Jalapeno Mockarita:
1 C Ice
1/2 C OJ
1/4 C Fresh Lime Juice
1 Jalapeno, cut into rings
Salt for rim
Yield: 1
Banana Bread Smoothie
Here is another smoothie I want to make. I’ll have to leave out the oats, though. Last time I drank anything with malted oats, I broke out in hives, so pass.
This is the Banana Bread Smoothie, and it’s right up my alley!
Try it and tell me what you think.
Philly Steak Sandwich Inspo
I can’t find the video I watched a week ago that gave me this idea. In the video, they used chopped up steak, but I had leftover smoked ribs and chicken, so I chopped up both into a mix and used that instead.
I started by frying some chopped onions, and then I added the meat to heat all the way through. Near the end of that, I added some marble cheese shred, gave it a toss and then scooped it into naan bread I steamed to make them pliable.
I added some Poke sauce to the naan and took a bite. I was so good. It will be better when I make this again when I add some veg (I didn’t have any left at this point in the week), and following the traditional Philly Steak, I will add fried green peppers, some lettuce and tomato slices, and then top it all with melted Provolone (or Swiss) cheese and hit with some Kewpie mayo. I can’t wait.
A Very Berry Summer
I bought a container of price reduced strawberries when we were grocery shopping for bbq food. I gave them an eight min bath in 1/4 C white vinegar and enough water to just top the berries. After draining, I placed them on a clean tea towel to dry.
The former customer of ours that gave us blackberries from his backyard as I was making dinner to let me know he pick another huge yield that day. I dispatched the husband to grab another pint from the nice customer. When he got back, i set up the same vinegar and water bath for the blackberries. I rested them eight mins, drained them, and laid them out to air dry.
From there, I lined each plastic container with a bit of paper towel, and placed the berries back inside them before I found some room in the fridge to eat them this week.
Straight from the Smoker
It was a beautiful clear day yesterday, so I decided I needed to BBQ some food for the week. I thawed some back ribs I had in the freezer when I woke up, and while that was doing its thing, we headed out to buy some groceries for other items I was planning to smoke.
When we got back, the husband took off on the motorcycle (a rare luxury for him these days), while I fired up the charcoal. I prepped all the food as the fire heated up the coals. I slapped down some pepper cuts, potatoes, chicken breasts, and the ribs to get some colour on the top side before I rolled it over and shoved it over to the indirect side to slow smoke.
While this was happening, I got to enjoy a few hours out on the patio playing on the computer and drinking cold coffee. Ahhh… I was a happy camper. After the food was finished cooking, I brought it all in and get the table ready as the husband was walking in the door. The corn also got smoked but it was the last night I smoked a few mins on each side after microwaving them in their husks for 6 mins to speed everything up.
When the chicken was cool enough to handle, I cut all five breasts differently to target meals for the week. I sliced one and a half breasts into thin slices for the express of making my favourite sanny ever, the Chicken Club. š
The rest of the chicken got cut up into thicker chunks for a Caesar salad for one, and cubes to drop into a pot of hot Butter Chicken sauce tomorrow night for dinner. Yes!
After dinner, I got making up a few meal kits for our lunches the next day. When the corn was fully cold, I dropped a bit of salt over them as well as a small butter pat, so after the corn is heated with the meat, we could roll our corn sections in the salt + butter inside the dish. Worked like a charm.
And the potato in my kit got pierced in a lengthwise line as was as a cross line. I didn’t think it was enough, so I stabbed the rest of the potato top and then used the fork to push it all down to a smushed mash before topping it with some cucumber salad dressing and green onion chops like I did the night before (see above dinner plate).
All in all, I’m liking this bbq weekend stuff. I just wish the weather was more consistently night as opposed to one bbq day every three fricking weeks. Ugh,
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chips (Quarter Batch)
I’m at that age where eating a cookie (or three) over the course of a day is really not working for me. But, I still want a cookie every so often, so I dipped a toe into the dark side by picking up a bag of gluten-free flour.
I know, I know!
I also bought a small bag of gluten-free cookies at work the other day, and son-of-a… Yeah, I felt fine, and I didn’t look stuffed like a pig the next morning. So I guess we all know where this is heading. Ugh.
Ok, fine! I will start to shift over. I’m starting with this recipe I found on the back some other g/f cookie mix bag that was far too expensive for me to buy. I just couldn’t. I hope just buying the flour will get me where I need to go.
(fingers crossed) Here is my first kick at that can.
Auntie Stacey’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Dry:
Flour = 75g
Baking Soda = 1/4 tea
Salt = 1/4 tea
White Sugar = 150g
Brown Sugar = 156g
Chocolate Chips = 30-40g
Chopped Nuts = 30-40gĀ (opt)
Wet:
Vanilla = 1/4 tea
Butter, soft = 40g
1 med Egg
Yield: 12 mini cookies
Bake at 375*F, 11 mins, on parchment
Update: The butter spread out too much, so I dropped the butter and upped the flour increments so I can refer to this online recipe when I make them again next week. But, as for the rest of the cookies, I can tell you they are soft in the middle while retaining a crunch due to the brown sugar. It’s a lovely chewy experience. And the sugar blend is dead on. The cookies aren’t not too sugary, and nor are they underwhelmingly sweet.
Mini Cinni Buns
I was cleaning out my big freezer and found this tube of croissants in it. I defrosted it and then rolled it out to spread some melted butter, ground cinnamon, and white sugar all over one side before cutting and rolling this into eight small cinnabuns.
Also, I am so old, I had to take a picture of the packaging instructions so I can zoom in the text to know at what temp to bake these suckers.
Mermaid Floatie Sippy Cup
I found a solution to my drink spilling problem. Behold!
The blowup mermaid tail was stuffed inside the cup when I bought it. It’s cute. Too bad we don’t have a pool. Oh, well. But, no more tip-overs for me. š
My Sausage Fingers Strike Again
The other night I cooked a pizza for dinner, and as we were sitting down to enjoy a few slices with some soda, my fat sausage fingers got me into trouble again. *le sigh*
As I was reaching for another slice, my knuckle knocked the full glass of Fresca that was in front of the pizza on the cutting board, and this caused it to fall over and hit the hard wood board. It smashed and spilled my drink all over, under, and around the pizza slices, along with a bunch of big and small glass pieces.
I had to throw those slices (mine with the black olives) into the trash and work as fast as possible to mop up the drink that was now flowing all over the dining table as well as the cutting board. *le sigh*
“Would you like a some pizza with your broken glass?” asked the husband.