Homemade Black Bean Burgers

 I at least try to prepare one or two meatless meals throughout the week for my family.  I am not a big fan of store bought bean burgers that are on the market so I decided to create my own.  With a few simple ingredients from my "Grandma's Pantry" and some added fresh veggies I was able to whip up this meatless meal for my family.

This black bean burger is flavorful and is a great replacement for a traditional burger.  Just add your traditional burger condiments to these burgers and be amazed at how good they taste!! 

Homemade Spicy Black Bean Burger

Black Beans (in a can or cooked dry black beans)
½ of each green, red, yellow and orange peppers diced
½ diced onion
2 cloves fresh garlic diced

Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste (not garlic salt)
Onion powder to taste
Cumin to taste
Chili powder to taste
Essence Spice (to taste) *link to recipe included below
1 medium egg
1 cup corn meal or so (just enough to thicken and make it dry)
1 cup flour or so (just enough to thicken and make it dry)
Olive Oil

Follow directions on the package of dry beans plus add a half onion. If using can beans rinse the beans. Once the beans are cooked, mash them into they turn into a thick paste.

Saute veggies in olive oil into they are translucent then add it to mashed beans, season it and add egg and mix then add corn meal, flour (make sure the mixture is a little thick and dry but not too much) To make the patties take a spoonful of mixture and roll into a ball and place on a oiled baking sheet and then press down with your palm (you may need to wet your hands in between rolling the mixture into balls) and oil a baking dish and bake in oven (turn periodically so that they don’t stick or burn to the pan)

You can fry these if you choose in olive oil.

You can get the recipe for the Essence Seasoning Here
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-essence-creole-seasoning-recipe2/index.html

Plain Eggless Muffins

 My family love these eggless muffins, they are soooo delicious and are the perfect cure to having a homemade baked good when you don’t have any eggs.  These muffins use simple ingredients, so you probably already have most of these ingredients in your own “Grandma’s Pantry”.   I like to add a cream cheese frosting (recipe included) to these moist and just plain ol good muffins!

Plain Eggless Muffins 
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Cup of Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Nutmeg
1 1/2 Cups of Whole
1 Tablespoon of White Vinegar
1/3 Cup of Canola Oil
1 1/2 Teaspoons of Vanilla Extract (the real stuff)

Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl and whisk well. In another bowl mix all wet ingredients and whisk well...then pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into oiled muffin pan or muffin liners and bake at 375 degrees until when inserted with a fork or toothpick it comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 tbl spoons of softened butter
1/4 cup of cream cheese
1/4 cup of powdered sugar
Sprinkle of salt
1 to 2 tsp of Vanilla Extract (the real stuff)

Cream butter and sugar together then add cream cheese and cream all together, add sprinkle of salt and vanilla extract and cream together until smooth and fluffy.  Spread over your eggless muffin and enjoy!

Simple Russian Tea Cookies

 With my “Grandma’s Pantry” I am able to whip up yummy treats that are simple in ingredients but BIG on TASTE!  I SO love simple recipes that have great taste and require little time to whip up and these little darlings most definitely fit the bill. 

Russian Tea Cookies  

  2 sticks of butter

   1 teaspoon vanilla extract

   7 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

   2 cups all-purpose flour

   1 cup chopped walnuts (I used Almonds from out out of the mixed nuts can and crushed them very small) It was the only thing I had

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration 

*I added White Chocolate chips to the last bit of mixture I had and it came out DELICIOUS! I needed to find something to use my White Chocolate for.

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 

2.   In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When cool, roll in remaining confectioners' sugar. I also like to roll mine in the sugar a second time.

Mmmmm Yummy….. Soft Snickerdoodles!!

Today the sky is gray and cloudy and the sun plays peek-a-boo from time to time.  Well, while Mr. Sunshine refuses to stay out, I thought I will bake up something tasty to bring some sunshine to the taste buds. 

  

Our Goodie Dish

The house smelled so good while these tasty soft yummy snickerdoodles rolled in cinnamon sugary goodness baked in the oven.  We love snickerdoodles and my children are going to be happy campers when they come home to see the cake (goodie) dish filled with these yummy buttery and simple cookies. 

   

 Soft Snickerdoodles

• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon

  Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.
3. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
4. Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture.
5. Chill dough, and chill an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge.
6. Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.
7. Scoop 1 inch globs of dough into the sugar/ cinnamon mixture.
8. Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture.
9. Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake 10 minutes.
10. Remove from pan immediately.

-via online

Simplicity Quotes

Avoiding Genetically Modified Foods (GMO’s)

Happy Housewife With A Full Fridge of Non-GMO Foods

Oh my.. how easy it must have been back in the olden days to shop for food for your family.  Back then when you purchased milk, it was Pure Milk, when you purchased Corn Meal, it was Pure Corn Meal.  You were confident that what you bought was the real thing and there was no real need to read the labels for killer ingredients. 

It was a simpler time where foods were what they were without any hidden ingredients or being GENETICALLY MODIFIED to look like corn but not actually be REALly corn??  A housewife of yesteryear could be at peace in regards to the foods she purchased for her family, she had no worries about the contents of the food that she prepared for her family to consume.  Today is a different story, grocery shopping for the family has become an all out war!! Sometimes it’s matter of can I afford to purchase ALL organics without going broke or do I purchase a little bit of both and decipher which one is more harmful as a non-organic than the other.  It’s crazy I tell ya… down right crazy!

GMO’s are like in ALMOST everything! I tell ya it’s enough to make you want to throw up your hands and say “I GIVE UP!” Well, we must not lose hope and we can’t give up because our families depend on us to feed them well and we must continually educate ourselves and make hard decisions on the foods we feed our families.  This task may not be easy and will take a lot of diligence and preparation but together we can do it!  I have compiled a list and a few links (I will be adding more) of foods that may be GMO’s and a link to find out which brands are Non-GMO’s you can find it HERE.   I hope this helps many.  

Kitchen Swap It

Sometimes a recipe calls for a certain ingredient or item that we may not have on hand.  So, "If not on hand....if you can…. SWAP IT”!


A pastry bag: Is a cone shaped bag used for piping of icing onto cakes or for more complicated cake decorations. You can also use a pastry bag to create decorative food arrangements of semi- solid food.

The Swap: A plastic bag. For a simple “Happy Birthday” or “I Love You” design on a cake you can use a heavy freezer plastic bag and turn it into a handy dandy pastry bag for basic decorating, frosting, melted chocolate, whipped cream or piping of dough (like Churros..etc).  Spoon in your ingredient and snip the corner with scissors to your desired diameter and then gently squeeze out onto your cake.