Recipes | Clever Homemaking

Easy Fruit Salad

January 11, 2011 Jen No comments

I got the idea for this recipe from the annual Pillsbury recipe book. It is so easy to make, but tastes like a lot of effort goes in to making it!

Photo by Elana Amsterdam

Ingredients

4 oz Mandarin Oranges
4 oz Pineapple Tidbits
4 oz Mixed Fruit with Cherries
Blueberries
Sliced Banana
(Or 4 servings of ANY fruit you have on hand!*)
Lemon Yogurt

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

* This recipe is very versatile and will fit any fruit you have on hand. Now that Dole is making fruit cups with 100% juice (instead of syrup!), it’s much easier to stock single servings of fruit in your pantry. (Walmart has followed suite by making generic Great Value brand fruit cups in 100% juice!) Use these or fresh fruit to your liking.

My favorite yogurt for this recipe is Yoplait Thick & Tasty Lemon Meringue Pie.

I make this recipe for my family of 4. If you are making this recipe for a potluck, simply double or triple the ingredient list and you are all set.

Apple Crisp

September 26, 2009 Jen No comments

Photo by MrLunch

Ingredients

4 medium apples, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.

In a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish, spread the apples and sprinkle with sugar, lemon juice, and honey.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture crumbles.

Spread flour mixture over the apple mixture.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is browned.

Easy S’Mores Recipe

August 10, 2009 Jen 2 Comments

You don’t need a campfire to make these super easy S’mores.

Ingredients

Graham crackers
Marshmallow creme
Chocolate chips

Directions

1. Place one cracker down.
2. Spread cracker with marshmallow creme.
3. Top with chocolate chips.
4. Top with another cracker.
5. Microwave until chocolate is just starting to melt.

YUM! Some fun additions to the traditional s’mores are Reese’s cups and bananas.

Beef Carbonade Recipe

June 30, 2009 Jen No comments

Beef chuck steak goes on sale tomorrow at HEB. This is a good cut of meat to use when making Beef Carbonade – this week’s “Bargain Meal of the Week” in affiliation with $5 Dinners.

2 slices bacon
1 1/2 lb beef chuck steak, cut into small pieces
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup onions, chopped
3 cups mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup beef broth
1 cup beer
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 325.

Cook bacon, remove from skillet (reserve), and use the bacon grease to brown your beef chuck steak. Remove beef from skillet. Add butter to the skillet and saute the onions until tender. Add mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add half the beef broth and all of the remaining ingredients other than the flour. Cook for 2 minutes. Mix the beef into the skillet mixture and pour into a baking dish and bake for 75 minutes.

Mix the flour and the remaining beef broth. Mix into the casserole and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve over egg noodles and top with crumbled bacon.

Kid Friendly Recipe: Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

June 16, 2009 Jen No comments

Ingredients:

2 slices bread
Butter
Peanut Butter
Banana, sliced

Directions:

Spread one side of a piece of bread with butter. Place in a medium heat skillet buttered side down.

Spread top of bread in skillet with peanut butter. Layer top of peanut butter with banana slices.

Spread one side of the remaining bread with peanut butter. Place peanut butter side down on top of banana slices.

Butter the top of the sandwich.

When bottom bread starts to brown, flip the sandwich. Continue cooking like a grilled cheese until both sides are golden brown.

Homemade Roux Part II: Storing the Roux

June 15, 2009 Jen 1 Comment

In part I of our roux series, I showed you how to make a batch of roux. I often make a batch large enough for several uses and store the excess roux. This helps to save a lot of time and effort when making future meals.

After cooking your roux to the desired color, pour your roux into a glass bowl.

Allow the roux to cool before storing.

Once the roux has cooled, divide it into an appropriate storage container. If the flour and oil have separated, simply stir the oil back in before dividing. Some people argue you should pour off the excess oil. I like to do this before using – not before storing.

If you will be storing your roux in the refrigerator, I recommend using a glass jar. Since roux will store for a long time (it’s simply flour and oil), your plastic is likely to take on the smell of other refrigerator items. Your plastic container will also take on the smell of your roux.

If you will be storing your roux in the freezer, you can use either glass or heavy plastic. I personally use Ball’s plastic freezer jars to store mine in the freezer.

Make sure you use a container that allows for one inch of expansion at the top.

Next we will discuss how cook with roux and take a look at how we make our delicious gumbo.

Homemade Roux Part I: Making the Roux

June 09, 2009 Jen 11 Comments

A family favorite at our house is a big bowl of gumbo and rice. The secret to making a great gumbo is homemade roux. A lot of people are intimidated by the process, but it’s really quite simple and well worth the time.

To make your roux, you need equal amounts of flour and fat. I use vegetable oil as my fat, but you can use clarified butter, lard, or other cooking oils. Since making roux can be a time consuming process, I always make a big batch and store the excess roux for future use. My gumbo requires a 1 cup ratio so I use 4 cups flour and 4 cups oil. This is enough for 4 gumbos.

Add your oil to a heavy pan or dutch oven. Heat the oil over medium heat and add the flour. Using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture continuously until you achieve the desired color.

You will be able to see, feel, and smell when your roux changes to a new color.

If you are making roux for a milk based sauce, you want to stop cooking it before the color and smell change. I use this “white roux” for cheese sauce for my son’s veggies and in my mac n cheese.

After your roux changes color, it will become golden brown (“blond”) and smell similar to popcorn. This roux is used as a thickening agent for stock based sauces. You would use this to thicken your soups or stews.

In the next stage, the roux takes on a peanut butter color and a nutty smell. I’ve never used this particular roux, but some prefer this flavor over a darker roux in their gumbo dishes.

Finally the roux will turn the color of milk chocolate. This roux is the perfect ingredient for making your gumbo.

You don’t want to cook your roux past this point or it will burn. Please be aware that your roux can burn at any stage if your heat is too high or you aren’t continuously stirring. If you see any black flecks in your roux, it has burned and you need to throw it out and start over. You cannot save a burned roux.

Stayed tuned to future posts where I will show you how to store your roux and how to use your roux.

Homemade Italian Dressing

May 04, 2009 Jen No comments

Mix together the following dry ingredients:

2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp garlic salt
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp celery salt

In a separate container, mix together the following liquid ingredients:

2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 Tbsp water

Add 2 Tbsp of the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients. Mix together.

Store the remaining dry ingredients for future dressing.

Homemade Easter Egg Dye

April 07, 2009 Jen 1 Comment

If you already have food coloring in your pantry, there is no need to pay for Easter Egg Kits. Simply dip your hard boiled eggs into a solution similar to the following:

1 cup of hot water
1/2 tsp white vinegar
food coloring

Add food coloring one drop at a time until you achieve the desired color.

When the valentine’s clearance reached 90% at CVS, I picked up a bunch of Disney/Pixar stickers for $.29. My 2 year old will be using these stickers to bring our homemade easter eggs to the next level!

Homemade Chili Seasoning Packet

February 20, 2009 Jen 2 Comments

You can save money when seasoning your food by eliminating the prepared seasoning packets and seasoning blends. This is our standard “Chili Seasoning Packet”.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp minced garlic

If you don’t use fresh onion in your chili, you can add a couple of Tbsp of minced or chopped dried onion to your seasoning packet.

Directions

I usually make a “packet” as I’m fixing my chili. I mix all the ingredients in a bowl and then add the seasoning to my chili. These packets are very easy to make ahead of time, however, and store in your pantry to save you some time. Simply portion out each “packet” on to a square of foil and seal. Store your packets in a ziplock bag or glass jar until needed.