ALDI Faves

Been working on this post for awhile and was finally able to upload some pictures of the products to add to the post.  For many years, I avoided Aldi like the plague.  Not sure why... but after shopping there once, I wondered why I had been so stubborn (and prideful, if we're being honest).

Like any store, Aldi has some excellent products and some lousy ones.  This review if for the excellent products, but I must warn to stay away from their worst product ever: the glass cleaner.  Never have I used such a worthless product; in fact, I am convinced it is blue-tinted water.  Save your $1.50 and pass on the glass cleaner. 

For 1st time Aldi shoppers, bring a quarter to unlock a cart for shopping.  This reminds me of shopping in France when I was a student.  It's actually quite effective in keeping the carts corralled and you will never have a wet cart on rainy days.  Bring some reusable shopping bags, too, or purchase them at Aldi.

Beaumont Donut Store Blend Coffee & Benton's Ginger Snaps

Our cousin in Costa Rica is our official coffee supplier.  We buy Cafe Britt in bulk from him and the proceeds go to supplement youth ministry.  However, we are fresh out!  We have had the Beaumont coffee in Donut Store Blend (below), Hazelnut and French Vanilla.  Mind you, the bar is set REALLY high after drinking Cafe Britt regularly and the Aldi stuff is pretty stinking good.  It makes a decent cup of robust coffee with no bitterness.  Smooth and a nice caffeine kick.  $3.99

The Ginger Snaps are my hands-down favorite.  Zero trans fat, super crispy with an intense ginger spice.  Around $1.60 per bag.  Can't beat that!  They are a decent treat for WW, too.

Mandarin Oranges, Evaporated Milk and Baked Beans

When Tman was little, he went through a mandarin orange phase.  We loved putting them on our Romaine salad with sweet & salty toasted almonds.  Aldi always has a low price, usually around $.59.  Nice plump orange segments in water, not syrup.

The evaporated milk is just a great bargain.  We use it often in place of heavy cream to add richness while cutting fat.  A basic staple at a great price: $.69

The Dakota's baked beans are a recent find.  My sister served baked beans at her daughter's birthday party (one of my niece's favorite foods).  Our family is a tried and true Bush Beans buyer and I assumed they were Bush Beans, somehow gussied up to add some interesting depth of flavor.  The beans were polished off and we were all raving about them.  My sister told us they were purchased at Aldi and a new favorite was born.  TRY THESE-for $.95, it's an inexpensive gamble.

Mandarin Orange Chicken

Found in the frozen section, I grabbed a bag one day for a quick dinner.  Although I ate something else, I did try a piece and it was really good.  My husband and son said it tasted like Panda Express but I cannot say for sure as I have never had Panda Express orange chicken.  For $4.99, it is a quick, easy dinner that my kids and husband enjoy.  We steam white rice and serve veggies alongside.

Willow 1-ply Bath Tissue



Lately, we have had an issue with (ahem!) boys using too much t.p., thus creating a back up.  This t.p. is fantastic.  Super cheap ($2.49), the 4 roll package lasts a long time since it's 1-ply.  My dad is horrified as he insists on the most plush t.p. ever, but to each his own.  My family's derrieres will have to deal with the one-ply because I am not about the mop up another stopped up toilet disaster.

Lacura

Amazing.  $3.99.  Don't believe me?http://www.makeupalley.com/product/showreview.asp/ItemId=117386/Q10-Anti-Wrinkle-Night-Cream-/Lacura/Moisturizers  Read the reviews on makeupalley:



Darling Chicks

Aldi is a great place to find little holiday treats.  Their chocolate is decent and super affordable.  I always splurge on some Fannie May, but these are nice fillers.  $2.99 or about 12 foil chicks.

Another item I love: the Light and Fit Ranch Dressing (100 times better than Hidden Valley)!

That's all, folks.  Have a lovely weekend as we celebrate our Risen Savior and King Jesus!

Homemade Fruit Leather

Last week I had a tremendous amount of plums, peaches and apricots that were very ripe.  I pitted them and then cooked down the fruit for a couple hours in a covered pot.  After running the cooked fruit through my trusty Foley food mill, I had a huge bowl of puree left.  I added a little bit of sugar and then cooked to hard ball stage.  The plum "jellies" never firmed up enough...they were like a thick, smooth jam.  Delicious, but we already have too much jam.

I stirred in a box of apricot jello and then spread the jammy goo onto parchment-lined baking sheets.  Baked at 200 degrees for about 1 hour, then left in the oven overnight.  This morning they were tacky and almost done.  A quick blast of heat and a rest in the oven (about 2 hours) had them ready for peeling and eating.

They peeled off easily and taste so delicious.  I rolled the parchment into long tubes (GIANT fruit roll-ups).  They will not last long with this crew.  Don't have room for a dehydrator, but this method worked really well.

Sugar Cookies, Chicken and Dumplings and February Fun

After a long break from sugar cookie orders, I was asked to make some lamb cookies for a baby shower.  The request came from a woman who had tasted one of my cookies about 3 years ago.  SHe is soon to be a grandma and was hosting a shower for her daughter.  

The theme was baby lambs and their color was pink.  I ordered a cutter online and was disappointed when it was much smaller than described.  To remedy the size issue, I used a large 3.5" square cutter with a crimped edge as a base for the small lamb.  Simple marbled royal icing in pink and white was the blue to adhere the iced lambs.  They were darling and quite a hefty portion of cookie when all stacked and "done".

On a savory note, I am grateful that my Grandma Wilder does not have access to the internet as I have discovered a new dumpling recipe.  Her recipe is wonderful and tastes like delicious memories each time I have made it, but I think I much prefer my new recipe.  Adapted from "America's Test Kitchen", these dumplings are beyond wonderful....akin to a tiny fluffy biscuit in savory chicken soup. 

Here is the recipe:
http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-and-dumplings-260660

I did omit the peas and thyme.  Will be making again this week with a few changes.  I will post the pictures, too.

My friend and I are going to be planning several freezer meals in the next couple weeks.  In an effort to be healthier, better organized and less stressed (about dinner), I look forward to grabbing a bag of pre-chopped veggies, meat and seasonings that I can toss in the crockpot. 

No big Valentine's dinner this year as I was battling the flu for a week. 

Happy end of February!

Soft Fudgy Cookies

The post should probably read Soft Fudgy, Minty Cookies because C and I added Nestle dark chocolate and mint chips.  When Meijer had their after Christmas sale, there were many bags of these holiday chips left for an insanely low price (86 cents?).  They are now in the deep freeze for my meltaway fudge recipe.

After searching for cookie recipes online, I found one that I decided to change up to increase the chocolate intensity.  Here is our recipe.  (Charlie a.k.a. sous-chef thinks they are delicious.  Then again, he thinks anything edible is delicious).

1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 generous tsp. vanilla
1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups flour, sifted
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
(chips, nuts, dried cherries)

Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Add cocoa and mix until smooth.  Add rest of dry ingredients.  Add your mix-ins (optional) last.  Scoop into balls and bake at 350 for about 8 minutes on parchment paper. 

We froze this batch.  I line a 9x13 pan with parchment and scoop balls with my small cookie scoop.  The recipe yielded: 42 cookie balls.  We cover tightly and place in deep freeze.  Once frozen, remove to freezer bags until ready to bake.  Label bags with oven temp. and time.  They will take a bit longer when frozen. 

Yay!  Our freezer will have more cookies.  Right now we only have 2 logs of slice and bake sugar cookie dough that I made last week.

We have had a wonderful and busy 2012 so far but have been thanking God for our overflowing blessings!

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Illinois is icy cold tonight.  The chill is seeping under the doors and we are all wearing socks and slippers.  Dinner was simple: spaghetti with Italian sausage.  My husband is a lover of comfort food (who isn't?) and I love to have the house smelling delicious when he comes home. 

To combat the cold, I decided to bake.  T was at soccer and E was heading off to a meeting at church, so another simple recipe was in order since the priority was heating up the kitchen.  I remembered a quickie recipe that I once made from Allrecipes for red velvet whoopie pies.  All ingredients were on hand: cake mix, eggs and oil.  (We omitted the bourbon but would love to try in the future!) 

After mixing red velvet cake mix, 2 eggs and 1/2 cup oil, I used to ice cream scoop to place onto parchment-lined baking sheets.  We baked at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes until baked through.

After cooling, we sandwiched with a basic buttercream (butter, whipping cream & confectioner's sugar). 

They were really yummy and so simple.  My favorite pastime is cooking and baking....and I love challenging pastries.  But sometimes simple is fun and I forget that I don't need to make something elaborate to please my boys.

I had half of one (thank you, WW points).  These would be a darling Valentine's treat or fun snack for your loved ones.  My husband has a big old whoopie pie waiting for him when he gets back from his meeting.  I love him!

Leftover Ham

My Aunt Betty gave us a wonderful gift of a large smoked ham this year.  Initially, I prepared it by baking with some homemade plum pomegranate jam as a glaze.  It was delicious, but we had a considerable chunk left over. 
Yesterday was one of those days where cooking felt like a drudgery....especially after Christmas.  T & I spent much of the day cleaning up the Christmas decor and I did some laundry.  When it was time to start dinner, I stood in front of the open fridge, taking inventory.  We had some eggs, the ham, bagged shredded hash browns and cheese.  Decided on a simple frittata.  It turned out so well, that I thought I would share.  Between the three guys and myself, it was polished off.  E is not feeling well and he appreciated the savory comfort food aspect.

1 bag shredded potatoes
1-2 cups chopped ham
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 eggs
olive oil
salt & freshly ground pepper
cheese (if desired)

Heat oil in skillet (preferable one with a lid and higher sides).  Add chopped onion to hot oil and let cook for about a minute.  Add potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.  Toss in ham and combine all.  In separate bowl, crack and beat eggs.  Pour eggs over all and fold in to make sure they are combined.  Turn down heat and cover.  Let cook until eggs are cooked.  Season with salt & pepper, sprinkle with cheese, if you like.  The boys had Cheddar.

This would taste really yummy with spinach & Feta cheese if you don't have (or care for) ham.

Enjoy!  Here's a favorite pic of T & C reading Christmas stories.

Peppermint Marshmallow Fudge

This is perhaps the easiest fudge recipe ever.   I think we made it in less than 5 minutes and it was so good.  I love my classic fudge recipe that requires time, stirring, several different chocolates, etc.  Charlie changes everything around here and since he loves to cook, speed is of the essence.
Peppermint Marshmallow Fudge

3 cups milk chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 bags)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick butter)
1/2 bag of peppermint marshmallow (Jet-Puf's seasonal variety)

In large bowl, microwave chips, butter and condensed milk just until chips begin to melt.  Stir well until all chips are melted and fudge is smooth.  Gently fold in marshmallows.  Pour into greased 9x9 pan and chill until firm.

These are really, really pretty.  I am sending the bulk of them with my dear husband to work so I don't eat them.