Ann B. Davis, who played Alice on The Brady Bunch, passed away today, June 1, 2014, at 88 years old. Did you know she grew up in Erie, PA?
Ann B. Davis played Alice on the television sitcom “The Brady Bunch”
Alice did the cooking in the Bradys’ household. She made simple, All-American dinners and published hers and cast member’s recipes in a cookbook “Alice’s Brady Bunch Cookbook” in 1994. Meatloaf, fried chicken, homemade macaroni and cheese …The recipes are quick and easy, positively timeless!
Remember the pork chops and applesauce episode? Click and watch!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jB4tJgzcVJE
Here is the recipe!
Ann B. Davis’ Pork Chops and Applesauce
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tbsp. olive oil
8 pork chops
Salt to taste
2 tsp. black pepper
2/3 cup dry Vermouth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
Directions:
Flavor chops with spices.
Combine vermouth, lemon juice, butter and oil in saucepan.
Fry chops.
Grate lemon peel as garnish.
Serve over applesauce.
Give Tiger a bath…and don’t play ball on the house.
My Notes:
Be sure to brown the chops and cook only until cooked through. (Pork chops can easily be overcooked and turn into hockey pucks)
Low/Medium heat!
Meat thermometer temp for pork 160 degrees!
Coffee causes cancer. Milk causes cancer. Microwave popcorn causes cancer. Pop causes cancer. Processed meats cause cancer.
We hear these health news alerts and we try to be more cognizant about what we put in our mouths. We grill our meat instead of frying it and eat more fruits and veggies. Now we hear that grilling meat causes cancer? What? I thought grilling was healthy?!
Grilled chicken and a nutritious vegetable side! Could it really be unhealthy? Chicken and fish are currently ruled “safer” than red meats.
This topic is extremely controversial, even among accredited researchers!
The one conclusion they agree upon is that cooking fleshy meat at high temperatures changes its DNA and the created “heterocyclic aromatic compounds” (HCAs) have been shown to be carcinogenic. The compounds have proven to be cancer causing in animal testing.
Another dangerous side effect caused by grilling meats is the creation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or (PAHs). These carcinogenic gasses are created from fat drippings that burn on the grill. The smoke created is absorbed by the food and we consume it.
Both end products caused cancer in animals experimentally. So the question remains, How much would we need to consume to produce the same results? Nobody really knows.
No definitive answers from scientists, yet.
Shannon Riskey, RN, MSN, at Pittsburgh’s Hillman Cancer Center tells her patients, “Everything that enters our bodies, or we put on our skin, has the potential to ‘mix up’ our DNA, which then causes cells to regenerate in an abnormal way. Basically, how cancer occurs.”
So yes, in a way everything does have the potential to cause cancer. Shannon explained that “moderation is key” and “who wouldn’t want to eat grilled meats?” Love her, it’s so true!
Dr. Jamie Uribarri, Mt. Sinai New York nephrologist and heterocyclic aromatic compounds (HCAs)research leader , tells me the dangers don’t merely lie in grilling, but in cooking meats at high temperatures. His research highlights advanced glycation end products and the link between heating meats and chronic disease.
I had to ask him the question, “Is it the amount of meat people are eating or the cooking process?” Nobody really knows! I’m not shocked!
What do scientists know?
1. Marinate the meat!
Studies show that marinating and rubbing the meat in wine, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice or rosemary can lower its pH and lower the risk of and HCA and PAH development.
Roasted garlic, basil and rosemary marinade!
2. Eat antioxidant rich fruits and veggies!
Researchers believe that eating foods rich in antioxidants may offset the dangers of grilling carcinogens.
Blueberries are high in antioxidants!
3. Cover the grill with aluminum foil to avoid charring the meat or scrape off the char before eating. Isn’t that the most delicious part?
4. Pre-cook meat so that it is not exposed to high heat for extended periods of time. Boiled burger, anyone?
Another option is to grill on lower heat for a longer period of time.
5. Avoid grilling processed meats. Higher levels of carcinogens were found in hotdogs and sausage.
Grilled homemade sausage served with peppers and onions is one of our favorites! Grilled sausage creates more carcinogens? How much more? Is it dangerous? Nobody knows for sure!
Everything in moderation! That includes grilled meats! Remember, the dangerous levels of HCAs and PAHs are possibly, maybe, could be, might be too small to make a difference. So don’t go nuts just in case!
It is hard to get back into the swing of life after a long holiday weekend! Do you have leftover hamburgers, pulled beef or pork, or maybe some grilled chicken or shrimp?
I have a quick, easy dinner recipe for you!! Dinner in less than one hour!
Get rid of the lingering leftovers and be on top of dinner!!
Cookout Leftovers Taco Soup
Ingredients:
2-3 cups of leftover beef, pork, shrimp
1 35 oz. can whole, crushed, or chopped tomatoes
1 15.5 oz. can black beans
1 16 oz. bag frozen corn
4 cups water
1/4 cup taco seasoning (Note: you can sub chili powder if you are out of taco seasoning!)
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: If you have an onion and/or a pepper you can chop and throw them in. Not necessary!
Directions:
Shred, chop or dice your leftover meat or fish.
Add all ingredients to a stock pot on medium heat and stir.
Cook until hot!
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheese. Maybe even some leftover tortilla chips!!
I am always looking for healthy, delicious, easy snacks for my family! Lots of chia seeds, kale, Greek yogurt, sweet potatoes…Anything that is really healthy and tastes great! We are not into the hold-your-nose-and-drink bitter green juices!!
Throw in the chia when baking anything!! Chia seeds are tasteless and have enormous health benefits!
Here is a great healthy snack recipe! Definitely not a chewy gooey, rich chocolate chip cookie recipe. Kid and mommy approved! Packed with chia seeds, fiber and a bonus, they are gluten free!
Just can’t get enough!
Super Chocolate Chip Snack Cookies
Recipe makes 24
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups oat flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup chocolate chips
2 tbsp. chia seeds
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup Almond milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix all dry ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a mixing bowl.
Add Greek yogurt and mix well.
Add Almond milk little by little and mix thoroughly with each addition until a dough forms.
Make sure the dough is forming, but that it is not too sticky or wet! If so, it can easily be fixed! Add some more flour, a little bit at a time, until the dough loses its shine.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Scoop tablespoon-sized scoops onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Space them about 1-2inches apart!
Bake for 12 mins.turning cookie sheet at 6 mins. for even baking.
The boho chic Coachella style channels a modern Woodstock vibe with cutoff jean shorts, crop tops, floral and braided headbands. For those of you who don’t know, the Coachella Music and Art Festival is held annually in Indo, CA, and consists of two weekend-long concert line ups! Celebrities flock to the hip collision of music, art and food!!
Kendall Jenner, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber Coachella- ing their own personal ways. Photo courtesy of peoplestylewatch.Bella loves Coachella style! Ruffle bottom pants, halter tops and head wraps are her favorites!
Ok, What about the food? Well, I hope you aren’t thinking all hotdogs, hamburgers and funnel cake! Coachella food style is also chic, and like the fashion, trend-setting. “Foodie heaven” is the term used by the LA Times. The food vendors cover everything from vegan, kosher and gluten free to pop-up restaurant fare, fine dining and international staples.
Fried vegan, anyone? Photo courtesy of latimesblog.
Papaya salad! Photo courtesy of latimesblog.
The Coachella food trend we will see on hip and trendy dining menus are Arepas! Eaten daily in South American cuisine, arepas are a flat bread made with ground corn flour and are eaten as bread or stuffed with cheese, avocado, jelly or jam. The Coachella favorite? An arepa stuffed with mozzarella and grilled…a Venezuelan grilled cheese!
Arepas are already finding their place on high end restaurant menus in San Francisco, New Orleans and New York City! Bobby Flay likes his stuffed with octopus and lobster salad! Ok, let’s start simple.
Here is an arepa recipe adapted from Tyler Florence’s Food network recipe! I like this one because it is simple with only 4 ingredients and other than being lightly browned in a pan, the Arepas are baked!
Arepas are stuffed with meats and cheeses! The most popular filling in cafés and food trucks? Pork with avocado and salsa!
Coachella Mozzarella Arepas
Makes 4
Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups Arepa flour (Precooked corn flour found in Latin American grocery stores or sub white cornmeal)
1-1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. olive oil, for pan when cooking
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
Slowly add water and tsp. oil and mix until dough forms.
Cover and let rest for 5 minutes.
Remove dough and knead, make sure the surface and your hands are moist with water.
The dough should be moist and easily malleable, but not sticky.
Separate dough into 4 balls.
Form flat round cakes 3-4 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick.
Add oil to the pan on medium heat and lightly brown both sides.
Place Arepas on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake 15-20 minutes or “until they make a hollow sound when tapped.”
Slice in half or cut a slit in one side and stuff with mozzarella while hot!
Nothing beats grilling outside in the warm air! Yay, it’s that time of year again!! I have been grilling for the past few weeks and trying new Spring side dishes!
This sauté is amazing ! The sunflower seeds add a nutty flavor to the mix!
Have you ever tried cooking with sunflower seeds? Like pine nuts, sunflower seeds have incredible health benefits! They are a great source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants!
Here is one of my family’s favorites!
Be careful not to overcook the broccoli! Keep the crunch!
Sautéed Broccoli with Sunflower Seeds
Ingredients:
1 lb. broccoli, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves pressed
1 small onion chopped
1/4 cup raw, shelled sunflower seeds
Salt and pepper
Directions:
Warm oil over low/medium heat.
Add garlic and stir. Be careful not to burn! No brown!
I think I use garlic in every recipe!!
Add onions and cook until tender.
Add broccoli and sunflower seed.
Mix well to coat all.
Make sure your heat is at a low/medium temperature! You don’t want to brown the broccoli just heat through and mix the flavors together.
Add sunflower seeds salt and pepper to taste and mix well again.
Let it cook 10 minutes or until broccoli is hot but crisp!
Serve with your favorite grilled entree! Enjoy!
B.C. (Before Children) this day meant big azz margaritas for all at Mad Mex!! Maybe a few tequila shots, too! A.D. (After Developing No Alcohol Tolerance) We still love to go out for this holiday, but on a Monday? Skinnygirl Margarita on the rocks at home for me, thank you.
Skinnygirl Margarita is Bethenny Frankel’s classic cocktail! Open and serve! That’s my kind of drink!
If you are staying in too, because it is a Monday, I have a quick and easy Cinco de Mayo dinner for you!
We love Mexican food!! And it is so easy! Try my chicken or pork crockpot tacos recipes! Just throw it in and cook all day! Shhhhh! They will never know dinner was that easy ; )
Lately, I have been experimenting with spices. My perfect storm right now is cinnamon, with cayenne pepper and cumin.
A little sweet, some spice, and the exotic flavor of cumin adds a jolt to any base, in this case, chili powder!
Orange Pepper Grilled Shrimp Skewers
For Skewers:
2 1/2 cups raw shrimp, thawed and peeled.
1 cup onion cubes
2 cups bell pepper cubes
2 cups orange slices
1 lime sliced or lime juice
Seasoning:
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. garlic salt
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. cayenne pepper
Directions:
Heat your grill to medium heat.
Add peppers, onions, shrimp and oranges to the skewers in any pattern.
Don’t have skewers? Throw everything in a mesh grill pan or on foil! Just make sure you spray the foil with a nonstick spray first.
Sprinkle both sides with seasoning.
Add skewers to the grill.
I was in a wind storm while grilling this evening! My seasoning blew right out of the bowl!!!
Grill 5-8 minutes then flip.
Cook until shrimp are no longer transparent.
Dinner was ready in 30 mins! What an easy, quick, healthy and delicious meal!!
Serve with a squeeze of lime juice! Great idea, Angela!!
I grilled corn on the cob and steamed brown rice. This is so easy and delicious!
My grandma always has cookie sheets of hard bread in her oven. It’s just the way it is and always has been for as long as I can remember at my grandparents’ house. Empty the oven before use or, as grandma says, “Oh my God, Oh my God,” you might smell a little something burning!! Breadcrumbs are never on the grocery list.
Why do we buy breadcrumbs? If you are lucky, your store bought plain jane breadcrumbs contain less than 30 ingredients. 30??? Hmmmmm, basic bread contains flour, yeast, salt and sugar…ok that’s 4?
What a great habit to start!! I like knowing exactly what I’m eating even down to the crumbs.The store shelves are lined with such a big variety!Progresso plain breadcrumbs ingredients list…high fructose corn syrup? Why?
Mary Ann Esposito, creator and star of the best cooking show ever Ciao Italia ( I might be a superfan) posed this exact question on her blog and I had to ask her…what about Panko? See her blog and her response to me in the comments section…
Stale days old or frozen country bread.
Bake in 300 degree oven until hard and brittle.
Roll with a rolling pin.
In a recent New York Times article “Left with the Crumbs? Lucky You,” Melissa Clark discusses the importance of homemade breadcrumbs and her personal method! She uses a food processor to make very fine breadcrumbs. Do the breadcrumbs change the taste of the food? You bet!
I had a BreadWorks baguette from Easter! It sat in my oven and I used my grinder to make homemade breadcrumbs!
For starters, Throw your bread ends in a cloth on your counter or on a cookie sheet in your oven. Have a few ends? Bake them and have fresh breadcrumbs on hand! Experiment with different types of bread at different stages.
Experiment with flavors. Add dried oregano, thyme, basil, garlic powder.
Bread some chicken and taste test!
My favorite tasting breadcrumbs are made from slices of fresh bread baked until hard, and then ground. You lose the stale taste that we have become accustomed to with the preservatives added to processed breadcrumbs. They are more crisp and fresh!
I realize daily how much I have learned from my grandma, and I am so grateful for the time I spent with her throughout my childhood. I wish we lived closer so my kids could have even more of her influence.
2 12oz. Bags dry Slaw Mix
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 small onion, chopped
1 8 oz. package of baby Bella mushrooms, chopped
4 tbsp. cumin
2 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. garlic powder
Salt/pepper
1 package (24)thin spring roll shells
Directions:
Add rice vinegar to a deep frying pan.
Mix in onions and cook until softened.
Add slaw mix and mushrooms.
I used a broccoli slaw mix this time!
Add spices and mix well.
Let it cook only until warmed and coated.
I tasted it 2-3 times and added more cumin and cinnamon! What a great flavor combo! (I also thought about using ginger? Maybe next time!)
Taste and add more spices as needed.
Remove from heat.
Gently peel off one Spring roll pastry.
Here is an expert! Susan?? Showing us how easy it is to roll the spring rolls!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3Abqjo5A7rI
Spoon. 2-3 tbsp. of filling in center of square.
I bought the frozen spring roll pastry and let them sit at room temperature to thaw. The woman at the store warned me about buying the dry ready made shells. Apparently, they crumble when rolled. She mentioned I could keep a bowl of water and swipe water across to make them more pliable. However, mine were great ! Very bendy!
Fold in right and left triangles first and then roll.
Secure By tucking in end.
My rolls were not perfect! I will watch the YouTube video next time before I attempt it!
Place rolls on stoneware baking sheet or jelly roll pan.
Brush with vegetable oil.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins.
Rotating at 10 mins.
Watch for desired color and crispness.
Yummy! They were all gone in about 15 minutes!! My family loved them!
