This may possibly be the first recipe for something inedible on Cooking with Anne. Actually, the truth is that it's completely edible, just not very palate pleasing. It is, however, pleasing to little hands. My kids come home each day from school reminding me that there are "30-some days left of school!". Their little hearts are soaring ... mine, not so much.
I do love having them home, but they need to be kept busy in constructive ways or complete mayhem ensues. This is one of my favorite "projects" and one of theirs, as well. We don't drink Kool-Aid in our house, or any other drink mix, for that matter. There's too much sugar involved and artificial colorings wreak havoc with little people; especially mine.
Kool-Aid is excellent, though, for coloring and scenting play dough! The kids can help with this, but my own don't have it in themselves to wait for it to cool, so I always make ahead and store it in the refrigerator until they want to play with it. I set it out an hour ahead of time as it's easier to mold at room temperature, then I hand over the rolling pin, cookie cutters, butter knives and the like and they create to their hearts' content. I've been making this for over 20 years and it never fails to please!
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup table salt
1 packet Kool-Aid or other non-sweetened drink mix - whichever color/flavor combo you like
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1. Stir together flour, salt and drink mix until well blended.
2. Stir oil into boiling water (not just hot, it MUST be boiling) and pour slowly over flour mixture.
3. Stir constantly until a soft dough forms. Mix completely and let stand for a few minutes as the dough tightens up.
4. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until needed for up to 3 months.
5. Bring to room temperature before play time. Return to refrigerator when done using.
This post may well be one of the most difficult I'll write because it hits so close to home. You see, I'm no stranger to hunger and neither are my children. Watch this trailer for A Place at the Table before reading the rest of this post. Think for a moment if it were you in this position.
When I first started food blogging it came from wanting to journal my family's food journey and it was originally hand-written in a small notebook. I wasn't chronicling beautiful food or recipes I wanted to try again to get just right; I was writing down what we had eaten each day because I had somehow pulled off 3 meals for everyone and needed to remember it for the next time I went shopping. We were not receiving SNAP benefits or WIC at that time, but we had many times before that. I knew all too well how quickly food disappeared, even when nobody was overeating, and I always feared there wouldn't be enough. So, in times of lean I made sure to write down what worked, just in case I needed to create magic again.
There was a period of time where we ate almost nothing but ramen noodles. At 5 for a dollar, it was sometimes all we could afford. I would set the table with ceremony, a napkin and full set of utensils at each place and if we were lucky a jug full of lemonade, though most often it was just water and ice cubes, but that small thing (ice cubes) somehow made what we were eating seem like more.
Some weeks a sweet elderly neighbor would silently set a paper sack filled with his homegrown tomatoes or cucumbers at the gate and I would cut them up and fan them out on a plate or even add vinegar and sugar to the cucumbers to make a quick salad. The table would always look fuller and the kids wouldn't really miss anything because I spent so much time "preparing" that it would feel like a more elaborate meal.
I knew we'd hit our limit one day when, as I sat a bowlful of noodles in front of my 3 year-old, she exclaimed, "No! No noodles again!" It was a sad moment to me as a mother, but I explained that it was all we had and the next day maybe we'd have something wonderful. Many nights, though, I cried myself to sleep worrying about what we would eat for breakfast the next day.
Ramen noodles were, sadly, a staple. As grateful as I was to have them and their versatility, they aren't very healthy at all. They're laden with fat and sodium and too much carbohydrate, but they're filling and very cheap, so I bought them.
There were nights I would have ground beef or chicken to augment the noodles, more often than not, though when I had WIC benefits I had eggs and cheese, and then ... we ate like kings. I would make something we came to call "Noodle Fritatta" - noodles and eggs topped with cheese. The nights we had canned vegetables or enough flour and fat to make biscuits were like holidays to us. Yes, canned vegetables because at that time 4 cans for $1 was also within our budget and the cost of frozen or fresh was unthinkable.
The times that we qualified for SNAP benefits were better, but only marginally. I recall with 7 of us getting less than $300 a month (that's less than $1.42 per person a day) and though the name says, "Supplemental", for us, as for many, it was our only source of income for food. Sometimes the embarrassment of using them was so hard. There were often ignorant people who always assumed you did nothing but sit at home all day and collect welfare. The truth was that both my then-husband and I worked and it was still never enough. Meaning, we were paying taxes, too, just like everyone else.
There were periods when we weren't able to pay bills on time and once lost gas to the house, which meant no hot water and no cooking source other than our microwave. Boy did I learn to make a good cake in that thing! Even though we received assistance through WIC, we often didn't have a vehicle and would have to walk to whatever store the benefits were for, which for us was 4 miles away. We didn't have money for the bus so we'd trek out with a stroller in the nicest weather we could wait for. This would take a very long time and often our energy level was not equal to the task.
We also visited the local food bank from time to time and getting boxes of food was like Christmas. The only problem was, there was often not enough fresh food to properly stretch what we were given in cans and boxes to make a full meal. I always felt that people without can openers or even a place to live that received the boxes were so much worse off. I at least had shelter and (most of the time) a place to cook.
Now, things are better, but my life is such that I still wonder some weeks if we'll make it or not. I work 60+ hours a week and as a single mother with no support it's so hard to know for sure if food will remain constant.
I'm lucky enough to have a culinary education and have developed budget recipes for some of the best companies out there (please visit my budget pages at Family.com and Spoonful.com), and several times over the years I've compiled budget-minded posts, but my personal struggle is still one that has gone from day-to-day to month-to-month.
Before I share my own recipe, I want to share some important things with you. Here's how you can help WIN the battle against hunger:
WRITE to Congress. Follow this link and take 30 seconds to write a letter to Congress urging them to reconsider the cuts to SNAP benefits and other hunger programs that they are planning.
WATCH A Place at the Table, a movie about the growing hunger epidemic in America. This link lists the many ways you can watch online and this link lists where you can view the movie at a theater.
Lastly ... REACH OUT. I would never have let anyone know we didn't have enough to eat. It was so humiliating to be in that position and many times we fell through the cracks and didn't receive any type of assistance that we may have qualified for. If you know someone who is hungry, if you know of children who aren't eating enough, simply ask if help is needed.
Now, here is the recipe I'm sharing. I can barely stand to cook it because of the negative memories I have of it. It's not bad, not good, I would say it's filling and that's about it. If you do like it and can afford it, add diced ham or peppers or fresh herbs, anything to flavor it.
At its most basic, the recipe costs a mere $1.26 for the entire thing - which boils down to 21 cents per plate if you're feeding 6. When you add cheese or meat, the cost goes up, but still falls below $5 for the whole pan. The recipe in the photo and provided below is with cheese added.
2 packages ramen noodles - any flavor
6 eggs - beaten well
1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese (whichever you like or can afford)
Directions:
1. Cook ramen according to package directions, adding flavor packets as usual, and drain completely.
2. Heat a 10-inch non-stick pan over medium-high heat and add noodles, rearranging so the bottom of the pan is covered in a single layer.
3. Pour eggs evenly over the top and scoot the noodles around gently so the egg will fall through to the bottom of the pan.
4. Lid tightly and cook until eggs are set, about 5 minutes. Check and if eggs are not set recover and cook until done, being sure not to burn the eggs or noodles. Adjust heat if necessary.
5. Sprinkle with cheese and cover. Remove from heat and let stand until cheese is melted. You can also set the pan under the broiler to brown the cheese if desired (see photo).
Flauta is the Mexican word for 'flute' and usually refers to a large flour tortilla filled and rolled tightly before being deep fried. This version uses a smaller tortilla and healthier-for-you baking to make a delicious and economical dinner.
Our entire family is crazy about these. The melted cheese and lightly seasoned chicken within a crunchy tortilla is delicious and can be served with a variety of accompaniments and sides.
2. Put chicken in a small skillet and sprinkle with cumin and garlic. Add water and simmer until chicken is tender and falls apart easily, about 1 hour.
3. Shred or chop chicken finely and add cheese. Toss to combine.
4. Add chicken and cheese to the center of each tortilla and roll up. Place, seam side down, on a baking sheet and spray lightly with cooking oi.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with sour cream, shredded lettuce and salsa.
Brownie bites are nothing new. I've been making them for years and you can pick them up pre-made in boxes on grocery shelves and at bakeries. I've also made them with cherries in the center (Cherry Brownie Bites) and made them with orange, as well (Orange and Chocolate Brownie Bites) but for this Easter I decided to pop a mini peanut butter cup into each one and see what happened.
YUM is what happened. I posted a quick Instagram pic and people loved it. So, without waiting I wanted to share the basic recipe and a tip or two for getting these to turn out right.
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 stick (1/2 c) butter 1/2 c plus 2 Tablespoons flour 1/4 tsp salt 2 large eggs 3/4 c packed light brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 24 mini-muffin cups with paper liners or grease well.
Melt chocolate chips and butter together until smooth and let cool to room temperature. Set aside. Mix flour and salt together in a small bowl-set aside. Mix eggs and brown sugar together until thick and pale. Stir in vanilla and cooled chocolate mixture until well blended. Stir in flour until just combined. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full (about 1 tablespoon) Bake 12-15 minutes (I find 14 works well) until the edges are set but the centers are moist and fudgy. Cool for 15 minutes before removing. Now, the only addition here is a mini chocolate covered peanut butter cup pushed directly into the center of each bite. You can add the tiniest bit of dough to the top of each to completely seal them in, but I found letting the top open worked well, too.
Here's the important part: You MUST let these cool completely before attempting to remove from pans. The PB cup is very melty after baking and needs to set or the whole bite will cave in or fall apart; trust me on this one, I already made the mistake of trying to remove them too early. Once cooled, enjoy to your heart's content!
I have a job that is at once challenging beyond all belief and rewarding beyond all belief. When I'm not developing recipes or writing about food, I have a day (well, night) job at a local group home caring for two women with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Every need of theirs is met with the help of the women who work at the house and every moment of their lives is spent under the care and supervision of others. Downtime is rare for us, but I know that none of us would have it any other way.
Once you've been with these women for any length of time you begin to care for them on a level that you didn't think was possible, and though we are told we're not their friends, but workers hired to care for them, you can't reign in your heart and feelings sometimes.
Days spent caring for another's personal hygiene isn't glamorous or even something most would choose to do, but we do it nonetheless because eventually we all genuinely care for them as family. And, when you spend so much time with other workers in a setting like that you also begin to care for them like family.
We've witnessed everything from deaths to births to divorce to marriage to broken down cars to losses of homes to illnesses and beyond and we're all there for one another in a way I've never seen in any other job I've ever had. For as difficult as my job can be, I'm very grateful and fortunate to be where I'm at.
So, once in a while we hand over care of the girls to another and we party in the best way we know how; We eat!
The house I work in is filled with women from all walks of life and all areas of this world. Each one has their own food history, as well and we all love to share that on potluck days. Sometimes we have a worker who will make pastelillos, or one who loves sweets and will bake any cake you want. We have feisty Italians who love food and, of course, there's me.
This week we were celebrating the birthday of one worker and the moving on of another. Sometimes we have no reason to eat and celebrate, but we do it anyway because we love to eat!
This time I was in charge of the cake and it turned out to be the cake that failed - twice. I couldn't get it out of the pans properly no matter how I tried, so I gave in and made cupcakes. I also threw together a bowl of Black Bean and Corn Salsa. The other girls brought in various goodies and we all went away full and happy, as usual.
