Spicy Wholegrain Mustard

 We have some mustard lovers in our home.  I'm always trying out new mustard recipes just keep them guessing what I'll come up with next.  My 14 year old's favorite mustard is the Spicy Brown Mustard.  I thought I'd give this recipe a try after I found it on Pinterest.

 I found the recipe on this site.

Spicy Wholegrain Mustard

• ¼ C + 2 T yellow mustard seeds

• 2 T black mustard seeds*

• ¾ C apple cider vinegar

• 1/3 C water

• 1½ t sugar

• ½ t turmeric

• Clean, glass jar & lid that can hold 2 cups of liquid.  Make sure this is sterilized by putting in the dishwasher OR pouring boiling water in and around it. Let dry before continuing.

*Apparently black mustard seeds are becoming rare. Feel free to use brown mustard seeds, or all yellow, as long as it totals 1/2 cup.  You should be able to find mustard seeds with the spices or Indian foods section.

How-to

• This makes about 2 cups finished mustard. You can pour it into separate jars when made, but to start you need one big jar!

• Place mustard seeds in jar. Pour the apple cider vinegar and water on top of the seeds.

• Put lid on and shake it up! You want to make sure the seeds are covered with the mix, so give it a shake every now and then.

• Soak for 2 days and the seeds will swell with happiness!

• After 2 days, place seeds and liquid in a food processor and add the sugar and turmeric.

• Blend until desired smoothness.

• Place into desired jar(s), replace lid, and set in fridge. Keep refrigerated.  THAT’S IT! YOU’RE DONE!

-It will be pretty spicy after this, and you can let it mellow in the fridge for a day or two. But even after a few weeks it still has bite!

Loaded Potato Casserole

This recipe was a Pinterest find.  I've been drooling over it for a couple months and finally decided I would just break down and make it.  It was a huge hit in our house.  You can find the original recipe here.  I made subtle changes to make it more to my liking.  I don't care for overly wet potato dishes so I adjusted some of the portions.  I'll note the changes.

Loaded Potato Casserole

2 (16oz) containers sour cream (I used one 24 oz container of sour cream)

2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

2 (3oz) bags real bacon bits

2 packages Ranch Dip mix (I left this out, I'm not a fan of ranch outside of potato chip dip and salads)

1 large (28 - 30oz) bag frozen hash brown potatoes - shredded kind

Combine first 4 ingredients, mix in hash browns.  Spread into a 9x13 pan.  Bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes.

Broccoli Salad

This is one of those dishes I don't make often and when I do I wonder why I don't.  It's super easy to make and really yummy.  Ruby Tuesday has a salad like this and it's something I enjoy when I go there.

Broccoli Salad

1/3 cup hot water
4 tlbs. sugar
4 tlb. vinegar
1 cup mayo
2 heads broccoli cut into small pieces
16oz sharp cheddar cheese cut up (mild cheddar works just as well, that's all I had yesterday when I made it and it was still yummy!)
2 lbs bacon cooked crisp and crumbled  (I cheat and use the real bacon bits from the salad dressing aisle, one 3 oz package was sufficient)
1 medium red onion minced (I usually leave the red onion out, it's all about personal preference)

Put broccoli in a bowl.
Dissolve sugar in hot water.
Pour over broccoli
Add remaining ingredients mix well, refrigerate for a couple hours

Marinated Cucumbers

 

Our local farmer's market is open for business and that makes this girl very happy!  I picked up some fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans and cauliflower this past weekend.  We had pot roast for dinner and I wanted something light and refreshing along with it.  I know cucumbers probably doesn't sound like a good combination but it was actually quite refreshing.  I know many people make something like this with onions but I don't enjoy onions and since I was the one that really wanted it, I made it to make my taste buds happy!

Marinated Cucumbers

4 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced

1/2 cup vinegar

1/4 cup cold water

2 tablespoons chopped dill

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash pepper

Combine sliced cucumber with all other ingredients; cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours before serving.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Delicious dinner tonight...pulled pork sandwiches served on homemade buns with homemade pickles and salad! We figured out this meal cost us less than $1 per person! That's a great deal! Dinner for less than $5 because we had most things in our house or were given the item for free. The pork shoulder/butt I bought for $13 made three meals!  We love good food and great deals!!


I originally made the pulled pork for the baby shower we threw a friend on Saturday.  The pork shoulder/butt was almost 10 lbs so it was going to feed a lot of people.  We had a good turnout but I still came home with plenty to feed my family with.  We still have some leftover that will make a good snack for the boys after school tomorrow.


I used a recipe from Chef Emeril Lagasse.  I mean who doesn't love Emeril?  Well okay, if you are a vegetarian or you have some aversion to pork you might not but I personally love him!  I even have a cook book signed by him that my husband stood in life for hours to get signed for me.  Anyway, I'm sure you are wondering about the recipe, not my infatuation with Emeril...so here it is!  You can also find it on the Food Network website with a recipe for coleslaw and fried pickles.

Don't freak out about all the parts to this recipe, they are all relatively simple to do!  The process is long because of cooking time but I promise it's worth it!  My pork shoulder/butt was double the size of this recipe so I doubled the ingredients and the time cooking.  I did use the mop sauce but since I cooked my roast over night while I was sleeping I only basted it twice and it was still moist and delicious!

Barbecued Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 boneless pork butt, about 4 pounds
• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Essence, recipe follows
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon cayenne
• Wet Mop Basting Sauce, recipe follows
• Barbecue Sauce, recipe follows
• 8 Hamburger buns

Directions

Place the pork in a baking dish. In a bowl, combine the sugar, Essence, salt, cumin, paprika, pepper, and cayenne. Rub the seasoning evenly over the pork to coat. Cover with plastic and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat an oven or smoker to 225 degrees F.

Bring the pork to room temperature and place in a roasting pan, fat side up. Slow cook in the oven, basting with the wet mop basting sauce every 45 minutes, until tender and the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. (The cooking should take about 6 to 7 hours.) Remove from the oven and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.

With a knife and fork or two forks, pull the meat apart into small slices or chunks. Toss with the barbecue sauce, to taste, and divide among the hamburger buns.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.

Yield: about 2/3 cup

Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.

Wet Mop Basting Sauce:

• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt

The night before you cook the pork, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and whisk well. Refrigerate and let the flavors blend overnight.

Yield: 2 1/4 cups

Barbecue Sauce:

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and whisk well to dissolve the sugar. Place in a squeeze bottle and dress the pulled pork sandwiches to taste.

Yield: about 2 cups

Baby Shower Ducky Bath Punch!

 A few months ago when one of my sweet friends told me she was expecting again, I was thrilled!  I just love her and her family.  For those who know me, know I'm not a fan of baby showers.  You can imagine my surprise when I was suddenly inspired to throw this friend a baby shower!  I didn't hesitate and recruited some of our mutual friends to help me with the planning (good thing I did otherwise who knows how this party would have turned out!)  Anyway, we figured out what we wanted as far as decorations and food and as we were looking through Pinterest for baby shower ideas, we came across this cute looking punch!!  We all agreed immediately that we had to serve this punch.  It was quite delicious and easy to make!

Adorable Ducky Bath Punch – The blue Kool-Aid makes it look like bath water and the sherbet mixed with the ginger ale gives it “bath bubbles”.

Ingredients

• 1 packet blue, unsweetened Kool-Aid
• 1 (2 liter) bottle Ginger Ale
• 1 (64 oz) bottle White Grape Juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 8 scoops pineapple sherbet
• 2-3 Rubber Duckies

Instructions

1. Chill ginger ale and grape juice over night
2. Remove sherbet from freezer about 1/2 hour before serving punch to soften
3. In a large bowl, combine Kool-Aid packet, sugar and chilled juice. Stir to blend.
4. Slowly add chilled ginger ale.
5. Float 8 scoops of softened sherbet on top
6. Add Rubber Duckies (don’t forget to wash before using)

No Bake Energy Bites

Two of my three boys are wrestlers and are constantly watching what they eat. We are not in the "let's get serious" time of the season with state championships coming up. What tends to be a habit for many wrestlers is to watch their weight and what they consume all week only to fill themselves up with junk at the concession stand the day of the tournaments. This absolutely drove me crazy so I have been packing coolers (yes, more than one) and filling it with healthy snacks. I've been all over Pinterest looking for ideas and came across this one (be sure to click on the link and see the way more awesome picture on that blog entry!)

These we a hit with all the wrestlers who hovered over our table snacking away. I love when I control what goes into the food that my boys and their friends put into their bodies.

This was also super easy to make which is just an added bonus!

No-Bake Energy Bites Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
• 1 cup toasted coconut flakes (toasted it myself which impressed my boys...haha)
  
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used the one I made, added bonus!)
  
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Method:

Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (Mine were about 1″ in diameter.) Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Makes about 20-25 balls.