Blog.EmealsForYou

(from the Bread Collection at emealsforyou.com)

Our friend Jean is coming for a short visit this weekend.  Jean is the god-mother to our kids and a friend for over 35 years.  What this means is for a few days we’ll be having relaxing breakfasts over too much coffee, not the usual 5:45 A.M. bowl of cereal.

Jean is also the person who got us into cooking.  We would alternate between her house and ours for dinner parties, mostly cooking Julia Child recipes.  We’ll have a few dinner parties while she is here and I’ll keep you posted if I cook anything that I think you would like.

Back to the recipe… scones are the perfect leisurely breakfast food.  They almost demand that you take your time and relax before setting out to see what the day brings.  Try these and see if you don’t agree.

Cranberry Cream Scones

Sift together flour, baking powder, 4 teaspoons sugar, and salt. Add cold butter, cut into small pieces, and blend until mixture resembles cornmeal. Mix together two lightly beaten eggs and cream. Mix with dried cranberries into flour mixture. Do not over mix- mix just until it forms dough. Pat out dough onto floured surface and cut with a 2 inch round cutter. Brush tops of scones with an egg wash of 1 egg lightly beaten with 1/3-cup milk. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.

(from www.emealsforyou.com/Salad/Betty’s
German Potato Salad)


(from www.emealsforyou.com/Salad/Jake’s Potato Salad)

Celebrating Memorial Day this weekend brought back fond memories of growing up in New Jersey and experiencing the “Potato Salad Wars”. I guess it all started when one of my kids called and asked us to bring potato salad for a picnic.

My father always made what we called “American Potato Salad”, mayo based, while my mother always made “German Potato Salad”, bacon based. My father’s large, I mean really large, family all made the American style so they always looked forward to my mom’s German style. So you had all these Slovaks fawning over my mom’s salad, not unnoticed by my dad; while all the “other” people bellied up, as it were, to the American. The good news for us kids was that this competition went on for all the time we were at home, this means we got the best of both worlds.

So guess which one I took to the picnic; you have it, I took them both.

(from www.emealsforyou.com/Breads/Honey Moist Cornbread)

My first introduction to cornbread was years ago when I was working as a Sheriff’s Officer at the county courthouse. We would stop at the coffee shop across the street and get toasted corn muffins with grape jelly. Now I am not a “jelly person”; usually too sweet for me but on that toasted muffin it seemed to go just fine. Jump ahead 20 years and my partner, Chef Teresa, posts this Honey Moist Cornbread recipe on www.emealsforyou.com and I figure what the heck, let’s give it a try. Well, my wife just loves it, says it is really moist and sweet and all the things you want in a cornbread.

Many make cornbread the “new-fashioned” way, open a box of mix, stir in water and pop it in the oven. Why not try it from scratch just once, you can always go back to the”easy” way but my money is on you really liking our recipe more. Cornbread is a very versatile staple; serve it with ribs, chili, chicken, or almost anything, even grape jelly. Enjoy!

Honey Moist Cornbread

Heat oven to 400 degrees
Stir all dry ingredients then add the remaining ingredients
Pour onto a greased 9-inch pan
Bake for 20-25 minutes.

From the Good Cheer for Homebound (Share-a-Meal Plans) at emealsforyou.com

Some of you have asked just what type of recipes are available on our site, emealsforyou.com. We currently have 23 categories of recipes; and are adding more when a specific type or concern needs to be addressed. Because our recipes are mostly from scratch and use very little canned ingredients we offer a fresher, healthier take on meal preparation. Keeping this in mind we still strive for recipes that take less then 30 minutes and use ingredients typically found in your pantry. This is a little long so I apologize in advance; as long as I am apologizing the links embedded in the Collections listed below don’t link. Sorry!

So, without further preamble we present our recipe categories:

A Collection of Recipes for Great Meals

Appetizers - Great Beginnings

A good start to extraordinary meals.

Beef Entrées -Here’s the Beef

When it has got to be Beef…

Bread - Something smells good in here

Not a slice of Wonder bread in sight.

Chicken Entrées -Not the same old chicken recipes

We’ve taken the boring out of chicken.

Cooking for the Kids - Meals the kids will love

They’re noisy, they’re picky, they’re too energetic, and they probably haven’t washed their hands… but you want them at the table.

Cooking on a Budget - Cooking on a budget doesn’t mean ordinary any more!

We’ve complied some of our recipes keeping the family budget in mind.

Desserts - Just Desserts

Try not to eat these first!

Diet Friendly - Good for you, balanced recipes. Choose the recipes you like or click on the link to our Careful and Carefree Meal Plan! for a weekly meal planner.

Watching your weight, taking better care of your body or just simply being careful of your diet; we have the great tasting recipes to help you succeed in reaching your goal. Good for you, balanced recipes for a healthier lifestyle. Pick the recipes you like, disregard the prefaces (Day 1, Day 2…). The secret to success is to maintain your nutritional balance throughout the day. Three meals and two snacks evenly spaced will accomplish this. Our affiliation with registered Dietitian Lisa M. Ronco, MS RD CDN, along with our Diet Friendly 4- week plan will help you get to your health goal. Would you like an entire weekly plan to control your weight and your life? Simply click here! to go to our Careful and Carefree weekly Meal Planner, complete with shopping list; scaled down but not out Meal Plans.

Easy Recipe I Can Cook - Don’t be put off by the name game!

Fancy food, no, friendly fare yes. Easy recipes that will surprise you

Fish Entrées - Brain food mmmm…Food for thought

From the sea to your table in record time!

Food on the Run - Grab it and Go, food on the run!

Some quick and easy ideas for busy people with busier kids. Take these along to the sports fields. Pick your choice, move it to your favorites box and print a shopping list for the week’s meals on the run.

Great Wines Picks From Little Sonoma Fine Wines & Gourmet Foods - A bottle of red, a bottle of white

Look for wine pairing ideas in the methods section of the recipes. Our special recipes paired with just the right wine by our friends at Little Sonoma Fine Wines & Gourmet Foods. Enjoy!

Misc - Drinks, snacks, etc.

An interesting collection of everything from drinks to pesto, with all the stops in between.

Salad - It’s not just for rabbits anymore

So much more than lettuce!

Slow Cooker / Crock Pot Cooking - Busy Day Cooking

Fix it in the morning- boy it smells great when you come home!

Sodium Reduced - Healthier recipes for sodium restricted diets

We have adjusted our recipes to take some of the sodium out but not the flavor.

Soups - Comfort food with a Capital C

Beyond chicken noodle, these will bring back memories.

Starch -Stoke Up

Carbs galore, but nobody’s watching. Check out even more ideas under the Vegetarian Entrée category.

The Other Meat Entrée - Man can’t live on Veggies alone

You will have more than a wing and a prayer… Great meals made easy.

Vegan - For those who choose a diet based on a respect for the natural world.

We understand many choose not to eat animal products. We also acknowledge a growing interest in natural products by our kids. In this category we attempt to provide healthy, interesting and tasty foods. Many of our current recipes in our other categories fit into the Vegan style, many others have ingredients for which there are Vegan substitutes. We encourage our members to give these recipes a try.

Vegetables - No need to hide these in your napkin!

A delicious way to get the things that are good for you.

Vegetarian Entrée -Oh, I hate you healthy people!

Great ways to get balanced meals. Check out our Meal Plans.

WOW (Watching Our Waists) - Careful eating, not tasteless eating

Our great recipes scaled down but not out. Check out our WoW Watching our Waists! Meal Plans

If we have stirred an interest in you and you aren’t a member yet; please click here..

Wonton Crackers

Okay, I admit it,

I’m taking the easy way out this week. As you know if you read the Rant: Somethink(g) for you below I am off tomorrow morning at Zero dark thirty for New Jersey and my week long food fest. I hate packing so I have put it off until now and I am behind schedule.

The genesis of these crackers is that I was making Pumpkin Tortellini and had some wonton wrappers left over. It seemed like the right thing to do so I put them in the oven and here they are. Watch them closely if you make them as they will go from light brown to dark burnt in a heartbeat.

A quick photo to help you chase the winter blahs. This is the famous Tulip Festival at Keukenhof Garden, held in April outside of Amsterdam.