My youngest son turns 11 today. Yesterday I made marshmallows and after school he drizzled chocolate on them, added sprinkles and a stick for marshmallow pops for the class. I need to get into the kitchen to make his cake now. It will be red velvet, the middle will be cut out and filled with skittles and we are hoping to decorate it as a black unicorn. Dinner will be garlic butter shrimp, salad and sourdough bread. I am hoping to get it all done but feel a cold coming on.

My husband made a vat of chili this afternoon. We'll have it for supper tomorrow night and maybe Sunday, then freeze the rest. We get 8 servings from his recipe, a little more if we stretch it with elbow macaroni.. It's very meaty - almost like a chili bolognese.

Fun cooking day today. Company tonight....casual dinner, the kids come up tonight later and are here for the weekend. Time to cover the boats etc. Last of the cottage shut down stuff.

Made a huge pot of chili, pulled pork in the crockpot , meatballs (already had the spaghetti sauce made) , home made buns , a queso dip to have with the chili...and butter tarts ! YUM

Tomorrow I have to make some bread for garlic, cheese bread and an apple pie for my DH.

I love cooking this time of year !!!!!

Halloween is always chili kick-off season day here. So we ate it for 3 days plus the wonderful chocolate cake I made to top it off. Today we are balancing all that out with a big salad and some broiled sirloin that was marinated in all kinds of Mexican seasoning and I made a homemade lime cilantro dressing for it. After being bad all week we need a salad.

I do a lot of food prep on the weekends. We eat ketogenic (strict low carb), so it's much easier to have things ready to grab for breakfast and lunches, and sides and some mains ready to be reheated or popped in the oven for the weeknights, because we can't easily meet our desired fat levels without going over on protein when eating out.

• 3-4 lbs bacon in the CSO
• 12 bacon, sausage, cheese egg muffins
• cauliflower mash
• broccoli casserole
• if there is enough broccoli, loaded broccoli
• brown hamburger for Big Mac Salad
• probably a few main dishes, TBD
• mocha fluff
• peanut butter fat bombs
• pumpkin pie cheesecake
• grate a block of cheddar cheese
• mayonnaise

Cheryl - can I find Big Mac Salad on Google?

It was spitting snow all morning (thankfully none stuck) and my car has finally kicked the bucket so a weekend at home ahead of me. LIke others, I made chili earlier in the week. I made a coffee cake this morning, will be making chicken ala king out of freezer leftovers - also great over the cornbread I made to go with the chili - and a tossed salad.

I have a skirt steak thawing.....we'll see what else soon.

Should be Swiss chard & pasta with Aidell's Spicy Mango & Jalapeño meatballs, but I'm not in the mood. It's been one of those days. Maybe tomorrow.

You all are inspiring me. I think I’ll make turkey chili for DH next week!

Chase— have fun and enjoy the kids. You all certainly are going to eat well!

Annie—you never cease to amaze me. You’re the energizer bunny in the kitchen. Your big heart ❤️

We got more than a foot of snow. Perfect day for a pot of, yep....chili.

I've made a chicken and pork terrine for lunch and it's pizza night tonight.

Seagrass, here is the link for the Big Mac Salad: https://www.wholesomeyum.com/recipes/big-mac-salad-cheeseburger-salad-low-carb-gluten-free/

Annie, could you share your recipe for honey wheat bread? It looks delicious!

Cooper, I like this one. I put it in the bread machine, liquid first, then dry ingredients on top, and set the dough cycle. When it's done I form dinner rolls or loaves or whatever I like. This batch I made with White Whole Wheat flour and regular AP, both from King Arthur Flour. Sometimes I use my own homeground wheat flour and King Arthur AP, and it works fine too.

Honey whole wheat bread

3 cups all purpose flour

3 cups whole wheat flour (I use KA White WW)

2 pkg. active dry yeast

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

1 cup water (or 2/3 cup water and 1/3 cup orange juice)

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup butter (I use olive oil)

1 egg

Preparation:

In large bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, yeast, and salt and mix well.

In saucepan, heat milk, orange juice and/or water, honey, and butter until warm. Add to flour mixture with egg and stir. Beat this batter for 3 minutes. Then, gradually stir in rest of whole wheat flour and enough remaining all-purpose flour for a firm dough.

Knead dough, adding more flour if necessary, for 5-8 minutes until smooth. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, until doubled. (I proof in the microwave)

Punch down dough and divide in half. Form two loaves (or dinner rolls of your desired size, and place into greased 9x5" bread pans or cake pans for rolls. Cover and let rise in warm place until the dough doubles.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, until bread is golden brown. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

Have fun baking!

Annie

Thanks!

annie: What difference do you notice when you use the white WW vs regular WW?

A gluten free pie yesterday, but today was crème brûlée. Not the traditional way of making. I don't use the stove and bake it for longer.

I live in Arizona, so unfortunately it's still 85 degrees. I can't wait until it gets colder!!

basilcook, it snowed here today, so it's plenty cold enough for November here in Northern Michigan! Our first snow was a couple of days ago, doesn't stay on the ground but it will, soon enough.

lizbeth, the white whole wheat really is more like white flour, especially after the bread or whatever sits overnight. I happen to like whole wheat, but the kids especially find it bitter or strong flavored. The white whole wheat is more acceptable to them, especially in something like a pan of brownies.

Annie

Thanks, Annie. I was curious, as I've never purchased or used white ww yet. So it sounds like a great thing for homemade bread for kids who don't like the texture of ww. I would have never thought about using it in brownies, but I suppose it would work for anything with flour, except for recipes that require a special flour.

lizbeth, I find it works well in things that are not too delicate and especially in chocolate items which covers the slightly tan color. If you want light and fluffy, it's not going to do it, so don't try angel food cake, LOL. Probably not sugar cookies either, but chocolate chip would probably be OK. They're better if you let them sit overnight, for some reason, and it works in any recipe that calls for whole wheat, of course.

Annie

Out cursed spammer!!!