Irritability Inhibitors

I was at the Smithsonian American History Museum last night for an educator evening. It was beautiful and fun and reawakened my patriotic feelings. One of displays now is a replica of Julia Child's kitchen, apparently with many of her real pots, pans, and kitchen gadgets. It is a very nice display that inspired me in the design of my dream kitchen.

In the area around the kitchen her life is presented in photojournaled placards with quotes and excerpts from her authentic writing and speaking. One of the quotes I liked was:

The thing about food is your're a much happier person if you eat well and treasure your meals. -Julia Child

In our family, there are several of us who get rather irritable when we have not eaten in a while, but alas the problem arises of finding quick and easy foods that contribute to nutritional intake vs. junk food. Don't get me wrong, I can eat junk food with the best of them, but in those moments when I need food to alleviate my crankiness, I find that my favorites like chocolate and chips often contribute to the problem.

I attended a class a few years ago and they gave out a list entitled, "Everyone's Hungry, Now What Am I Going To Fix?" I have added to the list and here it is-Irritability Inhibitors-easy snacks and meals that can be prepared in 5-30 minutes.

You can adapt the list to the Irritability Inhibitors that will help your family enjoy their meals and be happy!

Irritability Inhibitors

Sometimes you need to take care of low blood sugar levels NOW before everyone is grouchy and the evening is ruined. Here is a list of quick ideas to help.

Grilled cheese sandwich

Grilled ham and cheese

Tuna salad on toast

Tuna salad on crackers and apple slices

Cheese sticks and apple slices—add a piece of toast or crackers

Peanut butter on celery

Peanut butter on crackers

Chili dogs (aka: Breakfast of Champions) –use canned chili

Speghetti with bottled sauce

Mini pizzas using pita breads flat or

French bread pizza

Deluxe nachos (refried beans, cheese, salsa, etc.)

Quesadillas (some people in our family practically lived on these for years)

Seven layer dip and chips

Chef’s salad

Hawaiin haystacks

Omelets

Scrambled eggs with ham or hash browns

Pancakes or waffles

Fruit smoothies

Orange Julius

Baked potatoes

Slumgulion

Mexican Soup

Enchilada Casserole

Apples with caramel dip

Raw vegetables with ranch dressing

Granola (with or without milk)

Banana chips

Dried apples

Butternut Squash Soup

A week or so ago I found a very cool cookbook. I have seen it before, but this time I was very motivated to buy it because it had a particular recipe I had been looking for. The book is by Todd Wilbur, who apparently has written several copycat recipe books for beloved restaurant fare . I am still honing the recipe I bought it for, but in the mean time, I found the recipe for Spago's Butternut Squash Soup. I have had squash soup that I liked, I have tried to make it and it was ok, but this was really yummy and very fallish.

We decided that, even though my family likes soup as a main dish in the fall and winter, this is really a side dish type of soup. So, on the second night, we had Butternut Squash Soup with cheese sandwiches. It was a perfect combo! I can imagine scenarios, like when my sons were still at home, when that meal would have required a few loaves of bread to provide enough sandwiches; but for less ambitious eaters it hit the spot.

The soup was better the next day, apparently needing the time to meld the flavors together; AND it froze well. I froze it in 1 quart bags lying flat. It thawed very quickly, maybe a couple of hours at room temperature and heated beautifully in a saucepan on medium/low heat.

Spago's Butternut Squash Soup
Todd Wilbur

1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped leek (about 1 leek)
1 1/2 pounds cubed butternut squash
(about 5 cups or 1 squash)
1 Gala apple, peeled and chopped
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 Tablespoon light brown sugar

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium/low heat, then add the leek. Sweat the leeks for 6 minutes, or until soft, and then add the butternut squash, apple, chicken broth, and all the spices. Don't add the heavy cream or brown sugar yet. Crank up the heat to medium and bring this mixture to a low boil and cook for 30 minutes, or until the squash softens. Turn off the heat and let the soup cool for 5 or 10 minutes.

Pour the soup into a blender and blend on high speed until completely smooth. Add an additional 1/4 cup of water to the soup if it's too thick to blend. (To avoid a very messy and very hot situation, press down on the top of the blender with a folded dish towel to keep the lid from popping off.) I only blended about 2 cups at a time which also helped to minimize the hot soup from exploding.

Pour the soup back into the saucepan and add the cream and sugar. Bring the soup to a simmer over medium/low heat, about 10 minutes. Spoon approximately 1 cup soup into bowls to serve.

Serves 6

What I Do: I would use only 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice because the flavor was a little too strong for my taste buds. I didn't have cardamom on hand so I omitted it. I used black pepper and it did not adversely affect the appearance.

Pumpkin Bread

As I've said before, I love fall! In fact, the last few mornings I really enjoyed opening the door to a puff of brisk air. I start nesting and hibernating in the fall, maybe I was really meant to be a bear. In fact, I'm sure there are some days my kids would have said I was definitely a bear--although I don't think fall had anything to do with that.

The crisp fall air, entices me to the kitchen to cook and bake and warm the house. While apples and pumpkins are the traditional fall icons, I have written about apples and previously included apple recipes. So, prompted by my friend, I am including one of my family's favorite pumpkin recipes.

This pumpkin recipe goes back to the days before dirt when I was an undergraduate in college. My adventurous roommate decided that she wanted to make pumpkin bread but did not have a recipe. That did not even slow her down-she began concocting what proved to be fabulous pumpkin bread. We (the roommates) all liked it so much that we got together with her and made it a few more times, taking copious notes in the process, until we had it just right. Now, 35 years later (I cannot possibly be THAT old) it is still our family's favorite pumpkin bread recipe.

We also have excellent results with using grated zucchini instead of pumpkin; but this recipe definitely has fallish flavor because of the spices, so it is not your typical zucchini bread. If you have gargantuan amounts of zuchini frozen in your freezer not sure when you will ever use it, this is a great recipe to show it off. No one will be the wiser and everyone will appreciate the treat.

Pumpkin Bread

Peggy

2 + 2/3 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup water

2/3 cup oil

4 eggs

3 1/3 c. whole wheat flour

1 ¾ cups mashed pumpkin

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½-1 cup raisins or chopped nuts optional

Mix ingredients in the order listed. Pour into greased loaf pans. (1 pan makes a taller fuller loaf. 2 pans makes, obviously, 2 smaller loaves. I have made it both ways.) Bake for one hour at 350º F.

WHAT I DO: I use whole wheat flour when I have it, but I have made it with only white flour, but it is definitely more moist so add an extra 1/2 cup of flour when using only white flour. I like the nuts, but just use a half cup or so (mostly to save money), but my family does not like it with raisins so I never use them in this recipe. I usually use canned pumpkin, but I have made it with my own cooked pumpkin, which results in a more moist bread.

NOTE: This is the recipe that my family uses for both pumpkin and zucchini breads, but it does have more of a fallish flavor.

I have been away with family emergencies and events for quite some time, but I am excited to be back on the blog again.

Many years ago, while looking through my favorite cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens, I found this recipe and my family liked it. It is always amazing to me that you pour this watery stuff over the batter and get pudding.

Recently, on the Taste of Home website, I found a crockpot version. Especially in the fall and winter, my oven is often busy with multiple things cooking in it, so the idea of making this family favorite in the crockpot seemed a perfect solution.

I have a 6 quart crockpot, so a single recipe of "Hot Fudge Cake" as Taste of Home calls it, cooked in about 2 hours. That was actually a treat for my purposes because that means that by the time I get dinner cooked and we eat, the dessert could be done. However, it also means that I can't leave it cooking all day while I am at work since 2 hours is not normally a choice on crockpot times.

You will see the originals of both recipes, and my notes. I think that I now would try the original Brownie Pudding in the crockpot. I like it better because it is a little more moist, however, it may have to do with the method of cooking. Any ideas on that?

Brownie Pudding

Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup milk

2 Tablespoons cooking oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup chopped walnuts

¾ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ cups boiling water

1. Grease 8”x 8”x 2” baking pan; set aside. In a medium bowl stir together the flour, granulated sugar, the 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, the baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir in the walnuts.

2. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar and the ¼ cup cocoa powder; stir in the boiling water. Slowly pour water mixture over batter.

3. Bake in a 350˚ oven for 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 45-60 minutes. Serve warm. Spoon cake into dessert bowls; spoon sauce over cake. If desired, serve with vanilla ice cream.

What I Do: We usually had this cold because we like it better – or maybe because I like it better cold so that is the way I always served it.

Hot Fudge Cake

Taste Of Home Website

1-3/4 cups packed brown sugar, divided

1 cup all purpose flour

6 Tablespoons cocoa, divided

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1-3/4 cups boiling water

vanilla ice cream

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup brown sugar, flour, 3 Tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine the milk, butter, and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until combined. Spread evenly into a 3-quart slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

In another small bowl, combine the remaining brown sugar and cocoa; stir in boiling water. Pour over batter-DO NOT STIR. Cover and cook on high for 4-4 1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean. Serve warm with ice cream. Yield: 6-8 servings.

WHAT I DO: As I said, I only have a 6-quart slow cooker so this cooked much faster. I would consider doubling it, but only when I would be home in a couple of hours to check it.

We did not like the chocolate chips at all. Interestingly, I don't like the original browning pudding with ice cream, in fact, I don't like it warm at all. However, this version was a little more palatable to me warm, with vanilla ice cream.