Lime & White Grape Iced Tea

I found this recipe for Lime & White Grape Iced Tea who knows when in who knows what newspaper. Recently while going through my zillions of recipes, trying to find one specifically, I came across the Lime & White Grape Iced Tea recipe. Decided it was time to make it.

And I'm glad I did. It's quite tasty. I've made two batches in the last week.

Lime & White Grape Iced Tea
2-4 servings

2 c chilled green tea (I've used Stash Fusion Green & White)
2 c chilled white grape juice
6 TBSP freshly squeezed lime juice** (2-4 limes, depending on size)
Sugar to taste, optional
Ice cubes
Small lime wedges, lime slices or grapes, for garnish

Put green tea, grape juice and lime juice in a medium-size pitcher; stir well. Add sugar if desired.
Pour tea mixture into glasses filled with ice. In each glass, float lime wedges or add a bamboo skewer threaded with grapes or lime slices.

** I'd start w/ about 3 TBSP, then adjust by taste. With 6 TBSP it was definitely strong on the lime flavor.

pink yummy flowers

So each year these lovely pink flowers bloom. They smell like lilacs, but they're a little ground thing. They make the whole house smell pretty...

(anyone know what they are?)

toe-foo

We don't eat tofu very often in our household. We like it, I just don't think of it often, and don't always know how to prepare it. (I'd be content with tofu and hoisin sauce, or tofu & sriracha hot sauce.) I found some at Cash & Carry awhile back though, and it is seriously some of the best tofu around! It's firm, not mushy, has good flavor even plain, and works well in the different dishes I've tried. At times I crave it, so have to go buy some, and I have to make conscious effort to not try to down the whole thing :)

Magpie's Kitchen Sink Chili

I like a good chili. One with the right mix of beans, spice, flavor, meat, tomatoes, etc. And I'm always looking for a good recipe.

Last week I found the following recipe and knew I had to try it. So with Kevin's help, I set about to get it together. I also set out to make cornbread to go with it, but alas, I had no cornmeal. Bah!

However, turns out it's a fantastic recipe. Just the right spice, chili flavor, veggies - yum! I did not even miss the cornbread.


Magpie’s Kitchen Sink Chili, adapted from Country Living, City Style

one can of kidney beans, drained
one can of black beans, drained (I threw in about 3 cups home cooked mixed beans)
one can of crushed tomatoes (I used stewed, mexican style)
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 orange pepper
1/2 green pepper (I did a combo of red & green)
1-2 cups of mushrooms
1/2 white onion diced (ended up adding a whole one accidentally)
2 carrots
2 celery (skipped this, I wasn't interested in celery)
3 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar (I added this, next time I would add less, or maybe omit)
1/3 cup of ketchup

ground beef or turkey, pre-cooked (skipped it, I didn't feel like it)

Chop everything, throw it together, cook in the oven at 300 for 2-3 hours or for 5-6 hours in the crock pot on high. (I did about 4 hrs in the crockpot)

Once everything has cooked together for a bit, and is soft, take about 1 1/2 cups of the chili, and puree it. Add it back in, and continue to cook it for another 30 minutes or so. This gives it a thicker, tastier base.



Serve with shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream or nothing on top.

Yogurt & Banana pancakes

As I've mentioned before, I do love pancakes, but they need to be light & fluffy. I sometimes slice bananas into my pancakes, or I will put raisins & chocolate chips into them. Kevin's not that into sweet pancakes, so most of the time they're plain. I eat them with plain yogurt & fruit, peanut butter & applesauce, or a fried egg.

I found this recipe the other day, and hadn't ever thought to put mashed banana into my pancakes. These sounded so great, I needed to try them. I made a few changes, as I didn't want fatty sour cream, I like applesauce in my pancakes, and the pancakes I made last week with my homemade yogurt were fantastic.

Yogurt & banana pancakes
Adapted from Edna Mae’s Sour Cream Pancakes from Sugar & Spice by Celeste
I doubled this recipe, and got about 13 5" pancakes

Ingredients:
7 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain yogurt, thinned w/ 1 tsp water or milk
1 banana, mashed
3 TBSP applesauce
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Optional:
Butter
Maple syrup
Peanut butter

Directions:
Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-low heat.

Stir together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Mix yogurt, banana, applesauce, eggs & vanilla in a separate bowl. Pour over dry ingredients, gently mix, lumps are ok. Be careful not to overmix.

If desired, spread melted butter or oil over base of skillet or griddle. Pour 1/3 cup at a time. Cook until bubbles begin to appear over the surface, flipping them carefully and cooking for about a minute on the other side. Repeat.

Serve topped with butter & maple syrup, or peanut butter & maple syrup.

Voilà - fantastic pancakes!