Recipe: Cure Your Cold With Onion Quiche

I get the sniffles a few times a year, usually around allergy season. Because of the timing, I generally chalk it up to pollen and try to get on with my life, but there's something about the clogging of my sinuses that leads to a general clogging of the brain, which probably explains why, on a day when I was feeling all-around miserable, I decided that the only possible solution to my woes was to cook onions into some kind of pie.

Had I had my wits about me, I might have tried to get really fancy and make this a tart (or I would have put this project aside to do when I wasn't feeling quite so far under the weather), but it's really more of a quiche, due to the unashamed use of store bought pie crust and over-application of egg. Let's call it Onion Quiche, then. Whatever it was, it fixed my sinuses and it tasted delicious, so I win double.

Deliciousness!

Fortunately, I was present enough to take some photos, which means a recipe to share.

Recipe: Cream of Kale and Leek Soup (GAPS-legal)

Mr. Scrimp recently got a new job that lets him come home for lunch every day, which means two things. One, I no longer eat my lunch at the computer while I work. Two, I had to start thinking a little more clearly about what my (now our) lunch was going to be.

You see, in the past, lunch for Mr. Scrimp has been dinner leftovers, and lunch for me has been... whatever I scrounge up when I remember to eat. It might be peanut butter on a spoon. It might be chicken alfredo. It just depends on what's in the fridge, what my mood is, and whether I care to spend my lunch break cooking instead of relaxing (or blogging).

I'm at the end of my first full week of the GAPS diet, working on healing some GI issues, so I've also had to find lunches that are GAPS legal. This one was quick, easy, and full of gentle, healing ingredients. Yesterday on the fly I came up with this: cream of kale and leek soup. It's delicious! Thick, warm, and packed with flavor that is just perfect on a gray, rainy fall day.

So green, so tasty

Recipe: Pureed Cauliflower (Mashed Potatoes Substitute)

So, I know I've mentioned before that Stupendous Man and I eat a low-carb, primal diet. Primal here means cutting out sugar and grains (we still eat dairy) and we modify that further by making it full low-carb.

So far, we've both seen a lot of success with it. We've each lost about two pounds a week since we started, with no hunger and not really any stress to speak of. But the weather has been cold, and sometimes you really just want something warm and comforting and salty and buttery and... well, let's just be frank. Sometimes all I want to eat is mashed potatoes.

But, since I can't eat mashed potatoes, I've had to find substitutes. Enter the humble cauliflower.

I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that pureed cauliflower tastes exactly like mashed potatoes, but I will say that it honestly tastes close enough that if you can't or won't eat potatoes but are missing some of that delicious mashed potato goodness in your life, this is a totally acceptable and delicious substitute. 

Showdown: Store-bought vs. Homemade Broth or Stock

Time for another Homemade vs Store-bought showdown! This time we're going to look at broth and stock.

I spent time gathering data on both broth and stock. You'll notice I'm using these terms interchangeably, but they are not exactly the same thing. Broth is made by boiling meat and vegetables in water without bones. Stock is made by boiling meat, bones, and vegetables. I always make stock rather than broth. It has a higher nutritional content and better flavor.

I found some things out that really surprised me. For instance, did you know that it costs 2/3 more to buy broth than it does to make it at home? Yep. I have specific numbers under the cut.

And now, the showdown.

Recipe: Liver and Onions

I know some of you read the title of this blog post and immediately wrinkle your nose in disgust (hi mom!). Well, wrinkle no more. If you've tried liver and you hate it--well, fine. To each his own. But I maintain that this is a delicious thing to eat. Mr. Scrimp and I enjoy it on a fairly regular basis.

This is a simple recipe and most of what it requires is time... and an enjoyment of liver. I first started eating liver because I was anemic, and it turned out that Mr. Scrimp and I both had a taste for it, especially with onions. Make sure, by the way, that you have enough onion to go with your liver. The sweetness of the onion compliments the richness of liver perfectly.

Recipe: Pickled Onions

Want to feast your eyes on something beautiful? Look no further. Behold and gaze upon one of the most beautiful sights known to the food preservation world:

I had to make it extra-big. It's just so pretty.

I know they look a little bit like strawberries. I know they look like Valentine's Day in a jar. But those, my friends, are pickled red onions about to be processed in a water bath.

As you may remember, I like canning in small batches. It takes the fear out of it for me, and makes it a fun, quick project instead of a long, tedious one. I filled three half-pint jars with pickled onions, processed them, and had the kitchen tidied up and from start to finish it only took me about an hour.

If you love pickled onions but don't love canning (or just aren't ready to try), this recipe is for you. Pickled onions can be made without canning and will keep just fine in the fridge for several weeks.

Recipe/Tutorial: Canned Peaches

Edit: This recipe has been updated to include a variation using honey in place of white sugar.

I just finished doing a little canning, and it was so quick and easy that I felt like I just had to share with you how to take advantage of the tail end of fresh peach season. That's right--today's easy-peasy things you should always do at home lesson is how to make canned peaches.

The only special tools you absolutely need for this are canning jars and a pot that will fit them plus enough water to cover them by at LEAST half an inch. I used 1/2 pint jelly jars from Wal-Mart ($8/dozen) and a soup pot.

Tom Kha Gai / Thai-style Coconut Chicken Soup

Well, I haven't posted a recipe in a while, so I thought I'd share the recipe for the soup that Mr. Scrimp and I had for dinner tonight!

This is by no means a totally authentic recipe--it's my copy of the soup served at a local restaurant, and it's not as good as theirs (but it's close). I usually make a big big batch of this in our stockpot so we can eat it for several days, so this recipe will make you quite a bit of soup. A half or quarter batch is probably plenty.

Recipe: Peach Custard Pie

As it so often seems to happen around here, this recipe was so delicious that we gobbled it down before I remembered to take a pretty picture of the result. I did, however, find a pretty picture of fresh peaches!

And hey, the lack of a picture of the pie has got to be a good recommendation for it, right?

Nutella Mug Cake!

I admit, I am posting a link to a recipe I haven't tested and won't be able to test, because Mr. Scrimp and I don't have a microwave.

it just looks so GOOD

I know, I know! Crazy, right? Not owning a microwave? Who even does that?

It isn't something we did on purpose. We just didn't have one when we got married (there was a "wait, you don't own a microwave?" "I thought you did!" "I thought you did!" conversation), and we didn't really have the money to get one at the time*. We could buy one now, but it's been nearly two years of a no-microwave life, and I have to admit, it's grown on me as a lifestyle. Slow food is sort of de rigeur when you have no microwave. What started out as a disorganized accent has become a life choice we now actively uphold.

The one thing that does make me sad is that we will not be able to sample this particular mug of deliciousness from The Family Kitchen. A chocolate mug cake with a twist--a little extra oil and a big scoop of Nutella make for a cake that is moist, gooey, and about as decadent looking as you can get with microwave cookery.


* We did the same thing with a vacuum cleaner and made do without for over a year before a kind relative donated an unwanted one. I am not enough of a hipster to do everything the old-fashioned way just because I can.

Recipe: Apple Cake

I broke my foot on Saturday! This probably means good things for readers of my blog, because it's going to force me to do a lot less running around and being busy and a lot more sitting down and working on projects to pass the time, which means I'll have a lot more to talk about here on Scrimpalicious.

Today, I'm sharing a recipe for Apple Cake. I wish I had pictures to show you, but we ate this thing so quickly that I didn't have a chance. I originally found the recipe on AllRecipes.com, but it was cloyingly sweet and very high in fat, so I modified it. This variation on the recipe is property of your truly.

Recipe: Homemade Oat Flour and Pancakes

I'm not gluten intolerant (as far as I know) but I do have an intolerance to both wheat and corn. When I was first diagnosed, back in grade school, my parents cut them both out of my diet. Over time, we phased them back in (on the advice of my allergist) and things seemed fine.

Recently, though, I've started having allergy problems again, so I'm cutting wheat and corn back out of my diet. As I start to explore wheat-alternative recipes and foods, I'd like to share my findings with you. Many of these will be gluten-free and safe for people with celiac disease. Others won't. Remember, wheat-free and gluten-free are not the same.

What can I do with these delicious looking things?

Recipe: Brie Quiche

I made a modified quiche lorraine for breakfast this morning, and it was so quick and easy (and delicious!) that I decided two things -- one, I will be making this much more often from now on, and two, I have to share the recipe with all of you.

I used a the frozen vegan pie crust from Whole Foods, and it turned out rich and delicious.

Recipe: Thai Chicken

Gosh, it's been a while since I posted a new recipe!

I don't know how authentically Thai this recipe actually is--my mom made it when I was a kid and called it Thai chicken, so Thai chicken I call it.

Mr. Scrimp and I are both big fans of it, I can tell you that much. It's hot and spicy and will warm you up on a chilly fall day.

Recipe(s): Strawberry Rhubarb Dessert

This week's CSA delivery included a pound each of rhubarb stalks and strawberries. Well, every Mrs. Scrimp knows what to do with those two fresh ingredients... make a pie!

I knew I'd be doing it as soon as I picked the food up on Friday, but I also knew that Mr. Scrimp and I would be camping in West Virginia for the weekend (I came home with literally eighteen--eighteen! I counted!--bug bites on my right arm alone, and that's after practically bathing in citronella). So, I washed and dried the rhubarb and put it in the fridge, and I washed, hulled, and halved the strawberries and froze them for the weekend.

On Sunday, we were invited to a barbecue, and I knew it was time for some pie action.  But I had no recipe... so, I made up my own.

Recipe: A Radish Revelation Revolution

Well, Mr. Scrimp and I have begun to work our way through the massive pile of fresh local produce that came with our CSA yesterday.

And I have made an amazing discovery. I like radishes.

I say this as someone who has had a fixed dislike, if not loathing, for radishes, pretty much forever. They're like peppery, crunchy, raw potatoes--there is nothing I enjoy about them. I appreciate them aesthetically, but if you put radishes in my salad, I will eat around them and leave them sad and alone at the bottom of my bowl.

Until now. Ladies and gentlemen, you can cook radishes, and it transforms them into an entirely different food. I have become, in a matter of an hour, a radish lover. A radish aficionado. Someone who actively thinks about how I can possibly obtain more radishes.

This revelation was delivered to me via the newsletter that came with our delivery, which claims that people eat cooked radishes on sandwiches all the time in France. Intrigued, I gave it a try--and my only regret is that I didn't have more radishes.

And, because I want you to have this same experience as soon as possible, I am posting a recipe.

Recipe: Homemade Bagels

So yesterday, on Facebook, someone posted a recipe for homemade bagels.

Now, I love bagels. Love. Them. And I've always sort of been under the impression that they were very difficult to make.

I'm here to tell you now, that isn't true. Bagels are complicated, but not difficult at all. If you have any experience working with yeast doughs at all, these shouldn't give you a moment of pause, really. I don't have a ton of experience, but I'm learning, and these were fast, easy, and delicious.

Bagel sandwich at a deli or bagel place? $2-5 apiece. Homemade bagels? About $3 for 8. 

Valentine's Day Recap and Recipe: Strings of Flats

Well, in spite of having said he wasn't really big on Valentine's day, Mr. Scrimp came through for me, like I was sure he would.

This is our first-ever Valentine's Day together. Last year, we were engaged but in different states on Valentine's Day, and the year before that, we weren't even dating yet! Needless to say, this was a pretty memorable day.

Recipe: Challah

Although my family has a Jewish background, I was raised Christian, but in spite of not being a traditionally observant Jew (although I do celebrate the big holidays), I am trying to learn how to observe some kind of sabbath.

I really love to make challah. I've recently started a goal of trying to make a loaf every Friday morning, since Fridays are a late-start day for me and I don't need to go to work until 1. That way, we have fresh bread for the weekend and something special to eat on Saturdays.

This recipe takes me about two hours, from getting out the ingredients to taking the finished loaf out of the oven to cool. It's not as sweet as a traditional challah, but we like it that way because it means we can use it for sandwiches without getting a weird overly-sweetness to it, but can also sweeten it up with a bit of honey and butter, or with jelly.

I will say, I am generally afraid of trying kneaded, yeasty breads because I have had a lot of past experiences where what I got was a heavy, dry, crumbly loaf of flavorless blah... but this recipe so far has always turned out well for me, very elastic with few crumbs.

Recipe: Zucchini Bread

I had this one friend in college who made amazing zucchini bread. When Mr. Scrimp and I got married, I knew I had to get her recipe and make some, because we both love it so much. I altered it here and there (for instance, I added grated apple for a little extra sweetness and because I didn't quite have enough zucchini), took a bunch of pictures, and made two batches. It was the first thing I ever baked in our house. You can tell, because in the photos everything was mixed by hand in a salad bowl. What can I say? Everything else was still packed.