For My Dad…

As a child it was easy to please my dad; polish his work shoes, or make him oatmeal cookies. When I was sixteen and worked for Baskin Robbins, I got him hooked on mixing two parts fudge royal to one part peppermint ice cream. To this day, I can't mix chocolate and peppermint ice cream without thinking about him.

While most do not consider the soundtrack to Phantom of the Opera, Christmas carols, in my house it is. Every year, it is in the playlist with “I’ll be home for Christmas.” Daddy, gave my husband and I tickets to see Phantom for Christmas. It was a bittersweet time; we were married a few weeks before and it was to be my last Christmas in California. The naval base in Alameda was closing, and we were being transferred to Corpus Christi, Texas in two short months.

One of our favorite songs is “The Cat’s in Cradle” by Harry Chapin. Funny as a child how the lyrics were just words. As an adult, I truly understood why my dad never had enough time to spread between his three kids. At times, he had to work so much, it felt we were strangers living in the same house. The times with scouts, camping, or at the shooting range were precious bits of his time I will always cherish.

Today is my dad turns 71 years old. Happy Birthday Daddy, I love you!

From Quaker Oats webpage…

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

·          

·         1/2  cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened

·         3/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar

·         1/2  cup granulated sugar

·         2  eggs

·         1  teaspoon vanilla

·         1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour

·         1  teaspoon baking soda

·         1  teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         1/2  teaspoon salt (optional)

·         3  cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

·         1  cup raisins

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

·         Prep Time: 20 min

·         Cook Time Time: 08 min

Anzac Day…

Anzac day is not until April 25^th. Since Veterans Day in the United States, was coming in a few days, I thought I would share this recipe now instead of waiting.

You may be asking what is Anzac Day, since you may have never heard of it.

Anzac is short for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. Anzac day commemorates the landing on Gallipoli in 1915. Marking this day as first day, these two countries fought together during World War 1.

 In Australia, Anzac day has become what we consider Veterans Day. The spirit of ANZAC, with its human qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice, continues to have meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity. Like here in the U.S., there are local memorial ceremonies to recognize their veterans and those who have lost their lives in wars, peacekeeping operations and conflicts.


A view looking aft of lifeboat carrying unidentified men of the 1st Divisional Signal Company as they are towed towards at Anzac Cove at 6 am on the day of the landing.

http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/A02781

 The ANZAC biscuit, as it is known today, played a vital role in Australia’s war effort since the day of the ANZACs. It is symbolic of the marvelous work carried out by the women in the ‘home effort’ who tirelessly baked these treats for the soldiers abroad, to keep morale high. Even today, we should never lose sight of the purpose of these biscuits, because we should never lose sight of the real meaning of ANZAC (Unibic, Anzac Biscuits packaging).

Anzac Biscuits

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour, sifted

1 cup rolled oats or wheat germ

1 cup dried coconut, shredded

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 tbsp corn syrup

1 tsp baking soda



Oatmeal Packets - Waste or Savings?

  A few years back, our family income was cut in half. This was a problem, because my children entered the “I am so hungry” phase of life.  My youngest was the worst; I could not keep that child from feeling hungry.

 I decided the best way to approach the constant eating was to educate them on which foods keep you feeling full and which foods were fluff. We picked their favorites and increased our diet with, white potatoes, eggs, hot oatmeal, beans, apples, popcorn, and soup. These foods are high in protein or fiber, and keeps your mouth moving fooling your brain, you are eating a lot of food.

I grew up eating Quaker oatmeal single serving packets as did my kids. When we started consuming two boxes of oatmeal week, something had to change.

 A 15.1-ounce box of Quaker oatmeal (10) packets at Wal-Mart today costs $2.88 or $.19 per ounce. A 42-ounce container of unflavored Quaker oatmeal is $3.84 or $.09 per ounce. Per ounce, you will pay $.10 more for the packets. If you purchase the Great Value Brand by Wal-Mart a 42-ounce container is 2.24 or $.05 per ounce. Buying the generic oatmeal will save you $.14 per ounce over the brand name packet.  

I have actually taste tested this generic oatmeal with Quaker and there is no difference. I bought the generic and poured it into the empty Quaker container. I know, bad mommy pulling a fast one over on the kids. There was no complaint from them because there was no difference. I was able to keep this ruse up for half the school year!

Yes, I know I am comparing doctored up oatmeal to plain, bland oatmeal. Do you have brown sugar and cinnamon sitting in your pantry? When was the last time you used them? Making it from scratch is still going to cost less than a packet, especially if you use generic oatmeal.

 We like our oatmeal thick so we use a 1 to 1 ration (½ cup oatmeal to ½ cup of water), instead of a 2 to 1 (1 cup water to ½ cup oatmeal.) The kids also like it sweet.

1 cup of oatmeal

1cup of boiling water

1 heaping serving tablespoon of brown sugar

¼ measuring teaspoon of cinnamon      

You can still add other items such as butter, or fruit. The best part about making it from scratch is if you are diabetic, you can use sugar substitute. I would suggest Splenda’s brown sugar.

I bought the packets a couple of months ago and my kids told me not to buy them anymore. They prefer to make from scratch and it takes the same amount of time.   

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