TIBOS: Orange Toast

Hi all! Today's the first day I am doing a "Taking It Back Old School" recipe post. I was supposed to have two posts, this week, but my computer seems to hate me and keeps blue screening. While that is annoying, I wanted to get at least one of the posts up. The first recipe I decided to recreate is considered to be an appetizer rather than a breakfast item. It's called Orange Toast, and as the pictures below will show, it's really orange-y.

These are the basic ingredients needed for Orange toast:
Sugar
Orange Juice
Orange Extract (I just took it from a real orange)
Orange Zest
Bread
Butter

 

 First, I toasted my bread. I used French Toast bread by Kroger (which, if there are any vegans viewers reading, is also vegan friendly). I am somewhat low tech and cheap, so I do not have all of the fancy kitchen appliances as of yet. As a result, I toasted my bread in the oven at 350 degrees for 8 mins.

  

I let my butter soften, and added 1/2 teaspoon of orange juice. *There are no exact measurements in this recipe, so feel free to mess around with amounts - I also added more butter later.*

 

I squeezed a few drops of fresh orange juice (not the concentrated one on the top) into my butter.

 

Afterwards, I mixed it all together or as they called it in the book - "I creamed my butter and orange juices together"

 

I originally forgot that I had sugar packets, so I used about half a packet of sugar on my toast after removing the edges as stated in the recipe. This is also where the orange zest gets applied as well, after buttering your toast.

 

I then cut the pieces into ribbon-esque strips and they are best served hot.

 

I gave everything a taste to see how it is. I will do this at the end of every food post because it's not authentic otherwise. ;) 

 That's it for today's post! Overall, I would rate this a 6/10. I think the orange taste was a bit overpowering, and the sugar seemed a bit unnecessary to me. However, you guys might like it, so give it a try and let me know what you think of it!

Till Next Time!

-Hachi

Taking it Back Old School (Great Depression Era Cooking)

Hi all! I am sorry that this will be a quick post, but I did want to put something up for the week. I was out of town for the first half of the week and have been a bit busy for the past few days. I also had to deep clean for apartment inspections & entertain a guest, today.

However, I do have a quick update! I came across a Great Depression era cookbook that belonged to my late great-grandmother. It's called "Meals for Small Families" by Jean Mowat. What I would like to do is periodically post recreated recipes from this book. I will call it "Taking it Back Old School", or TIBOS for short. One normal blog post and one cooking post of me replicating the recipes in the book and giving you a review on how each tastes. Some of the recipes are very interesting. I'll insert a picture of the author's recipe for coffee. There is a big difference between a one person serving and a whole cup of coffee. I believe that the egg and egg shell are being used as a thickening agent in this recipe to make the coffee go further. Perhaps during the Great Depression, eggs were affordable, or maybe more people did homesteading and had easy access to hens. I love history from WW1 to the end of WW2, so this little new blog segment will be fun for me, and I hope it is for you as well! I will do a history factoid too, because why not. I hope you guys are looking forward to this new blog segment, and enjoy!

This book is copyright 1929 and has been in the family for a long time. That's why it's so worn out looking.

It will be interesting to incorporate the egg in this one. I hope I don't get sick!

Let me know in the comments below if you would also like me to do WW2 era recipes after I get through the end of this book.


Till Next Time!

-Hachi

My, oh My! Mini Apple Pies!

Hi All! I am getting ready for my trek up north for the holiday today. That should be an adventure. Before all of that, I am doing some winter cleaning, and finishing up some baking. Here's a post of my mini apple pies recipe :)

Mini Apple Pies

While I made my own dough (which I will add in a later recipe), store bought dough will work just as well. :)
Here is a conversion chart from U.S. to metric units too.

Mini Apple Pies

Ingredients

• 1 package of store bought pie crusts - should have two dough rolls in it (room temperature)
• 1.5 - 2 apples (chopped/sliced/diced -whatever suits you)
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (add a few dashes more if disregarding the nutmeg) (or 1 teaspoon of cinnamon / 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg)
• 1/2 cup of sugar (or less depending on your tastes)
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon of sugar for sprinkling on the pie tops

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 375 degrees (F)
2. Grease a baking sheet with either butter, or baking spray (lightly)
3. Roll out your dough to 1/8 inch thick and using a 2.5-3 inch diameter cup (or cookie cutter) cut out 24+ circles.
4. Refrigerate the circles for 15 minutes
5. Mix together the cinnamon (or cinnamon/nutmeg), sugar, and cornstarch in a separate bowl.
6. Mix the dry ingredients with the apples. (You might have extra filling left over if you choose to make more pies later.)
7. Beat the egg and set aside
8. Add 2 teaspoons of filling to each bottom circle and lightly dab the egg wash to the edges of each bottom circle.
9. Cover with the top circle and pinch to seal.
10. Poke or slice four holes or slits in the top circle
11. Lightly cover the tops with egg wash.
12. Sprinkle the tops with sugar.
13. Bake 20 minutes

I hope my recipe made sense to you. If you made some, post a picture of your creations in the comments below :)

Merry Christmas (eve)!

Till Next Time!

-Hachi

Uh oh! Spaghetti-squashios! :o

Hi all! Once again school strikes and I get too busy to blog. At least, it's almost summer and I'll have more time. :) Today's blog is a recipe blog for Spaghetti Squash. It's a very simple recipe and would be great for tricking helping kids eat their veggies. It was my first time making it, and probably won't be my last. So without further ado, here's the recipe for spaghetti squash.

Spaghetti Squash:

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash (2-4 lbs would be good for two adults to eat)
Pasta sauce (store bought or homemade) or toppings of your choice

Directions:
 1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half - lengthwise
 2. Scoop out all of the seeds.
 3. Preheat the oven to 375 F ( Gas Mark 5 / 190C)
 4. Put the squash cut side down on a baking sheet
 5. Bake for 45 minutes
 6. Using a fork, scoop out the squash width-wise to get the spaghetti shape
 7. Add whatever topping you desire (for me it was organic pasta sauce) and enjoy~

Here are some pictures of the process :)

Spaghetti Squash (recipe can sometimes be on the sticker)

Before you scoop the seeds

After scooping out the seeds

After baking

Fully baked after 45 mins

Scraping with a fork

End Product

That's all for today! Let me know in the comments if you have ever tried spaghetti squash and how you liked it :)

Till next time!

-Hachi

Stuffed Bell Peppers!

Hi All! So sorry that it's been a couple of weeks since I have blogged. Life gets in the way, as always. :/ I have a few upcoming blogs over the next week since I finally have free time, so stay tuned. :) Today's blog is a recipe I did last week of stuffed bell peppers with rice. As a kid, I was never that huge of a bell pepper fan, but now I like them. So I decided to make stuffed bell peppers, which was something I have not eaten in over 13 years. I was a bit apprehensive to how they might taste, but I must say they tasted ahmayzing (amazing)! So without further ado, here is my recipe. Partial credit goes to Betty Crocker as that is where I found the measurement amounts from. All of my adjustments are in purple font. :)

Stuffed Bell Peppers:

4       large bell peppers (any color)

1

lb lean ground beef (I use 93% lean ground beef for everything)

2

tablespoons chopped onion (brown onion)

1

cup cooked rice

1

teaspoon salt (or you can substitute for 1.5 teaspoons of taco seasoning)

1

clove garlic, finely chopped (or minced garlic)

1

can (15 oz) tomato sauce (any brand)

3/4

cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used Cheddar Jack cheese and lots of it)

Step 1:
Wash and cut a thin slice from stem end of each bell pepper to remove top of pepper. Remove seeds and membranes; rinse peppers. If necessary, cut thin slice from bottom of each pepper so they stand up straight. Place them in a oven safe glass dish.

Step 2:
In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in rice, salt (taco seasoning), garlic and 1 cup of the tomato sauce; cook until hot.

 Step 3:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Stuff peppers with beef mixture. Stand peppers upright in ungreased 8-inch square glass baking dish. Pour remaining tomato sauce over peppers.

 

 

Step 4:
Cover tightly with foil. Bake 10 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer or until peppers are tender. Sprinkle with cheese.

  Step 5:
Remove from oven, and let cool a little bit before eating. Enjoy!



I hope you guys liked my recipe post. What is your favorite savory recipe? Let me know in the comments below!


Till Next Time!

-Hachi

Teriyaki Salmon Stir-fry with Noodles

Hi all! So as a follow up to my grocery haul blog, I have a mini recipe blog! This was actually made for dinner on Sunday, but I am posting it today to not overload everyone with blogs.

A bowl, spoon, water, chopped garlic, teriyaki marinade, sriracha sauce. and salmon

So in my bowl I mixed :

6 tablespoons teriyaki marinade

1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce

1/4 tsp garlic

4 tablespoons water (you don't really need to add the water, but that marinade is so sodium filled that adding the water helps to dilute the heavy sodium taste)

1 salmon (with the skin on, it is better for you too)


I marinated the salmon for 1 hour, although 30 minutes is fine as well.

After marinating the salmon for 1 hour, I preheated my oven to 375 F (190 C, Gas Mark 5). I put my salmon on a pie pan wrapped in foil and baked for 45 minutes.

In the meantime, I took one of my frozen stir-fry with noodle packs and cooked it in a non-stick skillet adding some water and teriyaki sauce to keep it flavorful.

Then I took half of the salmon and added it with the stir-fry and there you have it! Dinner :)

Till Next Time!

Hachi