the basics: FRENCH TOAST MIX

Throughout all the years of teaching kids how to cook for themselves, I think this might be my most:

1) written down by a pre-teen and learning-how-to-cook recipe

AND

2) texted instructions/recipe to my older-left-the-house-kids 

I know I have said out loud each time: just memorize it!  

So, is this blog post for them because they never did memorize it; or is it for all of you who never got to write it down on a 4X6 card as an 8 year old??  

No matter.

...It will just be here for ALL of you from your Mama Jo.

NOTE:  the amount listed is for about 3-4 people eating.  Half/Double/Triple/Quadruple as needed for the number of eaters you may be cooking for.

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Gather up:

cinnamon
Mexican vanilla

eggs

heavy whipping cream OR whole milk
sliced bread - great news: old is best! 

(and you'll want 2-3 slices of bread per person)

cooking spray or butter

Pre-heat over a medium heat your desired skillet (remember to use cooking spray or butter!)

COMBINE in a large bowl or a shallow dish:

4 eggs 

2 TABLESPOONS of Heavy Whipping Cream or whole milk

1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla

cinnamon sprinkled on the entire above combination 

Mix vigorously with a fork or flat bottomed whisk until the egg whites are no longer clumpy.

Dredge bread slices through your mixture on both sides until there are no dry spots.

Cook both sides until a toasty golden brown, flipping as needed.

Serve hot with any of the following topping ideas:

(OR NONE cuz it is great on its own!)

buttermilk syrup

maple syrup

nutella

powder sugar

jam

fresh fruit

peanut butter

almond butter

apple sauce

mini chocolate chips

toasted pecans

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Click Link FOR: Baking With Natural Yeast: BASIC BREAD

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the basics: SCRAMBLED EGGS

"Seriously... ?? 

A recipe for EGGS?" - you question.

And emphatically I reply - "Absolutely."

HECK  YES.

I've seen it, eaten it, poked it, pretended I ate it... 

You can actually ruin scrambled eggs.

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Into a medium bowl add:

4 - 12  eggs, cracked (minus any shell pieces)

2 - 4 TABLESPOONS heavy whipping cream or whole milk

Kosher salt

coarse black pepper

Whip up throughly with a small whisk or large fork.

Cook up in a medium frying pan greased with butter or olive oil or cooking spray.

Gently stir, fold, in general keep the mixture moving until your desired cooked consistency.  

I prefer an all-the-way-cooked-and-not-wet-looking consistency; while Daddy Bret prefers to question if it has been cooked all the way.  

YOUR EGGS!  You decide my friend!   :0)

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Click Link FOR: Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS

the basics: OATMEAL

 

All of Payton's childhood trauma might be centered on oatmeal...  adding to the trauma, and much to her dismay, "sugar cereal" was only purchased for Christmas stockings and birthdays.

I tried to get inventive (and sneaky) with cooked oatmeal!

- breakfast smoothies

- granola

- steel-cut oats (different texture)

And always reminded Payton that no matter how sick and tired she was of it - she still had it better than ME who grew up with FOOD STORAGE oatmeal (and no added sweetner), which is historically the saddest oatmeal of them all.

NEVER have sad oatmeal!  (Truly, it is your choice if you do...)

Add some fun and creative toppings, including:

Nutella

maple suryup

fresh fruit 

coconut 

toasted coconut

chia seed

nuts

toasted nuts

Crasins

rasins

cinnamon

pumpkin pie spice

vanilla

protein powder

dark brown sugar

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Steel Cut Oats //  OR  // Old Fashioned Oats

Great for a meal-prep idea as:

breakfast-on-the-go

breakfast smoothie

Gather up:

steel cut oats or old fashioned oats

medium sauce pan

filtered water

pink salt

your favorite wooden spoon

4 cups filtered water

2 cups of your oat choice, evenly measured 

1 teaspoon pink salt

Bring everything to a simmer and turn your heat down to low.

Stir constantly (do not start doing laundry or something else...) for the simmer time.

Steel Cut Oats simmer for 15-20 minutes and you may need to add an extra 1/2-1 cup water.

Old Fashioned Oats simmer for 5-8 minutes.

Turn off the heat.

Serve up and eat immediately, or if it was for a meal prep wait for it to cool and then separate out into portions for fridge storage.

Reminder:  Suggested fun toppings near top of blog post.

Note:  If this is too much of an amount, use 1/2 portions and a small saucepan.

Enjoy!  And maybe make some for Payton.  :0)

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Click Link FOR: Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS

the basics: NACHO CHICKEN

  

Schroeder House - Twin Falls Idaho
- 2023 Summer Road Trip -
Taking Payton Olivia to live in Oregon

Amazon will deliver this item!!
Just remember, actually GOING to Trader Joe's
is way more fun and you can grab a
box of dark chocolate peanut butter cups...
(Just sayin'.)

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Gather up:

Costco rotisserie chicken pieces: 

cut or pieced into nacho-bite-size pieces

olive oil

"Everything But The Elote" seasoning: Trader Joe's brand

chicken broth OR chicken bone broth 

small or medium or large sauce pan with a fitting lid

- sauce pan size depends on how much you want to make...

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Determine how much you want to make.

- choose a pan just large enough to have one or two layers of chicken, but not more than two.

- put the amount of chicken in the pan you have selected.

Drizzle olive oil evenly over the top layer of chicken.

Shake the seasoning over the top layer of rotisserie chicken to evenly and fully coat.

Gently pour enough chicken broth or chicken bone broth over the top layer of rotisserie chicken to just barely have everything submerged. 

Put the lid on your sauce pan.

Turn burner to medium heat and let come to a simmer.

Once at a simmer: take off the lid and let it simmer with the lid off for 2-5 minutes.

Turn off the burner and serve!

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SERVING  IDEAS:

Serve over corn tortilla chips (blue corn are a favorite!) with: black or chili beans

grated pepper jack cheese

salsa

diced tomato

sliced olives

sliced avocado

fresh cilantro

Bitchin' Sauce (a chipotle almond sauce)

a squeeze of lime

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Click Link FOR: Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS

the basics: SUBSTITUTES - TIPS - TRICKS

WHAT  DO  YOU  NEED  ???

...but first some notes and reminders:

not all the SUBSTITUTES - TIPS - TRICKS are meant to be a forever switch-up.  There is one exception to this:  MILK

Here's why:  heavy whipping cream has a month's-long fridge life.  Cereal and breakfast smoothies get almond milk.  Granola gets yogurt.  I do not drink or use straight up milk for anything other than cooking. Nor does anyone else in my households.  I always have the heavy whipping cream as a forever staple for times I need milk in a cooking recipe.

MILK                          

~  make milk using heavy whipping cream and water

~  HOW:   measure out 1/2 of what you need with the heavy whipping cream and then add water for the other 1/2 of the needed measurement

~  EXAMPLE:  you need 2 cups of milk

measure out 1 cup of heavy whipping cream

add 1 cup of water to your heavy whipping cream and stir

BUTTERMILK

~ make buttermilk using milk

~ add 1 teaspoon white vinegar to every measured cup of milk

ROOM  TEMPERATURE  EGGS

~ Place eggs in medium size bowl and run warm/not-too-hot water over eggs.  
~  Let them soak in the warm/not-too-hot water until the water maintains its warm/not-too-hot temperature and doesn't cool down from the fridge-cold eggs.

POWDER  SUGAR

~  make powder sugar using white granulated sugar 

~ using a blender, and doing only 1 cup at a time, run the white granulated sugar through your blender at the highest setting until "powdered"

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Click Link FOR: Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS

the basics: WHITE RICE

 

THE BIRTH OF:

"the basics"

Mama Jo to her Baby Bret:

"You're graduating!!! 

And on your own in a few months...

What adulting do you still need to learn??

Anything you want to learn how to cook?

- What have I missed teaching you, do you think??"

Baby Bret to her Mama Jo:

"Honestly?  

I need the recipes you have in your brain.

You know, the basics. 

Like white rice." 

Mama Jo in her thoughts:

"Hathaway..."   

:0)

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2  cups Jasmine long grain white rice

1  teaspoon Kosher or pink salt 

1  TABLESPOON sugar

4  cups filtered water

Wash // rinse rice until the water is no longer a clouded, milky color.  

Throughly drain.  Set aside.

Put everything in a medium pot OR large frying pan.

Whichever your choice, it MUST have a fitted lid.

Add all ingredients to your cooking pot or pan.

Put to cook on your stove at a medium or medium high cooking setting.

Stir frequently until you get it to a low boil // high simmer state.

Set a timer for 1 minute; and keep stirring the rice mixture at the low boil // simmering state.

Turn heat down to the lowest-low. 

Give it one final stir.  

Put the fitted lid on.

Set a timer for 25 minutes.

DO NOT TAKE THE LID OFF WHILE TIMER IS ON.

When timer is done, turn the heat off.

KEEP THE LID ON ANOTHER 5-10 MINUTES.

Fluff rice before serving.

Let the rice cool completely before packing up for leftovers or a meal prep.

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Gavin to his Mama Jo when he was living in Japan:
"Why did we never have a rice-cooker growing up??!"

Mama Jo to her Gavin:
"Because I know HOW to cook rice!"

HOWEVER:  
Gavin was on to something...  I now prefer the incredibly easy, slick, tasty, and perfect-every-time-rice-cooker rice.

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Click Link FOR: Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS

the basics: PAN COOKED CHICKEN TENDERS

USED  FOR:

- meal prep

- chicken pitas with roasted veggies

- chicken cabbage salad

- toasted pecan spinach salad

- chicken and waffles (oatmeal waffles are the BEST!)

- chicken fettuccine 

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2 pounds of chicken tenders

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper

olive oil - for cooking

Combine all in a small or medium bowl and keep in the fridge until ready to cook.

Depending on the size of your cast iron pan or frying pan: 

cook 1/2 or all of the chicken tenders until a toasty golden brown on both sides.  

If the chicken becomes stuck to the pan while cooking, add a little additional oil.

Re-oil pan and cook any remaining portions if needed.  

Keep covered with foil to maintain moisture until ready to eat or until fully cooled enough to store in the fridge.

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Click Link FOR: Mama Jo's Recipe Blog TABLE OF CONTENTS