Ice Cream

"Magical and mysterious, Ice Cream!" I don't know why it didn't occur to me to make ice cream with all of that milk I've been getting. I had come to a point where I just wasn't picking up all of my milk anymore because I just felt terrible wasting it. I'm pretty sure I'm lactose intolerant, just the kind where I have just a limited amount of dairy. Yogurt is fine and so is most cheese. But if it has heavy cream I'll get stomach cramps for hours. And yet, other than getting a bit more congested--I notice this a lot because I love singing--most ice cream doesn't really bother me. I do have one memory of getting sick after a 2nd-grade ice cream party, but I always thought that was due to the stale gummy bears with which I showered my sundae.

So I found a recipie online for ice cream made with 1% milk and I'm listing to it churn as I write.



8 cups milk

2 cups sugar

2 Tbsp vanilla

*I added a pinch of salt because I know I usually like a little touch of savory. I'll let you know how it goes!

I also have to tell you about my new tuna wonder- tuna guacamole wraps- and my staple "mountain man" potatoes with rosemary I had for dinner tonight. But that's for another post! Thanks!

Thai Peanut Chicken in a Slow-cooker

One of the WIC staples which was originally hard for me to use every month was peanut butter. But then I discovered the joys of Thai cooking, One of the trademarks of a Thai dish is peanut, and since peanut butter is usually already sweetened, it works well for a fast, flavorful Asian sauce.  This is the first recipe I found in a slow-cooker cookbook 365 Days of Slow Cooking by Karen Bellessa Petersen.You'll notice I use this book ALOT! Sometimes I wonder if she had WIC in mind when she wrote it, but if not, who cares?! She's got some great tasting ways to use our fabulous food items. It's safe to say, this isn't the last you'll hear from Ms. Petersen.

Now for the recipe(with a few slight modifications which I usually make):

2 cloves garlic (I substitute 1/2 Tbs. garlic powder)

2/3 c. peanut butter (I like the texture of the chunky kind)

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 c. shredded zucchini (but when it's not in season I use french style cut green beans)

1/3 c. soy sauce

1 tsp. sugar (I never put this in, peanut butter is sweet enough for me)

1 red pepper cut into strips

1 Tbs. lime juice (or a splash of lemon juice if that's all you have)

1 C. chopped cilantro (or none if you don't feel like it)

12 oz. cooked and drained linguine or fettuccine noodles (or whatever kind of noodle you like, really it doesn't matter)

Chopped peanuts for garnish (which I usually just use chunky variety of peanut butter and call it good)

Directions: 

1. Combine everything except the noodles, cilantro, lime juice and garnish in the Crock pot.

2. Cover and cook on low for 3-5 hours.

3. 30 minutes before serving, add lime juice and cilantro.

4. Serve over noodles with optional garnish.

That's it! Give it a try and tell me what you think!

Recipe: Tuna Crouquettes

What to do with all of that tuna?!! Living on WIC brings in lots of tuna. This recipe by Alton Brown of the Food Network is my favorite way to eat it so far. As a bonus, this recipe uses some of the other WIC staples: eggs, bread (I just use left-over bread, not the fancy bread crumbs) and onion.

Try it and see how many your family tries to snag from you!

Suitcase Style

My closet is full and I have nothing to wear. This is the story of my life. Luckily, my brother married a fashion guru this past August and she introduced me to the concept of "Suitcase Styling." The concept is that you put a minimal amount of clothes together for a maximum variety of outfits i.e. 16 pieces (2 pants, 2 skirts, 5 shirts, 3 sweaters, 2 jackets, 1 coat, 1 dress)= 40+ outfits. The idea was amazing and I couldn't wait to try. 

When I went through my closet, I realized my wardrobe consists mostly of gifts, cast-offs and thrift store clothing. I also have a really hard time letting things go and I'm not naturally organized. Recipe for a perfect storm? You better believe it. I'm a hodge podge collector of anything, cute, cheap or potentially useful. I have way too much stuff. Enter Style Suitcases. I found that among my mass of nothingness, I had about 12 of the first 16 essentials. Mind you, I had a baby a while ago so some of my things don't fit anymore, but that still doesn't do me any good.

I started with my dresser. I pulled out my 12 good things, plus a few extra sweaters and bottoms, and stuffed the rest in a garbage bag. (I'm not letting those things go quite yet. I want to organize them into different seasons so I minimize what new things I have to buy). My dresser went from bursting to practically empty. Wow. The best part was when I wore one of my outfits to church on Sunday and everyone said how much they loved my "new" outfit. Double Wow. It's like I'm drastically pruning my wardrobe and new life is bursting out of it.

So do you want to give it a try? My favorite site is so far is this one.  I love the idea of little suitcase wardrobes you can interchange with the seasons. And of course Pinterest is an excellent resource. This idea is especially budget friendly and it helps me know what I need to buy so I don't just pick something up at the thrift store because I think it's cute and a great deal.  Here is another more generic guide but the rules are almost identical.