I don't know why this is called Russian Tea, but we've been making it since I was a teenager. Someone, somewhere, came up with this delicious mix and it ran like wildfire through our Birmingham community in the late 1960s. There are many versions of it on the internet, but I remember my old recipe card. It was spotted with drops of who knows what and I always brought it out when it got cold outside. Those of who sang, always drank it religiously, to keep our throats warm. I gave it as gifts and everyone who received it was delighted!
The original recipe used Tang (full of sugar) and 2 cups of sugar, a lemonade kool aid packet, ground cloves, cinnamon and a jar of instant tea. You mixed it all together and Voila, the coziest cup of tea you ever drank. Now, however, we are all watching our sugar intake and use the even worse for us, sugar substitutes. And, every year, the ingredients keep changing a bit because packaging is smaller and smaller. When I first started making it, I could use instant tea, no lemon, no sugar or sugar substitute and then I could monitor how much substitute and what kind went into the mix. Now, I have to use tea mix with lemon and aspartame (yuk) AND an orange drink mix with more aspartame. Luckily the rest of the ingredients don't have sugar substitute so maybe it's not that bad. Whatever it is, don't drink a lot of it, or you'll spend your day/evening on the johnny..hahaha. Here's the 2019 recipe:
1 jar Diet Lipton Decaffeinated iced tea mix with lemon
1 box Crystal Light Classic Orange drink tubes (these are the ones for a 16.5 oz bottle of water)
1 Kool-Aid Lemonade packet (the unsweetened kind)
4 tsp. cinnamon
3 tsp ground cloves
JUST A NOTE about Orange Drink mixes-do not use a store brand. They just don't have enough orange flavor. I think you COULD probably use the larger tubes of Crystal Light (maybe 2 of them), but I couldn't find any in my community.
That's it! Mix it well together and store it in an airtight container. I just use the jar the tea came in. To serve, mix a heaping teaspoon with about 12 oz (1 mug) of hot water. Yummmmmm! Enjoy!
Friday, December 13, 2019
Friday, October 25, 2019
Zucchini Tots
Well, I've gone on Weight Watchers once again. Sigh. I know that's the best way for me to lose weight because you can eat whatever you want. That being said, I'm trying to find the smallest point recipes that I can so I can eat more! The other thing that needs to be said is...I hate zucchini! It's almost always mushy and watery and yucky. I WILL eat it, but just don't like to cook with it, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found this recipe for zucchini "tots" on Skinnytaste.com AND also on simpletasty.recipes. Enjoy! It's 2 SP for 3 tots.
INGREDIENTS
INGREDIENTS
- cooking spray
- 1 packed cup grated zucchini
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 medium onion, minced (not grated)
- 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs, or gluten-free crumbs
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt and black pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray 12 holes in a mini muffin tin
- Grate the zucchini into a clean dish towel until you have 1 packed cup. Wring all of the excess water out of the zucchini, there will be a lot of water. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon into muffin tins, filling to the top and packing into each hole. Cook for 15 minutes until brown.
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Quick Cinnamon Rolls
It's been a while since I posted, but had to keep this one for posterity. Yes, I'm supposed to be on a diet (all the time, right?) but I just HAD to have something sweet, so here goes. I adapted this recipe from Kevin and Amanda at https://www.kevinandamanda.com/easy-cinnamon-rolls/. It's pretty much the same as hers, but I did make a few tweaks. You can head over to her site to see step by step pics, though. Here are the ingredients:
Ingredients
2 rolls Pillsbury crescent roll dough (or sheets)
8 T. butter, divided
1/4 cup brown sugar (I used brown sugar Swerve)
1 T cinnamon (I prefer Saigon)
1/4 cup sugar (I used Splenda)
Icing
1/2 cup sugar (or sugar equivalent)
2 T. butter, melted
2 T heavy cream, milk, or half and half (try using just 1 at a time)
Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a glass pie plate, melt 4 T butter. If you don't have a glass pie plate, just melt the butter and pour it into the pie plate. Mix the 1/4 cup brown sugar with the butter. Set aside.
3. Open first dough roll and pinch seams together. Open the second dough roll and lay it on the long side of the first one. Pinch all seams together.
4. Soften the other 4 T of butter. Do not melt it completely, just soften. Mix the cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar with the butter. Smear it on the dough. Roll the dough tightly from the longest side. Cut it in the middle, then each half into 4 pieces creating 8 total rolls.
5. Place rolls in the pie plate. Cook for 20-30 minutes watching the tops of the rolls. If the outside gets darker than the middle, put foil around the buns that are darker so the middle can cook a little longer.
6. Once out of the oven, let them cool for about 10 minutes and then turn the rolls onto a plate. After they have completely cooled, make the icing.
7. Icing: Combine all ingredients. Use milk sparingly until you get the consistency you want. Spread on completely cooled rolls. The longer they sit, the harder the icing will be. Enjoy!
Ingredients
2 rolls Pillsbury crescent roll dough (or sheets)
8 T. butter, divided
1/4 cup brown sugar (I used brown sugar Swerve)
1 T cinnamon (I prefer Saigon)
1/4 cup sugar (I used Splenda)
Icing
1/2 cup sugar (or sugar equivalent)
2 T. butter, melted
2 T heavy cream, milk, or half and half (try using just 1 at a time)
Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a glass pie plate, melt 4 T butter. If you don't have a glass pie plate, just melt the butter and pour it into the pie plate. Mix the 1/4 cup brown sugar with the butter. Set aside.
3. Open first dough roll and pinch seams together. Open the second dough roll and lay it on the long side of the first one. Pinch all seams together.
4. Soften the other 4 T of butter. Do not melt it completely, just soften. Mix the cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar with the butter. Smear it on the dough. Roll the dough tightly from the longest side. Cut it in the middle, then each half into 4 pieces creating 8 total rolls.
5. Place rolls in the pie plate. Cook for 20-30 minutes watching the tops of the rolls. If the outside gets darker than the middle, put foil around the buns that are darker so the middle can cook a little longer.
6. Once out of the oven, let them cool for about 10 minutes and then turn the rolls onto a plate. After they have completely cooled, make the icing.
7. Icing: Combine all ingredients. Use milk sparingly until you get the consistency you want. Spread on completely cooled rolls. The longer they sit, the harder the icing will be. Enjoy!
Thursday, July 4, 2019
Mac and cheese on the stove
I cobbled this macaroni and cheese recipe together from several recipes, but I made it my own! It's a stove top recipe rather than cooking it in the oven because I made it in the summer and our kitchen gets really hot with the oven on. I am always on the lookout for great recipes that can be made on top of the stove. This particular recipe makes a lot, so hope you have hungry folks!
STOVE TOP MACARONI AND CHEESE
Ingredients
1 lb. elbow macaroni (or other smallish pasta)
1/4 cup salted butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup 2% milk
1 cup half and half
3 cups cheeses (see note)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (or not)
1/2 tsp dry mustard (optional)--I didn't use it, but it would probably make the taste sharper.
Cooking Method
1. Boil pasta according to package directions. I add 2 Tablespoons of salt to the water after it boils. Drain the pasta while you make the cheese sauce.
2. In a heavy saucepan, on low heat, melt the butter. As soon as it is melted, add flour, whisking constantly to make a roux. Cook the roux for at least 2 minutes to get the flour taste gone.
3. Add the milk slowly at first to combine the roux and the milk. Once it's combined a little bit, add it all. Set the heat to medium-low and cook until thickened and bubbly. Watch out, though, and don't let it boil! As soon as you see bubbles, go to the next step.
4. Add grated cheeses a little at a time to let it melt, stirring constantly. Once it's melted, taste the cheese sauce to make sure it's as cheesy as you want it. If not, add more cheese!
5. Once the sauce is good to go, add the pasta. You can either add it in the same pot or do it in a bowl. It will definitely take all the pasta and be good and creamy.
Enjoy!
NOTE ABOUT CHEESES: I used an 8 oz block of Kraft sharp cheddar, 4 oz of Havarti, 2 oz of Asiago and a tablespoon of crumbled blue cheese. The sauce definitely needs the sharp taste of the Asiago, but you could probably achieve the same results by using all sharp cheddar. Don't be afraid to use the sharp because the milk smooths it out. Also, it's best if you use freshly grated cheese because it will blend better. The cornstarch they use to keep the pregrated cheeses separated, will make the sauce too thick.
STOVE TOP MACARONI AND CHEESE
Ingredients
1 lb. elbow macaroni (or other smallish pasta)
1/4 cup salted butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup 2% milk
1 cup half and half
3 cups cheeses (see note)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (or not)
1/2 tsp dry mustard (optional)--I didn't use it, but it would probably make the taste sharper.
Cooking Method
1. Boil pasta according to package directions. I add 2 Tablespoons of salt to the water after it boils. Drain the pasta while you make the cheese sauce.
2. In a heavy saucepan, on low heat, melt the butter. As soon as it is melted, add flour, whisking constantly to make a roux. Cook the roux for at least 2 minutes to get the flour taste gone.
3. Add the milk slowly at first to combine the roux and the milk. Once it's combined a little bit, add it all. Set the heat to medium-low and cook until thickened and bubbly. Watch out, though, and don't let it boil! As soon as you see bubbles, go to the next step.
4. Add grated cheeses a little at a time to let it melt, stirring constantly. Once it's melted, taste the cheese sauce to make sure it's as cheesy as you want it. If not, add more cheese!
5. Once the sauce is good to go, add the pasta. You can either add it in the same pot or do it in a bowl. It will definitely take all the pasta and be good and creamy.
Enjoy!
NOTE ABOUT CHEESES: I used an 8 oz block of Kraft sharp cheddar, 4 oz of Havarti, 2 oz of Asiago and a tablespoon of crumbled blue cheese. The sauce definitely needs the sharp taste of the Asiago, but you could probably achieve the same results by using all sharp cheddar. Don't be afraid to use the sharp because the milk smooths it out. Also, it's best if you use freshly grated cheese because it will blend better. The cornstarch they use to keep the pregrated cheeses separated, will make the sauce too thick.
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