Homemade Pasta

The ingredients for homemade past are very simple.
2 Cups flour (wheat or white)
2 Eggs
Some water

period

that is all!


Dump your flour onto the counter or whatever surface you would like to use
it is best if it is a clean surface
nothing is yuckier than grit in your pasta

Make a fun little volcano and crack your two eggs into it.

Then starting on the outside work the flour and the eggs together with your hands


I recommend taking your rings off….my wedding ring still hasn’t recovered from the eggy flour mixture.

This is what it will look like when the eggs and flour are combined, it will be a dry crumbly mess.
This is where the water comes in.

Add water about a Tablespoon at a time until you get a very dry, very stiff dough. The amount of water you use will vary each time depending on many factors.


Kneed and mix everything together really well

Once the dough looks like this let it rest on the counter top (or surface of your choice.) for 10 to 30 minutes, covering it with a damp cloth.


While the dough is “resting” (whatever that means) set up your pasta maker.

If you are simple like me it will be of the hand-crank variety

(which preforms wonderfully)
or an electric one.

and set it to the biggest setting, where the rollers are as far apart as they will go.

Once your dough has had a nice nap cut it into fourths, it it easier to work with. Cover the pieces that you aren’t working with with your damp cloth so they don’t dry out too much.

Moosh your piece out kind of flat….

and push it through the roller

After the first pass through the machine it will look like this and you will think you are a pasta-making-failure, but don’t despair, this is a normal step.


Gather it all together and fold it as best as you can and give it another pass through the machine.

When it starts sticking together well, adjust the pasta maker to a lower setting (so the rollers are closer together)

Fold the dough up and make some more passes

All you do now is fold and run through the machine….adjust down…..and fold and run.

Very Simple.

(look how bad I am, that is some uncovered dough in the back ground! tisk-tisk!)

(and if this happens during one of the passes, don’t fret, it will iron itself out)

Keep going until it is at its smallest setting, or until you are at the thickness you like.

Lay the big sheet of pasta out on the counter top…(or surface of choice) and rest (there is that word again) for about thirty minutes.


When you are ready to cut the pasta put on the attachment of your choice. (At this time I only have two, but that will be changing!) and cut the big sheets of pasta to the length desired. I was making mine for Chicken Noodle soup, so I only wanted them about three inches long. I used a pizza cutter and quickly make the cuts.


Then you just feed it through the cutter and (taadaa) pasta!

This recipe will make two pounds of pasta.

I love that big fat pile!

(I am not so much loving the small pile that made its way to the floor, not my surface of choice)

and a quick picture of the living room without laundry all over
(just give it a couple days…)

I divided the pasta into two piles, one for the soup and one for the freezer.

I haven’t learned how to dry pasta yet, but when I do I will be sure to tell y’all

(Kristi the “y’all” is for you!)

Into the soup pot it goes and since it is fresh it only takes about 5 minutes to cook, and onto the dinner table.

YUM!


No more dried, store bought pasta for this family.

White Bean Soup

Continuing on my series
Cooking Beans
I have another yummy, hearty, down home recipe to add to your collection.


Our Cast of Characters:
3 cups cooked great northern beans
1 onion
2-3 potatoes
2-3 stalks celery
2-3 carrots
4 cubes chicken bullion
Salt and Pepper to taste

Chop up your veggies
(or if you are lucky like I am have one of your punk slaves do it)


Put everything into a pot and add water
bring it to a boil
and let it simmer until all the veggies are tender

About 10 minuets before you are ready to serve add your beans so they will warm up.

(I also added some cut up polish sausages, I had some left over from Halloween and thought they would be a good addition, and they were! You could also add ham, chicken or beef)

This is a great meal for a cold wintry day.

and the cost…only a few dollars


I served this soup with the best french bread I have ever had!
Run on over to my friend Casey’s blog for the recipe
you won’t regret it!

Three Bean Soup

Monday I made Three Bean Soup for dinner.
I already had some Great Northern and Kidney beans cooked and in the freezer so I needed to cook some black beans so my soup could be a true “three beans”.

I decided to demonstrate the “quick cook” method for cooking beans.
(note: when cooking dry beans nothing is truly quick)
I started by measuring my beans, dumping them in a big pot and covering them by several inches of water, you will cook off a lot of water, so don’t be shy, start out with lots of water.

I needed 2 cups for the recipe, so I measured out one cup of dry beans.

I brought them to a boil, then turned the heat down so they would simmer.
It took about 4 hours of simmering for the beans to become soft. Be careful to watch the water level, it is easy for the water to simmer off, and burnt beans smell really bad!

When following recipes you need to take into consideration your altitude. If I was closer to sea level it would have taken less time, if I was higher, more time. The higher you get the lower the boiling point of water becomes. Therefore you are not cooking your beans as at high of temperature. I am at about 4700 feet, and it took about 4 hours.

Once they were done I rinsed them off and sat them to the side while I got my other ingredients together.

Here is the cast of characters:
4 cups cooked beans (any kind)
4 cups stewed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups corn
1 can chili peppers

1 Onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1-2 Tbsp Chili powder (depending on your taste)

Chop your onion….

And dump everything into a pot….

Bring everything to a boil and let it simmer for an hour.


and that is it


I served this with Cheese and Corn Bread.

It is soooooo good!
and so low fat!
Unless you count the cheese, and the corn bread…
This would also be good with tortilla chips…there are so many possibilities.

This could be easily be made in the crock pot.
Also if you don’t want to to the trouble of cooking the beans, four small cans of whatever beans you like would work, along with 2-15 oz cans of stewed tomatoes and a can of corn.

I figure minus the cheese and corn bread this meal cost me 4$, the tomatoes did come out of my garden, so if you added the cost of those it would be more…even then it would still be super cheap, and it fed my family of 7 with enough for left overs.

(p.s. I am going to blog my corn bread recipe soon. Actually, it isn’t my recipe, it is my good friend Katie’s recipe and it is really, really good…my all time favorite!)

If you would like some more recipes and kitchen tips, check out Tammy’s site

Refried Beans

Refried beans are one of the easiest and yummiest ways to prepare and serve beans

Here is our cast of character:
Cooked beans
some sort of fat
and seasonings

easy peasey

Start by heating up whatever fat you would like to use.
I used Canola oil this time
and to be very honest it is my least favorite I don’t really love the taste of the canola oil with beans, but it worked and it was still good.
I like using shortening better and my very favorite it bacon grease, it gives the beans a wonderful flavor.

Once it is nice and hot dump your beans in

I would advise you to wear an apron of some sort
(here is a link to some cute vintage aprons)
the grease will splatter a bit, and nothing bugs me more than a nice shirt ruined by grease!



(side note, isn’t that itty bitty measuring spoon so stinking cute!)

I add my spices, anything works, whatever floats your boat.
A spoonful or two of salsa is really yummy.




Once the beans start to warm up you and start smashing them. If you like them really chunky just use the back of your spoon.

I use a potato masher, it is quicker.

and if you like them really smooth, put them in your food processor
whatever you preference it

There you have it
Refried Beans

Typically I use my beans in two different ways,
I will make bean Quesadillas and Burritos.

My Burritos are really simple



Just plop a glob on a tortilla, sprinkle on some cheese…


…roll ’em up

pack them in a pan as tightly as possible
and smother them with cheese



Served with Salas and Sour Cream….
a family favorite.

Now tell me please, my bloggy friends, are you finding this series helpful? It is interesting to you? Would you like me to keep going…or should I move on to other things?

Bean Taco Bake

This Bean recipe is one of my family’s favorite. Everybody will eat it, and Dadzoo fights to have leftovers for the next day!
Here is our cast of characters:
1 cup milk
2 cup Salsa
2 cans tomato soup
4 cups cooked beans
2 cups shredded cheese
12 tortillas cut up into 2 inches pieces


Start out by getting one of the kids to cut up the tortillas.

Today Punk #1 is my kitchen helper.
This is a great recipe for little helpers, it is pretty basic.

While the tortillas are being cut up mix the ingredients, leaving out 1 cup of cheese.




(she wouldn’t look at the camera…..stinker!)


Spread the cut up tortillas in a greased baking dish,

and pour the bean mixture on top

give it a good stir

and pop it into a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until it is bubbly around the edges.
Then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and let it melt.


Now this is where Momzoo lost her mind and little and in all the hustle and shuffle of dinner time forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

I like to serve this with some corn bread and veggies on the side.

YUMMY!!!