Mountain High Yogurt Tzatziki Creamy Garlic Cucumber Dip

Okay, okay, it's almost as good as Trader Joes, but not quite. Please comment on any additions to make it better.

Okay, so I got a taste test yesterday, and the taster says it tastes better than TJ's. See yesterday's post.
TJ's Creamy Garlic Cucumber Dip

But how can that be?
It's because I used this Mountain High Original Vanilla Yoghurt.

TJ's Creamy Garlic Cucumber Dip with Mountain High Yoghurt

The vanilla adds a sweetness to it that melts in your mouth.

If you can't get Mountain High Original Style Yoghurt where you live, try a full bodied natural yoghurt and add a touch of honey, and a drop of vanilla.

See what you think.

1/2 cup Mountain High Original Style yogurt - Vanilla
1/2 cup TJ's Lite Sour Cream
Zest of 1 TJ lemon
Juice from 1 lemon (about 3 Tbs)
1 Cucumber thinly sliced with a veggie-matic type veggie slicer set to very thin.
1 Tsp TJ's garlic (comes in a jar all pureed. A must in my kitchen)
3 Tbs fresh dill
1 tsp dried mint

salt and white pepper to taste.

Tzatziki Creamy Garlic Cucumber Dip - Trade Joe's Style

OMG!!! I just had some Trader Joe's Tzatziki at their food sampling bar which we all know and love. We brought some home, and it didn't last very long.
I searched the Internet for a similar recipe as the ingredients on the tub and this is as close as I could find.
I used the Trader Joes ingredients, and just the measurements from the other recipe.

1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup TJ's Lite Sour Cream
Zest of 1 TJ lemon
Juice from 1 lemon (about 3 Tbs)
1 Cucumber thinly sliced with a veggie-matic type veggie slicer set to very thin.
1 Tsp TJ's garlic (comes in a jar all pureed. A must in my kitchen)
3 Tbs fresh dill
1 tsp dried mint

salt and white pepper to taste.

Mix it all together and serve with Trader Joes's Sesame Seed Pita bread.

Yum ; )

Okay, okay, it's almost as good as Trader Joes, but not quite. Please comment on any additions to make it better.

Okay, so I got a taste test yesterday, and the taster says it tastes better than TJ's.

But how can that be?
It's because I used this Mountain High Original Vanilla Yoghurt.

TJ's Creamy Garlic Cucumber Dip with Mountain High Yoghurt

The vanilla adds a sweetness to it that melts in your mouth.

If you can't get Mountain High Original Style Yoghurt where you live, try a full bodied natural yoghurt and add a touch of honey, and a drop of vanilla.

See what you think.

Annuity Basics

Annuity Basics

The Sandwich Generation

Have you had a good sandwich lately?
This is a photo essay I did today called The Sandwich Generation.
Ben told me about this concept where the baby boomers are sandwiched between their aging parents and their kids needing student expenses and tuition for colleges.

Betty Hill's Homemade Jam

Lauren, Aidan and I were invited to dinner at Betty Hill's house in Corvallis. Richard and Kim were visiting, and we all got together for a wonderful dinner of Raclette. The Raclette was so amazing that we didn't stop to take a photo of it.

During our visit, Betty Hill invited me to see her prized garden. It had raised vegetable beds, fruit trees, and flowers. Every year Betty makes home made jam. Her supply from last summer was almost depleted. She gave us Blueberry Jam, Apricot Jam, and Strawberry Jam that she made to take home with us. This morning, I opened the jar of apricot jam and spread it on my English muffins. Betty's jam is exquisite! It is rich in fruit and not very sweet, just as I like it. Betty Hill says many 100% fruit jams on the market are mostly apple with some fruit. Hers is 100% apricots, or 100% blueberries, or 100% strawberries with not other fruit mixed in. This accounts for its richness of flavor and lower sugar content.
Thank you Betty Hill for having us over for Raclette this week and giving us some of you marvelous homemade jam.

Shrimp Portofino - Macaroni Grill on Mother's Day

It' s Mother's Day and I was cleaning off our kitchen billboard and found this photo of Shrimp Portofino at Romano's Macaroni Grill
It's simple to make and delightfully complex and nurturing.
Since I am an unemployed single Lake Oswego Mom, I want this Mother's Day dinner but to be where my son Aidan and I make this wonderful dish from scratch at home.

We have these wonderfully huge Prawns from Uwajimaya's, our favorite Asian market. New Season's Market has Organic cream on special this week for $2.50/pint. If you don't live near a Uwajimaya's or New Season's Market, Trader Joes has good frugally prices on all these ingredients:
1 - 1/2 lb of Prawns
1/2 cup of cream
1/4 cup of roasted pine nuts
1 bunch of fresh spinach (or 1 small bag of salad spinach)
1 lb of Angel Hair pasta
1/2 cup mushrooms - sliced
1 Tbs Extra Virgin Kalamata Olive Oil - or butter
1/2 tsp of dried basil
1/4 cup of white wine
1 tsp garlic paste
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
1 Tbs capers

1) Saute Prawns in garlic and butter until the slightly pink.
2) Brown sliced mushrooms in butter.
3) Start a large pasta pot of water boiling on high heat.
4) In a small saucepan, combine the wine and cream. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Turn down the heat to medium low. Add the Parmesan cheese. Stir occasionally. Add the capers.
5) When the water in the pasta pot comes to a boil, add Angel Hair pasta, stir until the pasta is completely submerged under the boiling water. Turn the heat down to medium. Cook only for 3 minutes.
6) Wash and drain the spinach.
7) Test one strand of Angel Hair pasta to taste for doneness. Strain pasta when done.
8) In the saute pan, add pine nuts and toast until slightly brown, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes.
9) Add the spinach, cream and wine mixture to the pine nuts. Cook on a medium heat for 2 minutes, until spinach is slightly wilted.
10) Add the Prawns and stir until coated with the sauce. Turn off the heat, and remove from stove.
10) Pour the pasta into a big pasta bowl. Sprinkle the basil on the Angel Hair and toss lightly.
11) Place the pasta into individual pasta bowls.
12) Spoon the Prawns and cream sauce over the pasta and serve.

Serves 4

Social Security Benefits for Married Couples

I found this great article today on Yahoo Finance:
6 ways Couples can Maximize on Social Security Payouts
I've been unemployed for months now, and recently engaged. I have been pondering what happens with Social Security for married couples. It appears that in these amazing economic times, many people are joining forces.

"Spouses are entitled to a Social Security payout of up to 50 percent of the higher earner's check if that amount is higher than benefits based on his or her own working record. ...

Dual-earner couples who have reached their full retirement age can claim Social Security twice: first as a spouse and later using their own work record. A person may choose to sign up for only a spouse's benefits at their full retirement age and continue accruing delayed retirement credits on their own Social Security record. ...

Example:

1. A man planning to retire at age 70 could claim a spouse's benefit based on his wife's earnings at age 66
   
2. Then claim again based on his own working record when he exits the workforce at age 70.
   
3. High-income couples with relatively equal earnings gain the most using this strategy
4. A former spouse may be eligible for benefits if the marriage lasted at least 10 years. The divorced spouse must be age 62 or older and unmarried. The amount of benefits an ex-spouse claims has no effect on the benefits the worker and her or her current spouse can receive."

Simple Math:
I think this means that if the wife's social security benefits by age 66 are $1500/mo, then the husband can claim up to $750. This gives the couple $2250/mo in Social Security payouts.

At age 70 the husband then starts his Social Security claim which pays more than if he started it at age 62 or 66. earn a higher monthly amount. If he is entitled to $2500/mo by waiting until age 70:
$1500 + $750 + $2500 = $4750/mo in Social Security payouts for the couple after age 70.

For those of us whose mortgages are not paid off by the time we reach age 70, this is good news!

Please send in comments and clarifications on this blog post. Let's get a discussion going!

Japanese Yam Leek and Ginger Soup

8 cups Chicken stock
3 or 4 Japanese yams (satsuma imo) - 1 - 1/2 lb baked
2 small to medium leeks white and green parts thinly sliced crosswise
1 tbs olive oil
3 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1/4 tsp Paprika
3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream
Sea Salt
culinary lavender buds for garnish
Serves 10

Satsuma Imo are Japanese yams or sweet potatoes. I cannot find a reference to it being a nightshade, so if anyone knows, please fell free to comment.

1. Bake the Japanese yams at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.
2. Saute the leeks in olive oil.
3. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Working in batches if necessary , combine the sweet potato mixture, 1/2 teaspoon white pepper, the gunger, and the cyenne in a food processor or blender and process until a smooth puree forms. Pour into a large bowl and let cool to lukewarm. Stir in the cream and season to taste with salt. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. (the flavor improves with time)
4. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Ladle the soup into chilled bowls and garnish with the chives. Serve at once.
   

Pineapple Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

3 cups grated carrots

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1.5 cups canola oil

1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped nuts

1 cup raisins or currants

1 cup crushed pineapple (drained)

Steps:

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 9x13 baking dish/pan.

beat together carrots, sugar, eggs, oil and cream cheese.

2. In a separate Bowl, sift or whisk together flour , baking soda, slat, and cinnamon. Stir into carrot mixture. Add vanilla, raisins, pineapple and nuts, and mix well.

3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 55-85 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool, and then frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

---

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of butter

8oz of Cream Cheese

1 lb of powdered sugar (but only use 1/4 or 1/2 a cup. adjust to taste)

2 Tbs of Milk

1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

Steps:

1. Cream together softened butter and cream cheese.

2. Sift powdered sugar into cream cheese mixture in a mixing bowl.

3. Add milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Broccoli Chicken Alfredo Recipe for Teens

Aidan is my high school son. He made this for dinner last night for us. Cooking is a life skill that every teen should have. Cooking is economical. we call it Frugal Cuisine.

2 Chicken breasts
1/2 bag of Bowtie pasta (8 oz)
2 stalks of broccoli
2/3 cup of cream
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 Tbs olive oil


1) Start a steamer pot with 3 quarts+ of water of High heat.
2) Wash the broccoli, and trim off the outer thick stem skin (if any) with a carrot peeler. Slice the broccoli vertically, so that it looks somewhat like the broccoli in the photo above.
3) Put the broccoli in a steamer and place it over the pot of boiling water.

4) When the stems become translucent, they are done (about 2-3 minutes). Take one out and test it by eating it. Remove steamer with the broccoli and set aside.

5) Keep the water boiling. Add the bow tie pasta. Cook for about 8-10 minutes.

6) In the meantime, place a large skillet on medium high heat with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, or enough oil to coat the bottom on the skillet. Make sure that the skillet has a lid.

7) When the oil is hot, you will see wavy patterns in the oil or smoke coming off the top.
Hold the lid as a shield, in one hand.
Quickly put the chicken breasts in the oil and cover with a lid so that it doesn't spatter.

8) IMMEDIATELY turn the heat down to MEDIUM.
Move the lid so that it is not covering the skillet completely, so that steam can escape, and the oil doesn't spatter, leaving about a 1/2" to 1" opening.

9) While the chicken is cooking, get a small 1 quart saucepan out and pour the cream in it. Put it on the stove at Medium heat.

10) Stir the pasta. Take one out and let it cool about 30 seconds, and taste to see if it is done.
When it is done, turn off the pasta and remove it from the stove.

11) Stir the Parmesan cheese into the cream. This is the simple Alfredo sauce.

12) Check the Chicken. When it is brown on the bottom side, turn the chicken over with a spatula, then put the lid back on the skillet, slightly opened to allow steam to escape. If you don't let the steam escape, the chicken will get steamed instead of browned.

13) Stir the Alfredo sauce and check the chicken.

14) When both sides of the chicken is browned, take one out and cut into the middle of it to check for doneness. It should be opaque (not pink) inside.

15) When the chicken is done, remove from skillet and turn off the heat.
Cut the chicken into 1" cubes. Put them into two pasta bowls or on two plates.

16) Stir the Alfredo sauce.

17) Scoop the pasta out of the pot with a slotted spoon, or drain the water then scoop the pasta out of the pot. Place the pasta in bowls on top of the chicken.

18) Evenly distribute the broccoli on top of the pasta.

19) Drizzle the Alfredo sauce evenly over the broccoli, pasta and chicken.
Serve immediately.

Serves 2.

Irish Soda Bread with Blueberries & Orange Zest

My Irish friend Mark made this for us for St. Patrick's Day. It is so wonderfully scrumptous; freshly crusty on the outside and deliciously warm and soft on the inside.


3/4 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 orange

In a large bowl combine:
3 cups organic unbleached flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda


Grate the orange peel of one orange (about 1 Tablespoon) and add the raisins (soaked in a tsp of lemon juice or irish whiskey) to the mixture. Blend in 1 -1/3 cup of fresh buttermilk and 4 Tbs of melted butter. Fold in the blueberries, saving a few for the top.

Turn into a greased 2 quart casserole. cut an X on top of the batter. top with remaining blueberries.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Serve warm with butter and blueberry jelly or jam.
Serves 8

My kid was hit by a car in Corvallis

My daughter was hit by a car last Monday, Feb 1st. She was on her bicycle. she said she looked both ways before crossing,but a car came around the corner and hit her. She said she landed on the hood of the car driven by an OSU college student. She then landed on the street on the driver's side.
A man came out of a church and offered to call an ambulance. A student came out of his Frat house, and adminsitered first aid. Her head and hand were bleeding. The impact bent the bicycle handle and knocked the chain off, so the bike was no longer ridable.
My daughter suffered a concussion, and is still not able to think clearly.
She could not think, nor could she talk much. She went to class and was not able to understand a thing.
Other students in her class got her to go to OSU student health, where they treated her and bandaged up her hand, putting her fingers in a splint.
The same afternoon in Corvallis, a truck came around a corner, and hit a baby carriage. The baby died.
The driver of the car wanted my daughter to sign a document stating that it was my daughter's fault, and not the driver's fault in this accident. I told my daughter not to sign it, and that it is the driver's fault, and not her's nor was it the baby's fault. It is aways the driver's fault.

I feel selfish, but I thank God that if a kid was to die in a car accident in Corvallis that afternoon, I thank God that my daughter is alive. I feel sorry for the baby. I am so grateful that mine is safe.