Sweet things with ricotta

When making mozzarella from whole milk, you end up with whey that you just don't want to waste, so you end up making ricotta.  The last two times, we made a pasta bake and then a lasagna with the ricotta.  For today's batch of fresh ricotta, I wanted to do something different.  Considering that we're nearing Valentine's Day (a holiday we don't generally celebrate but I end up craving chocolate), I remembered that you can make a chocolate mousse with ricotta as well.  After researching a few recipes, I thought we'd make it like so:

Take the ricotta from your leftover whey (maybe about 15 ounces like a store-bought size), add about 1/3 cup of melted semi-sweet chocolate (or 4-5 oz baker's chocolate and 1/3 cup sugar), add about 1/2 cup cream, stir & serve. Add some garnishments, like whipped cream or our awesome molasses cookies (in moose form).

There were so many recipes out there, and I wasn't going to do something where I would have to run to the store, especially since we have hit our $25 for the week.   Other recipes called for raw eggs and I didn't want to do that.  Several called for maple syrup, honey, or sugar, generally when using unsweetened cocoa.  Many called for fat-free this or low-fat that, but low-fat foods are just disgusting and unhealthy, so we won't have any of that in our house.

I may have considered using powdered unsweetened cocoa, but I used that all up when making a batch of chocolate ice cream this morning. 

Because we'll be making plenty of cheese in the future and we'll have a lot of ricotta to eat, I thought that I'd research for a few more ricotta desserts.  I haven't tried them out, but here are some to choose from, from various other ricotta-loving bloggers and bakers out there.

Coffee and chocolate mousse, using just ricotta, dark chocolate, honey & instant coffee.
Orange ricotta mousse with orange caramel, which just sounds and looks decadent.
Ricotta fluff, with amaretto and rum.
Hindu Cheese Dessert, with cottage cheese and cardamom.
Ricotta Vanilla Cream, with just a few ingredients.
Warm honey and cinnamon over ricotta, which is exactly what it sounds like.
Balsamic Strawberries with ricotta, with basil garnish.

Or, you could put ricotta in crepes with berries for either dessert or breakfast.

Banana cream pie

There's this place not too far away that has great banana cream pie.  I'm not sure if it's made with Real food, but it sure is good.  I kept thinking about that pie, and thinking about it, and thinking about it.  So, we decided to make one.  It took awhile because twice the family ate the bananas that I was planning on using for the pie.  I also wanted a graham cracker crust, but didn't want to buy graham crackers because the ones I found all had high fructose corn syrup.  So, first we started with making graham crackers, to crush up for the crust.  I crushed it, added about a tablespoon of sugar and half a stick of butter, then smushed it into the bottom of a pie pan.  Then it was time the bananas and cream.  I found a recipe that looked and sounded good, and it sure did deliver.

Start with graham cracker crust

Line with banana slices

Add the cream/pudding mix on top

Having been raised in a family that did NOT focus on Real food, just as most of us, I thought that pudding came in powdered form from a box.  I did know that it was made with milk though.   After lining the top of the crust with banana slices, I made the cream pudding portion.  I didn't realize that the milk, sugar, flour, egg yolks and salt would thicken up like it did.  I was pretty impressed with myself.  Just toss in the rest of the ingredients, and pour over the bananas.  We were thinking of making just a simple whipped topping but we had three egg whites left, so we made a meringue topping with cream of tartar, sugar and vanilla.  While it looked pretty, we weren't able to get others to taste test it, because we just kept eating it.  I guess we'll have to make another one soon.

Keep the egg whites if you want to make meringue

Put on top of the pie

Bake till browned

Snow cream

Our daughter likes to eat snow.  We try to stop her from eating the snow off of her shoes, or along the driveway, so we generally take her out in the backyard in an area where the neighbor's dog hasn't run all over.  When we had snow a few weeks ago, she was all for the idea of taking snow into the house and making it into a dessert.

All you've got to do is take about one gallon of (undisturbed) snow.  Put it in a 5 quart bucket (from ice cream previously bought - at least that would be easiest).   We put about 1- 1 1/2 cups milk, with a dash of vanilla, about 1/2 to 1/3 cup sugar.  Just whip it all in the snow and eat.  Keep the leftovers in the freezer and you can be eating snow when it is unseasonably warm as it has been.

Menu plan (2/12/12)

This past week we didn't get to everything on the menu, having leftovers and once eating out because of a time crunch with a necessary urgent care appointment, so some of the items are repeats from last week.

Sunday:  Egg salad
Monday:  Curried potatoes with rice and veggies
Tuesday:  Pesto "pasta" with spaghetti squash
Wednesday: Baked chicken, rice & veggies
Thursday:  BBQ chicken sandwiches on homemade bread with various pickled veggies
Friday: squash risotto
Saturday: leftovers (that risotto made quite a bit last time).

Week 5: $25 in groceries

This week we didn't really need much but we wanted a few things so we each got something that we wanted that we didn't need to make or was just a splurge.

We bought crackers for $3.99, pretzels for $1, and two more cans of coconut milk for $1 each, for a total of $7.99.
Later we got milk for $4.88 (2 gallons, with coupon).
I mentioned how I was thirsty in a store, and of course, Lily said she was thirsty too, just as we were walking past the juice aisle and right on a package was Cookie Monster.  It was 100% juice, but I usually don't buy it anyway just because water is sufficient.  But, we spent $3.32 on that, and $1.94 on green tea drinks for Jaimie and me.
We'll be picking up two dozen eggs again tomorrow, for $3.50.  Then we'll be getting butter for $1.99.  IF I can get brown sugar for under $1.38 (what is remaining of our $25), then I will get that.  

We're still eating well all week long, and loving every bite.

I did buy brown sugar, and we ended up .62 over budget this week, for a total of $25.62.

Menu plan (2/5/12)

As usual, this week we'll be eating very well.

Sunday:  Lasagna - with homemade ricotta and homemade mozzarella

Monday:  Baked chicken, rice, beans from our garden.  For dessert I was thinking an apple crisp because we have one made and frozen and we're having guests over.  But, it's also the 3rd anniversary of my sister's passing so I thought that we'd make something for her.  I still need to figure out what that should be.

Tuesday:  Stir fry with bean threats and mixed veggies from the freezer (beans, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower).  It may include leftover chicken if there is any.

Wednesday:  Egg salad sandwiches

Thursday:  Curry of some sort

Friday:  Steak, baked potatoes and veggies from the freezer. 

Saturday:  Pasta with homemade alfredo sauce from the Creatively Domestic blog.

Non-GMO shopping guide

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