Jalapeno Jammy Time

When we finally pulled our garden last fall, we ended up with a couple pounds of green jalapenos. Since I had already dried a bunch of ghost chilies, I decided I wanted to do something slightly different with the jalapenos. If they were red, we'd make some homemade sriracha (via this Serious Eats recipe), but as they were not, I had some fun making jalapeno jam.

Abundance of jalapenos!

Sweet & Spicy

Jalapeno Jammy Time

• 2 lbs green jalapenos (if you must, remove the seeds, but I like the heat!)
• 3-4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 C apple cider vinegar
• 2 limes (zested and juiced)
• 1 t kosher salt
• 1 packet Sure Jell liquid fruit pectin (3 oz)

1. Using a food processor, finely chop the jalapenos.

   

   Mmm..jalapenos.

   
   
2. Transfer them to a pot and stir in sugar, cider vinegar, lime juice and zest and salt. Heat over medium-heat until it boils and reduce the heat to low for 10-12 minutes. Stir constantly.

Doesn't look great, but tastes wonderful.

1. Turn the heat on high until it boils - stir in the pectin and boil for another minute. Continue to stir, and then remove from heat.
2. Let cool. You can can these or if you know you'll devour it quickly, just stick it in the fridge.

   

   Big jar for me and a lil' jar for my mother!

This tastes great with stinky and salty cheeses. It's also good as a spread on sandwiches.

"Lactation" Cookies a.k.a Feel-Good Oatmeal Cookies

As I mentioned a couple of posts back, I'm trying to breastfeed and haven't been able to produce enough milk. Everyone has a theory on how to produce more milk:

• Grandma says to drink soup
• Mom says to drink soup and eat papaya
• The lovely lady who's daughter owns my Saturday donut bakery said to eat apples
• Friends suggested lactation cookies / eating oatmeal

I did a little research, there's not much science to any of the above. Really all you can do is pump / feed more to create more supply (your boobs believe in economic equilibrium, they produce as much supply as there is demand).

But that didn't stop me from making these cookies. I tweaked a couple of recipes I found online and came up with the below. Really, it's all about adding some "nutritional" value to cookies and all the cookies were oatmeal based. While they probably aren't helping me produce much milk, they are a great quick snack!

"I'll Make a Cow Out of You" Cookies

• 1 1/2 C Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 3/4 C AP Flour
• 3 T Nutritional Yeast (Optional)
• 2 T Ground Flaxseed (Optional)
• 2 T Wheat Germ (Optional)
• 1/4 t Baking Powder
• 1/4 t Baking Soda
• 1 t Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 t Kosher Salt
• 6 T Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature)
• 2 T Coconut Oil (or an additional 2 T of Butter)
• 1/4 C Brown Sugar
• 1/4 C White Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 T Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 C Dark Chocolate Chips
• 1/4 C Unsweetened Coconut (Optional)
• 1/3 C Chopped Walnuts (Optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together oats, flour, yeast, flaxseed, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. In a larger bowl, cream together butter and coconut oil. Once mixed, add the sugar and beat until "fluffy". Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients (1/4 of the mixture at a time) to keep it from flying everywhere. Once it's all combined, using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix in the chocolate chips, coconut and walnuts (you can substitute any of the mix-ins for whatever you like). I use a cookie scoop, but if you don't have one, I'd make about a 1 in. size ball and squish it half way down (these cookies don't really spread). Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for a minute before letting them fully cool on a wire rack. I store these for about a week (and by store, I mean, I will eat them over the course of a week).

They're an easier sell to others if you don't call them lactation cookies. Joe eats one every day.

"Who is Mom? I'm just happy to see my Cow"

Recipe: Notorious Chex Mix

This Chex Mix made its original appearance at Notorious BYG's baby shower in NJ. I've been tinkering with the recipe for weeks and I think I'm finally happy with it. It's definitely #yugagnonstyle, just like BYG.

Notorious Chex Mix

Ingredients:

• 3 C Corn Chex Cereal
• 4 C Crispix Cereal
• 2 C Wheat Chex Cereal
• 1.5 C Cheerios Cereal
• 1 C Peanuts
• 1 C Cashews
• 1 C Pretzel Pieces (unsalted if you can find it!)
• 2 T Sesame Seeds
• 2 T Seaweed Flakes (optional)
• 4 T Melted Butter
• 2 T Soy Sauce
• 2 t Sesame Oil
• 3 T Furikake Seasoning (Urashima's Furikake Teriyaki Bonito is my favorite)
• 3 T Brown Sugar

Pre-heat your oven to 250°F. In a large bowl mix the cereals, nuts, pretzels, sesame seeds and seaweed flakes. In a measuring cup, mix the melted butter with the soy sauce, sesame oil, furikake seasoning and brown sugar. Once the liquids and seasonings are thoroughly mixed, used one hand to drizzle the mixture into the bowl with the cereal and use the other clean hand to toss the mixture furiously (BYG would!) to ensure even coating. Once the two mixtures are combined - pour it onto a baking sheet and spread it into an even layer. Bake for 1 hour, giving it a stir every 15 minutes. Once cool, you can store it in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks (but I'll bet it won't last that long!)