Cooking With Joy

Fresh Raw Tomatoes with Basil

2011-09-24T17:10:00.002-04:00

Here is a simple way to use up the last of your fresh garden tomatoes, and it's sooooo good!!!

Ingredients:

Fresh Tomatoes
Fresh Basil
Parmesan Cheese, sliced
Garlic Expressions salad dressing

Slice up tomatoes and cheese. Layer around a plate. Cut up some basil and sprinkle over tomatoes/cheese. Dribble some garlic expressions salad dressing over everything. Chill, and serve! Soooo delicious!

(thanks to my friend Lisa for the Garlic Expressions recommendation!)

Whole Wheat Corn Waffles

2011-06-25T22:01:00.007-04:00

This is another breakfast recipe I found at The Happy Housewife. Love her website!

Heat up waffle iron while mixing batter. In the original recipe she says to mix the wet ingredients first and then stir in the dry, but I did the opposite so I could more easily adjust the addition of the milk. I'm glad I did, as I used just slightly over 3 cups of milk, rather than 4. I just kept checking the consistency of the batter as I added.

Mix in large bowl:

3 cups whole wheat flour (freshly ground or store bought - can also mix whole wheat and white)
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 T baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt

Add to dry mixture:

4 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup oil
3-4 cups milk (add milk slowly to adjust - if using white flour you will use less milk. Batter should be pourable but not runny)

Pour mixture onto hot waffle iron and cook.

Voila!

The children ate theirs with syrup, but I put vanilla yogurt and blueberries on mine. YUM!

Freeze leftovers and re-heat in the microwave or toaster!

Homemade Granola

2011-06-25T20:53:00.004-04:00

Another recipe from The Happy Housewife, and another winner! The first batch I made didn't even get used for breakfast by the kids ~ it was munched on as a snack until the bowl was completely licked clean! (I did manage to sprinkle some on a bowl of yogurt for breakfast)

3 cups dry oatmeal
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup wheat germ (didn't have so left this out)

First melt the butter in a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the honey and salt and stir well. Turn off heat and add the oatmeal and wheat germ (if using). Stir well, then pour the mixture onto a greased cookie sheet. Try to spread the mixture out as flat and evenly as possible.

Bake at 375 for 10 minutes (I baked mine for 15). It will be a golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

GREAT breakfast or snack, easy to make, and very popular with the children. I plan to make repeatedly!

Bull's Eyes for Breakfast!

2011-06-25T11:45:00.003-04:00

This is a recipe I got from The Happy Housewife, and it was a real winner!

Need:

slices of bread
butter
eggs

Put a dollop of butter in hot frying pan to melt. Cut a circle or a heart or whatever shape you desire out of a slice of bread, and lay the bread and the cutout piece in the pan to begin frying. Break an egg into the cutout so that it cooks along with the bread. Cook about 2-3 minutes on one side, then flip and cook an additional minute on the other.

Serve the bull's eye with its little cutout piece and enjoy!

Meals in 30 Minutes - Chicken Salad Bar

2011-06-25T11:26:00.006-04:00

We've already had some really hot weather (100 degrees or close to it) and on those nights I really don't feel like cooking. Sometimes I barely feel like eating! On one such night recently we had a chicken salad bar for dinner. The two bowls near the bottom of this picture contain feta cheese and dried cherries.

This was also super fast because I already had diced, cooked, and seasoned chicken in the freezer that I just pulled out and defrosted in the microwave (I season with Italian seasoning while browning).

I looked through the veggie drawer and cut up what I could find, clockwise from top: tomatoes, carrots, red and green peppers, and strawberries in the middle. We required our children to choose at least two items from the veggie platter. I also had some cantaloupe on another plate.

Son C was very artful with his arranging!

Healthy, fast, delicious, and no cooking required!

Easy Crock Pot Chicken

2011-04-28T19:37:00.002-04:00

This is one of my favorites on busy days. Put chicken tenders or chicken breasts into crockpot (I put them in frozen), pour favorite salad dressing on top, and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Just before dinner steam some veggies, make some rice or a salad, and voila! Dinner's ready!

We change up the salad dressing to make different flavors, but Newman's Own Sesame Ginger is one of our favorites.

Homemade Trail Mix

2011-03-07T19:22:00.003-05:00

This is a fun snack to make because you can put lots of different ingredients together and have several varieties of this! Below are the ingredients that I use most often:

Walnuts
Raisins
Dried banana slices (bought from our food co-op)
Dried papaya chunks (bought from our food co-op)
Chopped dates
Chocolate chips

Just put a small handful of each ingredient into a snack cup, and voila!

Bonita's Meatloaf

2011-02-19T23:48:00.004-05:00

This is the meatloaf my mom made as I was growing up, and I carried the recipe with me into marriage. It is very moist and flavorful, and hands down the best meatloaf I have ever tasted! Incidentally, this is the same recipe I use for making hamburger patties, and just form them into hamburgers rather than putting in a casserole pan for meatloaf.

Pictured below are all the ingredients needed to make Bonita's Meatloaf. However, as with many great recipes, I don't know exact amounts. So if you like to be exact with your measurements, you're going to have a hard time with this one!

Hamburger (pictured is 2 lbs)
1 egg
dry oats (for oatmeal, but not the little packages of one serving instant oatmeal)
milk
1 pkg dry onion soup mix
ketchup

Mix hamburger, dry onion soup mix, and egg in bowl. Add a small amount of milk, several squirts of ketchup, and start with about a 1/2 cup oats. Mix with hands. Mixture should be very moist. If it's too dry, add more milk and ketchup. If it's too moist, add a bit more oats.

Bake at 350 for one hour. Check for doneness and bake longer if it's not thoroughly cooked. When I use 2 pounds of meat or more I usually have to bake for a bit longer than one hour.

A favorite of the whole family! Thanks Bonita/mom!

Easy Pork Chops

2011-02-19T23:39:00.002-05:00

The presentation in the above photo isn't very remarkable, but the taste makes up for it!! These are super easy and super delicious.

Line casserole pan with enough foil that you can fold over the top and have the pork chops covered. Sprinkle the bottom of foil with half a package of dry onion soup mix (I use Mrs. Grass's usually). Lay bone-in pork chops on top of the dry onion soup mix and sprinkle other half of package on top. Do not add liquid. Fold the foil over to cover top, and cook at 350 for about 90 minutes, longer if chops were partially frozen or you're cooking two pans of them.

These smell soooo good as they are cooking, and they taste great! They make their own juice as they cook, and are very tender (if they're not, you need to cook them longer!)

A favorite of my family for years!

Meatballs in Sweet-and-Sour Sauce

2011-02-12T15:22:00.003-05:00

For our family Super Bowl party I made meatballs in the crockpot and tried this new cranberry sweet-and-sour sauce. It was really easy and tasted great! I found the recipe on the Country Living website.

This time I did it the easy way and bought a bag of frozen pre-made meatballs, but I have made them from scratch too.

Meatballs

2 slices bread, shredded
1 pound ground beef, raw
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 T oil - for saucepan

Mix all ingredients and form into 1 and a 1/2 inch meatballs. Heat oil in skillet and brown meatballs, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain any oil and add sauce (recipe below). Cover and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.

Sweet-and-Sour Sauce

2 cans whole berry cranberry sauce
2 T cider vinegar (I didn't have this so left it out)
3 T brown sugar
2 T soy sauce

Mix sauce ingredients and pour over meatballs, either in skillet (as above), or in crockpot. If using crockpot and cooking meatballs from frozen, cook on high 4-5 hours or on low 8-9 hours.

Verdict: easy and yummy! The whole family enjoyed them and I will definitely make again!

Pulled Pork

2011-01-09T14:20:00.006-05:00

Here is a pork dinner we had recently. Super easy and super delicious! I wanted leftovers, so I put 2 pork roasts (I think they were shoulder roasts, and each about 3 pounds) in my 6 qt crockpot, poured our favorite barbeque sauce on top (I didn't measure ~ it was probably about 2 - 3 cups) and cooked on low all day, about 8 hours.

They were just falling apart at this point, so with two forks I (actually the children did it for me!) pulled the pork apart until it was in long shreds. Serve on wholewheat hamburger buns with some fruit and chips. Delicious!

Greek-Style Lamb and Rice

2010-11-21T11:53:00.010-05:00

We are currently learning about ancient Greece in school, so I decided to make a Greek meal for dinner. I searched the internet and found scores of yummy sounding recipes, but I wanted something that wouldn't be too time consuming (of course I was searching on Friday afternoon, just a couple hours before dinner time!). I found this recipe at kitchendaily.com and thought it would work perfectly. It was DELICIOUS!!!!

The original recipe was for "Greek-Style Chicken and Rice", but I substituted lamb for the chicken to make it more authentic, and because we have chicken all the time but rarely have lamb. I bought lamb shoulder chops. They were significantly cheaper than regular lamb chops, and had more meat on them. The above plate was for my husband, and he got a whole shoulder chop to himself. For the children I cut up 4 shoulder chops and split them between the 5 kids.

Tomato/Feta Garnish

(this was EXCELLENT and I am excitedly planning what other recipes I can add this garnish to!)

In small bowl combine:

1/2 cup chopped plum or cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped seedless cucumber (I didn't have so left this out)
2 T thinly sliced green onion (scallions)
2-3 T crumbled feta cheese
1/2 tsp oregano

Mix well and refrigerate while you cook the lamb and rice.

Lamb and Rice

The recipe was submitted to the kitchendaily website by Rice-a-Roni, so of course one of their products was included in the ingredients! It called for this specific type, Whole Grain Blends ~ Chicken and Herb Classico, and I bought 3 boxes to feed our family of 7. This amount turned out to be just perfect. Now that I've made it once, I will probably substitute with white or brown rice and spices at home, to save money next time.

I used one whole spice package from one of the Rice-a-Roni boxes and sprinkled it over the lamb. Set aside.

In large skillet, combine the other two spice packets, rice, water and oil (as directed on back of box). Bring to a boil and let boil for about 5 minutes. Then add the lamb, cover, and reduce heat to medium. Let simmer for about 30 minutes until lamb is cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed by the rice.

According to the recipe, at this point you're done. I actually scooped out all the rice and kept it warm on the back of the stove while I fried the lamb chops for a few minutes on each side. When I make this again, I will do this step first, before beginning to cook the rice. I still want to cook the lamb and rice together, because the lamb taste seeped into the rice while cooking and gave it a scrumptious flavor! But I like the seared taste of meat better than strictly boiled.

Arrange rice on a plate, place lamb on rice, and spoon some of the tomato/feta garnish on top. Ta-da!

Serve with hummus and greek flat bread and enjoy!!

Verdict: Everyone loved this and begged me to make it again!

Meals in 30 Minutes - Italian Chicken on Noodles

2010-11-18T22:04:00.005-05:00

I'm starting a new category of food posts: meals that you can have on the table in 30 minutes or less. And the first post in this category is a recipe I made up! How does that old saying go..."necessity is the mother of invention"? In my case, desperation was the inspiration behind this super easy chicken recipe!

Pour about 2 T olive oil in a skillet and add chicken breasts. As they are browning, sprinkle some Italian seasoning on each piece. Add 2 or 3 cloves of fresh garlic to the pan. After 8-10 minutes, turn over and lightly sprinkle Italian seasoning on the other side of each piece. When breasts are browned on both sides, cover pan and simmer on low until cooked through. Meanwhile, cook noodles of your choice (I used spaghetti). Serve chicken on noodles and enjoy!

Verdict: I have cooked chicken breasts so many times, I really thought this wouldn't be much different. But the blend of Italian seasoning and garlic made it really tasty and the whole family commented on it favorably! Will definitely whip it up again!

Canning Tomatoes

2010-10-01T01:41:00.007-04:00

With the abundance of tomatoes from our garden, I canned tomatoes for the first time this summer! I have always wanted to, but thought that I needed a pressure cooker for tomatoes, and I only have a hot water bath canner. After reading through the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, however, I realized that I was mistaken. I gave it a try, and it's really easy! I was able to process one batch (10 pints) in just a couple hours, doing other things during the 40 minutes they were boiling.

I even felt the freedom to forego some of the instructions and just do what was easiest. I did not blanche the tomatoes first (as recommended in the book, for ease in peeling the skins off) because I did not take the skins off. I didn't even cook them. I just cut them up and plopped the pieces into a pan with a tiny bit of water to warm them up a little. Then I spooned them into warm jars. As with all canning, it is very important that the jars, lids, and food and/or liquid going into the jars is all warm, or the lids may not seal properly. Here are some of the jars keeping hot in a kettle of simmering water.

Before spooning the tomatoes into the jars, I added 1 T of vinegar to each jar. This increases the acidity of the tomatoes. If the acid content is too low, they will not preserve well by this hot water bath method. Foods that are naturally low in acid must have their acidity increased for the hot water bath method, or canned using a pressure cooker. For increasing acidity you can use either 1 T of vinegar or 1 T of bottled lemon juice (not fresh) per pint jar. If you are using quart jars, increase this amount to 2 T.

Then I added the tomatoes and poured some of the juicy water that the tomatoes were keeping warm in, over the tomatoes to within 1/2 inch of the top of the jar. Next I added 1/2 tsp of salt to each jar (this is optional).

I put the jars into my large canning kettle, brought it to a boil, covered the kettle and let them boil for 40 minutes.

Voila!

I was not happy with all the liquid at the bottom of the jars. Obviously I could have packed them a little tighter with tomatoes. But all in all I was pleased with how easy this was and I can't wait to add jars of our own garden-fresh tomatoes to some soup recipes this winter!

Potato Slices on the Grill

2010-08-11T14:47:00.006-04:00

At votemom's request, here is a new recipe. ;-) (finally!)

We frequently grill during the summer, as I'm sure you do too. These potato slices on the grill are a bit tedious to prepare, but they are sooooo worth it after they are cooked!

Slice up several potatoes. Stand them one slice at a time on a large piece of foil, and sprinkle each side with a bit of garlic powder and parsley flakes (or any kind of specialty spice or rub ~ I have two spices from Two Sisters Gourmet called over the edge herbed spinach and outrageously garlic blend that are perfect for this!).

Add a few small dollops of butter to the package. You don't want to add too much, but just enough to add a hint of the yummy butter taste, and to prevent sticking. Seal foil tightly. I usually double wrap so the butter doesn't all leak out. Grill as desired.

Unwrap and enjoy!

Linguine in Clam Sauce

2010-06-30T10:43:00.002-04:00

This is a yummy recipe my family has enjoyed for a long time, from the cookbook The Gradual Vegetarian by Lisa Tracy. Easy to prepare, and takes about the same time as spaghetti, but with a delightful clam and garlic flavor! The original recipe as listed below serves 2 very generously. I add slightly more of everything for our family and we usually even have leftovers for one lunch the next day.

Linguine in Clam Sauce

2 T olive oil
1 can chopped clams (I use 3 cans for our family of 7)
2 garlic cloves, minced
Large pinch of oregano
1 T fresh chopped parsley (I usually don't have fresh so I use dried)
2 T lemon juice (whenever I don't have this ingredient I just leave out and it still turns out great!)
1 T yogurt (I add a bit more since I am using more clams and more clam juice)
1/2 pound linguine noodles, cooked
1 T butter (I usually leave out this step)
Grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a skillet. Drain clams and reserve liquid. Saute garlic in olive oil for one minute. Add clams, oregano, and parsley. Saute for one minute more. Add lemon juice and juice from clams. Simmer for a few minutes and then add yogurt. Stir in and remove pan from heat.

After linguine noodles are cooked, toss with butter. Serve topped with clam sauce and parmesan cheese.

Our whole family loves this and it's a nice variation on an Italian dinner!

Cranberry Chicken

2010-05-31T21:01:00.004-04:00

I got this recipe from my friend Carissa on the Tapestry of Grace "Loose Threads" yahoo group, and it was absolutely delicious! A winner!

Cranberry Chicken

Spread boneless, skinless chicken breasts in 9x13 pan. Mix together and pour over top:

1 can whole cranberry sauce
8 oz bottle of French salad dressing
1 envelope french onion soup mix

She suggested covering pan with foil and baking for 90 minutes, but I wanted it to bake faster so I left the pan uncovered. I baked them for about 25 minutes and then turned the chicken breasts over and baked on the other side for another 25 minutes.

Verdict: I was skeptical about mixing the onion soup mix with french dressing and cranberries, but the blending of the flavors was really, really good. A sweet yet tangy flavor. Loved by the whole fam and will definitely make again!

Beef and Rice Burrito Filling

2010-05-20T15:27:00.004-04:00

I found this recipe at Kate's Cooking During Stolen Moments blog, and since my family loves mexican food, I knew immediately that I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did! It's a variation on the taco/burrito theme, and it's super easy to make the filling and then freeze for later, or pull out just the amount you need.

Beef and Rice Burrito Filling

1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
1 1/2 cups cooked rice, white or brown
1 15oz can diced or crushed tomatoes (I started leaving this out at the request of my boys)
2 tsp chili powder (I add heaping teaspoons)
2 tsp cumin (again, heaping )
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder (I add about 1 tsp)

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Cool completely and store in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

To serve, spoon filling down the center of a tortilla. Top with shredded cheese. Roll up and repeat until casserole dish is full.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes or until heated through. Add desired toppings and enjoy!

Verdict: my whole family loved this dish, with the small exception of the tomatoes. I have made this several times already and will definitely make again!

Tomato Curry Lentil Stew

2010-04-05T18:53:00.008-04:00

I was searching for another good recipe that uses lentils, as I have lots of them, and found this one at allrecipes.com. I made a few changes to it and it turned out very well! I served it with applesauce bread topped with honey.

Tomato Curry Lentil Stew

1/2 cup dry lentils (I used one full cup)
1 cup water (I used much more, about 6 cups, and could have added even more)
6 oz stewed tomatoes (I used one regular sized can which was 14.5 oz)
1/8 cup chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 tsp curry powder (I used one T)
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

I also added:

2 potatoes, diced
1 T beef soup base
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

Combine lentils, rice and water. Bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer and add tomatoes, potatoes, onion and celery. Cover and let simmer 45 minutes. Check every 15 minutes to stir and add water if necessary. Add spices and let simmer 15 minutes more for flavors to meld.

Verdict: Very, very good! Hearty AND tasty. Everyone liked it and my husband loved it. Will definitely make again!

Breakfast Menus

2010-03-11T11:16:00.006-05:00

I made a small goal last weekend to not have cereal for breakfast once this week. Cereal is quick and easy, and there's nothing horribly wrong with it (we rarely buy the sugary kind), but with 5 children we can go through a LOT of cereal in a very short time. I figured that I could probably make healthier breakfasts more cheaply, and a bonus is that we could save money on milk too. Hence, the goal. Here are my breakfast menus for the week:

Monday

Chocolate Chip Pancakes, bananas

Tuesday

Applesauce Bread, yogurt, sausage

Wednesday

Oatmeal, sausage

Thursday

French toast sticks

Friday

Breakfast pizzas

Saturday

Cereal!! The children now have a new appreciation for cereal. :-)

Applesauce Bread

2010-03-10T09:09:00.005-05:00

I found this recipe on Laura's blog, Heavenly Homemakers and thought I'd give it a try. A new twist on bread for me, and very delicious!

Applesauce Bread

1 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat or white, I used a mixture)
3/4 cup rapadura or 1/2 cup honey (never heard of rapadura so I used honey!)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted

I doubled this recipe for 2 standard loaves. Mix dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add applesauce, eggs, honey, and melted butter. Stir well. Pour into a greased bread pan and bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Very delicious and smelled GREAT while baking! Laura said she has made this with shredded apples instead of applesauce, so I'm thinking this may be a great way to use up slightly bad apples.

Chicken Nachos

2010-03-08T19:25:00.006-05:00

I found this recipe at Cooking During Stolen Moments and thought it would be a great one to try since my family tends to love anything Mexican-ish. I was right! Very delicious and loved by all.

Chicken Nachos

1 T olive oil
1/2 - 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (what you see in the picture below is the 2.5 pounds that I cooked so I'd have enough to freeze for a second meal later)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper (I ended up doubling these last 3 ingredients since I was doubling the amount of chicken I was cooking)
1 jar salsa (I used a small jar since my kids are not huge tomato fans)
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp each of cumin and chili powder (yes, cumin again!)
Tortilla chips
Shredded cheese, sour cream, olives, lettuce, or any other desired toppings

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Season both sides of chicken with the cumin, salt and pepper mixture. Add to skillet and cook chicken just until both sides are slightly browned, about 2-3 minutes per side. Add salsa, water and remaining seasonings. Cover skillet and simmer over medium low heat for at least 20 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked.

Remove chicken and shred. Set aside.

Bring remaining liquid in the skillet to a boil and simmer until thickened and reduced by half. Remove from heat and stir shredded chicken back in to skillet. Spread tortilla chips on a cookie sheet and pour chicken mixture evenly on top. Cover with shredded cheese and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Top as desired and serve!

Verdict: well liked by the whole family. Will definitely make again!

Ham, Black Bean, and Potato Soup

2010-01-26T14:05:00.003-05:00

I originally found this recipe on my friend Jennifer's blog. She was trying it for some variety in using up ham. It was delicious! You could easily leave out the ham for a vegetarian soup.

Ham, Black Bean, and Potato Soup

6 cups broth (I used homemade chicken broth - leftover water from boiling a chicken carcass. Use vegetable broth if making this a vegetarian meal)
1 can black beans, drained
2 potatoes, diced
1/2 pound cooked ham, diced
can of stewed or diced tomatoes (the kind with green chili peppers if you want more zing)
1/3 cup onion, chopped (I just used half an onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Sour cream, chopped olives, grated cheese, tortilla chips, etc for garnish.

Add all ingredients except garnish items to crockpot and cook on low for 8-1o hours, or high for 4-5 hours. Serve with garnish ingredients.

This was a hit and I will definitely make it again!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2010-01-16T12:36:00.001-05:00

This is a cut and paste from my other blog, but I wanted it here too so it would be easier to find whenever I need the recipe!

Here is what you need:

1. Borax
2. Washing Baking Soda
3. A bar of fels naptha soap (some of my friends who have allergies that can cause skin irritation use a different type of bar soap ~ not sure what it is but I'll find out)

The recipe I used calls for grating 1/3 of the fels naptha, but I didn't want to get soap in my cheese grater so I cut it into small chunks instead and it worked just as well. Pour 6 cups of hot water into a large saucepan and add the grated or chunked soap. (Yes, I made laundry detergent inches away from freshly baked bread! Busy kitchen day....)

After the soap has completely dissolved, add 1/2 cup of washing soda, and a 1/2 cup of borax. It will look something like this:

In a separate bucket, pour 4 cups of hot water and then add the soap mixture from the saucepan.

Stir thoroughly until all is dissolved and mixed well. Add 6 more cups of hot water and stir again.

Then pour in a gallon of hot water, stir it up, and let it sit overnight.

In the morning it will appear to be solid, but in fact it is gel-like for about 3 or 4 inches down with the rest of the liquid underneath. Wisk (or pay one of your children to wisk for you!) the soap and then pour into whatever container you plan to use for daily use. Nearly all of this batch fit into an empty liquid Tide container.

I have used this detergent for several loads now, and here are my observations...

You have to be more careful to check for and pretreat stains before washing. If you are used to using a detergent with bleach already added in, as I was, stains may not come out with just a regular washing using homemade detergent. Also, it tends to separate in the container and so I get a bunch of liquid with chunks of gel floating in it. Today I started shaking the container before dispensing detergent and that seemed to help. And lastly, this detergent does not make suds, which is fine since suds is not required to get clothes clean. But it looks really different when you look inside your washing machine and see no suds.

I am using a full cup with each load so I'll go through this container much faster than when it was filled with liquid Tide concentrate. But since the ingredients were SO cheap and each batch makes so much, I still think it will be a significant savings over store bought detergent. I'm keeping track of how many loads each batch washes so I can compare later.

Tortilla Stack

2009-12-30T10:36:00.006-05:00

I found this recipe at creative homemaking, and since my family loves mexican food, I figured it would be a hit. It's also a crockpot meal, and you know how I love my crockpot!

Tortilla Stack

1 lb ground beef
corn or flour tortillas (your preference), cut into 6 wedges
2/3 can undiluted cheddar cheese soup (I didn't have this so substituted with shredded cheese and some salsa for liquid)
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
2 medium tomatoes, chopped

Brown hamburger and drain grease. Layer hamburger in bottom of crockpot. Top with tortilla wedges.

Recipe then calls for you to mix the cheddar cheese soup and taco seasoning in a small bowl and layer some of it on top of the tortilla wedges. Since I was substituting, I sprinkled cheese on top of the tortilla wedges, sprinkled some of the taco seasoning on, and then poured a thin layer of salsa on top of that. Sprinkle some of the chopped tomatoes on top (I skipped this step since there were tomatoes in the salsa).

Repeat layers until all ingredients are used up. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours. Serve with sour cream, shredded lettuce, olives, or other condiments.

Verdict: all the family loved it, it was super easy, and I will definitely make again!

Oatmeal Jam Cookies

2009-12-16T08:17:00.002-05:00

Oatmeal Jam Cookies

Mix together in very large bowl:

1 1/2 cups butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Add:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups oatmeal

Mix well. Place a dollop of dough on greased cookie sheet. Put about 1/2 tsp of jam on top of dough, and top this with a 1/2 tsp (or less) more of dough. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Jam will appear as a "ring" around top of cookie after baking. You can make these any time, of course, but they look especially festive at Christmas time! Enjoy!

The Mother of all Garlic Presses

2009-12-14T11:23:00.008-05:00

And just what is in this unassuming little box you ask? Why, just the mother of all garlic presses, the most awesome and amazing garlic press EVER!!! Why am I devoting a whole post to a garlic press you ask? Well, because I am in love with my new garlic press and I LOOK for ways to use it whenever I can. We are eating a lot of garlic these days. :-)

My old garlic press broke over a year ago, and at first I just couldn't find a suitable replacement, then my husband got laid off and I couldn't afford to buy one even if I'd found it. I chopped garlic with an old fashioned knife whenever a recipe called for it. Then one recent day in the mail I received this FANTASTIC garlic press from a culinary minded friend of mine who had remembered I didn't have one. And my life has been forever changed. At least the part of my life that I spend in the kitchen. Which is a lot.

This wonderful little garlic press is made by Pampered Chef. It is stainless steel and so easy to use. The garlic just fits into it like so:

and then you squeeze out the garlic-y goodness like so:

and rinse it out under running water, and clean up is done! If any pieces of garlic do get stuck in the holes, it comes with this handy little "brush" (only the bristles are hard, not soft) that lives right there in the handle so you always know where it is

and it lines up perfectly with the holes in the bottom of the garlic press so it can press out any clinging pieces of garlic. Voila!

I am relatively certain that this will be the last garlic press I ever need. If you are in the market for a garlic press, you need to get one. In fact, even if you are NOT in the market for a garlic press, you need one of these. :-) If you have a loved one that is hard to shop for but they like to cook, get them one too! And no, I am not receiving a commission for advertising a Pampered Chef product on my blog, I'm just giving them free advertising because they hit it out of the ball park with this garlic press and I really, really love it! Thank you my friend!

Christmas Candy - Reindeer Chow

2009-12-08T12:33:00.008-05:00

This is chocolate covered Crispix cereal and is super easy to make. My children call it puppy chow, but at Christmas time it was suggested we call it reindeer chow instead!

Ingredients:

box of Crispix cereal
small bag of chocolate chips (I forget the ounces, but it's smaller than the 24 oz bag, maybe 16?)
1/2 cup peanut butter
powdered sugar

The original recipe I had said to use "half a bag of choc chips" and "half the box of Crispix", but we doubled it because it was easier to use the whole bag or box, and that meant we made more each time! In doing this, however, it is important to add the Crispix to the chocolate/peanut butter mixture in stages and stir each portion well so that all the Crispix pieces are covered with chocolate. If you just dump the whole box in it will be very hard to mix up.

First, melt the choc chips in the microwave for one minute. Stir them up and melt for one minute more. Stir them up again.

Add 1/2 cup peanut butter, stir again, and then start adding your Crispix.

Put portions in a large ziploc, dump in some powdered sugar, and shake to coat. You should do this step in stages too, to make sure that all the chocolate covered Crispix is coated with powdered sugar.

Voila! Reindeer chow! It is *so* good and fun to munch on!

Christmas Candy - Orange Balls

2009-12-08T11:11:00.006-05:00

These are delicious, orange flavored morsels of goodness! And very easy to make.

Ingredients:

one box vanilla wafers
one stick butter
one 6 oz can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
powdered sugar
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans

Put the vanilla wafers in a large ziploc and start beating them into small pieces with your rolling pin or some other heavy wooden object. This is really fun!

Dump the wafers into a large bowl and add the butter, orange juice, pecans, and about 2-3 cups of powdered sugar. It should be moist but not so moist it is sticking to your fingers. It needs to be able to stick together in ball shapes, so if it's too moist add more powdered sugar.

Shape into balls the size of large marbles, and roll in more powdered sugar.

Voila! Orange balls!

Thanksgiving Recipes

2009-11-23T22:51:00.005-05:00

What is your menu for Thanksgiving dinner? Besides turkey and mashed potatoes, here are a few of our favorites:

Cranberry Relish

This is super easy, tastes like an amazing combination of sweet and tart, and we love to make it for my father in law who loves cranberries. I learned of this recipe two years ago and it has become a regular part of our Thanksgiving dinner.

1 bag cranberries
1 cup sugar (this year I'm using sucanat instead of white sugar)
1 orange or tangerine (do not peel)
1 cored apple

Blend all ingredients together in blender or food processor and chill.

Walnut Broccoli

This is called walnut broccoli because of the small amount of walnuts included in the topping. Their taste is barely discernible, but if you don't care for walnuts, or someone you love is allergic to them, you can just as easily leave them out and it won't alter the overall flavor. This is NOT a low-fat recipe! It contains lots of butter, which means it's really good. :-)

Grease bottom of 9x13 pan. Steam two or three (depending on size) packages of frozen broccoli and spread in greased pan. Be sure to not over-steam ~ it should be barely done. In saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Take from heat and blend in 4T flour and 1 1/2 T powdered chicken stock base. Gradually add 2 cups milk. Return to heat and cook until smooth and boiling and thickened. Pour this sauce over broccoli in 9x13 pan. In saucepan (I use the same one I just used, and I don't even rinse it out) heat 1/3 cup water and 6 T butter. Remove from heat. Add 2/3 package of Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing Mix and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Stir well. Top broccoli/sauce with stuffing mixture. Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes. Can be prepared ahead of time and baked just before serving. Sorry no picture, but it looks pretty and tastes even better!

Cran-Raspberry Pie

I first made this about 10 years ago after seeing it in a magazine. My goal that year was to make a really scrumptious dessert that would be like the ultimate capstone to a delicious meal. It worked!! My husband's uncle, who is very sparing with his compliments, raved about it and I decided then and there to make it every year.

Pie Crust

Use prepared crust or make your own using favorite recipe. Here's mine:

Mix 2 cups flour and 1 tsp salt. Cut into this mixture 1 cup butter until pieces are the size of small peas (I literally cut the butter in using two knives). Sprinkle 1/2 cup COLD water (must be cold!) over mixture and mix lightly with fork. Best to add a little water at a time until you've reached the 1/2 cup mark, as humidity can affect the total amount of water needed. Add a bit more if it's really dry where you live, a bit less if it's really humid. Form dough into two balls. Roll out one ball for bottom crust and one ball for top crust.

Pie Filling

In large bowl add the following ingredients:

Undrained 1 1/2 cups frozen red raspberries, thawed
1/4 cup quick cooking tapioca
1 12oz package (3 cups) cranberries. Can coarsely chop if preferred, I leave mine whole.
2 1/2 cups sugar (I add barely 2 or slightly less)
1/2 tsp almond extract

Stir till well mixed. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. I actually do this step first and then make my pie crusts while this is standing at room temp.

Pour fruit mixture into bottom pie crust. Roll out top crust and lay on top. Fold top crust under bottom crust and flute edges. Make small heat vents in top crust and brush the whole top lightly with milk. From scraps of pie crust, cut out small hearts and/or stars with cookie cutters and lay on top of crust so that each piece will have a heart or star when pie is cut. Brush cutouts with milk also. Lightly sprinkle top with sugar. Cover edges with foil. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes more, or until top is golden and juices are clear. IMPORTANT WARNING: This pie makes LOTS of juice ~ be sure to place pie pan on cookie sheet when baking so if juices run over they won't burn on the bottom of your oven and smoke up your kitchen. Don't ask how many years it took for me to remember this.

If you look closely at this picture you can see the children are placing the heart cut-outs on top of the pie. This is VERY sweet, but the sweetness is balanced by the tartness of the cranberries, and it's a winner with anyone who loves berry pies.

Taco Soup

2009-11-14T11:28:00.005-05:00

This was super easy to make, and everyone liked it. A winner! It's another one from the Happy Housewife.

Taco Soup

1 lb ground beef (or turkey, or can go meatless for the vegetarian version)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes, or about 3 fresh ones chopped up with 1 T Italian seasoning mixed in
1 15 oz can tomato sauce (I used a 32 oz jar)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn or 1 small pkg frozen corn (which is what I used)

shredded cheddar cheese - as much or as little as you like
plain yogurt or sour cream - again, as much or as little as you like
avocado, chopped - optional
Frito Lay corn chips

Brown the meat, drain fat and add taco seasoning. Add all other ingredients and cook til heated through. Let simmer for 15 minutes. You can add water if you want to stretch it a bit further. If you add water, it will look more like soup, without the water it looks like thick stew.

I didn't have any chips so left that ingredient out, but my family would have loved it if I'd put corn chips in! The other 3 of the last 4 ingredients I added directly to the soup, but you can use them as a garnish if you'd prefer, or if anyone in your family has dairy allergies (add to individual bowls instead). This was a winner with everyone - will definitely make again!

Homemade Pizza Crust

2009-11-12T13:21:00.005-05:00

I have made my own pizza crust many times, and it was okay, but I recently discovered this new recipe for pizza crust at The Happy Housewife's blog, and it is FANTASTIC! It is my new favorite thing to make. It is also much, much cheaper and healthier than store bought pizza or Little Caesar's, depending on toppings.

Pizza Crust

1 1/2 cups hot water
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp salt
4 to 4 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat, white, or a mixture of both)
1 T yeast
2 T Italian seasoning
1 T garlic powder

Mix together in bread machine on the dough setting, in your Kitchen Aid or Bosch mixer for about 5 minutes, or mix and knead (5-10 minutes) by hand. Let rise until doubled. Spread in pan and build your pizza!

This recipe makes enough for two large rectangular pizzas. Enjoy!

Breakfast Pizza

2009-10-06T14:23:00.002-04:00

Or homemade Egg McMuffins!

I saw this recipe for breakfast pizza on the happy housewife blog, and thought it would be easy and fun to make. I thought I would try to cook everyone's scrambled egg in a nice little circle (like at McDonald's) so it would easily stay on the bottom bun, so I came up with the idea to use canning jar rings as "holders" for the scrambled egg mixture to cook inside of. Well, don't go rushing off to buy canning jar rings for this purpose because it didn't work. The egg mixture leaked out of the bottom of the rings almost completely. So I just scrambled them like usual and most of the children put a top bun on the pizza to help hold the eggs in.

Layer on homemade buns:

sausage patty
scrambled egg
a touch of grated cheese

Eat with a top bun, or without, your choice.

Easy Peasy! All the children loved them and thought it was a fun breakfast!

Homemade Hamburger Buns

2009-10-02T09:53:00.007-04:00

This recipes uses regular bread dough for the hamburger buns (which has no dairy in it by the way). Regular bread recipe can be found here. Whether you are using a mixer or kneading by hand, take about half the dough (the amount you'd use for two loaves of bread) and instead of placing in bread pans, shape into buns. Let rise for an hour on greased cookie sheets.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 350. If you bake a sheet on each oven rack, check to make sure the ones on the lower rack are not burning on the bottom. Let cool.

After cooling, slice and wrap individually in saran wrap. Then put in freezer bags and freeze until use. I have found through trial and error that double wrapping before freezing insures soft, delicious bread or buns after thawing.

Split Pea Soup

2009-09-29T14:28:00.002-04:00

Someone graciously gave us a ham this summer, and I dearly love ham! I love it because it's delicious, but also because you can do so much with it. We ate ham meat for two dinners, used it to make several lunch sandwiches, froze two baggies of cut up ham to use in other recipes, and I made soup with the ham bone. It is very easy to make and there are long periods of time when you don't need to be in the kitchen, but it is an all day thing, so plan accordingly.

Split Pea with Ham Soup

In large stock pot, cover ham bone with water and slowly bring to boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and let simmer for 2-3 hours (3 is better if you have the time, but I've done it for only 2 and the soup was still delicious!). Add a bit of water if necessary. The water will become your soup base, so you don't want to let it all boil off. When ham bone has finished simmering, pull out of water with tongs and let cool on cutting board. Strain the water that is left in your stock pot for fatty deposits or bits of gristle.

Cut up:

carrots
onions
celery (optional)

Add these to the water and bring to boil again. Cut any clinging ham meat off the bone after it's cooled, and add this to the soup. Throw bone away. Add in other ham meat if desired. Add 2-3 cups of dried split peas (3 if you want thicker soup). Reduce heat and let the soup mixture simmer again until split peas are soft and mushy (about 1.5 to 2 hours). Salt to taste. Eat and enjoy!

Canning Peaches

2009-09-06T21:37:00.006-04:00

Don't those jars of golden peaches look so yummy??!

I will confess that I am not a canning expert, and by myself I have only ever canned peaches. I don't own a pressure cooker, so all my canning must be done by hot water bath, and peaches is perfect for this method. So every fall for several years, I have canned peaches.

Though I don't know much, what I do know I freely share! :-)

The key to successful water bath canning is that everything be hot. The liquid you pour into the jars, the lids and rings, and the water for the "bath". Everything needs to be hot so that the lids will seal properly. In all my years of canning peaches I have never once had a jar not seal, though some took a few hours to seal completely. To start, fill a 2 or 3 quart pan with water, lids and rings, and begin heating. Also begin heating a large pot of water with a small amount of sugar added. I fill an 8 quart stock pot nearly full and add only about 1/2 cup of sugar (I am very light on the sugar). This will become your peach juice after you pour it over the peaches. And also fill a large water bath canning pot about half full of water and begin heating that as well. Then soak the peaches in warm water. This makes the skins peel off easily.

After you have peeled and halved the peaches, you'll have a bunch of jars lined up like the picture below. Behind them you can see a small pot on the back burner filled to overflowing with lids and rings, and the stockpot on the front burner. Dip a pyrex measuring cup (or whatever you want to use) into the stock pot of sugar water and pour some into each jar, leaving only 1/4 inch of air at the top.

Immediately take a lid and ring out of their pot with a set of tongs and cover each jar. Place them into the rack inside your large canning pot. My rack holds 7 quart jars at once.

Lower the rack into the hot water (use hotpads!!), cover, and bring to a boil. Once you have a nice rolling boil, let boil for 20 minutes. When the time is up, bring the rack back up and hook over the tops of the pan so it's easier to get each jar out. Using canning jar tongs, take each jar out of the rack and set on a cooling rack (or a bunch of towels) to cool. The lids don't all seal at once, so don't be discouraged if you can depress the lid right after the water bath. Let them sit over night and try again the next morning. If the lid still depresses, refrigerate that jar and eat the peaches within the week. If not, store them in a cool, dark place and eat throughout the winter!

Patriotic Fruit Salad

2009-07-06T01:33:00.004-04:00

Layer strawberries, blueberries, and vanilla yogurt in glass bowl.

Enjoy how pretty it looks and how yummy it tastes!

Crispy Cajun Chickpea Cakes and Creamy Cajun Rice

2009-07-01T22:29:00.009-04:00

I got both these recipes from vegandad and decided to try them because my husband will love anything with the word "cajun" in it! I made them both on the same day and we had cajun night. Vegan dad had made them very mild so his children wouldn't revolt, and both recipes were very tasty but a bit bland. Next time I will add a bit more spice for us all, and alot more for my husband and I.

Crispy Cajun Chickpea Cakes

1 T oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1 celery stalk, diced
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika
pinch of cayenne pepper (should have used more than a pinch)
1 tsp hot sauce (should have used a bit more)
2 T chopped fresh parsley
2 T flour
1 T cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute onion, green pepper and celery for 5-7 minutes until softened. Remove from heat.

Place chickpeas in a food processor along with the onion mixture from the stove and pulse until chickpeas are no longer whole, but don't process them too much. I don't have a food processor (well, just a one cup size one) so I used my blender instead. This proved to be difficult because the blender could only pulse what was on the very bottom, leaving everything whole on top. I ended up scooping everything out of the blender and trying again with very small amounts each time. In this way I was finally able to pulse the entire mixture.

Place processed chickpea/onion mixture in a bowl and add spices, hot sauce, and parsley. Mix well. Add flour and cornstarch and mix well again. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in frying pan (or spray with non stick spray) over medium high heat. Shape chickpea mixture into patties and fry until crispy and browned, flipping a few times. If you have trouble forming the patties, add a bit more cornstarch to hold it all together.

Creamy Cajun Rice

2 T oil
2 T margarine (I skipped this and just used oil)
2 T flour
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika
cayenne pepper to taste
3 cups water
1 cup long grain rice (I used brown)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chopped seitan (optional and since I had no idea what this was, I skipped it)
1 cup soy (I skipped this also since I wasn't using seitan)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I used dried)

Heat oil and margarine in large pot over medium heat. Add flour and stir constantly for a minute or so, until flour becomes a nice golden brown and has a nutty smell. Add onion, green pepper, celery and bay leaves. Fry for another minute. Add water and rice and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to bubbling, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until rice is cooked (about 15 minutes). Stir frequently. Add seitan, if using, and soy. Cook until liquid thickens a bit. Stir in green onions and chopped parsley. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Cost of chickpea cakes:

can of chickpeas 79 cents
pepper $1
onion 50 cents
celery $1
spices (?? less than $1)

approximately $2.59 divided by 7 people = 37 cents per person

Cost of creamy cajun rice:

pepper $1
onion 50 cents
celery $1
rice ~$1
spices ~$1

$4.50 divided by 7 people = 64 cents per person

Inexpensive, delicious and filling!

Verdict: Will definitely make again. The children all liked the chickpea cakes but really loved the rice, except for the diced pepper. Next time I'll chop those smaller. :-) My husband loved the meal and asked for more cayenne pepper next time!

Homemade Popsicles

2009-06-24T16:21:00.004-04:00

Is it hot where you live? Want a nice cold treat for your children but can't afford popsicles from the store? And you don't have a set of popsicle molds for making your own? Not to worry. Just use an ice cube tray!

I buy frozen concentrate lemonade or cran-raspberry juice (or some other yummy flavor) when it's on sale, mix it up, and then pour some into ice cube trays. Cover with saran wrap (you need the saran wrap to hold the toothpicks up semi straight) and then stick a toothpick into each cube for the "handle".

Voila! Lovely, ice cold treats to enjoy on a hot day.

You can make dozens of these from one can of frozen concentrate. A cheap, fun treat.

Pronto Pasta Bake

2009-06-21T18:55:00.004-04:00

My friend Beth sent me this recipe to try and it was very good! It's similar to lasagna only with different noodles. I need to apologize to Beth right up front, as I kindof mutilated the recipe (misread the part about the cheeses) and used different noodles (the kind I had on hand), but it turned out well anyway and was devoured by my family!

Pronto Pasta Bake

12 oz rotini pasta, cook according to package directions (I didn't have rotini so used a mixture of macaroni and bowtie pasta instead). Drain.

2 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed (I minced)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I used 32 oz)
1 tsp basil
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated (I used Kraft, not fresh)
2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 lb hamburger, browned (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Combine garlic, zucchini, spaghetti sauce, and basil (and hamburger if using). In 9"x13" casserole pan layer noodles, spaghetti mixture, and then half of each of the cheeses. I messed up here and I mixed all the parmesan cheese in with my spaghetti sauce mixture and had just the mozzarella to layer with. It still turned out great!

Repeat layers with the remaining pasta, sauce, and cheeses. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 5 more minutes.

Verdict: My family really liked this! Two of the boys were not thrilled with the zucchini being in there, so I probably should have chopped them smaller. Next time I'll use my one cup food processor to make really small chunks. My husband loved it, and he ate the leftovers for lunch the next day. Will definitely make again. Thanks Beth!

Bran Muffins

2009-06-02T22:03:00.005-04:00

Well, I was hoping to post something here while it was still May so I would at least have 2 posts in May, but that didn't happen. I have been focusing on finishing our school year well, and also on trying to exercise more regularly, so trying new recipes has taken a back seat for a time. I have wanted to post this recipe for a while though, because these are incredibly moist and delicious bran muffins! I used to think bran muffins were pretty much like cardboard until I tried these. This recipe is from Sue Gregg's Soups and Muffins cookbook, and we have enjoyed them for years.

Bran Muffins

Cover 1/2 cup of raisins with water and set aside to soften. This is an optional step and one which I usually skip.

1/2 cup very hot water
1 1/2 cups wheat bran

Blend together (I stir) and let stand for 5 minutes to soften bran

In large bowl, combine:

1 egg
1/3 cup honey
1 cup buttermilk (I use regular milk. For those with dairy allergies, use soy milk.)

When these ingredients are well blended, add:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or whatever flour you have)
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Stir well and then add the bran/water mixture. It will look something like this:

Add raisins if using them, and blend just until raisins are mixed throughout. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. This recipe only yields 12 medium sized muffins, so I frequently double it.

If the batter does not look quite moist, add a bit more buttermilk or milk or soy (whatever liquid you're using) and /or a bit more honey.

Verdict: My husband, me, and 2 of our children love these muffins. The other 3 could take them or leave them. But since they are loved by more than half the family, I do and will make them! :-)

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burgers

2009-05-02T01:51:00.011-04:00

This is a recipe I'd been wanting to try for a long time, and I finally got the chance this past week! I'm not sure where it's from originally, but I got it from my friend Susan's food blog. These turned out well and tasted quite good, but they were a bit more labor intensive than I normally like for a week night meal. I baked the sweet potatoes the day before so they'd be ready, but the entire process on the day I made them still took nearly 2 hours. The good news is that the mixture yields a LOT of hamburgers! We have quite a few in the freezer for another time.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burgers

2 T oil
2 onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots, grated finely
2 cups black beans, cooked
2 baked sweet potatoes, scooped out of skin
2 cups quinoa, cooked (red is best because it blends in with the other colors, but I only have white so that's what I used)
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs (or if you're me, Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing Mix!)
2 T caraway seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp adobo sauce (didn't have any so left this out)

Saute onions and garlic in oil until lightly browned. Add carrots and black beans and cook an additional 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat. Mash slightly in pan, until beans are half crushed.

Meanwhile, cook your quinoa. This was my first time to cook quinoa, and I figured it should be cooked similarly to rice. Well, I googled "how to cook quinoa" AFTER I'd started cooking it (when will I learn?) and the good news is that I figured correctly. The bad news is that I was supposed to soak and rinse it first, to remove the outer hull which can give quinoa a slightly bitter taste. Next time!

In large bowl (VERY large bowl) add remaining ingredients and add the cooked onion/garlic/carrot/black bean mixture from the stove. Mix thoroughly. If mixture is too moist, add more bread crumbs. Form into patties and cook as desired.

We were on our way to an evening soccer game, so in the interest of time I fried them. I think I'll try baking them next time.

Here they are, ready to go to the soccer game!

Mmmmm!

Little Man was reluctant to try them, but after his brother C (pictured above) had eaten his, he told Little Man, "they're not as bad as they look!" High praise indeed. We had a 12 year old houseguest this week, and he asked me if there was any meat in the burgers at all, and was surprised when I said no. "Wow! They're good anyway," he said. And he ate two. It took 3 to fill my husband up, but that could partly be due to the fact that he'd skipped lunch.

Verdict: Very tasty. Would like to try again with adobo sauce and now that I know how to cook quinoa. Not a fast meal though, so I may wait a while before making.

I'm Still Here! And Cooking Again......

2009-04-21T17:48:00.002-04:00

If you read my regular blog, you know that our 4 year old was quite sick with pneumonia last week and some very kind friends took it upon themselves to bring us several meals so that I could focus my attention on our Little Man and not have to cook. Yippee!!!! Thank God for friends! It was a huge blessing and gave me a much appreciated break from the kitchen.

Little Man is now on the mend and I am back in the kitchen. :-)

Today got away from us, school-wise, and we are still finishing up work as I type, so I swapped Tuesday and Thursday night's dinner plans and we are once again having our new standby, taco style lentils and rice. I need a little more time in the afternoon for a brand new recipe, so Lord willing that will happen on Thursday. Check back later for the verdict on my attempt at vegetarian burgers!

Food Co-op

2009-04-11T15:10:00.005-04:00

Last week I spent $77 on bulk food from the wholesale distributor we buy from in our state. Here is my order:

You can see a 50# bag of Prairie Gold wheat berries in the background ($27.50). In the front, from top to bottom are:

5# bag of quinoa ($13.75)
5# bag of flax seeds ($10.75 - used in my bread)
5# bag of navy beans ($7.50)
5# bag of green lentils ($7.00)

Not pictured:

A small bag of dried tart cherries to sprinkle on our salads ($11.00).

These bags will last a good long time and are all things we use regularly now, with the exception of quinoa which I am just starting to use. I still have a good amount of black beans, split green peas, red lentils, and kidney beans left, so only had to buy some navy beans. Our wholesale distributor is not technically a food co-op, but operates similarly to food co-ops ~ for truck delivery to one location a minimum order of $400 is required, so several families go in together on one order and the food is delivered to one person's house and distrubuted from there. Buying healthy dry goods in bulk this way has saved us hundreds of dollars over the years! To find a food co-op in your state, go here.

Yet Another Post about Yogurt!

2009-04-07T09:47:00.003-04:00

I think I may have finally discovered the secret to getting the right consistency when I make yogurt in the crockpot! After many, many attempts (all of which produced varying degrees of yogurt drinks rather than gelled yogurt, and all of which my children drank) I finally awoke to nicely gelled yogurt after letting it sit the requisite 8 hours wrapped in towels (for original posting of the crockpot yogurt recipe, go here). The only thing I did differently from the original recipe was adding plain gel at the 5 1/2 hour mark. I added two packets which is about 2-3 T. I was able to spoon out 2 1/2 quarts of nicely gelled plain yogurt, and I decided to add flavoring one serving at a time since blending flavoring in to the whole batch has always destroyed the gel consistency.

I put some yogurt in a small bowl, sprinkled a little bit of sugar on it, and poured in some pureed strawberries which I'd pureed in my one cup food processor. I was afraid to do anything more vigorous than stirring, for fear of destroying the yogurt consistency, so we ended up with yogurt that looked sortof chunky like cottage cheese, but was NOT runny, and it had a delicious strawberry flavor!

Son L deemed it "the best yogurt I've ever had!!", sons G and C liked it equally well with store bought yogurt, and daughter G said she liked it but it was still just a tad "bitter". I may not have added the same amount of sugar to each serving, but I'm trying to wean them off the sugar anyway, so maybe it will be an acquired taste? Anyway, it was pretty popular and today I'm fixing it with pureed blueberries. The children have always loved blueberry yogurt so I'm hoping for more rave reviews!

Italian Pinto Bean Soup

2009-04-03T14:50:00.004-04:00

This dish needs a fancier name because it was really good. I mean, REALLY good! Italian Pinto Bean Soup just doesn't do it justice. At the very least I think I would call it "Italian Sausage and Bean Soup". The sausage gave it a really yummy flavor and added some "oomph" to the soup. The entire family loved it and I found myself wishing that I'd doubled the recipe. It is another one from Crystal at the Family Homestead.

Italian Pinto Bean Soup

4 cups dry pinto beans (or about 3-4 cans of prepared beans from the store)
water for soaking (if you start with dry beans)
8 cups water for cooking
1 T salt
1/2 to 1 pound sausage (leave out for a vegetarian meal. I used bratwurst from the freezer and just squeezed the sausage out of their little bratwurst casings)
olive oil (if not using sausage)
1 small or medium onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic (I used 1 tsp garlic powder instead - I need to buy a new garlic press!)
1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
1 T Italian seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

If you start with dry beans:

The night before, put the beans in a large pot and cover well with water. Let them soak overnight. In the morning, drain the water that they soaked in and then add the 8 cups of fresh water you will cook them in. Add salt to the beans and cook until soft. Once the beans are cooked you can drain the water, cool and then freeze them for later use, or set them aside still in the water to make the soup that same day.

If you start with canned beans:

Cook sausage along with onion, garlic, and optional green pepper. If you are not using sausage, cook the onion, garlic and green pepper in a bit of olive oil until soft. Then add the sausage/veggie mixture to the cooked beans in a soup pot. Add the remaining ingredients and heat until the cheese is melted and the flavors are blended. In individual bowls, garnish with a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese on top.

Verdict: Absolutely delicious! A couple of the children picked out the green peppers, but that was it. It had my husband and I craving more. Will definitely make again!

Crockpot Beans and Rice

2009-04-02T14:08:00.003-04:00

This is another recipe from Stephanie at crockpot365. It looked pretty good on her blog, and since we have lots of beans and brown rice in the house, I decided to give it a try. No offense to Stephanie, but it was a flop at my house. Not bad tasting, just really, really bland. My sweet husband and children, however, are totally on board with my experimentation and with eating whatever is set before them, so they all bravely ate it. C was the only one who LOVED it, telling me enthusiastically, "Mommy! You should make this again!" (well sweetie, you are welcome to all the leftovers!) I share it in hopes that you will get better mileage from it at your house, and because I said in my sidebar that I'd share flops too. :-)

Crockpot Beans and Rice

1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 cup brown rice
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp salt (I would add more)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (I would add more)
1/2 T dried onion flakes (I would add a full T)

Put the 1 T olive oil in the bottom of your crockpot and add the rice. Swirl the rice around in the olive oil until it is coated nicely. Drain and rinse the beans, then add them. Drain the tomatoes, saving the juice. Add them to your pot. You will need 2 cups of liquid, so add water to whatever amount of tomato juice you reserved so that you have 2 cups total of liquid. Add to pot. Add seasonings, stir well, and cover. Cook on low for about 6 hours or on high for 3-4. If you use white rice rather than brown it will be done faster, so be sure to check.

Verdict: If I am desperate for a meal sometime I will venture to make this again with LOTS more seasonings!

Turkey/Black Bean Sloppy Joe's

2009-03-31T14:05:00.004-04:00

These were very good! My family members are not huge fans of sloppy joe's to begin with, but these were very tasty the first night, and even better at lunch the next day. I got the original recipe from Crystal at the Family Homestead, and then switched out turkey for ground beef.

Turkey/Black Bean Sloppy Joe's

1 lb hamburger (I used ground turkey)
4 to 5 cups cooked beans (I used black, and I only used about 2-3 cups)
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 green or red pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups ketchup
2 T worcestershire sauce
1 6oz can tomato paste
3/4 cup water
2 to 3 T apple cider vinegar, to taste (I didn't have any so left this out)
3 T sucanat or sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Brown hamburger or turkey with onion and green or red pepper. Drain grease if needed. Add cooked beans.

Add remaining ingredients and let simmer long enough to get everything hot and blend flavors. She suggests serving on homemade whole wheat French Bread rolls, but I served on whole wheat hamburger buns from the grocery store! (I'm out of wheat berries and can't bake any bread or rolls until the ones I've ordered arrive).

Verdict: Well liked by all except Little Man, and he ate half of one with help. :-)

Next time I make sloppy joe's I'm going to try my friend Susan's recipe!

Moroccan Lentil Soup

2009-03-28T11:18:00.003-04:00

This is a crockpot recipe from Stephanie at crockpot365. I will tell you right up front to click on the link and go to her blog and see the way it is supposed to look, because I had to substitute a few key ingredients and mine looks like some slightly soggy kidney beans and veggies. But I will also tell you right up front that man was this good! It had quite a kick to it, which my husband LOVED. He has lived all our married life with slightly toned down food, bless his heart, and this was a chance for his taste buds to really have a party! I was not aware that Moroccan food, like Thai food, is generally quite spicey hot (as opposed to temperature hot, a distinction our children like to make). The leftovers were even better the next day!

Morrocan Lentil Soup

1 cup dried lentils (I used red)
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (I didn't have so left this out)
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed (I didn't have pinto so used kidney)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 chopped carrots
28 oz can of diced tomatoes, with juice
4 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 tsp garam masala (had no idea what this was so left it out)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 inch ginger, peeled and grated (I used 1 tsp ground ginger instead)

Use at least a 5 qt crockpot for this, it makes alot. Chop up all veggies and put them in the crockpot first. Drain and rinse beans, add them to the pot. Add spices and then broth and tomatoes. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours (I cooked on high for 6 hours). Soup tastes best the longer you cook it. Stephanie suggests taking an immersible blender and pulsing to blend the veggies and beans together before serving. I don't have an immersible blender so did not do this, and it was great without it.

Verdict: 4 of the children were forced to eat this under duress because of the spicyness. But because my husband loved it so much, I plan to make it again (with the right beans this time!). I will probably use a tad less cayenne pepper for the children's sake, and let my hubby add more to his bowl.

Working on New Recipes

2009-03-25T17:31:00.003-04:00

Not thoroughly checking ingredients came back to bite me last night. I had been planning to make black bean/sweet potato burgers, but didn't realize until 4:00 P.M. that I had no quinoa which is also called for in the recipe. So that will have to wait until next week. Instead we had a new family favorite, taco style lentils and rice. When the children asked me what I was making for dinner and I told them, they all cheered! Gotta love that reaction!

I am currently researching more new recipes and will post them as I make them! Tomorrow we are having Moroccan Lentil Soup in the crockpot and Saturday we will be having Sloppy Joe's made mostly from beans. Some of you have emailed me with new recipes, which I really appreciate! If you have some wonderful family favorite that is also fairly inexpensive to make, I'd love to hear from you! Email me at gglc_pam@yahoo.com. It's my junk email but I promise to check it! Or leave it in the comments section so others can benefit also. (Of course if you know me in real life, feel free to use my "real" email addy, just don't want to post that here).

Poppyseed Chicken

2009-03-17T22:59:00.003-04:00

This is a recipe I got years ago from another homeschool mom on the Sonlight curriculum forums. I don't remember her name (sorry whomever you are!) but my family loves this dish. It is the type of dish I am trying not to make too many of these days ~ you know, the type that calls for 2 cans of cream of ___ soup ~ but my brain is not quite to the point where I can make bean or veggie main dishes "easily" and sometimes I need a fall back. This is a great fall back! And it's a great way to use up leftover rice.

Poppyseed Chicken

Combine in medium bowl:

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
2 cups (give or take) diced, cooked chicken
2 T poppyseeds

Meanwhile, layer cooked rice in bottom of casserole pan. Cover with chicken mixture. Top with bread crumbs or my favorite Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing mix (I should get a commission for mentioning them so often!) and drizzle one stick of melted butter on top of that. Bake at 350 for approximately 20 - 30 minutes or until heated through.

Delicious! And the leftovers, if there are any, make a great lunch for hubby. :-)

White Chocolate Cranberry Muffins

2009-03-13T15:27:00.003-04:00

This is a recipe I found on Amy's the finer things in life blog. They looked so yummy and different than what I normally make, I just had to try them.

In a large bowl, mix:

1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup orange juice

Stir thoroughly, then add:

1/3 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Stir til moistened. Then add:

1 cup cranberries, chopped (I used dried)
1 cup white chocolate chips, chopped

Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes. When I made this recipe it yielded 16 muffins.

Verdict: LOVED by me, hubby and 3 of the children. Liked by the other two. A keeper!

Italian Vegetable Soup

2009-03-12T22:19:00.004-04:00

This is a very filling crockpot soup. We serve it over spaghetti noodles and all the children love it. A winner every time!

Italian Vegetable Soup

Layer in crockpot:
3-4 carrots sliced (or several more if they are baby ones)
2 small potatoes, chopped
3 ribs of celery, sliced
1 small onion, chopped
2 T parsley flakes
3-4 tsp beef soup base or beef bouillon cubes (can use vegetable soup base to make this a vegetarian main dish)
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can red kidney beans
6-8 cups of water (depending on size of your crockpot!)

Do NOT stir. Cook on high for 4 to 4 1/2 hours, or on low for 8 or 9. Add 1 can of stewed tomatoes and ham (optional) for last half hour of cooking. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti noodles and drain. Place some noodles in bottom of bowl and top with soup. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top if desired. Yum!

More on Menu Planning

2009-03-08T18:18:00.005-04:00

Not sure if anyone noticed besides me, but last week was a really blah week in the food department. I didn't make good menus at the beginning of the week and I kindof needed a mental break from the "planning how to use up every single ingredient so I don't waste any money" thing. Our big Mexican feast (courtesy of my cousin and her grown daughter) was the highlight of the week as far as meals went, and the other nights we ate the "old" way ~ chicken and steamed rice and veggies, etc. We ate veggies, but not as the main part of our meal. I just fixed whatever was on hand that didn't require much mental effort or time.

So far I have not shopped as carefully as I did last month. I have spent over half of my food budget for March, and I have lots of food in the freezer, fridge and pantry, but I'm not sure how to coordinate it all into meals for the rest of the month. In other words, do I have everything I need to make dinners for the rest of the month except for fresh produce? Not sure. Obviously I still have work to do this afternoon! The good news is that we are stocked up on toilet paper, pullups, and facial tissue. :-)

This week we will be having soup one night and a bean dish another night. Friday is pizza and movie night. The rest of the meals I am still planning. Check back later to see what I decided on!

Bread Recipe

2009-03-05T11:23:00.003-05:00

As requested, here is the bread recipe I use with my wheat grinder and Bosch mixer. It is from Denise at the country baker, though the recipe that is linked is slightly different than the one I use. She must have updated it! I'll have to give that one a try, though we love our current one.

Grind 12 cups of Prairie Gold wheat (or whichever wheat berries you prefer - just be sure they are hard wheat berries as opposed to soft wheat, which does not require yeast and is used for quick breads and desserts). My wheat grinder will only grind 8 cups at once, so I have to grind twice. Of course you can use store bought whole wheat flour in this recipe if you don't have a wheat grinder.

In Bosch mixer (or very large bowl, if you don't have a mixer) pour 5 cups of warm water. Then add in this order:

1 1/4 cup oil (I use EVOO)
1 cup honey
8 cups flour
5 tsp salt (I use sea salt)
1 T lecithin granules (optional - this acts as a natural preservative and adds freshness)
1 T dough enhancer (optional - this helps give it a nice texture but I have left it out and the bread still turns out great)
2 1/2 T SAF yeast (this is professional baking yeast, not the kind in the little yellow packets at your local grocery store)

Turn mixer on (or stir thoroughly if not using a mixer) and watch for ingredients to be well mixed. Add 1 cup of flax seeds (optional). Gradually add 3-4 additional cups of flour until dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and the sides of the bowl look "clean". When this happens, set a timer for 4 minutes and let the mixer knead the dough for that amount of time. If you are kneading by hand, turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead for 20 minutes. When time is up, pour dough onto countertop and form into long roll. Cut roll into fourths and put each fourth into a greased bread pan. Pinch the sides down so that the center will bake into a slightly rounded top. This looks so nice when baking is done! Set aside and let rise for one hour. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

One additional reason I love this bread is that it contains no dairy products, so it can be eaten by our little friend Micah whom we babysit a couple times a month and who has a severe dairy allergy. My husband, who is lactose intolerant, can also eat it with no ill effects.

Update to our February $500 Food Budget Challenge

2009-03-01T23:41:00.001-05:00

Yay!! We did it!!! By God's grace we were able to buy all our groceries, toiletries and pullups for the month with less than $500! I spent a total of $469 this month. About $85 of that was for pullups and toiletries, and the other $384 was for food. I'm not sure we could have done it were it not for the fact that I'd stocked up on some things ahead of time, and we ate lots of beans instead of meat, but we did it! I would never have thought we could if I weren't "forced" to try, and I feel quite empowered to know we can. We ate well this month ~ whenever we were hungry there was food to eat. Honestly, there were a few times that my husband and I felt hungry before going to bed, but we can stand to feel hungry a little, and if we didn't stay up so late that problem would probably be solved!

A double blessing is the fact that although $469 was the total amount we spent during the month, some of that was spent at another grocery store, so we actually have over $100 left on the original grocery store gift card!

I will probably have to spend a bit more in March as I stock up on some things again, so I'm shooting for $600 or less this month. I am hopeful we can meet the food budget challenge again!

Baking Bread

2009-02-28T16:26:00.008-05:00

Several people have asked me how I bake our bread, so I thought I would devote a post to that subject.

After receiving a bread machine from my in-laws the Christmas that I was pregnant with our oldest, I immediately began using it to bake all our bread. My husband and I loved the flavor, texture, and the smell of the bread while it was baking! The downside was that it took 4 1/2 hours per loaf, but since we only needed one or two loaves per week, it wasn't too bad. A couple of children later, I couldn't keep up. I was constantly baking. And then I switched to whole wheat flour and I could almost smell the poor bread machine motor beginning to burn up from the effort. We completely ruined our "paddle".

So I put my beloved bread machine away and we ate store bought bread for a time while I researched bread-from-scratch recipes and did some soul searching to make sure this was a road I was committed to travel. Ultimately, I became convinced of the health benefits of freshly ground whole wheat flour, so we purchased this wheat grinder and a few pounds of wheat berries and I started grinding my own wheat to make flour and then mixing and kneading bread dough by hand (when we purchased ours it was right around $200, I see that it has gone up in price since then).

With my grain mill I could grind wheat into flour, mix it into bread dough immediately for the best health benefits, then knead and bake 4 or 5 loaves at once. It took me about 20 minutes to knead by hand, but I could have 4 or 5 loaves in about 3 hours total, as opposed to one loaf in 4 1/2 hours in my bread machine. We loved this bread even more! It is soft, delicious whole wheat bread, especially when fresh. Not heavy at all. I baked bread this way, kneading by hand, for another 2 or 3 years while saving money for a Bosch mixer.

I love my Bosch mixer! It is designed for daily use and for mixing whole wheat bread dough. In other words, it has a very powerful motor. I can use it for mixing just about any kind of dough or batter (including cookies), and I have the option of purchasing special attachments such as the one that makes cereal flakes! (the mixer pictured in the link is an updated model of the one I own). This mixer takes the place of my hand kneading, so it cuts the total time even further. In this picture the dough is nearing the end of its mixing time and pretty much fills the whole bowl.

The recipe I use usually yields 4 loaves, but this time I used part of the dough to make a stuffed sandwich so I only got 3 loaves of bread. Here it is starting its one hour rise time.

After rising for an hour, I bake at 350 for 30 minutes. And voila! Yummy homemade bread!

I let mine cool completely and then cut immediately into slices, wrap in saran wrap and specially sized bread bags, and freeze for use during the week. If I slice, wrap and freeze right away, later when we thaw a loaf it tastes just-made-fresh! I have learned through trial and error that double wrapping is important if I plan to freeze the loaves. This bread is wonderful sandwich and toast bread! I use the same recipe to make hamburger buns, but change it a little to make pizza crust.

Once the equipment is paid for, this is not only healthy bread but very inexpensive bread too! A 50# bag of wheat berries costs $27.50. From this I can bake 80 loaves of bread. Factoring in the other ingredients makes homemade bread slightly more than 34 cents per loaf, but still much cheaper than its store bought cousins! This is a tremendous savings for us right now, during my husband's unemployment. On many occasions I have found myself giving thanks for the bag of wheat berries in our basement!

For an interesting article on the fiber benefits of freshly ground whole grain flour, go here. And here is another one on the wheat germ properties of bread made from freshly ground flour, which can help ward off the common cold (maybe I haven't been eating enough bread the last couple weeks!).

Rotisserie Style Crockpot Chicken

2009-02-24T08:48:00.005-05:00

This is another of Stephanie's crockpot recipes that I've been waiting to try. It was FANTASTIC. The meat was falling off the bone tender, and the flavor was just delicious. Every member of the family loved this chicken - hubby and all 5 children!! A winner!

Rotisserie Style Crockpot Chicken

1 whole chicken, skinned (4-5 pounds)
2 tsp kosher salt (if you'd like it as salty as the ones in the store, add another 1 tsp.)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder (didn't have any so I left this out)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp Italian seasoning (I substituted with my favorite brand of all purpose seasoning)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
pinch of chili pepper (Stephanie said it was "probably not necessary" but I used it anyway!)

--4 whole garlic cloves (optional - I did not use)
--1 yellow onion, quartered (optional - I did not use)

De-skin and wash the chicken. This makes your sink really gross, but it's a good excuse to clean it reeeeeally well afterwards. :-)

Combine spices and rub on chicken, both inside and outside. If desired, stuff cavity with optional garlic cloves and onion. Set in crockpot, breast down. Do not add water.

Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8. I cooked a 3-4 pound chicken and it fit perfectly in my 5 qt crock. I was using my other crockpot for something else at the time, so it had to. (I am so thankful I have two! I often have them both going nowadays). I have never liked the look of crockpot cooked chicken ~ it's just so pale compared to rotisserie chicken at restaurants. But I forced myself to look past the color and concentrate on the taste, and this tasted SO good! It was very tender and moist and flavorful.

I saute'd some peppers, zucchini, onion and mushrooms in spices and a bit of olive oil to eat with the chicken. Delicious! (the children also had applesauce and slices of bread). The chicken portion of this meal cost less than $4 and we all ate until we were satisfied!

Crockpot Baked Oatmeal Bars

2009-02-21T18:47:00.007-05:00

We ran out of bars last week and I decided to try this crockpot baked oatmeal recipe from crockpot365 (and in case you've never visited Stephanie's blog, she was just on Good Morning America and posted about that experience on her blog today! Plus she has lots of fabulous recipes - check it out!). I normally buy a large box of Nutrigrain bars at Sam's Club and we eat them as snacks on Fridays during co-op. Co-op is a long morning and by the time we finish it has been about 4 1/2 hours since breakfast. So during second hour all students are allowed to eat a snack. Because of the $500 food budget challenge this month, I didn't want to go buy more Nutrigrain bars, and this was just the excuse I needed to try Stephanie's recipe.

Crockpot Baked Oatmeal

3 cups rolled (not instant) oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 T flax meal (optional, and I left this out because I didn't have any)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup dried fruit (I left this out because I wasn't sure my kids would like it)

It was with high anticipation that I combined all the ingredients into the crockpot, achieving the described consistency of slightly runny (not goopy) oatmeal.

I cooked on low for 3-5 hours (my time was almost exactly 4 hours) and then checked for doneness. Stephanie said it would be done when the edges are brown and beginning to crust like this:

Yep! Edges were crusting and a knife came out clean from the center. It was done! I let it cool for 2-3 hours before attempting to cut. That is where it got tricky. I don't know if I did something wrong or if it is supposed to be crumbly, but it was not bar-like, it was more like oatmeal cake. It made it a little trickier to eat than I had envisioned (we really needed spoons) but the taste MORE than made up for the crumbs. It was as delicious as Stephanie said it would be!!! This tastes hearty and not as sweet as store bought bars, but it's not bland. My husband described it as, "knowing you are eating something that's really good for you, and liking it."

I gave each child two pieces of this "cake" in a tupperware container along with a few chocolate chips and slices of banana. Oh yes, and a spoon. :-) It was a delicious snack that all but son L enjoyed!

Verdict: My husband wants me to make it with raisins next time. I am already imagining all the various dried fruit options I can experiment with in this recipe!

Macaroni and Not Cheese

2009-02-19T20:42:00.006-05:00

This is a recipe I got from my friend Jennifer, and it was really delicious! The children did not see me make this, and I called it mac and cheese, so they had no idea there was actually no cheese in this dish. The cheesy color comes from cooked and pureed carrots and potatoes. I chose to leave meat out this time, but you could easily add ham or pork for a meat flavored variety. The kids loved it! We had it with steamed broccoli and the rocky mountain muffins I made the other day. Yum.

I have to admit, it was a bit labor intensive. It took me an hour to get it in the oven, and then it had to bake for nearly an hour. But that could be due to it being my first time to make it. One redeeming factor is that the recipe for the sauce makes double, so I now have 4 cups of sauce in my freezer ready to go and next time it will just require boiling the noodles and assembling the dish.

Macaroni and Not Cheese Sauce

3+ cups potatoes
3+ cups carrots
1 cup potato water
3 cups milk (or 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 1/2 cups water)
2 T oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp Lawry's
1 tsp Mrs. Dash - original blend (I did not have either Lawry's or Mrs. Dash, so substituted with 2 tsp of my favorite "Possum" all purpose seasoning, which has no MSG)
4 T lemon juice (I didn't have any so left this out)

Peel, chop and boil potatoes. Cook carrots in steamer. When potatoes are done, reserve 1 cup of potato water. Drain the rest. Mix the milk, water, and oil with the potato water. In blender, alternate batches of veggies (cooked carrots and potatoes) and liquids. When all the veggies and liquids are blended, add the seasonings to complete the sauce. It will be quite orange in color but it tones down considerably in the oven! You will use approximately half of this sauce (3-4 cups) for one batch of this recipe. Freeze the rest for later use.

Macaroni and Not Cheese Assembly

Meanwhile, cook 3-4 cups of macaroni noodles. Drain. In a large bowl combine the cooked noodles, sauce, 2 beaten eggs, and meat if desired. Stir and pour into casserole pan. Cover with bread crumbs (or if you're me, your delicious Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing Mix!) and drizzle one stick of melted butter on top. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes, depending on your oven temp.

Verdict: Fun to make (I love using my blender!) , loved by the children, and a good way to sneak in some veggies. A winner! Thanks Jennifer!

Rocky Mountain Muffins

2009-02-18T08:45:00.003-05:00

Oh my goodness, these are so good!! They are from so many bunnies' blog, and are really leftover oatmeal muffins, but they decided to call them rocky mountain muffins because of the way they puff up in the oven. I didn't experience a huge puffing up in the oven, but they are lumpy looking on the surface because of the oatmeal, so I think the name fits! I'll give you her original recipe first and then tell you of the changes I made.

Rocky Mountain Muffins

2 1/4 cups white flour
2 1/4 cups wheat flour
3/4 cup leftover oatmeal
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 T baking powder (yes! 2 Tablespoons!)
1 cup milk
3/4 cup oil
3 eggs
cinnamon sugar for sprinkling on before baking

Mix all ingredients except cinnamon sugar in large bowl. Spoon into greased muffin tins. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Either freeze or bake. If frozen, bake at 350 for 20 minutes. If fresh, bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Here's what I did differently. I had well over a cup of leftover oatmeal from breakfast the other morning, but it wasn't oatmeal from the pan, it was the bits of oatmeal leftover in the bottom of everyone's bowls. If you think that's gross, I'm pretty sure the intense heat of the oven killed every possible germ that might have been in the there from my children's mouths. And if it still grosses you out, just don't eat rocky mountain muffins at my house! Because it was from the bowls and not the pan, it already had some milk in it. And because it was well over the called for 3/4 cup, I added things slowly and went more by the consistency than a strict following of the recipe. I can't do this with everything, but I've made enough muffins in my lifetime to know what a good muffin consistency looks like.

Instead of 2 1/4 cups of white flour and 2 1/4 cups of wheat flour, I added 3 cups of flour (it was white, though next time I'm going to try some whole wheat pastry flour) and 1 cup of dry oats. I love to substitute oats for flour whenever I can.

I used 2 eggs instead of 3, and I added the milk slowly and just stirred until it looked right, and ended up using less than 1 cup.

I also had to bake these for 20 minutes rather than the called for 15. My oven must run cooler than Mrs. Bunny's (Kathryn's) oven, because every recipe of hers that I've tried so far, I've had to increase cooking time.

The children could not WAIT to try these!! Everyone had one before bed and they were declared "delicious"!

Black Bean Burritos

2009-02-17T20:27:00.012-05:00

These tasted much better than black bean quesadillas according to my children (black is not their favorite kind of bean). Easy to make and well liked by all! Yay! This recipe is from Crystal at the Family Homestead. During the month of January, while I was planning and preparing for a small food budget in February, I decided to invest $8 in Crystal's ebook, "How to Cook with Beans." It was $8 well spent! She gives lots of tips for how to soak and cook beans, as well as pages and pages of recipes. I chose this one first because I have lots of cooked black beans in the freezer, and I thought the addition of shredded carrot would be interesting (my family could not find or taste the carrots, but it made me feel good knowing they were in there!).

Black Bean Burritos

6 cups of cooked black beans
2 cups salsa
1 cup shredded carrots
8 oz cream cheese
6-8 whole wheat tortillas (or white, whatever you have)
shredded cheese

Combine beans, salsa and carrots in pan and simmer for about 15 minutes to allow carrots to soften.

While bean mixture is simmering, layer tortillas in the bottom of casserole pan.

When carrots are soft, add cream cheese.

Stir to combine well, and cook just a few minutes more so that the cream cheese completely melts into the bean mixture.

Layer bean mixture on top of the tortillas, and then a layer of shredded cheese. Continue layering tortillas, bean mixture and cheese until you run out of bean mixture or pan, whichever comes first!

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until cheese is nicely melted and bubbly. Serve with sour cream and salsa.

Verdict: Well liked by all, loved by some, will definitely make again!

Pork Tenderloin in Honey Mustard Sauce

2009-02-14T22:36:00.003-05:00

This week I picked up half a pork tenderloin for $8. That was about half price. When I saw the price of the meat in the sale flier, I realized that psychologically I am still thinking/shopping like a meat eater, despite the fact that we have begun to eat vegetarian at least half the time. Even though I could buy bags and bags of beans for $8 (which I already have lots of in the pantry I might add!) I could not resist the lure of purchasing meat for such a good price. I also bought chicken breasts (buy one get one free). So our grocery store gift card countdown has gone down considerably this week. While in the store I actually debated quite a bit about these purchases. Good deals notwithstanding, I *could* use that same amount of money on other items and make it stretch even further. But since we are not a 100% vegetarian family, I decided to be thankful for the good price on meat, thankful that we had the means to purchase it when it was on sale, and just enjoy it! (my husband says I over analyze sometimes ~ and he's right! But in my defense, I'm just trying to make this gift card stretch as faaaaar as possible!)

I cut the pork tenderloin into thirds and used one third tonight to make pork tenderloin in honey mustard sauce for our Valentine dinner. It was delicious! With meat for two more meals in the freezer, that works out to be $2.66 per meal, which is a pretty good price for pork tenderloin!

Pork Tenderloin in Honey Mustard Sauce

Cut pork tenderloin into thin chops (or bite sized pieces - your choice) and brown lightly in a small amount of olive oil. When both sides are browned, add 3/4 cup honey, 1/2 cup mustard, 1/4 tsp chili powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Stir ingredients and swish pork chops around to make sure they are covered. Cover pan and let simmer for about 15 minutes. This makes a really tasty sauce, so you can serve the pork alone or spoon it and the sauce over rice.

We enjoyed it for our Valentine's Day feast!

Salmon Fillets in Orange-Honey Marinade

2009-02-12T10:13:00.004-05:00

After several days of eating vegetarian, I sensed it was time to feed my family some meat. Checking the freezer I found salmon fillets purchased pre-layoff, and we all love salmon! This recipe is one we have used for years, and is from an old "Kingsford - Great Barbeques" cookbook ~ you know, "Kingsford" as in Kingsford charcoal for grilling? It looks more impressive if the photo is not blurry and if the salmon fillets or steaks are grilled or broiled. But my broiler is currently not working so these were baked and the flavor is still absolutely fantastic!

1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 T oil (I use EVOO)
3 T ketchup
1 T honey
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 clove garlic, sliced or mashed in your garlic press
4 large salmon steaks, or 8 smaller salmon fillets

In shallow glass dish (I use a 9x13 casserole) combine all ingredients except salmon. When well stirred, add salmon, turning to coat both sides with marinade. At this point the original recipe calls for covering and refrigerating for one hour before cooking. I have done this but then feel questionable about using the marinade that the raw fish have been sitting in and it is SO good you just don't want to waste it! So what I usually do is to bake or grill immediately. The flavor is sooooo good! If I serve this with rice, my family will often pour some of the salmon marinade (after cooking) on top of their rice.

Here are the salmon fillets about to go in the oven.

I bake at 350 for 20 minutes per side. When broiling I usually broil about 5 minutes per side and then check. We haven't grilled these since last summer so I don't remember the grilling time per side. This recipe is so flavorful without being overpowering, it is how I introduced salmon to each of our children when they were 1 or 2 and they all love it! In fact, we got a kick out of the fact that when our daughter turned 9, her requested birthday dinner menu was salmon, baked potatoes, and tossed green salad.

Yogurt in the Crockpot - Third time's a charm! (sort-of)

2009-02-10T15:16:00.006-05:00

On my third try of making yogurt in the crockpot, I added 2 T of unflavored gelatin (found in the jello aisle) at the 5 1/2 hour mark, when you are stirring in the 1/2 cup of store bought yogurt with live active cultures. Then I let it sit for the required 8 hours, and when I took off the lid and peeked inside....voila! Firmed up yogurt! I was so pleased. (for original directions on making yogurt in your crockpot, go here.)

Unfortunately, adding flavoring reduced it to the consistency of yogurt drinks again. So I either need to accept that I can only make yogurt drinks, or need to keep experimenting with ways to add fruit without making it thinner. I am storing this batch in glass canning jars in the fridge and flavoring little amounts of it right before eating. So far we have made peach yogurt (adding one whole canned peach to 1/3 of the blender pitcher full of yogurt) and blueberry yogurt (adding about 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries to the same amount of yogurt). Both were good, but the blueberry flavor was the biggest hit.

Fortunately the children are amazingly willing to drink down all my experiments!

Creamy White Bean and Apple Chili

2009-02-10T10:33:00.005-05:00

This was delicious! A different take on chili. We ate it without meat, but if you wanted to add chicken or turkey, they would both work well in this recipe. I got it from the crockpot lady over at crockpot365.

2 cans of white beans, drained and rinsed (I cooked a whole crockpot of black eyed peas last weekend and then froze them in ziploc sandwich bags. If you do this, just pull out one bag full. They can be any kind of white bean, I just happened to have black eyed peas so that's what I used.)
1 onion, chopped
2 apples, cut in tiny chunks, no need to peel
3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
3 T butter (first time I've ever put butter in my crockpot!)
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth, depending on whether or not you want this to be a vegetarian meal (I used vegetable, and I added a bit more because 3 cups didn't look like enough)
1/2 cup plain non fat yogurt
shredded cheese (optional ~ add after cooking, while serving)

The crockpot lady suggests using any crockpot over 4 quarts. I used a 6 quart crockpot and wish that I had doubled this recipe. It made enough to feed our whole family, but just barely. My husband loved this and was disappointed there were no leftovers to eat for lunch this week.

Put the butter in the bottom of your crockpot. Dump in the drained and rinsed beans. Chop up the onion and apple and add to pot. Add the spices and pour in the broth. Stir in the yogurt (be sure to stir this in well! there were little globs of yogurt floating in my broth because I didn't stir this in good enough. it didn't affect the flavor, but they looked strange). Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5 (mine was done in 4). This is done when the onion has reached desired tenderness and the flavors have melded. Stir in the cheddar cheese before serving (I sprinkled a little cheese on the tops of the individual bowls). We ate some of my homemade bread with this chili, but any hearty bread or muffin would work great. The spices gave this just enough "kick" to taste really good, but not too spicy that the kids wouldn't eat it. And the cooked apple pieces were a nice texture. No-one knew they were apples until I told them!

Verdict: My husband, myself, and 3 of the children loved this. Two of the children tolerated it. I will definitely make this again!

Blueberry Corn Muffins

2009-02-10T10:12:00.002-05:00

I got this recipe from the Sue Gregg Soups and Muffins cookbook. I own two of her cookbooks and they are excellent because not only are they full of good recipes, they also have several pages of tips for how to cook/bake gluten free, how and what to substitute, how to make your own broth cheaply, etc. She has a whole set of Eating Better Cookbooks. Someday I'd like to own all 8 of them!

Blueberries were on sale for $1 box a couple weeks ago so I bought several, and I thought this recipe might be a good way to use up the last box. Personally, I loved the taste of the corn and blueberries together. It was different. And they were moist! I hate it when baked goods turn out dry and crumbly, which has often been my experience with cornbread. The rest of my family gave them mixed reviews, however. They liked them, but not as well as "regular muffins".

Blend together:

2 eggs
1/2 orange juice
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp lemon extract (I didn't have any so left this out)

Blend dry ingredients together in separate bowl:

1 1/2 cups flour (she calls for whole wheat but you can use whatever you have)
3/4 cups cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/8 tsp salt (I thought this was a weird measurement! who has a 3/8 tsp??)

Blend dry ingredients into liquid ingredients just until mixed. Gently fold in 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (I used fresh). Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes.

When I mixed the dry and liquid ingredients together, it didn't look like very much batter in the bowl. So I baked them in a tiny muffin cup pan so they would look like more than they were. Does anyone else do things like that?

Verdict: Because most of my family did not love these I probably won't follow the recipe exactly if I make them again. Four of the children said they liked the muffins, but not the blueberries. The presence of the blueberries made them think they were going to taste like regular blueberry muffins, and then they were disappointed when they didn't. One of the children loved the blueberries, but not the muffins. So in the future I think I will make these as just plain corn muffins and leave the blueberries out.

Zucchini Bread

2009-02-09T14:04:00.003-05:00

Our son C was feeling well by Sunday, but he had not been fever free for 24 hours so he and I stayed home from church and baked zucchini bread together. He is such a great little helper! We had a lot of fun working together in the kitchen, and the family loved our efforts. It was completely GONE within 24 hours!

I love my zucchini bread recipe because it's so moist, so even though there are a plethora of zucchini bread recipes floating around out there I'm going to post mine too. This is from my dear Grandma Frena, who is now in heaven.

Stir together:

2 cups sugar (I add one and a half)
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
4 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon

Add:

3 eggs well beaten
1 cup oil
2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
3 tsp vanilla

Mix well. Pour into greased loaf pan(s). Bake at 325 for one hour. You can double this recipe for 3 standard loaves.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

2009-02-05T23:38:00.003-05:00

Much of my meal planning right now consists of buying whatever veggies are on sale super cheap and then figuring out later how to cook them. Tonight we had such a meal. It was delicious and a hit with everyone! I LOVE when that happens! I went searching for a way to incorporate sweet potatoes as the main part of our meal, and found this recipe for sweet potato pancakes on allrecipes.com.

3/4 pound sweet potatoes (I cooked 3 large ones)
1 1/2 cups flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter, melted

Put sweet potatoes in a pan of boiling water and cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes (I found I should have boiled them much longer - they were soft on the outside but very hard to mash). Drain and immediately immerse in cold water to loosen skins. Drain, remove skins, chop, and mash.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Mix mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, milk and butter in a separate medium bowl. Blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter.

Cook pancakes in whatever method you normally use.

Here's what I did differently and what I would do differently next time:

I didn't cook the sweet potatoes long enough to be easily mashed, so the pancake batter turned out to be fairly lumpy with small chunks of sweet potato clearly visible. This visual was not a happy thing for my children.

Once they were flipped it was a little better, because the chunks were not visible. They loved the taste, just not the chunks. So I will cook longer and mash better next time.

Also, I doubled the recipe to make sure we had enough for our larger sized family. This would have meant 3 cups of flour. Instead I added 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of oats (I used regular oats, but you could use quick cook or whatever you have). In addition to all the ingredients listed above, I also added 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract. I also added the milk slowly, stopping when I felt the batter was the right consistency. This turned out to be less then the called for amount of milk.

They were thick and "hearty" (as my hubby said) and very, very good. Definitely a keeper!

Banana Muffins and Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

2009-02-04T09:47:00.005-05:00

For years I have used a delicious banana muffin recipe that I got from my sister Gayle to use up over-ripe bananas. The muffins always turn out incredibly moist and delicious, and are eaten up literally faster than I can make them. A few weeks ago I found another banana muffin recipe online which called for small chocolate chips. I decided to try it, because, who doesn't love chocolate chips??? :-)

I'll share the recipes with you and then tell you the verdict for which one my family members preferred.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins (from somanybunnies blog)

1 cup sugar (I used sucanat instead, same amount)
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 ripe bananas
3 T milk
1 cup whole wheat flour (can use 2 cups of whole wheat, or 2 cups of white, whatever you have)
1 cup white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup small chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffins tins. Cream butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes (I just stirred with a whisk instead). Add egg. Add bananas, mashed. Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk. Finally add chocolate chips. Scoop into muffins cups and bake for 10 minutes or until done (I found this was not nearly enough time and baked for closer to 20 minutes). OR, put muffin pans in freezer until batter is frozen, then put in ziploc bags and store in freezer until you are ready to bake them.

Banana Muffins (from my sister Gayle - sorry no blog! I wish she had a blog, she is amazing)

2 large bananas, mashed (I often use 3 instead)
Add 1.5 cups sugar (I add just under 1, and this time I used sucanat instead of white sugar)
Add in 1/2 cup butter, softened
Beat these together
Add 2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream (I have skipped this whenever I was out and they still turned out great)
Beat
Spoon in:
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups flour

Stir til well mixed. Spoon into muffin tins and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Since I used sucanat for both recipes this time, they turned out darker in color than they do when I use white sugar. With white sugar they are more golden in color.

I made each of these recipes a few days apart and then asked each member of the family which they preferred. Here are the results:

Husband: "I like them both, but I think I prefer the original recipe because it's so moist."

Daughter G: "I like them both but I think I like the first one a little bit more."

Son G: "I like them both the same."

Son L: "I like the chocolate chip one a little better."

Son C: "I like them both!"

Little Man: "I like them both too!"

So there you have it. Two winning recipes! You know what they say.....variety is the spice of life!

Black Bean Quesadillas

2009-02-01T23:05:00.007-05:00

We had these for dinner while watching the Super Bowl tonight. Our 8 year old son remarked halfway through the game, "we usually have chips and snack food during the Super Bowl. But we probably had no money and you were sick, so you couldn't go to the store for that stuff, right?" Right honey. :-)

These were not as popular with the whole family as the taco style lentils and rice. My husband, daughter G and son L loved them. Sons G and C liked them "a little" (their words). Little Man did not like them at all, and ate most of one quesadilla under duress.

This is Sabra's recipe from Sleeplesssabra.

Approximately 1 cup dry black beans - or 2 cans from the store

1/2 jar mild salsa (you can use a stronger salsa but they have quite a bit of flavor already)

Ground cumin (1 - 2 Tbsp)

Fresh cilantro (one bunch)

Shredded cheddar cheese

Tortillas

Sour Cream

Simmer the dried black beans for a few hours until they're just soft. If you use canned beans just drain and rinse them to remove the excess sodium.

Once your beans are cooked place them in a large bowl. Add a tablespoon of ground cumin and also a little salt to taste. Then, add in half of a jar of salsa. I prefer to leave my beans whole but you can also mash them a little if you want to change the consistency for your kids (that can also help keep the beans from rolling out of the tortillas). Then, chop and add the fresh cilantro and mix it all through.

For the last step, take a tortilla and place a layer of the bean mixture over one half of it (you are going to fold it over) and cover the beans with cheese. Fold the other side of the tortilla over it so it makes a half-circle and place it in a skillet over med-high heat. Toast it and flip it to toast the other side (just enough to heat it through and melt the cheese). Place it on a plate and top with sour cream.

The cumin and the cilantro really make this dish. It's just full of fresh flavor.

After we cooked a few in the skillet, we added them to a pan kept warm in the oven, so they would all be ready at the same time.

Inside you can clearly see the beans, cilantro, and salsa, with melted cheese on top.

A filling, delicious, and inexpensive vegetarian meal!

Taco Style Lentils and Rice

2009-01-27T21:16:00.006-05:00

Oh my goodness, this was a HUGE hit!! I had my doubts while it was bubbling on the stove, but EVERYONE loved it. Every single member of the family! Yippee!!!! It was delicious and filling. The kids never knew (til they heard us talking about it later) that there was no meat inside the tortilla shells. Whenever I have served brown rice before everyone has complained. Well, again, no-one knew there was brown rice hidden inside of this dish! Cooking the lentils and rice together made it a complete protein, which means we got all the protein benefits of meat without the fat! You have got to try this! Trust me, it looks really really.....what's the word.....brown.....but it is absolutely delicious! It is also really inexpensive. Well under $5 total. I'm going to do a more exact cost breakdown the next time I'm at the store, just because I am really curious to see how cheaply I can feed my family such healthy and delicious food!

The beef bouillon eliminates this as a vegetarian dish (I think) but it obviously counts as a bean dish (I am trying to cook at least one vegetarian dinner and one bean dinner each week).

This recipe is from the Hillbilly Housewife website.

Note for larger families, I made this recipe according to the exact measurements and it was just enough for our family of 7. We were all satisfied but there were no leftovers. If you have hungry teenagers and/or more than 5 children, you will probably want to make one and a half batches or double it.

3/4 cup dry lentils (I used red lentils but you can use any type)
3/4 cup brown rice, uncooked
4 cups water
4 beef bouillon cubes or 4 tsp beef soup base
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder (I skipped this because we didn't have any)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (I upped this to 1 tsp because of having no onion powder)

In a 2 quart saucepan bring the water to a boil. As the water is heating, add everything else. Bring the whole thing to a nice fat boil. Reduce heat to low. Place a lid on the pan and allow the mixture to simmer for 45 to 50 minutes or until water is mostly absorbed. It should have about the same consistency as cooked white sticky rice when it's done, though it will be slightly more goopy because of the cooked lentils.

This is what it looked like halfway through the cooking time:

You could serve this in a variety of ways. We chose to put a dollop inside soft tortilla shells, lay the shells in a casserole pan, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and a touch of mango salsa, and bake for a few minutes until the cheese was melted.

I served this alongside waldorf salad and it was a really delicious meal! (Please ignore the paper plates. :-) My wonderful hubby was in charge of setting the table and he always chooses paper.)

Yogurt in the Crockpot - Take Two

2009-01-26T22:23:00.004-05:00

My second attempt at yogurt in the crockpot led to yogurt that was even runnier than the first time! All of the children liked this consistency better for yogurt drinks, however, so it was a happy flop. I blended strawberries in this time, and served it in little juice glasses which have lived at the very back of my kitchen cupboard for the last 12 years since breakable glasses don't generally mix well with children. Those were a big hit! Two of the children don't care for the strawberry flavor, but the other 3 love it and are guzzling it down.

Here is the website where I learned how to make yogurt in the crockpot.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2009-01-26T22:14:00.002-05:00

After serving the garlic roasted chicken, a good way to use up the chicken carcass is to make chicken noodle soup. This costs almost nothing, is very tasty, and makes your kitchen smell soooooo good all day! After boiling the chicken carcass for a few hours, strain out the bones, cut off the leftover bits of chicken, add more chicken bits from the freezer (if you have some ready to go) or leftover chicken from when you served it the first time, chop up carrots, onion and celery, and at the very end add cooked noodles. It feels like you've pulled a meal out of thin air (yay!), and our children have deemed homemade chicken noodle soup "at least as good as Progresso". :-)

Zucchini Pot Pie from Italy

2009-01-26T22:08:00.002-05:00

This was our "official" vegetarian dinner this week. It is one I have made many times before, but I added yellow squash to it this time because yellow squash was one of the veggies I picked up super cheap last week. It has lots of yummy spices in it, tastes very Italian, and has the consistency of queche. The entire pie added up to less than $4 and since it's already a family favorite I knew it would be a winner.

4 cups zucchini thinly sliced (I don't measure, I just use 3 or 4 of the store sized ones)
1 cup onion, chopped
(yellow squash - not in original recipe)

Saute the above ingredients in olive oil until soft. Add the following and stir well:

1/2 tsp salt
2 T parsley flakes
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano

In separate bowl, combine 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese and 2 eggs, beaten. Stir this into the zucchini mixture. Pour into a lined pie pan and bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until center is set. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. For the pie crust you can use your favorite pie crust recipe, or for an easier (though more processed) option, separate all the triangles from a can of crescent rolls and flatten them into the bottom of the pie pan.

Herb Crusted Tilapia with Artichoke

2009-01-26T22:08:00.001-05:00

Tilapia is not normally an inexpensive dinner meal, but our whole family loves tilapia and a local store had it on sale last week. Plus I was anxious to try this new recipe my husband found in the newspaper. :-) It was absolutely delicious! Even if your family only *likes* fish, I encourage you to try this!

Preheat oven to 425. Place 1 T butter in a casserole pan and place in oven until butter is melted. Remove pan from oven (leave oven on) and pour melted butter into a small dish. Place fish in casserole pan and turn to coat both sides lightly with the melted butter residue that is still in the pan. Spread the tops of each fillet with artichoke dip. Sprinkle each one with Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing Mix (original recipe called for Panko, but if you're me you use Peppridge farm herb stuffing mix for everything. But it MUST be that brand and that type!!) and then drizzle with the melted butter that you poured off into a small dish. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until fish is flaky.

Garlic Roasted Chicken

2009-01-26T22:04:00.000-05:00

This is not a vegetarian recipe, but it was so good I wanted to share it anyway! I picked up a whole chicken on sale last week, but since I normally don't cook them whole I went looking for recipes on allrecipes.com . I love this website. I have gotten so many really good recipes here, and it's helpful to be able to read reviews from real live normal people just like me. I would have never thought to put sugar/cinnamon/allspice/nutmeg/cloves on the outside of a chicken. Pumpkin pie, yes. Chicken, no. But the unique blend of spices on the outside along with the garlic on the inside gave it a GREAT flavor! Loved by the whole family, even Little Man who is usually my worst critic.

Mix together in small bowl:

2 tsp salt
1 tsp white sugar
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Rub the chicken with this mixture, cover chicken and place in fridge for 24 hours (I didn't read the directions well enough and didn't do this 24 hours ahead, it was still delicious!).

Preheat oven to 5oo. Crush 5 cloves of garlic. Stuff this inside chicken, place in roasting pan, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Turn temperature down to 475 and cook another 15 minutes. Baste chicken, turn oven temp down to 450 and cook for another half hour (possibly longer depending on size of chicken). I cooked mine a little longer because I was also roasting carrots, potatoes, and onions along with the chicken.

Absolutely delicious! Enjoy!

Yogurt in the Crockpot

2009-01-26T21:58:00.003-05:00

This weekend I made homemade yogurt in the crockpot. Thanks to my friend Beth, who sent me this link to a website dedicated to crockpot use! I followed the directions to the letter, with the only exception being that I used 2% milk rather than whole milk. Stephanie at the crockpot website recommended starting with whole milk because the higher fat content tends to gel better than milk with a lower fat content. But all I had was 2% so that is what I used. It was really easy! If you want to try this yourself, do keep in mind that it takes a long time so you either have to start it in the morning, or start it about5 or 6 in the evening and by morning you have a crockpot full of yogurt! You have to do something to it after 2.5 hours of cooking, and again after 3 hours of cooling on the counter, and finally after 8 more hours of sitting out on your counter. So plan accordingly. :-)

This is what it looked like straight out of the crockpot. It was slightly thinner than store bought yogurt, but still fairly firm.

None of my family likes plain yogurt, so I blended up some frozen raspberries (note: this works much better if the berries are THAWED!) and then stirred them into the plain yogurt. This did cause the consistency to become even thinner. It ended up more like a yogurt drink than actual yogurt. But my kids all love yogurt drinks, so this was not a problem for us.

This is what it looked like after stirring in the raspberry puree. I feel a little like a traitor because I did end up having to add a smidgeon of white sugar (after stating here that I wanted to eliminate white sugar from our diet!). I think I can slowly whittle the sugar down to where I am not adding it, but it was so much less sweet than store bought yogurt I had a pretty good hunch my kids would revolt. So I sprinkled a little sugar in to make it more palatable to the children. We all had some for lunch and it tasted great! Making it at home will be a significant savings over buying, and we eat lots of yogurt, so this is a happy discovery for me!

Next time I am going to experiment with adding plain gelatin to make it "set" better. This was recommended when using 2% milk but I had no gelatin so we did without. It was still delicious. A winner with everyone!

Stuffed Sandwich

2009-01-26T21:55:00.001-05:00

Some people have asked me how to make the stuffed sandwiches that I mention from time to time. So here are picture directions for making one! This recipe is not an original. I got it from the country baker. Though my baking utensils are not essential to making this recipe, I purchased those from the country baker also, as well as my Bosch mixer which kneads the dough for me. Start with a chunk of bread dough, about the size you would use to bake a loaf of bread. This should be yeast bread dough before any rising has occurred. Roll it out to about 1/3" thickness in the shape of a rectangle. Because you are rolling it so thin, it doesn't need to rise before baking. You should bake immediately after making. The dots you see on my bread dough are flax seeds, which are not essential to this recipe but just something I like to add to my bread. Mentally divide this rectangle into thirds. The middle third will hold the food, and the outer two thirds (one third on each side) will become the faux braid. Using a knife, or this dough cutter scraper, cut slits about one inch apart and slightly on a diagonal all the way down both sides of your dough rectangle.

Then spread some type of pesto or mustard or whatever type of sauce you'd like to experiment with down the middle third. It's been fun for us to experiment with different spreads!

Now you are ready to layer your meat and cheese. I would normally layer the meat pretty thick, but this time I had frozen an amount that I thought would be sufficient and it turned out to be pretty slim. Oh well. Good thing the bread is good all by itself!!

I have also put precooked veggies such as peppers and onions inside, and my husband and I like this flavor but our children don't.

Once you have all the "stuffing" layered down the middle third, take the outer strips and begin laying them across the middle, crossing the ends over each other to look like a braid. Crimp each end closed so the stuffing doesn't come out while baking!

When you are finished, you'll have something that looks like this:

Now comes the tricky part. Transferring this yummy looking sandwich to a baking sheet. I have a large bread dough spatula (in picture) that I purchased from the country baker, however it no longer appears on their website. Before purchasing this handy tool, which also works well for homemade pizza by the way!, I used two regular sized spatulas, the kind you use to remove cookies from a tray.

Once the stuffed sandwich has been transferred to your baking sheet, whisk one raw egg with a bit of water and then brush this over your sandwich.

Sprinkle with poppy seeds.....

.....bake at 350 for 30 minutes, and enjoy!

Aztec Chicken

2009-01-26T21:50:00.002-05:00

This recipe for Aztec chicken has been floating around the internet for at least a couple of years and I honestly don't know who to attribute it to, but I first got it from a homeschool mom named Melanie off the Sonlight Curriculum forums. Aztec chicken is a mexican dish, and it is truly easy. If you have the ingredients on hand ahead of time, all you do is layer them and turn the crockpot on. No chopping, slicing or dicing! Leftovers are wonderful either by themselves or rolled into a warmed tortilla shell.

Layer the following ingredients in your crockpot:

2 cans of black beans, undrained (or if you make your own beans, about 2 cups)
large bag of frozen corn
about 3-4 cups of cooked chicken strips or cubes
medium sized jar of salsa

Turn on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6. During the last half hour of cook time, add an 8 oz package of cream cheese. Cut the cream cheese in chunks, and push them slightly under the surface of the salsa. When cook time is finished, stir all ingredients together well.

Serve over rice and sprinkle cheese on top. Voila!

Turkey/Barley/Vegetable Soup

2009-01-26T21:47:00.002-05:00

1 pound browned ground turkey (can use hamburger instead)
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 or 4 carrots, cut in medallions (I use half a big bag of baby carrots instead)
can of chunk tomatoes or stewed tomatoes, including juice
enough water to fill your crockpot (or however much soup you want)
3 tsp beef soup base, or 3 beef bouillion cubes

Throw everything into the crockpot and turn on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours. During the last half hour of cooktime, add in 1/2 cup of barley and whatever leftover vegetables you've accumulated from the previous week. Today I'll be adding leftover corn.

I love that you can add just about anything to this soup and it tastes great. Plus the whole grain from the barley makes me feel like a good mom!

We'll add bread or muffins to this menu and be good to go!