Deciding on a Grocery Budget: Step Six

Step Six, Planning your TIME

All of the previous steps are nothing compared to planning your time and sticking to your menu. Here are some tips to help make it easier. Hopefully this will help you start seeing a difference in your budget. Take it one step at a time and remember even a little bit helps. There's a lot to be said about a little bit of planning and I promise you it will help not only your wallet but your health too!

Menu Tips for Week 1:

Shopping day- try to buy everything on your list that you will need for the month with the exception of your more perishable items. Less trips to the store = less money spent.
Properly store your groceries to maximize freshness- tips for each item can be found on Master Grocery List.
When roasting chicken, roast 2 at once. De-bone, shred & freeze 2nd chicken for use later in the month. Divide equally into 2-4 freezer bags.
Save broth & leftover chicken for soup later this week.
Leftover corned beef & vegetables makes excellent hash for breakfast.
When making spaghetti sauce, make double (or even more- it freezes well!) so you have enough to make your lasagna later this week.
If there is enough leftover chicken from Sunday’s meal, use it to make chicken salad sandwiches. Otherwise you can use canned tuna.
When making bread keep in mind the coming week’s menu. This can all be made from one batch of bread dough:  2 loaves French bread (spaghetti & lasagna), 1 dozen rolls (chicken noodle soup), 1 loaf bread (for chicken salad sandwiches)
Bread can be frozen to preserve freshness.  Even if using later the same week, store it in the freezer so it still tastes fresh baked when you use it.
Be sure to freeze any leftover dinner portions that haven’t been eaten. These make great lunches in the future.


Menu Tips for Week 2:

Be sure your roast is big enough to use leftover beef for stroganoff (a 3-4 lb roast is enough for Sunday’s meal with plenty leftover for lunches & enough for another meal)
Make double the potatoes that your family will eat on Sunday- You will use the leftovers for tomorrow’s meal.
If you have extra cabbage and ground beef, go ahead & cook it all. It freezes well & can be used in later meals.
Double your soup recipe; then divide before adding the noodles. You’ll use the portion with no noodles as the filling for your pot pie later this week.
Use frozen pre-cooked chicken in your soup if you have it.
This week’s bread batch: Runza bread pockets, Rolls (for soup), your choice for remaining two “loaves.” I like to have a couple loaves sliced for sandwiches for easy lunches.

Menu Tips for Week 3:

Wash & cut extra broccoli for Tuesday’s meal
Make enough sauce for both chicken parmesan & noodles in one pot. If you have enough frozen sauce, use that to save time. For a richer sauce add 16 oz cream cheese or even a can of cream of chicken soup.
Start chili in slow-cooker first thing in the morning. The longer it cooks (on low), the better the flavor.
This week’s bread batch:  Stuffed bread loaf, Sandwich Bread, Rolls, and your choice.
Use leftover pulled pork for Navajo taco filling. You can also use ground beef or chopped chicken or leave the meat out altogether. Also leftover chili can be delicious on a Navajo Taco.
Use leftover chili for pastafazool. Add 8-16 oz tomato sauce & 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning.
If you have leftover roast in your freezer, use that for vegetable soup. Otherwise use ground beef. You can also omit the meat & make vegetable soup instead.



Menu Tips for Week 4:

Again, be sure your roast is big enough to use leftover beef for stroganoff (a 3-4 lb roast is enough for Sunday’s meal with plenty leftover for lunches & enough for another meal).
Make double the potatoes that your family will eat on Sunday- You will use the leftovers for Tuesday’s meal.
When clearing the table on Sunday, “put away” food into a casserole dish- assembling Tuesday’s Shepherd Pie. Cut beef into bite size pieces- add leftover corn or other vegetables (if you don’t have enough, open a can of corn and green beans and add those). Cover everything with leftover gravy then top with mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese. Cover dish and refrigerate. Tuesday’s dinner is DONE!
If you have extra ground beef mix in freezer from Runzas, use 1-2 lbs of that for an easy Company Casserole. Otherwise follow recipe. It’s still a quick meal!
Use pre-cooked chicken for enchiladas, Chicken & Stuffing, and Tortilla Soup. If you don’t have enough chicken, you can make beef enchiladas (leftover roast is great if you have it! Otherwise ground beef) If you have leftover pork from last week in your freezer- you can use that or even just cheese enchiladas. For the tortilla soup, you can use beef as well or omit meat altogether.
This week’s bread batch:  2 dozen rolls, 1 loaf bread for sandwiches, 1 extra (your choice). I like to have a few extra pizza crusts in the freezer for quick meals

Week 5 Menu Tips:

Save leftover chicken on Sunday for stir-fry. You can also use leftover broth  to cook rice for more flavor.
Cook 3-4 extra potatoes for quick potato wedges on Wednesday.
Save extra pintos to make refried beans
Make enough extra sauce for your spaghetti to use on Pizza the next day
This week’s bread batch:  Hamburger buns (for sloppy Joes), French bread, Pizza crusts

Deciding on a Grocery Budget: Step Five

Wow! It's been so long since I've worked on this section of my blog that I decided to make a whole new menu (for illustrative purposes). So some of the information in this step may be repetitive from the previous steps. Bear with me- I'm a work in progress here! 

 

Step Five- Making a shopping list

Read through your menu and make a list of everything that you will need to make it happen. Then go through the list and cross of any items that you already have or don't want and add any extras that you may need. If you are careful and shop the sales, you can buy everything needed for this menu for about $200.

Meat
3 whole chickens                     (freeze at least one right away for later in the month)
2, 3-4 pound beef roasts [whatever is cheapest]      (transfer to freezer bags & freeze)
1 small pork roast (1 ½ - 2 lb)            (transfer to freezer bag & freeze)
10-12 lbs hamburger                 (freeze in 1 lb packages)
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts         (transfer to freezer bags & freeze)

Produce- (Here are some of the things that we like best but we usually get most our produce from Bountiful Baskets. This allows us to spend as little as $16/week in produce. I usually just change my menu to fit what I get in my baskets. It's not hard if I already have a basic idea of what I want to make- usually just means changing a side dish.)
5 lb         Apples       
4 lb         Bananas   
2 lb         Berries       
2-4 lb         Broccoli   
2 heads        Cabbage   
3-5 lb        Carrots      
2 bunches    Celery       
6 lb        Corn      
1-3 lb        Grapes       
4 lb         Green beans   
1 bunch        Green onions   
2-3 heads    Lettuce       
1-2 lb        Mushrooms   
5 lb        Onions       
5 lb        Oranges       
5-10 lb        Potatoes [Russet]]
10 lb        Potatoes [red] (or just add more Russet potatoes)  
5-6 large        Tomatoes   

Any other fruit or vegetable you desire such as:
    Avocado,    Sprouts,    Spinach,    Lemon,    Lime,    Snap Peas,    Asparagus,    Peaches,    Pears,  Melon,    Winter Squash,    Summer Squash,    Cilantro,    Garlic
  
Canned - I treat almost everything on this list as optional. I've found that it's so much cheaper and healthier to just use fresh fruits and vegetables, especially with Bountiful Baskets, and make other things from scratch such as cream soups. This will, however, help you to make all the recipes on this menu in a pinch as well as give you some extra side and/or breakfast options.

Mandarin Oranges            10 cans (8 oz)
Pineapple tidbits                3 cans (15 oz)
Mushroom stems & pieces            8-10 cans (8 oz)
Cream of Chicken soup             9 cans (10 oz)
(try using this recipe instead)
Salsa                    32 ounces
Beans (kidney)                 4 (15 oz) cans
Beans (black)                4 (15 oz) cans
Beans (chili)                 2 (15oz) cans
  or small red beans if using dry  (1 lb)
Mayonnaise                 16 oz
Mustard                    1 bottle
Hot sauce                1 bottle
Tomato Sauce                28 (8oz) cans
Tomato soup                 2 cans
Diced Tomatoes                10 cans (15 oz)
Green beans (if not using fresh/frozen)    3 cans (15 oz)
Corn    (if not using fresh/frozen)        7 cans (15 oz)
  
Dry
Spaghetti Noodles            3 lb
Macaroni Noodles             1 lb
Egg Noodles                2 lb
Lasagna Noodles (or use this recipe)      1 lb
Flavored Gelatin                 5 small boxes
Small Red Beans     (if not using canned)    1 lb
Black Beans (if not using canned)        2 lb
Kidney Beans (if not using canned)        2 lb
Dry bread crumbs or Stuffing Mix
Tortilla chips
Ranch dressing mix (click here for recipe)

Dairy
3-4 (16oz)        Sour cream      
1-4 (16oz)        Cottage cheese      
4-6 gal            Milk          
4 lb (according to taste)    Cheese [cheddar]      
1 lb             Cheese [Parmesan]  
1.5 lb             Cheese [ Mozzarella]  
2 16 oz blocks        Cream Cheese (optional)  
2 lb            Butter          
64 oz            Plain Yogurt      


Staples You shouldn't have to buy all of these every month. Most of these items are much cheaper to buy in bulk. Plan to buy one or two of these bulk items from this list each month to keep your pantry stocked.
Yeast                  (Usually cheapest to buy in 1 lb compressed block)
Bread Flour              
Flour
Brown Sugar
Corn meal
Baking powder
Baking soda
Pinto Beans                 2 lb      
Rice (white or brown)            2 lb
Oil (olive, or vegetable)
Dry Milk
Chicken Bouillon or soup base
Corn starch

  

Dairy-free Creamy Broccoli Soup

I am slightly lactose-intolerant and have a daughter who had milk allergies up until about 6 months ago so I try to limit our dairy as much as possible. The only problem is that I love cheese and cream and just about anything else dairy. It just makes things taste good! I love this soup because the cauliflower really gives it that creamy texture and it's simple and delicious to boot. It doesn't feel like I'm missing out on anything when I eat this and even my husband didn't notice there was no actual cream in this soup! He even went so far as to call it "tasty" which is high marks coming from him. Don't get me wrong, he is not particularly "picky"and will eat just about anything that I give him, but his preference is definitely rich and creamy.
I made a giant pot of this soup a few weeks ago when we received both broccoli and cauliflower in our Bountiful Basket. I packed the "leftovers" into freezer bags, labeled and froze it for later. It's a cold and windy Monday, so we will be having this for dinner tonight. I also started a batch of this easy bread to serve with it. Yum!

Dairy-free Creamy Broccoli Soup

1 head cauliflower
1 bunch broccoli (florets and stems)
5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 small onion (about 1 cup, chopped)
1 large carrot
1 stalk celery
1 Tbsp chicken bouillon
1 1/2 tsp dried basil or 2 Tbsp fresh
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
water

Roughly chop broccoli and cauliflower and add to a 5qt stockpot. Add potatoes, onion, carrot and celery. Fill pot with water about 3/4 way to top of vegetables. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until broccoli is soft. Transfer all but about 2 cups vegetables to your Vita-mix or blender and blend until smooth. Add reserved broccoli mixture and pulse until desired consistency. (You can add all at once to blender if you don't want any chunks in your soup.) Add pepper and basil and pulse until combined. Serve hot with crusty bread.

Hummus and Jicama

 Hummus. Tasty, good for you and most importantly- really, really easy to make! I, of course, used my Vita-mix. If you don't have one, I'd recommend using a food processor over a traditional blender as this will be too thick to blend properly. You can always add water to thin... but then it just doesn't taste as good. 

We served this with our jicama that we got from our Bountiful Basket this last Saturday. Just peel and slice however you like. We cut everything into sticks around here. Everything tastes better to my kids if it's in the shape of a stick. Carrot sticks, celery sticks, even fish sticks!

Hummus

• 2 cups garbanzo beans (I soaked and cooked my own, you can also use canned)
• 3 Tbsp tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley (or 1 Tbsp fresh parsley)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions 

Place the garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt, paprika, parsley, cumin, cayenne, oil and garlic into a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Serve with bread, pita or bagel chips or use as a vegetable dip. Tastes GREAT with jicama!

On The GO "meals"

 

What do you think of when you think of dinner? Here are the things that come to my mind:

A properly set table complete with a fork spoon, knife and napkin.
A main course with at least two sides.
At least an hour of “slaving” in a hot kitchen…

Okay- so you got me. I like to cook so it’s never “slaving” for me, but I admit that I often spend an hour or more on a single meal. So what if I don’t have that kind of time? I anticipate this month being super busy for me. It’s the last month of school and there are plenty of class parties and activities to organize. Add that to beautiful Spring weather and a large garden to tend this year, not to mention home-schooling my oldest; and I don’t know if we will have even one slaved-over meal this month… 
I plan on using the crock-pot a lot and utilizing some of my pre-made meals from the freezer, but if those options fail me then I will just try to keep things simple. Dinner doesn’t have to be fancy, or traditional for that matter. As long as I’m covering the basics then I’m feeling pretty good.
So what are the basics?  Protein + starch + fruits and/or vegetables = dinner!
And really… if I’m being completely honest than if I cover even 2 of the 3 basics with each meal then I’m not beating myself up about it! Here are some things that I’ve found make some very quick “meals” when I’ve neglected to plan ahead with the crock-pot. These can also be very portable so you can easily grab and go if needed.

Proteins:
Hard boiled eggs. I usually even peel a few of them and keep them in an airtight container for ultimate convenience.
Thin-sliced lunch meats and pre-cooked bacon. I’m talking about real meat, not that ultra-processed kinda-resembles-sorta-tastes-like meat that you buy in those little plastic packages. eew!
Peanut/almond butter
Nuts
Lowfat cheese like mozzarella and cottage cheese.
Sliced and shredded cheese
Pre-cooked various beans (we use black beans, refried and kidney the most)
Yogurt, plain
Canned (or pouched) chicken and/or tuna
Protein  powder

Starches:
Whole wheat tortillas
Whole grain bread
Cooked brown rice (I usually throw some in my rice cooker at least once a week and keep it in the refrigerator for those crazy days)
Cooked pasta (Whenever we have a pasta dish I try to cook an extra couple cups of plain pasta to use as needed throughout the week.)
Whole grain crackers
Rolls, pita bread, muffins, biscuits, pizza crusts (All of these can be made ahead of time and kept in the freezer until needed.)
Granola, high fiber cereal
Whole grain chips

Produce:
Washed and peeled vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces such as: Carrots (or even buy the pre-washed baby carrots for more convenience), Celery, Peppers, Cucumbers, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Snow peas, asparagus
Also keep lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, and sprouts if desired
Cut-up fruit chunks such as: Pineapple, Melons, apples, oranges (mix the cut apples and oranges together to keep the apples from going brown)
Also keep on hand whole fruits like apples, bananas, oranges, berries and grapes

Extras:
Hummus, Ranch and Italian dressing, mayonnaise, mustard, honey, tomato sauce, seasonings, barbecue sauce, salsa, milk

At the end of the week mix all your pre-cut fruit together that didn’t get eaten yet and make a nice fruit salad. You can also mix the pre-cut veggies and cook them into a soup- or just blanch them and put them into the freezer for an easy soup, stew or crock-pot addition later.

Now what to do with all of this? Here are some ideas using the above ingredients for easy “meals” on the go.  Remember, just because you don’t have to sit down with a fork and plate to eat these, doesn’t mean it won’t fill you up.

Less than a minute:

    * Bag of carrots, tub of hummus, crackers
    * Brown rice and cheese (like string cheese) with asparagus and snow peas (raw)
    * Whole grain crackers and sliced lunch meat, your choice veggie
    * cottage cheese and berries with a muffin
    * Almonds and an apple and/or orange
    * Sliced apples with peanut butter
    * Tuna pouch and pita bread
    * Hard boiled eggs, veggies

A minute or so:

    * Cereal or granola and milk
    * Cooked rice, berries, honey and milk
    * Spread natural peanut butter on a whole wheat tortilla.  Place a banana in the middle.  Roll it it all up together.
    * Wash a handful of grapes and berries. Put them in a container. Pour yogurt on top with a teaspoon of honey and some granola (or keep it separate).
    * Make a sandwich with whole grain bread and whatever lean meat, low-fat cheese you have. Squirt some mustard on the bread, and add lettuce and a sliced tomato in there too if you can.
    * Put whole grain tortilla chips in a microwave-save container; sprinkle low-fat cheese on top; microwave for 30 seconds; top with salsa. Don't forget a napkin!
    * Blend together 1 ½ cup milk, a scoop of whey or soy protein powder, a dash of cinnamon, and a banana or handful of blueberries in a blender; pour in a portable mug.
    *Spread refried beans over  pizza crust. Top with shredded lettuce, tomato chunks and salsa. Add cheese if desired.
    *Combine cooked noodles or rice with a can of chicken and some barbecue sauce
    *Combine cooked noodles with chopped vegetables, Italian dressing and chopped mozzarella for a pasta salad. Add  some canned tuna or chicken if desired.
    *Combine lettuce, spinach, berries, and nuts with some Rasberry vinaigrette if you have some or just drizzle some lemon juice or add nothing but extra berries (that’s what I do!)
    * Egg, Tuna or Chicken Salad sandwiches- combine boiled eggs or meat with some mayonnaise (or substitute with plain yogurt) and mustard and serve on rolls or whole grain bread with lettuce and cheese
   * Combine brown rice, salsa and black beans with some taco seasoning and cheese. Serve on tortillas or just eat with a spoon.
   
Here are some other things that help:
   
    * Freeze serving-sized meals for use on hectic days.  Just microwave the meal in its container and go!
    * Have a portable cooler or decent-sized lunch bag on call at all times.
    * Keep a stash of napkins and plastic ware in your car, backpack, briefcase, or purse.
    * Pack your grab and go meal the day before when you know you'll be busy the next day.
    * Have transportable yet healthy foods handy, like some of the options mentioned in the above lists.

Sometimes our on-the-go destination is only our back yard.. Or even our kitchen table! But even then it’s SO nice to be able to have something quick, easy, and nutritious at our fingertips. The boys in my house would go completely bonkers if we ate this way all the time but when it’s necessary at least I can go to bed guilt-free that night.

Loaded Baked Potatoes

It's been almost one year since I started blogging. I've learned a lot over the past year and it's been fun- but looking through all my old posts I've realized I've also come a ways from what I started this for. It wasn't meant to be merely another recipe blog, but a way to share my thoughts and tips on cooking with a tight budget. I have to admit I haven't even been paying that much attention to my budget let alone blogging about it! Funny how necessity brings on those great habits, right? And you can so easily forget your frugal ways when it's not quite so important anymore...
But the thing is.. it's always important. Life can turn on a dime and you never know what may be in store for you and your family. Sure I feel like I'm prepared- my food storage is in order and more importantly I know how to use it. We have savings and we have survival skills if it came down to it but there's always something more that we can do. Food storage and frugal spending are not things you can ever really check off your list as being done. It's something that you need to constantly work at and improve upon and when I stop practicing for a few months I really start to feel it. It's always a little painful to get back into the routine.
Some of the things I've noticed that slip when I get away from my frugal habits are things you'd expect like less money into savings and food that's not as healthy but the other thing-more alarming- that suffers is quality family time together.
Like a lot of families, we tend to all have different things going on all day long. Meetings and sports, music lessons, school and work. When we all get together and forget about everything else on our "plate" is at mealtimes- specifically dinner. So of course, if dinner is leftovers (again) or some random pre-packaged thing from the freezer then we just don't spend as much time together. Dinner is what brings us all together!
So this last week I've been working very hard at bringing back all my old habits. My goal is to save enough from our grocery budget these next few months to help pay for Disneyland tickets at the end of the Summer. This means more home-cooked meals, healthier snacks, and better meal planning.
To kick things off this week, I've already made a menu and added 3 meals to my freezer (which had been empty of pre-made home-made meals for some time). [I've added lasagna, complete with home-made noodles, macaroni and cheese, and home-made pizza.] So far, so good... but it's only Wednesday!
One thing that I constantly struggle with is LEFTOVERS. We hate leftovers around here- it's a fact. Unless I can use them creatively and turn them into a new meal then they just take up room in my refrigerator until I finally throw them away. Which is sad... I hate to waste food! But I'm just as bad, or worse, as the rest of the family about eating them... I've found that if I plan a menu ahead of time it's a lot easier to think of ways to use our leftovers.

Last night I was finally successful with using some of the leftovers lurking in the fridge instead of throwing them out. We had loaded baked potatoes. I washed and baked several potatoes. We used leftover broccoli, leftover chili, leftover cheese sauce (from home-made macaroni and cheese), and even a few pieces of leftover bacon from breakfast. Add to that some sour cream, salt and pepper and more cheese and even my boys left the table satisfied!

Cream Cheese Chicken And Broccoli

This is a stand-by recipe at my house. It's one of the few things my six-year-old will eat without complaining about. Lucky for us we seem to get broccoli in our Bountiful Basket just often enough to keep her satisfied. When we get a plethora of broccoli, I always make a few extras to put into the freezer.

Cream Cheese Chicken With Broccoli
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package (1 ounce) Italian salad dressing mix
2 cups sliced mushrooms*
1 cup chopped onion
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed low-fat cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 bunch broccoli, chopped
1 package (8 ounces) low-fat cream cheese, cubed
1/4 cup dry cooking sherry
Hot cooked pastaDirections
Toss chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle with Italian salad dressing mix. Add to gallon sized freezer bag. Add mushrooms and onion. Combine soup, broccoli, cream cheese(cut into small chunks) and sherry and mix well. Add to bag & Freeze.
To serve:
Place in 5-quart slow cooker. Cover; cook on LOW 3 hours. Stir and continue to cook on LOW 1-2 hours more.
Serve chicken and sauce over pasta. **if using canned, don’t freeze; add to slow cooker after defrosted

Frosted Sugar Cookies

A good friend of mine recently shared her favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with me. She told me they were the BEST chocolate chip cookies ever so of course I had to give it a shot. I loved them but they weren't chewy enough for my picky boys. (I love soft, fluffy cookies so they were perfect for me. Naturally I ate the entire batch by myself....) But sorry folks, it's a top-secret recipe- I'm not at liberty to even post a picture!... either that or I ate them all before I could snap one... Just know that they were good!
Maybe it was the almond extract (can I say that?), but the dough reminded me a lot of my sugar cookie recipe so I of course then had a craving for frosted sugar cookies... MMMmmmmmmm! They were delicious but this batch had to be promptly given away or I'm sure I would have eaten all of these too. I'm such a cookie addict, it's sad...

Frosted Sugar Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup plain yogurt

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dry milk
4 eggs
2 tsp pure almond extract

4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
7 cups sifted flour

 Cream butter, yogurt and sugars very well. Add flavorings and eggs, beating well. Add dry milk, baking powder, salt and soda and mix well. Add flour 1 cup at a time until dough is stiff. (By the time all the flour is added you'll probably have to mix by hand). Shape into 1 or 2 inch balls and smash them down onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 8 minutes or until very lightly golden. Remove to a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.


Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon butter
4-6 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
yellow food coloring (optional)
Cream together cream cheese, sour cream and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until mixture begins to look dry. Beat in lemon juice and food coloring. Whip until fluffy then pipe over cookies or cupcakes.

Egg Biscuits

Easter dinner is so easy! Especially when you can pull just about everything from the freezer, stick it in the oven and come back 2-3 hours later to a complete meal. Unfortunately I realized too late that I'd forgotten the rolls. Lucky for me I have this recipe in my arsenal of easy goes-well-with-anything breads. To fun things up a bit, I even cut these out in cute Spring shapes like butterflies, flowers and bunnies!

Egg Biscuits
3 cups flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cup cold butter
3/4 c. milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Into a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cream of tartar. With pastry blender or 2 knives (or you can just use your fingers like me!), cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, beat milk and eggs. Add to flour mixture and stir until flour is moistened. Place on a lightly floured surface; knead once or twice and roll to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut. Bake on an ungreased baking sheet for 12-15 minutes.

Daikon Asian Slaw Salad

I could eat this every day! But this is totally "my type of food" as my husband puts it so I won't be offended if you don't love it as much as I do. This slaw doesn't hide the bold flavor of the daikon so if you aren't a huge fan of them, you probably won't love this salad. If so, replace the daikon with more cabbage in the following recipe. 
If you do love daikon and are looking for more ways to eat it, try slicing it and adding it to your next veggie tray along with snap peas and broccoli with your favorite vegetable dip. 
 
Daikon Asian Slaw Salad

2 cups julienne cut daikon radish (1 large daikon)
1 small carrot, julienne cut
1 cup shredded cabbage
2 tablespoons minced sweet onion (optional)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 tablespoons unsweetened white grape juice (or pineapple juice)
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil 

1 tsp sweet rice wine (mirin)
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
crushed peanuts (optional)


Place the daikon in a colander/mesh strainer over a bowl or the sink and sprinkle with salt. Mix well. Let sit for 30 minutes. Squeeze out excess water and then rinse well with cold water. Drain.
In a small jar, combine the rice vinegar, juice, pepper, oil, yogurt and rice wine. Seal jar and shake well.
Transfer the daikon to an airtight container along with the carrot, cabbage and onion (if using) and pour the rice vinegar mixture over. Shake or stir well to combine. Chill for 20 minutes before serving.
This can store for up to a few days in the fridge, if it lasts that long. If desired, serve topped with crushed peanuts.

Daikon Radish Stir-fry

 In our Bountiful Basket last Saturday we got some Daikon radishes. I was excited to cook them up a couple different ways tonight for dinner. For our main course I made stir-fry featuring the little beauties and then shredded another into an Asian coleslaw salad. 

I'm not a big meat eater and when I cook a dish like this I really prefer it with no meat to detract from the other flavors. To me this was a perfectly satisfying main course, especially served over a bed of brown rice, but for my carnivore husband I grilled some chicken and added it to his plate.

Daikon Radish Stir-fry

Servings Size

• 
  

• 1 large daikon radish
• 1 large carrot
• 1 small bell pepper
• 1 medium yellow crookneck squash
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 stalk celery 
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons miso
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon sherry  
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions:

Peel daikon and carrot and slice into 1/2 inch thick circles or half circles. Chop celery, pepper and onion. Slice squash into circles. Heat vegetable oil over high heat. Add vegetables and stiry-fry. Stir in garlic and red pepper flakes. Allow vegetables to slightly brown around the edges as you stir-fry and then add the remaining ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring often. When the liquid has boiled down by about half, combine the corn-starch, water and sesame oil then stir it into the sauce.

Zesty Asparagus

Hard as it is to believe when it's snowing outside, it really is Spring! Here's the proof right here in my garden. Yummy tender asparagus shoots popping out of the ground. I finally had enough to cook with our dinner and I'd been patiently waiting to try this recipe for myself. This comes from a friend of mine (Emily). Thanks!



Zesty Marinated Asparagus

• 2 pounds fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch asparagus just until tender, about 1 minute. Plunge into a bowl of cold water to cool. Drain asparagus and place in a large resealable plastic bag. Pour in vinaigrette and seal bag. Refrigerate at least 3 hours, turning bag occasionally.
2. Just before serving, drain asparagus, reserving vinaigrette. Arrange on a serving platter and sprinkle with lemon zest, parsley, salt, and pepper. Serve reserved vinaigrette in a small dish on the side. 

Masaman Curry

Over the course of our marriage my husband and I have realized that some things go without saying which has really helped to cut unnecessary dialogue from our conversations. Which is good because we usually have to attempt a conversation with each other over the heads of 4 kids who are all competing for the next words out of our mouths to be directed at them and not to each other.

For example, when we are planning our date night all that needs to be said is: "Do you want to go out to eat?"

It's automatically understood that the answer to this question is. "Yes, let's go get Thai food!" 

One of my favorite things on the menu is Masaman curry- so much so that I had to learn a few tricks of my own to tide me over between dates which, let's face it, don't happen as often as they did 2-3 kids ago...

Masaman Curry

1 Tbsp soybean oil
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp salt   
1 cup potato, diced   
2-4 Tbsp masaman curry paste (use more for a stronger flavor)       
1 1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken   
1 tablespoon tamarind
1/4 cup peanuts (optional)   
2 pinches cardamom
2 bay leaves (optional)

Heat a wok over medium high heat. Stir-fry Masaman curry paste with oil then add 1 cup coconut milk. Break up the paste and mix well with coconut milk. Stir constantly to keep the mixture from sticking. When you see the red oil bubbling up (about 5 minutes), add the meat and another 1/2 cup coconut milk, stir to cover the meat with curry. Heat until boiling. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for potatoes, onion and cashew. Stew for 1/2 hour or until chicken is cooked. Add potatoes, onion and cashews. Let simmer for 20 minutes more. The liquid should be reduced and you should be able to see some chunks. But, if the liquid is very low, add some water.

Masaman tastes great if you let it sit overnight so that the spices penetrate the meat and potatoes. I find that the tastes just don't come together until the next day.

**I've also added Summer squash and bell peppers the last 5-10 minutes of cooking.

I usually make enough masaman to have for days.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

I made these for lunch because my daughter kept asking me for a "meat and jelly" sandwich. No, she'd never had a Monte Cristo before- she just thought it sounded good! The kids had so much fun eating their lunch that I've put this back onto the menu for this week. After all, ham will be on sale!

 

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 8 slices bread
• 8 slices thinly sliced ham
• 8 slices thinly sliced turkey or chicken
• 8 slices Swiss or Gruyere cheese
• a little mustard and mayonnaise, if desired
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• Fruit preserves for dipping

Preparation:

1. Heat 3 inches of oil in a deep skillet to 365 degrees F (180 degrees C). Or just fire up your deep-fryer. While oil is heating, make the batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper; whisk into the egg mixture until smooth. Set aside in the refrigerator.
2. For each sandwich layer a slice of ham, slice of cheese, a slice of turkey or chicken then repeat. Add a little mustard or other dressing, if desired. Press sandwich lightly and trim crusts. Cut into halves diagonally and secure with toothpicks.

3. Dip each sandwich quarter in the batter so that all sides are coated. Deep fry in the hot oil until golden brown on all sides If using a skillet, you will have to flip the sandwich. Remove toothpicks and arrange on a serving tray. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving and serve with fruit preserves on the side. 

Makes 4 sandwiches, 8 cut triangles, to serve 4.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

I love baking this bread and then GIVING IT AWAY! It's just too good to be left around this house- I would eat it ALL. (It's been known to happen...) 

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

3 c flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 c. sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 c. milk

1 c. oil

1 1/2- 2 tsp poppy seeds

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

Glaze:

Juice of 1 lemon

3-4 Tbsp confectioners' sugar

Mix wet ingredients, then add dry. Pour into 3 greased loaf pans (or 2 large) and bake at 350 degrees F. for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Mix all glaze ingredients together and put on top of bread while still hot.

Quavish- Portugese Kale Soup

I am so far behind on my recipe blogging! Life has a way of coming along all at once and knocking people right over. I promise I've still been cooking- but I've neglected to put myself out there and try anything new for a while. Mundane and routine sometimes is a great comfort for me...

This was something I cooked a few weeks ago when we got kale from our Bountiful Basket. While not the most photogenic soup, it is definitely one of the most flavorful! It combines the bold flavor of kale with creamy cooked potatoes and garlic infused Portuguese sausage called Linguiça. While substitutions may be made for this hard to get sausage (at least in my area) I wouldn't recommend it. And if you do substitute - do me a favor and just don't call it "Quavish", k?

Quavish Soup  

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

4 carrots, sliced

5 potatoes, cut into chunks

1 head cabbage, cut into large chunks

2 lbs Linguiça, sliced

1 bunch kale, chopped

2 large onions

6 cups beef stock 

1 heaping tsp. black pepper 

3 bay leaves 

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves 

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves

I've also added: 

1/2 cup diced turnips or

3-4 sliced parsnips

In a large stock pot (very large), heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onions, turnips and carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Add the Linguiça, bay leaves, parsley and thyme and mix well. Add the beef stock and cook at a low boil for about 30 minutes. Add the cabbage, kale and potatoes. (Add water if necessary to cover all the vegetables.) Bring the soup to a low boil, and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.
Remove the bay leaves and serve hot. Serve with homemade bread or hard crusty rolls.

**This recipe makes enough soup for a large family gathering- you can always reduce it by half or just do what I do and freeze what you can't eat all at once and save it for later. Add cooled soup to a large zip-top freezer bag. To reheat simply run hot water over the bag to loosen it then slip contents into a large slow-cooker and cook on LOW until heated through.

***You can also combine ALL of the above ingredients into a large electric roaster pan. Simmer 2-3 hours stirring occasionally.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

I recently attempted a wedding cake for my brother's wedding- (Recently as in YESTERDAY) but for the past month and a half I've been experimenting with different frosting to see what would hold up the best and taste the best. The following is my favorite of all the different combinations that I tried so I used it tonight to make the family some "St. Patrick's Day Treats". 

I really hadn't planned on making any treats today (it was an extremely busy day) but I couldn't resist those great big brown disappointed eyes on my six-year-old when I said we weren't going to have anything. Sooo... we sent them outside to play while a sneaky leprechan came into our kitchen and brought us some cupcakes with green frosting and some green milk to wash it down. (Sounds amazing, right? I mean especially the green milk...)

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

12 oz. white chocolate chips, melted
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

In a medium bowl, whip the cream cheese with an electric mixer until it is smooth. Add the melted white chocolate and beat until soft and creamy. Add lemon juice and mix again to fully incorporate. Pipe over cooled cookies or cupcakes.

Yorkshire Pudding

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everybody!!!

 

Yorkshire Pudding

1 heaping cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1-2 ounces melted fat (beef, duck, lard, butter, oil)

In a bowl combine flour, salt, and milk until well blended. Incorporate both eggs and blend together until you have a smooth liquid batter. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

To bake in a 9×13 ovenproof dish:

Preheat oven at 450°F. Place dish in oven and heat for 10 minutes. Place the fat into the dish and continue heating for 10 to 15 minutes. Pour the prepared batter into the dish and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

To bake in a large 6 muffin pan:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place pan in oven and heat for 10 minutes. Place equal amounts of the fat into each muffin mold and continue heating in oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Pour equal amounts of prepared batter into each muffin mold and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Lemon-Baked Chicken Breasts

Lemon-Baked Chicken Breasts

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 whole chicken breasts, each about 1 1/4 pounds, halved
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste

In a large heavy skillet, preferably cast-iron, heat the butter and oil over moderately high heat until the foam begins to subside, add the chicken, patted dry, skin side down, without crowding, and sauté it, turning it, until
it is golden. Transfer the chicken with tongs to a baking dish and pour off
the excess fat from the skillet. Add the wine and the thyme to the skillet, bring the liquid to a boil, scraping up the brown bits. And pour the pan
juices over the chicken. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, sprinkle
it with the lemon juice, and bake it in the lower third of a preheated 400-degree F oven for 30 minutes, or until juices run clear.

Strawberry Baked French Toast

Last week I bought an entire flat of strawberries from our Bountiful Basket site here. I came home with all these delicious ideas of what to do with them- By Sunday more than half of them had already been eaten! So I panicked! I hid them all ... and (I'm so embarrassed to even admit this..) I forgot about them.. yes I know. Shameful! So now I have slightly less than a half a flat of strawberries that need to be eaten or frozen today. Oh, no worries. Easy! To help, I actually served this for lunch today. The kiddos were thrilled at having French Toast for lunch!
For the bread, I used a bunch of leftover dinner rolls from last week as well as the heels of several loaves of bread cut into bite-sized pieces.

Strawberry Baked French Toast





For the toast:

• 1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, cut diagonally in 1 inch slices
• 8 eggs
• 2 1/4 cups milk
• 1 cup FF sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the topping:

• 2 cups diced fresh strawberries
• 1/4 cup agave*
• 8oz. Fat-free cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange the slices of bread in the bottom. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over bread slices, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
2. The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine the strawberries and agave in a medium bowl. Mix well and set aside for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cream cheese and egg until well blended. Spread the strawberry cream cheese mixture onto egged bread pieces.
3. Bake in preheated oven, covered, for 40 minutes.

This is not overly sweet, which I love, but if you need to sweeten this up a bit, try serving it with some strawberry or real maple syrup. Also try serving with fresh strawberries and freshly whipped cream.

*You can use 1/4 cup sugar or honey instead of agave. I like to use agave on fruit because it adds sweetness, without a lot of extra calories or without altering the flavor very much. If you use sugar, let the strawberries sit for about 15 minutes before adding cream cheese and egg.