Best Salad

This is the best salad I've ever had--I ate it at a restaurant earlier this week. I was so excited to find it on the internet and can't wait to try it at home. I love chopped salads, in general. But this is the BEST.

Morton's Chopped Salad

Dijon Vinaigrette recipe (goes with it)

Meatless tacos

This one is very simple, very nutritious, and very cheap. We've served it in taco shells or tortilla rounds, and topped with cheese, salsa, and sour cream (which, okay, will bring the cost of the meal up a bit - but still less than if you were using ground beef to start with!)

Taco Style Lentils & Rice
3/4 cup dry lentils
3/4 cup brown rice
4 cups water
4 beef bouillon cubes*
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
*(I just used a few teaspoons of bouillon powder because it's always going on sale at Walgreens. In fact, I bet you could use the seasoning packet from a bag of ramen noodles, too.)

In a 2-quart saucepan bring the water to a boil. As the water is heating, add the lentils, rice, bouillon, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, and garlic powder. Bring the whole thing to a nice fat boil. Reduce the heat to low. Place a lid on the lentils and allow the mixture to simmer for about 45 to 50 minutes. The water should be mostly absorbed.

This recipe also came from Miss Maggie's Hillbilly Housewife.

Homemade chocolate cake mix

This makes one of the moistest, most delicious chocolate cakes I've tasted, doesn't use ingredients too expensive or fancy, and is pretty simple to whip up. Best of all, the dry ingredients can be mixed up apart from the wet and stored (I suppose indefinitely), thus enabling you to stockpile your own convenience cake mix. The recipe makes about 4 cups of dry ingredients, so what I've done is store it in a quart jar in the cupboard. You could also store in ziploc bags or tupperware. You can make up the whole recipe at once (in a 9x13 pan or two layer cakes) or use half the mix (about 2 cups), half the wet ingredients, and bake a small cake in an 8x8 or 9x9.

Dark, Rich Chocolate Cake Mix
1-2/3 cup flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup dry buttermilk powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon instant coffee crystals

To Prepare
1 package of Dark Rich Chocolate Cake Mix
2 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 medium eggs
Empty the cake mix into a big bowl. Add the water, oil and eggs. Beat with a whisk or electric beaters for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth and any lumps are gone. Turn the batter into a well oiled 9" x 13" rectangular pan. Bake at 350° for about 35 to 40 minutes. The sides should be pulled away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Be careful not to overbake. Cool and frost as desired. Makes about 24 pieces.

This recipe I found on Miss Maggie's wonderful site The Hillbilly Housewife. There are SO many recipes and resources there - if you haven't discovered it yet, you must pay it a visit!

The Two-Supper Disaster

It was evening. Darren walked through the door, said hello, and was informed that after the kids finished their supper and we dropped them off at AWANA, he and I (and Daphne) were going out to eat. He didn't argue: I'd earned it.

That morning, I'd got a frozen meal started in the crockpot. It was "teriyaki porkchops," one of ten freezer-bag meals I'd put together at a Homemade Gourmet party back in the summer. These meals were handy, but overall I wasn't very impressed, especially considering what Homemade Gourmet seasonings and spices cost. It was about 5:00 when I checked the meat to see how it was coming along. It was cooked through, and the sauce was, as usual, adequate. Something about the taste bothered me, however, and for the next half-hour I kept going back to taste the chops again. I finally admitted that the meat tasted a little off, and I couldn't serve it.

Saving my family from the dire affects of bad pork may have given me a glow of virtue, but a family can't live on virtue alone. I still had to scrounge up something for supper. I called Darren and explained the problem, and asked if he would mind having leftover salmon steak instead. To some people, salmon steak is a perfectly reasonable leftover. But Darren and I don't like fish very much, and the fact that I'd cooked salmon at all was an adventure. We liked it, but I didn't want to press our luck by serving it too much. However, he said it sounded fine to him.

I took out the salmon and began heating it in a pan. Somewhere it lurked in my mind that you shouldn't serve leftovers in the same form as their debut, so I pondered how to spruce it up a bit. Inspiration came in the form of cream of chicken soup: I flaked up the fish and added the soup, then heated it through.

It is now a new rule in my kitchen: Thou shalt not mix the fish with the chicken soup, for it is an abomination.

We took Addie and Stuart to AWANA, then enjoyed a restaurant-cooked meal of gyro and stromboli. Darren agreed that I had enough credit to my account to afford two supper disasters. "But it's a shame they both cashed in on the same day."

-- SJ

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Looking for a new dessert for the Thanksgiving buffet? I made this for my MIL's birthday and it got rave reviews! Plus, it's easy!

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1/2 cup whipped topping, thawed

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

Freezer Cooking

Review: Freezer Cooking, Taste of Home Style

Earlier this summer, my friend, Jen, and I started freezer cooking. (Yes, that is how tardy I am in writing this post.) Since then, we’ve done it several times using different methods. I’ll try to post a little review of each, plus some pictures.

Since we are new to this freezer cooking thing, we started small. We still have yet to do more than two weeks of meals at a time. If you are scared of freezer cooking or think you have too small of a freezer, be brave and give it a try! You can do it! The afternoon of work is well worth the time and money saved later.

Another method worth trying is to prepare two of a casserole every time you cook. Eat one and freeze the other for another day. After a while, you will have a decent stash of meals in your freezer.

For our first session we used recipes from Taste of Home’s online freezer recipes and created our own “plan”. You can find TOH freezer recipes here.

Our menu

Pizza Pasta Casserole (2-9x13 pans each)
Colorful Chicken Casserole (1-2 qt casserole each)
Mexican Casserole (1-2 qt casserole each)
Hamburger Stew (5- 2 generous serving containers each)

I'll post recipes if anyone is interested.

Time spent

5 hours, including a run to my house to get more pots and cleaning up the kitchen/dishes

Pros, Cons and Tips

*Taste of Home recipes typically have a very low chance of being duds. All of the above recipes we would make again and are husband approved. (You’ll see why I say this in my next review.)

*Using meals with a variety of meats as main ingredients takes more time than doing all of one kind of meat. This saves time because you can cook all of your meat at once. I think if we had to do this session over again we would have skipped the chicken casserole and done all hamburger dishes to save time.

*When creating your own menu, sit down and make a plan. Think about cook times. Does something need to boil or simmer for a while? Do that first. Cook main ingredients together and assemble like dishes together.

*We used a George Foreman grill to cook all of our boneless, skinless chicken breast.. Most once a month cooking methods recommend cooking and processing whole chickens the day before to get your chicken meat. While I’m sure this is probably cheaper, saving time was more important to us, and, in the end, we may have even ended up even cost wise since we bought in bulk.

*Don’t worry about having leftover ingredients. Just freeze them for later use or make a soup.

*Have lots of pots, bowls and measuring cups!

*Cooking with a friend helps you persevere, gets you out of cooking tasks you dislike, and saves prep time. I hate handling meat and Jen hates chopping veggies, so she did meat and I did veggies. We were both happy!

*Freezing your meals insures that you use all your food and that it won’t spoil waiting for you to eat it.

In Honor of Fall Weather

Crockpot Potato Soup

from my friend Jen, who's husband loves this recipe

8 c. coarsely chopped peeled potatoes
1 small onion, chopped (1/3 c.)
1/2 lb. bacon, crisped, drained and crumbled
1-8oz. pkg. cream cheese softened
3 cans reduced sodium chicken broth (14.5 oz. cans) (or subsitute any chicken broth)
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup (10.75 oz. can)
1/4 t. pepper

In a 4 qt. crockpot, stir together thee potatoes and onion. Stir in the bacon.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, and pepper. Add the mixture to the crockpot.

Cover and cook the soup on low heat for 8-10 hours or on high heat for 4-5 hours. If you like, mash the potatoes for a slightly thicken consistency before serving.

Summer Salads

Here are some recent salads I've tried:

Citrus Fennel Salad

4 C thinly sliced fennel bulb (about 2 bulbs)
2 C orange sections (about 3 peeled oranges)
1 C lemon sections (about 2 peeled lemons)
1/2 C thinly sliced red onion
2 T chopped mint (fresh is best)
1 T chopped fresh parsley
1 T chopped fennel fronds
1 T virgin olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t salt
1/3 t fresh ground pepper (opt.)

Combine ingredients in a large bowl; toss gently to coat. Chill 1 hour. Makes 6-8 servings.

Strawberry, Cucumber, & Basil Salad

4 C hulled strawberries, quartered (about 2 pints)
2 T thinly sliced fresh basil
2 t balsamic vinegar
1 t sugar
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 t lemon juice
1/4 t salt
1/4 fresh ground black pepper (opt.)

Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl and toss gently to coat. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Combine cucumbers and juice and toss to coat. Add this and salt and pepper to strawberry mixture and stir to combine. Serve immediately. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Hot old recipes

So what do you do when it's too hot to turn on the oven, you don't have a microwave, it costs too much to go out to eat, and you don't have a grill, either?

What you do is snag a couple of broken chairs left by the former owner and set the crockpot on the patio. Make sure you're on good terms with your neighbors.

This week we've had:

Garlic chicken thighs. (Which turned out amazingly tasty for how plain they were. Maybe it was the thunderstorm that hit them.)

Huevos rancheros. (This worked really well, too. Put some canned tomatoes and green chiles out to get hot for an hour or so, then add as many eggs as you need and cook for another hour. Top with grated cheese.)

French fries with hamburgers on top. (This didn't work. Save the hamburgers for when you actually have a grill.)

Lentil-rice casserole, which then got chilled with a bunch of vegetables added for a salad for supper.

It's a little odd looking, but it's working well and my kitchen is staying cool.

Summer Squash Soup

It's kind of warm for soup, but since this is the season to grow/buy summer squash I thought it'd be worth a try. And if you don't want to eat it now, just freeze it for a cold winter night.

5 small yellow summer squash, diced (seeded optional)
2 green onions, cut into 3" pieces (or onion powder if you don't like onions)
2 TB butter or margarine
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp white pepper (black works just as well)
1-1/2 cups whipping cream

In large saucepan, saute squash and onions in butter until tender. Stir in broth, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Cool slightly. Process in batches in a blender or food processor; return all to the pan. Stir in cream and heat through.

Yield 6 servings.

Works for Me Wednesdays

I just discovered "Works for Me Wednesdays" on several blogs and now I'm addicted. Check it out and get some great tips on all sorts of household stuff!

Picture and a tip

I made the Pad Thai again last night so I thought I'd pass along a picture to go with the recipe. My own variation this time was chicken only and no bean sprouts.

Along the lines of Sara's post earlier asking about frozen meal ideas, I have this tip. I hate touching/cutting up raw meat so when we fixed Thai last time I had Nathan chop up enough chicken pieces for two meals and froze the second half of the meat. All I had to do last night was dump my ziploc bag of thawed chicken pieces into the pan, add the other ingredients and I was done. I loved how easy it made my cooking which means Nathan will probably be chopping lots of meat next time I go shopping. :-)

You could also do this for Chicken Fajitas. Freeze your chicken pieces with a dash of lime juice and some spices, with a second bag of frozen green peppers and onions. Dump it all in a skillet and saute until done. Serve in soft shells with taco toppings.

Stuffed French Toast

This is not a low-fat recipe but it is a yummy treat.

Stuffed French Toast

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup chopped pecans (you could use other nuts)

At least 14 slices of bread
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 cans of fruit, any kind, I used apricot, about 15 oz each, home
canned is fine, just no melon or grapes

8 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I thought it would have been good with
almond or half vanilla and half almond, especially with the apricot, or
if you used cherries)

1/2 cup butter, melted

Open cans of fruit and drain in a strainer.

Heat butter, brown sugar and maple syrup in a microwave bowl for about
2 1/2 minutes, stir to completely melt butter and mix everything up.

Spray or butter a large pan (I should have used an 11 X 15, rather
than the 9 X 13 I did, but you can squish them tightly once they are
wet with the egg mixture). Pour the syrup in the bottom of the pan and
sprinkle with the chopped pecans.

Lay out the bread slices. Spread softened butter on one slice of
bread, top with well drained fruit (berries or pineapple can be
crushed). Spread butter on a second slice of bread and use it to cover
the bread with the fruit. Cut this sandwich in half and place it in
the pan on top of the syrup mixture. Make the rest of the bread into
sandwiches like this, cut them in half and put them in the pan. You
can crowd them, but don't overlap the bread.

Beat the eggs with the sugar, cream and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.
Pour this over the bread in the pan. Press down firmly on the bread
with a metal spatula. You want to soak all the bread.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap or foil and let it stand on the
counter for about 20 minutes (or you can put it in the fridge overnight
and bake in the morning). Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Take off any plastic or foil. Melt the third stick of butter, drizzle
it over the top of the sandwiches. Bake the french toast at 375
degrees, uncovered, for about 45 minutes, or until the top has browned.
Let pan cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes.

Pad Thai

Nathan randomly picked out this recipe for dinner on Saturday. Low and behold it was easy to make and very yummy! We made it with chicken and shrimp, but I want to try it chicken only and stir fry veggies only. I think any combination of meat and/or veggies would be tasty with the pasta and sauce.

PAD THAI

Serves 4 (or 2 very hungry people!)

INGREDIENTS:
• 1/2 pound uncooked linguine
• 3/4 cup tomato juice
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips/bite size pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 pound bean sprouts, rinsed and drained (optional)
• 1/3 cup sliced green onions and tops
• 1/2 pound cooked baby shrimp, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
• Lime wedges (optional) (I added a dash of lime juice to the sauce instead)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook linguine according to package directions, omitting salt; drain.
2. Combine tomato juice, lite soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and cornstarch.
3. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in hot wok or large skillet over high heat. Add chicken and stir-fry 1 minute; remove.
4. Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in same pan. Add garlic, bean sprouts and green onions; stir-fry 1 minute.
5. Stir in linguine and cook 2 minutes, or until heated through. Return chicken with shrimp, cilantro and tomato juice mixture. Cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens.
6. Serve with lime wedges.

Freezable Recipes

In anticipation of The Bigness of Pregnancy In Summer, not to mention a third child, I'm realizing I'd do well to have meals already on hand. I don't know many freezer-recipes, though. You can eat only so much lasagna, after all.

I'd love some meal recipes, or even just freezable components ("Pasta freezes. Rice doesn't. Jello is a total loss.")

As a completely irrelevent side note, I tried Sarah's Irish Stew recipe. It was marvelous.

-- SJ

Help needed! Birthday menu ideas

OK, so it's DOB's birthday on Sunday, and I'm trying to come up with a birthday menu. He said for me just to come up with a new menu and a new dessert--or at least a new combination.

So I'm looking for something:
1) A little different
2) EASY--the ducklings don't know what a birthday means yet. ;-)
3) Must involve meat. We have gotten in touch with our inner carnivores and decided our metabolisms need meat.
4) Goes well with blueberry muffins, because that's the one thing I've thought of thus far.

Oh, and I have to decide by Wednesday morning, before I go grocery shopping. (Although if an emergency arises, we do live across the street from the grocery store right now.)

My New Favorite Sandwich

A month or so ago Nathan and I had to eat at the food court in the mall while out shopping. We ended up having these grilled sandwiches that were tasty enough that Nathan decided to recreate them the other night. They were very easy to make and yummy, too, so I thought I'd share.

The original sandwiches were thinly sliced raw meat grilled with cheese and kind of "mashed" by the spatula into pieces. We "cheated" and used the deli meat we had on hand. We also made ours with pita bread instead of french bread.

Slice any deli meat (turkey breast, chicken, ham, roast beef....) into small squares/pieces. Then "grill" the meat in a skillet until the edges are a little brown. Top with cheese and let it melt. Scoop into a pita pocket.

Nathan fixed me a turkey and cheddar cheese pita with dill pickle, but I'm sure you could use any combination of meat, cheese and veggies to make a very tasty sandwich.

Apple Crumb Coffee Cake

This dish has quickly risen to prominence in our home since its discovery two months ago, inspired by some marked-down apples that had to be used up immediately. It's quick to whip up, keeps for several days, uses fairly basic and cheap ingredients (at least in my stripped-down version), is pretty nutritious, and makes a simple, easy, yet filling breakfast food.

Apple Crumb Coffee Cake

1 Tbl. dry bread crumbs
2 cups flour (I used half whole wheat and half white until I realised that the cinnamon and apples are going to turn it brown anyway)
1 cup plus 2 Tbl. sugar (I just use one cup)
1 tsp. salt
10 Tbl. (1 1/4 sticks) butter, softened (I use half of this, or maybe 1 stick, depending on how much I have out on the butter dish. I use less butter not only because it's healthier but also cheaper, since I always use real butter in baking. Maybe the texture or taste would be better with more butter, but since I've never tried it, I don't know what I'm missing!)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup buttermilk or low-fat (not nonfat) plain yogurt, room temperature (I make my own buttermilk using the following formula: 1 Tbl. vinegar plus enough milk to make one cup = one cup of buttermilk)
1 large egg, room temperature (but I usually use a medium egg because that's what I have on hand)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 medium-large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (I've used one sometimes)
3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (I never use this much)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar

-Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9x13 pan and shake breadcrumbs over to coat. Tap out extra crumbs.
-Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in large mixing bowl. Add butter and cut in with pastry knife until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; remove 1 cup to separate bowl and reserve.
-Whisk baking powder, soda, and cinnamon into flour mixture in bowl. Add buttermilk or yogurt, egg, and vanilla; whisk until smooth and frostinglike, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.
-Stir in apples.
-Pour into pan and smooth top.
-Add nuts and brown sugar to reserved cup of flour mixture. Stir until blended and spread over cake batter, pressing lightly so it adheres.
-Bake cake until center is firm and cake tester comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.
-Enjoy!

Some Breadish Things

Argentine Cornbread

"Hey Dad, get a picture of me next to this cornbread in authentic Argentinian garb!"

This was tried for a missions potluck, but it was good enough to warrant repeating under more ordinary circumstances.

3 T. olive oil
3 onions, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
3/4 c. beef or chicken broth
1 t. salt
1/2 t. crushed dried chili pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add the onions and saute 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomatoes and saute 10 minutes more while stirring. Add the broth, salt and chili pepper. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Sift together:
2 cups cornmeal
1 t. baking powder
Add:
1/2 lb. cottage cheese
3 T. butter
Mix well. Add 1 1/2 c. milk, and beat thoroughly. Combine with tomato mixture. Pour into a buttered 8-inch square pan. Bake for 1 hour.

Herb-Cheese Biscuits
I have finally perfected my reasonably-healthy biscuit technique. (The secret is to use a liquid fat and stir everything together at once.) This variation was particularly nummy.

Mix together 1/3 c. vinegar and 1 c. milk. Allow to stand for a minute, then stir in 2 c. whole wheat flour. Let stand for several hours.

Blend 2 c. white flour, 2 t. salt, and 1 1/2 t. baking soda. Add the flour-milk mixture, 2/3 c. olive oil, 1 t. basil, and 1/2 c. or so of finely shredded cheese. (I used monterey jack/cheddar mix, as that was what needed to be used up.) Mix together, then dump it out and knead it just until the flour is well mixed in. Pat out and cut into desired shapes.

Bake at 350 for about 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. (I'm not too sure on the temperature and time. Keep an eye on them.)