Get Ready!

We have finally gotten moved into our home!!!!! Yay!!!!!!! 

I still have quite a bit of unpacking, organizing and decorating to do, and get some pots, but I plan to start posting some recipes again soon.  Maybe a meal plan or two so we can use up what we have on hand because I seem to have an over abundance of ground beef now that I have my freezers and the food from my sons home.  I also have quite a bit of canned food that needs to be used up.

Here's to the future and lots of delicious meals.

Jennifer

Macaroni Salad

Macaroni Salad

Every year during the times of plenty, in early June and again in early August (and as often as we can in between) we make macaroni salad.  This is a very simple thing to make, I don't know why we don't make it year round, but we usually only do it during the summer months.  Well, not this year, this year we made it in March.  This is a comfort food for us and during this pandemic, we wanted something comforting.  We had all the ingredients, so we just whipped it right up and there ya go.

Macaroni Salad

8 ounces of elbow macaroni, cooked and rinsed in cold water
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium cucumber, quartered long ways and sliced
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbs mayonnaise (adjust to your taste)

Optional: diced tomato, our family prefers it without this.

Mix everything together in a large bowl, and it's done.  It is best if left to chill overnight and serve the next day.

Instant Pot Peas and Potatoes

Instant Pot Peas and Potatoes

I seen a video the other day about making a "Depression Era" Potato Soup (stove top version) and since my mom and I both love Potato Soup I thought I would give it a shot, but it just didn't seem like it was "right", but I made it none the less and after tasting it we both agreed that it would be better as a Peas and Potato because it was so much like my granny made it.  So here we go.

Peas and Potatoes

4 lb potatoes, peeled and chopped
3/4 c water
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 stick butter
1 can peas
salt and pepper to taste

I peeled and chopped up about 4lbs of potatoes and put them into the instant pot with the water for 5 minutes and I let it release naturally for 5 minutes, then manually released the rest of the steam. I did not drain the water as that is part of the 'depression era' way of this recipe.  I added in 1 can of evaporated milk and 1/2 stick of butter.  I mashed part of the potatoes leaving the rest chunky because this isn't supposed to be mashed potatoes.  I added salt and pepper to taste and 1 can of drained peas.  I did not heat the peas as the potatoes were hot enough to warm them through.

We ate this as is and I must say that it was very good.  My husband even had a bowl and he doesn't like most green foods.  He actually went back the next day and finished them off instead of having breakfast.

Take care and enjoy this extra time with your family.

God has His Plan!

God has His Plan!

As previously posted, I mentioned that February sort of got away from me when my uncle passed away and I never fully got it back on track with my meal plans.  I never gave it much more thought because I knew that, since I had not followed my plan, I never did the recap and finale of my pantry clean out.

Now we are at the end of March and yes I did cook at home, just not as much as I should have.  We have been trying to prepare for this shut in.  My husband returned from Egypt, the day before it was announced about the delayed and stopped flights, Thank God for that.  He is still working, as of March 28, since he works in a restaurant that does delivery and pick/up.  He's not making much money because of this but at least he's still working.

God's plan was to keep our pantry fully stocked. Little did we know that was why we weren't following MY plan.

I have gone shopping for the essentials and stocked up on some things that I felt like we would need if this continued for a while.  I bought us flour (both self rising and all purpose), I canned us some Egyptian style veg (this will take 3 weeks to set up), I went to a food bank on the 6th and 27th and received some nice food, ground beef, 3 packs with 2 half pound jalapeno/pepper jack hamburger patties (might fry this up and use it as ground beef in a chili or stew), 6 hearts of Romaine, 2 pints of vanilla yogurt, a small pack of beef weiners (bought some BBQ to go on them) 1 white onion, a bag of starbucks coffee, bagels, rolls and breads, some various canned foods, beans and rice.

I have decided that instead of my usual drink, Dr Pepper, that I would start making tea and drinking that instead.  Normally I would continue with the Dr Pepper, but with hubby not making much right now and my check has gone towards the bills, funds are a little tight, so I cut what I can.

What I can show you, picture wise, is a nice tuna salad sandwich that we made from our food pantry box, in which we received some pre-made tuna and pickles with onion along with these delightful rolls.

We also had a nice breakfast one morning of a southwestern omelette with provolone cheese served sandwich style on an anything bagel that was provided in the a fore mentioned pantry box.  The omelette was made with chopped onion and green peppers sauteed in butter before mixed in the eggs.

I will post again with a few more pictures and actual meals that we had.

Take care everyone and stay safe.  If we all do our part this virus will run it's course and we will be free to go to work, attend school and live our lives as normal once again.

Delay, delay, delay

I'm so sorry for the delays!  We thought we were on the home stretch with finishing our home and moving in, however that turned out to not happen after all.  The contractors failed to show up for work most of February and very little was completed.  We still have no heat, along with unfinished ceilings, floors and the cabinets are not back up. No plumbing in the kitchen has been hooked back up and everything needs a good scrubbing.

All of this on top of losing my uncle last month and my husband still being out of town has just pushed my depression back into overdrive.  Neither mom or I have been cooking.  We did have an enchilada soup that I haven't shared because it wasn't good, so we will tweak it and try again in a bit and pray that it works that time and we've had pizza, can't go wrong with pizza.  Other than that we've had breakfast foods and take out.  I promise to get back to cooking soon, hubby should be back next week and I will have no choice but to cook for him because he's not much into take out.  We will see how things go.

On a bright note, my stepson has completed his first and second rounds of chemo and is now back home with only weekly trips for treatment.  Thank God, I am praying for a full recovery to his leukemia.

Happy Cooking!

Not Ignoring The Blog

I promise that I'm not ignoring the blog.  I had some work done on my back this past Friday and mom fixed us a delicious meatloaf for dinner that night.  Since then, we have pretty much had leftovers and turkey bacon sandwiches up until last night when I decided to make us an egg and cheese omelette to add to our turkey bacon sandwich.  I promise to get back to cooking and sharing recipes again shortly.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Spaghetti Bolognese

That's a mouth full to say, but it's so very good.  As I continue with our second month of cleaning out the pantry, I realized that I had so much pasta and didn't really want to make just plain spaghetti to use it up, and then I remembered making this years ago for my family and decided to do it again.  I will admit that this is not my recipe, but one found on Kraft's recipe site.  I will link to it shortly. 
 

I only had to splurge and buy a couple of things that I don't always have on hand and that was the Zesty Italian Dressing and the Cream Cheese, I also picked up a can of diced tomatoes that did not contain green chili. I had a small green pepper so I chopped it up into tiny pieces and snuck it in there.  I served it with some bread I had in the fridge topped with butter and garlic and broiled to brown it.

Spaghetti with Zesty Bolognese Sauce

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing (I bought an 8oz bottle and used all of it)

1 lb. extra-lean ground beef

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

3/4 lb. spaghetti, uncooked

2 Tbsp. PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese (I used Cream Cheese)

1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

 

Cook and stir onions in dressing in large skillet on medium heat 5 min. or until crisp-tender. Add meat; cook on medium-high heat until browned, stirring frequently. Stir in tomato sauce and tomatoes. Bring to boil; simmer on medium-low 15 min., stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti as directed on package, omitting salt.

Remove sauce from heat. Add Neufchatel (Cream Cheese); stir until melted. Drain spaghetti; place in large bowl. Top with sauce and Parmesan.

 

This is a very tasty dish, one day I might make it exactly as directed, but today was not that day.

 

Enjoy!

 

Tator Tot Casserole

Tator Tot Casserole

Monday was the 25th Birthday of my twin sons.  It's hard to believe that they are not toddlers anymore.  Seems like I just had them and now they are handsome young men, treating mom out to dinner on Sunday night because we share a birthday week.While we were at dinner they were both huddled over their phones at one point and suddenly they looked up, turned the phone around and asked, "Mom, do you know how to make this?"  The funniest part is, they both know that I do because they grew up eating it.  They were asking me about, none other than, Tator Tot Casserole. 

I originally had this planned for Wednesday night's dinner, because it's easy and I like it and it's my birthday, but as with any plan, they are made to be broken so I made this on Monday night instead and one of my sons joined us for dinner.

Since my husband is still out of town, I have been amassing quite a freezer collection of dinner items for him because I have been saving him a serving of each meal that I have been making.  I made this one a bit different than normal. 

I had a little over 2lbs of pre cooked ground meat, this was a mix of ground beef and ground turkey that I had prepared earlier this month and froze.  I thawed it somewhat in the microwave and broke it up into smaller pieces and mixed it together with the soups ( I used 3 cans of soup and 2 packs of the onion soup mix since I had extra meat), then put it in the bottom of the baking dish and added the cheese and tots. It wasn't until my mom was having it for lunch on Tuesday that she even thought to ask about the meat remembering that I had precooked the ground beef with the ground turkey.  After I affirmed that it was that meat, she decided that she was full and refused to eat the rest, lol. If I were to use extra meat in the future, I think I will stick to just the one pack of onion soup mix and this was a tad bit heavy on the salt, other than that it was delicious and my son had absolutely no complaints.

Tator Tot Casserole

This can be done in the crock pot or the oven, depending on how you want to prepare it..

2 lb ground beef, browned and drained
2 cans cream of potato soup (any "cream of" soup will work)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (we use mild)
1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 bag of frozen tator tots

To bake in the oven, preheat oven per the bag of tator tots.  Mix the Cream of soup and the Lipton Soup mix together, then layer the beef in the bottom of a casserole dish, spread the soup mix over the beef, top with the shredded cheese and then place the tator tots over this until it is completely covered.  Bake per the directions of the tator tots until the cheese in the center is melted. I usually cook it at 400 for 35 minutes and check the center.

If preparing in the crock pot, spray with non stick cooking spray (to make clean up easier).  Mix the "cream of" soup with the Lipton Onion Soup Mix.  For mushy tator tots, place them on the bottom of the crock pot, then cover with the meat followed by the soups, cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours.  If you don't want the tots to be mushy, put them on top of the other ingredients, or even split them up evenly between the top and bottom (you may need to adjust cooking time for the ones on top).  Top with cheese when serving.

I personally prefer the oven.

Enjoy!

Shredded Mexican Beef Steak

Shredded Mexican Beef Steak

I had 3 medium sized steaks given to me that I had been keeping in the freezer trying to decide how to fix them.  Since it's winter here and no one has used moms grill in several years, that wasn't an option for me and I just didn't like the thought of baking them or frying them in a pan.  So, I started thinking outside the box.  We had a delicious cube steak and gravy a few nights back and it was so tender from being cooking in the crockpot with the onion soup that I decided to do that with these steaks.  I added in a can of cream of onion, an onion soup mix and a packet of taco seasoning to give it a different taste than the cube steak and viola, we had a Mexican steak.  I liked it, mom just got back late the next night so she hasn't tried it yet and my son loved it.

I added some jalapeño and hot sauce to my bowl as I tend to like extra spice with mine.

Here is the recipe:

Mexican Shredded Steak

3 medium sized steaks
1 can of french onion soup
1 can cream of onion soup
1 packet of dry onion soup mix (might leave this out if I  make again)
1 packet of taco seasoning

Mix all of the soups and seasonings together then pour over the steaks.  I moved the steaks around some to get the seasoning under them too.  Cook on low 6-8 hours, remove the steak and shred, putting it back in and mixing it up to cover with the sauce.  Serve with tortilla (soft or hard), cheese if desired and toppings of your choice.

This is my own recipe, so when I make this again, I make tweak it and make changes.  I'm thinking that it would be nice with some chopped onion and sliced green pepper to make it more fajita like, so who knows what will be in it next time.

Enjoy.

Crockpot Chicken

Crockpot Chicken

I found a whole, organic, cut up, chicken in the mark down at my local grocery store and picked it up for just over $4.00. I decided to cook it in the crockpot with some seasoning and broth and then decide what to do with it afterwards.  I'm sorry to say that I did not get a "finished" picture. When it was done cooking I placed everything in a bowl and put it in the fridge and went to bed.  Unfortunately my uncle passed away before I did anything else with it and I decided to give it to his daughter, my moms neighbor, to keep her from having to cook dinner for her family.  Here is the recipe that I created.

Crockpot Chicken

I layers the chicken pieces in the bottom of the crockpot and sprinkled in  the Garlic and Herb seasoning, followed by the Season All and then splashed on some Cardamom and Coriander.  I did not measure anything, I just went with my gut on how much.

I then topped it with some butter, cut and sprinkled over the top.  Then followed up with a 14.5 oz can of chicken broth.

I then let this cook on low for 7 hours and removed it to a bowl to cool and refrigerate until I could use it the next day.

Crockpot Cube Steak and Gravy

Cube Steak and Gravy

We have had company for a couple of nights so we are changing up our menu just a bit.  I have things planned for the month and as I mentioned in an earlier post, nothing is set, so I'm just rearranging the days I fix things.  Today I had a procedure on my back, so standing up to prepare dinner just wasn't gonna happen.  So I threw it into the crockpot and let it do it's thing while I slept off the medication and rested my back.  The recipe calls for 2 lbs of cube steak, 1 can each of "cream of" soup and French onion soup, 1 cup of water, 2 Tbs of Worcestershire Sauce, letting this cook on low for 6-7 hours.  Make a slurry of corn starch and water, equal measures, and add it during the last hour to thicken things up. and dinner is ready to serve.  The smell is divine and the taste even more so!  I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures tonight, I was to busy preparing plates for everyone to think of taking a picture before we were mid way through eating. Not to mention that my numbing was already worn off on my back.

Cube Steak and Gravy in the Crock Pot

2lbs cube steak
1 can cream of soup (I used chicken, but love it with onion)
1 can French Onion Soup
1 Cup water
2 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1Tbs Cornstarch + 1Tbs water

Mix the soups and water together with the Worcestershire Sauce and pour it into the crockpot over the cube steak. Let it cook on low for 6-7 hours. In the last hour of cooking, mix the corn starch and water together and then add it to the crock pot mixing it into the soups to thicken it during the last hour of cooking.

I like to serve this with mashed potatoes and whatever veg I have on hand.  Tonight was was mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese because I didn't feel like bending over to look for the veg.

I promise to try and remember to take a picture the next time I make this.

Baked French Toast

 Baked French Toast and Bonus Recipe

Here we are just getting started in February and I've already veered off the written path.  We forgot to lay the chicken out, Sunday night, for dinner on Monday night.  Why you ask, because I was so busy preparing breakfast.  You heard right, I was preparing breakfast Sunday night to have on Monday morning.

I made us a simple snack to go along with some baked ziti we had in the freezer using some crostini's that we received on Friday.  Since I didn't use the entire bag, and didn't want them to go bad, I whipped up a quick French toast using them and let it sit overnight in the fridge until I was ready to bake it Monday morning.

This turned out so good, and we had plenty of leftovers for breakfast for a few more days.  It really is quite simple, just whisk your eggs, milk and seasonings in a bowl, add your bread pieces, making sure they are fully covered and submerged, cover with saran wrap and refrigerate over night. Upon waking the next morning, pop it in the oven and viola, breakfast!

I should have used a 9x13 pan, but didn't think I had enough for one and used a smaller, round, dish instead, which increased my bake time.

Here is the recipe that I made up on the fly.

Baked French Toast

8 large eggs (may use 6, I like mine eggy)
1/2 cup of almond milk (you can use regular milk, i'm lactose intolerant)
1 Tbs Pumpkin Spice
1/2 tsp Cardamon (optional)
1/2 tsp Coriander (optional)
1/2 package of Crostini's (about 30 pieces)

Whisk ingredients together before adding in the crostini's. Make sure that once you add in the crostini's that they are fully submerged in the egg mixture so that they can absorb it overnight.  I covered my bowl with a piece of aluminum foil (couldn't find the saran wrap, lol) and let it soak overnight.

Upon waking, preheat the oven to 350, pour the mixture into a greased 9x13 and bake covered for 35 minutes. Remove the cover and bake an additional 10 minutes checking for doneness.  If the center is not set, bake an addition 10 minutes, checking after 5.  Serve drizzled in syrup or sprinkled with powdered sugar.

***Bonus***

The snack I made Sunday night to accompany our baked ziti was a crostini topped with butter, mozzarella cheese. a sprinkle of garlic/pepper powder and half pieces of beef pepperoni.  Broil on hi until cheese is melted and the pepperoni is starting to crisp, I believe it was 5 minutes, but I kept a close watch on them and not the time.

February Menu Plan

February's Menu Plan

This is the planned menu for the month of February, as everyone knows, plans fall through, and they almost always do with me, so none of this is set in stone, however, I have everything on hand to make these dinners without needing to run out at the last minute to buy something.

This happens to be a month filled with birthdays in our family. Before his passing in 2008 my grandfather paved the way (28), now it's my Uncle Doug (23), my cousin Robbie (17) my twin sons Gabriel and Zachary (17) and myself (19).  Since none of us are children now we don't actually do anything special for the birthdays but it's still a nice memory I have from my childhood of always having a huge party in February to celebrate ME, I mean, everyone's birthdays.  Now that we are spread out far and wide, we just make due with a phone call and well wishes.

Enough of all that, here's the menu plan.

February Pantry Challenge

Pantry Challenge~~Heading into February, this is what was on hand at the end of January and what was purchased on February 1.


Fridge Freezer downstairs
1 pk homemade turkey broth
2 pk Turkey Bacon
3 pk of sandwich meat
1 2lb pk ground beef
1 pk Halal cube steak
2 pk cube steak
1 pk steak-3 steaks
1 pk molokia
4 pk stew beef
1 container Savory Garlic Cooking Creme
1 pk Falafel
1 Beef Stew

Deep Freezer downstairs
2 bags of walnuts
2 bags Navy Beans-dried
1 bag Pinto Beans-dried
1 bag Yellow Split Peas-dried
1 Sirloin
1 Chicken Breast
3 bags Broccoli
6 1 lb rolls of Halal Ground Beef
2 Apple Spice Cakes
4 Bags of Bagels
2 bags of Bread rolls
2 pks California Medley Veg
1 pk TatorTots
1/2 pk Pita Bread
2 pk Tortilla
1 Turkey Breast
1 pk each Hamburger and Hot dog Buns
8 Chocolate Easter Bunny's
1 pk Hamburger steak 3 pc
5 thin Steaks
1 pk Waffle Fries
2 pk Yellow Squash
22 Pks Sugar Cookie

Kitchen Freezer
1 roll Halal Ground Beef
1 Beef Hot dog
1 pc Broccoli/Cheese Stuffed Chicken
2 pk Chicken Kabob-4 Kabob's
1 pk Toaster Strudel-4 Strudel's
1 pk Steamed Corn
1 bowl Maashy
1 pk Cilantro Lime Chicken-freezer meals
1 California Medley
1 Cauliflower Riced
1 ziploc with 3 servings of ziti
1 Sandwich Thin
1 whole Chicken
1/4 bag Chicken Nuggets
1/2 pk Salad Shrimp
Box Mozzarella Sticks
6 Hamburger Patties
1/4 bag Tator tots
1 Chimichanga
1 bag Meatballs-Vegan
2 pks Sugar Cookies
1 pk each Hamburger and Hot dog Buns
1 pk Pie Crust-2 crusts
1 bag Chicken Fajita
1 bag Roasting Veg
1 Roasted Turkey Breast
1 pk Cheese Ravioli
1 lb Ground Turkey
1lb lean beef


Cabinets-this list is extensive because it's in several different places but I will try to condense it down as much as possible.

5 jars Prego Cheese Sauce
3 Pasta Sauce
2 Veg Broth
1 Chicken Broth-can
2 Enchilada Sauce
1 Sloppy Joe
4 Water Chestnut
1 Apple butter-homemade
3 Sugar Free Jelly
1 French's Fried Onions
2 Mustard
1 Spicy Mustard
8 Tuna
3 Chicken
1 Hotdog Chili
1 Cheddar Cheese
1 Spaghetti O's
1 Ravioli
1 Bisquick
1 box Crackers
1/4 box Quick Grits
1 Box Confectioners Sugar
1 1/2 box Bread Crumbs
2 Brownie Mix
12 Muffin Mixes
4 Pks Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal
1 Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
1 Hoisin Sauce
1 Hot Sauce
1 Flour
1 Corn Meal
1 Brown Sugar
1 Mayo

Fruit
2 Peach Cups
1 Fruit Cocktail
1 Pineapple
1 Salsa

Vegetables
7 Corn
4 Green Bean
1 Peas
1 Carrots
2 Creamed Corn
4 Potato
1 Mixed Veg
1 Sauerkraut
1 Mushroom
1 Beets
1 Spinach
4 Instant potato-Butter
1 Instant Potato-Roasted Garlic
1 Au-gratin Potato

Soups
5 Chicken Noodle
1 Tomato
6 Cream of Onion
5 Cream of Chicken
1 French Onion
1 Butternut Squash

Tomato
4 Diced
3 Paste
2 Sauce

Beans
3 Pinto
4 Kidney
1 Butter
1 Black
1 Fava
2 Refried
1 Chili Fixin's
1 Great Northern Bean-Dried
2 Pinto Bean-Dried

1 Black Bean-Dried

Milk
3 Evaporated
3 Condensed

Dinner Kits
1 Chicken and Biscuits
1 Chicken Helper
1 Hamburger Helper
1 Chili
1 Chicken and Rice
3 Ramen
1 Ramen Lunch

Pasta/Rice
10 Macaroni and Cheese
1 Rotini
2 Boxes Spaghetti
1 Bowtie
1/2 Elbow
2 Bags Rice
2 Boxes Instant Rice
1 Chicken and Rice
2 Creamy Garlic Shells
1 Chicken Pasta
Uncle Bens Instant Rice-Chicken

Seasoning Mix
1 Ranch
2 chili
4 Taco
3 Boxes Onion Soup
1 Meatloaf
1 Knorr Veg

How did we do on the Menu, check and see!!!

This is the menu plan that I used for January. As you can tell, we did not eat everything as planned, not even eating some of the meals on the day it was planned, however, we did eat more of the meals than I thought we had.  We edited the Pizza bagels and just had pizza, also the Cheeseburger potato soup became just a potato soup, but that's ok because we still ate from what was on hand and didn't have to go shopping.  I will be posting the menu for February shortly as we will also be eating from the pantry again.  I will, however, go and pick up a few ingredients that we will need, such as fresh produce, eggs and a few odds and ends that we actually ran out of this past month.

Pantry Challenge~~How did I do?

Pantry Challenge~~How did I do?

How well did I do with the pantry challenge?  Not very well, but I know that I don't need to shop for much during February because I still have all of this food to use up.

Fridge Freezer downstairs
2 pk homemade turkey broth Used 1
2 pk Turkey Bacon
3 pk of sandwich meat
1 2lb pk ground beef
1 pk Halal cube steak
2 pk cube steak
1 pk steak-3 steaks
1 pk molokia
4 pk stew beef
1 container Savory Garlic Cooking Creme
1 pk Falafel

Deep Freezer downstairs
4 bags of walnuts Used 2
2 bags Navy Beans-dried
1 bag Pinto Beans-dried
1 bag Yellow Split Peas-dried
1 Sirloin
1 Chicken Breast
3 bags Broccoli
10 1 lb rolls of Halal Ground Beef  Used 4 lbs
3 Apple Spice Cakes Gave away 1 cake
4 Bags of Bagels
2 bags of Bread rolls
2 pks California Medley Veg
1 pk TatorTots
2 pk Pita Bread 1/2 pk left
2 pk Tortilla
1 Turkey Breast
1 pk diced pepper
1 pk each Hamburger and Hot dog Buns
8 Chocolate Easter Bunny's
1 pk Hamburger steak 3 pc
5 thin Steaks
1 pk Waffle Fries
2 pk Yellow Squash

Kitchen Freezer
1 roll Halal Ground Beef
1 Beef Hot dog
1 pc Broccoli/Cheese Stuffed Chicken
2 pk Chicken Kabob-4 Kabob's
1 pk Toaster Strudel-4 Strudel's
1 pk Steamed Corn
1 bowl Maashy
2 pk Cilantro Lime Chicken-freezer meals Used 1
1 California Medley
1 Cauliflower Riced
1 ziploc with 3 servings of ziti
1 Sandwich Thin
1 whole Chicken
4 pc Chicken Breast
1/4 bag Pizza Rolls-Cheese
1/4 bag Chicken Nuggets
1/2 pk Salad Shrimp
Box Mozzarella Sticks
6 Hamburger Patties
1/4 bag Tator tots
1 Chimichanga
1 bag Meatballs-Vegan
2 pks Sugar Cookies
2lb Deer Meat Ground~~Anyone want this?
1 pk each Hamburger and Hot dog Buns
1/8 bag Cranberries
1 Browned Stew Beef
1 pk Pie Crust-2 crusts
1 bag Chicken Fajita
1 bag Roasting Veg
1 Roasted Turkey Breast
1 pk Cheese Ravioli
3/4 Garlic Bread

Phew, and that's just in the freezers!

Cabinets-this list is extensive because it's in several different places but I will try to condense it down as much as possible.

5 jars Prego Cheese Sauce
3 Pasta Sauce
2 Veg Broth
1 Chicken Broth
1 Chicken Broth-can
2 Enchilada Sauce
1 Sloppy Joe
4 Water Chestnut
1 Apple butter-homemade
3 Sugar Free Jelly
1 Frenches Fried Onions
2 Mustard
1 Spicy Mustard
8 Tuna
3 Chicken
1 Hotdog Chili
5 Candy Cane-full boxes
1 Cheddar Cheese
1 Spaghetti O's
1 Ravioli
1 Bisquick
2 boxes and 1 sleeve crackers Used 3 sleeves
1/4 box Quick Grits
2 Boxes Confectioners Sugar
1 1/2 box Bread Crumbs
2 Brownie Mix
12 Muffin Mixes
4 Pks Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal
1 Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
1 Corn Bread Mix

Fruit
2 Pineapple
4 Mandarin Orange
2 Peach Cups
1 Fruit Cocktail
1 bag Coconut

Vegetables
8 Corn Used 1
6 Green Bean Used 2
2 Peas Used 1
2 Carrots Used 1
2 Mixed Veg
2 Creamed Corn
6 Potato Used 2
1 Sauerkraut
1 Mushroom
1 Beets
1 Spinach
4 1/2 instant potato-Butter Used 1/2
1 Instant Potato-Roasted Garlic
1 Okra with Tomato
1 Au-gratin Potato

Soups
2 Tomato
5 Chicken Noodle
6 Cream of Onion
5 Cream of Chicken
1 French Onion
1 Butternut Squash
1 Potato Soup Mix

Tomato
8 Diced used 4
4 Paste used 1
2 Sauce
1 Crushed
1 Mexican Salsa tomato Sauce 

Beans
3 Pinto
6 Kidney used 2
1 Chili
1 Butter
1 Black
2 Fava used 1
3 Refried used 1
1 Chili Fixin's
1 Great Northern Bean-Dried
1 Pinto Bean-Dried used 1 but was given 1
1 Black Bean-Dried

Milk
1 Evaporated
3 Condensed

Dinner Kits
1 Chicken and Biscuits
1 Chicken Helper
1 Hamburger Helper
1 Chili
1 Chicken and Rice
3 Ramen
1 Ramen Lunch

Pasta/Rice
10 Macaroni and Cheese
1 Rotini
4 Boxes Spaghetti Used 1
1 Bowtie
1/2 Elbow
3 Bags Rice gave away 2
2 1/2 Boxes Instant Rice
1 Chicken and Rice
2 Creamy Garlic Shells
1 Chicken Pasta
Uncle Bens Instant Rice-Chicken

Seasoning Mix
1 Ranch
3 chili used 1
5 Taco used 1
3 Boxes, 1 Pk Onion Soup
1 Meatloaf
1 Knorr Veg

Beef Stew

Beef Stew

This is the last dinner that I made in January.  Mom and I enjoyed our month of eating from the pantry so much that we are planning to do it again in February.  Mostly me, since I cook for us, but she's not had any complaints so far, especially with this impromptu thrown together dinner.

I gathered up a bunch of canned foods that we had an abundance of and voila, dinner was in the crockpot cooking away.  The smell was mouthwatering after just a few minutes of cooking.

Beef Stew

1 lb browned stew beef
1 can corn
1 can peas
1 can carrots
2 cans potatoes
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can okra with tomato
1 box of beef broth (I also used  a 1/2 box of chicken broth that needed to be used)
I sprinkled in (without measuring) Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb, Onion Powder, Cumin and a dash of Red Pepper Flakes
1 Packet of Onion Soup Mix
1 Bay Leaf

I let this simmer in the crockpot for 6 hours before serving with crackers.  We also ate this for lunch the next day sharing a bowl with my youngest son and had some to freeze for a future meal.

Cacciatore Chicken

Cacciatore Chicken

While my husband is still out of town with his sick son, mom and I are left on the home front to wait on his return.  My stepson has started his chemo treatments and is feeling the effects of it.  If you find it within yourself, please say a prayer for him.

Tonight, as I continue to clean out our pantry, I made Chicken Cacciatore for dinner.  Mom wasn't sure about it but said it smelled good while it was slow cooking all day in the crockpot.  It was served with spaghetti noodles and Parmesan cheese. 

Everything in the recipe was already on hand, there was absolutely nothing that I needed to buy to make this.  I did finish off the chicken we had in the freezer, less one piece. We are nearing the end of this month and I am sad to say that I have not stuck to the menu as planned, but I have done very little shopping for groceries.  I did buy some milk, eggs, coffee creamer, yogurt, things like this that perish quickly.  I also bought another bag of frozen chicken breast to make sure that I had enough for all of the recipes and I still have not opened it.  I am beginning to edit my list of items on hand to reflect what has been used this past month and I will start planning next month's menu of dinners.  I don't plan for breakfast and lunches as mom and I are home most days and usually eat eggs and either leftovers or sandwiches.  So far I have a short list of items to purchase for next month to add to dishes that I want to make and only one dish is a repeat from one I made this month and that's because mom specifically asked for it.

Chicken Cacciatore

4-6 pieces of chicken
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup of chicken broth
1 tsp Oregano
1/4 cup fresh basil (or 1/8 cup dried basil)

On the plate:
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan Cheese
Pasta of your choice

I like to mix everything in the crockpot before placing in the chicken, then work the chicken pieces into the tomato mixture making sure to cover each piece with the sauce.  Cook it on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. 

Serves 4. 

I did not shred the chicken until it was on my plate, however, if you are trying to stretch this out a bit further, shred the chicken before serving and mix everything one last time before serving.

Taco and Rice

Taco and Rice

Saturday night I made tacos for dinner and they just didn't seem to be 'enough' so I tweaked them up a bit to stretch it out some and make it a more filling meal.

It is currently just mom and I as my husband is still overseas with his son as he starts his treatments for leukemia.  I wish that I had more updated info to share but so far he's only had one treatment because he's been so sick.

We served this with some tortilla chips and a Colby Jack shredded cheese, I added some sliced jalapeno's to mine for some extra spice.

Taco and Rice

1 lb ground beef
1 pkt taco seasoning (I used mild because mom can't handle the heat)
1 cup of water
1 can of refried beans (I use vegetarian)
1 jar of salsa (I used diced tomato with chili)

Brown the ground beef and drain, mic in the taco seasoning and water stirring to mix well, then add in the salsa and refried beans.  Allow to simmer for 15 minutes to absorb all the flavors, serve with tortilla and cheese.

I added 1 extra cup of water and a cup of Instant Rice to stretch the meal a bit further and allow it to be eaten with or without the tortilla chips and still be filling.

Green Bean Okazu

Green Bean Okazu

A friend of mine told me about this dish that she likes called Green Bean Okazu.  it sounded interesting but I was skeptical because of the sugar in it. I just couldn't fathom sugar with green beans and beef tasting good.  Anyways, about a month later I decided to try it and put it on my menu.  Boy was I surprised when it tasted pretty good (with the help of a little extra soy sauce).  Even my mom liked it.

Green Bean Okazu

It's great served over rice, or alone.
Makes 4 servings.

1 pound ground beef
2 cans of green beans (I used French Style)
1 cup water or beef broth (I used broth)
1/4 cup white sugar (or 1/4 cup Splenda)
1/4 cup soy sauce (I preferred 1/2 cup)
5 chopped green onions, optional
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered, optional
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil, optional

Directions

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef until evenly brown; drain excess fat.

Stir in green beans and about 1 cup water or broth. Cover, and cook until beans are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

Season with sugar and soy sauce, add green onions, tomatoes and sesame oil, if using and cook uncovered for 5 minutes.

As you can tell, I added rice with mine to make it stretch a little further.  I used 1 Cup of Instant Rice and used 2 cups of broth instead of one, adding them together.  I did not have the optional ingredients, so they were not used.

Enjoy!
 

Life Changes and Goulash

Life Changes and Goulash

As usual life gets in the way and messes up the best laid plans.  I usually don't make plans because they never work out as expected.  On Thursday, January 16, I had a few doctors appointments to attend to myself and my husband arranged to take his day off to travel to them with me.  While in the middle of my first appointment he started receiving messages from his brother letting him know that his oldest son (12) was very ill and had already been in the hospital for a week (if not a few days longer). this upset my husband terribly, as any could imagine, and any plans that we had after my second appointment went out the window.

Anyways, the weekend flew by in a daze of him working and planning and preparing for an emergency flight over seas to be with his son.  He left out on Monday morning en-route to the airport via bus and arrived in his homeland Tuesday evening, letting me know that he was safely there on Wednesday after he was able to acquire a phone card.  His son is being tested for Leukemia and was being moved to another area to prepare for surgery on Thursday.  With the language barrier, translating Arabic to English, medical terms, is hard on my husband as he wants to focus on being there for his son.  So for a while it will just be my mom and I while he remains overseas with his son to see what the next step in his treatment will be.  Please, if you are a praying person, pray for them during this time of need.

On to the Goulash.  On Saturday, I prepared a delicious goulash since we had not stuck to our menu for the week and had very little leftovers from the Cilantro Lime Chicken, which hubby ate for lunch  before work on Sunday.  This was a very simple recipe.  I used 2 cans of mixed vegetables-drained, 2 cans of tomato soup, a chopped onion, a mix of seasonings, Worcestershire sauce, water and ground beef.

It was that simple! I served it over some mashed potatoes and called it a night.  Everyone loved it, even my husband, who finished it off on Monday morning for breakfast.

Recipe

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 cans of vegetables,drained
• 2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
• 1 cup water
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 instant mashed potatoes

Cook beef in a large skillet over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add mixed vegetables, soup, water, onion, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Prepare the instant potatoes per package instructions and serve.

 

Life Happens and Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken

Life Happens!

Don't you just love it when life happens and plans fall apart?  This week things happened to change our plans.  Mom had a medical procedure that for 2 days she couldn't eat, so this changed our menu for the beginning of the week, the day of her procedure the menu was also changed because the plan was to have white chicken chili and I just couldn't see her first meal after a clear liquid diet being chili of any kind. so we had a pasta that had been in the freezer.  Then on Thursday I had a couple of visits with doctors myself, one an hour away, so my husband and I ate out on the way home, since dinner was to be leftover white chicken chili.

God willing next week we can use this weeks menu and just make everything that had been planned for this week, with the exception of the Cilantro Lime Chicken, which I will make for dinner tonight, which is very simple because I have this prepared in the freezer ready to go.

I adapted this recipe from Jamerrill Stewart at Large Family Table to feed 2 people.  I will serve this tonight with some minute rice.

Ingredients

You will need the following total ingredients to make two large family freezer meals:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup lime juice
1 Tbs minced garlic
1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup olive oil
salt/pepper as desired

If preparing ahead of time as a freezer meal place everything into a quart or gallon sized freezer bag. Since I prepared this as a freezer meal for 2, the gallon sized was much larger than needed.

Set out the night before to defrost in the refrigerator.

Cook in the crockpot for 4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low.

Law Enforcement Appreciation Day and Cakes

On Wednesday we baked cake, lots and lots of cake!  January 9th is Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.  My family and I like to take goodies around to the local law enforcement in memory of my stepdad Deputy Clifford E. Dicker who was killed in 1994 by a 15 year old boy.

We usually take cookies and/or fudge of various types and deliver them to the surrounding offices.

Fudge 

Cookies

This year, we decided to take them cakes instead.  I found a wonderful recipe for a fruit bread that we turned into a delicious applesauce spice cake for 9 cakes and tweaked it to make 3 more with mandarin oranges, pineapple and coconut.

To make the applesauce spice cakes we followed her recipe exactly using applesauce and then added in 5 tsp of pumpkin spice, I also added in some cranberries for 3 cakes and English walnuts to all of them.

For the Mandarin/Pineapple/Coconut Cakes we followed the recipe exactly but changed out the 5 cups of applesauce to a mixture of 5 cups of canned mandarin oranges and pineapple that had been drained and pulsed in the food processor, then added in a bag of unsweetened coconut.  The only thing I think I would do differently with this cake would be to do the oranges and pineapple earlier and allow it to drain after pulsing it to get out some more of the liquid and it was a very heavy cake, but it sure was delicious.

We delivered to a total of 8 local law enforcement offices that included state, county and town offices and were thanked by each one of them for remembering them on this day of appreciation.

Crockpot Chili Beans and Omelette with Cheese

Chili Beans and Omelette with Cheese

On Day 2 of my Pantry Challenge I made a Crockpot full of Chili Beans for dinner.  Nothing special, just used the leftover pinto beans from day 1 along with 2 cans of kidney beans (thought I had a bag of dried beans but didn't) 1 can of chili hot beans, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, a small can of tomato paste along with a packet of chili seasoning mix. We browned up 1 pound of ground beef and put it in, turned it on high and let if cook for 4 hours, served it with some shredded cheese we had on hand and a sleeve of crackers.

On Day 3 We had leftover chili beans served over a cheese omelette and a side of buttered toast.  My mom was very skeptical of trying this because she loves omelettes but had never had one smothered in chili.  She loved it!  My husband had never tried chili beans before and didn't want to try them last night but wasn't given much choice when his plate was presented to him already covered with the chili.  He ate it and never complained, even eating the chili beans that had fallen off the omelette once it was finished.

As you can tell, I don't skimp on portion sizes.  I'm used to feeding 2 boys and a picky girl, but they could never tell anyone that they were hungry because they weren't offered enough to eat.

I was out from home of Day 4, so I didn't prepare dinner, we instead had burgers from Wendy's, I will work those dinners in on a future night or menu.  Days 5/6 were left over days so we finished off the chili beans by having the omelette again (see, I told you they liked it) and then just a bowl of chili beans with cheese.

Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans

Hi everyone, here is my recipe for the Pinto Beans made in the Pressure Cooker.  These are so good and just the right texture for us.

First off, look over your beans and remove any broken or discolored ones.

 

 

Then wash and place in the pressure cooker
 along with 5 1/2-6 cups of water or broth.  I used some homemade turkey broth that I made and froze.

Place the lid on the pressure cooker, making sure to lock it and turn the knob to pressure, not steam or venting.

Set the pressure cooker to high pressure, the time to 45 minutes and press start.

Allow to release the steam naturally before removing the lid.  I served ours with cornbread but you can serve with any other side of your choice.

Enjoy your beans!

Electric Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans

1 lb of dried pinto beans

5 1/2 cups of water or broth

Salt and pepper to taste

high pressure for 45 minutes, making sure it is set to pressure, allow a natural release.

Enjoy!