Shrimp Stir Fry

It has been an unsettled yet interesting year thus far.  Life has thrown a few curve balls but in our true spirit, we have lobbied them back successfully.  We still managed to spend most of the month of May in Florida and Aruba so I'll share some of those foodie adventures.  Earlier this month, my husband had his gallbladder removed.  Despite all of the horror stories folks managed to share with us about this procedure, the only problem was a nasty reaction to his pain medication.  Other than that, the healing process was problem free.  He is back to enjoying food and is quite pleased that nothing seems to be bothering his stomach!

The discharge nurse suggested a bland diet for a couple of months then slowly start introducing fats and spice.  That didn't happen!  Butter, olive oil and coconut oil were all introduced within a day of post surgery.  Garlic pepper was included with his first solid food the evening of the surgery.  The first week, I made various pasta stir frys for dinner. 

Each stir fry was made with spaghettini and seafood (shrimp or scallops).  I added vegetables into the stir fry for the third dinner.  The shrimp stir fry pictured was incredibly easy to make.  It was a tasty,  low calorie, high protein meal.  The jumbo shrimp was frozen precooked so I thawed and removed the tails while the pasta was cooking.  When the pasta was cooked, I drained then heated a little olive oil in a non-stick fry pan.  I tossed in the shrimp and frozen Asian vegetable mix, stirring until warmed through.  Then I added the pasta, a small pat of butter (about 1 tsp) for extra flavour, and a light dash of garlic pepper.  This delicious stir fry, like most stir frys only took 15 minutes to put together.

The beauty of stir frys aside of being delicious is they are very quick to put together.  They are versatile too.  While rice and pasta are often added to stir frys,  quinoa or potatoes can be substituted.  Any meat or seafood can be used as well.  The choice for vegetables is endless.  Although I seldom add a sauce to my stir frys, it is easy to do so if desired.  A thin sauce adds another element of texture and flavour.  Worchestershire sauce, liquid aminos (soy free, low sodium) or soy sauce are all great ingredients to add extra flavour to stir frys in place of a thin sauce.  All the way around, stir frys get two thumbs up in my book!

Grilled Rib Steak & Refried Rice Using Grilled Rib Steak Left Overs

While much of the discussion on this blog throughout the past week focused on my adventures in making no knead breads, it has been a whirlwind of activity here.  We decided to makeover the master bedroom completely including new furniture and at the same time finish the guest room.  The furniture (Vaughan-Bassett) for the master bedroom had an estimated time of arrival of three weeks giving me plenty of time to shop for accessories and work on the crochet bedspreads for each room.  The bedspreads are a huge undertaking given one is king and the other queen size, so a lot of work.  Shopping for accessories meant several shopping trips with many foodie stops!  Much of the focus was stocking up on herbal teas, K-cups, various flours and cherry picking the sales.  I did manage to find a few interesting foods to try so will talk about them as they are used.  Oh, and I just couldn't resist the cute salt and pepper shakers in just the perfect deep red for the kitchen, a new tea ball and a couple of kitchen organizers.  At the same time, I was experimenting with the no knead breads and testing the 4ever Recap canning lids.  Even though it has been rather busy, regular cooking continued.

It has been a cold, wet spring with wet snow a couple of days ago and frost on the roofs yesterday morning.  Still, we have been doing more grilling.  The deck off the kitchen is quite protected from the winds making it perfect for grilling in all but the most unpleasant weather.   Early this week the sun made a rare appearance so I thawed a couple of rib steaks for grilling.  The steaks were grilled to medium rare, served with baked potatoes and steamed broccoli.  It was a delicious meal! 

We seldom marinate or use barbeque sauce on our steaks.  Instead, we let the flavour of the gorgeous, hormone free beef shine!  I love baked potatoes baked in the oven but just can't wait to start baking them on the grill again.  The grill gives a bit of extra flavour yet keeps the skin crispy and flesh tender. 

All of the steaks from our beef on the hoof purchase are large, cut to our specifications of 1 - inch thick.  While the whole steak looks luscious for the photo shoot, it is too much steak for either of us although if my husband is in the right mood, occasionally he will polish off a steak this big.  At any rate, anytime we have steak for dinner we have left overs.  Although steak does reheat nicely to enjoy as is, I also use left-over steak in other dishes.

The following day, I cooked rice for dinner which is so nice now that I've mastered cooking it on the stovetop.  The rice comes out perfect every time, something I attribute to the gas burners that are considerably easier to control than electric burners that retain residual heat after being turned off.  I used the rice to make refried rice.

Refried rice is an extremely easy and inexpensive way to use left over rice and beef, chicken or pork that can be made in 15 minutes or less.  It uses soy sauce which is incredibly high in sodium content.  Even the low sodium soy sauces have over 500 mg of sodium in 1 tbsp!  I use Rooster Brand Dark Soy Sauce which has 800 mg of sodium per 1 tbsp but because it has a deeper, richer flavour, less is needed.  It does give a darker colour to any dishes it is used in. Neither of us are on a sodium restricted diet however, we do tend to eat fairly low sodium so refried rice is a dish we enjoy only a very few times a year.

Method:  Cook rice or use left over rice.  I used 3 cups of cooked rice.  Cut left over steak (chicken or pork) into strips or pieces.  Heat a little olive oil in a non-stick skillet.  Pour in the rice.  Stir in about 1½ tbsp dark soy sauce, mixing well.  Stir in prepared meat and about 1 c of frozen peas.  Mix.  Make a well in the centre of the rice.  Pour in three beaten eggs.  Stir and continue stirring while incorporating the rice mixture into the eggs as they cook.

Thoughts on New Lagostina Cookware and Whole Wheat Linguine with Roasted Italian Sauce with Mushrooms

Wednesday morning we picked up our new Lagostina Collezion Pro 12 Elite Series cookware that had finally arrived via rain cheque.  We bought the set at a fantastic 60% off.  The cookware was bought to upgrade our cookware at home while allowing us to take our existing pot set down to our vacation home.  It was also bought with the goal of reducing the number of pots and pans needed to prepare certain dishes.  Instead of searing in a fry pan then transferring to a casserole dish, these pieces will allow us to do everything in one pan, stovetop to oven.  I have to be honest with you, aside of oogling the new cookware and reorganizing the cabinet to accomodate it, I did not use any of the cookware until this morning when I started a pot of navy beans for baked beans as part of our Easter dinner tomorrow.

We bought a set of Italian made Lagostina Renaissance pots about 10 years ago.  They still look great and perform quite nicely.  As far as pots go, these are a delight to use with their heavy tri-clad bases that eliminate hot spots.  The handles have faded a bit from going through the dishwasher but they still have the high polish protective coating that keeps them shiny.  The only downside to this particular set, is they cannot be used in the oven due to the handles.  Other than that, they are great performers.  I really would not have thought of replacing them had it not been for our cooking style changing a bit and wanting a better set of pots for our vacation home.

We got a rain cheque for the Lagostina Collezione Pro cookware the day after the sale flyer came out.  It took almost two weeks for them to arrive.  We chose this set because it is a multi-material set.   Cookware is currently available in aluminum, stainless steel, copper, and cast iron.  A non-stick coating is a popular edition.  If buying non-stick, I highly recommend ceramic over tefalon for safety and durability.  At one time, Pyrex had a line of glass cookware available but there were shattering issues so it was removed from the market.  You can still find it at resale shops and yard sales from time to time.  Each of the cookware materials have pros and cons.  The best cookware is actually a combination of more than one material to give even heat conduction and distribution.  As you cook more, you come to realize to realize certain cookware material gives better results than others.  For example, a good sear is best done in a hot stainless steel pan because a non-stick pan cannot be brought to a high enough temperature for a good sear.  If you are getting creative with cooking, then a matching set like the Lagostina Renaissance is not a good choice unless you don't mind buying specialty pieces.

The Collezione Pro cookware consists of two tri-ly clad sauce pans for true even heat distribution (eg. sauces, vegetables, soups), one bi-clad sauté pan with anodized exterior for even heat (eg. braising, searing, flambéeing), one tri-ply copper exterior saucepan (delicate sauces, reducing liquids), one tri-ply copper exterior casserole for precise cooking control and an enamel coated cast iron dutch oven for superior heat retention (eg. soups, stews, casseroles).  All of the cookware have matching lids. All of the cookware can be used on the stovetop and in the oven.  The set comes with a lifetime replacement warranty and if a piece is replaced under that warranty, the replacement piece is also covered by the original warranty.  Of not, the guarantee does not apply to any damage resulting from abuse, misuse, negligence, accidents, improper repair, commercial use or dishwasher.  Needless to say, this cookware will not be going into the dishwasher!

My concern was missing the Dutch oven from my old set.  It will take a bit of getting used to the new cast iron dutch oven.  It is more of a conceptual thing with me because the new Dutch oven doesn't look like it can be used on the stovetop.  I've seen the celebrity chefs using this style on the stovetop and so far this morning, the beans are cooking nicely.  I'll report back on those results shortly.
 

Pots and pans do not always come with everything you want or need.  We do a lot of steaming, often have more than one steamed dish cooking at the same time so really needed steamer baskets.  Our pastaiola came with two steamer baskets, a rather deep one perfect for larger quantities of vegetables or cooking pasta then lifting out for quick draining, and a shallower one (with handle) that fit the Dutch oven of the Renaissance set perfectly.  I kept the steamer basket out of our first rice maker when it quit.  This basket fit the largest saucepan of the Renaissance set perfectly.  Neither of these steamer baskets fit the new Collezion set perfect but they are useable.  The larger one fits down into the new Dutch oven still leaving space between the water level and basket.  The smaller one fits the larger tri-ply clad stainless steel saucepan, sticking up by about a half inch but it will still work.  In the meantime, I will keep checking the resale shops for steamer baskets that might fit a bit better.

My husband and I really enjoy our pastas!  There are so many varieties of pastas that we just never really tire of it.  We enjoy both dry pasta and fresh made pastas using the Kitchen Aid pasta attachment.  I have been working towards making some of our favourite pasta meals a bit healthier.  All of my tomato based pasta sauces are home canned or homemade from scratch.  While they are rich, full bodied and flavourful, I seldom add salt so they are low sodium.  All have a little olive oil in them which makes the anti-oxidant lycopene more accessible to the body, making them a healthy sauce.  I often top pasta dishes with chopped fresh herbs and vegetables along with a little shredded cheese.  There are now a lot of healthy choices for dried pastas.  Some are made with whole grains while others have vegetables added and some are a combination of both.

Catelli has a line of dry pastas called Healthy Harvest.  I bought a 375g box of their whole wheat linguine that gives 75% of the daily recommended whole grain servings and is a high source of fibre.  It only takes 9 minutes to cook to perfection.  I topped the pasta with home canned roasted Italian sauce with mushrooms, shredded Asiago cheese, chopped green onions and chopped tomato for a lovely, healthy and meatless dinner that was low sodium and low fat.  The entire meal took under 15 minutes to prepare! 

If you have not tried whole wheat pastas, they are well worth the slightly higher price.  I like the whole grain pastas.  They have just a bit  firmer texture than white wheat pastas.  There is a bit more texture, just a slightly noticeable grainy texture.  Whole grain pastas cook up more of a light tan than a pale creamy yellow.  Other than that, whole wheat pastas can substitute in any pasta dish.  This pasta is available in various shapes.  A multi-grain line of pastas is also available from Catelli so you are sure to find one to please.

Easy Pulled Beef Dinner

Still working our way through the 40 lb of Ontario produce, I decided to make a quick, easy pulled beef dinner.  I keep packets of pre-cooked meats in the freezer as quick meal starts and homemade versions of lunch meats.  While some of the meat packets are left-overs, the majority of them are meats cooked then frozen specifically as quick meal starts and lunch meats.  When we need a quick meal, I simply pull a packet from the freezer to reheat and add sides that usually come from the pantry.

Normally, when I get a good deal on produce the rule of thumb is 50% is for fresh use with the remainder being preserved for later use.  Some will preserve the full amount but this is one of those things that you do what works best for your family.  I thawed a packet of pulled beef then added fresh sides.

Pulled beef or pork is very easy to make but it basically takes a day of slow cooking.  You can cook the meat long and slow on the grill, in the oven or use a slow cooker.  I often cook two roasts (beef or pork) at a time, one for immediate eating and the other for quick meal starts.  Pulled meat is cooked long and slow usually with some type of barbeque sauce added although gravy works well too.  The meat is pulled into strands using two forks.  It is wonderful on sandwiches but can also be used as the meat for dinner.

I served the pulled beef with rustic mashed potatoes and French cut green beans.  Rustic mashed potatoes are very easy to make.  They are delicious as a side dish but also make a wonderful topping for cottage pie.  Simply wash and cut potatoes and carrots into chunks.  Add two wedges of cabbage then steam the vegetables until tender.  Pour the cooked vegetables into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add a bit of sour cream, cream cheese, butter and milk.  Sorry, I don't measure so can't give you the actual amounts.  Mix until just creamy with a few lumps.  Stir in salt and pepper to taste.

French cut green beans is really all about the cut.  The cut is longitudinally from end to end of the bean giving long thin strands as opposed to the normal cross cut for green beans.  It is a bit more work but gives a different look and textural component.  Quite often if you buy French cut green beans commercially canned they come with bits of pimento (red chili pepper) and onion.  I can them plain without pimento or onions.

The holiday season is the time of year you really appreciate getting a nice, nutritious meal on the table without a lot of effort or time.  This meal was on the table in 15 minutes making it a very nice choice for quick meals.  This is one reason to cook ahead specifically dishes that can be used as homemade yet healthy convenience.

A Quick Start Roast Beef Dinner

Honestly, the past two Februarys have not been kind to me.  Last year I ended up with a huge haematoma on my shin when a truck door slammed into it on Feb. 18.  I still have a horrid mark and a bit of a lump there.  Two weeks ago I hurt my back playing volleyball so was barely walking when my slipper got caught on the stairs sending me flying face down onto the landing on Feb 21.  Thank goodness nothing is broke but I have one of the worst sprains possible according to the doctor.  So I'm still on crutches meaning my cooking style is being cramped just a tad.  This is precisely why keeping a well stocked pantry and home made convenience foods is a must!  They can be a real help when you are dealing with illness or injury. 

Years ago when the kids were small and I was back in university, I began bulk cooking sessions.  It was one way for me to put good, nutritious meals on the table without a lot of fuss.  I reasoned that cooking two roasts took the same time as cooking one roast.  I quickly devised my homemade meal quick starts.  These include vacuum sealed packets of meat or poultry with gravy, seasoned ground beef, browned ground beef/turkey/chicken, pre-made vegetable packets, vegetable sides and those types of things.

A couple of nights ago, I'm hobbling around the kitchen just itching to do a bit of cooking.  I pulled out a packet of roast beef and gravy from the freezer.  Then I cooked broad egg noodles and frozen niblet corn to complete the meal.  It wasn't a fancy meal nor was it time consuming but more importantly it was something I could put together while on crutches.  The entire meal was ready within 15 minutes. 

Monday's Frugal Kitchen 101 will go into greater detail with respect to homemade convenience foods.  A bit of prepping ahead as well as stocking the freezer and pantry will make dealing with injury and illnesses easier.  You won't have to worry about running out to the store or ordering take-out as everything you need for a healthy meal will be right in your own home!

Preparing for the Week and Pasta with Veggies

Everyone has those weeks that are without doubt going to be a challenge.  The problem is quite often when one of those weeks hit, it is just too tempting to pick up fast food or take-out.  Now that we are settled in from the move, I am back into my cooking and preparing ahead routine.  It is being hindered slightly by my goal to paint every room in the house before May along with distractions like various workers coming in and out.  We are having a fair amount of custom woodworking done in the house and we've had the utilities, pest control, maintenance personnel, painting, volunteering and life in general our days have become very busy.  That means I need to do a bit more preparing ahead for the week.

I have a FoodSaver so use my vacuum seal canisters for short term storage.  They are great for any crispy snack like potato chips (back middle).  What they are really nice for is storing washed, ready to use produce like watermelon (back right), lettuce (back left), celery leaves (middle right), cucumber slices, carrots, broccoli pieces (middle left) and grated cheese.  Most of the vacuum sealed foods pictured will be used for snacking throughout the week although some will be used in salads.  The celery leaves will likely be used for soup as will the broccoli while the watermelon will be used for snacking and maybe breakfast smoothies.

My total prep time was 15 minutes on the weekend.  Vacuum sealing will keep the produce fresh, ready to use for over a week but all of this will be used up before the weekend.  If you notice three of the containers have different lids.  That's because the are actually Rival Seal-a-Meal canisters not FoodSaver.  I rigged up an adapter to use both.  I vacuum seal smaller amounts of prepared foods in mason jars as well.  This really is homemade convenience.

Canada's Food Guide recommends 4 to 6 servings of fruits and vegetables depending on their age, 7 to 8 servings for teens depending on gender, 7 to 10 servings for those 19 to 50 depending on gender and 7 for those over the age of 51.  The thing is a serving size is not as big as you think.  A serving of fresh vegetables is only 125 ml (½ cup)  so it doesn't take a lot of vegetables to meet which is something to keep in mind from a frugal perspective.

I made a pasta with veggies for dinner.  It was a healthy, meat free entrée that when served with a small garden salad would meet half or a little more of my daily fruits and vegetable requirements for the day.  We are big fruit and vegetable lovers here so fresh vegetables find their way into almost every meal.  Pasta with veggies is just so easy and quick to make.  While the pasta is cooking I warm the roasted tomato sauce and prepare any vegetables needed.  Then I drain the pasta, top with sauce, sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan cheese (protein) and chopped vegetables then add a sprig of basil from my indoor (winter) or outdoor (growing season) garden. 

I wanted to share our custom made drink tables for the games room since I mentioned them when talking about Superbowl entertaining.  One of our friends is a very talented woodworker.  He is doing a lot of custom woodworking in the house for us.

We needed something a bit more functional than the standard wood TV trays.  Drinks and snacks can easily get knocked over and more so when you have a crowd of 20 to 3o or more.  Our friend made us these custom made drink tables.  They are on wheels.  Each triangular shape can be used individually or I can put them together in an hexagon or put them in line fashion.  They were expensive at $125 each but they are solid wood and custom made to our specifications.  Since we do a lot of entertaining and I prefer not dealing with cleaning up spills, these tables were a frugal option for us.  They help a lot in me being able to focus on the food coming out from the kitchen without worry about my floors (laminate/ceramic tile) in the games room being damaged, slip and fall accidents from spilled drinks and everyone loves them.  I have to tell you, they are one of the ultimates for entertaining!

Bread and Pizza Sub Baked on Outdoor Grill

We are in the midst of a heat wave here with temperatures soaring into the 90's (ºF) but with the humidex it feels over the 100's (ºF).  The air is so heavy that breathing outdoors is difficult.  Environment Canada has issued ozone alerts, smog alerts and humidex warnings.  Cooling centres have been opened in larger communities while anyone who can is staying indoors in the air conditioning.  This is the type of weather that I don't like to do much cooking that will put an additional strain on the air conditioning.

I was browsing through the easy recipes on the Life Made Delicious website.   A recipe for cooking a sub sandwich on the grill caught my interest so I decided to put my own spin on it.  I made a batch of French bread dough then divided into two pieces.  After shaping and proofing one loaf was placed in the oven while the other went onto the grill.  I know I should not have used the oven but it was the only way to compare oven baked to grill baked bread.  I've often mentioned here how I use the grill as an oven in the summer months but haven't shown much as to how I actually use it. 

I turned both burners on to heat the grill then turned one burner off so the bread would bake on indirect heat to prevent excess browning on the bottom of the loaf.  I placed the prepared loaf on a heavy, parchment paper lined oven pan.  Our grill is quite old as grills go, now onto it's eighth year of heavy year round use so a couple of things like the auto ignite and thermometer no longer work.  From experience though, I'm able to get the grill to the proper temperature for baking bread.  We've already bought a new dual fuel grill (more on that later) for when we move.  It's sitting safely in the crate in the garage.

Part way through the baking process I noticed the bottom getting a bit darker than I wanted.   So I carefully place a cake rack under the baking pan, raising it just enough from the grates to slow the browning.  The loaf of bread was looking good while filling the air with the wonderful aroma of baking bread.  Meanwhile the kitchen was smelling yummy as well.  I just love the smell of baking bread!

I've always wanted a wood fired outdoor oven for baking breads and pizza.  That just might be a goal for our new house if we ever get this house sold.

I don't bake breads according to time but rather to doneness using the tap test.  Pictured are the two loaves of bread.  The oven baked loaf (top) was a bit smaller than the grill baked bread (bottom).  The oven baked loaf was destined for that night's dinner and sandwiches the next day.  The grill baked bread was just a little over a foot long, ideal for my grilled sub experiment.  The crust was nicely browned on both loaves of bread.  There was no difference in texture. 

Breads baked on the grill have a very subtle smokiness.   It is quite possible with breads baked on the grill to add a touch of additional smokiness if desired.  This is easily done using a small foil smoking packet of soaked wood chips of your choice.  The packet should be small enough to give just a hint of the smokiness, not overpower the flavour of the bread.  The hint of hickory in grill baked bread pairs nicely sliced ham for sandwiches. 

Years ago when my husband and I were dating we used to get pizza subs at a little family run pizzeria, Bella Pizza.  The subs were wrapped in foil and warmed through in their pizza oven. They were delicious!  Unfortunately, the place closed down over twenty years ago so those pizza subs are only fond memories now.  I decided to make the grill baked loaf of bread into a pizza sub with my husband's help.  We sliced the loaf of bread in half the topped each piece with homemade pizza sauce.   We covered the bottom slice with sliced mozzarella cheese and cooked ham.  We wrapped the sub in foil then placed it on the grill to warm through (about 10 minutes).

The pizza sub was quite good!  It was a very quick meal to put together at about 15 minutes from start to serving.  There was minimal clean-up and no heat from cooking in the kitchen, perfect for a blistering hot summer day.  Subs done this way would make for a great camping meal as well.  I will definitely be experimenting with more subs on the grill!

All Dressed Red Potatoes

Had our return flight not been delayed we would have arrived home in the early evening hours on May 25.  We would have stopped to re-stock a few groceries needed after being away for three weeks.  Instead we arrived home just after midnight on May 26 with no groceries and an empty fridge.  The next day my husband picked up a few essentials like milk, potatoes, sour cream, and bread because quite frankly neither of us felt like doing a larger grocery shopping that day.  Our first meal at home was a simple, easy and frugal meal.

We like having a meal consisting of topped baked potatoes as the main course on days when we just don't know what we want for dinner.  It doesn't happen often but it is a great, comforting meal.  Baking takes about 45 minutes and there's no doubt about it, the crispy texture of the baked potato skin adds to the flavour.  Instead of baking, I decided to try steamed potatoes that cook in about 10 minutes making them a better choice than baked for a summer meal or when at our vacation home.  Gosh, it gets hot there!  I'm working on a few tried and true meals I can make at the vacation home that don't produce a lot of heat during prep.

I steamed red potatoes then topped the bite-sized pieces with cheddar cheese, sour cream, steamed broccoli, bacon pieces and fresh cut chives.  The cheese, bacon and broccoli were from the freezer so only needed brief thawing although I did warm the bacon and broccoli slightly in the microwave.  This really was a nice substitution for the traditional topped baked potato.  It came in at the 15-minute meal mark and is so easy to assemble that a beginning cook would not have any problems putting it together.  It is a rather frugal meal as well.

A Simple Dinner

Life has an uncanny way of getting extremely busy.  Those are the times when putting a fast, easy meal on the table is a must.  Many rely on fast food take-out for these types of dinners but nutritionally these foods are not good value for you food dollar and they put a nice sized dent into your pocketbook.  There is another way, and that is to rely on easy to put together 15 minute and 30 minute meals.

There are a multitude of ways to make fast, easy meals just that.  I like to keep quick meal starts ready to use in the freezer.  These include pre-seasoned cooked ground beef, ham cubes, cooked BLSL seasoned chicken strips, and other cooked meats (eg. roast beef slices).  This takes a bit of cooking ahead but really if you are cooking ground beef for dinner cook extra for the freezer as well.  I keep cooked beans and quick to cook meats in the refrigerator and of course being a home canner I keep several jars of ready to use foods on the pantry shelves (eg. meatballs, chicken, beans).   Bulk cooking sessions preparing several quick meal starts in a couple of hours can go a long ways towards stocking your freezer helping to remove the temptation to stop for take-out.

Sausage is a delicious quick cooking meat that is rather versatile.  It can be served on a bun, as is for the meat serving or cut into bite sized pieces then added to other dishes.  Bulk sausage can be formed into patties or it can be browned and crumbled to add to casseroles, soups and stews.  Sausage ranges in flavour from very mild to spicy and everything in between.  Aside of quick cooking and flavour, sausage is inexpensive.  Breakfast sausage is usually mildly seasoned and may have a maple syrup flavouring added.  Despite its name breakfast sausage is not just for breakfast.  I served breakfast sausage links with buttered broad egg noodles and black bean salad for a quick, easy meal that took less than 15 minutes to prepare.  The black bean salad is served cold but it could easily be served warm as a topping for rice.  

Salisbury Steak

Salisbury steak is minced beef formed into an elongated patty  to resemble a steak.  Like meatloaf it may contain other ingredients like bread crumbs as an extender but in order to be labeled as salisbury steak the mixture must contain a minimum of 65% meat.  Of that 25% can be pork.  The patties are usually served with gravy and mashed potatoes.  The meal is a popular commercially prepared frozen TV dinner.

Salisbury steaks can be bought pre-made usually in the freezer section but some butcher shops make them as well.  The patties can easily be made at home as well.  I used pre-formed salisbury steak patties purchased from a local butcher shop as part of the boxed meats bought to support a school fundraiser. 

Rather than use an actual gravy I took a shot cut by using home canned plain spaghetti sauce.  I served the patties on a bed of sautéed cabbage.  This made for a tasty, quick, filling yet frugal entrée that took less than 15 minutes to prepare.

Left-over Easy Peasy Turkey Dinner

Turkey is one of my favourite frugal meats.  Not only can I get several meals out of one turkey I can also get several jars of home canned stock from the carcass.  Any time I cook a turkey I like to put enough turkey for a meal for two along with a cup or so of gravy into a freezer container then freeze for later use.  This makes for a wonderful meal quick start that only needs to be thawed and reheated.

A few days ago I pulled a container of turkey with gravy from the freezer.  I decided to make a left-over meal surrounding the turkey.  I used one jar of  homemade stove top stuffing from the pantry then added left-over mashed squash and cabbage.  The only component of the meal needing actual cooking which was quite minimal was the cabbage that was simply cooked to translucent in olive oil and butter.  It was an easy, low prep and low cook meal that was quite yummy!  Better still the meal was extremely low cost so quite low cost taking less than 15 minutes to put on the table.

This is the type of meal every busy home cook needs to keep on hand.  Using the quick start meat with gravy it is as simple as adding a couple of left-over sides or even adding cooked noodles with vegetables for a very quick, inexpensive meal.  It becomes a sanity saver during the week as you really don't have to think of what to serve with the meat and gravy, just raid the pantry, and at the same time you are saving on the cost and temptation of eating out or ordering take-out.

Beef Orzo Soup

My husband was at hunt camp but I decided with the weather cooling I wanted a pot of homemade soup but what I didn't want was to get soup burnout.  This happens when you eat the same soup over and over for the entire week.  I came up with a way to have five nights of different soups simply by mixing and matching pre-cooked ingredients and adding in a fresh ingredient or two.   The first dish I made using the ingredients was the beef noodle bowl recently posted.

An upcoming Frugal Kitchens 101 (Nov. 29, 2010) will go into greater detail of the method I used for the five different soups.  Honestly it is such an easy method it falls under the duh moment as to why I didn't do this sooner!

Pictured is one of the soups I made that week featuring orzo.  This soup ended up being very different from the beef noodle bowl.  I used some of the same key ingredients but used orzo instead of chow mein noodles and I added in black beans.  I sprinkled in cherry tomato halves and chopped onion but omitted a garnish. 

This was a very tasty soup that was much appreciated on a chilly fall evening.  The interesting thing is by having the ingredients in the refrigerator individually it took me only the length of time to cook the orzo to put the soup together.  The only other prep I did was cut 3 cherry tomatoes and dice a slice of onion to toss on top.  Quite frankly this meal came in at under the 15 minute mark and did I tell you how yummy it was? 

A few things I should point out with respect to any of my homemade soups.  First my soups never have an actual recipe.  They are always toss this in, toss that in and see what happens.  There are always my tried and true basic ingredients but I'm not afraid to experiment when it comes to soups.  Second, the number one requirement for any of my soups is nutrition.  That means I pack soups full of good, hearty ingredients.  Third my soups must look and taste good.  That means I'm looking for good, full bodied soups that get their flavours from with lots of bright colours.

Angel Hair Pasta with Vegetables

October is National Pasta Month!  As if I need a reason to serve pasta.  I'd love to tell you that for the next 30 days I will be featuring pasta dishes but that isn't going to happen although there will be more pasta dishes presented this month.  I think like many pasta started out somewhat as a frugal, inexpensive meal choice then blossomed from there.  Pasta is so versatile it takes little effort to make a dish from scratch or using up leftovers.

There were a couple of grilled boneless pork loin chops left over from dinner the night before so I decided to use them in a pasta dish.  I used a light butter garlic sauce for the angel hair pasta then topped with the cubed pork that had been warmed in a fry pan.  The meat was topped sautéed onions and zucchini and slightly warmed home canned mushrooms.  Finally I topped with coarse chopped tomatoes and fresh grated parmesan cheese.

This was a simple, easy to make dinner that was packed full of flavour and texture.  It was also a very quick dish to make.  Angel hair pasta is a quick cooking pasta at only 6 minutes cook time to al dente.  From start to finish the meal took less than 15 minutes to prepare!

Debreczinger Sausage

Meats and fish that are smoked are packed full of flavour.  You can buy a wide variety already smoked or smoke your own meats using a stand alone smoker or a grill with a smoker attachment or smoking box.  Wood chips are soaked in water then placed in a smoker box or foil packet with holes poked for use on the grill.  This is fine for small cuts of meat or to add a bit of extra flavour when grilling.  However larger cuts of meat such as turkey, hams and sausages are generally smoked in a smoker or if smoking a lot of meat in a smoke house.  At one time most farm houses had a smoke house and many still do in our area.   Urban dwellers also interested in smoking meats, poultry and fish can buy stand alone smokers ranging from small to quite large.  Smoking adds that extra flavour so is well worth doing.

Debreczinger (debreziner) sausage is mild, precooked, smoked beef and pork Hungarian sausage that can be eaten as is or warmed on the grill.   They are ideal when cubed for using on a party tray with an assortment of cubed cheeses.  Debreziner sausage will keep for 2 months frozen or 1 month refrigerated.

When buying sausage it is important to realize that each sausagemaker has their own recipes that they tweak so there is a slight variation from butcher shop to butcher shop and between brands.  Ingredients in the debreczinger sausage I bought were: water, liquid smoke, pork, salt, spices, paprika, garlic, sodium nitrate and sodium bicarbonate.  These sausage were a bit more expensive than breakfast or oktoberfest but the price was a direct reflection of buying them at the abattoir's that out out in the middle of noman's land.  At any rate $4.49 for meat for two dinner is not a bad price at all.

The weather had turned cold and rainy so we decided to re-heat the sausages on the stovetop.  We could have used the indoor grill but warmed on a bed of sautéd onions sounded even easier for a somewhat lazy day dinner.  I served the sausages and onions on sausage buns topped with honey mustard and sauerkraut.  The end result was an easy yet tasty 15 minute meal.

I was impressed with the flavour of the debreczinger sausage.  This will be a sausage I buy again to use as is or warmed for on buns.  The sausage makes for a quick, easy meal that would be perfect for those hot summer days when heating up the kitchen is not desirable.  I think the sausage would also be good chopped into cubes then used in salads or as part of the topping for pasta salad.  

Souped Up Tomato Soup

A well stocked pantry is always an inspiration for my cooking. I have a large walk-in pantry that I'm in and out of several times most days. Quite often I get a glimpse of something in the pantry that forms the basis for a meal. This is one reason why menu planning with the exception of special events simply does not work for me. At heart I love the creativity of pantry cooking!

Souped Up Tomato Soup

I have posted many times about the various foods I can but sometimes how I use them is not always apparent. Since home canned foods play such a huge role in my pantry it only stands to reason that many meals are inspired from home canned foods. A couple of days ago I wanted a quick to prepare meal. Home canned tomato soup caught my eye for dinner but as Canadian Chef Michael Smith would say not any tomato soup, a special tomato soup. Michael Smith shows how to cook without a recipe on on Food Network Canada's Chef at Home. He gets his inspiration from one ingredient then builds from there. This is such a wonderful way to cook!

I started with home canned tomato soup made from scratch using garden fresh ingredients. The taste of this condensed soup beats store bought condensed tomato soup hands down! I decided to build on this soup base to create a souped up tomato soup. I added in home canned mushrooms, corn niblets, broccoli and red onion along with a bit of milk and Rooster Brand Instant Noodles to create a tasty, meatless soup that took less that 15 minutes to prepare. If you recall these are a healthier version of instant noodles than Ramen noodles Rooster Instant Noodles contain 0% fat making this a healthy soup as well.

Method: I heated 2 - 500 ml jars tomato soup then stirred in home canned mushrooms, frozen corn niblets, broccoli pieces and chopped red onion. Once the broccoli was lightly cooked I stirred in 500 ml of whole milk and brought to just a simmer then stirred in ¼ package of Rooster Instant Noodles. Cook 1 minute then ladle into bowls for serving.

Left Over Steak Dinner

Last Wednesday we hosted a dinner party and social for about 15. Steak and corn-on-the-cob was on the menu. The steaks were large so both of us cut our steaks in half to make a meal the following night. There was more than half of the husked, uncooked corn-on-the-cob left over and several baked potatoes. Left over steak bones went home with one of the guests as a treat for his dog. The next day I froze the remaining corn reserving just enough for dinner. Spotting the left-over potatoes and steak gave me an idea for dinner.

Steak Mixture

If you have been following this blog you will know my husband and I just finished up a recipe contest. As part of one of his contest recipes I made a bourbon grilling sauce that was so good I even canned two jars. The sauce got rave reviews at the dinner party so I used some of the left over sauce for the steak mixture. The mixture consisted of Vadelia onion slices sautéed in butter until translucent with baked potato and steak cubes. The bourbon grilling sauce was added to the mixture and allowed to come to a simmer then the mixture was removed from the heat and plated. The prep and cooking time for the steak mixture was under 15 minutes, ready for serving with boiled corn-on-the-cob for a quick, easy to assemble meal.

Left Over Steak Dinner

Larger gatherings by default generate left overs. It is very important to use whatever possible within the next day or two. If that is not possible any left overs should be preserved either the day of or the day after the event. It is also important that you do not try to preserve or use any food item that has been in the food danger zone (41ºF to 140ºF) during the event. If in doubt throw it out! This rule applies to all dairy foods or foods made with mayonnaise. Bones and left over meats can be given to dogs. Salad green and other vegetables that have been in the food danger zone can be given to chickens, pigs or composted.

Any time you can use up left overs you are in most cases making a frugal meal. In this case the only ingredients used in the meal that were not left overs were the butter and onion. Varying the presentation resulted in a different meal than the night before. It really was a tasty meal!

She Said (4) - Mixed Berry Shortcake

If you recall my husband and I are having a bit of a contest with each of us using a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens® New Grilling Book to create a meal. In total there will be 12 recipes, 6 of his choosing and 6 of mine. The contest ends August 31 so the first week of September I will post a poll where you can vote for the meal you liked best. The rules are all the ingredients must be used but the amounts can be altered.

Pickerel Dinner

We eat a fair amount of pickerel simply because we have a lot of it between what I catch and what friends give us. My preferred method of cooking pickerel is pan frying. The thin filets fry up quickly so even with serving with steamed vegetables the meal takes about 15 minutes from start to finish. The pickerel was lightly seasoned with garlic pepper served with steamed new potatoes and steamed string beans.

Method for Steaming Vegetables: Place one inch of water in a sauce pan. Place the prepared vegetables in the steamer basket and put it into the saucepan. The basket should not touch the water. Place lid on saucepan. Bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat to just maintain the steam. Steam vegetables until just al dente with the exception of root vegetables that should be steamed until just tender. Remove from heat and serve.

Shortcake

We do not eat a lot of desserts so I thought it would be interesting to choose a dessert recipe Better Homes and Gardens® New Grilling Book as one of my contest recipes. Pictured is the shortcake portion of the Mixed Berry Shortcake I decided to make. Ontario berries are in season which influenced my choice. I used organic sugar and unbleached flour in this recipe.

Mixed Berry Shortcake
source: Meredith Corporation, Better Homes and Garden New Grilling Book, 2005. Pp. 430

6 c sliced fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and/or blueberries
½ c sugar
2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ c butter
1 beaten egg
⅔ c milk
1 c whipping cream, whipped

Grease a 8x1½-inch round baking pan. Mix the berries and ¼ c of the sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Combine the remaining sugar, flour and baking powder. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine egg and milk. Stir into flour mixture just enough to moisten. Spread the dough into prepared pan. Bake at 450ºF for 15 to 18 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cook in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. [Split into two layers and spoon half of berries and half of whip cream over the bottom. Place top layer and top with remaining whipped cream and berries. Cut into wedges. Serve immediately.] Modified to: Spoon berries over the shortcake. Top with berries. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

Whipped Cream [my method]: Place cold whipping cream in chilled bowl of stand mixer. Whip until the cream forms soft peaks. Mix is ½ tsp vanilla and 2 tsp organic sugar. Serve.

Mixed Berry Shortcake

The shortcake portion of this dessert is very heavy and dense yet surprisingly quite tasty. It paired nicely with the lighness of the berries and whipped cream. The shortcake could easily be baked on the grill rather than in the oven as well.

Pictured is the entire desert before cutting into wedges. This is a dessert I would make again with one modification. Once the dessert is assembled any left-overs will not keep easily. To remedy thisI would spread the shortcake mixture into the bottoms of large muffin tins to make 6 individual serving sized portions. An alternative solution is to make the shortcake in the round pan and cut it into wedges then just top the desired number of wedges rather than the entire shortcake.

A Fifteen Minute Prep Garlic Shrimp Dinner

The biggest misconceptions when cooking from scratch are that it must be both labour and time intensive. This is this vision of a harried, frustrated homemaker with crying kids straining to cut and chop to get a nice, healthy, cooked from scratch meal on the table. It doesn't need to be that way! It is surprising at how many interesting and tasty meals can be made in 30 minutes or less. In fact there are many meals you can make that only take 15 minutes from start to finish!

Garlic Shrimp Dinner

One trick for getting quick meals on the table that I've often talked about on this blog is to keep pre-cooked meats in your freezer. When it comes to pre-cooked seafood one of nicest to keep on hand is jumbo shrimp. It is a versatile seafood that can be used as an appetizer, in salads or as the main course meat. This is a case where a little goes a long way too so pre-cooked jumbo shrimp ends up being quite cost effective. If you want to save further on pre-cooked shrimp buy according to the sales cycles. Shrimp tends to go on sale just before the Christmas holiday season and again just before the main grilling season so stock your freezers then.

Pre-cooked shrimp was used for my garlic shrimp meal. This time I prepared spaghetti. As the spaghetti was cooking I removed the tails from the thawed shrimp and set aside. I warmed 3 cloves of minced garlic in ½ c of melted butter allowing the butter to just lightly brown. Then I tossed in the shrimp to warm through and removed from the burner. I diced tomato, red onion and green pepper mixed with balsamic vinaigrette for the side salad and cut straight 8 cucumbers into quarters for the second vegetable side. Then I drained the pasta, mixed with the browned butter shrimp sauce and plated. Fresh parsley from the garden was the garnish. It was a very deliciously simple yet filling meal that took me under 15 minutes to put together.

Open Face Roast Beef Sandwich

One of the problems with traveling is there is always the possibility of unexpected delays. So it was on our return flight. First the airplane was delayed by about 2 hours. Once at the airport that kind of short delay isn't too bad as you can amuse yourself online or in the bar (tvs turned to sports) or people watch. We finally boarded where the real problems started. A computer glitch knocked out cabin communications so the plane could not leave. After sitting on the plane for another 2 hours we were deplaned then waited for them to replace the computer which didn't go according to plan so we had to wait for another plane. So we arrived at the point where we were to start the driving leg of our journey home just after 5 am and checked into our room we were supposed to get the night before. By lunch time we were on our last leg of our journey. We stopped at a Meijer's to pick up a few groceries since we wouldn't be home until late and the prospect of grocery shopping over the weekend was not all that appealing.

Star Fruit (Carambola)

I would have loved to have brought home fresh picked Florida oranges but thought this could be a problem at the border since there would be no way of proving origin. So we passed on the oranges. I bought 3 star fruit at Meijer's.

This lovely fruit is difficult to find in our area although it can be found at larger grocery stores. Star fruit has a sweet, tart flavour similar to combining plums, pineapples and lemons. When cut across the ribs, the star fruit forms pretty star shaped slices perfect for garnishing and fruit trays. It can also be eaten as is simply washing without peeling. Star fruit is rich in Vitamin C and free of sodium and cholesterol so this is a good fruit for you although those with chronic renal failure or end-stage renal disease should not eat star fruit.

Open Face Roast Beef Sandwich

We picked up a fresh roast and bread at Meijer's for that night's dinner. I very seldom freeze homemade breads so we had to settle for store bought but that was fine. I cooked it in the counter top roaster with onions and potatoes for a quick, home cooked meal. The snow started the following morning and continued throughout the day.

Sunday's dinner was simple open face roast beef sandwiches. I can remember to the Metropolitan with my Mom on the two trips we made each year to the city. We rode a bus that stopped in our town then another and finally took us to the city. We only had a few hours to shop before we had to be back at the bus stop. Unlike the five and dime in my home town that had really neat smelling, squeaky wood floors and was somewhat dark inside, the Met was huge at least in the eyes of a child. They had a snack bar and soda fountain! We always ate lunch there because my Mom said you could never shop with an empty stomach so the Met was always our first stop. My favourite was their open faced sandwiches either turkey or beef. Oh gosh were they good! I pondered a bit while eating Sunday's dinner then told my husband we should have these more often. Well you didn't hear any complaints from him as he went back for seconds :)

This is a perfect way to use up left-over meat and gravy. Keep a pack or two of meat with gravy in the freezer to warm for a quick meal. You will need a knife and fork to eat these sandwiches. To make an open faced sandwich you will need two slices of bread. Slightly stale bread will work as well since the gravy will soften the bread. Mix the meat with gravy and heat through. Spoon over the bread slices. Serve with a side of coleslaw or tossed salad.

Entertaining Leftovers

We hosted a large dinner party on the 19^th but the horrid weather conditions saw a lower attendance than expected. Several appetizers (crabmeat dip*, jumbo shrimp with cocktail sauce, vegetable tray with homemade garlic & onion dip, venison balls) and drinks were served for the social hours before dinner. The menu included tossed salad, roasted turkey, spiral ham, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, gravy, home canned whole cranberry sauce, pickle tray and three kinds of homemade dinner rolls. Desserts included Victorian lavender cookies, shortbread cookies, chocolate dessert shells and banana cake. [Clicking the links will take you to the recipes for these dishes.] I was faced with the problem of a fair amount of left-overs, very limited freezer space and knowing that we were going to be away over the holidays.

Saturday we hosted a smaller get together so some of the turkey and dinner rolls were used for that as well as most of the cookies. I sent some of the left-overs home with the kids who were visiting for the weekend. Sunday morning we deboned the turkey and I set about making stock with the carcass. There was a fair amount of the ham left so I cut it from the bone and divided into two large vacuum seal bags, vacuum sealed then froze. I did the same with the ham bone to make soup with later. There were about 2 dozen of the whole wheat dinner rolls left so I decided to make bread crumbs.

Defatting Stock

Fat is a necessary part of making stocks because it adds a lot of flavour. It adds an element of depth and richness to the stock that cannot be achieved without the fat. Using the fat when making stock allows to to utilize all the flavour in the little bits of meat and skin that come along with the fat. Even though the fat is needed for good stock, the stock should be defatted for a healthier product.

Once the stock has been made it should be cooled completely either before or after straining the bones and vegetables out. The fat will harden as a layer on top of the stock. As pictured the fat layer can easily be removed using a large spoon. You can melt down the fat and strain for use in cooking if desired. The remaining stock is then strained again then canned or frozen for later use. You can also boil down the stock to make a concentrate and freeze it for later use.

Bread Crumbs

Homemade yeast breads do not keep well for extended periods of time. I find it best to make a loaf of bread or dinner rolls every second or third day rather than making a lot at one time. Homemade bread or dinner rolls that is starting to go stale is not tossed to the birds or discarded here as that would be wasteful on a few levels. What I do is turn it into bread crumbs. Making your own bread crumbs even if using store bought bread makes good frugal sense as you are using up something that would otherwise go to waste and you are eliminating one more commercial product you have to buy. Any yeast bread can be used for this purpose although I find dark rye and pumpernickel bread crumbs a little tricker to use in

Making bread crumbs using a food processor is as simple as breaking the bread into chunks and process a few at a time using the grind setting on pulse. The bread does not have to be totally dried to make bread crumbs when using the food processor resulting in a softer crumb suitable for quiche and quick stuffing. If you don't have a food processor and blender on grind and pulse will work as well. A KitchenAid® stand mixer or similar with a food grinder attachment is the preferable appliance to use for drier bread crumbs suitable for making meat loafs. I used a food processor for this batch of bread crumbs.

Stock & Crumbs

The yield from the turkey carcass was 7 L (quarts) of canned and 1 L frozen turkey stock. This is about the normal yield for turkey stock which allows the canner to run at full capacity. The remaining stock is usually used in a soup or stew for dinner that night if we are home or frozen for later use. I like using plastic freezer containers with screw on lids when freezing anything that is not going to be vacuum sealed.

The left over dinner rolls made enough bread crumbs for two 1 L freezer containers. These were frozen for later use. To use thaw although there is no need to thaw prior to using frozen bread crumbs as they tend to break apart quite easily. Any clumps can be broken apart using the prongs of a fork.

Quick Turkey Noodle Soup

Using a few simple pantry ingredients you can quickly put a nice meal on the table with very little effort. When we deboned the turkey, I cut the meat into cubes instead of slices. Dinner Sunday night was a simple soup using turkey that took under 15 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients

2 284 (10 oz) cans condensed mushroom soup**
1 can turkey stock
½ can whole milk
2 generous handfulls broad egg noodles
2 cup turkey

Cook the noodles until al dente in salted water. Drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat through. Serve with home made dinner rolls or bread.

* I used homemade cocktail sauce in place of the ketchup and horseradish mix. The result was even tastier!
** Substitute the equilivant home made cream of mushroom soup to equal 3½ cans of reconstituted soup total.