Creamy Turkey Bake

We are in food crisis mode here!  Our pantry is overflowing, both chest freezers are stuffed and things are falling out of the refrigerator freezers.  Part of the problem stems from us being out of country for three months last year so we are using our pantry stores in the manner we were accustomed to.  My husband wants to extend our time at our vacation home to four months this year so for the foreseeable future, we will not be needing a full year's supply of food at home.  The bottom line is, I need to pare down the pantry and freezers so that means meals from both supplemented with fresh produce and dairy combined with reduced stocking.  I have a plan so we'll see how successful it is.

It is quite cold here so extra heat from the oven sounded good.  Last night's dinner used the rest of the milk, turkey and last roll of puff pastry from the freezer, a jar of home canned beans and mushroom soup from the pantry, two potatoes and Old Bay Seasoning to make a simple yet tasty casserole.  The bulk of the meal's ingredients came from the freezers and pantry, not bad for a start.  It doesn't seem like a lot but using something from the freezers and pantry to make a meal should make a difference.  It will be important to do this for every dinner so ideally five days a week since we eat out twice a week.  Some meals will use a bit more from both but others less.

There really isn't a recipe for this casserole.  I used one sheet of the puff pastry and about 2 1/2 c of cooked turkey cut into bite sized pieces, and a can of milk.  I cooked the potatoes in the microwave oven until just tender, then let cool enough to cut into bite sized pieces.  I drained the beans then mixed the turkey, potatoes and beans in a casserole dish.  I mixed the soup, milk and about a teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning in a separate bowl.  I poured the soup mixture over the turkey mixture as pictured then placed the sheet of puff pastry on top.  The puff pastry didn't fully cover the top, leaving about an inch open on each end.  I baked the casserole at 400°F for about 30 minutes until the filling was bubbly and the crust golden brown.

This casserole did not cut into neat, tidy squares.  Cutting through the crust then scooping out with a large spoon worked well.  The yield was 6 generous servings.  The turkey bake topped with the light, flaky crust was rich and creamy, warm and steamy just perfect for a frigid winter dinner.  Overall, I was pleased with the casserole.  It was just a bit higher in sodium than I would like but other than that the nutritional values were good. 

The sodium came from the puff pastry and soup, mainly the soup.  This is a problem with all commercially canned soups, one reason I seldom use them.  However, cream of mushroom soup is a pantry staple I use for quick sauces.  I will have to rethink that plan once I've exhausted my supply.  Thank goodness I only have a couple more cans left!

Nutritional information per serving:  518 cal, 47 g carbs, 17 g fat, 34 g protein, 1,046 mg sodium, 8 g fiber

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Menu Planning for Holidays

Tomorrow is Christmas and while we will not have our big Christmas dinner until the 26^th, the menu has been set and preparations are in full gear.  I am not a huge menu planner on a regular basis because I am very much a cooking from the pantry style cook.  When it comes to special occasions and holidays, I do menu planning.  In this case, menu planning helps to keep me organized so I can make sure I have everything on hand for the dishes I will be preparing, do pre-prep as needed and make things streamlined so the meals go smoothly.

We know we will have two of our kids with grandkid overnight on the 25^th staying through the 26^th but not overnight.  Then two of our kids with two grandkids will be arriving around noon on the 26^th and staying until noon on the 28^th.  That means I have to plan for three hot breakfasts, four snacks, one lunch, two dinners plus the main meal along with all the snacks and appetizers during the day.  Menu planning in this case works quite nicely for me.

Here's a few menu planning tips:

• keep it simple - This is the number one rule in menu planning, KISS.  For example, bacon and eggs with toast and hashbrowns is simple enough for breakfast but a breakfast casserole is simpler.
• number of meals -  Simply figure out how many breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinners you need for that time period then decide upon a main dish for each meal and work from there.
• TNT - Stay with tried and true (tested) dishes.  This isn't the time to fuss with a dish you've never made before.
• attention to detail - What really makes holiday meals is the extras like homemade condiments and garnishes.  Chives, parsley, rosemary and citrus are easy garnishes so be sure to add them to your shopping list if necessary.  Don't forget to add beverage specific garnishes (eg. pickle spears, olives, pineapple)
• beverages - Make sure you have plenty of mix and non-alcoholic beverages.  
• snacks - Keep the snack trays to easy to prepare finger foods like fruits, vegetables and nuts.
• appetizers - As a guideline, plan on 3 to 4 appetizers per person unless the gathering is appetizers only then double that.  
• shopping list - Create your shopping list from your menu plan.  Buy only what is needed for that holiday menu plan plus $5 - $10 extra to restock the pantry.   

Tex Mex Beef Stew

I was very fortunate to get a good deal on carrots, onions, beets and potatoes for $1.88 per 10 lb bag, the day after arriving home from our fall vacation in October.  I had done a lot of canning, over 200 jars of home canned tomato products in addition to other home canned products.  After being away for three weeks, we were quite tired.  Still, I took advantage of the sale.  As a result, I had 40 lb of Ontario produce to use.  The nice thing about the produce sale was  carrots, onions, beets and potatoes keep well in our pantry so there wasn't an urgency for processing them.

I decided to do a bit of a freezer clean-out to use the packages of chicken bones I had saved since the summer to can stock.  During the process, I found a couple of packets of pre-cooked beef, just perfect for soup or stew.  I used one of the packages to make a full bodied stew with Tex-Mex flavours.  The stew was quite tasty!

Tex Mex Beef Stew
source:  Garden Gnome

2 L (8 c) home canned whole tomatoes
250 ml (1 c) beef stock
1 lg carrot
2 ribs celery
2 sm onions
2 lg potatoes
500 ml (2 c) left-over cooked beef pieces
500 ml (2 c) cooked kidney beans
5 ml (1 tsp) garlic powder
5 ml (1 tsp) onion powder
30 ml (2 tbsp) homemade taco seasoning
250 ml (1 c) frozen corn
1.25 ml (1/4 tsp) paprika
1.25 ml (1/4 tsp) cayenne pepper
5 ml (1 tsp) cumin
garnish with plain yogurt or sour cream

Cut the carrot, celery and potatoes into bite size pieces.  Finely chop the onion.  Place the whole tomatoes in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil on high heat.  Reduce to a simmer.  Continue cooking while mashing the tomatoes to break down, leaving a few larger pieces.  Stir in the stock and vegetables.  Continue cooking until potatoes and carrots are tender.  Stir in beef, seasonings and kidney beans.  Mix well then cook for 10 minutes to allow the flavours to blend.  Serve hot.

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.

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Using Your Pantry Stores

The past few Frugal Kitchens 101 have focused on stocking your pantry. This is the time of year when many of us are re-stocking the pantry with as much as a year's supply of fruits and vegetables to get us to the next growing season. At the same time we may be trying to use up some of last year's canning goods while taking advantage from the odd excellent sale. Continuing with the pantry theme this week's Frugal Kitchens 101 will discuss using your pantry stores.

The purpose of your pantry is to keep you prepared, keep you out of the grocery stores, greatly reduce eating out and is aimed at saving you money. One big mistake that some make is to continuously add to their pantry stores without using them. In extreme cases this is known as hoarding. What happens is the food doesn't get used within a 2 year period and quite often you hear about these cases when family or friends are forced to clean out a relative's home through illness or death. The sad thing is hundreds of dollars of stocked up food ends up being tossed if this happens. Don't get into this trap. Think of your pantry as constantly evolving to meet your current needs. Foods should constantly be revolving using the oldest foods first with no one food item being older that a year to 18 months old. Once your pantry is stocked it becomes a matter of constantly revolving the food. Armed with your pantry inventory list and personal use list you are now ready to use your pantry stores. Here are a few of my tips.

• plan to use - If you menu plan and even if you don't plan to use a certain portion of your pantry stocks each week. If you menu plan it is quite easy to know that you are going to use for example 2 jars (cans) of green beans, 2 packages of pasta, 2 tins of tuna as part of that particular week's menu plan. Obviously this is not a full menu but you get the idea. I am not a huge menu planner aside of special events and that is because when I walk into my pantry I'll spot something that ends up being the focus of that night's meal.
  
• use what you have - In general if you have stocked to allow for example 1 jar (can) of green beans per week you should be averaging that amount. Don't worry about restocking that particular item until you are down to the quarter mark. So if you started with 52 jars (cans) of green beans when you get down to 13 jars then start watching the sales if buying commercially canned green beans. If you are using home canned green beans this will be the time to assess whether or not you need to put up more jars the following year. If you are home canning and have reached the half year mark without reaching the halfway mark that is likely a good indication you could reduce the amount you put up the following year.
• be flexible - Your food preferences and consumption changes over time so that may result in you finding you having an excess of a particular pantry item. If you know this is an item you will not consume donate it to a food bank or give it to someone who will use it.
• be creative - Open your pantry and quickly pick one item. Use that item as the inspiration for that meal. It's surprising how effective this method can be. Use your pantry inventory list as the basis for planning your weekly menu as well.

Easy Chicken Parmigiana

There are very few days that the food channel is not on here. Not only do I view this channel I listen to it in the background turning my attention to the television only when something peeks my interest. I get a lot of ideas simply by listening. A couple of days ago it seemed like the theme of several of the cooking shows was pairing Parmesan with chicken so I though why not? then I started playing with that idea and how I could do it. This is the dish I came up with.

Just Baked

I wanted to create a warm, comforting meal using boneless skinless chicken breasts and Parmesan cheese so I went shopping in my pantry. The choices from my pantry were homemade shake & bake,  roasted tomato sauce  and a package of spagettini. I chose dried parsley from my herb collection; fresh Parmesan cheese, cream cheese, sour cream and milk from the refrigerator; and 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts from the freezer. I now had what I thought was the makings for a good meal.

Method: I poured about 1½ cup of the homemade coating mixing into a shallow dish then shredded about ¼ c of Parmesan cheese into the mixture and stirred well before coating the chicken. I placed the coated chicken on a Silpat® lined baking sheet then sprinkled with an extra ¼ c of shredded Parmesan cheese. The chicken was baked at 180ºC (350ºF) until the outside was golden and crispy with inside juices running clear.

Easy Chicken Parmigina

While the chicken was cooking I cooked the pasta to al dente and drained. Then I stirred in 4 oz of cream cheese, 2 tbsp roasted garlic, 2 tbsp sour cream and just enough milk to make the sauce creamy.
I warmed the roasted tomato sauce so was ready to plate when the chicken was cooked.

I placed a chicken breast on a bead of the spaghettini then topped with roasted tomato sauce and garnished with dried parsley. This made for a lovely presentation that tantalized the taste buds just from sight. The meal did not disappoint. Using fresh grated parmesan this way really pumps up the flavour without adding a lot of fat while at the same time the cheese adds a nice crispiness to the coating. The easy sauce on the pasta mixed well with the roasted tomato sauce but the roasted garlic flavour was a little lost. Next time I will use a butter sauce instead of a cheese sauce to let the roasted garlic shine a bit and accent the Parmesan chicken. Chopped fresh green onions, parsley or chives would be a nice substitute for the dried parsley.

This is a dish that really has a lot of potential so it will be one I tinker with until I get just the right effect. In the mean time we will be enjoying the attempts that aren't quite just there yet :)

Two Easy Low Cost Freezer Meals & Inspiration from Take-Out

I'm in the middle of processing tomatoes so am relying on both my pantry and freezer stores for quick yet tasty meals. We left last Friday to visit the kids and celebrate our Canadian Thanksgiving (October 13, 2008) early. I was already feeling the effects of using the manual food mill so much so the break was very much appreciated. After a lovely trip to Cudleigh's for apples, a stop at the plant nursery, a wonderful turkey dinner and two nights away we made our way back home with my husband sniffling and complaining of a sore throat. The weather had turned cold then has been raining on and off since so getting tomatoes just wasn't going to happen.

Noodles with Mushroom Sauce

We arrived home late Sunday afternoon leaving not a lot of time to do a lot of cooking for dinner. My husband gets cravings for comfort food when he isn't feeling well so it was no surprise when he wanted noodles with mushroom sauce. This is a very simple yet comforting dish consisting of four ingredients. I like adding fresh parsley as a garnish so technically it is five.

I pulled a container of homemade mushroom soup and pound of ground beef from the freezer to thaw then chopped up a Spanish onion while the ground beef was browning. Raw onions are good for any respiratory ailments. I cooked the extra broad egg noodles until they were al dente, drained then stirred in the mushroom soup, onions and ground beef. I garnished with fresh parsley which is also eaten to provide additional Vitamin C something the body needs any time but more so when not feeling well.

Always freeze left-over soups as they can often form the basis of a quick, low cost meal. Almost all homemade soups freeze nicely. Those with noodles tend to freeze well but noodles can become soggy or fall apart when reheated depending on how they are reheated. A way around this is to slightly under cook pasta in soups that will be frozen but this is unavoidable for left-overs. Cream based homemade soups will show some signs of separation. This is fine. Simply stir the soup well when reheating.

Breaded Porkchops

Pictured are my husband's famous breaded pork chops paired with oven baked potatoes and home canned green beans. By Monday night my husband was feeling pretty tough but still able wanting more of the solid types of comfort food. I pulled two of his breaded pork chops from the freezer. These were left-over from the last time we had them and I have to admit this is the first time I tried freezing. What I did was allow the cooked, breaded pork chops to cool then froze. To re-heat I put in the oven at 350ºF along with whole potatoes for about 40 minutes. This warmed the pork chops through nicely.

Whenever you are cooking always keep in mind that you can put up a bit in the freezer at least enough for a quick start for a meal. A real time saver is having pre-cooked meat ready to use in the freezer. Simply add vegetables and there you have a nice meal with almost no effort.

Harvey's Original

By far the vast majority of the hamburgers we eat are homemade usually grilled. Awhile ago I made and entry titled Burger with an Attitude inspired by Harvey's original cheeseburger with the works. This is one of the very few fast food restaurants I will eat the food. Harvey's is a Canadian fast food franchise available only in Canada but not Canada wide (only in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec) specializing in grilled burgers, fresh cut French fries and it uses Canadian ingredients as much as possible. Their first location opened in Richmond Hill, Ontario in 1959. When you go into a Harvey's, they ask you the number of patties then you stand in front of the toppings offering so you can build your burger the way you want it.

My husband stopped at Harvey's Tuesday night mainly because with him not feeling well he wanted fast, comfort food. Now we live about a half hour from the closest Harvey's or any other fast food place for that matter. Fast food simply does not travel all that well. Still it was nice to taste the burger that was inspiration for one of our favorite and fantastic homemade burgers. I should also mention that their fries were the inspiration for my home cut home fries.

If you find you really enjoy a fast food item look for copycat recipes. It's surprising what's out there as far as recipes. If you can't find an actual copycat recipe then bring one of those food items home and take it apart if you can. It might take a little tweaking but chances are you will be able to come up with something very similar if not a bit better and likely for a lower price. So do give it a try.

Tomatoes Starting & Easy Pasta Dinner

I have seriously been dragging my heels when it comes to putting up tomatoes this year likely because I am still tired from the kitchen renovations or maybe it is just being tired in general. At any rate, I'm a good two and a half weeks behind schedule! With September quickly coming to an end I really cannot procrastinate any further. So tomorrow morning bright an early I start processing the first of the tomatoes. Unlike other years where I was able to take a day or two break between processing batches, this year will be processing the same amount of tomatoes in a shorter period of time. My goal is to get as much processed by Friday as we are celebrating our family Thanksgiving this coming weekend.

Tomato Hampers

My husband picked up three hampers of beautiful looking plum tomatoes late this afternoon. If you recall one hamper is ⅝ bushel. By the time I am finished all the tomato products I will have gone through at least 10 hampers.

This afternoon I did a stock count of what tomato products were in the pantry and what I need to make. This is an important process for me because it forms a game plan that determines what products I make on a given day. Generally I like to keep those products that involve a lot of preparation like salsa and chili sauce to do at the same time. They take longer to prepare so less canner loads can be run in the day.

On this year's tomato products to can (click links for recipes):

• salsa - hot/medium/mild
• roasted tomato sauce
• tomato paste
• chili sauce
• pasta sauce (meatless)
• pasta sauce with meat
• whole tomatoes
• crushed tomatoes
• tomato soup (1), tomato soup (2)
• roasted tomato vegetable sauce
• tomato juice
• tomato cocktail*
• tomato fruit salsa*
• seafood sauce*
• creole sauce*
• pizza sauce
• picante sauce*
• chicken wing sauce*

* Recipes will be posted as I make these tomato products.

Jars

When I'm planning on doing a large amount of canning over a short period of time I do a jar assessment. I have a bit of preference for wanting a particular product all in one brand of jar not that it makes any difference other than mixing the old pint/quarts with the new 500 ml/L jars because the heights are different. At the moment, I am seriously low on 500 ml and 250 ml jars but I have enough L jars for the whole and crushed tomatoes. I also have enough 250 ml jars for a couple of the tomato products I want to process and enough 500 ml jars to at least start. So that means the first products out tomorrow are going to be whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, meatless or roasted tomato sauce. My husband is away tomorrow so will pick-up more jars and three more hampers of tomatoes Tuesday.

Ingredients

Processing tomatoes more so than any other produce means pantry eating and easy prep meals. The main reason for this is I try to get as many canner runs in per day as possible. That means early morning starts and long days that run into the early morning hours.

Sunday night's dinner started with three simple ingredients from the pantry - tomato soup, seasoned ground beef and elbow macaroni. With the addition of a couple more ingredients I had a tasty, nutritious and low cost dinner on the table in 15 minutes! These are the kind of meals I depend on when I'm busy canning.

Easy Pasta Dinner

Starting with the three ingredients pictured I added chopped Spanish onions, milk, fresh grated Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley for a quick but tasty meal. Despite being quick and easy to prepare the meal was a success. As far as costs go the entire meal cost just under $3 or 75¢ per serving making this an ideal budget stretching meal.

On the topic of budget stretch meals. Too often people thing that these kind of meals have to be plain or tasteless or boring. There is no need for them to be anything but tasty, satisfying and filling. Stir in home grown herbs or a little fresh grated Parmesan cheese or fresh ground pepper. Add a dash of hot pepper sauce or Worcestershire sauce to give a dish sparkle without adding a lot to the overall cost. If anything when trying to save money on your food budget, creativity can be a huge plus!

Method: Fill a large saucepan with water about half full. Add sea salt and a little olive oil. Bring to a boil. Stir in elbow noodles. While the noodles are cooking chop onions and cut parsley. When noodles are al dente, drain then return to saucepan. Pour in the tomato soup, a half jar of milk, ground beef and onions. Heat through. Ladle into a bowl. Top with fresh shredded Parmesan cheese and a sprig of parsley.

Beef Noodle Soup

As the weather gets gradually cooler, the soup pot becomes more enticing. I decided to make a pot of beef noodle soup yesterday. Most of the soups I make start with a vague idea of what I want then choose ingredients to get that result. The ingredients are always based on what I have on hand in the pantry and freezers. I used home canned carrots and beans to make this hearty soup.

Beef Noodle Soup

There is something comforting about any soup with noodles. Beef noodle soup is rich and flavourful, filling for the tummy and soothing for the soul. Pair with a hearty homemade bread and side salad for a wonderful cold weather dinner. This soup is very versatile so add what you have on hand then sit back and enjoy!

Beef Noodle Soup

1 large soup bone
2 lb stew beef
1 unpeeled onion
1 carrot
2 stocks celery
1 bay leaf
olive oil

2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbsp Montreal Steak spice
1 - 500 ml (2 c) jar carrot coins
1 - 500 ml (2 c) green beans
2 c nibblet corn
1 chopped onion
¼ c tomato paste

Cut carrot and celery into thirds. Cut onion in half. Place soup bone, bay leaf, onion, celery and carrot in medium size stock pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer until meat is tender. Remove bone. Pour stock through a strainer and return to stock pot. Top with water so stock pot is a little over half full. Cut meat from bone and return both meat and bone to the stock pot. Brown stew beef in a little olive oil. Cut meat into bite size pieces then add to the stock pot. Bring the meat and stock to a low boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes. Remove soup bone. Add remaining ingredients except for noodles. Bring to a boil. Add noodles. Continue cooking until noodles are cooked.

Chicken & Pasta Dinner

Sometimes the toss-it-together and see what happens meals just work. I think everyone has some type of version of these meals. Our new granddaughter now just 3 months old has been visiting, helping (ok her mom aka my daughter) me get the house in order for the perspective buyers. We spent a good portion of Wednesday decluttering and organizing. So when dinner came close I casually mentioned that I'm trying to make that meals use up ingredients from the freezer and canning rack. Honestly, the less stuff we have to move the better. Then the fun started!

Chicken & Pasta

Looking around we came up with a package of Italian pasta, homecanned mushrooms, homecanned roasted tomato sauce, frozen peas and frozen chicken legs. Lemon pepper and fresh grated parmesan cheese looked like it would work too. And thus the meal was in the works.

I fried the chicken in a little olive oil and seasoned it with lemon pepper then drained. At the same time the pasta was cooking until el dente. Once the chicken was cooked, I drained it then returned to the pan, poured in the frozen peas and mushrooms. Then I drained the pasta and put into a large bowl. The pasta was mixed with a pint of roasted tomato sauce then added to the chicken and vegetable mix. Topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese, the meal was quite delicious, just what we needed - good old fashion home cooking, nothing fancy but soothing after a day well spent!

Oh and I should mention, once again meals are about family. Between the three of us we managed to put a good meal on the table using what was on hand but the family bonding time was the best. At 3 months my grand daughter is being well acquainted with the kitchen!

Faux Lasagne

Anyone following my blogs will know I've been undergoing a lot of dental work at the moment. I'm dealing with a major and irrational phobia of dentists and we have no dental coverage. So that means we're paying for this torture out of our pockets and heaven helps us when my husband goes! After spending so many hours in the dentist's chair last week, I really only wanted soft foods. Honestly, when the freezing wore off the dental work itself didn't hurt just my jaw from keeping my mouth open so long and the multiple injection sites! Saturday, I was tired, irritable and still in discomfort that wasn't being helped by knowing I had another appointment on Monday so I decided to do a fly by meal.

Faux Lasagne

This dish started out as a faux lasagne or quick lasagne whatever you want to call it. I simply stood in front of my canning shelf to see what looked good. The roasted tomato sauce (method in archives) kind of popped out as did the mini lasagne noodles. The noodles are from Italy, made from durum wheat semolina and are about the size of broad egg noodles except with ruffled edges. Sorry, I don't read Italian but I find I like the Italian pastas better for texture. With two ingredients in hand I looked in the larger deep freezer and found a package of pre-cooked ground beef with mushrooms. One look into the refrigerator gave me my final ingredients, four kinds of cheese which meant I had a chance to play with the food shredder attachment for the KitcheAid® and have a bit of fun just creating. I didn't measure for the cheese but rather grated until it looked like enough. The cheeses were: colby, extra aged sharp cheddar, cheddar and fresh mozzarella.

Method: I cooked 1/2 package of the noodles while the meat was defrosting in the microwave and I grated the cheeses. Once the noodles were cooked, I drained those and poured into a large mixing bowl, poured on the sauce and cheese then stirred well. The mixture was poured into a large baking dish and baked at 350ºF until the cheese was well melted and bubbly.

Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries

Around Christmas, I saw cheese with cranberries or blueberries on a flyer. Since we are playing with cheeses, I really wanted to try this cheese. Well, with our new grand baby two days before Christmas and not being home much, the idea of cheese went on the back burner. However, one of my purchases after my last dental appointment was Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries. This is an English semi-hard cheese studded with cranberries and coated with a deep burgundy wax.

This is a wonderful snacking cheese! The flavour of the cranberries meld nicely with the slight tang of the cheese. I think this would be a nice appetizer cheese served by itself or perhaps a very light tasting cracker. At any rate, this is a definite cheese to try.

Sweet & Sour Country Style Ribs

We buy the majority of our meat in bulk, usually a hind quarter of beef and a half of pig. Sometimes I pick a particular cut I want at our local butcher shop. Since I don't grocery shop the way most do, I like checking out the meat section when I do get to a grocery store just in case I see something that strikes my fancy. The other day we were at Sam's Club so of course I had to check out the meat section.

Country Style Ribs

This package of pork shoulder Country Style Ribs looked too good to resist. The package was $11.69 for 7.04 lb cut into eight lovely sized ribs of about .90 lbs each. It will give us at least four meals for two people so is still on the frugal side at $2.90 per meal or $1.45 per rib. Served with plain white rice the entire meal is very frugal!

I vacuum sealed half the package for freezing then decided to sear the rest, put into the crockpot then add our favourite homemade sweet and sour sauce.

Searing

I'm not a huge fan of crockpots even though I have two. They see most of their use during bulk cooking sessions, making stew or keeping something warm when entertaining. Any meat that I put in the crockpot is always seared usually in olive oil. This adds a nicer depth in flavour and gives a better colour.

Normally I would have seared the ribs then bake in a clay baker at a low temperature until tender then add the sauce and bake uncovered until the sauce thicked. Last night I decided to try the crockpot instead. Everyone rants about how much they love their crockpot so I wanted to see if I could get similar results to the baking method. I seared the ribs in a hot pan with olive oil. Then I transferred the ribs to the crockpot and added just a little water to prevent sticking and set to high. I let them cook about 40 minutes then added the sauce.

Ready to Enjoy!

I used our favourite sweet & sour sauce. It was my mother-in-law's recipe and even though I tweak it a bit on occasion, I don't deviate by much. This sauce just seems to have the right balance using ingredients right from your pantry. This sauce is perfect for making sweet & sour meet balls, sweet & sour chicken wings and of course sweet & sour ribs. The minor deviations I have made include using dijon mustard instead of regular, using Worchestershire sauce instead of soy sauce, and adding a little extra vinegar. The deviations are always based on the meat I'm using. For this dish, I used the recipe in its original format.

Sweet & Sour Sauce
recipe by: my dear MIL

2 c ketchup
1/2 c vinegar
1/2 c brown sugar
dash of soy sauce
dash of mustard (about 1 tsp)
corn starch and water slurry

Wisk ingredients except corn sstarch slurry. Pour over the meat and continue cooking the desired length of time. Add the corn starch slurry to thicken during the last 15 to 20 minutes of cooking time.

White Cake

A simple white cake recipe is always perfect recipe as everything is usually on hand. It is pure and simple pantry cooking! It doesn't require fancy toppings or icings either. We like it with a little fresh whipped cream and berries.

This particular recipe has been a family favourite for years. I've tweaked it to where I have it the way I like. It is a rich cake that stands up nicely to fresh berries in syrup. What is nice about this recipe is it makes a smaller cake or 6 large cup cakes.

White Cake
source: unknown but tried and true

1 1/2 c flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c shortening
1 c granulated sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 c milk

Mix the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mixt shortening, sugar and eggs. Add vanilla. Add dry ingredients and milk alternately. Beat until smooth. Pour into an 8" x 8" well greased cake pan. Bake 45 minutes at 350ºF (325ºF convection). Top as desired.

My Notes: This recipe works well using silicone pans.

Bugs & Hamburger Soup

The day started out with very good intentions then quickly esculated to unneeded complications. But I did finish one large batch of a hamburger soup that will give us a couple of quick meals and a few meals in the freezer to help get through the next week.

Unidentified Bugs

Because of a rodent problem 99% of my dried foods are vacuum sealed in mason jars. I had exactly 6 bags of food in an upper cabinet that I didn't bother vacuum sealing because I knew I would be using them within a very short period of time and the chances of rodents getting up there are slim to none. What I didn't bank on was bugs!

It started innocently enough as I wanted to get my beans ready for sprouting. On the very back of the cabinet was what looked like a blotch of instant yeast. So my husband looked, deemed it dust, wiped it off and there you go. Except, I pulled out the only plastic bin I have in the cabinets. It held the 7 bags of of food: rice noodles, pot barley, bulger, couscous, gourmet wild rice, adzuki beans and balsami rice. Of those only the pot barley had been opened then secured with an elastichw ile the adzuki beans were in a zipper bag. Then I saw a lot more of the dust except it was moving! I don't know what these bugs were but I was not impressed at having to clean out an entire cabinet. The only thing that appears to have been affected was the barley so I don't know if they came in with the barley but I suspect so since it is a fairly new bag. At any rate, the new rule in our house is all dried foods will be vacuum sealed in mason jars.


We really need comfort, home cooking right now so I decided to whip up a batch of this thick soup. I've been making this dish ever since the kids were knee high to a grasshopper and it is a family favourite. What to call this dish has always been a question. My family refers to it as Mommy's Surprise and they likely aren't too far off. This is one of my home made versions of hamburg helper so anything is fair game including beans and barley. I'm making a 15 quart batch as I'm typing this entry. I'll keep enough in the fridge for a couple of meals and freeze the rest.

Hamburger Soup aka Mommy's Surprise

As mentioned this is one of our favourite, most requested meal during the winter. Don't let the picture fool you, there is 15 quarts of yummy soup in that pot. This dish freezes nicely even though it has noodles in it. We like it served with grated cheddar cheese on top and homemade sourdough (recipe will be posted shortly). This really is pantry cooking at it's best. The result is awesome, family friendly and can be made with ingredients from your pantry or freezer.

This is a method rather than a recipe but you could likely formulate a recipe from it. The base is always the same:

2 lb lean ground beef, browned and drained
1 qt vegetable stock
2 med onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2-3 qts stewed tomatoes

First brown the ground beef and drain. Pour that into a large stock pot and add the other ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add about 4 oz of tomato paste and 2 quarts of water.

Now here is where it gets fun and you can raid the fridge, freezer or pantry to your heart's content. Note, if using left-overs, frozen or canned vegetables proceed as following if using fresh add every thing at once.

vegetables of choice: our favourites are - corn, garden peas, green beans, potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini and carrots
beans: optional but kidney and lima beans are quite nice, use homecanned or commercial for quick cooking
herbs: chives and thyme are nice, or use a bayleaf then remove before serving
pasta*: toss in a couple of handfuls of broad egg noodles

*substitute rice or barley for the pasta or if you want add those too

Sorry I can't be more specific. I don't measure but simply toss much like many of our family favourites. For those who have read through my blog, you will immediately know that is my style.

Glazed Carrots & Pantry Cooking

We leave on the 16th for our winter vacation and will return on the 25th. With the new grandbaby and everything else going on I decided to rely as much as possible on pantry and freezer cooking. I want the fridge as empty as possible when we leave so that means no new food coming in if at all possible. This is one reason that I keep a multitude of ready to use homemade meals in my freezers. In fact just this past weekend I was able to put a lasagne together without even going to the grocery store and it was all homemade other than the noodles. All was from the freezer and pantry so that was pretty nice. I think the only way I could have improved was to have it ready to go in the freezer which is what I usually do.

What I hadn't planned on doing was canning however the opportunity presented itself through a very generous gift of just over sixteen pounds of fresh carrots. I could not let this opportunity pass by so decided to can a few jars of herb glazed and plain carrots. A nice bowl of buttered carrots for the fridge sounded enticing too.

Buttered & Canned Carrots

The instructions for canning plain carrots are in the blog archives. Still, I can't help showing today's session off as they look so nice in the jars. I ended up with eight pints of plain carrots and a good amount of buttered carrots.

Buttered carrots are simply boiled or steamed carrot coins, drained then salt and butter added while still hot and allowed to cool. I make these any chance I get then keep them in the fridge for a quick side. They warm-up in the microwave easily. They also vacuum seal well in boilable bags for freezing. I have dressed them up by stirring in honey and rosemary.

Herb Glazed Carrots

Glazed carrots are always a nice treat to have on hand. I like adding herbs to mine instead of leaving them plain. For this batch I made three using dried rosemary and three with dried parsley. The amount of each herb used was 1/2 teaspoon. If you want a thicker sauce just heat and thicken with a cornstarch slurry. I find a bit of butter when reheating just gives the right flavour too.

Glazed Carrots
Source: Ball Blue Book, 2005. Pp. 75

6 1/2 pounds carrots
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups water
1 cup orange juice

Wash and peel carrots. Wash again. Cut carrots into 3 inch pieces. Slice thicker ends in half lengthwise. Combine brown sugar,
water and orange juice in a saucepot. Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Keep syrup hot. Pack carrots tightly into hot jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Ladle hot syrup over carrots, leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two- piece caps. Process pints and quarts 30 minutes at 10 pounds pressure in a steam-pressure canner.


Pantry Meal

As mentioned previously I'm cooking from pantry and freezers only without buying anything if possible. Last night's pantry cooking included from the freezer fancy potatoes, turkey slices sauteed mushrooms and from the canning rack a jar of home grown green beans. It wasn't a fancy meal but it was healthy, home cooked and quick to prepare. I really enjoy meals like these especially when things are busy so I keep a lot of pre-cooked ready-to-use homemade dishes on hand. I like to flash freeze then vacuum seal.

There is just enough turkey left-over to make a creamed turkey casserole for tomorrow night's dinner. It's a really easy comfort meal to make, one I got from my mother in law. I cook the rice in turkey stock then stir in homemade mushroom soup from the freezer but you can use canned mushroom soup if you wish. Then I stir in left-over turkey pieces, frozen peas and a little milk. The casserole is topped with a bit of fresh grated parmesan cheese then baked. This is a quick and very economical meal to make. Rich and creamy...true comfort food!