Food Budgetry

Make Way for Lots o' Lettuce!

2014-08-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

Lauren and I have always dabbled in salads for dinner, providing a nice break from the average spaghetti or rice dish. So the other night we decided to make a good dinner salad and found ourselves without any greens of any kind and not much else in the way of veggies. Earlier that afternoon a friend of ours had come by the trailer and reminded us that it was food bank day. As we had our card to the food bank already and knew we had enough gas to get there, we went to check it out.

There was quite a variety of baking supplies, breads, chips and such. We got a bag of bagels and come cupcake liners, then went on to the fresh vegetables where they had carrots and big bags of lettuce, both of which we got.

Lots o' lettuce!

When we got home, I turned my attention on the lettuce, dividing to what turned out to be three gallon-sized realizing plastic bags. Whoa! that was going to be a lot of salads! Obviously lettuce is not freezable and it won't keep forever in the fridge so I decided to see how many ways I could use lettuce in a very non-traditional way. What vegetables could be substituted with lettuce? Can I cook with lettuce? Can I toss lettuce into a warm dish to give it a fresh juicy crunch?

Below is what I've come up with so far.

Each time I come up with a new way to use lettuce,

I will pose the link below:

Egg Lettuce Tacos

Egg Lettuce Tacos

2014-08-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

I was hungry this morning and kind of wanted a taco. Had tortillas, but what to put in them... What I had the most of, in the fridge, was eggs and lettuce. Ok, why not? Pair up with a corn tortilla and you have a quick, yummy breakfast... or lunch or whenever. It turned out great... I'll make this again! There is definitely room to play with the taco filling too.

Egg Lettuce Tacos

1 corn tortilla
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 t olive oil
1 medium handful of lettuce
a few sprinkles of garlic powder and onion powder
salt and pepper
hot sauce (optional)

In a microwaveable bowl add oil and coat bottom of bowl. Add egg and season to taste with onion and garlic powders, salt and pepper. Tear up any extra large pieces of lettuce and add whole handful into the egg. Mix thoroughly until lettuce is well coated.

Put bowl in microwave for 30 seconds on high. Stir to re-incorporate egg and lettuce. Egg should be thickened but not completely cooked. Lay tortilla on a microwaveable plate (I just used a cheap disposable plate). Top with egg mixture. Microwave for another 30 seconds.

Fold taco style and nosh

It mostly tastes like the egg. The lettuce gives it a slightly juicy texture as it maintains most of its crunch.

You can change out or add different ingredients... Next time I make this I might do green onion and cheese along with the lettuce. Instead of lettuce, I could use steamed broccoli, kale, collards, spinach, sauteed cabbage, peas.... the list of possibilities are endless... use up leftover vegetables from the previous night... on and on. Change out the hot sauce for BBQ sauce, avacado, pico de gallo, ranch dressing, whatever sounds good

Confetti Rice

2012-11-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

The inspiration of this dish came from having a bunch of little bits of carrot, onion, garlic and other things. Once all veggies were chopped, and mixed with rice, they looked like confetti! the beauty of this dish is you can use up any bits of leftover vegetable, fresh, frozen or from dinner the night before and because you're using instant rice, you don't need to worry about overcooking.

Confetti Rice

Ingredients:

2c chopped veggies, any that you have available (I used green onion, tomato, carrot, and garlic. I also had two single serving packages of frozen vegetables in sauce that needed using up, plus a partial package of ramen with the broth packet.)

1c instant rice
1 1/2c hot water
2T vegetable oil for sauteing

In medium saucepan, heat oil, and chopped vegetables. (Note: I put my crushed up ramen in after the vegetables were almost done. Then added the broth packet and mix together.)

Mix in rice then add hot water. Bring to boil, then remove from heat. Cover and let sit 10 minutes.

Served with Chicken Kabobs with Roasted Broccoli.

Saucy Sausage Pizza

2012-04-06T09:01:00.016-07:00

Is it a wind in the air?

No, you can taste it, smell it ... the unrelenting craving... this time a ferocious one.

Pizza!

Ok, no funds for order in or take out. So how do we deal with this situation?

Simple. Go to the pantry. Go to the freezer and fridge. Make a pizza.

From the Pantry:

I recommend doing this.... my recipe for Dough for One, is in reality just dry ingredients, to which, just add water. So I started pre-measuring the dry ingredients, of my recipe, into quart zip lock baggies, therefore, when needed, I can just add water.

I grab my baggie of pre-measured bread ingredients, add my 3/4 c water and mixed my pizza dough. (A little extra flour was needed as the recipe says, but dough still turned out great). Dough was set aside to rise for about one and a half hours.

Once risen, the dough was flattened into a sheet pan form. I pricked the dough with a fork, drizzled lightly with olive oil, and generously seasoned with:

oregano
Italian seasoning
onion powder
garlic powder
salt
pepper

Also from the pantry:

1 4oz can sliced black olives

In 375 degree oven dough was par-baked for 7 minutes.

From the Freezer:

1 lb sausage (whatever kind you like)

From the Fridge:

1/2 medium onion coarsely chopped
shredded cheese... any that you have. I used the last of three bags of cheeses (still good of course): mozzarella, parmesan, sharp cheddar.
ketchup... enough to spread over the dough

While the dough was rising, Nut browned up the thawed sausage. It smelled great, and once it was browned he nibbled whenever he thought he was out of reach of my wooden spoon!

Meanwhile, I started soaking the chopped onion in a coffee mug, in a simple brine of:

1t salt
1t sugar

... and filled to cover with water. This was just to take the edge off the onion. They sat in the brine for about 30 minutes and were drained before adding to the pizza.

The crust is out of the oven, and time to assemble the pizza.

Ketchup...all over the crust. Then sprinkle with all of the spices listed above. Then whatever order you want, the following toppings.

(remember, you can use any toppings to your taste. This is just what Nut and I did this night)

parmesan
onions
olives
sausage
cheddar
mozzerella

Then bake for 25 minutes 375 degrees. Let rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing it up.

Taste Tester Results: Yummy! He even liked it for breakfast this morning!

Chicken Kabobs with Roasted Broccoli

2012-03-03T17:02:00.015-07:00

Our large freezer is in need of de-icing, which means I'm really trying to use up any partial bags, at least to start. I had a bag with 8 smallish tenderloins, which I decided to make into dinner. I was getting tired with the casserole idea, and we just had a stew, so no on soup either. I wanted to do something different. Kabobs?

Chicken Kabobs

Ingredients

8 small chicken tenderloins (if frozen, thaw before using)
onion powder
garlic powder
salt
pepper
oregano
olive oil

In a gallon plastic bag, put chicken tenderloins. Sprinkle liberally with onion and garlic powders. Add a good pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Next add enough olive oil to generously coat chicken. Squish the bag to distribute the spices and thoroughly coat each piece of chicken. Set aside for about 20 minutes for the chicken to absorb the flavor of the seasonings. Meanwhile prepare broccoli for Roasted Broccoli (recipe below). If you are using bamboo skewers, time to get them soaking now too.

After 20 minutes, thread your tenderloins onto your skewers. I got two decent sized kabobs, which was perfect for just Nut and me.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Roasted Broccoli

Ingredients

1 medium head broccoli, cut into long stemmed florettes
olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
garlic powder
salt
pepper
parmesan cheese, shredded

In plastic bag or bowl, toss broccoli with olive oil, lemon juice, a heavy dusting of garlic powder, good pinch of salt and 3-4 grinds of pepper.

Transfer broccoli to cookie sheet, leaving room for the chicken kabobs a bit later. Cover loosely with foil.

Baking Them Both

In preheated oven, place broccoli and bake for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove broccoli from oven. Uncover and stir. Add chicken to cookie sheet. Return to oven for 35 minutes, turning chicken chicken and stirring broccoli half way through. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle parmesan over broccoli while still hot.

Serve with Confetti Rice.

The Stew that Grew into a 5 lb Casserole!

2012-03-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

The Stew

It was in the air. A storm was coming (well, for Arizona standards). First came a day of ferocious winds. The next day it was supposed to rain. This spelled a piping hot, fragrant beef stew simmering in the crockpot. I brave the wind to get some stew meat out of the freezer. Tomorrow is stew. That morning I will get out the mixed vegetables.

Ingredients

1.5 pounds beef stew meat
1 pkg frozen mixed vegetables for soups and stews, containing lima beans, corn, carrots, celery, onion, okra, green beans. You can really use whatever to your taste and what is on hand.
1 14.5oz can chopped tomatoes, unsalted, in juice
1/2c flour
garlic powder
onion powder
oregano
Italian seasoning
fresh ground pepper
3 bay leaves
worchestershire sauce
1/2 box beef stock

Putting it Together

Add thawed stew meat to crockpot (no need to brown ahead of time). Next add the flour. Mix together until all the flour is incorporated with the beef. Now the seasonings.

I didn't give measurements, because I didn't measure the spices.

Here's what I did do: For the garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, Italian seasoning, and pepper, just sprinkle liberally over the entire top surface of the meat/flour mixture. Then mix those seasonings into the meat/flour mixture as well.

Add undrained can of tomatoes, thawed vegetable combo, 5-6 good dashes of worchestershire sauce, bay leaves, and beef stock. Stir until well combined.

Cover and set to high, and have a great day until dinner. I started mine at 9am and we ate at 3pm, so 6 hours should be great.

Beef was so tender, flavor was savory with just the right herb hint to the thick broth.

Notes: As you approach serving time, a couple things:

Give a taste. You may want to add some salt and extra pepper. We did and we did!
At the six hour mark, turn your crockpot off and let sit for maybe 15 minutes. This should allow it to cool enough so that no one burns their mouth in their first bite.

This is a very hearty stew, which can stand alone. However, if you prefer bread with it, try out this very easy bread recipe. It is so quick to put together, and if you don't have a warm place for the dough to rise, put it next to your crockpot. Mine radiates quite a bit of heat...so much so that in summer months I don't use it indoors, I put it outside so extra heat is not trapped indoors.

Taste Tester Results: Nut loved this stew. He kept saying over and over how great the beef came out. That's my carnivore!

...and now we have leftovers!

We have a favorite recipe which is a meat-only chili with cheddar cheese topped with cornbread. This is one of Nut's favs. (I'll get the recipe on this site soon)

We decided to adapt that idea to the leftover stew. I decided to go a bit further and make a cornbread casserole for the topper.

The cornbread casserole was a recipe I got from Food.com. This is abnormal for me but I really didn't change it much other than the cooking time, and omision of the cayenne pepper. My Nut doesn't like it hot!...Oh and I added more butter.

Cornbread Casserole

1 14.5oz can corn, drained
1 14.5oz can creamed corn
1 box cornbread mix
1/2t garlic powder
3T butter melted

Mix all ingredients together.

Assembly of Beef Stew Cornbread Casserole

Cheese. Whatever you have. I had a bit of shredded cheddar, and a small piece of mozzarella that I pulled into shreds. Scatter all this over the stew. I also added some shredded parmesan cheese as well, but whatever cheese you have, put it in!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a well greased 9x11 pan, (or I used that nonstick foil which worked great), pour all leftover stew into the pan. We had about half the recipe of stew leftover. Add your cheese. Then pour over your cornbread casserole. This is optional, but I sprinkled some paprika over the top just to make it more pretty.

Warning! This pan is going to be heavy, so be ready. I'm estimating it was at least 5 pounds! This is a very inexpensive way to feed a serious bunch of people.

Put in oven for 1hr. Cornbread topping should be slightly crispy and browned. Take out and let sit for 10 minutes. Cut into squares and let the yummy noises begin!

Taste Tester Results: "Mmm..Hmmm!" He doesn't talk with his mouth full. Good sign. You still get the beef stew flavor, but then the mild sweetness of the corn casserole comes through and the stringy cheese. It was yummy.

But guess what... more leftovers!!

Part Two coming soon!

Hamburgers Down Memory Lane

2012-03-01T08:27:00.006-07:00

Food has a way of bringing back memories. In this case, today was a busy day, so Nut helped out with dinner, making one of his favorite go to dishes, hamburgers. It was just a burger for each of us, so it was not worth firing up the grill for just that. So he pan fried them, warmed the buns in the microwave, and we each dressed our own.

Now the memory. Nut and I have been in and out of penny pinching phases our whole lives together. During one such time, our favorite thing to do was hop in the car and go for a drive (gas was much cheaper back then). It gave a little escape, a mental vacation before we had to go back to the reality of our financial hardship.

The first stop would usually be to top off the tank. While we were at the gas station, we would pick up a burger for breakfast. They were 2/$1.00, and had a little mini bar of condiments and toppings that you could dress your own burger before you paid for it. There was no limit to how much you could put on your burger, so, along with the usual mustard and ketchup, I would pile high with onion, pickle, and pickled jalapeno.... salad and a burger in one.

So tonight when I dressed my burger, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and loaded on the pickles and onions. We didn't have any pickled jalapeno, but I did break form and sneak a slice of tomato.

Tonight I'm the taste tester because Nut cooked the burgers. I say it was yummy, maybe because this time, the burgers were fresh!

Old Fashioned Pork Chops

2012-02-27T17:19:00.007-07:00

Sometimes it just sounds good... good and old fashioned. Now this is even if you don't have much time for dinner. Straightforward pork chops, steamed broccoli, and stuffing from store bought mix. Here's how it went down:

First the pork chops: About a half hour before I was going to start cooking dinner, I noticed that my package of pork chops was only half thawed. I had an idea... benefit was two-fold. I remember back to my and Nut's Alaska days and salt was used to thaw ice from roads... we used it on our driveway and porch. It worked really well. I looked down at my half frozen chops and decided I was going to employ the same idea. I took them out of the package and put them on the cookie sheet on which they were going to be baked. Then just sprinkled with salt. In my head, this would thaw the meat, and season it as well.

It worked!

In 20 minutes they were ready for the rest of their seasonings:

garlic powder
onion powder
pepper

In a preheated 450 degree oven they baked for 15 minutes per side.

While they baked, I had some sliced mushrooms in the fridge. I sauteed a couple handfuls in 1T butter and once they were just starting to caramelize I seasoned with salt and pepper, sauteed one more minute, then deglazed with a bit of stock (I used beef stock, but you can use any that you have). This served as the topping to the finished pork chops.

The broccoli and stuffing didn't need a lot of attention. I steamed the broccoli for about 8 minutes or until tender crisp. I used fresh, but if you have one of those steam pouches from the freezer, even easier! The stuffing was just prepared according to package directions.

Affirmative in my Taste Tester's likeability scale... although I think he liked the leftovers the next day even better!

Chef-style Meets Chopped Salad

2012-02-27T12:59:00.008-07:00

Two salads in one.

A dressed chopped salad is topped chef salad style with larger sized pieces of more vegetables, and boiled eggs.

The Chopped Salad:

All ingredients chop into small bite sized pieces. This is all about what is on hand in the fridge. The following is what I made our dinner-sized salads with.

iceberg lettuce
cucumber, peeled and seeded
spring onion
broccoli stems (reserve florettes for next part of salad)

Dress salad with dressing of your choice and seasoning with salt and pepper. I also added crunchy salad topping (the one with the sunflowers and baco bits. Also chopped nuts would be good here)

Chef-style Salad Topping:

roma tomato, cut into wedges
had boiled, cut into wedges
cucumber, peeled seeded and cut into spears
broccoli florettes, separated into bite size

Arrange on top of chopped salad, grab a fork and crunch away!

Sometimes a mega salad just sounds good. Last night was one of those nights. This salad was surprisingly filling, making us glad we didn't accompany the meal with any bread. It sure hit the spot!

Taste Tester Results: "Honey this is good!" He seemed in disbelief that he was saying that about a mere salad, but hey... I'll take it!!

Split Pea Mushroom Burgers

2012-02-24T11:10:00.029-07:00

This recipe is loosely based on a split pea burger recipe from Alton Brown of Foodnetwork. Making burgers was the only way I could think of to repurpose the leftover split pea soup.

Hint: I had put the leftover split pea soup in the freezer, so needed to take it out a day ahead of time. While waiting for it to defrost, I made the mushroom and rice mixtures, and put them in containers in the fridge until tonight. That made preparation a little easier, and that goodness, because today was a full day.

The Mushrooms:

mushrooms sliced - I think I used about 4oz
5 cloves garlic cloves chopped
1/4c onion chopped
dried oregano
dried thyme
butter
salt
pepper
splash of beer (just to deglaze)

Saute mushrooms, garlic and onion in butter until beginning to soften. Add oregano, thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Cook off liquid from mushrooms and deglaze with any liquid you have handy... water, wine... Nut was beside me drinking a beer, so he contributed a splash.

Rice:

1/2c brown rice
1t coriander
1t cumin
1 chicken bouillon cube (Any style of bouillon will do. If using a cube, I would suggest grinding it into a powder first. I used a liquid chicken base.)
1 1/2c water

Combine first four ingredients In saucepan and heat until smelling toasty. Then add water. Bring to boil, then simmer for about 45 minutes. Remember brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice.

Split Peas:

leftover split pea soup.... I would estimate I had about four cups leftover.
dry bread crumbs

Combine mushroom mixture, rice mixture, and three heaping palms of breadcrumbs into the split pea soup. Season with salt and pepper. Put the pea mixture in fridge for at least 30 minutes
to thicken.

Burgers:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Form the chilled burger mixture into 1/2" thick burgers roughly the size of the bun you're using. I was able to get 10 burgers. Dredge burgers in more breadcrumbs and set them on cookie sheet with either parchment or non-stick foil to avoid sticking. Drizzle each patty with olive oil (vegetable oil works too) and season with salt, pepper, and I used garlic and onion powder as well, but this is optional. Bake for 30 minutes. Gently turn patties over and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Burgers will be brown and crispy on the outside and a softer texture on the inside.

Your burgers are now ready. Tonight we had ours on buns with normal hamburger fixins. Had mayo on mine with lettuce, onion, tomato, and dill pickles. Yum!

Taste Tester Results: My favorite carnivore said the burgers had good flavor. He was proving that notion later when I caught him sneeking some nibbles from the leftover burgers. Always a good sign!

Poutine Fusion

2012-02-24T10:02:00.021-07:00

Poutine. Fries, cheese curds, gravy.

What if you want to make this dish, but need to submit to the ingredients on hand, incorporate vegetables and still make the gravy rich and delicious? Fusion. Mixing different flavors to create one amazing end result.... Hey Nut liked it!!

The gravy:

1/2c onion, chopped
1/4c celery chopped
1c mushrooms, chopped
2T teriaki sauce
2 pinches red pepper flakes (or according to taste. 2 pinches does add a bit of heat)
1T butter
1T vegetable oil
2t sesame oil
flour about 1/2c
beef broth 1/2 box
1t malt vinegar (any type will do, this is just what I used)
1t brown sugar

The gravy is the element of this dish which takes the longest...chopping the veggies mostly, but it's still not so bad. I like to make the gravy early in the day (a perfect weekend meal). The reason being, it makes the gravy even better if it sits for a couple hours after finished.

Here's how it was done:

Heat the two oils with butter, then add the four vegetables and the teriaki sauce. Saute until caramelized. Add flour. Yes, it's going to look crumbly. Don't worry. Once the flour has been incorporated, add broth. Stir and stir, watch it thicken. If it seems too thick to your liking, simply add more broth and continue to simmer. Add vinegar and brown sugar. Continue to simmer, about 15 minutes. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper. Take off heat and set aside until you're ready to assemble the final meal. Important: Heat back up before final assembly.

mozzarella cheese cut in long thick strips
cheddar cheese (I used shredded sharp)
tater tots

Bake tater tots according to package directions. Portion into bowls. Scatter mozzarella strips atop the hot tots, then your steaming, reheated gravy over all. Let sit a minute or two to let the heat from the tater tots and gravy melt the cheese.

Now chow down! This is a very filling dish. Unless you have quite a few mouths to feed there will be leftovers. I didn't get a pic of the assembled plate... just picture a hot, warm, brown plate of comforting messy goodness....looking very similar to this pic of yummy leftovers.

Taste Tester Results: I made it a bit spicy for Nut's taste, but he said he would like to try a more savory version. Will do, honey!

I think this could turn into a very versatile dish. Just change out types of potato, sauce and cheese, and you'll have a different, but still inexpensive dish.

Awesome Pizza SauceMakes French Bread Pizza Awesome!

2012-02-23T09:57:00.038-07:00

For a long time, I've been striving to make a good pizza sauce. I've come close a few times, but still I ended up liking other pizza sauces better. That is until last night.

The sauce was inspired by a Youtube video of Chef Scott Conant preparing a lovely tomato pasta sauce for guest Ted Allen. It sounded so delicious that I just had to try it myself. One problem. I didn't have all the ingredients. So what do I always do when that happens?

I improvised. If you notice from the video, Chef Scott uses the best fresh roma tomatoes, fresh basil and of course great olive oil. I had canned tomatoes, dried italian seasoning and oregano and cheap olive oil from Walmart. It was his method I loosely tried to mimic. It turned out great!

Here's what I did...

Ingredients:

1 14 oz can chopped tomatoes in juice, no salt added, undrained
5 cloves garlic thinly sliced
dried Italian seasoning
oregano
olive oil
red pepper flakes (He used a pinch in his sauce. I forgot to put them in and it was still great so if you don't prefer a bit of heat, no worries. Also if you don't have red pepper flakes, I'm sure a dash or two of hot sauce would be ok. Just don't overpower. You want to taste the other flavors.)

My Version of Chef Scott's Method:

In medium saucepan, add garlic slices and enough olive oil to cover garlic. you don't want toasted garlic, just softened and adding its flavor to the oil. Heat on medium heat until oil starts to sizzle slightly, then remove briefly from heat. Swirl pan. Back on heat. Repeat until you can really smell the garlic, but garlic is still soft. Take off heat and set aside. The resulting garlic oil will be used two ways. Unlike Chef Scott I kept the garlic in the oil. Since my sauce was being used for pizza not pasta, it added some chunky garlic goodness.

Now the Bread:

I used a section of leftover baguette. Cut lengthwise into two halves. Brush each half generously some of the garlic oil. Next, sprinkle each half with dried oregano. Set aside and prepare the rest of the pizza toppings.

The Sauce:

To the pan of leftover garlic oil and garlic, add the can of tomatoes, one palm or approx 1t ea of dried Italian seasoning and oregano, plus a pinch of red pepper flakes if using. Let simmer a bit to reduce the tomato juice a bit. Then start mashing the tomatoes. I started with a spoon, then went on to a potato masher. Continue to simmer a bit more until a thick sauce has been achieved. Remove from heat. After sauce has cooled for about 10 minutes, add two handfuls of grated parmesan cheese. The cheese will help bind sauce and garlic oil together.

Toppings:

This, naturally is up to you. There few things more personal than what a person prefers on a pizza. I went with what we had on hand, which happily coincided with what we were wanting anyway:

chopped white onion
sliced black olives
pepperoni
parmesan
mozzarella

Assembly:

There's no right or wrong on assembling a pizza. A crust, sauce, then whatever you want however you want how much you want.

Our pizza sauce is chunky. I ended up splitting between the two baguette halves. It stood up well and actually took on a topping element as well as a sauce. The onion and olives were scattered over both halves. Then came the pepperoni and the mozzarella.

First a layer of pepperoni over the veggies.
Then generous slices of mozzarella.
Finally another layer of pepperoni.

Nut was in heaven, especially after stealing a few slices of pepperoni! He also decided on his half, he wanted parmesan topping his pepperoni. No rules, remember?

Time to Bake:

Our French bread pizzas baked at 375 for 20 minutes with 5 minutes under the broiler. Once your beautiful pizza creations are our of the oven, remember to let them sit for at least 5 minutes. All that cheese is seriously hot. No one wants a blistered mouth! It will still be plenty hot for dinnertime.

Taste Tester Results: "Honey you can do this again!"

Score!!

Split Pea Soup - A Comfy Blanket in a Bowl

2012-02-20T14:38:00.004-07:00

I love these chop and drop crockpot meals. They are so quick to prepare, which is perfect even for a busy schedule despite the long cooking time. It took 15 minutes to assemble this soup. that was it, dinner was done. Turn the crockpot to low, and leave it for 10 hours. The only effort needed before serving is handling of the ham hocks. I'll talk about that in a little later.

Here's the ingredients. Again I'm not really doing measurements because this is also another use it up recipe. If you have partial bags of veggies, this is a great way to use them up.

Peas:

1 1lb bag of green split peas (this can be done with yellow split peas as well, but I've found that they take longer to cook, so if using the yellow ones, an overnight pre-soak might be in order to get that traditional, creamy split pea soup consistency).

Veggies (all chopped):

carrots
onion
celery

Seasonings:

fresh ground pepper
ground thyme
dried oregano
fresh sliced garlic
chicken boullion

Note: if you don't have thyme or oregano but do have Italian seasoning, that will work great as well.

Meat:

Ham hocks. I got mine at my local grocery store, but I have a tip. Ham hocks impart great flavor, but they're not so great on giving much meat. Still when selecting your hocks, try to find the meatiest looking ones you can. I tried this time, but the amount of meat was not substantial for this big crock of soup. Luckily Nut had just baked up some bacon this morning. So he broke up a few slices into the soup, and it was perfect. The star of this soup is of course the split peas but just a little bit of smokiness is nice. This can be a way of using up a bit of leftover meat as well. I really cannot think of anything that would not work! Also if you are a vegetarian... no worries!! This soup is still very satisfying without the meat, and takes on a bit of a sweeter flavor and very pleasing.

Process:

There's nothing to it. Chop and drop your veggies. Dump in your peas, seasonings and the ham hocks, if using. Fill the crockpot about 1 1/2 inches above all that, cover, set to low, and forget it until it's time for dinner. I would suggest cooking for 10 hours. that's what we did and it turned out great.

Accompaniments:

Nut made a simple but awesome garlic bread which simply was a bit of sliced french bread, spread with butter and seasoned with a bunch of garlic powder and a bit of onion powder.

There is a possibility for amazing sprinkles for this soup as well. Here are a few examples:

chopped tomatoes
chopped green onions
chopped apple
bacon bits and/or salad crunchies (you find them by the salad dressings in the grocery store)
chopped cucumbers
pretty much whatever you have on hand that sounds good. Don't be afraid to try new flavors!

Bottom line, I hope you have a comforting, soul satisfying meal. This soup is great if you're not feeling well or just need a culinary hug.

Taste tester results: Nut likes!

Veggie Tuna Cheddar Melt - Drippy Gooey Style

2012-02-18T17:29:00.001-07:00

Veggie prep starts here.

Lots of ingredients today... Some to use up, some to yummy it up!

From the fridge:

leftover cream gravy
a partial head of bok choy
sliced dill pickles
basic veggies: onion carrot celery
mayo
sour cream
dijon mustard

From the pantry:

1 6oz can of tuna in water
baguette
dry dill weed
fresh ground pepper
sea salt

From the freezer:

a bag of shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream gravy, fresh ground pepper, and dill weed.

Slice baguette horizontally. Hollow our the thicker top rounded half and save that bread for later to toast for croutons or bread crumbs. Spread each half with cream gravy. Season each half with fresh ground pepper and dried dill weed.

Separate green leaves from bok choy and reserve until later. Chop finely, the stalks and rest of veggies. (I didn't give amounts for the veggies because this is a "use it up" recipe so eyeball it according to what you have available.) I also take the center leaves of the celery and add them to the bok choy leaves.

To the chopped veggies, add drained canned tuna and break up with a fork. Add a spoonful each mayo and sour cream, followed with a healthy squirt of dijon mustard. Add fresh ground pepper to taste and a tiny bit of salt. (There's more saltiness to come, so careful.) Mix together.

The prep for the his and hers.

To the hollowed out side of baguette, fill with the tuna salad. To the flat side of baguette, sprinkle on the cheese.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The bread will come out crispy on the outside but still have some fresh give to the inside.

Nut wanted his open face with extra cheese.

Now here's where it get's versatile for different family member tastes. I wanted my half in the form of a sandwich which meant I would add a small salad of the bok choy and celery leaves plus some sliced dill pickles. Nut wanted his opened faced just as it came out of the oven. This is the perfect meal to provide options. Idea: make the sandwich to the point where it comes out of the oven. Cut each side o the baguette in matching 2in sections and let family members dress their sandwiches to their tastes. Additional garnishes could include radishes, green onions, or olives. You could have a tuna melt bar! This is also a very filling sandwich, so I would suggest some cut veggies as a side... something light.

I had to put most of those chips back!

Note: When Nut had his half open face, he didn't end up with a messy plate. The bread captured all the drippies. Although delicious, with my version, I ended up with a very messy plate. Tuckie was very happy with what we put down for him to lick! An answer to the drippy mess factor might be to go lighter on the condiments going into the salad. I also think I over filled them a bit so again, go according to your taste.

Taste tester results: I had lots of yummy noises from Nut and tail wagging licks from Tuckie. That's a positive to keep trying to evolve this recipe. One thing I noticed is that Nut really liked his open half of bread that only had the cream gravy and cheddar cheese on it. The biggest yummy noises came from that!

Butter, Cheese, Better

2012-02-11T17:13:00.011-07:00

It was a wonderful casserole. We had leftovers.

Here's what we did.

Butter and some leftover cheese.

Any fans of the crispiness of baked pasta are going to love this!

It was just a matter of sprinkling the top of the leftover casserole with cubes of both butter and cheese, popping it in the oven to warm up. The butter moistened the casserole, and the cheese gave a salty, creamy addition.

A simple salad and we had dinner.

btw my taste tester likes the crispy part of the pasta the best!

Penne-Brocco Chicken

2012-02-11T11:17:00.014-07:00

We have our leftover sensuous roast chicken and now again we have leftovers.

we have chicken, picked off the bone
from the pantry: penne pasta
from the freezer: a steam-pak of chopped broccoli and the last of a package of parmesan
from the fridge: the last of a can of milk, maybe 1/4c

After boiling and draining the pasta and steaming the broccoli, everything gets tossed together. I thought the mixture seemed a bit dry, so I added some leftover cream gravy.

After tossed together and into a casserole pan, it really seemed necessary to put a crunch on the top. What do we have?

melted butter
puffed rice cereal

Sprinkle rice cereal on the top of your tossed casserole and pour the melted butter over the top. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes depending on the power of your oven. Us living in a trailer, our oven cooks on the cool side.

Dirty Rice Mexi-style with a hint of Chopped

2012-02-11T08:51:00.015-07:00

And one again we have our list of mystery leftovers.

Today's lunch ingredients include:

leftover taco meat from Nacho Night
a frozen container of single serving corn
green onion
converted rice

The assembly was easy.

cook up enough rice for 2 cups cooked rice
cook corn container according to directions. It took three minutes in my 700 watt microwave.
chop up 2-3 green onions, depending on taste
warm up taco meat

Toss all ingredients together. It's surprising good and comforting.

Judges?

Taste Tester Results: "Mmmmm..." that's all I could get out of him. That could be a thumbs up!

Notes: this could be a platform for additional flavors. Here's what comes to mind right now:

green chiles
chopped fresh tomatoes
leftover chopped vegetables, broccoli might be nice

What would be chopped? Maybe some cheese to melt over the leftovers as they are warming up.

Chicken Dinner, A Sensory Adventure

2012-02-09T14:57:00.013-07:00

You know the saying, "chicken in every pot..."

Yesterday we were gifted a chicken to which we are very grateful.

Tonight we have a chicken in a pan, baking in an oven where we have no idea at what temperature we are baking. We are learning a lesson here. This is a lesson of cooking by sight and smell... mainly smell.

Why? The reason is here.

The menu was roast chicken and potatoes. I sprinkled the chicken with the "big four", (garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper). I cut a lemon in half and stuffed it into the cavity of the chicken. I halved and quartered smallish potatoes, tossed with olive oil, and scattered them around the chicken seasoned with the same seasoning as the chicken.

The chicken went into the oven at I have no idea what temp... we were trying for 375 degrees. We checked it after an hour. It smelled great and one of the drumsticks twisted in the socket, noting that it was getting done, but the other joints didn't move so easily, so we put it back in the oven for another half hour, and it was perfect.

What did we learn from cooking chicken dinner by senses, rather than time and temperature?

Always check all joints instead of just when checking for doneness. If possible, if you have a temperature gauge, most cooking shows will suggest piercing the thigh of the chicken making sure it registers around 155 degrees. We just did the joint wiggle test and it worked fine. Chicken was moist, and no pink depicting completely done.

The potatoes should have either been taken out at the 45 minute mark, or not put in until the first 45 minute mark.They were still pretty good, just a little crusty on the bottom (propane stove... heat source is at the bottom).

All in all though, it was a successful dinner. the chicken skin was crispy and well seasoned, and the potatoes were creamy and comforting on the inside. That got a thumbs up from my taste tester. Good enough for me!

...And we have leftovers... again!

Cream Gravy with Biscuit Fingers

2012-02-08T14:12:00.010-07:00

Biscuit fingers... a great recipe cut the different way. This dough was cut into fingers instead of rounds. But what fun could this be?! I'm thinking dipping biscuits.... into rich creamy gravy. Anyone on for the ride? I'm going out of the box on this one!

Ultimate Cream Gravy

2T butter melted
1/2 onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4t nutmeg, freshly ground
1t dried oregano
1/2t thyme
2T worchestershire sauce
4T flour
2c milk
salt and pepper
hot sauce to taste, or optional.

This goes together just like a regular bechamel sauce. You're just adding different seasonings to it. Start with sauteing the onion and garlic in the butter. Add flour. Yes, it will get paste-like. Now the milk, a little at a time, as it is incorporated into the butter/flour mixture. I gradually added approx. 2 cups. You add enough mild to accomplish the desired thickness of cream gravy you desire. Start adding the rest of the ingredients. Simmer, taste, enjoy.

Note: If you don't have fresh onion and/or garlic... In either case, granulated onion and garlic will work just fine.

Taste Tester Results: As you can see from the pic, the sauce didn't make it to a pretty dish before the biscuit finger was dipped into the freshly made gravy. I call that thumbs up! Nut even dipped one of Tuck's doggie cookies into it, before tossing it to the boy. Now we have a thumbs up and a very waggie tail!

The Last of the Smothered - Pizza a la Crockpot

2012-02-08T10:04:00.011-07:00

The sauce. Rich tomato, meaty, chuncky.

What should I do with it? I had a lot of options... Tacos, borcsht... Nut was wanting pizza. No more worries. That's what's for dinner.

I came across this great recipe for a pizza style dish that Nut really likes, and using this leftover sauce was the perfect base for this recipe. What's even better is it's cooked in a crockpot!

I came across this recipe from a very inspiring website, a lady who decided to cook in her crockpot for a whole year. I love that! Her answer to pizza is what we had for dinner. This is basically a three layer dish.

I rubbed the bottom and up the sides of the crockpot with butter. The bottom layer is the leftover sauce.

Next is the following:

1c flour
1c milk
2 eggs

Mix that batter up, then I added some parmesan cheese as well... not much more than 1/2 cup.
This is the next layer. Once mixed, pour it in.

The top layer is having fun with which whatever you would top a pizza. This time around, I went with what we had on hand:

pepperoni slices
colby/jack cheese
sliced green olives

That's over the top of the batter. Cover crockpot, and put on high for 3-4 hours. (after 3 hours, start paying attention. Remember the nose knows. When you smell it, check it.

Taste Tester Results: Total thumbs up. Give that man some pepperoni, ya never go wrong!

Katie notes: I've noticed that this could be more than a recipe, it could be a method for several of this style of dish. I'm going to test this in the future, but I'm thinking, if you have a leftover cream soup, or even leftover stew... let that be the sauce. Pour over the batter, but don't forget to add herbs or cheese to enhance the flavor. Then over the top... whatever you have. It's going to cook in the crockpot so even if you piled on fresh spinach, I think it would work because as the crockpot cooks it is a steamy environment, which is perfect. I'm going to experiment with my leftovers in the future with this method. This is an excellent way to use up leftovers which equals an almost free meal that could feed four healthy appetites. I will let you know results of future experiments.

Nacho Night

2012-02-06T12:57:00.006-07:00

This doesn't happen much in our family... not the healthiest dish in the world, but very tasty.

The ingredients are pretty obvious but I'll go through them anyway.

1 lb hamburger
1 pkg taco seasoning
some jarred cheese stuff, (you choose the brand)
ketchup
sour cream
(I like a little hot sauce too)

It's a really basic recipe... brown the hamburger... add the taco seasoning. Prepare according to pkg directions.

the plating:
Tortilla chips... We chose whole grain scoopable chips which are actually quite yummy on their own!
next is the taco meat
then is dollops of ketchup, sour cream, and melted cheese stuff.

Yes, it's a guilty pleasure. What I like most about it, is not just the meal, but more so, our personal tradition. This is Nut's meal. He created it, and he cooks it. My happy treats are the little bites of loaded chips before the plate even gets to me. As the browned hamburger simmers into taco yumminess, I get treated with chips topped with sour cream or that cheese stuff... sometimes he even scoops a bit of the hamburger. ...Yes I am pampered!

I think this meal has taught me about food traditions. It doesn't matter if the food is simple, or looks sloppy of the plate. It's comfort food. The traditions that come with it are as important as how good the food tastes.

Flour Power - Bread and Biscuits

2012-02-04T11:21:00.020-07:00

Time for a baking day. Bread is needed, as well biscuits for breakfast. Here's what I'm doing:

Bread

I took it easy on myself and just did a one loaf recipe. I used the Dough for One recipe and formed the whole thing into a loaf. I hadn't yet used that recipe for an actual loaf so this was the perfect time to get that done. the recipe is here. One thing I realized I did but it was too late, is that I put 1T of yeast into the dough mix instead of the 1t I always used. In the end result was good... I think it raised too fast, and maybe I have too big a loaf pan, but all in all, I think it's a crispy crusted, chewy, rustic loaf. When my chief taste tester tried it, he asked if I could make it again... I call that one A-1 success!

Biscuits

I found a whole wheat biscuit recipe on AllRecipes.com. It was a great starter recipe for making my own biscuits, and they turned out great. Two things I'm going to change the next time. One is cutting them different shapes (my bad... I was feverishly looking for something to cut perfect biscuit rounds and Nut said to just cut them. So I did, but something in my brain said biscuit fingers.) So that's kinda what happened. Great for snackins but I think I may have an idea for tomorrow's breakfast...y'all better check back to find out... it might be really good. The second item is adding 2T honey, maple syrup, or molasses for the sweetening... I'll keep you posted!

Taste Tester Results: He actually liked them, especially the flakiness. He's already eaten a couple with hazelnut spread on them. That's a good sign. Score!!

Spaghetti of Smothered Burger Sauce in Crockpot

2012-02-03T12:47:00.015-07:00

I mentioned in my last post for Smothered Burger Sliders, there would be sauce leftover as well from the original Smothered Burger Dinner. Tonight we make spaghetti sauce in the crockpot! Yum!

First all the leftover sauce was very chuncky so I took a fork and smashed the larger pieces of potato and carrot. (My leftover sauce was still in the crockpot, so I just carried on from there.) Now, instead if you wish to remove the vegetables for another use, you certainly could... an egg frittata comes to mind... sounds good!

Anyway, next came the can of condensed tomato soup. Just drop it in there and mix together.

Now to the stove:

Brown 1 pound hamburger. I used 80/20, but you can use 93/7 or even ground turkey if you want. As it is browning, I added the following seasonings:

1t garlic powder
1/2t onion powder
3T Italian seasoning
1/4t ground black powder
(if you like it spicy, I'd add some red pepper flakes or hot sauce as well. Nut's not so much on the spicy so I just add that to my own portion.

Once meat is browned, Add one cup of water to the ground meat. This will deglaze the pan to assure not to waste any flavor. Once pan is de-glazed, add to crockpot and mix into the tomato soup mixture.

Add two bay leaves.

Not that's it. Cover crockpot and set to high for 4 hours.

Notes along the way: At hour three, Nut and I noticed it was turning out a bit runny so for the last hour I'm cracking the lid of the crockpot with a chopstick. I learned that trick from one of my new favorite blogs.

Well, it worked. The sauce thickened nicely. All that was left was to boil our spaghetti noodles according to the package, drain. Then ladle up dinner.

The sauce coated the noodles nicely. Finishing with some shredded parmesan cheese, and dinner looked and smelled awesome! Tasted good too... as a matter of fact...

Taste Tester Results: Nut liked it. I think I was getting a clue when, while the sauce was simmering, I would hear the rattle of the crockpot lid being removed, and Nut would emerge from the kitchen still smacking his lips. The clincher came when I gave him my plate after dinner, to put my leftovers back in the crockpot.... they never got there, giving their all amidst more lip smacking and yummy noises. Another winner of the clean plate club!

Smothered Burger Sliders

2012-02-02T20:46:00.009-07:00

Last nights smothered burgers provided some tasty leftovers. The burgers and the sauce are going to be split into two components.

Tonight, it was the burgers and some friends from the fridge.

We had dinner rolls already in the fridge, and the two burgers that were left, we cut into four pieces each. Then Nut and I made our own dream sliders.

Nut decided on the traditional: warmed burger and bun, dress with ketchup and mustard.

I decided to play with some flavors.

Out of the fridge, there was still some leftover peanut sauce from the egg foo young eggrolls, and some spicy italian pickled vegetables, and hot sauce.
Here's how my favorite bite was assembled:

I started out the same way as Nut, with warmed roll and burger, but I dipped my bun in some of the sauce before warming.

Next, on top half, I drizzled some hot chili sauce, and added carrot and cauliflower of the pickled vegetables. The bottom side got a generous slather of the leftover peanut sauce. Add burger, add top to bottom, press and bite.

Wonderful!

It was so many flavor points at once... salty, sweet, sour, spicy. Delicious!

Learning more about new food tastes has helped me develop less mundane meals, even if I have the same ol' ingredients to work with every day. Don't be afraid to try new flavors. That was the beauty of having this slider dinner tonight. Not only did we reinvent some leftovers, but with each of us assembling own sliders, Nut could have his taste, and I could try something unusual on my own.

When You're Sick, Eat This!...Chicken Soup Comfort

2012-02-01T13:54:00.041-07:00

I was feeling very icky yesterday. Normally I crave fruit in that state. Yesterday I needed chicken noodle soup. Luckily, between pantry, freezer and fridge, I was able to make that happen, with not too much effort at all. Here's how I did it:

from freezer: 3 chicken tenderloins - thawed and chuncked
from fridge: celery tops, small carrot, 1/2 of a small onion. all chopped. Leftover cooked macaroni.

from pantry: a top ramen chicken soup base packet, ground thyme to taste and ground pepper

The soup base packet was used in three stages. First, I sprinkled some on the chicken before I sauteed the chicken. Believe it or not, I did this whole soup in a frying pan.

2 T oil into heated pan. Add chicken. When lightly browned, add vegetables, and another sprinkle of the soup base packet, a dusting of ground thyme and ground pepper. Saute for five minutes, then add the rest of the soup base, and enough water for simmering (about a half inch above chicken and veggies). Simmer for 3 minutes, then turn off heat. Cover for another five minutes.

My container of leftover noodles went in the microwave for 2 min 30 sec. (700 watt microwave) by the time the soup was done, so were the noodles. I just dumped the noodles into the soup and let it sit for another couple minutes.

That's when a wayward spoon dipped into the pan....

Taste Tester Results: He was at admittedly at a loss for words. I meekly asked him if it was good or bad. He said good. The yummy noises as he stole another bite said the rest.... and then he said, "a soup perfect for a biscuit".... from Nut, that's the ultimate compliment.

So there you have it... chicken noodle soup for two.

Sometimes simple really is best!