Moo said the mama

review of Food Supply Depot brand Rotini a la Marinara from Survivalbased.com

2013-04-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

I have to start by saying I am so glad this review process is now over. I should have probably told the rep from Survivalbased.com no from the start. I didn't really think it through, but should have realized that the foods he'd send us were all highly processed foods and our family as a rule does not eat processed foods. We're a whole foods family and really enjoy eating whole foods based meals.

So...on to the last and FINAL review. The Rotini a la Marinara comes in a 7.7 oz. package and the package states that it serves 5. Each serving has a measly 140 calories per serving. Because of the weight and extraordinarily low calorie count this food would never make it into our 72 hour kits.

I followed the package cooking instructions. I added 5 cups of water to a saucepan and turned the stove burner on high heat. When the water was boiling I added the contents of the package to the saucepan. I reduced the heat on the burner and simmered the food for 5 minutes, occasionally stirring it. Then I turned the heat off and let the Rotini a la Marinara rest for 5 minutes.

I then poured it into a serving dish. I don't know if you can see the illustration on the package, but our version looked quite different. Ours was a soup while the package shows a fairly typical pasta dish. I believe it's the extra sauce that makes this a 5 serving package.

Like the Creamy Stroganoff, the Southwest White Bean Chili, and the Rio Grande Beans & Rice, the Rotini a la Marinara also contains autolyzed yeast extract and that is an ingredient our family avoids ingesting, so that also rules the Rotini a la Marinara out as a food we might consider for our family's long term food storage.

So, what did the family think of the Rotini a la Marinara? We had it for lunch and only the girls and I tried it. The baby girl called it, "Yum" and the big girl said it was, "delicious." On the other hand I found the pasta soft and mushy and found gritty pieces of something in it that I couldn't identify. It was like there were bits of TVP in it, but no TVP was listed on the ingredient list. Also, the sauce was strangely peppery tasting and had a background flavor that was bitter and burnt tasting. And it was just too saucy. If I wanted a soup I'd make one, thank you very much.

Once again, I couldn't recommend this dish to anyone. Folks, if you're looking for a shelf stable rotini marinara dish, just stock your pantries with rotini pasta and dehydrated powdered tomatoes. You can create your own marinara sauce with seasonings, powdered tomato, and water. The price would be probably a tenth of the cost of this Rotini a la Marinara and wouldn't have all the unnecessary artificial ingredients in it.

****FCC disclaimer - The Food Supply Depot brand Rotini a la Marinara was provided to me by Survivalbased.com for the purpose of reviewing it. I received the package of Rotini a la Marinara as part of their dinner sample foods pack at no charge to me and I am under no obligation to return the product and can keep it for my own use. I also notified Survivalbased.com's representative that I would be honest in my review and hope that they don't regret their decision to ask me to review the dinner sample pack. ****

review of Food Supply Depot brand Rio Grande Beans & Rice from Survivalbased.com

2013-04-03T12:06:00.002-05:00

Last weekend our family tried the Food Supply Depot brand Rio Grande Beans & Rice that Survivalbased.com sent to us as part of the dinner sample pack they sent us to review.

All four of us were home to give it a try (the boy is away at college right now).

Just to recap some specifics about the Rio Grande Beans & Rice - it comes in a 8.5 oz. package and the package states that it serves 3. Each serving has 280 calories per serving. Because of the weight and the relatively low calorie count per serving we've already decided that it wouldn't make a good food for our 72 hour kits.

Like the Creamy Stroganoff and the Southwest White Bean Chili, the instructions to prepare the Rio Grande Beans & Rice were pretty much the same. The only thing that varied from package to package was the amount of water to add. Still, I followed the instructions exactly. I measured out 3 1/4 cups of water and poured it into a saucepan. I turned the heat on high and brought the water up to a boil. Then I added the Rio Grande Beans & Rice mix to the saucepan. I stirred it and turned the heat down to a medium low. I simmered it uncovered for 12 minutes, stirring it from time to time. Then I turned the heat off and let the beans and rice stand uncovered for 5 more minutes.

Like the Creamy Stroganoff and the Southwest White Bean Chili, the Rio Grande Beans & Rice mix also contains autolyzed yeast extract and that is an ingredient our family avoids ingesting, so that also rules the Rio Grande Beans & Rice mix out as a food we might consider for our family's long term food storage.
So how did the family react to the Rio Grande Beans & Rice mix? The girls both enjoyed it. The Baby Girl really preferred to eat hers with a flour tortilla. The Big Girl declared it "good without the tortilla and amazing with the tortilla." The Baby Girl said it was "yucky without the tortilla" and she claimed it was spicy tasting. The Hubster found it grainy. Again, we think it was the "precooked long grain rice" causing the grittiness. He also stated that, "the beans are few and far between." I was really distracted by the gritty rice and found that it was too tomatoey in taste and didn't have enough seasoning.

Again, I'm pretty sure this wouldn't make the cut into our long term food storage plan or our 72 hour kit food plans.

And finally, as a nod to Survivalbased.com, I really feel like I should point out that they do sell minimally processed whole foods for food storage as well. You can find dehydrated and freeze dried fruits and vegetables on their site as well as basic foods like beans and rice. My suggestion would be to buy some beans and rice and add your own seasonings. It would come with a lower price tag and probably taste a whole lot better!

****FCC disclaimer - The Food Supply Depot brand Rio Grande Beans & Rice was provided to me by Survivalbased.com for the purpose of reviewing it. I received the package of Rio Grande Beans & Rice as part of their dinner sample foods pack at no charge to me and I am under no obligation to return the product and can keep it for my own use. I also notified Survivalbased.com's representative that I would be honest in my review and hope that they don't regret their decision to ask me to review the dinner sample pack. ****

review of Food Supply Depot brand Southwest White Bean Chili from Survivalbased.com

2013-03-25T12:31:00.004-05:00

This weekend our family tried the Food Supply Depot brand Southwest White Bean Chili that Survivalbased.com sent to us as part of the dinner sample pack they sent us to review.

For the first time we had all four of us home to give it a try (the boy is away at college right now).

Just to recap some specifics about the Southwest White Bean Chili - it comes in a 7.8 oz. package and the package states that it serves 3. Each serving has 300 calories per serving. Because of the weight and the relatively low calorie count per serving we've already decided that it wouldn't make a good food for our 72 hour kits.

The preparation instructions were nearly identical to the instructions for the Creamy Stroganoff that I had previously prepared. That was a bit surprising to me, since preparing a pasta dish ought to be significantly different than preparing a soup.

But, I followed the instructions exactly. I measured out 4 cups of water and poured it into a saucepan. I turned the heat on high and brought the water up to a boil. Then I added the Southwest White Bean Chili mix to the saucepan. I stirred it and turned the heat down to a medium low. I simmered it uncovered for 12 minutes, stirring it from time to time. Then I turned the heat off and let the chili stand uncovered for 5 more minutes.

Like the Creamy Stroganoff, the Southwest White Bean Chili mix also contains autolyzed yeast extract and that is an ingredient our family avoids ingesting, so that also rules the Southwest White Bean Chili mix out as a food we might consider for our family's long term food storage.

On to the family's reactions to the chili. Everyone hated it. Not even the Big Girl would take more than one bite and the Baby Girl refused to try it based only on appearance and aroma. The Hubster told me, "It smells like nothing. It's very gritty. It tastes every bit as bland as it smells." I also found that the texture was oddly gritty. I suspect the culprit there is the "precooked long grain rice" that I found in the ingredient list. I found it also had an odd sweet flavor to it and there were bits of something in it that our family referred to as the mystery chunks. In addition to being unidentifiable they were also very rubbery in texture and hard to chew.

As much as I'd like to be able to recommend this dish, I cannot in any way. The $8.73 price (1/4 of the cost of the dinner sample pack) combined with awful flavor really rules it out for us.

Once again, I'd like to point out that Survivalbased.com does offer dehydrated and freeze dried foods and while I haven't tasted their versions, I'm sure they have to be far more palatable than the Southwest White Bean Chili was.

****FCC disclaimer - The Food Supply Depot brand Southwest White Bean Chili was provided to me by Survivalbased.com for the purpose of reviewing it. I received the package of Southwest White Bean Chili as part of their dinner sample foods pack at no charge to me and I am under no obligation to return the product and can keep it for my own use. I also notified Survivalbased.com's representative that I would be honest in my review and hope that they don't regret their decision to ask me to review the dinner sample pack. ****

review of Food Supply Depot brand Creamy Stroganoff from Survivalbased.com

2013-03-22T11:52:00.002-05:00

Today for lunch I decided to prepare the sample package of Creamy Stroganoff I received from Survivalbased.com to review.

I was careful to follow the package directions exactly. First, I measured out 3 1/2 cups of water and poured it into a saucepan. Then I turned the heat on high and brought the water to a boil. Then I opened the package and poured the contents into the saucepan. I reduced the heat to low and simmered the pasta for 12 minutes, stirring it from time to time. After 12 minutes of cooking I turned the heat off and let the pasta rest for another 5 minutes.

Then I scooped it into a serving bowl. Just so you understand the amount of food produced by this package, the serving dish is a rather small one measuring 9 inches long, 6 inches across, and only 2 1/2 inches high. The package lists the serving size as 85 grams and states that one package will provide 3 servings. I decided to cook the Creamy Stroganoff today for lunch since it would just be the three of us eating lunch today.

Some observations - the Creamy Stroganoff had a very pungent mushroom aroma to it as it cooked. When I tasted the finished dish it did have a strong mushroom flavor as well, but I didn't find it overwhelming. I found the pasta to be mushier than I typically prepare. I was honestly really surprised by the package directions because 17 minutes of cooking time total is a bit on the long side for pasta. I suppose that could be remedied by just shortening the cooking time to your preference.

My youngest daughter (who will turn 5 next week) declared after one bite, "YUCK!" When I asked her specifically what she thought of it she said, "I don't just mean that I hate it. I just don't like it so much." Her original serving was about 3 Tablespoons of the pasta and she did finish it all. She then asked for another serving and I gave her a similar amount. So while it certainly wasn't one of her favorite meals, she did eat some of it.

My older daughter (who is 8 years old) really enjoyed the Creamy Stroganoff. Her immediate comment was to declare it, "deliciously amazing!" She had several servings and ate as much of the Creamy Stroganoff as she would eat of most any meal she's served.

Evaluating the Creamy Stroganoff as an emergency food, it's really probably not something I'd include in our family's emergency food stores. I'm a frugal shopper and find the price a bit out of my range. It is quite comparable to other similar packaged emergency foods, but as I was eating it I was pretty sure that I could create a comparable dish using egg noodles and my homemade powdered cream of mushroom soup mix. The price for the homemade version would be considerably lower than the approximate cost of $8.73 for this package of Creamy Stroganoff. (that's the cost if I divide the dinner sample box by 4. I noticed that you can purchase one individual package right now on sale for $7.95)

As I explained in my previous post, I generally don't feed my family foods containing autolyzed yeast extract or hydrolyzed wheat protein and both ingredients are found in the Creamy Stroganoff. I also consider this product to be a bit too heavy at 9 oz. to want to include it in my family's 72 hour kits. And coming in at only 330 calories per serving it would take quite a few servings to hit our emergency calorie goals of 2000 calories per day that we include in our 72 hour kits.

For people who have larger budgets and don't mind feeding their families processed packaged foods, the Creamy Stroganoff might be a good choice as a food to include in long term food storage plans. I found the flavor tolerable, my oldest daughter loved it, and even though my youngest daughter declared it to be yucky she did still eat it.

****FCC disclaimer - The Food Supply Depot brand Creamy Stroganoff was provided to me by Survivalbased.com for the purpose of reviewing it. I received the package of Creamy Stroganoff as part of their dinner sample foods pack at no charge to me and I am under no obligation to return the product and can keep it for my own use. I also notified Survivalbased.com's representative that I would be honest in my review and hope that they don't regret their decision to ask me to review the dinner sample pack. ****

testing emergency foods from Survivalbased.com

2013-03-20T13:15:00.000-05:00

Last week a representative from Survivalbased.com contacted me and asked if I'd be interested in reviewing some of their food storage products.

In today's mail our samples arrived.

We received four packets of emergency foods - Southwest White Bean Chili, Creamy Stroganoff, Rio Grande Beans & Rice, and Rotini a la Marinara. This is their dinner sample pack and retails for $34.95. At about $8.73 per package the price is comparable to other prepared meals packaged for emergency use.

The first thing I noticed was their weight. Ranging from 7 ounces to 9 ounces per package I knew they weren't ideal for our 72 hour kits as we try to source very lightweight and calorie dense foods for inclusion in our emergency bags. Now some families aren't concerned about weight in their emergency bags, but most emergency scenarios in our plans necessitate lightweight foods.

The second thing I noticed was the serving sizes per package. The Rotini a la Marinara is a 5 serving package, but all the others were 3 serving packages. They'd be great for small families, but our family has 5 people and that means that if I were to buy these foods for inclusion in our emergency stores we'd need two packages per meal at minimum. Again, though, these servings sizes are fairly typical among prepared meals packaged for emergency use.

The third thing I noticed was the calories per serving. Again, when I'm evaluating foods to include in our 72 hour kits I prefer to include very nutrient dense and calorie dense foods. The Rotini a la Marinara is the lightweight of this grouping at only 140 calories per serving. The heavyweight in this grouping is the Creamy Stroganoff at 330 calories per serving. The other two come in between that range. Once again, all of these would probably not make the cut for our 72 hour kits because of the low calorie count per serving.

And the fourth thing I noticed was the ingredient list. Regular readers of the blog know that as a general rule our family eats whole foods and avoids most processed foods. The big exception, of course, is our 72 hour kit foods. I was pleased to see that of these four foods there weren't any artificial colors or artificial flavors listed on the ingredient lists. There are some ingredients we tend to shy away from on a routine basis, though. The first of these is autolyzed wheat extract. Most sources indicate that autolyzed wheat extract contains monosodium glutamate and that's a big no-no for our family. Each of these foods in the dinner sample pack contained autolyzed wheat extract. The Creamy Stroganoff also contains hydrolyzed wheat protein. Hydrolyzed vegetable proteins like hydrolyzed wheat protein (or hydrolyzed soy protein) are used in processed foods to enhance flavors. They work much in the same way that MSG does because hydrolyzed vegetable proteins contain free glutamates. Again, as a family we shy away from food products with hydrolyzed vegetable proteins.

Despite all of the factors that make these less than ideal for our family we're still planning to give them a taste test and let readers know what our family thinks of the taste. We know not all families have the same concerns about their foods that we do and think it's only fair to Survivalbased.com to provide a complete review.

I also want to let readers know that in addition to the prepackaged prepared meals they do offer bulk freeze dried and dehydrated fruits and vegetables.

****Obviously Survivalbased.com provided the dinner sample pack foods to me for the purpose of review. I received the dinner sample foods pack at no charge to me and I am under no obligation to return the product and can keep it for my own use. I also notified Survivalbased.com's representative that I would be honest in my review and hope that they don't regret their decision to ask me to review the dinner sample pack. ****

1 Corinthians 10:31-33

2013-03-08T13:13:00.002-06:00

‎
I came across these verses today in my scripture study and felt moved to share them.

1 Corinthians 10:31-33 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."

It really moved me that we are commanded by Paul to do all to the glory of God. Even ordinary tasks such as eating or drinking we should do to the glory of God. Also, we are to take care to offend no one so that they might be saved. So simple and yet so very difficult. Do all that we do to the glory of God and offend no one so that they might be saved.

2013-02-19T07:31:00.000-06:00

Wow. It sure has been a long time since I've written. I apologize to those of you who were wondering what was going on.

The short story is I got sick. But that really doesn't adequately explain everything. It was more than an illness. It was a change in life perspective.

After months of testing and visits with the neurologist and the stress of the bills. Oh, the friggin' bills. We discovered that I'm having seizures. They're a type of seizure called a myoclonic seizure. My muscles contract and release involuntarily. Overall it's certainly not as debilitating as having grand mal seizures and I don't lose consciousness during the seizures. But over time they do cause pain and fatigue.

What frustrates me is that only describes what is happening to my body. It doesn't describe WHY it's happening and that's what is driving me bonkers. It's helpful to have a name to describe it, but I want to cure it. Why at the age of 45 did this suddenly develop? What can I do to stop it? Will it progress into something else? Apparently those are questions I won't receive the answers to.

For the time being I'm coping with it. I try to get more sleep, because that reduces the frequency of the seizures. I've added more fish to my diet, because that reduces the frequency of the seizures. I've tried to reduce stress in my life, because that reduces the seizures. I try to avoid certain types of fluorescent lighting, because that reduces the seizures. I try to avoid certain types of tv shows, because that reduces the seizures. I try to limit my time using computer screens, because that reduces the seizures. But nothing STOPS the seizures. I have good days and I have bad days. And then I have the really bad days.

I began this blog years ago when the baby girl was literally a baby. She was an infant and because of the way we parent I found I had some time on my hands to fill. While she napped in the family bed I needed to be close by in case she needed me and to monitor her for safety purposes. The laptop was right there with me and I decided to write a blog. Over the years that became my naptime activity. It was a quiet activity and it also connected me with other people. I'm still amazed at the number of people who find old posts and ask questions and leave comments.

But the baby girl isn't a baby. In fact in just a few weeks that baby will be 5 years old. She's working on penmanship, basic arithmetic, and learning to read. She doesn't nap. :) So I lost that writing time and since I've gotten sick I re-evaluated how I choose to spend my time. I re-evaluated what is important to me. Many activities were bumped down the list and several got kicked to the curb. What is important is spending time with my children and with my husband. Since writing the blog doesn't involve spending time with my children and my husband and since it also involves screen time it really doesn't make it to the top of my list these days.

I can't say I'll stop writing forever. I do still try to answer questions and do still try to publish comments. I'll leave the blog up (perhaps as long as blogger will permit) because people are still finding it and letting me know that at least some of the content is helpful to them.

sorry for the interruption

2012-10-16T13:23:00.001-05:00

I should have known that a month's worth of daily blogging would be an impossible feat.

I'm currently under the weather and battling a mysterious combination of dizziness, nausea, and pounding headaches. I hope to have this resolved soon and will go ahead and pick up where I left off with the 31 Days of Home Cooked Meals.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Sunday, October 14th

2012-10-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Southwestern Stuffed Acorn Squash

Southwestern Stuffed Acorn Squash Recipe

3 acorn squash
5 oz. sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 15oz can black beans, rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
hot red pepper sauce, to taste
1 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly oil a large baking tray. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash cut side down on the oiled baking tray. Bake about 45 minutes.

In a large skillet, cook sausage until lightly browned. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook until softened. Stir in garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Cook for just a few seconds. Then stir in the tomatoes, beans, salt, and hot sauce (if desired). Cover the pan and reduce the heat. Simmer for 10-12 minutes.

When the squash is tender, reduce the oven temp to 325F. Fill the squash halves with the sausage mixture. Top with shredded cheese. Place back on the baking sheet and bake until the filling is heated and the cheese is melted. Should take 8-10 minutes.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Saturday, October 13th

2012-10-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Chicken Soft Tacos

Chicken soft tacos is another one of our pantry meals. We always have ingredients for homemade flour tortillas, homemade taco seasoning mix, and canned chicken in the pantry.

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix Recipe

6 tsp. chili powder
5 tsp. paprika
4-1/2 tsp. cumin
3 tsp. onion powder
2-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Just combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. I store mine in a small glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Old yeast jars are great for storing seasoning mixes since the brown glass helps keep out light.

This recipe will make about 21 teaspoons and about 7 teaspoons of this homemade mix will be the equivalent of a 1.25 ounce packet of taco seasoning mix.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp lard
1 1/2 cups water

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Cut in the lard with a pastry cutter until it resembles cornmeal. Add water slowly until the dough sticks together. Turn it out onto a floured board or countertop. Knead it for a few minutes until it's smooth and elastic. Then divide the dough into 24 equal balls.

Use a rolling pin to roll a circle of dough flat. Place that rolled piece of dough into a preheated dry cast iron skillet. Cook until bubbly and golden. Turn and cook the other side. Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer and repeat the rolling and cooking steps for the rest of the dough.

Taco Seasoned Chicken

1 quart canned chicken
7 tsp homemade taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup water, if needed

If there is plenty of liquid in the jar with the canned chicken you don't need to add additional water, but if it's scant, feel free to add more water.

Pour contents of the jar into warm skillet. Add taco seasoning mix. Mix well. Cook until chicken is warmed through.

When we serve chicken soft tacos in our home we typically serve it buffet style and set out tortillas, seasoned chicken, homemade refried beans, lettuce, chopped tomato, shredded cheese, sour cream, and salsa.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Friday, October 12th

2012-10-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Homemade Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Alfredo Pizza Sauce Recipe

2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
salt
pepper

To make the sauce, first melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook. Add the flour and cook until light blonde in color. Whisk in the cream, reduce the heat to low, and let simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and season lightly with salt and pepper, to taste.

Double the recipe to make enough sauce for two pizzas

Pizza Dough Recipe

2 Tbsp yeast
2 1/2 cups warm (110F) water
2 tsp raw honey
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
6 cups flour

Combine water and honey; mix well. Add yeast to water mixture. Let proof. You'll know it's ready when it's sort of foamy looking. In a bowl combine flour and salt; mix well. When yeast is proofed, pour yeast mixture and olive oil into the bowl with the flour mixture. Mix well. Let rest for about 20 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and roll or pat into the shape of your pizza pan.

Place pizza dough onto a pizza pan that has been sprinkled with flour or cornmeal.

Makes enough for two pizzas

Other ingredients

3/4 pound cooked chicken
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup grape tomatoes (or chopped tomatoes)

Double these ingredients to make two pizzas

Assembling the Pizzas

To assemble the pizzas, first make the pizza dough and spread it in your pans. Top with the sauce, spread evenly over the tops of the pizza dough.

Then sprinkle the chicken and tomatoes evenly across the top of the sauce. Finish by sprinkling the cheese evenly across the top of the pizzas. Bake in a preheated 450F oven for 20 minutes.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Thursday, October 11th

2012-10-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Spicy Baked Chicken Wings, Oven Fried Potatoes, Corn

Spicy Baked Chicken Wings Recipe

3 dozen chicken wings
9 cloves garlice, minced
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp hot sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
chives for garnish

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Salt and pepper the wings and place them on the baking sheet. Bake them for 45 minutes, or until they're crispy.

To make the vinaigrette, mix all of the remaining ingredients except the chives. Pour the vinaigrette over the wings while they are hot and toss them around, making sure the wings soak up all the vinaigrette. Garnish with chives.

Oven Fried Potatoes Recipe

This recipe comes from La Leche League's Whole Foods for the Whole Family cookbook. I believe it's now out of print, but it's worth hunting down a used copy if you can find it!

6 large potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400F. Clean the potatoes and cut into strips. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and add the potatoes. Stir well to coat the potatoes with the oil & seasonings. Spread the potatoes in a single layer on baking sheets and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until tender.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Wednesday, October 10th

2012-10-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Greek Lentil Soup with fresh bread

Greek Lentil Soup Recipe

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
6 medium carrots, sliced into rounds
1 1/4 cups brown or green lentils, rinsed and sorted
1 cup tomato sauce
3/4 cup chicken stock or water
1 bay leaf
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup Greek yogurt

Heat olive oil in skilled on medium heat. Add onion, garlice, and carrots. Sautee until onion and garlic are soft. Add seasonings - crumbled bay leaft, cumin, paprika, cayenne, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to mix well.

Transfer contents to a dutch oven or large saucepan. Add lentils, tomato sauce, and stock (or water). Bring to a boil and boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat and cover. Let cook at a simmer for about 45 minutes, taking care not to overcook or the lentils will become mushy.

To serve, ladle into bowls and top with some Greek yogurt.

Bread Recipe

2 cups warm water (about 110F)
2 Tbsp raw honey
4 tsp yeast
4 Tbsp olive oil
6 cups flour (I usually use whole wheat, but it works equally well with white)
2 tsp salt

Add honey to warm water. Mix well. Add yeast to the water mixture. Mix well. Allow to "rest". When you see it bubbling, it's ready. In mixer bowl combine salt and 1/2 of the flour (3 cups). Pour the water mixture and olive oil into the mixture bowl with the flour. Using a dough hook, mix together. Continue to mix in the rest of the flour, just a bit at a time. When all of the flour is combined, then knead the dough using the dough hook for 8 minutes. You might need to add a bit more flour as it kneads. You don't want a sticky dough.

Place kneaded dough in a bowl and cover with a clean towel. Place in a warm part of your kitchen away from drafts. Allow to rise about 30 minutes. Once risen you can shape it into two loaves. I like to use my french bread pans and form loaves that are sort of shaped like an Italian bread or French bread. Let rise another 20 minutes or so. Then bake in a preheated 400F oven for about 20 minutes. Take care not to let it over-brown.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Tuesday, October 9th

2012-10-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Twice Baked Acorn Squash with Beef and Vegetable Filling

Twice Baked Acorn Squash Recipe

2 medium acorn squash
olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 lb ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and shredded
1 stalk celery, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3-4 large leaves of kale, thick ribs discarded, finely chopped
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut squash in half crosswise. Scoop out the seeds and discard. Time ends of squash half so that they sit upright and don't wobble. Arrange squash cavity-side up in a 9x13inch glass baking dish. Drizzle each with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour water into the dish to cover about 1" of the bottom of the squash. Cover with aluminum foil and bake about 45 minutes or until squash is tender.

While the squash is baking prepare the filling. Heat olive oil and brown beef. Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and kale. Cook until vegetables are tender - about 5 minutes. Add seasonings, tomato paste, and water. Cook until a sauce is formed. Remove from heat and stir in raisins. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide the filling evening among the squash. Keep the squash in the pan with water and cover them with aluminum foil again and return to oven. Heat about 10-20 minutes. Serve immediately.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Monday, October 8th

2012-10-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

Indian Spiced Stuffed Eggplant

Indian Spiced Stuffed Eggplant Recipe

1/2 cup brown rice, preferably brown basmati, cooked
1 1/4 cups water
2 medium eggplants
4 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp tomato paste
pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut eggplants in half lengthwise and score the cut sides in a criss-cross pattern. Take care not to cut through the skin. Brush the cut sides with oil. Brush the skin sides lightly with oil. Place them cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Flip them over and bake another 15 minutes or until they're soft. Remove them from the oven and set aside. Turn down the oven heat to 350F.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until it starts to soften. Add garlic and ginger and cook. Add spices and mix well. Stir in tomato paste. Remove from heat.

When eggplants are cool enough to touch, scoop out the pulp. Coarsely chop the pulp and add it to the onion mixture. Stir until combined. Stir in the rice and season with salt and pepper. Stuff each eggplant with equal amounts of the stuffing. Return the eggplants to the baking sheet and bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Sunday, October 7th

2012-10-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

Cheesy Beans 'n Rice Casserole, Veggie Tray with Ranch Dressing, and Mixed Salad

Sunday is also a very busy day for our family as it's the second day of the 182nd Semiannual General Conference. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we gather as a family twice each year to watch the General Conference broadcasts. The General Conferences are opportunities for us to listen to talks given by our Prophet, Apostles, and other General Authorities of the Church. It's an educational and uplifting event. On Sunday there are two sessions that we watch together as a family. The first session begins at 11am CDT and the second session begins at 3pm CDT. There is a short break between sessions. Each session lasts 2 hours.

You can learn more about the 182nd Semiannual General Conference and watch sessions online at lds.org.

To learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visit Mormon.org.

Since I'll be wanting to watch and listen to the General Conference sessions I keep the food simple. I'll assemble the lower layers of the casserole in the morning and then finish it at dinner time. I'll also have the dip, veggies, and salad ready in advance and waiting in the fridge for later use.

Cheesy Beans 'n Rice Casserole Recipe

4 cups cooked rice
4 cups refried beans (2 quarts home canned pinto beans)
6 eggs
3/8 cup wheat flour
1 small can (4 oz.) diced green chilies
2 to 3 cups of shredded cheese
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly oil a 9"x13" baking pan. On the bottom of the pan spread out the cooked rice. Layer the refried beans on top of the rice. Then lightly beat the eggs in a bowl. Add the flour and chilies to that bowl and mix well. Pour the egg mixture over the beans in the pan. Finally, sprinkle the cheese across the top of the pan. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

Homemade Refried Beans

Just like our Ham and Bean Soup we also make pinto beans in large batches and pressure can them for later use. We've found it to be very economical to buy dried pinto beans in bulk, cook them, and can them ourselves. At one point I calculated our cost to be around 23 cents per pint. To make homemade refried pinto beans I warm a bit of lard in a skillet and add in a pint of home canned pinto beans (undrained). I use a potato masher to mash the beans and cook them just until they're warmed. You can find our tutorial for cooking and canning pinto beans here.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

2 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir. Store in a glass jar. Make sure to label your jar so you'll know what's in it later on. :)

To make the dip, combine 1/3 cup mayo, 1/8 cup milk, and 1 Tbsp of the Ranch Dressing Mix. Season to taste with salt. If you like it a bit runnier, add more milk.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Saturday, October 6th

2012-10-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Ham and Bean Soup Served Over Cooked Rice

Saturday is a very busy day for our family as it's the first day of the 182nd Semiannual General Conference. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we gather as a family twice each year to watch the General Conference broadcasts. The General Conferences are opportunities for us to listen to talks given by our Prophet, Apostles, and other General Authorities of the Church. It's an educational and uplifting event. On Saturday there are two sessions that we watch together as a family. The first session begins at 11am CDT and the second session begins at 3pm CDT. There is a short break between sessions. Each session lasts 2 hours. There is also an evening session for the men. The Hubster will head over to our local congregational building (ward meetinghouse) and join the other men for that broadcast at 7pm.

You can learn more about the 182nd Semiannual General Conference and watch sessions online at lds.org.

To learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visit Mormon.org.

Since I'll be wanting to watch and listen to the General Conference sessions I keep the food simple. Lunch will be sandwiches and a veggie tray and dinner will be our home canned ham and bean soup served over rice.

This is one of our pantry meals. The pantry meal category is a category of meals that we created for busy days when we didn't want to spend a great deal of time at home involved in meal preparation. Our Saturdays are often the day we are away from the house the most and it's nice to have a meal that's home cooked and quick and easy to prepare when we come back home. These meals are made with foods that are usually always on the shelves of our pantries. Some of the recipes in the pantry meal category involve refrigerated ingredients, but they are always comprised of ingredients we regularly keep on hand.

We cook the Ham and Bean soup up in large batches and pressure can it so that we always have some on the pantry shelves.

The recipe for the ham and bean soup can be found here and the tutorial for pressure canning the soup can be found here.

This meal requires a bit of large batch cooking and time spent canning in advance, but yields 13 meals for later use.

To serve it over rice we just steam some jasmine rice on the stovetop, reheat the soup in a saucepan and serve the soup over the rice.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Friday, October 5th

2012-10-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

Homemade Pizza with Italian Sausage

Pizza Crust Recipe

2 Tbsp yeast
2 1/2 cups warm (110F) water
2 tsp raw honey
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
6 cups flour

Combine water and honey; mix well. Add yeast to water mixture. Let proof. You'll know it's ready when it's sort of foamy looking. In a bowl combine flour and salt; mix well. When yeast is proofed, pour yeast mixture and olive oil into the bowl with the flour mixture. Mix well. Let rest for about 20 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and roll or pat into the shape of your pizza pan.j

Place pizza dough onto a pizza pan that has been sprinkled with flour or cornmeal.

Making the Pizza

To assemble the pizza we then put a thin layer of pizza sauce on top of the crust. For the Italian sausage pizza we then add cooked Italian sausage, diced onions, and mushrooms. We top the pizza with a 6 cheese blend of shredded cheeses.

Bake in a 450F oven for 20 minutes.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Thursday, October 4th

2012-10-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

Arroz Con Pollo

The Hubster and his friend K raise chickens and turkeys together on K's hobby farm. In exchange for the Hubster's labor we get pastured poultry for a very low price. This year they decided to just raise heirloom breed turkeys, so we have turkey to work with for our Arroz Con Pollo.

Arroz Con Pollo Recipe

3 pound chicken, cut into pieces
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup uncooked rice
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
1 bay leaf, crumbled
10 oz frozen peas, thawed and drained (or a similar amount of canned peas, drained)
pimiento strips
pitted ripe olives

Preheat oven to 350F. Place the chicken pieces in a baking dish, skin side up. Sprinkle with the salt, paprika, and pepper. Cook it uncovered for 30 minutes.

Heat the chicken stock to boiling. After 30 minutes of cooking remove the chicken from the pan and place on a plate. Drain any fat from the baking dish. Mix the broth, rice, onion, garlic salt, oregano, turmeric, bay leaf, and peas in the baking dish. Place the chicken back on top. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Place the pan back in the oven and cook until the rice is finished and the thickest piece of chicken reads 165F with an instant read thermometer. It typically takes about 30 minutes of cooking time. Remove the foil and garnish the dish with pimiento strips and olives.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Wednesday, October 3rd

2012-10-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

Beef Stew with Homemade Bread

Beef Stew Recipe

1 lb stew meat (we use 1 quart of home canned beef or venison)
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
6 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 quarts beef stock
Seasonings to taste - we like salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder
Flour or other thickener

Add stew meat to medium hot skillet. If meat is very lean first add some lard or other fat to the skillet. While meat is browning add onion. Cook until meat is browned and onion is soft.

Combine meat mixture, carrots, celery, potatoes, and beef stock in large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer. Add seasonings to taste.

When meat is thoroughly cooked and potatoes are cooked is the time to add your thickener. If using flour add about 1/8 cup flour to 1/2 cup water and thoroughly mix. Slowly stir that mixture into your stew. Bring stew to a boil to allow thickener to work. If not thick enough to your liking repeat until you achieve the desired consistency.

Bread Recipe

2 cups warm water (about 110F)
2 Tbsp raw honey
4 tsp yeast
4 Tbsp olive oil
6 cups flour (I usually use whole wheat, but it works equally well with white)
2 tsp salt

Add honey to warm water. Mix well. Add yeast to the water mixture. Mix well. Allow to "rest". When you see it bubbling, it's ready. In mixer bowl combine salt and 1/2 of the flour (3 cups). Pour the water mixture and olive oil into the mixture bowl with the flour. Using a dough hook, mix together. Continue to mix in the rest of the flour, just a bit at a time. When all of the flour is combined, then knead the dough using the dough hook for 8 minutes. You might need to add a bit more flour as it kneads. You don't want a sticky dough.

Place kneaded dough in a bowl and cover with a clean towel. Place in a warm part of your kitchen away from drafts. Allow to rise about 30 minutes. Once risen you can shape it into two loaves. I like to use my french bread pans and form loaves that are sort of shaped like an Italian bread or French bread. Let rise another 20 minutes or so. Then bake in a preheated 400F oven for about 20 minutes. Take care not to let it over-brown.

Pressure Canning Potatoes

2012-10-02T16:31:00.001-05:00

One of our local grocery stores had a great price on potatoes last week - 50 pounds of relatively locally grown potatoes for only $5.98. I just couldn't pass up on that price.

But, since we haven't got a root cellar I knew I'd have to come up with some method of long term storage. I thought about dehydrating them, but we already have some that we dehydrated a while back. Instead, I thought of pan fried potatoes, southern style hash brown potatoes, quick cooking mashed potatoes, etc. I knew that canning was how I'd preserve these potatoes. It would be so convenient being able to open up a quart jar of canned potatoes and quickly mix together a potato salad.

Canning potatoes is a pretty simple process. First, you peel the potatoes. I keep my potatoes under water as I work with them to prevent browning. This is a trick I learned back when I was an undergrad working in my university's cafeteria kitchen. One of my assigned tasks, believe it or not, was peeling potatoes. We had a machine - sort of like a rock tumbler - that took a lot of the peel off but students did the finish peeling. As we peeled the potatoes we put the peeled ones in a clean trash can on wheels filled with water. It still amazes me that the college cooked homemade mashed potatoes for over 5,000 students.

So...here you see a bowl full of my peeled potatoes.

After I had a bunch of the potatoes peeled, then I cut them into chunks. It varied depending upon the size of the potato, but they were roughly quatered.

Then I was ready to can them up. I ended up peeling and chopping about 25 pounds of potatoes and ended up having room to can about 22 pounds or so in this batch.

I warmed up the canning jar lids in a small saucepan on the stovetop.

I warmed up a pot of water. This was boiled and was the water I used to pack the potatoes in the jars.

I warmed up the quart jars by filling them with water and putting them in the pressure canner. When pressure canning you only need to fill the bottom of the canner with about 1"-2" of water. You'll need to read the instruction booklet for your pressure canner for exact instructions for your canner.

Then I laid out the rest of my equipment. In this picture you'll see a bowl of canning salt, rings for the canning jars, funnel, ladle, canning jar tongs, magnetic lid lifter, clean cloth for wiping down the rims of the jars, and the chopped and peeled potatoes.

Then I began to fill the jars. I'd lift one of the warmed jars out of the canner, empty the water into the sink and fill it with potatoes. I filled the jars to about 1" of the top. For me a good visual is to fill to below the rings on the jar.

I added about 1/2 teaspoon of canning salt to the jar and then filled it with some of the boiling water. Again, I filled to just about where the rings began on the canning jar. That left about 1" headspace in the jars.

Then I wiped down the rim of the jar with the clean cloth. I lifted a warmed lid out of the saucepan using the magnetic lid lifter and placed it on top of the jar, centering it in the middle. I placed a ring on top of the lid and tightened it down.

Then I put the filled jar into the canner and removed another jar. I repeated those steps for each of the seven jars for this canner.

I ended up using both of my pressure canners and filled 14 quarts of potatoes.

When seven jars were filled I put the lid on the pressure canner and tightened the lid down. I turned the heat on the burner to high and waited to see steam coming out of the vent pipe. When I saw a steady stream of steam coming out of the vent pipe I set a timer for 8 minutes. That time period is what is referred to as venting. After that time had passed I put the weight on the vent pipe set at 10 pounds.

I waited for the pressure gauge to read 10 pounds and set a timer for 40 minutes. At my altitude quart jars of potatoes process for 40 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.

After 40 minutes had passed I turned off the heat on the burner and waited for the pressure to return to zero on the pressure gauge. I waited just a few minutes after that and then removed the lid from the pressure canner.

I used the canning jar tongs to remove the jars of potatoes and put them on a piece of cardboard on the countertop to cool.

After the jars cooled I removed the rings and checked to see that the lids had all sealed properly. Then I washed down the jars and marked them with the contents and date. They're stored in a cool dark spot until we're ready to use them.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Tuesday, October 2nd

2012-10-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

Stuffed Zucchini Boats with Oven Fried Sweet Potatoes

This recipe features the last of our fresh zucchini from the summer garden. It was a marvelous squash year here and I have quite a bit of shredded zucchini in the freezer for winter use.

Stuffed Zucchini Boats Recipe

1 pound ground beef
1 large zucchini (or 2 grocery store sized ones)
1 onion
1 bell pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream (optional, but yummy)

Wash your zucchini. Leave the squash whole. Do not cut it, peel it, etc. Place it in a pot full of water. Bring your pot to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes. You want the squash to be somewhat tender.

While your squash is boiling, heat your oil in a large skillet and cook the onion and pepper. After they've cooked for about 5 minutes add the ground beef and seasoning. Cook until the beef is browned.

Once your squash is cooked cut it in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds; retain those and mix them in with the beef mixture. Preheat your oven to 375F. Place the squash on a baking sheet. Place the beef mixture into the centers of your squash. Bake for about 15 minutes. Then add shredded cheese to the top of the squash. Bake about another 15 minutes. Keep a watch on them so that the cheese doesn't burn.

We found that one large garden variety zucchini will feed 4 people.

Oven Fried Sweet Potatoes

4 sweet potatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Wash and peel the sweet potatoes. Cut the potatoes in half and then in thin slices about 1/4" thick. Place in a bowl. Coat with olive oil - about 3 Tbsp. Add in seasonings to taste. Mix well.

Place on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 375F oven for about 20 minutes. You might have to periodically check the potatoes as cooking time varies depending upon the thickness of your fries.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals - Monday, October 1st

2012-10-01T11:50:00.000-05:00

Roasted Potato, Onion, and Rosemary Crustless Quiche served with Acorn Squash

This is a seasonal plan, as are most of this month's menus. We had a bumper crop of acorn squash this year, so in addition to canning some of it you'll see it popping up in our dinner menus as well. It's also a great time of the year to buy potatoes in the Midwest as the prices tend to be lowest in the fall.

The Rosemary is also from our garden. Rosemary isn't supposed to be a perennial in our zone, but I've found that by planting it on the Eastern side of the house and keeping it well covered with snow during the winter months I can overwinter it successfully. To dry it for later use I just cut sprigs of Rosemary and hang it to dry from my herb rack in the kitchen.

Roasted Potato, Onion, and Rosemary Crustless Quiche Recipe

3/4 pound potatoes
1 medium onion
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded cheese
5 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375F. Using a mandolin or sharp knife slice the potatoes and onions to 1/4" thick or so. Toss them with the olive oil, rosemary, and salt. Layer them in the bottom of a pie pan and roast them until the potatoes are tender - about 30 to 40 minutes or so. After the potatoes are cooked, loosen them from the bottom of the pie pan. Sprinkle the cheese over the potatoes. Blend together the eggs, milk, and black pepper and pour over the cheese and potato mixture. Place in oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the egg is set. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Acorn Squash

We'll serve roast acorn squash on the side. To roast the acorn squash we just wash the squash and then cut it in half. We scoop out the seeds. I add salt and pepper to the cut side and place it on a baking sheet in the oven. I put a tablespoon or so of butter in the center of the cut side of the squash. Then I bake it for about an hour in a 375F oven.

31 Days of Home Cooked Meals

2012-10-01T10:22:00.003-05:00

I'm joining up with nesting place in the 31 Day challenge.

As I considered what topic I'd choose home cooking kept rearing its angry pot. We're facing a few lean months ahead due to some budget tightening over at the Hubster's place of employment. Their budget tightening means I have to tighten up our home budget as well. I don't have a great deal of flexibility in our home budget, but one area I can tighten up is our grocery budget.

So...I'm planning to use pantry and freezer ingredients in the month of October to keep our meals simple and at home.

Come and join me in 31 Days of Home Cooked Meals.

The majority of my menu choices will be dinner recipes that are simple, easy to prepare, and use many ingredients that folks might already have in their pantries. Some will show you how to cook from scratch and some will show you how to make your own homemade versions of convenience foods.

1. Monday, October 1st - Meatless Monday -

Roasted Potato, Onion, and Rosemary Crustless Quiche
Roast acorn squash

2. Tuesday, October 2nd - Beef -

Stuffed zucchini boats
Oven fried sweet potatoes

3. Wednesday, October 3rd - Soup -

Beef stew
Bread

4. Thursday, October 4th - Poultry -

Arroz Con Pollo

5. Friday, October 5th - Pizza Night -

Homemade pizza with Italian sausage

6. Saturday, October 6th - Pantry Meal - It's a General Conference broadcast day -

Ham and bean soup
Rice

7. Sunday, October 7th - Another General Conference broadcast day and we'll have vegetarian dinner guests with us -

Cheesy Beans 'n Rice Casserole
Veggie tray
Ranch dip
Mixed salad

8. Monday, October 8th - Meatless Monday -

Indian Spiced Stuffed Eggplant

9. Tuesday, October 9th - Beef -

Twice baked acorn squash

10. Wednesday, October 10th - Soup -

Greek lentil soup
Bread

11. Thursday, October 11th - Poultry -

Spicy baked chicken wings
Oven fried potatoes
Corn

12. Friday, October 12th - Pizza Night -

Homemade chicken alfredo pizza

13. Saturday, October 13th - Pantry Meal -

Chicken soft tacos
home canned chicken seasoned with homemade taco seasoning mix
refried beans made from home canned pinto beans
tortillas
sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese
salsa
lettuce

14. Sunday, October 14th -

Southwestern stuffed acorn squash

15. Monday, October 15th - Meatless Monday -

Spaghetti with marinara sauce
Meatless meat balls
Steamed broccoli

16. Tuesday, October 16th - Beef -

Thirty minute cabbage meal

17. Wednesday, October 17th - Soup -

Chicken tortilla soup

18. Thursday, October 18th - Poultry -

Turkey teriyaki
Sauteed carrots
Rice

19. Friday, October 19th - Pizza Night -

Homemade pizza with Italian sausage

20. Saturday, October 20th - Pantry Meal -

Home canned venison in beef gravy
Noodles
Peas

21. Sunday, October 21st -

Slow cooker Pierogi casserole

22. Monday, October 22nd - Meatless Monday -

Veggie Shepherd's Pie

23. Tuesday, October 23rd - Beef -

Bierocks

24. Wednesday, October 24th - Soup -

Loaded baked potato soup
Bread
Carrot and celery sticks

25. Thursday, October 25th - Poultry -

Oven roasted turkey breast
Mashed potatoes with gravy
Peas

26. Friday, October 26th - Pizza Night -

Homemade chicken alfredo pizza

27. Saturday, October 27th - Pantry Meal -

Salmon balls
Rice
Peas

28. Sunday, October 28th -

Roast beef
Roast carrots, potatoes, and onions

29. Monday, October 29th - Meatless Monday -

Herbed crepes filled with mushroom cheese sauce
Sauteed cabbage and onion

30. Tuesday, October 30th - Beef -

Pan fried hamburger patties
Oven fried sweet potatoes
Sauteed green beans

31. Wednesday, October 31st - Soup -

Chicken Chili Monterey
Bread

needle and thREAD - September 27, 2012

2012-09-27T12:25:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've linked up, but that doesn't mean I haven't been sewing and reading!

I didn't take any pictures of them, but I've finished up three pairs of pants for the baby girl. I also purchased fabric and notions to sew her up three dresses to wear to church.

For work sewing I've been continuing to sew up more of the Wee Mice and crowns.

I've been reading Plenty by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon. (that's a library copy)

On the Kindle I've been reading Peace Like a River by Leif Enger