An Oregon Cottage

Thai-Inspired Turkey Curry

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:23:00 +0000

Curries made with coconut milk and spicy Asian curry pastes are one of my favorite quick, real foods. Sometimes they are made with only some onion and lots of meat, but I always try to add as many vegetables as I can.

Served over rice or rice noodles, they are a great one-dish dinner that is light-years away from hamburger helper-type skillet meals.

I always start with coconut milk and turkey (or chicken), onion, and garlic and then add the curry paste. In the past I've used red and green, and this time I'm using yellow.

The vegetables I'm using today are carrots, chopped parsnips, and some frozen green beans from last year's garden. But since there are so many vegetables that are good in this like broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, and zucchini, it is a super flexible recipe to use whatever you've got on hand.

Oh, I forgot to put this in the ingredients picture, but I always add a splash of fish sauce, too. Some people just can't get past the smell, but I think it adds that Thai flavor I'm looking for.

Heat some olive oil or coconut oil in a large skillet, and add the onion, carrot, garlic, and any other fresh vegetable that would need sauteing - in this case, parsnips - and cook for about 4-5 minutes over medium heat.

Then add any remaining vegetables ( like the frozen beans I'm using) and the chopped, cooked meat. Oh, man, shrimp is really good, too.

Have you gotten the idea yet that it's easy to customize this to your taste and to what's in your pantry?

Broccoli, zucchini, and peppers would be added here, if I were using them. The point is to have the vegetables remain crisp and not over-cook them.

Then pour in the coconut milk and a splash of fish sauce. For the amount of meat and vegetables I'm using, I added two cans of coconut milk.

Now comes the tricky part. Most of the flavor (and heat) of this dish comes from the curry paste. There are recipes on the web that have you make your own curry paste, but then it's not nearly so quick and easy, is it? And they are cheap at the Asian food store and last for months, so this is one convenience I'll keep, I think.

Anyway, the tricky part is getting the right amount of the spicy curry paste - enough to be flavorful, but not so much that it causes your mouth to burn, your eyes to water, and your forehead to sweat.

Don't ask me how I know this.

Here's what I've found out through trial and error: yellow curry paste is the mildest (and tastes more Indian than the other two), red is more spicy and green will blow your head off.

Gee, do you think I had a little issue with the green curry?

One of my sisters lived in Thailand for a few years and she found that they like to laugh at Americans lack of ability to eat spicy food. I think she worked up to more spicy things, but she said their idea of "mild" is our equivalent of smoke coming out of our ears.

So, in my world, I use a teaspoon of green curry paste to two cans of coconut milk, 1-2 teaspoons of red curry paste, and a little less than a tablespoon of yellow. But my main point here is to go slow, and taste after you've added a small amount. You can always put more in, but you can't take it out.

Again, please don't ask.

OK, there was a recipe here somewhere, wasn't there? Oh yeah, after adding the curry paste let everything cook together for about 5- 10 minutes to meld the flavors and cook the vegetables to crisp-tender.

Ladle over rice or rice noodles and enjoy, 'cause no one's gonna laugh at you here...

Thai-Inspired Turkey (or Chicken, or Shrimp) Curry

2 cans coconut milk
1-2 Tb. olive oil or coconut oil
4 cups chopped, cooked turkey or chicken (or shelled shrimp)
1 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tb. fish sauce
yellow, red, or green spicy curry paste (1 tsp. to 1 Tb. according to taste)
about 6 c. mixed vegetables of choice: sliced carrots, parsnips, or zucchini, chopped broccoli, cauliflower or sweet peppers, cut green beans, peas.
rice or rice noodles for serving

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and any hard vegetable that needs sauteing (carrots, parsnips, cauliflower). Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the cooked meat (or cook the shrimp with the vegetables until done), and any other vegetables along with the coconut milk and fish sauce.
Add the curry paste to taste, being careful to monitor the spiciness. Start with only 1 tsp. of green, 1-1/2 tsp. of red or just less than a Tb. of yellow.
Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes to let the flavors meld and cook the vegetables to crisp-tender.
Serve over rice or rice noodles.

Makes 6 servings

-Jami

Living Room Makeover Continued: The Foot Stool

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:03:00 +0000

After doing the first part of the living room makeover, continuing onto the bookshelves, and bringing the entryway into the same scheme, it's time for the foot stool we use as a coffee table to receive a facelift.

Sometimes I'm seduced by magazines and catalogs that have wonderful, chunky wood coffee tables in front of couches. They look so cool, and some have shelves for storing books and things.

But then I'm watching TV with my kids and we all have our feet up on our footstool and we're all comfortable with no table edge grinding into our legs, and I'm reminded why we have a footstool for a coffee table.

But see this lovely toile? I am growing weary of seeing the dirt on the side facing the couch courtesy of said feet. And, like, how silly would it be to tell people not to put their feet up on a footstool?

I just have to face that the light colored toile was never the right choice for a foot stool.

Unless I want to wash it every week.

Not.

My husband and I actually made this foot stool/coffee table more than ten years ago using some Home Depot legs, a thick piece of plywood, foam and batting. This lovely green (screams 1980's, doesn't it? So it must be way more than 10...) was the first layer and I think some other floral design was slipped over before the latest toile cover.

I'm bringing some black touches to my color scheme of white and sage green and also some texture by adding natural burlap and linen. I already had a large piece of burlap from some other project and decided it would be perfect to cover the stool since it's just the color of dirt. :-)

And here is the stool, newly covered in the burlap, after pounding 100 black upholstery tacks all around the edge to hold it in place.

I'm ready for the cleaner look and like how it turned out, but I was not prepared for how long it took me to pound all those tacks in. Sheesh, it was not easy getting them all evenly spaced (and they're not, so don't look closely!), and it took more than two hours and a bruised, painful thumb to get to this point.

Which is not done. If you look at the corner of the stool at the right in the photo above, you can see that I ran out of tacks with only about three more to go.

The same 3 that I bent putting them in.

Always get more than you think you need. Though in my defense, I bought all the store had in the design I wanted.

The corners were the trickiest parts to fold just right, keeping the material tight and yet not so bulky that the tacks wouldn't hold.

Some corners look better than others, but I figure no one's going to be looking at all four corners at once, are they?

Just to remind you, here's a shot of the living room before the makeover (I should point out that it's just a mini-makeover...no major remodeling will be undertaken here!).

I'm definitely liking it, and the clean lines of stool has inspired me to store the magazines in a basket and not pile them on the stool anymore.

Our feet would usually knock them off, anyway.

Next up are new pillows for the two overstuffed green chairs. I'm thinking a vintage linen I have with some black transfer designs on them...

Make sure to check back to see how they turn out!

-Jami

This is linked to DIY Day at A Soft Place and Get Your Craft On.

Monday's Menu

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:03:00 +0000

The two new recipes I tried last week, Yellow Turkey Curry and Pulled Pork were both keepers. I've got the curry almost ready to post and will share my friend's super easy and tasty pulled pork recipe soon.

This week we have our annual snow trip to a nearby lake, so it's an easy week for menu planning. Love it when that happens.

Monday- Egg salad sandwiches, chips, carrots and broccoli (youth night)

Tuesday- Stir fry elk and broccoli (what do you think- will it work with the elk?), baked noodles

Wednesday- Cheesy-Crust Ham Pie, green salad

Thursday- Haystacks (beans and toppings on corn chips)

Friday- snow trip (or maybe "lake trip" since there may be very little snow!)

Saturday- at the lake (I'm bringing eggs, fruit, and cinnamon rolls for breakfast)

Sunday- On-your-own (sandwiches, etc.)

-Jami

Drugstore Deals

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:36:00 +0000

There were lots of good deals I could've bought at Rite Aid this week and I did plan on going back to use another $3 off $15 coupon but never had the time. I'm OK, though, with the deal I ended up with:

2 Kashi cereals, BOGO @ $4.99 -FREE Kashi cereal coupon from vocalpoint= 0

2 Sure deodorants, BOGO @ $2.99 -$1.50/1 (men) & $1/1 = .49

Acnomel acne treatment, $6.99 ($6 SCR)

Dentyne cup, $2.50 -$1.50/1 = $1

-$3/$15 RA coupon

=$5.48 (and since I'm getting the $6 SCR, I actually made .52 on this deal!)

Can I just say how much I love Rite Aid?

With Walgreens, however, it's more of a love-hate relationship. I really just go so I can use a Register Reward I got earlier that will expire (hate the expirations, by the way), not because there's some awesome deal. I spent $4.69 for these items and received a $4 RR.

While I was happy to get the Kleenex here, I have to tell you about the horrible customer service I got at the store. The four long boxes all rang up at the sale price, BOGO at $2.19 each, but the two little boxes beeped. The cashier apparently couldn't ring them through, even though the exact boxes were on the front page of the ad that was sitting there at her register.

So she calls somebody for a price check. Seriously. With the ad in front of her. No one comes. There's probably one other customer in the store somewhere, but really it was dead at this time and yet not one other Walgreens employee came.

Finally she looked at me and said, "I hate this," and goes to get the price check herself. I'm a little steamy at this point, but other than point out the ad, I didn't say anything as she finished ringing me up. I had a lot to do, and was already thinking of the next stop, and she did apologize for the wait.

But the total didn't sound right, so I checked my receipt out in the car (always check!) and realized she rang up both boxes without giving me the BOGO sale. So I run back in, thinking she could just fix it...wrong. She tells me I've got to go to the cosmetics counter and she'll call someone. Great.

I should mention, I still haven't seen another customer. So I stand at the other counter waiting for the manager for almost 5 minutes while she looks at me from her register. I kid you not. Then the manager comes, looks at my receipt, which was their fault, and says she needs to go get a box to give me the credit. So I wait again.

When I finally got the $2.19, she didn't even apologize for the wait or the problem in the beginning. It was like I was bothering her when she was busy doing other things.

Contrast this with what my husband experienced at Starbucks a couple days later. He order a coffee that was going to be brewed and then he sat down to do some work on a computer. He thought it was taking awhile, but didn't realize until they brought the coffee out to him with a profuse apology and a coupon for a free coffee that he had waited 4 minutes.

Ah...it's amazing how good customer service makes you feel about a place, isn't it?

What do you think? Did I just get a bad day, or is the customer always treated like this at Walgreens?

-Jami

Whole Grain Apple Butter Bars

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:03:00 +0000

For this installment of "Cookies in the Cottage" I bring you an easy bar cookie that has some good-for-you sounding ingredients but still taste like you're eating a cookie, plus they work as a really good granola bar, too, for snacks and lunches.

And no, they're not chocolate, but sometimes that's OK.

But only sometimes.

This bar cookie can be done in a variety of ways by changing the fruit in the middle. I've made them with strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and blueberry jams and they're equally good. But using my homemade thick and spicy apple butter is really one of my favorite ways to make these.

And in the spring when the rhubarb is coming on, I make a rhubarb filling for these that is so good people who don't like rhubarb will gladly eat them (read: my kids). I'll share that recipe, too, when the rhubarb is ready in a few months.

Here are the ingredients: oats, white whole wheat (or whole wheat pastry) flour, brown sugar (I'm using sucanat here for the first time), salt, baking soda, cinnamon, butter, and a cup of apple butter (or your favorite jam).

Nuts are purely optional, but usually add them as I really like them in cookies. Here I'm using chopped pecans.

Lightly butter a square baking pan, either 8x8 or 9x9 like I'm using here.

(*Ahem*...moving away from the natural light to the mixer area)

Add all the ingredients except the butter and apple butter/jam to a mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Then mix in the butter until thoroughly combined and all the butter pieces are incorporated.

(Ta-da- back over by the window...)

Press half of the crumb mixture (about 2-1/2 cups) onto the bottom of the prepared pan.

Pour the whole cup of apple butter (or jam) onto the unbaked crust and spread evenly.

Sprinkle the remaining crumbs over the top, covering completely and pressing down lightly.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Being so easy, these would make a great homemade substitute for all those "fruity" (I use the word loosely here) granola bars sold in the stores. You can wrap them individually and even freeze them. If you put them in the kid's lunches in the morning, they will be thawed by the time lunch rolls around.

And you will know every good ingredient in them.

Whole Grain Apple Butter Bars

2 c. rolled oats
1 c. white whole wheat flour (sometimes sold as "pastry flour")
3/4 c. brown sugar or sucanat (which worked great in this recipe)
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. cinnamon
3/4 c. butter
1/4-1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1 c. apple butter (or other type of jam)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 8 or 9-inch square pan.
In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar, salt, soda, cinnamon, and nuts, if using. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or electric mixer until thoroughly combined.
Press half of the mixture (about 2-1/2 cups) into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the apple butter evenly over the top and then sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the apple butter, pressing down gently.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until lightly browned.
Cool in pan on a wire rack before cutting into 16 bars (or 12 bars for "granola bar" sizes).

Makes 12-16 bars.

-Jami

This is linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap where you can find other recipes that use flour and the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap.

A Clutter Challenge Update

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:38:00 +0000

I made some good progress towards my goal of ridding our house of 356 "cluttery" things in 2010. I've now gotten rid of almost 100 items! Of course, many of those were old books stacking up. We'll see how it goes now that our bookshelves are looking bright and airy.

Two things in the last month worked towards my goal. One was the mini-makeover of our living room that included decluttering the over-full bookshelves on either side of the fireplace. I counted numbers .36 to .72 here, mainly in books, but actually could've counted more if I counted all the magazines in a stack I had kept since the 1980s (!).

I am not the type of person who normally keeps old magazines, but this magazine was Do It Yourself and back in the 90's I seriously got a ton of frugal ideas for fixing up and remodeling our first house and yard. I've looked through them numbers of times, so I always thought they were good to keep.

Until I realized how out-dated some of the styles were (understatement). And in the last five years the magazine has become less and less of "do it yourself" and more of "I hired so and so to do what I planned." Worse, if someone did do something themselves, they usually were a contractor, builder, or decorator who just happened to be doing their own houses.

Um, sorry, not too realistic for us regular folk.

Needless to say, time to toss 'em!

The other thing that motivated us to get rid of things was a garage sale that our son's youth group was having. More books, numbers .73 to .96 came out of The Writer's office. We really do have quite a few books and they were threatening to take over.

Numbers .97 and .98 are the sconces from the Entry Before and After makeover.

Of course, this is the big question: Do I still count one when I brought in a lamp from the thrift store? Should it be only .97?

What about new books we buy?

OK, now I'm confused.

-Jami

Orange Almond Salad

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:24:00 +0000

This is one of my favorite winter salads and we probably have it a couple times each month. This salad and my other favorite, dried cranberry and feta, are staples during the winter months.

During the summer, there are so many good, seasonal vegetables coming from the garden that I don't make these salads as much.

It's also the only time I use *gasp* canned fruit for anything. In fact, until a friend brought this salad to our house one time years ago, I'd never bought a can of mandarin oranges before. But since it's just a topping for fresh vegetables and adds such a nice contrast, it's OK in this case.

Plus, it's really good.

Now, when I've got fresh oranges I will occasionally use them for this salad, but it takes more preparation and I like to save the oranges for lunches, so I only use fresh occasionally.

Start with a base of greens like the spinach and romaine I used here. Sometimes I add some shredded cabbage. Then top the greens with a sweet onion sliced and then cut in half to make julienne-like pieces.

If using the mandarin oranges, pour about 1/4 cup of the juice into a bottle for the dressing before draining the rest. If using a fresh orange, cut the segments out leaving the membranes, and squeeze the membranes into the bottle.

Arrange the orange segments on top of the salad base.

And sprinkle some coarsely chopped almonds over the salad.

To finish the super easy dressing, add about a tablespoon of Dijon mustard to the juice in the bottle.

Of course you can make your dressing in a bowl or glass measure, or whatever else strikes your fancy.

Add a splash (about 1 to 2 tablespoons) of balsamic vinegar. I've also used red wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar, and cider vinegar.

Again, use what makes you happy. It's the little things, folks...

Now add enough extra virgin olive oil to double the amount of dressing. So the dressing should consist of half juice/vinegar mixture and half oil.

Don't you just love these exact measurements?

I've found this to be the best balance for all the vinaigrette-type dressings I make in order for them to not be too oily or too vinegary. In other words, "just right."

Shake well and pour over the top of the salad. I usually make these on individual plates, mainly because my kids don't want all the ingredients, but also because I can dress the salad without having any leftovers to go wilty with the dressing.

There's just no way to make leftover, dressed salad taste good the next day. Luckily the wonderful man I married will eat anything, so very little goes to waste around here.

Except zucchini, but that's another story.

Orange Almond Salad

4 to 5 c. of greens like lettuce, spinach, and cabbage
1 can of mandarin oranges OR 1-2 fresh oranges, cut into segments
a few slices of sweet onion, cut in half
about 1/3 c. of chopped almonds
about 1/4 c. juice from can or orange membranes
1 Tb. Dijon mustard
1-2 Tb. balsamic vinegar
about 1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil

Make salad by layering greens, onions, orange segments and chopped almonds.
Make dressing by combining juice, mustard, vinegar, and olive oil in a jar with a lid and shake well until combined (or use a bowl and whisk well).
Pour dressing over salad and serve.

Makes 4-6 servings

-Jami

This is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Monday's Menu

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:55:00 +0000

I'm late getting the menu up because the weekend was so busy! We had beautiful weather, so in between our other activities I was able to get some weeding done (note to self: make it a priority to get all the flower beds mulched and "newspapered" like I wrote about, and then maybe next spring I won't have a ton of weeds!) and start getting the vegetable garden ready for some early planting.

If you're wondering what you can plant now, the Organic Garden Vegetable Checklist you can download from my sidebar is a good resource. Try it and let me know what you think!

Even when I'm busy I still make it a priority to plan a menu. To be honest, I've gone through stages in my life where I didn't plan, and we end up eating a rather narrow menu, in addition to not using up what I've got in the freezer. I know I save money, too, by planning meals with what I've got in my house already, but mostly I like not having that 4:30 "great-what are we going to have tonight?" feeling.

So here's the plan for this week:

Monday- Chicken vegetable soup (using leftovers from last Thursday), artisan bread, vegetable plate

Tuesday-Yellow Turkey curry* over rice, salad with oranges and almonds*

Wednesday- Slow-cooked Red beans and rice with vegetable toppings

Thursday- Slow-cooker pulled pork* in tortillas with lettuce, onions, and salsa

Friday- Mediterranean Fish Bake, salad, sourdough bread

Saturday- Easy Homemade Pizza

Sunday- Creamy pesto pasta*, salad

*recipes to come

-Jami

Save Paper: Use "Family Napkins"

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:09:00 +0000

I grew up using paper napkins. Cloth napkins were reserved for holidays and special occasions, if even then. When I married I was introduced to cloth napkins used daily by my lovely mother-in-law. Not only did she use them for "Sunday dinner" but also for everyday.

And this was 20+ years ago, when the word "green" still meant just a color.

My husband's family had spent some time living abroad where apparently using cloth napkins everyday is not an anomaly. I thought it was kind of quaint and cute.

Until I quit work to stay home with our kids and was looking for any way to save money. I combed through the stash of napkin rings (mostly unused) from our wedding and found four different ones, one for each of us that became our family napkin rings. Then I hemmed up some squares of cotton, patterned to hide stains, from material I already had.

Our family has now used this system for years and we love it. Not only does it save money because we aren't using a new paper napkin for each meal, cloth is also nicer to use. It actually works better. I suppose you'd have to buy the "fancy paper napkins" to equal the quality.

It's very simple, too. Each family member picks a unique napkin ring that is easily identified from the others. If you don't have a stash of unused rings like I did, the thrift store is a great place to find individual rings for .25 to .50 cents. Also stores will often clearance napkin rings that have just one or two left in a set. If you want to get creative, they aren't hard to make. I've seen a piece of elastic sewn together with all different buttons sewn around it, or a big piece of costume jewelry attached.

I do like to use different mediums (wood, metal, etc.) for each, though, so there's no confusion. We then use a set of napkins for probably 3 or 4 days, depending on the type of meals (BBQ vs. soup), each time putting our napkin back in our ring and setting the napkins in a basket we keep by the table. A drawer would work as well, but we are short of drawers with extra room.

The napkins are then thrown in the wash basket and go in with the next load, since they take up hardly any room. I don't pretreat them or worry about stains because they are just for our family, but I do try to use patterns to help hide the eventual staining that occurs. I doesn't bother me. It really requires very little extra thought, even, and not even extra energy since they are washed with a regular load of laundry.

Now, I must say that my sister-in-law who was raised with this system remembers "crusty" napkins and doesn't do it with her family now because of this. But really, you could wash them as often as you wish if you had a big enough stack of napkins.

And crusty? Goodness, what are you wiping on them? We usually just need to wipe a smear of tomato sauce, dressing, or the like. When we have finger food, we just wash them right away, so this is clearly something each family has to decide and manage.

This sure works for our family, and for others in my extended family. For awhile I sold napkin sets with four mismatched rings so families could get started right away using this system and they were always popular where ever I sold them.

Even if some people still come to our house and think we are quaint.

-Jami

This is linked to Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom.

Using Up: Ham Bone Soup and Leftovers

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:09:00 +0000

In today's Using Up segment, I present to you the humble ham bone, the thing you can never get all the meat off of when cutting nice slices of ham.

The solution? Don't try, just throw it in the freezer with all the meat pieces attached, and pull it out when you are ready to make a delicious soup.

Not sure how to use this bone to make soup? Read on for a loose recipe and to see how I also used up some roast beef, potatoes, and vegetable bisque I found in the fridge.

Well, this starts pretty simple: put the ham bone in the pot.

Whew, glad we got through that.

I'm using a slow cooker today (my favorite way to do this), but cooking on the stove top for 2 to 3 hours works, too.

Cover the bone with water and add a chopped onion. Celery is good added now, too, but I didn't have any.

Set it on low (or bring to a boil, then turn to low on the stove top) and cook for about 5 hours. That's the time I was at work, and I finished it when I came home, but you can cook it for 2-3 hours on high if needed.

Here are the leftovers I found in my refrigerator. Roast beef and carrots. Garlic mashed potatoes. Vegetable bisque. An onion.

No, wait. The onion was already chopped and in the pot. How did that get there?

I'll take it up with my photographer later.

Now you might think these would not work together with the ham, but I have found soup to be a dish that can bring many things together for the greater good.

The greater good being a great bowl of soup.

Not world peace or anything like that.

I also like beans with a ham bone, so I defrosted some of these pre-cooked, frozen white beans to add to the soup. I could've chosen garbanzo or red beans (both stocked in the freezer), but went with the white beans today.

You ever just have a white bean day?

When the meat on the bone is starting to fall off (or you get home from work, or the timer dings...whatever), remove it from the liquid (now a wonderful ham broth) and set it on a cutting board to cool.

Once you can touch it without burning your hands off, pull the meat off, cut up any big pieces and remove any remaining fat before adding back to the broth in the pot.

Now add any other ingredients that sound good. I put in the leftovers I had this time, but have added tomatoes, lentils, and cabbage in the past.

Cook on low for another 3 to 4 hours (or another hour on the stove top until everything is tender).

I felt this needed some green, and added some peas in the last half hour of cooking in the slow cooker. Spinach, kale or chard are good, too.

Ham Bone Soup "recipe"

Ham bone
1 onion, chopped
2-3 stalks celery, sliced
choice of vegetables: carrots, peas, tomatoes, cabbage, kale, spinach, etc.
beans
salt and pepper

Cover bone with water in pot of slow cooker or soup pot. Add chopped onion and celery, if using, and cook for 4-5 hours on low or on the stove top for 1-2 hours.
Remove bone from liquid, cool, then pull off meat and add back to pot.
Add choice of vegetables and beans and cook again on low for another 3-4 hours (or bring to boil, then cook an hour on low on stove top). Add things like greens or peas in the last half hour.
Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Makes a ton.

-Jami

This is linked to Works For Me Wednesday.

Entryway Before and After

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:59:00 +0000

Entry Before

OK, calling this an "entryway" may be exaggerating it a bit, but it is the place you pass through after coming in the front door, so for lack of a better name this is our entryway.

I've never really loved what I put here, and in the last months have come to really dislike it.

I'm sorry that these things bother me. I really am. Life would be so much easier if I were able to just breeze through my house for years never noticing the wrong color here or the "off" area there or the combination I'm just tired of...

So, when I started my small living room redecoration, it just naturally spilled over to this area (gee, now it's starting to sound pretentious to call it an entryway).

Entry After
I wanted to add some black (like I'm adding to the living room) to coordinate with the mirrored star that hangs at the peak. I also wanted to simplify the look and use some of the things I love that I hadn't found a place for yet.

The best part?

The only cost was $7.99 for a quart of black paint and $5.99 for a thrift store lamp. I "shopped" around the house for all the other things.

This is a cabinet that I bought as an unfinished kit years ago for our other house. I used the stain that we had on our floors in that house, but was never really happy with the way it took the stain. Through the years I've repainted it many times in my mind, so I was pretty excited to actually do it this time!

And it went really quick, taking only about 1-1/2 hours to do two coats (one hour the first day, 1/2 hour the second). That included the light sanding before the first coat.

Sheesh, why did I wait so long?

I really like how my vintage green glass knobs stand out now against the black. And I'm surprised how much I like the black...it's a big step for me because I never thought I'd paint anything black. I'm usually heaping coats of white paint on everything (like the inside of our whole house).

I've collected tin trays in the past and have a number of different colors, but these are the only black ones I have. I thought I'd start with these and if I find some more in the future it would be easy to add to (whoo-hoo, something else I get to look for at thrift sales!).

I love these carved-looking shelves (actually painted terra cotta) which held a place of honor over our fireplace in our old house. I was just waiting for a good place for them here (*uh-em* five years later...).

And I think I scored with the little vintage glass lamp for $5.99 at Goodwill. I borrowed a shade from another lamp and edged it with black gimp (what did they do before glue guns?).

I'm happy to have a great place to show off my lovely pear that an aunt of mine made out of a gourd. It's so incredible and I love it. I wish I could link you to her Etsy store, but I'm still trying to convince her to sell her gourds online. You should see the sunflowers, calla lilies and pumpkins she makes out of them, too. If she ever gets a store, I'll update this with a link (hint, hint...).

A couple of old books and the card my daughter made that was the inspiration for the makeover finishes out the tableau.

My take? I like it. And I especially like that it was only $14.99. It illustrates that we don't have to go and buy a lot of things to make changes around our homes. And I think this is more of a reflection of me and the things I love (although I had made the hanging from a tapestry piece...it just never really seemed to fit in my houses- too grand or something).

What do you think? Anything I should add? Take away?

-Jami

This is linked to:

-DIY at A Soft Place to Land

- Get Your Craft On.

-The Shabby Nest Frugal Friday

-The Inspired Room

Monday's Menu

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:35:00 +0000

One highlight from last week's menu was the slow cooker Elk Stroganoff. It turned out really good and wasn't at all chewy like game can be sometimes. Seems the slow cooker is a way to get game to come out nice and tender.

OK, I'm sure everybody knew that but me. Sorry for stating the obvious. ;-)

For this last week in February, the budget's almost dry, so we're eating from the pantry except for buying a some produce and milk. And we've got company two nights. But we're going out another night, so it should all balance out.

This is when it's nice to have a pantry.

Monday- Tuna sandwiches on homemade bread, chips and carrots (youth night)

Tuesday- (company) green salad with cranberries, Vegetable Bisque, artisan bread, slow cooker Herbed Roast with carrots, garlic mashed potatoes, Chocolate Lava Cakes

Wednesday- Ham bone soup with beans (how's that for getting back to real life after Tuesday's company dinner?), salad and artisan bread

Thursday- (company) Slow cooker whole chicken with Basic Spice Rub, baked grated carrots, baked risotto, salad, cookies

Friday- dinner at son's school preview night

Saturday- Homemade pizza (or dinner at friends?)

Sunday- Pesto Pasta and vegetables

-Jami

Target Deals

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:28:00 +0000

After a year (yes a whole year!) of showing you pictures of my shopping deals, I think we've all got the picture of ways to save shopping with sales, coupons, and rebates. So I'm not going to regularly post all my weekly deals anymore, especially in light of my goal this year to make most of our foods (aka "real food") like cereal and granola bars.

What I will do, though, is share with you any super deals I score in the drugstores and how I navigate keeping the food budget down while trying to move to sometimes more expensive traditional foods like coconut oil, sucanat, and whole wheat.

In light of that, here's an incredible deal from Target- the type that makes people shake their heads in amazement when I tell them I made $12 buying all this:

This was possible because Target was running two different gift card deals:

-buy 2 Venus or Fushion razors, get a $5 gift card

-buy 3 Olay Total Effects body washes, get a $5 gift card (this was not advertised at my store, I read about it on Hip 2 Save and sure enough. it was running!)

And Olay has a $15 rebate when you buy any 3 Olay products (lots of different ones work).

I just love it when the stars align like that. :-)

Here's how I combined coupons, sales, and a rebate to make $12!

3 Venus razors, $6.99 each

1 Fushion razor, $6.99

3 Olay washes, $5.50 each

= $44.46

- (3) $2/1 Venus manuf. coupons

- $4/1 Fushion mfc

- (3) Buy Venus razor, get Olay body wash FREE mfc!

Total paid = $17.96 and got $15 in Target gift cards, so like $2.96!

Sent in for the $15 Olay rebate for the 3 body washes and I've just made $12.00!!

So cool.

-Jami

This is linked to Super Savings Saturday.

The Flower of February

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:27:00 +0000

We've had such a mild winter since our week of 11 degree temperatures in December that a lot of things are blooming (full blown daffodils in February?!), but the traditional flowers of February to me are crocus. They seem to be the promise of spring with their bright colors shooting up through the green leaves and they usually encourage me to want to get out in the garden.

My daughter took these photos the other day, and I think she did a great job of capturing their sort of fragile beauty.

Which come to think of it is certainly misleading because I've seen these babies come up through snow. Good news for anyone who thinks they have a "black thumb."

She's getting so good at taking really interesting and lovely shots of flowers that I hope she won't start charging me.

I'm not sure I could afford her.

I don't have a ton of these crocus in our yard, probably less that thirty all together, but they're all by the front door in little clumps here and there. I get to enjoy their beauty every time I walk out the door, letting them work their magic on me: there is hope for spring.

And to get real here: these bulbs are probably the cheapest bulbs you can buy, maybe .10 a bulb when bought in a package. Along with equally affordable daffodils and grape hyacinth (which happen to be my other favs...), they make the the early spring garden sing.

Let's always save a few cents for beauty in our lives.

-Jami

This is linked to Frugal Fridays at Life is Mom.

Baked Potato Fans

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:23:00 +0000

I think these might also be called "Potatoes Anna" or something, but I've always called them Potato Fans. I think it's a fun and slightly different way to bake potatoes and they get all those nice crunchy edges because of all the slices.

They are also one of those super easy dishes that look fancy and make people you serve them to feel really special. It'll just be our secret how easy they are.

This isn't much of a recipe, more of a technique that once you learn you can just whip them up in no time, changing the potato and cheese to whatever you want that night.

This is also real food, folks, with just three ingredients: butter, Parmesan (or other cheese), and potatoes. I used red potatoes here, but any potato works so use what you have. If they're small, I plan on two potatoes per person, large potatoes just one.

I needed to use up these potatoes, so I made up 11 to have some leftovers.

Start by melting about 3 tablespoons of butter (more or less depending on the number of potatoes you have).

This trick makes it easy to cut the potato into the "fans" without cutting all the way through. Place the potato on a large wooden spoon.

This one's been used a lot as testified by the chunk out of the end. Nothing but the best here at the cottage.

With the potato sitting on the spoon, take a long knife and cut down until it touches the edges of the spoon. Voila, perfect slices that stop just short of cutting through.

Using the spoon takes all the guesswork out of partially cutting the potatoes and makes it go quickly.

Place the potatoes on a lined or greased baking sheet and lightly pull the pieces apart to fan them. They won't all look perfectly fanned, but that's OK.

Pour a little of the melted butter over each potato, distributing it evenly.

Then sprinkle on grated Parmesan, about a tablespoon for each (small) potato.

Now here is where you decide how much time you'd like to spend on these. I'm just happy to see some cheese on the tops, with enough to melt into the crevices. But you could spend the time to push some of the cheese into each fan if you really wanted to "cheese it up."

Bake in about a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

How's that for definitive? That's because I will often cook these at the temperature the oven is already at for some other part of the meal. At 400 degrees, I'll start checking for doneness at 20 minutes. At 35o degrees, I'll let them go for 40 to 45 minutes.

And again it depends on the size of the potatoes.

See what I mean by being more of a technique? But that also means they're really flexible and easy to fit into a menu. That's a good thing.

A little crispy, a little cheesy, a little creamy inside.

A lot good.

-Jami

This post is linked to the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap.

Organizing Strategies: Keeping Track of Frozen Foods

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:58:00 +0000

This is my freezer. What started out as a circa 1990 white freezer with rusted edges and a nifty (?) black and gray "racing stripe" down the left side has turned into one of my favorite things in our laundry room that was part of our garage remodel.

Not only is it much nicer to look at (and with a French door that we can see through, this is important), but it has become a time-saver for keeping track of our garden produce that I freeze for winter use.

Actually, it's become almost indispensable.

I keep chalk and an eraser in a magnetic holder on the side of the freezer which makes it easy to update the totals weather I'm putting something in or taking something out.

In June, a new season begins with as the strawberries ripen, so I start a new section on the bottom of everything I have left from the previous season that needs to be used up. So, this year I will move "2009" to the bottom along with anything left and their numbers, change the top to "2010" and erase all the category numbers (of anything that was left) making it ready for the new season's produce that I will be adding.

Can I just say I love, love, love this? I always struggled to keep track of the things I threw in the freezer, and especially using the things from the previous year that were buried under other things.

And of course I should also do this with the meat and frozen vegetables I buy, but haven't reached that pinnacle yet. :-)

It also serves as a nice art medium for anyone interested. Our daughter keeps our beautified.

Interested in doing this to a freezer you own? I've since heard some say you need to prep the surface first, but other than a light sanding, I just painted right over the top.

Here's what I did:

1. Sand the front of the freezer, just enough to dull the shine, with a medium-grit paper. Spend a little extra time on any rusty edges to smooth them out.

2. Paint a coat of chalkboard paint on front of freezer and let dry according to directions on the can.

3. Paint a second coat. I still looked a little scraggly, so I went ahead with a third coat after the second dried, but this is optional.

4. "Prime" the board according to directions. This involves using the edge of a piece of chalk to cover the entire surface and wiping it off.

5. Measure the edges (we used a 1" picture molding) and cut using a miter saw or box to make the corners. Paint the molding (a couple of coats), let dry and adhere to the edges with Liquid Nails, holding in place with clamps. We did one or two edges at a time, letting them dry before doing another edge. The clamps were tricky to keep in place because they didn't have much to hold onto, so that's why we did just one at a time to minimize any bumping.

That's it. For the cost of can of chalkboard paint ($7) and the molding (about another $7) we got a much better looking freezer and an organizational tool (we already had Liquid Nails).

That sure works for me.

-Jami

This is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.

Visa and Ebates in the Mail

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:08:00 +0000

Look what came in the mail today! Whoa...so cool! Much better than the regular stuff.

The $35 Visa card is from Rite Aid's Go For the Gold rebate on P&G products. And were they ever quick with this! I just requested it two weeks ago. Gotta love Rite Aid. I got this card by spending about $34 out-of-pocket (see my recap of this deal), so I even made a few cents buying more than $100 worth of products at Rite Aid.

That, my friends, is a deal. Are you shopping at Rite Aid yet? Want to know how to navigate the waters, so to speak? See my post with steps to save at Rite Aid.

This is the third Ebates check I've gotten. Well, the second was actually a Visa card, which I really liked, but they said they've had to suspend that program and go back to the checks.

Hey, a check for over $35 dollars comes in the mail that they sent for me just doing something I would've normally done?

I don't care what form it comes in, I'm not complaining. :-)

I hope you've signed up for Ebates and are getting this money for your normal online shopping. If you haven't registered with Ebates before, you can go here to sign up (takes just seconds) and you will receive a $5 bonus (at your first purchase).

It's very easy, too. You can start shopping through the Ebates site, or if you start shopping on a website first (because you forgot about Ebates...), just put your items in the shopping cart and then go to Ebates, click on the site you want (say, Old Navy) and when you get back to the site your items will still be in the cart. The first time I used Ebates, I thought once I started ordering, I couldn't go back, but now I know the items are always in my cart (duh...sometimes takes me awhile).

If you are already registered, take advantage of shopping through Ebates (or try Cashbaq, another rebate shopping site that may have a store that Ebates doesn't) for any online purchases you may make for presents or anything you like to purchase online. You can also earn a bonus amount every time you refer a friend. So, as an example, if you click on Ebates from this post, sign up, and make a first purchase, I will get a $5 bonus (just an example :-). And you will, too, when you refer a friend who makes a purchase.

The hardest part really is remembering (not to mention getting your spouse on board!) and learning to think of it before pushing the "purchase" button. We recently needed to buy a new computer, and I wasn't sure if the Apple Store was one of the participating stores. A quick check, click of a button, and $17+ was coming our way!

$17 a minute? Ok, that's a pretty good return.

-Jami

Sourdough Bread Success!

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:59:00 +0000

I can't believe it- it worked! For those of you who saw last week's sad results of my first try at sourdough bread made with my own starter, you'll understand the depths of my amazement. I didn't want to give up, though, especially since I'm trying to accomplished some of the challenges Nourished Kitchen is suggesting as a move toward eating more traditional foods.

I completely changed the way I made it, beginning with a different recipe that was a no-knead bread similar to the artisan bread I make all the time. I cooked it in my enamel dutch oven and got that wonderful artisan crust.

And it tasted great, nice and sourdough-y with a good crumb. I thought it would have more air-holes in it, but maybe that will come with time as I get used to working with this dough. It was pretty light anyway for being 100% whole wheat!

I made it with the starter from last week that had been waiting in the fridge, without feeding it first. It had bubbles in it, so I could tell was alive. I removed what I needed, fed what remained (making it with less water because I read that a thicker started will produce a less sour dough and I'm looking for a mild flavor), and let it set out overnight before putting back in the fridge.

This is what the starter looks like after 8 hours in the fridge again- much nicer than the starter from last week. I did "cheat" a little on the bread because I'm working with a new starter (and not wanting to repeat my last experience) and added a 1/4 tsp of instant yeast. But looking at this starter, I'm hoping the next loaf will rise all on it's own.

All-in-all, I'm very happy with the ease, the look and the taste of this bread and will continue to use my starter to make this weekly, I think. Here's what I did to finally get a good loaf of sourdough bread:

1. Created my own starter using the 7-day process described on Heavenly Homemakers.

2. After a week in the fridge, used this recipe from The Mad Fermentationist, but added 1/4 tsp instant yeast to the water/starter mix and used all 100% whole wheat bread flour. Why all whole wheat? Well, this was the point, to make a whole wheat bread that had been soured to help make it more digestible and get all those nutrients. If I wanted to use part white flour, I'd just stick with my favorite artisan bread recipe.

3. When I shaped the dough for the last rise, I used flour, not cornmeal, and placed it on parchment, just like I do for artisan bread. I baked it in an enameled cast-iron dutch oven at 450 degrees for 25 minutes, then removed the lid and cooked for another 15 minutes.

Perfect.

Now if I can just repeat this beautiful loaf next time without using any yeast.

-Jami

This is linked with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday , Tasty Tuesday and Real Food Wednesday.

Monday's Menu

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:45:00 +0000

We substituted soft tacos for the Sub Jee last week, so I've put it back on the menu for this week to use some cauliflower in the fridge. I really like having a menu, but I don't always like to be tied to it- we just all we're feelin' a little Mexican last Friday. :-)

Some friends gave us lots of elk and venison burger a few weeks ago, so I'm challenged to find new ways to use them. Most of the time beef recipes work, but not always as game is leaner. The Spicy Stew with Corn and Tomatoes from last week was the biggest winner, made with venison burger. Elk steak cut into chunks worked well in a vegetable-barley soup, too.

This week I'm going to try a slow-cooked stroganoff over herbed noodles. Anyone else cook with game meat and have some good recipes? I'd love to hear them.

Monday- (holiday, just two of us home) bean quesadillas & salad

Tuesday- Teriyaki chicken thighs, rice, sir-fry broccoli and cauliflower, salad w/oranges and almonds

Wednesday- Slow-cooked Tex-Mex chili* & toppings, toasted cheese bread, veg. plate

Thursday- Slow-cooked elk stroganoff*, herbed noodles, salad

Friday- Sub Jee, vegetable plate

Saturday- Burgers with homemade buns, home fries, carrots

Sunday- leftovers

*recipe to come

-Jami

Frugal Friday: Repairing Shoes

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:00:00 +0000

When both our kid's had shoes that were separating from the soles (but otherwise in good condition) and one of them were expensive track spikes, The Writer remembered a product called "Shoe Goo" that he had used once to repair some shoes.

Sure enough, Target sold it right in the shoe section. We weren't sure if it would work, but for $3.99 it was worth a try.

So he applied some of the goo and used a clamp to hold the sole and upper parts together.

You can see a little of the goo, but it is clear, so it's not really noticeable unless you're holding a camera 3 inches from it. :-)

These spikes are ready to go again for the season coming up.

The heel on our son's shoes completely detached after only about a month of wear, which was really frustrating.

After a bit of Shoe Goo and a clamp, he's good to go.

Again, this is not noticeable repaired unless you examine it closely.

So, $3.99 in Shoe Goo just saved us more than $60.00- whoo-hoo!

Definitely a frugal find. Have you ever used this stuff?

-Jami

This is linked to Frugal Friday at Life as Mom.

Sourdough Bread?

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:45:00 +0000

Wondering what the question mark is for in the title? Keep reading and you'll see.

Many years ago I attempted sourdough starter and bread which resulted in bread that we never wanted to eat again.

However, inspired by various blogs (Kitchen Stewardship, Nourished Kitchen) telling me that sourdough makes whole grains healthier, I searched for a tutorial on making my own starter.

The picture above is day two of following Heavenly Homemakers sourdough guide. Looks like her picture, things seems to be going fine. I continue on through day 7:

On day 7, I take 3 cups to make the first bread, and then transfer the remaining starter to a jar to store in the refrigerator.

And let me tell you, it sure smells sour.

Proceeding with the recipe, I mix, knead and shape 3 loaves. Since this is a natural yeast I've just cultivated (or tried to...), the recipe reminds me that it may take 3+ hours to rise. So I set one in my warm cupboard, but the other two won't fit.

I pondered this and decided the mantle above the wood stove would be the warmest place.

I cooked the one loaf I had in the cupboard for dinner that night. Sorry, no pictures. I'll just say it wasn't lovely. However it was dense, flat, and with a crust so hard I could barely get a knife through it.

Ah...visions of our lovely artisan bread was floating through my mind. Which does taste more sour the longer it is in the fridge...shouldn't that count as sourdough?

Anyway, I promptly forgot about the other two loaves. Oh dear.

I didn't remember them until about 2:30 the next afternoon, a full 24 hours after I had set them on the mantle.

Oh my gosh, I had never seen anything like these things. But being a person who can't throw things away, I baked them up.

I'm laughing my head off looking at these things! Have you ever seen anything so funny? The Writer thought they looked like UFOs.

And hard? They could easily be used as objects to practice discus throwing.

What is going on here? The tops were hard when I took the towel off the dough, but I though I should slice the tops anyway, just in case the dough would puff out.

No need to worry about that. And no, that's not raw in the center- it just stayed looking that way even after being cooked.

We did try a piece, and they were only a bit more sour than the loaf I cooked right away. But, oh my gosh, the crust was so hard I feared for my dental work.

My son's comment was something like, "well, I hope you're not putting that on your blog."

I guess he doesn't get it. That's what blogs are all about. Sharing the things that didn't work as well as what did.

And laughing. I've been chuckling for a day over these things.

Have a fine Friday!

-Jami

This is linked to Finer Things Friday.

Spicy Beef, Tomato, and Corn Stew

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:49:00 +0000

I think I've mentioned before that I am a recipe-follower, meaning I don't often concoct things on my own. I like to adapt and tweak recipes, but I usually have a recipe that I start with. It's just how I work.

But this stew is all mine, start to finish. I had an idea of what I wanted and did a cursory look online for what I was thinking of and when I couldn't find anything even remotely close, I just made it up myself.

Oh, and I'm calling it a stew because it's thick. So even though it uses ground meat instead of traditional stew meat, it seemed more like a stew to me.

And since it's mine, I get to call it whatever I like.

So imagine my delight when The Writer says at the table, "Wow, this is my new favorite meal... and it's a surprise- I wasn't even expecting it!" I think he meant that meals based around stews wouldn't normally make him think "favorite meal." He's more of a chicken or hamburger type of guy. Made my day, I'll tell you.

I served the stew with bean and cheese quesadillas after starting the meal with a green salad dressed with a homemade vinaigrette with a bit of hot sauce added.

Who knew such a humble meal would be elevated to "favorite" status?

The other thing about this stew is that it is incredibly cheap to make. Start by cooking 1-1/2 pounds of ground meat (I used venison that a friend had gifted us with) until browned, mixing in some taco seasoning (cayenne, cumin, oregano, onion, salt, paprika, and garlic). Then add half a chopped onion, some garlic, and about 1/2 cup of chopped Anaheim peppers. You can use a can of chopped green chilies, but I used some I had in the freezer from last season's garden.

Did you know you can freeze chopped peppers? They are perfect for soups, stews, and casseroles- basically any recipe that you would normally saute the peppers first.

For spiciness, add a handful of chopped jalapeno peppers (from the freezer, too) that should be about the equivalent of one pepper. You'll want to adjust this to your taste, but don't leave it out- live a little! To thicken it, add about 1/4 cup of flour to the meat and stir it around before adding 2 cups of beef broth.

Throw in 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 cups of frozen corn (from the garden, of course!) and let it all simmer on the stove for 30 minutes.

Oh, did I mention how easy this is? Oooh, I can't believe that something this easy and frugal is a "favorite" meal!

Because I was given the meat and half the vegetables came from the freezer, this whole pot of stew cost me about $1.50- seriously. When I do buy ground meat, it's usually turkey at about $1.50/lb, so even then the pot would only be up to $3.75 because I always have garden produce in the freezer for meals like this (hint, hint...grow what you can!). And there's eight hearty servings here, about .46 per serving at the $3.75 cost. Good grief, that's a good price.

With that in mind, you might want to see if it could become one of your family's favorite meals, too.

Spicy Beef, Tomato, and Corn Stew

1 TB. oil
1-1/2 ground meat (beef, turkey, venison, etc.)
2 TB. taco seasoning (a mixture of cayenne, oregano, onion powder, salt, paprika, and garlic)
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. chopped Anaheim peppers (or other mild green chili)
1 jalapeno, chopped
1/4 c. flour
2 c. beef broth
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 c. frozen corn kernels

Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add ground beef and cook until browned. Add seasonings, chopped onion, garlic, and both kinds of peppers. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
Stir flour into mixture, mixing well, then add the broth, tomatoes and corn.
Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

-Jami

This is linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom.

Using Up: Leftover Bean Dip

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:43:00 +0000

*Here begins an occasional series where I will share with you how I use leftover foods before they go bad- all in the spirit of "using it up." *

Did you know that roughly 25% of the food Americans buy goes to waste? Almost a year ago I did a post on waste that included this quote from a Yahoo news story. It went on to say that this equals 1 pound of food, per American, thrown in the trash daily. Sadly, I doubt if the number has changed much in a year if I go by the amount of food I see thrown out daily in the school where I work.

I love to use up leftovers, though. For some weird reason it's always given me a sense of pride (misplaced?) to create a new (and different- that's the key for me) dish with leftovers. If my family cannot tell they are eating "leftovers" then I am one happy woman.

It doesn't take much, it seems.

So here is the first thing I'm offering up: A huge (like 2+ cups) amount of white bean dip that's been hanging around since the Superbowl on Sunday.

Actually, it's been around longer than that. A couple of weeks ago I had forgotten to pre-cook some beans I needed for a dish, so I threw some in the slow cooker in the morning before I went to work. I hadn't done this before, but I've read that lots of people do, so I was giving it a shot.

Desperation does this to me often- that's when I try new things. Though in the big scheme of things, beans really aren't a cause for "desperation" are they?

But when I go home, I found the beans were mush. I only work until 1:00, so it's not like they had been in the cooker all day, sheesh. I was able to salvage some to use in the dish that night (I only put them in at the very end of cooking, so they were fine, actually), but I was left with about 4 cups of mushy beans.

So I made bean dip. It was quite tasty with garlic, olive oil, and herbs, but it sat in the fridge for a few days before I realized we probably weren't going to eat 4 cups worth of bean dip in the near future. I froze it, not knowing how it would fare, and it came out great.

But there were three other dips at the Superbowl party, not to mention pizza, so I was left with more than 2 cups of the stuff. A couple days using it with vegetables at lunch showed hardly a dent in the amount.

Time to figure out how to use this stuff in a new way.

Quesadillas were already on the menu to be served with a spicy stew, so I decided to make them bean and cheese quesadillas.

Wait. Didn't the beans have garlic, olive oil, and herbs? That's not very southwest/Mexican, is it?

These things don't bother me at all when I'm trying to use leftovers. I don't know why not, because I'd never purposefully plan a meal with these different flavors. Go figure.

I spread the dip on the tortillas (store-bought after this experience) and covered it with grated pepper-jack cheese. The slightly spicy cheese helped bring in some of those southwest flavors that were lacking in the beans.

Poor beans. They were actually quite good on their own. A person (or family even) can only eat so much dip, though.

I fit two and a half quesadillas on a large cookie sheet, and after topping them with the top tortillas, I baked them at 400 degrees for 5 minutes, then flipped them and baked them for another 5 minutes.

This is much quicker and easier for me than one at a time in a skillet, so I've always just baked them.

I neglected to get a picture of just the quesadillas, but here they are with the stew (The Writer's new favorite- stay tuned) I served with them. One surprising thing is that they really puffed up in the oven much more than normal. I'm not sure why whirred-up beans would do that, but they settled down once they were on the serving plate.

The verdict? Everybody loved them, which actually surprised me. Works for me!

My daughter even asked me to make them again.

Um...that's gonna be a little hard.

-Jami

This is linked to Works for Me Wednesdays at We Are That Family.

The Makeover Continues

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:19:00 +0000

I documented how I started a small makeover of my living room by changing some pillows and a lamp last week. It's amazing to me how such a small change:

Made me happy whenever I saw it.

Provided the impetus to continue making changes.

So last weekend I tackled the bookshelves on either side of the fireplace. A couple of months ago I decided I wanted to declutter these shelves, as it seemed like things had accumulated mysteriously on their own over the last few years.

Since there are lots of areas in our house that could have the same thing said about them, I don't think it's such a mystery, really.

Luckily, this urge to declutter coincided with Finer Things Clutter Challenge, so I got to check off numbers .36 to .72 on my way to loosing 365 things in my house this year. Actually, there were more things I got rid of, but since it was an embarrassingly large stack of magazines (old Do It Yourself's- whoa late 1980s decor was really different), I just counted some of them. It seemed to go against the intent of challenge to have half of the clutter be magazines.

So here's what the right shelf looked like before:

The book situation was really out of control, and those are mostly magazines on the bottom shelf.

Here's the shelf after painting the back a light green and decluttering:

I think I like this. I'm not done, as you can see, and am looking for a basket to fit in the spot on the bottom shelf. The green will show up better when I repaint the shelves a creamier white.

There is a long story there that has to do with buying hundreds of dollars worth of paint to spray the house, spraying it and then finding out the paint store changed the colorway of the stock color we had used in our previous house. *sigh*

Now I'm slowing repainting all the trim. In the whole house. Did I mention slowly?

But I digress.

Here is the left shelf before:

Again, books out of control, though I had moved all our photo albums before the picture was taken (hence the empty spot), so you're missing the view of the huge books overhanging the shelf by a good two inches.

Really, I don't know what I was thinking.

Here it is after:

What is it about decluttering that seems to make you breath easier? It's seems more soothing to look at, to me.

I'm still working on this, and am not really sure what I'm doing on the bottom shelf, but I know I want to add some more black elements. Maybe some cool bookends?

Any advice would be appreciated!

What do you think- better before or after?

-Jami

This is linked to DIY at A Soft Place to Land

"Easy Peasy" Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

anoregoncottage@gmail.com (Jami) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:00:00 +0000

One of my preschool students likes to say things are "easy peasy" for her, so I thought I'd borrow her phrase for this dish that is so easy, it's one of the first meals kids can learn to make.

But it doesn't taste like kids made it. No sir, we've got olive oil, lemon, garlic, and herbs here, so this is sophisticated stuff. Just don't tell the kids.

Start by mixing lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Cut up some potatoes, carrots, and whatever other vegetable you'd like to roast.

I'd love to add onions. Kids would hate it. Ditto for cauliflower, parsnips, and turnips. But I'm gonna one day, so they better watch out.

Put all the vegetables into the bowl with the marinade and toss to coat.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to a large baking sheet. I like to use the silicone liners, they're great for keeping the nice, crispy parts of the roasted vegetable on the vegetable and not the pan.

Now add some chicken pieces to the marinade left in the bowl. I'm using chicken breasts I've cut in half here, but legs and thighs are great, too.

After tossing in the marinade, set them on top of the vegetables, nestling them in a bit. If there is any marinade left, I like to drizzle it on top of the chicken pieces.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes, turning the vegetables a couple of times.

See? It really is easy-peasy. And should we say tasty-wasty?

No. Let's not.

"Easy Peasy" Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

juice of 1 lemon
1/4 water
1/4 c. olive oil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 to 2 lbs. potatoes (about 6 large), cut into 1-inch chunks
1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (about 2-1/2 cups)
1 large onion, cut into chunks
2-3 lbs. chicken pieces (breasts, legs, thighs)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the first eight ingredients in a large bowl. Add the potatoes, onions, and carrots and toss to coat.
Transfer the vegetables with a slotted spoon to a large baking sheet lined with silicone, parchment, or coated with oil.
Add the chicken to the remaining marinade, tossing to coat. Arrange the chicken on top of the vegetables.
Bake for 40 minutes, stirring and turning the vegetables a couple of times, until the vegetables are fork-tender and the chicken is done (juices run clear).

Note: Substitute other vegetables for the potatoes and carrots as you desire. Some, like sweet peppers, I'd add the last 15 to 20 minutes of cooking so they don't get overcooked.

-Jami

This is linked to: Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday