Family

Quick Post

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I know… I know… I’ve taken WAY to long of a break from posting. So here’s a really quick post about – My mom’s blog! Check out someone who DOES post on a regular basis here!

This is what my mom has to say about her blog, “I would like all Christian women to pause regularly in the midst of their busy lives and think about what choices they are making with their time.  Are they living their lives in a way that will most profoundly influence the next generation to love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ? This means being there; fully (not distracted by too many activities or even church commitments). I am encouraging women everywhere to get a bit more introspective, to recognize their great worth in God’s kingdom, to learn to say “no” to false guilt and “yes” to joy and peace.”

Check out her inspirational articles and advice on practical living!

(In the meantime, I’ll get back to working on MY posts.)

Feed the Family #8 – Beef Pot Pie with Easy Cheddar Biscuits

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Meal number eight – Friday dinner

For dinner tonight I just thickened up last nights beef stew by throwing in a couple handfuls of flour as I reheated it. Then I made some easy cheddar biscuits that I baked in a dutch oven on top of my beef “stew” – to create an instant… Beef Pot-Pie!

 

Easy Cheddar Biscuits

  • Servings: 6-12
  • Difficulty: intermediate
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Ingredients

  • 2 c flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 T sugar
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/3 c butter
  • 1/2 c grated cheddar
  • 1/3 c milk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Combine first four ingredients in a medium/large bowl.
  3. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter and cheddar.
  4. Pour in milk and stir together until just blended.
  5. Lightly flour cutting board or clean counter and gently roll out dough to desired thickness.
  6. Cut dough to desired size and place on a greased baking sheet.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top and done inside.

 

(I pretty much just tore pieces of dough off and flattened them into biscuit shapes that mostly fit together to cover the pot-pie. Then I baked the whole thing in the oven at 400 for about half an hour. So that’s an option too.)

Everyone loved this impromptu pot-pie!

This ends the Feed the Family Challenge. My dad is home now so he and Rosie will be taking care of feeding the kids tomorrow! Rosie has plans for breakfast that involve using up a bunch of frozen berries and some spinach…

Keep an eye out for my next “mini series” – Why Fat IS Good For You!

Feed the Family #3 – Banana Pancakes

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Meal number three – Thursday breakfast

Now – I know pancakes aren’t very earth-shatteringly original, and they don’t use up anything in the freezer (unless you’re my friend Sue – in which case your freezer is full of different kinds of flour), but the kids loved them! After I’d cooked up about half of the batter, I decided I should be “makin’ banana pancakes”. Nothing beats banana pancakes with home-made strawberry jelly!

Abby’s idea of “a little” powdered sugar.
Banana Pancakes!

 

Banana Pancakes

  • Servings: 6-10
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 3 c all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 5 T granulated sugar
  • 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 4 eggs – lightly beaten
  • 6 T olive oil
  • 2 1/2 c milk

Directions

  1. Sift or whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl to ensure most of the lumps are gone.
  2. Whisk in the wet ingredients, making sure to not OVER mix the batter.
  3. Preheat griddle or frying pan and lightly grease. (Add more oil as needed to prevent sticking.)
  4. When griddle is nice and hot, use a measuring cup to poor batter onto griddle to make preferred size of pancakes.
  5. Flip pancake over with a spatula when the edges are starting to brown and the bubbles that are appearing have started popping and staying open.
  6. To make banana pancakes – simply thinly slice a banana into coins and lay on the pancake AFTER the batter is poured but BEFORE it is flipped.

    Eat with plenty of butter and strawberry jelly… Or honey… Or powdered sugar… but ALWAYS plenty of butter!

 

Feed the Family #2 – Hearty Chili

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Meal Number Two – Wednesday Dinner

I found a rump roast, dried and canned beans and a couple of forms of canned tomatoes. What does this make??? Chili!

Hearty Chili

  • Servings: 8-10
  • Difficulty: intermediate
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Ingredients

  • 2-3 c dried pinto beans – soaked overnight if possible
  • 1/8-1/4 c dried minced garlic
  • 6-8 c water (more if needed)

Cook beans until tender.

  • 1/2 of a large beef rump roast
  • few T oil – for browning meat
  • 1 can black beans – drained and rinsed
  • 1 can garbanzo beans – drained and rinsed
  • 2 cans red kidney beans – drained and rinsed
  • 1 can peeled tomatoes, crushed before adding
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 1/2 can spaghetti sauce
  • 1-2 T crushed dried red chili peppers
  • salt – to taste
  • cheddar cheese – grated (to sprinkle on top)

Directions

  1. After cooking the pinto beans, dice meat and brown in a little bit of oil.
  2. Combined all ingredients, including any liquids from the tomatoes or the cooked meat, in a large soup pot and heat until it is hot and bubbling.
  3. Serve Chili topped with grated cheddar cheese. Enjoy!

All of the kids loved it! (Even the little one with a loose tooth who started dinner by complaining about not being able to chew even a banana…)

*Please note that this chili was a way to use up some random leftovers and canned goods. Canned goods can be adjusted to utilize what you have on hand.*

Feed the Family #1 – Tuna Rice Bake

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My challenge for the next couple of days is this… feed myself and four hungry active kids three meals a day while my mom is in Portland at Hannah’s debate tournament! Oh – and try to use up random food that’s in the freezer at the same time.

Meal Number One – Wednesday Lunch
I arrived at my parents house about an hour before the younger kids had to be at their friends house for a weekly play date. (That was bad planning on my part.)
I scrambled through the cupboards trying to find SOMETHING to feed them that could be thrown together quickly and keep them going for most of the afternoon. Solution? Tuna and Rice Casserole!

cooked rice leftover from dinner last night
4 cans of tuna
1/2 of a giant can of cream of mushroom soup
Italian seasonings
dried minced garlic
salt
grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400.
Throw cold rice in a 9×13 pan, break up any big chunks so it will heat evenly. Dump undrained tuna on top of rice and spread out to cover evenly. Sprinkle seasonings, garlic and salt evenly over everything. Plop cream of mushroom soup across pan and spread to cover. Throw in oven and cook until nearly hot. Pull out of oven, stir around to combine all ingredients and sprinkle top with cheese. Put back in oven until cheese is melted and casserole is completely hot.
Serve!
Encourage the one child that doesn’t like it to eat it anyways ’cause that’s all she’s getting and then rush kids to car and off to friends house!

Stay tuned to see how I respond to this challenge and what is unearthed from the freezer!

Gabe!

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I realized I haven’t said a word about my new little brother yet 🙂 My parents are adopting a little boy from foster care! His name is Gabriel (Gabe), he just turned seven, and after some really intense struggles with the state and other people – he has been placed permanently with our family! Which means that even though they can’t adopt him for another six months… he’s ours and here to stay! This little guy needs so much love, and in return he is very loving 🙂 He doesn’t like the color of his hair or his skin because his step-dad told him over and over how ugly he was. He doesn’t like his name because his mom gave it to him. Not to mention the abuse and abandonment. So we try to rub his head at every opportunity and tell him how handsome his curls are! We tell him how we’ve always wanted a little brown brother and my mom says how she’s always wanted a Gabriel (which is true)!

This whole situation is going to be a growing experience for all of us – but it is being made easier by a little boy who it TRYing to love his Forever Family!

Welcome to the family Gabe… we love you already!

Christmas Dinner

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Phillip and I spent all of Christmas day cooking food, mixing drinks and watching movies. Then around 6:30 we headed over to the Saunders for Christmas dinner… we brought the appetizer and dessert and here is what we(I) made!

Tomato Bruschetta (recipe from The Old Post Office) (we cut this recipe by about 3/4ths)

-about 20 Tomatoes (4lbs) diced and drained
-1/3 cup minced garlic
-12 oz diced red onion (about 1 1/2 large onions) diced very small
-1 1/2 cups basil leaves, chopped
-1/2 cup chopped parsley
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp pepper
-1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
-1/4 cup red wine vinegar
-1/4 cup olive oil

combine ingredients and serve with a sliced baguette or serve on crostini and top with grated Parmesan cheese and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Yum Yum! This recipe is very light and refreshing – and not to filling!

For dessert I made a recipe that the Co-op is considering making. It was very fast and easy to make, and oh so tasty!

Chocolate Fruit Purses – Preheat oven to 400

-1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (or any other berry/ fruit that goes well with chocolate)
-2 Tblsp sugar
-1Tblsp cornstarch
-1/2 cup semi-sweet choc. chips
-1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted

Combine fruit, sugar and cornstarch in saucepan. Cook on low heat, stirring often – until it thickens (5 min). Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips.

On a lightly floured surface, unfold the puff pastry. Stretch lightly (or roll with a rolling pin) to form a larger square. Cut into quarters to form four squares. Mound 1/4 of filling in the center of each square. Lift the four corners up and over filling and twist together to form a small topknot. Pinch each side seam to seal pastries.

(I actually turned this into a more personal pastry by cutting each sheet of puff pastry into nine smaller squares and putting a spoonful of the filling in each one. If you go with this method you can actually begin before the pastry is totally thawed out, although it is very helpful to roll the pastry out so you have more dough to work with.)

Place on a baking sheet and bake until puffed and golden – about 20 min.