Food

Meal #5

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Meal number five – Thursday dinner

This soup was made up almost entirely of freezer stuff!
I used up:

2 qt bags chopped asparagus
1 qt bag carrot “coins”
one large container of “mystery” soup (turned out to be mostly beef and mushrooms from a crock pot roast)
the rest of the rump roast from yesterdays dinner
the rest of the large can of cream of mushroom soup from yesterdays lunch
leftover broccoli and rice soup from earlier this week
some other random leftovers that just happened to contain broccoli, beef and rice

In an attempt to do more then just dump it all in a pot, I diced up the rump roast, tossed it with some flour and salt and pepper, and fried it in some hot olive oil. It gave the meat a nice crunch even after it was added to the soup! But after that – I literally dumped everything in a big pot, added a few cups of water and just let it bubble away. I have to say – I thought it turned out to be pretty good. And these leftovers are going to make a fantastic beef pot pie tomorrow!

Dessert is in the oven – although it looks like we might be having some more soup. I’m attempting to make a kind of rhubarb strawberry crumble to use up some more freezer stuff. Only problem in we’re missing some of the key ingredients for a crumble… and there is way to much liquid since everything was frozen. If I leave it in there long enough it might turn into something that doesn’t have to be eaten with a spoon! I’ll keep you posted…

Feed the Family #4 – Cheat Meal

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Ok. For meal number four (Thursday lunch), I sort of cheated. Only because Kealen made a request. For lunch we had… Corn dogs and tater tots! Technically it still helped clean the freezer out.  
Tonight though, I’m using up about a million little random bags of frozen veggies from last summer – along with some mystery soup –  and making the best darn beef stew you’ve ever seen! So stay tuned…

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!

Creamy Italian Chicken on Rice

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I love this dish! It’s simple to make and will easily feed a lot of people. This meal is almost as good as Mac n’ Cheese in the comfort-food-department. Although I’ve made this dish dozens of times – I apparently never took a picture of it.

Creamy Italian Chicken on Rice

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 3-4 c dry rice
  • 6-8 c water
  • boneless, skinless chicken pieces – 8-10oz per person
  • 1 medium onion – diced
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • 3-4 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1-2 tsp paprika
  • 2-3 tsp salt
  • 1-2 tsp pepper
  • 1 – 26oz can Cream of Mushroom soup
  • 16 oz sour cream

Instructions

  1. Begin by cooking the rice. Combine the dry rice and water (1:2 ration) in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.
  2. Reduce rice to a simmer and cover. Cook until rice is tender and all of the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat.
  3. While rice is cooking, prepare the chicken.
  4. Preheat the oven to 350.
  5. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and spread evenly in a greased oven proof pan. (Pan should not be full because you will be adding sauce ingredients.)
  6. Sprinkle chicken evenly with dried seasonings.
  7. Spread the Cream of Mushroom soup evenly to cover the chicken.
  8. Cover with foil to prevent browning and bake at 350 until the chicken is cooked through.
  9. When cooked, remove from the oven and stir in the sour cream to create a smooth creamy sauce.
  10. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
  11. Reheat for a few minutes if needed.

Serve over cooked rice with lots of extra sauce! Can be served with steamed veggies or a big green salad.

Notes:

  1. The rice instructions written here are for short grained white rice. Adjust amounts as needed if another kind of rice is used.
  2. The rice and the sauce can help this dish easily stretch to feed more people.
  3. Veggies such as zucchini, red bell peppers, broccoli, etc. can easily be added to the chicken if desired.
  4. This dish can be frozen and then reheated BEFORE the sour cream is added.
  5. This recipe can be gluten free if a gluten free Cream of Mushroom soup is used.

Peanut Sauce!

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This peanut sauce is wonderful as a dip with veggies, added to rice, used to marinade chicken and rolled into sushi! It can also be thinned out with a little water and used as a salad dressing. It is so good you’ll want to eat it by the spoonful!

Peanut Sauce

  • 1/2 c natural-style peanut butter
  • 2 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 small garlic clove, mashed to a paste
  • 1 tsp chili-garlic paste
  • 1 Tbsp dark sesame oil
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 c sugar
  • 1/4 c rice vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Dissolve sugar and salt in rice vinegar and mix together with remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust salt or sugar as needed.

Colorful Cabbage Salad

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This salad is everything a salad should be. Flavorful, fresh, full of vitamin’s and minerals and containing enough different textures to keep you interested and happy all the way through!

Salad
1 medium red cabbage, chopped into bite size pieces
1 medium green cabbage, chopped into bite size pieces
2-3 apples, cubed
1 medium beet, peeled and cubed
3-4 kale leaves, stem removed and torn into bite size pieces
1/2 c. raw walnuts

Dressing
1/2 c. raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. good quality olive oil
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
2 tsp sea salt
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. lemon juice

Combine the first 6 ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine dressing ingredients in a smaller bowl, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Toss dressing and salad together, making sure to use just enough dressing that it coats everything well but doesn’t drown the salad.
This salad can be served immediately – but it just seems to get better with time and will hold well for at least a couple of days.

Minted Strawberry Fool(Proof)

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This delicious dessert recipe was most recently served at my parents 29th (Yay Mom and Dad!) anniversary dinner and it was the one thing I let the whole family try. Everyone loved it! I personally couldn’t get enough. Beware! If you like this as much as I do – it won’t feed six, it’ll feed maybe two…

 

Strawberry Fool is a traditional British recipe for a classic dessert of strawberries in a mix of double cream and Greek yogurt flavored with mint and liqueur. A very simple version is given here and because of the simplicity of this recipe, I’ve added the (Proof) to the name!


  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy/intermediate
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Ingredients

  • 1 lb strawberries (hulled)
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 2 Tbsp fresh mint leaves
  • 1 c heavy whipping cream
  • 6 oz plain yogurt

Save a few strawberries and mint leaves for garnish.

Puree berries, sugar and mint in a food processor or blender. Taste to make sure they are sweet enough and add more sugar if needed.

Whip heavy cream until it holds firm peaks. Fold in yogurt. Fold in berry mixture. Chill until needed or serve immediately. Garnish with slices of strawberries and a mint leaf.

This dessert is perfect for the middle of summer – or just to REMIND you of summer when the rain seems endless and the sun refuses to shine…

Ayla’s Gluten Free Cookies

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My wonderful roommate Ayla invented these cookies last fall when she wanted a healthy alternative to the normal desserts that are packed full of refined, teeth-rotting sweeteners. Every couple of weeks she whips up a new batch for us to scarf down…
The recipe is as follows:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1/2 c. butter
2 Tbsp coconut oil (unrefined)
1 c. flax flour
1/2 c. tapioca flour
1 c. oats
1 c. shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 c. maple syrup or honey
1 tsp salt (preferable sea salt)
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips (the least healthy part of these cookies)
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together until well incorporated. Drop by the spoonful (these don’t spread very much) onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 min. Let cool slightly and enjoy!

Ayla has also made these with many different combination’s of gluten-free flours, as well as adding peanut butter or whole flax seeds. (The peanut butter version was a big hit!)

These cookies stay soft for at least a week. Not that I think they’ll last you that long…