>Do you Meal Plan?

Posted on May 19, 2009 by Daisy

>I plan, but not formally. It helps keep grocery trips to a minimum, helps use the pantry and refrigerator contents wisely, and keeps me from giving in and calling for pizza after a tough day. But formally? No. A rough draft, yes. Cook extra on the weekends, yes – we call them planned-overs. Thaw something the night before? Yes, often. But I still confess, I don’t plan the entire week.

Many meals create leftovers that can turn up in a new form. Last week I cooked up chorizo sausages on a bun with frijoles (re-fried beans) and a Spanish rice on the side. It was delicious.
Sunday lunch, Husband put together burritos by using the leftovers and a few items we keep in stock all the time.
His formula:
soft taco shells
leftover frijoles & rice
tomatoes
lettuce
grilled red peppers (that he keeps in stock for sandwiches)
chopped green onion (we’ll have these in the garden soon!)
green chili sauce
shredded cheese (he used Sargento’s Mexican blend, but any favorite combination will do)

A few tips:
Heat the taco shells in the microwave with a damp paper towel so they don’t over-dry.
Don’t overfill; the shells will burst and you’ll have a mess.
Other alternate ingredients: salsa, peppers, your favorite taco sauce

I told him lunch was delicious. He deflected the praise by saying, “Hey, they were your leftovers!” Well, I’ll just say we make a decent team in the kitchen.

>Planned-overs, or cooking ahead at Daisy’s house

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Daisy

>When I have a crazy-busy week, it might look like this. Monday: evening meeting. Tuesday: IEP. Wednesday: lengthy staff meeting. Thursday: staff development. Friday: Bring daughter home for weekend. Saturday: collapse.

With all that in mind, we cook ahead.

As long as we have the grill fired up, we grill the evening’s hamburgers and a package of brats and several hot dogs for later.

When I dice the potatoes, I make twice as much as we need.

When I make our salads, I prep enough lettuce to feed us several more salads without fuss. If we have extra, Buttercup the bunny will eat it. Nothing will go to waste.

Last week was one of Those Weeks. In addition to all of this planning, I made a batch of Freezer Beef Mix. The container of browned ground beef will come out of the freezer some time for a quick batch of sloppy joes, spaghetti sauce, dirty rice, chili, or tacos. When the grocery store has a special on lean ground beef, we buy up and freeze it. I’ll often make a batch of this to pull out when time and energy are short.

Freezer Beef Mix

1 1/2 lb. ground beef
green pepper
red pepper
diced onion

Brown the ground beef with the peppers and onion. Drain and rinse. Place in freezer-safe container. Label!!

Thaw when needed for any dish that uses browned ground beef. The meat can be thawed in a microwave, in the refrigerator overnight, or even reheated from frozen with the desired sauce. How’s that for easy? If works for me!

>Variations on mac & cheese

Posted on May 5, 2009 by Daisy

>I was in the mood for comfort food, but not junk food like pizza or a drive-thru bag of fries. I made my new standard, baked macaroni and cheese. As usual, I decided to play with the recipe a little. I mixed in a little Italian seasoning, a small container of leftover vegetables and about 1/2 cup of grated zucchini from the freezer. While it baked I cooked a few slices of bacon to crumble on the top. I told Amigo it was like a bacon cheeseburger without the burger. He said, “Huh?” and proceeded to eat a large serving!

Potential add-ins for Mac & Cheese Bake

crumbled bacon
Mexican style: use Mexican cheeses and taco seasoning. Add chorizo for fun!
Italian style: use parmesan & mozzarella cheeses; sprinkle with Italian herbs and spices
Hidden Nutrition: add diced or grated vegetables
Good Wisconsin: Swiss, cheddar, colby — oh, heck, almost any cheese will do!

Please remember the Virtual Great American Bake Sale continues through the end of July. New versions of the eBooks include an introduction by Food Network’s Sandra Lee. Lee has a new magazine; if you’d like to subscribe, she’ll friend you on Facebook. All proceeds from the Great American Bake Sale, virtual or real-life, go to Share Our Strength, a group devoted to eliminating child hunger.

>Mom’s Famous Home Fried Potatoes

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Daisy

>No, they’re not really fried. They’re baked. They’re simple, too.

Use white or yellow potatoes for best results.

Portions: I plan one medium potato per person, more if the person is a potato lover like La Petite.

Scrub potatoes. Dice, skins on, to about one inch squares (or random shapes, but keep them a fairly regular size for even heating). Pat dry with towel.

Spray baking sheet with non-stick spray. Spread potatoes on sheet, then spray potatoes with non-stick spray. Sprinkle with seasoning salt such as McCormick’s Season-all. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. Turn, then cook for 15-20 minutes more until a fork easily goes through potatoes. Note: check after five minutes, depending on your pan’s finish. You may need to stir or turn more often to prevent sticking.

Serve with your favorite main dish!

Options:

Add diced onions or scallions
Serve with chives and sour cream

To cook on the grill: sprinkle olive oil on doubled aluminum foil. Place potatoes in foil, season, then fold foil closed. Cook near coals for 20 minutes, then shake (to stir and avoid sticking) and heat through on regular height grill. If potatoes aren’t done yet, finish in microwave. The smoky taste is delicious!

>Toasted cheese sandwiches with an attitude

Posted on April 21, 2009 by Daisy

>You pick the attitude; I’ll help with the sandwich. A simple grilled cheese sandwich can be much better than soft and squishy white bread and mock-dairy cheese-food.

First: good bread. I like wheat, the family likes white, so I use homemade white with a hint of wheat or commercial wheat that isn’t too full of what Husband (affectionately) calls nuts and twigs.
Second: spread the butter thin, very thin, on one side of the bread. This side will go on the outside while the sandwiches are cooking, er, toasting.
Third: use good cheese. Individually wrapped slices of cheese food are okay in a pinch, but good Wisconsin cheddar is better. If it’s not melting fast enough for you, grate it first. Also try colby, swiss, provolone, or for the gutsy palates, pepperjack. Real cheese takes the blandness and gives it zip.

Now the fun: the add-ins. Inside the sandwich, try these:

tomato, sliced thin
sliced ham, very thin
any good lunchmeat: turkey or chicken, even salami
chorizo or polish sausage for an ethnic twist

On the outside, consider:

olive oil of your choice in place of butter
thyme, rosemary or basil
Italian seasoning

These simple steps can make your basic sandwich into a full-fledged luncheon ingredient or visitor-worthy panini. Well, my visitors tend to have simple tastes like I do, so it works for me.

>Beyond egg salad: Deviled Eggs galore

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Daisy

>Deviled eggs are deviled eggs. Right? Wrong. I have a few egg-stra possibilities for cooks with an abundance of Easter eggs in their refrigerators.

My beloved Eggbert (Husband’s temporary i.d.) has a knack for finding the right spice combination for great variations on deviled eggs. No matter which flavor you’re making, I recommend the Frugal Cook’s Pastry Bag: a zipper baggie with one corner cut off. Squeeze the yolk mix “filling” through this corner to make it flow egg-actly the way you want it.

Take your basic recipe (and here’s one if you don’t already have your own), and have fun with it.

Southwestern Deviled Eggs: a dash of chili powder with the paprika; a splash of tabasco sauce in the egg yolk filling if you’re really adventurous.

Country Style Eggs: Add sweet pickle relish to the egg yolk mix, leave out the paprika.

Zippy Eggs: Add a tablespoon of spicy brown mustard to the yolk mix.

Not to be outdone, I found this recipe (courtesy of Rachael Ray) and decided we should try it. Husband bought the salmon, and we’ll try it. As long as we have eggs, we’ll always have something good to eat.

Prepare the Deviled Eggs yolk mixture using 3 tablespoons sour cream in place of the mayonnaise. Stir in 1/2 cup finely chopped smoked salmon and 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives. Fill the egg white halves and (optional) top with chopped capers.

Hmmm…I wonder if we could use mock crab meat instead? Hand over those Easter eggs and I’ll try it. I’ll have the ears on that chocolate bunny for dessert.

Parent Bloggers Network and the American Egg Board are looking for creative ways to prepare hardboiled eggs after the Easter baskets go back into storage. If you’d like to join in and post your own egg-cellent solutions, check here for details. Put on your Easter Bonnet, with all the flowers on it, and join the Egg Parade.

>Husband’s Seasoned Spaghetti

Posted on April 14, 2009 by Daisy

>Husband came up with this variation to use leftover spaghetti one day. It lives on in our repertoire as a side dish that’s good with a number of meats and vegetables. He emailed the directions to me on a day when he’d planned to cook but had a last-minute change in plans. I served it with teriyaki-marinaded beef (stir-fried) and steamed cauliflower. I’m still working on making room in the freezer and pantry: we had all the seasonings and the spaghetti in the cupboard already.

In a large pot, cook spaghetti like you normally would.

Strain noodles into a colander, place pot back on the burner with high heat.
Add 2 Tbsp of cooking oil. Give oil a moment to heat up.
Add 1 chopped stalk of green onion, sauté for 1 minute.
Pour noodles from colander into pot with hot oil and green onions.
Add flavoring stuff (adjust to taste preference):

1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Tiger Sauce
Couple shakes of Red Pepper Flakes.

Stir, stir, stir for about 3 to 5 minutes until noodles start to fry and water is evaporated.

(But you don’t want the noodles to be actually fried. If in doubt, take them off the heat early.)

Daisy’s additions: fewer red pepper flakes, 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds.

Serves 4. Adjust seasonings as needed for more or less. I wonder if this would work with rice? I could call it Daisy’s Rice-a-ghetti. This has possibilities.

>The Virtual Great American Bake Sale

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Daisy

The Great American Bake Sale has gone virtual!

In real life, bake sales bring in minimal profits. Sometimes a non-bake sale brings in a better total. Instead of baking, people donate the amount they would have spent on their donated baked goods. Typically, any fundraiser is most successful if it can target an audience that isn’t already paying for the service. For example, a child care center selling t-shirts will only take in money out of those parents already paying tuition. But Girl Scouts selling cookies will sell to people who are not paying dues to the troop, and therefore will bring in a fair amount of usable funds.

When I heard about the Great American Bake Sale, I read through the information and decided it was worthwhile. I gave them my Mosaic Muffins. Adapted from another recipe to use my own garden produce, these muffins fit today’s sensibilities by using homegrown ingredients and having a fair amount of nutrition. They taste so great that your family doesn’t need to know they’re good for you.

Money raised from the Great American Bake Sale will benefit Share Our Strength, a group working to eliminate child hunger in America. As unemployment increases (it’s at a 25-year high right now), families have less money, and children have fewer regular meals. I see this every day in the students who concentrate better after lunch because they didn’t eat breakfast, the kids lined up for free breakfast at school because they didn’t have much to eat the night before, those who enviously eye the healthy snacks their wealthier friends brought from home. If children are going hungry in my relatively stable community, there are thousands worse off in other parts of the U.S. Share Our Strength spends a lot of time and money supporting after-school and summer meal programs.

You can help by spreading the word, making a donation to Share our Strength, or ordering the ebook. There’s a button on the sidebar for the VGABS e-cookbook. Remember, if my muffins are in it, it must be good! I can’t wait to see the other recipes.

Most of all, I’m happy to spread the word and increase contributions to help minimize – better yet, end – childhood hunger.

The Complete 2009 VGABS Recipes Ebook