Keeping busy, not on purpose

So I started this quilt back in December. My first intention was to use it for a wedding gift for my son, but as I was making it, it was my wedding colors. So I changed my mind on day 3. 

I had these very pretty batiks that were navy blue and teal. I also had a few jelly rolls of batiks that I wanted to use. I had decided on the carpenters star, which I thought was only going to be about 24 inches square.

NOPE, it turned out to be about 54 inches!

CRAZY. So much for my star quilt having multiple stars on it. So I decided to put borders on the carpenter star and put stars in the corners.
I had to decided on which stars to use.

I decided to also tie the stars in by using the same fabric from the carpenter star as the main part of the star in my corners. It's busy, but still pops.  I love the little splashes of yellow and orange that the other batiks brought to the quilt.

I was not sure what to do about the squares being so small.  So I decided to add some sashing.

Which I actually liked much better. Then I added borders and it makes it look like the stars are on top of the border frame, which gave it some great character. 

The quilt came out square, and I was hoping to make it queen size. But it is more like a queen topper which is fine because it is beautiful.

This quilt my hubby is calling my quarantine quilt. But I reminded him I started it way before that started.

 

C-19 and comfort

This entire covid-19 stuff is crazy. And my kids are done with it, they want it gone. So our family is joining in the World Wide Good Friday Fast April 10.  To start our fast, we will start after dinner Thursday night, and it will go through until Friday evening.

Going a bit stir crazy, we were so happy to have nice warm weather yesterday and today. We all got a little sun burn, but we got to be outside in our yard. We played, we weeded, we checked trees for winter damage (I think I lost two trees, makes me sad) and we made a yummy dinner.

Comfort food is what is needed right now. And I am so thankful I made some sourdough starter back in February, because we have been using it. I have worked hard to figure out how to make this yummy.

1. Let your sourdough bread dough ferment in the fridge, this helps it to rise slowly, but also helps it to work better.
2. When it is time to put it into the oven, slash your dough! Extremely sharp thin knife or with a razor blade slash the dough about 1/4-inch deep. This helps with oven spring, or letting it rise correctly.
3. Mist your dough with water after slashing, but right before putting into your dutch-oven. Weather your dutch oven is piping hot from the oven or room temperature, mist it before putting into the pan.
4. Cook with the lid on for the first 15 to 20 minutes. Then remove the lid. Again, this helps with oven spring (rising in the oven). The texture of the crust is amazing if you do this too. My little guy prefers the crust this way.


Another comfort food it just food  our family normally eats. We love fresh salad, but unfortunately I am not going to go to the store for a long while, and my garden is not ready to grow anything yet. I love soups, casseroles, smoking fish and other meats, bbq, and just yummy food. Yesterday for dinner I had to make some major comfort food. All the kids were losing it, the youngest feeling like everyone doesn't like him because he can't play with friends. We went for a bike ride, waved to neighbors, and then we made dinner together.

What did we make?  Chicken Coconut Curry and it was AMAZING! Everyone went back for seconds, except the littlest one because he never goes back for seconds so we have learned to give him a large serving and not expect him to eat all of it.

Only one serving left in the crock pot.

This is one of those recipes that you can make as spicy as you like using sriracha sauce. We do not use the cilantro because there is someone that is extremely sensitive to it in our house. But honestly it is wonderful to add during serving, it adds a freshness. I just squeeze the lime into the pot just before serving. Not a lot of the juice, just a little.

We usually serve this over jasmine rice, but because of the run on rice at the store, I had to use what I had at home, which was just long grain rice. It worked. It was delicious. Below you see my second bowl of curry. I only add enough sriracha to give this a little heat, not so it covers up the flavor of the meal. I asked my kids to explain this dish. Tell me how it tastes, and they all just said super yummy and that they didn't know what it was but it just made them feel calm.

This is the real meaning of comfort food. It brought them calm, it made them happy.

Another comfort food I have not had in years, Libby Chicken Noodle Dinner. I used to love that for dinner. But it is no longer available. This to me is also comfort food. I wish it would come back. I can't even find a picture of it on the internet to show you. So sad, that was a yummy meal in a can. Great to have in your food storage.

What else comforts you? For me, it's rocking with my little one in our favorite rocking chair. Getting hugs. Snuggling my dogs. Sitting in the sunshine. Being with my family.

How about you?

Dinner was ready....

Well in my head anyways. We were supposed to be having guests for dinner, but with all this shelter in place stuff going on, our guests had to cancel. And of course I wasn't told until AFTER I started making dinner because hubby forgot to tell me they weren't coming.
No problem, just put the extras in the freezer right? Except my freezers are FULL. I just got my meat order from the farm, and there isn't any room!

Homemade Buns

First we made buns for our dinner. But after I mixed it, I was confused as to why it didn't smell right.  Then I felt the dough.. Oh crud, I forgot the yeast!  UGH. I had doubled this recipe and my mixer was getting full. So to remedy the problem, I added the yeast for 3 batches, the ingredients to make it a total of a triple batch. This got a little messy. BUT, it worked, and the buns were amazing. So amazing in fact that my hubby requested I make more to live in our freezer. He said they were light, and yummy.  And would be good for sub sandwiches.

While the dough was rising, I ran an errand. When we got back the dough was crawling out of the bowl, I forgot I would need it to rise in a larger bowl because I tripled it. No problem, it was not over proofed, thank goodness. After I got the dough cut and shaped and onto the pans to rise. I made the next ingredient for dinner.

Meatballs!  I really like my meatball recipe. My oldest ate an entire pan himself  once(24 meatballs)!  Glad I made 6 pounds!  Whew, he loved them, but he always has liked my cooking. He is my best eater, always has been.

These are also pretty easy. I will put the recipe at the end. These are tender, and can be made gluten free, and they are dairy free.

 Want to know the best way to doctor up a store bought spaghetti sauce? Add a little pesto. I know it sounds weird, but it works and it just makes it a little bit more special. So after I baked the meatballs, I put them into some hot spaghetti sauce and kept them warm until my buns were cool enough to do assembly.

 What is this? Egg salad? Potato Salad?

NOPE, this is the special cheese mix that makes this dinner creamy goodness! Now my little guy is allergic to dairy, so his is made without the cheese mix in it. BUT he loves this dinner, he scarfed it right down.

Here they are! All assembled. It is like a meatball sandwich. Whenever we are having new missionaries over for dinner, our kids request we make this for them. Sometimes it is with meatballs, and sometimes it is just the meat browned and added to the sauce. Either way it is delicious and I know my kids will eat it. 

This is just for pure temptation. Look at the cheesy goodness, look at the fresh bun, the moist meatballs. Oh my foodgasm!  Sorry couldn't help it. No leftovers tonight. I feel bad we couldn't take any to the missionaries (our guests that couldn't come), their mission president said not to accept any meals. We have to keep them safe and healthy. But hopefully we can serve them soon.

My kids say this meal is comfort food.

I hope you like it too.

Now for recipes. I will share the meatball recipe here. I will to the buns recipe another day.

MEATBALLS

• 2 # italian sausage, bulk
• 1 1/2 # ground turkey 85/15
• 3 eggs. beaten lightly
• 2 palmfuls Italian Seasoning
• 3 pinches kosher salt
• ground black pepper
• 1 cup gluten free oatmeal (or quick)*
• 1 cup gluten free oatmeal soaked in cold water for 3 minutes (or quick), drained *

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all ingredients with hands in large bowl.
Make 1-inch balls and place on baking sheet or on cast iron pans. Bake 15 - 25 minutes or until done. DO NOT OVER COOK.
*I use gluten free oatmeal, it is usually quick cooking. You can use normal quick cooking oatmeal. Regular oats tend to give a different texture, so we use the quick oats.

We use these meatballs for spaghetti and sandwiches, or plain. They are delicious.

Cheesy Mix  

• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 cup shredded cheddar*
• 1 cup mozzarella *

In a food processor, blitz the cottage cheese until it is about the consistency of ricotta. Stir into the shredded cheese.

SAMMY
Put meatballs into your favorite spaghetti sauce. Open buns, but do not pull apart the halves completely. Slather some cheesy mix onto both sides. Next put a few saucy meatballs into the bun. Place in oven proof dish. When pan is full, cover with foil and bake sandwiches about 20 minutes or until every thing is heated through.
Serve with salad or fruit or both.

Do you have yeast?

I had an entire post written up, but it was too. aarghhh. I am so sick of hearing about the virus, I am tired of hearing people argue if it is or isn't as bad as influenza. Nobody can seem to talk about anything else.

So my question was. Do you have yeast? Um.. what do you mean? I mean, if you can't get bread at the grocery, you have to make it; and you need yeast to make bread. So do you have yeast? What kind?  There's a couple to choose from: commercial yeast (Red Star, Fleichman's, SAF) and sour dough starter.

Commercial Yeast

 Each one gives you the same general result.  A loaf of bread. Usually the commercial yeasts will almost always give you a great rise, fine crumb, and a way to make a sandwich. BUT if it is too old, or has not been stored correctly then it's not so good. Nobody likes ending up with a brick after using 3 to 15 cups of flour, plus sugar, fat, and the precious yeast to find out that it didn't work.

Commercial yeast is finicky. Store it too hot and it dies. Store it in the freezer and it lives. Make your bread with too hot of water or milk, kill your yeast. Use warm to cool water, yeast is happy. Too much salt will retard (prevent yeast from growing), too little and the yeast will over proof (rise) and your bread will be loose and crumbly.

Sour Dough

Sour Dough is what some of us bakers call perpetual yeast. It is easy to make, and you don't have to buy it. Yes you can find sour dough starters on ebay and etsy, craiglist and most likely facebook too. You can also make it yourself.
It can be finicky like commercial yeast, but once you have it going, it is a powerhouse. Again, you have to treat it right.

About day 7

I started this sour dough starter in February. I all of a sudden decided I needed a new challenge. I guess dealing with my second kid getting married and kiddos #4 & #5 saying they are getting married this year too! Dealing with health issues (don't go down the three steps in the garage incorrectly!) and trying to make sure everyone is getting the love and attention they need and want. Plus working on a quilt, and just feeling overwhelmed. So yes, let's start a new challenge!

No pressure. So I follow The Prairie Homesteader, and so I learned from her. I have made starter before, but that was before .. That was before our new normal.  So I needed a refresher course.  I followed her directions and made my starter. As you can see, it came out great.

 

I forgot to take pictures of each day, but if you look closely at the picture you can see tiny bubbles. It took about 7 days, and I made some yummy sour dough pancakes. I waited until day 14 until I attempted my first sour dough loaf. It .. worked.. but it was pale, and bland, and heavy and tight crumb. Nothing like I was expecting. I wanted big holes, I wanted it to be crispy on the outside and fluffy yummy on the inside. It was not. So I kept feeding my starter and using the discard for muffins and pancakes.

About day 14

I patiently kept feeding it and using the discard, giving discard away to a good friend. And now look at it. Look at those amazing bubbles. I found a recipe for sourdough bread. It is more labor intensive, it is worth it though. I also was educated by
amyinthekitchen.com about why my first attempt didn't work. I didn't do a float test. You can find this information on the website, and it isalso where I found the recipes I am working with right now to make sour dough bread. I already have a sour dough pancake recipe I like.

 And finding the recipe I liked a lot was on her other page, Little Spoon Farm. 
I tried making her recipe for "Beginner's Sour Dough Bread", and let me tell you.. It is yummy. It was more work than I was expecting, but it is worth it.

This picture of that recipe; it makes two LARGE loaves, and I think if I make that one again I will cut the dough into fourths, not just in half. Because the loaves were so big that it is too wide to cut easily. Yes I can remedy this by cutting across the loaf, and then putting the cut edge down and make half slices, but I didn't want to do that.
These loaves are BEAUTIFUL! And I made them!

 Isn't it pretty? Look how wide it is!  It is 8 inches, or a little more wide! This one I did the classic triple slash with the razor blade.

I will warn you, you need a brand new razor blade, the kind you put in a box knife, to make the slashes in the dough. I tried with a sharp kitchen knife and it just didn't slice through as good as a thin razor blade. I may even try using one of those double edge razors you get for old Gillette razors.

 This one with the weird face, I tried to get fancy with the razor blade, and when it was done baking, it looked a lot different! But wow did scoring the loaves with the razor blade help it rise better. I know it doesn't make sense, but it works. MY little one said the wavy slash was a snake, what you can't see is on the one end of that slash is looks like a little forked tongue coming out.

 Now look at how tall they are! 4 inches!  Holy cow!  And they are a little different in height because I used different size bowls to proof them in. They weighed exactly the same.


This bread is delicious. It does not have a strong sour dough flavor, which is good because two of my kids do not like the taste, but they are getting better with it. I am educating their palates.

I am so thankful for these two ladies who helped me to grow. I love learning, I love cooking, I love baking. I just hate cleaning up (just being honest). I am currently working on another recipe from Little Spoon Farm, her Sourdough Country Loaf Bread. This recipe only makes one loaf, but it was so easy now that I understand what I am doing, and so quick for me. The beginner's loaf seemed hard at first because it was the first time I was making the recipe. But next time I make the beginner's bread recipe I will cut it into four, and give it away along with some starter and the website so they can start this amazing journey.   

I had to use these up!

I discovered that the blueberries I bought were about to go bad. What was I going to do? It was too much for me to just eat, I didn't want to freeze them. What should I do?

PIE!!!  In fact one of my favorite pies. "Blueberry Sour Cream Pie".

This pie is amazing!  Depending on my mood will determine which crust I make. I love the shortbread crust, but this time I made a butter crust (the key is to let the butter crust rest in the fridge for a minimum of an hour after you get it into a ball). This time I used a butter pie crust, and rolled it very very thin. This pie was fabulous!

 1 pie crust

Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
2 TBS flour
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Topping:
3 TBS flour
2 TBS sugar
1 1/2 TBS butter
3 TBS finely chopped pecans

Put crust in pie pan.
Mix sugar and flour together in bowl, and mix well.
Beat in sour cream, egg, vanilla and salt together until smooth.
Fold in blueberries.
Pour into pie crust, and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. (May need to adjust temperature and time for frozen berries)
Meanwhile, combine topping ingredients.
Remove pie from oven after 25 minutes, and sprinkle on topping.
Return pie to oven and bake 10 minutes more.
Chill before serving.

I will say, I did use a different amount of berries this time. I used 1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries, 3/4 cup frozen blueberries and about 1/3 cup frozen raspberries. The flavor combination was great, and it was nice to get a different bit of flavor.

The crumb topping on this pie is nice and crunchy. The pecans I chopped with a knife and I did a fine chop so you couldn't tell what kind of nuts they were by looking at them. The texture was fantastic with the rest of the pie so that you had the creamy sour cream part, the bursting berries then the crunchy topping.

Here you can see the raspberries and blueberries, and how they did not sink. The dark bits in the topping are the nuts. This pie is not too sweet either, another reason I like it so much. but honestly the mixture of textures is really nice.

This is a pie I could have often and be quite happy. You can use other berries such as currants, raspberries, marionberries or other black berry. Different berries will give you different textures. My favorite berries for this pie are fresh blueberries. Why? Because the fresh berries stay intact while cooking and so when you eat them they burst. The frozen berries have already burst and so don't have the same great texture.

My favorite pie is pie flavored pie. But this one was extremely satisfying. 

Have you ever..

Ok, so I have been craving soup for a couple of days. And of course the one day I finally have time to do it, I have a bad headache. UGH..

Not to be thwarted, I pressed forward and made the soup, of course with help from my little guy. This soup was everything I wanted, flavorful, satisfying, filling, healthy, delicious.. it was so good hubby went and got a second bowl that was fuller than the first!  I served this with homemade sourdough garlic parmesan bread.

I do make my own bone broth, and that is what I used in this soup. Here is the post for Bone Broth.

Ok, back to this soup. I was a little worried after I tossed in the chopped turnip, it smelled a little bitter. But then I added another herb and that fixed it.

Flower soup

2 crimini mushrooms, peeled, stem and gills removed, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup onion, diced
1 carrot, chopped fine
1/2 rib celery, chopped fine
1 turnip, peeled and chopped
1 head of cauliflower, chopped/diced small
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon tarragon
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (herbs)
2 teaspoons parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1 quart chicken stock
4 ounces cream cheese or neufchatel cheese*
1 beef kielbasa (12 - 16 oz), diced and browned

Saute' mushroom in butter until golden. Add onion, carrots and celery (mire poix), and saute'/ cook about 5 minutes. Add cauliflower and turmeric and saute another 5 minutes. Add herbs and stir, add bay leaf. Next add stock/broth and garlic. Give a good stir and cover and simmer until veggies are tender. Remove bay leaf, puree soup.  Add cream cheese and let warm, add warm browned kielbasa, stir well. Let rest about 5 minutes over extremely low heat until cream cheese has melted in.

This soup was great! We could not tell it was cauliflower, and my lil guy ate it right up, and he was very happy there were not any potatoes in it.  I can not get over how yummy it was; I had 2 large bowls and wanted more because it tasted so good, but I could not even try it was so filling!

*I made this a second time, but this time instead of using cream cheese I used some leftover rice. So I did this by adding about 1/2 cup cooked rice to the soup when I added the stock. I let this all cook for about an hour, then pulled out the bay leaf and used my immersion blender and blended until smooth. WOW the flavor was still amazing, the texture was silky.  I love using rice in place of dairy in soups to make them cream and smooth.

Snuggly soft and fast to make

I have many kids, and we try to make their birthdays special for them. This year my daughter picked out some fabric and asked  me to make her some pillow cases. These are easy to make, but I got busy.. Busy in my head, busy with stuff.. I finally sat down and got them made. 3 months later!!  I know it's terrible. 
They are so cute. I also made another one for my littlest guy.

This picture shows 6 different pillow cases, two of them have a duplicate underneath it. I did the french seam on these. It just makes for a cleaner pillowcase, and little fingers don't get into strings. This time I made them all with flannel for the main part and edge, but the trim is calico. They are so soft!

All red with a little trim work. This really pops and came out even cuter than I thought it would.

On this one, I decided not to put any trim on it. The main part is the green zigzag and the edge is the frogs.

Again, no trim. The main section is the zig zag and the polka dots are the trim.

I absolutely love the colors in the feathers! Actually I love the teal trim on the feathers with the orangy peach color. My daughter was also drawn to this fabric. I used a sweet blue rosebud calico for the trim.

The calico in this frog and zigzag pillow case is one of my favorites. It matched up perfectly and this is one of my favorites!  It is just so darling!  The frogs are the main part and the zigzag is the edging.

This lovebug pattern is so busy! I mean really loud busy pink! I found in my stash a cute doodle heart pink calico to use as the trim. This is one of my favorites because it is so cute, but I really love the one above it.

These were easy. I used a simple formula a lady mentioned on youtube. Remember this for pillow cases  27, 9, 3   I thought she was giving lotto numbers, but nah.. These are the measurements:
27" x WOF (width of fabric) for body, 9" x WOF (edge of pillow case), and 3" x WOF (trim).

Here is a YouTube video that shows you how, Magic Pillowcase.

I hope you try to make these. They are easy, and the color combos are endless. You can use flannel or calico or novelty prints. Whatever you like.

November and December Challenge: Dec 24 - 31

 #LightTheWorld

Tomorrow is the celebration of the birth of our Savior and Lord. Having had several children, maybe as many as Mother Mary. I marvel at what women went through in those days. For some childbirth is easy, for others is it not. Medical interventions and such today, do not guarantee a good pregnancy outcome. People do not realize that the risk of losing mother and or baby is still great in this day and age. Can you imagine giving birth in a stable or barn? With vermin in the animal's bedding? No running water? Having to shove rags between your legs to deal with the lovely bleeding that happens for a minimum of a week after birth? Although I have given birth in multiple places: hospital, midwife's office and at home.  I will tell you our best experiences were at the midwife's office and at home, it was so relaxing, calm, and I could focus on what I was doing instead of wondering who the next stranger was going to be to come and look between my legs.

Can you imagine walking as far as Mary walked? It wasn't just to the mail box. It was very far, and she was 40 weeks along!  I can feel and hear those pelvic bones moving, grinding, popping with every step. I know the pressure of that baby on my back, my bladder, kicking my diaphragm so I can't breath.  Can you imagine what she went through just before she was to give birth?! It is amazing.

This is what our ancestors went through as well. Whether they were traveling on purpose or because they were running for their lives. Many women have given birth along the trail, and many of those women and babies were also buried along that trail.

I am thankful that Mary and Joseph listened to the angels, I am thankful that Jesus is the Christ and that he has given us the ultimate gift. I am thankful for this gift so we can again see our sweet family members that have passed and especially see my sweet Saralyn again. I hope you remember what Christmas is about, and are able to feel the sweet spirit it brings.

This is it folks. The last week of this challenge. Were you able to do it? Can you believes it's already the last week of the year?! It has been another trying year, full of love, pain, life and unfortunately death.
New things this year: we got more of the yard done; went fishing on several rivers and cooked water's edge; we had our family reunion; went camping; figured out a major food sensitivity; welcomed home our missionary; preparing for the marriage of another of our children; and welcomed more pets into the home.

This is the week of cans to meet our goal of filling our pantry/larder.
#54: Can of pears
#55: Spaghetti Sauce
#56: Baked Beans
#57: Evaporated milk or Coconut milk
#58: Re-fried Beans
#59: Spaghetti Sauce
#60: Applesauce
#61: Soup of choice

 We welcome the new year in soon and with that we will have many new adventures.

November and December Challenge: Dec 16 - 23

Well, crud. This year is almost over and I didn't get everything done yet!  SLOW DOWN!

This Christmas we as a family decided to be more service oriented. Instead of buying a ton of gifts for us. We decided to do a couple kids on the giving tree. We also decided to donate to The Giving Cupboard. Our kids enjoyed doing all the shopping. It was fun. Our family's love language is service, as in serving others. It truly makes us happy to be permitted to help someone, be with others, and lift other's burdens, even if only for a moment.

Building your larder/pantry/food storage is a way you can lift your own burden. How do I find these sales? Sometimes I scour the ads on store's websites, and sometimes I just happen on them when I am in the store. How do I build my food storage? Slowly. I am not kidding. I was a very young bride, and I had no idea what food storage was. I had no idea why I had this urge to have a certain amount of food in my cupboards. If I had a little extra leftover after buying groceries, I would get something to put in my cupboard. Heck I didn't call it food storage, or larder, or engineering. When we first got married our pantry was a tiny cupboard by the sink. It had very little in it. Enchilada sauce, canned peas, canned corn, chicken noodle soup, tomato soup and if lucky a jar of spaghetti sauce. Looking back, it was a very weird combo.

When we moved to college, we had these huge closets in the hallway that went to the bedrooms and bathroom. They were giant! This apartment had the biggest closets we ever had in apartment living. They were even bigger than most houses have! They were amazing closets! I began accumulating more food stuffs in my closet. Still, I didn't really know how to cook well. I am so thankful my husband still ate it, and so did my baby (best eater ever!).

We moved to a different apartment that had just been built because the molds in the amazing closet apartment were bad for my asthma. This new apartment had this huge closet in the living room. It had some wire shelves on each end inside this closet. We filled them. Slowly. An extra can of chili, the next week an extra jar of spaghetti sauce, another week extra pasta. It builds, slowly. If it was a new food we hadn't had before, we would only buy one. No need to waste money, what if we didn't like it? We could always get more the next week if we liked it.

Now... I have 5 gallon buckets with hard white wheat, salt, sugar, oats and rice. I have #10 cans full of dried beans, cocoa, quinoa, millet.. I have cans of tomatoes, olives, peas, chicken.. I have condiments like pickles, mustards, ketchup, mayo..I have spices, I have medicine, I have home canned foods.  When we first got married I never could have imagined all I would learn about foods, medicine, preservation of foods, how to sew..

It doesn't matter how old you are.  You can learn to build your cupboard/pantry/closet/ or what ever you have (my college kids use a rubbermaid tote). It is a slow process, it is a learning experience. Find joy in it. And remember, if you have never had it only buy one to try. If you find a deal on something you use, make that be your can for the day or week. Store what you eat, Eat what you store.


#46: Vegetables
#47: Tomato Sauce
#48: Salsa
#49: Rotel
#50: Diced chilies
#51: Can or jar of NUTS (if not allergic)
#52: Nut butter (the one your family will eat)
#53: Stewed Tomatoes

November and December Challenge: Dec 8 - 15

How many of you went shopping on "black" Friday? Cyber Monday? Today?

How many of you went to make dinner from your normal pantry and realized you were missing something? Tomato paste? a spice? pasta? rice?

The other day I went to make dinner and the recipe called for tomato paste. This is not an item I usually have in stock; why? Because I do not like the taste of tomato paste. What did I do? I actually had a bunch of tomatoes from my garden ripening on my kitchen table (yes still, because we moved the tomato plants to the garage when it got cold out so I wouldn't lose all that fruit). So I took some of those and I washed them, took out that weird core where they hook to the plant, put them through a quick blender, and used those instead. Dinner was saved, and delicious. What would I have done had I not had those tomatoes? I would have used tomato sauce or canned diced tomatoes (put through blender).  My kids do not like chunks of cooked tomatoes, so I still have to blend those. BUT, they are learning to handle cooked onions, carrots and celery.

So this week is more of the same, but a little change. Remember the point of this challenge is to build up your food storage/larder/pantry. The point is so you have something to eat in a pinch. That pinch of low funds is not fun.

#38: Sliced Peaches
#39: Canned Chicken
#40: Campbell's chicken noodle soup (add water)
#41: Dinty Moore Stew (or which ever kind you prefer)
#42: Chili
#43: Can of Pears or Fruit cocktail
#44: Tomato Soup (add water)
#45: Baked potato soup (ready-to-eat)

One of the cans I stocked up on last week was Snow's Minced Clams in the yellow can at the local grocery. The price was so cheap I bought 10 of them. Tonight I needed a fast dinner as the teens were headed out to their weekly meetings.

What did I make with these lovely little can's of yum? Clam spaghetti of course. This is a family favorite. It's fast, easy, and not expensive.

CLAM SPAGHETTI

2 - 6.5 oz cans minced clams in clam juice
1/2 tsp salt
4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TBS parsley
1 pound spaghetti, linguini, angel hair or fettuccine  OR GF ramen noodles or bean threads

Cook pasta according to package directions. While waiting for the pasta, make the sauce.

In sauce pan put butter, oil and garlic. Let gently cook on low to med low heat until it starts to bubble and the fragrance of garlic is fantastic. Drain only ONE can of clams and put into sauce pan. Pour second can of clams with juice into sauce pan. Add salt and parsely. Bring to a gentle simmer and keep hot.
When pasta is done cooking, drain. Return to cooking pan. Pour all of the sauce over the pasta. Stir well with tongs or whatever you prefer to use.

Sometimes we garnish with finely shredded parmesan cheese. But not tonight.
We served this with a salad. So yummy and good comfort food.

Gluten Free Tattie Scones

Have you ever heard of a Scottish Tattie Scone?  It's kind of like a thick tortilla, or thin naan. To me they are comfort food. Great with mash and meat, soup, or used as a wrap type sandwich. I love naan, but these are faster and just as yummy.

This one is fresh off the pan. I then stuffed it with rice (on the plate), cheese and shredded chicken. This can be rolled burrito style, but not too tight or it will rip.

I do not like GF tortillas you find in the store. I think they are made by mission. I have tried both the white ones and the green ones. Both were sticky, gummy, pastie and flavorless; not to mention EXPENSIVE!

I have had the Scottish Tattie Scone recipe forever, but I have only made them once since we moved 2 years ago. Why? I forgot about it. But we used it with a soup the other night. But tonight  I had the chicken in my crock-pot and everyone else could use a flour tortilla, so I decided to try to make a GF tattie scone and see if it would work. Not only does it work, but it tastes AMAZING.

I almost ate the entire thing before remembering I wanted a picture! So yummy I made more, and yup they are already gone. This recipe is very easy, can be dairy free (DF), corn free (CF), soy free (SF) and of course gluten free (GF). I will admit, mine were not DF. But they could have been.

So I used leftover mash to make these, and DS2 made the mash so there was butter, parmesan, garlic and half and half in them. Which, by the way, were amazing yummy spuds. Rules with GF flour, it has to be cooked through, for some reason. It may seem this dough is too dry, but honestly it all mixes in, and makes a wonderful dough.

The spuds we used are called Huckleberry Golds, and they are one of the ugliest potatoes I have ever seen. Purple skin, that is kind of warty, with beautiful golden flesh.

They are very dense and delicious.

I took two pictures, one with and one without the flash. The purple is very vibrant in the sunlight. The interior flesh is a wonderful yellow gold.

I used Mom's Place GF flour blend (locally made) , link is in the name. I love Mom's Place, so far theirs is the only gf blend I like.

Ok so would you like to try them? These are yum! I love them. My kids like them too.


Scottish Tattie Scones
Half pound boiled mashed potatoes (King Edwards if you can get them)
2.5 oz (65 g) all-purpose flour (wheat OR GLUTEN FREE)
1 oz (25 g) butter (OR coconut oil, olive oil, ghee, etc)
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
1/4 tsp baking powder

Boils spuds in salted water until tender. Drain, mash with butter, S & P, and baking powder.*
Mix in flour to make stiff dough (exact amount depends on type of potatoes used).

Roll out on floured surface to 5 - 6 mm thick. Cut into rounds, use a saucer or small tea plate as a guide. Prick all over with fork and score dough to mark 4 equal wedges. Cook in lightly greased heavy pan or griddle over medium heat. About 3 minutes per side or until golden brown.**

*OR use leftover mash potatoes, add S & P, baking powder and flour, mix until stiff dough.

**Divide into 4 pieces, and roll into a ball. Then take a ziplock gallon bag and cut the sides open. Place ball in center of one side, put other side on top and use a heavy pan to flatten ball. If that is not enough then gently roll out to 4 to 6mm thick.
When making GF, I roll these out to 3mm thick, but you could go thicker, they will take longer to cook. I do NOT prick with a fork all over, because they are very thin, and I cook them like a tortilla.

 Cooking the first side, I also turned it around a little as my pan wasn't quite hot everywhere yet. Half of it was cooked so I turned it clockwise to get the other side done.

 Then I flipped it. and the smells.. made my mouth water. Using garlic mash is amazing for these.

 Well stuff with chicken, rice and cheese. And it was worth the 5 minute wait while I got the pan heating up, mixed the dough, rolled it out and cooked it. FAST AND EASY AND so worth it. NOT gummy, NOT sticky, NOT hard to make. This is one that will be made often as a bread for me.

November and December Challenge: Dec 1 - 7

OH MY HECK IT'S DECEMBER!!!!

I can not believe how fast this year has gone by! It has flown, and there are parts of it I wish we could spend more time in. We had a fabulous family reunion that was just amazing. We went camping, lots of fishing, learned how to cook fish very well. Learned how to heat smoke foods. New opportunities for adventure.. It has been fun, hard, exciting, and worth it.

What did you do with your turkey bones? As my hubby was carving the turkey, he put the bones into a crock-pot (WITHOUT being asked) then put in the baggie of veggies scraps from the freezer. Then he added a tablespoon of salt, covered the bones with water and set the crock pot on low. Again, I didn't ask him, I didn't let him know I was going to do this at any time. He just did it. I love my husband.

We ended up cooking this bone broth for 48 hours! It came out so yummy. So next we strained it and put it into jars to cool.
We are starting our December challenge with some different items. Now please remember, if you or your family do not eat something, do not buy it! Get something your family will eat. I use evaporated milk for making pumpkin pies, caramel and bread. We use peanut butter, tahini, and almond butter in our home. Chicken viennas my kids will eat out of the can after they are rinsed. I have also used a fork and mashed them on a plate (like a banana) then put them in our spaghetti sauce. For the ready to eat soups, grab the flavors you know your family will enjoy, my flavors are only suggestions.

#31: Evaporated Milk
#32: Nut Butter (peanut or almond or sesame whatever kind you can have)
#33: Can of Pineapple
#34: Can of Navy Beans
#35: Chicken Vienna Sausages
#36: Potato Soup (ready to eat)
#37: Can of sirloin burger with country vegetables soup

What is something you can think of to add to the list?

November and December Challenge: Week 4 Nov 23 - 30

So how are you doing so far? I am going to tell you right now. Brands only matter if you really taste a difference. I love Hunt's tomato products, they for some reason to me, taste better. I also like to have some Rotel on hand to make salsa. Do you make your own? What about spaghetti sauce? Woops off track, it was just what popped into my mind.

This week we are working on:

#23: Baked Potato Soup (ready to eat)
#24: Refried Beans
#25: Canned Chicken
#26: Canned Chicken (Yup, another can, because you will use it!)
#27: Chicken Broth
#28: Chili
#29: Black olives
#30: Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup (add water)

First month done! Whew!

It feels so good to have food in your larder, cupboard, pantry, etc. We are getting into that busy time: parties, dinners, shopping, more shopping, maybe buy something. Don't let life overwhelm you. Do your normal grocery shopping, but add an extra can  of whatever canned good you buy. The other day I was shopping, needed tomato paste, so I grabbed 2. I also needed some olives for the salad, so I grabbed 2 cans. And I grabbed 2 jars of spaghetti sauce, you see easy.

It's also that time of year for the creapy crud, colds, vomiting, diarrhea and body aches from fevers. Chicken noodle soup, or broth always helps. So make sure you grab atleast 1 can to have on hand. Sometimes Campbell's soups are in 4-packs and even 6-packs. When we had a Costco nearby us I bought it in a case. Now I can't eat it, but my kids will drink the broth and maybe slurp down a noodle or two when sick.

Why am I suggesting ready to eat soups? Well, for one, we are in winter, and when the power goes out, so does your well pump. You won't have water to add to your soup. This is why I suggest getting a few cans of ready to eat items. OH, and also, I love the Wal-mart brand of chicken breast in a can. It is yummy, GF and soy free, and ready to eat.

November and December Challenge: Week 3 Nov 15 - 22

Well I am not satisfied. I feel the list for canned goods is lacking. So many things you can put into your larder. What about stock or broth? This can come in a can or in a 1 liter (quart) mylar box. What about beans? What about tomatoes? What about? What about?

So many items to choose from, but I will repeat, if you will not eat it, DO NOT BUY IT. It is a waste of money to buy something you absolutely will never eat. I mean you could by one can, try it to see if you like it, and if you do then add more. That makes sense. But buying something you won't eat like chipotle chilies in adobo. If you don't like it, won't use it, don't waste you money buying it.

Let's take a look at this weeks list.

#15: Chunk Pineapple
#16: Fruit Cocktail
#17: Green beans (french? cut? wax?)
#18: Corn (niblets? creamed? regular?)
#19: Canned Pasta (chef boy-r-dee?)
#20: Can of Veg-All or can of vegetables
#21: Chicken Vienna Sausages (My kids love these! I gag from the smell of them)
#22: Sirloin burger with Vegetables soup (ready to eat)

Due to our corn and gluten allergies, I don't buy a lot of convenience foods, including canned soups or pastas. But I will can my own bone broth and vegetable stock. I will can meat, I can veg, I can fruit. That said, I do have family members that can eat some ready to eat soups. So I will get some.

Anyone remember Libby's Chicken Noodle Dinner?  It was my favorite ready to eat meal from a can. Guess what? I can't find it. It was delicious with fresh homemade biscuits.

Nalley's Chili company moved from Tacoma WA to somewhere else. BUT you can still go to the Nalley Valley in Tacoma and see the old factory. When they moved the recipes changed, and they added wheat flour, lower quality meat, and the flavor is different. So I make my own now and either pressure can it or freeze it.

Do you know about TURMERIC?

This beautiful root is amazing!  It has so many benefits, and is so good for you.
What is it? It is a rhizome root, kind of like ginger.
It has a warm, bitter taste and is frequently used to flavor or color curry powders, mustards, butters, and cheeses. But the root of turmeric is also used widely to make medicines. The active ingredient that is so good for you is curcumin. Since curcumin is a fat-soluble compound, the most effective way to get raw turmeric into your system is by combining it with fat and black peppercorns. This is also true for ground turmeric.

Isn't it pretty?!

Today I made "Golden Milk" for my soon to be DIL and for my dear little guy. She is super sick, but he has a kidney and bladder infection. Hopefully this will help both of them. It is creamy, and warming, and pretty yummy.

I will say this. Using fresh ginger and turmeric is always going to be better, but to be honest.. Fresh turmeric is $$$$ at my local store is it $18 for 8 ounces!  I just can not afford that. BUT I do buy fresh ginger.  The link is in the Golden Milk. Here is what I used:

I used the coconut milk can to measure the almond milk as well, so I didn't have to dirty another dish.

1 full fat canned coconut milk (so didn't need the coconut oil)
 Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk
2 inches of fresh ginger that was peeled and that I cut into small pieces and put through my garlic press OR 1/2 tsp ground ginger
fresh ground black pepper (about a pinch or 1/8 tsp or so)
2 tsp of ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
RAW honey to taste

In my 3-qt sauce pan, I put the coconut milk, almond milk (measured with coconut milk can), ginger, pepper, turmeric, and cinnamon. I heated this over med-low heat until it was very warm. DO NOT BOIL. I wanted this warm enough that the turmeric and cinnamon would be activated by the coconut oil in the milk, but not too hot. I kept it very warm for about 15 minutes. Then I pulled it off the heat, gave it another good stir and let it sit. When it was finally cool enough, I added 1 TBS of raw honey and stirred well. Then I tasted it, and put in a little more honey. I strained this as I put it into jars so as not to have that ginger sitting in there too long and getting bitter.

This is DELICIOUS, but I am saving this for my DIL and my lil one. So he will have it tonight before bed. So simple to make, so yummy.  It is in the fridge right now, and I pulled it out to take a picture, and it smells so yummy I had to taste it.. WOW.. gonna have to make more!