Changing Times, Changing Meals

It's been quite a while since I've posted on my blog although I've written oodles of blogs in my head as the days and months have gone by. Seasons have changed at our house. Three of my children are now married, my youngest has graduated from college, and a grand baby now fills many of my days. I began cooking in the once-a-month style when my #3 was a toddler and have continued it for nearly 25 years. It has worked great for our family of 6 all these years but as kids have moved out I find myself with too many leftovers or the "wrong" leftovers, that is the child who once finished all the pasta dishes no long roams my house but her own. The child who devoured the meat and potatoes cooks in his own kitchen now. The one who lived on all things tortilla just visits my kitchen, she has her own. And the last, well he loves all things Asian and those foods have not been part of my repertoire. It's time to start all over. In the fall I had major surgery. Beforehand I prepared 24 meals and tucked them away in my freezer. Friends were planning a meal train twice a week and together I figured I had about 8 weeks of meals to carry us through my initial recovery. That plan was huge success, and in fact the meals lasted us until Christmas! Since then, I've put together what I call post-it meal plans - a simple list on my cupboard door for a week or two at a time, but more about those at another time. When I opened my freezer this week to peruse the contents, it was pretty empty. What's that nursery rhyme? "Old Mother Hubbard went to her cupboard but when she got there the cupboard was bare." Yep. That describes my freezer!

So now it's time to regroup. As I go into another month of planning, I have to think: Who am I feeding? Do we need leftovers? What do we like? How many meals do I really need to cook in a week? What's the season? Do we need comfy cozy meals, fast meals, Whole 30 or something else? There's lots to consider as my family has changed. One thing that hasn't changed is that preparing several meals ahead of time- whether 5 or 30 - is still a time-saver and a great help in this season of life.

Preparing for a Once-a-Month Cooking Day

 

 

 

 

Yesterday was my day to prepare the grocery list for a month of meals.  I took a look at my next menu and added a few meals to make a total of 35.  With four adult children living at home while in college, the meals are going faster than they once did.  It is my hope that this will get us to early May. 

Today, my hubby and I went shopping.  We were able to get most of the ingredients at Costco and Target, but I will need to shop at another grocery store to get a few more specialty items.  That can wait until morning!

Here's my kitchen this afternoon.  I never like putting it all away, but it's also good to split the shopping from the cooking.

 My freezer is quite empty as I go into this cooking day.

The refrigerator, on the other hand, becomes quite full as it is the holding space for all those groceries until morning!

 A few items are ingredients for meals that are best made fresh, such as Pigs in a Blanket which will be made with fresh bread dough, so I identified one package that must be saved!

I did prepare a few items today that just make sense before freezing.  Here's what I did:

• Froze the pre-seasoned Salmon
• Cleaned two chickens and froze them separately
• Cooked all the boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Made two quiches, one Aztec, one plain
• Cut the 3-pack of hot dogs into individual packages, labeled one and froze all
• Froze the hamburger patties

Tonight I am baking the last meal from the last round of cooking, a Lasagna.  Tomorrow the cooking begins!

Sweet Valentine Dessert

My current favorite dessert is Red Velvet anything - yogurt at Yogurtland, in a blizzard at Dairy Queen or cake heaped with cream cheese frosting.  I prefer at least a 50-50 ratio of cake to frosting to satisfy my sweet tooth.

In January 2015 our decorating theme for the Honduran Women's Bible Conference will be hearts.  February is the perfect month to practice with heart desserts which brought me to Red Velvet cupcakes today.

My co-leader had found some darling cupcake cups - no cupcake pan needed - and I needed to try them out.  How to bake with them, how full to fill them, how many can one box of cake mix make and of course, how to frost them.  I found the answers:

• A jelly roll pan will hold 35 of these self-supporting cupcake cups.
• They do not change color when baked as do some of the wrappers due to the color of the cake batter.
• Fill them with about 1/3 C of batter.
• One box made 22 unevenly sized cupcakes.  Next time, plan on 16-18.
• I used Duncan Hines and have been happy with the results.
• And then the frosting.  It is to "die for!"

I wish I had recorded where I found this recipe so that I could give credit to them.

2 8oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 sticks or 1 C butter also at room temperature
1 lb. powdered sugar (3 3/4 C)
2-3 T heavy cream (I had used fat-free milk)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract

Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add the rest of the ingredients and continue beating until smooth and slightly fluffy.  My didn't "fluff" because I didn't have cream on hand.

Use a large frosting bag and pipe the frosting on in a snail-fashion starting on the outside.  Place a candy heart on top.

Bag at least 12", tip 5FT (giant)

I should probably add that I have made this recipe from scratch with good success, but I have also found that it's cheaper to buy a box of mix than a bottle of red food coloring. 

Lessons from Honduras - Tortilla Making

As a fourth grade teacher I incorporated making tortillas from scratch into our lessons about early California.  It was fairly easy to make the dough and shape it, but getting it off of the tortilla press in one piece was often difficult unless I doused it in flour.  I kept an electric skillet in my classroom and we'd fry them and then eat them.  They were good, if they weren't covered in flour!

Homemade tortillas are part of the menu for one of the lunches that we serve in Honduras.  They accompany Picadillo and Ashley's Corn and Bean Salad.  It's a delicious combination, especially when piled on the tortillas.  We've tried different ways to get the tortillas, and found that the most successful is to have our Honduran counterparts in the kitchen make them.  And, we get lessons!

This week I bought some Masa (corn flour) and made a batch at home.  Some were used for Pupusas as I have yet to master the technique of making a more authentic Pupusa. I followed the directions on the bag, but did need to add more water to keep the dough moist.  Here's what we learned in Honduras:

Roll the dough into small balls, not quite golf ball size.
Line the tortilla press with circles of waxed paper or parchment paper or plastic bags that you've cut.
Flatten the ball some and then place into a tortilla press.

Press.

Remove upper paper/plastic.
Peel off the lower paper and lay on a greased griddle.

Flip to cook both sides until lightly browned.
Served with your favorite tortilla toppings.

OR turn a few into Pupusas by crumbling cheese on the tortilla after the first flip.  Cover it with a second tortilla and continue cooking until cheese is melted.

 My favorite cheese for Pupusas:

 

The Honduran ladies made beautiful, flat tortillas without the aid of a press.  It seems to be something that they grow up learning.  Our hands and fingers have a long way to go in mastering their technique, hence the need for a press.  Several of us bought them at Wal-Mart in Honduras although they are available here quite readily. 

Cheese, Veggie, and More Veggie Lasagnas in One Pan

Three variations of lasagna in one pan?  You bet.  It started out to be a vegetarian lasagna, but then morphed into the need for three variations based on which veggies people liked or not.

The first third was cheese only.
The middle section had cheese, chopped broccoli, chopped zucchini and onion.
To the last third I added mushrooms.

Meatballs were served on the side for the carnivores.



 

I served garlic bread and Caesar salad as sides.  Every plate looked different and only one serving of lasagna was left.  It seemed to hit the spot with everyone at our table that night.

 

In the future, I'll make two different pans and keep meat in one of them. We really missed our Italian Sausage, but were happy to accommodate the tastes of our guests that night.

Bean Soup aka Baked Beans and Sausage

Need a simple, warm, quick meal?  This one fits the bill. Simply add sliced Kielbasa sausage to your favorite baked beans.   I sautéed the sausage first to lightly brown it and then added the beans, cooking long enough to warm them.  Pair this with a fresh pan of cornbread and you have a tasty and filling meal. 

After trying several different brands, Marie Callender's cornbread mix is back at the top of my list, even over scratch recipes. 

Black Bean "Burger" Burritos

Sometime ago, one of my daughters discovered a delicious recipe for quesadillas on the back of the box of Spicy Black Bean Burger patties.  They were delicious!  In fact, I liked them so much I wanted to make a second batch, but was short on time, so I rolled the filling inside tortillas and baked them as burritos.  They were much enjoyed by my family.  In fact, I didn't even get any of the leftovers!

Tonight, they were our main course served with condiments and a Mexican Caesar Salad.  I made them fresh, having only frozen the patties when they were purchased.

Here's my tweaked version of the MorningStar recipe.  You can find the original on their website.

Mix together:
8 burger patties, warmed enough to crumble.
4 tsp. salt-free Southwest or Mexican seasoning (try Mrs. Dash)
3 C shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 1/2 C salsa

 Place a scoop on the tortilla and roll up tightly.

 Brush the tortillas lightly with softened or melted butter.  Bake at 375 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until cheese melts.

Yield: 17-18