Using up the pantry food~potatoes
I have a lot of potatoes. I bought a big bag for 5€ but they are so useful! It looks like we’ll be taking some to Anita & Neil over the holidays.
- soups * or make any creamed soup and add 1 potato and blended with an immersion blender for a very creamy soup without the cream.
- baked potato meals
- side dishes
- breakfasts
- french fries for snacks
It just goes on and on. Here’s a good recipe:
Make-ahead potatoes
6 russet potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream (lite works great)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup diced green onions (scallions,
or red onions if you like)
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
Cut the potatoes into thirds, cover
with water in a sauce pan, bring to a boil
and simmer until fork tender. Drain.
With an electric mixer whip the potatoes
with the milk. Add the sour cream, salt,
pepper, onions and 3/4 cup of cheese.
Beat together. Line a 9 x 9 baking dish
with foil first, leaving a few inches of
foil hanging over the edges. Put the
potatoes in, cover with more foil, and
freeze. When solid, remove the foil and
wrap the edges up over the top, then slip
into a freezer bag and label. Thaw and
bake at 350 F for 20-30 minutes or until
piping hot. Sprinkle with paprika
(optional) and serve immediately.
The sour cream cutout cookies… re-visited
For those of you who are new to baking and thought the dough to be ‘too wet’… it is! When the recipes says to to roll out on a ‘heavily floured’ board; well that means, add the flour needed to make it manageable to work with, but don’t add so much that the dough is tough.
Here are some of my photos from this recipe I have been making for over 10 years: I did these yesterday and will make up several packages to give away. This recipe makes a lot!
Moravian Love Feast & Bun recipe
A few years ago our kids Anita & Neil introduced us to the Moravian Love Feast. This photo is of our table with coffee & the buns, that our Neil took. It was a wonderful time of fellowship with a few families.
John and I had never heard of a ‘Love Feast’ even though we grew up in the ’60′s! Here’s an explanation of a better Love Feast:
Love feasts originated in the first gathering of Christians after Pentecost. The early believers met and broke bread together, thereby signifying their union and equality. These meals of the church family were associated with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, which followed them. They were called agape, from the Greek word for love, that is for the highest type of spiritual love. Gradually the agape lost its devotional character, and toward the end of the fourth century the Church gave it up.
Next week on December 23rd, there will be another Moravian Love Feast, this time hosted by Neil & Anita in France. We’re glad our plans are to be there with them.
Moravian Buns
- 1 medium potato , peeled and cubed
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup butter
- 4 -5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
- 2 eggs , beaten
Topping
- 1/4 cup cold butter
- 8 teaspoons sugar
Directions:
-
Place cubed potato and enough water to cover in small saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook potato until fork-tender. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the potato water. Mash potato to measure 1/2 cup; set aside.
-
In the same saucepan combine potato water, 1/4 cup of water and1/2 cup butter. Heat until very warm (120 to 130 degrees F).
-
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour, the sugar,salt, and yeast; mix well. Add warm potato water mixture; beat until well blended. Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating until smooth. Cover and refrigerate 8 to 24 hours.
-
Grease cookie sheets. Punch down dough several times to remove all air bubbles. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead dough 6 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Divide dough into 16 pieces. Shape each into smooth, round bun; place on greased cookie sheets. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80 to 85 degrees F) until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
-
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Uncover dough. Cut 1/4 cup cold butter into 16 equal pieces. Press one piece into the center of each bun. Sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.
The Pantry … I really want to clean it out!
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Posted under: blessings, Blogroll, food, recipes, saving money
Here are some freezer & pantry items I will be working through:
- chicken wings- freezer
- pie crust-freezer
- bean soup- freezer
- re-fried beans
- green chili salsa
- chalupas~ beans and shredded pork with wonderful southwest seasonings enveloped in a flour tortilla~ yum.
I had to market today and bought a package of napkins and 0% fat yogurt… but was all! It’s so nice to eat well with the food we have in the freezer.
Old Fashioned Tomato Soup Recipe
- 6 Servings
- Prep/Total Time: 20 min.
Ingredients
- 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- Salt to taste
- 1 quart milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Minced fresh parsley, optional
Directions
- In a large saucepan, bring tomatoes to a boil. Add baking soda, garlic salt, pepper and salt if desired. Reduce heat; add the milk and butter. Heat through but do not boil. Garnish with parsley if desired. Yield: 6 servings (1-1/2 quarts).
- *2 cups of home-canned or freshly stewed tomatoes with liquid can be substituted for canned tomatoes.
skirt steak from the freezer
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I think that skirt steak is one of my favorite cuts of meat. It cooks quickly and is tender. It’s nice in tacos too. I like my beef quite rare so it’s a 5 min. meal. It does take a few minutes to pull off the silvery membrane that it is encased in but it’s easy to do.
In my efforts to eat and empty my chest freezer, I’m accomplishing my goals of : using what I have and still staying on my diet.
Being on the DUKAN diet is very easy for me. The meat protein is very filling and I rarely if ever need to snack in between meals. I can make the side dishes for John, I have potatoes, rice and pasta + frozen veggies to complete the meal for him.
A better sugar/ Christmas cookie
5 Comments Posted under: Blogroll, food, Grocery Challenge, recipes
Instead of the regular sugar cookie, try this one which is tender and soft. They’re a big hit in my circles.
Sour Cream Cutouts
1 cup of margarine or butter
1½ cups of sugar
3 eggs
1 cup of sour cream
2 t. vanilla extract
3 ½ cups of flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
In a mixing bowl butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs. Add sour cream & vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Chill dough at least 2 hours or overnight.
Roll on a heavily floured board to ¼- inch thickness. Cut with your favorite cookie cutter and bake for 10-12 minutes @ 350°.
Frost and add Christmas sprinkles if desired. * I made these year round.
A look in my freezer
Wouldn’t it be fun to empty (by eating it all) the ENTIRE freezer, save the cash and then buy some ‘new food’ or save it for something special? Ok, I confess. I love to buy meat. Just love it! I actually like to buy BIG pieces and cut it up, repackage and freeze…but, I’m controlling myself. I want to use what I have 1st!
I bet if we look at what we already have and be a little more creative, we could put on some pretty decent meals.
My freezer contents
The top photo is a shot of what I have in the chest freezer. I DO have a lot! When we have guests, I rarely put the leftovers in the refrigerator, but instead, I package them for meals for 2 and freeze them. It sure makes my life easier.
What I took out
OK, this is what I took out of the freezer for today: 1 package of beef & gravy, long German sausages, 1 package of Gouda cheese slices, 1 block of Mozzarella cheese & 3 chicken taquitos.
I cooked some fresh potatoes which I’ll rice with my handy ‘ricer’ & serve it with the beef & gravy & add a salad.
The sausage I’ll use for breakfast and for the pizza.
The Gouda will be for omelets for suppers.
Fry Bread
I also took out some Indian fry bread and will make individual pizzas with them + the mozzarella cheese and some of the sausage.
Day #30… the end of this challenge & I DID it!
4 Comments Posted under: blessings, Blogroll, food, Grocery Challenge, recipes, saving money, Spain
HOORAY! I did it and I was able to save all but 10€ of my grocery money for (hopefully) a celebration trip with my husband in May 2012. I’m a planner… I’ve learned that fun & relaxation just does not happen… I have to plan for it and create it! In any case… I was able to serve meals for 30 days using my pantry and freezer contents + the 10€ for extras. It really is a sense of accomplishment! Ok…Will I stop here? Yes & NO. I still have a lot in the freezer… why buy more? I think actually that I’ll continue to eat out of the pantry & freezer and TRY to get to the bottom of it. It would be so great to see it empty! In fact this will be a good project for me… to pull one thing out of the freezer each day and ‘work with it’!
The last 30 days I spent: 9,84€
I have left: 0,16€
Tomorrow I’m having some ladies over from church to show them how to make some cut-out Christmas cookies. These are not your ordinary sugar cookies, but a wonderful sour cream pastry that are tender. They are a hit around here! I’ll post the recipe tomorrow.
I’ll serve the cookies and this coffee to my church friends:
Mocha-Mint Coffee
6 cups freshly brewed coffee
4 squares (1-ounce each) semi-sweet
baking chocolate, chopped
1-1/2 cups hot milk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
8 peppermint sticks or candy canes
Pour the hot coffee into large
saucepan and stir in the chocolate. Heat
over low heat 5 minutes or until chocolate
is melted, stirring occasionally. Pour
the milk into a microwave-safe container
and heat on high for 1 to 2 minutes,
or until hot (or heat in another saucepan
over medium high heat until hot, not
boiling). Add milk and extract to the
coffee chocolate mixture; stir until well
blended. Carefully ladle into 8 mugs.
Garnish each serving with a peppermint
stick. Yield: 8 servings.
Day #29~ one day left!
I have some celery in the fridge and this looks like a good soup for a cold weather we have. I’ve included the recipe below.
This, the day before the end of my efforts to spend only 10€ in 30 days has been a huge hit. We continue to eat well, all the while reducing some of the freezer and panty stock. Yesterday I bought 2 quark (like sour cream) that cost me 2,58€ for a cookie teaching class I will give on Monday. That leaves me 0,16€ Only sixteen cents!!! I’m very encouraged I have been able to reduce my spending!
Cream of Celery Soup
Homemade and healthy too!
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 stalks of celery, chopped fine
½ cup chicken stock
½ cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Heat olive oil in a 1 qt saucepan, then add celery and sauté’ until crispy tender approximately 5 minutes. Add flour and cook while stirring until liquid is smooth for 1 minute. Slowly add the chicken stock, then add the milk and stir until the liquid is smooth then slow simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste then serve.
Day #28 Can less be more?
Two days left to complete this grocery challenge. It’s just amazing how easy it’s been. I still have 2,74€ left of the original 10€ I started with. Here is an interesting video with some challenging and thought provoking ideas. It’s definitely an alternative way to think. Let me know what you think.
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