Day 14 - Finding Harmony with your Cooking

We've all heard someone recommend spending a day making freezer meals, and freezing them for later use. I love that idea, but it just doesn't seem to work for me. I like things that are quick and easy. Simple dishes that taste good. I've always said I'd make a terrible rich person because I don't like fancy food. I don't like caviar, and just the sight of escargot makes me gag (just ask the unfortunate souls who were at my dinner table during our cruise - luckily they were all family, so the embarrassment was bearable).

The most time I spend on way-in-advance-prepping is cookin' and pickin' chicken. My sis-in-law raises "eatin' chickens" (the kind you eat, not the kind you keep around for eggs), so we buy most of our chicken from her. We can get a big 6-7 pound chicken for $5. She only charges us what it cost her to buy, raise, and slaughter the chickens. About once every month or two, I toss a couple in the oven for a couple of hours, then pick all the meat off the bones. I divide it in half, stick it in freezer bags, then grab when I want to make chicken soup or casserole. Half a chicken will give me more than enough meat for a big ol' crockpot full of chicken soup. And sometimes, I buy a 5-lb bag of beef, and I make taco chicken and beef to freeze. When we have tacos, I just heat up what we need, and toss what's left over back in the freezer.

When my older brother was in Scouts, they used to have potluck dinners for Pack and Troop meetings. I so looked forward to these because of what my mom would bring.

Cowboy beans

 1 lb. ground beef (I like grass fed beef that is super lean)

4-8 slices bacon (depends on how much you like bacon!)

1/2 Cup dark brown sugar

1/2 Cup ketchup or catsup - I don't think the spelling affects the taste!

2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can (15-16oz) chili beans

1 can (15-16oz) Pork-n-Beans

Cut bacon up into about 1-inch pieces, and start browning.  Add beef and brown that, too.  Drain.  In a separate pot, mix brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar, salt, and both beans.  Add beef and bacon to pot, and heat till boiling. Let simmer 1 to 1-1/2 hours.  Enjoy!  I usually bring everything to a boil on the stove, then transfer to my crockpot (set the crockpot to low), so I don't have to leave my stove top on for so long.  Freezes well!

I like to make up a double batch, then freeze single servings.  My husband won't eat beans, so he won't eat it, but my super picky kids love it!

A few other quick & easy meals that I like to make & freeze include:
Meatloaf
Chili
Pancakes/waffles (Great for when you oversleep and have to get the kids to school!)
Tuna Casserole
Chicken boob chunks (I chop up about a dozen thin sliced chicken breasts at once, and divide them among 3 bags before freezing.  A trick to being able to easily cut them is to do it while they are still semi-frozen.  When the menu calls for chicken fried rice, I grab a bag, dump teriyaki sauce with a bit of lemon juice and sugar into the bag, and let it marinate overnight.)


Things like potato soup and any soup with noodles don't freeze that well.  The potatoes and noodles end up becoming really squishy and gross.

Hashbrown Casserole

Ingredients:
2 lbs frozen hashbrowns*
1/2 Cup melted butter
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 Cup milk
1/2 Cup chopped onion*
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese*
2 Cups cornflake crumbs (optional)
1/4 Cup melted butter (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In 9x13 greased dish, pour thawed hashbrowns.  Mix butter, onion, salt, pepper, soup, milk, sour cream, and cheese together.  Crush cornflake crumbs and sprinkle over the top, then dribble 1/4 cup butter.  Bake for 1 hr - 1 hr 15 min.

*Notes*
I like the Ore Ida Country Style hashbrowns.
I like the onion taste, but don't like the crunch, so I replace the chopped onion with about 1 1/2 tsp minced onion.
Sometimes I use shredded cheddar, other times I use the Kraft Pizza cheese mix (I think it's Mozzarella & Cheddar).
I have also added bacon bits, about a tablespoon or two.  I have found that I have to use more of the generic brand bits than the name brand bits.

Linking up here!

Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies

Mmmmm...yummmmm

These were one of my favorite cookies growing up, and now they are loved by the husband and boys!

Ingredients:
3 C old fashioned rolled oats (NOT instant oatmeal)
2 C sugar
1 stick margarine (do NOT pre-melt)
1/2 C milk
3 Tbsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C peanut butter (I prefer creamy, but chunky works just as well)

First, you need to spend 20 minutes looking for your tablespoon that you managed to leave in the cocoa when you last made these cookies a few weeks ago.  Then, pour the oatmeal in a mixing bowl.  The one I use holds about 8 cups, and it's just the right size for these.

In a medium pot over medium-high heat, melt together margarine, sugar, milk, and cocoa.  Bring to a boil, then boil 1 minute.  If you melt the margarine in the microwave, your cookies will not set up - trust me.

Remove from heat and add the vanilla and peanut butter.  Stir until peanut butter is melted, then pour mixture over the oatmeal.  Drop spoonfuls onto waxed paper and let sit for at least 30 minutes.

*This is not a recipe that can be doubled.  If you double the recipe, the cookies will not set up right, and you'll end up with a bunch of gooey blobs on your waxed paper.*

Once the cookies are done, munch on them while checking out (and making!) Michelle's  project for the Bonanza!

Havin' a Ball with Chocolate Cake!

I thought I was pretty busy last week, but I really don't have much to show! I made my mom a pillow similar to this one:

I forgot to take a picture of hers, but it's pretty much the same as the one above. I made it last year sometime, and my mom really liked it. I've been trying to use up some of my stash, so now she has a matching pillow!

The thing that took up most of my crafting time was this ball:


I much prefer machine stitching to hand stitching, so why I decided to make this ball, which is completely hand stitched, is beyond me! I'm hoping to get a tutorial put together for it in the next week or so. I didn't take pictures as I was working on this one, so I'll be making another one.

Things that were started, but not yet ready to show include:
scarf
notebook/composition book cover
Chore charts for the boys
organizing my fabric

I'm hoping to have more crafty things to show you soon!

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Now for that promised recipe, my Grandma's chocolate cake.

3/4 C soft shortening
1-3/4 C sugar
3 eggs
2-1/3 C sifted flour
2/3 C cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1-1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 C water
1-1/2 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (2) 9x1-1/2 inch layer cake pans or (1) 9x13 pan. Blend shortening and sugar together in large bowl. Add eggs, beat at high speed until mixture is fluffy and light colored, about 5 minutes. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. With mixer at low speed, add dry ingredients alternately with water and vanilla. Pour batter into pans. Bake 30-35 minutes or until cake springs back. Cool 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Another Apron Swap Finished

Today I made a trip to the post office to send off another flirty apron. The theme this time was "Vintage Linens", and even though it was difficult to get started, I had a lot of fun with this one. I ended up using a cute sheet and made up my own pattern for it. I think it turned out pretty cute!



Along with the apron and a vintage tea towel I found, I included a recipe for something I've been craving today - Runzas! Unfortunately the restaurant is only in Nebraska, with very few exceptions, but here's a recipe for making them (they're also called bierocks):

Runza Recipe

2 pound ground beef

1 large onion , chopped

Salt

Pepper

1 Medium Cabbage, chopped

2 batches of egg dough

Saute onion in a bit of oil until just translucent. Add hamburger and saute until no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper. Drain away the grease, and return to the pan. Cover the mixture with the shredded cabbage and cook until the cabbage is done. Stir occasionally. This could take about 45 minutes or so.

Using an egg-dough recipe, roll small balls of dough thin to make a 5×5 square. Put about 1/2 cup of cabbage mixture in center of square and seal closed. Place seal side down on a parchment lined baking sheet (or a lightly greased sheet).

Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 or until lightly golden brown.

And, if you're ever in a town that has a Runza, definitely stop and try them out! Go here to find their locations.

Vintage Thingies Thursday - Cookbooks

It's been a while since I've participated in VTT, but I just have to show you a couple of my favorite cookbooks.



While I was helping my parents move, my mom and I came across 3 boxes full of cookbooks, which proved to my husband that I do come by my cookbook collection naturally through my mother's side of the family (mom, grandma, and great-grandma)! I helped mom pair down those three boxes to just one. Along the way, we found 2 cookbooks that we both remember fondly from our childhoods. My grandmother originally bought them then passed them on to my mom when she had kids.



Let's start with this one...



Betty Crocker's Outdoor Cook Book was published in 1961, and is more than just an outdoor cookbook. It tells you what kind of equipment you need and tells you how to start the fire and control the heat and dripping. It's full of tips for outdoor cooking, as well as several menus for various outings. These menus include Backyard or Terrace Barbecues, "Down-East" Clambake, Seaside in the Backyard, Cooking Afloat, Picnics, and more.

These are Betty's recommendations for a Brown Paper Bag Picnic, Hamper Picnic, Picnic by a Stream, and Submarines As You Like Them.



And Betty's Tailgate Buffet which includes Meat Balls with Puff Biscuits, Carrot & Celery Sticks, Cherry Tomatoes, Radish Roses, Stuffed Green Olives, and Camp Oven Gingerbread. And, would you believe that my grandmother had those same plates that are in this picture?! Either my mom or I have them around here somewhere.




The second book, Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls, is my favorite. Published in 1957, it has been "well loved" by three owners now.



My book has a few pages that have come loose, as you can see in this picture below. I think there's a ketchup bottle hiding in that straw pig!



I don't remember anybody ever making this Drum Cake, but isn't it adorable? Looks easy enough to make, too. I just might have to try that out!



Jeremy thinks I'm a bit odd when it comes to this book. He'll come home from work sometimes to find me at the kitchen table just flipping through it. Ah, the memories! The pictures and artwork are all so wonderful, but this one is one of my favorites.



Have any of you ever painted cookies? My mom, like me, has never been fond of making frosting, so she would often let us paint our own cookies! Here's the recipe:

Egg Yolk Paint
Blend well 1 egg yolk and 1/4 teaspoon water. Divide mixture among several small custard cups. Add a different food coloring to each cup to make bright colors. Paint designs on cookies with small paintbrushes. If egg yolk pain thickens on standing, add a few drops of water.

This works well with any Sugar Cookie recipe, just be sure to paint the cookies BEFORE baking them!

I would love to let you all look through all the pages of my cookbooks, but I honestly don't have the time right now to photograph and upload every page! However, you can go here for more pictures from the Cook Book for Boys and Girls, or here for more pictures from the Outdoor Cook Book.

Also, don't forget to stop here for more Vintage Thingies Thursday!

Cookies and Ice Cream

As I was picking the chicken off the bones yesterday for some Chicken Noodle Soup, I happened to glance at my family cookbook that was sitting open on my cookbook holder. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. Yum, those sound good. Lucky for me, I had all the ingredients (I knew I bought those chocolate chips for a reason on Saturday)! I used my Pampered Chef Small Scoop (I thought my Large one might be too big), and I was able to get 6 dozen cookies out of just the one batch. Here's the recipe:



Cream together:
1 Cup shortening
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup brown sugar

Add:
2 eggs
2 Tbsp water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Sift and add:
2 Cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Add:
2 Cups quick oats
2 Cups chocolate chips

Drop by the spoon ful onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

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This morning we woke up to find that it had snowed again. I'm not a big fan of snow this year. Snow = cold weather = high gas bill - Yuck! Then it hits me...it's fresh snow! Taylor and I threw our clothes on as fast as we could, grabbed a couple of gallon bags and some cups for scooping. We're going to make Snow Ice Cream (well, I am here in just a few minutes so it's done when he gets home from school). Landon was looking at us the whole time like we're crazy - he's so much like his dad! Anyway...here's how you make snow ice cream:

2 eggs
1 Cup sugar
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons vanilla
2 Quarts fresh snow (just make sure you keep your scoop high enough that it doesn't hit the ground below the snow!)

Beat eggs, sugar, and salt. Add evaporated milk and vanilla, then beat again. Add snow then put in ice cream maker or freezer tray and freeze

A Weekend with Anne and New Blogs

Happy Tuesday morning! Yesterday, I took my usual Monday "off" (I don't do much on Mondays at all, usually just load the dishwasher and maybe do a load of laundry if it's getting out of control). My mom took the day off from work, and we had hoped to do something fun, but it was just wayyyy to cold and windy. I left the house only to take Taylor to school and to pick him up.

Last week was my brother and SIL's 6th anniversary, and they always take some kind of trip to celebrate (it used to be cruises, but since having 3 kids, they're happy with a weekend in Omaha!), so my parents had the kiddos for the weekend. Their oldest is 36 hours and 13 minutes younger than Landon, and she has been wanting to spend the night at our house forever. So, Saturday I brought her home with us to spend the night. We stayed up late watching Anne of Green Gables (I have got to buy those movies - the library is probably sick of me checking them out all the time!), and everyone just crashed in the living room. Sunday morning, Natalie wanted Anne braids in her hair, so I put some in then helped her put some in my hair, too. So, our weekend wasn't too exciting, but it was so much fun for me to have a little girl in the house!


In the past couple of weeks, I have started three more blogs, and I'm happy to say that I've done a pretty good job of keeping up with all!

The first one, Farmgirl Recipes, is a collection of recipes that we found stuffed inside an old coffee tin at the farm. They had belonged to my great-grandma. Some are handwritten, but most were taken out of newspapers and magazines from the 1920's through 1960's. There are a LOT of recipes for preserves which I hope to try out this summer (if/when I get my garden planted)!

The next blog is for my 365 Project. Today is the 13th day of the year, and I've managed to post 13 pictures so far! The one I posted today is of the sunrise out here. I saw the sky when I took Taylor to school, and had to stop back by the house to get my camera and drive to the edge of town to snap this picture.

My third new blog was just started last week. It's my 1000 Cranes Project that I blogged about here. I made my first drop on Saturday, and I would love it if you all would join the boys and me in our little "experiment"! The cranes I drop are made with computer paper so I don't have to worry so much about squishing them in my pocket or purse, but I'm using origami paper for the 1000 we're trying to make for ourselves. Naturally, after I ordered 2 more packages, I found the one I already had but couldn't find!