Under Pressure

Yep, I did it. I splurged and bought an electronic pressure cooker! IP for shorthand.

Y'all know I have a kitchen gadget obsession.  The IP is now being distributed via Target. I scored a great deal. On sale for $99.95 (before tax), an additional 10 % instant rebate, 5% for using my Target debit card and a $10 rebate. Woot!

Soooo shiny!

I have had a cook top pressure cooker and I have a pressure canner. This electronic IP is AMAZING. No more rumbling, jiggling weight. It has several safety features built in. It is so easy to use.

The first thing I did after un-boxing my IP--after giggling and doing a little jig--was to wash all the parts and read every piece of literature that came with the IP. Next, a quick visit to the website to  watch the tutorial video. Only then did I set it up and perform the pressure test. Everything worked like a charm!

The first night I made beef vegetable soup. I sauteed the semi-frozen  diced stew beef  (12 oz beef in 1 TBS oil)) in the IP. IN THE POT! My crock pot doesn't have that function.  Next I added 1  (15oz) can of low sodium beef broth, 1 (8 oz)  can tomato sauce, 1 can (8 oz) diced tomatoes, 1 can of water (15 oz), 1 teaspoon of better than bouillon vegetable base,  1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 frozen bag  (12 oz) soup vegetable mix, and 2 bay leaves. After a quick stir, closing the IP, I selected the Soup function, high pressure, and set the timer for 35 minutes. Natural release (NR) for 20 minutes.  The meat was falling apart tender, perfect vegetables, great flavor.

The 2nd night I made soup beans and ham. I did soak my beans overnight as per my usual method. I sauteed 1 cup mirepoix and 8 oz diced ham  in 1 tsp bacon grease. I added 4 cups hot water, my soaked/ rinsed beans, seasoned with 2 bay leaves, and 1 teaspoon Penzey's Sunny Paris, and 1/2 teaspoon Chicago .  Placed the lid, turned the lever to seal,  Pressed the Bean/ Chili button, high pressure, set the timer to 35 minutes and walked away. 10 Minutes NR, then quick release.  My beans were finished in 35 minutes. Absolutely perfect texture with an earthy, slightly salty/ sweet and smokey flavor.

Country style pork ribs. I sauteed the season ribs (Penzey's Chicago seasoning) in 2 tsp oil, covered the ribs in sliced onions. Added  3/4 cup water w/ a shot of honey bourbon and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (ACV). I selected Meat/Stew, high pressure for 40 min. I used a honey bourbon mustard glaze and baked it in the oven for 15 min (400°F). I served it with a salt and pepper crusted potato and a side of broccoli slaw. The ribs were fall off the bone, melt in your mouth tender..

Chicken & dumplings-1 pound boneless, skinless trimmed chicken thighs (whole, semi-defrosted) sauteed in 1 teaspoon butter, 2 cups water, and 1 heaping tablespoon Better than Bouillon Roasted Chicken base. I selected Meat/Stew, HP 8min/NR 10min/QR. Use 2 forks to pull the chicken into rough cubes/ thick shred. I added 1 cup mirepoix (frozen), 2/3 cup peas & carrots (frozen), 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 1 cup water, and1 bag of Reames dumpling noodles (frozen). I gave it a quick stir, selected Soup, HP 10 min and NR 20min I had to go to the grocery for milk, ha. Opened it up when I came home, gave it a quick stir, added some pepper and it was perfect!

I always thought I was a decent cook, now I feel like an amazing cook. Apparently you can make lasagna, hard boiled eggs, baked bread and make a cheesecake in the IP. As well as a kazillion other things. There are several online communities around the pressure cooking. It is almost cult-like, haha.  Best kitchen gadget purchase ever!

©My Cozy Little Farmhouse 2009-current. Unauthorized use and/ or duplication without written permission from blog author/ owner is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided acknowledgement is given to My Cozy Little Farmhouse, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Sauerkraut Festival

October 8th,  my sisters and I ventured to Waynesville, Ohio for the 47th annual Sauerkraut Festival.

**I didn't have my camera so the photos used are from the Dayton Daily News, Waynesville Sauerkraut Festival page and Inside Guide Cincinnati.**

Waynesville is a charming town in Southwest Ohio, established in 1796, is of Quaker origin, known for its antiquities and the Sauerkraut Festival.

According to the festival website there were over 450 vendors (I didn't count them them but it seemed the vendor tent/ booths/ carts lining the street would never end.

There was the traditional fare of sauerkraut topping metts and brats. Stuffed cabbage rolls, cabbage stews and soups.

Unusual fare--sauerkraut pizza, bread cakes, and brownies. I am not that adventurous.

Some yummy things to make at home, like the German "Sundae". It is fried potatoes, sauerkraut cheese, sour cream, bacon bits and an olive.

 Oh--sauerkraut balls!  Tasty little nuggets of deep fried potato-ey and kraut goodness! Interesting factoid-- Sauerkraut balls are not authentic German and have been accredited to both German Mennonites and Polish immigrants They are tasty regardless of who created them! And different Ohio cities have different recipes. Akron Ohio the recipe is a breaded deep fried base of sausage, potato and kraut. Cincinnati's version is pork based (ham or sausage), potato, kraut and cream cheese. Other regional variations include bacon or beef.

The food booths were interspersed among the vendor tents, which is rather brilliant actually. You eat, walk, shop, then eat more, walk more and shop more, ha!  I did bring a tote bag for the few things I did buy, which were handcrafted soaps-The Oregonia Soap Company-Purple Fields and Orange Blossom;  Cashmere Bath Company-Almond crushed bath bombs (they smell sooo nice!)  and a few unnamed  items which will be given as Christmas gifts.

My sisters and I spent about 2-3 hrs exploring the various booths and shops. We weren't able to explore everything, but there is always next year. A fun time was had by all! I can't wait to go back to Waynesville for the Christmas in Waynesville event. It is a charming town with charming traditions.

©My Cozy Little Farmhouse 2009-current. Unauthorized use and/ or duplication without written permission from blog author/ owner is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided acknowledgement is given to My Cozy Little Farmhouse, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

New Stuff

I could have sworn I had written a post about this. Apparently I forgot to tell y'all, but I have new appliances. Well, a  new stove and dishwasher. The refrigerator will be soon--not soon enough though! My sister moved into a condo with white appliances and she had a brand new black refrigerator that didn't sell with her house. The builder wouldn't switch the appliances to black, so we bought them from her (mid July).  This is the first time in all the years the hubbs and I have been together, that I have kitchen appliances never used by anyone else. They aren't fancy but I really like how the  white appliances provide an uninterrupted visual line with the  white cabinets in my kitchen.

The new stove is a glass top. Aesthetically it is beautiful, all shiny and clean lines. Although the OCD me freaks out at all the smudges, smears and spots. A big reason as to why I don't have stainless steel appliances. Such a big difference from the old (and I do mean old, >20 yrs) coil top electric stove.  I love the oven, because it has convection capability. It has been a slight learning curve using the glass top. I really wanted a gas cooktop but, oh well, that is a someday dream.

One thing I found out about using a glass top is all cookware needs to be smooth bottomed.  My 21 quart waterbath canner has a concave bottom. It is one of those old speckled enamelware pots. We found it tucked in the very back of the kitchen cabinet when we bought our house in 2000. Who knows how long it had been in use prior to that. The previous owners lived here for 55 yrs. So it  was time to retire the old water bath canner.

Our date day this past Saturday was to Rural King (the romance is real). Long story short, I was going to pass on the canner I found because of the price but the hubbs strong armed me into buying it. It was kinda pricey ($79.99) but then I found it normally retails for $100. So now I have a very sturdy, flat bottomed, stainless steel water bath canner. Bonus is the canning rack from the old canner fits the new one. And wow wee does this hold the heat!  My favorite thing with the new canner is the clear lid so I can see what is going on with my jars.

So shiny!

 I already  broke it in canning salsa. I had a really good harvest of tomatoes this weekend. So I put the new waterbath canner to good use. I canned 9 pints of salsa and ended up with 2 & 3/4 quarts of a beautiful red sauce.

8 lbs of nekkid tomatoes, with another 11 lbs to go for sauce

Salsa in progress of cooking down and of course-a taste test

This sauce was AMAZING! I used fresh herbs from my garden-basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary. I seasoned with some salt, pepper, minced garlic and onion. OOOHWEEE, so good!

So far the new water bath canner (and stove) seem to be going well. I have, possibly an irrational fear, I am going to ruin or break my stove. By scratching it or dropping something.

Or break it because of too much weight--which is why I have not yet used the pressure canner on the glass cooktop.

Because we have all seen the pressure canner/ glass cooktop fiasco on Snopes, right?

Yeah, so I am kind of petrified... I mean imagine all the weight of the pressure canner, filled with quart jars...

Does anyone out there use their glass cooktop to pressure can?  I really need advice.

©My Cozy Little Farmhouse 2009-current. Unauthorised use and/ or duplication without written permission from blog author/ owner is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided acknowledgement is given to My Cozy Little Farmhouse, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

2016 Food Pantry Challenge_ Week 4

This week's  FPC was a marked improvement over last week's FPC. However this is a pretty accurate representation of how I am feeling about the food pantry challenge, haha

Friday  1/15/16-- left over, whatever you find on your own day. We ended up eating the leftover cheese coney's, salad and a handful of chips. There may have even been a bowl of cereal. It was a long, tough week. 

Saturday 1/16/16--was a simple brinner dinner. Cheese omelette's, toast and bacon. I also drank several cups of chai tea. I am addicted to that stuff! It is kind of expensive habit, so I have a DIY on this (upcoming post).

Sunday 1/17/16--The original dinner plan was for baked chicken, green beans and a butternut soup. The hubbs wasn't feeling it, so I swapped out for cottage ham (more of the left over xmas ham), green beans, and potatoes with a side of cornbread. It was much needed on a cold, blustery day. The hubbs requested the leftovers for his lunch.

Monday 1/18/16--I was off work for MLK day. It was so nice to sleep in. I didn't feel guilty at all that the hubbs had to work. I just rolled right over and pulled the blanket over my head. haha  Tuna casserole was planned but since the hubbs had nixed the baked chicken for Sunday's dinner I made BBQ baked chicken and  Butternut veggie rice with a side of buttery brussel sprouts. I already had the chicken defrosted. The cool thing about the butternut rice is I found a package of fresh  butternut and veggies at the grocery. No extra prep work!

Butternut Vegetable Rice

1 cup of rice soaked for 30 minutes and rinse 2x

add rice to pan 2&1/2 cups of stock (I used vegetable) and 1 teaspoon of butter. Bring to boil and cook for 8 minutes. Add the squash soup blend. I also added 1 cup of misc. mixed vegetables I had leftover  (broccoli, celery, green peppers and diced carrots). Add 2 bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon garlic,  1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.  Reduce heat to medium. Let cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more broth as needed.  The butternut breaks down and combine with the rice starch it basically makes it's own sauce. A sprinkle of fresh ground himalayan sea salt finished it nicely. 

It turned out really well. I took the leftover rice in the day to work and sprinkled it with a little romano cheese. Yummy!

Tuesday 1/19/16--"Taco Tuesday" was replaced with open faced sloppy joes since I had rice for dinner and then again for lunch. I didn't have any buns in the freezer or time to make any, so I used toasted bread slices tossed a little shredded cheese with joes and called it open faced. Whatever works, ha. 

The next day was my work "tailgating" themed luncheon. So I made a monster batch (7 lbs!) of the most delicious, molasses, brown sugared, bbq'd baked beans. Which of course, we ended up having some with the sloppy joes. OMG-were they ever good. I know 7 lbs seems like a lot but there were approximately 150 people to feed.  I had to bake them in 2 batches and combine then when finished. All but about a cupful was eaten, so that was a good indicator that they were yummy.

Wednesday 1/20/16--Kielbasa and kraut was replaced by frozen pizza for the hubbs and a bowl of cereal and fruit for me. I was kinda sick of food after the tailgating party at work. 

Thursday 1/21/16--The sloppy joes from the original plan were moved to Tuesday. We ended up eating sandwiches and  I heated up some vegetable soup I had frozen from a previous batch. I  was glad for a quick fix because I worked over by 2 hrs and planned an early night. The forecast was calling for major snow so I had a 4 am wake up. bleh 

Wins for week 3

I was able to cook nearly everyday but didn't follow the planned menus.  Reduced food waste is great. Zero waste would be better.

I am not sure if this is loss or a win, but I didn't follow the meal plan except for 2 days.The objective is to use what I have on hand--which I did. and we didn't eat out at all this week, so that is a cost savings. 

Losses for week 3

  I can say that food waste is down considerably but we discarded 1 cup of baked beans, 1 &1/2 cups of veggie rice, 4 dinner rolls and 1 yogurt (the seal was punctured). With the exception of the yogurt the other food scraps were put out back by the woods for the critters.  

Oh the budget... Y'all--I am still struggling with this. I spent $71. Way, WAY over my target of $40. I definitely have some impulse buys,  after looking at the receipts, produce and back filling some staples are kind of pricey. For instance, coconut oil is $6, I spent $20 on fresh produce alone, and $14 in the deli. That was my entire budget. I am over budget by $77 for the month. I think a better budget would be $70 since that is the average over 3 weeks but I will see how things shake out next week. 

Meal plan for week 4

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
01/22/16	01/23/16	01/24/16	01/25/16	01/26/16	01/27/16	01/28/16
Kielbasa	Home made	Potato soup	**Free Day**	“Food Hangover”	Home made	Leftovers
Sauerkraut	meatball hoagies	Sandwiches	It's my Birthday	soup	cheese pizza	Fend for yourself
Mashed potatoes	french fries	fruit cups	Go Shorty	salad	side salad	That box of cereal is calling your name!
dinner rolls			Restaurant better be good!	sugar free Lime jello w/		Or eat a poptart, I don't care
applesauce cups			No cooking for me!	Mandarin oranges		Just wash your own dishes...

Copycat Baking Quick Mix

Y'all, do you use Bisquick, Pioneer, Jiffy or a store brand quick baking mix? I do.  I actually like the quick mixes because the quick mix offers the busy cook  a time savings for recipe versatility. The caveat is they are kind of pricey, depending on brand and size, with prices ranging anywhere from $3.99-$7.00 a package.  The truth of the matter is, most people already have the ingredients on hand, and can make up their own quick mix.

Ingredient list
10 cups of AP unbleached flour
1 cup of powdered non-fat milk
3/4 cup powdered buttermilk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup double acting aluminum free baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

I combined all ingredients in the bowl of my kitchen aid stand mixer and stirred for 10 minutes using the wire whisk attachment. The contents were transferred to a plastic cereal container (with pour spout), labelled and stored in the fridge.

I  did not add in the shortening. I will cut in what I need (or add oil per the specifics of the recipe) when I pull from the mix. Commercial mixes have a host of preservatives and shelf storage stabilizers.; whereas, mine is limited. I would rather err on the side of caution in terms of potential microbial content

++Note, the volume of liquid, temperatures and times noted are what work in my environment, altitude and oven. Some adjustments/ modifications may be necessary for your use++

Biscuits

Heat oven to 425°F
Combine 2 & 1/2 cups baking mix with 1/2 cup shortening cut in until it resembles course crumbs. Begin adding 2/3 -3/4 cup warm water (or milk). The amount of liquid depends if your house is humid or not. I have found on cool, dry days I need more liquid; on warm, humid days I need less.  Stir until a soft dough ball forms. Dough will be slightly tacky but pliable. On lightly floured surface, knead dough about 6 times and roll to 1/3 to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut using a flour dipped cutter. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown.



Pancakes**
Heat oiled griddle to 350°F
Combine 2 cups baking mix, 1 cup water (or milk)*, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1 egg (or equivalent egg substitute), 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Combine all ingredients until incorporated. Batter may be lumpy.  Pour batter as 1/4 -1/3 cup dollops on a hot, oiled griddle,. Let the pancakes cook undisturbed, until the edges are dry and air bubbles form in the batter. Flip and cook until golden brown.

*For thinner pancakes increase the total liquid by 1/2 cup
**Waffles increase eggs to 2, use 3 tablespoons oil instead of butter and 1 & 1/2 cups milk

Apple Butter Streusel Coffee Cake
Heat oven to 350°
Combine 2 cups mix, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 egg, 2/3 cup milk, 2 tablespoons oil or 1/3 cup applesauce, and 1 teaspoon apple pie spice. Blend until well incorporated. Pour into a greased 8 or 9 inch pan. Dollop 2/4 cup apple butter over batter, then gently use a knife to swirl in apple butter. Streusel--In a separate bowl combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon baking mix, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or apple pie spice, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and 1 teaspoon melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over top of batter in pan.  Bake 25-28 minutes (a toothpick inserted will be free of batter), the cake will have puffed and it is golden brown. Mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of milk, mix until uniform. Transfer icing to a plastic baggie, snip a small edge of the corner and pipe icing drizzle over a slightly warm coffee cake (The icing should hold it's shape when piped, if it doesn't the coffee cake is still too warm)

Honey Butter Cornbread
Heat oven to 350°F
1 & 1/2 cup baking mix, 1 & 1/2  cup cornmeal, 1/4 cup honey, 2 eggs (beaten), 1 & 1/4 cup water (or milk), and 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon melted butter. Combine all ingredients until well blended. Batter may be lumpy. It will definitely be thick and somewhat sticky because of the honey. Pour into a well sprayed 8 or 9 inch pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

There are so many other uses for the baking mix. As a coating/ breading, scones, shortcakes, pierogi dough, a quick pizza crust, sweet or savory quick breads, fritters, and brownies--YES-brownies! You are limited only by your imagination.

What are some of your go to quick mix recipes?

2016 Food Pantry Challenge_week 3

This week's Pantry challenge was a complete disaster. The food train (along with the budget) went completely off the rails...

Fri 1/8/16-The all american classic! Burger, fries and homemade milkshakes. Much needed because it was a rough week. I like to make the skillet burgers with worcestershire, garlic and onion. It reminds me of a little bar called Quatman's (Norwood, Ohio) that I would sometimes frequent years ago for a quick and cheap lunch. The outside (or the inside for that matter) didn't look like much, but jeez was the food good, quick and cheap. There was always a line out the door. The tables were covered in vinyl checkered tablecloths. The burgers were served piping hot with gooey cheese, pickles, a side of salty potato chips and an ice cold can of soda pop. My burgers aren't as exactly like Quatman's--but close!

Saturday 1/9/16 Was supposed to be soup beans with ham, fried potatoes and corn bread. Except there was an impromptu birthday party for one of my sisters, which involved delicious LaRosa's pizza, kettle chips w/ diablo sauce, a rainbow chip birthday cake and ice cream. So no cooking for me!

Sunday 1/10/16 was deemed leftover day. A friend invited me out, since we had not had a xmas gift exchange and the hubbs was on call. So my friend and I  met up at at TGI Fridays, she picked up the tab which was generous and kind.  I ordered the SEASONAL HARVEST APPLE CHICKEN SALAD
"Grilled all-natural chicken seasoned with hickory-smoked sea salt served over mixed greens with kale and topped with goat cheese, green apples, sea-salted chopped almonds and a mix of crunchy rice noodles, dried apricots and pumpkin seeds. Drizzled with Pomegranate Vinaigrette."  The salad was a very large portion. I took  1/2 home and ate it the remainder for dinner. I wish I had taken a picture. The salad was colorful as it was flavorful. I think I will try to copycat this salad at some point in the future.

Monday 1/11/16-Meatless Monday with super veggie 'sketti. This was a 15 minute meal.  I added a bag of frozen italian style vegetables (green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower) to boiling pot containing the remaining angel hair & spaghetti noodles. While the pasta & vegetables cooked, I tossed some garlic toast in the oven.  After draining the pasta, I had a jar  of 3 cheese pasta sauce, which I tweaked by adding 2 tablespoons of a sundried tomato paste w/ herbs, some fresh ground pepper, a twist of pink himalayan sea salt and sprinkled liberally with parmesan. Served with bagged salad mix and the hubbs didn't miss the meat at all. This will be a recipe in the rotation.

Tuesday 1/12/16--was scheduled  as baked chicken, au gratin potatoes and brussel sprouts but we had our first serious snowfall of the winter season. That meant a sleepless night of waking up to check the weather, a 3:30 am wake up for me and early call out for the hubbs to shovel and salt. A crappy commute home, after an already long day, resulted in chicken tenders and tater tots for dinner. And passing out shortly thereafter. ugh

Wednesday 1/13/16--brinner of sausage,pancakes, and eggs was replaced by cereal for me. After another 12 hr workday, the hubbs grabbed a sandwich before bed. Go adult.

Thursday 1/14/16--The original dinner plans of tuna casserole was scrapped for home made cheese coneys made by the hubbs because I had an awful day. It was a very emotional day for me. I had to take my pet Guinea pig, Petunia, to the vet to be euthanized. What made this even more terrible, is her companion, Pansy  was euthanized previously, 2 months to the day . They both were very longed lived for Guinea Pigs, being over 6 years old. But it still not easy decision. Bye little fuzzy faces. I will miss both of you and your antics. 

Pansy (left) and Petunia (right)

Week 3 Plan

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
01/15/16	01/16/16	01/17/16	01/18/16	01/19/16	01/20/16	01/21/16
Leftovers	“Brinner”	Baked chicken	Tuna Casserole	“Taco Tuesday”	Kielbasa	Sloppy Joes
Fend for yourself	Cheese Omelet	green beans	Broccoli	Taco salad (no shell)	Sauerkraut	brussel sprouts
That box of cereal is calling your name!	Bacon	squash soup	Sugar free	Fiesta rice	Mashed potatoes	Macaroni & cheese
Or eat a poptart, I don't care	toast		orange Jello	Chips & salsa	dinner rolls
Just wash your own dishes...			w/ fruit cocktail		applesauce cups

Wins for week 2--Having a hubbs being so considerate to cook for me despite his working long hours.

Losses for week 2-- Going off track on both the menu plan and budget. I spent $58. That puts me $43 over budget for the month to date. I hope I can recoup the budget overage the remainder of the month. I am also trying to figure out where I am spending the the money (what in particular purchase is the extra money going towards). I reworked the menu slightly. Fingers crossed,  I can get back on track.

2016 Food Pantry Challenge_week 2

Well the first week seemed to go pretty smoothly for the Food Pantry Challenge (to be referred to as FPC from here on out)

Week 1 summary
Fri 1/1/16-Pamko crusted pork chops, cottage green beans,  sauerkraut perogies (for good luck!), glazed carrots and corn bread. It was a great meal. I made the green beans cottage style (chicken bouillon, onion, minced leftover xmas ham, bay leaf, a dash of mustard powder and cracked black pepper) and they could have been the main entree.

Sat 1/2/16-Thai Sweet Chili Meatballs, white rice, potsticker and spring rolls. What began as an appetizer became a tasty meal! Click the Food Pantry Challenge link (at top of the page) and scroll down for the recipe.

Mon 1/4/16-The Asian Chop salad (pre-packaged from Dole) was a refreshing change from all of the heavy food during the holiday season. I defrosted the chicken in the fridge Sunday night, marinating the chicken in about a cup of Panera bottled Fuji Apple dressing with 1 tbs oil, I then sprinkled it with some Kroger Zesty Seasoning Garlic/ Onion blend. A quick spritz of cooking spray on a foil lined cookie sheet, in the oven at 400°F for about 20 minutes. Yum! Plus there was enough leftover for my lunch the next day. score!



Tue 1/5/16-"The Toddler Special" This is always a favorite with the hubbs. All I can say is..meh. I am not a fan of boxed mac n cheese but I keep 1 or 2 boxes on hand-in the event my niece Lele comes over-because she loves the stuff. I am not fond of much of any  kind of seafood and  I made the extra crunchy fish tenders instead of fishsticks. I did not make french fries, since they were on the menu for Friday. I did buy 1/4 lb coleslaw, since I felt like there should be some kind of vegetable. I skipped the pudding cups reserving those for lunches, since we still had leftover jello.

Wed 1/6/16-Turkey vegetable soup. It was so  satisfying! I did a quick dump of all the ingredients in the crockpot before I left to go to work. I came home to a delicious aroma filled home. I made biscuits using the copy-cat baking mix I made last weekend (more on that later). All told there was maybe 25 minutes of hands on food prep time. I was free to enjoy my night doing nothing...ok not really. I did laundry and played on the laptop, but that is pretty close to doing nothing. The remaining soup was portioned,  It will make for a nice quick lunch. I was able to use my mini lunch crockpot I received as a xmas present. No standing in line waiting for the microwave.

Thur 1/7/16--Grilled cheese sammies and leftover Turkey soup . No leftovers for the Turkey soup. We had it for dinner then lunch. So Campbells tomato soup it was! 10 minutes in and out of the kitchen.

Week 2 Plan

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
01/08/16	01/09/16	01/10/16	01/11/16	01/12/16	01/13/16	01/14/16
Cheeseburger	Crockpot soup beans	Leftovers	“Meatless Monday”	Baked Chicken	“Brinner”	Tuna Noodle Casserole
French fries	and leftover xmas ham	Fend for yourself	Super veggie spaghetti	Au gratin potatoes	Pancakes (from DIY baking mix)	Broccoli
side salad	Fried potatoes	That box of cereal is calling your name!	garlic bread	(frozen from Xmas)	Scrambled eggs	Sugar free Cherry Jello
milkshake	Cornbread Muffins	Or eat a poptart, I don't care	side salad	Brussel sprouts	Sausage links	w/ fruit cocktail
		Just wash your own dishes...

Wins for week 1
Knowing what was on the menu really alleviated the stress of me thinking about it. The time savings is great.

Losses for week 1
Leftover day on Sunday--the container from 1/1/16 (2 chops, a cup of cottage green beans, 3 pierogies, 1 tbs. of carrots and 1/4 pie) were not eaten. I was a little bummed about the waste.  My cutoff is 3 days in the fridge to eat. I prefer to freeze things the same day or next. I am kind of weird about food storage. I was much better about packaging and freezing the remaining meal leftovers. And the budget did take a hit. I allotted myself $40 and I spent $68. Yikes! Hopefully I make this up over the next few weeks. In my defense the hubbs asked for "frozen meals" and Krogers had Lean Cuisines for $1.69 each. So I bought 10 but the hubbs is on call which means long hours and sometimes he misses supper. He stashed these in his work freezer for back up. I also bought some fresh produce, backfilled some staples.

Onward to week 2!

2016 Food Pantry Challenge_week 1

2016 Food Pantry Challenge--are you in?

Once I pseudo-organized my pantry, baking cupboard, fridge, freezer and deep freeze I was appalled at the absolute quantity of food.  I want to keep some emergency reserves, of course, but I think I would like to move from having so much excess "raw" food to having prepared foods on hand for an easier grab-n-go during the hectic work week. Saving the weekends for preparing/cooking bigger meals when I have time or using the weekends to bulk prep.

The Rules

1. Take inventory of contents in fridge, freezer and pantry. 
2. Plan meals (weekly or monthly) based on contents. 
3. The object is to rotate food based on FIFO (First In First Out) to avoid discarding food that would otherwise expire. 
4. You can still grocery shop. Set a budget, make a list and stick to it! Avoid impulse shopping (Guilty!)
5. Avoid or limit eating out.
6. Have fun, be creative and enjoy!

I am going to approach this by saving time, saving ingredients and saving money.

1) Make use of the crockpot or pressure cooker. These 2 appliances turn cheaper cuts of meats into flavorful delicious morsels.
2) Unless I am bulk food prepping, cooking only what we will eat. I know it sounds silly but I tend to over cook. We are a family of 2 but I cook for 4-6 people. Planning a few twofer meals by intentionally cooking extra a main entree (e.g., pork chops one night, I can slice the extra pork into strips, freeze and have a quick fajitas another night or a double batch of lasagna to freeze and heat)
3) Utilizing my foodsaver more and packaging leftovers right away for the freezer.
4)  In my circumstances, I hope to keep to a weekly food budget $30-$40. I know that doesn't seem like much but I have a disgusting amount plenty of dried, canned and frozen goods. Since I bake my own bread, I plan to shop only for basic food necessities, such as fresh produce, milk, eggs, lunch meat, cheese or an occasional cut of meat if needed.
5) Throw in a few meatless meals and the budget stretches even further.

Week 1

Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
01/01/16	01/02/16	01/03/16	01/04/16	01/05/16	01/06/16	01/07/16
Panko crusted baked Pork Chops	Spicy Meatballs in a Thai sweet chili sauce	Leftovers	Asian Sunflower Chop salad	“Toddler Special”	Crockpot Turkey vegetable soup	Grilled Cheese sammies
Sauerkraut Perogies	w/ peppers, onions and pineapple	Fend for yourself	Spiced grilled chicken tenderloins	Fish sticks	(using leftover frozen Thanksgiving turkey)	leftover turkey vegetable soup
Glazed Carrots	steamed white rice	That box of cereal is calling your name!	Sugar free Strawberry jello w/ diced peaches	French fries	Biscuits
Cottage Green Beans	Spring rolls	Or eat a poptart, I don't care		Mac n Cheese
Cornbread Muffins	potstickers	Just wash your own dishes...		Pudding Cups
Whipped s.f. Cheescake

Friday (Jan 1) New Year's day, I cooked enough for 4-5 people but that was ok, since we had 2 additional people over for dinner. I was left with this amount of food, which is on the list for Sunday's leftovers. 

Saturday (Jan 2) resulted in 3 containers of leftovers. 1 container was mixed the remaining cup of rice and frozen "lean cuisine style" for a weekday lunch. The remaining 2 containers were also frozen, for future lunch, dinner or appetizer consumption. My goal is to use these types of leftovers within 60 days. Since these are home packaged (no additional preservatives) I feel they should have a much shorter shelf life.

Sweet n Spicy Thai Chili Meatballs 

 I made my meatballs from scratch. 1 lb each gr. round and hot sausage, 2 eggs, 3/4 c bread crumbs, 1/8-1/4 c milk, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes. Mix and shape into 2 inch meatballs. Lightly spay a foil lined baking sheet. In a 400°F oven bake meatballs for 20-25 minutes, turning about every 5 minutes to ensure even browning (and until no longer pink in center). Remove meatballs and allow to drain.

To the lined crockpot Add 1 and 1/2 bottles of Maggi brand Sweet Chili sauce, 15 oz of crushed pineapple (don't drain), add 2 cups of diced onions and peppers. Add meatballs. Cover and heat on high. Stirring frequently. Serve over steamed rice. **If you want a thicker sauce--make a thin slurry of cornstarch and water (2 tbs cornstarch per cup of cold water)--mix well. Remove a half cup if the crockpot sauce--let cool--slowly drizzle cornstarch mixture into sauce while whisking. Once it is all incorporated add it to the crockpot. Mix well let it cook at least 15-20 minutes and stir a few times.

I tried this food challenge last year and failed miserably. I think because I tried to plan ALL of the meals, it was too restrictive. By planning only the dinners, I hope it gives me more freedom to be creative and change up the menu if I need skip cooking for a day-which I will do my best to stick to the plan.

Fingers crossed annnddd GO!