Tag Archives: cooking

Gluten free, recipes

Homemade Corn Tortillas

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A lot of people are doing a no-spend January.  I think it’s a great idea, but am not participating at this time.  I had several low-spend months this year, and am re-stocking  on some things this month.  I plan to have a lower income during the summer, so that’s when I’m planning my low-spend time.

However, today, we ran out of tortillas.  One daughter assured me there were some in the fridge when I tried to buy them, and another assured me they were gone.  They are a)buried deeply in the fridge, or b)indeed gone.  I wanted to make enchilada bake for dinner.  So, I dug out a bag on masa flour from the stockpile and gave it a try.  I love finding ways to use up things I bought for one reason or another, but don’t use regularly.

I looked up several recipes on the internet.  They were pretty much all the same, with extremely minor variations.  I mixed 2 cups masa (corn) flour with 1-1/2 cup very hot water and a 1/4 teaspoon salt.  I kneaded it until it was a ball, then pinched off balls to shape into tortillas.

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Then, I cut a gallon-sized ziplock bag up the sides and made my own “press.”

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I squished the balls with a big pot and some elbow grease.

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Then I fried them in a pan for about 2 minutes on each side.  I used a little oil in the pan.

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Then, I just layered the tortillas with home-canned chile verde, refried beans, and some leftover beef pieces I chopped finely.  After 3 layers, I covered the casserole with cheese and some olive slices.  Now, dinner’s in the freezer for Rob to warm up while I am at work! He has a headache today, and I did not want him to have to cook when he gets home.

These tortillas are thicker than the ones from the store, and have a slightly different flavor.  Still, I ate one for lunch, and they are certainly edible.  I’m pretty happy with how my experiment turned out.

Slow Cooker

Pinto Beans in the Slow Cooker Saturday

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I was able to get some pinto beans cooked up today.  When I unpacked my boxes, I found many, many beans of all sorts.  I buy them in bulk, usually in 25 pound bags.  We enjoy eating beans, and I was eager to get some of them into meals.  I soaked about 1/2 gallon of pinto beans over night in plenty of water.  I used my slow cookers so that they could just cook away while I visited with my good friend who was visiting today.

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I’ve got the food storage unpacked and organized now, and am eager to start using it.  I’ve missed having all these ingredients at my fingertips.  My freezers are still not here, as the plugs-ins are not finished, yet, in the shop.  There are many more containers of dry beans that are not showing up in this photo.  I have a  couple of shelves dedicated to home-canned items and the rest will be stored in the shop and brought in as needed.  Rob has 1 of the 2 shelves needed already built out there and we spent a morning unloading boxes to fill it up, making those jars accessible to me!

I made one slow cooker full of chili.  It turned out great.  I used a jar of tomatoes I unearthed, a pint of beef broth, along with celery, bell peppers from the garden, onion, beans, salt, pepper and chili powder. It turned out great and we scarfed a lot of it down at dinner.

The second one was filled with peppers and beans for refried beans.

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These beans, peppers and onions are waiting to soften a bit more, and then I will blend them with my immersion blender.  I put in several peppers from the garden.  I always use whatever I have on hand, fresh or frozen, along with some onions–red, yellow or white.  This is a mixture of Jalepenos, Holy Mole and Italian frying peppers.  They are pretty mild this year, but once I blend them, the beans have a wonderful flavor.  Obviously, some batches are quite a bit spicier than others, but I anticipate that this batch will be quite mild.  My children love homemade refried beans.  They will eat them several times a week if I let them.  I try to keep some frozen at all times.  The way I make them is a lot runnier than the ones in a can, and they have so much more flavor, in our opinion.  I don’t have much freezer space in the small one over the fridge, so I didn’t make a huge batch.  This will keep everyone happy for a few weeks, though.

The third thing I did was boil up the rest of the soaked beans in water, with salt, on the stove in a pan until they were soft.  We ate some of those in tortillas for lunch, with cheese and taco sauce.  There were 2 bags to freeze for later.  I will use them in recipes that call for beans instead of opening a can.

It was a rewarding, and yummy Saturday.  By using the slow cookers, I had a great visit with my friend, and got economical, yummy meals at the same time.

 

 

Camp

A Great Week at Camp

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We returned yesterday from Triangle Lake, where we were cooking at high school camp.  It was a marvelous week for many reasons.  I had been to Triangle Lake when I was a child, as my mother had a friend who moved there. I dimly remember driving there with my mother, helping her friend move.  My sister remained friends with the daughter of the family, and spent at least one week with her during a summer or two.  So, I knew I had been there, but it was so long ago that I had no recollection of it other than a dim, pleasant memory.

My memories did not disappoint.  The lake was lovely, especially during the mornings, when a mist would rise over it, making it seem mysterious and serene.

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Just a few hours later, the lake was transformed into a bustling hive of activity as the campers filled the water with squeals and the sound of boat motors roared as they towed inner tubes full of laughing teens or an occasional youth trying to get up behind the boat on a surf board or water skies.  The lake is not private, but the camp was secluded on the back side, bordered with acres of forest.

This camp is more primitive than other camps we have worked at.  The kids slept in yurts, had their meetings in a large tent, and ate and played outside.  Many staff camped in tents and there were only 4 spots for trailers.  Thankfully, we got one.

Our job was cooking.  We were helpers, not the cook in charge.  She was an energetic woman named Maggie, and she had a wonderful menu, had done much ahead of time, and gave excellent instructions for all of us to follow.  My aunt and Lovana were cooks, too.  My sister and brother-in-law helped with the planning of part of the camp program, taught classes and counseled teens, and helped with cooking in their spare time.  Rob brought a large Traeger barbecue and used it daily.  The kitchen was equipped with 1 home kitchen stove, 2 regular ovens, a 3-sink system to hand wash dishes, a small ice machine, 3 freezers and a large refrigerator plus the regular-sized home-style fridge.  We were told to prepare for 120 people, including staff.  We fed between 150-160 people each meal.  It was literally a case of God multiplying the loaves and fishes, because we always had food for everyone.  The last person might have received a little different food than the first one, but no one went hungry.

They gratefully gobbled up everything we cooked–very gratifying and the best kind of crowd to cook for!  No one complained when we served vanilla pudding with whipped cream for the last breakfast, along with the other breakfast foods we put out.  Really the only things that had to be taken home were a few odds and ends, and some extra pasta and sauce from the last night’s dinner of spaghetti.

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Because the kitchen was so small, the Traeger grill was our best friend, and Rob was everyone’s best buddy:)  He grilled hamburgers, 80 lbs of chicken one night (they ate 60 lbs one night, and the other 20 was diced and used for quisadillias and salads), breakfast casseroles Maggie had made ahead, lasagnas (purchased), sausages, and more.  There were some grills there that had flat surfaces for cooking pancakes (twice), french toast, quesadillas and more.  When we used those, we appreciated Rob all the more.

The weather was quite warm and we got overheated easily.  Some of us were treated to evening boat rides at various times and it was so pleasant to cool down on the water when my turn came.  At other times, one of us would dash over to the camper and stand under the air conditioner vent for a few minutes, and then head back into the “sauna” to wash some more dishes.   Some of the braver ones jumped into the lake to cool off.  We actually had quite a bit of fun!

We offered a gluten-free option each meal, and much of it was naturally gluten-free anyway.  There were some dairy-free kids, as well, and we accommodated them, also.  There were a few other allergies, and so most of the food was served separate, i.e. all parts and pieces of tacos in separate dishes so each one could choose.  We served salad or mixed raw veggies every lunch and dinner and it was surprising how much of that the kids ate and how polite and thankful they were to us.

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One evening, Jake, my nephew, took it in his head to help serve.  Problem was–the tongs were difficult and the bread slippery!  He manfully did his best, and the kids were very patient and amused by his antics.

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On Friday morning, we cleaned up said goodbye to Camp Eagle Cove.  It was a wonderful experience, and we are so glad we went.  It was a lot of work, but very rewarding and fun!  We don’t know what our circumstances will be next summer, so are not making any plans to return at this time.  We can think of that later.  What we do know, is that we will always carry the memories with us from another stop on our Summer of Adventure, and they are good ones.

recipes, Saving Money

Enchiladas

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The camper fridge gets full extremely fast.  Even so, I lose leftovers in there sometimes!  I don’t want to waste food, though, so today I searched out several bits and pieces and made enchiladas.  I usually use a tomato base with my enchiladas, but today I was focused on using some things up.

Here’s what I did:

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I made a filling:

–1 cup (approximate) lite sour cream mixed with 1 small can of green chilies (I used 1/2 in the filling and 1/2 on top)

–Pork leftover from a few days ago, cooked in crockpot with salsa verde

–pinto beans I cooked yesterday with jalepenos and onions in the crockpot

I put a little bit of each of these things into 10 warmed corn tortillas, rolled them up, and placed into a pan sprayed with non-stick spray.

I made sure to finish off the pork, but have lots of beans left for another day.

On top I put:

–the rest of the sour cream/chile mixture

–the last of 2 small bags of cheese–1 cheddar and 1 Mexican blend

–5 green onions, chopped up with kitchen scissors

I covered with foil and baked in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes-1 hour, until warmed through.

Makes 10 enchiladas.

It would be so easy to use chicken, hamburger, or whatever meat you have left over.  Any cooked beans would work.  There could be more cheese, or less cheese.  Olives could be added on top, too.  It is a great way to use lots of little bits of meat that are leftover.  Everyone will feel as if they got a whole new meal.  I’m sure looking forward to dinner tonight!

 

recipes

Basil-Parmesan Veggie Stir Fry

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This stir-fry turned out to be extremely tasty.  I thought I’d share the recipe.

1 zucchini, sliced

4 oz. mushrooms, sliced (1/2 carton)

1/4 onion, chopped

garlic salt in a grinder bottle

several basil leaves, sliced thinly ( I used about 10)

butter and/or oil, as needed for stir-frying (2-4 Tablespoons)

3 Tablespoons-1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, or to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Put butter or oil in a pan and heat to medium-high heat.  Add the prepared veggies and stir-fry the zucchini, mushrooms and onion.  Sprinkle on some salt and pepper and grind several turns of the garlic-salt grinder.  I used a non-stick pan, so was able to get away with less than if I had used a stainless steel pan.  I probably used 1 Tablespoon.

When the vegetables are crisp-tender (about 4-5 minutes for mine), add an additional 1 Tablespoon of butter, Parmesan cheese and basil.

Makes 4 servings

This tasted a lot like pizza or garlic bread from a pizza parlor.  We seriously gobbled it down, it was so good.  Of course, you could easily adjust it to have more/less butter, parmesan, etc., but I think the butter as well as the garlic/salt grinder gave it that pizza parlor flavor.  I’m looking forward to making it more as the garden ripens and the zucchini produces.

Saving Money, Watching my pennies

Use-It-Up Project–March 31, 2016

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On Tuesday, one of my sisters came over and we organized and consolidated freezers and emptied 2 more.  Both were allowed to thaw and will be wiped out.  Then, this one will be re-loaded with items from one of the freezers that I have decided not to keep.  I felt very successful, because now I have 2 empty freezers that I am going to give away on Saturday.  I have explained that the freezers are not new, or energy efficient, but have worked well for me, and both families wanted one.  So, I’m hoping they are a blessing to them, but they are not out any money if these freezers don’t work out for them.

For those of you who are new readers, I have been working for a few months to reduce the number of freezers I have (5 uprights and 1 chest, plus the 2 in the refrigerators).  I have so many because we have been raising our own meat (pork, turkey, and chicken), plus preserving fruits and vegetables from our gardens and u-pick, and buying 1/2 beef each fall.  Now we have our house up for sale, and don’t want to move so many freezers.

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I found some frozen banana punch and a bottle of seltzer.  We drank that for dinner one night.  It was some I have made for parties, years ago, and needed to be used.

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I found something labeled “Chinese Chicken Morsels” that were so freezer-burned I had to throw them away.  Instead, I used some ground chicken that was very old, with some frozen home-made re-fried beans and some cheese, and some chips that were getting a bit stale to make a nacho.  I added some tomato sauce and LOTS of Mexican seasoning, and it turned out ok.

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I found some snow peas I had frozen last fall, about 7 water chestnuts left over from last week’s shish kabobs, and some pineapple from the kabobs, too.  I added celery, onion, and about 4 baby carrots that were in the fridge drawer.  I stir-fried it up with soy sauce, planning to add the chicken morsels.  Instead, it became our vegetable.

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I also cooked some home-frozen corn.  This was a very strange Chinese, Mexican and American International dinner, but everyone ate it up!  Who knew?

We also ate some frozen turkey from a while back in our enchiladas last night.  I had intended to have leftover pork, but that pork was really yummy, so…….turkey it was.  Some frozen chili got used at lunch Wednesday.

Today, our home was shown 2 times, once at noon and once at 3.  I packed some food in a cooler, after cleaning a tidying for a couple of hours and we went off to a near-by town to do errands.  Imagine our surprise when we returned an hour and a half later, and they were still here.  So, we drove on by and sat for quite a while looking at a lovely stream at the end of our dead-end road.  When we returned, they were still there:)  So, we drove on by the other way, and went for a drive.  At around 2 (2-1/2 hours after we had left our home),  we crept up our back driveway, put the warming groceries in the camper fridge, and hid out behind our shop.  They were still here.  Our realtor needed to speak with us about an offer we received (super low, we are countering–in fact, so low I’m not sure anything will come of it at all, but who knows?), so she showed up at 2:15 and told them good-bye and we had our meeting for a few minutes, at which point we needed to leave so the next prospective buyers could come in.  Whew!  What a day.  I think it’s great they came, though.  Hopefully, they loved it!  And, I was able to use up the rest of the lunchmeat, 2 sandwich buns that we found in the freezer, 2 crusts and 2 slices of bread, the last of the lettuce, and some other items.

I was able to get a load of home-canned items up from the basement and have been serving applesauce, peaches and green beans from that supply.

I’d like to take the freezers and cupboards down even more before we move.  On the other hand, I want to maintain a stockpile as well.  We worked hard to raise that meat and produce, and don’t think we are going to be able to raise any more for some time, especially since we are going to be living in the camper in-between this house and the one we buy.  So, it’s a balancing act.  We have places to put the full freezers and I will “shop” from my storage each week.  The camper freezer will hold quite a few items.

Birthdays

How I Get a Layer Cake Out of the Pan

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The only time I make layer cakes is for birthdays, and that is only when the birthday person wants cake.  I may make other desserts, if wanted.  When I do make cake, I want it to come out of the pan easily. I’ve had a lot of trouble with that in the past. Here’s how I do it now.

First, I trace around the pan, using waxed paper and a pencil.  I cut out the circles I traced.

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I spray the pans with Pam spray, and stick down the waxed paper circles, and then spray the pans again, over the waxed paper, and along the sides.

The recipe I made this time was a chocolate cake recipe from a cookbook Lovana has, named “A Passion for Baking” and I just substituted an equal amount of Bob’s Red Mill One-to-One flour for the all-purpose.  This recipe has sour cream in it, and seems to stay moist, but does not goo up or fall apart. Every recipe does not translate into gluten-free as nicely as this one.

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After cooling for a few minutes, it is very easy to invert the pans onto a wire rack and the cake falls out easily.  If needed, I run a knife around the edges to loosen them, but the waxed paper keeps the bottom from sticking.  Then, the paper is peeled off and the cake is flipped right side up on another cooling rack.

These 2 layers were frozen as soon as we realized that the planned birthday dinner for my sister had been cancelled due to an ill child.  No use spreading that love around.  We will do it next Sunday.  I was very thankful I had not frosted them yet, they will keep better unfrosted. When I do frost it, I will make a cocoa powder, powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and milk frosting.  I’m already looking forward to next Sunday.  Yum!

Watching my pennies

Use-It-Up Project–February 11, 2016 A.K.A. Yikes! Again!

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Yikes!  After having the inside of the refrigerator get melted while we were trying to fix its problem of icing up and stopping the fan, it looked awful, but kept working.  Until today…..  Unfortunately, it started icing up within a couple of days of its “fix” and by Wednesday we could hear the fan clicking on ice again inside the back panel.  By this morning, it stopped clicking totally, which happened last summer, leading to several hundred dollars of repairs.  The food I had placed inside was slightly cool, but not cold as it should be.  We had 4H today, and quite a bit of the food was slated for immediate use, so I put a lot of things into the garage fridge and made do today with a lot of running back and forth.  There seems to be a bit of coolness in the produce drawers, so I left the lettuce I got last night in there.  Hmmmmm.  Tomorrow, I will work on emptying the freezer into one of the ones in the garage, and I think that fridge is going  away soon.

Then……a few nights ago, my popcorn popper made a strange noise and stopped working. After fiddling with it for a while, we determined that it was dead.  So, I used up my popcorn popper this week as well. 🙁 I did make popcorn in a pan on the stove one time.

Frankly, this was not exactly what I had in mind for my use-it-up project, but we will survive and get all of that figured out.  It’s part of life.

I did use up the celery and potatoes I pictured above.  There were quite a few potatoes starting to sprout, so I took off the sprouts, peeled them, trimmed the brown pieces off the celery leaves and stalks I had been saving from when I made celery sticks, and some frozen clams and made clam chowder.  I also used some milk I had purchased on a really good sale and had been storing in the freezer.  The clams were frozen in recycled plastic cartons after I used 1/2 of a very large can of clams I had (think old lunchmeat container, cottage cheese carton, etc.–I do that a lot with things).  I feel a sense of satisfaction when I turn food that looks “bad” into something delicious that is eaten eagerly.  I had to pry the clams out of ice–they were frozen to the shelf–a feel-good moment when I got those used!

 

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We had 4H today.  I planned the recipes around my pantry and freezers and cupboards.  I used canned beans (several assorted), frozen chicken and hamburger, onions from my garden, home-canned tomatoes (several pints), tomato sauce and paste, and a bunch of other foods.  I had to buy a few things, but not many, considering we made 9 recipes.

Rob used some freeze-dried peas and spaghetti we had been given a few years ago in his outdoors class.  He showed the kids how to re-constitute them with hot water, and sent them home with peas to make at home.  He told them how that kind of food could be used camping or in an emergency.  He also helped them make home-made instant oatmeal packets for camping or home use.

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I used up a lot of assorted noodles from several bags.  We used a couple of jars of juice that were on a bottom shelf in the back and had been un-noticed.  I used some gluten-free pancake mix that had been around a long time.  I kept working away at veggies, fruits and bread products from the freezers.

I’m happy to report that I will be making hamburgers at my sister’s house on Sunday.  There are lots of buns that we were given a while back, and that will create even more space in the freezer.  I’m going to need my newly cleared space for the food in the freezer below the fridge that clearly needs to be emptied.  The freezer has a different fan/motor/system than the fridge, so it still works fine and the food is still frozen.  I just think the more things that are out of the house, the better, with the upcoming move.

 

Watching my pennies

Noodles, Noodles–A Versatile Casserole Recipe

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Yesterday, I grabbed some odds and ends of noodles that had been tucked into the corners of my pantry and cooked them all up.  There were corn shells, corn “egg” noodles, and quinoa penne pasta.  I just cooked it all in the same pot.  It made more than I thought it would, so I ended up making 2 large bowls of casserole.  I just used a basic recipe that I’ve been making for years.  I did not measure anything.  Here’s what I did:

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I divided the noodles into 2 large bowls.  In 1 bowl, I put a pint of home-canned tuna, broken up.  (a couple of cans would work)  In the other bowl, I put 2 small zip-topped bags of defrosted turkey that I had previously frozen during the holidays.  Then, I added peas (about a pint per bowl), cheese (about 2 cups per bowl), dried onion flakes (about 1 Tablespoon per bowl), and cream of mushroom soup (about 3 boxes of Pacific Foods brand divided between the bowls–I use that because it’s gluten-free, but any kind would work).    I added 1 small jar of mushrooms to the turkey casserole.

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I stirred it up. That’s it.   When dinner time came, I warmed up the part we wanted to eat yesterday in the microwave.  The oven works, too.  It takes about 1 hour at 350 degrees, but I was in a hurry.

In the past, I’ve used many different kinds and shapes of noodles.  I’ve sauted onions instead of using flakes.  I’ve put in leftover cooked carrots, or broccoli, or green beans.  I’ve made my own white sauce with mushrooms instead of cream of mushroom soup.  I’ve used different kinds of cheese.  The great thing about this recipe is that you can use up whatever you have and it comes out tasting great.  In one cooking session, I had both turkey casserole and tuna casserole, giving me meals that are going to taste a little different on several nights this week.  Truthfully, it made so much, that I gave my mom some, and probably will freeze one bowl full for another busy day!

 

Saving Money, Watching my pennies

My January Use-It-Up Project–Update on January 17

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This week, I was really busy, but I still managed to use up a few items that needed to be used.  I got some help from the girls.

I used some cauliflower that I preserved in the fall.  I used some green beans from 2014.  I always have a carry-over and use the oldest jars first.  When all of the ’14’s are used, we will start on the ’15’s.  My husband thawed some lunchmeat of undetermined age and we ate it.  I used some home-canned grape juice from 2009.  It was great.  I found a few more jars down there in the basement, where I keep my canning, that will be used soon.

One daughter used 2 containers of gluten-free pizza crust I had bought quite a while ago at Grocery Outlet.  They were expired, but were still fine.  We used the rest of the personal-sized pizza bread rounds that had been purchased as a school fund-raiser, as well as the rest of the little packets of sauce, pepperoni and cheese that came with that kit.  There were some really, really old packages of sliced salami buried in the freezer–like 3 years old or older.  I wasn’t sure if they would be eatable, but they were.

My older daughter used the croutons I had made a couple of weeks ago in a salad.  She made Caesar Salad with homemade dressing.  She also used some bananas in a chocolate-banana cake and used a 1/2 package of milk chocolate chips as well as some of that huge box of bananas we were given.  She also made a white-bean, sausage soup that used some canned white beans we’ve had for ages.  Some of the garden carrots from last summer were used in that soup as well.  She informed me that the remaining carrots are not in good shape, which makes sense–they’ve been in there for months, so I’d better put them on the list to sort this week.

I have a very large amount of food storage.  I save a lot of money and we eat very well.  I have a basement full of home-canned items.  I have a garage with shelves of food, and several freezers.   Right now, those freezers are stuffed with home-grown turkey, turkey burger, and chickens, as well as fruits and vegetables from the summer.  Each year, we buy 1/2 beef, and we have most of that right now.  I also store loaves of bread and other baked goods in the freezer.  That way, I can cook from scratch when I have time, and use it up on days when I’m busy.

I buy in bulk and when things are on sale.  It is not uncommon for us to buy 25 pound bags of things like beans, sugar, or rice.  I have many plastic ice cream buckets I have saved over the years that I fill with these bulk items.  I also use old tins, Tupperwares, and plastic zip-top bags, and anything else I can find.    I also buy cases of things like canned mushrooms or mandarin oranges if I find an excellent deal.

We grow a huge garden.  Right now, I still have carrots and cabbage in the fridge in cold storage from that garden.  I still have squash and onions that are keeping fine at room temperature in the garage, shop and front room.  The rest of the garden I preserve or eat fresh.  It is normal for me to can 100 quarts or more of green beans alone.  That is only 2 jars per week and we regularly eat that amount.  Canned peaches, pears and applesauce are a regular part of our meals around here.

So, as you can imagine, it is easy for something to “get lost” in that amount of food storage. I work pretty hard at not letting that happen, but sometimes a few things get away from me.   I am very happy with the amount of things we are using up this month, and can’t wait to see what else I can clear out during the rest of the month.  Since I preserve so much, it is a natural thing to have an overabundance in the fall, and makes sense for me to bring that amount down to a smaller amount during the winter.  After all, that’s what it’s for!