Bulk Cooking Recipes November 10, 2009

Our topic this week is to share recipes that freeze well for making in bulk. I just had a crazy cooking day on Friday, so I will share my chili recipe. We also really recommend the link on the bottom right of the blog for dinnercoach.com. This site explains bulk cooking and group cooking basics. It also has some great recipes. I just joined their group on Facebook.

Flatlander Chili

2 pounds lean ground beef (or ground turkey)

4 cans stewed tomato pureed (can be less if you don’t have enough)

3 cups spaghetti sauce

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp white sugar

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cans red beans, drained & rinsed

1. Place ground beef in deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside. 2. Add all ingredients to large kettle. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Also works well in crock pot.

TALK it out! October 28, 2009

What cultivates a deep relationship for my marriage is really simple.  I racked my brain trying to decide what to write in this post because the answer seemed too simple.  The thing that has worked the most for us is a true commitment to TALK.  We really do not get regular date nights and my husband is gone a lot for work.  When he is in town we probably talk for at least an hour everyday.  We talk about everything.  I have learned questions to ask him about work and football and he has learned to listen to me debrief the day or talk in circles (which he hates :) until I find my point about something that I am passionate about.  If we were confused or hurt by something the other did we would stay up and talk it out.  Yes this meant a TON of late nights the first 5 years of marriage.  This also has meant me learning to really understand and like a lot of the things that he likes and is interested in.  It means staying on top of who plays for his favorite team or having his coworkers over for dinner or staying on top of the news or joining a fantasy football league.  This has also meant me learning to text and message and email.  This season of life in particular I have had to learn to keep communication a priority over cleaning or having a craft of my own or many other things :)  We are blessed though through all the bouts of the stomach bug or overseas travel or family turmoil in that we are a team and we have a deep affection for one another.

Comeback Fall, we miss you! October 14, 2009

This has been a strange fall season thus far.  We went to the apple orchard when it was hot and humid and were building snowmen in October :)  There are many fun fall activities that I hope we get to experience before winter settles in and here are the top ones for us…

1.  Roast and freeze pumpkin for holiday pies, pancakes, soups, etc.

2.  Make applesauce.

3.  Find the perfect apple cider recipe. (if you have a favorite please, please post)

4.  Bake lots of pumpkin stuff.

5.  Decorate pumpkins and search for ways to keep the squirrels from eating them if I put them on my porch. (once again if anyone has tips feel free to comment!)

Here is my favorite pumpkin bread recipe that I have modified from the original…

Pumpkin Ribbon Bread

Filling:

1 pkg. (8 oz) low fat cream cheese

1/3 Cup sugar

1 T. flour

1 egg

2 t. grated orange peel

Bread:

1 cup cooked pumpkin

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 t. salt

1 t cloves

2 t cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

For filling- beat cream cheese, sugar and flour together in a small bowl.  Add egg.  Stir in orange peel and set aside.  Make bread by combining pumpkin, oil and eggs in a mixer.  Add sugar, salt, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and baking soda.  Pour 1/4 of batter in to 2 greased and floured loaf pans.  Carefully spread the cream cheese mixture over the batter.  Add remaining batter, covering filling.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, or until bread tests done with a wooden pick.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans.  Store in refrigerator.

Modified from a base recipe in the cookbook Gooseberry Patch – Welcome Home for the Holidays.

I love Excel October 9, 2009

Ok so this is not my strong point :)  Basically from day 1 of our marriage we regularly sit down and look at how much we bring in, what we need to pay (diapers, heat, rent) and then allocate the rest to various categories.  As things change we adjust.  We have categories for everything possible even saving for Christmas or car repairs or anniversary trips :)  We have a running budget on excel that we have used and then in theory we just enter in under each category how much we spend and where we spent it.  There has never been a time when things haven’t been really tight so out of necessity we try to keep within the budget for each category.  In our budget you can see where everything goes even our giving.  Not very exciting but it seems to work for us!

Belated Healthy Snack Post! October 5, 2009

Surprise!  It’s a Healthy Snack Post!  Here’s a book that I found to have some great recipes for afternoon snacks for the kids.  I made 6-8 different bar-style recipies from this book and the kids and I enjoyed every one of them.  Her ingredients are non-processed and therefore easy to find in your local (Winco?) bulk bins.

Not a recipe but… September 30, 2009

My world is crazy and my kids are always hungry so in an effort to give my kids healthy choices for snacks here is what I have done…

Stalk up on veggies that are on sale.

Cut up veggies in the beginning of the week.

Whenever my kids ask for a snack I  bust out the veggies and a low fat ranch dressing or peanut butter.  Everyone likes to dip!  This also helps them discern whether they are hungry or bored :)

My Favorite Music in the Morning September 17, 2009

My favorite song is “Joy.”

Amazing Sale on photo books September 10, 2009

Currently at Shutterfly, photo books are on sale, and if you order them before Sept 16, you can get an additional 25% off with the code: EXTRASAVINGS

and, then if your order is over $30, free shipping: SHIPFREE

After all this, it’s a really good deal.

Half off at Thrift Stores September 6, 2009

Just a reminder, many thrift stores have their stuff half off on Labor day

Confessions August 5, 2009

I have to admit I am terrible about keeping up with birthdays and special days.  I have 7 brothers and sisters, 6 nieces and nephews, 3 parents, and a host of aunts and uncles and cousins we are close to that I try to keep up with but usually fail :)  Most all of them live in different states which requires me to send out cards and presents.  This is a problem for me!  I am fine if they are in town and we get to see them but I am terrible about taking myself and 4 kids to the post office to mail something.  And buying something online is hard because of all the added shipping costs, etc. that I have a hard time paying :)  Even just to find free shipping requires time to research which seems to be lacking in my life at the moment.

My new solution comes from an online article from RealSimple magazine that I stumbled across on CNN.com.  The solution that will hopefully help me is to set aside a day at the beginning of the month and send out all the cards then, even if the event isn’t until the end of the month.  Just one day to look at the calendar and take care of business.  I think I can do this!  Also I can reorder stamps if I need to on that day for the next month.  I am trying to keep everything on my Google calendar so it is all there for me with addresses and everything.  I am taking this summer to get organized for the school year as well by setting up the calendar and updating addresses so I am ready when craziness hits.

We do not have a lot of money to send out gifts all the time but I have found a simple card in the mail goes a long way.  I like to buy the card box from Costco every year which has cool, home-made looking card which are all right there ready to be sent out.  Everyone in my family loves movies and you can get gift certificates online for different movie theatres that might be in their area.  This has been a fun gift to give via online that has no shipping charges.