In the kitchen...

I stay home all day on Wednesdays, so when I have cooking projects to work on, Wednesdays seem to work out best. Here's what I did today...

I made 6x my spaghetti sauce recipe (actually I made the sauce on Monday) and packaged it into smaller portions using quart size bags. Making one recipe of spaghetti sauce takes almost the exact same effort as making 6 recipes of the sauce...so I make 6. I add ground beef to it and use it for the pizzas that I make every Friday night. I have measured out how much sauce I like on our pizzas and I fill that amount into the ziploc bags. Then I just defrost them and use them when I need them. Couldn't be easier!

I just recently discovered that the wide mouth quart size canning jars are the perfect "stand" for holding up the ziploc bags that I pour into...

My sauce all stacked (this was only half of what I made and we had already eaten a bunch for dinner too)...

My 2 kitchen helpers...


I'm also dabbling in making my own yogurt. I had made it a few times after Henry was born, but boiling the milk was a pain because I kept getting distracted and then I'd boil it too long and it would make a huge mess on the bottom of my pan. I just recently discovered crockpot yogurt making and it couldn't be any easier! You pour a 1/2 gallon of milk in the crockpot, turn it on low for 2 1/2 hours. After 2 1/2 hours you unplug it and let it sit for 3 hours. Then, you whisk in 1/2 cup yogurt (kind of like a sourdough starter) and let it sit wrapped in a towel or blanket for 8 hours. After that, it's DONE! The yogurt is delicious. It's a bit on the runny side, but you could always strain it with a cheese cloth if the texture doesn't work for you...


So that's what's happening around my kitchen. I'm always interested in what other people are cooking, so I thought I'd share what I've been up to :)

Back in the Kitchen...

Thanks to the gracious coordination efforts of this lovely lady, we have been blessed with meals for the past 2 weeks. Couple that with a few meals from our parents, and it appears as though I haven't cooked a proper dinner since Henry's arrival. I don't know if this meal counts as proper (it includes homemade whipped cream), but oh is it delicious!

strawberries & whipped cream

flinsa

Thanks to Grandma Net for the strawberries.

Dear Sean & Allie,

We loved your wedding, but who knew we'd find ourselves the recipients of some of your gorgeous green apple centerpieces?! I took it upon myself to turn your edible decor into some delicious applesauce. I hope you approve. John and I would love to have you over to share in the feast, but alas, we recognize that the distance between us is too great. So, just know that we think of you each and every time we enjoy a bowl & pray silent blessings upon you as you embark on your new journey. Happy Marriage to you (& happy applesauce to us :)

(not my picture)

I found the recipe here, just in case you find yourself with some centerpiece apples of your own in the near future.

Turkey Noodle Soup...

Received some leftover turkey from my parents today. Didn't want to go to the grocery store, so here's what I came up with:

Turkey Noodle Soup

saute some chopped celery in olive oil

add corn & green beans

add saved chicken broth from last week's chicken (approx. 3-4 cups)

add an additional 8 cups of broth

bring to a boil

Season heartily with basil, thyme, parsley, garlic salt, and pepper

add some macaroni

once macaroni is plump, add leftover turkey

let simmer long enough to heat everything through

enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie...

I made a Chicken Pot Pie from what I had lying around the kitchen. It tasted pretty good, although it wasn't much to look at. I'll include my recipe here for what it's worth:

Chicken Pot Pie

4 stalks chopped celery

1 chopped onion

2 chopped carrots

1 chopped sweet potato (large)

1 can of corn

1/4-1/2 c. olive oil (I didn't measure)

1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 c. chicken broth (leftover from yesterday's crockpot chicken)

1/2 c. sour cream

1 c. milk

some shredded chicken breast (maybe 2 cups?)

some salt & pepper

2 pie crusts (I used the recipe from this cookbook)

In large saucepan, saute celery, onion, carrots, & sweet potato in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add four (& more olive oil if necessary), stir until smooth (mine never really got smooth). Gradually add broth, sour cream, milk & corn; stir until blended. Cook on medium heat until bubbly, approximately 20 minutes. Stir in chicken. Add salt & pepper to tast. Prepare pie crust. Put bottom crust in pie plate & pour in filling. Cover top with second pie crust; cut slits on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Pretty ugly...but it sure made the most of what I had in the kitchen.

(It should also be noted that John has refused to eat the sweet potatoes I bought last week, but I was so confident that he would like them that I threw them into the pie...he was none the wiser...although I caved and told him about my secret ingredient eventually ;)

Tortellini Soup...

I made this Thursday night, and oh is it delicious. Here's the recipe:

Tortellini Soup

2 T. butter (I used olive oil)

1 med. onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 T. minced garlic

1 lb. hot pork sausage, ground & cooked

1 1/2 T. fresh basil

2 cans white beans

2 large boxes chicken broth (I don't buy the boxes...8 cups worked well for me)

1 pkg. tri-colored tortellini (I used the largest package)

Cook tortellini as directed on package. To prepare broth, melt butter in dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic; cook until both are done. Add cooked sausage, basil, broth, and beans. Reduce heat and add cooked tortellini. Serve with fresh parmesan cheese.

(For those of you who have the Rosedale Bible Church cookbook...the recipe is on page 41)

The arrangement...

John and I have a little meal preparation arrangement that seems to work out quite well for us. John prepares the breakfast & packs the lunches, while I manage the dinners. John's breakfasts usually consist of smoothies, eggs & toast, oatmeal, cereal, or any bread product that has recently been baked. While the lunches usually consist of fruit & leftovers or sandwiches. Dinners run the gamut. Either way, we're happy with our arrangement. Who does the cooking in your house?

Last week's dinner: Chicken enchilladas & refried beans (no vegetable that night...oops)

$.99 Only...

...yep, that's right, all these avocados for only $.99. One of John's former students works at our local grocer and hooked him up. Who knew teaching would reap dividends in the produce department?!

I baked bread last Saturday...

...it was good. Usually my efforts yield marginal returns, but maybe I'm finally getting the hang of it. This loaf was the perfect consistency and had just a hint of sweetness. Maybe I'll make bread every Saturday...maybe.

Amish Oatmeal Bread:

1 pkg. dry yeast

1/2 c.warm water

1 c. quick oats

1/2 c. whole-wheat flour

1/2 c. brown sugar or molasses

1 T. salt

2 T. margarine

2 c. boiling water

5-6 c. white flour

Combine oats, wheat flour, sugar, salt and margarine in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over all and mix well. When mixture is cooled to lukewarm, stir in yeast which has been dissolved in 1/2 c. warm water. Stir in approximately half of flour. Continue adding remaining flour. Turn on floured pastry cloth and knead. Place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise until double. Shape into 2 loaves and place in greased bread pans. let rise again. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Cool on rack, brushing with margarine for a soft crust.

This recipe is from pg.108 of the Shafter MB Cookbook (although I'm raving about the recipe, I won't give the author credit here, just because I don't like to throw around names of people who aren't aware of the blog. If you have the cookbook you know who's it is :)

Apple Strudel...

Julie and I baked today. I wanted to try her Apple Strudel recipe. It did not disappoint. Here are the highlights.

The strudel logs in the oven

The finished product (notice a few logs are longer than the others...hmm, weird how that happened...)


The brains behind the operation

I realized I had no pictures of myself, so when I got home I took one (it was hard to get the strudel in the shot too, but I did my best)

This shirt really has nothing to do with strudel baking, but I found it at the bottom of my shirt drawer (the day before laundry day always reveals forgotten treasures) and decided it would work well for my baking day. For those of you who can't read backwards writing, it says, "Happiness is...a warm zwiebach". Refer here if you *gasp* don't know what zwiebach is.


Julie and I came up with (what we thought) was a very clever way to use the leftover spiral apple peelings after a baking project. This picture was just an experiment, but we thought you could use the leftover peelings to wrap around the stems of flowers to heighten their asthetic. We didn't have any flower stems handy, so we couldn't try it out, but maybe on our next strudel baking day...

Flinsa...

...or Russian pancakes, or crepes, or... By whatever name you choose to refer to them, they are a treat like no other. I have foud memories of this thin pancake. I gobbled them up at the MCC Sale where they were cooked by Denise's now-grandfather-in-law, Arlie. My mom would make them at home and we would have them with butter, cinnamon & sugar, and syrup. Or, when they were in season, we would eat them with strawberries and homemade whipped cream. Either way, flinsa (as the Fast family likes to call them) have always been a special treat. So...when I drove down Rosedale Hwy. on Friday and picked up a half flat of the sweet red berries, I knew immediately what I would do with them.

flinsa

almost too pretty to eat...almost.

John and his dinner