Better Bread

I was looking for a recipe to make jam with Clear Jel A and found a tip for adding clear jel to bread. I thought I would give it a try and really noticed a difference in how long the bread stays soft and fresh in the cupboard. I've used it for the last two batches of bread that I've made and even McKay noticed the bread stays softer.
Check out the bread recipe to see how to add it.

Butternut Squash Soup

Terri, this is for you as promised :)

Serves 4 – 6

1 medium size butternut squash

3 ½ cups water

1 Tbs butter

1 small onion (chopped)

1 cored and chopped apple (I leave peel on if apple is yellow)

½ cup water

2 tsp salt

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

pepper to taste

½ cup cream (or milk, but cream is best)

Slice squash in half and scoop out the seeds, put it in a baking dish flesh side up with ½ cup water and bake until soft; about 1 hour at 325°. Let cool and remove skin.

Mine ended up in 3 pieces.  I think it is hard to cut.

Cut cooked and peeled squash into small pieces. A medium squash will have about 3 ½ cups of flesh to use.  Put 2 cups of squash and 2 cups of water into blender and blend until smooth. Pour into saucepan. Blend the rest of the squash with 1 ½ cups water. Add to pan.

In fry pan sauté onion and apple in the butter. When onion is clear and apple is soft put in blender with ½ cup water. Blend until smooth. Add to pan with squash. Stir in salt, cumin and pepper. Heat until hot, then stir in cream and serve.

3 - 4 cups squash pieces

Add the cream

I like to serve with a wedge of  The Laughing Cow Creamy Swiss cheese.

Ham and Lima Beans

This is really good. We all like it.

Serves 4

2 Tbs butter

¾ C. chopped onion

½ tsp granulated garlic

½ tsp salt

Pepper to taste

¾ C chopped ham (can use a small can of ham)

1 ½ Tbs flour

1 can baby lima beans with juice (or follow instructions below to cook from dried baby lima beans)

Melt butter in frying pan. Sautee onions in butter, when they turn clear, add garlic, salt, pepper, ham and flour. Stir. Add to baby lima beans in saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes.

Ready for the lima beans

I served this with breadsticks last night. We ate half and I froze the other half for a later meal.

To cook dry lima beans:

Pressure cooker:

Cook 1 cup dry lima beans and 3 cups water 15 minutes in pressure cooker, then quick release (cool pressure cooker with water)

Stovetop:

Put 1 cup dry beans and 3 cups water in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Turn off heat and let soak 1 hour.

Drain and rinse beans. Put back in saucepan with 3 ½ cups water and 1 tsp salt. Simmer for 2 ½ to 3 hours.

Freezing bulk meat

When there is a good sale on for family pack meat, I will get a few packages and then separate them in portions that are good for my family to use. I put the portions in freezer bags, label them with contents and date, then freeze.
This is what I did with the super extra lean hamburger that was on sale last week.
It doesn't show in the pictures, but before I seal the bag I try to remove as much air as possible. This keeps the meat more fresh. I do this with everything that I bag to freeze. Sometimes I even use a straw to suck the air out before sealing.

Meatloaf

Serves 6-8

½ cup dry cracked wheat cereal

1 cup water

Stir cracked wheat and water together in saucepan. While stirring, bring to a boil, then cover and turn heat to low. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the cracked wheat is cooking, mix the following in a large mixing bowl:

1 lb. super lean hamburger (93 % lean)

1 small onion (finely chopped)

1 bell pepper (finely chopped)

2 eggs

½ cup oatmeal

1 slice bread (broken into small pieces)

¾ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 Tbs worcestershire sauce

Stir in cooked cracked wheat. It is ok if it is hot. Spray loaf pan with Pam and put in meatloaf mixture. Cover with foil and cook 30 min at 350° then uncover and cook 10 more minutes to brown top of loaf. This is also a great make ahead meal, just put the uncooked meatloaf in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it later in the day.

Ready for baking

Serve with ketchup.

I often serve baked potatoes with meatloaf because the oven is already hot so I just put in some potatoes with the meatloaf. When I served this meatloaf last time, I was out of potatoes so I reconstituted some dried potato flakes, put them in a 9 x 9 inch baking dish and sprinkled cheese on top. I just put them in the oven for the last 5 minutes of baking time to melt the cheese.

Meatloaf makes a great filling for sandwiches the next day.

Spread mayo and ketchup on bread, then put on a slice of warmed up leftover meatloaf and some lettuce. I remember taking these to school in my lunch and it was one of my favorite sandwiches.

Salmon (Teriyaki)

1 large salmon fillet (enough to serve about 5 people)

1 tsp minced ginger

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs water

¼ tsp garlic  powder

Mix and pour on salmon to marinate about 15 minutes.

Heat grill to 275°. Cook salmon skin side down for about 10 minutes, then turn over and cook for 5 more minutes.

Thanks to Ken and Missy for our yummy Alaskan salmon.

Chicken Pot Pie

From McKay

McKay found this in the MJ Christensen School Cookbook and adjusted it to our liking.

Makes 1 large casserole that serves 8 - 10

3 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up into bite sized pieces (Or 2 cans chicken)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 ½ cups flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cup buttermilk

¼ - ½ cup melted butter

1 ½ cup chicken broth (can be made from water and chicken bullion)

1 cup carrots (cut into bite sized pieces)

2 cups potatoes (cut into bite sized pieces)

1 cup frozen peas

Put carrots and potatoes in saucepan and add enough water to barely cover them. Boil for 10 minutes. Add peas.

Put cooked chicken in bottom of casserole dish. Pour soup over chicken, then vegetables, then butter. Mix flour, baking powder and salt with buttermilk in separate dish, then add to casserole. Pour chicken broth over the whole thing and bake at 375° for 40 minutes.

Ready to bake

I think that this recipe could be easily made with food storage items.
Use powdered buttermilk, freeze dried vegetables, oil instead of butter. I haven't tried it yet.

Navajo Tacos

 Makes 4 tacos

1 C flour (I use whole wheat ground from soft wheat)

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp powdered milk

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 to ½ C warm water

Olive oil to cover bottom of fry pan about ¼ inch.

Mix dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Add warm water a little at a time while stirring until you have a dough that can be handled. If it is too sticky, you can add a little more flour. Let rest for 10 – 20 minutes.

Divide dough into four balls and roll on a floured surface until about ¼ inch thick.

Heat oil on medium heat. When it is hot cook the fry bread about 3 minutes on each side. Set on plate covered with paper towel to soak excess grease. You can keep these warm in an oven with the light turned on until ready to serve.

Serve with taco filling.

Taco filling I used today:

1 can white beans

1 can black beans

1 chopped bell pepper

1 hot pepper (finely chopped)

1/2 chopped onion

1 tsp. taco seasoning

Drain and rinse beans. Put in sauce pan with the rest of the ingredients. Heat (stirring occasionally) for about 10 minutes while cooking the fry bread.

Serve the tacos with grated cheese, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, plain yogurt or sour cream.

These could also be served with chicken or hamburger or canned chili. I just used what I had in the garden and in the pantry.

Here is the order that I made dinner.

1. Get the dough mixed.

2. While dough is resting, mix filling.

3. Roll out dough and fry, while filling cooks.

Crepes

From Tibos ”Crepes from around the world” (with only a few adjustments)

Makes about 10 fairly thick 12” crepes

1 ¼  cup wheat flour (best from soft white wheat)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs sugar

1 egg

1 cup water

1 1/3 cup milk

In large mixing bowl, combine all the flour, salt, and sugar and stir to mix well. Add egg, water and milk. Whisk until smooth. (Note: to make from food storage use 1 Tbs dehydrated egg and 1/3 cup milk powder and add to dry ingredients)

Pour 1/3 cup batter onto hot griddle and spread into about a 12 inch circle. I have a spreader made for cooking crepes, but the back of a large spoon would work. You need to work fast here, the dough starts to cook quickly. (It took me a while to get the hang of it.) Cook 15 to 20 seconds and flip over. Add filling to center of crepe, fold in ends and sides and let cook for about 30 seconds, then turn over and let cook for about 20 seconds more to make sure filling is hot.  Serve immediately.

Between cooking each crepe, make sure to rub the griddle with a paper towel with olive oil on it. The griddle must be non stick.  I have a crepe griddle and I love it, but it is kind of a big thing to store if kitchen space is tight.

Note: If I want to make enough for the family before I serve them, I put the cooked crepes on a plate and put them in the oven with the oven light on. My oven light is on the top of the oven and so I put them on the top rack right under the light.  You can also put them in the microwave and shut the door to keep them warm.

I served diced tomatoes and lettuce for topping the crepes at the table.

Filling Ideas for savory crepes:

Salmon filling:

Mix 3 oz cream cheese, 1 can drained salmon, and 1/3 cup chopped cucumber or celery.  This is enough for 4 – 5 crepes

Chicken filling:

Same as salmon, but replace can of salmon with can of chicken.

Eggs, grated cheese and bacon or ham are also good in crepes. I scramble the eggs before I use them in a filling.

Sweet crepes:

After making the savory crepes, I sometimes add a little vanilla to the batter before cooking the dessert crepes.

Follow the same instructions as above, but instead of putting filling in, sprinkle with sugar, or cinnamon and sugar or spread some nutella on the crepe.  Fold the crepe in half or fourths to serve. Marshmallows and chocolate chips would probably be good.  I’ve never tried it, but I bet it would be gooey and yummy. 

Filling them with fruit and whip cream is also delicious. I just cook the crepes and serve with a bowl of fruit and a bowl of cream. Fruit jam would work also. (food storage)

Batter

Salmon filling

Fold over

Ready to turn and warm other side

Cinnamon and Sugar

Cheater Pizza

I was thinking "easy meals" as I browsed the aisles of Costco a while back when I spied a 4 pack of frozen Kirkland brand cheese pizzas for about 10 dollars. Hmm, $2.50 per pizza? I was willing to try them. I brought them home and when I got one out to cook it, I decided to fancy it up a bit before I put it in the oven.
Everyone loved it and it was so easy! I just served it with a green salad and Marilyn kept saying it was the best pizza she ever had. I may never make my own pizza dough again.

Here is the box of pizzas

Ready to cook

I topped this one with pepperoni on half, pre cooked frozen chicken pieces, 1 slice of precooked bacon cut into small pieces, sliced zucchini, bell pepper, and a few cherry tomatoes cut in half.