Kitchen Tip Tuesday {and where have I been}...

I been a bit sparse, oh, since about the 3rd week in May. You see I am a routine kinda gal. It doesn't have to be set in stone but some order in my life makes me happy. If I'm off when I usually work, I just don't know what to do with myself. Or if something funky gets thrown in the day that isn't normal, my hair stands a little. SO, I had several ladies staying with me for my SIL's wedding (several weeks ago) AND I had off 3 days. Talk about a double whammy :) Then after wedding weekend we had to get the rest of the garden in, play catch up on the house, etc. which got my routine all outa wack. YAWN!!! I am sure you get the picture. Any who...

Iamherenow.atthepresent.notgoinganywhere.Ithink.

Here's your kitchen tip for today:

When cooking dinner try to make extra! Let's just think about this for a minute, no a second is all it will take. If you are browning beef then brown some extra for freezing. Making mashed potatoes, cook some extra. Sunday while making our BIG Sunday lunch I cooked enough ground beef to make some plain and taco seasoned for the freezer. I also made a shepherds pie  with some of the meat and leftover m.potatoes that needed to be used up from the fridge. I now will be able to pull something together for dinner on the nights that I don't have much time or I just didn't get my to my meal planning that week.

Here are some links that might give you some ideas to save time in the kitchen:
Make Ahead/ Freezer Mashed Potatoes
Passionate Homemaking Freezer Meal Carnival
Homemaking Homesteader

{Mama Mia}

When growing up my mother taught me to cook lots of homemade things. I have carried that into the season of life I am in now. Bread, mashed potatoes, desserts, well they're a piece of cake. Pasta was never on my list of homemade "from scratch". Until my daughter asked if we could make some pasta...I of course said "why not". Within a week I purchased a pasta machine. I guess I could have made it without the pasta machine but I sometimes I tend to dive right in. Last Sunday Haily and I dove on in by making ravioli. Never mind the fact that I didn't have {stuff} for the filling or any sauce. I'd figure something out. Here is a series of pictures showing start to finish...

For the filling I used a block of cream cheese with some fresh basil, salt, pepper and an egg. The sauce is just a can of tomatoes, crushed with italian spices and fresh garlic.

Oh, that little blurb on the picture with my daughter mixing the eggs in (with her favorite utensil - her hands). It says the shells are being saved for the compost pile...stay tuned for the upcoming compost post.

What's cookin...

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home is hosting what I consider a "Yummy" idea. The Healthy Holiday Eats and Sweets Carnival is all about good food for the holiday time. Who said that healthy food had to be drab? So blog hop on over to Keeper of the Home and check out all the recipes. I have mention two below that will be at my Christmas table. 

Sweet Potato Maple Cups

Cook 3-4 sweet potatoes however you wish (I like to boil mine) until tender. You can peel them or leave the peel on, doesn't matter either way. Add about 1/3-1/2 cup of butter, 1/3-1/2 cup of pure maple syrup, 4 tsp orange zest or orange juice,  and 1 tsp salt - mix until creamy. You can also add in cinnamon and nuts. YUM! At this point I put mine into individual baking cups but an 8x8 baking dish also works well. 

Beat 4 egg whites and unrefined sugar (to taste, the original recipe call for 1/2 cup but that is way too much for me) until stiff peaks form. Add to the top of the sweet potatoes, this takes the place of marshmallows on the top. 

Bake at 400 for about 10min or until the egg whites are golden brown.

Cinnamon Oranges

Peel 4-5 navel oranges, core, and separate. Mix 2 table orange juice, 2 table lemon juice, 1 table unrefined sugar, and 1/4 tea cinnamon. Toss and serve chilled.

I hope you enjoy these and all the other recipes submitted. Let me know which one your family liked the best.

Busy Mom = Crockpot cooking

Lindsay is hosting a

I love to make simple but delicious meals on days when I need to get dinner on the table FAST. That usually means using the crock pot. Here is one of my favorites...

{Pork roast and sauerkraut}

 


Only two ingredients (unless you want to add some spices) go into the pot... a Pork Loin Roast and Sauerkraut. Just put the roast in your crockpot and dump sauerkraut over it. Cook on high if the roast is frozen and low if thawed. I cook for 8 hrs while I'm at work but it could be done before that. You can use sauerkraut bought from the store but I made the recipe that Lindsay makes and loved it. YUMMY! My husband even likes this recipe and he doesn't care for sauerkraut. I will make him a steamed veggie to go with the roast and I "hog" all the kraut. 

Meal Planning

Do you find yourself approaching dinner with panic? You rummage through the fridge and cabinets in hopes to find something quick to make. Or your in the middle of making dinner and realize you don't have the ingredients to make what you planned. I’ve been there too many times to count and I dislike the feeling. I usually end up throwing something together that isn’t appealing or the least bit nutritious. One of the best tips I could give a mother who works outside the home is to meal plan, it is a good idea for anyone really.


I didn’t meal plan for many years. My mother didn't meal plan therefore it wasn't something I even knew about. When going to the grocery store I threw things in the cart that "looked good". I ended up spending way more than necessary on items that I couldn’t even make a balanced meal with. Now when I go with a plan, I spend less and have more with a BIG smile. This is one of our budget eaters (it also includes all household products).


There are many ways to meal plan and I have adapted mine several times. Please take the information I give you and make it your own. I don’t have any fancy shopping lists or meal calendars, nor do I spend a ton of time doing this task (it takes about 20 minutes).


Let's get started


-I clean out my refrigerator/freezer (Easy tip 1: keep the fridge clean) and make note of what I still have on hand (meat, veggies, etc.)


-From there, I sit down with the sale papers and my running list that I keep (Easy tip 2: Write down items as you start to run low). Look through the paper and see what's on sale. Remember just because it’s cheap, if your family won’t eat it, you are wasting money.


-Now that I have a list of items I can plan start planning. By looking at the sale list and knowing what meals my family likes, I form a menu. Items may need to be added depending on the meals I want to make. For breakfast I keep oatmeal, granola bars, waffles and pancakes on hand. No one is home for lunch. I plan 6 meals for dinner and we either have leftovers on the 7th day or eat with friends/family. When doing this I keep in mind how much time I have to cook. Plan simple things like salad with grilled chicken on nights that are going to be rushed (Easy tip 3: think ahead = less stress)- Save the more time consuming meals for another day. Some of my friends like to theme their meals for each night of the week. My husband is not a planning kind of guy so this doesn’t work for us although I think it would be fun.


-After I have finished, I write the meals on the bottom of our family calendar, the one with all of our appointments, events, etc. By having everything in the same place there isn't any excuses for not knowing what is going on or what is for dinner. I use a free printable calendar that I found online. I keep ours right above our command station which has pens, paper, church directory/phone book, extra calendars, etc.  This is where I also keep the cook books, recipes we want to try, my running list. (Easy tip 4: keep things together).


-When heading to the store I take my list with me, sometimes taped to my forehead (this is just a reminder for those who need it :). Most of the time I stick to the list but I hardly feel bad if I stray a bit. If an item that I use often is on sale then I might buy extra so I will have it "in stock" for those times my husband wants something "unplanned" (Easy tip 5: be flexible).

Remember
Easy tip 1: keep the fridge clean
Easy tip 2: write down items as you start to run low
Easy tip 3: think ahead = less stress
Easy tip 4: keep things together
 Easy tip 5: be flexible

There you have it! It took much longer to think and type the process than it does to actually do my meal planning. Feel free to ask me questions or better yet tell me how do you meal plan?