Reaching Beyond Our Four Walls

As homemakers, sometimes it can be very easy to become consumed with "our" family, "our" house, "our" selves and forget to reach out to others. Once upon a time I copied this note down from somewhere and it has been a great reminder to me to not be so self centered. I thought I'd share it with you:
"Never let one day pass when you have not reached out an arm of love to someone out side your home (and in) with a note, a letter, a visit, help in some way."

What's for Supper?

Ground Turkey & Vegetable Stew and cornbread is what's for supper at my house tonight. I have a big container of some really good leftover broth from my chicken and dumpling soup that I made a couple of nights ago that I hated to see go to waste. So, I decided I would add some ground turkey to it along with some zucchini and potatoes and have it for supper. I love using leftovers up, and this should make for a pretty easy meal which is always good on Wednesday nights since we have church. I'll let you know how it turns out.


By the way, the leftover broth was made from homemade chicken broth and I had added some onions, cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, salt & pepper, basil, and a bay leaf to it. Oh, and some fresh oregano leaves.

Update: It was really good!

No Fat Pizza Sauce

My husband is on a diet, and the menu for last night called for a pita pizza with low-fat marinara or tomato-basil sauce. Well, I didn't have any sauce on hand, so, I found a pizza sauce recipe and tweaked it to make it no fat. It was so easy and tasty that I thought I'd share it and save it here.
Pizza Sauce:
1- 6 ounce tomato paste
2/3 c. water
2 cloves minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp. pizza seasoning or 1/2 t. oregano & 1/2 t. basil
Mix all ingredients. No need to cook sauce, just let sit 10 minutes or more to blend flavors before spreading on pita and adding toppings.

Help! Squash!

I'm already starting to have squash running out of my ears (yellow & zucchini)! I don't have near the freezer space that I had last year, so, does anyone have any recommendations on what to do with all of this squash? I've read that canning it makes it too mushy. Has anyone had any success canning their squash? Please send suggestions on how to preserve it and recipes for squash dishes would be good to have also. Thanks!

From Flop to Frugal

A few nights ago I tried out a new biscuit recipe. Well, I made a couple of substitutions, using what I had on hand and it didn't work out so well. They were edible, but just barely. No one asked for seconds, and I had lots left over. Being the frugal homemaker that I am, I can't bear to throw anything away if I can help it. It called for a lot of butter and butter is expensive. I also had some green apples that were awfully sour and were not getting eaten very quickly, so I decided to experiment. I first sliced the apples up in a pan. Then I crumbled the biscuits up in the food processor with some brown sugar and a little cinnamon and nutmeg. Next, I sprinkled the crumbs on top of the apples and baked it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. It was wonderful! The perfect warm, fall, apple crisp! I love the creativity that being frugal brings out in us.

Feeding Your Family Frugally

A lot of people are having to cut back on their grocery bills right now. Not just so mom can stay at home, but because dad has last his job also. As I was praying for different people in our church who are needing work, I started thinking about this, and about the ways I have stretched our grocery dollars. My husband is a meat eater so usually the first thing I think about in preparing a meal is what kind of meat to start with.
Some really inexpensive choices are:
-liver (we happen to love it)-fry it with onions, and eat it with mashed potatoes and gravy.
-canned salmon-make it into salmon patties or season it and bake it in the oven.
-ground turkey-I cook with the frozen turkey sausage because I like the flavor better. I think it's Jenny-O. Anyway, it's cheaper than ground beef at Wal-Mart.
-ground breakfast sausage-you can usually buy this cheaper than ground beef and it is great in spaghetti sauce.
-smoked sausage-great cut up either with sauerkraut(mix in some sour cream and it takes away the tartness), or fried with chopped potatoes, or in macaroni and cheese.
-a bag of boneless chicken breast-take out one or two piece of chicken at a time to cut up and eat in a soup, casserole or sauce.
-regular fat ground beef-according to the book "Nourishing Traditions" we don't really end up with that much more meat by buying a leaner meat, because the lean meat loses moisture while cooking. So, there is not a lot of difference in the amount that the two cook down. (The book also talks about the nutritional reasons to buy fatty meat, but I won't get into that, you'll have to read the book).
These are some of my favorites meats to cook with.
We also have eaten lots of beans, first as a soup and then what was left we made into refried beans and had lots of tostados and burritos.
We have also eaten rice every way there is to season it and eat it. Adding either cut up chicken or ground beef to make it the main dish.
I'll end with a couple of recipe ideas:
Hamburger-Rice Skillet
1 lb. ground beef, 1 med. chopped onion, 1 chopped green pepper(opt.), 1 minced clove garlic, 1 c. rice, 1 16 oz. tomatoes, 1 8 oz. tomato sauce, 1 tsp. Worcestershire, 1/2 tsp. basil, 1 1/2 c. water, 1 tsp. salt.
Cook beef, onion, pepper, and garlic-add rice. Cook 2 minutes stirring. Add undrained tomatoes, tom. sauce, Worcestershire, basil, water, and salt. Bring to boiling, reduce heat, cover, simmer 25-20 minutes.
Garlic Chicken Spaghetti
Melt one stick of butter and saute 1 or 2 tsp. of garlic (to taste) , 1 tsp basil, and 1 or 2 cut up chicken breast. When chicken is cooked through, you can either mix it with cooked spaghetti and eat it like this or add 1 or 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup (depending on taste and how far you want it to go), heat, and eat over cooked spaghetti. Oh, and don't forget to add some Parmesan cheese.

Leftover Delight

Recognize this dish? Probably not. Monday night it was my One Dish Dinner, last night it turned into, lets call it, Italian Sausage Helper. I hate to waste anything. Last night I cut up the couple of slices of sausage and heated it up with the onions and peppers in a skillet with a little water and garlic. Next I added about a cup of marsala cooking wine(I just happened to have this, if I hadn't I could have used chicken broth or apple juice) and let it heat a couple of minutes. Then, I added about a cup of gravy leftover from breakfast (if I hadn't had gravy I could have used a can of cream of something soup or just some heavy cream), a little basil and cayenne. When this was warmed I added some cooked egg noodles, sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top, and wah lah. It was very tasty. And guess what? We had leftovers. I think I'll put them in the freezer and add them to a soup one day.

I love making new dishes from leftovers. Recently, my husband came in and asked what we were having for supper. I said,"Tamale Pie". He looked in the oven and said "That looks a lot like the taco soup and cornbread we had last night". I can't get anything past him.

Proverbs 18:9 "He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster."

One Dish Dinner

I really don't know what the name is for this dish, but we love it. This is what I cooked for supper last night. First I sliced up a bell pepper and an onion. Next, I took a package of Italian sausages and cut each one in half lengthwise(opt.). I then cooked the sausage according to package directions in a large skillet. When the sausages were done, I removed them and put in the onions and bell peppers, and sauteed them until just tender. When they were ready, I took them out and heated some leftover brown rice in what little grease and broth were left in the pan. I didn't add seasoning to the rice, but, it would have been better if I had (garlic, cumin, cayenne). Next, I heated up the tortillas, I did use a different skillet for this but, I suppose I could have used the same skillet. I filled the tortillas with sausage, veggies, cheese, and sour cream. The rice went on the side. You may need to add a little water to the skillet during each step or oil whatever you want. And also, if you don't remove the skin from the sausage it will curl up. Now, only one pan to wash.

Sunday Dinner

Nothings as easy and goes as far as spaghetti & meatballs. So, since I did not know how many people I would be feeding and I overslept, this was perfect. I must say, I'm like Amy Ellen @ www.healthbeginswithmom.blogspot.com, in that I have trouble following a recipe so, I'll give you a couple of my favorite spaghetti sauce recipes. I put the sauce in the crockpot and added a package of frozen meatballs. We had salad, corn and cottage cheese for our side dishes and of course bread. I came in from church, boiled the spaghetti ( this can be done ahead of time and soaked in water) and heated the corn. Put the food on the table and gave God thanks.

Healthy Italian Spaghetti Sauce (12 1/2 cups)

1 bulb garlic (finely minced)

5-8 onions(chopped)

olive oil

4 bay leaves

2 tsp. basil

2 tsp. oregano

5 lb. 12 oz. canned whole tomatoes

15 ounce tomato paste

1 c. red wine

3 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp pepper

pinch of baking soda

Saute garlic, onions and herbs in olive oil- chop tomatoes- mix everything and put in crockpot. For best results cook slowly at least 10 hrs. in crock pot. For last 2 hrs. remove lid so sauce can thicken.

Hurry Spaghetti Supper

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion chopped

1 minced clove garlic

2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste

3 cups water

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

Lightly brown beef, onion, and garlic; drain fat. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer, uncovered, one hr.

Note: I was in a hurry so my recipe became a combination of these two using whatever I had on hand. I also did not saute the onion, garlic first. I just put everything in the crockpot and cooked on high 5 hrs.

My Day

I am thoroughly enjoying having all of my family around for a couple of days. My youngest son, Ryan flew in Saturday from Iraq, and my oldest, Jonathan flew in yesterday from Albuquerque. My daughter, Kara lives here in town. This morning I woke up early for a time of Bible study and prayer before the household woke up. As they started waking up, I cooked breakfast and then just enjoyed sitting at the table and visiting with my husband and Jonathan for a while(Ryan went fishing all night and had not made it in yet). Jonathan eventually got up and went to the piano and called me in there. We sang and he played awhile and ended up with him playing and singing some songs that he has recently written. It's always amazing to see what God is doing through our children. Kara then came over to bring her baby, Nolan, for me to babysit while she ran some errands. Ryan came in and so we all sat and talked and marveled over the baby for a while. The boys left for the mall. Nolan was not feeling well so most of the afternoon I just sat and held him or walked him around. I must say I did not mind it one bit. When his mommy came and picked him up, I made a quick trip to the grocery store. Tonight I cooked what we call soft tacos (I've recently been told there's a more accurate name for this recipe).
Soft Tacos: scramble hamburger meat in skillet, in saucepan mix a can of tomato sauce with about 1/2 cup taco or picante sauce, in another saucepan heat an inch or two of oil
Dip a corn tortilla in hot oil for a few seconds, then dip it in tomato sauce mixture, place it on plate and fill with ground beef. Fill taco with cheese, onions and whatever else you might like on it. Fold over and top with more sauce.
The whole family was there for supper along with my nephew, Stephen and brother-in-law, Rocky. After supper and visiting a little while everyone scattered and my dear husband helped me clean up the kitchen. I was very grateful for his help. To all of you young mothers, enjoy those children while their at home. When they grow up and leave home it's very hard to get them all together at one time. So, even though I'm very tired, I'm savoring every minute of being with my kids and not looking forward to saying goodbye again. It's amazing the tasks involved in caring for them that used to seem so hard, now have become a priviledge.

Sunday Breakfast and Lunch

I love something simple and not too messy for Sunday morning. This is one of our favorites.

Snickerdoodle Coffee Cake

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

1 egg

Mix together all ingredients. Pour into greased and floured 8 or 9 inch square pan. Sprinkle top heavily with sugar for a crusty top. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

No, this is not a health food, but, I usually substitute half whole wheat flour and part honey or brown sugar for the white sugar and then just hope the cinnamon counteracts the sugar in my system.

Beef Roast:

After I had the coffee cake in the oven I put a roast, seasoned with seasoning salt in a Reynolds Oven Bag that was coated with flour. (you can also put potatoes and carrots in the bag with the roast but I didn't have any) When the cake came out the roast went in at 375 degrees. I put some green beans in the crock pot with some bacon and beef boillon. Made tea. Before I left for church I turned the oven to 200 degrees. After church all I had left was make mashed potatoes(instant) and gravy with the broth from the roast, and slice the bread. Clean up was not quiet as easy but, the fellowship makes it worth it.

Our Favorite Sunday Meal

On Sundays I normally prepare a large dinner (lunch for some) and have company over after church. Last Sunday my brother-in-law commented that he didn't know how I found time to do it. Well, today we had our favorite, corned beef brisket with cabbage and here's how I did it. Last night I chopped up 2 heads of cabbage and put it in a plastic bag and back in the fridge. This morning, first thing I did when I got up was get out 2 crockpots. I put a large corned beef brisket, that you buy with the seasoning packet in with it, in the larger pot and a smaller brisket(just in case) in the other pot. I put as much cabbage as would fit on top of both, put the lid on, and turned them on high. Before I left I threw a couple of tea bags in a pot of boiling water, turned it off and left for church. When I returned home I finished making the tea, made some instant potatoes(which I only do on Sunday), and lunch was ready. Actually, today my car wouldn't start when I came out of church so my daughter put the finishing touches on lunch thanks to her. And, my mom brought over a wonderful cake that she could never give me the recipe for because she never makes a cake the same way twice.

Who Likes Mincemeat?

My mother always makes mincemeat pie at Christmas. This year she was going to be out of town until Christmas afternoon, so she gave me the little box of mincemeat. Okay, this is not my favorite dessert, therefore, it was not real high on my already long list of things to bake. I have been staring at that box ever since, thinking there's got to be an edible way to not let it go to waste. That's where the internet comes in handy. I found this recipe on http://www.fitnessandfreebies.com/ and it's actually, really good and low fat. It's for cookies, but, it was late and after the first batch it became a cake. It's good either way. Here it is:

Mincemeat Drop Cookies Low Fat Recipe

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup mincemeat prepared (inst. on box)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Cream oil and sugar 'til fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add mincemeat and mix well. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. Mix well. Stir into creamed mixture. Drop by rounded teaspoon on greased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 18-20 minutes. Optional-I added a little cinnamon and about 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Everythings better with nuts (my opinion).