make it stretch

Make it stretch seems like an odd title for a food blog. Today I want to talk to you about how to make your food, and ultimately your dollar, go farther. There are so many ways to take one meal and turn it into another. All you really need is your imagination (and possibly a strong stomach).

Let's start with your basic pinto beans. You make a pot of beans.. after a meal store your beans. The reason will come shortly. Save your cornbread too.

You make some spaghetti. Don't mix your sauce and your pasta. Reason to come shortly.

You can combine your spaghetti sauce and your beans, add some bell pepper, onions, chili powder, and cumin and turn those two meals into a pot of chili.

You can also take the beans and some chili and turn that into a mexican dish.
Sloppy Joe's can turn into spaghetti, then turn the spaghetti into chili.

Take some mashed potatoes leftover. Start a pot of potato soup (using less potatoes than normal) add the mashed potatoes and it becomes a creamier potato soup!  Mashed potatoes can also be used to make potato pancakes. Or... mix with cheese and herbs, roll into balls dipped in flour and deep fry for a crispy potato ball.

The cornbread. I save my cornbread in the freezer throughout the year. It is great to thaw out and re-use for another pot of beans. It is even better to save up and use for stuffing.

This is a start for how to stretch your food. Think about some of the main ingredients in different dishes and which have the same flavor type. Adding one or two simple ingredients can change the dish to make something new. Doing this will help keep your family from getting bored with the same ol leftovers and really helps to stretch that ever shrinking dollar.

The Stuffing

My daughter called me today and wanted the family stuffing recipe so I thought I would put it on here with the side dishes for Thanksgiving. Stuffing is another one of those dishes that you can change up in varying ways. Go with your taste and experiment a little at a time.

Sausage Stuffing

1 bag bread crumbs or leftover cornbread crumbled

1 pkg. Sausage cooked, crumbled, drained

3 stalks celery, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 box chicken stock in a box + ½ of another OR 1 ½ qt turkey stock made from giblets & neck

sage about 2 tsp.
thyme 2 tsp.

poultry seasoning 2 tsp.

salt & pepper to taste

water chestnuts, diced

• cranberries, raisins, nuts, apples can all be added also

Brown the sausage and remove from grease. Cook the onion and celery in the sausage grease just until soft. (If not much grease you can add a little butter to the pan before sauteeing)

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix together until wet. You will want your mix to be wet without swimming in it and just enough to keep it from drying out in the oven. Put into an oven safe dish and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.

As always...

Happy cooking and good eating!

another side

Broccoli Rice Casserole

1 10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped broccoli, cooked and drained

1 can cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery, cheddar cheese, cream of broccoli... I prefer the cheese soup for more cheesy flavor.

1 egg, beaten

1/2 c. mayonnaise

2 tbsp. minced onion

1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese

1 cup cooked white rice

Salt and pepper, to taste

Topping:

1 1/2 to 2 c. Ritz crackers, crumbled

2 tbsp. Butter

Mix broccoli, soup, and other casserole ingredients together. Pour into buttered dish. Mix crackers and butter together. Sprinkle on top.

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Sides

With Thanksgiving approaching I thought I would post a couple of side dishes. I am going to start with one that I did not long ago and just happened to be telling someone about yesterday. If you are tired of the same old (but good) mashed potatoes, then change them up a bit.

Potatoes 1 - 1 1/2 potatoes per person
Leeks 1 bunch
(cauliflower) about 3 or 4 large flowers cut into small pieces
water - enough to cover the top of the potatoes
salt & pepper
butter - 2 tbsp.

*There are two ways to do this.

Cut your potatoes just like you would normally do. Get your pot of water on to boil.

* Either put the potatoes and cauliflower into the boiling water - or-
  Cut the leeks and soak in  cold water - add half to the water with the potatoes after soaking.

Boil for approx 10 minutes or until the potatoes just get soft. Drain the water off and return to pot or put into a mixing bowl. Beat or mash (I prefer a hand masher) the potatoes and cauliflower or leeks. Add the butter, salt, & pepper. Mix well. If using the leeks, add the remaining cut leeks after all mashed and blend into mashed potatoes.

For creamier potatoes add in about 1/4 cup milk and mix well.
Here is a picture of the potatoes with leeks.

I will post other sides in the next couple of days.

Happy Cooking and Good Eating!

Soup

Today is a little cool and the rain is supposed to be coming in this afternoon. Then I believe it is going to be wet and cooler for a few days. I am making some soup for tonight. It's a very simple chicken, vegetable, noodle soup.

1 Stock pot of water
2 tbsp chicken stock (powder kind) or instead of the water you can use 2 boxes of chicken stock in a box.
1 medium onion - diced
2 stalks of celery - diced
3-4 carrots - diced or you may use the baby carrots and just cut in half. (up to you how much you use)
2-3 cloves of garlic - minced
chicken - raw, rotisserie, or canned
Egg noodles

Toss all into pot and bring to a boil for about 45 min. Add in about 2 tsp of poultry seasoning and some ground black pepper.

You can either use the canned chicken (like for chicken salad) or use rotisserie chicken from the store broken up into pieces.

You can also cut up pieces of raw chicken when putting all the veggies in and let the chicken cook with the vegetables.

When the vegetables and chicken are cooked through it is time for the noodles. There are two ways of doing this.
1) Cook your noodles in a separate pot and add noodles to your bowl when you are ready. This way keeps the noodles from getting too soggy and turning to mush in your bowl. Just cook the amount you need for the moment.
2) Add the noodles to the pot 7-8 minutes prior to turning off heat.

* optional -  I like to sprinkle in a little basil at the end for added flavor.

Serve it up with your favorite crackers or nice big hunk of fresh bread.

Happy cooking and good eating!

I feel like chicken tonight

I have some chicken cutlets and was thinking and thinking of different ways to prepare it. I finally decided on tonight's dinner menu. It's my spin off menu.
chicken cutlets laid out flat. I topped each with some fresh spinach leaves, fresh basil leaves, a couple slices of thinly cut ham, and some mozzarella cheese. Then I rolled each one up and held them secure with 2 toothpicks. I made a sauce with butter, flour, milk, dijon mustard, regular mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. I put sauce in the bottom of my baking dish, put the chicken on top, then topped off the chicken with more sauce. Then bake it in the oven at 375. (can't say how long to bake it since it is still cooking).
To go with it I have some baby carrots boiling in water with a little honey, and some whole wheat penne pasta with green peas.

Happy cooking and good eating!

cooking for the family

I have enjoyed cooking for my family for many years now. My children are all grown and some with families of their own. Since they all moved out I had to cut down on the amount of food I cook. My husband pointed out to me that I was making way too much and it was either being thrown away or stored in the freezer until the freezer burn forced me to throw it away. *sigh* Ok, I cut back and began to cook for just us two with maybe enough for 1 night of leftovers.
Now when the kids come home for a visit I am frantic with worrying whether or not I am making enough food for everyone. I think I should adopt some kids or take in boarders or something just so I can continue cooking larger amounts.
This morning my daughter and her family headed back to SC after spending a few days visiting. It was a nice visit with all of them.  As with all family visits it is really nice to see family and bittersweet when they leave. This afternoon we got a call that one of our sons was coming for a quick visit before heading back home and would arrive at the house shortly before dinner time. I had something laid out for me and my husband that would be just enough for two for one night. Quickly I had to scramble and decide what to fix that would feed the two of us and our son and his girlfriend. Chili to the rescue!

Brown some ground beef. Dice one medium size onion and one medium size bell pepper. Peel and dice or grate 2 small cloves of garlic. Toss it all in with the beef until the veggies are soft and the beef is cooked through. Add in 1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed and about 1 1/2 cups of pinto beans. Add in one 8 oz. can of diced tomatoes, 4-5 cups of water, and about 3 - 4 tbsp of tomato paste. Season it with salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder. I also add in a spoonful of sugar to help cut the acid in the tomatoes.

Let it all come to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Let is slow cook for about 20 min. Add in some oregano, stir well, and taste it for flavor. If you need to add any of the spices this is the time to add more.

Serve it with crackers or some fresh made cornbread. Perfect for a cold night.

Comfort food

My husband told me the other day that he really enjoys my cooking. Then he said he would love it if I made more "comfort" foods. He has a list of foods that he grew up with and it is pretty much what I grew up with too.
Today I spent time running errands and ended up not getting home until almost 5. Not having a lot of time to prepare something I decided to go with some comfort food.
Dinner Menu for tonight:

Meatloaf
Mashed potatoes
Sweet green peas
Homemade gravy
and some store bought rolls


Meatloaf:
Ground Beef
diced onions
diced bell pepper
1 egg
worcestershire sauce
Ketchup
bread crumbs
salt & pepper
garlic powder

Now, I don't measure anything hardly ever so you will just have to use your judgement on this one. It really depends on the size of the loaf you are making as to how much you use. Mix it all together and place it into a baking dish and form it into a log (or whatever shape you want). Bake it at 350 for about an hour uncovered.

Mashed potatoes:
Peel and cut 4 - 5 medium potatoes into approx. 2 inch cubes. Put into salted boiling water and boil for about 10 minutes. Check the potatoes at about 8 min. in to see if they are soft. Drain the water and put the potatoes back into the hot pot (this helps to remove excess moisture). Add some butter, salt & pepper and mash. Add in about 1/3 cup milk and mash again. Add some parsley for garnish.

Peas:
put water in pot and bring to boil. Add 1 tbsp sugar and pinch of salt & pepper. Add 1 tbsp butter. Add in frozen peas. Boil about 3 - 5 min. remove from heat and serve.

rolls:
go to deli department of grocery store and pick up a bag of whatever looks freshest!

ENJOY!