Thursday, November 18, 2010

A peek into my freezer

Well, not really a peek, as I'm too tired to get up, take an actual photo of the inside of my freezer, and upload it. This is just a list of all the meals that I am working on cooking and freezing to have in stock for after the baby is born. But once I am all done, I will post a picture of it all.

We really have two fridges/freezers. I have emptied one of the freezers completely by moving everything that was in it into the other freezer. That way all the precooked foods will be in one spot and easy to find.

There are two lists of meals - breakfasts and dinners, which are the two meals I cook every day. For lunch, we almost always have leftovers from the previous night's dinner (I make a double batch of everything so there is plenty of food for two meals). It saves me having to cook in the mornings, which are reserved for school work or urgent errands. 

The items in bold are the ones that are already made and frozen. Almost all of them I was able to cook up in the last couple of days, and hope to be done with all the cooking by the end of the week. Solomon has been my kitchen helper - voluntarily, he just really enjoys helping me cook and learning how to do it. Some lucky wife one day will have a husband who knows how to cook!

Obviously, some stuff like eggs, fruit, salads etc. will have to be prepared fresh before eating - I'm just talking about making the parts of the meal that can be prepared ahead of time.

Breakfasts

Granola over yogurt with fresh fruit
Cinnamon raisin toast
Toast and eggs, fresh fruit
Oatmeal (pre-mixed and measured) 
Cereal
Rolls w/ ham and eggs
English muffins w/ ham and eggs

Breakfast burritos
Quesadillas
Granola
Ham and cheese quiche
Oatmeal cake
Smoothies (banana, blackberry, strawberry),
toast
Cinnamon rolls w/ cream cheese frosting
Peanut butter banana muffins
Chocolate chip banana muffins
Pumpkin spice cake w/ cream cheese frosting
Oatmeal cookies
Oatmeal waffles
Lemon poppy seed muffins

Dinners

Tacos
Spaghetti, garlic bread & salad
Sloppy Joes, baby carrots
Battered fish filets w/ mashed potatoes and mixed veggies
Salmon burgers w/ oven-baked potatoes

Fajitas
Vegetable beef soup w/ barley, bread sticks
Chicken soup w/ French bread
Chicken pot pie
Chicken enchiladas
Chicken and dumplings
Beef goulash & spaetzle, tomato salad
Ham and split pea soup, buttered bread
BBQ shredded pork sandwiches, corn
Pizza
Zuppa Toscana
Mandarin Chicken and Orange Chicken w/ Chow Mein
Lasagna, garlic bread, green beans
Leek and Potato Soup w/ saltines

Nothing too exciting, just our usual everyday fare. If I am not posting as much this week, it is probably because I am in the kitchen. :)

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Recipe for cinnamon raisin bread

Found this recipe here and loved it so much I wanted to share it. I did make a couple of changes in the below recipe from the original, such as using whole wheat flour in place of the all-purpose, and mixing the cinnamon-sugar into the dough rather than sprinkling it on and rolling the loaves up. I figured that would make it easier to slice the loaves without them falling apart, which it did. I also lowered the oven temperature and shortened the baking time, after several reviews on the original recipe mentioned that the loaves would otherwise start turning too dark.

The loaves came out wonderfully moist and fragrant. Even using 100% whole wheat, they were easy to slice, even thinly, without crumbling. This recipe has been added to my stash of all-time favorite staple recipes.

This is enough to make three loaves - one to eat fresh out of the oven, one to have for breakfast the next day, and one to freeze or give away!


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup boiling water
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup raisins
8 cups whole wheat flour (or all-purpose, or both)
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions:
1. Mix milk and boiling water in mixing bowl to get a lukewarm milk-water-mixture.
2. Dissolve yeast in warm milk-water-mixture, and set aside until yeast is frothy. Mix in eggs, sugar, butter, salt, raisins, and cinnamon. Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough.
3. Knead dough in mixer or by hand on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes. Place in a large, greased, mixing bowl, and turn to grease the surface of the dough. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled.
4. Punch dough down, cut into thirds, shape each into a loaf and tuck under ends. Place loaves into well greased 9 x 5 inch pans. Lightly grease tops of loaves. Let rise again for 1 hour.
5. Bake at 325 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 35-45 minutes, or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when knocked. Remove loaves from pans, and immediately brush with melted butter. Let cool before slicing.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Yummy soup for fall

We had this for dinner tonight, and it was so delicious! I came up with the recipe as I went, trying to incorporate/use a lot of the veggies I had sitting in the fridge. ~ The type of stuff that comes in our  co-op basket and doesn't get used up right away because nobody much cares for it. 

The soup was definitely much better than the sum of its parts!! I'll call this recipe...
 
Autumn's Bounty Soup


2 tbsp butter
1/2 large onion
2-3 cloves garlic
8-10 cups broth (chicken, beef, and/or vegetable)
2 stalks celery
2 large carrots
1 head cauliflower
1 butternut squash
3-5 potatoes
1 bunch kale
1 lb bulk Italian sausage
1 cup heavy cream, half and half, or whole milk
salt
pepper
curry powder
nutmeg
thyme
vegetable bouillon cube, Vegeta, or something similar

1. Wash, peel and/or dice all vegetables.

2. In a large pot, sautee onion and garlic until translucent and fragrant. Add broth, and all other vegetables except for the kale.

3. Cover and simmer gently until vegetables are tender, about 30 to 45 minutes. Next, use a potato masher or stick blender to mash the ingredients a little without pureeing them.

4. While soup is simmering, cook up sausage in a frying pan, breaking it into small pieces. When soup is ready, add sausage. Remove pot from heat, and gently stir in cream.

5. Season to taste with spices. You will only need tiny bits of each, as the broth and seasonings in the sausage will already give the soup a lot of flavor. Add bouillon cube or Vegeta for additional flavor, if you like.

6. Stir torn pieces of kale into soup. Serve with hot buttered French bread on the side. Enjoy!