72 Eggs, Scrambled

What do you do when your hens are producing 10 eggs a day? You find recipes that use up lots of eggs! We decided to make breakfast burritos.

Recipe:

6 dozen eggs, scrambled
3 pounds sausage, browned
Onions
Green Peppers
Cheese (we used 1/2 slice of American cheese but shredded works too.)
Tortillas
Aluminum Foil

Next time, I'll know to not try to cook all the sausage and eggs all at once. Or, I need to find commercial sized pans and stove to cook on!

The kids can easily pop 1 in the microwave for a minute ~ 2 for 1.5 minutes. We like ours with salsa and sour cream. Our recipe made 80+ burritos. Had we had more tortillas, we'd have come close to 100 burritos. But, we decided to make breakfast bowls out of the leftovers. Delish! Next time, we may add shredded potatoes or more veggies.

Next up, Egg Noodles (frozen & dehydrated) & Batches of French Toast for the Freezer

If you find yourself with a lot of eggs, try some of these links to recipes using a lot of eggs.

Cinco De Mayo

Thanks to my web friends for providing recipes for tonight's feast. We are not Mexican ~ although I was an exchange student to Mexico City in high school ~ and after touring that beautiful country, I often times wish I still lived there. Let's not debate that remark - just know that there are some incredibly beautiful places, free of signs, telephone poles, wires & consumerism etc that I fell in love with. Plus, it's warm & sunny. Unlike here, where it's chilly and cloudy and I'd swear it was October.

Anyway, on with the link love:

My frugal resolve caused me to buy a large bag of pinto beans for $1.59 instead of the can of fat free beans for $.65. I used a fabulous recipe from a Year of Crock Potting and next time, I'll definitely double it so we can have beans in the freezer.

J&J have a really good tortilla recipe and tortilla chips too!

Plus I made some taco seasoned ** hamburger and we are cracking open the very last jar of salsa made with last summer's produce. *SOB* It seems like fresh tomatoes are so far off in the distance.

We'll pull out the fabulous blanket (pictured above) that I brought back from Mexico and have a little carpet picnic. Ole!

**I do think that he meant to put 1/2 tsp on the cumin - as much as I love it, 12 tsps would've been a bit much. LOL

Chicken & Homemade Noodles over Mashed Potatoes

One of this year's goals is that I want to cook more from scratch to

• reduce the amount of manufactured food we consume
• reduce the amount of packaging we throw away
• make better tasting meals
• prove to myself that I can

This is the result of today's attempt:
Chicken with homemade noodles served over mashed potatoes.

Okay, first I browned chicken breasts in olive oil. I put them in a bowl to cool. I sauteed chopped onions, garlic, celery and carrots. Added a splash of white wine to deglaze the pan. Then, poured in 3 quarts of homemade broth plus chicken seasoning, salt, pepper and 2 bay leaves. I brought it to a boil, then turned down to simmer for 2 hours. I would've used a whole chicken, but I only had breasts left. (Later this year, I'll be able to use our home-grown chicken and veggies. But, I did use our home grown eggs.)

If you read my last post, I had found a website that showed how to make egg noodles. I like the idea of a pasta roller, but I don't have one. Rolling pin worked just fine! And, I found a different recipe that I wanted to try instead. It's pretty simple.

2 1/2 cups of flour
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1 T olive oil

Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Add the eggs, milk and oil. Mix the wet ingredients together and slowly incorporate the dry ingredients. After it's mixed well, knead for a few minutes, adding flour as needed to reduce stickiness. Divide dough in half. Roll out. Then, cut noodles. I had read on another site to roll the dough into a log, cut a long noodle and then cut into shorter pieces. At this point, you can let them dry, freeze them or just use them.

I turned the chicken "soup" to high to get a good rolling boil. Then, just dropped in the noodles. After a few minutes, I realized it wasn't going to thicken on it's own so I stirred in some cornstarch paste (cornstarch mixed with cold water.) It did thicken, but next time, I'm using less water.

Meanwhile, my mini-chef was peeling potatoes and discovered a heart shaped potato. Aww.

Once the potatoes were cooked, Jerry mashed them with butter, garlic salt and some cream. Then, we scooped some potatoes into the bowl, topped with chicken and noodles.

If you've ever been to the Kansas State Fair and had the church ladies chicken and noodles, you know the taste I was going for. I think I achieved it.

Oh, and for dessert, made from scratch yellow cake with chocolate butter cream frosting. I don't eat chocolate (don't like the taste, I KNOW it's weird - I hear that all the time) but the family all went back for seconds (and thirds) so it must've been good.

Found a new blog today

I was hunting for an egg noodle recipe - yeah, I know, it's basic cooking but I've never made my own noodles before. Anyway, I stumbled on this blog: How To Cook Like Your Grandmother.



And, while poking around, I found this: Eat Real Food.



I think I may be cooking several recipes off his site this week. First up, egg noodles!

Delish Dish

I love to eat pasta ~ especially pasta in a creamy, garlic sauce. Toss in some chicken and broccoli and I'm over the moon!

Last year, Olive Garden had a dish called Chicken con Broccoli. It was incredible. I rarely eat out, but on occasion, I had the good fortune to eat there and both times, I got that dish. It was a specialty item, so it's gone from the menu ~ and, with our current Dave Ramsey budget, it wouldn't matter ~ I don't splurge on dinner out anymore.

But, I still wanted that dish! I tried to remake it - but I'm not super good at figuring out the hidden ingredients or the spice combo. Saturday, at the chess tournament (1 more to go!) Stacy was surfing the net via her phone and we happened to be talking recipes. I mentioned that I'd tried to find one for this dish, but hadn't been successful... a few clicks and voila! She had it!

So, here it is - and yes, it was over the moon time for me! Exactly how I remembered it!

Chicken w/ Broccoli
I doubled the recipe for my family size and we had enough leftover for lunch the next day.

1.5 pounds of chicken breast, thinly sliced
2 tsp Olive Oil
4 oz dried Orecchiette pasta (I used a full pound)
1 c heavy cream
1/2 c chicken broth
4 T salted butter
2 tsp garlic, sliced
1/2 c shredded green onions
1 c sour cream
1 1/3 c broccoli, fresh, cut into small pieces
1 c sliced mushrooms
2 T flour (I used cornstarch instead)
2 T water
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp Garlic Salt
Salt & Pepper to taste
Shredded Parmesan Cheese (I left it out as we didn't have any)

1. Season chicken w/ Italian seasoning & garlic salt.
2. Cook in olive oil & garlic until brown.
3. Stir in mushrooms & green onions; cook 2-3 minutes.
4. Stir in broth and broccoli. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
5. Mix flour into water. Make sure there are no lumps (this is why I used cornstarch.)
6. Pour flour/water mixture into chicken, stirring until sauce thickens.
7. Slowly add butter, cream and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Cook on low heat while pasta cooks.
9. Drain pasta; add to sauce. Remove from heat. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.
10. Serve and Enjoy!
    

It seems like there are a lot of steps involved, but it went together in under 3o minutes. Everyone gave it a "10" and it's going onto the must have rotation. Oh, and I did use low fat sour cream because I bet the calorie count on this one is incredible!

Refried Bean Bread

This recipe comes from Dec/Jan 2009 issue of Healthy Cooking mag. It's a TOH spin off.

I'm not a bean fan. As a matter of fact, I only eat one kind of bean, the green bean. I don't even like jelly beans! When I read the recipe, I thought, no way can you use an entire can of refried beans in a bread and not have a bean flavor. Well, yes you can!

Southwest Surprise Bread

2 pkgs active dry yeast

2 cups warm 2% milk (110 to 115 degrees)

1 can (16 oz) fat free refried beans

2 TBS sugar

2 TBS butter, melted

2 tsp salt

5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour (I did half white, half wheat)

1. Dissolve yeast into milk. Add beans, sugar, butter & salt. Mix well. Add 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add in rest of flour to form a firm dough. (Well, mine wasn't firm, but I didn't want to overflour it either.)

2. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth & elastic - 6 to 8 min. Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat the top. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour.

With our cooler indoor temps, the warmest spot in the house is in the slightly preheated oven.

3. Punch dough down. Divide in half. Shape into loaves. Place into oiled loaf pans. Let rise 2nd time, about 30 min.

5. Bake at 350* for 40-45 min until golden brown. Remove from wire racks to cool.

It does make a softer bread and while there are bits of beans in it, there really isn't a bean taste to it. Yeah! I do like the fiber though - 1 slice is 104 calories, 1 g fat, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein. That's if each loaf is 16 slices each.

Food Co-ops

In the last week, I've been asked several times about the different food co-ops that my family buys from. So, I thought it might be helpful to others to share the info.

Years ago, we belonged to Heartland Shares, which had a basic food package plus add ons. The caveat to join was that you needed to do at least 2 hours of community service a week.

Now, we rotate thru 3 different ones. None of them have income guidelines, and only one has the volunteer requirement. My favorite one lets us buy a "pantry box" that is perfect for donating to food drives (seems like between Scouts, 4H and school, somebody is pilfering the pantry for a donation.) They all have a basic box plus add ons. Angel Food now has a Senior box which has fully cooked meal, nutrionally balanced that is just heat and serve. Our neighbor get this for his MIL and she has been really pleased with the variety.

We participate in Angel Food Ministries at Tyler Road Baptist Church, Prairie Land Food in Goddard and Share Colorado with a pick up at Salvation Army.

We have enjoyed everything (especially the fresh fruit and veggies in the winter). Our only complaint is that they all tend to deliver on the same day of the month, which can be pretty hectic! (It used to be that it was an every other week thing.) As one who dislikes shopping, I certainly appreciate having our groceries already boxed and ready to go. And, often times, there is some kind of extra treat on pick up day for the kids. Now, if I could find a local CSA to join....

If you have other programs that you know about, please share.

1st time Pie Maker

I've never made a pie crust ~ EVER! In fact, I don't even remember ever trying to bake a pie. I bake lots of other things, but pie has never been on the to-do list. We have a wonderful family owned restaurant here in town that makes the best pies ever ~ Strawberry Rhubarb is my fave. So, I never felt the need... until I read the easiest pie crust recipe ever by Tomato Lady. Thanks TL!!

For 16 years, my husband has pined for a home made pot pie. Since the first crust went together so nicely, I whipped up a turkey pot pie for him.

I think the proof is in the photos! I should've taken pix of the empty pie plates. This was truly an easy-to-make pie crust and just delish!

Oh, and the unique design on the top of the pot pie is compliements of the kids. For some reason, I couldn't roll a circular shape crust and I gave up. The left over, trimmed off dough was plopped on top for dad to enjoy ~ he said it was the best crust he's ever had. And, I got to finally use the pie pans I bought years ago.

Book Review: The Organic Food Shopper's Guide

I checked out the book from our library. I rarely buy books - I wouldn't have room to keep all the ones I read!

I was looking for a field guide to buying veggies. I just grabbed this off the shelf, not realizing that it was going to be a gem!

Okay, it's organized alphabetically. For each item, it lists when it's in season, varieties, how to select it, how to store & prepare it, nutritional highlights and what it goes good with, organic advantages and uses (ah! not just for cooking/eating!!) As a bonus, there are recipes galore!!

This book is going on the shopping list. I think it's something I'd love to have on hand while planning my garden as well as shopping. It's a smaller size so it'll tuck into a basket or purse.

For example, I'm on a quest to grow my own garlic after I tried my hand at making roasted garlic (super easy) for homemade hummus (also, super easy.) We hit the Farmer's Market and found the Garlic Lady (I wish I knew everyone's name, but I just call them by what they sell...) We bought 30 cloves of garlic. Some got roasted ~ YUM! Others went into the spaghetti sauce that I canned. The rest will be planted. I've got the spot ready, even have a ton of shredded paper.

So, that brings me to the book. I have no idea what kind of garlic I had. Until I read the book, I didn't recognize that there are 2 main types: hard-neck and soft-neck. Now, I know that I have white skinned, soft-neck garlic. So, I can check into other varieties next year.

What is even more amazing is to find out that once you find a type/kind of garlic you like, you can grow it from the original clove until you have the abundant bumper crop you need for eating and planting. (That I learned in another book ~ stay tuned.)

Thanks K's Dad

We have a wonderful family friend, K, who's dad is a fabulous gardener. Someday, I'm gonna grow up and be just like him. So when dad of K called her to offer her a bushel of apples, slightly spotty, she declined. Then dad & mom went on vacation.

She relayed the info to me and I immediately begged for the apples, spots and all. My garden produced, but not enough for me to be tired of canning, and I haven't done apples yet. So, she calls her folks on vacation and inquires if I may have the apples. Yes!

Now, we got the spotted orbs of goodness several weeks after picking, so some were a bit mushy, but we processed all we could, nibbling as we went. We fed the chicks some peelings, fed the worms some mush, fed the horses some cores and the rest we dumped into the compost bin.

I found a great recipe for cinnamon apple sauce and we made 7 quarts.

Does anyone else have kids who insist on eating what you just canned?! It doesn't matter if we have fresh stuff, they just want what's canned. It's like they cannot believe what we just made. So, we ended up eating 2 jars already. Sigh. At this rate, we will be staring at empty cupboards in November, except for salsa, which they do not eat with gusto.