Monday, March 30, 2020

Cook Once, Make Multiple Meals


Cook.  Clean.  Cook.  Clean.  At times it feels like my current life is the movie “Groundhog Day” or a hamster wheel or the back of shampoo bottle: lather, rinse, repeat.  I found it challenging in my “previous” life to come up with creative meals on a given week.  Now I have to be creative AND plan a week in advance to minimize the number of times I am at the grocery store or if you are ordering for delivery, most grocery stores are a scheduling a week out.

Chicken may not be a creative ingredient but you can cook a bunch of it and use it for so many recipes so cook once, make multiple meals and jump off the hamster wheel just for a little bit.  Bake, roast, boil or buy a rotisserie chicken.

You can roast/bake a full chicken or just a chicken breast: roast chicken.  Or boil chicken in water and make a chicken broth (and/or chicken soup).  With the chicken cooked from either method above, you have started the base for any of the recipes below.  

Now with all of your free time, do a load of laundry.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Making the Most Out of What You Have


Well this is different.  Different can be good and inspiring or unnerving and out of control.  "Adversity does not build character, it reveals it." - James Lane Allen  

I am trying to practice social distancing but my family keeps emerging at meal times and wants to be fed. 

Our lives are usually so busy running from school to sports to everything else, I try to plan meals and have ingredients in the refrigerator.  Now I have to plan out meals to minimize the number of times we go to the grocery store and to maximize what we have in the refrigerator and/or pantry.

Here are some recipes that might help you use canned or frozen foods that are in your house already  - - or perhaps it will help you build a grocery list for your next trip and which will last for a while if you don’t want to eat it right away.  

Whatever your intent or plan, stay safe – be well – reach out to a friend.

  • Ranch Style Chili – Ranch Style beans + canned tomatoes + ground beef or turkey (which can be frozen and thawed when you are ready to cook)
  • Black Bean, Corn and Feta Dip – canned black beans and corn + feta – any chip will do Tostitos Scoops, Frito Scoops, pita chips
  • Chicken Pot Pie – try it with frozen vegetables plus you might have a 2nd pie crust leftover for raspberry mini pies
  • Corn Chowder – frozen corn works well + a russet potato
  • Raspberry Muffins – dig into your stash of frozen raspberries and a boxed muffin mix
  • Blackberry Cobbler – use some frozen blackberries + flour, sugar, eggs and butter
  • Banana Bread – don’t let those bananas go bad – make some bread or freeze the bananas and add to a smoothie
  • Smoothie 1 or Smoothie 2 – create your own blend using your favorite frozen fruits like strawberries, raspberries, mango, pineapple, bananas + yogurt + juice
  • Pumpkin Bread - grab a can of pumpkin and make your house smell like fall and winter

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Raspberry Mini-Pies


It’s Pi day – March 14 or 3.14 – so let’s make and eat pie (I can come up with lots of excuses).  Best part is, this is the same filling as the raspberry turnovers!  Super easy and super transferrable – pick your dough.  

We have featured some great pies over the years.  Check these out for pie alternatives:


Ingredients

  • 1 box of pie crust
  • 2 cups of raspberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 1/2 tablespoons water
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 ounces cream cheese, optional
  • 1 large egg, beaten, + 1 tablespoon water
  • Sugar for sprinkling (regular or coarse)

Combine the raspberries, sugar, the dissolved cornstarch, and vanilla.  In a small pot, heat over medium heat until the berries begin to breakdown.  The sauce will thicken quickly after about 4-6 minutes over the heat.  When thick, remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll one of the pie doughs out on a lightly floured surface until about 1/8 inch thick (truthfully, who can measure that thin?)  Use a 5 inch round cookie cutter (or the lid to my blender was 5”) to cut out as many rounds as you can.  Repeat with the remaining dough round,, gather the dough scrap and reroll as necessary to get 8 rounds.

Here's a decision: do you make pure, raspberry-only pies?  Or do you add a little twist via a teaspoon of cream cheese + raspberry filling?  Our taste test team liked both!  You can either put 1-2 tablespoons of raspberry filling in each dough round OR put about a teaspoon of cream cheese + 1 tablespoon of raspberry filling in each dough round.  Fold the dough over into a crescent and crimp the edge with a fork.  Repeat with remaining pie dough rounds.  Place on lined baking sheets.  Brush the filled pies with the egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, and then cut small vents into the pies.  Bake pies for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.


Thursday, March 12, 2020

Raspberry Turnover


In a moment of weakness (and hunger), I succumbed to the temptation at the checkout stand: a Mrs. Baird’s cherry pie.  I ate it on the car ride home and stealthily disposed of the wrapper.  All the while I could imagine David’s lecture (and until now, he doesn’t know about my secret, but he will when he gets around to reading this post.  Let’s see how long it takes.)  I started researching pie recipes that didn’t include using pie filling from a can.  We worked our way through various recipes including cherry and blackberry.  Raspberry was the clear winner, although I will continue the research because I think a few tweaks will create some tasty alternative fillings.

So the next time you are at the store (stocking up on toilet paper and wondering if the supply of Wet Ones has been replenished), purchase these items and keep them in your freezer.  You might need an activity one day if you are quarantined.

Ingredients

  • 1 box of frozen puff pastry 
  • 2 cups of raspberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 1/2 tablespoons water
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 large egg, beaten, or 2 teaspoons milk
  • Sugar for sprinkling (regular or coarse)

Thaw the puff pastry.  Combine the raspberries, sugar, the dissolved cornstarch, and vanilla.  In a small pot, heat over medium heat until the berries begin to breakdown.  The sauce will thicken after about 4-6 minutes over the heat.  When thick, remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Unroll the pastry sheet, roll it out a bit, and cut into 9 squares (like a tic tac toe board) (or if you want larger turnovers, cut into 4 squares).  Place 1-1 ½ tablespoons of filling (if you are making the smaller turnovers; 2-3 tablespoons for the larger size) in the middle of the square.  Fold the puff pastry over to create a triangle and then seal the edges with a fork.  Brush the tops with an egg + water wash (or you can use a milk wash) and sprinkle with sugar.  Cut a few slits in the top of each turnover.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cool on a rack.  Pat yourself on the back and refer to yourself as Mrs. Baird Jr.