Fill the Freezer

Inspired by a couple of blogs I frequent, mostly this one, I decided to make a bunch of food this afternoon to fill up my freezer with meals and add-ons for the next few weeks.

Here's how it went:

Round 1: roast & shred chicken breasts for chicken noodle soup & lentil barley soup, make honey whole wheat bread dough & let it rise

Round 2: pinto beans for Henry into the pressure cooker, batter for whole wheat waffles (had a little helper to crack the eggs), brown meat for sweet & sour pork (recipe below) & latin american pork stew

Round 3: cook waffles, saute veggies & make sauce for sweet & sour pork, form bread into loaves and let it rise again, make & bake whole wheat banana muffins (recipe below),

Round 4: chop veggies & finish chicken noodle soup (dinner tonight), bake bread, package all food into bags and containers for freezing.

In between the rounds there were boys to feed, diapers to change, boy to pick up from school, naps to give, and loads of dishes to wash, but to have that much food in the freezer at the end of the afternoon was very fulfilling and also exhausting. I would definitely recommend it.

**I prefer to make my whole wheat bread into mini loaves, as opposed to large ones because I can just pull out one loaf from the freezer, slice it, and it is just the amount our family eats for one meal.

**And in case you're interested, here are the recipes as promised. I added asparagus into my sweet & sour pork instead of peppers, because it was on sale at the grocery store today.

Banana Whole Wheat Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar (could substitute sucanat)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup mashed banana

1/2 cup applesauce

1/3 cup oil

1/4 cup oats

Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients, bake 350 degrees--mini-muffins, 13 minutes, large muffins, 15 mins. Yield: about 28 mini-muffins or 14 large muffins

Sweet & Sour Chicken or Pork

2-3 boneless chicken breasts or pork loin chops, cut into small pieces, seasoned well with salt and pepper

2 carrots, sliced

1 onion, sliced

1 red or green pepper, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small can pineapple chunks

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

2/3 cup water

1 1/2 Tbsp. oil

1/3 cup vinegar

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

Brown seasoned meat in oil, remove from pan. Saute carrots, onions, peppers in oil with salt and pepper until barely soft, add garlic and cook one minute. Add meat back into pan and turn off heat.

In another sauce pan, combine sugar and cornstarch and whisk in water. Add oil, vinegar & soy sauce. Turn on heat and cook until thick and clear (about 3 mins), stirring continuously.

Pour sauce over veggie/meat mixture, add pineapple.

Eat right away over rice, or put into freezer container and freeze for up to 2 months.

Defrost in fridge, heat until bubbly.

Recipe Linkage

Here are a few recipes I've made over the past weeks that should be shared.

**I'm trying to incorporate more fish into our weekly menus for the non-fish-loving residents of my house very gradually so as not to make them hate it more. I thought this recipe was a good way to do it. Henry and I both loved it, and everyone else ate it, but didn't love it, except Owen, who wouldn't even taste it, but that's okay with me. I used the trader joe's boneless canned salmon, added a little bit of dill, and mixed up a little tartar sauce with mayo, zucchini relish, lemon pepper and onion powder to serve on top.

**Also, made these whole wheat waffles for a weekend breakfast. I added ground up flax seed for some omega-3s, which made it nuttier and I doubled it and froze the rest to put in the toaster oven for future breakfasts--much better than an eggo, I would say.

**Tried my hand at whole wheat hamburger buns. The recipe is a little involved, but worth it and next time I will also double it and freeze the rest.

**This quick macaroni and cheese recipe will make you re-think ever buying a boxed mac-n-cheese again. It is unbelievably simple and relatively cheap and contains no processed anything. I made it with whole wheat spirals and extra sharp cheddar, but next time might try it with a mix of different stinky cheeses--asiago, parmesan and cheddar perhaps to give it even a little more bite. My boys loved this. It doesn't replace a good, homemade mac-n-cheese with a roux and some add-ins, but is a great option to make instead of the boxed variety for a quick dinner.

These last three recipes came from this recently discovered website. If you have any interest in using less refined sugar and more whole wheat flour in your baking, this woman has figured it out and has an unbelievable recipe archive. Most of her recipes call for 100 percent whole wheat flour, and she offers suggestions on ways to prepare it to make it easier to digest, and less dense.

I've only just begun to incorporate these ideas into my own baking and cooking, but hope that eventually for me it will be second nature to use all whole grains all the time.

New salad to share

My mom has been telling me to eat quinoa for a couple of years, but for some reason I haven't had much interest until now. If you're not familiar with it, quinoa is a grain that is unusually high in protein (16ish percent, as compared to rice which is about 7ish percent). It is very tiny, but expands to four times its original size after cooking. It has a nutty taste and a texture slightly more gummy than rice.

The reason I became interested lately is because I have been looking for high-protein foods to feed Henry, and quinoa is really a perfect baby food, as it is small, chewy and easily digested. For him, I have been mixing it with mashed up veggies or applesauce. So far he loves it.

My interest in quinoa also peaked recently due to a salad that I tried from the deli at our local Whole Foods-type store, Market of Choice, which was made of quinoa, feta cheese, tomatoes, red onion, and chopped up fresh spinach. I really wanted to figure out the dressing so I could make it at home.

So here is my best guess. It tasted very similar and was delicious.

Quinoa Salad

3/4 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup chopped spinach

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

2 Tbsp. canola oil

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. rice vinegar

juice of one lemon

salt and pepper

1) Rinse quinoa well before cooking, or it could taste bitter. Bring water and quinoa to boil, add a pinch of salt and lower heat. Simmer with lid on for 20 minutes.

2) Whisk oils, rice vinegar, & lemon juice in small bowl. Mix warm quinoa, spinach, red onion, feta and tomatoes in medium bowl and toss with dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate to allow flavors to marinate and serve cold.

***this makes a lot of dressing--you may want to save a little to moisten the salad when serving, as the warm quinoa tends to absorb much of the liquid.

What's for dinner?

I checked out this book from the library to get some new dinner ideas and the first one I made was delicious. The book is full of all kinds of stews and casserole-type meals which is just what I always want to eat at this time of year.

This one is a Latin American Pork Stew and what made it so good was the combination of pork, sweet potatoes and cilantro. Even Jeff who hates cilantro loved it in this stew. I think it's because cooked cilantro has a more subtle flavor than fresh.

We ate it with corn tortillas steamed for one minute in wet paper towels in the microwave. I also ate it with raw cabbage, but that won't surprise anyone that knows me. I eat cabbage with everything.

Latin American Pork Stew

4 servings

olive oil

2 large pork loin chops (or whatever pork you want), cut into small pieces

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

3/4 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 cup chicken broth

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1) Preheat oven to 350. Heat olive oil and brown seasoned pork pieces. Transfer to baking dish with a lid.

2) Cook onion in pan drippings for about 5 minutes then add garlic and cook for one minute longer.

3) Add tomatoes, cilantro, cumin, salt, coriander, cayenne and chicken broth. Heat to boiling, then add to baking dish with pork. Cover and bake 15 minutes.

4) Stir in sweet potatoes; cover and bake 30 minutes longer. Stir in black beans, cover and bake an additional 15 minutes.

I'm sure you could also do this in the slow cooker and add potatoes and beans at the end.

Comfort food at its finest

This was never meant to be a food blog, although I do have love affairs with both cooking and eating, so it seems natural to post a great recipe now and then.

Here is a dish I made last night that definitely ought to be shared. It is a delicious vegetarian main dish, but is not by any means a very healthy, diet friendly one. But since it's loaded with so many veggies, they might just cancel out the butter, cream, and cheese that make it so yum.

Roasted Veggie Pasta

the idea for the recipe originated from Taste of Home magazine, but has been modified quite a bit by yours truly

1 zucchini, sliced

1 yellow squash, sliced

1/2 red onion, cut in large pieces

1/2 red pepper, cut in large pieces

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1/2 lb. asparagus, cut in 2-inch pieces

olive oil

kosher salt and pepper

1/2 lb. fusilli pasta

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. flour

1 cup cream (half & half would also do fine)

1 cup canned diced tomatoes (you could also use fresh)

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 cups shredded gruyere cheese (I also added a bit of sharp cheddar)

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1) Cover a large sheet pan with foil. Toss all veggies generously with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread on the pan. (Do not add the asparagus until the last 5 minutes)Roast at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.

2) While veggies are roasting, boil water and cook fusilli until barely al dente. (It will continue to cook in the oven, so don't overcook it at this early stage). Drain.

3) In large saucepan melt butter and whisk in flour. Cook for one minute, then whisk in cream, tomatoes and garlic powder (you can use 1 clove of fresh garlic, but might want to sautee it a bit with the butter first). Simmer until thickened, then remove from heat and mix in cheeses. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4) Mix cheese sauce with pasta and veggies, pour in casserole dish and sprinkle on more parmesan cheese if desired. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Serves 4.

The original recipe called for fontina cheese, but I had gruyere in my fridge, so I used that instead. There are so many other veggies that would be really good in this recipe--butternut squash, cherry tomatoes, or mushrooms are a few I thought of. It might even be good with a little fresh basil added to the cream sauce.

Enjoy.

What's for dinner?

Remember this goal? (#2)

Having discovered another delicious way to use whole wheat flour, I thought I'd share it here.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

(makes enough dough for 2 pizzas)

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 packets (or 1 tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp.) yeast
3 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups white flour
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
drizzle of olive oil

1. Add yeast and sugar to warm water in bowl of mixer. Mix and let sit for a couple minutes until foamy.
2. Add salt, oil, and flour until you get a soft dough. Knead with dough hook, or by hand, for a few minutes until dough is soft and pliable.
3. Cover and let rise for 15-20 mins. Split the dough in half if you're only making one pizza. Freeze the other half for dinner another night.
4. Roll out and put on toppings. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 mins.


You can substitute any amount of wheat flour for white flour that you desire. We have tried many different ratios and like the one listed in the recipe the very best.

Now with a freezer full of shredded mozzarella cheese, pizza sauce, and pepperoni, pizza is our family's go-to meal about once-a-week. We're pretty boring--sticking to pepperoni most times, but occasionally we change it up with bbq sauce, grilled chicken, cilantro, and red onions. Yum.

It's very homemade looking--but pretty tasty.

**My sister recently tried making this dough and found that her wheat flour didn't have great flavor perhaps because it was too old or had gone a little rancid. If you live in a warm or humid climate, you may want to keep your whole wheat flour in the freezer. You might also substitute whole wheat pastry flour for a smoother dough.