Edamame (soy beans in the pod)

I read a long time ago on someone’s blog (I cannot remember whose), that Edamame was a perfect finger food for kids. I had never had Edamame, so I thought we would try it.

The food itself is extremely healthy and if you buy the frozen type in the pod, you only have to defrost it to eat it. This makes it a super easy and simple snack or side for any meal.

Tonight, I reintroduced Edamame to my boys. Bert liked it last time we had it, so I reminded him of this and showed him how to pop open the pod to expose the seed. In my opinion, Edamame have a nutty flavor, and Bert likes nuts…So, I made sure to remind him that they taste like nuts. He started eating them right away.

As you can see, he liked the Edamame. Please excuse my “shirtless” boys at the dinner table. I didn’t notice until they had already gotten dinner underway.

Ernie is not a fan of anything un-fruit-like. He still had fun learning how to open the Edamame. The green soybeans never once crossed his lips. He did get a math lesson in though…

Perfectly lined up and counted to 5! So, apparently Edamame doubles as a wonderful math manipulative.

In this household, 50% is passing when it comes to food. If I can get one kid to like and eat it, I'm happy. (kind of reminiscent of the Texas TAKS math test—well, I think they have to have a 65% or something…at one time it was 55% though).

You all have a wonderful day, and let me know how your kids like Edamame!

Freezer Chicken Tortilla Soup

Last night I wanted something quick and easy.  I had leftover fajita chicken from the other day, pinto beans in the freezer and homemade hot sauce in the freezer, and freezer cream of chicken soup.  From that, I made Freezer Chicken Tortilla soup!  It took about 20 minutes to defrost everything in the microwave, and about 10 minutes to cook!  Perfect Meal!!

Ingredients:

Cream of chicken soup from freezer (about 4 ladle-fulls)

Salsa from the freezer (about 2 cups)

Pinto Beans from freezer (about 4 ladle-fulls)

Fajita Chicken meat cubed (equivalent of a couple chicken breasts)

Tomato (diced)

salt (to taste)

pepper (to taste)

tortilla chips (a handful)

shredded cheddar cheese (a couple tablespoons)

Directions:

Dump it all in a pot except the last two ingredients.  Heat through.  Ladle into bowl.  Crunch up a couple tortilla chips and top with cheese.  YUMMO! 

 

*I suggest adding a little bit of cut up avacado to the top too.  I was out.

 

Technorati Tags: soup,chicken tortilla soup,chicken soup

Chicken Marsala and Veggie Fettuccini

This was a first time recipe for me last night.  I got the Chicken Marsala recipe from Mom’s Budget.  I did not have Marsala Wine, so I used White Cooking Wine instead.  I had made the chicken last week sometime and put it in the freezer, so I can attest to the fact that it is great when you cook it up after freezing it!  My husband gave this recipe a 7.0—even though my pasta needed a little more moisture.  I am modifying my pasta recipe to add some of the pasta water so that we achieve this. ;)

What you need:

1 1/2 lbs. chicken breast, thinly sliced

1 cup flour

1 egg, beaten (maybe more—you be the judge)

1 stick of butter (I use reduced calorie butter by Land O’ Lakes)

2-3 tbsp. of olive oil (I added another tablespoon of oil after cooking the first batch because I used more chicken)

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 cup Marsala Wine ( I used White Cooking Wine)

Salt & Pepper

_____

Fettuccini or Spaghetti noodles (enough for 4 servings)

1 Zucchini

8-10 mushrooms

1-2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2-1 cup pasta water

salt & pepper & garlic powder

 

Directions: (as written at Mom’s Budget—see above link)

In skillet, melt butter and add olive oil.  Dip chicken pieces in egg, then dredge in flour to coat.  Place chicken in frying pan and fry until golden brown on each side.  Add chicken broth and remaining ingredients and simmer in skillet for ten minutes. 

While cooking chicken, start pasta water to a boil.  In a separate hot skillet, add oil for pasta.  Put in zucchini and mushrooms and season with salt/pepper/garlic powder to taste.  Cover with lid and let cook on Med-Low.  Once pasta is al-dente, drain pasta and reserve a little pasta water for your dish.  Add pasta to veggies and add pasta water.  Give it a toss.  Re-season Salt and pepper to keep flavor. 

Serve Pasta and Chicken hot.  Take a little parmesan cheese to the table and put it on the pasta for more flavor.

 

***Mom’s Budget is a great source of recipes and household tips.  Check it out!!  You can also get the instructions on how to freeze this chicken dish for OAMC or as I do it:  Several times a month cooking! ;0)

Organizedhome.com

I have discovered a wonderful website dedicated to running your home.  They have an awesome section on freezer cooking and also on free downloadable printables.  This is definitely a site to peruse and take the best from.  It is called:  OrganizedHome.com.

Definitely check out the freezer meal section.

I have been utilizing some of the downloadable/printable lists in my own kitchen now for a couple of weeks.  I use the freezer inventory and the monthly menu planner. 

Spicy Gouda Potato Bake

Using some leftovers I had for this week, I decided to try a potato casserole. It turned out to have great flavor—but mine was a little spicy. I used 4 jalapenos with no seeds, so I cut down the number to 2-3 jalapenos instead. This recipe could be altered in many ways, so experiment with it. My husband gave me a 7 on this one…but he was coughing and drinking coke all at the same time trying to get the spice to go away. Kind of funny, actually! ;)

Here is what you need:

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp Flour
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2-3 Jalapenos (no seeds—I used 4 with no seeds and it was a little spicy)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup smoked gouda cheese (this could really be altered either by increasing/decreasing amount or using another cheese—I like the smoky flavor that smoked gouda provides.)
• 1 cup bacon bits (you could alter the amount here too—I had some leftover from making extra bacon bits a week ago)
• 1 cup cooked chicken cubed (optional-I was cleaning out my fridge leftovers)
• 4 baking potatoes (sliced thinly)
• salt and pepper to taste
• cheddar cheese (optional)

Here are the instructions:

1. Melt butter in pan on medium heat. Add garlic and flour and make a paste. Add broth and wisk well until all lumps are gone. Add gouda cheese, jalapeno, bacon, salt and pepper. Let cook for about 5-10 minutes. Stir every couple minutes. Don’t let it boil or stick to the bottom.
2. While the mixture is cooking, get your casserole dish ready by spraying it with nonstick spray. Then line your pan with a first layer of thinly sliced potatoes. Follow that with a layer of chicken.
3. Once cheese sauce has thickened a little, add milk to it and stir a little more. Let it cook for another 5 minutes. Pour some over the potatoes. You want this mixture to last for at least 3 layers, so don’t use it all.
4. Follow up by adding another layer of potatoes, then chicken, then sauce. Repeat a third time.
5. Put the last bit of potatoes on top, and slide into a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake about 40 minutes.
6. Take out, if potatoes are done, then you can put a layer of cheddar cheese on top and put back in for another 5 minutes until melted.
7. Cool about 5-10 minutes to set and serve. Makes about 9 servings.

On a side note: I tried freezing some of the leftovers to see how it holds up. I have read that freezing potatoes does not always work. We shall see!

Freezer Cooking

About three years ago, I tried OAMC (Once a Month Cooking).  It didn’t work for me.  It took up too much time and I was tackling way too much in one sitting.  My back hurt, I was complaining…and most importantly, it took the fun out of cooking.

So, when I decided to start filling up my freezer this time around, I decided to avoid OAMC.  I didn’t want to fill it up all in one day.  I didn’t want to view this as work.  Instead, I wanted to slowly fill up my freezer over the course of a few weeks. 

What I decided to do was start cooking on Sunday, just the things we were having for the week.  I would prepare them so that getting them on the table each night would be effortless.  In addition, I would also make some extra stuff…but nothing too hard.  Granola bars and cookies and bread machine hamburger buns were the first thing I added. 

The first couple of weeks I started out with making lasagna and enchiladas.  I had some chicken stock left over and I also made some pinto beans to make into quick refried beans or pinto bean soup.  I soon discovered that making stuff like enchiladas is wonderful, but that it limited me if I wanted to change my menu. 

I started looking at more websites and getting more ideas.  My freezer initially started filling up a bit.  I invested some of my weekly grocery money into buying plastic reusable containers and freezer paper. 

As weeks have progressed, I have been experimenting more.  My current freezer inventory list contains the following:

• chicken stock (3)
• Chocolate Chip cookies (1)
• Black Beans (1)
• Chipotle in Adobo Sauce (3)
• Chili (1)
• Chicken Pot Pie (1)
• Corn Puree (5)
• Pear Puree (5)
• Bread Crumbs
• Chicken Whole (3)
• Pork Chops
• Bacon (1)
• Roast (2)
• Gouda Cheese (3)
• Banana Bars
• Pork Stock (1)
• Cornbread muffins (4)
• Cream of Chicken Soup (8)
• Granola Bars (2)
• Hamburgers (6)
• Savory Chicken (1)
• Tomato Sauce (1)
• Haystacks (2)
• Snickerdoodles (2)
• Pinto Beans (2)
• Pizza Crust (3)
• Marinated Chicken (3)
• Spaghetti Sauce (4)
• Chicken Marsala (5)
• Meatloaf (2)
• Hamburger Buns (homemade)
• French Bread (homemade) (1)
• Rolls (homemade) (3)
• Spicy Gouda Potato Bake (1)
• Salsa (5)
• Cooked hamburger meat (5)

The quantities are how many family servings are available.  For instance, there are 3 servings of homemade rolls in the freezer…and I packaged them as 5 rolls per package…so really I have about 15 rolls in my freezer.  I am packaging them so that I also maintain portion control for myself.  If I made a whole pan of rolls, none of them would get frozen.  I would eat them all.  I LOVE BREAD!

Since my freezer is fully stock right now, I am at a maintenance level.  This Sunday is a day off.  Next week I will assess how much space I still have in my freezer and whether I need to add anymore essentials (like french bread, pinto beans, hamburger patties, etc…) and then I will either make some, or I will have off again. 

Tomorrow I go shopping, but as you can see—I really shouldn’t need much.  My goal tomorrow is to only buy veggies and fruits and milk.  I might need diapers too…so we will see.  I would also like some more plastic containers…the smaller ones with screw-on lids.  I made salsa the other day, and smaller containers would have been handy.  The goal for the next couple of weeks is to use much less money per week than I have been on groceries.  We normally budget $100 a week.  I have managed to fill up my freezer using only a little more than that in the past 4 weeks.  We also budget 4 trips to Sam’s for meat each year.  I am trying to eliminate that extra bill and fit it into our $100 a week instead.  We will see how this goes.

Cooking Catastrophe

I love to cook.  I love to blog.

With that said, I thought it would be neat to share my kitchen experiences with others.  I am a married, work at home mom of 2 boys who won’t eat much.  They are both under 5 years of age.  If you have ever had kids, you probably ran into the problem of how to feed them.  I have, many times.  My boys are the pickiest boys ever.  The older one is getting better…but the youngest?  Whew!  I have tried everything and at this point, I just make whatever I make and they can eat it or go hungry. 

In addition to this, I have a wonderful husband who is sometimes hard to please when it comes to dinner.  He always appreciates my efforts, but it is hard to get a “winner” in his opinion.  My biggest challenge is to figure out a way to satisfy his food desires while maintaining my sanity.  I have my work cut out for me.  For this reason, we have a rating system in our home.  1-10, with 10 being the best.  I have never gotten a 10.  The highest I remember is an 8. (He’s a tough judge people!  I am almost convinced that Bobby Flay and Emeril couldn’t manage to get a 10 with this man—not that I am comparing myself at all to them).

In this day and age, most of us find that we must budget our grocery money.  I am not much of a coupon shopper.  I tried it, but then the coupons were just not that great anymore and I got bored with it.  I was doing more work than saving money.  I decided to attack managing my bill another way—using my freezer and minimizing the discarding of food from my fridge.  I developed my own little system 2 months ago.  So far, it works like a charm.  I have just finished getting my freezer completely full.  The system I am using is pretty common.  I keep a list of freezer items and refrigerated leftover items on my fridge.  I cross them off as I use them and keep dates on them so I know when they are going to be throwaways.  So far, so good!  I have decreased the amount of food that we are discarding ten-fold!!!  I am not throwing away money anymore!!  It rocks!!!  Oh, and big bonus?   No gross, green,  moldy growths in my fridge anymore.  (c’mon! admit it—you’ve grown science experiments in your fridge too).

Keep coming back!  Here are some things I have planned:

• my freezer contents
• my monthly menu
• some recipes
• and some bonus stuff…

Thanks for visiting!!