Perishing Potatoes

A couple of weeks ago I came across a great sale on potatoes at the grocery store. They were buy one get one free, so I gladly purchased them. Sadly to say though, the potatoes were not a good investment. Close to half of them have perished before we could eat them. Normally potatoes have a long shelf life, but these must have been at then end of their life before I even brought them home. After making such a great effort to reduce food waste this year, I hate to see any more rot, so we have been working diligently to eat them up.

Tonight we are having Parmesan Potatoes along with some "Reduced for Quick Sale" steak.

The other day we had Fried Potatoes along with Meatloaf. The last few potatoes I may use to make a potato salad.

Has anything gone to waste in your kitchen lately?

A Book Review

Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half with America's Cheapest Family

Written By: Steve & Annette Economides

I saw this book at my local library a couple of weeks ago and I snatched it up knowing that it would fit perfectly with the theme of You Can Make That! and with my New Year's Frugal Kitchen Goal to reduce costs in my kitchen. Steve and Annette Economides are known to be America's Cheapest Family. They have written three books together and all three address financial issues. They have a true financial success story this is completely inspiring.

Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half includes information on couponing, stocking up, once a month cooking, eating out, gardening, and maintaining a family dinner time. Even the most frugal shopper will find tips and hints that will save money in the kitchen. Steve and Annette have a writing style that is both inspirational and encouraging and the book makes you feel as if you are learning from old friends.

This is the perfect book for anyone trying to cut down on monthly grocery expenses. It can be read in its entirety or by picking and choosing the chapters that are most important to you. And, although Steve and Annette have a large family, they also incorporate things that would be helpful to singles and empty nesters too.

 

What have you been reading lately?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

We love Peanut Butter Cookies. I have posted about our favorite three ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie recipe both here and here. It is a popular request for our Friday night movie night. A few weeks ago I decided to try adding cocoa powder to our cookies for something different. They were sooo yummy. I think I liked these chocolaty cookies even better than the plain peanut butter version! 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 cup raw sugar (or white sugar)
1 egg

Stir together all ingredients. Shape into balls, place on cookie sheet, and flatten with a fork. Bake at 350˚ for 12 minutes or until golden. Let cool on pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Yield: 12-15 cookies.

Meatballs

Earlier this week I promised to share my meatball recipe with you. I shied away from making homemade meatballs for years. One reason being that they are a great convenience food that can be grabbed out of the freezer section at the grocery store and prepared with no effort. The second reason was that I didn't want to spend time cooking anything twice. Many recipes require you to pan fry or bake the meatballs before simmering them in a sauce. Too labor intensive for me.

But, a few years ago, while adding store bought frozen meatballs to my slow cooker, I began to wonder if I could add raw meatballs directly to my sauce. The answer is: Yes! So, I have been making my own homemade meatballs ever since. I like the fact that I can season them any way that I choose with Italian Seasoning, BBQ Rub or even Onion Soup Mix. They can be made with any lean ground meat and can be frozen for later, then added to sauce without having to be defrosted. They can be served over pasta or rice, in hotdog rolls as subs, or eaten with toothpicks as an appetizer. Our favorite is ground pork with Italian Seasoning (pictured above) served as subs. 

Meatballs

1 lb. lean ground meat (beef, pork, or turkey)
1 egg
¼ cup bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. Seasoning (Italian, BBQ, or Onion Soup Mix)
4 cups of sauce (pasta sauce, BBQ sauce, or Gravy)

Add the first four ingredients to a large bowl. Slowly incorporate the ingredients using a fork, or your hands. Roll into small meatballs (28-32). 

To Cook Immediately: Place meatballs into a large skillet along with sauce. Simmer on medium low heat until meatballs are fully cooked (about 1 hour for freshly made meatballs or 1 ½ hours for frozen meatballs). Or, cook them in the slow cooker on low for 4-6 hours.

To Freeze For Later: Place meatballs on a cookie sheet, without allowing them to touch each other. Place in freezer until completely frozen. Remove from pan and store in a zippy bag until ready to use.

Bread Crumbs

When I am at my best, I make all of our bread. Bread is simple to make, inexpensive, and requires no special tools. We love it, but lately I have not been making it regularly. Instead, I am buying much of our bread at an outlet store. The deals are excellent. They offer a military discount, and a punch card program to receive free bread. However, no one at my house wants to eat the end slices of store bought bread. So, for a while now I have been saving the end slices in a bag in the freezer. I use the end slices to make Baked French Toast or bread crumbs.

I primarily use bread crumbs in meatloaf or meat balls (recipe coming up soon!). And, I make mine plain without seasoning. But, the addition of Italian Seasoning would be great if you prefer. As I continue to eliminate food waste from my kitchen and reduce my grocery costs, this had been a great solution for unwanted bread.

Bread Crumbs

6 frozen bread slices

Tear bread in half and place in a food processor. Process until finely ground. Store in a canning jar in the freezer. Use in place of store bought bread crumbs directly from the freezer.

This post has been linked to Inspiration Monday.

Pizza Bread

I have told you several times before that I love using the method for refrigerator bread dough outlined in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. My favorite way to use it is for pizza. My kids favorite is Pizza Rolls, which is pepperoni and mozzarella cheese wrapped inside a roll. So, it seemed natural to me to combine these two ideas to make Pizza Bread. It is a pull apart bread similar to Monkey Bread. I served it with pizza sauce for dipping and my kids fell in love with it!

Pizza Bread

2 lbs. Artisan Bread Dough
¼ cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
6oz. sliced pepperoni
Pizza sauce for dipping

Form dough into walnut sized balls (approx. 48). Arrange 1/3 of the dough in the bottom of a fluted pan. Drizzle with 1/3 of the olive oil and sprinkle with 1/3 of the Italian Seasoning. Layer half of the pepperoni and 1/3 of the cheese on top. Repeat. Layer the last of the dough on top, drizzle with the last of the oil, and sprinkle with the last of the Italian Seasoning. Finally layer the last of the cheese. Let rise for 45-60 minutes. Bake at 350º for 35 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate. Serve warm with pizza sauce.

Recipe Note: You can find the Master Recipe for this dough in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, along with an instructional video here.

This post has been linked to the Penny Pinching Party.

A Visit with a Dear Friend

Over the weekend my dear friend Tamar came for a visit. We haven't seen each other in over ten years. But, as with all true friends, we picked up exactly where we left off. We shared our struggles, our hurts, and our joys. We went to the park, ate homemade ice cream, and stayed up late. This weekend marked the one year anniversary of my husband's death. Tamar knew that, and her visit made our weekend special instead of sad.

Tamar brought some lovely gifts that I thought that you might enjoy seeing. One was a bottle of wine that she made herself! Such a labor of love, her wines take anywhere from six months to two years before they are ready to drink. Tamar began the process with this Blueberry Delight in November of 2011, and it is delicious!

Another gift that Tamar brought was this personalized kitchen towel. She also made this herself and I am so pleased with it. I'm not sure if I can bring myself to use it though, maybe I will display it instead. Good friends are invaluable and they make our lives rich and meaningful, thanks Tamar for making our difficult weekend a precious memory.

This post has been linked to Inspiration Monday.

Happy July 4th!!

Photo Credit

Buttermilk Pancakes

Since the beginning of the year I have been making an effort to reduce food waste in my kitchen. Eating up leftovers was one of my biggest struggles. In the past, my late husband had always been glad to take all leftovers to work for lunch; so, I was not in the habit of eating them myself. I have learned that it only takes a little planning to make sure that these leftovers do not go to waste. Most often I eat them for lunch myself; however, if there is plenty leftover, we eat them for dinner, even if we are not all eating the same thing. I am glad to say that rarely do any leftovers make their way to the trash any more.

In preparation for our vacation, I also made an effort to make sure that we ate up any food that would go bad while we were gone. The week before we left, I made up a list of things that needed to be eaten and we ate them. Other foods like lunch meat and cheese I put in the freezer before we left. The only thing that ended up going to waste was 1/3 of a gallon of milk. I had meant to put it in the freezer the morning that we left, but completely forgot!

When we arrived home, it was early evening time and we had not yet had dinner. I knew that after traveling for an entire day, I would not feel like stopping at the grocery store. So, I had planned ahead to make Buttermilk Pancakes. Buttermilk keeps for weeks in the refrigerator and the rest of the ingredients I always have on hand. We were all glad to be home and pancakes for dinner are always a hit with my kids.

Buttermilk Pancakes

2 Tbsp. melted butter
1 egg
1 ½ cups buttermilk
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda

Measure all ingredients into a bowl, and stir just until combined. Pour batter onto a hot buttered griddle and cook until bubbles on top pop (about 3-4 minutes). Flip and cook for an additional 203 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked. Serve hot with butter and syrup. Yield: 12 pancakes.

Serving Suggestion: Instead of maple syrup, try my family's favorite Cinnamon Syrup instead.

This post has been linked to Mop It Up Monday.