A Week In The Kitchen With Carol

Hello everyone! It’s the end of February and Spring is right around the corner. We’re getting ready to switch off the winter menu at our house. That means that it is time for a “Pantry Challenge” to clean out the freezer.

I completed my first freezer Pantry Challenge in March 2010. So what is a “Pantry Challenge”? It is a month long challenge where you are supposed to prepare and eat foods that come from your pantry. Your pantry consists of food that is in your freezer or cupboards. You set goals for the challenge such as setting the maximum number of shopping trips for the month, a certain dollar amount to spend for the month, and list of items that you are allowed to buy during the challenge. This would include any perishable items such as dairy (eggs, cheese, milk, etc.), produce, and breads.

My challenge rules are a little different this time. Our goal is to completely empty the stand alone freezer. Here are my rules for this challenge:

1. Buy only perishables that I would normally buy each week and anything I need to complete the recipes that I serving for the week.
2. Try to limit my shopping to once per week.

My family is already into week 2 of the challenge. I’m looking forward to getting the freezer cleaned out and making recipes for the grill. This motivates me to keep going with the challenge. On Sunday of each week, I go “shopping” in my freezer and pull out five or six recipes to serve. I update my grocery list with the serving day ingredients only if I don’t already have them on hand.

Week One Recipes

Sunday

I made some Breakfast Cookies for the week. It’s a recipe from the Big Book of Freezer Cooking. This is one of our favorite breakfast recipes. The cookies stay moist for several days because of the apples and cranberries. I also add some chocolate chips to half of the batch to make them more “kid friendly”!

For dinner I served Parmesan Crusted Tilapia. It’s also a recipe from the Big Book of Freezer Cooking. This is one of my favorite recipes. The spice mix is flavorful and the fish is very moist. I serve it with my recipe for Creamy Garlic Parmesan Rice. This is a nice rice mix to have on hand. I bake it in the oven instead of cooking it on the stovetop.

 

Monday

I made a new version of Chicken Corn Bleu. It’s the standard chicken, ham and Swiss cheese but instead of breading it, you bake it in a creamy mushroom sauce. It was wonderful!

Tuesday

I had an abundance of colored peppers in the fridge. I also had an English Roast that I had pulled out of the freezer. Normally I would make Delicious Pot Roast (from the Members area) but I decided to try using the roast in the Pepper Steak recipe from the Big Book of Freezer Cooking instead. I cooked it all day on low in the slow cooker and served it over plain long grain rice.

Wednesday

Last month I mentioned that I had tried a new recipe for Mango Orange Ham Glaze. After serving the ham for dinner last month, we chopped up the leftovers and put them in the freezer. I was able to mix the leftover ham into a recipe of Tara’s Macaroni and Cheese (a Members area recipe). It was a great way to clear two things out of the freezer.

Thursday

For our meal on Thursday, I made up a Turkey Wreath for dinner. I have mentioned this recipe in previous newsletters. The filling freezes very well. You can see a version of the recipe at Food.com. I make a slightly different version. I use the Super-Easy Freezer Crescent Rolls recipe from the Big Book of Freezer Cooking for the crescent rolls in the recipe. It makes a very elegant dinner and heats up nicely for lunch the next day.

Friday

I made the Tuscan White Bean Soup and Herbed Garlic Bread recipes from the Big Book of Freezer Cooking. I love having slow cooker meals in the freezer! It makes it so convenient to put the meal in the slow cooker, turn it on low, and go.

Week Two Recipes

Here are the recipes that I plan on making this week:

Spinach Lasagna (from the Big Book of Freezer Cooking)

Crock Pot Beef Stew

Cranberry Pork Roast

Turkey and Noodles (from the Members area)

Chicken Lo Mein (from the Big Book of Freezer Cooking)

Bowtie Soup (from the Freezer Lunches To Go ebook)

Closing Comments From Carol

Enjoy the recipes and get ready for Spring!

Post your stories and recipes on the 30 Day Gourmet Facebook® fan page or click here to send me an email. Or do you have any other topics that you would like me to cover? Click here to send me an email. I enjoy hearing from you!

Have fun in your kitchen!

Carol

A Week in the Kitchen with Carol

Hello everyone! Have you ever cooked based on a theme? Sounds strange, huh! This week I took a look at what I had that needed to be used and my theme for the week was the color ORANGE!

I had an abundance of orange juice, oranges, mangoes, and sweet potatoes on hand that needed to be used. Before I go shopping for the week I like to take an inventory of the perishables that I have on hand so that I can use them up before they spoil. I hate wasting food!

So here’s what I ending up making this week (and I also made some extra recipes for the freezer at the same time!) You have to just love freezer cooking. It is so versatile!

Sunday

I made some Cranberry Orange Muffins for the freezer. It’s a recipe from the Big Book of Freezer Cooking and it one of my favorite muffin recipes. This time when I made the muffins, I used half Splenda® and half sugar. I also used reduced fat sour cream instead of the yogurt listed in the recipe. It gave them a tangy flavor! They were great.

Monday

I tried a new recipe for a salmon marinade. It’s called Ginger Orange Salmon. I like marinating salmon. This marinade is sweet and it gives the fish a different flavor without totally covering up the taste of the fish.

Tuesday

While grocery shopping on Monday, I picked up some ground beef on sale. I made 3 recipes of Sloppy Joe Sandwich Filling (the BEST Sloppy Joe recipe in my opinion!), 8 hamburger patties, and 1 recipe of Perfect Little Meatballs. I served one of the recipes of the Sloppy Joes for dinner with some potatoes seasoned with the Grill Fries Seasoning Mix. Yum!

Wednesday

While grocery shopping on Monday, I also picked up several pounds of fresh boneless, skinless chicken breast for 1.79 a pound. I made several bags of marinated chicken – 2 meals with a pesto garlic marinade, 2 meals with spicy Italian, and 2 meals with a sun dried tomato garlic marinade. I also made a meal of Parmesan Chicken for dinner. Six quick meals in the freezer with very little effort involved in making them.

Thursday

I had purchased a ham at Christmas time when they were on sale and I had not cooked it yet. I have been wanting to try a different ham glaze – something with a tropical twist. I created a Mango Orange Ham Glaze. Dijon mustard makes it tangy but the mango and orange combination gives it a very distinct when you taste the ham after it is cooked. My family really liked it. (I also used up the sweet potatoes as a side for this meal!)

After cooking the ham, I had a large ham bone left over. My Mom always saves hers and makes Ham and Bean Soup. I saved mine and tried making the soup in the slow cooker instead of on the stove top. The soup was great and this method makes it very easy to make. It also freezes well. It’s perfect for serving on a cold winter night for dinner. All you need is a salad and loaf of crusty bread and you have a quick meal.

(I’ll share the ham recipes with you in a later newsletter!)

Friday

I still had some mangoes left so I decided to make some fresh Mango Salsa for the Tilapia with Mango Salsa recipe from the Big Book of Freezer Cooking. This is one of my family’s favorite recipes. The marinade for the tilapia makes it very moist and when it is combined with the flavors of the Mango Salsa it is wonderful! I usually serve it with Lime Rice.

Closing Comments From Carol

I’m trying a new format for the newsletter. I thought you might like it if I shared what a week in my kitchen is like – a little cooking from scratch, mixed with some experimental recipes and a little bit of freezer cooking. What’s a typical week like in your kitchen?

Do you have any recipes that you would like to share? I’d love to try and share them with everyone. You can post your recipes on the 30 Day Gourmet Facebook® fan page or click here to send me an email. Or do you have any other topics that you would like me to cover? Click here to send me an email. I enjoy hearing from you!

Have fun in your kitchen!

Carol

Kitchen Fun With Carol

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had three different meals with friends and family. We enjoyed hosting this year. Every recipe came out great! One new recipe we tried was the Sweet Potato Soufflé with Brown Sugar Crumbles. It is one of the sample recipes from the Holiday Freezer Cooking ebook. It was a wonderful! It’s more like a dessert than a side dish. We really enjoyed it. It was great to spend time with our extended families and catch up with everyone.

After all the time together, I had to figure out what to do with that left over turkey! If you follow us on the 30 Day Gourmet Facebook® fan page, you know that I had a mini cooking day to use up the turkey. I had over 14 cups of chopped turkey after taking some home from my brother’s feast. On my mini cooking day, I ended up making Bowtie Soup (from the Freezer Lunches to Go ebook), Turkey and Noodles (a third edition recipe from the members area) and Mexican Meat Filling (for quesadillas, enchiladas, etc.). YUM!

I hope you are all enjoying this special time of the year. Cooking is such a part of the season and for me it brings back a lot of holiday memories. It is so much fun to host cookie exchanges, make gifts from the kitchen for friends and neighbors, or even participate in a progressive dinner with your friends.

It’s also a wonderful opportunity to get your kids involved in cooking. When my children were younger, we would dedicate a Saturday afternoon every December to making cut out cookies together (try the Sugar Cookies with Icing recipe!). They really enjoyed icing and decorating the cookies. We also had sprinkles and colored sugar on hand to add that extra special touch. Afterwards, we would take plates of the cookies to the neighbors and grandparents as a Christmas gift. It was a wonderful tradition!

Bonus Recipes

As we get closer to Christmas, it’s always good to have some great “gift in a jar” recipes in your personal recipe collection that can be used as last minute gifts for teachers, coaches, or even your mail delivery person. These are some of our favorite gift recipes. Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Brownies Gift Jar

This is one of my favorite recipes for homemade brownies. They are dense and fudgy and will satisfy your craving for chocolate. One recipe will make a 8×8 pan. A double recipe will make a 9×13 pan. You just need to bake it a little longer – 40 to 50 minutes instead of 25 to 30 minutes for the 8×8 pan. Package this mix with an 8×8 pan and an ice cream scoop.

Serve it with peppermint ice cream as a special holiday treat!

 

 

 

Oven Fried Chicken Gift Jar

This is a great recipe to have on hand. If you have a craving for fried chicken, this will do the trick without all the grease! This recipe is one of our new family favorites!

Package this mix with a pair of tongs and a baking sheet.

 

 

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Gift Jar

We love serving hot cocoa especially after working outside shoveling snow or spending hours sledding with the kids. The peppermint in this mix makes the recipe extra special.

Package this mix with a mug and some chocolate covered spoons.

 

 

Closing Comments From Carol

I hope you enjoyed my holiday gift jar recipes! I would love to hear about your tips, suggestions, favorite holiday recipes and gift ideas. I would also like to hear about your cooking plans for the new year.

Post your stories and recipes recipes on the 30 Day Gourmet Facebook® fan page or click here to send me an email. Or do you have any other topics that you would like me to cover? Click here to send me an email. I enjoy hearing from you!

Have fun in your kitchen!

Carol