July 2011 Chewin’ the News

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Jul 282011

A Week in the Kitchen with Carol

Hello everyone! I hope you have been having a wonderful summer! It has been so hot this summer. Cooking on the grill is a great way to beat the heat and keep your kitchen cool. I am so thankful that we have our new grill. It’s been great for cooking pizzas, roasting potatoes and corn, grilling veggies (zucchini and asparagus are some of our favorites), and trying new marinades. Here are some pictures of our favorite recipes so far this summer.

We made grilled pizza using the Flatbread Pizza recipe. Our new favorite topping combination – chicken, sweet onions, tomatoes, bacon (used turkey bacon), pizza sauce, cheddar and Mozzarella cheese.

I tried grilling tilapia when I made Tilapia with Mango Salsa from the Big Book of Freezer Cooking. This works great! I have grilled it on a non-stick grill plate and on aluminum foil. Either method works. I also played with several variations of the salsa recipe. If you have a copy of the book try using half mango/half fresh pineapple, cut the chilies in half, add 1/2 cup diced cucumber (with the seeds removed), use orange pepper instead of red, sweet onion instead of purple, and add a teaspoon of sugar. It’s a great variation on the standard mango salsa recipe.

I have a cast iron skillet that we used to take on camping trips. This is perfect for cooking on the grill. I use it to cook Grilled Chicken Parmesan without the aluminum foil packets. You can cook the chicken in the pan in the sauce. It tastes wonderful!

Or I use it to make my one of my signature dishes. It’s grilled chicken and vegetables in a sundried tomato sauce served over penne topped with freshly shredded Parmesan cheese. Yum!

We also tried some new recipes this month. Our local Kroger store had 12 ounce bags of Pollock for 1.00. What a deal! I’ve been testing different recipes and one of them is Cajun Grilled Pollock.

I am always looking for side dishes that are quick and easy to make – something different from your standard plain pasta, potatoes or rice. Homemade rice mixes are a great way to add some variety to your meals. I made Cajun Brown Rice to serve with the Pollock. What an easy to make dish!

What a great array of recipes to cook on the grill! It’s been fun so far. We’ll see what recipes we have for next month.

Announcements

Big Book of Freezer Cooking for the Kindle and Nook

We are pleased to announce that 30 Day Gourmet’s Big Book of Freezer Cooking is now available for the Kindle and the Nook! In this easy-to-use digital edition you can quickly find and bookmark your family’s favorite recipes and add your own notes. You can even check recipes while you shop for groceries through mobile apps such as Nook for iPhone™, Nook for Android™, Kindle for iPhone™, Kindle for Android™, Kindle for Blackberry ™and Kindle for Windows® Phone 7.

Click here for the Kindle version.
Click here for the Nook version.

Cooks’ Corner

We’ve made some enhancements to the Cooks’ Corner message board! Our webmaster, Curtis, added a new way to see the recent activity on the boards. Just go to the Cooks’ Corner Message Board and click on the Recent Topics & Discussions link at the top of the page. You will be taken to a new page with a list of the most recent topics that have been discussed on the boards and the most recent message board postings.

Advantage Cooking Software

We have also released an update to the Advantage Cooking Software. Version 2.1 is now available for download. This is a free upgrade for current users of the software. Just go to the Advantage Cooking Software product page and follow the instructions. If you haven’t purchased the software, there is a trial version available for download.

Several new features have been added to the software for this release. The recipe import function now has a check box to check/uncheck all recipes for an import. This will allow you to quickly import duplicate recipes.

The ingredient import screen now automatically checks the Add As New Ingredient option for all new ingredients. An option to check/uncheck all was added above the new ingredient list.

Closing Comments from Carol

Enjoy the recipes! Are you getting ready for your back to school cooking day?

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

Cleaning Up Your Grocery Report

2007, Chewin' the News Comments Off

Mar 012007

by Shelley Miller

The best procedure is to use the following method for each ingredient in question:

locate the ingredient in the ‘ingredients’ tab
click on the ‘recipes’ tab in the lower window
look at the measures listed for each of the recipes which use this ingredient

Let’s take one example at a time:

“‘Sweet potatoes, canned’. On the grocery list it has ‘total needed 80 ounce’…BUT it has another listing for ‘Sweet potatoes, canned’ with ‘384 teaspoons’ needed and no packing listed. Packaging is ‘Can (40 oz)’, no conversions.”

The listing for ’80 ounces’ needed is correct. That’s just what you want; no solution necessary.

Now for the 384 teaspoons. You probably have two types of measures for this ingredient: one in ounces (a measure of weight), and one in cups (a measure of volume). One cup is going to equal 48 teaspoons. Your cooking day is likely calling for 8 cups of sweet potatoes (whether from one recipe, or multiple recipes), which equals 384 teaspoons.

Solution: add a conversion to the ‘Sweet Potato’ ingredient to turn everything into ounces:

1 cup = 8 ounces Sweet Potatoes

This conversion seems like the program should already know that, but we’re converting volume measure to weight measure, and different ingredients have different conversions. For example, one cup of marshmallows is not equivalent to 8 ounces.

“Potatoes, diced, has ‘216 teaspoons’ needed. Packaging is ‘Bag (5 pound)’; no conversions.”

Follow steps 1, 2, and 3 above (locate ingredient, click ‘recipes’, check measures)

It is very likely that your recipe is calling for ‘cups’ and the software is leaving it in ‘teaspoons’ on the grocery report because it can’t convert from cups to pounds.

Solution: add a conversion to the ‘Potatoes, diced’ ingredient to convert volume measure to weight measure (which is what is listed in the Packaging):

2 cups = 1 pound Potatoes, diced

Note: this conversion is an estimate. Adjust the conversion according to your preference.

“‘Vegetables, cooked’ has two lines: one listing is ‘1 each’ needed, a second listing is ‘144 teaspoons’. Packaging is ‘Bag (1/2 pound / 8 oz)’; no conversions.”

Follow steps 1, 2, and 3 above (locate ingredient, click ‘recipes’, check measures)

The listing ‘1 each’ probably refers to one 8 oz. bag of vegetables.

Solution: change the recipe to specify ‘ 8 ounces’ instead of ‘1 each’.

The listing in teaspoons means that a recipe is calling for a volume measure, like ‘cups’ of vegetables. Solution: add a conversion to the ‘Vegetables, cooked’ ingredient, which converts a volume measure to weight (which is what is listed in the Packaging):

2 cups = 8 ounces Vegetables, cooked

“Milk, has two lines: one listing is ‘1 1/2 quart’ needed, a second listing says ‘1 each’. Packaging is ‘1 gallon’ and ‘1 quart’; no conversions.”

Follow steps 1, 2, and 3 above (locate ingredient, click ‘recipes’, check measures)

The listing for ‘1 1/2 quart’ needed is correct. That’s just what you want; no solution necessary.

The listing ‘1 each’ means one of a certain measure of milk. Check the recipe and then change the measure to something other than ‘each’.

If you have specific questions or examples that aren’t addressed in this article, please click here to email Shelley.

July 2006 Chewin’ the News with Shelley

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Jul 012006

Cookin’ at the Keyboard with Shelley

Summer Harvest

I’m back! Life has finally settled down enough for me to send a newsletter. I certainly didn’t plan to take a three-month leave of absence. I had great intentions, but just couldn’t make time for everything.

The Sound of Music production that the girls were in consumed half of April and most of May. There were 43 cast members, 150 costume changes, and four performances. The twins shared the role of Brigitta. They did a great job and caught the audience by surprise at the curtain call.

After all the excitement, several in our family fell into bed with the flu. We rallied in time to make a trip to California for a niece’s graduation. For three weeks in June, we either had company, or we were company.

Once the dust had settled, I realized that it was time for strawberries. With Sarah on a missions trip to Mexico, four girls and I grabbed some boxes and headed for the fields. This year the picking conditions were perfect: no rain, dry fields, cloud cover, no allergies, and lots of large berries! After an hour or so, I suggested that we probably had picked enough. But the girls were having so much fun, they didn’t want to leave. When I finally called an end to it all, we had picked 75 pounds of berries!

I like to make jam, but I don’t like to make room in my freezer for all that sugar. So once again, I take the SANE (some assembly needed eventually) approach. I mash enough berries for one recipe of freezer jam and freeze in a quart-sized bag. When we run out of jam, we thaw the berries and make another batch.

The rest of the berries (except for the ones I put into pies – see the recipe below) were frozen on a cookie sheet and put into freezer bags. We’ll use them for smoothies this year. Even with all the freezer cooking we like to do, it’s nice to have some space for a summer harvest, even when it comes in unexpected quantities!

Recipe Section

Strawberry Glaze Pie

With so many berries on hand, I made two of these pies last month. Unfortunately, they were gone before I could get a picture. I think it’s the cream cheese layer that made them irresistible. Although this is not a freezer-friendly recipe, all of you Advantage Cooking software users will appreciate being able to import this recipe into your database. What a delicious way to celebrate summer!

Software Suggestions

Advantage Cooking Conversions (Part 2)

And now we resume our intriguing discussion of ingredient conversions. If you missed the first installment, or need a refresher course, take a moment to read my previous conversion (March 2006) explanation.

Our last discussion focused on conversions as related to weight and volume measures of ingredients. Conversions are also important when it comes to ingredients that aren’t easily purchased at the grocery store. Many of my recipes call for crumbled bacon or cooked and chopped chicken, neither of which I can buy off the shelf. I would prefer that the grocery report would tell me how many pounds of bacon or chicken to buy, instead of how many cups. These conversions take two steps to complete. Let’s start with the bacon.

Locate “Bacon” in the ingredient list.
Under the Packaging tab enter “Pound Package”.

Locate “Bacon, crumbled” in the ingredient list.
Under the Packaging tab, be sure there are no entries.
Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

From Amount	From Measure	To Amount	To Measure	To Ingredient
2	Cup	1	Pound	Bacon
16	Slices	1	Pound	Bacon
1	Pound	1	Pound	Bacon

These entries tell the software that if the recipe calls for 1 cup of crumbled bacon, add 1/2 pound of bacon to my grocery list. If the recipe calls for 8 slices of crumbled bacon, I want to see 1/2 pound of bacon on my grocery list. If the recipe calls for 1 pound of crumbled bacon, put 1 pound of bacon on my grocery list. No matter how the ingredient appears on my recipe, the software will do all the calculating, and tell me know many pounds of bacon to buy.

When it comes to cooked and chopped chicken, I prefer to buy chicken breasts. Here are the entries to make for the conversion:
Locate “Chicken Breasts” in the ingredient list.
Under the Packaging tab enter “Pound Package”.

Locate “Chicken, cooked and chopped” in the ingredient list.
Under the Packaging tab, be sure there are no entries.
Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

From Amount	From Measure	To Amount	To Measure	To Ingredient
2	Cup	1.5	Pound	Chicken Breast
1	Pound	1	Pound	Chicken Breast

If a recipe calls for 2 cups of cooked, chopped chicken, then the grocery report will tell me to buy 1 1/2 pounds of chicken breasts. Otherwise, a pound of cooked chicken will equal a pound of raw chicken.

Locate “Onion” in the ingredient list.
Under the Packaging tab enter “Each”.

Locate “Onion, chopped” in the ingredient list.
Under the Packaging tab, be sure there are no entries.
Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

From Amount	From Measure	To Amount	To Measure	To Ingredient
1	Cup	1	Each	Onion
1	Each	1	Each	Onion

You can adjust the conversions based on the size of onions that you usually buy. Larger onions might yield more than a cup of chopped onion, while smaller onions might yield less.

When it comes to shredded cheese, I prefer to buy the cheese and shred it myself. If you buy cheese already shredded, the following conversion is not necessary.

Locate “Cheddar Cheese” in the ingredient list.
Under the Packaging tab enter as many varieties of packaging as desired,
e.g. “Pound Package”, “2 Pound Package”, “5 Pound Package”

Locate “Cheddar Cheese, shredded” in the ingredient list.
Under the Packaging tab, be sure there are no entries.
Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

From Amount	From Measure	To Amount	To Measure	To Ingredient
1	Cup	4	Ounce	Cheddar Cheese
1	Pound	1	Pound	Cheddar Cheese

Again, you can adjust the conversion based on your preference (e.g. 1 cup of shredded cheese = 3 oz. cheese).

Whenever I find something on my grocery list that makes me stop and think about how much of that ingredient I need to purchase, I take the time to add a conversion. A little bit of “brain work” at the computer saves me the frustration of “guessing” at the grocery store.

Download a trial version of the software! It’s free!

Closing Comments from Shelley

The ingredient conversions in Advantage Cooking are one of the keys to making the software a powerful tool, especially when generating a grocery report. If you have any questions, or need an example for a specific ingredient, click here to send me an email. Have a great summer!

Shelley

November 2005 Chewin’ the News with Shelley

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Nov 012005

Cookin’ at the Keyboard with Shelley

A Mother’s Heart

It was eight years ago, in November 1997, that my oldest daughter, Sarah, and I played a duet at her piano recital. The program in her scrapbook indicates that we played a piece entitled, “Long, Long Ago.” Ironically, this mother’s heart remembers it being just yesterday.

But it was yesterday that I listened to Sarah perform the 1st movement of Sonata in c. Hob. XVI:34 by J. Haydn at the Classical Period Piano Competition. She played beautifully, and she no longer needed me on the bench next to her to fill out the bass notes and add some rhythm.

Time passes quickly. My mind can hardly grasp the fact that it has been an entire year since I saw a turkey in every cart as I walked the aisles at the grocery store. But the pictures in my camera remind me that my daughters truly are a year older.

The Thanksgiving season bids me to reflect on my blessings. I could list dozens of things, but if I were to prioritize them, I would have to put the relationships at the top. It’s the people that are really important.

As an adult, I can appreciate the value of relationship. Looking through the eyes of my daughters, I become aware of their dependence on relationship. They need a mother, and no one else can fill that role as well as I can. Some days they need me to keep them on a steady beat, and some days they need me to sit back and applaud. But they need me. And I delight in being needed.

As we make our holiday plans, and plan our holiday menus, let’s celebrate the opportunity we have to invest our time and energy in the many relationships that are depending on us to make them meaningful.

Holiday Recipe

Pumpkin Cheesecake

If you’re looking for something different to serve for dessert, this cheesecake adds an elegant flair to the traditional flavors of the holiday.

Software Suggestions

I received this email last summer from a fellow 30 Day Gourmet cook.

Hey Shelley! Just a quick note…we’re doing a pig roast Friday night. (Actually, we’re not roasting the pig ourselves, we hired someone to do that for us.) I’m in charge of the food, and we currently have 83 adults/teens and 20 kids coming. So I’m sitting down tonight to start putting my grocery list together, and figuring I need to make 4x my brownie recipe, and 2x my cookie recipe and 10x my baked bean recipe. As I sit there with pen and paper, at 10:30 pm, after a long day, trying to double my 5x column in my head, a light bulb goes off and I say “DUH!!! THIS is what my software is for!!” = ) Slowly but surely, I’m going to get this down to use my software all the time!! Thought you would appreciate my DUH moment! = ) Have a great day!!!

I love it when people discover how versatile the software is. You don’t have to be freezer cooking at the moment in order to make it useful. So, if you’re putting your Thanksgiving menu together at the last minute, let the software make your grocery list for you! I have a fast and furious method for entering new recipes that will have you braving the lines at the grocery store in no time.

Enter the recipe name and category.
Enter the recipe ingredients (but not the instructions!)
Print the recipe and slip it into a page protector.
Drop the recipe card with the cooking instructions into the page protector with the printed recipe. (Photocopy any recipes used from cookbooks.)
Create a cooking day in the software and add the recipes on your menu. Don’t forget to change the recipe quantities to reflect the number of people you’re feeding.
Print the grocery report.
Detour through the kitchen for a quick inventory. Eliminate any items on the grocery list that are already stocked in your kitchen.

At some point, you might need to go back and add the instructions to the recipe. (But then again, maybe not!) If you leave the Thanksgiving Cooking Day in your database, you’ll have a head start for next year’s dinner, as well as a reminder of what you served this year!

Click here to download a free trial version of the software!

Closing Comments from Shelley

Last month I mentioned that my daughters and I made several loaves of Pear Bread on our cooking day. After sending my recipe to her, Amy Duranto emailed to say, “This Pear Bread is AWESOME!! Can it be frozen? I have five loaves and would love to freeze some after I share a few. Thanks again!”

Some baked goods are better after they’re frozen, and I think this recipe is one of them. Click here to view/print/import the recipe for Pear Bread.

If you have comments, suggestions, or stories to tell, please click here to email me. It’s fun to hear from other freezer families.

Looking back, may you be thankful;

Looking ahead, may you be hopeful;

Looking upward, may you find strength;

Looking inward, may you find peace.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Shelley

March 2005 Chewin’ the News with Shelley

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Mar 012005

Cookin’ at the Keyboard with Shelley

The entire month of January, it seems, was consumed with all the things I abandoned weeks ago, in the midst of the holiday frenzy. I was busy tackling those incomplete projects, such as, the last few Christmas cards, the boxes accumulating in the garage, the next page in the scrapbook album, and my intriguing discussion of ingredient conversions. If that last item doesn’t sound familiar, or intriguing, read the article in the December newsletter; it will bring you up to speed.

December’s discussion focused on conversions as related to weight and volume measures of ingredients. Conversions are also important when it comes to ingredients that aren’t easily purchased at the grocery store. Many of my recipes call for crumbled bacon or cooked and chopped chicken, neither of which I can buy off the shelf. I would prefer that the grocery report would tell me how many pounds of bacon or chicken to buy, instead of how many cups. These conversions take two steps to complete. Let’s start with the bacon.

Locate “Bacon” in the ingredient list.

Under the Packaging tab enter “Pound Package”.

Locate “Bacon, crumbled” in the ingredient list.

Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

From Amount	From Measure	To Amount	To Measure	To Ingredient
2	Cup	1	Pound	Bacon
16	Slices	1	Pound	Bacon
1	Pound	1	Pound	Bacon

These entries tell the software that if the recipe calls for 1 cup of crumbled bacon, add ½ pound of bacon to my grocery list. If the recipe calls for 8 slices of crumbled bacon, I want to see ½ pound of bacon on my grocery list. If the recipe calls for 1 pound of crumbled bacon, put 1 pound of bacon on my grocery list. No matter how the ingredient appears on my recipe, the software will do all the calculating, and tell me how many pounds of bacon to buy.

When it comes to cooked and chopped chicken, I prefer to buy chicken breasts.

Here are the entries to make for the conversion:

Locate “Chicken Breasts” in the ingredient list.

Under the Packaging tab enter “Pound Package”.

Locate “Chicken, cooked and chopped” in the ingredient list.

Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

From Amount	From Measure	To Amount	To Measure	To Ingredient
2	Cup	1.5	Pound	Chicken Breast
1	Pound	1	Pound	Chicken Breast

If a recipe calls for 2 cups of cooked, chopped chicken, then the grocery report will tell me to buy 1½ pounds of chicken breasts. Otherwise, a pound of cooked chicken will equal a pound of raw chicken.

Locate “Onion” in the ingredient list.

Under the Packaging tab enter “Each”.

Locate “Onion, chopped” in the ingredient list.

Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

From Amount	From Measure	To Amount	To Measure	To Ingredient
1	Cup	1	Each	Onion
1	Each	1	Each	Onion

You can adjust the conversions based on the size of onions that you usually buy. Larger onions might yield more than a cup of chopped onion, while smaller onions might yield less.

When it comes to shredded cheese, I prefer to buy the cheese and shred it myself. If you buy cheese already shredded, the following conversion is not necessary.

Locate “Cheddar Cheese” in the ingredient list.

Under the Packaging tab enter as many varieties of packaging as desired,

e.g. “Pound Package”, “2 Pound Package”, “5 Pound Package”

Locate “Cheddar Cheese, shredded” in the ingredient list.

Under the Conversion tab, enter the following:

From Amount	From Measure	To Amount	To Measure	To Ingredient
1	Cup	4	Ounce	Cheddar Cheese
1	Pound	1	Pound	Cheddar Cheese

Again, you can adjust the conversion based on your preference (e.g. 1 cup of shredded cheese = 3 oz. cheese).

Well, I think that’s all I can say about ingredient conversions. It must be time to fix the hem that’s coming out of my black skirt.

If you haven’t tried our Advantage Cooking software, click here for a 30 day free trial or to order your own copy.