I Love These

You can buy these little aluminum trays with or without covers for pennies at places like Job Lot or Dollar Tree. The smallest sizes I've seen for about 12 cents a piece and the large ones for about 25 cents a piece. Or you can reuse them from places that offer salad bars.

My favorite method for storing and heating anything edible is glass, and that's what I use most of the time. But for things I want to put in long term freezer storage, this seems to be working fairly well. So far my chest freezer has turkey pot pie, vegetarian pot pie, and quiche stored in this way. I'll be moving on to fruit pies next but I wanted a few dinner options taken care of first.

The most space efficient way to seal it is to trace the top (widest) part of the pan on a piece of paper. Fold a sheet of aluminum foil in half and hold the paper against it while cutting out the circle. Place the foil sheets on the food portion first and then the circle of paper (which you can write the contents on). Pinch the lip of the tray around it and put the whole thing in a gallon sized bag to freeze and store. The bags can be reused over and over.

Cranberry Sauce

I first made cranberry sauce last year after a frustrated attempt to find sauce in a supermarket near me that didn't contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. (I've since discovered that Ocean Spray puts out cans around Passover made with regular sugar that you can buy in the Kosher aisle, so I bought a few to have on hand)

My wand mixer is in storage at the moment while we have our house on the market so normally it comes out fully jelled and more even in consistency. This batch turned out more like a whole berry sauce. Still thick, but not quite as jelled as I usually make.

Cranberry Sauce:

1 standard sized back of cranberries washed and picked through to pull out stems

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups water

Put cranberries, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and the water into a saucepan and heat on medium heat. When berries start to "pop" and develop a ring of froth add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes on low-medium heat using spoon to pop cranberries that havent split yet. When mixture is thick and sounds kind of like oatmeal cooking, remove from heat and let sit another 10 minutes. Using a wand or hand mixer, blend the mix well. Store in a glass container with lid and refrigerate.

Vegetable Pot Pie

Wow did this come out good. Even our niece Christine said that you couldn't tell that the gravy wasn't meat gravy. A few tweaks to add more green veggies and less potatos and I think we're good. Since this meal was lacking a bit in the protein area we also served it with both vegetarian "meatballs" and regular meatballs (for those of us who are still a little bit carnivore).

The Crust (makes two medium sized pies or one pie of traditional size):

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 stick plus 2 TBS butter

1/4 cup to 6 TBS cold water

Mix together flour and salt. Cut butter into small cubes and toss with the flour to coat cubes. Using a pastry blender (or two knives) cut butter into flour until bits are about the size of a pea or even a bit smaller. Sprinkle cold water 2 TBS at a time onto the mix and fluff until it is coated and when pressed will stick together. Mixture should not feel wet but it should stick together.

Refrigerate dough for at least 20 minutes.

Divide into the number of crusts you need (no more than four) and roll out each section on a well floured surface. Add crust to pan and press into bottom and sides if air pockets puff it up. Fill with vegetables and gravy(etc) and then cover with top crust. Press and roll in the sides. Remember that it doesn't have to be perfect. The best pie crusts are the ones that look kind of funky.

The gravy:

1 TBS paste style vegetable boullion

3 cups water

3 TBS clarified butter (you can use regular butter)

3-5 TBS flour

Mix boullion into 3 cups warm water until dissolved completely. Set aside. In a saucepan, make a roux by melting clarified butter on medium-low heat and whisking in the flour to make a semi wet paste. When paste forms, add broth and turn heat to medium-high. Whisk steadily until gravy thickens. If gravy does not form to your liking, you can add a pit more flour pre-mixed with water slowly to thicken it.

Pies should bake at 425. Start checking after 25 minutes. This pie took about 35 minutes but I like my crust slightly on the darker side.

If you do try this, let me know how you make out with it. Usually our vegetarian meal substitutes are tasty and passable (like shepherdless pie) but this one we all devoured and we honestly were hard pressed to tell the difference in flavor between this and a meat pot pie.

A Picture is Worth

Favorite Oven Fries

These excellent fries have been part of a near weekly ritual since my oldest started Kindergarten. His school offers a fast food lunch twice a week and after discussing compromise options with him, he sticks with the pizza lunch on Fridays and we send our own homemade chicken tenders and fries on Wednesdays. These are usually made the night before and I pack them in his sandwich container with chicken strips I've made and frozen previously and the school heats it up for him.

Oven Fries:

8-10 small to medium round style potatoes

1/4 cup canola oil plus 2 TBS olive oil

salt and seasonings to taste

Wash and cut potatoes into thin wedged shaped pieces. Toss slices in a large bowl with oil and other seasonings. (I use a blend of rosemary, pepper, sage, thyme, sea salt, orange rind, lemon rind, garlic and onion). Arrange slices into single layer on cookie sheets and bake at 425. Start to check them in 8 minutes and then every 3 minutes after. When golden brown on one side, flip them and bake again starting to check after 5 minutes. Blot with paper towels if desired.

related links:

http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

Pumpkin Pancakes

I'm not at my best at 6AM. There, I said it. When I start to hear the thumpity-thump stirrings of little legs that will soon be sticking cold feet into my bed with me usually my brain jumps to something like "Oh, crud. Is there something for breakfast that they can get themselves?"

Our family's smallest members eat a lot of trader joes cereal bars, mozzerella cheese sticks, yogurt, and muffins for breakfast. They are quick and easy and they can help themselves while I figure out which side of my end table I left my glasses on.

Pancakes are a great make ahead food. They are inexpensive and easy to make and they can be eaten cold straight out of the fridge. Or if the kids aren't impatient, it takes me 10 seconds to heat them in the microwave (not something my oldest is ready to be using yet).

I have been using a Betty Crocker recipe for pancakes for years. I stick with them because they are super fluffy and taste like the bisquick ones. I was concerned that the addition of pumpkin would make them flat but they turned out nearly as fluffy as the original. I think we'll be making this one regularly.

Pumpkin Pancakes:

1 cup flour (I use 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat)

1 TBS sugar

1 TBS baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup pureed pumpkin

2 TBS oil or melted butter (I use oil)

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until desired consistency. I like a fluffy, thicker pancake so I make my batter as shown. If using whole wheat flour in part, like I do, the mixture will thicken a little as it sits. I like to let my batter rest about 10 minutes before I begin using it.

Lemon Squares

For the past nearly four years my outside-the-home job has been that of a part-time (3/4 time) supermarket banker. Because our branch has later hours, I generally have a flexible schedule that allows me to balance between home and earning a bit of an income. I like my job most of the time. I get to take care of my customers start to finish. A customer might make a deposit with me, then apply for a loan with me, then meet with me two weeks later where I'll perform the loan closing with them. I have my moments, as in all jobs, when I think "What on earth am I doing here?" but the things that keep me grounded during that time are some great people I work with and some of my really friendly long-term customers.

I wear a name tag that has a spot on it where each colleague is asked to write something personal about themselves as a "conversation starter." Mine reads: "I like to bake."

Usually a handful of times I'll be asked about it during a regular day. Customers will share the things they like to make and we'll talk about it while I help them with their business. Not long ago, I received this recipe for lemon bars from Mrs. L. So thanks Mrs. L. for the great recipe!

Mrs. L's Lemon Squares:

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar (I used regular sugar because I was out and they came out just fine)
1 cup butter (two sticks) melted
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Mix together 2 cups flour, melted butter, and 1/2 cup confectioners sugar. Mix well and spread into the bottom of a 9 x 13" pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Mix together eggs, 2 cups sugar, lemon juice, baking powder, and remaining flour (1/4 cup) and blend together very well. Pour onto the baked shell and bake at 350 for another 25 minutes or until set.

Dust with confectioners sugar when cool, if desired.

Cut into bars.

These pictures didn't come out so hot but trust me, they are tasty.

Yummy!