by Donna | Sep 13, 2013
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| Image from sonomatowns |
As we head into fall, I am saddened that I won’t be able to just walk out the back door and get Ray Baby’s veggies everyday! I am still heading out there often and getting a tomato here and a green pepper there–I haven’t given up completely. However, very soon that obscure tomato or tiny pepper will not even be there to pick. Sadness…
On the other hand, it is time to turn my attention to buying (and even harvesting in my “fall garden”) and preparing fall vegetables.
Here is a list of what I will be looking for to use in cooking low carb this fall:
1. Beets—very low carb, deep purple means very nutritious
2. Broccoli–very low carb and my sons like this veggie steamed with cheese, so that is a win-win
3. Cauliflower–low carb–plus I will use it for cauliflower pizza crust and cauliflower rice–and I will stir fry it along with broccoli and zucchini for oriental dishes as well as just for sides
4. Eggplant–I have never cooked with eggplant, but it is relatively low carb, deep purple for all of that nutrition–and I have some recipes pinned to try it out!
5. Garlic–I didn’t even know this was a fall vegetable, and I definitely use it year round. I know everybody loves fresh everything, but I couldn’t live without my jar of minced garlic in oil that I can dip into and get those aromatics going (along with onions and peppers) as the beginning of tons and tons of low carb veggies and stir fries.
6. Green beans–I have my fifteen year old watching his favorite show on Netflix this afternoon and snapping tons of green beans! I can use them so many way–I love putting them in the crock pot with potatoes and ham or sausage for my kids–then pulling out a heaping serving of just the green beans for Ray Baby!
7. Kale–I have some winter kale seeds that I am planting this weekend! Anxious to see if they really grow in the cold weather that the package says they will grow in. Ray enjoyed the kale chips I made him for a snack a few weeks ago–but kale is pricey, so if I can get this winter kale to grow, I will be excited!
8. Zucchini—I have been harvesting and cooking zucchini all summer! I froze it three weeks: a. shredded for breads, muffins, etc. (anxious to try out my new almond flour and swerve sweetener!); b. cubed with yellow squash for casseroles and stir fries; c. sliced (also bagged with sliced yellow squash part of the time and sometimes by itself) also for stir fries, but Ray Baby likes the sliced zucchini just to steam in a little broth and season it (though he’s not the best seasoner! lol).
I am also looking forward to using three “fall” herbs:
1. Basil
2. Rosemary
3. Thyme
Though my sons would have me using four of them–and they would have to sing it: “Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme”–they love to follow me through the kitchen when I am cooking, carrying those four spices in their hands and waving them in my face while singing “Scarborough Fair”! Kids–never a dull moment!
by Donna | Sep 7, 2013
Ten Freezer Foods I Don’t Like to Be Without
+Recipe link in Comments
*Must haves!
11. Soup Starter+—the beginnings of chili, vegetable soup, chicken rice soup, potato soup, and more.
22. Any kind of breaded chicken breasts*+ to pull out and use for main entrée, sandwiches, chicken parmesan, chicken cordon bleu (sort of!), chicken and gravy, etc.
33. Sloppy joes+—One of my favorite sandwich fillings and so much healthier than cold meat sandwiches. I really like to have quart bags of these in the freezer.
44. Master beef cube mix*+–I started with this twenty-three years ago and still use it today! I don’t think my freezer has been without bags of this for two decades! Used for homemade beef stew, stroganoff over noodles, homemade pot pies, and more!
55. Cheesy potato casseroles*+–I am sure my freezer hasn’t been without these in twenty years! I have had a number of recipes for this (some with sour cream, shredded cheeses, etc.), but for some reason, this has become my favorite, despite the fact that I hate cottage cheese! You absolutely can’t taste the cottage cheese, and that with the cream and Velveeta truly make the creamiest potato casserole! I take these to every potluck I go to it seems! (It’s actually a little too rich and a little too expensive to have for daily fare at home, so we usually only have this for special occasions (and potlucks, new mom meals, etc.), but I always keep some in the freezer for those times.)
66. Shredded meats+—I like to put shredded chicken, beef, and pork in freezer bags with broth (or even gravy) to keep them moist. They are ready for anything—soups, stews, Mexican, Oriental, sandwiches, etc.
77. Taco meat*—Talk about versatile—taco soup, Mexican pizzas, taco salad, tacos, nachos, hot Mexican dip, even chili in a pinch—this meat is my go to freezer meat!
88. Lasagna*—Okay, I admit it. I actually tear up when I pull the last lasagna out of my freezer!! It is such a sad day! While taco meat and potato casseroles are musts in my freezer, nothing beats a meal-in-one-pan!
99. Meatloaves—I have used Ray’s grandmother’s recipe (“Grandma’s Meatloaf”) for our entire married life. I love to pull out two meatloaves, bake them (with a sauce on top!), precook some little red potatoes in a fourth a cup or so of broth in the micro, and arrange the potatoes around the meatloaf the last thirty minutes or so in the oven. I also like to take meatloaves to new moms with cheesy potato casserole!
110. Marinated chicken breast pieces+--I have one recipe that we call “Don Pablo’s Chicken” because it is sweet and tastes similar to the fajita chicken at our favorite Mexican recipe. Anyway, I freeze this chicken both ways—in the marinade (marked RAW on the bag) and already stir fried (after marinating in the fridge for a while). I love having both kinds to pull out and use in Mexican and oriental dishes (fajitas; stir fries; and various skillets I make with veggies, rice, etc.)
LINKS for recipes from our blog:
by Donna | May 28, 2013
Here is another potential five-minute-prep meal that my family loves! This is a good family night treat in lieu of getting take out pizzas.
Pre-cooked/pre-made chicken*
Shredded cheese of your choice
Flour tortillas
Garlic flavored non stick cooking spray (or melted butter with garlic)
Optionals: Onions and peppers (sometimes I have these pre-cooked and frozen with my meat; sometimes I don’t use them at all)
*I usually use fajita chicken I have in my freezer from freezer cooking—but any already-made chicken will work in a pinch, such as store bought fajita chicken strips, rotisserie chicken chunks, or even canned chicken {drained}. You can also stick a couple of boneless breasts or thighs in a half a cup of broth and cook in micro until done and use that meat. Of course, you could make Beef Crisps with roast beef or hamburger crisps with taco flavored ground beef.
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| Unbaked Fajita Chicken Crisps—These broil REALLY fast, so watch them closely! |
1. Lay flour torts out on cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Spray the tops of the torts and broil them under the broiler until tanned and somewhat crispy (twenty to sixty seconds—watch carefully!).
2. Remove torts from oven and sprinkle with chicken (and veggies, if desired) then shredded cheese.
3. Put pan back under broiler until cheese is bubbly (one minute or so–watch carefully!).
4. Cut in fourths and serve with sour cream, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, black olives, etc.
Note: This is a good way to use up leftovers–and can be made lower carb than many other Mexican dishes because it only uses one tortilla each and you can really top it with a lot of protein and veggies. Also, for lower cards, use the Carb Balance tortilla shells.
by Donna | May 16, 2013
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
8 oz cream cheese
1 jar Kraft Old English cheese spread
1/4 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp onion salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 green pepper chopped finely (or more or less)
a few green onions chopped finely (or more or less)
1. Cream the cream cheese in mixer.
2. Add Old English cheese spread and mix it.
3. Add all seasonings and chopped veggies.
4. Add shredded cheese and mix until shape-able.
5. You can shape now if not too soft or refrigerate and shape later and roll in nuts or bacon bits or ham bits.
People LOVE this cheeseball!
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by Donna | May 4, 2013
One of our many traditions/housekeeping rituals is that of cleaning out the refrigerator on grocery shopping day (which now with six “adults,” ages fourteen to over fifty living here is twice a week!). Everybody starts carrying in groceries, and as they are carried in, I sort them and bark out orders: “The SMALL deep freeze; not the big one. I need to be able to find this on Wednesday!” etc. etc. Also, while they carry (and I sort), I clean out the inside refrigerator and have people bring things in from the garage refrigerator. (Yeah, I am a mean multi-tasker after thirty years of homemaking/parenting/homeschooling/working!)
Anyway, all of this is going in WITH teenage boys talking about their day, our college age daughter going over her schedule with Mom or Dad (“Is it okay if I leave in ten minutes to run, so I can get five miles in before it gets dark?”), the dog pulling things out of the trash can as I put things in, and, of course, a radio drama playing in the kitchen cd player. (Yes, I can work with a lot of noise too, another survival skill developed through the years!)
Usually, one of these shopping days falls on “leftover night,” so I start organizing food for that night’s meal, “re-loading” (as my kids call it) some of the leftovers so that they look new, and cutting up old fruits and veggies before we put away the new ones. Someone will be called upon to make a quick fruit salad out of leftover fruits–and somebody will often start chopping leftover veggies to create a quick side dish to go with the main entree leftovers that we usually have.
We have gotten pretty good at throwing together fresh vegetable stir fries fairly quickly. We have variations on this side dish another night–we almost always have a chicken-veggie stir fry or beef veggie stir fry as one of our main entress each week. That night is is more involved and time consuming (cutting up meats, marinating meats, all the chopping and dicing and stir frying required for two huge pans of main dish meat/veggie stir fries). And, unfortunately, I don’t have much help on that night!
However, for “shopping day stir fried veggies” as a side dish, it is literally anything available chopped by whomever is available. I’ll give you some steps on tonight’s version, though it changes according to what’s left in the fridge on shopping day, who is home to help prepare veggies, and how many are there to eat it. (Leftover stir fry is not one of my family’s favorites!)
Tonight’s Version:
1 lb baby carrots
1 small zuchinni
6 oz snow peas
1 large green pepper
1 onion
1 lb brocolli
garlic
Mrs. Dash
oyster sauce
soy sauce
beef or chicken broth*
*Note: I seldom use oil to make a stir fry. If I do, it is just a little olive oil or coconut oil. I usually use broth to “fry” my stir fries
+I am a big pre-cooker. And I precook in the microwave, despite what some say about the microwave. It steams brocolli perfectly, and it is fast. So…
1. Steam carrots in micro. (I put carrots with a tablespoon or two of broth in glass measure and cover with plastic wrap. Then I steam for three to six minutes, depending on how many carrots I have and how done I want them before I add them to the stir fry pan.)
2. Heat small amount of broth in skillet while chopping onions, garlic, and peppers.
3. Stir fry aromatics (the three in #2) while you pull out the carrots.
4. Clean and chop brocolli and start steaming it in the micro in the same way as the carrots.
5. Slice zuchinni in thin rounds.
6. Add carrots, zuchinni, pea pods, garlic, Mrs. Dash, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and more broth, as needed and turn fire on medium high. Stir frequently as they cook.
7. When stir fry has just a minute or two left of cooking time, fold in the brocolli. (My guys do not like mushy brocolli, so I fold it in at the end.)
8. Continue to add more broth as needed while cooking.
And it looks like the picture below! 🙂
by Donna | Apr 3, 2013
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