by Donna | Dec 3, 2012
I have been a freezer cook for twenty-two years now, but in addition to that, I am truly a “do ahead Momma”! If there is anything that I can do ahead of time to make things run more smoothly later, I try to capitalize on that opportunity (or at least assign it to a child’s chore list!).
Here are some examples of some do-aheads that I have done in the kitchen recently to make the next morning or later better:
1. Cook up three pounds of turkey bacon and bag up in fridge for egg frittatas and salads later.
2. Cut up green peppers, onions, celery, and red peppers and bag in fridge for stir fries later.
3. Cream several bars of cream cheese and stick in fridge to pull out some for cheeseballs and cheesecake filling later that week.
4. Fry up eggs, onions, and meat for breakfast pizza–stick in fridge and pull out and assemble quickly.
5. Chop nuts and bag up to sprinkle on a couple of desserts I was going to need them for.
6. Peel and cube potatoes (okay, the boys did it) and put in huge pan of water Saturday night so I can just cook and mash quickly Sunday afternoon.
7. Boil eggs, drain, and put in bag in fridge for salads and quick breakfasts/lunches.
8. Cut ham steaks in chunks to have ready to stir into potato casserole the next day when it is nearly finished baking.
9. Cube Velveeta and bag to make dip the next day.
10. Cook up hamburger and stick in fridge to use over the next couple of days for hamburger stew and taco meat.
Just to get you started…..”do aheads” make things easier later!
by Donna | Nov 21, 2012
I have been collecting recipes and ideas through the years for using holiday leftovers. Unfortunately, the file is missing, so I am trying to duplicate some of it using some websites, old recipes, etc. Ideas below; our favorite recipe beneath that.
TURKEY LEFTOVERS
Tips for Turkey Leftovers:
1. Plan for leftovers by calculating one pound of turkey for every three cups of diced meat (which yields four to six servings of meat).
2. Keep turkey moist when reheating b covering it with broth.
3. Divide it up and freeze it with broth immediately for later use.
4. If freezing it, divide it into recipe-sized portions, so you only need to defrost what you need for a recipe (i.e. 3 cup portions if you will use it in three cup increments for turkey soup and turkey tetrazinni, for instance).
5. Quick leftover turkey ideas:
a. Turkey and cheese sandwiches
b. Turkey in salads
c. Turkey roll ups (wraps)
d. Turkey noodle or turkey rice soup
e. Turkey casseroles—white turkey lasagna, turkey enchiladas, turkey noodle casserole, etc.
f. Turkey taco salad
Hot Turkey Sandwiches
2 lbs shredded chicken or turkey meat, fully cooked
4 pieces of toast, broken into bite-sized pieces
2 eggs
1 ½ to 2 cups of concentrated broth (make it stronger by adding base)
2 tsp poultry seasoning
¾ tsp pepper
1 tsp parsley flakes
1. Whisk eggs until well whisked.
2. Stir all ingredients together.
3. Put in hot oven, uncovered, at 300’ for one hour or more, stirring every fifteen to thirty minutes until liquid is all evaporated and mixture is sandwich ready (flavorful, but not too wet and liquidy).
4. Use as sandwich filling.
5. Makes at least 15 large sandwiches.
6. Recipe may be reduced as needed or leftovers may be stored in fridge and reheated in micro.
HAM LEFTOVERS
Tips for Ham Leftovers:
1. Plan for leftovers ahead of time. For example, if you know you will only use half the ham, consider cooking the two halves separately, one with ham glaze and one without for other recipes later.
2. Freeze ham in freezer bags in whole pieces to decide later what you will do with them. Be sure to use freezer bags, not regular storage bags.
3. Quick leftover ham ideas:
a. Ham omelettes
b. Bean soups
c. Chicken cordon bleu
d. Hot ham and cheese sandwiches
e. Cheesy scalloped potatoes w/ ham
f. Fried rice w/ ham
g. Ham and mashed potatoes croquettes
h. Cheese toasties with ham
i. Scrambled eggs w/ ham
Meals and Snacks for Leftover Ham:
1. Breakfast: fry slices with fried eggs; put in scrambled eggs; add to breakfast burrito
2. Lunch: put chunks in vegetable soup; hot ham and cheese sandwiches; ham salad; ham in chef’s salads
3. Dinner: pan fry large, thick pieces for “ham steak”; put in scalloped potatoes; add to home made macaroni and cheese
4. Ham Nearly Gone: Use carcass for base for soup beans; navy beans; split pea soup, etc.
WHITE POTATOES
Mashed Potato Patties
Leftover mashed potatoes
1 egg
little milk
Optional: onion, grated cheese, and a little chopped green pepper
1. Form into patties and roll into crushed crackers or corn flake crumbs.
2. Put on cookie sheet and bake in 350 degree oven until heated through
3. Remove from oven and place on a broiler rack for a few minutes to brown the outside.
4. Optional: Instead of baking, “fry” the patties in a skillet with a small amount of oil.
Mashed Herb Potato Soup
1/2 teaspoon crumbled, dried rosemary
1 teaspoon crumbled, dried thyme
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
1 small rib of celery including the leaves, minced
1 carrot, grated coarsely
2 cups unsalted chicken broth or stock (fresh or canned)
2 1/2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup fresh parsley, minced
1. In a small dry skillet toast the rosemary and thyme until fragrant, do not burn. Shake the skillet and heat for about 3 minutes. Set aside.
2. In a large saucepan sauté the onion, celery and carrots in olive oil over moderately low heat for about 1 minute, stirring constantly.
3. Stir in the broth or stock and bring to a boil.
4. Break potatoes up with a fork. Using a wire whisk, add potatoes a half cup at a time.
5. Continue whisking until smooth, reduce to a simmer and add toasted herbs, lemon juice and fresh parsley.
6. Taste soup and add salt and black pepper if desired. Makes 4 servings.
SWEET POTATOES
• Sweet Potato Ravioli: Place a spoonful of mashed sweet potatoes on a wonton wrapper, fold and simmer in chicken broth until cooked through.
• Curried Sweet Potato Soup: Puree sweet potatoes with chicken broth, onions, leeks and curry powder; season to taste.
• Asian Potato Salad: Combine cubed sweet potatoes with shredded red cabbage, sesame oil and a touch of cilantro; top with chopped peanuts.
• Sweet Potato Dip: Puree potatoes with any or all of the following: low-fat sour cream, bell pepper, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice and salt.
OTHER
Garlicky Croutons or Cheese Toasties
Leftover dinner rolls are excellent cut into cubes and toasted into croutons for potato soup or to make Garlicky Cheese Toast.
6 to 8 leftover dinner rolls (any kind)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed and chopped finely
2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese
1. Using a serrated knife cut the dinner rolls in half lengthwise. Set aside.
2. Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. While the skillet is heating.
3. In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine garlic and olive oil. Microwave on high for one minute or until garlic begins to sizzle in the oil. This step can also be done in a skillet.
4. Brush cut side of each dinner roll with oil and place oil-side-down on the hot skillet.
5. Using a spatula or pancake turner, press each piece flat as it cooks. When golden brown, turn and continue pressing. Remove from heat and sprinkle each with a little Parmesan cheese. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve warm with soup.
Stuffing (Homemade or Boxed)
• Dumplings: Make golf-ball size rounds of stuffing with a small ice cream or melon ball scooper. Simmer, covered, in turkey or chicken soup for 10 minutes.
• Croutons: Cut stuffing into squares and bake for 8 minutes at 400ºF. Toss into a salad or use as a garnish for stews.
Cranberry Sauce (Canned or Fresh)
• Cranberry-Citrus Sauce: Combine diced cranberry sauce (if using canned) with frozen and thawed or canned corn, diced red onion, and mandarin oranges or seedless clementine segments.
• Cranberry Salsa: Mix together cranberry sauce, freshly minced cilantro, salt and pepper.
• Chutney: Simmer cranberry sauce, diced onion, a pinch of ground ginger and about 1 tablespoon each of vinegar and brown sugar, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until thick. Consider adding a jalapeno for a kick!
Pumpkin Pie (Store-Bought or Homemade)
• Pumpkin Smoothie: Scrape the filling out of one piece of pie and blend it with low-fat vanilla yogurt. Put in a parfait glass and top with a small amount of crumbled piecrust and a dash of cinnamon.
• Crisp Crusted Pie: If your crust gets soggy, place the pie in a 350ºF oven for 10 minutes to crisp it up.
by Donna | Aug 16, 2012
Back to School for Homeschoolers—Tip VIII: Be Efficient in Your School Day
With six children in school different years (and a baby or toddler too!) , I have been on a personal quest for efficiency in my school day! I have learned so much about time management and efficiency through homeschooling. I will give four primary tips for efficiency in this article, but we have many, many ideas in our audio series, “Helps for Homeschooling Moms: Prioritizing, Organizing, and Scheduling Your Life, School, and Home.”
First of all, I used multi-level learning whenever possible. This included doing unit studies for content areas (history, science, health, etc.) using a bus stop approach to teaching. In the bus stop approach, I started out with all children present for our studies and began with the easiest materials I used. Then as the materials increased in difficulty or decreased in interest for the little ones, I would “drop them off at the bus stops” (i.e. release them to go play, have room time, do chores, etc.) and continue on with higher level material. As the session progressed, little ones would “get off the bus” and go to other things until at the end of the session, I was covering more challenging material that might only interest or pertain to older ones. (We always allowed littles to stay and learn with us while playing Legoes, etc., for the “trickle down effect,” if the child desired!)
Secondly, I grouped students together whenever possible. Our daughters all took high school biology, sewing, and Spanish together—even though they were in grades six, nine, and ten. It was efficient, and they enjoyed studying together.
Third, I always used grading time wisely. I would sit down with the child’s English or math and grade with him or her beside me. As I found an error, we could go over it right there. It was teaching time at its best—teaching directly from the student’s mistakes.
Lastly, we made our students as responsible for their education as they could possibly be at each age. We began early on using daily chore charts and independent school lists. The latter were lists of tasks that each child needed to do every day by himself in school. Thus, any silent reading, handwriting pages, cd roms, and other activities that the child could do without Mom were listed in the order that the student was to do it—and he could just go down the list and do it every day without needing any input or help. This gave me the chance to work with other kids—and I knew that every body was busy when they were not meeting with me.
by Donna | Aug 14, 2012
Tip VI: Prioritize Your Life, School, and Home
This point is a three hour mini-seminar and audio series, but I will try to summarize it in a couple of brief paragraphs! When we began homeschooling many years ago, even with only one little son, we found ourselves overwhelmed by activity. Ray and I were both working on our master’s degrees. We were active in church. We were homeschooling my sister and helping others homeschool. We lived close to extended family who needed and wanted our attention (including younger siblings at home).
One day we sat down to solve our time and activity dilemma, and we made a list of all of the things that could/did fill our evenings—things we needed to do (meetings, etc.), things we should do (visit elderly grandparents), things we wanted to do, and things that were automatically built in (overtime, church services, etc.). When we examined our list, the total evenings that could potentially be filled came to sixty—if we did everything we could/should/would!
Armed with that calendar and prioritizing help from marriage and family teaching we had received, we learned how to prioritize. We looked at the things that we wanted to say yes to—and said yes to them. We looked at the things that we could say no to—and said no to them. We applied the mantra that “when you say yes to something (or someone), you are saying no to something (or someone) else.” We asked ourselves who we truly wanted to say yes and no to—and determined early in our marriage that we did not want to say no to our immediate family (our children and each other) just because we were saying yes to someone else.
Specifically, in the area of prioritizing and time management with homeschooling, when we meet new homeschoolers, we often ask them what their days (especially mothers) are like (before beginning homeschooling), and when the mom tells us how busy she was with part time work, volunteering, and other obligations, we ask her what she will cut from her day to make time (three to six hours a day, depending on the ages and neediness of the students) to homeschool. Homeschooling is not something that you can add onto an already full day. It must be prioritized—and put into the schedule before other things of lesser importance. One of the reasons that I am thankful that we started “homeschooling” when Joshua was a toddler is that I never knew of life with daytime hours that were not already earmarked for school. In other words, my days have always been spent schooling. I didn’t have to add it onto other things that I did during the day. Prioritizing school—the hours that it truly takes to educate and oversee our kids’ education—makes a huge difference in the success of a person’s homeschool.
by Donna | Aug 8, 2012
Twelve Back to School Tips for Homeschoolers–Tip V of XII: Prioritize Your Life, School, and Home
This point is a three hour mini-seminar and audio series, but I will try to summarize it in a couple of brief paragraphs! When we began homeschooling many years ago, even with only one little son, we found ourselves overwhelmed by activity. Ray and I were both working on our master’s degrees. We were active in church. We were homeschooling my sister and helping others homeschool. We lived close to extended family who needed and wanted our attention (including younger siblings at home).
One day we sat down to solve our time and activity dilemma, and we made a list of all of the things that could/did fill our evenings—things we needed to do (meetings, etc.), things we should do (visit elderly grandparents), things we wanted to do, and things that were automatically built in (overtime, church services, etc.). When we examined our list, the total evenings that could potentially be filled came to sixty—if we did everything we could/should/would!
Armed with that calendar and prioritizing help from marriage and family teaching we had received, we learned how to prioritize. We looked at the things that we wanted to say yes to—and said yes to them. We looked at the things that we could say no to—and said no to them. We applied the mantra that “when you say yes to something (or someone), you are saying no to something (or someone) else.” We asked ourselves who we truly wanted to say yes and no to—and determined early in our marriage that we did not want to say no to our immediate family (our children and each other) just because we were saying yes to someone else.
Specifically, in the area of prioritizing and time management with homeschooling, when we meet new homeschoolers, we often ask them what their days (especially mothers) are like (before beginning homeschooling), and when the mom tells us how busy she was with part time work, volunteering, and other obligations, we ask her what she will cut from her day to make time (three to six hours a day, depending on the ages and neediness of the students) to homeschool. Homeschooling is not something that you can add onto an already full day. It must be prioritized—and put into the schedule before other things of lesser importance. One of the reasons that I am thankful that we started “homeschooling” when Joshua was a toddler is that I never knew of life with daytime hours that were not already earmarked for school. In other words, my days have always been spent schooling. I didn’t have to add it onto other things that I did during the day. Prioritizing school—the hours that it truly takes to educate and oversee our kids’ education—makes a huge difference in the success of a person’s homeschool.
