Mock Cheddar Broccoli Soup: Freezer Challenge Day 1 report

Day 1 of the freezer challenge went surprisingly well. 

Items used out of the freezer:  Salmon burgers, a bag of organic mixed veggies, a bag of organic broccoli. 

Fridge items used up: 1/2 can of leftover pumpkin  (That's a tough one to incorporate....score!) and 2 cups of homemade chicken stock.

You're not gonna believe what I made; it was so weird, but strangely enough, the addition of pumpkin and coconut milk to broccoli soup makes it look and taste like CHEDDAR broccoli soup!!?!?  There's no way I was going to tell my family "this is pumpkin broccoli soup".  So at first I called it "Autumn Vegetable Bisque"....then when I tasted it I switched the name to "Mock Cheddar Broccoli Soup"!! ;)  Clever Mama.

Sorry I can't be more precise...but here's what I did:

• 1 bag of frozen organic broccoli (not a huge bag, like a 6" x 8" size?)
• 2 c. chicken stock
• 2 c. water
• 1 heaping teaspoon instant chicken flavored base (Vogue Cuisine)

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer til broccoli is tender enough to blend...

Then add in:

• pumpkin puree--I used about 1/2 to 3/4 c.
• about 1/4 of a can of coconut milk (Native Forrest Organic)

Bend with an immersion blender until smooth. 

Then I seasoned it with:

• 1 tsp Herbamare seasoning
• 1/4 tsp pepper

It was really, really good!  I heated up the leftovers in the microwave this morning and put it in an insulated coffee mug.  I drank it for breakfast on my way in to town.  However the coconut milk does tend to make me a little congested and makes my throat or thyroid swell up a little bit.  Odd reaction, but it happens every time.  So I'll have to come up with some other milk substitute next time.  Cashew milk would be great I think (or cream or half and half, if you can have dairy).

Along with the soup we had wild salmon burgers on GF buns (I used a bottom bun only, and used lettuce leaves for the top) with tartar sauce, and mixed veggies on the side.

It was all a big hit, and made a dent in my freezer stash, so hooray.

Gotta say I am inspired by the soup.  I forget how easy it is to just make a soup really quick to go with dinner, and now that fresh veggies are just not all that great we're eating less side salads, so it's time for side veggies to be in soup form instead for a while.

What came out of your freezer today and how did you use it?

January Freezer Challenge

Hello out there...?!  Did we all survive the Christmas season?  Ready to head quietly into 2014?  Or do you still have energy left to start the new year off with a bang?

Personally, New Year's Eve is sorta' a non-holiday--you know, one of those things where you're grateful to have an extra day off work/school, but there's really not a lot of actual celebration going on.  Remember the whole Y2K fuss and commotion?  People were prepared for the end of the world as we know it--computers crashing; the entire infrastructure of the globe totally imploding.  I believe I was in bed by 10:00 that New Year's Eve.  I remember waking up at midnight when our neighbors set off some fireworks, looking at the clock, seeing that it was still running (meaning there was no power outage) and promptly going back to sleep.  Oh sure, there were times long ago, in college and shortly after, when I'd make the effort to dress up, make plans, and go out, but these days, after Christmas I'm pretty much done; ready to clean up, clean out, get organized again, and back on track.  Hence:  The January Freezer Challenge.

 

Remember all the garden or farmer's market goodies you've stashed away in there for winter?   Or even those grocery store finds you stocked up on when they were on sale?   Well guess what?  It's here!  Winter.  The time you were looking towards back in July and August when you said to yourself  "I'm going to put this away for winter" or "won't these tomatoes (or peppers or berries) taste good in the middle of winter?" 

Here are some items I have that need to be used up:  tomatoes, tons.  peppers, whole and diced--(bell, Serrano, jalapeno), blueberries, dehydrated plums, chicken stock, ground turkey, and more recently I've added two turkey breasts (purchased fresh at Thanksgiving), leftover homemade cranberry sauce, some chicken strips, one enchilada casserole, and some cooked ground beef.  Those are my first targets. 

Now...I figured out the best way to deal with those frozen whole tomatoes.  Remember?  In August I just washed them, froze them whole, and bagged them up.  Ok, the first time I tried to use them I thought it was a huge hassle because I stuck them in the microwave...bad idea.  This time (I made fiesta chicken soup out of some yesterday) I set them out on the counter for a while until they thawed a little bit, then when I was able to easily cut out the core I did that...then ran under hot water for a second...skins slipped right off.  I let them thaw further in the fridge and then popped them into the blender for puree.  They were Romas so I didn't worry about the seeds.  Oh my goodness, they were heavenly in soup.  I will absolutely be doing tomatoes this way again next year.

I have one of the turkey breasts thawing.  I'm going to roast it in my Pampered Chef deep covered baker...so tender and moist that way.  Then make sandwiches, wraps, soups and whatever else out of it.

Other challenge items coming out this week:  whole bell peppers.  I washed them and cored them and froze them whole in the summer.  This week they are getting stuffed with a beef mixture for a stuffed pepper dinner.  Berries:  I have a huge bag of frozen Costco berries, as well as local blueberries I froze in season.  I still have tons of fresh apples too...so I'm thinking apple/berry sauce, crisps, and maybe some muffins.

Tomatoes:  Those are coming out of the freezer and going to become fresh tomato soup to go with lunch sandwiches and wraps.

New Years' Resolutions?  Those, to me, are akin to "dieting"...lofty goals that seem inspiring at first, but quickly turn defeating.  No, I prefer to just keep refining, keep tweaking, keep reforming...no radical revolution that burns brightly for a moment then fizzles out, but instead the slow and steadily burning flame of permanent change. 

For instance:  I know for sure that eating "paleo", or caveman-like, is really the best thing for my body, personally.  But for me to say:  "Ok, Janury 1st it's gonna be full-on Paleo!  No grains or dairy or sugar will ever pass my lips again!"  Really?  That's not realistic, and is a recipe for failure, or worse, a cycle of "dieting".  No, I'm just looking at recent weeks and going "hmm, I see my skin is breaking out, my belly is bloated, and my thyroid is swollen...so what have I been putting into this system that has caused this change?"  Well...a few unusual things:  holiday foods, dairy, sugar, and I'm noticing a habit of eating carby-GF grains in the morning has emerged:  GF muffins and breads have become the norm, not an occasional treat.  Ok, so, quit buying so much GF bread--switch that muffin for an egg and veggie cup (made in muffin tin) and we'll soon see change.

Exercise?  I notice that during the holidays my priorities have switched to getting things done for Christmas, because there was a time factor to consider--the 25th was coming, and was not going to wait for me.  But now that it's over it's time to shift back to thinking about getting outside each day in a manner that is more important that other things, not less.  Now, other things can wait.  Before they could not, but now they can, and they will.  I knew that this lower-priority place that exercise had taken was going to be temporary, and now it's back to situation-normal.  No crazy burst of gym-membership buying, and workout clothes to purchase...just a shift of thought from "teacher gifts and Christmas cards have to come first today", to "getting out with my dog for a couple miles comes before other things".  A priority shift.  A re-evaluation of the hours of each day and what is most important.

What are the shifts taking place in your life now as we head into January?  Want to take the freezer challenge with me?  Let's get those goodies out of their frozen holding pattern and awaken those nutrients once again to nourish us in the cold months.  All the while making room in those freezers for a February freezer cooking marathon that will bless us with a bit of extra time come spring, when life will start to get very busy again.  Feel free to comment, and tell us what's coming out of your freezer this week.

Another crock party?!? And make-it-yourself taco seasoning...

If you are looking for a way to get together with people this Christmas season, without much work for anyone, and sharing the expense, may I recommend a pot-luck taco bar?

Last night I had a fun taco-bar fellowship with some of my girlfriends.  It was a super-quick way for us to just grab a bite to eat for dinner and make the best possible use of the 45 minutes we had to hang out, catch up and share all that's new in our lives.  Actually, the conversation turned to family Christmas traditions--so really, all that's "old" in our lives! ;) 

I love to hear people's traditions and what they recall most in terms of childhood holiday memories...the things that really stand out in their minds and make Christmas, well...Christmas, for them. 

Surprisingly enough, I bet if you ask your friends the question "What do you remember most about Christmas" it would not be the gifts, but rather the small things.  One of my friends warmly recalls a yearly gingerbread man, dressed in frosting "lederhosen", made with love, and sent to all the children in her family by an elderly relative.

For me, I recall all the little Norwegian traditions of Christmas at my grandparents' house--lefse, the first-course of oyster stew, the lutefisk (ok I never actually ATE the lutefisk), and the coins left under the plate, to be kept by the head of the household, until after the new year, in the hopes that the amount would multiply exponentially in the year to come!  Funny thing is, my grandparents lived in a small, humble, single-wide mobile home, but at Christmas everyone fit in it just fine!  No one worried that it was small, or humble.  There was a welcoming spirit, and room for everyone:  aunts, uncles, children, tree and tables.  It was not the size of the home, or the elaborateness of the décor that made it special; it was the people.

Those old Norwegian family traditions are not all carrying through to the new generation.  Some are.  Lefse simply will not be put out to pasture!  But now there are also new traditions, specific to our family, and Christmas unfolds much the same way each year.

A taco bar may not seem very Christmas-y, but it helps that someone also brought Christmas fudge and cookies, and adorable little pecan tassies, and we had some Christmas music in the background--a little 45 minute respite to sit, eat, laugh, and just be in the moment together.  The best part is no one really had to go to a lot of work. We all brought bits and pieces of the meal.  One person brought cheese, one tortillas, one salsa, two brought treats, etc.  Paper plates, Christmas napkins, and we were all totally happy.  No need to obsess.  We met in a central location, had folding chairs and just held our plates on our laps.  No need for anything more.  I find that if you just put out a list of what food is needed, people fill it.  My part was taco meat.  I made it up on the stovetop and transferred it to a warm 4 qt crock--my "travel" crock with the lock-down lid.  It stayed nice and warm for serving, and the leftovers patiently waited on "low" for 2 hours after our meal, until I was ready to store it in the fridge.

Now, in a pinch I'll use taco seasoning from Costco, but I far prefer to make own--it tastes better and I know exactly what's in it, and can alter it to my family's tastes and needs.  I also like to use organic corn starch in my taco seasoning, so that I know it's GMO-free.

Taco Seasoning

Originally this recipe came from www.recipezaar.com and is called "Fajita Seasoning Mix".  I just increased the cumin, used organic cornstarch, changed the amounts of some other seasoings, and switched the sugar for sucanat.  I quadrupled the recipe because I go through a lot of it.

1/4 c. organic cornstarch
2 T, plus 2 tsp. chili powder
1 T. salt
1 T, plus 1 tsp paprika
1 T sucanat
1 T, plus 2 tsp chicken bullion (I use Vogue Cuisine brand--it's reduced sodium, gluten-free and no MSG, available in health food stores)
4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp cumin

Combine ingredients, and store in a glass quart jar in the fridge.  2 TBSP of the finished mix equals 1 pkg store-bought seasoning.  I usually also add water when I go to season my taco meat...I don't know...1/4 cup?  Just add a little, and then add more if you need to.

Enjoy the season friends.  Don't be overwhelmed by "entertaining".  The main thing is to just do it.  Share a meal, or even just a cup of tea and a cookie.  It doesn't need to be difficult, and no one is examining your house with a magnifying glass!  It's the fellowship that matters, not the gourmet cuisine.  Just like it's the yearly childhood gift of a special gingerbread man, and not the expensive gifts that remain in their minds years later...it's the time together, and not the elaborate-ness of the spread, or the perfection of your house that people will remember.

Chai Tea Latte, dairy-free

I just had to try to squeak in one more stamp night before Christmas.  So many great Christmas projects, so little time.

Tonight's event was a weeknight version of the 5 project stamp night I did on Friday.  So many friends had office parties and other things going on that night, so this was the mini-version, to give them a little bit of fun, on a limited time budget.  I call it an "express" workshop.  60 minutes, one make-and-take project, and a little treat.

 The make-and-take project was this cute ghiradelli chocolate holder.  It's hard to see, but under the snowman there's "dazzling diamonds" glitter for the snow.  I simply adore this sweet little "Frosty" stamp.  I just keep coming back to it over and over again.

Here's what it looks like inside.

I wanted this event to be truly 60 minutes for the sake of my sweet friends who have little kids that need to get to bed, and who work full-time and don't have a lot of extra time in their lives to spare.  I was totally done with talking, demo and make-and-take; and treats were served in 60 minutes, but they were chatting and ended up staying 2 hours instead!  I was thrilled because I love having people here and wanted them to stay and have fun, but I was surprised that they did, with their time constraints.  I guess they need creative fun and sweet fellowship as much as I do.

I think hot drinks are very nice for these cold evening parties, so  I decided to try something different and do a dairy-free chai tea latte.

One word to the wise on adding hot items to a crock pot:  do make sure the crock pot is already warm.  You don't want to add hot liquids to a cold crock because you runt he risk of shocking and cracking the stoneware.  The solution is to put some liquid into the crock and get it heating up beforehand.  Don't heat it with nothing inside though, that is also not good for your stoneware.  For instance, on Thanksgiving...remember all that hot food that went into my crocks to keep warm?  I had heated them up for a little while beforehand, with a few inches of water inside.  When I went to add the hot food I just used pot holders, picked up the stoneware and dumped the water out, then added in the hot food.

So for this chai latte I used my 4 qt black crock pot.  Into the crock went:

• 32 oz carton unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 TBSP honey
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 "tea bags" of ground mulling spices

Along with:

• 6 cups water
• 6 Oregon Chai tea bags

that I had already made into tea on the stovetop.

I boiled the water on the stovetop, then steeped the 6 tea bags in it for 4 minutes, then added that tea to the other ingredients in the crock pot and put it on low for a couple of hours, but even with the addition of the cinnamon sticks and the mulling spices, it ended up still being a bit diluted, and not spicy enough for me. 

Next time I would just follow the instructions on the box, and double it.  It says to use 4 1/2 c water and 1 1/2 c. milk--bring to a boil and steep tea bags 2 to 4 minutes, add honey.  Much simpler, and I think it would be better to have steeped the tea in the coconut milk as well as the water.

However if you really want to go simple, just buy the chai in the box, add milk of choice, combine in the pot to warm it, and you're good to go!  I did not do that because it has too much sugar for me.  I wanted to control the amount of sweetener and use honey instead of cane sugar.

Leave a ladle alongside the pot with a note to warn guests that the chai is very HOT!  That's the main problem I am having with crock pot beverages is that they really are too hot of a serving temperature so I'm always worried someone will get burned, so I end up nagging: "be careful, it's really hot"...but the "warm" setting is not quite hot enough after a while, so.  Whadayado?  I guess the only other alternative is to make your hot drinks and keep them the proper temp in big thermoses for easy serving.

Switching gears on you...does anyone else battle with the uncontrollable urge to hibernate this time of year?  I mean truly hibernate?  As in a full-system shut down til spring?  All my life, right about this very week in December I get mentally slow and foggy, tired, do not want to eat (nothing looks or sounds very good), or think, or move, but just be still.  Not sad or depressed, just s-l-o-o-o-w, and apathetic.  Something about the day length and the cold just flips a switch in me.   

In like fashion, when the days start to lengthen out, early March, it's like I start waking up again.  Food looks vibrant and smells fragrant again, and interest and vigor returns to me.  Summer is like being young again.  Free and unfettered.  I love bare feet and intense heat.  Winter, on the other hand, is like carrying a heavy burden a long distance, weighed down by several pounds of clunky awkward clothing, and cement boots. 

There's no "syndrome", and nothing "disordered" about this phenomenon in my opinion, just the natural state of the natural world...and friends, as much as we love our iphones and high-speed internet, in reality, we are creatures of the natural world too, responding to cues in the weather and the seasons.  What could be more natural than to tuck in tight, sleep, conserve energy, and wait it out til spring?  

Mama bears just innately know they need to settle into the cave, curl up with their little ones, and simply survive the cold dead of winter.  They were made this way, with instincts given to them by their Creator, which is how they have continued to live on, season to season, throughout the years since the earth was made.   I know for sure that experiencing this same urge for "down time" each winter is how I was created.  The cyclical nature of this state each and every year is as sure and as powerful as the tides, and as constant as the steady coming and going of the sun and the moon and the seasons.  It's yet another fingerprint of our orderly, consistent, and faithful God.  There are vibrant, green, youthful, wakeful times, and then there are quiet, still, almost dead times.  But without fail, spring always comes back, and out of death new life emerges.  Now is hibernating time, but I can rest in this state, knowing that in March, this hibernation instinct in me will go away.  It always does.  It never fails.  As sure as the sun and the moon rise and set in the proper time, this desire to hibernate will leave me, only to return next December in the proper time.

But we are humans, not bears, and life goes on.  Staying home and being still until spring just can not happen.  The family still needs to be fed, and there are events and weekly routines to maintain.  As much as I love being outside, (and my body still really needs the exercise and fresh air, now that it's so cold), getting out to exercise is something I have to really force each day.  Some days it's so cold I'm just giving in and staying home, but somehow that has to change. 

Now that I'm done with stamp parties for this month (which were very fun to do, a great diversion from the usual routines...and have helped me step out of the daily grind of cooking, cleaning, errands and responsibilities for a few days! ;) it's time now to buckle down, kick myself with some spurs, force myself awake, and do what I need to do.   The old Nike theme:  Just Do It.  Cooking, exercise...just. do.  it.

Next week:  freezer cooking.  If I can get in two good days of prep work life can be a lot nicer for a few weeks.  I'll keep you in the loop.

Spicy Apple Cider--A crock pot stampin' party

Yes, you heard correctly...my crock pots just can't get enough.  They like to "party all the time, party all the time, party all the tiiiiiiiiiiime".  (Showing my age with that song quote.)

Last night it was a Stampin' Up! Christmas stamp camp.  Years ago I used to be a Stampin' Up demonstrator.  I loved it a lot.  Stampin' Up!'s 25th anniversary is this year.  They sent out a special invitation to past demos to see if we wanted to return...I thought "why not???"  So here we are.  I'm back, and loving it more than ever! 

After last night I'm remembering what I adored most about doing SU!, and that is meeting new girlfriends to craft with!  Another aspect I love is the creative process of designing and prepping the make-and-take projects, then the reward of seeing ladies relax and enjoy some crafty time together.  The more laughing and fun, the better.  Women need creative time.  We just do.  It's part of us.  I've never seen anyone not enjoy a stamp party.

And one very important aspect of any great stamp party is treats!  I had planned to have the event at our little community clubhouse, but at the last minute I decided to move it to my house instead.  It was a lot more cozy and warm, and there's something so sweet about having people in my home.  Plus, all my stuff is here, so that helps. 

I threw a taco soup into the crock pot for the family so I wouldn't have to worry about dinner, then set up a beverage bar with my keurig for coffee and tea, and put a spicy apple cider into my 4 qt crock.

Spicy Apple Cider

• 2 2 qt containers of apple cider
• mulling spices
• oranges (I used mandarins, cuz that's what I had)

Put apple cider into crock and turn crock on low for about 3 hrs.   Add in several bags of ground mulling spices--I let it steep about 15 minutes, but probably could've gone longer, or used more spices, it wasn't quite spicy enough for me.  Remove spice bags, top with orange slices, turn to "warm" and leave a ladle alongside so people can help themselves.  WARNING:  it will be HOT for a while!  (You might want to leave a little  note to warn guests that it's extremely hot.)

I also served store-bought biscotti (not GF, so sadly I didn't get any...) and other people brought snacks too share too.  It was that easy.

Today I heated up some of the leftover cider, diluted with water, and steeped a chai tea bag in in for 5 minutes...yum!  It adds a nice hit of caffeine that way, from the black tea.

All in all, I'm pretty sure people had fun. 

I so luv my crock pots.  It was nice to be able to enjoy my own party, knowing that people could just help themselves whenever that want, and that my family had hot soup to eat whenever they wanted to eat it.  Nice to let my crocks play hostess while I just had fun.

One of the tables, all set up to stamp.

 

I made these little treats for everyone--Hershey's chocolate nuggets all dressed up like snowmen!

And these are the 5 projects we made last night....

This little  card that opens up and inside is a pocket for a ghiradelli chocolate square.

 

Hedgie card

 

Snowman card from the stamp set "Snow Day"

 

Frosty card

 

 

Santa pants...the perfect holder for tiny candy canes, or a stack of Hershey's nuggets.

Blueberry Apple Crisp Freezer Test

I updated my Blueberry Apple Crisp Post.  But since no one is probably going back to look, just thought I'd let you know.

I took one of the frozen kits I made out and thawed it in the fridge, then dumped it into a 9x13.  Baked it up and gave it a try.  Not bad!  Not as good as fresh though, in my opinion. 

The benefit is that it only took about 10 seconds and NO dishes what-so-ever to have this dessert in the oven!  (and that counts for a lot in my book...), but the drawback is that the texture of the apples was a bit softer than I like.  The fresh version is more firm, and less juicy.  The frozen one tasted the exact same, but the apple texture was much softer, and there was more liquid in the bottom of the pan. 

So, bottom line:  if you are serving this with ice cream, it probably makes no difference at all.  But if you want the apple crisp to be the star of the show, it would be better to make it fresh. 

I think from now on I might compromise and make up kits with just the topping, and the blueberries.  Then when I go to bake it, just use fresh apples.

8 minutes to chicken tacos

I can finally say that all the Thanksgiving leftovers have been officially handled. 

The mashed potatoes topped a beefy shepherd's pie last night (the leftover carrots also made their way into that one...), the cranberry sauce (made with fresh orange juice, ginger, honey, maple and cinnamon) went into the freezer--I'm going to pull that out later for a quick cranberry chicken bake, and a gluten free cranberry cake.  The turkey stock has been frozen, and there's only one precious piece of lefse left.  After that--done.

So, onward with the quest:  getting dinner done on a daily basis; healthfully, economically, and with a minimum of time, effort and fuss.

Enter:  8 minute chicken tacos.

Who out there has a pressure cooker?  No??  Well Sister, put one on your Christmas list!  Hopefully Santa will bring you one of these time-saving, sanity-saving devices.

I know, I know, sounds like something your grandma used in her kitchen, right?  Well, perhaps.  But pressure cookers have come a long way baby, and now they are making a comeback, and totally hip once again. 

I'm no expert on pressure cookers, but here are a few basics:  get a stainless steel one, not aluminum.  Make it big enough to be worth your while--mine is a 6 qt  Fagor brand pressure cooker.  And make sure you're getting a pressure COOKER, not a pressure CANNER...they are two totally different things.

Here are two great reference books:  Miss Vickie's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes, by Vickie Smith, and Cooking Under Pressure by Lorna Sass.  Miss Vickie's is my fave because it has super-useful charts for cooking anything and everything basic, like chicken thighs, breasts, whole birds, all meats, beans, veggies, etc.

Read the instruction manual that comes with your pressure cooker. They are really easy to use. 

Here's a "go-to" thing I do a lot:

Chicken thighs (if it's just one pkg about 1 1/2 lbs. I just throw them into the pressure cooker and add 1/2 cup water.  Lid on, bring up to pressure, and then pressure cook for 8 minutes.  If it's two pkgs it takes about 3 minutes longer.  Release pressure by running cold water over the lid.  Let them cool enough to shred.  Season with taco seasoning.  Serve with all the fixin's.  Seriously, it's that quick, and ya got one pot to clean.

This was yummy with black olives, salsa, and guacamole on a GF tortilla.

 



Kinda lovin' on my pressure cooker lately.  It totally makes quick work out of just about anything, and I'm here to tell you it makes the tenderest, juiciest chicken of ANY cooking technique out there.  Any.  It really is the very best way to cook chicken, in my opinion.

Well, what else is up this week? 

Ah yes, gluten free, dairy free chocolate biscotti...I'm going to give it a shot, I'll let you know what happens.  Hopefully I will get to it at some point this week.  I'm doing a Stampin' Up! Christmas Stamp Camp Friday night, so hopefully I will have some successful biscotti to munch on with my girlfriends as we stamp to our little hearts' content!

Still Workin' Those Thanksgiving Leftovers...Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

I have two favorite days of the entire year:  4th of July and Black Friday.  In fact, I think if I had to choose, Black Friday would come in first.  And it's not for the reason you'd think.  No, I'm not much of a shopper.  In fact, I hate shopping (except on the internet).  And I hate getting up early.  But I LOVE....repeat, LOVE(!) Black Friday....no getting up early for me, and I never leave the house. 

No, Black Friday has a whole other meaning for me than for most people.  It means NO COOKING  and NO CLEANING,  because after a week of Thanksgiving prep work, all the cleaning is done, and there's a house full of leftovers to eat, which means everyone is on their own. 

For one precious day, I get to sleep in, then drink coffee, and read, or blog, or read blogs, to my little heart's content.  And I get to do some stamping (card making with rubber stamps), or crafting, or whatever I want to do.  I don't have to think about meals even ONCE, for an entire day...oh it's so sweet.  SO sweet.   Just a little taste of heaven.  It's Mama's turn to have a holiday.

I did do one thing on Black Friday though...I took the drumsticks and wings of the turkey carcass and made stock in my pressure cooker.  I gotta say, this is my new favorite way of making stock.  It's simply turkey (or chicken or beef) bones, bay leaves and peppercorns, and a bit of vinegar (when I remember to add it), onions and celery if they are available, and water.  Bring it up to pressure and cook 35 minutes.  Release the pressure by the natural method (just remove from burner and let it cool until it's depressurized), and voila...some of the richest, most beautiful stock you've ever seen.  AND it doesn't tie up my slow cooker all day, or infest the house with the smell of stock (which is lovely, but not when it lingers on our clothes for three days....).

Saturday I used that gorgeous stock to make turkey and wild rice soup.  I threw it in the crock pot at 8:00, then we headed outdoors for some fun in the sunny but COLD weather.  When we returned home at 1:30, hungry and cold, it was ready to eat--so warming with a cup of hot coffee and leftover piece of gluten-free lefse (a Norwegian flatbread made out of mashed potatoes). 

This soup is truly one of my all-time favorites.  The original comes from Stephanie O'Dea, and is located right HERE.  It's fabulous on it's own, but I've made changes to suit my family's tastes, so I'm going to give you my version:

8 cups turkey stock
3 to 4 cups water
2/3 c. uncooked wild rice
1 cup chopped celery
1 T. dehydrated onions
1 cup chopped carrots
1 tsp poultry seasoning
about 1/4 c. dehydrated kale (broken into little flakes)

Add all of the above to 6 qt crock pot.  Cook on HIGH for 5 to 6 hrs. (until rice is soft and thoroughly cooked and veggies are tender)

Then add:

Whatever Turkey meat you have leftover, chopped or shredded.
Season with salt and pepper to taste (usually I use about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper)

Serve and enjoy.

I never add cooked meat until the end of the cook time, because all that does is leave you with rubbery, tasteless chunks of what-used-to-be delicious, tender meat!  The soup is plenty hot at the end of 5 or 6 hrs.  I just toss the chopped meat in, give it a stir for a few minutes til it heats through.

That's all there is to it.  This soup is super-simple to make, chock-full of nutrients, and delicious to boot.  AND, it heats up beautifully the next day for lunch.  I almost like it even better then next day.

Well, enjoy friends.  Today I'm making a beefy shepherd's pie topped with the leftover dairy-free mashed potatoes.  See, I'm still eeking it out around here.  Gathering up some fragments, and saving myself some effort in the process.  I'll report on the shepherd's pie tomorrow...until then, soup on my dears.  

Here's one of the Christmas cards I made on Black Friday.  This is the front of the card...

 

And this is the back!

 

Crock-y Thanksgiving!

This is what happens when you only roast ONE turkey per year: yesterday when I went to brine my bird, I took the neck out of the cavity and thought "wow, is that really all the giblets?" and went on my merry way.  Well...after 24 hours of brining and 3 hrs in the oven, guess what I discovered stealthily hidden away in the OPPOSITE end of this gigantic bird?  You guessed it.  A fully brined and thoroughly roasted packet of additional giblets.  Nice. 

But...we ate it anyway...the turkey, not the giblets.  And it was pretty good.  Most importantly, it's my gift to myself, after days of prep work, and gazillions of dishes...AHHHH!  No cooking for Mama tomorrow. :)  Or the next day...unless you count tossing all those leftovers into a wild rice and turkey soup...then maybe a nice shepherd's pie...and so on.  I'm gonna drag this thing out as long as humanly possible.

Last year I made myself a handy-dandy little Thanksgiving binder which includes: a "to-do" list (starting the first week in November with ordering fresh turkeys, but really picking up speed the 4 days before the big day, with everything from table decorations to linens, cleaning, dishes and silverware, and of course the food), shopping lists, all my Thanksgiving recipes and notes, and even a schedule for proper timing of the food on Thanksgiving day.  I can't tell you how useful this binder was!  Why did I not do this YEARS ago?!  I've been re-inventing the wheel on this thing every year, but no more!  I believe this was the most organized, and least stressful Thanksgiving I've ever hosted.

Here are some table decorations I made...little votive candles wrapped with scrapbooking paper, cardstock, and organdy ribbon.

Yesterday I did housecleaning in the morning, and in the afternoon I made homemade cinnamon-ginger-orange cranberry sauce, carrots cooked in garlic and chicken stock, baked gluten-free and GF/DF bread, and made the honey mustard vinaigrette for the spinach salad with craisins and pecans.

The carrots were fabulous.  I will do them like this from now on I think:

• About 20 carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally about 1/4" thick
• 1 1/2 c. chicken stock
• 1 clove of garlic, pressed

Cook in 6 qt crock pot on low 3 1/2 hrs til tender.
Remove to storage container.  Refrigerate.

The on the day of...2 hrs. before serving time:
Put the carrots into a crock pot, turn on "high", add:

• butter, salt and pepper to taste. 

Stir a few times.  They are the perfect temp and texture at serving time.

Mashed potatoes...I made them early today, then kept warm in crock pots until serving time.

Turkey...after it was roasted, rested, and sliced I put it in a 6 qt crock with some chicken stock to keep warm until serving time.

This year, instead of dirtying all those serving dishes and platters, I just set up a crock pot buffet and that worked SO well.  It took a lot less time than passing all those dishes and created a lot less chaos in my opinion.  Super organized and efficient.

Three out of the SEVEN crock pots that kept all of our food hot!

 



I learn new things every year.  Next year, the thing I hope to learn is how to remove the giblet bag PRIOR to cooking the turkey.

Turkey hangover.

Blueberry Apple Crisp (gluten free, dairy free, and freezer friendly) UPDATED 12/5/13

Well, in an intesting turn of events, it seems that we now have one more family member with a food allergy.  Hubby has been dealing with some dairy issues, off and on, for quite some time.  A long time ago I suggested doing a 30 day dairy elimination challenge, just to see what would happen, but he wasn't ready yet to consider that possibility.  However last week he was finally driven over the edge into readiness.  His body is trying to tell him something.  So dairy-free challenge; here we come! 

Three days in and his issues are subsiding, so hallelujah for that.  He's all in for the full 30 days.  After that time, when the dairy has completely cleared his system, he will try to re-introduce it and see what happens. That will let us know definitively.  On the one hand, that would be awesome if we were finally able to uncover the root cause of the problem.  On the flip side, entertaining the idea that dairy might not be his friend, in fact, it might even be his arch enemy, has been difficult, and there are a wide range of feelings associated with that. 

Strangely, I never had a single moment of grief or loss when I found out what gluten was doing to me.  In fact I was SO grateful to finally uncover the root cause of ALL my health issues (painful, cyctic adult acne, autoimmune thyroid disease, anxiety, irrational fears, GI and abdominal issues, joint pain....I could go on all day) that I felt nothing but pure JOY to be able to live a healthy life, free, once and for all, of all these ills, simply by saying good bye to gluten.  It was not a tearful, regretful parting, but more of a "good riddance!  Get the heck out of my life forever!" type of parting.  I was like: "Later Gluten!  Don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!!"  No looking back.  No sorrow, or feelings of loss--nothing at all, except gratitude.  I never knew what it was like to be well before.  These last 3 1/2 years gluten-free have been a whole new life, better than I ever thought possible--thank you Jesus! 

But not everyone feels the way I did when they discover a food allergy.  Most often it's grief stages of shock, anger/irritation, feelings of loss, sadness, and finally acceptance.  So I'm really going to try to baby my Hubby through this process with some fantastic, yummy, dairy-free food that he will love, and that, more importantly, will love him back.

Quinoa Apple Crisp
The recipe I used is from Ali Segerston and Tom Malterre's excellent book, Whole Life Nutrition.  But it is similar to one found on their website right HERE.  I used more fruit:  5 or 6 apples and a cup of frozen blueberries...I used only 2 T. sucanat in the apples, and 1/4 c. sucanat in the topping, for a 9x13 pan.  And it was plenty sweet.  I used double the aarowroot and lemon juice, and only 1 tsp cinnamon plus spice blend.  I omitted the vanilla, and added 3/4 c. chopped walnuts.

I chose this recipe because # 1 my hubby loves apple crisp, #2 I've STILL got a ton of apples to use up!  Gluten is found in wheat, rye and barley, but also in oats...even certified GF oats can be a problem for most gluten intolerant people.  I've tried soaking and everything to be able to eat oats, but the bottom line is I just can't eat them.  Even GF oats are a huge problem for me. Oats have a very similar protein to gluten.  So similar my body reacts almost the same as if it were gluten.  So, I substituted quinoa flakes.  They tasted pretty good, but (sigh....) my body was still not a big fan.  So next time, we'll probably just go with a nut-only topping.  If you can eat oats...hooray for you!  This recipe is divine with oats, so go for it, and eat some for me, ok? ;)

You know me...as long as dishes are dirty, I'm darn well gonna make 'em work for me!  Instead of just one apple crisp I went ahead and made 3--the extra two I made into apple crisp "kits" for the freezer.  The blueberries are local...I froze them in season when they were ripe, cheap, and full of summer sunshine.  Oh how I love reaping the benefits of that now that it's cold and bare outside!  However, now I may have to re-do the topping to be nut only, but at least the apples are done and ready to thaw and bake.  I have never frozen apple crisps before, but I see lots of freezer recipes for it, so I'm guessing it will work.  I think these kits will be nice to have when we have company, or maybe over the holidays.  One less thing to mess with.

Here are the apple mix, blueberries and topping, bagged separately...

I grouped them all in another ziplock with instructions written outside to make it easy when I go to use it. 

  Yes, I know that's a lot of bags, but personally, I will wash and re-use the blueberry and outer bags.  And I do rinse and recycle the others, unless they've had raw meat in them, and then they do just need to be thrown in the trash.  I'm working on making freezer cooking more sustainable, but sometimes the ziplocks are just plain unavoidable...I'm not a fan of aluminum pans.  But I do use freezer boxes for some things like soups and broths, and they work great.

*UPDATE 12/5/13:  Well I thawed one of these freezer kits in the fridge, then dumped it in a 9x13 and baked it up.  It has benefits and drawbacks.  Benefit:  It took about 10 seconds to have this dessert in the oven!  Open bags, dump into pan.  Drawback:  the apples were a bit soft in texture for my taste.  There was definitely a difference that I could tell.  The fresh version apples were firmer more "al dente", and the texture was just better in my opinion, but the flavors were all the same--I could tell no difference in the topping or blueberry aspects.  The softer apples in this frozen version were not too big a deal.  Especially if you are serving this with ice cream, then it probably makes no difference what-so-ever. 

Freezer cooking through the week

Finally, a week with a little bit of wiggle room.  I'm taking advantage of those couple of calendar days that are ahhh, ahhh! (angels singing) EMPTY. 

Don't you just love it when you look at your planner and see a day with NOTHING written on it?  I had a couple of those this week.  Although, there is still the usual daily stuff...meetings, lessons, etc., but otherwise free.  That just looks like some prime time to get ahead for the month.  It's especially important this month...with hosting Thanksgiving and all the holiday stuff starting to ramp up, I'm giving myself the gift of a few nights off kitchen duty. 

Here's the plan: 

Day 1:  Chicken day.   I started out the day with shopping trips.  I bought 6 lb ground beef, 4 lb stew meat, 6 lbs chicken breasts and 4 lbs chicken thighs.  My word that's a lot of meat!  Bought it at our local butcher shop, and paid $94.00 for everything.  Then I bought all the other items I didn't already have at home to complete my recipes. 

With not much time left in the day I came home and made all the breast meat into breaded chicken strips (using this GF recipe).  Then I had enough time to trim up the thighs, which had a TON of extra fat on them, and add the other ingredients into the bag for a big crock pot of Lime Salsa Chicken. 

So by the end of the day I had last night's dinner, 2 more chicken strip meals (at least!), and at least 2 meals of lime salsa chicken into the freezer.

Before bed I started 3 lb of walnuts and 2 lb of pecans soaking....

Day 2:    Beef day.  I drained and rinsed the nuts this morning right after making breakfast and lunch and sending everyone packing.  Tossed them (the nuts, not the family!) onto the dehydrator trays, set the timer, and now I don't really have to think about those again til tomorrow when I will simply bag 'em and freeze 'em for holiday baking and snacks.

After two cups of coffee and goofing off on the internet for 30 minutes (yes, I have to set a timer...) I started in on the beef stew.  With 4 lbs of meat I was able to make 2, 6 qt. crocks full.  So one crock is bubbling right now on each side of my kitchen island.  (An excellent example of why in the world I would need TWO 6 qt crock pots!).  One pot will be tonight's dinner and the other bagged up and frozen for two more dinners later. 

I think red wine and mushrooms totally MAKE a beef stew, don't you agree?

Clean up round 1.  Then on to that 6 lb of ground beef.  I used my 12" stainless skillet to brown 3 lbs at a time.  Made taco meat out of 3, and Italian Beef for Italian Sloppy Joes out of the other 3. That didn't take long and there was ONE skillet to clean.  Let me repeat that: ONE.  Six dinners, one skillet to clean...that makes me a happy girl.

I'm about to attempt filling my other dehydrator up with apples before I have to be in town to drive for pick up and piano lessons...we'll see if it gets done in time.

Day 3:  I only have one more free day and that's Friday.  Here's the plan for that day:  Fish and Turkey.  I'm going to make 4 lb of fish sticks, and 2 lb of turkey meatballs and 2 lb of turkey burgers. Cost for fish will be about $20. and turkey $30.

So here's the breakdown:  By Friday night I will have banked about 16 meals, not to mention all the meals we're eating as we go.  Total cost = $144. in meat.  Including meals we ate along the way that breaks down to $6.85 per meal in meat, roughly--give or take leftovers for lunch the following days.  That is for 28 lbs of meat, I'm figuring about 1 1/3 lb per meal.  So calculate how much meat you use per meal for your family and that could be more or less...if there are just two of you this menu could go a lot further, not as far if you have a bigger family, or large eaters.

Tomorrow my oven should be fixed so I'm going to try to slip in a couple dozen zucchini muffins, as those are so nice to toss in the lunch, or eat for afternoon snacks. 

So by Friday I should have banked in the freezer :

3 taco meals
3 Italian beef meals
2 lime salsa chicken meals
2 (at least) chicken strip meals
2 (at least ) fishstick meals
2 (at least ) turkey burger meals
a dehydrator load of apple chips
2 lb of pecans, ready to use
3 lb walnuts, ready to use, and
2 dozen (at least) muffins!!!

Can I get a whoop, whoop!??  Score, friends!  I'm so excited.  Can you tell?  That's 14 meals I won't have to cook.  Now I'm really rolling, and these three days are not even full-on freezer cooking days, but just a few hours extra cooking, not the entire day-- just about double what I would normally be doing anyway, just making dinner...but it pays off WAY more than double.

Here's a very important tip regarding freezer cooking:  when you finish making your food get it into the fridge right away so it can start cooling down as quickly as possible.  Do not try to bag up hot food for the freezer.  Wait until it cools completely.  Otherwise you will get more icy crystals in your food as it freezes which just doesn't do the quality of your food any good at all.

Sunday I'll be making my next freezer cooking plan:  4 chicken, 4 beef, 4 fish and 4 turkey, plus baking.  Hoping next time around I will have whole days to devote and this will only take 2 days to do over 2 weeks worth of cooking.

What are your favorite things to make for the freezer?  Let the commentary begin!

Open-Faced Italian Sandwiches (for the freezer!)

Many years ago I showed up at a parent/teacher conference for my (then) second grader.  On the wall I noticed the comparison/contrast paragraphs written by all the students:  "My Most Favorite Meal" and "My Least Favorite Meal".  I quickly located my child's work and read "My least favorite meal is my mom's sloppy joes that she makes with spicy buffalow sauce."  Huh??  I had to wrack my brain to try to remember ever making sloppy joes with...buffalo sauce??  The teacher had been wondering about that interesting combination too.  We had a good laugh over it, and the take-away message was clear...my sloppy joes, while not actually made with any sort of buffalo sauce, were apparently a bit too bold for young palates!

Funny thing is, I had no clue that this child disliked sloppy joes!  I had served them many times and never a word was spoken about it.  This is a kid who is super flexible, resilient, and full of uncommon, rock-solid good sense, coupled with a sweet and uncomplaining spirit.  Oh thank you Lord, for this child, who is SO the opposite of myself that we are a perfect match!

So in honor of this child's aversion to sloppy joes, I made an Italian variation tonight, open-faced, on gluten-free hamburger buns, with mozzarella melted on top.  No "spicy buffalow sauce" in sight.

Open-Faced Italian Sandwiches

This recipe comes out of a book I bought recently, The Everything Freezer Meals Cookbook, by Candace Anderson, with Nicole Cormier RD.  This book is full of pretty basic family fare.  It contains some recipes that call for things like cream of _______ soup, but, I can overlook that, make my own substitutions, and just glean the good stuff.  And by good stuff, I mean quick, simple, basic, healthy food that I can make ahead and then take some nights off kitchen duty.  And for that I am truly grateful.  Leaves more time for blogging. 

This recipe is located HERE, so you can read it in it's entirety.  I doubled the tomato paste and water--the way it was written was a bit "dry".  I wanted the meat a little saucier.  And it needed salt and pepper.  And I changed the procedure a little bit.  Of course, I subbed in gluten-free hamburger buns for the Italian bread.  Here's my version:

1 lb. ground beef
2 T. onion chopped (I also threw in some finely chopped yellow peppers, about another 2 T)
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/4 c. tomato paste
1/2 c. water
3 to 4 hamburger buns (both tops and bottoms, so 6 to 8 halves)
cream cheese (I love Nancy's organic cultured cream cheese)
mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Drizzle a little bit of oil in a stainless steel pot or skillet with sides, sauté onion, garlic, and pepper for just a few minutes until soft.  Add tomato paste, water, Italian Seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir to combine, then add in 1 lb of cooked ground beef (that you oh-so-conveniently cooked and froze at an earlier time, then thawed in the fridge overnight).  Stir and heat through.

Split your hamburger buns into halves and toast in the oven for just a few minutes, like 3 to 5 minutes.  Remove and carefully spread a thin coat of cream cheese on each half.  Top with beef mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  Return to oven until cheese gets all melty and slightly bubbly, about another 4 to 5 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

These sandwiches went over big at my house.  I tried to come up with a clever Italian name for them, but wasn't that creative; my hubby says we can still just call them sloppy joes, only we need to say it with an Italian accent.  He said these need to go into a weekly rotation...not monthly; weekly.  Yeah, they were good.  Really good.  And super fast.  My plan from now on is to multiply this recipe by 4 or 6. As long as I'm cooking up ground beef for the freezer I might as well add in the tomato paste and seasonings before bagging it up.  Then next time all I will have to do is thaw the bag, top the buns and have no dishes to clean except the baking pan.  Uh, SCORE!!!?!  The original recipe offers another freezing option, and that is to fully assemble the sandwiches, wrap in foil, and freeze.  Then they go directly into the oven for a super-simple lunch or dinner.  I may try that technique too.  That way hubby could take them to work and pop them into the little toaster oven he has there.

I served these sandwiches alongside some baby carrots leftover from my party the other night--I just cooked them in chicken broth, and added in some frozen peas.  It was filling, simple, and delicious.  This menu is a total keeper.

Pumpkin Spice Lattes, in the Slow Cooker

Last night was my turn to host my stamp club (rubber stamping: card-making, scrapbooking...). 

I was thrilled to get November as my month, because as soon as I heard the date just one thing popped into my head:  Pumpkin Spice Lattes in the crock pot. 

You know my crocks...they love a good party.

I had never made this recipe before, but I've been eyeballing it for years, just waiting for the appropriate time.  Thanksgiving seems like a good time, but in all actuality, I'm usually too busy to worry about fun drinks on Thanksgiving.  Roasting the turkey, and making the carrots, potatoes, salad, bread, cranberry sauce, along with all the other details of hosting are pretty much a "full-plate" for me, (if you'll pardon the pun).  So I always do ice water with lemon, store-bought sparkling cider, and coffee on Thanksgiving.  Besides, who needs all the extra milk and pumpkin on a day that is already pretty darn calorie-loaded? 

But a little party like my stamp club night...perfect.  It's just enough of a fun and fancy treat.  Along with the pumpkin lattes I served a veggie tray, beef stick and cheese, artichoke spinach dip (store bought at Costco, and kept warm in my 2 qt crock) GF crackers, apples, and some chocolate covered super-fruits: blueberries, cranberries and cherries.

The Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe I used comes from Stephanie O'Dea.  It's on her website HERE and also in her first book Make it Fast, Cook it Slow.  *(11/7/13 UPDATE: On Stephanie's blog she notes the importance of using 2% or lower % milk to avoid curdling (new info to me!) and this is key...don't let the milk boil.  Keep an eye on your crock if it tends to get hot enough to boil.  I also noticed that this drink re-heats WAY better the next day in a pan on the stovetop (while stirring), and not in the microwave--it tends to burn and create a really nasty "skin" on the surface if re-heated in the microwave.  I made a WAY bigger batch than Stephanie's recipe, and changed ingredients to eliminate the refined sugar.  I also reduced the spices and vanilla pretty significantly.  Stephanie's called for 2 T (!) of vanilla, for a recipe that only serves only two people!  Seemed like way too much vanilla and spice to me...  So here's my version, made for a crowd. 

Pumpkin Spice Latte

This recipe uses a lot of milk, so if you are serving about a 1 cup amount it would probably serve 16 people.  I served about 8 people, and it looked like the crock was still full!  I have tons leftover in the fridge...in fact I'm sipping a cup right this very minute!  Along with a piece of gluten free toast, covered with butter and honey...sigh.  Life is sweet.

10 cups milk of your choice (I used organic dairy milk, but I bet almond milk would be lovely too...)
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, just plain pumpkin)
3/4 c. pure maple syrup
1 T. vanilla
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
6 cups strong coffee (I just brewed 6 cups in my keurig--you might want decaf if you party is late in the evening...some people can not have caffeine that late in the day...)
2 sticks of cinnamon.

(*SEE 11/7/13 UPDATE IN BOLD ABOVE...)  Combine pumpkin, maple syrup, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and about 2 cups of milk in a blender. Blend until smooth.  Add the pumpkin mixture, coffee, and the rest of the milk into a 6 qt crock pot.  Float two cinnamon sticks on top.

Cook on high for 2 hrs, then turn down to "warm". 

Remove cinnamon sticks.   Stir before serving, maybe even (carefully!) put an immersion blender  in there for a few seconds (making sure you got the cinnamon sticks out first, of course!).  The pumpkin tends to settle on the bottom and the spices float to the top, so you want to get it all mixed up again. 

Caution when serving; this will be very hot!  Mine was about 160-170 degrees coming out of the crock pot, so I let it sit a minute in the cups til it came down around 130 degrees before serving it, which is the "sweet spot" as far as coffee temp goes...in my humble opinion. 

This latte is slightly sweet, spicy and very "real" tasting, unlike a lot of coffee-shop pumpkin lattes that are flavored with pumpkin "flavoring" instead of real pumpkin.  Using the maple syrup, and eliminating the refined sugar makes for a really "clean" finish--none of that nasty sugar aftertaste.  This beats any coffee-shop latte hands down, any day of the week, and twice on Sundays!

Pumpkin it up dudes.

 Two Christmas cards I made last night...

 

 

 

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

*Just to update you on the crock pot baking post...I repeated the experiment with pumpkin bread, and it turned out fantastic.  Next up, I'm going to try cranberry orange bread and if that works, and if I can get the recipes all adjusted how I want them, I will post them.  But I think I comfortably state that baking quick breads in the crock pot is very successful.  I'm pretty sure any good recipe you have will work using the crock pot baking technique.

Ok, on to today.  As the title implies, it's a busy day. So this will be a quick-and-to-the-point post, and may be lacking in witty repartee. :)

I don't know about your house, but around here there is at least one weeknight every week where people are on different schedules--late home from work nights, dinner-time meeting nights, Bible study nights...there's always something.  And on those nights we usually end up having snacks in the afternoon and then eating dinner late, like 9:00 pm.  We're late dinner-eating people anyway, usually between 6 and 7, so trying to eat dinner at 5:00 just doesn't work for us. 

Soup in the crock is quite forgiving and flexible...it doesn't mind waiting on us.  So taco soup is warming on the counter as we speak.  If people who are home earlier want to eat, they can, and for those arriving at 9:00, and or those who choose to wait for everyone to arrive home...well, at least it's just one crock to clean.  Bowls go right in the dishwasher, and Mama's not standing there til 10:00 doing dishes.  It's a win no matter how you look at it.

Taco Soup

Is there anyone who hasn't made taco soup before?  It's certainly not rocket science.  Basically, if you have hamburger cooked, bagged up and frozen, and you have some cans of beans and canned or frozen tomatoes, and some frozen onions and peppers, well...you're all set.  This is where you get to reap the rewards of stashing some goodies away in the freezer.  If nothing else, just get yourself several pounds of hamburger--brown it up, cool it, bag in freezer bags and toss 'em in the freezer.  You'll thank me when a busy day comes and you can throw dinner into the crock in about 3 minutes flat.  The seasonings in this soup are your basic pantry staples: taco seasoning and ranch mix.  I just googled "taco soup" and came up with this recipe, then of course, proceeded to change it.  Here's mine:

1 lb. cooked ground beef
15 oz tomato sauce
1 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes with chilis (Muir Glenn)
1 can kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 small can sliced black olives, drained
2 c. beef broth
2 1/2 "cans" of water--use the empty fire roasted tomato can...)

1 clove garlic, pressed
some chopped onion  (1 medium onion) and bell peppers (about 2 cups) that you froze earlier! :)

3 T. (or one packet) taco seasoning
1 tsp. dry ranch dressing mix (I make my own, HERE, or I use Simply Organic brand ranch dip mix from Fred Meyer)

Directions:  Take your onions, peppers and garlic and drizzle with a bit of oil, stir, and then microwave for about 2 minutes.  Combine this mixture with all the other ingredients in the crock pot.  Cook on low about 4 hrs.

Serve with sour cream and chopped avocado or a dollop of guacamole, on a bed of crushed corn chips.  This soup may need salt, but taste first because the corn chips will add salt. 

*Be sure to check out the link above for that ranch mix--You may not want to use the big national brands or ranch mix they have in the stores salad dressing isle, because they usually have MSG and other stuff you may not want in them.  Making your own is easy and economical, but the Simply Organic brand is really good too, and hey, it's done, and quick to tear open a pouch on a busy day, know what I mean?  I typically make my own taco seasoning too, but this time I used bulk taco seasoning I bought at Costco.  The link for the ranch dressing mix also includes recipes to make your own pumpkin pie spice, onion soup mix, etc.  I haven't tried those yet, but  I can vouch for the ranch recipe; it's great.

Zucchini Bread in the Crock Pot--SUCCESS!!!

You knew I couldn't leave this baking-in-the-crock-pot thing alone, right? 

Well, yes.  Success!  I did it! I baked a loaf of zucchini bread in the crock pot!

I used my 6 qt. oval crock pot, with an 8" glass loaf pan nestled inside. 

I made a ring out of aluminum foil to set under the loaf pan for even baking.

I made a gluten free zucchini bread recipe (more on that in a minute...) and set the loaf pan on the foil ring.

Next I laid a layer of about 4 paper towels (to catch condensation) and a bamboo skewer (for ventilation) under the lid.

And I baked the bread, on High, without any peeking for 2 hrs and 15 minutes.  I think it might have been done right at two hours though.  It looked a little more "damp" in the middle even when it was totally done, so that can be deceiving.  Test with a toothpick. 

Voila!  Isn't that FUN?! 

Something about baking this bread in the crock gave it kind of a really nice "crust" on the outside.  Everyone liked it a lot.

Here is my only caution:  I "pre-heated" my crock by turning it on high while I mixed up my zucchini bread batter, and then I wasn't very careful when putting the loaf into the crock to bake.  I burned my finger on the outside of the hot crock pot.  So I think next time I will just set it in the cold crock, and turn it on high after I set the pan in.  I do not think it will alter the cook time very much.  Do be sure to use oven mitts when you remove your loaf from the crock.  Treat it like a hot oven, because it can definitely burn you.

I think, truly, any of your favorite quick bread recipes will work with this technique.  I used a recipe that I am currently developing.  It is not perfected and ready to share yet, but no fear; when it is ready you will be the first to know!  It's a GF zucchini bread with buckwheat, hazelnut flour, and sweetened with honey and applesauce; no refined sugar. I will make it dairy free too.

So once again, this begs the question, why would  a person want to bake in a crock pot when they have a perfectly good oven?  Well...aside from the WAY fun and cool factor, I can think of several reasons and occasions when I will be using this technique.  Right now for instance, my oven is broken, and will not be fixed for at least a week.  When you have food allergies your choices are typically limited to: 1. make it yourself or 2. do without.  I can certainly do without zucchini bread for a week, but, goodie!, now I don't have to.  Other reasons:  When your oven is occupied with other things (holidays), when you want to bake something but you need to go run an errand or get something else done for a few hours, when you are camping, or oh!!  Here's a fun one!  At work, or in a church fellowship hall, or a classroom, or somewhere else you might want to bake sans oven.  (Remember to keep out of reach of little ones though...those crocks get HOT, people!  Not only inside, but the outside gets VERY hot and can definitely cause burns, as I discovered today.) 

I know I've mentioned this before, but I read a cute little book this summer by the pool: "Tips for Using Your Slow Cooker", by Phyllis Pellman Good.  Oh my goodness what a fun little thing.  It was not recipes, but more like a round-table discussion; people's comments on how they use their slow cooker--everything from holiday and party ideas to food they make, to bizarre places they use a slow cooker, like in the car!?  And in hotel rooms??!  One large family took a very budget-restricted trip to Disneyland and ate all their meals in their hotel room using a slow cooker.  Now, for the record, let me say this, I gotta draw the line right there.  When I go on vacation, Mama's NOT cookin'.  Because if Mama's cookin', it's not a vacation for her!  But I do have to say that it did make me think a little more out of the box in terms of how I can utilize my slow cooker.  And for some bizarre reason I love books like this little one...luv to hear what people are doing and making; all their stories and experiences with their crock pots, and other pieces of kitchen equipment for that matter.  For instance, right now I'm really intreagued by those electric "roasters"...they are like a huge, gigantic rectangular crock pot.  People make turkeys in them, and massive amounts of food for huge parties.  So if you have one, please, please tell me what you do with it, and if you've ever done a turkey in one, and how it turned out.  Call me nosy, but that sort of thing always interests me.

So.  If you do any baking in your crock pot you MUST tell me all about it!  Better yet, send pictures.

UPDATE: 11/5/13
*Just to update you on the crock pot baking post...I repeated the experiment with pumpkin bread, and it turned out fantastic.  Next up, I'm going to try cranberry orange bread and if that works, and if I can get the recipes all adjusted how I want them, I will post them.  But I think I comfortably state that baking quick breads in the crock pot is very successful.  I'm pretty sure any good recipe you have will work using the crock pot baking technique.