What's In Your Pantry?

It is Day 40 of my Pantry Shopping experiment and it's hard to believe how quickly the time has gone (and how much food we have eaten). Today my daughter made AB's pancakes for dinner but I neglected to take a picture and I would like to save blogging about breakfast foods (regardless of the time of day they are eaten) for another time.

Several years ago, the Women's Ministry program at my church collected recipes from the members which I edited and published (more like photocopied) as a small cookbook which we then sold as a fundraiser. It was a small congregation and we frequently had potlucks so many of the recipes were familiar to and favorite of the congregants. But the thing that people told me they most enjoyed about book were the stories I included about the recipes themselves. I had called the submitter and asked about the origin of the dish or why they liked this particular meal. Almost everyone had some tidbit of personal or familial history to share, which i then published along with the recipe.

Something that I learned from editing that cookbook, and now from writing this blog, is that almost all favorite meals have a favorite story to accompany them. It might be as simple as a memory from childhood or as twisted as a soap opera but that bit of history infuses the food with more than just good flavor.

Chances are, if you were to go to your pantry right now, you have the makings of a meal and a really great story. Why don't you do that now? Take a look in your kitchen (cupboard/pantry/fridge/freezer) and see what you can put together as a meal or snack. If the result is something you particularly enjoy or that brings back a great memory, share it as a comment here or email me at pantryshopper@att.net.

I'll share whatever I receive as part of a future blog posting.

Happy Eating!

Day 39: What to do with Leftovers (Turkey Casserole and Soup)

Every time I opened the refrigerator these last few days, I have been faced with a giant bag of leftover turkey. As I mentioned on Day 37 (Christmas Eve), The Ex made a holiday lunch that included a very large roasted bird. Since he doesn't like dark meat, I brought home a very large leg as well as most of the underside of the turkey.

Googling the words "leftover turkey" yielded some interesting results but the award for what I thought was most clever goes to Better Homes & Gardens. On their website I found the following three fun and flexible recipes:

• Catchall Casserole
• Whatchagot Soup
• The Anything Frittata (I didn't make this but I like to do things in threes so I am listing it here.)

The premise is simple. Rather than listing specific ingredients, these recipes give quantities of categories of ingredients with instructions on how to prepare and cook the dishes. This is perfect for a pantry shopper like me. My soup and casserole consisted of the same primary ingredients: turkey, chopped onions and carrots, frozen corn and edamame, seasoned with a few cloves of garlic and poultry seasoning. (I like to use poultry seasoning around this time of year; I always associate sage and thyme with the holidays.) Since I was starting with dark meat, which tends to be very greasy, I blanched the cut up turkey meat in boiling water and then rinsed well before adding it to both dishes.

I added some Cream of Mushroom soup, milk, and rice to the casserole. I don't normally keep condensed soup on hand; I prefer to make my cream sauces from scratch. But this summer my son was only cooking things from the Campbell Soup cookbook and so I stocked up on a few of the more popular soups. Leftover cornbread stuffing went on top.

Since I didn't have any tomato paste or onion soup mix for the soup, I flavored it with Braggs Liquid Aminos and some cooking sherry I found in the back of my refrigerator. We're not eating the soup tonight so I will add cooked pasta to it tomorrow, just before serving.

The Results

Both kids loved the casserole and had seconds. Neither of them like dark meat but thanks to the blanching and rinsing of the meat, and the creamy, delicious sauce, they didn't seem to notice it all.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Easy
• Time to prepare: 45 min each for the casserole and soup
• Prognosis: Definitely will be trying these recipes with different leftovers in the future.

My Shopping List

Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.

The Tally

The day's tally: $0
Total this week so far: $77
Total this month, to date: $142.19

Day 37: Christmas Eve - Happy Holidays!

This year Christmas came early. The Ex asked if we could celebrate on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day, and since he was cooking, we happily agreed. So I'm taking today and tomorrow off from blogging but will be back on Monday, ready to finish out the year.

Day 36: Holiday Drinks

The Geek smoked some prime rib and salmon today. Fantastic dinner but both are food items I have blogged about in the past (here and here). In the spirit of the holidays, I thought I'd share some of my favorite holiday drink recipes.

The first is Stephen's Gourmet Candycane Hot Cocoa. This rich, yummy mix makes a lucious cup of minty cocoa but my favorite way to have it is to mix a couple tablespoons-full into a cup of coffee in the morning. It easily beats the expensive seasonal latté drinks at the local coffee shop chain in terms of flavor and economy.

I grew up in Michigan and the arrival of fall meant apple cider and old-fashioned doughnuts. Of course in Southern California, the word "fall" doesn't mean much (as a season) but when I simmer up  a pot of spiced (or mulled) cider, it takes me back to my childhood. This recipe for Mulled Cider is very similar to how I make it.  The cloves and oranges make the drink for me.

Around here it's not Christmas until the eggnog is served. We make Alton Brown's version, which is way better than the thick gloppy stuff you buy at the grocery store. He recommends you use bourbon but we use dark rum and cut the suggested amount in half.

I own a Keurig Single-Cup coffee brewing system (Yep, it's a SYSTEM, not just a coffeemaker!) and love the convenience of having a hot cup of coffee ready to go whenever I want. At Christmas time I stock up on Gloria Jean's Butter Toffee coffee. Add a little bit of sweetener and milk and it's like drinking creamy, buttery toffee.

NOTE: If you're in the market for a single-cup brewing system, be sure to buy a model that will fit a tall cup or travel mug under the spout. Some of them are designed for espresso-size cups and 8-oz mugs. Keurig makes several models and I have been very happy with mine for several years now.

For the Grown-ups

I've been watching the TV show, "Frasier" on DVD, and there is one episode where the Cranes go to a mountain cabin for a few days. Martin (the father) makes hot buttered rum. I love butterscotch and have always wondered what buttered rum tasted like so I went searching online. I came across Emeril Lagasse's recipe for Hot Buttered Rum Cocktail and immediately fell in love. I particularly like the convenience of this recipe: The sugar can be stored in the refrigerator almost indefinitely so you can mix up a cocktail whenever the mood strikes.

A new favorite drink is the Grown-Up Ice Cream Soda from Rachel Ray, which I had for the first time last month and mentioned in my pizza posting. This creamy concoction is pure coffee-creamy-heaven.

Day 35: Brunch with Special Friends (Muffins, Breakfast Casserole, and Cake Pops)

Today I had some special friends over for brunch, 4- and 6-year old sisters who were happy to help me get in the Christmas spirit. (Their almost 2-year old brother was over as well but he was more interested in looking at the Christmas decorations than making them.) We made smoothies, ate brunch, made beaded snowflakes, and decorated cake pops. It was a very busy and fun couple of hours.

Our brunch menu consisted of:

• A smoothie bar
• Grandma's Dutch Apple Cheese Muffins
• Coffeecake Muffins

• Breakfast Casserole
• Cake Pops (Various videos are available on youtube.com)

The advantage of most of these dishes was that everything could be made up to a day in advance so I was able to enjoy visiting with friends rather than clanging around in the kitchen while everyone else ate.

Making Cake Pops was an interesting experience. When you watch the videos online, it looks like an easy process but it turns out that this is much more complicated than you would think. The concept is simple. Take a ball of cake (mixed with frosting), put it on a stick and decorate. These treats have been popularized most recently by Angie Dudley, a food blogger known as Bakerella.

Lesson Learned #1: Let me start by saying that, as an adult, I found these balls of cake to be absolutely AWFUL and essentially inedible. Almost all the videos I saw online had you start with a baked cake-mix cake, crumble it up, and mix with about a half container of frosting. Since I had yellow cake mix and vanilla frosting on hand, that is what I used and it turned out very sugary; it was like biting into a solid ball of frosting. I suspect this recipe can be greatly improved by using a better, homemade cake and a light chocolate frosting so that it will be more like eating chocolate candy. (I should note here that the girls loved the cake pops and ate them in two bites.)

Lesson Learned #2: Cavities aside, this is a great activity to do with kids. We used a medium sized scooper and the girls had fun making the cake balls and sticking the sticks in. The balls were somewhat soft and so I followed some online advice and stuck them in the freezer while we ate brunch. Twenty or so minutes later, they had firmed up enough so that we were able to glaze and decorate them. They probably could have stood a little more time in the freezer though as some of the cake pops fell off the sticks (or slid down them).

Lesson Learned #3: I was short on time so I decided to use the canned frosting to glaze the cake pops. Frosting out of the can is too thick for dipping the balls in, so I thinned it down quite a bit with cream. It was great for coating the balls, but as you can see in the photo, the frosting ended up dripping down the sticks and resulted in quite a mess. Next time I will make a warm glaze in a double boiler or fondue pot, something that will harden at room temperature.

Lesson Learned #4: You need something to stick the cake pops in after they have been decorated. Most of the online videos recommend using a block of styrofoam but I didn't have any so I used the cardboard lid of a document box. It worked in a pinch but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you use styrofoam because the cardboard lid did not provide support for the full length of the stick so they tilted and some fell almost completely over.

Lesson Learned #5: I am not at all into decorating food. I have some cake decorating tips (the kind used to make frosting flowers and fancy shapes) but they are still in the sealed case they came in when I bought them. It turns out the girls were content to have a variety of colors of sugar and didn't miss having other, more elaborate decorating techniques. We poured a little bit of each color sugar into separate bowls and then they either rolled the balls in the sugar or sprinkled it on directly.

Lesson Learned #6: The girls needed a way to take the cake pops home. If the glaze had hardened up properly, I could have wrapped them up with plastic wrap like a lollipop but they were still soft and quite messy. We ended up putting the cake pops, cake ball down, in dixie cups and they each carried their treat out to the car.

The Results

The muffins and breakfast casserole were delicious. These are things I will definitely be making again.

As I mentioned, the girls liked the cake pops but I will be experimenting with the recipes and techniques before I serve these the again.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Most things were Medium
• Time to prepare: Muffins take about 30 minutes; Casserole was 90+ minutes; Cake Pops were 90+ minutes including freezer time.

My Shopping List

The kids have been complaining that there is nothing to eat in the house, meaning we have run out of the convenience food products that they normally eat. I ended up stocking up on cereal, bread, yogurt, and other things in addition to the brunch ingredients, too numerous to list.

The Tally

• The day's tally: $77
• Total this week so far: $77
• Total this month, to date: $142.19

Day 33: Dumpling Do-Over

A few weeks ago I made dumpling soup with Ling Ling Chicken and Vegetable Dumplings. Tonight no one was very hungry but we still needed to eat a little something so I pulled out the dumplings again but this time I pan-fried them (instructions are on the bag) and served with ponzu sauce that was jazzed up with toasted sesame seeds, slivered scallions and a pinch of red pepper.

My son asked for dessert and so I combed through my cookbooks and found this recipe for Hot Fudge Pudding cake from americastestkitchen.com. The concept is simple - bake a fudgy cake with its own fudgy sauce that you spoon over the cake. The technique is a bit unusual (you cover a very thick batter with a thick layer of cocoa and sugar and then pour coffee over it) but the result is delicious.

The Results

The dumplings are a favorite around here. The cake was almost completely eaten up in one sitting.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Both are easy
• Time to prepare:  The dumplings take about 10 minutes. The cake took about 90 minutes from start to baking to cooling.
• Prognosis:  These are now family favorites

My Shopping List

Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.

The Tally

• The day's tally: $0
• Total this week so far: $0
• Total this month, to date: $65.19

Day 32: A Noodle Kind of Night (Spaghetti e Olio, Chicken Wings)

After having a lovely two days of relaxing and eating out (and a great live blues show), I came home last night and was in the mood to cook.

When I was a kid, spaghetti was always bloated and soft, served with runny spaghetti sauce in the school hot lunch line. I didn't care for it much. It wasn't until adulthood that I learned the terms 'al dente and 'marinara' and about the enormous variety of pasta sauces in the world. Occasionally I would see 'Spaghetti aglio e olio' on the menu at a restaurant and would wonder, why on earth would anyone eat pasta with just garlic and olive oil when you can have creamy Alfredo or a spicy Arrabiata?

Then one day, when I was in my early 20s and not long after I had moved to Southern California, my California cousins introduced me to the wonderful dish that is pasta simply dressed with olive oil, salt, garlic and sautéed bell peppers. I should take a moment to introduce you to my Cali-cousins. They are two sisters (and a brother, but he doesn't cook much) who are strict vegetarians but make the most wonderful vegetarian meals. My one cousin makes a fantastic tofu scramble that will have you swearing off eggs for breakfast. They introduced me to cooking with avocadoes and eggplant, which I had eaten but had never tried cooking with them before. You never miss the meat when you eat a meal at their homes.

This spaghetti dish is very simple but sooo delicious.

Spaghetti e Olio with Bell Peppers and Onions

1. Cook the spaghetti according to package directions.
2. While the pasta is boiling, slice up some different colored bell peppers and onions.
3. Sautée the vegetables in a generous amount of olive oil and salt over med-high heat until just starting to get tender and browned.
4. When the pasta is done, drain thoroughly then mix into the frying pan with with vegetables.
5. Sprinkle on some fresh or dried herbs. I like basil.
6. Sautée over med-high heat until everything is heated through and the flavors have had a chance to combine. (You may need to add more olive oil if the pasta is too dry.)
7. Remove from heat and serve.

Spaghetti e Olio, part 2
Many of my California friends went to school up in Northern California, at a small private college located in wine country. They would frequently rave about a pasta dish that was served at Boskos, a popular eatery in Calistoga, that is loaded with chunks of garlic. The dish is called Glorioso and they reeked of garlic for days after eating it but no one seemed to mind. One summer I finally made it up to Boskos and had the Glorioso for myself and yep, they weren't kidding. It had almost as many chunks of creamy, roasted garlic as it did pasta shells. So good!

Spaghetti e Olio with Garlic and Mushrooms

I make my own version of Glorioso when I have fresh cloves of garlic that I want to use up. Follow the instructions as above but instead of bell peppers, use sliced mushrooms and slivers of garlic, as much as you think you can handle. To kick up the garlic flavor a notch, add some minced garlic to the oil and let it cook for about a minute before you toss in the pasta.

I always like to have some protein with my meals, especially when it is carb-heavy as in the case of these two pasta dishes. I made AB's Buffalo wings (which I blogged about here), which added a spicy kick to the otherwise mild meal.

The Results

The Geek pronounced everything to be delicious but particularly enjoyed the crispiness of the Buffalo wings and the garlicky-ness of the garlic mushroom pasta.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Easy
• Time to prepare: An hour for the wings, 20 minutes for the pasta 
• Prognosis:  Will definitely be making these dishes again

My Shopping List

• Bell peppers: $3.98
• Mushrooms: $2.69
• Bananas: $2.53*
• Oranges: $1.28*
• Apples: $4.10*

The Tally
The day's tally: $$14.58
Total this week so far: $29.19
Total this month, to date: $65.19

P.S.
* Kids are coming home tomorrow so I need to stock up on fruit.

The cost of eating out this weekend came from my "Vacation" budget, not my "Grocery" budget. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

A Blogging Holiday Hiatus

I'm heading out of town for the weekend so I'll be taking a few days off from blogging. I'll be back on Tuesday with Monday's meal!

Day 28: Crispy Baked Potato Fans, Part 2

I still have several of the large baking potatoes left and since The Geek and I enjoyed them so much the other night, I decided to make the Crispy Baked Potato Fans for the kids tonight. A single potato is large enough to be a meal in and of itself but needs a little protein so I mixed in some cooked turkey bacon with the breadcrumbs and cheese. A green salad rounded out the meal.

The online recipe has full instructions and pictures but I'll outline them here as well.

1. Cut about 1/4" off the bottom of the potato to get it to stand up and off the ends to give it room to fan out.
2. Cut the potato into slices. Line up a pair of chopsticks lengthwise on either side of the potato to prevent cutting all the way through to the bottom.
3. Put the potato on a plate and microwave until soft, about six to seven minutes. Start with the potato slices-side down and then turn upright halfway through.
4. Brush the potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper being sure to get inbetween all the slices.
5. Roast in a 450F oven until browned and crispy, about 20-30 minutes.
6. Take the potatoes out of the oven and stuff with a mixture of breadcrumbs, cheese, and melted butter. Salt and pepper and other seasonings are optional.
7. Roast under the broiler until the topping is all melted and starting to brown.
8. Eat and Enjoy!

The Geek suggested I post a picture of the potatoes before they are stuffed so that you can see how they are cut.This photo was taken after the potatoes came out of the oven (between steps 5 and 6).

The Results

Both kids raved about the potatoes, even the finicky one who does not like blue cheese. My son ate the potatoes dipped in ranch dressing, which was delicious albeit fattening.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Medium
• Time to prepare: About an hour for the potatoes
• Prognosis: Definitely a keeper

My Shopping List

Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.

The Tally

• The day's tally: $0
• Total this week so far: $14.61
• Total this month, to date: $50.61

Day 26 & 27: Fish Tacos and Christmas Cookies

Today turned out to be the busiest day I've had all year and so I had no time to publish Tuesday's post. So I am writing for two days.

***

The Geek and I frequently laugh about how well we eat but recently we agreed that we have been eating a little TOO well since this experiment started. When I think about it, it makes sense that my cooking has been laden down with calories and fat because those are the kinds of things I buy in bulk and store in my pantry and freezer. The healthy stuff (aka fruits and vegetables) is best when it is fresh and I have not been doing much grocery shopping lately.

On Tuesday I decided to make something a little lighter than our usual fare. At the bottom of my freezer I found a bag of frozen cod fillets from the local warehouse store. I love these bulk packages of fish (and chicken breasts) because each fillet is very conveniently, individually vacuum-sealed. I also have a ton of frozen corn tortillas and so the natural conclusion was that we would have fish tacos.

Fish tacos are very popular here in Southern California. Mexican fast food chains serve batter-coated, deep-fried fish in corn tortillas with cabbage and a slice of lime and I found several recipes online for exactly that. But I don't like to deep-fry at home (too messy and the smell lingers too long) and was looking for something lighter. I found the perfect recipe for tacos with marinated cod on epicurious.com.

Something else about tacos here in SoCal... True Mexicans (or at least the ones I know), don't eat them like they are served at Taco Bell (loaded with cheddar cheese, lettuce, sour cream etc). My friends eat them very simply dressed with chopped onions and cilantro, some lime slices for squeezing, and fresh salsa (not cooked like you find in store-bought jars). They are wonderfully flavorful, especially with freshly roasted jalapénos.

I found this recipe intriguing because of the suggested toppings. The recipe included instructions for marinated red onions, and recommended serving with homemade salsa and crema, a Mexican sour cream that is much lighter than traditional American sour cream. This trio of condiments was absolutely delicious.

I ran out of the first batch of salsa, which was made from the traditional tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, cilantro in lime juice with salt, before I remembered to take a picture. For the second batch I was out of cilantro so I decided to make a fruit salsa. Fruit salsas are very popular around here and it's not unusual to find mango or pineapple salsa in most grocery stores. I like to make it with whatever is in season - usually melons or firm peaches in summer, apples in the fall. Since we still have an abundance of Fuyu persimmons, I decided to try that and it turned out yummy. I had to add quite a bit of salt since the tomatoes were not very flavorful and some sugar to bring out the flavor of the fuyus over the tart lime juice.

Tonight is my weekly Wednesday night Bible study. I've been bitten by the Christmas bug and signed up to bring cookies and ice cream. I've included my shortbread recipe at the end of this posting. I love this particular recipe because it only requires three ingredients and produces a delicious cookie that only gets better after sitting for a day or two. This recipe was given to me by a friend when I was in college, a woman who is an extraordinary hostess and fabulous cook. I don't know where she got the recipe, but I call the cookies "Priscilla's Shortbread" in her honor. For decorating, I used canned whipped frosting since I was short on time. The cookies were decorated with green sprinkles or drizzled with AB's dulce de leche.

The Results

Delicious! Even my finicky kid, who does not like fish, corn tortillas, or salsa, thought these were really good.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Easy
• Time to prepare: The fish tacos take about an hour, including marinating time
• Prognosis: Definitely will be making these again!

My Shopping List

• Cucumbers (3): $1.49
• Tomatoes: $0.50
• Cilantro: $0.33
• Limes: $1.85
• Jalapénos: $0.14
• Red Wine Vinegar: $1.69
• Crema: $0.83 (you can buy it by the half-pound at the deli counter at the Mexican grocery)
• Lettuce (for salads): $1.78
• Ice Cream: $6

The Tally

• The two days' tally: $14.61
• Total this week so far: $14.61
• Total this month, to date: $50.61

***

Priscilla's Shortbread
1 lb (2 cups) butter, softened
1 c sugar
5 c flour

1. Cream the butter.
2. Gradually add the sugar.
3. Slowly add the flour.
4. Mix until completely combined.
5. Divide dough in half and wrap each in plastic wrap.
6. Refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
7. When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F.
8. Knead the dough a few times to make it smooth then roll out and cut into shapes.
9. Bake on an un-greased cooking sheet until lightly browned, about 10-12 minutes.
10. Cool on a rack before decorating.

Day 25: A Mostly Creamy but Oh-So-Yummy Dinner (Asian Corn Soup, Crispy Potato Fans)

I have reached the point in my experiment where I am going to have to start getting creative with my cooking because 1) I have now blogged about most of the things that we usually eat and am running out of favorite foods to share and 2) I am running out of my "staple" ingredients. Tonight I peered into my kitchen freezer no less than three times and my garage freezer twice before I gave up hope of finding inspiration there and pulled out my stack of "Recipes I'd Like to Try" printouts.

I think anyone who has ever looked at a magazine or flipped through a cookbook has a pile like this: scraps of paper torn out from magazines, recipes jotted down on napkins, or if you surf the web, a stack of 8-1/2 x 11 sheets of internet printouts. Maybe you're like me: my cookbooks are studded with color-coded post-its which have lost their significance due to the vast number of recipes that have been flagged.

Near the top of the stack I found the recipe for Asian Corn and Chicken Soup, from cookscountry.com. As I mentioned in my posting on favorite foodie websites, this is one of my  go-to sites when I want to try making something new. I love it so much that I happily pay the annual subscription fee to gain access to the entire website and it is worth every penny. (Its sister site, americastestkitchen.com, is equally worthy of the subscription cost but since I own the TV show cookbook, I don't need the online access.)

Back to the soup... After a quick glance at the recipe, I realized why I had printed it out: It was made from things I almost always have in my pantry. This soup is surprisingly simple and I was skeptical that it would be much good as I was putting it together - coconut milk, corn, chicken, and chicken broth are the main ingredients. It just didn't sound like much but it turned out to have wonderful, robust flavor. I didn't have any limes and the soup was delicious without them, but next time I will be sure to add a few squeezes of fresh juice as I love a touch of citrus in my Asian dishes.

I have several pounds of those huge baking potatoes leftover from Thanksgiving that need to be eaten up soon. I like potatoes but given a choice, I'd rather get my carb calories from grains like rice, pasta and bread. However, these potatoes cost me a small fortune due to their gigantic size and so I cannot let them go to waste. On cookscountry.com, I found an intriguing preparation for baked potatoes and one I had never seen before, Crispy Baked Potato Fans.

These potatoes are a bit of work but I have to say, THEY WERE FANTASTIC! Absolutely and totally delicious. As you can see from the photo, you cut the potatoes into a fan shape and microwave until they are soft. Then you brush the slices with a mixture of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast until crispy. Then they are stuffed with a breadcrumb and cheese mixture and toasted under the broiler until the cheese melts and the breadcrumbs are toasty brown. YUMMMM!!! This potato was so good that I think it deserves a second photo:

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the meal was mostly white/creamy colored (a big no-no in  menu-planning and from a nutritional standpoint) until everything was nearly done and we were ready to eat. Next time I will be sure to include a green salad in this meal.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• I didn't make any modifications to the soup; it is pretty straightforward as written. You do have to keep a close eye on it though because coconut milk will separate if boiled at too high a heat for too long. The soup takes a bit of time because it should be simmering most of the time.
• The online instructions for cutting the potato introduced me to a great tip. Line up chopsticks on both sides of the potato and that will keep you from cutting all the way through as you cut the slices.
• The instructions call for you to toast the breadcrumbs in the oven. I just toasted the bread in the toaster and then crumbled it up.
• I did not have any Monterey Jack so I used Stilton, a mild blue cheese, instead. SOOOO GOOOD! Because I was using a cheese that was stronger than the recipe called for, I left out the paprika.
• I was not in the mood to pull out my food processor to make breadcrumbs so I just crumbled the toast by hand resulting in somewhat bigger chunks of bread. The Stilton was also not easy to crumble so I had chunks of cheese as well. As yummy as this sounds, it was hard to stuff the potatoes with the big chunks. You want to get the stuffing all the way down to the bottom of and in-between the slices and the crumbs and cheese need to be fine pieces in order to do that.

The Results

The Geek and I both marveled at how flavorful both the soup and the potatoes were.

Ratings

• Difficulty: The soup was easy; the potatoes medium.
• Time to prepare: Soup 30 min.; Potatoes 45 min.
• Prognosis: Will definitely be making these again

My Shopping List

Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.

The Tally

• The day's tally: $0
• Total this week so far: $0
• Total this month, to date: $36

Day 24: Ravioli

I don't buy many convenience food products. I aced General Chemistry in college so it concerns me when my food has things in it that I can't pronounce. But more that than, I think homemade foods just taste better and I get a huge amount of satisfaction from creating a meal from scratch.

Some things just are not feasible to do at home on a regular basis. My rule for convenience foods is the same as for eating out - it has to be something I cannot (easily) make at home. This list includes Chinese food, Asian dumplings, anything deep fried, and ravioli. Fortunately Costco sells frozen ravioli that is quick and easy to cook and very yummy. On a day like today, where time just got away from me, it's nice to be able to pull this bag out of the freezer and have a hot meal on the table in 10 minutes.

Another advantage to this meal is that everybody mixes up the pasta the way they like it. My son is a purist - he likes just olive oil and salt. My daughter likes the cheese herb mix that comes in the ravioli package. I like spaghetti sauce and parmesan.

I stir-fried asparagus in olive oil with a little garlic and salt for about five minutes. I like it to have a beautiful bright green color and for it to be still-crunchy. Add a sprinkling of crushed red pepper and it is a real treat to eat.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• Be sure to cook the ravioli in a lot of water and that it is at a full, roiling boil when you drop the pasta in. Stir to keep them from sticking. As soon as they float to the top, they are done.
• To ensure the asparagus cooks enough to get the raw flavor out but maintain crunchiness, your frying pan should be almost smoking hot before you drop them in.
• Both kids love to take this in their school lunches. Neither the spinach nor the cheese ravioli requires refrigeration.

The Results
These are both family favorites.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Easy
• Time to prepare: 20 minutes 
• Prognosis: I make this frequently when we are tight on time.

My Shopping List

Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.

The Tally

• The day's tally: $0
• Total this week so far: $0
• Total this month, to date: $36

Culinary Cohorts, 3: Asian Ingredients

When the kids are home, Saturdays are usually a no-cook day for me. It is the only day of the week the kids are allowed to eat sugary cereal for breakfast (usually Fruity Pebbles or Fruit Loops), lunch is often eaten out, and Saturday night is pizza and movie night ( from Papa John's). Today I thought I'd share some of the staples that I keep in my pantry and refrigerator for Asian cooking.

Note: I'm not particularly attached to any brand of products. Usually we buy whatever is on sale and the items pictured are what I had on hand.

Soy Sauce Products

• Soy Sauce, the most ubiquitous of all Asian ingredients, is used to season soups and stir-frys. And of course for sushi.
• Memmi is a seasoned soy sauce used as a noodle soup base.
• Ponzu is soy sauce seasoned with citrus and is often poured over nigiri sushi.

Vinegar-based Products

• Rice wine vinegar is milder than American white vinegar. I use it primarily to add tang to dipping sauces and occasionally soups.
• Bottled sushi seasoning is my alternative to making vinegar-sugar seasoning for sushi rice.
• Mirin is a sweet, alcohol-based seasoning that I keep on hand for eggs fried for garnish and sushi (tamago). It is also often an ingredient in salad dressings.

Fish and Seaweed Seasonings

• Dried anchovies are often used to make the base for Korean soups. These are the large anchovies that are fished out of the soup before serving. (They taste terrible and look even worse if it's not something you're used to seeing.)
• Bonito soup stock is the powdered version of bonito fish flakes. I like the powder because it dissolves completely, compared to fish flakes which have to be strained out. This particular brand has MSG in it, which I like because of the delicious flavor it imparts, but since many people avoid it, I don't serve it to guests.
• Dried seaweed, or Kombu in Japanese, is dropped in hot water along with the bonito fish flakes (or powder) to create a light, yummy broth. If you're making a vegetarian broth, try adding a small piece of this to add depth of flavor. This is also fished out before serving as it is somewhat tough.

Korean Ingredients

• Kochoo Jang is a red pepper paste. (Kochoo means pepper, Jang means paste). We use it in a variety of foods, primarily soup and as a dipping sauce for lettuce and steamed vegetables. It tastes somewhat raw if you eat it out of the container so I like to add a touch of vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and sesame seeds to smooth the flavor out.
• Kochoo Kahroo is the Korean version of red pepper flakes and is made only from the fleshy part, no seeds. I like to sprinkle it on Korean soups, like I did in the Kalbi Tang photo.
• Deng Jang is soybean paste. We didn't have any true deng jang in the house at the moment so I am showing Japanese miso paste instead. They are very similar except that the Korean version is stronger in flavor.
• Sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds are added to bahn chahn, stir-frys, used as dips and dressings, and as the main ingredient in some desserts.

Thai/Vietnamese Ingredients

• Fish sauce is the quintessential ingredient in this cuisine. It is added to everything from soups to stir-frys to salad dressing and dipping sauces.
• Maggi seasoning, which tastes a lot like Bragg Liquid Aminos, is used in Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches. This stuff is very strong and you only need a few drops to add delicious flavor. I bought this giant bottle because it was the only size the store had at the time, but a small bottle would probably last most non-Vietnamese cooks a year or more.
• Sriracha hot sauce
• Tamarind paste is soaked in hot water and strained to add a sweet/sour zip to foods. I bought it to make Pad Thai and Mexican Snakebites, a fantastic drink that I make with ginger ale (instead of beer) on hot summer days.

Chinese Supplies

A while back I thought I'd try my hand at Chinese cooking. It was extremely time-consuming and the flavors didn't turn out quite right. I decided that this was not a cooking-style that I needed to master given that really good Chinese food is available up the street for cheaper than I can make it. But as a result, I also have hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, and black soy sauce in my fridge.

The Tally

• The day's tally: $11 (My son and I had In-n-Out for lunch today)
• Total this week so far: $36
• Total this month, to date: $36

Day 22: Smoothie Moves

Today is my son's birthday and so we went out for a big, late lunch. When dinnertime rolled around (just three hours after we had finished eating), no one was hungry but both kids had places to go and things to do this evening, so I wanted to at least feed them a snack. Smoothies are a quick and easy way to take in fruits and vegetables as well as a fair amount of calories. I have a book of recipes for smoothies, but a quick flipping through the pages made it clear that I didn't have the right ingredients to make much in there. Instead, I looked at what I had and tried to figure out what things would go together.

This evening I had a couple of guest taste-testers (a couple of my son's friends) who gave feedback on my concoctions. Their comments are listed under each section.

Frozen Bananas and Chocolate Soy Milk

This is a no-brainer. Everyone liked this and it got high marks from all the testers.









Hachiya Persimmon Smoothie with Ginger Syrup

We love persimmons and every winter my dad buys fuyus by the bagful. Fuyus are the small, squat looking persimmons that can be peeled and eaten when they are firm. Hachiyas have a high concentration of tannins that makes them almost inedible but fortunately they decrease as the fruit ripens so this kind of persimmon is only eaten when it is really, really soft.

Someone gave my parents a box full of ready-to-eat hachiyas and I really wanted to try this in a drink. Its soft, almost syrupy texture seemed to be made for this purpose. I wanted to highlight the flavor of the fruit so I opted to use just white grape juice and ginger simple syrup (from Guy Fieri's zentini recipe) as the sweetener. This turned out  fantastic! One boy said this was his absolute favorite and it was mine too.

Raspberry Edamame

I like to have some form of protein in smoothies so that it is not all just simple carbs. I usually keep protein powder on hand for this purpose but was out. My available choices were tofu, milk and edamame. I had some frozen raspberries that I thought would stand up to the edamame. I also thought the V8 Fusion (pomegranate blueberry) would be sweet enough to counteract the berries' tartness. I was wrong on both counts. Next time I make this, I will add sugar or sweetener to brighten the raspberry flavor. I'll also use a different protein source as the edamame added a grassiness that was mild but noticeable. (I think it would work in vegetable smoothies with a tomato juice base though.)

Peachy Pomegranate with Tofu

This was everyone's least favorite. Freezing peaches causes them to lose much of their flavor and sweetness. I thought the pomegranate soda, which was quite sweet and flavorful on its own, would be enough to brighten up the peaches but I was wrong. Also, as you can see from the photo, I put in almost as much tofu as peaches, which was way too much. The final product had almost a gritty texture and no flavor. Both boys who tried it said "This doesn't taste like anything" and I agreed with them. Next time I'll add some sugar or sweetener and about a half to a quarter of the tofu.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• If you're an infomercial nut like me, then you may recognize the smoothie cups with the colored rims from the Magic Bullet commercials. We have a Vita mixer, a regular blender, a stick blender, and a food processor and yet I use the Magic Bullet more than all of them combined. Its small size, ease of use, variety of container sizes, and easy clean-up makes it perfect for all kinds of jobs. When I ordered my Bullet (many, many years ago), the package came with all sorts of things - a full-sized blending container, a juicer, grater blade for cheese and spices, etc. I only use the blending blade and the small and large cups; they meet all my needs. Last year, when the blade stopped working after 4+ years of use, I called up customer support and was able to order a new one for $11 ($9 + S&H). Works just as good as the day I bought it.
• On mornings after the kids have a sleepover, I will lay out a smoothie bar as part of breakfast. All you need is some fresh and frozen fruit, milk and orange juice, and ice cubes. Other options include protein powder, ice cream, chocolate syrup, and malted milk powder. I like spinach in my fruit smoothies but most kids are turned off by the green specks. The kids love scooping their fixings into their individual cups, loading it onto the base, and making their own smoothies.
• As you can see from the photos, juice boxes and individually packaged drinks such as soda and chocolate milk are an easy way to provide a variety of liquid options.
• Some fun adult options include coffee and of course, margarita and pina colada mixes. Now that the holidays have set in, I think I'll experiment with egg nog too.
• I generally find that juice adds enough sweetness to the drink to make it satisfying and palatable. However, as in the case of the frozen raspberries and peaches, you sometimes need a little something more. Something about being a mom will not allow me to let kids  add heaping spoonfuls of straight sugar willy nilly to their food. Simple syrup and honey are great alternatives and work a little better than sugar, mainly because it takes sugar a bit more time to dissolve in cold liquids. I also recommend individual packets of artificial sweetener since it only takes one or two packets to dramatically increase the sweetness.
• It takes a little practice to figure out how much of each ingredient to use in order to achieve the creaminess and thickness that people usually associate with smoothies. It also depends on if your ingredients are fresh or frozen. I will usually fill the cup half full of fresh and/or frozen fruit, add a few ice cubes and then fill the cup half full of liquid. Leave room at the top so that you can add additional solids or liquids as needed.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Easy
• Time to prepare:  Less than five minutes
• Prognosis: Definitely a keeper!

My Shopping List

Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.

The Tally

• The day's tally: $0
• Total this week so far: $25
• Total this month, to date: $25

Day 21: Not Your Grandmother's Grilled Cheese

Tonight The Geek and I are going to Shik Do Rak with friends for dinner, a very welcome and timely evening out since I am getting tired of eating my own cooking. I still had to figure out something to eat for lunch (and something to blog about) and wanted to eat something that I don't usually make.

Rooting around in my freezer yielded a package of havarti and a package of fontina, cheeses I buy specifically to make Café Muse's Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. When I tell people about this sandwich (made with fresh basil, tomato and honey), they look at me like I'm crazy but you will be amazed at how wonderful this is. You may be tempted to leave out one of the ingredients (like the honey) but unless you are allergic or absolutely hate it, don't. The combination is inspired.

Since I am sharing Oprah recipes today... Recently Martha Stewart was a guest and she had an entertainment suggestion that I think is also inspired: A Grilled Cheese Sandwich bar. If you follow the links, you will see her suggestions for fillings and combinations. The next time I make grilled cheese sandwiches, I am going to try the gruyére, green apple and sage on rye combination.

There is something so fresh and luscious about a meal that you make using herbs from your own garden. Right now I have two kinds of basil, parsley, and chives. I need to plant seeds for more herbs and winter vegetables. I've been neglecting my garden lately and in my absence, the parsley has grown to mammoth proportions. It's a little tough but I figured it would still be edible finely chopped up in Tabbouleh, the middle eastern salad made from bulgar, tomatoes, scallions, parsley, mint and lemon juice.

I made the recipe from the Vegetarian Times Cooks Mediterranean cookbook, my nominee for BEST vegetarian cookbook of all time. There are 250+ recipes and nothing I have ever made has turned out less than delicious. When I searched online, I couldn't find the exact recipe that I made, but their website has a recipe that is close. I did not add pistachios or honey. The book version also called for cucumbers but I was out. The salad still turned out delicious.

I'm not sure I'd serve these two dishes together to guests. The tabbouleh is a very strong dish and really overpowered the delicate flavors in the sandwich. Next time I'll make a green salad to go with the grilled cheese and save the tabbouleh for something more hearty like a gyro.

The Results

Delicious!

Ratings

• Difficulty: Both are easy to make
• Time to prepare: The bulgar takes about an hour; the grilled cheese about 10 minutes
• Prognosis: Both these recipes are favorites

My Shopping List

Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.

The Tally

• The day's tally: $0
• Total this week so far: $25
• Total this month, to date: $25

Day 20: An Edible Oxymoron (Gluten-free, Vegetarian, Chicken Fried Steak)

Tonight was my weekly Wednesday night Bible study and the food theme of the night was creamy polenta. I signed up to bring a protein entrée. You'll notice I did not use the word 'beef' or 'chicken' or even 'meat' but 'protein.' I am a member of a religious community that is known for healthy living, and vegetarianism is a big part of that. Traditionally, when our members get together to eat, meat is not served even though many of us in attendance are omnivorous.

One of our members is also gluten-intolerant and so when I cook for these gatherings, if I'm making something with flour in it, I also try to make a gluten-free version along with the regular recipe. Up until a few months ago, I knew nothing about Celiac's disease or really about gluten for that matter, except that you add it to bread-machine dough to make it more chewy. My friends have very kindly educated me and I found a wealth of information online. But nothing prepared me for the sticker shock I experienced when I went to buy substitution ingredients at the local health food store. Xanthan gum, an important ingredient in gluten-free cooking and baking, costs $14/lb, which may not sound like much, but it was $8 for a ridiculously small bag of powder. Also, you get the best results when you mix a variety of gluten-free flours and I was not prepared to buy a pound of this and a pound of that.

I found a great solution in Pamela's Gluten-Free Baking & Pancake mix. If you've ever used Bisquick to make anything other than pancakes, then you already know how to use this mix. A few weeks ago I made AB's Tres Leches cake and used the mix to replace the flour, baking powder and half the salt. In a blind taste test, I would not have been able to tell you which had wheat flour and which was gluten-free. Now to be honest, gluten-free websites will tell you that Tres Leches cake is ideally suited for this kind of preparation because gluten-free baked goods can be heavy and the texture of this cake is ideal for soaking up the milk.

Making a gluten-free vegetarian protein dish can also be a challenge. You're pretty much limited to beans (legumes, including soy). There are a variety of soy-based, meat substitutes out there (Morningstar Farms is probably one of the most popular brands; Worthington and Loma Linda makes a much more extensive line of products) but most of those products have gluten in them.

I decided to make a dish using tofu, since that is the only non-meat, gluten-free protein source in my refrigerator. My parents buy dozens of packages of tofu (pronounced 'tooboo' in Korean) when they make their bi-weekly trek to the Korean grocery store  so we are always well-stocked. I grew up eating it (in soups, steamed, stir-fried, cooked as a sauce, etc. etc. etc.) and love it but I find not many people do. Something about the consistency and the flavor...

My oxymoron-ic chicken-fried steak is actually AB's Fillet O' Fu recipe, with a few adaptations. (See my tips below for details on how to make it gluten-free and fully vegetarian.) He effectively figured out how to address the texture and flavor issues. No one is going to bite into this thing and ask if it's steak, nevertheless, it is substantial enough and so full of flavor that it can stand on its own as a protein entree.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

• When you buy tofu at the store, even firm tofu, it has a wet, crumbly texture. There are three ways to firm it up:
• Fry it
• Freeze it, which changes the texture of the protein, making it more chewy
• Drain using a weight (which is AB's method in this recipe)
• I tried freezing the tofu but it did not make a noticeable difference in this preparation so I just went with drained.
• AB has you draining the tofu for an hour then marinating for 15 minutes on each side. (In his cookbook, Good Eats: The Early Years, which is what I used as my recipe source, the instructions say to marinate for an hour.) I was short on time (what else is new?) so I drained for only 45 minutes and used heavy bricks. I marinated for a total of 15 minutes but I also used my Foodsaver Marinating container, which supposedly sucks out the air and pulls in the marinade at the same time. My tofu steaks were FULL of flavor.

• Worcestershire sauce is made with anchovies so it is not truly vegetarian. I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos, which also happens to be gluten-free, instead. It adds a strong, meaty-like flavor to foods, similar to the flavor portobello mushrooms add. This is really strong stuff so use it sparingly.
• Just a note: These days soy sauce is frequently made with wheat so you want to check the label before using it in gluten-free cooking. Bragg's LA can be used as a replacement for that as well in cooking. Not sure I'd dip sushi in it though.
• The cookbook recipe has you dredging in flour and then the egg wash and then Panko breadcrumbs. I didn't have any Panko so I dredged in flour twice (which is the online recipe instruction). For the gluten-free version, dredge twice in the Pamela's mix.
• I like a thicker coating on my batter-fried goodies and I found that just dredging did not do much. I dumped a generous amount of the flour/baking mix on to the steaks and then patted it down. When you lift it up and shake it a bit, most of the coating will stick.
• If you are making both regular and gluten-free steaks in the same frying pan, be sure to fry the gluten-free steaks first. You do not want the bits and pieces of wheat flour coating that inevitably fall off into the oil to land on your gluten-free steaks.
• Be sure to open up the windows and run the vent above the stove (if you have one). My house reeked of fried food for hours and not in a good way.

The Results

The steaks are surprisingly firm and flavorful. I'm not going to give up beef for this, but it was delicious in its own right.

Ratings

• Difficulty: Medium. Getting the coating right and deep frying take a practiced hand.
• Time to prepare: Two hours with my shortcuts
• Prognosis: Will definitely make this again

My Shopping List

Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.

The Tally

• The day's tally: $0
• Total this week so far: $25
• Total this month, to date: $25

Day 19: A New Game, "Freezer Surprise!" (Tako with Lemon and Salt)

I like to think I am an organized person. Almost everything in my house is assigned its own shelf space and/or its own container. I love my labelmaker but in the kitchen, where food containers are frequently washed, I cut up little pieces of paper to create my own tags and then affix them to the container with a generous amount of scotch tape. I like to know exactly what I have and where it resides. So you can imagine my dismay when I found several packets of foil in my freezer that were not labeled in any way. I had no way of knowing what was inside or how long it had been there (other than to open it, which usually tears the foil and then it has to be re-wrapped with new foil).

This is particularly troubling to me because I own a Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer, which for a warehouse shopper like me, is a godsend and one of my all-time favorite infomercial buys. (I will save describing its features in glorious detail for another day.) Back when I used to buy whatever I wanted in whatever quantities commensurate with the deal at hand (19 or so days ago), coming home and laying out everything and then breaking out the Foodsaver was like Christmas morning, especially for an organization nut like me. So for the life of me, I cannot think of why I would have wrapped food in foil. Perhaps I was short on time? Or maybe I thought it was something I'd eat fairly quickly and therefore did not require labeling?

Whatever the reason, this gives me the opportunity to introduce a new game: "Freezer Surprise!". Today I am going to reach into the freezer and grab a foil-wrapped package and make whatever comes out of it.

Drumroll please....

Ooohhh...Boiled octopus. I may have mentioned once or twice that I like sushi (or kim bop if I'm making it at home). I didn't always like octopus. I remember once, when I was about 6, climbing up onto the kitchen counter and poking around the cabinet, looking for something to eat. I saw a jar with an interesting pink color and nearly fell off the counter when I pulled it out and saw tentacles. It was some kind of raw, marinated octopus. We ate meat and fish but I don't remember ever having had anything with tentacles as a child.

That all changed last year when The Geek convinced me to try tako (octopus sushi) with a slice of lemon and a little salt at the sushi bar and now it is one of my favorite things. The little Asian market behind my house sells all kinds of seafood and I was thrilled to find that they had whole, boiled octopus at the seafood counter. I buy one every few months, cut it up and stick it in my freezer. Since this is a quick, easy lunch, I am sure I put it in there with every intention of eating it within a few days.The picture is from last fall but I'm sure this stash was from a more recent purchase.

Since the kids don't eat octopus and I had the kim bop supplies out anyway, I pulled out the imitation crab with mayo leftover from the other day and made California handrolls for them.

I believe in full disclosure so I have to say, the tako was TERRIBLE! Freezer burn had done its damage and I ended up opening up all the little packets and throwing most of them away. There was some beef that I salvaged but everything else went into the trash. Thus ends the Pantry Shopper's short-lived Freezer Surprise! adventures.

Busy Mom Modifications and Tips

I eat (white) rice everyday and am the only one in the house who does so. My parents make a much healthier brown rice (with beans, YUCK!) and the kids don't eat much Asian food at home in general. I am also a carboholic -  once I start eating rice, pasta, bread, etc. it's very hard to stop until it is all gone. I found the perfect solution in the form of one-cup sized, freezer and microwave-safe plastic containers. When I am running low on rice, I'll make a full pot and then, while it is still steaming hot, portion it into the single serving-sized plasticware and stick it in the freezer. It's important that you freeze it while it is steaming hot. Microwave for two minutes and it will still have that freshly-cooked scent and flavor.

I don't recommend using previously-frozen, microwaved rice if you're making sushi or kim bop for guests. A key step in that preparation is to stir in the vinegar-sugar while the rice is steaming hot and the microwave heats too unevenly. But on days like today, when I need something quick to feed people who are not too finicky about their California rolls, it works. 

My Shopping List

Nothing - I made do with what I had on hand.

The Tally

• The day's tally: $0
• Total this week so far: $25
• Total this month, to date: $ 25