Apr 26, 2010

Food Storage Round Up : Week One

On the menu this week?

Crock Pot Black Bean Chicken Burritos
Salsa Chicken
Oven Omelet (we're doing a 1/2 recipe)
Spaghetti with Meatballs and Butterhorn Rolls
Red Curry Pork
Cajun Chicken

A couple of these don't need a separately posted recipe, they're so easy:
Spaghetti sauce - I make my own by heating a 15 oz can tomato sauce, 2 T brown sugar, 1/4 c Italian seasoning in a sauce pot. To make it chunky you can add a can of petite diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes.

Salsa Chicken - Dump a jar of salsa into a deep pan with thawed chicken breasts and simmer until the chicken is cooked and the salsa is reduced. Serve with rice or quinoa. (I know I was supposed to make Beef Enchilada Casserole today, but more tortillas don't sound good to me. Good thing this menu is flexible!)

Cajun Chicken - We have a jar of Cajun spices that I'm going to rub all over thawed chicken and we're going to grill it on the BBQ. I'll probably make a canned-fruit "salad" to go with it.

I left myself the option to choose the red or green curry on Friday and decided red sounded better, but I've still posted my green curry recipe if you're interested!

Apr 23, 2010

My Name is Mrs. Morgan and I'll be Your Substitute Today

My top priority was finding reasonably tasty substitutions or alternatives for the foods I cannot live without. My biggest concern is milk. I drink 2 gallons of whole milk a week. Tuesday I tried powdered milk (*hork*) and Wednesday I tried evaporated milk (*gag*). My friend Jen pointed me to a blog she had found, Family Home Evening. Crystal had written a post that has made my milk worth drinking again! Basically, mix your regular milk with the reconstituted powdered milk (half and half). Then gradually wean yourself off regular milk by increasing the ratio of powdered to regular milk. I mixed 1 quart of whole milk with 1 quart of powdered milk. She didn't stop with the tips there - she also suggests adding vanilla and sugar to the powdered milk to help disguise it. So I did that as well - adding 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla to my "half and half". I made sure it sat in the fridge overnight so it would be ice cold for my morning shake and cereal. The moment of truth came, and I was blown away! I have even treated myself to several glasses of plain milk with no need for chocolate or strawberry powder. I'm almost through that pitcher of "half and half" and am ready to make the leap to a half quart whole/one & a half quart powdered mix. I drank through it so fast I forgot to get a picture of the full pitcher!Side note: My Pampered Chef Quick Stir pitcher is perfect for mixing the milk - if you don't have one, get one!!!

The next big thing is yogurt. Lily eats 6 ounces of yogurt every day. I have had several friends tell me how easy it is to make yogurt in your crockpot. There are a million sources out there for this one - just google crockpot yogurt. The top four links that show up were my main sources. Since I'm trying to do this all "food storage-y", I decided I would have to make my yogurt with dry powdered milk. I wasn't able to find a recipe using all powdered milk, so I used a trick that I read on one of the blogs - unflavored gelatin. This yogurt turned out so incredibly thick and creamy, even Mike couldn't believe it was from powdered milk.
As for eggs, I had 2 dozen in the fridge that my friend Beth suggested I freeze. Just crack one egg into a mini tupperware container or ice cube tray and break the yoke, then freeze overnight. The next day, pop them out and store them in a freezer bag. She says it's best to let them thaw in the fridge the day before you use them, but she's been able to thaw them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds at a time. Beth also reminded me that you can use plain yogurt instead of sour cream in cooking!

I've given up on finding a good substitution for cream cheese, or cottage cheese, so I used a Walmart gift card to buy those in bulk before we started our 6 week adventure. That counts, right?

In my online searching, I found some marvelous websites for other ingredient substitution. Joy of Baking has a big list. The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen has a whole category of homemade ingredients that I'm just dying to try and make.

The Adventure Begins!

My meal calendar is deceiving - I actually started our foray into food storage cooking 2 days ago. So far we've eaten lasagna (from our freezer) and waffles with fruit. You can see on that calendar that I've left Wednesday open for leftovers (some of my recipe's make a lot of food) or easy things, like homemade mac & cheese or quick taco soup.

I better start by giving you an idea of what's already in our pantry.
Lots of food. In our deep-freezer we have shredded cheese, berries, veggies, bread, a variety of meats, and 2 dozen frozen dinners. I feel almost overwhelmed by the options I have! As I went through my menu calendar, only a few ingredients/foods gave me pause; how do I learn to live without yogurt and milk? How will I make yummy pastas without cream cheese? I can't give up sour cream or cottage cheese! And eggs, oh lovely eggs, will a powdered substitution do you justice?

Apr 22, 2010

Joy in the Journey

Last Saturday I went to the cannery to stock up on our food storage. I spent 4 hours with friends (Shandi and Haylie) measuring, pouring, cleaning and canning. After all was said and done, we piled a year supply of storage for Shandi, 5 boxes (of 6 #10 cans each) of storage for Haylie, 4 boxes for me, and a box and a half for another woman in the ward into the back of my Highlander.
Once I got home, I was shocked at the amount of food we have in our pantry. I have nowhere to put my newly acquired food storage! That set my mind in motion.
This week I decided that I'm going to learn to use my food storage. Not just use it in an emergency, but learn to use it in my day to day living. I sat down and made up a meal calendar using recipes that call for what I already have on hand. Keep in mind, I said our pantry is well stocked - so really this shouldn't be much of a challenge. I was able to come up with 6 weeks of meals, with no recipe being used twice. Meaning, I am not going to do ANY grocery shopping for the next 6 weeks.
I'm going to try and blog about the roadblocks I come up against, the tips and tricks I find to make food storage more palatable, and hopefully come out at the other end better prepared to use and rotate through my pantry!

*SIDE NOTE: I have been accused of "uber-nesting" by a friend. I'm not just happy to clean my house and get organized, but I'm almost looking for other ways to occupy my already crazy mind. It's going to be a long 8 weeks.

Lily Pie, Apple of My Eye

Just wanted to post a few fun pics before I start a new post on my endeavor for the next 6 weeks. Here's Lily the 80's punk rocker (she wanted to wear makeup like Mama):
And Lily the ballerina:
Big Mama picking through the Easter candy with Amy:
Mike playing with a katydid he pulled off my leg:
And me freaking out after Lily tried to eat that same katydid:
32 weeks along! Only 8 weeks left :)

Apr 19, 2010

Uber-Nesting

This weekend I got it in my head that we needed to buy a house. And not just buy a house, but break our two year lease (which we've only been in for 3 months), find a house, and use our entire savings as a down payment, THIS WEEK!!! Unable to sleep for excitement, I stayed up all night frantically researching online. I found the house, I found the lender, and I just needed to convince Mike. Just 12 hours after my madness began, Mike was forced to become a "dream-stealer".

Side note: My mom used to use that phrase as her job title. She was the one in my parent's marriage who was financially cautious. In my marriage, that person is usually me. However, these pregnancy hormones have made me crazy and unstable.

Mike reminded me that moving while pregnant was not a good idea, and convinced me that we should at least wait until baby is born. He waited a few hours to make sure that suggestion wouldn't cause me to throw a tantrum (yes, I do act like my 18 month old on occasion). Then he reminded me that home prices here in Houston may be low, but property taxes are outrageous. We should wait out our lease, keep saving for a much bigger down payment, and make sure we end up in a house (in an area) that we love. After much pouting and sulking, I agreed.
I guess I better start counting my blessings so I can be content with what I have.

Apr 13, 2010

Happy Happy Birthday!

Today is my little sister's 25th birthday! In honor of her becoming a real adult, engaged and everything, I thought I'd post pictures and memories of her! Bear with me, these are not in any sort of chronological order:

Lynsey is so compassionate. After I had Lily, I struggled heavily with PPD. Even though Lyn was struggling with emotional trials of her own, she drove the 6 hours to Montana and stayed with me for a week to help me. She even deep cleaned my bathroom! Mike sure appreciated that one. Here are photos of that week:

Lynsey is open to new things. Who doesn't like to have needles stuck in their face?
Lynsey is dedicated and faithful. She served a church mission - 18 months in Ireland. My folks were talking to her on the phone on Christmas in this picture:
Lynsey is always beautiful! No makeup, hair not done, pj's on... no one should be allowed to look this good:
Lynsey is tall. It makes me sad that she's taller than me. And that she has a waist. Even when I'm *not* pregnant, I don't have a waist:
Lynsey likes to be one with nature. She loves to camp, hike, explore caves, and risk death by mosquito's just to view the beauty in the world:
In short, I am so proud of my sister. She's been a great friend and a great example to me. I'm so excited for her future and the many things that she will accomplish. I love you Pooh!

Apr 5, 2010

Wedding Season

My sister got engaged in March *yay* and I get to be a bridesmaid! I'm a little nervous about ordering a dress. You see, I'm due with a baby boy on June 16th, and Lyns is getting married July 3rd. Do I order a larger size in case I don't lose the baby pooch as fast as I did with Lily? If you recall, I was back into my pre-preggo jeans 2 weeks after her birth. I went ahead and ordered the dress today - in the size I hope to be able to wear :) I'm getting it from Shabby Apple.
I'm really excited about it and hope my Belly Bandit will help me fit into it post-James!

***UPDATE***
Got the dress, and it's a great maternity dress! I sure hope I lose the weight to make it cute in July!

Easter Weekend

This year Lily was just old enough to figure out an Easter egg hunt, so we did a small one in our living room. Mike held her while I "hid" eggs on the couches and bookshelf - she watched me because we didn't want to make it too hard. Then we let her loose! After she found the first egg and cracked it open for the candy, she didn't want to search any more. We only let her eat a few M&M's and the ears off our bunny Peeps. She loves the toys the Easter bunny brought her (plastic musical instruments and magnetic alphabet).
She also got a card from my parents (aka Gramma and Grampa Barrus) that we let her open. She's been carrying it around the house all weekend. We wish we were closer to family to celebrate Easter, but are so thankful for the blessings of the Atonement no matter where we are living.