Operation Clean Out the Freezer - DAY #1

This is what I made the first day of Operation Clean Out the Freezer. I needed to choose something quick and easy, since I'd spent the afternoon cleaning out the freezer. The icky, sticky nasty stuff on the walls and in the drawers. And rearranging all the bits that were hanging out into manageable places.

I had two packages of these meatballs hiding under leftover chicken pieces and freezer-burned vegetables. I also had an extra mouth for dinner. Score! Generally, I use these for weekday dinners when the husband is traveling and there are only four of us. With six for dinner, I used both packages and we had no leftovers.

Red Sauce and Meatballs

(2) packages Aidells Zesty Italian Style with Mozzarella Meatballs

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1/2 medium onion, chopped finely
2 tsp salt
1 can tomato sauce
1 can chopped tomatoes
pinch of allspice
scant 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup red wine (I used Merlot)

Add extra virgin olive oil and chopped garlic to pan. Turn heat on medium high. When garlic starts to sizzle, turn heat down to medium and add chopped onions to pan. Cook until onions are translucent. (If garlic starts to burn, turn down heat.) Add to the pan the tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, allspice, and sugar, then stir everything together. Add packages of meatballs to the pan and simmer until meatballs are done.

Serve over your favorite pasta.

I don't always chop my onions and garlic finely, but for this sauce I wanted them to cling to the meatballs. The tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes were in cans the size of a typical can of soup - since marketers keep changing the size of the can I have NO idea how many ounces they are. Fifteen maybe?

I served this with Parmesan cheese for sprinkling and ricotta on the side. It was a big hit and a nice way to end a fun weekend.

Enjoy!

Quesadillas de Camarones

Ingredients
• Flour Tortillas
• 12 whole Large Shrimp, Peeled And Deveined
• 8 ounces, fluid Mexican Red Sauce
• 1 whole Large Onion
• 1 whole Red Bell Pepper
• 1 whole Green Bell Pepper
• 2 cups Cheese, Grated (Monterey Jack Is Best - I USED QUESO)
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• Salt To Taste

Preparation Instructions

1. Pour red sauce over shrimp. Set aside.
2. Chop vegetables into large pieces. Heat skillet over high heat and add olive oil. Cook vegetables over high heat until they start to get brown/black. Remove from skillet and set aside.
3. Return skillet to high heat, dump in the shrimp with the sauce. Cook, stirring only occasionally, until shrimp is opaque. Add in a little water if the sauce gets dry. Remove from skillet and chop into bite-size pieces.
4. In a separate skillet, heat butter. Place a tortilla in the skillet, then layer on ingredients: cheese, vegetables, and shrimp. Top with a little more cheese and a second tortilla. Cook on both sides, adding butter before flipping to the other side so the tortilla isn’t overly dry.
5. Remove from skillet and slice into wedges. Serve with rice, beans, salsa, sour cream, guacamole—whatever you’d like!

I will give credit for this scrumptious recipe as soon as I can remember where I found it online! :p

Easy Baked Oatmeal

I came across this recipe on the Sonlight forums.  At the moment, I can't remember who originally posted it but when I have time I'll come back and give credit where credit's due.  I love this oatmeal because it's easy to fix, doesn't have to sit overnight, and has a texture that my oatmeal haters can tolerate.

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar (I use 3/4 cup and it's still good)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries (or to taste)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350F
In a glass, microwave safe mixing bowl melt butter
Add all ingredients, except oatmeal and cranberries, and mix together
Stir in oatmeal and cranberries
Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish
Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes

One of these days I'm going to top this with some crushed pecans.  I think that would make it a nearly perfect breakfast.

Peanut Butter Brownies

From Cooking with the Horse & Buggy People II

• 3/4 cup shortening


• 3/4 cup peanut butter


• 2 1/4 cups sugar


• 5 eggs


• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla


• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder


• 3/4 tsp salt


• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips


• 3/4 cup chopped peanuts

Put in a 10x15 pan at 350F for 30 minutes.

Sausage-Cheddar Breakfast Quiche

Ingredients

1 lb bulk breakfast sausage
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 cup milk or half-and-half
1 tsp ground mustard
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 - 8" pie crust

Directions:

• Brown sausage in a skillet and remove with a slotted spoon - you can also let the sausage drain on a paper towel to remove even more fat


• Place crust in pie plate


• Arrange sausage on bottom of crust


• Sprinkle cheese on top of sausage


• Whisk together eggs, milk, ground mustard, and salt & pepper


• Pour egg mixture slowly over cheese and sausage


• Bake uncovered at 350F for 35-40 minutes ~ eggs shouldn't be jiggly when it's finished

This recipe was modified from Paula Deen's Sausage Quiche from the website grandparents.com. I like to add mustard to my sausage quiche and I also wanted more eggs and less milk.

Yummy!

Simple Au Gratin Potatoes

I'm not going to give specific ingredient amounts for this recipe, because it's very easily adapted to however many people you want to serve.

Basic Ingredients:

Potatoes
Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Paprika

Directions:

• Choose an oven-safe casserole dish that will accommodate the number of people you'll be serving


• Thinly slice potatoes in a single layer in the bottom of the dish


• Sprinkle lightly with flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg - remember, the seasoning will be in each layer, so don't be too heavy-handed


• Sprinkle a layer of shredded cheddar cheese


• Repeat layers until casserole is filled

• For every 1 1/2 quarts of casserole, make a mixture of 1/4 cup melted butter in 1 1/4 cups milk and pour it over the layers


• Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika

Bake covered at 325F for 1 1/2 hours, or until a nice golden-brown crust forms on top and potatoes are tender.

The more you make, the longer it will take to cook. For Christmas Dinner I made enough casserole to fill a 3 quart dish and I baked it for 2 hours at 350F. I had other dishes in the oven, so 350 was my only choice. :p

This recipe is adapted from Marcia Adam' Old-Fashioned Escalloped Potatoes in Cooking from Quilt Country: Hearty Recipes from Amish and Mennonite Kitchens.

Chloe's Famous Virus-Killing Soup

Aren't these vegetables gorgeous?



The gorgeous picture along with the fact that this is the THIRD batch of this soup I've made in the last two weeks inspired me to blog the recipe.  Even when we don't have The Flu, this soup is still wonderfully delish!  Credit for the recipe goes to my e-maginary friend Chloe, a fellow Sonlighter who shared this recipe with us over two years ago.

Chloe's Famous Virus Killing Soup

• One chicken


• Appx 15-30 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed


• 1 Tbs salt


• 3-4 Thyme sprigs


• Cayenne pepper (to taste. I use about a tsp)


• Fresh Rosemary sprigs


• Fresh ground pepper

Place chicken and other ingredients in a soup pot (I use my pressure cooker) and cover with water or chicken broth (I really like those boxes of organic chicken broth). Cook on stove top until chicken starts to fall apart. Remove from heat. Strain out chicken and stuff and set aside until cool enough to chop. Reserve broth for next step.

• 1 large onion (coarsely chopped or sliced)


• 1 fennel bulb (sliced thin)


• 1 leek (sliced thin)


• 4-6 stalks of celery (coarse chopped)


• large red pepper (coarse chopped)


• 1/2 lb. carrots (coarse chopped)

• 2 tbs olive oil


• 1/2 C good White Wine


• salt and pepper

Place oil in bottom of large pot and heat. Add onion, fennel, celery, pepper and leek and saute until onion just transparent. Add wine and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Cover the vegetables with chicken broth from chicken–add more broth from can or box if you don’t have enough broth from chicken and simmer veggies until just tender.

• Frozen green beans


• Frozen peas


• zucchini


• flat leaf parsely (chopped)


• 1-2 cans chopped tomatoes with juice


• salt and pepper to taste

Add these above ingredients and simmer until everything is tender. Add chopped chicken, salt and pepper to taste.

No virus can withstand this soup.

You can also add cabbage with the end ingredients if you like (We love cabbage!), or any other veggies your family likes.   Go ahead and throw in whatever's in your vegie bin!     The next day add egg noodles and turn it into chicken noodle soup.

Best New Recipe of 2008

This recipe gets the award for being beautiful to look at, simple to prepare, and incredibly tasty. It is the entire family's new favorite on our menu.

Noodles with Broccoli and Meat (Cambodia)
Kuy Tew Cha (goi dieu chah)
Serves 4

Cook according to package directions:

• 8 oz. Chinese noodles or thin spaghetti (250 g) (I use spaghetti.)

Drain. Add 1 T. oil (15 ml) to keep noodles from sticking together, cover, and set aside.

In separate saucepan, cook or steam until tender-crisp:

• 1 1/2 c. broccoli, cut in pieces (375 ml)

Meanwhile, in separate frypan saute 8-10 minutes in 1-2 T. oil (15-30 ml):

• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1/2 c. pork, cut in small pieces (125 ml)


• 6-8 shrimp, shelled and deveined

Add broccoli to meat along with:

• 1-2 T. soy sauce (15-30 ml)


• 1 t. sugar (5 ml)


• 1/2 t. salt (2 ml) (optional)

Toss with noodles and serve with additional soy sauce as desired.

Note: We make substitutions for the meat frequently, with great results. We've used pork, chicken, beef, and frozen imitation crab each on and its own or in combination with one of the other meats. I love that I can make it with whatever I have on hand.

— from Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook by Joetta Handrich Schlabach, 1991, Herald Press.


Not only is this dish tasty, it's very easy to make and only dirties one frying pan. Our family eats this at least once a week now!

Food ~ My First Recognized Hidden Art

Confession. Growing up I thought I was a 100% left-brained, math whiz, without a stitch of anything artistic in my bones. I had help thinking that. My family told me so. Frequently. Yet, all these artistic ideas were whirling around in my brain. I didn't know how to get them out and, even worse, I was afraid to tell anyone about them.

The first time I filled my creative need I made spaghetti sauce from a recipe in The New Basics Cookbook. The fact that I even owned such a cool cookbook was amazing. It was actually a huge matter of chance. I had bought a copy as part of a wedding gift for a college friend. On our way to the wedding, my dear husband and I got stranded at the airport for five hours (we could have driven to the wedding faster, but I digress...) What else was there to do but read this fascinating cookbook? I was so enthralled that as soon as we got home from the trip I went out and bought the cookbook. Several months later I was no longer merely enthralled, I WAS ENCOURAGED and my culinary adventures began. To this day, I find my most creative spirit in the kitchen, so you can expect lots of food posts and pictures on this blog.

I think the chapter on cooking is what drew me to Mrs. Schaeffer in the first place. I knew I had a creative spirit, I just hadn't found the courage (or had the encouragement) to explore and develope my Hidden Art. When I read the chapter and realized that I had been doing just that all along in my cooking, I suddently had the encouragement I needed to try new areas. I also started playing the piano more, joined a choir, and bought a new alto recorder. No, I'm no virtuoso, but making music gives me pleasure!

As an adult, I now realize that I was a repressed RIGHT-brained person. I really hate math and logic.

Anyhoo, there is a point to all of this. I love to try new recipes in my kitchen and thought I'd share this recipe that my sister and I searched for after buying a couple at a Mennonite shop near where I live. This bar is a wonderful marriage of vanilla cake with creamy chocolate filling. YUM!


Can't Leave 'em Alone Bars (picture above)

1 box WHITE (not yellow) cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butter
1 cup semi-sweet
chocolate chips

• Stir together the cake mix, eggs, and oil.


• Press mixture into the bottom of a 9"x13" pan, saving about 1/4 of the mixture for topping.


• Melt butter, condensed milk, and chocolate chips together in the microwave in a glass bowl. (Be conservative... nuke for 15 seconds, stir, nuke another 15 sec, stir, etc. until mixture is creamy chocolate.)


• Pour this over the top of the cake mixture.


• Sprinkle remaining cake mixture on top.


• Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 deg F. The top of the cake should be nicely browned.