Fresh Mushroom Soup (Pressure Cooker Recipe)

As I have started on this freezer cooking "project", I am looking at meals and grocery shopping in a whole new light.  I actually shop from ads now.  I go out of my way to look at what is on sale, from meats to pantry staples.  So as I was shooting down the produce aisle this evening to get lettuce for a salad for dinner tonight, I noticed that mushrooms were on sale for $1 for an 8 oz package.  Cheap!!!  So I whipped up a batch of this fresh cream of mushroom soup to put in the freezer.  Only takes 15 minutes from start to finish using the pressure cooker.  This has become my favorite soup ever!

Mushroom Soup

2 tbsp butter
6 cups chopped fresh mushrooms
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 tsp garlic powder
3 cups water (or chicken broth, if not needing vegetarian)
1/4 cup half and half
6 tbsp baking mix
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp fresh black pepper

1.  Melt the butter on medium-high heat in the pressure cooker.
2.  Add the onions and mushrooms and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
3.  In a large bowl, combine water, half and half, garlic powder and baking mix.  Mix well.
4.  Add the water mixture, salt and thyme to the mushrooms.  Stir well to combine.
5.  Once all ingredients are in the pressure cooker, lock the lid.
6.  Bring the cooker to 15 psi using high heat.
7.  Once at high pressure, lower the heat to maintain pressure.
8.  Set the timer.  Cook for 3 minutes.
9.  Once the time is up, remove the pressure cooker from the heat and use a natural release.
10.  When the pressure drops, remove the lid, stir in sour cream, parsley and pepper.

I love this soup with the asiago Baking Stone bread from HyVee!!

Poverty Meal

This recipe is great by itself, served with a salad and crusty bread!! Also a good base, you can add beans, corn...I added tomato sauce to make it more like goulash.

1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
2 - 16 oz. stewed tomatoes
1 - 16 oz. can water
8 oz. elbow macaroni, uncooked
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
parmesan cheese, optional

1. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent.
2. Brown ground beef and drain.
3. Add ground beef, tomatoes, water, raw macaroni, salt and pepper to the onion and garlic mixture.
4. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until tender.
5. If desired, top with Parmesan cheese.

Poverty Meal Recipe - Food.com - 27520

Chicken Lo Mein

Better than Chinese take-out and another hit w/ the fam... 

http://recipes.rodale.com/Recipe/chicken-lo-mein.aspx

8 oz lo mein noodles or thin spaghetti
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame or olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 cup snow peas
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

1.  Prepare noodles according to package directions.
2.  Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add teh chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes, or until browned and no longer pink.  Remove to a plate and keep warm.
3.  Heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, pepper, garlic, and snow peas and cook, stirring occasionally for 8 minutes, or until tender-crisp.  Stir in the chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce, and ginger and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the chicken and noodles and heat through.

**Freezer cooking note

The next time I make this, I think I will cook and cool the chicken and combine w/ the veggies and sauce (and double the sauce), and freeze, then cook the noodles fresh and saute w/ the chicken and veggies.

Carrot and Cream Cheese Muffins

Another keeper!!!  I have always liked carrot cake, but never really craved it.  I probably like it more for the cream cheese icing than for the cake itself.  These muffins I can see myself craving.  Yes, they're that good.

Carrot Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

Preheat oven to 350.
Sift together:
1½ c. all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp.baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
1 c. sugar

In a separate bowl, beat:
3 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil until lightened.
Stir in:
1½ c. shredded carrots
½ c. chopped walnuts
½ c. raisins that have been soaked for 10 minutes in hot water (or warmed rum, if you’d like).

In another bowl, cream:
4 oz. softened cream cheese
1 egg yolk
½ c. sugar
½ tsp. vanilla.

Fold the dry ingredients into the egg/oil mixture. Stir until just combined. Fill mini-muffin cups about ¾ full. Plop a generous teaspoon of the cream cheese filling on top of the batter in each muffin cup.  (I used a pastry/decorator bag, but a ziplock bag with a hole cut in the corner would work, too)

Bake about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake part comes out clean.

Mmmmmm.......I love it even more because it has hidden vegetables!

http://www.thedeliciouslife.com/carrot-muffins-with-cream-cheese/

Sausage and cheese balls

I came across this recipe on Once A Month Mom's August 2011 Whole Foods menu.  The original recipe is from Betty Crocker.  Also can be made gluten free, using Bisquick Gluten Free mix.  They are FANTASTIC!!  Not all of them made it to the freezer, we were popping them right out of the oven!  Recipe says it yields 8 1/2 dozen 1 inch balls, but I ended up with about 4 dozen.  I used a Pampered Chef small scoop to form them, and they were about 1 1/2 inches round.  (Yes, I had to measure them when I wasn't getting as many out of the batch)

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/sausage-cheese-balls/6a2a7890-c685-4991-b699-743fd880486f#?st=7&term=sausage and cheese balls

Sausage-Cheese Balls

3 cups Original Bisquick® mix

1 pound bulk pork sausage

4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (16 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
Barbecue sauce or chili sauce, if desired

1.  Heat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease bottom and sides of jelly roll pan, 15 1/2x10 1/2x2x1 inch. 
2.  Stir together all ingredients, using hands or spoon. Shape mixture into 1-inch balls. Place in pan.
3.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brown. Immediately remove from pan. Serve warm with sauce for dipping

Want to make these savory cheese balls ahead? Your options are many! You can:


*Cover and refrigerate unbaked balls up to 24 hours. Bake as directed.
*Cover and freeze unbaked balls up to 1 month. Heat oven to 350ºF. Place frozen balls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brown.
*Bake as directed; cover and freeze up to 1 month. Heat oven to 350ºF. Place frozen balls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until heated through.
*Bake as directed; cover and freeze up to 1 month. Place 6 frozen balls on microwavable plate. Loosely cover with waxed paper. Microwave on High 45 seconds to 1 minute or until heated through.

It's true. You don't need to cook the sausage before using it when making this recipe

Yumminess!

Best Ever Banana Bread

This recipe is my mom's ever famous banana bread.  I'm not sure where she got the recipe.  The name is no fluke...

1 c. white sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
1 c. mashed bananas
4 tbsp. thick, sour milk (I use regular milk and add a few drops of lemon juice)
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda

Mix in order given.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Bake in greased and floured bread pan for 1 hour in 350 degree oven.  (I also made this into muffins - bake 20 min. @ 350 degrees)

The cutest baking apprentice EVER!

Best Ever Banana Bread

Enjoying a banana muffin

(still in pajamas @ noon, and yes, those are IA State Fair tattoos on their foreheads!)



Breakfast Baking Day

So, as my vacation is winding down, I am faced with the sad truth that this has been one of the laziest vacas I have ever taken.  I don't know if I am rebelling against the impending structure and scheduling of school starting on Wednesday or what.  So I figured I may as well DO something and have something to show for what remains of the time I have left.  So, breakfast baking for the freezer today.  I made banana bread and muffins, sausage and cheese balls, and carrot and cream cheese muffins.  I still have to make breakfast sandwiches.  I was aiming for things that were easy to pull from the freezer and quick for the kids before school in the morning.  I will post each recipe as a separate entry, maybe it will be easier to follow that way?...

Recipe Card Template

Okay, just had to share this awesome recipe card template.  Just type in your recipe and print, or print out the cards and write in your recipe.  I then cut it out and paste it onto a 4 x 6 notecard and file it in my recipe binder.  There's all sorts of different templates out there, in oodles of different styles.  I just prefer this one because it's simple and not so "cutesy" and old-fashioned.  Several online recipe sites give you different print options for printing your recipes, so I don't even use the template for those.

http://www.messyvegetariancook.com/2008/02/14/free-recipe-card-templates-floral-pop-printable-recipe-cards/

Gearing up to do some breakfast cooking so the kids will have some quick things to grab for breakfast before school in the mornings.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Disappointing Dinner

Last night's menu:  chicken enchiladas (from the freezer).  I tried a new recipe, one that boasted "no canned cream soup."  I hate to say it, but I'm going back to my canned soup recipe.  Tried and true.  Maybe enchiladas weren't meant to be frozen and then baked.  Maybe next time I will freeze them without the sauce and put the sauce on after thawing, but prior to baking.  They weren't awful, they WERE edible.  I won't be posting this recipe, but maybe in the future I will have a successful freezer chicken enchilada recipe to share.  Practice makes perfect, right?

I will say this:  I LOVE having a homemade meal without all of the daily hassle.  I can really see this system is going to work for our family!!

Freezer Cooking

I can't say if there was one single thing that prompted me to do a OAMC (once a month cooking) day.  It was a culmination of several, most likely.

1.  My kids know every night of the week which fast food restaurants have deals.  Monday, Little Caesar's pizzas are $3.99.  Tuesday is Taco Tuesday at Taco John's.  Wednesday is cheap Happy Meal night at McDonalds, etc, etc....sound familiar? 
2.  I simply needed meal time to be more organized.  I work full-time, my husband works full-time and opposite shifts as I, so I typically am also the parent running the kids to tumbling, sports, church, etc. 
3.  I needed to control our food costs.  Thanks to #1 in this post, a lot of our monthly budget goes to food.  And crappy food, at that.
4.  We need healthier food choices in our life, the kids and my husband and I.  Did I also mention that my husband is Type 1 diabetic?
5.  I work in a grocery store, for cryin' out loud, it should be easy to have food in the house to plan a meal around, right?

So, I originally set out to simply figure out a way to organize myself so that our meals would be easier.  And as I started to look for recipes, I stumbled upon more and more blogs and websites referencing freezer cooking or OAMC, and it seemed like something that could really work for me.  It became immediately obvious that in order for this to be successful for me, I would have to be organized.  I found great organizational tools at 30daycafe.com.  Here is the link:  http://30daycafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/oamc-free.pdf.  There are recipe planning pages, pantry checklists, shopping lists, ingredient prep lists, etc.  I created my list of recipes that I wanted to make from internet searches and from my own go-to list of family favorites.  I also planned them around what was on sale at the grocery stores.  I have never shopped from a grocery ad before in my life, and I have to admit, it was kind of fun?!  I planned what day I would be doing my cooking, then did my shopping two days before.  I prepped a few items ahead of time, such as cooking chicken in the pressure cooker and picking it for casseroles, and making homemade chicken broth from the bones.  Don't scoff at me,  I know someone out there is, these are simple things to do to make your cooking day easier, and they only take a few minutes of time.  And homemade chicken stock is SO much healthier, because it doesn't have as much sodium as canned.  AND it doesn't cost anything.  Double bonus, right?  Cooking day:  do all of your prep work FIRST.  Chop all of your vegetables first thing, then as you work your way through your recipes, they are ready to go and you can just assemble away!  Be sure to keep a freezer inventory and log meals as you put them in the freezer, and cross them off as you pull them out and use them.  My first major cooking day, I completed 20 meals.  Not necessarily 20 recipes, I split a large recipe of lasagna into 2 smaller ones, so that counted for 2 meals, and some recipes I doubled and split those, as well. 

I will post recipes here as I pull them from the freezer and know if they have succeeded!  Here is a link to the first:  Cheeseburger Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes from Rachael Ray:  http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/dinner-recipes/cheeseburger-meatloaf-and-mashed-potatoes

There are many different "styles" of freezer cooking.  You can simply double a recipe and put half in the freezer for a future meal, there is the once-a-month method, once-a-week or bi-weekly, etc., etc.  Next month, I am thinking of focusing on meals for the slow cooker or CrockPot.  By that time, fall (my favorite time of the year, by the way) will be upon us and I think we will be ready for some cooler weather meals.

Ingredient prep done!!

A freezer full of fresh, homemade meals!!

Update:  hubby just finished off the last of the leftover cheeseburger meatloaf, a good sign!!!