This is another local waterfall.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Cooking: Stock
Since I am doing Freezer Week this week, I have been cleaning out my freezer and making stock. Truth be told, most of the stuff I throw into the freezer is there just to make stock. I use the stock to make all kinds of things but mostly soup and sauces. I am going to take you through my stock making process.
Stock Making
Step 1.
Collect odds and ends for stock. I keep a bag in the freezer to pop veggie ends and meat bones and scraps into. I keep separate bags for beef and chicken. When I have one or two bags full I move on to step 2.
What I put in the Stock Bag:
Bones, skin, pan drippings, extras (chicken necks, gizzards, etc. NO LIVER).
Carrot ends
Onion ends
Tomato stem ends
Celery leaves and ends
Green onion tops and ends
Pepper tops
Garlic ends and skins
Herb stems
Spinach ends
Any other vegetable scraps that don't have a strong aftertaste or turn bitter
What I keep out of the Stock Bag:
Onion peels
Carrot peels
Pork
Vegetables from the Brassica family (Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Collards, Kale, etc)
Livers
Alternatively you can make stock with fresh meat and vegetables.
Step 2.
Cooking the stock. Place all the contents of your stock bag(s) in a large soup/stock pot. Still frozen is fine. If your pot looks vegetable poor, feel free to add: an onion (cut in quarters), a carrot or two (broken in half), and a stalk of celery or two (also broken in half). I usually have enough veggie ends and bits to make this unnecessary. Fill the pot with cold water to cover contents by no more than 1 inch. Add several cracks of black pepper. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. Place over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Only lightly cover the pot at this point. When the pot comes to a boil you can turn down the heat leaving the pot simmering on a low setting. If you wish gently remove any foam from the top of the pot. (This leaves you with a clearer stock. I don't bother). Leave pot to simmer for several hours.
Step 3.
Remove from heat. Strain your stock into another large pot or container. Place your container of stock into a sink of cold water to cool for 10-20 minutes. Pour stock into storage containers. I use 1 quart yogurt tubs. Label each one with the type of stock and the date. Place into the refrigerator to cool completely. Move to the freezer when cold. The bones and cooked ends left in the pot can now be (in ascending order of extremity) either thrown away, composted or added to and run through the process a second time. I add more pepper, an onion, a carrot, a stalk of celery, a splash of vinegar and cover with water again. Then I repeat steps 2 and 3. I never make stock with the same bones more than twice.
This recipe provides me with a rich stock that gels nicely when cooled. Now I am ready to make soup!
Thoughtful Cooking,
Kristin
Stock Making
Step 1.
Collect odds and ends for stock. I keep a bag in the freezer to pop veggie ends and meat bones and scraps into. I keep separate bags for beef and chicken. When I have one or two bags full I move on to step 2.
What I put in the Stock Bag:
Bones, skin, pan drippings, extras (chicken necks, gizzards, etc. NO LIVER).
Carrot ends
Onion ends
Tomato stem ends
Celery leaves and ends
Green onion tops and ends
Pepper tops
Garlic ends and skins
Herb stems
Spinach ends
Any other vegetable scraps that don't have a strong aftertaste or turn bitter
What I keep out of the Stock Bag:
Onion peels
Carrot peels
Pork
Vegetables from the Brassica family (Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Collards, Kale, etc)
Livers
Alternatively you can make stock with fresh meat and vegetables.
Step 2.
Cooking the stock. Place all the contents of your stock bag(s) in a large soup/stock pot. Still frozen is fine. If your pot looks vegetable poor, feel free to add: an onion (cut in quarters), a carrot or two (broken in half), and a stalk of celery or two (also broken in half). I usually have enough veggie ends and bits to make this unnecessary. Fill the pot with cold water to cover contents by no more than 1 inch. Add several cracks of black pepper. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. Place over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Only lightly cover the pot at this point. When the pot comes to a boil you can turn down the heat leaving the pot simmering on a low setting. If you wish gently remove any foam from the top of the pot. (This leaves you with a clearer stock. I don't bother). Leave pot to simmer for several hours.
Step 3.
Remove from heat. Strain your stock into another large pot or container. Place your container of stock into a sink of cold water to cool for 10-20 minutes. Pour stock into storage containers. I use 1 quart yogurt tubs. Label each one with the type of stock and the date. Place into the refrigerator to cool completely. Move to the freezer when cold. The bones and cooked ends left in the pot can now be (in ascending order of extremity) either thrown away, composted or added to and run through the process a second time. I add more pepper, an onion, a carrot, a stalk of celery, a splash of vinegar and cover with water again. Then I repeat steps 2 and 3. I never make stock with the same bones more than twice.
This recipe provides me with a rich stock that gels nicely when cooled. Now I am ready to make soup!
Thoughtful Cooking,
Kristin
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
I LOVE my Freezer!!
I love my Freezer! Even when I was in a little townhouse and just had the freezer
compartment of my refrigerator available I was able to use it to do some
amazing things. I had treats available without making a mess, food
to take to friends or family with no trouble, and I had significantly
reduced our grocery bill. Of course those were the glory days. It is
amazing the things you can accomplish when you build up your energy
level chasing toddlers! Alas, those days are gone, but I still use and
value my freezer.
And it was a disorganized mess!
One of my goals is to use this blog to improve my own life, too. So I put myself on track to having a more usable freezer.
I went from this:
to this:
I didn't really set up a system I just got rid of a lot of things I was hanging on to or had forgotten. It had been a while. Now it's clean and the air can circulate in there so it should use less energy, too.
(The kids also helped me clean off above it and wipe down the outside.)
Much nicer.
But what do I keep in there? And why would I do that?
Right now it is mostly full of two kinds of things: Pantry Items and Reuse Items
1. Pantry Items: things I keep on hand to be able to make meals easily, if not quickly.
They include:
Chicken or beef stock
Yeast
Bulk Parmesan
Wheat germ
Pizza sauce
Raw meat (though most of this is in the chest freezer I have.)
Nuts
Frozen veggies
Soup
Keeping these things on hand lets me have more options when I meal plan. I imagine they save me trips to the store.
2. Reuse Items: leftover things that I toss in the freezer to use later.
Things like:
Meat bones and veggie ends in "stock bags"
Bread ends
Leftover rice
Leftover cooked meats
Leftover pasta
Leftover cheese
Leftover pasta sauce
Leftover sprouts
Some of these things are ingredients in their own right. The bread ends and stock makings require a little work. I use my mixer with the cheese grater to grind the bread ends into bread crumbs. The stock making supplies get made into stock, then generally soup. The pasta I toss into soup or cook in sauce. The cheese (usually leftover from pizza making), I freeze spread on a cookie sheet then place into a bag so I can use as much or little as I want. I do the same thing with some kinds of meat (pork and roast beef mostly). The rice I save for pudding. The pasta sauce I save in a container that I add to after each meal until I have a full container then I use that. The sprouts I toss any recipe where they would have been cooked to softness anyway.
These days I try to only save leftover things I know how to use. I hope to keep my freezer this clean or cleaner as time goes on. We shall see.
So there you see my freezer. While I know that is too much clutter even after cleaning it up for many people, it works for me.
Thoughtfully,
Kristin
And it was a disorganized mess!
One of my goals is to use this blog to improve my own life, too. So I put myself on track to having a more usable freezer.
I went from this:
to this:
I didn't really set up a system I just got rid of a lot of things I was hanging on to or had forgotten. It had been a while. Now it's clean and the air can circulate in there so it should use less energy, too.
(The kids also helped me clean off above it and wipe down the outside.)
Much nicer.
But what do I keep in there? And why would I do that?
Right now it is mostly full of two kinds of things: Pantry Items and Reuse Items
1. Pantry Items: things I keep on hand to be able to make meals easily, if not quickly.
They include:
Chicken or beef stock
Yeast
Bulk Parmesan
Wheat germ
Pizza sauce
Raw meat (though most of this is in the chest freezer I have.)
Nuts
Frozen veggies
Soup
Keeping these things on hand lets me have more options when I meal plan. I imagine they save me trips to the store.
2. Reuse Items: leftover things that I toss in the freezer to use later.
Things like:
Meat bones and veggie ends in "stock bags"
Bread ends
Leftover rice
Leftover cooked meats
Leftover pasta
Leftover cheese
Leftover pasta sauce
Leftover sprouts
Some of these things are ingredients in their own right. The bread ends and stock makings require a little work. I use my mixer with the cheese grater to grind the bread ends into bread crumbs. The stock making supplies get made into stock, then generally soup. The pasta I toss into soup or cook in sauce. The cheese (usually leftover from pizza making), I freeze spread on a cookie sheet then place into a bag so I can use as much or little as I want. I do the same thing with some kinds of meat (pork and roast beef mostly). The rice I save for pudding. The pasta sauce I save in a container that I add to after each meal until I have a full container then I use that. The sprouts I toss any recipe where they would have been cooked to softness anyway.
These days I try to only save leftover things I know how to use. I hope to keep my freezer this clean or cleaner as time goes on. We shall see.
So there you see my freezer. While I know that is too much clutter even after cleaning it up for many people, it works for me.
Thoughtfully,
Kristin
Monday, February 25, 2013
Tips for the Extreme-Freezer
Hello! I am thinking of starting tip column for Mondays. These tips will not be for everyone, but maybe I can inspire some of you to make your own less (or more, daredevils!) extreme versions of what I do around here.
This week is FREEZER WEEK! So I'm going to post a few things I do to make better use of the freezer.
1. Use your refrigerator as your helper. Cool down foods in the fridge to reduce the strain on the freezer, but also reduce the risk of thawing neighboring foods.
2. Use your freezer to help your fridge. Thaw things in the refrigerator whenever you can. The frozen stuff will reduce your refrigerator's energy use.
3. During the winter use outside! When the temperature is at or below freezing, freeze things outside then transfer them to the freezer. (You can also just cool things outside and move to the fridge.)
4. Make things to freeze when the weather is cold enough to help. When we have a snow storm/ice storm here, it is time for me to make stock.
5. Defrost the freezer during a cold snap. When the weather is frozen outside it is the perfect time to defrost the freezer! Your frozen food will be fine outside while you work.
6. Check your freezer setting, you may not need it to be as high in the winter as the summer. If your house is not completely climate controlled, or if you carefully program your household settings, you can take advantage of the times you let your house stay cooler. (If you break ice cream scoops, your freezer setting is probably a little too high anyway.)
7. You can freeze in glass. I freeze things in glass jars all the time. Just leave lots of headroom and you shouldn't have a problem. If you are nervous to try the first few times, freeze your jar in a plastic bag so if it should break you can just throw the whole thing away and there will be no glass in your freezer.
8. You can freeze anything, but not everything will survive the process in an appetizing state. Things thickened with cornstarch and cream sauces generally don't do well when thawed. Usually the best way to find out is to try. If your leftovers are definitely not going to last until you will get to them, and you have no where else for them to go. Freeze them before you throw them. See if it works! Either way you'll know. (Make a plan to check the next day if you can so you don't leave yourself a frozen boobytrap.)
9.Yeast can survive a really long time in your freezer. If you bake bread at all you can buy bulk yeast and keep it in your freezer. (I will talk more about this on BREAD WEEK).
10. Freeze bones. Yes, that pile of chicken bones left from wing night, pop them in a bag and put them in the freezer. This is the "Stock bag". I do not mix meats but I do also throw vegetable ends in the bag with the bones. From there stock making is an easy and happy thing.
(I will give you my recipe/process soon.)
Guess what! It's snowing outside right now, so there is freezer cleaning and stock making on my agenda.
Thoughtfully,
Kristin
This week is FREEZER WEEK! So I'm going to post a few things I do to make better use of the freezer.
1. Use your refrigerator as your helper. Cool down foods in the fridge to reduce the strain on the freezer, but also reduce the risk of thawing neighboring foods.
2. Use your freezer to help your fridge. Thaw things in the refrigerator whenever you can. The frozen stuff will reduce your refrigerator's energy use.
3. During the winter use outside! When the temperature is at or below freezing, freeze things outside then transfer them to the freezer. (You can also just cool things outside and move to the fridge.)
4. Make things to freeze when the weather is cold enough to help. When we have a snow storm/ice storm here, it is time for me to make stock.
5. Defrost the freezer during a cold snap. When the weather is frozen outside it is the perfect time to defrost the freezer! Your frozen food will be fine outside while you work.
6. Check your freezer setting, you may not need it to be as high in the winter as the summer. If your house is not completely climate controlled, or if you carefully program your household settings, you can take advantage of the times you let your house stay cooler. (If you break ice cream scoops, your freezer setting is probably a little too high anyway.)
7. You can freeze in glass. I freeze things in glass jars all the time. Just leave lots of headroom and you shouldn't have a problem. If you are nervous to try the first few times, freeze your jar in a plastic bag so if it should break you can just throw the whole thing away and there will be no glass in your freezer.
8. You can freeze anything, but not everything will survive the process in an appetizing state. Things thickened with cornstarch and cream sauces generally don't do well when thawed. Usually the best way to find out is to try. If your leftovers are definitely not going to last until you will get to them, and you have no where else for them to go. Freeze them before you throw them. See if it works! Either way you'll know. (Make a plan to check the next day if you can so you don't leave yourself a frozen boobytrap.)
9.Yeast can survive a really long time in your freezer. If you bake bread at all you can buy bulk yeast and keep it in your freezer. (I will talk more about this on BREAD WEEK).
10. Freeze bones. Yes, that pile of chicken bones left from wing night, pop them in a bag and put them in the freezer. This is the "Stock bag". I do not mix meats but I do also throw vegetable ends in the bag with the bones. From there stock making is an easy and happy thing.
(I will give you my recipe/process soon.)
Guess what! It's snowing outside right now, so there is freezer cleaning and stock making on my agenda.
Thoughtfully,
Kristin
Friday, February 22, 2013
Ask: Fridge Scan!
I didn't get any questions this week so I am asking myself:
Where do you start? What do I fix for lunch?
Well first I do a Fridge Scan. I look through the drawers and behind things on the shelves and see what needs to get eaten first (and clean out what can't be used at all). Sometimes I will find things I can turn into meals that lead to other meals. Sometimes I only end up with awesome lunch, either way the fridge gets cleaner and we save money by eating what we already have.
Here's how a recent fridge scan went for me:
I saw:
leftover peas
a small amount of leftover ground sausage
green onions
pickles
leftover pasta and sauce
cottage cheese
This led to me thinking of possibilities:
sausage, peas > egg scramble or cous cous..
pasta, sauce cottage cheese > pasta bake!
green onions, pickles > tuna salad
So I made these things and had a lunch and dinner covered.
Another time I found leftover sloppy joes and turned them into these:
Quick lunch, Score!
I also try to do a fridge scan before I go to the store, yes to see what we're missing, but also to see how I can best use what we already have. Like right now I have some leftover pork roast waiting to turn into egg rolls but need wrappers!
I hope some of this helps when you don't know what to cook.
Thoughtfully,
Kristin
P.S. Please ask questions. I would love to work on articles you would like to read.
Where do you start? What do I fix for lunch?
Well first I do a Fridge Scan. I look through the drawers and behind things on the shelves and see what needs to get eaten first (and clean out what can't be used at all). Sometimes I will find things I can turn into meals that lead to other meals. Sometimes I only end up with awesome lunch, either way the fridge gets cleaner and we save money by eating what we already have.
Here's how a recent fridge scan went for me:
I saw:
leftover peas
a small amount of leftover ground sausage
green onions
pickles
leftover pasta and sauce
cottage cheese
This led to me thinking of possibilities:
sausage, peas > egg scramble or cous cous..
pasta, sauce cottage cheese > pasta bake!
green onions, pickles > tuna salad
So I made these things and had a lunch and dinner covered.
Another time I found leftover sloppy joes and turned them into these:
Quick lunch, Score!
I also try to do a fridge scan before I go to the store, yes to see what we're missing, but also to see how I can best use what we already have. Like right now I have some leftover pork roast waiting to turn into egg rolls but need wrappers!
I hope some of this helps when you don't know what to cook.
Thoughtfully,
Kristin
P.S. Please ask questions. I would love to work on articles you would like to read.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Photo #3
It's pretty gray here today, so I think I'm going to post a brighter picture this week.
This was on Oahu.
Have a thoughtful day,
Kristin
This was on Oahu.
Have a thoughtful day,
Kristin
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Cooking: Oven Fried Chicken, Oven roasted Green Beans
This week I punctuated the meals with chicken!
I made:
Oven Fried Chicken
Oven roast Green Beans
Frozen Corn
And this led to some old favorites and a trying something new.
Oven Fried Chicken
Chicken Parts (I use chicken thighs because of their price and ease of reuse)>
1 cup Milk soured with 1 tablespoon vinegar (or buttermilk)>
1/2 teaspoon + Seasoning Salt
1/2 cup Wheat Germ
Place the chicken parts in a cake pan and pour the soured milk over them, coating well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Mix the one half teaspoon seasoning salt with the wheat germ and place on a plate. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover 1 or 2 cookie sheets (depending on how much chicken you have) with foil. Take each piece of chicken, and sprinkle it with seasoning salt on the skinless side, then press the skin side into the wheat germ mixture. (Discard marinade.) Place chicken pieces, skin side up 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour or until done.
Oven Roast Green Beans
Green Beans>
Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and stem the green beans. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt. Bake for 25 minutes turning occasionally, should be lightly browned and slightly shriveled.
Cascade Factors:
Chicken Meat- The leftover chicken meat can be stripped off the bone and used for chicken quesadillas, creamy chicken pasta, chicken salad, etc. I used it for chicken noodle soup, and a chicken mushroom filling that also used up the leftover corn.
Chicken Bones and Green Bean Stems- go into the stock bag in the freezer at my house, ready for soup making.
Green Beans- The green beans can be added to soup or any saute. They never make it that far around here.
Soured Milk/buttermilk- When making the chicken, I soured too much milk, I had an extra cup which I used to make scones (I cut them into hearts for Valentine's day), but could easily have been used in biscuits, muffins or pancakes.
That's our cascade cooking for this week, next week I am devoting to the freezer!
Thoughtful Cooking,
Kristin
I made:
Oven Fried Chicken
Oven roast Green Beans
Frozen Corn
And this led to some old favorites and a trying something new.
Oven Fried Chicken
Chicken Parts (I use chicken thighs because of their price and ease of reuse)>
1 cup Milk soured with 1 tablespoon vinegar (or buttermilk)>
1/2 teaspoon + Seasoning Salt
1/2 cup Wheat Germ
Place the chicken parts in a cake pan and pour the soured milk over them, coating well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Mix the one half teaspoon seasoning salt with the wheat germ and place on a plate. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover 1 or 2 cookie sheets (depending on how much chicken you have) with foil. Take each piece of chicken, and sprinkle it with seasoning salt on the skinless side, then press the skin side into the wheat germ mixture. (Discard marinade.) Place chicken pieces, skin side up 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour or until done.
Oven Roast Green Beans
Green Beans>
Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and stem the green beans. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt. Bake for 25 minutes turning occasionally, should be lightly browned and slightly shriveled.
Cascade Factors:
Chicken Meat- The leftover chicken meat can be stripped off the bone and used for chicken quesadillas, creamy chicken pasta, chicken salad, etc. I used it for chicken noodle soup, and a chicken mushroom filling that also used up the leftover corn.
Chicken Bones and Green Bean Stems- go into the stock bag in the freezer at my house, ready for soup making.
Green Beans- The green beans can be added to soup or any saute. They never make it that far around here.
Soured Milk/buttermilk- When making the chicken, I soured too much milk, I had an extra cup which I used to make scones (I cut them into hearts for Valentine's day), but could easily have been used in biscuits, muffins or pancakes.
That's our cascade cooking for this week, next week I am devoting to the freezer!
Thoughtful Cooking,
Kristin
Friday, February 15, 2013
Ask #1 Labeling Leftovers
Raven Skamaniac asks:
Hey Kristin!
I'm wondering how you consistently label and store leftovers so that you know what you've got later. I'm good at sticking stuff in the freezer, not so good with labeling in a way I can read later!
Well Raven I have to be honest my freezer is a mess, but your question inspired me to try to reorganize it this weekend! If I succeed I will post my process here. If I fail I may let that comment fade into memory and hope no one asks!.
I do however have a few strategies that help me keep track of things even as they are unorganized.
1. I use clear containers whenever possible. Freezer bags, clear plastic containers, glass jars it is so much easier to find things when you can see them! This is essential in the refrigerator. I find that if I put anything in the fridge in a opaque container, I eat it myself or it rots. I use plastic wrap on plates/bowls so it is easy to see what there is.
2. I standardized the recycled containers. While I buy many things that come in reusable tubs, I recycle all but one brand of quart sized yogurt containers, and the clear tubs that soup and Thai food come in. I also have a stash of cup sized yogurt containers and lids, but I have enough of them to last a lifetime, I do not collect those. As a result I have three kinds of these lids, the large ones for the quart sized containers, the clear ones with a star in the middle for the soup containers and the small ones for the yogurt cups.
3. A Sharpie is my friend. On the recycled containers I write on the top of each one what's in it and the date. When I wash the container the marker label comes right off ready to be labeled again.
Some people use systems of record keeping like a markerboard on the outside of the fridge or freezer, that they erase things as they use them, or a list where they cross things off as they use them. I never could get that to work for me. I utilize a pantry principle more often, where there are things I have on hand all the time. When I take the last one I put it on the list of things to buy or make.
Other than that, I use a fridge, and freezer scan to start my meal planning, I work around what I already have as much as possible. That way more things get used up and not lost.
I hope you find some of this useful, thank you so much for your question!
Thoughtful cooking,
Kristin
Hey Kristin!
I'm wondering how you consistently label and store leftovers so that you know what you've got later. I'm good at sticking stuff in the freezer, not so good with labeling in a way I can read later!
Well Raven I have to be honest my freezer is a mess, but your question inspired me to try to reorganize it this weekend! If I succeed I will post my process here. If I fail I may let that comment fade into memory and hope no one asks!.
I do however have a few strategies that help me keep track of things even as they are unorganized.
1. I use clear containers whenever possible. Freezer bags, clear plastic containers, glass jars it is so much easier to find things when you can see them! This is essential in the refrigerator. I find that if I put anything in the fridge in a opaque container, I eat it myself or it rots. I use plastic wrap on plates/bowls so it is easy to see what there is.
2. I standardized the recycled containers. While I buy many things that come in reusable tubs, I recycle all but one brand of quart sized yogurt containers, and the clear tubs that soup and Thai food come in. I also have a stash of cup sized yogurt containers and lids, but I have enough of them to last a lifetime, I do not collect those. As a result I have three kinds of these lids, the large ones for the quart sized containers, the clear ones with a star in the middle for the soup containers and the small ones for the yogurt cups.
3. A Sharpie is my friend. On the recycled containers I write on the top of each one what's in it and the date. When I wash the container the marker label comes right off ready to be labeled again.
Some people use systems of record keeping like a markerboard on the outside of the fridge or freezer, that they erase things as they use them, or a list where they cross things off as they use them. I never could get that to work for me. I utilize a pantry principle more often, where there are things I have on hand all the time. When I take the last one I put it on the list of things to buy or make.
Other than that, I use a fridge, and freezer scan to start my meal planning, I work around what I already have as much as possible. That way more things get used up and not lost.
I hope you find some of this useful, thank you so much for your question!
Thoughtful cooking,
Kristin
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Photo #2
Here is this week's waterfall photo:
This one is seasonal. If you don't catch it on the right day you would never see it at all.
Have a wonderful Valentine's Day.
-Kristin
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Cooking:Baked Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Oven Rice Pudding
This week I will go into more detail about the meal I presented last week:
Oven Baked Pork Chops
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Apple Slices
Frozen Peas
Oven Rice Pudding
This meal led to lots of fun stuff in the kitchen and full bellies all week!
So, let's get started.
Oven Baked Pork Chops
>pork chops, enough for a meal, plus extras for cascading>
seasoning salt
Sprinkle both sides of each pork chop with seasoning salt, lay pork chops out on a pan (with a rim to catch juice) cover the pan loosely with foil and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.
That's it. They turned out moist and really tender.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
8 medium sized potatoes, washed and cubed (I leave the skins on)>
water
4-6 garlic cloves pressed or finely chopped
1/4 cup butter
milk
salt and pepper to taste
Put potatoes in a pot with room. Add water to cover potatoes, plus one inch. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add garlic, simmer 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Test potatoes for doneness, by poking them with a fork. The fork should easily sink into the potato. Test several potatoes. When they are soft drain them, retain a little potato water in the bottom of the pot. Return potatoes to the pot. Mash them with the potato masher. Add butter and stir into hot potatoes until melted. Add milk in small amounts until the potatoes are the consistency you like. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Oven Rice Pudding
>1 1/2 cups leftover rice (can be frozen)
1/2 cup raisins
3 cups water (divided)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup powdered milk
Mix rice, raisins, 2 cups of the water, cinnamon, and sugar in a two quart casserole dish with lid. Bake, covered at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. Mix 1 cup water, eggs and the powdered milk in a measuring cup. One hour into baking stir into pudding and finish baking.
Bakes to a bread pudding consistency.
Cascade Factors:
Pork Chops- The leftover pork can be used in a many ways. I cut it into thin pieces and made pork lo mein with leftover spaghetti and vegetables,including leftover peas. The kids ate that heartily but left a bunch of veggies in the pan. I used those the next morning to make a frittata. Only half of the frittata got eaten so I put a little cheese on it and ate it as a breakfast burrito the next morning! Meanwhile that was only part of the meat, the rest I cubed and froze on a plate for an hour before transferring it to a freezer bag so it can be added quickly to stirfry or ramen. The juices from the pan I mixed into the potato soup I made with the leftover mashed potatoes. That is what I did, but you could also use the pork to make stir fry, barbeque sandwiches, etc.
Potato Skins- If you don't like skin pieces in your mashed potatoes, you can peel them. If you peel them thickly you can use them as a potato skin snack or side dish. If you have chickens, you can boil the skins separately and feed them to "the ladies" as they are called around here. My chickens love them, but chickens can't (won't) eat raw potato.
Mashed Potatoes- I use these to make potato soup, or croquettes. They freeze well for these purposes (they are not so appetizing as mashed potatoes when thawed). Of course if I have time for soup they don't usually make it to the freezer.
Rice Pudding- The leftover rice pudding gets a little stiff. I thin it with a little milk in a bowl, warm it in the microwave and eat it for breakfast.
That is the cascade for this week. Let me know what you think. Future posts could get into more detail about the cascades used here or I could start with a new meal.
Thoughtful cooking,
Kristin
Oven Baked Pork Chops
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Apple Slices
Frozen Peas
Oven Rice Pudding
This meal led to lots of fun stuff in the kitchen and full bellies all week!
So, let's get started.
Oven Baked Pork Chops
>pork chops, enough for a meal, plus extras for cascading>
seasoning salt
Sprinkle both sides of each pork chop with seasoning salt, lay pork chops out on a pan (with a rim to catch juice) cover the pan loosely with foil and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.
That's it. They turned out moist and really tender.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
8 medium sized potatoes, washed and cubed (I leave the skins on)>
water
4-6 garlic cloves pressed or finely chopped
1/4 cup butter
milk
salt and pepper to taste
Put potatoes in a pot with room. Add water to cover potatoes, plus one inch. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add garlic, simmer 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Test potatoes for doneness, by poking them with a fork. The fork should easily sink into the potato. Test several potatoes. When they are soft drain them, retain a little potato water in the bottom of the pot. Return potatoes to the pot. Mash them with the potato masher. Add butter and stir into hot potatoes until melted. Add milk in small amounts until the potatoes are the consistency you like. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Oven Rice Pudding
>1 1/2 cups leftover rice (can be frozen)
1/2 cup raisins
3 cups water (divided)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup powdered milk
Mix rice, raisins, 2 cups of the water, cinnamon, and sugar in a two quart casserole dish with lid. Bake, covered at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. Mix 1 cup water, eggs and the powdered milk in a measuring cup. One hour into baking stir into pudding and finish baking.
Bakes to a bread pudding consistency.
Cascade Factors:
Pork Chops- The leftover pork can be used in a many ways. I cut it into thin pieces and made pork lo mein with leftover spaghetti and vegetables,including leftover peas. The kids ate that heartily but left a bunch of veggies in the pan. I used those the next morning to make a frittata. Only half of the frittata got eaten so I put a little cheese on it and ate it as a breakfast burrito the next morning! Meanwhile that was only part of the meat, the rest I cubed and froze on a plate for an hour before transferring it to a freezer bag so it can be added quickly to stirfry or ramen. The juices from the pan I mixed into the potato soup I made with the leftover mashed potatoes. That is what I did, but you could also use the pork to make stir fry, barbeque sandwiches, etc.
Potato Skins- If you don't like skin pieces in your mashed potatoes, you can peel them. If you peel them thickly you can use them as a potato skin snack or side dish. If you have chickens, you can boil the skins separately and feed them to "the ladies" as they are called around here. My chickens love them, but chickens can't (won't) eat raw potato.
Mashed Potatoes- I use these to make potato soup, or croquettes. They freeze well for these purposes (they are not so appetizing as mashed potatoes when thawed). Of course if I have time for soup they don't usually make it to the freezer.
Rice Pudding- The leftover rice pudding gets a little stiff. I thin it with a little milk in a bowl, warm it in the microwave and eat it for breakfast.
That is the cascade for this week. Let me know what you think. Future posts could get into more detail about the cascades used here or I could start with a new meal.
Thoughtful cooking,
Kristin
Friday, February 8, 2013
Ask!
I am thinking about starting an Ask column on this blog. If you are having trouble finding a creative solution to a household problem or need ideas for your leftovers, comment and I will start answering them once a week.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Photo #1
I am trying all kinds of new things this week. Today I am trying to get one of my waterfall/cascading water pictures onto this blog. My goal is to share one of these a week. (The other part of my goal is to go on hiking trips to take more waterfall pictures!) So if you like these, please comment, so I go out and bring back more for you.
All these pictures are going to be ones I (or a family member) took. Some of them will be from all over the world.
I hope you have a wonderful day,
Thoughtfully,
Kristin
All these pictures are going to be ones I (or a family member) took. Some of them will be from all over the world.
I hope you have a wonderful day,
Thoughtfully,
Kristin
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Cooking: Basics
When I talk about Cascade Cooking, I am thinking about how the meal I am planning can use things I already have and the leftovers can be the basis of a meal tomorrow. This plan is almost never strict, I also try to leave lots of options. You'll see.
I will use a Cascade from this week as an example. I made pork chops, mashed potatoes, and rice pudding. Each of those things either used a leftover I already had or made an ingredient that I can use in the future if there are any leftovers.
Lets look at the pork chops first. I baked them in the oven and the came out tender and juicy. We ate about half of what I made for dinner. Now I have cooked leftover pork and pan drippings! The pork can be sliced and left for late night snacks (topping ramen, sandwiches), be tossed into a stir fry or lo mein. If I don't think I'll get to it right away I can toss the slices in the freezer to add to later meals.The pan drippings can be tossed right into the soup pot for potato soup making with the leftover mashed potatoes.
Next let's look at the mashed potatoes. Sometimes these go like crazy and I can't keep them around, and sometimes they are barely touched. So I have had some practice finding uses for left over mashed potatoes. My favorite is potato soup, my kids love croquettes. Luckily, either can be made from frozen mashed potatoes! We enjoy these two options so much I don't usually have any potatoes left for anything else, but they do make a nice thickener for other soups if you need another idea.
The rice pudding I made with leftover rice I pulled out of the freezer. Rice pudding becomes breakfast if there are leftovers.
I have gotten into the habit of looking around the kitchen or digging in the freezer, getting inspired and then projecting that at least one step further. When I make something, I keep in mind, "What can I make next?"
In each Cooking post, I will list out a main meal, with recipes, and put a > symbol in before an ingredient that can be a leftover, and a > after each ingredient that can become a leftover. These will be discussed after the recipe itself so the cooking can go more smoothly. I will show you my One Pot Asian Rice recipe. I will use it because it uses all the concepts in one recipe.
One Pot Asian Rice
> 1 lb. hamburger
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic pressed or chopped fine
1 Tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1 onion chopped
3 cups shredded cabbage
2 carrots peeled and thinly sliced
1 to 2 cups other veggies chopped (celery, peppers etc.) >
1 cup dry white rice
>1/2 bag bean sprouts (or more if you like)>
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups water
Brown hamburger in a large pot or dutch oven. Keep over medium heat and add soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Stir until sauce soaks in. Add onion, cabbage, carrots and veggies. Cook 5-10 minutes until they start to soften. Add rice and stir until well blended. Add sprouts, peas and water, bring to boil stirring often. Turn heat to low and cover the pot. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until rice is done and veggies are as soft as you like.
Cascade factors:
Hamburger- the hamburger can be leftover already browned from the freezer
Chopped veggies- If you chop extra veggies for this recipe you can use them in other meals, I like to chop extra for eggs in the morning, or just to saute as a side dish (leftover saute can be used in morning eggs, too)
Sprouts- leftover sprouts can be frozen and this is a good recipe to use them in (any time you plan to cook them until soft you can use frozen). Freeze leftover fresh sprouts promptly they go bad fast in the fridge.
I usually use this recipe after making Asian Shrimp Rolls. I often have leftover veggies, specifically sprouts that need someplace to go.
I hope this post gives a better idea of the concept and starts you thinking! I am working on the pork chop meal for my next post.
Thoughtful cooking,
Kristin
I will use a Cascade from this week as an example. I made pork chops, mashed potatoes, and rice pudding. Each of those things either used a leftover I already had or made an ingredient that I can use in the future if there are any leftovers.
Lets look at the pork chops first. I baked them in the oven and the came out tender and juicy. We ate about half of what I made for dinner. Now I have cooked leftover pork and pan drippings! The pork can be sliced and left for late night snacks (topping ramen, sandwiches), be tossed into a stir fry or lo mein. If I don't think I'll get to it right away I can toss the slices in the freezer to add to later meals.The pan drippings can be tossed right into the soup pot for potato soup making with the leftover mashed potatoes.
Next let's look at the mashed potatoes. Sometimes these go like crazy and I can't keep them around, and sometimes they are barely touched. So I have had some practice finding uses for left over mashed potatoes. My favorite is potato soup, my kids love croquettes. Luckily, either can be made from frozen mashed potatoes! We enjoy these two options so much I don't usually have any potatoes left for anything else, but they do make a nice thickener for other soups if you need another idea.
The rice pudding I made with leftover rice I pulled out of the freezer. Rice pudding becomes breakfast if there are leftovers.
I have gotten into the habit of looking around the kitchen or digging in the freezer, getting inspired and then projecting that at least one step further. When I make something, I keep in mind, "What can I make next?"
In each Cooking post, I will list out a main meal, with recipes, and put a > symbol in before an ingredient that can be a leftover, and a > after each ingredient that can become a leftover. These will be discussed after the recipe itself so the cooking can go more smoothly. I will show you my One Pot Asian Rice recipe. I will use it because it uses all the concepts in one recipe.
One Pot Asian Rice
> 1 lb. hamburger
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic pressed or chopped fine
1 Tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1 onion chopped
3 cups shredded cabbage
2 carrots peeled and thinly sliced
1 to 2 cups other veggies chopped (celery, peppers etc.) >
1 cup dry white rice
>1/2 bag bean sprouts (or more if you like)>
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups water
Brown hamburger in a large pot or dutch oven. Keep over medium heat and add soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Stir until sauce soaks in. Add onion, cabbage, carrots and veggies. Cook 5-10 minutes until they start to soften. Add rice and stir until well blended. Add sprouts, peas and water, bring to boil stirring often. Turn heat to low and cover the pot. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until rice is done and veggies are as soft as you like.
Cascade factors:
Hamburger- the hamburger can be leftover already browned from the freezer
Chopped veggies- If you chop extra veggies for this recipe you can use them in other meals, I like to chop extra for eggs in the morning, or just to saute as a side dish (leftover saute can be used in morning eggs, too)
Sprouts- leftover sprouts can be frozen and this is a good recipe to use them in (any time you plan to cook them until soft you can use frozen). Freeze leftover fresh sprouts promptly they go bad fast in the fridge.
I usually use this recipe after making Asian Shrimp Rolls. I often have leftover veggies, specifically sprouts that need someplace to go.
I hope this post gives a better idea of the concept and starts you thinking! I am working on the pork chop meal for my next post.
Thoughtful cooking,
Kristin
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
A New Adventure
I have been meaning to start this blog for years. Life finally pushed me to the place where I would start!
Cascade Living started off as an idea in the kitchen, just Cascade Cooking. I started thinking of the way I would use part of one meal to lead to the next when I did my meal plan. I was struck by the image of a cascading stream where the water bounced from one level to another, each making the whole more amazing and beautiful.
I used that beautiful picture to describe thoughtfully using the resources at hand to create more, waste less, and enjoy more of my efforts! Recently I realized that the same concepts can be applied to keeping a household, maintaining a property/house and just living life, so I named my blog Cascade Living.
Because I have given Cascade Cooking so much more thought I am going to start there. I plan to use my writing here to encourage new and better things in my own kitchen. I will show you my system of planning meals that lead to other meals so you can start right away. I will share pictures and recipes.
Since I'm nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, I also plan on sharing some of the beauty of this area with you. My goal is to share a waterfall/cascade picture every week. I hope you enjoy them. (Yes, for now my background is a stock photo I have to learn how to adjust pictures so I can upload them.)
Thank you for reading!
-Kristin
Cascade Living started off as an idea in the kitchen, just Cascade Cooking. I started thinking of the way I would use part of one meal to lead to the next when I did my meal plan. I was struck by the image of a cascading stream where the water bounced from one level to another, each making the whole more amazing and beautiful.
I used that beautiful picture to describe thoughtfully using the resources at hand to create more, waste less, and enjoy more of my efforts! Recently I realized that the same concepts can be applied to keeping a household, maintaining a property/house and just living life, so I named my blog Cascade Living.
Because I have given Cascade Cooking so much more thought I am going to start there. I plan to use my writing here to encourage new and better things in my own kitchen. I will show you my system of planning meals that lead to other meals so you can start right away. I will share pictures and recipes.
Since I'm nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, I also plan on sharing some of the beauty of this area with you. My goal is to share a waterfall/cascade picture every week. I hope you enjoy them. (Yes, for now my background is a stock photo I have to learn how to adjust pictures so I can upload them.)
Thank you for reading!
-Kristin
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