Spring Break 2013

I figure we are about two weeks away from the 2013 barrage of friends' photos from spring break trips from Cancun to Key West.  So I'm really super excited to be the very first among you to post pictures from our thrilling spring break staycation.

This trip was a big deal for our little family as we determined that it was the very first time we all stayed away from home together for more than one night.  So as my little sister packed for her semester-long Italian adventure, her big sister's family hit the road for a thrilling weekend in Beatrice, NE. Leaving after work, we made a stop at Grandma Clara's for pizza and playtime, and then proceeded to roll into the big city around 10pm.  Way past everyone's bedtime. 

Daddy left the next morning bright and early to work cattle, leaving Jett and I to a day of exploration.  First we enjoyed the gourmet breakfast bar at the hotel, where Jett enjoyed watching the pancake machine.  We were upgraded to a room with a view.  Jett's favorite view of a Ford dealership, and just beyond the horizon we could see the shining bright green of a John Deer implement.

After taking in the view and lounging in our suite, we set out to see the sites and found a very big, very orange playground at the YMCA. 

It was a balmy 40 degrees so before long our course was changed indoors where we watched elementary basketball practice.  All that exploration made us hungry again and Jett got to have his very first McDonald's Happy Meal.  Excitement didn't quit as we got to watch a man in a red lift and bucket fix the lights on the golden arches. 

Our morning adventure left us feeling quite exhausted so back to the resort we went for a little siesta.  We woke up just in time to join our cousins at another fun park.  For a little afternoon snack, we visited Dairy Queen where it was about 105 degrees, and if you closed your eyes and used your imagination the Blizzard machine sounded just like the roar of the ocean.

Soon it was time for the main event, the St. Paul Lutheran School carnival.  There were games of all kinds from cake walk to bean-bag toss - our favorite! 

There was even a big fake cow that we got to touch. We happily waved goodbye to everyone and finished our adventure with pizza at a quasi-alfresco cafe on a beautiful deck looking out on the inside of the furniture store in the mall. 

 

I sincerely hope that I haven't made you too jealous. I wish you lots of sunshine and excitement on your own spring break trips this year!



Freezer-Friendly Mini-Meatloaves

Today I could not be more thankful that I took a little time this past weekend to make up a delicious freezer-friendly quick cooking meal.  Like most people in the U.S. I'm either fighting "the flu" or more likely a virus thing that's wiping me out, but isn't bad enough for meds.  Fun stuff. 

So when it comes to my regular thought around 4pm, of "What am I going to make for dinner?" cooking does not sound like a lot of fun.  But neither does fast food.  So it is the perfect night for the meal I'm about to share with you. 

Meatloaf balls are an idea that I stole from my Aunt Karina who served this at a Sunday lunch once.  Mini-meatloaves are perfectly portioned, cook much faster than traditional meatloaf in a loaf pan, and make ahead beautifully for the freezer.  They are also made for a Use-it-Up recipe!

Meatloaf Balls
Approximately 2 1/2 cups bread, broken up into small pieces
1/2 onion chopped
2/3 cup shredded carrots
2 eggs
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup spicy ground mustard or 1 tsp Worcesters sauce
2 lbs ground hamburger

Start by prepping all of your companion ingredients first. (This was a total revelation to me.  Prepping everything else first and putting the meat in the bowl last makes for a much easier clean-up process, and reduces the risk of accidentally touching something after you've touched the meat.)

I like to leave my ingredients fairly chunky as you will see.  Many recipes call for making breadcrumbs by putting bread in the food processor, but I like the texture and think the end result is more moist. 

 

After the bread, chopped onion and carrots goes some salt and pepper (about 1/2 tsp of each), two eggs, and a generous squirt of ketchup and mustard (approximately 1/2 cup of ketchup and 1/4 cup of mustard.)  I didn't have any Worcester sauce, which I like to use, but I did have spicy ground mustard which works very nicely for a bit of kick.

In a separate bowl I mixed 1/2 cup of ketchup and 1/2 cup of mustard together to make a very traditional sauce for the top. 

Two pounds of ground beef go in next, and then the fun begins... Mix together all the ingredients using your hands.  I portion my balls by taking a generous fist full and packing it tightly together.  I've found that this recipe yields exactly 12 mini-meatloaves.  You can make them bigger if you prefer a little larger portion.

 



Knowing these would go into the freezer, I put mine directly on to some Glad Press-and-Seal wrap.  I covered each ball with the sauce, and put another piece of wrap over top to seal them up.  To prevent freezer burn, I put each package of six in a ziptop bag. 

When I wanted to make these for tonight's meal, I took out just the number I needed.  I put them into a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes, but this time would be reduced if you thawed them in the refrigerator prior. Check to make sure the meat is completely cooked before serving.  Enjoy!

What I Used-Up:
The last of a loaf of bread
2 lbs beef
1/2 onion
The last of a bag of baby carrots
2 eggs
The last of a bag of sweet potato fries

Blue Cake for Breakfast

It's been just over a week since our trip to Costco, and we've consumed or used nearly 3/4 of the 5lbs of berries I bought.  For a family of three (with one who doesn't eat any...ehem...Kevin), that's pretty remarkable!  If you've been following the blog for awhile, you know that we love smoothies around here, and at least twice a week Jett and I share a big berry/spinach smoothie.  We also love to eat berries for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between.  On Saturday morning I made one of my favorite blueberry muffin recipes which took care of nearly 1lb of blueberries.  Jett calls it his "Blue Cake."

Double Blueberry Muffins (Courtesy of Gale Gand's cookbook "Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs")

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups fresh or thawed frozen blueberries*
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line 12 muffin cups with liners.

Cream the butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer) until smooth. Add 1 cup of the sugar and mix. Add the eggs, vanilla, baking powder and salt, and mix.

In a shallow bowl, mash 3/4 cup blueberries with the back of a fork. Add to the batter and mix. With the mixer at low speed, add half of the flour and milk. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Fold in the whole blueberries by hand until well mixed.  In a separate small bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon.

Use an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin cups three quarters full.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the muffins and bake until golden brown and risen, 25-30 minutes.  Let cool, and enjoy!

*I love that there are more blueberries than flour in this recipe! I have also substituted raspberries for blueberries, and it turns out wonderfully.

A Tale of Two Grocery Trips

We begin this story on a sunny Sunday afternoon, as we hopefully piled into the car after lunch to make our way to Costco and begin our experience as "members".  We made a couple of stops on the way while Jett slept in the car.  Then we pulled into the lot, and as if by fate scored a spot right by the door. 

The plethora of food and other stuff was overwhelming, but we were up to the challenge.  With Kevin pushing the cart and Jett on my hip, we picked out flats of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. At my sister's suggestion, we purchased some artisan lettuce to split with her, and Jett would not let me leave the produce cooler without a mammoth bag of mini peppers (the kid is CRAZY about them!)

On to paper goods next, we were out of everything and before long our cart was nearly full.  It seemed that at every end cap we just missed the samples by a matter of seconds, probably a sign to me to stick to the Use-it-Up challenge.  I faltered in the cereal aisle buying two jumbo boxes of Ancient Grains granola.  And because of this I feel as though I should admit how addicted I am to this cereal.  If it was the end of the world and I could only save three material goods I would take a flashlight (for practical purposes), my wedding ring, and Ancient Grains granola.  This may have been the logic that did in the Mayans...

Jett got suckered in to buying squeeze packs of applesauce in bulk.  I tried to stop him, but he couldn't resist how much cheaper these were at Costco than Walmart or Trader Joes.  Kevin bee-lined for Nabisco snack packs and graham crackers, and I caved.

We finished the adventure with a trip to the concession counter for the world's largest yogurt parfait and called the $90.14 spent on groceries a success. 

Our next tale began just hours ago, as a happy kid and I piled into the car on a foggy dreary morning to run some errands on my day off.  He was good as gold at the dry-cleaners and sweet as can be at the recycling, but Hy-Vee was a whole other story. 

We pulled in and he immediately remembered the car shaped carts that weigh 500 pounds and hold half the groceries of a normal cart.  They are my favorite too.  He shouted "blue, blue, blue one" all the way to the door.  As we entered, on a whim his choice turned to the orange car that was parked near the front and after a thorough clean up with Clorox Wipes, we hit the road.  He drove happily through nearly half of the produce department until he remembered that he actually wanted the blue one. 

My delightful child had a terrible two sized meltdown while I received parenting advice from 100 much older, wiser patrons who thought blocking the aisle while telling me how to handle my yelling child would be a good idea.  (It may have been just two, but that was enough for me.)

We made it out of Hy-Vee in record time with a $22.89 bill for milk,  eggs, bananas, and orange juice.

May all your grocery trips be as eventful.

Over the weekend I'll be posting some freezer friendly ideas, and tell you what I do with a flat of blueberries.

A Weekend Filled with Use-it-Up Success!

Good morning world, it's Monday!

In this household that means a very tired mommy and daddy, because little dude did not sleep well.  On the bright side, it's a new week, the house is fairly clean, our fridge is stocked with great food for the week, and there is caffeine brewing in the Keurig. 

On Saturday I went a little crazy with the Use-it-Up theme.  To start off, I absolutely had to use-up six bananas that had gone black.  My kiddo likes his bananas (and hence the name of the blog) so each week I always buy a few.  On one particular trip, the grocery store got smart and placed a banana stand in the middle of the aisle where he could reach them at his height. He proceeded to grab a big bunch and accidentally dropped them on the floor.  I didn't think it would be right to put them back, so into the cart and that's where we got our extra bunch of bananas. 

One of the classic things to do with aging bananas is to make banana bread.  Of all the recipes I have made, this is an area where I feel the most fearless.  I love to try a new recipe, and if it doesn't quite turn out, I don't feel bad because it was practically free.  On Saturday I set Jett to the banana mashing, which was a whole lot of fun! 

He did a great job, and I picked out two new "low-fat" banana bread recipes.  Low-fat because I was out of butter but did have oil and applesauce.  One did not turn out great, and had a strange consistency, even after I tried to save it with Nutella.  The other was great and will be one I go to again and again.  I really enjoyed Joy the Baker's Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread.  I did not have old fashioned rolled oats, but the quick oats I had seemed to work just fine.  The bread had a great nearly oatmeal cookie consistency, but with a light delicious fruity flavor.

After the bread was out of the oven, I took a tip from the Queen of Quick Cooking - Rachael Ray, and made a five-minute soup.  I had all that great leftover chicken from the first day of Use-it-Up, which made for great fajitas one night, but I still had some left. 

The steps to five-minute soup are simple.
Chop some carrots and celery, or whatever vegetables you need to eat up. Next, heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil over medium heat in your soup pot.  Throw in garlic, chopped onion, thyme, rosemary or whatever flavorings you like and stir. (I didn't measure, but just put in a modest amount that looked good.) Toss in your veggies, turn down heat slightly and allow to cook until softened.  (At this point I also went to my freezer and grabbed a bag of half-eaten asparagus stir fry mix and threw that in too.)  Pour in a can or about 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, and simmer.  While the veggies are cooking, do a quick rough chop on your chicken leftovers, and into the pot they go.  At this point you can allow to simmer until the chicken is warmed up, or for a bit longer to allow the flavors to develop.  Jett and I had a beautiful, veggie packed soup for our lunch that was prepped in 5 minutes and ready in 30 minutes.

For dinner I went one more step toward Use-it-Up obsessed and mixed up some bread dough in my bread machine, and used up leftover spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, and cheese to make a quick homemade pizza.  Jett yelled "Pizza, Pizza, Pizza!" when I took it out of the oven, so I think that was a hit too!

I hope this post gave you some ideas for how to Use-it-Up this week.  On the next post I will share how my first Costco shopping trip went.

The BIG Overstuffed Kitchen Reveal

"The most expensive food in your kitchen is the food you are throwing away." - Melissa D'Arabian

That is exactly what Use-it-Up is really all about.  We are so fortunate to live in a country of abundance, of overabundance at times, and as such it becomes too easy to throw food out without really thinking about its value.  Not just its cost (which is important) but also on a slightly deeper level its value, what did it take to get those eggs from the chicken to your refrigerator.  How about that avocado that's traveled pretty far to get to the Midwest in the middle of winter.  Not to get too heavy here, but that kind of thinking starts to reshape how we think about the food we buy and the opportunity to use it, not loose it. 

I stole an idea straight from the binding of Kathleen Flinn's "Kitchen Counter Cooking School" (which I'll tell you more about another day...I know, the suspense!)  Kathleen did a personal exercise where she went through the contents of her refrigerator and stuck a post-it note on every perishable item with an estimated price.  If she threw the item out without using it, she stuck the note to the inside of her cabinet as a physical reminder of the cost.  I did this last night and have already racked up $2.25 that in hind site, I really wish would be going to a Starbucks latte and not into the trash.  In just about 10 minutes, this little exercise totally helped me rethink what I was going to serve last night and for the rest of the week. 

You might have noticed that in the last post, the "What I Used-Up" listing included a bag of pre-packaged Caesar salad.  I rarely buy this, but it was on sale 2/$4 and I thought it was a good deal, which it is unless you toss it without eating it.  Truthfully I had no plans to eat it until I had to put that $2 sticky note on it. 

Now, off my soap box (or more appropriately - cereal box) and on to the BIG REVEAL.  I think it might be worse than last year.

Cupboard

Round-a-bout

Refrigerator

Ugly Unorganized Freezer

And last but not least, the Spill-Over

What To Do With a Trunk Full of Chickens

How many chickens fit in the trunk of a Ford Pinto?

As my witty sister would ask; what is the volume of a chicken?  For this I do not have the answer, but I don't suggest Googling it either.  This is not a question I would typically ask myself on a Saturday morning, but a couple of months ago I pondered it as I met the "Chicken Man."

My Grandma and Grandpa have a neighbor who raises chickens on his farm, and for the past few years Grandma has negotiated a great price for farm fresh chickens.  One morning she called to ask if I would be home on Saturday morning at 10:30am because the Chicken Man would be stopping by with a dozen for me and my mom. 

I waited and waited, and around 11:05am a beat up Ford Pinto parked across the street from our house, and out slowly climbed a rugged countryman and his trusty hound dog.  Now you need to understand that this rugged countryman was not like the Pioneer Woman's husband Marlboro Man, no definitely not. He was like one of the characters on Duck Dynasty.  As he looked around wondering if this was the place, I immediately recognized him, this was Chicken Man.

Chicken Man greeted me with a kind smile and walked to the back of his car and popped open a truck full of chilly, very freshly processed chickens.  I wish I could have taken a picture, as the sight of several dozen individually bagged bright pink, headless, featherless, farm fresh chickens in the back of a broken down sedan is something that really should be seen.  The good thing is that I'm fairly certain all of our nosey neighbors did.  He proceeded to tell me to go ahead and pick out the ones I wanted.  A chef's dream, not particularly mine.  I tried to quickly conjure up my limited knowledge of poultry selection from watching Top Chef and The Food Network, and carried chickens two at a time into our house as my husband burst out in laughter.

I carefully placed 11 chickens in the freezer and left one out to cook for dinner.  What I soon realized is that farm fresh chickens still come with all the innards, which my Grandma had kindly spared me of dealing with in past years by removing them from my batch.  Instantly I was brought back to the sink of my childhood home, sometime in my pre-teens, when my mom made me remove the innards and prepare the chicken for supper.  I specifically remember being incredibly grossed-out while listening to her tell me that I would have to know how to do this some day.  With this memory front of mind, and channeling my best Julia Child, I stood at my own kitchen sink, reached in and grabbed whatever was in there, all while doing my best Julia Child impersonation, much to my husband's chagrin.  "You must not be afraid of the chicken!  After all the creature is already dead!" 

So tonight in honor of my experience with a trunk full of chickens, and the first "Use-it-Up" recipe of 2013, we are having a an Asian inspired marinated roast chicken on carrots and sweet potatoes. 

First, to recap what Use-it-Up is all about.
Basics: Use-it-Up is super simple, I will dramatically cut back on my grocery buying habits and only purchase perishables like produce, eggs, meat, and dairy from the grocery store, while trying to "use-up" the other staples and odd-ball food lurking in my overstuffed cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer. 

Benefits: Savings on the grocery budget, thoughtful home cooked meals, less waste, and cupboards ready for another Trader Joe's splurge in a few short months.

Full Disclosure: I will post our grocery spending over the next two months, and promise to let you know when I cheat on the rules.

2013 Inspiration: Kathleen Flinn's "Kitchen Counter Cooking School", two fabulous Christmas gifts: a membership to Top Chef University online cooking school, and a Costco membership. 

Now on to dinner.  Left over from a New Year's Eve veggie and fruit tray I had carrots and orange slices.  This and a lonely sweet potato and a quarter of an onion became the base for which my bird got to sit. 

The marinade included the following:
2 Tab vegetable oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1Tab rice wine vinegar
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp minced garlic

The ginger and garlic were from a jar, but I'm trying to use them up and buy fresh in the future.

I stuffed the ugly bird with the other quarter of an onion and orange slices.  The next part is where my Julia Child impressions come in handy.

I slowly poured the marinade over the fowl and rubbed it under the skin for flavor.  "You must give the bird a good rub down to make sure all the flavor gets in it, otherwise you might as well just order out!"  (In my best high pitched, slightly drunken Julia voice.)

Into a hot 425 degree oven it went for 80 minutes, until the breast meat reached 180 degrees.

Delicious!

 

What I Used-Up:

Left over baby carrots
One lonely sweet potato
Half of an onion
Defrosted farm fresh chicken
Yukon Gold Potatoes for mashed potato side
Pre-packaged Caesar salad mix

In the next post you will get to experience the big cupboard, refrigerator and freezer reveal.  Stay tuned!