2010 Wrap Up

Since I last blogged Tony has brought home a beef and we've been snowed in for days.  We have eaten well & have added at least 16 full meals to my final count.  That will bring the total to 217 for the year.  That means that there were 83 fewer meals cooked than I had planned - - but I still consider this a success because that is still more than I've probably ever cooked before!

Not to make excuses, but I think part of my count downfall was not due to eating out as much as me not considering in the beginning how many times we would be eating nightly meals at church this year and also how many times my mom will cook and deliver meals to us!  She is always bringing us pinto beans and cornbread or chili - - and too much more to even name.

Here's some pictures of the very casual meal we just enjoyed here tonight.  Our last meal together of 2010.  The stars of the meal were these little mini quiches in ham cups. They were wonderful. We also had garlic and cheese dip with toasted french bread....sugar cookies and fruit. 

All in all, this was probably the best gift I ever gave Tony - he loved it and says it was his favorite too.  He's the greatest guy ever at simply appreciating what I do - no matter how small or simple it might be.

Thanks to all who have kept up with this blog.  I've enjoyed your help in keeping this going!!

Meal 201

My sinuses have been stopped up for a couple of days, so today I wanted to fix something that I could really smell and taste!  You know that feeling?

I've got an amazing spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove that I'll either pour over pasta or turn into a lasagna.  It's browned ground beef, tomatoes, garlic and basil.  The garlic is from Athyleon & Lee's garden this year.  The basil is from Ed & Deanna Thompson.  They brought a "basil tree" to me one Sunday morning at worship and I spent that entire afternoon chopping up the leaves and freezing some, while hanging up other branches for drying. 

To freeze it I simply tore off the leaves and used the food processor to chop it up with some olive oil.  After that was done I filled ice cube trays with the chopped basil and froze them for later use.  I popped out one of those "cubes" today for the sauce & it seems wonderful simmering on the stove.

It is nice to live in the country where you can sometimes enjoy the bounty of friend's labors too!

Meal 200!

Yep, I've finally made it to the 200 mark.
Cheeseburgers & hot fries.

Meal 198

We had deer and potatoes again - with frozen spinach and greens from this year's garden.  This is a meal that could never get old - the key is totally the marinade that goes on the deer.  Tony always uses a simple soy sauce and red wine combo.

This time we used a red wine from Elk Creek Vineyards - it's Kentucky's largest vineyard in Owenton, Ky.  I stumbled upon one of their shops recently while at a mall in Louisville.

The deer and greens were definately my favorite parts of the meal.

Meal 196, 197 & 199

Jambalaya!!  A friend shared Emeril Lagasse's recipe for "Mardi Gras Jambalaya" with me years ago & it's been a constant favorite for us ever since.  Here's the link:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/mardi-gras-jambalaya-recipe2/index.html

There's lots of things I do to change the recipe from time to time.  For example, I've never prepared this recipe with the duck it calls for, but have always substituted chicken.  And, I don't always add the shrimp unless I have been somewhere recently to get really good shrimp.  Since we live in a smaller town, there isn't much choice on shrimp here....it's usually frozen salad shrimp or nothing. 

I normally mix up the "essence" he uses with this recipe, but I have substituted store bought "cajun" seasoning.  I prefer the essence.

This one pot of jambalaya served us for 3 nights!  Meal 196-197 & 199!

Super Catch Up - Up to 195

It has been almost two months since I last posted.  I'm going to give us all credit for preparing at least 35 meals in that time.  We probably fixed more because we've really reduced the amount of eating-out that we've done lately.   

Our freezer is almost empty, so we are actually having to buy meat. In the last year we've eaten one cow, two deer and a couple of turkeys as well.  Our meals have been built around chicken and lots of pork, which is weird for us because we are not used to buying meat.

In the last few weeks we've eaten omelettes alot - #1 we have lots of eggs coming in from our chickens and #2 - omelettes are quick and healthy for us...especially when stuffed with lots of vegetables.

One brand new meal that I tried was sausage, gravy & grits.  I fixed a big pan of grits, browned some sausage with garlic and green pepper, then made a classic white gravy - only it was a little more savory becuase of the sauteed vegetables.  Then the entire meal was built in a bowl.  Layer of grits first, then the browned sausage and vegetables, then the gravy.  This meal was inspired by the classic shrimp and grits served on the eastern coast.  It was a hit with everyone but me because I'm just not crazy about sausage.

We've also had plain and simple meals, like pinto beans, cornbread, polska kielbasa and sauerkraut.  And just simple salmon patties with some sweet potatoes.

Tonight we will be having deer (Thanks Don!) with a warm potato salad and some spinach. 

It's been kinda' hard for me to adjust to not having the fresh vegetables from the garden - although we are still being spoiled with fresh tomatoes and greens!  I think since the cold has finally really set in - I will be able to quickly adjust to my winter favorite foods, like jambalaya (planned for tomorrow night) and lots of other hearty soups.

Meal 160

Supper with friends - this maybe the first time in 2010 that we've had friends over??  That must mean our lives are way too busy!

We made hot turkey & cheese baked sandwiches - I think I've posted the recipe before but they were so good I'm posting it again just so you'll try it!!  This is exactly what we did last night.

Arrange hamburger buns on a baking sheet - pile with shredded turkey & shredded mozzarella.  In a seperate bowl melt 1 stick of butter, add to that 2 tbsp of prepared mustard, 2 "doinks" of balsamic vinegar (do you know what a doink is?  some people say dash), about 1/4 tsp garlic salt & about 1 tbsp poppy seeds.  Mix all this together & brush on the both sides of the top of the bun (yep inside & out).  Place tops on each bun & bake for about 20 to 30 minutes at 300 degrees.  Last night they were WONDERFUL!!

I also made potato soup that was simply cubed potatoes that I had boiled - then added half a cup of milk, half a block of cream cheese, one cream of chicken soup & salt to taste. Oh, and I added about 1 tbsp of dried parsley.

Our guests put together a great salad of baby spinach, an herb mix, sliced tomatoes & crumbled feta cheese.

Meal 160 complete....many more to come!

Meal 159

Tonight we are having grilled cheeseburgers, salads & "Sassy Sweet Potato Salad." 

Tony recently tried a Hardee's grilled cheese burger & loved it...so that's our inspiration there.

I got to sample the "Sassy Sweet Potato" salad at our farmer's market recently & feel in love with it.  I'm going to type in the whole recipe because I couldn't find it online.  It has several steps but it's a great treat.

Sassy Sweet Potato Salad
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 2-inch pieces
1/2 recipe Honey-Grilled Vidalia Onion (recipe for this will be posted too)
3 - 4 inch wedges fresh pineapple, peeled
1 tbsp low-calorie margarine
2 tbsp toasted walnuts
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1/2 cup nonfat sour cream
2 tbsp cider vinegar
fresh ground pepper to taste

1. In a pot of boiling water, cook the sweet potatoes for about 10-15 minutes until tender.  Drain and place in a salad bowl.  Prepare an outside grill with an oiled rack set 6 inches above the heat source.  On a gas grill, set the heat to medium.

2. Grill the vidalia onions on one side of the grill.  Place the wedges of pineapple on the other side of the grill.  Melt the margarine and brush over the pineapple.  Grill the pineapple for 10 minutes until it is carmelized.

3. Remove the onions and pineapple from the grill and dice.  Add the grilled onions, pineapple, and walnuts to the cooked sweet potatoes.  Set aside.  In a small bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together by hand to make the dressing.  Add the dressing to the sweet potato mixture and toss.  Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Honey-Grilled Vidalia Onions
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp lite soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
3 large Vidalia onions

1. Combine the first four ingredients to make the honey sauce.  Prepare an outside grill with an oiled rack set 6 inches above the heat source.  On a gas grill, set the heat to medium.

2. Cut 3 6-inch pieces of aluminum foil.  Place the onions on the foil.  Brush each onion with the honey sauce.  Fold the foil into a package around the onion and grill for about 30 minutes until the onions are soft.  Remove the onions from the foil, cut in half and serve.

I did several things differntly from these two recipes....I roasted everything in the oven....then piled it all together.  We LOVED it!

Meal 158

Throw-back casserole!
Back in the early  years of our marriage we used to eat several versions of the classic - cream of "soups" casseroles.  Since the kids were gone last week I was feeling a little nostalgic about our early years of marriage & decided that it would be fun to make one of those again - just for the two of us.

I boiled egg noodles - added one can of cream of mushroom soup - one can of cream of chicken soup - some grated cheddar cheese & some browned meat.  I baked it in the oven until it was bubbly & also baked some garlic bread at the same time. 

The garlic bread was fine - the casserole was horrible.  I have no idea what I did wrong....but it was bad.
So much for nostalgia.

Meal 155-157

Eggs!! 
The kids were gone last week & Tony & I ate eggs at least 3 nights. 

One night we also ate biscuits, gravy & sausage.

Meal 154

This past week I made a meatloaf & threw some sweet potatoes in the over at the same time for baking.  I warmed up some frozen corn from this year.  I also fried some hoe cakes.  I've gotten spoiled to these lately.

By far, Tony & I were both most thrilled with the sweet potatoes....we added just a bit of butter & salt to them.  They were wonderful & they are so good for us!

147 vs 99

There are 99 days left in the year & 147 meals left to prepare.
Even though this looks grim, I'm NOT giving up!

Meals 136-153

Wow - the last few weeks have been GREAT and busy & did I mention busy??  We've been swamped with farmer's market, football & soccer schedules...plus squeezing in a little time away too.  Here's what I'm going to do - if I can remember a meal - I'll claim it.  Even though they might be out of order.  And, I'm proud to say that even in the "busy"ness of the last few weeks we have still eaten at home more than not!! 

Meal 136 - Smoked sausage roasted over a campfire (Just me & Tony in a cabin in Tennessee!) & funyuns of course!
Meal 137 - Grilled pizza over that same campfire - thanks to my girls who say that summer camp grilled pizza is the greatest ever - without their thoughts we might not have tried that.
Meal 138 - Biscuits on a stick - made over that same campfire - these are my absolute favorite campfire treat.  Learned this trick from "camping certification" training when I was a Girl Scout leader.  Whittle down a wider stick than you would for a normal hot dog or marshmallow.  Take a canned biscuit, pull it until it is long and narrow, grease the end of your stick with butter, then wrap that biscuit around the end of the stick in a spiral.  Brown it slowly over some of the fires coals, then you can pull it off the stick and you have a perfect little pocket to fill with butter & jelly or even ham and cheese!!
Meal 139 & 140- Omelettes - we've eaten scrambled eggs and omelettes at least twice in the last couple of weeks.
Meal 141 - Fried pork chops, mashed potatoes, corn, biscuits & gravy.
Meal 142 - Biscuits, gravy, sausage, eggs & tomatoes.
Meal 143 - Meatloaf & squash casserole (Paula Deen's recipe of foodtv.com)
Meal 144 - Refried Beans, tomatoes, cheese & onions - with tortillas.
Meal 145 - Grilled cheese & chips.
Meal 146 - Potato Soup & Tomato Soup - this was one night when I prepared these soups for our families at church.  We are having a free family meal each Wednesday before discipleship.
Meal 147 - Loaded baked potatoes.
Meal 148 - Chili
Meal 149 - frozen pizza - not much to count there - but I am going to count it!
Meal 150 - Lasagna
Meal 151 - Sloppy Joes & potatoes
Meal 152 - Grits with bacon & cheese
Meal 153 - Cheeseburgers & grits

That's a 28 day catch up & 18 meals counted.  That's not too bad really.  Each Wednesday night we are eating at church....so that means that we've really just eaten out 5 or 6 times or I've forgotten the meal.  It's WAY better than I've done in the past....even though it's sad that I'm just halfway to my goal!!

Meal 135 - Sloppy Joes & butternut two ways

Tonight I made sloppy joes from scratch & butternut squash in two different ways. 

#1 - I chopped up half a butternut squash & one large sweet potato - tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper & baked them at 450 for 10 minutes.  Remove them from the oven & toss with two tablespoons of maple syrup.  Return to oven for another 20 minutes.  This was FABULOUS!!

#2 - With the remaining butternut I chopped it up into fry sized pieces, sprayed with cooking oil & lightly salted.  I placed these on a baking sheet in the same oven & baked until they were lightly browned.

#3 - I chopped two small heads of cabbage, one green pepper, tossed with melted butter & popped that in the oven too.

#4 - For the sloppy joes I just browned the hamburger, added one chopped green pepper & one onion - lots of ketchup, some mustard, garlic powder & brown sugar.  I used to try the cans of manwich - but they don't have enough flavor so I was always "doctoring" them up.  I finally just stopped spending the money on them!!

Meal 133 - leftovers & frozen pizza

Monday night was leftover lasagna & frozen pizza!!
After soccer games this was wonderful.

Meal 132 - Lasagna

Sunday night Jamilyn & I cooked together & made the same basic lasagna that we always make.  The only difference was that we were out of lasagna noodles so we used layers of rotini instead.  It was great to cook with Jamilyn & help her "problem solve" in the kitchen.  That's what so much of cooking comes down to!!

Meal 131 - Mexican!!

Meal 131 was Mexican Lasagna with eggplant, Mexican rice & Mexican cornbread!

Here's the link to the Mexican Lasagna Recipe that I kinda' used:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/MEXICAN-EGGPLANT-CASSAROLE-1202628

Here's the link to Paula Deen's cornbread recipe that I went by completely:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/layered-mexican-cornbread-recipe/index.html

And the rice is the Dora Rice that I've talked about making before.  Dora is a woman from Mexico that I got to cook with one afternoon while on a mission trip.  Helping her cook these HUGE pots of food was amazing.  Really, it was just a blessing to get to be with her. 

For the rice she started by heating olive oil in a large skillet, then she added the white rice & basically sauteed that uncooked rice until it had almost toasted in the oil.  At that point she added water, tomato bouillon, diced carrots & cilantro.  Covered & let the rice finish cooking.

Cooking with her that day was the first time I had seen tomato bouillon & it was hard to find at first, but most larger grocery stores carry it.  Saturday night this was the my favorite thing. 

Meal 130 - same as before

Meal 130 was Saturday's lunch.  We had just finished hauling in tobacco so I came home a few minutes before everyone else & fixed the same pork and cabbage that we had eaten the night before on our date night.  The kids loved it too.  I do feel blessed to have kids who will actually eat a variety of foods.

Meal 129 - Date night

I don't know if this technically counts, but meal 129 was mostly cooked by Tony.  I was just his sous chef.  When I got home at the very end of the day, he had already started marinating some pork loin for our meal.  He used his standard red wine, olive oil and fajita steak seasoning for the marinade.  Then we just chopped up some cabbage, pepper & onion and sauteed those in some olive oil.

It was perfect.

Meal 128 - Stuffed Mini-bells

I'm so excited about tonight's meal, even though I haven't even officially cooked it yet.  I've just spent about 30 minutes doing the prep work & have the entire plan in motion so I'm blogging now.

Check these out:

These little adorable creations are mini-bells.  Little bitty bell peppers!!  I am selling them at our local farmer's market this year & I have fallen in love with them.  I've cooked with them many times & have waited patiently to find the time to stuff them because in my mind, they would make the cutest addition to any meal.  Just look at them all lined up!!

So anyway, I just did a simple hamburger stuffing.  Mixed my hamburger up with a little garlic salt & pepper - and that's it.  I was surprised at how much hamburger a pint of these held.  And I was surprised with the number of them when they were all lined out.  I never thought one pint would make an entire meal - so we will be adding some hamburgers or mini-meatloaves to our plates as well.  I would just stuff up another pint to go with them, but I don't have any left.

I thought about topping them with lots of different things - but have finally decided that I'm going to make a warm dipping sauce for them out of our green pepper jelly.  In my mind (again) these are going to be amazing flavor combinations - so I'll let you know later if I was right!

I'll probably add some baked cabbage to this meal & call it complete.  Maybe some rice??  Not totally sure on the sides needed.  Will post final decisions later.

Meal 127 - just for two

Monday night was NOT a date night, but we I ended up only cooking supper for Tony & I because my mom picked up McD's for all the kids.  Tony had three meetings.  The girls had a soccer game & Wayne had football practice.  So, my mom ended up staying at the game with our girls while I picked Wayne up for practice & when they called & said, "Is it okay for Granny to just take us to McDonald's?"  I said sure.  I did have a plan - but at 8:30 p.m. I quickly yielded to the fast & easy.

When Tony got home he wasn't even that hungry because he had eaten leftover tomato grits for a late lunch.  So I just fixed us a couple of quick sandwiches, some fresh cheese grits & we called it a night.  But, I'm also calling it a meal!!

Meal 126 - Paula Deen's Tomato Grits

Tonight I made Paula Deen's Tomato Grits.  As always, her recipe did not disappoint!  The link below includes a recipe for Shrimp Florentine, which I did not try tonight (even though it sounds wonderful too.)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/shrimp-florentine-over-tomato-grits-recipe/index.html

I made just a few changes because of what ingredients I did and did not have.  I didn't use any onions, but instead sauteed fresh garlic which I did have.  I didn't have the garlic cheese or cheddar cheese - so I used our old favorite Velveeta.  I also used fresh garden tomatoes & a banana pepper.

I also baked up some yeast rolls from scratch.

LOVED meal 126 - of course I love grits.

Meal 125 - Meatloaf & baked cabbage

Saturday night I was so excited about baking some cabbage!!  Since I was firing up the oven anyway, I just chose a meatloaf to go along with the cabbage.  I don't know if I've ever described how a friend taught me to bake the cabbage.  But I basically chop it up, add onion & pepper and toss it in melted butter & seasoned salt.  Pour into a greased casserole dish & bake at 350 for about an hour.  It is so wonderful!!

Dara put together the meatloaf Saturday night.  Hamburger, egg, quick oats, chopped onion & peppers, worcheshire sauce and some of mom's homemade tomato ketchup from this year's tomatoes!  I baked this for about an hour & then topped with some more homemade tomato ketchup - mixed up with a little brown sugar.  This makes it fabulous.

We also had some cornbread and leftovers from our Thursday night meal - which mom had made for us.  She made us pinto beans, corn, mashed potatoes & cole slaw.  That was a great meal too.

Meal 124 - Roast Beast sandwiches

Meal 124 was a date night meal with just the two of us.  We "splurged" and purchased Doritos & Funyuns to eat with our leftover roast sandwiches.  This is by far my all time favorite sandwich.  When I bought the roasts the other day I made sure I purchased real KRAFT mayo just for the sandwiches I was already planning for later!!

I know that this is not a luxurious date night meal, but it was perfect for us!

Meal 122 & 123 - Ratatouille & Lasagna

When I came home from Farmer's Market yesterday I had some key ingredients that I wanted to cook with...tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers and eggplant.  So Wayne & I both worked hard to prepare Ratatouille & Lasagna.  Both recipes for these dishes have been previously posted.

Wayne helped me every step of the Wayne, including chopping the vegetables & grating the fresh parmesan cheese.  He completely assembled the lasagna on his own.

I'm counting it as two meals because Tony said I should & because by making both dishes, we actually had enough leftovers for tonight's meal as well.

Meal 121 - Meatloaf & acorn squash

Monday night was quickly made meatloaf, fried cornbread & baked acorn squash.  The meatloaf was wonderful & I totally contribute the flavor to the fresh green peppers I added from our garden.  It just really made all the flavors pop.

I cut the acorn squash in half.  Baked them along with the meatloaf.  However, this time when they were done, I scooped out the squash from it's shell & added a little butter, brown sugar & salt.  The squash was Tony's favorite part of the meal.  The way I made it last time he wasn't really crazy about it.  This time he loved it.  I think this proves that you really have to play with your food & recipes to find what works best for each individual family.

The cornbread Wayne mixed up himself & Tony actually fried it up for all of us while I was picking the girls up from soccer practice.  The greatest meals are the ones where we all pitch in or at least together during the process.

Meal 120 - Roast Beast

One of my favorite literary moments comes when Dr. Seuss narrates the passage where the Grinch steals Christmas from the Who's...even their 'roast beast.'  And later, with the love of Christmas filling his heart, the Grinch himself carves that very roast beast in the Whoville Christmas Celebration!  We love Dr. Seuss.

Anyway, meal 120 was "roast beast" that I actually had to purchase from the store.  We've been out of roasts for awhile & we're so spoiled to having our own beef in the freezer that I honestly don't remember ever purchasing a roast.  But Dara & I were craving roast so badly that I broke down & bought a couple of roasts.

Dara actually got the roasts started in the crock pot for me.  2 sirloin roasts with just a little water to cover the bottom of the crock.  Later I tossed in some fresh garlic, salt & pepper & we let it cook for at least 7 hours on low.  As supper time drew closer I whipped up some mashed potatoes & made some brown gravy from the roast juices. 

For the gravy I just ladeled several scoops over roast juice into a small simmering pot & turned that to medium-high.  I slowly added some corn starch with a small strainer (to eliminate lumps).  The juices eventually thickened to a WONDERFUL gravy. 

And, those three things along with some sandwich bread turned into wonderful Manhattens!  Meal 120 done.

Meal 119 - Greek Moussaka

I just tempered eggs for the first time in my life!
And, I felt very successful when I didn't end up with any scrambled pieces in my sauce!!
And the end of farmer's market today I brought home two eggplants & some fresh garlic, thanks to Athyleon!  I also had some onions & tomatoes left.  So all of that, plus some ground beef, milk, eggs & cheese became our supper. 

It was one of those nights where I just decided to search the internet until I found a recipe that fit what I had available & I ended up choosing a Greek Moussaka recipe. 

The link to the recipe I used is here:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,166,143186-240198,00.html

And the link to the wonderful little greek woman that I watched make this on youtube is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWWSWQYPYgI

Here's a picture of the final product.  It took 2.5 hours to prepare.  Not sure it had enough flavor for me.  If I do it again, I'll probably add more seasoning.

Meal 118

Bowls of heaven.  Pretty sure I've posted this recipe before.  It's actually a pampered chef recipe...totally not called that by Pampered Chef.  The name came from Wayne.  The first time he ate it he said triumphantly, "THIS is a bowl of heaven!"

Here's the link.

http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/recipesearch/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=85206

As you can see from the skillet below I also added some roma tomatoes & did everything in a saute pan.  And, we used leftover rotisserie chicken from our meal last night.
It's the tomato, basil, garlic combination.  We love it.

Meal 117

Bruschetta, rotisserie chicken (totally from the store!) & left over pizza.

Meal 116

Breakfast!!  Pancakes to be specific.  Made with a box of bisquick.  They were wonderful.  But after I got them made I realized that we didn't have any pancake syrup, so we ended up using corn syrup instead.  Anyone else remember doing that as a kid?

Meal 115

Meal 115 was ratatouille, herb bread, small meatloaves & blackberry cobbler.  All recipes have been posted before...I think.  Wait, maybe I've never talked about the cobbler process. 

Here's what we do to make a cobbler: Add 1 quart of blackberries, 1 cup of sugar, & just a little water - I don't actually cover the berries - to a pan. Simmer this for awhile on top of the stove.  Make a simple biscuit like pie crust - I actually used a biscuit mix this time.  Spray a casserole dish with oil.  Roll your dough mixture out big enough to cover the bottom of your casserole dish & still fold over to make a top for your cobbler.  Transfer your pie crust to the casserole dish (this is definately the hardest part!) - cover the bottom & let the remainder drape over the sides of the dish.  It if breaks off, like mine did, it's not a big deal, just pick up the pieces & lay them back on top.  Your not looking for perfection here - besides, sometimes it's those imperfect cobblers that bake up to look the prettiest!  After you've got you pie crust situated - pour the blackberries & sugar mixture into the casserole dish & then fold over the top of the crust.  Sprinkle with a little sugar & bake until the crust is golden brown. 

Our girls have actually won several blackberry cobbler titles at our local fair through the years & this is the simple process that they've always used.  Sometime Dara adds a little butter to the top when she makes hers, but not always. The pics above are of cobbler they've made for the fairs.

A month in review

It has been nearly a MONTH since I last blogged.  I promise I have been cooking.  The lag in documentation has been due to the "busy"ness of this time of year at the Farmer's Market. I know I've mentioned that we grow the vast majority of our food, including beef.  But I'm not sure if I've mentioned that we also sell produce during the harvesting months here in Kentucky.  April through October you will find us at the market selling everything from eggplants to watermelons.

The last four weeks our major crops have come in & we've also had a very busy baseball schedule to keep!

So, I'm going to recap some of our meals & get started back to blogging each one.  We've eaten BLT's & lasagna several times in the last few weeks.  Both made with our fresh tomatoes.  These treats are definately highlights of the summer. 

We've also had at least two or three meals centered around our green beans. Thanks to a market customer I've started preparing green beans in a simpler way.  I simply snap off the ends & pull the strings (if there are any) - dump them into my crockpot with some country ham pieces & a little water.  I let those simmer all day.  Add some smashed new potatoes & fried corn bread  & we're done. 

Tonight we had those green beans, simply baked acorn squash (with just a little butter & brown sugar) & fried cornbread.  I also baked a spaghetti squash - just to show customers at tomorrow's market what the prepared squash looks like inside & some of that ended up on Tony's plate too. I think it was his favorite part of the meal. The girls also fixed themselves a BLT to go with the meal.

I know that I've fixed the ratatouille again since last time.  Tony is now a HUGE fan of that.  We've also had his forever favorite of meatloaf lately.

One night some sauteed pork steaks were the center of our meal. I think we had silver queen corn & smashed potatoes with those - I know two starches aren't great for us....but it was a good meal.

My favorite meal that I can remember right now was when Wayne actually grilled some ribs over cedar.  Tony had found a Kansas City rub that they used on the ribs.  I also boiled up some "incredible" corn & helped Wayne cut up some other fresh vegetables for a grill basket.  They were tasty.  Actually the entire meal was.

Hamburgers have been pretty common around here too.  Especially with the new potatoes & fresh dill pickles.  My mom made 5 quarts of small whole dill pickles & we actually ate one whole quart in just a couple of days!

I've also made salsa from the garden this year & we've had several meals with that.  It's so simple to open a can of refried beans - top those with some cheese & salsa - and scoop it all up with some chips.

We've also eaten some fresh fish caught on bank poles along the Green River this year.

So, all in all I think I've added about 19 meals to the count since I blogged last.  I know that sounds like alot, but we really do eat at home alot when all the fresh stuff comes in.  To all of you who have been asking me when I'm going to catch up on this blog, thanks for keeping me accountable!

114 meals complete.

Meal 95

Tonight we tried a marvelous french recipe...ratatouille.  All our ingredients were totally fresh except for the mushrooms (which were canned)...and Wayne & I had a great time in the kitchen together chopping away. 

Here's what we started with on the cutting board.

Here's the link to the recipe we used:
http://www.eggplantrecipes.net/EggplantRecipes/Ratatouille.htm

You start by sauteeing eggplant with garlic & parsley.  Then add that to the bottom of casserole dish.  Top that first layer with parmesan cheese.  Then add a layer of sliced zucchini - followed by another layer of parm. Wayne was totally in charge of slicing the zuke layer.  Here's what he did:

Next came a layer of chopped up tomatoes, green peppers, & mushrooms.

Then one final layer of parm. 

And, here's what it looked like fresh out of the oven.

Since we were baking, we also threw some bratwursts in an iron skillet & stuck those in the oven too.  Then we boiled some fresh corn.

There's nothing better than meals made with summer bounty!
Meal 95 done, 205 to go!!!

Major Catch Up!!

It has been so long since I've blogged!
And I don't have time right this minute to do a great detailed job of catching up.
So, here's a quick run down of the last five meals I've prepared at home.
I prepared a huge meal for a bunch of teenagers one night with a SUPER SIZED meatloaf...left-over zucchini casserole from the last meal I had blogged, potato salad (made with a dry ranch dressing mix), baked cabbage and another cucumber salad. That was meal 91.

Another meal was some grilled deer tenderloin with grilled cabbage & potatoes.  It was okay...we are not excellent grillers - so this is an area that we need major improvement in!  Grilled Meal 92.

I baked home-made croutons one afternoon for one of our farmer's market customers & us to keep at home too.  Those croutons were part of awesome lunchtime salads that I'm definately counting as one meal....fresh spinach, boiled eggs & awesome croutons....Meal 93.

Meal 94 was bruschetta & cherry salad.  I'm pretty sure I've shared both recipes before.  They are both quick & easy.

There may have been more that I've forgotten, but that's all the time I have right now to think.

Meal 90

As I mentioned before we haven't turned the air conditioning on yet & it's starting to really affect the way I cook & think about cooking.  Tony didn't even get in from tractor work until after 9 p.m....so we didn't eat until around 9:30.  I broiled some hamburgers in the oven - enough for two meals.  I made some more cucumber salad, only this time I added sour cream too.  The cucumbers are hard for me to get prepared because I just want to eat them as fast as I can slice them up!!  They're so wonderful right out of the garden.

And, I baked a zucchini casserole from a new recipe.  It was okay.  I mainly chose it because the zucchini was already grated & I've had a box of stuffing in the pantry for a long time that I haven't used.  Here's the link:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/summer-zucchini-casserole/Detail.aspx

I didn't cook the zucchini first because it was already grated up & I didn't use onions or carrots at all. 

Meal 90 done...210 to go!!

Meal Out

Just wanted to mention a meal Tony & I ate on our date last night.
We traveled to Bardstown, location of "My Old Kentucky Home" and ate at Kreso's.  It was a perfect, wonderful meal in a great atmosphere.  It felt like we were on a little vacation just for the night. 

Meal 89

It's getting really warm here & we still haven't turned on our air conditioning, so I've started "thinking" alot about cooler foods.  Especially foods that can be prepared without much heat. 

So, meal 89 was chicken salad.  Add to that some more leftover pasta salad & some cucumber salad & you have our meal.  Cucumbers were fresh out of the garden & I used an extension recipe.  Sliced cucumbers, a little sugar, a little apple cider vinegar & some fresh dill.

89 meals down.

Meal 88

Meal 88 was totally scavenged from tailgating...a friend left us her pasta salad, we took home some of the chicken & even though I HATE to admit this, we also had some chips (dill pickle!)

Meal 88 eaten - even though it wasn't all that healthy!!

Meal 87

Meal 87 was a tailgating meal combined with baptisms at our town's river park.  I made an another zucchini casserole & a great cherry salad that a friend makes often.  It's so simple, light & refreshing.  One can of cherry pie filling, one can of crushed pineapple, one can of eagle brand sweetened milk, and two small containers of cool whip or one large.  It's super simple & so good.

Here's a scene from our afternoon of tailgating fun!

Meal 86

I had thought about meal 86 all day before I got it made & I was so excited about the vegetables that I honestly didn't care if we even had a protein.

My favorite dish of the meal was wilted spinach & lettuce salad.  Here's the link:

http://cookeatshare.com/recipes/wilted-spinach-bacon-salad-172946?ref=p_title

The only major change I made in this recipe was that I more than doubled it & used about half & half lettuce & spinach.  The steam rising up from the saute smelled so wonderful, it was almost as exciting as actually eating.

The second amazing vegetable dish I tried was a zucchini casserole from this link:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1850,136177-228204,00.html

We took pictures of both dishes, but I accidently deleted them, which is totally unlike me.  We ate this meal outside on the deck, enjoying the summer night. 

O, I also sauteed some chicken to go with this, but it was totally unneccessary..the eggs in the zucchini casserole could've held their own without an additional protein.

Hope you have time to enjoy these recipes too, Meal 86 done!

Meal 85

Tonight was grilled chicken/spinach salads - very simple sauteed chicken with fajita seasoning....fresh spinach from our garden & homemade croutons.

Meal 84

Remember those salmon patties from your childhood??  That's what I did this past Thursday night....two drained cans of salmon, 2 eggs, some crushed saltine crackers...mixed up, patted out & covered in cornmeal...then browned in some olive oil.  They were quite a treat!

I also boiled some new potatoes, barely smashed them & then added salt & pepper.  We also had plain old cornbread the way mom used to make.  Cornmeal, a little flour, one egg & some milk.

Meal 83

Today I cooked a big meal for lunch....I've fallen behind on cooking, so I'm gonna' have to make up some lost ground somewhere.  Plus, our kids got up & had a big morning of rock picking up on the farm so I knew they would be really hungry when they came in.

I fixed a four pound meatloaf.  I added mustard, tomato puree,worcheshire sauce, oatmeal, onion & two eggs.  I never end up with a meatloaf that tastes the same because I'm always changing what I put in it based on what there is available in the pantry & frig. Like this morning I would've used ketchup, but we were out.  I found a can of tomato puree in the pantry & decided that would work, but then I couldn't find our can opener anywhere??  A friend called to say he was coming by to pick up a key, so I asked him to bring a can opener with him.  He did & our meatloaf was saved!  Thanks Jeremy. 

I also baked a large pan of cornbread with chopped up jalapenos instead of the habanero relish this time.

My two favorite things on the plate were the new potatoes & zucchini.  I boiled a quart of small red potatoes, drained them & just added some butter, salt & pepper.  New potatoes are such a treat that they stand simply on their own. 

I also roasted some zucchini....which was wonderful!  I sliced up one large zucchini & tossed it in olive oil, garlic salt, black pepper & some fresh thyme.  I roasted them in the same oven with the meatloaf.

Meal 83 cooked & eaten, now I've just got to go clean!!

(And go buy a can-opener!)

Meal 82

Friday I brought home some wonderful zucchini from the farmer's market. Tonight was the first time I've cooked since then!!

The highlights of the meal were the fresh zucchini, garlic & lettuce - all from our local farmer's market.  I used the following recipe:
 
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Creamy-Zucchini-with-Linguine/Detail.aspx

 
I'm convinced that the farm fresh garlic (thanks Athyleon!) made a big difference in the taste.  I also changed the recipe a little by grating the zucchini instead of chopping it.  I thought this would make the zucchini a little more palatable to my kids!  Of course we added some freshly grated parmesan.  That has become our favorite thing to do lately.
 

 
I also sauteed some chicken in olive oil & just seasoned those with salt and pepper.  Then our kids went & picked some fresh lettuce from the garden. 

We added home-made croutons that I had made earlier in the week for our farmer's market.  And, our meals were complete.
 

Meal 81

Frozen pizza, spinach salad, & home-made croutons.
We were in two separate places for supper on this night, but I did prepare the salad, croutons & pizza for those who were staying home.

Meal 80

Today was farmer's market so tonight we had a rich farmer's market meal of spinach, onion, mushroom & parmesan eggs with toasted herb bread.  Plenty of protein, fresh veggies & yummy herbs.  And, it is always a quick meal.

80 meals down!!  Woohoo!

Meal 79

Campfire Cookout at Jadaway Farms!!  Meal 79 was roasted hotdogs, marshmallows & Funyuns. (We LOVE funyuns!)

The conversation around our campfire included summer planning & dividing out summer responsibilities.  This is a tradition for us.  Everyone takes turns sharing 3 or more things they'd like to do this summer before school starts again...then we do the best we can to make everyone's summer dreams happen!

Summertime goes too fast!

Meal 78

Tonight I made asparagus pasta again with sauteed ham.  This was a full farmer's market rich meal.  The asparagus & garlic came from yesterday's market.  The complete recipe for this dish is on meal 68.

Meal 78 done!

Meal 77

Meal 77 was ham, green beans, smashed potatoes & cornbread.
I picked up a $4 - fully cooked ham at our local grocery....stuck it in the crock pot while we were gone to discipleship for about an hour.  When we got back home I simmered home-canned green beans with a little of that ham & boiled some potatoes, while mixing up the cornbread batter.

The kids LOVE the smashed potatoes I make, which is based on my version of Racheal Ray's smashed ones.  After they are boiled I drain them, add some butter & sour cream, salt & pepper, and slice up a whole green onion.  I use an old fashioned potato smasher & just give them a quick smash to incorporate everything in the pot.  They are NOT like mashed potatoes at all - but they are delicious.

Meal 77 done - 223 meals to go.

Meal 76

Spaghetti prepped in 15 minutes.
Opened can of spaghetti sauce & a can of mushrooms, boiled some rigatoni, and browned some ground beef.  Sprinkled on some parmesan.  Meal done.

224 meals to go!

Meal 75

Meal 75 was spinach, onion & mushroom omelettes with buttery yeast rolls.  Our family sells fresh vegetables, fruit & baked goods at our local farmer's market and sometimes we get to bring home some left-overs.  It was left-over spinach & onions that filled these wonderful omelettes.  We also sprinkled them while warm with a little fresh parmesan.

75 down....225 to go.

Meal 74

Today's meal began 2 years ago....literally.
Our son brought home a rooster that his class had hatched out from an incubator exactly 2 years ago. 

I did some research on how to cook a rooster because they are notoriously tough....and came up with a variation on the classic french "coq au vin."  Here's the recipe link.  I followed it almost exactly.  It was fairly simple.
 
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/coq_au_vin/
 
I also baked some kale for the first time.  Washed & dried the leaves, laid them on a greased baking sheet, sprayed them with olive oil & sprinkled a little salt.  I baked them for just a few minutes, then turned them & baked them a little longer.  They were a big hit...they were crispy, just like potato chips.
 
Then I also baked some strawberry shortcakes.  I just followed the recipe on a box of biscuit mix, except I added a little more sugar accidently.  They were wonderful with our fresh strawberries!
 

74 meals complete....226 to go.

Meal 73

Since I'm so far behind on meals, I'm gonna' start including lunches if I've done any real preparation for them.

Today I took some leftover chicken & chopped it up for chicken salad....with toasted almond slivers & chopped up grapes.  I added just a little mayo and sour cream.  Tony & I hardly ever eat lunch together because he rarely takes time to eat & if he does it's inhaled quickly....but he even took time to eat this today.  It was wonderful.

Meal 73 done.

Meal 72

Roasted chicken & bruschetta.
This was a quick grocery pull together meal.
I went to the grocery after Bible study & got a large can of diced chicken, 2 rotisserie chickens & a loaf of italian bread.  I came home, sliced the bread, bushed it with olive oil & grilled it in our saute pan.  At the same time, I drained the tomatos, added balsamic vinegar & some garlic powder.  Then I chopped up some fresh basil & grated some parmesan.
We all built our own bruschetta & ate them with the rotisseries chicken.  It was quick & wonderful.
Meal 72 done.

Meal 71

Frog legs!!  It's time here in Kentucky for frog season & it's definately a local delicacy.  Tonight was our first pan of fried legs for the year.  I don't fry but I have done everything else to prepare for them to be fried....I have skinned them (can you imagine pulling that slimy skin off?? yuck!)...washed them, soaked them in milk & prepped the flour to roll them in with black pepper, salt and garlic powder.  I even added the oil to the pan & put it on the stove.  But, the frying, have I mentioned?  I just DON'T fry.  That part is up to Tony....just like the actual gigging is. 

I added a very plain side of mac & cheese.  And, some savory herb muffins.
71 meals done!!

Meal 70

Tonight we had a feast of things available at our local farmer's market.  Fresh pork bratwurst from Barbour Farms, spinach from our garden, pinto beans (now those were from the grocery) and habanero cornbread.

It was wonderful....230 more meals to go!

Meal 69

I sell some home-grown produce at our local Farmer's Market.  And since the market has opened we have had these amazing samples provided by our local extension staff.  Our extension staff, representing the University of Kentucky, is top notch....and their samples have made our market so much fun & more educational for the customer.

One of the samples last week was highlighting asparagus & Saturday afternoon I made that meal for us.  It was a super hit with the guys, the girls thought it was good too, just not quite as thrilled.

Here's the "Asparagus & Pasta" recipe:
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
2 teaspoons butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound fresh asparagus, cut into one inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 pound of pasta, cooked & drained

In a non-stick skillet, cook garlic, red pepper and hot sauce in oil & butter for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add asparagus and pepper; satue until asparagus is crisp, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Pour over hot pasta, sprinkle on cheese and toss to coat.

Yield: six 1 1/2 cup servings
Nutrional Analysis: 280 calories, 12 g fat, 3 g sat fat., 8 g protein, 32 gram carbohydrate, 10 mg cholesterol, 105 mg sodium

Week in review

May 8th - day of the wedding.  It was a gorgeous outside wedding.  We ate at the reception & then grazed some that night.  Not enough to really call a meal?!?

May 9th - I made buffalo burgers & potato soup for Tony & I (date night) and I also fixed enough to take a meal to my mom's for Mother's Day. Meal 67!

May 10th - ??

May 11th - El Mazatlan

May 12th - Ms. Patty Smith made us a meatloaf.  It was a wonderful recipe that included corn & green peas in the meatloaf itself.  Never had eaten it that way before.  I added spinach & cornbread to go with this, so I'm counting it as a meal. Meal 68!

May 13th - This was the night that our kids had a technology fair & baseball game. My mom fixed a pork shoulder & hashbrown casserole for us.  It was wonderful.  There was no "occasion" here, I think she was just feeling sorry for us because we are so behind.

May 14th - Pizza Hut

Catch up...

It has been 8 days since I've blogged & am very thankful for a friend who messaged me & said "Have you all not eaten this week?"  I so need accountability!!

May 2 - We took our kids for an afternoon shopping trip & ate in the malls' food court (that always seems like such a bad idea after you've done it!)
May 3 - I actually have NO memory of this night.
May 4 - We ate deer tenderloin, cooked spinach, corn bread & rolls.  Our kids have eaten this so much lately that they finally said...."please stop cooking that for awhile."  I agreed.
May 5 - We had what we call "bean dip."  It's a quick open the can meal that Tony learned from an aunt before we got married.  Open a can of refried beans, smear a big dollop or two on a dinner plate, top with salsa, cheese, hot sauce, olives, green onions (whatever you have)...microwave that for a minute & then add some sour cream & lettuce if you have it.  Eat with chips.  It is a wonderful go to meal when time is slim.  The kids also fixed some quesadillas that night.
May 6 - FFA banquet with steak, rolls & baked potatoes!!
May 7 - We ate supper at our niece's wedding rehearsal

That was prepared meals for this entire week....that's not great, but it's better than nothing.  And, I'm pretty sure we ate at home on Monday....I just can't remember what it was?!?

Meal 63

Sauteed deer tenderloin, spinach salad & homemade dill-onion bread.
This meal was amazing....237 meals to go.

Meal 62

Tonight's meal was inspired by a very scary moment I experienced this week.  Tony & I were sitting down at lunch & caught a few minutes of the Rachael Ray show while she was cooking.  She was making Adirondack Red Wing Burgers & the longer we watched the more engrossed Tony became in what she was doing....when she finally topped those burgers with blue cheese (His absolute FAVORITE!)...I saw a look in his eyes that scared me.  That look made me believe for a minute that if Rachael Ray suddenly became single...he might just leave me for her.... :)

Actually I looked over at him & said "She's married you know!"

So today, just two days later, I made those burgers & they are AMAZING!! They are a great combination of all the classic hot wing flavors on a bun.  As always, we added a spinach salad on the side & everyone was in heaven.  Here's the link:
 
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/adirondack-red-wing-burgers/

62 meals completed!

Meal 61

Tonight's meal was amazing.  Tony marinated deer tenderloin all day, we sauteed it & added a fresh spinach salad with boiled farm eggs & olive oil brushed grilled french bread.

It was simple & perfect....61 meals complete.

Meal 60

A friend of mine recently attended a "Women of Joy" conference & brought me home a "Taste of Joy" cookbook....first of all - I LOVE gifts, so I was thrilled & secondly -  I thought it was full of thoughtfulness b/c she knows that I'm trying to cook these 300 meals!!  And tonight, that cookbook truly brought joy to our home with an amazing recipe. 

I think the recipe "Spinach Squares" is actually in the appetizer section of the book, but it turned into our main dish for the night & it was WONDERFUL! 
Here it goes:
1/2 stick margarine (I used butter as always)
1/2 onion, finely chopped (I used 2 large green onions out of our garden)
8 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms (I used a small can of mushrooms)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (didn't have these either, so I substituted 1/4 cup polenta)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon pepper, oregano, basil (I used fresh oregano & basil from our backporch)
2 (10 ounce) packages of chopped frozen spinach, thawed & drained (instead of frozen, we used fresh from our garden)

Saute butter with onions & mushrooms.  Combine rest of ingredients with onion & mushroom mixture.  Place in greased 9x13 inch baking dish.  Bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.  Cut into squares.

We ate this with home-made yeast rolls & fresh green onions.  It was wonderful!!
60 meals down, 240 to go.

Meal 59

So I brought home extra spaghetti from last night's meal....and totally re-created it into something I hope will be wonderful for supper.  I guess you could call it "spasagna."  1 layer of spaghetti & meat sauce topped with two layers of cheese & I just kept building it that way.  I'm also in the process of baking those buttery yeast rolls that I discovered the recipe for the other day.  We are REALLY excited about those.  We'll probably add a spinach salad - if it stops raining long enough for us to go get some out of the garden.

Here's the math in a different way...this is the 114th day of 2010.  I've fixed 59 meals, so that means that there have been 55 days that I haven't cooked. I know that might not seem GREAT to many of you, but I'm thinking that's WAY more than I've done before, so I'm happy.

241 meals to go...and I've cooked over half of the days of this year already!
I am calling that success.

Meal 58

Our church's relay for life team served spaghetti last night at a church event, so that was meal 58 for us.  I made a double batch, stuffed it into a crockpot & that was it.  There was nothing spectacular about it - store bought spaghetti sauce & even regular old spaghetti.  But it was for a great cause & it was meal 58!!

Meal 57

I'm so excited about tonight's meal.  Not just because I fixed it, but b/c I think I'm finally getting comfortable & more confident in my cooking.  I'm finding that the food I'm preparing is getting simpler in many ways.

I sauteed some more chicken just as I did for our last meal.  Added to that are fresh spinach salads from our garden....topped very simply with grated queso fresca.

And, the big deal of the meal is some buttery yeast rolls that I made from scratch this afternoon.  Not only do they look wonderful, but they are wonderful. 

57 meals down....243 to go.

Meal 56

Last night I stopped at El Mazatlan (our local Mexican restaurant) & took home a cup of their wonderful white cheese dip.  At home I cut some boneless-skinless chicken breasts into very thin strips & even pounded them out even thinner.  Then I sauted them in some olive oil & sprinkled on some fajita seasoning.  I made rice quick by just boiling it with some tomato bouillon.  Then everyone (who ate in shifts) just piled their bowl with rice, chicken & cheese!! This meal got rave reviews from the diners.

56 meals down....244 to go!

Meal 55

For meal 55 we had a 3 pound meatloaf!!  No kidding, that thing was huge.  Tony loves meatloaf sandwiches for leftovers, so I always like to make plenty.

I never make meatloaf the same twice.  This time I added two farm fresh eggs (thanks Ann!), about a cup of minute oatmeal, some ketchup, some mustard, fresh green onions from the garden some seasoned salt.  After it had baked for awhile I topped it with our standard ketchup & brown sugar topping.  Wayne actually mixed that up for me while we were working together in the kitchen.

I also made cornbread, smashed potatoes (also with green onions) & cooked some greens from the garden.  Whew...it s was a wonderful meal.

55 meals down & 245 to go.

Meal 54

Meal 54 was wild turkey!!  Turkey season is in...and on the menu at our house.  This particular turkey's breast was marinaded & wrapped in bacon for some wonderful results.  We added green beans & corn from last year's garden.  Yummy meal.

54 down & 246 to go.

Meal 53

Tonight I made a hot turkey & cheese ciabatta sandwich with fresh dill.  It all started when I spotted the ciabatta on WalMart's clearance bread rack....I don't know if many of you look at those racks, but I always do.

I sliced the ciabatta in half, took off the top & started stuffing it with tons of great stuff.  The sliced turkey became the base, then I grated up some sharp cheddar, sprinkled on some fresh dill & started on the butter sauce to top it off.  I melted half a stick of butter & added in about 3 tablespoons of sweet & hot mustard.  Then I brushed that inside & outside the top of the bread.  Then I sprinkled on top of the bread some more fresh dill & poppy seeds.

Our vegetable for the night was Granny's 2009 dill pickles from our garden.  Everyone here loves those, but Wayne is our biggest fan of the dill pickle!

53 meals completed...247 to go.

Meal 52

Quesadillas saved us last night!  Aren't they this generations grilled cheese??  My kids actually fix their own now, that way everyone can get just what they want.

52 meals down...248 to go.

Meal 51

Tonight was the classic hamburger patties & green beans.  We had whole wheat rolls that were either toasted with olive oil & garlic or just split open to act like a hamburger bun...depending on who was eating.

51 meals down....249 to go.

Meal 50

Tonight I used a brand new recipe & it was great....but I don't think I'll make it again b/c it was just so heavy.  It was tomato pie & the link is below.  Same basic flavors as the bruschetta we've fallen in love with, but just so much more fat!

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tomato_pie/

I also had warmed up turkey & made an apple dessert that was wonderful!

50 meals down...250 to go!

Meal 49

This was a meal of left-overs from a meal at my mom's.  I've decided that even if we just warm it up at home, I'm including it as a meal.

Especially left-overs like those - turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans & gravy!!  Yum.

Meal 48

We ate bruschetta & greens again tonight!!  Our kids were gone on spring break with my parents when we fixed this last time, so we fixed it again for them to have tonight.  2 of our 3 kids fell in love with it instantly...Dara said that it was good, she's just not a huge fan of raw tomatoes.

Meal 47

Tonight we have eaten from our own garden for the first time in 2010!!  It's always so exciting for us & this may be the earliest we've ever done it.

Our greens are growing so well that they needed to be thinned & so Tony just "harvested" the thinnings he pulled instead of letting them go to waste.  He sauteed them up with some bacon & fresh scallions that he had pulled from the garden too. 

While he was doing that I chopped up the fresh basil & tomatoes for our bruschetta....and "grilled" some italian bread in a saute pan.  This has quickly become one of my favorite foods of all time.  The fresh basil, garlic & tomato combo is just amazing - and I love how light it is for us. I think I can do this all summer!

47 Meals done...253 to go.

Meal 46 - Bruschetta

Tonight I'm using this recipe to make bruschetta for the first time.  It has all the flavors we love - tomato, garlic & basil...so it makes perfect sense for us to have when we are looking for a "light" meal.  The only thing I'll add to this recipe is some grated parmesan as a final topping!

Bruschetta recipe at simplyrecipes.com

46 meals down....254 to go.

Meal 45

Roast beef sandwiches....except these were made with the roast deer.  These are my most favorite sandwiches of ALL time.  Chunks of roasted deer, real kraft mayo & white bread!  Yummy. 

I've gotten alot of mileage out of this deer roast.
Meal 45 down...255 to go.

Easter cake!

This is our traditional "Easter" cake.  It's super simple, finding the ingredients is the hardest part.  Follow basic directions for a white cake mix & bake in a 9x13 pan.  After baking, let it too for just a couple of minutes & then while still nice & warm....poke lots of wholes in it with a toothpick.  This afternoon our son actually used a grilling fork to do the poking because we are out of toothpicks.  After there's tons of holes in the cake, pour over the top of it a can of real cream of coconut.  The coconut will be soaked into the cake pretty quickly then let it cool some more & pop it in the frig.  After the cake is totally cold, top it with a small container of cool whip & then some shredded coconut.  We dyed our coconut with just a couple drops of food coloring & shook them in plastic sandwich bags for a few minutes.

Happy Easter....it's all about love.

Meal 44

Tonight I made Deer Roast Manhattan's.  They were amazing.  I saved the liquid out of yesterday's roast, mixed it up with some corn starch to make the brown gravy.  Made totally from scratch mashed potatoes.  And even purchased white bread just to go old-school. (We normally only eat wheat.)

For those of you who haven't had these before, it's an open-faced roast beef pile of wonderment.....that goes like this, slice of white bread, big scoop or two of mashed potatoes, chopped up deer roast, then topped with brown gravy!  Wow, that's exciting.

And, as if that weren't enough I'm also making our traditional EASTER cake this afternoon.  Will try to post pics & the "instructions" for that later.

44 meals down....256 to go.

Meal 43

Yesterday I cooked a deer roast in our crock pot all day, it had been marinated in some soy sauce, bordeaux & olive oil. When I put it in the crock pot, I added enough beef broth to cover it about half-way. 

By supper time is was amazingly tender & had the greatest taste!  I'm normally not HUGE on deer roast, but this was wonderful.  We had a few green beans left over from the night before & I also sauteed up some spinach, started with a couple slices of bacon.  I've discovered lately that spinach is probably my favorite vegetable.

43 meals down....257 to go!

Meal 42

Sauteed deer, green beans & home-made yeast rolls.  The beans were by far my favorite.  Two quarts of garden beans, couple cloves of minced garlic & chopped up bacon.  I put all this in a crock-pot for several hours & they were wonderful!!  The rolls were an easy yeast roll recipe that I found at cooks.com


QUICK HOT ROLLS
2 c. hot water
4 tbsp. Crisco
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 pkg. yeast
5 c. flour

Put hot water in a large mixing bowl and add Crisco, sugar, salt, and yeast. Stir. Add flour, a cup or two at a time. Mix well. Leave in bowl and let rise. Make into rolls and place in a buttered pan. Let rise again. Bake at 375 degrees until browned, about 20-30 minutes. Quick, easy, and delicious!

So, that's 42 meals cooked....258 to go.

Meal 41

Last summer we went camping with friends & at one of our "community" meals, a friend brought this amazing baked cabbage.  I've taken her basic recipe & made it our entire meal for tonight. Thanks Jennifer for your inspiration!

One whole cabbage, onion & green pepper...all chopped coarsely.  Toss into casserole dish.  Chop one whole polska kielbasa into bite sized pieces & add to the veggies.  Pour on top one melted stick of butter.  Dash with seasoned salt & black pepper.  Toss thoroughly.  Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.  You will want to cover with aluminum foil. 

I'm also made garlic bread out of some leftover french bread.  And, hope to get a strawberry fluff made too...that's next.

Meals in between...

Friday night - El Mazatlan with two of our kids...one was out with friends.
Saturday night - had dinner with friends at our Married LIFE event...yummy pork tenderloin, potatoes, green beans & salad. Our kids were in 3 different places that night!
Sunday night - our date night, meal out.

Meal 40

Home grown steak, spinach salads & garlic bread!

Meal out...

We ate last night with friends at Joe's Crab Shack in Louisville....great fun after the state archery competition! 

Meal 39

Just made potato soup & cornbread...actually enough for us & a friend.  I really enjoyed knowing that I was cooking for another family too.  I don't do that enough & I know people really do appreciate that.

Potato soup was full of potatos, cream cheese, butter, cream of mushroom soup & cream of chicken.  It is delicious.  I made the cornbread in two different ways.  One batch (that was going to the friends) I made plain. 

The batch that is staying here I included habanero relish in....and wow, it's HOT!  Tony loves this, I don't so much.  Habaneros can be vicious so if you've never handled them, do so with care.  We raised these in our garden & turned them into relish just for the cornbread!  A friend of ours turned us on to this trick years ago, they would give us a pint a year until we finally became self-sufficient!!  Thanks Denise & Tim!

Meal 38

This meal was leftovers from the nacho bar...nachos, meat, cheese, sour cream...yummy!

Meals in between....

Pizza Hut was Saturday night....sunday night was burgers for date night.

Meal 37

This meal was prepared for my daughter's 16th bday party!!  Since I didn't know how many to expect we went super simple with a nacho bar....nachos, cheese sauce, meat & cheese sauce, salsa, jalapenos & sour cream.  All I had to do was brown the meat!  It was a great night.

Meal 36

Tonight I made meatloaf, garden corn & a fresh baked loaf of flax & sunflower seed bread.   The kids aren't thrilled with the bread.  I may try it again, I'm not sure, but I won't post the recipe until I know it's something we really like.

36 meals done....

Meal 35

Beef stroganoff....yummy.
Recipe already linked in Meal 10.

Meal 34

Tonight's meal is home made herb bread, garden green beans & Green River deer tenderloin.  Here's the recipes I used for the beans & the tenderloin marinade.  I'm with-holding the herb bread  recipe b/c it is something that I sometimes sell at our local farmer's market.

Deer Tenderloin Marinade:

1 c. water
1 c. red wine
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. whole cloves
1 onion, sliced
1 tbsp. peppercorns
Grated peel of 1 lemon
Cover meat with marinade and place covered in refrigerator.


Green Beans:

2 quarts of home-canned green beans
1 cube beef bouillon cube
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon garlic pepper seasoning

34th meal....331 to go....290 days left in the year!

No cooking days

Three of the last four nights we were away from home at dinner-time:

Last night we went to the home of friends & had a marvelous supper!!  Grilled pork chops, awesome vegetables & home-made rolls.

The night before was "date night"....we chose drive thru food & enjoyed a scenic view while eating & talking...without interruption!!  Our kids were at my parents for supper.

The night before that was a quick mexican meal in a neighboring county where we were for an archery competition.

The night before that was....pizza at a children's event at our church.

So, I could've actually cooked that one date night meal....but I didn't.

Meal 33

Meal 33 was vegetable soup made from leftovers!!  A morph of the Paula Deen recipe I posted earlier.

Next night was Pizza Hut...any crust, any size, any style for $10!!

Strategy change up(Meals 28-32)

I've decided to change my strategy....from here on out, I'm not just going to blog the meals I prepare, but I'm also going to record what we eat in general...whether it was fast food, a meal prepared by someone else, etc.  I've decided that this will help me to see what it is that we really do??  I don't know if you're like me, but some weeks I struggle to remember exactly what we did for all our meals.  I certainly don't give it enough thought.  I think seeing it will help me to analyze where improvements need to be made.

A week ago, my husband had an accident & we actually had a couple of meals brought to us.  One night his sister made potato soup for us.  Another night a neighbor brought us meatloaf & vegetables.  Those were both wonderful!! And, they were meal 28 & 29.

Meals 30- was made over the weekend - it was chicken spaghetti (again!)
Meal 31 - was taquitos & mexican rice - it was wonderful!!
Meal 32 - was tonight's meal of ground beef patties, garlic bread & smashed potatos.

268 meals to go!!

Meal 27

Meal 27 was sloppy joes (totally homemade) & guacamole dip. 

I usually just open a can of Manwich, but for this meal I decided to go the whole nine yards & used the recipe linked below.  Did everything it said, except I substituted balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar just b/c that's what I had on hand.  The whole fam loved the joes, except for one who has never been a fan of them EVER.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/sloppy_joes/

The guacamole dip was 2 fresh avocados, smashed up, 4 oz of cream cheese & a guacamole spice mix that I purchased in the produce area at Walmart.  It was wonderful. 

Meal 27 eaten, 273 to go.

Meal 26

Tonight we had sausage, biscuits, white gravy & fried apples!!

That's all I have time to say about that right now.

26 meals down, 274 to go.

Meal 25

This meal was a hit! 
I started with a variation on my famous mexican rice.  I actually got to learn some basic mexican cooking techniques years ago from a mexican women while in Houston.  I'll post the original recipe she taught me later when I actually do exactly what she did, but tonight I'm gonna' just tell you what I did, which was using what I had available!

In a large skillet with cover I added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, enough to coat the pan well.  Heated the pan, then added about 1 cup of white rice.  The rice will kind of "saute" in the oil & turn an even brighter white, then it will start  to turn a kind of toasted color.  It will eventually burn if you let it, but before you reach that point, when all of it has changed color, add about 2 cups of water. Tonight I added to that one can of rotel & 3 chicken bouillion cubes.  Then you cover and let all that simmer until the rice is tender & all the water has evaporated.

I added chicken to it that I had sauteed with fajita seasoning....then I topped it with the BEST part, mexican white cheese dip from El Mazatlan!  I stopped by and picked that up on the way home, one of these days I'll try to make it myself, but today was not that day.

The only part of this meal that I didn't get done was that I had intended to saute some jalapenos after the chicken to add as a topping, but I was out of them & hadn't realized that.

Meal 25 done, 275 to go.

Meal 24

Frozen pizza & salads....fresh cut up iceberg, homemade 1000 island & boiled eggs.  Have I put the 1000 island recipe on here?  Every single one of us LOVE it.  1 cup mayo, 1/2 cup ketchup, 1 teaspoon chili powder & 1 tbsp relish (if you want).  The fresh farm eggs were the greatest part of the meal!! 

I feel like I'm kinda' slacking lately on my "easy" meals....I'm gonna' try to bump it up this week!

24 meals down....276 to go.

Meal 23

Tonight was left over broccoli soup from last night & salmon patties.  I did it old school & it's probably been a couple of years since I've fixed them.  1 can of salmon, one egg, a few crumbled up saltines....mix together....form into patties....cover in cornmeal & brown in a sautee pan with a little oil. 

They were delicious!!  Meal 23 done....277 to go.

Meal 22

This was a super quick half-home cooked meal!  Ran into the grocery....grabbed a rotisserie chicken for $3.99 (on sale)....a bag of frozen broccoli, a couple of cans of cream of chicken soup & some velveeta.  Those last three ingredients turned into cream of broccoli soup in about 15 minutes.  Ate the soup with the chicken.  Yummy!

22 meals down....278 to go.

Meal 21

Another snow day....and our first pot of vegetable soup for the year is on the stove!!  It smells wonderful simmering up & contributing some warmth to the house. 

Today's soup is a variation on Paula Deen's Beef Vegetable Soup recipe.  Here's the link to her recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/the-lady-and-sons-beef-vegetable-soup-recipe/index.html

I don't do everything she does in that recipe....I mainly just use the spice combinations that she suggests to add flavor to the soup.  Like today, we have no carrots in the frig & I'm not going to the store for them....and I always substitute our hamburger instead of starting with ribs & roast.

21 meals down, 279 to go! 

Meal 19

Fried Bologna Sandwiches!!  Is there anything better in the world?? 

This was our meal 19 on a recent snowy day. What made it even better was that Wayne & I fixed them together...I'm guessing teaching him how to fry bologna will go down in history to him as one of the greatest things I've ever taught him. He LOVES to see just how brown & crispy he can get the bologna - - his often look more like bacon in the end. We also mixed up some ranch dip & had pretzels & vegetables with it. That's just good old plan food.

Meal 19 down, 281 to go!!

Meal 20

Tonight I've cooked for 20 people who are attending a Married LIFE event at our church.  I tripled the chicken spaghetti recipe...that's yummy!!  We're also serving salads & Sister Schubert's rolls...they are AWESOME!!

I'm definately counting this as a meal...especially since my main fella' will be eating it too!

Meal 20 down....280 to go.

Meal 18

Meal 18 was technically prepared by teenagers who were hanging out here & decided they wanted to actually cook.  I'm counting it because I did have everything prepped & ready for them & of course gave them "pointers" throughout their time in the kitchen. 

They made sloppy joes, queso dip & their very own gallon of sweet tea.  Sloppy joes were made with the regular "open the can of sloppy joe mix" technique.  Queso was half a box of velvetta & half a pint of home-made salsa....melted together in the microwave.  And sweet tea was made with my "handed" down recipe of 4 family sized tea bags & 2 cups of sugar.  Yep, it's sweet.

The only thing I would've done differently if I'd been cooking it myself would've been to add just a tablespoon or so of brown sugar to the sloppy joes as they simmered...I just forgot to tell them that tip.

18 Meals down....282 to go.

Meal 17

The following recipe is what I made for the Super Bowl party!  These hot ham & cheese sandwiches are amazing...and so versatile.  You can make them with lots of different kinds of rolls & breads, you can also use lots of different cold cuts & cheeses.  For Super Bowl I used four long french bread loaves.

Here's the standard recipe that I got from a friend years ago:
4 pack of rolls (the small ones that come in the aluminum tray)
Sliced Swiss Cheese
Sliced Ham
2 sticks of softened margarine
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp poppy seed
2 tbsp mustard
1 medium onion chopped fine (or dried onion flakes if your in a hurry)

Preheat over to 350. Slice rolls in half. Remove tops. Mix bottom 5 ingredients into sandwich "marinate". Brush mixture on bottom roll. Layer on ham & cheese to your liking.  Replace tops.  Brush mixture on tops of rolls. Bake for 30 minutes.

They are wonderful!! 

Meal 16

This meal took 3 hours to prepare.
What took the longest was boiling the pigs feet...no kidding....it's a throw-back to my husband's childhood & he loves them.  I won't be sharing the recipe for these because I don't think anyone else would really be interested.  If you are, let me know and I'll send you a link.  Here's what they looked like cooking up.

The rest of us had roast pork shoulder with homemade sweet & sour sauce, green beans & rice with carrots.
The pork shoulder recipe link is below.  It turned out great.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1827,144168-242204,00.html

16 meals down....284 to go.

Meal 15

Tonight is the Final Season Premiere of LOST! 

For our LOST party, I've purchased fried chicken from our local grocery's deli.  That is turning into chicken from "Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack." 

I'm adding mac-n-cheese, biscuits & honey. Fresh pineapple & spinach (a nod to Sun's garden) will round out the meal.
Any LOST fans out there get the "honey" reference?

15 meals down, 285 to go!