Batch Cooking Ground Turkey — Mini Cooking Session

I haven’t really felt the need to do huge cooking days since I am only cooking for two right now.

However, I still like to do some meal prep.  Now I am mostly just doubling or tripling when I cook.

I took 2 pounds of ground turkey and divided it for four meals.

I seasoned this with bell pepper, onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to keep it kind of generic.

I made one meatloaf for the freezer.  I’ll cook this in the crockpot when I cook it.

I kept one portion out for Big Mac in a Bowl (recipe share coming tomorrow) — I kept this warm in the crockpot until supper time.

One portion went into the refrigerator — it will go in pasta sauce to serve over spaghetti squash.

The last portion went into the freezer and will either go in chili, a “hamburger” helper, or another pasta dish.  

Too Good to Pass Up

We always try to keep a little extra set aside in my grocery funds so that if a “too good to pass up” opportunity comes along we can take advantage of it.  Like a lot of areas, our local Aldi upgraded, but for some reason it feels as if their produce and general stock has gone down.  Also of concern to me is that a lot of labels have changed.....perhaps different distribution centers?

This week Lidl mailed out coupons for up to $40 off of $200.  I decided to take advantage of it and restock some of my pantry items while I was picking up this week’s produce and fresh items.  I also picked up somethings for my daughter.  Since I was by myself I didn’t try to photograph everything.

The cookies and toaster strudels are to go to my daughter’s place.  The canned and jarred items are for the pantry.  She can have any she wants.  The large box has various items like rice, pickles, applesauce, olives, roasted red peppers, chips, rice cakes, oils, foil, freezer bags, etc.  I also bought some herbs and seasonings, extracts, and a few items like that.  

What I did not get photographed was the refrigerator items.  I bought milk, eggs, cheeses (multiples of various kinds) lemons, apples, spaghetti sauqsh , potatoes, onions, mushrooms, bacon, kielbasa, and chicken.

A Week of Simple Dishes

 I’m still adjusting to one and sometimes only two being around at meal time.  Added to that for this week has been a topsy turvy schedule that has had me not knowing who would be here until the day of and sometimes mere hours before.  So in no particular order these are the main dishes I pulled together in keeping with the pantry challenge.

 We served breakfast one night that included hash.  I know this isn’t the healthiest dish, but I always keep some in my hurricane box.  Once the season has passed I try to make sure we rotate this stock.  

 

I thawed a 2 pound package of lean ground turkey breast, which I used in a pot of vegetable soup and for filling for Shepherd’s or Cottage Pie.  I had enough to make two casseroles so I took advantage and made one for the freezer for next week.  To change it up I’ll serve the one tonight topped with mashed potatoes, but I’ll use a box of stuffing from the pantry to give the second one a different twist next week.  I love it when I can cook once and get multiple meals from it.  (The soup will be for my lunches and for anyone who wants a bowl as a side with meals.) 

Pumpkin Oatmeal bars that used up the rest of a can of pumpkin and some lingering raisins.

A simple dessert using a box of pudding I had hidden in the pantry.

Homemade pizza night -- I made pepperoni rolls for my daughter and then a pan pizza (gluten free) for myself.

Sorry for the dark photo -- beef stew using home canned veggies and beef from the freezer.

 I baked a small pan of macaroni and cheese, and the leftovers went home with my daughter for her to have a quick meal on her busiest day.

Then for a lunch for myself, as I continue to eat up the hurricane food supply, I heated a can of chili and topped it with some cheese.  

Grocery Fill In for the Week

My daughter needed to run to Aldi to pick up a few things so I tagged along with her.

I went ahead and picked up what we needed to round out any gaps. 

I spent $25.17 to round meals out for the upcoming week, so that wasn't too bad.

I have used up the last of my homecanned string beans. From this point until the next canning (which I don't think I will be doing this year because if all goes according to plan I will be packing this house up and heading back to my home town) I will use either frozen or store canned beans.  Obviously I won't use these all in a week, but my general method for Aldi veggies is to buy a flat at a time and keep them on hand. 

In addition to those beans I needed:

2 cartons of milk

1 bag of zucchini (has 3 in it)

1 bag of green bell peppers (has 3 in it)

a package of Philly cheesesteak meat (We are trying a new recipe.)

a package of taco shells

a package of Provolone cheese

a package of riced cauliflower (frozen)

Canning Split Pea Soup

Sharing a bit of my small batch canning.  I like to cook a family sized recipe and can the excess so I have ready-made soups.  (The recipe is typed out under the video on the YouTube site.)

Canning Spaghetti Sauce

Needs have changed in our house, and I rarely pull out the big stovetop canner anymore.  In this video, I demonstrate some small batch canning using an electric pressure canner.

This is perfect for those of us who find due to arthritis and other issues that lifting and fiddling with the larger canner has become more difficult.

Easy Pressure Cooker Mac and Cheese

This is my grandson's favorite mac and cheese.  It's my idea of fast, easy food.  A win-win!

Although I made this in the Instant Pot, I have tried it in two other electric pressure cookers with good results.

Small Grocery Haul

This is a small grocery haul of those items I cannot find locally.  

Freezer Cooking

I found ground beef on mark down this week at almost half off.  I decided to prep it for freezer meals.  Not bad for about 30 to 40 minutes work.  Plus I’m ahead of the game for some future meals.

Chicken Enchiladas Recipe

I finally found an enchilada recipe that got the thumbs up from both my husband and my daughter.  This recipe made enough for two meals for the three of us.  

Opening Food Storage

We don’t keep a lot of food storage on hand, but I do have a few items for hurricane season.

I try to rotate them on a regular basis.  

This one had been lingering and I decided today would be a good day to try it —

A quick and easy dessert.

It came with 3 pouches of raspberry mix, 3 pouches of chocolate cookie crumbs, and 3 “cooking” bags.

Directions are simple.  

Open the raspberries, add boiling water, and wait 5 minutes.

It can be served hot or cold with the cookies sprinkled on top.

Since this was not an emergency situation I altered it slightly.

I poured the raspberries in a dish that has a tight fitting lid, added my boiling water, and stirred.

I put the lid on and let it sit until I was ready to serve it.

A quick dollop of whipped cream because dessert is always better with whipped cream.

My husband loved it!

I have two more packages that I will try to rotate in our meals over the next month or two.

Citrus Preservation

When I purchased my citrus fruit for the month I did not plan on more snow.  My husband normally comes home and helps me snack on it.  I also pack some for him to take with him.  That didn’t happen this time, but I didn’t want to let the fruit go to waste.  I love it, but I knew I couldn’t eat it fast enough to use it up in a good time frame.

I sliced and dried all  the lemons except for one to use in lemon pasta.

I sliced the last of the oranges and dried them.

I peeled and segmented the grapefruit and canned them.

I’ll use these in a couple of ways.

Lemons and Oranges:

1.  Hot teas

2.  Cold iced tea (I add to the pitcher as the bags steep.)

3.  In meat dishes such as lemon or orange chicken or to add a little zing to a grain dish.

The grapefruit can be eaten as is or added to fruit salad.  

Store Sales Papers

I took half an hour to go through all the local stores weekly sales.  (I do this online.). I’m really disappointed in general.  Makes me glad I know we are covered for a bit.

Aldi basically has a lot of processed foods on sale.  Pineapple and white mushrooms are at a pretty good price.  

Foodlion again mostly boxed/bagged items.  A lot of which I can’t use.  Plus their prices tend to be higher and I can usually find the same item less by shopping around.

Harris Teeter has eggs on sale for 97 cents a dozen with a limit of 4 dozen.  This is worth considering, but they don’t have anything else worth making the trip for.  

Publix had a lot of items I don’t use on sale.  They also tend to be on the pricey side.  A second downside with them is that I also have to send someone else in to shop for me at this store. Lidl didn’t have anything grand either.  A few things I would pick up on impulse if I were in the store, but nothing worth making a speical trip for.

Amusingly the best store around over all was Piggly Wiggly.  However, I would drive almost 45 minutes one way to get there....negating any savings since I don’t need to be in that town anyway.

Walmart has their Great Value canned veggies on sale for 38 cents per can.  Not a bad price at all, but I am well stocked. I feel comfortable in saying that I was okay with waiting on all but two of those items and really considered simply not buying anything.

However, my daugther pointed out that she needed cookies or something of the sort to take to school.  I decided if I was going to buy those I would go to Aldi.  When I was at Aldi I saw that their eggs were only 99 cents per dozen, so I picked up 3 dozen.  I also picked up 8 cartons of mushrooms to dehydrate.  

Not bad.  The eggs will carry on into next month, as will the mushrooms.

The cookies will also, but even if she and my husband munch on them I am okay with that.

I’m not sure I could make them for much less and even if I could I just don’t have the time right now.

As for the mushrooms, 8 packages filled the entire dehydrator.

The finished product:

 

Pinto Bean Chili Recipe 6 of 12

I know it seems like I have forgotten my 12 Days of Pintos.  I haven’t....life is just nutty around here.  It’s okay.  That is how life is.  My go with the flow is “flowing along.”  Haha — couldn’t resist!

Anyway, I had originally hoped to have leftover pumpkin chili to go on my baked potato, but it didn’t work out that way.  We ate it last week on baked potatoes instead of having pizza. (However, my daughter basically turned her baked potato into a pizza.) 

I simply didn’t get home in time enough to make my crust....sometimes it happens if meetings go over.   Like many disappointments prove to be, this was a blessing in disguise....the perfect opportunity to add my next pinto bean recipe entry.

This recipe is the recipe I decided to use.  Pinto Bean Chili in the IP (using dried beans). It is from Neena over at Paint the Kitchen Red. Of course, I never do things quite as called for.  I also didn’t need a large batch of chili.  Since she gives step by step (extremely detailed instructions) I am not going to do so.  

Sorry about the water spots, but I don’t want to waste paper by printing this out again.

I’ll use it as is.

I did end up using 2 cans of Rotel.

Just to make certain I don’t have any trouble with tomatoes sticking, I leave them on top when I cook chili.

When it was done I gave it a good stir and this is what I ended up with.

Verdict:

This chili is pretty good!

I ate some in a bowl for my lunch.

Then I had some on a baked potato for my supper.

(With me being the only one home to eat it, I’m thinking I may freeze some leftovers.)

     

Planning Ahead and Using Up

In planning ahead for the month, I did an inventory of the pantry.  It hasn't really warmed up enough for me to do the freezer, but I do have my basic list of what I believe is in there.  (Hoping I was kind of diligent in marking things off.)  While I was in the pantry I tidied everything up so that is a nice feeling.  When I finished I made our grocery list out and placed an order with Sam's Club. (The original goal was for this to be the only shop for the month, but sometimes plans change.  Due to a death in the family, I have out of town guests coming to stay.  I think we will still be fine for the month based on what I have ordered, but since this was decided after I placed the order we will just have to see.  Either way, I am not worried about it.  Life has a way of working out.)

We started the morning out by making waffles.  I had put together several "bagged mixes" for pancakes for our beach trip, but we had only used one.  A few quick additions and I had waffle batter.  I cooked 10 waffles with plans for my daughter to have some to go with her breakfasts for this first week of classes.

Lunch was simply using up the leftover taco meat, which we rolled into flour tortillas, added a quick sprinkle of cheese, and microwaved. Since I knew I had a Sam's Club order coming I cleaned and straightened the refrigerator.  I have been being diligent about using things up, and I didn't have much in there to take out.  However, I did have leftover rice that needed using up.  Since I knew I had some BLSL chicken thighs that I am trying to use up and some stir fry veggies, I decided that a stir fry would be perfect.

Please send up prayers and positive thoughts for my extended family -- my aunt has passed away.  Also prayers for safe travels for us as we head that way.  We are leaving on still icy roads.  (I'm grateful that my sister and her fiance are letting me ride with them because they have a four wheel drive vehicle.  I don't live in an area where we get a lot of "snow driving" in and as such we don't keep vehicles prepared for it.)

Gifts of Food

My sister and my soon to be brother in law brought me a bag of sweet potatoes.  

They know the way to my heart, because I always love gifts of food.

I washed them good, popped them in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes, and let the pressure drop naturally.

The results was perfectly cooked sweet potatoes.

I mashed them and kept out two cups full to eat.

The rest went into the freezer.

7 cups of sweet potato for the freezer!

Waste Not Want Not (Using up Produce)

It never fails that I end up with something lingering in the veg bin of the refrigerator.   While I was making out my menus, I did a quick glance to see what was there, and a huge eggplant was staring back at me.  I’ve been craving tomatoes — vitamin C I am guessing.  So I decided to make eggplant lasagna with the self imposed restriction of only being able to use what I had on hand.

A quick pull through and I found I had more than enough ingredients to pull together a decent vegetarian lasagna.  I used:

Garlic (Sam’s Club)

Kalmata Olives (Aldi)

Parmesan (Lidl/Aldi)

Mushrooms (Dollar Tree)

Tomato Powder (food storage)

Canned tomatoes (Walmart purchased on sale and with coupon)

Dried onion (food storage)

Dried bell pepper (food storage)

Ricotta (Lidl?)

Egg (Aldi)

Italian seasoning (Sam’s Club)

Eggplant (Aldi)

I sliced my eggplant and salted it to draw out some moisture and bitterness.

I mixed the ricotta, the powdered parm, and an egg together and set aside.

I put the sauce ingredients (except for tomato powder) in the pressure cooker along with a can of water.

30 minutes (soup function)

Then stirred in tomato powder to thicken it.

Rinsed and drained the eggplant and assembled two lasagnas.

This one I topped with cheese immediately and put in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes.

The one in the glass baking dish is not topped with cheese. 

I’ll top it with cheese when I get ready to cook it, but for now it is going in the freezer.

This was really good!

Pressure Cooker Breakfast Casserole (Recipe Included)

We started off our new year with coffee and breakfast casserole.

The recipe is pretty much my “unrecipe” style.

I used part of my dried food storage in it, but you could easily use fresh....simply saute the onions/pepper before adding and use shredded potato.

Breakfast Casserole

Rehydrate:

3/4 cup of hash browns

2 tbsp of onion

2 tbsp of bell pepper

When rehydrated, drain and squeeze in paper towel to remove excess water.

6 eggs, beaten with 1/4 cup of milk added

Stir in 3/4 cup of shredded cheddar.

Add about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of cooked breakfast meat.

(I diced bacon and tossed in the microwave for a moment to cook it.)

Pour into a greased pan that will fit inside your pressure cooker.

Cover...foil or a lid 

Set on rack and add about 1 1/2 cups of water to bottom of pot.

Cook on high for 30 minutes.

Let pressure drop naturally for 10 minutes.

Then release.

Let the casserole cool for a few minutes and serve.

My family really enjoyed this. 

It allowed me to not run the stove.

I also got to sit and drink my coffee with everyone instead of babysitting anything in the kitchen.

Lazy Night Pasta (Unrecipe)

This is the ultimate lazy night vegetarian pasta dish.

My recipe is enough for two, but you can double it without changing the cooking time.

In the electric pressure cooker — I use an Instant Pot — layer:

16 ounces of thick pasta sauce 

8 ounces of corn pasta (GF from Aldi — Penne is the perfect thickness)

3/4 of the jar filled with water (about 1 1/2 cups)

Put everything in in that order.

DO NOT STIR!

Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.

Quick release and stir.

I know it sounds like it should be soupy, but the pasta absorbs the water as it cooks.

If you aren’t feeling as lazy as I was, you can spend a few minutes browning beef first.

You could also just toss in leftover meat from something else.

Since I was the only one eating it, I went with vegetarian and cooked enough for my next day’s lunch.

Packing for Vacation — Food Prep

On one hand, having food allergies is more expensive.

Some ingredients just cost more.

On the other hand, it can be quite frugal in a way....simply because you have to cook your own.

My daughter and I spent hours getting mixes, seasonings, canned and boxed items, etc. together for our upcoming vacation.

I was able to pull all of this from our food storage so that was nice.

I also have a turkey breast bought on sale at Thanksgiving that will come from the freezer.

I’m picking up my extra meats the day we leave.

When we arrive at our destination — grocery prices are higher there — I will pick up fresh fruit, eggs, and a few things like that.

Basically the items I don’t want to try to transport that far.

 Not too bad for a week’s meals of 3 a day for 6 people.