No, it's not a big plate of spaghetti, they're cupcakes!

We got this idea from the adorable book Hello, Cupcake! After the kids and I had so much fun making the hamburger and ant cupcakes that we made for Memorial Day, I saw the book ‘Hello Cupcake’ in the store and purchased it for Sadie, our 6 year old gourmet wannabe.

This book is perfect for children because it doesn’t require special, hard-to-find tools or ingredients and the techniques are simple and explained clearly.

We did things the easy way and purchased vanilla cake mix and pre-made frosting (I know, I know after all my talk about making things from scratch, I’m using the 2-week old baby excuse. )

Ingredients we used to make 20 cupcakes/2 platters of spaghetti:

• Vanilla cake mix
• White frosting
• White cupcake papers
• Cocoa powder (for tinting frosting)
• yellow food coloring (for tinting frosting)
• sandwich bag (for creating the pasta)
• hazelnut chocolates (Ferrero Rocher)
• low-sugar strawberry preserves
• 2 TBL white chocolate

We tinted the frosting with a bit of cocoa powder and yellow food coloring until it looked the right color for pasta

and then laid 10 cupcakes out on each of two platters.  Before we started making the ‘noodles’ the children lightly frosted each cupcake.

For the ‘noodles’ we spooned frosting into a sandwich bag, cut a very small hole in the corner and squeezed ‘noodles’ all over the frosted cupcakes ( I was nursing the baby and didn’t get a picture before the kids started adding meatballs).For the meatballs we opened the hazelnut chocolates, tossed them with strawberry preserves

and spooned one onto each cupcake.

For the finishing touch we finely grated some white chocolate and sprinkled over the top of the ‘spaghetti and meatballs’.  Next we topped each plate of  ‘spaghetti’ with birthday candles and served to the best husband/daddy in the world.

These cupcakes are SUPER easy and the children (9 and younger) were able to do everything with only minimal supervision.

This post is linked to Cupcake Tuesday at Hoosier Homemade.

Happy Birthday, Mark.  I’m very grateful to be able to grow OLD with you. ♥

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1. Hamburger and Ant Cupcakes
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By making my own yogurt, I save at least $300 a year on just one food item. If your family eats yogurt at all, you’ve got to try this! (Ahem: if you don’t eat yogurt, allow me to introduce you to  the health benefits of yogurt. You should be using this food often to nourish your family.)

When I think of all the plastic hitting the landfills, or even the recycle centers, from single serve containers of yogurt, my stomach turns. The expense to have this healthy super food on hand, especially for larger families, can be pretty intense. Even purchasing the 32 oz. tubs could mean $2/day for my little family of 3-and-a-half (the toddler eats…like a toddler…so I count her as half for now).

Beyond saving money, saving the earth, and keeping your family healthy, I’ll save you time. This is the easiest homemade yogurt method ever, especially if you hate dishes.

I make homemade yogurt almost once a week, and it takes me about 17 minutes, split up into four parts. I’m willing to teach you my secret method, but only if you promise to get your kids to eat yogurt with as little sugar as possible. The basic steps of yogurt-making are easier than chocolate chip cookies:

1. Heat to sterilize the milk. (185 degrees)
2. Cool milk to proper incubation temperature. (90-120 degrees)
3. Add starter yogurt.
4. Incubate at warm temperature 4-24 hours.

Supplies necessary:

• Glass jars (quart canning jars or empty mayo or spaghetti sauce jars work great)
• Milk (any, from skim to whole)
• Candy thermometer, but I can show you how to do it without one too
• Pot large enough to hold your glass jars
• 2 Tbs of plain yogurt per quart of milk (Buy the freshest yogurt possible at a store and make sure it has “live and active cultures”. I prefer Dannon. I know it has the three top cultures that I’m looking for to help the gut. The little cups are often on sale for 40-50 cents.)
• picnic cooler
• bath/beach towel
• timer

Prep:

• Run jars and lids through the dishwasher to sterilize. Allow them to dry very thoroughly, then cap and store them.
• Get out picnic cooler and clean bath towel.

Method

• 1. Put jars in the pot with a sink washcloth underneath.
  2. Pour milk into your jars to about an inch from the top.
  3. Place jars into the pot and fill pot with tap water around the jars.
  4. Cook on high heat until boiling and get the milk to about 185 (you can’t burn it with this method, so if you forget it for a while, it’s OK!). Turn off the heat and put lids on the jars.
  5. Put the pot in the cooler with the towel underneath and the lid on both pot and cooler.
  6. Cool milk. You can do it on the counter, in the garage in winter, or in a sinkful of cold water with ice packs.
  7. Get milk to about 110 degrees. I know the milk is about ready when I can pick up the jars and hold them without burning my hands.
  8. Stir in ~2 Tbs. plain yogurt for each quart of milk.
  9. Get those lids on again and nestle your jars in the cooler. Keep them wrapped in one half of the towel and take the lid off the pot to let the heat out, then close the lid of the cooler to keep the heat in.
  10. My yogurt jars happily nestled in the cooler, ready to incubate. Before I close the lid, I’ll wrap the towel end from the right around the jars.
  11. Incubate 4-24 hours. Shorter incubation makes sweeter yogurt, longer is more tart. Also lower incubation temperature makes sweeter yogurt and higher makes more tart. I’ve had good success between 4 and 8 hours.
  12. When the time is up, put the jars into the freezer for about an hour. Do not stir first. No room in the freezer? They can go right into the fridge.
  13. That’s it! You have created yogurt!

I know a lot of people make slow cooker yogurt, but I hate dishes so much that washing that big insert just kills me. I’d rather dump the water out of my pot to air dry, put my cooler away and be done.

But Wait! There’s More!

Here’s another trick with your homemade plain yogurt, no matter what method you use. It’s a great money saver, another way to get probiotics into your family’s diet, and so simple I’m almost embarrassed to call it a recipe. Yogurt can be made into yogurt cheese in a few simple steps, and the result is nearly exactly like cream cheese, but at half the price of the best sale you’ll find.

You simply dump the contents of one jar into a tea-towel-lined colander over a bowl:

Then hang the towel to drain for about 4 hours.That’s how easy it is to get cream cheese in the tea towel (about a cup) and whey in the bowl (about 3 cups).

That was a very quick explanation, so if you’d like more details, you can see how to make yogurt cheese back at Kitchen Stewardship.

More Information

• If you’re nervous and would like more detailed instructions for the yogurt, my post on making homemade yogurt leaves out no details.
• What can you do with homemade yogurt? See this list of homemade yogurt recipes
• Here are my top 4 tips for eating less sugar in your yogurt.
• If you make cream cheese, you might wonder: What do you do with whey?

Katie blogs at Kitchen Stewardship, where she offers weekly Monday Missions to help you balance stewardship of God’s gifts of health, earth, time and money. Find practical baby steps, healthy recipes, green living ideas and prayerful encouragement. You can also follow Katie on Twitter.

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When I saw these amazing ant and hamburger cupcakes featured on her blog last week I knew that our little cupcake lover (Sadie, 6) would be thrilled to make them.

These were super easy and didn’t require any special tools.  We purchased red and yellow frosting (for the ketchup and mustard) in a tube right from the grocery and the children were able to put them on the cupcakes without any special tips.

Sadie working with some green icing for an ant cupcake

We colored some icing and coconut with green food coloring to create ‘lettuce’  and ‘grass’ and we piped black/brown icing for the ant’s legs and antennas using a sandwich bag with a small hole snipped into the corner.

Nicholas putting on chocolate covered almonds to make an ant.

Since we were making more than 40 decorated cupcakes, Sadie was happy to let the other children help out.

Amber helping Colby put some sesame seeds on top of a hamburger cupcake.

I love tackling fun projects that the kids are able to participate in and these cupcakes certainly fall into that category.   After the bigger kids cut the cupcakes for the ‘hamburgers’, the younger children were able to finish the hamburger on their own.

Colby with one of his 'hamburgers'.

With the ants, some of them required help with getting on  the green frosting, but were able to add the ‘grass’ and ‘ant’ themselves.

Hamburger cupcakes

Liz has a helpful video tutorial on her site for complete step-by-step directions and a listing of all the tools/ingredients needed.

Sadie with some of her creations.

For more kid friendly projects, check out these monogrammed, burlap pillows, domino Christmas ornaments or play silks.

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2. Homemade Hamburger Buns
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Be sure to see what the other moms of many are cooking up.  Oh and don’t forget that you can add your own favorite ‘cooking for a crowd’ recipe at the bottom of this post and check out many others!

Connie @ Smockity Frocks
Deputy Headmistress @ The Common Room
KimC @ Life in a Shoe

Lentil Chili

This recipe is one of our family favorites.  It fits nicely into our budget and I can make our money go farther if I use all lentils instead of the beef.  Our whole family LOVES lentil chili so I have to make a HUGE batch to satisfy everyone.  I can also make it stretch by serving it over rice, especially nice if we have company drop by unexpectedly.

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. cumin
10 c. water
1 lb. dry lentils
2 tsp. salt
2 c. salsa
29 oz. canned tomatoes, crushed
1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. chili powder

Brown ground beef with the onion, drain.  Add lentils and water. Simmer 1 1/2 hours.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes.

Variations:  Omit meat and double the amount of lentils for a vegetarian dish.  Serve over rice.  Top with cheese and/or sour cream.

I double or triple this recipe to feed our family of 12.

♦

Menu planning for company

Here are some things that I’ve learned to make hospitality easier and more relaxing for us and hopefully more enjoyable for our guests.  A side benefit is that we can easily have company 3 times a week (when I’m not pregnant) and not feel too overwhelmed or disrupt our regular schedule.

• I have a much looser food budget when we have company so that we can have nicer meals with easier preparation.
• I keep my recipe choices more traditional.  (There are a lot of picky eaters in this world.)  I almost always serve a meat or pasta dish rather than beans and rice, fish or more ethnic choices.
• I choose recipes that I can prepare ahead of time and keep warm (or cook)  in the crock pot.  This allows for the preparation to be done when it’s most convenient for me and the kitchen mess can be cleaned up well before company arrives.    When guests arrive we simply sit down and eat.  Dinner is warm (and not burned) when we’re ready to eat whether our guests are early or late.
• I like to have several sides available.   I generally serve two vegetables with an everyday dinner, but with company I will add one extra side.  This helps make the main dish go farther, ensures that everyone finds at least one vegetable that they like and no one leaves the table hungry.
• I like to always have homemade bread available.  It’s another great filler.

Of course hospitality is much broader than having another family over for a sit-down dinner, but that is a whole different post.

♦

Here are some of our favorite company recipes:

Cranberry Pork Roast

This is a  nice traditional meat and potatoes meal with a unique twist of cranberry, so that your company has probably never had it before, unless they’ve been in our home.

Ingredients:

4-5 lb. boneless pork loin
16 oz. jellied cranberry sauce
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. cranberry juice
1 tsp. dried mustard
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Put the pork loin into the crock pot. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over roast.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Use the juices from the roast to make an AMAZING gravy.  We always serve this with mashed potatoes because it would be a shame to waste this gravy.

This recipe will feed 15-20.

Ground Beef Stroganoff

A less expensive dinner option for a larger crowd.  I am particular to recipes that are served over pasta and/or rice when having company because it’s very easy to stretch to feed more people if your husband invites another family or two over at the last minute.  When that happens I just make more pasta and/or rice and heap the plates high.

Ingredients:

2 lb ground beef
2 med. onions, chopped
1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced (you may do more or less)
2 T. butter, melted
2- 10 3/4 can cream of mushroom soup (substitute ‘from scratch’ varieties)
16 oz. sour cream

Brown ground beef, drain.  Add onion and cook until onion is tender.  Add mushrooms and butter, cook until mushrooms are tender.  Stir in flour,  garlic salt and pepper until mixed.   Mix in soup and place in crock pot.  Cook on low until a half hour before eating, then stir in sour cream.  (Everything is cooked when you add it to the crock pot, so there is no need to leave it in the crock pot all day.)

Now it’s your turn, what are your favorite ‘feed a crowd’ recipes?  Link them up here and your link will show up on all four of the 4 Moms blogs.

Please enter your recipe name in addition to the name of your blog, so that people can find the recipes they are most interested in. Remember to link to the specific post with your recipe and please, provide a link back here so your readers can share in the fun! (links that don’t follow these guidelines will be removed)

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

You may be interested in the other 4 Moms cooking posts;  cooking from scratch, menu planning or feeding your family on a budget.

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1. Freezer OAMC Cooking: Beef Recipes
2. Freezer Recipes for Once a Month Cooking: Part 1
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4. Menu Planning: 4 Moms, 35 Kids

Cottage Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:

1 rennet tablet  – dissolve in small amount of warm water
1 gallon milk (we used reconstituted powdered milk, but you may use any milk you prefer)
1 pint buttermilk or yogurt (link to my recipes for homemade buttermilk and yogurt)

In a large pot heat milk to 90 degrees F.  Stir  in buttermilk or yogurt and then add the dissolved rennet tablet.  Cover pot and leave overnight in a warm place.

The next day your “cottage cheese” will be a nearly solid mass, like firm yogurt.  This is the curd.  Using a knife cut through this to break into small pieces.  Set the bowl with the curd into a pan of warm water and heat.  Shake the pan gently to heat evenly.

When the curd has reached 110 degrees F turn off the heat leaving everything for 30 minutes.  Next pour the cheese into several layers of cheese cloth to drain.

After the curds have drained the cottage cheese may be used in recipes.  If you prefer to eat it plain, you will want to add a little sour cream or moisten it with some yogurt.  You may also want to add salt to taste.

You may also be interested in  tips and ideas about feeding your family on  a budget,    menu planning,   cooking from scratch or my recipe page. For  homeschool help and ideas about teaching multiple levels visit my homeschool page.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday

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1. Homemade Buttermilk and Yogurt
2. Homemade Yogurt and Yogurt Cheese: Guest Post from Katie
3. Tuna Charley Recipe
4. Cranberry Pretzel Dip Recipe

This is a huge topic, so I’ve chosen to focus on how we keep up with making staple items from scratch.   The short answer to that is that we don’t, but we’re working on it.  Thank you to those who pitched in yesterday with ideas on how to get it all done.

Three ways to schedule ‘from scratch’ cooking

Have a scheduled day to make each item

Anita and Dawna both have a certain day that they make certain things, bread on Monday, yogurt and buttermilk on Tuesday, etc.   You simply determine how much of a certain item that you will need for the week and make your batches accordingly.

Pros:

• it gets done regularly
• it will fit into a regular day without special scheduling
• you know what needs to be done and when it will happen
• if you’re having muffins for breakfast anyway, there is very little extra effort to make a double ( or triple) batch

Cons:

• you have to clean up a mess each day that you have scheduled to make something (granola is the worst)
• if you get off schedule or skip a day …  (I know YOU wouldn’t do that, but me?  )

Set aside a full day to do all of your ‘from scratch’ cooking

Abba12 and Elizabeth both suggest setting aside one day to get it all done.  Abba12 does this shortly after her bi-monthly shopping trip and Elizabeth has all of the children pitch in.

Pros:

• everyone working together
• if you did it after your shopping day you could do other prep work like chopping raw veggies for snacks, preparing and freezing things that you bought in bulk or found for a good price (thanks Abba12)
• doing it just after shopping means that you will probably have all of the ingredients that you need
• only one huge mess to clean up

Cons:

• a whole day in the kitchen (or a half day in the kitchen)
• if you have a large family you would probably have to do this every week, right?

Make it as you go

This is what I did when we had all young children.  (Now, I’ve always had a regular schedule for making bread.  It used to be a large batch once a week, now it’s a large batch three times a week.)  I simply looked at my menu plan for the week and decided planned from there when I would make cottage cheese for the lasagna or tortillas for the enchiladas.  If possible I simply got into the kitchen each morning and made all of the  ‘from scratch’ staples that I would need for dinner that night.  This is not the most efficient system, but it worked for me when I didn’t have time to think of something better.

Pros:

• Simple to implement
• you have what you need, when you need it
• if you’re making  just what you’re going to need that week you have no waste
• no extra storage space required

Cons:

• not very efficient
• if you misjudge on time or something comes up you’re stuck trying to figure out a substitute or eating LATE

More tips for ‘from scratch’ cooking

Invest in “kitchen servants”, a wheat grinder, high quality mixer and crock pot among others.  A Bosch Universal Plus Mixer is a wonderful investment, we can mix 5 loaves of whole wheat bread at one time and our children are able to begin bread making when they are around 9 years old.  (It does a lot more than bread) (Thanks Tristan and  Annie)

Use a checklist to keep track of what needs to be made.  I can see combining this with having a day (or two) set aside each week for some extra kitchen work.  You could check your list and see what needs to be done and then on the assigned day or two, you would tackle the necessary tasks.  (Thanks Meagan)

Make like things and do similar tasks at the same time. Make loaves of bread, pizza crusts, sweet rolls, etc. all at the same time.  Make granola bars while your working on granola.  When you are browning ground beef fore dinner, brown extra to put in the freezer or use in another meal.

Have your big kids help. I love the idea of giving my kids ownership of a specific food item.  Our 9 year old always gets to take over the bread making for the family (no small responsibility with how much bread we eat).  My plan is to allow our 6 year old to begin making all of our salad dressings. (have any recipes that are quick, easy, healthy and yummy that you’d like to share?)  Oh Emily, your ‘big kids’ magically appear after you’ve put in your allotted time with those little ones.  It’ll happen sooner than you think, so enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

Schedule extra time for dinner preparation. When all of our children were little I simply got into the kitchen fairly early each evening to prepare dinner.  This allowed me to have additional time to make biscuits, cornbread, cottage cheese or other ‘from scratch’ items that I would need for dinner that evening.

Do what you can, then move on and let go of the rest.  We can’t do it all, all the time.  So make a plan and when the kids get sick or you’re in the first trimester of a pregnancy, let it go.  Feeding your kids store bought bread or hamburger helper doesn’t mean you’re a failure.  If it is the best way for you to spend time investing in them, then it’s one of the best investments you can make.  (Thanks Emily)

Veronica’s Authentic Tortillas

Anyway, all this to say, with the recipe I use (from generations of tortilla makers), I successfully substitute 1/2 of the white flour with ww flour and they still come out beautifully.

2c. flour (can substitute 1c. ww)
1tsp. salt
1tsp. baking powder
1Tbsp vegetable shortening
water

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Add shortening and mix with hand forming little “peas”. Add water slowly until it forms a soft dough. Pinch off 12 balls and roll on a floured surface. Heat on cast iron griddle.

What is important, that I don’t think most people realize, is what you do with the tortilla after it comes off the griddle. You immediately put it in a kitchen towel wrapped up. Once the next one is done, put it in with the first one, and wrap it up again. Continue in this manner with the rest of the tortillas. The kitchen towel keeps the tortillas warm and the just the right amount of heat and moisture stays in to make the tortillas oh so soft, flexible, and utterly delightful.

Thank you Veronica!  More recipes on my recipe page.

Be sure to check out Life in a Shoe, Smockity Frocks and The Common Room to see how other moms of many take on cooking from scratch.

More 4 Moms, 35 Kids: How Moms of Many Manage posts.

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4. How Do YOU Do it?
5. Freezer Recipes for Once a Month Cooking: Part 1

These beef recipes all serve about 8 people:

Calico Beans

1/4  lb dry light red kidney beans
1  cans pork-n-beans
1/4  lb dry pinto beans
1  cups brown sugar
2  lb beef cook
1/4  cups apple cider vinegar
1/3  cups ketchup
1  lb bacon cooked and crumbled
1  TBS yellow mustard

Before cook day prep:

Cook and drain all dry beans.

Cook day:

Combine all ingredients

Eat day:

Heat and eat.  We serve this with brown rice so that it stretches farther.

Burger Cups

2 lb beef raw
0.5 lb sausage raw
3 tsp salt
1.5 tsp pepper
1 onion fresh onion
3 egg
1.5 cup oatmeal
1.5 can tom sauce
0.1 cup water
1 bag bell pepper
1 can french green beans
0.5 pkg almond sliver
1 can golden mushroom soup (Campbell’s brand, can be hard to find, but worth it.  We don’t care for this recipe with regular cream of mush)

Before cook day prep:

Mince onion.  If using fresh green bell pepper chop.

Cook day:

Combine first 10 ingredients.  Form into serving sized balls and make a well in the center to form a cup type shape.  Mix last 3 ingredients.  Fill the center of each burger cup with the bean/golden mushroom soup mixture.  Fully cook at 350 degrees.

Eat day:

Heat and eat.

Beef Brisket

4 lb beef brisket
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp rosemary sprigs
1/4 cups olive oil
1/2 tsp pepper
4 each carrots 3′ chunks
3 each celery stalks 3″chunks
4 onion red onion
16 oz red wine dry
1 can tom diced
1 tsp parsely leaves fresh
3 each bay leaves
1 tbs flour

Before cook day prep:

Wash and chop veggies.

Cook day:

Combine ingredients and pour over meat.

Eat day:

Thaw.  Cook in crock pot on low 6-8 hours.

Balkan Meatballs

1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup oats
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 lb g. turkey raw
1 lb beef raw
1/2 cup fresh onion

Before cook day prep:

chop onion

Cook day:

Combine all ingredients and shape into meatballs.  Cook at 350 until done.  (For our specific mulit-family cook day we have a specific number of meatballs that goes on each baking sheet.  Each family gets one tray of meatballs to take home.  This makes it much easier than counting meatballs when it’s time to divide for each family.  Any extra meatballs we divide evenly.)

Eat day:

Heat and eat.  Use your imagination.  Meatball subs, spaghetti, etc.

African Beef and Rice

3 lb round steak
1 leaf bay leaf
1 tsp salt
0.125 tsp c.red pepper
1 pep green pepper
1 onion fresh onion
0.75 tsp curry
0.25 tsp pepper
1 cup water

Before cook day prep:

Chop onion

Cook day:

Place meat in bag and dump all spices on top

Eat day:

Thaw.  Cook in crockpot on low for 6-8 hours.  Serve over rice.

More recipes to come.

So how many of you once a month cook or do some variation on that idea?

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5. Cranberry Pretzel Dip Recipe

Paired with pretzels it is a delicious, fat-free snack option.

1 can (16 oz) jellied cranberry sauce (of course you can always make your own)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp pepper
1TBL flour
1 TBL cold water

Combine first 5 ingredients in a saucepan and whisk over medium heat until smooth.  Combine flour and cold water then add to cranberry mixture.  Bring to a boil and cook and stir for 2 minutes.  Transfer to a serving bowl and cover and chill overnight.

This can be made ahead of time (we’re making ours for Thanksgiving today) to ease last minute prep.

I’m not a great cook, but I have gathered some delicious recipes and they’re almost all fast and easy!  You can view all of my posted recipes here.

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cranberry pie, thankgiving, recipe

Cranberry Pie

3/4 cup sugar
1 TBL cornstarch
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
2 TBL grated orange rind
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 cups fresh cranberries
2 TBL butter
2 tsp sugar
pastry for double-crust 9″ pie

Combine sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, water and orange rind in a saucepan.  Mix well and bring to a boil.  Stir in raisins, pecans and cranberries.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 7-10 minutes (the cranberry skins should pop).  Remove from heat and stir in butter.  Cool completely without stirring.

Spoon filling into pie shell.  Then create a lattice top with the other half of the crust.  Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 400 for 40 minutes.

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2. Granola Bar Recipe
3. Dutch Puff Recipe
4. Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe
5. Homemade Cottage Cheese Recipe

Each of these recipes will make about 10 meals for a family of 6-8 members.  We cook with 5 families so each family gets 2 meals from each recipe.

Balkan Meatballs

eggs  10
milk 2 1/2 cup
oats 3 1/3 cup
salt 2 1/2 Tbsp
sugar 2 1/2 Tbsp
ginger 2 1/2 tsp
nutmeg 2 1/2 tsp
allspice 2 1/2 tsp
g. turkey raw 10 lb
beef raw 1 tube (10lb)
fresh onion 1 bag

Cook before freezing 9 x 7 meatballs per tray.  Yields 5 trays.

Serve day – use for spaghetti, meatball subs, etc.

Beef Tips

beef raw roast 20 lbs. (pre cooked)
cream mush 10 8 can
cream chk  4 can
Sour cream  10 Cup
salt  1 1/2 Tbsp
pepper  1 1/2 Tbsp

Serve day – Heat and serve over pasta or rice.

Calico Beans

Olive Meatloaf

beef raw  2o lbs.
sausage raw  10 lb
salt 2/3 cup
pepper   1/3 cup
fresh onion  1 bag
egg 30
oats  15 cup
tom sauce 15 can
water  1 cup (adjust as necessary)
bell pepper  10 bags

Layer the above meatloaf with:

spinach  7 lg bags
mozzarella  1 lg. bag

Freeze raw.

Serve day – Thaw, cook 350 for 1 hour.  (We found that it usually take a little more than an hour unless you cut in half.)

Shish Kabobs

pork chops  20 lb
fresh onion  1 bag
green chili salsa 40 use all  (I will check on this measurement)
chili powder 1/3 cup
oil   2/3 cup
red wine vinegar 2 1/2 cup
salt  2 1/2 tsp
pepper  1 1/4 tsp
bell pepper 10 at home

Pour marinade over meat and freeze.

Serve day – Thaw, save juice for cooking rice. (We made pork chops instead of Shish Kabobs, so we grilled the chops and cooked the veggies with the rice.)

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Chicken Strips

salt 1/2 cup
pepper 1/2 cup
chili powder 1/2 cup
bread crumbs (panko) 10 cup
chk raw tenders 40 lb
eggs raw 20 egg
mustard 10 cup
honey 80 tbs

Dredge chicken strips in eggs, mustard and honey.   Then roll is bread crumbs and spice mixture.  Cook before freezing.

Serve day – heat and eat

Chicken Tetrazzini

cream chk 6 can
cream mush 3 can
5oz evap milk light 10 can
parmesan 5 cup
salt 2 Tbsp
pepper 2 Tbsp
chk cook bag (precooked)
ch cheese 1bag

Serve day – Thaw, pour over noodles and cook 350 for 45 minutes.

King Ranch Chicken

fresh onion bag (chopped)
bell pepper 5 bags
mushrooms 10 cans
margarine 5 sticks
cream mush 5 can
cream chick 4 can
tomato green chili 10 can
m. garlic 1/4 cup
chili powder 1 1/4 cup
chick broth 2/3 cup
ch cheese 1 1/2 bag
chk cook bag pre cooked
corn tortillas 120 c tortilla

Saute vegetables.  Add cans, spices and broth.  When thickened add chicken and layer with quartered tortillas and cheese.

Serve day – Thaw and cook at 350 for 1 hour.

Questions about amounts, directions, how we freeze, is something unclear?  Please ask.  I hope that these will be helpful.

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2. Freezer Cooking with a Group: OAMC
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4. Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe
5. Mexican Lasagna

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It is best with fresh, homemade pasta, but store bought works in a pinch.

Ingredients:

1 pint heavy cream or 1 cup cream and 1 cup half and half
1 stick of butter cut into pieces
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste
pinch nutmeg
1 lb. fettuccine
chopped parsley for garnish
Italian sausage (optional)

Heat the cream and butter in a sauce pan over low medium heat.  Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Meanwhile cook the pasta.  When cream is thoroughly hot, but not boiling and butter has melted, stir in the Parmesan cheese. Toss with the pasta and adjust salt & pepper as needed.  Add any other ingredients that you desire.

Here are some of our favorite additions: Chicken and mushrooms, sausage, peas or any other leftover veggies.  Just about everything is a delicious add-in, use your imagination.

You may be interested in more Raising Olives recipes or ideas for menu planning and scheduling.

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Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops

8-12 boneless thick pork loin chop (We have used all types of pork chops and they taste just swell, bone-in, thin, assorted.)
16 oz. crumbled blue cheese
16 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 tsp. dried chives
adobo seasoning (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)

Mix together cheese, bacon and chives.  Use a sharp knife to cut a slit into each pork chop to make a pocket.  (If you didn’t purchase thick boneless chops this will be a bit more time consuming and require some skill.)  Stuff each pork chop with a ball of cheese filling  and secure the opening with a toothpick. (Don’t use colored toothpicks unless you want odd colors in your fancy stuffed chops, that will make you think that perhaps you left the pork in the fridge too long, unless of course you have a wonderful, organized chore system so that one of the children cleans out the fridge weekly, then you would never, ever have to worry about spoiled food again, ahem.)  Sprinkle lightly with adobo and pepper on both sides of chops.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until done.

Fast, easy, yummy!

Check out some more Raising Olives recipes including my amazingly popular granola bars.

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Granola Bar Recipe

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup raisins (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Mix together first 7 ingredients, then make a well in the center and add the honey, beaten egg, oil, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Pat the mixture evenly into the baking dish.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the edges are beginning to turn golden. Cool for 5 minutes and then cut into bars and remove from dish WHILE STILL WARM. Well unless you want to chip it out and use the crumbled pieces for ice cream topping. In that case, just let it cool as long as you wish.

Some substitutions: Olive or peanut oil rather than coconut oil. Regular flour. I have omitted the wheat germ when we were out. Add any dried fruit, coconut shavings, sunflower seeds, nuts or even chocolate chips and skip the raisins or not. We haven’t been able to mess this recipe up.

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Tuna Charley

To make 1 and 1/4 cups of tuna topping mix the following:
6 oz. can tuna
1 rib celery, diced 1/2 carrot, grated
1 slice onion, chopped
1/3 cup yogurt
1 TBSP mayonnaise
2 TBSP pickle relish
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp mustard
1 flour tortilla

To make one Charley:

1 flour tortilla
1/4 – 1/3 cup of tuna topping
1-2 slices tomato
2-3 slices avocado
2-3 TBSP grated cheddar cheese

Put ingredients on top of tortilla and bake at 325 for about 10 minutes.

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Dutch Puff

1 stick butter
8 eggs
2 cups milk
2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 400. Put the stick of butter in a 9×13 pan and place in the oven to melt while you prepare the puff.

Beat eggs, milk and flour until smooth and then another minute. Remove pan from oven and pour mixture into the melted butter. Bake for 20 minutes.

When you get the puff out of the oven it will be golden and puffed, lovely. Serve immediately. If you wait it will deflate.

Top with molasses, honey, fresh fruit, or maple syrup. My children have even topped it with yogurt, but they may just be weird.

For a special change try making individual servings of dutch puff in oven safe ramekins. Again this is fun for company. You can prepare ahead of time and then pop them in the oven as each person wakes.

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3. Homemade Buttermilk and Yogurt
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Make your own buttermilk.

You will need some buttermilk to use as a starter. We just buy the smallest sized, most natural buttermilk from the grocery. Pour about 1/4 – 1/2 cup buttermilk into a quart size canning jar (or whatever container you wish to use). Fill the rest of the jar with milk and shake. Now set it on the counter and whenever you go into the kitchen give it a shake.

Let it sit out on the counter for…. well until it starts to glop up like buttermilk and smells nice and buttermilk-y. I have read that it can take up to 24 hours or so, but for me it is usually done within 12.

Store in the refrigerator and be sure to save some to start the next batch.

Make your own yogurt.

You will also need a starter for this. We use Stoneyfield Whole Milk Organic or Dannon All Natural, plain, unflavored yogurt. Set the yogurt in a glass bowl, covered, on the counter so that it can come up to room temperature. (You will need 1.5 T per quart of yogurt.)

I usually make a gallon of yogurt at a time because it will keep nicely for about a month and since we can make it inexpensively we eat yogurt.

Heat however many quarts of milk that you want to make into yogurt to 180F. I use powdered milk to make all of our yogurt (I can’t tell a difference in taste) and when I mix it up I add an extra cup of powder per gallon of milk. Heat slowly to attempt to avoid scorching.

Remove from heat and let cool, stirring occasionally, to about 115F. While the milk is cooling prepare your quart jars. Make sure they are clean and dry, you don’t want any competing bacteria. Yuck!

Turn on your oven light while your milk is still cooling. You want your oven to be warm, but not over 100F. You can use an oven thermometer if you have one. Temps over 100F are OK, but the yogurt will have a sharper flavor.

Once the milk is cooled to 110-115F, pour some into the starter bowl and whisk, blending well. Then pour that mixture back into the pot with the rest of the milk and whisk thoroughly. You want to be sure the starter gets through all of the milk.

Put the jars in the oven. I set mine on a cookie sheet so the don’t tip as easily.

Let them sit in the oven for 4-6 hours. It may set up more quickly, but the best flavor is achieved if you let it incubate for at least 4 hours. The longer the incubation the more tart the flavor.

I have forgotten and left it in the oven over night. It was still fine, but boy was it strong. Not our favorite yogurt. Yikes!

Take your fresh yogurt out of the oven, and refrigerate. Yum!

Use powdered milk in your cooking.

I use powdered milk in my cooking. While my family does not like the taste of powdered milk for drinking, no one can tell the difference in taste when I cook with it. This is an easy way to save money especially if you buy your powdered milk in bulk.

I’m sure that some of you use healthy raw milk and I know that these recipes would be delicious with that, but we just use regular milk (or powdered milk) from the grocery store.

How do you save money on your grocery budget?

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Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 2 T. olive oil (optional)
• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 2 T. chili powder
• 2t. ground cumin
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 14 oz. stewed tomatoes
• 1 C. taco sauce
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 C. frozen corn
• salt
• 8-8in. flour tortillas
• 2 1/2 C. cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 green onions, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°. Preheat large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and onion,brown and drain. Season with chili power, cumin, then add tomatoes, taco sauce, black beans, and corn. Heat mixture through 2-3 minutes, then season with salt to taste. Grease Baking dish. Layer meat, tortillas, cheese and repeat as needed. Bake 12-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly. (May top with green onions) Serves 6-8.

Plan ahead and cook the beans from dry, make your own tortillas and taco sauce and this meal ends up being an inexpensive dinner.

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That was before this recipe. This was sent to me by a good friend from Florida and produces wonderful, company worthy hamburger buns every time, even when my easily distracted, second daughter makes them. They are super easy to make, look lovely, and taste amazing. You will never want to go back to those preservative filled store bought buns again. Unless of course you are going to be feeding several hundred people.

Hamburger Buns in 30 minutes:

3 1/2 cups warm water
1 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar or 1/2 cup honey
6 T. active dry yeast
1 T. salt
3 eggs, beaten
10 1/2 cups white or wheat flour (For company we usually use 4 cups wheat to 6 bread flour then add bread flour as needed, but this is wonderful with all whole wheat.)

Mix first 4 ingredients and let rest for 15 minutes. It should get sponge and get bubbly. Add remaining ingredients. Mix, then knead for 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 425. Roll out to 1/2″ thick. Shape immediately. I use the ring from a wide mouth canning jar for hamburger buns. You could also make child size buns. Let rise for 10 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes or until done.

Want more recipes?

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