Friday, September 16, 2011

September 16, 2011

We have a food budget each week, and I am pretty good at sticking to it. We pay for groceries in cash so that we don't go over, and we know how much is left after shopping. If there is money remaining at the end of the week (doubtful), it is added to the next week (those are the weeks that shrimp dishes make it on the menu plan!). This week, I had some left over which was a surprise. I decided to see if I could just use that to cover the groceries. I have stand up freezer in the garage so I knew we'd have plenty of options for protein in the dishes, and the pantry was decently stocked. So, I picked up bread, lunch meat, apples, milk and so forth, and then have been cooking with everything else that was on hand.

My biggest concern that I had was that I might not be able to try out any new dishes this week! But, I had some leftover sour cream and a handful of blueberries in the fridge (left from the blueberry muffin experiment of last week), so I started to research waffle recipes. My kids love blueberry Eggo waffles, so I thought maybe I could create something similar. I didn't find one that exactly fit the ingredients I had on hand, so I combined a few recipes I came across and I must say, the waffles were quite delicious! After making the batter I split it up so that I could mix in the small amount of blueberries I had in the fridge. Once the blueberry waffles batter was used, I took another small amount of the batter and mixed in handful of chocolate chips (Hannah will love these!). In the end I made 2 blueberry waffles, 2 chocolate chip waffles and 4 regular waffles. Waffles reheat beautifully in the toaster oven, so I just threw them in the fridge. If you make a bigger batch, they also freeze wonderfully well!

Because of the limited budget, we had some staple dinners this week - tacos, spaghetti with some of my meat sauce from the freezer, a slow cooker meal we simply call "http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifcrock beef". It got so chilly this week that it seemed completely appropriate to cook what is traditionally an autumn or winter meal. Originally from my mother, she called this meal crock pot beef, but I wrote it down quickly when she gave it to me over the phone, and ever since then (for years and years - we've had this recipe since I was first married), we've called it crock beef. My kids think it is delicious, and you could even serve it to guests for Sunday dinner. It doubles well, and reheats for great leftovers!

New Recipes

Waffles

Tried and True

Crock Beef

Waffles

Plain Waffles

Chocolate Chip Waffles


Blueberry Waffles


Ingredients

* 1 cup milk (whole, skim, whatever you have on hand)
* 1 cup sour cream
* 2 egg whites
* 2 egg yolks
* 1 tbsp granulated sugar
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cool
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 2 tsp baking powder
* 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
* 1 tsp baking soda
* Pinch kosher salt
* Handful of blueberries, chocolate chips, or whatever you heart desires (optional)

Directions
1. Heat your waffle iron. Grease just before adding the batter to the iron.
2. Beat the egg whites for about 2 minutes until stiff peaks form.
3. Combine the wet ingredients (milk, sour cream, egg yolks, butter, vanilla and sugar)
4. Whisk the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt).
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, mix gently. Fold in the egg whites.
6. If you are adding a "mix-in", fold these in after folding in the egg whites.
7. Spoon onto your hot, greased waffle iron. Cook as directed by your waffle iron.
8. Enjoy!

Notes

I had sour cream on hand, and I used whole milk because that was the type of milk on the fridge. Folding in the egg whites really lightens the batter.

Crock Beef

Ingredients

* 2 lbs stew meat, cut into one or 2 bite size pieces
* 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
* 2 packets Lipton dry onion soup mix
* 2 cans mushrooms, undrained
* 4-6 ounces red wine

Directions


Mix it all together in your crock put (add the meat last, but then mix that in as well). Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Serve over egg noodles or with mashed potatoes.

Notes

If you want to use one pound of meat, I would recommend using 2 cans of mushroom soup, one packet of the dry soup mix and 4 ounces of red wine. This way you will ensure you still have plenty of sauce and the meat doesn't get dried out.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The recipe archive has finally arrived!

I have finally finished the recipe archive! On the right hand side of the home page is a link to the list of all the recipes I've posted over the last few months - there are already almost 60! When in the archive, click on the recipe title and it will take you to the post with the recipe.

This should make it easier to find the recipes you want to try (or make again!)! Enjoy!