Haven't done a tips or hints post in a while. You probably all know or do these things - but sometimes we all need a little reminder. So many ways to change things up or re-use what we have. It all counts, tastes good, and maybe saves a little along the way.
Just an idea or three!
ALSO - you can fill bell peppers with leftover spaghetti and sauce, top with a little cheese and bake until cheese is golden and pepper done. (I often steam the peppers a little before filling). This uses up leftovers and also give a new dish - stuffed peppers!!!!!!
Peppers also make a cute presentation on the table for serving various types of fresh dips!!!!!
Have leftover mashed potatoes? We all know about potato cakes - here is a little different way to serve. Add some minced onion and cheese - throw into a buttered 8" round pan and bake until the top is golden. Tastes like a twice baked potato.
Don't forget with all the fresh veggies that are plentiful now - make kabobs and grill!!! Veggies kabobs are so good. Rub with a little oil and season and boom you have a great side. You could also broil if you wanted to.
When you make soup - save some of the broth. Freeze it in ice cube trays. This enables you to throw a cube into rice or veggies later on adding a lot more flavor!!!!
Beans add flavor to hearty dishes. Mash up some kidney, black, cannelloni or whatever you have and use in place of or with ground beef.
Tip to remember for after the holidays! You can buy those bags of herbal flavored bread cubes for dressing making. I have seen them marked down to .50 or so per bag. Get a few and grind them in your food processor and make seasoned breadcrumbs. Super easy and you don't have to dry the bread yourself!
BASIL SALAD DRESSING
1/3 C red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. fresh basil - chopped
2 cloves of garlic - minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Whisk together and serve over your favorite salad.
* Truthfully, I would think you could make any flavor you want - depending on what fresh herbs you have available.
There you have todays tips and hints! LOL!!
Food is so much fun - as there are no hard and steadfast rules that need to be followed. I love playing with my food and trying new things. Give some of these a try.
Got any fun tips to share? We'd love to hear them.
Have a wonderful Tuesday!!!!!
The idea of using seasoned stuffing mix to make bread crumbs is smart! We eat cucumbers and onions quite a bit. Add a good apple cider vinegar and it is so yummy. Love all the bell pepper ideas. We make our own dressings. Too many unpronounceable ingredients in bottled salad dressings.
ReplyDeleteAnother gloomy day. Don't think we are expecting any rain.
Thanks. I love cucumbers and onions. So tasty and light.
DeleteYep, a lot of things no one has a clue about!!! So many wierd ingredients.
It is cloudy!
Good tips and the stuffing breadcrumb idea made me wonder why I've never thought to use stuffing bread as croutons. I make homemade, but if the stuffing is on clearance, that makes it well worth it. Has anyone tried that?
ReplyDeleteYesterday was about the prettiest a person could ask for in summer. Cool morning so I opened up the house. 81° high. Pup and I sat in the patio during the late morning while I did my Bible study. It was so beautiful, it was hard to concentrate!! The chimes were lightly chiming, the breeze felt so good, and the leaves were fluttering. Great way to start the day. And, we got a bonus of 3/4" of rain the previous night. It was so quiet, we didn't even know until we saw the wet fence and then the rain gauge!
I put a good couple of hours into some Christmas gifts. I can't remember if I told you about them. Too many years ago, I bought about 25 wood luminaries at a 75 or 90% off sale with the intent to paint them to sell at craft faires. Instead, we moved 1500 miles and my craft career ended!! So, I'm painting them this year with snowmen and trees. Inside, I'll add a bag of homemade caramel corn and a battery candle. They'll be gifted to hubs' coworkers and some church friends.
In my cleaning out (the forever and ever project lol), I found 2 brass pics that belonged to my grandma. One had The Lord's Prayer and hung in their room. The other had "Now I lay me down..." and hung in mine. They're both now hanging in our bedroom. I've always loved them. 😍
Yes, Debby, I have. I've used "stuffing" mix, both homemade and sale priced store bought for croutons, bread crumbs, etc.
DeleteOur temps have dropped, too.
LOVE the gift idea for the Luminaries!! Awesome that you found those framed prayers for your bedroom. :-)
--Elise
Oh sure I have used for croutons. Seasoned and all! So many uses other dressing.
DeleteSounds like a picture perfect day - had to boost your mood. A perfect day always makes me smile and be happier.
The luminaries sound really nice. That will make a great gift. Very smart.
How nice to find the pics from grandma.
Good morning, Cheryl. Great tips! May I suggest a twist on the mashed up beans? When you brown your ground meat (it can be beef, turkey, lamb, pork), drain the fat off, add 4-6 cups of water and any seasonings you like, bring that to a boil, add 2-3 cups dry lentils, stir, reduce heat and simmer (covered) for 30-50 minutes, or until all the liquid is gone and the lentils are tender. This not only stretches the meat, but once cooled, can be portioned and frozen for meals of spaghetti, stuffed peppers, sloppy Joes, tacos, enchiladas... you name it.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I'll be doing today is dividing up the baby spinach bought on Friday for the freezer. I don't vacuum seal, but use zip top bags. It freezes well and when I need it the frozen packets can be crushed or manipulated to "chop" those spinach leaves for recipes. I also have "broccoli slaw" that I'll portion that for the freezer and add thin, diagonal slices of celery to for stir fry meals and/or homemade egg rolls.
With so many harvesting from their gardens right now, I'd love to read tips on how you all freeze those grow-ceries!!
Have a Terrific Tuesday! --Elise
Great tip - that is a wonderful way to stretch it for a family. Amelia uses lentils instead of meat.
DeleteLove the idea of the broccoli slaw! Great for stir fry or fried rice or something too.
I don't freeze much of my garden except cut up peppers. Others may be able to help.
Elise, I freeze everything from the garden. Green beans don't have to be blanched so I put them in the food processor to make them French style or cut them up and vacuum seal. The same for sweet peppers. Just slice or chop and vacuum seal, cabbage the same way. For zucchini I either make cream of zucchinib soup base, freeze in containers then remove from containers and vacuum seal. For anything else zucchini I generally shred and put in ziplocks and wrap in freezer paper. Chard gets blanched for 30 seconds, packed in ziplocks and wrapped in freezer paper. I generally roast beets, freeze and vacuum seal. You can even bake sweet potatoes and freeze and when defrosted and reheated they taste perfect. Your choice to either blanch or not blanch carrots.
DeleteCelery I just slice and freeze. You can find blanching times online for various vegetables. Just google the veggies and how long to blanch. Butternut squash doesn't need to be blanched. I peel it, cut into cube and vacuum seal. We like cauli mash in lieu of mashed potatoes so I just generally make a batch of that as I would mashed potatoes, we have some for dinner that night and the rest goes into containers and when frozen removed from the containers and vacuum sealed. I make colcannon with white potatoes, chard or kale or cabbage and onions and freeze that the same way as the caulimash. Cookie.
PS: I always keep things like shepherd's pie, deconstructed stuffed peppers, deconstructed cabbage rolls, veggie fritters of all sorts, meat loaves, spaghetti pie and homemade pizza in the freezer for easy quick meals, as well as homemade muffins, scones, English muffins, homemade frozen waffles, pancakes, and homemade sausage patties, as well as pesto and no'mato sauce.
Cookie it sounds like you have it going on!!!! Those are great ideas on meals and wonderful on freezing all the veggies.
DeleteThank you so much, Cookie. I'll be referring to this!! Now really is the time to get fresh produce in the freezer when you can. --Elise
DeleteLooking For Tips For Post-Op
ReplyDeleteThis isn't going to be my 1st surgery by any means, but it's the 1st where the recovery will be long. In the past I've prepared meals ahead and had them in the freezer and fridge. Hubs really doesn't cook. He does eggs and omelets pretty well, but...
One of the things I'm doing now is pulling ground beef from the freezer, thawing it, browning/seasoning it, and re-portioning it for fast, easy meals. Ditto chicken. I bought a big box of instant rice from Walmart (their brand). Any/ALL other suggestions and tips are appreciated! --Elise
P.S. This is where BIL might come in handy, as he does cook well.
Can't offer advice on the situation. I think the meat idea if wonderful. They can just throw it in anything for a quick meal.
DeletePremade dinners, canned stew/soup, jars of soup beans - just anything simple.
How about meatballs? I think they make so many yummy dishes. Can you make a couple of lasagnas to freeze? In the foil pans to make it easy on the dishwasher. I think having any type of cooked meat frozen makes anything easier. Shredded roast, chicken, pork loin. Then you can talk your husband through the rest. Write down all your ideas and keep them near your recovery nest.
DeleteElise, my advice her is to label, label, label and then label again more clearly.
DeleteI once went to look after my daughter post op for three weeks, leaving heaps of meal cooked and frozen for those at home. When I returned home hardly anything had been eaten because no one understood my shorthand freezer labelling ( although not too hard, I think they were just lazy) Louise
Thank you, Debby and Louise. I'm making notes for myself. Yes on the meatballs and lasagna, Debby. Post-op I want to watch sodium to prevent a lot of swelling, so homemade will be good to get in the freezer now. I keep shredded chicken and pork in the freezer from any leftovers of roasts. Louise, I have a stack of index cards and can write instructions down on those. My hope is I'll be up and able to work in the kitchen on a knee scooter a week or so after the surgery, but will still need some help.
DeleteBless you both! --Elise
One thing Elise that you can do to also help with sodium is add a lot of potassium in potassium rich foods like spinach etc. There is a very good seasoning that I love called 'Parma Better than Bacon' vegan seasoning....It's so good to sprinkle on the top of your food instead of salt and has B vitamins naturally. It's only 10 grams of sodium for an entire tablespoon. I love that stuff! lol Also just plain nutritional yeast makes a great topping too or even adding it into pasta gravy made with plain tomatoes or a soup etc. Gives a very good flavor to things and you can find it in either no sodium or very low sodium. It does have B vitamins so watch out on your late night popcorn! lol
DeleteGreat tips Cheryl. We are getting a taste of Fall weather here today and it is fabulous! I know we still have more hot days but this cold front is a welcome change. Have a great Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Yes, very fall like here too. Cool, cloudy, and very breezy. Our heat is to come back Saturday for many days.
DeleteThanks!
It's 78 here at 10:30 am and we have had a thunderstorm. Didn't last very long just enough to put humidity in the air.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tips, I always look forward to them.
Our humidity is backing down as of today - a few better days coming before heat is back.
DeleteYou guys have really been getting a lot of heat. That humidity is awful.
Sure!!!!!
Take care.
While everyone else is mentioning cooler weather, we're in a heat zone with an air quality advisory due to smoke from forest fires.
ReplyDeleteI love the salad ideas - they'll just be for me because getting my son to eat vegetables is nearly impossible.
So sorry. The NW and SW here are having some nasty heat.
DeleteOur heat comes back this week and they say it will stick around.
It really makes almost a balance meal - you can have a one pepper lunch!!!!
All great reminders Cheryl, my peppers this year were a dismal failure. I think patchy watering left them all misshapen and definitely not very attractive, although they still tasted good. Cukes started that way too, but have come good lately. Lately we have been having a sour cream dressing topped with chives over cuke and red onion salad.
ReplyDeleteLouise
Thanks. I finally had a year for peppers! I hear you on the cukes - I sure get some odd shaped ones!
DeleteI am sorry your peppers didn't do well - at least what you get is tasty!
Sour cream sounds good too!
Great ideas! Those potato cakes sound good! How cute to use the bell peppers as a serving bowl and if you steam them they could be eaten with the pasta etc. I like that! A good cucumber salad with onions and tomatoes is always good. Speaking of using veggies or fruits as bowls, my mil used to get a watermelon. She would cut it lengthwise in half but leave a 'handle'. The lengthwise cut would be zig-zag to make it look like a basket. Later she just started cutting it straight...(Don't blame her! lol) She would put pieces of watermelon, canteloupe, grapes etc. in the basket. It was a very pretty centerpiece for showers or parties.
ReplyDeleteI used to make stuffed eggplant cutting the eggplant in halves lengthwise, it was a nice dish and not that hard either. I probably should look that dish up! : )
Thank you for sharing Cheryl! Thanks for the dressing recipe too! Sounds really good Cheryl! ~Amelia
Thanks. I like potato anything! Especially mashed!!!
DeleteThose watermelon baskets are cute. My niece had one last week at the birthday party - She cut in and filled and decorated to look like a Ninja Turtle face! It was so cute.
They do make nice centerpieces.
Interesting on the eggplant - ever heard of stuffing them.
Some good ideas! I forgot about using bell peppers for servers which I always think looks so pretty and interesting.
ReplyDeleteThey are aren't they? You can use colored peppers and just liven up a table. Then you can eat it!
DeleteI saw something very neat years ago at a lady's home. She got a red apple and carved some of the inside out to place a lit tealight. This was during the day but still so pretty; the glow it gave, I think this would be so cute for fall or Christmas time.
ReplyDeleteAmelia, I saw someone do the same thing, but I don't recall the fruit. I used to do a Christmas open house for my girlfriends. No husbands or kids allowed lol. One of my simplest decorations at the lunch counter was a bowl of red apples that I tied gold bows on the stems! I got more compliments on that lol. They really looked pretty! I think red apples are a natural decoration for any of the ER holidays.
DeleteCool that the simple things are what make the biggest statement!
DeleteI have cut the tiny little decorating pumpkins and set a tea light in them.
Debby and Cheryl, yes, that sounds so elegant, the apples with the gold bows! Oh I bet the little pumpkins were adorable! Once I saw in an upscale historical hotel in a nice area with many tables and chairs, very elegant, was just a simple green apple on each table along with the salt shakers etc. The chairs were upholstered in that light green color so it tied it all in. Classy! : D
DeleteI really need to try the potato, onion and cheese baked idea. Sounds awesome.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
YES! I love twice baked potatoes. That makes it easy and uses up leftovers. I love all potatoes - who am I kidding?!!!!
DeleteMy neighbor took leftover mashed potatoes, mixed in an egg and fried them. My daughter loved them.
ReplyDeleteI do love fried potato cakes as well. It has a different taste - but oh so yummy.
DeleteAs a household of one, I don't' go thru things as quickly as I used to, and even when buying fresh produce, it's not often in right-to-me sizes -- a quart of peaches (unless I want to purchase singles through the nose; green peppers at my favorite farmstand in mesh bags of 2 huge peppers, etc.). When fresh produce starts to wilt a little, I put it through my box chopper and package in snack-size bags, 1/4 c. per bag -- perfect for use in sauces and mixes come winter. Like noted above, label, label, label. Nothing like pulling out a package of red peppers and after it's in the soup realizing that it's habaneros, not sweet red bell peppers. Oops!
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of labeling, given all the recent ground beef recalls, I've been noting on my packaging the date purchased (if different from packaged date) and WHAT STORE it was purchased it at. This way, if there's ever a recall after I've purchased, divided, and froze family packages, I can identify the recalled packs.
I also dehydrate peppers and celery that's starting to wilt. It came in handy when I couldn't find commercially prepared veggie cream cheese -- and I kinda like my own mix better.