For Chili Days

My family is pretty open to trying most foods, and often gives positive reviews.  My dad, on the other hand, has a less adventurous foodie spirit, and has quite a few things on his 'doesn't eat' list.  His compliments are fewer and farther between. It is amazing and fun when I hit upon a meal they all really love.  In fact, my dad said that I 'outdid myself' with the meal on a certain Sunday... That this dish was 'outstanding,' and the dessert I fed him with it that was even better.  (I'll share that one later.)  ---

SCORE!!

White Chicken Chili

 

Add enough olive oil to a heavy soup pot to coat bottom and brown

• 4 chicken breasts

Add and sauté until translucent around chicken

• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red or orange bell pepper, diced (or a handful of mini sweet peppers)

Pour in

• 1 (10 oz) can mushroom soup
• 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk (regular milk would probably be fine)
• 16 oz chicken stock

Stir in

• 1/3 c mayonnaise
• 1 (7 oz) can diced green chilies, mild
• 2 c frozen or (drained) canned corn
• 2 (15 oz) cans kidney or black beans, drained
• 1 - 2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• Cumin, dried parsley, cilantro, as desired, and to taste

Heat through just to bubbling.  Chop chicken into bite-sized pieces, removing temporarily from the pot, if necessary.  If desired, thicken the chili by mixing 2 Tbsp corn starch with 1/4 cup water and stir in, and bring back to bubbling.



Serve with your choice of toppings and accompaniments.  Our favorites are chopped avocado, diced tomato, sour cream, and multigrain tortilla chips... None of which I had on hand the day I took these photos!



The night I made the chili you see in these pics is the night the power went out.  I almost didn't, but decided to make a double batch, so I could freeze it in portions for quick heat-up for the family, and to take to my dad.  That night, I only had time to get it into large containers in the fridge. So... it never had a chance to get thoroughly cold, and it was part of the food I had to throw out yesterday!  :'-(  At least I had put a little on ice, and Dad got some of it for Sunday dinner.

Write31days.com

Awesome dancing emoticon from DesiSmileys

Powerless

With our first blustery storm came our first power outage of the season yesterday afternoon/evening.  It went out just as I was gathering ingredients to start dinner.  Thankfully, I was planning clam chowder, which only required the use of the gas rangetop, which I can use without electricity.

It was about 5 PM when it went out... Still light outside, but pretty dark inside.  We are always woefully low on working flashlights and battery-operated lanterns.  The one Princess Eager found for me didn't put out much light, and I was getting pretty desperate to see what I was cooking... or possibly burning.

That desperation helped me remember the battery-operated, LED under-cabinet lights I'd purchased at Costco months ago, but never even opened.  Because of their hangers, I was able to twist-tie one bar to the filter pulls on my hood vent, and Voila'!  There was light!  Additionally cool was that the lights have a movement-sensing, automatic setting, so the light would go off when no one was at the stove, and come on again when someone came near to serve themselves some dinner.

Our kids used to love power outages, when, in former houses, it meant gathering around a fireplace with games and books.  Now, without a fireplace, and with everyone more technology-addicted, power outages don't have the same appeal.  

The camera's flash makes this room look light...

But the kids created some fun during the darkness this time, thanks to a generous and timely purchase by Princess Sassy.  She came home earlier in the afternoon with enough pumpkins for a group carving party.  It's always so great to see them all enjoying time together, with all the talking and laughing.

...but it wasn't!

Prince Inventive had to stay in contact with
the outside world.

The Library is my Friend

I have had some challenges hanging over my head for which 2 books found on a recent trip to the library may help tremendously.

1,001 Best Slow-Cooker Recipes:
The Only Slow-Cooker Cookbook You'll Ever Need

1) Even though my blog refers to Monday soup, that rarely happens any more.  I am just not that creative with soups and we are tired of my limited repertoire.   Also... I guess this would qualify as Challenge 1B, we have a crock pot that rarely gets used, because I don't know many recipes for it, and the ones I've tried have not produced anything we'd like to eat again.


1,001 Best Slow-Cooker Recipes: The Only Slow-Cooker Cookbook You'll Ever Need may have given me an answer that kills both those birds with one stone.  I don't know if it's that much better than other crock pot cookbooks I've looked through, or if I'm just more open-minded this time... But there were several recipes I was excited to try, and seemed they might actually turn out!
I'll let you know.




2) I have been in painting and drawing classes since I was in junior high, and tried artwork on my own long before that.  I took a watercolor class all through my sophomore year of college, 

I consider this my 'best' watercolor.  I painted it in 1980.
I think I was afraid to do more because I felt it was a 'fluke'
that I'd created something I considered a 'real watercolor,'
and I wouldn't be able to do this well again...  Lame. 

and continued with enough art in my junior and senior years that I earned an art minor.  But one professor at college kept telling me the same thing over and over... I could master techniques with all sorts of media, but my art 'didn't mean anything.'   It hurt, but I could see that it was true.  I called my watercolor instructor at the community college and told him what the professor kept saying, and that I was at a loss in knowing how to do what he wanted.   He told me that my art couldn't mean anything, as I hadn't lived long enough to have anything to say.  But I don't feel time has solved the problem!


I have always excelled at things like line, balance, and proportion... Basic design.  I had designs chosen for sweatshirts, posters, etc., where line, balance, proportion, and impact made the difference.  I got high marks for assignments that were, basically, drills on the elements of design....

Demonstration of color, line, and use of space.  I liked doing such things, and I still do.  I see these concepts in 'modern art' types of paintings, and think I could use this skill to my advantage.  But I know there is more to those pieces, too, and I have had no idea how to achieve that "something."

This is in an old drawing pad...
It's dated "Aug. '76."  Talk
about "Throwback Thursday!"
;-)

I could never draw cartoons... I was too careful.  I have trouble portraying the essence of something without trying to picture it realistically, with all the detail.  I look at modern art work, or expressionist pieces, and am in awe.  I see clearly what the artist is portraying, but it's not anything near photographically perfect.  It may be all the wrong colors, the brush strokes often don't move in the 'right' direction for shaping and shading, and some of the figures may be just a blur or a drip of paint... but it works and I don't really understand...  How they knew it would... Or why they tried it that way.

The Creative Edge:
Exercises to Celebrate Your Creative Self

But now I found The Creative Edge: Exercises to Celebrate Your Creative Self.  There are activities using 25 techniques to explore "artistic potential...Building on basic creative processes."  There are certainly no photographically perfect paintings in this book!  I think/hope with the guidance to start, and enough time and practice to see what I can create, I may break out of my shell a little and make a move in the direction I'd like.  Again, I'll let you know how it goes... Maybe.  ;-)  At the least it will give us reason to add some fun and mess-making into our homeschool day.

3-Can Tomato Soup

The cupboards were bare the day after Princess Eager got out of the hospital, and her wish for dinner was tomato soup.  When she says Tomato Soup, she means the old, classic comfort food, Campbell's Cream of Tomato Soup, made with milk.


We didn't have any, but we did have tomato paste and canned milk, so an idea started brewing.  We looked at a few recipes online, and they all called for onion, which she didn't think sounded right at all.  I did get some help from the recipes we saw... I'm not sure I would've thought to add chicken broth and brown sugar to the mix without them.  I tasted and added or adjusted things as I went.


It wasn't an exact substitute for Campbell's, but she said it was good enough to feed her craving and accompany her grilled cheese sandwich.

Quick Cream of Tomato Soup

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 can (14 oz) low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 - 2 Tablespoons ketchup (truthfully, one strong squirt from a large bottle)
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1 dash cayenne pepper

If heated long enough to start boiling,
the milk will break down and the soup loses it's creamy look

Whisk together over medium heat until steaming.  Serve... with grilled cheese sandwich!


Princess Eager said this was a little thicker than she was used to... Maybe needed a splash of half and half or milk.

Leeky Soup

As I mentioned, when I discussed our newest box of produce from Full Circle Farm in Christmas Every Monday, I've never used or, as far as I know, eaten leeks before.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them, but it was raining, the kids had colds, so everyone wanted something warming.  That called for soup.


I headed to the computer and found a recipe for Cheese and Leek Soup on RecipeSource.com.  Since I'd been craving cheese soup, but we didn't have any sharp cheddar, this looked like an intriguing option.  Partway through making it, though, I noticed that this soup seemed to lack protein, and offer an overabundance of saturated fat.  Since this was meant to be our main dish, this was a problem.  I replaced much of the sour cream and part of the cream cheese with cottage cheese to work it back in a healthier direction.  We also added cauliflower and the broccolette, also from the farm box.  If we'd had shrimp, we probably would've added it, too.

Cream Cheese-Leek-Cauliflower-Broccoli Soup

adapted from Cheese and Leek Soup on RecipeSource.com

While melting
6 oz butter
on the stove in a large, heavy pot over medium heat, mince
1 1/2 cups leeks, using the white part only*
1 1/2 cups sweet onion
1 cup celery
then add them to the butter to cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, but not brown... About 10 minutes.


Pour in
4 1/2 cups chicken stock 
and simmer another 10 minutes.


Meanwhile, blend in food processor
8 ounces cream cheese, cut in cubes
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese





Also, on stovetop or in microwave, steam 
1 small head of cauliflower, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
1 bunch broccoli or broccolette, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
These should be cooked, but still be a bit firm, and the broccoli should still be bright.


Using a hand blender in the pot, or by putting batches into a blender, puree the stock/leek soup.  (If using a blender, return blended soup to the large pot.)

Stir in the cheese-sour cream mixture into the soup, stir, and warm through, taking care not to boil.  (I had a hard time getting this to blend in nicely, so grabbed the hand blender, again, to help smooth it out.)




Add the steamed cauliflower and broccoli.  Also season with salt and pepper, to taste.  A dash of cayenne pepper is recommended (by my family), but optional.








*Leek Note:  All the instructions and recipes I could find say to use 'only the white part of the leek.'  Does this mean the part that is strictly and only white, or does the part that's faintly green, but more like onion and less like leaves count?  I couldn't bring myself to discard the light green part and used it.

Risking the Chowder: the Fennel Experiment

Full Circle: Live the Good Food Life

 I joined a new organic farm-to-table delivery service, Full Circle Farm.  




Today was my first delivery... Peppers, tomatillos, beets, lettuce, kale, fennel, peaches, plums, and nectarines.  







A colorful mix!  

I'd already planned to make clam chowder for dinner, and as I started, I was thinking about what I'd do with some of the veggies with which I'm not very familiar.  An idea occurred to me, and I went to the computer to see if it had been done before.  


When I found the article, Cafe's Clam Chowder Relies on Bacon, Fennel, I decided the idea... including fennel in the chowder... was worth a try.  The author said the fennel 'gives extra character' to the soup.  I hope that's a good thing, and I hope my family doesn't mind me messing with a crowd favorite.  But, what can I say?  I was feeling a little adventurous, happy to be prepping again on my island, and cooking in my huge Vollrath Tribute 16-quart Stockpot, so I was ready to have a little fun.  It's just one pot of chowder, and it's only the start of fall. 

The trimmings... Good for anything?
Just stock or something more?

The next thing I had to do was find out how to prep the fennel.  Searching online again, I found a short and helpful video entitled Knife Skills: How to Prepare Fennel on SeriousEats.com.  As instructed, I trimmed off the stocks and fronds, then sliced the bulb down the center.  
Unlike the small, triangle shaped core in the fennel of the video, the core of this bulb seemed to go almost all the way to the top.  It seemed like I was removing half the vegetable.  But out it came.  Then I sliced and diced the rest to match the other veggies in the chowder. (Fine dice or chop in food processor.)



Pretty happy with the sweet and pretty flavorful chowder, I thought it needed a little more zip or bite to it.  Since I'd already messed with it, I didn't have much to lose by taking another step out of the box.  I decided to add a small, red jalapeno and a bit of red bell pepper.  I was looking for color, sweetness, and just a hint of heat, so I diced them both into tiny pieces.


After the final addition, parsley from the garden, it looks like Confetti Chowder... Party in a Pot?  I hope so!

Confetti Clam Chowder

1/2 lb bacon
8 small potatoes, red & Yukon Gold mix
1 sweet onion
1 bulb fennel
3 carrots
3 stalks celery
2-3 cloves garlic, put through Zyliss Susi 2 Garlic Press
1 small red jalapeno
1/2 red bell pepper
1 51-oz can minced clams, including nectar
2 cups corn
3 cans evaporated whole milk
1 cup organic whole milk
black pepper
seasoning salt
1 teaspoon thyme
Fresh parsley


I chopped and lightly browned the bacon (I used turkey bacon, so cooked it in a bit of Canola oil, but with real bacon, that wouldn't be necessary, of course), then added and sauteed the finely chopped veggies: onions, 6 of the potatoes, fennel, carrots, and minced garlic in oil, then added a cube of butter and 1/2 cup flour.  When mixed, I added the milk and clam nectar, and heated to bubbly, while stirring.  


I added the remaining coarsely chopped potatoes, followed by the clams, peppers, corn, seasoning salt, black pepper, thyme, and parsley.  I cooked until the larger potatoes were almost done, then poured in the milk.  I heated all through, simmering until everyone was ready to eat.




Previous related posts:

Celebration Chowder

So Excited! A New Soup/Stew/Stock
Pot is on it's Way

A Favorite Monday Night Tummy Warmer

I always get a very positive reaction when the kids hear I'm making Pumpkin-Sausage Soup.  I first got this recipe from Joe, AKA Gardenguru1950, on the Gardenweb Cooking Forum.  His posted version was a little different...without the beans and using link sausages.  The original recipe made an excellent tasting soup that was a little thin for my taste, and the ingredients tended to be a little expensive compared to some of the soups I make.  We like to have soup alone with a just a whole grain roll or slice of French bread, and this one seemed to need more to make a meal.  I found that by adding the beans, I could increase the fiber and protein content, make a larger amount without having to multiply the meat and other ingredients, and by blending them in, created a heartier and thicker soup.  I am generous with the seasonings so the flavor doesn't seem to be diminished at all.


I now make this in my Vollrath Tribute 16-quart Stock Pot, which results in approximately 12 quarts of soup.  Since you probably don't want to make that much, I'll give you the recipe cut in half...And you can certainly half it again, if you'd like.

Pumpkin-Sausage Soup

2 cups dry Navy or White Kidney Beans, cooked until tender,
    or 5 - 6 cups (3 15-oz cans) of canned white beans, rinsed
Place drained beans in large pot and set aside.


3/4 to 1 lb bulk Hot Italian sausage (or use my homemade alternative from Make-Your-Own-in-a-Jiffy Sausage)
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 Tablespoon each dried parsley, oregano, and basil
1 28-oz can or 4 cups pureed pumpkin
8 cups chicken broth
1 12-oz can evaporated milk, or 1 1/2 cups whole milk or cream
Salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese

In skillet, brown sausage.  Drain fat, if necessary.  Add onions, garlic, and mushrooms, and herbs.  Add sausage-mixture to beans in the pot and mix in pumpkin.  Add broth and simmer 30 minutes. 

Blend with stick blender or hand mixer right in the pot, or blend in batches in a food processor or blender, then return to pot.


Stir in milk and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.  Salt and pepper, to taste.





Serve in bowls with shredded Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Inventing

It was 4:30 on a busy afternoon, and I'd put no thought into what we'd eat for dinner.  --Especially not enough forethought to have thawed out the chicken, one of the few things left in the freezer in enough quantity to make my tribe a meal.  It was time to clean up little bits of ingredients left from making other meals, and create something new.
             

These are the things I chose to work with

• The last several muffin-cup sized chicken 'stocksicles'...about 6 cups
• 2 frozen containers of evaporated milk, plus the last 12-oz can from the pantry (3 1/2 cups total)
• The last 3+ cups of milk in the gallon jug
• 1 lb of bacon which had been thawed for a weekend breakfast, but not used
• The odd-sized and shaped remains of 3 blocks of cheese...2 pieces of sharp cheddar and 1 piece of pepper Jack.  When cut in 1/2" - 3/4" cubes, there was about 2 cups...maybe a pound?
• A partial bag of frozen small shrimp, amounting to about a pound and a half

I had decided to concoct a variation of a family favorite, Shrimp-Cheese Soup.  I usually include broccoli in that for some extra fiber, vitamins, and distinctive flavor, but we didn't have any.  The bacon would add an additional flavor component not usually used in this dish, but to help further with nutrition and taste I grabbed

• 32 oz frozen peas 
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa for fiber and vitamins...and to stretch the soup a bit
• 1/2 cup  Feta cheese to deepen the cheesy flavor (I would usually use Parmesan, but we were out of that, too.)

One of the princes asked what we were having, and I told him, "I'm inventing."  During one of my jaunts upstairs to check on the Seahawks' game, Hubby asked what I was making, and I just told him, "Cheese Soup," to save the long explanation.

                       

I started by rinsing the quinoa, then brought it to a boil in 3 cups of water, and turned it down to cook for 15 minutes.  Princess Eager jumped in to help by cooking the bacon, while I rinsed the peas and shrimp in a colander and left them in the prep sink to thaw and drain.  (Word to the wise:  Don't take your eyes off the heating soup to help your princess with the bacon and let it BOIL OVER.  What a mess.)

The soup was actually bubbling away in the stove drip pan.

                

When the quinoa was done, I added the milks.  I also mixed about 1/2 cup cornstarch with enough cold water to dissolve it.  I brought the soup to a boil, then added the cornstarch-water mix until it was thickened just a little, then dropped in the cheese cubes and crumbled Feta.  With the cheese melted and blended in, I added the peas, shrimp, and crumbled bacon.  I also seasoned with black pepper and garlic powder, to taste, and added a couple shakes of Cayenne pepper.

          

I stirred it, ladled it into bowls, and hoped my family would find it acceptable...

                   

The boys looked at it and asked, "Is this Tapioca Soup?"  

I knew I could relax when Princess Artiste said, "I like this soup."

Hubby said, "I thought you said this was cheese soup....but you have everything good in here!"  Yay.  A success.

The quinoa will likely be something I add to my customary recipe from now on.  The family may demand the bacon, too, but I want the broccoli back.  It makes me feel better to include it to balance the fatty cheese.

Previous blog entry in which I discussed quinoa and 'stocksicles'

2010: New Cooking Techniques and Dishes I've Added to my Repertoire

Pink Chili Anyone?

I started some beans for a semi-big pot of chili...Small Red and Kidney beans.  I threw in some onion and red bell pepper, and was browning some ground chicken, planning to make our regular, red chili, when Prince Go-For-It requested I make it into "White Chicken Chili" instead.  He didn't care about matching the color of the beans.  :-)  The small red bean color faded into the sauce, so we ended up with
                        

"Pink" Chicken Chili

                  
Approx. 4 cups dry red kidney beans (prepared in one of the methods explained below), or 8 cups canned kidney beans (If you don't like pink, try Cannellini or Great Northern white beans)

If using dry, prepare them ahead using one of these methods, any of which work fine for me:             

1) Rinse and sort to make sure there are no small rocks mixed in, then soak in water (enough to cover plus a 2 - 3 inches) overnight, rinse, add enough water to cover beans well, and cook for approx 1 1/2 hours, then start recipe.

2) Rinse and look for rocks, then add the same amount of water as in #1, but bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then let sit for 2 hours, rinse, add enough water until even with top of beans, cook 1 hour, then start recipe.

3) Rinse and look for rocks, then add the same amount of water as in #1, bring to boil, then turn down and cook for 2 hours.  Rinse, then add enough water until even with top of beans, then start recipe.

Add to beans:
2 sweet onions, chopped (raw or sauteed)
2 red or green bell pepper, chopped (raw or sauteed)
                
1 1/2 lbs browned ground chicken (beef or turkey are fine substitutes, or no meat for a vegetarian version)
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp ground cumin or chili powder
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 sprinkle red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
3 - 4 cups chicken stock
                  
Bring to boil, then cook on medium-low heat for about an hour, or until veggies and, especially, beans are cooked through and soft.  Mix in, cook, and stir until melted 
1/2 - 1 lb Pepper Jack or Monterey Jack cheese, cubed or shredded
                  
Optional add ins: 
Corn
Sliced olives
                
Serve with sour cream or plain yogurt (can also stir some in right before serving), and tortilla chips, crumbled on top, or offered on the side.

Our favorite uses for leftover chili:

                

Taco Salad 

Serve over tortilla chips, and topped with shredded lettuce, chopped tomato and onion, and shredded cheese.   Hubby likes to throw on chopped or sliced jalapeno. Finish with sour cream or your favorite dressing....I don't usually like Ranch, but it works well with this.

Chili-Cornbread Bake

Spread chili in the bottom of a greased 9" x 13" baking dish and stir up batter for your favorite corn bread or corn pone and pour over the top.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes...until a knife inserted off center comes out clean. (Chili on the knife is OK, uncooked batter is not.)  
Serve with sour cream, plus sliced green onion and olives, as desired.

Nachos

Spread chili thinly over a single layer of tortilla chips in a baking pan or dish. Top with shredded cheese, also chopped onions, tomato, and olives, as desired.  Bake in oven at 400 degrees until heated through and cheese is bubbly and browned to your preference.

2010: New Cooking Techniques and Dishes I've Added to my Repertoire

This is an odd grouping, with types of food and techniques combined.  But the new foods are a result of a different technique used on an old favorite, so they are included here.  I know that none of these are new in the world of cooking, but they are things I hadn't tried until recently.

Combo of dry and moist heat for Chicken Breasts:  I had tried searing, baking, broiling, poaching, but never really like boneless chicken breast, because it seemed so difficult to keep moist...Until I saw this technique demonstrated on an America's Test Kitchen or a Cook's Country tv show.  
I heat a small amount of oil in a skillet on a medium-high heat, then add the boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces, which have been patted dry with paper towel and seasoned with salt and pepper.  The breasts are left alone for a few minutes to sear.  If they're sticking to the pan, they're not ready to turn.  

When they are nicely browned and easy to lift from the pan, they are turned, and I add 1/2 cup of water or chicken stock.  Then cover the pan and cook for 10 - 15 minutes, until the internal temperature of the breast is 165 degrees.

Flat bread:  For this I was inspired by Steven Raichlen on the Barbecue-U cooking show, which Hubby loves.  I used my Pizza Crust Recipe and divided it into several pieces, forming each into approx 2 1/2 inch balls, then rolling to just under 1/4" thick.  (If the dough fights back, let the balls rest for 10 minutes or so before rolling.)  I transferred the rolled flatbreads onto a greased or wax paper covered cookie sheet to take them out to the outdoor gas grill.  With the barbecue preheated to 400 - 450 degrees, we put the flatbreads directly on the grill, keeping the heat underneath low, or using an indirect method to keep them from burning.  When each got good and bubbly, we turned them just to brown the other side.  I continued to roll dough as Hubby grilled, because I found that if I did all the dough first, and some were allowed to rise too much before grilling, they became too soft and very difficult to handle.  We love eating them with strips of grilled chicken and/or veggies, and condiments like hummus, pesto, tzatziki, or some just liked mayo and fixing them like any other sandwich.
                
I tried these on the rangetop while the electricity was out, and got a much less satisfactory result.  They didn't get as bubbly and burned...I think this method lacked the surrounding heat, and had the problem of the heat source being too close.
                        
Another time I tried baking them on the pizza stone at about 450 degrees, and got nicely puffed pitas.

Barbecue-grilled Pizza:  We had about one week of temperatures around 100 this summer, when heating the ovens for our customary Friday Pizza Night didn't seem like a good idea.  We decided to try baking pizzas on the gas barbecue grill.  I placed the stone on the rack and heated the barbecue to 500.  It was a fun adventure and the pizzas had a more smokey taste.  Some of the family liked it better or as well, others didn't like the difference at all.  For me there was a lot of running back and forth, as I have no counter outside.  It was also HOT for the cook to tend pizzas over the grill instead of sliding them into the oven and keep an eye on them from a distance through the glass.  My overall assessment:  This makes a decent pizza if using the oven is impossible or inadvisable.  I wouldn't go to the extra effort required if using the oven was a reasonable option.

Shish Kabobs: I am now noticing a trend with this post...A lot of new things we tried this year were on the barbecue grill!  For Father's Day we wanted to try something fun, and with meat-loving Hubby and our vegetarian Princess Bossy, we wanted something we could all enjoy.  Shish kabobs not only provided a way to meet everyone's wishes, but made for a fun family project as we cut and loaded a variety of foods onto the wooden kabob skewers, which we'd soaked in water for 20 minutes first.  (Steel skewers work, too, but they get hot and cook things from the inside.  This is good for meats, but can make fruits and veggies cook so fast that they loosen and fall off.) This is a great way to include colorful fruits and vegetables in a way the kids find fun and interesting to eat.  We used combos with chunks of shrimp, beef, chicken, tomato, bell pepper, sweet onion, mushrooms, and pineapple.  Grape tomatoes were not the right choice, since with their small size, they cooked through too quickly, getting shriveled and too soft, sometimes to the point of falling off.

Stock/broth:  I always bought chicken broth at the store.  But I started to use more and more of it as I preferred it to water for cooking rice, quinoa, etc.  During a month I was feeling particularly short on grocery funds, I realized I was finding it on my shopping list all too often, so decided to try making my own.  I bought 2 whole chickens at Costco, roasted them, and after we enjoyed the chicken dinner, I saved the carcass, skin, and all bones for the stock.  I added sage, salt, and pepper, a few bay leaves, a quartered onion or two, and chunks of aging veggies I had in the fridge, which were carrots and cabbage.  I also cut just the tops off the cloves on a head of garlic and dropped in the whole thing. I added enough water to cover all and brought to a boil.  I turned it to low and kept it cooking for several hours, adding water as needed to keep the contents covered.  
                  

I took out the garlic head and squeezed out the softened cloves to use as a spread, then strained the rest of the broth (3 - 4 quarts).  I sprayed muffin tins and small Tupperware type containers with Pam and filled them for freezing.  After they were solid, I popped out the 'stock-sicles' and put them in ZipLoc bags to store in the freezer.  The broth was so much richer and more flavorful than the canned kind...I was hooked. And it's another thing that makes me feel like an old-fashioned 'Suzy Homemaker,' going a bit of an extra mile to make something wonderful to feed my family.


Home-rolled Oatmeal and Home-milled Cracked Grains, and Granola:  I have covered these in prior posts (linked below), but all are new this year, so worth the mention here.  I love doing all of these for my family.  The tasty and healthier results are worth any of the effort.  Definitely things I'll continue to do.

Rolling Oatmeal

My Other By-Hand Milling
...Cracking grains

Granola Recipe
(using the rolled oats)