The Difference a Week Makes

So there's the same pepper you saw last week, as it appeared yesterday.  Don't get excited... we ate it last night.  I had some shredded pork in the freezer, so I fried up the pepper with some onions and made homemade flour tortillas from a recipe on the back of a 25lb. bag of flour.  Awesomely delicious.  I think this is also the first time I made flour tortillas where I wasn't completely disappointed with the thickness when they were cooked.  Let me put it this way... you could see through the dough a little bit when I was done rolling them out.  I think the proper term is "paneing" as in a window pane.  Also, I may or may not have used rendered bacon fat in the dough instead of the listed shortening.  Ahem.

I'm on my last square for a comfort project for a friend who survived a disaster.  After that the crafting for the Etsy shop begins again in full earnest.  Today, however, is Mom's Day Off.  I have plenty of posts on the subject (okay, I know of two) but I did want to get these thoughts down today before I blinked and realized yet another week had passed.

I'm already looking at plants for fall planting and harvest (brassicas, mostly... that's your cabbage, broccoli, etc.) and deciding if I'm digging a new bed for garlic.  Garlic is a little... committed.  And I was strangely reluctant to actually use last year's crop.  It was just so pretty once it'd been cured and braided.

The teenager starts back to school on Monday.  So now I'm going to have to start setting my alarm and (gasp) setting the parental time controls on the internet so she's not up until 2am.  But I will have uninterrupted days with the dogs again.  If only I could send those crazy kids off to school, too.  Especially the shoe chewer.

Cooking: Meatless Monday, Lentil Salad

Trying hard to work in a "meatless Monday" every week.  It's cheaper, healthier, and reduces my neurotic worry over our cholesterol levels.  It's also higher in fiber when you include legumes, like this lentil salad.

I heavily modified a version I found in the "Forks Over Knives" cookbook.  While their version uses a lot of cilantro and mint, I wanted to create something a little more like a cross between three-bean salad and hummus.  Sort of.

My Roja garlic hadn't performed up to my expectations.  Only half of them came up, and I wanted the garden bed space for lettuces, so I picked most of them early.  I replaced the green onion and garlic cloves in the original recipe with two too-young garlic shoots.  I added a bit of cilantro, but omitted

Cooking: It's a Birthday all over again... only better.

Saturday was my birthday, and since we were phenomenally broke, I made a yellow cake from scratch from the "Homemade Pantry" cookbook (oy, what a pain with the separating eggs from yolks and such, and it ended up dry.  Delicious, but dry.)  And I frosted it with a tub of store-bought frosting that was probably way past its "Best if used by" date (okay, I won't lie... it was.  But that's a freshness date, not a "OMG you'll die if you eat this" date).

Since the cake was pretty dry, after the first half of it was gone, it wasn't moving very fast out of the fridge, even with a layer of my orange marmalade between the top and bottom layers.  Let me rephrase... a half a cup of orange marmalade mixed with a half a cup of apple juice, between two layers of yellow cake.  And it was still dry.

So here I am with a half a cake, broke, and unsure what to do with it.  I made it into a bread pudding, frosting and all.  Holy hannah!  It saved it for sure.  So here is my recipe for...

Cooking: Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

Last night I was in the mood for a bacon cheeseburger pizza.  I had half a pound of thawed ground beef that I couldn't do anything with because it just wasn't enough for a family of three to have burgers.  I could have created a stir fry, but with several strips of bacon left over from BLTs earlier in the week, this was a natural solution.  Click through for the full post, including my recipe.

Food and Cooking: Manna

Next year in September, I'm going to hear a "thunk" and roll on the roof, and instead of thinking "Aw crap, branches fell on the roof."  I'm going to be thinking "Pie!" and race outside with a rake and a bucket.

Food and Cooking: Making Your Own

Wow, with the start of the new school year and leap to Senior High for my daughter, I totally lost track of the time.  That, and the disappointing results of my garden due to unspecified pests of some type, have kept me from posting.

I have loved Stove Top Stuffing ever since I was a kid.  Something about the flavor and texture combination made me really, really happy.  I rediscovered this joy recently when I bought some on a sale-inspired whim.  I was shocked and saddened when, AFTER I brought it home, I read the ingredients list and found out that it contained High Fructose Corn Syrup.  Not only that, but it was the SECOND ingredient on the list, obscured by the long sub-list of ingredients for the flour.  I know, I should have read the label in the store, at least to look for semi-expected bad ingredients like MSG (which is also in there, dangit, along with a crap-ton of hydrogenated fats).

I know it didn't have these ingredients when I was ten.  Okay, I don't *know* for sure, since I wasn't a label reader then, but I'd be willing to bet it's changed a lot.  It certainly doesn't taste the same.

So I decided to scour the internet for a clone recipe to make my own mix, and make it healthier.  I've seen many, over the years, in books like "Make Your Own Groceries" (now sadly out of print and selling for over $50 per used book on Amazon) and I knew it could be done.  I found several, including this one on food.com, and another on a blog titled "Feeding the Crew", but I didn't like either one.  The food.com recipe used bouillon cubes, which to me seems odd, and unnecessary.  Just use granules in the first place!  Plus they don't go into the dried celery part, which might discourage some people as it's not readily available in all grocery stores.  The blogger's version was good, but adds a small amount of sugar to the mix.  The less sugar you feed your family, the less they expect it, and the less they crave it.  I don't think it's necessary to add sweetener to a stuffing.

I had a batch of baguettes that hadn't turned out right because I missed a crucial step (that basting with water and blast of steam when they enter the oven is very, very important to the classic crackling crisp crust).  I decided it was time to attempt the mix, but I'd use a modified combination of the two recipes to make something I would be happy to use.

Stuffing Mix

1 1/2 baguettes, sliced thin and cubed -OR- 6 cups cubed bread, dried (see below)
2 stalks of celery, finely diced and dried (see below)
3 tablespoons dried diced onions (I use an organic store brand)
2 tablespoons dried parsley (purchased organic, or home-dried organic)
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
6 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules, optional (you can omit if you plan to use home-made chicken stock for prepping the stuffing)

Place all ingredients in an airtight container and shake vigorously to combine.  To use, combine 1 2/3 cups water and 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan, -OR- 1 2/3 cups chicken stock in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add 2 cups mix.  Stir and cover.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes.  Fluff and serve.

*Notes:  You can dry your own celery and bread for this recipe easily, and without fancy gadgets.  Take the finely diced celery and spread it in a single layer on a foil-lined cookie sheet.  Place the cookie sheet in the oven and turn the oven on to as low a setting as you can manage where it still kicks out a bit of heat.  My oven has a digital readout, and will only go down to 170°, so if you have digital, I recommend that setting.  My old dial stoves had something like 120° on the readout, but I swear the heating element wouldn't come on until I set it to at least 150°.  So use your judgement... you know your equipment!  My celery dried in about three hours.  The goal here is something that won't spoil if you leave it in the cupboard, so make sure it's dry.  My celery shriveled to 25% of its original size, and even though the pieces started out the size of pencil erasers, they were teeny-tiny after dehydration.  The same procedure will work for the bread cubes, although you don't need the foil.  The foil is in case the celery sticks, and there's not enough natural sugar or moisture in the bread for that to be a problem.

Food and Cooking: The Plan

It's the week of Thanksgiving!  If you're cooking this year's feast, then I know you're already planning.  The bird takes three days to thaw in the refrigerator.  Making the sides, getting out the good china, heck... par-baking the dinner rolls... all takes a few days of prep.  You're probably knee-deep in it and don't even have time to read this!

Relax.  No, I don't have some solution for you that will magically let you eat bon-bons for the rest of the week.  Relaxing is just a good idea in general.   I'll tell you about it on Friday when I review a documentary on Stress: Portrait of a Killer.  If I don't post about it on Friday, it's because I'm exhausted.

Meanwhile, we have to get through this week without pulling our hair out, yes?

My husband's pay schedule is annoying during the holidays.  He gets paid every other Friday without fail... except during the holidays.  Then it's hit-or-miss.  We may get his paycheck direct-deposited this Wednesday, or it may not show up until Saturday, it's anyone's guess.  If he's getting a bonus, that might show up on Wednesday as well, or it could be there right now.

This is my long-winded way of saying that I started planning three weeks ago.

Timing is everything, too, because the really good sales on hams and turkeys don't really start until a week before the big day.  So here's what we did.  Setting a little money aside, we went and got a turkey breast on Sunday, along with a dozen eggs and celery.  I already have a dozen eggs, why am I getting more?  Because older eggs, kept in the fridge, are easier to peel for deviled eggs than really fresh ones.  The older eggs are going for that purpose, whereas the new eggs are going into the Wild Rice and Onion dressing, pies, and various other items.  Not to mention they will make fantastic omelettes and frittatas later in the week when we're sick of turkey.  I still have two bags of fresh cranberries, but I would have bought those as well.  At this point it should be all about the cooking... the shopping should be done.

Today I plan on par-baking two pie shells made from scratch.  I will also make the dough for dinner rolls, shape and place them in their pan, and then freeze them.  They'll go into a low oven after I've pulled the turkey out to rest about a half an hour before dinner.  They should be done in twenty minutes.  From a thawed or refrigerated state they take fifteen minutes, but honestly I won't have room in the fridge.  I may get crazy and chop the onions and celery for the dressing, but it's a little early for that.

Tomorrow I shall bake the pies.   More room in the fridge lost.

Wednesday night I will cook the wild rice, boil the eggs, and that would be the best time to chop all the onions, celery, etc.  I may assemble the dressing, but I hate to do something overnight with raw eggs in it, so I'll probably just get the components ready and assemble Thursday morning.  I'll boil the cranberries for the jelly.  I may leave the skins in half of it, or I may strain the whole thing.  (Cranberries are an excellent vegan source of calcium, I recently discovered.  Go nuts!) 

Thursday's plan will depend on when you want to serve.  We aim for noon or one pm.  Everybody gets to see the parade (or listen to it while they're in the kitchen) and then we can eat while the dog show is on afterward.  This is the time when you thank your lucky stars that there's a dishwasher on the premises.

The planning doesn't stop there.  There's food safety issues to deal with.  No food should be in the temperature "danger zone"  (above 40°F and below 140°F) for more than four hours TOTAL over its lifespan.  Don't leave the bird sitting for six hours while people pick at the carcass.  Pack it away immediately.  Same goes for the sides.  I planned ahead a month ago and got some very nice professional-grade food storage totes.  These will easily fit a fully-carved large turkey, or the remains of a small turkey and a ham.  They're also low-profile enough that they will fit in your fridge, and leave room for several small containers on top, providing a level base.

Have a safe, happy, and flavorful holiday everyone!  And remember, if you didn't cook, then you should offer to help with the dishes.  I'm just saying...

Food: Fruit Punch?

Over the weekend I turned two peaches, three papayas, and fourteen Habanero peppers into this:

I found the name a bit unwieldy, though, so I'm just calling it Habanero Peach Hot Sauce in my head.

I did not get any in-progress pictures of this hot stuff, though... it was all I could do to keep breathing.  It's wickedly potent.

It starts with halving the peppers, removing the seeds and white membranes, and roasting them in a dry dutch oven for a bit, stirring to keep them from sticking.  Dice the peaches and papayas, and add those as well.  Then it's a cup of cider vinegar and three-quarters of a cup of *fresh* lime juice.  Yes, squeezing that many limes is a pain.  When you're canning, though, you can't go around making substitutions to the acid ingredients unless you feel like contracting botulism.  Just get a good citrus juicer and stop complaining.  (It took me about six whole limes to get that much, but it's going to depend on the size of your fruit and how aggressive you are with getting every last drop.)

Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer until the peppers are tender.  At this point, the recipe calls for the careful (and foolishly dangerous) transfer of the hot liquid to a blender, and pureeing it until smooth.  The combination of steaming hot liquid and the agitation of the blender can and will blow the top off your blender, splattering you with hot, sugary mess.  Don't do it.  Get yourself an immersion blender (also known as a stick blender) and use that directly in the pot.  There's enough liquid that it processes up with a stick blender nicely and quickly, and you're not going to give yourself second degree burns, either.  Not to mention an eyeful of what is the same ingredient in pepper spray, more or less.

This may sound like a lot of effort and risk for hot sauce... a substance you can find easily in many varieties in the grocery store.  You can't find this, though.  Fresh ingredients, that zippy tang of the vinegar and lime that hits your tongue first... and then the kick.  That punch at the back of your throat that has you reaching for the water glass.  There's very little sweetness to it at all, but it's delicious.  I'm not a hot sauce connoisseur, but I've eaten a third of a jar already, it's that good.

No, I'm not eating it straight out of the jar.

 If this sounds like something you'd like to try, then check out the "Canning for a New Generation" cookbook, and follow it exactly (food safety is paramount when canning!) and you'll be amazed.

Food and Budget: Ouch

I've been nursing a sore back for four days, and I think I'm finally seeing some improvement.  How did I injure it?  Dodging the crap my daughter leaves in a trail from the front door to her computer every day when she comes home from school.  I take consolation in the fact that I will always have a trail leading to her location.

Anyway, the point of this self-pitying missive is that I haven't gotten to do much in the freezer-cooking department, but this IS the occasion where it really pays off.  Stuff was already in the freezer, I just had to finish it up and serve it.  Thaw a bag of pre-cooked hamburger, and you've got sloppy joes or the base for a good chili when topped off with home-canned chunky red sauce.  With ingredients purchased on sale, I also know that it's only pennies per serving.

Hopefully the savings will allow us to save up for a house and move... soon.  Because I can't wait to get my hands on a big chest freezer.

Food and Budget: Hot weather cooking

It's gotten to the point where I'm scrounging through the fridge looking for things that don't require heat to prepare.  It's just too darn hot here, even with air conditioning, to want to cook.  I *may* go so far as to heat meatballs for subs in the microwave, but that's about it.

One summer staple I like to haul out is a pasta salad.  It's not only a relatively cool dish to prepare and eat, it's another one of those recipes where you can throw just about any leftovers into it and it will still be delicious.  I've thawed out some ham from Christmas out of the freezer, but this could as easily use tuna, chopped cooked chicken or turkey, leftover veggies like corn or carrots... just make sure it's bite-sized or smaller.

Pasta Salad mashup

3 C. cooked pasta (elbow macaroni, penne, etc.)
1-1/2 C. Cooked meat (ham, turkey, chicken, pork, bacon) diced
1/2 C frozen peas
2 green onions, chopped
1 C. mayonnaise or Miracle whip, more or less to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl with a lid.  Salt and pepper to taste if you like.  I sometimes add a dash or two of hot sauce.  Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

*End of Recipe*

I will sometimes add a bit of mustard, chopped bell pepper, yellow onion, or other odds and ends from my leftovers, depending on what's in there already. 

Food: Recipes for Survival #4 - They're Not Crabcakes

My dentist did a royal number on me... I'd swear he was trying to kill me if I didn't know that my teeth were trying to do it first.  NEVER get your kids three sets of braces... by the time they're 40 the enamel is going to be shot anyway apparently from the cement they fix them on there with.  I'm having a bridge installed to replace a missing tooth that was originally a mistake another dentist made over ten years ago.  I won't tell you how much money we're dropping on this little venture, but think very nice used car and you might be close.  He has me on the good drugs and it's a little strange... weird things taste sweet, and while my eyelids refuse to stay up, my brain is still running as normal, so I'm mostly stuck listening to music or audio books.

My focus is a little fuzzy too, so while I'd like to provide a meat-free alternative this week, I just couldn't come up with one.  Falafel perhaps?  I don't have a tried and true recipe for that though, so we'll just have to muddle through.

This recipe is another family favorite.  My daughter would live on these if she could.  My grandmother used to make these all the time with canned salmon, a holdover from her days living in Alaska, I think, but they are just as good with tuna.

Fish Patties with creamed peas

2 - 15oz cans Pink Salmon or 4 - 8oz cans of tuna, water-packed, drained well
3/4 - 1 Cup crushed saltine crackers
1/4 C mayonnaise
2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
2 whole eggs or equivalent egg substitute
2-4 Tbs milk
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes

Place crackers, egg, mayonnaise, and Old Bay seasoning into a medium bowl and mix well.  Add enough milk or additional crushed crackers to make a mixture that's about the consistency of raw meatloaf, if needed.  Add the parsley flakes and tuna or salmon.  Mix thoroughly and set aside to let the crackers soak up some moisture.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat.  Meanwhile, start the creamed peas:

2 Tbs butter or margarine
2 Tbs flour
1 C Milk
1/2 C frozen peas (NOT canned.  They're too mushy to hold up to the stirring)

In a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium-low heat.  It should barely foam, and definitely should not start browning at all.  When the butter is melted, add the flour, creating a paste that's called a roux.  Turn up the heat to medium-high, stirring constantly until the mixture has bubbled at the bottom of the pan for a minute or so.  If it takes on a little color at this point, that's okay.  You want it to look kind of foamy.  Add the milk all at once, still stirring continuously, and turn the heat up to high.  When the milk has thickened properly, it will look like a thick gravy in consistency.  Let it bubble and thicken for one minute, stirring constantly.   Reduce the heat to low and add the peas, still in their frozen state, barely stirring them in.  They're fully cooked already, and will absorb the warmth from the white sauce while you're making the patties.

Time to make the patties.  Divide the fish mixture into even patties about the size of your palm, less than a half-inch thick.  Fry them in the non-stick pan with a little butter or oil until they are firm to the touch and browned well on both sides.  Do NOT flip them too often or they will fall apart.  The milk in the mixture will make them brown quickly, so test done-ness by poking them gently with your finger in the middle.  They should feel just as firm as the pad of your thumb.  If they get too dark too fast, turn your heat down a little bit, but make sure they are cooked until firm.

Taste your creamed peas and add salt and pepper to taste at this point.  Serve by placing one or two patties on the plate and cover with the creamed peas.

*End of recipe*

When making the white sauce, it's important to keep stirring.  It will stick to the bottom like nobody's business.  You can also add some shallots or green onion, but I don't like to complicate it too much.  I usually serve this with an orange or red veggie, such as cooked carrots or red bell-pepper strips or tomato wedges with a little italian dressing.  Bread or rice on the side is also good, mostly for soaking up the rest of the sauce.

While this sounds complicated, you'll find that once you have the cooking principles behind this down pat, you can get this from can or freezer to plate in less than 20 minutes.  Just make sure the patties are reasonably thin, so that the raw egg in the middle gets cooked in a reasonable amount of time.

I'm doing this from memory, and as I've stated I'm a little off my game right now.  If you try this recipe and it goes kerflop, please let me know. 

Food: Recipes for survival #2

Last week I showed you how to make the least expensive recipe I know, a kind of inside-out "cabbage roll" recipe in a skillet.  Today, I have two recipes for you... one for the carnivores and one for the vegetarians, because there is no possible way I know of to make a vegetarian version of roast chicken.

And every kid (who eats meat) should leave home knowing how to roast a chicken.  It's a simple way to impress the new in-laws when they get them, because it easily translates to the skills for roasting a turkey.  Did you know that the Butterball company sets up an 800 number every Thanksgiving as a sort of "hotline" to help people with roasting their turkeys?  And they get over 100,000 calls every year?

The other recipe is a recent favorite of mine, a simple three-bean salad that will not only be a good main dish for the vegetarian crowd, but will go great as a side dish for the chicken.

If you're working with a raw chicken, be sure to stress to your kids that it is VERY IMPORTANT that they wash their hands any time they've touched the chicken BEFORE they touch anything else.  And they should wipe down the faucet handle, too.

Roast Chicken

1 whole roasting chicken
vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Remove the chicken from its packaging, being sure to remove any giblets from the main cavity.  Some companies pack the giblets in paper or plastic before stuffing them in there, some just put them in.  Either way, they will slow down the cooking time and make the pan drippings look disgusting if you leave them in.  So they have to go.  (I save all the livers in a freezer container on the off chance I might feel like making some kind of chicken-liver pate some day.  I never do, but if you might, chuck it on into a container.  They'll keep in the freezer at a suitable texture for pate for up to six months.)  Rinse the bird inside and out to get rid of any packaging material that might stick to the skin and giblet bits that might stick to the inside.  Why they put a fluffy, absorbent material that falls apart right next to the bird is beyond me, but rinse it off.

Prepare a pan large enough for the bird to have clearance of at least an inch on all four sides.  If it has a rack, set it in the bottom.  If you do not have a roasting rack for that pan, a layer of root vegetables, such as carrots or potatoes will work well.  These would even be edible after, but not very pretty.   Just throw enough 1" chunks in the bottom to keep the bird from swimming in its own juices.  Place the bird in the pan.

Take a small amount of vegetable oil and rub it on the bird's exterior.  Pretend you're working a day spa for chickens.  Salt and pepper to your own family's taste, both inside and out.  Place in the oven.  Roast the chicken for 15 minutes per pound... this usually works out to an hour and fifteen minutes for the average chicken.  (Turkeys being larger need a longer time for cooking... check the Butterball website for a handy calculator.  An unstuffed 14 pound bird will take 3 1/2 hours to roast from a completely thawed state.)

Unless you're using some kind of special sauce, chickens do not need basting.  You'll know it's done when you can grab a leg and it moves freely.  A thermometer inserted at the thick part of the thigh (but NOT touching bone) should read 165 degrees F.

Carving is a whole 'nother post.


Three-bean Salad

1 (16oz) can cut green beans, drained
1 (16oz) can cut yellow wax beans, drained
1 (16oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup thinly sliced onion rounds, cut in half
2 Tbs. Parsley, chopped
2/3 C vinegar
1/2 C Sugar
1/3 C vegetable oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix beans, onion, and parsley in a large bowl.  Mix the remaining ingredients in a 2 quart saucepan.  Heat the vinegar mixture just to boiling, stirring occasionally.  Pour over beans and toss.

Cover and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, at least three hours or until chilled.

*End of Recipes*

The three-bean salad has many options.  Make it a four-bean salad by adding garbanzo beans.  Add crispy, crumbled bacon right before serving, if you're not using it as a vegetarian main dish.  Some people use lima beans.  No thank you.  I just don't like their texture.

The dressing for a traditional three-bean salad is quite heavy on the sugar.  I've added it as-is to this recipe, but feel free to experiment if you want a low-sugar option, or try honey.

Food: Simple Recipes for Survival #1

Last week... at some point... I was bemoaning the state of food and cooking education our kids get these days.  Please know, I'm not blaming parents.  Education in all areas is suffering because of Federal funding.  And as the mother of a very opinionated and stubborn child, I know it can be difficult to teach at home.  Sometimes your child needs a neutral third party to teach them, one that hasn't been after them to brush their teeth and get to bed.

Studies show that kids, even truly picky eaters, will be more likely to enjoy and actually eat a food that they've helped prepare.  So get them in the kitchen!  Even if they only grab a spoon and stir a pasta salad, they're learning something.  They're amazing sponges, picking up info from places when you didn't even think they were paying attention.

I know I promised that these recipes would be easy, and something your kids will want to eat.  This particular recipe is kind of "iffy" in that regard, so I'm doing this one first, partly because I know there are also some picky adults who wouldn't eat it (but should) and partly because it is one of the LEAST expensive recipes I know.  In fact, if you cut out the meat you could probably feed four people to the bursting point with it for under a dollar.

And with most of these recipes, I'm going to try to select ones that DON'T need the meat that's in them.  It's there for flavor and additional protein.

There are many variations of this recipe.  My family happens to like it anyway, but over the last couple years I've adjusted this and made it more "my own" so if you want to adjust it to suit your needs feel free.

Skillet "Stuffed" Cabbage

One small head green cabbage, chopped coarsely.
One Yellow Onion, peeled and chopped
One or two cloves garlic, to taste (I personally add more like four)
One pound ground beef (may be substituted with two cups cooked lentils)
One 16oz can petite diced tomatoes, or tomato puree
One teaspoon beef bouillon granules (may be substituted with vegetable bouillon or left out entirely)
Salt
Pepper
Old Bay Seasoning (optional, to taste)
Cooked white or brown rice (half cup uncooked rice per person)

Start your rice first.  Rice takes 20 minutes or more to cook, so have that on its way before starting the skillet because this goes pretty fast.

Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat.  I use a non-stick chicken frier, which is a four-inch deep skillet, mostly because I spill when I stir if I don't.  Make sure you have a good lid for this pan.  If you're using the lentils option, stir the cooked lentils in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil.  Add onion to the pan.  Once the onions are translucent, add the garlic, and stir it all together briefly. 

Add the cabbage.  It's very important that the cabbage not be over-cooked.  The reason cooked cabbage stinks most of the time is because people cook it until it breaks down.  Cabbage has a lot of sulphur in it.  While sulphur is good for many health benefits, it does smell.  What you want here is a crisp-tender consistency, like with a good stir-fry.  If it goes limp, you've gone too far.

Add the tomatoes and bouillon granules.  Add salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning.  Sometimes I will add a bit of red pepper flake at this point to spice it up.  Taste yours and see what you think... remember it's going over rice, which will "dilute" the flavor a bit.  Cover and simmer briefly, just to blend the flavors a bit.

Serve over hot rice.

*End of Recipe*

My husband praises my rice.  He says I always cook it perfect, which (being a picky cook) I have to disagree with.  Sometimes I get it stuck to the bottom of the pan, sometimes I don't think it's sticky enough.

99% of the time, I cook my rice to be like sticky chinese rice, like you get when you order takeout.  A lot of this recipes' success relies on that consistency, because I don't thicken the sauce.  The rice starch does that on the plate.  IF you're using converted rice (the kind that comes out with separate kernels), then you're going to want to thicken your sauce using a starch, either flour or cornstarch, because you DON'T want to cook this until it's naturally thickened.  Remember, mushy cabbage is nobody's friend.

Let me know in the comments whether you want me to share my method for cooking rice.  I'd be happy to do so, and it's really simple.

Food: Eating from the stash

Just as I have a knitting stash of yarn, so too I consider my freezer food a stash for later. Like a squirrel, I guess. This past week has been mostly about eating from the stash to make room for make-ahead Thanksgiving goodies.

I still have more than half a case of canned organic pumpkin from last year (bought on sale), so that's where the pumpkin pies are coming from. I have a bunch of apples (from my first batch this fall) frozen as pie filling, so apple is taken care of as well. I still have that load of hot dog buns Barronius bought in the freezer, so what isn't made into crumbs for later will be cubed for stuffing and dressing.

So the big purchases are going to be cranberries, turkey (possibly just a breast), and ham. I ended up tossing what was left of our ham from Christmas last year just recently... it wasn't the nice pretty slices anyway, it was the unsliced heel and the bone, mostly, and I never did get around to making bean soup from it. We're not big soup people.

I never feel well-fed after soup, no matter how much bread I dunk in it.

So anyway, starting this week would be a good time to keep an eye on your store flyers for turkey and ham on sale. Also, if you've been dying to get one of those Nesco roaster/slow cooker appliances, those usually go on sale this time of year too. Watch places like hardware stores , W-mart, and even electronics stores if they carry appliances.

The roasters are good for doing more than cooking turkeys... I've heard people mention baking cookies in them, and other oven chores when they don't want to heat up a whole oven or their kitchen is being remodeled. They are also good for slow-cooking fruit butters. ;)

That's my advice for this pre-Thanksgiving season... watch for the sales. Stock up if you can. Pre-cooked turkey in the freezer is just as good as and can be substituted for cooked chicken, and at sale prices of around $.49 a pound, a real bargain.