The Accidental Breakfast

I was all prepared to share some more about what I've been doing with all my yummy peaches but after breakfast I changed my mind. My daughter finished the last of the milk yesterday afternoon and we were down to one egg. The plan was for me to run to the grocery store after my husband got home but issues came up at work and it was after 9 before he made it home. By that time in the evening I'm done!!
With no milk and one egg I was having trouble figuring out what we would have for breakfast. I have some pancakes frozen from yesterdays breakfast but we just had pancakes yesterday and I was in the mood for something different. I did a quick computer search and came up with a recipe for PB & J Muffins. I had read about these on several blogs and wanted to give them a try as something to include in school lunches so this was the perfect time. I did have to improvise. The recipe calls for 2 eggs and I only had one so I added some applesauce to compensate. I forgot about not having milk so I grabbed the container with my Grandmas homemade hot cocoa mix in it, put around two tablespoons in with the 3/4 cup of water and declared it a good substitute. I figured the mix has powered milk in it so it works for me:) I love the fact that this recipe has carrot and zucchini in it. My oldest is not a veggie fan so I love finding new ways to get them in his tummy without a fight.

Preserving The Harvest

I spent the last couple of days busy in the kitchen canning. We have a nice garden that gives us tons of tomatoes and my green beans are finally in. They got started late so they should of been done by now but I'll take what I can get! We are fortunate to live near lots of apple and peach orchards so I was also able to get a bushel of the juiciest, freshest peaches perfect for turning into jam, peach butter, and slicing and freezing for school lunches. The peach butter is in the crock pot right now and oh my goodness the whole house smells soooooo good! It's almost 100 here today but in my kitchen it's fall with the scent of cinnamon and cloves.

I'll start today by sharing my best ever attempt at canned spaghetti sauce. I've attempted it before using the Mrs. Wages seasoning mix. It always turned out OK but for the amount of work that goes into it OK just doesn't cut it. This year I used the USDA's recommended recipe for spaghetti sauce without meat. You can find the recipe easily by searching but I got mine here
Spaghetti Sauce Without Meat
I started the process on Friday. My wonderful husband picked the tomatoes while I was getting kids bathed and ready for bed. Somehow over the last couple of years he has taken over as the main vegetable gardener and I don't mind one bit letting him take that on! After the kids were in bed we set up our usual tomato processing operation. He is in charge of getting them washed, dunked in boiling water, and skinned, and I core, slice, and get chop/process in the appropriate manner for what we are canning. I knew I wanted these for sauce so that's all we did that night. It was 10 PM before that was done and I didn't have the energy to continue so I sat them in the frig overnight to stay nice and cool until I was ready to continue on Saturday.

I started on Saturday morning by dipping off as much of then excess water as possible. We had some very juicy tomatoes and the more water/liquid the longer it will take to simmer it down to the right consistency for sauce. I couldn't stand to let all that yummy juice go to waste to I dipped it into baggies and stuck them in the freezer. I'll use them in soups and stews and as the liquid for some marinades this winter.

I simmered the tomatoes for a half an hour or so then ran them through my food mill. This gets rid of seeds, missed skins, and pulpy part so the tomato so you can simmer what remains down into a nice smooth sauce.



I added the rest of the ingredients and set the pot on the stove to simmer. It took a good 6 hours simmering on low on my stove to get it to a consistency I was happy with. You can see from the pictures the starting and ending amounts.



I canned the sauce in my pressure canner and after all this work I ended up with 4 quarts of the most delicious sauce I've ever make. It was quite a bit of work but I'll appreciate it when I'm enjoying it this winter!

My child (ren) most definitly did not................
Sleep in my bed last night just because I knew this would mean he (and I) would sleep in
Eat their breakfast in front of the the TV this morning
Go for a bike ride in 90 degree weather in sweat pants and a shirt three sizes too big just because he wanted to dress himself
Come home from said bike ride and request and get hot chocolate to drink.
Nope, none of this was my child!!

I found this fun idea on MckMamas blog.


As for me I spent the weekend in the kitchen canning. I have lots of pictures and will be back to post about all my food preservation adventures later today.

This Little Piggy

I've only really been blogging a week however in that week I've managed to change the name of the blog three times. I started the blog as a "Pantry Challenge" type of thing where I wanted to work on saving money and using up the massive amounts of food I seem to have in the pantry and freezer. That is still a worthy goal but when I actually started regularly posting this week it wasn't the direction my posts were taking. After a few posts it occurred to me that the one constant in every post was a picture of my wooden pig cutting board, hence the name "This Little Piggy" which is the first thing that came to mind with two preschoolers running around the house.
This Little Piggy actually does carry more significance that just something that happens to be in a lot of my cooking pictures. It was made by my Grandpa Elzie. He was an avid woodworker and I have several treasures he made me as a child but this is the one I currently treasure the most. I see it propped behind my stove, the same way my mom always stored her and I think of him as I go about my day. It gives me a way to keep him close to me now that's he's gone.
I don't know what direction the blog will take in the future but I think the name is final and I hope that somehow it will inspire you to get your little piggies moving around the kitchen as you try a few new recipes!

It's Not Delivery

This was going to be yesterdays post but I got into a fight with some poison ivy that was invading my back flower bed and the poison ivy won, big time. I'm covered in spots and all the itchiness that comes along with them from my forehead to my calves. I still itch and I still look like someone who would make small children scream in fear but life must go on.
I love making homemade pizza but it's taken a lot of failed attempts to get a good crust recipe. Every one I have ever tried was either too complicated, didn't taste quite right, or have the right texture. This is quick, easy, and as close to my husbands favorite local pizza joint as I think I'll ever get.
Start by putting one cup of warm water in a glass bowl. Add one packet (or 2 tsps) of yeast and one teaspoon of sugar and stir gently. Let this sit for around ten minutes until it looks nice and creamy on top. You should go from this....





To this....

Then add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, 2 1/2 cups of flour (I've done all white and half white half wheat and they both work fine) , one teaspoon of salt, one tablespoon of dried basil, and one teaspoon of granulated garlic. Mix with a spoon until combined, mixing with your hands or kneading as necessary to combine all of the ingredients. Let the dough sit for at least five minutes before rolling it into the desired shape and size of crust. For me this makes enough for two crusts so I divide it in half. To roll it out put a small amount of corn meal on your counter then roll the dough out on top of the meal, making sure to move the crust around a bit as you roll to make sure it isn't getting stuck to the counter.
Move the crust to your pan and prebake in a 400 degree oven for around 10 minutes before you add your favorite sauce and toppings. I've tried making the pizza without pre baking the crust and I just can't get the crust done enough this way. The longer you pre bake the crunchier your final crust will be.
As you can see I'm not too picky about the final shape of the dough. As long as it fits on the pan it works for me! I usually do one pizza with pepperoni and extra cheese for the hubby and another with the good stuff for the kids and I! This weeks was loaded with onion and fresh peppers and basil from the garden.



Easy Pizza Crust
One cup warm water
One packet yeast (or 2 tsps)
One tsp sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
One tsp salt
One Tbsp dried basil
One tsp granulated garlic
One Tbsp olive oil

Meat and Potatoes

My husband is a true meat and potatoes type of guy. He would be happy with the same five things in rotation for dinner every night but I get bored and like some variety. While doing one of my weekly searches on AllRecipes trying to come up with something else to do with hamburger I came across this recipe for Hamburger Supper. It's a good alternative to something like Hamburger Helper on a night you need something quick.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Hamburger-Supper/Detail.aspx
To round it out I made some steamed veggies and cut up some juicy fresh peaches from a local orchard. I got a bushel over the weekend at the request of my mother in law and after trying them I'm headed back tomorrow to get a bushel for me. I plan on making some peach butter and cutting them up to freeze for future additions to school lunches this winter.

Eggs In A Biscuit

With back to school quickly approaching I started looking yesterday for ideas for lunches and easy breakfasts. I remember seeing a recipe for breakfast egg muffins so I did a search and came up with an appealing recipe on AllRecipes (my absolute favorite cooking website) that looked appealing. Of course I tweaked it a bit. I didn't have sausage so I used five strips of bacon in place of the sausage and I used four eggs instead of three. The only canned biscuits I had were Grands so I separated each biscuit into two mostly even halves and used one half per muffin.
They turned out really well. When I first mixed the egg mixture up it didn't look like it would be enough for 12 muffins but it worked out perfectly. They ended up being surprisingly light and fluffy and really tasty. I will definitely be making these again but my next attempt will be with homemade biscuit dough to try to make them as wholesome and healthy as possible.
Link to the recipe
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Breakfast-Pies/Detail.aspx

Why did I just spend $200 at the grocery store when the pantry and frig are full?

I went to two different grocery stores this evening sans children! Finally a chance to shop in peace. I got home with a van load of groceries and realized there was no where to put them. I found room for the frozen and refrigerated goods (definitely the beer, enjoying a nice cold Widmer right now, yum) and the rest are sitting in their nice little eco friendly reusable bags.
Tomorrow I will deal with the task of finding room for everything but tonight I decided to start this blog as a way to make myself accountable. My goals are to start planning meals and to work on using or donating what is already in the pantry. I have a side by side frig and freezer and an upright deep freeze in the basement. We have a large pantry and two corner cabinets completely full of food. That doesn't include the stockpile of tomatoes, green beans, and jelly I have canned and stored in the basement. There can't be that many staples that I absolutely must have right?
I'll start with the next three days. I'm leaving Sunday to go out of town to work so the meals being served at my house will most likely consist of take out pizza, PB and J, and showing up at Grandmas house at dinner time.

Friday:
Breakfast- Chocolate chip pancakes and scrambled eggs
Lunch- Toasted cheese sandwiches, fresh fruit, yogurt
Snacks- Nutella on graham crackers, popcorn
Dinner- Cook out with church kids group

Saturday-
Breakfast- Sasuage, scrambled eggs, toast
Lunch- Chicken tenders, bow tie pasta and veggies in cheese sauce, applesauce
Snack- Fruit smoothie, goldfish crackers
Dinner- Shish ka bobs with steak, chicken, green peppers, onion, potatoes, green and yellow squash. Served with wild rice and brownies and ice cream for dessert. We're having friends over for dinner:)

Sunday-
Breakfast- Bacon,egg, and cheese sandwiches
Lunch- For me whatever I grab on the road, Daddy and kids are cooking out at his parents