Chopped: Food Backpacks 4 Kids Edition

Welcome back! On today's show, we have the amazing Food Backpacks 4 Kids (FB4K) program that provides local families with food boxes every week.  There are no income requirements to participate, you just need to have children. And children I have.

I have resisted the siren call of FB4K for years. I love emergency food storage and making sure we have enough to survive disasters and 2020 is no exception to that! But we have been receiving these generous boxes since spring and my pantry is not just overflowing with shelf stable foods, my second pantry is overflowing.  In fact, my living room is starting to look like a grocery outlet. They have added perishable food to the program now that the food doesn't come home with kids in backpacks from school. So in addition to the canned food, we are receiving dairy, meat, fruits, and vegetables. We never know what we are going to get!

We haven't eaten canned food as our normal menu, finding meals cooked from scratch in large quantities is better for our health, our wallet, and the landfill. However, I need to use this food before I go crazy. Oh no, too late!

This morning, I made baked oatmeal. This is an amazing easy breakfast.  After preheating the oven to 350 degrees, I mixed up the following from FB4K: three little boxes of shelf stable milk, 1 c liquid egg, 2/3 can applesauce, 1/2 c melted butter, 6 c dry oatmeal, and a bag of Dried Fruit and Nut Mix. From my pantry came 1 c brown sugar, 2 t cinnamon, 2 t baking powder, 1 t salt, and 2t vanilla extract. I baked it for 40 min in an oil sprayed pan. And that's breakfast!

Tonight I will be making something using one of our million cans of cream of mushroom soup... I wonder, do people ever just heat and eat cream of mushroom soup? Or is it for casserole use only?

Mark suggested I write a book with my FB4K recipes and call it Recipes for Disasters. He is mostly poking fun at my distaste for cooking AND my negative feelings about having too much food around here. If this were a real disaster for us, we'd gladly eat the canned beef ravioli instead of trying to give it away on Buy Nothing (no takers).

Follow me for more tips on disguising disgusting food!

Love,

Anna

Hand-Me-Downens

 This is Ian:

Ian at 18 months - November 2003

This is Lula:

Lula at 19 months - Today

Tonight, I cooked dinner.  What made it special was...I cooked beef.  Normally I let Mark do the beef cooking (unless it is ground and going into burritos or spaghetti) because What if I screw it up?  There really isn't a lot worse than overcooked beef.  Except for overcooked pork (guilty).

So, what do you think?  Did I do alright?  Mark said it was perfect.  PERFECT.  I'm going to keep that compliment tucked inside my heart for a long, long time.

Baked Oatmeal: Anna-the-Amish-Wannabe Style

While we were in Pennsylvania, my sister bought some baked oatmeal from the local store.  It was SOOOO good!  I had a hankering for some this morning, but with a large family with mostly young children, a sink I haven't seen the bottom of since I returned home, and a desire to keep everything as simple as possible, I had to create my own version.  It only took a few minutes, really.

First, I like recipes with even measurements.  For example, I prefer one stick of butter instead of 1/3 cup.  Also, I like recipes that use lots of eggs.  When you have 17 dozen eggs in the refrigerator and have learned that it costs more to sell them than it does to use them, well, your eggs tend to accumulate.  Third, I like regular oatmeal instead of quick oats.  And lastly, I don't like using a bunch of bowls to mix dry and wet ingredients separately, one big bowl for combining, and one baking dish.  Like I said, we haven't recovered from my trip East yet, even with running the dishwasher twice a day!  And you know you have a large family when you stop using 1 cup measuring cups and start using large tupperware to scoop oatmeal out of a bucket!

Bucket of Oatmeal: Since 2011!

I created my recipe by reading a bunch of recipes online and rounding measurements to suit my needs.  This recipe makes one 9 by 13 pan.

Baked Oatmeal

• 6 cups oats
• raisins and cinnamon (or other fruit, use to taste)
• 1 stick butter
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 4-5 eggs (depends on size of egg)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 T vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease baking dish and layer oats, raisins, and cinnamon.   Microwave butter in small bowl, using the wrapper to cover butter and eliminate splatter.  While butter is melting, use Vitamix to blend the rest of ingredients.  I add the milk first and use the measurements on the side of the canister.  Pour butter in Vitamix and whirl a bit more.  The butter is hot, so you need to pour while the mixer is running so the eggs don't cook prematurely (this is the "curdle" that happens in homemade puddings).  Pour immediately over the oats in the baking dish and place in oven.  Bake for 45 minutes or until center is set.

"Must...get...every...last...crumb!"

Results of my experiment: Because I didn't soak the dish overnight like most recipes recommend, my baked oatmeal turned out more...oaty.  Instead of the oak flakes being uniformly mushy, they tended to flake off, especially if they were on the top of the dish.  So it looked more like cereal.  However, my kids loved it (they aren't picky) and the dog loved the scraps!  I'm going to make it again for tomorrow, but soak it overnight (which means I will make it during dinner prep so I don't have to be in the kitchen for extended hours!).

Oatmeal Never Gets Boring

We've been eating oatmeal, bought in 50 pound sacks, for five or more years now.  I can't even remember now why we started doing this, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with saving mass quantities of money. THIS is a link to my pantry/bucket/bulk buying blog post.  THIS is a link to what my van looks like on shopping day.  And THIS is a link to making oatmeal tasty.

Fiona asks, "Can I play Cinderella?" and then she sings about mockingbirds and sweeps.

Every once in awhile I'm inspired to make the oatmeal a different way.  We often have dried cranberry-orange juice oatmeal or dried cranberry-vanilla yogurt oatmeal, but this morning I took a different route.  The cookie route.  Dried cranberry and white chocolate chips! Shhh! Don't tell the kids-they didn't get any!  The secret with chocolate chips, white or dark, is to sprinkle them in and stir just enough to incorporate.  If you over-stir, the chips melt and every bite tastes the same.  If you let the chips melt in place, you are surprised by a sweet gooey bite of melted chocolate! YUM!

I forgot to mention in my end-of-the-world post that I made Mayan oatmeal for breakfast: brown sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and a pinch of cayenne pepper!  Now that was some tasty porridge that had no leftovers!

Peek-a-boo Porridge

 Once upon a time, during the depression of the 1930's, there was a little boy about Fiona's age who would not eat his porridge.  To encourage him to eat his porridge, his grandmother buried a spoonful of jam at the bottom of the bowl.  This was to entice him to eat to the bottom of the bowl for the sweet reward.  She called it Peek-a-boo porridge and who knows? Maybe it worked on her when she was a little girl!  That little boy was smart (he was, after all, Grandad), so he just dug straight down, ate the jam, and left the porridge.  Grandad didn't change much.  He knew that if he came out to the kitchen during breakfast, I would force a nice, healthy bowl of hot porridge into his hands (instead of the sweet muffin he desired).  He would pick at it while he told us the story of the peek-a-boo porridge his grandmother made him. 

I haven't made Peek-a-boo Porridge since he passed away.  This morning was a perfect morning for it-the oatmeal was overcooked and needed something special.  The smile on IJ's face when he realized it was Peek-a-boo was priceless.  And Daniel? He quickly followed in his grandad's footsteps and dug straight to the bottom of his bowl.

Kale Chips

It's hard, and a little anti-climactic, to follow a wedding post with a post about vegetables.  But here I am!

Our (okay, M's) garden is doing quite well and the green leafies need to be eaten every day.  Not just because they are good for us, but because we don't want to waste them!  I don't always feel like making green smoothies.  My fall back is adding the greens to stir fries or soups or just serving them steamed on the side.  What you hear about including children in gardening so they'll eat their veggies is true.  Even IJ is still excited about eating chard from his (M's) garden.  The kids prefer to go in the garden and pick a few leaves to munch on between huckleberry forages, but I think I may have stumbled upon a new snack...

...kale chips!  Google "dehydrated kale chips" for recipes.  I kept reading that these are just as grubbin' as potato chips-which I could not believe.  How could KALE chips be as good as POTATO chips?  Well, they are.  We ate the entire contents of three dehydrator levels right before bedtime last night.  Which is equivalent to a large bowl of freshly picked kale.  I just tossed the leaves in olive oil, lemon juice, and sea salt and dried them at 145 degrees for a few hours.  The raw food people dry at 115 degrees for a longer time, but I'm not too concerned about destroying enzymes at this point. 

The kids loved them, M loved them, and I loved them.  The best thing is...I can make them and store them for later!  If they last...

And just for fun:

 The roundest egg we've ever seen.

Easy Freezy French Toast

Wow, what a busy week I've had and it's only half over!  So far we've had standardized tests, homeschool PE, swimming, chess club, Awanas, a midwife appointment, several long phone calls with my dear grown-up daughters, and all the rest of the "normal" things we do in a day.  Today we have the last set of standardized tests, an open house function for orchestra, and a Cub Scout meeting that has yet to be planned.  When I have weeks like this, feeding the kids has to be easy, otherwise I end up driving thru McD's-YUCK.

Time Saving Tip: Kids (older than 6) top their own French Toast

Introducing my new recipe: Easy Freezy French Toast.  It is seriously easy.  I've removed all ingredients from the french toast batter except for milk and eggs.  Why add the tasty extras when the kids are just going to drown their food with syrup, cinnamon and sugar, or jam? For this last batch, I used a good two dozen eggs...maybe three.  I wasn't counting, just clearing out "old" eggs.  [And when I say "old" I only mean they were laid about five days ago.  Store eggs are several weeks old by the time you bring them home.]  I blend them in my VitaMix with just enough milk-eyeball it.  I have to use the VitaMix because our eggs are so fresh it is hard to incorporate all the whites by hand.

The bread came from the free bread lady.  She has a friend that runs an Oroweat outlet store, so she picks up all the old bread and gives it out for free.  I load up about once a month and save hundreds of dollars on the grocery bill. So not only is this method time efficient, but money efficient too!

One of the best Christmas Presents Ever!

Then cook on the biggest griddle you have, coated with oil.  Frying the batter-dipped bread in oil is what gives french toast its texture, so don't skip the oil!  I use a Misto with vegetable oil because I don't like globbing and wasting oil from the jug.  Butter tastes better, but it burns too easily (and costs more).  When I get on a time-crunch mindset, the last thing I need is to burn something.

Half of the Leftovers

I make enough french toast to feed a small army three times.  The kids can pack away at least a loaf and a half.  And the best way to save time is to be efficient...in this case, I won't have to bring out the griddle and wash it when I'm done three times, only once.  I cool the leftover french toast in stacks of four, wrap each stack in a paper towel, put four stacks in a gallon-sized freezer bag, and freeze.  When we need a quick meal, I pull a bag out of the freezer, microwave a stack (still wrapped in the paper towel) for one minute, and serve with butter and cinnamon sugar...or nothing, depending on how late we are!

The Dirt on Breakfast

This morning I fed my kids pudding for breakfast.  It wasn't just pudding...it was Banana Cream Pie Rice Pudding.  Which is just vanilla pudding mixed with rice and banana slices.

I had two old bananas that were too brown to eat (if you are a kid), leftover brown rice from last night's dinner, and more dozen eggs sitting on my counter than I can count (M and I added a few pecans too)!  The only questionable ingredient in pudding is white sugar.  How much sugar is appropriate for breakfast?

My recipe for Banana Cream Pie calls for 2/3 cup of sugar for the pudding portion.  This averaged to 1.8 tablespoons per person.  Is that too much?

Considering that my children were completely full after one bowl and some couldn't even finish, I would say it was not too much.  Kix may be lower in sugar per serving- 1 1/4 cup has 4 grams of sugar, about one teaspoon.  But the sugar amount per sitting for my children has more sugar because they'll eat 2 or 3 giant bowls...and be hungry an hour later.  And I'm not counting the sugar in the banana, just the white sugar.

 

If I think of just the calories alone...well, 1.8 tablespoons is not even 90 calories and I don't think they would have a problem burning that, would they?  So bring on the rice pudding!  It's cheaper, more filling, lower in sugar, higher in protein, and it uses leftovers!  Hooray!

Crockpot Yogurt

Wow, man, I'm seriously geeking out on my crockpot yogurt.  I've got a few extra gallons of milk in my fridge and no vanilla yogurt. What is a mom who is obsessed on saving money with the grocery bill to do?  (I'm obsessed with saving money on the grocery bill because I've told M that whatever is left in the grocery budget goes to my birthday present budget-you know, to make up for the fact I didn't get a Christmas present because of the whole septic thing)

I was going to make yogurt following instructions I found online that calls for a double boiler.  I don't have one that is big enough to hold a gallon of milk.  M asked, "Why can't you use your crockpot?"  I googled again and found many sites instructing us on the use of our crockpots in yogurt making!  Brilliant!  Easy!

Here's the cliffnotes version: heat a gallon of milk in the crockpot until it reaches the right temp, turn of crockpot and cool milk to 90-110 degrees, add yogurt starter (I used a cup-sized scoop of plain yogurt that has the Live and Active seal on the container), replace lid, wrap crockpot in a towel, let set overnight and...

Have yogurt smoothies for breakfast!

Autumn

Summer is over.  Yahoo!  I am a PNW girl to the core.  I love spring and I love autumn.  Winter is too gray (it would be different if it snowed here).  Summer is too hot.

I am celebrating by making pumpkin porridge carbonara and sharing my secret trick with you.  My secret that I learned from my husband, so I guess it is his secret.  Pumpkin porridge is easy to make.  You just add some canned pumpkin after the porridge is done cooking and whatever spices and sweetener you like.  Today I added cinnamon, cloves, and brown sugar.  Now comes the fun part.  Take an egg (or more) and blend it smooth.  My Super M can whip eggs with a wire whisk as well as I can with the blender.  So I used my VitaMix.  Then slowly add the egg(s) in a drizzle and stir the hot porridge quickly, like you are making a hollandaise sauce.  The eggs cook without coagulating and making the porridge so creamy, like a custard!  Yum, yum, yum!

Dutch Babies

Another good use for buckets: BABY TRAP

My hens have picked up the pace with egg laying now that the days seem longer.  Yesterday, we got 21 eggs from 27 hens.  It's time to sell again!  And eat large quantities of eggs!  The kids' favorite is Dutch Babies.  I've also seen these called Puffy Oven Pancakes and Mountains, but I like Dutch Babies better.  They are so easy to make and so versatile!

All you do is melt butter in a pan, pie plate, or oven-proof skillet in a 425 degree oven.  Then you put equal amounts of egg, milk, and flour in the blender, blend, pour into the melted butter, and bake until puffy and as brown as you like it.  For my growing kids, I make three 9 X 13 pans worth.  That is about 12-15 eggs (one large egg is supposed to equal 1/4 cup), 3 cups of milk, and three cups of flour.  The BEST part is the topping.

Not quite done yet

We used to pour maple syrup on everything.  But then the whole high fructose corn syrup thing happened and someone (who shall remain nameless-Grandad) insisted that we buy 100% pure maple syrup and that he would pay for it.  I cannot stand paying so much for something that is used only because it is sweet.  Plus, I know exposure is how tastes are formed.  So it makes sense to me to make my own toppings and warp my children's minds just a little bit more.  I've gone this far, why not go all the way?

Tonight I made blueberry syrup.  I know, boring.  You can buy that in a bottle.  Yeah? Well, that stuff is gross!  My syrup is yummy!  And for the record, I don't follow any recipes and I've never had any formal training (unless you count Good Eats DVDs).  So results can vary from meal to meal.  Tonight I got lucky.  I added several cups of frozen blueberries to a pan, added a trickle of water and about 1/3 cup of sugar.  I simmered the blueberries until they were all liquidy and gave 'em a taste.  It was okay, but obviously needed something.  So I though of blueberry sweets...blueberry pie...what is in a blueberry pie?  Lemon juice!  The acid balances out the sweet of the sugar.  But I'm out of lemon juice.  I needed an acid...so I used cream of tartar.  Just a tiny bit.  And then I added some cinnamon, stirred well, and brought the whole mess to a boil.  To thicken, I swirled some cornstarch (arrowroot powder also works for this) in some cold water and then poured it into the boiling syrup.  I stirred, brought it back up to a boil, boiled for one minute to get rid of any starchy taste, and then it was done!  My kitchen smelled like Christmas!

She likes it!  But then again, she isn't that hard to please!

I've used this basic method to make raspberry syrup, Very Berry syrup, mango syrup, and apple/cinnamon syrup.  My kids have not missed their maple syrup at all.  And I've found it doesn't take any extra time at all because I'm standing in the kitchen anyway.  And I can mix it with yogurt for D.  AND pour it in the porridge tomorrow morning.  If there is any left.

More Homemade Christmas

A little fruitcake is mellowing on my cooling rack.  I've never made a fruitcake before, but after gagging down two Costco brand fruitcakes with neon colored fruit I had to make my own.  I used dried fruit, not neon fruit.  And liquor!  Like, oh my goodness!  I have never been to the liquor store before!  Seriously!  I parked out front, told the kids I was going in the liquor store, and S shouted, "The LICKER STORE??? Are you going to LICK the STORE?"  Then I had to go in and find what I needed.  It was so confusing!  Then I got carded.  Which wasn't so bad since it has been a long time since I turned 21!  I just hope I cooked everything long enough so the alcohol burns off.  I don't want a bunch of drunk kids running around my house.  Or a drunk Grandad for that matter.

And now I'm staying up late in my elvish workshop, sewing these:

Skirts from pillowcases (and other random fabric scraps)!  Obviously these are for the girls.  I love the matching pillowcase skirts.  I can't wait to see my girls twirling around in them.

Morning Zinger Porridge

I make oatmeal or some other kind of hot cereal at least twice a week.  We call it porridge.  To keep the porridge from getting old, bland, and predictable, we have a fun time coming up with new ways to flavor it.  We have Very Berry Porridge, which is the berry medley from the freezer section of Costco.  We have Pumpkin Pie Porridge, which is canned pumpkin with the spices you find in pumpkin pie.  We have many variations of tropical flavored porridge with old bananas, coconut, and fruit.  Thanksgiving Leftover Porridge could have anything in it (no turkey though-no guarantee on the mashed potatoes)! 

This morning I made Morning Zinger Porridge for the first time.  The name came to me as I took my first bite!  I had a pile of pears that all had bruises.  Kids don't eat fruit that has brown spots, don't you know?  So I pureed the pears, added some lemon juice to keep them from oxidizing (turning brown), and poured them in the oatmeal.  Then I thought about commercial products I see with pears as the main ingredient.  What do the professionals add to pears?  Ginger.  I added some ground ginger and lightly sweetened with a little honey and some organic agave syrup.  Zing!

Now I make a huge pot of oatmeal (any leftovers get consumed by M or Grandad) so I can't give you exact amounts.  But the secret to cooking, I've learned from my chef-husband, is to keep the flavor so that you can't quite put your finger on what you are tasting.  You must have another bite to taste it again!  And again!  What is that delicious flavor?  High notes, low notes, mid range...mmmmm!  Auguste Gusteau says, "Anyone can cook!" in Pixar's Ratatouille, and you know what?  I'm anyone!

F shares her meal with her baby brother.  It is a boring bean soup made by me, but a scrape-the-bottom-of-the-crock-pot-soup when M flavors it.

The kids saw me adding the honey to the pot, so they were excited to have honey and pear porridge.  They gobbled it up!  I'm hoping the ginger keeps E from getting carsick today as we drive to the black belt ceremony!