Kids Dish

Little by little I’m emptying my extra freezer of the fruits (and vegetables)of last year’s CSA share and the meat we ordered over the summer. I no longer have a deep, chest freezer in the basement. We sadly had to sell it after realizing it was costing us more than $30 a month in electric bills. We just have a regular sized refrigerator in the garage with a regular sized freezer. Our kitchen fridge is a side-by-side model, which I hate, so having the extra freezer space is a necessity. Without it there would be no frozen Trader Joe’s pizzas on hand, whole chickens, and a place to store freezer meals for when the new baby comes next month.

I don’t know when I’m going to be motivated enough to start cooking, or what exactly I’m going to cook. The meat pickings are slim right now, so I may have to stick to mostly pasta based meals, which is fine since they freeze well anyway. I do have a few whole chickens, so I can make some chicken dishes too. I think I’ll make lasagna, a dish of chicken enchiladas, eggplant parmesan, a baked ziti, and a chicken potpie. Other than the potpie, the other dishes can be cooked in advance then frozen in individual or smaller sized portions. That way we won’t have to defrost a lasagna then be stuck eating it for days in a row.

I’ll probably make a few batches of muffins using the last of the grated zucchini and the sour cherries so I’ll have quick one-handed breakfasts. Pancakes also freeze well. If I keep making full-sized batches of pancakes over the next few weekends I’ll be able to build up a nice stash so I can pop them in the toaster oven and feed Sam without too much trouble.

What else do you make and freeze?

Holy crap, how did Thanksgiving get to be two weeks away? This year it looks like the crowd’s going to be significantly smaller than years past. Right now it looks like we’ll have just about a dozen people, though my brother-in-law and his wife (and baby) usually arrive late and have already eaten Thanksgiving dinner earlier in the day. Not that it stops them from eating more, but they don’t eat as much as everyone else. My mother-in-law is working this year and I’m not sure if my sister-in-law and her fiance will eat with us or her fiance’s parents. The smaller numbers means I pre-ordered an enormous turkey when a large turkey would have sufficed. *problem solved! I called and changed the order and the farm was accommodating*

Aside from the turkey which I already know will be brined, stuffed and roasted, it’s time to start planning the menu. I’d like to keep the menu as local as possible, using vegetables bought from local farms. The potatoes and sweet potatoes should be easy. Pumpkins or other winter squash and apples are also easy. I slacked on preserving green beans, eating them instead, so I don’t have any of those and I know from last year that my family doesn’t love Brussels sprouts. Broccoli should still be available, so that’s an option for a green veggie. Everything else is up for grabs. Cranberries should be around and I know I’ll have no trouble getting local bread for stuffing.

Based on previous years I know there’s no point in trying any new, interesting recipes. No one in my husband’s family cares too much about the sides as long as they are warm, sweet or salty and filling. Last year I tried a few new vegetable recipes and they were practically untouched, so I’ll keep it simple this year. I’m still missing my chest freezer. I don’t know how I’m going to manage cooking in advance with no place to keep everything.

Frugal Mania is trying to feed a family of five for $30 this Thanksgiving. I have a feeling my expenditures will easily quadruple that. It’s a good thing my dad’s bringing the wine!

The September Eat Local Challenge has come and gone and with the help of my CSA, meat buying club, local farmer’s markets, and other resources I think I did pretty well.

1. Eat one meal per week during the month of September that is made using locally grown ingredients. Non-local oil and spices are allowed.

I think we probably ate more than one local meal each week. I seemed to do much better with the meals I didn’t think about too much like stir fries and the Sloppy Joes. Another success was the Ribollita which was probably the best meal we ate all month. Except for the the Eat Local Rosh Hashanah. That meal was awesome. Even Sam ate the brisket.

One dinner in particular took more than four hours to cook and was a complete and utter disaster. By the time it was ready Sam was in bed and I’d lost interest completely. But the mashed potatoes with leeks were superb.

2. Can, freeze, dry, or otherwise preserve two things during the month.

I didn’t manage to can anything, though I did actually buy a canning set for the water bath method. I did freeze plenty of tomatoes, eggplant, green beans and a couple of sweet potatoes.

3. Utilize one new resource for locally grown food during September - that could be a new restaurant, farmer’s market, etc.

We joined a coop for this one. The coop we joined sells a number of local foods, has their own farm and is part of the Buy Fresh Buy Local PA campaign. We also went to a restaurant that serves local meat and produce. The meal was awesome, though since it was restaurant week the menu was limited. The dessert, raspberry and peach crisp with pistachio crumble and basil ice cream was to die for.

Now that it’s over I realize I probably could have eaten just about every meal locally. With the coop only a ten minute drive from my house I’ve got easy access to local milk, cheese, eggs, meat, bread and produce if I can’t get to the farmer’s market. I feel bad that I didn’t preserve more, but my freezer is full to overflowing as it is and we still haven’t replaced the ancient chest freezer in the basement. Now I need to start planning my local Thanksgiving.

eat local, September Eat Local Challenge, CSA, coop, locavore

The Locavores and Eat Local Challenge people are hosting a challenge for the month of September that emphasizes preserving, freezing and canning food for the winter. With a child who can’t seem to function without Shredded Mini Wheats and soy milk I’m not quite ready to commit to eating ALL of my meals locally, but starting this weekend (eek! September already) I’m going to be participating in an eat local challenge at Farm to Philly. Here are the rules.

1. Eat one meal per week during the month of September that is made using locally grown ingredients. Non-local oil and spices are allowed.
2. Can, freeze, dry, or otherwise preserve two things during the month.
3. Utilize one new resource for locally grown food during September - that could be a new restaurant, farmer’s market, etc.

I will probably eat more than one meal a week made from entirely local ingredients and I’m going to try and preserve as much as I can for the winter. What I’m looking forward to most is looking for new resources. There are a bunch of farmer’s markets I haven’t yet been to and restaurants I haven’t tried. With these rules I think that everyone can participate if they have a mind to. For local resources check out Local Harvest, Food Routes, or your city’s Buy Local organization. Let me know if you’re up for the challenge!

Eat Local Challenge, September, local foods, preserving, canning

Do you live near a farm where you can pick your own produce? Bob, Sam and I took a field trip to Linvilla Orchards this morning. This was my first trip to Linvilla in a couple of years. The last time we went was on a weekend in the height of fall apple season and there must have been 10,000 people there. I was pregnant and though I had fun I wasn’t too keen on returning. Today was absolutely lovely. Just an hour after opening in the middle of the week, it’s not crowded at all.

Blackberry picking was excellent. It didn’t take Sam too long to catch on and he was picking the ripest berries he could reach in no time. Blueberries were pretty picked over so we moved on, but not before Sam ate as many as Bob picked for him. Peaches weren’t quite ripe so we didn’t spend too much time there. The tomatoes were fantastic. Bob and Sam picked cherry tomatoes and I went for the Romas.

We ended up picking a pound and a half of blackberries, enough blueberries for a small snack, about 10 pounds of tomatoes and two pounds of peaches. Sam ran out of steam and needed a nap after stuffing his face with all the berries he could, so we held off on checking out the apples and grapes. We stopped at the market there to use the bathroom and bought a spinach and cheese bread for lunch before heading home.

I’m currently debating whether to freeze or can the tomatoes. I don’t have canning equipment, but it seems like it would be a worthwhile purchase, especially since my chest freezer is permanently out of commission. I’ll probably end up freezing most of the eggplants and green beans in my garden so it would be nice to can the Roma tomatoes to make room.

I have a confession to make. I don’t particularly care for raw tomatoes. I love them roasted, grilled, and in sauces and salsas, but a slice of tomato, on its own or in a sandwich doesn’t appeal to me at all. I almost always pick the raw tomatoes out of everything I eat. I guess I’m just not a tomato person. But these Sungold Cherry tomatoes?

They’re the sweetest tomatoes I’ve ever eaten and it seems like it would be a waste to eat them any other way. With tomatoes like these I might become a tomato person after all.

eat local, pick your own, orchards, fruit, canning or freezing tomatoes,

It’s supposed to be warm out. It is most definitely not. Weather.com is reporting 54 degrees at almost noon today. That kind of weather calls for hearty dishes. With Polish and German relatives, hearty dishes has come to mean sausages and sauerkraut - and the girls love it!

If you’re not a big fan of sauerkraut, don’t click away just yet. You’ve probably had sauerkraut that was overprocessed or too salty. That’s what happened to me. I couldn’t stand the idea of it before I met my husband. And then I had good sauerkraut. Yum! What a difference! Apparently (and who knew?) the USDA regulations for preservation/processing have resulted in the addition of a lot more salt than is traditionally used.

So, you have a couple of options:

1. Buy good sauerkraut and rinse before using.
2. Make your own.

Sauerkraut

1 large head of cabbage (about 3 pounds)
3 T coarse salt

Remove core from cabbage. With a hand grater or food processor, slice cabbage as thinly as possible. Combine in large bowl with salt.

Transfer to a large glass or ceramic container (ceramic is traditional). Liquid will come out of the cabbage as you tap down by hand. Cover with a damp towel touching cabbage and top with something to weigh it down. Cover again with a layer of plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to ferment. Check after 2 days, scraping anything off of the top. Repack and check every 3 days. The flavor will get better as the saeurkraut ferments. After 2 weeks, give it a try. After 3 weeks, you should eat, refrigerate or can the sauerkraut.

Now, what to do with it?

Reuben sandwiches (yum).

Or try Kielbasa and Sauerkraut.

1 1/2 lbs kielbasa, sliced 1/2 inch thick
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/4 c water or other liquid (I use beer)
30 oz prepared sauerkraut, rinsed and drained or 4 cups homemade sauerkraut
2 tsp dried dill

Now, I’m a huge fan of the crock pot. So, I would make this in a crock pot. If you prefer to cook it on the stove top, use a large pan (a Dutch oven would work) but add more liquid, as necessary.

Here are the easy instructions! Throw everything in the crock pot and walk away. Really. I’d let it cook on low for about 2 hours.

If you’re looking for some more great recipes that incorporate sauerkraut, check out this site.

sauerkraut, dill, kielbasa