“Change Your Life” Utensils

There are regular, everyday utensils like a good rubber spatula and a wooden mixing spoon.  And then there are utensils that rock your world and change how you’ve always done a particular cooking step.  The following is a list of utensils that have had an actual impact on me.  They may not fall into the “essential” category, for you could get by without them.  But you don’t want to have to.  They are ‘change your life’ fantastic!

- Pampered Chef’s Mix ‘N Chop – this utensil is perfect for chopping up hamburger, ground  turkey & Italian sausage.  Other utensils may work for such a project, but nothing is as easy or works as well!

Website Description:  A Pampered Chef® exclusive! Unique, beveled pinwheel blades efficiently chop and crumble foods for even cooking and seasoning. Its high-quality nylon design follows the curves of your cookware and won't scratch the surface. A soft grip and thumb rest help you comfortably grasp the handle and chop more easily. Heat-resistant to 428°F. 11". Dishwasher-safe.

 -Pampered Chef’s Small Spreader – works perfectly to smoothly frost cakes & cupcakes, without any lines or bumps that come from knives & other spreaders. 

Website Description: A shorter offset blade gives you the perfect control needed to frost cupcakes. Its ergonomic handle is easy on your hand. 3 1/2" stainless steel blade. Dishwasher-safe.

-Eggsact Egg Timer (or similar brand) – this tool took me from the mess & uncertainty of hard-boiling eggs to a pro!  Not to mention the ease of knowing about soft & medium-boiled eggs now too. 

Website Description:  It's so simple, you'll wonder why it wasn't invented sooner!  This Eggsact Egg Timer takes the guesswork out of boiling eggs. Whether you want your eggs soft, medium or hard boiled, simply place this egg-shaped timer in a pan with your eggs and watch as the timer changes color as the eggs cook. Equipped with an internal sensor that reacts to heat, you can actually boil your eggs to the perfect stage every time. No more wondering when your eggs are done because the timer heats up along with the eggs tells you exactly how done your eggs are. Features: Changes color as the eggs cook (from red to purple) Internal sensor reacts to heat 3 stages include soft, medium and hard boiled Works with any number of eggs.

-Pampered Chef’s Core & More – to be honest, I don’t really have this tool!  I have an earlier version that is just the Corer part.  And that’s the part I really recommend, but this new version comes with an added bonus, which I think sounds good too.  The Corer is great for de-stemming strawberries and taking out the core of a tomato.  You no longer have to cut off half the strawberry to just take off the stem, or do the time-consuming work of wedging a knife down around the core/stem in a circular motion.  It’s such a quick, one-step, no-mess process with the Corer!

Website Description:  Remove stems, seeds and cores from vegetables and fruits with the stainless steel corer. Make melon balls and create veggie boats with the double-sided scoop. Corer end includes an ergonomic handle and protective storage cover. Dishwasher-safe.

           

           

Side Dishes: (Final Take) Everything Else, But Mostly Just Deviled Eggs

In my Go-To Food post, I mentioned a couple side dish recipes that I probably overuse but that are simply loved by us.  Garlic herb roasted potatoes and Aunt Marti’s corn are just perfect.  Feel free to flip back to that post for those recipes. 

Since the potatoes are from my mom and the corn is from Jake’s aunt, it just seems fitting to include another family recipe that usually gets raves (I’m still new to making it, so it’s taken some time for me to get it right).  My Grandma Peterson’s deviled eggs are always a hit at birthday parties and family reunions.  We’ve come to expect them from her, but since her eyesight is now failing her (she’s 93!) it’s about time I took up that cross.  I know deviled eggs are a controversial choice, with a love ‘em or hate ‘em quality.  But for most people in our families, they’re pretty high up there on the list. 

So here’s the secret family recipe for delicious Deviled Eggs:

6 hard-boiled eggs, shelled & halved lengthwise

¼ C Miracle Whip (not mayo for this – got to have that tangy zip!)

1 tsp cider vinegar

¼ tsp mustard

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp salt

Remove yolks from eggs.  Combine yolks with the remaining ingredients & mash.  Refill egg whites with mixture.  Makes a dozen deviled egg halves.

**Note:  I tried to really measure out the ingredients the first couple of times I made these, which is a mistake.  They taste much better if you eyeball the ingredients and then taste to check, adding in more of what’s missing, etc.  I rarely do this in cooking (though know some of you out there only cook this way!), but for this particular recipe, this method works best.  And using less Miracle Whip to start is best or the mix can get too runny, which is harder to fix than adding in more later, if needed.  Good luck!

Side Dishes: (Take Two) Comfort Casseroles

One of my favorite times of year for food is holiday season.  Somehow you can get away with having every dish on the table be carb-loaded!  At least the turkey or ham is usually fairly carb-free, but a normal Thanksgiving for us includes a variety of the following:  mashed potatoes & gravy (carb), stuffing (carb), corn casserole (carb), sweet potatoes of some kind (usually accompanied by marshmallows or brown sugar – carb, carb!), green bean casserole (carb), scalloped pineapple (carb, carb! – a family favorite), jello salad (carb), and maybe rolls (carb).  You get the idea.  And then you top it off with pie & whipped cream (carb, carb, carb!).  Forget the Tryptophan – this carb-fest is what puts you to sleep!

Still, some of my favorite and most popular dishes are these “comfort casserole” sides.  In addition to complementing turkey and ham, they also go well with BBQ and chicken.  The following is my ‘best of the best’ for comfort casserole sides.

Corn Casserole

1 can cream-style corn

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

2 eggs

1 C sour cream

1 stick butter, cut up into slices (or melted)

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

Minced onion to taste

Mix all ingredients well.  Spread into a greased 9x13 pan & bake for 45 min – 1 hr.  (Baking in a smaller dish will take longer but result in a thicker mix, if desired.)

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 C sweet potatoes, boiled & mashed (about 4 potatoes; I also used the frozen Ore Ida kind last year & it worked pretty well as a shortcut since I find sweet potatoes incredibly hard to cut)

½ C sugar

½ C butter or marg.

2 eggs, well beaten

1 tsp vanilla

½ C milk

Topping:

1/3 C butter or marg, melted

½ C flour

1 C chopped pecans

1 C brown sugar

Mix casserole ingredients together & pour into a greased 9x9 dish.  Mix topping ingredients & sprinkle on top of sweet potato mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min. or until set.  (This is as good as dessert for me!  Probably close to a crumb topped sweet potato or pumpkin pie.)

Green Bean Casserole (Extra Easy!)

2 cans green beans (any style but I prefer just the cut ones, not French style)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

French’s fried onions

Drain one can of green beans & some of other, but reserve about 2/3 of juice from one can.  Mix beans and juice with soup & spread into a 9x9 or similar baking dish.  Heat in microwave for 5 min on high; stir.  Heat for another 3-5 min.  Top with fried onions & bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 5 min to brown.  (Note: do not broil in oven, as onions tend to burn quickly this way.  Multiple family members have tried this as a shortcut!)

Scalloped Pineapple (Family Favorite – intriguing, right?!)

2 qts bread cubes (1 qt = 6 slices)

3 eggs, beaten

2 C sugar

2 sticks butter/marg, softened

1 large can pineapple tidbits, drained well

Beat together eggs, sugar & butter until creamed.  Add in bread & pineapple gently.  Spread into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 min.  (1/2 batch = 2 eggs; bake for 35 min.)

Many people also make a hashbrown potato casserole that would go well with this list.  I have a recipe for this delightful dish, but I think I’ve only made it once.  I love, love, love this casserole, but many people smother it in cheese (yum!) and that excludes it from my household due to Jake’s abhorrence of cheese.  Sad.  Same goes for any fancy mac-n-cheese recipe too.  Though lately I’ve had several people tell me they’ve tried gourmet mac-n-cheese recipes from well-known cooks (i.e. Martha Stewart, Paula Deen) but have been disappointed with the outcome.  Interesting…

Do you have favorite comfort casserole side dishes?

Side Dishes: (Take One) Salads

I love that my friends and readers are suggesting blog post topics to me on a (fairly) regular basis!  Sometimes it’s good to have a little assisted inspiration.  And recently a good friend asked me to post on side dishes.  I came up with so many recipe ideas that I thought it would make a good series of posts instead of one VERY long one!  So we’ll start this series with salad recipes.  These are salads I’ve made at various points in my life, sometimes to the point of overkill.  And some are still ones that I make regularly.  But they’re all beloved!

Snickers Salad

6 Snickers candy bars

2 pkgs instant vanilla pudding mix

8 0z Cool Whip

5-6 Granny Smith apples

3 C milk

Peel & cut apples into bite-size pieces (I don’t always peel; sometimes I use my apple wedger & then cut the wedges into chunks).  Cut candy bars into bite-size pieces.  Mix milk & pudding together; fold in Cool Whip.  Add apples & candy bar pieces. 

Pasta Salad

1/3 C oil

1/3 C vinegar

1/3 C sugar (I use slightly less than 1/3 C)

Garlic pwdr, onion pwdr, pepper, onion flakes to taste

Pepperoni, diced, to taste

Baby carrots, sliced, to taste

½ bag/box of cooked pasta, drained (I prefer gemelli or radiatore)

Combine first 4 ingredients; add pepperoni & carrots.  Drain pasta & toss with sauce.  Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve, stirring often.

Asian Slaw

16 oz. broccoli slaw mix

2 pkgs. beef ramen noodles

¼ C sliced almonds

½ C sunflower nuts

2 T vinegar

¾ C oil

1/3 C sugar

Mix together ramen noodle seasoning packets, vinegar, oil & sugar.  Crumble raw noodles.  Add remaining ingredients; pour dressing over and toss well.  Serve immediately.  (If making ahead, add crumbled noodles only right before serving.)

Acini de pepi Salad (old family favorite from my Grandma Peterson)

16 oz. pkg of acini de pepi (small pasta, similar to tapioca in shape)

Cook in salted water for 8 min; rinse & drain well.  Cool.

Dressing:

1 C sugar

3 eggs

½ tsp salt

2 T flour

1 ¾ C pineapple juice (use from drained pineapple to add in later)

Mix & cook til thick.  Pour over pasta & refrigerate overnight. 

Add next day:

Small can crushed pineapple, drained

Regular size can pineapple tidbits, drained

2 small cans mandarin oranges, drained

10 oz. pkg mini-marshmallows (optional)

8 0z. Cool Whip

Refrigerate; best if stands awhile.  Makes a very large batch.  Freezes well.

Broccoli Orange Salad

4 C fresh broccoli florets, bite-size

½ C cashews

Small red onion, chopped

½ C buttermilk ranch dressing

2 T orange juice

1 T horseradish sauce

Small can mandarin oranges, drained

Mix ranch dressing, orange juice & horseradish sauce together.  Poor over other ingredients, adding mandarin oranges gently at end.  Mix well & chill for 2 hours. 

Grape Salad

2 C fruit (can use mixed berries, but I prefer just grapes)

2 individual containers vanilla yogurt

8 oz. Cool Whip

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding mix

Mix pudding mix & yogurt together (will be very thick); fold in Cool Whip.  Add in fruit gently.

Berry Peach Bellini Salad

¼ C orange juice

3 T sugar

4 medium peaches, peeled, pitted & cut into bite-size chunks

1 C raspberries or diced strawberries (I prefer strawberries)

2 C sparkling wine or lemon-lime soda (I’ve only ever used Sprite or 7-Up; can use diet)

Mix orange juice & sugar together.  Add peaches & berries.  Divide fruit evenly into 4 individual serving cups.  Cover & freeze at least one hr.  About ½ hr before serving, remove cups from freezer.  Let stand until slightly thawed.  Poor sparkling wine or soda over fruit evenly.  Serve immediately.  Serves 4.

Buttermilk Salad (aka Striped Cookie & Mandarin Orange Salad)

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding mix

1 ½ C buttermilk (will make mix a bit thicker & tangier, but can use reg. milk)

8 oz Cool Whip

½ pkg fudge-striped shortbread cookies, crumbled (can use caramel-striped as well)

Small can mandarin oranges, drained

Mix pudding with buttermilk; fold in Cool Whip.  Add crumbled cookies & oranges; mix gently.  Serve immediately.  (If making ahead, add crumbled cookies only right before serving.)

Southwestern Black Bean Salad

1 can black beans, rinsed & drained

9 0z frozen corn, thawed

1 tomato, chopped

1 avocado, diced

¼ C red onion, chopped

1 green onion/scallion, sliced

Juice of 1 lime

3 T olive oil

1 T cilantro, optional (gross!)

Salt & pepper

Combine beans, corn, tomato, onion, green onion, cilantro (gross!), salt & pepper.  Mix with lime juice & olive oil.  Marinate in fridge for 30 min.  Add avocado before serving.  (My friend Stef uses lemon juice instead of lime, which would be handier since I always have it on hand in the fridge.  But I haven’t tried that yet.)  This can be served with tortilla chips or on lettuce.  But I eat it ‘as is’ with a spoon!

Picnic Potato Salad (oil based, not mayo – different, but a bit lighter & good!)

10 medium red potatoes, cubed

2/3 C oil

2 T cider vinegar

4 tsp honey

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp ground mustard

½ tsp salt

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried marjoram

¼ tsp dried mint

Dash cayenne pepper

Place potatoes in a large saucepan & cover with water.  Cover & bring to a boil over med-high heat; cook for 15-20 min or until tender.  Drain & place in a large bowl.  Combine the remaining ingredients; pour over potatoes & toss to coat.  Cool to room temp.  Cover & refrigerate til serving.  Serves 12.

**Note:  Unless otherwise noted, I normally use sugar-free pudding mixes, light Cool Whip, turkey pepperoni, canola oil & white vinegar.

Food as Ministry

When you read the title to this post, are you automatically thinking of places like a homeless shelter / food kitchen or a food pantry?  Good things and obviously related to food as ministry.  But the focus of this post is going to be about hospitality and fellowship as a tool for ministry.  And the idea that Jesus saw fellowship (i.e. “breaking bread” together) as essential, not just a side benefit.

A couple years ago a good friend and mentor suggested that perhaps my love of hospitality could be a ministry in and of itself.  I’ve always had a hard time fitting myself into normal church ministries like “children’s ministry” or “women’s ministry” and finding a perfect fit.  But equally so, I’ve always loved having people over to our home and serving a good meal.  Thankfully, I also have a husband that enjoys this as well (possibly because he’s a homebody and prefers to be at home more than anywhere else – this we do not have in common!).  It was pretty difficult for us when we lived in someone else’s home and didn’t have that opportunity.  So we were very excited to move into our home and begin to have people over!

But I think so many of us have a hard time seeing things like having people over for dinner as a “ministry”.  If it’s not church-sponsored, then it’s not really a “ministry”, right?  Unfortunately, that’s a very short-sighted view of ministry, but that’s something I had to overcome myself.  I’m so grateful for friends and mentors that have opened my eyes to this reality. 

Jesus understood the importance of food and fellowship in our lives.  At a recent staff meeting where I work (Nebraska Christian College), David Huskey presented a devotion about just this topic.  (Dave and his wife, Jill, are serious about food as ministry.  They regularly cook for Northeast Iowa Bible Camp as well as New Way Singers and CIY groups that are held on NCC’s campus.  And they are diligent about opening their home for food and fellowship.)  Dave pointed out the many times in scripture – the Gospels specifically (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) – where it’s mentioned that Jesus broke bread with people, went to someone’s home for a meal, or even performed a miracle with food (or wine!).  The feeding of the 5,000 with a few loaves of bread and some fish is a famous example.  As is the story of Zacheus, a vertically-challenged and hated tax collector, whom Jesus picked out in a crowd and then proceeded to invite himself to Zacheus’s home for a meal.  The Last Supper is a well-known story of Jesus breaking bread with his disciples right before his death.  But the Bible is filled with even more such accounts of Jesus fellowshipping and breaking bread. 

So in this age of watching our budget and thus limiting our eating out, I’m pursuing this ministry of hospitality even more by inviting people into our home.  I still remember conversing with one of Jake’s co-workers at StoneBridge Christian Church when he first started there and having them recount to us how privileged they would feel when someone would invite them to their home.  It speaks something to people to be invited into one’s home.  So if you offer to go out to eat with us and we turn that offer into an invitation to come over to our house instead, you’ll take us up on it, right?!  Having the opportunity of opening our home as a hospitality ministry to you is our pleasure & privilege!

Budget Tips & Tricks

A friend suggested I post on what tips and tricks I use when planning meals on a budget.  She mentioned things like meatless meals and using leftovers to make other meals, neither of which I do!  But those would be good tips and I know some of you do those things for a variety of reasons (like time saving & convenience), not just for budget ones.

Here’s a short list of my own tips & tricks when it comes to planning and shopping for meals on a budget:

Make meal lists that you actually stick to and then make your grocery list straight off those meal lists.  And then purchase (mostly) only what’s on your list when you shop.  Be sure to include any dinner parties in your meal lists so that when the party comes up, you’ve included it in your budgeted list instead of going over budget for “special” things.  Those can add up quickly! 

I substitute ground turkey for ground beef in whatever meals I can.  Sometimes we notice the difference and don’t like it, but many times that’s not the case.  And ground turkey in the tubes is usually under $2 / lb. for the leanest stuff!  (Bonus:  this is also a healthy tip!)

I use coupons, but only if it’s cheaper to do so than to buy the store brand.  The only items I cannot or will not buy store brand on are: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (my husband will only eat the original kind & it has to be Kraft – but, yes, he will eat that kind even though it’s cheese!), Viva paper towels (I often find coupons for these anyway and several people have actually commented on how much they like my paper towels), Puffs plus lotion facial tissues (i.e. kleenex, but NOT Kleenex brand!) and Clorox wipes (even the Lysol ones are streakier & only save you a few pennies anyway).

Buy produce in-season.  Often I’ve said that it is expensive to eat healthier because fresh produce can be so expensive and chips are $1!  But if you purchase in-season produce, this is often not the case.  If you’re unsure, simply do a Google search to find out what time of year different produce is in-season.

Either choose recipes that use cut-up chicken instead of whole breasts or whole pieces or convert the recipe to do so.  This is a trick I use for many dishes because it allows you to skimp on the number of chicken breasts you have to use.  If you use whole breasts, you have to use the same amount of breasts as equal to the number of people you’re serving.  But if you’re cutting it up, you can often get away with using only 2 chicken breasts for 4 people, etc.

Make recipes that are large enough to allow for leftovers.  This cuts down on the amount of food you have to buy for separate lunches.

Usually pasta and rice dishes are inexpensive, filling and can also be healthy options.  They also fit the bill for some of the above items listed quite easily.

Shop at Aldi’s.  It’s really been helpful for me.  The items I buy there are always even cheaper than Walmart and I’ve even found some incredible deals on good produce from time to time.  My friend Kim is an Aldi’s advocate as well.  She spends $40 a week at Aldi’s for her family of 4.  She sticks to buying only what she really needs; she is also a big advocate of keeping things simple & uncluttered in her life, so she doesn’t have a huge pantry of stocked items, just what she needs for the next couple weeks only.  She is not big on cooking, though, so that’s something to keep in mind.  (Addendum to this: sometimes I find that shopping at two places, like Aldi’s & Walmart for the rest of what I can’t find at Aldi’s, adds up to me actually spending more than if I just shop at Walmart alone.  Not sure why this phenomenon exists, but it does.  So be careful!  Sometimes its better to just shop at one place, even if a few things are a bit more expensive.)

And I never, never shop only at ‘grocery’ stores like Hy-Vee, Baker’s / Kroger, even Bag ‘N Save (mostly Omaha options).  Sometimes with sales & coupons, these stores can have good deals, but for the majority of purchases, I find that I spend much less money overall if I shop at discount stores like Walmart and even Target.  Though Target can still be pricier than Walmart on most items, and when you’re counting every single penny like me, that adds up!  Here is just one example of this in practice:  I priced canned chicken (generic) at Bag ‘N Save, Walmart & Aldi’s.  Bag ‘N Save’s price was over $3, Walmart was about $1.99 and Aldi’s was about $1.50 (I've since noticed Walmart's price dropped even more - hurray!).  Again, those savings add up over time!  And I found the same to be true on shredded cheese.  Sometimes I can find specific items only at those grocery stores, so I go ahead & splurge.  But rarely!

It’s kind of hokey, but I swear by using a calculator when I grocery shop.  It helps me stay on budget by keeping a running total.  If I go over, I have to put stuff back!  (I really, really hate doing that.) 

I rarely buy in bulk.  Even though it may essentially be cheaper per unit in the end to do so, it usually means spending big bucks up front.  And I don’t have a lot of bucks to spend all in one shot.  I have to stay on budget each time.  So instead of stocking up on toilet paper once & taking a huge chunk out of my budget to do so, I buy a small package of cheap toilet paper each major trip (twice a month for us).  That way I stay on track every time.

I do most of my major shopping all at once, supplementing with a couple extra trips as needed (like more milk or fresh produce) but keeping those to a minimum and keeping track of the overall budget the whole time.  I’ve found that if I go to the store every few days & just get a few items each time, I spend more than if I do one major trip and a couple smaller ones. 

Those are the tips & tricks I can think of at this point.  Do you have some you’d like to share?

Ethnic Picnic: Indian style

I have my sister-in-law, Christine, and brother-in-law, Brian, to thank for introducing us to the yummy cuisine of the Indian persuasion.  When we moved to Omaha, they invited us out to Jaipur, a restaurant in Rockbrook Village.  I loved it from the start, but Jake has had a little more trouble finding something he would order again and again.  But find it he has!

My perfect Indian meal at Jaipur:

Appetizers:  Vegetable Samosas - mildly spiced vegetable turnover (pictured below)

           

Green side salad with a creamy, tangy citrus dressing (comes with meal)

Bread:  Garlic naan - chewy bread, almost pita-like, stuffed with minced garlic (pictured below)

           

           

Main Course:  Chicken Korma - boneless pieces of chicken cooked in a creamy curry sauce, served with Jasmine Rice (white rice with an infusion of jasmine)

We both prefer the vegetable Samosas over the meat ones, though Jake often orders some of both for his main course.  He told me recently that his mouth started to water at the thought of the Samosas.  So we have reached success at finding Indian food he likes! 

Beware of the tricky lunch hours at Jaipur.  Be sure to call ahead to see if they’re really open before you make plans to go.  Twice I’ve had the misfortune of arriving during off-hours!

http://www.jaipurbrewhouse.com