Moolie - Happy Thanksgiving :)

[moolie]

LOL, mine came that way--I just got it on Monday.

 

[moolie]

So I wasn't online much over the weekend--busy getting organized with starting seeds in trays under CF lightbulbs on a wire shelving unit and doing the big monthly grocery shop while hubbie baked bread on Saturday, Sunday was church followed by a visit and dinner at our place with friends.

Today I am having a bit of a domestic goddess day, as it is my "modified once-a-month cooking" day:

Got up, got kids organized and fed, they made their lunches while I put on a load of laundry and a lb of navy beans and a lb of black beans to soak for pressure canning tomorrow (navy beans will become Baked Beans, black beans will be canned plain for use in other dishes).

Got the kids to school, stopped at nearby Canadian Tire (awesome hardware/department store we have up here) to pick up another case of pint jars and some snap lids for jars I have (been pressure canning a lot lately!), and came back home to get going on with the big cook.

Browned 8 lbs ground bison with onions, garlic, celery and popped into jars and the 8 pints are just done their 75 minutes in the pressure canner so I have just moved the canner off the stove to cool down.

Made remainder of browned ground bison prepared for canning into a Shepherds Pie (minus potato topping), popped lid onto pyrex baking dish, labeled and into freezer.

Made 2 recipes of Cabbage Rolls (ground bison browned with onions, garlic, celery and rice wrapped in wilted cabbage leaves in pyrex casserole with tomato sauce, lidded and labeled and cooling in the fridge to go into the freezer when cool.)

Mixed up 4 lbs raw ground bison with bread crumbs, garlic, onion, celery, grated parmesan, tomato paste, and Epicure's Margherita seasoning to make 2 Meat Loaves and pressed into two loaf pans, covered with foil, labeled and popped into freezer.

Mixed up 2 recipes of Orange Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry from a Once-A-Month-Cooking Family Favourites recipe book I picked up at Value Village over the weekend, popped into freezer bags, labeled and into freezer.

Put stew beef coated in seasoned flour on to brown while I sat down to check the forum and update journal, but still have a few more recipes to make before I pick the kids up from school at 4pm:

Meat Pies for 2 meals (stew beef made into stew with onions, celery, carrots, potatoes and baked into individual pastries).

Meatballs for 2 meals

Hamburger patties for 2 meals

Chicken enchiladas for 2 meals (casserole of tortillas wrapped around browned ground chicken that has been cooked with salsa, black beans, and corn topped with cheese)

Chicken pot pie

Souvlaki chicken (chicken cut into small pieces and frozen in marinade made of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and oregano)

Quebecois chicken (The Big Cook cut up whole chicken frozen in freezer bag with maple syrup, ACV, soy sauce, ginger and garlic)

Coronation chicken (OAMC Family Favourites cut up whole chicken, golden raisins, curry powder, mango chutney, lemon juice--frozen in freezer bag to be baked up topped with toasted cashews and mango slices)

Curried pork chops (pork chops frozen in freezer bag with orange juice, honey, curry powder and garlic)

With the pressure-canned ground bison I will make the following meals later in the month: Tamale Rice Dish (Company's Coming One Pot Dishes ground bison, onions, bell peppers, tomato sauce, taco seasoning, corn, rice), Spaghetti with meat sauce, Chili Con Carne with black and pinto beans, Tacos etc.

I also have frozen meat/fish for: two Salmon dinners, two Sole dinners, Garlic pork chops cooked in crock pot with apple juice, Pulled Pork roast on buns, Tuna casserole (canned tuna, macaroni noodles, white sauce with onions and parmesan, crumb topping), Apricot chicken (bbq grilled chicken with apricot preserves), and home made Pizza.

I will post photos of my progress later, as I've had the camera handy as I've been working because I am building my own binder of family recipes and making two additional copies for my girls' hope chests

 

[miss_thenorth]

Are the canning jars on sale at crappy tire? If so, I must head on over. YOu've been a busy beaver. I am making a cookbook too for my kids. My son wants me to make one for his (future) wife. I told him that when he gets married ( a LONG way off--he's 14) she would NOT appreciate my giving her a cookbook, so I'll give it to him. Then it will be his battle.

 

[moolie]

No sales, just needed another case. Watching Zellers and CT fliers though in case they do go on sale in the next while, I'm going through them like crazy but the pantry is looking awesome again

Lol about the "cookbook-for-future-wife", I think you're on the right track there Just make sure he knows how to cook everything in it before he leaves home. I was very fortunate to have married a man whose Mom made sure he could cook before he moved out (he and his younger brother cooked dinner most weekdays while they were in Jr. High and High School because both parents worked).

 

[Dace]

Well I am tired just reading about all your cooking!

You ladies are funny about your boys.....my sons future wife only needs to know how to order pizza and he will be happy for a lifetime

I did have my kids taking turns cooking but with our schedule it just became easier for me to do it! Ugh. We'll get back on track when they are out of school for the summer I think

Can't wait to see your pix!

 

[miss_thenorth]

yeah, my kids know how to make basic stuff, but I have failed to teach them how to really cook. My problem is that I love to cook, so even though I have told them they need to learn, I have not followed through. Dace, my son is a huge fan of the whole foods movement that has entered our household. He has made it clear that his future wife must make her own bread, and cook from scratch, and not ever buy packaged stuff. He has repeatedly asked for a cook book for his future wife. I told him I want his wife to like me, so he gets the cookbook. Then it's all on him.

 

[moolie]

I have two daughters, no sons

They are learning how to cook beyond the basics once a week (every Saturday or Sunday) by choosing and preparing a dinner and dessert. It's a new thing, so we've only done it once, but so far they've made Chicken Pot Pie and Coconut Cake with 7-minute Frosting (their choices, next time they switch and the one who made dinner will make dessert and vice versa).

Just about done all the beefy things at this point and may leave the chicken dishes for tomorrow as one of my fellow Girl Guide leaders can't make it this evening so I have some extra prep to do for our unit meeting.

Here's a few photos from my day so far...

Canning Ground Bison:

Making Beef Stew for Meat Pies:

Orange Beef Stir Fry in freezer bag ready for freezer

Meatloaf ready for freezer:

 

[moolie]

So I got the rest of my meal prep done yesterday and everything is in the freezer except for the meat pies since I forgot to get butter to make pastry

I woke up today with a cold, so I'm not feeling terribly motivated to roll and cut pastry for individual meat pies at the moment, but I'll have to get it done before the end of the day to get all that stew taken care of and into the freezer.

Along with all the chicken dishes I put in the freezer yesterday I also canned a pound of navy beans as Baked Beans (4 pints) and a pound of black beans (4 pints):

 

[moolie]

The darker jars above are the black beans, the lighter the Baked Beans (labeled and put away since I took the photos).

I posted this in the Yogurt-making thread the other day, but thought I'd also put it here so I don't lose it:

I make my yogurt in recycled Natur brand natural peanut butter jars. In fact, I organize my baking cupboard in these great jars (along with glass milk and cream bottles) as well.

#1 - What kind of milk do you use? - Whole, organic, pasteurized.

#2 - Do you heat it, and if so, how high? - A little warmer than my hand (I stick my finger in).

#3 - When do you add your starter culture? - I put the cubes or fresh yogurt into the jar before I start the yogurt-making process so the frozen cubes have time to melt, then I pour a little warm milk into the jars and swirl to mix, adding the rest of the milk slowly and swirling.

#4 - What do you use for a starter? - I have used plain organic and organic Greek.

#5 - How do you maintain/renew your starter? - I don't. Like WZ I freeze the leftover yogurt in an ice cube tray and use the cubes each time.

(this ice cube tray also has some tomato paste portioned for cooking)

#6 - How do you incubate your yogurt? - Hot tap water around the jars in a small six-pack cooler for about 4 hours. Usually stays hot enough if I prime the cooler with hot water as I'm warming the milk, then dump that out and put in new hot water.

#7 - How do you make it thicker? - Never have, except to make tzatziki--when I do that I just strain it through muslin in a colander. We eat it the way it turns out, my kids like it mixed with either some fruit jam or a bit of vanilla extract and maple syrup.

 

[savingdogs]

Just found your journal, moolie, very interesting. You are a food inspiration!

I wish I could watch you in action for a day. My mother was never much of a cook and I could use some increased skills. Thank you for the photos, that makes it all come alive.

How many meals do you estimate you get out of one day's cooking? Do you have days you are gone from the home that you are prepping for, or do you have non-cooking days?