Powdered Cream of Whatever Soup

The chicken and dumplings and cornbread dressing meal I made on Tuesday called for several cans of "cream of ___" soup.  At a dollar or more a can, that can make for an expensive meal.  I searched the Internet and found several references to a powdered cream of whatever soup that you can have on hand to use in recipes calling for a "cream of ___ soup".  Here is the recipe:

Powdered Cream of Whatever Soup
2 cups powdered milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup powdered chicken bouillon
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp pepper

To cook, use 1/3 cup powder and 1 1/4 cup water.  Bring to a boil, stirring often to prevent burning, until thickened.  Add celery or mushroom (powder, dried, or fresh) for cream of celery or mushroom.  This recipe replaces approx. 7 cans of cream of whatever soup.

Banana Nut Bread

I had some bananas that were getting overripe and had picked up some pecans last week, so I decided to make a couple loaves of Banana Nut Bread.  I modified a recipe I found at allrecipes.com.  This is what I did for each loaf:

Banana Nut Bread
1 cup mashed bananas (approx. 2 medium bananas)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup milk (I used reconsitutued powdered milk)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup all pupose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mix all wet ingredients until well blended.  Add sugars and then add flour, baking soda, and salt.  Lastly, add chopped pecans.  Pour into a loaf pan that has been sprayed with a non-stick spray and sprinkled with sugar.  Bake at 325 degrees for approx. 1 hour.

What's for Dinner? Beef and Black Bean Burritos

I had cooked some dry black beans a couple days ago and I needed to use up the last few cups, so I decided to make beef and black bean burritos for dinner last night.  Here is the recipe:

Beef and Black Bean Burritos

1 lb ground meat (I used ground venison)
1 jar salsa (I used a pint jar of home canned salsa)
3/4 cup water (I primarily did it to get all the extra out of the salsa jar, but it made a nice sauce)
approx. 2 1/2 cups of black beans, rinsed
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
10 flour tortillas
2 1/2 cups cooked rice (I cooked 1 cup dry brown rice and had a small bowl left over.)
2 1/2 cups shredded cheese of your choice (I used a mix of cheddar and mozzarella)

Brown ground meat and drain excess fat if necessary.  Add drained black beans, salsa and water.  Add chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder.  Simmer until thickened slightly.  To make burritos, I put 1/4 cup rice, 1/4 cup meat and bean mixture, and 1/4 cup mixed cheese in each tortilla.  I made 10 burritos and have enough meat mixture left to freeze. (It will probably be added to a "Taco Junk" stew.)

Here is what the beef and bean mixture looked like:

Homemade Pizza

I never realized how eazy homemade pizza could be until I found this recipe at allrecipes.com.  The basic recipe is as follows:

Pizza Dough (from allrecipes.com):

1 cup warm water
1 Tbs sugar
2 1/4 tsp (1 pkt) yeast
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs oil
3 cups flour

Mix warm water and sugar and add yeast.  Allow to sit for a couple of minutes until yeast is activated and then add oil and salt.  Mix well and add flour a little at a time. (I use my Kitchen Aid mixer and add 1/3 cup at a time.)  Once all flour is added, scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix until a dough forms.  You can roll out at this point, but if I have time, I like to allow it to rise for a little while.  Once I start to roll it out, I add Italian seasoning to the dough and knead it in with my hands.  Once the crust is rolled out, place it on your pizza pan and poke holes in it with a fork.   Put it in the oven on your pizza pan for about 5 minutes at 400 degrees to allow it to crisp up. 

For our sauce, I combine 1 quart of my home canned pasta sauce with 1 can of tomato paste and mix will.  I then use about half of that amount for the sauce. (Save the rest in the refrigerator for another time.)  My son just wants cheese on his pizza, but for my husband and myself, I add ground venison, cooked bacon, sausage, ham, and pepperoni.  You can add whatever toppings you might like.   Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.  This makes a delicious homemade pizza and is so quick and easy to put together.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

I found this Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar recipe at Hospitality at Heart and modified it a bit to use what I had on hand.  Since I didn't have any peanut butter chips, I used 2/3 cup of peanut butter and warmed it a bit in the microwave.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

1 package graham crackers crushed (approx. 1 1/3 cups)
1 stick butter melted
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup peanut butter, warmed to make it easier to spread

Line baking dish with parchment paper.  Mix the crushed graham crackers and melted butter and press it into a baking dish.  Pour the sweetened condensed milk on top.  Sprinkle chocolate chips across the top of the sweetened condensed milk.  Drop the peanut butter by teaspoons on the top and swirl it through with a knife.  Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.  Put in the refrigerator to cool and then cut into bars.

Alfredo Sauce With Crispy Italian Chicken and Homemade Dinner Rolls

I made Alfredo Sauce to go with Italian Chicken and Fettucini Noodles tonight.    I modified a Cooks.com recipe.  Here is what I did:

Alfredo Sauce

3 1/4 cups milk (made from long-term storage powdered milk)
1 tsp garlic powder (I probably would reduce this to 1/2 tsp next time)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
6 triangles of Laughing Cow cheese (approx 4 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup all purpose flour

Mix all ingredients and then warm over a low heat until thickened.

This was delicious and made quite a bit of sauce.  I had enough left over to put into a jar and store it in the refrigerator.  It probably wasn't the most frugal recipe because of the Laughing Cow cheese.  It could probably be made cheaper with a store brand cream cheese, but Laughing Cow was what I had.

Crispy Italian Chicken (adapted from Wonder Woman I'm Not who obtained it from Anthem Heart Smart Recipes book)

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 Tbs Parmesean cheese
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
8 chicken tenders (there was enough mix to do twice this much)
1/2 cup milk

Mix all dry ingredients together.  Dip chicken in milk and then toss in dry ingredients.  Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees until browned.

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls (adapted from Simple Daily Recipes.com)

1 1/3 cup warm milk (I used reconstituted powdered milk)
1 Tbsp sugar

2 1/4 tsp yeast

4 Tbsp oil

3 cups whole wheat flour (ground from my wheat)

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp butter

Mix milk, sugar and yeast and allow yeast to activate.  Add oil, flour and salt.  Mix well, cover and allow to rise for 1 hour in a warm spot.  After 1 hour, break off pieces of dough and roll into balls.  Place 3 balls in each muffin cup. (If I have time, I always allow them to rise for another 30 minutes here, but it is not required). Melt butter and brush butter over each roll.  Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 15 minutes until browned.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin Update

I made the Pumpkin chocolate Chip Muffins yesterday and they were delicious.  I made a few changes to the recipe to use what I had on hand.  I made 2 dozen mini muffins and 1 dozen large muffins.

The recipe I used is as follows (adapted from Money Saving Mom):

4 eggs reconstituted from dried whole egg powder
2 cups sugar
1 16 oz. can pumpkin
1 1/2 cups oil
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (ground from my long-term storage wheat)
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:
Reconstitute eggs with water in mixer and add sugar, pumpkin, and oil.  Add flour and other dry ingredients.  Finally, add chocolate chips and mix until well blended.  Cook at 400 degrees.  Mini-muffins cooked for about 8 minutes and large muffins cooked for about 15 minutes.

Favorite Foodie Websites???

What are your favorite food-related websites?  Where do you get most of your cooking ideas?  Some of my favorites are:

http://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/
http://www.allrecipes.com/
http://www.supercook.com/ - you can input what items you have on hand and it will provide you with a list of recieps you can make with those items (sometimes with a few additions)
http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/


I am sure there are several others, but those are a few that come to the top of my mind.  What are some of your favorites?

Welcome to The Food Journey!

In these uncertain economic times, the rising cost of food can quickly take up a large portion of your monthly budget. If you eat out only a few meals a month, that can add up to quite a chunk of change in just a short amount of time. Our family budget was recently cut in half when I lost my job.  We are currently in the process of "making do" with the foods we have stored through long-term storage, canning and dehydrating, and our daily use pantry.  In this blog, we will explore ways to use food items you have on hand (or can easily obtain) to make delicious and filing meals. We will also discuss fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition to recipes using them fresh from the garden, we will discuss preserving them (canning, dehydrating, or freezing) for later use. Thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope you find it fun!