Eating Locally - Spice Up Your Menu AND Help The Environment

Stocking your pantry with food grown by local farmers is a great way to eat fresh, interesting, ever-changing meals all year long at low prices. You can find a listing of local foods are currently in season in your state at the National Resource Defense Council's website along with recipes and other helpful information.

During the month of March here in Washington state, you can find locally grown apples, carrots, greens,  mushrooms, onions, and potatoes at great prices.  Sausage corn chowder is a tasty way to use those local potatoes!

Sausage Corn Chowder

1 lb  breakfast sausage, browned, crumbled and drained
4 cups  skinned, cubed potatoes
2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
1 14oz can creamed corn
1 14oz can evaporated milk
3 cups water
1 TBSP minced onion
Ground black pepper to taste

Dump all ingredients into a 5-6 quart crock pot, stir well, and cook on the low setting 6-8 hours.  If the soup becomes too thick, add chicken stock to taste.

Serve with grated cheese, oyster crackers or cheezits as desired.

Serves 6-8

Enjoy!

Kathy

Ode to Amy - A Tasty Potato Recipe To Die For

I go online from time to time to find new recipes to try, and stumbled upon this wonderful side dish!  My husband just couldn't stop eating it...all this at a time he and I were both trying to lose a few pounds.  The author of the post gave credit to someone named Amy, and I'd like to give her credit, too.  Amy, thank you for making my day!  


Amy's Potatoes 

4 Extra large russet potatoes, cubed with or with out the skin, and patted dry
1/4 cup All purpose flour
1/4 cup Grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp Oregano, ground
1/2 tsp Basil, ground
1/2 tsp Thyme, ground
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black pepper, ground
1/2 cup Butter or margarine


Preheat oven to 375F.  Place butter into a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.  Place the pan on the middle rack into the preheated oven until butter is melted.


Mix together all the rest of the ingredients and place aside.


Remove the pan from the oven and place the potatoes into the pan, spreading evenly.  Sprinkle the potatoes with half the flour/cheese mixture and place back into the oven.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes then remove from the oven.


Turn the potatoes, then sprinkle the rest of the flour/cheese mixture onto the potatoes.  Place back into the oven and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until brown around the edges.


Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Yield:  6 servings.

Until next time...
                                                             Kathy

6 Dinners For Less Than $25.00! Multi-Meal Preparation

OAMC ... OAWC ... freezer meal preparation ... multi-meal preparation ... assembly cooking...What do all these terms have in common?

• They are all strategies used to prepare more than one meal in a single cooking session and then store the extras so they can be eaten later.
• They can shorten food prep time by hours to days each month.
• Using one of these strateges can decrease transportation, grocery, and utility expenses more than you can imagine.

I generally do mult-meal preparation once each week and store between 4 and 5 meals. I purchase enough of whatever meat is on sale and double or triple each of 1 to 2 recipes that freeze well.

A few weeks ago, I purchased two 3# bags of fresh chicken tenders. I had 2 bottles of jamaican jerk marinade, a bottle of italian salad dressing, and the fixins for vegetable soup in the pantry.

-- From the first bag of tenders, I divided the chicken equally into 3 freezer bags, poured jerk chicken marinade over them, squeezed as much air out of each bag as I could and placed the sealed freezer bags flat in my freezer.

-- With the other bag of chicken tenders, I used a third of the chicken for chicken vegetable soup which we ate that night with cornbread. I sauteed the rest in italian salad dressing for chicken salad dinners, divided the cooked chicken pieces in two freezer bags and placed the sealed freezer bags flat in my freezer.

--Once all the chicken meals were frozen, I turned them on end like old fashioned album covers.

All 6 dinners took less than 30 minutes to prepare, cost less than $22.00, and used less than 2 inches of freezer space!

Tasty Vanilla Custard Ice Cream

What better way to finish a meal than to indulge in the ultimate dessert,  custard-style vanilla ‎ice cream. This finish is great by itself, or topped with dark chocolate curls, fresh strawberry ‎syrup or a mix of toasted coconut and chopped macadamia nuts.‎

Here's a quick, never fail recipe for tasty vanilla custard ice cream that my guests enjoy ‎whenever I serve it. They never believe that it only takes 30 minutes to prepare!‎


TASTY VANILLA CUSTARD ICE CREAM

‎1 can (14oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk‎
‎1 can (14oz) Evaporated Milk‎
‎1 pint Whipping Cream‎
Pure Vanilla Extract, to taste‎

Pour all ingredients into a 8+ cup blender. Mix on low speed until well incorporated and slightly ‎thickened. ‎
Pour the custard into an ice cream maker. Process the custard according to manufacturer's ‎directions.‎
Once soft-frozen, remove ice cream from ice cream maker and place into an 8 - 10 cup freezer ‎container. You can serve this ice cream immediately or freeze for 1 – 2 hours for firmer ice ‎cream. ‎
To "firm" freeze, place a layer of plastic wrap on top of the ice cream then cover the freezer ‎container with an air tight covering. Place the container in the freezer for 1 - 2 hours, then serve.‎
Yield: Approximately 16 servings‎


Enjoy!
                                                   Kathy