Archive | September, 2011

Steak, Potatoes, and Roasted Corn Salsa

6 Sep

Busy night of cooking for me!  We had a ton of meat in the fridge.  I had thawed out steak and had hot dogs on hand to grill out for Labor Day.  Then, hubby had invited over some friends to cookout on Tuesday, so I decided to not grill on Monday and wait until Tuesday.  Hubby went to the store and bought 2 more packages of steaks and 2 packages of brats.  Then, the friends ended up not being able to come over, so 1 package of brats went to the freezer and I decided to go ahead and grill a package of hot dogs and a package of brats, plus all the steaks.  I also had a few potatoes left from Bountiful Baskets, so I decided to grill those as well.  (Don’t get me started on potatoes, hubby also bought a 10 pound bag of them when he bought the steaks, not knowing that I already had close to 10 pounds at home.  This is why only I should do the shopping!)

Anyway, we had plenty of steak left, so we cut it into pieces, and hubby has requested that I make steak and egg burritos, to which I will add roasted Poblano peppers and onion.  More about that tomorrow, back to tonight’s meal.

The day before, I put all the steak into a 9 x 13 glass pan and marinated them with Dale’s Seasoning.  No, it is not made by my hubby.  We recently discovered this at the Commissary and laughed because it has his name, but seriously, this stuff is really good.  Then, I prepped the potatoes. I washed them really good, then mixed together olive oil and Italian seasoning to brush on them, and rolled them up in aluminum foil.  Then, it was time to put it all on the grill!

As that was cooking, I worked on finishing up roasted corn salsa.  I had already roasted the 7 ears of sweet corn that I received from Bountiful Baskets on 9/3 because I didn’t want it to go bad before I got the chance to use it.  To roast it, I take off some of the outer husks, then pull back the husks to remove the silk.  I put the husks back around the corn and put it on the grill.  I leave it out there 20-30 minutes, turning every so often, and get nice, roasted corn.  If you don’t have a grill, you can roast the corn in your oven’s broiler.  Turn the broiler on low, and line a baking sheet with foil.  You can leave the husks on or remove them.  Place about 6 inches from the broiler and turn the corn every so often until it is roasted.

Next, you cut the kernels off the cob.  Now, the tricky part is what else to add.  I will give you a rough approximation of what I add, but salsa is really about making it to your taste.

  • 4 ears of corn, roasted, removed from cob
  • 1/2 yellow or red onion, or 1 bunch green onion, chopped (I use whatever I have on hand or what is cheapest)
  • 2-3 jalapenos, seeded and diced
  • 1 can black beans, drained
  • 2-3 Roma tomatoes, diced
  • 2 tsp garlic salt
  • Juice of 2-3 key limes or 1 large lime

Here is the final result to serve with your favorite tortilla chips.  We usually get the scoop type tortilla chips, it’s easier with this chunky salsa to be able to scoop it up.  Note that this is a double batch of the recipe above since I had 7 ears of corn.

After this was all finished and cleaned up, I went to work on some fruit that is currently in the food dehydrator.  I will have a full (hopefully good) report on that tomorrow!

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Fun with Pipe Cleaners!

6 Sep

While I was at the dollar store last week getting the supplies for the Popcorn Sight Words game, I saw pipe cleaners and decided to grab 2 packs.  Now, I say pipe cleaners, but you may also call them chenille sticks or stems, which is how they are sometimes labeled at at the store.  I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with them yet, but I know that there are plenty of fun things to do with them, plus they are great for working on fine motor skills.

First, we made some shape, circle, triangle, square, rectangle, heart.  Then we started making some letters, B, b, R, J, L.  Lots more possibilities there!

Then, I remembered  an idea I had seen on Pinterest, and got out my colanders.  Mine do not have circles, just lines, but it still worked well.  The girls had a blast with this!  We decided we were making rainbows!

Next time I am at the dollar store, I will look for some beads to use for stringing on the pipe cleaners.  I also might make up a box with holes and colors around the holes to do color matching along with putting the pipe cleaners in holes.  What kinds of activities do you do with pipe cleaners?

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Playdough!

6 Sep

Last week, K’s pre-K teacher asked for volunteers to make playdough.  Always eager to help, I told him I would help and he gave me the recipe.  I already had everything on the list except cream or tartar and Kool-Aid, plus I was getting low on salt.  Off to the store we went and then came home to try this out.

Playdough
– 3 cups flour
– 1 1/2 cups salt
– 3 tablespoons oil
– 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
– 3 cups water
– saucepan
– mixing spoon
– hot plate or stove

Combine all ingredients.  Cook over very low heat until mixture is no longer sticky to the touch.  Add food coloring or 1 packet Kool-Aid for color (Kool-Aid also adds smell).

Ingredients for Playdough

All mixed together on low heat on stove

Starting to be less sticky

Finished playdough! Note how it easily pulls from the sides of the pan and it will be no long sticky to the touch

Cooled, put into gallon sized bags, and dated

The most expensive ingredient for me was the cream of tartar.  I didn’t have time to check out the dollar store, so bought it at the grocery store while I was there.  Otherwise, all the ingredients are things normally on hand.  In all, this takes about 20 minutes to do, 5 minutes to measure things out, 10-15 minutes for it to cook on the stove.

In the end, we ended up doing this recipe 4 times, making 4 bags of playdough.  We went through about 5 lbs of flour, 2 26 oz canisters of salt, 1 2.5oz container of cream of tartar, not very much of the container of vegetable oil.  Depending on where you shop for the ingredients, it’s a pretty cheap activity.

Update: A friend let me know that she made this recipe and does not have non-stick pans like I used, and the playdough was still stuck to the bottom of her pan even after it was all done.  If you have non-stick pans, I would advise using one for this project.

Current Promos at Fry’s

5 Sep

Right now, there are some great promos at the Kroger family of stores, which includes Fry’s Food Stores here in AZ.

First, there is the Spin to Win game.  This promo is going on while they are having the Buy 4, Save $4 P&G sale.  You load 4 P&G coupons onto your rewards card and get a chance to spin the wheel.  You can spin the wheel once a day, and you can win 2 prizes throughout the promotion.  My mom has gotten $4 and $2 on her Kroger card, I have gotten $3 on my Fry’s card and now keep landing on Tips.  Click on the picture below to play and see if you win!  This game will be available to play until 9/10/2011.

Second, there is a fuel point promotion with gift cards.  For any gift card you purchase, you get 4 times the fuel points instead of the normal 2 times the fuel points.  They have a variety of cards to choose from, but it excludes Kroger family gift cards, Green Dot prepaid reloadable products, MoneyPaks and American Express Variable Load, Visa Variable Load, 1-2-3 REWARDS Reloadable Visa Prepaid Debit Card and MasterCard Variable Load gift cards.  If I know I need gift cards for a gift for someone or if I know there is somewhere I have budgeted a purchase for the month, like Lowe’s or Target, or if we are planning to eat out at Olive Garden or Chili’s, I go get a gift card at Fry’s first so I can earn the fuel points.  Why get so many points?  Because for every 100 points, you get $.10 off per gallon of gas.  Currently, you can redeem up to 1,000 points at a time to get up to $1 off per gallon of gas.  Gas is expensive right now, so every little bit helps!  Click the image below for more details.  This promotion runs through 9/13/2011.

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Time to Order Bountiful Baskets!

5 Sep

Even though it’s a holiday, it’s still contribution time for Bountiful Baskets!  Here are the extra offerings this week:

  • 9 Grain Bread – 5 loaves – Contains Wheat. Baked in a facility with nuts – $10.00 ea
  • Bountiful Baskets Granola – 2 lbs, Oats, Honey, canola oil, roasted & salted cashews, dates, diced pineapple, sunflower seeds – $10.00 ea
  • ORGANIC Nectarines – Approx 18 Lb place pack – California – $21.00 ea
  • Fruit Lovers Pack – Add an additional pack of fruit to your regular basket! – $10.00 ea
  • ORGANIC 100% Honey Whole Wheat Bread – 5 pack -$12.00 ea
  • Thompson Naturals Grapes (seedless) – Approx 19 Lb – Good for eating or raisins! This grape has a very high sugar content! – $20.00 ea
I decided to order just a regular basket this week.  I’m excited to see what I’ll get!
If you want to participate, go here to find the site closest to you: https://contributions2.bountifulbaskets.org/

Shepherd’s Pie

5 Sep

A good friend of mine told me about a great shepherd’s pie that she made last week and sent me the link to the recipe.  As I was deciding what to make for dinner and thinking about what I had on hand, I remembered the recipe for the shepherd’s pie.  I looked through, had everything but the mushrooms, decided they weren’t really necessary, and decided to try it out.  Turns out it was pretty easy, a little time consuming, and totally delicious!  For this dish, I used the potatoes and celery I got in 9/3 Bountiful Baskets, and carrots and onion from 8/27 Bountiful Baskets.

Recipe can be found here: Beef Shepherd’s Pie

I recommend using leftover mashed potatoes or making the mashed potatoes first so they are ready to go.

The meat mixture goes in the baking dish first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, you spread the mashed potatoes on top, leaving 1/4″ border.  I opted to sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ended up baking mine at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes to shave off some of the baking time since I was running late.  It turned out perfect and was mostly gone before I could even take a picture of the finished product.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is a keeper and I will be making again sometime!

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Banana Muffins

5 Sep

I had some bananas from either 8/20 or 8/27 Bountiful Baskets that didn’t get eaten, so I left them out to over-ripen to make either bread or muffins.  Today, I decided we would make muffins.  The recipe I use is Banana Banana Bread from allrecipes.com.  It is really tasty and very moist, something that can be tough for banana bread.  In order to make muffins, I just changed the baking time to 20-25 minutes.

K was a good helper with stirring

 

 

 

 

 

 

A trick I learned when making muffins or cookies is to use a scoop to get the perfect amount.  We used our Oxo ice cream scoop, which gave us the perfect amount for each muffin cup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, we got delicious muffins to have on hand for breakfast this week.

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How to Freshen up Wilted Lettuce

5 Sep

Between it being in the hot sun at Bountiful Baskets and me leaving it out on my counter to long, I often have wilted lettuce.  Instead of throwing it out, I now try a little trick I learned recently – give it an ice bath.

Here is my rather dry, wilty lettuce

So, I cleaned out one side of my sink, plugged it, filled with cold water, and added ice.

You just need to leave it in there for a few minutes, drain the sink, shake off some excess water and the end result isn’t always perfect lettuce again, but much perkier and in better shape for eating.  You can try leaving it even longer to help perk it up more.

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Popcorn Sight Words

4 Sep

I really don’t remember learning sight words and I don’t remember ever hearing of them until recently when I started doing research on how to help my oldest learn to read (K is 4, almost 5).  We have the first 3 collections of BOB books, thanks to a generous friend who gave them to us since her boys were done with them.  K is doing great reading the first collection, and along with that reading, I wanted to start practicing sight words.  My first thought was flash cards, but I know those can be rather boring.  Then, in the Scholastic Book Club flyer we got at school last week, there was a POP for Sight Words game.  It didn’t really explain what the “game” part of it was, but I was considering purchasing it.  Then, browsing on Pinterest, a new fun way I kill time, I came across this Popcorn Word Activities, and remembered seeing that popcorn tub at Dollar Tree a couple weeks earlier.  So, I decided that we would make it ourselves!

Supplies:
– 1 large popcorn tub, $1
– 2 small popcorn tubs, $1 each
– 1 yellow posterboard, $.50
– 2 sheets yellow construction paper (used up all the posterboard), had on hand
– Sharpie marker, had on hand
– Scissors, had on hand

Since K wanted to help me make it, we decided it would be best to make the “popcorn” be rectangles, because she’s “not very good at cutting circles, but is very good at cutting rectangles.”  So, I measured out the posterboard into 2″ x 4″ rectangles.  Since it was 22″ x 28″, I got 77 rectangles total.  I cut the first 7, then K went to work on the rest.

K cutting the popcorn rectangles

She did a phenomenal job cutting all of them.  Yes, the lines weren’t cut perfectly straight, but honestly, the jagged edges give it a more popcorn feel.  Then I went to work adding the sight words in the best handwriting I could.  I used these Dolch word lists, the pre-primer and primer lists.

The finished product

I’m still working on what games we will play using these, probably at first use them like flashcards.  I found some sight word bingo cards that I can print off and we can draw words out of the bucket to play bingo.  I”m sure K will come up with some games of her own.

I also wasn’t sure what I would do with the 2 smaller popcorn tubs, but decided they would be used to hold the different sets of popcorn inside the bigger tub for storage.  I’m sure we’ll find a way to incorporate them into a game as well.

Smaller tubs labeled for storing the 2 sets of sight words

So, I took a $9 game, made it for $2.50, plus K got some cutting practice and it was a fun way to spend a couple hours on a Sunday morning.

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Making Raisins

4 Sep

In my Bountiful Baskets basket this week, I got table grapes.  Cute, little, sweet green grapes.  I decided that instead of just eating grapes I would try to make them into raisins.  I don’t have a food dehydrator, or the money to buy one.  It’s plenty sunny here, but I was concerned about bugs getting them if I left the grapes outside. Not to mention that it’s monsoon season here and rain sometimes comes from nowhere.  So, I researched if it could be done in the oven and it can!

Before

First, I washed all the grapes and removed them from the stems.  I laid wax paper (parchment paper would work too) on a baking sheet to prevent them from getting too stuck to the baking sheet.  I made a slit through one half of each grape to pierce the skin, then laid in a single layer on the baking sheet.. I set the oven to 180 degrees F, put the grapes in, set the timer for 1 hour so I could

After

check to see how they were coming along.  7 hours later, they finally looked more like raisins! I had the oven on long enough through the day, so turned it off and left them in the oven overnight.  They are great and taste so much fresher than raisins in the store!  However, I don’t think I will be making raisins again soon, it’s just too much time to have the oven on, so it will have to wait until I can get a dehydrator some day.

Please note that doing this in the oven may take longer than 7 hours, depending on the size of your grapes and on your oven.  From what I read, it can take as long as 12 hours for this process to happen.  The end result is worth it if you are willing to take the time!

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