Ammonia in our beef!?!?!?

I often question the food supply here in the U.S. I've known and talked to too many people in the food industry to think our food is all A-OK. The USDA as far as I'm concerned, is just about worthless as are most government agencies. I won't use this entry to rant too much about said agency but the "pyramid" crap we've been fed should be proof enough.

However, if you need more proof, here it is. 

It's important that you read the entire article. To say I'm stunned, shocked, and disgusted would be an understatement.

That is all.

Simple things...

Today was my day off and I had such a nice day. The weather is cold but that's what heaters, sweaters, jackets, and gloves are for, right? After letting my van warm up well this morning I went to the bank, then by Verizon to gripe about the lemon of a phone I recently got from them (they're sending a new one), then to the laundrymat where I tended to the chore of washing, drying, hanging and folding clothes. I went by Starbucks for an Americano and got a survey receipt so when I got back to the shop I completed the survey and got my authorization code for a free tall drink of my choice. Yummy!

I spent most of the rest of the day doing as little as possible, just enjoying my day off. I did cook a dinner of crustless spinach quiche and instead of making vegetables to go with it, we each had a small piece of the lower carb faux cornbread I made a couple of days ago. There's plenty of quiche and cornbread left so the man person will probably have some for his lunch tomorrow and I'll definitely take some. I'll aim for a no spend day tomorrow so bringing lunch, a small snack, and a drink is a good idea.

Ahhh, the pleasure of simple things in life - a warm van, clean clothes, a free drink, and hearty leftovers for lunch. I can't ask for much more.

Start Over, Finish Rich - free!

I know some of you are interested in personal finance and for those of you who are, here's a freebie for you: David Bach's book, Start Over, Finish Rich. This is the same guy who wrote The Automatic Millionaire, Smart Women Finish Rich, and a host of other great books. This download is supposed to be free for just one day (yesterday) but it's still being given this morning.

So hurry and get yours!!

Edited to say the above link isn't valid now.

January 3rd - 9th Menu

Ahhh, a new year and a chance to start fresh in so many areas! The man person and I have revamped our budget and re-committed ourselves to our financial and health goals. I've also set a few personal goals and one of those is to continue our healthy eating while still saving money. Talk about a challenge!

Menu planning will help, though. It keeps me from buying food we don't need, it helps me utilize the food items we have and the ones at bargain prices at the stores, it helps me use up those leftovers, and it saves a lot of time. Menu planning truly is a thing of beauty that's growing in popularity and if you don't believe me, check out Menu Plan Monday to see how many people are participating!

Oh, at that site are some nice grocery list templates, envelopes, labels and more to download. If you haven't participated in Menu Plan Monday and you're thinking of doing so or giving menu planning a try, please join in! I don't think you'll be sorry.

We have bad (for this area) weather coming mid-week and very cold temperatures are being predicted. What's your favorite cold weather food and do you have a recipe for it you'll share? I'm on the lookout for some new cold weather favorites!

I'm simply out of inspiration right now so I looked through old blog entries and found a few dishes that look or sound good to me. So, this week's menu is largely made of dishes I've mentioned in the past. They must be good, though, or I wouldn't consider having them again! Okay, on to this week's thrifty, healthy, and tasty menu!

Tonight we had Farmhouse Beef Casserole with steamed green beans. I blogged about the casserole a little earlier this evening and if you want to know about that dish, here's the review. We had it with green beans and it was a hearty meal. There's some leftover and I'll more than likely take the leftovers to work over the next couple of days.

Tomorrow night we're having slow cooked lima beans with cornbread I'll attempt to make using Carbquick and a small amount of corn meal. I'll put the beans in the crock with some water and spices and before I head to work in the afternoon I'll add some turkey pastrami. When I get in tomorrow evening they'll be tender and hot and so tasty.

The rest of the week we'll have, in no particular order:

Cheese and spinach crustless quiche served with green salad and crispy steamed carrots

Vegetable chicken soup, made with the meat from two chicken legs and quite a few vegetables lingering in the fridge, served with low carb biscuits and butter

Spicy baked chicken served with green salad and stuffed mushrooms

Turkey Italian sausage and baked cabbage

Poor Man's Steak, leftover baked cabbage, and 1/2 a small baked potato each

So that's the menu for this week. Nothing exciting or new other than the Farmhouse Beef Casserole we had tonight but that's okay - some things are so good they just need to be repeated

Farmhouse Beef Casserole - mixed reviews

I got in from work at about 5:20 tonight and made the Farmhouse Beef Casserole I mentioned in yesterday's entry. It took a little while to prepare the ingredients but I did it while watching the tail end of the Cowboys/Eagles game (take that, you Eagles!) and the time passed quickly.

I like this dish but the man person said, and I quote:

"I wouldn't want that often but it wasn't bad."

He isn't really into casseroles for the most part so for him to really like any casserole is rare. Keep that in mind and don't let his words sway you into declaring this dish as "don't try".

Here are some things I really like about this dish; the thrifty ingredients, the great smell while it's cooking, and the fact that it's satisfying for the tummy. One thing I didn't like about it though; the taste was a little blander than what I like and I think it needs a little more something though I'm not sure what. I did make a few changes to the recipe and they're noted in parentheses after the original. My additional notes are after the recipe.

Farmhouse Beef Casserole

Olive oil cooking spray
1 small russet or all purpose potato
1 cup shredded low fat mozarella cheese (I used cheddar as I have a glut of it right now)
1 lb extra lean ground sirloin (I used ground turkey as I had it on hand and only used 1/2 lb)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped (I use about 1/4 of an onion but more would have been better)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-14.5 oz can no salt added diced tomatoes with juice (See below)
1 Tbsp chili powder or to taste
2 cups shredded green cabbage (I don't shred cabbage, instead I just slice it thin then dice it)
salt (optional) (I used a little celery salt)
freshly ground black pepper
1-3 tbls purchased taco sauce (I omitted this)
6 slices pickled jalapeno chili peppers (optional) (I omitted this)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 2 qt casserole dish with cooking spray. Peel and grate the potato into a bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup ot the cheese and spread evenly over the bottom of the prepared dish. Bake 15-20 minutes or until potato is browned and crispy. Meanwhile, brown ground sirloin, onion, and garlic in a large nonstick skillet, breaking up the beef with a wooden spoon as it browns. Discard any excess fat. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, chili powder and cabbage. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Saute, stirring for a minute or two. If mix seems too dry add 1 Tbsp of the bottled taco sauce, adding up to 2 Tbsp more, if needed. When potatoes are done, spoon beef mixture on top of potatoes. Top with remaining cheese and jalapeno slices (if using). Bake for 25-30 minutes till casserole is hot and bubbly. Serve at once.

Calories 235 (40% from fat), 24g protein, 11g total fat (4.8g sat. fat), 12g carb., 2 g fiber, 38mg cholesterol, 471mg potassium, 357mg sodium
Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1 carb (1/2 bread/starch, 1-1/2 vegetable

Here's a picture of the crust, which I made according to the directions.
 
It's very good as is but I think to reduce the carb count I might try making it with shredded cauliflower. Since we need to be careful of fat and not just carbs, I used ground turkey breast instead of beef and since I don't have a stove I put the turkey, garlic and onion in my handy dandy Pampered Chef small Micro-Cooker (bought at a garage sale for a quarter!) and cooked it all for 4 minutes, stopping twice to break the meat up a little. When it was cooked through, I let it cool, strained it well, and used clean hands to break the meat up really well.

Since I was using only half the called for meat, I figured I needed a little less liquid than what the original recipe called for so I reserved the juice from the tomatoes rather than mixing it in with the meat and cabbage. I did use some of that juice a bit later but only about 1/3 of what was in the can.

From there I followed the original recipe.

I'll try this recipe again but with some changes. As I mentioned, I'll use cauliflower instead of potato and will use more onion than I did this time but I think I'll add a little bit of homemade taco seasoning to the meat, garlic, and onion to give it that extra flavor. I might even put a little pico de gallo on top, too.

All in all, this is a hearty dish and I think it's one that lends itself to versatility. If you don't have one of the ingredients, use something else. Make it your own and if you do, please share with me what you did! I'm always looking for inexpensive but flavorful recipes.

January recipes to try

For a long time now (think years) I've had a list of recipes to try. I keep meaning to get around to making them but you know how it is - with work and other things going on in my life, I don't get to it. Oh, I try new recipes often but not the ones I've had for ages! Some of them now are in the "don't try" list simply because they're too high in carbs or our tastes have changed and they don't appeal to us anymore, but the list of ones to try is still very long.  And I've decided that this year I'm going to start working to reduce that list.

Just like like going to the gym and being careful about my diet are priorities, trying new recipes will be a priority. So, one of my goals for 2010 is to try at least two new recipes a month and write a blog entry about each. I'll more than likely exceed two most months but two new recipes a month is a reasonable and easily attainable goal.

Here are the two I've picked for January:

Edith Bristow's Baked Onions and Farmhouse Beef Casserole

Neither of these has long been in my "try this soon" file but both sound quite tasty and easy so I'll start with them. When I try them, I'll post the original recipe, any changes made to it, and photos. It should be interesting!

Keep watching for more on this!

Thrifty January? Inexpensive slow cooker recipes to the rescue!

I really love my slow cookers. I have three of them and they get used a lot. In fact, right now the medium one has lima beans in it (we thought we had blackeye peas and don't!!) and before I head to work this afternoon I'll have a bowl of hot, well seasoned and thrifty limas. Mmmm!

Here are a few of my standby slow cooked dishes that are easy to throw in the crock and don't cost an arm and a leg.

Cheater's Slow Cooked Steak and Gravy - the soup and broth from the meat make the gravy so even a person who has gravy making issues can produce lovely gravy!

beef (I use 1 lb of inexpensive steak or carne picada)
onion to taste, chopped, sliced, however you like it (I like a lot)
salt, pepper, garlic and any other seasonings desired
cream of mushroom soup or homemade equivalent (use cream of chicken with mushroom to save some carbs)
small can chopped green chiles

Put the beef in a slow cooker, add the onion and spices, and cook on high for about an hour until the meat shows little or no pink. Drain enough liquid that there's only 1/4 cup or so in the crock. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for at least three hours. Serve over rice, noodles, potatoes or vegetables. I love this over riced cauliflower.

"Smoked" Chicken in a Crock - this is so simple and the resulting chicken has a nice smoky flavor that's a welcome addition to many dishes!

I love the flavor of smoked chicken but without a smoker I have to get creative to get that flavor. After a little experimentation I hit on the right combination of things to get a decent smoky flavor in my slow cooker. This is very simple but tasty and the leftover chicken makes delicious chicken salad.

Wash and rinse chicken pieces or a whole chicken. I prefer to use whole chicken. Pat it dry and season with a little pepper, salt, and garlic. Put the chicken in the crock of your slow cooker and add 2 Tablespoons of Liquid Smoke. Add sliced onions, bell peppers, squash or any other vegetable you like, put the lid on the crock, set it to low and let cook about 6 hours. Because I don't like the boiled chicken thing that often happens in slow cookers, I drain the broth a few times during the cooking process, freezing it for later use.

When the chicken is cooked, carefully remove it from the crock. It will more than likely fall apart so you might want to put the chicken and vegetables in some netting or cheesecloth before you put it in the crock. I don't do that normally but do if I think I won't want to mess with fishing out pieces of chicken.

Chicken & Biscuits - another easy favorite, though a bit too high in carbs for us to eat often! I do occasionally use Carbquick to make low carb biscuits for this, though.

3 cups chicken, cooked and chopped
3 cups chicken broth (water and chicken bouillon work, too, as does vegetable broth)
5 small carrots, chopped
1/2 to 3/4 onion, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, fresh or canned
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 cup frozen green peas (I often use chopped green beans instead)
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup cold water (I often use juice from canned vegetables)
biscuits, uncooked

Bring chicken broth to a boil and add garlic and vegetables. Simmer about 15 minutes. Add chicken and peas or beans and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. Dump it all in the slow cooker and set the heat to low. Make a paste with the cornstarch and cold water and carefully add it to the chicken mixture a little at a time, stirring well. Stir a bit then put the lid on the crock and continue to cook on low for at least an hour. At this point, if you're going to eat it immediately, just pour everything into a casserole, top with biscuits, and bake at 375 until the biscuits are light brown.

To freeze, pour into a glass casserole dish, cover with foil, place in a good freezer bag and put in freezer. When ready to eat, thaw and place in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and place raw biscuit dough or pre-made biscuits on top. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until hot and biscuits are lightly browned.

Prevention's site has some nice sounding inexpensive slow cooker recipes, including corn chowder, kidney bean and beef chili, brownies, and "baked" apples, and most can be made for less than $2 per serving. If there's something in one of the recipes that makes the cost too high for your budget, eliminate that item or substitute something else. And check out their line of hearty and healthy soups and stews, too! Just because the site is Prevention's and the recipes are healthier than a lot of others doesn't mean the dishes aren't very good!

Speaking of soup, Tipnut has a list of 15 comforting homemade soup recipes, including my very own Slow Cooked Beef, Barley, and Vegetable Soup.

This is a great time of year for soups so find some good recipes or get creative and make your own but make plenty of that warm, hearty soup!