The Frugal Housewife: October 2005 Archives

I woke up in a fair mood this morning. Over the following hour my mood shifted and not for the better. I am in a hateful grouchy mood. Looking at me gets you a death ray stare. Speaking to me pegs my you-pissed-me-off meter. How easy it would be to unlatch my jaw and swallow people whole when they get near me. I am laying the blame on pregnancy hormones. I fear you think I am a Susie Homemaker and everything is to the standards of June Clever at my house. It is so not the case. My house gets messy. My hardwood floors show dust. I can see dust bunnies under the big TV armoire. Laudry piles up. I have a basket waiting to be folded. If I spend a day cooking alot nothing else will get done. And you know what? I doesn't bother me at all. Things out of order and out of place would send my mother and grandmother into a full fling tizzy. I mean they would need a valium if they didn't clean everything to perfection. Me? I am not so spastic. It will get done when I get to it. If not it will still be there in a day or three. I learned along time ago not to sweat the small stuff. Life is just to short to worry about everything. Does it nag me my house is not always spotless? Yes, it does, but I don't let it cause me stress. Which is why I am perfectly comfortable to show photos of my freezers and mudroom pantry. Several of you have requested these. Click on the thumbnails to see the larger image. I haven't had time or the energy to paint the inside closet and you will see the garish green and stained paint. When we first moved in this was a coat closet. I don't need the coat closet. I needed a place to store items that I keep on hand as extras. There isn't much I can't prepare with this pantry as my backup. Both freezers are full and ready for winter. We have two because when we lived at the townhouse there was only room for the small freezer. When we bought this house I wanted a giant freezer but I had trouble getting rid of the small freezer -no one wanted it. The cost of the giant freezer was $800. OUCH! I got the medium size freezer for $350 and the two of them have as large a capacity as the giant freezer, maybe larger. Things in the freezers include, fresh summer corn on the cob and creamed corn, fruits, lots of chicken stock, all sorts of meats, (including lamb, pork, beef, chicken, fish and shrimp), soups and stew I have made and put up, tomatoe sauces and whole tomatoes, any number of assorted vegetables, breads and muffins I keep to send with Steven to work daily for breakfast, cookie dough, cheeses, sandwich meats, ready to go meals, timtams :), ice cream, ready to heat and serve taco/fajita meats, premade BBQ, roasts and meat pies, -you name it, it is most likely in there. Inside my refrigerator where I have spent the week cooking, it is nearly empty save for fresh veggies and fruits, milk and other dairy products, luncheon items, butter, apple sauce, whipped cream for the kids hot chocolate, jasmine tea, eggs, made a couple leftovers and all of the condiments we love. Gracie loves egg nog. she always has. As soon as itbegins to appear in the grocery store I buy it for her. She looks forward to this time and year and is greatly disappointed when it leaves. I do keep an emergency can of bordens egg nog in the pantry for those emergency attacks that might occur in March. I told you before we are condiment people. all of us seem to have out favorites when it comes to condiments. Steven is a tobasco and hot pepper sauce guy. The kids love all varieties of jellies. I cook with alot of different things and I love mustards, expecially for really nice super sandwiches. The Sara Lee deli mustards are very good and very affordable. There is always at least 1 (or 3) of some kind in the frig and a brand new spare in the pantry. The spice cabinet is more than just spice. I have a lot of different herbs and things here but I also keep opened boxes of brown sugar, cornstarch, canisters of dried beans and fruits as well as things for baking. I have started collecting my nuts and food coloring and those tiny one shot bottles of liquer for baking during the holidays. I find it is much more economically friendly to my budget to buy a few things along starting in summer than to have to buy everything in November and December for special dishes. There are local wines in the rack that we have tried and like. As well as wines my mother likes that I keep on hand in preparation for her visits. She is able to come up only once or twice a year and I like her to have things she likes and to be very comfortable while with us. I strive very hard to be a prepared and gracious hostess, especially to my family. There are wines that I like and can't drink right now. The Australian marriage wines in red are yummy. I have a center island that I keep all of my day to day items in. open flour and sugar in canisters which when finished I use the flour and sugar in the pantry and buy fresh flour and sugar to replace it. I rotate stock so everything is fresh. Can goods and all sorts of pasta and things are kept in there as well. You might find quick baking mixes, instant oatmeal and cereal in there too. I love home cooked meals but I am not against taking a short or two when needed in a pinch or I don't feel like doing it the long way. In another cabinet by the stove I keep canisters of more dried beans and peas, as well as mixed beans for soups, grits, coffees, dried creamers and milk, canisters of pasta and various tall things that won't fit in other cabinets. The best revenge is living well. It takes a little effort but you can live very well on a budget. Just remember to use it up and wear it out. Try not to waste anything. And don't be so picky about what you eat. You don't need the best cuts of meat all the time. Cheaper cuts of meat are where the flavors are and you can really stretch your dollar if you learn to use everything and waste as little as possible. I always save meat scraps and vegetable scraps to make stocks with. Left over vegetables are used for delicious soups and stews that do not taste like a mish mash of left overs. The kids probably have no idea that much of the things served are leftovers in another form. I am so thankful I am not married to someone who refuses leftovers or is extremely picky about eating. I have only cooked onr thing he has stated he would rather not have to eat again, stewed tomatoes and rice. I have no idea what the big deal is with it. :-/ I'll tell you something though, as hard as I try, we do waste things, but not intentionally. I make mistakes and forget things are in the frig drawers and end having to through it out. I also have been known to cook things no one likes or wants to eat again -and it gets thrown out. Being prepared and ahead of the game where meals are concerned just takes practice and time. It is work but it's not that hard. Cooking for 8 is just as easy as cooking for four. If you plan to cook on a large scale get help. Round up kids or your husband and as you prepare let them wash the dishes or load the dishwasher. < segway into a rant>

I have always had my girls in the kitchen from an early age. By the age of 15 Colby could put a meal on the table as well I can. She loves to cook, to experiement and loves a wide range of foods she may not have been willing to eat if she had not helped to prepare them. Whoever said it is not your children's responsibility to help out with kitchen work and other smaller siblings have their head up their butt and more time on their hands than they know what to do with. My girls are expected to help cook as needed, for example when we are running late or have a big dinner for guests or just when we want to bake cookies or make something special. They are in charge of cleaning the kitchen after supper. Everyone helps for the betterment of the entire family. They are also responsible for cleaning their rooms and bringing down all of their laundry. They are also responsisble for the condition of their bathroom. They live here, too. We all have a job to perform. Chores have never hurt a child. I find it makes a better adult. Girls cannot become great mothers and wives without being taught how. I do not want to see my girls struggle with trying to figure out how to cope with a home and family to raise when they get older. Things learned now will come naturally and they too will have children to teach how to care for themselves and a family. I was raised to be a damn good wife and mother. I think I live up to that expectation and want no less for my own daughters. When this baby boy is born I have the exact same high expectations for him as well. Boys can cook, help with laundry, take out garbage and help clean the yards. I am an equal opportunity mother.

< /end rant> What's in your pantry? *****Updated to add this photo for Judy***** This past weekend at the pumpkin patch Judy, I would have to guess he has gained at least 30 lbs. When we met he was skin and bones, yellow tinted skin, ulcers, literally almost a skeleton. His eye were dark and slightly sucken. He did not eat well at all and did not try to take care of himself. He was on the tail end of years of negelect in a bad marriage and even worse nasty divorce, followed by a realaitonship with a woman who lied to him and he found out was married. He had really given up and thought he would be lucky to live another year. Seriously, he will tell you he expected maybe to live one more year or be in the hospital in severe care for system failure. He intended to never have anything to do with women again. He was finished and would be a bachelor till the end. I guess someone had other plans for him. :-) I put him on vitamins, all sorts of heavy herbal treatments and whole natural foods to heal his body and those damn stomach ulcers. It has taken a year and a half to get him to this point now. He weighs 155lbs @ 6'2". He is still quite thin. His skin is tanned from working in the sun. His eyes are sparkling and full of mischief. He laughs often and loudly. His waist is now 32 inches. And OMG is he handsome!! Photos always come out badly because he doesn't like photos taken. :-/

We took the kids out to a small local farm to choose pumpkins yesterday afternoon. There were three fields of pumpkins, fresh apples, ornamental squash, and potted mums to purchase. They had hayrides, face painting, a scarecrow that tied ballons into animal shapes, hay mazes, corn, horse rides and a small petting zoo. The term petting zoo was pushing it. They had some farm animals in corals close to the pumpkin happenings. Not too keen on horses (I don't think), Steven seemed to be interested in the 2 asses in one of the stalls. He came home and started researching mules. I swear I hope he doesn't decide he wants a mule. We are planning for chickens next spring and 2 dairy goats. After I got pregnant this year I wasn't able to handle a lot of farm stock so we waited. He is convinced he wants to fatten up a heffer and a pig for next winter. What would he do with a mule? The two youngest wanted to have a ride on the horses. The horses were old and I doubt they could have run away if they tried. They really looked tired and I felt bad about it. Steven and I chose three large pumpkins to have on the porch for fall decorations. I plan to only carve one for Halloween and only because of trick or treating. The girls each chose a smallish pumpkin from the fields and we chose yet another small pumpkin. The small pumpkins I will be roasting over the next couple of weeks. We will have fresh pumpkin as a vegetable for supper and I will be roasting and putting away enough pumpkin for fresh pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Roasting pumpkins is very easy. These are every day regular pumpkins not fancy sugar pumpkins. I like sugar pumpkins but you can't always find them. A plain pumpkin will work fine for pie. Don't be afraid to experiment a little. Choose nice smallish pumpkins (5 - 8 pounds). Wash them well. They are filthy even if they look clean. Carefully with a large knife split the pumpkin in half. Use a big spoon and scrape away the fiber and the seeds. Pour a little olive oil (or vegetable oil) into your hands and rub the pumpkin halves until all are coated with a nice thin layer. This protects the meat from drying out and burning. Place the 2 halves skin side up (cut side down) on an oiled baking sheet or lined with foil or a silpat. Bake at 375 degrees until the meats are fork tender. The scent is amazing! To serve as a vegetable for supper you can sprinkle with salt and pepper, maybe add a little curry. Pumpkin is excellent with a little pat of butter and eaten like a potato. For pumpkin pie you will need to mash or puree the baked pumpkin meat. A 5- 8lb pumpkin will yeild 2 - 3 cups of puree. To this add: 2/3 cup sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1/4 tsp nutmeg Pinch ground cloves 1 1/2 c evaporated milk 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1/2 tsp salt Before you add the eggs you can taste the pumpkin filling and adjust the spices to your liking. You can buy pumpkin pie spice and eliminate the need of adding all of the measured spices as well. The pumpkin pie spice is on the spice aisle at the grocer. You can also buy apple pie spice. Pour mixture into a 9 inch pie shell. Bake at 350 until the a toothpick inserted into the center pulls away clean. If the edges of your pie shell are browning too quickly fold a couple of strips of foil around the edges of the pie leaving the center uncovered to finish baking. Any leftover filling can be frozen. We picked up a basket of apples which I will be cooking today as well. We finished up our apples from our trees last month. We had only a small crop thanks to the damn birds. I will be cooking a pork roast today with pumpkin, squash, apples and prunes. Very polish meal. On one side of Steven's family his grandfather was a finnish immigrant. On the other side both of his great grandparents were polish. He has never really eaten alot traditional polish foods -I have no idea why. The pork roast and fall veggies is one of my favorites. I know he is going to love it too. The hearty vegetables with the sweet apples and prunes - mmmmmmmm mmmmm, good stuff. I also make a pumkpin potato soup with bacon that is amazing! I'll try to get that recipe up too while pumpkins are plentiful. I know you all do not cook in big batches and freeze like I do. Since so many of you seem interested in trying the cicken and dumpling I will post later today a recipe on my recipe journal for just a normal size pot of chicken and dumplings -using 1 chicken. Updated to add: What is up with Haloscan? I can't post a comment on most journals this morning.

Friday the weather here was rainy. The temperature hovered around 50. The air was damp and cool with fall creeping in to fill every nook and craney. It was a perfect day for cooking. I started a small fire in the stove for warm as well as mood and set to cook away the day. At the end of the day I ended up with: 2 gallons chicken and dumplings (4 freezer containers) 2 9-inch deep dish chicken pies 7 quarts of chicken stock (in jars) 1 quart chicken pieces and slivers for dressing 3lbs meatballs 4 stuffed bell peppers 6 burgers for grilling We also had chicken and dumplings for supper. It was yummmmyyy! I have the GE 18 quart roaster oven. I don't use it all the time because of its size but when I do use it I make efficient use of it. This roaster will hold 4 whole chickens. During three and a half hours of my day I accomplished a lot of cooking for my freezer thanks to this roaster and its large capacity. Once I nestled four chickens into the roaster I added 2 rough chopped large onions, 8 stalks of celery cut into 3 inch lengths, 4 large carrots cut into 2 inch pieces, 10 cloves of garlic, salt and pepper and covered with water. Turning the heat up to 450 degrees I cover the pan and let it cook for two and a half hours. At this point the chickens are falling apart when you try to lift them from the pan. I transfered the chickens to baking sheets and allow them to begin to cool so that the meat can be pulled from the bone. I strained out 3 - 4 quarts of stock and poured it into my stock pot and brought it back up to a boil. After deboning, all that is left of the carcass goes back into the roaster. I add more water to cover and set on a lower heat, 350 degrees, leaving this to cook until there is a rich stock -about 2 or 3 hours or so. I divide the meat into 2 portions; one for pies and one for chicken and dumplings. Making dumplings is the same as making biscuits except the dough is rolled out very thin -about 1/8th inch. This is extrememly time comsuming. There is a frosen product at the grocer that is as good as homemade and far less messy and time consuming. Take the shortcut and buy 2 boxes of Anne's Dumplings. These are exactly the same dumplings my grandmother stood for hours rolling out in her kitchen. To the pot of boiling stock set aside from above turn the heat down to a high simmer. Add the strips 3 or 4 at a time gently moving them around in the pot with a long handled spoon. Let the dumplings begin to cook a few minutes before you add the next dumplings. Once all of the dumplings have been added stir occassionally to keep them from sticking and scorching on the bottom of your pot, turn it down if you need too. Add 1 portion of the chicken that was deboned. You can finish here if you like a thin chicken stock and dumpling that is similar to a soup. We like ours thick and hearty. To the gently simmering chicken and dumplings I add 1 package frozen peas and carrots or 1 large can of Veg-All mixed vegetables. For extra creaminess I also might add 1 large can of cream of chicken soup. Once mixed well and heated through I ladle out several freezer containers and set them aside to cool to room temp before placing in the refrigerator to chill completely then moving them to the freezer. With 1 meal remaining for our supper, I pour this into a deep casserole dish and top with a flacky crust and bake like a pie. The crust being brushed with butter just before siding it into a hot oven. For chicken pies: 1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables 1 can sliced waterchestnuts 1 family size can cream of chicken soup 1 family size can cream of mushroom soup 1 portion of the above deboned chicken 4 deep dish pie shells Mix all the ingredients together and spoon into 2 of the pie shells. Mound the ingredients up to make a 'mile high' pie. Allow the other 2 shells to thaw just a bit until the dough is just soft. Invert the pie shell over the mounded chicken. Lift the pie tin away and using your fingers pinch the shell edges together sealing the mixture into the pie. Place on a cookie sheet, brush with melted butter and bake at 375 until golden brown. To freeze, leave the pie tin in place on top and on bottom. Lable the pie "this side up". Wrap well with plastic wrap. Slide each pie into a gallon size ziplock freezer bag. Lable and freeze. When ready to cook, remove from freezer and bake as you might a frozen Mrs. Smith's apple pie (that's the best analogy I can think of). Once everything is in the freezer and my kitchen is cleaned up I then strain out everything from my roaster. I do not let the stock sit and separate the fat from it. This stock I will used to make my dressing at Thanksgiving and I want a super rich stock. Into hot jars I ladle my hot stock, usually 6 - 8 quarts. Seal the jars and either freeze or pressure can. You cannot buy this quality of stock in a can or box. Bringing a jar of stock to a boil and adding some seasoning and egg noodles you have the BEST homemade chicken noodle soup you ever dreamed of. I spread the pieces and parts of vegetables and the chicken carcasses out on baking sheets and allow to cool completely. Carefully pick through the pieces and you will gather over a quart of slivers of meat. Don't waste anything! Pick the meat from the bones as best as you can. Place in a labled freezer bag and freeze. You can separate this into very small portions and add a little to the above noodle soup. I save my slivers and pieces and use them in my dressing at Thanksgiving. I know alot of people turn their nose up at picking slivers of meat from bones and saving stock but to each their own. I like saving money and this stretches my grocery staples and stock alot. I guess it is the mentality of farm life, waste not want not. I use it up and wear it out wherever possible. It is a sunny but cool day so far. We are taking the kids to a pumpkin patch this afternoon. I'll try to remember to take the camera.