Cookie Update

This morning Sparky and I made the cookies I wrote about yesterday. We followed the recipe to the letter, taking them out of the oven when they were just barely done (they continued to brown a little on the pans). I even opted to use use the traditional oven -- something I haven't done since we got our convection/microwave.




Patience is key while waiting for them to cool on the baking sheets, but it's worth it. These cookies are really good! They are soft and chewy inside, with just a little crunch around the edges.






The trick now will be finding out how they fare overnight. Once Spouse Guy gets home, I'm going to have a hard time making sure there are any left to try tomorrow.






By the way, we made both large and small cookies. The smaller (1/8 c.) cookies were done in 14 minutes, and the larger ones (1/4 cup scoop) took 16 minutes. All told, the batch made 24 small and 9 large cookies.

Preparing For A Busy Week

Being a stay-at-home wife, I'm used to the luxury (at least, I consider it a luxury) of being able to start supper early in the afternoon. It's been quite a while since I've had to come home late in the afternoon and try to put a meal together in a hurry.

This week, I have appointments to keep throughout the day Monday, some important work to do here at home on Tuesday, then Wednesday through Friday, I'll be caring for a friend's mother all day. (She recently had shoulder surgery and needs someone to stay with her in her home until family members can get there after work.) So, it will be an unusually busy week for me.

I have some free time today, so I'm going to take advantage of it by doing a lot of prep work in the kitchen to plan for the week ahead. That way, on those three busiest days at the end of the week, I'll have lots of yummy leftovers that I can just heat up quickly for us to eat.

Here is our menu for this week:

Today (and again on Wednesday): Marinated Broiled Flank Steak, Twice-Baked Cheddar Potatoes, Braised Cabbage, Green Salad.

Monday (and again on Thursday): Taco Salads in Tortilla Bowls, Drunken Pinto Beans

Tuesday (and again on Friday): Cheese Ravioli Lasagna, Garlic Toast, Summer Squash Veggie Medley, Green Salad.

Saturday: Ham and Pepperoni Panini, Roasted Corn and Crab Soup (I had originally planned for a creamy potato soup, but decided to try Violet's soup instead!)


To get a jump start on the week, this morning I have already:

- put the steak in the marinade and cooked the cabbage for today's meal;
- cooked and seasoned the ground beef, shredded the lettuce, sliced the black olives and made the salsa for the taco salad meal;
- cooked the Italian sausage and cut up the zucchini, yellow squash, onions and carrots for the lasagna meal. I have pasta sauce that I made last week in the freezer.

With these things done already, the meals will go together very quickly each evening. By Saturday, things will have slowed down again and I'll have plenty of time to make the soup and grill the sandwiches that are on the menu.

And if everything goes well, I might even have time to make a cake of some kind today for an early Valentine's Day treat.

Turkey Pot Pie

Sorry, I don't have a picture of this biscuit-topped pie. For one thing, the filling boiled over the edge of the pan and created an ugly mess, and for another thing, we dug into it as soon as it came out of the oven without even thinking of getting pictures first.

I put this pie together without recipe, just using basic cooking concepts from similar pies I've made in the past. I used leftover diced turkey that I'd frozen right after Christmas, as well as turkey broth I'd made and frozen, too. I ended up adding one package of instant turkey gravy mix just to boost the turkey flavor a little. Here is the basic recipe.

Blogarita's Turkey Pie

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3/4 cup flour (approximately)
1/2 large onion, diced
1 quart turkey or chicken broth
1 envelope instant turkey gravy mix
2 cups diced cooked turkey
1 pkg. (either 10-oz. or 16-oz.) frozen mixed vegetables*
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) COLD butter
1 cup milk

Heat oven to 375° F. Spray an oblong baking dish with non-stick pan spray.

In large pan or Dutch oven, melt butter. Saute onions in butter for 1-2 minutes.

Stir in 3/4 cup flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. This mixture will be very thick.

Stir in the gravy mix and immediately whisk in the turkey broth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Stir in turkey and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Do not fill more than half full. ** Place in preheated oven.

Combine 2 cups flour, 1/2 salt and the baking powder. Cut cold butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in milk.

Remove dish of turkey filling from oven. Drop biscuit dough, using a large spoon or a small ice cream scoop, evenly over hot filling. Return dish to oven and bake until biscuits are full cooked and golden on top, approximately 20 minutes.

Makes 4-6 generous servings.

*You can use a peas and carrots blend if you don't wish to use mixed vegetables.
** If you have filling left over, it can be frozen and used later as a base for turkey soup.

I Confess...

We eat leftovers.

Not only do we eat leftovers, I plan my menus with every intention of having leftovers.

Don't get me wrong, I love to cook. But I'm busy and broke most of the time, and having planned leftovers saves me both time and money.

I hear people complain that they (or their spouse or kids) don't like leftovers. But what's not to like? Most things hold up well to being refrigerated and reheated, and many things (like chili) taste even better when they've chilled overnight.

As a way to save time, I make large batches of almost everything I cook. On average, I cook three complete meals each week. We eat each meal twice (on consecutive nights or spaced out, depending on our moods) and on the seventh night of the week, I normally fix a fast, simple meal that we eat only the one time. Or we might go out to eat on the seventh night. (And on the Seventh Night, God rested by going to Applebee's.)

I've been cooking this way for about four years now, and I can't imagine going back to cooking every night of the week. It's so nice to look at how my week is going to play out and plan to have the leftovers on the busier days.

You can probably see how eating leftovers saves time, but you might be wondering how it saves money. Good question. The savings go along with that old saying that time is money. Any time I don't spend in the kitchen cooking can be spent otherwise, maybe making or saving money in other ways. And whenever I feel crunched for time and I'm tempted to grab some carry-out food, I know that the leftovers are there waiting for me and can be reheated in the same time (or less) it takes to bring something home from the drive-thru, yet they are less expensive and probably more healthy.

But leftovers just don't taste as good, you might be thinking. Part of problem is in knowing how to handle them. A quick cooling and an airtight container is usually all it takes to successfully store food in the fridge. Cooling quickly keeps condensation from forming and dripping onto the food, and the airtight container keeps flavors from transferring back and forth between foods.

If I'm going to freeze something, I find it helps to put plastic wrap around each piece of meat, or right on the surface of soups, refried beans, mashed potatoes, etc. It really helps to keep those ice crystals from forming and freezer burn from happening.

Another complaint I hear about leftovers is that they are boring. There's a way around that, too. Try transforming them into an entirely different meal. If you make sauce with meatballs to go over spaghetti on Monday, try using the leftover meatballs for meatball subs on Wednesday. If you roast a chicken on Sunday, turn the leftover meat into a chicken pot pie on Monday.

Leftovers might not be "your thing". But if you think your family might go for it, and you want to save a little time and money, try planning a few meals from leftovers. Even one night a week will save you a couple of hours in the kitchen. If nothing else, it'll give you more time to spend blogging!