Tips For Homemakers

Okay, I don’t remember the recipe for making homemade pretzels (I will have to find one to share) but I have photographs and pictures in my mind of the day we made pretzels. It was on our dairy farm in Missouri. Come to think of it. I don’t know why we didn’t do it more often. It was so much fun.

I made the dough, the kids rolled it out and made the dough into the shape of a pretzel. I put the pretzels in the oven and then when they were done, we sprinkled sea salt on them. I remember they were yummy.

My daughters were so cute. They had little scarves on their head like their mommy. I really have to dig out those pictures and share them with you.

I think it really helps to get your kids into the kitchen and instill some interest in baking/cooking. Brian seems to like to grill out a lot. He is 36 now.

Brian was my first child and unfortunately, he ate a lot of over-cooked meals as I learned to cook. I wasn’t really allowed in the kitchen much when I was a kid. Mom was so particular about sanitary/cleanliness kind of stuff. So, I didn’t know much about cooking when I got married.  When Brian got to be a teenager, I noticed he liked everything on the burnt side.

Speaking of food, if you want a great cake in Raleigh, NC…go to www.pipacakes.com.   You can order a cake and it will be beautiful and delicious.

When we lived in Missouri, it was about l5 miles to the nearest small town. So, there was no quick trips to Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme when your sweet tooth called out to you.

I made donuts out of canned biscuits. I would poke a hole in the center and stretch the biscuit out. Heat one inch deep vegetable oil in a deep frying pan. The biscuits/donuts will swell. I had a gas stove so I just put it on a medium flame. Drop carefully into oil and then flip over once the first side browns.

Now, due to the whole hot oil thing, my kids got to decorate/coat the donuts and of course, eat them.

Place the donuts on a paper towel to drain. Let them cool for a couple minutes. Put powdered sugar in a bag…paper or plastic… and drop a couple donuts in and shake until donuts are covered with powdered sugar. Or cinnamon sugar. Or you can make a powdered sugar/butter glaze and spread it on. You can even add sprinkles. They stick better when the glaze is wet.

Speaking of donuts…I have to tell this story about my grand daughter, Madison. My son, Brian and his wife, Jen were in the van grabbing a quick donut before heading to my parents home for a visit. Maddy (3years old) dropped her donut and it hit the floor of the van but my son quickly picked it up, blew it off and wiped it off with a napkin just to make sure it was clean. He handed it to Maddy and said, its okay, you can eat it. Maddy, knowing she had always been told not to eat food that touches the floor, looked at her Dad and said “If you say so.”

I know there are crock pots out there and you can put a roast on before you leave for work but I think this is even easier because you do the work before you go to bed. I would always get busy in the morning and forget to put the stupid roast on anyway.

When working as a General Manager for Golden Coral, we made roasts and turkeys for Sunday lunch and we used a tall cooking oven where you could put a number of turkeys and roasts in to cook. What we did was cook them all night at l80 degrees. So from that, I decided I could do the same for my roast at home.

So, before I head for bed I put a London Broil in the oven. I spice it with worcheshire sauce, garlic salt and Nature’s Seasoning or sometimes I open a packet of Lipton’s onion dry soup mix and put on it. Then I add about an inch of water in the pan and cover with aluminum foil. Put the oven on low or around 180/200. Cook in the oven all night. The roast will be so tender. You will love it.

Then in the morning, I take it out of the refrigerator and sit it on top of the counter to let it cool for about an hour before I put it into the refrigerator. Do not leave it sitting out all day to cool.

When I get home, I put the roast in a deep frying pan on the stove and add hot water (one inch deep around roast). Cover and warm on medium/high heat. I usually let it warm up for 20 minutes or so while I finish up the rest of the dinner. I like to grill some onions in a separate pan and add to the roast while it is reheating. You could put potatoes in, too but it may take a little longer to get dinner on the table. If you cut the potatoes smaller….the meal will be ready faster.

If you like a more beefy flavor for your broth, you can add a bouillion cube or two or even a packet of au juis.

Now if you have time, you can put it back into the oven instead of on top of the stove. You can add potatoes and onions if you have an hour or so before you want to eat. I would put the oven on at least 375/400 degrees.

We seldom ever finish a roast unless we have company for dinner so I make french dip sandwiches with the rest.

I buy Italian bread/loaf and slice down the center, horizonally. I add the heated meat and grilled onions with a slice or two of provolone cheese. I then heat the sandwich open-faced in the microwave on medium until the cheese melts. It takes just a minute. I buy the little packet of au juis for dipping. Sometimes there is enough broth left over from the roast. Then I serve the sandwich with a salad and sometimes homemade french fries.

My husband has hypoglocemia and needs to eat 6 small meals a day to keep his sugar regulated. I was packing his lunch to save money but realized the things I was packing were really not good for him though they were quick and easy to pack…. processed meat sandwiches, chips, pepsis, cookies.

Now, I buy 4 or 5 pounds of ground beef meat and make them into 4 ounce hamburger patties. Place in a frying pan and add Worcheshire Sauce, garlic salt and Nature’s Seasoning to taste. I have a large frying pan and it holds seven patties. I sometimes cook 30 or so patties if the hamburger meat is on sale. After they are cooked thoroughly and cooled for about 5 minutes, I wrap each one individually with aluminum foil. I use one of those plastic shoe box size containers to store them in the freezer.

I have been buying ground beef for $l.49 a pound and I continue to stock up on it when it is on sale so I keep about thirty patties in the freezer at all times. The frozen patty only takes about 2 minutes in the microwave. Calvin usually bakes his potato first (4 minutes) and then puts the vegetable and meat in together for about 2 minutes. So it takes about six minutes but he is busy getting his drink and setting up his eating area during that time.

Sometimes I buy boneless pork chops and cook up about six of them using my steam process so it is fast and tender. Again, cool and wrap in aluminum foil and freeze. You need variety.

I have also found those frozen chicken breasts (on sale for $5.99 a bag - 2 lbs) work really well, too. I usually just cook up about four or six servings at a time.

I buy frozen vegetables like broccoli florets, califlower, and brussel sprouts (his choices). I also buy sweet potatoes and a bag of russet potatoes for baking.

So I pack two bottles of water (one frozen to keep things colder and for a refreshing drink on the way home), two hamburger patties, either a sweet potato or russet potato, and one of the frozen vegetable, and two pieces of fruit (usually peach, apple or banana). Plus, a small plate and silverware. This only works if you have access to a microwave at work.

The people at work are so jealous when he sits down to a hamburger (sometimes I add a bun) with a baked potato and broccoli with a fresh fruit for dessert. They think I am a wonderful wife.

I sometimes pack leftovers, too but skip a day when you pack it. If we have country fried steak on Monday, I pack a piece of it for Wednesday’s lunch.

I don’t know if this will help anyone but it could make your lunches more interesting and healthier. It takes me about 2 minutes to pack his lunch.

2 bottles of water, 2 meats, 2 vegetables, 2 fruits

Boy, this is a meal that you can have on the table in about 20 minutes. Now, I want you to know, I don’t necessarily make things from scratch. I use premade packages of spices for tacos and chili. I figure if I had to keep all those individual spices in my cupboard, they would probably go bad before I used them up.

I braise a pound of hamburger meat in a frying pan and drain it once it all cooked. I then add a half cup of water and the original McCormick’s Taco Seasoning packet and stir until completely mixed. Pretty much the way everyone does it, right?

While the taco meat is cooking, I set the table and cut the vegetables. I cut the lettuce up and put on each plate and then add the cut up tomatoes (lots of them). Then when the meat has cooked down with no excess juices, I add a scoop of taco meat on top of the lettuce and tomatoes. Then sprinkle shredded cheese of your choice and a spoonfull of sour cream. It makes a really nice presentation. NOTICE: no taco chips, just use the inner part of the lettuce so it will be nice and crunchy. You can certainly get out of the kitchen fast with this one because you have so few dishes to wash.

Hopefully you will try steaming your meat to speed up dinner and make food tender. Once you finish cooking the meat, remove it from the pan. Even though there may be very little juices, you can still make gravy. Use COLD water….very important. Add flour and stir until all the flour is dissolved. I usually put about a cup of cold water and maybe a tablespoon of flour. Then I add about l/2 teaspoon of worcheshestire sauce (if it is beef or pork). I then add a beef boullion cube or two. It will depend on your taste buds. Yes, I use a beef boullion in pork gravy because I haven’t ever found a pork boullion cube. It tastes great. Get the pan warm again and slowly add the flour/water mixture stirring continually. Heat on low. Be prepared to add more water as it thickens. It doesn’t matter at that point whether is water is cold or hot when you add more to thin down the gravy.

If your goal is to get in and out of the kitchen fast…I have some really fast meal ideas.

Steaming your meat will make it tender and cook faster. For example, pork chops. I take them out of the freezer or refrigerator if I was smart enough to take them out the night before and put them into the refrig. I put the pork chops in a frying pan with enough water to come up halfway on the pork chops. I sprinkle some Worcheshire sauce and garlic salt and some Nature’s Seasoning and cover. Let them steam for about l0 minutes. I then cut half an onion and flip the chops over and add the onions and cover again. Sometimes, I wait until the water is all but gone and add a little butter to make the pork chop brown nicely. Other times I make gravy and let the pork chops simmer for a couple more minutes. In half an hour, your pork chops are tender and while they are steaming, you have time to make the other items for dinner. Steaming also works for chicken.

Try adding garlic salt to your water when you are boiling your spaghetti noodles.

When I make cookies, which I love to do…lol…I put a slice of bread in the container when I am storing them and it keeps them soft. The moisture goes from the bread into the cookies and the bread becomes hard. Amazing. If I pack a couple cookies for my husband’s lunch, I throw in l/4 piece of bread. Yummy