More on Feeding the Multitude

A while ago I did a post of feeding a sort of large family. We only have 5 children each evening, but 3 are teen aged (or almost) boys and one is a 9 y.o. girl that can put away the food.

The most expensive thing out there is meat and next to that is milk...I just saw that Swiss brand was over $4 a gallon at Wallyworld today. Maybe we need to go time share on a cow.
For meat I shop at a bulk food/almost expired food store. In this area there are many large families and we have a number of stores like this. The chicken I referred to in my other post had been frozen, probably just before its expiry date. Each bird was tied like the rotisserie chicken you buy at the "clubs" so it probably came from a place like that.
I honestly don't know how I would feed this bunch if we did not have a store like this.  I do know that soups  make the meat stretch further.

Last night I made a soup with some left over ham...I had bought a bone in ham a while ago and after I baked it I sliced and froze the rest. I threw the ham (almost 2 pounds) and about 12 potatoes and 7 carrots in a big kettle. Added some chicken bouillon/broth and a bit of pepper. Cooked it till the carrots were soft. Added a few slices of American cheese and served.

Now...the biggest waste at our house is the leftovers that get shoved to the back of the fridge and when I find them...well, lets just say that green ham and eggs makes a good story, but lunch?
I try to be prepared for leftovers and if I purposely make a big pot of soup, I have a couple of quart jars ready  along with lids and rings. Fill the jars with boiling hot soup. Wipe the rims, pop on the lids and tighten the rings.  With a pot holder, flip the jars upside down (careful!!)  and let set for a few minutes. (Doing this makes the lid hot and helps seal the jar.)  After supper is cleared away. Store these quart jars in the back of your fridge...if they stay there a month they will still taste good, as long as they stay sealed.

The reason I scoop out the soup before I serve the food?  There are fewer contaminants in the food at that point than if you wait till the whole family has scooped around in the kettle and it has cooled.

If the left-overs are a surprise....put the kettle back on the burner and bring everything to a good boil...add liquid if needed...then place in the jars like explained above.

Now remember I am not an expert...these jars should stay in your fridge. If you ever open a jar and it smells "off"   don't eat it!  But this has saved me a bunch of waste and is a quick meal for one of those busy nights.

Sandwich meat is the other expensive thing. I don't pay $3 a pound for the meat I put on the supper table, why would I spend that much for a lunch box?  I have not broke them of the habit of good sandwich meat (turkey and ham)  so I only buy a pound and by Wednesday or Thurs. it is gone and they get peanut butter...that is a bit less expensive.  ( Our schools do not have a hot lunch program..well, if you don't count the mom-run program that gives us hot lunch twice a month)

Breakfast?  finally I can make oatmeal for breakfast and they all eat it...the picky eater got married :^)  (see if he reads the blog)

Use milk instead of water for cooking the oatmeal and add pancake syrup for sweetening.   Or if I'm on time, I flip pancakes...add an egg or two to the batter for some protein. And some vanilla and cinnamon for flavor.

Oh and spinach? Buy it in a big tub. I had this one for almost 3 weeks, bought it at Sa*'s Club and frying it and eating it with odd things like pizza, mix it raw with spaghetti. Some of the kids are trying it (Joe) and I like it...maybe it will catch on.
Actually the best way to eat this stuff is ...
Heat oil in a large frying pan...add some minced garlic...after that turns nice and brown...throw in the spinach and turn off the burner...it cooks very quickly..do this at the last minute.

You can do broccoli like this too...it takes a bit longer to cook and usually need to add water to help steam it a bit.

Monday

Started very ambitiously...

Four neck pumpkins....




Before I freeze all that, might as well make this....Healthy Pumpkin Bread 
(in the back) or Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread
we liked the Oatmeal Pumpkin Bread the best

While I am doing all that better be doing this....

 
Oh and that Christmas order....better be working on it....

 
Then first night of revivals...topic tonite "Woe is me"  Isaiah 6:5 comparing our
nastiness to God's greatness. Not a pretty picture.  The evangelist challenged us with this...On a scale of 1 - 100   God's greatness being 100 and the worst criminal you can think of being "1"....where would you put yourself?

Pot stickers

We love these things....you could cook them as dumplings too or make them into won-ton soup.

Warning: I do not have exact amounts for the ingredients and you will need to make adjustments for your taste.
At first I filled the wraps with raw ingredients, but then I hated to let the kids help me (raw meat etc) so now I cook and season the meat and carrots and add the cabbage at the very end and lightly cook that...so you can taste the filling before you fill the potstickers. The picture is not very good, but it gives you an idea of the ratio of veggies to meat. If your mixture is wet like mine was this time...tilt the pan to drain the liquid to the side or use a collander.


I buy the wraps at a local Chinese food store, but I do think you can buy them at regular groceries too. I like the round ones for potstickers and square ones for won-tons but either will work.

Potstickers

wraps- one package is about 40 pieces
1 lb ground pork
salt, pepper and a bit of oyster sauce if you have it
finely chopped cabbage
finely chopped carrots
water

See above for cooking instructions for the filling

hold a wrap in one hand and put about a teaspoon of filling in the center
wet the edge of the wrap with your finger that was dipped in water
fold in half, you can fancy pleat the wrapper,but it does not affect the taste

If you are making them for wonton soup, you usually just gather the four corners up into a "purse" and pinch closed.

I layer the filled dumplings on lined cookie sheets and freeze...it is much easier to handle them when you cook them.
It only takes about an hour if you have a deep freeze.

cooking- heat a frying pan that has a lid....I put in enough oil to coat the pan. Heat the pan hot enough for water to "spritz" ( I'm sure there is a technical term for that, but I don't know it)
Add your postickers, lay them down on a wide side, one layer thick.  Fry on one side until browning....then add water and quickly put on the lid and allow to steam 2 minutes. Most of the water will be gone...scoop them out and eat or place in warm oven and make the next batch....
How much water do I put in?  I don't know.... enough to just cover the bottom of the pan....and loosen the potstickers if they started to "stick"



Story behind these yummy things....Once a little Chinese girl was cooking dumplings for her master. She got sidetracked and forgot the water. The dumplings started to burn and she quickly poured in water and plopped a lid on top to think what to do....She had little time and the master showed up and wanted his supper. So quaking in her shoes, she served the "burned" dumplings.  The master loved the fried, pot-sticking dumplings and wanted them again.

Now you get the idea, how to make them  :^)


Won ton soup....big pot of boiling water....another big pot of won-ton broth....throw the frozen won-tons in the clear boiling water...they will sink....when they rise they are hot...scoop them out and allow your family to add as much broth as they wish....

Do not boil the won-tons in the broth...it will get all cloudy and yucky looking from the cornstarch that the wrappers are coated with.

I fry carrots, onions, and cabbage to add to the soup...but the kids usually just add plain rice in addition.
The broth is from a bouillon pack that I buy at the Chinese food store...probably loaded w/ bad stuff, but I haven't been able to identify the flavorings of won-ton broth in order to recreate it.

BREAD

The staff of life....
If there is no bread in the freezer at our house it is almost as bad as if we had no milk.
I use this recipe for most of our bread, pizza, burger buns, or sub rolls it just gets shaped differently.
I normally use the brand names of the items in the picture.
You can use other types of oil or salt, but the flour should be a high gluten type. But each time I use a different flour I get different results and it takes a time or two to either adjust the recipe or adjust our tastes.
Bread reacts to the weather (honestly) if there is more moisture in the air, it seems to rise better. The moisture in your flour can affect the dough too.

The recipe is for two loaves of bread. I use the pans in the picture they are 4-1/2 wide by 9-1/2 long and 2-1/2 high. They originally were non-stick pans, they are very old and I don't wash them in between.  I use a quick spray of non-stick stuff. The bread normally just falls out of the pan.


Recipe:
3 cups of warm water- I don't normally test it, but it is between 100 and 110 degrees. I do not warm my mixing  bowl. I pour the water directly into my metal mixer bowl.

4 teaspoons of salt
3 Tablespoons of  olive oil
8 cups of flour- do not pack the flour, scoop it up and POUR it into your measuring cup.
2 heaping tablespoons of yeast
3 Tablespoons of sugar

Place in mixing bowl in order given,

Then using dough hook...let 'er mix. If you have the time let the mixer work at least 5 minutes. The dough should get very smooth. It might climb the beater, but after 5 minutes it should be OK to handle. If it still is very sticky, add a 1/4 cup of flour at a time until you get a better consistency.

 A little sticky is better than dry. If you can handle it without having a big sticky mess, you don't need more flour

If you poke it quickly with your finger it should dent,but then slowly rise back out again.

Divide dough in two parts, smooth into longish rolls and place in your sprayed pans.

 Let rise about 25 minutes. Sometimes it takes a bit longer, if the house is cold. You should let it rise away from a draft. I set it on my stove top.
In the winter when the air is dry, the dough will sort of dry out on top....at about 15 min. into rising time, gently feel the loaf. If it seems dry, wet your hands with warm water and GENTLY wet the tops of the loaf.


Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350. Again this is where trial and error come in. Each oven bakes differently, if I make 4 loaves at a time, I definitely need the 30- 35 minutes...only 2 loaves   25 minutes.
So check the bread, if it is brown on top and sounds hollow when you tap it...you should be good.

Remove from oven, tip the loaf out onto a towel and wrap the bread in the towel.
 Note: If you dump out the loaf and see that it is very light on the bottom, gently tip it back in the pan and bake another 5 minutes. This is a good color.

After the loaf is cool and there is still some left....you can freeze it. Let it cool under a towel, it won't dry out as quickly.


Someone asked how I keep it for a week.  We slice the bread as soon as it is cool enough, bag it and deep freeze it.
It will taste fresh if you freeze it right away.
 Your refrigerator freezer will not do a good job...maybe if you double bag it....you would have better results.


One half of this recipe makes 2 pizzas....oil the pizza pan well, let rise about 15 min. and bake at 400 degrees for about 10 min...just starting to brown.  Put on your sauce, toppings and cheese, return to oven for another 10 - 15 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbling....affordable pizza!


Shape the above recipe into 24 balls, flatten onto a cookie sheet, let rise a bit and bake at 350... 
Shape into long skinny logs and you have sub sandwich rolls

How to Feed a "Big" Family

 First you bake 8 loaves of bread...it will last about a week

 Then you hope that you can score a 35 pound box of chicken breast for $20. Or a 40 pound box of whole chickens for $12. If they are frozen on a big lump....you wash your hubby's pry bar and get him to help you pull the mess apart so you can bag them.

 Buy apples by the basket they are cheaper that way and they are even nutritious...

 Fifty pounds of potatoes will last a few weeks all you gotta do is wash 'em and cook 'em. (sorry that the picture is side-ways)

Then you buy yourself a BIG 14" fry pan and you can cook for the masses!

Cooking is a lot more fun if you have the equipment and the food to go in the pan.

Happy New Year!

We had our traditional New Year meal...

Pork and Sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and green beans....I figured we would have a lot of sauerkraut left...but everyone ate it!!
What do you eat for New Year's dinner?

Saturday Night Supper

Come join me for our supper....

I love this kind of weather...well it was a little humid today....but the kind of weather when you can cook outside

We love our fire pit, although someday I will get DH a grill for Father's Day, but the food won't taste the same.

I mix up my yeast dough  (you could probably use thawed, frozen dough)

Oil a cookie sheet or other work surface and make 6"-8" rounds of dough

When the fire is good and hot...probably 450-500 degrees lay the rounds on the rack....keep watch for browning, then flip the bread. If you are making pizza - flip the bread out onto a dish....spread sauce...sprinkle cheese....put it back on the grill to finish the other side

Or don't add the sauce and cheese and use the bread for your next sandwich  YUMMY!