Category Archives: Bulk Food Preparation

Meat Balls – Recipe and video

Posted on February 3, 2008 by Jenni| 2 Comments

Before last week, I had never made meatballs. Can you believe that? I don’t know why that surprises me but somehow it does. Meatballs. Hmmm. The kids and I had a fun time making meatballs for the first time, together.

Aidan helping me make meatloaf from Christian Burns on Vimeo

Thanks so much Laura for the meatball recipe. They were tasty, and the kids really liked them. I think next I will add some other spices, like Italian to add just a little more flavor. Meatballs are great to have in the freezer, something quick to add to spaghetti to make it a much more exciting meal!

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Posted in Bulk Food Preparation, Cooking Videos, Cooking with kids, Meal Planning Tips, Meats

Simple Whole Wheat Bread-Karen

Posted on February 23, 2007 by Jenni| 2 Comments

This is the recipe I use every week to make bread, it is very good! I usually bake one loaf and then freeze the other batch (or three if I do the double batch) of dough before the last rise. I just place the dough in a plastic wrap lined loaf pan and wrap it up as best as I can and then place in the freezer. Thanks Karen for this recipe it has definitely been a blessing to our family!

Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:

Single – 2 loaves

3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast (4 ½ tsp.)
1/3 cup honey
5 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon salt
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Double – 3 large loaves

6 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
4 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast (~3Tbsp.)
2/3 cup honey
10 cups whole wheat flour
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup honey
2 tablespoon salt
6-7 cups whole wheat flour
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions for double batch:

1. in a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 2/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups wheat flour (a cup at a time, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.

2. Mix in melted butter, 2/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole-wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole-wheat flour until not real sticky – just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.

3. Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch, about an hour.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes; do not over bake.

Another simple variation-rolls. Do everything the same up to step three:

3. Punch down, and divide into several small pieces (size depending on how large you want the rolls). Knead into small rounds, place creased side down onto a greased baking sheet, with space between each roll. Allow to rise until dough has doubled, about an hour.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown; do not over bake.

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Posted in Breads, Bulk Food Preparation, Side Dishes, Whole Foods, Whole Grain

Cream Of Whatever Soup Mix

Posted on July 28, 2005 by Jenni| 3 Comments

I've used this recipe for years. It made the rounds on all the
frugal/meal lists many years back. I'm not sure if this is the one in
the list archives (not the dairy-free kind I mean), but apart from the
cornstarch (and the bouillon if you use it) this is healthy.

I double the recipe and store it in a big jar labeled with
instructions on how to make it by the can.

Cream Of Whatever Soup Mix

Equivalent to approx. 8 cans:

2 C. nonfat dry milk
3/4 C. cornstarch
2 T. dried onion
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 C. instant chicken bouillon or equivalent

Equivalent to 1 can
1/4 C. nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 T. cornstarch
3/4 tsp. dried onion
dash pepper
1/8 tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 T. instant bouillon

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

Methods for making the equivalent of one can of condensed soup:

Stovetop Method: In saucepan, combine 1/3 C. dry mix with 1 1/4 C.
cold water. Stir over low heat until thickened.

Microwave Method: In a glass measuring cup, combine 1/3 C. dry soup
mix with 1 1/4 C. cold water. Heat on high in 2-minute increments,
stirring in between until mixture thickens.

Variations:

Mushroom Soup: Add 1/2 C finely chopped mushrooms
Celery Soup: Add 1/2 C minced celery
Potato Soup: Add 1 C diced potatoes, cooked
Chicken Soup: Add 1/2 C diced chicken, cooked
Vegetable Soup: Add 3/4 C mixed vegetables, cooked
Broccoli Soup: Add 1 C chopped broccoli, cooked
Asparagus Soup: Add 1 C chopped asparagus, cooked

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Posted in Bulk Food Preparation, Dinner, Soup

Master Mix-Bisquick substitute

Posted on June 16, 2005 by Jenni| Leave a comment
Master Mix
9 c sifted white flour
1/3 cup baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tarter
4 Tbsp sugar
1 c nonfat dry milk
2 cups butter (If you are going to store it for awhile you will want to use shortening, Spectrum shortening is a good choice and can be found in the health food dept of your grocery store)
Sift dry ingredients together 3 times. Cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse corn meal. Store in tightly covered container at room temp (I keep mine in the refrigerator in a rubbermaid canaster, because of the butter.)
Use to make:
Biscuits
(400 degree oven for 10 min) (Yield: 15-20)
3 c mix add 2/3 to 1 c water
mix until blended. kneed about 1 time. add more water to make drop biscuits.
Pancakes (Yield; 18)
3 c mix add 1 1/2 c water
mix until blended will be slightly lumpy
Muffins (Yields: 12) (400 oven for 20 min)
3 c mix
2 Tblsp sugar
1 cup water and 1 egg
mix until ingredients are just moistend will be lumpy
Gingerbread
(350 oven for 40 min in an 8″ X 8″ pan)
2 c mix
4 Tbls sugar
1/2 c water
1 egg
1/2 c molasses
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
add half of liquid beat 2 min add rest of liquid beat 1 min longer
Oatmeal cookies
(Yield: 1 doz) (350 oven for 10-12 min)
3 c mix
1 c sugar
1/3 c water
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup quick oats
mix until blended
Drop cookies(yield: 4 doz) (350 oven for 10-12 min)
3 c mix
1 c sugar
1/3 c water
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c nuts or choco chips
mix until blended
Coffee cake (400 oven for 25 min)
3 c mix
1/2 c sugar
2/3 c water
1 egg
Topping:
1/2 c brown sugar
3 T butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Mix until blended sprinkle with topping before baking
Yeast bread (375 oven 15-20 min)
2 1/2 c mix
2 T sugar
3/4 c warm water
pinch of ginger
1 pkg yeast
Mix. Let rise. Roll out. LEt rise. Beake
Corn bread (400 oven 25-30 min)
1 1/2 c mix
4 tsp sugar
1 c water
1 egg
3/4 c yellow cornmeal
Mix and bake in 8″ pan.

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Posted in Breakfast, Bulk Food Preparation

Granola

Posted on June 4, 2005 by Jenni| Leave a comment

I’ve made this and it is really good. I really like breakfast cereals, and the fun thing about this is you can mix it up a bit. Get a bunch of different bulk food options and make a fun time out of it with the kids, put in the oats let them each pick one item they really want in there. It’s also a good healthy snack. Aidan loves nuts and oats and I am sure Eamon would love to get his hands on some of it too:)

Granola

4 Cups oats (traditional oatmeal)
1 C slivered almonds
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup water
1/3 Cup honey
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 cups dried fruit

Mix oats, nuts, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Bring water, honey, sugar and oil to a boil. Pour over oat mixture and mix. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 325 for 35 minutes. Stir once during the baking time. Remove from the oven and mix in dried fruit.

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Posted in Breakfast, Bulk Food Preparation, Healthy Snacks

Bulk Food Prep – Grated cheese – Jenni

Posted on June 4, 2005 by Jenni| 2 Comments

Grated cheese
Originally uploaded by chrisandjenni.

Grated cheese can be pretty expensive and is usually not very fresh. We have been grating our own which seems to be a bit more time consuming but more cost efficient (especially if your brother-in-law delivers milk, in which case it is free :) It’s nice to have grated cheese on hand, and it keeps pretty well in the fridge.

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Posted in Bulk Food Preparation

Lasagna – Nicole

Posted on June 2, 2005 by Jenni| Leave a comment

Lasagna is a good dish too, and it freezes well. If you make up huge batch of sauce you can alway use it for multiple dishes (speghetti, raviolies, calazone, ect.) If you use the kind of noodles that you don’t need to pre-boil it really doesn’t take that much time to put together. Throw some of that pre-cooked hamburger meet in a crockpot with some Ragu and a few bay leaves, and garlic and let it cook on low for a few hours (if you let it cook in the crockpot to long than your hamburger will get a funny texture). It gives it a nice rich flavor to let it cook in the crockpot.

Layer: Sauce on the bottom of pan
Noodles, Sause, Cottage cheese (or ricotta), Matzarella Cheese, a little parmasian (optional), and repeat as many times as your pan allows. Cook for 50 minutes with foil over pan. (It’s so great to make a double or tripple batch and freeze for later)

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Posted in Bulk Food Preparation, Casseroles, Dinner, Pasta

Shredded Chicken/Ground Beef-Bulk Food Prep- Kim

Posted on June 2, 2005 by Jenni| 3 Comments

Shredded Chicken/Ground Beef

If you’ve seen my (non)blog recently, you might have noticed my mega chicken-cooking session. You can do this with ground beef, too. Then you’ve got frozen, cooked meat ready to thaw and use and you don’t have to waste time cooking it for each meal. Just take it out of the freezer early in the day and put it in the fridge to thaw. Or if you forget, just thaw in the microwave.

I tried it and it turned out really well. My only disappointment was that 6 lbs of chicken thighs didn’t make very much shredded chicken, next time I will do at least twice that much. Only made about 4 baggies full.

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Posted in Bulk Food Preparation

Meal Planning Tips – Karen

Posted on June 2, 2005 by Jenni| Leave a comment

You had mentioned my 2-week planning. This is the gist of what I do: Erik gets paid every other Thursday, so I do my shopping every other week (yes, on Thursday!). I plan my meals as I assemble my grocery list. I have a “master” list on my computer that I cut and paste each trip into a fresh word document (that way I don’t alter the master list). Then I simply go down it, deleting what I definitely don’t need to shop for. That leaves me with an abbreviated master list, so what I see is exactly what I need. I then add any household things that are rare to shop for (fabric softener sheets, bleach, other things that aren’t “regular”) that I need that trip.

The final step is meal planning. Our breakfasts and lunches are pretty standard: breakfasts are eggs, oatmeal, or pancakes (we add brown sugar or maple syrup to our oatmeal to sweeten it, and I buy bulk pancake mix from Fred Meyers – Bob’s Red Mill organic 10-grain waffle/pancake mix…it’s delicious and good for you!); lunches are easy things like sandwiches or leftovers and fresh fruit. I keep breakfast and lunch things on hand and they are “regulars” on my list, and I don’t want to give them too much thought.

Dinner is what takes a bit more planning. We have within that two-week span our “typical” meals. These include stroganoff (use whatever meat we have on hand: ground turkey, ground beef, or other beef cuts), fajitas, spaghetti, chicken and sweet potatoes, and meatloaf. I put those items on my calendar (which I keep on my computer), one meal per day, spread out. Then in the midst of them, I put some other family favorites: homemade pizza, turkey burgers, chicken cacciatore, soups or chilis or Erik’s homemade beans, bratwurst, or enchiladas. When the calendar is filled in, I quickly add any ingredients I need to fulfill those recipes into my grocery list, as well as any accompaniments (pasta, frozen or fresh veggies, cornmeal and buttermilk for cornbread, etc.). That completes my list! It really helps me to have a focus with my shopping. It’s one thing to just buy things that I know my family will eat, but I found that I was going to the store much more than I wanted to from my lack of actual planning. With six kids, I just can’t get away with not planning this. It just gets too costly.

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Posted in Bulk Food Preparation, Meal Planning Tips