Lactation Unbaked Cookies

These cookies go by many names - unbaked, haystacks, frogs, s#it cookies. This recipe is "lactation" because of the addition of flax and brewer's yeast to the oatmeal base. These ingredients support a mom in making more milk - plus the cookies are delicious, fast, and easy to make.

Boil syrup ingredients for 5 minutes or to a temperature of 230*F.
Syrup:
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Then add:
1/4 cup flax meal
3 tablespoons brewers yeast
3 cups oatmeal
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup walnuts, raisins, coconut or add in of your choosing

Drop onto wax paper and allow to cool.

Freezer to Slow Cooker: 10 Meal Menu

I've taken to using other people's work rather than my own... so it figures that Once a Month Mom would decide to go to paid subscriptions. Good on 'em, but not really my style.

So I made my own Freezer to Slow Cooker menu. Check it out here:
http://tinyurl.com/slowcookermenu

Let me know if you give it a shot! I would guess it will take about 3 hours start to finish.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (to be eaten, not baked)

(Safe to eat raw) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

2 T butter
3 T brown sugar
1/4 c flour
pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Mix the butter and sugar well, add the rest. Divide between two bowls. Top with vanilla ice cream, or just eat until you feel you've maxed out out on sweet goodness.

Most recipes for this yield about four times this amount. This is not a responsible amount of cookie dough for me to have, so I scaled it down. It's easy to mix this up in less than five minutes, which is a big enough problem.

Backyard Plum Sauce

The same neighbour with a cherry tree that overhangs our fence also has a plum tree! My mother warned me that some plums are good cooked and others are bitter, so I did a test by microwaving a couple for a minute to see which I had. They were sour, but not bitter, so I figured we had a winning plum tree. If you're using backyard plums, I advise cooking a few as a test just to make sure you don't end up with a giant batch of bitter plum sauce.

Plum Dipping Sauce
8 cups plums - prune or Damson if you're buying them
1 sweet or white onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar (my plums were sour, so I ended up using about 3 cups sugar)
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp rice vinegar (I used cider vinegar, white would be fine too)
1/3 cup Chinese rice wine, sake, or sherry
4 tsp minced fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 star anise (optional)
2 inch cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
4 green cardamom pods (optional)
1/2 tsp salt

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir everything together. I just put my plums in whole, as they are small and removing the pits would have been really annoying. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for an hour or so until sort of applesauce like.

When I started it looked like this:

Then after about 45 minutes it looked more like this:

Give it a taste and add more sugar if it's too sour for you. Once it's pretty liquid, strain it through a fine sieve or food mill into another saucepan. This part is doomed to be messy. Do it in the sink.

Return mixture to simmer. Ladle into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. (The recipe says 5 - 250 ml jars. I had more plums and ended up with more than that.) Seal with prepared lids and bands. Process jars for 15 minutes in boiling water. Let cool on rack and check that the lids have sealed once cool (if not, put in fridge and eat soon.)

Serve with chicken or pork.

When life gives you cherries...

make some cherry juice!

There is a nanking cherry tree that grows over our fence and our neighbour encourages me to pick whatever I can reach. Today I picked about 10 cups of fruit and boiled up some delicious juice. This is very similar to making jelly, but much easier to use up in our house.


Nanking Cherry Juice
8-10 cups nanking cherries
water to cover
1-2 cups sugar to taste

Wash fruit and put in a large pot. Add just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer until fruit is soft, approximately 10 minutes. Strain through cheesecloth into a pitcher or another pot. Add 1 cup of sugar per 4 cups of juice, or less if you want it more tart. (I used 1 cup of sugar for about 6 cups of juice.)

Drink straight or mix half and half with ginger ale or lemon lime pop. Also nice with vodka.

Whole Grain Waffles

Continuing on my quest to have lots of food in my freezer pre-baby, today was waffle day! I made a double batch adapted from this recipe: Whole Grain Waffles.

Whole Grain Waffles
Ingredients:
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup applesauce or mashed banana
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup flax seed meal, or 1 cup combined flax seed meal, ground oatmeal, brewer's yeast, etc.
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Optional: blueberries, chocolate chips, other berries

Directions:
In a 2 L juice pitcher, mix the eggs, milk, oil, applesauce/banana, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Cook on waffle iron. If freezing, spread waffles on cooling rack and let sit until cool. Place in ziploc bag or airtight container and freeze. Thaw in toaster. Also makes a great PB&J sandwich.

Yields around 26 individual waffles.

Super-easy Crockpot Lemon Chicken and Baked Potatoes

Super-easy Crockpot Lemon Chicken and Baked Potatoes
Ingredients:
chicken breasts
lemon juice
oregano
garlic or powdered garlic
baking potatoes

All right, this is more of a method than a recipe, but it's so easy and yummy I thought I'd share.

Place your desired number of chicken breasts in the bottom of the crockpot. If they're frozen, no need to thaw. Sprinkle generously with oregano. Add some garlic, minced or powdered. Add some lemon juice (about 1/4 cup, bottled is fine).

Tear off a piece of foil. Layer it over the chicken so it separates the chicken from the top of the cooker. Scrub the potatoes and set them on top. The foil layer makes them a "drier" baked potato, whereas just tossing them in with the chicken will make them more likely to fall apart - but also more lemony.

Cook 4 hours on high or about 8 on low. Serve with salad.

A bun in the oven and dinner in the freezer.

I have been sorely neglecting this blog AND my freezer meal stash these past few months, but for the happiest of reasons: we're expecting a baby this May. And with expectations of a baby comes expectations of having much less free time and much less desire to cook. It's time to start ramping up my freezer stash!

It's been a while, so I thought I'd write a quick refresher course for my new readers. I've been at this game for a couple of years. In our house, we've found we eat about a freezer meal a week when they're available. We do fairly well at cooking on weekends, and we manage most nights to pull something together, but generally on either Tuesday or Wednesday the ambition and the ingredients run out and it's a big relief to throw a casserole in the oven, add a salad, and call it a meal.

From what I've read, most meals are best if eaten within 3 months of freezing. I've stretched that out longer and not had too many problems, but the quality will go down the longer they're in there. They won't "go bad" in the sense of food poisoning, but the flavour and texture won't be quite as nice.

There are two main things I've figured out over time: it's easier to focus on cooking only one protein in a session, and it's easiest to package most things in 8x8 foil pans.A pan this size feeds the two of us dinner, and then one or two of us lunch depending on how hungry we were and if we paired it with some other food. They're also really cheap, stackable, and easy to just cover with foil and get into the freezer. The key thing to know: any recipe made for a 9x13 pan will make 2 - 8x8 pans. My other containers are typically medium-size freezer ziploc bags (which is 1 meal for the two of us) and 750 mL yogurt containers for soups and stews.

As for the "one thing at a time", I've discovered that I don't really like to cook for 6 hours. I can still get through 2 hours fairly easily at 7 months pregnant, but 6 is just not reasonable. That means I've scaled down from doing everything to doing what we like the most. Last round, that was 4 pans of lasagna, 2 pans of enchilada bake, 1 bag of sloppy joes, and 2 pans of cornbread taco bake. That was 5 pounds of ground beef (and a can of white beans to stretch the meat) cooked all at once, then divided into 4 simple recipes. Two hours, nine meals.

My next plan is to pre-marinade most of a Costco case of chicken breasts with the dump chicken recipes that appeal. I have found that chicken does best if frozen raw. We tend to buy our chicken already frozen, so I just take two frozen chicken breasts, put them in a ziploc, pour the marinade over them, seal it up and get them back in the freezer before they start to thaw. When I want them, I leave them in the fridge to thaw (usually take them out the night before and give them about 24 hours), then bake, barbeque, or whatever one would normally do to cook chicken.

My other consideration pre-baby will be to do a bit of baking and breakfasty prep. I normally eat oatmeal for breakfast, but I like breakfast foods like waffles for lunch or dinner. So a few hours will be put toward creating a freezer stash of homemade waffles (great in the toaster), muffins, and banana bread.

The last thing to remember: stock up. There are lots of things I know we will need that will just be easier if we don't run out of. It's not hard to buy some extra toilet paper, cat food, cat litter, dishwasher soap, etc. to make sure the house can kind of survive on minimal attention for a few weeks. I figure a big trip to Costco is in order around week 38 or 39 of this pregnancy just to ensure we don't really need to go back for a while.

I also wanted to include a link to Jolene's fabulous freezer-friendly section at her blog, What's Cookin, Chicago?. A lot of them are a bit more ambitious than I usually do, but if chili doesn't appeal for summer time, she's got loads of great ideas.

Shaker Pancakes

Finally, another use for that thing you have to make protein shakes (or in our case, gravy and white sauce). I've been tempted by the Dr. Oetker version in the grocery store, but could never bring myself to spend $3 on a little tiny shaker of pancake batter. This recipe is from my grandma's Blue Ribbon Cook Book.

Blue Ribbon Pancakes
Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons canola oil (or other veggie oil)

Add all ingredients to shaker. Seal lid well. Shake shake shake. Open the little spout to pour perfect pancakes into a frying pan heated to medium (I find I don't need any oil in a non-stick pan). Turn when pancakes have lots of bubbles. Remove when browned on both sides.

Serve with whatever you like on pancakes: syrup, jam, strawberries, whipped cream, Nutella, or today's choice: caramelized bananas (slice and fry some bananas with a bit of butter and sugar).

This recipe just barely fits in my shaker, which has a capacity of about 2 cups. Makes enough pancakes for 2-3 adults.

Pickled Green Beans

A couple years ago, I bought some green bean seeds to plant in my garden. It seemed wise, until my first picking of beans when I realized neither of us really loves beans.

Not one to give up, I planted a bunch more from the same packet this year. I have a new garden space, and it's huge, so I sort of planted everything I had. As a result, I have many green beans and no end in sight. My houseguests enjoyed a few good meals, but even with that, they got ahead of me.

Enter the solution: pickles. I haven't eaten any yet, as they need to sit a couple of weeks, but I like pickles of all varieties and expect these to be great. I used this recipe: Crisp Pickled Green Beans. I don't mess around with canning recipes, but pickles are a really safe beginner project if you're not too confident. The vinegar kills everything, so you are unlikely to food poison yourself.

I gave one jar to my mom, and will likely continue to spread the dilly bean love once they're ready to eat.

No-Tahini Hummus

My cupboards are already bursting with odds and ends of specialty cooking ingredients. Many kinds of spices and herbs and sauces are stashed away, waiting for their own little obscure calling. When I can, I try to avoid shelling out for yet another ingredient I need only a little of. This recipe works well to avoid buying tahini - providing, of course, that you have sesame seeds already. For some reason, I do. Sesame seeds may also be easier to find if you're not near a store which caters to ethnic ingredients.

No Tahini Hummus

2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
1 15-20 oz. can chickpeas, drained - reserve juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon (or lime) juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
pepper to taste (optional)
finely chopped parsley (optional)

Toast sesame seeds, either in a small frying pan over med-high heat or in a hot air popcorn popper. (Some did escape the popper on me, but it still beat trying to keep them in motion on my own.) Dump everything in a food processor or blender. Puree well, stirring to mix everything to a spot where it is blended. If it won't quite mix, use some of the reserved chickpea juice to thin it a bit. Taste, adjust as you like.

I used a blender - it did work, but took some stirring to get it all down to the bottom where it would mush together. A food processor would make this easier, without a doubt.

Carrot Lentil Soup

It is another pureed vegetable soup! Plus, it has the goodness of lentils. Lentils are high in fibre and a good source of vegetarian protein. The best part? You won't even know they're there after they're pureed. It's a great soup if you're not really into lentils (or you're feeding a picky eater).

Carrot Lentil Soup
1 1tbsp tbsp(15 mL) (15 mL) canola oil
3 3carrotcarrots, sliced
2 2oniononions, chopped
2 2cloves garlic, minced
1 1tbsp tbsp(15 mL) (15 mL) minced gingerroot
1 1tsp tsp(5 mL) (5 mL) ground cumin
1/2 1/2tsp tsp(2 mL) (2 mL) salt
1/4 1/4tsp tsp(1 mL) (1 mL) pepper
6 6cups cups(1.5 L) (1.5 L) vegetable stock or chickenstock
3/4 3/4cup cup(175 mL) (175 mL) red lentils
Garnish
2 2tbsp tbsp(25 mL) (25 mL) chopped fresh coriander or parsley
1/2 1/2cup cup(125 mL) (125 mL) plain low-fat yogurt
(Alternately, sour cream and dill)

Heat oil in saucepan over medium. Cook everything except the lentils and stock in the oil for about 5 minutes (until onions start to soften).

Add stock and lentils. Bring to boil, then simmer 20 minutes. When carrots and lentils are soft, puree soup with immersion blender or in batches in regular blender.

Garnish with herbed yogurt pr sour cream when serving. This soup freezes well.

Assuming 4 servings (and these would be very large servings):
Calories: 248, Protein: 13g, Fat 6 g (1 g sat), Carb 38g (7 g fibre)

Lemon Poppy Seed Sour Cream Loaf

Fresh and delicious! I had a lonely lemon in the fridge and some poppy seeds that have been in the pantry far too long... and now I have this delicious cake instead!

Lemon Poppy Seed Sour Cream Loaf from Canadian Living Magazine
1 1cup cup(250 mL) (250 mL) granulated sugar
2 2tbsp tbsp(25 mL) (25 mL) freshly grated lemon rind
1 1cup cup(250 mL) butter, softened
4 4eggeggs
1/4 1/4cup cup(50 mL) (50 mL) lemon juice
2 2cups cups(500 mL) (500 mL) all-purpose flour
2 2tbsp tbsp(25 mL) (25 mL) poppy seeds
3/4 3/4tsp tsp(4 mL) (4 mL) baking powder
1/4 1/4tsp tsp(1 mL) (1 mL) baking soda
1/2 1/2cup cup(125 mL) (125 mL) sour cream
Icing:
1 1cup cup(250 mL) (250 mL) icing sugar
5 5tsp tsp(24 mL) (24 mL) lemon juice, (approx)
Glaze:
2 2tsp tsp(10 mL) (10 mL) lemon juice

Mix the grated lemon rind with the white sugar. Add butter/margarine (softened in microwave), eggs, and lemon juice. Mix well. Add flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and sour cream.  Mix well again, until batter is uniform. Pour into small loaf pan (9 x 5 inches). Bake 1 hour at 325*F, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine took more like 1 hour 15 minutes.

Mix icing sugar and 5 teaspoons lemon juice to make icing. Divide in half and thin one half with 2 teaspoons more lemon juice. Brush thinned glaze onto loaf while warm. After cool, spread icing on top. Slice. Serve with coffee. 

Free OAMC e-book!

If you're a first-timer wondering if it's possible to prep such a great number of recipes all in one go, or an old hat at OAMC, this is a great resource:

Freezer Cooking Guide from 30 day Cafe

Full of checklists to get you organized and general logistical solutions. And all for the low, low price of free!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

It's got cheese. What's not to love about soup with cheese?

A word of caution: boiling cheese is a bad idea. Remove soup from heat, add it at the end, and stir like crazy. When reheating, use low heat and avoid boiling.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup
4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped broccoli, stems included
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock (or water with bouillon powder)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp paprika (optional)
  
• pepper to taste
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, low fat
  

Directions:
Cut up the broccoli and carrot. Cover with chicken stock and bring to a boil in a medium saucepan. Simmer until carrot is tender - about 10 minutes. Broccoli will be overcooked at this point, but that's okay.

Puree veggies using an immersion blender or in batches in a normal blender. Return to pot over medium heat. Add garlic, basil, and paprika.

Put flour in a liquid measuring cup. Add milk to make 1 cup. Mix well with a fork to remove lumps. It often works better to add the milk a bit at a time, mixing as you go. Add floury milk to soup, stirring well. Bring to boil - stir frequently to keep it from sticking to the bottom. Soup should get very thick and creamy.

Remove put from heat. Add cheese, stirring very well. Serve with crackers or bread, and add pepper to taste.

Per serving (using 1% milk and low fat cheese): Calories 134, Fat 3.0 g (2 g sat), Carb 15.8 g, Protein 11.6 g, Fibre 2.2 g, Sodium 814 mg.

Valentine's Menu

Just in case you're seeking inspiration, for Valentine's Day we will be dining on:

Appetizer: Cheddar Beer Fondue with bread, mushrooms, apples, broccoli, red pepper, and baby corn for dipping.

Main Course: Bacon-wrapped sirloin steak from Costco, with baked potatoes on the side. Alternately, last year I made Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Breast. Bacon-wrapped = special.

Dessert: Chocolate Mousse


Wine: We have one bottle left from our trip to BC last year, so we'll be drinking it. I think it's a blush. Don't judge me! I'll probably pick up a bottle of port tonight to go with dessert.

My plan is to make the mousse on Saturday. That should make prep pretty easy on Sunday - just slicing up fondue stuff, making the fondue, baking the potatoes (or microwaving them), and letting the steak-man cook the steaks as he sees fit.

Butternut Squash Soup

This soup is fantastic. Probably because it has a brick of cream cheese in it. I used "light", though, so clearly it's okay. It's creamy and rich and just a wonderful meal for a February evening. Rumour has it this also makes an excellent pasta sauce.

Adapted from Allrecipes. How could 1,000 people steer me wrong?

Butternut Squash Soup
1 large butternut squash
1 onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tablespoons oil

3 cups water
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning (or marjoram or oregano)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
dash liquid smoke
1 8 oz brick light cream cheese*

1. Wash the outside of the squash well. Microwave whole for 3 minutes on high to soften. Slice in half and scoop out and discard the seeds and pulp. Place in a microwavable dish and microwave until soft, 10-15 minutes on high. Let cool for a few minutes.

2. Chop onion. Peel garlic. Put in a large saucepan with the oil. Cook over medium until onion is cooked through and just a little brown. Add the water and bouillon (or, of course, sub real chicken broth). Scoop squash flesh into soup using a large spoon or ice cream scoop. Add seasonings. Simmer 5 minutes to blend the flavours and make sure all parts of the squash are evenly cooked.

3. Add cream cheese. Remove from heat. Blend with immersion blender, or in batches in a normal blender (carefully!). Adjust seasoning to taste.

*If a brick of cream cheese isn't your style, you can add anything you like for a creamy dairy product: 1 cup half and half, 1 cup milk, 1 cup plain yogurt, or 1 cup evaporated skim milk.

Assuming 8 servings: Calories 181, Fat 10.8 g (3.7 saturated), Protein 5.1 g, Carbs 16.3 g (2.9 g fibre), Sodium 95.6 mg

Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

The recipe makes enough to feed an army - I'd guess 15 servings, so either make it for a crowd or plan to freeze a bunch. Apologies for the lack of photo - I didn't intent to blog this, but I've been recommending the recipes often so this will give it a home.

Source

Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

• 8 cups water
• 2 cup carrot, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I minced in a food processor)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 4 teaspoons salt (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 (3 1/2 lb) roasting chicken (frozen utility grade is usually the best value - if prepping the night before, just put frozen into pot)
• 1-2 cups frozen veggies (corn, peas, etc)
• 3 cups noodles, uncooked (egg, bowtie, or whatever you like)

Directions

1. In 4-1/2 to 6-quart slow-cooker bowl, combine water, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, poultry seasoning, 4 t salt, 1/2 t pepper.
2. Place whole chicken on top of vegetables.
3. Cover slow cooker with lid and cook as manufacturer directs on low setting 8 to 10 hours or on high 4-5 hours.
4. Transfer chicken to cutting board. Add noodles and frozen veggies to slow-cooker; cover with lid and cook (on low or high) 20 minutes.
5. While noodles cook, remove and discard skin, fat and bones from chicken; shred meat.
6. Skim fat from soup and discard. Return half of chicken to soup to serve. (Reserve the rest of the chicken meat for another use.)

Estimated nutrional content per 1 cup serving (14 servings in above recipe, half the chicken meat added back):
Calories: 112
Fat: 1.4 g (0.3 saturated)
Sodium: 711 mg
Carbs: 16 g (2 g fibre)
Protein: 9.3 g

Aloo Paratha (Curry-stuffed flatbread)

The library had a gift for me: Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes A Day. I got the original book for Christmas, and love it to death. The sequel is equally fabulous. I haven't actually mixed up a dough recipe yet, but this Indian dish had to be made and eaten as soon as possible.

Aloo Paratha

1 pound bread dough (whole wheat, white, pizza dough, whatever)
2 potatoes, boiled with skin on
1 1/2 tbsp ghee (or butter or margarine), melted, plus a bit for brushing on the top
1 1/2 tbsp neutral oil
1 tsp curry powder (know your curry - mine is mild, so I added a bit of cayenne for kick)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup frozen peas

Preheat oven to 450*. If you have a baking stone, preheat that too.

Boil potatoes, drain, and mash. Add ghee, oil, curry and salt. Mix well. Fold in peas (don't mush the peas).

Roll dough out into large circle, 1/8" thick (use lots of flour to prevent sticking). Put potato mixture on half. Wet edge, fold over, and seal edge. Brush with ghee, sprinkle with curry.

Bake 25 minutes on a stone (or parchment lined cookie sheet).

Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls

If you were wondering what I did about the other half of my Brioche dough from a few days ago, here is the answer: Cinnamon Rolls. The original recipe had pecans, but I prefer raisins so mine has raisins.

Cinnamon Rolls
1 1/2 pounds brioche dough or other white bread dough (a cantaloupe-sized piece)
For bottom of pan:
5 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
For rolls:
4 tablespoons butter/margarine
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins (or pecans if you prefer)

Melt the 5 T butter and add a half cup of brown sugar. Mix up, put in the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch square or round pan. Roll the dough out into a rectangle (about 1/4" thick). Spread with butter, sprinkle on brown sugar, top with cinnamon and raisins. Roll up, slice into 8 pieces. Place into prepared pan.  Let rise an hour, covered with plastic. Preheat oven to 350*, bake 40 minutes until golden brown. Let cool about 5 minutes, then invert onto a plate or into a storage container. Do not cool completely in the pan, or they may never come out.