When our five kids were younger, we would often limit their sweets. We were outnumbered and didn’t want them hyped up on sugar.
Telling them they could have 2 cookies was usually met with groans and whining, so we changed our strategy. Instead of ‘just 2 cookies’ they were told they could have ‘up to two cookies’. So they could have two or one or none, it was their decision. It worked surprisingly well.
And now we use this same strategy with our grandchildren, but the limit is often higher, because grandchildren.
As we begin the final part of this series, you may be wondering what recipes have to do with the focus of this blog. You see, if you have easy meals then you have more time to devote to your personal goals. In the past dinner was a huge stressor for me.I’ll get more into that in another post.Now I’d like to introduce you to French Toast Casserole. This dish combines all the goodness of french toast with the addition of a cream cheese cinnamon filling. This is a family fave! It reheats well and the liquid can be frozen for later use(like when you find bread on the clearance rack).
French Toast Casserole
An easy way to feed your family or use up french bread.
Place 2/3 of bread cubes in a greased 9×13 pan. Place the cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and cook at 30 second intervals until cheese is melted. Mix in half of cinnamon sugar and all of vanilla extract. Spoon evenly over bread cubes, it will not cover completely. Sprinkle nuts over cream cheese mixture, if using. I often put nuts on only half.Spread remaining bread cubes on top.In a mixing bowl, combine remaining cinnamon sugar, eggs and milk. Pour carefully over bread cubes, covering as much as possible. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until bread is browned and eggs are set. Let rest 5 minutes before cutting.Serve with syrup or powdered sugar.Cinnamon sugar:Mix together 1/4 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon of cinnamonor 1 cup sugar with 1/4 cup cinnamon
1 Trim excess fat from roast and place in slow cooker. Add beef broth, onion soup and beer. Cook on low 7 hours.2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread bread, or rolls, with butter. Bake 10 minutes or until warm.3 Slice the meat and place on bread. Serve with the juices for dipping.
You might be wondering what bread has to do with the mission of this blog. Well, everybody eats, right? By simplifying meals, you can simplify that part of the day and minimize stress and the chaos of last minute “what are we going to eat?”. I lived that way fro many years and i hate the thought of others struggling when I can possibly help out.
So up next in our short series, another meal idea.
For part two we get to explore some of my favorite foods. French Toast! You will need sliced french bread(or any bread). Heat a skillet to medium high. Mix in a shallow bowl: 8 eggs 1/2 cup milk and a splash of vanilla Dip each slice of bread in the mixture on both sides and place in the skillet . Let cook for 45 seconds or so then flip and let the other side cook. If you are making a whole loaf, keep them warm in a 300 degree oven on a baking sheet. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar or fruit.
A loaf of store-bought French, or Italian, bread can become so many things. It can be a main dish, as with French bread pizza;or a yummy side like garlic bread or even an appetizer, cubed and dipped in a dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Whatever you need, this bread can help you get a nice meal on the table for your hungry family. We will begin with a few recipes and add others soon.
French bread pizza is a great meal for first time visitors to our home. Everyone gets to pick their topping so there is no awkwardness surrounding personal likes and dislikes. We slice the loves in half lengthwise and vertically. The sauce and toppings are set out and everyone builds their pizza as desired. You can also do mini pizzas the same way but use slices instead of halves. After the pizzas are assembled, they get put on a parchment lined baking sheet then popped in a 350 oven for 15-20 minutes at 350, or until the bread is toasty and the cheese is melted.
Big Sandwiches is another family favorite around here. The original recipe comes from my sweet friend Gabrielle. This is a great way to use up leftover meats, like Thanksgiving turkey. We have this fairly often so I keep a good stock of lunch meat and sliced cheeses. Start by cutting your loaf in half lengthwise. Spread ranch dressing on one side and spicy or brown mustard on the other. Top one side with cheese and the other with meat. Place on a parchment covered baking sheet at 350 and toast in the oven until the cheese is melted. Take it out of the oven and cut into individual slices.
Garlic bread! Garlic bread can be done several ways, but we prefer the straightforward method. Cut the bread lengthwise and spread it with soft butter and sprinkle with garlic powder (not garlic salt!) and cheese. Place on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Mozzarella, Parmesan and Muenster are all good choices but are not the only options, do what works for you.
Over the next few posts we will be looking at more ways to use a basic loaf of bread. What are your favorite recipes?
We live in tornado alley, therefore we have learned to stay prepared during what has been termed our ‘fifth season’. While tornados form quickly, the storms themselves are easier to forecast. The National Weather Service has come a long way since I was I child, they can now begin notifying the areas that are most likely to have severe weather several days in advance. This gives folks ample opportunity to make the arrangements they need to make.
Now the way we do things is a combination of our past experiences and our living situation. We don’t have a cellar on our property, the cellar we use is next door at my in-laws. It sounds scary but really it’s only 250 feet or so from our house. When our children were younger we developed a buddy system to load into our vehicle in the fastest and most efficient manner, starting with turning it around to face the road eliminating the need to back up. We do still turn the vehicle around, but the teens don’t need the buddy system anymore.
We have a family tornado protocol. As soon as a severe thunderstorm watch is issued, one of us backs the vehicle into the driveway, then all of the phones and tablets are put on the chargers. Life just goes on as normal, except we keep a closer eye on the weather. When a tornado watch is issued everyone puts their shoes on and moves their Go Bag next to the front door or into the vehicle, more on that later. It’s not a frantic, running around time, it’s a very calm matter of fact process. We also take some time and tidy up the house, just in case some on needs to stay with us after the storm. Since we have a generator our friends and family know that if the power goes out they are welcome here. I will also grab a shopping bag and throw in some extra food; bread, peanut butter, jelly, cookies and the like. Severe weather can sometimes derail dinner and no one wants to be stuck in a cellar with a bunch of hangry people.
Each member of our family has a Go Bag. The purpose of the bag is to help provide for each of us in the event our area is struck by damaging weather.. This bag contains a change of clothes( plus a few extra pairs of socks and extra underwear), work gloves, snacks and a comfort item stuffed animal, blanket, sketchbook). We add in a few other things when severe weather is anticipated; chargers(after the phones are completely charged) being the most important. My bag is a little more in depth, I’ll go into detail about that in another post. I begin purchasing snacks,and other items that need to be replaced, in January. A few items here and there. Each person makes a list of what needs to be replaced and what they would like in their bag. This is also when we make sure the clothing in the bag still fits, very important!
Early in the spring, if we can, we pick a nice day and clean the cellar. The floor gets swept, then everything gets wiped down and we check for bugs or other critters. The supplies are checked for expiration dates and a list is made as to what needs to be replaced. We replenish the water supply as well, after a hot summer and a cold winter it’s just the best idea. The towels and blankets are washed and put back in place. Our camping supplies are stored there as well so they are checked and cleaned if needed.
In the event the weather starts looking questionable I don’t wait for a tornado warning to be issued, we will go on to the cellar. I’d rather wait down there for a while and have nothing happen than get caught in our house during something serious. We once missed our opportunity to go to the cellar during some of the most severe weather we have ever had. We were stuck in our house while 75mph winds blew tons of rain at us. The house was shaking and you couldn’t hear anything the wind was so loud. I have never been so scared in my life! I honestly thought the house was about to come apart. We don’t wait that long anymore!
Our overall goal is to be safe and cared for in the event of an emergency without having to use government resources. Make no mistake, our city does a great job during severe weather, I’d just rather leave those resources for people who really need them.i don’t mind the planning or the prep work and we have been blessed with enough resources to provide for our needs. Planning ahead makes it easier to purchase what we may need a few things at a time.
If you do not have an underground storm cellar or basement, the Red Cross recommends going into a small, windowless, interior room or hallway on the lowest level of a sturdy building.
So I’ve often been asked by people to teach them how to make these awesome tamales. Well, here ya go! 🙂
I recommend a two day plan for making tamales. Boil the meat on Day 1, tamale build on Day 2. They don’t have to be back to back days, but keep in mind you will need to store the meat and broth in either a refrigerator or freezer (depending on how long you want to store them), until you’re ready to do a build day.
I’m not super picky on meat, I usually go with what I find cheap or on sale. Whole chicken fryers are good, cheap chuck roast or pork roasts. To be honest, all the meat os boiled soft and well seasoned, so other than texture, the flavor isn’t significantly different between the meats. I often will combine various meats in my shredded meat mix to fill the tamales.
Below are the times in the video for each specific stage.
Meat Boil 0:52
Meat Prep 7:42
Masa Prep 15:37
Tamale Build 21:48
Filling the Tamale Pot 28:01
Tamale Shopping List:
Meat (beef roasts, pork roasts, fryer sized chickens all work great)
Masa
Corn Husks
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Cumin
Chili Powder
Sazon Goya Seasoning Packets
Onions
Oranges
Dried Chili’s (Anaheim)
Jalapeños
Corn Oil
Freezer Bags
Meat Boil (day 1)
So for the meat boil, cut beef and/or roasts into fist sized chucks, if using whole birds remove insides. Place in a pot and fill with water making sure all meat is submerged. I’m going to give recommended amounts based on a 32 quart pot, so you may need to adjust amounts accordingly if using a larger or smaller pot. This will begin seasoning the meat, but more importantly you want a well-seasoned broth; as the broth from this boil will be used to season the masa on Day 2.
Add:
1 Jalapeno, chopped (this should give a slight burn to the masa, use more or less jalapeno to your taste)
4 medium sized onions (chop, but not too fine)
2 Halved Oranges (squeeze out the juice then drop in the rinds)
8 Tbsp of Chili powder
4 Tbsp Garlic powder
4 Tbsp Salt
2 Tbsp Pepper
1 Tbsp Cumin
4 Packets of Sazon goya
Boil for 3-4 hours, until meat is soft and pulls apart very easily. Keep watch that water does not boil down exposing meat at the top. Top off with water as needed and stir every 20-30 minutes. Let pot cool, remove meat and refrigerate or freeze for build day. Strain broth through a colander to remove onion and jalapeno bits. Refrigerate or freeze broth for build day as well. If you finish the boil early enough in the day that it can cool, you may want to go ahead and shred and season the meat now before Day 2 (Day 2 will be busy with the Tamale building itself).
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Tamale Build Day (Day 2)
Shred meat, pull off fat and bones or any other undesirable bits.
Place corn husks in water and weigh down soak (1-2 hours of soaking is needed so plan ahead).
Meat Seasoning:
Seed 6 dried chili’s, and place in boiling water for 20 minutes to soften. I use Anaheim, but there are some other good options if you have a different preference. These are the longer smooth peppers you can often find in mexican sections of your grocery store.
In a food processor combine:
6 softened dried chili’s (Anaheim)
½ cup corn oil
2 Tbsp Cumin
2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp Salt
1 Tbsp Pepper
Pour meat seasoning over meat and work into shredded meat very well. Meat is now ready for tamale build (cover and refrigerate until needed).
Tamale Masa:
In a two cup sifter add:
2 Cups Masa
2 Tbsp Chili powder
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Onion Powder
1 Tsp Cumin
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Pepper
Sift into bowl and slowly add meat broth (1 cup at a time, warm broth is helpful) until masa is a soft consistency (comparable to frosting).
Spread the masa onto corn husks. The quickest way is to have your masa very soft and put it on using a flat blade like a dough scraper or metal serving spatula. Think dry wall technique. I spread the masa in the upper 2/3rds of the corn husk.
Add meat and roll. Fold the bottom of corn husk and add the raw tamale to the steamer pot. Cover pot and steam for 2 hours on a medium low heat or until masa no longer has a grainy texture when eaten (yes, you should sample a tamale to test if done). Make sure your water is at a good level before boiling so the pot doesn’t boil dry.
Enjoy your tamales! Place extra tamales in freezer bags, freeze and enjoy some for later too. – NeoBrian
