Food Storage Friday: Sweet Pepper Rice

I found this recipe on Skinny Bovine's Kitchen. She says this rice is drool-worthy. I have a hard time drooling over anything that isn't cheesecake, but it was definitely yummy. And unlike the Sweet Chilean Rice that I did a few weeks ago, it was actually sweet, but not too sweet. I served this with burritos, but it would lend itself well as a side to anything Mexican.

Sweet Pepper Rice
Food Storage Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups white long grain rice
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

Fresh Ingredients:
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 red bell pepper
1/4 cup cilantro
1 Tablespoon butter

1. Finely chop onion, pepper and cilantro. (Or if you're lazy like me, pulse them in the blender for a few seconds.) 2. Melt butter in a large pan and cook onion mix until onions are soft. 3. Add salt and garlic powder, cook for one minute 4. Add rice and cook for another 5-10 minutes. (Until most of the moisture is gone.) 5. Dissolve sugar in broth. Add to rice. 6. Bring to a simmer and then turn to low and cover. Cook for 25-30 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Serves 6.

Notes: I used half of an onion, instead of a whole onion, to increase my odds that my children would eat this. They tried it, but they weren't fans. My husband said that even half an onion made his eyes burn. I tried it with some peach salsa and that was yummy too. At some point I'll have to experiment and try this with brown rice.

Green Chiles

So last week, a few hours after delivering Miss Cindy Lou-Who, I got online to order a Bountiful Basket (which btw was an awesome basket). One of the extras they had available was a 30 lb bag of Hatch green chiles. I love green chiles and my in-laws really love green chiles so I thought I would split a bag with them. My husband got up early Saturday morning to fetch our produce and I mumbled  "Don't forget our 30 lb bag of green chiles". He thought I said 3 lb bag of green chiles because there is no way I could have bought a 30 lb bag of green chiles. Oh, I did.

So Saturday morning I opened the bag and looked at a few of the beautiful chiles within. Fantastic. Sunday morning I noticed a small puddle next to the bag. By Sunday afternoon a good part of my house was permeated by a rotten earthy smell. My ox was in a mire of rotting chiles. The original plan was to bag and freeze the top half of the sack and give the bottom half (or more) to my in-laws when I see them later this week. I'm sure that's exactly what they want to deal with on the day of the wedding reception. Not to mention that I am not really keen on having my house smell like rot until we leave, or having it in my car. Gross.

 So to my in-laws "Happy-your-baby-is-getting-married-and-I-know-that-you-don't-want-a-smelly-bag-of-rotting-peppers"

  To everyone else I recommend that when cutting large quantities of peppers that you wear gloves, because even mild peppers have oils that can cause burning and skin irritation.

 I was disappointed that so many of the chiles had gone bad and that it caused such a mess. I would say about a third of them were rotten. Even so $19 for 20 lbs of green chiles is a great deal. In the future I will post multiple recipes showing how I go through my half of the peppers. But for now here is one of my father-in-law's favorites (he's from New Mexico and happens to know his chiles)

 New Mexico Chile Verde
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 lb pork loin (remove visible fat and cut into 1/2" chunks)
3 small garlic cloves, finely minced
1 red onion, finely chopped (optional)

8 T flour
4 T cornstarch
4 T water

28 oz Hatch green chiles (roasted, peeled, seeded and finely chopped)*
1-2 T chopped fresh jalapeno
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
4 chicken bullion cubes
1  14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes

1. Saute pork in olive oil until pink is gone. Move pork aside in skillet. 2. Add garlic (and onion) and saute until sizzling. Put in crockpot on high. 3. In a small bowl make thickener of flour, cornstarch and water. After mixed thoroughly add to crockpot. 4. Add chiles and spices to crockpot. Bring to a low boil, then turn to low and add tomatoes. Simmer for at least an hour or preferably all day. Serve plain over rice, burritos, chile rellenos, chimichangas, etc. Freezes well. Serves 4-6

*His notes say 1 bag, which is about a quart ziplock bag, roasted.
For those of the vegetarian persuasion I haven't tried making this without the pork before, but the pork is such a small part of it I think that it would still taste great without the meat. I know my other chile verde recipe worked just fine when I left out the pork.

And when I wasn't washing, sorting and chopping chiles, this is how I spent my weekend:

I'm in love.

Food Storage Friday: Chile Verde Burritos

 Whenever I have made chile verde sauce my family pretty much inhales it. Here's the secret to my awesome chile verde sauce: I throw in a bunch of stuff until it looks and tastes right and call it good. The recipe below is what I did most recently, but I can't guarantee that it will turn out the same next time. Peppers have a tendency to vary in flavor and hotness. You can't look at a pepper and know how potent it is going to be. If I mix everything together and it's too bland I throw in a dash of green Tabasco or sprinkle in some red pepper flakes. If it needs to be toned down a notch, I'll finely chop up 1/2 a bell pepper and add that to the sauce. May the force be with you in your endeavors.

Chile Verde Burritos
Food Storage Ingredients:
Re-fried beans
Canned pork (optional)

Fresh Ingredients:
tortillas
grated cheese (I've used cheddar, colby, monterey, pepper jack, and mozzarella, all with great results.)
sour cream
1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 Anaheim peppers
3 banana peppers
4 jalapeno peppers
8 tomatillos
4 green onions, chopped

1. Remove pepper stems, leave the seeds. Remove and save tomatillo husks. Cut tomatillos in half, hamburger style. 2. Roast peppers, garlic and tomatillos until well blistered. (Generally 45 minutes @ 375. I did mine in my sun oven, and it took an hour and a half before I was satisfied with their appearance, but it's cooking times will widely vary.) 3. Puree tomatillo husks and roasted vegetables. 4. Simmer pureed pepper mixture with green onions on low for 15-20 minutes or until desired thickness. Add pork if desired. 5. Assemble burritos as desired. (Whenever I make these I like to make extras and freeze them.)

I like my green sauce to be nice and thick.

Notes: I have found that the best re-fried beans come from the LDS Church canneries; they are so delicious. (Don't worry you don't have to be LDS to buy food storage there. They love to encourage everyone to be prepared.) I also love that they are not actually re-fried and are completely fat free, unlike real re-fried beans which are made with lard. (Bleh.) I have heard people complain that they are bland, but it is all in how you cook them. According to the instructions you mix the dried bean flakes in boiling water and let them set. Before I let them set I mix in a pepper. Either a dried and crumbled Chipotle pepper, a chopped Anaheim or whatever other spicy pepper I have convenient. After the beans have absorbed the water, add a heaping teaspoon of sour cream and a sprinkling of cheddar cheese. Mix it all together and it makes great burritos, improves 7 layer dip, makes an easy Mexican food side or stand alone bean dip.

When I say Anaheims I mean these beauties

 And as for Anaheims, some stores refer to them as Anaheims, others as Cubanos. I'm not sure why. And when I planted Anaheims in my garden, none of the plants I could find had pictures that looked anything like the Anaheim peppers that I am familiar with. And the peppers that grew were small and red.

Food Storage Friday: Bean Pancakes

Over a year ago I came across a recipe blog hop on Trying Our Best, (I love getting recipe ideas from other people.) which included a recipe from Sunrise on the Water for bean pancakes. I thought that I would give it a try, but of course I made several changes, shared it with my buddy Liesa who had some good suggestions and voila!- another happy food storage concoction. I love that this recipe is a good mix of fresh and food storage ingredients and in a pickle I could make it from all food storage ingredients. Plus it's healthy, easy to prepare and super cheap to make. Also if the name "bean pancakes" sounds too weird for you, try calling them bean tortillas, because really they're like a healthy tortilla, you just cook them like a pancake. You could easily fill them with eggs and green chiles or taco stuffings. Enjoy!

Bean Pancakes
Food Storage Ingredients:
1 15 oz can beans, rinsed, drained & mashed (I've done black or kidney, both are great, the pancakes pictured are made with black beans)
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
1&1/4- 1&1/3 cup wheat flour (depending on how moist your beans are)
2 Tablespoons canola oil
dash of lime pepper
a couple shots of Tabasco sauce (I prefer the green variety for this)
salsa for topping

Fresh Ingredients:
1-2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 egg
shredded cheese
avocado sour cream or ranch dressing

1. Mix beans, milk, wheat flour, oil, pepper, Tabasco, cilantro, garlic and egg until a pancake consistency. There will still be chunks of beans, but you want to make sure that the flour is mixed in well. 2. Make into pancakes. While you are cooking the second side of the pancakes, sprinkle a little shredded cheese on top so it melts onto the pancake. 3. Top with salsa, avocados, sour cream or whatever you please.

 I served mine with Cafe Rio style rice, peach salsa and mango smoothies, but go with what sounds good to you. If you plan on stuffing them taco stuff I would add the lesser amount of wheat so they're a little thinner and easier to fold. As I'm writing this I just had the thought that next time I should add some green chiles or other peppers to the pancake mix. I'm sure it will be delicious. I'll let you know how it goes. Also I would advise against telling small children that these are pancakes. Both of my kids were pretty upset that I made them pancakes that we were not putting syrup on.

Mexican Party At My House

I just have to say that 'I Heart the Bountiful Baskets Mexican Pack'. Nothing inspires a fiesta like fresh Mexican food, even if it's just for me and the fam. I considered saving these for a guests and having more of an actual fiesta, but to be honest this meal is a little too labor intensive to do on a large scale, unless you're ready to start your own Mexican restaurant. I love getting my surprise bag of Mexican produce.  I was super excited to discover that last weekend's pack included these beautiful babies:

For those of you who have not had the pleasure, these are poblanos and they make terrific chile relleno. (Anaheims and Cubanos also make great chile relleno, but the flavor is slightly different.) One of my very first blog posts was on how to make chile relleno, but I didn't post pictures. This time I decided to do things the harder and more time consuming way, more or less following the instructions from the video.
First you broil the peppers until they blister. Then you flip them over and broil the other side. Then throw them in a plastic bag to sweat for 20 minutes or so. Peel off the skin and remove as many of the seeds as you have patience for. Afterward it should look something like this.

Next I made up some refried beans and mixed in a little bit of sour cream. (Actually it was plain yogurt because I got to this step and discovered that I had no sour cream. It still tastes great and is probably better for me.) And of course we have to work food storage into the meal somehow. :)

Next I cut Monterrey Jack cheese into wedges and inserted those into the chiles. (You need wedges so you have something to stab.) I filled the remaining space with some bean mixture and sealed them together with some toothpicks. Ok, they're becoming less pretty, but tastier.

 Put the peppers in the freezer for five minutes, so things solidify a bit. While I was blistering the peppers I started the chile relleno sauce.

Chile Relleno Sauce
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 large clove of garlic
1 onion, cut in half
2 jalapenos, de-seeded
1 chipotle pepper
juice of one lime
handful of cilantro
1 & 1/2 cups homemade chicken broth/stock (or the canned variety if you don't have the other stuff handy)
Mexican spices to taste
Simmer all ingredients until onion is soft. Puree in the blender and return to pot to simmer some more.

Then I separated three eggs. I beat the whites until stiff,  beat the yolks a few strokes and then folded them together with a dash of salt.

Then I covered three sides of the peppers with the egg, and put them in a pan with one quarter inch of heated oil, a batter side down. It was then easier to cover the un-battered side. I have also discovered that it is easier to smear the batter on with a spoon than to try to dip the peppers in it. Cook until egg is thoroughly cooked. Drain oil off chiles on a paper towel. I also recommend that you not start your paper towels on fire like I did.

I also made some fresh salsa while waiting for my chiles to blister. (It's a process.)

Fresh Salsa
3 tomatoes
4 green onions
1 clove of garlic
handful of cilantro
juice of one lime
2 jalapenos
salt and pepper to taste
1. Chop everything up, mix and let it marinate.

Once the chiles are adequately drained of oil, put them in the pot of sauce, so the batter can soak it up. I served them just like that with salsa and half a mango on the side. (And for size comparison, that is an extremely large mango.) But you can also top them with sour cream, salsa and or guacamole.

Review: Everything part of this meal except the beans, eggs, canned tomatoes, cheese, chicken broth, spices and oil came from my Bountiful Basket (or BB extras), reducing the cost of this meal by a lot. :D  I do not make this often. I can't handle much fried food  and this is also pretty labor intensive. My husband loved it. He inhaled three of these plus a large quantity of chips and salsa. He said he really liked them, but said they don't taste quite like the ones that you get at restaurants that are basically a plate full of greasy melted cheese with a pepper floating in it. (No kidding, hon. I don't cook that way.) My kids turned their nose up at it and had chips and mango chunks. Whatever. If you want 6 peppers to serve more than 2-3 people a good way to stretch it is with Cafe Rio Style Beans and Rice. (But by the time I was done with this I was not motivated to whip up two more side dishes.)

My Weekend: Feeding a Crowd on a Budget without Spending All Your Time in the Kitchen

This weekend my in-laws came to visit. My sister-in-law and mother-in-law enjoy doing triathlons and on Saturday there was one about a mile from my house. They did a sprint distance while my husband and I just did a beginner triathlon. (You have to start somewhere, right?) With our house occupancy growing from 4 to 11, this meant that vast quantities of food was to be consumed, and I needed to find some way to do it that didn't involve vast quantities of money or me spending my weekend in front of the stove, because frankly I'd rather spend time with my family while they were here. So here's the menu plan from the weekend.

Friday night
Fajitas- About a month ago there was a sale on petite sirloin. I bought 5 lbs, cut it into cubes, put it into plastic bags with marinade and dried onions and froze it. Mid morning I threw the contents in the crock pot and cooked it on low for 8 hours. Half an hour before they arrived I chopped one large red onion, 2 green, one red, one yellow and one orange bell peppers and stir-fried them. The red onion and tortillas came from my Bountiful Basket. I also learned that you can get a 3 color bell pepper pack at my local Walmart for $3.50, whereas to buy the colored peppers individually costs about $1.70 each.
Cafe Rio Style Cilantro Lime Rice & Black Beans - I made these in my crock pot ahead of time and froze them. The night before I transferred them from the freezer to the fridge and microwaved them while I cooked the veggies.
Fruit Salad- I used 3 persimmons, 1 lime (juiced), 1/2 banana, 3/4ths of a pomegranate, 1 cup of black grapes, 1 pear, 3 kiwis, 1 mango and a few strawberries. All but the last 3 ingredients came from my Bountiful Basket. I chopped this up the night before.
Birthday Cake- Pink cake with chocolate pudding frosting. All ingredients came from my freezer or food storage.

Saturday
Fruit and cold cereal for breakfast
Lunch @ Five Guys to celebrate after the tri (paid for by my in-laws)
Saturday afternoon we climbed all over Pioneer Park. When we came home everyone was tired. So as soon as we got home I popped a couple of these in the oven for 20 minutes: Buffalo Chicken Calzones- One weekend when I was filling ambitious I made a few of these and froze them. When I made them I used cauliflower puree and spinach from my BB. 2 of these babies was enough for 9 people with a small amount of leftovers. (Neither of my kids would consider eating anything so spicy, they had sandwiches, and those 9 people had all had a very big lunch.)
I served them with Pink (because it is my little sister-in-law's favorite) and leftover birthday cake. (There was a lot of leftover birthday cake because everyone was so full from the fajitas, rice and beans.)

Sunday
Saturday night I prepared a Blackberry French Toast Bake and set it in the fridge overnight. The recipe needs some tweaks, so I'll share it later, but I used one loaf of 9 Grain bread from my BB, one cup of frozen blackberries, one package of Kraft neufchatel (that I recently got for free using coupons), powdered eggs, powdered milk and spices from my pantry. Sunday morning when I was only semi-conscious I put it in the oven and went back to bed. I served it with a 3 packages of sausage that I had gotten a ridiculous deal on. In retrospect it would have been nice to have a few more servings of this because there were no leftover french toast stuff, but people filled in the difference with fruit and more leftover birthday cake.

I estimate that all of these meals cost me about $44 (with about $29 being for Friday night's meal). I consider this a victory. I love my extended family, however several of them are somewhat averse to what they call "healthy food", which sometimes makes meal planning a challenge. I managed to plan meals that everyone enjoyed, incorporated lots of fruits and vegetables and feed 11 people for a reasonable sum of money while still spending lots of time with them instead of in the kitchen. It was a good weekend. :) (Yes, perhaps I should have taken pictures of some of these meals, but they never lasted enough for such actions. Sorry.)

Food Storage Friday: Taco Soup

This week's food storage tip is try to pick recipes that you already have the ingredients for. For example, taco soup. (Mexican food and soup together, love it!) There is not an ingredient in there that I don't normally stock for other meals also. It makes it easier to purchase cases of them and have them available. Using your food storage doesn't have to be super elaborate, it just has to work for you and your family.

Taco Soup

Food Storage Ingredients
1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can corn
1 can of olives, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced green chiles
1 can cooked chicken
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1/2 tsp chicken bullion + 1 cup water or 1 cup chicken broth

Fresh Ingredients
sour cream
shredded cheese
tortilla chips
1 tsp lime juice

Optional Ingredients
avocados, chopped for garnish

1. Dump all ingredients into a pot. Stir and heat until cooked through. (About ten minutes.)

Usually I used canned tomatoes because it's easy, but this time I used a couple fresh because I had them. It made the soup a little more watery and foamy, but still good.

I have tried at least a dozen versions of taco soup. This is the one that I always go back to because I like the way it tastes and it's so blasted easy. I've tried it with grilled chicken, beef, pork, ground beef, and ground turkey. (And it wouldn't be hard to make it meatless.) Canned chicken trumps because it is the easiest. When I was pregnant with #2 and working full-time nights I made this almost once a week. I can make it in my sleep. (And considering that I was working nights I probably did make it in my sleep at some point.) Enjoy!

Soup is on baby!

Food Storage Friday: Taco Salad

The point of eating your food storage is not self-deprivation. You should incorporate food storage in your diet on a regular basis, so if you do have to live off your food storage, you are familiar enough with it that it's not a shock. And I'm not just talking about bowel upset. If you use food storage on a regular basis you will feel comfortable experimenting with it and making adjustments so you can make it work for you and your family. For example, today's recipe is Taco Salad. If I were in a pinch I could forgo the fresh meat and veggies, add some canned tomatoes and meat and some more rice and have Mexican Haystacks. Yes, I'd rather have the lettuce, but if we had to I feel confident that we could make do.

Taco Salad
Food Storage Ingredients
2 cups cooked rice
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (kidney also work)
1 can corn, drained
salsa
ranch dressing
taco seasoning

Fresh Ingredients
iceberg lettuce
fresh tomatoes
1 lb ground turkey, cooked and drained (or meat of your choice)
tortilla chips
dash of lime juice
shredded cheese

Optional Ingredients
canned olives, drained and sliced
avocados
cilantro
guacamole
sour cream

1. Prepare meat according to taco seasoning instructions. 2. Assemble as desired.
A head of lettuce, a few tomatoes, 2 cups of rice and the other listed ingredients makes approximately 6 servings.

After I started eating this I realized I forgot the cheese. Oops!

Book Review: 101 Things to Do With Yogurt

101 Things Things to Do With Yogurt by Geneva Stringham is another fun book that I snagged a deal on recently. I honestly had no idea that there were so many things that you could do with yogurt. This book also teaches you how to make your own yogurt, if you're feeling ambitious. I would say this is a new favorite and I will be using it again. Eating yogurt on a regular basis improves your digestive health and helps to prevent illness. It has a fish taco recipe that doesn't involve frying, so I thought I would give it a try. I had family visiting a few weeks ago and served it to them. It was such a big hit that we made it again the next weekend when the other side of the family came to visit. Even some family members who don't like fish, liked these tacos. And they're so easy to make! (Another helpful hint I've discovered that frozen tilapia fillets are normally cheaper at Smith's than at Costco, and right now they're on sale, so it's an even better deal.)

Fish Tacos Baja Style
Sauce:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro

Tacos:
1 pound mahimahi or tilapia
lime pepper
12 fresh corn tortillas
1 ripe avocado, chopped
lime wedges
grated Mexican blend cheese
fresh salsa (mango-peach works particularly well)

Combine sauce ingredients and refrigerate. Sprinkle each side of fish fillets with lime pepper and grill until thoroughly cooked. Wrap tortillas in a clean dish towel and steam for 30 seconds in the microwave. For each taco spread a teaspoon of yogurt sauce in a tortilla, add several bite-size pieces of grilled fish and remaining taco toppings as desired. Serves 6

I served this with Baked Chile Relleno and Cafe Rio Style Cilantro Lime Rice.

Chile Relleno

This dish is so delicious and not as difficult as I expected. I had a friend recently ask me how to make it so here you go. I've tried a few different recipes and it gets easier with practice. The first time I tried it was kind of a flop, but don't give up. It's totally worth taking another stab at it. After my less than masterful first try I also found it helpful to watch someone else do it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J28rY2A7SeQ

This was the one that I used last night and I chose it because I wasn't in the mood to fry anything. And it was quicker than that guy's.

Baked Chile Relleno

6 large green chiles
1/2 pound cheese, grated or cut into strips
2 eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Peel chiles;(That's all the recipe says, but what that really means is the process of broiling, blistering and peeling them. Kind of a hassel, but if you don't do it right, they're just not as good) Remove seeds through a small opening in the side. Fill chiles with cheese. Fasten with a wooden pick, handling carefully.

Beat egg whites until stiff; beat yolks until thick.

Sift together dry ingredients; add to yolks, blending well. Fold in beaten egg whites. Dip chiles into batter; place in greased casserole dish. Bake at 325 degrees F until batter is cooked and lightly browned on top. (About 25 min)

Enjoy!

Here's another recipe from About.com http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/techniques/ht/chilerelleno.htm. It's similar to the one that I used the first time. It says that it takes 15-20 minutes. That is a big fat lie. But it gives some good tips.

Chile Relleno

You can omit the flour for a low-carb version.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: 15 to 20 minutes

Here's How:

1. Roast the chiles*
   Roast and peel each chile and let them cool. *If fresh chiles are unavailable, use canned whole green chiles.
2. Remove the seeds
   Insert a sharp knife into the top of the chile, just under the stem and slice downward about half way down the chile. Using a spoon or a knife, scrape the seeds and the white membrane out, without tearing the chiles flesh.
3. Stuff the chiles
   Place a slice of cheese into the chile, but don't force it. If the cheese is too large, trim it down until it fits inside. Make sure the open edges of the chile still come together.

4. Prepare the chiles
   This step is optional Place half of the flour on the bottom of a plate. Place the chiles on the flour and sprinkle the rest of the flour on top. Use your finger to make sure the entire chile is coated. Dust off remaining flour and set chiles aside. If you rinsed your chiles in water, this step is important for the batter to stick.
5. Prepare batter
   For a simple batter, whip 3-6 egg whites until stiff. Slowly fold in yolks and a pinch of salt. Or use your favorite batter recipe.
6. Cook chiles
   One at a time, dip the stuffed chiles into the batter and then into the hot oil. Cook until batter is a crisp golden brown.
7. Drain excess oil
   Remove chiles from the oil and drain on paper towels.

Tips:

1. Use cold eggs for the batter.
2. Test the oil with a drop of batter before putting a whole chile in. If the drop of batter sizzles and floats to the top, it's the right temp. If it sinks, the oil is not hot enough.
3. The flour should be a very light coat. It helps the batter stick to the chile.
4. Monterey Jack and Queso Blanco work well for Chile Rellenos

What You Need:

• 6-12 large, roasted and peeled chiles (Anaheim, or Poblano work well)
• 3-6 large eggs (approx. 1 egg for 2 chiles)
• 1/4 cup flour (optional)
• Brick of cheese cut into 1/4 inch thick rectangles as long as the chile
• Deep fryer or a large pan with 2 inches of oil
• Pinch of salt
• Paper towels for draining