Corn Chower and Cream sauce recipe

Corn Chowder

¼ c onions chopped (more if desired)
3TBSP butter
2c frozen corn
2 c milk
½ c powdered milk (optional)
2 c potatoes, peeled and diced
1 c cream sauce (see attached recipe)
1 clove garlic or garlic powder to taste
Chopped fully cooked chicken or other meat of choice if desired.

In large saucepan sauté onions in butter until soft. Add corn, milk, powdered milk(opt) and potatoes, and simmer over med heat for about 15 min or until potatoes are tender but not mushy. Add cream sauce in bring just to boiling point. Season and serve hot.


Cream sauce

Yields 2 cups. (half recipe for corn chowder above)

4 TBSP butter
4TBSP whole wheat flour
2c milk
salt and pepper

Melt butter in saucepan. Sprinkle in flour and stir quickly to form heavy paste. Add milk ¼ c at a time stirring so that sauce becomes smooth. Combine and stir as sauce thickens to desired consistency. Season to taste.

Cream sauce is the basis for many “Cream of…” soups we are all familiar with. You could sub in chicken stock for some of the milk and chicken and you would have “Cream of Chicken soup”


UPDATE: Cut down the butter in the chowder...I only used 1/4 of the butter called for and it was still very rich and smooth. Also you may not need all the cream sauce you can omit 1/2 c and it will be much lighter and much less fat.

The Amazing Stretching Chicken!!! "Chicken Pot Pie" Recipe

Ok people I am not taking about a rubber chicken...I am talking about making your chicken stretch further.

Continuing our "Thrifty is Nifty" series is a recipe for "Chicken Pot Pie"

I can't take credit for this recipe. I obtained this recipe on "Oprah.com"

This is a feel-good meal! It's traditional without a catch but very satisfying—not to mention easy and relatively fast. What I love most about this recipe is that it takes advantage of your basic kitchen staples. There isn't much you have to get extra, if you have a well stocked pantry. (Stay tuned for my "Thrifty is Nifty" post on a"Well Stocked Thirfty Pantry"coming soon!) I really dislike having to get just one specialty item for a recipe, only to see it sit in my fridge or cabinent and never used again. Besides that wouldn't be thifty now, would it?

Ingredients:Filling:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 medium Onion , chopped
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups chopped Roasted Chicken

1/2 cup frozen sweet petite peas
1 potato , diced and boiled USE ANY LEFT OVER VEGGIES OR GRAINS!
1 1/2 cup chopped, cooked carrots
1/2 tsp. salt
Cracked pepper
Dash of Tabasco® sauce

Crust:
3/4 cup white or yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
2 Tbsp. canola oil

To make filling:

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Spray a 2-quart casserole with cooking spray. (optional)

In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil and unsalted butter together.

Add onion and sauté until tender, about 4 or 5 minutes.

Add in flour until blended.

Slowly stir in 2 cups of heated chicken stock (it really doesn't need to be heated, just not cold as you will get lumps), whisking well.

Cook mixture over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, about 4 minutes.

Stir in roasted chicken, peas, potato, carrots, salt, pepper and Tabasco®. (Remember your root veggies and chicken need to be precooked.)

Pour into a 2-quart casserole dish, spread evenly.

To make crust:

In a bowl, stir cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

In a separate bowl, stir milk, egg and canola oil until well combined.

Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Please don't over work batter or it will get tough.

Spoon the batter evenly on the filling. (I found a thinner layer is better but, you be the judge.)

Bake until the top is golden brown, about 22 to 25 minutes.

(Mine took about 30 min...bake until your finger doesn't leave an indent. It got pretty dry baking until "golden")

Tonight I had my friend Niki over for dinner and I made this pot pie from some left over chicken. She went back for seconds and said it was really good.

Only thing is it is kinda bland...so I would recommend adding some herbs or spices.

UPDATE: This is an AWESOME freezer meal. I made two last time and froze one. I wasn't sure how it would reheat with the cornbread on top. It was fabulous. I just thawed it in the fridge and reheated it in the oven @ 350 for about 30 min. ( I got hasty and needed to eat and pulled it out early and mic'd it the rest of the way and it turned out fine!) It was actually even better the second time...as the flavors had a chance to meld and develop. It was a little bland and drier than I would prefer. The next time I make it I am going to add Lawery's Seasoning and more chicken stock.

PLUS, this is a great recipe to use those local in season root veggies!

If you make this please let me know how it turned out and any improvements you would make. Happy Cooking and Thanks!

Pumpkin Cookies

Fall is in the air and so should the smell of pumpkin baked goods. Whip up some pumpkin cookies if you don't have the time to muss and fuss making a pumpkin pie. I made these for the last two fall parties we had and they were a HIT! Seriously these are out of this world and so easy to make. The husband of one of my girlfriend's said he was raving about these cookies and said they were the best he had ever had. Now that is a lofty compliment!

Recipe from "Real Simple".com

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg 1 cup all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (found in the spice aisle)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Optional cream cheese frosting:

2/3 cup cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup heavy cream

Powdered sugar until it reaches desired consistency.

Heat oven to 375° F.

Beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, and egg and beat until combined.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a medium bowl.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar and butter and beat on medium-low speed until fully incorporated.

Spoon heaping tablespoons of the mixture 2 inches apart onto parchment- or foil-lined baking sheets.

Bake until puffed and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.Clean the mixer, then, as the cookies bake, beat the cream cheese, heavy cream, and confectionersý sugar until smooth and spreadable.

Tip: The cookies can be made up to 3 days in advance and kept in an airtight container. Whip the frosting and frost no more than 2 hours before serving.

ENJOY! Let me know if you try them out.

What I like to do with the left over pumpkin puree.

Feed it to my daugher plain

or doctor it up with a little wheat germ, ground flax seed, pumpkin pie spice and honey. Chill it and eat cold. YUM YUM!!! It tastes like a mini pie. Try it out for a healthy snack!

Thrifty is Nifty Series

Another installment in our "Thrifty is Nifty" series.

This time it's about having convenience food. We all need it every once in a while. Especially on those nights when everyone is hungry and there is nothing quick to prepare in site. Usually in these instances we go for something quick and usually it is not a healthy choice. I am not immune to these episodes where the dinner hour is looming and there is no dinner in site. Just this week Guy and I got fast food...twice!!! YIKES!!! (having a sick babe sure takes up a LOT of time.)

Here is something I have been doing over the last month or so I want to share.

Making your own precooked meatballs.

Ok Kristina what are you talking about...meat balls?

I discovered how versatile meatballs are this fall. They are an easy and inexpensive way to incorporate meat into a meal without having to take the time to cook it.

Here is what I do. Make my own meat balls, cook and freeze. (a commercial bag costs about 8 -9 bucks depending on the brand.)

This week ground turkey was on sale.

Here is the recipe I use...

20 oz of meat
1 egg
1/3c bread crumbs
seasoning of your choice
olive oil

This is a great way to use up old bread or those bread butts no one seems to eat. I also incorporated a little wheat germ and flax seed too. I like making my own because I know what is in there.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Cover your cookie sheet with aluminum foil (you'll thank me later)
drizzle olive oil on the foil and spread it all around with your hand or a paper towel.
Preheat your sheet in the oven.

Combine your ingredients. Really dig in there. Use your hands.

Make some balls. (about 10-16, to start, you'll still have meat left don't worry) I like to make mine relatively small in order to stretch the meat. Make them no bigger than ping pong balls.

Get your hot pan out of the oven and place it on trivet or hotpad so your don't burn your counter top.
Place the meat balls on the pan and bake for 15 min.
Take them out and turn and bake for an additional 5-7 min until done.

I then cool them in the fridge and then freeze them. They can keep for a while, but that won't really matter because they won't last long.

Ways to use your meatballs for those in a pinch lunches or dinners

Spaghetti and meatballs.

Mac and cheese with cut up meatballs.

Salad with cut up meatballs.

Pretty much any place you need ground meat you can use the meatballs.

I just mic them for about one minute to defrost and then cut them up and add them to our meals.

This is a great way to cut out those fast food meals which are detrimental to your wallet and your wasteline.

Deflated bread

The bread I made while it tastes Ok it looks like a deflated balloon. I am not exactly sure what went wrong but I have some ideas. During the first rising I had to tend to Amelia so it nearly tripled in size. I punched it down and was going to put it in the loaf pans but I was interupted again and it rose again in the bowl. So I thought...well it should rise again right. So I shaped it and attempted to rise it a 3rd time in the loaf pan in a warm oven. (120 degrees, it was still cooling off from when I made the muffins.) The dough didn't really rise much but I baked it anyways. It is really dense and really crumbly. I didn't add too much flour I don't think. I don't know how well I kneaded it...as once again Amelia was fussing. All Amelia wants is to be with me non-stop.This is why I am writing a second blog of the day as I can't really put Amelia down because she will cry and fuss. I can't cook like I had planned with her in my moby or in my arms. She is due for her next nap soon. Thank goodness!

Ok back to the bread. So does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix my bread. I want to try it again. I remember making bread as a kid...mainly pizza dough. I don't remember this being a problem...I was using white flour then. (I refuse to use white flour).

Here is a link to the recipe I used. I halfed it. http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/01/kitchen-tip-tuesday-homemade-bread.html

Granola Bar Recipe

Granola bars are a main stay here at the Mattson home. We eat about a box or more a week. At about $3.00 for a box of Kashi granola bars this t equals approximately $12.00 a month or $144.00 a year just on granola bars! (yikes!!!) . As Guy exclaimed, "That is a car payment!!!".

So I decided it was time to take our addiction to granola bars into my own hands and learn how to make granola bars comparable to to the Kashi brand we love. I had some standards; no high fructose corn syrup, only whole grains, and organic if possible.
I found a delicious, frugal and easy recipe I would love to share with all my "granola" friends.
Here is a link to the recipe I used. It has a great tutorial step by step on how to make them. Link to Granola bar recipe from Joyful Abode

I have this problem, I can't stick to a recipe.

So...I used a little maple syrup (because was too impatient to wait for the last dredges of honey out of my bottle to make the total 1/2 cup.)

I would suggest not toasting the wheat germ because it was done before the rest of the grains were. The bars have a "done" taste to them. Guy says he doesn't mind.

My wax paper stuck to my bars. I nearly had a heart attack and thought I was going to have to throw the whole batch out. Then I had an idea! I used a dry towel and a hot pan to coax the paper off. Not ideal! So I would suggest using the wax paper to press it down when they are warm and then removing the paper from the top before they cool. I didn't have a problem with the underside wax paper sticking after they cooled. Strange.

I used plastic wrap to wrap them individually...but I think snack size bags would work well also. The baggies would be more "secure" but we are looking to be frugal here ladies. You could also just put them in a plastic container with plastic wrap between the layers. (I have shunned all wax paper for extended periods of time on these babies.)

I thought the bars were REALLY overly sweet. Of course, Guy loved them.

On his side I pressed some left over butterscotch chocolate chips that have been hanging out in my freezer for the last 2 years. On my side of the bars I pressed in some dried organic cranberries.

I think the next batch I am going to add some peanut butter to the "caramel glue" and not use maple syrup.

Also I may toast some coconut flakes and flax.

I am also going to lower the toasting temp to 325-350 degrees. I have read that toasting above that temp can turn the good polyunsaturated fats into trans-saturated fats… not so healthy. This is especially true if you add flax to the mix. I think I may add some ground flax to my next batch as it is more nutritious ground than whole.

I would love to hear any ideas or alterations you may have.

Does anyone have any ideas for a healthier "glue". I was thinking maybe molasses or rice syrup? Could I sub oil in for the butter?

Soaked Oatmeal

I have discovered a wonderful and nutritious breakfast I would love to share with you.
Soaked oatmeal . Ok the name doesn't conjure up the taste buds, but once you taste it.
Delicious and smooth!

Why soak the oatmeal?
Several reasons.
1.) Basically soaking (with an acid like yogert) helps to break down phytates in grains which prevent proper digestion of the nutrients and allows the body to properly absorb all the good content of those whole grains!
2.)It cuts the cooking time of old fashioned organic oatmeal to only about 5 min, if that!!! (It usually takes about 20-25 min.)
3.) Soaking expands the oatmeal so it yields more servings. Which makes oatmeal a very frugal meal!

I like to add dried fruit (not treated with sulfites) like cranberries and apples, slivered almonds, coconut flakes and flax seed to the mix too. Soak it all overnight in a glass jar or tupperware container on the counter (I have found the oatmeal isn't as smooth if you soak it in the fridge).
Top it off with a little soy milk, maple syrup or honey and you are on your way to a super nutritious breakfast!


What arephytates?
Phytic acid is found within the hulls of nuts, seeds, and grains.[1] In-home food preparation techniques can reduce the phytic acid in all of these foods. Simply cooking the food will reduce the phytic acid to some degree. More effective methods are soaking in an acid medium, lactic acid fermentation, and sprouting.[5]

Phytic acid is a strong chelator of important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc, and can therefore contribute to mineral deficiencies in people whose diets rely on these foods for their mineral intake, such as those in developing countries.[6] It also acts as an acid, chelating the vitamin niacin, which is basic, causing the condition known as pellagra. [7] In this way, it is an anti-nutrient.[1] For people with a particularly low intake of essential minerals, especially young children and those in developing countries, this effect can be undesirable. (Copied from Wikipedia link provided above.)

There have been some studies about the chelation effects of phytic acid in depriving cancer cells of iron. Something I have just started learning about and interested looking into further. Phytic acid's same mineral binding properties may also prevent colon cancer by reducing oxidative stress in the lumen of the intestinal tract.[12] Researchers now believe that phytic acid, found in the fiber of legumes and grains, is the major ingredient responsible for preventing colon cancer and other cancers.[1][13]. (copied from the phytate wikipedia link provided above). Also grain fed animals who do not produce phytase excrete large abouts of phosphorus into the environment because of the phytic acids chelation effects and binding properties with phosphorus. Phytase is used as an animal feed supplement - often in poultry and swine - to enhance the nutritive value of plant material by liberation of inorganic phosphate from phytic acid (myo-inositol hexakisphosphate) and, thereby, to reduce environmental phosphorus pollution.

TVP helper...makes a great meal!

I am notorious for not thawing out the meat I planned to use for dinner. Tonight was no exception. To my defense I had actually planned on making these Lentil burgers that sounded really good. BUT I had used up all my onions in my pot roast and my eggs for breakfast. (I didn't plan ahead...I need to really work on weekly meal planning). SO...coming in on stage left...TVP!!! TVP is a wonderful product. What is TVP you ask? Texturized vegetable protein. It is a soy product. You buy it near the natural grains area in the market. It is a dry good and stores well for extended periods of time. In my effort to cook 2 meatless meals a week TVP helps a lot. I actually forgot all about it. I used to use it alot when I was single and making an effort to decrease my meat consumption. Guy is much more of a carnivore than I. Now in the midst of a financial crunch and trying to save money on groceries I "rediscovered" TVP. What brought it back to my attention is the book I am "reading" called, "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. It is packed with great ideas. I do with she would have edited her book a little more and kept it a little more simple. Either way, her book has lots of great vegetarian recipes, one of which for TVP skillet dinner. Now, those of you who know me I can't stick to a recipe ever. (I wasn't one of those kids who liked coloring books either, I didn't like to color inside of the lines...I liked to draw my own pictures.) I have to tweak it here and there. I used Ruth's recipes as the skeleton on which I made my version of "TVP Helper".

TVP Helper
(this is a great way to stretch your meat. Any ground meat, turkey, beef, pork.)
I happened to have 4 meat balls in the freezer. What do you do with just 4 tiny meat balls? Stretch them to feed two people with TVP!!! Here is how I did it.

2 cans of crushed tomatoes (juice and all)
2 cups of filtered water
Bring to a boil
Add 1 cup of noodles (I used whole wheat elbow noodles)
1 cup TVP
1 can navy beans (drained)
1 TBSP Italian seasoning (you can use what ever you have on hand)
dash of onion powder (I ran out of onions remember)
dash of garlic powder (too lazy to mince a clove...honest but true)
dash of caiane pepper
dash of red pepper flakes
dash of Lawry's seasoning (I normally don't use this BUT I was trying to trick Guy into thinking this was all REAL meat)
Couple twists of the pepper mill.
1/4 c of shredded cheddar cheese stir this in.
Optional 1tsp of ground flax seed (I have a designated coffee griner for spices and bread crumbs I use to grind up seeds etc...I would HIGHLY recommend having a designated grinder. I can't tell you how many dollars I have saved in making my own bread crumbs with it and by using up those dried up older bread butts and heels that would normally go to waste.)

I sprinkled a little more cheese on top for "garnish" again to sell it to my husband.
He took a couple bites and was like, "WOW babe this is great...so what is in this. Is this all meat?

The great thing about TVP is it has the texture of ground meat and takes on the flavors of the dish you are making and doesn't lend a weird flavor like tofu sometimes can if it is cooked wrong. If you really like a beef flavor you can soak the TVP in beef stock. I warn you it can become really salty if you do this, so use a low sodium stock.

I have been really proud of Guy lately trying new foods and expanding his palate!

Sorry no pictures...think of hamburger helper...that is what it looked like.