Cleaning out the Fridge

I love recipes that help me to clean out my fridge. You know the ones that leave room for improvisation and the ability to use a little of this and a little of that. Just the other day I found a recipe that let me do just that. It is for a great Pot Pie recipe.

 image from The Baker Chick blog

Check out all the veggies I threw into mine:

carrots

green beans

peas

corn

onions

cauliflower

broccoli

yukon gold potatoes

squash

Head on over to The Baker Chick's blog and try out this great Pot Pie recipe. Just try not to be too distracted by her amazing dessert recipes while you're there.

*If you have your own pie crust recipe I'd go ahead and make that. Stick to what you're familiar with. Even if that means store bought!

Post Edit: Kim asked:  "i am making these one day this week. do you think they would work in regular muffin tins? and if I freeze them, did you cook them first, then freeze? and how long would i reheat them for?!?"


My response: "I froze mine BEFORE cooking them. I found several other similar recipes online that had done that. Then they cooked them from anywhere from one hour to an hour and a half. You'll just have to mess around with the times and watch them close. If you think well enough ahead, you could also thaw them and then cook them, I suppose. As you can see, I've not cooked mine from frozen yet! We'll all have to learn together. Also, I think they'd work just great in regular size muffin tins. The extra large muffin tins make BIG ole pies and my kids will never be able to eat a whole one. But, if they were regular muffin size they could and my kids would think that was fun to get their own muffin pie.

Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup

Tuesday the sun was shining and my kiddos and I went for a long, much needed, and loved walk. I was just sure spring was coming.  Today, the wind is blowing and it's drizzly and freezing cold. So, I guess it's still soup season. Sigh.


This recipe is so so very easy and really yummy. It uses carrots, celery, and bell peppers; all of which have been in our baskets this week or last. If you still have some of the red potatoes from last week throw those in as well.


ENJOY! 

Vegetable Beef and Barley Soup

1 1/2 lb. hamburger
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
6 cups water
1/4 cup ketchup
8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 cups carrots chopped
1 1/2 cups celery chopped
1 cup pearl of barley
3 beef bouillon cubes
onion chopped top taste
bell pepper chopped to taste
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. salt

Brown hamburger. Season to your liking.  Combine balance of ingredients. Simmer until veggies are crisp tender.

See? Could those directions be any simpler? 

Sunday SPECIAL-Berry Blitze (Crepes)

Our church schedule has changed from the late afternoon to the morning and the last two weeks have been lovely. We are home from church by noon and have the rest of the day to just be together as a family. Today we watched Little House on the Prairie (several episodes!) and played games. It was so relaxing and nice. It almost felt like Christmas all over again. So, to end the wonderful day, well,  WONDERFULLY, I wanted to make a special treat for dinner and I hit the jackpot with this one. It was a BERRY special way to end a very special day.

P.S. I know that many of you are trying to make better health choices for the New Year. Me too. This recipe isn't exactly great for you (hello SUGAR!) but it is fun to splurge every once in a while! So, just eat one like I did, and try not to lick out the filling and sauce bowls! YUM! 

image

BERRY BLITZE (Crepes)

Ingredients:

CREPE BATTER:

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

5 tbsp. melted butter

1 cup plus 2 TBSP. flour

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp. salt

Whisk together milk, water, melted butter, eggs, floyr, and salt. Put 1/4 cup batter in small round fry pan. Fry in pan for about a minute and a half. Flip and continue to cook for 30 seconds.

SAUCE:

2 cups blueberries (I used half blueberries and half BLACKBERRIES from our basket!)

6 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 tbsp. corn starch

Stir all ingredients together in sauce pan on med./low. Heat to a boil, then simmer for ten minutes.

FILLING:

5 oz. cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

1 pint whipping cream (or cool whip if it happens to be what you have in the freezer like me!)

1 tsp. vanilla

Whip cream. Add cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.

TO ASSEMBLE:

Put cream filling inside crepe. Top with sauce and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.  

ENJOY!

Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas with Creamy Tomatillo Sauce

Does your community have a contest for the first baby that is born in the new year and the parents win all sorts of great prizes for being the first to deliver their baby? And you always hope that the baby will be a cute one cause its picture will be posted all over the paper and the news.  Well, I kinda feel like that posting today. I'm the first sister to welcome in the New Year here on Basket 411 and I'm proud  to say that this recipe is a keeper and one that I think will make the year 2011 proud! 

(Now, where's my prize?!?!?!)

I hope that many of you bought the Mexican pack this week and I really hope you read this before using the tomatillos from it. Because this recipe is really so delightful. YUM! 

Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas with Creamy Tomatillo Sauce

 
Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb. (6 to 8) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 1 medium white onion, sliced about ¼ in. thick
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• Hot green chiles to taste (2 to 3 serranos, or 1 to 2 jalapeños), stemmed
• 1 1/2 tbs. vegetable oil, plus extra for vegetables and tortillas
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth, plus a little extra if needed
• 1/2 cup Mexican crema, crème fraîche, or heavy whipping cream
• *8 cups cubed vegetables (about 1/2-in.) such as carrots, onions, turnips, mushrooms, and broccoli-see my note about veggies
• Salt
• 12 corn tortillas
• 2/3 cup shredded Mexican cheese likeasadero, or Monterey Jack or cheddar
• Sliced white onion rings, for garnish
• Fresh cilantro sprigs, for garnish

Directions
1. Roast tomatillos, sliced onion, garlic, and chiles on rimmed baking sheet 4 in. below preheated broiler until tomatillos are soft and blackened in spots on one side, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn vegetables over; broil about 4 minutes longer. Remove and reduce oven temperature to 400°F.

2. Scrape tomatillo mixture into food processor or blender. Process until smooth purée. Heat 11/2 tbs. oil in medium-large pot over medium-high heat. When drop of purée sizzles in oil, add remainder of purée. Stir constantly for several minutes until darker and thicker. Add broth and crema, reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes.

3. Spread cubed vegetables on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt, and mix to coat evenly. Place in oven and roast, turning vegetables regularly, until crunchy-tender, about 25 minutes (reduce roasting time for broccoli and other green vegetables by 5 to 10 minutes).

4. If sauce has thickened and is no longer consistency of light cream soup, stir in a little more broth (or water). Taste and season with salt, about 1 tsp. Lightly brush both sides of each tortilla with oil. Stack, wrap in damp paper towels, and microwave on high (100%) for 1 minute to warm and soften.

5. Spread about 1 cup sauce over bottom of 13-by-9-in. baking dish. Working quickly, roll equal portion of roasted vegetables into each tor-tilla while tortillas are still hot and pliable. Place them side by side in baking dish. Douse evenly with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake until enchiladas are heated through and cheese begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Garnish with onion rings and cilantro sprigs. 

*The veggies I used were: 2 large carrots (my favorite. Use a LOT of carrots. They taste so sweet and savory after being roasted,) 1 yellow squash, 1/2 onion, 8 or so brussel sprouts (were a little bitter, especially next to the carrots, but this recipe is a good way to use them,) 1/3 head broccoli. This amount of veggies only made nine enchiladas. So, I'd add some more veggies (carrots) if you want the full batch of 12. I did have plenty of sauce. By the way, the sauce is so so good. 

Recipe from here

 

Just for Fun Friday (On Tuesday!) - Fruit Kabobs!

The Setting: Applebee's Restaurant.
What: Surprising our kids with dessert for being such great kiddos and getting their morning chores done before school (without complaining!) all week.
The Conversation: Asking each child what their best part of the day was.
The Expectation: That they'd all answer getting to go out for dessert was the best part of their day.
The Surprise: That Connor's favorite part of the day was our after school snack.

So you might ask yourself, what kind of snack could beat out an ooey gooey ice cream treat? You might be surprised to know that it was FRUIT KABOBS!

This really is such a fun, tasty, and EASY way to use up all that Bountiful Basket fruit. My kids loved getting involved and creating their own snack. It's as simple as cutting your fruit into chunks and letting the kiddos kabob it onto skewers. If you don't have large skewers you could use toothpicks for mini versions as well. You could even jazz it up a bit by cutting some of the fruit out with cookie cutters.

So, even though it's not Friday (I didn't get this done fast enough last week), I wanted to share this before Thanksgiving because I think this would be a great side dish/salad to take to your festivities. You could take them all pre-made or use this idea as an activity/appetizer for the kids.

ENJOY!

Reader Suggestions!

A loyal reader, sent us the following e-mail and picture:

Our Sunday morning ritual is to make eggs with the contents of our Bountiful Basket. I thought that you might enjoy seeing what went into our eggs today.  We used the Tomatoes, Herbs, Onions, Garlic and Mushrooms. Additionally we used a little Parmesan Cheese and the eggs themselves were purchased at our local Farmers Market to insure that we got them Antibiotic, Hormone and Steroid free. We enjoyed the Persimmons on the side.

Have a wonderful and blessed Sunday.

Gary M.

Mesa, AZ

Looks great doesn't it? Thanks, Gary!

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Teresa sent us this recipe using many of the ingredients from the Italian Pack. I hope someone will give it a try and let us know what you think.

Thank you for the suggestion, Teresa. We appreciate it!

Ratatouille

eggplantrecipes.net

Classic, hearty casserole dish starts with sauteed garlic, eggplant and parsley as a bottom layer. Zucchini, Parmesan cheese, onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and tomatoes complete this casserole before being baked golden brown and crispy on top.

Ingredients -

2 tablespoons Olive Oil 3 cloves Garlic, minced 2 teaspoons Dried Parsley 1 Eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes Salt, to taste 1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese 2 Zucchini, sliced 1 large Onion, sliced into rings 2 cups sliced Fresh Mushrooms 1 green Bell Pepper, sliced 2 large Tomatoes, chopped

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. Grease casserole dish with 1 tbs. olive oil. 3. Add remaining olive oil to medium skillet. Heat over medium heat. 4. Saute garlic until tender. Stir in eggplant cubes and parsley. Saute 10 minutes. 5. Season eggplant with salt. 6. Spoon eggplant into casserole. Spread to create even layer. Sprinkle eggplant with parmesan cheese. 7. Arrange zucchini slices in even layer over eggplant. Sprinkle zucchini layer with parmesan cheese. 8. Repeat layering with onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and tomatoes. 9. Sprinkle remaining parmesan on top. 10. Bake 45 minutes.

Post edit: Teresa made this recipe and here is what she had to say:
I made the Ratatouille tonight and we loved it! It was so fresh, and a very filling vegetarian dish. I had the opportunity to first try Ratatouille In France. There, it was more saucy but also more mushy. If you want it more saucy (less runny), you can probably add a can of tomato sauce. I was originally surprised that there weren't more spices, but as it bakes all of the flavors really blend nicely. The best part is the garlicky eggplant at the bottom! One thing though: don't scrimp on the Parmesan cheese, and make sure to bake it long enough - took mine almost an hour.  The best part about making this tonight is that my kids were excited to eat it because of the movie! And thanks to you, we had snickers salad for desert! Wow! What a fun night of food!

PS. even the parsley came from BB - when we get spices in our add-on's we dry them!

This and That

 {Are you interested in something cute to bring all your BB  goodies home in each week? Check out our GIVEAWAY!}

Do you ever have a fridge full of veggies, but never enough of one variety to really do anything with it? That happens at our house frequently. Today, I want to share with you three great recipes that take a little of this and a little of that. They are a great way to use up some of those stray veggies and still have a fabulous meal!

I hope one of these will suit your fancy and help you to use up YOUR straggler veggies!  

This and That- Wendy's CHILI

I LOVE Wendy's Restaurant Chili. Served over a baked potato with their Caesar Salad on the side is my favorite faux-made meal! So, one day I tried to recreate their chili and here is what I came up with.

Wendy’s Chili Recipe

2 lbs. fresh ground beef
1 qt. V8
2 (15oz.) can SW Mexican Tomatoes (chopped or blended)
2 (15 oz.) can red chili beans

2 (15 oz.) cans white beans
1 medium onion (1 1/2 c.), chopped
1/2 C. celery, diced (This is a good starting point, but I've since decided to use WAY more. As much as I have!)
1/4 C. bell pepper, diced (Way more here, too!)
1/4 C. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin (if you like real flavor, add more)
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. each: black pepper, oregano, sugar
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Brown your hamburger along with the chopped onion.  Add and saute the celery and bell pepper. Transfer to a large soup pot. Add the V8 juice, all your canned beans (undrained), tomatoes, and seasonings. Simmer. And serve.

This recipe freezes amazingly well. I make this recipe ONE time at the beginning of winter. I at least triple the batch and freeze it in freezer bags and use it all winter. I always clean my house on Mondays and so this is typically my Monday go-to meal. I hate to mess up my kitchen after cleaning all day, so I thaw a bag of this chili, throw it in the crock pot and smell it's delicious aroma all day while I clean!

This and That-FRIED RICE

Homemade Fried Rice:

• Cut up whatever veggies you have on hand that you think would be great in a fried rice. (I can think of very few that wouldn't be good. So, just use whatever you have.)

Here's what we used:

• We also added some frozen peas.
• Saute your veggies in a bit of Olive Oil until they reach your desired consistency. I prefer them slightly soft, but NOT mushy.

• Add cooked rice (we used leftovers. Perfect!) and some say sauce to taste. Everyone can add more soy sauce to their own, so go light.
• Salt and pepper.
• Serve!

So EASY! So DELICIOUS! So, MSG FREE! Yippee!