Make it from Scratch* Refried Pinto Beans*

This is a re post enjoy

I like using pure ingredients.
Now days here in the states our store bought foods have become polluted.
They put High fructose corn syrup in everything.
Whey, this was once the bi product of cheese a waste product no more.
The Oils are toxic.
So after investigation on my part reveled that they are not even using the "pinto bean" any more I had enough!
Oh and the expense to eat toxic (long term) food on health care!
Organics are pricey.

Empty a can (ease and speed of preparation) of "pinto" (or any other you favor) and rinse with running water.
Pick out any bad beans.
(you can even cook beans from scratch after soaking over night)
I had a little salsa left so I added some water too it and shook to jar
A 1/4 C of butter
a teaspoon of cumin
a tea. of sea salt
and a dash of cayenne.

I used my blender pulsing it a few times.

Walla!
Beloved raved! He said it was the best burrito I ever made!
Well I been making his burritos out of canned refried beans for years.
I think I will make them from scratch from here out!
Oh, Dash agreed!
I had some on rice it was wonderful!

Meal Plan Monday

Hello

click on images to enlarge them

Good evening, it looks like life is becoming a bit more of a good pace for me now. My immune system is getting stronger as my numbers continue to increase. My lymphatic system is healing so that it can create more mature lymph.

 Were just sitting down the two of us at our own computers to chill out. The kids are asleep and the dishwasher hums in the back ground.

Recently several lemons were gifted me. 

This is the process used to get the most out of them.

 Be sure to avoid the white it is bitter. 

These are diced or added and then removed from a sauce or recipe.

 Nothing wasted this is the great way to clean a sink and garbage disposal

 Now for the fine scrape it is used for dishes that keep the rind in them.

Juice is then squeezed for lemon aid by adding a simple syrup.

Wedges of lemon added to make the flavor rise.

Juice is saved for other uses. Rinds are frozen.

All from a few lemons and a little simple sryup.

Simple syrup add sugar to boiling water and dissolve store for various uses.

This is great for drinks or things that need a sweet without a spoon to stir it.

Meal Plan Monday

Introducing, Our New Plan!

Menu Plan Monday

yum! Vanilla bean in the sugar jar.

We are implementing a new method that is based on four lists.

 Not limited to, but a every day thing. Many other foods as well.

Every day we will eat

Carrots (raw baby carrots are very sweet the kids love them.)

green leafy vegetable (this week Kale fine chop in the rice, savoy .)

whole grain (bread, cookies,waffles we do not really like store bought cereals)

fruit (soft fruits eat them first oranges toward weeks end)

nuts

Green tea (we will work on getting one we like)

Three times a week we will eat

oily fish (this week salmon, sword fish and some shrimp. I also eat tuna and sardines)

Sweet potato (we love them, we also have three types of winter squash)

avocado ($$)

yogurt  ( I'll start making my own again)

broccoli (raw of course :)

only 1 time per week

red meat (other days chicken, beans,fish)

pasta (Steve hates pasta, kids love it)

desert (fruits are a wonderful center here, also healthy ones the kids do not need to know)

(alcohol) we don't drink so not an issue for us

zero times per week

fast food

soda (exception Club Soda)

diet anything

canned soups

Eating breakfast EVERY DAY!

To accomplish the goal when shopping the one time a day foods were considered. 4 (four of us) x7 portions of fruits were sure to be available. Like wise and so on I shopped. When returning home the menu was set by what might expire first. Each every day item set on board, then the three times a week and so on. So far it is a far better method. We also have reduced our meat to a 1/4 pound portion per person. We are filling up on the veggies, nuts and fruits. The meat is like an accent to the meal rather than the center of it. Now the other ingredients fill in. My rice and such. It is working wonderfully!

The produce was tended as per good habits for keeping things fresh.

The kids are not fussing so much either for the veggies are mostly served in a raw or lightly cooked way as normal. Just more of them. Nuts are added. Walnuts, almonds, sesame seeds, pecans, peanuts YUM! These are all in a container available at a moments notice in the refrigerator.

Meal Plan Monday * butcher your own Meat*

A day late but saving the  short dollar

Saving on your meat purchases can easily be accomplished.

Purchase top round or bottom round when it is on sale.

Mine was on sale for $1.50 pound.

Start with the roast and use toweling under the cutting board.

By cutting across the grain the meat is tender cut. If your direction is wrong the meat is tough because in essence your eating it stringy. Now trim down the extra marble (good fat) save for your grind.

There is nothing like a good sharp knife

check this out click on image

By setting your scale to tare with the saucer you have it on zero with plate on it. We cut a 1/4 steak for we eat a lot of veggie and grain.
The meat off the tail of the roast is then ground. It is tender adding the marble here in the grind is important. We are looking at maybe 98% lean beef, if no marble is added the flavor and texture will be negatively effected

Well the yeast was happy today and after the kids were off to the bus I got my upper body work out :)

Love that towel.
My sister gave it to me. Fits well to cover the dough while it rises.

Baking before 1 p.m.

We saved $65. on electric this month using the time of use plan.

Power down the house at 1 p.m.

Also we added extra dark tenting on all south and west facing windows, and glass doors.

Meal Plan Monday

Happy Monday

I hope everyone had a nice weekend

This week for meal plan Monday

A simple easy week due to three days labor four days rest.
Each Thursday for 2 more weeks knee injections  (synvisk) will put me on my fanny for a few days rest. It is really a few days out of a whole year not too bad really to avoid a knee replacement.

Last week found us with a good 6 dozen quality eggs. The date on them nearing the end makes them perfect for boiled eggs. Tip here never use NEW eggs to boil. The shell is set to membrane inside the shell. So as they age the air is escaped (eggs are porous except those that are covered in wax as in store bought commercially grown). So farm fresh or organic eggs are the exception. The other eggs sit so long it makes no matter.

So for you who raise chickens let your eggs set at least a week before using them as boiled.

With this find menu was set over egg dishes. Deviled eggs, egg salad (kids love it) a high protein after school snack with crackers. Also a Egg based breakfast with bacon and fruit.
Speaking of breakfast the cookies were due. Each day Beloved eats these with an Orange Juice on the way to work.

click here for a former post of on Breakfast Cookies
B
Breakfast Cookies

By cooking up sausage patties breakfast muffing are an early morning sinch

Morning prep done for the week

Hope you all have a wonderful week

Cutting down a turkey to make ground meat (amended)

Before you an $11. turkey.
Purchased at Easter

Watch as we make a feast for a family of four that has at least 18 meals represented. 

That is 18x4=72 meals plus left overs. All for $11 of meat.

Begin with the prep of all the supplies that will be needed at hand. This is very important for the meat must be prepared very quickly to maintain the chill needed for safe handling. The small sauce pan is for the gizzard and heart that will go to a boil to make the home style gravy later. Place paper toweling under the cutting board and have extra to keep the juices contained. As much as I try to avoid paper products this is an exception. Do NOT use your cloth towels, news paper or paper bags if you must.

Here you see the breast cut off, The leg and wing drum sticks set aside. Return to chill while working the carcass for the meat scraps to make ground turkey.

Once the carcass is cleared of all meat that is scraped as well as cut from the bones, set it aside.

All the other meat get to chilling it promptly

Set the bones and the wing tips on to boil. I only use reverse osmosis water to cook with. It is found that the tap water can really contain things (even in small parts per billion) that I do not want my family to ingest.

grind the scraps down after removing any extra skin. A tip here as much as we like very lean meats it is a must to have a very little amount of the fats/skin added in the grind to hold it together and to give it a binding agent of sorts. This will be made into a meat ball recipe, and a half of it will be pre-cooked and then all refrozen for another day.

Now with the turkey breast de-skinned they are carved into tenders. This a good summer time cut. No oven needed. The thigh is added to the boiling pot for adding back a little of the dark meat will give it a deeper savory flavor.

Tenders to freezer par-freeze. Keep them apart from each other then you can use the plastic by cutting them apart wrap the piece of meat as you cut it apart and then all goes into a freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible. That is all the by-product left it is to be tossed. I should of bagged it first but neglected to do so.

Clean all work surfaces thoroughly use care here this is where cross contamination and e-coli can occur if not careful. There is the pot with the stock cooking down. Once done a good 2-3 boiled hours it is cooled. skimmed removed from the stew pot. Meanwhile cut down the celery/carrot/onion when the pot is emptied of the stock and the bones cleaned of scrap use a gee or rue (butter with the milk whey removed) heat it well and saute the veggies well. Add a bit of flour and thicken add broth. The beginning of your soup. Go from there with your own creativity.

In oven the drum sticks, corn bread and the baked golden Yukon yellow potato. Oh those are so good even cold for a snack. They are naturally buttery. I just love them as my carb mid day.

Now make sure that the turkey is cooked to 170*F

The left over broth in the pan...cool it then de-fat it this is the concentrated base for the gravy.

Now the gravy use the finely diced gizzard and heart in the gravy I think there is another post under cooking in my lists that show the method.

Remove the bones to cool
start gravy and the broth is strained into a bowl
It is added to the gravy as it cooks and thickens
This becomes extremely concentrated in flavor boy howdy this is livin'

Rue to empty stock pot and then when hot add root veggies.
I also fine grated the last of the parsnips from the garden
Parsnips now that's the flavor of the homemade soup, use it in any poultry based soup.

Finely and I mean VERY finely dice the heart gizzard and liver (I got cheated a liver in this bird)
Now I know that just sounds nasty but this is the flavor of the gravy

Remove the meat off bone dice to medium size and toss into the stock after the the flour is added as a thickening agent, add stock to thick veggie/flour mix (all in the pot)
I added three organic carrots at a large slice for texture boiled it another 5 minutes on a high rolling boil.

Powered down by 1:10 yee haw!

Enjoy!

Wow that was the first long post in some time. It is so good to be getting back to my old self again.


The break down...

4 family meals of tenders (16 meal portions)
4 family meals of ground turkey (16 meal portions)
Meal for 4 of drum sticks (4 meal portions)
soup stock for several meals (example rice boiled in it yum)
Gravy
Large pot of soup (20 meal portions at least!)

Lots of left overs too

.15 cents a meal

all for $11 and a two hour labor of love.
Now find me a job that pays those kind of hours, free childcare too.

Find me a dishwasher too, that would be cool
:)

Meal Plan Monday Mother Sauces

I have missed this community but I have been consumed a bit over here with life.

One thing about cooking is education. I love to learn and recently I began my education into learning more about the Mother Sauces. From these sauces the recipies are litterally ENDLESS.

Each week I will share the knowledge with you on a sauce.

This week I will use a white sauce on egg noodles with a cubed beef in sauce...sound familar?

BEEF TIPS AND NOODLES

2 lbs. of beef tips, cut into 1" cubes 1 pkg. onion soup mix (or dried onion and a bit of Kitchen Bouquet, a seasoning and browning sauce) 1 cup of white sauce 1 pt. fresh mushrooms, rinsed 1/2 c. red wine 1 pkg. egg noodles, cooked & drained 1 tbsp. vegetable oil Brown beef tips in vegetable oil, until cooked through. Add white sauce,onion soup mix, fresh mushrooms and wine. Simmer on low heat for several hours. Serve over egg noodles.Note: The longer the beef tips simmer, the more tender they will be. Mother Sauces There are five Mother Sauces This is a culinary lesson. *Béchamel * Espagnole * Hollandaise * Mayonnaise * Tomato sauce * Velouté Sauce Bechamel Is a French Sauce Base: Milk (Usually Whole Milk) Thickening Agent:"How To Make and Use a Roux" White Roux Classical Flavorings: White Onion, Clove, Bay Leaf, Salt, White Pepper, Nutmeg Common Secondary Sauces: Cream Sauce, Mornay, Cheddar Cheese Sauce, Mustard Sauce, Nantua  Classically Served With: Eggs, Fish, Steamed Poultry, Steamed Vegetables, Pastas, Veal  Technique and Recipe: Guidelines for Roux Don’t use margarine or shortening. Yes they’re cheap, but margarine tastes horrible and shortening adds no flavor; not to mention it can give you a bit of a fuzzy mouth feel. "How To Make Clarified Butter" Melt over double boiler and once melted skim off all of the whey off of the top of it. Store for use. Use only clarified butter oil or animal fat Don’t use whole butter. Whole butter is about 15% water and will give you a less consistent product than a roux made with pure fat.  skim off whey and discard  Keep this in the refrigerator for use in sauces A good roux is paste like and is not runny or pourable. A roux that has too much fat and is too runny is called a slack roux. Excessive fat in your roux will be released into your sauce, making it greasy and forcing you to spend extra time skimming and de-fating your sauce. Cake flour has about 20% more thickening power than bread or AP (All Purpose) flour. However, since bread and AP flower are more common than cake flour, most recipes that call for a roux assume that you will be using AP flour. Making Roux The process for making roux is extremely simple. Just place equal parts of flour and fat, together and cook over low heat until thickened.  How long do you cook it for? Well that depends on what kind of roux you wish to make. There are basically three types of roux which are differentiated by the degree to which the roux is cooked. White Roux White roux is really more of a yellow roux that you basically cook for just a few minutes until the fat and flour are evenly mixed together and start to froth. You want to cook out the raw taste of the flour, but stop cooking the roux before it starts to turn color. White rouxs are used for white sauces that are cream and milk based such as bechamel and Alfredo. Blond Roux Blond roux is cooked a little longer than your white roux, just until it starts to slightly turn color. Blond roux is used for white sauces that are stock based, such as veloutes. Brown Roux Brown roux is traditionally used for brown sauces, which are sauces based upon brown roasted stocks such as the mother sauce Espagnole. The key to a good brown roux is to cook it over low heat so that it browns evenly without scorching. Some chefs will even dry roast their flower in the oven first before making it into roux. A good brown roux will have a rich and nutty aroma, and is great for thickening brown sauces and gravies. Just remember that a dark brown roux will have about a third of the thickening power of a blond or white roux. Incorporating Roux Into a Sauce or Soup Roux can be added to a sauce either warm or cold, but never hot. A sizzling hot roux will separate and break when it hits a cold sauce, causing lumps and the loss of the roux’s thickening power. Once the roux is added into the liquid you wish to thicken, whisk vigorously to incorporate and bring sauce to a simmer. Most roux thickened sauces are simmered for at least 20 minutes to cook out any starchy taste created by the flour. During this simmering, it is a perfect time to skim off any scum or fat that rises to the top. Now what kind of ratio and proportions should you use when thickening with a roux? It’s as the rhyme of 3,4,5,6. 3 ounces of roux per quart of liquid will thicken a sauce to a thin or light consistency. 4 ounces of roux per quart = medium body sauce. 5 ounces of roux per quart = thick sauce. 6 ounces of roux per quart = heavy gravy. Sauce Béchamel  This recipe is for about one cup. Multiply by the number of cups of sauce you need. 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup milk pinch of nutmeg, salt, and pepper Melt the butter in a saucepan over low to medium heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour and mix well. Continuing stirring over low heat for two minutes. Using a whisk, and continually whisking, add the milk in small quantities - about two tablespoons at a time. Make sure that you fully incorporate the liquid before adding more - this way you will get a smooth sauce. After you've added about half the milk, pour in the rest and give the mixture a good whisking. Continue to heat the sauce on low to medium heat, whisking often. Cook just to below boiling until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and whisk in nutmeg, salt and pepper. This can be made a day ahead or kept made in the refrigerator for the menu

Full days Summer with Children

We have had a wonderful time with my Great Niece and nephew.

They are not much younger than my two, how is that for perspective?

Wii play they had a wonderful Loud time :)
Goodness sakes they look like siblings!

The garden gave up some of the last of the spring crops.

Hot days here and the garden is at rest.

With these little onions and the parsnip (member of the carrot family a must in chicken soup) a batch of Beef barley stew.

Made up three main meals for the week ahead. The utilities are less in my morning so that is when the cooking is done. I try to turn everything off at 1 p.m.

Rice with chicken stock, tomato sauce and turmeric

Re-fry frijoles, Pintos with cumin, salsa, butter and water in the blender

Chili with pinto beans,tri-colored bell peppers,cumin,curry ect.

Beef Barley with root veggies, potato (three types), carrot, parsnip those onions garlic

The blinder grind up lg can of diced organic tomato use part in chili, stew and rice then add the pinto (no need to wash it) use for the frijoli add butter (melted in micro) jarred salsa and the washed canned pinto bean. (now the beans in the store bought are all white beans, read the labels)

Garlic press for stew and chili wash once

1: p.m. came around and we all left to go to a library and then a free swim.

Lego play was supposed to be 1-3p.m. but an error in the article it was not until 3:30-4:30!

As I told them that Dashes heart mattered and we would wait the two hours for it.

LOOK at the size of that novel Dove is devouring. She is half way through!

Dash is reading an encyclopedia.

I enjoyed a reference manual on cultures/societies of the world.

They had a typewriter and so I showed the kids the "way it was" :)

Although it was a fancy machine for my youth.

When I graduated high school My mom gave it to me as a graduation gift.

Don't see them too often now, Dash mentioned how when you made a mistake you had to start over, 

"no white out"

I said. We had to learn how to fix our mistakes...Sorta rings poetic don't ya think. Now a day kids don't LEARN HOW TO FIX mistakes but how to cover them up or to depend on other to cover it just like spell check does for us now.

Finally the time came and the play was had.

After some confusion and the burning off of the stress of sitting with a 12 year old banging her head against the table in frustration...

We left to go get the cash for the pool. The free swim dead line had come and gone.

We found a pack of day old buns, a pkg of lunch meat and a drink each. Supper under $6.

Steve met us at the pool. While we were changing he had walked in. When we came out of the changing room we were all happy to see each other and amazed once we realized that we each arrived within a minute of each other. Given the confusion a fore mentioned it was really something. 

Each day efforts are made to have some fun, home days relaxed and playing games and watching HULU on computer, sorta like TV you can pause.

They have a buddy over now playing the Wii.

I had my CAT scan with contrast this morning. so it is a low slow day for me. 

No big deal just a baseline on my lungs.

It will now be a yearly cancer screening all of you should remember the ones that you need to do.

Keep centered and enjoy life...

It's the only one we get.

Kids are young only a few short years.

Watch them thrive, show them the way by that example

:)