Spice Organization

The dreaded, unorganized spice cabinet:

If only there was a way to organize it better.  I gave this lots and lots of thought.  I searched for spice bottles and found lots of them.  The most readily available ones had a cheap, plastic lid that I know I would have broken very quickly.  I then found some plain ones that I really liked, but I could only find three of them.

After literally months of contemplating and researching spice organization, I finally came across mini mason jars used for spices.  And when I went to the grocery store and decided to look at their mason jars, I found these Dry Herb Jars:

I bought all they had!  I also picked up some plastic lids for the jars I had began to collect from the thrift stores.  After cleaning all the jars and lids, I was ready to transfer all my spices to their new containers.  I'm very happy with the results!

Notice the little jar of spoons in the bottom left corner of the photo above?  I will use those little spoons to spoon out the spices or I will pour a little into my hand before I put them in whatever I am cooking up.

I found some larger jars for baking soda, baking powder, salt and garlic salt:

 

I don't normally have so much garlic salt, but I bought a large container of it, then mixed in a lot more garlic powder, so I ended up with a lot of it.

Where can you find mini mason jars?  I found them at almost every grocery store I went to and at the hardware store (who knew?)!  And, of course, the thrift stores have jars of all sizes.

I feel so organized now!

Pamm



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Pumpkin French Toast

A can of pumpkin had been hanging around my pantry.  I love pumpkin and am always looking for new ways to use it.  Today's experiment is Pumpkin French Toast.

Pumpkin French Toast

6 eggs

1/4 cup pumpkin

1/4 cup milk

ground ginger

ground nutmeg

ground allspice

ground cinnamon

brown sugar

sliced bread

canola oil

Whisk all ingredients together, except bread and oil.  Add the spices and brown sugar to your taste.  I probably put about 1 teaspoon of each.  Dip bread in egg mixture and fry in pan with a little hot oil.  Cook on medium heat until brown, flip and cook until brown again.

It was delicious!  French Toast that tasted a little like pumpkin pie!  Yum!  I don't enjoy syrup, so I just put a little butter on the bread and ate it plain.

I will be making this again.

Oven baked egg salad

One of my favorite ways to hard boil an egg is to bake it in the oven!

Bake eggs for 30 minutes at 325 degrees.

I like to use my mini-muffin pan to stabilize the eggs.

On this day, I was baking sweet potatoes at the same time, so putting the eggs in saved some energy.

When the eggs were done baking, I gave them a cold-water shower to stop the cooking process.

I find the eggs peel easier when baked vs. boiled.

Egg Salad Ingredients:  Eggs, Miracle Whip, honey mustard, salt, pepper, and a dash of paprika.

I find using a pastry blender is the perfect way to dice the boiled eggs.

Add the ingredients and stir.  I never measure anything, just add what feels right.

It was gone so fast, I didn't get a finished photo.  It was delicious!

Will you try baking your hard-boiled eggs next time?  This is a great way to cook many eggs at once, like at Easter time or for a big crowd.

Chicken and Biscuits

This easy dish reminds me a little of Chicken and Dumplings.

Chicken and Biscuits

2 cans refrigerated biscuits

1/4 cup butter

1 can chicken broth

1-2 cups cooked, chopped chicken

pepper to taste

paprika to taste

Taco Ring

I make about three versions of this recipe.  It's easy and it freezes well.

Taco Ring

2 cans refrigerator crescent rolls

1 pound ground beef or turkey

Minced onion and garlic to taste

1 envelope taco seasoning mix

Shredded cheddar cheese

Back to Weekend Cooking

I get paid every-other week, therefore I shop every-other week now, instead of weekly.  It is sort of nice to shop and cook one weekend, then use the next weekend for other activities.  Sometimes, I break up the cooking by cooking some items one weekend and a few other items the next.

Here's my weekend cooking.  I made old standbys and a couple of newer dishes:

Meatloaf Muffins

These are great for lunch paired with fruit or a salad.

I freeze them in 1-portion snack baggies.

Back To Cooking Leftovers On Purpose!

After adventure and life changes, I'm ready to get back to blogging.

In late 2011 I stopped blogging when I made a life change and closed our home child care after 13 years.  It was bittersweet as I miss the families I served, but 13 years of changing diapers is enough for anyone!

Weekend Cooking

It has been two months of traveling and staying with others.  After finally moving into our own apartment, I'm back to cooking ahead.  Without cooking for toddlers, I have to remember not to cook so much at once.  I feel like I did a mini-session, but actually have several meals.

Easy Peach Cobbler

I love this recipe!  It's so easy!

Got A Lot Of Turkey?

Hopefully you had a great Thanksgiving with a beautiful bird.  Ours was wonderful.

Double Duty

This is the top of my mini crock pot.

Pumpkin & Oatmeal Pancakes

Remember my pumpkin pancakes?  Well I had to use up the rest of the pumpkin and the rest of the box of pancake mix.  When I did that, roughly doubling the recipe, it came out too thin.  I had to add something to thicken it up.  I just so happened to have about 2 cups of quick oats that needed to be used up.  I mixed it in and it was just what it needed to thicken up.

I cooked just like I described in the original recipe.  They came out very good with added texture and nutrition.  It was a good mistake.

Pamm




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Sweet & Sour Rice

I had made some basic meatballs for Sweet & Sour Meatballs.  They were just sitting in the freezer waiting for something to go with it so I made up some Sweet & Sour Rice.

I didn't measure anything, I didn't even look at a recipe--yikes!  I mixed up:

pineapple tidbits and juice (the whole can)

garlic power

onion power

ground ginger

soy sauce

apple cider vinegar

minced garlic

minced ginger

brown sugar

I kept adding things and tasting until it tasted right.

I made several cups of Jasmine rice in my rice cooker.  I Put a serving of rice with some sweet and sour sauce, into a container then into the freezer.  To heat, I put in some of the meatballs, then a container of rice and sauce into my mini crock pot and heat for 2-3 hours.

I think I need to trust myself more and cook without recipes.  Maybe we all need to try it once in a while.


Pamm





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Hot Pastrami

A very simple sandwich!

I put a little butter in a frying pan and heated the pastrami.  I took the meat out of the pan, then put the bread in, topped with the pastrami and some provolone cheese, then topped with bread.  I let it brown, then flipped to brown on the other side.

I ate this without any condiments.  It was a very nice, simple sandwich.

Pamm



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Meatloaf Muffins

In using things up from my pantry and freezer I decided to make some Meatloaf Muffins.  I didn't have a box of stuffing on hand, so I had to improvise.

2 pounds ground turkey
1 packet onion soup mix
1 sleeve wheat saltines, crushed
1 cup milk
garlic powder to taste
onion powder to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients.  Spoon into muffin trays (I use an ice cream scoop).  Bake for 30 minutes.

The ones I made were overcooked!  I think 20 minutes would have been plenty of time.

The flavors were good, but I like the stuffing mix better. It was nice to have a change and to use up what I had.


Pamm










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Pasta Salad

I had a head of broccoli, some pasta that needed to be used up and a few bottles of Italian dressing.  I had bought Italian dressing, then forgot I bought it, then bought it again, so I needed to use it up.

I cooked the pasta according to package directions and drained.

Meanwhile, I cut the broccoli into bite-sized pieces.

I put the pasta, broccoli, and dressing all in a bowl and tossed, then chilled.

I turned out very yummy!  I nice change-of-pace salad for my lunches.

Pamm





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Cooking Weekend

It's time to use up what is in the pantry.  I used only the ingredients I had on hand.  I find it a fun challenge to make something out of thing I have in the pantry.

Pasta Salad
(recipe coming!)

Dog Food

Sweet & Sour Rice
(recipe coming)

Oatmeal Pumpkin Pancakes
(recipe coming)

Turkey Meatloaf Muffins
(recipe coming)

Pamm










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