Still Cleaning Out

Sometimes, I think I will never be "cleaned out"---I keep discovering stuff I no longer need---recipes, for example.  I have 4 drawers full of recipes I've cut out, copied and saved over the years---recipes I never use because a) I can't find the one I want b) it is easier to look on line.

I am not throwing them ALL out, but I am throwing out the ones I have saved for 30-40 years and never used.  A friend was telling me yesterday that her goal is to fix one thing she's pinned on pinterest each week this summer.

Meanwhile, I am finding lots of great recipes I'd forgotten all about.  These are all from my dear sister-in-law, Donna.

No, I can't get rid of these recipes---they pull me closer to those who shared them with me.

Would Grover Have Liked This?

 My daughter, Leah, got me interested in emeals.  (Read her blog here.)  They provide a week's worth of meals, recipes and shopping list.  Leah uses the organic menus which are for Whole Foods for 4 people. 

 Ours is Walmart Low Fat for two people.  Tonight we had the menu above with the recipes below.  It was delicious and under 200 calories.

 But, when I got the "kale chips" out of the oven, I had to think of my father-in-law Grover who used to eat dinner with us.  One night, he accused me of feeding him weeds out of my garden (mixed greens) and he really didn't go for stir-fried green beans.  Beans were supposed to cook all day on the stove with bacon!

I am sure he would have thought I'd lost my mind with these Kale chips---maybe accuse me of giving him toasted sea weed. . .or he would have told me how his mother stewed it on the stove for three days.  Really, Grover, they were delicious!  Yeah, I can imagine you shaking your head in Heaven! 

Snow Days!

Some years, St. Louis gets very little snow, but not this year.
Although it is still snowing, we have 6 inches, but part of the St. Louis area has over a foot!
Another unusual factor is this is our second snow in a week and a half. Last week's storm hadn't even melted yet.
Last week, we had 4 inches which is usually a pretty big amount for us.
Leah, Eli and Anna came over so we could watch Anna while Leah and Eli played in the snow.
Thanks to Facebook, I got a recipe for snow ice cream that did NOT include raw eggs like my recipe of long ago.
4 cups of snow, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
We decided to make Grandpa's favorite "moose tracks".
We added peanut butter by the "glop" and chocolate chips.


Anna, Eli and Grandpa loved it.

Kim, my cousin of Facebook, made mint chip with mint flavoring instead of vanilla! That sounds great for today!

Recipes---Recycle

I wanted to find a recipe for a pasta dish I fixed many years ago which meant I needed to go to my recipe cards. . .I haven't delved through those cards for years preferring the internet and a few favored cook books. Several drawers were organized, but still just tooooo many recipes.
They are housed in a file box which I inherited from my grandfather Roy Long---he stored tools in it.
If the cards had a product that was no longer made, was anything made with Kool-aid or Kellogg's cereal. . .
Anything with liquor. . .Country Time and liquor?
Anything with shredded wheat and bananas. . .
Recipes that are way too fancy and complicated. ..
Baby juice and Knox Gelatin??? ALL gone.
I remember being on trip, making some of these cards in the car---some weren't really cards but just cardboard I cut.
So, these have all been sent to the recycle bin. I did NOT include any favorites, hand-written ones from close family and friends. And, yes, I did finally find that pasta recipe.

Fair Shares

Leah joined a food co-op this year---Fair Shares. We decided that we would take one week a month. On the way home, I formulated a recipe that would use a little of almost everything we got: sunchokes, mushrooms, eggplant, basil, garlic sausage, goat cheese (with pasta, onion and greenpepper) made a delicious pasta dish with a side of greenbeans and focaccio bread.
Dave had some persimmons for dessert, we had eggs for breakfast. We haven't used the butternut squash or sunflower sprouts, yet---wonder if I can find a recipe for a potluck at church? I made a casserole last month for a family reunion potluck, but it tasted so bland, I refused to take it. Dave had to eat on it for at least a week . . .

Fair Share

Leah joined a type of co-op that specializes in locally-made and locally-grown foods: Fair Share. She knew I'd be interested because one of my new year's resolutions is to eat more locally. I told her I'd like to share, so this week I got the bag of groceries: olive oil (from Greece. . .), green-onion cheddar cheese, mustard greens, swiss chard, mixed lettuce greens, mushrooms, trout, thyme, tomato-basil bread, eggs. What I like about this and having my own garden is my cooking gets more creative. (pictured above are the lettuce greens, swiss chard with almonds (Trader Joe's) and strawberries (Aldi's)
This is a "stir fry" recipe I've used: chicken, onions, carrots, celery, spinach with wild and brown rice. I added swiss chard and mushrooms from the co-op.
The next night, we had the trout grilled with lemon butter and swiss chard as well as the tomato-basil bread with green onion cheddar cheese (baked potato, mixed veggies, fruit bowl)
Last night, in addition to bread and fruit, we had a Trader Joe's pasta dish, chicken sausage (al fresco brand), but I added more of the mushrooms, swiss chard and spinach. (This is one of the dishes I featured last year with the yellow squash)

I did give the mustard greens to a friend---we had way too many greens including lettuce and spinach from the week before. I also gave another friend some of the mushrooms and thyme (I have a back yard with thyme). We have had the eggs and they aren't too "gamey", but the olive oil hasn't been opened---I already had a jug full, but I'm eager to try Greek olive oil---I usually have Italian.

I'm excited to be creative in the kitchen!

Cooking "Fried" Apples

Once upon a time, Grandma took the Great Apple Pickers into the house to cook up some "Fried Apples". First, the apples had to be washed. Oh, the grandchildren loved that. Here's Grandma showing Davis why they have to cook the apples---the apples aren't ripe until they are red. When, they are green, the apples have to be cooked.
After Grandma sliced the apples, she put them in a big skillet with some apple juice (Dave's grandmother undoubtedly used grease to fry apples, but. . .), cinnamon and a little sugar. A few commercial red apples were tossed in to give them a little color.


Grandma: OK, Davis, what do you think? "Grandma, I think I just want to wait until they are red so I can just eat them regular."


Grandma: Do you think they'd be a little better with some ice cream? Libby squealed with delight at the thoughts of ice cream (forget the apples).


Brett is thinking, "I hope the apples didn't ruin the taste of the ice cream."
Grandpa says, "They are just right---like my grandmother used to make". And he ate the ice cream AND the apples all up.


The End. . . .almost.