Saturday, August 18, 2012

72-Hour Kit Menus

I'm working on putting together our 72-hour kits.  For the food, I made each of us 3 gallon Ziploc bags.  Each bag has 3 meals and some snacks.  There are not a ton of calories here, and extra water is required, but it's certainly better than nothing. Maybe I need to throw in a few extra Clif bars. I'm going to try for 3 16 oz bottles in each backpack itself. Here's the menu I used for our 72-hour kits.

Breakfast Day 1
oatmeal
Instant Breakfast
fruit cup

Lunch Day 1
Easy Mac
V8

Dinner Day 1
soup
Crystal Lite

Snacks
granola bar
pudding cup
hard candy


Breakfast Day 2
Poptarts
applesauce
chocolate milk

Lunch Day 2
peanut butter
crackers
fruit snacks

Dinner Day 2
ramen
juice box

Snacks
almonds
Clif bar
hard candy



Breakfast Day 3
breakfast on the go
fruit snack
juice box

Lunch Day 3
ravioli
raisins

Dinner Day 3
peanut butter
crackers
Crystal Lite

Snacks
granola bar
pudding cup
hard candy



Friday, July 20, 2012

Brown Sugar Carrots


I don't make a lot of side dishes, but this one is really simple and it's great.  I used to make a fancy glaze, melting butter and bringing to a boil with brown sugar. Too fancy, plus it made an extra pan dirty. Can't have that.

Cook carrots until soft.  I steam mine in the microwave in a Pampered Chef microcooker.

Drain, and add a few tablespoons of brown sugar, stirring to dissolve.  That's it! Yum.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Beef Stroganoff


Here's my easy version of my Aunt Jeuney's Beef Stroganoff recipe.  It's basically unrecognizable from her original recipe, but it's easy and delicious!  I usually serve it with egg noodles, but you could use any pasta or even rice or mashed potatoes.

1 lb. ground beef

Brown beef and remove from pan.

3 T butter
1 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 lb. fresh sliced mushrooms

Cook in butter until onion is golden.

Add and stir until smooth:
3 T flour
1 T ketchup
1/2 t. salt
1/8 pepper

Gradually add 1 can beef broth. Bring to a boil. Simmer on low 5 minutes. 
Add:
1 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 t. dill
1 1/2 c. sour cream. 
Stir. Add beef. Simmer just until hot.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Elephant Pretzel

Maggie still loves to help make homemade pretzels.  She made this adorable elephant pretzel during our last batch. It even stayed together through the boiling and baking steps.


Friday, February 10, 2012

Valentine's Day: Heart-Shaped Mini Pizzas


We made these mini heart-shaped pizzas for a playdate.  The kids had a healthy lunch, and lots of fun! 


Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

I saw this recipe on Making Memories (via Pinterest) and decided to try it - with a few modifications, of course.  It may sound a little weird, but it's delicious!  The kids especially liked it.  I shared it with Tasha, and her family also loved it.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
16 oz frozen hashbrowns
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1/2 lb. diced ham
2 c. shredded Swiss cheese

Sauce (original recipe):

1 can cream of chicken soup
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 c. milk
1/4 t. pepper

Sauce (my version):
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 c. milk
1/4 t. pepper
2 T. dijon mustard

Mix sauce ingredients together.


In a 9x13 pan, layer potatoes, chicken, ham, and half of the Swiss cheese.  Pour sauce over the cheese. Top with the rest of the Swiss cheese.  Bake at 350 for 50 minutes covered, and 10 minutes uncovered.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Bean and Bacon Soup


This recipe came from Real Simple magazine many years ago.  John loves it! Sometimes I use 1 cup cubed ham instead of the bacon.  We had this tonight with 90-minute rolls.

Bean and Bacon Soup
4 strips bacon
3/4 c. chopped carrot
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans great Northern beans, drained
salt and pepper

In a soup pot, fry bacon until crisp.  Remove from the pan, chop and set aside.  Add carrot to pan drippings and cook 5 minutes.  Add celery, onion and garlic and cook 3 minutes.  Add beans and 2 c. water.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer on low 10 minutes.  Mash some of the beans with a potato masher to thicken the soup.  Season with salt and pepper, and stir in bacon.

90-Minute Rolls

I'm not sure where I got this recipe from, but it's a stand-by because you don't have to wait all day for the rolls to rise.

90-Minute Rolls
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
2 T. sugar
1 T. yeast
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. water
2 T. butter

Heat milk, water and butter in a saucepan until very warm.  Mix 1 cup flour with sugar, yeast and salt.  Add milk mixture.  Beat 3 minutes on high.  Stir in remaining flour and knead 3-4 minutes.  Rise 15 minutes.  Divide dough into 8-12 pieces and shape into balls.  Place in a greased cake pan.  Rise 15 minutes.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.