A New Skill - Lefse Making Lesson

On Saturday, a group of young ladies and I headed to my Grandmother's house to learn the lost art of lefse making.  It is only a lost art in my family because my Grandmother is the one who always makes it, so none of us have ever had the need to!


Most of us love it (or have family that does) so it was time we learned how to make it before my lovely Grandmother is no longer able to teach us - she is 85 years old and while she still lives at home by herself, she isn't getting any younger.  Although, she did seem busier than all of us the entire day.  Running around, doing the dishes - we had to tell her to stop so we could take over and help!

Half of our potatoes getting ready to boil.

We all thought it was going to be a much harder task than it was!  We made quick work of 10 pounds of russet potatoes (peeling and slicing to get ready to boil).  Then it was into the living room to sit and chat while they boiled. 

Ricing the hot potatoes.

Once we riced the hot potatoes, we added the shortening and then let them cool.  Now, Grandma has never used a recipe, so the last time she made them, she wrote down some instructions on about how much shortening and flour she adds.  Thankfully, we were able to follow pretty well.

Making sure the mixture "feels" right!  Love this woman!

After the potatoes cooled (and we ate a wonderful lunch of homemade meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy and peas) we were ready to begin the last steps.  We added the flour and rolled the dough into small balls. 

The special rolling pin.

We rolled out the dough as thin as we could.  This is the stage where not having the right consistency of dough really makes or breaks the process!  Our first batch was excellent - the second two were okay. 

Cooking the lefse.

Once you cook the lefse on both sides, they get placed under a towel to begin the cooling process.  After we made a fairly substantial pile, we transferred them to the porch (not heated) and placed them on a sheet in a single layer (or double layer is okay too) and covered them with another sheet to let them dry and cool.

The fruits of our labor!  Yummy!

Our batch of lefse was pretty large, so we all went home with a large Ziploc bag full.  Mine went right to the freezer (lefse freezes very well) so I can enjoy them at a later date.  I still have some of the leftovers from Christmas that Grandma made for me in my freezer and refrigerator to enjoy.

Amanda and Grandma Donna.  Our expert teacher!

Grandma was such an excellent teacher.  She showed by example and then let us take turns at all the jobs.  She thought we did a great job!

Leah and myself (My sister-in-law)

Leah has lots of family that loves lefse.  She is of Norwegian heritage and knew many more traditional dishes than we did!  I would be excited to try some that her family makes!
 

Nicky and me (Nicky is an old family friend from way back - plus she family too - Stacy's sister-in-law)

Nicky was also excited to learn the process.  Now there are four of us ladies that can all get together and make lefse every year!  While you could do it by yourself, it would be so much more fun doing it as a group!

Me and my silly sister, Stacy.  Usually one of us is making a silly face in our photos together. She wins this time!

It was such a blessing to finally take the time to have Grandma teach us how to make the lefse.  I am so very glad we had this wonderful day with her!  It will be a memory I cherish long after she is gone!

Making Simple Freezer Meals

I took some time this weekend to make a few meals for the freezer.  We have been so busy lately during the week that once I get home from work, trying to make something healthy doesn't always seem possible with the limited time frame we have to work with. 

 

 

 So I made a few meals for the freezer to get us through the next few weeks!

 

- Chicken Salsa Pockets (Cooked Chicken, Salsa & Cheese wrapped in a Pizza Crust)

- Beef Taquitos (Beef, Beans, Rice, Salsa, Sour Cream & Cheese)

- Bean and Cheese Burritos (Refried Beans, Cheese & Salsa)

- Cooked Chicken Breasts (To use on Salads or in Casseroles)

 

I love having these quick things in my freezer to pull out and throw in the oven.  Even easier for me than ordering take out or a pizza (at least in the area where I live!). 

 

 

 

 

 

Menu Plan Monday: March 4, 2013*

Where we spend a lot of time!  They are always hungry.

My children are as different as apples and oranges.  Elizabeth doesn't eat many different foods, but is always hungry.  Edward is just always hungry and will eat just about anything.  As of last week, I am sending breakfast, lunch and snacks with Elizabeth to daycare.  She has been having an intense sugar craving lately and I realized it is time for her to detox.  So instead of whatever she has been eating at daycare, she is getting healthier alternatives to help her get rid of the cravings.  I think we will keep this up for a couple weeks and see if it helps make a difference and maybe she will start to eat a few different foods as well.

So now I am on the hunt to get some new ideas for easy meals for her.  Today's menu was fairly simple and based on items she does like to eat.

Breakfast: Plain Yogurt, Sunflower Seeds, two Prunes, Orange Sections
Snack #1: 1/2 Cliff Bar, Banana
Lunch: Chicken Nuggets, Cheese, Carrots/Celery with Ranch Dressing
Snack #2: 1/2 Cliff Bar, Orange Sections
Snack #3: Homemade Hummus, Vegetables (ones leftover from lunch)

We need to get more vegetables into her rotation, but she just will not eat them.  And I can't hide them in things like soups, macaroni and cheese, or spaghetti sauce because she won't eat those items either...  I will have to do some thinking and research to see what else I can do to help her eat some different foods.

But for the rest of us, here is what we plan on using up from the pantry this week because we are still trying to use up what we have at home! 

Breakfasts

• Oatmeal, Bananas, Oranges or Apples
• Protein Shakes
• Green Smoothies

Lunches

• Dinner Leftovers
• Snack-y Lunch (cheese, vegetables, fruit, lunch meat, nuts, avocado, hummus)

Dinners

• Baked Pork Chops (BBQ), Baked Potatoes, Broccoli
• Spicy Lentil Soup, Bread sticks
• Tacos & Fixings
• Hearty Chili Pie (similar to this recipe, only with chili), Broccoli
• Beef, Potato & Carrot Bake (in the Crock Pot)
• Homemade Pizza
• Lasagna Casserole, Bread sticks, Broccoli

This post is shared at Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday: February 25, 2013*

I have declared the end of February and the entire month of March as:
"Use What I Have" months.

I have a freezer and pantry full of food, but don't often make sure to rotate as well as I should.  So this month, I am making an effort to use up a bunch of the stuff from both the freezer and the pantry to help clear out some room for new items that will be grown this summer.

I hope to get rid of a bunch of "freezer meals" that I already have stored (such as four containers of leftover chili, pre-made beef taco meat, homemade soups/stock and a large ham that may (or may not) be any good as it has been in the freezer well over a year.  We just don't eat that much ham.  Bacon, yes.  Ham, no.

So this week our dinner meals will look like this:

Sunday ~  Homemade Baked Beans (using dried beans from the pantry) - recipe to come!
                 Hamburger Patties (1/4 cow in the freezer)
                 Coleslaw

Monday ~ Hamburger Vegetable Soup (pre-made in the freezer)
                  Italian Breadsticks

Tuesday ~ Nachos & Fixings (taco meat in the frezer)

Wednesday ~ Mexican Stackers (using leftover taco meat from last night)
                       (hashbrowns, taco beef, scrambled eggs, cheese, black olives, sour cream & salsa)

Thursday ~ Scalloped Potatoes & Ham in the Crock Pot (package of ham in refrigerator)
                    Vegetable (from the freezer)

Friday ~ Homemade Pizza (shredded cheese from the freezer)
               Smoothies or Fresh Juice (juice to use up veggies/fruit from refrigerator)

Saturday ~ Curry Chicken
                   Brown Rice
                   Vegetable (from freezer)

Hopefully, after a couple weeks of focusing on using up what we have, our cupboards will start to look bare and I can start with buying on sale again to re-stock. 

This menu plan is shared at Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.  Head over to find lots of inspiration for your menu planning needs! 

Menu Plan Monday: February 4, 2013*

Do you know how much a Mom of a three year old and 8 month old can get done in a couple hours when the children go to bed at 6:30 on Sunday night?  A LOT.  Suffice it to say I feel like I can start my work week on a good note.  It always feels good to me when I can BREATHE.

One of the ways I help myself continue to breathe during the week is having a menu plan to work from.  All ingredients on hand and ready to go.  Makes getting dinner on the table after a long day so much easier.

This week we are planning on having:

Breakfasts

• Eggs on homemade bread, Fresh Juice
• Oatmeal (Hubby's Favorite), Orange Juice
• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Fresh Fruit, Milk
• Plain Yogurt with Granola, Fresh Fruit, Green Juice

Lunches

• Leftovers
• Green Salads

Snacks

• Oatmeal
• Green Smoothies
• Cheese, Almonds, Carrot Sticks
• Fresh Juice
• Wine (okay this one is just for me)

Dinners

• Harvest Soup, Homemade Breadsticks (new concoction, Hubby said it tasted earthy, I took it as a compliment as it was full of lentils, wild rice, brown rice, great northern beans and spicy sausage)
• Chicken Pesto Pasta with Vegetables and Pine Nuts, Beets (Pesto from freezer - made in the summer when abundance of arugula was in our CSA box)
• Nachos and Fixings
• Waffles (Freezer) and Bacon, Fresh Fruit
• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Tomatoes, Tomato/Garlic/Bacon Soup, Pickles
• Spinach & Chevre Pizza, Fresh Juice

This post is linked to Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday.  Check out the hundreds of menus linked there for great inspiration to spruce up your menus!

Mini Baking Day

Last week I did a mini baking day.  It was great to get a few things into the freezer for us to eat in the next week or so.

I made:

• 1 Loaf of Whole Wheat Bread
• A Large Stock Pot of Black Beans
• 8 Breakfast Burritos
• 1 Batch of Turkey Sausage
• 1 Pan of Breakfast Bake
• Pork Roast and Potatoes for Dinner

 Turkey sausage was first on the list as I needed it to make a few of the other dishes.  It always turns out so good.  I use Laura's recipe and I just use crumbled instead of making it into patties.

Then I assembled the breakfast burritos.  They have eggs, peppers, turkey sausage, cheese and salsa in each of them.  This is the second time I have made them and they are excellent!

Next it was on to lunch.  I made a quick breakfast bake for lunch for myself.  I will get four meals out of it so it is a pretty good way to use up some leftovers!

Then I ended up using the outdoor cooker to boil up a pot of black beans to go into the freezer.  I think I got about 12 meals worth of beans from this pot.  (Granted it is only two people that eat per meal.)  But I think this should last us through the summer.  Then I will make a HUGE pot again in the fall for winter bean needs.  We tend to eat black beans quite often in the winter, so it is really handy to have some frozen and canned.

And finally it was time to throw the pork roast into the crockpot with some new potatoes.  It sure was a tasty day!

Monthly Menu Planning

I have been doing monthly menu planning on and off for a while now.  I really like the ease that doing a monthly menu plan brings to our home.  It helps even better if I do a big baking day to get some good food into our freezer for during the week.  Below is a photo of my last baking day results.

February 2011 Baking Day

I ended up making:

• Hamburger Vegetable Soup (6 meals)
• Chicken Wild Rice Soup (4 meals)
• Quinoa Chicken Stew (Utter Failure, had to throw away)
• Spaghetti Sauce with Vegetables and Meat (2 meals)
• Beef Taco Meat (2 meals)
• Sloppy Lentils (3 meals)
• Beefy Biscuit Cups Filling (2 meals)
• Cream of Mushroom Soup (3 jars)

These will end up lasting us for two months as we will follow the following menu for two months.

Week 1
Quinoa Chicken Stew, Biscuits
Quiche with Wild Rice & Sausage
Hamburger Vegetable Soup, Biscuits
Turkey Tenderloin, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Vegetable
Cheese Lasagna, Vegetable
Homemade Pizza
Tator-Tot Hotdish

Week 2
Beef Stew, Biscuits
Cheese Tortellini, Mixed Vegetables in a White Sauce
Chicken Wild Rice Soup, Biscuits
Spaghetti, Green Beans
Beef Tacos & Fixings
Homemade Pizza
Chicken Pot Pie

Week 3
Pork Loin, Squash
Sloppy Lentils, Buns, Vegetable
Chicken Noodle Soup, Biscuits
Hamburgers, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Pan Gravy
Chicken Quesedillas & Fixings
Homemade Pizza
Ham & Salami Stromboli, Vegetable

Week 4
Red Pepper Chicken, Brown Rice, Broccoli
Black Bean Taco Salad
Tomato Soup, Grilled Cheese, Pickles
Meatloaf, Macaroni & Cheese, Vegetable
Chicken Divan
Homemade Pizza
Beefy Biscuit Cups, Vegetable

It makes it so nice to not have to come home and wonder what we are going to eat for dinner!  It is listed right there on the menu plan for the month that is posted on the refrigerator.  Even William likes it when he can know what we are having for dinner that night. 

William getting Elizabeth settled down and ready for bed.

Freezer Cooking Day

Two weekends ago I decided to do a freezer cooking day to help us stay on track with our new monthly menu plan for this fall/winter.  Luckily, my MIL Suzie was over and was able to help entertain Miss Elizabeth so I was able to complete all my tasks in record time!

Here is what I ended up putting in the freezer (all meals are sized for my family of three to eat one supper meal and have at least one portion of leftovers):

3 Meals of Swedish Meatballs with Gravy
3 Meals of Wild Rice Meatballs
3 Meals of Chicken Divan
3 Meals of Shepard's Pie
4 Pans of Beef Lasagna
4 Pans of Spinach Lasagna
3 Pints of Cream of Mushroom Soup
3 Meals of Beef Chili
2 Meals of Wild Rice Soup
4 Meals of 13 Bean & Ham Soup
3 Containers of Cooked Black Beans
2 Containers of Cooked Kidney Beans

It was quite an ambitious day, but I planned it out and made sure I had much of the prep work done in the days before, and it really went smoothly.  For about 7 hours of work, we will have healthy food in our freezer and I plan that it will last us for the next three months.