Easy Meat Pie--and a Reason to Learn to Can Foods

This post is in part an encouragement to all of you to try your hand at canning food. There are many foods that you can process using just a water bath canner. But if you really want to have full pantry shelves, a pressure canner (that's not the same as a pressure cooker!) is the way to go. With a pressure canner, you are able to process low-acid meats of all kinds, vegetables, and dried beans as well as soup, spaghetti sauce, chili, stew, and anything else your heart desires and your imagination can dream up.

Let me give you just one example from my kitchen: I eat a lot of organic dried beans. A can of organic pinto, kidney, navy, or black beans costs close to two dollars at my local grocery store. Spending that amount of money on a can of beans goes against my frugal nature. So instead, I buy my beans in bulk (usually around 25 pounds at a time because they store for years on my shelves), and always have a batch or two canned up and ready to eat. Those jars of home-canned beans--besides being ready to heat and eat, and healthy as all get out--cost me about 25 cents per jar.

So am I an advocate of home canning? Why yes, I am. And I'll also admit it up front: I have written a canning book. If you're interested I can assure you that I have made every effort to have the very latest safety recommendations in it, and the recipes are tried and true. You won't go wrong should you decide to get a copy:

 



 

I've been so busy lately because I'm finishing writing another book and the deadline is looming, and recently I needed desperately to eat dinner but didn't want to take the time to make anything elaborate. (Well actually, I didn't want to take any time at all, but to know me is to know I'm not much of a one for going out or buying premade food so I had to do something right at home if I was going to eat.) So to my pantry I went to "shop" for dinner. And in just a matter of a few minutes I had this: (Well, if you don't count the baking time.)

I had a pie crust ready to go already (see recipe below). I mixed together a pint jar of home-canned hamburger meat that I had canned with a bit of broth, and another jar of mixed veggies (peas, carrots, corn, and green beans). I cut a potato into small pieces so they'd cook while the meat pie baked.

I threw everything into a saucepan along with a bit of water and about 3 tablespoons cornstarch (maybe a wee bit less)and heated it to boiling so the cornstarch would thicken and turn the broth into gravy. Then into the prepared pie crust it went. I had preheated the oven to 400 degrees and as soon as I put the meat pie into the oven I turned it down to 350 degrees and baked it for about 25 minutes...until the crust looked done since the meat mixture was already cooked through and only needed a good heating.

Dinner was served. And it was good! Filling and comforting. Just what I needed on an extra busy day.

Okay, so now for the pie crust recipe. You can use any recipe you might prefer, but I think this particular recipe is a good one for meat pies or for handheld fruit or meat pies because it seems to hold together well. Plus, the recipe makes enough for about 3 crusts, so you can freeze two of them (pie plate and all) for use another day. And in fact, that's what I did with this crust. It was already in the freezer, so when I say this pie took me just a few minutes to make, I'm not exaggerating.

Pie Crust Pastry

4 cups flour
1 3/4 cups shortening or lard
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon vinegar (use regular white vinegar)
1 egg

With a fork, mix together the flour, shortening, sugar, and salt. You want the shortening to break apart and have the mixture look crumbly.

In another bowl, beat together the water, vinegar, and egg. Add this to the flour mixture and blend with a fork until moistened. Try to have a light touch when mixing. Using your hands, mold the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic or a towel and chill the dough for at least 15 minutes.

Roll out into pie crusts and use one for dinner and freeze the rest.

That's it! Simple and satisfying. and completely homemade, which to me is the very best kind of meal.

I wish you and yours the very best day. Spring has sprung, and that means gardens will soon be taking much of our time. So go out and dig in the dirt and enjoy God's creation.

Blessings!

Georgia

 

 



Homemade from Scratch Corn Tortillas--Success!

I have been on a quest to make my own corn tortillas from scratch--that is, starting with dried field or dent corn, making nixtamal, grinding the processed corn, and then pressing and frying the tortillas.

I blogged about my efforts some time ago. (See Homemade Masa and Corn Tortillas--An Adventure)

The part that didn't work well for me was the actual grinding of the wet corn. I tried various grinders that advertised they could do the job, but to no avail. Further research indicated that I needed to buy a traditional wet corn grinder, such as Corona, Estrella, or Victoria. So I started haunting eBay and bought this:

I was so excited to try it out, but held my excitement somewhat in check because of my previous dismal experiences. Still...

I poured about 3 quarts of water into a large stainless steel pot and stirred in 2 heaping tablespoons of cal. Cal is calcium hydroxide, sometimes called slaked lime or pickling lime. You can pick up small packages of cal at Mexican grocery markets, or you can buy large bags (for cheap!) like this one:

Pour in a quart of dried field corn into the lime and water mixture and turn on the heat to medium high. Stirring regularly with a long-handled stainless steel spoon, bring the corn and water to a boil and boil for 5-10 minutes. Take the pot off the heat, cover it, and let the concoction sit on your stove for about 8 hours. (If you boil the corn at night, you can continue the process the next morning. Likewise, you can boil the corn in the morning and make the tortillas for dinner that evening.)

When it's time to grind, you first need to drain and rinse the corn. This is the process: rinse the corn and, while rinsing, rub the kernels through your hands. Your aim is to rub off the papery skin from the corn. Supposedly you'll get the corn looking white, but that has not been my experience--my corn still looks yellow even though I know I've rubbed and rinsed enough. (I know that because the rinse water is no longer cloudy.)

Now, I hate the thought of wasting all that running water while I'm rubbing and rinsing. So instead, I put the rinsed and drained corn in a large bowl and cover it with plenty of fresh water. Then I rub and rub the corn. When the water looks cloudy, I drain the corn and repeat the process. I find that about six rinse-and-rubs is enough. Here's my cleaned corn, covered with clean water:

When I'm satisfied, I rinse one last time and drain the corn and put it back into the bowl. Then I grind. This has always been the part where I'm unhappy with the results. But having the right type of grinder made all the difference this time. The nixtamalized corn ground effortlessly and it was way easier than when I hand grind my wheat into flour.

Hard to tell in the photo, but the ground corn (masa) was smooth, so when I made the tortillas, I was able to press them very thin:

I mix in a small amount of salt into my masa because I think it tastes better, but I've made it without added salt, so suit yourself.

The masa wants to stick to my tortilla press so I use a quart freezer bag: I cut off the zipper top and then cut down each side so only the bottom of the bag is hinged. I place half the bag on the press and then lay my dough ball on it. (The dough should be about the size of a golf ball. Place it a bit nearer to the hinged side of the tortilla press so it presses evenly.) Lay the other half of the bag on top of the dough ball before pressing. Gently peel the tortilla off the plastic bag and then fry it. I use a cast iron tortilla pan and because it's seasoned I fry the tortillas on fairly high heat (a few minutes each side) with no oil. Here's the result:

 

And finally, this (spicy refried beans, tomatoes, and avocado):

I realize that making corn tortillas from scratch isn't as quick as buying a readymade package. But the taste is out of this world, and I fill up much faster with my homemade ones. Two of those bean, tomato, and avocado tortillas were more than I could eat. Plus I love knowing how to make them...successfully, at last!

Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth in a Hurry--Make Peanut Brittle in the Microwave

I'm deep in the throes of another book deadline--501 Time-Saving Tips Every Woman Should Know. These last few weeks have been tough as I do little else but write and edit. My house is a disaster, my yard is even worse, and cooking meals has gotten to the point where I'm simply opening up jars of home-canned food and heating and eating. (Thank goodness for my stash of good eats!)

BUT...

Today I had such a hankering for something sweet that I absolutely had to satisfy the urge. My first thought was to make cookies. But when I say that book deadline is looming, I really mean it. So I felt I didn't have time to make an entire batch of anything. And then I remembered a simple little recipe that is so quick and easy to throw together that I felt I could justify the small amount of time it would take to whip it out. So that's just what I did. And now I'd like to share the recipe with you.

Quick and Easy Peanut Brittle

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 cup salted peanuts
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Lightly grease or butter a baking sheet that has sides.

In a 1 1/2  - 2 quart microwavable bowl, mix together the sugar and corn syrup. It will look like this:

Microwave this mixture uncovered on high for 4 minutes.

Add the peanuts, stir, and then microwave for another 3-4 minutes.

Add the butter and vanilla and stir until well blended. (Although you'll have to work fast because it's very sticky.) Microwave for another 1-1 1/2 minutes.

Now sprinkle the baking soda over the top and then stir to mix. The peanut brittle will turn light and foamy. Quickly pour the peanut brittle onto the prepared baking sheet and let cool until hardened. Like this:

Then break into pieces and enjoy!

Can you believe how quick and easy this is? It really only takes a few minutes to complete, and it's about as foolproof as anything you could possibly make.

An Emergency Food Supply

No, I don't fear a zombie apocalypse, nor do I adhere to a prepper mentality. But I do believe that emergencies can appear on the horizon when we least expect them (you just lost your job, or you're stranded by severe flooding for instance) and that we might be required to be self-reliant for a time with absolutely no forewarning. Also, I love the thought that I could care for myself and my family for quite awhile with what I normally keep stashed in my pantry--pretty much since I became an adult, I've always had at least a six month supply of the basics sitting on my shelves. And what with our gardening efforts and tending livestock, I figure we'd be pretty good pioneers should the need arise.

The subject is deep and wide, but today I'm going to list a three-month basic food supply. It's not perfect, but at the least you'll be able to start getting a handle on what your needs are. And these basic supplies can be bought for less than you might think. Added to that, most of these supplies will sit on a pantry shelf for years if they stay relatively cool and you keep them in a dark place (like a closet).

50 lbs. white flour, or 100 lbs. if you can't grind the 50 lbs. of wheat berries listed below
*50 lbs. wheat berries (so you can grind into flour)
*10 lbs. dried corn (popcorn works great) to be ground into cornmeal as needed, or 10 lbs. cornmeal
*25 lbs. oatmeal
20 lbs. white rice (brown rice turns rancid sooner than white)
15 lbs. pasta noodles (or 15 lbs. Durham wheat berries to grind and make homemade noodles)
25 lbs. mixed dry beans and legumes (such as pintos, white navy, red kidney, lentils, and split peas)
20 lbs. sugar
5 lbs. salt
3 lbs. dehydrated whole eggs if you don't raise chickens
1 gal. cooking oil (olive or vegetable, or a combination)
2 large jars peanut butter
12 lbs. powdered milk (comes in 4-lb. boxes)
1 lb. baking powder
1 lb. baking soda
5 lbs. yeast
1 gal. vinegar
1 lb. sprouting seeds (alfalfa and broccoli seeds are small, tasty, and easy to sprout)

*Wheat flour, cornmeal, whole oats, and brown rice don't last nearly as long as do their cousins (white flour, whole dried corn, oatmeal, and white rice). So if you have the ability to grind grains, wheat berries (which grinds into whole wheat flour) and dried (pop)corn (which grinds into cornmeal) will last years on a food supply shelf and not go rancid.

Now of course, I've made no mention of meats or other canned goods nor spices--this list is just the very most basic supply. Along with about a gallon of water per person per day, you could get by. Boring, yes, but workable. The only odd item mentioned is the dehydrated egg powder. I included this for a good reason: if you don't raise your own chickens for eggs, you'll need them in dehydrated form because without eggs you couldn't make pancakes, waffles, cookies, muffins, puddings, or egg noodles, etc. So raise some egg layers or buy the dehydrated eggs. You'll be glad you did.

If you've never sprouted seeds, they're easy. You can buy sprouting screens to fit on quart canning jars, rubber band pieces of nylon stockings to the jar lid, or spend more money and buy fancy sprouting kits. Whichever way you choose to go, get that taken care of soon and practice some so you understand the process. Sprouted seeds are incredibly nutritious. You can put them in your food or just eat them plain--about 1/8 cup per day or so would be plenty, but eating more is even better.

This list isn't the only answer to putting food by for an unforeseen emergency. But at least it will help to give you a good start. And while you're thinking about this subject, consider what foods your family enjoys and add those items into your stash. I'll give you an example: I don't think my family could be happy if we didn't have tomato based foods regularly (spaghetti, Mexican beans and rice, tomato soup, etc.) so of course I add that to my pantry shelves. I'm also a big one for canning meats of all kinds along with stew, chili, soup, and such.

I hope you'll take some small steps today to begin putting together a hedge against unexpected circumstances. Because I'm pretty certain that it's not if something happens but rather when.

Love your family well!

Blessings,
Georgia

Taxes and Tomato Soup

Springtime in the Pacific Northwest isn't for the faint of heart. We can go days and weeks with no sunshine. It just rains and rains and rains some more. Now the upside to all this moisture is that when the sun finally does shine, we are surrounded by a lushly growing landscape. It's God's country, as we like to say around here. But in the meantime, we must somehow get through the soggy spring.

Yesterday was that kind of day: it poured the entire day, and the wind was fierce. As if that wasn't hard enough, I spent the day getting together my tax information. I abhor tax time with a vengeance. But I stuck to it and I'm glad to be done for another year (except for the actual paying-the-taxes part, which I'll do on April 15th and not a day sooner!). One thing about tax time is that I always feel the distinct need to live frugally. And while I resent that it's the taxes that cause my Spartan life, the fact is that I plain enjoy living off my little piece of land.

You might be wondering, what does this have to do with tomato soup?

Back to yesterday and the taxes. I didn't want to get sidetracked making a meal, and yet I needed to eat. And I certainly didn't feel as if I could afford to take the easy way out and run down to a local food joint and buy something ready made. So I poked around in my pantry and pulled out a jar of home canned diced tomatoes. Hmm...What to do?

Well, this is what I did:

Tomato Soup

1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons very finely diced onion, more or less
1 tablespoon vey finely diced celery, more or less
1 can diced tomatoes (I used a pint jar of home-canned tomatoes instead)
2 cups beef, chicken, or vegetable broth
half a can of tomato paste, more or less (use some tomato sauce if you don't have paste)
herbs (I used basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and a bay leaf)
salt and pepper to taste
milk (optional)
sour cream (optional)

First off, I sautéed the onion and celery in the butter in the pot I planned to use for the soup. (Less to clean up afterward.)

Next, I added the tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, herbs, and salt and pepper. I sort of smashed/cut the tomatoes so they were in small bits. (If you have an immersion blender you could try whirring it and making the soup smoother, but I liked the bits of tomato, onion, and celery.)

I let it cook down awhile, stirring occasionally. When I was ready to eat, I removed the bay leaf and then tasted the soup and adjusted the seasonings.

Next, I added a spritz of milk to my bowl and then ladled the soup into the bowl and stirred to mix. About three bites in, I realized that a goodly glop of sour cream would make it taste even better, so--even though the picture above doesn't show that--I added a dollop of sour cream. It was heavenly! Some shredded Cheddar cheese would have been good also but I was too busy to go to the trouble.

All in all, this was a quick and tasty meal. And it fit nicely with my sense of frugality. And even though it did nothing to make me like tax time any better, I loved the sense of self-reliance it gave me to make do with what I have on hand. It's a great feeling!

Here's to sunny weather! May it come soon.

Blessings,
Georgia

Easy Stove-Top Enchilada Casserole

Here is my latest offering for easy, inexpensive, and tasty meal ideas. Today I'll give you a recipe for an easy and quick stove-top enchilada casserole. My sons loved this growing up, and I still make it often. But because it uses several canned items, if you are planning on feeding just one or two people, there's no real way to cut down on the recipe and make just a little. So plan on serving it to a group or you'll be eating the same thing 'til kingdom come!

Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:

1 pound (more or less) ground beef
1/2 cup (more or less to taste) chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel is a great choice if you like a bit of spice)
1 can enchilada sauce (you can use tomato sauce if you don't have enchilada sauce, and you may want to add a bit of chili powder or red pepper flakes for heat)
1 package (at least 20 count) corn tortillas
shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)
olives (optional)

Directions:

In a large pot brown the ground beef and chopped onion. Drain off the grease and place the meat mixture back in the pot and return to the stove. Add the cream of chicken soup, the diced tomatoes, and enchilada sauce. Stir together and heat to bubbling. Tear the tortillas into large bite-sized pieces, a few at a time, and push them into the meat sauce. Keep tearing and pushing the pieces into the meat sauce until you can't get any more in. You'll probably use somewhere around 20-25 tortillas.

Let the enchilada casserole continue to cook for several minutes at least.

You can serve it as is, topped with cheese, sour cream, and olives if using (which I highly recommend!), or you can spread the casserole into a baking dish, sprinkle on the shredded cheese, and bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until bubbly throughout and the cheese is melted.

You could also make it ahead of time, spread the casserole into a baking dish and refrigerate, covered, until ready to eat. Place the refrigerated enchilada casserole into the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees or until it's completely heated through and bubbly. You may want to cover it for part of the baking time so it doesn't get too dried out, but it's not necessary.

Serve this with a tossed green salad and you've got a great meal in a hurry. Especially if you choose to forego oven baking the casserole, you can get a homemade delicious dinner on the table quickly--even on a busy weeknight.

Enjoy!

Georgia

Asian Dipping Sauce

It all started at Costco. In my wanderings I came across this:



 

 

For some reason, this jar of seasoning called to me so I bought it. I thought it would be good to try on vegetables and salads., but then I passed this:

 

 

 

 

(Costco is a dangerous place!)

 

Suddenly it all became clear to me: I would buy the seasoning and the wontons and go home and eat.But when I got home I realized I needed dipping sauce because the seasoning alone wouldn't cut it for me. So here is what I concocted:

 

Oh my goodness, it was great! Following is the recipe for the dipping sauce. But before I list the ingredients, let me also say that it would make an excellent marinade for chicken or shrimp, and would probably also be great as a salad dressing for a tossed green salad with an Asian flair. You could mix together salad greens, a can of (drained) mandarin oranges, chopped green onions, almonds, and maybe some crunchy Chinese noodles (or smash a package of ramen noodles and add those).

Oriental Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1/8 cup vinegar (use regular white or rice wine vinegar)
1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar, to suit your taste (I like mine on the sweet side)
1 tablespoon sesame oil (use regular vegetable oil to substitute if you don't have sesame oil)
1 teaspoon Simply Asia Sweet Ginger Garlic Seasoning

If you don't have the Simply Asia seasoning, mix up the other ingredients and throw in a bit of ground ginger, garlic, and sesame seeds for a reasonable facsimile.

This sauce/marinade is so easy to whip together. You're sure to like it!

Well, the spring sunshine is calling to me so I'll wrap this up. Gotta get outside and enjoy the weather!

May God richly bless you. And if life is difficult for you right now, remember that--just like the promise of our spring weather--better days are ahead.

In the meanwhile, do your best to "walk cheerfully over all the world, answering that of God in every one" (George Foxe).

Blessings,
Georgia