Today’s Homemaker

One of my closest friends just lost her grandfather (emphasis on the father, for her) Friday night, and it got me thinking about my own grandparents, who passed away several years ago. There are so many things I will remember them for, but the biggest one is the food that we had over at their house.

Now you’re expecting me to go on and on about homemade banana nut bread and apple pie, probably, but that just isn’t what I remember. I remember oatmeal pies (which we fondly referred to as “Little Debbies”) and cookies in a jar–both the creme filled chocolate and vanilla kinds (the Oreo look-alikes) and those little butter cookies that are shaped like flowers with a hole in the middle…in both plain and chocolate chip.

The only sandwiches we ever had over there were bologna and cheese or peanut butter and banana. The only ice cream they ever served was Neapolitan. My mamaw’s (that’s what we called her) favorite dish to make for Sunday dinner was salisbury steak from the freezer.

It’s funny how those things kind of make me sick to my stomach now, thinking about them. But back then, I loved those often-stale cookies. I thought my mamaw made the best darn bologna sandwiches in the world. I was always so excited about going over there, and I thought it was because of the different food we got to eat. But mostly, it was probably the people and the mountains and the chance to explore and make up scary stories about the things we didn’t understand about that ancient house and the land it sat on.

My friend remembers her grandfather for being a father to her “in every sense of the word that matters”. She remembers that whenever she was lost (no matter where she was), she could call him and he would tell her at once how to get back home. I’m sure there are thousands of other little things like that that she will never forget–we haven’t gotten to talk a whole lot about it, since she is still with her family–but it makes me happy that we get to keep the memories, and in a small way, the people that gave them to us.

Menu planning has helped me practically eliminate fast food and impromptu pizza in our house. It has also saved us a ton of money. I try to make everything as simple, delicious, and healthy as possible.

MONDAY:
Breakfast: Whole grain waffles¹, applesauce²
Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwich, broccoli and carrots with dip
Dinner: Broccoli cheese soup³, french bread

TUESDAY:
Breakfast: Bagel with cherries and cream cheese⁴
Lunch: Tortilla pepperoni pizza⁵
Dinner: Stuffed peppers, french bread

WEDNESDAY:
Breakfast: Whole grain waffles, applesauce
Lunch: Peanut butter and banana sandwich, broccoli and carrots with dip
Dinner: Whole roasted chicken, red garlic mashed potatoes, brown sugar glazed carrots⁶

THURSDAY:
Breakfast: Bagel with fruit and cream cheese
Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwich, leftover glazed carrots
Dinner: Chicken fajitas⁷, refried beans⁸

FRIDAY:
Breakfast: Brown sugar oatmeal with apples
Lunch: Ramen noodles with sauteed veggies⁹
Dinner: Chicken stuffed with cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil, roasted broccoli¹⁰

SATURDAY:
Breakfast: Omelettes stuffed with whatever veggies and cheese we have left over, skillet-fried potatoes¹¹
Lunch: Whatever leftovers need to be used up
Dinner: Stir-fried chicken and veggies, rice

SUNDAY:
Breakfast: Whole grain waffles, applesauce
Lunch: Bacon, eggs, and biscuits¹²
Dinner: Whatever leftovers need to be used up

1. You can either make your own or buy them frozen or fresh [↩]
2. I’m going to have to try making my own soon, since fall is here…this recipe doesn’t look too hard [↩]
3. This is the BEST soup I have ever had. Especially good for cold, wet evenings. [↩]
4. I’m using frozen cherries thawed in the fridge this week because the ones at the grocery store just didn’t look healthy…just mash them up and mix them with some cream cheese…it is so easy and so good. [↩]
5. For an easy lunch, I cheat and use pizza sauce from a jar, Hormel pepperonis, and pre-shredded mozzarella. All I do is put it all on a tortilla and pop it into my toaster oven until hot and melty for an amazing, easy lunch. [↩]
6. I can’t really find a recipe that does it like I do. It’s really simple…just put in a pot with enough water to cover, add brown sugar and cinnamon, and boil until the water is gone. Add a dollop of butter at the end for extra creaminess. [↩]
7. I’m using the chicken left over from the roasted chicken and sauteeing it with some mushrooms and green peppers. I use store bought fajita seasoning and soy sauce to finish it off. [↩]
8. I like heating up the canned stuff and topping it with cheese. [↩]
9. Okay, so we’re not always healthy… [↩]
10. I just drizzle with olive oil and salt and roast in the oven at 450 degrees until done. [↩]
11. To make these, I slice the potatoes very thinly, get the pan smoking hot, add butter and potatoes, and let them sit until they are pretty brown on one side, then flip. Finish off with your favorite salt–I use plain old kosher salt. [↩]
12. We do Bisquick biscuits for the quick and easy factor. [↩]

I’m going to a Halloween party tonight, and I’ve been going back and forth on what to bring. I had a lot going on this week, so I wasn’t sure that I wanted to attempt anything too time-consuming. Luckily, I found these little ghosties that are so cute and radically easy. All they are is Nutter Butter cookies dipped in vanilla-flavored almond bark with half-jelly beans for eyes.

The recipe (if you can call it that) calls for 6 ounces of vanilla-flavored almond bark, which I’m not too sure if I like. I could just hear my husband crunching into one and saying (mid-bite) “Hmm…these are okay. Why didn’t you just use white chocolate?”. So I did. I found that 6 ounces is a gross underestimate. It covered about 20 cookies, which is a little more than half of a container of Nutter Butters. This was a bad thing, but no bother…I went to the store later on to get some more supplies.

They were out of Nutter Butters. Out! All they had were these Nutter Butter wafers that do not even resemble the cookie. So I had to think fast. And what did I find to my increasing delight? Bone-shaped graham crackers…Scooby snacks, actually. I think you can see where my mind was headed.

So anyway, back at the stove. In case you’re not familiar with the process of melting chocolate (I tend to think everyone is as addicted to The Food Network as I am, but somehow I doubt it), all you do is put the chocolate in a clear glass or metal bowl (Pyrex works well) and set the bowl over a pot of simmering (not boiling) water, stirring occasionally until melted. Or, just put the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave on 70 percent power for a minute, stir well, then put it back in for 10 to 15 second increments (stirring after each time) until melted.

If I were you, I would choose the latter. If even a few drops of water get into your precious chocolate, it will seize up on you like it has rigamortis. This happened to me on my second batch, actually. It could have been the brand I used–the first batch melted without a hitch, and it was the Baker’s brand. The second batch were Nestles Toll House white chocolate morsels. Thankfully, I read somewhere that you can add 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening per cup of white chocolate to try and rescue it. Wikipedia disagrees, but it worked swimmingly for me.

With my first batch (the “ghosts”), the dipping process wasn’t as fool-proof as I had expected. I largely suspect this is because 6 ounces of chocolate in a big Pyrex bowl tends to spread itself kind of thin over the bottom. I made do by laying the cookies face down in the chocolate, then flipping them over to coat the other side. It was still an awkward approach, since I only wanted the top 2/3 of the cookie covered.

My second batch (the “bones”) worked great, since I was covering them completely–I just poured several in the bowl and used a pair of tongs to cover them with chocolate and place them on the rack to set.

For the ghosts, I figured that black jelly beans usually taste like licorice (not my favorite), so I opted for mini Reeses Pieces instead. I also decided they needed mouths as well as eyes.

Spooooooky.

Okay, so I was it today. I cleaned out my fridge from top to bottom. If I had known what venomous monster lurked in its recesses, I probably would have put it off indefinitely. Above is the “before” picture. Doesn’t look TOO bad, right? I mean, a little cramped and disorganized, but not nasty.

So I took some good advice and started by turning off the fridge. I pulled every last morsel off of the shelves and out of the drawers. At this point, I didn’t check the contents–just pulled it all out and set it on the table. I ran a sinkful of hot, soapy water and proceeded to take out the shelves, one by one, and scrub them good. Things weren’t too bad, I thought. I was hopeful that this little project would only take me an hour or so.

Then I got to the bottom. As I pulled the left drawer out of its shelf, I noticed a strange brownish-purple substance underneath. What was this? I pulled out the other drawer. Oh my word. It ran all along the bottom of the fridge. I held my breath as I grabbed for my trusty long-handled cleaning brush. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as it looked.

Underneath those drawers at the bottom laid a mess that was simply indescribable. I’ll attempt. Lining the entire bottom of floor of the refrigerator was a thick layer of brownish purple goo. It was sticky, but firm. Grossly ugly, but without scent. I still haven’t figured out what it consisted of, but it had found a perfect hiding place, underneath those drawers. You can’t see it until you pull them out. I would have almost rather lived in ignorance.

I scraped and scraped. I sprayed with a mild cleaning solution and waited. I scraped some more. I tried scrubbing it off. I sprayed again and waited longer. Finally it looked like some of it was coming up. I continued scraping, mopping up as much as I could with an old towel, but there were still some patches that wouldn’t budge. I doused it with Goo Gone, which finally did the trick.

The rest of my project pretty much went as you would expect. I put all of the drawers and shelves back in and tossed all of the old food out. I took some more good advice and decided to use only clear containers to store our leftovers in. Here’s how I organized everything:

• Top left–big, tall items (milk, juice, etc.)
• Top right–leftovers and other items that need to be eaten soon
• Middle left–medium sized items and condiments that won’t fit in the door (mayonnaise, pickles, etc.). I’m also going to put on it a box filled with healthy snacks as soon as I go grocery shopping. That way, my son can reach in and grab whatever he wants without a problem (he’s two and loves to do things for himself).
• Middle right–medium sized items that are not in danger of being forgotten (eggs, for example)
• Bottom left–deli/cheese drawer
• Bottom right–meat (so it doesn’t drip on anything)
• Very bottom drawers–potatoes (which, contrary to popular belief, do VERY well in the fridge) and other veggies that we’re not likely to forget about

I’m not going to lie to you–this process was time-consuming. It took me two hours and 15 minutes from start to finish. I had a list of five things I wanted to get accomplished today, and I think I’ll only get to two of them because of my energy level right now. But that’s fine. I’m pretty proud of myself for getting rid of that monster. I only wish I had gotten a picture as proof of my victory. At the time, I was just thinking “oh my gosh, I do not want proof of THAT!”. It’s probably better this way.

So as most of you know, this summer was a busy one for me. However, there is NO excuse for what I’ve done…I’ve completely ignored a proliferating basil plant on the side of my house. In fact, I had clear forgotten about it until I happened to mosey over there today to check on the roses (which had also been pretty much ignored).

As a self-professed basil lover, I am ashamed. I need to redeem myself, but how? I could engorge myself with basil recipes, but that might make me despise the plant in time. So I’ve decided to take a more moderate approach. Yes, I will indulge in a few well-chosen basil-based dishes: pesto (of course), basil grilled chicken with tomato basil butter, chicken stuffed with cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil, and four cheese margherita pizza are my weapons of choice. But I will also do something very uncharacteristically domestic…I will preserve it before the frost gets it.

And how shall I do this? Well, I’ve heard of a lot of different methods of freezing basil, but the one that gets the “Most Likely to Succeed” award is from Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. It looks easy enough to do, even without a food processor (which I don’t have). Basically, you just chop up the basil, put in just enough olive oil to coat it all, mix well, and pack tightly in individual containers before freezing. Why the olive oil? Basil has a nasty tendency to turn black when frozen…yum.

Oh, and one more thing: I just discovered that if I have leftover pesto and want to keep it from turning ugly in the fridge (which it will, overnight), I can pour a thin layer of olive oil over the top to keep it green. (Thanks, Martha).