Oatmeal….Big Batch Cooking

Recently I discovered steel cut oatmeal and really enjoy fixing it for breakfast each morning.  The problem with this type of oatmeal is that it takes 20 minutes to cook and I don’t like to wait that long to eat my breakfast.  I know 20 minutes is not that long but like to just eat and not really cook in the morning too.  To solve this dilemma I cook a large batch each Sunday and eat some each day.  I did decide I wanted to vary my breakfasts but still cook the oatmeal in batches.  I don't know why but I do tend to eat only one thing for breakfast for a while then get tired of it and move to something else for a while and then come back to the first thing.   I used my large ice cream scoop and put the scoops of oatmeal on a foil lined cookie sheet and popped then into the freezer.  Each scoop is 1/2 cup and that is exactly how much I eat for breakfast, how handy for me.The frozen oatmeal lumps are put into a ziploc bag and back into the freezer.  Since they were all frozen before bagging the lumps will not stick together and will be ready to be defrosted and heated when I want.  Just a few minutes in the microwave and they are ready to eat.

I never thought I liked oatmeal because I thought it was just too mushy but the steel cut oatmeal is really chewy and quite tasty.  I add some brown sugar to the heated oatmeal then slice a banana on top.  I add a little milk and have a very satisfying breakfast.

Lynn

Beef and Noodles

Recently I made some homemade egg noodles - much better than purchased ones.  Not hard to make but I have not made noodles for a long time so had to dig out my recipe – you can find recipes for egg noodles on the internet.  I use my electric  mixer and the dough hook and mix it well and until the ball of dough gets elastic, meaning the gluten is developed.  I don’t kneed my dough by hand as my wrists are wimpy and get tired before the dough is kneeded enough.  I do have a pasta machine I received from my mother in law that works wonders for rolling and cutting the noodles too.  Here are some of the noodles I made all laid out on a kitchen towel to dry and will be bagged up for future use.
OK, back to the title of my post – Beef and Noodles.  I made a big pot of beef and noodles using my homemade noodles and some canned beef I had purchased at the local processing plant some beef broth and some frozen peas.  Now for the part that I didn’t realize was unusual until recently.  We love our beef and noodles served over potatoes and mashed potatoes being the preferred form.  We also eat chicken and noodle soup the first day as soup and the second day served over potatoes. Do any of you eat beef and noodles or chicken and noodles over potatoes?  I don’t know if it is a regional thing as I know others around here that eat it that way too but have heard from people that came from places other than Nebraska say they had never heard of it except here in Nebraska.  By the way it is really, really good served this way and when I warmed up these leftovers I was a little short on broth for it to be perfect.  I like my potatoes swimming in plenty of broth but it still was pretty tasty.  If this is new to you and you give it a try please let me know how you like it.

Lynn

Lynn

Easy Quick Meal

I just hate to stop what I am doing and make a meal if I am in the middle of a sewing or quilting project.   I have several quick easy meals that I can whip up in about 10 minutes and they taste good too!  Here is what I made today – Tortellini with chicken and Alfredo sauce and green beans with bacon.
I buy the fresh tri-colored cheese filled tortellini at Sams or Wallmart and keep a package or two in my freezer most of the time ready to use at a moments notice and today was such a day.  Here are the all the ingredients in the main dish, all kept in the cupboard or freezer to be ready when needed.The first thing I do is put on a large pot of water to cook the tortellini then I started the sauce.  Chop the onion (I only use about 1/3 of one onion for one can of chicken), cook in about 2-3 teaspoons of oil until onions are soft, add a can of drained chopped chicken, chop it up a bit more with the spoon then add the jar of Alfredo sauce.  My favorite brand is Bertolli.  Yum….it smells so good while it is simmering until the rest is ready.  The pasta only needs a few minutes to cook and then it will be drained and ready to serve.

  

  

I also served green beans cooked with chopped bacon.  I also keep a package of pre-cooked bacon in the freezer so took a couple of slices out and chopped them up and added them to the green beans.  I did start the beans when I started the water for the tortellini pasta so they could cook a few minutes to get the flavor of the bacon infused into the beans.

Normally I would have something for a salad but didn’t have anything on hand but John and I enjoyed the meal the way it was.  It was very flavorful and hearty and for me was quick and easy.

Do any of you have recipes that your go to when you need a quick and easy meal?  Please share as I would love to have a few more I can rely on.

Lynn

Tea Time

I am a tea drinker not a coffee drinker…I never could get over the biter taste of coffee so finally gave up trying to like coffee and stuck with tea which I enjoy very much, hot or cold.

I like to have hot tea and would heat 2-3 cups of water in microwave each morning and would brew my tea using loose leaf tea in a tea ball strainer but always had to re-heat the brewed tea or heat more water as it always got cold.  Not a huge problem but I like my hot tea HOT.  I have one of the pretty glass coffee presses and it works but just doesn’t keep my tea hot.

Before Christmas I was looking through Amazon.com and came across several different insulated coffee/tea presses.  I immediately knew this would work for me…easy to use, easy to clean and hot tea for several hours, plus they looked pretty.

I settled on this stainless steel insulated pot and ordered it and have not been sorry I did.  I LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT.  It holds 3 cups of water which fills about 2 1/2 mugs of tea which is just the right amount for me.   I like that I can put the tea leaves in the pot and when I am finished and need to clean up I can just rinse it out and the leaves go down the disposal.  I always had tea leaves sticking to the tea ball strainer so it is nice to just rinse out the pot and swish…they are gone!

The lid/press looks like the above.  Some tea leaves might stick to the bottom but a quick rinse and they come loose and down the drain like the rest of the used leaves. 

I do like that it looks pretty sitting on my table or by the computer as well as the fact that it keeps my tea hot for several hours.   So far I am not putting it in the dishwasher to keep the outside shiny and unscratched.  I dry it immediately too so it won’t water spot. 

Here is the web page on Amazon.com for this particular pot I ordered but look at all the other coffee presses for other models. 

Tea, tea, tea, so many flavors and kinds – I love all kinds but right now my two favorites are Oolong and Lychee Black.  I love the semi-sweet flavor of the Lychee Black so am choosing to drink it most mornings.  I would like to drink tea all day long but need to have decaffeinated tea or water in the afternoons if I want to sleep at night so usually opt for drinking water which is good for me anyway. 

Nice sunny day today.  We didn't get much more snow last night and John estimates we had about 6-8" and it is very light and fluffy but slick as John found out this morning.  He had to go to town and another guy slid through an intersection and they crunched together.  Our pickup has a dent over the front wheel, passenger's side, plus did some damage under the headlight too.   The pickup is old but it will still need to be fixed...guess we are lucky no one was hurt.  John said it was kind of like slow motion as he hit the brakes too when he saw the guy coming across but they both slid together - Crunch. 

I have quilt guild tonight and I will have John drive me in as I am not driving yet.  We have not had a meeting since November so it will be good to see everyone.

Lynn