Happy Holidays!

Rogan started working this year for the State Library.  He was named a Mover and Shaker by the Library Journal.  He has published several articles and even cowrote an RPG book.  He has presented at several conferences, and has been asked to speak at more in the next year.  He is working too many hours and has too much stress, but I am proud of all of his accomplishments.  Rogan was in the parking lot of Walmart one day this fall and saw a man with a box of puppies.  He brought two of them home.  We are now up to five dogs in the house and I am officially sick of house training dogs.

Rhiannon finished 12th grade this fall.  She has changed hairstyles at least four times.  She is not sure what she wants to do with her life, so is in the process of “finding herself.”  Currently she watches the girls for me four hours per day during the week, so I can get some work done that requires concentration.  We also let Rhiannon pick out a cat from the humane society, where she volunteers on Saturdays, as an early Christmas present this year.  We are now up to two cats and my allergies are not amused.

Rowan started kindergarten this fall.  She is smart as a tack, picking up her ABCs, learning to write, learning about new animals in the documentaries and learning programs on the iPad.  She isn’t reading yet, but that is only a matter of time.  I cut Rowan’s hair this summer, so it is shoulder length and much easier to brush now.  Unfortunately, when I cut it most of her curls went away

River thinks Rowan doing school is interesting at times, but she never wants to join in.  Maybe next year she will garner some interest in learning herself.  We may need an extra iPad or two!  River didn’t want me to cut her hair when I cut Rowan’s, so I am still struggling with hair brushing with River and her tangle of curls.  Would help if she would let me brush it more often.

Me?  I’ve been working more hours, picked up extra work from one client and in the last month gained a new client.  Things are looking up in the work at home front.  I also started testing recipes for a website for a cookbook author.  (I haven’t been keeping up with the recipe testing very well the last six months, I hope they don’t kick me from the program.)  The last few months have also seen a significant improvement in how I feel with the PPD/A.  I am on an upward curve and hope this means the end of the evilness that is my hormones.

I am sure I have missed a lot of what has gone on in our lives, but that is a broad overview.  I hope you and yours are all happy and healthy and that this continues on into the New Year!

I can no longer be a super blogger

I started Behind the Stall Door when I was breastfeeding and pumping milk at work.  Since then, I have been all over the board with my posts, never having a clear and concise idea of what this blog should be to me and my readers.  I’ve posted about my battles with PPD/A, attachment parenting, photography, cooking, gardening, homeschooling, homesteading efforts….

What it comes down to is this:  I need to decide what it is I want to write about, and stick to only one or two subjects (that are in the same category).

So, my faithful readers – if anyone is still reading this after my hiatus since April – what is it that you have enjoyed reading about the most on this blog?

My White Zombie

Something I sometimes run into when trying out a new recipe is buying an ingredient just for that recipe.  I make the recipe, but it doesn’t use all of that ingredient.  So, what do you do with the remaining lentils in the bag you buy to make Heather’s dish?  Try making today’s recipe as a side dish during the week, or add to next week’s Meatless Monday meal – leaving out the bacon, of course.

This dish was inspired by the dish Sautéed Bacon, Mushrooms, and Lentils, which I recently tested for Leite’s Culinaria, and it was a big hit with myself and my husband.  Of the kids, our 2yo, the lover of all things bean, was the most impressed.

Step One: Cook Your Lentils

If you have never had lentils before, I will warn you they are not anything like a pinto or a navy bean.  They are just a bit more firm when fully cooked.  They do not get to that consistency of being able to easily mash them up with a fork so you can feed them to the baby.

Veggies on a Cutting Board

Some variations I have made:  I cook my lentils for about 45 minutes (the recommended time is about 30 minutes on the bag, but I like my lentils a bit softer), I use two onions and five cloves of garlic.  If I am cooking for our friend who has dairy allergies, I use olive oil instead of butter.  I also chop the mushrooms into tiny pieces, to hide them from the 17 and 4 year olds who don’t like the look of mushrooms and will not eat the dish if they see them.  I also sometimes will add diced carrots to the dish, to give it some colour. Sometimes I fry chopped chicken pieces (you can also use leftover chicken) with the bacon and add to the dish to make a whole meal.

Mushrooms Sweat, So Don't Be Alarmed When Your Veggies Get Watery, Just Keep Cooking Until Liquid Is Reabsorbed

Bacon gives extra flavor AND colour - A two-fer!

You get the idea, though, right?  Take a recipe, make it the way it is written, and then add your own flare(s)!  Make the recipe your own.  This is what cooks do, adapt to suit your own tastes.  Try recipes with ingredients you have never tried before, or haven’t had in a really long time.  Stretch your palate.  If you don’t like the ingredient, find a substitute, or leave it out entirely!  Bob and weave, bob and weave! And not all of your variations are going to be home runs.  You will have some strikeouts (we do not mention peanut sauce and noodles in this house without shuddering) and you may end up ordering pizza out instead of what you cooked, but don’t let those speed bumps stop you from trying!

Cooking doesn’t have to be elaborate, it doesn’t have to take hours of prep followed by hours of cook time.  I love spending time in the kitchen cooking, it relaxes me, takes away a lot of my daily stress.  But I still don’t like to spend more than 45 minutes to an hour on dinner (unless I am making Peruvian Roasted Chicken, cause then the extra time is totally worth it!)  I like to take my iPad in the kitchen with me, put on Pandora Radio (Eagles and Carole King are my two favorite stations to cook along with) and dance and chop and stir away the time – sometimes I even stream a tv show through Netflix while I’m doing the prep.

So, as Heather recommends, plan your menus around what activities will hinder your schedule.  This will determine the amount of time you have to prepare meals.  Consider this, and the amount of time you want to spend preparing a meal.  If you all about twenty to thirty minute meals, this is totally not a problem.  Hamburger Helper?  Brown your own meat, add your own spices and cheese, boil your own pasta and you have a hamburger helper meal without the preservatives in the same amount of time.  Kraft Mac and Cheese?  While your macaroni is boiling, make a rue with 1/4 tsp butter and 3 Tbsp of flour, cook on medium high about 3 minutes, add 2 1/2 cups of milk and cook until the rue is incorporated and the mixture is bubbling) and add the cheese (about 3 cups) to make the sauce (this only takes a max of three to four minutes!) and you have something that actually tastes BETTER in just a minute or two longer than the boxed version (add tuna or chicken and some peas or other boiled or steamed veggies and you have a whole meal free of preservatives!).  Change it up a bit, put this mixture in a casserole dish sprinkle shredded cheese and bread crumbs on the top and bake for 20 minutes at 375F.

Dinner does not have to be a four course event.  Casseroles are truly amazing things to behold.  One pot dishes you can make on the stove, oven or crockpot are nothing to sneeze at because they are simple.  One of my secrets is chopping veggies and meat ahead of time, usually on a Saturday when we get back from Sam’s Club with our bulk purchases of stew meat, carrots, etc.  I divvy up the spoils into meal sized portions (I use Ziplock gallon sized bags, due to the space limits of our freezer).  Veggies stay in the crisper drawer of our fridge, though.  I try to thaw out the protein in the fridge for a day or two before I know I am going to cook with them (this is where a weekly menu plan comes in handy).  I also try to keep some marinara sauce (or the ingredients for it) on hand, for those days I don’t feel like doing much of anything, so we can have spaghetti – or else I let Rogan loose in my kitchen.  Rogan is a good cook, especially Asian meals, even though people don’t seem to want to believe it – he makes a mean Tandoori Chicken!

Now it’s your turn.  What meals would you like make simpler (more simple?), or what is your simple go to meal?

Note:  I was given a copy of this book by F+W Media for review purposes.  But, as always, I never agree on a positive review and my opinions are not compromised because I love Heather to death!

I grew up in a Southern family.  I remember I could not watch General Hospital after school if I hadn’t made my bed before leaving for school that morning (I missed a lot of episodes of General Hospital).  I remember watching my Mawmaw clean and dust.  Dusting was odd to me.  But then, because she did it regularly, I never saw it so thought it silly to dust when we never had dust.  As a grown up, with kids and a husband of my own, I do the laundry.  The dishes eventually get washed.  The floor is swept at least once a week.  I cook at least one meal a day.  I swipe at cobwebs in the corners of rooms when I notice them.  I do not own a vacuum cleaner (we have tile or hardwood floors).  Let’s just say, I am not my Mawmaw.  There is noticeable dust.  My bed still isn’t made in the mornings – but that’s ok, since I haven’t watched General Hospital since high school.

Reading Heather’s book made me feel guilty.  Heather’s book made me feel EXTREMELY guilty.  I now have a schedule laid out on the white board in my office.  To clean my house.  On a regular basis.  Yes, dusting is on the list.  Making my bed is not (I’m a rebel, ya know).

There are parts in the book where I had to put it down and go into a room and look.  I felt a little nauseated.  And thankful no one has ever refused food or drink while in my house (no worries, I am not destined to be on any reality shows where they show how bad a housecleaner I am, but I also am not going to win any great housekeeping awards, either  I just suck at getting off my bum and cleaning the house thoroughly).  Did you know if you have jets in your bath tub you are supposed to clean them out a few times a year?  Or they get groddy inside and will leave floating mold and germs in your bath tub????  Did you know the pink rings around your tub and toilet was actually a mold which contributes to urinary tract infections and you can only get rid of it with a weak solution of bleach???  Better yet, did you know there was a lint trap in the hose of your washing machine?? I didn’t until I called a repairman because the washer wasn’t draining (“Did you turn off and then back on again?” is the DUH of the tech world, the lint hose must be the DUH of the washer repair world).

Heather also tells us about the mixing of cleaning chemicals.  Which ones to use on what kinds of surfaces, which ones NOT to use on a certain kinds of surfaces.  Did you know if there were any splashes of urine on the sides of the bowl in your toilet, you will release toxic gases if you put bleach inside to clean it??  Yeah…um…I knew that….yeah.

This book doesn’t just talk about cleaning your house, though, it also helps you with laundry (stains are the bane of everyone’s existence), minor repairs (ever spill fingernail polish remover on good furniture or had a toilet you have to jiggle the handle on?) around the house (Did your ring, or anything else, drop down the sink?  There’s a section for that!) and cooking (do you burn water?  Heather gives you hope and encouragement, and help with menu planning and weekly shopping/pantry stocking).

I think I may turn into a hybrid of Heather and my Mawmaw now.  My mom cleaned, but she also worked full time and had three kids.  I don’t remember ever seeing her dust, either, but that could just be selective memory or memory amnesia.  I am now looking around my home with a whole new outlook – and wondering if I can afford to take a few weeks off, ship the kids out somewhere during this time, and do some deep, deep cleaning…..yeah, that’s not gonna happen.  But Heather let’s us know, if you only have 15 minutes, you can still get a lot accomplished.  Now, who wants to hold the ladder so I can dust the ceiling fans???

F+W Media have given me a wonderful opportunity to give away a copy of Heather’s book to my readers!!!

Required for entering:  Go to Heather’s blog, Home-Ec 101, look around.  Tell me what you best love about her site (don’t forget to browse the forums!).

Optional additional entries:
Follow me on Twitter – tell me your Twitter handle below so I can follow you back, and so your entry will be counted!

Do you RSS or get my newsletter?  Let me know here (and tell your friends!).

Follow Heather on Twitter. (Tell us your Twitter handle below, or it won’t be counted.)

Like Home-Ec 101 on Facebook. (Tell use your Facebook handle below, or it won’t be counted.)

Do you get Heather’s blog on RSS or email, tell us here.

Tweet this giveaway:  “Enter to win a copy of  @HeatherSolos new book Home-Ec 101 at Behind The Stall Door http://wp.me/pULfZ-ay” and enter your tweet url in the comments section.

This giveaway ends Sunday, April 10th, at midnight.  Winner will be announced Monday at noon.  The book will be sent to the winner via F+W Media.

Originally submitted at Greenfeet – The Planet’s Homestore

Norpro Butter Keeper keeps butter fresh and spreadable without refrigeration. Love butter but wish there was an easier way to make it more spreadable? You could leave it on the counter, but doing so invites harmful bacteria. Perhaps, it's time you were introduced to the Porcelain Butter Keepe…

Norpro Butter Keeper

Love, Love, Love

Pros: Easy To Assemble, Durable, Attractive Design

Best Uses: Kitchen

Describe Yourself: Budget Shopper

I Am A: Family Young Kids

I love our local, grassfed cows, organic butter rolls but it made buttering bread in the morning for toast hard. I didn’t want the whole roll to be left out and maybe forgotten and go bad, so I gave this keeper a try. This is awesome and I love it! (However, do not leave it on the stove and forget it’s there and let the cooktop get hot, it will get melty – not that I’ve done anything like that, oh no).

(legalese)

And for all of my loyal readers (Hi, Mom, hi sis!  Anyone else out there??? lol) I have teamed up with PetSmart and 1-800-PetMeds to bring your bank account AND your pets some relief during the upcoming flea season! Until March 28th, you can save $10 from PetSmart on all K9 Advantix II and Advantage II Flea and Tick 6 pk at PetSmart!   Click this link to grab your savings now!  http://bit.ly/h6XqIF  You can also get a special deal from 1-800 -PetMeds on the K9 Advantage red box!  Just click this link:  http://bit.ly/dZO6iY

Oh, and that was a totally unpaid endorsement people!

Ok, onward and forward!!  Where were we?  Oh, yes, hidden veggie marinara.  Although my kids are fairly good at eating their veggies, they can sometimes be stubborn.  However, they love anything with pasta!  I got this idea from Giada’s book Everyday Italian.  I put my own tweaks to the recipe, and tripled it!  I make a HUGE pot of this sauce at least once a month – sometimes two.  I get four servings and freeze them for future meals.

First, you need a bulk store can of crushed tomatoes (you can pare this down to 28oz can).  We use crushed instead of diced because Rogan doesn’t like the texture of tomato chunks, but is ok with crushed.  Put this in your sauce pan (we use a 6 qt enamel coated dutch oven) and start your simmer.

Pot O' Tomatoes

Meanwhile, you want to grab the veggies you want to include in your sauce.  I use carrots, onions, garlic – sometimes I will include celery, spinach or other green.  Peel and chop into small bits.  I like to use the food processor to make something just a step up from a mush.

Mush!

Add this to your skillet, with a few tablespoons of butter and cook on medium heat for about six or seven minutes.  Don’t have your heat too high, you do not want this to brown, only cook thoroughly.

Skillet o' Carrot Mush

Now you can add your carrot mixture to your pot of tomatoes.  Mix thoroughly and let simmer for about ten minutes, so the flavors can mix.

Tomatoes and Carrots

You are almost done!

After simmering for a while, you want to add your crushed basil.  You can use fresh or dried – if you use fresh be careful of your portion, fresh has more flavor punch than dried.  Add a bit and then taste.  If needed, add more.  Ok, ok, ok…add two teaspoons, geesh!  You people are very needy with all the measuring and stuff :p

Basil, It's What's in Marinara

Now, let that simmer at medium low for about thirty minutes.  Just before serving, you can add Parmesan cheese directly to the sauce, if you wish.  This sauce is good for any kind of pasta or rice dish.  You can even add browned hamburger meat, meatballs, beef tips or chicken bits for a bit of something different.

TaDa!

This recipe is so stinkin’ easy to make, I challenge each of you to try it.  Yes, getting out the food processor, setting it up, breaking it back down and cleaning it can be a pain in the rear, but it is sooo worth it.  Let me know what you think of it!

Do you have any recipes which are good for more than one dish?  One that will make up two, three or more different dishes for dinners, lunches or breakfasts?  Let us know!  Don’t forget to also post it on Twitter, with the hashtag #HomeChat!

Hi, it’s me again, Margaret…if you want this recipe to be even easier, and have a family/spouse who eats veggies without much problem, you can leave out the veggie puree.  Then you just open a jar or can of tomatoes, add basil and parma  cheese, simmer for about 20 minutes, throw over your favorite pasta and, viola!, you have dinner!  I like to make the big batches of this recipe and freeze into three or four dinner servings, then I have a quick meal throw-together plan on days I really don’t feel like cooking.  It’s healthy, and we don’t get a jar of preservatives or a take out window full of grease and fat and sugar.

 

Loaf of Bread

 

Bread Flour, Bread Machines, History and Other Stuff

 

 

According to Dictionary.com, the definition of bread flour is thus:

bread flour

–noun

wheat flour from which a large part of the starch has been removed, thus increasing the proportion of gluten.

Also called gluten flour.

 

 

Unlike self rising bread, I cannot find a site for when bread flour was first introduced to baking.  I have seen suggestions bread flour came along when the bread machine was invented.  It was patented by an African-American inventor, Joseph Lee, in Boston and patented in 1902.  However, in the UK, Hovis flour was created in 1886, when miller Richard Smith discovered a way to separate wheat germ from the flour, cooking it and adding it back into the flour while preventing fermentation which spoils the flour.  His partnership with Thomas Fitton was later to become The Hovis Bread Flour Company Limited in 1898.  Later, in America,  Gold Metal introduced what was called “High Protein Flour” in the 1920s.  It was discontinued in 1974, but brought it  back as “Better for Bread Flour” in 1979.  Therefore I do not believe it the bread machine was the catalyst for the creation of bread flour.  However, if you know of the history of it’s creation, please feel free to add comments.  I am curious, but tired of internet searches.

 

 

Several sites, including Smitten Kitchen, suggest making your own bread from all purpose flour by adding a tablespoon of gluten to each cup of flour in a recipe.  You do not have to use all purpose flour exclusively for your homemade bread flour, you can also use rye, buckwheat and barley – though other flours do not have the extra gluten in them to hold your breads together as these do, so I wouldn’t use another type of flour if you are planning on company.  I do wonder if you can do this with spelt flour, though.  Bread flour has a gluten rate of about 13-14%, whereas all purpose flour is around 12%.  So you will want to substitute the AP flour with something with a similar gluten rate, or use a little extra gluten in your mix.  Experiment!  This is what makes cooking and baking fun!

 

 

As with other flours, bread flour only has a shelf life of six months.  If you refrigerate it, you may be able to keep it a little longer.  If you store it in the freezer, you can keep it up to two years.

 

 

Keep your flour away from other stored items which have strong odors, such as onions, as the flour will absorb these smells.  A bay leaf in your container will help keep insects out of your flour, as well.  I am a huge proponent of buying your supplies in bulk (family of five, it saves us money), but remember, if you aren’t a big baker buying in bulk is not worth the savings if you throw out most of your purchase because it has gone bad.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this installment of my flour series.  If you have any requests, or just a comment, please feel free to leave it below.  My next post will be all about rye flour, so keep an eye out, and maybe spread the word

After hearing a tale from my husband regarding one of his coworkers, I have decided to do a kitchen basics post instead of a recipe today.

A little background:  My husband works with someone who grew up in a house that didn’t cook, therefore there is no cooking in their house.  When I say no cooking, I mean fast food and microwave meals – they have never even had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!  From indications I have picked up from his stories, they would like to learn but their kitchen lacks materials needed to make even the most basic of dishes.  There are no pots or pans!

So, today’s post is dedicated to what a beginner cook needs to make simple meals at home.  Nothing outlandish, like a rotisserie machine, but simple, basic kitchen items you will use every single day.

Prep:

Two Knives And A Board

You will need a good cutting board – I recommend having two, one for veggies and one for meats, with a groove around the edge for catching juices (so it doesn’t spill onto your counters or floor).  I do NOT recommend a glass cutting board – the glass will dull your knives!  Plastic is ok, if it is what you already have, but my personal preference is bamboo.

I also recommend you have two basic knives – a Chef knife (or a Santoku knife) and a Paring knife.  You will also need a good knife sharpener.  I know it is expensive, but the sharpener is just as important as your knives!  Your knives will be no good to you if they are dull and do not slice through something like a raw carrot like it was softened butter.  (You can wait a few weeks between getting your knives and your sharpener, if, like our family, you have to budget for the purchases between paychecks.)  And I will concur with the wonderful Julia Child, do not buy stainless steel knives.  Invest in your knives and they will last you a lifetime, not just a few years.  Also, I do not like wooden handles, I am always worried about bacteria in the kitchen and a hilt which is not part of the knife as a whole always worries me.  I like solid knifes, from tip to hilt they should be one unit.

Pots And Pans

Skillets

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I use cast iron for cooking.  I have five different sizes and types.  I have a single fried egg size, two slightly larger small skillets, two medium skillets, two large skillets and a griddle.  I also have two enamel coated cast iron dutch ovens and a cast iron wok, along with several miscellaneous products.  Yes, they are all from Lodge (it is what I grew up with and I have never had an issue with the brand).  Now, if you live near Myrtle Beach, SC – or go there on vacation in the summer – there is a Lodge Outlet Store you absolutely have to visit!

Now, you don’t have to have every single one of these products to do basic cooking in your kitchen.  I have collected these products over the last three to four years.  Some I bought, some were gifts.  All you really need to start out is an 8-inch skillet and a 12-inch skillet, a dutch oven is nice as it doubles as a sauce pan for our large family, but they also have cast iron sauce pans, though stainless steel works just as well.  An iron skillet works on the stove top AND in the oven.  I make roasted chicken in the big skillet, when I take it out to rest on the cutting board (this is where the groove in the cutting board really comes in handy), I then put the skillet on the stove burner for making the jus – one pot for roasting and jus!  I also make oven baked veggies in my skillets.  You can make bread, cakes, meats of various kinds, fish, veggies…just about anything you can make in the oven or stove top can be made in a regular old iron skillet.  Don’t believe me?  They make cookbooks just for cast iron!

Ok, so we have our cutting boards, our knifes, and our skillets and sauce pans.  Yes, this is all you need to start your kitchen! You don’t need a gourmet kitchen with all the bells and whistles to cook for your family.  You don’t need every electronic gizmo known to man – though you can pry my Kitchen Aid Stand out of my cold, dead hands…  All you need are the basics.  This is where I started.  I have added to my collection over the course of years.  When asked what I want for gifts, I point to my Amazon wish list and tell them to look for the kitchen items (yes, I have to be specific, I have about fifteen pages on my wish list and in departments all over the board – Amazon can be dangerous for me lol).

Oh, and if you bake, you will also need measuring cups and spoons – you know, if you need to be precise about the recipe (hey, I occasionally measure!!!).  However, you are on your own for plates and cutlery.

Now it’s your turn!  If you were on the proverbial desert island, what kitchen items would you absolutely HAVE to take with you (besides the coffee machine, of course)?