To Market To Market- Popeye's Passion

I was recently lucky enough to get to try a couple things from To Market To Market, and couldn't wait to share them with you! I'm going to split my post into two, so each item can get its own time to shine. (Edit to add, the second post can be found here.)

So, today's yummy yummy treat was Popeye's Passion. Upon reading the back of the pack, I saw it made FOUR cups of dip, enough for a party. But, seeing as I'm not one to party, I decided to pare it down a bit. I also wanted to take this opportunity to healthy-up the dip. VERY easy to do when it's a mix, so much better than buying a dip from the store you have no control over its ingredients.

The suggested recipe on Popeye's Passion calls for 1 1/2 cups of sour cream, and 1 1/2 cups of mayo. I decided to go with plain yogurt as my base. It covers all that's needed to replace the sour cream and mayo, tang, creaminess, and dippability. (I'm gonna make that a word, ok?)

Since the pack said it makes 4 cups of dip with that 3 cups of base and the pack, I figured 1/3 of the pack and 1 cup of yogurt would make a nice, manageable amount for my un-party. I made sure to empty the pack into a jar and shook it VERY VERY well, to keep the ingredients evenly mixed. I didn't want to mess up the ratio of the recipe. I used an old yeast jar that I save for things like spices and stuff that come in packs. The amber-colored glass helps keep light out, and they close quite tightly to keep things fresher, longer.

Mixed together, and let sit covered in the fridge for 3 hours (at least) as suggested.

Wow, it came out AMAZING. To be honest, I wasn't expecting the spinach to be enough, I am a big spinach lover... but the yogurt re-hydrated it, and there was plenty. 

There is also bit of other veggies in there, looks like some carrots maybe, and they gave it a great flavor. It was also well seasoned. None of the overly-salty, or almost chemical-ish flavor a lot of packages dips and seasonings have. I used mine for vegetables, but it would be great on almost anything. I think I'm going to get some pita chips for the next batch. I might even experiment some with additions, make it my own. 

You can find To Market To Market online, and on Facebook if you'd like to find out more, or check out other products. 

http://www.tomarket-tomarket.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ToMarketToMarket

Disclaimer:

I did receive product to try and talk about, but I did not receive ANY other compensation. I also was not told, or suggested to, what to say and ALL opinions are MY own. 

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Roasters Are for More Than Thanksgiving (Pt.1?)

Chicken quarters can go a LONG way. When they go on sale, a 10 pound bag for less than $5.00, I am SURE to grab one because I can bake it up and have several meals of shredded chicken in the freezer. (There are SO many recipes I use them in!) Usually, it will take me 2 or more pans to bake off all the chicken. I'll bake it, serve up a few pieces for dinner that night, then put the rest (minus the bones and skin!) in the freezer, portioned for a few more meals. Then I got a roaster.
Before I bought a roaster for Thanksgiving (to make cooking everything at the same time easier) I made myself promise it would get LOTS of use. Even though it was on sale, I wanted to be sure I could use it more than once a year.
So, I was really excited to see that the WHOLE bag of chicken quarters fits, bakes evenly and there's enough room that the skin browns and crisps nicely.

Plus it leaves the oven free for other things...like...I dunno... cookies!
I'm also looking into MORE uses for my roaster, if you know any- let me know in the comments! :)

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Quick Tip: Freezer Organization

Since we just have a small, above the fridge type freezer- and 5 people, I am forever working on ways to maximize our space. This also helps minimize our food budget! The key to keeping a freezer effective and efficient is organization.
One of my favorite findings is freezing items FLAT so they stack and fit nicely.

I also LOVE using baskets to keep things grouped together, AND to keep them from falling out on me.

Another tip that homemakers use for freezers of all sizes is inventorying them. I used to keep mine in my Home Binder, but it was sometimes hard to remember to cross off when I'd use something. So, I switched to posting my chart on the fridge. That seemed to work, except it fell a lot, got drawn on by little artists, was a dirt magnet, etc. Now I use an index card system. Simple to do, simple to read, and stays both handy for Mom and out of the way of grubby little snatchers.

It's super easy to meet YOUR needs. I use the following categories: beef, pork, chicken, veggies, other, desserts/juices (we hardly ever have either! lol), and ingredients/condiments/etc.

The meats are pretty self-explanatory.  I'll have some things that are cooked and portioned into family-sized servings (like ground beef), and some that are marinating. The card should tell me what's going on. Somethings are just popped into the freezer because I got them on the sell-by date and I hadn't time to fix them up. Since my charcoal steaks say nothing about them, I know I'll have to slice them up or something when I go to use them. 

"Other" has things like leftovers we like for lunches- but not the next day. Such as chili, curry, etc. Hot dogs also go here because we seldom have them, and they are often mixed meats. I have some catfish nuggets in the freezer right now, so that's there too.

Things like my cubes of tomato paste, cubes of grated ginger, and pork fat for rendering are in the "ingredients..." category. When I get butter on sale, it goes here too.

I go through a lot of "Veggies" cards. To simply it, I break some things like ears of corn into family-serving sizes. Other things I mark how much is left rather than cross the whole bag off.

It's all right there for me to make my menu plans/shopping lists with a magnetic clip. (4 for $1 in the dollar bins at Target.) Every once-in-a-while, when a card is full or too messy to read, I'll go through and re-write the unused items from it on a clean one. This week my "beef" card is nice and pretty! ;-)

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Quick Tip For Storing Task-Specific Supplies

We've started making our own laundry detergent since I've found a mixture that you don't mix with water/need a bunch of extra space for. I don't have a laundry area or laundry room, but I did want to keep the ingredients and hardware used away from little hands and out of the way.
So, I bought a CHEAP set of measuring cups, a set of wooden spoons (used one for my "kit") and a cheapo grater so I could mark these tools and keep them in a plastic tub with the ingredients.
Now, this kit has a lid and is tucked away safely. I even have a bag of extra detergent that didn't fit in my container in there so I won't be searching for it later.(I even mix the detergent up in the tub too!)

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Wine Shopping Made Easy

(Click to enlarge)
 

Spring is here! And warmer weather is just around the corner, and with it more social and family activities. Barbecues, reunions, even Easter dinner, Spring time is a great time to share the gift of wine. Wine.com makes it easy to shop for wines by price, by rating, style, or even occasion. They also have a variety of wine clubs to choose from if you want to be adventurous and try a couple new wines a month. Can't make an event? Send a bottle of wine or a gift basket in your place. The recipient will be touched you thought of them.

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How to Mix Pizza Crust in a Food Processor

Mixing doughs in a food processor can be a great time-saver, if you know the correct order to add the ingredients.(The amount for the recipe that I use will be in parentheses.)

Begin by pouring in your warm water. (1 cup)

Add your honey, or sugar depending on recipe, and salt. (2Tablespoons honey, 1/2 teaspoon salt) & run on low for about 5-15 seconds depending on the motor of your processor.

Add your yeast. (2 Tablespoons) Blend for another 10 second or so until dissolved.

Add 1 cup of your flour. (my recipe uses 3 1/2 c TOTAL) and blend for 10-20 second until thoroughly combined.

Add your (olive) oil, (1/4 cup of olive oil in mine), and process for about 10 more seconds until no more oil can be seen.

Add the rest of your flour. (The other 2 1/2 cups if using mine) Pulse until the dough just comes together in a ball. DO NOT over-process, your machine cannot handle kneading dough this thick. I don't care what the box says, I don't care if it came with a DOUGH BLADE. It is a BIG-FAT-LIAR. I promise. Your machine will hate you.



Knead your dough, with your hands...for about a minute or two, it will be stretchy, soft and smooth. Put your dough ball into a lightly greased bowl (olive oil) to rise for 45 minutes, covered with greased plastic wrap. (non-stick spray)

Dough hiney...45 minute rise

In about 45 minutes your dough will be about doubled in size, punch it down- then let rise for 1- 1 1/2 hours more. I usually make two batches. (One at a time...)

Dough abuse...

Ready to go 1 1/2 hours later

Two-year-olds make beautiful pizzas!

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Homemade Convenience: Make Your Own Cornbread Mix

Convenience foods are a great modern marvel for busy moms. A great convenience with a price to match. With barely a bit more time in the beginning of the month, you can make a batch of 4 dinners worth of cornbread mix to last you the month (if you use it once-a-week) or so.

My mix is like a lot of recipes all over the internet- I mean really, the proportions of the same ingredients is what makes it cornbread, right? But, I mix mine a bit differently to get the texture I like.

Begin by shifting together 4 C of flour, 1 TBS of salt, (woah, sounds like a lot until you remember it's for 4 pans!) and 1/4 C of baking powder.

Mix in 1 C of sugar.

Then, cut or "rub in" 1 C of shortening. You can use a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers. I prefer to use my fingers because you want this mixture to get MUCH finer than biscuits or such... more like sand texture than pea-sized bits of shortening.

Click photo so see larger & see texture

Now, THOROUGHLY mix in 4 C of cornmeal. Now it looks kinda like yellow Moon Sand. Too bad it doesn't behave like it though...that'd be a spiffy money-saving recipe! 

Ditto...

You can keep the mix in an airtight container in the fridge, or separate your batch into four portions. (2 1/2 C each.) I like to use quart-sized bags.

There's 3 because the 4th is in a bowl getting made. Yum.

To use, take 2 1/2 C mix (or your portion), and mix with one egg and 1 1/4 C milk.

Bake at 425 until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

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Quick Meal: Pizza Pasta

Moms like to have an arsenal of SUPER-quick go-to meals to throw together when the day is just too long, and bedtime is fast approaching. Tonight's "Crap-Mom's-not-home-until-5:30" meal was Pizza Pasta.

Take a box/bag of rotini or similar shaped/sized pasta. Boil it. Throw in a jar of spaghetti sauce. Mushroom or garden varieties make for a great pizza pasta meal. Dish up & sprinkle on some cheese & cut pepperoni. Sometimes when I have some ricotta to use up I toss that in- WAAAAAY delicious!

Disposable plates are the bomb-diggity

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Boxed Mixes Save Time

Nothing is better than something fresh from the oven, but many of us often settle for pre-made-grab-from-the-grocery-store-bakery-counter-fare. Wow, that's a lotta hyphens!

You don't have to settle for less than fantastic cake to save time, cake mixes have a bad wrap for not being homemade, and not being tasty enough- but is it really any worse then the preservative filled items you pick up at the store? Fresh beats pre-made any day, and a few tips can make those boxed mixes and frosting tastes like Grandma's.

My favorite cake "hacks":

- Add a few drops of vanilla or other flavorings to mixes or frosting to give a deeper, rounder flavor- almond is nice, peppermint is great in the winter
- Don't try to pipe frosting from the can, stir in a bit of powdered sugar, small amounts at a time, until it is a good piping constancy- this is especially important if you have added liquid food coloring as it thins it out
- Be extra careful to not over bake, a dried out cake is yucky-no matter where the batter came from
- Try replacing the oil called for with margarine (not butter) for a moist, slightly buttery taste
- A box of INSTANT pudding to the mix will add richness and flavor
- Remember to use room temperature eggs for the best texture
- Try adding preserves to your frosting for a fruity treat
- Sour cream added to the mix makes a great moist, rich, fluffy cake (about 3/4-1 cup)

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