waffles!

A while back I made a promise not to ever make waffles for dinner again.

Ever.

The process of serving one person at a time drives me nuts.

But, I made waffles last night for dinner.

I decided in advance to not be so uptight about it.

To just, let time fly and not worry about a thing as I made up

my waffles, one at a time.

All caution was thrown to the wind.

All of my strict traditional dinner-time ways, turned hippy-style.

It was quite freeing.

And no one at the table was afraid of me.

It was quite pleasant.

Especially for everyone around me.

Now, listen.

For many of you, this is a no-brainer.

But since I still see waffle/pancake mixes being sold at the grocery store,

I feel deep conviction to educate you mix-buyers.

IT IS SO EASY AND CHEAP TO MAKE YOUR OWN!

(Sorry for shouting.)

For added deliciousness and a gob of nutrients,

I mill my flour.

Pictured below is my concoction of wheat, barley, spelt, millet, and oat groats.

Can you say, regularity??

Voila!

We have freshly milled flour, just like that.

But obviously, if you don't have a grain mill, you can't make fresh flour.

No worries!

You are still way ahead of the game if you use white and/or wheat flour from the store.

Way ahead!

Here's the recipe I use:

Waffles

(source)

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 

(or you can add white flour, if you must)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil

1 3/4 cup buttermilk 

(I've used regular milk in a pinch and it's fine)

(I always double the recipe which amply feeds my big crew, 

plus a couple left over to stick in the freezer for a quick breakfast!)

Mix together,

then put on your waffle-making hat and settle in for the long-haul.

And that's that.

My work here is done.

easy-peasy tortillas!

About about a year ago I saved up and bought myself a tortilla press.

It really is a good thing.

Except, the tortilla recipes I was making I wasn't overly thrilled with,

and I ended up buying store-bought.

And though they were very tasty...as far as store-bought goes,

I was still insanely unsettled by buying them vs. MAKING them.

So then I put a little more effort into finding a good recipe.

AND I took a good look into what was IN the store-bought tortillas.

BLAH!!

Then I found a new recipe that I absolutely love!

They're almost a cross between pita & a tortilla.  And I love that.

Here's the recipe (source):

Soft Flour Tortillas!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup warm milk

1 teaspoon instant yeast

Combine all ingredients, beat at high speed to make a soft, slightly sticky dough.

Place in greased bowl, cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 12 pieces.

Heat skillet fairly hot.

Roll each piece very flat.

Place on hot skillet until it starts to bubble, flip over.

They cook fairly fast, so it's nice to have a small adorable Chinese girl helping you.

They come out positively beautifully and so VERY yummy.

I put this stack in the freezer and I was thrilled to discover that they

froze individually, even in a stack.  I was able to pull out the amount I needed

instead of thawing them all.

 It's a tortilla miracle!

Only problem was,

I wasn't able to use my tortilla maker.

Since there's not a lot of fat in the recipe, they stuck like crazy to it.

But that's okay!

I love that there's hardly any fat.

And that there's not 356 ingredients that I can't pronounce.

My family loved these for tacos.

Then I used them as pizza crusts to make the kids

Alfredo pizza!

Which they DEVOURED.

Another delicious way to make something homemade

instead of buying it at the store.

Score!

another handy hint from lori

I've got to hurry this post along,

because in keeping with today's pork theme,

we are going on a field trip to my friend April's house to see her pigs!

Did you really think I was kidding about buying pigs this year?

You crazy.

(Insert Chinese accent)

I'm a list person.

And now that I've got my 2013 bucket list,

I'm determined to get it all done before the end of January.

Just kidding.

But I am diving in head-first to get things moving along.

Anyway, hang on tight because today's 

money-saving-nutritionally-sound-tip-o-the-day 

is just dandy!

And oh-so-handy.

First rule is, don't let this overwhelm you.

There are certain things in life that we just assume we have to leave to the experts.

Like, heart surgery.

And septic systems.

And making sausage.

So not so, my dear friends!

Come along with me on a my sausage making journey, would you?

Many years ago I bought a meat-grinding attachment for my Kitchen Aid.

I wasn't all that sure that it would get much use,

and really, I don't use it a ton...but when I do, I am super-duper glad I have it.

It is soooooo fabulous.

But if you don't have a meat grinder, NO WORRIES.

You can buy your pork already ground.

First, I bought a big package of pork.  I can't remember what cut it was...

but it had a lot of good marbling in it, which is key to good sausage.

Unless you want it very low-fat.

And that's just crazy-talk to me.

(And just think, next year at this time I'll have my own back-yard pork!)

Anyway, I cut all the meat up off the bones and simply ran it through

my grinder.  It makes me feel like a million bucks every single time.

This literally took minutes to do.

Then I weighed it...which really isn't necessary, but I have a new scale,

so I definitely needed to weigh it.

Then came the spices & stuff.

For two pounds of ground pork,

I put in:

(recipe adapted)

2 tsp. toasted ground fennel seeds

1 Tbs. brown sugar

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

That is it, folks.

I do hope you noticed that there's no MSG or nitrates.

I was fresh out, darn.

Then I made them into little rolls, wrapped them in wax paper

and stuck them in the freezer.

Then when we were ready to eat it,

I came home and fried it up in a pan!

Just like the song says.

Guys, this is so stinking simple, I can't even begin to tell you.

You have FULL control over what you

put into it, unlike what you buy in the store.

You can add or take away the stuff you like, or don't like.

Add some maple syrup if you want, you wild thing!

Add some sage.

Take away the peppers if you don't like hot, you boring people!

It's all about YOU.

It will open up doors and opportunities you never dared to dream.

I promise!

socialized groceries [let me explain!]

The last couple of years I've really tried to distance myself

from buying pre-packaged, processed foods.

Besides the fact that they are LOADED with God-only-knows-what,

they're often expensive.

Horribly expensive.

Although, sometimes they're NOT expensive, they're cheap.

Which means CHEAP and compromised ingredients.

And here's the other thing I was thinking about all that.

Go with me here for a minute, would you?

When we look at how a Socialized government is set up,

we see the government doing everything for its citizens.

They basically say, 

"Don't you worry...you just let US handle everything, we'll take good care of you." 

They make the decisions,

but the CITIZEN pays for it, in many ways.

In other words, THEY are in control, someone else's expense.

Like stupid little sheep, the people are lulled into a very false sense of security.

And are led astray, to their demise.

Reread history if you don't believe me.

So really, 

how is the grocery store and food manufacturers any different?

Okay, so it's not politically motivated,

it's all about the bottom line, THEIR bottom line.

So why would we willingly pay SO much extra for others to make

our nutritional decisions, only for the sake of convenience?

It's to our demise, in many ways.

Now let me just stop right here.

I don't want anyone freaking out, or think that I've freaked out.

I do realize that some of you gals don't have the option

to stay at home, but must work full-time.

I soooo get that.

Convenience is your best-friend on many nights when you're doing good just to keep

your eye-lids open, much less whip up a fully homemade gourmet meal,

that frozen dinner is awfully tempting.

But what I'd like to submit to you...and challenge ALL of us with is,

to at least start making little changes.  

Let's really stop and think as we are shopping, and tell ourselves,

"Okay, this pre-made pizza crust (for example) that I normally buy...if I plan ahead, I could

easily make a homemade pizza crust (and extras to stick in the freezer),

that will cost PENNIES...and will taste way better, not to mention the

nutritional benefits.

It DOES take effort, friends.

And extra time.

And planning ahead.

But I promise you, it's worth it.

And the more you do, the more and more you WANT to do.

So, what MY goal for the new year regarding my blog is,

is to come up with some easy changes we ALL

can make...getting us far from socialized grocery shopping!

"She watches over the affairs of her household and does

not eat of the bread of idleness."

Proverbs 31:27

We are smart women, let's start cooking like it!!

********

We'll start with some thing super easy that I've been doing for a very long time now.

Shredded Chicken.

I buy chicken breasts with skins & bones.

The boneless ones are fine...but more expensive, and less flavorful.

(I do buy boneless/skinless for certain things I make...more on that another time.)

Oh, and roasting an entire chicken would be even cheaper!

But what I LOVE is,

having some shredded chicken in zip-lock bags, in my freezer, ready to go when

time is tight and we need a quick meal.

It's so easy:

1.  Put chicken breasts on a large cookie sheet.

2.  Rub with some vegetable (or olive) oil.

3.  Generously season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, whatever you like!

4.  Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

5.  Let them cool down, then let the shredding begin!

(I always wear gloves to make clean-up easier)

6.  Set all the skin and bones aside.

7.  Voila!  You have a big plate of delicious shredded chicken breasts!

8.  Put your desired portions into freezer-bags.

(I usually do 2-3 big bags..but it's easy to break off a small portion of

the frozen breasts if you need just a little.  Be sure to lay your bags

flat in the freezer for that reason, and for quick thawing.) 

  

9.  Now it's ALL ready for you to pull out to make:

Chicken tacos

Quesadillas

Chicken fried rice

Stir-fry

Casseroles

Chicken pizza

The sky is the limit!

But don't stop there!

10.  Put all the skins and bones in a bag, stick in the freezer.

Once you have a couple bags of parts,

pull that out on a boring Saturday and make chicken stock to freeze in

small containers.

Ten really simple steps that you will be SO thankful 

for on a busy night!

And nothing is wasted!

MORE ideas on the way!