Kitchen Fun with Carol

Welcome to autumn, which is my absolute favorite time of the year! Autumn in Ohio is beautiful. The trees start changing color, the air is crisp and clean, football is the Saturday afternoon staple, and we are navigating mountains of homework and school projects. 

Autumn is also time to savor the last of the fresh produce from the garden. There's nothing better than the taste of a homegrown tomato. The only exception to this is when all your tomatoes decide to ripen at once! For me, that means a big canning session of pizza sauce, chili starter or salsa. It's a lot of work but well worth the effort. In many ways it is like once a month cooking. It's a big job but there are so many rewards and a great feeling of accomplishment when you are finished.

I don't know what happens at your house but it seems that once September and October roll around the family activities just multiply. We enjoy bonfires (who doesn't like s'mores, apple cider and roasted hot dogs!), hayrides to the pumpkin patch, picking apples at the orchard, and family hikes at the state or metro parks. This year we are considering taking a leisurely drive through the rolling hills of Amish country. We will visit the dairy farms and taste test all types of cheese, visit the fabric and hardware shops, and look for one of a kind bargains at the flea market. 

We like to go to the fall festivals. One of our favorites is the Apple Butter Stirring Festival. They make apple butter in big black kettles over a roaring fire. The smells are wonderful! I like to make my own apple butter at home. I make mine in the slow cooker. It's much easier than cooking it on the stove. Click here if you would like to try it yourself.

For me, autumn also means the switch from cooking most of our meals on the grill to cooking comfort foods. This means more baking and meals cooked in the slow cooker. There is nothing better than smelling a roast in the slow cooker, tasting cookies still hot after coming out of the oven or a wonderful homemade lasagna with some fresh, hot garlic bread. Here are some of the 30 Day Gourmet recipes that are family favorites:

Oven Favorites:

• Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna
• Country Turkey Pot Pie 
• Parsley Parmesan Chicken 
• Round Steak Bake 
• Meal-in-One Pork Chops 
• Ham and Potato Casserole 
• Wild Rice Quiche

Stove-top Favorites:

• Mom-style Burger Helper
• Beef Teriyaki (from the Healthy Cooking ebook)
• Salisbury Patties
• Chicken Fried Rice 

Slow Cooker Favorites:

• Cheesy Chicken and Noodles
• The Emperor's Slow Cooked Chicken
• Delicious Pot Roast
• Taco Chili
• Beef and Noodles (from the Healthy Cooking ebook)
• Crock Pot Saucy Pork Chops 

A lot of recipes can be converted to slow cooker recipes. If a recipe can be cooked on the stove or in the oven, it probably can be converted to cook in a slow cooker. There are some general rules to follow. 

• You need to take the size of the slow cooker into consideration. Most manufacturers recommend the cooker be one-half to two-thirds full for best cooking results. 
• Slow cookers capture moisture as they cook. You will need to reduce the amount of liquid in a recipe when converting it to a slow cooker recipe. 
• Dairy products should be added at the end of the cooking time. This includes ingredients such as milk and sour cream. 
• Vegetables should be thinly sliced and placed near the bottom of the cooker. Meats should be placed on top of the vegetables since they cook faster. 
• Keep the lid on while cooking. Removing the lid allows a lot of heat to escape and will require a longer cooking time.

Here are some general guidelines when converting cooking times:

An interesting product has come out in the last year. They are slow cooker meal kits that you can find in your grocery store freezer section. They are complete meals that you can just put directly into the slow cooker from the freezer. These meals generally contain three separate components; a vegetable and meat mixture, a sauce packet, and a starch packet that contains rice, potatoes or pasta. These recipes can go from a frozen state directly to the slow cooker because the meats are cut into small pieces and the recipe calls for warm liquid to be added to the cooker. The starch that is included with the meal is generally precooked or an item that will cook quickly. These ingredients are added during the last 25 to 45 minutes of cooking to allow them to be warmed. Click here to read the message board posting about this topic.

Bonus Recipes

Chicken and Dumplings

Click here to view/print this recipe!

Slow Poke Fajitas

Click here to view/print this recipe!

Recipe of the Month Contest Winner

Freezer Cook of the Month Contest Winner

Our winner this month is Sharyl from Verona, WI, who is starting over again and using freezer cooking to help along the way.

Sharyl says:  

"I used to do freezer cooking a few years ago. I got slightly away from it. My husband was tragically killed in December and my life has totally fallen apart. We have recently relocated to be closer to family. I have a 5 yr old and 3 yr old, who love broccoli, its all they want to eat. (Sounds strange, I know, but they love those little green trees!!!) If I try to eat broccoli without her she takes it off my plate (but I guess there are worse things).

So I'm starting this over, small steps. Making 2 or 3 of an item at a time. I know it costs more money for convenience of items, but on some stuff, that's all I can handle. For the first 3 months or so after my husband died, we lived off peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese and frozen pizza because that's all I could handle making. A lot of people made meals and that was wonderful. I had run my freezer low and was getting ready for a cooking day after the holidays were over. So we got through it. I'm slowly coming around and just taking small steps. I have some meat frozen into smaller packages frozen in marinade and stocked up on the frozen chicken breasts when they were on sale over the 4th of July.

Look forward to trying some of your recipes."

Our hearts and prayers go out to you, Sharyl. We have a wonderful community of users through our message boards that are with you 100 percent of the way! And remember, there is no right or wrong way to freezer cook. The best thing to do is to determine what works for you! Even I don't stick to one particular method. Sometimes I cook based on what's on sale. Sometimes I have just a breads and breakfast cooking day. If my life is too busy or overwhelming I may just have a meat prep day where I cook and chunk chicken and brown hamburger for future meals. That's the great thing about this system. You can make it work for you.

How to Update Your Yahoo Email

We've had a lot of requests lately from users who have changed their email address and who would like us to change it on their Yahoo account. The moderators are not allowed to change your email address on your account. The instructions below are from the Yahoo help center and they explain how to update the email address on your account. If you have any further questions, contact the Yahoo help center by going to www.yahoo.com and clicking on help. To update your email address you will need to login to Yahoo and change the email address associated with your account and with the groups that you belong to. Go to www.yahoo.com, login using your Yahoo ID, and follow these instructions.

Closing Comments from Carol

I hope you enjoy the slow cooker recipes and tips! Next month we'll focus on family gathering recipes for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm looking for your favorite recipes so post them on our message board, the Cook's Corner. I look forward to hearing what you have to share! 

Email me at carol@30daygourmet.com with any questions, ideas, suggestions or problems. I enjoy hearing from you!

Have a great month!

          Carol

Freezer Cooking News from Nanci

Happy October!

Fall is in full swing here in Indiana. I love fall! I just wish it wouldn't go from 90 degrees (a few days ago) to 45 degrees (present temp). It's those 60 degree days that are wonderful. If you live where the seasons change and you haven't gotten out and kicked some leaves yet, do it! Life is too short not to smell the proverbial roses along the way. A few weeks ago my 17 year old had to do a required 4 hour "personal retreat" for a class at school. We went to the marina at a local state park and I sat on a pier and read most of "The Old Man and the Sea". Ahhhhhhhh. . . it doesn't get any better than that.

Unless, of course, we're talking chocolate. Don't you just love the stuff? One of my students is putting together a coffeehouse at school this coming Friday night to raise money for hurricane relief. I volunteered to collect chocolate desserts from our staff members to sell. Now this is my idea of fun! Of course, I'm going to make a few of my own to donate. The kids have already requested Oreo Truffles, No Bake Cookies and Frozen Peanut Butter Bars. Since all of these can be made ahead and frozen, I'll start on them this weekend and not be going crazy on Thursday night!

Here are a few new chocolate desserts that I couldn't resist trying out.

Chocolate Cheerio Bars

Everyone can always use another recipe with cereal, chocolate, butter and marshmallows. Yum! My kids love these. As with most bars, cookies and candies, they can be made ahead and individually frozen for a quick lunchbox or after school treat.

Click here to view/print this recipe!

Chocolate Peanut Clusters

When I am anywhere near a "pay by the pound" candy counter, this is the treat that I am most tempted to buy. There's something about that mix of sweet and salty. This three ingredient recipe offers a very close alternative.
 

Click here to view/print this recipe!

Mississippi Mud Cake

I had heard of this but never made one before. Since I forgot to bring my digital camera home over the weekend, I was forced to take the cake to school, photograph it and then leave it in the teacher's lounge. No one seemed to be too upset:)
 

Click here to view/print this recipe!

I looked back through all of our newsletters and I don't think that we have ever pulled together all of our CHOCOLATE recipes for you. So here's a handy list of every recipe on the site that contains chocolate. If you are a dessert lover and like to have desserts handy in the freezer, I would also highly recommend that you buy Tammy's Freezer Desserts to Die For! ebook. For only $6.95 you can download 25+ freezer recipes plus lots of great info on freezing desserts. It's a great deal. Here's a list of the recipes in the ebook.


Chocolate Desserts from 30 Day Gourmet
Ready? Now don't eat them all in one day - HA!

Member Section:
Almost Candy Bar Brownies
No Bake Cookies

Newsletters:
Birdie's Banana Split Dessert
Buster Bar Dessert
Candy Bar Pie
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (to be eaten raw as dough; not baked)
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Loaf
Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
Chocolate Smoothies
Cookies and Milk Bars
Double Chocolate Muffins
Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
Fireman Dan's Chocolate Cream Pie
Frozen Peanut Butter Bars (from the Freezer Cooking Manual)
Crunchy Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bars
Homemade Ice Cream Mix
Hot Fudge Ice Cream Topping
Ice Cream Shop Pie including variations for Toffee Bar Crunch Pie and Chocolate Cookie Pie
Ice Cream Sundae Squares from Freezer Desserts to Die For!
Malted Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Muddy Buddies
Oreo Truffles
Pretzel Turtles
Pudding Pops
Pudding-wiches
Seven Layer Bars
SNICKERS® Pie
Toffee Pecan Bars
Triple Chocolate Delight


From our ebook samplers:
Brownie Pie from Freezer Desserts to Die For!
Carolyn's Chocolate Chip Cookies from Coop Cuisine
Cheater's Chocolate Chip Cheesecake from Freezer Desserts to Die For!
Chocolate Chip Muffins from Freezer Cooking for Daycare Providers
Merry Kiss-Mousse Pie from Holiday Freezer Cooking

Company and Website News

Emails from Happy Customers

30 Day Gourmet wins baby contest!!
My husband & I took a 30 Day Gourmet class last summer before our baby was born so that we could have meals ready once he arrived & we just didn't have the energy to cook.

I entered a contest a few months ago sponsored by Nestle that asked for a short essay on "How I Got Off to a Good Start With My Baby." I wrote in part about how the 30 Day Gourmet class was instrumental in getting us off to the right start & out of over 5,000 contest entries, our story won a runner up prize (3 free months of housecleaning - yippee!)

Best Regards,
Lisa from Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Click here to read Lisa's winning entry


New Freezer Cook says "THANKS"!
I purchased your cooking manual and have already made my first freezer meal. (Due to the size of my kitchen I will have to do one or two meals a weekend.)

I made the stuffed bell peppers (my first time ever) and was very pleased with how easy it was to follow the recipe when making so many (I made 6 recipes). The peppers were picked from the garden so they should be wonderful!

Also, I had some of the meat mixture (1/2 turkey and 1/2 sausage) left over so we made some dirty rice with it. My kids loved it!

Again, thank you so much! We will be eating healthy, home cooked, economical meals from now on! Have a great day!

Lisa from Wadsworth, Ohio


30 Day Gourmet travels down under
I am Lori from Australia, I just received your manual! It is BRILLIANT!!!!! I can t wait to cooking day! The recipes are really good too, they aren t garbaging things that my family won t eat, they are real food!


Church serving with software
I ve had my software for over a year now & have used it to literally prepare over 1000 meals!! I ve organized HUGE cooking days with people from our church & others, where we ve done over 200 meals in just one morning (by meals, I mean 4-6 servings PER meal!). Your program is FANTASTIC to say the least!

More software kudos
I wanted to let y'all know that I have started a personal chef service, and I am so happy to tell you that I am prepared to do this due to your hard work and influence on my life! I have been on board with you guys for 7 years, and this has prepared me with all the skills I need to create a (hopefully) lucrative business for my family. The Advantage Cooking program is a huge part of this business for me! I will keep you in the know as my business grows. Thanks again!

Julie from Noblesville, IN

Consultant News

Closing Comments from Nanci

Cookin' at the Keyboard with Shelley

I'd have to say that I'm busier than I want to be. As hard as I tried, I couldn't seem to find enough time this month to complete our regular 4-month cooking plan; so we improvised. Instead of the marathon "stock the freezer with everything" tactic that we're used to, I scheduled several 4-hour cooking sessions with the girls. We made 8 recipes of Twice-Baked Potatoes (pictured below), cooked 24 pounds of ground beef, fried bacon, assembled several dry mixes, and baked multiple loaves of Pear Bread for snacks. Who knows? Maybe this method of freezer cooking will become our new standard.

A friend of mine is expecting a baby in a week or two. Instead of a typical shower, she asked for help in stocking her freezer with meals. A number of ladies gathered in her kitchen one morning to assemble recipes. I stopped in long enough to cheer them on and deliver several of the packages of the potatoes we made the week before. 

Our church has many young families, and when one of those families has a baby, we like to provide a meal. Delivering a complete dinner used to derail my entire day, until I discovered this "new baby" meal. Everything I need for Parmesan Chicken and Twice-Baked Potatoes is in my freezer. I make a green salad, the girls bake some cookies (because the ones in the freezer have been eaten already), and out the door we go! The chicken and potatoes get rave reviews, and they're not too spicy for nursing mamas. If you've had a baby and I'm bringing dinner, you'll get the same meal every time. It may not be creative, but so far no one is complaining. Try these recipes and you'll see why!

Parmesan Seasoning Mix

I used to buy this seasoning mix at the grocery store. When McCormick quit packaging it, I wrote the company to tell them that I was desperate. My kids loved their Parmesan chicken! Not only did they send me several sample packets with their apologies, they included the recipe.

Click here to view/print/import this recipe!

Parmesan Chicken

Click here to view/print/import this recipe!

Twice-Baked Potatoes

Click here to view/print/import this recipe!

Software Suggestions

Here's a software feature that might be useful for some of you who "team up" to do your freezer cooking. It is possible to save any report as an excel file and email it! A few of the columns and headings may need some adjustment to make it more readable. Here's the process.

1. Check the version of the software (go to the Help menu and click "About".) The version should be 1.5.2. If not, follow the upgrade instructions (scroll to the bottom of the page.)

2. Preview any report in Advantage Cooking.

3. Click on the "Save Report" icon at the top of the window.

4. At the bottom of the pop-up window, locate the "Save as type:" field.

5. Select "Excel spreadsheet (*.XLS)" from the drop-down selections.

6. Specify the "File name:" and directory location for the excel file.

7. Adjust columns and headings in the excel file as desired.

8. Print and/or attach the file.
    

Closing Comments from Shelley

Last month I shared the recipe for Glazed Almond Poppyseed Mini-Muffins. Here is a variation, shared by Diane of Grand Prairie, TX.

I made your poppyseed muffins today and they were a hit! I had to do a variation, though, and I thought you might get a kick out of hearing it. I had wanted to try the recipe but would have to wait until I could get sour cream. (Don't you ever wish for the old days when the milkman would come by every morning and you could leave a note saying you wanted so much sour cream that day, or maybe ice cream or cottage cheese? I am not old enough to remember, just have heard about it!) Today in the frig I found some of those 4 oz yogurt cups. I figured I could bake something with them and remembered your recipe! Hurray! When my daughter (almost 4) and I were making them, I whipped out one of the yogurts to sub for the sour cream. I was expecting vanilla flavor and when I opened it, it was strawberry! The other two were strawberry, too, so I figured, what could I lose, and I tried it. The recipe turned out great, hardly a hint of strawberry; we will be making this recipe again. I wish I had more than 2 mini muffin pans!

If you have comments, suggestions, or stories to tell, feel free to email me at shelley@30daygourmet.com. It's fun to hear from other freezer families. Until next month...enjoy this beautiful season!

         Shelley

Notes from Tammy

Happy fall, everybody!  Hope you're enjoying the colorful beauty of this time of year.  It's been dry here, so we don't have a lot of bright colors, but occasionally I'll drive around a corner and there's a blazing yellow maple that's just striking!  I'll add my recommendation to Nanci's... get out and kick through some fallen leaves!  That's definitely my favorite part of fall!

The busy-ness at my house hasn't stopped!  Since I last visited with you, we've done an extended family vacation at the beach, school has started, music lessons started, our church ministry continues and the holidays are fast approaching! 

Bonus Recipes from Tammy

We planned a family vacation to the Outer Banks of NC in August.  It's our favorite beach vacation and we try to go every year.  My mother-in-law lives with us, so the 6 of us were going.  Then I thought she might enjoy the chance to go with her other kids too, so I invited my sister- and brothers-in-law and their families to go along.  Rob's sister and 1 brother said "Yes!!!!"  So we had 12 going.  Then his sister had to cancel.  I called my family to see if anyone could go along.  They couldn't, so I called Nana and Papa to see if they could go.  As I mentioned before, my kids were adopted, and we have an open adoption.  Nana and Papa are their maternal birth grandparents.  It's been 5 years since we've seen them, so Nana was more than ready for some grandkid love!  Papa couldn't get away with just a weeks notice, but Nana had her plane ticket booked before she called me back to tell me she was coming!  She was just a little excited!!  She got to spend 10 days with us, and it was just wonderful!  She enjoyed being a part of our lives for those few days.  Nana said spending time with us was the draw to come, not going to the beach.  But on about the third day there, she said  "Ya know, I think I could live here."   That's what we think every time we go!

We ended up with 11 at the beach that week... 6 adults and 5 kids.  We rented a house near the beach, and it was awesome, once again!  With a full kitchen to use, we planned that I would cook two nights, my sis-in-law would cook two nights, we would have leftovers one night, and eat out two nights.  We were taking a medium-sized cooler, so I prepared my meals ahead of time and took them along for the freezer.  I didn't want to cut my beach time short to make dinner!!!  (Did I mention I love the beach?)  I made Taco Chili and Pizzaburgers to take along for dinner.  I also made Tammy's Favorite Chocolate Chip cookies, No Bake cookies, Granola bars and Chocolate Chip muffins.  I put each granola bar in a fold-top sandwich bag, and we could just grab how many we needed for a beach snack.  30 Day Gourmet saved me time and money, once again!  

School started a week after vacation, and so far, so good.  My daughter is in 7th grade, and my boys are in 5th and 2nd.  The youngest has a GREAT teacher this year, and is doing much better in school.  We've had lots of meetings to make sure we're all on the same page to help him learn to his potential.  We've changed doctors and counselors, and that seems to be for the better for him too.  He still has problem days, which is to be expected with his illness.  But this school year is going much better than I had thought possible, which is very encouraging!  

I'm still cooking every Monday night for about 30 people.  Taco Chili, Ham and Bean Soup, Pizzaburgers, Italian Chicken, Loaded Baked Potato Soup, and BBQ Beef Loaves continue to be favorites.  A few weeks ago a woman going through the food line made a comment that she was planning to enjoy my cooking for the next few weeks.  I said I hoped she did.  She said she was sure she would, as I had the reputation for being the best cook in the church, from what she heard.  I was quite surprised by that!  30 Day Gourmet comes through for me again!

Message Board Updates

The message boards continue to be a great resource!

If you've been wanting to give freezer cooking a try, and just haven't gotten the courage yet, check out our Assembly Day stories thread.  Lots a encouragement from cooks just like you who decided to jump in and give it a try!

Your local grocery store has chicken on sale for a great price.  Now that you took advantage of it, how on earth do you cook all of it efficiently?  Check out this post to find out how our experienced cooks cook it all up.

Have you tried the recipe for Super Easy Freezer Crescent Rolls?  And wondered how it would work with wheat flour?  Find out here!

Do you have a roaster that doesn't get used enough?  Check out these ideas, and add your own too!

Three years ago, MizMolly started a thread on the boards with her "Where's everyone from?" post.  It's still going strong!!  Please join us there if you haven't already!

Check out the rest of the message boards when you get a chance… they are a great source of ideas, recipes, tips, and encouragement! If you have any questions about the message boards, please email me! You can reach me at tammy@30daygourmet.com.

Final Thoughts

Well, I guess that about sums it up for me!  I hope to be more regular with my News, too.  Thanks for your patience!  And your encouraging emails... I appreciate it!  Feel free to email me at tammy@30daygourmet.com with any questions, ideas, suggestions or problems. I enjoy hearing from you all!

              Tammy