The Decemeber 2002 Issue of Chewin' the News from 30 Day Gourmet Freezer Cooking . . .

Are you in the “full swing” of Christmas at your house? We sure are! Adam and Jenna had their Christmas programs at school this week. Jenna and I have done lots of baking and freezing. Bob is working overtime-overtime-overtime at FedEx and I’m managing the backstage crew for our church’s Christmas musical this weekend. Busy? Yes. Too busy to enjoy it? Nope. It’s always a balancing act, isn’t it? Enjoying the fun, the food, and the festivities without losing the purpose behind it all. Don’t forget to invite the guest of honor to His birthday party okay?

I hate it when I hear people moaning about all of the holiday gatherings that they are obligated to attend. I LOVE those parties! And what’s the best part of them? The conversation? Yea, right. THE FOOD! If you’re hosting, though, the food can be a real stresser. Tammy has put together some easy finger foods that can be frozen ahead of time for your holiday parties. So go ahead and invite those friends over for Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve!

It’s not too late to do your Christmas shopping with 30 Day Gourmet. Due to some “unforeseen” problems, our shopping cart was under renovation last week but we are up and running again and I am offering FREE Priority Shipping so that you can still get those gifts in time for Christmas. Other “ship-to” addresses are okay too. And gift wrap is only $1.

If you haven’t gotten your Freezer Desserts to Die For! ebook yet you don’t know what you’re missing! These recipes are great and the tips and hints are worth the price of the book alone.

A big welcome to those of you who found 30 Day Gourmet after seeing us on HGTV's Smart Solutions last week. We had no idea that they were going to air that show as a re-run. Surprise! Surprise!

I love Cheddar Broccoli Soup, but used to only have it at restaurants. And it wasn’t always as good as I hoped it would be. I modified this recipe from a friend, and now I have thick and creamy Cheddar Broccoli Soup at home, when ever I want! It’s wonderful for lunch, or serve it from a crock pot for guests.

If you like Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip as an appetizer at a restaurant, this recipe is for you! This is not normally something I would eat, but a client got me hooked on it at Cooker’s Restaurant in Columbus, OH years ago. I, in turn, got my husband and friends hooked on it. It’s a great party food, because everyone loves it! They just might not know it yet!!

Looking for a vegetable dip that’s different from the old-standby Ranch dip? This recipe for Veggie Dip is my sister-in-law Kowanda’s recipe. It’s mild, but flavorful. And everyone loves it!

I don’t know where I got the recipe for the Party Cheese Ball, but it’s a standard at my house! It saved the day last Thanksgiving when the turkey just would not finish cooking and everyone was starved! It’s great to have on hand for an office party too!

My sister-in-law Sandee has the best Cocktail Meatballs and Sauce recipe! Easy to make, and the sauce recipe is awesome, even if it sounds a little strange!

There are some great recipes on the site for breakfast too. Click here to go to the “recipes” section of our website and then sort by “Type” and choose “Breads and Breakfast”.

CRAZY COOK’S STORY APRON WINNERS – chosen by Nanci from entries posted on the message boards or sent by e-mail to nanci@30daygourmet.com

Our Cook of the Month contest is changing to the “Do a Good Cooking Deed” contest. Tell me how you use 30 Day Gourmet cooking to help others and if your story is chosen I’ll send you $25. Again, you can submit your story by e-mail or on the message boards. It’s okay to nominate someone else, too.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH $25 WINNER – chosen by Tammy, our message board moderator.

Submit your recipe for the Recipe of the Month contest!
You too can submit a recipe for this contest! Just post it on our Cook’s Corner message boards under the appropriate recipe category. All submitted recipes are considered, as long as your profile contains your email address so we can reach you. The winner receives a check for $25.

Our Recipe of the Month winner for December is Carol R. from Georgia. Carol’s winning recipe is for Master Bread Machine Mix. What a great idea! Make your own bread machine mix, instead of buying it at the store. One batch makes 6 loaves. Not only is it economical, but it tastes wonderful, and is a very versatile dough! And I must say I got the prettiest loaf of bread that I’ve ever made with my bread machine when I used this mix!!

Carol says she uses this dough for cinnamon rolls, calzones, pizza dough, hot pockets, and doughnuts, as well as bread. I made bread, pizza and cinnamon rolls with it. And they all turned out wonderful! The dough is very easy to work with… I patted it out for the pizza crust and cinnamon rolls in a matter of seconds with my fingers.

This mix is very economical. It cost me about $2.85 to make the mix, which is just 48 cents per loaf! From the message board discussion about this recipe, the powdered buttermilk it uses will probably be the determining factor as to how expensive the mix will be. I only paid $2.48 for a 12 ounce can, but others’ have paid $4 per can. Even so, that makes my mix 60 cents a loaf. Still a better price than what I can buy a mix for at the store!

Carol said she makes cinnamon rolls with this recipe and freezes them raw, for baking later. She doesn’t use a recipe for the ‘gooey’ on her rolls, she just mixes it together until it looks good. If you need a recipe to make cinnamon rolls, here’s mine.

In a glass measuring cup, put 3/4 C. water and 1/4 C. butter or margarine. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power to melt the butter. If it isn’t melted, heat it for 30 more seconds at 50% power. Add 1/4 C. light corn syrup and 1 C. brown sugar. Stir together until well mixed. Dump into a 9”x13” pan. Set aside.

Press or roll out the dough into a rectangle. Spread the dough edge to edge with softened butter or margarine; about 1/4 C. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, to taste. You will want a medium to heavy coverage of both. Roll up the long side of the rectangle. Cut into 2” wide slices and place each slice cut side down into the brown sugar mixture in the pan. Let rise 45 minutes to 1 hour, and then bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Cover the top of the pan with a cookie sheet, and invert the pan and the cookie sheet together to dump the rolls out of the pan.

The ‘gooey’ recipe will give you gooey that sticks to the top of the rolls. If you like the gooey to run down the sides of the rolls, omit the corn syrup and add an additional 1/2 C. brown sugar. If you prefer icing on your cinnamon rolls, instead of making the gooey recipe, grease the pan and bake the rolls in it. Invert them onto a cookie sheet and spread with your favorite frosting.

If you don’t have a bread machine, you can still use this recipe. Just mix it up the traditional way. Regardless of how you make this recipe, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!

Q & A from Nanci

Q

We are a vegetarian family. Do you have a vegetarian version of your cookbook for us?

A

"The Freezer Cooking Manual by 30 Day Gourmet" is not a vegetarian or meatless cookbook. Most of our entrée recipes do use meat. We have a side dish section with recipes that would make good quality
meatless entrees. The focus of our manual is to allow you to freeze the foods that YOU want to eat, not what WE want to eat. In many of our recipes, meat substitutes commonly found in health food markets and food cooperatives taste great and freeze very well. In some of our recipes the meat can simply be left out. We also give you the tools to adapt and freeze your own favorite recipes.

For many people who eat meatless recipes, just having dried beans or brown rice cooked and in the freezer is a huge help in meal planning. Many tomato or vegetable broth based sauces freeze well too. If all you need to do is add fresh or frozen vegetables, you have come a long way in meal planning!

We welcome ebook proposals from our cooks, and would love to publish a vegetarian ebook! Is there a freezer cook out there interested in joining us in the vegetarian ebook project? Send an email to ebooks@30daygourmet.com for an auto-response about what’s involved in doing an ebook. In the meantime, please share your vegetarian recipes, ideas, questions and discussions on the Cook’s Corner message boards, under the “Cooking… Meatless” category.

We had four new consultants join us in the last month. Click here to check out the whole list with contact info on the website. Please contact them if you’d like a 30 Day Gourmet speaker for your local group of frustrated cooks!

I stumbled across this fun site with lots of great holiday games for kids – and even adults! There’s a Word Search, a Secret Code game, Holiday Bingo, and lots more. Click on the “Christmas Activities for Sunday Schools” for some year round fun for kids.

This Kraft site has some great appetizer and finger food recipes. Most can be made ahead of time and frozen.

Tammy and I are going to do another long distance cooking day together in a few weeks. This time we are both going to use the new software. We’ll give you our recipe lists and lots of photos so you can see just how our “cooking day” goes.

Chewin'

the News

Free Shipping!

PLUS

MESSAGE BOARD UPDATES FROM TAMMY

Q

A

30 Day Gourmet