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by Tammy Davis
In
This Issue:
NOTES FROM
TAMMY
BONUS
RECIPES
WEBSITE NEWS
MESSAGE BOARD UPDATES
CONTESTS
GOURMET Q&A
COOKIN' AT THE
KEYBOARD WITH SHELLEY
FINAL THOUGHTS
NOTES
FROM TAMMY
Hi everybody! Ready or not,
here comes fall! The leaves are starting to turn here in the Appalachian
Mountains and
the air is definitely getting
cooler! One of my favorite parts of fall is taking a walk and swishing
my feet through the fallen leaves. It's on my "To Do" list for later
in the month, when
there's more leaves on the ground!
Another part of fall that I love is going to the apple orchard for crisp
and juicy apples. Ok, it's not the apples so much as it's baking with
them! My new favorite this year is Rome apples... Rob said the apple
crisp was the best I've ever made, and the only difference was the kind
of apples I've used. Another benefit to the Rome apples is that they're
solid enough to put on my Apple Peeler-Corer-Slicer from Pampered Chef,
which in turn (no pun intended!) makes them SO easy to bake with! I've
got four loaves of
Apple Bread in the freezer and have made a couple
Caramel Apple Crisps.
I also have made 2-1/2 bushels of Jonathan apples into
Applesauce in the
slow
cooker. Ok, I can't really say "I" did it... my mother-in-law lives
with us, and she has been a great help peeling and coring apples. I
doubt I would have done so much without her help! I have two slow
cookers, and can do three batches of applesauce between them. And if I
start early in the morning, I can get two rounds done. So that's six
batches of Applesauce a day. The kids are lovin' it! Sometimes I think
they can eat it as fast as I can make it, which is extra incentive for
me to get it in the freezer! If you haven't tried this recipe from our
message boards, I highly recommend it!!
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Last month I traveled to Indianapolis and spent the weekend at Nanci's
house. We've been working together for 3 years now, and finally got to
meet. Our consultant retreat got cancelled due to lack of participation,
but since I already had my plane ticket, I went anyways. Consultant Cyd
from MA already had her plane ticket, and planned to do some sightseeing
with a friend, so they traveled too. So Nanci and I met Cyd and Darlene,
and local consultant Kelly for dinner on Friday night. We had a great
time together!
Nanci needed to update her consultant presentation with some new
pictures, so we planned a cooking day for Saturday. We spent about 10
minutes on the computer using our Advantage Cooking Software to make up
our recipe list, and then from there, all the reports we needed to make
it a successful day! Nanci compared the list to what she had on hand,
and we were off to grocery shop. Then it was time to start cooking!
We invited Cyd, Darlene and Kelly over for the afternoon to watch, and
help us cook if they wanted to. We also invited Briana over so we could
both meet her. Briana lives near Nanci, and works for our webmaster. I
work with her every month to get the News out and she is very intrigued
by this cooking thing we do. So they all came over and we had a great
time! Cyd is a master potato peeler and jumped in to do dishes too.
Darlene and Briana were our "bag ladies"... they put the food
in freezer
bags as we finished it up. And Kelly is the vacuum sealer queen! Nanci
and I put in a very long day that day, but we got it done! The food is
in her freezer, and we got all the pictures taken too. We really had a
great time together and I'm glad I was able to make the trip!
This issue of “Chewin’ the News” brings you three sample recipes from
our newly released Vegetarian eBook, by Brandel Falk. Read more about it
below, in the Bonus Recipes section.
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BONUS RECIPES from Brandel Falk
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I'm Brandel, and I've been a
vegetarian since I was in high school. I now have a whole vegetarian
family to cook for--husband and five kids--at least on nights when it is
my turn to cook. I hate having to plan dinner every night, so I started
to use my freezer to save time and mental energy.
There are a lot of freezer recipes available today, but it is still
difficult to find any vegetarian recipes (especially main dishes) to
make ahead and freeze! The new vegetarian ebook is here to help
vegetarian families. The book offers information about vegetarians and
vegetarian cooking, as well as 25 recipes for various types of
vegetarians. Over half the recipes have no animal products at all
(vegan); many of the ones that do use dairy products or eggs come with
instructions on how to make them vegan.
If you aren't a vegetarian family, you may still be interested in these
recipes. A lot of families are choosing to have occasional (or even
frequent) vegetarian meals for health reasons or just for variety. If
you have a family member who doesn't eat meat, you can prepare
vegetarian food, then freeze it in single-serving sized portions. Or you
can freeze individual portions or whole meals for when you have a
vegetarian guest. And the soups, side dishes, dips, and desserts may
just go along great with any meal.
Peach Fruit Soup
We like having soup for family dinners, but who wants hot soup in the
middle of the summer? This recipe is the result of a search for a cold
soup (with no added sugar) that our whole family would like.
Click here to
view/print
this recipe!
Egg rolls are easy to make at home and freeze
beautifully! Making them yourself lets you pick your favorite vegetables
for the filling and adjust the seasonings just right, too. You can deep
fry them for the most authentic taste and texture, or oven fry them to
make them lower in fat.
Click here to
view/print
this recipe!
I invented this recipe just for this cookbook.
Most cakes need eggs for the texture and to help them rise. Because I
wanted dessert recipes with no animal products (acceptable to even the
strictest vegetarians), I found another way to leaven the cake. And it
is so good, you'll never miss the eggs! Be sure to make one cake to eat
right away; it's great straight out of the oven. Yumm!
Click here to
view/print
this recipe!
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WEBSITE NEWS FROM NANCI
Apples at my House
Wow! Is it fall already?! The leaves are beautiful here in Indiana.
We haven't made our annual trip to the apple orchard yet but hopefully
this week. My apple recipe list looks something like this:
Easy Apple Pie Filling
Becky's Apple Crisp
Apple Bread
Apple
Bars (from the 3rd edition)
Weekend with Tammy
It sure was great to finally meet Tammy face to face. We had a FUN
weekend! Planning, shopping and cooking together was especially FUN! We
just ate one of our frozen meals (Make Ahead Enchiladas from the new
edition) and I thought of
that weekend and my kitchen full of happy, laughing cooks.
Tammy also got to experience the "office" firsthand by helping me print
100 labels and slap them on some newly copied Daycare CD's. Then we
raced down to FedEx and sent the CD's to a consultant who was teaching a
seminar the next day. That kind of stuff doesn't happen every day but it
does happen!
New Ebooks!
It seems like we just released our Co-op Cuisine Ebook and we've got
another one coming out already. These are both great ebooks! If you
don't have them yet, you need to order one. Each ebook has 25 recipes
and the cost is only $6.95 for the download version. Our new
Vegetarian Freezer Cooking Ebook would make a great gift for a
vegetarian friend. Christmas is just around the corner!
Holiday Freezer Cooking Ebook
It's not too early to start planning your holiday foods. We've been
staying home for Thanksgiving for several years but are planning a quick
trip to Michigan this year to visit Bob's parents. They usually go out
to eat but would prefer to stay home. It's just not worth it to cook for
two. We will bring lots of the food along with us in a cooler and whip
up a great Thanksgiving dinner in a few hours. Thanks to my cooking day
with Tammy, I have two large bags of
Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes and two large containers of
Celebration Salad in my freezer. Add the Apple Pie Filling that
I'll be freezing this week, some
Sweet Potato Souffle and a few other goodies from the
Holiday Freezer Cooking Ebook and I'll be all set! We'll share
even more holiday recipes next month.
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MESSAGE BOARD UPDATES
The message boards have been busy again this month!
Do you use 30 Day Gourmet as a ministry in your church, to have meals on
hand to help out a family in need?
Click here to share your tips, or to read about it if you're
interested in starting something at your church.
Interested in making your own
frozen pizzas? Check out the tips here!
Ever wondered what you could
substitute for wine in recipes? Get some ideas here.
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.
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CONTEST
WINNERS
Recipe of
the Month... Buffalo Chicken Dip
Our winner this month is Cheryl from
WI with her recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip. My husband Rob loves hot
Buffalo Wings, and my oldest son likes them too. The rest of us don't
eat them... they're too spicy!
I thought this recipe would be great for tailgate parties... the flavor
of wings without any of the work!! And I was right! All of my
taste-testers agreed it was awesome! My neighbor, whose family loves
wings, took one bite and said "Oooh.. I've got to get the recipe for
this from you!" I gave Rob a scoop and some tortilla chips to try it. My
oldest son asked to try it. They both said it was great. Next thing I
know, both of the boys have taken the bowl and chips from Rob, and are
eating it as fast as they can, to try and get more than the other. Which
really surprised me, because the youngest doesn't eat much spicy food.
Guess this was the exception! Spicy-wimp that I am, I must admit I had a
few bites. I reached for my water quick, but it was good enough to have
a few more!
I would think that anyone who likes wings would love this recipe! It's
thick, spicy, tastes just like wings and is so easy to make! What's not
to like!??
Let's meet
Cheryl:
I started
30DGing in 1997 after my youngest was born. I saw Nanci and Tara on TV
and immediately ordered the 30 DG manual. I once had the privilege of
seeing them in person in Wisconsin Dells too.
I am happily married to my DH, Rick, and we have two girls, Danielle and
Emily. I work fulltime in a federal prison, leaving the house at 6:00
a.m. and returning at 5:00 p.m. Those hours didn't leave much time for
creative dinners. Since I began 30DG, not only do we eat better meals,
but we can enjoy our meals earlier than we used to also! I like to cook
by the "what's on sale" method rather than cooking a full month's supply
at a time. I'd rather work with one type of meat at a time. In addition
to the family sized portions I freeze for my family, I freeze individual
sized meals from my mom and grandma. They both live alone and really
appreciate having an entire meal ready to heat up.
My hobbies include sewing, knitting, crocheting and scrapbooking. I am
also a professional cake decorator, usually doing 10-20 custom decorated
cakes a month.
I hope everyone enjoys the Buffalo Chicken Dip as much as we do! We
think it's addictive!!
Click here to view/print the
October Recipe of the Month.
You too can
get in on the winning! Just post your favorite freeze-able recipe on the
message boards. Congratulations, Cheryl!
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FREEZER COOK OF THE MONTH CONTEST
WINNER
Our winner this month is
Heather, with a funny story for us. Maybe she can use her prize check to
buy more ingredients so her husband can try this recipe again!?
Last night we were cooking one of our 30DG meals. I was a little
hesitant about this recipe but my DH was really excited. He really
wanted to try this. It's the Broiled Roll-Up recipe. You roll out raw
hamburger meat, layer spaghetti sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, then roll
them up and slice a roll off (like cinnamon rolls, if you can picture
it) and wrap a slice of bacon around it and hold it together with a
toothpick. My cooking buddies said it was hard to get them done in the
middle and they had to cut them in half. You are supposed to broil them
but DH thought it would be better to grill them. He got the grill going
and put them on. (We have a very short and small 10.00 barbeque.) He let
our dog, Mille out on her chain. (Fence is falling apart, she escapes,
hence the chain). Then about 30 minutes later he went to check on the
grill. Mille's chain had wrapped around the barbeque and tipped it over!
The roll-ups were still on the grill, but covered in charcoal dust! DH
was mad at Mille, although I know technically we can't blame her, she
doesn't realize her chain gets tangled up. And she is afraid of fire.
But, she is also on a diet and we have to wonder just a little bit. DH
really wanted to try them. We went out for pizza instead.
So, how do
you make 30 Day Gourmet work for you? How do you use it to help you
deal with a challenge in your life? How do you use it to help others?
Do you have a funny story that happened on your cooking day? Email me
at
tammy@30daygourmet.com to
be entered in our contest.
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GOURMET Q&A
| Q. |
I have a new
email address, so can you change it for me for the Newsletter?
Thanks! Cindy |
| A. |
Hi Cindy! I've gotten quite a few emails like
yours, so here's the scoop. Since our Newsletter goes out via Yahoo
every month, you have to edit your account with Yahoo to change your
email. We do not keep the membership list, Yahoo does. Use this link
to go to our page at Yahoo.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/30DayGourmetFreezerCooking/
At the top center of the page, is a link that says "Sign In". Click
there and sign in to Yahoo. At the top center of the next page it
takes you to, it will say "Welcome _____" with your screen name.
Under that is a link that says "my account". Click that link, and
update your email there. Click Finish when you're done to confirm
the change. That's all there is to it! |
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COOKIN' AT THE KEYBOARD
WITH SHELLEY
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I talked with my friend, Michelle, last weekend.
She has been freezer cooking for less than a year and, with seven
children and a busy husband, it is understandable why she was panicked
that her freezer inventory was rapidly depleting. Recognizing that
desperate look (I’ve seen it in my mirror), I offered some assistance.
It required an intense focus and some quick work at the keyboard, but in
less than three hours we had a four-month menu plan, with the recipes
and reports to prove it. We imported several new recipes from the 30 Day
Gourmet website (what a resource!), scaling them to feed nine or more.
To add more variety to the menu plan, we copied recipes and substituted
ingredients (ham for bacon, broccoli for spinach, etc.) Ready to conquer
the cooking, she walked out the door with relief in her eyes and reports
in her hand. Here’s what she took home:
Recipes Report: Print the Recipes Report to confirm your cooking plan.
Hang it on the refrigerator and cross off each recipe to show your
progress while you cook.
Containers Report: Before grocery shopping, consult the Containers
Report. Inventory your freezer bag and wrapping supplies, adding the
necessary items to your grocery list. Confirm that the rigid freezer
containers listed on the report are indeed clean and available; adjust
if necessary.
Grocery Report: Select the grocery report to include “all ingredients”
or “cooking day only” ingredients. (A “cooking day only” selection will
reduce the money spent on this trip to the store, but you have to
remember to stock the pantry in the coming weeks with the “on
hand/serving day” items.) Before grabbing your keys, detour through the
kitchen to eliminate any items from your grocery list that don’t need to
be purchased.
Ingredients Report: The Ingredients Report is different than the grocery
list. The grocery list accumulates ingredients and gives a total amount
to be purchased, while the Ingredients Report lists the amount of each
ingredient needed for each recipe. Take this report to the store with
you in case a question arises from the grocery list. The information may
seem redundant, but it can be very helpful on occasion!
Appliances Report: This report helps you start cooking and keep cooking
by listing the recipes each appliance will process. If you have a
“bottleneck” appliance, make sure it never stops cooking! I feel the
most efficient when all my appliances are working for me, and the
Appliance Report helps me keep them going.
Actions Report: This report lays the foundation for recipe assembly. It
tells you how much cheese to grate, hamburger to fry, onion to chop,
chicken to cook, etc. Whatever the task, you can accomplish the most
with the least amount of mental energy!
Recipe Inventory Report: Congratulations! You’re done! Now print a
report of what you’ve accomplished – a list of meals added to your
freezer. The “on hand/serving day” ingredients for each recipe are
included so you can easily determine if you have everything necessary to
put a particular meal on the table. Post it on the outside of your
freezer, or somewhere accessible in your kitchen, and use the check
boxes to indicate which meals have been served.
If you’re like my friend – anxious to conquer the cooking, but agonizing
over the planning and calculating – then let Advantage Cooking and 30
Day Gourmet give you the help you need!
Download
the free trial version; you’ve got nothing to lose!
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FINAL
THOUGHTS
I hope you've enjoyed
another edition of our Newsletter.
Email me at
tammy@30daygourmet.com
with any questions, ideas, suggestions or problems. I enjoy hearing from
those of you who take time to drop me a note. Happy Fall!
Tammy
30 Day Gourmet
P.O. Box 272
Brownsburg, IN 46112
www.30DayGourmet.com
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Copyright 2008 - 30 Day Gourmet. All rights reserved.
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