Hello everyone! Welcome September! September to us means the end of summer. We celebrated the end of summer with one last visit to the community pool. You could feel the change in the wind. It was so much more like fall than summer. It feels like we spent the entire summer at the pool. We went almost every week with my sister-in-law and her children. It was fun and a great place to cool down. We have a lot of good memories from the time that we spent together.

September to us also means a new school year has started. This year my sons are sophomores. They are both taking a class called Food and Nutrition. They are learning about basic nutrition, cooking principles and techniques, and kitchen safety and  sanitation. Their main project for the semester is to create their own cookbook with fifty of their favorite recipes. They can take this cookbook with them when they move away from home. It was great to have them come in the door and say "Hey Mom - I need the recipe for your No-Bake Cookies, Brownie Trifle, and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies!" Slowly, but surely, we will work our way through the cookbooks picking out recipes and adding them to their cookbooks. It is fun to hear which recipes are their favorite.

An interesting thing that has come from this class is the Great Pancake Debate. One of the first recipes the boys made in class were homemade pancakes. Our family tradition is to add chocolate chips to the pancakes! It is fun and the kids have always loved them this way. The tradition comes from my husband's side of the family. His father has a whole list of ingredients that he likes to add to pancakes such as chocolate chips, sausage, bananas, blueberries, apples, etc. Since the boys like chocolate chips in their pancakes, they each brought a snack bag full of chocolate chips to class to add to the pancakes. At our house, we ladle the batter onto the griddle and add the chocolate chips before flipping the pancakes. People in class said you should add the chocolate chips to the batter before ladling it onto the griddle and the Great Pancake Debate was born.

The very next day we went to a family breakfast at my mother-in-law's house. It was a group cooking effort. My brother-in-law made the omelets, my husband cooked the sausage, my sister-in-law, Lori, made the pancakes and the rest of us were on clean up crew. Lori followed the family tradition and made a whole variety of pancakes. There were some with chocolate chips, some with sausage, some with blueberries, and some with sausage and chocolate chips. As she was making these the Great Pancake Debate started again! Some people said that you should add the chocolate chips to the batter so that the chips don't burn. Others said that if you cook the pancakes at a lower temperature the chips will not burn. It was amazing that the same discussion happened on two different days with two different groups of people!

Of course this spurred other discussions on cooking methods. We shared some of our tips on cooking. For example, did you know that a great way to make Loaded Baked Potato Soup is to use powdered milk instead of regular milk? You would normally have to stand there and carefully watch and stir the milk so it does burn. When you use powered milk, you can just boil the water, remove the pan from the burner and then add the powder. It's so much easier! My sister-in-law, Lisa, took this one step further asking if you could apply this method to making white sauce. We all agreed that it should work.

Some of us cook using the 30 Day Gourmet method. We talked about the different ways that you can use this method. Lori is planning a big cooking day with a bunch of her friends. I, on the other hand, just finished my cooking for the quarter. Because I cook alone most of the time, I cook based on similar ingredients. I had several mini sessions over a couple weeks. I usually try to complete the cooking and/or assembly for each session in just a couple of hours. Here are some examples of some of the recipes I use in my mini cooking sessions.

Ground Beef

• Meatloaf
• Meatballs
• Sloppy Joes
• Mom-style Burger Helper (members can access online)
• Cooked ground beef for tacos, chili, soups

Chicken Leg Quarters (cooked in slow cooker and then boned)

• Turkey and Noodles
• Italian Chicken
• Chicken Patties (members can access online)
• Bowtie Soup (from Freezer Lunches to Go)

Pockets

• Pizza Pockets
• Chicken Pockets (from Freezer Lunches to Go)
• Ham and Cheese Pockets
• Roast Beef and Cheese Pockets

Chicken Breasts

• Montreal Chicken Sandwiches
• Cubed chicken for Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Chicken Pasta Salad
• Fajitas
• Parsley Parmesan Chicken
• Chicken Wreath
• Oriental Sesame Chicken Strips
• April's Chicken Marinade

Slow Cooker (cooked anytime)

• Crock Pot Mac and Cheese
• Beefy Burritos
• Country Pulled Pork

Our conclusion was that it does not matter if you have a big cooking day alone, cook with friends or cook in mini-sessions. What matters is that you do what works for you in your situation!

So a new school year has started. My meals are in the freezer and I am ready for another challenging school year. What a great opportunity we are given with our children. We get to teach them every day of the year and we often learn many lessons from them along the way.

BONUS RECIPES

Black Bean Soup

I posted this recipe on the Cook's Corner several years ago. It's a great soup and a favorite at our house. You can control the spiciness by adjusting the amount of chili powder you use and the type of salsa. It freezes beautifully. Sometimes I freeze it in individual containers for lunches. 

Click here to view/print this recipe!

Country Pulled Pork

This is a nice change from just plain BBQ pork sandwiches. The sauce flavors the meat but does not cling to it like regular sauce. It is both sweet and spicy. I usually make this recipe for lunches. On serving day, I reheat it on the stove and send it in a pre-warmed thermos.

Click here to view/print this recipe!

 CLOSING COMMENTS FROM CAROL

Do you have any other topics that you would like to cover? Do you have any nagging questions that need to be answered? Email me at carol@30daygourmet.com. I enjoy hearing from you!

Keep on studying and we'll see you next month!
 

          Carol