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Tomatoes Everywhere
Skillet Meals From Home
While there are hundreds of boxed meals that can be prepared in a skillet, with a minimum amount of work, you can create your own skillet meals at home.
Macaroni and cheese is a wonderful base for many of these, but there is no limit to the kind of foods that can be cooked in a skillet. Some of the most tender barbecue ribs I have ever made were made in an electric skillet, at the time I had no oven.
I boiled the ribs in beer, cooking removes the alcohol, then put them in an electric skillet, brushed them with barbecue sauce turned the skillet to simmer and put the lid on.
I let them cook for about 5 hours, checking occasionally to make sure they were not burning, and adding sauce as they were turned. They were delicious, and fall of the bone tender, give it a try sometime, you will love them!
Now back to the macaroni and cheese, while cooking the macaroni, brown hamburger in a skillet add a can of chili, when the macaroni is done add the cheese then stir into the hamburger chili mix.
Its called Chili-mac and a favorite of even the most discriminating family members! This is a little trick I learned from a true Texan, just open a small package of Fritos and add chili to the bag, only one skillet used for the chili and no dishes to wash.
Give everyone a spoon; they will love it for camping and outdoor parties. Left over roast can make a wonderful one skillet mean, just cut the roast in small pieces, add bouillon for flavor, add water and cook in the skillet until the meat is tender, add vegetables and cook until they are done and the water cooks away.
Left over pork steak is excellent when rolled in flour, and fried in olive oil; add water and rice to the mixture, the flour on the pork creates wonderful gravy for the rice.
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Tomatoes Everywhere!
I have often been amazed at the number of tomatoes on one plant, and the number of plants a person will maintain at one time.
It seems that every person who plants tomatoes has to have at least 4 varieties, and to be safe two plants of each variety, at that minimum thats 8 tomato plants in a season!
So, just how many tomatoes come on a plant, all I know is that there are a lot.
One bushel or 45 pounds can make 26 to 34 pints of frozen tomatoes and 20 to 28 pints of frozen juice. Once you freeze tomatoes they become mushy, so they can only be used in soups, stews and spaghetti sauce.
My mom used to make breaded tomatoes that I loved, they were made with canned tomatoes, day old bread and sugar, I can still taste them!
The procedures for freezing different tomato products are:
*Raw tomatoes, after washing dip in boiling water to loosen skins, peel and core, freeze whole or in pieces, when packing containers, leave 1 inch of head room.
*Tomato juice, wash, sort and trim firm, vine-ripened tomatoes, cut in quarters and simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Press through sieve, season with 1 tsp salt for each quart of juice, pour into containers leaving 1 ½ inches head space, seal and freeze containers.
*Stewed (for breaded tomatoes), remove stem ends, peel and quarter ripe tomatoes. Cover and cook 10 to 20 minutes until tender. Place pan of tomatoes in cold water and cool, pack into containers leaving 1 inch head space, seal and freeze.
Tomato sauce, puree, catsup and chili sauces can be frozen. Prepare them as directed and cool rapidly, pack in rigid containers leaving head space and freeze.
There are hundreds of foods that can be prepared with fresh or frozen tomatoes, enjoy them year round. |
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Quick Healthy Snacks
Vegetables and fruits are some of the better know quick healthy snacks available today. Keep fresh vegetables, cut up and cleaned in the refrigerator with dip for the kids to snack on after school, they wont miss the candies and cookies if they never get used to them.
It doesnt hurt to have those once in a while as long as they do not constitute your main form of snacking.
Keeping fresh fruit in a bowl on the counter is another good way to provide healthy snacks for your family.
Whatever is in season at the time will work; fresh apples and peanut butter are a great snack with a lot of protein in them.
Fresh fruit and cottage cheese are also high in protein and allows family members to deal with their sweet tooth in a more healthy way. However there are other snacks available that are equally enjoyable.
Whole grain snack crackers (there are an unlimited variety of snack crackers) with an assortment of cheeses are one form or snacking.
There are many kinds of cheese out there for you to keep on hand; you can even buy them already cubed if you dont have time to cut them up yourself!
Celery and cheese spread are tasty and easy to put together after school, at during lunch at work or school or as an evening snack while watching your favorite movie.
Dehydrated fruits are available including raisins, dates or many other kinds of fruits, trail mixes are very popular.
Trail mix is another snack food that has a wide range of tastes, from tropical to nut blends, something for every finicky eater in your family.
They are also easy to customize for your particular tastes. Just buy your favorite fruits and nuts, cereals, and even candies and mix your own.
Be creative with snacks and you will notice a difference in what your family eats.
Related Topics: Easy Treats For After School,
Homemade Baby Foods, Cooking For Two
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