Cass Cooks, Too!

posted by Cass on Dec 30

So at lunch time today, we had extra kids from the neighborhood here. I’d planned on packaged broccoli cheddar soup, but I was afraid it would not make enough for everyone to have enough, so I set about figuring out how to extend it. Here’s what we started with:

We made the soup according to the package directions, then added the Normandy Blend veggies, the Cream of Mushroom soup, an extra soup can of water and half a hunk of not-Velveeta. We heated it through and served it with saltines, and it was so. stinkin’. good!

The best news is that the neighborhood kids bailed, so we have plenty of leftovers

posted by Cass on Dec 24

Hi there! I’m just popping in tonight to let you know about a foodie giveaway on my craft blog. I’m giving away a Progresso Perfect Recipe basket or three, and you can find out how to enter here. Enjoy!

posted by Cass on Dec 11

Yeah, I know I didn’t list this in the upcoming recipe list. However, it really is the best roast ever, so I felt like I just had to share! So I am.

I used about a ten pound Boston Butt to make this. And actually, it was so easy that I just called out the directions to my 15 year old as I walked out the door.

Start a bit of oil heating in a large skillet. Combine some lemon pepper seasoning with some flour. Use a proportion like you were breading something to fry it. Roll the roast in that mixture until it is coated well. Then sear it in your hot oil. Put the roast in a covered pan and cook it in the oven at 250 degrees for several hours. Like 3 or 4. But if you have to go a bit longer you can. Or you can put it in the crock pot. See, I’m easy.

Serve the roast with a starch and a veggie the first night. For the lunch the next day, serve the chopped leftovers on hamburger or hot dog buns with a slice of cheese. Yummilicious.

If you were lucky enough to find the pork on sale for 89 cents a pound like I did, then you have 2 meals there for around $10. Less, if you aren’t feeding an army of 9.

posted by Cass on Dec 9

So, one of the things we ended up with was turkey ham. Now, I like turkey ham, but I do not like the rind on it, so I always peel mine. Just sayin’. YMMV. Here’s what I did with mine:

oh, wait, no picture. Sorry, let’s move on.

You will need:

• turkey ham
• pasta, such as rigatoni, radiatore, shells or macaroni
• pasteurized processed cheese, like the kind that is bright orangey yellow, and comes in logs, you know the one
• butter
• flour
• milk
• pepper

Peel and dice your turkey ham. Set is aside. Start your pasta water. When it comes to a boil, add the pasta, cover it, and turn off the burner. It will be done at the time indicated on the box to boil it, but it won’t ruin if you have to leave it sit a few minutes longer. Yes, seriously. Just trust me, ok? It’s a buck’s worth of pasta to run an experiment that will save you a bunch of money over the lifetime of pasta cooking ahead of you

Now then, while you are waiting on the pasta, slice up a third of a large block of that cheese, melt a half stick of butter in a large pan, and then add a quarter cup of flour to it and stir it. You are about to make cheese sauce. Once the flour and butter are mixed together, add some milk and the cheese to the pan. Stir it constantly, and do NOT let it come to a full rolling boil. If you do, it will stick and burn and be nasty. No need to ask me for specifics on that, it was a long time ago, and details are fuzzy.

So, heat your milk, cheese and butter/flour, and stir until it becomes sauce. You can control the thickness by adjusting the amount of milk you add. I can’t help more than that, because I just use “some”. And then, if it is too thick, I add “more”. Gotta love cooking with Cass, right?

When the pasta is done, and the sauce is as thick as you like it, mix it all together. I also like to add broccoli to mine, but sometimes the people I live with revolt, and they wish to not eat broccoli in everything. Peasants.

And that brings us to the December Angel Food menu. I do hope you are taking advantage of this woneerful resource. This month, $30 will buy.

1.5 lb. Choice Cut Beef Roast
2 lb. Breaded Chicken Tenders
2 lb. IQF Chicken Breast
1.5 lb. Pork Chops (4 x 6 oz.)
1 lb. 80/20 Lean Beef Patties (4 x 4 oz.)
28 oz. Salisbury Steak Entreé
1 lb. All Meat Hot Dogs
1 lb. Carrots
1 lb. Green Beans
1 lb. Rice
24 oz. Steak-Cut Fries
32 oz. 2% Reduced Fat Shelf Stable Milk
7.5 oz. Mac and Cheese
14 oz. Chicken Broth
7 oz. Corn Muffin Mix
Dozen Eggs
Dessert Item

We will be getting four boxes, and I am pleased to say that I mostly just but staples and breakfast foods at the grocery store any more, along with sale meats which included ribs, ground chuck and boston butt this week.

So, you can expect recipes for:

tacos
homemade bbq
beef roast
fried chicken
hamburger casserole

and who knows what else in the coming days.

posted by Cass on Dec 3

So, I set out to have BBQ ribs the other night. Angel Food had some delightful baby back ribs in their boxes this month, and I thought they would be real tasty. We put the ribs in the pan, and opened the pantry to get the BBQ sauce out, and there wasn’t any. Oops. Then we opened the fridge. I always have a couple bottles in there! And so I did. Two bottles with 1/2 inch of sauce each in them. Double oops. I threw those away, frowned and turned back to the fridge. I pulled out a bottle of sun dried tomato vinaigrette and mixed about 3/4 cup of that with 1/3 cup of honey, and poured that over the ribs. I simmered them in my large electric skillet at 250 for about 4 hours, and they were so good and tender! I pulled the bones out with tongs and piled the meat on a platter. We served them with diced sweet potatoes and field peas. Yum-i-licious.

Now that picture above, it’s not of my ribs. That would mean I remembered to take a picture, which I did not. Bad food blogger, bad food blogger.