Homemade Personal Pizzas

photo credit:http://comfortbites.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

The procedure I use for these creates several meals and makes having pizza super cheap and easy, just the way I like most things. 

So, let's begin with the crust. You can make your own from scratch, but I generally don't..  I buy Rhodes frozen rolls and work with about a dozen at a time.  If I thought ahead, I have them thawing on the counter.  If not, you will be thrilled to know that it takes less that 20 seconds in the microwave to thaw one roll.  So, if they are all frozen I thaw one, and put the next one in while I'm rolling the first out, and so on.

These make small 4 in pizza.  If you use 2 rolls in one crust, you are more likely to get a 7-8 in. crust.  I like the 4 in size for a few reasons:

1. You get a dozen little pizza crusts out of a dozen rolls
2. It's perfect for a lunch bag
3. If it's dinner time and someone wants more than one, they can choose a variety of toppings

Before I start rolling dough out I prep the oven.  I line one full rack with foil and spray it with cooking spray.  Then I set the oven to 500F. Once I've rolled 6-8 balls of dough into circles (they are more a collection of odd shapes than circles), I poke them 3-4 times with a fork and put them in the oven for about 2 minutes.  Just long enough to cook the dough into a par-baked crust.  I pull them out, still white, but not doughy and cool them on the counter.

If you are planning on making and eating all of these pizzas now, the previous step is unnecessary.  Just top and bake at 500F for 4-5 minutes depending on how you like them done.  Otherwise, cool your par-baked crusts (flip them once or twice to avoid moisture build up) and put them in a freezer bag to freeze and enjoy later. 

When you are ready to use them, pull as many crusts as you need from the freezer, top and bake for 8-10 minutes on 500F.  Keep an eye on them if you want them less done.  These make SUPER easy lunches.  When we have them for dinner everyone gets to choose their own toppings and everyone is happy.

Thanksgiving Leftovers - Part 1 - A Bone to Pick

Photo credit: cooking-spree.com 

One of my last posts was also about leftovers, a mostly failed attempt at incorporating the morning's oatmeal into a batch of cookies.  When that didn't work I tuned the batter into muffins and that was the key to my success, trying something different.  So, this year, if Grandma's leftover recipes aren't doing it for you, try something new.  And no offense to Grandma, she's one of my favorite cooks.

After feeding fifteen of us this year, we have the usual suspects as leftovers; turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes.  The thing is, right after Thanksgiving, I don't feel like doing lots of cooking, so all of these recipes must be low maintenance.  Aside from the typical line-up of turkey sandwiches, turkey casserole, or just straight up reheating everything, here are some great recipes you can try.  Some of them are great for my vegetarian friend, some will work for the gluten-free folks, all of them are great for stretching your holiday-week food budget.

Let's start at the top - Turkey

Note: If you're a vegetarian, you may want to skip this part, it's not pretty.

"Are you gonna throw those bones away?" my husband asks our hostess after enjoying a great dinner of broiled chicken and vegetables.

"Yeah, what else would I do with them?" she asked.

"Well, you make soup.  You throw those bones into a pot and make chicken stock, then you can turn that into chicken and dumplings or anything you want."

"I'm not going to do that, but you're welcome to take them."  He was amazed that she felt the effort to throw the chicken into a stock pot was more than it was worth.  It seems to me we left that meal with a bag of bones in tow.  Again, waste not, want not.  It's coming to be a mantra around here.

Another note: I know this recipe looks super involved.  It's really not. 

Turkey Tortilla Soup
Part 1: Submerge and simmer in 2 quarts of water any "spare" parts you retrieved from the turkey before baking (neck, giblets)
Part 2: 1 leftover turkey, demeated (is that even a word?)
1 bunch celery, cut bottom off and throw stalks into the pot
2 large onions, halved but not peeled (the peel turns the soup a rich brown)
10 garlic cloves, don't bother peeling these either
2 Tbsp season salt or Mrs. Dash
salt and pepper to taste
Part 3: soup veggies and turkey meat
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 can black beans (if desired)
Part 4: 3 cups cooked rice
fresh chopped tomatoes, peppers, onions - or use a can of seasoned tomatoes like Rotel
cilantro, avocados chopped and set aside
1 cup shredded cheese
1-2 cups crushed corn tortilla chips

Part 1 of this soup begins before the turkey even gets into the oven by removing the "extra" parts from the bird and putting them in a pot with all of the above ingredients (except the turkey bones and meat, obviously). I add about two quarts of water, bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for the day while the turkey is baking and the festivities are underway. If you don't do it that way, don't worry, just move on.

Part 2 After dinner is over and dishes are done we turn our attention to the turkey carcass and strip as much meat as we can from the thing.  I know, sounds disgusting.  It is serious hunter-gatherer work, and not for the faint of heart.  When we've carved and pulled as much meat away as we can get, we bag it up for later use and put the whole pile of bones into a stock pot with the Part 1 items.  Then we add a bunch of celery, some onions halved but not peeled, a handful of garlic, salt and pepper.  We cover it all with water, set it on a high heat until it starts to boil, then turn it down and let it simmer for several hours.   This part is super easy, no baby-sitting or watching the pot.  Just let it do its thing. This can also be done the next day if it's late and you need to go to bed.

Part 3 Once your stock is ready, (at least 4 hours later) pour it through a strainer into a large bowl.  With a fork, pull off any remaining meat you can get, and retrieve any garlic or onion pieces you may want (they should be out of their skins now).  You should have LOTS of stock and could freeze half of it for later and use half for now.  Once you've divided it up, pour your stock back into the pot (at least 6 cups) and add any chopped veggies (carrots, potatoes, anything else) you want, as well as the turkey meat, beans and spices.  The veggies should only need 20 minutes on a medium boil to cook.  When they are tender your soup is done.

Part 4 Serve soup piping hot in the following fashion - Lay down hot cooked rice on the bottom of a soup bowl.  follow that with a sprinkle of cheese and a few generous ladles of soup.  Now add all the fresh cut veggies and finally top with corn tortilla chips.  This is NOT your Grandma's turkey soup.  It's SO savory and tasty you will want to have it every time you have leftover poultry bones to grapple with.

Question: What do you do with your leftover turkey?
Tune in next time for potato croquettes, stuffing fritatta and sweet potato muffins.

Turkey Tortilla Soup

Photo credit: cooking-spree.com

Turkey Tortilla Soup
Part 1: Submerge and simmer in 2 quarts of water any "spare" parts you retrieved from the turkey before baking (neck, giblets)

Part 2: 1 leftover turkey, demeated (is that even a word?)
1 bunch celery, cut bottom off and throw stalks into the pot
2 large onions, halved but not peeled (the peel turns the soup a rich brown)
10 garlic cloves, don't bother peeling these either
2 Tbsp season salt or Mrs. Dash
salt and pepper to taste

Part 3: soup veggies and turkey meat
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 can black beans (if desired)
Part 4: 3 cups cooked rice
fresh chopped tomatoes, peppers, onions - or use a can of seasoned tomatoes like Rotel
cilantro, avocados chopped and set aside
1 cup shredded cheese
1-2 cups crushed corn tortilla chips.

Part 1 of this soup begins before the turkey even gets into the oven by removing the "extra" parts from the bird and putting them in a pot with all of the above ingredients (except the turkey bones and meat, obviously). I add about two quarts of water, bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for the day while the turkey is baking and the festivities are underway. If you don't do it that way, don't worry, just move on.
Part 2 After dinner is over and dishes are done we turn our attention to the turkey carcass and strip as much meat as we can from the thing. I know, sounds disgusting. It is serious hunter-gatherer work, and not for the faint of heart. When we've carved and pulled as much meat away as we can get, we bag it up for later use and put the whole pile of bones into a stock pot with the Part 1 items. Then we add a bunch of celery, some onions halved but not peeled, a handful of garlic, salt and pepper. We cover it all with water, set it on a high heat until it starts to boil, then turn it down and let it simmer for several hours. This part is super easy, no baby-sitting or watching the pot. Just let it do its thing. This can also be done the next day if it's late and you need to go to bed.
Part 3 Once your stock is ready, (at least 4 hours later) pour it through a strainer into a large bowl. With a fork, pull off any remaining meat you can get, and retrieve any garlic or onion pieces you may want (they should be out of their skins now). You should have LOTS of stock and could freeze half of it for later and use half for now. Once you've divided it up, pour your stock back into the pot (at least 6 cups) and add any chopped veggies (carrots, potatoes, anything else) you want, as well as the turkey meat, beans and spices. The veggies should only need 20 minutes on a medium boil to cook. When they are tender your soup is done.
Part 4 Serve soup piping hot in the following fashion - Lay down hot cooked rice on the bottom of a soup bowl. follow that with a sprinkle of cheese and a few generous ladles of soup. Now add all the fresh cut veggies and finally top with corn tortilla chips. This is NOT your Grandma's turkey soup. It's SO savory and tasty you will want to have it every time you have leftover poultry bones to grapple with.

Why Giving Matters

This is an article by a Catholic economist, sociologist and author Arthur C. Brooks that inspired me a couple of years ago.  It is about why giving matters and I actually first saw it as a forum address at BYU.  You can listen to the audio here while you are doing little Holiday chores today.  I guarantee you'll be inspired.  And, despite what everyone in the Occupy Movements may say, Americans are the biggest givers in the world, beating out the next closest prosperous, giving nation by a margin of  more than 3 to one, even when those stats are corrected for income differences. 

Here are some main points in brief:

1. Many of the most wealthy people who give, don't do it because they are wealthy.  They are wealthy because they gave first.
2. Americans give more than the entire national income of Sweden.
3. 75% of American families give every year
4. Utah is the most charitable state in the nation, a fact we are not "proud" of, because that would be wrong.  But, we are pleased, right?
5. People who give to charity are 43% more likely to say they are happy than those who do not.
6. People who donate blood are 50% more likely to say they are happy.
7. Giving does not make people poorer, diminish resources or happen because it is a luxury of the rich.
8. The more government tries to step in to give to the poor and needy, the less people are inclined to help in those same causes.
9. Providing opportunities for giving to those around you is the highest form of giving.
10. Giving is a core competency of successful citizenship and a happy life. We need to think of creative ways to teach the importance of this principle.

Go read it or listen and feel grateful to be part of such an amazing movement.

Inventory

In the spirit of full disclosure, in an effort to get organized, and in fulfillment of a promise I made, here is a cursory list of what I've got to work with beyond my cash allotment in a month.  It's a lot. Here's how it fits into the "Live On What You Give" experiment. 

We accumulated this stuff over many years, giving consistently all the time, living on it as we go, replenishing here and there.  For years we've given to the level that we gathered food storage.  All that food is not just for us, we share all along the way.  Now, we are going for a new level of giving and setting our cash for food at the same amount as the cash we give to meet the needs of people around us.  And, because of the habits we established to this point we can.

So, to be clear, this experiment isn't about how little cash we can live on with nothing else.  It's about living on the same amount of cash we are willing to give away.  Anyway, we've always been happy to share all this food, however, my big "little" brother often reminds me of the need for firearms to protect our stash.  The thing is, food is fleeting and guns are part of  a different type of experiment altogether.

Freezer
1 turkey
2 roasts
15 lbs. boneless skinless chicken
15 lbs frozen veggies
5 lbs. french fries
3 lbs. onion rings
3 pastry crusts
2 doz frozen cookies
several ready-made main dishes like eggrolls, taquitos and burritos

Pantry and Cold Storage
year supply of dry milk, flour, beans, rice, sugar, oats, wheat, potato pearls, dried spinach
20 lbs pasta ( I always feel more secure when I have closer to 100 lbs., so I'm running low)
2 doz cans pasta sauce (waiting to be doctored up)
4 doz cans broth
4 doz cans tomato sauce
Lots and lots of spices
20 lbs salt
40 lbs Steven's hot chocolate mix
2 lbs Powdered Parmesan
1 doz cans of meat (I know, sounds delicious, huh)
1 doz #10 cans of various dried veggies
1/2 doz cans dried fruits
45 lbs. barley
45 lbs. popcorn
20 lbs. banana chips
6 gallons juice
4 gallons vinegar
3 gallons oil
4 doz cans corn and beans
2 doz cans chili

Fridge and Garage Storage (also known as the second fridge in the fall and winter)
25 pounds fresh produce
3 gallons milk
1 gallon egg nog
10 lbs. assorted cheeses
2 lbs sour cream
3 lbs cream cheese
4 dozen eggs
More sauces and condiments than I can count

What is in your food storage?

Day 2 - Lots-O-Leftovers

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, the need to be in too many places at once, and the desire to clear out the fridge, I've decided that low-prep leftovers are in order all week, except for the big day itself.

I'm proud to post that the roast I made Sunday actually made it through three meals, just like the olden days when we had much smaller children.  Of course, Bren has been gone doing a big musical production at school and Caleb has a touch of the stomach flu, so I know it's not a fair comparison to what we usually do.  Still, here's what the dinner menu looks like so far:

• the first day we ate a roast - with carrots, potatoes and onions
• yesterday it was shredded beef tacos - with cheese, sour cream and spinach salsa
• tonight we had cajun beef stew over rice - with the broth and veggies I had set aside from Sunday.

And, each dish was different enough that no one even balked at leftovers.  Yay!

Morning Madness and Leftover Oatmeal

Mornings at my house have such great potential.  I get up before everyone, make a hot breakfast, wake everyone, and wait....Some days it's an idyllic scene.  All the kids and their Dad show up in their jammies, or ready for the day, blankets in tow.  The fire is going, hot chocolate is served in little cups with lids and straws to prevent the sleepy spills that are inevitable when 4 out of 6 of us are drinking with our eyes closed.  Usually there's also eggs, breakfast potatoes, hot cereal, toast or fruit (ONE of the above).  We pray, read a few verses of scripture, the biggest of the kids leaves.  All is right at the dawn of the day.

Then there are days like today, when madness is more a reference to my frustration than to the chaos of getting four kids and a husband out the door in the morning.

"Brennan, you are going to miss the bus.  Breakfast is getting cold and EVERYONE is waiting for you."
I shout through the bathroom door for the third time.

"Well, for some reason, my alarm didn't go off," he answers back. I won't go into the details of the rest of the conversation. He makes it down in time for a quick nod to heaven and dashes out the door.  "Sorry, Mom.  No time for breakfast.  Love you guys." Slam.  I don't think he meant that as an insult.

Now I'm left with two sleeping kids and three of us eating the steel cut oats that took 40 minutes to prepare.  There's a trick to it, and they are hardy, but not hard to make, you just have to watch your heat or they will boil over, no matter how big your pan.   I think there is a life metaphor there.  Anyway,   I'll give details on that business in a separate post.  Needless to say, with one of our biggest eater gone, there were lots of leftovers.

Google what to do with leftover oatmeal and one of the first recipes you come to is for Leftover Oatmeal Cookies.  I made these.  They were not great.  When I tasted them what I thought was this, "These poor little ugly cookies really just want to be muffins."  So, I add some extra sugar, a little more cinnamon, vanilla and a cup of milk to my remaining batter and pour it into muffin tins.  They turned out delicious.  How do I know?  Because when Bren tried them he said, "Mm." 

Here are some other reactions, "Can I have another one, Mom?" Caleb asked.

"Yeah, go for it."

Four bites later, "Can I have another one?" he asks again.

"Last one for now," I say.

When the girls are eating I ask, "So, Hannah, you like those muffins?"

"Yes, can I have another one?"

"Uh huh.  How about you KC, are they good?" I ask.

"Yeah, they're so good," she says, then with a slightly suspicious tone. "Why?"

"Because I made them with leftover oatmeal from this morning.  What do you think."

"I think you shouldn't tell anyone that until after they've tried them, cause that's just disgusting to think about."

"Can I quote you on that?"

"Yes, as long as you get it right."

I hope I did.  When Don came home he saw the cookies first.

"What are these?" he asked picking one up.

"Those are not as good as the muffins."

He disregarded what I said thinking I was being modest or picky.  He took a big bite and said, "Your crazy.  These are great.  I'm glad you guys don't like them because I'm going to eat all the rest of these."

He never even made it to the muffins.

So, here's the recipe on both items, in case you want to try them.  This is as best as I can record it, considering I used a third of the batter to make yucky (in my opinion) cookies.

Leftover Oatmeal Cookies
2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. cooked steel cut oats

Sift dry ingredients together. Add butter, sugar and eggs and beat until creamy (about 2 minutes). Stir in oatmeal. Drop from teaspoon onto greased baking sheets.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 10minutes.
Yield: 4 dozen.

Leftover Oatmeal Muffins
2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 c. sugar
2/3 c. butter
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1 1/2 c. cooked steel cut oats

Sift dry ingredients together. Add butter, sugar and eggs and beat until creamy (about 2 minutes). Stir in oatmeal. Drop from teaspoon onto greased baking sheets.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 15minutes.
Yield: 2 Dozen +