Gourmet Meals For Less

A year of blogging...soup for the soul

 
 

 
 

Wow!  I can't believe I actually stuck with something for a year! 

Well, let me back up.  I do stick with things. For example my relationship with Christ...28 years and counting.  My marriage...19 years this fall.  Homeschooling...9 years and holding strong.

But, I tend to fail in the areas that are just for me.  You know those areas.  Exercise, routine doctors appointments, skincare, diet...the list goes on.  I was so afraid blogging would fall into this category.  Another thing that I do just for me that I let fall by the wayside.

Instead it's become something I really, really enjoy.  Of course like all things it can feel tedious occasionally.  Often it calls to me at inopportune times.  Like when I need to be grading papers, or cooking dinner or setting aside time alone with my husband.  But overall it has been a great experience.  I have been able to dust off my rusty writing skills.  It has kept me committed to cooking at home, frugally.  But best of all it has introduced me to a new passion...photography.  I never knew how much I would like photographing the food!  I believe my skills have improved greatly over the last year and just in case you need proof:

Here's a picture from my first blog post. 

 

 

And you know what.  I am not ashamed of this picture. It reminds me of where I started.  It's all I knew at the time.  It reminds me that in my life I can always strive to improve.  That if I'm willing to invest in learning, if I keep practicing and if I can learn from my mistakes I can improve.  And learn to take pictures like this:

 

 

and this:

 

 

and this:

 

 

 

And there's still so much to learn!  I obviously love cooking...this is a food blog.  But I have discovered how much I love photography, and writing, and contemplating about living life.  There is so much more I want to share about me, about my life, about my family and about my faith.  Writing this blog has helped me discover that.  It has been as the title of those now famous books so aptly puts it..."Chicken Soup for the Soul".

So thank you for following me this last year.  Some of you have been with me from day one.  I am pondering what this next year will look like for Gourmet Meals for Less. I see some changes in it's future.  But whichever direction I proceed in, I will continue to share great recipes with you.

In fact, here's a perfect one for today's musings and to help you recover from the rich holiday diet we've all been indulging in.

Arlene's Chicken Noodle Soup-courtesy of my mom-in-law
Makes 4 quarts

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked chicken, diced
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup butter or margarine
12 cups water
1 cup carrots, diced
3 Tbs. instant chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp. marjoram leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper
2 bay leaves
1/2 (12 oz.) package of wide noodles
1 tsp. chopped parsley

Directions:

Heat butter in a large dutch oven.  Saute celery and onion in butter until tender. Add in chicken, herbs (not bay leaves), salt and pepper.  Saute an additional 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients except noodles and parsley.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.  Remove bay leave.  Add noodles and parsley.  Cook approximately 10 minutes until noodles are al-dente. 

This is a great recipe to divide and freeze.  If you decide to freeze half of the soup.  Remove half of stock before adding in noodles.  Place in freezer bag.  Then add in a 1/4 of the bag of noodles to the stock you will be eating.  When ready to eat other half.  Thaw in fridge, re-heat and then add in a 1/4 of noodles.  This will prevent your noodles from becoming mushy when frozen and will make your soup taste fresher.

 

2011.  Can't wait to see what it holds for me.  As a wife.  As a mom.  As a woman.  And as a blogger!  Happy New Year!

Enjoy!

 

  

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

Good food, good drinks, good friends...grilled pizzas!

 

 

Summer Friday nights are my favorite.  

It's the night we get together with good friends

(who let the kid in the Cowboy's shirt in??)

have a few good drinks

 
(blackberry mojitos to help you get through all of that grilling..yum!)

eat good food

and sit around the fire talking and laughing way into the night. 

This past Friday was no exception.  Summer get togethers are always centered around our grill, usually burgers, brauts, or a good pork tenderloin.  But I was in the mood to try something a little different...grilled pizzas.

They seem to be all the rage these days, and I was ready to try my hand at them, homemade pizza dough and all.  I was a little concerned about this becoming a pizza crust disaster and having to pull out the number for our favorite pizza joint, but I'm pleased to say the grilled pizzas were a hit!

The key was preparing the dough in advance,

and getting a head start on grilling the pizza crusts, before the guests arrived. 

This prevents a pizza crust traffic jam at the grill, while your guests wait for the crusts to be done.  Also, I prepped all of the toppings earlier so all I had to do was set them out. 

 

It seemed everyone had a great time.

 

which makes the grilled pizza party a success in my book! 

Below you can find the pizza dough recipe, suggestions for toppings and the recipe for the blackberry mojito featured above.  I hope you'll give grilling pizzas a try before the summer is over, I think you'll enjoy them as much as we did!

Blackberry Recipes part deux....Blackberry Muffins

 

As promised in my blackberry picking entry, I will be sharing several different blackberry recipes with you that I have made with my fresh picked berries.

The first thing I made was a blackberry cobbler, per the request of hubby. Knowing the cobbler wouldn't last long, and before I froze the remainder of my blackberries, I wanted to do a little more baking.  I decided to also bake up a double batch of blackberry muffins.  Now I'm a realist..I knew if these muffins were left to their own defenses, lying around waiting to be consumed, they would be gone in a matter of days.  Therefore, I decided to freeze the muffins in four muffin batches.  This has worked out great. I can pull one bag out at a time and let them thaw overnight, warm them up in the morning, and have a quick, tasty breakfast for my family.  Now we can savor the muffins slowly over the next few weeks...or until the kids discover my muffin stash and pull them out and eat them all....might be time to find a better hiding place. (grin)

 

It's all Greek to me...Lamb and Olive Burgers in Homemade Pita

Wow we did something frugal and fun today!  As a homeschool mom I love the educational moments that just "happen".  Cooking together can be a great opportunity for home economics, a practical way to use math and science and provides some great one on one time.

Today, the girl and I made homemade pita pockets!  Who knew they could be so easy, so cheap and so healthy to make.  It was so cool to see them puff up right before our eyes, and we learned what worked and what didn't when it came to making the perfect pita.  I see lots of homemade pita pockets in our future.

Our pita pockets were made to accompany lamb burgers with olives and homemade taziki sauce.  We felt "oh so greek today", which has always been one of our favorite ancient societies to study.  I'm sad I never knew, before now, how easy and frugal it could be to recreate an authentic greek meal right in our own home.  I hope you will give this menu a try, it's a great way to expose your family to a different culture, and to appreciate the special art of bread making in a fun and easy way!