Homer April 15-22 Menu

Since lunch is basically leftovers or Pasta Roni every day, I'm gonna stop listing them.

Wednesday: Ward Closing Social - pizza
Thursday: Graduation Celebration - pizza and cheeseburgers
Friday: Fajitas
Saturday: Beef Stew
Sunday: Cousins' dinner
Monday: Pull Apart Pizza
Tuesday: Chicken Alfredo

Cornbread

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 2 cup cornmeal
• 2-4 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup oil or shortening, melted

Directions

• In a mixing bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  
• In another bowl beat together eggs, milk, and oil.
  
• Add to flour mixture and stir just till batter is smooth (do not overbeat).
• Pour into a greased 9x9x2 inch baking pan.
  
• Bake in a 425 oven for 20-25 minutes or till golden brown.
  
• Makes 8 or 9 servings

Recipe courtesy of Jalin Bingham

Stroganoff

Ingredients

• Hamburger
• Onion
• Cream of Mushroom soup
• Garlic salt
• About 1 cup sour cream
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
  

Directions

• Brown the beef.
• Add onions and cook.
• Drain.
• Add cream of mushroom soup and sour cream.
• Heat the mixture.
• Add garlic salt, salt, pepper, and paprika

Serve over cooked egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

Recipe courtesy of Carol Homer

Strawberry Jam

I bought a flat of strawberries this week, so I'm doing a bunch of cooking this week with strawberries. Today? Strawberry jam! This recipe doesn't have pectin, so I was a little worried about it setting up, but I think it turned out well. It takes 48 hours to set up properly, so I guess we'll find out.



Ingredients

• 2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled
• 4 cups white sugar*
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions

• Blend strawberries. You should get about 4 cups.
• In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, mix strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice.
• Stir over low until the sugar is dissolved.
• Increase to high and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. (Increase temperature a little at a time to prevent it from boiling over.
• Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 C). (About 15 minutes. Read below for tips how to tell if it's ready.)
• Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace.
• Seal. (One person said you could just turn the jars over for 5 minutes, then turning them back right-side up. I put them in a steamer canner for about 5 minutes. You can also use a water bath.)

To test for jelling

• Place three plates in a freezer.
  
• After about 10 minutes of boiling place a tsp of the liquid of the jam onto the cold plate.
• Return to freezer for a minute.
  
• Run your finger through the jam on the plate. If it doesn't try to run back together (if you can make a line through it with your finger) it's ready to be canned.

* For preservation purposes, a 1:1 ratio of fruit to sugar is preferable. Less sugar is fine, but it won't last as long. Because it only made two pints, and because I don't like as much sugar, I only put in 3 cups.

Recipe courtesy of All Recipes.

Homer April 8-15 menu

Wednesday:

Dinner: Stir Fry

Thursday:

Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Stroganoff

Friday:

Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: BYU graduate celebration

Saturday:

Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Fried Potatoes and Cornbread

Sunday:

Lunch: Pasta Roni
Dinner: Easter at BJ's parents

Monday:

Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: FHE at Bonnie's

Tuesday:

Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Spaghetti

Wednesday:

Lunch: Leftovers

Chicken Vegetable Soup

I hate getting recipes that aren't really recipes, but rather, "add enough sugar" and "until it looks good." I don't know enough about cooking to be able to figure it out on my own. I need step-by-step instructions. I need to know why I'm doing things, or be given specific instructions. If a recipe says "Bake 30-35 minutes" I need to know the, "or until [insert requirements here]." But when I'm given a more vague recipe and can actually make it, it makes me really proud of myself. In other words, I apologize for posting a vague recipe, but I'm really proud that I made it and that it tasted good. (Though, in future, I would add more spices than I did. I really just had no idea how much to add this time. Quantities! I need quantities!)


Ingredients:

• 1 chicken carcass (I used the leftovers from the 40 Cloves and a Chicken)
• Water
• Onions
• Celery
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Any other vegetable you want in your soup
• Salt and Pepper
• Basil
• Oregano
  
• Bay Leaf

Instructions:

So, I told my friend, Tyler, that I had never made soup from a carcass before. These are the instructions I got from him. (Anything in italics are my own additions from when I actually made it.)

• Well, lucky for you that it's the easiest thing in the known universe
• Take the carcass
• Cut it in half lengthwise (if it will fit in your pot without cutting it in half, skip this step)
• Put it in a deep pot
• Fill pot with water (I used a 6 quart pot. He had me fill it half full of water.)
• Add in a thickly-sliced onion, stalk of celery, and carrot
• Boil until the cows come home (This translates as 4-6 hours)
• ta da
• Basically, what will happen is 1) all the chicken meat left on there will cook and fall off, 2) all the cartilage, connective tissue, etc. will break down into gelatin, which is amazing for thickening soups and is the trademark mouthfeel of a good stock, and 3) fill your house with awesome smells
• Then after boiling for 4 to 6 hours (taste the broth to see if it has enough flavor to it. If it doesn't, take off the lid and let it evaporate some. Possibly add chicken bullion), you strain it all out (keep the liquid!), let the strained stuff cool off, and pull all the meat out of the rest of the mess (throw away the vegetables, too. They've already served their purpose.)
• Plop it back into the liquid (If you need more liquid at this point, just add some more water.)
• Then add in onions, celery ,carrots, potatoes, broccoli, squash, noodles, and pretty much anything else you want
• Boil til it's all soft
• Oh, and add in some oregano, a bit of basil, and a bay leaf. Also, salt and pepper to taste

Homer April 1-8 menu

Wednesday:

- Lunch: Hamburger and Rice leftovers
- Dinner: 40 Cloves and a Chicken

Thursday:

- Lunch: Hamburger and Rice leftovers
- Dinner: Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Friday:

- Lunch: 40 Cloves leftovers
- Dinner: Soup leftovers

Saturday:

General Conference - will be at BJ's parents' house

Sunday:

General Conference - will be at BJ's parents' house

Monday:

- Lunch: 40 Cloves leftovers
- Dinner: Shepherd's Pie (combined with another family)

Tuesday:

- Lunch: Various leftovers
- Dinner: Stir Fry

Wednesday:

- Lunch: Stir Fry leftovers

Ingredients on hand: olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper, carrots, hamburger, green beans, rice

Grocery trip for needed ingredients: $16.14 (See this post for shopping details, which include additional items not included in this price.)