Beef in Mushroom Sauce Casserole

Here's a simple casserole dish I tried a few weeks ago from Reader's Digest "One Dish Meals" cookbook.

Preheat oven to 350.

Saute the following in 2 tablespoons oil, butter or margarine in a deep 12-inch skillet over moderate heat until slightly softened - 3 to 5 minutes:

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained
2 cloves garlic, minced

Add:

1 lb lean ground beef, or 8 oz each lean ground beef and pork
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon each salt and black pepper

Cook, stirring until the meat is no longer pink - 3 to 5 minutes.

Mix in:

10-3/4 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
8-oz can sliced mushrooms with liquid
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Bring to a simmer, then stir in:

4 oz uncooked medium-wide egg noodles

Spoon mixture into a greased 11 x 9 x 2 baking dish or shallow 2-1/2 quart casserole.

Sprinkle with:

1 cup coarsely shredded Gruyere cheese or 1/2 cup each shredded Gruyere and grated Parmesan.

Bake, uncovered for 35-45 minutes or until bubbling and lightly browned.

50 Ways to Never Waste Food Again

Simple ideas that make a big difference in your budget and help save resources too.

By Colleen Vanderlinden

"Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without" is a favorite adage in both frugal and green circles, and it is something I strive to live by. One of the best ways to "use it up" is to think differently about our food and ways to avoid wasting it. Lloyd wrote a great post a while back about the statistics for how much food we waste in the U.S., and the numbers are, frankly, appalling. On average, we waste 14% of our food purchases per year, and the average American family throws out over $600 of fruit per year. Most of the food we waste is due to spoilage; we're buying too much and using too little of it.

We've all had it happen: half the loaf of bread goes stale because no one wants to eat sandwiches today, and the grapes we bought as healthy snacks for the kids' lunches languish in the crisper. With a little creativity, and an eye toward vanquishing waste in our lives, we can make use of more of our food before it goes to waste. Here are a few ideas for you.

Using Up Vegetables

1. Leftover mashed potatoes from dinner? Make them into patty shapes the next morning and cook them in butter for a pretty good "mock hash brown."

2. Don't toss those trimmed ends from onions, carrots, celery, or peppers. Store them in your freezer, and once you have a good amount saved up, add them to a large pot with a few cups of water and make homemade vegetable broth. This is also a great use for cabbage cores and corn cobs.

3. Don't toss broccoli stalks. They can be peeled and sliced, then prepared just like broccoli florets.

4. If you have to dice part of an onion or pepper for a recipe, don't waste the rest of it. Chop it up and store it in the freezer for the next time you need diced onion or peppers.

5. Roasted root vegetable leftovers can be turned into an easy, simple soup the next day. Add the veggies to a blender, along with enough broth or water to thin them enough to blend. Heat and enjoy.

6. If you're preparing squash, don't toss the seeds. Rinse and roast them in the oven, just like you would with pumpkin seeds. The taste is pretty much the same.

7. Celery leaves usually get tossed. There's a lot of good flavor in them; chop them up and add them to meatloaf, soups, or stews.

8. Use up tomatoes before they go bad by drying them in the oven. You can then store them in olive oil in the refrigerator (if you plan on using them within a week) or in the freezer.

9. Canning is always a good option. If you're doing tomatoes, you can use a boiling water bath. If you're canning any other type of veggie, a pressure canner is necessary for food safety.

10. Before it goes bad, blanch it and toss it in the freezer. This works for peas, beans, corn, carrots, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and leafy greens like spinach and kale.

11. Too many zucchini? Make zucchini bread or muffins. If you don't want to eat the bread now, bake it and freeze it, then defrost when you're ready to eat it.

12.Pickle it. Cucumbers are the first veggie most of us think of pickling, but in reality, just about any vegetable can be preserved through pickling.

Ideas for Cutting Down on Fruit Waste

13. Make smoothies with fruit before it goes bad. Berries, bananas, and melons are great candidates for this use-up idea.

14. Jam is really easy to make, and will keep for up to a year if you process the jars in a hot water bath. If you don't do the water processing part, you can keep the jam in the refrigerator for a month, which is a lot longer than the fruits would have lasted.

15. Dry your fruit and store it in the freezer or in airtight containers.

16. Make fruit leather.

17. Make a big fruit salad or "fruit kebabs" for your kids. For some reason, they seem to eat more fruit if it's in these "fancier" forms.

18. Use up the fall bounty of apples by making applesauce or apple butter.

19. Don't throw out those watermelon rinds! Pickled watermelon rind is a pretty tasty treat.

20. Make a fruit crumble out of almost any fruit you have on hand. Assemble and bake it now, or leave it unbaked and store it in the freezer for a quick dessert.

Putting Extra Grains to Good Use

21. Make croutons out of day-old bread.

22. Turn day-old bread into homemade bread crumbs.

23. Freeze leftover bread. This way you'll have day-old on hand whenever you need bread crumbs, or croutons rather than using fresh bread.

24. All of those little broken pieces of pasta in the bottom of the box? Collect them and mix with rice and veggies for a simple side dish.

25. A few tablespoons of leftover oatmeal isn't enough for a meal, but it is great sprinkled on top of yogurt.

26. Add chopped bread to a soup. It will dissolve and thicken the soup.

27. Made too many pancakes for breakfast? Put them in the freezer, then toss in the toaster for a fast, tasty weekday breakfast. Ditto waffles.

28. If you make plain white or brown rice with dinner, use leftovers for breakfast the next morning by adding them to oatmeal. This provides extra fiber and allows you to use up that rice.

29. If you our your kids don't like the bread crusts on your sandwiches, save these bits and pieces in the freezer to turn into bread crumbs later. Just throw the crusts into a food processor or coffee grinder to make them into crumbs. Season as you like.

30. If you have just a smidge of baby cereal left in the box, and it's not enough for a full meal, add it to your babies pureed fruit. It adds bulk and fiber, and keeps baby full longer.

Make the Most of Meat

31. Don't toss those chicken bones after you eat the chicken. Boil them to make chicken stock.

32. Ditto for bones from beef and pork.

33. The fat you trim from beef can be melted down and turned into suet for backyard birds.

34. Turn leftover bits of cooked chicken into chicken salad for sandwiches the next day.

35. Use leftover roast beef or pot roast in an easy vegetable beef soup the next day by adding veggies, water, and the cooking juices from the meat.

Use Dairy Before It Expires

36. If you've got a few chunks of different types of cheese sitting around after a party, make macaroni and cheese.

37. Eggs can be frozen. Break them, mix the yolks and whites together, and pour into an ice cube tray. Two frozen egg cubes is the equivalent of one large egg.

38. You can also freeze milk. Leave enough room in the container for expansion, and defrost in the refrigerator.

39. Use cream cheese in mashed potatoes or white sauces to give them thickness and tang.

40. Put Parmesan cheese into the food processor with day-old bread to make Parmesan bread crumbs. This is excellent as a coating for eggplant slices, pork, or chicken.

Herbs and How to Get the Most Out of Them

41. Chop herbs and add them to ice cube trays with just a little water. Drop whole cubes into the pan when a recipe calls for that type of herb.

42. You can also freeze herbs by placing them in plastic containers. Certain herbs, such as basil, will turn black, but the flavor will still be great.

43. Make pesto with extra basil or parsley.

44. Dry herbs by hanging them by their stems in a cool, dry location. Once they're dry, remove them from the stems and store them in airtight containers.

Don't Waste a Drop

45. Leftover coffee in the carafe? Freeze it in ice cube trays. Use the cubes for iced coffee or to cool down too-hot coffee without diluting it. You can do the same with leftover tea.

46. If there's a splash or two of wine left in the bottle, use it to de-glaze pans to add flavor to whatever you're cooking.

47. If you have pickle juice left in a jar, don't pour it down the drain. Use it to make a fresh batch of refrigerator pickles, or add it to salad dressings (or dirty martinis).

48. You can also freeze broth or stock in ice cube trays, and use a cube or two whenever you make a pan sauce or gravy.

49. If there's just a bit of honey left in the bottom of the jar, add a squeeze or two of lemon juice and swish it around. The lemon juice will loosen up the honey, and you have the perfect addition to a cup of tea.

Finally....

50. If you can't think of any way to use that food in the kitchen, compost it. Everything except for meat and dairy will work in a compost pile, and at least your extra food can be used for something useful. Such as growing more food!

Cran-Crazy Cookies

It's been raining the last few days so going out is not really a good idea and since I signed up to bake cookies for the school's Christmas Fair next week, I thought I'd give this new recipe a try. I'm sick of baking Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies all the time. I love the smell - and taste of the lemon peel. I used slivered almonds instead of walnuts and added some chocolate chips, as requested by my son.

Makes: 50

Prep: 30 min.
Bake: 10 min. per batch
Cool: 2 min. per batch

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2-1/3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1-1/2 cups chopped toasted walnuts*
• 1-1/2 cups dried cranberries**

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, lemon peel, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in walnuts and cranberries.

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Cool on cookie sheets on wire racks for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks and cool completely.

3. *Note: To toast nuts, spread them in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 5 to 10 minutes or until nuts are slightly golden brown, stirring once or twice. Cool completely. Chop nuts and set aside.

4. **Test Kitchen Tip: To add a slightly different flavor to these cranberry-nut cookies, use orange- or raspberry-flavor dried cranberries.

5. To Store: Place cookies in layers separated by pieces of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw cookies, if frozen, before serving.

Image and recipe from Better Homes and Gardens.

Glazed Baked Ham

With Christmas just around the corner, I'm looking for a ham recipe that I can prepare during the holidays. I saw this book while doing my morning exercise (walking five flights of stairs, actually escalators, instead of taking the elevator). There are several interesting recipes (such as Polvorones, but it isn't like the Polvoron that we know) and the recipe below is something that I might try for Christmas, although I would buy a smaller ham as the size in this recipe will feed a crowd!

1 15-18 lb ham, uncooked
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons dry mustard
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon whole cloves
Orange or apple slices, for garnish
1 24-oz jar spiced red apples, for garnish
1 bunch parsley, for garnish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Unwrap ham and run cold water over it. Dry with a cloth and place in a roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer on fat side, into thickest part of ham. Bake uncovered, allowing 20 minutes per pound, until the thermometer registers 160 degrees.

Remove pan from oven, Cut rind off ham and score fat diagonally, in diamond shapes. In a bowl, combine brown sugar, mustard and vinegar; spread over top of ham. Insert cloves at points where diamond lines intersect.

Return ham to oven and increase heat to 425 degrees. Bake 15 minutes, or until sugar forms a glaze. Remove from oven and place on a large platter. Garnish with fruit slices and parsley. Serve with raisin sauce. Serves 20-25.

Raisin Sauce

Mix 1 cup raisins, 1/4 cup butter, and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice in a saucepan and simmer until raisins are tender. Add 1 tablespoon cornstarch, about 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 cup apple juice; continue cooking to desired thickness. Serve over ham slices.

Bibingka

This recipe doesn't look like the bibingka I know, but it's worth a try. As one commenter said, this is more like buco pie than bibingka.

Makes 48 pieces

1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
6 eggs
2 (12-ounce) jars macapuno coconut strings in heavy syrup*
1 (10-ounce) box mochiko sweet rice flour*
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup wheat germ (or finely chopped almonds for a gluten-free recipe)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 13" x 18" x 1" baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, beat coconut milk, condensed milk, and melted butter until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Do the same with both jars of macapuno strings. Gradually beat in mochiko flour (do not pour all at once or it will get clumpy). Follow that with the brown sugar and wheat germ. Once you achieve an even consistency, add vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Pour batter into lined cookie sheet. Bake until lightly browned, about 45 minutes. Sprinkle cinnamon evenly over the cake. Continue to bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, between 2-15 minutes longer.

Remove from pan and let cool on the parchment paper. Once cooled down, cut into to 2-inch squares. A long ruler and pizza cutter work nicely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.

*Available at Filipino and many Asian markets.

Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

My sister had this small cookbook from Hershey's that had a good and simple Brownie recipe that made use of cocoa instead of chocolate squares. This isn't the same recipe, but I'm glad I found this by way of Apartment Therapy.

• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2/3 cup butter or margarine, melted and divided
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING(recipe follows)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan or two 8-inch square baking pans.

2. Stir together cocoa and baking soda in large bowl; stir in 1/3 cup butter. Add boiling water; stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining 1/3 cup butter; stir until smooth. Add flour, vanilla and salt; blend completely. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan, 30 to 35 minutes for square pans or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Frost with ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING. Cut into squares. About 36 brownies.

ONE-BOWL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2-2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat butter in medium bowl. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Here's another gem from Apartment Therapy:

How to Get a Crunchy Top on Brownies

We love the glossy wafer-thin top crust that sometimes appears on brownies almost as much as we love the fudgy layer underneath. We always thought this was phenomenon was random or particular to specific recipes, but then we discovered that there's a way we can get it all the time! Here's how:

We consulted one of our favorite cookbooks, BakeWise, and found that this crispy top crust is actually a layer of meringue. That's right - whipped egg whites and sugar! It happens in recipes where the the butter and sugar are creamed together and then the eggs are added. The more the mixture is beaten once the eggs are added, the more prominent this crust.
If you're like us and you love the crispy top, just beat the batter as much as possible after adding the eggs and before adding any other ingredients. We tried this by hand using a whisk in with our recent batch of Hershey's Ultimate Chocolate Brownies and got a decent, though fairly thick crust. We expect that we'd get an even more impressive crust if we used a standing or hand mixer instead.
This recipe from Martha Stewart has you beat the eggs and sugar for a full 10 minutes!
• Chocolate Brownies from Martha Stewart
Conversely, if you're not a fan of crusts, just mix the batter as little as possible once you add the eggs. You might even whisk the eggs before adding them to the batter so they'll blend in more quickly and smoothly.
This method also works for cookies and cakes. Now that we know the secret, we're excited to experiment with all our baking!
What do you think: crispy crust, yay or nay?
(Image: Martha Stewart)

Chocolate Chunk Blondies

It's been a while since I baked, and last week my son wanted me to make cookies, but I only had 2 eggs left in the fridge, so I had to look for a recipe that made use of 2 eggs and found this at Better Homes and Gardens.

• 2/3 cup butter
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup chopped semisweet or white baking chocolate
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds or chopped pecans, or cashews

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a medium saucepan heat and stir butter and brown sugar over medium heat until smooth. Cool slightly. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir in chopped chocolate.

2. Spread batter evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars while warm. Makes 36 bars.

To store: Cover pan and store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Nutrition Facts

• Servings Per Recipe 36 bars
• Calories 137, Total Fat (g) 7,Saturated Fat (g) 2,Monounsaturated Fat (g) 3,Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 1,Cholesterol (mg) 21,Sodium (mg) 50,Carbohydrate (g) 18,Total Sugar (g) 12,Fiber (g) 1,Protein (g) 2,Vitamin A (DV%) 0,Vitamin C (DV%) 0,Calcium (DV%) 3,Iron (DV%) 5,Other Carbohydrates (d.e.) 1,Fat (d.e.) 1.5. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet