Hot Pockets, Potato Pancakes, Pulled Pork

Pin It

It seems like life has revolved around the kitchen here for the last month…I think it must be that way for lots of families.

I decided to make some of my own hot pockets.  We need some snacks around here and it beats buying them in the store.  So I ordered one of these handy little dough presses…I actually ordered it on Ebay and was able to get free shipping.  I ended up making part of the batch as a breakfast pockets.  In my search for Hot Pocket recipes I had come across this one and it made a huge amount.  What better way to have a nutritious breakfast for my family and bonus, my husband could take some and have them at work.  Just a quick pop in the toaster oven and great way to get some protein.  I made the breakfast ones with eggs, sausage, red peppers, cheddar cheese and maybe some onions, I cannot remember.  These breakfast ones I would not mix the cheese in next time, I would add it on top and I would add a lot more cheese!!!

I made 21 of the breakfast pockets before I ran out of filling and you can see by this next photograph how much dough was still left over!!

  

Sooooo, I put the dough in the fridge for the day and the next day I made pizza filling.

 

I had pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and caramelized onions and then topped them with chunks of mozzarella cheese.  The pizza pockets were a huge hit and I think the next time I make these I will just make a huge batch of the pizza ones.  This is a 6” dough press so it made a nice snack/meal for the children and two for the adults….of the left over dough I was able to make another 19 of the pizza pockets.  40 pockets from this one batch of dough.  If you are interested in the recipe for the breakfast pockets/dough you can find it here.  Hot Pocket Recipe

 

A few days later, we decided to have Potato Skins for lunch one day, they were FABULOUS, so fantastic, I didn’t get a picture.  I cooked about 5 potatoes and could have eaten almost all of the skins.  We’ll make these again for lunch as well, we loaded them up with cheese and bacon and topped them with sour cream.

The inside of the potatoes that I scooped out, was saved and then a few days later I made potato pancakes. Not quite your traditional way with the shredded potatoes, instead, we did more of a mashed potato version which was just as delicious.

 

 

We ate these with a dollop of sour cream and a side of homemade applesauce…YUMMMO!!!  If you are interested in the quick and lazy way of making Potato pancakes here is the recipe I followed. Instant Gratification Potato Pancakes

Instant Gratification Potato Pancakes

1 1/2 c prepared instant mashed potatoes (follow the directions on the box)

2 t dried onion

1 t garlic powder

1 t salt

1 t dill

1/2 t pepper

1 egg

1/2 c rice flour

2 T potato starch

optional: You can go craaaaaaazy and add some shredded cheddar to these, but I am that lazy tonight that I didn't even want to do that

Oil for frying

Mix together the potatoes, dried onion, garlic powder, salt, dill, pepper, egg, rice flour, and potato starch. Stick the bowl in the fridge while you heat 1/2" oil to sizzley (when you drop a bit of flour in). Using two spoons, drop balls of potato mix into the hot oil, scooping with one spoon and scraping the mix into the oil with the second spoon. Cook a few minutes on each side, until you can see the edges starting to brown. Drain on paper towels and eat immediately, or keep warm in the oven until it's time to eat. Serve with applesauce or sour cream. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

This last weekend we had our Church Fellowship supper.  The fellowship was to take place after the Choir performed their Holiday Cantata.  Well I decided to bring Pulled Pork Sliders…the food was to be finger food and goodies and I thought this would be just perfect…..and judging by the amount of desserts, it’s a good thing…the desserts outnumbered the savory items about 3 to 1, so it was good that there was some protein for those that wanted it. 

This was my first time making this recipe and it is not one for when you are short on time.  It takes 8 hours just to brine and then it needs to cook in an oven at 225 degrees until the temp. reaches 200 degrees.  Well when I read the recipe online the person had cooked an 8 pound Pork shoulder and it took about 13 hours….. so I knew it would be a while and planned accordingly to have it ready for church…so here is the picture before it went in the oven…the temperature it started at…..then the temp reaching the 200 degree mark….

 

This is the picture of what it looked like when it was done cooking…..25 HOURS later!!!

I had no idea it was going to take that long to reach the temperature.  I cooked mine in a counter top roaster, figuring it would be cheaper in the long run to run the counter top instead of heating the whole oven…the trade off might be that it might have taken less time with the oven….in any event this turned out DELICIOUS!!!  Fantastic!!!  This is my go to recipe for pulled pork from now on….I was able to make 49 little sliders.  I made one tray of 12 for my family and set those aside and then put all the rest out on the buffet table at church.  The tray for us I waited until people had started going to the food line and then I brought the tray out of our truck and put it down and served up our family.

 

I was actually quite surprised/slightly offended/ a little appalled….that a fellow lady from church would say to me…”so you just grabbed the whole tray from the buffet line and served your family”…this coming from a lady that also has six children…..Wow….I don’t know anyone who would do something like that….I explained that No, I had made a tray for my family and set all the rest out for the church….A long time ago, I read in Elizabeth Elliott’s books that your family should come first, especially when you are making food…. so after watching this pork cook and smelling it, I thought it only fair that we get to taste what we labored over.  There were over 100 people in line for food that night, we would never have been able to taste it, if I had not set some aside for us.  Thankfully I had made a tray for our family and there were three left on the tray…we were able to provide some for our Preacher to eat as he always waits until everyone else has been through the line and there is usu. nothing left and he was so thankful to have something fulfilling to eat that evening!!

If you are interested in the pulled pork recipe you can find it here Perfect Pulled Pork. She has step by step pictures of the whole process which make it really easy to follow!!

Perfect Pulled Pork

1 whole boston butt

Dry Rub

1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix well and store in an air tight container.

Brine Solution

1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 qts cold water
2 bay leaves
3 tbsp dry rub mix

Add salt to cold water and stir very well until all the salt is completely dissolved. Then add the brown sugar, dry rub, and bay leaves and stir well to combine.

Pork shoulder preparation:

Rinse the pork shoulder and place in a large container, pour in the brine solution until the shoulder is completely covered. Cover the container and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Then remove pork shoulder from brine solution, pat dry with paper towels, place in baking pan that is bigger than the shoulder by at least a inch in length and width and at least 3 inches deep. Sprinkle dry rub onto the surface of the shoulder and massage in such that it adheres to the surface. Coat all sides. Make sure the fat layer on the shoulder is facing up before cooking! Place baking pan uncovered in a 225 degree oven on the middle rack. Insert a probe thermometer into the center or thickest part of the shoulder, but not touching the bone. Monitor the temperature throughout cooking (a digital thermometer with an alarm function is the easiest way to do this). Do not remove from the oven until the center of the shoulder reaches 200 degrees. When the shoulder has reached 200 degrees, shut off the oven and let the roast cool for a couple of hours before removing from the oven. If the bottom of the pan is dry (or crusted with dried spices) then cover the pan with foil to retain internal moisture of the meat during the cooling period. When the temperature drops to 170 degrees or slightly lower, remove from oven. Place on a large, clean work surface such as a cutting board, and remove the large sheet of crusted fat on the top. Pull apart with two forks, it will pull apart very easily. Serve for friends and family!

 

I hope you all enjoyed the food and try the recipes out at your home!!

Thanksgiving and the weekend…

Pin It

Hi all, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.  I pray all the wonderful food turned out just right and that everything tasted delightful.

We had Sweet Potatoes….growing up in CA, sweet potatoes were baked and then cut into cubes and a little brown sugar, maybe some chopped walnuts, and then a few mini marshmallow’s were put on top and then back under the broiler for a few minutes.  Moving out here to SC, I came across this delightful dish pictured above.  Out here, they call it Sweet potato soufflé or something else…but I first came across it at a restaurant. I searched out a recipe on the internet that came close and then I came across another recipe and adapted it to my needs….uhm tastes!  In any event the sweet potatoes were baked and then blended with a hand mixer, sugar was added, some milk, an egg, some salt, and then I added in my own nutmeg and cinnamon.  The whole thing is then covered with a flour, brown sugar and walnuts and baked for about 30 minutes…..this does not last long at our house!!The stuffing is a cornbread/sourdough mixture with celery and onions and then basil, thyme, and parsley are added in along with rosemary.  When I made it a few days ahead of time, I could have eaten at least half the tray by myself!!

The other attendees were the jellied cranberries and Ambrosia.  Not pictured but on the other side of the kitchen was the Gravy…the best gravy I ever made…and I’ll explain that down below, green peas, and rolls.

 So this was my Turkey the night before Thanksgiving….if it looks a little green do not adjust your screen that is what it was!!  I had watched the Food Network Bobby Flay Throwdown for Thanksgiving.  I saw that BF had used an herb butter all over his turkey…so I went and found the recipe and decide to try and do the same….Well his butter was yellow with speckles in it because he used fresh herbs…mine not so speckly…quite green…it was sage, thyme, rosemary and parsley…so quite green…anyhow I used a stick and a half for a 20 pound turkey…I slathered it on pretty thick….I had some trepidations once it was all done but there was no going back at this point.

 I follow Alton Brown’s technique for baking --30 minutes @ 500 degrees…so I put it in around 10 minutes to 9am and set the timer…we were planning for a lunch Turkey meal instead of a dinner…  I took it out and the above picture shows what it looked like…At this point I was really kind of nervous.  The herbs were stuck to the top of the turkey and I do not have a turkey baster…so I figured it was either going to be ruined or turn out half way decent.  I then took and placed it in my counter roaster with two boxes of low sodium chicken broth…if you don’t have one of these, it is worth the 25 dollars at Wal-Mart….

I don’t know how it works but it actually cooks the  turkey faster than in a regular oven. In an hour and a half at the most the outside thermometer read 160 degrees…just perfect…I was listening to Alton Brown on their Thanksgiving Live special and he said specifically not to pay attention to the thermometer that comes with the turkey that they are set to go off at 175 and that equals a well-done bird…to take the turkey out at 160 and let it rest for and HOUR….They also said to take and cut off the leg and thigh all in one piece and put those back in the oven to cook….

So that is what I did, I let the turkey rest for the full hour.  I have never let it rest that long, I always thought 20 minutes was resting…HA…anyhow, before I put the lid back on the roaster I took out 4 cups of liquid to make my gravy. At the 30 minute mark I put my side dishes in my regular oven to heat up. When the 30 minutes was up, I had the gravy done, the rolls done and the green peas and then we cut into the turkey breast…..It was the MOISTEST, JUICIEST turkey ever!!  The juice was just running out, the meat was so tender and flavorful!!  The herbs on the skin…yes, quite thick, but we don’t eat the skin so it didn’t matter.

So those herbs that were in the butter….well I used 5 T. of butter and then added 5 T. of flour to make my roué and then I added in my 4 cups of herbed butter/melted with chicken stock from the turkey…it was the BEST GRAVY I HAVE EVER MADE!!! It was sooooo flavorful.  Anyhow, I am going to try it again for Christmas and if it comes out the same, I know I have finally found the recipe for the perfect turkey!!

We enjoyed the turkey lunch and let everything digest and then around 6pm we all dived in for our Turkey sandwiches!!!  Dessert was a choice of pumpkin, pecan and apple pies!!

Friday we stayed home most of the day, my one purchase on Thursday was at Home Depot where their window blinds were 75% off.  I was able to find a real wood blind for my kitchen window which is about 6’ by 6’ for only 20.00 when normally they were 72.00.  Friday was one purchase at Lowe’s for storage bins to start packing up our household goods and de-cluttering to get the house ready to stage…they were a buy one get one free so we bought 6 and received 6 free.  First room up, the dining room.  I have two book cases with school supplies and reference material to get down to one small box for all three students currently in school.

Saturday we went to a park in the next town over and the children had a fun time playing on this huge playground.

     

These pictures were not the best, they were taken with my husbands phone but you get the idea…lol  Have a blessed day!!

Thanksgiving countdown preparations

Pin It

So what are things like at your house on Thanksgiving?

This year I am planning to have Thanksgiving lunch.  Usually I aim for a 3-4pm meal.  However, with so many dishes, it is just a little too much to eat all that, and then try and digest enough so that I can have the TURKEY SANDWICH before bed time!!

Yes, I admit it, I think I almost like the turkey sandwich on Thanksgiving more than the actual meal…lol… So this year, I am going to serve the meal earlier, this is good because the children won’t be starved and constantly asking me as to when they get to eat….and…my food will be digested in plenty of time to thoroughly enjoy the turkey sandwich around 8pm.

This year I also want to relax and enjoy the day more instead of being exhausted from all the food to be cooked that day.

Here is our list:

Turkey

Stuffing…or do you call it Dressing(?)

Sweet potatoes

Mashed potatoes

Green peas

Ambrosia

Rolls

Gravy

Cranberry jell…NOT the whole cranberries type

Pumpkin pie and Apple pie

 

Today was a busy day I made the sweet potatoes, the mashed potatoes, I made the cornbread for the stuffing and cut up the sourdough bread to make cubes for the stuffing as well…they are all drying in the oven….I took the turkey out of the freezer and will do the defrosting over the next several days.  I also happened to make up a batch of refried beans today…totally not related to Thanksgiving but another thing accomplished on my to-do list today for cooking.

I did my mash potatoes with a Ricer and added butter, milk and salt, ….sometimes the simple recipes are the best.  I have tried the fancy gourmet potato recipes that call for adding cream cheese and Accent..blah blah blah… why mess with a good thing!!  I put the whole batch into two 8” square cake pans and I will have the one pan later next month as a quick side I can pull out of the freezer.

I’m also all about the quick clean up, everything gets served in either a freezer pan like the one above or a Tupperware container.  If it was more than just us, I might do serving dishes but for family the easy clean up to be able to enjoy the day is much more important than the presentation of the bowls and then everyone laments that it takes too long to clean up.

Wednesday will be my day to get the pies made and the Ambrosia….the ambrosia always tastes best the next day.

I was watching the Food Network this afternoon and there were a few good tips….if you can still find pumpkins anywhere near you….cook your stuffing in the pumpkin!!!  it looked so pretty when they showed it and you don’t want to chance cooking the stuffing in the turkey and not having the turkey finish cooking.  The other thing they talked about was cutting off the turkey leg and thigh and putting them back in the roasting pan to cook for another hour….it always seems inevitable that that meat close to the bone is not done when the turkey breast is…so cut that portion of, put it in the oven for the hour and leave the turkey breast on the cutting board to rest for the entire time…do not cut it for one hour….

It will still be warm and all the juices will stay within the turkey breast and it will be nice and moist…..their point, waiting only 20 minutes to let the turkey rest is not long enough, wait the hour!!!

I hope all is going well with your preparations.

Well Hello once again…

Pin It

Hello all,

I just don’t know where the time goes.  There has been so much going on, so much I would like to blog about, some things I would like to but should not…lol…. and I just don’t know how to fit it all in.  I am trying to find some sort of schedule for getting the boys homeschooled.  My daughter is almost independent for doing school work, but the boys are in the first grade and need lots of step by step guidance for them to understand what they are learning….and then there is the littlest one who doesn’t realize I am trying to get some sort of schedule together and does his own thing :- )

I had my in-laws here for a week a week ago and that was the worst visit/vacation we have ever had…the last part of their visit we all went camping together and that was just awful, even my husband said it was not good….The short part of that is that their dog bit my son right above the eye…no puncture wounds but scraped the skin enough to make a scab form…and they said it was not a bite…well according to state dog laws…it was a bite!!! (this just happens to be the third time at least that their dog has gone after one of our children.  The dog went after another child where they were volunteering, and yet they refuse to train their dog…it even goes after my husband when he walks in with a baseball cap)  So that just did not go over too well.  The whole week was stressful for them because on the way down in their RV from VA where they had been volunteering, they hit a deer.  A large deer so they were frazzled to say the least.

 

 

So they are gone home now, I don’t think I will be seeing them until at least January or February because it will take about 3 mo. to get their RV fixed…which is good, we need separation for everyone’s nerves to calm down and put this unfortunate experience behind us.

I have a freezer full of tomatoes that I need to try and get canned up this week, hopefully tomorrow. Ok so I started this post last Monday….and last Tuesday I DID get all the tomatoes canned!!!  Yippee!!

   

I worked from about 10 in the morning until 5:20 in the afternoon.  When it was all said and done and cleaned up….I had 10 half pints and 28 pints of pizza sauce!!!

Fall for some reason always seems like the time for Banana Bread, I’m not sure why more at this time of year than any other but it just seems right.  So after buying two bunches of bananas the other day and the children not eating them for snacks as I had planned…one of my sons came up to me and asked for banana bread…

So I decided to make a double loaf in my sandwich bread pan….

It has turned out delicious and if I hadn’t cut off half of it and stuck it in the freezer right away the whole thing would be gone already!!

 

We went and had family pictures taken this past Saturday, so I tried to get some pictures of the children before we went…..

Here are some of the boys….

I was hoping to get over to Clemson University and get Fall pictures by all the beautiful trees, but the best day was the day there was a football game so of course, all the green grass with fall leaves were covered with parked cars.

So, option B….use my own back yard!!

 

While we were camping we celebrated the birthday of my oldest son Master A.

     

And of course I am not going to disappoint the birthday boy by not having a cake while camping!!!  Nope, we had a Chocolate Ganache, Chocolate Mousse filling, Chocolate cake!! Sprinkles were requested so that it would look like a picture we had seen on the internet…too cute.  Might I say….it was DELICIOUS!!!!  It is amazing what one can do in a tiny travel trailer for the love of their children!!

And of course, I think ya’ll might want to see some updated pictures of the lil guy.

 

   

So the little guy is approaching 3 months old on the 22nd…sigh….where has the time gone, I can’t help but be sad that I won’t get to go through this again, and yes, you will probably hear me say this repeatedly for the next year until I get over it This lil guy is such a sweetie pie, he smiles all the time, it is so delightful.  He does not really cry, just to let you know he is hungry and that is it and if I have been diligent in feeding him then he doesn’t even cry period!!  He is sleeping pretty good at night, maybe only up two times now instead of every two hours.  Yes you can see he is doing well in the weight gain department.  I think he must be around 15 pounds…he has that cute little double chin with full little cheeks that you just want to kiss all the time.  He is making lots of little soft cooing noises.  I can sit and look at him all day long and just fall in love more and more.  He is just so happy, he will sit on my legs looking up at me and make the sweetest little sounds trying to share his contentment.

Well anyhow, I am sure that’s probably enough for now, I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving week and Day!!