The weather has been so hot all of my baking has come to a screeching halt.
I am making cajeta about every three days and canning that, so I try to make mealtime simple.Tonight we ate very late, around 10 pm. We took a siesta after lunch, so the timing actually worked out pretty good.
We have had a few meals cooked on the grill, but unless you start the grill after sundown, it is just too freakin' hot to stand out there by a hot grill in the blazing sun!
A lot of the time, I have found what works easiest here is to cook the meat the night before and just keep it in the fridge until needed the next day.
A lot of our meals have been cool salads topped with chicken or steak cut into strips. A healthful balanced meal!
Also, Greek or Middle-Eastern food---PERFECT for hot weather!
A favorite here is a menu roughly like this:
Pita Bread
Greek Beef Strips
Hummus
Greek Yogurt
Greek Spinach
Olives
Herbed Goat Cheese (I make that myself) of Feta (also make feta)
Salad Greens
Tomatoes with olive oil and snipped herbs (marinate overnight)
I set it out as a buffet and everyone fixes their plates with what they want.
Here are some quick and easy recipes for making your own Greek buffet:
Hummus:
1 can Garbanzo(chickpeas) beans
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons tahini (ground sesame seeds, if you do not have any, increase sesame oil to 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
A pinch of Salt
Drain and reserve liquid from garbanzo beans. Pour beans in blender and add remaining ingredients.
Puree until mixture is smooth and of the right consistency, adding reserved liquid from beans as needed.
Serve with pita bread or pita chips.
Greek Beef:
1 pound beef cut into bite sized pieces (You can use skirt steak, any steak, even slice part of a roast into small pieces for this, it will get tender)
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
3 tablespoons vinegar (red wine vinegar is best for this) OR 1/4 cup red wine
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced dried onion or 1 teaspoon raw onion minced
1 teaspoon beef bouillon or one beef bouillon cube mixed with one cup water until dissolved
1 tablespoon corn starch or 1 tablespoon flour
Mix vinegar (or wine) with ginger, cloves cinnamon, paprika, garlic, salt, pepper, onion and beef bouillon water.
Marinate beef in water for one hour (or longer...I have even marinated overnight, but one hour is the minimum)
Remove beef from liquid (SAVE LIQUID!) and brown in 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter until brown.
Pour marinade liquid into pan with beef and cover. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes on medium low.
Mix tablespoon corn starch (or flour) with 1/4 cup water until well dissolved, add to pan and cook uncovered until the sauce thickens on medium heat. You want the sauce very, very thick. It may take about 10 to 15 minutes to cook it down.
When done, serve alongside pita bread, etc.
Greek Spinach is simple spinach cooked with garlic. You cook it in a searing pan or skillet instead of a pot with water.Just plop a pat of butter in, add about a teaspoon to a tablespoon of minced garlic and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and cook a bunch of spinach until wilted. If you are using frozen spinach, let it thaw out first, squeeze as much liquid out as you can, then toss it in the pan with the butter and garlic.Heat thorough and serve hot.
Herbed Tomatoes
Two tomatoes, diced small
Finely minced herbs or dried herbs: Oregano, chives, garlic, marjoram and dill or a combination to your liking.
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Mix all of the above together and marinate, covered, overnight.
Good to add to pita sandwiches or on salads or on crustinis
Showing posts with label Greek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greek. Show all posts
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Things Are Tough All Over
It's rough out there.
The economy has tanked. Not is going to tank or will soon tank, it HAS tanked.
The US has hit it's credit limit. Congress has 11 weeks to raise that limit or risk another recession/depression.
Read about it here
You know, when an average person hits their credit limit, the local bank or credit union tells them "Nope, no more. You have to pay off your debts---or at least put a substantial dent in them before we will even think about giving you more credit."
Apparently, governments do not operate the same way. They run up more and more bills and figure our children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren, etc. will be able to pay the bills.
Crops this year will not be the greatest. State wide droughts in some areas, state wide flooding in others have rendered a lot of cropland in the US useless or close to it this growing season.
Estimates I have read places the losses at astronomical levels.
1/5 of the rice crop (in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas), gone due to flooding.
Possible 1/4 of the this years wheat and corn crop gone.
Ranchers having to slaughter herds of cattle and flocks of sheep due to lack of hay to feed them and the high price of corn. Some of the big pig farms in the mid-west considering culling their herds...and some have already started.
If you have the funds, get a freezer as I suspect the supermarkets will have a lot of meat specials in the next few months.
Add more rice, wheat and corn to your food storage if you have the funds.
Buy specials when and where you can and get that pressure canner and dehydrator going!
*******************************
There was a special at our supermarket last week on spinach...fresh and frozen!
I loaded up on both and we have been enjoying nice fresh salads and various spinach dishes.
Last night I fixed a Greek dinner and spinach was one of the stars of the meal...everyone loved the dish and asked for seconds...and thirds! Yes! Teenagers loving spinach!
Greek Spinach
***********
1 pound fresh spinach or 1 pack frozen--thawed out and drained til dry as possible
1 teaspoon minced garlic--or one clove minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 or 3 fresh mushrooms, sliced thin (optional--I had a few I got from the MUST SELL NOW! cart in the produce section...they were cheap and didn't look too bad)
Sesame seeds for garnish
Melt butter in pan, add olive oil and minced garlic and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add spinach and mushrooms and cook, stirring often until fresh spinach is wilted or frozen spinach is heated through.
Put in serving bowl and sprinkle a teaspoon of sesame seeds on top for garnish
Serve hot.
Like I said, everyone loved it! It is such an easy recipe, too.
The Greek dinner I fixed was cheap and easy.
Home made pita bread ( Here's the recipe I use )
1/2 cup yogurt mixed with 1 cup diced up peeled cucumber
Home made feta cheese
Cous-cous
Shredded lettuce
Chopped artichoke hearts (I use canned ones I got on sale)
Greek beef in sauce ( I used about a pound of steak, cut in bite sized pieces, seared in butter, added 1/2 teaspoon of powdered cloves, 1 teaspoon onion powder,1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, pepper, garlic powder, a bit of salt, 3/4 cup water...cooked it in that --covered--for about a half hour, then added 1/2 cup water mixed with 2 tablespoons corn starch to thicken, stirred until thick, then served)
With the spinach it was a healthy and filling and tasty meal for all.
I know...no black olives...sigh. But they were jst not in the budget this month!
*********************************
I try to stretch our food budget as much as possible. I buy meat, veggies (fresh, frozen and canned), pasta, etc on sale as often as possible while still feeding the family healthy meals.
Dessert here is a rarity...and when I do serve dessert, it usually is fresh fruit or yogurt and fresh fruit.
Thank goodness for the goats and chickens! I haven't had to buy eggs in ages and the goats milk provides yogurt and sour cream and milk for drinking and baking. I have recently started making cheese and have successfully made feta cheese and a nice soft goat cheese that I enhanced with the addition of fresh herbs.
Going to try for ice cream this weekend, I think. I have not been able to make butter yet from goats milk, but am still trying!
We only use butter here. I simply hate the taste and texture of margarine *shudder*. Margarine is simply nasty! That is one item on my shopping list I cannot compromise on! Before anyone gets ruffled about fat content, etc., I find that I use far less butter than most people use margarine. Butter has a better *mouth feel* as the food experts say, less is needed to give an intense taste and the natural fat (as opposed to the plastic tasting margarine)gives a silkier texture that is more satisfying. I am sure a lot of my readers have that *one item* they draw the line at, too! Heh-heh...my mom has one brand of sliced ham she will eat...and no other! She can tell a generic brand from *her* brand at 50 feet, lol!
********************************
One of my sons has been going through a rough patch and it weighs heavily on my heart.
He had a good job, but it was hurting his health.The stress was high and the hours were horribly long (80+ hours a week) and because he worked such a long schedule, most of his meals were of the *grab and go* variety. At age 30, he was having what the hospital was calling *heart events*. His blood pressure sky-rocketed and repeated visits to the doctor ended up with the doctor telling him that either he would have to quit, or face the very real probability of dying young from a heart attack. So, he quit the job and got the rest the doctor ordered, along with medication, exercise and a diet change. Thankfully, he is doing MUCH better. He dropped the weight the doctor told him to drop, his blood pressure dropped and dropped until it was hovering at the right levels (whew!).
That part was good.
But being without a job was bad.
He gave up and cut corners as much as humanly possible. He sold everything he had that was possible to sell. Still, he got behind on his car note, so, sadly, he took his car back to the bank.
Happily, he has now found a job...a job with normal hours, a lot less stress and a fairly okay (if lower) paycheck. He has gone back to school (local college with online courses) to get a degree so that his employment future will be brighter.
Some friends have been giving him a ride to work, but that ends in about a week.
This all leads to:
My son needs a bicycle.The bicycle would be used for him to get to and from work and to attend those classes where he is required to show up at the school.
He is a large guy (6 ft 10in), so a normal little Schwinn from Wal-Mart just won't work. He has found a bicycle and negotiated a price, but needs a little help.
I have emptied out my paltry bank account to help him out and he is still a little short.
If any of my readers has just $5 they can send him, it would be greatly appreciated.
Greg Moore
1331 Woodrow St
Shreveport, La 71103
I know it sounds awful asking this way, but he is at the end of his rope, I am at the end of mine and I can't help him anymore until the first of the month when the fella gets paid, and even then it is going to be tight around here. I just couldn't think of any thing else to do.
I figured that 5 bucks was not a lot to ask and if just 10 or 12 people respond, that would be enough to get Greg *over the hump*. If there is any excess funds, it won't go to waste, he'll put it towards his college courses.
Thanks to anyone that can help.
BTW, my son has no clue I am doing this...and will probably be annoyed at me when he finds out.
I guess I am just a mama that won't give up being a mama and fighting for my kids in any way I can.
The economy has tanked. Not is going to tank or will soon tank, it HAS tanked.
The US has hit it's credit limit. Congress has 11 weeks to raise that limit or risk another recession/depression.
Read about it here
You know, when an average person hits their credit limit, the local bank or credit union tells them "Nope, no more. You have to pay off your debts---or at least put a substantial dent in them before we will even think about giving you more credit."
Apparently, governments do not operate the same way. They run up more and more bills and figure our children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren, etc. will be able to pay the bills.
Crops this year will not be the greatest. State wide droughts in some areas, state wide flooding in others have rendered a lot of cropland in the US useless or close to it this growing season.
Estimates I have read places the losses at astronomical levels.
1/5 of the rice crop (in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas), gone due to flooding.
Possible 1/4 of the this years wheat and corn crop gone.
Ranchers having to slaughter herds of cattle and flocks of sheep due to lack of hay to feed them and the high price of corn. Some of the big pig farms in the mid-west considering culling their herds...and some have already started.
If you have the funds, get a freezer as I suspect the supermarkets will have a lot of meat specials in the next few months.
Add more rice, wheat and corn to your food storage if you have the funds.
Buy specials when and where you can and get that pressure canner and dehydrator going!
*******************************
There was a special at our supermarket last week on spinach...fresh and frozen!
I loaded up on both and we have been enjoying nice fresh salads and various spinach dishes.
Last night I fixed a Greek dinner and spinach was one of the stars of the meal...everyone loved the dish and asked for seconds...and thirds! Yes! Teenagers loving spinach!
Greek Spinach
***********
1 pound fresh spinach or 1 pack frozen--thawed out and drained til dry as possible
1 teaspoon minced garlic--or one clove minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 or 3 fresh mushrooms, sliced thin (optional--I had a few I got from the MUST SELL NOW! cart in the produce section...they were cheap and didn't look too bad)
Sesame seeds for garnish
Melt butter in pan, add olive oil and minced garlic and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add spinach and mushrooms and cook, stirring often until fresh spinach is wilted or frozen spinach is heated through.
Put in serving bowl and sprinkle a teaspoon of sesame seeds on top for garnish
Serve hot.
Like I said, everyone loved it! It is such an easy recipe, too.
The Greek dinner I fixed was cheap and easy.
Home made pita bread ( Here's the recipe I use )
1/2 cup yogurt mixed with 1 cup diced up peeled cucumber
Home made feta cheese
Cous-cous
Shredded lettuce
Chopped artichoke hearts (I use canned ones I got on sale)
Greek beef in sauce ( I used about a pound of steak, cut in bite sized pieces, seared in butter, added 1/2 teaspoon of powdered cloves, 1 teaspoon onion powder,1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, pepper, garlic powder, a bit of salt, 3/4 cup water...cooked it in that --covered--for about a half hour, then added 1/2 cup water mixed with 2 tablespoons corn starch to thicken, stirred until thick, then served)
With the spinach it was a healthy and filling and tasty meal for all.
I know...no black olives...sigh. But they were jst not in the budget this month!
*********************************
I try to stretch our food budget as much as possible. I buy meat, veggies (fresh, frozen and canned), pasta, etc on sale as often as possible while still feeding the family healthy meals.
Dessert here is a rarity...and when I do serve dessert, it usually is fresh fruit or yogurt and fresh fruit.
Thank goodness for the goats and chickens! I haven't had to buy eggs in ages and the goats milk provides yogurt and sour cream and milk for drinking and baking. I have recently started making cheese and have successfully made feta cheese and a nice soft goat cheese that I enhanced with the addition of fresh herbs.
Going to try for ice cream this weekend, I think. I have not been able to make butter yet from goats milk, but am still trying!
We only use butter here. I simply hate the taste and texture of margarine *shudder*. Margarine is simply nasty! That is one item on my shopping list I cannot compromise on! Before anyone gets ruffled about fat content, etc., I find that I use far less butter than most people use margarine. Butter has a better *mouth feel* as the food experts say, less is needed to give an intense taste and the natural fat (as opposed to the plastic tasting margarine)gives a silkier texture that is more satisfying. I am sure a lot of my readers have that *one item* they draw the line at, too! Heh-heh...my mom has one brand of sliced ham she will eat...and no other! She can tell a generic brand from *her* brand at 50 feet, lol!
********************************
One of my sons has been going through a rough patch and it weighs heavily on my heart.
He had a good job, but it was hurting his health.The stress was high and the hours were horribly long (80+ hours a week) and because he worked such a long schedule, most of his meals were of the *grab and go* variety. At age 30, he was having what the hospital was calling *heart events*. His blood pressure sky-rocketed and repeated visits to the doctor ended up with the doctor telling him that either he would have to quit, or face the very real probability of dying young from a heart attack. So, he quit the job and got the rest the doctor ordered, along with medication, exercise and a diet change. Thankfully, he is doing MUCH better. He dropped the weight the doctor told him to drop, his blood pressure dropped and dropped until it was hovering at the right levels (whew!).
That part was good.
But being without a job was bad.
He gave up and cut corners as much as humanly possible. He sold everything he had that was possible to sell. Still, he got behind on his car note, so, sadly, he took his car back to the bank.
Happily, he has now found a job...a job with normal hours, a lot less stress and a fairly okay (if lower) paycheck. He has gone back to school (local college with online courses) to get a degree so that his employment future will be brighter.
Some friends have been giving him a ride to work, but that ends in about a week.
This all leads to:
My son needs a bicycle.The bicycle would be used for him to get to and from work and to attend those classes where he is required to show up at the school.
He is a large guy (6 ft 10in), so a normal little Schwinn from Wal-Mart just won't work. He has found a bicycle and negotiated a price, but needs a little help.
I have emptied out my paltry bank account to help him out and he is still a little short.
If any of my readers has just $5 they can send him, it would be greatly appreciated.
Greg Moore
1331 Woodrow St
Shreveport, La 71103
I know it sounds awful asking this way, but he is at the end of his rope, I am at the end of mine and I can't help him anymore until the first of the month when the fella gets paid, and even then it is going to be tight around here. I just couldn't think of any thing else to do.
I figured that 5 bucks was not a lot to ask and if just 10 or 12 people respond, that would be enough to get Greg *over the hump*. If there is any excess funds, it won't go to waste, he'll put it towards his college courses.
Thanks to anyone that can help.
BTW, my son has no clue I am doing this...and will probably be annoyed at me when he finds out.
I guess I am just a mama that won't give up being a mama and fighting for my kids in any way I can.
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