Food deals

I was at King Soopers, a Kroger store, and they had Santa Cruz organic lemonade on sale for 10/$10.00.  Boy did we stock up on that.  It is good stuff. 

I really recommend keeping an eye on Kroger stores and look for their 10/$10.00 deals.  We saved $30 on pineapples last month (regularly they are $3.99, and they went on sale for 10/$10.00), $30 on blueberries, and $60 on that juice (It is normally around $2.99 a bottle, and we bought 30 bottles).  These are foods or drinks that we can use (well, Trenton cannot have the juice because he is allergic to lemons).  We spent $70 on what would have cost nearly $200.  And once we made the pineapple into preserves, the saving stacked up even higher.

Certain organic apples were $1 per lb earlier this month there.  I think they were Cameos and Braeburns.  I have also caught Annie's organic mac n cheese (for my child NOT on the gfcf diet) on sale for 10/$10.00. 

Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 4 cups thinly sliced potatoes
• 3 tablespoons palm oil shortening 
• 3 tablespoons rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk or chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash cayenne pepper
• 1.5 cups grated Daiya Cheddar Cheese Substitute 
• green onions
• Several pieces of bacon 
• paprika
Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

1.  Open bacon and cook, either on the stovetop or in the oven.
2. 1 In a small sauce pan, melt palm oil and blend in flour.
3. 2 Let sit for a minute.
4. 3 Add all of cold milk, stirring with a whisk.
5. 4 Season with salt and cayenne.
6. 5 Cook sauce on low until smooth and boiling, stirring occasionally with a whisk.
7. 6 Reduce heat and stir in cheese and green onions
8. 7 Place a half of the sliced potatoes in a lightly greased one quart casserole dish.
9. 8 Pour half of cheese sauce over potatoes.
10. 9 Repeat with second layer of potatoes and cheese sauce.
11.  Top with the bacon and some paprika for color.
12.  Bake uncovered for about 1 hour at 350F.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

This is how I adapted it:

* 2 cups Corn Chipotle Bisque (or some form of creamed corn) (if you use the bisque, you will have to add water, as it is thick)
* 3 medium potatoes, peeled, cubed
* 2 green onions, trimmed, sliced
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk, mixed with
* 2 tablespoons flour, cornstarch, or other thickening agent
* 1/2 cup Daiya cheddar "cheese" (this has a really buttery flavor, so if you can get it, use this brand)
* 2 -6 slices cooked bacon (I use Beelers brand), crumbled
* garlic to taste
* celery seed (or chopped celery, but the texture of celery is not a hit in this house, hence the celery seed)
* black pepper to taste

Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 23 mins

1. 1 Bring first 4 ingredients to boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. 2 Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. 3 Whisk coconut milk/cheese substitute in a separate pan until the cheese melts in, and then add the flour/thickener into saucepan.
4. Add bacon.
5. Simmer, uncovered, 5-8 minutes, or until thick, stirring constantly.

You may have to add more salt and pepper. I kept on adding more and more of it.


Brand of corn bisque I used: http://www.imaginefoods.com/content/imag....chipotle-bisque

Daiya cheese substitute: http://www.daiyafoods.com/

I suppose any dairy sub could be used, but I like coconut milk better, so that is what we use. It does NOT make this soup taste like coconut. I used coconut milk the other day to attempt making a beef stroganoff gf/cf/sf and so forth and so on adaptation. It was not bad either. *hint - for meat dishes that are at least most likely cf, look up Kosher variations. That is where you will find dairy free adaptations of things like beef stroganoff.

Pineapple Preserves

I was a nut, and caught pineapples on sale right around Christmas.  10 for $10 ($1 a piece, yeah, I stocked up on 10 of them).  So I had 10 pineapples with which to do SOMETHING.  We decided on pineapple preserves.

Obviously, I got more than 20 oz of pineapple out of the bunch.  I probably made what would amount to $100 worth of preserves out of nine of the pineapples.  For about $18 (once you counted in sugar).  I ended up with nine batches worth of pineapple preserves.  It is very good.

http://www.food.com/recipe/award-winning-pineapple-preserves-226245

Ingredients:

• 20 ounces crushed pineapple in juice
• 2 cups granulated sugar
Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 40 mins

1. 1 Bring pineapple and sugar to a boil in a large saucepan and cook 20 minutes, stirring constantly until thickened or until the temperature reaches 200 degrees- jelly stage- on a thermometer.
2. 2 Pour immediately into hot sterilized jars and process in a water-bath canner for 5 minutes. Place jars on a clean towel. Cover with towel to prevent drafts and let cool for 24 hours.

Blueberry Preserves

I made blueberry preserves: check Kroger, they have a sale on blueberries right now where they are buy one, get one free. 

I followed the directions inside the fruit pectin package, and used sugar, blueberries, palm oil shortening (in place of the margarine/butter that the pectin manufacturer recommended), and lime juice. 

Applesauce

I went in search of an applesauce recipe to use for the kids.  The only changes I made were to use lime in place of lemon, as Trenton is allergic to lemon; and that I used sugar in place of honey.

This the text from the recipe I used:

Canning Applesauce

Grandmother Foster’s Pink Applesauce

• 16 cups of apples, cored and cut into wedges, peels on
• 1 cup of water (start out with this,  you can add more towards the end if necessary)
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 – 3 tablespoons honey, or to taste

Sterilize your jars, bring your canning pot to a boil and put your lids in a small pot to simmer. Place the apples, lemon juice and water in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until the apples are soft.
When apple are nearly done, add the spices and the honey. Cook for a few minutes more.  If you want smooth applesauce and are using a food mill the skins will be left behind in the mill. For immersion blenders or if you want a chunky applesauce, remove the skins while the apples are cooking. Blend for a smooth sauce, or smash the cooked apples with a wooden spoon or potato masher for a chunkier sauce.
After putting the apples through the mill or blending, return the applesauce to a boil and ladle into your prepared jars, leaving 1/2″ headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims completely clean and put on the lids.
Put jars into the hot water bath and process for 15 or 20 minutes — start timing when the water returns to a boil. If you’re at an altitude higher than 1,000 feet above sea level, process 2 extra minutes for each 1,000 feet of altitude.
Remove from hot water bath and listen for the lovely “ping” of the lids as the jars cool and seal themselves.
Leave the jars to cool for 24 hours. Wipe them to remove any sticky traces, remove the rings, and check the seal. Then label the jars and store them in a cool, dark place for up to one year.

Official Roast Beef Dip Sandwich recipe

 I made the beef sandwiches last night.  They turned out just as they always had, sans allergens.  Which means they turned out fantastic, with the meat falling apart easily.

 

 As per the usual, I did a LOT of estimating.  I had a 12 lb roast, so I had to increase many of the ingredients. Just to be fair, I am including a link back to the beef stock recipe I used:

http://www.food.com/recipe/beef-stock-127504

 Beef Stock

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs beef roast
• 1 (4 ounce) can tomato paste
• 6 tablespoon oil (olive, veg, canola)
• 1 large onions, quartered with skin 
• 1 leek
• 1 clove elephant garlic (I guess you could use regular garlic) 
• 1 T celery seed or several stalks celery, long with tops cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 large carrots, in 1-inch pieces (used in original recipe, but obviously not in mine)
• 1 bouquet garni (1 bay leave,1 tsp thyme,6 peppercorns, 2 cloves, 2 tsp parsley in cheeesecloth or in a cloth tea bag)
• 3 quarts cold water (or whatever it takes to fill your roasting pan and cover the meat)
• 2 large onions, cut in strips or thin circles
• salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• bread (GFCF or regular, depending on your needs)
• daiya cheese substitute (for the GFCF folks) or pepperjack cheese
Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

1. 1 Preheat the oven or counter top roasting pan to 375°F.
2. 2 Add first 10 ingredients, but save the ingredients from the "additional onions" and on.
3. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer gently uncovered for 2-3 hours (I let mine cook a little longer due to the large size of my roast).
5. Add a few cups of water if necessary.
6. Remove all of the vegetables from the broth.  Leave the meat.
7. Some people chill the broth overnight in the fridge and remove the top layer of solidified fat.  I personally like to leave it in this particular recipe.
8. Cut up and add the remaining onions.  Top off with additional water as needed.
9. Cook until the meat falls apart.  For me, this involved turning the roaster on low and cooking it overnight. 
10. Spoon out meat, broth, and onions into a bowl and salt/pepper according to taste.  Add Cheese to the meat/broth and microwave it long enough to melt the cheese.  
11. Scoop out meat/melted cheese and put it on a sandwich. 
12. Serve with the broth and use it for dipping the sandwich.