2010 March — Cooking During Stolen Moments

3 Moms ~ Wrapping Up and Looking Ahead

March 31, 2010 By Kate 1 Comment

So we’ve come to the end of the month. Honestly, I can’t believe it’s gone by so quickly. It seems like we just started. But it’s been fun, and I hope it’s been a fun peek into our kitchens for you!

Over the weekend we picked up a few more groceries to see us through until the end of the month. We’ll be doing our big grocery shopping for April on Saturday. While we still have plenty of meat and pantry staples on hand, we’re definitely running low on other things.

Here’s what we picked up over the weekend.

1 lb. butter ($2.99)
Dozen eggs ($1.49)
Gallon milk ($1.99)
Dried fruit ($3.29)
5 Pears ($1.89)
2 lb. grapes ($1.98)
8 oz. block cheddar cheese ($1.00)
Juice ($1.49)
Vanilla ice cream ($2.50)
2 liter Root Beer ($0.79) ~ Those last two were for Root Beer Floats on family movie night

Total spent on the weekend: $19.41

Total spent this month: $408.50

Total left in monthly budget: $41.50

I think I might apply some of that overage to stock up on a few hams while they’re on sale. My husband is a huge fan of ham and I’m a huge fan of having a bunch of it in the freezer! We’ll see though. I can’t have ham overtaking all of my freezer space.

Also over the weekend, I made 12 sausage, cheese and biscuit sandwiches. The kids have been eating those for breakfast this week and they’ve been a big hit.

Our two older kids begin Spring Break on Friday, so next week will be a lot of fun. I think I’m more excited to have them home all week than they are. I’m envisioning mornings spent sleeping in, long and lazy breakfasts and lots of time playing outside. Yep, I’m a dreamer. We’ll see what reality brings.

I think that pretty much wraps things up…for now. Jen, Toni and will be doing monthly 3 Moms check-ins, so stay tuned for those.

Don’t forget to see how those two awesome women are wrapping up their months over at The Happy Housewife and Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. It’s been an honor for me to share this month with both of them.

Thanks so much for reading along and spending some time in the kitchen with me. All of the feedback, comments and discussions have been great. I’m looking forward to lots more of it in the future.

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Cream Cheese Noodles

March 30, 2010 By Kate 4 Comments

I have loved this simple dish since I was a little girl and my mom would make it for me. Now, it is a favorite for lunch with the kiddos in our house. And it remains my ultimate favorite in comfort food.

You can make this with any kind of noodles you have on hand too. So it makes a great way to use up small, straggling portions of pasta from your pantry. There is no right and wrong with the measurements, just combine everything and add more as desired, until it tastes good to you.

Cream Cheese Noodles

Fully cooked pasta
Butter or margarine
Cream cheese
Desired seasonings – I usually add garlic salt and pepper

1. In a skillet or saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add cream cheese and noodles. Cook until all cream cheese is melted and stir in any seasonings. I usually cook mine a bit longer so that the some of the noodles get a little crispy.

Things are a little hectic this week, so I haven’t had the blogging time I though I would have. However, tomorrow is the end of the month, which means it’s the end of the 3 Moms series. So I’ll be wrapping things up for the month and looking ahead to next month.

Until then, Jen’s talking about Easter Food Traditions and Toni posted an amazing guest post for Bubblegum Machine Cake Pops. I love ‘em!

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Homemade Potato Gnocchi

March 29, 2010 By Kate 7 Comments

Aside from the fact that I can not properly pronounce Gnocchi, I love them! I mean, we’re talking potatoes and pasta, rolled into one. What’s not to love? It’s every carb-junkie’s dream come true.

Homemade gnocchi are surprisingly easy to make. Like a lot of homemade foods, the process is a bit more involved and requires somewhat of a time investment. Although my actual work time for these was under an hour, so that’s not too bad. Especially when you figure you can freeze the gnocchi and have it taste just as good as fresh.

Homemade Potato Gnocchi

4 large baking potatoes
1 egg, beaten
1/2 – 1 c. flour
2 t. salt

1. Pierce potatoes several times with the tines of a fork. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes, until tender.

2. While still hot, slice potatoes in half width-wise and carefully scoop out all the insides. Place in a large bowl. Mash with a potato masher until uniform consistency but not completely smooth. Let cool for 15 minutes.

3. Add egg to the potatoes and stir to combine. Work in flour, starting with a 1/2 cup. If it gets too difficult to combine with a spoon, use your hands. Form the dough into a soft, only-slightly-sticky ball. (Add more flour as needed if the dough is too sticky.) Knead for about a minute in the bowl.

4. Divide the dough into 6 sections. Work with one section at a time and refrigerate the others.

5. On a floured surface, roll each section of dough into a long strip. Cut into 1/2 – 1 inch pieces. Continue until done. Roll the gnocchi into oval shapes or press with the tines of a fork, if desired. (This is the point when you can freeze the gnocchi. Just place on a cookie sheet in a single layer and flash freeze for 20-30 minutes. Then transfer to a plastic freezer bag.)

6. Bring a large pot of water to a slow boil. Working in small batches, add some gnocchi to the pot. Boil just until they rise to the surface. Drain and transferred to a plate that is lightly spread with olive oil to prevent sticking. Repeat until done.

You can serve the gnocchi as they are at this point and top with a favorite sauce. Or, as our family prefers, saute in some melted butter for about 5 minutes, just until the gnocchi are very slightly crisp on one side. Transfer to a serving plate, top with the melted butter from the skillet and some salt and pepper.