Blueberry Slump

We are blueberry-eatin' people. Always have been. Always will be. I love that my girls love them so much. They plow through them at a break-neck speed. When I was little, I used to go to with my mom to pick gallons upon gallons of blueberries in the summer. This summer, I finally made it to the blueberry patch with my little family! We went twice, and I barely picked enough for us to eat what we wanted and to have some to freeze. I did stash about 4 cups of berries in the freezer to save for a rainy day. Today was that rainy (or snowy) day!

(That's my mom WAY in the distance, and my daughter running behind her! My girls sure did love getting some fresh country air. I can't wait until we can go back this summer! BTW, this is just one part of one out of twenty or so patches at this blueberry farm!)

When I was a little girl, my mom used to always make Blueberry Slump when we came home from blueberry picking. I remember it being a yummy special treat, but when she made it again this year for the first time in, oh, maybe 20 years, I realized HOW special it really is. I think I decided it is hands down the most delicious thing she makes. I don't know why I had to wait 20 years to have it again!!!

Here is the recipe:

In 3-quart pan:

2 cups blueberries

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

Mix and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 5 minutes.

Mix:

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Cut in 1 stick butter then stir in 2 tablespoons buttermilk and barely mix. (I made my own buttermilk with 2 tablespoons of milk and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon.)

Drop by tablespoons on bubbling berry mixture. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

(Note, I didn't have a 3 quart saucepan. I had 4 or a 2 quart. I ended up using the 4, even though I'm pretty sure my mom uses a 2. I would not recommend using the 4 quart. It was a little soupier than normal on the bottom!)

Isn't it just lovely? The process is just so rustic. I love it! It makes me think of cooking dinner for my family over an open fire in a single pot. I can imagine that is where this recipe comes from.

**FYI - Frozen blueberries are on sale for $2.29 at Target this week. You can make Blueberry Slump for under $3. I would say this makes about 4-5 servings.**
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Early shopping run...

In anticipation of the super cold next few days here in KC, I did my shopping a little early. I was lucky to have my husband home to watch the girls, so I didn't have to drag them out too. Yay for daddies!

I will admit that I am learning that the aftermath of our pantry challenge is harder than the pantry challenge it's self. I'm looking at today's purchase, and I'm wondering how it will see us through until next Friday. It's been awhile since the $50/week limit has really been a challenge for us. Really, $50 has totally been enough. Skipping a week of shopping did take it's toll, though. I knew that it would! I am still glad that we put the effort in to the challenge, though. It was necessary to keep things from aging too long in my pantry.

Now, here is what I picked up this week...

1 16 oz tub of generic cottage cheese
1 package of 100% whole wheat Earthgrains Thin Buns
1 Disney tin of popcorn (I didn't care about the popcorn, but I thought the tin would be good for toy storage! It was only $1)
4 bags of generic noodles
1 can of black beans
1 package of generic tuna
1 16 oz can of tomato sauce
4 boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese
1 1/2 gallon of all natural vanilla ice cream
2 large pizzas from the deli (1 was free)
2 boxes of Tornados
1 Hormel meatoaf
2 boxes of Hormel sausage
2 packages of YoPlait Plus
1 Glade mini candle (free)
3 boxes of various Glad ziplock bags
1 bag of generic shredded cheese
1 packages of Kraft singles
4 2 litres of Diet Coke (3 were free)
3.28 lbs of oranges
1.44 lbs of sweet potatoes
4 Ruby Red grapefruits

My pretax total was just slightly over $40. I do not plan on making another trip this week, but I may have to stop to get milk at some point later this week. I'm hoping to just stay below our $50 threshold this week.

Our meals this week will probably not be very fancy. Some of the things we'll be dining on are:

Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins
Yogurt and Fruit Smoothies
Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothies
Tuna Noodle Salad
Cavatini
Salsa Soup
Blueberry Slump

I also have some of the usual standbys on hand - fish sticks and fries, grilled cheese and tomato soup and spaghetti with marinara. This weekend I'm also planning on sharing my mom's super delicious blueberry slump recipe! It is really something to look forward to. Yum!

See last week's purchase here.

See other weekly menu ideas here.

Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins

Remember how I bought like 6 lbs of cranberries last week? In my search for cranberry recipes, I came upon this recipe for pumpkin cranberry muffins. I was a little wary of the cranberry and pumpkin combination, but I figured with the high ratings, I didn't have much to lose!

I made these for the first time last Sunday as an after dinner snack. We ate them warm out of the oven, and we were a little "eh" about them. Both my big girl and my husband thought the cranberries were too tart. The other half of the family (being me and the little girl) thought they were just fine but nothing to excited about. Incidentally, I took one to work for an afternoon snack and Oh.My.Gosh. these were so delicious the next day. Really, REALLY delicious.

I did adjust these a little bit for health purposes the first time I made them. The second time I made them, I decided to ramp up the spice a little bit too. Here is my adjusted recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
  
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar; add the pumpkin and oil and mix well. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the cranberries. Fill foil-or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Top with cinnamon and sugar.

I hope you enjoy!

HAM

Black Bean Burgers

(Excuse the mess! Focus on the deliciousness!)

Umm, YUM. I really cannot stand frozen veggie burgers, but I sure do love a good homemade black bean burger! I was excited to try this recipe since it had such good reviews, and the ingredients are so frugal and easy! However, I discovered about halfway through the process that I was out of both cumin and bread crumbs. Oops! My adjusted recipe was as follows:

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 green bell pepper diced very fine
  
• 1/2 onion diced very fine
  
• 3 teaspoons of jarred garlic
  
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning
  
• 1 teaspoon of Louisiana hot sauce
  
• 1/2 cup brown rice
  

Directions

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. Stir bell pepper, onion and garlic in to black bean mixture.
4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, taco seasoning and chili sauce.
5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in brown rice until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

*Disclaimer* - Black bean burgers tend not to stay together very well -- even the ones I've had at nice restaurants. I baked mine in the oven, and they really held together pretty well. I did have one kind of crumble when I flipped it, but the others were just fine. I would recommend using leftover rice as it tends to dry out, and I would also let these rest a good 5 or so minutes before transferring to a bun. They seem to be firmer when they're not super hot.

I will admit that my kids were a little reluctant to try it. They couldn't have managed it in a bun and were not quite sure what to do with it once it started to crumble after I cut it up. They DID both eat a pretty decent amount but not without some prompting. I was secretly kind of happy because I stashed the leftovers in the freezer, so I will be able to have leftover black bean burgers for the rest of the week at work! Sounds like a good lunch to me!

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The end of the pantry challenge...

I actually wasn't really ready to end the pantry project. It was just getting good! However, I only had one cup of milk for the girls left! I knew that if I didn't go today, I had lost my chance, and I wouldn't make it for another week or so. We can't go a whole week without milk! We were pretty low on fresh fruit too, and that just doesn't work around here.

I was pretty disappointed with the sale ads once again this week. I decided to just make a single trip to Hy-Vee. I had really kind of planned on having money leftover, but we I was able to dig up some good deals and matches with coupons. Of course, no money leftover! Oh well!

Here's what we got.

36 donut holes
1 dozen Eggland's Best eggs
1 gallon of Roberts OJ
1 lb of smoked turkey breast
1 bag of Farm Rich mozzarella sticks
1 bag of Ore Ida fries
1 box of Cheez-Its
1 4lb bag of oranges
1 Earth Grains 100% whole wheat thin buns
2 big boxes of Cheerios
2 cans of black beans
2 Mussleman's healthy selects applesauce
1 package of wheat hamburger buns
1 5 lb bag of 100% whole wheat pastry flour
2 box of Kashi cookies
1/2 gallon of hormone free whole milk
1 Glade mini candle (free)
1 bottle of 7th Generation dish soap (free)
4 bottles of Coke (3 were free)
9 lbs of bananas
3 green bell peppers
6 bags of Ocean Spray cranberries
3 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts

My pre-tax total was right around $53.00. I saved 10% on all of the organic items, about $16.00 with coupons and $.10 for bringing two of my own bags.

We're going to try a new recipe for black bean hamburgers tonight. It also looks like I have a good deal of whole wheat banana bread and cranberry almond bars in my future! I'm going to see if I can find a good cranberry orange bread or muffin recipe, I think too. Stay tuned for a baking update!

New Years Eve from the pantry...

We got a New Years Eve surprise this year! My husband was scheduled to work New Years Eve day. His work days usually starts at 6:45 AM and ends when he is done. It is very normal for him to get home at 9 or even later at night. I had basically just planned on making a nice dinner for myself and the girls. Of course, he would warm up the leftovers when he got home. The good/bad news is that his face swelled up really badly from the cold during the early morning, and they sent him home from work. That is bad news for his paycheck, but it was a good day to have him home all afternoon!

We started the early evening with appetizers. I made a dip where you layer cream cheese, salsa, black beans and cheddar cheese. You just microwave it for a minute or so, and you're good to go. It is DELICIOUS. I haven't made it in a really long time, but I love it so much! I was so thrilled when I realized I had all of the items I needed either in my pantry or freezer. (I did, however, have to stop and get chips and 2 (free) 2 liters of pop! I guess that is kind of breaking the rules, but considering it was a holiday, I don't think it's a big deal.)


Our entree for the evening was orange chicken over peas and brown rice. I used to use a recipe that my mom taught me, but I've adapted it a little since discovering Juicy Juice's Juicy Apple Chicken recipe. My recipe went kind of like this:

INGREDIENTS

4 (about 1 1/4 pounds total) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion
3 cups of orange juice
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon of soy sauce

DIRECTIONS

SEASON chicken liberally with salt and ground black pepper, if desired. Dust with flour.

MELT butter in large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; cook on one side until golden brown. Turn chicken over and stir in onion, orange juice, soy sauce and garlic. Cover pan and bring to a boil. (Orange juice should come all the way up the sides of the chicken but not cover entirely.) Reduce heat to medium and uncover pan. Sauce should remain bubbly. Once the sauce has turned a a dark golden color and reduced to a thick, sticky sauce, remove chicken from skillet and place on serving platter.


For dessert, we had a white chocolate and cherry cream cheese ball with cinnamon and sugar pita chips. My mom brought the cheese ball mix for me from a little trip they went on over the weekend. I was SO happy to see it since I knew I had cream cheese in the freezer. It was a great addition to our holiday meal, and it was GREAT with the pita chips! I never would have thought to serve it on pita chips if not for the challenge of eating from the pantry. Now, I'm not sure I'll ever serve it any other way! So yummy!



In the end, it was a really delicious meal. All of my family members loved it. It was a really good exercise for me. It did have to stretch my brain a little to think about what to make since I hadn't been to the store in nearly 2 weeks, but I'm not sure it would have turned out any better had I had $1,000 worth of groceries to choose from.

Now...to go eat some leftover white chocolate cherry dip! YUMMMMMMMMMM!