OUR FAVORITE AT HOME EASY MEAL - PITA PIZZA:My pita pizza plate. I took a New Jerusalem organic whole grain pita and topped it with some tasty yums including some leftover white chedda' and broiled.... a fast fix and one of our family favorites. I quartered my pizza, placed a salad with Balsamic dressing in the center, and garnished with dried currants. The yums this time included 1/2 a Lightlife zesty Italian s'sage thinly sliced into rounds and canned sliced mushrooms.
LUNCHBOX (pita pizza round 2): For the lunch box I cut a pita in half and wrapped it separate. The sliced s'sage, sauce, and cheez were put into a container to be heated, stirred and added to the inside of the pita. The currants (like little raisins) were in a separate small container and the salad was sprinkled with sunflower seeds in a slightly larger round container. The sauce gets a small container of it's own so it can be dipped or added right before eating, soggy salad greens are yucky. My favorite dressing is a balsamic vinegrette (like Newman's lite brand, but I make my own). Dave and the kids like a Ranch style dressing best ... have both and each family member will feel like you love them best. :)
I also found another great lunchbox tool. They are bendable ice blankets to fit in your box any way you need them to. Here is a LINK TO AMAZON so you can see them, but I got mine at a grocery store for 99 cents a blanket.
FAMILY LIFE RESOURCE:
Professional consumer and family scientists answer questions about child development, cleaning, consumer management, food preparation, food preservation, food safety, home environment, household equipment, nutrition, textiles and laundry.
CANNING:
That would include canning. I am canning salsa today.
I called the hot line listed above today and asked about which method of canning would be required to process apple pie filling using wheat flour. I discovered wheat flour is not recommended because it will break down and not maintain it's thickness. WOW! Glad I called I had two jars with lots of work in dicing apples ready to go - what a waste of work that would have been. CLEAR JEL is recommended for canning. Freeze your favorite apple pie filling recipe if you must use wheat.... okay, I know and now you know too.
Here's a canning idea of a different color:
On the left is TVP chucks/ strips (chik'n style and B*fy strips). On the right.... gourmet rice blend and black eyed peas... both fully cooked in the jar, I added the grains and peas raw, salt, and hot water. I cooked all 1 hour 30 minutes just to be VERY safe, a pint with legumes usually requires 1 hr 15 minutes. The rice was sticky, but very edible. I like the B**fy strips. I get them from Country Life Natural Foods, see link at my side bar. I want to try their soy curls sometime, I've seen others rave about them, but that will wait until I need to place another order.
USES:Here I added b**fy strips and the canned gourmet rice to a lettuce and cabbage salad drizzled with balsamic dressing. I like that all I had to do was open the jar. I was also thinking the strips would make some great fajitas as well as a good stir-frt with broccoli.
I wouldn't rate my salad wonderful, but for a change and the ability to try something new ... it worked! It could use a little shredded carrot and sliced black olives for color. :)
A QUOTE TODAY: To cook is to create create and to create , well .... is an act of integrity and faith. I think I read this on some monk bread baking site a few years ago, the author was unknown. I like it, thanks unknown author!
