Schwan's - What to Order, and What Not to Order

I have ordered food from Schwan's a few times this year and it's such a fun treat as well as wonderfully convenient to have the individually frozen foods waiting for me in the freezer.

I love pouring through their catalog, and have used it several times to inspire my own dinner ideas. It's always scary buying a new food item because you don't know if you'll actually like it or not, so I wanted to share some of the items I love that I think are worth buying and the one item I have tried that I don't love.

From Facebook comments and messages I know quite a few have ordered from Schwan's before and have shared your favorite foods - if you would do it again in the comments here I would appreciate it! That way I will easily be able to find the tried and true favorites when I go to make another order and want to try something new.

My two favorite items from Schwan's are the Chicken Breasts and the Frozen Fruit Blend.

 The Chicken Breast turned into a BBQ sandwich on a homemade bun

The chicken breasts are so tender and are equally as good as chicken breasts I have bought from the store that sell for nearly three times the price. These come individually frozen in a large bag, resealable bag - it is so easy to grab out the amount needed for dinner.

The frozen fruit blend is our favorite blend for smoothies that we have tried yet - with strawberries, peaches, mangos and pineapple it is delicious blended up in the green smoothies! The bag says you can thaw and eat them, but I can't quite imagine eating thawed fruit and haven't tried it myself.

Another item we have enjoyed are the Black Angus Steak Burgers. These are really tasty and a good size. I usually make my own burgers, so this isn't something I would order often, but it's been a fun treat to have preformed burgers and these ones taste really good!

The Stuffed Chicken Parmesan is decently good. It's not our favorite, but with a bit of sauce, some extra cheese and a bit of seasoning it can be doctored up to something that is rather amazing. For the price I don't think it's really worth it, but we did enjoy the box we ordered!

The one item that we have tried really hard to enjoy, but don't, are the Mini Steak. They are such a cute idea and since we are huge breakfast people I thought this would be a wonderful addition to a breakfast or brunch - but they come out tasting rubbery. I have tried cooking them a few different ways and it's just not working for me.

Curried Black Beans over Couscous

 Curried Black Beans over Couscous

Our favorite dish this week has been curried black beans served over couscous - Paul enjoyed it so much he asked me to repeat the dish regularly! Thankfully I wrote down everything as I made it so it'll be easy to replicate. 

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of couscous (I buy mine at Big Lots, but it should be in the international food section)
• 1 bag of black beans
• 1/3 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• salt
• pepper
• curry powder

1. Soak and cook black beans according to package. Note: this will take about 8 hours total. If you have never soaked your own beans I highly encourage it. They're healthier and cheaper and it's actually very easy.
2. Once the black beans are done, rinse them and place in a large bowl. Cook the couscous according to package directions. 
3. Chop the onion and garlic into small pieces. Add to black beans. Add salt, pepper and curry seasoning to taste. I didn't write down how much I added, but I kept tasting the beans until I liked the flavor.
   
   Serve couscous on each plate and load curried beans on top.
   Have special toppings in individual bowls for people to add their favorites.
   The toppings we had on hand and used were:
   
   
   
   • coconut
   • raw peanuts
   • raisins
   • yogurt
   
   This was a huge hit with all 4 of us. But be warned - couscous is MESSY!! I learned my lesson long ago and made this dinner into a fun picnic so we could eat it outside.
   
   USING THE LEFTOVERS
   
   The next day I had a lot of the curried bean mixture left over. I put it in our blender with a bit of coconut oil and blended it all up. I then spooned it into flour tortillas, added some home made hummus and cheese and wrapped the tortilla up tight. I put it under the broiler for a few minutes and we had an easy and delicious lunch with the left overs.
   Judah didn't care for it, but Paul, Wesley and myself really enjoyed it.
   
   Would you take a moment to help me win $200?!?!
   
   Sharing on Tasty Tuesday
    

Creating A Table

It is easy to create a nice looking table when company will be over to see it. 

When I know other people - people other than my own family - will get to enjoy a pretty looking table.

And lately I have begun to wonder why. 

Why don't I use nicer dishes for every day dinners?

Why don't I make fancy looking drinks - if only water with fruit- for my boys?

Why don't I put fresh flowers from the garden on the table for just us to enjoy?

And you know, I really couldn't come up a good answer. 

Dishes are just dishes. If they break then they break. We can always buy more.

I might cry if it's my pretty wedding crystal. But I'll get over it.

Using a pretty pitcher and adding chunks of frozen fruit takes seconds to do. 

Cutting flowers and adding them to the table takes less than a minute.

I realized that there was no good reason to not make every dinner an occasion to be a little bit special. 

So I have spent an extra couple minutes to light candles, pull out the crystal, put a table cloth on the table and create a simple center piece. 

And I like what has happened.

We enjoy our food more.

We enjoy each other more.

We toast each other with our water filled goblets. 

We talk and laugh and joke together.

We sit silently just enjoying being together.

It's not that those things didn't happen before in one form or another.

But now we spend longer doing those things.

We can sit for over an hour enjoying each other and our dinner and, I believe, it is in part because I have attempted to create a table that says "Sit and stay awhile. I like you. I enjoy you."

Any tips or ideas you have done to encourage a special dinner experience with your family?

Linking up to 

Tasty Tuesday

Tuesdays Unwrapped

Carrot Souffle

I never did get a picture of the finished product, but here it is in the blender!

One of the ladies at church made this a couple years ago and I got the recipe from her as it is simply amazing. It is very rich and I only make it for special occasions - in this case it was made for Christmas dinner when my whole family was here visiting. I made the recipe as it is written below and even after 8 adults and 2 kids ate it there were some leftovers.

Here it is as written out by my friend:

3 lbs sliced, cooked carrots (i just use 3 reg size cans)

1 1/2 c. butter

6 lg eggs

1/2 c. AP flour

1 T. b. powder

3 c. sugar (i only use 2 c and sometimes I do 1 c sugar, 1 c. Splenda)

1/4 t. cinnamon

Process carrots in food processor or blender and add remaining ingredients--stopping to smooth down the sides. Spoon into a lightly greased 9x13 dish. Bake at 350 for 1 hr or til set.

***I can't fit all of it in my blender so I put everything except the sugar, then pour the mixture and the sugar in a large bowl and stir it til it is blended. It can get a little messy :(  This is an easy one to divide by 3 if you want a smaller dish.

Check out more from Tasty Tuesday

On Green Smoothies and Saving Money

We love Green Smoothies in our house and over the last year and a half have discovered a few secrets to making them a bit more cost efficient. I regularly make these for everyone in the house, but I especially love them for the boys as they happily will drink down glasses of spinach and cucumber and beg for more.

Secret number 1: You can freeze baby spinach leaves. You do not want to buy prefrozen spinach (trust me. It's icky!) but if you purchase the large bag of fresh baby spinach from the produce section you can freeze what you don't use. The leaves freeze individually making it a cinch to scoop up what you need to use each time you make your smoothie. Our local grocery store regularly marks the spinach 50 - 75% off regular price up to FIVE days before it expires. When I see that I pick up a couple to keep in our freezer.

Secret number 2: You can buy cans of coconut milk at Asian grocery stores for a lot less than regular grocery stores. In fact I was told they'd cut me an even better deal if I were to buy an entire case of 24 - so it wouldn't hurt to ask if you could get a better deal at your store too!

Secret number 3: The Dollar Tree carries frozen fruit. I was so surprised when I saw it in their frozen section. I picked up a few bags of peaches, blueberries and strawberries - they are between 12 and 16 ounces each which is cheap for frozen fruit. And there is nothing added to it -it's pure fruit. Having used it for the last 3 weeks I can honestly say it tastes just like more expensive frozen fruit. If you're local Dollar Tree has a frozen section check it out for their frozen fruit!

Atlanta - Where to Eat pt 1

As most of you know Paul and I spent a wonderful long weekend in Atlanta just over a week ago. We had a lot of fun on our child free weekend and I thought I would devote a couple of posts to sharing some of things we did, where we ate and where we stayed while in Atlanta, as well as any money saving tips we used while on our vacation. 

One of our favorite things to do is to eat good food. Not high end, expensive food. But good, unique food. Places that have a story. Places that might be a little out of the way. Places that not everyone goes to, but if everyone knew about them everyone would be wanting to go to them.

We love to eat out because we love to recreate the dishes at home for ourselves.

While in Atlanta we discovered some really neat places and if you are ever in the area you must check these places out!!  So as not to be overwhelming with food pictures and details I am only going to post two places we ate at today.

The first place I had read about in a magazine a couple months ago and tucked away the page in case we ever went to Atlanta.

 

West Egg Cafe was everything we could have wanted - all day breakfast for Paul and other menu options available for me. Paul loves breakfast foods and I don't share his passion - so a place that does all day breakfast and makes fabulous sandwiches is a perfect compromise.

The full menu and prices are listed on their website, but let me share with you what we ordered. Photos compliments of Paul's iphone.

Eggs, biscuit and bacon. It doesn't take much to please that man.

 

I opted for the Turkey, Bacon, Gouda on Marbled Rye. It comes with soup or salad so I chose soup, which I wasn't crazy about but the sandwich was amazing.

There was marmalade on the bread. It added an amazing taste to the entire sandwich and is something I am going to be trying to replicate at home. The sandwich had, of course, turkey (sweet tea basted), bacon, smoked gouda cheese, onion, marmalade and dijon mustard. It was an incredible sandwich and there are many other unique sandwiches on the menu.

But the best part was this:

A Coca Cola muffin - I had read about these in one or two different magazines and we had to try one. We regretted only buying one. It was delicious. Definitely worth stopping by to pick one up!

This next place has several locations open in 12 different states. It was our first time ever going to California Pizza Kitchen and we were both amazed.

The pizzas are all in the $12 range and we opted to each get one. Paul easily finished his and I came close. If you order a soup or salad on the side one pizza could feed two people. You'd be eating a tad bit healthier, but not saving much more money.

 

All of the pizzas are unique and we had a really hard time deciding! Paul finally chose the Goat Cheese with Roasted Peppers which, on top of those ingredients, also had grilled eggplant, mozzarella cheese, caramelized onions, parsley, tomato sauce and bacon. To me it was a really heavy, woodsy pizza. I don't know how a pizza can be woodsy, but it was. It was good, but I liked mine much better.

 I chose the Pear and Gorgonzola pizza. It was amazing and is one I shall soon be attempting at home. The pears were caramelized then there was the Gorgonzola, Fontina and Mozzarella cheese, caramelized sweet onions, and hazelnuts. They topped the whole pizza with field greens and Gorgonzola Ranch dressing.

It was simply amazing! Check out California Pizza Kitchen for the full menu and to see if there is a location near you. If you enjoy pizza this is a must try place! I just saw that they carry their pizzas in the frozen section at the grocery store - has anyone tried these and are they any good?

Fish Food (Jello!)

Another fish related activity that I did with Judah this week was to make an edible fish aquarium. I found this fantastic see-through blue container at the Dollar Tree as well as the plastic water animals.

I washed those items really, really well before anything else :)

Then Judah and Wesley helped me make jello - this container held three packets of jello! We did it in layers and added fish on each level.

I added three straws at the very beginning and once all the jello had set I trimmed the straws so they only came as high as the jello and I stuck pipe cleaners in the straws to look like seaweed-y/grassy stuff. I know. It looks nothing like seaweed-y/grassy stuff. But use your imagination :)

Our final step was to add an alligator, seal, turtle and frog to the top of the jello.

Here it is from a side view:

I loved doing this activity with Judah - not only did it include "cooking" together, but he also got to learn the names of some water creatures he didn't previously know about (Seal!). We had a friend over for dinner the evening we served this and Judah was quite excited to show off his plate aquarium and his Jello aquarium.

Hooking up with Tasty Tuesday

Where the Wild Things Are Snack Pack

Even though we aren't able to go see Where the Wild Things Are in theater tomorrow I thought I would show you the Monster Munch snack pack I made up for Judah for when we do go (should be Monday afternoon!)


I included some Teddy Grahams and a Pretzel Mix.

Some green Gatorade that got relabeled as "Monster Slime" with a "drink at your own risk" label.

I also included a fruit roll up that came in a box labeled "Wild One" - the box has a variety of "wild" prints on the actual candy. I thought it was cute and tied in well with the Wild Thing theme.

All of this was put in a large zip lock bag, with a label stapled to the top and another one taped to the front. A friend of ours gave us this adorable Max doll and I have Max sitting on the shelf holding the bag of treats just waiting for us!

Linking up to Tasty Tuesday

UPDATE: I just want to say thank you to those that left their opinions about the movie not being appropriate for little ones. We read some reviews and, sadly, agree. We won't be taking Judah to see this one, but will still enjoy this snack with another special movie or perhaps while reading the book.

Leftover Cheesecake

Friday night I served Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake for Paul's promotion dinner. I found a $15 bakery-made cheesecake on special for $5 because a tiny bit of the chocolate had ended up on the lid.

On Saturday evening we were planning on having some dinner guests over, so in a moment of laziness, thriftiness or genius (take your pick!) I decided to use the left over cheesecake for Saturdays dessert.

I cut the cheesecake into bite size pieces, while at the same time melting unsweetened dark chocolate. I stuck craft sticks into each bite of cheesecake, and when the chocolate was thoroughly melted I dipped each piece of cheesecake into the chocolate.
They were then placed on wax paper to dry (and eventually ended up in the freezer as they weren't setting properly on the counter.)

I ended up doing some in semi-sweet chocolate as well, and some people preferred that, but I loved the unsweetened chocolate combined with the richness of the cheesecake - so good!!

There were enough for 3 bites per person, but 1 bite was rich enough for me! 6-7 of these little pieces would be about equivalent to 1 slice of cake, so the "leftover" cheesecake really did stretch far doing it this way.

Made at Home Junk Food

Onion Rings are one of our favorite junk foods. I'm glad they take a little bit of work to make, otherwise we'd be eating them WAY more often than we should!! What's your favorite junk food to make at home?

Rice Pudding

There's no way to really make rice pudding look appetizing in a picture, but it really is so yummy and such a great comfort food - and so easy to make!! I made it for us this week and it was enjoyed by all. Recipe HERE.

4th of July Themed Food

Remember THESE sticks I picked up at Target? This is what I did with them on the 4th. I wish they weren't so pointy and sharp on the ends - I'd love to do something like this for snacks for the boys! Any ideas on something similar I could use that isn't quite as dangerous?!

Red, White & Blue on a Stick

Aren't these adorable?! They are currently at Target in the $1 section.
I can just see them with marshmallows, strawberries and blueberries for the 4th.
Or maybe various colored soft candies in red, blue and white.
I just love them!

Other patriotic ideas are:
(white) bread, (white) cheese, red peppers, raspberries and star fruit... that is all I can think of at the moment!
Any ideas for a patriotic themed skewer?! :)

Freezer Meal - Part 5

Practical Tips From Mimi Wilson

Two weekends ago I had the privilege of meeting Mimi Wilson, who has written a book entitled Once A Month Cooking. She spoke briefly on OAMC and I also spoke with her after the seminar. I took notes on everything she shared, and I have some tidbits of wisdom from her to pass on to y'all!

• Freeze food in zip lock bags and lay completely flat. You can stack a tremendous amount of food this way. She recommended this method especially for those with only the small freezer over a fridge.
• Organize your freezer into different sections for easy reference of what is frozen in there.
• Label your food with how many it will feed and what to serve it with.
• For special occasions (Thanksgiving, etc.) prepare as much ahead of time and freeze.

And the number one tip she shared with me when asked what the most important thing is when it comes to freezing your meals is;

• Make sure to properly seal the food before putting it in the freezer!

Freezer Meals - Part 1; Why OAMC Isn't For Us
Freezer Meals - Part 2; Freezer Cooking, Why It Is For Us
Freezer Meals - Part 3; What's In Our Freezer
Freezer Meals - Part 4; The Essentials

This concludes the Freezer Meal series. Thanks for hanging around for it!

Freezer Meals - Part 3

What's In Our Freezer

Most foods are able to freeze well. There are of course exceptions. We prefer freshly made rice over a frozen rice casserole, but other than that we haven't encountered any issues with anything we have frozen. And we do still freeze rice casseroles, they still taste good from frozen! If you are considering freezing something that you aren't sure of how it will do just Google it.

From the extensive reading I have done on the subject there isn't one answer on the best way to thaw food prior to cooking it. I generally stick the frozen meal or item in a preheated oven and that works well for me. If you want to know about a specific food item and thawing it then Google it. There are so many sites devoted to freezing meals and you will find a wealth of information. Here is a list of prepared meals or food items we currently have in our freezer or that we have recently had in our freezer, hopefully they will inspire you to try making extra for your own freezer.

Breakfast

• French Toast - multiply your favorite recipe and prepare as normal. Individually freeze*. When you are ready to eat simply pull it out of the freezer and place in the toaster.
• Same as French Toast, but defrost in microwave.
  
• Cinnamon Rolls - make cinnamon rolls up until the step before cooking. Either individually freeze or freeze in a pan. Cook from a frozen state at 350F until done. We have also frozen these pre-cooked and then microwaved them. They are good this way too.
  

Lunch or Dinners

• Falafel - once the balls are formed place in freezer bag. To cook pull desired amount from bag and either bake or fry until done.
• Chicken & Rice Casserole - cook everything and mix together either in a large freezer bag or in a casserole dish. When ready to eat pull from freezer and pour a can of chicken broth over the entire dish. Cook until heated thoroughly. I find that pouring the broth over the rice keeps it from going dry.
• Shepherds Pie - cook and assemble as you normally would and then freeze. Cook until heated thoroughly.
  
• Pizza - I have only ever made my pizza and cooked it before freezing it, and then heated it in the microwave. This worked well, but from what I read isn't the normal way of preparing a pizza. Google it if you want success stories from others. I wrap mine in Plastic wrap.
  
• Burrito filling - prepare and then freeze in freezer bags. Thaw in hot water and then heat before serving with tortillas and fixings.
  
• Taco Meat - same as above.
  
• Pulled BBQ Chicken - same as above, but serve on buns.
  
• Calzones - prepare and cook. Individually wrap and freeze.
• Beef Stroganoff - prepare and cook. Freeze. Thaw and heat thoroughly and serve with egg noodles.
  

Desserts/Treats

• Chocolate Chip Cookies - prepare in a large batch and individually freeze. Store in freezer bag. Cook from frozen at 350 F for about 12-15 minutes.
• Spice Cookies - same as above, with slightly less cooking time.
  
• Apple Crisp - prepare in dish and wrap with aluminum foil. Cook from frozen at 350 F until done.
  

*Individual Freezing - lay out each individual item on a plate or cookie sheet and place in the freezer until solid. This will only take a couple of hours. Transfer to a freezer bag.

To help me keep track of what items are worth stocking up on when they are on sale I keep a running list (currently it is mainly in my head - it will make its way to paper eventually) of the normal price for an item, a common sale price for the item and also the "rock bottom" price for the item; or, in other words, the cheapest price I have ever paid for the item. If the item is at "rock bottom" then I stock up. I try to not be in a position where I am having to buy things at 'regular' sale price. And I do everything I can to avoid paying regular price for an item. Being flexible goes a long way to make this work!

Freezer Meals - Part 1; Why OAMC Isn't For Us
Freezer Meals - Part 2; Freezer Cooking - Why It Is For Us

Next: Freezer Meals - Part 4; The Essentials