Kids in the Kitchen--April Makes Scrambled Eggs

First off, our apologies. We haven't posted anything new in over a year. We have a ton of posts to write for you, but our lives keep getting busier and busier. At the same time, we love blogging about food and family and truly desire to continue to do so. We hope this is the first of many more posts to come in the near future.

________________________________

Last summer we started a routine in our house. Each kid is responsible to cook dinner one night each week. They plan the menu, do the prep work, cook the meal, and set the table. When it's time to sit down to eat, one of the other siblings prays for the meal and include giving thanks for the one who did the cooking.

When I started posting about this on my personal FB page last summer, I received some questions about how I get my kids involved in the kitchen. At that time, the kids were 11, 7, and 4. So this summer, I've been taking pictures of their dinner nights so I can share with all of you. Of course, you know your own children and their limits and abilities. Since there are a lot of opportunities for injuries in the kitchen, always supervise your children and never let them do anything outside their skill level. At the same time, don't underestimate what they are capable of. Teach new skills by demonstrating and talking them through it. Then help them do it. Finally, watch them do it themselves.

Technically, April isn't making dinner in these pictures, but she is involved in the kitchen. And she has become so good at making scrambled eggs, that she can do the whole thing herself. I just light the stove for her because our igniters are broken and we have to use matches. She probably makes eggs 4-5 days a week now.

First she collects her ingredients and tools.

I love those little hands!

The easiest way to end up with shell-free eggs is to break them into a clear dish. This day April was breaking them into my quart Pyrex. Once the eggs are cracked, pick up the dish and look through the bottom. The shells will have sunk to the bottom. You can use a spoon to fish them out, but April and I find it easier to just use our clean fingers.

Cooking is a great way for kids to learn math skills in a practical setting. April is just learning to recognize fractions, but the boys are learning how to double and triple amounts when they cook.

Another fun aspect of cooking for kids is getting to use the kitchen tools and gadgets. For some reason she used a fork the day I took these pictures, but she is usually really thrilled to get to use the wire whisk.

These were plain eggs. She usually makes green eggs with sausage. Just add a few drops of green food coloring and throw some cut-up cooked sausage on top after pouring the eggs into the hot pan. And remember: it is imperative that you let the pan get hot before adding to eggs to prevent them from sticking. See the post here.

April's Scrambled Eggs

4-6 eggs

1 1/2-2 Tbsp. cream

1/2 tsp. salt

few shakes pepper

few drops green food coloring (optional)

sausage, cooked and chopped

Heat pan over medium to medium-high heat. Meanwhile, crack eggs into clear dish. Look through bottom to find and remove any shells. Whisk in cream, salt, pepper, and green food coloring if desired. Add butter or oil to heated pan. Pour egg mixture into pan. If desired, toss sausage on top. Turn heat down to medium. Once bubbles start to form, stir to scramble. Cook until desired doneness, stirring occasionally.

Simple Red Beans and Rice

Yup!  Beans and rice again!  There are just so many possibilities to feed my family of six for near to nothing.  When this package of red beans and rice mix caught my eye, I just had to give it a try.  Not that I was looking for a great new go-to option, but I just couldn’t believe that a pre-packaged mix could come anywhere close to being as economical or tasty as my homemade version.

The consensus?  I was right.  Not one of us was impressed or even liked the red beans and rice from the mix.  I didn’t make the kids eat it---and that rarely happens in our house.  And the leftovers?  Most of them got tossed.

I added some leftover ham.

The following week, I made my own version of red beans and rice.  There are two ways that I make this dish.  The first, that I’m sharing today, is very simple and frugal.  The second way I make red beans and rice, isn’t as near-to-nothing because it uses some pricey meat.  I will definitely have to share that one in the future.

Ideally, I would use one red pepper and one green pepper.  When I made this to take pictures, I used two red because they were on sale.  I was also out of onions, so I just did without.

The recipe includes hot sauce as optional.  I usually don’t put any in the pot because of the kids, but Robbie and I add it to our individual bowls.  If you do not include the hot sauce, you may want to add a little more salt.

Of course, when I make red beans and rice, I end up with a ton.  We ate them for dinner, froze some for another dinner, and refrigerated some for lunch.

Simple Red Beans and Rice
2 bell peppers (any color)
1 onion
1-2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 qts. water
2 c. brown rice
2½ c. cooked red beans
Chopped or diced cooked ham or sausage (optional)
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
4 Tbsp. chicken or vegetable bouillon
1½ heaping Tbsp. paprika
½ tsp. pepper
1½ tsp. salt (more or less to taste)
Hot sauce (optional)

Dice peppers and onion.  Heat oil in large Dutch oven or stock pot.  Add peppers and onion to oil; sauté until soft and onions are slightly translucent.  Add all remaining ingredients.  Bring to boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer until rice is done, about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When rice is done, leave at a simmer and use immersion blender or back of spoon to smash some of the beans until desired consistency is reached, adding water as necessary.

I used a spoon to smash some of the beans against the pot
because my immersion blender died.

Soup will continue to thicken a bit as it sits.  Adjust seasonings as desired.  Yield:  lots!  (probably about 4 qts.)  Total cost without meat:  less than $6.

It even just looks better than the packaged version.

Sautéed Green Beans

A few weeks ago, we went for a play date with one of the boys’ preschool friends.  When we left, they sent us with a bag of green beans from their garden!  Yay!  I love summer produce!

Out of all the ways I could have prepared them, I chose to sauté them.  I think this is the easiest and tastiest way to cook most vegetables.  In my experience with my kids and with other kids, they tend to like veggies more when they are sautéed than when they are prepared other ways.

I sauté green beans just like I sauté other vegetables, except I like to add sliced almonds.  The nutty flavor goes great with the beans, and they add great texture.

If the beans are long, I snap them each in two or three pieces to help them cook more evenly.  Try to have the beans as dry as possible before adding them to the pan to prevent spattering.

Sautéed Green Beans
Vegetable oil
Green beans, cleaned and snapped in half or thirds
Slivered almonds
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Heat skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil.  When oil is hot, add green beans.

I've been using this handle thing from my Grandma--I love
it!!  Thanks, Grandma!

Sauté, tossing occasionally until almost done.  Add slivered almonds; continue to sauté until beans are done and almonds are toasted and golden.

Remove from heat.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

A Summer Apology and Homemade Tortilla Chips

We'd first like to start out today's post with an apology.  We've been very flaky on posting lately.  Our usual Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule has been interrupted by summer.  Both of us have been busy enjoying our families with vacations, day trips, outside fun, VBS, and house projects.  We know our loyal readers look forward to new posts regularly.  Please know that we still have lots of yummy things to share with you and we will hopefully soon get back to our normal posting schedule.

I do have a new recipe today--homemade tortilla chips!!  No store-bought tortilla chip can come close to the flavor of warm, homemade chips, especially when served with homemade guacamole or pico de gallo!

The key to golden crisp chips is the oil temperature.  I never actually check the temperature; I just adjust according to how the chips are coming out of the oil.  If they are getting too dark, turn the oil down.  If they aren't crispy, turn the oil up.  Super oily chips are the result of the cooking oil not being hot enough.  Considering this, you want to avoid adding too many tortillas to the oil at once.

I like to drain the cooked chips on my cooling.  I usually turn it upside down and place it on a brown paper bag to wick away the oil (an Alton Brown trick).  If I don't have a paper bag on hand, I place the rack upright over a cookie sheet.

In order to get the salt to stick to the chips, they must be salted immediately after they are removed from the oil.

Homemade Corn Tortilla Chips
Vegetable oil for frying
Corn tortillas (I prefer white)
Salt

Heat 1-2 inches of oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Meanwhile, cut tortillas into wedges.

When oil is hot, add wedges in single layer.  If they don't start sizzling right away, the oil isn't hot enough.  Fry until golden brown, turning once during cooking.

Remove from oil onto cooling rack.  Immediately add salt.

How else can you serve your homemade tortilla chips?  Here are a few ideas (click on the captions to find the recipes):

Bapa's New Year's bean dip

Chicken chili

Corn and black bean salad as a salsa

Southwest refried bean soup

Sweet tortilla soup

Taco salad

Taco soup

Tangy chicken tortilla soup

A Variation on Spiedies (Gluten Free)

It's almost summer, which means time to grill!  I had posted a recipe for spiedies a while back, which are traditionally made into a sandwich.  However, since we don't make traditional spiedies anyway, I decided to make it even more untraditional and nix the sandwich part of it.  I actually got the idea from my sister-in-law who recently discovered she has a gluten intolerance.  So instead of putting the meat and veggies on a sandwich roll, she put it on rice instead.  I'll admit, this isn't actually a recipe, just a different way of eating a recipe we had previously posted.

Gluten-free Spiedies
Cooked spiedies (marinated and grilled meat and veggies)
Steamed brown or white rice
Pepper jack or Monterey jack cheese, shredded

Place one serving of rice on a plate.  Top with meat and veggies and cheese.  Enjoy!

Parmesan Baked Potatoes

A while ago I posted this recipe for parmesan baked potatoes on The Frugal Find.  It was such a hit there that I had to share it here on Near to Nothing.  Potatoes are a great way to stretch your grocery budget—they are filling and versatile!  And this recipe is so easy that Keanna can put it together.  I just help her with the oven.

There are many different types of potatoes, but the most common in my area are Russet (baking) potatoes, red potatoes, white potatoes, and Yukon gold potatoes.  Russets are by far the most inexpensive, though the others offer more depth of flavor.

I bought these 10-pound bags of potatoes for $1.99
each at Safeway a while ago.  I can never have too
many potatoes on hand!

Thanks to America’s affinity for French fries and potato chips, potatoes have really gotten a bad rap.  But potatoes are actually very nutritious.  One raw medium (~7.5 oz.) potato provides 4 grams protein, 5 grams dietary fiber, 70% daily vitamin C, 31% daily B6, and 26% daily potassium along with loads of other vitamins and minerals (see complete breakdown here).  The key to getting all these nutrients is to eat the skin, which contains a lot of the healthy components.  So to get the most nutrition for your money, don’t peel your potatoes.

Of course, the cooking method can also affect the final nutritional value of potatoes.  Remember:  more heat=more nutrient loss and more water=more nutrient loss.  With this in mind, the healthiest way to eat a potato is raw.  While not appealing to most people, it is perfectly fine to eat raw potatoes (see note at end).  In fact, April loves to eat raw potatoes!  On a side note to you moms, this is a great way to occupy your little ones while you’re trying to cook—the potato keeps April busy for quite a while, but since she doesn’t have all her teeth, she doesn’t actually end up eating very much of it.

A potato for my sweet potato!

Yummy!

For those like me who like their potatoes cooked, there are so many options!  I can’t possibly dive into all of them today so I’m going to focus on the methods that require the addition of oil, since that seems to be America’s favorite way to eat them.

French fries and potato chips are deep fried; and, frankly, that’s what makes them taste so good!  When deep frying potatoes at home, always make sure your oil is clean, you maintain the proper temperature, and you let the finished potatoes drain a bit after cooking.  Keep in mind that the more surface area there is, the more oil will be added during the frying process.  So one pound of steak fries is healthier than one pound of shoestring potatoes.

Sautéing is a much healthier option to deep frying.  You still need to oil the pan, but a lot less oil is used.

A third option is oven-frying.  This basically means baking potatoes in the oven but adding some fat to get some caramelization and crispiness.  The amount of fat can vary greatly from a spritz of non-stick spray to a layer of fat on the bottom of the pan.

A while ago I found this great recipe for parmesan baked potatoes in our church cookbook and have been making them like crazy!  Of course, they do have added fat in the butter and the parmesan, but they are so delicious and so easy with minimal active prep time!  And the amount of fat can be altered to your preference simply by reducing the amount of butter and parmesan.

An added bonus to this recipe is that you can freeze the baked potatoes and reheat them in the oven at a later time!

Parmesan Baked Potatoes

6 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

¾ tsp. salt (more or less to taste)

½ tsp. garlic powder (more or less to taste)

Few dashes pepper

About 6 medium Russet potatoes, washed and halved length-wise (any type of potato will work)

Preheat oven to 375 for a clear pan or 400 for any other.  Place butter in 9”X13” baking dish; cut into small pieces.  Place dish in oven as it is heating to melt butter (DON’T LET IT BURN!); remove from oven.

Melted, but not browned.

Sprinkle parmesan cheese, salt, garlic powder, and pepper over melted butter.

Place potatoes in dish, cut-side down.  Bake uncovered 40-45 minutes or until tender.

Delicious!!

To freeze, let potatoes cool completely.  Place on rimmed baking sheet.  Freeze until solid, at least 2 hours.  Transfer to gallon zip-top bag.

To reheat, bake, cut-side up in preheated 350° oven for about 20 minutes.  Reheating time will vary depending on type and size of potatoes.

Note:  Green potatoes can contain a higher concentration of solanine, a toxin found in trace amounts in normal potatoes.  The amount of solanine even in a green potato is not likely to cause problems, but for safety’s sake, any potatoes that are green should be discarded.  See the Snopes.com article here and the NIH information here.