Easy and Frugal Pesto Recipe

I love basil and I love pesto. Well let me be more specific I love my pesto. I’m not really all that crazy about store bought pesto. The last time I bought pesto many years ago I think it was around $4 for a little jar.

I don’t think the Z Man paid $4 for all these basil plants.

And that’s just one of the two planters we had basil plants in.

That’s the thing about growing your own herbs, it can save you a ton of money.

And look at what these little basil plants turned in to, well once they grew up to be big basil plants.

But, even making pesto from scratch can get a bit expensive if you use pine nuts like the traditional pesto recipe calls for.

I do not use pine nuts in my pesto, instead I substitute them for cashews and it taste great.

And that’s the thing about making pesto, you can and should make it to your taste. Make it the way you like it.

Maybe you like more garlic, or more lemon than I do, so adjust it to your taste.

This is what I do to make freezer pesto…

Wash and spin dry a huge bunch of basil and stuff it in your food processor with the rest of the ingredients
1 or 2 whole peeled garlic cloves
the juice of one lemon
1/3 cup of cashew nuts
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
a pinch of salt
a pinch of red pepper flakes
about a cup of good olive oil (while the food processor blade is running)

You will process the mixture while drizzling the olive oil in the processor until you get the consistency you like. This is also where the tasting begins to determine if you need more salt, or more lemon, or more anything.

One of our favorite dinners is leftover roasted chicken with pesto and bow tie pasta or a chicken pesto panini sandwich. YUM!

I ended up with 2 full gallon bags of pesto cubes in the freezer from 8 or so basil plants, but that doesn’t count all the caprase salads we’ve had this summer, or the fresh pesto we’ve eaten.

I like to freeze the pesto in ice cube trays then pop them out and store them in freezer bags. That way I can pull out what I need anytime. Maybe just 1 cube for sandwiches or pizza or 4 cubes for the chicken pasta dish. It’s just easier and less chance of waste.

Try growing your own basil and making your own pesto. It really is worth it.

Till next time,

Lori

The Sweetest Gift

This is what you do when a friend gives you a lovely gallon of fresh picked grapes.

This was my first time at making grape jelly, and now I know what all the fuss is about. This grape jelly taste nothing like what you would buy in the store. This grape jelly taste like a grape. It has a fresh quality to it with just a hint of tartness in the background. It’s sweet alright that’s for sure, with 13 cups of sugar in it, it ought to be.

I know I know, everybody is cutting out white sugar because it has apparently become the new poison.

Well, not me. Moderation is what I say, because now that I’ve tasted this grape jelly, I don’t want to imagine life without it and I can’t wait to smear it all over a warm buttery biscuit or a slice of warm homemade honey wheat bread. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I used my food mill to juice the grapes, but for some reason my food mill just would not cooperate with these grapes. By the time I decided to give up my kitchen looked like a crime scene. I had grape juice all over me, all over the counters, all over the floor, all over everything.

Mother said those should be the pictures I post because it would make for a good laugh. Shouldn’t be too hard to do, because more often than not I’m making some kind of mess in the kitchen. 🙂

So this is what I did.

Grape Jelly

Rinse 1 gallon of grapes and remove stems
Put grapes in a heavy bottom pot with 1 cup of water
Smash grapes with a potato masher (while thinking about the classic I Love Lucy episode of her stomping grapes)
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes while continuing to crush and stir the grapes – You will need 8 cups of juice
Strain the juice through a fine colander then place the juice in a cool spot over night
Get your jars and lids ready (washing and sterilizing them)
Strain the juice through a double cheese cloth or you could use a clean sheet or t-shirt you’ve cut up into dish towels like I did. (now I have a lovely tie dye dish towel that will always be tie dye, so keep that in mind)
Pour the grape juice back into the heavy bottomed pot and whisk in 2 boxes of fruit pectin
Bring mixture to a full boil
Whisk in 13 cups of sugar
Bring mixture back to a boil and boil for one minute (set a timer for this – 1 minute is important)
Skim the foam top off of the jelly
Carefully ladle the extremely hot mixture into your jars
Wipe clean the rims of the jars, put lids and bands on and water bath for 5 minutes

This netted me 16 (8 ounce) jars of jelly.

I highly recommend setting one jar aside for immediate consumption.

As a matter of fact I highly recommend a celebratory peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of ice cold fresh milk when your done.

Well, speaking of the sweetest gift…

The only thing that could’ve made this jelly better is my beautiful granddaughter making it with me. My punkin butt loves her some purple gravy.

Meet my punkin and peanut. Now that really is the sweetest gift!

Thank you to our friend for gifting us the lovely grapes, they will keep on giving all through the winter.

Till next time,

Lori

What’s Cooking 5/17/16?

The weather has been unseasonably chilly the past few days and today it’s rainy too so I think it’s a great day for a pot of soup.

My favorite soup is potato soup.

I’ll tell you how I make my potato soup, but bear with me because I do not measure at all with soups, it’s more of just a toss it in the pot process. But that’s part of the charm of soup isn’t it? Almost anything goes.

First a little funny for you… I actually googled the proper spelling of bear or bare to use in my above comment “bear with me” and if I had used the spelling “bare” with me, then by one definition I would have been unintentionally asking you to undress with me….

Whew, good thing I googled that! 🙂

Yes I’m 12 years old again.

Potato Soup Recipe

peeled and diced potatoes
chicken stock
diced celery
diced onion
finely chopped fresh rosemary
rendered bacon fat or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
masa corn flour
milk – warmed and full fat preferably

Peel and dice potatoes and boil in chicken stock until tender. While potatoes are boiling saute celery, onion and rosemary in bacon fat until softened, then add the mixture to the simmering potatoes. Test a couple of potatoes with a fork to make sure they are done and then add a heaping tablespoon (or 2) of corn masa while the soup is simmering (not boiling). You will need to stir the masa into the soup quite well and it will take a couple of minutes to get it completely incorporated. Then add warmed milk until you reach the “soup” consistency you like.

I find that by boiling the potatoes in chicken stock it adds flavor to the potatoes and the same for the masa corn flour. It adds a little flavor while not leaving that pasty texture you sometimes get with corn starch or flour.

My favorite thing to go with potato soup is a big pan of corn bread.

You can top your potato soup with cheese, sour cream and bacon bits what ever you like.

That’s the great thing about soup, you can just toss in anything you like.

Sometimes the next day I’ll add 2 bottles of clam juice and clams to the potato soup and it magically turns into clam chowder. YUM!!!

What’s Cooking 5/17/16?

Breakfast: egg and sausage fritata
Lunch: salad in a jar
Dinner: Potato soup and cornbread

What’s cooking for you today?

Have a great day!

Till Next Time,

Lori

Honey Wheat Bread

I made bread this past weekend…

There is a lot of waiting in bread making…. hence the corona with the second rise.

I used a honey wheat bread recipe from the kitchn website.

Several years ago I tried my hand at baking bread, but I never really got very good at it so I just stopped. I’ve been wanting to start baking bread, which I’m sure comes as no surprise to you since I’ve been ranting about the fake crap in the grocery stores…. But the thought of hand kneading bread for the 8 to 9 minutes like this recipe called for did not appeal to me.

For a long time I’ve been debating on purchasing a stand mixer, but I just kept hesitating spending the money for one because they are expensive, and I didn’t know how much use I would give it. Then about six weeks ago a wonderful thing happened. I was given the opportunity at work to pick out a bonus prize from a vendor points award catalog. Guess what I picked?

Well that sealed the deal and I couldn’t wait to try my hand again at making bread. So, I started researching sour dough starter recipes and all kinds of other bread recipes.

I have to admit that while the stand mixer was kneading the honey wheat dough for 8 to 9 minutes, I took great pleasure in popping the top on a Corona and just watching it work.

I couldn’t be happier with my honey wheat bread, both loaves turned out almost perfect. It was moist with a great texture, a perfect sandwich bread. I probably could’ve baked it for another minute or so, but I’m not complaining and the Z Man loved it too. My first wheat bread bake turned out great, which gave me the inspiration to keep going….

In the third picture you can see that I have two bowls covered. One is the wheat bread and in the other bowl I had a sour dough bread rising.

I’ve been working on my sour dough starter for about 2 weeks now, and again for the starter and the bread recipe I referenced the kitchn website. (really that is how it’s spelled) 😉

I baked two loaves of sourdough bread after the wheat breads. While the sourdough bread had a great flavor to it, I have to say that the bread was too tough, which was completely my fault because I tried to rush it. You can’t rush baking!

But all in all I’m very pleased with my baking day. I turned out two really good loaves of honey wheat bread, and two tasty sour dough bricks. Next I want to try the frugal girls homemade hamburger bun recipe.

Again, sometimes I post the recipes I use and sometimes I don’t. But, if you would like a recipe you see on Z Life Blog just let me know and I’ll be more than happy to share it.

What’s Cooking 4/13/16?

Breakfast: a properly sweetened jar of overnight oats with walnuts, a sprinkle of cinnamon, diced apple, and a tablespoon of maple syrup
Lunch: salad in a jar (the same as yesterday)
Dinner: meatloaf, steamed broccoli and corn on the cob

Y’all Have A Great Day!

Till Next Time,

Lori