Thursday, July 1, 2010

In The Kitchen With Debbie - The Country Bumpkin Edition

Last night I made this dish, which my hubby jokingly called a "Tater Souffle". LOL It is a concoction that I came up with to make use of pantry and fridge items. It contains "taters" of course, onions, browned hamburger and a small amount of cream of celery soup left over from a squash casserole I made over the weekend. The potatoes were small and so after washing them well, I sliced them peeling and all. It turned out pretty well and was a way to put the potatoes to use before they went bad, which was imminent!



This African Violet and chicken sit on the window sill over my kitchen sink. Since we moved to the farmhouse my African Violets have been blooming like crazy because they get so much more sunlight sitting in the window.



This is a bell pepper picked from our sweet bell pepper bush we have growing in a pot. It is perfectly shaped and miniature in size. So we decided it must be a "hairloom" pepper. (yes we were being silly last night)



I was given more wonderful fresh corn yesterday and although we love it, we have eaten as much as we can stand for a while. So, after getting home from work and while the "tater souffle" was baking, I shucked, washed and blanched several of the ears for freezing. I broke the ears in half and stuffed a gallon freezer bag with them. It may not sound like a lot of freezing, but there are 20 pieces in this bag. Breaking them in half allows you to put more corn in the bag. When I need a side dish I will just cook the number of ears needed for that particular meal.



This is my freezer which is part of our side by side refrigerator/freezer. As you can see there are 3 frozen pizzas, several packages of frozen hamburger, a package of frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts, the frozen corn from above, and various odd items. I hope to fill it with more summer bounty as well as meat purchased on sale. But, I will make sure I use what's in here first!



I must admit to you that I cook too much and we have too many leftovers! I need to work on cooking just what we need for a particular meal. Even though we eat as many of the leftovers as we can for lunches, etc., there is too much waste!

11 comments:

Granny said...

That Tater Souffle sounds really good. My mom used to grow lovely african violets. She always set them in the north windows in the kitchen.

I have the same problem with cooking too much. There are just two of us here and it's hard to cook just a small amount of some things.

Lorie said...

Lovely blog. Glad I stopped by and I look forward to reading more.
Blessings,
Lorie

Anonymous said...

Hi Debbie,
I am with you. I cook too much too.I am learning to how much to cook for us. Have a wonderful 4th of July. I know there will be lots of sewing going on.
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Little Penpen said...

I love country bumpking style! The casserole/ souffle looks great. I have NEVER had luck with African violets... never! Someone gave me one recently (about a month ago) and I've already thrown it out. Enjoy your long weekend!

Anonymous said...

Not doing much with the computer until my eye gets completely adjusted to its new status without cataract!

The rotini dish as well as the tater souffle both sound good. Ask your hubby about 'mustard souffle'!!

marjorie

Denise said...

Way to be creative, with your pantry items. I know it has been difficult for me to adjust to cooking for 2 when my youngest son is away at school then switching when he comes home for the summer.

Anonymous said...

Your "tatar souffle" sounds really good to me. I'm always looking out for a new dish to use hamburger. I think I will buy some celery soup and try this out!

Melinda

Rhonda said...

That potato dish sounds good! We're definitely "meat and potatoes" around here. :)

L said...

Debbie, I think you just have the magic flower touch, that's all! I wish I were as good at growing flowers as you are.

You are making such good use out of everything you have. You are motivating me too. I love what you did with the corn - I am hoping to do the same once I see a really good sale on them.

Anonymous said...

Debbie, Thank you so much for sharing your blog. I am going to strive to use what is in my freezer as well. It will help reading about your progress. Thanks for sharing the deals at Food Lion.
jaci

Alexandra said...

Now that is a good husband casserole! I make these for him every once in awhile...when I'm not experimenting with ethnic foods. ;)

I began freezing leftovers. We have the same problem because my husband often eats at the fire station on duty, and the kiddos don't eat much.

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