Posted in - Red Meat, Budget Friendly

Frugal Fridays: Pot Roast with Au Ju

Posted on by Northerly Nosh

Pot Roast with Au Ju

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My family of five loves this.

3.5 – 4.5 lb. beef roast – I prefer bottom round, purchased on sale at $1.60 lb, total about $6.40
1 tablespoon vegetable oil – $.05
1/2 cup soy sauce – $.50
2 cups leftover coffee, regular or decaf – $.10
4 bay leaves – I buy bulk or @ dollar store $.15
2 minced garlic cloves – from huge jar from Sam’s Club $.15
1 teaspoon oregano – $.10
2 large onions, sliced – $.40

Grand Total: Works out to about $12.35
Per Serving: $2.06

Prep Day: The night before bed, I heat fry pan, add oil, and brown roast. In a crockpot I mix half onions and rest of ingredients. Add roast and top with rest of onions. Start on low setting. In morning I then open and baste top of onions and roast well. Beef will be falling apart.

Take out of crockpot let meat rest 10 minutes. Slice the hot pot roast so that it cools down faster for freezer storage.

Once cooled, Place the pot roast slices in a rigid, freezer-safe plastic storage container and pour the roast’s cooking liquid or gravy over the meat slices to prevent them from drying out during the freezing process. Allow a 1/2-inch head space for expansion.

Wipe any liquid or gravy off of the rim of the container with a paper towel before pressing an airtight lid onto the container firmly.

Create a label for the container by writing the storage date onto a piece of freezer tape. Press the label onto the container as a handy reference.

Store the pot roast in a freezer set at 0 degrees Fahrenheit for two to four months.

Serve Day: To prepare thaw and dump into the crockpot – cover and cook 4-5 hours on low. You also can add potatoes and carrots if you would like.

Serve with hard rolls (usually purchased from the day old rack at a grocery store for $1.00) and pan juices for dipping. Add salad or vegtable dish. Delicious!

Posted in Dessert

Tasty Treat Thursdays: White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

Posted on by Northerly Nosh

White Chocolate Lemon Truffles

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Adapted from Global Gourmet

1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. heavy cream
Grated zest of 1 lemon
9 ounces good quality white chocolate, finely chopped
pinch of salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into thin slices
2 tsp. freshly-squeezed, strained lemon juice
Granulated Sugar, for coating

Prep Day: In small, heavy, non-aluminum saucepan, combine the heavy cream and lemon zest. Over low heat, heat until cream comes to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, cover tightly and let sit for 20 minutes.

Combine the white chocolate, salt, and butter in medium heatproof bowl. Remove the cover from the cream and reheat over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it reaches a simmer. Remove from heat. Strain through fine-meshed strainer into white chocolate mixture. Press down on the lemon zest left in the strainer to extract all the liquid from it.

Place white chocolate mixture over a pot of warm water on low heat (water should not touch bottom of bowl). Stir the chocolate frequently just until almost melted. Remove the bowl from the warm pot. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. (Note: White chocolate can be difficult when melting. If there are small lumps of white chocolate use a food processor and process the mixture at high speed just until smooth.) Stir in lemon juice. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl. Chill at least 4 hours, covering tightly when cold.

To make truffles: Using a small cookie scoop or a spoon, form balls of about 1 inch diameter from the cold truffle base. Roll in sugar until well-coated. (If you’re having trouble, drop the small spoonful of white chocolate into the sugar, using the sugar to help roll it into a ball. Once a ball is formed, re-roll it in the sugar until coated.) Store truffles airtight in refrigerator for up to one week or freeze for longer storage.

Serve Day: Remove from refrigerator or freezer 15 to 20 minutes prior to serving time. Let stand at room temperature, covered, until serving time.

Posted in Side Dish

Wellness Wednesday: Gotta Love Cauliflower

Posted on by Northerly Nosh

5 Health Benefits of Cauliflower

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Posted By http://www.3fatchicks.com

Among the cruciferous vegetables, cauliflower is something you might want to add to your regular diet because of its multiple health benefits. Cauliflower consumption has been studied for its cancer-preventing potential and antioxidant properties. Cauliflower contains many nutrients, making it an excellent addition to any diet.

Antioxidation – Cauliflower is a very good source of vitamin C and manganese, which are both powerful antioxidants. In fact, 1 cup of boiled cauliflower can already give you 55 mg of vitamin C. Aside from these antioxidants, cauliflower also contains carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, and phytonutrients that include kaempferol, ferulic acid, cinnamic acid and caffeic acid. With these antioxidants, you can be certain that eating cauliflower regularly will help protect you from free radical damage and reduce your risk for diseases caused by oxidative stress, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Anti-Inflammation – Cauliflower also contains high amounts of vitamin K and omega-3 fatty acids, which help decrease inflammation. A cup of boiled cauliflower contains about 11 micrograms of vitamin K and 0.21 g omega-3 fatty acids. Other anti-inflammatory substances in cauliflower include glucosinolates (such as glucoraphin) and isothiocyanates (such as isothiocyanate sulforaphane). Potentially, regular cauliflower consumption can help decrease the risk of inflammation-mediated diseases such as arthritis, obesity, diabetes mellitus, inflammatory bowel disease and ulcerative colitis.

Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular – By virtue of having antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, cauliflower consumption is protective against cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. For instance, in atherosclerosis, there is chronic inflammation of the blood vessel, and the deposition of lipids and white blood cells eventually leads to a decrease in their diameter. This decrease in diameter leads to decreased blood flow to essential organs like the brain (which could lead to stroke), heart (which could lead to heart attack) and kidneys (which could lead to kidney failure). By decreasing chronic inflammation, cauliflower is able to maintain the patency of the blood vessels and keeps excellent blood flow to essential organs of the body.

Digestive – A cup of boiled cauliflower delivers about 3.35 g of dietary fiber, which helps clean your digestive system and gets rid of unnecessary substances. Additionally, a substance called glucoraphin present in cauliflower appears to have a protective effect on your stomach lining. With glucoraphin, your stomach is not prone to the bacterium helicobacter pylori, thereby reducing your risk for stomach ulcer and cancer.

Nutritional – Cauliflower also contains vitamins B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine) and B9 (folic acid). It serves as a good source of proteins, phosphorus and potassium.

You can add boiled or steamed cauliflower to your diet, but if you do not cook it properly, it can become mushy and lose its flavor. An alternative is to sauté this vegetable for 5 minutes. Make sure that you do not eat more than 4 to 5 servings of this vegetable each week though. This is because cauliflower contains purines, which are broken down by the body to produce uric acid. If you have too much uric acid, you could eventually develop gout. A great way to avoid that is to make…

Pure Delicious Cauliflower Mash

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1 head of cauliflower
2 ounces cream cheese or vegan cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground garlic
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Prep Day: Core the cauliflower. Break the head into florets. Put the cauliflower in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Turn down the temperature to medium high and cook for 15 minutes or until a fork pierces the florets easily. Drain the cauliflower and return to the hot pan immediately.

Spoon in the cream cheese and stir to blend. The cauliflower will break up into small pieces which is what we want. The cream cheese will also melt into the cauliflower. Put in the rest of the ingredients and stir. Ready to serve.

To Freeze: Let cool to room temperature. Pack in rigid sided containers and freeze.

Serving Day: Remove from the freezer and put in the refrigerator overnight for about 6 to 8 hours. Zap it in the microwave for 2 minutes stirring after one minute or Heat through in a saucepan and serve.