cooking – We Call Him Yes!Chef!

Basic Economics of the Freezer or What is that and how long has it been in there?

The other day I was reading some of the comments that we received on our Facebook Page and I came across a link from a very interesting Facebook Page called On The Homefront. On her page she issued a Pantry Challenge. I thought it sounded interesting, so I spoke to Yes!Chef! about it and he was on board. Here’s the challenge: See how long you can go with just making meals out of your pantry and freezer. Go to the store only to buy necessary perishables like veggies, fruit, dairy.

So, since April 1, we have been scouring our freezer and pantry for long forgotten items to see how creative we can be. Unfortunately, we have also discovered things that are of unknown origin and they look too scary to eat. (Here’s a public service reminder to label and date things when you stick them in your freezer.) But, mostly things have been labeled pretty well.

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April 18, 2013April 19, 2013

Karen Schmautz11 Comments

Chili Today, Hot Tamale or The Pressure’s On

20121111-_MG_1219 web — Pressure Cooker Chili

A couple of months ago we were contacted by a cookware manufacturing company by the name of Magefesa. They wanted to know if we would try out their cookware and then report on it on this blog. We were delighted to do so. They sent us a complete set of cookware, 2 frittata pans and a pressure cooker. Our first post was here. We used the frittata pans and the covered pots to make this meal. We enjoyed using them and continue to use them almost every day. (P.S. They have some great recipes to try here. They also have all kinds of informative videos with tips about how to use the pressure cooker, frittata pans, cooking tips, etc. Check it out!)

We really wanted to try out the Pressure Cooker but Yes!Chef! had never used one before and we wanted to find a recipe that would showcase the cooker. Yes!Chef! would suggest things like beans (of which I am not a big fan), or other food items that take a long time to cook conventionally, but would work well in the PC (Pressure Cooker). We searched around the internet, but nothing seemed right. And worse, all the PC recipes we found seemed more suited to cold weather and it was still pretty warm out.

Enter the Cold Weather

20121111-_MG_1250 web — Snow on the deck

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November 11, 2012November 12, 2012

Karen Schmautz9 Comments

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream

20120610-_MG_9121-Edit web — Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream with Hot Fudge Sauce

We all scream for ice cream, is how that saying is supposed to go. However, I am now 1 for 3 as far as ice cream goes (1 win to 2 losses). So, now every time I tell my fam that I’m thinking about making ice cream, I think they all do a silent scream.

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June 11, 2012June 11, 2012

Karen Schmautz8 Comments

Breakfast with Yes! Chef! or What to do with leftover breadsticks

Last night we had a few people over for dinner and Yes! Chef! made his almost famous spaghetti and meatballs. I thought it would be fun to have homemade breadsticks, so I found this recipe from Food Network: Almost Famous Breadsticks. Yes! Chef! thought it was a grand idea, but he didn’t understand that just because I found the recipe doesn’t mean that I wanted to make the recipe. His first clue was when he asked me how much time I needed to make the bread and I just looked at him blankly.