Meal in a Packet

I got in the mood to make little "foil packet" meals for us the other night. We were kind of low on groceries, so I made them real simple, but you can put ANYTHING in one of these. You can also customize them for different likes or dislikes. Usually, these are for putting on campfires. But I just laid these in pie tins (in case something leaked out), two fit nicely in each tin, then baked them in the oven.

I made four of these. I started with a square of foil for each, and oiled them (or you can use spray) so stuff wouldn't stick. First was a layer of sliced potatoes, then I sprinkled those with kosher salt, some black pepper and some Lawry's seasoned salt. (I think potatoes need a lot of salt.) Then sliced some smoked sausage on top, figuring that any juices from that would go down into the potatoes and help cook and flavor them. Then sealed up with a top fold and end folds, laid them in the pie tins, and baked at 350 degrees for an hour.

Hubby "complained" that it wasn't big enough, and that's a way of saying he liked them. They WERE good! The potatoes had a good flavor, and the meat was delicious.

You could do anything in these (commonly called a "hobo" packet), different meats, different veggies, seasonings, butter, just anything that sounds good. Maybe you could even do a chili cheeseburger! Just grab a piece of foil, turn the oven on, and let your food creativity take over. Then relax while the oven does the work.

Nighttime Baking

Hubby works at night, and even on his "nights off," he will stay up in order to stay in a routine. You never know what he (plus sometimes younger Son) will do during those night hours!

While I slept soundly last night, look what he whipped up ....

.... "Red Lobster" biscuits! They're flaky, they're buttery, they're garlicky. Yum, yum, yum, yum ....!

Individual Sweet Treats

It seems that if I make a bowl of jello salad and have it in the refrigerator, I'm the only one who eats it. So lately, I hit on the idea of making individual desserts in half-pint jars (plastic Ball freezer jars in this case). Any kind of jar with a lid, or you could even use little plastic cups with some plastic wrap over the top. Having it in ready-to-grab-and-eat portions makes it easy and fun to serve.

The first time, I made cherry jello, sliced bananas and mini marshmallows. This was a combo Mom made a lot when I was growing up. Then I've also used orange jello with the same combo. Then peach jello with just the mini marshmallows, as I was out of bananas that time. THEN, I've also made "pudding cups," first with just chocolate pudding and whipped topping. Then, the photo above shows a different combo I just made ... vanilla pudding, sliced bananas, vanilla wafers (crumbled, or even graham crackers could be used?), and whipped topping all layered however you want. The earlier desserts I used four half-pint jars. This time, since there were lots of ingredients to layer, I used six.

My boys may be teenagers, but I think they're having fun eating these, and I'm actually getting fruit in them with some of these combos. I'm even enjoying having a tasty, cool dessert or snack to just grab and enjoy.

Refreshing Cold Plate for Summer

Summer cold plate. We'd do something like this at home when I was younger during the hot summer months. This version: Meat and cheese on Ritz crackers, pine nut hummus with bagel chips, cottage cheese, cole slaw, a fresh purple plum, and a homemade jello cup of cherry jello with sliced bananas and mini marshmallows. All easy, cool and refreshing. :)

When Mom made this kind of plate, she'd start with a can of salmon (as is) divided among the plates, then she'd add such things as sliced tomatoes, cottage cheese, peaches, etc.

Beautiful Blooms

For a few years, I've had a hankerin' to have a planter out front with geraniums in it. So this last spring, I got 3 different colors, plus some petunias. I took too long to transplant them to the planter, and almost killed everything, but FINALLY got in gear and put them in the planter awhile back. They've bloomed, then gone through a spell of no blooms, then they bloom again. So right now they are all 3 blooming at once. Adds a purty sight to our front step, plus the red rock, plus the horseshoes. There's one lone dark-purple petunia in the planter that made it, out of six. I admit that's my fault, I'm hard on plants. But as long as I remember to water these babies, Hopefully we can have some pretty blooms through the rest of the summer!

Produce Market

Now that garden produce is getting going, there's a produce market over in the nearby bigger town twice a week. Earlier this week, Older Son and I stopped at it, and went a little wild (for us). Here's the photo evidence. First, the whole gang:

Sweet potatoes:

New potatoes:

Summer squash (zucchini, yellow, and a hybrid that is a cross between the two - half yellow and half green!):

A big green pepper and a couple of jalapenos:

A couple of tomatoes:

A couple of onions:

A couple of peaches (there were three, but I ate one, it was good!):

One more look at the whole thing, happy eating!

I've enjoyed Pioneer Woman's website, including the recipes. http://thepioneerwoman.com/ So today I set out to make her recipe for "Buttered Rosemary Rolls, since I had a few leftover frozen rolls, AND some fresh rosemary ready to use. I'm having lots of fun watching my basil and rosemary grow in my kitchen window.

I set them to thaw in the cast iron skillet (plus a few extra in another pan) ...

... and got some butter out to soften.

Here they are risen, and prepared for the oven with melted butter, fresh rosemary and some salt. (Her recipe calls for sea salt, but I just sprinkled on some kosher salt, since it's a little bit coarse.) I left the extra pan plain, with just some butter on top.

Here they are, fresh out of the oven. Yum!

Me fixing my first (*ahem*) roll to try.

The skillet of rolls after older Son and I lit into 'em! Will sure make these again. :)