Great Aunt Mary's Homemade Potato Skins

About a year ago my mom was telling me that when she was growing up Aunt Mary would try to use everything food wise as much as she could to make things stretch and go farther. She then told me she even used her potato peels to make, you guessed it, Potato Skins.

In the winter I use more potatoes because I make soups. I thought I would give my moms/aunts trick a try. After much experimenting I think I finally have it nailed down. The perfect potato skins using something you would normally toss out. Enjoy!!

The finished product!!

Step 1: Peel your potatoes a little thicker than you normally might. I was never a great potato peeler so this is really not a big adjustment for me. :)

Step 2: Wash them really good and then toss out any that just won't make a good potato skin. This was all that I threw out from the big bucket above.

Step 3: Dry them off a bit and then toss with just a tiny amount of olive oil/salt. Once you have done this you will place on a baking sheet to pre-bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees. You want to bake them to get them dry so they won't turn color when you freeze.

Step 4: Let them cool before putting them in a bag. Freeze them for your next party, appetizer night, dinner etc.

Step 5:Pull as many as you need from the freezer. Bake them at 375 until heated through about 20-25 minutes. Then top them with cheese and bacon and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Voila the finished skins topped with our favorites sour cream, chives and black pepper. So yummy and really your only cost is toppings. Way cheaper than T.G.I.Friday's!!

Semi-Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

The Greeneteam assembling the cookie sandwiches.
Our ingredients
The finished product!


A couple of months ago we had a gift card for Coldstone Ice Cream so decided to take the kids. When we arrived the line was ridiculously long. We decided just to grab Coldstones ice cream sandwiches. The kids loved them and so did we. The only problem. $19 for 8 of them. OUCH!! We would never have gotten them without the giftcard and even with it somehow it felt wrong. I hate feeling like I have completely overpaid for something.

Last week when I went Krogering, I decided to look for ingredients to make our own. Krogers Party Pail Ice Cream was on sale for $3.88. I grabbed a pail of the chocolate chip and then went in search of some cheap chocolate chip cookies. I found a bag of hard cookies (32 for $1.25) which is what I wanted. I was afraid that a soft cookie would just get too mushy and not hold up to create the cookie sandwich. Now to see if the creation worked and would taste good.

Sunday night we put the cookies out for the kids to help make/assemble the cookie sandwiches. They loved helping. Assembly was easy. Take a nice size scoop and place it on the bottom cookie, then top with the other one and voila a semi homemade ice cream cookie sandwich. We added some jimmies to the side which is what the ones at Coldstone had on them. Some other ideas to sprinkle the sides with..Mini m&m's, crushed oreos, and mini chocolate chips.

After making the sandwiches we wrapped them individually with saran wrap, put them in a freezer bag and froze them. The first taste test was done two hours after making them. The cookie was really crunchy and the ice cream still did not seem totally frozen. That being said everyone loved them. Next taste test 24 hours later at dinner. Everyone thought that they were now almost perfect. The ice cream seemed to have frozen good, and because of the freezing the cookie had gotten somewhat softer. Our final test 48 hours after we froze them. The semi-homemade ice cream cookie sandwich gets rave reviews. The cookie has been frozen long enough that it is just perfect.

My kids are looking forward to making these again. They are especially looking forward to experimenting with different flavors of cookies and ice cream. I love that it is a dessert the kids can help with, is something that can be made ahead and then is ready when you need it, can be made using your favorite ingredients and customized to fit your diet or lack there of. I also love the cost. Sixteen cookie sandwich treats for around $2!! Now that is a bargain!! Don't forget to save the Party Pail Container. It makes the perfect container for chili, soups etc.

Massachusetts .. Boston Cream Pie

If you are a regular reader of my blog you might be wondering if we quit Cooking Our Way Through the USA. The answer in short is no but we have taken a pretty long break from cooking with the kids and studying the individual states. Obviously we need to get back on track.

Today we made Boston Cream Pie for the Great State of Massachusetts. I can tell we have been out of the kitchen for awhile with the kids because there was lots of arguing and me,me,me stuff going on.. ARRGG! Not exactly a fun day in the kitchen. Luckily we survived with only one minor burn and lots of yelling! A day in the life I tell you. Oh well, not every day can be a perfect day. In fact, at our house most of them are not.

Boston Cream Pie

1 3/4 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, salt,and baking powder in a bowl. 2.cream the butter. Add the vanilla and gradually beat in the sugar. Beat until fluffy. Beat in the two eggs and stir in 1/2 cup flour mixture. 3. Stir in 1/4 cup milk and then add 1/2 cup flour mixture and another 1/4 cup milk. Mix. Add the rest of the flour mixture and beat just enough to blend well. 4. Spoon the batter into 2 greased and floured 7-8 inch round cake pans. 5. Bake the layers 20-30 minutes at 375 degrees. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely.

CREAM FILLING

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 T flour or 1 T Cornstarch
1 egg
few grains salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

1.Put the sugar, flour, and salt in a small heavy saucepan. Stir in milk. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (about 5 minutes). 2. Add the 1 egg and mix. Cook and stir for 3 more minutes. Stir in vanilla. Chill.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 T butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk

1. Place chocolate, butter, and milk in the top of a double boiler. Cook on medium low heat until the chocolate melts. Stir well. 2. Take off the heat and let stand until lukewarm. Stir in Sugar and vanilla. Beat until thick enough to spread.

Put together the cream pie.

Put the layers together with the cream filling. Spread with chocolate frosting.

OUR REVIEW:

We all loved it although the consistency of the cake was slightly biscuit like. Was it supposed to be this way?? Who knows? It was a lot of work for one small cake. Not sure I would try it again with four kids.

KROGER $3.99 Chicken!!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE when Kroger puts Rotisserie Chicken on Sale for $3.99 each. That is when I totally stock up and buy anywhere from 6-8 chickens.

I am thankful that I have a husband who will sit and completely take the chickens apart. I do not like chicken on the bone and so it just kind of gives me creeps to tear it all apart. YEAH JOHN for helping me on this one.

Once he tears the chicken apart I go to work.. Freezing the meat, making stock and making chicken noodle soup!! I will not lie to you this is a lot of work. I usually spend an entire evening 6++ hours getting it all cooked, cleaned and ready for the freezer. By the time I am done I am exhausted and really could care less about the chicken.

However, the upside on this is that for a month or two I have frozen chicken, chicken stock, and chicken noodle soup ready to go in my freezer.

$24 worth of chicken!! 5 stockpots full of chicken stock and two full plates of meat!!
6 meals worth of chicken that I freeze for stews, casseroles, chicken pot pies, tacos etc.
8 Quarts of chicken stock frozen and ready for use in my recipes. We love homemade chicken stock!!

I cannot say enough good things about the $3.99 Rotisserie chickens. We bought 6 chickens for $24. You can see from the pictures some of what I was able to freeze and use.

In total:

2 lunch meals for 6 using the white chicken sandwich meat for sandwiches..YUM!!

8 quarts of frozen stock

6 frozen meals of quart size chicken 3 dark 3 white

1 fresh pot of chicken noodle soup

3 frozen meals of chicken noodle soup

Chicken Stock/Chicken Noodle soup

Once the chickens are taken apart I put 1 chicken carcass/bones in water with an onion, 2-3 carrots,3 stalks of celery including the leaves, huge spoon of garlic, salt, pepper, several chicken boullion cubes, garlic salt, and 2-3 bay leaves. I bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes or so. I then turn it to a lower temp and let it cook for 2 hours. Once done I strain out the large ingredients leaving just the stock. I then take a fine strainer and strain it once more. I do not discard the large bones until I go through them for any chicken that I can use for my chicken noodle soup. There is usually enough meat off of this that I get a nice amt of chicken without needing to use my dark or white meat.

When freezing my stock I use qt size bags. I wait for the stock to cool. I then pour the stock into bags that are labeled and dated and lay flat in my freezer. These are perfect for lemon chicken, soups, stews, chili, and any recipe that calls for stock.

I usually use Tupperware containers to freeze my chicken noodle soup base. I say it is a base because I only freeze the broth and chicken. Later I will add fresh noodles, carrots and peas!! This soup is perfect for a cold day, sick kids, or a quick and easy lunch/dinner!!

I use the meat that I freeze for so many things. Tacos, enchiladas, casseroles, chicken pot pie, lemon chicken etc. It freezes so well and tastes to fresh!!

In my opinion you cannot beat this deal!! If you know of a way to do it cheaper let me know?? I am always looking for ways to save!!

They say fresh stock will keep 3 days or so in your fridge or you can freeze for up to 3 months. I know I have kept it frozen longer!!

Next time you go Krogering watch for the $3.99 Rotisserie deal!!