LOK/CWA Cooking Challenge Entries

This is the final LOK/CWA Cooking Challenge, at least on my end. There will still be a cooking challenge, but it will now be hosted by Lots of Kids and Renee at Cornbread & Cookies. Please keep checking those links for the new challenges!

Here are the entries for the last challenge, and I have to say that they all look better than mine did:

Annie Jones at Real Life Living
Kim at Growlies for the Gang
Michelle at her blog on Large Family Network
My own here at Cooking with Anne

Well, we're not exactly Eric Riperts, but with so little to work with, it wasn't all so bad.

LOK/CWA Challenge

This isn't due until Monday, June 30th, and I am not allowed to submit anything, but I did take up this challenge on myself and wanted to share what I did for inspiration in case anyone needs it.

This month's challenge was based on one that Chef Eric Ripert also faced. You can read about his challenge HERE, but I'll sum it up for you. Unlike the challenge that we've put up, his challenge was to make meals using food from a 99 cent store that sold more than dry goods. The store happened to be Jack's 99-Cent Store where one can evidently purchase things like cheese tortelloni, gumball-size mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, frozen crab cakes, canned coconut milk, jasmine rice and salmon filets.

My local Dollar Tree doesn't have a refrigerated or frozen section, so my choices were severely limited. Meat, for instance, was a toss up of potted meat, Vienna sausages, chicken salad or Treet, Armour's version of Spam.

There was quite a bit of pasta to choose from, but I swore that I wouldn't take the "easy way out" with this and cook up spaghetti. Although the challenge doesn't state this, I was determined not to use any pantry items. I always have Balsamic vinegar on hand, but I wanted it for this challenge, so I bought it instead of using my own. I also really wanted Parmesan cheese for the entree, but because it wasn't sold at my particular store, I went without.

Here are the 15 ingredients I did purchase:



Left to right:

Roasted red peppers, California ripe olives, green olives stuffed with pimiento, marinated mushrooms, chicken bouillon, white rice, Balsamic vinegar, Mandarin oranges, Treet (2 cans), collard greens (2 cans), chocolate stars, raspberry preserves and pear halves.

Not a lot to work with, but I figured it out as I went and hoped for the best.

Here's what I made:

My appetizer was Roasted Red Peppers with Marinated Mushrooms and Olives. I drained the liquid from the olives and peppers and tossed everything with the mushrooms and their liquid (which had some nice chunks of garlic in it) and baked it for half an hour. This is a spin-off of an appetizer I make often where I toss several types of olives together with olive oil, garlic and herbs and then wrap in foil and bake. This was close, but not nearly as good. It was OK, but I won't be making it again.

My entree was Treet canned "ham" marinated in mandarin oranges and balsamic vinegar and then baked. I made a "risotto" from the chicken bouillon and rice. Keep in mind, this is risotto in method only; the ingredients are nothing like what is necessary for really good risotto. I also served collard greens. I was so intrigued by the fact that these were there in a can that I couldn't let it go and gave in and bought them. Collards and ham or bacon go very well together, so I figured with the "ham" they wouldn't be too bad. This whole plate was rather yucky. The rice took on the traditional creaminess of risotto, but powdered bouillon made it so salty that it was hard to eat. The "ham" was mushy so I sliced it and then pan fried it to add a bit of a crust to it and that helped a little. The collard greens? Well, they're canned and I like my collard with a little crunch left, so these weren't good to me at all. The flavor was a bit bland as well.

Dessert! Well, this may be my one redeeming dish. I baked the pears in their liquid and then melted the chocolate stars, warmed the raspberry preserves and topped off the pears. Not only was it pretty, it wasn't half bad tasting!

So, this was my foray into a completely non-fresh meal and I'm thankful it's over! The total for 4 meals was $15. The june CWA/LOK Cooking Challenge can be found HERE.

There's Still Time!

There's still time to join in on this month's Lots of Kids/Cooking with Anne Cooking Challenge! You don't want to miss this one, it's a challenge that Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin himself faced (OK, he had a little more leeway).

You can check out all the details HERE or HERE. Have fun!

LOK/CWA Cooking Challenge for June, 2008

The newest Lots of Kids/Cooking with Anne challenge is up! This month is the Dollar Store Challenge. Check out the rules for this event HERE or HERE. Good luck!

LOK/CWA Cooking Challenge Round-Up

Here are the entries for this month's LOK/CWA Cooking Challenge! The first two meals are listed here since they were not posted elsewhere, and the rest are linked to their respective blogs.

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From Penelope, a LOK mom of 9:

Poppy Seed Chicken

3 cups raw rice - .48
2 10 oz cans cr of ck soup- 2 x .69
1 16 oz fat free sr cream - .99
1 lb boneless skinless chicken cooked and chopped-1.49
1 sleeve crackers - .54
1/4 c butter - .43
2 T poppy seeds - .05

Cook rice according to directions and spread in 9x13 pan. Mix cooked chicken, sour cream, and both cans of soup. Spread over rice. Melt butter. Use a food processor to make the crackers into crumbs, add to butter with poppy seeds. Mix well and spread evenly over the sauce layer.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 min.

48 oz applesauce - 2.00
(or 16 oz frozen corn - .69)

Cherry Brownies

1 box brownie mix - .99
1 egg - .12
1/4 c oil - .11
1 21 oz can cherry pie fill 2.00

Mix brownies according to fudge directions, stir in cherries and bake in 9x13. Bake according to box plus about 10 min. It varies according to the mix and your oven...so we just keep an eye on it at the end.

Total = 10.58
And definitely less if I used canned or frozen veggies.

* I used the prices that I actually paid for items, since most are in my storage, rather than pricing them all in one shopping trip. This is for my family of 11, I usually at least have leftovers for one of us to have lunch from it.

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From Kate at Life with Special Needs Kids. Kate is an LOK mom of 7.

Green Soup

4 bouillon cubes
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tbsp butter
4 cups cooked, shredded chicken (2-3 breasts)
2 cups apples, peeled & chopped
2 cups carrots, diced
2 cups celery, chopped
2 Tbsp parsley
1 tsp curry
1 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup flour
10 cups water

Boil chicken in water until cooked through. Drain water, then shred chicken.

Cook onion in butter until soft. Add chicken, apples, carrots, celery, flour & spices. Slowly add water & bouillion cubes. Stir well. Simmer 30 minutes, minimum, before serving.

Serve soup with buttered french bread & a tossed green salad OR grilled cheese sandwiches.

Cost
bouillion cubes ($1.32 for 6) 0.88
onion (0.25/lb) 0.13
butter ($2.18 for 32 Tbsp) 0.14
chicken ($1.88/lb) 1.88
apples (0.78/lb ~ used 3 small apples) 0.78
carrots (0.98/1lb bag baby carrots) 0.98
celery (0.38/lb ~ used 4 stalks, about 1/3lb) 0.13
flour ($3.28/bag ~ 73, 1/4-cup servings per bag) 0.09

Total for soup = $5.01

If served with salad & bread, use 1 bag salad mix for $2.78 & 1 loaf french bread for 0.98 for a total of $8.77.

If served with grilled cheese sandwiches, use 1 loaf whole wheat bread for $1.18, approximately 4 tbsp butter for 0.28 and 9 slices of cheese (for 9 family members) for $1.08 ($2.88/24 slices American cheese). Total = $7.55

This is what I made for dinner tonight, so seeing your challenge was fun because I immediately knew what I could use as an entry.

I got this recipe from a friend many years ago.

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Annie Jones' entry at Real Life Living for 5 people.

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From Lisa at Living Easy serving 5.

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These two are from MIRZ, mom of 8 and founder of LOK, hence, she is not in the running, but wanted to contribute nonetheless.
There is one at the LOK Household Blog and one at her personal blog.

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And ... the winner of our first challenge, who receives a badge to proudly display on her blog, is Annie of Living Life Real! Congratulations to you, Annie!

A Little Extra Time

The Cooking with Anne and Lots of Kids cooking challenge has been extended! Have your recipe in by May 5th and the entries will be posted on May 6th. Check it out HERE and join in!

***Addendum***
Since this first challenge was not up until halfway through the month, you do NOT need to have a photo for your entry!

Last Chance!

Today is your last chance to add a comment to last week's Veggie Wednesday post for your entry to win my fabuloso GIVEAWAY! You have until 10 PM EST tonight, so go there and leave a word or two.

Tomorrow is the last day to get an entry in the LOK/CWA Cooking Challenge for April. HERE is the link with all the info you'll need for that. Remember, this month's entry does NOT need to be accompanied by a photo.

New Cooking Challenge

Cooking with Anne and Lots of Kids have teamed up to bring you a brand new family-friendly monthly cooking challenge! Check it out HERE and join in!

***Addendum***
Since this first challenge was not up until halfway through the month, you do NOT need to have a photo for your entry!

Book Review: Table for Eight

I recently received a copy of Table for Eight, Raising a large family in a small family world by Meagan Francis, and I have come to one single conclusion after reading it and that would be that anyone who has or is thinking of having a large family should have a copy of this book. Kids are great, but even one or two can be challenging, and once you get up to four and beyond, it's a whole new ball of wax.

Oh, I know, many moms, especially those of us with lots of kids, know it all and don't need any advice, but my take on life is that until you cease to exist, you're learning.

Of course, I headed straight for the food chapter: Feeding Your Flock, and all I have to say about this is that the advice there is sound, sound, sound. There's info there (and all over the book) from real moms with many children who have been there, done that. There are also menu planning and pantry charts (click here for more of that type) to help keep your food stores and tummies full. The only thing I would add at all would be ALDI.

I really like the chapter Having Fun, since we tend NOT to have enough of this. We did go camping a few years ago and had a blast for very little cash, but that's been it. This chapter has websites and ideas I never thought of.

I also like Keeping the Household Running, not just for the great tips, but also for the fact that one of the Additional Resources is the URL to Lots of Kids, where I am on staff.

You can find your own copy of this terrific resource for large families at:

Amazon.com

Barnes and Noble