For dinner #8 I went to my Mom’s and she fed us. My Mom lives about an hour away and I was going to be in the area for a family Wedding Shower, so we came early and crashed her dinner. I did ask the day before, so I guess I wasn’t really crashing her dinner. Anyway she fed me and my kids…so thanks Mom!

Last night I wanted to use some hamburger patties that I had in the fridge that were going to go bad if I didn’t use them asap. I also had some cabbage from my garden. So we grilled hamburgers and I made some Cole slaw. Here is where the cheat came in. I had Dadzoo stop at the store to pick up supplies to my jam and I figured since he was there anyway….I had him get hamburger buns too. I fully planned on trying to make my own buns…but since he was already there….

On to the Cole Slaw. I am not a fan. Not a fan of Cole Slaw at all. Until I tried my Aunt Beki’s recipe. It isn’t your traditional Cole Slaw, there is no mayo, or carrots (I guess you could add carrots if you wanted to) or raisins, or any of the things one would associate with Cole Slaw, excepting the Cabbage of coarse. I really like it, and so does Dadzoo, the kids not so much, but I don’t cook for my kids.

Here is my Cabbage freshly picked and washed.

Chop it all up, or shred it, however you like.

Then make the dressing:

3 Tbsp vinegar

2 Tbsp oil

1 Tbsp Sugar

and salt to taste

(I use a lot of salt, it seems to need it)

First,

before we get to any dinners

aren’t friends and neighbors wonderful!

Apricots are in season around here and from the looks of it, it will be a wonderful crop!

There are many years that we won’t have apricots if we have a late season frost and while the spring time was wet and cool, it didn’t get cold enough to freeze the apricot blossoms!

My neighbors across the street gave us some of their apricots, aren’t they pretty!

I love the color

and if I have more I would have made the most fabulous jam from them!

But, instead, I make apricot crisp!

I have never made crisp from apricots and I think it turned out pretty darn good.

We had it for breakfast on Sunday.

Pantry dinner number 6 was on Saturday and I turned to one of my staples

Salsa Chicken.

I throw chicken breasts into the crock pot, dump some salsa over the top and cook on high for 4 hours.

Once it is done cooking I shred it with a fork, and this is what I am left with.

We went to my Mom’s house and had a barbecue, so I did have to break down and go buy some hamburger buns (I could have been more on top of it and made them myself).

Friday Dadzoo and I went on a date! Yipee! We went to dinner, and Italian restaurant, my favorite and then we saw a movie (the new x-files, we are both x-files junkies!). Our neighbor came over and watched our kids for us. I had watched their little boy several time and they wanted to return the favor. I told then that it wasn’t a fair trade, one boy for 5 punks, but they insisted! We had a great time. The kids got ramen noodles for dinner, it is quick and easy, even though when it come to nutrition it falls flat on its face! I don’t serve them noodles very often.

Tonight I am cooking chicken Salsa, it is one of my staples! YUM!

For my third Pantry Dinner I decided to make pancakes. I know, I know, that is a breakfast! Hey I am an equal opportunity food consumer. If pancakes want to be dinner who am I to stop that!

Really thought, I seriously couldn’t think of anything else. I didn’t plan far enough ahead to really cook anything. I have found out that I need to freeze some cheese and keep some canned tomato products on hand. I will write that one down for the next grocery trip! Dadzoo thinks we are in trouble if I am resorting to pancakes on day 3, I have some magic up my sleeve, I think he will be pleasantly surprised.

When I first started to seriously store food I looked into storing pancake mix. Storing enough cereal for 7 people is just too expensive. I found that pancake mixes only last a few months, not so good for storing long term. So I started to experiment with made from scratch pancakes and this is what I came up with!

All these items can come out of long term storage, even the eggs, you can freeze eggs! To freeze an egg you just crack it in a bowl, lightly scramble it and freeze it in a ziplock. Easy! However, I have made this recipe without eggs and while it isn’t as good it is still yummy. I have also used water instead of milk, and it works well too.

Here goes, our cast of characters:

For this batch I used 2 cups of whole wheat flour and one cup white.

I have gone all whole wheat, they are good, but not as fluffy,

I have used all white flour and those, while not as nutritious, are to die for!

See these little gems?
They are eggs from my own little chickens.

I am getting about two eggs a day now from the two smallest chickens

that is why they are so small.

I am going to use 5 eggs because they are small, if you are using medium or large eggs, stick to two.

There you have it, hot pancakes with warm maple syrup for dinner, sounds yummy doesn’t it!

And if you are 4 you get to have some Apple Jelly on top of your pancakes too!

As I mention in a previous post we are eating completely out of the pantry for the next little while. I am kind of enjoying the challenge. I don’t want to give the impression that we are starving and I am making dinners from flour and rice, however this is very diffrent from what I usually do in regards to our eating.

Typically the day Dadzoo gets paid I will make a two week menu with Breakfast, Dinner and Snack, I will then make my grocery list off that, adding some items to build up our years supply of food. Since I didn’t do that for this pay period I am going off of what is left in our pantry. Items that I have purchased in bulk on sale, or purchased to build up our food supply.

Yeasterday I baked a chicken. I have never baked a chicken before. I have baked parts of chicken, drumsticks or breasts, but never a whole chicken. I always buy several fryers at the grocery store when they go on sale, which is pretty often. I keep them in the frezer and I usually use them for chicken noodle soup. So when I was wanderng my food storage area and I came upon those chickens I decided that I was going to bake one for dinner.

The only problem I had with baking a chicken is the heat factor. It is a stinking 100 degrees outside and my kitchen/living area is located on the south west corner of the house. I tends to get really hot in there, even with the air conditioner running. I figured I could use the crock pot and it wouldn’t get as hot, but even the crock pot can warm things up in that room. So, I used a tip I had seen on another blog. I put the crock pot on my back proch. Yummy chicken, no heat!