Menus and Peppered Bacon and Pear Scones

I was talking with my mother on Friday and we got to talking about keeping a record of what we eat especially when it comes to how we use the foods we forage. I've been struggling a little with this blog because I haven't found a good way to share how we survive the month with our food budget. I have shared recipes and grocery budgets but that doesn't touch the day to day ways we stretch our food and the mistakes we make. Starting this week, I will be sharing our daily menus as well as recipes and tips. It may need some tweaking so please be patient while I figure out how best to share this information.
Sundays are a family dinner day and consists of a sort of potluck centered around a theme or main dish. Currently, we are down to just us and my dad. Sometimes we get more family and weird combinations as people just bring something to share.
This Sunday we wanted to do something Irish in honor of St Pat's day but no corned beef. My mother had given us a roast that she found in her freezer - she wasn't quite sure what it was or what condition it was in but we're forever scavengers so we gladly took it.
We got our Bountiful Baskets on Saturday. In the basket we had - romaine lettuce, tomatoes, spring onions, some kale looking leafy green (that no one was able to identify), potatoes, granny smith apples, 2 english cucumbers, carrots, oranges, melon, and 2 cabbages. I think that was everything.
We centered our meal around the roast and his basket (since it's really just him, he likes to use it when we eat with him). We cooked the roast in the crockpot for 6 hours. We had covered it onion soup I had made weeks before (we froze the excess). It was amazing. My dad made a salad of lettuce, shredded carrots, chopped cucumbers and tomatoes. Then he grated Cougar Gold Cheese over the top. Then he chopped up a cabbage and sauteed it with garlic and soy sauce. We microwaved some potatoes while I made a gravy out of the onion soup (1/2 stick butter, 1 cup flour and all the soup). We finished the meal with some cupcakes my father made (cake mix, frosting and grated coconut).
That was dinner. I had made breakfast late in the day so we only had the two meals.
Breakfast was Peppered Bacon and Pear Scones. We have some overly ripe pears that need to be cooked so you'll be seeing a lot of pear dishes this week. I had come across a recipe for Peppered Pear Scones and thought they would be wonderful with the peppery bacon I had purchased this month. These have no added sugar and just a touch of fat making them fairly healthy and super tasty.
Peppered Bacon and Pear Scones
2 cups chopped over-ripe pears (removing core and seeds but leaving skin)
2 cups whole wheat white flour
2 teas baking powder
1/4 teas baking soda
4 slices thick cut peppered bacon
2 eggs
1 TB Molasses
1/4 cup milk
Bake bacon in the oven (lay bacon on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet) at 350 until crisp. Meanwhile make batter. Add flour to a bowl with baking powder and baking soda. Beat in eggs and molasses. Mix in pears, taking care not to break them down too much. Using scissors, cut bacon into 1/4 inch pieces and drop into bowl. Add 1 tablespoon bacon grease, try to get the meat drippings and extra pepper in the process. Mix thoroughly. Drizzle in milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until the batter is wet. Pour onto a baking sheet and smooth out until an even 1/2-3/4 inch. The batter will be rather wet.
Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or until cooked through. Serve warm with butter.

Cabbage Wedges with Tangy Hot Dressing

One year I hosted a huge St. Patrick's Day party and made a beautiful spread for the meal. I discovered 2 new cabbage recipes that year. Cabbage is one of those things that I absolutely love. There is no such thing as a bad cabbage dish but I am still one who makes the same few recipes over and over again. When cabbage goes on sale, I buy at least 10 pounds. Cabbage stores wonderfully in the fridge (often for a couple months) and is very versatile. I often chop it up and fry it with bacon.
Anyway, this recipe is one that is simple and offers a slight alternative to the every day cabbage.
Cabbage Wedges with Tangy Hot Dressing
1 slice bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2/3 cup unsweetened apple juice
1/4 cup cider or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon caraway seeds
1 green onion, thinly sliced
½ head red or green cabbage (about 1 pound), cut into 4 wedges
Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon with slotted spoon to paper towel; set aside. Meanwhile, dissolve cornstarch in apple juice in small bowl. Stir in vinegar, brown sugar and caraway seeds; set aside. Add onion to hot drippings in skillet. Cook and stir until onion is soft but not brown.
Place cabbage wedges, flat side down, in skillet. Add cornstarch mixture to skillet. Cook over medium heat 4 minutes. Carefully turn over cabbage wedges. Cook 6 minutes or until cabbage is fork-tender and dressing is thickened.
Remove cabbage to cutting board; carefully cut away core. Transfer to warm serving plates. Pour hot dressing over cabbage wedges. Sprinkle with bacon pieces. Garnish as desired. Serve immediately.

Bubble and Squeak

I am not certain that this is Irish but it's something that makes me think of Irish foods and is a recipe we make often. Now if you look up the recipe I am sure you will find many varieties and this may not be one. This is what my family makes and loves.
Bubble and Squeak actually comes from the sounds the dish makes as you cook and eat it.
Bubble and Squeak
1/2 cabbage (or more)
1/2 pd bacon
onion, chopped

I use scissors to cut the bacon into 1/2 inch slices and drop them into a hot skillet (use a fairly deep skillet). Fry until it's cooked but still soft. Add chopped onion. Fry until onions are starting to be translucent. Chop cabbage into bite sized pieces or so and add to the skillet. Fry until cabbage is coated in bacon grease and top with lid to steam the cabbage cooked. All in all this recipe should take about 15 minutes to cook - the cabbage should be firm but cooked.

Pasta Carbonara (my version)

When I finished college, I got a job at a little Italian restaurant. I worked back in the kitchen and usually prepped all the fresh ingredients for sauces and what not. It was not a great job but I walked away with some knowledge of the restaurant business and Italian food.
One task I had was prepping the onions, green peppers and bacon to be fried for Pasta Carbonara. Being that I didn't assemble the actual dish, I had no idea they topped the entire thing with Alfredo sauce. When I can't remember what the name of this dish is - I head to the internet and am amazed by all the eggs and cream and what not that goes in this dish.
I am not so naive as to say this is a low fat version but it has to be lower than the normal versions.
This particular dish is our quick and easy go to. Great for unexpected company or any other occasion.

Ingredients:
1 pound spaghetti or capellini noodles
butter or olive oil
1/2 pound bacon, chopped (I use kitchen shears to cut up the bacon)
1 onion, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped

Boil water and add the noodles (cook according to package). Fry bacon until starting to crisp. Add onions and let cook until translucent. Add green peppers and cook until tender and onions/bacon are crisp. Drain noodles and add butter or oil (I usually use about 1/2 stick of butter but you can cut back because the sauce is oily).
Top noodles with bacon mix. In this case, a little goes a long way and don't let anyone top the noodles with too much "sauce". The sauce should equal about 1/3 of the noodles.
Feel free to top with parmesan cheese.
I, sometimes, omit the peppers or use frozen ones and it comes out great. The more veggies you use will help stretch the dish.
Serves about 6 (or my family of 3).