Simple and Heartfelt

Photo Courtesy of Forest Hill (online)

YUM!  Meals!  We all have them, we all need them and we all enjoy them.  Sometimes when life is busy, difficult, or in a season of change, somehow, a simple meal  that we didn't have to think about or prepare can mean the world.  That's where this post comes in - we want to help with this process by sharing tips or ideas for easy meal making and taking!  I polled a few ladies on facebook and other social media, to see what they found helpful in making, taking and receiving meals.  The response was GREAT!  I am so thankful to all the wonderful women who responded!  Here are your thoughts and tips! 

Planning Ahead and Questions to Ask

1.  Food allergies, likes and dislikes and menu ideas.  Sometimes there are several days in a row that people are receiving meals, which is wonderful and a great blessing.  It's nice to have a variety of food, so simply asking, "What did you have the past couple days?" prior to making the meal is helpful.  Although a blessing, lasagna 3 days in a row can be "too much of a good thing".  Also, we all want to bring food that people will enjoy.  Just a couple questions like, "Do you like chicken?  Will your children eat broccoli?  can make a big difference and make the blessing even sweeter. 

2.  How many people will this meal serve?  Sometimes there are other family that will be there for supper.  Sometimes only 2 people.  That's nice to know.  If the family has children, ask if your children are "big eaters".  Tailoring the amount of food to the number of people is wise thing.  Many said it was stressful to throw out food that their family didn't eat just because of the sheer volume.  So it's something to keep in mind. 

3. Ask if they have a freezer - some women said although the food was wonderful, they could not use all the food that was brought and they did not have a freezer to preserve the leftovers for another day.

4.  A few ladies mentioned that they make "double" of whatever they're making for their family and take that meal out for another family.  Less to plan and prepare.  Great idea!

  5.  If you are one organizing meals for a family/friend, ask about WHEN the meals would be helpful.  Sometimes every night is too much depending on the family.  In a grieving situation appetites can be interrupted because of a stressful time so it's nice to ask about these sorts of things.  Also ask WHAT TIME would be good to drop off the meal.  A few said the meal coming at the same time every night was a huge blessing because of work schedules, children home from school, hospital visitation schedule, etc.


Things to Avoid

1.  For new mommies: cabbage, chocolate, too much garlic, onions and spice as sometimes these foods can cause gas in a nursing baby.

2.  Sending dishes/containers that have to be returned.  This was a reoccurring theme throughout most of the responses.  This can be a burden to some, even causing guilt when one can't return the container in a timely manner.  Foil trays with lids, take out containers or plastic Ziplock containers work so well.  Don't cook in the foil or plastic, rather use them to transport meals.  Putting one meal in one large foil tray works great too.  For example putting the roast chicken, potatoes and veggie all in one large tray with a lid.  Voila, the recipient opens the lid and the meal is all there.

Menu Ideas 

These are a few ideas mentioned in the ladies responses so I decided to include them as I thought they were so good!

1.  Sandwich buffet:  to make lunch a bit easier, make up a tray of cold cuts, cheese, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, etc and a big loaf of bread for a quick and easy lunch.
2.  Potato Soup with homemade biscuits
3.  Chicken dishes were popular served with potatoes/rice and a veggie
4.  Beef stroganoff with noodles
5.  Stir fry
6.   Frozen meals for future use:  lasagna, pizza, spaghetti sauce are a couple meals that can easily be frozen and used later on.  Even if one can't bring an entire meal to someone, frozen food items were also a big hit with the ladies that responded. 
7.    Cut up veggies - great to send in the kids' lunches
8.    Loaves of bread
9.    Soup
10.  Stew
11.  Taco salad - to assemble yourself
12.  Fresh fruit cup up
13.  Muffins, cookies, banana bread, cupcakes
14.  Desserts - brownies, angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream, ice cream.

*  Simple is best.  Gourmet or extravagant dishes are not required to be heartfelt. 

Extra Touches

1.  Over half the women who responded mentioned that they really appreciated when a dozen muffins or some baking (buns, cookies, etc), box of granola bars, veggie tray, etc was included with the meal.  These kinds of treats are really helpful for a midnight snack for a nursing Mom, a toddler's breakfast or something to serve quickly when guests are in the home.
2.   Note of congratulations, sympathy or encouragement for the occasion to expressing love. congratulations or condolences to the family depending on the situation.
3.  In the case of a new baby, a little present or special food item for the big brother(s) or
 sister (s) to acknowledge them in the process.  It's their new baby too!  Some ideas include:  a sweet treat like candy, popcorn, stickers, markers, playdoh, etc.  Dollarama is perfect for this as it's not meant to be a big expense, only a little "something" to acknowledge the children. 
4.  Recipe cards or menu card with recipes of some or all of dishes. 


Transportation Ideas

1.  Hard plastic grocery bin lined with a towel for hot dishes
2.  Laundry baskets
3.  Using disposable foil pans for transport. 
4.  Using mason jars for a spill proof ride for things like soups and spaghetti sauce.  Also some mentioned that mason jars were great for freezing sauces, etc. 
5.  Cooler for ice cream, frozen items.
6.  Banana boxes (with handle holes) from Costco work great.  They work wonderfully because they are heavy enough so if there's a spill or a hot dish, it won't leak or burn through. 

Thanks again to all the beautiful women who responded to my questions and answered honestly and heartfelt. I so appreciate it and so do many others who will read this blog and be inspired to take a meal to someone who could use it. You're the best!

The whole point of this is to be a blessing, to be a GENEROUS HOME.  Be simple, be generous and be quick to show the love of God through the avenue of a meal. 

Happy cooking!  We'd love to hear any more comments on this subject or any recipes that you've found to be especially useful and delicious! 


Blessings,

Generous Home (Laura)

Soup's On!!

My family is a soup family.  We love the stuff.  Because we've endured almost 6 months of winter, soup has been a favourite meal to get us through these frigid days.  I've been looking for a good Minestrone Soup recipe for awhile now.  I was making a meal for a friend who just had a baby, and wanted to send along a couple jars of soup.   I found a recipe by Michael Smith.  He is one of my favourite Canadian chefs.  I took his recipe and adapted it to my family's taste.  Voila!  It's a keeper!!  I hope you enjoy it!

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients

1 package of bacon, chopped

2 onions, peeled and diced

6 carrots, peeled and diced 

10 cloves garlic, peeled and minced ( or 2-3 heaping TBSP minced garlic from a jar)

3 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced

2 cups cauliflower florets

1 large can tomato sauce (about 2-3 cups)

1 small can tomato paste

2 litres chicken broth (* I like to use homemade - recipe below)

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1   18 ounce can white kidney beans (or 2 cans depending of your family likes beans)

1 can niblets kernel corn

Directions

1.  Put the bacon into a 6-quart soup pot and brown it until it is crisp. Pour off most of the bacon fat and discard.

2.  Add onions, carrots, and garlic and sauté for a few minutes. Add zucchini, cauliflower, tomatoes, tomato paste, corn, chicken broth, and oregano.. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender, but still hold their shape.

3.   Stir in beans

 

4.  Sprinkle a little rated Parmesan on top and cut warm piece of  warm multi-grain bread! 

 

Dip away!  Yummo!

My husband suggested that ham would be a nice addition to this soup.  Hmmmm, it might work.  Really you could play with this soup and make some other yummy additions.  If you do, let me know! 

Enjoy!

Laura

 

 

 

 

* Chicken Broth Recipe:

• 1 chicken
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 peppercorns
• 1 star aniseed
• 1 cinnamon stick
•  salt to taste

Put your chicken in a soup pot and cover with water.

1. Bring to a boil and add the spices (I use a large tea ball)
2. Simmer for 2 -3 hours.
3. Remove from heat and take chicken off the bones when it is cool enough to handle.
4. Strain spices, etc from broth and refrigerate over night
5. Scoop cooled fat from the broth - now it's ready to use!

I freeze the broth and the meat separately. 



A Good Day For Bread

Hi all!  Well, we're still in the frozen north it seems.  It's -18 degrees Celcius in Saskatchewan today, feels like -29 with windchill.... joy.  To my West Coast friends whose tulips and crocuses are peeking out of the ground, I'm happy for you.  Really!  But as I look out my kitchen window, all I see is SNOW!  Great day for baking bread.  In the past, I've rarely baked my own bread.  Honestly found it to be messy and a little bit of a hassle.  I know Anne's posted a great bread recipe early on in our blogging adventure so take a peek back at that post as well.  Here is another one for you that I found to work SO well and it's so easy.  The first day I baked bread, it was just out of the oven as my son came home from school.  He ate half a loaf of warm bread by himself.  Yay for me!  The recipe on a website called Mother Earth News and it's yummy.  I've tweaked it a little for my family's taste as originially it was an all white bread.  I hope you enjoy it!

Basic Loaf
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tbsp. active dry yeast
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour (I used 1 1/2 cups white flour, 1 cup Robin Hood Multi Grain flour

In 1-cup glass measuring cup, heat milk, sugar, salt and butter (I do this in 15 second intervals) in microwave, until butter is melted. (It can also be done on the stove.) It should reach at least 120 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer, or feel nice and warm on your hand, but not hot.

Dissolve yeast in another cup with the warm water. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, until frothy (this is called “proofing your yeast”).

In large bowl, mix yeast mixture with milk mixture. Using a strong arm, beat in about 2 cups of the flour. I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. The mixture should be smooth, then stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a medium stiff dough.

Turn dough out onto a floured board, and knead, using an “up-and-over” technique with the balls of your palms. Knead until dough has a silky, velvety feel. Additional flour may be needed if dough remains sticky. This usually takes about five minutes, but could take up to 10 minutes. Again I just left the dough in my stand mixer and kneaded until the dough pulled away from the sides and wasn't sticky any more. 
 
Place finished dough in a greased bowl, turn to grease all sides. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a draft free place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled.  I spray the dough side of the plastic wrap with Pam to keep it from sticking.
 
When risen, punch dough down using your fingers or fist, but no need to get too violent, knead lightly, then let rest for a few minutes. This will help to relax the dough.
 
Shape dough into roughly a rectangle, with the length being almost as long as your pan. Roll up, like a jelly roll, and place in 8-by-4 loaf pan. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for about one hour. It should be doubled again.

Bake in a preheated 400 oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown. Using a knife handle, gently rap the loaf. It will sound hollow if it is done. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Makes one loaf.  I used my convection oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes and they turned out perfectly.

Note: This dough can also be formed into many shapes and rolls, and can be easily doubled if desired to make two loaves. That way, if you somehow don’t eat the second loaf, it can be frozen. If this miracle does happen and the loaf makes it to the freezer, just take it out and leave on the counter for one to two hours to defrost. 

www.motherearthnews.com (I do not necessarily subscribe to the views on the website, just liked their bread recipe!!)

I hope you try it and have a few loaves in the freezer to pull out for those busy weeks where bread making is the last thing on the list of things to do. 

Have a great day!

Laura

Merry Christmas Eve!

Special times around the Christmas dinner table

We want to take a minute and wish you a very Merry Christmas and joyous New Year!  We pray you experience the blessings of family and friends this Christmas but most of all, know that "God so loved the world that He gave his ONLY son.... for you!  Let's know Him and make Him known this holiday.  Jesus is the reason for the season.  Cliche, maybe.  True, absolutley!!! 

Love,

Laura and Anne

Christmas Cookie Exchange

Everyone loves cookies!  And don't we all love to give sweet treats as gifts to our friends, family, and neighbors at Christmas time?  Of course!  On December 8th, Generous Home hosted a Christmas Cookie Exchange.  We invited a handful of ladies to join us for Tea and to exchange cookies.  We had 7 ladies in attendance, so each one brought 7 dozen cookies of the same flavor, packaged so they could go home with each one of the guests.  

 

Packaged so pretty!

 

 

The flavors that we had included:  Double Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Expresso Snow Cap Cookies, Coconut Cherry Macaroons, Whipped Shortbread, Oreo Truffles, Peanut Butter Balls, Filbert Fingers and Peppermint Meltaways.  We had a great time and for many of us, our Christmas baking was done! The recipe for each cookie went into a little booklet and was included in the ladies' bags of cookies.

 

Tea Time!

                

 

After an afternoon of visiting, and digging in to some yummy food...

 

everyone went home.... 

 

...with a bag full of a delicious assortment of cookies. 

It was such a success that we plan to make this an annual event.    Thank you to all the ladies that came to Generous Home's first annual Christmas Cookie Exchange! 

 

We have included Anne's recipe for Whipped Shortbread and Laura's recipe for Coconut Cherry Macaroons.  Hope you enjoy them!  Thanks to all the ladies that participated.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Whipped Shortbread

½ lb Butter softened

½ lb Margarine softened

1 C Icing Sugar

½ C Cornstarch

3 C All purpose flour (sifted)

 

 Directions:

Whip together the butter and margarine until light and fluffy.  Combine the sugar and cornstarch together and gradually add this mixture to the butter using the electric mixer on low setting.  Continue to slowly add the flour while beating with the electric mixer on low.  Drop by teaspoonful on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 degrees for 15 – 20 minutes.

These can be decorated with cherries, mixed peel, or any other cookie decorations you choose. 

 

Coconut-Cherry Macaroons

6 Cups sweetened flaked coconut

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 Cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ c maraschino cherries drained and chopped

Directions:

Combine coconut, condensed milk and vanilla in a large bowl; mix until coconut is well coated.  Stir in chocolate chips and cherries.  Drop by heaping teaspoonful 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 

Makes 3 dozen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trees of Christmas!

Decorating the Christmas tree is one of the BEST parts about the holidays.  We enjoy decorating our trees and love the ambience of the soft lights and color it brings to our homes.  Here's a glimpse at what our trees look like...

Anne's beautiful tree

 

 

 

 

Laura's colorful tree

 

  

Jesus is the reason for the season and we remember that the Christmas tree ultimately symbolizes and honors the One who came for us that first Christmas long ago.  And what fun it is to decorate our homes around this showpiece, our Christmas tree! 

 

Blessings,

 

Laura and Anne

 

 

Frozen, Frosty and FANTASTIC!

This past weekend we experienced incredibly beautiful hoar frost!  It was spectacular! I braved the cold and went to a spot behind my house we affectionately call "The Look Out" to take some photos.  This little spot is a special little "jewel" that has a great view of the city and the South Saskatchewan River.  Here are some photos I took from that spot! 

 

 

 

 



 

Brrrrrr but oh so pretty!

 

Not the typical "Generous Home" post, but I hope you enjoyed seeing my wintry world!

 

Blessings,

Laura