Pumpkin Pie, Oh my!

      In late September when pie pumpkins are being harvested, I stock up on pumpkin pie filling pods and freeze them for future use. Two pods make three mini pies. In January these make a delicious dessert for the heartier winter meals. All you need to do is defrost the pod, stir, and pour the contents into the mimi Keebler graham cracker crust, do not overfill. The pies are too small to place directly on the oven rack so I use a cooling rack for a base.

I cook the pies at 350@ for 30 minutes. Every oven cooks differently so, the toothpick test tells you if the pie needs to cook longer. Continue cooking until the toothpick comes out clean and the pie is puffed high. Cool and serve plain or topped with whipped cream. A delicious treat!

Still podding after all these years

 I am fine with the refrigerator being bare when I arrive home from a trip because I have 75-100 pods of food to create a meal in my freezer at all times. Each of these storage containers holds 25 pods of various foods with which I can create a delicious meal. 

Mussels

On a recent luncheon outing,  I ordered one of my favorite appetizers', mussel in a white wine sauce.  My twelve year old granddaughter agreed to try one and did not have the greatest reaction to the texture.

I gave her a lot of credit, at age 12,  to taste this delicacy even though the texture made her spit it out onto her bread dish. I thought they were delicious. An acquired taste I guess! However, too much food for one seating, I asked for a to go container taking each mussel out of it's shell and placing it, with the wine sauce for another meal. This will freeze nicely so I can create a new dinner, because I am not a big fan of leftovers.  

With a pod of my homemade garlic butter and a pod of pasta,  a new mussel creation was really easy. In a sauté pan I melted a tablespoon of garlic butter and another of butter and placed the mussels in to warm. I toasted some fresh sourdough focaccia bread and warmed my pasta in the microwave. Finishing with some fresh parmesan cheese, Voila! dinner.

 

Elements of soup

 It is a cold January day, perfect for a nice warm cup of homemade soup. However, how many times have you gone to make soup and are missing one ingredient? No problem with podding the little extras that make a soup special are all ready to go, one pod at a time. And the best part, when the soup is ready you can enjoy a bowl and freeze the rest in pods or a super cuber, for larger portions, to enjoy at a later date. 

For these two soups, Chicken corn chowder and cream of butternut squash soup the only fresh item I used were the celery and onions, everything else came from the freezer. The chicken, squash, corn, green peppers, carrots, oh well you get the idea. Keep toasty sipping soup in the company of food. 

 

Smoothielicious! In the company of food.

 "Unique gifts for that impossible person on your list.", was my draw to the article listing 20 unique gifts for people who have everything. Me! 

  When I began reading the article I just laughed at the first suggestions until I hit on the Aoozi battery-operated blender. "That sounds interesting," I thought. So I brought myself a present. I love it! 

  Why? I can say with a great degree of confidence no one would have thought to buy this gift for me. I am not known to be a big smoothie fan. I am a really good cook with a well-developed culinary repertoire and a vast array of tools. "Why don't you just put the portioned amount into your regular blender?" my daughter laughed. Let me expound!

In the past, I have tried multiple versions of smoothies in my blender. I always have too much and end up refrigerating the leftovers or eventually throwing them away. I make the smoothie, creatively; some fruit, some yogurt some juice. It always blossoms into a delicious creation but how much can one person consume in one seating? In the Aoozi blender, you can only put enough ingredients for one smoothie. My first favorite feature. No leftovers, no guessing how little an apple will puree into. 

  Like any new culinary toy, it took a few tries to get the portions right and adapt recipes to my taste buds. The good news is I did not have to worry if anyone else liked my choice of ingredients. There was only enough for me. No one in my family could say, " Oh the looks good can I have some?" The Aoozi has its own reusable straw and you drink right from the blender. Less cleanup and they even include tools to clean the blender and straw properly.

 These are some of the smoothies I have tried since getting my blender.

I started out with one for breakfast and after a week tried a fruit smoothie for lunch and a vegetable smoothie for dinner.

1: Handful blueberries, 5 raspberries, T. plain greek yogurt, dash honey, few pecans, 2 oz. orange juice and crushed ice. NOTE: had to add a little water too thick.

2: 2 slices of Apple, frozen corn, 2 dried prunes, dash honey, pecans, 2 oz. of orange juice. 2 oz. water,  crushed ice. Note: prunes did not blend well. For lunch, I tried blending my hot chicken soup. I did not like it pureed and would prefer chunky soup.

3: ¼ banana, 2 slices Apples, fresh pineapple, T. yogurt, pecans, honey, leftover acorn squash, [2 oz. orange juice, 2 oz. water, crushed ice.] For dinner I tried, a couple slices of tomato, fresh basil leaves, clove roasted garlic, 6 thin slices of cucumber, leftover roasted carrots, celery with leaves, 2 pc. stewed tomato with juice, 2 oz. water, ground pepper, celery salt, olive oil. Crushed ice. Had to add 2 more oz. water. This concoction gave me bad heartburn, don’t do that again, I laughed.

You get the idea. Have fun creating in the company of food.

Dinner in the day of Covid-19

     We are all quarantined due to the 2020 pandemic and all the restaurants are closed. My pod philosophy has allowed me to eat a nice balanced meal daily. Today I began dinner with a pod of homemade ham and bean soup.  I always love a good bowl of soup on a rainy day but the effort of making a good soup is time-consuming. Once it is made, normally, there is too much to eat in one meal. Anyone agree?
     I am not a big leftover lover. When leftovers sat in my refrigerator they nine times out of ten ended up in the trash. Podding has solved this problem. Podding the leftover soup right after dinner and freezing it assures the freshness remains. Each time I have one of these soup pods it tastes like I just pulled it off the stove, fresh.  One minute in the microwave and it is ready to eat. Note: never microwave in the pod. place in a microwaveable container.  Of course, a pod of fresh parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top doesn't hurt.
      We eat with our eyes as much as our mouths and the presentation of my food is very important. I always put my food on a nice bowl or plate. My dinner tonight was a one-pan meal. I had to cook the pork cutlet. Oh, I'm exhausted! I enjoyed the podded sides of fresh-baked sweet potatoes and broccoli and had a delicious balanced meal, in the company of food.
 

                                                                           

Coming home in the company of food

     Today I came home from a week-long vacation to an empty refrigerator. It was lunchtime, so I was pretty hungry but did not want to go out to the store. I opened my freezer to my stash of pods and found some homemade turkey vegetable soup. I took the frozen pod and ran it under cool water for a few minutes, then put it into a bowl and microwaved it for 30 sec. 
   

     What about dinner? I thought.  So while my soup was defrosting I went through my freezer and found a cod filet, a pod of mashed potatoes, and a pod of fresh asparagus tips. 

     Now the soup was defrosted so I microwaved it for one more minute to heat. I took some podded parmesan cheese and sprinkled the top. Soup with a few crackers was the perfect lunch for a weary traveler. I can worry about stocking the refrigerator tomorrow. It's great to come home to the company of food.