Hobo Dinner Freezer Meals

We've got summer vacation coming up soon...and that mean camping trips. What mom, dad or granny wouldn't love to be prepared way ahead of time for that big camping trip...or dinner tomorrow? I think this freezer meal will shock and amaze even the pickiest eaters in your house. We call it a Hobo Dinner (or Foil dinner), but it's one of those classic comfort foods that we always had as a kid when we went camping. It's basically a hamburger pot roast cooked over hot coals in the woodland setting. Or, at home it can be baked in the oven (or solar oven) They can be made fresh for dinner, or frozen for later use. However you do it, be prepared to sing a rousing ensemble with your favorite hillbilly harmonica songs. It's campfire good. Down home good. If you precook the veggies and meat, it's even fast and good. So...here we go:

Hobo Dinner's A La Chef Tess

5-6 large russet potatoes, cleaned well and cut into cubes, cooked in microwave or stove top until fork tender OR 4 lb frozen cubed hash browns
1 lb baby carrots, steamed 5 minutes (or frozen)
2 medium red onions, chopped, steamed with the carrots
2-3 T Chef Tess All Purpse seasoning blend
3 lb cooked hamburger patties, about 12
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)
2 Cups dark brown mushroom gravy of your choice (I use homemade Gravy Mix made easy)

12 sheets of heavy duty foil (use the heavy stuff if you don't want a mess) about one foot long each.

Directions: In a large bowl, combine the carrots, onions, potatoes, and seasoning
Place one cup of vegetable mixture onto a lightly oiled sheet of foil. Place the cooked hamburger on top of the vegetable mixture and wrap tightly. I roll the ends and sides very well. Repeat until you have used all your hamburger and vegetable mixture. You can use veggie burgers if you choose instead of meat. Top the meat with a few tablespoons of the prepared gravy.

Place 4 meals in a gallon size freezer bag and remove as much air as possible. Label with baking directions:

Remove from plastic bag and place in a 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes until heated through, or place in a solar oven Pot, cover the foil with a dark sheet pan, and close oven. Cook 45 minutes to an hour. In the woods...place on hot coals and cook 25 minutes.

Pour contents onto a plate and sprinkle with parsley if desired.

There you go. Quick and easy on the go for camping, oven baking, or solar cooking.

M&M chicken and roasted potatoes

With the holidays right at my doorstep I try to get ahead on freeze meals. Yes...so I can enjoy the Christmas season. I do a lot of freezer meals (Freezer Chick... ) and one that has become a standard meal around here is M&M chicken. I know. Right? Can you see your kiddos jumping around the house and praising your glorious name as a mother? Who in their right mind would really put M&M's in a dinner dish. Even sugar freaks have their limits...so I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that the "M&M" stands for Molasses &Mustard. Ah. Somehow I just disappointed a whole lot of sugar freaks. Don't worry. I think the chicken will make up for it. Hello my little chick-a-dee. Random...remember those old cartoons with the "I want to be a chicken hawk"? I always think of that poor humiliated yard bird. Ace didn't eat dinner with us tonight. Not even the potatoes that I tenderly placed on top of the chicken. It touched the meat. Sorry babe. I didn't do very well as a wife today. From the rest of the temporary carnivores, I heard accolades of praise and adoration. It's tangy and slightly sweet. Simple enough that even Ace would make it...if it was just the potatoes. So vegetarians...feel free to just use the veggies. It would be equally amazing using sweet potatoes in place of the regular potatoes or pork in place of the chicken. Whatever you have laying around. Today I used a crock pot, but it also bakes wonderfully in the Solar Oven!

For the M&M chicken or pork you will need:
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast or boneless thigh meat
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup whole grain mustard (the other mustard is just too strong...)
All purpose seasoning or salt and pepper

Combine the molasses and mustard. Use 1/4 cup of the prepared sauce to Coat the chicken well and then season with the all purpose seasoning or salt/pepper. Place the chicken at the bottom of a 4 quart crock pot, or solar oven I use a roaster that fits just inside the cooker with a lid.

For the Vegetables to go on top of the chicken:
4-5 medium potatoes, cut into wedges (peeled if you prefer) Fresh sweet potatoes are insane here...but do be sure to peel those.
1 large red onion, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup of the prepared mustard glaze
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup olive oil or melted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, onions, glaze, juice and butter. Season well with salt and pepper. Place over the chicken. Crock pot low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Solar oven, 3 hours in full sun.
It looks so rustic and earthy. Oh I love that! Again, if you prefer to peel your potatoes, feel free. I just love the extra fiber and the down home look that they have this way.

Solar oven or crock pot...this is fast dinner and usually well received by meat eaters anywhere. There you go...my little chicken hawks.

Vegan Sloppy Joes

I think we need a little something for the amazing vegans out there. It's solar cooking week and this is one of my favorite vegan recipes. It's so family friendly and amazingly inexpensive. It serves 10 easily. Which means for me, I have one meal and freeze half for later. It is one of my favorite freezer meals. It's fat free and full of wonderful protein. Great for the body and mind. The secret...lentils.

This recipe works so perfectly in the solar oven it's almost scary. However, if you don't have a solar oven it is also perfect in the crock pot.

You will need:

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped celery

1 lb of lentils (preferably soaked overnight, but if not add 1 hour to the cooking time)

2 cup chopped onion

2 T honey

2T spicy mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

2 cloves minced garlic

2 14 oz cans vegetable stock (or 4 cups homemade)

1 15 oz can prepared vegan sloppy Joe sauce

8 - 10 whole wheat hamburger or French style rolls, split and toasted.

Combine everything except the sloppy Joe sauce in a large dark crock. I have one from the Pampered Chef that works perfectly, but if you use a smaller pot, half the recipe.

Mix it all up and bake in full sun in the solar oven 2-3 hours. While mine was baking, I mixed the dough for the rolls and made the coleslaw. If you use a crock pot (4 quart size), cover and cook on high heat setting 3-3 and 1/2 hours.

Once the lentils are tender, mix in the sloppy Joe sauce.

I used the overnight started bread. Half the dough I made into buns. Half I made into a loaf of bread. However, I must admit, that the solar oven isn't quite big enough for the buns to turn out round. Usually they are little triangle buns. Still delicious, whole grain, and vegan. The secret is to form the rolls and immediately put them in the solar oven.

The final rise in the oven while it heats up makes perfect rolls.

The oven is right at 200 degrees. It will be just right for baking in about 30 minutes, and the rolls will be light and fluffy.

Bake 350 degrees 30-35 minutes.

Mmm.

Serve with coleslaw or side of your choice. May I suggest the vegan Cuban Grilled Sweet Potato Salad with Pineapple an...

There you go. Vegans rejoice!

Dzik (Yucatecan Style Salpicón De Res)

I wasn't sure if I should include today's recipe in with salad week last week, or with solar cooking week this week. This is a cold beef salad. Very traditional and full of flavor. A friend passed the recipe on to me and I am pleased to report it was amazing! Thank you Lisa. That's all I have to say. I took it on faith that this salad would blow my mind and I was definitely not disappointed.

Originally the recipe was found here:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Dzik-Yucatecan-Style-Salpicoacuten-De-Res-248709

Ingredients
1 lb flank steak or beef brisket, well trimmed and cut into 2-inch squares
1 garlic clove, peeled and quartered
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 small red onion, diced (divided use)
salt

4 large radishes, julienned
1-2 fresh habanero peppers, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped (I used jalapeno)
1 small tomato, cut into 1/4 -inch pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
6 tablespoons sour orange or lime juice
6 leaves romaine lettuce
1 ripe avocado, sliced

The Meat: stove top--bring 3 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan, add the squares of meat and skim off any grayish foam that rises to the top during the first few minutes of boiling. Add the garlic, bay leaves, herbs, a generous ½ teaspoon salt and half of the onion. Simmer over medium to medium-low heat for an hour or so, until the meat is tender. If there is time, let cool in the broth. Drain and discard all but the meat; then shred the meat into thin strands.

Solar oven: Put 1 cup of water, meat, onion, herbs, garlic and salt in solar oven cooking pot. I use a Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker. Cook in full sun 2 hours (over 300 degrees).
Drain and discard the liquid and shred into strands or chunks. My brisket was already sliced thin when I started so I just chinked it smaller. Traditionally it will be more "shredded".

Crock pot: Same as solar oven but put on high 3 hours.

The dzik. Combine the cooked meat, the remaining half of the onion, the radishes, chile, tomato and cilantro, and toss with the sour orange or lime juice and generous 1 teaspoon salt.

Line a platter with 4 of the romaine leaves; slice the remaining 2 to make a bed in the center. Scoop the dzik into a mound over the sliced lettuce. Decorate with slices of avocado.

Beautiful presentation and wonderful combination of earthy spice with the radish as well as the creamy fruity avocado. Well worth the effort...if you count opening a solar oven as effort. Will I make it again? You bet your life.

There you go.

Yellow Cupcakes

It's still hotter than a horse's patooot here in Arizona. In this weather, I do something crazy...I use my solar oven. I keep it out on my patio and it keeps the heat outside. Love it! I have had a lot of requests for more solar cooking, and I am so happy to help! So, this week I thought I would share some of my favorite solar recipes. Some of them are baked goods, some are main courses. If you don't have a solar oven, they work in the regular oven. A couple work in the crock pot.

Face wanted to have some cupcakes. I have to admit, I really like "A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes" by Dede Wilson. In particular, the recipe for yellow cupcakes I have found to make a very nice quality cupcake.

You will need:

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (or cake flour)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature, cut into small pieces)
3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk ( I use soy milk)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For me, that means opening the flaps of my solar oven so it gets really hot.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl to aerate and combine. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar gradually beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down after each additions, allowing each egg to be absorbed before each addition. Add the flour mixture in 4 additions, alternately with the milk. Begin and end with the flour mixture.

Divide batter evenly among cupcake pan, lined with paper liners. I have one that makes half a half dozen, since the chamber in the solar oven is a little bit smaller than the regular oven. For solar, put in hot oven and bake 20-25 minutes. For regular oven, 350 degrees 18-20 minutes.

To check if the cupcakes are done, insert a toothpick in the center. If it shows a few moist crumbs but comes out clean, it is done. The cupcakes might color a bit around the edges, but they should not get brown. This recipe yields 12 cupcakes. So it's not a major project, just a nice amount.


The killer chocolate frosting is my recipe. It's a nice touch and fat free as far as frostings go. Not bad.

Chocolate Glaze

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup hot water

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

Mix well. Easy stuff right?

If your husband doesn't eat all the frosting, feel free to slather it on those cooled cupcakes. Ace is incorrigible. Really.

There you go.

My Favorite 'Tater Salad

Would salad week be complete without adding an American classic like Potato salad? I personally can't remember a picnic without a big bowl of the stuff...nor do I want to imagine life without potato salad. Now, I am absolutely certain that there are several thousand recipes for perfect potato salad, but this one is one of my personal favorites. I adapted it from the original 1950's Betty Crocker cookbook...so it has to be good right folks? Good enough for Granny is good enough for me. True to my word, I will not be cooking on the stove, but rather, cooking this batch in the Solar Oven . It's just to stinking hot here to cook a lot indoors.

My Potato Salad

3 cups cubed cold boiled potatoes (about 5 medium potatoes)

2 tsp all purpose seasoning salt ( I use my seasoning, but you can use the brand of your choice)
1/4 cup prepared homemade French Dressing

1/4 cup fine sliced green onion

3/4 cup low fat mayonnaise

6 cloves garlic, roasted or boiled, and then mashed

1/2 cup chopped Refrigerator Pickles

4 hard cooked eggs (I use the whites and omit the yolks...just better for the heart)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cooking the potatoes in the Solar oven was actually easy. Just peel and cut the potatoes.

I covered the potatoes with water and then added the uncooked eggs. It took just over 45 minutes in the heat of the day to cook the potatoes and eggs perfectly in the solar oven. I also had the 6 cloves of fresh garlic in the water. They got perfectly soft and "mashy"...plus added some amazing flavor to the potatoes. On the stove top it would take about 25 minutes on medium heat.

Remove the eggs, and drain the extra liquid off the potatoes. Take out the garlic and mash it. Season well with all purpose seasoning and then add the French Dressing.

Add the chopped Refrigerator Pickles, low fat mayonnaise, roasted garlic, peeled chopped eggs, salt and pepper to taste.

Chill several hours covered in the fridge. Garnish with some ground paprika just before serving.

Remember it's important to keep potato salad cool. Food borne illness really loves potato salad too, so don't be a victim. Keep those salads cold. Most of all...enjoy!

There you go!

My first solar oven

This is the first homemade solar oven I put together back in 1999. I pulled it out of storage so that everyone could see it. Little did I know that this little project would turn into a full blown excitement for solar cooking. It was made out of two cardboard boxes and insulated with rolled up newspaper. I loved this thing! I actually found the directions on the internet recently, here: How I built a Solar Oven. Thanks to my old High School buddy Darin for directing me to that site. It is the exact method that I used! How cool right? So now you can make one too.

It only had one reflective flap that was lined with Mylar to make it shine...yea the stuff they use to make the balloons. The glass was a cheap piece I found at the Home Depot. I lined the top of the box with felt to hold in the heat. On the bottom I placed a piece of metal that was painted black.

I used it to cook a lot of soups and staples but could never get it up over 275 degrees. Which was okay, but my bread was not what I wanted it to be. I've since graduated to the full blown industrial model. However, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of this one. In fact, had I not kept it, you wouldn't have any idea of the progression of my cooking. I didn't blog back then. I just started blogging in November. Up until that point I didn't even have a clue about the blogging world. Side note... Tara is the one to blame for anything you see here. She encouraged me to start this little project.

Even more random is the fact that in High School, I was in the same college prep. chemistry class with my sister who is just 1 year younger than I am. Our teacher was a dry old codger. However, he did manage to give us the nickname "sunshine twins". We've always been a perky little pair of girls. It wasn't until recently that I have come to know that there is a perfect shortage of light hearted souls. I wish there where more who could see the sunny side of life. So I guess I am a little sunshine girlie myself. Is it any wonder whatsoever that I use the sun to cook?

Solar cooking is becoming very popular. I'm excited to be part of the solar cooking movement. My first TV segment will be coming up soon. Specifically on the solar oven and light and fun summer desserts (that I baked in it). The latest word on the upcoming cooking segment with Fox is that it will be next Wednesday morning. Shortly after it airs, I will again post the link to the Fox 10 Phoenix website.

Whole Grain Rye ( Solar Oven or Not)

A recent email from a new friend named Olivia, has prompted an in depth look at a newer direction of bread for my blog. She wanted to learn how to make good pumpernickel bread. I am not certain what most people think of when they think of pumpernickel. For most "middle of the road" Americans, it is a dark brown almost black bread with a light texture. True real Volkornbrot...the German stuff...is heavy and has to be cut very thin. It takes almost 6 days from formation of the starter to the climactic consumptions of the first slice. If however I hear back from my readers that the authentic stuff is what they want, I will move forward with blogging that. In the meantime...I am putting up this recipe for an old fashioned Peasant's Rye. It is a combination of a few recipes that I have come up with and I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do. It is 100% whole grain. If you use white flour, please omit the second (3/4 cup) amount of water. This cooked in the solar oven won't be as dark brown as if it was baked in the oven. It will still brown, but not like other regular ovens will. Don't be discouraged by the number of ingredients. It's well worth the effort.
Tess' Old Fashioned Peasant's Rye
You will need:
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (max 110 degrees)
5 cups whole wheat flour, preferably fresh ground and preferably fine ground
1 cup 100% whole grain rye flour
1T caraway seeds
2 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa (unsweetened powdered)
3/4 cup water (omit if using white flour)
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 T honey (buckwheat) or Molasses
2 T oil
2T apple cider vinegar
1-2 large shallots, pressed
Directions:
In a small dish, combine the yeast and 1/4 cup slightly warm water. Let it rest until it wakes up and bubbles. It should be a happy little riser. If it doesn't bubble, you can assume you're yeast is still dead asleep...and may never come back. Try again with a fresh batch of yeast and water. Don't let the water get too hot. It may also help to add a tsp of sugar or honey for the yeast to have a quick breakfast.
I'm making my bread in my Kitchen Aid. As of Christmas, I've called it my
New Mixer ...though it's not technically totally new anymore. In the mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Buttermilk, water,

Out of order and not wet, but add them here anyway...caraway seeds. Random diversionary conversation break--caraway is what gives rye it's very distinct flavor. Caraway is also a natural digestive aid...so it makes it go down easier. Coated in chocolate would make it go even better...

Which we do... "The chocolate syrup makes it go down easier." Quick, name that movie!

Princess Bride fans out there are spitting cocoa out their nose right now. Or now. Tee hee.

Add the 1/4 cup cocoa...mmmm. Chocolate in bread. Now there is something I can get behind! It helps get that dark color. Power to the cocoa! Hey, that sounds like something I would say out loud when my kids used their brains. I think in that case cocoa would be spelled coco (like coconut). I digress. Okay add the cocoa.

Add the oil, vinegar, and yeast/water combination to the bowl.

Add the honey. Dance around singing "awwww sugar...do, do, do, do, do, do...honey, honey....". You can skip that step if you want. That dance step. Pardon my pun.

Add the 5 cups whole wheat flour and the salt. Hold back on adding the rye flour. It has very little gluten protein and I like to hold it back so I can really develop the gluten. Gluten, gluten, gluten. It's magical stuff. Basically it is the natural protein in wheat (and a few other grains) that attaches to itself to form long elastic strands and a sponge-like mesh that traps gas and allows the bread to raise well. Take the time to develop it, and you have a powerful ally in the dough. It's like having a friend in the business, but you eat the friend.
One more thing...I don't let the salt go in first. It kills enough of the yeast that it totally affects the bread. I notice a difference. Really.

On medium low (speed 2 for Kitchen Aid) knead for 5 minutes.
Turn off mixer. I hate to sound "simple stupid", but there will be one person who tries to mix in the rye flour with the mixer on who gets a huge rush of a mighty rye wind--- right in the eyes. Aside from the poetic phrase of "rye in the eye"...it isn't fun. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl while you're at it. Add the rye flour.

At this time I also add the pressed shallot. Omit if you want, but I love the subtle flavor.

Shallot is good. It's a flavor crossed between garlic and onion.

Continue to knead the dough on medium low speed 5 more minutes.

Turn off the machine and set your timer for 10 minutes. This step is 100% necessary for good whole grain bread. It give the protein and bran time to absorb as much moisture as possible before adding more flour. Adding more flour before the 10 minute rest will result in dry bread. Don't do it. ( If you used white flour, still do this step. You will need to add a bit more flour if you didn't already omit the 3/4 cup of water, or my may need to add a touch more liquid.)
After the rest, mix 2-3 more minutes adding just enough flour for the dough to really climb up the dough hook and look like this:
(clicking on the picture will make it appear full screen)

Lightly mist your counter top with water. Yes. I use water instead of flour to cover my counter top. It gives me really moist whole grain bread.

See that counter top?! Haaa. Not sticking, and no added flour to dry out my bread.

Form into a nice pretty ball. This will help the gluten mesh to hold in the gasses. This is where I act like a mature motherly God fearing adult and not my 9 year old son...sigh.

The gasses will, in some mysterious and magical way transform the young gluten into something stronger, more elastic, and better able to give good volume to bread. Long way of saying, not to skimp on the fermentation process. Long allegory about "life" to be added later...

Put the dough in the mixing bowl (I rinse the bowl out a little so I can really gauge the growth of the bread during fermentation).
Cover with a lid or plastic. I just so happen to have a lid from my Pampered Chef cookware that fits perfectly.1 and a half to 2 hours later give or take...the dough should look like this. Climbed clear up the sides of the bowl about 3 inches from the top. Don't let it raise too long. It should giggle when you poke it with your finger. It may help to run your finger under water first.

Poke it like this...

Oooo, ahhhh, ohhh. See, like the mouth of the Pillsbury's dough boy...but fat like he was having an allergic reaction to being stung by a bee.

Now, pull back those fat rolls. I mean dough rolls. Expel the air, but also' look at the elastic gluten strand development. It's really well worth clicking on this picture.

Pull it away from the sides all the way around. More gluten. See?

This may be my favorite picture of gluten in the history of gluten history.
Form this dough into a ball again, and return the lid for a second raise (45 minutes to an hour). Repeat the very technically named "dough poke procedure"

Remove from the bowl and form into two sandwich loaves. Detailed instructions can be found in the loaf molding section. If baking in the regular oven, lightly mist with water and allow to raise 45 minutes to an hour. Mist with water again and sprinkle with caraway seeds. Preheat oven the last few minutes of raising. Bake at 400 degrees 15 minutes and then lower oven temperature to 350 and bake 20-25 minutes more, internal temperature of 175 degrees.

For Solar baking: Immediately after forming into loaves and putting in oiled 8 inch by 4 inch dark colored loaf pans, put in your solar oven.

Lightly misted with water and then topped with caraway seeds...wow.

After about 20 minutes, the temperature was already 250 degrees. With the door closed but not clasped, the bread was raising nicely. One hour and 15 minutes later it was baked through.

Best part of solar baking...no added cooling cost from heating up my house. Arizona! Yikes we are already having to use our AC for an hour or two in the afternoon. That is so sad!

Remove from oven and put on a cooling rack out of the pan. Allow to cool about 20 minutes before slicing. Store in a covered container. Bread should stay nice and moist 4-5 days.

There you go.