Convenient Summer Kids Meals for Camping and Beyond 3TV Chef Tess Segment!

Okay folks. I have to share! Look how much fun we had today at the Channel 3 studio! Xoxo!

I loved it! Tell me what you think!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Skillet Pizza for Camping and an Easy Summer Meal

 Tomorrow I'm visiting our local Good Morning Arizona channel 3 TV station for a cooking segment on easy camping and summer meals for kids! I'm so excited to meet everyone there and cook with some new folks! The segment airs at 8:45 so if you're local, it should be a fun piece. I wanted to share one of the ideas I've used for camping that is just way too fun for kids and adults! I make pizza while camping using a skillet with a lid on a butane or Coleman stove or in my solar oven. It can also be done over the camp-fire with a skillet or folded in half like a sandwich in a foil pouch and cooked right in the coals.
At home it is fast, easy, and certainly can be done on the stove or BBQ grill! In the summer this will give you that crispy crust and gooey melted cheese without the oven heating your house. I can make them a lot healthier and cheaper than purchasing the pre-made frozen meals and they take about 20 minutes to make 10-12 ready-to-eat pizzas!  For the most part, camping meals need to be simple. If I'm not using one of my shelf-stable convenient 52 jar method meals, I'll usually bring along some of these! You will need store purchased pita bread or you can use the  homemade pita bread tutorial. Today I'm using some grilled panini flat bread. It really doesn't matter what you use for the crust, as long as it is thick enough for a pizza. When the boys were younger I'd use homemade English Muffins, split in half they made two mini pizzas. Now we need the bigger size. They're getting into teen years and it is a whole new grand adventure!  The best part of the skillet-pizza is that it doesn't heat the oven and it gives us a gooey cheese with a crispy crust. That's hard to do in the microwave. It's just freakishly cool!

 I still try to suck the life out of the time I have with them and that included having them help make the meals they'll be eating while I'm at work. They like having some time with me. I have to admit, I adore having some time with them as well. So, this is my son aka Face. He's shredding the cheese and helping spread the sauce.

 I lay out enough pieces of foil to accommodate all the pizzas. In this way, we can make a whole bunch at once and have 10-12 pizzas on-hand for quick meals. This is great for camping too because the work is already done. I like not having to prepare food in the rough.

 Put a pita on each 10 inch piece of foil. Add sauce of your choice, just about 2 Tablespoons.

Put the children to work. They love this part!

 Top with cheese and your favorite toppings.

 Sprinkle with an outstanding Italian Seasoning. Um...I tend to lean toward my own blends whenever possible. Yup. I'm a fan.

 Now if you use a tomato based sauce, be sure not to use a foil to cover the pizza. The acid in the tomato sauce will react to the foil and make a terrible mess. It will taste horrid. I'm using a parchment lined foil. You can use wax paper here as well. Just cover the top of the pizza. Wrap the foil from the bottom around the pizza.

 Place in a gallon size freezer bag. We can usually get 5 pizzas in a bag. Freeze. I keep 3 or 4 in the fridge (up to 4 days) so the boys don't have to even defrost the pizzas. For camping, I always freeze them. This keeps them at a safe temperature and helps prevent food born illness. Remember the picnic food safety segment? It keeps them together and adds to the cold of my ice chest. For more information on picnic safety go here.

 To prepare, simply slip the pizza out of the wrap and place in a thick covered skillet. Mine is 14 inches and the bottom is thick enough to not burn the crust.

 The main secret is making sure the flame is low and letting them cook with the lid on the pan about 7-10 minutes.

 The cheese will melt and the pizza will have a crispy crust. It's just what we love in a pizza without all the trouble of baking it.

Ironically we find ourselves using this stove-top method a lot more at home than we do camping. After all, how often do we really go camping? On the other hand, when we have taken them camping we have been very excited to have pizza! This is great for a Dutch oven or even on "no burn days" here in Arizona when we have to use our Solar Oven.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing a few new tips for camping as well as the fun Hobo Foil Dinner that my kids adore! I'm looking forward to an amazing segment tomorrow!

There you go! Make skillet Pizza and don't forget to watch tomorrow morning!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

I am no longer the corporate chef for Honeyville but we still love them dearly. My family is greatly blessed and relies heavily on the extra money brought in by sales tracked back to this site. This is also the company that packages and sells my spice line as well as my food storage cookbooks. Thank you so very much for your support. Xoxo!

Easy 4th of July Patriotic Cupcake Ideas

When I was growing up, it wasn't the 4th of July unless grandma made the ice cream cone cakes. I don't know why that was the case, but it was a tradition. 

 For me, it isn't the 4th until we've busted out some festive cupcakes. This year, as I'm now a full time working mom, I've simplified my cupcakes a bit. I've also resorted to making them for a baking class so that I can officially call my cupcakes "work". Phew. It's hard...but someone has to do it. Officially...we're having lemon raspberry pound cakes with a pistachio-cream cheese butter-toffee frosting. I know...they are evil. I'm keeping it really simple. 

 Let's kick it off with a red candy  star upon "thars"...with a blue little star upon it's belly. Just a simple little red flair of happiness.

 This is just made by Wilton candy melts. This is the red coating. Melt it over a very low heat or in the chocolate pro. I rarely use the melt setting on it. Usually the warm setting will give me a good melt and then I turn it off and it stays just right for a good while. Otherwise, if you use real chocolate, you'll need to go to the Chocolate dipping 101 Post. I melt it and spread it out on a baker's mat. When it is almost set I cut it out into stars with a fancy little cookie cutter. 

 Use the small one the size of your thumb or the large one the size of a small apple. 

 My other favorite topper is just a simple "Captain America" type dot. They look a lot like a signature of "Sprinkles Cupcakes"  except mine are not made of fondant and well...much easier for me  to make.  

 Once again I'm just using the  Wilton candy melts, except leaving them unmelted. Flip them over to the smooth side and fix a blue star sprinkle to the the middle of the disk with a little frosting. 

 The remainder of the melts were used for stripes. 

 With the simple addition of a candy star lolly, we have some stinkin' cute cupcakes if I do say so myself. I admit...I didn't make the candy lollies myself. I got them at the dollar store. 6 for a dollar. Sorry. If you want to make your own hard-candy lolly see my sweet tutorial here. We had fun with that one.

 I really like the red stripe of frosting. It is fast...and festive.

There you go. Fun and easy July 4th cupcakes. No printable required for a fancy topper and certainly only a few minutes to make toppers that will cause some firework fun! As for my cupcake  and buttercream recipe...

Chef Tess Lemon-Sour cream Pound Cake

Cake:

4 1/2 c  Chef Tess homemade yellow cake mix (here)

3/4 c Honeyville lemonade powder

1 c Honeyville Sour cream powder

1/2 cup Honeyville whole egg powder (4 eggs)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry cake ingredients. Mix with 2 cups water by hand 200 strokes. Grease and flour a 9 inch bundt cake pan. Pour pound cake batter into prepared pan and bake 55-65 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 20 minutes before inverting. For cupcakes, yields 24 cupcakes. Bake 17-20 minutes.

My Chef Tess Favorite Buttercream Frosting Recipe

4 lb powdered sugar

2 c butter (1 lb)

1 T clear vanilla or rum extract (cheesecake, English Toffee, or Pistachio LorAnn Oils)

3/4 cup very hot, almost boiling water

Directions: Combine all the ingredients in a kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment (or a hand held mixer would work). Put on speed 1, with a spill guard installed or you will get powdered sugar all over the floor. Whip 3-5 minutes until very smooth. Yield frosting for 2 10 inch cakes (plus layers and decorations).

There you go! Have a wonderful 4th of July!

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

Chef Tess Country Sausage, Hash Brown and Pepper-Cheese Scrambled Egg Breakfast Skillet...(The 52 Jar Method Continues)

This meal in  a jar is too brilliant! You might pass out.  It's gluten free, just add water, and shelf stable 7-10 years.  It contains real sausage, potatoes, eggs, cheese, and vegetables. The thing I adore most of all about it is the fact that I don't have to plan on having any oil in the house to cook the hash browns. Yes. You read that correctly. No need to plan on extra oil in your food storage or cooking supplies anywhere. It's great for camping. It is all self-contained in the jar and ready to cook a meal. Are you excited to see the method?!

 If you're new to the 52 method meals in a jar you will need to see my Original Post on the safety of home vacuum-packing for long-term storage and convenience meals. Yes. that means you'll need to go here. I've had many follow-up posts on the  on the 52 Jar Method. Yes, the book is underway and the beginning bulk of recipes and outline for this food storage plan should be out in the cookbook I'm writing for Honeyville Farms. It will be published later this year. We are anticipating it hitting store shelves by December first.  In the meantime, because it is a Honeyville book, I am able to share the recipes here on the blog as long as I have some new and original ones in the book. I shared this with our Breakfast Meal-in-a-Jar classes and it was so well received by all who tasted it that I'm certain that it is indeed a winner.

I keep the egg mixture separate from the potato mixture since eggs take about 3 minutes to cook and hash browns need to be hydrated and cook with the sausage for 15 minutes.  

The first "must-have" for this meal to be amazing is the Scrambled Egg Mix (crystals). They cook up to taste just like a fresh scrambled egg. I've ranted about them in the past but just know that we are very picky about eggs around here, as only a chef could be...and they are outstanding.  One #10 can is right around 70$. At first that freaked me out until I realized that there were 103 eggs in a can. So that's about 6 a dozen. 6 dozen! Shelf stable and not going to kill my family from salmonella. Yup. I'm a fan.

With the eggs, we'll be using the beautiful technology of...

Freeze Dried Cheese.  Yes. It tastes like cheese, looks like cheese and works like cheese. It IS cheese. The only ingredient in the can is cheese.

I'm also using the real Sausage. It is shelf stable 10 years or more and remarkable. In this recipe, it is NOT okay to use the TVP sausage. It will not work for keeping your hash browns from sticking to the pan the way the real stuff does.

I'm not going to lie...this stuff is delicious.

Please be very careful to use an oxygen absorber for these jars. With the use of the eggs and the freeze dried sausage they are not optional. They are for your safety.  Now...to the Oxygen Absorber. What do they do?

Wikipedia says: "An oxygen absorber is a small packet of material used to prolong the shelf life of food. They are used in food packaging to prevent food color change, to stop oils in foods from becoming rancid, and also retard the growth of oxygen-using aerobic microorganisms such as fungi...

Oxygen supports the growth of microorganisms and causes changes in color and rancid odors in packaged foods. Plastic packaging is less able to exclude oxygen from packaged foods than are the older glass and metal containers. Oxygen absorbers absorb oxygen and effectively reduce the aerobic environment to 0% oxygen. Therefore aerobic bacteria and fungi are unable to grow in this environment. This will extend the shelf life of a food product for years. The advantages of oxygen satchels versus vacuum packaging are that the food products are not crushed or squeezed, as some products are of high value and are fragile, and its simplicity of use."

Yes I use them. There is an alternate method using a jar attachment and a Food Saver vacuum machine...but today, this is what you get to see. I get my oxygen absorbers from my favorite website for supplies,  Here.

Are you ready for breakfast yet?!

 Chef Tess' Country Sausage, Hash Brown and

 Pepper-Cheese Scrambled Egg Breakfast Skillet

Wide mouth quart jar:
2 c diced dehydrated potatoes
1 c Freeze Dried Sausage (no substitutions)
1tsp Chef Tess All Purpose Seasoning
Small sealable baggie on top of potatoes and sausage in the jar:
1/3 c Scrambled Egg Mix (no substitutions)
1/3 c  freeze dried cheddar cheese
1/3 c Freeze-dried bell peppers
2 T  freeze dried mushrooms
½ tsp Chef Tess Romantic Italian Seasoning
Top with an oxygen absorber (see the package of the oxygen absorber packets for specific safety on how long those are good out in the air). Seal lid on tightly, screwing on very securely. Make sure the oxygen absorber is not over the lip of the jar or you will not achieve a good seal. Jar lid will "pop" when the jar is sealed, after about 20 minutes. This is how you will know there is not any oxygen in your jar.

Directions to prepare Meal: In a large 12-inch non-stick skillet, combine the potatoes and sausage with 4 cups boiling water. Cover and allow hydrating 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender.Drain any extra water, once the potatoes are tender. The fat from the sausage will keep the potatoes from sticking to the pan. Cook 10-15 minutes over medium heat, stirring once or twice but allowing the potatoes to brown well.  The secret is not stirring too often.  In a separate quart-size bowl, combine the contents of the egg baggie with 2/3 cup cool water, whisking well. Allow hydrating 5 minutes. In a small separate non-stick skillet on low heat, slowly cook the egg mixture, stirring often. Or, you can cook them in a corner of the skillet that the potatoes are in by simply pushing the hash brown mixture to one side. Serve eggs over the potato mixture. Yield 5 servings. Equal to 3/4 cup sausage hash brown mixture and 1/5 egg mixture (about 1 egg).

There you go! A Country Breakfast fit for a king. Enjoy!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

9 Grain Carrot Cake Pancakes with Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup

We love pancakes. What's not to love about fluffy confections that you can drizzle in syrup and eat any time of the day? My youngest son will, at any given time, drop everything and ask for pancakes. No doubt he got that love of pancakes from his adorable daddy.  My husband Ace would eat them every single day. Oh. He does. That is his breakfast almost every day. He's adorable that way. Adorable. Once in a very long while he'll ask for something else, but usually it's pancakes. Whenever I complain about his habit in that regard he'll usually shoot back his heart-melting puppy-dog expression and say, "Steph, when I find something I like, I stick with it." Sigh. Swoon. He loves me forever. Oddly enough, I get a little tired of the same old pancake. I like to switch things up. I also have a mad-sick-evil love for carrot cake. Don't ask me how it started. I don't know all the secrets of the universe that bring together two perfectly paired atoms in the cosmos. Why question fate? Why?  Enters {dramatically with 2001 Space Odyssey music playing boldly in the foreground}...the 9 grain carrot cake pancake of extreme glory drizzled with the ever evil-divine butter toffee sour cream syrup. Sigh. Swoon. I'll love them forever. Something is coming...something wonderful.

Are you ready for the big shocker on this? You can make them sugar free. Yup. This is actually sweetened naturally with a low calorie beauty. How cool am I feeling right now? I can't really tell you with a mouth full of carrot cake. Grin.

9 Grain Carrot Cake Pancakes

with Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup

1 c Chef Tess 9 Grain Baking Mix

1/3 cup granulated erythritol  (zero calorie natural sweetener)

1/2 tsp Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Spice Blend

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup fine shredded carrot

2/3 cup water

Combine all ingredients and cook on a medium hot griddle as you would regular pancakes.

Now we need syrup right?

The first time I ever shared this Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup was when I posted the recipe for the Gluten Free Butterscotch Pecan Buckwheat Pancakes. Those are amazing drizzled with this syrup. I'm not going to lie. This syrup over the carrot cake pancakes nearly made me pass out. It is just a deliriously-divine combination.Yup. Incandescently happy. The being kissed by Mr. Darcy kind-of-happy. {Pride and Prejudice aside my darlings, I think he's adorable.}
That being said, here's the recipe for the butter toffee sour cream syrup.

Chef Tess' Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup

1/2 cup fat free sour cream
2T butter
1 cup sugar or  granulated erythritol  (zero calorie natural sweetener) 
1 tsp ultra gel
1/2 tsp English Toffee flavor oil
2T hot water
Directions: Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Stir well. Serve warm over hot pancakes. Store any un-used portion in the fridge. Yields 1 1/2 cups.
Butter Toffee Sour Cream Syrup Mix

1/2 powdered sour cream

2T  powdered butter

1 cup sugar or granulated erythritol  (zero calorie natural sweetener)

1 teaspoon cornstarch or ultra gel

1/2 tsp English Toffee flavor oil

1/2 cup hot water

To make the syrup, combine the dry ingredients and the flavored oil. Stir well. Add the hot water and bring to a simmer over low heat in a medium size heavy bottom sauce pan. Cook 2-3 minutes until sugar is dissolved. Do not over-cook or the syrup will get very thick. Serve over the pancakes. Store unused portion in the fridge after use. I doubt there'll be much left over. 

There you go. Make some carrot cake pancakes. Sigh. Swoon. You'll love them forever.

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

The Works. (The Bread of Life Section)

It has been a red-letter week. I wish I could go into more detail on that subject but at this point we're not really talking about too much. I've had some amazing experiences that have made made me sit in wonder at the awesome hand of the Lord in my life and the way that miracles have come at just the right moment to answer my prayers. It has been a week full of marvelous gifts. One that I will not ever forget. So. How's that for being ambiguous?

I will however, talk a little bit today about work. I've had a lot of friends recently who tell me, "I don't know how you do all you do! You're going and going all the time!" I think that perception is an interesting thing. For though I "go" a lot, I don't try to run faster than I have strength or fill my schedule so tight that I don't have time to ever speak to a friend for a few minutes. Yes. I work like crazy. I fall to my bed at night exhausted. I'm probably not alone in that though. Many people work that hard. There are details of my life I don't share on the blog. Many know them who are near to me. I think the thing that keeps me going in my journey on earth and the work that I'm earnestly engaged in, is the assurance I have behind it that the Lord is ever watchful of me and the support I receive from the Spirit. Am I always perfect at remembering the Lord? No. It is a constant battle to be in the world and keep the focus out of the world. It is a constant battle to remember who I am and what I have been asked to do as a follower of Christ. Wife, mother, sister, friend, teacher, and all the roles I play on this stage of life must be supported by the hand of a divine Father. If not, I will fail. 
 God's Grace is amazing. For, even after all I can do, I will never be able to work my way into salvation. Ever. God doesn't work that way. In Luke 2:17-18 (KJT) we read, " Even so faith, if it hath not works is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works."
I think that scripture is most profound. There's much to be learned. However, I can't also help but think that works without faith are also dead. God will look into the heart and will know, even if nobody else on this earth ever does, what the intentions of my heart have been when I have put forth an effort on earth. I let myself think of that. I let it soak into my soul.
The battle rages on. Many will fall by the wayside. My hope is that you and I will someday sit down in the kingdom together and that when the Lord looks at me, I will look back at Him knowing that I have done a work that was accepted by and endorsed by His hand. That is all I can ever hope. You and I can't "do it all". I don't know how you do it all. I just know that I can do all things that are needed and necessary if I keep God in the equation. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. Thankfully.  Onward and upward my friends!

There it is.

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Tess

How to Never Buy Yeast Again. The Everlasting Yeast No Knead Bread Tutorial.

This tutorial is for the Birds. Literally. The Birds are my darling students who brought me their first loaf of homemade bread the day after they came to one of my bread classes. Hence forth I'm calling them the Love Birds. Seriously. I love them. They've stayed in touch ever since. Mrs. Love Bird is an adorable woman who I've come to just cherish. Her husband reminds me very much of my dad. To make a long story short, when she showed up at a show with a loaf of her first Kamut bread she thought it was a little dry and we talked over e-mail.   Saturday, she was on loaf number four (or so) and brought it to me at my meal in a jar class. I was thrilled to see her progress! This is a woman who never once made bread until she met me.  Thrilled! Look at her no knead bread that she baked in her Solar Oven!

 Mrs. Love Bird. You're the best!

True confession. I've been toasting this bread for 3 days and I'm loving this. Thank you so much my darling!
You've made me smile!


At any rate, at the original bread class that the Love Birds attended, I mentioned the method I use for never having to buy yeast again and basically perpetuating an everlasting yeast. It is strengthened  by the length of it's existence and a remarkable skill to have for not only saving money but for any emergency situation or camping. The bread made with it is not a sour dough, but can be a sourdough if you let the yeast go too long between uses. I'm amazingly fond of this method for the fact that I'm a cheap-skate and I really don't like spending money on something that should be free. For thousands of years people made yeast-raised bread without commercial yeast. Somewhere along the way we've become totally dependant on the powdered active-dry and instant yeast in our bread making. This doesn't have to be the case. In fact, in my house it is usually the exception. The bread made with everlasting yeast has remarkable depth of flavor and beautiful results. I make bread often enough that I haven't had a problem with my lump of dough ever getting too sour or molding. It has been a dear friend for quite some time. I dare say...about 5 years. So, to the Love Birds and anyone like them who wants to see the finer details of this yeast method, here you go.


First, retain a small amount of dough from the next loaf of No knead 4 Ingredient Bread Anyone Can Make. I usually save about a half a cup of dough and keep it moist with 1/2 cup of cool water. Covered in a bucket 24 hours or less from the time I made my bread. It can be up to a week in the fridge, but in the summer here at room temperature I haven't gone longer than a day or two.

 I'm going with the old-school method here and just showing you what I do. I'm not going to weight the dough. You're just going to have to trust me. This is your yeast-dough-ball. It's is what I got from my last loaf of bread and is basically now the yeast you will use forever. Make friends because this can be around for many years to come.

 Dissolve the yeast-dough ball in 3 1/2 cups of cool water in a food-grade gallon size bucket with a lid or you can also use a large plastic bowl. I don't use metal because if the dough does sour, I don't want to deal with a mess. It hasn't so far, but ya know...there's always a first time.

Smoosh and swirl it around until it is a liquid mixture.

 To the bucket or bowl add 7 cups Hard White Wheat Bread Flour ( or you can use 8 1/2 cups California's Best Bread Flour ) and 2 tsp salt.

 Mix and combine the dough by hand about 2 minutes. You don't need to knead it. Just combine it.

 If it appears a little dry, add 1/4-1/2 cup more water.

 It should be moist enough to stick to your hands, but not moist enough to fall in pools of pathetic sadness on the bottom of your bucket. It will hold it's structure.

 Now that the dough is combined, cover it with a lid and let it sit at room temperature 12-14 hours. It can go up to 24 hours but not much longer. In cooler weather, it will take the full 24 hours to raise.

 This is what it will look like when you take off the cover.

 The dough will have some pretty nice gluten development.

 It should look almost stringy.

 Lightly flour your counter-top and transfer to dough to be made into 2 loaves of bread.


Retain one small handful of dough.

 Add 1/2 cup of cool water to the handful of dough and put it back in your bucket. Cover. Use within 24 hours for more bread or put the lump and water in your fridge after 24 hours for up to 1 week. It will become sourdough after that time and will need to be discarded or it can be used for a sourdough bread starter in any of the many recipes I've done here on the blog for sourdough .

 With the dough you have on your counter, follow the directions of the Sandwich loaf molding tutorial, but allow the loaves to raise about 3 hours (it may take up to 4 hours the first few times you use the yeast), covered at room temperature. The longer and more often you use your everlasting yeast-dough-ball the stronger it will be and that time will shorten dramatically.

Bake your bread in a hot oven or you can do like the Love Birds are doing and use this:  Baking Bread in a Solar Oven Tutorial. All I know is that the bread ends up being moist, delicious and well...amazing. You're going to love this method. It will save a lot of yeast money for other things...like grain to feed your family. There you go. Make some everlasting yeast. For more frugal ideas visit my friends over at Frugal Days Sustainable Ways and vote for my frugal tip. It's a great blog hop with great ideas for being frugal...and sustainable. Xoxo!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess