Fat Frog Diary

  Broccoli Chicken a  La King I love vintage recipes! This one comes from my youth, when the can of soup and the microwave would set the housewife free from the drudgery of the kitchen. This was the age when the woman was supposed to be Super Mom, able to work a full-time  job and then come home and whip up a nutritious meal in only a few minutes. The manufacturer's ideas of what was nutritious were flexible, of course.  The true beauty of this recipe is its flexibility. There are options on the cheese, the meat, and what you serve it on top with. What Mom did back then depended on her own energy level, but I personally would recommend either tossing a baking potato or three in the Instant Pot if you have a few extra minutes.  Notes: 1. While I know I'll get some hate for this; I use and keep Spam and canned cooked chicken around for those days when I forgot to defrost something. These "shelf special" recipes have saved me plenty of money, since I did...

Double Apricot Almond Bread I love this recipe! When I was a kid, using baby food to flavor baked goods was a fad and a great way to change up an ordinary food like bread. "Prune Cake" was a thing. Really!  It still exists today:  Baby Food Prune Cake Recipe - Food.com   Notes: 1. Make sure to reserve the 1-2 Tablespoons of baby food for the glaze. Yes, it's worth the trouble.  Disclaimer: I am not a chef, nor a licensed food service professional of any kind. I'm a grandmother who loves to cook and loves efficient cooking. Anything I post has been checked out by me, but in no way do I guarantee that my suggestions will work for you. YMMV (Your mileage may vary.) Some links may give the original poster a small commission on products sold via the link. I personally am not an Amazon affiliate and make no money on any links given. Lena Austin www.fatfrogdiary.blogspot.com

HERB GRILLING SAUCE Notes: This shelf special is easy, and fast. You can grill or, if the weather is not suitable for grilling, you can broil.  Sources Disclaimer: I am not a chef, nor a licensed food service professional of any kind. I'm a grandmother who loves to cook and loves efficient cooking. Anything I post has been checked out by me, but in no way do I guarantee that my suggestions will work for you. YMMV (Your mileage may vary.) Some links may give the original poster a small commission on products sold via the link. I personally am not an Amazon affiliate and make no money on any links given. Lena Austin www.fatfrogdiary.blogspot.com

  Broccoli Chicken a la King Am I a fan of Campell's soups? Yes, I am! I'm from the era of "Casseroles will Set You Free" from the drudgery of the kitchen, and that view has only strengthened over the years. Note that you can also switch out and use ham instead of chicken. I cheat and use Spam. This is a microwave recipe as well. Can you get any easier?    Notes: 1. Serve over split baked potatoes, cooked noodles, or biscuits. I personally have served it over cooked farro as well.  2. Cheap casserole dishes can be found at thrift stores. I have a whole collection that cost me less than $20 in total, and that includes Corning Ware with lids. Stock up! That way, if you're ever asked to bring a casserole to the potluck, you won't be annoyed if the dish disappears. Never take your *good* casserole dishes out of the house. Be prepared to be that cook who whips up a casserole, brings it in a dish, and is totally stress free.  Disclaimer: I am not a chef, n...

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  This is one of my kitchen basics, right along with a classic White Sauce. Learning to make this elevates a plain old cheesecake or ice cream to divine. Think how a raspberry sauce would go over plain old pear halves, for instance. This makes keeping a can or two of fruit cocktail in the pantry and a few single-serve cans of orange juice hidden away well worth the trouble. Or better yet, how to elevate plain Greek yogurt to something even Aphrodite might enjoy. Since cheesecake and yogurt qualify as creamy, I am sharing it now. You'll thank me for giving it to you early in the year.  Please note this sauce is more than just sugar, water, and fruit. It has cornstarch to thicken it and you get to decide how much sugar to use. I personally use a tablespoon of sugar, and sometimes a tablespoon of Splenda, because I have a diabetic in the house.  Hiding the orange juice is the trickiest part. Single serve bottles and cans do best. Sneak thieves find the stash and drink it all...

  Sweet Quick Bread Mix Not only does this make a great "shelf special", it's a gift you can give with a few additions and a card.      Recipe Notes:  Preheat oven to 325F. To make the bread, use 3-1/2 cups of the mix. Add 2 eggs, 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, 1 tsp of vanilla or other flavoring, and enough liquid like juice, milk, or water to moisten. Keep in mind that your add-in like pumpkin, banana or zucchini may also have moisture inherent to the add-in, so you may want to hold off adding liquid until after you've included your add-in. Nuts may be rolled in the powder mix before beginning the recipe to avoid them sinking to the bottom. On average, most sweet breads take about an hour to bake in a standard loaf pan.    Personal Notes: As seen in the picture, the possibilities are varied and may be adjusted to fit what's seasonally available. Carrot-Orange loaf in the spring, Zucchini Bread in early summer, Pumpkin Bread with Pumpkin Spices...

 SLOPPY JOE SEASONING MIX and PANTRY GOOPS This one is a good one for keeping handy in the pantry. There will always be nights when you can barely manage to shuffle into the kitchen to cook a meal for yourself, much less something nutritious and filling for anyone else in your household.  While the recipe for the seasoning mix says to create a foil packet and label it, I recommend instead a small snack-sized Ziploc bag.  That way you can create several bags at once to keep on hand for those nights when you might be able to manage something quick and easy in the electric skillet.  Now, let's take this concept of "dinner on the shelf" a step further. Why buy boxed products to make up a dish full of chemicals when you can have your own ready on the shelf?  Think of the different boxes of dinner "options" available in the grocery aisles. Most of them are a starch (pasta or rice) in one container, a seasoning packet made of seasonings appropriate for that particular ...

RUSSIAN REFRESHER This delicious hot drink was the thing to give your friends and family in a fancy jar set  back in the 1970's. I loved it as a kid, and my mother was happy to make a big batch every fall.  Tang can be purchased via Amazon using this link:  Amazon.com : Tang Jumbo Orange Naturally Flavored Powdered Drink Mix 2 Count 63 Oz Canisters : Grocery & Gourmet Food My choice for the lemonade mix is Countrytime Lemonade, but you can decide based on what's available to you.  Please note that I personally substituted instant tea for 1 cup of the orange drink mix (aka Tang.)  Get creative with this, especially for any tea drinkers in your friends and family. What if you sealed this in a fancy jar and included it with a fun and fanciful tea set for a host(ess) gift or housewarming? 

 ONION SEASONING MIX Love this! I hate paying extra for a box of two envelopes of onion seasoning mix when I use this several times a month at minimum! If you can't find the Bon Appetit Seasoning, try this: Simply Organic All Purpose Seasoning . I've also substituted Bea Monde seasoning in a pinch.  So easy! Save a bottle from the recycle bin to keep it in. I keep mine in a pint jar. Yes, I use that much! Each foil bundle saves me so much time and money. 

 MUFFIN MIX  First, the basic mix, then how to make it into muffins, and then what you can do with that very basic muffin to jazz it up.  How to make Melt-in-Your-Mouth Muffins This recipe comes from the Make a Mix Cookbook I've mentioned in previous posts. It's well worth a place on your cookbook shelf. I recommend writing the ingredients below on the container of the muffin mix so it's handy. Add a note about the time and temperature of the oven and you're set to make muffins even after only one cup of coffee.  2-3/4 cups Muffin Mix  1 egg, beaten 1 cup milk 1/2 cup butter, melted or 1/2 cup vegetable oil  Preheat oven to 400F (205C). Spray your muffin tins with cooking spray or use cupcake liners. Put muffin mix in a big bowl. Mix all wet ingredients and then add all at once to dry. Stir until just moistened. Do not overbeat. It's supposed to be lumpy, trust me. Fill your muffin tins with your batter until 3/4 full. Bake 18-20 minutes until golden brown...

This recipe is delicious, fast, easy, and cheap. There's even a version on campbells/com that includes cheese called Ultimate Chicken Pot Pie. Ingredients: 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 pkg (12 oz) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed 1 egg 1 c. milk (divided ½ cup and ½ cup) 1 c. cubed cooked chicken or turkey 1 c. biscuit baking mix Instructions: Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a 9" pie plate with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, stir together the soup, ½ cup of milk, vegetables, and chicken. Pour into the pie plate. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ½ cup of milk, egg, and baking mix just until it comes together. Spread the batter over the chicken mixture. (The batter is thin, but the idea is to form a crust, not biscuits.) Bake for 20 minutes or until the topping is golden brown. Serve hot. Notes: I use this when I've made chicken or turkey stock, or when I have leftover poultry meat. Since I try to keep all of the ingredie...