The Monday catch-up long blog post: Lumpia, applesauce, and the Great British Bake-Off

This is going to be a loooong blog post! Just to warn you! Long blog posts once in a while aren’t a bad thing though.

Just like last weekend, I was not able to post about our weekend and end-of-week happenings, so I had to post on Monday. This might end up being a regular thing. Monday is still a crazy day (laundry day for anyone? 😉 but it is less crazy than Wednesday on.

One of my staple meals is lumpia and rice. It’s my fallback meal when I can’t think of anything else to make! It usually takes me two or three days to make lumpia, so when I do make it, I try to make a LOT. My friends occasionally order lumpia from me also, so that was the main reason I made them last week.

I’ve been making lumpia since I was a kid. I remember that my mom used to make it using an uncooked filling, but when I was a teenager, she switched to using a cooked filling. I like the cooked filling better so that is the way I make it now. I will be using the terms lumpia and eggroll interchangeably in this post. They are pretty much the same thing.

First, I cook the filling in a huge wok. I love my nonstick wok.
First, I cook the filling in a huge wok. I love my nonstick wok.

For the filling, I used almost 3 pounds of ground beef, 1 pound of ground pork, and 2 pounds of frozen mixed vegetables.

Once the filling is cooked, it is important to drain most of the fat and cool the filling. Otherwise, the wrappers get too wet and you end up with a soggy mess.
Once the filling is cooked, it is important to drain most of the fat and cool the filling. Otherwise, the wrappers get too wet and you end up with a soggy mess.
This is my usual eggroll rolling setup. Wrappers on the left, water for sealing and the bowl of filling in front of a cutting board, then finished eggrolls go on the right.
This is my usual eggroll rolling setup. Wrappers on the left, water for sealing and the bowl of filling in front of a cutting board, then finished eggrolls go on the right.
I make small eggrolls so I cut each wrapper in half. This also saves money and makes the eggrolls crisper since there is not as much wrapper to cook.
I make small eggrolls so I cut each wrapper in half. This also saves money and makes the eggrolls crisper since there is not as much wrapper to cook.

I put about 1 tablespoon of filling in each eggroll. If I am using another brand, then I have to use less filling because 1 tablespoon will tear the wrapper when I am rolling it.

My all-time favorite eggroll wrapper. It is SO easy to work with! I have found that I can work a lot faster when I use this brand. I also don't tear as many wrappers during separating. Each package makes about 60 eggrolls.
My all-time favorite eggroll wrapper. It is SO easy to work with! I have found that I can work a lot faster when I use this brand. I also don’t tear as many wrappers during separating. Each package makes about 60 eggrolls.
It looks kind of like a little envelope.
It looks kind of like a little envelope.
Now, take the bottom part of the rectangle over the filling and tuck in the filling like you would a baby. :)
Now, take the bottom part of the rectangle over the filling and tuck in the filling like you would a baby. 🙂
You want to tuck it in tight, but not too tight!
You want to tuck it in tight, but not too tight!
Oops! I tucked it in too tight and the filling tore through the wrapper. Maybe when I roll it up the holes will be covered.
Oops! I tucked it in too tight and the filling tore through the wrapper. Maybe when I roll it up the holes will be covered.
Wet the top of the triangle and roll it up!
Wet the top of the triangle and roll it up!
Isn't it cute!
Isn’t it cute!
Now it can join the rest of the eggrolls waiting to be put away.
Fry them up in enough oil to cover one side of the eggrolls in a skillet. A deep fryer is probably best but I just like to use a skillet to make it quick.
Fry them up in enough oil to cover one side of the eggrolls in a skillet. A deep fryer is probably best but I just like to use a skillet to make it quick.
Eggrolls! Yum! All ready to eat with some sweet and sour sauce and hot cooked rice! These aren't authentic lumpia but they still taste good!
Eggrolls! Yum! All ready to eat with some sweet and sour sauce and hot cooked rice! These aren’t authentic lumpia but they still taste good!

EDIT: I just realized I forgot to say how many lumpia this amount of filling makes. I am estimating that I made around 200 eggrolls. I wasn’t directly counting since I rolled eggrolls at two different times using the same filling. One time was to stock up on eggrolls for us and the other was for my friend who ordered them.

I also made homemade applesauce on Friday. I had been wanting to make some for about a week but just could not get to it! My poor honeycrisp apples had to wait a while to get my attention.

4 pounds of apples in my biggest pot! I think I might have used too much water. Oh well. I drained out most of the water but kept some of it in so the applesauce would keep some moisture.
4 pounds of apples in my biggest pot! I think I might have used too much water. Oh well. I drained out most of the water but kept some of it in so the applesauce would keep some moisture.
I was not able to take as many pictures of this process as I wanted. Maybe I was in a bit of a rush. That happens to me a lot. These are the apples after they've cooked for about 35-45 minutes.
I was not able to take as many pictures of this process as I wanted. Maybe I was in a bit of a rush. That happens to me a lot. These are the apples after they’ve cooked for about 35-45 minutes.
I didn't make enough applesauce to can, so I just put the applesauce into a jar to keep in the fridge.
I didn’t make enough applesauce to can, so I just put the applesauce into a jar to keep in the fridge.
I used a blender to make the applesauce smooth instead of chunky. It tasted good but I think I should have left a little more "chunk" in there. I think I am going to try the applesauce on my kids at lunch today.
I used a blender to make the applesauce smooth instead of chunky. It tasted good but I think I should have left a little more “chunk” in there. I think I am going to try the applesauce on my kids at lunch today.

The recipe for the applesauce came from a book that I probably should buy: Make the Bread Buy the Butter. I keep renewing it since I borrowed it from the library. I did add in some vanilla extract just to give it some extra flavor (or maybe I am just a vanilla addict.)

If you’d like to take a look at the book, you can click the image below and it will take you to Amazon.

Josh and I are currently watching this really fun baking show: The Great British Bake-Off. We’ve been watching it on Netflix from Season 1, where it is called The Great British Baking Show. I don’t know why they changed the name. I like Bake-Off better!

We are big fans of pretty much anything British, examples being: Doctor Who, Doc Martin, Midsomer Murders, Foyle’s War, lemon curd, lemon marmalade, crumpets, marinated mushrooms for breakfast, and English Breakfast tea.

This show is showing me that I really don’t know how to bake. So far, we have seen “amateur” bakers make biscuits (crackers for us Americans), bread, and sponge cake. Yes, I am working on learning how to make bread, but I’ve never attempted making my own crackers or sponge cake!

I am considering trying to make wheat crackers tomorrow using discard sourdough starter. I am sure if I get to it that it will end up being a blog post. 🙂

Some last things – I realized on Saturday the advantages of a large kitchen. I was at my parents’ house and they have a huge kitchen with a lot of counter space. While I was there, I was able to make: pancit (which can take about 2 to 3 hours just by itself), lemon cheesecake bars using sugar substitute, boxed brownies, and baked baby potatoes for smashed potatoes (instead of mashed potatoes). All those took me about 5 hours to make there, but here at home, all of that would have taken me about 7 hours I think. This means that there is no way I would have made all that while I was at home. Somehow, I made less of a mess too! I’m not sure how that happened. Our kitchen is a good size but without an island for prep work, I am constantly moving things around to make space for bowls, ingredients, etc.

Today’s project is a cheesecake that I have been waiting to make for a week. Right now, I have it in the oven cooling and am hoping that it doesn’t crack! I may post about this cheesecake later if I am able to get a good picture!

I also would like to share the recipe for my mom’s lumpia but I think that might need to be a separate post. Hopefully, I can type it up tomorrow!

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This Post Has 7 Comments

  1. A_Boleyn October 19, 2015 Reply

    Great introductory post to your blog, Lynn. So many things I wanted to comment to but I’ll keep it to a few.

    I love the lumpia and other than not caring for green beans can see myself giving them a try if I find the wrappers. I’ve made eggrolls myself recently with shredded coleslaw mix (great time saver) and ground turkey. Forgot to add bean sprouts to the mixture but I will next time. I also made sweet eggrolls with an apple-raisin filling and canned cherry pie filling.

    I’m a fan of British/UK foods and mystery shows especially ones like Midsomer Murders, Father Brown, Grantchester (new show). Shame that Foyle’s War ended as did the Poirot series.

    As a high school science teacher (I supply teacher with quals in biology/chemistry) I am curious about home schooling and how parents manage.

    Look forward to future posts.

    1. Lynn-Marie October 19, 2015 Reply

      I keep planning on writing up a homeschool post about the curriculum I use but just haven’t been able to yet. Maybe that will be my post to get done before the end of the week.

      I have also made sweet eggrolls! I use chopped apples, sugar, and cream cheese. I’m still working on perfecting it though so I’m not sure when I will have a recipe ready to post for that. My oldest son always wants me to make strawberry jam and cream cheese eggrolls but they splatter something awful! Also, I often leave out certain vegetables for my friends who order eggrolls from me. I’m sure they would be fine without green beans.

      I will have to look into Grantchester. Thank you for mentioning it!

      1. A_Boleyn October 19, 2015 Reply

        I’m just curious how the home schooling is going. Positives and negatives. No pressure to write up anything too detailed as I know with 5 kids and a farm to work you’re a VERY busy woman. 🙂

        The fruit and cream cheese in the egg rolls sounds similar to a braided cherry cheese danish I made a while ago. I made everything from scratch … except the cream cheese. 🙂

        http://a-boleyn.livejournal.com/193058.html

  2. amylynw November 12, 2015 Reply

    I love the Great British Bakeoff as well! My husband and I just started watching it and enjoy it! You’ve inspired me to make egg rolls…

    1. Lynn-Marie November 12, 2015 Reply

      We just finished the current season of the Great British Bakeoff. I think we might try to find a few of the previous seasons to watch! Do you find yourself wanting to try making a lot of what they bake? I do but I know I don’t have time to try all of them!

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