Archive for the Category »crock-pot «

September

Sconicle and I love soup for lunch. Here is what I use and do for lunch several days a week. I precooked a lb of white ground turkey. I also precooked a bean mixture in a big crock-pot the night before. I had gone to HEB and picked out the beans Sconicle and I like and mixed them together. Sconicle loves Turkey as well. Cooked beans have far less ingredients, and less sodium, than canned beans. You can change the flavors from Mexican to Italian. Sconicle liked the Italian flavor best.

1 can low sodium whole tomatoes, food processed to a chunky texture
1/2 can low sodium corn, Sconicle loves corn
1/2 lb cooked white ground turkey
cooked bean mixture to fill up the crock-pot
a tablespoon of beef base (makes the turkey taste beefy)
a tablespoon of salsa

I threw it all in a 1 quart Crock-pot and let it simmer till lunch time. Two days later I switched it up.

1 cup of leftover pizza sauce
1/2 lb cooked white turkey
1/2 can of low sodium corn
cooked bean mixture to fill up the pot
a tablespoon of beef base (makes turkey beef like)
salt and pepper to taste

You throw it and let it bubble and simmer.

On Friday we were out of turkey, we threw in a couple cups of rice, and leftover pinto bean juice to simmer with the cooked mixed beans.

We both have found that eating that much protein makes us awake and full. If you didn’t want mixed beans you could use just one bean. But the cost of mixed beans, and the color is eye-pleasing helps you feel like you are eating a great gourmet soup. I can detail what is in our mixture but only use it as an idea, add what you want.

1 lb northern beans
1 lb baby navy beans
1 lb kidney beans
1 lb split peas
1 lb red beans
1 lb pinto beans
1 lb black eyed peas

I got a big bowl and mixed it them all up. I cook only two cups at a time in a four quart crock-pot. The number of lbs is not as important as only cooking two cups at a time. Two cups dried beans is a lot of beans. It makes three pots of 1 quart crock pot soup.

As an added treat we ate the soup with HEB Texas White Cheddar crackers.Lunch time when you homeschool is a break, and we like it to be a fun moment for us to relax.

I did this because every recipe I found for a bean soup had canned beans. The closer to the ground I can get my food the more healthy it is.

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Category: Uncategorized, crock-pot Tags: crock-pot, homeschool, recipes 3 Comments

Dunk is home

May

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Dunk is home! I went and got him yesterday. As far as I can tell he is healthy, considering the state of his room, it is a miracle!

We got him packed up, cleaned up and good to go in a bit more time that I would have liked. Had I known he hadn’t cleaned up or had no cleaners I could have brought some windex, a mop, maybe a paper towel, and most definitely some OdorOut!

Never underestimate the power of Bounce! That is how I cleaned up the entire room, yep you heard it here! I dusted, cleaned a sink, mopped a floor and desmelled a toilet (don’t ask). Which reminds me it is time to fess up. I bought Tide, my clothes were getting dull and I wanted to see if it made a difference. It did, I am back to Tide. Now as far as toilet cleaners I bought some Surf with Lavender andVanilla. I still put it in a glass container on top of the toilet, each day I sprinkle and swish. It smells clean as a whistle. I love a good clean smell! Bounce made Dunk’s room a wonderful scent. He was given some Kaboom for the toilet, Gator installed in the boy’s bathroom toilet. I will report if it is works or not.

Last night I made the Paula Deen Cake, it smells really good. I plan to ice it on Sunday. I am cooking a huge homegrown chicken in the crockpot today, with ranch dressing powder and a can of mushrooms. I will probably serve it over cooked rice with corn, because that is what I have. Last week we got three meals out of one chicken. I plan to make chicken enchiladas for Sunday. Tomorrow it will probably be a simple chicken salad, which tastes so good when it is hot outside.

We have decided our budget cannot afford air conditioning at this juncture. The good news is I have lost weight, the bad new is I keep developing heat rash from the unGodly heat! We are in the process of putting up new screens that are deeply tinted to help with the heat factor. Hubby bought the screen some time ago, and now we are finally doing what we should have done over a year ago.

Off to start my mountain called Wash Me More! Dunk it should be noted has more clothes than I do! Plus I was already behind!

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Category: crock-pot Tags: cleaning, clothes, cooking, crock-pot, Frugal Living One Comment

Blog Beyond Words!

December

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I talk to myself. Quit laughing! Really! Monday I was thinking about what I really wanted to post was a wonderful place where the reader something completely different, a view that would blow your mind and yet inspire you!

That is how I view my blog, what treasure can give to the reader each day. Sometimes it is the brutal politically uncorrect truth, sometimes it is frugal trips of my home, and sometimes it is farm realities.

Today I am sharing with you a blog that I found by actual accident. Every blog can lead to another blog, sometimes you like the other blog, sometimes you think what in the world and sometimes you ooo and awwww! Today you will ooo and awww, why? Because as this frugal lifestyle has to become more and more a way of life my favorite way to cook is here to stay. Oh come on now(my MIL used to say that), you know what I am talking about! Crockpot cooking, the slow cooking wonder than gives you tender flavorful food!

Without further frustation I give you THE BLOG OF ALL CROCKPOTS, A Year of Crockpotting!

A gal after my own heart, a place that I stumbled, and will visit every day! She is even honest enough to tell you when it flops. Which let me tell you is not easy!

Tuesday night as your family ate edible food my family was trying to get through a pot of soup that the bottom could have resembled carbon half-life experimentation. I wish I could tell you it was done on purpose as part of homeschooling, but no I chopped veggies for thirty minutes, stirred, and seasoned a pot of chicken soup that ended up looking fine on top and burned to a crisp on the bottom! The wonderful burned smokey flavor wafted up through the entire pot of soup. Sconicle being his intuitive self said, “Mom there is a problem in the kitchen.” I brushed him off, then he said, “Mom I don’t think you normally smoke a pot of soup.” I rushed, and tried to help him save the day! It did not end with my family eating much, I quickly made some cereal bars that would at least hold their bellies through the night. Gator got up at 6 the next morning to eat more cereal. BTW I am ready to fire up a torch to get that burned stuff off, I scrubbed Tuesday night, and all day off and on yesterday. I might have to break down and buy SOS pads.

Back to the blog at hand, I am thrilled to see a cook that knows her limits, and pushes them! This gal while I don’t know her has earned her golden cooking wings and my admiration.

Stumble It!

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Category: cooking, crock-pot 3 Comments

Recipe that I loved and Tweaked

December

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After my laundry soap, I began thinking what could be better. What could make my frugal, farm loving readers be happy?

I know very well what you need, okay what you like, and okay okay what I am going to post!

The latest and greatest of my recipes! When I say my recipes, these are recipes that I have gotten from other bloggers, tweaked for my family and called them my own. I am always careful to make sure you the reader know where to get the original. I am nothing without those that inspire me!

Just as frugal choices that work post, this is the post that will give you something to go hum, and something that will save your wallet!

Crockpot Lasagna, yep you read it right! My family loves it. I do believe Sconicle and Gator (two of my most fussy eaters) ate not only seconds but also thirds. I had made it on a night that I thought Dunk would eat with us but he didn’t. Gator and Sconicle were happy he ate somewhere else. 50s Housewife has it here! The only change I made was minor. I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta. Hubby’s aunt asked me if I processed the cottage cheese to make it look like ricotta, heck no all I did was dump, dump, dump, and let my Crockpot do the work. I used my oval one because I thought it would fit better, but the round ones make work as well. It was gooey, tender and good. No corners with rock hard noodles were found. Hubby, Gator and Sconicle said this recipe should be made weekly if not daily! I served it with a salad and veggies. Considering you use only eight noodles, 1 lb of hamburger meat, a can of pasta sauce, cottage cheese, and 8 oz of mozzarella it is a frugal recipe for the quantity. Dunk could have eaten here easily, and more veggies would have been eaten.

I did not have a can with 28 oz of spaghetti sauce, I had one with 26. Guess what never fear, 2 ozs of water added works fine. There could be more tweaking within this basic recipe, as the crockpot oatmeal, you can easily make it your own.

The other trick I used was a technique by Hillybilly Housewife here. I browned my meat, and rinsed it. I purposely bought the cheapest meat, which was the fattiest. Cooked it, drained it and rinsed it. First, you get quite a bit less actual meat, which for my family is a good thing. Second you get a less fat when you move the meat, trust me I am married to a cattle rancher. Third, if you do this when you are doing a casserole or recipe where meat is an component your family will not know. Trust me Hubby did not know it was the inferior meat product.

Tomorrow another great recipe is already in the que!
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Category: Frugal Living, crock-pot, recipes 2 Comments

Crock-Pot Oatmeal

September

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In the morning I am grumpy, matter of fact I consider myself sub-human until I have a cup of coffee. I have gotten early ever since I married Hubby so as to become more human before anyone in my family knowing what a bear I am. As I have aged, I long for breakfast as well. I am just a completely different person with some fiber and caffeine.

One of my standards is generic cheerios with vanilla yogurt and frozen blueberries. As with anything else, I get sick of it after awhile. I know I need to eat oat bran every stinkin’ day, for more than a few reasons. Colon health, colon cancer prevention, breast cancer prevention and cholesterol elevation are all reasons to eat oat bran and oat fiber. Call me shaded with OCD, just not sure but the texture of oatmeal before cooking makes me nauseous. Knowing you need something and cooking it are two different things. I had at one point seen somewhere on a blog about crock-pot oatmeal. When I looked for a good recipe that low fat and tasty was not easy to find, so I combined a couple of several different recipes.

I thought I would share my sort of nutritious breakfast.

2 cups of rolled or old-fashioned oatmeal
6 cups water
Little pinch of salt
¼ brown sugar, not pressed
Finally, those fabulous dried cherry berry blend from Sam’s. I put in them until I liked the look of it.

I put all the items in the crock-pot overnight and yummy in my tummy the next morning. Gators even loved it, and trust me he is a cereal and milk kinda kid!

I feel like a new woman after eating my oatmeal for two days. You eat up a bowl the next morning. I think it makes about 6 servings, I will let you know when I finish eating it. Nothing could be easier for breakfast and without butter, normally I am not impressed with oatmeal, but the brown sugar and the dried fruit make it melt in your mouth. Yes, I know many don’t eat sugar, but I am a natural person, I cannot eat sugar substitutes. I can handle this amount without adding fat.

This is my sub-human gift to you, join the human race a minute after you brew coffee! It is a nice change.

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