I am a huge fan of Fried Turkey. Matter of fact it is my favorite kind of turkey. Here is an excellent video of how to do it. The only thing I would add is spend a bit of change on those fancy turkey tongs to lower and grab the bird. It keeps you from getting burned.
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24
November
Hey this is my blog I can do what I want to! Everyone that knows me more than a minute knows I am apt to change my plans at any given moment. Hubby was sick, and we had a day where we had to “tag-in” the goats for a show. It took 3 hours from start to finish, and yet you do very little in that time frame.
Today I will be cooking my chicken for the dressing, making my cornbread, and toasting my bread. Then I will crumble them up and put them in bags. If I had plenty of time I will chop my veggies. For dressing I am pretty meticulous about the size and uniformity of the veggies, so it takes me longer than normal. If not I can chop and saute tomorrow morning then do the cupcakes.
Life is full of real moments, and you cannot always change them but you can figure out ways around them!
Category: Uncategorized
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23
November
Some years at Thanksgiving I cook a lot some years I cook just a green bean casserole. It depends on where we are going. This year is a big cooking year. The best way to do it is to plan ahead. Cook a little bit when you can, and that way you are not overwhelmed the day of Thanksgiving.
For me the to do list is like this
- Find Recipes
- Make a list of Things needed
- Shop for items on list
- Start with the longest recipe or the most complicated.
- Figure out exactly which day you will cook what, estimate the time for each task. Do not underestimate time, be realistic.
For me my list is dressing, green bean casserole and peas and carrots cupcakes. The dressing is the most involved. I will begin prepping for it today. Chopping the onions and celery really does take time. I also cook a chicken for it. The chicken is a special small bird, so I have to go to a special meat market to get it. Hubby’s family does Crock Pot Dressing. It is moist and tender. They don’t like sage so normally I take my own bottle and use it! I use Grandpa’s recipe, believe me he will taste my dressing and say exactly what he thinks.
Tomorrow I will bake the cornbread and toast the bread. I will cook the chicken. Wednesday I will I saute the vegetables. On my shopping list Saturday I included those gallon zip bags, I store everything in the frig as I complete it. It makes it easier to dump and cook in a hurry.
Wednesday I will work heavily on the cupcakes, it is a labor of love. I love to make desserts the kids enjoy. So many holidays there are tons of things for adults but few for kids. Big and small they will love it.
By Thursday early I will dump and cook the dressing, and do the green bean casserole. Now I know I don’t work, but I use time management to get it done sometimes night can be the time I have. I set aside so much time each day knowing I will work on cooking only. Nothing else can be done or I will not complete my task. The cornbread and toast can actually be done days ahead if you are using air tight bags.
Category: Uncategorized
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13
November
Every Bar has a secret, every Starbucks has a huge steamer that forces hot air into milk which creates a foam. You can take soy milk, or non fat lactose free milk(yes I do) and turn it into a foamy cream that you will honestly enjoy. So buy your Great Value Coffee at Walmart for less than 7.00, then buy an Aerolatte for about $20.00. Voila you have endless fancy coffee for a fraction of the cost of any Starbucks or gourmet coffee shop, it does a great lowfat milk shake as well. I bought my Aerolatte on Sunday, it was my birthday gift to me. I should have wrapped for Hubby, because I will no longer be longing for fancy coffee I cannot afford.
Here is a video of how it works.
Category: budget, cooking
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02
November
Hubby has a birthday on Halloween. And yes it is Halloween every year. I was born on or near election day. Our birthdays are three days apart. Just about the time I have an empty cake pan it is time to make another cake. This year is my last working the election on my birthday. Today I am going to figure out which cake I want for my birthday and go ahead and make it. Otherwise tomorrow I won’t have time to. Hubby decided he wanted my Jello Cake for his birthday, it has become his favorite overtaking carrot cake.
Here is a picture of it from the summer.
I wanted to share with you the very simple recipe. I make a white cake by the recipe on the box in a 9 x 13 pan. Then while it is still warm I make a concentrated blend of jello, Hubby wanted strawberry so that is what I made. You poke holes in the cake with a ice pick, then put it in the frig until the jello is set. You will be able to see the cake absorb the jello. You ice it with coolwhip or whipped cream. I always put on sprinkles somehow the blank whiteness calls for sprinkles. I used fall color sprinkles for Hubby’s cake. The picture shows what is called watermelon sprinkle color.
I love chocolate cake with white icing, and yellow cake with chocolate icing. I will be making one of those today!
Category: recipes
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30
October
Many bloggers will give you Halloween ideas, sorry I am plum out of ideas. We don’t really do much for Halloween. Hubby’s birthday is the same day, and our take has been to focus on him vs the commerical overfocus on Halloween. As his birthday nears I am looking for cake recipes. Not sure what he wants but I did find the cake I want to make. It is pretty, probably too pretty for him but I want make it.
This blogger I think is a kid. Whoever it is they have done a fantastic job of doing beautiful pictures and recipes.
Look HERE for the recipe.
Oh I know you are welcome!
Category: cooking
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27
October
I love cupcakes. Matter of fact I think cupcakes are a meal of their own kind. Okay not a meal but a dessert, they are not only cake and they are not pie. The author of Hello Cupcake was on Paula Deen yesterday. I rarely watch TV during that time, had it not been for the rain I would have probably never known. Hello Cupcake is the most beautiful book on cupcakes I have seen to date. I did not buy it, but I have drooled over it in Walmart for about thirty minutes.
This Thanksgiving I am making Peas and Carrots Cupcakes. When my nieces and great nephews are running around saying they don’t love vegetables I will tell them they have to eat peas and carrots for desert. I know they will love them!
Here is her basic Vanilla Cupcake Recipe:
Basic Vanilla Cupcakes:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 stick butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
In another bowl, whisk together the vanilla extract, milk and vegetable oil.
Cream together the butter and sugar with a hand-held mixer in a large bowl. Add the eggs 1 at a time and mix to combine. Alternate the dry and wet ingredients to the egg mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
Pour the batter 2/3 full into the cupcake tins and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before frosting.
One thing they did say was with a mix use buttermilk instead of water. I bet that is a good rich cupcake.
Now to ice them you use green icing. I always use either a buttercream or a 50/50 butter/ crisco ratio in the fall. If Texas has a hot day I would have to use all Crisco with powdered sugar and a couple of tablespoons of milk. Then you add green food coloring or the icing coloring.
The green in the peas is green M & Ms, the carrots are orange Starbursts rolled and sliced like chunks of carrots. You place them upright on the cupcake like you are slicing into a mound of peas and carrots.
Walmart now carries just green M & Ms I saw them the other day.
I plan on doing a test run so I will post a picture when I try the recipe out.
Category: recipes
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08
October
Oh this is a gem! Warning it does have cuss words in it. But my politically uncorrect side has to post this! After all I am a carnivore, and eating meat is a passion.
Next time you are cooking a separate dish for Vegetarians remember this video!
Category: politically uncorrect
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07
October
Hubby came home one day from work all excited. He said Walmart had a new brand we had to try. I asked what the name was, he said it was called Great Value. Funny since Great Value has been around for years at Walmart.
Lo and Behold I entered Walmart last night for a few staples. There in the center aisle was a plain white label marked sugar called Great Value. The pretty blue package was gone, the price seemed about the same as the pretty blue Great Value pure cane sugar I buy. Interesting choice of marketing by Walmart, I have yet to try the new packaged sugar but my guess is the sugar is just the same.
I went to the coffee aisle just to check on the coffee I have been drinking for the last five years I know. It is Great Value Arabica Coffee with a red label. Sure enough no red label, only a white label with the Arabica kind of coffee. While I am sure Walmart is convinced this will sell more, buying the white label with the blue lid seemed wrong. I kept looking back to make sure my red label was gone! It was the same price, after this long I know exactly how much my coffee is.
If you haven’t tried Great Value, many products taste great if not better than more expensive brands. My coffee is the best I can find, smooth yet strong. Some of the products are not exactly great but the price makes trying them worth the time!
Just so you know I am not crazy, I took a picture of the coffee!
Update 10/26/09 This is indeed the same exact coffee. Trust me I would know, I bring my own coffee to every place I vacation.
Category: Frugal Living
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08
September
My journey towards food that is closer to the ground has ended me up wanting popcorn. Maybe I should be honest and say my love of movies has ended me up on the popcorn isle. Last week I ran upon a recipe for Microwave Popcorn without the cost of buying Microwave popcorn.
Here is how you do this. Simple as scrambled eggs.
- 1/2 Cup Popcorn
- 1 tsp. of vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp salt optional
- brown bag like for brown bag lunches
You pour the ingredients in the brown bag, fold two folds and pop for 2 1/2 minutes to 3 minutes.
See easy as scrambled eggs. As always listen for the pops to keep from burning the popcorn.
The more natural ingredients the better off you are.
I just love finding something that I can make at a fraction of the cost. I bought the popcorn but haven’t tried it. Here is the LINK. The reviews were positive, good enough for me to try!
Update: I have tried it! I do love it. First time I added a bit of Parmesan Cheese after it popped. The second time I upped the salt to one tsp, and added a tablespoon of country crock, Yummy! Either way it is far fewer calories than microwave popcorn. The best part is you don’t have to worry about the heating element in the bag.
Category: Uncategorized
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