Price of Groceries?

Have you seen the price's of different grocery items, lately?  It seems to be a never ending battle, when going to the grocery store.  I've gotten smart enough to shop at more than one store, for items I know are cheaper to buy.  Aldi, gives certain food products for good prices but limit the types you can get.  So, for specialty items that can only be gotten at the other stores, I have to go there and pay higher prices to get what I want.  Walmart, gives all the different items I need, but at higher prices.  So, I have to divide up the shopping list and make sure to get what I need from each separate store for the quality and price I can afford.  I rarely find the same items at one store for what I need.

Eating Out

There comes a time when you just don't want to cook.  Especially on your birthday or during holiday shopping.  Recently, my birthday was celebrated at a local restaurant.  It was just my boyfriend and me, but we had a nice visit. I got my entree' free but was very let down with the quality of the food.
I got a steak and it was tough, and not very tasty.  We bought beer and my boyfriend got Chicken Ques Dias, which he seemed to like.  The beer topped off the meal, but I could have had better with the food.  Maybe, I will pick different menu items next time to please my pallet.  Either way, I will send it back if I don't like the way it turns out, since I will be paying for it this time...........lol

Thanksgiving Dinner

Here's a few pictures of our family dinner, and the most important thing of the day.......the food......

Turkey

 

Well, it's out of the freezer and sitting in the roasting pan for awhile, until I get a chance to unwrap the bird.  Right now, it will sit there and stare me down until I get off my butt and get the work done........actually, I will put it in the fridge for the next two days to thaw and then the big day arrives to cook this bird!

Roasting Pan

 

In many homes this particular pan is used only on holidays.  The roasting pan can be used to bake a turkey, duck, or ham.

 

The size is perfect for a good size ham, turkey, or duck and this gives you space to catch all the drippings for making your gravy later.  I'll show you more pictures of what I'll be doing this week of "Thanksgiving".

Turkey and Dressing

Getting it ready for the oven.....

His Time

 

It's time to put the big bird in the oven and get ready for some good eating!  I'm ready for some turkey and dressing with sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes.....that's just part of what my stomach will be feasting on during the hours after the cooking!  From our house to your........have a safe, happy Thanksgiving! 

Bison Energy Bars?

Now you can get Bison Bars

Sugar Cookies

1 c granulated sugar
1 c butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 & 1/4 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
In large bowl, mix sugar & butter, beat in egg & vanilla until light & fluffy.  Mix in flour and baking soda.
Divide dough into halves, shape each half into a roll, about 1 & 1/2 inches in diameter, wrap in wax paper, refrigerate for about 1 hour, until chilled, Preheat oven to 375*F, unwrap rolls & cut into 1/4 inch slices, sprinkle with sugar, place on ungreased pan & bake for 10-12 minutes or till light brown around edges, coo and store in airtight container once cooled.

Beef & Mushroom Lasagna

1 can(10 3/4ox) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk
1lb. ground beef
2 cups mushroom Italian sauce
9 cooked lasagna noodles
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup fine chopped celery
1 cup shredded Italian blend or mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 400*F, stir soup & milk in sm. bowl until smooth.  Cook beef, onions, & celery in skillet over med. high heat till well browned, pour off fat & stir in sauce.  Layer 1/2 beef mix, 3 noodles and 1 cup soup mix in 2 qt. shallow baking dish, top with 3 more noodles, remaining beef mix, remaining noodles, remaining soup mix, sprinkle with cheese, cover baking dish. Bake 30mins.until hot, uncover dish, heat broiler, broil 4" from heat 2 mins. or till cheese is golden brown, let stand 10 min. & serve.

Fajitas

Cuban Pork Roast

TEXAS CAVIAR

TEXAS CAVIAR

 

2  - 16 oz. cans Black eyed peas drained

1 – 8 oz can of corn

2 – 4oz. jars of diced pimentos

1 green bell pepper chopped

1 small onion chopped

3 or 4 avocados chopped

1 jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped

 

Marinade:

 

¾ cup Vegetable oil

¾ cup Apple cider vinegar

¾ cup Sugar

1 -2 Tablespoons Louisiana hot sauce

½ t of garlic salt

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Mix the marinade in a large bowl and add main ingredients. Allow to marinate for  4- 24 hours.

 

Drain marinade and serve.

I Eat Here, Often

Have you seen the new menu? I love several of the items and it takes me a few minuted to decide which of the two I'll have on the lunch menu.

Salmon Patties

INGREDIENTS: 1 large egg 2½ tablespoons mayonnaise (I like Hellman’s Real) 1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard (I like Maille brand) 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ cup finely diced celery (you’ll need one stalk) 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley 1 pound lump salmon meat* ½ cup panko (I like the Whole Foods 365 brand for this recipe) Canola oil DIRECTIONS: 1. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. 2. Combine the egg, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, Old Bay, salt, celery, and parsley in a large bowl and mix well. Add the salmon meat (be sure to check the meat for any hard and sharp cartilage) and panko; gently fold mixture together until combined. Shape into 6 salmon cakes (about ½ cup each) and place on prepared baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 3. Preheat a large nonstick pan to medium heat and coat with canola oil. When oil is hot, place salmon cakes in pan and cook until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes per side. Be careful as oil may splatter. Serve immediately with tartar sauce or a squeeze of lemon.

Quick Tartar Sauce

I love tartar sauce with my fish..........in fact I like a little fish with my tartar sauce....... :) Ingredients: 1 cup mayonnaise 1½ tablespoons sweet pickle relish 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon minced red onion 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste Directions: Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Lima Beans

 In the south we call them "butter beans", but you know them as large lima beans.  Here you can see that I have a large stainless steel cooking pot, which I have the beans being cooked in.

Good Food

I can't get my spouse to eat vegetables..........

Shrimp Jambalaya?

Mardi Gras would have been great with this food, don't you think?

Corn Beef & Cabbage

That's my kind of cooking...............
For your St. Paddy's day meal...........do this!

Boston Cream Pie

Well, I broke down and started making a Boston Cream Pie, like my man likes. It's taking some time but nothing is really good, if you don't spend some time on it. I will get some pics of it, once I'm finished. The cake is done and cooling and so is the cream filling. Now, just have to wait till the filling chills some more, then I will make the cake/pie........:)
It got a bit messy, cause the cream was squishing out when I put the top cake layer on, and then the icing was running somewhat, because I warmed it just a little in the microwave to help it pour over the cake.  Anyway, finished product.......... :)

Pickled Onions

1 1/2 pounds pearl onions
2 T pickling salt
1 1/2 c white vinegar
1/2 c sugar
1 t mixed pickling spices
Drop onions in boiling water to cover; boil 3 mins., drain, place in cold water.  Cut root end;squeeze stem end to remove onion skin.  Combine 2 cups water & pickling salt; pour over onions, let stand for 12 hours, drain, rinse thoroughly.  Combine vinegar, sugar & pickling spices, bring to boil.  Pack onions into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space.  Cover with pickling liquid, leaving 1/2 inch head space.  Adjust lids.  Process in boiling water bath (half pints) 10mins.  Makes 4 half-pints.

Page Index?

I found a website that index's your blog pages for free, to over 15,000 sites.  Now, that's some traffic and I want to see how well it works in the next few days.  It's call "Ping/Farm" and it gives you several tests that you can do while indexing your blogs.  Try it as I am and see if it helps your traffic to build.  Get back to me and let me know how well your traffic has become.........thanks.

Ooops

 I hope you don't cook this way.  Actually it looks as though someone set up up by loosening the handle.  Ooops!

Gumbo

Mardi Gras cooking?

Red Tomato Jam

9 ripes tomatoes
4 1/2 pounds sugar
juice of 2 lemons
1 t ground ginger
Plunge tomatoes into boiling water until skins burst, and peel  Core, cut into slices, combine tomatoes, sugar, lemon juice, & ginger in lg. pot.  Heat to boil, stirring and skim till mix thickens, about 1 hour.  Place in sterilized jar/glasses & seal, use with omelets, or with fish and cheese dishes.

Quince Cheese

6 Quinces, peeled halved, cored, and sliced, about 1 pound
1/4 c water
3 lg apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
4 c sugar
cooking time 1 hour & 20 min.
Combine quinces in water in saucepan.  Cook till soft, press through sieve, or process in blender.  Combine quince puree with apples & sugar, in kettle.  Heat stir till sugar dissolves to boiling point.  Boil rapidly till set about 20 min. place in sterilized jars, seal and refrigerate.  Serve with cream, ice cream, cake, cheese, sour cream or yogurt.

Mayonnaise

1 t salt
1/4 t paprika
1/2 t dry mustard
a few grains of cayenne pepper
2 egg yolks
2 T white vinegar
2 c salad oil
2 T lemon juice
1 T hot water
Use a rotary hand beater or an electric mixed to mis dry ingredients.  Add egg yolks, and blend.  Beat in vinegar, then begin adding oil 1 teasp. at a time, beating well after each addition.  Begin adding oil by tablespoons until 8-10 T have been added.  With only 3-4 T oil left, add lemon juice to oil and blend.  Beat in hot water last to make it fluffy and decrease oily appearance.  Store in fridge.  Recipe can vary.- according to taste.

Again?

I know you think I'm stuck on those enchiladas, and actually it's my man, whose stuck on them.  He loves them when their home made and who am I to keep them from him.  So, last night I made another batch of them and he was happy, then full :)

Cookbooks

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This was listed on Facebook and I know you would like to find great recipes, so here are the links to getting one or both cookbooks.  Happy cooking!

Home Made Soup

I'm so glad I made some home made veggie soup awhile back and froze it.  Today, it came out to give my spouse some needed warm food since he's been suffering with a bad cold/flu.  I didn't get a pic of it, but it was full of tomato sauce and veggies.  Sure hit the spot with some buttered bread.  I had crackers with mine instead.

Big Commerce?

What is Big Commerce?

Easy Enchiladas

 Here you have the stuffed enchiladas, topped with chili and cheese, ready for the oven.

Now it's time to eat since the enchiladas have been in the oven at 350*degrees for about 20 mins.  The cheese is melted and the chili cooked into the enchiladas.  Yummy and ready for my tummy!

The Meat

 Her you see where I've broken up the raw hamburger meat and mixed in spices to season.  Some spices were, chili powder, paprika, season salt, black pepper, oregano, red pepper flakes and a dash of ginger.

Here you see the meat cooked with chopped onion and is now resting until I stuff the tortillas.  I will row up the stuffed tortillas in a long baking dish then finish getting the enchiladas ready for the oven.

Getting Ingredients

Hamburger meat, and onion

 Corn tortillas warmed and made ready to stuff.......

 Canned chili because I'm too lazy to make my own.....

Cheddar cheese to top off the enchiladas when I've finished processing it all........

Seafood?

Enchiladas

I suppose tonight I will make home made enchiladas for the spouse.  He loves them and I can make several different variations, which doesn't bother him.  He likes them made with corn tortillas, and sometimes I will make them with flour tortillas, if I don't have the corn on hand.  I'll try to snap some pic's of my cooking this dish, if I can remember to do so.
I will try to make a salad to serve with them, and this will enhance the flavors of the heavy Mexican food.

7 Tips for Cleaning Vegetables & Fruits

Steak, My Favorite Food

ABCmouse.com - Kids Ages 2-6 – Click here to get your First Month Free!  "You can register here: http://www.avantshare.com/blog/ dscroland is typing ".

Hotdogs?

 

Guess I'll do hotdogs tonight, or maybe chili dogs would work, either way it will be much easier than cooking a full meal and he likes my hotdogs.  So there!

Trash, Yuck!

 I hate taking out the trash.  It's something that smells and is so darn messy.  Once in awhile my spouse will offer to carry it out, only after I've taken it out of the cans and secured it in plastic bags.  Go figure!

Dishes?

 I like to cook but I hate to clean up afterwards.  As you can see, I now have a sink full of dirty dishes waiting on my lazy hands to do........

And here you see that I'm still lazy and need to clear out the drain board by putting up the dishes already washed.  It's a never ending battle and I'm not winning it so far.

Meatloaf

Once again my "meat and potatoes" man wins out.  Last night I made meatloaf and creamed mashed potatoes.  Yummy!  It was a very good meal, with bread and butter added on the side.  We chowed down as usual and I'm guessing my waistline, grew some more.

Fresh vs Frozen

Frozen or fresh........what do you think?

Hot Wings?

Hot Wings for the Super Bowl anyone?

Super Bowl Food

They say the American way is "hotdogs, coke and apple pie"!  I'm thinking that the "tailgaters", at the game will be serving up all types of good eats, tomorrow for the game. 
Tacos, BBQ, chili, and possibly some good fried up vittals, could really hit the spot, with a cold brew.

Fried Fish Fillets

Last night was something that I made easy.  I took frozen fish fillets that were already breaded and fried some potatoes with chopped onions until they were soft and slightly brown.  My man has a few teeth left so, he needs soft food.  I made sure to keep the lid on the skillet while frying the potatoes, so they would be soft.  Actually, I love them that way, with some katsup to top them off.  I love plenty of tartar sauce with my fish, so you can guess what happens to my waist line.  :)
Either way, everyone was full and happy at the end of the meal.  Cleaning will have to wait until the morning, cause I was too full and lazy.  A little TV and bedtime!

Meatloaf

Making meatloaf is a bit messy but oh so good, when you get it finished.

Fresh Apple Cake

I got a good recipe from my sister and now I can't find it.........hope this is the one......

A Discount

Several restaurants are giving discounts on food for the upcoming Super Bowl.  You can get catering or plan your party at your local restaurant with family & friends.  Sounds like a fun time for all, and it's going to be here before you know it.
 I also notice that some were giving a portion of their sales to the Susan G Komen Foundation for cancer research.  It might be of benefit to you or someone you know in the future if you invest now.

Collard Greens

How to buy, prepare and cook collard greens for a great dish.............

Chicken Fried Steak

As you can see I love good southern cooking, and she does it the best way...........

Fried Chicken

Love to watch Paula Dean when she cooks.......it's always something good and comforting........

Meat & Potatoes

I have a "meat & potatoes" man, who lives to come home daily and see what I'm fixing.  It's an ordeal just trying to find something different, that he will like and be happy with.  I love meat and potatoes as well, but he won't eat veggies, so I'm stuck with the mundane things like the above.  Wish he liked broccoli, cause I sure do.

New Blog

I have had several food blogs, which didn't evolve in the right manner intended.  I have lost many good posts as well as recipes, because of that problem.  This blog is being made to try an make up for the loss of such good information.  I feel that somehow the data base webhosting servers let me down during those times.  This blog will be one where I try to catch up on what has been lost or left behind during those times.