Category: HELPFUL HINTS

Homemaker Mondays is hosted by Robyn at 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven Making a Happy Home Monday is hosted by LL at As for me and my house… Tempt My Tummy Tuesday is hosted by Lisa at Blessed with Grace Tips on Tuesday is hosted by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

HOMEMAKING AND MAKING A HAPPY HOME to me isn’t being clutter free – that just doesn’t happen in real life, but I do like to make sure under that clutter everything is clean. One of the things I do daily so it doesn’t become a chore is keep a Scrubbing Bubbles or Clorox Wipes (whichever is on sale) container of wipes under each bathroom sink. Just before my shower, I wipe down the sink and toilet. That way it’s done daily and isn’t a big chore on the weekend. This is a TUESDAY TIP too.

TUESDAY TIP ~ When you make bacon on the weekend, save it in a pyrex storage container large enough for the grease and a can of green beans. Cover it and refrigerate. On the night you’re having green beans, open them into the pyrex and microwave for 2 minutes for flavorful green beans.

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY is the perfect place for trying new and exciting recipes.

HUEVOS con YUMMY
2 cups diced ham, crumbled beef or sausage
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can green chiles, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 cups shredded mild cheddar or colby cheese
8 eggs

• Brown meat and onions in a large skillet.
• Add tomatoes and chiles.
• Simmer 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
• In a separate pan, lightly scramble the eggs.
• Add to the meat mixture after liquid absorbed.
• Stir in cheese until melted.
• Serve with warm tortillas and Garden Tomato Salsa.

Along with my list of goals that I posted last week is my desire to rework some older recipes so that they fit into my current health issues as well as an ease of preparation. I would also like to broaden my horizons. I’m a creature of habit no matter how much I experiment. I tend to gravitate back to the same ingredients time after time. So instead of changing those ingredients, I’d like to expand that list of ingredients!

I have been doing Slow Cooking Thursday, hosted by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for quite some time now, but missed a few last year for lack of ideas. So on my list of goals is to rework some of my older recipes into Slow Cooker recipes and not miss any Thursdays this year. I’m spending a bit of time each week reworking a few recipes each week and then hubby has agreed to be my taste tester a few nights a week during the following month to decide if they taste okay slow cooked instead of the traditional methods of cooking that particular recipe. I think we’ll find that they are easier, have less fat and are even more flavorful with the extended cooking time.

Coming soon from the recipes I have already reworked will be an array of beef, pork and chicken recipes like Hungarian Goulash, Linguine & Chicken, Chicken in Italian Cream, Cherry Pork Chops & Potatoes, Sweet & Sour Beef, Hawaiian Roast Beef, Beer Braised Beef Stew, Ranch Chicken in Cream Gravy and Baked Potato Soup.

Beginning today, Erin over at $5 Dinners is hosting a new Meme $5 Dinner Challenge in an effort to help us all exchange frugal recipes. For me $5 dinners means that I can feed the two of us for $5, but I rarely am able to prepare a serving for 2 LOL too many years of cooking for many more so often my recipes are for full portions and I freeze much of it (usually 2 or more freezer portions) for future use but they usually average $5 per serving.

I’ll start with Thanksgiving. Of course we have turkey, but it’s what I do with the turkey that counts. There were just the 2 of us this year, but I still bought a 25 pound bird. The sale prices are phenomenal at this time of year. Hubby and I can eat turkey until we’re the ones that are stuffed and then still have enough left over to portion out and freeze.

When I make my turkey I start with a roaster full of chopped carrots, celery and onions as a cushion under the bird. Then I throw in a bag of cranberries, the heart, liver, gizzard and a stick of butter that has been cut into several pieces. To that I add 3 cups of homemade chicken broth. I stick another stick of butter in the bird’s cavity, salt and pepper the bird really well and tent foil it. I don’t uncover it again until 20-30 minutes before it should be done. I baste it every 10 minutes until crisp. The result is the juiciest and tastiest turkey you ever did eat.

Now while hubby is carving the turkey, I start the gravy. By the time the turkey is done the vegetables have turned to mush which is fine by me. If they haven’t, I puree them in the food processor until they are. The cranberries add a bit of tart to the gravy that we like. This makes enough gravy for hubby and I for several days as well as 4-4 cup portions for the freezer.

Eventually I have nothing left but the carcass and crisp skin and start the broth process. I use a large stock pot and cover the carcass with water. I let it boil for about an hour and it creates the tastiest broth. I strain the broth in batches. This year I ended up with 9-4 cup portions of broth for the freezer. YAY! We have lots of soup base! All in all my $25 turkey has provided us with the basis for about 15 meals bringing me in way under budget!

This was supposed to run the end of December for Scrumptious Sunday, but since Meredith has not responded to my request to adopt the meme yet, I decided to run it early so others can benefit from the recipes. I will contact Meredith again in the hopes of adopting this meme and continuing it since she is leaving the blog world. One of the biggest tips I can offer is that in order not to stress yourself out you need to plan ahead and make as many things as you can early – long before the big day!

PEANUT BUTTER BOURBON BALLS