Category: MISC

SNUGGLE TIME!

There’s a storm brewing here for tomorrow. I plan on snuggling in and reading!
“A smile is the light in the window of your face
that tells people you’re at home.”

Author unknown…
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SLOW COOKED MEAT BALLS

On the weekends when we are going to be home all day, I LOVE the smell of something scrumptious cooking and this recipe is one of my favorites. The great thing about this recipe though is that it’s great for working moms during the week too.

SLOW COOKED MEAT BALLS
1 1/2 pounds ground beef*
4 slices stale sourdough bread made into crumbs
1 JUMBO egg, beaten
1 medium Vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 can cream of golden mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes with garlic and herbs
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon basil

  • With your hands mix together the ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, onion and half the seasonings.
  • Spray the bottom of the slow cooker lightly with PURE.
  • Gently lay the meatballs in the bottom of the slow cooker.
  • Mix together the soup, broth and tomatoes.
  • Pour over meatballs.
  • Cover and cook 7-9 hours on low.
*I like to make my own when brisket is on sale. It makes for a richer tasting beef flavor!
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MEXICAN BEEF TORTILLA CASSEROLE



BEFORE BAKING~~~~~AFTER BAKING

MEXICAN BEEF TORTILLA CASSEROLE
1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
4 ounce can diced green chiles, drained
1 cup milk
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cups grated jack and cheddar cheese mix
Tortilla chips

  • Saute’ beef and onion until well browned. Drain off fat.
  • In a saucepan over a medium heat combine soup, chiles, tomatoes, cheese and milk until well blended, cheese is melted and mixture starts to bubble.
  • Spray a 9×9 baking dish with PURE.
  • Loosely layer tortilla chips in bottom of casserole.
  • Top with meat mixture.
  • Pour cheese mixture over meat mixture.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

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Spicy Chipotle Shrimp Over Sweet Corn Cakes

Welcome to Simple Saturday!

I’ve been participating in a challenge this month, do you think you could eat on a Dollar a Day? (Check out the link for details). I’ve been doing the challenge but with an unfair advantage – I allowed myself to use anything I already had on hand. It’s turned out to be more of an “eat from the pantry and freezer month” than anything else so far.

Here is last night’s yummy, frugal and very simple recipe. It was definitely the Meal of the Week!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WPbjJzRqviA/S7-qngfQFUI/AAAAAAAAGzI/8kg8KfIKdok/s1600/chipotle+shrimp+corn+cakes.jpg

Chipotle Shrimp – 1 pound of shrimp marinated overnight in bottled chipotle sauce (with one teaspoon of cornstarch added). Put shrimp and marinade in large, deep skillet, add a can of diced tomatoes. Simmer on low, stirring occasionally while preparing corn cakes.

Corn Cakes – 2 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix, 2/3 cup milk, 2 eggs, one can of sweet creamed corn and 1/2 can regular sweet corn. Mix and prepare just as you would pancakes.

Spoon shrimp and sauce over corn cakes and serve with fruit smoothies. Trust me, it’s a perfect combo, it was delicious – except for the fact that I used shrimp I had in the freezer that had been cleaned and shelled, but it didn’t occur to me that it still had the tails on until dinner was ready. Be sure to take the tails off if you try this, duh!

We have two birthdays at Our Krazy Kitchen this week – be sure to stop by to wish our Tuesday host Min and our Wednesday host Chaya a Happy Birthday!

Have a great weekend 🙂

My extremely favorable review for Le Cruset bakeware…

I was recently made aware that there is a wonderful online shopping experience available right from your desk top. Whether you are looking for tv stands, dining room furniture or cookware, they have it all.

Remember all these wish list posts I did about all the wonderful quality kitchen dreams and wishes I have? Well, all the items I’m dreaming about to complete my dream kitchen are available from these sites from CSN stores.

CSN stores sent me this awesome LeCruset Baker to review. I have dreamed of owning one for sooooooo long. I decided in order to review it properly I had to makes lots of great recipes like THE ULTIMATE COMFORT MAC & CHEESE, POT ROAST & ROASTED VEGGIES and RITZY CARROT & BROCCOLI CASSEROLE.



My conclusion:FAVORABLE! Everything cooked up beautifully and the clean up was so easy! This is a beautiful quality piece of cookware. I can’t wait to buy more pieces from CSN stores – their shipping and customer service are well above the norm.
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My extremely favorable review for Le Cruset bakeware…

I was recently made aware that there is a wonderful online shopping experience available right from your desk top. Whether you are looking for tv stands, dining room furniture or cookware, they have it all.

Remember all these wish list posts I did about all the wonderful quality kitchen dreams and wishes I have? Well, all the items I’m dreaming about to complete my dream kitchen are available from these sites from CSN stores.

CSN stores sent me this awesome LeCruset Baker to review. I have dreamed of owning one for sooooooo long. I decided in order to review it properly I had to makes lots of great recipes like THE ULTIMATE COMFORT MAC & CHEESE, POT ROAST & ROASTED VEGGIES and RITZY CARROT & BROCCOLI CASSEROLE.

 

My conclusion:FAVORABLE! Everything cooked up beautifully and the clean up was so easy! This is a beautiful quality piece of cookware. I can’t wait to buy more pieces from CSN stores – their shipping and customer service are well above the norm.

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JOEY GREEN’S MAGIC BRANDS ~ PLOP, PLOP, FIZZ, FIZZ ~ ALKA SELTZER

A while back I went to this library book sale and was like a kid in a candy store. The prices were so down right cheap reasonable that I couldn’t resist a couple of impulse buys. One of those was Joey Green’s Magic Brands. I’m just starting the book, but plan on reviewing it chapter by chapter over the next bit of time. I hope to be able to bring you some innovative new uses for everyday products.

This week’s review is for ALKA SELTZER which was invented in 1930:

  1. Clean a toilet: “Drop 2 tablets into the toilet bowl and wait 20 minutes, brush and flush. The citric acid and effervescent action clean vitreous china”. TRUE – I have also used denture tablets with the same results.
  2. Clean a vase: “To remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with water and drop in two ALKA SELTZER tablets”. TRUE – I have again also used denture tablets as well as purple 409 with the same success.
  3. Polish Jewelry: “Drop two ALKA SELTZER tablets into a glass of water and immerse the jewelry for two minutes”. TRUE, but once again denture tablets as well as purple 409 with the same success.
  4. Clean a thermos bottle: “Fill the bottle with water, drop in four ALKA SELTZER tablets and let soak for an hour (or longer if necessary). I haven’t tried this, but can’t imagine it wouldn’t work.
  5. Remove burned-on grease from a pot or pan: “Fill the pot or pan with water, drop in 6 ALKA SELTZER tablets, let soak for one hour, then scrub as usual”. UNKNOWN I have not tried this one, but in the past have used a couple drops of dish washing soap in the hot water, bring it to a boil and then scrub as normal.
  6. Unclog a drain: “Clear the sink drain by dropping three ALKA SELTZER tablets down the drain followed by a cup of Heinz vinegar. Wait a few minutes, then run the hot water”. TRUE, but I have for years used a cup of baking soda follwed by a cup of white vinegar and then hot water several minutes later with great success and for much less money than the cost of ALKA SELTZER.
  7. Get short term relief from nicotine withdrawal symptoms: “As long as you are not on a low sodium diet and don’t have peptic ulcers, drink two ALKA SELTZER tablets in a glass of water at every meal. UNKNOWN I have never smoked so have no reason to try this, but also don’t recommend it WITHOUT CHECKING WITH YOUR DOCTOR FIRST.
  8. Soothe insect bites: “Dissolve two ALKA SELTZER tablets in a glass of water, dip a cloth into the solution, and place the cloth on the bite for twenty minutes. UNKNOWN This I have not had occasion to try.
1185-8=1177 to go
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Butterscotch Brownies: Lovin’ From the Oven

Here’s an oldie but goodies from my blog, Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker: Butterscotch Brownies.  My grandmother used to make them for the school children in her town.  She was the head baker for the school district back in the 1970s.  They are full of butter and sugar, so dieters beware!

Butterscotch Brownies: 
2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1 package butterscotch flavored chips
Combine the moist ingredients with a mixer. Sift together the dry ingredients in a bowl and add to the wet. Fold in the chips. Spread in a greased 9 X 13 pan and bake 350 degrees 30 minutes or until done.

STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE




Kristen from Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker is our Friday baker at OUR KrAzY kitchen. She posted a recipe for Sour cream coffee cake last week that is one that she is trying to duplicate from her SIL. It looked and sounded like my grams old recipe that I told her I’d dig out grams recipe for her and then I decided to go a step further and make it and do a post to highlight the good and yummy flavors. You get a light fluffy cake and ooey gooey streusel – YUMMY!

Grams old recipe calls for Bisquick and I no longer use it for health reasons, but make my own so I will include that recipe too.

STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE
CAKE
2 cups bisquick
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons oil

STREUSEL
1 cup bisquick
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons-2 tablespoons cinnamon(based on flavor preference)
4 tablespoons butter

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Generously spray 9×9 square baking dish with PAM.
  • Mix cake ingredients together until well blended.
  • Spread into baking dish, mixture will be thick.
  • Mix streusel ingredients together until fine crumbles.
  • Spread over the cake. With a knife gently cut a star into the cake to gently press some streusel into the cake.
  • Bake 20-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

HOMEMADE BISQUICK
4 ½ cups sifted flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup powdered milk**

  • Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
  • Sift again 2-3 times in a large bowl.
  • Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is similar to cornmeal.
  • Add dry milk.
  • Use in recipes that call for Bisquick or all-purpose mix.

**you can skip this ingredient if your recipe calls for any kind of milk, not water.
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BANANA RAISIN FRENCH TOAST







BANANA RAISIN FRENCH TOAST
8 slices raisin bread
2 medium ripe bananas
1 cup milk
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 JUMBO eggs
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
powdered sugar garnish

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Spray a 9×9 baking dish with PAM.
  • Layer 4 slices of bread in the bottom.
  • Slice the bananas over the slices of bread.
  • Top with the other 4 slices.
  • In a food processor blend remaining ingredients until smooth consistency and pour over bread.
  • Let stand 5 minutes or overnight.
  • Bake 40-45 minutes or 50-55 minutes (if it was refrigerated) until knife comes out clean.
  • Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting.
  • Sprinkle with powdered sugar and maple syrup.

Next time I will puree the banana layer.

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