Just before Thanksgiving there are always great deals on turkeys. This year I bought an extra one for $12.00 and stashed it in the freezer. Here’s what my $12.00 bought me.
For starters, we had a roasted turkey dinner, but that didn’t even put a dent in it. Even though Michael only carved one half of the breast there was still more than enough sliced for sandwiches. Bella and Lizzie will benefit from all the dark meat in a batch of Bella and Lizzies Chicken and Brown Rice with Veggies, substituting turkey. The carcass went into the soup pot. The meat picked from the bones and eight cups of the broth was used in Turkey Poblano Chowder, but at least another quart of broth was left. Some of the remaining white meat was turned into turkey salad, and what was left after that went into Dog Treats for the girls. That twelve dollar turkey has had quite a work out! I’m glad turkeys are on sale only once a year.

Fresh Tomato, Spinach and Tortellini Soup        Turkey Poblano Chowder

Speaking of work outs, my stickies have had quite a work out this week as well. Sunday’s turkey slid to Monday because we decided to go out to eat. Meatless Monday’s Fresh Tomato, Spinach, and Tortellini Soup then slid to Tuesday. Wednesday we decided we should use up the leftovers, so that slid the Turkey Poblano Chowder to Thursday, but that didn’t happen either. Michael’s mother’s chemo treatment took longer than expected, so he wanted to take her out to eat before we took her home.
Pretty much, nothing has gone according to plan, and I love it!
Be thankful for what life gives you.

New Year’s Day dinner was certainly better than New Years Eve crab legs. Here in North Alabama we grill outside just about year round. Michael manned his grill to make our New Year’s pork, Crickhollow Pork Tenderloin. It turned out perfectly, as usual. Michael really knows his way around the grill. In keeping with Southern tradition, peas and greens must be served for luck and money. I filled the bill with home-grown pink eyed peas, a cousin to the black eyed variety, and braised cabbage.

There was more than we could eat but nothing was thrown away. The leftover pork made really good sandwiches when piled on leftover dinner rolls with just a smidge of mayo.
Thursday was another disappointing Alabama football game. For every Bama game on TV Michael gets a Terry’s pizza from Star Market. We really miss the old Terry’s restaurant, but their take and bake pizzas are good if you like pizza. Pizza is not my thing, so I put the leftover Christmas ham to use in a big pot of Bean and Ham Soup. We never try to pick the hambone clean when it’s being carved. Instead, we throw the meaty bone in the freezer until I pull it out for soup. Bean and Ham soup is very economical and goes a long way. I served myself mine in my Christmas soup mug from Kaij and Kelton.

Friday’s dinner was Shrimp Po’Boys. I based them on a recipe from Cooking Light magazine. They turned out well flavor wise, but the sauce was a little runny and the shrimp didn’t color well. I’m modifying the recipe to correct these issues.
Today is Saturday, so I’m keeping things simple. Smoky Chicken Barbecue Sandwiches are coming out of the bounty in my freezers. I may throw a couple of sweet potatoes in the microwave to serve on the side. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
Be thankful for what life gives you.

Oh my goodness, where have I been?
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Birthday Carol!
Everything has been so hectic I’ve been neglecting this blog, but I haven’t stopped cooking or taking pitiful pictures of it all. Let’s see what I can do to catch up.
The Holiday Season (and Football Season) means both sweet and savory snacks and munchies, and plenty of them. Along with our Spicy Sausage Ballsand Bold Party Mix, we have Hot Mushroom Turnovers and Spinach and Cheese Filled Triangles. I make big batches of them all and stash them in the freezer to bake as needed.

Sweets include Candied Orange Peel, some dipped in chocolate, and some not.

Diana’s Cinnamon Crisps are a new favorite, and chocolate bark was eay to make by layering leftover chocolate and topping with chopped apricots and dried cranberries. I made a version of bark with crushed candy canes, too.

Of course, real desserts are a must! My Sweet Potato Pie was baked in a Ginger Snap Crust and not one, but two New York Cheesecakes were served with Blueberry Sauce.
Just for Michael, I made Bananas Foster Pudding with some of the cinnamon graham crackers that were left from the cinnamon crisps.

In preperation for the big holiday gatherings most of our everyday dinners were kept simple, as in our Beef and Bean Burritos. Other meals came straight out of the freezer, like Vegan Red Beans and Riceand chicken croquettes made from my Chicken Burgers recipe.

Cheesy Cauliflower Bake was the only new recipe to make it to the dinner table. I don’t know where the recipe came from, but it sure was good. I’ll make it again.

And now, on to the main events.
On the morning of Christmas Eve Michael’s family came for Brunch. His mother, Nolene, was accompanied by his brother, Mitchell and his wife, Angie. Of course the usual culprits, Emily and her sons, Kaij and Kelton, and Aaron, Jen, and their son, Xander, joined the crowd. We had my version of a Cracker Barrel breakfast. I made Hash Brown Casserole to go along with biscuits, Sausage and Gravy, and scrambled eggs. I skipped making Cracker Barrel Fried Apples this time because Mitchell and Angie brought their fruit salad, and Nolene brought her “Green Stuff”. Baby Shower Banana Bread rounded out the menu for my part and Emily made some excellent cinnamon rolls from scratch.  I’ll have to get the recipe from her. I thought I was very clever to use my triple slow cooker buffet to keep the sausage, gravy, and eggs nice and hot, but we soon discovered that the eggs turned green! As we sat at the table laughing about “green eggs and ham” I realized…I had not put out the Baked Ham! By then it was too late to bother as everyone had cleaned their plates. Along with the ham, I forgot to take any pictures. Oh well. The ham didn’t go to waste. We had it at Emily’s the next day for Christmas dinner.
The Saturday after Christmas we entertained some of my side of the family with a Traditional Lasagna dinner. I also made Broccoli and Mushroom Stuffed Shells as a meatless alternative. Again, no pictures! My brother, Billy and his wife, Kim drove down from Smithville, and my sister, Betsy and her husband, Wendell came from Fayetteville. Emily, Aaron, and families came again too. Everyone seemed to have a good time and enjoy the food. The leftovers did not go to waste and were happy to pose for pictures.

Michael and I celebrated a quiet New Year’s Eve together at home. We splurged on a couple pounds of crab legs and I pulled Cheesy Twice Baked Potatoes out of the freezer. The potatoes were good, but the crab legs were not. Even trying to drown them in Butter Dipping Sauce didn’t help much.

Well, that gets us through to the new year. It’s late Friday night and I would like to publish this post in the morning, so I’ll wind it up for now, but check back later on Saturday. If you choose to “follow” me, you’ll get an email whenever I post.
It’s great to have so much to post about. Be thankful for what life gives you.

For foodies, Thanksgiving week is just about the biggest week of the year. Other holidays, like Christmas, are important as well but for different reasons. Thanksgiving is just about food and family. I can remember as a child our whole extended family would gather at my Aunt Janet’s house. I have no idea what time Aunt Janet got up to put a huge stuffed turkey in the oven, but by the time we got there, around noon, she would be busy basting that wonderful bird and the whole house would smell of Thanksgiving. A long group of tables extended through the living room, groaning with all the traditional dishes. Even at age 10, I was so proud that I could out-eat my Uncle Alan, a young adult.
The early days of that week dinners were kept simple because so much time was devoted to assembling all the side dishes for the big day and I do the same thing now. Sunday was the last day I really cooked a big meal, the rest was freezer food. Sunday’s featured dish was a Herbed Pork Rib Roast with the mandatory mashed potatoes and gravy.

One of our favorite side dished is Creamy Leeks Parmesan and I fixed that as well.
Meatballs from the freezer came in handy as a quick pasta topping and did double duty in meatball subs.

Emily did the majority of the Thanksgiving cooking this year. She was the one who got up before the sun to put a 22 pound turkey with Bread Stuffing into the oven. She also made the traditional Green Bean Casserole and Broccoli Casserole among other things. Aaron and Jen brought Granny’s Green Stuff, otherwise known as Waldorf Salad, and homemade cranberry sauce.  The Green Stuff doesn’t look very green in this picture, but trust me, it was.  My main contribution was Cornbread Dressing, Kelton’s favorite.
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All in all, there was way too much food, but we certainly enjoyed it and had a good time.
Friday night’s simple supper was Clam Chowder.

Along with the Clam Chowder we had Red Lobster Biscuits. We really like that combination on winter nights, and even though it wasn’t really chilly outside it hit the spot.
Be thankful for what life gives you.

Life never goes according to plan. At least mine doesn’t, and that’s just fine with me. My life is never boring!
In honor of my 61st birthday Michael suggested I splurge on real eyeglasses to replace  my collection of readers. Once you get to a certain age you get the picture… A collection of inexpensive store-bought reading glasses, scattered throughout every room of the house, car, truck, etc..  I had noticed that both of my eyes didn’t need the same strength lens anymore, so biting the bullet for prescription lenses made sense, and off to the optometrist I went. I had visited an opthamologist a year or two ago, and at that point readers were adequate, so this visit brought quite a shock. Due to a cataract I’m legally blind in my right eye! Thanks to medical advances, corrective surgery is no big deal anymore but I have to wait till the end of December. What will I do when I can see? Anyone need a ride to the store?  I’m driving!  😉
My real birthday brought more surprises. Since the weather was unusually nice, Michael and I planned to ride up to Chattanooga, TN and visit a restaurant that we like there. Just as we were getting ready to leave the phone rang. Surprise! Aaron and his family were on the way up for a birthday visit. They have to drive a few hours to get here, so driving a couple more to Chattanooga wouldn’t be good. We decided on a local Italian place. My sister, Betsy, called with birthday wishes and she and her husband, Wendell, decided to meet us there as well. Another surprise! That restaurant decided to close early just for that one day. Plan B, anyone? Oh well, on to a chain resteraunt we all moved. Emily wasn’t expecting any of this to occur, but she and Kaij were able to meet us back at the house after dinner. I was glad I had some cheesecake stashed in the freezer. I guess I had a Surprise Party that was a surprise to everyone.

Whoops!  I thought I published this last week, but I guess not, so I’ll just continue from where I left off…

November is the start of holiday cooking season, and for me it starts early. First, there are the savory snacks that start with football season and carry through till New Years. I got started with Spicy Sausage Balls and Bold Party Mix

After the snacking starts the cooking begins in earnest. Being the purist that I am, I have to cook a pre-Thanksgiving turkey so I will have plenty of turkey broth on hand for the big day. I just don’t care to use chicken broth for turkey dishes or gravy. I tried a new roasting method where you invert the bird, breast side down, for the first part of the roasting time. I didn’t like the way this turkey turned out at all. Face it, this bird is just ugly! I’m going back to my old recipe for Roast Turkey Breast.

When ever I roast a turkey leftovers are sure to follow. One way I like to use leaftover turkey is in Thanksgiving Turkey Salad. The dried cranberries add a Thanksgiving flair that I really like.
Meatless Monday was treat. My sister, Betsy, brought me some fresh eggs from their own chickens. If you’ve never cracked a really fresh egg from a free range hen you would be amazed. Because  the chickens eat a natural diet the yolks are a truly beautiful bright color and have such a rich taste. We savored the flavor in Veggie Omlettes.

Tuesday I took it easy. We just had White Chicken Chili out of the freezer, but I did make a pan of Iron Skillet Cornbread in preparation for Thursday.

I always do a pre-Thanksgiving recipe test drive to make sure nothing needs to be changed, so a pan of Cornbread Dressing made it to the table, along with a green bean casserole recipe I’ve been tweaking, Green Bean Casserole – Without the Cans. I think I’ve just about got that right. My low threashold of boredom also inspired another new recipe, Raspberry Chipotle Glazed Chicken Breast. I think that one’s a keeper,too.
My new Apple-Cranberry Streusel Pie will probably be made again, as well.

Friday was more freezer food, Saucy Shrimp with Whole Corn Grits, my kind of comfort food. I wish Michael had a broader palate when it comes to fish, but he says he doesn’t like anything “fishy”. That limits us to shrimp, crab, scallops, and sometimes tuna. Emily had us over for a belated birthday dinner (all good!) and served an excellent cod fish that I would like to have again, but it just didn’t work for him. Oh well, I don’t care for chicken livers. Wouldn’t it be boring if we all liked the same things?
Be thankful for what life gives you.

Last post I mentioned that we were having Bay Scallop Po’Boys with Chili Spiced Mayo and Boy were they good! I don’t often fry foods, but the scallops were so lightly breaded and cooked so quickly that they almost didn’t count as fried. I did scoop out some of the bread from the center of the hoagie rolls. This accomplished two things; the carbs were reduced, but more importantly, the scooped out roll nested the scallops in place so they didn’t fall out in our laps. The mayo had just enough kick, but you could easily make it hotter or milder. Oh, and since the scallops were on sale in the fish case, and I only needed half a pound for two generous servings, I just paid about $3.50. Next time bay scallops go on sale, try this recipe. I don’t think you’ll be sorry.

Sunday’s dinner was Stuffed Cabbage Rolls. We hadn’t had those in quite some time. They do take a bit of work, but I think they are worth the effort if you have the patience. If you try this recipe make sure to bake them for at least the full two hours. They just aren’t as good if you don’t.
The folks at my little local grocery store are pretty clever. They often have a goody filled cart parked right when you walk in the door. Sometimes it’s an impluse item like day-after-Halloween candy, sometimes it’s wonderfully fresh, really local produce from a nearby farm, and sometimes it’s an overstocked item. This week it was huge bags of bananas that were beginning to brown. Wouldn’t you know it? One of those bags jumped right into my cart and begged me to take them home! Although the banana skins looked a little bruised, not one of those bananas was the least bit bad, just perfectly ripe. I probably got 4 or 5 pounds of bananas for $1.00. After two batches of Banana Oat Muffins the rest went into the freezer.

The real reason I went shopping that day was to pick up some chuck roast and pork to grind. We were out of Meatballs as well as Forth of July Rib Burgers, among other things. I think Rib Burgers are a wonderful alternative to regular beef burgers.

We didn’t get around to our meatless meal until Thursday. We had Summer Veggies with Gnocchi. I don’t know why I call this vegetable blend “Summer”. You can buy anything you like any time of year, and I do. I really like this recipe. It’s easy to prepare and light but filling. I should serve it more often.
That brings us back around to Friday. This week it was Spicy Tuna Steaks. Michael grilled them perfectly!
I’m afraid the weather will be turning on us soon and it won’t be as good for grilling. It’s time to think about holiday recipes. Thanksgiving will be here before you know it!
Be thankful for what life gives you.

So let’s forget about the tricks and celebrate the treats.

Sunday, Kaij & Kelton came over for our anual pumpkin party. We had Southwestern Chicken Pot Pies and the kids cut the top crusts into jack-o-lantern faces. A little extra food coloring added authenticity. While we were waiting for the pot pies to bake the kids carved real pumpkins. In keeping with the pumpkin theme we had Sweet Potato Oven Fries that were cut with a cookie cutter. Zesty Oven Roasted Potatoes offered a savory alternative, as well.

What’s a party without sweets? I filled a recycled pumpkin shaped plastic container with Caramel Corn with Peanuts and we really enjoyed a Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake. The cheesecake recipe isn’t mine. You can find it at http://www.SouthernLiving.com

Another successful recipe that isn’t mine came from Dreamfields Pasta. I really like their products because the are low-carb and low-glycemic. The recipe I tried was Dreamfields Asian Pork and Pasta.

After that healthy stir fry we had to be a little naughty, so Chicken Fingers with Buttermilk Gravy found their way to the dinner table. Decadence is so much fun!
Our next meatless meal was one of the best I’ve come up with in quite some time! (pardon the bragging, please) I had planned to make Eggplant Parmesan, but when I got started the eggplant was no good. OK, punt! I already had the ricotta, etc., and the marinara was thawed, so I pulled out frozen spinach and started playing. Super Spinach Lasagna was our newest meatless entree and the leftovers were just as good as the first serving.

Ever since our children were little, our traditional Halloween supper has been chili. It’s easy and deceptively filling. I always told them that they couldn’t go out trick-or-treating until they ate. Little did they know I had an ulterior motive; if they were full to start with they wouldn’t have candy for dinner. It worked every time.
Gosh, it’s goten hard to catch up this last two weeks, so I’ll publish now and add on soon. Friday night’s Po’Boys were really good.
Be thankful for what life gives you.

That’s the beauty of The Sticky Menu Plan! When I sit down and choose from my recipe options to make up the week’s menu, nothing is carved in stone. It’s a guideline. There are things I take into consideration, like what’s on the calendar and what’s on sale at the store, but other than making sure all the groceries are on hand and no perishables go bad, I can do anything I like. So I did. TOUR THE WORLD TUESDAY slid to Friday. FISHY FRIDAY jumped back to Wednesday. THANKFUL THURSDAY’s dinner was grilled on Tuesday. You’ll see!
We started out the week on Sunday at Aaron’s house after Xander’s birthday party on Saturday. All of them like the big breakfasts at Cracker Barrell resteraunt so that’s what we did. We left from there and came home to bail Bella and Lizzie out of the vet’s. Since Michael was over-stuffed from all that breakfast, and I from pigging out at the party, we just had sandwiches for dinner. Who says one has to make a huge dinner every Sunday?
Meatless Monday was a catch up day for things we didn’t do over the weekend, so we kept things simple again. Grilled Cheese with Onions and Fresh Tomato Soup worked just fine.

Now, let the games begin… Tuesday’s weather report, (which is never right, so why do I listen?), predicted rain for Thursday. I had planned to have Bacon Cheeseburger Rolls that day but it’s no fun to grill in the rain, so we just switched things around a bit and grilled on Tuesday. Those are so yummy!

Whoops, why did I plan to have crab legs on Friday when Kelton has a ball game? We like to tak our time and savor every morsel. King Crab Legs don’t go an sale very often, and I hated to pass them up. Just another switch and we enjoyed them on Wednesday instead.
All that switching around left me two menu choices, and since Thursday was a slow day I made a double batch of Grillades. Grillades are served over cheese grits. My every day version is Quick and Light Cheese Grits. Those are so easy and good any time of the day.

Kelton’s game on Friday was really late. We should have eaten before we left, but I was working on other things. We were glad to have a slow cooker full of Meatballs with peppers, mushrooms, and zucchini in Eggplant Marinara waiting for us. All I had to do was boil up some pasta and we were good to go. Be thankful for what life gives you.

This week has been a whirl-wind and I loved it!
Thanks to my Sticky Menu Plan we were able to enjoy all the activity and still eat very well. I heard a statistic this week that really dismayed me, though. The average American family eats fast food an average of four times a week! I really believe that if one just sits down and looks at their calendar for the week this can be avoided. Sure, nothing ever goes strictly according to plan, but if you have some idea what your options are I think dinner emergencies can be avoided. Even a simple ham and cheese sandwich with a piece of fruit is an easy out-the-door dinner and a lot more affordable to boot. It’s soon going to be crock pot season as well. A little planning goes a long way.
OK, off my soap box.
Sunday was fairly leisurely, so I had time to make my Sunday Pot Roast and planned the leftovers for Wednesday. Squash Casserole was a good side dish. I work all summer freezing fresh veggies, and then I forget to use them. I’ve got to try harder.

Meatless Monday was the day I decided I was going to have to get things accomplished around here, no cooking, so out of the freezer came Broccoli and Mushroom Stuffed Shells. That’s one of those recipes that makes a lot, so you might as well freeze an extra meal or two. They freeze well and reheat easily in the oven. These shells taste much better than my photo looks. I need to work on that.
Tuesday was another on of our quick and easy favorites, Taco Salad Our Way. We make it “Our Way” by setting out a variety of easy condiments to choose from. Guacamole for Two is a must.

Wednesday was the pre-planned leftover pot roast. How easy is that?

Then came Thursday. Poor little Lizzie has been limping again. She has had surgery on both knees, so we were afraid her left leg might have to be done again, but it’s not that simple. It seem that along with advanced arthritis she may have a ruptured cruciate ligament, and that’s a whole different issue. The jury is still out, so keep your fingers crossed that we may be able to treat it with meds and not another surgery.
On a lighter note, Thursday’s dinner was one of my favorites. New York Speidies is a childhood favorite. Grilled Asparagus was a quick and tasty side dish.

Friday was dinner out, but not because we weren’t cooking. Michael smoked a Boston butt on his Big Green Egg to make Pulled Pork Barbeque. I also made a batch of Big Bob Gibson’s White Sauce to serve with it. We cooked the pork ahead of time because Saturday was Xander’s big day. It was his first birthday, so of course he had to have a party. It was fun, with great food and lots of friends. As you can see, Xander enjoyed it most of all!

Be thankful for what life gives you.

Lately, Bella has had to go to the vet for ear infections and it terrifies her. Somehow, this 89 pound scaredy-cat has managed to climb up onto this little end table to “hide”. It was almost like she was telling Michael “Maybe they won’t find me here!”  It didn’t work. The vet found her anyway and treated her just where she sat.
Bella didn’t have a very good day, but all in all it’s been a good week.
We enjoyed going over to Carol and Randy’s to meet Blake.  He sure is cute!  Carol put on quite the spread, but my favorite was Carol’s Chicken Salad. I had her give me the recipe to share with all of you.

We got home in time to watch the Alabama football game.  Roll Tide!  After the game, Michael had to have his pizza and I splurged on a Reuben Sandwich. I really shouldn’t have done that after all I had eaten at the party, but it sure was good.
Sunday was rather quiet for a change. In my effort to use up some more of my freezer food we just had Meatball Stroganoff. It’s a lot more tasty than this photo makes it look.

Meatless Monday’s dinner also came from the freezer. We had the last of my Whole Grain Stuffed Poblanos. They are a little different than the traditional stuffed peppers but very flavorful and filling. The recipe makes six, so that’s three meals for the two of us. Luckily the peppers freeze well, even with the cheese sauce. Just thaw and bake; my kind of meal.
Tuesday’s Taco Salad is sliding to next week. Both the the Taco Meat and the Refried Beans are already in the freezer as well, so sliding that stickie wasn’t an issue. Guess where we ate instead? Yep, Michael’s Mexican.
Wednesday I finally made Carol’s Chicken Salad and it turned out well. I saved the bones to add to the pot the next time I make my Rich Chicken Stock. Adding them in extra will just make the stock that much richer. I guess I’ll never have an empty freezer.
Thursday’s freezer food was Shepherd’s Pie. I’ve never taken the time to write down the “recipe” but maybe some day I will. My Shepherd’s Pie is just a good way to use up leftover pot roast. I dice up any leftover carrots and celery, add a few peas, mushrooms, and anything else that strike my fancy and dump it in a baking dish (often disposable foil). I top that with shredded pot roast and gravy, then spread mashed potatoes over the top of it all. Most of the time there are enough leftovers to make two, so one goes into the freezer and we have the other later in the week. Shepherd’s Pie is another of those dishes that taste better than my poor photos make them look.

Fishy Friday was great! We had Artichoke, Shrimp, and Mushroom Casserole served over brown rice. We ate early, and even skipped our salad course, because Kelton had a baseball game and that’s what grandparents do. Be thankful for what life gives you.