Cathy C has been kind enough to share with us her Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese, divided
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 jar (28 oz) meatless spaghetti sauce
1 can (14 ½ oz) Italian diced tomatoes, undrained
1 jar sliced mushrooms, drained (I rarely add these and it still tastes delicious!)
4 breaded fully cooked chicken patties (I use straight from the freezer)

• Cook spaghetti according to directions

• Meanwhile in a large bowl combine the ricotta, ½ cup mozzarella, parmesan, Italian seasoning and garlic powder; set aside.

• In another bowl combine the spaghetti sauce, tomatoes and mushrooms

• Drain spaghetti; add 2 cups spaghetti sauce mixture and toss to coat then transfer to a greased 13X9 inch baking dish, top with cheese mixture.

• Arrange chicken patties over the top; drizzle with the remaining sauce mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella.

• Bake uncovered at 350º for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly.

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Anyone throwing a Super Bowl Party next weekend? You may want some inexpensive ideas for food. Here are a few Stockpile Recipes to help defray costs:

Appetizers and Snacks

• Hip Dip

• Basil Cream Cheese

• Cheeseballs

• Easy Nacho Dip

• Ground Beef and Nachos

• Hot Bean Dip

• Nachos From Leftovers

• Onion Dip

• Pretzels

• Taco Casserole

• Vegetable Dill Dip

Easy Dinner Recipes

• African Peanut Stew

• BBQ Pizza

• Crockpot Beef Stew

• Oven Stew

• Pork Tamale Pie

• Simple Stockpile Tacos

• Slowcooker Chili

• Slowcooker Mac & Cheese

• Taco Pie

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Alecia at Savings and Stewardship has shared with us an easy to make Sticky Buns recipe – perfect for a cold January weekend morning!

Sticky Buns Recipe

To Make the Dough –
• 1/4 c. warm Water (105 – 115 degrees)
• 1 (1/4 oz) pkg of Active Yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp from the jar)
• 1/3 c. Sugar
• 3/4 c. Milk
• 4 tbsp Butter, softened
• 3 lg Egg Yolks
• 1 1/4 tsp Salt
• 4 – 4 1/2 c. all-purpose Flour

In a large bowl combine warm water, yeast, & 1 tsp sugar. Stir and let rest 5 minutes. In another large bowl, whisk 3 cups flour and salt. Set aside. Add milk, butter, sugar, and egg yolks to yeast mixture and blend until well combined. Add flour mixture and stir until very soft dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface, add enough remaining flour, and knead until a smooth (slightly sticky) dough is formed.
Shape into a ball and let rest (covered) in a buttered bowl, turning to coat, until doubled in size – about 1 hour.

When dough has risen enough, punch down and turn out onto a floured surface. Cover and let rest 20 minutes.

To Make the Filling -

• 1/2 c. Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed
• 1 tbsp ground Cinnamon
• 4 tbsp Butter, melted

In a small bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Roll out dough on a floured surface into a 12″ x 18″ rectangle. Brush with melted butter, leaving 1/2 inch around the edges clean. Sprinkle evenly with sugar mixture.
Starting with the long side, roll dough to form a long cylinder. Pinch lightly to seal the seam and edges.
Cut crosswise into 15 even pinwheels.

To Make the Topping -

• 3/4 c. Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed
• 4 tbsp Butter, cut into pieces
• 3 tbsp Honey
• 1 tbsp Light Corn Syrup
• 1 c. Pecans, chopped

In a small saucepan, dissolve the sugar with the butter, honey, and corn syrup over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Do not over-heat or your sugar will begin to caramelize. Once all ingredients are melted & well combined, pour into greased 9″ x 13″ baking dish.

Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the sugar layer.

Evenly arrange the dough pinwheels on top of the sugar and pecan layers, leaving room for the dough to rise.

• If making the night before, cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, allow pan of rolls to sit on the counter while the oven preheats to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

• If making immediately, cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Allow rolls to cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a plate or dish (I use a baking sheet lined w/ aluminum foil). Be careful not to spill the topping on yourself or the floor (it will be VERY runny). Let buns cool slightly and serve warm or at room temperature.

Cover leftover rolls and keep at room temperature to enjoy all day long!

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Didi has once again graciously shared with us one of her amazing recipes!

Red Zone Bites

Ingredients

1 package medium wonton wrappers
1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion diced
1 large potato, cooked, cubed with peel on
1 jalapenos, fresh diced with seeds (if you don’t want the heat, remove seeds and membranes prior to dicing)
1 1/2 c shredded sharp cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp dry ranch dressing (i used hidden valley)
2 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped fine
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro chopped fine

Basting Sauce

1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup) melted
1 1/2 tsp dry ranch dressing (i used hidden valley)
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Dipping Sauce

2 cup sour cream
3-4 Tbsp dry ranch dressing (i used hidden valley)
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Additional Ingredients
1 cup water to wet down sides of wonton wrappers

Directions

1) In a large saute saute pan, place your ground beef and brown, breaking up into small pieces. Once ground beef is almost brown, add your onions and potatoes. Saute till meat has browned and onion has softened and potato is starting to crisp.
Add your spices and thoroughly stir in.
Let mixture saute for about 1 minute or so longer. Turn off heat. Add the fresh pepper, fresh herbs and cheese. Thoroughly incorporate and set aside.

2) As mixture is cooling, on your work station, lay out 1 wonton wrapper. Using a small basting brush, wet the outer edges of your wonton wrapper, add about 2 tsps or so meat mixture in the middle of the wrapper. Fold wrapper over and seal. Using your fingers to manipulate spreading the mixture throughout the wrapper so it’s not just in the middle. Place on baking sheet. Continue with rest of wonton wrappers and meat mixture.

3) Melt butter for the basting sauce. Add your ranch dressing and garlic powder. When
baking pan is full, baste the top of your wonton bites with the basting sauce.
Bake for 18-20 minutes till nice and crisp.

4 )While wontons are baking, make your dipping sauce.
In a bowl add your sour cream, your ranch dressing and your garlic powder. Stir till thoroughly incorporated.

5) Take your wontons out of the oven, and let cool enough to handle. Place on a platter alongside your dipping sauce.

Be ready for “high fives”, “go team”…. rave reviews and empty platters!!!!

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A while back, I picked up some eye of the round for $1.99#. I like this cut of beef because it is very versatile. Hubby decided to make his version of Italian beef, and it is very easy to do! (said the woman that watches while he cooks)

Italian Beef

2-3# Roast
3 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
3 Tbsp Diced Garlic (from a jar)
Pepper to taste

• Preheat Oven to 500º

• Tenderize the beef with a good meat tenderizer that pokes holes

• Place garlic and Italian seasoning in a bowl. Roll the roast through the seasoning coating completely.

• Place seasoned roast on a rack in a roasting pan.

• Roast in preheated 500º oven for 20 minutes.

• Turn heat down to 300º and roast for an additional 45 minutes.

• Remove from oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

OMG is this gooooooooooood!!

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One of the greatest things about couponing regularly is the ability to build a stockpile for very little money. Unfortunately, a varied diet on a pantry full of mustard, pasta, beans and inexpensive meats can challenge even the most versatile cook.

For the last three years I have posted Stockpile Recipes most Monday afternoons at 3pm eastern. I ran out of recipes from my file quite some time ago. Since then, I have relied on hubby’s creativity, and a lot of you!

Right now the Stockpile Recipes cupboard is bare of recipes after January 30th (yes, they are scheduled that far in advance).

So, I need a bit of help from you all!

If you could email me your recipes in which all (or close to all) ingredients are items that you pull from your stockpile, along with a picture (of either the recipe, some ingredients within the recipes, etc) it would be greatly appreciated. Appetizers, main entree, dessert, it matters not. What is important is that your recipe is tasty and can be made from common stockpile ingredients.

Thank you so much for your help!

Since this is an army recipe, I think you all can figure out what the S.O.S. stands for.

Hubby was wandering food.com again, and decided to make this recipe since we had all the ingredients on hand. He, of course, made a few changes.

Ground Beef S.O.S

Ingredients

1# ground beef
1/4 c chopped onion
1/4 c flour
2 tsp beef bouillon powder
pinch ground black pepper (and pepper to taste when serving)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
pinch cayenne powder
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 3/4 c milk

• In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef and onion
• Stir in the flour, granulated bouillon, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powders and cayenne powder
• Saute until flour is absorbed, approximately 5 minutes
• Gradually stir in the Worcestershire sauce and milk
• Bring to a simmer.
• Stir and cook until thickened, approximately 5 – 10 minutes.
• Serve over toast, biscuits, noodles, rice, or potatoes.

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The picture above was the leftovers in the dish after the cod had been eaten. Sorry. I completely forgot to take a pic before we ate!

While fishing around for a cod recipe for Christmas Eve dinner hubby discovered this one on Polska foods. It was a big hit at dinner! Hubby did not deviate much from the original recipe, although he did double it due to the amount of fish he made. We used a portion of the sauce later in the week over pasta.

Saucy Baked Cod

3# fillets of cod
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Tbsp jarred mined garlic
2 medium onion
4 small zucchini sliced
2 small yellow summer squash sliced
2 medium red pepper cubed
1.5 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaf
1 cup fresh parsley diced
2 jars (25 ounces) pasta sauce
1 cup dry white wine
Dash of cayenne pepper
Dash of Tabasco
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper

1. Brine defrosted (or fresh) cod by soak for 20 minutes in a bath of cold water and 1/2 cup salt and 1/2 sugar

2. Preheat oven to 375º

3. Make the sauce by heating the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, peppers, cook until softened, not browned

4. Add remaining ingredients (hold back 1/2 of the zucchini for later) to the pot and simmer for 15-20 minutes

5. Pour a little of the sauce into a shallow earthenware casserole dish. Cover bottom of dish. Add the held zucchini on the bottom of the dish to prevent the fish from sticking. Drain fish from brine, pat dry, and place cod on top of zucchini. Pour rest of pasta sauce over and around fish.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, check to see if fish is flaky and not translucent

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I have shared with all of you my pierogi recipe which is very good for traditional, filled pieogi. My grandmother always made flat pierogi for us too. This is just the dough. Her dough was always pretty sweet though, and I could never figure out what she did not write down on her recipe to make my dough just as sweet. I have searched for years for the secret, and while reading Tasting Poland a few weeks ago, I can across a hint – which I tried – and the result was marvelous! I dissolved a tablespoon of sugar into some milk and added that to the dough. The result was a sweeter dough that went over very well Christmas Eve.

Flat Pieogi

Dough
3 cups Sifted, Unbleached Cake Flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup Boiling Water
1/4 Cup Milk w/1 TBSP Sugar (stir to dissolve sugar)
1/2 tsp Cooking Oil

Water
6 Quarts Boiling Water
1 tsp Cooking Oil

• Combine sifted cake flour and salt in a large bowl
• Pour 3/4 cups boiling water to flour, stir with fork. Any lumps should be crumbled with the fork
• Cover bowl with cotton dishtowel and set aside for 5 minutes
• Add 1/4 cup of milk w/sugar, again mash the flour with a fork
• Cover bowl with cotton dishtowel, set aside for 15 minutes
• Add 1/2 tsp Cooking Oil, knead dough until smooth (approximately 5 minutes)

• Bring water to a rapid, rolling boil on the stove. Add cooking oil. (Note: you can run 2-3 pots to speed up the process)

• Roll dough until flat. Hubby came up with this idea a few years ago to put the dough through a pasta maker. I was skeptical at first, but I must say it makes the process go a lot faster!! We rolled on 2

• Rerolled on a 3.5

• The final roll was a 5.
• Cut into squares, rectangles, etc. Size does not matter. I usually mix it up with small and large pieces so people can choose.

• Add uncooked dough to the boiling water
• Cook at least 3 minutes. With a filled pierogi you can tell the dough is cooked when it floats to the top. Since these are unfilled, they float almost immediately. Cook them for 3 minutes to ensure they have been boiled.

• Use a slotted spoon to remove the dough from the boiling water.
• Place on rack to dry

• Once you have boiled your dough, the pierogi are technically cooked, and may be frozen or served. I cannot image eating them that way though. The traditional preparation for a sweet pierogi is butter and sugar. We treat the flats as sweet dough in our house, and prepare in a pan on the stove with butter and brown sugar. Be very careful though as this is basically candy and you can burn yourself if you get the brown sugar and butter mixture on your skin.

• Serve hot and enjoy!

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Whether looking for an entire holiday meal or just an inexpensive side dish or dessert, consider these Stockpile Recipes posted over the course of the last few years on Coupons, Deals and More!

Christmas Eve Dinner Recipes

• Baked Haddock (we will be enjoying this!)

• Baked Potato Soup

• French Onion Soup

• Panera’s Cream Cheese Potato Soup (we will be enjoying this!)

• Pierogi (we will be enjoying this!)

Christmas Dinner Recipes

• Baked Ziti

• Beef Brisket

• Faux Sourdough Bread

• Ground Beef Wellington

• Italian Roast Beef

• Parsley Potatoes

• Steak and Bacon Rolls

Holiday Desserts

• Apple Pie

• Awesome Chocolate Cake

• Black Magic Cake

• Can’t Leave ‘Em Alone Bars

• Candy Cane Cookies

• Cinnamon Cake

• Cherry Apple Crisp

• Chocolate Slush Cake

• Christmas Cookie Frosting

• Cranberry Cookie Strudel

• English Trifle (we will be enjoying this on Christmas Eve!)

• Ice Cream Cake

• Kris Kringle Cookies

• Lemon Cake

• Orange Cake

• Pineapple Cake

• Seven Layer Cookies

• Sour Cream Cheesecake

• Spiced Rum Cake

• Texas Sheet Cake

• Zucchini Carrot Bread

• And here are 7 Cost Saving Holiday Decorating Tips

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Hubby reads a lot of cooking sites. He found a recipe for chili he found interesting, and since we had all ingredients on hand, it was perfect for a Stockpile Recipe!

His change was using chicken breast instead of chicken thighs.

I am not a chili fan, and he is, yet I liked this a lot more than he did.

Slowcooker Chili

2# Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast Cubed
1 Diced Onion
1 Can (15oz) Kidney Beans (drained)
1 Can White Cannelloni Beans (drained)
1 Can (15oz) Corn (drained)
1 Can (15oz) Fire Roasted Tomatoes
1 Can (4oz) Diced Green Chiles
1 Medium Sweet Potato, peeled and grated
1/2 c Spicy Brown Mustard
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Honey
3 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Chipotle Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Onion Powder
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp White Pepper
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Cloves
2 c Chicken Broth

• 6-quart or larger slow cooker
• Place the chicken into the bottom of your slow cooker
• Add diced onion, canned beans, tomatoes, chiles, corn, and grated sweet potato
• Add the mustard, honey, and dried spices
• Stir to distribute spices and canned goods
• Pour in the chicken broth.
• Cook covered on low for 8-10 hours

When serving, add sour cream and/or cheese to your bowl.

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Didi shared this Black Magic Cake recipe with me, along with her tweaks which include:

Double the frosting
Decorate with express beans

Black Magic Cake

Preheat oven to 350º

1 3/4 c all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup strong black coffee, cooled
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp real vanilla extract

Frosting

1 cups margarine, softened
4 oz melted unsweetened chocolate, cooled
6 cups powdered sugar
6 TBSP milk
4 tsp real vanilla extract

Cake directions:
• Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl
• Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla
• Beat on medium speed for two minutes. Batter will be thin
• Pour batter into a greased and floured 13″ x 9″ pan, or use (2) 9 rounds
• Bake at 350º for 35-40 minutes (13″ x 9″ pan), or 30-35 minutes ((2) 9 rounds)
• Done when pick comes out clean

Frosting directions:
• Combine all frosting ingredients
• Mix
• Decorate cooled cakes, add espresso beans for garnish

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Ida told me about this amazing Broccoli Salad she made when broccoli was on sale. I asked her for some pics, so when she made it for Thanksgiving dinner, she kindly took pics and forwarded us her recipe!!

Broccoli Salad

3 broccoli heads and stalks about 3-4lbs (this recipe is great for using up
the stalks)
3/4 cup of raisins
1 bag sunflower kernels (1.75oz )
1cup of miracle whip
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 cup of balsamic vinegar

• Start off by washing the broccoli and trimming the broccoli leaves off the stalks.
• Cut the stalks leaving about 1inch of stalk attached to the broccoli head.

• In a food processor shred the stalks until they are small 1/4in shredded pieces.

• Then in a food processor slice the broccoli heads, this will give you some fine broccoli pieces and some larger pieces.
• In a small bowl mix miracle whip, sugar and vinegar.
• In a large bowl combine all ingredients.

* substitutions
* can use apple cider vinegar, instead of balsamic
* if using regular mayo use 1/2cup sugar and 1/4cup balsamic or cider vinegar
* salt and black pepper to taste
**sunflower seeds are 39¢ at Ali’s

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If you are cooking for Thanksgiving this week, you may want to give your stockpile a look-see and utilize what you have. Here are some stockpile recipes that could work well for Thanksgiving dinner:

• Last year’s Thanksgiving dinner menu at the Coupons, Deals and More household. This post is loaded with Thanksgiving recipes of the low-salt, low glycemic variety!

• Thanksgiving dinner recipes from a prior year.

• Wines To Pair With Turkey

Soups

• Baked Potato Soup

• French Onion Soup

• Panera’s Cream Cheese Potato Soup

• Squash Soup

• Turnip, Potato, Leek Soup

Side Dishes

• Parsley Potatoes

• Squash Casserole

Dessert

• Apple Pie

• Awesome Chocolate Cake

• Can’t Leave ‘Em Alone Bars

• Cinnamon Cake

• Cherry Apple Crisp

• Chocolate Slush Cake

• Cranberry Cookie Strudel

• Crock Pot Pumpkin (or Squash) Pie Pudding

• Lemon Cake

• Orange Cake

• Pumpkin Muffins

• Pumpkin Nut Roll

• Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

• Seven Layer Cookies

• Spiced Rum Cake

• Squash Pie

• Texas Sheet Cake

• Zucchini Carrot Bread

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We received our pig a few weeks ago. Hubby once again rendered the fat to make lard, and below are his directions:

This is the fat from the pig we purchased.

You will need a pot or dutch-oven.

Pre-heat oven to 250º regular oven 225º convection oven.

Place 5+ pounds of ground pig fat into a covered oven-safe dutch oven.
Bake at 250º regular oven 225º convection oven, stirring occasionally for about an hour or so. Most of the solid should have turned to liquid by then. Be careful that the ground fat doesn’t turn brown in color.
Ladle out the liquid and strain through coffee filters layered in a metal strainer.
Put any strained solids back into the dutch oven.

Let the lard cool to about 100 degrees, and portion them into plastic soup containers or silicone bakeware.

Put in freezer until completely cool and solidified.
Leave headspace, as the lard will expand in volume as it cools.

Turn out onto a cutting board and slice into usable pieces.

Wrap for freezering.

This is freezer-tite so when foodsavered and frozen, one piece can be removed from the pack and the pack can just be re-sealed.

This is what I call “white lard” and is good for baking.
Foodsaver for freezing.

For the remaining ground pig fat in the pot, turn up the heat to 325/350, and stir more frequently than before. Eventually, the ground pig fat will release all of its liquid lard, and the remaining solids will sink to the bottom of the pot. These solids are called chicharrones in Spanish (or cracklins down south).

Take the cracklins and spread them out in a baking pan and bake them for another 10 to 15 minutes to make sure they get crispy. Use these like bacon bits. Keep them refrigerated or frozen. Microwave them for 30 seconds to crisp them up (cover them in case they splatter).

Pour everything into a coffee filter strainer. The liquid will be a light amber color. This is what I call “dark lard”. It will have a roasted pork flavor to it, so it should only be used for savory dishes, not baking.

Didi has been at it again. More baking, another blue ribbon. And, she once again graciously is sharing her recipe with us!

Congratulations, Didi, and thanks!

Pumpkin Muffins Filled With Spiced Marshmallow Creme

Muffins

1 pkg spice cake mix
1/2 c water
1/2 c vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 c canned pumpkin (not pie mix)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spices
1/2 c chopped nuts (i used walnuts)
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c shredded coconut

Marshmallow Creme

2 tsp hot water
1/4 tsp salt
1 jar(s) marshmallow creme (7 oz)
1/2 c shortening
1/3 c confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spices
2 Tbsp canned pumpkin (optional) **see note**

• Preheat oven to 350ºF

• In a bowl, add your nuts, coconut & raisins. Cut off the top of cake mix and add 2 tbls of cake mix to your ingredients. Stir thoroughly to make sure all ingredients are coated. This will ensure even distribution to your muffins.

• In your stand up mixer, or using a hand mixer and a bowl, add your cake mix. Add the rest of ingredients. Mix for 2-3 minutes.

• Fold in your nut mixture. Spray muffin tins with non stick cooking spray. Using a 1/4 c measure scoop batter into muffin tins. Bake for 17-19 minutes

• Meanwhile, as muffins are baking, you can start on your spiced marshmallow cream.

• In a small bowl, combine hot water and salt. Nuke for 30 seconds till all salt is dissolved.

• Using your mixer, beat the marshmallow creme, shortening, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the salt mixture and beat for 1 more minute. Using your pastry bag or plastic bag, insert star pastry tip, add cream and chill till ready to use.

• Remove muffins from oven. Let rest on cookie rack for 1-2 minutes, then remove from tins and let them cool thoroughly.

• Using a citrus corer or whatever you prefer. Insert citrus corer into top of muffins. Make a hole thru the muffin, but ensuring you don’t go all the way thru to the bottom.

• Continue with rest of muffins. Fill with marshmallow creme. If you don’t have a pastry bag, a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped works just fine.

Enjoy!!

**Note: I have made the marshmallow cream without the canned pumpkin as well. The cream is very good either way. Without the pumkpkin, they have a more striking appearance.

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Remember that Apple Pie Filling I made? Well, I needed to make a pie from it to report how truly wonderful it is!

Or at least that was hubby’s spin.

Apple Pie

Crust

Preheat Oven to 425º
Pie plate – 8′ will produce a full pie, deep dish will produce a thinner pie. This is just a personal preference

• 2 1/2 cups white flour
• 2 TBSP castor sugar (remember a whirl in the small food processor of regular white sugar will do it)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 stock cold (or frozen) cubed unsalted butter
• 4 TBSP cold vegetable shortening
• 12 TBSP ice water (fill a container with ice, add a little water)

• Combine flour, castor sugar and salt
• Add vegetable shortening and butter
• Mix until well blended
• Add 4 TBSP water, mix
• Add 2 more TBSP water, continue mixing. Keep adding the water until well blended. YOU may not need all 12 TBSP.

• Divide dough in half
• Wrap with plastic wrap
• Refrigerate 30 minutes

• Roll onto lightly floured surface, until you have (2) 12″ round disks

I thought long and hard about blind baking (pre-bake the pie crust). I decided to quasi-blind bake for 6 minutes.
• I placed 1 raw dough disk in the pie plate and fluted the edges.
• Cover bottom with lightly sprayed parchment paper
• Cover with beans or pie weights
• Prick sides of dough with fork
• Bake on 425º for 6 minutes
• Remove from oven, remove pie weights and parchment paper
• Cool slightly
• Add apple pie filling
• Cover with pie crust top, pinching edges to connect.
• (Brush with egg wash if you like)
• Make 6 small slits in pie crust top
• Bake for additional 25 minutes on 425º – of you do not like brown edges, wrap with aluminum foil before baking

• Remove pie from oven
• Allow to cool slightly

• Serve warm or cold (this is cold) ala mode.

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Hubby and I purchased a lot of apples this year. Looking for something to do with them, we decided to make Apple Pie Filling. We searched around online, and adapted and merged a few recipes to come up with this:

Apple Pie Filling

22 sliced apples
Lemon Juice
4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
9 cups water

Hubby purchased this apple peeler. I scoffed as I can peel apples quicker than he can peel one with this machine – until I saw that it cores and slices!!

• No matter how I tried, I could never get the slices that uniform, nor do all three functions as quickly.

• Place peeled and sliced apples into lemon water. This will prevent browning while you are peeling the rest of the apples.

In pot on stove combine:

• Sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg
• Slowly add water
• Stir well
• Allow mixture to thicken and come to a low boil
• Allow to boil 3-4 minutes

• Drain lemon water from apples
• Add apples to sugar mixture on stove
• Allow to come to a boil for 2 minutes
• Reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer for 10 minutes until apples soften

• Cool for 30 minutes, no longer than 90 minutes

• Portion out evenly into five containers, allowing 1/2″ headroom

Sometimes things do not go exactly as planned. We did not have any large freezer containers, so we used two soup containers for each pie.
This recipe makes a total of five (5) portions for 8″ pies.

Total cost:

22 apples (38¢# at the farm stand) $1.90
Sugar 25¢
Cornstarch 25¢
Cinnamon 10¢
Nutmeg 10¢
Let’s give the water and lemon juice a total of a quarter
= $2.85 to make the filling for five pies!

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While rooting through the freezer, hubby found some leftover beef brisket and decided to make some Beef Barley soup with it. This was pretty darned good, and I am not a barley fan!

Beef Barley Soup

2 tsp vegetable oil
2 chopped onions
2 minced garlic cloves
2 diced carrots
2 diced celery stalks
4 c beef broth
4 c chicken broth
3 c water
1 c barley
1 c tomato sauce
1 tsp salt free Cajun seasoning
1 tsp salt free seasoning (Mrs Dash)
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 dried thyme
1 tsp pepper
2 c cooked beef brisket
2 1ounce packages demi-glace or au jus mix
1 bay leaf

• Heat oil in large pot
• Saute onions and garlic
• Add carrots and celery, cook for 10 minutes
• Add broth, water, barley and bay leaf
• Cover pot and bring to a boil
• Add Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, all spices and beef brisket
• Stir in demi-glace
• Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour
• Remove bay leaf before serving

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I made stew once, about 25 years ago. It was so bad, I shoved it down the garbage disposal and never tried again… until now.

I gathered up some stew ingredients, a couple of basic recipes, and this is what I ended up doing:

Crockpot Beef Stew

2.5# beef stew meat cubed
1/2 cup flour + 3 Tbsp
1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
48-64 oz Beef Broth (the more liquid, the more like soup)
1 Onion sliced or diced
4 Cubed Potatoes
8oz Sliced Mushrooms
2 Sliced Carrots
1 Bag Frozen Peas
Olive Oil
Pepper to taste

• Flour Cubed Beef
• Heat Olive Oil in fry pan
• Add minced garlic and floured beef
• Cook until a slight crust forms on on flour
• Add to crockpot

• Add remaining ingredients to crockpot, holding back 3 TBSP flour and 8 oz liquid

• Cook for 6-8 hours on high, or 8-10 hours on low heat.

• Open lid, if the stew is too soup-like, add 3 TBSP to 8 oz of withheld liquid in a separate bowl.
• Stir thickener into liquid until smooth

Note: if you do not thicken the stew, it will thicken on its own over the next few days for leftovers.

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A few weeks ago, Amazon had a free Pumpkin Cookbook download. So, hubby did. When we stopped in Corning last month for wine, I popped into a bakery that sold pumpkin nut roll. It was delicious, and I mentioned to hubby I needed to find a recipe and make it myself. Hubby said there was a recipe in that download, I decided to give it a try! I doubled the cream cheese recipe as reflected below. There is no way the original recipe had enough ingredients to make a decent filling. Also, if you don’t use pecans (or any nut), the roll will be just fine. You may want to dust with confectionery sugar for interest.

Pumpkin Nut Roll

Preheat oven to 325º

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 Tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup chopped pecans (use your small food processor to chop the nuts quickly)
2 cups plus 3 Tbsp powdered sugar, divided
1 8oz softened cream cheese
1 stick softened butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

• Beat eggs with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes
• Gradually add sugar
• Stir in pumpkin
• Add lemon juice
• Set aside

• Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a mixing bowl
• Fold into pumpkin mixture

• Line a greased jelly-roll pan with wax paper
• Spray wax paper with non-stick vegetable spray
• Spread pumpkin mixture over paper
• Top with pecans

• Bake at 325º for 15 minutes until done (do not overcook)
• Turn out onto a clean towel sprinkled with 2 to 4 tablespoons powdered sugar

• Combine two cups powdered sugar, softened cream cheese, softened butter and vanilla extract in mixing bowl
• Beat until creamy
• Spread over cake
• Gently roll up cake as for a jelly roll

• Cool and serve chilled
• Serves 12

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Didi was telling us Saturday about this amazing strudel she makes. I asked her if she would share the recipe, and she was kind enough to send it over for us!

Cranberry Cookie Strudel

Preheat oven to 375º

Ingredients

CRANBERRY SAUCE
1 pkg (12 oz) fresh cranberries
1 1/2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
zest of one lemon

REST OF INGREDIENTS

10 Keebler sandies or any shortbread of choice
2 tsp grated orange zest
1/2 stick softened butter or margarine
2 pre-made pie crusts
1/2 c decorative sugar crystals
1 egg white
1 Tbsp water

• Make your cranberry sauce:

• In a pot add your cranberries, spices, zest and water. Let simmer for approximtely 30 minutes, till all the sugar has disolved, the cranberries are soft and most of them have popped. Turn off heat and cool.

• As cranberry sauce is cooling, in a mini food chopper or food processor, add your cookies. Pulse till your cookies are fine crumbles.

• Once cranberry sauce has cooled, it’s time to prepare your strudel:

• Cut a piece of wax/parchment paper and unroll your pie crust on the paper.
• Roll out the pie crust on the left and ride side, making almost like a rectangle, but not quite.
• Spread 1/4 c of butter over the pie crust
• Add your 1/4 of the cookie crumbs
• Add 1 tsp grated orange zest over the cookie crumbs.
• Add 1/2 your cranberry sauce.
• Sprinkle another 1/4 of the cookie crumbs over the cranberry sauce mixture.

• Working from the end closest to you, roll the pie crust jelly roll style away from you. Tuck your ends in as your rolling. When you finish, the seam should be on the top. Press the seam into the pie crust to ensure it doesn’t separate upon breaking.

• Beat the egg white with the water till frothy.
• Baste the egg white mixture over the strudel and sprinkle the decorater sugar all over the strudel.

• Repeat with second pie crust, sauce, cookie crumbs and zest.

• Bake in a preheated 375ºF oven for 35-45 minutes or till nicely golden.

• Remove from oven and let cool. Pairs nicely with vanilla ice cream.

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Of all the recipes I make from my stockpile, this is by far the easiest! It actually looks like you took the time to make a big meal, when all you did was make white rice and this bake to put over it.

Chicken Bake

Preheat oven to 350º

Ingredients

1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 Can Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
Milk – fill the empty soup can
8 oz Sour Cream
1 – 1.5# trimmed and cubed Chicken Breast
1 package frozen Broccoli (or peas, or fresh mushroom, or all three!)

• Trim off fat from fresh chicken breast (or defrosted frozen breast)
• Cube

• Combine cream of chicken soup, onion soup mix, milk (fill the empty soup container with milk and pour into bowl) and sour cream
• Mix well

• Pour soup mixture into lightly sprayed 13″x9″ pan
• Add chicken (make sure you cover the chicken with the liquid mixture)
• Add broccoli

• Bake for 1 hour
• Serve over white rice

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Because you can never have enough zucchini recipes at this time of year, let’s do yet another one!

Most people get bags dumped off at their door, my hubby pays a buck. *sigh*

In any event, another recipe he found online that we tweaked.

Zucchini Bars

1 c oil
2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1/4 c sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 shredded carrot
3/4 c uncooked oatmeal
1 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350º

• Grease a 15″x9″ jelly roll pan
• Line with parchment paper (this makes removal a breeze!)

• In large bowl beat together eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar.

• Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon
• Combine flour mixture with egg mixture

• Blend well

• Fold in zucchini, carrots, oatmeal and nuts into the egg/flour mixture

• Blend well

• Place mixture in prepared pan, spreading so it is even

• Bake for 22 minutes until edges are brown
• Allow to cool and lift from pan by parchment paper corners

I would honestly resist frosting these bars. *gasp* I cannot believe I am suggesting that as I think frosting is one of nature’s nearly perfect foods. These are actually better unfrosted, and I can almost convince myself I am eating veges that way!

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As hubby and I keep making produce runs, we find we actually have to use the produce we purchase for these runs to be cost effective. So, another week, another Stockpile Recipe using produce!

This one hubby found on some non-American website (I am guessing British or French) and we followed the original recipe fairly closely, but of course made some tweaks to make it our own. While all these pictures make it seem difficult, nothing could be further from the truth – this is a long process, but quite easy! And, this dough is super sweet and tasty!

Nectarine Tart

There are several stages to this tart. I advise making the crust first due to refrigeration times. I would bake/roast the nectarines next as they will need to cool. While the custard needs to cool, it does so rapidly. As long as you have the crust and nectarines ready, you will be golden doing the custard last.

You can use a flan tin or a quiche pan for the crust. I used a quiche pan.

Crust

1 2/3 c Flour
2/3 c Confectionery Sugar
1 Stick Cold Butter, sliced into cubes
1 Egg Yolk
1 1/2 – 2 Tbsp Cold Water

Heat oven to 325º

Cut butter into flour and confectionery sugar mixture.
Add egg yolk.
Add water to make the dough come together.

When the dough is formed into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

After chilling dough for 30 minutes, bring it out and roll it in between sparsely floured parchment paper. You want just enough flour to allow for rolling. This dough will warm rapidly, and become soft.

Press dough into your tin, and trim away any excess.
Return to refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Place parchment paper on top of uncooked crust, and place beans on to to weight the paper down and not allow for much rising. (No, there is no parchment paper in this pic, I forgot and had to go back and dump the beans and start again and neglected to snap another picture.)

Bake uncovered for 10 minutes on 325º.
Remove paper and beans, return to oven and bake another 10 minutes or until the pastry is slightly browned.

Roast/ Bake Nectarines

8 Nectarines cut in half with the stones removed
1/4 c Orange Juice
1/2 C Firmly Packed Brown Sugar

If you have a convection oven setting, use the roast setting instead of bake.
Preheat oven to to 400º
Place nectarines in a single layer in large, shallow baking dish.
Sprinkle with OJ and brown sugar

Roast/Bake for 20 minutes until nectarines are soft.
Cool to touch.

Remove skins from nectarines.
Slice into thin slices.

Custard

1 1/4 c Whipping Cream
1 c Milk
1/2 C Caster Sugar (forget paying for this at a gourmet shop! Just put 1/2 c of regular sugar in a small food processor and whirl until fine)
1/4 tsp Vanilla
3 Egg Yolks
2 Tbsp Corn Starch
6 Tbsp Butter

Combine cream, milk and sugar in medium saucepan.
Add vanilla.
Bring to a low boil.

Beat egg yolks in a small mixing bowl.
Add corn starch.
Gradually beat in hot cream mixture.
Return entire combined mixture to medium saucepan.

Allow to come to a boil.
Heat until thickened.
Remove from heat and add butter.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool to room temperature.

Assembly

Pour custard into cooled pastry shell.
Place nectarines on top of custard. You do not have to push down, they will settle into the custard. Hubby refers to the custard as the glue.

Chill for 3 hours (or overnight) until set.

This is the final product, and wow is it tasty!

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A few weeks ago, hubby and I went on a produce run. I promised recipes based on our produce purchases, so here is an simple quick one that I do with small red potatoes!

Parsley Potatoes

Hubby stored the potatoes in newspaper to keep out moisture until I was ready to use them.

I brought 4 quarts of water to boil on the stove.
When rapidly boiling, I added the potatoes.
Allow to come to a boil again, then simmer until cooked. This will vary by size of potato. Smaller potatoes cook faster. Stick a cake tester into a few potatoes after 10 minutes. If the tester comes out easy, and the potato feels “soft”, they are cooked.

Drain Potatoes.
Once potatoes have been removed from the pot, melt 3/4 – 1 stick of butter in pot.
Add 1/2 c of parsley to melted butter.

Return drained potatoes to the butter and parsley mixture.
Coat the potatoes with butter mixer.
Allow to cook for as long as you like – personally we like them a tad crispy, so I cut a few of the larger potatoes in half so I can monitor the browning process.

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Ah brandied peaches. Making them seemed like a good idea at the time.

Hubby and I went on a produce run a week ago. We purchased a lot of in-season fruits and veges with the intent of canning or freezing the larger quantities.

Today’s post will deal with what we did with the 28 pounds of peaches we purchased (at 57¢#).

First, the easy part: I gave my grandfather eight of them.

Next, the harder part: Hubby and I made brandied peaches.

Now let me start by saying we had never canned together. I have canned before – heck my great-grandmother owned a farm! While I had not done this in many years, this was not my first rodeo. Can’t say the same for hubby.

YET somehow, because he was holding instructions he had printed off the freaking internet, he was the one that knew alllll about canning.

He told me how to scald the peaches.
How to peel the scaled peaches.
How to clean the jars.
How to pack the jars.

I will not go into all of it, but let’s just say at the end the words, “You were right” did warble from his lips.

Marriage counseling averted! But it was freaking close.

Ok, honestly this is pretty easy to do. The main thing is to have ONE BOSS if you are doing this with another person, and it cannot be the inexperienced canner.

First things first. Set up your pots.

These pots were use for scalding, an ice bath and for the canning. The canner is hubby’s newest pride and joy: the All American pressure cooker/canner.

*sigh*

I should probably not tell him about all the canners and canning supplies I have sold at garage sales over the years, huh?

He boiled his jars in the canner then set them out to cool. Make sure you simmer the lids in hot water to soften the rubberized flange.

At that time, we scaled the peaches in the pot with the pasta basket. To do this:

• Fill the pot with water.
• Bring to a roiling boil.
• Place peaches in basket and immerse in water for 3 minutes (tradition says 2, 3 makes for an easier peel and you have not cooked the peaches.

Prep the ice bath with… ice and water.

You want to immerse the scaled peaches into the ice water when you pull them off the stove to stop any cooking.

This makes for easy peeling. Some folks suggest an X at the bottom of the peaches before scalding. Me, I just give the lose skin a pinch and it falls off.

These are actually all skinned! Aren’t they lovely?

After skinning, we housed them in water containing crushed Vitamin C. Hubby used (4) 500 mmg tablets in each pot.

I then halved the peaches and removed the pits placing them back in Vitamin C water. This prevents browning.

While I was doing that, hubby was cooking up the syrup.

• He boiled:

• 1 c sugar
• 1 c water
• 1 TBSP Vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

• Until the mixture thickened.

• He then added the peaches and simmered until cooked by still firm (do not over cook them they get mushy).

• We then carefully filled the jars with peaches, leaving room for brandy.

• We topped the jars with brandy leaving 1/4″ of head room, wiped away any excess from the rims and capped them “finger tip tight”.

We did a hot water bath where the pot was covered and brought to a boil over high heat. The temperature was then lowered to medium, and allowed to gently boil for 20 minutes. Remove cover, let stand 5 minutes and remove jars.

Allow them to cool on a baking rack, untouched for 4-6 hours.

Now since we only canned six jars, we had plenty of brandied peaches leftover. We decided to freeze most of them …

… and eat a few. And OMG are they good!

I can’t wait until we eat these in the winter. I am sure they will taste even better once the details of this togetherness project fade.

Once again hubby found a recipe online. There wasn’t much tweaking to this one, except I made the frosting. Be aware that is this a VERY dense bread.

Zucchini Carrot Bread

Heat oven to 350º

Mix together:

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour

In a separate bowl, beat 3 large eggs.
To this add:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

And beat until blended.

Add:
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1 1/2 cups grated carrots

Combine dry goods with beaten mixture, and add:

3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup raisins

Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes at 350º until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack.

If you would like to add a cream cheese frosting when the bread has cooled completely:

Whip together:

6 oz Cream cheese
3/4 c confectionery sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Frost when completely cooled.

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Hubby bought this book: The Dog Ate It: Cooking for Yourself and Your Four-Legged Friends which contains recipes that are fit for humans and dogs at the same meal. Now, those of you that read this blog may know that our pooch, Max, is extremely spoiled. He does each PetFresh at least once per day, but his other two meals are people food. So, hubby figured he would give this book a try.

Today’s recipe is:

Clean Out The Fridge Loaf

and this is his recipe with tweaks:

2 pounds ground beef (original recipe says beef, pork, chicken, turkey or veal ground or chopped)
1/4 c rye flour
1/4 c barley flour
1/2 c oatmeal (original recipe 1 c bread crumbs)
1 large egg
1/2 c chicken stock
2 cloves peeled garlic
1/2 tsp salt-free Spike
1/4 tsp dehydrated vegetable flakes (original recipe: seaweed, sea kelp or seas vegetable)
2 cups cooked vegetables

For the two cups of cooked vegetables, hubby used fresh carrots and fresh broccoli stalks cooked in extra chicken broth along with the vegetable flakes, garlic and salt-free Spike.

Then hubby combined the dry ingredients.

He allowed the cooked vegetables to cool, then add them to the dry ingredients and combined.

Then, he placed the ingredients into an oiled 9x5x3 meat loaf pan.

After this, bake in a preheated 350º oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

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Last month I asked for help with Stockpile Recipes. I am running low on ideas, and quite frankly, wouldn’t mind trying some new recipes from the stockpile myself!

Several of you were good enough to email me stockpile recipes, but more are always welcome!

Today’s recipe is courtesy of MC

My grandmother made us this cake every week when my brother & I were kids. My girls, as well as my niece & nephew have grown up with this cake as well. While Crisco may not be in everyone’s pantry, it’s a must in mine.

Cinnamon Cake

Makes (3) 9″ round cakes

Pre-heat oven to 350 and grease 3 9″ round pans (disposable pans are fine)

3 cups plus 3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
12 tablespoons Crisco Shortening
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
3 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Milk
4 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt

• Cream sugar and Crisco.
• Add in eggs, vanilla and milk beating until mixed.
• Add flour, salt and baking powder and mix until smooth.

Divide batter equally among the 3 pans and then set aside

Topping:

Beat together
1 1/2 cups Sugar
3/4 stick margarine
4 teaspoons Cinnamon

• Sprinkle equal portions on top of each pan of cake batter. It’s ok that you have clumps.

• Bake for 25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

These cakes freeze very well.

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After Didi wrote about her Sugardale Competition Experience, there were many requests for the recipe.

So here it is!

Thanks Didi!

Steak & Bacon Rolls

2 to 2-1/4lbs Flank steak
4 Tsp yellow mustard
1 lb Sugardale Bacon (8 slices whole, 8 slices diced)
1 green pepper diced
1/4 c fresh parsley diced
2 medium onions diced
2 eggs
2 Tbls butter
Salt & Pepper for seasoning
1/2 c Water

• On a clean flat service cut the flank steak into four (4) 3″ strips. Salt & pepper both sides. Spread 1 tsp. mustard over each steak. Lay on two whole slices of bacon on each steak. Set aside.

• In a saute pan, add the diced bacon and start to saute. Once the bacon is starting to crisp add 1 c diced onions, saute for 1-2 minutes or till onions are starting to soften. Add the diced green pepper. Saute mixture till bacon is nicely brown and veggies have softened but not carmelized. Remove from heat and let cool. Place cooled bacon & veggie mixture into a bowl and add the egg. Mix well making sure the eggs have fully incorporated the mixture.

• Place bacon & veggie mixture evenly over the bacon covered steaks. Spread mixture making sure it doesn’t spread over the lip of the steaks.

• Carefully roll steak “jelly roll” style and secure ends w/ wooden skewers or large toothpicks.

• Salt & pepper and set aside.

• On the stovetop, using a dutch oven (or other heavy duty pan with lid), over mediumm high heat add the butter. Once the butter has melted, add the steak rolls seam side down and sear them till nicely brown on all sides.

• Remove the steaks from the dutch oven and place on a platter. Using the same dutch oven, add the remaining 1 cup of onions and place the steak rolls back on top of the diced onions.

• Add the water, lower the heat to medium low and simmer covered for 20 minutes.

• Remove cover and simmer for another minutes.

• This makes an awesome gravy to serve over mashed potatoes

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Several weeks ago, I had asked for help with Stockpile Recipes. Several of you were good enough to email me stockpile recipes, and I always welcome more.

This recipe is courtesy of Patty

Taco Casserole

2 cups uncooked elbow maccaroni
1 lb ground beef
1/2-1 package taco seasoning
1 (15 oz) can of tomato sauce
1 (15 ox) can of kidney bean (I omit this at my hubby’s request)
1/4 cup milk
2/ 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 small can french-fried onions
1 cup lettuce
1 tomato diced
2-3 taco shells

Preheat oven to 375.
Brown beef. Add seasoning, tomato sauce and beans. Simmer uncovered.

Cook maccaroni and drain. Add milk and two cups of cheese. Stir.

Grease casserole. Layer 1/2 maccaroni mixture and then 1/2 meat. Add 1/2 cup of onions. Add another layer of the remaning maccaroni mixture. Then add remaining onions. Finish with layer of meat.

Bake uncovered 25-30 minutes or until hot.
Top with lettuce, tomato, and cheese.

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Back in May, Boston Market had a Memorial Day coupon for 50% off a family meal. We always participate in those offers because we feel at 50% off, Boston Market is a good value.

Hubby went in and wanted a chicken and a meatloaf. Well, they were out of the meatloaf so the clerk upsold him on the beef brisket. BEST use of $1.89 EVAH!!

So, hubby decided to try his hand at making beef brisket.

He started with a 10# brisket, and a foil lined jelly roll pan:

He mixed together these ingredients in a bowl:

4 TBSP Liquid Smoke
4 TBSP Soy Sauce
2 tsp Garlic Powder
4 tsp Celery Seeds
2 tsp Ground Pepper
4 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 TBSP Lemon Juice
2 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Salt

Then he spread the mixture on one side of the brisket, flipped it, and swabbed the second side with the marinade.

After that he folded the ends:

Until the brisket was completely sealed:

Marinated overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day he cooked it for 6 hours at 275º (you could cook it a tad quicker at 300º for 5 hours)
It come out beautifully

And cut like butter!

At this point you can choose to eat the brisket with, or without BBQ Sauce.

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The following is a guest post from Kelly of Kansas City Mamas

Peaches.

I love juicy, sweet peaches.

Unfortunately, their peak season lasts for about three weeks in Kansas City. The good news is that when they are in their prime they taste amazing and are dirt cheap. The bad news, you have to set aside time to do some serious canning/freezing to make their awesomeness last year-round.

Canning Peaches

Here are the necessities for canning peaches – peaches, sugar, canning jars and lids, and an ascorbic-acid (darkening reducer). You can either buy an ascorbic-acid (Fruit Fresh) or you can make your own with either lemon juice or crushed vitamin C and water.

Canning peaches is a fast paced process. I recommend reading this canning peaches tutorial before you start and even printing off a copy as a reference if this is your first time canning peaches.

As a novice fruit-canner, there are a couple of steps I wished would have been better outlined.

• Give yourself three hours to can peaches. It is five-step process and shouldn’t be started at 8:00 at night. Unfortunately, once you start, you have to finish.
• Pick firm peaches that have minimal amounts of bruising.
• Don’t be afraid to put peaches back into boiling water if the skins don’t come off easy. It is better to give them a little more time than to mutilate them while getting the skins off.
• Rule of thumb is 3 lbs of peaches per quart jar. This can vary greatly, so it is better to have more canning jars sterilized than less.
• The best time to can peaches is before a meal. As you are cutting them into slices, you will have “pieces” that aren’t fit for canning, but are fit for eating. Since you don’t want to be wasteful, you’ll end up eating quite a few and may end up with a tummy ache. (Have no idea how I know this.)

Final Product

Look at it. It reminds me of my grandmother’s peaches. And while there aren’t twenty-five jars of peaches, there are enough to bring a little sunshine in my life on a cold and gray Kansas February day. And that will be when the work was TOTALLY worth it.

Kelly Snyder is the author of Kansas City Mamas – a website devoted to living well by saving more. She is married to her best friend (Hubs) and is the stay-at-home mama to DS (8) and DD (5). In addition, she believes that life is too short for bad coffee, wine or food (but not necessarily in that order).

Grilled Watermelon and Jicama Salad

1/2 cup Fresh Orange Juice
1/4 cup Fresh Lime Juice
1 tsp Lime Zest
1 tsp Orange Zest
2 tablespoons Honey
1 tsp Fresh Ground Pepper
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 medium Jicama, cut into matchsticks
2 lbs Seedless Watermelon
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cups Baby Arugula, washed and dried
1/2 cup Crumbled Goat Cheese

Directions:

1. Whisk together juice, zest, honey, pepper and salt in a large bowl. Add the jicama and toss to coat. Set aside.
2. Stand the watermelon half cut side down on a cutting board and slice away the rind, laving a solid block of melon. Turn the block on its side and cut into 1-inch thick slices.
3. Heat a non-stick grill pan over medium heat, drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the watermelon slices to thinly coat and place on the hot grill pan. Grill each side about 2 minutes until grill marks appear. Transfer to plate and season with a sprinkle of salt. (Alternate: an outdoor grill can be used but watch closely as they tend to be hotter).
4. To assemble the salad, toss the jicama mixture with the arugula. If using one large serving platter, heap the arugula mixture in the center, top with crumbled goat cheese and place a couple slices of grilled watermelon on top.
5. Finish with fresh ground pepper.

This salad is refreshing and can add an elegant touch to a back yard BBQ or even just an everyday evening at home. It’s also a great way to serve fruits and vegetables with a twist.

I hope you enjoy it!

Sara Hawkins is the author of Saving For Someday, a blog about frugal living, achieving dreams and ways to do those things we put off until ‘someday’. She lives in Arizona and knows her way around a grill!

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Today’ recipe is courtesy of Karen of SavingTheFamilyMoney.com

I have been making this recipe for years, not just for football. I got it from a friend who called it “Hip” dip because that’s exactly where it goes!
This is so yummy you may need to double the batch!

Hip Dip Crowd Pleaser

Ingredients:
1 Can Rotel
1 Package Cream Cheese (sometimes I use more to make it creamier)
1 package Sausage (browned and crumbled)
Chips to dip (We love Tostitos)

• Place cooked sausage and all other ingredients in small crockpot and heat throughly
• Serve warm with chips.

Karen is a wife and mother of two who enjoys writing about creative projects on her website SavingTheFamilyMoney.com. She enjoys sharing recipes, DIY projects and deals so you can spend less on everyday items and spend more on family fun

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Hubby made this recipe for Christmas Eve. It was a huge hit, and I swore I had posted it before. Guess not. Anyhoooo a few weeks ago I decided to use up the rest of the Haddock we had purchased for Christmas Eve (it is a restaurant supply type place, so it was a 20# box), and make this again. It is super easy!

Baked Haddock

1/3 c mayo
1 tsp horseradish
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
2 Haddock fillets
1 tsp butter

• Preheat oven to 425º
• Lightly spray pan with nonstick spray
• Melt butter on tray

• Combine mayonnaise, horseradish and Parmesan in bowl, set aside

• Place fish on tray with melted butter
• Spread mayo mixture on the fish
• Bake 20 minutes until fish is cooked

Serves two

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I would like to start with some disclosure: I do not like Kahlua. I do like Baileys. With that in mind, my review:

This is one of the best drinks I have ever had!

And I was not alone in this opinion. We (this is the royal ‘we’ because this was alllllll hubby) served it at a get together recently. The initial reaction by most was, “No thanks” until the ‘Mmmmmms’ and the eyes rolling back in the head from the sheer delight on our tongues from those in the initial pour convinced the initial naysayers to give it a go. This was a universal hit! Of the 10 people that tried it, 10 people loved it!

You start with these ingredients:

Baileys & Kahlua Iced Coffee Shake

4 c strong coffee
8 oz chocolate milk frozen in ice cube trays
1/2 c Kahlua
1/2 c Baileys Irish Cream
4 TBSP Kahlua hazelnut syrup
2 c vanilla ice cream

whipped cream and cocoa powder as a garnish

• Blend ice cream in a blender
• Add coffee, Kahlua, Baileys and hazelnut syrup
• Add chocolate milk frozen cubes
• Blend for a few moments
• Pour into glass
• Top with whipped cream
• Sprinkle with cocoa

Wow was this good! A perfect way to enjoy Baileys in the summer!

As always, drink responsibly and please don’t drink and drive.

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Several weeks ago, I had asked for help with Stockpile Recipes. I am running low on ideas, and quite frankly, wouldn’t mind trying some new recipes from the stockpile myself!

Several of you were good enough to email me stockpile recipes. BTW, I am now out (Thanks to all who sent!) and really need more recipes pullll-eze!

This recipe is courtesy of Didi!

Elegant Suddenly Salad

• 1 box pasta of choice (we usually use rotini or penne or small shells, but anything you have on hand will do)
• 1/2 bag frozen veggies of choice steamed, or 1 cup fresh veggies if you prefer raw. We like to use broccoli and or peas.
• 1/2 bottle or 1 cup Ranch dressing
• 1/4-1/8c grated cheese
• 1/8 – 1/4c crumbled bacon, turkey bacon what have you. Any cold meat will do here, pepperoni is wonderful diced.
• 1/2 tsp. your favorite Mrs. Dash, we love the Herb & Onion
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. dried parsley.

• Boil and drain pasta according to directions. Once cooked, drain in colander and rinse very well with cold water to “stop” the cooking process .

• Meanwhile, in a small bowl; add all the dressing ingredients, mix thoroughly and taste.
• In a large bowl add the drained and cooled pasta, add the dressing and toss.
• Add the steamed or fresh veggies and mix thoroughly so all the pasta is coated.

Serves 4-6

You can add or subtract ingredients to your liking. Very versatile recipe, and it’s literally a snap to make This recipe doubles wonderfully for a potluck/picnic what have you!!

Enjoy!!

Click here for more Stockpile Recipes

Several weeks ago, I had asked for help with Stockpile Recipes. I am running low on ideas, and quite frankly, wouldn’t mind trying some new recipes from the stockpile myself!

Several of you were good enough to email me stockpile recipes. BTW, I am now out (Thanks to all who sent!) and really need more recipes pullll-eze!

Today’s recipe is courtesy of Rochelle

Crockpot Chicken

• Place chicken pieces in crock pot – use any chicken on the bone, but I usually use breasts.
• Cover with one – two jars (depending on how many pieces of chicken you have) spaghetti sauce and cook all day on low setting (8hours)
• Serve with pasta.

• Leftover chicken can be shredded and made into enchiladas another night.

Note: Cooking time will vary by how much meat you cook – you will need to cook it longer if you have a large amount of meat.

Click here for more Stockpile Recipes