Eatin' on the Cheap

Let me just tell you all that I am wicked awesome with a tape gun. I can tape up a box in a matter of seconds. I know how to pick the right size box for the stuff I am packing. I can optimize space in a cube of cardboard and I can successfully wrap fine china in a protective layer of bubble wrap while resisting the urge to pop the tiny pockets of air.

In short people, I have done a lot of packing. But now we are down to the nitty gritty. We have reached the point where we are eating off of paper plates because all of the dishes are packed away. I have boxed up all of my hobbies.

The kids are packing up their toys, getting ready for the car ride back with Granny and Paw Paw. And George the Cat is enjoying his last days of being a inside kitty.

This past weekend we got rid of A LOT of stuff in the most successful yard sale we have ever had. We sold items that haven’t sold in the last 4 yard sales! It was a wonderful feeling to be able to get rid of so many things that have been cluttering up our life. But the one thing I am going to miss is the golf cart.

If you have never had the pleasure of living in a town where everyone drives a golf cart to get around, then let me tell you it is a wonderful experience. For the last 4 years we have traveled all over the city in our golf cart visiting parks, farmers markets, restaurants, craft shows, swimming holes and even grocery stores. Nobody is sad on a golf cart. Kids don’t cry on a golf cart. The hottest summer days are never without a breeze on a golf cart. It really is a great way to spend a day and we already miss it.

That being said, we are ready to go, if for no other reason than I am sick and tired of packing. Not to mention there isn’t much left to cook or eat in the house. So, for this Tuna Tuesday I am reposting a recipe I did last summer. It is a delicious Tuna Salad Stuffed Tomato and it’s one of my favorite ways to eat tuna salad and it reminds me of home. Which is where I will be this time next week.

I hope to be able to start posting again in the next week or so, but until then I will be out of pocket. You will still find me on Facebook and Twitter if you would like to stop in and say hello!

Tomatoes Stuffed with Tuna Curry Salad


2 medium to large tomatoes
2 -5 oz – cans of tuna in water, drained and flaked

6 tablespoons mayonnaise or salad dressing

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish

1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion flakes

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried dill weed

1 pinch garlic powder

salt

The last several days have been absolutely gorgeous here. Mid-60′s to low 70′s. Bright and sun-shiny with a little breeze. And not a single bug in sight. It has been so hard for me to focus on the task at hand. That task being packing an entire house and being ready to move in about 2 weeks. But I just can’t help it. It’s just so beautiful!!!

Of course, days like this only make me think of the hot summers and cold dishes of my past. And being Southern means that there is a whole lot of cold macaroni salad in my past. Although I have always loved the creamy texture of the pasta salads of years ago, I was always a little turned off by the super sweetness of it all. For some reason, I just don’t really like sweet pasta salad. I prefer the tang of citrus or vinegar over the gobs of sugar you find in the typical summer salad.

So, this pasta salad is something of a compromise. It’s got mayonnaise in it ( because I love mayo!) and a good hit of lemon, but I left the sugar out because I’m sweet enough. Just ask my husband. Right honey?

Honey?

Anyway, this pasta salad will keep in the fridge for up to a week and goes great with just about anything, but especially barbecued pork, hamburgers, and grilled chicken.

[print_this]

Macaroni Salad

serves 8

16 oz. macaroni, cooked and rinsed

2/3 cup lite mayo

1/3 cup milk

juice of 2 lemons

2 stalks of celery, plus the celery leaves, finely chopped

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

2 large carrots, finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 t. salt

1 t. black pepper

In a large bowl, whisk together mayo, lemon juice, 1 t. salt and milk.

Stir in chopped veggies and parsley and mix well.

Stir in cooked macaroni and toss until well coated.

Season with remaining salt and pepper and more lemon juice if needed. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until chilled. Serve and enjoy!

*Note* If the macaroni salad seems to dry out in the fridge, add in a splash or two of milk before serving.

[/print_this]

If any of you follow me on Twitter, you already know what I have been up to for the last week. I have been knee deep in sick kids since last Monday. I won’t elaborate too much ( although I could but this is a food blog and bodily functions are not the most appetizing conversations), but let’s just say that I have run out of towels 3 times in the last week and it wasn’t because we came down with a bad case of OCD.

After 5 days of dealing with my sick kids, I myself came down with the Bubonic Plague and it has taken a couple days to get over. Now that I have caught up on the laundry and I can actually move off the couch without losing my lunch, I thought a nice refreshing tuna and bread salad would do nicely.

I actually found the recipe in the doctor’s office in some magazine that I’m sure has been there for several months ( and now that I think about it, could be where I contracted the plague). I don’t remember which one. I almost ripped out the recipe and took it home with me, but I really hate it when I pick up a magazine and there is a page missing, so I left it alone and scribbled a few notes in a notebook.

Anyway, the salad is nice and light. It’s quick to put together and if you have some old bread laying around, this is perfect. I would let it sit for a little while before eating it. Maybe make it in the morning and then have it for lunch so all of the flavors have time to get all happy together. If you don’t have garbanzo beans, use some white beans or even blackeye peas. And if you can’t find basil, try some other fresh herb instead, like parsley or thyme.

I really like this salad. It’s filling and has a lot of flavor. This could easily be lunch for two people and at about $6 for the whole dish, it beats the pants off drive-thru.

[print_this]

Tuna Panzanella Salad

serves 2 -3 people

start to finish: 15 minutes

8 oz. ( about 1/2 loaf) of Italian bread cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2-4 T olive oil ( to your taste)

2-3 T red wine vinegar ( to your taste)

1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 ( 15oz) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 ( 6oz ) can tuna in oil, drained and flaked ( tuna in water works fine too)

1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives

2 T capers, drained

1/4 cup finely diced red onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

salt and pepper ( to taste)

Toast bread cubes in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, mix together remaining ingredients in a large bowl, tossing everything together well. Season with salt and pepper.

Add in bread and toss to coat. Add more oil and vinegar if necessary.

Serve right away or make ahead and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

[/print_this]

Say that 3 times fast.

Purple Parsley Potatoes. Purple Parsley Potatoes…

I can’t even type that 3 times fast.

Anywoo, I bought these cute purple potatoes at the store last week. They were on sale, but still a bit of a splurge. I just couldn’t resist the color. It’s just so PURPLE! How can you not want to eat a purple food? It’s impossible not to be at least a little curious.

“So how do they taste?” you ask. They taste great! Not much different from regular potatoes, in fact feel free to substitute regular russets ( regular russets, regular russets, regular russets – that one’s easier) for these purple beauties.
I made a simple parsley pesto to pair with the potatoes. Not only does it taste really light and fresh, but it looks really pretty too. If you don’t have pine nuts, feel free to use some other nut like walnuts or pecans, or just leave the nuts out all together!

[print_this]

Purple Parsley Potatoes
1 1/2 lbs small purple, fingerling or other potato
1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Boil potatoes in water until they are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, put remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend until everything is pureed together.

Season with salt and pepper and place in the bottom of a large bowl.

Add warm potatoes and toss in pesto until coated.

Serve and enjoy!

[/print_this]

So, there is a little piece of news I would like to share with all of you. It’s big. It’s life changing.

No, I am NOT pregnant.

We are moving. And I don’t mean across town. We are moving back to Tennessee. Back to the country. Back to a town without a Kroger. Back to the land of free babysitting.

We are pretty excited. This is going to be a whole new chapter for us.  A fresh start.

It is also quite an undertaking. When we moved into this house there was only two of us. Fast forward four years and the size of our family and the amount of crap we have piled up in our house has doubled.Let me just say that even though the actual move date is still several weeks away, I am not sure how I am going to get it all in boxes and I am more than a little nervous that the UHaul will even hold all of our stuff.

Now of course I am going through and throwing a lot of things away and I have quite the yard sale pile going too, but let’s face it, kids come with a lot of crap. What do you keep? The train table or the dining table?  The Tinkerbell Talking Cafe or the darkroom you’ve been hauling around since college? Let me tell you the kids win every time.

One thing I am having a hard time deciding whether to keep or give away is my stockpile. While I will certainly be taking some food with us, I’m not sure if I can spare the space in the uhaul to put my stash of groceries. So, I have decided that I will be focusing a lot of effort in “eating down” the stockpile. Which also means that I will be ignoring a lot of sales and deals in the local paper. Which is unbelievably difficult for me.

The first area of “eating down” is all of the frozen food. I found some peaches that I had bought this summer in the back of the fridge. I immediately started craving fried pies. If you have never had a fried pie, you are missing out. I grew up with Armstrong Pies in Tennessee and they were always a welcome treat. My favorites where the cherry and the chocolate. Oh my goodness. It just doesn’t get much better.

You can make a fried pie with almost any kind of pie filling. They are all delicious. I improvised my own pie filling here with the peaches I had by adding a tablespoon of cornstarch and a teaspoon of cinnamon to the thawed peaches.

Fried Peach Pies

2 1/4 cups  AP Flour

1 t. salt

1/2 cup lard or shortening ( I highly recommend lard)

1/2 cup milk ( more or less)

1 ( 21 oz.) can peach pie filling

1 cup vegetable oil or shortening for frying

egg wash ( 1 egg beaten with water)

To make the crust: Mix together flour and salt with a whisk. Cut in the lard using a pastry cutter until the mixture looks crumb-y.

Mix in the milk until a ball can be formed.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/8″ thick.

Using a salad bowl or something else about 6 ” in diameter, cut out as many discs of dough as you can.

To make pies: Spoon a large dollop of filling into each disc, leaving about an inch of dough all the way around.

Brush the edges with egg wash and fold dough over. Seal the edges with a fork and poke a hole in the middle so the pie can vent.

Heat oil in a large skillet. When oil is hot, fry each pie until both sides are golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.

Serve hot, cold, or room temperature and enjoy!!

Welcome to another Tuna Tuesday! Where the star of the show is meat in a can! Please add your Tuna Tuesday recipe too!

Well, it looks like 2010 is drawing to a close and many people out there are going to all kinds of parties and celebrations to kick off the new year. Not me, but other “many people” are.  But if I was going to a party or, better yet, if I was throwing a party, I would have these tasty little mouthfuls of goodness on my table.

This a quick little dish to put together with a humble can of salmon. It’s simple, elegant, and surprisingly delicious. If you can’t find salmon in a can, you could try the salmon in those pouches or even cook up some fresh or frozen salmon to use.

The potato pancake is called a boxty. It’s apparently and Irish dish that is used for lots of different dishes. I found the recipe for them at CHOW while I was looking for a simple blini recipe. I like simple. Simple makes me happy. It can’t get much simpler than this and it really is a perfect accompaniment with the salmon. I’m sure these would go great with a nice glass of pinot grigio or a celebratory glass of champagne! Happy New Year!!

[print_this]

Salmon on a Boxty

Salmon recipe

1 ( 15 oz.) can salmon, picked and rinsed

1 T lemon juice

1 T chopped fresh dill

1T chopped fresh Tarragon

salt and pepper

3 T plain greek yogurt

1 T sour cream

2 dashes of Tabasco

Mix all ingredients together well. Refrigerate.

Boxties

2 pounds 3 to 4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, plus more for seasoning the potatoes before cooking
1 large egg
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Chop half of the potatoes into large dice, place in a medium saucepan, salt generously, and cover
with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer potatoes
uncovered until fork tender, about 8 minutes. Drain, return potatoes to the pot, add 1/4 cup of the
milk, and mash until the potatoes are smooth; set aside.

Meanwhile, grate the remaining potatoes on the large holes of a box grater. Toss with 1/4 teaspoon
of the salt and place in a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl until the mashed potatoes are
ready.

With a plastic spatula, press the grated potatoes against the sides and bottom of the strainer to
remove any liquid. Add the grated potatoes to the mashed potatoes (no need to stir though).

Place egg, remaining 1/2 cup milk, flour, pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and
whisk until smooth, about 10 seconds. Add potatoes and stir until evenly incorporated.

Heat a large nonstick frying pan or griddle over medium heat.
Once the pan is ready, add enough butter to lightly coat the bottom when melted. Drop 3 dollops
(about 1/4 cup each) of the batter into the pan and spread each to about 1/4 inch thick. Cook until
the pancake bottoms are golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until
golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes more.

Place on a baking sheet and set in the oven to keep warm.
Repeat with remaining butter and batter.

Top each boxty with a dollop of salmon spread and garnish with extra chopped dill and some sliced green onions.

[/print_this]

Welcome to another Tuna Tuesday! Where the star of the show is meat in a can! Please add your Tuna Tuesday recipe too!

I don’t know about you guys, but since the holiday season started a little over a month ago, I have gotten reacquainted with my fat pants.  I hate getting reacquainted with my fat pants. They make me feel fat.

Oh I can still squeeze myself into my regular pants, but I look like one of those gigantic muffins in a Starbucks pastry case. Muffin tops are only cute on muffins.

So, I have decided to get a head start on my new year’s resolution. I have been eating more carefully and carving out a few minutes of peace every now and then to hike my big butt on my mini stepper for a little exercise. It’s working so far I think. So, today’s tuna dish is all about being low calorie and filling.

I love this dish because it’s creamy and flavorful. I prefer the tiny tomatoes in this dish, especially in the middle of the winter, because they are sweeter. You may have to fiddle with the amount of vinegar and/or lemon juice you add to the dish depending on your tastes. By the way, this makes 4 servings and there is only 266 calories per serving .

[print_this]

Italian Bean and Tuna Salad

adapted from Mediterranean Light

1 small onion, thinly sliced

3 -4 T white wine vinegar

2 cups cooked white beans ( 19 oz. can)

1 ( 6 oz) can tuna in water, drained

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

2 garlic cloves, minced

juice of one lemon

4 T minced fresh parsley

1 T minced fresh sage

2 T olive oil

1 T plain low-fat yogurt

1 T capers, rinsed and monced

salt and pepper

spring mix ( to serve on)

Toss the onion with 2 T of vinegar and cover with water. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Drain.

Meanwhile mix the remaining ingredients together, add in onion.

Serve on a bed of greens!

[/print_this]

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

Because I have two 4 year olds, I am always on the look out for recipes that they would be able to help me with easily.  Sometimes it’s easier said and done, but I ran across this one in a Taste of Home Magazine and added an extra ingredient so all three of us had a job to do.

I wasn’t sure how the crackers would do with the chocolate, but they are surprisingly very good. It gives the cookie a wonderful crunch before you get hit with the peanut butter marshmallow-y goodness. And of course anything dipped in chocolate is going to be delicious. Add a few green or red sprinkles and you have festive addition to your cookie jar or a great gift for teachers, friends and family.

[print_this]

Chocolate Cracker Cookies

adapted from Taste of Home

96 Ritz crackers

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup marshamllow creme

1 cup mini marshmallows

2 pounds semi-sweet chocolate chips

Christmas sprinkles

[/print_this]

It just isn’t.  It’s probably the dish that I look forward to the most. It’s the one I spend the most time making sure is absolutely perfect, and it’s the cheapest thing on the table.

Now I know that some of you people out there call it “stuffing” and that you actually put it inside the bird.  Let me tell you, you are making it way to difficult to get to. Dressing should be easily accessible at all times. It is delicious enough to get a whole dish of it’s own.

I also see that many people like to put all kinds of stuff in their dressing. I don’t want to tell people what to do, but in my opinion, sometimes “more” is just” more” and not necessarily any better. Great dressing is a lot like great pizza crust; there isn’t a whole lot to it, but technique and attention to detail is the key.

So, what makes a great dressing? Three things: Flavor, texture, and moistness.

Flavor is easy. A heavy helping of minced fresh sage, good chicken broth and plenty of salt and pepper is all you need. Don’t be scared of the sage. Use a lot. It makes it better. You also have to start at least a day in advance. Two days is even better. The bread will soak up all of that flavor the longer it gets to hang out together, so I like to mix the bread and seasoning, sage, and onion and celery together two days in advance.

Texture is fairly easy too. You need to make sure you have different types of bread. You don’t want it to be all cornbread. Then it’s not dressing… it’s cornbread. I prefer a pan of biscuits and a few heels of loaf bread mixed in. I keep the heels off my loaf bread in the freezer just for Thanksgiving.

Moistness is the tricky part. A dry dressing is unfortunate, but fixable. Soupy dressing is much harder to fix, but also much harder to achieve. Somewhere in the middle is ideal. Good chicken broth is key and you are going to need a lot of it. One 13×9 pan can take up to 6 cups of broth. I like to pour the broth in the night before and let it sit in the fridge, then check it for moistness before I put it in the oven, adding more broth if needed. So how do you know if you have achieved the perfect moistness? You know how when you were a kid and you jumped in the creek with your tennis shoes on and then had to walk around all day in that heavy, wet, soggy shoe? And every time you took a step more water came out of nowhere? Your dressing should be that shoe… but taste much better.

Oven temperature and time is flexible. As long as the oven isn’t crazy hot, you can cook this at any moderate temperature. It usually hangs out in my oven with the turkey or whatever else I am cooking.

Serve along with all of your favorite Thanksgiving dishes and maybe a little gravy on top!

Thanksgiving Dressing

2 pans of cornbread – Southern style ( that means no sugar)

1 pan of biscuits

2 cups of chopped bread ( French bread, loaf bread, etc)

1/3 cup minced fresh sage

4-6 cups of chicken broth

1 large onion, diced

2 stalks celery with leaves, diced

heavy hand of salt and pepper

(optional, minced mushrooms and garlic)

Crumble all of the bread together and mix well. Add in chopped sage, celery, onion and garlic and mushrooms if using. Season with salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning.

Pour mixture into a 13×9 dish or other large pan and press down firmly. Let sit overnight if you have the time.

Pour enough chicken stock over the dressing to make a squishy, homogeneous mass. Let sit for at least an hour, overnight in the fridge is better.

Check for moistness and seasoning and add more stock if needed. Bake in a moderate oven, 350-400 degrees, until edges are brown, top is crisp and dressing is hot all the way through. About an hour.

Okay, so I have been making just about every loaf of bread my family eats for many months now. Oh sure, on occasion I will buy a loaf here and there but mostly, I am the bread maker. Why would I subject myself to this crazy primitive process of making loaf after loaf of bread? I have 2 very good reasons:

1 – It’s cheaper. A loaf costs me less than $.25

2 – It tastes so much better

Don’t believe me? Ask my mother-in-law. Last time she came to visit she ate 2 loaves of bread while she was here and took two more loaves home with her… on an airplane. I almost sent her with a tub of her own butter, too.

I also use this bread recipe for sandwich bread and for rolls ( as seen in the picture). They make great hamburger buns, too! Just roll them into balls and let them rise before you bake.

You can also freeze the dough if you don’t want to cook it all at once which makes this a very convenient recipe. You could make your bread for the holidays now and only have to set them out to thaw and rise before you put them in the oven.

I know! It’s revolutionary!

[print_this]

Freezer Bread

11-12 cups all purpose flour ( you can substitute some of the flour for whole wheat flour)

2/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder

1/4 cup vegetable oil or butter

1/2 cup sugar or honey

2 Tablespoons salt

7 teaspoons yeast ( 4 pkgs.)

4 cups hot water

1. In large bowl, combine 4 cups flour with remaining ingredients. Gradually beat in 4 cups hot water ( 120-130) until just blended.
2. Beat 2 minutes occasionally scraping bowl. Gradually beat in 2 cups flour or enough to make thick batter; continue beating 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. With spoon, stir in enough additional flour (5 to 6 cups) to make soft dough.
3. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic adding flour as needed, about 10 minutes.
4. If you are freezing – Cut dough into 4 pieces; shape each piece into ball. Place balls on greased cookie sheets; cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm. When firm, remove balls from cookie sheets; freezer wrap and return to freezer. If you are baking the same day – To bake bread same day, cover loosely with towel and let rise in warm place until slightly more than doubled, about an hour.
5. Shape into loaves and place into greased loaf pan or rolls on a baking sheet. Cover, let rise until rolls have doubled or loaves come an inch above the loaf pan.
6. Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 35 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow and internal temperature is at least 195. Remove from cookie sheet immediately; brush top with butter and cool on wire rack
7. IF FROZEN: About 6 hours before serving, remove as many breads from the freezer as needed. Unwrap; place on greased cookie sheet and let stand at room temperature, loosely covered with wax paper, until completely thawed, about 2 to 3 hours. Then let rise in a warm place (80-85 degrees) until slightly more that doubled, about 2 hours. Then bake as above.
8. Will make 4 loaves.

[/print_this]

I wanted to let you all know that I am bringing in new talent to Eatin’ on the Cheap. He and I are really close. We’ve known each other for nearly 9 years. He comes with almost 20 years of restaurant experience and a love of taking the culinary long way around. He smokes his own barbeque, rolls his own sushi, and is beginning his journey in curing and smoking his own meat. Ladies and gentleman, the father of my children, the love of my life, Blaine! Take it away, Blaine!

So, my wife has had this blog for a little over two years now, and I’m just a little jealous. You see, I actually started a blog at about the same time to tell stories about raising our twins and to keep our families updated on the funny things they would do. I instantly realized that her idea was better than mine. Whereas I would have to wait for the kids to paint the cat or pee no-handed to have something to blog about, she could blog about every cup of coffee or bologna sandwich she made. She didn’t, of course, instead opting to inform the world wide web about feeding a family well for not a lot of money. Perhaps this is the reason that she has garnered 309 followers and I have abandoned my blog altogether. But no matter… I know her password and can hijack her blog at my will. So with a bruised ego and no further ado, I bid you my glorious Bacon post!

What’s more manly than Bacon?  Even Old Spice and spitting in the dirt must take a back seat to the porcine pleasure of salty, sweet, smokey, sultry Bacon. (Bacon will be capitalized throughout this entire post out of sheer respect. You got a problem with that?) It’s that old world staple that transcends the ages. If Bacon were a woman, it would be Marilyn Monroe. There should be posters of Bacon on the wall of every man cave in America, preferably standing over a steam grate trying to hold on to it’s dress. Bacon is that sexy. So for reasons that even I don’t fully understand, I am attempting to make my own.

The first step in the process is to procure some pork belly. This is not as easy as it seems. Your local grocer does not carry it. If you have a good butcher, I’m sure he will be glad to help. I don’t. It can be ordered online, but the shipping will kill you. International markets are a good source, but the hour long drive through Atlanta traffic with kids in tow didn’t seem like a good idea to me, especially since the DVD player is on the fritz. So I went to our local farmer’s market and talked to a man about a pig.

He seemed amused at the notion that I would attempt to make my own Bacon. After all, for $7 a pound, I could just buy some of his Bacon, but alas, this was not my goal. This idiot-savant psuedo-foodie wanted to cure and smoke a pork belly from start to finish, and enjoy the fruits of his Bacon. It seems that I was not the first to inquire about pork belly, but I was the first to pull the trigger. So with a little trepidation in his overalls and a 10 day waiting period, he agreed to sell me my pork belly for $5 a pound.  A week later I got a phone call. It seemed that the good ole boy had tried out a new processor, one without the facilities for curing and smoking Bacon, and he wondered if I might just be interested in taking a couple of sides of pork belly to practice on. They weren’t full sides, so he would cut me a deal. And that’s how I ended up with 6 pounds of pork belly for just $12. Cheaper. Than. Bacon.

Step 1. The cure.

I will be making Maple-Cured Smoked Bacon as outlined in the very excellent book “Charcuterie” by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. I will be cutting the recipe in half since my belly is roughly half the size of what is called for, and it already has the skin removed. Since my digital kitchen scale has not arrived in the mail yet, I will be using rudimentary measurements. Cross your fingers for me…

3 lb pork belly

2 Tbsp kosher salt

1 tsp pink salt (curing salt with nitrites, sometimes called Instacure #1)

2 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar

2 Tbsp maple syrup

If needed,  square up your pork belly.

Combine salt, sugar, and pink salt and mix to evenly distribute. Add the syrup and stir to combine.

Rub the cure mixture over the entire surface of the belly.

Place the belly in a 2 gallon Ziploc bag and refrigerate for 7 days, turning the belly every 2 days.

The salt will draw moisture out of the belly creating a brine. It is important that the meat keep in contact with this liquid throughout the curing process. And that’s how you cure Bacon. See you in a week when we’re ready for the smoke!

Chicken stock is one of those basic kitchen practices that everyone should know. It’s probably THE kitchen practice to know.  It is liquid gold. It’s a thing of beauty. It’s full of flavor and it’s delicious. It’s also dang near free if you make it yourself.

With Thanksgiving coming up, you are going to need a lot of chicken stock. I bet the average American spends $10 – $15 on Thanksgiving chicken stock alone if they aren’t making their own. Maybe even more.  And homemade is sooo much better than store bought. Even the “really good” store bought stuff.

Now, if you have been a good little girl ( or guy!) you have been buying bone-in chicken at the store and taking the chicken off the bone before you cooked it and then stuck all of your unused bones in a big ziploc bag in the freezer.

You haven’t? Well, start today. Chicken stock is the single best reason to by bone-in chicken breasts for $.99/lb.  You can also use the half dead veggies living in the bottom of your fridge. Not the gross ones, but the ones that are starting to look a little tired.

The one thing you need lots of is time. The longer you can cook your stock the better.  You can get a good stock after about 4 hours but if you can get up early enough, 10-12 hours is even better. I cooked this one for about 6 hours and it was delicious.

Since one good thing follows another, I made chicken noodle soup for dinner. A great stock will make a great soup and this was great soup.

So what do you do with your stock after you have made it? Well, it will keep in the fridge for up to a week, or you can freeze it ( some people like to freeze it in ice trays), or if you have a pressure canner you can can it.

[print_this]

Chicken Stock

3-4 pounds of chicken parts

2 carrots, cut into large pieces

1 large onion, quartered

3 stalks of celery ( and leaves!) cut in large pieces

4 cloves garlic, smashed

12 peppercorns

a heavy pinch of salt

a bundle of fresh herbs like sage, thyme, rosemary and parsley ( you can use dry if you’ve got no fresh)

2 bay leaves

water to cover

Put everything in your biggest pot and add enough water to cover.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and let barely simmer for 4 – 12 hours. Taste the liquid and season with salt and pepper. Then strain your broth into a large bowl.

Place this bowl in the fridge and let cool. Skim off the solidified fat. Use or store!

Chicken Noodle Soup

6 cups of chicken stock

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 cups of cooked chicken, diced

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 T fresh parsley, minced

1/3 box of spaghetti, broken into small pieces

salt and pepper to taste

Saltine crackers to serve

Add everything in a big pot, except the chicken. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes or until everything is tender. Add the chicken to the pot and cook another 5 minutes. Serve with crackers and enjoy!

[/print_this]

Halloween was awesome. The best year yet. I haven’t had that much fun on Halloween since I was a teenager rolling ( that’s Southern for TPing) the sheriff’s backyard. The kids were so stinking cute and collected a lot of candy which I will probably eat most of.  Holiday weight here I come!! Of course, after Halloween comes November.

November is a crazy month for us. Why so crazy you ask? Well, I’ll give you the rundown. On Monday, my nephew will be 15 ( 15! ), in 3 weeks my babies will be ( sniff, sniff) 4, and this coming Saturday my mother turns ….. 29…again ( Happy Birthday Mom!). There’s also that little holiday we are all thinking about, Thanksgiving, a mere 3 days after my kids’ birthday.  Thanksgiving is followed by my very favorite holiday, Black Friday.  I am secretly in love with Black Friday. I go in with a wad of cash and come out with a buggy full of stuff and only feel slightly guilty the next morning.

So you can see that this month is a busy one and busy times call for simple food.  It also means you take help where you can get it. And I took a little help by using Pioneer Woman’s Rosemary Acorn Squash recipe. You just can’t go wrong with ‘ol P-dub, she’s an awesome cook.

This dish would be perfect for your Thanksgiving table and could probably be made a day ahead then reheated in the oven.  Like I said, take the help where you can get it and save your energy for power shopping at 4am.

[print_this]

Rosemary Roasted Squash

by Pioneer Woman

2 whole Acorn Squash

4 dashes Olive Oil

Salt To Taste

1 stick Butter, softened

½ cups Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons Rosemary ,minced

Preheat oven to 350. Cut open your acorn squash and dig out the guts, just like a pumpkin.

Then slice the squash into wedges about 1 1/2 inches thick. Place wedges in a large baking dish and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix brown sugar, rosemary, and butter together in a bowl.

Pull the squash out of the oven and top each wedge with a dollop of the sugar mixture. Return the wedges to the oven and cook for another 30 minutes, basting often with the sugary juices in the bottom of the pan.

Squash is done when it can easily be pierced with a fork. Drizzle with more basting sauce and serve.

[/print_this]

I know a lot of busy moms. Most of them have twins or triplets plus maybe a spare kid or two on top of that. They go to soccer practice and school functions, doctor’s appointments and book club meetings, and many also hold down full or part-time jobs! They can use all the help they can get! These are exactly the women I thought of when Amanda from FoodontheTable.com contacted me about their new website for meal planning.

I think this is such a great website. Really useful for the the busy family. It’s simple enough to start. Type in your name and zip code so that it can pull the prices from your local grocery stores. Then pick your food preferences ( for instance I left out fish since Blaine is allergic) Then click Start A New Meal Plan. From there you pick your proteins, how many meals you want to plan, and whether saving time, money, or eating healthy or eating familiar meals is your priority.

Then boom!  Your meal plan is made complete with recipes, coupons, and grocery lists. It will even tell you how much you are saving on your trip. You can also add your own recipes, or change any that don’t sound good to you. You can even tweak recipes by changing how many servings or what ingredients you want. It really is pretty cool.

Really, I can’t believe somebody didn’t come up with this sooner. Now the pro’s to this website are obvious; they make meal planning easy, quick and painless. In general they do a great job matching recipes to what’s on sale to give you the best value possible. The con’s are that all of your local grocery stores may not be available on the site yet and I can’t say for certain that you would get the absolute lowest priced meal plan you could possibly came up with. But if you are a busy mom who needs a hand with meal plans and budgeting, I think this is a great site! You can try the free version to see if you like it. You can plan up to 3 meals at a time!

Now, I also want to add that I am not getting paid for this review, but they are giving away a $25 gift certificate to YOUR favorite grocery store and a free month of Premium service to FoodontheTable.com.  I am also doing a guest post today over at their blog all about freezer meals and batch cooking! So go check that out too!

To enter the giveaway: 

You must be a follower and leave a comment on this post telling us if you meal plan or fly by the seat of your pants.

You can also enter a second time by following me on Twitter and tweeting this post or becoming a facebook follower! Leave another comment with a link to your tweet!

Contest ends on October 1st at midnight! US Only please!

Of course the last test of a website like this is the recipes. You can be the coolest site in the world but if your recipes stink your not worth anything. Well, I made their Garlic Roast Chicken and I’ll tell you that it’s very good. A nice tender chicken with great flavor. It is a great weeknight dinner and super easy to put together.

Roasted Garlic Chicken
from FoodontheTable.com