Eatin' on the Cheap

The funniest thing happened the day before Thanksgiving 6 years ago. There I was, big as a barn, pulling a ham out of the oven. It had been a long day of cooking so I went to lay down for a nap and as soon as my head hit the pillow – POP!- my water broke and my two babies were on their way. Five hours and some good drugs later, my husband and I were blessed with two healthy children. Our families ate the Thanksgiving dinner without us (they did bring us leftovers), but we couldn’t have been more thankful for the Thanksgiving gift we received. Since then, we have experienced all of the ups and downs that having young twins brings, and every year around Thanksgiving, we celebrate the gift we have been given.

There fore, this year (like most years) we will have birthday cake with our turkey, but since I’m guessing that your family does not have a birthday on Thanksgiving, I’ll tell you about the turkey instead of the cake.

When it comes to cooking the bird, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1 – make sure you thaw your turkey properly. That means in the fridge ( which takes about 3 days) or in a sink full of cool (not hot!) water. Not sitting on top of the counter, unless you want to make your whole family sick.

2 – Keep your oven low and allow plenty of time for cooking. 325 degrees is a good temperature at which to cook, and the bigger the bird the longer it takes! Think about two turkeys if you are feeding a large crowd instead of one giant fowl.

3 – This is one is really important. Ignore the pop-up timer and use a thermometer instead. As soon as the thickest part of the breast reaches 165 degrees, TAKE IT OUT OF THE OVEN!! Cover it in foil and let it rest. It will keep cooking to 170 and your turkey won’t be dry.

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all !!!

There are some meals that are so unbelievable that you can do nothing but moan through every bite. The kind of meal where the sheer joy of putting the fork to your lips drowns out all sounds of whiny children and replaces it with the voices of angels. Yes…the kind that will make you want to slap your momma.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of those meals.

First of all, I demand that you all drop what you are doing and go to the store and purchase enough beef shanks to feed your family ( Beef shanks are from the leg of the cow and have a big bone right in the middle. Get the meatiest ones with the biggest bones. Don’t worry. They are cheap.). And a bottle of dry red wine. I recommend a Cabernet or Merlot such as Rex Goliath (It’s got the chicken on the front). Unless you are in my next of the woods, then you can come get some of our wine. And some garlic.

It’s okay. Go. I’ll wait.

Great! You’re back. Now get out your heaviest pot, such as a dutch oven or deep cast iron skillet, with a very tight fitting lid and get ready to cook tomorrow night’s dinner. Yes, I said tomorrow night. Trust me on this. It’s worth the wait.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Bloggerversay Giveaway!!! You can win cool kitchen gadgets!

Life without bread would be dismal. Even those who are allergic to gluten find ways to have bread. And ask anydieter and you will find that they crave bread. Bread is just so delicious, so satisfying. Adding garlic, herbs, and olive oil to bread sends it into another realm entirely. When the heat hits those aromatics your entire house fills with the intoxicating smells of yeast and garlic. I think if you put that smell in a bottle and then wore a little into a bar, men would flock to you.

Chanel No.5 has nothing on fresh baked bread.

Anyway, this particular loaf is a Foccacia. Foccacia is an Italian loaf that is very versatile. It is not only great as a bread to go with dinner but it also makes a delicious sandwich bread. The rosemary and garlic give it an earthy taste that I love, but you could easily substitute any fresh herbs that you want and end up with a unique bread. This recipe makes a loaf the size of a half sheet pan or standard cookie sheet. You could easily split the dough and make one loaf and freeze the other for another day. Feel free to play around with your flavors on this one. You won’t be disappointed.

Rosemary Garlic Foccacia

makes a 12×18 loaf

1 package active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water ( no hotter than 110 degrees)

3 T olive oil

5 c. bread flour

2 t. salt

1 T fresh or 1 t. dry rosemary

For topping:

3 T olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 T fresh or 1 t. dry rosemary

In a small bowl mix together yeast, water, and oil together and let stand for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, sift the flour and salt together. Make a well in the center. Pour the yeast mixture in the well and mix into a soft sticky dough.

Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, oil the top of the dough, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch all the air out of the dough, and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead in the rosemary.

Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is large enough to fit into a well oiled sheet pan. Place dough into the pan and cover and let rise for 30 minutes.  Uncover, poke dimples into the dough using your fingers.  Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle the loaf with olive oil and top with rosemary and minced garlic.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bread is golden. Immediately remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm or slice horizontally to use as sandwich bread.

Foccacia Sandwich

1/2 loaf Foccacia, sliced horizontally

Hard Salami

Sliced turkey breast

Sliced Provolone or Swiss

chopped Kalamata olives

sliced tomato

chopped Romaine

thinly sliced red onion

1 T dijon mustard

2 T mayo

salt and pepper

Seriously…it could not be more beautiful outside right now. The last few days I have had all of the doors and windows open in the house enjoying the soft breezes and the smell of Spring in the air. All of this gorgeous weather won’t last long. I know that soon enough there will be big bugs and clouds of yellow pollen to contend with. Sinuses and snotty kids won’t be far behind. But it’s not here yet. Beautiful weather is my reason for the tardiness of the Tuna Tuesday post. It just never came together yesterday. You know how that goes, right?

Besides the weather, we are also getting ready for a massive moving sale this weekend. I am selling as much stuff as I can fit in my front yard and I am excited about it. I love having yard sales because it is such a purge for us. It seems that ,with kids, the amount of crap you own just piles up around you, and before you know it you are kicking through your own home like Indian Jones in the cave full of rats, mumbling to yourself, “I hate toys, I hate toys!“

The money we get from the moving sale will go toward the purchase of a new dining table. Preferably, one that doesn’t creak when you put your plate down or shake violently when you cut your steak. I’m ready for grown-up furniture, you know?

So, this recipe is an adaptation of a Good Housekeeping recipe that I have been using for years. It’s light and fresh but substantial enough to keep you full. All qualities I love in a Springtime dish. The walnuts aren’t something I usually buy, but they really add a nice crunch to the dish. You can buy those little packets in the baking aisle that are the perfect amount for this dish.

Salmon and Asparagus Pasta with Walnuts

serves 4

2 T olive oil

1/2 t. dried Rosemary

1 pound of Asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 package of rotini ( or ziti or bowties) pasta

1 cup half and half

1 – 6 oz. can salmon, flaked

1 t. lemon zest

salt and pepper

1/2 cup walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 425. Toss asparagus, oil, salt and pepper, and rosemary together in a baking dish and roast in the oven until the asparagus is crisp-tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package instructions, drain.

In a large skillet, bring the half and half, lemon zest, and 1/4 t. salt and pepper, to a boil. Reduce heat and reduce for 5 minutes.

In a dry skillet, toast the walnuts over medium heat until they smell nutty. Keep them moving so they don’t burn. About 5 minutes.

Toss half and half, asparagus, salmon and nuts together. Season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve and Enjoy!!

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.

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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.

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Some days… things go wrong.

Some days… you get a call from your husband at 5:30 am that goes something like this, ” Honey…I think you were right” me: “What?” hubby: ” I have a flat tire.” me: ” Is this the tire I told you to replace yesterday… on your day off?” hubby: “……… yeah” me: “…… I told you so“

Some days…. you are very appreciative of good friends and good strangers like “they call me Kool-aid“.

Thanks Kool-Aid for changing my husband’s tire while he was at work.

Some days…. require a little comfort at the end of the day.

Some days… require a stiff drink.

Today… these chicken ad dumplings will do just fine.

These dumplings are not the big fat fluffy variety. These are what my mom calls “slippery dumplings”. I prefer these over a big mouthful of partially cooked dough any day.  The cheddar and rosemary make them even better.

Chicken Soup with Cheddar and Rosemary Dumplings


Soup:
3 large bone-in chicken breasts or equivalent
1 spring of rosemary
salt
4 carrots
1 onion
 3 medium potatoes
bay leaf
1 cup green peas


Dumplings:
3 c AP Flour
1 t. salt
1/2 t. baking powder
1 1/2 cups of cooled broth
1 T minced rosemary
1/2 t. onion powder
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large, wide pot cover chicken, rosemary, bay, salt and pepper, 1 carrot, and 1 onion with water. Boil until chicken is cooked through, about 40 minutes.

Remove chicken from the liquid and set aside to cool. Dice remaining onion, carrots, potatoes and add to the chicken stock. Boil until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

 Chop the chicken and add back to pot. Check for seasoning!

Meanwhile, mix all of the dumpling ingredients together until you make a stiff dough.

 Turn out on a lightly floured surface, divide in half and let rest for 10 minutes.

Roll out dough to 1/8″ thickness and then cut into 2 inch squares ( a pizza cutter works well).

Add peas to the soup pot and then add in dumplings.

You may have a few dumplings that don’t quite fit ( they freeze well!) Cook, covered,  for 5-7 minutes. Serve and enjoy!