Turkey - the Inexpensive Meat

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my brother's home, but one of the things we always miss is no leftovers. My brother's grocery bill is gigantic next to what ours is when we make a dinner. They end up with so many leftovers that end up being thrown out, as they can't eat them all. Sadly - it seems like they aren't the only ones that do that. I've heard over and over on the list that people spend a huge amount of money on dinner, and then don't eat all the leftovers or give them away because they won't eat leftovers.

When we make a turkey dinner, we spend a minimal amount of money. We bought a turkey this year to have a "late" Thanksgiving dinner here. On Monday, I made turkey, stuffing, gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, corn and cranberry sauce. The turkey was a little over 16 pounds and cost $4.41. The stuffing was in our pantry, since I keep it on hand for making frozen meat balls and chicken dinners. We buy it in bulk, and I can't remember how much we paid for it. We were given the potatoes from a friend's garden, plus we had our own garlic and corn. The cranberry sauce was homemade, and we purchased a big 3# bag of cranberries for under $5 at Sam's Club. I used between 1/4 and 1/3 of the bag plus one cup of sugar. Our dinner for the 4 of us cost under $10.

Tuesday, the guys took turkey & swiss on homemade rye bread for lunch when they went hunting. My daughter and I had turkey dinner for lunch - yummy!! While the guys were out, I made Turkey Carcass Soup and used everything we had on hand... a couple of pieces of celery, 2 1/2 onions, 3 carrots, 1 turnip, 2 mushrooms and 2/3 cup barley (or rice if we don't have barley on hand), plus some herbs and spices. I roasted the bones first, then cooked them for 3 hours in water and any broth that we had left over that we didn't use in the gravy the night before. The guys ate their fill and were very satisfied after a long day outside.

Yesterday, the guys took more turkey & swiss on rye and we had soup for lunch. We made Deep Dish Turkey Potpie for dinner - and we used 1 cup of cubed potatoes, 1 cup sliced carrots, 1 cup frozen peas, plus a white sauce flavored with chicken boullion and pepper. This was covered with a bisquick (or bisquick clone) dough and baked. No leftovers of that.

Today, we will have the rest of the turkey dinner for lunch and will probably finish off what is left of the turkey meat. That makes a total of 6 meals (plus snitching) from one $4.41 turkey. Usually I'll freeze the meat but the guys asked for all the turkey meals. Since we had different ways of serving the turkey, they don't get tired of it. My husband says he's sad we'll be finishing up the bird today. He would love a few more sandwiches out of it. Next time....

We have less than $20 out of pocket - including the turkey - for all 6 of the meals. That's less than 1/5th of what my brother had into the dinner they had for 9 people for one day. Sadly - they threw a lot of that out!

Our First Frost

We had our first frost Thursday. Friday morning at 6am our thermometer registered at 30 degrees F. We covered our tomatoes and peppers but had hoped that there wouldn't be any frost yet. Guess that was wishful thinking.

I've been canning tomatoes and put up some corn for the winter. I don't know how the cabbage will fare. I've been battling cabbage worms and those dang things are winning. I swear they multiply more than wire coat hangers do!

Today brought a wonderful mail delivery: "The Weather-Wise Gardener" by Calvin Simonds. What a fantastic looking book. It was printed in 1993 by Rodale Press and like all their books, it is just full of information. I've only had a chance to read the introduction, and can't wait to get some time tonight to really start reading it.

I found a wonderful purchase on Amazon.com today. It's a Fagor 12 Piece Pressure Cooker and Canner Set that they are offering for under $30!! This is normally and expensive item - alone running about $100 plus all the other goodies that come with it. I've heard a lot about this set on my canning list, so I decided to purchase it. I have a huge Mirro Pressure Canner that will hold over 20 pint jars, but there are times I'd love a smaller one for those small batches of soups or stews to can. Not only that, but it is to do double time as a cooker, and being 10 quart instead of the 6 quart cooker that I have, will be more geared to our family needs. It's due to arrive by Thursday - and I just can't wait!
I started a Herman last weekend, and it had its first feeding since it was created. Two more, and I'll be able to use it. Hubby can't wait to get some good Herman food again :)

Warm Things

Since we just found out that heating oil prices are about $3 a gallon, I'm going to be looking at other ways to keep the family warm. I so wish we would have had the boiler fixed this summer, but hopefully it can and will be done soon. Then we'll just get wood each weekend until we have enough. At around $750 for a tank of oil, we really have to think of other alternatives! So, this entry will be dealing with warm things or things that make me toasty :)

I've been making many oven meals for the duel purpose of warming us both inside and out. :) Monday, I got out some chicken breasts that weren't skinned or deboned, so I defrosted them and then did the deed myself. By buying my breasts this way, we end up with 2 meals, one of a nice oven roasted breast dinner, and the other, I take the bones and little meat I cut off and make a broth out of.

I tried a new recipe with the breasts - so simple and soooo good.

Crunchy Onion Chicken
2/3rd's can French's Original Fried Onions
4 boneless and skinless chicken breast halves
1 egg

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (not really necessary, but makes easy clean-up!)Crush fried onions in a sandwich or similar sized plastic bag. Pour into a bowl or pie plate. Set aside. In another bowl or pie plate, beat egg - set aside. Take chicken breasts and dip in egg then in crushed onions - coating both sides. Place on cookie sheet. Press on any left over onions if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until no longer pink. Makes 5 servings.

I found that there was enough egg to dip a total of 6 breast halves, and if you are going to do six, you might want to crush the whole can or close to it. I baked these for 30 minutes because the breasts were nice and large.

While the breasts were baking, I put the bones in a pot and covered with water. I brought them to a boil, and them simmered for a good hour or so. I cooled and strained the bones from the liquid, then put in the fridge overnight.



About an hour and a half before I wanted to serve dinner on Tuesday, I took out the broth, skimmed off any fat, and poured in a pot. I had about 6 cups of broth. I then added a few fresh carrots (sliced), a diced onion, 3 cloves garlic, and 2 small leafy stalks of celery along with about a cup of diced cooked chicken. This simmered for about a half hour after coming to a boil. Then I brought a pot of water to a boil and and cooked some wide egg noodles until almost done. While the noodles were cooking, I added some leftover lima beans to the soup, as well as some salt, pepper, one "ice cube" of frozen chopped parsley, and one chicken bullion cube. When the noodles were done, I strained and added them to the soup. I cooked more than I needed, for those of us that like a more "noodle-y" soup. They were kept to the side. YUMMY!!



I finally finished my DS's pair of hunting socks. He has size 13 feet, so the photo of these covered almost my whole coffee table! I hope his feet have finally stopped growing :) I still need to make him another pair or two of heavy wool socks, and one more for DH, but the way things are going, I'm not going to get them all done before hunting season this year. Then, after I need to do some for DD as well as myself, but that will certainly be down the road.

My quilt needs to be brought out and sewn. I am looking forward to working on that. I found a couple of pillow cases that I put away of the children's from when they were little. DD's is an Little Mermaid case and DS's is a Barney pillow case. I have decided to pull them apart and integrate them in the quilt along with a few other scraps from things they wore when they were young. It will probably look weird, but hey - I've decided to make it even more warming with thoughts of the children every time I use it. I offered to put them in each of the children's quilts that I am going to do for them, but neither wants them - so... It'll be my memory type quilt. :)

Preparing for Cold Weather

The weather report is calling for chance of flurries tomorrow and possibility of snow on Tuesday. Chance of snow is not unusual for this time of year, but I'm somewhat concerned with all the leaves on the trees. Tonight, we are getting rain, and the temps are at 42°F. They can drop quickly. Those cold temps can cause ice to form on the leaves which can really do some damage. Those trees will snap and pull power lines down and cause life to come to a standstill. Well, at least a for most people. We are prepared. DH has the generator out and ready, plus we've got the oil lamps ready and even one burning right now. I love the glow of an oil lamp, so I had just had to keep one burning.

I honestly love it when the power goes out. The town grows so quiet and still. There are no hums of motors or outdoor lights blocking the gorgeous night sky. It's the sights and sounds I long for, but never get to experience unless we are out of power. The longest we've been without power has been a week, and we really didn't miss it. Now all we need is a wood cookstove and we'll be all set :)

With all the colder temps, I'm getting in the mood for the holiday season. I've been trying out new recipes, and have been looking for a recipe for cranberry sauce. Everyone loves it, but DH and the kids don't like the whole berry kind. They want something that is similar to the gel we get in the store. Today, my hunt has finally ended. I received "Home Cooking with Dave's Mom" by Dave's Mom, Dorothy from PaperBack Swap and in it was the recipe I have been searching for! It's so simple and tastes very, very good! I halved the recipe for trying. We are having this for dinner tonight with our macaroni and cheese.

Cranberry Gel
Source: Home Cooking With Dave's Mom page 106

4 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup water
2 cups granulated sugar

In medium saucepan, over medium heat, add berries and water. Cook until berries pop, then pus through a Foley food mill. Add sugar and bring to a boil. Put in a glass jar with straight sides. (I used a pint wide mouth canning jar). When chilled, it will slide out of the jar and can be sliced for serving. Keeps well in the refrigerator. Makes 4 cups.

I still have not turned the heat on, however, DH did yesterday, to make sure it was running correctly. We are staying at about 60° overnight and it creeps up in the daytime. I have been using the oven for meals, so it usually peaks at about 67-68° in the evenings. The children don't seem to mind or notice it as much as I do, but clothing layers take care of that. I still need to go out and buy some plastic for the picture window. That thing lets so much cold air in - it's like sitting next to a fridge - even with the insulated drapes drawn!

Each year we try to improve our home a little. Each year it becomes just a bit more efficient. I'd love to go solar and use a cook stove for both heat and cooking. Sadly, our kitchen is not laid out so that we can put a stove in yet. Yes, I did say yet. We are planning on some reconstruction a bit down the road to fit our needs. I'm so looking forward to that.

It's funny. I remember when I was so heartbroken when I found out we couldn't move from here. My brother got the family farm, and we ended up with my parents home in town. It's the home they left to move to my grandparents farm. At the time we got this house, it was supposed to be a stepping stone to something larger - a little farm of our own. Life happened and we didn't move and every time we thought we'd have enough money and income for something, the land prices would go up out of reach, yet again. After 16 years of hoping and dreaming, the harsh reality set in that things wouldn't be as we dreamed about. Well, not yet, anyhow. So we decided to stay here a few more years as the economy becomes more and more questionable, and we'll thank the Lord we have a place to call home. Now, we've settled in nicely, and we are welcoming each new change and appreciating it all.

Bloom where you are planted. I finally know what that means!

Girls' Night Out

Yesterday was our annual girls "night" out. (Actually it was more like an afternoon & evening.) Each year, my DD, SIL and I make a trip to see the Taste of Home Cooking School. We always have a good time, come back with a few new tips, and some samples and freebies. We wanted to take a picture for our scrap books, but this year they would not allow any photos, not even before the show - so we came home photo-less. :(

We were especially treated with our show being hosted by Taste of Home's own Patricia Wade Powell who was a real delight to watch and listen to. She has such a great sense of humor and gave so many suggestions for other ingredients that would go well in the recipe she was demonstrating. I loved her many comments that "cooking from scratch is wonderful" and "make this recipe your own". Too many times I've come across people who cook strictly by the book. I will the first time to get a feel for the flavors - but after that - it's fair game to get creative with it.

So now, I need to sit down with my nice package of goodies from the show, and go through everything to see what all we really did receive. There were cookbooks, catalogs, coupons, samples, little gifts and recipes that I saw in the tote last night. We were just too tired to go through them all after we came home. I'm really looking to take some quite time today to sort through it all.

Bread Baking

There is nothing like a homemade loaf of bread, and to have it warm with butter, is like having a slice of heaven on your plate. Besides the wonderful taste, baking your own bread is so much cheaper - easily getting 3 loaves of home made for the cost of one loaf of store bought. If you usually purchase the expensive whole grain breads, you will save even more to make your own.

I prefer the flavor and texture of kneading and baking the bread in the oven, however, there are times that I'm so busy or the kitchen work area is taken up with other things, that I can't easily make it like my grandma used to. A bread maker has been a great blessing on those days. I never realized that, until this past summer, our bread maker died and I was determined to do everything else and on top of getting the bread baking done. Canning jars were all over cooling or set to be filled, washed, etc. and every work space was loaded with something. Our kitchen is small and with no work area to knead, I really had to put things off. The freezer was full, so I couldn't bake bread and freeze it, so, we ended up buying bread. Yes, I hang my head in shame, because the stuff my dear husband brought home from the store was very expensive, and certainly didn't even resemble bread. It was awful - and a premium price.

My husband decided that enough was enough and surprised me with a very nice bread machine! So we are now back to home made and healthier bread - all the time. Everyone is truly thankful :)

This morning, I decided to get up extra early and start a loaf of raisin bread so when everyone got up they could have a nice hot piece before going about their daily duties. Usually, I will just set the timer so that the bread is done when we need it, but this recipe has milk in it, and the raisins are to be added at the second kneading. Yes, you can put them in at the beginning, but they get chopped up more, and just aren't as pretty to look at. Everyone was thrilled with waking up to the wonderful smells of cinnamon through the house.



Cinnamon Raisin Bread

1 1/4 cups warm milk
1 Tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons organic sugar
3 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons yeast

Put all ingredients in pan in order listed or according to your maker's manufacturer's directions. Select the white bread setting and bake on light to medium color crust. Use the 1 1/2 to 2 pound loaf setting.

At the beginning of the second kneading (or at the beep) add:
2/3 cup raisins

When the bread has finished baking, I will take it out of the pan and put in on a cooling rack, and brush with butter, then allow to cool. By brushing the finished loaf with butter, you will end up with a nice soft crust.

After the raisin bread came out, I put in a loaf of my husband's favorite bread, Drew's Famous Onion Dill Bread. This recipe came from the DAK Turbo Baker IV recipe book. The DAK (which we fondly called R2D2) was our first bread machine, and that machine lasted over 10 years. It would have kept going, but the pan inside broke, and it cost much more to replace the pan than to just purchase a new bread maker. We then bought a Toastmaster that did well, but didn't last nearly as long - two if I remember correctly. We are now on our 3rd machine - a Sunbeam and it is working well and makes larger loaves.

Drew's Famous Onion Dill Bread

Mix together and warm until lukewarm:
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup cottage cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
3 Tablespoons organic sugar
3 Tablespoons minced onion
2 Tablespoons whole dill seed
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter

Pour the above mixture in your bread maker pan. Add:
1 unbeaten egg (room temperature)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 1/3 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons yeast

Bake on the white bread cycle using the light setting. Use 2 pound loaf setting. Remove from pan, place on wire rack and brush with butter.