2 Easy Peasy Handy Dandy Crockpot Recipes

 

This lonely tomato is the last of the green ones that I picked from the garden when I figured that growing season was over.  I loaded up my old orange colander and left them out on the counter.  Every couple of days I'd get a ripe one.  Every one of them ripened and they were delicious, except for the two that also rotted as they ripened.  They went out to continue rotting in the compost.

These tomatoes got me to thinking about how far Americans have come from being good stewards of our households and finances.  I think it started in my Baby Boom generation because my parents were certainly thrifty.  My mother always scraped the butter wrapper to get the very last little bit and would use the wrapper to grease pans before she threw it away.  She didn't waste anything, sometimes endangering our health in the process.

We waste.  And at an appalling level, averaging 30 to 60% of the food we buy.  That is a lot of money which would probably fix the national debt.  But boomers are smart and a lot of us are trying to get back onto our parents bandwagon.  It turns out that they were pretty savvy, also.  Who knew??  There might be something to that butter wrapper scraping.  Say that three times!!

In the spirit of not wasting diddly, I noticed that I had about three pounds of apples in the crisper that were languishing.  I bought a big bunch of those Honeycrisp apples that were on sale for $1.48 per pound but they were not crisp and I just can't do an apple this is not crisp, so there they sat:

 

I washed them, cored and cut them up, and put them in my crockpot and sprinkled them liberally with cinnamon, and added a half cup of water:

 

After six hours, they looked like this, reduced by half and mushy.  The house smelled amazing!!

Then they went into the French food mill, which is your old mama's idea of a food processor:

I tasted the applesauce and decided it only needed about a half cup of sugar.  Depending on the apples, I've added vanilla and even a shot of lemon to get it right before.  This is what I ended up with for the freezer:

The other recipe is turkey broth.  After you have cleaned as much meat off the turkey carcass as you can, take it and throw it in your crockpot with a couple celery stalks, couple carrots and an onion, roughly chopped.  I even throw in any skin or dabs of gravy that are left over.  I add thyme and/or any other herb that looks good from the garden and pepper.  No salt.  Cover with water.  Let it cook all night.  Throw away what is left after you strain it.  It has done it's job.
After it has cooled in the fridge, I remove the hard layer of fat and put it in containers for the freezer.  This broth is rich in flavor and color, perfect for soups.  The best part is that it is practically free!! and just waiting for your next batch of chicken noodle soup, or anything else that you need broth for.

Cruise Fund Update:

Old Balance     = $611.30

                        +      41.22 Ebates check

New Balance   = $652.52

My goal is to save $2000 for my cruise in September next year by using "found" money.  Found money is any money that is not a paycheck.  It has been an interesting exercise to see just how much loose money comes our way.  In total, $1002.52 has made its way into my hot little hands, starting February 24, 2012.  I did take $350 out for the deposit on the trip.  I am finding that now that I'm retired and not spending as much money as in the past, that I'm not seeing as much found money,  but I'm still gonna take a big chunk out of that $2000.

Talking Turkey

Miss MoneyPenny doesn't like roast turkey.  There I said it.  That being said, I do like turkey sandwiches and I like having several bags of chopped cooked turkey in the freezer for soups and such.  But I just can't get excited about turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing, unless, of course, it is my sister's famous oyster stuffing.  I'm usually happy with wine, appetizers and desert, as long as it isn't pumpkin pie.  Good grief, MoneyPenny, but you are an old grouch.

Anyway, for years my turkeys were always very dry because I cooked them to death.  I was complaining about this at work several years ago when Miss Peggy Lee, a lovely lady who used to volunteer at the library, told me about her method and I've never looked back.

What you do is run up to the store and get a pack of those Reynolds Cooking Bags in turkey size.  I know!!  I was surprised that they came that big, too.  Take the giblets out and get them on a back burner for gravy.  Rinse and pat dry.  Season your bird.  I butter up the breast under the skin and on top but you don't have to.  Place one tablespoon of flour in your bag and swoosh it around.  Stick your bird in, fasten and tuck in the end.  Cut six small slits in the top for air.  It will look like this:

Roast at 350.  It will cook faster in the bag, so consult the chart that comes with the cooking bag and keep your thermometer handy.  When you take it out of the oven, let it sit for a few minutes before you carve.  You will have a beautiful and moist turkey.

I never put stuffing inside the turkey.  According to the Butterball ladies it is not safe.  My sister, the queen of stuffing, makes a giant pan of stuffing and cooks it along side.  Maybe she will give up her oyster stuffing recipe and I'll share.

P.S.

Be careful when you are pouring the goody juices from the bag for gravy.  Very hot and the bag is unwieldy.  Then wad up the bag and throw it away.  Clean up done.  No baked on crusty roasting pan to soak and scrub.

Weekend Recap 11/19



                         

                                     

                                         

Now this is going to come as a shock, considering my recent post saying that I always take the green bean casserole for Thanksgiving.  I was shocked.  It seems that my son, the plumber, is done with it after decades of eating it at Thanksgiving!!  I never saw that one coming.  Instead, he has requested the above shrimpy thing for the appetizer.

This is an old recipe from the 50s given to me by my friend Theresa who lives in Portland, where we used to live.  Her mom, who has since passed at the age of 96 or 98, used to be a career woman and she did a lot of entertaining and this was her dish.  She outlived three husbands, marrying the last time in her 80s, and they were all love matches.  She was a peach and loved to go dancing and always started the day with a shot of brandy in her coffee. 

This is very simple and quite tasty, as I remember it.  I no longer eat shellfish since I hate to break out into hives and have my tongue swell up.  Now, that is just wrong.  I love shellfish.  Anyway, to make this dish, all you do is mix a half pound of cooked shrimp meat with a spicy cocktail sauce and a shot of lemon, then pour over a brick of cream cheese and serve with crackers.  I usually serve it in this dish which was given to me just for this purpose:

I will be attending Thanksgiving with this guy:

 

Not this guy who is going to spend the holiday with his sisters:

 



 

 

But they don't have this little sweetie who loves to be held, my beautiful great-granddaughter:

 

 

 

I've been to his sister's and they really put on a spread.  They are two lovely ladies who happen to be twins and have several very charming children between them, plus all the boyfriends and girlfriends.  I have a great time, but...as I say, no baby.

 

Enough of the lovey dovey baby stuff.  I want to mention that the response to Port Hadlock Yarns Knit for Homeless Teens has been wonderful.  Cindy said that the person who came to pick up the hats and scarves got very emotional when she saw how many there were.  One of the ladies in my Sock Club has made four hats.  I'm on my second hat and I did forget to take a picture of the first one but will remember for this one.  The pattern works up nicely and is very well written if you are a new knitter and want to join in.

 

 





Sane Couponing Redux Again

Miss MoneyPenny thinks that it is time to go over her sane couponing method again for new readers.  My granddaughter has recently become a new mama and is now reading my blog and it reminded me that maybe not everyone gets the RP/11/4 (Redplum/Nov/4) speak when it comes to the grocery sales.  The guy from Seattle is always asking me what BOGO (buy one, get one free) means.

Above is the file box that I use for the Sunday coupon inserts that come in the paper.  I do not clip coupons until I need them.  I'm crazy enough, as it is.  What I do is mark the date on them and file them away until needed.

I have a hanging folder for four current months.  I've never found that I've needed a coupon from any month before then.  When the new month arrives, I throw out the oldest set of coupons and start a new folder.  I just keep recycling the folders, putting the latest discarded month in the back of the box.  That way they stay in month order and I just grab the first one, which will be December soon.  Easy peasy!!

Sounds too easy, doesn't it??  It is!! 

So how do you use this system??  When the weekly grocery flyer comes out I make a list of what I want to buy, plus, what is on sale.  Then I go to a coupon site like couponmom.com.  There are gobs of these sites out there but I like this one because I've found it to be fast and accurate. 

For example:  Nalley's pickles are on sale and you want to know if there is a coupon.  Go to this site and put in Nalley's and all the available coupons pop up.  Magic!!  This will tell you which insert it is in and the date (RP/11/4) and the amount of the coupon.  All you have to do is go to your file box, easily find the filed insert and clip.  The hardest part of this method is remembering to take your clipped coupons to the store.

This method works for stores other than grocery stores.  Target is a good example because they also have their store coupons (I get mine off their website, target.com) and stack them with manufacture coupons, getting a good deal on products already on sale.  Remember - you cannot stack two manufacture coupons.  I've also used coupons at restaurants, making sure to tip on the original amount.  Having been a waitress, I don't like to get a deal at the expense of a working mom or dad.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Crest White Strips has a $10 rebate in the November P&G insert.  Here is a possible deal for that.  Drugstore.com is 12% back on Ebates right now and they have the strips on sale for 25% off and free shipping.  This is how it looks:

Crest White Strips       $40.99 sale price

                                   -    4.92 Ebates

                                   -   10.00 3Dwhite.com rebate

Total cost for sparkling white teeth is $26.07.  Regular price is $54.99.  Not quite 50% savings but pretty close.

I hope this gets you on the road to sane couponing.  It becomes a lifestyle.  Who wants to pay retail, anyway??

QFC Grocery Basket 11/14

                                                      

Come on!!  Admit it!!  You love it, too, don't you??  Disgusting but traditional, and great as an ingredient in that famous after Thanksgiving sandwich, which also includes oyster stuffing and cranberry sauce.  And the ingredients are on sale this week, so there is no excuse not to make it.

QFC has a good ad this week and it runs from today until Thanksgiving.  They are running some good promotions this week which includes turkey.  Buy $30 worth of groceries and get your bird for $ .49 per pound.  You do have to hit the $30 threshold first, which is nothing these days.

Also, buy 4 General Mills cereals at 4 for $10 and get a free gallon of milk.  Be sure and check for coupons for your favorite cereal at CouponMom.com and that would be an even better deal.

Of course, you saved your November P&G insert that we got on October 28 because it is going to come in handy for the P&G Buy4/Save $4 promotion.  Proctor & Gamble is not just Tide.  It is everything from Pampers to Iams to Pantene, and so on.  Be on the lookout for the tags through out the store.  And if you use Crest White Strips, there is a $10 mail-in rebate in the insert.

It is a long list today and I'm gonna try and keep it organized by the way I start in the store:

QFC Butter - $2/lb
QFC Whipping Cream - $2/16oz
Philadelphia Cream Cheese - $1.25/ea
QFC Sour Cream - $1/16oz
Coffee Mate Creamer - $2.99/32oz
Private Selection Turkey - $ .49/lb after $30 in groceries
Butterball Turkey - $1.99/lb
Nabisco Snack Crackers - $1.99/ea
Franz Brown 'n Serve Rolls - $2
King Arthur's Flour - $3.99/5lb
Del Monte Green Beans - $ .75/ea
French's French Fried Onions - $2.99/6oz
Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup - $1/ea
Starbuck's Coffee - $6.99/12 oz
Celery - $ .69/lb
Fuji Apples - $ .99/lb
Brussel Sprouts - $2.49/lb
Cranberries - $2.50/12 oz
Asparagus - $2.49/lb

P&G Deals & Coupons From Insert - must buy any combination of 4 P&G products

Pantene - $2.99/promo/$1 coupon
Crest - $1.79/promo/$ .75 coupon
Tide - $4.99/promo/$2 off 3 coupon
Pampers - $8.49/promo/$2 coupon (check it out, Haley)

I'm a very happy camper as my son, the plumber, and my DD-in-law cook up the Thanksgiving dinner.  I'm in charge of the green bean casserole.  What a treat!!  I think that Thanksgiving is the toughest meal to get on the table.  Reminds me of the time that everybody was ready to eat and the turkey was still frozen in the middle.  I know that dinner ended up being served and was delicious but I don't remember how, as I had collapsed in a puddle of tears.  Long time family friend, Warren, took one look and handed me a glass of wine and told me to go sit down while he took over.  A friend indeed.

Weekend Recap 11/11

 

On Friday Miss CutiePie picked me up and we met up with Miss KnowItAll at Pippa's Real Tea Shop in Port Townsend for lunch and tea and, of course, scones and jam.  What a treat!!  This is a tea experience taken to a whole new level and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Each of our teas came in the above pictured contraption, served with a little hour glass.  When the hour glass ran out, we plunged our tea.  Very civilized.

I want to also mention the scones.  Now these are not Puyallup Fair scones which are as big as a hamburger bun.  These are dainty scones, so you can really pile on the jam and clotted cream and not feel like a pig, but that has never stopped me in the past, now that I think about it.  And the place was doing a very brisk business and sold out of their pasties and other British type foods, so go early.

This is a picture of my beautiful nasturtium bed after a couple of nights at 27 degrees.  Green slime, but now it is time for the vincas (on the left) to show off with their sweet little blue flowers.  It will look much nicer once I get the nasties out of there.  I was going to work outside today before the rain came but I froze my a** off on my walk this morning.  It was 37 degrees, not bad, but when the wind came up, I was unhappy and my ears were like ice.

Yesterday I was planning on making the polenta and kale recipe that Margaret had on her blog, but I was going to substitute my Swiss chard.  It looked like this:

So I went to plan B which was spicy chicken soup.  I'm going to compost the frozen leaves and it looks like the newer more protected leaves will make it for a while longer, but I was worried that if I cut them, it would be over for the chard for the year.  We'll see.

QFC had pot roast on BOGO this week.  I usually don't buy meat on BOGO because I believe that they jack the price per pound up and you aren't really getting that good of a deal, but I was in the mood for pot roast.  I found two small roasts for $16 and $17 going at $5.99 per pound, so I paid $3 a pound, which is more reasonable.  It scares me to even think about the Christmas prime rib if a small pot roast could go for $17.  If you see a deal on prime rib, jump on it and freeze it.

So, speaking of pot roast, I got mine going in the crock pot this morning, complete with the carrots and the last potato from the garden.  Check out the difference in the potato from the garden and the store potatoes on the right:

Which would you rather eat??  I'm gonna grow a lot more potatoes next year.  And onions.  They were definitely the highlight of the garden this year.  I cut up the carrots and potatoes and put the roast on top.  I covered it with an old 60s recipe, which is a can of mushroom soup, a package of onion soup mix and a big splash of Lea & Perrins (mixed first.)  This makes fabulous gravy and gives the roast and veggies really good flavor.  The leftovers make great soup with the addition of beef broth or water.

Amaryllis Update:

It doesn't look good for the amaryllis.  The greenery had turned to mush so I gave it a trim.  I don't see anything that gives me hope, but I'll give it until the 1st before I go out and buy another one.

Here is a picture of the Christmas cactus from my mom's house.  For the last couple of years it has decided to grow some white flowers along with the red.  Very strange, indeed.

I plan to repot it after the it quits blooming.  Here is how a broken piece (thanks, DC) that I planted that lives above my computer is doing:

 

New Bird Feeding Station Update:

The birds that hang out in my back yard are blonde birds.  They kept going to the old moldy hard to clean feeder which was empty, so I sprinkled bird seed all around the new feeders.  They gobbled it up and had bird fights but still ignored my new feeders.  After several days, they have finally noticed the new feeders.  Sheesh!!

 

Costco Coupons 11/8 - 11/25

 

Today is USMC day and it is appropriate because today is also my dad's birthday and he was a Marine in WWII.  Dad was barely out of high school when he went to war in the South Pacific.  He kept his war stories to himself until Tom Brokaw wrote a book on the Greatest Generation and then he opened up.  I was stunned by his stories.  I knew he had a pilot's license but had no idea of how he used it in the war.  I thought Marines were on the ground.  Happy Birthday, Bubby.  He would have been 88.  I was very proud of him.

If you want a really detailed account of the Costco coupons, head on over to Heather's site at QueenBee Coupons.  That girl does a good job on her blog and I check her out daily.  She covers almost everything that a young family could need and is very personable.

There are some standouts this time which include the Kitchenaid Mixer and 6 quart stainless steel Crockpot, just in time for holiday baking and slow cooked stews.  My son, the plumber, got me a red Kitchenaid for my birthday a few years ago and it always lives on my counter.  A thing of beauty.

Here is my take on the coupons:

Swanson Chicken Broth - $2.30 limit 4
Spray 'n Wash - $3 - limit 5
FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing System - $30
6 Qt Stainless Steel CrockPot - $10
KitchenAid Pro Mixer - $50
Starbucks French Roast Whole Beans - $5 limit 5
Neutrogena Rainbath - $4 - limit 2

I mentioned in an early post that I had joined Sock Club at Port Hadlock Yarns and this is what I've been carrying my knitting back and forth in:

Well, my birthday is coming up and I always buy myself good presents so I picked up this little cutie from Madbird for $20:

I love this bag!!  It has a flat bottom so it sits nicely.  It is holding everything that I use to knit socks, including the current project.  The girls at Sock Club are gonna be impressed.