The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker...

Well, just the Baker, really. Today is the day I've set aside to stay in my jammies and bake, bake, bake. I'm going to make the Carrot Cupcakes with Orange Icing I spoke of the other day, Sugar Cookies using my Aunt Lisa's recipe and these shortbread cookies . They will be snowflake shaped instead of heart shaped, though. Now I'm wishing I'd bought those cute scalloped circle cookie cutters at Home Goods a few weeks ago. I talked myself out of them, figuring I didn't bake enough to justify the purchase. But now I'm realizing that items such as cookie cutters aren't purchased based on how often they will be used but rather how useful they will be when they ARE used. And I could really use them today!

Hmm...dare I go now and see if they're still there? What am I? Crazy? Home Goods on the Sunday before Christmas? Snowflakes it is.

Baking isn't really my favorite thing to do. At least it didn't used to be. I've always been partial to savory cooking because I can be more creative with the ingredients. Baking always seem so precise. And I am not a precise kind of gal. At least not in my cooking. I like a little freedom. But I found some recipes that are fairly simple and straight forward. Not to mention the accumulation of great baking tools to make the job easier. Right up my alley as far as baking is concerend.

Uh oh. Phone's ringin'...brb.

(*: Chris' dad's fiance just called saying they needed to come by to drop off a shirt for Seth to wear in their wedding that is taking place next Saturday. "Um. We're in our jammies and we're all stuffed up and sniffly. The house is a disaster and I don't plan on doing anything about it. But you're more than welcome to stop by!" They decided that it can wait until Christmas when they join us at my mom's. Phew!)

Anyway. It's almost noon and I haven't started any baking. I DID, however, go to the grocery store at 7:15 this morning. I was determined to beat the crowd. And I did. The checker charged me almost $12 for a small bag of mushrooms! Apparently she weighed the bananas but entered the mushroom price. Yikes. Glad I caught it. I mean, the mushrooms WERE really white and nice and fresh and everything. But not worth $12. Sorry.

OK. Off to bake. And switch out the laundry. And clean up the kitchen. And relax? I thought I dubbed this a "lazy day"? Oh well. At least I'm still in my pj's!

Frugal Foodie gifts: Carrot Cupcakes

Safeway has their 5 lb. bags of carrots on sale (until Tuesday), "Buy One, Get One Free" so I went ahead and picked up a couple of bags. I found a simple recipe for Carrot Cupcakes with Orange Icing at epicurious.com. I tried the recipe last night and it was delicious! My husband said the icing was a bit "too orange-y" but the kids and I loved it. I think it will be wonderful as gifts for friends and neighbors at Christmas, baked in those cute star-shaped, disposable muffin tins by Reynold's. I may even make them in the next week and then freeze them, uniced, until closer to Christmas. They'll be perfect for the holidays. Place 3-4 of the carrot cupcakes on a festive plate or tray, wrap with cellophane and a pretty ribbon, embellish with a pretty snowflake ornament (10-12 in a pack at the Dollar Store) and you've got a beautiful gift!

photos

I would love to post photos of the foods I cook but my digital camera is old and does not work good. I do take photos, in hopes that I get a good pic by chanve, but none are worthy of posting.

I took a photo of my turkey. A few actually. But none of them came out.

Maybe Santa will bring me a new digital camera?

One bird=4 meals

Turkey with potatoes and stuffing
Turkey Soup with Herbed Dumplings
Lunch meat for 4 people for at least 2 days.

Not bad for a $6 turkey! I bought a 12 pound turkey after Thanksgiving. I knew that I could get at least two meals, not to mention several lunches, out of it. And since we didn't host Thanksgiving, we didn't really have many leftovers. This made my family very sad. I knew I hadto make us our own bird.

At about noon today, after returning from church, I got the turkey out of the fridge and began getting it ready to roast. I didn't do anything with the giblets (I know...not totally frugal of me...but I'm just not a giblet person.) I did, however, stuff it with celery, carrots, garlic, butter and fresh sage I clipped from my backyard. I stuffed a few sage leaves under the breast skin as well as a few pats of butter and some smashed garlic. Then I drizzled the bird with olive oil and seasoned it with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. I heated the oven to 450' to get it good and hot but once I put the bird in I lowered it to 350'. I left the lid off for about an hour and got a little color to the skin. Then I covered it for about 2 hours. In the last hour, I left it uncovered to get some more golden color. It came out gorgeous....if I don't say so myself. I asked my husband and sons to come in the kitchen and "ooh and aah" over it before I carved it...and they did! Each of them oohed and aahed perfectly. It was great.

While the turkey was "resting" I prepared the potatoes and gravy and stuffing and warmed the rolls.

Everything came out quite yummy. I experimented with the stuffing using dark rye bread and a bit of leftover cornbread. It was OK. Not the best I've ever had. I did like the rye bread, but I am used to making stuffing with ground beef or maybe some ground pork. Unfortunately, I didn't have any. So onion and celery it was. I also added a handful of dried cranberries..for the heck of it. It wasn't bad but I prefer savory stuffing. The cranberries made it too sweet for my liking. It wasnt awful. But I've had better.

All in all it was a good meal. And my family was thrilled and full and happy. And to top it off, my husband did the dishes! Thank you Honey.

Green Frugality

In my quest to live a frugal life I am finding myself more and more interested in living a more sustainable lifestyle. In researching sustainability I am often led to other areas such as "green" living and the idea of leaving smaller "footprints". I love this. While I know that I cannot save the world, I can make a difference. And that is my intention. To live more frugally also means to live more simply. What could be more frugal than growing your own food and canning and preserving it? (Other than using solar and wind power, digging a well, raising chickens and cows, etc. of course...I know. But you gotta start somewhere, right? I'm choosing to start with a garden.)

My oldest son has taken to calling me a "health freak". He's 12. So I take it with a grain of salt. AND as a compliment.

My 9 year-old, on the other hand, likes to read labels, too. We've decided, he and I, that the only way to get around high-fructose corn syrup in our jellies and jams is to make it our dang selves. In preparation for this I've been watching for canning supplies at the thrift store. And I have a vast Wish List over at Amazon.com of books that will help me learn the art of canning! And my 90 year-old grandmother told me I could have her canning supplies, too. So I'm pretty excited really!

Anyway...not quite "green" yet...but definitely a strong chartreuse! It's a start!

Kartoffelpuffers anyone?

I found this recipe on a blog I love to read. Her outlook on life and simplicity is admirable and insipring. And this recipe is so timely! I just bought a 5lb. bag of potatoes last night at Lucky for 79 cents! Could it be true? Dinner for 4 under $2? I see a challenge in my future!

Want to make Kartoffelpuffers for YOUR family? Head on over to down---to---earth and read a few posts down. I'll let you know how mine turned out!

5 Under $5.

1. Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, french bread, sliced cheese and salami
2. Hot dogs, baked beans, celery with peanut butter
3. Pinto beans and corn bread
4. Tostadas with beans, cheese and lettuce, Spanish rice
5. Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks, salad