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.
Showing posts with label lunch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lunch. Show all posts
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
What a great day for soup.
photo from Food NetworkI just made a delicious soup using a recipe from Dave Lieberman's cookbook, Dave's Dinners. It's called Buttery Baby Pea Soup and it so good, so easy and so frugal! I figure it costs about a dollar per serving if you purchase everything on sale. It calls for a small, yellow onion, a can of chicken stock, a package of frozen peas and a few tablespoons of butter. Simmer 10 minutes then blend with an immersion blender. And then, of course, eat.
Simple and good.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Teach your children well...
My son has taken to reading food labels when he's bored...and he is a bit TOO eager to show me ingredients in food that I've missed. Like the high-fructose corn syrup in our bread. Yes, in the BREAD. I thought I was doing a good thing switching to wheat bread...and amazingly nobody in my family complained. But, I have to confess, it was the cheap wheat bread. Not the good whole grain stuff. I did this innocently enough, however...and could only say that once I knew better, I did better. Now I buy whole grain bread....even though it's a bit more expensive. It's worth it. I'm learning that being frugal can't always equate to cheap. And, as we've all learned at some time or another...you get what you pay for. In the case of bread vs. frugality...buy good bread when on sale and store in your freezer. Voila! Cost effective!
OK...so back to my son and label reading. He found that jelly has high-fructose corn syrup in it. And honestly, I had never thought to even look! You know how you just get used to buying what you buy without paying attention? Well, that's what happened with the jelly. If it was on sale, I was buying it. Period. But...the REAL challenge now is to combine good, healthy, whole food AND cost-effectiveness. But really...back to my son...(man I sure get side-tracked)...his thought is that the only way we'll be able to get good jelly or jam without the additives is to make it ourselves. Hm. Novel idea, son. (My grandmother DID say I could have all of her canning equipment...hmmm..)
Let me just say that this one sentence...well, and reading my bible from Genesis to Revelation (I'll go into this more at another time...)...and looking at country property...turned a light on in my head and led me on this wild goose chase of gathering information about sustainable living and organic gardening and preserving what I grow and raising chickens and equipping our home with renewable energy sources.
So...to make a long story even longer...this blog will not only focus on frugal feasts...it will also focus on frugal living in general. Simplicity, if you will.
And now...off to help Ian check labels.
OK...so back to my son and label reading. He found that jelly has high-fructose corn syrup in it. And honestly, I had never thought to even look! You know how you just get used to buying what you buy without paying attention? Well, that's what happened with the jelly. If it was on sale, I was buying it. Period. But...the REAL challenge now is to combine good, healthy, whole food AND cost-effectiveness. But really...back to my son...(man I sure get side-tracked)...his thought is that the only way we'll be able to get good jelly or jam without the additives is to make it ourselves. Hm. Novel idea, son. (My grandmother DID say I could have all of her canning equipment...hmmm..)
Let me just say that this one sentence...well, and reading my bible from Genesis to Revelation (I'll go into this more at another time...)...and looking at country property...turned a light on in my head and led me on this wild goose chase of gathering information about sustainable living and organic gardening and preserving what I grow and raising chickens and equipping our home with renewable energy sources.
So...to make a long story even longer...this blog will not only focus on frugal feasts...it will also focus on frugal living in general. Simplicity, if you will.
And now...off to help Ian check labels.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Minestrone, anyone?
Yesterday was a beautiful, crisp autumn day...I was in heaven. This is my favorite time of year. I love the weather...I love Halloween and Thanksgiving...this time of year just makes me happy. I always feel so refreshed. Yesterday was the kind of day that called for a big pot of soup. So I scoured the pantry shelves and the fridge and found that I had the ingredients to make minestrone soup...or at least MY version, anyway!
Since I was making it up as I went along...using as my inspiration the ingredients used by one of the locally owned italian restaurants here in town...I made some changes after the fact. For example, last night in my experiment recipe I used a whole package of frozen spinach. It was WAY too much. I actually removed some of it because it was so overbearing. So in the recipe below I changed it to either HALF of a package of frozen or 1-2 cups fresh spinach. I also only added one can of beans. I happen to love beans so next time I make it I'll add two cans...one can of white beans and one can of kidney beans for color and texture.
After some changes this is what I came up with. (It even got a good review from my husband who's "not a soup kinda guy"!)
Mimi's Minestrone
2 tblsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion - chopped
2 garlic cloves - minced
2 carrots - peeled and cut into half moons
2 ribs celery - sliced
1 can beef broth
1 can chopped italian stewed tomatoes
1 can white beans - rinsed
1 can kidney beans - rinsed
2 cups water
1 tblsp italian seasoning
1 -2 cups fresh spinach (your preference)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
In a large soup pot heat olive oil on medium high heat. Add onion, garlic, carrots and celery and saute until vegetables are tender and onion is translucent. Add beef broth, stewed tomatoes, beans, water and italian seasoning and stir to combine. Raise heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, add spinach, salt and pepper and let simmer for 30-40 minutes. 10 minutes before serving, add the parmesan cheese and stir well. This gives the soup a thicker consistency and tastes wonderful! Serve with french bread.
Makes 6 servings
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Soups On for Under $7!
Last night I made a popular favorite around my house...New England Clam Chowder. I was always somewhat intimidated to make this...for whatever reason...until I tried a recipe from Dave Lieberman of the Food Network. I really like his philosophy behind cooking and preparing food...basically that you can eat well AND on a budget. Last Christmas I got his cookbook, Dave's Dinners, from my sister-in-law and, after working up my nerve, decided to try his chowder recipe. It was amazingly simple...and amazingly GOOD. I made a few changes to suit my taste and my health choices...and this is what I came up with. Enjoy!
New England Clam Chowder
6-8 servings
3 tblsp. olive oil
1 tblsp. butter
1 medium onion - finely diced
3 celery stalks - finely diced
3 tblsp. flour
2 cups fat-free chicken broth
2 (6.5 oz.) cans minced clams in juice (chopped work too!)
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 bay leaf
1 lb. russet potatoes - peeled and diced into 1/2" pieces
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery and saute until softened, mixing often. Add the butter and stir until melted. Add the flour and stir to distribute evenly. Add the broth, clams and juice, milk, bay leaf and potatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring often, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook 20-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender, stirring often to prevent the sop from sticking to the bottom of your pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with crusty french bread and butter.
Or, to make it really fun, serve in sourdough bread bowls! My kids really enjoy it this way. It's like being on the wharf in San Francisco!
This recipe is so delicious...and really, truly simple. It originally called for cream, 2 bay leaves and didn't call for any butter. I added the butter and changed to 1% milk (I've also used fat-free and it was just as delicious). I also chose to only use 1 bay leaf as I thought 2 was way too strong, it was all I could taste.
The tally for this meal, with careful shopping, is as follows:
2 cans clams in juice 1.98
4 potatoes .50
celery and onion 1.00
chicken broth 1.00
milk .25
sub-total $4.73
(4) day-old mini sourdough loaves 1.99
Total $6.71
This fed my family of four a hearty dinner and left enough for a more than decent lunch for me the next day!
New England Clam Chowder
6-8 servings
3 tblsp. olive oil
1 tblsp. butter
1 medium onion - finely diced
3 celery stalks - finely diced
3 tblsp. flour
2 cups fat-free chicken broth
2 (6.5 oz.) cans minced clams in juice (chopped work too!)
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 bay leaf
1 lb. russet potatoes - peeled and diced into 1/2" pieces
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery and saute until softened, mixing often. Add the butter and stir until melted. Add the flour and stir to distribute evenly. Add the broth, clams and juice, milk, bay leaf and potatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring often, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook 20-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender, stirring often to prevent the sop from sticking to the bottom of your pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with crusty french bread and butter.
Or, to make it really fun, serve in sourdough bread bowls! My kids really enjoy it this way. It's like being on the wharf in San Francisco!
This recipe is so delicious...and really, truly simple. It originally called for cream, 2 bay leaves and didn't call for any butter. I added the butter and changed to 1% milk (I've also used fat-free and it was just as delicious). I also chose to only use 1 bay leaf as I thought 2 was way too strong, it was all I could taste.
The tally for this meal, with careful shopping, is as follows:
2 cans clams in juice 1.98
4 potatoes .50
celery and onion 1.00
chicken broth 1.00
milk .25
sub-total $4.73
(4) day-old mini sourdough loaves 1.99
Total $6.71
This fed my family of four a hearty dinner and left enough for a more than decent lunch for me the next day!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Lunch for $.95? You bet!
This recipe was inspired by Martha Stewarts recipe in her cookbook, Everyday Food, Great Food Fast. I love to use this cookbook as inspiration. As a matter of fact, I use ALL of my cookbooks as inspiration, rarely following a recipe to a tee. It's not because I think my recipes are better...it's more about having ADD and not being able to stay focused that long!
Needing to use what I had on hand due to budget constraints...and since I didn't have bacon, I substituted with Kielbasa. I was also limited on the amount of chicken broth I had...so I lowered the amount of broth and just added more water to equal the 4 cups of liquid the recipe called for. (I actually added more water as it cooked anyway because it got really thick...too thick...so you'll need to watch this as it's simmering.)
One of the really great things about this meal is that it is healthy and fresh. The thyme even came from my own backyard! All of the ingredients are free of additives such as partially hydrogenated oils and MSG...ingredients I try my BEST to steer clear of. I might miss a label here and there...but for the most part, I'm a big label reader.
The cost of the soup is about $3.75. I ladled it into (5) freezer safe plastic containers, each holding a perfect sized lunch serving, and popped them in the freezer after they'd cooled down. I had bought a loaf of day-old Asiago sourdough bread for $.99 that I sliced up, added a pat of butter to, and put into (5) baggies to go with each individual soup serving. Voila...5 days worth of lunch! All you have to do is grab it out of the freezer and go!
Lentil Soup
5 servings
2 Kielbasa, cut into small bite-size pieces
1 large onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups organic chicken broth
2 cups water
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions:
In a large soup pot, cook Kielbasa in a small amount of olive oil over medium-low heat until warmed through and slightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add onion and carrots; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add lentils, thyme, broth, vinegar and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Cover; cook until lentils are tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Serve immediately.
Needing to use what I had on hand due to budget constraints...and since I didn't have bacon, I substituted with Kielbasa. I was also limited on the amount of chicken broth I had...so I lowered the amount of broth and just added more water to equal the 4 cups of liquid the recipe called for. (I actually added more water as it cooked anyway because it got really thick...too thick...so you'll need to watch this as it's simmering.)
One of the really great things about this meal is that it is healthy and fresh. The thyme even came from my own backyard! All of the ingredients are free of additives such as partially hydrogenated oils and MSG...ingredients I try my BEST to steer clear of. I might miss a label here and there...but for the most part, I'm a big label reader.
The cost of the soup is about $3.75. I ladled it into (5) freezer safe plastic containers, each holding a perfect sized lunch serving, and popped them in the freezer after they'd cooled down. I had bought a loaf of day-old Asiago sourdough bread for $.99 that I sliced up, added a pat of butter to, and put into (5) baggies to go with each individual soup serving. Voila...5 days worth of lunch! All you have to do is grab it out of the freezer and go!
Lentil Soup
5 servings
2 Kielbasa, cut into small bite-size pieces
1 large onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups organic chicken broth
2 cups water
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions:
In a large soup pot, cook Kielbasa in a small amount of olive oil over medium-low heat until warmed through and slightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add onion and carrots; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add lentils, thyme, broth, vinegar and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Cover; cook until lentils are tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Serve immediately.
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