March 17th, 2011
I’ve been bad.
OK, maybe ‘bad’ isn’t the right word.
I’ve been tired! There! Tired that’s it. I seriously thought that I’d have more time to do EVERYTHING on my list after the holidays but that didn’t happen.
My life just keeps getting busier and busier.
I actually cooked a meal from a box yesterday. The day before Chili-man cooked ‘breakfast’ for dinner. The night before, it was frozen lasagna.
What’s become of the real cook in the house?
Well, it’s time to prioritize. Time to delegate laundry, and dishes, and get back to the basics.
Time to load up those grocery store coupons, and make an actual list from a planned menu and stick to it. Time to make a true habit of looking for bargains in every aspect of shopping.
Clip those coupons from the Sunday paper, and look online for not just grocery coupons but online coupons for all the time saving online shopping that I do.
I have a place or two that are routine for me to look for online discounts and I have a new place too. I look for deals at Savings.com too!
Saving money always puts a smile on my face and makes my purse sing! Whether it’s a free shipping discount code, or an upgrade of shipping, or even a percent off coupon, all those add up to big savings!
In short, don’t buy anything without looking for a coupon! It’ll make your purse happy too!
smiley-purse
Tags: coupon savings
Posted in Musings | No Comments »
March 6th, 2011
with cabbage? I like to try different recipes for beans and saw this one for that included cabbage. Cabbage is cheap in March, so I went for it.
1 lb soaked navy beans
1 hot pepper
1 carrot sliced/diced
salt/pepper
4 c water
ham pieces
1 onion sliced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 bell pepper diced
2 cups shredded cabbage
Drain beans and place in a crockpot with all the other ingredients except the bell pepper and the cabbage. Cook on low for 7 hours. Turn to high and add the bell pepper and cabbage. Cook 2 hours more or until vegetables are tender.
beans with cabbage
This was good, but….
next time I’ll leave out the cabbage. Guess I’m just not a cabbage girl.
Tags: cabbage navy bean soup
Posted in Supper | No Comments »
February 21st, 2011
Sometimes there will be a sale on something you’ve never bought before. In my case it was potato gnocchi.
This Colavita potato gnocchi was on sale, bargain priced, so I bought it!
Colavita gnocchi
Here’s how
My version of Olive Garden’s Gnocchi Soup
# 2 cans chicken broth
# 2 cups whole milk
# 1 t minced garlic
# few baby carrots chopped or sliced
# 1/2 onion, diced
# 1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach
# 1 tablespoon olive oil
# 1 teaspoon thyme
# salt and pepper
# 16 ounces potato gnocchi
# 1 tablespoon cornstarch
1. Saute the onion, garlic, and carrot in oil over medium heat until onion is translucent.
2. Add chicken broth, milk salt,pepper, and thyme. Heat to boiling, then add gnocchi and frozen spinach. Gently boil for 4 minutes, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Heat to boiling and add cornstarch dissolved in 1-2 Tbsp water at this point if you want a thicker soup.).
4. Ladle into bowls and serve!
gnocchi-soup-in-the-pot
Olive Garden’s probably has chicken in it. I was serving this with chicken salad over greens, so I opted NOT to use chicken in the soup. I’ve only had this once before, at Olive Garden. I found it ‘different’ but delish and this version was great too! It will now be a fall-back soup recipe for this household!
gnocchi-soup
Tags: Colavita potato gnocchi, gnocchi soup, Olive Garden
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February 20th, 2011
So what do you do with leftover Blue & Gold sausage patties?
Blue and Gold Sausage patties
Well you can have biscuits and sausage for a quick on the go meal.
You can crumble it up and use it wherever you use ground beef.
Or you can make biscuits and gravy!
YUM!
biscuits-gravy
Tags: biscuits and gravy
Posted in Breakfast | No Comments »
February 9th, 2011
OK, for tons of people snow day food is beans and cornbread. Followed by snow ice cream.
Well I couldn’t talk Chili-man into snow ice cream so I had to go another route.
Comfort food starting with breakfast. There’s no sausage better in my mind than Blue & Gold. Man oh man is it good! I received a log at Christmastime and it’s been in my freezer ever since. Snowed in? That’s a good time for biscuits and sausage.
Blue & Gold sausage
And yes those are frozen biscuits. HEY, I don’t normally have time to make biscuits from scratch; I’m a busy lady! (Hence the bagged frozen biscuits that I’m not buying again. They didn’t hold up well in the freezer. MAYBE if they were in some kind of flat package where they didn’t mold onto each other. They also don’t rise well when they’ve been in the freezer awhile. Even canned would have been better…)
Tags: blue and gold sausage, Breakfast
Posted in Breakfast | 3 Comments »
February 1st, 2011
Just the other night, I was watching a movie, and wishing I had a piece of pie…
Wishes do come true!
Course, it was a day or so later….. I ran across a Pineapple Pie recipe on PW’s site and thought hey that sounds good!
I always change things up a little…
pineapple pie with meringue
Pineapple Pie
Ingredients:
# ¾ cups Sugar
# 2 Tablespoons Butter
# 3 whole Eggs (separated)
# ⅓ cups Cornstarch
# ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
# ½ cups Plus 2 Tablespoons Of Water
# 8 ounces, weight Canned Crushed Pineapple
# 1 whole 9-inch Pre-baked Pie Crust
and for the meringue
# 3 whole Egg Whites (from Separated Eggs Above)
# ⅛ teaspoons Salt
For the pie, stir together sugar, and egg yolks, add in the cornstarch and vanilla then add in the water and can of crushed pineapple. Toss in the butter. Cook over medium heat, melting the butter, then stirring constantly until thick. Pour into a 9″ baked pastry.
For the meringue, whip egg whites until they begin to get foamy. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to whip until the meringue has reached soft peak stage and is smooth and glossy. Place the meringue over the cooled pie. Brown at 400ºF for just a few minutes or until golden on top.
Great right then and great later all cooled off too!
pineapple pie
Tags: pineapple pie, pineapple pie with meringue, recipe
Posted in Desserts | 1 Comment »
January 3rd, 2011
What’s New Years in the south without blackeyed peas???
I tried ‘another’ new Hoppin John recipe this year and sure enough, it was good too. I don’t think I’ve ever had Hoppin John that wasn’t tasty!
I chose this recipe because it didn’t make a huge pot full. You can only eat blackeyed peas SO many days in a row…
Hoppin John
1 cup dried black-eyed peas
olive oil
1/2 c chopped onion
1/2 c red or green bell pepper
garlic
1 jalapeno sliced/diced
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t cumin
1 c water
1 can chicken broth
1/2 t thyme
bay leaf
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 t salt
1/2 c rice
Rinse and soak the black-eyed peas overnight. Rinse and drain.
Heat a little olive oil in a pan and cook the chopped onion and bell pepper until the onions are translucent. Add in a minced clove of garlic, the sliced and diced jalapeno. Then toss in the herbs, the water and chicken broth. Toss in the salt and pepper and the bay leaf too. Simmer the peas for about an hour.
You can then either cook the rice in a separate pan and add to the mixture, remember rice is easy. OR you can add a little more chicken broth or water and add the rice direct to the pan, just let it simmer 15-20 minutes or until the rice is done.
Hoppin John
Doesn’t it look yummy?
I paired it with flounder seasoned with Cajun herbs/spices, broccoli and garlic bread.
yum!
Tags: Hoppin John, New Years Day meal, recipe
Posted in Supper | No Comments »
December 10th, 2010
from my mil!
2 egg yolks
1 can condensed milk
1/4 c lemon juice
Beat the egg yolks into a can of condensed milk. Add the lemon juice and stir. Pour into baked pie shell or graham cracker crust. Pour on meringue and bake until golden brown.
Meringue:
2 egg whites
1/4 c sugar
BEAT until fluffy!
Tags: Pearl's Lemon Chiffon
Posted in Desserts | No Comments »
December 9th, 2010
Good for decorating!
We made hundreds of cutout cookies one year….
Butter Frosting
1/4 c butter
2 1/2 c powdered sugar
2 T milk
1 t vanilla
Beat softened butter until creamy. Beat in the sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth and will hold a shape.
That’s it!
Tags: butter frosting
Posted in Desserts | No Comments »
December 8th, 2010
This is the cookie that everyone asks for! Not sure I want to share….. 
Washboard Cookies
2 eggs
2 c brown sugar
1 c butter
1 t soda
2 T hot water
1 t vanilla
3 1/2 c flour
Mix eggs with sugar. Add butter and soda dissolved in the hot water. Add vanilla and flour. Mix well. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Press each cookie with tines of a fork.
Bake 10 min at 350
Tags: washboard cookies
Posted in Snack | No Comments »
