Yummy in My Tummy: Thanksgiving Leftovers

This frugalista had one busy morning.  I took my leftover turkey and ham from our Thanksgiving feast on Sunday and turned them into a variety of casseroles to fill my freezer.  I have come to realize that I will most likely rather spend my evenings after work playing with my lil girl as opposed to cooking dinner. 

I made three different casserole recipes.  Each recipe made two family-size servings.  This leaves me with dinner for tonight and five other meals for when I go back to work. 

The first recipe I made is called Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole.  This used my leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing mix and created a yummy casserole.  It has a really nice sauce that holds it all together.  I enhanced the flavor by adding thyme, rosemary, and sage to the sauce.  I did some quality control when it came out of the oven, and I give this 2 thumbs up. 

I used the rest of my leftover turkey to make Turkey Tetrazzini.  We are going to eat one of the casseroles for dinner tonight.  I also taste tested this one when it came out of the oven....YUM!  It is creamy and cheesy and loaded with fat and calories.  I lightened mine up with skim milk and margarine. 

The last casserole I made is mimicked after one of my favorite meals of my Mama's.  It is Cheesy Ham and Potato Casserole.  I don't actually follow a recipe for this one.  All you do is boil some potatoes, mix them with chunks of ham, drench it in a cheese and milk sauce, and bake.  It is always a hit. 

I am definitely going to appreciate these casseroles in a few weeks! 

Yummy In My Tummy: Easy Taco Bake

A while back, I posted a recipe for Italian Pizza Bake.  I decided to shake it up a little bit and make a Taco Pizza using the same basic recipe. 

First off, make the crust using 2/3 cup Bisquick, 1 egg, and 3 Tbsp of water.

Now for the sauce...I substituted salsa for the normal pizza sauce. 

Add a healthy layer of leftover taco meat (another great way to use leftovers).

Now you can add all your favorite toppings.  I used tomatoes, peppers, and onions.  YUM!

You can't forget the cheese!

Bake for 20-23 minutes in a 400 degree oven! 

Now how is that for an easy weeknight din din!

Yummy in My Tummy: Canned Peaches

Here is another easy canning recipe!  Do you have a bundle of fresh peaches and don't know what to do with them?  Go ahead and can them so you can enjoy them later on in the year.

Give your peaches a 30 second bath in boiling water.

Transfer them to an ice water bath!  This will make the skins easy to remove.

Peel the skins and remove the pits.  Add the peach halves or slices to a saucepan and make a simple syrup.  I used 1 cup of sugar and 2 1/2 cups water to make my syrup.  I boiled the mixture for about 5 minutes.

Add to jars and process for 25 minutes.

YUM! Use these as you would store-bought canned peaches!

Yummy in My Tummy: Zucchini Relish

Last weekend, I had a two day Zucchini Fest at my house.  I had oodles of zucchini so I spent the weekend making 2 types of zucchini bread, zucchini cake, and zucchini relish.  Since I am participating in Ott, A's Canning Week Party, I will share the recipe for the relish.

Take clean zucchini and cut into chunks.  Pulse in a food processor until it appears to be a tiny dice.  Be careful not to process too long or it will become too mushy! Do the same with 2 onions.

Mix the zucchini and onions with pickling salt and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, rinse the mixture with cold water and drain well!

Add green pepper, sugar, vinegar, dry mustard, turmeric, celery seed, and pimento and simmer for 30 minutes.

Put into jars and process for 10 minutes in a water bath.

YUM!  This relish can be substituted anywhere that cucumber relish is used!

10 cups coarsely ground zucchini

2 large onions

5 T. pickling salt

4 C. sugar

2 1/4 C. vinegar

1 t. dry mustard

1 t. turmeric

1 t. celery seed

1 chopped green pepper

1 small can pimento

Yummy in My Tummy: Applesauce

My parents have a cute little orchard that my dad planted a few years ago.  I really enjoy getting fresh apples and peaches from them.  I decided to make and can some applesauce from their apples.  My HHBL likes to eat applesauce with his lunch and the baby might enjoy it here in a few months. 

It was really a rather simple recipe!  All you need is apples, water, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 

First, start out by peeling and coring your apples.  My recipe calls for about 6 cups total.  Take the apples and put them in a saucepan with 1/2 cup water.

Bring the mixture to a boil for about 10 minutes or until the apples are soft. 

I used a potato masher to smash the apples to the right consistency. If you want yours really smooth, you can use a food processor.

Add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 t. cinnamon, and 1/8 t. nutmeg.  Boil for about 2 minutes.

Now, follow normal canning guidelines.  Put the applesauce in sterilized jars.  Process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes. 

YUM!

Yummy in My Tummy: Grilled Summer Veggies

One of my favorite parts of summer is all the fresh produce available from my garden.  I honestly think that foods taste better if you grow them yourself.  I have discovered that one of my favorite ways to use up the veggies is to throw them on the grill.  This is a quick and healthy side dish for any meal!

Start off with your favorite veggies.  I use cherry tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant in my version.

Dice up the veggies into large chunks.  I leave the cherry tomatoes whole!

Give your veggies a health dose of the good stuff...olive oil and seasonings.  You can use any type of seasoning blend that you have available.  I tend to try a different blend each time I make this recipe. 

I put my veggies on a grill pan over medium to high heat for about 10 minutes.  Be sure to keep an eye on these bad boys because they char very easily.  Flip your veggies half way through!

YUM!  I served mine with barbecued chicken from the grill.  Be aware!  These are addictive!

Enjoy!

Yummy in My Tummy: Pigs in the Mud

During my annual visit to the Indiana State Fair, my nephew and I were walking down the midway when we saw this intriguing sign!  My nephew's curiosity was sparked so he convinced me that we needed to try one of these interesting fair treats.

So what is this "Pig in the Mud" you might ask?  Well it turns out that it is chocolate covered bacon!  Yes, you read that correctly.  Seeing how it is the year of the Pork at the fair, I couldn't resist trying one of these!

My nephew absolutely loved these critters.  I wasn't so easily persuaded.  The bacon was just a little limp for my liking; however, with the right type of thick and crispy bacon, it could be a winner in my book!

I would highly recommend making a trip to the Indiana State Fair to try these and many other interesting foods!  It's a great way to spend a day with the family!

Thanks again to the Indiana Soybean Alliance for the tickets to the fair and to Indiana Dairy and Indiana Beef for providing our meals for the day!

It's Getting a Little CORNy Around Here

If you follow my sister's blog over at Gal in the Middle, you have most likely read about the Shuckfest that happens each year at my parent's house.  Since I am the long lost sister that lives away from home, I have my own little Shuckfest at my house.  Mine doesn't involve the large amounts of corn and multiple helpers for that matter, but I would say we did pretty good.

I invited the White Trash Hillbilly Neighbor over for the afternoon to share in the festivities.  It was fun teaching her how to use the electric knife to simplify the whole process.  We both ended up with around twenty baggies of corn to use the rest of the year.

Here is our starting point...

So how did we turn that into this??

It was simple, just follow these easy steps.  Shuck, clean, boil, cool, cut, freeze!  Shuck the corn.  Clean the silks by washing it in the sink.  Boil the ears for a few minutes.  Toss the cooked corn into cold water to cool.  Cut the kernels off the ear with an electric knife.  Scoop into freezer bags and freeze for future use.

The hard work is worth the effort!

I'm Feelin' Blue!

Who knew that Indiana had so many wonderful blueberry farms.  I stumbled upon a U-Pick farm a couple years ago in the area.  If you are looking for something to do with your family, I highly recommend finding a U-Pick farm in the summer. 

As a ten year 4-H member, I was able to use the skills I learned in in my Food Preservation projects to savor these beauties all year long.  This method freezes each berry individually so that you can enjoy a few berries at a time.  I scoop out a few berries each day to add to my yogurt.  If you try to put them all in a freezer bag at once to freeze, you will end up with one big clump of berries.

Step 1: Give these babies a good rinse.

Step 2: Spread the berries out of a dish towel to dry completely.  It is important that there is no residual water. This is a good time to remove any stems or bad berries that you missed before.

Step 3: Spread the berries out in a single layer on a cookie sheet.

Step 4: Put into freezer for a couple hours or until each individual berry freezes.

Step 5: Put the frozen berries into a freezer bag and put back into the freezer to enjoy!

The skills I learned in 4-H sure do come in handy.  I can't wait to go to the Indiana State Fair to see all the projects from this generation of 4-Hers!

Yummy In My Tummy: Zucchini Pie

I have oodles and oodles of zucchini.  This week alone, I have picked approximately 20 zucchini, all being on the large (slightly obese) size.  I ran into this problem last year.  I gave away dozens from my garden. Did I learn my lesson?  Nope, I think I even planted more this year than last.  In the past week and a half, I have made 5 large and 8 small loaves of zucchini bread, 2 zucchini pies, roasted zucchini for dinner, 11 pints of zucchini pickles and this doesn't include the 9 zucchini that I am taking home to give away to my family this weekend. 

Last year, I had a co-worker pass along this Zucchini Pie Recipe!  It is phenomenal if you like a good cream pie.  It is a mix between a sugar cream and pumpkin pie, if you can imagine that. 

This pie freezes extrememly well!  Just wrap it in a layer of plastic wrap, followed by a layer of foil, toss it in a plastic zip lock freezer bag, and throw it in the freezer. 

The blogosphere has been full of talk about weight loss and diets! Well YOU are in luck! This pie can be made with fat free evaporated milk, splenda, and without a crust for a low calorie treat.

First off, you need to cook your zucchini.  Follow these easy steps!

Start off with some peeled zucchini or bare-naked ladies as I like to call them!

Dice up the bare-naked ladies into large chunks.

Boil them in water until fork-tender.

Strain the zucchini.  I press the excess water out of the chunks with a paper towel.

Now for secondary ingredients. (Disclaimer: Only one egg was harmed in making this recipe.  It landed with a lovely splat as it hit the kitchen floor!)

Mix all the ingredients in a blender!  It is almost as fun as making margharitas (almost I said)!

Pour into a deep dish pie shell!

Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.  Sprinkle with cinnamon!

 

Zucchini Pie

1 cup cooked zucchini

1 can evaporated milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 Tbs melted margarine

1 cup sugar

2 Tbs flour (heaping)

1 egg

Bon Appetite!

Yummy in My Tummy: Golden Harvest Bread

I found this amazing recipe in a magazine last summer.  In the magazine, they call it a cake but I think it is more like a bread.  The star of this recipe is the zucchini!  I love planting zucchini in my garden.  They are so versatile; they can grilled, roasted or baked, and they are wonderful in desserts.  My momma always made zucchini bread in the summer.  Actually to be more specific, she made Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread (we wouldn't eat it as well without the chocolate chips). 

So here is my take on an old favorite...

I started off with these gorgeous zucchinis.

I love any recipe that allows me to break out the food processor! Well it just so happens that the grating tool on my food processor is perfect for grating zucchini for bread.

Time to work on the dry ingredients!  Mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl.

Add the shredded zucchini.  I sometimes add half carrots and half zucchini for a spin (not today).

Now lets focus on the wet ingredients. Mix together buttermilk, vegetable oil, and eggs.  (I happen to use the same trick that they do over at the pig pen.  I mix together regular milk and a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to make buttermilk).

Now it is time to mix the wet and the dry ingredients together.

Now, it's the time you have all been waiting for!  Lets add the chocolate chips.  I mix mine in flour to prevent them from sinking from the bottom of the pan.

I made a triple batch this time.  That way, there is plenty to share.  I'm sure our white trash hillbilly neighbors would enjoy some! I like to use both regular loaf pans and mini loaf pans. Be sure to spray them with cooking spray!

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30-35 minutes for the mini loaves and 45 minutes for a regular loaf.

Bon Appetite!

Golden Harvest Bread

1 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 cups zucchini

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup buttermilk

2 eggs