Turkey Lurkey!!

Merry Christmas!!!

With it being the holidays, I thought would write about how you can get 4-5 meals (for a family of 5) out of one 17 lbs bird.

First of all, you have to get the bird. I prefer frozen. This time of year you can pick up a frozen turkey for pennies, which may be why someone is always giving us one. What a yummy gift!
If you have a large frozen turkey, set it on a plate in your fridge for about three days. Never allow meat to thaw on your counters! When the bird is thawed it is time for roasting. (be sure that you have 3-4 hours to spare, I always choose a free Saturday or Sunday)

To roast:
• Set the oven to 375* and grab your roasting pan. (for easy clean up use Reynolds bags)
• Now, peek inside your turkey. There you should find a bag of spare parts, heart, neck and liver (aka giblets). Pull it out. You can simmer them in water to make a broth or gravy, or toss them. Your choice!
•Now bathe you bird with cold water. Be sure to rinse it inside and out, then pat dry with a paper towel.
• Next, prepare your seasoning. Mix 1 cup softened butter with a generous amount of you favorite seasonings. I prefer a dash of salt, 1 TBSP lemon pepper, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder and a pinch of parsley flakes. Or you can buy a McCormick's seasoning packet.
• Back to the bird, using either your fingers or the back of a tablespoon, separate the skin from the meat. Be sure not to rip, tear or puncture it or your turkey will lose all of its juices. When you have some good wiggle room between the meat and the skin, spread your seasoned butter mixture around in there (using you fingers works best here). Also, rub it all over the outside of the skin as well, so that it will brown well while roasting.
• Don't forget to seanon the inside of the bird. Sprinkle some salt and pepper in there. For some added flavor, quarter up a onion and throw in a few whole garlic cloves.
• Grab your Reynold's bag, add 2 TBSP flour and give a good toss to coat the inside of your bag. Then place your bird, breast up, in the bag. Set it in the roasting pan. Tie the bag shut and pierce the bag with a knife six times to allow steam to vent.
• Finally, pop your seasoned gobbler in the oven for the time recommended on the packaging. For my 17 lbs bird it took just 3 hours.
• When the timer buzzes, check the bird. Stick a kitchen thermometer into the fattest part of the thigh, if it reads atleast 165*, it's done.
• Now to impress your family, set the bird on a platter and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

Your bird is roasted and ready to serve. Mix up some instant mashed tators, heat up some frozen green beans, a make some gravy from the drippings. You have your first dinner.
After dinner, carve the remainder of your bird and save the carcass to make a stock. Refrigerate the leftovers. I will post my turkey dinner #2 recipe: Homemade Turkey Potpie tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

Dirty Laundry

When my neighbor's husband found out I was making my own laundry detergent he called me a hippy! I refuse to be called a hippy, I support our troops, I shower regularly, I do not protest nor do I wear flowers in my hair. A penny pincher, yes, a nut, maybe, but a hippy I am not. Yes, my youngest daughter is wearing cloth diapers and it is true that I make most of my household cleaners, but I do it all to save some pennies.

There are many recipes online for homemade laundry soap. First, you need to decide if you prefer liquid or a powder. I prefer liquid for my front load HE Kenmore. I scanned through dozens of sites, spent hours on pinterest and then decided that I was brave enough to try it.

What you'll need:

--(10-15) 1 gallon containers (milk jugs or I prefer my old Tide bottles)
--5 gallon bucket with lid ($4-5 at any hardware store or wal-mart)
--Fels-Naptha bar soap (found in the laundry aisle of most grocery stores for about $2)
--Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (found in the laundry aisle of the store about $3 a box, not baking soda)
--Borax (also found in the laundry aisle for about $3)

(Hmm...$12-13, about the cost of a bottle of detergent, and the crazy thing is this will last far longer)

1. Get out your grater and grate the entire Fels-Naptha bar.
2. Combine the soap flakes with 4 cups of hot water in a pot. Stir continuously over med-low heat for about 10 minutes or until the soap has completely melted.
3. Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot water.
4. Next, add the soap mixture, 1 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup Borax to the 5 gallon bucket and stir. (you can use a mop handle, an extra long spoon, a drywall mud mixer attachment for a cordless drill or anything else that is long enough so you scrape the bottom of the bucket)
5. Now, add water to the mixture in the 5 gallon bucket until it is full (about 2 more gallons of water). Stir well.
6. Next, place the lid on the bucket and let it sit over night.
7. 24 hours later, remove the lid. There should be a thick gel at the top of bucket. Stir again until smooth.
8. Grab your empty bottles/containers. Using a funnel, fill them half full with the detergent mixture. Then fill the other half with water. Shake well, but be sure to seal the container first with a lid! :)

Congrats, now you have made your first batch of laundry detergent!

To use:
In an HE front loader, add 1/4 cup of detergent.
For a regular top loading machine, add 1/2-3/4 cup.

You can add some essential oil of your choice (found in the laundry aisle), but I prefer Scentsy Washer Whiffs for my towels and linens.

Thanks for reading!!

My Zulily obsession

To my close friends, family, and husband it is no secret that I bargain shop. When looking for the name brand shoes that our girls desire or this year's most sought after gift, you will find me surfing the web for that very best price. I find every way I can save a bit when spending money. I found a website called Zulily a few years ago and fell in love. Not only do they carry the name brands that I love, but they also carry other items that I have never heard of at amazing prices. Up to 75% off. So when I am looking for the best price or the oh so unique gift Zulily is my first stop.
My other favorite online shops, eBay and Amazon. My husband gets nervous when I am on eBay. He claims that I have an addiction. I do both, buy and sell, but most of what I make from selling goes back into eBay when I go shopping. That is what makes my hubby cringe. ;)
Ahh....Amazon. Amazon has it all from digital copies of movies to dining room sets. Amazon is my most recent obsession. With many sellers as well as their own warehouse you can always save some dough when shopping with them.
For all of you procrastinators (like myself) good luck to with your holiday shopping. For those go getting over achievers, shut up. :)
Thanks for reading.

Amazon.com
eBay.com
Zulily.com/invite/Redamy

Make it yourself--Dishwasher Detergent

I ran out of dishwasher detergent about a month ago. I was loading the dishwasher after dinner when I realized that I had forgotten to pick up more during my weekly grocery shopping trip. I ran the dishwasher through a rinse cycle with plans to buy more detergent the next day. That night while on pinterest.com I saw many different recipe postings for home made detergent. I read through a handful of blogs, and over the next week I experimented. This is what I came up with.

What you will need:
-A clean, dry, plastic container with a lid (a Maxwell House container works for me)
-1 cup Arm & Hammer baking soda
-1 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda
-A large bottle of white vinegar

Directions:
Combine the baking soda and washing soda in your plastic container. Place the lid on the container and make sure you have a good seal. Then shake your container vigorously for 30-60 seconds. Allow container to sit for a couple minutes before removing the lid to allow the dust to settle. Congrats you have now made your own dishwasher detergent.

To use:
Add 2 tablespoons to your dishwasher's detergent dispenser.
Next, fill your rinse aid dispenser with white vinegar. (for some odd reason our dishwasher doesn't have one, so I add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the bottom of the machine for each load)
Run your machine as you normally would. Tada, your dishes are squeaky clean.

To save energy, turn off your dishwasher's heated dry setting and prop the door to allow them to air dry.

Thanks for reading!

Mish Mash....casserole

My very good friend Randi, her family and mine get together every couple of weeks for dinner and fun. This last Friday night was kind of a last minute thing and neither of us had anything planned for dinner. So after two short phone calls back and forth, I through some groceries into a bag, loaded my family in the van, and headed to her house. Then we got creative...
The final recipe:
1 - 16 oz box of spaghetti
2 - 10.5 oz cream of mushroom soup
1 - 12.5 oz canned chicken
1 - 15 oz canned peas
8 oz velveeta
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:
First, prepare spaghetti as instructed on the box and preheat the oven to 350. After you have cooked and drained the pasta, return it to the pot and stir in the velveeta, mushroom soup, sour cream, canned chicken and peas. Next, stir in the seasonings (garlic, onion, salt and pepper). Cook on med-low heat for 5-10 minutes or until the velveeta is melted. Now transfer the contents of the pot to a 9x13 casserole dish. Spread the pasta evenly in the pan. Now, sprinkle the bread crumbs generously on the pasta, followed by the Parmesan. Bake uncovered for 20-25 mins. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 min before serving.

Yum!!! This was awesome. Randi named it Mish-mash which truly fits. This recipe I would consider as a medium effort recipe because of the time to prepare and bake ( about an hour from start to finish), but it is fairly simple.

Thanks for reading.

Pudding

Today, after school we made homemade vanilla pudding. I realize that this isn't such an amazing feat but to my daughters (and myself) this was huge. We didn't need the fancy little box of instant stuff from the store we just needed a recipe. I did a google search and came up with thousands of results. Being a fan of allrecipes.com, I chose their link to the Homemade Vanilla Pudding.

The Homemade Vanilla Pudding recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups milk

1/2 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat milk until bubbles form at edges. In a bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Pour into hot milk, a little at a time, stirring to dissolve. Continue to cook and stir until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Do not boil! Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and butter. Pour into serving dishes and chill for an a hour. Serves 4.

Amazing!! This was so quick and easy, not instant like the packet but by far more budget friendly.
Thanks for reading.