Instant Pot Italian Chicken

I've seen several versions of this chicken, both Instant Pot and stove top and I decided I wanted to try it.  When your kids say, "Good job, Mom!" before they've even tasted it you know dinner is a hit!

Instant Pot Italian Chicken

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

olive oil

Italian seasoning

garlic salt

1/2 c. chicken broth

1 c. cream

5-6 oz parmesan cheese

1 c. chopped spinach

1/2 c. sun dried tomatoes

2 TBSP cream cheese

8 oz sliced mushrooms

Slice chicken breasts in half to make them thinner.  Coat with garlic oil and sprinkled both sides with seasonings.  Cook chicken breasts in your Instant Pot two at a time on saute until lightly browned.  After chicken is browned, remove all chicken. Add broth to IP and stir to remove brown bits from the bottom.  Add chicken back into pot and high pressure for 10 minutes.  Quick release the pressure and remove chicken from pot.

Add remaining ingredients to pot.  Simmer and stir on saute until mushrooms are slightly softened.  

To serve, place chicken on top of cooked pasta and top with sauce.  Yum!

St. Patty's Day Tablescape and Irish Dinner

We have never done leprechaun traps or other kidsy St. Patrick's Day traditions at our house, but every year I make an Irish meal and some sort of green dessert to celebrate the holiday. Instead of doing corned beef, I typically do pork and I always make Irish soda bread!

Irish Bacon and Cabbage

boneless pork roast
red potatoes
carrots
cabbage
salt

The night before cooking, place the roast into a big bowl of cold water and add lots of salt... about a cupful. Let it sit in the fridge overnight. The next morning, place the drained meat in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots. Add a bit of water. Let cook on low all day. 30 minutes before serving add the cabbage, cut into chunks.

Irish Soda Bread

4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 to 1 ½ c buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425. Mix together dry ingredients. Gradually add buttermilk, mixing with a large spoon until dough is firm enough to be gathered into a large ball. If the dough is crumbly, add some more buttermilk, a tablespoonful at a time, until it all adheres to the ball. Place on a lightly floured board. Pat and shape it into a flat circular loaf, about 8 inches around and 1 ½ inches thick. Set on a floured baking sheet. With the tip of a knife, cut a ½ inch deep cross into the dough, dividing it into quarters. Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and wrap in a clean dish cloth. Let cool about 20 minutes.

Of course in an LDS home we have root beer with our St. Patty's Day dinner!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Fried Ravioli

Fried ravioli is one of our favorites!  Even my kids who don't like ravioli cooked the traditional way like them fried.  These make a fun appetizer or we've even had them for dinner with a green salad.  Right now my husband and I are focusing on healthy eating, but I can still dream about fried foods, right?

Fried Ravioli

frozen ravioli

egg, beaten with a tiny amount of water

Italian seasoned breadcrumbs & Parmesan cheese (the powdery kind)

oil

Take your frozen ravioli, dip them first in the egg/water mixture, then in the breadcrumb/cheese mixture.  Fry in hot oil until hot all the way through.  Serve with marinara or spaghetti sauce to dip!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake

This has become one of my most requested dinners!  It takes a little bit of prep time, but not near as much as traditional chicken cordon bleu and it's totally worth it!  The whole family loves it.  I never have leftovers.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake

2 lb boneless, skinless chicken cut into bite-sized pieces

flour

1/2 c. milk mixed with 1 egg

unseasoned bread crumbs

Dip chicken pieces in the flour, then the milk/egg mixture and finally the bread crumbs.  Brown in oil and transfer to a 9x13 pan.

Sprinkle over chicken and stir:

8 oz swiss cheese, cubed

8 oz ham, diced

Mix together:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 c. milk

1 T honey dijon mustard

Pour over the top of chicken, cheese and ham.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes

Small Freezer Lasagna

 

Freezer meals are fabulous!  One of my favorite freezer meals is lasagna!  You can make your favorite lasagna recipe in disposal pans from the dollar store, freeze them and then throw them in the oven anytime you like!  I always use oven-ready noodles for my freezer lasagnas so I don't even have to cook the noodles.  When you use the oven-ready noodles, you use one noodle for each noodle layer and they fit perfectly!

The containers come in three packs for $1, so there is very little cost for packaging.  Each container holds about 2lbs, so it's not a tiny lasagna, but it's not family sized either.  A double batch of lasagna will make about six small freezer lasagnas.  

After you've layered your lasagna ingredients into the pans, cover them with a double layer of tin foil and label with cooking directions:  Bake at 350 covered for an hour, then uncover and bake until done.  After they're labeled, you're ready to pop them into the freezer!

I typically make veggie lasagna since Nina is a vegetarian, then any time I make a meaty lasagna for dinner I can throw one of these in for her.  There is always enough left for her to take leftovers for lunch for a couple of days too.  Small freezer lasagnas are fabulous gifts for new moms as well! Who doesn't love having a lasagna in the freezer?!

Breakfast Skillet: a great way to use up garden zucchini and day-old bread

I really love breakfast foods.  Like A Lot.  Garden season is the best because I have all sorts of veggies to use up in my breakfasts, including zucchini!  Yummy!

 This breakfast is a really great way not only to use up zucchini, but also to use up day-old bread.  If you're a bread-maker like I am, then you probably often have extra rolls and breads that need to be used up.  The bread I used this time is oregano bread.  To make oregano bread I add 1 cup of chopped fresh oregano leaves (from my yard) along with some garlic and onion powder into my normal french bread recipe.  It comes out fabulous and it makes 2 loaves, so I often have part of a loaf left the next day.  Any sort of rolls or bread will work great.

I like to start my skillet with bacon grease, but butter works well too.  Melt your bacon grease or butter in a frying pan.  Saute diced zucchini and ham (if desired) in the grease.  You can add other veggies such as onions, mushrooms or peppers in if you'd like too.  When the zucchini is almost tender add day-old bread cubes into the mix and cook until they're golden brown.  Add eggs and scramble.  Top with cheese and stir until cheese is melted.  That's it!

The bread cubes get nice and toasted and absorb the flavor of the bacon grease!  Every time I make this I get compliments on the unexpected flavor of the toasted bread cubes.  The zucchini tastes very delicious with eggs and cheese.  This can be served as an inexpensive dinner as well!  I make it without ham as often as I make it with ham and either way it's great!

German Pancakes & Buttermilk Maple Syrup for a Crowd

 

Sunday mornings can be quite crazy around here!  Besides me and Eric and my three kids, we also often have Eric's four boys on the weekends along with my sister's three kids who I babysit full time (including most Sundays).  Cold cereal can be expensive for a crowd that large.  How the heck did I end up with 10 kids???  German Pancakes are a quick and inexpensive breakfast (or even dinner!).  I like to pair it with fruit, like grapes or bananas and yogurt on the side.  German Pancakes are fabulous with regular syrup or jam, but I usually make a delightful homemade syrup when making them, just for fun!

German Pancakes for a Crowd

1/4 c. butter or margarine

12 eggs

2 c. milk

2 c. flour

Turn the oven on to 400.  Place the butter in a 4.8 qt (bigger than a 9x13 pan) baking pan and place in the preheating oven.  Meanwhile mix the remaining ingredients in your blender.  It will be FULL, but it will fit.  I usually start with only 1 cup of milk with the eggs and flour, mix it really well in the blender and then add the last cup of milk and mix it on low just until blended.

Move the pan around to even coat with melted butter, pour the blended mixture on top of the butter and bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes until done.  That's all there is to it!  Cut into squares and serve.

Buttermilk Maple Syrup

Boil together for a few minutes in a med-large saucepan:

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 c. buttermilk

1/2 c. butter

2 TBSP molasses

dash salt

Remove from heat and add: 

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp maple flavoring

2 tsp vanilla

Mixture will foam up at first, but will settle as it cools.  Serve warm or at room temperature.   Store leftovers in the fridge.  Will stay good for a week or so.

Crab Mango Salad

This is a fabulously delightful salad!  It's fresh and healthy and flavorful!  I wasn't quite sure how all the flavors would blend together, but it turned out great!  I served this for a luncheon at my house with homemade rolls on the side and it was gobbled up!

Crab Mango Salad

2 mangoes, diced
3 avocados, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno, seeds removed and finely diced
1 c frozen white corn
1 lb imitation crab, diced
juice of 2 limes
sea salt & pepper

Mix all ingredients together.  Refrigerate before serving to allow flavors to blend.  Would be nice with chopped shrimp instead of crab if desired.

Homemade Frozen Pizzas by the Bundle

First off I just want to acknowledge that this is post #1111 on The American Homemaker!  Cool, huh?

Homemade pizza is amazing, but can be a lot of work compared to ordering pizza or tossing a frozen one in the oven.  By making a large batch of dough all at once you can make your own frozen pizzas that taste fabulous, but take no prep time on cooking day!  This recipe will make four regular size pizzas or you can make individual pizzas if that's what your family prefers and you'll get more than four!  Homemade frozen pizzas are a great meal to take to people as well!  Who doesn't like pizza?  I like to start making pizzas in the late afternoon and then serve the last one or two as dinner!  Dinner now and dinner another day!  You could also just freeze the crusts if you like and top later.

Pizza Crust

2 TBSP yeast
3 c. warm water
7-8 c. flour (whole wheat also works great)
1/3 c. oil
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp sugar

 In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in remaining ingredients adding flour until it makes a nice smooth, but not-too-dry dough.  Cover and let rise until double.  Stretch dough onto a cornmeal-sprinkled pizza pans. Leave the dough covered until you're ready to put it on the pan.  If it rises again, that's ok!  Bake each crust at 475 for 5 minutes.

For pizza right now:
Top your partially baked crust with sauce, toppings and cheese.  Bake at 475 another 5-10 minutes until crust is done and cheesy is hot and bubbly.

For frozen pizzas:
Place your partially baked crust onto tin foil cut long enough to wrap around the pizza.  Add the sauce and toppings. Cover the whole pizza with tin foil. You can add plastic wrap around that if you like for extra protection against freezer burn. Carefully place the pizza flat to freeze. Once frozen you can stand it up on its side.

To cook after freezing, do not thaw. Remove from freezer, unwrap, place on your pizza pan and bake at 475 checking after 15 minutes.

My kids asked if they could eat their individual pizzas in the living room... I thought they wanted to watch a show or something, but when I walked in this is what I saw... One kid lounging on the couch and the other hiding in the corner.  They're odd ones for sure!!!

Lasagna Roll-ups & a Vintage Tablescape

I have a passion for Homer Laughlin china!  I just love it!  I purchased this china set during the summer for a great price, but this is the first time I've used it.  Nina and her friends were going to the Preference dance, where the girls ask the boys and the theme was The Great Gatsby.  I told her I'd make their "fancy" dinner before the dance!  It gave me a chance to use this beautiful 1940's china!

 I love Italian food almost as much as I love vintage dishes!  I knew I had to make an Italian menu for the night!  Caesar salad is my ultimate favorite salad.  I'm not sure why, but I love it.

Lasagna roll-ups are one of my favorite dinners!  Since Nina is a vegetarian they made a great main dish choice for the night!  These always come out great, can be made ahead and freeze fabulously before they're cooked, plus they're fancy enough for company!  This makes a large batch, so you can freeze half if you don't need them all now.

Lasagna Roll-ups

16 oz package of lasagna noodles, cooked & cooled

32 oz small curd cottage cheese
3 eggs
4 c. loosely packed chopped fresh spinach
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 c. shredded Italian cheese mix

Mix filling ingredients well and spread some filling onto each noodle.  Roll up carefully and place in a pan seam down.  You should be able to fill 15-18 noodles depending on how full you make them.  If you are making these ahead of time, this is the point where you'd freeze or refrigerate them.  To freeze, place carefully in a ziplock bag and freeze, then you can pull out how many you need.  To refrigerate, cover your pan and place in fridge up to a day in advance.  I top the roll-ups with a jar of spaghetti sauce before baking, but you could use any pasta sauce or no sauce at all if you prefer.  You can also add more cheese to the top.  Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.  If they are frozen they will take longer to bake.  Let cool a few minutes before serving.  These are great leftover and I have to admit I've had them for breakfast more than once!

 Nina decided to wear a vintage cream colored lace dress that I've had since I was younger than her!  She looked beautiful!

I don't know if I've shared it yet, but she cut her hair off!  She's had waist-length hair for years, but she chopped it to her shoulders, got layers and dyed it all black!  It looks great on her!

 The kids enjoyed their formal dinner and I enjoyed making it for them!

Along with the lasagna roll-ups and caesar salad I also made homemade loaves of french bread and served it with balsamic vinegar and oil.  The oil and vinegar went into teacups!  They had sparkling cider and ice water in crystal goblets to drink.  I pulled out the gold flatware and the linen napkins.  Fancy dinners are so much fun!

Dessert was chocolate cream cheese roll cake and vanilla ice cream!

I miss doing nice tablescapes on a regular basis!  I'm making a goal to do them more often!

The American Homemaker's Zucchini Recipes and Ideas

I taught a Relief Society class last week on using up your garden zucchini.  We eat zucchini and/or squash every day at our house this time of year.  Every.  Single.  Day.  Here's the info from my class.  Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake

4 eggs
2/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. oil
1 T vanilla
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2/3 c. cocoa 1 tsp Pero powder (or coffee)
3 c. flour
4 heaping cups grated zucchini
2 c. mini chocolate chips

Mix everything well and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperate with butter or frosting on top.

Zucchini Relish 

Shredded zucchini
Ball Brand Dill Pickle Mix
Vinegar called for in mix

This is a hodge-podge method that my family loves. Add required vinegar & mix. Mix to shredded zucchini in a pot. I don’t add water since zucchini has so much water in it already. Heat until hot. Process pints for 20 minutes.

Zucchini Parmesan

Slice zucchini. Dip the slices in flour, then milk or eggs mixed with water and finally Panko crumbs. Panko is sold in the Asian or breadcrumb aisle of the grocery store. Fry in hot oil until golden brown and crisp on each side. Place on a paper towel lined pan when done. Top hot cooked spaghetti noodles with the fried zucchini in a 9x13 pan. Pour your favorite spaghetti sauce over the top. Top with shredded mozzarella or Italian mix cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until sauce is hot and cheese is melted.

Fried Zucchini

Peel zucchini. Take out the seedy part if it’s a big huge zucchini. Cut the meaty part into “french fries”. Dip the fries in flour with some pepper added, then milk or eggs mixed with water and finally Panko crumbs. Panko is sold in the Asian or breadcrumb aisle of the grocery store. Fry in hot oil until golden brown and crisp on each side. Remove from oil to a paper towel lined plate or tray. Serve hot with ranch dressing for dipping.  

Sweet Cooked Zucchini

zucchini or yellow squash
onion
butter
salt
pepper
brown sugar

Slice the squash into 1/2-inch rounds, cutting large ones in half. Add the butter to a frying pan that has a lid and melt over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the onions and cook until soft, about 4-5 minutes. Add zucchini/squash, salt, pepper and brown sugar. Stir, then cover and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until squash is very soft. Remove the lid and cook for a couple more minutes until some of the liquid is evaporated and thickened a bit.

Zucchini Skillet

1 lb hamburger
Zucchini or squash, diced
2 cans diced seasoned tomatoes
Shredded cheese

Fry hamburger and zucchini together until hamburger is done. Drain, if needed. Add tomatoes and stir well. Top with cheese and let melt.

Zucchini Funeral “Potatoes”

Use fresh shredded zucchini in place of frozen hash browns in your favorite funeral potato recipe! It’s delicious!  

Freezing Zucchini 

Zucchini freezes well, both cubed and shredded. Remove the peels before freezing because they become tough and bitter once frozen. I use frozen zucchini in cookies, cakes, brownies, chilies, soups, pastas and casseroles. If you put frozen diced zucchini into a crockpot meal it will break down and your family won’t even know it’s there, but it will stretch the meal further!

If you plan to serve your frozen zucchini in a way that you want it to still look like zucchini, leave the peel on, cut into half inch slices and blanch for three minutes, then drain and freeze. If you are unfamiliar with blanching, you boil the slices for three minutes then remove the squash from the boiling water and place it directly into ice water. Once cool you drain and freeze. These same freezing ideas work for summer squash and eggplant as well! I like to freeze eggplant, squash, zucchini and spinach together in the same bag to add to winter crockpot meals! I cook the spinach just for a minute before freezing.

Other Ideas for Using up Zucchini, Eggplant & Squash 

Add diced zucchini, eggplant or squash into:

Scrambled eggs
Hashbrowns
Spaghetti & other pastas
Casseroles Soups & chilies
Bbq beans
Enchiladas & burritos
Rice dishes

Broccoli & Cheese Quiche

I don't have the opportunity to eat quiche often, but when I do I enjoy it!  I figured why not make it for dinner?  This version of quiche is crustless, super cheesy and uses biscuit mix making it a simple and delightful meal.  You can add ham or cooked chicken if you like, but we go meatless several times a week and this is a good meatless option.

Broccoli & Cheese Quiche

1 bunch broccoli, chopped
3 c. shredded mozzarella
1 c. biscuit mix
4 eggs
1 c. milk
1 c. buttermilk
salt & pepper

Spread the broccoli in a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Mix remaining ingredients in a blender, mixer or by hand with a whisk.  Pour over the top of the broccoli/cheese mixture.  Bake at 350 for about an hour or until set and golden on top.

Serve warm, at room temperature or even cold... quiche is pretty versatile.  Some people like gravy on top too!

On a personal note... Life has been CRAZY at our house!  I've been as busy as can be!  We've had Eric's boys some this summer which has been hectic, I've been packing up & emptying out my craft room to make a bedroom for his son that we have full custody of, I'm spending tons of time buying & selling vintage,  Eric got a concussion on the 4th of July putting him out of commission for several days, Nina turned 16 last month, Caleb turned 12 this week on top of getting used to married life and being a full-time wife & mom.   We've also had a new addition to our lives named Millie.  This is how Millie looked when we found her:

I've been working every single day for the last month on this baby!  She's going to be used to sell my vintage treasures out of.  Have I mentioned that I've been selling vintage all year for a daily job instead of just casually selling on Etsy?  Probably not since I've been running myself ragged!  I sell locally through a vintage facebook group and at vintage markets, plus online through Etsy.

Millie was pretty trashed when we bought her, but I'm always up for a challenge!  The inside is ALMOST done and Eric has been prepping the outside for her pretty pink paint job.  I will be sure to share a bunch of before and after pictures when we're done!  I'll also be doing a vintage luncheon to show her off, so if you're local please join me!  Here's a sneak peek of Millie's inside now:

forgive the middle of the night cell phone pic

And this is how I feel after working in 100+ degree weather in a camper every day:

Happy summer!  *grin*

Cabbage Salad

I love the warm weather!  Salads and picnics come with warm weather!  Salads are my fave!  We have them a lot in the summertime!  This salad is great for potlucks and gatherings.  It makes a large amount, so you can cut it in half if you so desire.

Cabbage Salad

salad:
2 bags cabbage coleslaw mix
shredded chicken or pork
1 c. chopped nuts
2 pkg uncooked ramen noodles, crumbled (reserve seasoning)

dressing:
1 c. oil
1/3 c. rice vinegar
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp pepper
2 pkg seasoning from the ramen noodles

Mix salad ingredients together in a large bowl.  Mix dressing ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved.  Add to salad and toss.

Open-faced grilled cheeses go great with a main dish salad, plus they use up extra hamburger buns after a bbq!

Homemade Nacho Sauce, Salsa, Refried Black Beans (in the crockpot!) & Guacomole!

I love, love, love nachos!  They are so much better when the toppings are homemade!  Of course these toppings can be used for all sorts of everything, not just nachos!  

The Best Crockpot Refried Beans

All my kids will sit and eat these with tortilla chips or tortillas like crazy!  These beans are super addicting and they freeze well so I do up a big batch and freeze into 2 cup portions.

1-2 lbs dried pinto or black beans
sweet onion
garlic
chicken bouillon

1/4-1/2 c. butter
shredded cheese

Rinse beans.  Place in crockpot and fill the crockpot almost to the top with water.  You can substitute chicken broth for the water and bouillon if you like.  Add 1/2-1 sweet onion; no need to chop.  Add a couple cloves of garlic and bouillon.  Cook on high for a few hours stirring every once in a while.  If you're cooking 2 lbs of beans you may need to add more water towards the end.  Once the beans are nice and soft, remove the onion and drain most of the water. Keep the crockpot hot.  Add butter.

Use an immersion blender to smash the beans up nice and smooth.  If you don't have an immersion blender scoop the beans out a couple of cups at a time and blend in a regular blender.  A Guatemalan friend gave me the tip that you have to keep the beans hot the whole time you're blending them to have a nice texture.  When I made refried beans from dried in the past they were gritty... Blending them without letting the temperature drop keeps them delightfully smooth!  Once smooth, stir in cheese to taste! 

The Best Homemade Salsa

This recipe is my sister's... We love it!

2 cans diced tomatoes
3 fresh tomatoes
1/2 sweet onion
2 cloves garlic
juice of 3 limes
jalapeno or other pepper
1/2 bunch cilantro
salt & pepper

Blend together in a blender or food processor!  Enjoy!

Nacho Sauce

This isn't really a recipe, but a technique... It turns out really smooth and tasty!  Plus it's healthier than the processed stuff!  This is good on steamed veggies as well.  A lot of people try to start with a lot of liquid and attempt to use the cheese to thicken it up.  The trick is to use a lot of cheese and use a tiny bit of liquid to thin it down.

cheddar or other shredded cheese
liquid from bottled jalapenos
milk (optional)

Place jalapeno liquid in a saucepan to just cover the bottom.  Add shredded cheese (a couple of cups) and cook on medium whisking often until melted and smooth.  If sauce is too thick add just a tad more liquid or you can add a bit of milk.  Serve while still hot.

Guacamole

My favorite guacamole is simple and delicious!

avacodo
heaping tablespoon mayo
squirt of lime juice

Mash ingredients together with a fork.

Leftover Pot Roast Dinner Idea YUM YUM

Whenever I have leftover pork or beef roast I dice it up with the carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and whatever other cooked veggies I have leftover and saute them all together in melted butter!  It's so easy and we LOVE it!  You can serve it topped with gravy or ketchup.  It's my favorite way to eat leftover pot roast!

I really love that Nina is enjoying more time in the kitchen with me.  She is such an amazing (and beautiful) girl!  This is off-topic from pot roast, but I'm really grateful for her!

 Dinner is served!

YUM!

Crockpot Hamburger Patties with Gravy

This is a crockpot dinner that only takes 3-4 hours, which makes it nice because it's made ahead of time, but you don't have to prepare it first thing in the morning.  It also uses up leftover hamburger patties and you know, it's almost bbq season!  (Wishful thinking!!!)  It's not the pretty dinner, but it tastes yummy!

 Crockpot Hamburger Patties with Gravy

2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can (14oz) evaporated milk
2 tsp beef bouillion
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Cooked hamburger patties, leftover grilled patties work great!

Whisk the soup, milk, bouillon and sauce together in crock pot.  Top with cooked hamburger patties and cook on low for 3-4 hours.  Serve over hot cooked noodles, rice or mashed potatoes.  I served mine with macaroni noodles just because that's what I had handy.

String Cheese Meatloaf

I really love meatloaf!  It's just one of those meals that makes me happy.  I paired this low fat meatloaf with squash and peas for a nice filling, healthy dinner on Sunday.  The recipe can be made with any ground meat and it doubles really well.

I've been making my meatloaf with string cheese for as long as I can remember.  It just adds a little something.  If you like to make a sauce for your meatloaf it would still work with this one.

String Cheese Meatloaf

1lb low-fat turkey burger (or any type of burger you like)
3 c. cornflakes or rice crispies
1 egg
1/4 c. ketchup
1 T worchestershire sauce
dash liquid smoke

Mix all ingredients together and pat half of the mixture into a bundt or tube pan.  Place string cheese on the meat mixture making a ring.  You can cut and piece the string cheese as much as you like to make it fit and be pretty.  Spoon the rest of the meat mixture on top and pat down.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until meat is done.  Invert onto a serving platter and slice to serve.

Crockpot Baked Potatoes... REALLY

Baking your potatoes in the crockpot is so easy and they come out amazing!

 Wash your potatoes, poke them, wrap them in tin foil and cook them on low all day in a slow cooker.  It's that simple!!

They come out perfect and soft and delicious!  We have baked potatoes for dinner probably once a week.  We top them with butter, light sour cream and cheddar cheese.  Sometimes ham and broccoli will be potato toppers too.  With fruit on the side we consider it a meal.  Sweet potatoes work great too!

Homemade Turkey Stock & Turkey-Cranberry-Stuffing Casserole Recipe

I started making my own turkey stock a while back and I'll NEVER go back to canned broth.  Turkey stock is pretty much amazing for making homemade chicken and dumplings  or chicken noodle soup... I even used it in my homemade stuffing (recipe will come tomorrow!).  If you still have a turkey carcass in your fridge from Thanksgiving, don't waste it!  It makes amazing broth!

To make homemade stock, place your turkey carcass in a large pot.  Cover with water.  Add celery carrots, onions, spices and anything else you'd like to add flavor.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover and simmer for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.  Strain and place in a covered bowl in the fridge over night.  The next day the turkey stock should be a jelly-like consistency.  Scrape off any fat that has risen to the top.  Scoop into jars or plastic baggies to freeze. Leave lots of head space in your jars, lots.  Turkey stock is the only thing I've ever had expand enough in the freezer to break the jars.  I usually get 10-14 cups of stock from one turkey carcass.  To serve or use in recipes heat until it's liquid again.

It's my goal to get a pressure canner someday semi-soon so I can start canning my stock and other things that need a pressure canner.  It would be nice to not have to freeze everything.  I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be buying a house soon.  We could be moving as soon as January and there's a nice big storage room in the basement.  I'll for sure need to start canning more!  HOORAY.

And speaking of turkey leftovers...

This was something I threw together Sunday night... It's easy and delicious!

Turkey-Cranberry-Stuffing Casserole

10 1/2 oz can of gravy or leftover gravy
2 c. leftover turkey
stuffing
1/2 c. dried cranberries (if desired)
cranberry sauce

Mix the gravy and turkey together.  Place in the bottom of a casserole dish.  Make the stuffing as directed on package, adding cranberries if desired, or use leftover stuffing.  Spoon the stuffing evenly on top of the turkey/gravy mixture.  Top with cranberry sauce.  I used cranberry-apple sauce.  Cover, bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until hot.