Turkey Soup!

I'm finally writing down the way I make Turkey soup. My family loves it. I make a big batch and put some in those Ziploc containers in the deep freeze. They're great to have on-hand for later in the winter! Here's what I do...

1 Turkey carcass from an 18 lb. bird, with some meat left on.
The turkey jelly from the bottom of the roasting pan.
4 lbs. carrots, peeled and sliced.
3 medium onions, peeled and diced.
1 celery stalk, washed, and cut into small-ish pieces.
5 tablespoons of minced garlic.
3 Bay leaves (we pick them from my parent's home in CA!).
3 Tblsps Basil.
2 Tblsps Parsley.
1 Tblsp Oregano.
3 Tblsps Kosher Salt (but you can use regular).

Place the carcass and turkey jelly in a very large stock pot. Add carrots, onions, celery, and spices. Fill the pan about 3/4 full with water, making sure all the veggies and most of the meat is covered. Heat to boiling, then simmer about 20 minutes. Remove all turkey pieces from the pot and take the meat off the bone. Replace the meat in the pot, dispose of the bones, and re-heat, about 10 minutes. If there wasn't enough meat left on the bone, cut up some of the larger pieces leftover from the turkey and include in the soup.

Serve over your favorite cooked pasta!

Healthy Brownies!

I'm posting a lot today -- I've been fighting a sinus infection and feel pretty lousy today so I'm on the sofa trying to rest (with the laptop). The good news is the doctor just called to say he found just the right meds for me so I'll be good as new in just 10 days!

I ran across this recipe in the newsletter from our health club and wanted to share. It sounds really good, and I'm going to try it with the pulp from our last Girl Scout Troop meeting! If you have Brownie Mix leftover from the last GM deal at Jewel, this might be a fun (and healthy) way to use it up!

Low Fat Brownies

2 cups canned (or fresh!) pure pumpkin
1 box Fudge Brownie Mix (18.3 oz)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry mix and pumpkin and stir until smooth. Do not add anything else! Spray a small baking pan (8x8 works best) with nonstick cooking spray and pour in mixture. Cook for 35 minutes. The batter will remain very thick and fudgy, and will look undercooked. Remove from the oven. Cover with foil and let cool in fridge. Cut into squares and serve.

Nutrition: 1 piece has only 63 calories and 1 g of fat!

Now I'm thinking I could use a gluten-free brownie mix, either from Trader Joe's or Betty Crocker so my GF babe and I could enjoy these, too!

Lime Nut Mold (sans nuts)

This Lime Nut Mold is a family tradition. We've been making it for Thanksgiving and Christmas since I was a little girl. My family now prefers it without the nuts, but you can add them if you want! This recipe is especially pretty on the Christmas dinner table, because it's primary colors are green and red!

Lime Nut Mold

1 large or 2 small pkgs. Lime Jell-O
1 tall can Crushed Pineapple
1/4 cup chopped maraschino cherries
1 pt (16 oz) sour cream
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Dissolve Jell-O in one cup boiling water. Add pineapple with liquid and mix well. Cool slightly (about 30 min) in fridge. Remove from fridge and add 1 pt sour cream, chopped cherries, and nuts. Stir until the sour cream is dissolved. Pour into a well-greased mold (I use vegetable oil to grease) and chill until firm.

To unmold, run butter knife around the edges of the mold. Dip entire pan into large bowl of warm water, being careful not to let water get into the mold! Place a plate over the mold and turn upside down, removing mold carefully onto the plate.

Puppy Chow!

We love Puppy Chow! It's a Thanksgiving Day tradition at our house to play board games while we eat Puppy Chow. Last year, our family enjoyed a rousing game of BugHouse Chess! It's a fast-paced chess game that keeps everyone laughing, and you can learn how to play here. Do you play games Thanksgiving day?

So here's the recipe for Puppy Chow. We use a blend of Gluten-Free Chex cereals (Corn Chex and Rice Chex), but you can also use Crispix cereal (which is NOT gluten-free!). We always double it and we found we like it best right out of the freezer!

Puppy Chow

3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
8 cups cereal
2 cups powdered sugar

Melt the peanut butter, chocolate chips, and butter together. Pour over the cereal in a large kettle or bowl and stir well. Pour the powdered sugar into a large brown paper bag and add the coated cereal. Fold the bag to seal and shake well to coat evenly. We also shake it out on the deck - it's messy!

Pumpkin Pie

My Girl Scout Troop came over yesterday and we made Pumpkin Pie from scratch (well, almost)! The girls had so much fun. I wanted to tell you how to process a pumpkin, in case you want to make your own for your Thanksgiving table!

We started with a large pumpkin which was leftover from Halloween. We cut the pumpkin open, gutted it (removed the pulp and seeds), then cut it into smaller pieces. We then cut off the skin and placed the chunks of pumpkin pulp into a steamer. We steamed them for about 20-30 minutes, then processed the chunks in a food processor until we had puree. One large pumpkin gave us enough pulp for 7 pies, with about 8 cups of pulp leftover!

Each girl had more filling than would fit in her pie crust, so we took the leftover filling and baked it separately in a Corning-Ware dish. No crust, no gluten - perfect for my GF babe and myself!

Here's the recipe we used:

¾ cup sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
¼ tsp cloves
2 large eggs
1 ¾ cup pumpkin pulp
1 can (12 fl oz) evaporated milk
1 unbaked 9” deep-dish pie crust

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually add evaporated milk.

Pre-heat oven to 425. Pour mix into pie crust and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 and bake 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on rack for 2 hrs. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Note: Do not freeze pie!

Yummy!

Sausage & Cheese Potato Casserole

You all know how busy my Thursdays are! I have one child at piano from 5-5:30 and another at a chess seminar from 6-8 pm. I walk in the door at 5:40 and I have about 20 minutes to feed my family, start to finish.

Tonight was had this Sausage & Cheese Potato Casserole. Sorry the picture isn't very good -- my family devoured most of it for dinner and only this little piece was left! I like the recipe because it is so incredibly easy, and you can prepare the potatoes and sausage ahead of time. There is no pre-cooking of the potatoes! I usually prepare the sausage and potatoes early in the afternoon, then add the cheese and pour the egg mixture right before I pop it in the oven and head out the door (my teen is home to keep an eye on it!). So I thought I'd share this one with you. If you want, you can add onions (I'd throw them in with the raw sausage and cook together) or even green onions (sprinkle over potatoes). You can also serve with Parmesan cheese! This recipe is adapted from a Potatoes! cookbook from 2000 (I just can't seem to leave a recipe alone - I'm always changing it!).

1 pound bulk sausage
3 Idaho potatoes, medium size
2 cups Colby Jack cheese, shredded (8 oz)
6 eggs
3/4 cup milk (we use soy milk, but you can use regular!)

Preheat oven to 350. Crumble and cook the sausage in a skillet until browned. Drain. Peel the potatoes and chop into bite-sized cubes. Spread potatoes in a greased 9 x 9 baking pan. Top with cooked sausage and cheese. Whisk eggs and milk in a bowl and pour over sausage layer. Bake 45 minutes or until eggs are set.

Hershey's Kisses Coupon

There is a new $1/2 Hershey's Kisses coupon available here. We use these every year in Christmas baking, so I'm planning on printing this one!

What do we do with them? We make Hershey's Peanut Butter Kiss cookies! This year I'm going to attempt a gluten-free version, so I'll share it with you if they work out!

You can get the regular gluten-filled recipe here.

Microwave Flaxseed Muffin

This morning I made my GF 2 yr old this microwave muffin for breakfast. If you're GF, you know how hard it is to find a good, spongy treat. This muffin fits the bill! And it's so easy to make!

1 egg
1 1/2 tsps sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsps milk (or yogurt)
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 Tblsps ground flax seeds

Spray a microwave safe mug with cooking spray. In the mug, mix the egg and sugar until well combined. Add the milk and blend well. Mix in the ground flax seeds, cinnamon, and baking powder until well combined. Microwave for 90 seconds.

I buy my ground flax seeds at Whole Foods, but you can also get it on Amazon, where there's actually a pretty good deal right now.

More Jell-O fun!

I've been making this for the kids for the past few weeks, and boy do they love it! The recipe is right off the box...dissolve a 3 oz box Jell-O (any flavor) into 1 1/2 cups boiling water. Whisk in 1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip and chill until set (about 4 hrs). Tonight the kids had blackberry fusion!

This is both dairy- and gluten-free! And we used fat free Cool Whip (not that that makes it any healthier). Yum!

Don't throw out your pumpkins!

If you used pumpkins for decorating on Halloween (and never got around to carving them, like me), you can turn them into tasty pumpkin treats! I tried this last year for the first time and it was very easy, although a bit time-consuming. Still I thought it was a great activity for the kids, and this year I'm having my Girl Scout Troop over to work on their pumpkins!

Here are the general directions, from SouthernFood.com.

To Steam: Halve the pumpkin; remove seeds, pulp, and stringy portion. Cut into small pieces and peel. Place in a steamer or metal colander which will fit in a covered pot. Put over boiling water, cover, and steam for about 50 minutes, or until tender. Mash, purée in a blender or food processor, or put through a food mill. Use in any recipe calling for pumpkin purée.

After the pulp was processed, I poured it into ziploc containers and placed it in the freezer. Then it was ready for me to use in soups and baked goods. There just might be an upcoming Holiday where you'd want to bake a pumpkin pie?

What to do with Pierogies!

Thursday is always a tough night for me when it comes to making dinner. I have to get one child to piano lessons from 5-5:30. I walk in the door at 5:40 and I literally have 15 minutes to get everyone fed before my oldest one has to go to his chess seminar. I've taken to making a casserole in the early afternoon, popping it into the oven before I leave so it will be ready when we come home. I love the crock pot, too, and I use it often on days like this!

Tonight, I decided to make the casserole that was shown on the back of one of the Pierogie boxes I bought this morning at Meijer. I took one box of Pierogies, topped with 8 oz of tomato sauce, 4 oz of shredded cheese, and enough pepperoni to cover. Then I repeated the layers. and baked in a 350 oven for 40 minutes. One of my daughters liked it and the other wasn't a fan (but she's the one with the new expander, so eating is hard for her).

And on nights like this, the gluten-free babe and I enjoy the Smart Ones "Santa Fe Rice and Beans," which I stocked up on during a previous sale. He loves food with a mild kick (and so do I!).

Just thought some of you might want to try this with your Pierogies, too!

Gluten-Free Meatloaf

Well, it's hard to make meatloaf look good! This is a GF, DF recipe that we had for dinner tonight. It is inexpensive to make and so yummy! Here's the recipe:

1 lb. ground turkey
2 eggs
1/4 cup ketchup
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 tsp parsley flakes
1 1/2 cups GF oatmeal (purchase at Woodman's)
1/2 cup soy milk (or regular milk, if you wish)

Mix all ingredients, except oatmeal and milk, together in a large bowl. Stir in oatmeal (use your hands, it's easier). Place the mixture in a 2-quart baking dish. Shape with your hands to make an oval, not allowing the loaf to touch the sides. Pour the milk over the meatloaf mixture. Cover the dish with aluminum foil or lid. Bake at 350 for 45 min. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes. (Recipe adapted from cooks.com).

Pizza Pizza

We love to attend Saturday evening Mass, then come home for my homemade pizza and a family movie. Over the course of many years, homemade pizza has saved us big-time! I want to share the recipe with you...

1 cup + 2 Tblsps water
2 Tblsps olive oil
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 1/2 tsps yeast

Place all ingredients in a bread machine, set to dough cycle and walk away. 90 minutes later, you have beautiful pizza dough. Spread out on greased pan, top the way you like, and bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Our favorite is made with 1 can olives (sliced), 1 lb mozz cheese, and pepperoni (except for my 5 yo, so we leave some off a portion of the pizza). The kids prefer no sauce, but I use Ragu for my man.

As for the gluten-free babe and myself, I take a few Trader Joe's gluten-free waffles and pop them in the toaster. I top with Ragu and a handfull of mozz cheese, and microwave it for a minute. It's really very good!

What to do with all that Jell-O!

After that great sale on Jell-O last week at Meijer, I started wondering how to be creative with it. I was looking through my book, The Magic of JELL-O: 100 New and Favorite Recipes Celebrating 100 Years of Fun with JELL-O, and I found a great recipe that is both gluten- and dairy-free. Just dissolve 1 small package of Jell-O into 1 cup boiling water in an 8 x8 square pan. Stir until disolved and add 2 cups ginger ale (I used Sierra Mist, since that was all I had in the house). Put it in the freezer and 4 hrs later, you can serve your kids these yummy slushies!

Lemon Cake

The lemon cake turned out great. This one isn't for the kids, so they'll have to hope there's some left over from my meeting in the morning! This recipe is great because while it may have plenty of gluten, it is dairy free. It's especially good for summer, when you don't have to worry about it melting in the sun. The recipe is Susan's Lemon Cake from The Cake Mix Doctor.

Lemons

Today I am making use of a great deal on lemons. I purchased this entire case for just $1.99 at Caputo's in Algonquin. The lemons need to be used quickly, so I'm cutting them up, juicing them, and pouring the juice into an ice cube mold and freezing for future use. I make a lemon cake that my kids go crazy for. I'll be making a cake tomorrow, so stay tuned!