Another Crock Pot Experiment

Do you ever get tired of cooking? I don’t think it’s cooking as much as coming up with new ideas or menus. I recently saw a recipe for a Mexican pork roast and since Bi-Lo had these on sale last week at an incredibly cheap price, my freezer is now well stocked and I need to ways of serving them. OK – couldn’t find the post so I looked up a few things and couldn’t find one that had all of the ingredients I had on hand, so I improvised. I keep a lot of Wildtree products along with Alchemy spices so something will usually work out. Crock pot is on low, seasonings smell pretty good, although it looks kind of bloody but that is the Rotel sauce. I’ll let you know how it turns out – good or bad. My family is always honest about things, especially my hair and food. I warm them ahead of time of the experimentation but will sometimes no disclose all of the ingredients until it is tried. A few things cannot ever be put into recipes – olives of any kind is one example. **They do approve of the new cut for the summer at least.

Multiplying faster than bunnies.....

Does anyone else have a stack that looks like this? Well, maybe you won’t confess it, but I feel confident there are many drawers and cabinets that look like this. How can these things multiply? It seems like I have tried to throw odd pieces away, but then when I need something for a quick lunch or for storing non-food items, they do come in handy. So many of these bowls, especially round ones look the same, but not, even the same brand such as Rubbermaid or Ziploc. Today –that changes. I am going to literally toss most of these away and buy sets. I hate to have to try on 3 tops before finding the right one. Lots are marked but many more aren’t. Maybe part of the saving aspect is thinking about the money you save to reuse these items instead of new ones. Well, for about .50 each, I would rather think I’m going to save more time and frustration than money. Some will go to the garage for upcoming projects as they do come in handy when sorting small items. Or, as “legs” for spray painting items since a few canned items have often had a light coat of spray paint on them. This is just step one of some major organizing that is going to happen on Shadyway Lane – SOON.

Back to Reality

The “REAL” Reality Show – TODAY

Yep – back to reality for us today. After spending a week in warm weather, enjoying the sites of Cozumel and Grand Caymen, 86 degree weather, and no cooking, it’s back to reality for us. Unpacking, laundry, getting ready to go back to work, planning meals – that’s the real part. Oh yeah, and work. Laundry – a big basket that can wait, I don’t think we will need the bathing suits, sleeveless tops and shorts for a while – DARN IT!!! Cooking – I do believe one of the best parts of a cruise for me is the food – not only such an abundance at all times, but the fact that I don’t have to plan it, shop for it, or cook it for a week. Although I thoroughly enjoy cooking, it is a vacation to not have to do it for a while. Weather – while we did have to put on a sweater at times, it was much nicer worrying about using sunscreen. One slight sunburn - I guess I sprayed my legs and feet in circles and missed a spot. The first night I had some redness on one leg and the top of my foot. This was nothing compared to some of the really burnt people I saw. What a way to ruin a cruise. Birthday – I really don’t mind having a birthday like some people and it’s much better being dressed up for elegant night on a cruise ship. A special cake was delivered to me at dinner from Don & Doug. Oh, and I even had Happy Birthday sung to me by an Elvis impersonator. Starting to sort through the 1400 pictures I took. All are downloaded and now to edit and delete a bunch. It will probably go down to at least 900 since I tend to take more than one each time. Really, how many pictures of turtles from the turtle farm do I really need? Look for pictures soon. The REAL questions every day around here – what am I wearing to work and what are we having for dinner? Meals for the next 3 days are planned, and I think any pair of jeans and a sweater will work for today. Now to start dreaming and planning the next cruise -

COOKING I love to cook and I love to bake. This has been a lifelong love of mine. I could cook a full meal by the time I was 10 or 11. Of course, I watched my Mom because in those days we only went out to eat on special occasions. I can remember when I was in the 6th grade and we went Christmas Shopping at a new mall, yes ne, as in never been one around before. We got to go to McDonalds, that was a big deal for our family of 5. These days a lot of kids don’t know what a family meal is. I still strive for that on most days. I learned most from my Mom. Another influence was my Great Aunt Vashti, or Ti as we called her. She was my Dad’s aunt who basically helped raise him since his own Mom died when he was around 7. I would go to visit her and Bill, her brother who lived together most of their lives, neither never marrying. She didn’t have inside water for a very long time and cooked on a wood stove. We would walk to the store, a few blocks, because they didn’t own a car. I could get most anything I wanted to eat or cook when I would stay with her. Sometimes that would be a week at a time during the summer. I guess it was smothering hot in the house, but I don’t remember that too much thankfully. Of course buying what I wanted wasn’t like going to a grocery store now. This was a small store in a very small town, about 200 people. Some of the things that were my favorite to purchase were the boxed pizza mixes and any kind of cakes. Ti loved her sweets. I think she lived on sweets and grease (lard for the most part). She lived to be 90 and had hardly any health problems plus never weighed more than 110 pounds. These days doctors would be after her to change her eating habits. Also, we had home-ec in school although I have to say our teacher wasn’t the greatest cook, but at least we had a chance to cook, learn some manners, and set a table. This step of life is getting missed by so many these days. Back to my cooking – I get tired of seemingly cooking the same meals and am always looking and trying to recipes. Between trying to save money, using coupons, and being busy, I still try to cook dinner most days. Not a full 5 course meal but enough for us and hopefully a few leftovers. I think my family will cringe sometimes when I say I have a new concoction or experiment. Today is one of those days. One of the best inventions in helping get meals on the table is the crock pot. I got my first one in 1975 and have 4 at this time. You must have a different size for different things. Right? I had seen a meatloaf recipe on The Pioneer Woman (don’t you love her) and wanted to try it. While shopping I was able to purchase bagged meat balls for only $1.25 for 14 oz, which is way cheaper than any ground meat I could get. I don’t use too many packaged items, but sometimes they do come in handy. I made a sauce of ketchup, brown sugar, a few drops of soy sauce and a couple tablespoons of Wild Tree Teriyaki Sauce. I do wish I had thought to add a few grated onions in it but too late now. It’s ready for Don to put in the oven before I get home. Taking the Saran Wrap off and putting in the oven is his kind of cooking. Don and Doug both love the teriyaki flavor, although I’m not a big fan of it. I will have to give you a review later on what they thought. I always tell them when I try or buy something new they have to give me their honest opinion so I will know either to change it up or take it off our menu. Have a great day. I would always love to hear what your favorite recipes are, including those for the crock pot.

Choices

Everyone seems to be having their word – “My Word”, “Word of the Year”, “One Little Word”. Have you chosen one yet? Has this been around for a long time or are we just hearing about it more because of Facebook? We seem to hear a lot of things on Facebook and some of it we could do without such as rumors, bashing of politics, and airing dirty laundry. OK – I’m guilty of some of this also. This brings me to my word – CHOICES. We make them all the time and sometimes without thinking. Maybe we should think about another word with this – consequences. Isn’t that what we strived to teach our kids? So many resolutions are thrown out there at this time of year with the most popular seeming to be get organized, save money, eat healthier, lose weight, spend more time with family, be more patient, do more for others, etc. Do you make resolutions? I really don’t because then if you don’t complete it to your complete satisfaction, it can be viewed as a failure. Or, maybe you can take this in baby steps in your CHOICES you make daily. What if you want to be more organized? Does that mean by next December you have to have all the shelves in your garage in containers, labels, and a list saved on your computer? Wouldn’t that be wonderful, but it could mean when you need a certain document, you know exactly where it is or that junk drawer got cleaned out. You have a choice – if you want to fit into that certain dress for an upcoming event, don’t eat those Orange Danish Rolls for breakfast, choose oatmeal instead. Want to get organized, choice to spend just a few minutes a day going through the pantry, that junk drawer, or that pile of magazine articles you have pulled out. These have already been my choices for the day. What’s yours?

What's on Your Menu?

What's on your menu for tomorrow? Here's mine.  

Roasted Turkey

Fried Turkey

Dressing

Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

Waldorf Salad

Stuffed Celery

Cranberry Sauce

Giblet Gravy

BBQ Gravy

Pumpkin Pie

Cocoa Ritz Pie

So who's cooking? Me... Although there is only 4 of us, I tend to cook as if I was doing it for 10. We love leftovers, plus freezing extra dressing for later is always a plus. Yes, at our house here in the South it is dressing, not stuffing. No recipe for me on this, just this and that with no unusual ingredients such as raisins or oysters. I watched my Mom for years making this traditional dish and still make it the same way. In fact, a few years before she died she said I made it better than her. That was a compliment.

A few things which have been added the last few years – in addition to the traditional roasted turkey (gotta have the drippings to add to dressing, dumplings, and gravy), we have done a fried turkey the last few years since it is Doug's favorite. We started off several years ago with the fryer with the burner and after almost having a major fire, we bought the electric one. This year I'm trying out the oil-less one. Found a great deal at Academy Sports and with the price of Peanut Oil, it's worth a try. We'll see if it passes the Doug test tomorrow.

Baked Pineapple was added several years ago and even Don the non-pineapple eater will eat this. When I first got the recipe and saw cheese and pineapple together, didn't think it would work but we all love it.

For Doug – I started making a BBQ gravy a few years ago after seeing it on the Neely's show. It's a glorified BBQ sauce but with adding stock/broth to it. It is good and pretty easy to make.

New this year – Bacon wrapped asparagus – I saw this last week on Trish Yearwood's show and thought it would be an easy and new vegetable since none of us have really been that green bean casserole family. I have never made it because fresh it's ok, but leftover the onions get soggy and just isn't appealing.

If anyone wants any of these recipes, let me know.  Or, need a place to eat, dinners at 1:30.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM 

THE PALMERS ON SHADYWAY LANE

Thank You

Thank you to our Veterans - my husband included.  He served in the Air Force for 4 years.

On a side note - yes if you know me, you know I'm a HOG fan, 

although  not too much to cheer about in football this year, but

my favorite season is now starting - BASKETBALL.