Crock Pot Woes

One of my goals for this year has to do with food. I want to save money {and calories} by cooking at home. My "baby steps" in accomplishing this task will be:

• to have a weekly menu planned out (which I started doing in November and has worked wonderfully.)
• learning to use my crock pot
• learning to use my food storage (which will put to use the awesome wheat grinder my in-laws gave us for Christmas.)
• realizing that life gets in the way and even the best laid plans will go awry and it's perfectly ok to have pizza on speed dial!
  

On a recent trip to BAM (Books a Million) I found a real gem of a cook book.

This cook book has almost 200 crock pot recipes and so far I haven't seen a single one that calls for "cream of anything." That in itself sold me on the book! It does have some other awesome qualities too; pictures of every recipe, it comes in a 3 ring binder so you can add or take out recipes while you cook {not so great if you happen to buy the only copy that some "nice" person stole 50+ pages from!} recipes for everything including breads, desserts, soups, dips, main courses etc. Oh yeah and it was only $10.

Well the first recipe we tried out was "Smokey Chipotle Cassoulet" and it was awesome! Mine turned out a little more soupy than what was pictured in the book. It was pretty much like a southwestern/Mexican chili. If you decide to try this out WATCH OUT! One large chipotle will do you in. I recommend half, or less if you want your kids to eat it! We toned down the spiciness with sour cream, cheese and some Doritos (on the second day.) My kids were troopers and had 2 bites before I gave them some cereal for dinner instead!

Well tonight we tried out "Pesto Rice and Beans"


While the taste was there it sure wasn't going to win any prizes in the looks department! {Yeah... it looks nothing like the picture in the book.} My problems started after it had been cooking 2 hours and the rice didn't even look remotely cooked. I guess my crock pot takes a really long time to heat up on "low" so I cranked it up to high for 30 minutes, checked it and decided it was finally hot enough to cook the rice, added a bit more water and let it cook for another hour on low. Well the rice on the bottom cooked well, the rice towards the top was still a little bit crunchy, and once you mixed in the pesto it just turned to mush! This recipe was in the section labeled "creative cooking" {what's that supposed to mean?} so I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a main dish or what {I'm thinking it's more of a side dish.} I think this recipe would have given me less trouble had I cooked it in a regular pot! Oh well, live and learn!

Here is a similar recipe if you want to try it out. {And hey! hers looks like mush too!}

Thanksgiving Menu

What's on your Thanksgiving menu?

We are trying out a couple of new things and keeping some of our tried and true favorites. This year we are foregoing the turkey {again.} We are just not turkey fans in this household! It's too dry, there's too much of it, and the kids hardly peck at it. That leaves a 10lb + bird for Mr. PD and myself to eat. There's only so much you can do with leftovers before you swear off turkey for good. I must say that the best turkey we ever had was a deep fried turkey! {mmmm... drooling just thinking about it! Gotta love the south and it's love for deep frying everything!}

For the last couple of years Mr. PD has been given Honey Baked Ham gift certificates from work and sub contractors. I have not had to cook a holiday meal (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) for a couple of years! Sadly since we are no longer with his previous employer we won't be getting any gift certificates this year. Mr. PD was kind enough to offer to buy Honey Baked for Thanksgiving but I wanted to give this whole holiday cooking another shot {I did tell him I'd take him up on the offer for Christmas.} So this year we are trying duck!

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu
at the Petit Debutant household

Appetizer:
Spinach Dip and Crackers {tried and true fave}

Main Course:
Honey Duck {new this year}
Rice Stuffing {tried and true fave}
Lemon Garlic Asparagus {tried and true fave}
Fresh Rolls

Dessert:
Sweet Potato Pie

Drinks:
Water
Sparkling Berry Cider
Cranberry Pomegranate Cider {new this year}

Here are the other recipes I will be using.

Cranberry Pomegranate Cider
1 64 oz cranberry juice
1 64 oz pomegranate juice
3/4 c sugar
1 TBSP whole cloves (tied up in a little scrap of fabric)
1 orange sliced

Combine all ingredients in a large dutch oven/pot. Bring to a simmer over med heat fro 20 minutes, remove cloves. Garnish with orange slices. Serve warm

I recently had this at a Relief Society activity and it was awesome! {if you like the tartness of cranberries and pomegranates, otherwise you won't like it!} I am cheating slightly, I don't need to make such a large batch so I found a 100% juice cran/pom mix tat I will be using as the base. I'll also be using my crock pot for this so as not to take up my large pot.


Rice Stuffing (from an old Betty Crocker cookbook, I think)
2/3 c uncooked regular white rice
1 med stalk celery chopped (about 1/2 c)
1 small onion chopped (about 1/4 c)
2 TBSP margarine/butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1/3 c raisins {years ago I substituted Craisins and my entire family has never looked back!}
1/4 tsp paprika
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled

Cook rice as directed. Cook celery, onion, margarine, salt and pepper in a 10 inch skillet until celery is tender; remove from heat. In a large bowl combine celery mixture with rice, walnuts, raisins/cranberries, paprika and bacon.

Sweet Potato Pie
3-4 sweet potatoes cooked
1/4 c evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c butter melted
3 eggs beaten
1 1/2 c sugar
1 small can crushed pineapple (6-8oz)
1 c shredded coconut
1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Beat until mixed thoroughly. Pour filling into crust and bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Lemon Garlic Asparagus
We have no recipe for this dish. Mr. PD does a great job with this dish. Basically take some fresh asparagus spears and saute in some olive oil. Season with a little bit of garlic salt and sprinkle with lemon juice. You can also add some almond slivers to it.

Recipes

A list of recipes available on my blog:
(newest to oldest)

• Zuchinni Pie
• Shrimp Fajitas
• Honey Wheat Bread
• Fire Roasted Tomato Soup
• Low Country Boil
• Strawberry Kiwi Cake
• Lemon Garlic Asparagus
• Sweet Potato Pie
• Rice Stuffing
• Cranberry Pomegranate Cider
• Apple Pie
• Chiles Rellenos
• Roast Beef Sandwiches with Horseradish Sauce
• BBQ Chicken Pizza
• Perfect Cake Mix Cupcakes & Cream Cheese Frosting
• Butternut Squash Bisque
• Shrimp Quesadillas
• Blueberry Sizzle French Toast
• Blueberry Clafoutis
• Blueberry Everything
• Easy Pumpkin Muffins

DIY Christmas Tree preservative

Every year we try to get a real Christmas tree. Nothing brings holiday warmth like the scent of a fresh Christmas tree. But how do you keep it looking fresh and beautiful? Well most places that sell Christmas Trees will also sell commercially packaged Christmas tree food. If you are like me, you will always forget to pick some up!

I decided that there must be a way to make your own at home. After a quick search on the internet I came across dozens of recipes. I was weary of trying out some recipes that call for mixing vinegar, lemon, and bleach - can you say toxic fumes?

Cut trees need a couple of basics:

• Water
• A food source
• An acidifier - reduces the pH of the water
  
• A disinfectant - prevents the growth of algae and bacteria
  

So after reading a couple of different recipes I decided on my own mix:

• 1 quart (4 cups) warm water
  
• 1/2 - 1 cup light corn syrup - acts as food
  
• 1 tsp bleach - acts as disinfectant
  
• 1 penny - acts as acidifier

Mix all ingredients in a container that will not be used for human consumption (empty milk gallon) and label it: Tree Food - Do Not Eat. Leave the penny in the bottle and reuse it when you need to make more.

Use this recipe to refill your tree as needed. It helps to water the tree with warm water/preservative.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Not only is this recipe easy it is also pretty healthy. I have even made it by substituting the oil with more apple sauce. You can even cut back on the sugar and they are still tasty!

1 1/2c sugar
1/2 c oil
1/2 c applesauce
3 eggs
1 can15oz pumpkin (try sweet potatoes too!)
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or substitute ginger and cloves)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Beat all of the ingredients together well (5 min) Pour into cupcake pans (fill more than 1/2 full) Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes.


My kids love these and they are so good! Enjoy