Cook Turkey in 1.5 Hours!

Apparently, some Wal-Mart stores ran out of turkeys yesterday. If you were lucky enough to buy extras when they had them on sale for $0.40/lb, hold on to yours because they may not get any more for a few days. If I had known that there would be a turkey shortage, I would have bought more earlier. For lean meat, you can't beat this price.
Here is a tip for cooking a turkey quickly. If you cut up a turkey, like you would for chicken, it cooks in less than half the time. I used kitchen scissors to make things easier. Our turkey was 20 lbs and cooked in an hour and a half. The night before, I soaked the whole turkey in a brine solution (water plus lots of salt- about half a cup). Then I roasted the thighs, legs and wings at 325 degrees.
The turkey breast went into the slowcooker with an inch of water for about 3 hours. One half was sliced for sandwiches and the other half cubed for salads and casseroles. The back and neck went into another slowcooker for making broth.
When I cooked this turkey a couple weeks ago, I used all convenient foods for sides: Stovetop stuffing, Betty Crocker potatoes, and Steam Fresh green beans. For Thanksgiving, I made these from scratch. But I am looking forward to whipping out the box versions sometime next month when I'm in a cooking time crunch. It's cheaper than take-out, right!

Baking Day

On Monday, I baked a whole bunch of stuff:
Pumpkin Bread
Brownies
Biscuits
Orange Sweet Rolls
Cinnamon Rolls

Looks like hard work... but I cheated. Pumpkin bread was the only thing from scratch. Thanks Pillsbury and Betty! The biscuits and sweet rolls were only $0.50 per can or free a couple of weeks ago. I'm not ashamed. Gone are the days of homemade cinnamon rolls. I've accepted that!
FYI: Do not substitute pumpkin for oil (even for just part of it) when making brownies. You can really tell they healthier (ie tougher, but great for dunkin' in coffee).

Sweet Potato Dishes

A few weeks ago, I bought sweet potatoes on sale for 3lbs for $1. They were still in great shape considering I left them out in a bowl on the kitchen counter all this time. Since I bought broccoli this week, I decided to make stirfry. This was from a recipe I've made that also included ham and noodles. But they veggies by themselves tasted great. All I did was saute it with onion and garlic and seasoned it with Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. What a healthy side dish this makes!
To avoid using the oven, I made this no-bake sweet potato "casserole" by simply boiling 2 chopped sweet potatoes. Then I mashed it (still in the pot) and added a few tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp vanilla. After mixing, I smoothed it into the pie plate and added the marshmallows on top. (Which were frozen- yes, I freeze my marshmallows so they don't get all mushy in this Florida heat!) Voila! No butter, no baking, but tastes just as great.

These are all the sweet potatoes I used for these two dishes. The small ones on the right are from our sweet potato plant. Yes, you can grown this in a 5 gallon bucket! I don't know how long I should have kept them in there to get them to grow as big as the store bought. But it was amazing to pull them out of the bucket.

The plant itself is so unassuming, there was no way to tell of the gems hidden in the soil below. When we have an in-ground (not in-buckets) garden then I am definitely planting sweet potatoes. Plus you can use the top leaves for soups. How cool is that!

Iron-Chef Wanna Be

Yes, it is so past Monday. But here is my menu for the rest of the week anyway. On the plus side, I did a lot of cooking so our meals will actually reflect the menu for once. I wrote it down at the bottom of the page.

Do you like to cook? I do! Sometimes I get inspired and pretend I'm on Iron Chef. Well, tonight's secret ingredient was... ground beef. I wanted to make some spaghetti for tomorrow. After I defrosted 2 packages of cooked ground beef, I added a whole bag of green peppers (clearance $2 at Target). Then it seemed too much for just one dish. So I cooked 5!

First, I sauteed half an onion, a whole head of garlic, two stalks of celery in some oil. Then I added the ground beef and grilled peppers.

I took about a cup and a half of this mix and added chopped mini basil and oregano from the garden to make the spaghetti.

We had some Connecuh sausage left so I wanted to make jambalaya. But I have no beans left so I used lentils instead. Later I'll make some brown rice to go along with this dish.



Somehow I missed one piece of sausage so I added half a cup of the ground beef mix with it. I made stirfry with a cup of broccoli and corn. Then some spaghetti noodles. We had no soy sauce left so I used Asian Sesame Salad Dressing. It actually tastes good!



When we went to California, we visited Trader Joe's. I was on a hunt to find this lovely and quite affordable health store. They had whole wheat Couscous for $2 a box! So for this dish, I just made the couscous and added dried cranberries to the beef mix. (I was out of raisins.) Quite a mediterranean feel!


Lastly, I made burritos. At Publix I picked up Old El Paso Cheesy Taco seasoning from Publix yesterday for $0.10. The tortillas are on clearance right now at Target for $1. Plus they have salsa for $1. Both are Market Pantry brands.

We should be set for lunch and dinner for the next few days, since I also made beef stroganoff for lunch today.

Here's my menu for the rest of the week:
Thursday: Spaghetti for a late lunch
(we're going to the State Fair, so I'll bring snacks and granola bars)
Friday: Stroganoff for lunch, Couscous for dinner
Saturday: Stirfry for lunch, Jambalaya for dinner (kids eat quesadillas)
Sunday: Chicken Casserole for lunch, leftovers for dinner

If you are inspired to menu plan, even for half the week like mine, check out orgjunkie to see other awesome menus this week!

Ultimate Recipe Swap-Salad

Today is Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life As Mom. And the dish featured is Salad! Here is a recipe I would like to share: Frugal Pasta Salad. Visit to get other great salad ideas!

Pasta salad at it's most basic form needs only a few ingredients to be a great side dish. It can also transform leftover night into something more exciting. Use leftover meats including breakfast fare like boiled eggs and sausage links. Also, reserve a few pieces of raw veggies like a half of tomato from sandwiches or a few branches of broccoli from that stir-fry. This will build a great salad by the end of the week. Doesn't this reminds you of stone soup?

Frugal Pasta Salad- Only $3!
half a box of pasta, cooked ($0.50)
2 tomatoes, diced ($1)
1 cucumber, peeled and diced ($0.50)
1 lb cooked meat ($1)
favorite salad dressing (free Kraft dressing!)

Just combine the ingredients and you are ready to serve!


Any shape pasta can be used (not noodles), just cook al dente. Sometimes I make enough pasta for salad and another dish like mac n' cheese. Although lettuce would be great, using wheat pasta lets me sneak in some fiber and protein. I buy tomatoes on sale at $1/lb and cucumbers for $0.50 each. For meat, I usually use leftovers from the freezer or stir-fry. I like ham and marinated chicken the best. Dressing can be expensive but there are lots of homemade versions. My mother-in-law sometimes takes ketchup and vinegar mixed together for faux catalina dressing. How frugal is that!

Frugal Filipino Meal - Chicken Adobo

As part of my strategy to stay within budget for the All You Grocery Challenge, I'll be preparing a few favorite frugal dishes like Chicken Adobo. For our family of four, this dish cost only $3.20. Adding a side dish of green beans still makes it less than $5!

I love Filipino foods but finding proper ingredients can be a hassle. And homesickness overcomes me so much so that for years I have avoided cooking my favorite dishes. Since I left home before my mother could teach me, I've relied heavily on childhood memories for taste and presentation. But I am not one to deny my children their heritage. So for lunch, I made Chicken Adobo. This must be the official Filipino dish. And there is as many variations to this dish as there are islands of the Philippines.

Here is my version: Cost per serving - $0.80!
Ingredients:
3 chicken leg quarters
1 onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 bay leaves
1 tbsp oil
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

Filipino dishes are made unique by the use of sauteed onions and garlic before addition of other ingredients. So, add the oil to your skillet and set the temperature on medium high. Put the onions in first and work quickly to saute it until it turns translucent. Add the garlic next instead of cooking together with the onions to avoid burning the garlic. And continue cooking until golden brown. When cooked, set aside in a small bowl or plate.

Add the chicken next. I often remove the back pieces and extra fat of the chicken leg quarters. These are saved in the freezer for making homemade chicken broth. Chicken wings and breast can be used too but the fatty leg pieces make this dish delicious. Braise the chicken by cooking it a minute on each side to seal in the flavor. Combine the soy sauce and vinegar with the onions and garlic. Pour the mixture on top of the chicken. Insert the bay leaves in between the chicken pieces. Allow to boil then cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Flip the chicken over so the top portion can absorb the liquid. Also, add the lemon juice and sugar. Leave the dish uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes. Adding sugar towards the end reduces the sauce, allowing it to caramelize. The dish is ready when the chicken meat starts to pull away from the bone.

Chicken adobo is always served with plain white rice and a side dish of potatoes or green beans. For our lunch, I made green beans. To flavor the vegetables, remove the chicken from the skillet. Reserve 1/4 cup of adobo sauce and add 1/4 cup water to it. Return the sauce to the skillet. Add a 16 oz bag of frozen green beans. (I saved 1/4 of the bag for a dish later in the week.) Allow it to boil then simmer covered for 15 minutes or until the green beans are very tender.

This dish is salty and slightly sweet. It is a true Filipino dish that will surely become a quick favorite in your household. As with any other stews, it tastes even better the next day. Also, this dish freezes beautifully. Enjoy!

Want to see more frugal recipes? Visit $5 Dinner Challenge and feed your family for less!