Holiday Recap

Can I just say that my Turkey cooked in a crockpot was amazing??? I highly recommend it. I have to pat myself on the back and say that my entire meal turned out so good!! Well, except the sweet potatoes. They were runny. I will not be buying canned, pureed sweet potatoes again. But, live and learn. They were the only thing that didn't turn out like I'd hoped.

I am proud to say that I took care of the entire meal and didn't get stressed out! Barb and Buddy cleaned it all up and for that I am so grateful. We had some leftovers, which I wrapped up in tortillas the next day for lunch but I think we're pretty well through most of them now. Time to start meal planning for this pay period. I think we'll be having a hashbrown stirfry tonight. Oh, and there are some pictures of us putting up the tree. Yes, we put it up Thanksgiving Day because we just couldn't wait anymore :) I talked Blake out of the 1200 lights he wanted to buy at GardenRidge, so he got 800. It looks really pretty, but also looks like it's about to take flight into space... who needs indoor lighting when you have a Bolerjack Christmas Tree?

Thanksgiving 09

Hmm

Thanksgiving Menu

Because I'm so excited and can't think about anything else, I'm going to post my Thanksgiving Day menu.

Jenna's Thanksgiving Menu
Crockpot Turkey and Cranberry Compote
Crockpot Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Corn Pudding
Spinach Salad
Roasted Veggies
Deviled Eggs
Rolls

Desserts:
Ice Cream
Pumpkin Pie (by Barb)
Pecan Pie (by Barb)
Poop Cookies (the no-bake cookies, that's just what my family calls them!)

I'm kinda concerned about the timing of everything. I have to make a dish for work on Wednesday, but I'm going to make Autumn Fried Rice so I can make that Tuesday night no problem. The deviled eggs, and spinach salad can be made at the last minute, so really I'm just coordinating the corn pudding and rolls in the oven. The turkey and sweet potatoes will be made in crockpots, and the rest will be on the stove. I think I can do this. I do have a lot of options, so I may even cut the recipe amounts in half since it will just be me and Blake and his parents so I'm not eating leftovers for weeks. I hate leftovers. It really takes a lot of effort for me to eat leftovers. Unless it's fried rice. :) Yum. I am also saving my sanity and using a jar of premade gravy. I burn gravy on the stove. Every time. I also forsee a problem with the deviled eggs...Blake makes fun of me that I can't boil an egg and he's pretty right. I need an official egg-boiler. Maybe I'll make him do it. I also need to make sure the turkey breast actually fits in my crockpot. That could be a problem if it doesn't...

The secret of fried rice

I was going to make rice and beans last night but looked in the pantry and didn't have any plain rice. So I had to improvise.

I have discovered the secret to good fried rice. Or, rather, "fried rice that is surprisingly pretty tasty even though it still doesn't taste like my favorite take-out." Ready for it? Soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. If you put some of that in whatever you have...it will taste just fine. I'm not talking "douse" everything in it, but add enough so all the rice is tinted with a little sauce.

This is my favorite fried rice recipe that I make at home. It's from a crockpot blog...but I don't use the crockpot for fried rice. I mean, come-on...it takes 5 minutes on the stove, especially if you cheat and use dried onion flakes instead of cutting up real ones.

Favorite Home Fried Rice

--2 cups rice (leftover or newly cooked)
--leftover meat

--1 T butter (optional)

--2 T soy sauce

--2 tsp. worcestershire sauce

--1/2 tsp. black pepper

--1/4 tsp. kosher salt

--1/2 diced yellow onion (or use dried onion flakes)

--1 cup of whatever frozen or fresh vegetables you have on hand (I like the frozen bag of mixed veggies)

--1 egg

--sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
--pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Mix it all together in a wok or huge skillet: voila.

This, however is not the recipe I used last night. Last night all I had was uncooked saffron rice that I've never tried before (it's that yellow kind with seasoning powder mixed in), leftover carrots and broccoli from a veggie tray I bought for a wedding a month ago (I know, but they were still usable), one half of a chicken breast, and salt and pepper. So I just cooked the rice in my handy rice cooker (you can find these for $15 at Target on sale...and SOOO worth it!), and slung some soy sauce and worcestershire sauce on it and it was a very worthy meal! The trick with rice is to make it in chicken broth. The broth adds SO much flavor with no extra work. I thought I'd have leftovers for lunch today but we ate it all.

The other weekend I made a new recipe filing system. I had been just saving recipes I copied from the Internet by type on Word and I'd print out entire pages to put in a binder. But...I decided to cut them all up and paste them t0 4x6 index cards. I'm really happy with it now and it's easier to add new recipes and save paper and space.

I'm not really a cooking-appliance-person, but the rice cooker and my crockpot I use at least 2-3 times a week. I don't know how to cook rice any other way, I have to admit. If I'm not using the crockpot or rice cooker then I'm probably eating Spaghettios.

Christmas Tree

Last night we got our first Christmas Tree. :) Garden Ridge is having a big sale. It took us forever to pick on out, but we're so excited to put it up Thanksgiving Friday. After much debate on pre-lit versus unlit...we decided unlit. So Blake could change out the color of the lights anytime he wants. He is so excited.

Books That Changed My Outlook

Lately I have been reading a lot, but have been only finding books that are decent, if not engaging. Nothing riveting lately.

I came across an interesting post on Facebook on a book feed that asked the question, "If you could name 5 books that changed your outlook on life, what would they be?" I thought about that for a little bit and appreciate these books for different reasons (in no order):

1. The Shack
This is not necessarily a great book, but it had great paradigm challenges. I found the writing hard to swallow and the story really corny, but I did take away a life changing view of God...the idea that instead of Western culture's thinking of where everything is a hierarchy, to view God with more the Eastern thought of centrality. So, instead of thinking that everything has priorities and that God should always be #1 (a confusing concept, especially when involving love) think of God as the center of your life and everything that you do and think comes out of that center. So your choices, decisions, and life direction you take stem from that basic Christ center. I like that outlook a lot better, it makes more sense to me.

2. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (Dale Carnegie)
I read this book during a particularly trying time one summer. I should really read it again, but it helped me change my cognitive pattern to focus on solutions and positive thinking and shift my focus from my feelings. It isn't "new age" or dismissive of Christ, just a positive, practical book for getting out of negative thinking.

3. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
This book, cloaked in a fiction story, is really a thesis for Capitalism. I highly enjoyed it and found the ideas to be challenging and inspiring.

4. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
I read this a long time ago and just remember that after reading it I had a greatly more sensitized heart for the elderly.

5. This Present Darkness (Frank Peretti)
This book opened my eyes to spiritual warfare and its infusion and reality in every day life.

Allergy Attack and House Pics

So this weekend I was plagued with allergy attacks. Last week I had a killer sore throat from allergies and drainage, then I had a fever on Friday. That fever turned into a wonderful weekend, actually. I canceled my plans for Saturday (sorry Sony) and stayed home to a glorious weekend by myself. I got a lot done and unpacked more boxes and tried to decorate a little bit. Here are the house pictures I got to take!

Ashford house November 09

Blake actually had a concert in Woodward, OK this Sunday, and because I was still feeling bad (and Blake's parents offered to pinch-hit for me) I stayed home while Blake went to do the concert--I think that's happened only one other time! I even went once when I had the flu (shh don't tell).

Now, the allergies have erupted and I'm itchy and my digital thermometer is dead. So I can't tell if I have a fever anymore. Off to the doctor today! I bet she'll just tell me it's allergies and to deal with it, which is good news, but slightly anticlimactic for how awful (itchy) I feel today.

Cream Cheese Chicken - made by Blake

Blake cooked in the crockpot for me yesterday! He was around the house so it worked out to try this recipe. I've been wanting to try it for a while, but it calls for cream cheese right at the last 30 min and chicken doesn't really turn out well in the crockpot after 8-9 hours at work...so I try to do chicken dishes only when Blake's available to turn them on 4-6 hours ahead of time. :)

Cream Cheese Chicken

--1 can cream of mushroom soup

--frozen chicken--enough to feed four adults

--2 T Italian seasoning (I thought this was a bit strong but Blake liked it)

--1/2 tsp celery seed

--1 T onion powder

--1 T sugar

--1/4 tsp black pepper

--1 tsp kosher salt

--2 cloves minced garlic

--block of cream cheese (to add later)

The Directions.

-Put everything except for the cream cheese into the crockpot.

-Cook on low for 6 hours (or high for 4 hours) or until the chicken is cooked through and begins to shred.

-Shred the chicken with two large forks, and mix in the block of cream cheese.

-Switch the crock to high (if it was originally on low) and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is fully melted.

--Serve over pasta.

Verdict: Blake gives it a 5/5 stars. I give it 4/5 stars and intend to decrease the Italian seasoning amount next time. A bit strong and it made my house smell >:(


This new house is making me want to cook all the time!! I made a 2 week meal plan for us:
Tues-Shepherd's Pie
Wed-Hot dogs
Thurs-Spaghetti
Fri-Cheesy Crockpot Chicken
(gone on weekend)
Mon-homemade pizza
Tues-Brown Sugar Chicken (crockpot)
Wed-Broccoli Beef
Thurs-Breakfast for dinner
Fri-Chicken Tortilla Soup

We'll see if I stick to it! Sometimes I change my mind. Well, I change my mind a lot. Unless I only buy ingredients that fit these meals. Which, after a month of no groceries, I have some stocking up to do...

I can't wait for Thanksgiving. I have so many recipes I want to try! And, I intend to try to make a turkey breast in the crockpot. I think it's going to be delicious.

Potato and Bean Soup

I made this soup last week and it hit the spot!

Potato and Bean Soup

-5 to 6 Idaho potatoes, cubed (I had 2 big ones and about 4 little bitty ones)
-4 cups vegetable or beef stock (I used beef)
-1 can navy beans (or white), rinsed
-1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed
-1 can pinto beans, rinsed
-1 tsp parsley
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp black pepper (or up it to 1 tsp for extra kick)
-1 tsp minced garlic (or 2 garlic cloves)
-1 T of onion flakes (or dice 1 real onion)

-pour beef stock into stockpot on stove, add potatoes. Boil until soft.
-for the navy beans and pinto beans, after you rinse them, mash them in the can a little bit to thicken the soup more
-add beans & spices (you can use 3 cans of any kinds of beans, just whatever you have!) (you can also add chili flakes for extra kick)
-simmer until heated through and flavor is distributed (about 10 min?)

Mine did not look like this ;)

This weekend Blake and I had a couple friends over for lunch! I made Salsa Chicken. It was so fun and we had a good time catching up with them. Then we had our last "double concert" Sunday for the year--woo hoo!! Both concerts went well and we are excited to get to play in our house this week. We went couch shopping on Saturday, just to look really. Who knows when we'll get something, but that is what we're really wanting!