Chicken leg quarters

I need to share a cooking secret with you:

Buying chicken with the bone in it is waaaaaaay cheaper than buying boneless.

Amen.

Also, it's not that hard to cook. I promise.

For example, this is what I recently purchased at the store:

It is over 5 pounds of chicken. Granted, some of that weight is the bones, but look at this price:
So, here's my secret to buying and cooking bone-in chicken...I boil it.

In my giant stockpot.
I bring the pot to a boil and then put it on a medium-heat cook that chicken until it literally falls off the bone. It takes about 2 hours, but I just let it cook while I'm busy around the house. Then, the chicken is so tender that it pulls away from the bone and I am left with about 4 pounds of chicken to use in meals for the week. I also have homemade chicken broth that I run through a strainer and can freeze and use whenever chicken broth is needed.

So, don't be scared of bone-in chicken. You can definitely conquer it and save a bundle of money as well!

Misto

My sister-in-law, Kyle, bought me a fabulous Christmas present that I need to tell you about. It's called a Misto Sprayer:

It is the best thing ever!!!!

What you do is you pour any oil of your choice (I've used olive and vegetable in mine!) into the Misto. The lid serves a pump and it becomes your very own cooking spray! I use it all the time. I will never need to buy PAM again!

And the beauty of it is, it's just oil. No extra additives or chemicals. I use it to oil my oven fries instead of drizzling oil. Evan uses it to cook eggs. It is fabulous! It is seriously one of my favorite kitchen tools.

You can find them on Amazon.com for as little as $7.00 or they sell them at places like World Market and Bed Bath & Beyond for around $10.00.

I highly recommend it and feel you should purchase one for you, your parents, your grandkids and the mailman!

My Christmas gift.

First, I need to show you how much fruit we had in our house on Tuesday. It is Friday and the bananas are gone and the bowl is half empty.

My family loves fruit.

In December, I mentioned on Elisablog that I was going to ask my family for recipes written in their handwriting. Thankfully, my family is awesome and totally went above and beyond for my gift.

I received recipes from aunts, uncles, great-aunts, my mom, my grandmas and even my great-grandma who passed away almost 4 years ago.

This recipe is from my Mama (my mom's mom's mom...did you get that?).
My grandma sent me a few in her handwriting and I was so excited. It meant a lot to me.

I recognized a few of the recipes as ones I've enjoyed eating at family gatherings for years.
I have put them in my cook books and have slowly started trying some of them out. I still have a couple people who are sending me their recipes in the mail. I can not wait to see what they'll send.
It's like having them there with me while I cook. Seeing their handwriting brings them right into my kitchen with me. Thank you everyone who sent me recipes. It was one of my favorite Christmas gifts ever.
Never underestimate the power of your own handwriting. Especially when you have your own kiddos, they are going to want to someday have things written by you around. Someday, my kids will get to inherit these recipes. Of course, I'm not letting them out of my grip until I am no longer on this earth, so they'll be waiting a while. Then they'll have to fight over them. Unless Elisabeth calls dibs on them like she is prone to do with things she likes of mine. You might recall that there are a few Christmas ornaments she wants. Oh, and my sapphire ring that she claimed when she was 4 years old. "Can I have that when you die, Mom?"

Oh, honey.

No.

Your Aunt Kyle's already called dibs.

I am so smart. S-M-R-T.

Hi. I wanted you to know that I am a technological GENIUS and just added a search tool to this website. So, you can type in a certain food you're looking for and see if I have a recipe to go with it.

Yeah, I've been wanting something like for Virginia Cooks for a while now. Um...it was super easy to find and put on the website.

Maybe I should give up cooking and become a computer guru. Thoughts?

Can Can.

I love everything that has to do with cooking. If I could, I would cook and bake all day. I would take endless classes so I could learn MORE about cooking. I would live in my kitchen all day long and just make delicious dish after delicious dish.

If my pantry magically refilled itself for free.

And if I had a house elf to clean my kitchen up after me.

And if I had the storage space for all the finished dishes.

Canning is one of those things that I've always been interested in learning how to do. Last weekend, I got some first hand lessons from 2 lovely friends and then the supplies to make jelly on my own from another.

It was a wonderful canning weekend for me.

On Friday, I went over to support my friend Kim (by staring at her and slicing strawberries and yapping her ear off) while she made strawberry jelly. It smelled heavenly in her home.

We made applesauce at my friend Rachel's mom Lynn's house on Saturday. She has this super cool thing-y that smooshes the apples into applesauce texture. (I should probably re-ask the name of it since I need to have one now). She also uses it to make homemade tomato soup which is the absolute best tomato soup I have ever had.
Elisabeth did all of the smooshing for us. She was most proud and will gladly tell you that she made all the applesauce by herself.

The smell of cooked apples filled the whole house. It was a perfect fall day smell.
I am now attempting to jar my own prickly pear jelly. My friend Shanya gave me the prickly pears and I have attempted to make it on Sunday. I am patiently waiting for her advice because it hasn't totally jelled yet and I am nervous. I forgot to ask how long it takes to fully jell.

No worries, though. I'm not giving up on this whole canning thing. I have big plans for rows and rows of homemade jellies and jams and sauces and soups and maybe even pickles!!!!

Again. I am a cooking dork.

A hobby

One of Evan's fabulous uncles sent me this:

It's a 1937 The Household Searchlight Recipe Book. The Household Magazine was quite popular back then. Think Real Simple (which I love and get monthly, thank you very much!). Here's a cover of the magazine from the same year:

I love it. Anyway, I have been reading the cookbook and just absolutely adoring the whole thing. Not only are some of the recipes just so far out there (rhubarb juice?! lots of recipes with sardines!) but a lot of them sound delicious. And you know I'm totally going to make some of them!

After making Evan listen to some of the weirder recipes, I told him I would like to start collecting more old recipe books. I have a couple of cake recipe books from the 1950s from my Grandma Sandy and I love those things too.

I wonder when cooking became more of hobby for me instead of just a daily chore. I mean, I've never really thought of it as a chore (except when pregnant with Julia and just being anywhere near the kitchen made me gag). And I've been collecting recipes to try since high school. So, maybe it's been an emerging hobby for years? Anyway, however long it's been, I just love it. It's never old. I can continue learning more and more for years and never be done.

Enough rambling...it's time to show you my potted garden!

My beef steak tomatoes are growing! I only have the one plant, so they are mainly being used for salads. But, I have about 3 that should ripen at the same time, so I may need to make some bruschetta with it!

My banana peppers! I plan on using them for sandwiches, but they are growing like crazy and it's just this one plant. I may need to look into what else I can do with them.
And my strawberries. How cute are they? They are the wild kind, so they don't get big, but they are so tartly sweet when they ripen. I love them.
Now that we're back on a school schedule, be prepared for more postings on here. :)

Please forgive me.

Miss me?

I know, I have not posted on here in weeks!

I suck.

My excuses:

1. We were in Illinois for 2 weeks, so I didn't really cook.

2. Evan's been TDY for 2 weeks and my girls have been eating like birds lately, so we've been eating a lot of fruit, veggie and cheese meals. Mediterranean style.

But, no worries. I have some recipes that I'm making that I will be posting very soon. And I'll be chatting at you about my potted garden and the lovely vegetables I have growing there.

So don't forsake me! I still love you!

And I still love cooking and baking!

Now, I'm off to start a little baking that I'll totally share with you this week. Mmmm.

Produce, anyone?

(I feel that the above picture is EXACTLY how I have been feeling about cleaning up after dinner lately. Not lately, always. I hate clean up. Plus, her hair is way cute.)

While planting some seeds the other day, (lettuce and strawberry, if you are interested!!!) and thinking about what other produce and herbs I would like to plant soonish as this weather finally gives itself over to spring, I remembered that farmer's markets will soon be open for business.

I love farmer's markets. I started frequenting the one in DeKalb while Evan was in law school and I stumbled upon not only fantastic prices for fresh produce, but some new produce that either I'd never seen or hadn't thought to purchase before. I've also found produce in colors I didn't know they came in, and that is always a fun find! (For example, did you know that cauliflower can be yellow and purple?) I also really like the idea of supporting local farmers. They are so friendly and love answering questions about their crops.

So, as I start reaping the benefits of my own garden soon and that of other people's, I want to know...

What is your favorite fresh produce? And how do you cook it/eat it? I'm on the hunt for new ways of cooking veggies and I'd love some that come from your houses!!!!

April Fool's Dinner.

Oh, April Fool's Day. How I don't really care for you.

It's not that I don't like a good joke or a hearty laugh at someone else's expense (cause I do...believe me, I do), but it's just not a holiday that I've ever really been that into. I remember in junior high switching a friend's sandwich with one I had concocted myself. While he thought he was biting into a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich, little did he know that he was in for a giant bite of peanut butter and jelly and pepper and onion powder sandwich with some Worcestershire sauce for good measure. I laughed till I cried at seeing his face. Classic.

But, normally, I don't usually do anything with this holiday. Until this year.

Apparently, when Evan was little, his family would have an April Fool's Day dinner where they would eat off of weird "plates" and eat things were "gross". So, since Jana and Keith were here, and since Elisabeth is 7 years old and a giant fan of slap stick and gross-out humor, Jana decided to have an April Fool's Day dinner. Elisabeth's plan was to trick Evan since everyone else was in on the secret.

Jana found a recipe for Chunky Cat Barf online. We went to the store to find the ingredients needed. She also found a recipe for dessert: Baked Potatoes. She and Elisabeth went about making supper before Evan could come home and see it. I was in charge of setting the table.

Can I please tell you that finding "place settings" outside of the box was harder than I thought. But, this is what I came up with:
When Evan walked in the door after work, Elisabeth instantly went into this long, drawn out story about how our cat Roosevelt had gotten outside and eaten too much grass and had puked everywhere in the house. Evan already knew something was up because, not only is Elisabeth a horrific liar but she is also a terrible secret keeper, and she had told him we were eating something gross for dinner the night before. (Honestly, if she continues to be such a rotten liar, having her as a teenager will be fine.)

This was our Chunky Cat Barf dinner.
It seriously looked like cat barf. Jana even added spinach to the recipe as the "grass". Gross.

Here is everyone eating up! It actually ended up being a delicious meal. Seriously.
I tried to be creative with the "glasses". Jana drank wine from a measuring cup.
Julia had no idea what the heck was going on. She just likes to eat.
Evan drank milk from a sippy cup, which infuriated Julia to no end.
I drank wine from a beer stein.
Julia kept leaning over and hugging Keith throughout the whole meal. She loves her Papa.
Then it was dessert time. Evan did not know about this dessert because I threatened Elisabeth's life to actually just say it was a baked potato and not go into any more details.
He wondered what was up when we got the potatoes out of the freezer.
They were delish!
Overall, the dinner was fun. Elisabeth was the most excited and proud of "tricking" Evan. I have a feeling that this is now a new tradition in our home. Looks like I'll be searching for new, gross meals for next year.

How I meal plan...

Obviously, if you are familiar with reading this site, you know that I meal plan a week's worth of food at a time. I thought I would share with you how I go about this lovely process.

First off, we have a budget set for groceries. We'd never really set a budget for food before, and when we moved out here I just went to the store, bought whatever I wanted, and then realized that I didn't always come home with ingredients for complete meals. So, I'd head back to the store to buy more. Honestly, it was a very stupid way to shop. When we started using mint.com to set our budget, we realized that we were spending WAAAAAY too much on groceries. So, I declared that i could spent less and set our monthly budget on groceries at $350.

Yep. $350. And I always get it in cash. That way I have it physically with me. It makes me more accountable that way.

So, when you see my meals, please know that I am menu planning, grocery shopping and whatnot on a pretty tight budget. Needless to say, I have learned to be quite frugal.

I usually start menu planning the Friday before the next week. I try to make meals around meats and pastas I already have in my house or on meats I know are on sale where I shop. I pull out 3 or 4 cookbooks that I want to find recipes in and search for ones I haven't tried or requests that Evan and Elisabeth have asked to have the next week. I go through every ingredient and see if I have it and those that I don't have go on the grocery list. I used to just kind of go by the grocery list when I went shopping, but now I'm pretty strict about making sure I buy only what's on the list.

Once I've gotten the meals set (including the sides), I start going through my coupons and the ads from the grocery stores I frequent. I usually either go to King Soopers or Super Target. Sometimes both if I need to. I have been getting all of my produce at the fabulously fabulous Sunflower Farmers Market, and have been saving a bundle by going there.

Because we get paid twice a month, I take out half of the grocery budget per pay check. So, when I go grocery shopping after being paid, that trip is usually a bigger one where I buy meat in bulk, pastas, paper products and any bathing/cleaning products needed. Then, with what is left over, I use that for the following week before the next pay check. So, I have $175 for two weeks of groceries. If I spend it all that first trip, then I will have nothing left. This was a hard lesson learned when I first started this. Now, I try to spend enough the first week so that I have around 30-40 dollars the second week.

I won't lie, this takes a lot of preparation. I have become a pro at using coupons and taking advantage of deals and weekly fliers. I also have a new slogan, which is, "Sorry, we're out of _____________, but put it on the grocery list and I'll get it next time." We've all learned not to eat all the chips in one day or to suck it up and eat the less than popular cereals that no one wants to finish.

So, here's some tips I've picked up along the way with this "Budgeted and Frugal Meal Planning" adventure I have embarked on:
-I buy certain things in bulk, like paper products. It totally saves in the long run.
-I buy lots of generic things. Honestly, most canned, boxed and frozen foods are just as good as name brands but for almost half the cost. You've probably noticed that the ingredients I show in my recipes are mostly generic. Of course, there are some things that we are picky about (rice, soy sauce, chips) and we budget for those accordingly.
-I compare shop. I buy my milk at King Soopers because it's cheapest there. I buy all paper products at Super Target because they are cheaper there. I am constantly checking the weekly ads and making notes on my grocery list about where to buy certain things for the best deals.
-I cook meals that make enough for leftovers. Very rarely do we have a meal that doesn't have enough left for Evan's lunches for the week. That way I'm not buying him frozen meals all the time and I'm not wasting food and money by throwing away perfectly good food that was never eaten. We also eat leftovers over the weekend for lunches and dinners.
-I try to have extras on hand at all times. I usually have extra things of pasta in the cabinet along with cans of soup, macaroni and cheese, frozen corn dogs and fish sticks, so that if we don't feel like cooking, we can have an easy dinner or lunch. I also will buy sides and things I might not normally buy if they are on super sale or clearance.


Now, there have been weeks where I end up spending over my budget. Obviously if we are out of staples like milk, eggs or bread, I go and buy it. But, as I've gotten more used to shopping this way, I'm getting better at managing my allotted grocery money. And if we know we're having company, I always buy more things to accommodate the extra people.

I won't lie, I have learned to like shopping on a budget. It makes me be creative in my cooking. I have bought cuts of meat that I would have never bought before and have learned how to cook them and make fantastic meals. I've also learned how to use leftovers to make a totally new meal so I'm not wasting anything.

And, this spring, I will be planting my own potted garden. Oh my goodness, I can not even tell you how excited I am. More about that later!

Frugal Giveaway

I follow a blog by a lovely lady who creates meals and gives awesome tips and advice on how to be frugal. Since that is what I would like to be, I enjoy reading her site daily. Plus, she has great recipes (and you all know I love me some recipes).

Anyway, visit her site at www.frugalupstate.com. And check out her $50 WalMart gift card giveaway for the Super Bowl. I know I will!!

U-G-L-I, you ain't got no alibi...

I love the produce aisle. It is my favorite part of going grocery shopping.

First off, it is so stinking colorful. Every shade of the rainbow. There's a reason why these things are so good for you--they're soooo pretty. I can not help but buy at least one produce item when I am at the grocery store. (Although, lately, that would be because my baby eats at least an apple and a banana EVERY DAY!)

Recently, while browsing the beautiful fruit section I saw something...well...not so beautiful. I had seen them before, but hadn't ever bought one. Since they were only a dollar, I picked one up.

It's an ugli fruit.

No, seriously, that's it's name. And for good reason. It's not pretty. It looks like it didn't get enough tummy time as an infant.



But, I am all about trying new things and I decided to bring this one home. Elisabeth was most intrigued by it. She loves trying new things too. No, really, she does. I trained her that way.

Anyway, I googled the ugli fruit and found out that it's an accidental fruit. In that, it's an accidental cross between a grapefruit, Seville orange and a tangerine. They were found in Jamaica growing wild about 80 years ago. Now they grow them on purpose, and I am so happy they do.

Want to see what it looks like on the inside? Okay!
First I cut off the top...

and discovered that the skin is super thick.

But, once I started peeling it, it was easy.

Look! It looks like a pumpkin!


I served with the pork chops Evan grilled for lunch and some cottage cheese. If I was my Grandma, I would have put the ugli fruit on top of my cottage cheese and eaten it together. However, I think that is yucky. Sorry, Grandma.



I loved it. They were way juicer than an orange (so don't eat them on a first date...or with your boss...or in front of the old ladies at church) but a bit tarter. But a good tart. I was pleasantly surprised with how tasty they were.

I asked the girls for their opinions. Elisabeth was a bit distracted with a commercial during the football game. But when I screamed her name and threatened to take her toys and throw them all in the garbage disposal, she finally gave me her opinion.

Julia? Well, let's remember who we're talking about here. The girl LOVES fruit. But, nevertheless, I asked her if it was good and she nodded her head so enthusiastically, I thought it would fall off.



So, if you like citrus fruits, I highly recommend the ugli fruit. Despite its sad name, it's a delightful addition to your fruit bowl. We will definitely be buying more.

Stupid Peas.

I need to say something. It's hard for me, so give me a second.

*deep breath*

*happy thoughts*

Ok.

I ate peas last night.

I know, I know. I hate peas. Please, I don't need reminded. The only thing about peas that is at all positive is their color. It's so pretty.

(Kyle? Jana? Are you okay? Did you faint at hearing that I ate peas? Can you hear me?)

Anyway, here's the story. So, I was making Cottage Pies last night for dinner (which ended up being SUPER easy and yummy and I will have to make them again soonish) and it called for peas and carrots. Now, I hate peas and I hate cooked carrots. So, there was no way that I was putting both of those in a perfectly good recipe. While debating which one to skip and what to replace it with, I saw a large bag of frozen corn in my freezer. After much debate (and tears), I decided to leave out the carrots. My reasons? Well, peas and corn are the same size, so it would have blended better with the meat base of the pies. Plus, everyone else in my house loves loves loves peas, and I wanted them to be happy. My goal in life is to make them all happy (right? that's what I'm supposed to say, right?). I figured I'd eat around the peas like I always do.

When it was time to eat, I realized that the peas were EVERYWHERE in the cottage pies. There was no getting around them. But, the stinking pies smelled so good, I didn't want to abandon them and not even eat. So, I sucked it up, took a bite. First off, the meal was super yummers. Secondly, I thought it looked pretty too with the yellow of the corn, the green peas, the brown meat mixture and the white mashed potatoes on top. But, most importantly, the peas didn't super bother me. In fact, I ate my whole serving and every single last daggum pea. When I announced that I had eaten all the peas, Elisabeth was so proud of me she gave me a high five.

And that's why I ate them. I am always telling Elisabeth that when new things are on the table, we all have to take at least one bite. And she is fantastic about this rule. The girl has very few things that she hates. Tomatoes are pretty high up there, but she will still try one every now and then to see if her taste buds have "changed their minds".

Now, I'm not saying that my taste buds have changed their minds--completely. I could have done without them. But, if I had to choose between them and cooked carrots for this dish, honestly, I'll put the peas back in and still leave out those carrots. I just think cooked carrots tend to ruin the taste of things. The peas, while not really adding a potent flavor, didn't steal the thunder from the other foods.

Will I be making split pea soup next week? Dear lord above, NO!!!!! Will I be trying things that have peas in them more often now? Yes, I do believe I will.

My Battle with the Onion

I have never liked onions. They're too potent, too strong, too ick. So, I rarely ever put them in recipes. If a recipe called for onions, I would scoff at it and just completely omit them.

I was dumb.

As I've cooked more and more, my taste buds have become...smarter? mature? less snobby?

It was a slow process (and had a lot to do with Evan whining whenever I left onions out of things, because the boy loves onions. loves.), but I eventually began adding onions into recipes that asked for them. At first, I'd just add may a fourth of what was asked for and only if they were cooked first. I could taste the onions in the recipe and slowly realized something--onions are very flavorful and add a lot to a recipe.

I know. I'm a flipping genius.

But, when there's a food you hate (peas) (onions) (most legumes), you don't want to ruin a perfectly good dish with it. You know? How was I supposed to know that when you cook an onion it caramelizes and becomes this delicious, tangy, sweet flavor that really enhances dishes and other foods? Oh, by actually trying it out? My bad.

Well, my whole point is that I went from never having onions in my home to going through a 3 pound bag of yellow onions every two weeks. I've learned to love the onion. Even though they make me cry EVERY TIME I cut one. (It's so pathetic. Elisabeth has learned to ask when she hears me sniffling in the kitchen, "Mom, are you cutting onions?") I also have green onions and pearl onions in my produce drawer as well. I am growing up.

So, when you see me using onions in my recipes, please know that this is a new phenomenon in our home. A very happy phenomenon.

But, don't expect this to be happening with peas. Those are just ick to the tenth degree.