Tips:

• Add a box of dry instant vanilla pudding, after beating eggs, in any cookie batter for a perfect textured cookie or bar. From Marsha B.
• Try adding a pinch of oregano or a teaspoon of onion soup mix to your green beans for a different twist and taste.
• Add a teaspoon of bacon grease to green beans and sprinkle with onion salt or onion powder. This is especially good when serving them with something like meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Menu:

Creamy Fajitas*
Tossed Salad
Salsa Green Beans*
Apple Plum Crisp*

Recipes:

Creamy Fajitas

I have a favorite recipe using steak cubes, mushroom soup, sour cream and green chilies.

Flour the steak cubes as it helps thicken the sauce. Brown the steak cubes. Add mushroom soup, green chiles and simmer for 1 hour. Then add sour cream and put in beans if you want them. Wrap ingredients in flour tortillas and add shredded cheddar cheese. Everyone loves it! Jane S

Jane didn’t give us exact measurements, but here is a general idea. These measurements aren’t exact and you can feel free to adjust them.

2 cups cubed steak
1 can cream of mushroom soup (10 3/4 oz.)
1 small can chopped green chiles
1 cup sour cream

Salsa Green Beans

1 lb. green beans
16 oz. jar of salsa
1 tsp. olive oil

Cook frozen, fresh or canned green beans. Add salsa and olive oil and simmer 5-10 minutes until flavors are blended.

Apple Plum Crisp

4 cups apples, peeled and sliced
2 cups plums, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup margarine, melted and divided
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. flour
3/4 tsp. cinnamon, divided
1 cup oats
1/4 cup nuts, chopped
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed, divided

Combine 1/4 cup margarine, 1/4 cup brown sugar, lemon juice, flour and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Add apples and plums, toss and coat well. Place in 8×11 baking pan.

In a bowl combine remaining 1/4 cup margarine, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon along with oats, nuts and ginger. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes until fruit is tender and topping crisp and browned. Serve with ice cream or whipped topping. 

You may substitute 2 cups of peaches or nectarines for plums.

For more money saving recipes and tips check out Dining on a Dime Cookbook.

Photo By: Scott M

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Using Leftover Candy Canes

Are you drowning in leftover candy canes? Did you find some at your after Christmas sales and, now that you’ve bought boxes and boxes of candy canes, you haven’t a clue about what to do with them?

Well, grind them into peppermint sugar. Keep it in a handy container and then sprinkle in or on things like:

Cupcakes
Hot Chocolate
Brownies or Cakes
Ice cream (especially good on chocolate)
Tea
Coffee
Frosted cookies
Add to your favorite sugar cookie recipe
Dip pretzels in white chocolate then roll in it
Dip cookies in white chocolate and roll in it.

Photo By: Nicholas Bufford

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Tips:

Instead of a menu this week, here are some extra recipes to use those Christmas dinner leftovers and also some dips to serve at your New Year’s get together.

• This is an unexpected canape and a handy little finger food.
  • Roll about 1 teaspoon full your favorite cream cheese dip into a ball. Press it between two walnut halves. Lay on a platter to serve.
• Save dry cereal odds and ends to add to your Chex mix when you make it.
• Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting it in the fridge. It will keep much longer.

Recipes:

Sheala’s Ham and Noodles
(For Using Leftover Ham)

1 (8 oz.) pkg. egg noodles, cooked
1/2 lb. ham, chopped
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of chicken soup
1 cup Cheddar cheese, grated

Mix first three ingredients together in a casserole dish and bake at 350° for 20 minutes until warmed. Top with cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Serves 4.

You may add 1 package of any vegetable.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
(For Using Leftover Mashed Potatoes)

3-4 cups mashed potatoes
4 oz. cream cheese, softened in microwave
1 clove of garlic or 1 tsp. garlic powder, to taste
1 cup Mexican cheese blend, shredded

Mix potatoes, cream cheese and garlic and place in a 1 quart greased baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese and place under broiler for 3-4 minutes until cheese is melted.

Eggnog Pound Cake

2 Tbsp. margarine
2/3 cup sliced almonds

Grease Bundt or tube pan with margarine and press almonds into sides and bottom

Cake:

1 package yellow cake mix
3 Tbsp. margarine, melted
1 1/2 cups eggnog
2 eggs
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Beat everything together until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350° for 40-50 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

David’s Favorite Dip

1 jar Kraft Old English cheese spread
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup nuts, chopped

Mix ingredients. Roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap. Most of the time we just mix it and serve in a bowl without wrapping it. Serve with chips.

Blue Cheese Dip (Jill’s favorite)

1 stick butter (not margarine), softened
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
2 oz. crumbled blue cheese
1/2 small package (2-3 Tbsp.) slivered almonds, toasted*
2 Tbsp. chopped ripe olives

Mix everything. Chill. If you want to make a ball or log then save out the almonds and roll it in them.

*To toast your almonds lay them on foil or a pan and heat in a 400° oven until brown. Watch carefully.

Serve with chips.

This dip tastes like some very expensive ones that you can buy pre-made. Be sure to use dried herbs and not powdered. Dried herbs are the bigger flakes that haven’t been ground fine.

Herb Dip

1 clove garlic, crushed or garlic powder
2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. each of dried basil, dill weed, marjoram, thyme,
           pepper

Blend all ingredients together. This will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week or in the freezer for 3 months.

Here’s a recipe for you fruit lovers!

Cinnamon Sour Cream

1/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg

Mix and serve with fresh fruit. You can use this as a fruit salad dressing. too. If used as a dressing, then you can use canned fruit and garnish with coconut and/or toasted chopped almonds or nuts.

Photo By: wEnDaLicious

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Using Leftover Cookies

I was looking at pie crust in my Betty Crocker cookbook and I found cookie crust. I had one of those aha moments… This would be a perfect way to use hard or overcooked cookies! From: DD

Good idea. I recently had a similar aha moment for cookies too. I have several "rejects" of my gingerbread men. They taste fine– They’re just missing a head or a leg so I can’t use them for gifts. I think I am going to use them to top my apple crisps. I will crush them, add some melted margarine or butter and sprinkle on top of my apple crisp instead of its usual topping. I thought all the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in the cookies would be really yummy on top of an apple or peach crisp.

       -Jill

Photo By: Manchester City Library

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Here is a delicious recipe submitted by one of our readers. Thanks, Grandma!

Cheddar Turkey Bake

2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
4tsp dried minced onion
2 cups uncooked long grain rice
2 cups frozen peas thawed
4 cups cubed cooked turkey
2 cans condensed cheddar cheese soup undiluted
2 cups milk
1 tsp salt
2 cups finely crushed butter flavoured crackers
6 tbsp butter, melted

In a large saucepan, bring the broth, water and onion to a boil. Reduce heat. Add rice. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork.

Divide rice between two greased 9" square baking pans. Sprinkle each pan of rice with peas and turkey. In a bowl, combine the soup, milk and salt until smooth. Pour over turkey. Toss the cracker crumbs and butter and sprinkle over the top.

Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Bake the second at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden brown.

To use the frozen casserole, thaw in the fridge for 24 hours. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until heated through.

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Saving Cooking Disasters

I happened to think of a couple of things today that might help you for Thanksgiving and for any of the other holidays, too.

First, if you haven’t already done it, clean out your refrigerator today. You really should clean your refrigerator before you go buy everything for your dinner but if you haven’t done it yet, do it now. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to stuff leftovers into an already full fridge when you have a house full of company over, so clean it now. If you can, leave a certain shelf for the things you are going to store before and after Thanksgiving dinner.

Fixing Cooking Boo Boos:

• If you didn’t cook your turkey with our recipe, it may come out too dry. Don’t panic. Just slice it, lay it on a platter and pour gravy over it. Then serve.
• If your stuffing is too dry, once again, add some turkey broth to it or gravy.
• If a side dish burns and sticks to the bottom of the pot, carefully pour it out of the pot, being sure not to scrape the bottom of the pan or any of the food stuck to it. You can save quite a bit this way.
• If your dinner rolls burn, carefully slice off the bottoms. If all of the bottoms are gone, people will think that is just the way they are supposed to be.
• If the crust on your pumpkin pie doesn’t turn out, scrape out the filling and place it in a nice serving dish. Cover it with lots of whipped topping sprinkled with a little cinnamon and call it Pumpkin custard.

Let’s Talk Turkey

I don’t think there is anything more dismal looking then a picked over turkey carcass. Usually, I am so tired from making the meal, being hostess and cleaning up that having to face the turkey carcass can almost put me over the edge. What I finally learned is not to do anything with it on Thanksgiving day. Then, the day after Thanksgiving, we pick at it all day long, making sandwiches and other things. Later I pick off the last of the big chunks.

I usually cook my turkey wrapped in foil or in a disposable pan so, when I’m done, I just wrap the foil around the turkey or gently shape the disposable pan around it. Then I stick it all in a couple of plastic bags, pop it in the freezer and forget it for a couple of weeks. Often I wait until January when I bring out the turkey remains and toss the carcass into a large pot for soup. That’s when it gets it’s final picking over.

If any of you have tips about how to fix Thanksgiving cooking boo boos for our beginning cooks and even some of us old timers, feel free to post. You may be the one to save someone’s Thanksgiving. : )

       -Jill

We just received this today from a reader and thought it was perfect to add here.

From Cindy:

I had just made your pecan pie muffin recipe and popped it into the oven. I checked another recipe site (not as good as yours!) and many commenters said their muffins stuck to the pans and that they had to make it over again with flour, oil, Baker’s Joy or whatever.

I thought “Great! I need these for a bake sale tomorrow. Just my luck– They’ll be stuck in the pan and unusable.” So when I took the pan out of the oven I immediately ran a sharp knife around the sides and popped the muffins out. It worked just fine. I can see, though, that if you left them in the pan to cool they probably would stick. They’re very good. Thanks for the recipe and Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a good place to give everyone a heads up that if you bake anything  sticky, sugary or syrupy, you’ll want to get it out of the pan immediately before it cools. I put a sticky topping on my cinnamon rolls so I have another pan ready to "dump" them on to the minute they come out of the oven.

Be careful with things like pecan pies and don’t fill them so full that they spill over the top and onto the edge because you will spend most of the day chiseling and trying to get a piece of pie out of the pan.

Of course, when it comes to pecan pie, I would find a way to get it out of the pan and into my mouth, even going as far as sucking on the pan if I have to. Yum! : ) : )

No matter what you make, a good rule of thumb is that if it is sticky and touches the pan it is like brushing on glue so either grease it very well or get it out of the pan quickly.

      -Jill

photos by: toomanythoughts and technodad

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• When you buy a loaf of bread, keep half of it for sandwiches and things and place the other half in the freezer to use when you have things like toast, French toast or Texas toast.
• You can also keep loaves of French bread in the freezer. When you need it for garlic bread or Texas toast just slice it and put back. French bread is so much easier to slice when it is frozen.
• If you need fresh peppers or other vegetables and the rest of the pepper usually goes to waste before you need it again, try keeping a bag of stir fry vegetables in your freezer. This way you can pick out what you need for a recipe and not waste the rest.
• There are also many vegetables, like peppers, where the leftovers can be stored in the freezer to use another time.

Recipe:

Pastry for 1 Turnover

1/4 cup flour
pinch salt
4 tsp. shortening
1 Tbsp. ice water

Cut shortening into flour and salt. Mix in water. Roll out and fill with 1 apple or other fruit filling.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Photo By: Jason Lam

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From: Norma

As I was shredding zucchini to put in the freezer, my 12 year old grandson asked, "I wonder what that would taste like made into slaw". So he got a carrot and we made zucchini slaw. It was awesome!

So here is our Zucchini Slaw recipe:

2 medium zucchini
1 large carrot
miracle whip (add it until you like it)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon milk

Mix well and chill or just make your favorite coleslaw recipe and use zucchini instead of cabbage. (If you have picky eaters, this is a good way to sneak in zucchini.)

I tried this zucchini slaw recipe and it was yummy! I also tried making it with our garlic salad sauce. Yum! This is a great way to use leftover garden zucchini!

      -Tawra

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From: Rose

Jill/ and Tawra, I was finally able to get the Wolfgang Puck’s Butternut Squash Soup recipe. Enjoy! The restaurant is at downtown Disney and if you ask for the recipe they have it on little recipe cards.

Wolfgang Puck’s Butternut Squash Soup

1 cup white onions, minced
2 oz. whole butter
1 Tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. fresh ground white pepper
1 lb. carrots
1 gallon vegetable stock
5 lbs. butternut squash, diced
1 qt. heavy cream
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 lbs. Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced

In a large pot, sweat the onions, carrots and squash in the butter. Saute well, but do not brown!

Add the vegetable stock and potatoes. Cook all the vegetables until they are tender. Add the cream and curry powder. Simmer for approximately 5 minutes. With a hand blender, puree until smooth. Strain through a fine strainer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Adjust the sweetness and acidity with sugar and lemon juice. NOTE: The sugar and lemon juice are used as adjustments to the flavor. The quantities are approximations due to the change in sweetness of the squash throughout the year.

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Leftover Hot Dogs, Hamburgers And Peach Smoothies

I’m not sure why but every time we barbecue there are always a few hot dogs and hamburgers left, not to mention leftover baked beans. It’s like a Murphy’s Law of barbecuing. You’ll always have leftovers just like you always have leftovers at Thanksgiving.

Unlike Thanksgiving, where you can find lots of recipes explaining what to do with leftover turkey and gravy, the pickins are slim for leftover hot dog recipes. Today’s menu not only uses the hot dogs but also hamburgers and baked beans in one fell swoop.

Tips:

• Buttering corn on the cob can be a challenge but to have to do it for four or more kids can really wear you out. To make buttering corn easier, spread butter on a piece of bread (the heel works best).Then wrap the bread around the corn and quickly rub. Add more butter to the bread as you need it.
• For a fast and easy fruit pie or crisp topping, sprinkle a 9 oz. box of cake mix on top of the fruit. Then drizzle with 1/3 cup melted butter and bake as usual.
• Use leftover grilled veggies in soups, stews and casseroles for extra flavor.
• If your butter tends to burn when frying foods in it, add 1 tsp. of oil in with the butter.

Menu:

Hot Dog Pie*
Tortilla Chips
Corn on the Cob
Peach Smoothies*

Hot Dog Pie

2-3 (about 1/2 lb.) hamburger patties, crumbled
4 hot dogs, sliced
2 cups baked beans*
2 oz. Velveeta, cubed
1 unbaked deep dish pie crust**
4 slices American cheese

Combine first 4 ingredients and heat either on the stove or microwave, just until cheese is melted. Prick pie crust with fork. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Fill with hot bean and meat mixture. Cut each slice of American cheese into 4 strips and make lattice work on top of pie. Bake 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.

*If you don’t have leftover baked beans, you can use canned baked beans (16 oz. can) or make your own. Just be sure to use a little brown sugar in them.

**If you don’t have a pie crust, bake without the crust in a greased casserole dish or pie pan until cheese is melted and serve on top of leftover hot dog or hamburger buns.

Peach Smoothies

2 cups frozen peaches, sliced and thawed
1 cup milk
1 can (6 oz.) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 pint vanilla ice cream
3 drops each red and yellow food coloring, optional

In a blender combine first 4 ingredients. Add ice cream and blend till smooth. Add food coloring. Makes 4 servings.

Photo By: Steven Depolo

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