FRUGAL FRIDAY #5

Right now it is so cold here. I know it isn't as bad as what most of the country is going through but it is THAT bad for me. Tonight will be the third night in a row with the temps at 20 or the high teens. Brrrrrr. This cold weather really makes me want to eat hot and delicious soups. I got an email from a healthy eating group with links to allrecipe for these different types of soups. It is like the mother lode of soup recipes. I hope you can find one that you enjoy. I use that site regularly but I have never searched for a soup recipe. Soup is a great way to stretch your food dollar especially if you make your own vegetable, chicken or beef broths. It is so much healthier for you as well since you control what goes into the broth such as sodium.

I want to thank Shirl4116@aol.com with HealthyCooking-GreenLiving for sending me this email. Some of these sound so yummy like Spinach and Leek and White Bean Soup, Miso Soup, love it but have never made it.

Bean Soups
More Bean Soup Recipes
Black Bean Vegetable Soup
Grandma B's Bean Soup
Spinach and Leek White Bean Soup
Escarole and Bean Soup
Pea Soups
Moong Dal
Vegan Split Pea Soup I
Yellow Split Pea and Frankfurter Soup
Split Pea Soup with Rosemary
Lentil Soups
Indian Dahl with Spinach
Rhinelander Lentil Soup
Moroccan Lentil Soup
Vegan Red Lentil Soup
Lentil Soup

First-Course Soups
Most of these soups have fewer than 100 calories per serving.
Miso Soup I
Tortilla Soup I
Japanese Onion Soup
Delicious Mushroom Soup
Garden-Fresh Tomato Soup
Main-Dish Meat Soups
Make your own stock, or use low-sodium canned broths as the base of these soups.
Peanut Butter Vegetable Chicken Soup
Caldo De Res (Beef Soup)
Vietnamese Beef Pho
Chicken Vegetable-Barley Soup
White Wine Chicken Soup
Main-Dish Vegetarian Soups
(If you are a vegetarian, omit the Worcestershire sauce from your recipe or check the label, as some brands contain anchovies.)
African Peanut Soup
Butternut Squash Bisque
Bissara
Corrigan's Minestrone
Beaker's Vegetable Barley Soup
Hearty Lentil Soup

Low-Fat Substitutions
Here are a few tricks for upping the flavor of your soups while lowering their fat content:

If your recipe calls for pre-cooked vegetables--such as onions, celery, or carrots--use a very small quantity of oil or cooking spray. If the vegetables start to stick to the pan, add a tablespoon or so of water, wine or broth to keep them from burning.

Brown meats in a separate pan. Discard fat, and pat meat dry before adding to your stock pot.

Miso--fermented soybean paste--adds savor to soup stocks, especially vegetarian broths. Add a tablespoon or so per quart of water, or to taste.

Fry your spices for a minute or so over medium heat before adding them to your soup. Add dried herbs at the beginning of the cooking time, and fresh herbs right before serving.

If your recipe calls for a heavy cream, use pureed cooked potatoes instead. Or remove about two cups of your cooked soup and blend until smooth. (Use a stick hand blender for best results, or puree it one cup at a time in a blender. Hold the lid on tight with a kitchen towel to protect yourself from burns.) Stir the puree back into the soup to thicken it.

To add real cream flavor, stir in a few tablespoons of heavy cream when the recipe calls for 1 cup--a little cream will go a long way.

Note: because cream is an emulsion, it doesn't "break" or curdle--like milk or sour cream can do--if the soup starts to boil. Use the real thing, but in small amounts, if you're watching your saturated fat intake.

Quote of the Day

"Character is simply habit long enough continued."– Plutarch

About Plutarch
Plutarch, the Greek historian who penned more than 46 anecdote-laced biographies of famous Greek and Roman figures in his Parallel Lives series of books, was more interested in exploring the influence of character on a man's personal destiny than in writing dry histories. He was born in Greece during Roman rule, most likely in the year 46. He traveled extensively through the Roman Empire, finally returning home to become a priest of Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi. He died in the year 120.

FRUGAL FRIDAY

For many of us purchasing food items got to where it contained more convenience foods that it should have. Due to busy schedules, activities and not having enough time I would purchase rotisserie chickens at Wal-Mart. They were very convenient. I would use them in my salads, soups or just as the main meat course.

Recently, these chickens have gotten so small that they look like a large Cornish hen. That is not very frugal or convenient. I can see where a family or 4 or 5 with a large appetite would not be able to feed their family on one of these.

I wish I could remember where I read this tip so I could give that person credit. I now buy a large roasting chicken at the grocery store and cook it myself. I used to do two at a time in my oven. The tip is to put them in your crock pot and cook them. You need to put balls of foil, or as I did potatoes wrapped in foil in the bottom of the crock pot. Season your chicken as you like it and place it on the foil/potatoes and cook. Do not add any liquids.

I did learn that any seasonings you put on your chicken will be much more intense than roasting in the oven. I normally make a mixture of olive oil, chopped fine garlic, lemon and lime zest and other seasonings. I put this mixture under the skin the best I can and the leftovers go on the skin. I then take the lemons and limes left from zesting and stuff them in the chicken's cavity. You might want to go light on your seasonings until you have the right mixture. I believe mine cooked around 5 hours on high. My chickens have a pop-up gage on them to let you know when they are done. Mine cost $6.51 (1.24 per lb) at Wal-Mart but I got more than twice as much chicken than their rotisserie chickens. You can probably find them on sale and get a better price. I like knowing what ingredients are going into it.

For busy people on the go I think putting your chicken in first thing in the morning and putting it on low will be perfect. Or if your crock pot has the feature put it on auto where it cooks on high for 4 hours and then low for 4 more. When you get home you will have a perfectly cooked chicken rotisserie style and baked potatoes or other veggies you wrap in foil.

Quote of the Day "It is necessary to try to surpass oneself always; this occupation ought to last as long as life." – Queen Christina

GRILLED CHICKEN SPINACH SALAD

This salad is delicious. I don't know the exact fat or carb content because I changed the recipe. It originally had 9 fat grams, 2 saturated and 33 carbs. I have removed eggs, mushrooms and peppers and added zucchini and capers. I don't use the bacon. I love the sweet and tartness of this salad. I hijacked this photo from Betty, you know, Mrs Crocker. I forgot to take my own photo and that won't happen again. I do like that hers has almonds and fresh raspberries.

Warm Grilled Chicken Spinach Salad with Raspberry-Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe


This recipe serves: 4 Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
For the dressing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup red raspberry jam organic or sugar-free or reduced sugar.
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

For the salad:
4 grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 4 to 6 ounces each
8 cups baby spinach leaves
1 cup sliced zucchini or yellow squash
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 strips cooked, crisp bacon, crumbled (optional)
1 tsp capers (optional)

Cooking Instructions
1. To make the dressing, heat the olive oil in a small saucepan. Add the jam, mustard and vinegar and heat thoroughly.
2. In a large salad bowl, toss the chicken, spinach and zucchini with the warm dressing.
3. Divide the chicken and spinach among 4 large serving plates. Arrange the mushrooms, onions, capers and bacon on top.

COLLARD GREENS AND BLACK EYED PEAS

Happy New Year 2009

I don't know if greens and black eyed peas and pork are just a southern thing or not. Hubby cooked a pork loin, opened cans of collard greens and black eyed peas. Everything was fine except for the peas. I don't like most beans or peas in a can because they are too dry. The greens were something I had purchased a while back. They were seasoned perfectly and even had a smoky flavor. I rarely do the veggie in the can thing. I prefer fresh or frozen. I informed him last night that this is the meal for New Years day not eve. He begged to differ. I didn't argue.

So I had black eyed peas, not the ones above, and greens for breakfast to get a head start on luck. No one else will eat the greens. They don't care for them too much. I couldn't find the pork loin so I assume it was all eaten last night. I do have Canadian bacon in the fridge so I will eat some of that to help boost my good luck for 2009. As if.

I don't cook meals that often anymore. I end up working so late that the kids have to eat before I could prepare something most times. When I do cook I cook a lot. Sometimes I get in the kitchen and make chicken and sausage gumbo, meatloaf and roast a couple of chickens. I don't cook enough for one meal. I generally cook enough of each for 4 or more meals. I freeze portions and hubby can pull whatever he likes out of the freezer.

I am not a meatloaf fan but he is. So I have learned to make it where I can tolerate it and put extra things in to make sure the kids are getting secret servings of veggies. I usually start with 5 lbs of lean ground beef and add a couple pounds of ground turkey. I chop up celery, onions and garlic real fine and saute them in olive oil. I then put them in the meat mixture with chopped up mushrooms, oatmeal, Dales, eggs, salt, pepper and some crushed tomatoes. I like mine well done. He doesn't.

I was perusing blogs this morning. I noticed that some show their weekly menu. Are they for real? Everything sounded like something I would go out to eat. Meaning complex and not the normal fare. I know around here there are nights the kids get Tyson chicken nuggets and tator tots or fries with a veggie. They love it. Hubby does to because it is quick and easy. These children, well oldest grandson, would not eat some of those meals. He was not so picky when he was younger. Now he thinks he should eat at McDonald's or Burger King, depending on the toy. That comes from his mother working three jobs at one time. Drive through fast food was the norm.

Some blogs were discussing their 2008 and what they planned on doing in 2009. Well my 2008 was extremely depressing so I wouldn't want to bore anyone with all the gory details. All I can hope for in 2009 is for things to be better than 2008. I went through extreme phases last year being angry, depressed and feeling guilty for feeling angry and depressed. I would sometimes rotate through these emotions at rapid fire speed for hours.

What I dream about doing is living in the country, as long as I have high speed internet, and having a garden and peace and quiet. Leaning how to compost and dry veggies and other assorted "Mother Earth" things. I can do without the cable tv and other conveniences but I can't live without the internet. It isn't just for blogging or shopping. I work from home so it is a necessity. In case you haven't noticed yet I am a very impatient person. Using dial up is not an option.

My sister and I have discussed living on our family property in Louisiana. We figure if we get a small travel trailer to start we will be okay. I can hang with my sister because she doesn't talk much. I love people and I have to talk to them every day. Not have to as in forced to but must. I feel out of place if I don't talk to my bff's. They keep me sane. They let me bitch. They sympathize.

There are days when I stop working, sit in front of the tv and immerse myself into a show so deeply that I don't hear hubby speaking. Then I get a loud shout to pay attention. There are times when I do not want to talk. I don't want to listen either. I have started pausing, love that Tivo, and then start the show back. I think he gets it then that I don't really want to talk...or listen. Sometimes I want to scream...soon as I start a movie he starts wanting to talk. Hello...what is the point of watching the movie if you are going to talk the whole time.

I love my hubby but he has to be the most sensitive person in the world. It can wear you out living with someone that you have to watch everything you say because it will hurt his feelings. My girls have even said "he is such a girl". I don't mind solitude. I enjoy it. That is part of the reason I get up so early. It is my alone time. While everyone else sleeps it is just me. He can't stand being alone.

When I was in Dallas for nine months he hated it. I hated it. I hated it because I had no yard or outdoor area living in a hotel. The biggest thing I hated about it was the nightly phone call where I listened to him bitch and moan about Baby Girl driving him nuts or other things. He can exaggerate which is something I do not like. It got to the point that I dreaded the nightly call. Let me just say those calls made my life a fucking hell. One month before I came home I finally lost it. I couldn't take it anymore. One can only stand to listen to the same damn whining for so long. Months of frustration flew out of me and I hung up. At least he was at home, slept in his bed, had his own things and yard, etc.


Did I mention that I have no patience? Thought so. Although, if you think about that last paragraph you would think I was a very patient person. I am not. I am a kind and caring person. That is until you mess with me. I have had to warn some people not to mistake my kindness for weakness. Sometimes people want to mess with me, such as that psycho from work, but you usually learn rather quickly that I am not a pushover. I have a very strong aversion to someone trying to interfere in my life, personal or business.

Wow... where did all that come from? Oh right. It was from ME. I am a very strong woman. Not so much physically anymore but mentally I am fierce. Most people would have collapsed under the pressure I have been under the last year or two. Even hubby says I don't know how you do it. Hello...did I have a choice? It isn't like you can lay down, curl up into a ball and it will go away. And for the record, if he dealt with things it wouldn't all be on me. So there. As my mother used to say "Stick that in your pipe and smoke it".

Okay. So I obviously have some issues and anger that is coming out today. I truly wish for peace and harmony, the end to world hunger and war. I hope that everyone has an awesome 2009. Wow. I can't believe it is here.

Gotta go. I need chocolate. Oops...that would get me in trouble.... This chocolate....

AS THE MIND WANDERS

Last night I was sitting in my chair thinking about subjects to write about in my post. I do this all the time but don't make it to the computer and type it out. I am one of those people that will suddenly think "Why was I thinking about that?" Then I will backtrack to figure it out. Does that make me certifiable?

The GM for the company I do work for was traveling yesterday and stopped for the night in Nachitoches, La. That started me thinking about that lovely place. It is a beautiful town that has brick paved streets and a river running through it. The big claim to fame is that Steel Magnolias was filmed there. I love that movie and I cry every time I see it.

I went to majorette camp there when I was about to be a Junior in high school. I had an absolute blast. It was my first time to be away from home other than sleepovers or staying with family. We had supervision but they weren't up our tails about it. I could smoke without too much trouble. My roomy got homesick. It was embarrassing. She boo hoo'ed like you would not believe. I had to leave the room to keep from laughing out loud. Geez.

Our head majorette was the sweetest person in the world. Her father was a Baptist preacher. He was very nice. She was not allowed to date at all. So she would spend Friday night with me and we would go out and meet friends. But the deal was if she stayed with me I had to stay with her on Saturday night and go to church on Sunday. Her dad was sly like that. Thought if he got that little hellion into church it would change her ways. It didn't.

While eating lunch at camp she put a jalapeno pepper on top of her salad. She thought it was a pickle. She didn't even eat the pepper. The juice that got on her salad sent her into orbit. She kept eating sugar to get rid of the burn. It didn't work. She finally went back to her room to lay down. Honestly....I thought she was a big puss.

Nothing could be hotter than my father's gumbo that he added five different hot sauces to. Umm...he would be close to drunk while making this so you get the drift. If your tongue touched your lips it felt like acid burn. My brother and sister would not eat it. Truth was it tasted good but it was too f'ing hot. My dad was a strange one on that hot sauce. He loved Tabasco. I have seen him put that in his milk, on his eggs and of course other foods. I thought that was way past bizarre.

My mother had her weird food things. She would eat pickled pigs feet. To me that was way beyond gross. I am gagging thinking about it. She would also eat chicken gizzards. I tried one accidentally. Who in the hell wants to try to chew this hard gnarly little organ of a chicken. Then there is cracklings. I think it is very hard parts of bacon skin. She would put that in cornbread. I can see people trying to eat that and having to rush to the dentist with a broken tooth.

I will try most things. I say most not all. I will not try the pickled pigs feet. I won't put Tabasco in my milk. I tried sushi. I don't really care for raw fish. It isn't bad but I don't go yum. I like the California roll. Mostly I love wasabe. I am an addict for that stuff. Talk about opening up your sinus. Watching the specials about the Olympics they showed an enormous variety of things that people eat. It may be delicious but I can't eat snake, scorpions, goat eyes, chicken wattles and cones. Blaaah

I just made myself a mimosa. Yummy. I have Andre extra dry. It doesn't come with a cork that pops off. It unscrews with a plastic cork. I have to say it is a lot easier to open than the traditional cork in champagne. I think if I were alone and had to have a mimosa I would be SOL. I can't get them open. I would be so frustrated. I once dug a cork out of a bottle of wine with a knife because I couldn't find the cork screw. Now I have a fancy smancy one that is so easy. You pull the lever and poof.... it is out. I love that thing. Not that I am a big wine drinker but I do love red wine in my French onion soup.

But I digress. You remember the comment about my crying over Steel Magnolias? Well I also cry during the scene where Shirley McClain is screaming for her daughters meds in Terms of Endearment. I have even cried over a commercial. You know the one. It is where the young soldiers are walking through the airport and everyone starts applauding. Gah. I know. But don't think I am a puss.

In fact the GM I mentioned has told me that I was a Hitler Bitch. I said "Thank you". He also told me I was a machine and I shouldn't expect the people I supervise to be able to do what I do. BS. You are half my age without all the stresses that I have and you can't keep up? Shame on you. I just have a very strong work ethic and I make sure things get done. I am kind of like a trouble shooter and quality control.

I monitor 5 people and all of the clients from a distance. They are in Dallas and I am in Georgia. I was in Dallas for 9 long long months living in a hotel. I had to hire all new staff because they were shutting down the office in Florida. I worked so much that it wasn't funny. I probably averaged 70 to 80 hours a week. We had a lot of turn over of employees that didn't want to work. Ahem. I don't tolerate that.

I hired this one guy and made sure he was aware of what had to be done. I had him and another new hire come in on a Saturday for training before starting on Monday. Well when he sat at that computer and looked at Outlook like it was a foreign language I wanted to scream. Hunt and peck at the keyboard. I calmed myself down and told myself to give him a chance. I took them to lunch and then came back for more training. The other employee was blowing it up. She was awesome.

Finally I took him outside and told him I was very sorry but I didn't think he could handle the job. I needed someone that could hit the ground running. He wanted me to give him a chance and I wish that I could have. I swear I was seeing my life flash before my eyes. This was self preservation. I felt like shit about firing someone the very first day especially when they had quit their other job. But as I said... it was self preservation.

There were others that were totally odd. One thought she knew everything and of course she didn't. Had to fire her. One turned out to be a raving lunatic. She started out great but I kept hearing that she just had her boobs done and was taking vicadin and just got braces. She was in her 40's and I guess she was trying to recapture her youth. She quit via email and I told her I was disappointed and obviously she wasn't the right person for that job. Well.... that did it. She sent nasty emails to everyone in the company. She told them all kinds of lies about me in those emails. They finally had to get an attorney to call her and threaten her if she didn't quit harassing people. She had me scared to walk to my car.

I love the one who after 3 days tells the other people that she has been known to go on strike if she didn't get proper training. That is it. You are fired. Actually, I made the person that they hired to do my job and be my supervisor do it. You got it .... MADE her. Then guess what......I had to fire her, my supervisor.

Okay. I have drank my mimosa. I think I am going to take a very well deserved nap. If you hear a loud noise it is me screaming for chocolate.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope everyone survived. I was doubtful I would... I took a few photos although there were a large amount that weren't quite in focus. Probably due to my spirits of the alcohol kind.

We tried to make things special but it is hard when you are so busy, haven't completely unpacked everything and don't know where most things are. Granddaughter has never had a traditional Christmas with a tree. Her grandparents, she is my Baby Girls step daughter, are of some religion which will remain nameless that does not celebrate Christmas or birthdays. She has never had a birthday party. We were all set to do one when her "grandparents" demanded she come home. Blah... humbug.

The kids were so cute. They wrote letters to Santa asked for verification that he was real. Of course Santa verified them but I "dumb ass" didn't scan them before he wrote on them. And of course Santa had his cookies and milk.
















Earlier that evening grandson #1 and granddaughter made a gingerbread house. They were so proud of themselves. They had a lot of fun. Hubby kept saying it is late and they need to get a bath and go to bed. I said I didn't care if they were covered in crud and didn't have a bath let them have some fun.










Christmas morning grandson #2, aka Baby Candy, got a Go Diego Go tricycle thing. He has not gotten off of it since without a fight. Poor thing can't reach the pedals but he pushes it everywhere and his vroom vroom can be heard all day long. I want to squeeze him.















I thought I would get all gourmet with Tyler Florence's prime rib. You can see that I had all my garlic chopped up and smashed, rosemary, horseradish, kosher salt. I was so oooh, it will be great. I love garlic. I love horseradish. I didn't take an after picture. I was so scared I was going to ruin this $50.00 chunk of beef because I was a little leery of the rosemary on it. Well, it didn't get cooked enough. Finally hubby said he could grill steaks off it for a few because it was way too rare. I like medium. You would think with all the things I put on it you would be able to taste it. Nope. Hubby said it was actually a little bland. What the hellllll.... so much for being all gourmet. Well at least my roasted asparagus and brussel sprouts turned out well.

MY THANKSGIVING

I had a very relaxing day yesterday. Big Baby Girl ordered a fried turkey. I would rather have had a smoked one but she ordered it. When my hubby got home with it I was shocked at how small it seemed. Oh well. But for the cost of that turkey I thought we could have had great steaks. It isn't like I am this big fan of turkey. It really isn't my thing.

I got up and made two pans of cornbread for my standard cornbread dressing. It is the most simple thing but my daughters seem to love it. I make the best buttermilk cornbread using a store bought cornbread mix like White Lilly or Aunt Jemima. I use buttermilk instead of milk. I add to the cooked and finely crumbled cornbread lightly cooked one large onion and several stalks of celery. I make a liquid mixture of two beaten eggs along with two boxes of low sodium chicken broth. I add pepper to that as well. I poor that in and mix all of it very well. To save time and washing dishes I do all of this in the pan I am cooking it in. I then add more broth if needed. I cover in foil and bake at 400 for an hour and then remove the foil and cook until it gets golden brown on top. Nothing fancy at all.


I made the standard green bean casserole. BBG (Big Baby Girl) made a dish called Spinach Maria and it was good along with a corn casserole. Basically this is what we had. Since we are all on crazy schedules we really didn't eat together. BBG and her friend ate, I had a small helping of everything later because the mimosas were starting to get to me. DH ate late in the evening. Same as he always does.

I took a few snapshots playing around. It was fun. I have had this camera almost two years and I still don't know all of what it will do. I took some shots of DH, BGG and #1Grandson. Oh and my little boy Oliver. Best photos I have ever gotten of my little pooch. He is a trip. All in all we had a nice relaxing day.

SUNDAY FUNDAY

What a day. It started early as usual. I woke up at 4ish. Daughter #1 wasn't home from work yet so I couldn't go back to sleep. That poor girl had 4 hours sleep in 2 days. I kept thinking I would get a nap. Good thing I didn't try because DH would have woken me up and then I would have been angry. He kept calling for directions.

I did get caught up on last season of the Real Housewives of Orange County. That was fun. What a life these people live. I had my favorite French Onion soup for lunch. I make it myself. Have you priced it in the can? Unbelievable. So I went for broke, cut up onions, probably around 5, chopped up a few cloves of garlic, cooked those in olive oil. Once cooked I put in two containers of beef broth, 3 beef bouillon cubes, cause the broth just doesn't have enough flavor to me. Then I added some Merlot. Yummy. I took crusty French bread, sliced it, put olive oil on it and put it in a skillet to kind of toast it. Throw that bread on top of the soup, lay a slice of Swiss cheese and nuke in the microwave long enough to melt it. Damn good eating. I don't know what the fat, carb, calorie content of that is. Probably why I am still a hog. Oink

Oh well. Tomorrow I really have to get serious about the diet. I hate them. I have to lose some weight and start exercising. When we moved I sold my stationary bike. I wish I hadn't. I could ride that sucker for an hour without hesitation if I had a good book to read. It let me exercise without thinking about it. I know I have got to get off my fat arse and get moving.

Oh well, can you see it? Me laying on the side of the road, gasping and Screaming for Chocolate...