Turkey Chili

What can you do with leftover ground turkey? Make chili. It's easy, tasty, and you can eat it with crackers or tortilla chips.

Turkey Chili
Leftover ground turkey (at least 1-2 lbs)
Chili Seasoning (1 pkg.)
Diced Tomatoes (1 can)
Tomato Sauce (1 can)
Tomato Paste (1 can)
Cheddar Cheese
Heat all ingredients together. Serve with grated cheese on top. It makes the best burritos, too.

Frugal Menus

What are your favorite frugal menus? At some point most home cooks have experienced a tight grocery budget for a week. During those lean times, diets become a lower priority on the grocery list. Items like Ramen Noodle Soup, eggs, beans, rice, and potatoes become high priority. Some of my best recipes evolved out of frugal menu creativity when the cupboards were bare.

If you only had eggs, beans, rice, Ramen Noodle Soup, a bag of frozen vegetables, one type of meat like ground hamburger or pork links, what would you make? 

If you had $25 to spend on groceries, what would be the priorities on your list? $35? $50? What special recipes would you create with these budgets?

This week I plan to make a recipe I've not tried before. I'm practicing frugal cooking this week and am excited about creating recipes. The recipe title  of the recipe I am creating is called Orange Pork Sausage and Vegetables. My planned recipe goes something like this:
1 box pork links
1 pkg. frozen California vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, and more)
Orange sauce
fried rice in rice vinegar
I will take pictures so you can see how it turns out. Check back throughout the week to find out the results. Thank you for your visit to my blog today.
I'm linking up to Reasons to Skip the Housework.

Fresh Orange Juice

Now that spring has arrived, fresh fruit is becoming more available. Last week my husband was given several oranges by a man who has orange trees. The orange grower said he always gives many oranges away. 

Today my husband came home with a lot more oranges. They are juicy and sweet. Over the weekend my husband made fresh orange juice. We finished that and later I made orange juice I had purchased from the grocery store. I was amazed at the difference. The fresh juice was much sweeter naturally without any sugar added. 
Pick up fresh fruit you see at roadside fruit stands. Make the juice, and freeze it. Try making juice smoothies or Popsicles from oranges, strawberries, watermelons, lemons or other fresh organic fruit.
My favorite fruit smoothies are strawberry and orange. I've always loved Orange Julius, and I've made one or two similar types. Try these various recipes:


6-8 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
1 cup 2% milk
approx. 1/2 cup ice or 4-5 ice cubes
2-3 packets Splenda (optional)
I've included "optional" on these because fresh orange juice may be sweet enough without the sugar or Splenda.

6-8 oz fresh squeezed orange juice 
1/2 cup French Vanilla ice cream
4-5 ice cubes
No extra sugar is needed for this one. This one is simple and easy to add other ingredients to also such as a few fresh strawberries. Yum!

Organic Vegetable Planting

What are the best organic fertilizers to use in a vegetable and fruit garden? My friend and I were talking about the organic gardens we're getting ready to plant. Her dad, an old-time farmer, said the best fertilizer is rabbit, then sheep, then chicken or cattle. He said rabbit fertilizer has a lot of protein, and sheep fertilizer is better than that from chicken or cattle because it's not hot. You have to wait on the hot fertilizer to set in the sun and rain, but the other that isn't hot can be used right away.

Rabbits visit my yard about every evening. They're so cute. The last thought I've had about them, though, is that they are good for my garden's fertilizer. Rabbit droppings, according to Backwoods Home Magazine, are nearly odorless. That is good for anyone living in a residential area.  I don't think I want my cute rabbit visitors visiting my vegetable garden once I get everything planted! They'll get the wrong idea that I'm planting all that good organic food just for them. So even though their continual droppings might be good for the vegetable plants, my husband and I are planning to fence the cute critters out. That's where the feed store will come in handy. You can purchase different organic fertilizers such as rabbit, sheep, and cow manure at feed stores.

My dad and my friend's dad grew up on farms and are both very knowledgeable about organic farming. Me? I benefited from the delicious home-grown vegetables for years but didn't do much of the gardening. I have to ask the pros and learn from others. I went on an organic fertilizer search to learn a bit more this morning. One of my favorite readings was the blog, In My Kitchen Garden, with the post about using sheep manure as fertilizer.This interesting blog article lists similar information like my friend's dad gave me yesterday such as the sheep fertilizer not being hot, which means it doesn't need aging. I think I'll need to visit Backwoods Home and In My Kitchen Garden blogs in the near future while I'm planting that garden. I'm not quite the farmer that my friend's dad and my dad were in their earlier years, but I enjoy trying my hand at it.

I'm planning a raised bed square foot garden for my vegetable planting this Spring. This weekend my husband and I are beginning the project. I've researched organic gardening, raised bed gardening, square foot gardening, and here are a few designs and photos I am impressed with:

www.vegetable-gardening-online.com

themoderngardener.wordpress.com

Natural Yards

I'm anxious to get started planting!

Green Fresh Vegetable Salsa

Make green salsa from fresh vegetables. 

 Spice it up, or spice it down. Is spicy your salsa forte? Use as many serrano and jalapeno peppers as your taste buds can take. If you prefer a little spice, try one jalapeno or even no peppers. I like a bit of spice in my salsa. My husband prefers a bit more of spice. Last evening I began a salsa quest. I make my own salsa but never write it down, and I'm constantly changing what I use and how much I use of various ingredients. This salsa quest will help my other half and I choose our favorite salsas. I'm looking forward to experimenting with spices, seasonings, tomatoes, peppers and more fun salsa ingredients. To begin this quest, I've made Green Salsa.
Green Salsa
Cilantro 
2 Serrano Peppers
1 Jalapeno Pepper
1 Red Chili Pepper
Roma Tomatoes
1 Bunch Green Onions
3 Tomatillos
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Tony Cachere's Original Creole Seasoning
Steak Seasoning
Cumin
Chop and slice all vegetables and put in blender. Choose the grind, blend, and liquefy blender buttons. 
Voila! 
Salsa is ready to serve with chips, burritos, tacos or whatever you like salsa with.

• I'm linking with Delicious Dishes
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Delectable Tuesday 
• Titus 2sday Link Up

 

Home Grown Food

Home grown or organic food is gaining more attention. No wonder. Have you noticed the increase of food in your favorite grocery store lately? The price of the bread I usually purchase went up about 14 cents in the last two or three weeks. My bread machine is stored in our loft, but I think I'll get it out and get busy making my own bread again.

I grew up around gardens. My parents and grandparents planted vegetables, fruit, and flower gardens. My gardening job was to pick the ripe fruit off of the ground or the lower fruit tree branches and the vegetables ready for picking. When the peas were ripe and ready, my parents would take my brothers and me to visit both grandmothers. Each of us was given a bucket of peas to shell. I'd be all excited to go see my grandmothers in East Texas but would leave exhausted with sore thumbs and fingers from the pea shelling. I'll never forget the first time my husband shelled peas the first time at my paternal grandmother's house. He grew up in southern California and didn't know anything about purple hull or crowder peas. Didn't take him long, though. I don't know what tickled my grandmother the best - having the family home to help her shell all those peas or seeing that California boy learn what pea shelling was all about.

It's always a good thing to go back to the basics. That includes going back to growing your own food. Whether you're a vegetable garden pro or a beginner, you can grow a garden and eat foods that will make you more healthy. 

Previously, I've planted my vegetables the simple way - in the ground. But raised beds keep the weeds out easier I've heard. Another idea for planting vegetables is the square foot garden. To learn more about either of these, see my recent Southwest Cottage Designs post on gardening.


I find these websites helpful on home grown vegetable gardening. The information is helpful for gardening in your own backyard, gardening with kids, starting seeds and growing organic food.

• Vegetable Garden Coach
• From Your Garden to Your Table
• Parisienne Farm Girl

Start your own backyard home grown garden and enjoy more tasty vegetable recipes such as this soup:

Hamburger and Vegetable Soup
2-3 lb. lean ground hamburger (or ground turkey)
1 red or yellow onion, chopped fine
1 bunch of green onions, chopped fine
1 tsp. fresh minced garlic (or fresh garlic clove to taste)
4-5 tomatoes (or 1 can Ro*Tel tomatoes and green chilies)
1 pkg. frozen corn (or 1 can corn)
Seasonings of your choice


Brown meat with onions and garlic. Add the remainder of ingredients. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can add just about any vegetable you like. You can even start out with a couple of vegetables and add more after a day or so. This type of soup can be frozen and saved for a busy day. If you're a vegetarian, it's good without the meat, too. Serve with crackers, tortillas, or rice. To make it real juicy, add a very large can of V-8 juice. That's one of my favorite ways to make it. 


I love simple recipes like this one. It's easy to be creative with this one. The best soup is the kind with all home grown or fresh vegetables.

Note: A couple of days after I made this soup this last time, my husband and I went to the grocery store. When we came home and were putting the groceries up, we got quite a surprise. The can of Manwich Sloppy Joe mix I had seen the lady in front of us put on the counter ended up in our groceries! I mixed it in with the soup, put some butter on my griddle, put slices of bread on top of the butter, put the buttered bread in the toaster, poured the now-called Surprise Manwich Sloppy Joe Soup over the toasted bread for open-faced sandwiches. WOW! That was an unexpected, delicious dinner. Never had I thought to mix Manwich Sloppy Joe with my soup. It's amazing what you can come up with when you get creative with food. I love it!

Tasty and healthy. 

Mouth watering. 

Satisfying.
I'm linking to "this-weeks-cravings-linky-party".

Green Pea Caesar Slaw Salad

Spring has arrived, and it is time for planting flowers, herbs, and vegetables. When I planted my rose bushes and miniature rose plants, I learned that it's good to plant a lavender plant in between the roses because it's a good pest repellent. As pest repellent, it's good for planting near cauliflower and cabbage, too. Lavender can also be planted with herbs such as rosemary, basil, and thyme. These aromatic herbs provide an inviting garden of scents and can add flavor to your favorite recipes.

If you are looking for a refreshing spring garden salad but don't have access to fresh garden vegetables, use refrigerated packaged salads and frozen vegetables. The following Green Pea Caesar Slaw Salad makes a good Spring mix:

GREEN PEA CAESAR SLAW SALAD

1 pkg. Spring salad mix

1 pkg. broccoli slaw 

Approx. 2 T. Feta cheese

1/2 pkg. frozen green peas, thawed

Creamy Caesar Dressing

Mix all ingredients, and serve with Ken's 0g carb Creamy Caesar Dressing. I cook my frozen peas in the microwave for two or three minutes with 1 T. sugar and a bit of butter before mixing it in with the other ingredients. I also like to use Mixed Baby Greens for this salad. Any salad greens will work fine.

Enjoy!
I'm linking to Urban Homesteader Blog Party.
I'm linking to Tea Rose Home.