For one bowl of salad, mix the following in a salad bowl:

2 – 3 handfuls of Spring Mix lettuce
1 small handful dried cranberries
4-5 pieces of Tyson grilled chicken strips
1 medium handful of Shredded Monterrey and cheddar cheese
1 medium handful of Sunny Cranberry trail mix (from Archer Farms at Target) or a comparable trail mix that has nuts and berries
½ Apple, diced
Poppy Seed Dressing

Mix well and enjoy. You can also toss in croutons, dried blueberries, and other fruits as desired.

During the holidays we frequently have extra turkey on hand and one of my favorite dinners is to take the leftover turkey and make a yummy Turkey Tetrazzini.

There are a thousand different recipes and variations for Turkey Tetrazzini, but it is basically:

2 cups turkey,
Can or jar of cream sauce,
1-2 cups spaghetti noodles,
1 can mushrooms
1 cup mixed vegetables for color
Cheese (sprinkled on top)

To make the cream sauce I will often use either a can of cream of chicken soup (and ¼ cup water) or a jar of Ragu Alfredo sauce (my favorite is the low fat cheesy alfredo sauce). I mix the sauce with a can of mushrooms and vegetables. I then add the diced turkey and noodles and mix it up. I sprinkle cheese on the top.

Bake in often at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until hot.

It is delicious and is a great way to use up the Turkey. Enjoy.

This is my all time favorite holiday party punch recipe. The mixture of red cranberry juice gives it a festive look and the pineapple juice lends a sweetness everyone enjoys. My mom used to make this and put it in a large bunch bowl. She would wrap a holiday garland around the base of the bowl for decoration. It was my job to add the cold ginger ale to the bowl right before the guests arrived.

Holiday Party Punch Recipe

Mix and stir the following ingredients until the sugar dissolves.

4 cups cranberry juice
4 cups pineapple juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon almond extract

Chill the mixture. Add 1 quart Ginger Ale right before serving. Enjoy.

Speaking of the holidays, do you need some holiday gift ideas? Read our Kitchen Gadgets as Holiday Gifts article for some gift giving inspiration.

Gravy. It is the finishing touch on homemade mashed potatoes or stuffing. You may not realize it, but making gravy is actually easy. How? In the next 5 minutes, you will learn the secret to making lump-free, delicious gravy!

I had the hardest time with making gravy. I’d either have lumps or it’d be so thick and jello-like that you could cut it with a knife! But then, I learned the secret to a good gravy recipe.

First, you have to understand what goes into gravy.

Gravy has three components:
fat: usually animal fat such as lard, grease or butter
thickener — flour is the easiest to use
a liquid : water, milk or broth.

For simplicity, I will tell you how to make gravy from a poultry.

The measurements are simple: for each cup of gravy, you will need:

1 tablespoon of fat
1 tablespoon of flour
1 cup of broth

Assume that each person will eat about a half a cup of gravy. When in doubt, make extra. So if we are going to make gravy for 6 people, you’ll need to make 3 cups of gravy:

3 Tablespoons of Fat or Butter
3 Tablespoons of Flour
3 Cups Turkey Broth (or chicken broth)

Now the secret is very simple:

It’s not what goes into the gravy, but how you put the ingredients together.

The first thing you need is fat.

Take the 3 Tablespoons of butter and melt in a frying pan. (Frying pans work better than saucepans.)

Next, combine your 3 Tablespoons of flour in the pan with the butter to make a paste. The consistency should be a little thicker than the glue you used as a kid in school.

The next step is probably the most important step in the whole gravy recipe. Do not skip this.

You will heat the paste on ’simmer’ for at least a minute. Do not rush this. You’ll want the paste to be bubbling and shiny before you add the liquid. This usually takes about a minute or two. The paste might even change to a darker color. This is fine.

Now, add the broth all at once and keep the heat on simmer. If you don’t have enough turkey broth, you can use chicken broth

You will stir this like crazy, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. Keep mixing until the gravy starts to bubble and thicken.

Take the gravy off the heat *just* before it gets to the thickness you want, as many times the gravy will thicken even more as it cools. At this point, you can taste and add pepper or salt or whatever you need to make the gravy taste right.

Wah Lah! You’re done!

The entire process usually takes 5 minutes, and is much tastier than gravy you buy in a mix. Good luck!

Pie is a popular dessert during the holidays and there are a variety of pie types so you could have a different pie evey day of the week and still not run out of new recipes. While the fillings may change, the foundation for a great pie is a great pie crust.

Have you ever been served pie that has crust so tough you can’t get your fork through it? Sure, we all have. Well, here’s an easy pie crust recipe that makes crust that is always tender and flaky.

This recipe is for a 2 crust (one on top and one on bottom) 9 inch pie crust. You can halve this recipe for pies not requiring top crusts.

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 c solid shortening like Crisco (not oil, and not melted)
a few tablespoons of water.

OK, The most important step is how you measure the flour. Too much flour = tough crust.

Most people take the cup and dip it in the flour sack and level off the top with a knife or finger. This will usually get you more flour than you need because the flour packs down into the cup. Instead, spoon the flour into the cup and then level off with a knife.

Put the flour into a bowl along with the salt. Measure out the Crisco into the bowl. I usually use the Crisco sticks as they are much less messy to work with and it is easier to measure it by reading the measurements on the side of the foil.

Using a fork (or your fingers) cut the Crisco into the flour until the Crisco lumps are about the size of peas.

Next, add one tablespoon of water. (Yes. Only one. Too much water and you’ve got tough crust.) Pie crust recipes vary by how much humidity is in the air. In a damp climate, you may only need 2 tablespoons of water.

Using your hands, gather the dough mixture together. You don’t want to make a dough ball, you just want it to stick together. A good way to judge this is to put some of the dough mix in your hand and close it into a fist. If the dough sticks together, your mix is good, do not add more water. If it is just crumbly, you need to add another tablespoon of water.

Do not work with the dough mix very much because the more you mix the dough, the tougher it gets. Once it looks like dough, STOP MIXING. (It might even still look more like a loose flour mix at this point.)

Next, put a portion of the dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper and roll it out. You want to roll it out very thin so it is only about an 1/8″ thick. Piece the dough pieces into the pie pan, sticking the edges of the pie crust together so it covers everything. This is easier than trying to put together one huge piece of dough for the pie pan. Again, don’t work with your dough too much to prevent it from being tough.

Next, you’ll add your filler ingredients for your pie, bake and you’re done!

If you’re wondering about what to put in your pie, check out our apple pie or mixed berry pie recipe

Read on to discover this simple meal for six people.

To get started you must gather the following ingredients:
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper corn
• 1 teaspoon caraway seed
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon marjoram leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 3 to 4 pound piece of corned beef brisket
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 small green cabbage
• 1 pound of baby carrots
• 6 medium potatoes
• 11 qt or larger stock pot
• Water

To begin making the corned beef brisket, cut the meat bag open, drain all the juices and put the meat in the stock pot with the fat facing down. (This helps keep the meat from sticking to the bottom.)

In a small bowl mix together the salt, pepper corn, caraway seed, crushed red pepper, yellow mustard seed, marjoram leaves and dried basil. This is a similar mixture of spices that you see in the small packet of spices that usually accompanies the corned beef.

To prepare the vegetables wash them thoroughly and then do the following; cut the potatoes in half, core and cut the green cabbage into 2 inch slices and peel and cut the onion into eight equal chunks. Once finished add all the vegetables to the stock pot on top of the meat.

Add water to the pot until all of the vegetables are covered and then pour the bowl of spices in. Mix the spices into the water with a mixing spoon and put on the stove to cook.

Bring the whole pot to a boil and then simmer for 2 hours on low.

Once ready to serve, take the meat out of the pot and slice it thinly (about 1/3 inch). Then put about two or three slices of meat on a plate with potatoes, cabbage, onions and carrots.

Enjoy your dinner!

It’s October, and we’re starting to feel the crisp bite of fall. Unfortunately, many of us are also feeling a painful bite in our wallets as prices rise. The US Department of Agriculture reported in August that food prices this year will show the biggest annual increase since 1990. And there’s no end in sight.

Struggling to get your food budget under control? Remember the humble pot of soup. It’s a wonderful cold weather meal that’s easy to make, and relatively inexpensive if you start with basic raw ingredients like dried beans.

Here’s one of my favorites: Pinto Bean and Barley Soup. It’s a chewy blend of common kitchen staples that freezes well. Add a salad and warm bread and you have a delicious – yet inexpensive - meal.

Nutritious and Delicious!
This soup is as nutritious as it is delicious. One cup of cooked pinto beans provides 25% of your daily iron requirement and 58% of daily fiber needs. They’re a good source of soluble fiber, which helps lower cholesterol and control diabetes. More on the nutritional and health benefits of pinto beans.

A cup of cooked barley provides another 54% of daily fiber requirements as well as minerals like selenium and copper. When buying barley, note the difference between hulled and pearl barley. The hulled contains the most nutrients and adds a better, chewy texture to soups and salads. Pearl barley has had much of the outer hull removed. It cooks more quickly, but has lost a lot of its nutritional benefits. More on the nutritional and health benefits of barley.

Guide to Soaking Beans

Soaking dried beans isn’t hard; it just takes time.

The two most common methods of preparing dry beans is the overnight soak or the “quick soak.”

Overnight soak: Rinse dry pintos and place in a pot. Add enough water to cover pintos 3-4 inches. Cover and let beans set overnight. Pour out the soaking water and rinse beans in a colander. They’re ready to cook!

Quick soak: Rinse dry pintos and place in a pot. Add enough water to cover pintos 3-4 inches. Cover and bring beans to a boil for one minute only. Set aside for 1-2 hours. Pour out the soaking water and rinse beans in a colander. They’re ready to cook!

The quick soak sounds so much easier and quicker, that you might wonder why anyone uses the overnight method. I find that the beans have a much more uniform texture if you use the slower method.

It’s not a big deal for soup beans or refried beans, but if you’re going to use the beans in a salad or other recipe where the texture and appearance is important, the slower soaking method seems to yield better results.

Just don’t let the beans sit around long after soaking. They’ll start to sprout. Really.

Pinto Bean and Barley Soup

This recipe makes dinner for 4, with leftovers for lunch the next day. Note that the barley tends to act like pasta and continues to soak up liquid while the soup is refrigerated. You may have to add a bit of water to the soup the next day before you reheat it.

Ingredients:
1 cup dry pinto beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried marjoram
1 pod black cardamom, cut in half
4 cups vegetable broth (substitute chicken broth if desired)
5 cups water
½ cup uncooked hulled barley (substitute pearl barley or brown rice, if desired)
½ cup fresh parsley, finely minced
salt and pepper to taste
Bottled hot sauce (Optional: let guests add it to their soup if they find the soup too bland.)

Instructions:

1. Soak one cup dry pinto beans using the overnight or quick soak method. Drain and rinse the beans.
2. Heat olive oil in a pressure cooker or heavy-bottomed pot on medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft (about 3 minutes), stirring frequently.
3. Add carrots and celery to onions. Cook 2-3 minutes more, stirring frequently.
4. Add bay leaves, marjoram, cardamom, water, and vegetable broth.
5. If using a pressure cooker, cover and bring soup up to pressure. Cook approximately 8 minutes on medium to medium-low heat. Turn off the heat and let sit until the pressure is gone.

If using a soup pot, bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 90 minutes until the beans are barely tender not mushy.

6. Add barley to soup and simmer 30 minutes until barley is tender.
7. Add salt, pepper, and fresh parsley. Bring soup to a boil for about 2 minutes.

Serve with a green salad and whole grain bread. Some people may like to add a splash of hot sauce to their soup before eating.

Note: the first time I made this recipe, I used brown rice because I didn’t have any barley. The taste and everything was really good. But use barley if you have it. It has more nutrition and provides a delightfully, chewy texture to the soup.

Also, you may be a little worried after you pour in 9 cups of liquid, but don’t be. As the soup cooks, some of the liquid evaporates, and the barley will soak up a lot of liquid. You’re more likely to have to add an extra cup of water than have a soup that’s too thin.

This soup freezes well, and it’s a snap to make a double recipe. Also, like most soups, it’s even better the second day. I often make it one day, intending to serve it for supper the next evening.

Autumn is one of the most beautiful seasons. With the foliage turning and birds migrating there is plenty to see when your outdoors. One special activity in the fall is apple picking. This is a great way to get out with the family or your significant other and have some fun. Then if you feel inspired you can bake with those yummy apples. Who wouldn’t want some warm apple pie or apple crisp on a cool autumn night? I know I would and that’s why I’ve put two of my favorite recipes together to share with you all!

Apple Crisp

In order to make an apple crisp large enough for eight people you will need eight of your yummy freshly picked apples. So figure in an apple per person and make the recipe larger or smaller as needed. Since it is relatively simple to make and only calls for seven ingredients you shouldn’t have too much to worry about. That makes it a reasonable task when preparing dinner too!

You will need the following ingredients;
• 8 medium apples
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ cup butter or 1 stick

To get started you will want to preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and take out your cutting board and apple cutter. I find the apple cutter (wedge/corer) the easiest way to prep the apples before cutting off the skin with a small knife.

Once you take the skin off all the apples, slice each wedge into three slices and place them in a small mixing bowl.

Then take your sugars, flour and spices and mix them with a whisk in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Take the butter and melt it in a small saucepan. Once the butter is melted, pour over the dry ingredients and mix until it turns into a crumbly consistency.

Next take out your 2 quart baking dish (8 in x 11 in or there about) and spray with anti stick baking spray. Then evenly place all the sliced apples in the bottom of the dish and use your hands to spread the crumbly topping all over the top.

Place in the oven and bake for 35 – 40 minutes, take out and let cool 10 minutes. Then cut into 8 squares and serve alone or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Mmmm Mmmm Delicious!

Apple Pie

There is nothing like a warm slice of apple pie when the weather outside is cold a dreary. Also as a pick-me-up you can make a delicious apple pie for a friend or family member. As for the filling I’m all set but I personally struggle making pie crust and find it a lot easier to get a pack of two deep dish pie crusts at the supermarket. Either way, it is all in how much time and skill you have for setting and rolling out the dough. Don’t worry if you can’t make it yourself because those pie crusts taste delicious!

To make apple pie filling you will need the following ingredients;
• 6 medium sized apples
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 egg
• ¼ teaspoon salt

To get started making this delicious pie you will want to pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, remove your pie crust from the freezer and take out your cutting board and apple cutter. Just like in the apple crisp recipe you want to cut all your apples into wedges and then slice off the skin. Once ready, slice each wedge into three slices and place in your medium mixing bowl with the lemon juice.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, butter, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix the ingredients together thoroughly. Then add the apples to the other ingredients and make sure they are evenly coated.

Once ready to bake the pie put the apple mixture into one of the deep dish pie crusts.

Take the other pie crust and turn upside down so that it lays flat on the counter/table. Gently pull it off the counter/table and place on top of the full pie crust. Use your fingers to pinch the edges together and then cut an X in the middle with a knife.

Then you’re ready to make the egg topping by cracking one egg into a small bowl and putting the salt in. Whisk well and then pour on top of the pie.

Place the pie in the oven and bake for 25 minutes with foil on and then take the foil off and bake an additional 25 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving either alone or with vanilla ice cream on top. Yummy!

With these two recipes you shouldn’t be able to waste any of those delicious hand-picked apples. Get out and have fun in the autumn with your friends or family and find an apple tree or orchard near by. Ask a neighbor if they have a tree or find a farm in the countryside. Either way it is a fun activity that gives you the perfect excuse to bake a delicious desert!

Nobody in our party tested that last part. It was lunch, after all. But we did savor the restaurant’s other specialty: fresh guacamole mixed table-side and served with tortilla chips. It’s quite a production. The waiter brings a beautifully appointed tray filled with fresh avocados, oranges, chopped jalapenos, onions, and other goodies. As we watched, he concocted the absolute best guacamole we’d ever had. The menu’s claim that “it doesn’t get fresher than this!” was right.

Naturally, this is something I craved after we arrived home. Our homemade Mexican food just wasn’t the same without it, and that store-bought stuff? Yuck. It was a pale imitation of the Iron Cactus guacamole. Since we aren’t moving to Austin anytime soon, the only solution was to create our own recipe.

After a month or so of test guacamoles, my husband successfully developed a similar recipe that matches the texture, taste, and freshness of the restaurant’s delicious dip.

When we served it at a recent cookout, it was gone within minutes. A few guests joked about licking the bowl clean, but they restrained themselves somewhat, and used their fingers instead.

As many cookbooks note, it’s hard to write a specific guacamole recipe because fresh ingredients vary so much in taste. It’s perfectly acceptable to add more orange juice if you want a more citrusy taste or leave the jalapenos out entirely if you’re sensitive to hot foods.

How to Choose an Avocado
The one essential for great guacamole is a good avocado or two. They have a mild, creamy taste that mixes well with the acid in citrus fruits and tomatoes.

The easiest way to tell if an avocado is ripe is by feel. It should be soft to the touch – but not too soft. If the outer peel feels loose, the avocado is over-ripe. Ripen hard avocados in a paper bag on the kitchen counter. Ripe avocados will keep several days in the refrigerator.

Great Guacamole Recipe
In this recipe, we use one of the larger, new varieties of avocado that contain less fat than the more familiar – and smaller – Hess avocados. If you buy the smaller types with the pebbly skin, you’ll probably want to use 2-3 avocados instead of just one.

Ingredients:

1 large, or 2-3 small ripe avocados
Juice from ½ of a fresh-squeezed orange
¼ cup finely minced sweet onion
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
¾ cup chopped fresh tomatoes
2-3 teaspoons fresh chopped cilantro
Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Slice the avocado in half and remove the pit. Remove pulp by slicing cross-wise and length-wise through the avocado, but not cutting through the outside peel. Spoon out pulp and place in a bowl.
2. Using a fork, mash the avocado to the desired texture.
3. Add remaining ingredients, stir, and enjoy the guacamole with tortilla chips, your favorite burrito, on sandwiches, or by itself.

This recipe makes approximately 1 ½ cups guacamole. It serves 4 as an appetizer – but they may beg for more!

History and Health Benefits of Avocados

Avocados have an interesting history. Aztec lore held that avocados were aphrodisiacs (the word “avocado” is derived from an Aztec word meaning “testicle tree”), and they passed that story along to the Europeans. Christian religious leaders warned congregations to steer clear of avocados, lest the effects lead them to temptation.

Actress, Mae West, a woman who knew a lot about temptation, claimed to eat one per day and attributed her beauty and robust desires to the avocado.

Don’t worry about over-indulging. Avocados have a bad reputation. Yes, they’re high in fat, but it’s monounsaturated fat, which seems to help lower cholesterol levels in some people. This WebMD article has more about the health benefits of avocados.

And even if they had no health benefits at all, so what? This guacamole is delicious, so eat up. As avocado-lover, May West, once observed:

“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.”

Do you have some over-ripe bananas that you are about to throw away? Or kids that much down food the minute they walk into the door after school?

I have the perfect solution! Bake some delicious Monkey Bread Muffins. They are healthier than most sweet snacks and simply irresistible.

Keep reading to get the recipe with my special tips on how to make these yummy muffins!

You will need the following ingredients;
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 brown medium bananas (about 1 ½ cups mashed)
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup melted butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

To get started preheat your oven to 350 degrees and take out three mixing bowls (small, medium and large). Also you will need; beaters, a whisk, a rubber bowl scraper, a fork, a small saucepan, measuring cups and spoons, a muffin tin, muffin papers and a cooling rack.

To begin the batter peel your very ripe bananas and put them in the small mixing bowl. Then add the milk and vanilla extract. Use your whisk straight up and down to mash the bananas and mix the ingredients together. This will create an even consistency. Set aside.

In the medium mixing bowl add the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix these ingredients together thoroughly with a fork. Set aside.

Next put the stick of butter in your small saucepan on medium heat. Melt the butter thoroughly, making sure not to boil it or burn it. Then pour the butter into your large mixing bowl along with the sugar. Use your beaters and beat for about 3 minutes on high. Then add the eggs and beat for another 3 minutes on high.

Now you are ready to combine all three of your bowls.

To begin add the contents of the small mixing bowl into your large mixing bowl. Beat all these wet ingredients together for about 3 minutes. Then add part of the dry ingredients and beat 2-3 minutes until it is all mixed. Continue doing this until all the dry ingredients are mixed in.

The final step for the batter is to add the cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and mix it in well with the rubber bowl scraper.

Then put your muffin papers in the muffin tin and use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to pour the batter into the muffin tin. Once the muffin tin is full, put it in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.

Carefully remove the muffins from the muffin tin 10 minutes after you take them out of the oven and put them on a cooling rack. Allow them to finish cooling for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Then they are ready to eat! You should get 18 muffins from this recipe so double it or triple it if you need more.

I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as my husband and I do! Good luck baking them!

If you like this recipe you might also try these recipes:

Mixed Berry Pie Recipe with a divine mixture of blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. You can’t get much healthier than that.

Healthy Banana Nut Bread Recipe made with buttermilk, bananas, nuts and eggs. Very moist and freezes well so you can make it ahead of time.