Christmas cookies

Here is a platter of cookies I made for chad's co-workers. I will post the recipes soon ;)

Crock pot tortellini soup

This is a recipe I made up and it's so yummy and easy!

1 can diced tomatoes
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 lb Italian sausage cooked
1 med carrot cut ( I jullianed mine)
3 cups spinach torn (optional)
1/2 onion diced
2 tbs basil
1 garlic clove pressed
3 cups water
2 cups frozen tortellini

*put everything in the crock pot but the tortellini . stir and cook on high for 4 hours . Add frozen tortellini 30 min before serving .
Then enjoy with some garlic bread and you've got a great meal

chicken broccoli braid

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2 Cups cooked Chicken

1 Cup chopped Broccoli

1/2 Cup Chopped Red bell pepper 

1 Pressed garlic clove 

4 oz sharp cheddar cheese 

1/2 cup mayo

1 Tbs dill

2tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp salt

dash of pepper

2 packs cresant rolls 

1 egg whites lightly beaten

Combine all the ingredients but cresant rolls and egg whites.lay the mixture in the middle of the cresant rolls
Press all seams together so filling will not leak out. Along outer side of dough, along each of two opposite sides, cut 2 inch strips from end toward center. This will look like fringe along the two longer sides of the dough. Add filling down the center of between the strips. To braid, lift strips of dough, one at a time, across mixture to meet in center, twisting each strip one turn. Continue alternating strips to form a braid. Tuck ends up to seal at end of braid. Brash with egg white.  bake 25-28 minutes or until deep golden brown. Makes 10 servings.

Freezing Rice

I have been very much into Freezer Cooking lately! It is so nice and has saved us a lot of money and me a lot of time. Not to mention it is just so much fun to see how creative I can be :)  Here is something that I discovered a little while ago and thought I would share it...Huge time saver!  FREEZE RICE! Yep you heard me right ( or read me right I guess in this case)  You can make your own steamer bags of rice!  I like to make a  crock pot meals on Sunday or Wednesday mainly and a few top rice.. Like my Chicken Adobo, so good, but don't want to wait for my rice to cook 20-25 min when we get home from church . I mean come on the rest of my dinner is prepared, so why wait :)  Here is what I do...


On a day with spare time pull out your rice maker, or whatever you use to make rice, and make a batch of rice. I like to do a large batch, 6 cup water 3 cup rice.  Once it is done cooking I fluff it up, and fill up a Qt size freezer bag and seal it removing all the air.  Be sure to label it "Rice Heat 4-5 min, High" then when you are ready to use it. just pull it out and plop it right into the microwave frozen and sealed.. the ice crystals will help it steam right up just like the store bought ones, When it is done place in a bowl and fluff it with a fork and there you go 5 min rice ! I hope you find it as useful as I do!

24 hour planner giveaway!I

I love to plan and try my best to stay organized! I recently discovered that if I have my day planned out I am more likely to get more done. I have started making goals for myself in many areas, cleaning goals, weight loss goals, teaching goals, just many different things.  so my friend is having this wonderful giveaway for a planner! Good Luck!http://empoweringmommy.com/2011/03/dotmine-day-planners-24-hour-giveaway-ends-38-at-12-noon-cst.html

pictures by kami

While we were working on the kitchen Kami asked if she could take some pictures... here are a few pictures through the eyes of kami 

 

 

our Menu

Turner Family Menu
Monday:
Breakfast- Cereal
Dinner- Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and brussel sprouts

Tuesday:
Breakfast- Oatmeal
Lunch- salad with tuna/ peanut butter sandwich
Dinner- Pancakes

Wednesday:
Breakfast- Cinnamon rolls
Lunch- pizza
Dinner- Baked Beans and cornbread

Thursday:
Breakfast-egg and toast
Lunch- Left overs
Dinner- Mexican Pasta ( new recipe)

Friday-
Breakfast-Oatmeal
Lunch- Peanut butter and Jelly/ for me.. Salad
Dinner- (Wedding) grilled cheese

Saturday:
Breakfast-cereal
Lunch- home made pizza
Dinner-

Sunday-
Breakfast- Cream of wheat
Dinner- Steak and onion Pie ( cooking for 2)

Enter to win a $50 gift card and a 100!

My friend Rachael has this awesome blog, she also is offering a wonderful give away. http://empoweringmommy.com/2011/02/foodnetworkstore-com-50-giveaway-ends-228-7-winners.html/comment-page-1#comment-41677 and http://empoweringmommy.com/2011/02/shopping-for-your-valentine-at-red-envelope-100-gc-giveaway-ends-210.html

Chicken broth

Well it has been a while since I have posted. I am not so good at taking the pictures, so I really hope you still are able to enjoy the recipes  :)

 So I love to have money. So to help do that I make my own chicken broth.  I got a whole chicken cut up cheap at the store.  So i placed it in a stock pot  with 2 stalks of celery,2 cloves of garlic, 5 small carrots, an onion cut into big chunks, some  bay leaves , salt and pepper.  Then covered it with water, and boiled it till the chicken was falling off the bones.  Once it was done I placed the chicken into a boil, removed the veggies, and strained the broth through a cheese cloth or flour sack, into a mixing bowl.  The flour sack/cheese cloth is wonderful for removing all the yucky stuff that the chicken leaves behind on the flour sack and not in your broth :)
I then put the broth in pint size containers and waited for it to cool and then placed it in the freezer. That one chicken saved me lots of money in broth and is so much better for us with out all of the preservatives and sodium.

So have fun saving money and getting healthy.. flu season is the perfect time to use up this broth :)