ThriftyFun Recipes - October 16, 2009

Thanks to Dorty, mkymip, Linda, mother of 5, kas2 and Deeli for today's tips and recipes. Be sure to submit your own favorite tips and recipes for a future newsletter.

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Recipe Requests:

• Kale Soup Recipe

Today's Food Tips:

• A Remedy For Salty Soup
• Roasting Poultry

Today's Contest Recipes:

• White Trash Cake
• Quick and Easy Chicken Quesadillas
• Basic Golden Oats
• Baked Sesame Chicken
• Jalapeno Ranch Salad Dressing

Robins's Recipe Corner:

• Famous Fish Chowder
• Spinach and Cheese Omelet
• Butterscotch Bars
• Refrigerator Pickles
• Casa Casserole

Crafting for Fun and Money!

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Kale Soup Recipe

Does anyone have a recipe for Kale soup?

By Ellen McG. from West Wareham, MA

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A Remedy For Salty Soup

If your soup is salty, you can steam some veggies like grated potatoes, carrots, celery or use evaporated milk.

By Dorty from SA

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Roasting Poultry

When roasting a whole chicken, turkey or turkey breast use a "basting" cloth and roast breast-side down for a flavorful moist chicken/turkey. Roasting breast-side down keeps the breast moist because the juices will go down and keep the breast from drying out. The cloth will "baste" while the chicken/turkey roasts so basting is not needed.

Clean and liberally season the chicken/turkey. Use cheesecloth moistened with cooking oil, cut in size to cover the top and sides of the chicken/turkey. You can stuff it if you wish. After roasting, remove cloth and throw away.

Cheesecloth is a thin cotton mesh-type material that can be bought usually in the paint department or supermarket. It is cheaper to buy in the paint department. It is safe to use for cooking or straining.

I usually mix my spices that I use to roast chicken/turkey together and keep in a labeled shaker spice bottle. I sprinkle the mixed spices all over and inside the chicken/turkey. I also add a cut up onion and at times a lemon in the cavity and around the chicken/turkey. My family's favorite spice mix for chicken is one teaspoon of paprika, one teaspoon of poultry seasonings without salt, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, one teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. When roasting turkey, I double the recipe for the seasonings.

Save the juices in the pan from the roast. Strain, using cheesecloth, into a container. Refrigerate. When the fat has hardened, remove it and throw away. The "juice" can be frozen. The "juice" should be solidified so freeze it flat enough that it can be easily broken off when you need some. The next time you need flavorful chicken broth, break some off and thaw. Mix with water and you will have a flavorful broth to use.

Source: A combination of a 1920's cookbook and my own idea.

By mkymlp from NE PA

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White Trash Cake

Easy, fun and delicious.

Ingredients:

• one box of ice cream sandwiches
• one jar of caramel ice cream topping
• one jar of chocolate ice cream topping
• one cup of pecans, more if wanted.
• one large tub of Cool Whip defrosted

Directions:

In a 9x13 inch glass dish, place the ice cream sandwiches then layer the rest of the ingredients as listed above. Can put chocolate shavings on top of the cool whip layer for decoration. Place in freezer till frozen solid. Delicious!

Source: White Trash Cookbook

By Linda from Brentwood, TN

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Quick and Easy Chicken Quesadillas

Easy to make, and freezes well

Ingredients:

• 1 tub cream cheese spread
• 430 ml. jar salsa (we prefer mild)
• 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken cut small
• 1/4 cup red pepper
• 1/4 cup green pepper
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 8 6 inch tortillas

Directions:

Spray 2 8 inch square pans. Spread a tortilla generously with cream cheese and place in pan. Spoon salsa over. Sprinkle 1/4 cup chicken, 1/4 cup cheese, and some of peppers over tortilla. Repeat twice more, then cover with another tortilla. Cover and bake at 400 degrees F. Uncover last 5 minutes.

For just the two of us this will make two dishes, one of them to freeze. You could add more pepper, but for us it would be too"peppery".

Source: A cross between another recipe and my own invention.

By mother of 5 from Nova Scotia

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Basic Golden Oats

When I discovered this recipe some years ago, I just couldn't have imagined that oatmeal can do this! Use it with any rice, pasta or potatoes with your meal. It also isn't much longer to make it than instant rice. It has more protein in it because of the egg. It is whole grain, and also very tasty, too.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups oatmeal (quick or old fashioned) uncooked
• 1 egg beaten
• 3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
• 3/4 cup water, broth, or orange juice
• 1/4 tsp. (optional)

Directions:

Start heating a 10 inch pan with the butter on medium. Put the oatmeal into a med. bowl, and add the beaten egg, and stir it well, just make sure that the oats are very well coated. If not, you may get mushy oatmeal.

When the butter is bubbling, scrape the oatmeal/egg mixture into the pan, and start stirring it constantly for anywhere from 3-5 minutes, you'll be looking for the oats are separate, dry, and lightly browned.

Then, add the liquid (broth, water or orange juice) and salt in the pan, and just let it cook, occasionally stir it only, until the liquid is evaporated, about 2-3 minutes.

When I put orange juice in it, I added dried cranberries, raisins, or dried cherries, whatever I happened to have. Herbs and spices work well too, whatever is your favorites, or will go with the rest of the meal.

It's then ready to serve.

I had lost my cookbook, and I just found it last week. I used to know how to make the oat pilaf in my head, but couldn't find anything online because I only called it "oat pilaf".

When I found the cookbook, it was called "Basic Golden Oats". Others can probably find more information about it online, because that is just the basic recipe. There are other variations, like apple cinnamon golden oats, and once you know how to make the basic recipe, go wild with experimenting and creating.

There must be free recipes from Quaker Oats still, and they have updated for other uses for golden oats. I looked just last night, it said to bake the golden oats to dry them and can use it for putting on desserts, granolas, muffins etc. so, that was news to me.

I have never tried making it with an egg substitute, but, I'm going to try it soon, since it is mostly made of egg whites, I would think it would work too. I'm an experimenter. ;)

Source: The Quaker Oats Wholegrain Cookbook. I bought it some years ago at a thrift store, and it probably was originally a free cookbook from Quaker Oats.

By kas2 from Rockford, MI

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Baked Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken breasts, thighs or wings
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 bunch green onions, including bulbs, diced
• 4 tsp. minced garlic

Directions:

Combine ingredients, except chicken, in a large bowl. Add chicken, coat well, cover and refrigerate for at least two hours, turning at least once. Transfer chicken to a baking dish (discard marinade) and bake chicken uncovered at 425 degrees F. for about 45 minutes, turning once after about 25 minutes.

By Deeli from Richland, WA

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Jalapeno Ranch Salad Dressing

Besides using on salads, it's yummy as a dip for tortilla chips. I also love it for dipping celery.

Ingredients:

• 1 tomatillo, husked and quartered
• 1/4 bunch cilantro
• 1 pickled jalapeno pepper
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 1 oz. package, (1 oz. = 3 Tbsp.) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing 'dry mix'

Directions:

Place tomatillo, cilantro, and jalapeno in blender. Blend until smooth and set aside.

Combine the sour cream and ranch dressing mix in a medium bowl. Stir in about 1/2 of the green sauce and then taste (Just in case this is your heat level limit). Add more green sauce until you reach your desired heat level ;-)

By Deeli from Richland, WA

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Famous Fish Chowder

Ingredients:

• 4 cups tomato juice
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, cut up
• 2 cups boned fish (any kind)
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 can cut mushrooms with liquid
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. rosemary
• 1/4 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp. marjoram

Directions:

Place in soup kettle and simmer 1 hour until thickened. Serve with a sprinkle of parsley and a very thin lemon slice.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Spinach and Cheese Omelet

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients:

• 5 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. milk
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/8 cup Swiss cheese, grated
• 1 cup fresh spinach, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. butter

Directions:

In large bowl, beat eggs; mix milk, salt, Parmesan cheese, Swiss cheese, spinach, parsley, onion, and garlic. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in skillet. Pour mixture into pan. Cook until eggs are thickened but still moist. Fold over.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Butterscotch Bars

Ingredients

• 1 stick margarine
• 2 cups light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp. almond flavoring
• 1 cup flake coconut
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour

Directions

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients:

• 4 cups sugar
• 4 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cups salt
• 1 1/3 tsp. turmeric
• 1 1/3 tsp. celery seed
• 1 1/3 tsp. mustard seed
• 2 onions, sliced thin
• cucumbers, sliced thin

Directions:

Mix sugar, vinegar, salt and spices together. Do not heat. Keep this syrup cold. Wash and sterilize 4 quart fruit jars. Slices 1/2 of an onion into each jar. Wash and slice enough cucumbers to fill each jar. Stir syrup well and pour over cucumbers and onions. Screw on lids. Refrigerate five days before using. Keep stored in refrigerator.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Casa Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp. soda
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 cans cream-style corn
• 3/4 tsp. garlic salt
• 1 sm. can chilies, diced
• 1-2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• paprika, to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together, except cheese. Pour 1/2 of mixture into a 2 qt. greased casserole. Cover with a layer of cheese; add rest of mixture and top with generous layer of cheese. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Easy to double. Good with chicken, roast or steak. Serves 6.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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