ThriftyFun Recipes - November 17, 2009

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we are being hit with stormy weather. It always makes me think of making hearty meals like soup or stew. I'm going to try a butternut squash and onion recipe this week. If it turns out, I'll post it for all of you.

Thanks today go to Deeli, Tracy, slumbergirl234, AHA! and Carol L. We are still looking for your favorite fall recipes, but especially for tips about food preparation, storage, shopping and any other helpful hints you might have. Please send them in!

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Jess and the ThriftyFun Team

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Recipe Requests:

• Looking for Ground Beef Recipes
• Long Term Food Storage
• Italian Olive Oil House Dressing
• Making Caramel Apples

Today's Food Tips:

• Sparkling Cranberry Juice
• Make Moist Turkey With Brine

Today's Contest Recipes:

• Quick Curried Tomato and White Bean Soup
• Kit Kat Bars
• Skeleton Deviled Eggs
• Bacon Jalapeno Poppers
• Tomato Beef Macaroni

Robins's Recipe Corner:

• Nitey-Nite Cookies
• Buttermilk Pecan Chicken
• Frozen Fruit Cocktail (Slush)
• Chuckwagon Special
• Pecan Pie

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Looking for Ground Beef Recipes

I am looking for easy meals made with hamburger.

By Mary from KY

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Long Term Food Storage

Regarding the removal of all oxygen from foodstuffs, would that not leave the dead bugs and their waste matters still in the food?

By dawei from Oshkosh, WI

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Italian Olive Oil House Dressing

There are many good quality Italian restaurants in Detroit that all make a great Olive oil based garlicky, but not sweet tasting house salad dressing.

Does anyone have a recipe?

By Jan from Farmington Hills, MI

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Making Caramel Apples

I am going to make caramel apples for the first time so I would like some tips on what to do. Any shortcuts that you learned from making the apples or tips for cleaning up?

By Robb

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Sparkling Cranberry Juice

Here's a nice beverage for holiday meals and easy to make. All you do is add two ounces of plain sparkling water for each 8 ounces of cranberry juice. Serve in wine or champagne glasses over crushed ice for a pretty presentation ;-)

By Deeli from Richland, WA

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Make Moist Turkey With Brine

This will make even the lowest priced frozen bird rival a fresh turkey. My approach is to take a new, black plastic trash bag and use it in combination with a five gallon plastic container. Use a container that will accommodate the size bird you have; the plastic bag is used to help minimize leaks.

Defrost the turkey per the directions. But if you are pressed for time, you might consider putting the frozen bird in a sinkful of hot water for an hour or so; then, unwrap the bird and put it into the plastic bag then put both into your container. Add your brine solution and top off with enough water to cover.

Your brine solution should include salt and some sugar; dissolve both in a cup of hot water. You might add other spices, garlic or onion powder for instance. Keep the bird in the brine solution overnight. If the weather is around 35 degrees or less, you can leave it outdoors if you can keep the wildlife away from it; this will free up space in your refrigerator. But if the weather is warm, you must keep it in the refrigerator overnight.

When it is time to roast the turkey, rinse it off thoroughly and pat dry. You might consider stuffing it with pieces of apple, onion or orange. You might consider using your hand to free the skin from the carcass and then stuffing butter and leafy spices, basil, parsley or rosemary into the space between the skin and the body. Salt and pepper and roast according to the time and temperature recommended on the packaging.

By Tracy from Kansas City, MO

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Quick Curried Tomato and White Bean Soup

This wonderfully thick soup takes only about 20 minutes and has a great flavor because of the curry powder and ginger :-)

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil, plus 1 tbls
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 Tbsp. curry powder
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 (15-oz.) cans great Northern or white navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes, do not drain
• 1 3/4 cups water

Directions:

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and onions and cook until onions are tender, about five minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the other 1 tablespoon of oil in a small skillet or saucepan. Add curry and ginger to skillet/saucepan oil and stir briefly (this intensifies the flavor of the spices).

Add spice and oil mixture to the oil and onion mixture and stir. Add beans, tomatoes, water and stir while bringing to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes.

By Deeli from Richland, WA

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Kit Kat Bars

I have found that these are bigger than regular kit kat bars and they are also cheaper to make. They are more healthy then those store bought ones too. You can get 2 dozen wafer bars at the dollar store.

Ingredients:

• 24 pack wafer bars
• 4 big Hershey's bars

Directions:

Melt the Hershey's bars on the stove in a sauce pan on medium. After it is melted, immediately remove from stove and dip wafer bars in the chocolate. Then lay them on wax paper to harden.

Source: I came up with this idea from when i got the recipe to make 'Take 5 bars'

By slumbergirl234

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Skeleton Deviled Eggs

Something fun around the Halloween/Day of the Dead.

Ingredients:

• deviled eggs recipe
• various size straws

Directions:

Hard boil eggs. Use straws to "punch out" eyes, nose teeth in egg white, then either serve them as hard boiled eggs, or cut in half and make deviled egg mix to fill them and close them back up! Just something fun and cute for the table around Halloween time!

By AHA! from Sterling, Pa

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Bacon Jalapeno Poppers

Can you guys tell I like Jalapenos? ;-)

Ingredients:

• 10 medium jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise, seeds and stems removed
• 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
• 10 bacon strips, halved width wise

Directions:

Mix cream cheese and cheddar cheese in a small bowl.

Stuff each jalapeno half equally with the cheese mixture.

Wrap with bacon and secure with toothpicks.

Place on a large baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 to 25 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

By Deeli from Richland, WA

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Tomato Beef Macaroni

My husband and I now live in a home where the water is kind of bad, and I have talked to at least one of you, where the water price is really high.

This is another thrifty-tip that will help save on water, no matter where you live, and depending on the cost of water, it will help save you money.

Since my husband and I have lived in this house, and the water isn't very good, we have been buying gallons of water from places like Wal-Mart, well, it's expensive, especially if you want to make something with pasta.

So, on my own, I have figured out some ways to make pasta without it costing a fortune. Now, I haven't tried this with long pasta, like spaghetti, or linguine, or the big lasagna noodles, although I think that might eventually get figured out, too, but what I have found out, is like a supper I made for us tonight:

Ingredients

• 1 lb. of cooked, frozen hamburger
• 3 cups of water,
• 2 cups of macaroni noodles
• 14 - 14.5 oz. of tomato puree, or spaghetti sauce
• salt and pepper

Directions

If you only have long spaghetti noodles, linguini noodles, or other big noodles, break them up before adding to the hamburger and water.

At first my husband really liked it with just a little more salt and pepper, but then he said, he'd rather have a small can of spaghetti sauce added, and I told him I was just trying it out, and that we could add a little basil, oregano, parsley, and onion and garlic powder.

I bought the tomato puree on sale, and the macaroni, and together they cost about 98 Cents.

By using small kinds of pasta like macaroni, or other small types of pasta, you don't need large amounts of water to stir long pastas like spaghetti, linguine, angel hair, or big pieces like lasagna pasta, and even these can be broken into small pieces to use in a small amount of water.

I used about 3 cups of hot/slightly boiling water to about 2 cups of macaroni noodles, and yes--I did stir quite a bit, but I didn't need huge amounts of the water,and didn't need to strain, then I added about a 14 or 14.5 ounces of tomato puree, and kept stirring for awhile, and my husband did want more salt and pepper, but this is the first time I ever made this, and my husband does want it again.

I did not waste or throw out one bit of water, and I think I was at least as frugal as hamburger helper, and cheaper. Because the hamburger was already frozen, it probably took about one hour to make it. If the hamburger was thawed already, it would probably take around 25 minutes to make it, and we made about 2 to 2 and 1/2 quarts of tomatoey beefy macaroni!

I would love your input!

Source: Me! I'm the source for this tip, and I hope it really helps any of you! I started this all by myself, and truthfully, I do think we should try things like bay leaf, parsley, basil, oregano, and onion and garlic. But, we will leave that up to you, and you tell us how you like this basic recipe! I love this basic recipe because it is so cheap. Will you please tell me, and especially how you like cooking pasta, without having to drain the water. Love You Bunches!

By Carol L. from South Bend, IN

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Nitey-Nite Cookies

Ingredients