Frugal Friday–Leftover Turkey

This Thanksgiving we had a 30lb. turkey, which meant a lot of leftover meat. There are numerous recipes and suggestions online for leftover turkey. My uses this year for my turkey are: turkey soup, turkey stock and freezing it for later use. Simple and easy.

Turkey Soup.

Turkey Stock. 

This year was the first time I made turkey soup. I didn't follow any recipes, just made up my own.

Julia's Turkey Soup

Turkey drippings
Water-to finish filling your pot.
3 cups of turkey
1/2 bag of frozen carrots (I really like carrots.)
1/2 bag of frozen mixed vegetables
2 tsp of poultry seasonings
2 tsp salt
1/3-1/2 uncooked barley

Mix all together, cook until barley is soft. Add more poultry seasonings and salt as needed. Many recipes I read used celery.

We served the soup with corn bread and homemade canned peaches. Yummy!

My Sunday Canning Project in Steps and Pics

It is Sunday.  I went to church then came home to attempt to put a dent in all the peaches I picked. This is my second time of canning more of them. I've found canning is time consuming and laborious. I tried to develop a system this time to make it a little easier. I believe I did.

My first peach canning adventure, I canned seven quarts and 1 pint. It took four and a half hours. This time I've canned ten quarts in about three and a half hours. Progress! Still a lot of work though, I think I need a nap.

Here are the steps I used for canning this time;

1. Gather all equipment: bowls, pots with lids, large spoons, canning funnel, jars, lids and bands, butter knife, pot holders, quilt, jar grabber, measuring spoon, and food ingredients.
2. Wash jars, lids and bands.
3.  Place jars in water bath canning pot, note how many can fit.
4.  Boil jars to sterilize them.
5. Mix your sugar and water in a pot to make your syrup. I used a medium syrup consisint of 4 cups of water and 3 cups of sugar. Simmer until mixture is clear. Set to the side.
6.  Mix 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into 4 cups of water. This solution will prevent peaches from turning brown. 
7. Wash peaches, cut in half lengthwise (this will make peeling easier).
8. Boil water in large pot.
9. Place cut peaches in pot and blanche for one minute.
10. Remove and spread out on clean surface i.e. towel, cookie sheet.
11. Peel peaches and remove seeds. 
12. Place peaches in lemon water.
13. Remove peaches from lemon water and rinse with fresh water.
14. Place peaches in hot syrup. Simmer for 2 minutes.
15. Have jars ready, place peaches in jars using funnel to avoid dropping peaches. Leave 1/2 inch head room.
16. Pour syrup in jar to 1/2 inch headroom. 
17. Take butter knife or small spatula and insert between jars and peaches, moving knife gently around the inside of the jar. This will decrease air bubbles. 
18. Place lid and bands on jar. 
19. Place jars in water bath canning for set amount of time, determined by size of jars and elevation of where you live. I live over 4000 feet above sea level and used quart jars. My process time for my peaches was 70 minutes. I usually leave them in another 5 minutes for safety. 
20. After alotted time, remove jars and place where they will not be distrubed, to finish process. I place mine in a quilt to keep them warm a little longer.
21. Once they are sealed (the center of the lid is no longer elevated) label and shelf them.
22. Give as gifts or use for your family consumption.

Using a step by step system made it easier and more enjoyable this time to can. I'm looking forward to canning the rest of my fruit, to enjoy this winter.

Sterilze jars. 

Sugar and water for syrup. 

Lemon water. 

Wash peaches  and cut in half lengthwise.

Blanche, lay out to cool for peeling. 

After peeling place in lemon juice, then rinse with fresh water.

Place peaches in syrup to simmer 2 minutes 

Put the peaches in jars, add syrup, use butter knife to get rid of air bubbles.

Apply lids and bands. 

Process in water bath canner for appropriate time. 

After water bath, place to the side undisturbed to allow sealing

After sealed and cooled, label and shelf. 

Busy Canning Season

I had so much fruit this year, I've been canning and drying as much as I possibly can. It is a time-consuming and overwhelming job. When the amount of fruit is more then I can process, I give it away to friends, family and our local homeless shelter. I hate for the fruit to spoil if someone else can use it.

At present I've canned and dried; 25 jelly jars of plum syrup (I was trying for jam), 7 pints of pears in light syrup, 2 quarts of dried cherries, 19 jars of cherry jam, 1 1/2 pints of dried apples and I'm not done yet. I still have a small amount of plums and apples on the trees. The peaches on one of my trees are ready and about 1/2 have been picked. The other peaches on the second peach tree are still too green.

Today I plan on drying apples and preparing for canning peaches; hopefully I'll have enough time to can part of my peach harvest today. I like canned peaches best out of all my fruit and look forward to the end product.

The light syrup recipe I used for my pears is: 4 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. I'll be using a medium  syrup for my peaches. The recipe is: 4 cups of water and 3 cups of sugar. I haven't used these recipes before, but I will write a review later on how well they worked.

My first batch of dried cherries I attempted in the oven. The dryness of the fruit varied and a small portion burned. The cherries I dried in my new dehydrator came out perfect. But it took about 18 hours for them to dry.

The plum syrup was my first attempt at plum jam. I looked up several recipes and none had suggested pectin. I just put the plums in a pot with sugar on the stove to cook, as suggested. After a few minutes of cooking, I  blended, put the mix in jars and canned them. And ta da, syrup. Tastes sweet with just a hint of plum tartness.

I haven't tried the pears yet. The apples turned out wonderful. Sweet and slightly chewy. I dried them in the dehydrator for about 8 hours.

To prevent my pears and apples from browning, I soaked them separately in a solution of 1 quart water and 2 tbsp lemon juice. The pears didn't brown. The apples only have a light browning on a few of the slices.

The labels are designed and printed by my husband who is a graphic designer. He wanted my jars to look pretty for gift giving.

Cherry Jam

Plum Syrup

Dried Apples

Canned Pears

Dried Cherries

Finished products

Apples to dry. 

Peaches to can. 

Banana-Honey Cake

I purchased a cook book several years ago and have only used it a couple times. I decided the book was under used and I needed to try one of the recipes. I looked through it and tried to decide. I kept in mind the ingredients I already had so I wouldn't need to go shopping. I was in the mood to bake or cook.

I finally found a recipe I wanted to try. It was a Banana-Honey Cake with Cream Cheese frosting. It looked yummy. The recipe can be found in "The illustrated Encyclopedia of American Cooking."

Banana-Honey Cake Recipe

1 C. honey
1 tsp. soda
1 C. rolled oats
3/4 C. butter, softened
1/2 C. Sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 C. mashed bananas
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 C. sifted all purpose flour
3/4/ tsp. baking powder
2   3oz. packages of cream cheese
2 1/2 C. sifted confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 ˚. Bring honey to a boil in medium saucepan; add 1/2 tsp.  soda. Pour hot honey mixture over oats; stir and cover. Let stand for 10 minutes. Beat butter until creamy; add sugar gradually, beating until fluffy. Blend in eggs. Add oats mixture and bananas; beat until blended. Sift salt, flour baking powder and remaining soda together. Add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Pour batter into 2 greased and waxed paper-lined 8" round cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool. Soften cream cheese; beat until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar gradually, beating until frosting is of spreading consistency. Spread between layers and over top of cake and refrigerate. Garnish with banana slices just before serving.

Required ingredients.

Sifted dry ingredients.

Creamed butter, sugar and eggs.

Honey and baking soda.

Boiled honey and baking soda.

Butter mix, bananas, honey and oat mix. 

Batter ready for oven.

Offered Lil' Red a banana while I waited for the cake to bake. She refused. 

Goldie liked the banana. 

Finished cake. 

Cream cheese frosting. 

Ready to serve with no garnishing. I gave the garnishing to the chickens. 

Review:

The cake has a strong flavor. One can definitely taste the bananas and especially the honey. It is a very sweet cake. Next time I will probably leave the frosting off.

I didn't have two round cake pans and used a 9"x13" pan instead. The cake ended up thinner in appearance. Next time I need to either borrow the pans from a friend or purchase them. I believe the cake will look better.

 Comments from three other tasters; "good", "strong and sweet", "I liked the cake."

Hope you enjoy trying it.

Banana Bread Recipe

My chickens recently provided me with a large number of eggs. (You can read about them and a French Toast Recipe here..) Even after giving some eggs away and making the French Toast I still had several dozen eggs. I thought time to bake.

One of my favorite recipes is Banana Bread. I received a copy of this recipe from my friend Carolyn in Knoxville, TN. Carolyn. When I make the recipe not only do I get a delicious bread but I get to reminisce about years gone by.

Carolyn's Banana Bread Recipe:

1/3 cup margarine or butter
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
3 old mashed bananas
1 cup nuts optional (I some times use walnuts)

Mix first five ingredients until well blended and creamy. Add bananas, mix, add flour, mix. Bake in greased pan at 350 for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy.

Ingredients

1st five ingredients.

1st five ingredients mixed.  

Mashed bananas. 

Last ingredients. 

Ready for baking.

My son's snacks. 

I recently used this recipe to make muffins for my son. I left some out for him to enjoy and put the remaining in the freezer for later.

Got Eggs? I do!

My six girls performed well last month, 123 eggs for January. Today I realized I had over six dozen eggs and I needed to start using them or I would run out of room in my little refrigerator.

Products of my girls.

I decided I hadn't made French Toast in a while; a perfect recipe to use some of the eggs and make a nice breakfast. (My family enjoyed the breakfast a lot.)

French Toast Recipe:
Eggs ( Quantity depends on how much French Toast you want to make)
Cinnamon
Bread (I like Wheat or Sourdough)
Butter or Margarine

I mix together eggs and cinnamon and melt butter on my griddle or frying pan. Dip the bread into the egg mix, coating both sides. Place in pan and brown. Flip over and brown other side. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar, jam, fruit spread, fresh fruit or just plain.

French Toast. Yummy!

Grandma's Favorite Childhood Cake

My mother-in-law called me the other night, telling me it was her mother's 86 birthday on Friday. She wanted me to bake her mother's birthday cake. (I thought I can do that. I know how to bake a cake.) She invited me to lunch with them, just us girls. After lunch we would come back to my house and eat cake with the guys. (My son and husband).

This past Tuesday prior to the birthday, Mom dropped off ingredients for the cake she wanted me to use. It was an old fashioned recipe that was her mother's favorite childhood cake. (tomato soup cake.) I was like "sure, Okay, whatever you want me to do." She left a box of spice cake mix, one can of tomato soup and a container of homestyle cream cheese frosting. "I will call later with the list of other ingredients you will need to use. You do have eggs right?" (I have 6 chickens and 98 eggs so far this month) I said "Alrighty," and I started thinking what other ingredients I might need in case this recipe didn't work out, as a back-up plan.

Ingredients

We knew the frosting would be good at least. 

Mom called and left a message, "the other ingredients are 1/2 cup of water and 2 eggs. Bake per cake package directions."

Full Recipe for Tomato Soup Cake: (Unsure of source for the recipe. I will gladly give credit if anyone can find where the original recipe came from.)

1 box spice cake mix
1 can tomato soup
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1 canister of cream cheese frosting

Mix all ingredients together (except frosting). Bake in greased 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Thursday came and I thought 'I need to bake this cake.' My suspicions were high over the taste of this cake. I gathered the ingredients, put them all in the bowl and mixed. Didn't look to bad. The smell wasn't too bad, but very different. The batter was a little thicker then most cake mixes. I put it in the greased pan and into a preheated oven. I usually don't worry about preheating and just put the pan in, but in this case I didn't want any mishaps.

Yes I really did put tomato soup in the mix.  

Thicker batter

Low and behold, as the cake was baking and almost done, a power outage occurred.  I have a gas stove but the oven doesn't work during an electrical or gas power outage. I figured the oven was hot and the cake should finish just fine. Allowing food to cook in the oven after  it is turned off is one of my frugal tips you can read here.

The cake baked just fine. After it cooled I put the frosting on.

Looks normal. 

Friday we had lunch, just 'us girls'. I left the restaurant first, using the excuse it takes me longer to get in and out of the car with  my crutches. I put the cake on the table and a few candles. When Mom and Grandma arrived we sang Happy Birthday and gave my husband's design intern the first piece to see if she liked it. She said it was good. Still a little cautiously, we took our pieces and ate. What do ya know, it was good. And the smell was great.

I didn't have 86 candles, We settled for seven.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Happy Birthday Grandma! May you enjoy your day and your 86th year!