I made more Homemade Trail Mix last week. We’ve been going through all of this in about a week to a week and a half. I make it with cashews, peanuts – either dry roasted or honey roasted, and M & M’s. I add raisins to half the batch. I bought some little goldfish crackers to add to the mix the last time I went shopping. So I’ll be trying that the next time I make trail mix. Hopefully, they don’t get crushed by the nuts.

 

 

I tried a new recipe for Basil Glazed Carrots the other night. They were really good! Recipe coming soon!

 

 

I still have a couple of turkeys in the freezer from the sales last November. I always buy  or 6 when they are so cheap before Thanksgiving. I normally finish them all by spring. My mother was in the hospital for over 4 months, from December to May. I didn’t get a lot of cooking done during that time. That’s why I have turkeys left. So anyway, I cooked one in the slow cooker the other day. Yes, a 12-13 pound turkey will fit in a large slow cooker. I cover it with foil, sealing the edges as much as I can. Then I put the lid on it. Because the lid won’t close all the way with a turkey in there! lol It works great and it doesn’t heat the house up for hours during the summer!

 

 

I made venison steaks last Friday. The family loves them. Since I have a freezer full of venison, I love them, too! lol I dredged the steaks in flour that I had added salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to. Then fried them for just a few minutes on each side. These little tenderloin steaks don’t take very long at all to cook.

 

 

They were great! I served them with mashed potatoes that my daughter helped make, and green beans.

 

 

When I cooked the turkey in the slow cooker, it made some awesome broth. I used it and some of the turkey to make turkey soup on Saturday. I had some already grated carrots from the store and I added those with some frozen peas and frozen corn. A few more seasonings, and I had an easy, awesome soup. I then needed a carb. I had some canned biscuits in the freezer. I’m not sure why, as I don’t normally buy them, but there they were. I think the kids made me do it. lol So I made some to go with the soup. The only complaint was that I didn’t make enough biscuits! lol

 

 

This week I have some  freezer cooking and some canning in my kitchen plans.

 

What’s up in your kitchen?

 

 

 

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – quick & easy- Homemade Turkey Soup, canned biscuits

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Sandwiches for lunch with leftover soup, Dinner was in front of the TV with the closing ceremonies- BBQ meatballs, cheese & crackers, homemade hummus, carrot, sugar snap peas

Monday – chicken or turkey –  Turkey Tetrazzini, broccoli

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with venison meat sauce, green beans

Wednesday – Taco Night- Mexican Roll Ups – new recipe!

Thursday – pork or beef – Boneless Pork Chops, mashed potatoes, beets, homemade applesauce

Friday – venison  – Venison roast & potatoes in slow cooker, Honey Glazed Carrots

 

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

 

 

My mother asked to cook last week. Who am I to say no? lol She made one of her specialties that family members often ask for. Scalloped Pork Chops.

 

 

You layer pork chops in the bottom of a pan, we used boneless with very little fat on them. You cover them with a layer of sliced onions, then a thick layer of sliced potatoes. You then pour over canned diced tomatoes, juice and all. Season each layer with salt & pepper. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes to an hour, until meat & potatoes are done. She covers it with foil, then takes the foil off for the last 10-15 minutes.

 

Then dig in to serve. My mother poured some vegetable juice in this time as well. She didn’t think there was enough juice from the tomatoes. I think there would have been as the finished dinner was very juicy. And very good!

 

 

I was blessed last week to be given some home grown tomatoes and cucumbers. We didn’t plant a garden this year, so these were a real treat!

 

 

I served them straight up as a side dish to our spaghetti with venison meat sauce. I could eat just the tomatoes and cucumbers for dinner!

 

 

On taco night, I had my venison taco meat as a salad with multi grain tortilla chips. Yum!

 

 

We still had some of those gorgeous home grown tomatoes begging to be eaten. So we had BLT sandwiches on Thursday.

 

 

This was store bought lettuce, but that’s ok. The tomatoes were the star of the sandwich! I had a slice of sharp cheddar cheese on my sandwich. So good!

 

 

On Friday, I made the meal that had been scheduled for Thursday night. My son said he couldn’t find the beef in the freezer so brought in venison. So instead of walking out to our stage shed where the freezer is, I just used the venison to make my version of lo mein.

 

 

I sauteed the frozen broccoli & sliced venison with some soy sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder. I didn’t even cut any onions to put in it! I missed them though! A couple of minutes before they were done, I poured in a bag of frozen peas and carrots. When everything was done, I dumped in a pound of cooked spaghetti and some more soy sauce.  It came out great! I hadn’t made lo mein in a while. I need to make it more often, as it’s pretty easy to make. Well, my version is! lol

 

 

Thursday morning, I got a call from someone I know saying they had a ton of tomatoes in their garden. They had been selling them at the farmers market, but still had a ton left. so I bought a 1/2 bushel of red and orange tomatoes. I also bought a grocery bag full of green tomatoes. I sliced and froze the green tomatoes. I put 8 meal size bags in the freezer.

 

 

I would have had more, but my husband got into them and made a big batch of fried green tomatoes. He loves them! Which is odd for a someone from Massachusetts! lol And hey! He made them all by himself! Go husband! lol

 

 

I canned the 1/2 bushel of red and orange tomatoes. I got 6 quart jars of whole red tomatoes, 8 quarts of quartered red tomatoes, and 3 quarts of quartered orange tomatoes. For a total of 17 quarts of tomatoes!

 

 

A very good pay off for about 5 hours of work! These will taste so good this winter in soups and chili.

 

I was very busy in the kitchen last week! How about you?

 

 

 

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – quick & easy- Take out pizza

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Corned Beef Hash & Eggs – Husband cooked!

Monday – chicken or turkey –  Chicken strips, oven roasted potatoes, corn, homemade applesauce

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with venison meat sauce, green beans

Wednesday – Taco Night- Mexican Roll Ups – new recipe!

Thursday – pork or beef – Turkey, cooked in the slow cooker, mashed potatoes, beets 

Friday – venison  – Venison roast & potatoes in slow cooker, Basil Glazed Carrots

 

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

 

 

*This post contains an affiliate link

 

My major kitchen accomplishment last week was canning peaches. These are so good!

 

 

A couple of months ago, I bought 20 pounds of chicken leg quarters, cut them up, and cooked them in bbq sauce. After cooling, I froze them in meal size bags. I have been enjoying the convenience of pulling those bags from the freezer. Just thaw and heat. Love it! Last week, I served it with crispy potato rounds from the store freezer, corn. and homemade applesauce from the pantry.

 

 

About 2 weeks ago, I ground a lot of venison meat in the food processor. I cooked it, and froze it. All I have to do is thaw and add to what ever I want. In this case, spaghetti sauce.

 

 

A favorite meal here is venison roast in the slow cooker. In this instance, I cooked it with carrots, and served it with rice. Which didn’t make the picture.

 

 

I went shopping at Aldi’s a week ago for school supplies. So of course I did some food shopping while there. I got some of their brand Italian Chicken Sausage to try. It was pretty good.

 

 

I served it with homemade mac and cheese, and peas.

 

 

A new family favorite is homemade trail mix.  I bought a store bought mix a few times, but the family didn’t like it the way it was. It’s much easier to make my own, then try to find several different bags to meet my family’s likes. And it tastes better, too! At least we think so. In the batch below, I used honey roasted peanuts requested by my daughter, cashews, M & M’s, and in the container on the right, raisins.

 

 

For a snack during the opening night of the Olympics, I served cheese and salami. Extra sharp Cheddar cheese, Colby Jack, some salami stuff that I don’t eat, and multi grain crackers.

 

Not what I was planning on serving for the 1st night of the Olympics. I always try to serve food from the country that is hosting the Olympics that year. I can’t find my Not Just Tacos cookbook though!

 

 

 

I need to hurry up & find it so I can make some Brazilian recipes before the Olympics are over!

 

 

 

In the Kitchen with Linda & Dinner Menu

 

Now…. to answer the question that I get asked about a hundred times a day……….What’s For Dinner?

 

Saturday – quick & easy- Hot dogs & chips while watching the Olympics

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Oven fries, chicken strips, baked beans – Husband cooked!

Monday – chicken or turkey –  Scalloped Pork Chops – Granny cooked!

Tuesday – pizza/pasta – Spaghetti with venison meat sauce, green beans

Wednesday – Taco Night- Tacos with all the fixin’s

Thursday – pork or beef – Beef Lo Mein

Friday – venison  – Venison roast & potatoes in slow cooker, Basil Glazed Carrots

 

 

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

 

*This post contains an affiliate link. If you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission.