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Taking pictures of what I do in the kitchen is turning out to be helpful to me in a way I didn’t imagine. Sometimes I feel like I haven’t done anything in the kitchen, or I feel like I haven’t been feeding my family meals that are “good enough”. Now I can look at the pictures that I took and see for myself that it’s not as bad as I think it was. Well, most of the time! lol

I had some turkey left from the one I cooked in the slow cooker the week before so I used it in this Turkey Alfredo. I used my Alfredo Ham & Pasta Skillet Dinner Recipe, substituting turkey for the ham. It came out great and they ate it all! Well, except for the peas a couple of teenagers left on their plates because they “hate peas”. Hopefully, a few sneak through with the pasta! lol

Some of the grapes on our grapevines were ready last week. I made the first picking into 6 quarts of grape juice. I used a super easy recipe that I got from a group on social media. It’s so easy and tastes so good! I’ll be sharing the recipe very soon, so be on the look out for it!

I always put “Tacos with all the fixin’s on my menu”, well, here’s what the fixin’s looked like last week. Venison taco meat, lettuce, tomato, red onion, sour cream, and my version of refried beans. Except, they are not refried! I drain a can of pinto beans, put them in a bowl, and mash them with a potato masher. You can season them if you like, but canned beans have enough salt, so you don’t really need to. So easy, healthier than refried beans, and taste great!

I used the beans to make some Taco Roll Ups while the family was making their tacos. The family used the rest of the beans when they made more tacos. My family makes a lot of tacos. lol These Taco Roll Ups came out great. I shared what I made with the family and they all loved them! Be on the look out for that recipe coming soon!

On Tuesday, I ground 7 pounds of venison meat from the freezer with my food processor. I cooked it all on Wednesday because I ran out of time on Tuesday. I made taco meat, and we ate some that night, and I have one meals worth to put in the freezer. I cooked the rest of the meat and packaged it for the freezer. I love having cooked meat in the freezer. Half the work is done for cooking dinner! These will go in spaghetti, skillet dinners, or whatever else I come up with!

I finished the last of the turkey with this Turkey, potatoes, carrots, & gravy cooked in the slow cooker. It came out great! Kind of like the middle of a pot pie without the crust. lol I used Chicken flavored Better Than Bouillon, water, and cornstarch to make the gravy. It turned out nice and thick and flavorful.

On Friday, we had a venison roast and potatoes cooked in the slow cooker. That’s my family’s favorite way to cook venison. Worchestershire sauce is my secret ingredient. shhhh….. I do get a little bored making this every week, but the family isn’t complaining, so I guess I shouldn’t. lol I served it with Honey Glazed Carrots. Yum!

What’s up in your kitchen? If you need more ideas for dinner, check out my dinner menu below.

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- Dinner out with the family

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Hot dogs, chips, corn

Monday – chicken or turkey –  Chicken Strips, oven roasted potatoes, salad

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

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

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

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

For more ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday

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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