https://www.foodiecrush.com/category/recipes/breakfast-and-brunch/
Hiedi at Foodie Crush has a really cool site. There’s lots of recipes. You can search by cuisines, meal, season, or Holiday.
Pretty much every vegetable and fruit is covered. With all honesty I just found this site like right now. I did take time to explore it. I’m happy to say I was impressed enough to share it with y’all. So if you haven’t checked out Foodie Crush already, go over and please let her know I sent you.
Here we go y’all. Countdown to Christmas. Each week we will look at what we can be doing to prepare our homes for Christmas then New Year’s Day. Yeah! We are going to cover both. We are going to cover everything just like Thanksgiving.
Decorate
Three weeks out from Christmas here’s what we can do. Decorate your home. We have a small apartment so we are limited in what we can do. Below is a link to start getting ideas.
Link: http://www.goldenboysandme.com/2016/12/holiday-house-walk-2016.html?m=1
Menu plan for Christmas.
Have you decided what your Christmas dinner is going to look like. Will you do the cooking? Why not potluck it out? Have everyone who’s a great cook/baker bring the speciality. Also, what traditional dishes do you always have on your table. We always had ham. Mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, carrots and corn. Of course, there was rolls as well.
https://www.insider.com/best-and-worst-things-to-do-with-an-air-fryer-tips
Air Fryer? What to hell is that? That would be the reaction of my late Grams. Air fryers cone in all sizes and styles. Just about every chef on tv has one with their name attached. From Emeril Lagasse to Nutri Bullet. Yeah! The people who condensed the blender into a micro unit has one. And you can go anywhere to buy one. Amzon, Bed, Bath and Beyond to Walmart. They carry them in one form or another.
They are better than a microwave because they are smaller and you don’t have to have them on your shelf taking up space. That’s earth moving if you live in an apartment. Of course, if you’re looking at microwaves you might as well get one with an air fryer feature they are a little pricy. Looking for a new cook range? Don’t worry you’re covered. However, these beauties range from $1k all the way up to $3k.
If your looking to purchase an air fryer by it’s self you can pay anywhere from $45 dollars to three hundred. Keep in mind that you want to leave room in your budget for the warranty. Regardless if you getting an air fryer by itself or your looking for a combo package.
Which one do we have? We had the Power XL but it barely lasted a year. My daughter bought an Emeril Lagasse one. It’s holding up pretty good. For the next three weeks I will share an air fryer recipe with y’all. So if you decide to get one you will have a starting point.
https://www.momontimeout.com/ham-and-cheese-sliders-recipe/
Who doesn’t like sliders? They are awesome? And this particular one is ham and cheese on Hawaiian rolls. We have Kings Hawaiian rolls at Thanksgiving. It was my responsibility to bring them. That start about sixteen years ago. I picked up for a different meal at my late uncle’s and that’s was how I got assigned with bringing them for the following Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s with Easter right behind it. Untill we left Florida in 2015 was the last Easter I took for.
With that said, let’s move on. Many people don’t serve turkey on Thanksgiving. There are also those families who served both turkey and ham at Thanksgiving. This year we had ham the night before. Ans we had leftover ham on Thanksgiving. That was a good move because the turkey breast I got was only three pounds. This worked out perfectly.
Why is this (and all slider) recipes perfect? This recipe is perfect for leftover makeover. The only things you might have to buy is butter and rolls. Other than that you are set. Just take cheese you already have. Just make sure you include (any) Swiss cheese (you can use actual Swiss Cheese like Gouda) in your appetizer platter plan and you won’t have to buy it again.
How to make these sliders? Easy. Cut the rolls in half. Melt butter with your desired seasonings and brush it accross the bottom layer. Layer cheese and meat the way you and your family like. The place top rolls on them and brush rest of butter mixture over the rolls. Bake at 350 till rolls are hot and cheese is melted.
Cut into individual sliders and enjoy. Now let’s chat about sides. What do you have leftover? Depending on when you make these sliders, you could served leftover Thanksgiving sides. Deviled eggs are always a hit. Unless you have a kid that doesn’t like them cold. I’m with you on that issue. I love deviled eggs hot, cold, or warm. Dressing, mashed potatoes, perhaps green bean casserole. Of course, you can always make new sides like salad out of leftover veggies from Thanksgiving veggie tray. Fried mashed potato balls.
The official name of this dish is Chicken Chasseur. Of course, if you say that in a house that doesn’t understand French you might get the ‘what to hell is that’ look as I did when I said it to my daughter. She understands Spanish but not French so I got ‘the look’.
Let’s look at our seasoning lineup; tarragon, parsely, and chicken broth or stock. If you choose to purchase cognac great if not just use extra chicken stock. White wine can be purchased in small amounts from liquor stores. This way you have exactly what you need.
Now the veggies. Mushrooms this particular recipe calls for Baby Bella (smaller Portobello). If you can find them great if not move on to button mushrooms. Tomatoes or tomato paste. Personally I’d say go for both. Little red tomatoes would look beautiful in this stew. Maybe throw in some green beans. Other than that salt and pepper.
The cooking method. Personally, I would sear the chicken in a cast iron pan and make part of the sauce in the pan. Just scrape the goodies off of the bottom. Put everything in the slow cooker for 6 to 8 hours. That depends on the size of chicken you use. Are you doing a whole bird, thighs, breast or combination of tighs and breast? These are things you have to consider. If you make this before I do please share the results.
https://www.esterkocht.com/en/
Here is a cool site for European and African recipes. There’s also Asian recipes. They cover all three meals with sweets.
They have herb mixes and chutneys. Sorbet, Sherbet and ice cream didn’t get left out. Vegan and vegetarian meals are also covered.
Every meal needs a drink. Covered.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kaitlinstevens/25-must-buy-items-at-aldi-that-are-scribbled-on-every
Aldi’s always surprises me. Every year at Christmas they really bring their A game. Rather its speciality candies from Europe specifically Germany or frozen treats Aldi’s has it covered.
Let’s start with the candy. Keep in mind European chocolate isn’t the super sweet we are use to here in America. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a Hershey bar as much as anyone. However, Aldi’s has introduced me to chocolate bars from other countries. Venezuela chocolate bars tend to have more of a bittersweet flavor as opposed to Mexican chocolate which can have chili powder in it. It delicious. The mixture of cinnamon and chili powder is incredible. Brazilian chocolate also is a favorite of mine.
Frozen treats. Let’s get this out of the way. A couple years ago Antonia tried the plant based products and she didn’t have a word to say. Remember she is a teenager and they can be brutal. Cakes like Black Forest Cake. . Chocolate on top of chocolate with cherries. How can you go wrong. However if that’s not your thing, go for the German or French Apple cake. Either way you can’t go wrong.
Cheeses! Aldi’s has a great choice of cheese and it is at a good price. A wedge of Fontina at Aldi’s is $4.00 max that would cost $7 to ten dollars at Kroger. You can also get cranberry brie cheese. That’s not really our thing If it is yours, I can tell you it will be affordable. Of course, they have good choice of produce.
Remember they are having to raise their prices as well as the other stores.
This is the hardest skill a homemaker must learn. We aren’t just homemakers we are moms (or dads). Also, we are spouses. Usually, the homemaking is on us and we take it on willingly. However, there comes a time when we have to delegate tasks to other members of our house. I have had to do this while I have been trying to kick this COVID-19. Which by the way, I still have. That means I have had to delegate more tasks to my 18-year daughter which has zero experience in homemaking.
This is difficult. Why? Because no matter how they try, the other loving members of our home won’t do things the way we do. They haven’t taken the time to develop the routines that we have. We have a system or method to our madness. What am I talking about? Okay, I have a pet peeve: dirty dishes in the sink when I get up in the morning. (That is a long and very personal story.) My daughter doesn’t do dishes at the end of the night all the time. Sometimes she is too tired to stand. We don’t have a dishwasher in our apartment. I don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink till the next morning. I hate it. She knows that and will have them done before I get up. So to delegate this task to her is very hard.
We have to let go of control when we delegate tasks out to members of our home. We have to trust that the daily tasks like dishes will be taken care of. Even if it’s not the way we would do it. When the homemaker is sick, we need to let the members of our home take care of us and the home the best way they can. This is also why we need to share information about our system. A family that homemakers together will always know how to get things done even if it’s not the way we would do it.
I have been making tamales like this for over a year. I’ll never go back to the stove top method again.
While I follow a recipe I inherited from my late mom, the cooking method in the article us what I use. Hope y’all enjoy and yes, if you have enough turkey left over you can use it for tamales.
Over the next three weeks I will post ideas for homemade Christmas gift ideas. For adults, children, and yes, our beloved pets. I am only going to cover cats and dogs. They are the main pet Americans have in their homes.
This is the last week for this. I hope it inspired someone somewhere to skip the consumerism mad max situation of Black Friday. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against buying a gift or two. What I have a problem with is this insanity of Black Friday. It takes what should be a leisurely task in which you pick the right gift for those you care about to an all free for all battle. Shop becomes a bloodsport on Black Friday. It’s disgusting and must stop.
Gift Ideas:
Adults
https://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/simple-handmade-gifts-part-twelve/
Children
Girls
https://www.thriftyfrugalmom.com/20-inexpensive-homemade-gifts-kids/
Boys
https://frugalfun4boys.com/more-homemade-gifts-to-make-for-boys/
Pets
Cats
https://www.worldsbestcatlitter.com/2014/03/the-10-best-homemade-cat-toys/
Dogs
Welcome to Scratch Kitchen!