Cook by baking in the oven

While cooking and visiting this weekend we cooked in the oven. In the winter cooking in the oven has 2 functions. The first function is to cook and eat but the second is it warms the air. This weekend we cooked stuffed baked turkey drumsticks. These stuffed drumsticks are so tasty it makes you want to cook them every week. Do we talk about them while we are eating them for sure. Being it is turkey it is supposed to be healthier than red meat, this is a great alternative to red meat.

The recipe: (my way)

3 nice sized turkey drumsticks
2-3 good pinches of salt and red pepper
9 cloves of garlic, chopped kind of big
1/2 onion chopped kind of big

In a bowl combine the spices and garlic and onion

Take a knife and stuff the drumsticks, near the bone, very well.

Put the drumsticks in a oven safe bowl with a lid and put them in the oven on about 350 for about 3 hours, more or less. Check the meat with a thermometer and make sure it is at the safe temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit , minimum.

You will know it's cooked when pricked with a knife juices run clear. But safety first and put a cooking thermometer in it and check.

The turkey comes out tender and tasty.

I actually made turkey enchiladas with left overs and that was wonderful too. My daughter loves enchiladas and so do I. So when she said she wanted some I made them with the left over turkey meat. You really think you're eating out at a fancy restaurant when eating these.

Enjoy.

Change eating habits

One way we can eat healthy is to change eating habits. We do things out of habit. If we're thirsty we grab a can soda or sugary drink. Instead of sugary drinks drink water. Put a little lemon in it and it takes better. If your hungry for a sweet treat eat fruit instead. If your hungry for chips eat vegetables instead. Your getting my drift about now, I think. So instead of going to a fast food place to eat cook something instead. When you cook your food you know whats in it. Every once and a while I like to get on line and check out the calories/sodium/fat grams at the restaurants. It is amazing how much calories/sodium/fat grams is in the food. For example at BK a double whopper sandwich 910 calories/57 fat grams. The calories in an awesome blossom is 2710 and total fat is 203.0 grams. So chew on that for a while,,,, woow.

I found a great recipe to share with you and it's not hard. It's Mini Crab Cakes, it's pretty easy, so give it a try you will love it. Invite some friends to share with.

Mini Crab Cakes:

1 large egg, beaten
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
2 Tablespoon finely chopped onions
4 Saltine crackers, crumbled
1 Teaspoon seasoning (mixture of salt, red pepper, basil, garlic salt)
1 Tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 Pound lump crabmeat
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided

Combine egg and next 5 ingredients and mix well. Gently fold in crab: don't over mix (your lump crab meat won't be lump anymore" Form int 12 mini crab cakes (the patties will be fairly wet).

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Fry crab cakes, in 2 batches. 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Repeat with remaining oil and crab cakes. Makes 1 dozen.

This is one of the easier crab cake recipes I've seen and good.

*Note: non stick skillets lets you use less oil when preparing meals or you can even use an electric skillet.

Cooking to Visit

Sometimes I think I am Cooking to Visit with people besides myself. When I feel like company I think about what kind of food I can cook and cook for my company. I don't know why but I enjoy cooking. Maybe it's because I like to eat fresh food. I think that's it, I like to eat food that I know whats in it.

Like tonight for supper I cooked some turkey breast. I cut the breast up in small chunks and put a little olive oil on the bottom of the pot and sauteed it. When it was cooked I sprinkled herbs on top. Then I made a salad on the side with cucumbers, tomatoes, avocado, purple onions, boiled eggs, bell peppers, carrots, cheese and homemade bread crumbs (wheat). That was a good meal. We enjoyed the dinner and have a little left.

You wonder why go through the trouble for your self much less other people? Because it's fun and enjoyable when you can eat good food (that you fixed) and visit with family and/or friends at the same time. Just like going eat out together but at your kitchen table. I think going eat out is fun and all but for me, I don't like to do it too often. Cooking at home is cheaper too. If fixing a big family meal is too much for you then make it small. The salad I cooked tonight was not too big and it was loaded with nutrients. Another idea is chili or soups, that's a one pot meal. I saw a recipe for turkey chili, I'm interested in trying it, sounds good.

So I guess the point of this posts is to try and get you to see cooking is fun, nutritious, enjoyable and it gives you the opportunity to visit with family or friends. Get a recipe, get the ingredients and get cooking. It's not as bad as we think. That's the thing, think about what you want to eat, what makes you say oh yeah, I want to eat that. That gets me motivated, wanting to eat something specific. The other day my daughter wanted enchiladas. So I got a recipe for enchilada sauce on the internet, very good one, and made enchiladas. They were good. I used turkey meat in some and queso cheese in the others. The turkey meat was left overs from two days before. The meat was stuffed with onions and garlic and seasonings and cooked in the oven. The meat had made a gravy and I chopped it up and put it in the enchiladas with a little cheese and enchilada sauce. Wow, very good. My daughter likes mexican food and so do we.

So, decide what you feel like eating and cook that. Invite friends to eat with you it makes for good conversation.

We're cooking and visiting while eating gumbo today

We are Cooking and visiting with friends tonight. We cooked a gumbo. What kind you ask? An okra, hen and sausage gumbo.
Oh boy it has been cold lately. I know I live in the south but this year, as for the rest of the country, this year hit record lows. We had temperatures in the teens. You northerners must be laughing right now, ha-ha, teens.
So that means you need lots of warm food and what's any warmer than gumbo. Gumbo is fairly cheap to cook depending on what you fix. If you cook chicken and sausage gumbo it is cheaper than shrimp and okra or seafood gumbo.

How I make a Gumbo

Gumbo is made with a roux. Today you can buy roux in a jar, it's that easy. Put as much roux as you like and add water- according to directions and add onions, garlic, bell pepper, some celery (not much celery). Let the roux come together with the onions, garlic, bell pepper, celery- do not cover yet, as the roux didn't boil yet, let it boil first before you cover it or it will boil over and it's a big mess. You need to add seasonings- salt (sea salt), pepper, a couple of bay leaves, if you like, some gumbo file'... what ever seasonings you like. Let this roux mixture cook for about 2 hours, the longer the better. After it's cooked long enough add your chicken and sausage or what ever you decided to cook.

Invite friends and family

Now the fun part is to invite friends and enjoy the conversation and food together.

Conversation topics:

Our conversation topics lately with our friends are

The new baby, The children, Finances, Husbands and Wives (lol), you know- life.
Enjoy.