Bless My Heart I Married A Yankee

I have to say shortly after Christmas we found whole turkeys on sale for .25 cents a pound.  I really do not know what we were thinking considering we have moved and no longer have 2 refrigerators and 2 freezers because we bought 100lbs of turkey.  SMH!!!  Boy, what a ton of work.  We used about every single part that we could. One of the things I really wanted to make was some turkey sausage along with canned turkey, bone broth, smoked parts, and pieces for beans and greens.  I do not regret doing it but for a couple of weeks, we had our hands full working on turkey stuff.   We found this recipe and multiplied it by ten.  We made ten pounds of turkey sausage without even being sure we would like it.  Thank goodness we did!  I am putting the recipe in a pound increment so you can try it before you commit to several pounds.  Please remember you can tweak it as you wish.  If you want less maple syrup put less. If you like a real ...

I love good sourdough bread.  I make a few loaves a week with my potato starter.  I have almost stopped purchasing bread at the store now.  No need to do so when I can make my own bread which is so much better than store-bought chemical-filled stuff.   A few years ago I had my potato starter and my flour starter going great.  Then tragedy struck.  Well not really, I just stopped making bread for about 6 months and when I came back to it I had to start fresh with new starters.  Unfortunately, my flour (San Francisco style) just kept molding and I could never get it right or going again.  I did everything to make sure my container was clean.  Even washed the jar in the dishwashing which should have ensured everything was sanitized.  Oh well, it is what it is, right?  Fast forward to last week.  Scott and I were hanging out at our friend's house by his pool enjoying some good conversation.  The deal was we were to come o...

With winter always comes dry skin for me and for some reason along the way I forgot that a good toner for your face will help combat dry skin. I had a small bottle of toner that came with an IPSY bag which I started using.  It really is making a huge difference in my daily routine of taking care of my skin.  Since the toner is a sample I knew it would not last but a couple of weeks so I started doing research on which toner to purchase.  In doing so, I learned that I could make a much healthier version of toner for my face that would be natural.  Meaning no harsh chemicals on my already aging and dry skin.  This is so simple I am ashamed I never knew about it before. First, you need to use a good raw apple cider vinegar with a mother.  We make our own so I knew it was organic and healthy.  Second, you want to use distilled water so you know there are no chemicals.  Next, you need to work on the ratio for your skin.  The more ACV you use the m...

  You can use mushrooms in so many ways and I have made these many times over the years.  I normally use the big portabella caps but I recently purchased a couple of boxes of mushrooms from Sam's Club.  For some reason, I thought 2 boxes would be used quickly but they were not and well, I was hungry. I have been trying to watch what I eat.  And I do not mean as it goes in my mouth.  Scott and I both are attempting to be healthier. If you substitute mushrooms for meat it can really help your cholesterol levels.  Plus well, they are just downright good.  Of course, you need to like the earthiness taste to truly enjoy them but I have learned to enjoy food for what it tastes like.  To mean beets and mushrooms both have a very earthy quality taste to them. As I stated I was hungry.  My oatmeal did not last long and I thought why not cook up a bunch of these delicious pizzas.  They are so versatile.  You can add any topping you wish....

  CUCUMBER SALSA Yes, you read that correctly.  I am making salsa with cucumbers.  I have to admit I was leary at first but I had some extra cucumbers and I ran across a recipe and thought, mmm, let's try this.  We just might like it.  And boy, oh boy was I correct.  It is yummy gooooodddd.  I need to add I adapted the original recipe so I will not give a link to the recipe I found online. This is so easy to make and only takes like 5 minutes to put together.  Plus you only need a few ingredients.  English cucumber, sweet grape tomatoes, purple onion, jalapeno, lime juice, and a tiny bit of salt.  Gather all your ingredients and chop them up.  Toss the veggies together and sprinkle with fresh lime juice and salt. It is honestly that simple.  Today is Super Bowl Sunday, so I felt this would be a great snack for some football!!!   CUCUMBER SALSA Ingredients 1 English cucumber chopped 15 to 20 sweet grape tomatoes choppe...

I love stuffed peppers.  I have a really good recipe for  Mexican Stuffed Peppers .  However, growing up I could not stand them.  Mainly because I did not like bell peppers.  Maybe that is because we only used green ones and they can be bitter.  As an adult, I have come to really enjoy eating them.   I decided I wanted to make a healthy version of stuffed peppers.  I looked and researched then as usual came up with my own recipe.   These are loaded with veggies.  You can really use any that you want to but I used onion, mushrooms, zucchini, and tomatoes.  I sauteed everything but the tomatoes.  For my binder I used couscous.  I added everything together and cut up some sweet cherry tomatoes and tossed those into the mix.  I opted out of using cheese but feel free to add some cheese at the end as a topping.   I normally add tomato sauce or salsa in with the mix and also on top.  I chose not to ...

  The Best Ever Pound Cake     I have not made this recipe for at least 13 years but for some reason the cold, ice and snow have me wanting to make a pound cake.  I have to admit this recipe came from a church cookbook.  I have had the cookbook 25 years.  I am a huge fan of church or community cookbooks.  I love the feel of recipes from this type of book.  Kind of like someone is sharing a part of their family cooking traditions.  I love old family recipes.  Passing down your heritage from one generation to the next is something that has always got me. I have to tell you and come clean.  I remember the first time I made this recipe.  It was the first-pound cake recipe I have ever attempted to make.  I read all kinds of information about pound cakes because normally a pound cake is a very heavy dense cake but I had been told it did not have to be so.  I have to admit I think there are four reasons why this comes o...