Hate To Cook, But Love To Eat

Entertaining during the holidays without cooking

2008-12-11T06:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight is my yearly Neighborhood Christmas Party. It's something that we all look forward to. I have several elderly neighbors that don't get out much so it is a real treat for them. Here's how I pull it off without being in the kitchen too much...
Invitations are printed using Word and regular printer paper. No fancy stationary. My children deliver the announcements by hand, running door to door, handing out candy too. There is no RSVP on the invites so I don't have to worry about keeping a count. Not many people on the block miss the party, because I have it on a week day evening and keep it short. Just 6:30-8:30. Making sure to have an ending time. The invites state that it is a cookie party. You've probably heard of cookie swaps, but we don't do that. I only ask that each family bring a plate of cookies, store bought or home made. As for me, I bought a beautiful tray of Christmas cookies from Costco for $16.00 and I'll also be making some chocolate chip cookies from refrigerator cookie dough. Even I can do that! The dining room table is left empty with exception of a simple centerpiece and before too long it is covered with pretty, tasty treats. The only other thing I have to supply is lots of soda, cups, small plates and small napkins.
Now of course, I have to clean my house from top to bottom, but luckily the whole family pitches in.

The neighbor's all have a wonderful time catching up with each other and usually get to take a few cookies home with them. There is not much clean up at the end of the night either thank goodness!

Only one problem this year...my house was fully decorated and lit up this morning, but the tree lights just went out!!! ARGH. I have one of those dumb pre-lit trees and this isn't the first time I've had to spend 2 hours wiggling bulbs until the lights come back on. I'll never buy one of these again. Make sure you watch the video of my toddler and kitten running around under the tree. It's over on my other blog.
www.sillylittlesparrow.com

Happy Entertaining!!

Turkey Update

2008-11-28T18:55:00.000-08:00

It's Friday night. I'm feeling like Violet from Willy Wonka after she eats the chewing gum with blueberry dessert. We ate and ate and ate yesterday and then today we ate some more!
Favorites?
My Mother made a perfect Asparagus Casserole with boiled eggs and cheese. My Aunt made the most delicious green beans with almonds, garlic and something cruchy on top. And my cousin brought a splendidly sweet butterscotch cream cheese bar something 'er other.

So for next year, here's my best Thanksgiving tip for you non-cookers like me...
Family or not, make sure you invite people who like to cook and let them bring the food! :)
Have a good weekend!

I've never tried this

2008-11-24T08:08:00.001-08:00

Gathering In Gratitude

2008-11-16T10:40:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving I am thankful that I do not have to cook the whole turkey dinner by myself! My extended family always pitches in. Our kitchen counter top will be covered with over 10 different dishes. The most recently updated menu consists of...

turkey, ham and roast beef, corn casserole, mashed potato casserole, and asparagus casserole, 2 different types of stuffing, green beans, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, rolls and whole-berry cranberry sauce.

I'm sure we'll end up with at least one more dessert and probably several appetizers to tie us over while the food is warming up.

Now, you're probably thinking that there must be at least 25 people coming for dinner, but you're wrong! There are only 7 adults and 4 kids. Are we out of our minds??! The answer to that question is a big yes! You're also probably wondering if we are weight conscientious people. The answer to that question is kind of obvious. I think we're like a lot of families these days. We just don't know what a normal portion is anymore.

What does a special occasion meal look like at your house?

The Beauty of Green Meat

2008-11-10T18:07:00.000-08:00

With grocery prices sky rocketing, I always peruse the "oops we baked too much" section and the "green meat" section of the grocery store. The meat is not actually green, but the price is lowered because the sell by date is close. I wonder if some of you who would even consider buying old meat. I guess I like living on the edge.

Look at the money you're saving. For instance, today, I bought 4 1/2 pounds of chicken thighs for just over $6. Sell by date is tomorrow! Can't pass that up. But here's the key, make sure you have time to cook it today or the next! Otherwise you'll have to chuck it. $6 down the drain and you feel like a fool.

So what did I do with the chicken? I skinned it, threw it in 2 casserole dishes (one for my family and one for a sick friend) dumped in some Minute Rice, a couple cans of cream of chicken soup, some random seasonings (paprika makes it pretty) and water. Covered it with foil and baked it for a bit. It's useless to tell you exactly how long I baked it because my oven is ancient and doesn't have an accurate temperature setting. But I think you'd be safe to bake it @ 350 for about 45 minutes. I removed the foil for the last 15 minutes or so. My kids love this meal and my sick friend has been warned that it's "Green Meat."

Good reason to pick up McDonald's

2008-11-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

I've had an actual pain in the neck this week. I'm getting old I guess, but I haven't been able to stand up straight, much less cook a meal. Luckily we had left-overs in the fridge, or we might not have eaten. But today is Friday....this morning I cleaned out the fridge for the garbage truck. The left-overs were one day too old. We're out of everything now. My husband is working, so I'm running up to McDonald's to feed the kids.
Guess the 99 cent hamburgers won't kill us just this once....ha ha

2008-10-30T21:40:00.001-07:00

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It's Fall, Lets Cook Something

2008-10-30T19:56:00.001-07:00

I've been on a roll this week. I've cooked and cooked and even baked a bit too. Don't get too excited though. When I say baked, I mean I bought a box of bread mix and added the eggs and milk. And the cooking...ground beef.

Never the less, the reason for all this busyness is because it's Fall! Something about the weather cooling off and the holidays getting nearer makes me want to cook something. Now that's a miracle.

So besides the directions on the bread mix. I didn't follow any recipes this week.

My first fancy dish idea came with some left over ham that we were all getting sick of. What goes with ham? Easy, Potatoes!! I just happen to have a few potatoes starting to sprout so I peeled them, cooked them and mashed them up. Chopped up the ham, added a can of cream of something soup, sprinkled on some cheddar and popped it all in the oven. Oh yeah, I even through on a handful of crushed crackers to make it extra special. Served it up with some bar-b-cue ribs and we had a yummy meal.

The other fancy dish this week was chili. This is one of the few things that my husband likes to cook. His chili is awesome. He uses a few secret ingredients that I'm not allowed to reveal. The only thing is, his chili is a bit too spicy for me. So once again, no recipe involved, I got out the crock pot and just started throwing yummy things into it. Browned ground beef, chopped onions, tons of tomatoes, kidney beans (just a few) and tomato sauce. And I love canned corn in chili, although my husband says it doesn't belong. Threw in a couple of mild chili seasoning packets and then added the spice (black and red pepper) as it cooked. I tasted and tested it all throughout the day until just the right seasoning was achieved.

Now back to the baking... Pumpkin bread! Not all stores are carrying it just yet, but it's out there. Grab a box and 2 eggs and your good to go. So easy and so delicious. My only trick here is that when I'm stirring up the batter, I pour in some sugar. I've never measured, but maybe a 1/4 cup or so. When my youngest son, the picky one, tried it he loved it. Smear on some butter and you've got the perfect Fall treat.

The Only Excuse to Curse

2008-10-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

That's me alright! I can't walk into the kitchen without spilling, splattering, or dropping something. I've got scars from the scaldings and burns. And don't let me near a knife or a shredder.
Is it just me? Does anyone else have this problem? If so, how do you handle it?
I'm a Christian woman, but I have shocked my children with my outbursts of exclamatories. I usually just shout out my favorite bad word, "SH*T," and then ask God and my kids for forgiveness.
The food always makes it to the table though.

Oh My Meatloaf!!

2008-10-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to serve my family is MEATLOAF!
Reasons being:
1. It's easy
2. I always have ground beef laying around
3. The kids will eat it
4. I can hide nutritious things in it
5. I don't usually have to dirty up many dishes
6. I can make it ahead, in fact it's almost better reheated
7. It's easy

So, normally I'm making my regular Italian style meatloaf* with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, but my husband bought this diet book the other day and I actually walked over to it and I opened it! Imagine that! The book is called Eating for Life, Your Guide to Great Health, Fat Loss and Increased Energy by Bill Phillips of Body for Life.
This is a big book! It's a 400 page hard cover. Intimidating to someone like me to say the least.
Getting to the point. I opened up to "meatloaf." Ah Ha! I can make meatloaf. But Turkey?
It was actually a big hit and I think to make things easier I'll write it down and throw it in that drawer of mine. You know those kinds of drawers. The one where you stick all of your coupons that you never use and the recipes you don't want to lose.

So here's the delicious recipe for Homestyle Turkey Meatloaf
1 1/2 lbs lean ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
4 egg whites
1 cup salsa
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1 pkg. Knorr Vegetable Soup mix
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine all ingredients (except ketchup) in a large mixing bowl
Press mixture into 9x5 loaf pan and spread ketchup over top
Bake until meatloaf is no longer pink in the center and juice is clear, about 60 minutes

Don't forget that to make this a balanced meal for your little family. Mash up some potatoes and get out the frozen green beans and Voila!

Here's my husband's lunch for tomorrow ....

New Idea

2008-10-10T03:45:00.001-07:00

I've been racking my brain to come up with a niche for a new blog. Most people are writing about things that they already know about. That's easy! I'm going to write about something I know very little about! Isn't that ingenious? Stunningly smart?! We'll see...

One of my biggest annoyances being a mom is cooking! I don't necessarily hate it, I just never want to do it. But alas, I have 4 kids and a husband that must be fed. Not to mention, I like to eat every few hours too.