T-day Turkey

{**Cooking a turkey may be one of those things that

everyone knows how to do already-- but I didn't!

This year was my first turkey, and I just wanted it to 

be flavorful and juicy. I used some tips from Food

Network's Thanksgiving Live show, as well

as some tips from friends and family... and it was

PERFECT! So, just in case you're like me and don't know,

here it is!}

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Holiday Turkey

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Turkey

1 onion, largely chopped

1 lemon/lime, quartered

1 orange, quartered

Garlic (I was out of fresh, so I used

a little minced from a jar.)

Rosemary (I used dried, and I

loved the slightly sage-y flavor)

Thyme (Just a little bit)

Oil or butter. Or both.

S&P

Any other seasonings/herbs you like

---

First, after cleaning the turkey, I rotated

putting onion, lemon, and orange into the cavity

(squeezing the juice of the citrus out into the

cavity before tossing it in.) I also added the garlic,

rosemary and thyme with those, too. I filled the 

cavity completely, then tied the legs back together.

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Next, shook a couple of tablespoons of flour around

in the turkey bag and placed the bag in the pan.

Brush or rub some oil or butter (or both) onto the skin

of the turkey. Add salt and any other seasonings you like.

(I used S&P, a little seasoning salt, garlic salt

and onion salt.)

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Place the turkey in the bag, add a 1/2-1 c. water and seal.

Cut a couple of slits in the top of the bag.

Cook at 350 for 15 minutes per pound.

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This was super easy, and so yummy. I'd make

this regularly if I could!

Thanksgiving success ;)

Honey Garlic Meatballs (or sauce for meat)

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Okay, this one is all about the sauce.

I have used homemade meatballs, with my meatloaf

recipe (see below), and I've also used store-bought frozen

meatballs, if I was crunched for time. Or lazy ;)

This sauce, in my opinion, would also be great for

chicken or pork. It's a bit Asian, but very mild.

===

Honey Garlic Sauce

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INGREDIENTS:

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~ 4 garlic cloves, minced

~ 2-4 Tbs. butter/margarine (or oil if you prefer)

~ 3/4 c. ketchup

~ 1/2 c. honey

~ 3 Tbs. soy sauce

(*If you wanted a more Asian, less ketchup-y flavor,

take the ketchup down to 1/2 c. and add 2-3 more T. of soy sauce.)

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DIRECTIONS:

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1.

In a sauce pan, wok, or small/medium frying pan, melt the

butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook til tender

(you may need to stir to keep from burning the garlic.)

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2.

Add the ketchup, honey and soy sauce and bring to a boil.

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3.

Once bubbling, cover and reduce temperature to low.

Let simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring so the bottom

doesn't scald.

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4. That's it! Add the cooked meatballs into the saucepan, or

pour the sauce over the meatballs and mix up.

Serve over rice, with potatoes, or even with pasta.

===

~~~

Meatloaf / Meatballs

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INGREDIENTS:

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~ 2 lbs. ground beef

~ 2-4 eggs (depending on how moist you want it,

and how much bread you'll use)

~ 3-4 slices of bread (or you may use bread crumbs if you prefer)

~ 1/2-3/4 c. diced yellow onion, or 2-3 T. dried onion flakes

 or dried minced onion

~ Salt and Pepper

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DIRECTIONS:

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1.

Preheat oven to 350 for meatloaf, 400 for meatballs.

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2.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Make sure everything is incorporated.

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3.

For meatloaf, press into a cakepan, or into

one or two bread loaf pans.

For meatballs, form into 1-2 inch balls and place

on a baking sheet or in a cake pan.

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4.

Meatloaf will cook about an hour, depending on

how thick it is. Meatballs will typically cook in

about 30-45 minutes.

===

*For meatloaf, we always use this Sweet & Sour sauce,

which you pour over the meatloaf before baking.

It's so delish.

Baked 'Fried Chicken'

This is an awesome recipe that has a fried chicken flavor,

but is a bit healthier- and easier- 'cuz it's baked! Yay!

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I've made this using boneless, skinless check breasts (cut into strips),

but I've also used thigh meat. One thing I really want to try is

using bone-in thighs, just because I heart those, and I think

those'd be delish here, too. So whichever type of chicken you

choose, here we go...

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1. Soak chicken strips or pieces in a bowl of milk (or buttermilk,

if you like more tang) for 20-30 minutes.

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2. Mix in a large ziploc bag OR a bowl:

~ 1 c. flour

~ 1 1/2-2 tsp. paprika

~ 1/2 tsp. salt

~ 3/4 tsp. pepper

~ 1 Tbsp. Season All or Seasoning Salt

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3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1/2 stick of butter into slices

and place in 9x13 cake pan. Place pan in oven just long enough

to melt the butter. (This is such an awesome trick!)

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4. If needed, spread melted butter around bottom of pan so there

are no dry spots (you may use nonstick spray on dry spots, too,

if you need to.)

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5. Shake excess milk off each piece of chicken and coat with seasoning

(either by shaking in ziploc or pressing into bowl).

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6. Place each piece of chicken in pan.

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7. Cook for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over and cook about another

20 minutes. (**Timing depends, of course, on the size of your

chicken pieces. The smaller/thinner the chicken, the less

cooking time you'll need, so check it along the way ;)

You don't want it overcooked- just til it's cooked through.

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So yum! And really pretty simple.

This sort of reminds me of our copycat Chik-Fil-A nuggets,

except it's SO much less time-consuming because of the

baking- plus, a bit healthier ;)

Enjoy!

My left over turkey pot pie

I had just enough turkey left over to make a pie.

I used Marie Callenders pie crust.

*

In a pan saute about 3 carrots, 1 small onion and1  celery stalk in olive oil and 2 TBLS. butter until tender.

add about 5 TBLS. of flour and add 1 can chicken broth to the veggies. Add about 4 c. of left over turkey and Stir until dissolved, and let thicken. (I added a little cream, because I had it on hand)

pour into crust and top with other crust. I dabbed milk on top of crust and

baked it at 375-400 degrees for about 40 minutes.

It was delicious.

 Of course Mark poured catsup over the entire thing.