Chewin'

the News

November 2001

by Nanci Slagle

In This Issue:

NOTES FROM NANCI

• Thanksgiving Memories

• Tips for saving Time, Money & Sanity

• Tips for a Happy Gathering

• Tips for Choosing Freezer Recipes

• Tips for Keeping Freezer Foods Fresh & Pretty

• Turkey Tips

• Leftovers They Like:

• Country Turkey Pot Pie

• Easy Turkey & Stuffing Casserole

• Turkey Divan

• Turkey & Noodles

WEBSITE NEWS

BONUS RECIPES

• Quiche Muffins

• Easy Orange French Toast

• Nutty Broccoli Spread

• Steph's Sweet & Spicy Kielbasa

TREATS 4 KIDS

• Tara's Muffins

• Breakfast Burritos

• Awesome Mac n' Cheese

• Pudding-wiches

• Stress Ball Cookies

• Breadstick Cornucopia & Wax Paper Placemats

CONTEST WINNERS

• Cook of the Month Winner
  Recipe of the Month Winner – Beef, Bean and Cornbread Casserole

• Apron Winner

COOKIN’ JOKE

GOURMET Q & A

NEWS FROM THE ROAD
TIP OF THE MONTH

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH

NOTES FROM NANCI

THANKSGIVING MEMORIES

I am finding that the older I get, the more time I spend reminiscing about life’s big events.  As I’ve been reflecting on Thanksgivings of the past, three especially come to mind.

1968 – I was 10 years old (okay, no need to do the math - I’m 43) when Mom and Dad hosted the largest Thanksgiving day crowd that I can remember.  Both my parents came from large families (8 siblings each) and that year the house was full of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  What fun!  Of course, what I DON’T remember is anyone doing the actual cooking.  I DO remember what happened when my Dad left to take the uncles for an “after dinner” drive.  He pulled the car out of the garage and suddenly my Mom flew out the door and began chasing him down the driveway.  We cousins watched from the front picture window wondering what in the world was going on.  Then we saw it.  Mom had stashed the turkey roaster on the roof of the car – safely out of the guests’ view or so she thought.  She never lived that one down!

1973 – I was a freshman in high school looking forward to a long weekend spent lounging in my bedroom when Mom announced that she had invited a stranger to Thanksgiving Day.  Abdul was a foreign student attending a local college.  If not for us, mom explained, he would be spending the day sitting in a dorm room eating McDonald’s and what kind of American hospitality was that.  I dreaded the whole thing.  But of course Mom was right.  It was a great day full of laughing and learning and here I am almost 30 years later telling you about it and thinking of who we could be inviting to our home this year who might otherwise be dining at McDonald’s.

2000 – Last year’s Thanksgiving was special because two of my aunts came from Iowa and Michigan to visit.  We beg for company but don’t seem to get much so we were thrilled.  Never mind that Bob and I had spent the whole week prior laying 700 square feet of wood floor.  We had been living on sub-floor for three years so this was pretty exciting.  The plan was timed down to the minute and after applying the necessary sealer and waiting out the drying time, we moved the dining room furniture back on at 4 pm and promptly sat down to a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner. Needless to say, it was a good thing that most of the meal had been assembled weeks ahead and stored in the freezer.

Click here to see Thanksgiving 2000 at the Slagle house!

So where has the last year gone?  Why does time seem to drag when you are 13 and fly when you are 43?  We have no family coming this year (we’re spread out all over the US) so we plan to invite several families and see who we get.  If you’re in the area, feel free to stop by (with something from your freezer).  Could be fun!

Tips for Saving Time, Money and Sanity: 

1. Plan your holiday meal NOW.  They won’t be inventing any new foods between now and then.

2. Avoid the “night before Thanksgiving grocery store madness” by purchasing ingredients now.  You’d be surprised how many stores will be out of pumpkin pie filling by November 21^st.

3. Shop the sales.  Holiday food items begin to come on sale early in November.

4. Click here for more tips

Tips For a Happy Gathering:

1. Suggest that each family be in charge of one recipe and make enough for everyone.

2. Don’t make a recipe “just because”.  For years, I served cranberry sauce because my mother did.  One year I finally realized that no one ever ate it.  Duh!

3. Don’t expect kids to remember (and love) foods they only eat once or twice a year.  Make a side dish like our Awesome Mac ‘n Cheese and a dessert like Pudding-wiches that they will enjoy. Purchase or make them pizzas to eat while you are enjoying those leftover  turkey and stuffing sandwiches.

4. Click here for more tips

Tips for Choosing Freezer Recipes:

1. Download the free sampler from our Holiday Freezer Cooking Ebook.  It includes three great recipes: Celebration Salad, Sweet Potato Soufflé and Merry Kiss Mousse Pie.

2. Check the Freezing Rules on our site to determine what traditional recipes you can make ahead and freeze. Most traditional Thanksgiving foods freeze fine.  Exceptions would be your lettuce salad and the jello.  Actually they freeze fine – it’s the thawing that becomes a problem.

3. Sweet potatoes, bread dressing or vegetables can all be heated or cooked in a slow cooker and will free up a spot on your stove or in your oven.

4. Click here for more tips

Tips for Keeping Freezer Foods Fresh and Pretty:

1. Use good quality freezer bags and containers. Freeze fragile foods in rigid containers to prevent crushing.

2. Cool all foods well before freezing.

3. Click here for more tips

TURKEY TIPS & LEFTOVERS THEY LIKE

Turkey Tips

1. For turkey questions, call the Butterball Turkey Talkline at 1-800-323-4848 or the Reynolds Company Turkey Tips Line at 1-800-745-4000.  The FAQ’s section of the Butterball site at www.butterball.com is very helpful also.

2. Buy early and buy big!  Plan for leftover turkey – it doesn’t get any cheaper than this! There are lots of great recipes in the Leftovers They Like section below.

3. Remember to allow 24 hour per 5 lbs. to thaw your frozen turkey in the refrigerator.

4. Don’t forget to plan for appetizers and breakfasts during the holiday weekend too.  This month’s bonus recipes include some great ideas. Search the archives of our newsletters also.

Let your guests help.  When they ask “what can I bring?” do the customary hemming and hawing while you walk over to the refrigerator door and check your list.  My trick is to let the guests bring the things that need to be made “day of” or the night before like lettuce salads, fresh veggie trays, Jell-o salads or dinner rolls.  You can always ask the “non cooks” to bring beverages and easy-to-purchase appetizers.

Leftovers They Like

COUNTRY TURKEY POT PIE – This recipe is posted on our message boards and is one of my husband’s favorites. It not only uses up some turkey but also leftover onion, celery and carrots.  As Kim suggested, I just freeze the filling and keep the pie crusts on hand.

Click here to view/print the Country Turkey Pot Pie recipe!

EASY TURKEY & STUFFING CASSEROLE – It doesn’t get much easier than this.  3 ingredients, one dish.

2 cups of turkey, 2 cups of stuffing, one can of cream of chicken soup. Mix it up and put it in an 8x8 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Good stuff.

TURKEY DIVAN – This recipe is from our Freezer Cooking Manual and has been a favorite of the Slagles for years.  If you don’t want to tie up your serving dishes, freeze the components separately in freezer bags and then layer the casserole in the dish the day you want to serve it.

Click here to view/print the Turkey Divan recipe!

TURKEY & NOODLES – Another recipe from the Freezer Cooking Manual, this is a great comfort food as the weather gets cooler.  It freezes wonderfully!

Click here to view/print the Turkey & Noodles recipe!

Tons of great turkey recipes can be found on the internet.  One good source for freezable turkey leftovers is:

http://frugal-moms.com/cooking/turkey.shtml

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WEBSITE NEWS

Ebook Update

If you haven’t purchased a copy of our first ebook Holiday Freezer Cooking from 30 Day Gourmet, it’s easier than ever.  You will use these recipes over and over. Includes 26 holiday recipes along with worksheets and tons of info. To order, click here.  You pay online and the directions to download the book are e-mailed to you within a few minutes.

We had a huge response to our ebook author inquiry.  I have officially accepted 5 offers and have quite a few more “in the works”.  We will release the books as our authors finish them up and hope to have the next one within a month. 

Freezer Cooking on a Budget will show you how to cook a month’s worth of entrees for $200 or less and will provide great tips and 25 recipes to get you started.  Our author is a freelance writer from Tulsa, Oklahoma who has been freezer cooking for 6 years.

Freezer Cooking for Family Daycare Providers will help those who feed children on a daily basis to do more than cook all day!  Our author has owned a family daycare in Washington for years and is looking forward to providing all of us with a resource for freezing food that will please kids and the adults who care for them.

Freezer Cooking for Diabetics will be a great help to those of you who are diabetic or cook for diabetics.  Our author resides here in Indiana and cooks for a diabetic husband. Nutritional info will be included.

Freezer Cooking for The Zone is for those of you trying to follow a modified low carbohydrate eating plan.  Our author has been freezer cooking for a long time and has been following The Zone since 1995 resulting in better health. This ebook will include nutritional counts for carbs, protein and fat.

Freezer Cooking for Vegetarians will provide some great freezer recipes and ideas for vegetarians who are tired of eating “rice and steamed vegetables”.  Our author lives in Canada and has been both a vegetarian and freezer cook for many years.

Are you interested in writing an eBook?  I’m looking for experienced freezer cooks to partner with us in the publication of these eBooks.  If you’re interested in learning more, e-mail me at ebooks@30daygourmet.com.  You will receive an autoresponse with all of the details within a few minutes.

Message Board Update/Feedback

There are so many recipes and bunches of great information available on our message boards.  It’s a great place to get acquainted with other freezer cooks.  If you were active on the old boards and have some suggestions for our new ones, please contact Tammy with your comments: tammy@30daygourmet.com.

Click here to visit the boards now.

You may have noticed some new advertising on our site. I want to assure that I will only be choosing quality companies with first class products or sites that I use myself. Most will be related to cooking, freezing and saving money. COOL SAVINGS, for example, is a great way to get deals and coupons. I signed up for their free membership and got a big, FREE travel book about Texas. (I'm giving it to my Dad for Christmas but don't tell.)

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BONUS RECIPES

With the holidays coming up so quickly, I looked for recipes that have been so great to have in my own freezer at this busy time of the year.  Many are available on our site but my guess is that most of you have never tried them.

Holiday E-book Recipes – These are 3 of the 26 recipes in our Holiday book and are available in our free sampler download. There are photos of all three also.

• Celebration Salad

• Sweet Potato Soufflé

• Merry Kiss-Mousse Pie

Click here to view/print the free holiday sampler or 3 holiday recipes!

Quiche Muffins – These yummy muffins were posted on our message boards by Wendy, our October Cook of the Month.  I love these!  I have a few dozen of them individually packaged in my kitchen freezer and have been popping them frozen into the microwave every morning.  In just a minute, I have a great protein breakfast.

Click here to view/print the Quiche Muffins recipe!

Easy Orange French Toast – One of our consultants won our Recipe of the Month contest last year with this yummy breakfast food.  Make ahead, freeze and just pop into the oven or toaster.  No mess on busy mornings!

Click here to view/print the Easy Orange French Toast recipe!

Nutty Broccoli Spread – Tara and I were served this by our good friend, Cheryl, when she opened her home to us a few years ago while we were speaking in Michigan.  It’s now a part of our 50 Free Recipes for manual owners. Great to have around for holiday appetizers.

Click here to view/print the Nutty Broccoli Spread recipe!

Steph’s Sweet & Spicy Kielbasa – This is a great crockpot recipe for appetizers or snack food on Thanksgiving weekend.  Make it ahead of time, thaw and pour into the crockpot.  Easy as pie – easier really.

Click here to view/print Steph’s Sweet & Spicy Kielbasa recipe!

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TREATS 4 KIDS

Tara’s Muffins – You won’t find a more delicious muffin anywhere.  Maybe the sour cream is the secret ingredient. These freeze so well.  I have 2 dozen in my freezer right now ready to take to a special breakfast at our church next Sunday.  No 6 am baking for me!

Click here to view/print Tara’s Muffin recipe from our August issue!

Breakfast Burritos – This recipe has been on our message boards for awhile but I just tried it recently when I got tired of kids who eat chocolate cereal and chocolate pop tarts every morning. (I know – who buys them?) These are a great alternative.  They think they’re getting away with something – eating burritos for breakfast.

Click here to view/print the Breakfast Burritos recipe!

Visit the boards and the Breads/Breakfast section to read other ideas and tips about this recipe.  

Awesome Mac ‘n Cheese – The kids will love you for having an alternative to stuffing – at least mine do!

Click here to view/print the Awesome Mac ‘n Cheese Recipe of the Month from August!

Pudding-wiches – Another winner - from Tammy, our message board moderator.  If your kids haven’t tried these, make a batch now and surprise the ones who aren’t crazy about pecan pie.

Click here to view/print the Pudding-wiches recipe!

Stress Ball Cookies – Do you have trouble finding a recipe that the kids can handle without supervision?  This works great because they can play with it, squish it, divide it, even build things out of it and the baked cookies will only be better.

Click here to see Becky, my 13 year old, taking out her stress!

Click here to view/print the Stress Ball Cookies recipe!

Breadstick Cornucopia & Wax Paper Placemats – Okay this one is just for fun.  No need to freeze your placemats. Jenna loved making her own traditional wax paper placemat while I cooked.  The cornucopia was a little trickier and required help from Katy, the artist/builder.  I found it on www.recipesource.com under the Thanksgiving section. 

Click here to see Jenna and Katy's creations!

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CONTEST WINNERS

Our Cook of the Month Winner - Our winner this month is Doreen S. from Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Doreen sent us a photo titled “Freezer Cooking: A Family Affair”.  Click here to see Doreen, her mom and her two sisters.  Looks like fun to me! 

Recipe of the Month Winner – Stephanie S. from Lino Lakes, Minnesota won our recipe contest this month with her Beef, Bean and Cornbread Casserole.  Stephanie (along with two friends) teaches 30 Day Gourmet classes.

Click here to view/print Stephanie’s Beef, Bean and Cornbread Casserole recipe!

Apron Winner - Our apron winner this month is Tammy from East Alton, IL.  We choose a winner every month from our subscribers.  Tell your friends! To sign up, click here.

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COOKIN’ JOKE

Doughboy Obituary

Veteran Pillsbury spokesman Pop N. Fresh died

yesterday of a severe yeast infection.  He was 71.

Known to friends as Brown-n-Serve, Fresh was an

avid gardener and tennis player.

Click here to read the rest of the obituary!

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GOURMET Q & A (from the E-mail Bag)

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NEWS FROM THE ROAD

I will be busy this month updating the seminar to Power Point and contacting all of the places where 30 Day Gourmet has presented a program in the past.  If you are interested in booking a seminar for 2002, you can read about our prices and room requirements by clicking here.  Check out my upcoming and past seminars by clicking here.

Here’s what’s coming up . . .

December 15, 2001

WMYS (1430 AM) - Indianapolis - 5:00 p.m.

Cooking with Diana & Friends Radio Program

January 3, 2002

Southeast Christian Church Moms Group – Louisville, KY

(I am available the 4th in the area)

March 7, 2002

Welcome House Outreach Fundraiser

Northern Kentucky

Contact: Laura Rice - lrice@msn.com

(I am available the 6th or the 8th in the area)

If you’re interested in hosting a seminar, there is quite a bit of info on the site under the Seminar Section.

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TIP OF THE MONTH

One of our readers sent in this e-mail tip after reading the October newsletter and the pie filling section:

I suggest that instead of freezing those fillings as pictured, you freeze them in a pie plate, pop them out, then put them back or into the freezer bags. That way they are more "ready to go" and less messy. I am leaning toward putting everything in either 8x8 or 9x13 pans, as you can get those disposable pans to use as food ice trays. I don't usually store them in the freezer in the pans, the lids are rather brittle- and I would need too many. The pan size "cubes" stack so nicely.  - C. Graham

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WEBSITE OF THE MONTH

A search for thanksgiving ideas, recipes, gifts, etc. will give you plenty to go on.  Here are a few that I found myself spending some time on.

www.thanksgiving recipe.com – More recipes if you need them.

www.butterball.com – Great turkey info, recipes too.

www.kidsdomain.com/games/thanks.html  - This site will keep the younger kids busy at the computer while you do the last minute preparations.  Could be a lifesaver.

www.benjerry.com/thanksgiving/ - Great site for older kids and adults who need a laugh.  Fun games, yummy chocolate recipes and place cards to print and decorate.  Don’t miss the Cool Links section.  There are some great history sites here related to Thanksgiving.  I spent an hour reading the passenger list and info from the Mayflower site.  I have an aunt who has traced our line back to William Brewster.  You’re never too old to learn!

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COMING NEXT MONTH

December’s newsletter will focus on freeze ahead holiday baking and food-related gifts and gift baskets.  I would love to hear your ideas and see your recipes.  Please send them to me at nanci@30daygourmet.com.  Thanks!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We have SO much to be thankful for.  And for those of you who will have loved ones missing from your tables this year, please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Nanci

30 Day Gourmet

This page was last updated on Wednesday, June 11, 2008.

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