Slow Cooker Ground Turkey Salsa Loaf

Note: Picture won't upload right now. Ill add it later


Meatloaf has always been a favorite around here. But, in the heat of the summer there is nothing worse than heating up the house with the oven. So I sat down and developed a recipe everyone would love that I could use in my slow cooker. To make it a complete meal I serve it with my dirty mashed potatoes and either corn, a side salad or some other vegetable. Homemade bread rounds out the meal which can be done for less than 10 dollars and feeds at least 8 people. 2 rolls of ground turkey defrosted (that’s 2 lbs for those of you who buy it unfrozen out of the meat case.) 1/2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs 1/2 cup tomato sauce 1 tsp sea salt 2 tsp black pepper 1 tbsp Italian seasoning 1/4 cup chopped onions (your choice of onion) 2 cloves garlic or shallots ( I usually do both.) 1 large egg 1/2 Cup Salsa (for later use) Mix everything but the salsa together in a large bowl. Shape into large loaf and place in slow cooker. Cook on high for approximately 3 hours or low for about 5. Around 2 1/2 hours pour 1/2 cup salsa on top and cook the rest of the way. Remove from slow cooker or crock pot slice and serve.

Nutrition Facts Serving Size 165 g
Amount Per Serving Calories 319
Calories from Fat 148
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 16.5g 25%
Saturated Fat 4.2g 21%
Cholesterol 143mg 48%
Sodium 592mg 25%
Total Carbohydrates 7.9g 3%
Dietary Fiber 1.0g 4%
Sugars 1.9g
Protein 33.3g
Vitamin A 3% • Vitamin C 3% Calcium 5% • Iron 17% Nutrition Grade B+

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Whole Wheat Honey Oat Bread

I bought a bread maker. My oldest daughter has been diagnosed with Hypoglycemia so I'm now trying to bake more things she can eat. I'm also trying to cut out the High Fructose corn syrup from my husband diet, in hopes it will help him lose weight a little faster. So the recipes here are going to become a bit healthier than they already were and hopefully not to much more expensive.

I couldn't get the recipes that came with it to work so I created this Whole Wheat and Oatmeal recipe that seemed to go over very well

1 1/4 cups warm water
2 Tbsp Honey
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
4 Tbsp Vidal Wheat Gluten
1/2 cup old fashioned Oats uncooked
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 tsp Bread Machine Yeast

Just put the ingredients into the pan in that order except for the yeast. Dig a well in the flour and put the yeast in the well. Close the lid and set it to whatever setting you use for wheat bread.

It makes a 1.5 lb loaf takes about 5 minutes to put together and 3 hours to cook.


Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 93.1g
Amount Per Serving
Calories 216 Calories from Fat 34

% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3.8g 6%
Saturated Fat 0.5g 3%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 236mg 10%
Total Carbohydrates 40.1g 13%
Dietary Fiber 1.3g 5%
Protein 4.9g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 1% Iron 12%
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Snickerdoodle Cookies

Snickerdoodle Cookies

This recipe is a twist on Cat Cora's Snickerdoodle cookies. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did.

1 cup light butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping
2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg


Directions
Cream butter. Add sugar and egg and add mix thoroughly. Sift flour, baking powder and salt; stir in mixture. Form dough into balls about the size of walnuts and roll in mixture of sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 - 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
makes about 2 dozen cookies

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 41 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories 174 Calories from Fat 74 % Daily Value*
Total Fat 8.2g 13%
Saturated Fat 5.0g 25%
Cholesterol 36mg 12%
Sodium 109mg 5%
Total Carbohydrates 24.0g 8%
Sugars 13.6g
Protein 1.9g
Vitamin A 5% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 4% Iron 4%
Nutrition Grade C-
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Calorie_Count.com has a Recipe analizer

I love this website. If I can figure out how to save the images of the dietary information from the recipe's I put here then I will add it to the recipes. I just wanted everyone to know the best way to figure out what you were eating.

My Favorite Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe

This post isn't actually going to give you a recipe but direct you back to one. The link in the title will take you to the best Buttermilk Biscuits you have ever tasted. The recipe is by Paula Deen and it also has a country fried steak recipe I have yet to try. If someone else tries it let me know how it turns out. I'm not real big on steak but I love my baked goods.

The reason I love this recipe so much is one, it is very similar to KFC biscuits and two, I didn't think I could make biscuits until I made these. A southern girl who can't bake biscuits isn't much of a use to anyone. LOL I was beginning to develop a complex. I'm not putting the recipe here because I don't want to step on any one's copyright toes. But, I will provide you with a picture of the biscuits I made from this recipe to go along with the link. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients list
3lbs of beef (I used ground but you can use any kind of beef as long as its cut up)
1 Stick of butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large pkg. Fresh Mushrooms (I used button but you can use any kind you like)
6 green onions
3 garlic cloves
1 small package of thawed frozen corn
1 small package of thawed frozen peas
2 quarts milk
flour
Paprika
salt
Pepper
chili powder
red pepper flakes
2 pkgs of wide egg noodles or one box of brown rice

Begin by chopping up the green onion and mushrooms, followed by dicing the fresh garlic.
heat the olive oil in a medium skillet and saute the mushrooms onion and garlic together.

In a large skillet begin to brown the beef adding in the Paprika, salt, pepper, chili powder and red pepper flakes to taste. I didn't give exact measurements on this because everyone's taste buds are different. You can add more later.

As that begins to cook, put on of hot water to boil for the egg noodles or follow the directions on the box to begin cooking the brown rice.

In a medium size sauce pan, on medium heat melt the stick of butter. Once its added mix in enough flour to make a paste then pour in the milk, stirring constantly. Once the flour is completely dissolved in the milk, turn the temp down to low. Pour the sauteed vegetables into the milk mixture and stir. Leave to slowly simmer on low. (You can simplify this part by using a can of cream of mushroom soup and two cans of milk instead of making your own mushroom soup. You will however still want to add extra mushrooms, the onion and garlic after sauteing them. )

Once your water starts to boil, add in noodles and cook following the directions on the package, or finish up your rice.

Mix the thawed corn and sweet peas into the mushroom soup mixture then pour over the browned meat. Allow it to continue to simmer but taste and adjust spices to your liking.

Once the noodles or rice is done, drain and place in a casserole dish. Pour your meat and sauce mixture over the noodles or rice and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Just enough to warm it completely through and let the noodles absorb the flavor. Then serve.

This Recipe serves 8 and usually leaves enough left over for one or two people to have it for lunch later in the week.

Sourdough -Ancient history of Baking

Sourdough Bread Recipe

Back before people learned how to dry yeast and package it for sale in your local store, they made bread by harnessing the power of wild yeast. Sourdough bread was born from that process. There are families who still have Sourdough starters that are centuries old passed down from parent to child generation after generation. If you know anything about how to make yeast bread then you can make Sourdough.

If you do a search on the net you can find a lot of complicated starters most of which include yeast. But, all you really need is flour and water.

Sourdough Starter Recipe-


1. Mix 1 cup flour with 1 cup warm water. Use the same temp. you would if you were using packaged yeast. Pour the mixture into a large mouth jar. Place the jar in a warm place and leave it alone for 24 hours. Always mix with a plastic or wooden spoon. Some metals can cause adverse effects on your starter.

2. Divide the starter mixture in half. Dump one half and keep the other. To the half you keep, add 1/2 cup warm water and 1/2 cup flour. Repeat the process from the night before.

3. You will want to do this until you get a bubbly surface with a sour smell. It can take anywhere from 3 days to a week. If your in a hurry or its taking longer than expected, you can add a package of yeast, but then it won't be true sourdough bread.

Note* While you are growing your starter, remember you want to keep it between 70 and 90 degrees. Temps 0f 100 degrees or higher will kill your starter. It is about the only thing that can kill it, but it will kill it.

Once you have your starter ready, refrigerate it. If you have gone a week without using it, you will want to remove it from the fridge, divide it and feed it as before, let it sit out for a few hours then put it back in the fridge. Anytime you use it, you will want to add a half cup of flour and a half cup of warm water to what is left of your sponge to continue the life of your starter.

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The Sponge

Making the sponge is just as easy as making the starter.

1. Dump your starter into a plastic or glass bowl. You want to mix in one cup of flour and one cup of warm water. Place the bowl in a warm place and leave it for several hours. You want it to become frothy and smelly before using it or it won't rise correctly.

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The Bread Recipe

2 cups sponge
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
2 Tbs. Honey
2 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Salt
3 cups flour

To your 2 cups of sponge add in everything but the flour. Once that is mixed slowly add in the flour. Once you have in about half the flour you will want to mix it with your hands then turn it out onto a floured board to kneed in the rest of the flour. From this point forward, you will treat it just like regular yeast bread.

Shape the dough into a ball and leave it to rise. I like to use my 4 in spring form pan because it gives me a clear look at how much the dough has risen. But, you can leave it in the bowl or on a floured board. It will take longer to rise than ordinary yeast bread.

Once it has risen double in bulk, punch it down and kneed it again for a minute or so. Reshape the dough into a loaf and let it rise again, this time I suggest you either put it back in the spring form pan, place it on a cookie sheet or on a pizza stone. I usually cook mine on my pizza stone because its more authentic in nature.

Bake at 350 degrees in an non-preheated oven for 30 to 45 min. The bread will sound hollow when thumped when it is done.

Welcome to Cooking for Eight

I have been wanting to start this blog for a very long time. With my new camera I got for mothers day, I am happy to say, I finally can. I hope all of you like what you find here. As the mother of six children, I know how hard it can be, especially with rising food prices to feed your children (yes that includes the grown man child as well) healthy meals on a budget. I have been doing this now for Fifteen years. My average grocery bill is between 100 and 175 a week. That is essentially feeding 8 people on between 14 dollars and 25 dollars a day. That's a day, not per meal.

In my blog you will find advice on how to shop inexpensively, without coupons and some great recipes to help feed your hungry family, Some will be my own creation, some will be others creations and some will be a mixture of the two. Anytime I use someone else's recipe, I will always give credit and let you know where to find the original recipe.

If you have your own food blog and would like me to test one of your recipes for possible inclusion here, then please feel free to drop me an email. I would be happy to check it out.