Cake Decorating Don'ts

More good reasons to just decorate your own cakes. Check out this hilarious blog dedicated to professional cake disasters.

Thanks Saralyn!

Great Depression Pork Stew

The manager's special on meat these days seems to be all about the pork chop. Looking for recipes I found this one and couldn't resist it simply because of the name. It was a tasty meal that I will be making again and again when the weather cools down.

Serves: 12
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Cost: approx. $7.00

5-6 pork chops ($5.00)
2 onions chopped ($.50)
6 stalks of celery with leaves chopped ($.50)
4 carrots chopped ($.25)
6 potatoes peeled and chopped ($.50)
1 gallon of water
1/2 cup of flour
2 chicken bouillon cubes
salt
pepper

Boil the pork chops until meat begins to fall off the bone. Remove meat and break into pieces. Add meat, vegetables, bouillon cubes and additional water to pot and boil until vegetables are tender. Season to taste. Add several cups of stew broth to 1/2 of flour until well mixed. Add this flour mixture back into stew and let simmer and additional 15 minutes before serving.

Asian Tilapia

I found this recipe at recipezaar.com and made a few alterations. Talk about just about the easiest thing ever- fish in the microwave. It turned out perfectly and the kids couldn't get enough of it! I served it over rice with stir fry vegetables on the side.

Serves: 8
Prep time: 2 minutes
Cook time:10 minutes
Cost: Approx. $3.00

8 pieces of tilapia ($2- sale price)
1 can of crushed pineapple ($1)
1 onion coarsely chopped ($.25)
2 Tbsp. soy sauce

Place tilapia in glass baking dish. Top with pineapple, onions, and soy sauce. Cover dish with plastic wrap being sure to leave one corner vented. Cook in microwave for 10 minutes turning fish half way through cooking time.

Pork Chop Casserole

Prep time: less than 5 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves: 8-10
Cost: approx. $7.50


2 cans of stewed or diced tomatoes ($1.00)
1 envelope onions soup mix ($.50)
1/4 cup brown sugar
8-10 pork chops ($5.00)
1 box instant rice ($1.00)

Sprinkle 3 cup-4 cups instant rice in 8x12 greased baking dish. Lay prok chops on rice. Mix together other ingredients and pour over pork chops. cover and bake 350 for 1 hour.

Freezer Jam

I tried my hand at canning a few years ago and have to say that it was a lot of work just keeping the little kids away from the boiling pots and hot jars. I was able to get some frozen berries from Meijer with coupons and thought I'd try this method of making jam. It literally took 5 minutes to do and cost about less than $5 to make six jars. One jar of blackberry this size would price at about $3.50. This jam will taste great in Kiflis.

6 cups smashed berries
1 1/2 cups sugar (more or less to taste)
1 package of freezer jam pectin

First, mix together the sugar and pectin. Add smashed berries and stir for 3 minutes. Ladle into jars and seal. Let sit for 5 minutes before putting into the freezer.

Irish Pork Chops

The original recipe calls for 2 lbs diced apples. I use applesauce instead to save on money and time.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours
Serves :8
Cost: approx.

8 pork chops ($4.00)
1 small jar apple sauce ($1.00)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 onion diced
6 carrots chopped ($.50)

Place pork chops in single layer in greased baking dish. Top with apple sauce and brown sugar. Cover and bake at 300 for 1 hour covered. Then add onions and carrots and bake for one hour more.

**This is an easy meal to make when pork loin is on sale. (I was able to buy 10 lbs for $10 on manager's special.) Eat it hot and freeze the rest. Just thaw in the fridge and reheat.**

Dry Rub

Being that it's summer, there's not a lot of baking and cooking going on while it's so hot. For us it is meat on the grill and fresh vegetables and fruit. My friend, Beth, introduced me to this recipe that tastes delicious on any kind of grill meat with ingredients that are right in your cupboard. She always made it from memory and often without measuring. I've done my best to simulate her creation and found this to be pretty close. It's a little spicy and a little sweet. I like to slice the left over meat thinly and add to a salad for the next meal.

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper