Pan Gravy

Ingredients:

Drippings from roasted turkey

3

cups liquid (turkey juices, canned chicken broth or water)

1/3

cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

Browning sauce, if desired

1/4

teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

1. After removing turkey from roasting pan, pour drippings (turkey juices and fat) into bowl or glass measuring cup, leaving brown bits in pan. Let drippings stand 5 minutes to allow fat to rise. Skim 6 tablespoons fat from top of drippings and return to pan; discard any remaining fat. Add enough broth or water to remaining drippings to measure 3 cups; reserve.
2. Stir flour into fat in pan, using wire whisk. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping up brown bits, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat.
3. Gradually stir in reserved 3 cups drippings. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute or until gravy thickens. Stir in a few drops of browning sauce if a darker color is desired. Stir in salt and pepper.
Makes 12 servings (1/4 cup each)

Easy Turkey

Prep Time:

10 min

Cook Time:

3 hr 0 min

Level: Easy

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Pull the neck and giblets out of the cavity; ditch the liver and save the rest of the giblets for gravy. Dry the turkey with paper towels, then season inside and out with salt and pepper. Fill the turkey with aromatics like chopped onions,carrots, apples and herbs,or just use stuffing :) then place breast-side up in a roasting pan and brush with melted butter. Tent with foil and roast for 2 hours (for a 10- to 12-pound turkey; add an extra 15 minutes per pound for larger birds). Remove the foil, baste with more melted butter and crank the oven to 425 degrees F. Roast for another hour or until the meat at the thigh registers 165 degrees F. Let rest while you make the gravy.

Pakora's/ with or without beef

Pakora's....

Ingredients:

1 large onion chopped finely.( you can add green onions too)
3 tomatoes chopped finely.
1 small bunch Cilantro chopped.
1 lb ground beef (optional)
3 small green chili's chopped.
2 tbs ground cumin
2 tbs salt (or to taste)
1 cup chick pea flour (or sub. reg flour)
2 tbs ground coriander
4 cups oil to fry in.

Directions:

Mix all above ingredients in a large mixing bowl, you can add water or an egg to make it  wet... doesn't have to be too wet..
when oil is heated, drop batter by a spoon or you can drop small balls by hand into the hot oil. fry until golden brown.
place on a paper towel to drain excess oil.
serve with your favorite chutney or dipping sauce.
ENJOY!

Samosa's

Ingredients

• 3 Large bake potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 5 Cups water
• 1 Stick of butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 Cup frozen peas
• 1 Teaspoon curry powder
• 1 Teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 Teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 1 Cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Package of white flour tortillas
• 4 Cups oil for deep frying

• How to make it
  
  

  • In a large pot, boil potatoes with 5 cups water until they 
  • are tender.
  • Pour cooked potatoes in to a colander to drain.
  • Do not rinse potatoes.
  • Put potatoes in a large bowl with stick of butter and 
  • mash them.
  • Pre-heat a skillet or wok, when it's hot melt the 
  • remaining butter ,and saute onion and peas.
  • Seasoning with curry powder, coriander, cumin and salt.
  • Add potato and cilantro.
  • Stir mixture well and removed from the heat.
  • Take a piece of flour tortilla and cut it in half.
  • Moisten with water around all edges.
  • Fold both ends over to form a small cone shape.
  • Stuff prepared potatoes in to the cone-shape.
  • To seal, pressed both sides tortillas together to form a 
  • triangular shape.
  • Continue making samosa until done.
  • Pre-heat oil in a large skillet or wok.
  • Deep fry samosa till it golden crispy.
  • Places samosa on a plate, you should cover it with a 
  • paper towel to get rid of excessive oil.
  
  
  
  Serve with your favorite chutney or dipping sauce .. Enjoy!
  
  

Easy Chicken Pot Pie, on a cold day :)

Chicken Pot Pie: made easy

Ingredients:

Chicken breast cut into small chunks

1 large can, Cream of Mushroom soup

1 pack of variety mixed frozen vegetables

salt 

pepper

garlic powder

parsley flakes 

Topping: pancake mix, 1 egg, garlic powder & parsley flakes, milk.

Instructions: in a pan start cooking the chicken chunks, when it looks about done add vegetables salt & pepper to taste a little sprinkle of garlic powder and a sprinkle of parsley flakes, next add the soup, maybe rinse out the can with half n half and add it to the pan....
Let it simmer a bit.

pour contents of pan into a casserole dish.

Mix pancake batter with egg, milk and garlic powder & parsley flakes.

Pour batter over casserole dish. 

put it in a pre-heated oven (425f) .

bake until golden brown.

there you have it warm comforting chicken pot pie on a cold day.

Sorry for the blurry photo's!

Corn Dog Recipe

Home made Mini corn dog recipe

So i have been craving corn dogs, and I wanted to make them at home because it's cold and i rather stay home with my heater up high and cooking then going out in this cold weather just to get a few corn dogs....
So i raided my pantry for ingredients and threw them together...tadaa!! home made corn dogs!

1 pack of Hot dogs cut in half

1 1/2 cup of yellow corn meal

1 cup of pancake mix

1 Tbs sugar

1 Tbs salt

a pinch or 2 of black pepper.

Tooth picks

oil to deep fry.


Cut your hot dogs in half and cook them for a few minutes in the microwave. then stick a tooth pick in each peace like this..

Next we have to mix the batter, but you should start heating the oil for frying right about now on a low heat. We mix all the dry ingredients above and add water or milk...both taste good. we have to have a thick batter, Like this...

Once we have every thing together & done, then we are ready to dip 

I like to put my batter into a tall Glass, it makes it easier to dip the hot dogs................................

Dip & fry the little guys, until golden brown

Place a paper towel in a plate to catch all the unwanted oil...serve with ketchup mustard etc...

They tasted pretty good, and i didn't even have to leave my warm & cozy home :)

making a little cash

So, it's not a new thing but lots of us usually love to find a easy way to get some cash or prizes. The most exciting way would be from your own home from your own computer, right?. well i have been searching and searching, and i found "Swagbucks!" it is awesome...i earn swagbucks by just searching the web or completing a few surveys...i then trade in those swagbucks for awesome prizes, I love getting the amazon gift cards! there are many prizes and gift cards etc. to choose from.

sign up today & start earning... if you have any questions post them i'll love to help get you started!
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/kooli20

A Chihuahua

Our Dog Copper, last year as a baby he was adorable & still is!

my attempt at making "Copper" a doggy Sweater 

YOU WILL NEVER GUESS HOW I MADE IT, OR FROM WHAT I MADE IT :)

A OLD SOCK!!!

Is Home Schooling Right for me?

Being a Parent we are faced with many difficult choices, when it comes to our children.
We worry about what they eat, if their eating enough, if we are doing our part in providing the accurate nutrition  etc. and that's not even the beginning. Another thing we always find ourselves thinking about is Education. Looking around us today we see so much change from back when we we're young. It is scary and overwhelming how fast these kids are growing up and what kind of activities their peers get involved in. 

That is one of the main reasons I started looking into home school for my daughters when they finished 6Th grade. Okay so 6Th grade was modest & kid friendly but what about middle school? I have seen those kids and some are pretty honest looking pre-teens but most are not even close to looking pre-teen they look more like some crazy rock-stars that are in their 20's!. I was terrified to find my daughters with pink hair, piercings etc. just to impress peers, or to fit in. 

So I started looking into home school, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect and where to look. I started off by looking into a local school who offered independent study for kids, but it turned off that was for high school kids and my girls were just starting middle school. I came across a Charter school in the Sacramento area called  Visions In Education Charter School. i talked to the counselors at Visions and they explained the program."Visions In Education is a tuition-free public charter school that provides you maximum flexibility in your education","They provide you with a one-on-one relationship with a teacher who cares about you and your Child's success"
One thing that makes Visions unique is that They come to you. A teacher visits every month for a meeting and collecting work etc. They also provide you with a educational Fund for each child in the amount of $1500. those funds can be used for textbooks, school supplies, Tuition, field trips etc. 

This is my Third year home schooling and I must say I am so at ease and have peace of mind knowing my girls are learning under my supervision without peer pressure and influence. There are many other schools like Visions out there you just have to look and see what works for you. I am not advertising for visions or anything like that at all. I just want to tell parents  that we have choices when it comes to our children's education, Parents need to know that there are options other than pricey private schools and overwhelming public school's.I am sure everyone has a school in their area or State that provide the services Visions in education does.

As parents we all need to look out for each other. We all face the same fears the same worries, we all worry about the future of our children. Hoping we give them the best we could. This is my first blog, yest I am sure it looks very unprofessional but that's the beauty of it. I am just a average parent, a mom who just wants to share her experience's with other parents like her. I will share my knowledge and experience's  I face in my household and family everyday. Maybe I can help someone else somewhere.