I can't begin to tell you how much I am looking forward to Christmas morning. I think this year is going to be the best year yet! The kids are old enough to really understand, but not quite old enough to be suspicious and the wonder and excitement is there. And oh boy are they excited! The small mountain of gifts already under the tree is like fuel to the fire. They have ...
make ahead
Red Wine and Garlic Braised Beef Shanks
Red Wine and Garlic Braised Beef Shanks are a rich, heavenly slow-cooked dinner with lots of meaty flavor. It's like pot roast on steroids. Make this for your next Sunday supper or fancy sit down dinner. You are sure to be thanked. There are some meals that are so unbelievable that you can do nothing but moan through every bite. The kind of meal where the sheer joy of putting ...
Homemade Cucumber Relish
Thity-three quarts of green beans, 9 quarts of tomtoes, 7 pints, black eye peas, 8 pints of cucumber relish, 7 pints of kosher dill pickles and 2 gallons of sauerkraut fermenting in my utility room.Our stockpile shelves that have very sparse since we moved are now busting at the seams. I have been on a canning bender. I think I may have a "problem" because I just can't ...
Country Garden Update and Cilantro Lime Grilled Chicken Salad
So 3 weeks of rain was followed by 5 days of searing heat, then... more rain. All of this wishy washy weather has been reeking havoc upon our allergies but the garden doesn't seem to mind much. Especially the broccoli and lettuce. We have been eating off of those plants for the last week or so. Especially the lettuce. I have certainly been adding more fiber in my diet. The ...
Tuna Tuesday: Moving Day
Let me just tell you all that I am wicked awesome with a tape gun. I can tape up a box in a matter of seconds. I know how to pick the right size box for the stuff I am packing. I can optimize space in a cube of cardboard and I can successfully wrap fine china in a protective layer of bubble wrap while resisting the urge to pop the tiny pockets of air. In short people, I have ...
Tuna Panzanella Salad
If any of you follow me on Twitter, you already know what I have been up to for the last week. I have been knee deep in sick kids since last Monday. I won't elaborate too much ( although I could but this is a food blog and bodily functions are not the most appetizing conversations), but let's just say that I have run out of towels 3 times in the last week and it wasn't because ...
Purple Parsley Potatoes
Say that 3 times fast. Purple Parsley Potatoes. Purple Parsley Potatoes... I can't even type that 3 times fast. Anywoo, I bought these cute purple potatoes at the store last week. They were on sale, but still a bit of a splurge. I just couldn't resist the color. It's just so PURPLE! How can you not want to eat a purple food? It's impossible not to be at least a little ...
Handmade Southern Fried Peach Pies
So, there is a little piece of news I would like to share with all of you. It's big. It's life changing. No, I am NOT pregnant. We are moving. And I don't mean across town. We are moving back to Tennessee. Back to the country. Back to a town without a Kroger. Back to the land of free babysitting. We are pretty excited. This is going to be a whole new chapter for us. A ...
Salmon on a Boxty
Welcome to another Tuna Tuesday! Where the star of the show is meat in a can! Please add your Tuna Tuesday recipe too! Well, it looks like 2010 is drawing to a close and many people out there are going to all kinds of parties and celebrations to kick off the new year. Not me, but other "many people" are. But if I was going to a party or, better yet, if I was throwing a party, ...
Italian Bean and Tuna Salad
This Italian Bean and Tuna Salad is a great make ahead lunch dish! I don't know about you guys, but since the holiday season started a little over a month ago, I have gotten reacquainted with my fat pants. I hate getting reacquainted with my fat pants. They make me feel fat. Oh I can still squeeze myself into my regular pants, but I look like one of those gigantic muffins in ...
Chocolate Cracker Cookies
Because I have two 4 year olds, I am always on the look out for recipes that they would be able to help me with easily. Sometimes it's easier said and done, but I ran across this one in a Taste of Home Magazine and added an extra ingredient so all three of us had a job to do. I wasn't sure how the crackers would do with the chocolate, but they are surprisingly very good. It ...
Traditional Southern Cornbread Dressing
Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without Traditional Southern Cornbread Dressing. It just isn't. It's probably the dish that I look forward to the most. It's the one I spend the most time making sure is absolutely perfect, and it's the cheapest thing on the table. Now I know that some of you people out there call it "stuffing" and that you actually put it inside the bird. ...
Freezer Bread Rolls
Okay, so I have been making just about every loaf of bread my family eats for many months now. Oh sure, on occasion I will buy a loaf here and there but mostly, I am the bread maker. Why would I subject myself to this crazy primitive process of making loaf after loaf of bread? I have 2 very good reasons: 1 - It's cheaper. A loaf costs me less than $.25 2 - It tastes so much ...
Makin’ Bacon Part 1
I wanted to let you all know that I am bringing in new talent to Eatin' on the Cheap. He and I are really close. We've known each other for nearly 9 years. He comes with almost 20 years of restaurant experience and a love of taking the culinary long way around. He smokes his own barbeque, rolls his own sushi, and is beginning his journey in curing and smoking his own meat. ...
Chicken Stock and Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken stock is one of those basic kitchen practices that everyone should know. It's probably THE kitchen practice to know. It is liquid gold. It's a thing of beauty. It's full of flavor and it's delicious. It's also dang near free if you make it yourself. With Thanksgiving coming up, you are going to need a lot of chicken stock. I bet the average American spends $10 - $15 ...