Slow Roasted Turkey Breast

What meal(s) come to mind when you hear the words "turkey breast"? I can usually only think of the traditional Thanksgiving meal with stuffing, corn, and mashed potatoes. Thinking I might be the only one that thought that, I asked my friend and she said the same thing. So, when I saw turkey breast on sale Buy One, Get One, I decided to go to the ever faithful website, http://www.allrecipes.com/.

A recipe came up with high ratings, and there were two, count them, two ingredients!

Slow Roasted Turkey Breast

1 (6 pound) bone-in turkey breast
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix

Rinse the turkey breast and pat dry. Cut off any excess skin, but leave the skin covering the breast. Rub onion soup mix all over outside of the turkey and under the skin. Place in a slow cooker. Cover, and cook on High for 1 hour, then set to Low, and cook for 7 hours.


There were a few suggestions for adding butter to the bottom of the slow cooker or adding a few veggies like onion and celery for more flavor. I did add about a 1/2 cup of water just because I didn't want the powdered soup mix to cook on the bottom of the slow cooker. Because of time restrictions, I cooked mine for 2 hours on high and 4 hours on low -- it was falling off the bone!

We had broccoli with cheese and some jazzed up scalloped potatoes with cheese & bacon (a recipe that I might share later after I tweak it a little). The turkey has a savory flavor from the onion soup mix which was a nice change from the traditional cooked poultry taste. I was also able to save about 4 cups of turkey to use in other recipes.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Allrecipes.com.

Oven-Baked Parmesan Potatoes

This is another Lott family recipe with no name, so you're stuck with my lack of creativity on the name . . . these potatoes are great BECAUSE . . . they taste great, they are easy, and they go with pretty much any thing. We've eaten them along side various types of chicken, beef and pork.

4 large Idaho potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Scrub potatoes and set aside. (Choose nice potatoes because they don't bake as well if you have to cut out bad spots.)

3. Place butter on a cookie sheet or in a microwavable bowl. Melt butter. (I usually use the cookie sheet to save on dishes and just place it in the preheating oven.)

4. Add Parmesan cheese, parsley flakes and garlic powder to butter and mix into a 'paste'.

5. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise.

6. Score potatoes with a fork (optional - my MIL says it helps the potato hold the topping on better -- eeh?? not so sure. I have done it with and without scoring and haven't noticed a difference.)

7. Dip potatoes in cheese mixture to coat. (I kinda just smear them in the mixture on the cookie sheet. You could also scoop the mixture up with a fork and smear it on the potato.) Place on cookie sheet cut side down.

8. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes until tender when pricked with a fork (may take longer for thicker potatoes). Serve warm.

Cake Balls

I made these for yesterday's baby shower. There were a few requests for the recipe, so I thought it would be easiest to post it here.

This is a very versitile recipe. You can choose any combination of cake and icing flavors. I chose a white cake mix and cream cheese frosting. Other options . . . chocolate cake/chocolate frosting, chocolate cake/white frosting, red velvet cake/cream cheese frosting . . . the options are endless!

What you'll need:

1 cake mix

1 can icing

4 c chocolate *see below

lollipop sticks (opt.)

Yield: approximately 44 cake balls

Step 1: Bake cake in 9x13 pan. Let cool.

Step 2: Crumble cake (divide into 6 large peices and run through a food processor for best results -- I had to use my hands but it stil worked out okay)

Step 3: Stir in can of frosting. Chill mix in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Step 4: Use a cookie scoop to make balls. Place on cookie sheet. Chill again.

The original recipe said to roll into balls. I was thinking I didn't want them to roll around on the platter, so I left the one side flat. Otherwise, use a spoon to scoop out the cake and roll into balls.

Step 5: Insert lollipop sticks and dip cake balls in melted chocolate.

* Again, flavor is up to the individual. I chose white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate, so I could have pink and brown to match the shower colors. There was a little difficulty with using chocolate chips -- it didn't get really smooth. So I ended up scooping the chocolate with my offset spatuala and drizzling it over the cake balls. Thinking that the chilled cake balls may have cooled the chocolate down. Will probably use a double boiler next time so chocolate stays warm. The two places I saw this recipe recommended using Almond Bark melting chocolate and Hershey's Bliss white chocolate candies. I will definitely try one of those next time.

Option B: Use an egg separator or fork to dip cake balls in chocolate without using lollipop sticks. Photo taken from Kelly's Korner blog.

*Updated: I saw another recipe that says to use an egg dipper that it normally used when dying eggs. I thought that was a SUPER idea! I will do that from now on. No more cake balls slipping off the stick.

Option C: These were rolled into balls and then dipped. Photo taken from MckMama's blog.

January 15th Meeting

This month's meeting is January 8th 15th.  We will be meeting at Holley Cook's house from 6:30 - 9:00 pm.

First and foremost, as always food is welcome!  Drinks will be provided.  Feel free to bring a dessert or appetizer if you can.

The focus of this month's meeting will be "Hospitality and the Home."  Our guest speaker this month will be Niki Lott.  She is the wife of Pastor Brian Lott of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Bessemer, Ohio.  We plan to cover what the Bible says about hospitality and what a woman's role is in the home.  We'd also like to discuss topics such as meal planning, grocery shopping, coupons, and much more.

All women are welcome to join us.  We would encourage seasoned Christians, mothers of teen and older children, widows, and wives who have been married for some time to join us.  There is such a need amongst younger women to learn and fine-tune their homemaking and child rearing skills.  We can certainly use your help and advice.

Hope to see you there!

Breakfast Ring

The inspiration for this recipe came from a recipe (Easy Baked Cheese & Veggie Twist) I found in Kraft Foods Food & Family magazine -- Holiday '09. Food & Family is a magazine that used to be free, and I've been getting it for years. I bought it this year because they offered me a huge discount when it changed over to a subscription. I really like the magazine because it uses "normal people" food like ground meat, chicken, cream cheese, box mac & cheese -- you get the picture. You can access all their recipes online at www.kraftfoods.com/foodandfamily if you'd rather not pay for the subscription.

This recipe would be a good brunch item or just kick breakfast up a notch from cold cereal and frozen waffles! It really doesn't take too much time to put together.

(click on picture to enlarge)

Breakfast Ring

2 pkg refrigerated crescent rolls

1/4 c diced onion
6-7 eggs, scrambled
1/2 lb cooked bacon, crumbled or
2/3 c cooked sausage or ham
1 wedge The Laughing Cow garlic & herb cheese spread or
2 Tbsp cream cheese -- flavored or add garlic powder
1/2 c shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. On a large baking pan or cookie sheet, arrange crescent roll triangles around in an 11-inch circle with short sides of triangles overlapping in center and points of triangles toward outside. There should be a 5-inch diameter opening in the center of the circle. (I love using stoneware for even, golden brown baking.)

3. In a medium skillet, saute onions in a little butter or oil. Set aside. (I scrape the onions into a bowl and use the same skillet for the eggs.) Scramble eggs until almost set or just cooked. Add in onions and bacon. (I buy precooked bacon at Aldi and just break it up. You can microwave it according to directions to crisp it up a bit. HUGE time saver!)

4. Apply cheese spread or cream cheese onto dough near center of the circle.(see 1st picture above). Place egg mixture on top of cheese spread. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

5. Wrap points of triangles up over filling toward the center. Pinch down edges or tuck underneath center.

6. Bake for 30-35 minutes until lightly golden brown. Slice and serve warm.

Apple Dumplings

This recipe was given to me by a friend tonight. It was so good I had to make it this week's post . . . my 8 year old helped me and had a great time!

Apple Dumplings

4 apples, peeled, cored and quartered
2 - 10 oz package crescent rolls
1/2 c butter
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 - 12 oz can Mountain Dew

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 baking dish.
2. Roll each apple wedge in a dough triangle staring with the smallest edge. Pinch to seal and place in baking dish.
3. Melt butter in saucepan and stir in sugar. (I learned you have to do this a little at a time.) Cook until well blended, stirring constantly. (Mixture will be thick. It turns brown and ends up looking like brown sugar if you cook it too much -- ask me how I know!?!) Stir in cinnamon and vanilla.
4. Pour over apple dumplings. Pour Mountain Dew over dumplings.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes: We don't "dew" Mountain Dew, so I used Sierra Mist that I had setting around -- it turned out great. I also made half a recipe. The measurements are as follows:

2 apples
1 package crescent rolls
1/4 c. butter
6 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 can (3/4 c) Mountain Dew

Used an 8x8 square baking dish.