Wild Turkey Stock

Well it's official. Spring is definitely here. Our household has been fortunate enough to be able to get Wild Turkey for dinner. YUMMY!

So once we had turkey breast for dinner and supper, I took the rib cage and the rest of the bones and made turkey broth.

What I've got in here is:

1 Turkey Rib Cage

1 Turkey Neck and other bones

3 Carrots

3 Celery Stalk

5 Small Whole Green Onions

1 Bunch Fresh Thyme

1 T. Dried Parsley (added near the end of cooking time)

Cook to a boil then lower to a simmer for 4 to 6 hours.

End Product to be Frozen:

Skillet Cabbage

I can't wait to taste a fresh grown cabbage from my garden. They are coming along but not half as fast as I want them to. I want to say "poof" and there be cabbage.  But I guess I'll have to wait for that home grown taste.

Till then I thought I'd share a long time family favorite. This recipe is what I had as a child back home. My dad doesn't like chicken (so we didn't have too many chicken meals back home unless I requested it, he says he had to eat too many of them as a child LOL) so we had lots of meals with pork or beef. But now that I have my own family to cook for we use deer meat.

Skillet Cabbage

1 lb ground deer
1 onion, diced
1 cabbage, shredded
1 can of rotel (or half if you don't like things too spicy)
1 can of stewed tomatoes
1/4 c. shredded white cheddar for topping

Brown deer meat and onion together in skillet. Chop cabbage and add to the top of deer meat, pour rotel and stewed tomatoes over cabbage. Stir carefully. Let cook slow, stirring often. When cabbage is done top with cheese.Serve with steamed broccoli and carrots for a beautiful colorful meal.

Very Yummy Pasta Dish

I'm not sure what to call this recipe but it is very yummy and there are no leftovers at our house.

Pasta Yummy
1 lb ground deer meat (or beef)
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1 t. garlic, minced
3 c. Uncooked Whole Wheat Small Pasta (like bow-tie, rotini, elbow, etc.)
2 to 2 1/2  c. Spaghetti Sauce
2 T. Sucanat
1 pkg. Frozen Spinach, thawed and drained
1 c. Cottage Cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 c. White Cheddar cheese shredded

Brown meat, onion, and garlic. Cook pasta 2 minutes less than pkg. directions if you're going to freeze this recipe, otherwise cook according to pkg. directions. Drain pasta and add meat, spaghetti sauce, sucanat, spinach, cottage cheese, eggs, and cheddar. Gently stir to combine.

To Freeze: Cool to room temp. Place in Freezer bag and Freeze.

To Reheat: Bake in baking dish for 45 minutes at 350 or until heated through.

Goulash Your Kids will LOVE!

Kids love this yummy pasta dish. Plus moms love it too! So it's the best of both worlds.

Goulash
1 lb ground deer
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1 t. garlic, minced
1 carrot, shredded
2 c. corn (canned=drained, frozen=thawed & drained)
1 26oz tomato sauce
1 pkg. frozen spinach (thawed & drained)
1 pkg. whole wheat pasta, cooked

Cook deer(beef), onion, carrot, and garlic until meat is done. Add in corn, pasta sauce, and spinach. Pour in enough water to make the consistency you want. Cook until done. Add cooked pasta.

To Freeze: Cool to room temperature. Put in freezer bag and freeze.

To Reheat: Cook on low in skillet. Serve Hot.

Egg Salad

I know, I know some of you may be thinking that that sounds gross, I know I use to think it was REALLY gross. But I have changed my mind. Actually only a little while ago, I was on bed rest and a friend from church brought some for the day to feed our family. I LOVED it!

So here it is quick and easy Egg Salad:

6 Hard Boiled Eggs (Free Range is best!)

2 whole pickles, chopped
1/2 c. mayo

Dice the eggs and pickles together. Stir in mayo and serve on Whole Wheat Bread. Easy enough? I think so. Have your egg and eat it too. (That was too corny, sorry.)

Healthy Sloppy Joes! YUM!

Okay those two words together seem pretty funny to me I don't know about anyone else....Healthy and  Sloppy? Hm. Maybe I'm weird, wait I am so that's okay, right?

Healthy Sloppy Joes
1 lb ground meat (turkey, chicken, deer, etc)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/8 tsp Garlic Powder
8 oz organic tomato sauce
1/2 c. organic ketchup
3 T. sucanat (or brown sugar)
1 T. soy sauce
Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns, toasted

Add ground meat, onoin, and garlic to skillet. Cook over medium heat until meat is done. Drain if needed. Stir in tomato sauce, ketchup, sucanat, and soy sauce, mix well. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stir occasionally. Spoon 1/2 c. mixture onto each bun. (I love to toast my buns with cheese on it, so its nice and soft. I got that from my mom, thanks mom!)

You can also let the meat mixture cool and then freeze in freezer bag. Attach or throw in the hamburger buns too! Yep, they freeze very well. Just warm them up as directed above.

Tex Mex Tonight!

My family is a big fan of some good ole' Mexican food. So I thought I'd share with you this recipe for Enchilada Casserole. The greatest thing for me about this casserole is that it can be made ahead/freezer meal. Now keep in mind we hardly ever eat beef (at least till one of our cows has a baby bull then we may reconsider). So I substitute deer meat in all my recipes, which you can do vice versa, substitute beef for deer.

Deer Enchilada Casserole

1 lb ground deer
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1 T. chili powder
1 1/4 c. enchilada sauce mix
1- 4oz. diced green chilies, drained
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup cooked corn
10- 6 inch whole wheat flour tortillas
1 1/2 c. shredded white american cheese, or Mexican blend cheese
1 c. sour cream
sea salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet cook deer meat with garlic, onion, sea salt, pepper, and chili powder about 7 minutes. Drain. Add the enchilada sauce and green chilies. Continue cooking over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes.

Cut the tortillas into quarters. Coat a 13 x 9 pan (if using for 8 servings) or 8 x 8 pan (if halving the recipe). Spray bottom of pan and pour a little sauce mixture in pan. Next layer tortillas, overlapping lightly. Layer black beans, corn, and half the meat mixture. Next sprinkle half the cheese. Tip with remaining tortillas and meat mixture. Carefully spread sour cream over top and top with rest of cheese and Freeze in freezer safe container. (For directions on how I freeze my food go here.)

Remove from freezer to thaw. (To thaw you can put in the refrigerator the day before or set it in your sink the morning of and it should be thawed by supper time.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake covered for 40 to 45 minutes or until bubbly. Uncover and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serves 8.

Cabbage Roll Casserole

This is one of my favorite:

Cabbage Roll Casserole

1 lb ground deer/beef
1 whole onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups cooked rice
1 16oz cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup sucanant (or brown sugar)
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1 26oz Pasta Sauce

In a large skillet brown meat, onion, garlic, about 8 minutes. Drain. Add pepper and rice, mixing well. Spoon meat mixture into 3 quart casserole dish that has been sprayed. Top with shredded cabbage.

In a bowl mix together the pasta sauce and brown sugar. Pour over cabbage. Freeze in freezer bag.

(I usually get the 8x8 foil cake pans put my dish in it and cover with foil and place all of it in a freezer bag.)

To cook: Thaw. Bake covered for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and uncover last 5 minutes.

Serves 6

Living off the Land

For all of us that believe of living off the land you have to realize that I do mean everything. This family is a firm believer in hunting for food. With the new hunting season in this year we have already been able to put in the freezer some ground deer meat. And we pray that God will bless us with even more. We use ground deer meat for just about any recipe that calls for ground beef. How many ways is deer good for you? It's organic, wild, and hardly any fat in the deer. We not only eat deer around here. We also eat duck, goose, deer, squirrel, rabbit, etc.

Recipes for using ground deer:

Chili, Spaghetti, Roast (deer shoulder), Meatloaf, Deer Burger, and any other recipe that calls for ground beef.

Our Deer Chili:
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 lb. Ground Deer
1 TBSP Minced Garlic
1 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
1 Medium Onion, diced
1 Medium Green Pepper, diced
1 TBSP diced green chilies
1 Chipotle Chiles in adobo, diced
1 Dark Beer (optional)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Pint jar Home Canned Tomato Juice & 1 tbsp flour & 1 Can Diced Tomatos or 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes & 4 oz tomato paste
2-3 TBSP Chili powder
1/2 TBSP Parsley
1/2 TBSP Oregano
1/2 TBSP Cumin
1/2 TBSP Salt
1/2 TBSP Pepper
1 Can Beans Your Choice (I've used Black beans and Kidney Beans)
1-2 Cups of Broth or Water (If using the Tomato Juice & Flour Don't add broth/water it would be too soupy)

In a Large pot heat oil and add deer, onion, peppers, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. Continue to cook all meat stirring often. If using tomato juice and flour, add flour first to coat the deer meat then slowly add tomato juice and tomatoes. If using the crushed tomatoes and paste add now at the same time along with broth/water. Next add all other ingredients and allow to cook for 2-3 hours for the flavors to mesh well together. Be sure to stir. Check seasoning to make it to your liking. Serve over rice, straight or our favorite over Fritos Corn Chips. You can also make this and freeze it for later.