Mama's Country Kitchen French Toast~A Non Recipe

No it ain't purty. But it's delicious and good cheap eats. It's real life around here. And it's what I do with the leftover ends, bits and pieces of our "day old" bread.

French Toast (My Way)

• An egg or so (depends on how much bread I have to use up)

• A sploosh of milk (no, I don't really know what a "sploosh" is)

• A dash of salt 

• A few sprinkles of cinnamon 

• A splash of vanilla extract 

Whisk that all together with something non fancy, like a fork. Or a whisk.

After the egg mixture is well combined, I put a few pieces of that stale (let's be honest here) bread into the milky egg bath to soak a bit (not too long or else it'll fall apart) while I heat up my skillet (or griddle) on a medium, to medium high, heat. When it's good & hot, I plop a few pats of butter in to melt, and then cook up some yummy french toast served with maple syrup for brunch! Mmm Mmm good! 

I would love to hear any french toast tips & tricks that you use!

Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ

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I hope this helps you save some dollars!

Good Enough Homemaking ~ Cake Mix Snickerdoodles

As a younger single mama of three (shudder), I used to HAVE to cook just about every meal, snack, treat and sweet. I've gone so far as to make crackers. CRACKERS!!! (Why?!😨) Because I had to. It was frugal and economical. 

Well, today's a new day. And I find the older I get, the less time I want to spend in the kitchen. BUT, and here's the clincher, I STILL must find ways to be thrifty. 

So what's a girl to do? Here's one thing I have been incorporating lately that saves me time, still saves a little money AND feeds our sweet teeth (we each have more than one 😶):

[!WARNING! Baking purists look away!!!]

Boxed cake mix cookies! 

I stock up on boxed cake mixes when they are on sale, usually .79 - .99 cents each,to have in the pantry for a quick dessert  (or cookie!) when I just can't fathom spending one more minute in the kitchen. 

Last night I made these Betty Crocker "Cake Mix Snickerdoodles"  using a (shhh! don't tell Betty!) Duncan Hines cake mix, since it's what I had on hand.

Hubby called them "addictive".

And that's good enough for me. 

Do you use kitchen shortcuts? Please share! As a recovering everything-from-scratchaholic , I can use all the help I can get right now. 

As always, thanks for stopping by! ~TJ

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Mama's Country Kitchen Chicken Broth~

A recipe that's not really a recipe...

• Cook the chicken  (in whatever way the occasion calls for. Bake,pan fry, etc.)

• Remove the chicken meat from the bones & add it to salads, recipes, or just stand at the counter nibbling on it, occasionally sharing a piece with your dog that is staring up at you and threatening to leave a puddle of drool on the floor for you to slip and fall in later if you don't. 

But I digress...

• Make broth from the bones. {Chicken bones, water & I add a titch of vinegar because I've read it's supposed to draw out the nutritional goodness from them. Most of the time (because it's fast and easy, and I'm a lazy housewife) I just add herbs and spices and salt & pepper to the broth since they're within arms reach of the stove. } No carrots, celery etc. Just a simple broth. I RARELY add onion so that I can add some of the broth to my pet's food occasionally (onion is supposed to be bad for dogs). If I want onion flavor in a recipe that the broth will be involved in, I can add that later. Then after simmering for 1/2 to one hour or so, cooling and skimming off the fat...

• I freeze the broth in various amounts. 1 cup, 2 cup, and LOTS of cubes made in the ice cube tray(s).

Now...if I'm feelin' wild & wooly, footloose and fancy free, I might take the time to make a "proper" broth. Ya know, #alltheveggies added to the aforementioned stuff, and then slowly, and lovingly😂😂😂, simmer that stuff in my slow cooker all day. Well, 6-8 hours at least. 

But...usually not. 

Do you have any chicken broth makin' tips you'd like to share? Please feel free!

Thanks for stopping by 

Veterans Day 2018~

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. ~John 15:13

To all our beloved veterans, "thank you" is such a very small sentiment to offer you for your service. You are very much appreciated on this day, and every day.

By the Dawns Early Light~

In the wee hours of the predawn, under the cover of darkness at 4-ish a.m, I was awakened by a crashing and clawing. I proceeded to get up and search out the source of the ruckus. All appeared calm. Two innocent looking cat bread loaf silhouettes in the darkness seemed to be coyly asking me, "Did you hear that too? Whatever could it have been?" 

Now too awake to possibly fall back asleep, I made my way to the coffee station  (what else could it be called when you have three coffee makers?) which seems to give the felines the go ahead message: "Lady and gentleman, start your engines!".

And so I sat, bleary eyed, me and my coffee, my coffee and me, while the sound of 1000 wild horses stampeded through the house. 

The sun is up now. 

And they doze. 

Good mornin' y'all!

Inward Reflections~

Sometimes I have to take a sabbatical from social media, blogging and the like.  Ya know...do a bit of soul searching, inner housekeeping and reflection. Sometimes I just wanna live my life, focusing on the here and now, without giving the world wide web a second thought.  

And that's exactly what I've done this past several weeks. Sometimes I've just gotta give myself permission to slow down & step away from the computer to regroup and refresh.  It's essential to my inmost being!

But then, I get to missing all the friendships and connections I've made through those very same channels.  I hope they, and you, understand my occasional silence.

Do you take time away from social media? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Thanks for stopping by! ~TJ