Turkey Wings and Stuffin': Home-Style Y'all!

I guess I got a little anxious for Thanksgiving and could NOT keep away from this recipe.

I found these Vigo Bread Crumbs with Romano cheese and couldn't wait to use them. Fortunately, I had a couple of turkey wings already thawed in the fridge. I recently realized that having turkey parts ample and ready int he grocery store isn't a nationwide phenomenon. Sorry, not my fault. Maybe it's YOUR responsibility to keep a turkey on-hand in case of any odd recipe.

For the turkey wings you'll need:

• butter
• 2 turkey wings
• salt
• pepper
• Romano cheese bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 400.
Wash off the wings, salt and pepper them on both sides.
Then pour about 1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs into a large plastic bag, like a big Ziploc or  grocery bag (with no holes, mind you).
Place the wings into the bag, seal, and shake it up!
Once the wings are coated in bread crumbs place them on a baking sheet covered in foil. If need be, add more bread crumbs and keep shaking.
Put about 2 pads of butter on each wings, and pop it in the oven until the skin is golden brown, about 30-45 minutes.
Now, flip over the wings so that the underside gets crispy, too, about another 20-35 minutes.

For the stuffing you need:

• butter
• celery
• onion
• box of Stove Top (can also be substituted for any kind of prepackaged stuffing)
  

Dice up the onion and celery.
In a large skillet, heat up a big pad of butter to saute the onion and celery in.
Once the vegetables are tender, add the Stove Top  and then pretty much follow the recipe on the box from there (add some water and butter, simmer for 10 minutes, fluff with a fork and let stand for 5 minutes, if I'm not mistaken).

Scrumpty.
For all you baby birds what just left the nest, take comfort in some quick home cooking, that is, until you go home for some REAL Mommy food. And I should know, my Mommy just flew down here to make me a chicken AND a roast beef for a belated Thanksgiving. Oops! I'm spoiled, my bad.

Love,

Liz

Fried Bananagains

I. Love. Fried Bananagains. I Love Fried. Fried Bananagains.

That's a song I sing because it's true. I love fried bananas.

Bananas are a terrific source of Potassium. Potassium is good for dexterity. Dexterity is useful when performing things like surgery or when you type on the computer all day like a nerd.

This is my new favorite dessert. Since I'm broke and I don't want to get fat again, I've substituted chocolate as my main sugar intake for this addictive treat.

You will need:

• bananas
• brown sugar
• butter
• possibly some pecans or walnuts

Cut one banana into quarters, longways. Heat up a small frying pan.

Then put in a pad of butter and wait for it to sizzle a little. Sprinkle some brown sugar into the butter and next place the bananas in pan, preferably flat side down.

After a minute or so, check to see if the under side is brown, then flip the bananas. Cook until brown on each side.

I like to top mine with whipped cream, and nuts. Sooo yummy.

Enjoy!

Love,

Liz

BEST TACOS I EVER MADE.

I was sitting in my house at about 2 AM deciding on if I actually wanted to eat. I could make BLT, which had been sustaining me for quite a while, OR I could bite the bullet and take the time to make tacos.

Problem: no Taco Bell taco mix. I had assumed yesterday when I spent my last $10 that I had a stash of it somewhere. Under this assumption I bought all the fixin's, sans sour cream. But I'm a plucky gal and made my own combination not knowing if this would turn tragic. In the end I was rewarded. REWARDED GREATLY.

Here's what I had:

• 1 lb ground sirloin
• salt
• pepper
• chili powder
• cayenne powder
• Pico de Gallo (can be found in most supermarkets)
• 1 lime
• 1 jalapeno (you could buy a jar, but 1 jalapeno pepper costs approximately $0.07)
• olive oil
• taco sauce
• tortillas  you can choose the regular hard shell or soft shell, I chose the kind you fry up, so much better)

First brown the beef, put it in a frying pan at medium heat until all the meat is cooked through. DON'T add olive oil, the meat will create it's own grease. When it's ready, drain out the grease and return the beef to the pan on medium or a little bit lower, depending on your stove top.

Next, add about 1/4 TSP of salt, 1/4 TSP of ground pepper, and 3/4 TSP chili powder. This is important: use cayenne powder sparingly. It is very powerful.

Now, using your palm, roll the lime about on your counter top. This will get them citric juices going. Cut it in half and squeeze over the meat. Wash the jalapeno and chop off about a third and dice it. If you like it really spicy, try going for a half. Don't die though.

Toss in about four big spoonfuls of Pico de Gallo and stir it all together. The Pico de Gallo should consist of tomatoes, onion, herbs, and jalapenos and all this will mix into the beef nicely. Just for some extra flavor and tenderness, pour on some taco sauce or hot sauce, 3-4 TBSP should be fine. Continue to cook on medium for about 7-12 minutes.

If you got the kind of tortillas you have to fry up:

Pour about 1/3 cup of olive oil into a heated frying pan. Once the oil is hot, toss on a tortilla, but not literally because the oil might splash up and burn you. Fry tortilla on both sides for about 10 seconds then dry on a paper towel.

Top them with whatever. Sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, Pico de Gallo, taco sauce, more jalapenos, onions, lime juice, it is AAAAALLLLLLL good.

AFTER THOUGHT!! As soon as I was going back for my fourth and fifth taco, I realized I could have gotten a much richer, saucier kind of taco meat by adding maybe 2 TBSP of tomato paste. Try it out, see what happens, let me know. Odds are I'll be trying this recipe again REAL soon.

I had six of these tonight. Shut up. I pedicab for a living, I'm allowed to be a fat ass, haha.

On a side note, sometimes I really have to laugh at the grotesquely poor quality of my photography, and I find it necessary to apologize. Sorry.

Love,

Liz