I used a Reynolds oven cooking bag and placed a cut up onion inside. Then I took the chuck roast and cut it into smaller chunks so it would cook faster and also have all the sides exposed to the gravy for more flavor. Then I added a can of tomato soup and used the same can to fill with water and added that to the bag, too. Then I sprinkled some seasoned salt and some garlic pepper over the meat, sealed the bag and let it cook at 350 for about an hour and a half.

As it finished cooking, I took a can of store brand brown gravy and dumped it into a saucepan on top of the stove. When I took the meat out of the oven, I pierced the corner of the cooking bag and let about a half cup of the bag’s gravy pour into the saucepan with the brown gravy and stirred the two together. It was fantastic – not a drop of anything was left over.

I will be busy cooking most of the day.We bought a turkey on Monday and it’s been in the refrigerator slowly thawing out. I considered getting a fresh turkey, but I have had good luck with the frozen Butterball turkeys, so I decided to stick with the tried and true. Along with the turkey will be plenty of vegetables and stuffing, and I’ll make two pies this afternoon to bake while the turkey is in the oven. Can’t wait for a great turkey dinner!

So today I decided to shop at Aldis and see if they had any bargains worth picking up to stock the pantry. I was pleasantly surprised to see what a nice variety they have. However, most foods are not a recognizable name brand – they are probably house brands that Aldi has arranged to buy in quantity. the best cost savings seemed to be in canned vegetables and boxed bake goods. So we’ll give a few of them a try and if they are good enough to pass my family’s taste test, I will shop there again soon.

We are thrilled at how well these basic vegetables have done and I think next year we’ll go ahead and have a full garden. I have plans to put in a raised bed over in the side yard and I want to grow a bigger variety of vegetables. I found a great site for organic seeds and sprouting supplies, so I can plan the whole thing and set up a schedule and make a serious effort at growing my own healthy foods. Years ago I had great success with a huge garden in Virginia. Everything I planted was from seed or sprout – no cheating with mature plants bought at the hardware store!

Maybe you already know about the Handy Pantry web site for organic seeds and supplies. If you’ve got any gardening tips – especially for raised beds – please share them with me in a comment. I would love to hear them.

My goal has always been to have fresh homegrown tomatoes on the vine ready to pick by the Fourth of July each summer. Well, believe it or not, we’ve been picking ripe tomatoes for two weeks already! They are not really big tomatoes, but they are sweet and meaty and we are very pleased with ourselves!

Maybe this abundance of fresh tomatoes will encourage hubby to eat more fresh garden salads this summer. He eats them in restaurants when salad comes with the meal – no cucumbers, no fancy lettuce – just iceburg – ranch dressing is the only dressing choice – but salads at home are always disdained. If I was a completely confident cook I’d be offended, but it’s not me – it’s him.

It is always nice to get something free to try – it surely must open the minds of a good percentage of people who might not otherwise try a particular food or drink but soon discover that they actually like the product. Part of this is due to favoring brands or flavor with which you grew up or are accustomed to eating and drinking. Part of it is due to a natural resistance to try new things without some incentive. And part of it, in my household anyway, is that the person doing the grocery shopping is a creature of habit and only searches out the brands and items that we know we like or prefer so they can get finished with the chore of shopping and get back home as quickly as possible.

I know I was very lucky to have two such men in my life as a child. Although my parents divorced when I was young, they both remarried very quickly and I had the benefit of two sets of loving and caring parents as I grew up. My father was a good man and a great father – I miss him very much. And my stepfather was a good man and was devoted to my mother and their children during his life.

If you have a good man in your life that deserves the recognition and thanks for being a good father to your children, don’t forget to celebrate this special day and coach your children on buying a nice gift, being together all day if you can and shower him with affection. A great gift that everyone will enjoy could be a chocolate Father’s Day gift from Fannie May Candies. That was a tradition in our home and it could be the start of great new tradition in yours. Our father would open the box of chocolates and then pass it around for everyone to share and enjoy with him. Oh, what great memories a box of chocolates from Fannie May Candies can bring!

Then our receptionist gave me a birthday present that changed my view on chocolate forever. She gave me a ballatine of chocolates from Godiva. Now there is not much that compete with Godiva. My favorite piece is the dark chocolate leaf with the rasberry filling. Heaven!

I fixed my cold pasta salad that I call “Green and White Pasta” and some garlic toast and we were all set. The Green and White Pasta is really easy, too. Just toss some small cooked shells with a handful of frozen baby peas and some bottled ranch dressing. If you like, you can add a little diced Vidalia onion, green pepper and celery – any or all of the three make a nice crunchy addition and keep within the green and white theme.

If I could make my dream come true, I would start a new business someplace where I want to live, pack up and leave here. One of the things stopping me is getting all the financing I would need. Banks are harder to deal with every day and I’m not interested in taking on partners. For one thing I want autonomy in making the business decisions and for another I don’t want to share the profits from my own hard work with people who don’t do anything except put in the start up money.

That’s why I’ve been looking into Business Loans online. There is a website, www.advancerestaurantfinance.com, that specializes in small business and restaurant loans. They are more flexible than banks and they have a simple application process that you can start right online. I like the fact that they are located and licensed int he state of California, so I am seriously considering making my dreams come true with the first step of finding the financing I’ll need.

There were only a few customers in the restaurant, but at 2:30 it was getting late for lunch – I hope they had a larger crowd during the 11:00 – 1:00 prime time lunch hours. We were seated immediately and a server took our drink order as soon as we were settled in. The menu was well done and had many selections, the food turned out great, and we’ll be going back to La Terraza again soon.

When I want a hamburger I much prefer cooking it myself on the grill. I have a dozen different ways to season ground chuck or ground sirloin, and we both love the taste of grilled meat. But if I don’t have the making of hamburger on hand or am in a hurry, I drive over to the Backyard Burgers restaurant that’s about 2 miles from m house and pick up a Backyard Burger or Bacon Cheddar Burger from their drive through window. If it’s a real splurge, I’ll get onion rings and a milk shake. They make their shakes one at a time using scoops of real Breyer’s ice cream, and they are the best around.

I’ve used instant coffee. I’ve used percolators. I’ve expressed. I’ve dripped. I’ve fresh ground and I’ve store ground.

At the moment I make my own coffee at home each morning with a 4 cup Mr. Coffee automatic coffeemaker. I use a custom blend of 1 part Folgers Columbian and 2 parts Starbucks French Roast. It’s not as bitter as all Starbucks and it saves a little dough. I’m also playing around with the Starbucks Costa Rican – but it is a little bitter and I really can’t taste the citrus they talk about on the bag’s description.

If I’m out and about and start to nod, I’ll stop at a Starbucks and order a tall caramel macchiatto with a double shot of espresso. It’s usually about $4, and after 2 or 3 sips I’m awake and alert again.

What’s your poison?

When we got home and began stuffing the new groceries into the refrigerator, we came across another tub of dip that we had forgotten was in there. The expiration date was still good, but it was the Kroger brand of french onion dip. So we popped it open  and had an impromptu taste test. I put a little bit of each brand on a saucer with some chips and had both the hubby and the son try them both. The winner, hands down, was the Dean’s dip.

Was it engineered by a dietitian to be nutritious yet bland? Or does it have any nutritional benefit? Does it take into account some of the players may have food allergies? In this season, two of the players had medical emergencies related to diet. I’m so curious what is the recipe for Big Brother Slop?