Buggal's Site

Description:
A light side salad. Very good with spaghetti or pork chops!

Ingredients:
1 can of pineapple slices
Mayonnaise
Shredded Cheese

Directions:
Drain pineapple slices. Place 2 or 3 slices on a plate. Top with a tablespoon of mayonnaise. Top with shredded cheese. Chill and serve.

Description:
Your dinner will be the talk of the TOWN!!
You should try this! Sure to bring smiles from your guests!

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Ingredients:
1. aluminum foil
2. turkey
3. roasting pan

Directions:
Here is a new way to prepare your Thanksgiving Turkey.
1. Cut out aluminum foil in desired shapes.
2. Arrange the turkey in the roasting pan, position the foil carefully. (see attached picture for details)
3. Roast according to your own recipe and serve.
4. Watch your guests' faces...

Ingredients:
1 can of low sodium chicken broth
1 package skinless chicken breast strips
2 packages Bisquick baking mix
Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
Parsley flakes
Crisco oil
Corn starch
Small amount of flour



Directions:
1. Brown chicken in shortening or oil.
2. Shake Tony's over chicken while browning. Start out with 3 or 4 shakes and season to taste after adding broth.
3. Add chicken broth (reserving 2/3's cup of broth for dumplings) and 2 cans of water to chicken. If you don't have any chicken broth use bullion and water.
4. Taste broth. If broth is saltly enough for you, you've added enough Tony's. If not, add a few more shakes.
5. Cook on medium heat for 30 minutes or until chicken is done.
6. Dice chicken to pieces.
7. Remove 1/2 cup of broth. Add 2 T corn starch to the broth and stir until thourghly mixed in. May use flour in place of cornstarch.
8. Heat broth to boiling.
9. Then add cornstarch mix to broth and stir. This will thicken the broth.
10. Mix Bisquick with the 2/3's cup of the reserved chicken broth and add parsley flakes.
11. Flour your hands and form dumplings by hand and drop into boiling broth.
12. After dropping all dumplings, turn heat off and cover.
13. Allow to set for 30 minutes with lid on to allow dumplings to cook and absorb broth.
Serves 4-6 along with green salad or green beans.

Description:
Just joking about the bats! This is what my son called the fruit salad when I made it for him as a toddler and I added the real fruit bats just to get him going. Aren't I a mean mom? He was my baby fruit bat and I had to feed him this salad. Remember Stellaluna the story of the baby fruit bat who is lost from her mother? It was his favorite story and we had a Stellaluna stuffed bat. He's older now and no longer calls it fruit bat fruit salad. So here's the recipe.


Ingredients:
1 can of Dole tropical fruit salad - do not drain
3 bananas sliced
3 kiwis peeled and sliced
1 jar of maraschino cherries (drained on a paper towel) - I like the ones with stems and so do the kids.
Lots of "fruit bats" to eat the salad.

Directions:
Mix all the fruit together. You can increase the amounts to serve more people. There are 4 of us and usually eat the whole salad - but it could be stretched to 6 (we just love it and eat it all). This salad is better if you can let it set for 4 hours and is great the next day - the pineapple in the tropical fruit salad keeps the bananas from turning brown. I have also added fresh, sliced apricots to the mix and they are very good when they have time to soak up the juice. Even the dogs love this salad and get all the leftovers. It is great with pizza.

Description:
This is a quick easy supper. You can serve with Tostitos chips and salsa. You can use the light French dressing to cut calories and add avocados (which would of course increase calories, but their oh so good with this!).

Ingredients:
1/2 lb Cajun roast beef
Package of whole wheat pocket pitas
1 can of kidney beans
1 bottle Catalina French Dressing
1 or 2 tomatoes sliced
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sliced avocados (optional)

Directions:
Drain and rinse the can of kidney beans then cover them with Catalina French dressing and cover and put in the refrigerator (this is best done the night before). Slice ripe tomatoes. Put out all ingredients and let everyone make their pitas to their own liking. Fill a pita with roast beef, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and kidney beans.

Description:
I must admit, and I'm not bragging, I make the best sugar cookies on earth.
You too can learn to make these cookies. I will give you the carefully guarded family recipe and you will have to supply the time to get it right and add the love that makes these special on your own.

My grandmother made sugar cookies with us kids from the time we were tadpoles. I got my love of making sugar cookies from her. And I passed on the tradition to my nieces, nephew, children and grandchildren.


For years I thought that my grandmother created the recipe for the best sugar cookies ever. But, after grandmaw died I wanted to make some of her sugar cookies, but couldn't find the recipe. So I called my aunt (her sister) and asked if she had the recipe - she of course did and set me straight on who's recipe it was!


Just some words of advice - practice, practice, practice.
Make these and make them often. Make them for every occasion, not only for holidays! I have cutters for every occasion – for birthdays – dinosaur, clowns, Nemo, Pocahontas and lots more. Having a puppy or a caveman party for your child? - I have dog bone cutters. Need a flag, a dolphin, and a red bird? – I have it.


A word of caution - baking sugar cookies leads to cookie cutter collection and that leads to addiction and to storage problems.
I keep my cutters (200 maybe 300?) in pull out plastic drawers sorted by season. The drawers fill up the whole bottom of my china cabinet. I will give you some tips in the recipe too. I inherited all my grandmother, mother's and mother-in-law's cookie cutters as I am recognized as the best sugar cookie maker in both families. It's just not Christmas, Easter, etc. without my cookies.
So with no further ado:


Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups shortening (Crisco)
1 Tbs if vanilla AND one of almond flavoring (add more if you'd like, I usually do)
1 cup milk
5 lbs self-rising flour (yes, FIVE pounds - you may not use it all)

You will also need colored sugar, sprinkles, red hots, frosting, etc.



Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream shortening, eggs, milk, flavoring and sugar (make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. This will allow it to mix more evenly).
3. Add flour slowly until the dough is stiff (you should be able to roll it into a ball without it sticking to your hands - if it does stick add more flour).
4. Use your hands to knead to a smooth ball, then divide into two balls.
5. Roll out on floured surface (pastry cloth, tinfoil, butcher block) to 1/4 inch thickness.
6. Cut out with floured cookie cutters.
7. Place on a baking sheet. I like Air-Bake sheets as the cookies will bake more evenly and not burn on the bottom. You may want to use non-stick spray.
8. Sprinkle with colored sugar or cinnamon if desired or add other toppings (use cinnamon sprinkles and add red hots to make cute Rudolphs). Frost after cooking and cooling.
9. Bake 10 - 12 mins or until lightly brown. If you are using a dark cookie sheet, the time may differ. On your first batch, keep a close eye on the cookies and adjust time for your oven.
10. Remove from baking sheet and place on a cooling rack.
11. Makes a LOT. You may 3rd the ingredients easily to make fewer.

Tips:
1. For Best results - Make the dough the day ahead and refrigerate it, or at least 2 or 3 hours before baking. It rolls out much better if the dough is cold. Take only half of the dough out at one time (leave the rest in the frig) so the dough stays cool.
2. Dough can be refrigerated for one week.
3. The recipe makes a LOT of cookies. You can third the recipe to make less cookies.
4. These freeze well. I have kept them up to 1 year in an airtight container (so the cookies do not absorb odors) in the freezer. Freeze them unfrosted.
5. Use Crisco sticks to make measuring shortening easier and less messy.
6. You can also top them with icing (mix powdered sugar, food coloring and milk to desired consistency) or frosting after cooking and cooling.
7. Don’t skimp on the vanilla and almond flavoring - it is the key to their great taste (almond flavoring is my addition to the family recipe).
8. These also work great with cookie presses (roll into a ball and press stamp down to make impression). The cookie presses are very easy to use. My son easily made these at age two.
9. It helps if you have 3 or 4 baking sheets son the sheets can cool before you place the raw dough on it (if the sheets are hot - the dough will "melt" slightly).
10. You can tint the dough different colors by adding food coloring or paste to the mix before adding the flour. Make green shamrocks or pink hearts.
11. If you don't have time to make this dough you can dress up the store-bought sugar cookie dough by adding the vanilla and almond flavoring and mixing it in with your CLEAN, floured hands. Add more flour to make the dough stiffer. I have found store-bought sugar cookie dough is not stiff enough to make roll and cut out cookies.
12. Make your own colored sugar: Pour sugar in a glass bowl then add food coloring or paste drop by drop mixing it in the sugar with a spoon. Add to the desired color. Let dry thoroughly. Best to make the day before. Store in an airtight container.
13. Mix powdered cinnamon in sugar to desired taste (I like a lot of cinnamon, so my sugar and cinnamon is dark - but don't add too much - it wont' sprinkle well). Again store in an airtight container.
14. These are crisp cookies - to make them more like soft-baked add more milk and less flour (you may not be able to roll them out, but can drop them on the baking sheet by spoonful).
15. Give your little ones a full soda can (flour it first) to let them roll out their own dough.
16. To make cookie press cookies, roll the dough in a ball, then roll the ball in flour. Flour your cookies press, then press down on until dough is flattened. This is easiest for 2-3 year olds to do. My son was able to make these easily at age 2.
17. I use the Crisco baking sticks. They look like fat butter sticks and are found in the baking isle with the regular cans of Crisco. These are so much easier and less messy to use. If you want to use Crisco in a can - put boiling water into your measuring cup and allow it to warm the cup. Then drain and put the solid Crisco in. The Crisco should slide right out of the warm cup.
18. And lastly – don’t forget to take pictures of your creations and the kids creating them!

Description:
I just made the BEST soup-- and all from the top of my head! (and it's
easy!)

Ingredients:
I used Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock (it's not too salty and it's tasty),
some Tamari sauce,
some Sesame Oil,
some onion,
a couple of garlic cloves (minced),
1/2 tsp freshly ground coriander seeds,
maybe two C chopped Napa cabbage
firm tofu
pepper to taste



Directions:
Place tamari sauce in chicken stock and gently heat while sauteing the
onion,garlic and coriander. When onion is clear add the cabbage. When
cabbage is wilted, add to stock mixture and cook on gentle simmer for
about 3 min. Add the thinly sliced tofu and cook an additional 2 min.
Voila!

Description:
A Southern/Cajun stew served over rice with chicken and sausage. You'll find LOTS of my recipes here:
http://search.reviews.ebay.com/members/buggal1989
and if you're an eBay member then you can vote for me - I keep slipping up the "chart", when I want to go down towards #1!

Ingredients:
1 package chicken thighs (6)
1 package chicken breast (4)
6 stalks celery, chopped (leaves and all)
Parsley flakes to taste
2 sections of a garlic clove, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 package of sausage, sliced (whole sausage, NOT ground)
File (ground up sassafras leaf to you Yanks)
Flour
Grease (solid shortening)
1 can chicken broth or 4 bullion cubes
1 black iron skillet, small
1 black iron Dutch oven, large
Water

Directions:
Brown onions and celery in shortening.
Add sausage. Brown.
Add chicken (skinned) and brown.
Then add chicken broth or bullion cubes and 4 cups water. Add garlic and parsley flakes.
Simmer on medium until chicken falls apart. Keep adding water as it boils off to keep Dutch oven ¾’s full.
Remove chicken and cool. Debone. Chop chicken into bite sized pieces.
Melt 4 T shortening in small iron skillet. Add flour until makes a thick paste (like making gravy).
When flour is browned add 2 T of file ("fee-lay") and stir until mixed completely. This is your roux. BTW, it's supposed to be greenish.
Turn chicken and broth up to boil. Add roux to boiling pot of chicken and broth. File is made from ground dried sassafras leaves.
Turn down heat immediately and let simmer. Do not let boil after adding file.
Season to taste with Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning.

Serve with:
Cooked long grain rice and crackers.
Peeled sweet ‘taters roasted in the oven in a little shortening, sprinkled with black pepper and salt goes especially well with this.
Add a big ole’ cathead biscuit served with mayhaw jelly (a small apple like fruit that grows in the swamps) to top the meal off.
Some people add okra (a green pod vegetable) or tomatoes to their gumbo. We don't like it thataways - but you may want to try it.
You can substitute seafood for the chicken or in addition to the chicken.
Even better the next day. Freezes well (make fresh rice each time).
Gumbo is supposed to be thin sorta like soup. Serve in bowls and eat with spoons.
Season To Taste: I'd start out with a tsp (a shake or two) of your favorite seasonings mix (I use Tony's Creole Seasoning. As long as it's not lemon or rosemary, you can use almost any mix of garlic, onion, celery, parsley, pepper, etc.), and then add more - remember you can always add more, but you can't add less.