Herb Roasted Turkey (Baked in Reynolds® Oven Cooking Bag)

This is how I cook my turkey for Thanksgiving.  I prep the turkey the night before, and place the turkey in an oven cooking bag in a large roasting pan, and in the refrigerator.  Then I am set to cook the bird the next day.  Most of the time I do this a day or two before Thanksgiving (prepping and cooking the turkey).  Afterwards, I'll remove all the meat from the turkey, then when it's time to heat the gravy, I'll add as much of the cooked turkey meat to it as I can.  Usually everyone pours gravy over their meat, so I figure why not just mix the two together.  Also, when it's time to make the gravy, and if I've already refrigerated the pan juices the day before, I'll then scrape off the fat that has accumulated on top.  I've found this is a good way to remove excess fat from the gravy.  Years past I've even cheated and on many occasions, I've use jarred gravy in place of the home-cooked gravy, and I'll add the cooked meat to it.  And by the way, the jarred gravy I used was... Heinz.



Herb Roasted Turkey (Baked in Oven Cooking Bag) 

Reynolds® Oven Cooking Bag, Turkey Size (for 8-24 lbs.)
1 Tablespoon flour
1 (12 to 24 lb.) turkey, already thawed (See *Note)
2 carrots, peeled and rinsed
2 stalks celery, cut in half if need be
1 medium size onion, peeled and cut in half
a few whole cloves of garlic, peeled

About 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1 Tablespoon dried rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon regular table salt (or desired amount)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper (or desired amount)

1.)  Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.)  Spray inside of bag with a nonstick spray, to reduce sticking, if desired.  Shake flour in Reynolds Oven Cooking Bag.  Place in a large roasting pan, at least 2 inches deep.

3.)  Remove neck and giblets from turkey.
Rinse turkey; pat dry.  Brush turkey with the vegetable oil. 

(See *Note)

4.)  Combine the thyme, rosemary, seasoned salt, sage, table salt, and black pepper, then sprinkle and rub the herb mixture inside the cavity of the bird, plus over the entire the turkey; turning to coat evenly.

5.)  Place turkey inside oven cooking bag.  Add vegetables inside the bird cavity.  Close oven bag with nylon tie; cut 6 (1/2-inch) slits in top.  Tuck ends of bag in pan.

6.)  Bake: 8-12 pound turkeys 1-1/2 to 2 hours, 12-16 pound turkeys 2 to 2-1/2 hours, 16-20 pound turkeys 2-1/2 to 3 hours, 20-24 pound turkeys 3 to 3-1/2 hours.  (See *Note for roasting a 16 and a 19 pound turkey.)

7.)  For easy slicing, let turkey rest in oven bag (on top your stove) for 20 minutes before opening.  If the turkey sticks to the oven bag, gently loosen the bag from the turkey, before opening the bag.

8.) *Note: When it comes to prepping the bird, I do not brush the turkey with vegetable oil.  Also, when it comes to baking the turkeys, I'll bake a (16 lb.) turkey for 2 hours & 15 minutes, and a (19 lb.) turkey for exactly 2 hours & 30 minutes.  But, when I add the herbs and seasonings to the 19 lb. turkey, I use the following amount... 1-1/2 tablespoons of rubbed sage, 1-1/2 teaspoons each... of Lawry's Seasoned Salt, dried thyme, and rosemary, plus I add the 1/2 teaspoon of table salt, and the 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper.  And after I bake the 19 lb. turkey, I let it rest on top the stove for 30 minutes, before removing it from the cooking bag.

Additional pictures of the turkey...





I wanted to let everyone know, that as of yesterday I had prepared an 18 lb.  Butterball Turkey, and used the following vegetables, dried herbs, and spices...

1 medium size onion
4 medium size carrots
3 stalks of celery, each cut in half
3 extremely large size whole garlic cloves
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
2 Tablespoons dried rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon table salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon of table salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper, plus 1/16 teaspoon of black pepper

I placed the onion and 2 carrots inside the cavity of the bird, and 1 carrot each inside the pockets, which are on each side of the drumsticks and next to the breast of the bird.  I also placed a celery half in each pocket, and the remaining halves of celery inside the cavity of the bird.  I then placed an extra large clove of garlic in each pocket, and the remaining clove inside the cavity of the bird.  I baked the turkey for 2 hours and 30 minutes, and the meat was so moist and tender.

As you can see, I upped the amount of carrots and celery, plus the dried herbs and spices this time when I prepared my turkey, which not only made my kitchen smell even more wonderful while it was baking, but I'm sure it will also make the gravy taste even more flavorful!

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I have also posted this recipe at the Just-A-Pinch website.

Which the Kitchen Crew posted the following photo.                          

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Herb Roasted Turkey (In a bag) | Just A Pinch Recipes

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Lovely and Luscious Mug of Coffee

Mirj at food.com, inspired me to make this coffee, but I tweaked the recipe to suit my taste.  Also, instead of using boiling water, I just added cold water and the instant coffee in my mug, then placed the mug in a 900 watt microwave, and nuked it for 1 minute & 66 seconds.



Love and Lucious Mug of Coffee

1-1/2 teaspoons Taster's Choice House Blend Instant Coffee
1-1/2 teaspoons Taster's Choice Hazelnut Instant Coffee
11 ounces boiling water
1 ounce (2 Tablespoons) liquid hazelnut coffee creamer
2 ounces (4 Tablespoons) heavy whipping cream (See *Note)

1.)  Place both coffees in bottom of a tall coffee mug.

2.)  Add boiling water to the mug, and stir.

3.)  Add the hazelnut coffee creamer and whipping cream, and stir.

4.)  Yields: 14 ounces of coffee

*Note: When making this coffee, I used those individual single serve packets of instant coffee, which you can purchase either 7 or 20 in a box, and each packet equals 1-1/2 teaspoons.  Also, be sure you use real cream in this recipe.  Do not substitute using milk or skim milk!!

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Lovely and Luscious Mug of Coffee Recipe - Food.com

Homesteaders Casserole

I got this recipe out of a magazine about 30 years ago, it's from Kraft.  It's an all-in-one casserole dish made with mashed potatoes, breakfast sausage links, green beans, onions, pimientos, and Velveeta cheese.  This is really good comfort food!



Homesteaders Casserole 

1 (9-oz.) pkg. frozen cut green beans, cooked & drained

2 Tablespoons finely chopped onions

1 (2-oz.) jar diced pimiento, drained

4 cups hot cooked mashed potatoes

1 lb. pork sausage links, cooked & drained (See *Note)

8-oz. Velveeta Cheese Spread, sliced & divided

1.)  Combine the green beans, onions and pimiento.

2.)  In a 2-1/2 quart casserole baking dish, add the mashed potatoes.

3,)  Put half of the cheese slices on top the potatoes.


4.)  Place the green bean mixture over the cheese slices.

5.)  Top with the cooked pork sausage links.

6.)  Cover the casserole, and bake for 30 minutes in a 350º oven.

7.)  Top with the remaining cheese slices, and continue baking until the cheese melts, then serve. Be careful when eating, as this dish is quite hot (temp-wise).

8.)  Yields: 4-5 servings

9.) *Note: You could substitute fresh cooked green beans for the frozen-cooked green beans.  I cooked my fresh green beans with a 1/2 cup of water, and sprinkled them with a bit of salt & pepper, and cooked them in a 900 watt microwave oven for 13 minutes (stirring the beans half way through the cooking time).  Also, when cooking the potatoes, I added a few cloves of fresh garlic to the pot of water, and when the potatoes were done cooking and drained, I added several pats of butter, a bit of half-and-half cream, plus I sprinkled the mashed taters with freshly cracked black pepper, and added some Mrs Dash Table Blend Seasoning.  Also...  for the sausages, you can use Swift Premium Brown 'N Serve Sausages, as shown in photo above.

Homesteaders Casserole | Just A Pinch Recipes

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Sweet Lime Iced Tea

During the Summer I make several gallons of this iced tea.  I never thought adding lime juice to iced tea, could taste sooo good!  It's a nice change from the sweetened lemon iced tea I usually make.

Sweet Lime Iced Tea 

6 cups boiling water

7 tea bags (I used orange pekoe & black)

3/4 cup sugar, plus 2-1/2 tablespoons of sugar

2 limes (Plus half of one lime, see *Note)

1.)  In a (2-quart) heat-proof glass pitcher, add the tea bags to it.  (If the tea bags have strings attached, be sure to remove them first.)

2.)  Pour boiling water over tea bags in the pitcher.  Cover the pitcher, and allow the tea to steep for 45 minutes.  (I covered the pitcher with Saran Wrap.) 

3.)  After the has steeped for 45 minutes, remove tea bags from the pitcher, and discard them.

4.)  To the pitcher, add the 3/4 cup of sugar, plus the 2-1/2 tablespoons of sugar; stir thoroughly to dissolve the sugar.

5.)  Add the juice of 2 limes to the pitcher, and stir.  (For more lime flavor, add the juice from half of a lime as well.)

6.)  Let the tea cool to room temperature, then place tea in the refrigerator to chill.

7.)  Pour chilled tea into glasses filled with ice.  Serve tea immediately.

8.)  Yields: About 55 ounces

9.) *Note: For more lime flavor, add the juice of 2 and a 1/2 limes.  Also, I usually double this recipe, and make the tea in a gallon size glass jar.  Then I'll use 12 cups of boiling water, 14 tea bags, 1-1/2 cups of sugar, plus a 1/3 cup of sugar, and the juice of 4 limes (possibly 4-1/2 limes).  This makes: 13-1/2 cups of tea (or) 105-ounces.  One more thing I wanted to mention, if using a gallon size glass jar to make the tea, I'll cover the jar with an 8-1/2 inch glass dinner plate, while the tea is steeping.  Below is a photo of the gallon size jar I used to make the iced tea.

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Here's an additional photo of the Sweet Lime Iced Tea served in a glass.

Sweet Lime Iced Tea | Just A Pinch Recipes

Sugar Free Strawberry Iced Tea 🍓

This is a delicious sugar free strawberry flavored iced tea. 🍓             The ingredients I used to make this tea were... orange pekoe and black tea, and 1 packet of Walmart's Great Value Sugar Free Strawberry Flavored Drink Mix.

Sugar Free Strawberry Iced Tea 

9 regular size tea bags (orange pekoe & black tea)
8 cups water, divided
1 packet sugar free strawberry flavored powdered drink mix
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1.)  Place tea bags in a 2-quart size glass pitcher.

2.)  In a medium size saucepan, bring 4 cups of water all most to a boil.  Remove pan from heat as soon as you see bubbles start to come to the surface.

2.)  Pour the hot water over the tea bags in the glass pitcher.  Cover pitcher with a plastic wrap, and let tea steep for 1 hour.

3.)  After one hour; carefully squeeze the tea/water from the tea bags into the pitcher; stir, then discard the tea bags.  Cover the pitcher, then let sit until the tea has cooled down a bit more.

4.)  Once the tea has cooled; add the packet of sugar free strawberry flavored drink mix, and the 4 cups of cold water into the pitcher, and stir.

5.)  Refrigerate the tea until it's chilled.

6.)  Serve tea in a glass filled with ice.

7.)  Yields: 2-quarts

Additional photos of Sugar Free Strawberry Iced Tea, and ingredients I used when preparing this beverage.  When it came to the tea bags, I used 9 orange pekoe & black tea bags.

 

Sugar Free Strawberry Iced Tea | Just A Pinch Recipes