March Went Out With A Bang

So it has been a month since I posted during that time both my husband and I have lost our brothers. His brother passed away unexpectedly on March 1 and my brother lost his battle with cancer on March 29. So for us March was not a very good month it was bookended with the loss of love ones.

April seems to be getting off to a better start though, our oldest son is getting married in 5 days. I will spend this week making wedding cakes. They decided on red velvet cake with cream cheese icing and dipped strawberries for the decorations. They are having a very small and simple wedding. I don't think they could get much simpler without going to the court house. I have been amazed at how level headed and down to earth they have been planning this wedding. They are having a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank and that could not make this momma happier, not that we wouldn't spend the money but because they have their priorities in order.

Speaking of priorities and pinching pennies I found a recipe I just have to share with you. I use stuffing mix a lot for toppings so I try and keep it on hand but that doesn’t always work. Plus now it is getting to be expensive. Ok so I am a penny pincher, I am trying to save up for land so if truth be known I would probably fall under the cheap skate category. Since I make my own bread I thought “why am I buying stuffing mix?” So I started playing and came up with a recipe that passes muster.

3- 3 1/2 cups unseasoned bread crumbs (I used the ends and left over homemade bread and dice it up or crumble it into small pieces and bake it in the oven until crunchy.) Basically I fill a quart jar with crumbled toasted bread.

Then in a small bowl I mix together...

2 tablespoons dried celery seeds (hubby thinks this could be cut down to 1 ½ tablespoons)

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

2 teaspoons dried minced onion

3 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules

1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon Thyme

I run the parsley and minced onion through my little grinder. Ok so it is a coffee bean grinder that I bought just for grinding spices. Hey it makes powder of them just fine and it was cheap.

Then pour over bread the crumbs. Seal it and I have homemade stuffing mix any time I need it. For what I would normally spend on buying one I can make six. I toast my bread crumbs when I have something else in the oven so I do not have to heat up the oven just to toast bread crumbs. Usually I toast them when I am making bread.

When I get ready to use this I bring to a boil 1 cup of water plus 3 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of real butter. Then stir in mixture, if it is still too dry I will add a tablespoon of water at a time until I get it to the moisture level I want it. Let it set for 5 minutes then fluff with fork. 

This works great for casserole toppings. 

Well I am off to see if I can't find other ways of saving pennies.