How to cook a whole turkey in 45 minutes flat – or less!

I ran across this in the New York Times. If you’d like the video version, click here.

The secret key is to remove the backbone and flatten the turkey. The only thing you’ll miss is listening to your family repeatedly ask “Is it done yet?!”

 Don’t forget to Enjoy and give thanks!

 

45-Minute Roast Turkey

Ingredients

• 1 8- to 12-pound turkey
  
• 10 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed, more to taste
  
• 1 branch fresh tarragon or thyme separated into sprigs, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or tarragon
  
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil or butter
  
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Put turkey on a stable cutting board breast side down and cut out backbone. Turn turkey over, and press on it to flatten. Put it, breast side up, in a roasting pan. Wings should partly cover breasts, and legs should protrude a bit.
   
2. Tuck garlic and tarragon under the bird and in the nooks of the wings and legs. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
   
3. Roast for 20 minutes, undisturbed. Turkey should be browning. Remove from oven, baste with pan juices, and return to oven. Reduce heat to 400 degrees (if turkey browns too quickly, reduce temperature to 350 degrees).
   
4. Begin to check turkey’s temperature about 15 minutes later (10 minutes if bird is on the small side). It is done when thigh meat registers 165 degrees on an instant-read meat thermometer. Check it in a couple of places.
   
5. Let turkey rest for a few minutes before carving, then serve with garlic cloves and pan juices.
   

YIELD: 10 servings

 

Originally published with THE MINIMALIST; Turning Your Slow-Lane Turkey Into a Roadrunner

By MARK BITTMAN, November 20, 2002

Money for Nuthin’

Well, almost… for the price of a postage stamp you can get a $9.95 Prepaid MasterCard for free with Rite Aid’s rebate.

Good for today (11/01/08) only.

How to Reduce the Cost of Stuff

Have you ever wondered how much your stuff really cost? Sure, there’s the money you paid for it, but what about the other costs? If we took a serious look at our initial cost and the costs we continue to pay, we may end up with less stuff. In fact, we may even be moved to get rid of the stuff we already have.

Here are some costs we may not think of… some of the costs are money-related, some time-related, and some just relate to peace of mind.

Take a look at your stuff and ask a few basic questions:

What are some of the hidden monetary costs? Do I have to insure it? Does it require maintenance? What is the cost of an average repair? Do I have to feed it anything? Do I have to protect it from damage? Do I have to invest in someplace to store it? (Think shed, garage, bigger house…)

What does it cost me in time? Do I have to clean it / wash it / dust it? Do I have to move it around so I can access other stuff? What time do I need to spend maintaining it? How much time do I have to spend protecting it from damage / theft / being misplaced? Do I needlessly spend time with it so I don’t feel guilty having it and not using it? Have I locked myself into a demanding work lifestyle to sustain an income level that will support my stuff?

Our stuff often creates a level of complexity that robs us of peace. How much time do I spend worrying about it getting scratched, lost, stolen, broken, or deteriorating, or looking good? What impact does the clutter around me have on my peace of mind?

Sometimes we like the idea of our stuff or what it represents, but often it’s lackluster after we get it home. (Can you say treadmill?) They say the 2 happiest days in a boat owner’s life are the day he buys his boat and the day he sells his boat. What else could you say that about in your life? Look for ways to get the same feeling, but without the expense.

Take inventory of your current stuff. What freedom / time / space / money could you gain by reducing some of your possessions? What could you rent instead of purchasing? (That Sawzall you had your eye on is cheaply rented from your local Rent It store – you won’t have to maintain it, it won’t take up any space, and you’ll always know right where to find it!)

What stuff have you eliminated from your life after learning from experience and what impact did that have? Leave a comment and let us know.

Deal of the Day

M&M’s buy one, get one free! Who doesn’t love M&M’s? I’m not sure the shelf life of M&M’s, but if you have the discipline to not eat ’em all, it’s worth stocking up. J

Rite Aid has them on sale now through October 11, 2008.

While you’re there, Crest Whitening Rinse is FREE with their rebate, and College Inn Broth is buy one, get one free (great stock up item for soups this fall and winter!)

Have any bargains you want to add to the list? Leave a comment.

Financial Collapse – Why aren’t we outraged?!

What if all our gloom and doom in the economy was triggered by a handful of savvy, yet greedy entrepreneurs that felt that they were entitled to prosper at the sacrifice of others? The newest insight into the Lehman Brothers demise is an eye-opening wakeup call on the heart of America’s leaders.

It seems that while the CFO of Lehman Brothers was negotiating with the Federal Government for financial rescue of the firm, top management was recommending that certain Lehman executives be given $20 million in “special payments.”

How do they sleep at night? And why are we, as US citizens, willing to tolerate integrity issues in our leaders?

It makes me wonder about our upcoming elections. Who will we vote into office? Given a base level of experience, it seems to me we ought to be examining our future leaders’ integrity. That is the foundation which all future decisions will be made. If people use their experience, charisma, and political clout for the wrong purposes, it is all for naught. I’ll take a man or a woman with the right heart over the one with the right words any day.

“… let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18, TNIV)

What do you think of the state of leadership in America? Sound off with a comment.

Want to look younger?

News flash! You’re not getting any younger. So how about some good news? Skin typically replaces itself about every 28 days. So the skin you see today isn’t the skin you’ll see a month from now.

What’s that, you say? You don’t want to wait 28 days for new skin? Well, here’s your “time saver” tip for the day: exfoliate.

With proper exfoliation, you could be on your way to softer, healthier-looking skin in no time. Your skin’s surface is in a constant state of cellular regeneration. New cells created in the basal layer of your skin gradually push though to the surface. Once they reach the surface, they literally shrivel up and die, eventually falling off. The entire process takes between 20 and 40 days, depending on your age. If you exfoliate, you accelerate the skin’s cell turnover process. The effect? Newer, fresher cells are brought to the surface more quickly, resulting in softer, younger-looking skin.

Oh, yeah… and quit smoking, drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, and stay out of the sun. Research has proven that these are 3 more things that will help keep the wrinkles away.

What’s your favorite tip for looking younger? Leave your comment.

Defeat Junk Mail

If you battle heaps of junk mail cluttering your countertops, don’t let it into your house to begin with!

I have 3 “swivel top” wastebaskets in my garage next to my door that help me eliminate almost all of my junk clutter.

1. Label one “Recycle”. This is where most of the junk mail lands. Use this for catalogs, sale flyers, and pretty much anything addressed to Resident or Our Neighbor.
2. Label one “Shred”. This is for anything that shouldn’t get into the hands of someone unscrupulous. Use this for credit card offers and other similar solicitations. Some would say that anything that has your name and address together should be shred. I don’t go that far. Anyone with access to public records can connect the dots between your name and your address, but have at it if you feel compelled.
3. Label one “Garbage”. This is great for the plastic wrapped goodies you get in your mail. I’ve also found that this is a huge help in keeping my car clean, too. I just grab my junk from the car as I exit and dump it before I get in the house.

This is a really convenient system with a garage, but get a little creative if you don’t have one. Use water-tight bins next to a side door outside or pick up some tasteful wastebaskets for just inside your door or in an entry closet… just don’t let it hit the counter!

Stop Junk Mail for Good!

Did you know it takes more than 100 million trees to produce the total volume of junk mail that arrives in American mailboxes each year? That’s the equivalent of clear-cutting the entire Rocky Mountain National Park every 4 months!

Visit DoNotMail.org to sign a petition to create a Do Not Mail Registry (similar to the Do Not Call Registry created for telemarketing calls) and to learn about a nationwide campaign to eliminate junk mail for good.

Opt Out

Without a comprehensive Do Not Mail Registry, it’s still possible to remove your name from many junk mailers’ lists, but it isn’t easy. Until then, use DoNotMail.org’s opt-out tool to help you stop your junk mail. There are literally thousands of direct mailers and contacting them all would be nearly impossible. However, their opt-out tool will allow you to contact some of the largest offenders with a few clicks of the mouse.

Have other ideas on tackling junk mail? Leave a comment and share!

Deal of the Day

Michigan based Busch’s has boneless, skinless chicken breasts for 50% off – buy 1 lb. get 1 lb. free.  They also have whole boneless New York Strip steaks for $3.99/lb. The sale is now through October 5, 2008.

Bolster your local economy by shopping in local based stores. Not only will the store’s profits help the local economy, but the company’s profits stay local, too.

Got a “Deal of the Day” to share?  Leave your comments.

Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half

The average household spends between $6,000 and $10,000 a year on groceries. What if you could save as much as 50% on that bill? Would you be willing to implement a few smart strategies at the grocery store to net a $3,000 to $5,000 savings per year? I don’t know about you, but I have a long list of things I could do with an extra few thousand dollars. Especially if I only had to invest 15-30 minutes per week. Hmmm. By my calculations, that would be between $115-$384 per hour. Not a bad part-time job!

According to savings guru Stephanie Nelson, you can save an enormous amount of money on your groceries each year without spending hours a week searching for bargains and cutting out hundreds of coupons you will probably never use.

Become a Strategic Shopper

Strategic Shoppers know how to save big on their groceries with three simple principles:

1. They know how to get low prices: They know what the lowest prices for their most common grocery items are, where to find them, and how to pay the lowest prices every time. (Over the course of a few months, it is not unusual for a grocery item’s price to fluctuate by 50% or more!)

2. They know when to use coupons: They know when to use their coupons to get the lowest prices and even get some grocery items absolutely free with coupons!

3. They know where to find coupons and where to use them: They know the best sources of coupons and they know how to leverage a little technology to obtain and organize coupons.

To get the details of Stephanie’s simple plan, download her free eBook entitled “Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half” on her website CouponMom.com. Stephanie Nelson is a regular contributor on ABC News’ Good Morning America and CBS’s The Early Show. Want to even more savings tips? Check out her book “The Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom“.

What are your biggest grocery saving tips?

Deal of the Day

Now through October 5, 2008, participating Kmarts will double manufacturer’s coupons up to a $2 value. That’s up to $4 off for a single coupon. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

Plan your visit along with other errands so that you are not making a special trip and you’ll save a little time and gas along with your coupon savings.