Thanksgiving with my dad

Tomorrow, my dad is getting me and Connor for Thanksgiving. We are going to my dad's brother's house for a Thanksgiving meal (I don't know when we will get there). We will see my uncle, his wife, and Grant, my cousin. I bet Grant is going to be crazy :) He always wants to wrestle and play when see him at our grandpa's house. There might be more people, but I can't think of anymore.

I don't know what we will be having exactly, but I bet we will have turkey, maybe ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and maybe pumpkin pie. I am most excited for the FOOD!

After we eat, we are going to come home. Well, after we talk and maybe play with Grant's new dog.
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Here is a recipe for sweet potato casserole which I made for the Thanksgiving meal at school. People loved this dish! I made two lasagna pans of this and it was all gone by the end of the meal!

Ingredients:
2 cans (15 oz. each) cut sweet potatoes
5 Tablespoons butter or margarine
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 bag of mini marshmallows

Recipe:
1. Pour the sweet potatoes with the liquid into a 2-qt. saucepan and cook until heated through.

2. Drain the liquid.

3. While the sweet potatoes are heating, combine the butter and brown sugar into a 1-qt. saucepan and cook until hot but NOT boiling.

4. Add nuts to the sauce if desired (I didn't do that)

5. Pour the sauce over the sweet potatoes and stir just to coat.

6. Pour the sweet potatoes into a pan (9x13).

7. Pour 1 bag of mini marshmallows over the sweet potatoes.

8. Put the sweet potatoes in the oven at 400 degrees and cook until the marshmallows are big, puffy, and brown-ish.

9. Eat immediately :)

Something People Really Liked: Crab Rangoons

This is a recipe for crab rangoons I found on allrecipes.com. I typed in "crab rangoon recipe" on Google and found this recipe as the first option. I have used allrecipes.com before to find recipes and I have the app on my iPod Touch that I have also used. 

Crab Rangoon: allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
8 oz of cream cheese
6 oz of crab meat (packaged imitation worked for me)
2 green onions, sliced thin
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce
wonton wrappers (found in the vegetable aisle)

Recipe:
1. Preheat the oven to 425

2. Lightly spray the baking sheet with cooking spray

3. Combine all the ingredients except for the wonton wrappers in a bowl.

4. Place 3 wonton wrappers on the baking sheet. Put 1-2 teaspoons of filing in the middle of each wonton wrapper.

5. Get your finger wet with water, trace around the edges of the wonton wrapper and then fold the wonton in half. Poke down the edges until it's closed.

6. Continue until your are out of filing. 

7. Put the tray in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

8. Eat and Enjoy!
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TJ Review:
Great! I liked them a lot! I like these at restaurants and I thought it would be interesting to make them myself. They were different then the ones at a restaurant because the shell was a little softer. I think that's because they deep fry theirs and we baked ours. We don't have a deep fryer, but I wish we did. I wonder how long you have to deep fry them? The staff really liked them. Mrs. Roberts even wanted the recipe from me! Mike, my step-dad, had one.  I don't remember what he thought about it, but I bet he liked it :) I will definitely make these again!

Pasta- American Macaroni Salad

This was macaroni pasta that I made on Tuesday for lunch. There was some celery, green onions, and bacon bits with the macaroni. I found the recipe by looking up "lunch meals" on Google and found this recipe under "food network". Here is the recipe from foodnetwork.com that I changed a little.

Ingrediants:
2 cups dry macaroni, cooked, rinsed, and drained
1/3 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced green onions
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 teasponns sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper
bacon bits

Recipe:
1. Cook the macaroni by using the box directions (I cooked mine for 7 minutes)

2. In a large bowl, combine macaroni, celery, and onions.

3. In a small bowl, wisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, vinegar, sour cream, and salt.

4. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine

5. Pour bacon bits, salt, and pepper until you think there is enough

6. Put some in a bowl for yourself and put the other in the refrigerator covered up to 3 days.

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TJ Review:
It was good. I liked the pasta and the bacon bits the best! The celery was easy to cut because I have been practicing cutting vegetables a lot lately.  I liked the sauce on it because it was kinda like Ranch dressing. I haven't ever seen cider vinegar as an indgrediant before so that was something new to me. I don't think I would make this aghain though because I tried to avioid the onions and just eat the pasta. So it wasn't my favorite, but other people might like it.

My first restaurant review!

I  went to China Town Buffet to do a restaurant review for you all!

Mrs. Slagor and I went for lunch last Thursday. We took notes and pictures of what we ate and the experience we had.

The look:

The restaurant was not crowded, but it wasn't empty. It had clean bathrooms, even cleaner than Central's :)

The decorations were good and cool. It looked like older times and China (I think so at least). It was very clean and they even had plastic chair covers to make sure that people don't make a mess on the furniture.

The food:

The food was good! Some was kind of weird like the squishy sesame ball for dessert. I thought it was squid at first!! They had Chinese food there like crab ragoons, shrimp balls, sushi, cold seafood salads, hunan pork, sweet and sour chicken, and hot and sour soup. They also had some American foods like spinach casserole, donuts, pizza, and chicken wings. I tried just the Chinese foods. I was going to try the spinach casserole, but I didn't because I wasn't sure I was going to like it (I don't like spinach much).

My favorite food I ate was the squishy sesame ball for dessert because it was the most interesting thing I had. I also really liked the chocolate cake and crab ragoons I ate.  Mrs. Slagor's favorite was the hot and sour soup because it was warm and kind of spicy. I tried it, but it wasn't my favorite food.

Price:
$9.37 for the buffet and a soda

My rating:

I would go back again for sure! I gave it two thumbs up!!



New website

Mrs. Slagor showed me a new website called, tastespotting.com.

It is a website with food recipes with links to a bunch of different blogs and websites. You should check this out because it's even better than EatCU because there are a ton of options and it can go on for miles!

I found some recipes I thought sounded good.

EatCU.com

EatCU.com is a website I use a lot! Here you can find menus to restaurants in Champaign-Urbana. I like to go here because it gives you a lot of options to see what restaurant you want to go to AND it gives you the menu.

It helps you plan and make a decision on food you want to order.

When you go to EatCU.com first click on Dine In & Catering Menus. You will examples of menus and on the left you will see different listings of different types of restaurants. So if you want to find a Thai restaurant like My Thai then click on "Asian" to find menus and restaurants like that.

This site has lots of menus, but not to all the restaurants in Champaign. That kinda stinks because sometimes it doesn't have your favorite restaurant that you want to see.

Here are some of my favorites in each of the categories:

Asian- My Thai, An Sun
American- Buffalo Wild Wings
Bar & Grill- Hooter's (My mom doesn't let me go there :))
BBQ- Hickory River
Breakfast- Courier Cafe, Le Peep
Cafe- Cafe Kopi, Atlanta Bread Company
Family Affair- Merry Ann's Diner, Lone Star Steakhouse, Noodles & Company
Fast Food- McDonald's, Taco Bell
Fine Dining- Silvercreek, The Ribeye
Ice Cream/Custard- Nothing here that I like
International- Flat Top Grill, Mandarin Wok (I've never been there, but Mrs. Slagor really likes it here)
Italian- Olive Garden, TGIFridays
Mexican/Latin- Escobar's
Pizza- Fazoli's, Jupiter's
Sandwiches- Penn Station, Beef Stand (I want to try it here)
Seafood- Red Lobster, Ruby Tuesdays
Sushi- Ko Fusion
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I think you should go to EatCU.com because it has all the restaurants and menus which awesome!

Just like IHOP

I asked Mrs. Slagor, "Have you ever had the stuffed french toast at IHOP before?", she hadn't so I decided to make some here at school. I looked on allrecipes.com and searched "stuffed french toast". Only two recipes came up, so I picked one from the picture it had. I decided to make raspberry cheesecake stuffed french toast because I like cheesecake and french toast (it was a perfect match for me!).
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Raspberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast (allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup raspberry jam
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 loaf french bread, cut into 1 inch slices
butter

Directions:
1. In a bowl, whisk milk, sugar, cinnamon into the beaten eggs until well blended. Set aside

2. In a separate bowl, cream together raspberry jam and cream cheese until smooth.

3. Make the sandwiches by cutting each slice of bread in half and spreading raspberry-cream mixture in the center, then top with other half.

4. Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet.

5. Dip bread into egg mixture and coat it thoroughly (that means the whole thing, all of it).

6. Cook until well-browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. When flipping, you might need a hand. Mrs. Slagor and I did it together with 2 spatulas.

7. Eat!
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TJ Review:
It was good! You should make it. The cheesecake part was my favorite part because it was sweet with the raspberry jam. I made some changes to the original recipe. I didn't use nutmeg, powdered sugar, or vanilla because we didn't have those ingredients at school. I used white bread instead of French bread because they didn't have a loaf at Aldi, just a roll. I wanted more than just one roll!!

Total: $9.53 for 3 servings bought at Aldi.

Orientation & A Quiche Recipe

I had my orientation at County Market on Monday. We talked about what I am going to do and what to expect. We also watched some videos. I learned how to bag, what is good for the people shopping at County Market, and how to talk to customers. I am supposed to be nice and helpful!
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I made a quiche on Friday. It was good!

Easy Quiche (allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
4 eggs
4 refrigerated biscuits
1/4 cup butter
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cubed ham
1 (10 ounce) bag of frozen corn
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Lightly grease 10 inch pie pan or quiche dish

3. In a large bowl, beat milk, eggs, butter, and Parmesan cheese.

4. Stir in corn, ham, and Cheddar cheese.

5. Pour into prepared dish.

6. Put little pieces of the biscuits on top of the quiche.

7. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes until eggs are set. If your biscuits are getting burned, put tin foil on top.

8. Eat!
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TJ Review:
We made some changes because I didn't like some of the ingredients. I used corn instead of broccoli. I liked the quiche a lot! I even ate a little too much :) It was very cheesy, I liked that. I would definitely make this again!

Total Cost: $8.34 for 8 servings bought at Aldi

My Interview

I had an interview at County Market. I was a little nervous but the manager didn't say much. That made me feel a little less nervous. His name is Kevin.

The manager told me what I am going to do there. I will be restocking shelves, taking the baskets to the containers (there's one in the produce section and one by the glass doors in front), and labeling the fruits and veggies in produce (by putting up the signs).

I will be working 2 days a week for 2 hours. That's enough for me!

Next I have to go to orientation at the store on Philo Road. I will need to bring my ID (I have a state ID and a DASH pass, both work), social security card, and a pen. I will need to sign some stuff before I can start. Mr. Slagor and Michele will be there to help me out with signing the papers.

On Fridays I am going to work as a volunteer at Salt & Light. Salt & Light is a place where people donate clothes and food for people who need it. Volunteers organize the things into bags or bins so it's easier for people to find the items.

New Menus

I was just looking at menus for different restaurants and I was looking at some new items. Here are some things I found.

Arby's:
Arby's Salads are good! One has chicken and bacon on it. I like bacon a lot!! Your dressing choices are  Honey Mustard, Ranch, Light Italian or Balsamic Vinaigrette. If you're looking for a quick meal, go get one of these.
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Buffalo Wild Wings:
The Hot Dog Slammers are small hot dogs. You can get chili and cheese or ketchup and mustard on them. And you get three in an order.

My dad always gets the Ultimate Nachos to share when we go to Buffalo Wild Wings. They come with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, jalapenos, and chili. I don't get the pico de galo because it's too spicy for me.

BWW Menu (My dad calls Buffalo Wild Wings BWW)
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Burger King:
There's a new Burger King in town by my dad's work. It's in Savoy next to SportsVet.

The California Whopper is new. I think it might be good, but I haven't tried it yet. On it is bacon, beef, Swiss cheese, guacamole, mayonnaise, tomatoes, and lettuce. That is a lot on one burger! In the picture the burger looks small, but I bet with all that stuff on it, it will be BIG!  I might try it this Friday because my brother has a football game and we'll need to eat something quick.
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LongHorn Steakhouse:
There's a new LongHorn Steakhouse in town right next to Chili's.

I would get the LongHorn Shrimp and Lobster Dip. I like lobster and I like cheese, so this sounds good. I wouldn't get the sun-dried tomatoes because I don't like them.

I would also get the Grilled Rainbow Trout because it sounds light with olive oil, parsley, and basil. I would get a sweet potato with cinnamon and butter as my side. This sounds sweet to me!

I hope to go to this new restaurant with my mom.

The last thing I cooked

Carlene asked me, "What was the last thing you cooked?".
Here's what I cooked at school for lunch on Tuesday.
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Cheesy Chicken Bake (Campbell's Quick & Easy Recipes 2010)

Ingredients:
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups of cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can French fried onions

Recipe:
1. Turn on the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Stir soup, 1 1/3 cup water, Worcestershire sauce, rice, chicken, and cheese in a 2-quart casserole dish.

3. Cover the dish

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until hot.

5. Sprinkle the onions and bake for 5 minutes more.

6. Eat and Enjoy!
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TJ's Review:
I made some changes to the recipe. First, I used soy sauce instead of Worcestershire sauce. Secondly, I used crutons instead of French onions because they didn't have them at the grocery store I went to.

It was good! I liked the rice mixed with the chicken. It was easy to make and easy to clean up! I would make it again.

Total Cost: $7.39 for 3-4 servings bought at Aldi.

What I'm up to

I'm TJ and this my blog.

It's about food. How to cook it. How to buy it. How to taste it.

Here you'll find: what I'm eating, what a job at the grocery store is like, how much food costs, and my favorite places to eat.

I'm going to be writing this at school where I am in 12th grade.

Besides food, I also like my dog Lacy, animals, and talking about moving to Colorado!

So follow my blog and check out what I'm doing!