Author Archives: Jennifer Frye

About Jennifer Frye

Jennifer Frye is a stay at home mother with five children, four boys and one girl, including a set of boy/girl twins. She and her husband have been married for 14 years and they raise a small farm in a little town in West Virginia. Her two older boys participate in the local Swine Club and raise their own pigs for projects. She enjoys sharing her experiences as a mother and finds that everyday is a story. Her goals are to raise her children up with respect and dignity and knowledge. She loves cooking for her family and loves sharing her hobby with her children. She incorporates cooking as a family activity and gets everyone involved. Besides cooking, she loves to read and she keeps journals of her daily life with her children for the future. She has been a Sunday School teacher, ran her own day care in her home and during the summer, she teaches children about cooking. She feels that every child should know the basics of cooking.

Chicken

When I first started cooking, I hated to even touch chicken. I was a semi-vegetarian so chicken was one food that I didn’t want to fool with. But naturally, my husband liked it, and when you’re first starting out, you soon learn that chicken is one of the most inexpensive meats you can buy. It was the same for turkey too. I dreaded Thanksgiving and getting up first thing in the morning to prepare a bird that I wanted nothing to do with. I just had to dive in and start preparing poultry no matter how hard it was. Today, … Continue reading →

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

This is a cake that makes your taste buds sing. I love yogurt and I love Strawberry. So when I found a recipe that allowed me to have both at the same time, imagine how tickled I was. In May, the strawberries are usually ready for picking here. We get them by the boxes and turn them into Jam and Preserves. We squeeze some into the freezer to use this summer to top our ice cream with. We also fill up on the fresh strawberries as soon as we can get them home and rinse them off. They are fairly … Continue reading →

Beef Tips

When buying beef, there are different grades to choose from. I was always told that you buy the one with the least amount of white on it because that was fat. But sometimes, the fat helps to tenderize the meat. You don’t want too much fat because it would be too hard on your arteries. Here are some hints to use when choosing your beef. Prime: It contains the most marbling. This is a more expensive cut, but it is worth it. Choice: This is what you will usually find in the grocery stores. It has marbling, but just enough … Continue reading →

Old Version vs. New Version of Apple Dumplings

There is usually another way to do almost anything. This rule is no exception to recipes. If you have old recipes from your family, chances are that they are the long version. Today, we are able to cut our cooking time in half. Do we take away from the taste? No, but we do change the taste some. We also have modern kitchens with all the latest gadgets and equipment. There are some days that I want to cook just like Grandma did. Other times, I want to hurry up and get out of the kitchen. I like to have … Continue reading →

Homemade Chili Macaroni

My family loves the Hamburger Helper meals. The most popular one is Chili Macaroni. Hamburger Helper is a great way to save us some time in the kitchen. Most of the time, you just need to add the meat, usually hamburger, turkey or chicken, and sometimes milk. Add a can of vegetables or maybe a salad and some rolls. You can make it Mexican or Italian. Your cooking time is cut down to less than thirty minutes. I have been making Chili Macaroni from a recipe instead of a box for a long time now. My kids love the taste … Continue reading →

The Many types of Pasta

There are so many different types of pasta, but I’m not going to cover all of them. I am going to talk about the most popular ones. You can make your own pasta, but pasta is usually very affordable. Sometimes, you can have too much pasta in a meal. Other times, you could use a little more. Sometimes you can spend hours on a dinner, only to have the noodles turn out sticky and gummy. The most popular kinds of pasta are: Capellini (Angel Hair), Couscous, Bow Ties, Fettuccine, Mafalde, Tortellini, Ziti, Spaghetti and Shells. Here are some tips to … Continue reading →

Types of Cheese

When I was in Future Farmers of America, I was on the dairy judging team. I had to learn all the different types of cheese and what they taste like. Today, this information helps me decide what cheese to buy and how to substitute one for another without changing the taste too much. If you are unfamiliar with the different types of cheese, I hope this information will help. Cheese Storage Tip: The best place to store cheese is on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Preferably in the crisper drawer. Hard cheeses can be stored in the freezer if … Continue reading →

Cakes and Cookies, Oh My!

This cake is very popular at birthday parties. It is bright and festive and the taste is beyond words. I love the orange flavor but I don’t like it too strong. This cake gives you a little bit of both. This cake is rich in flavor so it’s not one to serve everyday, but it is nice to bake for special occasions. What you will need: 1 box of orange cake mix 1 box of orange gelatin 1/3 cup of Crisco oil 1 and 1/4 cup of water 3 eggs 2 Tablespoons of orange extract For the icing, you will … Continue reading →

Make your own Sourdough Bread

I like to make my own Sourdough Bread. I have made it for several years now. I think it’s easy to keep up and it allows me to have sourdough bread all year around. To make Sourdough Bread, you need to first make your starter. The starter contains three ingredients. You simply use from your starter to make your dough. Sourdough Bread Starter What you need: 3 Tablespoons of instant potato flakes 3 Tablespoons of sugar 1 cup of warm water How to make it: Mix all ingredients together in a glass jar. Cover and let it set at room … Continue reading →

Easy Fix Skillet Lasagna

My family loves lasagna. It’s one of those foods that we never get tired of. I am always looking for new ways to make this dish so that my family will not get tired of the same old lasagna. With this recipe, you don’t have to layer your noodles in a baking dish. You save a lot of time using this method. If you don’t have an oven proof skillet, prepare it in a baking dish. Either way it will taste great. I like to use fresh herbs in this recipe because it really makes your taste buds stand up … Continue reading →