Last Minute Turkey Tips – Taking the Metal Piece Out of the Turkey
Posted by Jackie Trottmann in Recipes and How to Tips on November 26th, 2009
I just put my turkey into the oven! Yea! A lot of people have been checking out my site to find out how to get the metal piece out, so I wanted to explain now that I just did it.
You need to loosen the metal away from the drumsticks/legs – just push the end of the leg bone out from under the metal piece. Then, reach inside the turkey and pinch the metal together at the base. It’s kind of like a spring. When you pinch the two sides together, it releases the grip and it will pop open. Then you can get that thing out of your bird. I swear this is the hardest part to cooking a turkey – unwrapping the darn thing! For more details, read my post below.
Don’t forget to breathe! Happy Thanksgiving!
Overcoming Fear of How to Cook a Turkey – Everything you Need to Know about Preparing the Perfect Turkey – Fear no More!
Posted by Jackie Trottmann in Recipes and How to Tips on November 24th, 2009
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. We all get to pause and give thanks and I get to cook a turkey! Cooking a turkey is one of my favorite meals of all because the outcome is so dramatic and the preparation and cooking is so easy!
After cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving and or Christmas for the last – gasp - 30 years, I would say that I qualify as a turkey expert. So, I was shocked when my best friend, Denise, confessed to me today that she had never cooked a turkey! We have been friends for 33 years. I shouted in disbelief, “You’ve never cooked a turkey!” She told me that the act of cooking a turkey was too intimidating for her – she was afraid.
Now, my friend Denise exudes confidence and blazed a trail in media sales a decade before I did. So, I began to think if Denise was afraid of cooking a turkey, others had to be afraid also.
Don’t fear! Cooking a turkey represents one of the greatest (and easiest) joys of cooking! There is always a fear factor in doing anything new. Here’s a quick step-by-step process to cooking a turkey. This has been fool-proof for me. Even if you have cooked turkeys before, I’ve included some many forgotten details which are worth noting.
Feeling Overwhelmed and Stressed Out? – I’ve Got an Answer
Posted by Jackie Trottmann in Meditation on August 17th, 2009
A very wise person told me that there is no such thing as being overwhelmed – it’s a lack of setting priorities. Think about that for a little while. If you’re like me, I always have a to do list a mile long. I never accomplish what I set out to do, because I have too much to do! If I cut that list by a fourth or fifth, I then start to actually get something done.
Most of us have expectations bigger than what we are actually able to do.
The Wilson Chronicles – A Labrador Retriever Finds His Forever Home
Posted by Jackie Trottmann in Dog Tales on May 21st, 2009
I lost my best friend and furry assistant, Duffy, the Golden retriever on Halloween. It was actually 4AM the next day, which made it All Saints Day. That was appropriate as All Saints Day is a day in remembrance for those who have died. Duffy’s stomach turned that night. We rushed him to the hospital where they did emergency surgery. What they found was more serious – cancer of the liver. We were forced to make the awful decision to put him down.
He lived a full life and had just turned 10 a few months before, the typical life span of a Golden. Duffy lived life to the fullest, even on his last day. He was way more than a dog. He was a great listener, walking buddy and companion in every sense of the word.
Duffy left such a void, that it was hard to imagine another dog taking his place. There would never be another Duffy. I have been fortunate to work out of my home for the last two years and still do. That’s why Duffy’s presence has left an even bigger void having spent so much time with him.
Susan Boyle from Britains Got Talent – A True Beauty
Posted by Jackie Trottmann in A Friendly Rant, Inspirational Thoughts on April 18th, 2009
You’d have to be totally unplugged from electronic media to have not heard this story over the last week. Susan Boyle is a 47 year old, single, unemployed woman who has always had a dream of singing in front of a large audience. She got that opportunity by singing on Britains Got Talent television show. There are three judges, Piers Morgan, Amanda Holden and American Idol’s Simon Cowell. When Susan stepped onto the stage, the audience and judges made an immediate “judgment” based on her appearance. Everyone rolled their eyes and snickered. The audience was also laughing and making comments complete with whistles and cat calls. Unaffected, Susan proceeded to answer questions in her own quirky way and said that she wanted to be like Elaine Page, heralded as the First Lady of British Musical Theatre. This statement created more eye rolling and smirks from the judges.
Feeling Overwhelmed? Try a Prayer Meditation Combination
Posted by Jackie Trottmann in Meditation on April 17th, 2009
I’ve been doing a lot of work and planning with creating several new websites. That task is taking a lot of time and energy and I was feeling a little overwhelmed this morning. This message, taken from I Corinthians chapter fourteen verse thirty-three, always comes to mind when I’m feeling overwhelmed or confused:
“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.”
Prayer has always been a foundation within the Christian faith. In fact, every religious service contains prayer and usually the famous prayer – The Lord’s Prayer, as a part of the worship service. While it’s helpful to pray to God about being overwhelmed and asking for help, why not try listening first? Christian meditation is listening to God. Let God nurture you for a little while by simply sitting in his/her presence.
Her presence?
What Price can you put on Joy?
Posted by Jackie Trottmann in Inspirational Thoughts on April 13th, 2009
Up until eight years ago, I rarely if ever truly felt joy. Sure, many times I was happy, but I don’t believe that happy and joy are synonymous. If the famous chef, Emeril Lagasse were asked about the difference, he might say that joy was, “Happy kicked up a notch.”
Happy means feeling contented or great pleasure.
Joy means emotion evoked by well-being, success, good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires – the expression or exhibition of emotion.
Not experiencing joy has a lot to do with how we are raised and what we personally believe. Growing up I was taught to suppress emotions, so it makes sense that I rarely felt joy. I didn’t feel much of anything!
What changed eight years ago to make me feel joy? I began to let go of the beliefs I was taught. Rather than stuff down feelings, I told myself that it was okay to feel. In fact, it was liberating to feel! It didn’t matter if the feelings represented a lot of sadness at first. Once I allowed those feelings to come in, I found that facing them head on also allowed me to let go of them. As a result, I discovered there was joy at the end of the process.
A scary word in the definition of happy is contented. Many people fear change because they will be forced out of their comfort zones. Happiness and contentment sound great but not at the expense of growing and moving into a state of joy. To me, joy is a priceless emotion that I want to feel as often as I can. Have you felt joy lately?
My Take on the Oprah Show – Celebrities – Losing Weight in the Public Eye
Posted by Jackie Trottmann in A Friendly Rant, The Freedom to Eat on April 6th, 2009
April first Oprah had Valerie Bertinelli, Marie Osmond and Star Jones on her show talking about their weight losses. All three of these women are beautiful and all three women were successful in reaching their goal weights. But you could still see the emotional pain on their faces talking about being overweight.
Valerie Bertinelli said, “I have obsessed about my weight in some sort of way all of my life.” And when asked if she felt like she had succeeded once and for all with maintenance, she said, “I won’t know if I’ve conquered maintenance until the day I die.”
Marie Osmond said, “I started dieting at the age of 10.” She said that she tried, “Everything from diet pills to starving myself, to bulimia. You name it, I tried it.”
Star Jones went from 300 pounds to 160 pounds. She says, “I’m still 300 pounds in my head some days.”
Not only did all three women still look tortured, but Oprah was emotionally touched as well. I sat there and shook my head in sadness. My story is their story. I tried everything to lose weight. I spent forty years of my life obsessing about my weight and body image. How many other millions of women share this same story – those in and out of the media spotlight?
When I talk to people from my past, friends or business associates about my book, The Freedom to Eat, and tell them about my story of how I struggled with weight and low self-esteem and how I overcame that struggle, every person has said, “I didn’t know you had all of those issues. I didn’t know you went through everything you did.”
Of course no one knew! We suffer in silence. All of these women are bright, beautiful and talented. This preoccupation of not being good enough has to come to an end. This obsession with beauty and thinness and meeting unrealistic standards has to end. We need to turn our self loathing into self love. We need to take care of ourselves first instead taking care of everyone else. If we need to lose weight, we need to lose weight because it means being healthy and happy, not losing weight at all costs.
Join me in The Freedom to Eat – to eat, live and love your life.
April Fools’ Day – Who’s Fooling Whom?
Posted by Jackie Trottmann in Inspirational Thoughts on March 31st, 2009
“Hello, may I speak to Mr. Bear?” Click. “Hello, Mr. Lyon please” – click. “Hello, is Mr. Wolf in today?” Click – The preceding was one day in the life of the St. Louis Zoo’s receptionist. In 1940 the St. Louis Zoo changed its number on April 1st because of the phone calls!
When I was little, my mother would always say something as a prank on April Fools’ Day, like, “It’s snowing outside.” Ironically, we just had snow a few days shy of April one, so that was almost nature’s prank!
There’s an expression that I’ve heard and I’m not really sure where it came from but it’s, “God looks after fools, drunks and little children.” That certainly seems to be the case sometimes.
Since it’s April Fools’ week, I was reflecting on the word fool and its meaning. Webster’s Dictionary describes a fool as a person lacking in judgment or prudence, or lacking in common powers of understanding. The word fooling is synonymous with the word deceive, which implies imposing a fake idea or belief that causes ignorance, bewilderment or helplessness.
How many times do we impose a fake idea or belief in ourselves? The idea might look like – I’m too old, I’m too young, I’ve failed before, I’ll fail again. Sometimes our negative beliefs are so strong that we can’t see an alternative. How about bewilderment? Perhaps you’ve neglected a healthy lifestyle of eating good food in proper portions, exercising on a regular basis, getting enough rest and managing stress in your life. Now you’re starting to have health issues as a result, but you’re bewildered.
Let this April Fools’ Day mark a new day to not fool yourself anymore about participating in destructive habits. Change the definition of fool to having a fondness for or being a fool for loving ourselves, being conscious of our actions, conscious of our self-talk and our beliefs. No fooling!
The First Day of Spring! – Gentlemen Start Your Gas Grills!
Posted by Jackie Trottmann in Recipes and How to Tips, The Freedom to Eat on March 20th, 2009
Spring brings more daylight, warmer weather and the start of barbeque season! One of my favorite things to do is enjoy my backyard and grill outside. When I was younger, my favorite time of year used to be the fall. Growing up in Missouri, I have to say that I love all of the seasons, really. But as I get older, there is something about spring that makes it my new favorite season. I can’t help but be filled with new hope and promise with the appearance of daffodils, crocuses and trees budding and blooming everywhere.
If you have a man in your life who normally doesn’t cook, grilling is the perfect way to get them involved. There’s something about men and fire! I have an image of Tim Allen in my head from the 90’s series Home Improvement, hearing his signature, “Oh, Oh, Oh – Ar, Ar, Ar,” Neanderthal noises any time he was around a tool or machinery!
