Part 2 - Lots of meals, but so little time. Also have something new to report.

Are you dying to know what is new with me?  You will have to wait a bit longer. I'm feeling a little evil.

Ham and Hash brown Casserole.

I will admit, I lost this recipe.So I will wing it.  It was pretty good.
Ham, chopped
1/2 a lg bag of frozen hash browns, 1 cup shredded cheese(I like a sharp cheddar) 8 eggs, 2 cans evaporated milk

I in 9x13 greased pan, mix hash browns and ham. Add 3/4 cup of the cheese. I used sharp Cheddar and white Cheddar mixed.
In a large bowl, beat eggs and add the milk add some pepper to taste.  Since there is cheese and ham, I added no extra salt.

Mix egg well.

Pour over egg mixture over hash browns and ham.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and eggs have set.  around 30-40 minutes.

Makes a lot, so you will have some left overs.  Makes a good breakfast also.

Oven Fried Chicken

I love fried chicken.  This is not even close.  It was good, but it was just breaded baked chicken.

2-2 1/2 lbs chicken various parts

1 cup crushed saltine crackers mixed with 1 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp paprika and 1/8 tsp pepper.

3 tbs milk and 1 beaten egg mixed

Rinse chicken and pat dry.  Dip in egg mixture and then cracker mixture and place in a greased 9x13 pan.  Top with 2 tbs melted butter.

Bake chicken at 375 for 45-55 minutes.

And there it is.  Baked Chicken, not yummy fried chicken.

Chicken Cacciatore

This was really good and I would make again...and again...and again.  Cause it was super good!

2-2 1/2lbs chicken pieces(next time, boneless!)
2 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic(really only 1? Try 4-5)
7.5 oz diced tomatoes
6oz tomato paste
3/4 dry white wine
1 tsp sugar
                                                      1/2 tsp salt
                                                      1/2 tsp each of rosemary, thyme and oregano
                                                      Hot cooked pasta

If you didn't buy skinless, skin the chicken.  In other words, use boneless skinless chicken.  Cook in oil until done.  Add onion, garlic and red pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes. Drain off fat.

In a mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients, except pasta. Pour over chicken and bring to boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer covered for 35-40 minutes.Turn chicken during cooking.

Cook pasta while the chicken mixture is simmering. I like egg noodles, but you can use any pasta you desire. .

Serve up some pasta and top with chicken mixture and enjoy.  .

Irish-Italian Spaghetti

This just looked like a strange recipe.  It's almost a Cincinnati chili, but still different.  It was an interesting recipe, but did turn out well.  I liked it.

1lbs ground meat
1/2 cup onions, chopped
10oz can cream of mushroom soup
10oz can tomato soup
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 pepper
hot sauce to taste, 1/2 tsp or so
dash red pepper
                                                      12oz dried spaghetti, linguine, angel hair, or other long noodle

In a large pot, brown meat and onion.  Drian fat.  Stir in soups, Italian seasoning, chili powder, both peppers and hot sauce. Bring to a boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes while pasta is cooking.

Serve with a little, or a lot, of Parmesan cheese.

Wow...only 5 more recipes to go!


Three-Cheese-Stuffed Shells

Simple.  Cook large pasta shells as directed.  Mix 1 beaten egg, 12oz cottage cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and 1/2 tsp of basil and oregano

Stuff into shells and place in a lightly greased 2 quart square dish.  In a small bowl, mix 14oz Italian style crushed tomatoes and 8oz can tomato sauce.  I also added a tsp of Italian seasoning.  Pour over stuffed shells and bake for 15 minutes on 350.  I also sprinkled a little mozzarella cheese on the top.

I forgot a final photo of the dish.  but it was pretty good.

 Rolling Wok

One of my favorite foods, papaya salad with sticky rice and beef jerky.  When going to Grand View, I used to go to Rolling Wok with a friend. She introduced me to this and now I crave it often. I like it nice and spicy.

Ready for my news?  It will be coming shortly.


Chicken Cordon Bleu

This didn't quiet turn out like I wanted it to.  First, I need a meat mallet.  I needed to pound the chicken.  I didn't do as well, so I improvised.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 slices prosciutto
4 slices swiss cheese
3 tbs butter
1 clove garlic (I really only used 1)
2 tbs flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup milk
2 tbs dry white wine.

You need to flatten the chicken breasts so that you can roll them. I also suggest using good prosciutto.  La Quercia is made in Iowa.  Norwalk, IA to be exact and is really good!  After you pound the meat out, layer with prosciutto and Swiss cheese.

Roll up and use a toothpick to keep rolled.  I folded my chicken in half since I couldn't flatten them enough.

Place is skillet with some olive oil. Cook for about 20 minutes turning to make sure it is brown on all sides.
Meanwhile make the sauce.  Place butter in sauce pan and melt.  Add garlic and cook until tender.  Stir in flour and nutmeg in slowly.  Add milk.  Wisk together and cook until thickened and bubbly.

I basically just browned both sides. I placed the cover on my pan to keep moist and heat thoroughly.

Serve with a little bit of the sauce poured on top of chicken.

Hungarian Goulash

I'm not a fan of goulash, but this was pretty good. And the sun was causing me photo issues.  No matter what, the sun was shining into the kitchen and I could get it blocked or my shadow out of the way.  So I gave up.

2 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic...okay, I used 3
1/4 cup flour
4 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp thyme
1.2 tsp salt
1.4 tsp pepper
                                                      28 oz diced tomatoes
                                                      2 bay leaves
                                                      8 oz sour cream
                                                      4 cups cooked pasta

Brown meat in oil.  I used a LOT less.  more like 3 tbs of oil. Add onion and garlic.  Drain fat.  Stir in flour, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper.  Add tomatoes and bay leaves.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 1-1 1/4 hours  Remove the bay leaves.  Should only be two.  Stir in sour cream.  Heat through, but not to a boil.  Mix in cooked pasta.  Makes about 8 servings.

Try different paprika for different flavors.  Smoked or hot are good choices. I actually had Hungarian Paprika, so I used it.

Baked Ravioli with Meat Sauce

I really like ravioli, but I rarely get it at restaurants.  They never seam to serve enough. I'm usually still hungry after eating it. So I often make it at home.  I like both the meat stuffed or cheese.  And if I find one that is different, then I will try it. This one is pretty basic and uses frozen. The recipe called for cheese filled, but I was in the beef mood.  So I got Beef & Pork stuffed. And stuffed pasta will work for this.

8oz ground meat
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic(if you like it, use more. 3 or 4 is good)
14.5 can diced tomatoes
1 cup water(or 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup dry red wine)
6oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup diced ham
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
30oz pkg frozen ravioli (cheese or beef) or tortellini
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Small chop is desired so you don't have big chunks

I actually browned my meat a little before adding veggies

In a large skillet, cook ground meat, carrot, onion and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender.

Drain fat when done

Add undrained tomatoes, water/wine, tomato paste, ham, sugar, Italian seasoning and pepper.  

Bring mixture to a boil and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

Spoon 1/3 of meat mixture into a 2 quart square dish.  layer frozen ravioli on meat sauce.  Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese.  Top with remaining meat sauce.  Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes covered.  Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake for 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

I add some crushed red peppers of course

Pork Picante

I used pork cutlets

1 lbs boneless pork sirloin
1 tbs cooking oil
3/4 cup vegetable juice
1 tsp instant beef bouillon granules
1 cup salsa
1/3 cup peach, pineapple or apricot             preserves
2 tbs corn starch

I lined up my ingredients and have the measurements to spread up the cooking process.

Trim any fat from pork.  Cut into bite size pieces.
Brown the pork in oil.
Stir in the juice and bouillon granules and bring to boil.
Reduce heat, simmer covered for 20-25 minutes.




A variation that I did, I added some chopped onion and chopped red bell pepper.  About 1/2 cup of each or 1 small onion and 1 red pepper.  And of course, mined garlic.  I added these when I added the vegetable juice.

Meanwhile in a small bowl, mix together salsa, preserves(I recommend peach) and cornstarch.


After simmering, add salsa mixture.  Cook and stir on medium heat until thickened and bubbly.  Then cook for 2 minutes more.

Serve over rice.

All caught up now!  The next post will be featuring some very new recipes.  Ones that I have adapted for my tastes.  And that leads into the big news.  I'm going vegetarian...More to come later...