Category Archives: Recipes

If I am like this now….

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….what am I going to be like in 10 or 20 years??

I had made Quick Chicken Parmesan for dinner, popped it in the oven, and had about half an hour to wait til it got done. I went downstairs and played a game of Wii bowling with the boys, messed around on the computer for a while, then sauntered back upstairs to rustle up a salad and take dinner out of the oven. Then I realized I had forgotten all about making the spaghetti noodles to go with the chicken parmesan. 🙄 Thankfully they don’t take too long to cook.

Quick Chicken Parmesan 

10 chicken tenderloin pieces
1 can tomato sauce seasoned with oregano, basil, garlic powder, and minced onion (it’s ideal to add 1 small can of tomato paste, but not absolutely necessary)
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Cooked spaghetti noodles (we like angel-hair pasta)

Place the chicken tenderloin pieces in a single layer in a baking pan. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and minced onion. Mix in oregano, basil, garlic powder, and minced onion with the tomato sauce (not sure how much — I just sprinkle it in); pour over chicken. Cover with grated or thinly sliced mozzarella. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes if chicken is thawed; 30-40 minutes if frozen.

This serves our family of five. You can, of course, use your favorite ready-made spaghetti sauce instead. In “real” chicken parmesan, the chicken is breaded, but I figure this saves calories as well as time .

Tackle It Tuesday: Updated Recipe Book

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I am also linking this post to Organizing Junkie‘s Recipe Round-Up. Check here for more ideas about organizing your recipes.

Tackle It Tuesday Meme

I mentioned in an earlier tackle that I made up a scrapbook-style recipe book for recipes that I clip from magazines or print off from the computer, etc. It was getting to be too much for the notebook I had it in:cimg0410.JPG

For a long time I’ve been wanting to divide it into two notebooks: one for main dishes and side dishes, the other for “extras” — appetizers, desserts, breads, etc. I also wanted to subdivide the broader categories, from “Main Dishes” into “Ground Meat,” “Chicken,” “Ham,” etc. Since I don’t have an index, it will be easier to find what I am looking for that way, plus it will keep the little divider pockets from getting too stuffed (I put new recipes in the divider pockets, then after trying them put them into the scrapbook. That’s the plan, anyway. 🙂 ) I pulled all of that out this evening to work on while watching TV with the family.

So here’s a little glimpse of the new notebook of “extras.”

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A Soup Kind of Day

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I love soups in the winter, and today looks like a good soup day: grey and cold.

I especially love potato soups (like any of the kinds McAlister’s Deli has. No, this is not a paid ad. 🙂 ) I’ve collected a number of potato soup recipes but haven’t tried any of them yet — except this one, because it is quick. I found it in a Quick Cooking magazine (now called Simple and Delicious) (one of Taste of Home’s spinoffs). It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s good.

Corny Potato Chowder

4 bacon strips, diced
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 can (15 oz.) whole potatoes, drained and diced
2 cups milk
1 can (14 – 3/4 oz.) cream-style corn
1/2 tsp. garlic
1/8 tsp. pepper

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon and onion until bacon is almost crisp; drain. Add potatoes; saute for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the milk, corn, garlic salt, and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, until heated through. Yield: 4-6 servings.

I use the already-cooked-just-microwave bacon (we don’t use bacon very often, so that works well for us), then just mix all the other ingredients together and heat through. I don’t use that much onion either — more like a tablespoon of minced onion. And I use garlic powder rather than garlic salt and just add a few sprinkles of salt. I also buy the already diced canned potatoes.

We were talking about low-fat, low-calorie eating earlier this week — and this probably would not fit into that category. It would help to make it with skim or 1 % milk, and I’m sure not sauteing the potatoes in bacon grease helps a little as well.

Works For Me Wednesday: Healthy Eating

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wfmwheader.jpgShannon, hostess of WFMW at Rocks in My Dryer, suggested that since so many were talking about needing to lose weight or make healthier eating choices, we should do a themed WFMW today sharing our tips on healthy (low-fat, low-calorie, low-sugar) recipes.

I didn’t really think I had anything. I don’t think a lot of what I make is excessively high-calorie, but it’s not really low-calorie either. There’s baked chicken or fish — toss in the oven with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and minced onion and a little margarine — but to me that’s kind of blah. OK for every now and then but nothing to get really excited about. I think that’s one thing that makes the dieting seem so depressing to me — having to eat like that all the time. So I am really looking forward to reading and gleaning from the other recipes and tips posted today.

I did happen to think of a couple of side dishes I make that would work for this theme.

Vegetable Medley

1 1/2 c. fresh broccoli cut into small pieces
1 1/2 c. fresh cauliflower cut into small pieces
1 1/2 c. baby carrots, sliced
1 T minced onion
1/2 c. water
1 T. instant chicken bouillon

Mix all ingredients. Microwave on high 3 minutes. Stir. Microwave another 3 minutes. Stir. Adjust cooking time according to how well-cooked you like your vegetables. We like our between crisp and mushy.

This is really an adjustable recipe. I don’t measure it out like that, but I was trying to give some kind of idea of amounts and proportions. You can use any kind of vegetables in any amounts that you like. I imagine it would work fine with frozen vegetables, though you’d have a longer cooking time, of course. For a really quick side dish, I’ve even poured a can of Veg-All into a bowl, added a little minced onion and instant chicken bouillon, and microwaved.

Fruit and Yogurt Salad

I have a dear friend who is a whiz at just throwing together really tasty and simple things, and once at her house she mixed some fruit, some vanilla yogurt, and sprinkled it with granola, and it was wonderful. A few months ago at a baby shower brunch I was asked to bring some kind of fruit dish, and made this. A couple of ladies really liked it and asked for the recipe. I told them it was basically any fruit + yogurt sprinkled with granola, but they wanted specifics. So this is the combination I made that day.

1 can tropical fruit, drained
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1 can pineapple bits, drained
2 bananas, sliced
1 small container low-fat vanilla yogurt
Granola or granola cereal

Mix all ingredients except granola and refrigerate. Sprinkle granola on top just before serving.

You could use fresh fruits, of course. My husband has somehow developed an allergy to most fresh fruits, but can tolerate canned or cooked, so that’s mostly what we have on hand. And most canned ones come in a “lite” version packed in juice or water rather than syrup, and that’s what we use.

Also on this theme, a few days ago I posted a link my son sent me called “What Does 200 Calories Look Like?” (though I did wonder if that should be “do” rather than “does.” But it has a page full of pictures of how much of different kinds of foods add up to 200 calories. It’s an eye-opener.

I’m off to Shannon’s for more great healthy eating tips!

One of THE best things to do with leftover ham

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…is Swiss Ham Ring Around.

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I first saw it on a grocery store pad of recipes, I think put out by the Pillsbury Company.

1 cup fresh or frozen chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
1 tablespoon margarine or butter, softened
1/4 cup chopped parsley or parsley flakes (optional)
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup diced cooked ham
1 can Crescent Rolls
Grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350°F. In large mixing bowl, combine margarine, parsley, onion, mustard and lemon juice: blend well. Add cheese, broccoli and ham: mix lightly. Set aside. Separate crescent dough into triangles. On greased cookie sheet, arrange triangles points toward the outside, in a circle with bases overlapping. The center opening should be about 3″. Spoon ham filling in a ring evenly over the bases of triangles. Fold points of triangles over filling and tuck under bases of triangles at center of circle. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until golden.

I usually leave out the parsley, and I don’t cook the broccoli thoroughly since the mixture is going to be baked.

It’s hard to know what to serve with it, though. Tonight I just had carrot sticks with it. Sometimes I’ve made macaroni and cheese as a side dish. Since it has bread, vegetables, cheese, and meat all together, though, you can just serve it alone if you’d like. 🙂

saturdaystirrings.jpgFiddleDeeDee at It Coulda’ Been Worse has started Saturday Stirrings where we can share favorite recipes and find new favorites. I hope you will join in!

I am using an archived post this week. This is one of my most-often searched for posts, especially right after Easter and Christmas. 🙂 So I am just going to link to it rather than copying and reposting.

Harvest Loaf Cake

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A few days ago in the Holiday Meme, I mentioned that Harvest Loaf Cake was one of our favorite holiday desserts. I had originally gotten the recipe from a friend when I had it at her house. She and I both moved away and lost touch, and, even though I have given this recipe out to individuals, I felt a little funny putting it out there in cyberspace: I didn’t want to be giving away some cherished family recipe to the whole world. Plus I was the only person I knew who made it, so there was a little bit of wanting to keep this as one of my signature dishes. Then my friend DeAnna mentioned searching the Internet for the recipe. I had never thought of that, so I searched, and, lo and behold, I found several copies of it with a few slight variations. So, since it is already “out there,” I decided to post the recipe I have:

Harvest Loaf Cake

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 c. butter or margarine, softened
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
3/4 c. pumpkin, canned or cooked
3/4 c. chocolate chips
3/4 c. nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Cream butter or margarine in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add sugar. Cream at high speed with mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. At low speed or by hand add and mix in dry ingredients alternately with pumpkin; begin and end with dry ingredients, blending well after each addition. Add chocolate chips and 1/2 c. nuts. Pour into pan and sprinkle with 1/4 c. nuts. Bake 65 to 75 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Drizzle with glaze. Let stand six hours before slicing. (Recipe will also make three small loaves; bake 50-55 minutes.)

Glaze:

1/2 c. confectioners’ sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 to 2 tbsp. milk

I use canned Libby’s pumpkin for this, and one can will be enough for two batches, so I always make two at one time (or six small loaves). (There is always a dollop of pumpkin left that I never know what to do with. I used to save it until it became green and fuzzy: now I toss it. Any ideas for an extra 1/4 – 1/3 c. of pumpkin?) This recipe also freezes extremely well. (By the way, we have never let it stand six hours before slicing. 😀 )

I have to admit I am not the best of cooks: I alluded to baking disasters in an earlier post. Even though I follow the directions exactly, oftentimes my end result is not what the finished product is supposed to look like. But this comes out perfectly every time (a credit to whoever invented this recipe in the first place). Here is one of the small loaves from a batch I made last night:

Harvest Loaf cake

Harvest Loaf cake

Even though the name sounds more like an autumn recipe, we like to use it for the holidays. I don’t make it at Christmas because we have all those pies then, but usually some time in early December I make some for us and some for gifts.

And Sheri, if you ever read this, thank you for this recipe! It has become a treasured family favorite and a favorite to give as well.

(Sharing with Hearth and Soul)

Works-For-Me Wednesday: More chicken tenderloin recipes

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“Works For Me Wednesday”

I had a post in mind about time-savers, but when I made one of these chicken tenderloin recipes for dinner last night, I thought I’d share that instead.

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

10 chicken tenderloin pieces
1 16-oz. package Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing
1 jar chicken gravy or leftover gravy*
Salt and pepper to taste
Prepare the stuffing mix according to package directions for 8 servings (save the rest of the package for the next recipe) and place in rectangular baking pan. Place chicken tenderloin on top. Salt and pepper chicken. Pour gravy over top of all. Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes.

* You could also use 1 can of cream-of-chicken soup mixed with milk (fill the soup can about 1/2 to 3/4 with milk) or make a white sauce and add instant chicken bouillon.

Oven-Baked Chicken

10 chicken tenderloin pieces
Leftover Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing mix from previous recipe

Rinse chicken and place in bag of stuffing mix: shake well. Place in single layer on baking pan and sprinkle the rest of the stuffing mix over the top. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes if thawed, 30 minutes if frozen.

You could dip the chicken in milk or beaten egg before placing it in the stuffing mix if you want to, but just rinsing it with water works well (and is fewer calories).

Both of these feed our family of five with a little left over for lunch. Of course, both could be made with regular chicken pieces, but would take longer to bake.

Bonus tip: If you are out of cream of chicken soup for a casserole recipe, in many cases you can substitute with and cream-of-something soup and a little over a teaspoon of instant chicken bouillon.

Request: I posted a blogging question a few days ago which has not received a response yet. If you have time, it would be a help to me to have your input. Thanks!

For more tips that work for real people, head over to Shannon’s place at Rocks In My Dryer.

Works For Me Wednesday: Chicken Tenderloins

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I love using boneless, skinless chicken tenderloin. They can go straight from the freezer to the oven and bake for only 20-30 minutes. I make baked chicken that way, or a chicken and stuffing casserole. On Sunday mornings sometimes I’ll put the frozen chicken tenderloin in a single layer in a baking pan and pour Italian dressing over it, let it marinate until we get home from church, then pop it in the oven while I make a side dish.

I sometimes will put a plate of them in the microwave for 9-10 minutes, rearranging them about halfway through (bringing the ones on the outside of the plate toward the center and vice verse). If you sprinkle them with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and minced onion, then cut them up into small pieces when done, you have chicken ready for a casserole or soup. If you do the same with the addition of chili powder, you have chicken ready for chicken tacos or enchiladas.

The only trouble is they are more expensive than other forms of chicken, so this is a time- and labor-saving tip rather than a frugal tip. You’re paying for the convenience of a shorter cooking time and being able to cook them immediately without deboning or skinning them. In our area they are sold in 2 1/2 lb. bags for $8.98, but they do go on sale fairly often, and sometimes stores will have a buy-one-get-one-free sale. Tyson makes them, but many stores have their own brand.

Here’s one of my family’s favorite recipes using them (you could also use leftover baked or stewed chicken):

Chicken Enchilada Bake

2 cans cream of chicken soup
2-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into pieces, or around 9 chicken tenderloin pieces, cooked and cut into small pieces
1 cup sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)
3/4 lb. Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded
6 flour tortillas or 8 corn tortillas
1 small can green chilies, diced (optional)

Mix soup, sour cream, chicken, chilies, and half the cheese, Tear tortillas into bite-size pieces and stir into chicken mixture. Pour into casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Or, leave off the remaining cheese, microwave for about 3 minutes, stir, top with remaining cheese, and microwave for another 3 minutes.

“Works For Me Wednesday”

Check out Rocks In My Dryer’s blog for great tips!