Italian Lentil Soup

I'm sharing this recipe for Italian Lentil Soup with you because it is wonderful (and cheap), and it also utilizes frozen spinach...an ingredient that I am highlighting this week.  When I made this soup last week, I added 1/2 of a smoked sausage rope and sauteed it along with the veggies.  I sort of wish that I hadn't done this, because it took over the taste, but I knew that the sausage would help to make it a hit with my husband, and it had been sitting in the back of the fridge and needed to be used.  (He joked that even though I had wanted to leave out the sausage, he thought I should leave out the lentils!)

This made a HUGE pot, and I froze a lot in individual serving sizes to bring for lunch.  The soup holds up very well to freezing, and I recommend it as a hearty on the go meal to grab!

Light and Cheesy Manicotti

This recipe is fairly simple and definitely a delicious way to get some veggies in your diet!



1 package of sliced mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic

3 egg whites
15 oz light ricotta (or cottage cheese, blended)
splash of sherry (optional)
1 10 oz package of frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1 C mozzarella cheese
1/3 C Parmesan cheese

1 package of manicotti shells (cooked, cooled, drained)
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Saute mushrooms and garlic with a little cooking spray about 5 minutes, when it's about cooked, splash the sherry in the pan and let the liquid cook out.
• Beat the egg whites lightly and add the mushroom mix, the spinach, ricotta, Italian seasoning, and half of the cheese.
• Spoon this mixture into the manicotti shells.  It helps to cool them first, but if not, just run under a little cold water and brace yourself for some warm/red hands!
• Place into a 9x13 pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Cover with the sauce and cook for 45 minutes.  At the last five minutes, cover with remaining cheese.

Serve with a salad and some garlic bread!!!

Making Eggrolls is Easy!

I'm writing here today to encourage you to try making your own eggrolls.  I used to be intimidated by anything I had to deep fry until I met my husband, whose Mexican roots quickly had me frying tortillas!

I whipped up a batch of these eggrolls on Friday and "fried to order" until today (4 days later) when I cooked up the last two.  I imagine you could cook them all at once, but I prefer freshly fried.  If your filling has been sitting around, you may want to drain some of the liquid out of it.  You don't want liquid in the filling or it makes the eggroll soggy.

Vegetable Filling

• 1.5 C shredded zucchini
• 1.5 C shredded carrots
• .5 C finely diced mushrooms
• 1 C finely diced onions
• .5 C shredded cabbage
• .5 C chopped peanuts
• 3 T soy sauce
• .5 t sugar
• eggroll wrappers (sold in produce section)

Mix everything but the wrappers and let sit at least a few minutes and up to 4-5 days.
I have substituted many of the veggies in this recipe, depending on what I have in the fridge.  As long as you stick to the ration of veggies to other ingredients, it doesn't really matter.  Try adding peppers, sprouts, baby corn, or meat/shrimp.  You could also sustitute or leave out the nuts, I happen to like them with peanuts!

While your oil is heating (I use a small pan and fill about 1 inch with oil), assemble the rolls.  Start by laying a wrapper with a corner facing you and place a few spoonfulls of the filling on it.

Then fold that corner up and the sides in so it looks like a purse.

Then, trying to get out as much air as possible, roll up the rest of the way.

Fry in hot oil about 1-2 minutes per side. The time may differ depending on the heat of your oil. You know the oil is ready when you put a little something in it (I use a carrot from the filling) and it bubbles gently. If it's not hot enough, it may end up greasy and if it's too hot, it may burn. Don't be afraid to expiriment, it's not rocket science!!


Don't forget to flip them!

And serve with a side of sweet and sour sauce. I use the kind out of the jar, but you can make your own, too.

BBQ Chicken Recipe

I made a delicious oven BBQ chicken platter yesterday for a party I was hosting.  It was cheap, easy, and everyone loved it.  I should have taken pics but I was too busy, but I'll share the recipe with you anyway!

I decided on making this particular entree because I got WONDERFUL looking chicken thighs on sale at Sam's Club for $.99 a lb.  Each thigh (with bone) is about 1/2 lb.

Chicken Thighs (with bone and skin)
BBQ sauce

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees
-Place skin side up on a cookie sheet lined with foil
- Brush generously with BBQ sauce
-Cook for 20 mins
-Pull out of oven, flip, and cover the other side generously with sauce
-Cook for 20 mins
-Pull out of oven, flip, and cover with more sauce
-Cook for 20 mins or until chicken is done and juices run clear                                                                                                       

Pork Chops and Pineapple Salsa

This has become one of our favorite meals this summer.  It is EASY and delicious.

Start with some nice pork chops, salt and pepper them and throw them on the grill.  About halfway through is the perfect time to put any other veggies on the grill to serve as a side, we like asparagus with this meal.



Pineapple Salsa:
1/2 of a fresh pineapple, diced into very small squares
1/8 of an onion, diced small (more or less depending on your tastes)
1/3 jalapeno (more or less depending on your tastes)
3 T fresh parsley, diced
a splash of olive oil
a few splashes of vinegar (rice wine is my fave)
1/2 t poppy seeds
salt

This salsa is really best if it's made ahead of time, even 24 hours in advance.  It's also really easy to adjust the recipe to your tastes or to what you have in the pantry.  I use parley instead of cilantro because my husband prefers it AND I have wonderful parsley growing in my garden right now.  The poppy seeds could be eliminated or replaced with another herb/seed you have in the house...you are only limited by your imagination!

I usually serve this with lemony cous-cous.  I follow the directions on the container of cous-cous as far as ratio of water to grains.  When it is finished, I add a few teaspoons of chopped parsley, salt, and lemon zest (from 1/2 to 1 whole lemon).

Delicious!

What's For Dinner

I made a pot of soup the other day that was really delicious and was made from "stuff" laying around.  I'll list my "recipe" but I don't really expect anyone to follow it exactly.  The idea is, you put in what you have and use up all the bits and pieces from your freezer/fridge/pantry! I served it with a cornbread mix I got for free at Bi-Lo (I threw in a handful of cheddar cheese and it was quite tasty).

1 large carton chicken broth
1 can tomatoes
a few carrots
one onion
a stalk of celery
handful of Lima beans from freezer

half a can of corn
bay leaf
pinch of thyme
1 t salt
1 t McCormick Montreal seasoning (it needed something when it was done)

-Cook all these ingredients together 30-45 minutes, then add

1 can navy beans
12 meatballs from the freezer
handful of WW egg noodles

-simmer another 20 minutes

I could eat soup everyday, and the great thing is that it's pretty healthy if you make it right!!

Creamy Chicken Pockets

Creamy Chicken Pockets

1 Cup diced, cooked chicken breasts
3 oz softened cream cheese
1 t grated onion
minced garlic clove
1/2 t parsley (fresh or dried)
splash of milk
salt/pepper
-------------------------------
2 T  bread crumbs (I often add smoked paprika to this)
1 T melted butter
1/2 packet of crescent rolls (4 rolls)

*This recipe will make 2 packets, you can double to make four allowing you to use the whole can of crescent rolls




Mix the first 7 ingredients together to make filling.
Press 2  rolls into a rectangle  and place half of the chicken mixture in the center. 
Fold the rolls over and seal. I always end up making mine the shape of a large thick hamburger.



Brush the pocket with butter and coat with bread crumbs.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.



Here are our "fancy" sides we had with it! 



*To freeze this recipe, put the chicken mixture in a bag and label, freeze the can of crescent rolls as is, and (if you want) freeze the bread crumbs in a separate bag.
*On dinner morning thaw, and assemble that evening.
*I don't find it necessary to freeze the breadcrumbs because they keep year round in the refrigerator.  I also use the 4 leftover rolls for something else, because as a family of 2, we don't really want to eat the same meal twice in a row. I do double the chicken recipe and use it later with a fresh can of crescents, though!

*This recipe is adapted from Once-a-Month Cooking by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg.  I found that the original recipe needed a little spicing and creaming up.

Apple Dip

I'm sure this recipe has been around forever, but if you don't know about it...you need to try it!  Easy, Yummy, Cheap: my kind of recipe. I've got a drawer full of cream cheese thanks to the Kraft coupon a few weeks ago, so this recipe was basically free for me to make.



Apple Dip

1 bar Cream Cheese-softened
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 t vanilla
1/8 cup chopped peanuts (optional) this is also good with toffee chips instead of nuts or plain with no "add-ins"

Mix everything together and let set in the fridge for a few hours for the sugar to disolve.  Serve with chopped up apples...awesome!!! This tastes like creamy caramel dip.

Easy Layered Egg Bake

Here is a recipe that was introduced to our family by our Spanish exchange student in 1996.  It has been made MANY times since then and we all really enjoy it.  I find that it makes a good breakfast or lunch option (great for company because it is make ahead) and is even a good appetiser for parties. 



For many years, we've used a store bought pie crust, Kraft yellow and white slices, and ham lunch meat in a perfect rectangle.  This is wonderful, but today I used a homemade pie crust and "fancy" ham lunch meat because that was what I had and it was just as good, if not better.  The Kraft coupon deal has my cheese drawer stuffed and Bi Lo had their whipping cream BOGO, so this recipe was on the brain! I'd love to try it with "real" cheese as well as the rest of the ingredients, so I may try that again soon.

Easy Layered Egg Bake (will always be known as the "Ana cheesy egg thing" by my family!)

1 pie crust, homemade or store bought
9 slices of yellow cheese (singles)
9 slices of white cheese
1 small package of ham lunch meat
3 eggs
1/2 pint whipping cream

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees

-Press crust into a 9x13 ungreased pan, only coming up the side maybe 1/2 inch or less



-Layer all of the yellow cheese on top




-Top with 2 layers of ham



-Layer all of the white cheese




-Mix the cream and eggs together and pour over the top.




-Bake about 40-45 minutes uncovered.  It will get a few bubbles in it and they may turn
brown, but will still taste and look  delicious. Best when served cold!

Beefy Rhinlander Stew

For some reason, I've been dying to try some lentil recipes, and I also had a few pounds of stew meat in the freezer that was calling my name.  That's how this recipe came about.  I started by using the base from this recipe. But my additions made it something completely different.  My husband truly couldn't shut up about how delicious this was.  He insisted that it tasted like his mom's bean from "back in the day" but I didn't really think pinto beans when I had this...I thought more like the best most interesting beef stew ever.


Beefy Rhinlander Stew
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb stew meat, cut into small chunks
5 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped cabbage
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
48 oz beef stock
32 oz water
8 cloves of roasted garlic (optional, I just added cuz they were left over...very good tho)
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground pepper
1 cup dry lentils
1 cup potatoes, diced

• brown stew meat in oil, and set aside
• add bacon to the oil and fry about 5 minutes until it begins to get crispy, then add carrots, onions, and cabbage, saute an additional 4-5 minutes
• stir in flour, stirring and mixing over heat at least one minute
• then add broth/water and stir to mix.  Add meat, lentils, and seasonings (everything but the potatoes) and cook over low heat about 2 hours.  Stir frequently to prevent scorching.  You may add more water if you prefer a thinner base. 
• after 2 hours, add potatoes and cook an additional 45 minutes

I served this with garlic knots, and they were awesome.  I over-cooked at least a minute, but they were still awesome.

swiss steak

I found the swiss steak recipe somewhere online but can't remember the link. I"ll post it here but don't take credit for it...it is awesome.

Swiss Steak Freezer Recipe
2 lbs round steak, ½" thick cut
¼ cup flour
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 tbsp oil
½ cup green pepper, minced
1 ¼ cup onion, minced
1 16-oz can tomatoes
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
Cut steak into 8 individual pieces, using a fork to pierce each side of each piece. In a small bowl, combine flour, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Top one side of the steak pieces with half this mixture, then use a meat mallet to pound the flour mixture into the steak. Flip the pieces over and repeat.
In large skillet, heat oil and brown meat for about 15 minutes, turning frequently. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover skillet and allow to simmer for 1 hour, adding small amounts of water as needed.
In a separate bowl, combine green pepper, onion, tomatoes, salt and ¼ tsp pepper, mixing well. Add to skillet, cover and simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Divide skillet contents in half (including tomato sauce mixture), and place in 8x8 freezer containers - foil is best so you can reheat right in container. Allow to cool, seal and label with cooking instructions.
On cooking day: Remove from freezer while oven is preheating to 400F. Remove lid and bake for 30-40 minutes or until steak is tender. Serve with rice or noodles.

This recipe is awesome! I had to separtate it into two large frying pans, and then into two 9x9 square pans to freeze and it was perfect for two people. We both ate a full meal adding potatoes or pasta and a veggie) and had a leftover serving for lundh the next day! Then, there was another pan left for another meal.

Falafel

*not my picture-mine looks WAY messier than
this but tastes wonderful, I'll take a pic this
weekend and replace*

Falafel has turned out to be one of my favorite meals. It's cheap, simple, delicious, nutritious and meat-free. Here's how I do it.

I buy falafel mix in the box (picture a box of rice-a-roni or potatoes). You can find this for sure at a health food store, but I also get it in the "International" aisle at Food Lion, Bi-Lo (sometimes) and Ingles. A box is about $3.50 and I can get about 5 single size servings out of it. It's super easy. You measure out how much mix you want (it's powdered) and add water according to box directions. Then you wait 10 minutes for the water to absorb. As you're waiting, heat some oil for frying on the stove. After about ten minutes, form the mixture into small balls (think 2 Tablespoons) and fry a few minutes on each side (could be quicker if oil is VERY hot).

I serve this two ways.

1) as a sandwich (serve inside a pita pocket with tomatoes, lettuce, onion and tatziki sauce

2) as an entree (serve balls alone with a tomato/onion/cucumber salad and tatziki sauce over the falafel. Pita chips and hummus make an excellent side for this as well.

I make my own tatziki, but it is available in most deli sections by the hummus.

Here's how I do it:

1 6 oz container of Greek Yogurt (has to be real gk yogurt: cost $1)
1 t olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1 clove minced garlic
1/3 C diced cucumber
salt

I don't really measure because as long as you are close to the measurements it will be fine. Just mix up and let sit in the fridge at least 30-45 minutes to let the flavors marry!

*** You can bake falafel in the oven, but the texture is not the same as frying...it still tastes wonderful.

***You can save the raw mixture in the fridge to fry another day, or fry all of it and warm it up as needed, I do both depending on if I want to be done frying or not!

Sliders and stuffed figs

I impressed the heck out of myself yesterday! I spent Thursday canning 16 lbs of tomatoes...I made a delicious tomato jam. After everything had been canned, I had about 1/2 C left and I was DYING to use it on something.

So I bought some hard dinner rolls, pulled some hamburger out of the freezer, and made sliders for dinner. My husband was excited because it a) was something different and b) made him feel like he was at the bar even though we weren't!

So I combined about 3/4 lb of hamburger with about 2 T dill relish, shaped into patties, and grilled on the George Foreman. I toasted the split buns on the stove with some butter. To put them together, I topped the patties with a huge dollop of tomato jam.

On the side, I made some fresh figs, stuffed with feta cheese and wrapped in bacon. OMG! So good. Basically, you can wrap anything in bacon and it will be awesome, but take my word for it...you have to try it.

I recently discovered fresh figs, and bought these on a whim. I just halved 6 medium sized figs, and stuffed them with about 1/2-1 t feta cheese. Then I wrapped them in a half of a piece of bacon and secured with a toothpick.

I baked them in a 375 degree oven for about 1/2 hour and they were perfect.

I was concerned that the cheese would run a bit, but they were beautiful. Only one fig half sort of shimmies out of the bacon, and that was because of poor toothpick placement on my part!



So if you have an abundance of fresh figs and tomato jam like I did yesterday...now you know what to make!

Baby Bella Cream of Mushroom

I adapted this recipe from "Appetizers Finger Food Buffets & Parties" by Bridget Jones. my version was DELICIOUS and tasted like cream of mushroom soup SHOULD taste!!

Baby Bella Cream of Mushroom Soup



1 T butter/margarine
1 Vidalia Onion-diced
1 garlic clove-minced
2 8 oz pkg of baby bella mushrooms, washed and quartered
1 T flour
3 T cooking sherry
3 3/4 C vegetable stock (I like Penzey's soup base)
3/4 C heavy cream
salt and pepper

In a large soup pot melt the butter and saute the onions and garlic about 5 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and cook on med-low covered about 10-15 minutes more.

Add broth and sherry, boil, and lower temp, then simmer about 15 minutes.

Puree mixture. I used an immersion blender and had a "chunky" texture that I enjoyed, but you could do more or less depending on your desired consistency.

Add salt, pepper, and cream. Stir and serve.

My cookbooks recipe served it with a goat's cheese crostini topped with a single stuffed mushroom and some fresh herbs. This looked and sounded fantastic, but since I made and ate the soup in my PJ's, the pomp and circumstance was unnecessary...maybe for a dinner party?

A quarter of this recipe has about 245 calories, 17 grams of fat, and 12 carbs.

breakfast bacon/egg muffins

Well, I tried it. One of my favorite "vessels" is an English Muffin. Especially when tomatoes are in season, I go through a ton. As a kid we made mini pizzas and as an adult I love fresh tomato, maybe bacon, and cheese all melted on top.

So when I saw the suggestion for these I was very curious.

So thanks to BOGO Natures Own muffins and price locked bacon from BiLo, I was able to make 12 delicious breakfasts for $11.00.

Here is the link that gave me the idea.
http://busycooks.about.com/od/breakfastmaindishes/r/eggmuffinsandwi.htm

And this is the way I did it.

12 WW English Muffins
12 eggs, scrambled in a little Pam olive oil and a little seasoning salt
12 pieces of bacon, cooked and halved
6 slices of cheese

-All you have to do is assemble each sandwich, wrap tightly in wax paper and freeze.

Today was my first attempt at defrosting and it went pretty well, although I'll keep experimenting and find a better way. I started by using the defrost button, but then got antsy. After 2 minutes defrosting it was still cold in the middle (better than cooked to death, though) so I nuked it on high with the top off for another 45 seconds. It worked great, but next time, I'm going to try the defrost method for a little longer.  I've found if I'm patient, defrosting on lvl 5 for about 7 minutes is perfect!

One serving: 240 calories, 26.5 carbs and 3 g fiber.

Jambalaya

Well, Ingles has their Eckrich smokey breakfast links on sale BOGO for 2.48, and I had two coupons for $.55 off, so a $.69 package of sausage inspired this dinner. I also splurged and spent $5.00 on shrimp, but it felt like a deal because I had all the other ingredients in my pantry. I'm sure this would be WAY more authentic with andouille sausage and all that...but hey...I grew up in Michigan!



Jambalaya

2 T olive oil
1 pkg of smoked sausage (links, little smokeys, whatever) cut into bite-sized pieces if needed
2 medium onions diced finely
1 small green pepper diced

1/2 C diced carrots (supposed to be with celery but my husband won't eat it)
2 can's diced tomatoes-do not drain
1/4 C water
3 cloves of garlic
2 T Zatarains Cajun Seasoning (use more or less to adjust the hotness)
3/4 C white rice
1/2 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
Optional: Fresh Parsley

-Heat a large pot and brown sausages in the olive oil for a few minutes. Remove and set aside.
-Add rice and spice to the oil in the pan and saute a few minutes to give it some color. Then add veggies and water, cover, and simmer on low about 20 minutes. You can occasionally shake the pan to help keep it from sticking.
-After 20 minutes, stir well and add the sausage and shrimp into the rice mixture. Cover and simmer on low heat about five more minutes. Hit with the minced parsley at this point if you've got it and enjoy.



I entered this recipe into my livestrong dailyplate "create a meal" and this is the info I got(although I did save out two of the breakfast links for my husbands breakfast tomorrow...so this is for 10 sausage links). I took 1/4 of the pot and for about 440 calories...I was stuffed and satisfied!

This is for THE WHOLE POT: you can do your own math depending on how much you eat.

Calories: 1768
Fat: 93
Carbs: 184
Fiber: 15
Protein: 59