Pasta Salad

This salad is full of veggies. With a little pepperoni and ham kick mixed in. And when you are in the mood for savory...this hits the spot, with little guilt thanks to all our garden friends. Just don't think about the dressing. Wink.

Pasta Salad
1-2 boxes of corkscrew pasta (Sometimes I will mix different shapes for fun)
1 bottle of Kraft Tuscan House Italian, or your fav Italian dressing
1 package thinly sliced ham cut into small strips
handful of pepperoni cut into small strips
1 cucumber cubed
carrots
head of broccoli
1/2 head of cauliflower
red pepper
can of medium black olives
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Cook and cool pasta, add a small tidge of olive oil to prevent from sticking while cooling.
Cut all veggies into uniform bite size pieces and add to pasta. Add olives, parmesan cheese,ham, pepperoni and the bottle of dressing.
Salt and pepper and mix and chill.
You can add whatever else you'd like, i.e. cherry tomatoes, red onion, pine nuts and so on.

Bowtie Chicken Caesar Salad

This is my go to salad when I'm feeling salady. Its a combo of my favorite salads and dressings. You can make it your own and add what you want. But don't skimp on the dressings. I'm telling you, home made is best.

Bow tie Chicken Caesar Salad
2 head romaine lettuce chopped
2 chicken breasts grilled and sliced
1 box of bow tie pasta cooked and cooled
sliced carrots
cucumber cubed
cherry tomatoes
sliced avocado
1 can drained and sliced hearts of palm, (can be found in specialty aisle and so delicious)
yellow peppers
Parmesan cheese

**anything else that sounds good**

Toss all together and serve with creamy Caesar and balsamic vinaigrette. And of course fresh bread. Tonight's case was buttermilk biscuits and strawberry jam.

Balsamic Dressing
1 c. olive oil
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
tad of oregano or basil
Blend at full speed in blender or food processor

Creamy Caesar
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 pressed or minced garlic cloves
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1-2 tsp sugar
1-2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
Blend at full speed in blender or food processor

Chicken Pecan

Stuffing my face with oatmeal pecan chocolate chip cookies this afternoon, I noticed this recipe on the back of the pecan package. Maybe it was my must eat salty after sweet thing but holy moly, it spoke to me. I had every ingredient except the poultry seasoning and made it there and then. Delicious, and different. 2 thumbs up. (plus it reminded me of eating open face sandwiches on English muffins at Grams in younger years :)

Chicken Pecan
recipe courtesy Fishers Nuts

3 cups cooked chicken breasts cut into julienne strips (a leftover rotisserie chicken did the job)
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
2 cups milk
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Toasted English muffins

In saucepan melt butter. Add bouillon. Blend in flour and seasoning. Gradually add milk and lemon juice; stir constantly until thickened. Stir in celery, red pepper, chicken and pecans. Cook until heated through.
Spoon over toasted English muffins. Garnish with pecan halves.

Sunshine Chicken (don't know where the name came from)

This has been my "go-to" recipe for a few years when I want something a little more than regular baked chicken. I always have the ingredients on hand and it is so nice and juicy, but nothing extremely fancy.

3 pounds Chicken Thighs or Drumsticks (chicken breast would be good too!)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 pinch garlic powder

Remove skin from chicken and place in baking dish, meat side up. Baste the chicken with sauce, leaving some for basting while baking. Bake at 350°. Baste every 15 minutes for 1 hour until chicken is cooked through.

O'Henry Bars

These are SUPER fast and supper yummy! You can make them pretty if you want, but they taste the same no matter how they look!

1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup Peanut Butter
3 Cup Rice Crispies
1/2 bag Butterscotch Chips
1/2 bag Chocolate Chips (I like Milk Chocolate)
Optional: Peanuts

Bring the corn syrup and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and add the peanut butter, rice crispies, and peanuts (if wanted). Spread on the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Heat the butterscotch and chocolate chips (microwave or stove) and spread on top of the previous mixture in the pan. Let it sit for an hour to set. Enjoy!

Lasagne Casserole

Sorry about the picture....I'm still figuring out my new camera!

My boys love this...and I like it, because its super-quick, tastes like lasagna, and I get to just "throw" it all together without all the layering...!

Ingredients:

1 package mini lasagne noodles
1 lb. italian sausage or hamburger
1 can spaghetti sauce (whatever your fave kind is...)
1 small can italian stewed tomatoes
1 package pepperoni
1 small container ricotta
1-2 eggs
Grated Parmesean Cheese
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (or whatever flavor you prefer on top of your lasagne).


Preheat your oven to 350.

Boil your noodles....Drain and put into a large oven pan/dish.

Brown your sausage or hamburger then drain the fat. Add this to the noodles in your pan. Add your spaghetti sauce and stewed tomatoes. Mix everything thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, mix your ricotta cheese, 1-2 eggs and about 1/2 cup of the grated parmesean cheese. (add more if you like it)

Spread your ricotta cheese over your noodles/sauce mixture.

Add pepperoni - if you like it - or omit it.

Sprinkle cheese over the pepperoni.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

It's one of our family's favorites for dinner - AND it's even better the next day!!! :D

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

I couldn't remember if I had posted this recipe for you guys, but its worth repeating if I have.
ENJOY!!
Café Rio Sweet Pork
3-4 lbs pork roast or pork loin
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry ground mustard
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves
Sauce
1 (14 ounce) can enchilada sauce
3/4 cup Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper cola
1 cup brown sugar
Directions:
Cut pork in large chunks. Put in large crock pot and add water to about half way up the side of the pork. Add seasonings. Cut onion in 4 large pieces, crush garlic and add to crock pot. Cook pork on low all day (10-11 hours) or on high for 3 to 4 hours, or until tender and pork pulls apart easily. Drain water and remove onions and garlic. Shred pork and return to crock pot.
In a separate container mix the enchilada sauce, soda and sugar. Add sauce to pork in the crock pot. Cook 1 hour longer. (You can cook less at this point if you don't have time.).