Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

This is a good vegetarian dish, or a side dish as I would make it. You could even make mushroom burgers with these by putting them on a hamburger bun. I suggest cooking these up if you are planning any BBQ parties. That way you can have something to serve your non-meat eating friends as well as the meat eaters.

Servings: 3

Ingredients:

3 portobello mushrooms

1/4 cup canola oil

3 tablespoons chopped onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Clean mushrooms and remove stems, reserve for other use. Place caps on a plate with the gills up.

In a small bowl, combine the oil, onion, garlic and vinegar. Pour mixture evenly over the mushroom caps and let stand for 1 hour.

Grill over hot grill for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Quick and Easy Goulash

This is a simple goulash recipe. A few ingredients making it a fairly cheap dinner. Garlic bread is good to make as a side with this dish. I suggest using 2 jars or 2 cans of spaghetti sauce though.

Servings: 4


Ingredients:

1 (12 ounce) package elbow noodles
seasoned salt, to taste
1 pound lean ground beef
1 (26 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp chopped garlic
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add elbow noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
In a skillet over medium heat, season with seasoning salt and brown the beef; drain.
Heat through over medium heat, the beef, spaghetti sauce, corn, chopped onion, garlic and cheese. Combine with cooked elbow noodles when heated and serve.

Bake Sale Lemon Bars

This is a dessert recipe made for a bake sale. I have read that adding lemon rind to anything with lemon juice will add tartness to the recipe. It doesn't seem very expensive to make. My mom really likes lemon bars so I am thinking about trying these out soon. I actually thought these might be good to freeze and reheat in the microwave later.

Servings: 36


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Combine the flour, 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, and butter. Pat dough into prepared pan.
Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until slightly golden. While the crust is baking, whisk together eggs, white sugar, flour, lemon juice until frothy. Pour this lemon mixture over the hot crust.
Return to the preheated oven for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Cut into squares.

Jalapeno Poppers

I've been making my own jalapeno poppers for years. I have tried many different batters, from boxed fish and onion ring batters to my own home made batters. I've filled them with cream cheese only, adding cheddar cheese and bacon only a couple of times. I have not tried this recipe yet, but will try it out next time I make them. It sounds really good. Just make sure you use gloves to deseed the peppers. Deseeding them does diminish some the heat, so if you choose, you can use Pepper Jack cheese or add some of the seeds to the cream cheese mixture to make them hotter.

Servings: 10


Ingredients:

12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon bacon bits
12 ounces jalapeno peppers, slice down side and deseeded
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dry bread crumbs
2 quarts oil for frying

Directions: 
In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, Cheddar cheese and bacon bits. Spoon this mixture into the jalapeno peppers.
Put the milk and flour into two separate small bowls. Dip the stuffed jalapenos first into the milk then into the flour, making sure they are well coated with each. Allow the coated jalapenos to dry for about 10 minutes.
Dip the jalapenos in milk again and roll them through the breadcrumbs. Allow them to dry, then repeat to ensure the entire surface of the jalapeno is coated.
In a medium skillet, heat the oil to 365 degrees F ( 180 degrees C). Deep fry the coated jalapenos 3 to 4 minutes each, until golden brown. Remove and let drain on a paper towel.

Cabbage Balushka

This is a good cheap vegetarian dish. If you are not vegetarian, you can add some bacon to the recipe. I would lower the heat to low and simmer the cabbage for a little while longer. I'm sure this recipe would cook well in the slow cooker. Just add all the ingredients except egg noodles and cook on low 6-7 hrs or high 4-5 hours. Then mix in cooked egg noodles before serving. I would suggest adding about a quarter to a half teaspoon of celery seed to this recipe

Servings: 6

Ingredients: 

1 (16 ounce) package egg noodles
1/2 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 head cabbage, cored and chopped
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions: 

Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil. Stir in egg noodles and return to a boil. Cook noodles uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender but still slightly firm, about 5 minutes. Drain well.
Melt butter in a large skillet or wok over medium heat; cook and stir onion until browned, about 8 minutes.
Cook and stir cabbage into onions until cabbage has wilted, another 5 to 8 minutes.
Gently stir cooked noodles into cabbage mixture; season with salt and black pepper to taste.

Tuna Pizza

I found this inexpensive recipe for tuna. It sounds like a good use to get fish into your diet. You can of course use fresh tuna or even fresh or canned salmon instead. Pizza is a versatile meal and you can add basically any ingredients you would like.

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (14 ounce) package pre-baked pizza crust

1 (5 ounce) can tuna, drained and flaked

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Spread the softened cream cheese on the pre-baked crust. Sprinkle the tuna and onions over the pizza; then top with shredded mozzarella cheese and optional red pepper flakes. Bake in preheated oven until the cheese has melted and started to brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

BBQ Chicken Wings

This is a more kid-friendly wing recipe than the last one I posted. And very simple to make too. I would season the chicken in the recipe before cooking though. Actually, I might just use the sauce for the last recipe and the cooking process from this recipe to make two separate batches of wings. That's part of the joy of cooking, being able to combine different recipes to make your own.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lb. chicken wings
1 cup barbecue sauce


Directions:

HEAT oven to 450°F. CUT wings at joints; discard tip sections. PLACE chicken in 15x10x1-inch pan. BAKE 35 min.; drain. Brush with sauce; bake 10 min. or until done.

Restaurant-Style Buffalo Chicken Wings

I am going to try these out soon. Don't think that this is something the kids would like though. I will post a barbecue wings recipe for them.

Servings: 5


Ingredients:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 chicken wings
oil for deep frying
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup hot sauce
1 dash ground black pepper
1 dash garlic powder

Directions:

In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Place chicken wings in a large nonporous glass dish or bowl and sprinkle flour mixture over them until they are evenly coated. Cover dish or bowl and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes.

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). The oil should be just enough to cover wings entirely, an inch or so deep. Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and reserve for serving.

Fry coated wings in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until parts of wings begin to turn brown. Remove from heat, place wings in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together. Serve.

Swedish Meatballs

This is a recipe that I made up myself for Swedish meatballs. I used what I had on hand and it turned out really good. I will never make it any other way again.

Servings: 6


Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs (2 slices)
1/4 cup dried parsley flakes
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp chopped garlic
half an onion, chopped
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
1 package of egg noodles


For Sauce:
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can of milk
1 Tbs dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce 
1 Tbs butter or margarine
salt and pepper, to taste


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs, 1/4 c. dried parsley flakes, 1/4 c. milk, chopped garlic, onion, 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper. Roll beef mixture into 1 and half inch balls. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. In a large pot, cook egg noodles according to package and drain.


Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, whisk together cream of mushroom soup, can of milk, 1 Tbs parsley flakes, garlic powder, 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce, butter or margarine, and salt and pepper. Heat over medium heat until heated thoroughly. Add meatballs when they are done, continue to heat sauce until bubbly. Pour over cooked egg noodles. Toss to mix well and serve.

Easy Mexican Casserole

I found this recipe online and thought it sounded pretty good. I am thinking about using black beans, drained and rinsed of course. I will probably add a few other spices. Maybe some chili powder, paprika, and/or garlic. 

Servings: 6

Ingredients: 
1 pound lean ground beef
2 cups salsa
1 (16 oz.) can chili beans, drained
3 cups torilla chips, crushed
2 cups sour cream
1 (2 oz) can sliced black olives, drained
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese


Directions:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Stir in salsa, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in beans, and heat through. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread crushed tortilla chips in dish, and then spoon beef mixture over chips. Spread sour cream over beef, and sprinkle olives, green onion, and tomato over the sour cream. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake in preheated over for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.