Sausage and Peppers

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4 to 6

My mother-in-law taught me this recipe. I made a few small changes to it, though.

1 to 1 1/2 pounds Italian sausage
1 Tbsp olive oil, optional
1 large onion, cut in 1/2-inch wedges
2 bell peppers (red and/or green), cut in 1/2-inch strips
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Pierce sausages with a fork. Cook either in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour (turn once) or cook in a preheated frying pan over medium-low heat, turning occasionally until medium brown. Remove sausage to a plate. Using 1 Tbsp sausage drippings or olive oil, saute onion, peppers, and garlic in same frying pan over medium-high heat until tender-crisp.

Meanwhile, slice sausage diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces. Add tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and sausage to pepper mixture and cook until heated through. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Variation: Serve over hot cooked pasta or rolls.

To make a freezer meal: Cook the sausage in the oven, then let them cool, slice them and freeze them in labeled quart-size freezer bags. Then, cut the peppers and onions and put them in another freezer bag and freeze them. Then, on cooking day, follow the recipe without thawing anything and add the tomatoes and seasonings! So easy!

Bowties with Chicken and Bacon

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, Whitney. It's delicious (therefore not so healthy), even my picky eaters love it! Here's the recipe as given to me:

1 box bowtie (Farfalle) pasta
2 to 3 chicken breasts, depending on size
4 to 6 strips bacon
1 stick butter
1/4 cup dried basil
2 cloves garlic

Cook pasta according to box. Meanwhile, cook bacon until a little overcooked. You want it to be crisp. Dump out grease, but don't wash pan. Cook chicken and let cool. Cut chicken into chunks. Dump out grease, but don't wash pan. Melt butter and cook garlic. Add dried basil. Put bacon in a plastic bag and crush into bits. Combine everything in a large serving bowl. Serve warm topped with Parmesan cheese.


This is what I do when I'm in a hurry (almost always!):

1 box bowtie (Farfalle) pasta
1 cup frozen vegetables (such as broccoli, peas, or chopped spinach), optional
1 stick butter
1/2 cup precooked bacon pieces*
1 tsp dried minced garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 can (13 oz.) chicken, drained
1/4 cup dried basil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Put frozen vegetables in a colander in the sink. Drain pasta over vegetables. Lower heat to medium-low and add butter, bacon, and garlic (if using garlic powder, add with the basil). When butter is melted add the chicken, basil, salt, pepper, and pasta. Remove from heat and stir. Serve immediately topped with Parmesan cheese.

*I found a big bag of precooked bacon pieces in the refrigerator section at Sam's Club. When I got home, I put 1/2 cup bacon into labeled snack-size ziplock bags, then put all of the bags in a large freezer bag and put it in the freezer. Now when I need crumbled bacon, I just grab a bag and heat it in a skillet or microwave it just to crisp it up. So easy!!


Serve with garlic bread and a green salad.

Tex-Mex Chicken & Rice Soup

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 8

8 cups water
2 Tbsp dried minced garlic
1/2 cup dried chopped onion
1 cup uncooked white rice
1/2 cup chicken gravy mix
1/2 cup water
1 to 2 (13 oz each) cans chicken*, flaked
1 can kidney beans
1 can Rotel tomatoes or diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup frozen corn (or 1/2 cup canned corn)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or 2 to 4 Tbsp dried cilantro, crushed between palms)

Put water in a large pot and turn on high heat. Add garlic, onion, and rice and bring to a boil. Mix gravy mix and water together in a small bowl or cup and add slowly to soup while stirring. Simmer 15 minutes, then add chicken, beans, tomatoes, and sugar. Cook until rice is tender; remove from heat and add corn and cilantro; stir. Serve immediately. Serves 6 to 8.

Topping ideas: shredded cheddar, sour cream, crumbled tortilla chips

Side dish ideas: tossed salad, Ritz crackers topped with cream cheese and salsa, cornbread...

*I used 1 1/2 cans of chicken

Almost all measurements are approximate (except cans and rice). For a spicier version, add some hot sauce or cayenne pepper.

Grilled Eggplant

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4 to 6

I found this recipe online, but can't find it anymore, so here's how I remember - and how I have changed it:

1 large eggplant, cut in 1/2" slices
Kosher salt (or table salt)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 garlic clove, minced

Sprinkle salt on both sides of each slice and let sit for 15 minutes; rinse off salt. Heat grill over medium-high heat or turn oven on broil. Mix together vinegar, oil, seasoning, and garlic; brush on both sides of each slice of eggplant. Grill or broil 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Serve immediately.

The kids keep wanting to buy eggplant so they can have this. They love it!

No-Bake Chocolate Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Makes: About 4 dozen 2-inch cookies


One of my favorite cookies, but horribly addictive.

Lay out 2 to 3 feet aluminum foil on the counter.

Mix together in a large pot:
4 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Mix in:
1 cup milk

Start heating on high, then add:
2 sticks margarine (do not substitute)

Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 2 full minutes. Remove from heat and add:
1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
5 cups quick oats (do not substitute)

Quickly drop by teaspoonfuls onto foil. Wait for cookies to completely set up, then remove and store in an airtight container.

One of my favorite ways to eat these are to crumble 2 or 3 cookies in a cup of milk and eat it with a spoon.

This is a cookie that Christian constantly requests.

Spanish Rice and Beans

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4-6


This is a recipe that my mother-in-law taught me and I have made it the way I remember, which is probably not the way she makes it. It also happens to be one of Michael's absolute favorite meals.

2 cans kidney beans, undrained
1/4 cup sofrito
15 to 20 Spanish green olives with juice (adjust to taste)
1 envelope Sazón Goya con culantro y achiote
1 pkg sabor a jamón de cocinar (ham flavored concentrate), opt
1 (8oz) can Goya tomato sauce
1 Tbsp capers, opt
Enough water to make it saucy

2 cups uncooked rice

Start cooking rice first according to package directions and when it is done, the beans should be too. Put all ingredients except rice in a medium saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve immediately over hot cooked rice. Serves 6 to 8.

Serve with a tossed green salad, sliced avocado, mango, and/or tostones.
I also like to serve this as a side dish with center cut pork chops that are seasoned with Adobo, then fried over medium heat until cooked through.

If you don't use Sofrito very often, freeze it in small portions in small resealable bags.

Variations:
Add chopped roasted red peppers, to taste
Add a cup or two cubed potatoes or cubed pumpkin or butternut squash and cook until soft

Fiberlicious Tacos

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Serves: About 4

I made tacos last night and they were so good! We haven't had tacos in so long. I asked Michael to pick up salsa, tomatoes, taco shells, and taco seasoning. He came home with one of those taco dinner kits, extra salsa, and tomatoes. I married a smart man...

When I buy ground beef, I buy it in bulk, then usually cook it that day in about 1/4 cup of water so that it breaks up nicely, then drain it. I put 1 pound of ground beef in a quart-size resealable freezer bag, squeeze out all the air and flatten it. Then I freeze them and so have ready-to-go cooked ground beef.

The recipe on the back of the taco seasoning packet calls for 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef so I nuked one package (1 lb) of ground beef for 2 minutes. I put it in a frying pan with the 1 cup of water and the taco seasoning, then added 2 cans of kidney beans.

We also toasted the taco shells for 4 minutes at 350F like the box said.

We ate them with the usual: Romaine lettuce, chopped tomatoes, shredded cheddar cheese, black olives, salsa, and sour cream.

The beans added really nice texture and flavor that was quite unexpected. AND, it was great that I got my kids who usually don't like to eat beans to eat them. I think they love tacos too much to pass them up!

Gourmet Wheat Pizza

Prep Time: 30 to 45 minutes
Dough makes one crust
Sauce will cover about 3 pizzas


Dough:
1 1/3 cups warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups ground hard white wheat or whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder, optional
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, optional
1 Tbsp yeast

Put all ingredients into bread machine and mix on dough cycle. Add extra flour if needed and remove from pan without letting it rise (it doesn't need to).

Preheat oven to 425F.

For sauce, pulse in a blender:
1 cup crushed tomatoes
2 pieces roasted red pepper (2 small peppers), optional
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder

Sprinkle pizza pan with cornmeal. Flatten dough on pizza pan using fingertips and palms until it's almost as big as the pizza pan. Make a rim on the edges of the pizza dough to keep the sauce and cheese on the dough. Spread sauce on dough and sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese. Use any toppings of your choice. I also like to sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly with deep golden brown edges.

For toppings try any of these: pepperoni, Italian sausage, onions, peppers, sliced zucchini, sliced tomatoes, Canadian bacon, meatballs, pineapple, black olives, grated carrots, sliced roasted red peppers, etc...

For a white pizza, eliminate sauce and try: cooked shredded chicken, ricotta cheese, spinach, caramelized onions, and shredded mozzarella

ABC Chicken Soup

Prep Time: 2 hours
Serves: 4 to 6


Leftover Rotisserie Chicken
6 cups water
1 1/2 cups ABC Soup Mix
1 cube Knorr chicken bouillon
2 cups mixed vegetables (try mixing and matching these: cubed zucchini, chopped carrots, chopped celery, chopped onions, chopped bell pepper, mushrooms, corn, peas*)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp dried parsely

Cook chicken in water for about an hour. Remove chicken and add soup mix and bouillon to water; cook covered for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, remove bones and skin from chicken; cube and prepare vegetables. Add vegetables, pepper, and chicken to soup mixture. Cook 30 more minutes, or until split peas are fully cooked. Add parsley and serve. Serves 6.

We put shredded cheddar cheese on top. Yum!

*I used some fresh, some frozen and some dried vegetables. Just remember to add extra water if you use any dried veggies.