Ratatouille

I've heard of ratatouille before... I don't know why I've never tried it, because I LOVE eggplant. Now that Disney has made Ratatouille famous, at least in our house, I thought I'd actually try to make it. I should have done this sooner ~ it is awesome!

8 strips of bacon (you can use more if you're a meat lover, but 8 slices is what I had in my fridge)
1 small onion, sliced
1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 large eggplant, sliced
2 medium zucchini, sliced
2 medium yellow squash, sliced
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
4 oz Parmesan cheese, shredded

Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from pan and let cool enough to crumble. Drain grease out of pan, but leave renderings.

In bacon pan, cook onion in the olive oil just until the onion starts to become translucent. Add garlic, bacon, diced tomatoes, tomato paste & salt. Simmer for a few minutes.

Spread 1/2 sauce in a 9x13 baking dish. Layer with eggplant, zucchini, squash & cheese. Repeat layers. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 1 hour or until hot and bubbly.

*I'm fairly confident you could freeze this because everything in it freezes really well. You could also easily make it a vegetarian dish by substituting the bacon with portabella mushroom. Or just take out the bacon and use only the tomato sauce.

Spaghetti Squash

I love squash... every kind of squash. But I'm never sure what to do with it, so I usually end up cooking it and eating it plain with as a side.
Ariel introduced me to this idea. The next time you make spaghetti, instead of using spaghetti noodles, try using spaghetti squash. Seriously ~ this is DELICIOUS!

Cabbage Rolls

Medium head of cabbage
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 Tbsp parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 small onion, chopped
15 oz tomato sauce, divided
15 oz diced tomatoes

Boil head of cabbage for 3-4 minutes, until leaves start to fall off. Peal off 10-12 leaves and cut the thick vein from the bottom. Set remaining cabbage aside.

Combine beef, pork, rice, parsley, salt, chili powder, onion, and 1/2 cup tomato sauce. Place about 1/4 cup meat mixture on each cabbage leaf, fold the sides in and roll completely.

Chop remaining cabbage. Place in the bottom of a 9x13 greased pan. Arrange cabbage rolls in pan seam side down.

Combine remainder of the tomato sauce & diced tomatoes. Pour over cabbage rolls.

Bake at 350 for 1.5 hours.

Mini Quiche

I love quiche... but we never eat the whole thing. So I decided to make little guys in my muffin pan. They turned out great! But we still didn't eat all of it...
Sorry the picture's a little fuzzy.

8 oz pre-made crescent dough (I used Pillsbury Crescent Creations)
4 oz cream cheese (softened)
1-2 Tbsp milk
2 eggs
8 oz cooked meat of your choice (I used spicy pork sausage)
2 Tbsp chopped onion (I used green onions)
2 Tbsp chopped vegetable of your choice (I used mushrooms)
Shredded cheese to sprinkle on top
Salsa

Beat cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add eggs, onion, and vegetables.

Roll out and cut the crescent dough into 12 pieces. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of greased muffin cups. Sprinkle meat into cups.

Pour egg mixture over meat.

Bake uncovered for 18-20 minutes at 375 or until a knife comes out clean.

Sprinkle cheese over top and let melt for the last 2 minutes or so.

Top with salsa and serve warm.

Oreo & Fudge Icecream Cake

This is a recipe I got just after my mother-in-law passed away. She had found it in a magazine, but I'm not sure which one so I don't know who to give credit to for this. But it's so yummy and easy to make.

1/2 c. fudge topping, warmed
1 8 oz. tub Cool Whip, thawed
1 pkg. (4 serving size) Jell-o chocolate instant pudding
8 Oreo cookies
12 ice cream sandwiches (any flavor you like)

Combine fudge topping with 1 cup Cool Whip with wire whisk until well blended. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 minutes or until well blended. It will be stiff, so if it is too thick to spread easily add 1/4 cup milk. Chop Oreo cookies into chunks and stir into pudding mixture.

Arrange 4 of the ice cream sandwiches on a large piece of foil. Top with half the pudding mixture. Repeat layers. Top pudding mixture with remaining 4 ice cream sandwiches. Frost the top and sides with the remaining whipped topping. Wrap with foil and loosely seal the packet. Freeze at least 4 hours before serving.

I made this for my husband's birthday and used mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches.

Marinated Steaks

My local grocery store was having a sale on selected meat: 5 packages for only $20. So we're having steaks for dinner tomorrow night. This is kind of a strange recipe because there aren't any specific quantities of the ingredients. This is the way my hubby likes to prepare steaks so I hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredient list:
Steaks
Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
garlic salt
1 can of Coke (you may need more than one if you're doing a large quantity of steaks.)

Place the steaks in a Tupperware bowl at least a couple inches deep. Keep in mind you'll need it big enough to work but small enough so that the steaks are covered as much as possible in the marinade. Splash a couple tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce on each steak and poke it several times with a fork (or a meat tenderizer if you have it). You want this meat tender and to be able to really soak up the marinade. Use your judgment on how much to use, but you will need to use quite a bit--maybe 1/4 cup per steak?? That's a rough estimate because I don't measure it before I put it in. Flip the steaks over and repeat. You may want to tenderize each side 2-3 times. Season with the salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste. For good measure I splashed another couple tablespoons of the Worcestershire sauce in the bowl until they steaks were about 1/2 or 3/4 covered. Pour some of the coke over the steaks until they are covered and marinate for at least 2-3 hours or overnight.

I apologize this isn't a very precise recipe but the combo of the Worcestershire sauce and the Coke is very good. I would probably recommend that you use more of the Worcestershire sauce than the Coke.

To go with this meal I'm going to try my friend Becky's recipe for corn on the cob. I want to make sure she gets complete credit for this recipe, so click HERE for the recipe. It sounds so yummy and I can't wait to try it. (And isn't her little girl just darling!)

Pancakes

This is a recipe out of my Betty Crocker Cookbook but these pancakes are so much better than Bisquick.

1 large egg
1 cup all purpose flour or whole wheat flour
3/4 cup milk
1 Tbsp. granulated or packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
butter

Beat egg in medium bowl with hand beater or fork until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients except butter just until smooth. For thinner pancakes, stir in additional 1-2 Tbsp. milk.

Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat or to 375 degrees. Grease griddle with butter if necessary. For each pancake, pour slightly less than 1/4 cup batter from cup or pitcher onto hot griddle. Cook pancake until bubbly on top, puffed and dry around edges. Turn and cook other side until golden brown.

Buttermilk pancakes: Substitute 1 cup buttermilk for the 3/4 cup milk. Decrease baking powder to 1 tsp. Add 1/2 tsp. baking soda.

Berry pancakes: Stir 1/2 cup fresh or frozen (thawed and well drained) blackberries, blueberries or raspberries into batter.

Crock Pot Cheesecake

Did you know you can make cheesecake in a crock pot? I sure didn't, but was thrilled to find out. I love the crock pot ~ throw it in and forget it. I saw Stephanie the Crock Pot Lady on Rachael Ray's talk show, and now have a ton of new recipe's to try. I tried this one first ~ and we loved it! In fact I'm making another one tomorrow!

Crust:
1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
2 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp melted butter

Cheesecake:
16 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp flour

You'll need to find a heat resistant baking dish that will fit inside your crock pot and allow 1-2 inches of water around the sides for a water bath. I had to 1/2 the recipe to get it to work in my crock pot (which is why I'm making more tomorrow).

Mix together the crust ingredients. Press into the bottom of your baking dish.

Mix all the cheesecake ingredients together with an electric mixer until well combined and creamy. Pour over graham cracker crust.

Pour 1/2-1 inches of water in the crock pot. Add your cheesecake, but be careful not to splash it with water.

Cook on high for 2-3 hours, but check it after an hour to make sure there's still plenty of water.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

1 can Cream of Chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
1 cup pace picante sauce or salsa
2 tsp. chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 cup shredded cheese
10 fajita size tortillas
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 green onion, sliced
1 can sliced olives

Mix soup, sour cream, salsa, and chili powder. Mix one cup of the mixture with chicken and cheese. Spread about 1/4 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in 3 qt. shallow baking dish. Pour remaining salsa mixture over enchiladas and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Sloppy Joe Casserole

8 oz. shell macaroni
1 envelope sloppy joe mix
1 1/2 lb. lean hamburger
8 oz. can tomato paste
15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 1/4 cup water
8 oz. cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Cook macaroni, drain. Brown hamburger. Add seasoning mix, tomato paste, tomato paste and water to hamburger. In 3 quart dish layer 1/2 macaroni, 1/2 cottage cheese and 1/2 meat sauce. Repeat. Top with cheddar cheese. Freeze at this point or bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. If frozen, either thaw before cooking or increase cooking time to 50-60 minutes.

Veggie Pasta Shells

24 jumbo pasta shells
10 oz. vegetable broth or water
1 carrot, shredded
1 potato, shredded
1 onion finely chopped
2 cups ricotta or cottage cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, optional
28 oz jar spaghetti sauce

Cook the jumbo pasta shells according to package directions. Rinse, drain and cool. In sauce pan heat broth or water to boiling. Stir in carrots, potatoes, and onions and cook 3-4 minutes until vegetables are tender. Drain vegetables well. Combine with ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses and egg. Add Italian seasoning. Fill each cooked pasta shell.

Freeze at this point. To cook, either defrost and follow the cooking directions below, or increase cooking time to 45-60 minutes.

Pour 1-2 cups spaghetti sauce on bottom of pan, place the filled shells in the dish, and cover with the remaining spaghetti sauce. Cook at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese.

Cheesy Potatoes

1 32 oz. package frozen hashbrowns
2 can Cream of Chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients and pour in a greased 9x13 dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. You can also let the casserole defrost for an hour or two before baking and decrease the baking time to 30-40 minutes.

Chicken Pot Pie

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, or 4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
2 cups mixed vegetables
2 refrigerated pie crusts

Boil or steam chicken until done. Dice (or shred the rotisserie chicken). Mix soup, mixed vegetables, and chicken. Place one of the pie crusts in a pie plate and pour the chicken mixture into the pie shell and cover with the second crust. Crimp the edges and make slits in top. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Chicken Roll-ups

3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded
1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 package crescent roll, at room temp.
garlic salt
sliced mushrooms, optional (fresh or canned; maybe around 2 small cans or a couple of cups fresh)
1/4-1/2 cup melted butter
approx. 1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
2/3 cup milk

Mix the shredded chicken with the cream cheese. Add garlic salt to taste and add mushrooms. Fill each crescent roll with the chicken mixture and fold the corners together and pinch the openings closed. Dip each roll in the melted butter then the bread crumbs. At this point you can freeze the rolls, or continue on and cook them. Cook at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the crescent rolls are golden brown. While the rolls are cooking, mix the Cream of Chicken soup with the milk and warm over medium heat. Serve the soup over the rolls.

These rolls freeze well. You can either thaw the rolls before cooking and follow the above cooking instructions, or you can increase the cooking time to 30-35 minutes, or until the center of the rolls are hot.

Spinach Nectarine Salad

I'd like to give credit for this recipe... but I can't. I was sitting in the Dentist office and picked up a magazine to flip through. I saw this recipe and thought it was worth trying out. Then they called me back to work on my teeth. I have no idea what magazine I was looking at... and I'm not even sure that I got it right, but I thought it turned out pretty good. This makes enough for 2 salads... except I really like nectarines so I used a whole one instead of half.

1 bunch spinach

1 ripe nectarine, sliced
Handful of slivered almonds

2 Tbsp sweet orange marmalade

1 small shallot

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Toast slivered almonds. Set aside.

Finely mince shallot. In a small fry pan heat up orange marmalade and shallot, reducing slightly. Add balsamic vinegar and reduce again slightly. While whisking dressing, add olive oil.

Plate up spinach and top with nectarines. Drizzle over dressing and sprinkle with toasted almonds.