Brown Rice and Broccoli Casserole

1 1/2  brown rice
4 cwater
1 head boccoli cut into florets and stem chopped too
1 can cream mushsoup
1 can cream of chix soup
1/2 c. water
1/2 onion chopped
1 tsp garlic
1 1/4 c water (or one can)
8 oz of shredded cheese, colby jack and cheddar mixed.

Cook brown rice in 4 c water until tender and beginning to split. Saute chopped broccoli and onion in 1tbsp butter and 1/2 c of water until bright green and softened/crisp. add the soups and 1 1/4 c water to a large bowl with the shredded cheeses. Stir to combine. Add the brown rice and the broccoli and onion mix and stir thoroughly. pour into a greased 9x13 dish and back for 30-35 minutes on 350. serves our family with no leftovers, or 7.

Corn Bread

1 1/4 c flour, all purpose
3/4 c corn meal/ corn flour
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 c milk
1/4 c canola oil
1 egg
2 tbsp honey (we use local honey)
2 tbsp butter for slathering top of corn bread after you have bake it

preheat oven to 400. add olive oil to an 8x8 pan to grease it. Mix together the dry ingredients and whisk a bit until incorporated. add the wet ingredients and mix until just wet, will be a bit lumpy. Add to greased pan and bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown or top when pressed bounced back. Slather with the butter as soon as you remove it from the oven, let cool 5-10 minutes before cutting. makes 9 generous portions.

Sweet Potato Chili

4 med - small sweet potatoes diced (or two large,about 2 cups)
1 large onion diced
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 cup beef broth
1 cup water
1 (15 oz) can of tomato sauce
1 small can of chopped green chilies
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1/4 c chopped cilantro
2 tbsp lime juice or the juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (opt.)

In a large pot heat oil and add onions, saute until tender. Add garlic and saute until soft, but not brown. add the chili powder, cumin, pepper, salt and sweet potatoes, stir to combine. Add the cups of water and broth. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add the tomato, brown sugar, beans and green chilies and then simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Take off heat, stir in the cilantro and lime juice, serve with tortilla chips and enjoy.

Cauliflower Soup

2 heads of cauliflower, chopped fine
2-3 carrots chopped fine
2 celery ribs chopped fine
1 onion chopped fine
4 tsp garlic chopped
1/2 c. butter
olive oil
flour
6-8 c. chicken broth
2 c. milk
cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

Saute onion in olive oil and butter. Add carrots and celery and cook until soft with a little gold color, remember color makes it taste good! Add cauliflower and garlic and continue to saute. Add maybe 1/4 c. flour and mix to coat. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Pour in chicken broth and cook until cauliflower is tender, about 10 minutes. Mash with a potatoe masher or simply leave this soup chunky. Stir in 2 c. milk and top each bowl with a sprinkle of cheese! serves 6. 

Irish Potatoes

• 2 pounds cabbage, shredded
• 2 cups water
• 4 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup chopped green onions
• Salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• Crumbled cooked bacon and minced fresh parsley

• In a large saucepan, bring cabbage and water to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. Keep cabbage warm.
• Place cooking liquid and potatoes in a large saucepan; add enough additional water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 15-17 minutes or until tender. Drain and keep warm.
• In a small saucepan, bring milk and onions to a boil; remove from the heat. In a large bowl, mash potatoes. Add milk mixture; beat until blended. Beat in the cabbage, salt and pepper. Drizzle with the melted butter, bacon and parsley. 12-16 servings.

this is either a good side dish or a half of dinner with another meatless side dish like rice! 

Veggie (or Chicken and Veggie) Curry

1-2 chicken thighs, cut into chunks(optional)
3-4 Tbsp curry powder (adjust depending on how spicy you like it)
1 Tbsp dry ginger (or 4 Tbsp fresh, finely chopped)
1 Tbsp garlic powder (or 4-6 garlic cloves, minced)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks (or two if omitting the chicken)
1 apple, diced
2 carrots, cut in small chunks (or 3 if omitting chicken)
2 celery stalks, chopped (or 3 if omitting chicken)
4 Tbsp  cornstarch
1 Tbsp sea salt
1-2 Tbsp maple syrup or sugarless sweetener
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1-2 cans (14 0z) coconut milk (adapt to your tastes)

Cut, chop, and prepare all your ingredients as described above and throw together in your crockpot. Turn crockpot on low for 4-6 hours. Stir on an hourly basis until fully cooked. You may desire to thicken further with additional flour or arrowroot powder or remove the lid during the last hour so some of the liquids can simmer off. Serve over a bed of brown rice and enjoy!

this is my modification of a curry I found online that we are gonna try soon!

Eggplant Parm

1/2 c Italian style bread crumbs (not panko!)
1/4 tsp each pepper and salt
2 tbsp parm
1/4 c mayonaise
1 whole eggplant, one peel strip removed from four sides and then sliced into 1/4 inch slices

preheat oven to 400. Mix together the first 4 ingreds in a shallow bowl. Spread mayo on both sides of each slice of eggplant and then dredge in bread crumb mix. Lay on a non-stick piece of foil on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. serve immediately.

we had this with pasta and marinara. Yummy veg only dinner! serves 4-6.

Thai-Curry Chicken Soup

6 cups chicken broth

3 tablespoons maple (pure) syrup or packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2tablespoons rice vinegar
2teaspoons curry powder
1 small red bell pepper, coarsely chopped (1/2 cup) optional
1 small jalapeño chile, seeded, finely chopped (1 tablespoon) or 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
2 cups chopped  cooked chicken
2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, if desired
chopped green onions
2-4 cups shredded cabbage
3-4 carrots shredded

add all ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until veggies are tender, about 20 minutes. Serve hot with cilantro and green onions over the top! I had also added other leftover items that I have had in my fridge, rice, noodles, other veggies, anything you think would be a good pseudo-chinese soup. It's really yummy and the heat of this can be adjusted easily. this serves as many as you want it too!!

Roasted Potato and Leek Soup

3-4 med/large potoates, sliced thin
2-3 leeks, halved washed and sliced like celery
olive oil
salt and pepper

heat oven to 450. on a baking sheet arrange leeks and potatoes sprinkle w/ oil salt and peper and roast until golden brown.

3-4tbsp butter
1/4 c flour
1 tbsp minced garlic, 3 cloves chopped
6 c chix broth
1/4 c white cooking white
1/2-1tsp white peper
1/2 c sour cream
1/4 c shredded parmesan

while potaotes/leeks are roasting melt butter in soup pot. Add garlic and brown until golden. Add flour and white pepper and let cook until flour/butter/garlic/pepper mixture is bubbly. Add the broth slowly stirring it in until it's smooth. Add the leeks/potatoes and mash a bit with the potato masher. Add the wine and sour cream and parm. Bring to a low simmer and allow the flavors to meld a bit. Serve warm with crusty bread and maybe some this sliced onions on top.

Pasta with Canellini Beans

2 cans canellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 8oz cans tomato sauce
2 tbsp wozzy sauce
3/4 red bell pepper chopped
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2-3 stalks celery with leaves, super thinly sliced
1 lb ditalini pasta
3/4 c red cooking wine
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Parmesan Cheese

Heat oil over med/high heat. Add sliced garlic and saute until golden (lightly golden). Add red pepper, saute one minutes, add celery saute 2 minutes more, add oregano and canellini beans, saute 5-7 minutes. Add crushed red peper, tomato sauce, basil, wozzy, and wine. salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, lower heat cover and simmer 30 minutes. While sauce is simmering heat water for pasta in pot. Cook pasta according to pkg directions or 1 min less. add cooked pasta to simmering sauce, stir. Add 1/2 c parm mix and serve immediately, with added parm if you like!

What we're eating this week!

Mushroom Risotto
New Pasta Sauce Recipe
Chinese Chicken (my version of tke out!)
Baked Chicken with gravy and Mashed Potatoes (simple family fave! easy roasted chicken breast with homemade gravy and mashed taters)
Balsamic/Maple Chicken over mashed potatoes (this is my own made up recipe from a couple of inspirations, recipe will follow later)
Artichoke, Leek, pea risotto
Past with Canellini Beans (recipe will follow when I try it!)
Pasta and peas
Fried Rice

Weekly Menu

Pork Sandwiches
Risotto
Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes
Curried Sweet Potato Chowder
Chinese Pork (just homemade with veggies, pork sauce and rice)
A Rice Based Dish (undecided yet)
Breakfast Pizza
Pizza Rolls
Vegetable Soup

new weekly menu

Chili Creme Chicken
Chili
Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken Potatoes with Cumin anc Chipolte
Onion Soup
Fried Rice
Potato Soup

Chicken and Noodle with Cajun Seasoning

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves cut in large chunks
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (I didn't really measure mine, but I probably used less than this)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup white cooking wine or chicken broth/stock
1 can chopped green chiles
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/4 cup pasta water
1/2 box angel hair pasta

Season the chicken with the Creole seasoning.Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until well browned on both sides. Add the lime juice over the chicken. Deglaze with the wine. Stir the soup, chiles and remaining Cajun seasoning in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile cook a half box of angel hair pasta. When pasta is one minuet from being done from the box directions transfer to the pan of simmering chicken mixture. Add in the pasta water and cook until the mixture is hot and bubbling and thoroughly incorporated. serves 4 generously.

Original Recipe before I changed it!

Easy Bacon and Pasta

2 eggs
1 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 box spaghetti, i break mine in half
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 slices bacon
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp ground chipotle pepper

In a medium-size bowl, beat together eggs and 1 cup cheese. Set aside.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking water in a measuring cup. While the pasta cooks, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until crisp, about 5-6 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add drained pasta to the skillet, tossing to coat, I also added 1/2-1 c pasta water and let it simmer away until absorbed. Lower heat to med low. Stir 1/2 cup reserved cooking water into the egg and cheese mixture, stir vigorously til smooth. Pour mixture into skillet, tossing to coat. I added more pasta water at the point and stirred vigorously Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot!!

link to original recipe which I altered somewhat.

Buffalo Chicken Pie

2 c cooked chicken
½ c buffalo sauce
1 - 1 ½ c shredded cheddar
1 c chopped celery, carrots, onions, garlic mixed
1 c biscut mix
½ c yellow cornmeal
½ c milk
1 eggs
2/3 c ranch dressing

Heat oven to 400°F. In large bowl, toss chicken and Buffalo wing sauce until well coated. Stir in cheeses and celery. Pour into ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate.
In medium bowl, mix Bisquick mix, cornmeal, milk and egg. Pour over chicken mixture; spread to cover.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Cut into wedges; drizzle with blue cheese dressing. Makes six servings, but would probably have to double for our fam.

weekly menu

Cajun Mac and Cheese
Curry Turkey Cutlets
Manicotti
Chix Wraps Misters
Fried Rice
Chicken Creole w Chili cream sauce
Veggie Potato Soup

Fried Rice

4 c. leftover rice well chilled and dried some
1/4 c canola oil
1 tbsp garlic
mixture of chopped veggies of your choice I use what is on hand
pkg onion soup mix
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 c water
chicken (optional) cooked and chopped or shredded
2 eggs well beaten

In a large skillet heat oil over med/high heat add the veggies chopped and allow to soften but not brown. Add the garlic and stir til it is aromatic, becareful not to brown. Add rice. Let it warm all the way through, breaking up hunks as you let it fry. Add the mixture of water, soy sauce and onion mix. Pour it through the whole mixture. When the rice has obsorbed the liquid nearly make a well in the center and add the eggs, let them cook and solidify a bit then mix them in the with rice . Keep turning and frying until it reaches a crispyness that you prefer. We like ours to have some crispy pieces. Serve hot! Depends on how much rice you have on how much this will serve.