Greek Seasoning

Aaron made up his own recipe for gyros, and since we had used up the pita pockets we made them into tortilla wraps. He sliced up some pork and sauteed it in olive oil and used this seasoning. He used fresh garlic and about half of the recipe.

Greek Seasoning

• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
• 1/4 teaspoon dried minced garlic

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 6 months.

For the gyros he used lettuce, sliced tomatoes, feta cheese, and sour cream. We didn't have any cucumbers, or that would have gone well with it too.

Pita Chicken

This recipe was fabulous. It's a little like fajitas with a twist. I totally forgot the sour cream, but Aaron added ranch dressing and it was fabulous!. It's supposed to feed 2 people, but it fed our family of 4 - with no leftovers. I was worried about it being too spicy for the kids so I let people add on the salsa to their liking, and I only put a dash or two of cayenne pepper instead of 1/4 tsp. We used up 6 pitas and a whole avocado - we all love avocado! And I only chopped up one tomato. David even put lettuce on his - I was thrilled! David's second pita broke while he was opening it, so he ate it like a sandwich. This is a keeper.

Pita Chicken

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 2 pita breads
• 8 ounces diced tomato
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 1/2 cup sliced avocado
• 2 tablespoons low-fat sour cream

1. Cut chicken into strips. In a skillet, saute in hot oil until almost done. Sprinkle garlic powder, onion powder, salt, ground black pepper and cayenne pepper over chicken. Add salsa and simmer until done (about 5 minutes).
2. Split pitas in half, fill with chicken and garnish with tomatoes, lettuce, avocados and sour cream. Add whatever garnishes you like and eat!

Split Pea and Potato soup

I found this in an old Reader's Digest Healthy cookbook that I got at half-price books. I thought it was really good especially with my home made croutons. I didn't have any low-sodium broth, the regular stuff had to do.

1 Tbsp margarine
1 med onion, chopped
2 cups low-sodium beef broth
2 cups water
1/2 c dried split green peas, rinsed and sorted
2 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (I diced them)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

In a large heavy saucepan, melt the margarine over medium heat. Add the onion and cook uncovered until soft - about 5 minutes. Stir in the beef broth and water and bring to a boil - about 4 minutes. Add the peas and potatoes, adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles gently, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the peas and potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

*In an electric blender or food processor, puree the soup in 5 batches, whirling each batch about 15 seconds. Return to the pan, set over low heat and bring to serving temperature, stirring often. Add the pepper.

*I have an immersion blender so I just pureed the soup in the pan, no need to cool or reheat.

Rice with Black Beans

Rice with Black Beans

I don't have any instant rice, but if you increase the liquid a bit and cook for at least 20 minutes it turns out just fine. I also used real garlic, and olive oil instead of vegetable oil.

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, undrained
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup instant white rice

1. In a large saucepan, cook and stir onion in oil until tender and translucent, but not brown. Add tomatoes, beans, oregano and garlic powder. Bring to boil. Stir in rice, return mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, and cover.
2. Let mixture simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Greek Pasta

Greek Pasta

This was really good. I had some mushrooms that needed to be used up and some feta cheese I didn't want to go bad. I only had 8 oz of mushrooms and it was fine. I also used a little more garlic, less oil, and since we sprinkled the cheese on top I didn't used that much feta and David preferred Parmesan. I used more than just oregano, I added, marjoram, basil and parsley as well. It was really good. Oh, and I didn't blanch or peel the tomatoes, I just chopped them up.

• 1 pound linguine pasta
• 3 tomatoes
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Plunge whole tomatoes in water briefly, until skin starts to peel. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in cold water. Add pasta to boiling water and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. While pasta is cooking peel blanched tomatoes and chop.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil. Stir in garlic and mushrooms and saute until mushrooms begin to give up their juices. Stir in tomatoes and oregano and cook until tomatoes are tender.
4. To serve, plate pasta, top with hot tomato sauce and sprinkle with feta and olives.

Sharktooth pasta

I have been slacking on my recipe blog for a few weeks, so I hope to make up for it today. Here are a ton of recipes we have used over the past few weeks. I didn't even get to mention that my little recipe blog is over a year old now (as of March 9th) and has almost 200 recipes!

Sharktooth Pasta

This was a simple easy one I used while Aaron was on call. It wasn't all that spectacular, but the kids ate it up and it was really easy. I added some frozen mixed veggies in there too.

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces dry farfalle (bow tie) pasta
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Return pasta to pot; stir in soup and milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until heated through. Add cheese; cook and stir just until cheese is melted. Serve hot.

Baked Salmon

Aaron made this last night for dinner. He changed it of course. He used half olive oil and half butter (the real stuff). He also baked it a little less. The flavor was really good. It was great straight out of the oven, but as it sat it got really dry. Next time we'll have to stick with grilling or broiling.

Baked Salmon

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 tablespoons light olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 (6 ounce) fillets salmon

1. In a medium glass bowl, prepare marinade by mixing garlic, light olive oil, basil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley. Place salmon fillets in a medium glass baking dish, and cover with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator about 1 hour, turning occasionally.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. Place fillets in aluminum foil, cover with marinade, and seal. Place sealed salmon in the glass dish, and bake 35 to 45 minutes, until easily flaked with a fork.

Shrimp Scampi

Aaron made this Saturday. We didn't have any angel hair, just spaghetti. And the wine was substituted with apple juice. It made it really sweet, but very tasty. We didn't have 1 1/2 lbs of shrimp, more like 1/2 lb, but it was still really good. I'm not sure I liked the breading though.

Shrimp Scampi

• 1 (8 ounce) package angel hair pasta
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add angel hair pasta and return pot to boil. Cook until al dente. Drain well.
2. In a large saucepan, melt butter, saute garlic until tender, remove garlic and discard. Add shrimp and cook until colored pink. Stir in white wine. The bread crumbs are used as thickening, so stir in a little at a time until desired thickness is reached.
3. Serve shrimp over angel hair pasta, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Basil Chicken over Angel Hair

Basil Chicken over Angel Hair

I made this Thursday when I was running low on groceries, but had company coming over. I doubled it (I was expecting 4 adults - only 3 came, and there was a ton of leftovers). I used half fresh tomatoes, and one 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes. Other reviewers suggested it needed more flavor so I added oregano, basil and garlic powder to the tomatoes and let them marinate for a hour. I also marinated the chicken in Italian dressing for 3 hours. And grilled them (on the George Foreman grill). I used more garlic as well. I wish I has fresh basil, but I had to settle for the dried variety. And I didn't put the hot sauce in, because I wasn't sure the kids would eat it. Aaron tried it on the leftovers, and loved it. And I let people add their own Parmesan Cheese.

• 1 (8 ounce) package angel hair pasta
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
• 2 cups boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cubed
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook angel hair pasta until it is al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onions and garlic. Stir in the tomatoes, chicken, basil, salt and hot pepper sauce. Reduce heat to medium, and cover skillet. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until mixture is hot and tomatoes are soft.
3. Toss sauce with hot cooked angel hair pasta to coat. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Potato Supreme

This is my MIL's version of funeral potatoes. Very yummy, and we all love it. I'm sure I've made it in the last year, but haven't posted it for some reason. You can also reduce the amount and use it as a side dish.


4-6 medium potatoes, boiled, then skinned, and sliced very thin
1 (10.5 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
4 Tbsp butter
1 pint sour cream
2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 c. onions, chopped (I use green onions)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Cook potatoes, slice, and set aside - it is important not to over cook, or they will be difficult to slice. I use a hand held slicer (it's one side of my rectangular cheese grater).
Mix together remaining ingredients. Then mix gently with the potatoes and spread into a 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until bubbly and heated through.