Beef Pasta Skillet

This was a pretty good recipe. Great for nights when you need something quick. I added a fresh roma tomato chopped and an extra cup of pasta to make it go further.
Beef Pasta Skillet

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell's® Condensed Tomato Soup (Regular or 25% Less Sodium)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 cups cooked corkscrew-shaped pasta or elbow pasta

1. Cook beef and onion in skillet until browned. Pour off fat.
2. Add soup, water, Worcestershire, cheese and pasta and heat through.

Chicken Parmesan

I found this recipe in my MIL's 2008 neighborhood recipe book. It was submitted by Karen D*. This is a very simple recipe, and also really good. I used just two chicken breasts cut in half (lengthwise) and then two tenderloins. I didn't need to change the amount of breading. I didn't have Italian seasoned bread crumbs, so I just added Italian seasoning to the bread crumb mixture.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/8 tsp. paprika

Combine Parmesan, bread crumbs and paprika in a plastic bag. Add chicken. Seal bag and shake until chicken is well coasted. Put chicken in a baking pan. Bake at 400 F until done, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Oven Roasted cauliflower

I got this recipe with my Fred Meyer ad in my email this week. I thought it was really good. I didn't have fresh rosemary, so dried had to do. I never have shallots, so I diced some onion. I also used regular table salt and black pepper. I did have fresh parsley though.
Oven Roasted Cauliflower

• 1 large cauliflower, about 2 pounds, cut into 1 1/2" florets
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• fresh cracked white pepper, to taste
• 2 teaspoons shallots, minced
• fresh parsley, chopped

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine all of the ingredients except the shallots and parsley. Toss to mix well and place in a roasting pan. Roast until cauliflower is tender, turning once with a metal spatula, about 35 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, mix in shallots.
• To serve, sprinkle with parsley.

Baked Fettucheesy

I made this a few weeks ago, but never posted it. It also called for Romano cheese, but I didn't have any. I also didn't have any heavy cream, but I figured whole milk would work. I thought it tasted great! There were not many leftovers.

Baked Fettucheesy

• 1 (16 ounce) package dry fettuccine pasta
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
  
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium casserole dish.
2. 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.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, and cook the onion until tender. Stir in the fettuccine, heavy cream, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup Romano cheese, salt and pepper. Transfer to the prepared dish. In a bowl, mix the remaining Parmesan, remaining Romano, and mozzarella. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the fettuccine mixture.
4. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and golden brow.

pork potato meatballs

I made this last week sometime. They were pretty good, but not the best meatballs. I think I put too much mustard in them. I also added garlic and a few spices to them, mostly Italian seasoning. The chicken broth was pretty much soaked up by the meatballs, so adding the flour and water at the end didn't create a sauce so much as a coating.

pork potato meatballs

• 1 cup finely shredded peeled potato
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 1/3 cups water, divided
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1. In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Crumble pork over mixture and sprinkle with bread crumbs; mix gently. Shape into 1-in. balls. In a large skillet, brown meatballs in batches over medium heat; drain. Remove and keep warm.
2. Add 1 cup water and bouillon to skillet; stir until bouillon is dissolved. Return meatballs to the pan; cover and cook for 20 minutes or until no longer pink. Combine flour and remaining water until smooth; gradually add to skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Skillet Nachos

This is from Better Crocker's Quick and Easy Cookbook. I changed a few things because I didn't have chili beans in sauce. I used a can of chili and it worked. I didn't use the full cup of salsa, but I think it could have used a little more spice. My kids ate it so I won't complain. Also, Aaron wasn't here and we ate the whole thing, so it barely fed 3 and a toddler - who ate about a 1/4 cup of the beans.

1 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil
1 medium green pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 small zucchini, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 cup chili beans in chili sauce (from 15 oz can - I used the whole can)
1 cup thick and chunky salsa
4 oz tortilla chips
1 1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese (6 oz- again I used Cheddar Jack)
Sliced olives, if desired - oh we did!

1. Heat oil in 12 inch skillet over high heat. Add bell pepper and zucchini, stir-fry about 2 minutes or until crisp tender. Stir in beans and 1/2 cup of salsa; cook until hot. (I skipped the next step)
2. Remove mixture from skillet. Wipe skillet clean. Arrange chips in single layer in skillet. Spoon vegetables over chips. Sprinkle with cheese.
3. Cover and cook over medium-high heat about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with olives. Serve with remaining salsa.

Instead of putting the chips on the bottom of the skillet, I just added the cheese and olives, and melted the cheese. Then I let the kids put the chips on their plate and I spooned the mixture over the chips. Then the chips aren't hot and soggy.

Baked Potato Soup

Sorry for the long hiatus. With the holidays and the surgery I wasn't making a whole lot of new meals. But I have done a few new things. I hope I get to them all.
First up Baked Potato Soup
I really messed with the recipe. I was trying to make it slightly larger to feed another family. But I only had 6 slices of bacon. So this is what I came up with.

6 slices of bacon
1/2 c. onion, diced
3/4 c margarine or butter
3/4 c flour
4 cups milk
3 cups water
3 chicken bullion cubes
7 small potatoes baked, peeled and diced
1 1/2 c. shredded cheese (mine was cheddar jack)
1 c. sour cream
2 green onions chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
2. In a stock pot or Dutch oven, melt the margarine over medium heat (I added some bacon grease for flavor). Sautee onions until tender. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, water an bullion cubes, stirring constantly until thickened.
   
3. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in potatoes and green onions, bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Stir until cheese is melted.

They recommended using baker potatoes that were oven baked. If they were baked earlier and cooled it might be easy, but I microwaved mine and then tried to peel and cut them. It took to long. It would have been easier peel and dice them and then boil them. Then you can use the water for the soup.
It was really good and creamy - probably because I used whole milk - it was about to go bad.