Stuffed Red Peppers

Tonight for dinner I used the last of my ground pork, as I mentioned before I bought 3 lbs and cooked it all up at once to save time! This recipe was really easy and yummy too! I'll admit, my kids didn't eat the peppers, just the stuffing, but I chopped up their roasted peppers to use in some scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Ingredients
1 lb lean ground meat (beef, pork, turkey)
1 garlic, minced
1/4 onion, minced
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin powder
salt to taste
3 large sweet red bell peppers, washed, cut in half and seeded
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
1 can fat free chicken broth (divided)
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups COOKED rice (to cook the rice I used 1 cup of chicken broth from the can and added water to make the right ammount, then used the other cup in the recipe. I don't like opening a can and only using half!)
1/2 cup reduced fat shredded cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 400*. Cook ground meat with garlic, onion, and seasonings until well browned. Meanwhile, prepare red peppers and place in a baking dish.(I used a 9X13) Once meat is cooked add in cilantro, 1/2 cup of chicken broth and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and heat about 5 minutes. Stir in rice. Scoop mixture into peppers filling completely. Top with cheese, pour remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth in bottom of baker, cover tightly with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Spicy (or not) Black Bean Empanada Casserole

This recipe was supposed to make a bunch of tiny empanada pockets, but I changed it to make it quicker and easier. I thought it was delicious!

1 Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheet
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1 pound ground pork or turkey
1 small red pepper, diced
4 medium green onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup sour cream
1 cup guacamole
Directions
1.Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature for 40 minutes or until they're easy to handle. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Stir the egg and water with a fork in a small bowl.
2.Cook the pork in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until the pork is well browned, stirring frequently to break up meat. Add the diced red pepper, green onions and garlic. Cook until tender. Stir the tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and crushed red pepper into the skillet. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cheese, beans and cilantro. Transfer to 9X13 casserole dish.
3.Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to a 9X13 rectangle. score pastry lengthwise in half and croswise into four rectangles making eight rectangles (do not cut all the way through. Place pastry sheet over bean mixture and press against sides. Brush with egg mixture.
4.Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden. Serve with sour cream and guacamole.

On the Menu and Shopping Notes

Ground Turkey Noodle Bake (asparagus)
Tator Topped Fish Bake (cauliflower)
Spicy Black Bean Empanadas (bell peppers)
Turkey Stuffed Peppers (bell peppers)
Lattice Topped Chicken Bake (cauliflower)
Autumn Risotto with Chicken and Cranberries (celery)

Shopping notes:

3 lbs ground meat. I got 3 lbs of ground pork cheap this week, cooked it all up with a large chopped onion and about 3-4 garlic cloves, then divided it into 3 bags to use in my meals this week.
2 lbs chicken
4-6 4 oz. fish fillets depending on how many you are feeding

Produce not in my basket:
Garlic
Cilantro
Green Onion
Onion
Ingredients for guacamole (optional)

Refrigerated Items:
Cream Cheese
Sour Cream
Mozarella Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Puff Pastry Sheets
Crescent Rolls
Tator Tots

Uncommon Pantry Items:
Crasins

Basic Sauce Mix

This is a recipe I learned in college and keep in my pantry. It can replace a can of cream soup in any recipe. You can add in chopped chicken or a 4 oz can of mushrooms if desired.

2 cups powdered instant non-fat milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup chicken bouillon
1-2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning

Combine all ingredients in a plastic bag mixing well. Yeild: Equal to 9 cans of cream soup. Store in a closed plastic bag or airtight container until ready to use.

To substitute for 1 can of cream soup: Combine 1/3 cup of dry mix with 1 1/4 cup cold water. Cook and stir on stove top or in microwave until thickened. Add mixture to casseroles as you would a can of soup.

Back In Action-Ground Turkey Noodle Bake

I actually have a week full of meals planned for the first time in I don't even know how long. I'm not sure if this is an excuse or not, but I was in a 4-wheeling accident about 3 days after my second to last post. After that I didn't do much cooking for a while. I do have a few pictures of meals that I made over the last 3 months, but not much! The accident combined with end of the school year and a very busy summer and I have been slacking in the cooking department. Last night I cooked Sunday Dinner one of the few times in the last 4 years I have had to cook on Sunday. We live a few miles from my in-laws and they make us dinner almost every Sunday. It was Fast Sunday so I wanted something quick and easy. We have 1:00 church so I made this up before going to church and then just had to throw it in the oven when we got home and made up a quick salad with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber from this weeks basket. It was SO delicious!

Ingredients
4 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 pound ground pork or turkey
1 garlic clove
1 medium onion, chopped
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/3 cup BASIC SAUCE MIX
1 1/4 cup water
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1 cup shreaded mozzarella cheese (or more realistically I put 2 cups)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*. Cook noodles with asparagus acording to package directions (al dente), drain and set aside. In same pot combine basic sauce mix, water and cream cheese. Bring to a low simmer until thickened. Add noodle mix back in and toss. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook ground meat with onion and garlic, drain and return to skillet. Stir in tomato sauce and italian seasoning. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. In a 9X13 baking dish layer noodle mixture, meat mixture, and top with cheese. Bake 25-30 or until hot and cheese is melted.

Notes: I assembled this before hand and refrigerated it then increased cook time to 40-50 minutes.

Instead of basic sauce mix you can use 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup.

Mandarin Pasta Salad

WOW! Has it really been over a month since I last posted?!? Summer is SO busy! (I have 4 kids doing swimming and dance and 3 kids playing baseball) and add to that we are finishing our basement ourselves and it's hard to find time for anything! This is one of my ALL TIME favorite recipes, Bountiful Baskets was nice enough to deliver all the ingredients right to my site this week! YEA! I was planning it as a main dish but we got invited over to a bar-be-que so I omited the CHICKEN and took it as a side. Either way it's delicious! TIP: Do not put the dressing on until you are ready to serve!

Dressing

1 teaspoon finely chopped gingerroot

1 garlic clove, pressed

1/3 cup vinegar

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon seasame oil

1 envelope onion soup mix

2 teaspoons sugar

Salad

8 oz uncooked pasta (I used penne because that's what we had, the recipe called for bowties)

1 cucumber, sliced thinly

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup chopped red onion (I didn't put this in because I prefer no onion)

1 bunch spinach, chopped (I tripple wash and spin my spinach because fresh spinach is DIRTY!)

1-11oz can mandarin orange segments

2 cups diced cooked chicken (also I omited as mentioned)

1/2 cups sliced almonds, toasted

For dressing, whisk together ingredients, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

For salad, combine ingredients, when ready to serve toss with dressing!

Easy and Delicious, just the way I like it!

Broccoli Chicken Casserole

When we first got married I had NO idea how to cook, I grew up on hamburger helper and mac and cheese. My husband was always asking if I could make a casserole. I don't know why, but it took me years to learn how. I never seemed to be able to find recipes. Anyway, now casseroles are about my favorite thing to make, and this one is SO YUMMY!

Cooked Rice (2 1/2 cups water to 1 cup rice)
3 cups broccoli, chopped and cooked
3 cups chicken, cooked and chopped
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup mayonaise
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. curry powder
3 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
Layer bottom of greased 9X13 dish with rice, broccoli and chicken. Mix soup, mayo, lemon juice and curry powder. Layer mixture on top of chicken. Top with cheese. Mix bread crumbs and butter and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350* for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

Grilled Steak with Jicama Corn Slaw

One of the fun things about Bountiful Baskets is getting to experiment with produce I might never have bought at the store. This was really fresh tasting and flavorful.

Steak

1 pound beef sirloin steak, 1 inch thick

2 tablespoons southwest seasoning

Dressing

1 orange, zested and juiced

2 limes, zested and juiced

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, snipped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 teaspoon chipolte powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Slaw

1 medium jicama, peeled and cut into julienne strips

1 can corn, drained, or 2 ears kernels

1 medium carrot, peeled and julienned

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

For steak rub southwest seasoning, heat grill pan over medium heat 5 minutes, cook steak 6-8 minutes turning once for medium. For dressing combine zest, juice, cilantro, oil, garlic, chipolte, and salt in a small bowl. For slaw combine jicama, corn, carrots, bell pepper and half of the dressing. To serve, thinly slice steak and serve over slaw. Drizzle with remaining dressing.

Potato Corn Chowder and Salad

Today when I cut into my lettuce it was all yucky on the inside, bummer! So I did a Tomato/Cucumber/Mozzarella salad topped only with Salt and Pepper. It was delicious! It has been rainy, rainy, and more rainy, so it was perfect weather for a fast, easy and yummy soup. BTW, I used my VEGGIE WEDGER to slice the tomatoes and cucumbers, I simply placed the whole tomatoes in the wedger, cut one time through, then cut the wedges in half. For the cucumbers I peeled them and sliced them with the wedger then quickly chopped the long wedges into small pieces.

3 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2 in cubes

1 cup cooked ham, diced (I usually just use deli meat because I always have it on hand, but a ham steak would be delish!)

1 small red bell pepper, diced

2-3 stalks celery, chopped

1 teaspoon butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 can chicken broth

1 can evaporated milk

1 can creamed corn

2 tablespoons sliced chives

salt and pepper to taste

bacon bits or cooked crumbled bacon (optional

Heat butter in 3 qt. saucepan over medium heat, add bell pepper and celery. Cook 3-4 minutes. Stir in flour and heat until bubbly. Gradually add broth, evaporated milk and corn whisking to incorporate. Add potatoes, seasonwith salt and pepper, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook uncovered 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in ham heat through. Remove from heat, stir in chives. Serve with bacon if desired.

The Winner is "k"!

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 23
Result:
1
Powered by RANDOM.ORG







I couldn't figure out how to make it show the cool little box from random.org, so I copied and pasted the result. Our winner is comment #1-k. To claim your prize e-mail me at kristystaker@yahoo.com. Congratulations! Here is a picture of me on the beach at Cabo San Lucas.

I had one of my back-ups order me a basket so I would be ready to get back to cooking! Just for fun, here is the link to a Jicama Salad Recipe that looks DELICIOUS! It also tells a little bit about Jicama. Also, I have used sunchoke in place of jicama in many recipes so if you click on the sunchoke label to the side you can use any of those recipes for your jicama! I have on the menu for this week:

Easy Corn Chowder and Salad-Red Potatoes

Chicken Divan-Broccoli

Steak and Corn Slaw-Jicama

Paprika Chicken and Egg Noodles-Green Beans

Believe it or not, Friday I leave AGAIN for another 9 day trip! This time we are taking the whole family to Albuqurque because my hubby has to go for work...FREE FAMILY VACATION! Well almost anyway. If anyone has any great suggestions for activities for us while we are there please share!

Adios! and a Give Away!

Tomorrow I am off to L.A. to leave on a 7 day Mexican Riverra Cruise with my Hubby to celebrate our 10 year anniversary! It will be crazy to leave behind all of our little kiddos, but I think it will be a MUCH NEEDED BREAK! Our parents will be taking turns with the kids and my 2 AWESOME back-ups will be taking over my basket site for a few weeks. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to hold a give away while I am gone. I love The Pampered Chef and have been a Pamoered Chef consultant since my oldest was a little baby. I will be giving away a VEGGIE WEDGER worth $18. This is one my favorite new spring products. It comes with a base that you cut on so the blades go all the way through. I use it to wedge oranges, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes. It's great and I am sure there are other uses as well. If you are interested in ordering Pampered Chef products, or hosting a cooking/catalog show, please let me know or e-mail me your info!


How to enter the Give Away

1. Become a follower of our blog and post a comment letting us know. If you already are a follower, then post a comment on this blog post letting us know.

2. Facebook or twitter or blog about this giveaway and leave us a comment on this blog post letting us know.


* Contest will be open until Midnight MST on Sunday, May 8, 2010 . Contest is open to Continental U.S. residents only!

* 1 winner will be randomly selected (from random.org) and announced on this site the following week. Please check back to see if you won, or leave your email address with your comment. The winner will need to contact kristystaker@yahoo.com to provide name and shipping address.

Beef Stir-Fry

This is a stand-by basket recipe! It's quick and easy and tastes great. I like to use a beef fajita mix to make things even easier, plus the beef in the mix has a great flavor!

1 bunch broccoli, chopped

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 onion, sliced

1 large green bell pepper, sliced

2 tablespoons oil

1/4 cup light soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 teaspoon fresh ginger root

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1 package cooked beef fajita meat or 1 lb beef top sirloin steak, sliced

1/2 cup beef broth

2 cups rice

Cook rice according to package directions. Mix together soy sauce, cornstarch, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Place meat in mixture and marinate 15 minutes in mixture while you chop veggies. Heat oil in large skillet. If using raw steak, cook beef 1-2 minutes or until outside is no longer pink, reserving marinade. If using fajita mix skip this step. Add veggies to skillet, stir-fry in oil 3-4 minutes. Add in beef and marinade. Cook another 3-4 minutes until veggies are tender and beef is heated through. Add in beef broth, bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute stirring gently, until sauce is thickened, serve over rice.

Lil' Bit O' Everything Soup

When I don't use all of my veggies up I like to chop them up and freeze them to use in soup later. You can substitute in whatever you like/need to get used up!
2 stalks celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 green chili, diced

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 small diakon, diced (Japanese Raddish)

1 sunchoke, peeled and diced

2 potatoes, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

1/2 cup corn

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans Italian stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 can chicken breast meat, drained

water

oil

salt and pepper

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add in celery, onion, chili, garlic, diakon, and sunchoke. Cook 4-5 minutes until tender. Add in potatoes and carrots. Pour in enough water to cover. Bring to a boil. Add in corn, kidney beans, tomatoes, and chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer over medium heat 20-3o minutes. The longer you simmer the more the flavors blend together.

Chicken and Chayote Hash

I made one of the recipes from my Chayote Squash post. It was called Chicken with Chayote Squash and Potato Casserole, but it's not really a casserole at all so I am calling it a HASH. This was really yummy, and MY KIDS ATE IT REALLY WELL. My husband said it would be yummy as a breakfast, with out the chicken with some fried or scrambled eggs.

1 pound chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 pound potatoes, chopped

3 chayote squashes, peeled and chopped (I used disposable gloves when peeling, worked out great!)

1 small onion, finley chopped

1 green pepper, finely chopped (I did this more for the benefit of my kids, leave them bigger if you want)

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon salt

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat, add in onion, pepper, garlic, salt and black pepper. Saute 1-2 minutes or until fragrant, add in chicken. (I seasoned my chicken with a Bell Pepper and Herb Rub) Cook 1-2 minutes on each side. Add in potatoes, squash. Stir together and cover. Reduce heat to medium. Stir occasionally until potatoes are soft and chicken is cooked through. Stir in parsley and tomatoes. Cook another 2-3 minutes until tomatoes are heated through.

Basket Round-Up!

This week I got a Conventional Basket, and also One of the Beans and Grains Packs! I am excited to learn to incorporate those into my cooking. This week I found a lentil soup crock pot recipe so that should be fun! Hopefully even though there are only 3 recipes here I will be catching up on some of my planned recipes like Beef Fajitas with Mango Salsa, Shepherds Pie, and Chicken Asparagus Risotto! For ingredients to those check the "menu" labels!

This week's menu:

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken with Corn on the Cob and Candied Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

5-6 chicken breasts

bar-b-que sauce

corn on the cob

sweet potatoes

pineapple

brown sugar

Chicken with Chayote Squash and Potato Casserole

Ingredients and Recipe HERE with my post about Chayote Squash!

Lentil Soup with Ham and Bacon

Ingredients:

Bacon

Beef Broth

Dried Lentils

Chopped Ham

Carrots

Celery

Tomatoes

Onion

Dried Marjoram

Chayote Squash

The chayote fruit is used in both raw and cooked forms. When cooked, chayote is usually handled like summer squash, it is generally lightly cooked to retain the crisp flavor. Raw chayote may be added to salads or salsas, and it is often marinated with lemon or lime juice. It can also be eaten straight, although the bland flavour makes this a dubious endeavor. Whether raw or cooked, chayote is a good source of amino acids and vitamin C.

PREPARATION TIP: Make sure to peel the squash under running water. It has a juice that comes out while peeling and will dry to your hands that is very hard to get off!

Many of the recipes I found were some variation of this, I don't have a lot of those ingredients on hand so not sure that's what I will do with mine:

Chayote squash vegetable(subzi)

Ingredients: 2 chayote squash(chow chow), peeled and diced

•1 onion

•3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

•1/2 tsp turmeric powder

•salt to taste Roast and powder coarsely:

•2 tbsp white sesame seeds

• 3-4 red chilies Seasoning:

•1/2 tsp mustard seeds

•1/2 tsp urad dal

•few curry leaves

•few sprigs green coarinder(cilandro)

•1 tbsp grated coconut.

Directions: •Cook diced squash,turmeric powder and salt. •Heat oil. •Add the mustard seeds, when it pops add onions, and saute till translucent. •Add the cooked squash. •Mix well,sprinkle sesame powder,coconut,curry leaves and coariander.

Here is a different one I found that looked really yummy! Chayote Gratin

Ingredients

2 chayote squash

1 Fuji apple

2 cloves garlic , finely minced

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1-½ tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk, warm

2 teaspoons coarse-grained mustard

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon

black pepper, freshly ground

3 tablespoons caramelized onions

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 ounces frozen pearl onions, thawed at room temperature

2 teaspoons palm sugar, freshly grated

1 sprig thyme

1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley (without stems), chopped

¼ cup Gruyère cheese

Preparation: Prepping the chayotes and apple: Peel, core and slice the apple, lengthwise, into 8 pieces. Peel, stone and slice the chayotes the same way. Steaming the chayotes and apple: Bring a pot with a little water to a boil. Add a steamer insert, place sliced chayotes and apples in the steamer and steam for about 20 minutes. Remove them from the steamer and let cool a bit. Once they are cool enough to handle without discomfort and have dried thoroughly, transfer to a baking dish (previously greased with olive oil), fanning the slices and alternating 2 pieces of chayote with 1 piece of apple, just as you would an apple pie. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prepping the filling: In a non-stick pan, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and sprig of thyme. Cook until fragrant. Add the pearl onions. Toss until slightly browned. Add sugar. Cook for about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add parsley and the caramelized onions. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Remove and discard the thyme. Making béchamel sauce: In the same pan, melt the butter over medium-low so it won't burn. Cook for about 2 minutes until fragrant. Bring the heat back up to medium-high (the butter should be hot and golden) and add the flour. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon for approximately 2 minutes. The flour should absorb the butter and form a paste. Add the warm milk in 3 stages. Increase the heat while constantly stirring for about 4-5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low. Add mustard and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for another minute. Add the pearl onions and stir well. Let the sauce rest until it's time to assemble the dish.

Assembly time: Spread ladles of the béchamel sauce to cover the chayotes and apple. Finish with a layer of Gruyère cheese. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 400°F and broil for about 2-3 minutes to get a nice golden top. Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes. Serve warm. Serve with white meat.

One more idea I like is Chicken with Chayote Squash and Potato Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound of chicken thighs or legs

1/2 pound of potatoes

5 chayote squashes

1 small onion

1 small green pepper

1 small tomato

1 or 2 tablespoons of salt (you decide)

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

1 teaspoon of grounded black pepper

1/4 of canola oil

1 cup of water

Fresh scallions

Fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS: Clean your chicken and take the skin off. Chop the tomato, onion, green pepper, scallions and parsley together. Peel your potatoes and chayote squashes and cut them in small pieces. Once it's all done put in your cooking pan, adding the salt, water, oil, black pepper and garlic.

Cicken and Strawberry Salad

One of my favorite things about summer are berry salads. With Bountiful Baskets it's possible even on a SNOWY DAY like today! I know it's April, but what can I say, I live in IDAHO! Tonight I boiled and chopped the chicken, I think if I make this recipe again I will cook it in the skillet after I brown the almonds, that way it gets some of the sugary butter flavor on the chicken and maybe use a citrus rub on the chicken as well.

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 dash Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 quart strawberries, cored and sliced

1 head romaine, chopped into bite size pieces

4 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped

Mix together vinegar, sugar, oil, paprika, and worcestershire sauce. Cover and refrigerate 6 hours. In a skillet melt butter and sugar. Stir in almonds and cook until golden brown. Remove from heat and cool. Toss together strawberries, lettuce, chicken and almonds, mix with dressing right before serving.

Sausage and Veggie Scramble with Banana Zucchini Muffins

I like having breakfast for dinner. I am not a huge morning person, so usually breakfast is cereal or instant oatmeal. Not that a smoothie or pancakes or even something like this would take too long, but really I am just not in the mood to do it in the rush of getting a husband off to work and kids off to school.

Banana Zucchini Muffins

3 eggs

1 cup applesauce (or 3/4 cup oil)

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 cups grated zucchini

3 smashed bananas

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon plus (pumpkin pie spice)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 325*. (I used a kitchen aid, but you could easily do this by hand in a large bowl) Beat eggs until until light yellow and frothy. Add applesauce, sugars, zucchini, bananas and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix together wet and dry ingredients just until incorporated. Stir in cranberries. Divide into lined muffin tins. (This will make 3 dozen) Bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake, remove to wire rack to cool. (The flavors really come out when they are cool)

Sausage and Veggie Scramble

2 tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 green bell pepper diced

3 green onions with tops sliced

2 large sausages (I used sun-dried tomato chicken sausage with basil and tomatoes), cut into small pieces (I quartered and sliced)

12 eggs

1/2 cup mozarella cheese, shredded

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add veggies and sausage, cook 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add in eggs. Mix together and let cook 3-5 minutes before stirring, repeat until desired doneness. Stir in cheese, mix to melt.

Better Late Than Never? Basket Round-Up!

Have I mentioned we are in the process of finishing our basement? We started at the begining of March doing basically everything ourselves, but we decided to hire out the sheet rock, tape and texture, which started Monday. It's very exciting, but we had to FINALLY move EVERYTHING out of the basement so I spent much of last week and all of the weekend working on that. So some of my meals got pushed back (I will still be making Chicken and Asparagus Risotto from last week's menu) and I really hadn't even thought about what to do with the items from this weeks basket until today! Chicken and Strawberry Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette Romaine Lettuce Strawberries Chicken Breasts Pecan Halves orange vegetable oil vinegar dijon mustard Fajitas with Mango Salsa fajita steak mix green bell peppers onion mango jicama (or sunchoke) jalapeno pepper lime juice salt chili powder cheese Shepherds Pie ground beef tomato soup green beans garlic salt dried thyme carrots potatoes cheese Banana-Zucchini Muffins and Veggie Omelets flour salt baking soda baking powder cinnamon vanilla eggs brown sugar white sugar apple sauce bananas zucchini crasins eggs tomatoes bell pepper asparagus

Sunday Pork Roast (Yes I made this on a Tuesday!)

Growing up I don't remember my parents cooking many things, I am an only child and honestly it was easier for the 3 of us to eat out, especially with 2 working parents. The few things that I remember my parents making either came from a box or a jar, with the exception of a Sunday Roast. This recipe is actually not my parents recipe (which is a good standby): Pork Roast, water, onion soup mix, potatoes and carrots. For today's roast I wanted to use more fresh ingredients from my basket.

1 boneless pork roast (I used a butt because it comes already tied!)

Salt and Pepper to taste

4 garlic cloves, pressed

4 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

1 lemon, cut into thin slices

3/4 cup water

1 tablespoon chicken boullion (or one cube)

2-3 pounds potatoes

5-6 carrots

1 bunch asparagus

2 tablespoons flour

Disolve boulion in warm water. Place roast in crock pot, rub with salt, pepper, garlic, and rosemary. (If roast is not tied, tie with twine) Tuck lemon slices around roast. Pour chicken broth into the bottom of the crock pot. Cook on low 7 hours or high 2 hours. At this point place chopped potatoes and carrots into the crock pot. Cook on high 1 hour. Stir in chopped asparagus. Cook an aditional 30 minutes, or until veggies are tender. Take Roast and veggies out of crock pot. Let stand 10 minutes then slice pork before serving. Discard twine and lemon slices. Transfer juices to small sauce pan, mix flour with about 1 cup cold water. Add flour mixture to sauce pan and cook until thickened for gravy.

Chicken and Squash Casserole

I think this recipe turned out really good, my kids love stuffing and ate it really well. It's another one of those that the picture doesn't do it justice. I love meals that incorporate lots of vegetables so this was a winner for me.

4 tablespoons butter, divided

1 medium onion, diced

3 carrots, shredded

3 small squash, chopped into bite sized pieces (zucchini, mex squash, yellow squash)

4 chicken breasts, chopped into bite sized pieces

6 mushrooms diced

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup sour cream

1 package chicken stuffing mix

Preheat oven to 350*. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet. Add onion, carrots, and squash. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 7 minutes or until squash is tender. Transfer into large collander to drain. Add chicken and mushrooms to skillet. Cook 7-10 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Add vegetables back into skillet. Add soup and sour cream and mix well. Transfer to a 9X13 baking dish. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and stuffing mix to skillet. Toss until butter is absorbed. Top casserole with stuffing mix. At this point you can choose to leave the stuffing on top or mix it into the casserole. Today I mixed it into the casserole. Bake 20-30 minutes.

Cafe Rio Dinner

Okay, so I know every recipe blog out there has Cafe Rio Pork, but it's pretty much a staple around here so I had to add it to my blog too! When we make Cafe Rio Pork, it has to include Cilantro Lime Dressing, Cilantro Lime Rice and Bean and Cheese Dip! We serve it with lettuce, salsa, sour cream, enchilada sauce, tomatoes, large and small flour tortillas. That way we are covered if we want a Pork Salad, Pork Burrito, or Pork Tacos!

For the Pork:

Large Pork Butt Roast (I usually shoot for 3-5 lbs because we like leftovers!)

1 can Coke 1 large can green enchilada sauce, divided

1 tablespoon cumin

1/2 cup brown sugar

Place pork roast, fatty side up in crock pot. Pour coke over roast. Cover and cook on low 5-7 or high 3-5 hours. At this point I trim the fat off the top and throw it out. Remove most of the liquid from the crock pot to a large measuring cup. Shred pork. Discard about 1/2 the liquid leaving about 1 cup. Add 1/2 large can of enchilada sauce, cumin and brown sugar to remaining liquid. Pour over pork, mix and continue cooking 30-60 minutes.

For the Rice:

2-4 tablespoons butter

2 1/2 cups rice

2 cans chicken broth

1/2 cup water

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons lime juice

4 tablespoons cilantro

Mix all ingredients in a rice cooker or pot. Cook until done. (I do it in the microwave, about 7 minutes on high, then I stir it and put it back in for 30-45 min at 50% power)

For the Dressing:

1 1/3 cup sour cream

3/4 cup mayonaise

1 packet dry ranch dressing mix

4 tablespoons enchilada sauce (from can above)

1 bunch cilantro

2 garlic cloves

1/8 teaspoon tabasco

4 tablespoons lime juice

Blend!

For Bean Dip:

1/2 cup cream cheese

16 oz. refried beans

5 drops tabasco

1/3 cup green onions, chopped

1 cup monterey/colby jack cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon taco seasoning

1/4 cup parsley

1 cup cheddar cheese (on top)

Using a hand mixer mix all ingredients except cheddar cheese. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350* 20 minutes. This may sound like a lot of work to do all the sides, but really it takes less than an hour, and IT'S SO WORTH IT! This is the order I do it in:

1. Start Rice

2. Drain pork and mix sauce

3. Make bean dip and put in oven

4. Make dressing

5. Chop lettuce and tomatoes.

Sausage, Spinach and Tomato Pasta

I love this recipe. (DISCLAIMER: I love Spinach!) I really wasn't in the mood to cook dinner tonight, (I was working on getting our basement ready for sheetrock all day) but this was quick and easy and I love the flavor from the fresh tomatoes and spinach. Honestly my kids and husband weren't as impressed, I probably could have chopped the spinach up smaller and used about 1/2 to appease them.

1 lb. italian sausage

3 cans Italian style diced stewed tomatoes

1 box medium shells

2 1/2 cups water

4 garlic cloves, pressed

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup Parmesean Cheese, grated

8 cups spinach leaves

Cook sausage in a 12 in. skillet. Drain stewed tomatoes into a bowl, reserve 1 cup for later use, add tomatoes, remaining liquid, water, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pasta. Cover and cook 13-15 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occaisionally. Add in tomatoes, spinach, Parmesan cheese and reserved liquid. Cook 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted, stirring constantly.

Basket Round-Up!

This week's Conventional Basket

This week's Mexican Pack

This week's Organic Basket (This is actually my friend's basket, but I thought you might like to see what's in those boxes!) This week's menu:

Cafe Rio Pork w/ Cilantro Lime Dressing, Cilantro Lime Rice, Bean Dip and Salsa

Pork Roast

Green Enchilada Sauce

Brown Sugar

Cumin

Sour Cream

Mayonaise

Cilantro

Ranch Dressing Mix

Garlic

Tabasco

Lime

Butter

Rice

Tomatos

Peppers

Pasta with Spinach, Sausage, and Tomatoes

Pasta

Spinach

Sausage

Tomatoes

Garlic

Parmesean Cheese

Italian Diced Stewed Tomatoes

Chicken and Asparagus Risotto SkilletRice

olive oil

boneless, skinless chicken breasts

condensed cream of chicken soup

asparagus spears

milk

onion

Parmesan cheese

garlic

lemon zest

Turkey and Summer Squash Casserole

ground turkey

onion

squash

carrots

cream of chicken

sour cream

stuffing mix

Sunday Pork Roast with Carrots and Potatoes

pork roast

onion soup mix

carrots

potatoes

Chicken Tortilla Chili

This is such a yummy chili! We had our church Chili Cookoff last night, I won "Best Looking Chili." Although last year I won "Best Chili" with THIS recipe (my nephews were really excited about me defending my title, I said to one of them, "Best Looking is pretty good too" and he said, "eh") I personally think this years is better! This would be the PERFECT recipe for anyone who got a Mexican Pack and Tortillas this week! The one thing you could do if you got the mex pack is add in some hot peppers to taste! 4 yellow corn tortillas
1 large onion, diced
1 medium zucchini, diced (I used 2 yellow squash, if you got a Mexican Pack use the squash in that!)
1 T vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 T ground cumin
3-4 cups chicken stock
2 cans diced fire roasted tomatoes, undrained
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 small rotisserie chicken
1 t salt
Optional toppings: diced avacado, lime wedges, crumbled queso fresco, cilantro, tortilla crisps

Place tortillas in a blender or food processor to form fine crumbs, set aside. Place oil and onion in 4 quart pot, cook and stir over medium heat 4-6 minutes until onions are tender. Add cilantro, garlic, and cumin. Cook an aditional 20-30 seconds until fragrant. Stir in tortilla crumbs, zucchini, stock, tomatoes, and beans. Bring to a gentle simmer, reduce heat to medium-low and cook 15-20 minutes to thicken, stirring frequently and scraping bottom of pot. Stir in chicken and salt. Cook 3-4 minutes or until zucchini is tender and chicken is hot. Serve with toppings if desired.

Ham and Veggie Quiche

This is a delicious quiche! It was my first attempt at baking one and it turned out to be easy and delicious! We also had fresh squeezed orange juice because most of our box of navels was starting to go bad. About 1/2 way through eating I remembered that I wanted to make some fresh blueberry muffins to go with the quiche, so maybe I will go and make them for dessert instead!

1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box
1 cup chopped ham (I used sandwich meat)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella or Swiss cheese (my hubby doesn't love swiss but it would be yummy if you do!)
1 cup chopped broccoli florettes
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 diced tomato
1/2 onion chopped
8 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
optional
sour cream, salsa, extra cheese

Preheat oven to 375* Roll out pie crust and place in pie tin. (I used a Pampered Chef Deep Dish Pie Plate, if you aren't using a very deep pan you will have to half the egg/milk mixture, and possibly use less veggies!) Mix together ham, cheese, and veggies. Fill pie crust with veggie mix (should come up about 2/3 of dish) Mix together eggs, milk, salt, mustard, and pepper. Pour over veggies. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving. Top with sour cream, extra cheese and salsa if desired.

Chicken and Cauliflower Curry w/ Homemade Mango-Pineapple Chutney

Tonight's dinner was sweet and hot. I love stir-fry because it's quick and easy. I was actually surprised how well my kids ate this! I didn't scoop the extra chutney on top of theirs because it had some KICK! If I made it again I would probably leave out the red pepper flakes and make it more of a sweet chuteny, but my husband likes the heat so he wasn't complaining at all. (I always cool things down for the kids) **IMPORTANT** The chutney takes about an hour to make before you can start the dinner, so plan for that. I made mine earlier in the day and then it was ready, you could even make it a day or so ahead and keep it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Mango Pineapple Chutney (makes about 2 cups)

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (leave these out if you don't want A LOT of heat!)
1/2 sweet onion, minced
1 inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1/3 large yellow bell pepper, diced
1 large ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, and diced
1/3 small pineapple, peeled and diced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
3 tablespoons cup apple cider vinegar

Heat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the red pepper flakes and cook until they begin to sizzle, then stir in the minced onion. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Remove the lid, increase the heat to medium, and stir in the ginger and yellow bell pepper. Cook and stir until the ginger is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the mangoes, pineapple, brown sugar, curry powder, and vinegar. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool the chutney completely when done and store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

Pork and Cauliflower Curry

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
2 cans chicken broth, divided
4 cups cauliflower florets
4 (4 ounce) pork chops, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup mango-pineapple chutney (could substitute store bought pineapple or apple chutney)

Cook rice using 1 1/2 cans of the chicken broth. Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Season pork chops with 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder, salt and pepper. Cook pork 5-7 minutes stirring occaisionally. Remove from skillet and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the chicken broth, curry powder, buttermilk and flour. Add to skillet and heat to a boil stirring constantly. Add in pork, cauliflower and chutney. Cook until sauce is thickened and cauliflower is tender. Serve over rice and top with extra chutney.

Yummy Shells and Asparagus

Wow! That pretty much sums up tonight's dinner. I promise you this dish is worthy of being served at any Italian Restaurant. I used the original recipe found at Favorite Family Recipes and modified it.
1 pkg. medium shells pasta
1/2 c. (1 cube) butter (the real stuff)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz sliced mushrooms
3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1-2 chicken bouillon (I use 2 tsp. boulion powder)
1 (12oz) can evaporated milk
salt & and pepper to taste
1 bunch asparagus cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 c. bacon, crumbled
1/4 c. chopped pistacios (or to taste)
Parsley, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to taste

Boil bow tie pasta in salted water until al dente. Do NOT over cook.
In wok or heavy skillet melt butter. Add minced garlic, mushrooms and asparagus saute a minute or so.
Add Parmesan Cheese and bouillon. When the bouillon is dissolved, slowly stir in heavy cream and salt & pepper. Bring to a boil stirring frequently until thickend slightly. Add cooked pasta, crumbled bacon, toasted pistacios, and parsley and toss together. Serve immediately, sprinkle with additional Parmesean cheese to taste.

Chicken and Dumplings

This dinner was so yummy and it is great if your kids don't like to "see" veggies! I chopped up the celery, onion and mushrooms very tiny! You could add carrots or peppers or really any veggies you wanted to in and chop them up tiny and the kids might never know! I gave you the recipe below as I prepared it, the original had several differences, I added the mushrooms, potatoes, herbs and doubled the chicken soup and dumplings. Those chefs at Top Chef would criticize my "presentation" I am sure, but I'd bet they'd love the flavor anyway!

Chicken
2 (10.75 ounce) cans reduced fat cream of chicken soup
1 (14.5 ounce) can low-fat, low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
8 oz. chopped mushrooms
2 cups cubed or chopped potatoes
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
3 sprigs oregano leaves, finely chopped
1 sprig rosemary leaves, finely chopped
ground black pepper to taste

Dumplings
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1-2 sprigs oregano leaves, finely chopped

In a skillet heat oil over medium high heat, add in chicken, celery, onion, and mushrooms. Saute until chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile, in a large pot combine chicken soup, stock and milk. Add in oregano, rosemary, and pepper. Add in chicken mixture and potatoes. Cover and simmer over low heat 30-40 minutes, stirring occaisionally. In a small bowl mix together flour, baking powder and salt and oregano. Mix milk and oil separately and add to dry ingredients. Stir just until combined. Mixture will be wet and sticky! Drop tablespoonfulls of dumpling mixture on top of the chicken mixture. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through, without peeking.

Makes 6 servings as prepared
Recipe adapted from Chicken and Dumplings III on allrecipes.com

Basket Recipe Round-up!

Another great week for Bountiful Baskets! I just want to put in a plug for all of your AWESOME Voulunteer Site Coordinators...PLEASE go and VOLUNTEER once every 4 baskets you get! This morning my site only had 7 WONDURFUL people helping for 94 baskets, that's just not fair!Each week I will post the names of the recipes and the ingredients on Saturday (or maybe Sunday) so if you want to make something you can get the things you might need. These ingredients are rough, because I change things up as I am cooking. Then each day I post the "official" recipe with any adjustments I made/would make. In addition to my basket, I got another Italian Pack. This Friday we have a Chili Cook-Off at our church, other than that I am not exactly sure what days I will cook what, I have to check cooking times and fit it into my schedule. The great thing with this week's basket is that everything was very "common" things to cook with so these will be great to use in the future as well!

Recipes and (Rough) Ingredients

Chicken and Dumplings
2 (10.75 ounce) cans reduced fat cream of chicken soup
1 (14.5 ounce) can low-fat, low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
8 0z. sliced mushrooms
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon celery seed
oregano
garlic
ground black pepper to taste
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
parsley

Ham and Veggie Quiche
1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on box
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked ham
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup broccoli florets
1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
1 diced tomato
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Curried Pork Chops w/ Mango Pineapple Chutney
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
4 cups cauliflower florets
4 (4 ounce) pork chops, trimmed
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup buttermilk
6 green onions, chopped, divided
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 large sweet onion, minced
4 inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1 large yellow bell pepper, diced
3 large ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, and diced
1 small pineapple, peeled and diced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Chicken Tortilla Chili
4 yellow corn tortillas
1 large onion
2 small yellow squash
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup cilantro (Those of you in Arizona and Utah who got Cilantro can use it in this!)
4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp cumin
3 cups chicken broth
2 cans fire-roasted diced stewed tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
1 small rotisserie chicken
salt
optional-avacado, lime

Anniversary Bowtie and Asparagus
1 pkg. bow tie pasta
1/2 c. (1 cube) butter (the real stuff)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1-2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 pint heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste
10-15 spears asparagus, blanched
1/2 c. bacon, crumbled
1/4 c. toasted pinenuts (or to taste)
Parsley, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to taste

Quick Chicken Cacciatore

Tonight's dinner came together so quickly and it was such a yummy homemade spaghetti sauce! I ended up adding some oregano in with the basil at the end because I had it to use from my Italian pack. I am getting another Italian pack tomorrow so my hubby is very excited about more mushrooms!

1 cup all-purpose flour
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4 oz each)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 head cauliflower, cut into pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 can (14.5 oz) Italian-seasoned petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil and oreganoleaves
12 oz cooked spaghetti noodles

Coat chicken in flour, heat oil in 12 in. skillet over medium-high heat 3 minutes. Add chicken, cook 2-3 minutes on each side.(chicken will not be fully cooked) Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm. Combine tomato paste, broth, garlic, cornstarch, salt and pepper and mix. Combine mushrooms and cauliflower in skillet Cook and stir 3-4 minutues. Add broth mixture and tomatoes; bring to a simmer. Stir in herbs and add chicken back to skillet. Cover and simmer 5-7 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and sauce is thickened. Serve over spaghetti noodles.

yeild:6 servings, calories per serving: 480

Cabbage Chili w/ GREEN Chili Lime Corn Chips

Remember the Super Bowl Corn Chips that Bountiful Baskets offered? Well, we were cheering for the Steelers, SO I threw the green tortillas into the freezer for St. Patricks Day! Today I sprayed them with a little oil and sprinkled with salt and chili lime rub and baked them at 350* for 15 minutes, to serve with our chili! Yummy!

1 lb. ground turkey
2 small onions, chopped
1 red or green pepper, chopped
About 3 (hot) chilies (to taste), finely chopped (I used hot banana peppers)
1 Cabbage, chopped
3 fresh tomatoes
1-2 cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
1-2 cans kidney beans
2 small yellow squash, chopped (optional)
2 heaped teaspoons of cumin seed;
2 teaspoons curry powder
pepper to taste

Heat a large pot over medium high heat. Add turkey and onions. Cook 5 minutes. Add in cabbage, tomatoes, squash, beans, peppers and seasonings. I had a very large cabbage, so I used 2 cans of the tomatoes and beans, remember the cabbage will cook down quite a bit though. The chili will seem very dry at this point, but as the cabbage simmers it will release lots of liquid. Simmer over low heat 30 minutes stirring occaisionally.

Whenever I cook something like Chili, I like to see what older veggies I have in the fridge that I can add. It's a great way to add more vitamins and usally doesn't effect the flavor of the chili. I didn't have any this time, but when we get brussels again (not my favorite veggie) I am going to try adding them to chili!

Recipe adapted from The Giant Cabbage

Hearty Chicken and Rosemary Stew

The flovor of fresh rosemary in this recipe really gets infused into the chicken and veggies! This dish cooks for a long time, but was really very easy to throw together. It worked out nicely because I put it in the oven and then took my daughter to ballet and when we came home it was ready to eat. I'll bet you could do it in a crock pot before work as well!

1 lb. small Yukon gold potatoes, cut into chunks
1 large onion, diced
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1/2 in slices.
8 oz. whole mushrooms, quartered
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (could use thighs), cut into 1 in. pieces
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 lemon
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 375*. Combine potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, chicken, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper in a deep baking dish, mix well. Whisk together broth, tomato paste, and cornstarch in a bowl until cornstarch is disolved. Pour over veggies and chicken. Bake covered 1 1/2-2 hours stiring after 45 minutes. After baking, zest lemon to measure 1 tsp. zest. Stir in zest and parsley. Let stand covered 10 minutes.

yeild: 8 servings, calories per serving: 260
Recipe from NEW Pampered Chef Dinner in your Deep Covered Baker

Sweet and Sour Pork and Pineapple Stir Fry

Wow, tonight's dinner was a total winner! The kids loved it and the adults loved it! Plus it was super quick and easy too.

1 lb pork tenderloin, quartered lengthwise and sliced into 1 in. pieces
2 tbsp plus 1 tsp cornstarch, divided
2 cups fresh green beans, snapped into 1 in. pieces (my kids prefer the green beans to be fairly soft, so I also boiled them for 5 minutes or so, then drained, before using them in the stir-fry)
1 medium pineapple, cut into chunks
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/3 cup apricot preserves
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges (optional)
3 cups hot cooked rice (optional)

Combine pork and salt and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Heat oil in 12 in skillet over medium high heat 3 minutes. Place pork into skillet in a single layer and cook undisturbed 4-6 minutes. Turn pork over and cook and aditional 1-2 minutes. Add onion and green beans. Cook until onion begins to brown. Reduce heat to medium. Add Pineapple ans sauce. Cook 1-2 minutes or until sauce is thickened, stiring constantly. Serve with rice.

Yeald:4 servings, calories per serving: 320
Recipe adapted from TPC Spring Summer Seasons Best Cookbook

15 Asparagus Recipes for your 15 lbs of Asparagus!

For this Saturday if you are getting a case of Asparagus here are a few recipes that I thought looked delicious to try out!

Oven Roasted Asparagus

Asparagus Hollandaise Puff

Asparagus Omelet

Chicken and Asparagus Risotto

Fast 'n Fresh Fritatta

Roasted Asparagus with Balsalmic Brown Butter

Chinese Chicken Salad

Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp, Asparagus, and basil

Asparagus and Chicken Enchiladas

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Anniversary Bowtie and Asparagus Pasta

Balsalmic Chicken Asparagus

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Asparagus, and Green Beans

Pasta with Mushrooms and Asparagus in a Pesto Sauce

Asparagus, Mushroom and Ham Quiche with a Potato Crust

Chimichurri Steak Salad

I love chimichurri! The dressing on this salad is also used as a marinade for the steak after it has been cooked. I cut up the steak into bite size pieces before placing it on the salad. The raw garlic gave a nice bite to the dressing.

Steak
1 lb boneless top sirloin steak aprox. 3/4 in. thick
1/2 tsp salt
Chimichurri
1 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons vinegar (I used balsalmic)
1/2 tsp salt
1 garlic clove pressed
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (optional, I didn't throw that in)

1 medium sunchoke (optional)
Salad
1 head lettuce, chopped
1 cup tomatoes diced

Heat grill pan over medium heat 5 minutes. As the pan heats rub steak with salt. Place steak into pan and cook 6-8 minutes on each side for medium doneness. As steak cooks prepare chimichurri by mixing together in a small bowl. Remove steaks from heat and top with 3 tablespoons chimichurri. Let stand 10 minutes. Thinly slice lettuce and cut tomatoes and place in a large bowl. Toss with remaining chimichurri sauce. Divide salad onto serving plates and thinly slice steak and arrange over top of salad.

yeild: 4 servings, calories per serving: 330

Recipe adapted from TPC 29 Minutes to Dinner

notes: This is one I won't double because 1 lb of steak will be plenty for my family. I plan on making some garlic bread to serve with this meal.

Creamy Pasta with Spring Vegetables

This recipe had such great flavor! I love the fresh basil and roasted veggies. This recipe was adapted from a recipe in The Pampered Chef Main Dishes cookbook, which is now out of print. Most recipes that I make in my home I go off of an idea and then add or take away things until it's what I want. I doubled the recipe, with a big family that's a must, plus that way I could use the whole can of evaporated milk.
8 oz. thin fresh asparagus spears, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
8 oz. baby portobello mushrooms, quartered
1 large bell pepper, cut into 1 in pieces
1 yellow squash, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 tsp. salt (I like course sea salt)
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, snipped
8 oz. penne pasta (I use whole wheat)
3/4 cup fat free evaporated milk (could use heavy whipping cream or regular evaporated milk)
2 oz fresh parmesan cheese grated

Preheat oven to 425*. Chop up veggies and place in a large bowl. Add olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Toss gently. Spread out on a cookie sheet with sides. Roast 18-20 minutes until veggies are tender. (if you like crisp veggies only roast 10-12 min). Cook fat free evaporated milk in a small sauce pan over medium low heat until slightly thickened. Add in parmesan cheese and stir until incorporated. When veggies are done, return to large bowl, top with sauce and basil and toss together. Top with additional black pepper and parmesan cheese as desired.

yeild-4 servings, calories per serving: 120

notes: Tonight I made this vegetarian style, but it would be great with grilled chicken breasts cubed and tossed in. Also, I used veggies that I had on hand, it's easy to add or take away veggies in a meal like this to suit it to your tastes!

What's Dinner in a Basket?

About me: I am a stay at home mother of 5 kids between the ages of 1 and 8. I love to cook healthy meals for my kids and make sure they eat plenty of fruits and veggies. About a year ago I discovered Bountiful Baskets and fell in love! I am now a VSC (voulenteer site coordinator) for a site in Idaho Falls and enjoy finding and making new recipes with my basket items. I decided to make this blog for anyone who might be looking for new recipes to use their basket items, each week I plan my menu around what comes in my basket. I will post the recipes for these later tonight and put up a picture and review of each as I try it.

This week's conventional basket:

Picture from Healthy Mom's Kitchen

Italian Pack:

This week's dinner menu:

Sunday-

Creamy Pasta With Spring Vegetables: Asparagus, Baby Portobello Mushrooms, Garlic, Basil, old basket: red bell pepper

Monday-

Chimichurri Steak Salad: Lettuce, Tomatoes, Parsley, Garlic

Tuesday-

Sweet and Sour Pork and Pineapple Stir Fry: Pineapple, Green Beans, Red Onion

Wednesday-

Hearty Chicken and Rosemary Stew: Mushrooms, Rosemary, Garlic, Parsley, old basket: Baby Gold Potatoes, Carrots,

Thursday-

Quick Chicken Cacciatore: Cauliflower, Onion, Mushrooms, Basil, Garlic

Friday-

Cabbage Chili: Tomatoes, old basket: Asian Pack-Napa Cabbage