Author Archive
Buttered Noodles
I remember this easy side dish from when I was little, this is an easy and tasty side dish.
Ingredients
- 250 grams dry egg noodles, (8 oz)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Heat a pot of salted water to boiling, then add the egg noodles, reduce heat, and cook until the noodles are just tender. When the noodles are tender, scoop out ¼ cup pasta water then drain the noodles but do not rinse. The reserved water is to adjust consistency.
- Return the noodles to the pot on low heat, add remaining ingredients and toss to mix together. Stir in 1-2 tablespoons pasta water as needed to achieve desired consistency. Remove from heat.
- Pour into a serving bowl, serve as a side dish with any main dish, enjoy.
Ground Beef & Eggs Casserole
This recipe is from a social media friend, and is a simple yet tasty casserole. Feel free to get creative and tailor this to your liking to make it your own.
Equipment
- Baking Pan (7x11 inch)
- Oven
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 eggs
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 225 grams Cheddar cheese, shredded, (8 oz / 1-1½ cups)
- salt and pepper, as desired
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a 7x11 baking pan.
- Heat a non stick skillet, when hot, add the beef, onion, and garlic. Cook, breaking up the beef with your spatula, until no pink remains, seasoning with salt and black pepper as desired. Drain any fat.
- While the beef is cooking, add the eggs, cream, mustard powder, salt and pepper as desired, whisk together.
- Add cooked and drained beef to the 7x11 baking pan, spread out evenly.
- Top the beef with the cheese evenly.
- Pour whisked eggs over the beef and cheese.
- Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until the eggs are set in the center and golden brown. When eggs are set, remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes.
- Cut into squares, serve with sides of your choice, enjoy.
Notes
Fair cost per serving depending on how the beef is sourced.
Diced Tomato Pasta Sauce
Easy and great tasting sauce that uses canned diced tomatoes as the base and is versatile with several variants listed as well.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can diced tomatoes, (565 g / 20 oz)
- ½ tablespoon dried oregano
- 3-4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
For Serving
- 2 cups dry pasta, spiral would be a good choice
- Parmesan cheese, grated, as desired
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a saucepan, when hot, add the onion and garlic, cook until onion turns translucent, stirring often.
- Add the tomatoes, oregano, and basil leaves. Stir together, reduce heat, cover and let simmer.
- While the sauce is simmering, cook your pasta in a pot of salted boiling water, drain.
- To serve, spoon sauce over noodles or feel free to mix the pasta and sauce together first. Top servings with grated Parmesan cheese, enjoy.
Notes
Variants: 1. Add sliced canned or fresh sautéed mushrooms to the sauce while it is simmering. 2. Add cooked meatballs to the sauce while it is simmering. 3. Mix the sauce and pasta together, pour into a casserole, top with cheese, and bake for 20-30 minutes to make a casserole.
Slow Cooker Whole Cauliflower
This recipe is from a social media friend who specializes in slow cooker dishes. I made this on 12 Apr 2023, excellent flavor, and very well liked by the family.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker (4+ quart)
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
- Trim the stem of the cauliflower so the head will sit flat, remove any leaves, and give it a quick rinse and shake off the excess water. Place in the slow cooker. No need to remove the stem, it is just as good as the rest of the cauliflower.
- In a small bowl, mix together the oil, mustard, cheese, and garlic to make the sauce.
- Spoon the sauce on top of the cauliflower, right in the center. Let gravity pull the sauce down on the sides, and just even it out with the back of the spoon, until the head is covered evenly with the sauce.
- Cover and set to Low, let cook for 6 to 8 hours, checking for doneness at 6 hours. If a fork can be easily inserted from the top to the bottom of the stem, it is done. I took the photo after I had cut the cauliflower into 6 wedges and started to serve.
- Serve as a side dish, and enjoy.
Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken
This recipe is from a social media friend who specializes in slow cooker dishes. I made this on 19 Mar 2023, cooked 4 hours, internal temp was perfect, the meat was near fall off the bones and juicy. Excellent flavorful chicken, my wife took one bite and gave me two thumbs up.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker (6+ quart)
Ingredients
- 4-5 chicken breasts, or 4-5 quarters, separated
- ½ cup Dijon mustard
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
- To the slow cooker, add the mustard, honey, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Stir together just enough to combine.
- Add the chicken pieces and mix them around to coat them with sauce.
- Cover and set to Low and cook for 4-6 hours. If using a meat thermometer to check internal temp, target temp is 79°C (165°F).
- Serve with your choice of sides. The sauce would be excellent over pasta or mashed potatoes.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Peg's Biscuits
This recipe was recommended by a friend, Peg, on the Just a Pinch Recipe Club site and she has this recipe perfected as to how to make biscuits! Very easy, and excellent biscuits! Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Notes section.
Equipment
- Pastry Cutter
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Oven
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes
- ¾ cup cold buttermilk, plus a little extra for proper consistency
- 1 pinch baking soda
Instructions
- First thing, make sure you have room in your freezer for whatever mixing bowl you are going to use.
- To the mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Whisk together.
- Add the butter to the flour mixture and cut in with a pastry cutter to blend, leaving pieces of the butter about the size of peas. Now place the mixing bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- While the flour butter mixture is in the freezer, measure out your buttermilk and add a large pinch of baking soda and stir that in.Now get the baking sheet ready by adding a sheet of parchment.
- When 15 minutes have passed, remove the mixing bowl from the freezer, add the buttermilk, stir until just mixed, add additional buttermilk 1 tablespoon at a time until a sticky ball forms, do not over mix.
- Flour your hands and counter, place dough on counter, gently push dough down to sort of flatten, then fold dough in half, do this 6 to 8 times at most, while being very gentle with the dough. The dough will be rough looking, perfect for biscuits.
- Still using your hands, gently flatten dough between 1 and 1½ inches thick. Use a biscuit cutter or a drinking glass, about 2½ inches in diameter, and push straight down to cut biscuits. Do not twist or turn the cutter or you will seal the edge and they will not rise. Shape scrap dough into a ball, flatten, and cut more biscuits, goal is 9 biscuits.
- Place biscuits on the prepared baking sheet starting in the center. You want 3 rows with 3 biscuits in each row, sides gently touching. Brush tops with milk and place on top of the stove while heating the oven. Preheat your oven to 220°C (425° F).
- When heated, bake for 11 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter.
- I enjoyed these biscuits with sausage gravy on them.
Notes
Shortcut: Buttermilk.
Sausage Balls
This recipe is from an extensive cookbook titled Favorite Recipes, compiled by the active and retired employees of Michigan Bell in 1981. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Notes section.
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Foil
- Oven
Ingredients
- 500 grams pork sausage, (1 lb), Shortcut
- 500 grams Cheddar cheese, shredded, (1 lb)
- 3½ cups Bisquick Mix, Shortcut
- pinch fresh parsley, chopped fine
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a baking, line with foil with the edges turned up, to make cleanup easier.
- Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl, mix together.
- Form into even sized balls. Arrange on baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cooked through.
- Serve as appetizers with dipping sauces of your choice. Enjoy.
Notes
Shortcuts: Pork Sausage, Bisquick Mix.
Chicken Nugget Bake
An easy casserole with simple ingredients, this is the slimmed down version of Chicken Nugget Casserole II. And it is delicious!
Equipment
- Baking Pan (9x13 inch)
- Oven
Ingredients
- 1 kilo frozen chicken nuggets, you will not use them all, (2 lb)
- 2 cups pasta sauce, Shortcut
- 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
- hot cooked spaghetti, as desired, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter.
- Place frozen chicken nuggets in the prepared dish in a single layer.
- Pour the pasta sauce over the nuggets and spread out evenly.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the sauce.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the cheese is starting to brown on top.
- While the casserole is baking, cook spaghetti or pasta of your choice, until tender, drain.
- Serve casserole spooned over hot pasta, and a vegetable for a great meal. Enjoy.
Notes
Fair cost per serving.
Variant: 1. Feel free to use more sauce and or cheese as desired.
Shortcut: Pasta Sauce.
Egg Salad III
This is an excellent egg salad, this is a no mustard egg salad and also includes cream cheese. A delicious change to the typical egg salad. This is great on sandwiches or crackers. This recipe assumes you have hard boiled eggs already - feel free to prepare those your preferred way. Link to the Shortcut is in the Notes section.
Ingredients
- 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled, Shortcut
- 85 grams cream cheese, softened, (3 oz)
- 1 tablespoon celery, heaping, diced fine
- 1 teaspoon onion, heaping, diced fine
- ¼ cup mayo
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- paprika, to taste
Instructions
- Hard boil the eggs your preferred way then peel them.
- To a medium size mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients except the salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Mix together until fairly smooth. Taste and season with salt, pepper, and paprika, as desired, to taste.
- Chop the eggs and add to the mixing bowl.
- Gently mix the eggs into the cream cheese mixture. Cover and place in the fridge to chill for 1-2 hour before serving.
- Spread salad generously on sliced bread or buns for delicious sandwiches, I like to spread may on the bread first as well. This is also an excellent salad on crackers of your choice. Enjoy.
Notes
Shortcut: Perfect Hard Boiled Chicken Eggs.
Variant: 1. You can use celery seed and onion powder to replace the fresh items, use ¼ teaspoon each.
Homemade Brownie Mix
This recipe comes from a social media friend and comes highly recommended. This is the mix and the instructions to make the brownies, so sort of a 2 for 1 recipe. This mix as stated makes the equivalent of 1 store bought boxed mix. Easy to assemble mix, and wonderful brownies, highly recommended!
Equipment
- Baking Pan (8x8 inch) , for making the brownies
- Oven , for making the brownies
Ingredients
For the Mix
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips, optional
To make the Brownies
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Mix
- Add the Mix ingredients, except the chocolate chips, to a large mixing bowl and whisk together.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- At this point, the Mix is ready, store in an airtight container or even a ziplock bag until use. Fell free to make several batches, then you have several "boxes" available to use anytime.
To make the Brownies
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out an 8x8 inch baking pan, line with parchment paper, overhanging two sides, and lightly grease the exposed sides with butter.
- In a mixing bowl, add the oil, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk together.
- Add 1 recipe of Brownie Mix and mix together until just combined.
- Pour mixture into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 20-25 or until desired doneness, less for gooier type brownies, a bit more for cakier type brownies. Remove from oven and and cool pan on a rack for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, use a butter knife and cut along the two sides of the pan with no parchment. Use the parchment overhangs and carefully lift out of the pan and place on the wire rack and allow to cool another 10 minutes.
- Cut into 9 squares, serve and enjoy.
Notes
Recipe easily doubles, just use two batches of Mix and bake in a 9x13 baking pan.
Variants: 1. Regular size or mini chocolate chips can be semisweet, dark, milk, or even white. 2. Replace the chocolate chips with 1 cup M&M candies or 1 cup chopped Oreo cookies. 3. In addition to the chocolate chips, add ½ cup nuts, such as chopped walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds, or mixed nuts.
