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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A Belated Thank You!

I just wanted to tell Tami thank you so much! On the day you guys exchanged meals last month, she sent Dave over to my house with the lasagna she had made for her family. AMAZING!! It probably doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was very touching to me. Thank you so much!!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Amy- wait to add the sour cream?

I just made Amy's meal tonight which was great! The only question I have is should you wait to add the sour cream until the end before serving? I added it at the beginning and it kind of balled up instead of mixing in. I have had other recipes with sour cream in the crock pot and you add it at the end. Anyone have an answer?

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Beef Stew

The beef stew was really good Sarah. I put it in a casserole dish and sprinkled cheese on it and then warmed it up in the oven. It was yummy!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Jane's meal gets an A++++++++

If you haven't had Jane's meal yet, get ready for some REALLY GREAT Beef and Broccoli. When I served it to my kids they said, "Yuck, I don't like broccoli!!!" I told them they haven't tried this dinner before. I told them how Jane had made it and that Sam and Nate LOVED it. I told them they thought is was sugar meat. (The things we say to get kids to eat!) So, Jeffrey reluctantly took a bite and said, "Wow, this is REALLY GOOD". About 2 minutes later he was asking for more!!! It took Kyle awhile to give it a try, but once he did, his plate was gone too. As for Chloe, I think you all know she doesn't eat. I ate way too much myself just because it tasted so good and Scott asked if I could get the recipe. So Jane, PLEASE pass on the recipe!!! (If you haven't already.) Thanks Jane!!!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Add a little more cornstarch...

I gave you each baggies with 2 t. cornstarch (plus some sesame seeds) to thicken the sauce at the end of cooking. I made the meal tonight, however, and realized you will probably want to add an additional 2 t. cornstarch (4 t. in all) to make the sauce just right. Also, I forgot to take out my meal to thaw so I just thawed it in the sink with some warm water. It didn't take too long--from start to dinner was only about 30 minutes.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The shredded pork

Shauna your port was yummy! We had it the other night and thought it was awesome! We served it over rice and had pineapple on the side...it was a perfect combo!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Four Cheese Lasagne

Sorry for delay! Lots going on here and my meals took forever to freeze! No need to thaw, just loosen the foil and bake at 350° for about 40 minutes. Remove foil and cook another 5-15 minutes or until bubbly and all the cheese is fully melted. Enjoy with garlic bread and salad on the side!

Directions: When I make one lasagne, I usually make a large pan worth, plus I have some leftover, so all amounts listed below are very approximate.

1 lb. or less ground beef
1/2 chopped onion
minced garlic
salt and pepper
1 box or less of lasagne noodles (3 noodles wide per layer)
2 jars pasta sauce
Italian seasoning
1 block or less shredded cheddar cheese
1 block or less shredded mozzarella cheese
grated parmesan cheese
1 tub cottage cheese

1. Brown ground beef with chopped onion and minced garlic. Salt and Pepper to taste.
2. Cook lasagne noodles about 5-6 minutes and then separate to cool.
3. Add ground beef, onions, garlic and Italian seasoning to pasta sauce.
4. Mix cheddar and mozerella cheese together in separate bowl.
5. Spray pan and cover bottom with a thin layer of sauce. Layer the remaining ingredients as follows: row of noodles, meat and sauce mixture, cheese mixture sprinkled, couple sprinkles of cottage cheese, a little parmesan cheese, another layer of noodles, etc.
6 Finish off the top with just a thin layer of sauce and plenty of parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Beef Stew

We call this stew Skier's stew, only because you can put it in the oven and when you get back from skiing it is ready to eat. Weird, I know! I don't know what to call it here in the desert.

1 lb stew meat
4 or 5 potatoes
handful of baby carrots
chopped celery
1 packet lipton onion soup mix
1 small can of tomato paste
1 can of cream of mushroom soup and 2 can fulls of water
1 beef bouillon cube

Brown stew meat in a little oil until browned. Then put it in a crockpot or roasting pan with all the other ingredients. It will take about 3-4 hours till carrots and potatoes are fork tender. If I cook it in the oven, I will put it at 300 or 325.

It will all be cooked through in freezer bags. I say let it thaw and then put it in a oven safe cassorole dish and warm it through. This meat that I put in the stew is so tender I don't know if it will stay in stew chunks or if it will fall apart, either way, there is plenty of beef in there and it will be delicious.

Sesame Beef and Broccoli

I've never frozen broccoli before but I did my best to follow internet advice. I blanched the broccoli for 4 minutes then put it in an ice bath then bagged it. You may have to steam it but I'm going to try just adding it to the stir fry at the end since it is already partially cooked.

Sesame Beef and Broccoli
1 pound round steak, cut into strips
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 green onions, chopped
1 lb. broccoli
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 teaspoons cornstarch

DIRECTIONS
Mix soy sauce, sugar, oil, garlic, and onions in a large bowl. Set aside. Cut steak into strips and add to bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least 30 minutes. Cook in wok or frying pan until brown, about 5 minutes. Steam broccoli. Next add the broccoli, sesame seeds and cornstarch and cook for additional 2 minutes. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Friday, January 9, 2009

manicotti

Since the stuffed shells were such a big hit I decided to make something of the same this time around. I made manicotti. I will give you the box of shells and a bag of sauce and a bag of the cheese mixture. All you need to do is thaw the two bags day of cooking. Then cook shells according to directions. Then scoop cheese mixture into manicotti shells or cut tip of bag and squeeze into shells since they are tube like. Then cover with sauce and cook in oven for 20 min. or so. I like to sprinkle a little mozz on top and cover with tinfoil so it doesn't get hard. And enjoy. My kids love this meal. Serve with salad and rolls and you are set. Also, the package of shells is more than my family can eat in one meal. So consider that when cooking. I usually make 2 each for Tony and I and one for each kiddo.

Manicotti or Stuffed shells with cheese
4 cups ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozz
1/2 cup grated parmesan
2 eggs
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley ( or dried)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Shells
Sauce
Cover with foil bake till bubbly

Chicken Tacos

I tried out a new recipe last night with my kids and it was such a huge hit! I was in shock the rest of the night. It is diffenetly getting a gold star next to it!
I'm going to give you the following:
tacos
4 chicken breasts
jar of mild salsa
1 sour cream
sharp cheddar cheese

The day you want to make this you throw the chicken breasts (I even did mine frozen) salsa and sour cream in the crockpot and cook on high for 3-4 hours. I then removed just the chicken breasts and shredded them. I didn't pour all the remaining mixture on top it just looked like to much so I just mixed enough in to coat it and make it alittle creamy. Then I spooned it into the tacos and put some sharp cheddar cheese on top. My kids loved this you guys. Hobbs is the pickiest eater and he was the first one done! I also served fruit cocktail on the side and it was great! I am not pre-cooking it because I think the sour cream will come out weird. And it is an easy enough recipe that you can just quick throw it together that day. I hope you like it! I also only used 3 chicken breasts and it was plenty but for the bigger families I thought one more chicken breasts would be good.
Amy

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Cream of Celery with pork tenderloin

Hello all. I made a easy recipe that Amy suggested in her last Pork BBQ entry. It is pork tenderloin cooked in a crock pot with cream of celery soup. We tried it out last night and I decided it needed an additional can of cream of celery soup (which I will give you) added to it to make it creamier and some salt and pepper to taste. I served it over rice and we put on green onions, Mandarin oranges, tomatoes, cheddar cheese and chow mien noodles. It is like Hawaiian Haystacks but with pork. I will be the first to critique it and say I think I would have liked it better with cream of chicken, the meat tends to stay clomped together so you kind of have to mix it in with the rice, and it is a little on the salty side because I think cream of celery is more salty. Who knows really, maybe it's just me. Anyway, live and learn. I hope you enjoy it, even for just one try!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Wednesday @ 9:30

Ok, so mostly everyone responded. What about 9:30 at my house? It's my understanding that we will only be doing 6 this time. Marianne, are you feeling better? Aften, are you hanging in there? Can we help both of you in any way?

Monday, January 5, 2009

New Meeting Time?

Hey all! First of all, Marianne Congratulations!!!! I'm so happy for you, sorry that you're sick though! It looks like Wed. morning is a little too early for a few of you so should we go for Wed. morning next week? How does that work for all of you?

Friday, January 2, 2009

January Exchange

Hey girls, I am ready for a new year of yummy meals. We managed to eat all of our dinners in the month of December and are ready to start fresh. I propose we exchange on Wed. the 7th or Thurs. the 8th. So what do you say?