Turkey Sandwiches
You’ve got a fridge full of leftover turkey — and the simplest way to serve them is through (you got it!) turkey sandwiches.
But leftovers don’t have to be boring. If you must make a sandwich, make it a darned good one.
Get imaginative with your bread. Try sourdough rye, dill, a croissant. Then, dress up your mayonnaise with a little roasted garlic. Others make herbed mayonnaise, or add green or red pesto (the latter being made of sun-dried tomatoes instead of basil). Choose a different cheese like Alpine Lace Swiss or Gouda. Then, your greens — aside from lettuce, you can use sprouts.
An excellent snack or a quick dinner.
Cheesy easy Chicken Breasts
Some kids can be really picky eaters, eating nothing but fried chicken or hotdogs. Try serving this. Delicious, easy, and (with a little food styling) can be elevated to a special meal in case your mother in law suddenly drops by for dinner.
Ingredients
1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup apple juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups fresh soft bread crumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
What’s next
Prepare a 13×9″ pan with foil, then set the oven to 375 degrees. Mix mustard, apple juice, and garlic. In other pan, mix the crumbs, cheese, parsley, melted butter, salt, pepper, and parsley flakes. Coat chicken in this, then roll in crumbs (use homemade bread crumbs). Stick the bird into the oven, and bake for 20-30 minutes.
Spam Reinvented - a Casserole from a Can
Canned goods are high on convenience, but rarely offer much flavor. But with a few extra ingredients, busy moms can turn something as humble as Spam and instant mashed potatoes into a gourmet meal that everybody will love.
Ingredients
1 can (10 3/4 oz size) Condensed cream of potato soup
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 tablespoons Sherry
4 cups Hot, prepared mashed potatoes
Vegetable cooking spray
1 can (12 oz size) Spam Luncheon Meat, cut into small pieces
1/4 teaspoon Paprika
What’s next
Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine soup, 2 tablespoons cheese, and sherry; stir until smooth.
Spoon mashed potatoes into 1 1/2 quart casserole coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle Spam on top of potatoes. Spread soup mixture over Spam. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons cheese and paprika over soup mixture. Bake 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
Marinade mistakes
Marinades are a busy cook’s best friend. Pour ingredients in a bowl, soak, and then go off and do your thing. Then, bake or fry for an idiot-proof meal.
It’s easy, but many people make marinade mistakes. First, they soak it too long. Poultry and seafood can turn into a yucky mush if they’re left in anything for longer than one night (sometimes, vinegar can actually cook the fish).
Second, they set themselves up for food poisoning by reusing leftover marinade. Throw it out, and make a fresh batch for the sauce. If you’re feeling frugal, boil the marinade for at least 5 minutes to zap any bacteria.
Quickie of the Day: Cajun Seafood Pasta Recipe
Good Friday morning to you, readers. So happy you dropped by for today’s quick recipe of the day. This fine morn we have a Cajun Seafood Pasta recipe on the menu. This is a perfect quickie comfort food recipe for all you seafood lovers out there. As you can tell, I have seafood pasta on the brain this week!
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1 cup chopped green onions
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/2 pound scallops
- 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 pound dry fettuccine pasta
What’s Next:
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
Meanwhile, pour cream into large skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until just about boiling. Reduce heat, and add herbs, salt, peppers, onions, and parsley. Simmer 7 to 8 minutes, or until thickened.
Stir in seafood, cooking until shrimp is no longer transparent. Stir in cheeses, blending well.
Drain pasta. Serve sauce over noodles & you’re done!
Quickie of the Day: Orange-Lemon Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp Recipe
Good morning, readers. I hope you’re ready for National Be Humble Day, but I’m not sure how you could be with this recipe just waiting for you. You’re going to get more compliments than you know what to do with using this fast & easy recipe.
What I have up my cook’s sleeve today is a delicious Orange-Lemon Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp recipe that’s sure to win everyone’s hearts & taste buds. Enjoy & get ready for springtime!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice (approx. 3-4 oranges)
- 1 cup fresh orange segments, diced
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon segments, diced
- 1 cup olive oil
- 6 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 8 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
- 20 shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1-1/2 lbs. angel hair pasta, cooked
- 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese, shredded
What’s Next:
Combine fresh-squeezed orange juice, fresh, diced orange and diced lemon segments with olive oil, garlic and basil. Cook pasta in boiling water.
Sauté shrimp for three minutes or until done to taste. Toss warm pasta with juice mixture and shrimp. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve immediately. That’s it!
Quickie of the Day: Homemade Granola Snack Recipe
I’m all about discovering new food blogs & just this morning I looked under a Google rock & found FoodForThought. It doesn’t look like they’ve posted in a while, but the site has great photos & was a real keeper if you ask me.
FoodForThought has been making Homemade Granola Snacks since Trader Joe’s discontinued their favorite granola variety. It’s a good thing they did because this granola recipe looks fantastic! I might have to add some dark chocolate pieces, but it looks great. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 5 c rolled oats and/or multigrain cereal (Trader Joe’s carries a nice barley-oat-rye-wheat flake mix that I combine half and half with oats)
- 2 c almonds
- 1 c pumpkin seeds
- 1 c sesame seeds
- 1 c sunflower seeds
- 1/2 c ground flax meal
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 4-6 oz applesauce (I use one of the individual serving cups that Ben takes in his lunchbox)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 c honey, rice syrup, maple syrup, or some combination thereof
- 1 c raisins, dried cranberries, or some combination thereof
What’s Next:
Go ahead & preheat your oven to 320 F or 160 C.
Stir together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. Add applesauce, then oil and honey or syrup, and combine well. Pour into two large, greased baking pans (I use two lasagne pans) and bake for 45 minutes, stirring once or twice along the way.
Remove from the oven, stir in the dried fruit, then cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Quickie of the Day: Fast & Easy Pork Chops Recipe
Good morning to you, folks. I hope you had a fabulous President’s Day yesterday & had some time to sink your teeth into one of Bill Clinton’s favorite recipes.
Today for our quickie of the day we are going to tackle a delicious & easy Pork Chop recipe. Don’t worry, this recipe is a cinch! Enjoy & let me know what you thought!
Ingredients:
- 6 pork chops
- 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
- 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed golden mushroom soup
What’s Next:
Go ahead & preheat your oven to 375 F or 190 C.
Rinse pork chops, pat dry and place them in a 9×13 inch baking dish.
In a separate small bowl, combine the onion, mushrooms and soup. Mix together well and sponn over the chops.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake for 15 more minutes.
Note: Pork chops are done when their internal temperature has reached 160 F or 70 C.
Quickie of the Day: Bill Clinton’s Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
Happy President’s Day all around! Today I thought we would do a quickie based on a former U.S. president’s very own recipe. Not to pick any sides politically, but I found this delicious-looking Chicken Enchiladas recipe from Bill Clinton’s kitchen. I haven’t tried it myself, as of yet, but I think this will make quite a tasty President’s Day meal. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons Cooking oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Oregano
- 2 cans Green chilis
- 3 cups Chicken, shredded — cooked
- 1 can Tomatoes — 28 oz
- 2 cups Cheddar cheddar — grated
- 2 cups Onion — chopped
- 1/3 cup Cooking oil
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 15 Tortillas — corn1 clove Garlic — minced
- 2 cups Sour cream
What’s Next:
Preheat 2 Tbsp oil in skillet. Remove seeds from chilies. Chop chilies, then saute with minced garlic in oil. Drain and break up tomatoes. Reserve 1/2 cup liquid. Add tomatoes, 1 tsp salt, oregano and reserved tomato liquid.
Simmer, uncovered until thick, about 30 minutes. Remove sauce from skillet and set aside. Combine chicken with sour cream, cheese and remaining salt. Heat 1/3 cup oil. Dip tortillas in oil until they become limp. Drain well on paper towels.
Fill tortillas with chicken mixture. Roll up. Arrange side by side, seam side down, in 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking dish. Pour chili sauce over enchiladas. Bake at 250F or 121 C until heated through about 20 minutes.
Quickie of the Day: Make Your Own Gumdrops Recipe
Readers, I owe you an apology. I kinda dropped the ball on National Gumdrop Day & you all know how I feel about any type of food holiday! Well, even though gumdrop day was Thursday, I’m still going to keep the gumdrop hope alive anyway!
Have you ever made your own gumdrops? Chances are you haven’t, and to tell you the truth I’ve never attempted the task myself. About.com has just about everything you could possibly want to know, including this How to Make Your Own Gumdrops recipe. It looks fairly easy & pretty quick to make. This particular recipe is for Orange Gumdrops, see below for Grape & Apple-Cherry recipes. You try it & I’ll try it & we’ll see where we stand Monday, k? Enjoy & best of gumdrop luck!
Ingredients:
- Vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 1 package (1-3/4 ounces) powdered fruit pectin
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 drops red food coloring, if desired
- Sugar
What’s Next:
Line loaf pan, 9×5x3 inches, with aluminum foil. Brush with oil. Heat 1 c. sugar and the corn syrup to boiling in 1-1/2 quart saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Cook, without stirring, to 280 degrees F. on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard but not brittle threads.
While cooking sugar mixture, heat orange juice, pectin and baking soda to boiling (mixture will be foamy) in 2-quart saucepan over high heat, stirring constantly; reduce heat.
Slowly pour hot sugar mixture in a thin stream into orange juice mixture, stirring constantly (this should take 1 to 2 minutes); remove from heat. Stir in food color. Let stand 2 minutes. Skim off foam.
Pour mixture into pan. Let stand, uncovered, at room temperature 24 hours. Lift foil from pan and remove foil from sides. Cut into 3/4-inch squares with knife dipped into sugar. Roll squares in sugar. Let stand uncovered at room temperature 1 hour. Store gumdrops in airtight container. About 72 gumdrops. 28 calories per gumdrop.
Grape Gumdrops: Substitute grape juice for the orange juice and blue food color for the red. 28 calories per gumdrop.
Apple-Cherry Gumdrops: Substitute apple-cherry drink for the orange juice and use red food color. 28 calories per gumdrop.
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