Campers Casserole

Campers Casserole is simple to bring together and I could totally imagine it being cooked in a dutch-oven over a campfire.  Since I was home, I used my trusty casserole dish.  You may want to salt & pepper this dish to your taste.  My husband and son enjoyed this dinner with ketchup on top.  It was very filling and I enjoyed trying this new recipe.  But I'll be honest, it needed an extra spice, maybe oregano or cumin or maybe a green bell pepper?

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 pound extra lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
• 1 can (14oz) or 2 cups kidney beans or pinto, drained and rinsed
• 1 bigger can (28oz) diced tomatoes, pureed or use tomato sauce
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

HEAT OVEN 350ºF.

In a large pan or dutch oven over medium heat, brown the beef, onion and garlic.  Season with chili powder.  Stir in cooked rice then transfer mix to a greased 13-inch by 9-inch casserole dish.

Add one layer of beans then pour on pureed tomatoes. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes.  Uncover, sprinkle with cheese.  Return to oven and bake, uncovered for 10 minutes or so, until cheese is melted.  Serves 4 to 6 campers.

Simple Sausage & Bean Stew

A NEW WINNER WITH THE FAMILY, Sausage and Bean Stew got raving reviews!

Family demands it to be in our monthly rotations of family favorites. Use your favorite sausage for this stew, spicy or mild, either will work. Since I have young ones, I went with a mild pork sausage.

HERE'S ALL THERE'S TO IT

• 1 pound sausage, cut in 1/2-inch slices
• 1 tablespoon oil or bacon dripping
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 can (14 oz) or 2 cups kidney or pinto beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 can (14 oz) or 2 cups garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed
• 1/2 cup salsa, medium or mild, you decide
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

In large pot or dutch-oven, brown sausage in oil over medium heat. You may have to cook half the amount at one time.  The less crowded the faster the meat will brown.  Remove the meat from the pan and set aside on a plate. Drain fat, leaving a tablespoons worth to soften the onion and garlic over medium low heat for 7 to 10 minutes.

Return sausage to pan.  Add rest of ingredients, cover and simmer for 40 to 50 minutes, stir occasionally.  Cornbread makes a great side to this stew.

Serves 4 to 6 folks.

Per serving:  Protein - 27 g, Fat - 26 g, Carbohydrates - 44 g, Calories - 511, Dietary Fiber - 12 g.

Tomato, Chickpea and Spinach Soup

This simple soup recipe made for a nice addition to our weekly dinner menu.  The kiddos didn't like it, but four grown ups chowed down until they could eat no more.  So colorful, so fresh tasting, light on the calories, and loaded with filling ingredients.  I served this soup with a side of hot baked French bread and leftover Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 can (15 oz.) garbanzo beans, drained or rinsed or 2 cups homecooked
• 1 teaspoon dried sage

• 1/2 cup uncooked macaroni
• 1 cup blanched spinach, or frozen spinach thawed, then chopped
• salt & pepper to taste

In a large saucepan or dutch-oven, cook onion and garlic over medium low heat until onion is transparent.  Add tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes or so, until tomatoes start to break down.  Add broth, beans, sage.

Increase heat to medium high to bring broth to a boil.  Add macaroni then REDUCE HEAT to simmer 7 minutes.  Add spinach and simmer 5 more minutes, until spinach is heated through and pasta is cooked.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 5 to 6 folks.

COOK'S NOTES

• I pressure cooked a bag of garbanzo beans in 30 minutes, then used the extra bean broth for the vegetable broth. I was still left them 2 1/2 cups of garbanzo beans with broth for reserve.  I'm ready for another chickpea recipe.
• I keep frozen blanched spinach in 2 cup portions in the freezer for recipes like this.  So all I had to do was thaw the spinach and chop it up.
• Even though this was a light tasting soup, I wanted it to have a thicker tomato consistency. It's probably just a mood I'm in right now.  I'm thinking of pureeing the tomatoes, next time, before adding them to the pot.

Simple Lentil Chili Recipe

Of all the simple lentil recipes I have tried, this one is fast becoming my favorite way to eat lentils.  My newest friend from Virginia, Cheryl B., brought this soup over last week for our lunch together.  The kids chowed down!

Cheryl was sweet enough to leave extra lentil chili behind for me to photograph and enjoy.  And I certainly did just that. ;D

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 1/2 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon. minced garlic
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen carrots (I use about 4 cups of fresh sliced carrots)
• 1 (16 oz.) pkg. lentils (any color is fine but red looks the nicest)
• 1 (6oz.) can tomato paste (can substitute stewed, diced, or chopped tomatoes)
• 6 cups water
• 14 oz. water
• 3 teaspoon beef bouillion
• 1-2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt & pepper to taste
• grated cheese to top (mexican, cheddar, or just be creative)

Cook oil, garlic, onion, and carrots 10 minutes on med. high, until looking a bit brown.
Add the rest of the ingredients, cover, and bring to a boil.  Then lower heat to simmer for 35-40 minutes, un-covered.  Add more seasonings to taste.  Serve with grated cheese on top.

Shrimp in Zippy Tomato Sauce

You can make the tomato sauce base as mild or spicy as you prefer.  I started with a mild tomato sauce then added the spicy goods at the end when I brought the shrimp and sauce together.  I kept aside half of the mild sauce for the sensitive folks in my family.  That's just the way I have to roll.

HERE'S HOW EASY THIS IS

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 (14 ounce) can plum tomatoes, chopped with their juice
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 pounds shrimp, peeled & deveined
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried
• 1 piece dried chili, crumbled or chopped (optional) OR 1-2 teaspoons of the tomato sauce that comes from the canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

Serves 6

In a heavy saucepan, heat half of the oil.  Add the onion, and cook over low heat until soft.  Stir in the celery and chopped bell pepper, and cook for 5 minutes more.  Raise the heat to medium high, and add the red wine vinegar and tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes.

Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer until the veggies are soft, about 30 minutes.  Puree the sauce through a food mill OR a food processor then push it through a sieve with a spatula. Set tomato sauce aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a clean heavy saucepan.  Stir in the garlic, parsley and chili, if using.  Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until the garlic is golden.  Do not let it brown.  Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil.  Taste for seasoning.

Stir in the shrimp. Bring the sauce back to a boil.  REDUCE heat slightly and simmer until the shrimp are pink and firm, 4-6 minutes, depending on their size.  Remove from the heat and serve.

My Notes

• It would be just as easy to use leftover, homemade tomato sauce from a previous spaghetti dinner.
• I happened to have been given garlic pickled with habeneros and used them instead of fresh garlic - WOW! They were HaahhOT & YUMMY!
• I didn't have a dried chili on hand.  But I had some leftover chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and used the smokey tomato sauce to heat up the freshly made tomato sauce.  It deepen the flavor of the sauce and made it hard to stop eating.  I was drawn to sopping my plate before I could claim I was finished.

Creamy Fettucini with Sundried Tomato Turkey

This is our new family favorite recipe! Creamier than the Creamy Fettucini with Ham that I made last week.  The flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes coming from the turkey makes it VERY HARD to stop eating.  Maybe I shouldn't post this recipe?
With all the hub-bub of watching our waistlines and all, if you make this creamy carb creation, you're thoughts of dieting for the new year are OVER!
Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! That was my villainous food blogger's laugh.

What? Get on with the grub?  Ok.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1/3 cup uncooked bacon, chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 12 ounce slice, 1/2 inch thick Sun-dried Tomato Turkey Breast, cut into cubes
• 1 1/2 cups Non Fat Half n Half (Land o'Lakes)
• 1 broccoli crown, cut into bite size pieces
• 12 ounces whole wheat fettuccine
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Fill your large pan to boil the pasta and get it going.

Cook the bacon in a small saute pan over medium heat, until browned but not crispy.  Add onion and cook until translucent.  Add the cubed turkey, and cook for 2 minutes more, long enough to warm it up.  Stir in the non-fat half and half, and keep warm over low heat while the pasta is cooking.

BEFORE YOU COOK THE PASTA, use the boiling pasta water to blanch the broccoli for 1 to 2 minutes.  If the broccoli florets are small, only blanch to a minute, they become tender very quickly.  Remove broccoli with a slotted spoon, shaking off the water, then move it to the large serving bowl you'll use to bring this all together.

Boil the pasta as directed on the package.  Drain when al denta.  Turn into a serving bowl, pour the creamy turkey mixture over the pasta.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese, then allow to stand for a few minutes.  Give the pasta a chance to adhere to the creamy goodness before serving.

Chicken with Tomatoes and Zucchini

This is the result of combining the experience of one recipe (Chicken Cacciatore) with the exploration of two new ones (Rabbit with Tomatoes, pg. 393 and Eggplant Parmesan, pg. 400 from my favorite Italian cookbook.)  I figured this meal was going to be either a complete miss or really good.

IT WAS A HIT! Charlie & I CHOWED DOWN! TWICE!  It made excellent leftovers.  Maggie wouldn't touch it, no surprise there.  Max's favorite part was the homemade tomato sauce.  He totally grooved on the sauce.  YEAAAH!!!

HERE'S ALL THERE'S TO IT

For the homemade tomato sauce

• 1 (28 ounce) can San Marzano whole tomatoes, No Other Will Do (considered a specialty food item, but I get them from Brookshire's here in deep East Texas, 2 hours from Dallas-nuf said)
• 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
• 1/4 large red bell pepper, diced
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Use either an immersion blender or drink blender to puree tomatoes, set aside.  In a medium pan over medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper in olive oil until soften.  Add in garlic, cook 2 to 3 minutes, careful not to burn the garlic.  Pour in pureed tomatoes and add dried spices.  Cover with lid, allow for stream to escape.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425F degrees and prep the veggies and chicken.

• 3 zucchini, sliced lengthwise, 1/2 inch slices
• remaining 3/4 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• Romano cheese, thinly shredded
• good olive oil
• salt & fresh ground pepper

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut lengthwise in half, then each piece is cut lengthwise in half again to make thinner, evenly sized strips
• 4 slices of uncooked bacon, cut in half

Use a 13 inch by 9 inch casserole dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Toss the zucchini and bell pepper slices with a little olive oil right in the dish then spread evenly.  Season generously with salt & pepper. Add a layer of Romano cheese.

Next, lay the chicken strips across the zucchini, then lay a piece of bacon over each chicken strip. Bake 20 minutes.

Now it's time to remove the homemade tomato sauce from the heat.  CAREFULLY CAREFULLY puree the sauce with an immersion blender or pour into a drink blender and process until smooth.  Pour sauce all over chicken and veggies, covering everything.  Return to oven for 20 more minutes of baking.

Now go cook your pasta of choice and set the table for some good eats.  And if you have room in the oven, now is a good time to heat up garlic bread wrapped in foil.

Chicken with Ham and Cheese

Every NEW recipe I try, I follow the cookbook instructions exactly. It's helps to understand where the recipe creator was going before I detour off on my own the next time. IF there's going to be a next time. There are certain rules, I created years ago, to help me sift recipes that work. For this recipe, I put the rules aside and started cooking.

My dear friend, Anna, came over so we could explore a couple of recipes together. We had a great time; learning a different way to roast garlic, trying pine nuts and prosciutto for the first time, and talking food. Anna is 17 years old and wants to attend culinary school after she graduates high school. Even though there's quite a few years between us, it doesn't seem to matter. Food just has a marvelous way of bringing people together.

This is another recipe that comes out of the Italian cookbook I'm always going on about.

HERE'S HOW EASY IT IS

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup flour, seasoned with salt & freshly ground pepper for dredging
• 1/4 cup healthy oil
• 4 thin slices of prosciutto or cooked ham, cut in half
• 1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese

Cut each chicken breast in half lengthwise to make 2 flat fillets the same thickness. Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess.

Preheat the broiler on low. Heat the oil in a large heavy frying pan. Add the chicken in one layer and cook over low to medium heat until golden brown on both sides, turning as necessary.

Remove the chicken from the heat, and arrange on a sheet pan or glass casserole dish. Place one piece of ham on each chicken fillet and top with shredded cheese. Broil for 3-4 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

KID FRIENDLY ALERT!
When my open-minded son wrinkled his nose at the prosciutto, I knew to leave it off a few fillets. I went ahead with the Parmesan, because I use a very mild brand the kids prefer. I didn't bother serving them the roasted garlic salad, instead I prepared good ol'mac-n-cheese. I've learned when asking my kids to try something new, I make something they love to go right next to it. They are more willing to oblige when the plate doesn't look completely unknown and scary.

My Two Cents: PROSCIUTTO
Call me unrefined if you want, I don't care. It won't move me to buy proscuitto again. I'll admit that it could have been the brand I purchased, which was my only choice from my grocer. Whatever the case, I'm not impressed. I've tasted lunch meats that suited me more. For the price, $5 for four slices of thinly sliced smoked ham, I expected a heavenly smoked flavor that would send me to some new height of delight. Not the case. The next time I cross a recipe that calls for prosciutto, I'll immediately use my favorite smoked ham lunch meat. It's only runs $2.99 for 9 oz. and my kids don't wrinkle their noses when they see it.

One More Tidbit: I wrote a review about the Italian cookbook. It really is a book worth space on your shelf. Save your money and pick up a used copy. I always buy used books when they're available.

Quick & Simple Chicken and Spinach Pizza

As some of you already know, Friday night is movie and a pizza night for my family. It's one of our favorite nights we spend as a family. The kiddos always want their ham with extra cheese, while Chaz and I like to change it up a bit each week. This week's chicken and spinach pizza recipe is our new favorite combination!

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED

Pizza Ingredients

• 1 package Mama's Gourmet Pizza Crust
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup seasoned tomato sauce
• 1/3 package (10oz) frozen whole leaf spinach, thawed and squeezed dryL
• 2 cooked chicken breasts, sliced
• 2-3 green onions, chopped
• 10 grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 oz. Romano cheese, thinly sliced
• 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

Salad for two

• 1 container of organic baby lettuce
• 6-8 grape tomatoes
• 1 small carrot, sliced
• 1 green onion, chopped
• a few slices Roman cheese
• 1-2 tablespoons Briannas New American Dressing (creamy balsamic vinaigrette)

Preheat oven with pizza stone to 425ºF degrees.

Go ahead, wash and prep individual salads, then set aside.

To build the pizza:

1. Drizzle 2-3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil on crust, lightly coat all the crust evenly with fingers, then sprinkle with pepper.
2. Spread around tomato sauce, don't feel like you have to coat the whole crust, just here and there.
3. Layer on spinach, chicken, tomatoes, onions. Sprinkle on salt and pepper, being sure to hit the spinach and tomatoes with salt.
4. Lay on slices of Romano on chicken, and spread Mozzarella all over.
5. Bake on pizza stone 7-9 minutes. Allow to cool a couple of minutes before serving.

ENJOY THIS ON YOUR NEXT PIZZA NIGHT!

Also, be sure to try the Ham and Spinach Pizza recipe.

Texas Chicken Chili

I haven't made this recipe in a very long while.  Honestly, I forgot all about it.  I found the original recipe, Arizona Chicken Chili, off the back of a can of corn, many, many years ago.  But seeing how I don't live in Arizona, I live in Texas.  I'm calling my version, Texas Chicken Chili.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 to 2 uncooked chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 package of taco seasoning OR
  (1 1/2 tbsp. chili powder, 1 tbsp cumin)

• 1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes (can use the seasoned types, your choice)
• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 1 (15 oz.) can each:
  black beans, drained & rinsed
  kidney beans, drained
  whole kernel corn, drained
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Cooked chicken and spices in oil over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until cooked through.  Pour in tomatoes then heat to boiling, simmer for 10 minutes.  Add in chicken broth, beans and corn.  Bring back up to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer 20 to 30 minutes.  Serve with cheese on top and your favorite crackers on the side.

VEGETARIAN CHILI

I have made this for my one vegetarian friend.  Leaving out the chicken, I added one can of black eye peas and used water in place of chicken broth.

ON THE SIDE

If you don't feel like crackers on the side, try adding one cup of parboiled rice (Uncle Ben's) when you add the broth.  Allow the rice to cook until tender, 12-15 minutes, before adding the beans and corn.

Another suggestion is to make a batch of Cornbread Pancakes or Moist Cornbread Muffins.  It's all good!

Quick Barbecue Chicken Dinner

I'll admit it!  I was not in the mood to cook tonight, but I was in the mood for barbecue chicken.  How was I going to get a full meal done with very little effort? I did not want to turn on the oven, even though cooking the chicken would have been a easy clean up.  I didn't want to wait too long.  I wanted my chicken to take as long as making a batch of mashed potatoes (25 minutes.)

HERE'S WHAT I DID
I cut up enough spuds to have mashed potatoes for tonight and tomorrow night, when I make meatloaf. While the spuds were cooking, I defrosted three chicken breasts in the microwave.  Yes, I actually used the defrost features on my microwave so I didn't accidentally precook them.  I only defrosted the breasts enough to make them easy to cut up into 1/2 inch round slices.

I quickly tossed a green salad (green leaf lettuce, carrots, garlic stuffed olives, sliced onion), it's all I had on hand.

Next, I heated up a little olive oil (enough to coat the bottom) in a nonstick pan on medium high heat. Tossed in the sliced chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked until fully cooked and lightly brown on both sides.  Then, I turned down the heat to medium low and added my favorite barbecue sauce.  I used approximately 3 tablespoons of sauce and a tablespoon of water to quickly coat the chicken.  When the sauce began to bubble, I turned off the heat.  I was ready to make mashed potatoes.  I like to watch how Chef John over at FoodWishes.com makes them.

Now, my family cannot eat barbecue without baked beans, so I opened up a can of Bush's baked beans and warmed them in the microwave.  Ta-da! We were ready to eat!  And all in the time it took to cook the potatoes, just like I wanted.

I'm sure there are some Foodies out there that just rolled their eyes at this post and vowed never to return.  I'm cool with that.  Simple Daily Recipes exists for families that need quick ideas that will please all the kids, big and small.  I hope this dinner idea finds its way to your family.  I hope your kids gobble it up and ask for more.  I hope it allows you more time to do something else, like snuggling up on the couch with your family.

Sloppy Chicken Enchiladas

Today has been crazy!  The kids and I have been driving all over East Texas.  As soon as we arrived home at 4:05pm, I remembered Max had karate from 5:15 to 6:00pm and my husband is due home by 6:15pm. Yikes! There goes prepping dinner at my usual time.

My plan to have chicken enchiladas didn't look possible.  The recipe called for precooked chicken and I was out.  The chicken breasts I had on hand were frozen.  How was I going to pull this one off?

HERE'S WHAT I HAD TO WORK WITH

• 1 1/2 pounds of frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 can (10 oz) cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 can (4 oz) green chilies
• 1/3 can roasted garlic tomatoes, drained
• 7 flour tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

HERE'S WHAT I DID

Preheated oven to 350F degrees.  I gently defrosted frozen chicken breasts in microwave, enough to cut up easily.  Then I heated a nonstick pan, misted with olive oil.  Cut up breasts in half dollar size pieces and added to pan.  Covered it with chopped onion, added 1/2 cup of water, seasoned with salt and pepper then covered with lid.  Cooked the chicken on med. high heat for 15 minutes, until fully cooked.

While I waited on the chicken, I mixed cream of chicken soup, sour cream and chili powder in a large bowl.  Grabbed my pizza cutter to cut up tortillas into triangle shaped bite size pieces.  Misted my 13x9x2 casserole dish with nonstick spray.  When the chicken finally finished, I emptied the pan (broth & all) into my large soup mix bowl and stirred.  I tossed in the tortillas and stirred them around until they were well covered with the soup mix.  Then, I emptied the bowl into the casserole dish, spread it out evenly then covered it all with the cheese.

KID FRIENDLY TIP
I topped only half of the casserole with green chilies and tomatoes.

Put in the oven for 25 minutes, uncovered.  Set the oven to turn off in 25 minutes.

Dinner was ready when we all arrived home!

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