The Sunday Dilemma.
What to eat for lunch on Sunday? This is the question the plagues many of us every week. We, the church-loving, penny-pinching, got-a-lot-of-kids-to-feed moms need something appetizing and filling to be ready and waiting for us when we burst back in the door after Sunday worship services.
Today’s recipe can solve this problem once every month or two without getting old. Macaroni and Cheese, the standard crowd-pleaser, is a little different to prepare but is still its yummy self in the crockpot.
Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese
2 c. dry macaroni
1 can evaporated milk (it can be evaporated skim milk if you are watching the fat calories)
1 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
4 c. shredded cheddar cheese, divided (sharp)
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
No need to cook the macaroni! Hooray! In a large bowl, combine both milks, the eggs, 3 c. of the cheese, salt and pepper.
Now spray your crockpot with cooking spray. Set on LOW. Add the macaroni to the milk mixture and put it all in the crockpot. Top with the remaining 1 c. cheese.
Cook for 5-6 hours on low.
vegetable. Asparagus truly is special, readers — it loves the cold winters and pops up in the springtime, the first vegetable a gardener gets to enjoy from his own piece of the earth. Now, I know that asparagus is something of an acquired taste, truthfully it is one that I am just starting to acquire myself. When it’s nice and tender, not too tough and woody, that’s when I like it best. Look for thin, bright green stalks with small heads and you can’t go wrong.
Enjoy!
(By the way — what a handy recipe to take to potlucks and other dinners!) For large families or crowds, increase everything by half or double the amounts.
May 6th, 2008
You know, a great chef can take exotic, delicious, mouth-watering ingredients and make them into a fine, unforgettable gourmet meal.
But a very, very smart person (my sister) once told me that a great cook can use any ingredients - an onion and a few stale slices of bread, for example; and make a great meal, too. That is how I define the difference between chefs and cooks. A cook can make something out of anything.
I am, most definitely, a cook.
The main ingredients for supper last night were: Stale sandwich buns from the freezer, a slightly dried-out winter squash from my mother-in-law, leftover beef broth, and leftover browned and crumbled sausage.
This would have been enough to send many people racing to the corner grocery store or picking up the phone for take-out pizza. Not me. I just don’t do that sort of thing very often at all.
The final result was pretty good, although my husband made a couple of encouraging suggestions for improvement, which I have incorporated into the following recipe:
Winter Squash and Stuffing
serves 6-8
1 Butternut Squash
1 T. olive oil
salt
pepper
6-8 c. dried bread cubes
1/4 c. diced onion
1/4 c. diced celery
3 T. butter
1 can chicken broth
1 t. thyme
1/4 t. sage
1/2 lb. cooked and crumbled sausage
I used my crockpot for this, since I have discovered this is the best way to cook squash. In the past I have always cut open the squash, removed the seeds, and placed it cut side down in a pan of shallow water. This cooks in a 350 oven for about an hour or so. We have found this to end up a little on the soggy side.
Last night, I cut the squash open, removed the seeds, and drizzled olive oil on the insides. Added some salt and pepper and wrapped in foil. Then I placed both of these pieces in my crock pot with about 3/4 c. water in the bottom, turned it on high, and it was done in 3 hours.
For the stuffing, cheaters can go buy a box of Stove Top, follow the directions, and place it into their cooked squash, bake a few minutes and you’re ready to eat. For everyone else, saute the onion and pepper in butter until really soft. Next, place the bread crumbs, seasonings (add more salt and pepper), sausage, cooked onions and celery, and chicken broth all in a large bowl and toss. It should be somewhere between soggy and dry — moist but not wet enough to make the bread crumbs lose their shape.
You can take the foil off of the squash, put it back into the crock pot, and dump the stuffing on top of it. If you want to make a nicer presentation, carefully unwrap the squash (it’s soft and will tear easily), then spoon some stuffing into the empty cavity, place both sides into a baking dish, spoon stuffing all around it, and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.
Either way, this makes a nice delicious meal that can easily be converted to meat-free for vegetarians.
October 12th, 2007
Easy-to-prepare, stuffed peppers make a great weekday meal. Whether you prefer chicken, beef, or pork… you can use any kind of meat when stuffing bell peppers. Try to pick nicely shaped peppers that will stand upright easily.
Okay, 4 out of 5 of my kids groaned at the thought, but I prepared them anyway. Sarah is always eager to try new foods. So I made 4 stuffed peppers for myself, hubby, and Sarah. Then I fixed a dish of the stuffing for the picky eaters. That went over pretty well.
Stuffed Green Bell Peppers
serves 6 / prep. time 20 minutes / cook time: 30-45 minutes
6 green peppers
1 small onion, chopped
1 lb. ground sausage or beef
2 c. spaghetti sauce
1 c. prepared rice, either white or brown
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
In a large pot, heat some water to boiling. At the same time, start browning the meat in a skillet with the onions. Cut the tops off of the peppers and gut the seeds and white membranes out. Boil the pepper bottoms in water for at least 10 minutes. Once the meat is completely browned, add the sauce and rice. This is your stuffing and you can stand your peppers upright in a casserole and fill ‘em up. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 30 or more minutes. Best served with a salad and garlic bread or breadsticks.
October 7th, 2007