Dinner Sausage, Baked Candied Butternut Squash and Mixed Vegetables Day 29

The Dinner sausage and mixed vegetables came from the freezer the only real effort I put into making this dinner was the time for the Baked Candied Butternut Squash.
Baked Candied Butternut Squash
1 (3-4 lb) butternut squash, split and seeded
butter as needed
salt to taste
cinnamon to taste
4 Tbsp butter, melted
brown sugar to taste
nonstick cooking spray

Place squash cut side down in a baking dish with 1/4 inch of water in the bottom, cover and bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until tender. Drain off water and allow to cool. Remove peel and place pulp into a bowl, mash with a little bit of butter and season with salt and cinnamon to taste.  Spray a casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and place squash evenly in dish. Place melted butter on top and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until sugar melts on top and dish is heated through.

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce and Italian Kale and Garlic Bread Day 28

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb ground beef
3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 can-28 oz. crushed tomatoes

1 can-14 oz diced tomatoes
2 cans-8 oz each tomato sauce
2 cans- 6 oz each tomato paste

2 cans-4 oz each sliced mushrooms, drained

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium bell pepper, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tsp. parsley
2 tsp. Italian seasoning or 1 tsp. oregano

1 Bay leaf                                   

½ cup sugar

1 cup red wine

Brown ground beef with onion, bell pepper, garlic, salt and pepper in a skillet. Place in a crockpot. Add remaining ingredients. Cook on low all day in crock pot approximately 6 hours. Serve over hot cooked pasta

Italian Kale
1 large bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Chicken or Vegetable broth as needed
2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the kale in a large pot in a small amount of broth until leaves wilt and become soft. Add garlic and vinegar and cook for a few more minutes. season to taste with salt asnd pepper.

Shrimp Fried Rice, Roasted Red Chicken, MoJo Potatoes, and Green Salad with Celery Seed Dressing Day 27

I made this fried rice for lunch just like I made it here except I added peas and carrots instead of peas and at the end of cooking I added some cooked shrimp I found in the freezer.

Roasted Red Chicken

1 Tbsp packed brown sugar

1 Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp dried oregano

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1 (3-4 lb) whole chicken

1 onion, quartered

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken in a roasting pan and place onion inside the cavity, set aside. Combine brown sugar, paprika, red wine vinegar, oregano, garlic, cumin and salt in a small bowl. Paint chicken with mixture all over. Roast for about 1 ½ hours or until a thermometer reads 180 degrees. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes, discard onion; carve and serve.

MoJo Potatoes

4-5 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed well, but not peeled, cut into wedges

½ C butter, melted

½ C bread crumbs

½ C. Parmesan cheese, shredded

2 Tbsp. flour

2 tsp. paprika

½  tsp. salt

½  tsp. garlic powder

¼  tsp. celery salt

Pepper and cayenne pepper to taste

Nonstick cooking spray

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place bread crumbs, cheese, flour, paprika salt, garlic powder, celery salt and peppers in a resealable plastic bag. Close and shake to mix well. Place melted butter into a large bowl and add potatoes, toss to coat potatoes well.  Add a few potatoes at a time to the bag and shake to coat with breading. Place potatoes, skin side up on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Repeat until all potatoes have been coated and placed on the baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes or until tender and browned.

Celery Seed Dressing

1 tsp salt

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp celery seed

½ tsp white pepper

1/3 C sugar

4 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp white vinegar

1 C oil

Combine everything in a blender until smooth. Keep bottled in refrigerator and serve over green salad.

Spice Rubbed Citrus and Garlic Fresh Ham Roast and Roasted Fingerling Potatoes Day 26

I had a fresh ham roast in the freezer from Angel Food Ministries that came in the November box that needed to be used. I had no idea what to do with it since I had never made one before so I tried to google recipes but there were not many to choose from so I had to come up with one on my own. I also had a lot of citrus that I have gotten tired of eating and juicing so I decided to cook the roast in citrus juice instead of chicken broth--turned out wonderful.

Spice Rubbed Citrus and Garlic Fresh Ham Roast

1 (4-5) lb fresh ham roast

Rub:
2 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp. thyme
1 Tbsp sage
8 garlic cloves, minced

Combine all the rub ingredients in a small bowl and rub all over the pork roast. Place the pork roast in a bowl and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.

2-3 lbs assorted citrus

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place ham in a roasting pan and pour 1 C of juice from the citrus around it. Add any extra citrus cut  into slices around the roast. Place ham in the oven and cook for 10 minutes. Turn down the oven to 325 degrees and cook roast for 90 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Slice and serve.

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

2 lbs. fingerling potatoes, cut any large ones in half (can substitute small new potatoes)

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp oil

2 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp thyme

Pepper and Cajun seasoning to taste

Nonstick cooking spray

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Sprasy a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine garlic, oil, lemon juice, thyme, pepper, and Cajun seasoning. Toss potatoes in bowl with seasonings until well coated. Pour potatoes into baking dish in a single layer. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pricked with a fork.

Shredded Teriyaki Chicken and Fried Rice

Shredded Teriyaki Chicken
6 frozen chicken breasts
1/2 C soy sauce
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 cloves minced garlic

Place frozen chicken breasts in crockpot. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, and garlic and pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until done. Before serving remove chicken, shred and return to crockpot to about 15 minutes to absorb additional flavor from the sauce.

Fried Rice

1 C brown rice

1 egg

2 Tbsp. oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 C frozen peas

3 green onions, sliced

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. sesame oil

Cook rice according to package directions, when done cooking allow to cool slightly. Scramble egg in a small skillet and set aside. In a large skillet heat oil, add rice and stir fry for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and ginger and cook 2-4 minutes more until garlic is softened. Stir in peas and green onions and cook until heated through. Add soy sauce and sesame oil, toss to coat and then serve

For more wonderful recipes check out Frugal Food Thursdays

Orange and Ginger Chicken

Breakfast-
Breakfast Burritos made with eggs, chorizo, and kale

Melon from the fridge

Dinner

Orange and Ginger Chicken
White Rice with Mixed Vegetables thrown in
Oriental Style Vegetables from the freezer

Orange and Ginger Chicken

Sauce:

1 C orange juice

½ C. chicken broth

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

4 tsp rice cooking wine

4 tsp cornstarch

Mix sauce ingredients until sugar is dissolved and set aside.

Chicken:

2 pounds chicken, cut into bite sized pieces

2 eggs, beaten

Flour as needed

Oil as needed

2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced

½ of an orange peel, cut into thin slices

Dip chicken in egg and then coat with flour. Place on a plate until ready to fry. Heat about 2-3 C oil in a wok or deep skillet over high heat. Add chicken pieces all at once and fry until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. When done remove chicken and drain on paper towels. Rinse out wok/skillet and add a small amount of oil to heat. Add ginger and orange peel, stir fry until it becomes fragrant, about 1 min. Add sauce and stir until it boils and becomes thickened. Mix in chicken and serve immediately.

Egg Salad Sandwiches and Beef Stoganoff

Breakfast
Bagel (from the freezer) with Cream Cheese (from the fridge)
Tropical Fruit Blend (from the freezer)

Lunch
I make my egg salad a little bit different than most people...at least I think so. I love mine with bacon in mine.

Egg Salad Sandwiches
10 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
salad dressing like Miracle Whip, to taste
1/2 C bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
Cajun seasoning to taste
Bread, toasted, as needed

Combine filling and serve on toasted bread.

Dinner-
Beef Stroganoff
Broccoli

Beef Stroganoff

1 (2-3 lb.) cheap roast, trimmed of any fat

Flour

oil

1 (10 oz) can cream of mushroom soup

1 (10 oz.) can cream of celery soup

1 (10 oz.) can cream of chicken soup

2 C. sour cream

1 (16 oz) package egg noodles, cooked according to package directions

Flour roast and brown in a small amount of oil. Place meat in a baking dish. Mix all the soups together and pour over the meat. Do not add any additional liquids. Bake at 350 degrees for 90 minutes. Remove meat from the oven and cut into bite sized pieces. Add sour cream to soup mixture and mix well, add meat back in to the dish, stir and serve over egg noodles

For more wonderful recipes check out Tuesdays at the Table

Ham and Beans

This was a complete pantry meal. I used a bag of mixed beans from the Honeybaked Ham store I had in the pantry and a ham hock from the freezer. I just threw it all in the crockpot with some water and let it cook on low all day and we had a wonderful dinner with very little effort.

Pasta Carbonara and Tuna Noodle Casserole

I am going to start labeling what day the food is from in case I get behind in posting again. Today is January 31 and I have cooked dinner at home every single day this month. Now on with the rest of the year...

Breakfast

Breakfast Bagel Sandwich from the freezer

Tropical Fruit Blend from the freezer

I found some pancetta in the freezer and could not decide what to do with it until I got a craving for pasta.

Pasta Carbonara

1 lb. fettuchini
4 eggs
1/2 lb. pancetta or bacon
1 1/2 C Parmesan cheese
12 cloves garlic, minced
1 lg onion, chopped
1 C chicken broth
1 C white wine
1 stick butter
Parsley to taste
Pepper to taste

Slice bacon/pancetta into pieces and fry until cooked through. Meanwhile start water for pasta. While making the sauce prepare pasta according to package directions keeping in mind that in order to cook eggs through when they are added at the end the pasta will need to be very hot. Once bacon/pancetta is cooked remove from pan and set aside. In the bacon grease cook onion until tender adding garlic at the end so that it does not burn. Remove onion and garlic from the pan leaving grease behind. Turn heat to high and allow to become very hot. Add wine and deglaze pan by scaping up any browned bits in the bottom. Add chicken broth and return bacon/pancetta, onion and garlic to the pan. let simmer over medium heat until ready to add to pasta. In a large bowl combine eggs, cheese and parsley. Drain water from pasta and quickly add pasta to egg mixture mixing well. Add stick of butter and contents of skillet and toss well. Season to taste with pepper and serve

We even had pasta for dinner! I made Tuna Noodle Casserole which is a favorite of my daughters. The vegetables are sugar snap peas and carrots they were in the freezer from Angel Food Ministries.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 lb. spiral noodles, cooked according to pkg directions
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
2 C shredded cheddar cheese
pepper to tatse
2 green onions, sliced
2 (7oz) can tuna, drained
nonstick cooking spray

Combine milk, cheese, pepper and onion in a saucepan and cook over low heat , stirring frequently until cheese is melted. Combine tuna and noodles and place in a casserole dish that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Top, without stirring in, with the cheese sauce making sure all the noodles are covered. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

For more wonderful recipes check out Tasty Tuesday

Organic Produce Box and CSA shares last week

Every Friday a box like this arrives on my doorstep. It's full of seasonal organic produce that is locally grown. I love it!!! When I started cooking out of my pantry more and thought about ways to cut back on spending money for food I thought very hard about stopping my weekly produce delivery but I decided I couldn't do better at the regular grocery store or even the farmers market. If anything I want to eat more fruits and vegetables not less and pay more for them.

This boxes vegetables were:
1 Butternut Squash
1 bunch broccoli
2 bunches kale
1 head savoy cabbage
2 turnips
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch collard greens
2 red bell peppers
1 head of lettuce
2 lbs baby potatoes
1 onion

This boxes fruit was:
2lbs apples
4 oranges
8 tangelos
2lbs. lemons


My CSA share for the same week:

Happy Homemaker Monday

The weather in my neck of the woods:
High of 68 degrees today, much cooler than it has been

Things that make me happy:
Not being sick anymore

Book I'm reading:
none


What's on my TV today:
nothing

On the menu for dinner:
Crab Rangoon, Vegetable Fried Rice and Egg Drop Soup

On my To Do List:

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
I have not posted any recipes...will need to fix that soon
Homeschool

In the craft basket:
same scarf

Looking forward to this week:
fully recovering from being sick

I don't have anything else today since I have not been feeling well at all.

To join in Happy Homemaker Monday visit Sandra