Fast, Easy and Delicious

Casseroles have really gone out of style in terms of food. But I love casseroles. They usually contain at least one vegetable and a protein. My favorite part of a casserole is the leftovers. My husband eats all the time, and by all the time I mean, his meal starts in the morning when he awakens and lasts until he falls asleep at night. He easily eats every two hours. So leftovers in my house rarely go to waste. Casseroles are the best way to get him to eat vegetables. If I have a left over roast for example, he'll eat up the meat but will never eat the leftover veggies or even potatoes. If it's all mixed up in a casserole, he gets veggies with each serving! Needless to say, I'm always trying to create new and different casseroles. This was a very successful casserole experiment that incorporates pizza ingredients.

Upside Down Pizza Casserole

2 pounds of lean ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
1 medium pepper, red or green, your preference
1 clove garlic, minced, add more if you prefer
1 teaspoon Italian Herb seasoning
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups of prepared spaghetti sauce, preferably meatless

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large skillet brown meat, breaking it up with the spoon as it cooks. Drain off fat and liquid. Discard. Add onion, peppers, garlic and herbs. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Bring to a boil. Simmer about 10 - 15 minutes until thickened.

Prepare crust mix

Mix 1 cup of milk, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and 2 eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed until well beaten, about 1 minute. To this add 1 cup of all purpose or whole wheat flour and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Mix on medium speed for about two minutes. When the meat mixture is ready pour in to an ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Top meat mixture with 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese. pour crust mix over top. Sprinkle with about 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Bake in preheated over about 30 - 35 minutes until the crust is lightly browned and looks bubbled up. Let sit about 5 minutes. Serve with salad. Makes about 6 - 8 servings

A Successful Experiment

The farmer doesn't like food cooked in the slow cooker! I think my slow cooker stage almost got me a divorce! Everytime I made something in the slow cooker, my girls and I would think it was just fine- sometimes even fantastic. The farmer on the other hand, always said " I thought it tasted funny" When I would ask him to elaborate, he couldn't. I argued that it was all in his head and continued to cook in the slow cooker. Eventually he wouldn't even eat the food I cooked. I eventually put the slow cooker away- after a couple of fights about the cooking - and have now devised other ways to prepare my supper ahead and have it ready for the farmer to eat at his suppertime. One method I discovered is putting frozen meat in the oven and set the oven time to start the cooking before I get home. So far it has been successful. Last night's supper, was I think the most successful to date!I bought some pork rib, cut into small pieces so they were one serving each. I made up the sauce as I went along. When I came home, the aroma from the ribs had filled the kitchen and they came out perfect.

Sweet and Spicy Baked Ribs

4 - 5 pounds of pork side ribs - I use center cut- less fat
1- 350 ml jar (10 oz) of plum sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 small onion, finely minced
4 tablespoons of soya sauce
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Montreal Steak Spice

Place ribs in a large shallow roasting pan, in a single layer, if possible, fat side up.

Sprinkle both sides with Montreal Steak Spice. In a small bowl mix all other ingredients. Stir well to help distribute the brown sugar evenly. Pour over ribs- cover them completely. Bake, covered at 275F for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours. They should actually fall of the bone when they are done. Great with rice and a salad.

Serves 4 - 5

Along with my ribs, I baked rice at the same time. It came out great also.

Baked Vegetable Rice

1 1/2 cup long grain rice
1 - 796 ml can ( 28 oz) diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chicken stock or water
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, chopped onto 1/4 inch pieces
1 celery stalk
1/2 bell pepper, any color
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of dried parsley - or 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Grease a 2 quart covered casserole with butter.
Mix all ingredients together, place in casserole. Cover with a tight fitting lid. Bake 2 - 2 1/2 hours at 275F along with the ribs.

Makes 4-6 servings

Chicken Tonight

Okay, I love chicken. I find it to be the most versatile meat out there. My family, on the other hand, can pretty much go without eating chicken for weeks. The girls like wings but the farmer thinks they're too much work. I do make an oven-fried chicken that they like. The rest of the chicken dishes I make they tolerate because I'm the cook. Tonight I made one of my favorite chicken dishes. This is one of the very few things I cook that require a can of soup. But it is really good and very easy.

Chicken Breasts with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

4 - 6 fresh, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
1 thinly sliced yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can of milk
1/2 soup can chicken stock or water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons of cold water
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350F. Place chicken breasts in parchment lined pan. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle onions evenly over chicken. Sprinkle mushrooms evenly over onions.

In a small bowl, mix soup, milk and chicken stock until smooth. Mix in minced garlic. Mix cornstarch in cold water until dissolved. Add to soup mixture and stir well. Pour mixture over chicken, mushrooms and onions. Bake covered for about 40 -50 minutes, until chicken is just about done. Remove cover, raise oven temperature to 375F, bake about another 20 minutes. This allows the sauce to thicken. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

I like to serve this with rice and broccoli.

Serves 4 - 6

The Five Minute Prep Recipe

Now that I've told you about my favorite cooking vessel, I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes I make, using it. Blade Roast is not very glamorous or gourmet, and since you use an inexpensive cut of meat, it is very economical. Still, this recipe is impressive enough to serve to guests. The ingredients are simple and basic, the results are spectacular! I really like to serve it with boiled baby potatoes with butter and parsley and roasted asparagus.

5 Ingredient Pot Roast

1 blade roast or chuck roast
5-6 onions, sliced
2 teaspoons of all-spice
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 -3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat over to 375F

Place roast in a roaster that has a tight fitting lid. Sprinkle with all-spice and pepper. Place sliced onions over roast, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar.

Cover, put it oven. Cook about 20 minutes per pound. Do not uncover during the cooking process. I serve the meat just with the onions and the liquid that is in the pot. It can be served with your favorite gravy also.

Allow 1/2 pound per person

Fast, Easy, Tasty

Fast, easy, and tasty are three things I really like when I have to prepare supper. I like to do everything in the oven, It makes clean up faster and easier. It makes preparation easier, as you don't have to watch any pots on the stove. This is a family favorite.

Sausages and Roast Veggies

2 - 3 pounds of your favorite Italian sausage, I use Mild Italian
1 red, yellow or green pepper, cut into strips
1 large onion, red, sweet, whatever you like best, sliced
1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes
Add a variety of sliced vegetables. Add your favorites. At my house asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, baby carrots (sliced in half) are the usual suspects
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425F

In a large, parchment lined baking dish place all your prepared vegetables, add garlic, toss. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Top with sausages.

Place in oven. After 20 minutes, pierce the skin on the sausages to release the juices, turn the over and continue to cook another 15 - 20 minutes until they are done.

Serve with your favorite bread and a nice salad. Serves 4 - 6.

Dinner Tonight

Tonight I made a casserole that was tasty and easy. It does take 2 hours to cook in the oven, but it's great for when you have time earlier in the day to prepare your supper but are going to be busy with stuff just before you want to eat.

I prepared this, put it in the oven and then my girlfriend came over to borrow a tomcat to use as stud. We had a nice visit, a cup of coffee, all while my supper was cooking away in the oven.

I adjusted the recipe a bit, can't help myself! But after eating it, I have adjusted it again before posting it here. It's similar to Shepherd's Pie but you slice the potatoes instead of using mashed. Since I don't really like mashed potatoes, this recipe appealed to me.

Three of us ate and my husband, who never says if it's good or not, had two helpings. My guess is, he liked it.

Here's the recipe, with all adjustments:

Meat and Potato Casserole

2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups of chopped celery
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 medium onions, chopped
2 pounds of lean ground beef
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 - 2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups of frozen corn or canned corn, drained
2 cups of your favorite cheese - I used cheddar
2 cups of fresh, toasted bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 325F

In a medium saucepan, melt butter, add garlic and cook until soft over medium heat. Add flour, stirring constantly until smooth. (This butter and flour mixture is called a rue, it will thicken your sauce) Slowly add milk, stirring constantly, bring to a boil, stir until slightly thicken, remove from heat and set aside.

In a skillet, over medium-high heat, brown ground beef with onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drain any fat off meat, stir in celery.

Peel and slice potatoes, no thicker than a 1/4 inch. I use the food processor, so the slices are pretty thin.

In a 5 quart casserole place half the meat. Cover meat with all the potatoes. Cover the potatoes with the corn. Pour white sauce over the corn. Place the other half of the meat mixture over top the corn. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top, then breadcrumbs.

Bake uncovered for about two hours.

Serves 4 - 6 people. Add a green salad on the side.