Chili on a Cool Day

 Chili warms the heart and the tummy

on a cool autumn day!

Best of all, it has been in the slow cooker

simmering gently all day 

and lending its aroma to our home :o)

Golden Baked Macaroni Cheese

GOLDEN BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE

• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon dry mustard
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ package (8 oz.) bite sized macaroni
• 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• bread crumbs

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Blend in flour and gradually add the milk, stirring constantly; add the seasonings. Cook until the sauce is thickened.

Add one cup grated cheddar cheese and stir until melted. Cook macaroni as directed, drain, and add to cheese sauce and mix well. Turn the mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish or pan. Sprinkle the top with 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese and breadcrumbs.

Bake in a 375°F oven for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and lightly browned. Serves 6-8.

YUMMY! Enjoy :o)

A Salad to Go . . .

My husband takes a lunch each day to work and in between those regular sandwiches, I make a salad twice a week and yesterday it was his favourite -- Greek :o)

It costs a LOT less than buying a ready-made one at the local supermarket and I can add as much of his favourite ingredients as he'd like.

There are no special quanitites, I simply tear romaine and spinach into bite-sized pieces.
I add:

• green peppers
• red peppers
• yellow peppers [when on hand]
• sliced purple onion
• cucumber chunks [this time because I had extra]
• a handful of black sliced olives
• crumbled feta cheese

I put some of his favourite feta cheese salad dressing in a small container so he can add it later and use as much or as little as he wants ...

With one of those thingys that freezes and keeps things cool, this salad travels well in a lunchbag and brings a little bit of home and my heart with him to work :o)

BBQ Shredded Pork

IN SLOW COOKER, place:

• 1 small to medium pork shoulder roast
• 1 onion, quartered
• dash of salt and pepper
• about 1 tablespoonful of water

I began cooking it on HIGH and eventually drained off the excess liquid a couple of times and set it on LOW to gently cook ALL day until as several bloggers told me, I could shred it with 2 forks!

One I had it all shredded, I poured some barbeque sauce in and made sure it was well blended. Because something else was planned for the next 2 days' suppers, I placed the shredded meat in a smaller slow cooker insert and placed it in the fridge.

This morning, I put the insert in the slow cooker and left it on low and then warm until suppertime. The positive comments came my way as soon as the 1st mouthful was eaten and the consensus was that it's a KEEPER :o)

*This being my 1st time, I served it on regular hamburger buns --- Next time, I'll choose crusty buns or something more substantial to hold the meat and the other option is to make them on tortilla wraps for something totally different :o)

Fresh, buttery corn on the cob was served on the side along with a blend of carrots, peas and cauliflower.

Bon Appetit,

Comfy Kitchen Even in Summer

Becaue we're back to HOT, HUMID weather, I used the oven this morning and cooked not only a roast beef but a small whole chicken.

We had steak on the BBQ for supper so I have set aside some of the sliced roast beef for sandwiches for my husband to take to work and some for a cold cut supper of fresh veggies and salads.

I'll set aside some of the chicken for sandwiches as well and use some for a lunch for myself to make a chicken fajita and the rest in a casserole that I can microwave.

It was all over and done with before the house really had a chance to get too hot!!

Because I have to be very careful about my sodium intake and my husband is being careful about his cholesterol -- both major ingredients in processed deli meats -- this will be something I do all summer when I need sliced sandwich meat :o)

Blessings,


*Comfy Kitchen* by Erin Dertner

Pie for Supper!

We had a friend over for supper on Monday evening and I made spaghetti, using my slow cooker to simmer my homemade sauce all day :o)

Well, today at supper, rather than just heating up the spaghetti, I found this recipe for SPAGHETTI PIE and we had it with leftover corn on the cob and garden salads.

SPAGHETTI PIE - I had originally made a 500g box of pasta.

To leftover noodles, ADD --

• 2 Tbsp margarine
• 2 beaten eggs [** in future, I'll only use 1 beaten egg]
  
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese

MIX and PLACE in pie plate to make crust bottom and sides.

SPREAD reheated meat sauce over the noodles.

BAKE at 350 for 15 minutes.

SPRINKLE mozzarella cheese to your liking over top of pie and bake for 10 more minutes. [I moved the oven rack to the top for the last few minutes and put on broiler so cheese would be golden brown and slightly crispy]

** The bottom wasn't as crispy or *stuck together* as it should have been, so I think 1 beaten egg will be much better!

Here's the link for the photo [I forgot to take one] and for a recipe that you can make from scratch when you don't have any LEFTOVER spaghetti waiting to be used ...

Bon Appetit :o)

Family Skillet Meal - Updated, with Photo

For supper the other day, we thoroughly enjoyed this super-easy dish! Although we had it with a slice of bread on the side, it would be great with a salad and rolls or crispy, warm garlic bread.

• 1/2 lb. ground beef [I used 1 pound lean]
  
• 2 1/2 c. canned tomatoes [I used diced tomatoes]
  
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 c. chopped cabbage [I used some frozen corn]
  
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 c. uncooked macaroni
• 1/2 c. grated cheese [I used cheddar]
  
• 1 tsp. salt [I used only a dash]
  

-Brown ground beef and onion.
-Blend Worcestershire sauce and salt into tomatoes.
-Add frozen corn and macaroni to meat in skillet.
-Cover and reduce heat. Simmer 15 to 30 minutes.
-Sprinkle cheese over top.




We enjoyed this so much that I made it again today :o)

I did it from memory [NOT necessarily a good thing] and forgot to add Worcestershire sauce and a dash of salt and it didn't matter at all to the taste!

This time I also added some chopped green peppers and sliced fresh mushrooms.

Simply because my skillet is too cumbersome to drain the cooked ground beef, I browned the meat, onions, green peppers and mushrooms on the stove before transfering them to the heated skillet.

I enjoy new recipes just like everyone else and photos always help me visualize what I'm going to make, so I did remember to take the photo on the left showing it when it first begins to simmer and is basically liquid and uncooked noodles, etc.

We sat down to supper and were enjoying it BEFORE I remembered to take an *after* photo ~ so here's a shot of what a partially empty skillet looks like :o)

I guess that tells you that it was delicious!

*Almost Cabbage Rolls* Casserole

I've only ever made *real* Cabbage Rolls once or twice in my life and while they are tasty, they also require more work than I'd like :o)

Two weeks ago I tried this recipe and we just loved it! Simple to assemble yet delicious make it a keeper in our home. It called for 8 cups of cabbage and because that seemed like too much, I used only 4-5 and it was not enough ... I know for next time :o)

• 1 lb ground beef
• 3/4 cup uncooked long-grain rice
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 (28 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1/4 c cider vinegar [I used regular vinegar]
  
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
• 1 Tbsp. dry mustard
• 8 cups cabbage, coarsely chopped [I used only about 4-5 cups]
  

--Brown ground beef with onions and spices first. [it doesn't say so, but that's what I did]
--In large bowl, mix together beef mixture with rice.
--In small bowl, stir together tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and mustard.
--Layer 1/3 of the cabbage in bottom of 3-quart deep casserole.
--Arrange half of the beef mixture on top. Cover with another 1/3 of the cabbage then the other half of the beef mixture.
--Pour tomato sauce mixture over top, but do not stir. [Casserole will be quite full.]
--Cover -- let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
--Bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours, without stirring.

There were 3 of us and there were leftovers for my lunch the next day so I'd say it serves 4 nicely :o)