More Tips

Tip #5
When buying potatoes, look for those that are firm, well shaped and free of blemishes.  Avoid potatoes that are wrinkled, cracked or sprouting.  If kept in a cool, dark, well ventilated place, most potatoes will keep for up to 2 weeks.


Tip #6
White wine vinegar is made from white wine and , although its flavor is pungent, it is milder than distilled white vinegar.  Distilled white vinegar is made from a grain alcohol mix.  It has a strong, sharp flavor and is most often used for pickling foods and as a cleaning agent.


Tip #7
I've found that a melon baller works great to scoop out the seeds and membranes from red and green peppers. 

Twice-Baked Mashed Potatoes

Yield: 6 servings


INGREDIENTS:
2-1/2 pounds medium potatoes, peeled
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbl butter, melted
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup chopped onion
5 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/2 Tsp salt
1/8 Tsp pepper


DIRECTIONS:
1.  Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat; cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender.  Drain.


2.  In a large bowl, mash potatoes.  Add sour cream, milk, butter and 1 cup of cheese.  Stir in onion, bacon, salt and pepper.  Spoon into a greased 2-qt baking dish.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.


3.  Bake uncovered at 350' for 30-35 minutes or until heated through.


I cooked extra strips of bacon so that I could top my potatoes with not only cheese, but bacon too!

BBQ Sauce

So for Memorial Day my family and I made BBQ ribs with our homemade BBQ sauce.  It was very yummy.  Here is the recipe for the sauce.


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups ketchup
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
• 2 dashes hot pepper sauce

1 cup of honey

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, ketchup, honey, pepper, hot pepper sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Blend until smooth.

Meatballs with Pepper Sauce

Prep: 25 min.  Bake 1-1/4 hours


1 cup evaporated milk
1 Tbl worcesershire sauce
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 pounds of ground beef


Sauce:
1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
1-1/2 cups ketchup
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper
2 Tbl chopped onion
1 Tbl worcestershire sauce


Directions:
1.  In a large bowl, combine the milk, worcestershire sauce and soup mix.  Crumble beef over mixture and mix well.  Shape into 1-in balls.
2.  Place meatballs on a rack in a shallow baking pan.  Broil 4-6 in. from heat for 5-6 minutes or until browned.  In a dutch oven, combine sauce ingredients.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat; add meatballs.  Simmer, uncovered for 1 hour or until the meat is no longer pink.


These meatballs go great with either noodles or rice.  


Yield: 60 meatballs

Tips

I have come across some greatful and helpful tips.  So I thought I would share them with you and hope that they help you in the kitchen.  You may or may not know them, but it's always a great reminder of what we can do while preparing to cook.  


Tip #1
Instead of draining jumbo pasta shells in a colander (which can cause them to tear), carefully remove them from teh boiling water with tongs.  Pour out any water inside the shells and drain on lightly greased waxed paper until you're ready to stuff them.


Tip #2
When taking food to a potluck, welcoming a new family to the neighborhood or bringing meatls to someone, use dishes you've purhased at yard sales.  That way, you'll never feel bad if the dishes are lost, broken or not returned.


Tip #3
When a recipe calls for green onions, to avoid using a cutting board, cut the onions with a pair of kitchen scissors rather than a knife.  If you need a quite a bit, grab a bunch at one time and snip away.  You'll be done before you know it.


Tip #4
To keep fresh parsley in the refigerator for several weeks, wash the bunch in warm water, shake off excess moisture, wrap in paper towels and seal in a plastic bag.  If you need a longer storage time, remove the paper towels and place the ealed bag in the freezer.  Then simply break off and crumble the amount of parsley you need for soups, stews and other cooked dishes.

Lattice Chicken Potpie

Prep: 10 min  Bake: 35 min.


INGREDIENTS:
1 package (16 ounces) frozen California-blend vegetables
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 can condensed cream of potatoe soup, undiluted
1 cup of milk 
1 cup shredded chedder cheese
1 can french fried onions
1/2 Tsp seasoned salt
1 tube refridgerated crescent rolls


DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, combine the vegetables, chicken, soup, milk, cheese, onions and seasoned salt.  Transfer to a greased shallow 2-qt baking dish.
2. Unroll crescent roll dough and seperate into two rectangels.  Sealthe perforations; cut each rectangle lenghtwise into 1/2-in strips.  Form a lattice crust over the chicken mixture.  Bake uncovered, at 375' for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.


Yield: 4-6 servings

Hash Brown Pork Bake

Prep: 15 min.    Bake: 1 hour


INDGREDIENTS:
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 package (32 ounces) of frozen hasbrowns, thawed.
2 cups cubed cooked pork
1 pound process cheese (velveeta), cubed
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cups crushed cornflakes
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese


DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, combine sour cream and soup. Stir in the hash browns, prok, process cheese and onion. Transfer to a greased 3-qt baking dish.
2. Toss cornflake crumbs and butter; sprinkle over top.  Bake, uncovered at 350' for 50 minutes.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  Bake 10 minutes longer or until bubbly.


Yield: 4-6 servings

Cajun Pepper Steak

Prep: 20 min    Cook: 1-1/4 hours

INDGREDIENTS:

1-1/2 pounds of top round steak, cubed

2 Tbl butter

2 medium onions, halved and sliced

2 medium green peppers, julienned

1 medium sweet red pepper, julienned

1 celery rib sliced

1-1/2 cup water

4 Tsp worcestershire sauce

1 Tbl chili powder

1 Tbl soy sauce

1/2 to 1 Tsp cajun seasoning

1/4 Tsp hot pepper sauce, optional

2 Tbl cornstarch

2 Tbl water

Hot cooked egg noodles or rice

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large skillet , brown beer in butter over medium heat; drain.  Stir in the onions, peppers and celery; cook and stir for 2 min.

2. Add the water, worcestershire sauce, chili powder soy sauce, cajun seasoning and pepper sauce if desired.  Brint to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until meat is tender.

3. Mix cornstarch and cold water; stir into meat.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Serve with noodles or rice.

Yield: 4 servings

Baked Ziti and Sausage

Ingredients:
3 ups of uncooked ziti or other small tubed pasta
1/2 pound Italian sausage links
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 Tsp salt, divided
1/4 Tsp plus 1/8 Tsp pepper, divided
2 cups milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups (16 ounces) 4% cottage cheese
1 Tbl minced fresh parsley
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
paprika


Directions:
1.  Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain; place in large bowl.  In a small skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and cut into 1/2-in slices
2.  In a saucepan, melt butter.  Stir the flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper utnil smooth; gradually add milk.  Bring to boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from the heat; stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  Pour over pasta; toss to coat.
3.  Combine the egg, cottage cheese, parsley, and remaining Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Spoon half of the pasta mixture into a greased 2 1/2 qt baking dish.  Top with cottage cheese mixture.  Add the sausage to the remaining pasta mixture; spoon over top.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and paprika.
4.  Bake, uncovered @ 350' for 30-35 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160'


Yields: 6 servings

Creamy Seafood-Stuffed Shells

Ok so for dinner tonight I decided to make seafood stuffed shells.  I wans't sure how the kids would like them, but I figured since they love the seafood lasagna that I make, they would like these....Well lets just say they were a BIG hit.  I think Kenzie had about 4 or 5 of the shells.  The shells were about medium size so about 6 of them equaled the size of a hamburger.  This recipe was pretty easy, quick. and didn't take a whole lot of time.  I hope you all enjoy.  Remeber let us know what you think of or recipes.  

Indgredients:
 24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
1 Tbl finely chopped green pepper
1 Tbl finely chopped red onion
1 Tsp, plus 1/4 cup of butter (divided)
1 package of crab meat flakes
1 package of frozen cooked salad shrimp, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup shredded part-skim Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbl, plus 4 cups of milk, divided
1-1/2 Tsp seafood seasoning, divided
1/4 Tsp pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 Tsp coarsely ground pepper
1-1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese


Directions: 
1.  Cook the pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile in a small skillet, saute green pepper and onion in 1 Tsp of butter until tender, set aside.
2.  In a large bowl, combine the crab, shrimp egg, mozzarella, mayonnaise, 2 Tbls milk, 1 Tsp seafood seasoning, pepper and the chopped green pepper mixture.
3,  Drain and rinse the pasta and stuff each shell with 1 rounded Tbls of seafood mixture.  Placei n a greased 13in x 9in baking dish.
4,  In a small saucepan, melt the remaining butter over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour and carsley ground pepper and gradually whisk in remaining milk.  Bring to boil; cook and stir for 2 min. or until thickened. Stir in Parmesan cheese.
5,  Pour over the shells.  Sprinkle with the remaining seafood seasoning, bake uncoverd @ 350' for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly.


Yield: 8 servings