Chickpea Pasta with Almonds and Parmesan

Credit to Real Simple magazine (Jan. 08 page 152) for the original recipe:
Serves 4

1 T. olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
7 c. veggie or chicken broth
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
1 lb. angel hair pasta
1 15.5 oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 c. flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 c. unsalted roasted almonds, chopped
1/2 c. grated Parmesan

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 mnute. Add the broth, red pepper, and 3/4 t. salt and bring to a boil.

Add the pasta and cook, stirring, until the broth is nearly absorbed and the pasta is al dente, about 6 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and parsley.
Divide among individual bowls and top with the almonds and Parmesan.

Really though.....

This is what I did. I came home late from a doctor appointment and my Hunny had already fixed dinner. Leftover linguine was in the strainer in the sink and a little pasta sauce in a pot on the stove.

I dumped the leftover linguine in a bowl with about a cup of chicken broth, and 2 T. butter. Sprinkled it with garlic powder, red pepper flakes and salt. Poured some leftover chickpeas on top.
Nuked it till the butter melted and everything was nice and warm. Sprinkled slivered raw almonds on top and grated some fresh Parmesan cheese on it. Took a fork and the bowl into living room to watch hockey with my Hunny. Ate half, and saved the rest for lunch at work.

I love this combination. Super easy, and it was great to use everything I had to dress up some leftovers. Of course I could have thrown all the leftovers away or let the stuff mold in the back of the fridge....not.

Superbowl Fav: Bacon Wrapped Smokies

I got this recipe from another coworker, and its been a hit every time he and I have made it for a party. We are having it tonight while we watch the Super Bowl.

1 package Little Smokies
1 lb. bacon
vinegar
brown sugar
toothpicks

Cut bacon strips in 3rds. (You may have some left over. Use another package of Smokies or fry up the bacon and use for another recipe.)
Wrap a raw bacon strip around each sausage and secure with a toothpick.
Place in a glass pan.
Sprinkle the brown sugar over all and drizzle the vinegar over it. At this point you can bake or refrigerate a few hours to overnight.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. May remove to a small crockpot to keep warm, or eat right away. I have frozen these successfully, both raw and leftovers.

White Bean Chicken Chili

This recipe is from a coworker. He and his daughter have won several chili cookoffs with it.

48 oz. Great northern beans

4 c. cooked chicken breast, shredded

1 T. olive oil

2 medium onions diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 (4 oz.) cans chopped green chilies

2 tsp. Ground cumin

1 ½ tsp. Dried oregano

½ tsp. Cayenne pepper (optional)

6 c. chicken broth

3 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

sour cream for garnish

Heat oil in sauce pan. Add onions and sauté until tender. Add garlic, chilies, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper. Saute 2 min. In large pot boil broth and add beans. Add Chicken to the above mixture. Add 1-2 cups of cheese (don’t boil or cheese will burn on bottom). I use my cast iron dutch oven to simmer slowly for a while before I add the cheese. Makes about 4 quarts.

Use sour cream to garnish.

Cheryl's Best Ever Ham

This recipe is from my boss, Cheryl who brought it in for a department Thanksgiving party.

1 semi boneless ham (I like the ones from Publix--about 8 - 10 lbs.)
1 jar pineapple preserves
1 lb brown sugar

Line a roasting pan with foil, and place the ham in the pan.
(Have the preserves and the brown sugar ready as your hands will get super sticky!)
Spread preserves over the ham, then press brown sugar on top of the preserves.
Cover with foil.
Bake 20 minutes per pound at 350 degrees or until internal temperature is 140 degrees.

I serve with Potatoes Anna, and fresh homemade rolls. Leftovers make wonderful ham biscuits.

Shrimp Scampi

This is the best shrimp scampi I have ever eaten, better than any restaurant. The secret ingredient is Dijon mustard, which I don't normally have a taste for, but it's fantastic in it.

1 c. butter
2 T. prepared Dijon mustard
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. chopped garlic
1 T. chopped fresh parsley or 1 t. dried parsley
2 lbs medium raw shrimp, shelled, deveined, with tails attached

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine everything but the shrimp, and remove when the butter is melted.
Put shrimp in a shallow baking dish, and pour the butter mixture over the shrimp.
Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and opaque.

I serve this with linguine noodles and a leafy green salad, but Carraba's Italian Restaurant also serves it as an appetizer with toasty bread. Just an idea for something special or fancy. I usually use a package of precooked shrimp from Aldi when making this, only I bake it just till the shrimp are warmed through. Shrimp gets a nasty rubbery texture when overcooked.

6 servings

Potatoes Anna (5 star recipe)

This is a very simple, elegant way to serve potatoes, it is very easy but takes an hour and 15 minutes to bake. We like them with steaks, meatloaf, or even pork chops. Its easy to double or triple for guests.

4 T. butter
1 t. salt
3 large potatoes, peeled (about 4 cups)

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter with salt. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. With knife, or mandoline, slice potatoes about 1/8th inch thick.

3. Grease an 8" pie pan (I use a quiche plate), arrange potatoes slices around the pan and in the middle, in an overlapping pattern. Drizzle butter mixture over the top.

4. Cover tightly with foil, bake 20 minutes.

5. Uncover and bake about 55 minutes or until potatoes are very tender and crusty. ( I like them to be golden brown). Remove from oven and let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. You can unmold it onto a plate and serve in wedges, but we usually just spoon it out of the quiche pan and eat it that way.

4 servings

--from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, 1980 edition.

Mary Ann's Menu for February 26-March 4

Monday
Breakfast-oatmeal
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-Baked Chicken Thighs, French Fries, Salad

Tuesday
Breakfast-pancakes or waffles
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-Kale & White Bean Soup(from freezer),French Bread

Wednesday
Breakfast-oatmeal
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-Chicken Stuffing Casserole, cooked veggie

Thursday
Breakfast-cream of wheat
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-spaghetti

Friday
Breakfast-oatmeal
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-meatloaf, rice or potatoes, salad

Saturday
Breakfast-cereal
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-omelets, toast

Sunday
Breakfast-muffins
Lunch-sandwiches
Dinner-church potluck(I'm taking bread and a dessert.)

To view more menus, please visit I'm An Organizing Junkie! for more Menu Plan Monday participants.

Mary Ann's Menu for February 19-25

Monday
Breakfast-oatmeal
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-veggie and meatball soup made with leftovers

Tuesday
Breakfast-eggs, toast
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-roast chicken and veggies

Wednesday
Breakfast-oatmeal
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-Chicken roll-ups

Thursday
Breakfast-coffee cake, fruit
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-chicken soup

Friday
Breakfast-oatmeal
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-pork chops, rice and salad

Saturday
Breakfast-cereal
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-egg gravy over biscuits

Sunday
Breakfast-muffins
Lunch-TBD
Dinner-homemade pizza or stromboli

To participate in Menu Plan Monday please visit I'm an organizing junkie!

Mary Ann's Menu for February 12-18

Monday
Breakfast-eggs, toast, grapefruit
Lunch-leftover pizza for my husband, lunch out at Chick-fil-a with a friend for me
Dinner-Salisbury steak(freezer), salad

Tuesday
Breakfast-cold cereal
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-lentil & rice casserole

Wednesday
Breakfast-cold cereal
Lunch- We ate a special late lunch of steaks, stuffed sole and twice-baked potatoes. All this was a Christmas gift from my husband's grandparents, compliments of Omaha Steaks. What a great gift!
Dinner-popcorn, cookies and chocolate while watching a romantic movie

Thursday
Breakfast-oatmeal
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-mac & cheese with peas

Friday
Breakfast-eggs with leftover steak
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-meatball subs, broccoli

Saturday
Breakfast-cold cereal
Lunch-pb & j
Dinner-out with friends

Sunday
Breakfast-pancakes(freezer)
Lunch-chili and rice
Dinner-breaded chicken tenders, carrot and celery sticks, cookies

Mary Ann's Menu for February 5- 11

Monday
Breakfast-cold cereal
Lunch- Snacks while watching the super Bowl that we taped while my husband was working Sunday night! We ate wings, cheese dip, guacamole, tortilla chips, cookies and IBC root beer.
Dinner- rice cooked with chicken and veggies, apple slices

Tuesday
Breakfast-cold cereal, grapefruit
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-leftovers

Wednesday
Breakfast-baked oatmeal
Lunch-tuna salad sandwiches on fresh bread
Dinner-kale and white bean soup, fresh bread

Thursday
Breakfast-leftover baked oatmeal
Lunch-leftover soup
Dinner- baked potatoes, salad, apple crisp

Friday
Breakfast-oatmeal with apples, raisins and cinnamon
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-homemade pizza, salad

Saturday
Breakfast-oatmeal
Lunch-leftovers
Dinner-banana oat pancakes

Sunday
Breakfast-hopefully something baked!
Lunch-TBD
Dinner-Philly cheese steaks

Kale & White Bean Soup

This soup has a mild flavor and is perfect for a cold evening! This is even better after a day or two.
I modified the recipe by adding bacon instead of the sausage and after cooking the beans just until barely tender, transferred the soup to my crockpot and then cooked it on low for the rest of the day. It worked out really well this way.

Kale and White Bean Soup

1 pound dried white beans(about 2 1/2 cups), such as great northern, cannellini or navy, picked over and rinsed
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 cups chicken broth
8 cups water
1 (3 x 2 inch) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rind( I had one of these which was my motivation for making this soup!Yummy!)
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound smoked sausage or bacon, cooked and crumbled(optional)
8 carrots, sliced
1 pound kale, stems and tough center ribs removed and discarded, leaves coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons salt

Soak beans in water to cover by 2 inches, refrigerated, for at least 8 hours; drain.

Heat oil in large heavy pot over moderately low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add beans, broth, 4 cups water. cheese rind, rosemary, bay leaf, and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until beans are just tender, about 50 minutes. (After this, I transferred it to the crockpot and added the rest of the ingredients.)

Stir carrots into soup and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in kale, meat, if using, remaining 4 cups of water, and salt, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until kale is tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Season soup with additional salt, if necessary, and pepper. Discard bay leaf.

Makes about 16 cups. Serves 6 as a main course.

• This soup is best if made 1 or 2 days ahead. Cool completely, uncovered, then refrigerate, covered. Thin with water if necessary when reheating.
  

Apple Crisp

I love making this dessert when I have apples to use up. It's really easy and great to make when you are already baking something in the oven for dinner anyways. (Last night, I put this in the oven during the last half of baking potatoes for dinner. )

This is great served with vanilla ice cream, but we eat it plain most of the time! Yummy!

Apple Crisp

6-8 apples, peeled and sliced
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp. cinnamon and/or nutmeg
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange apples in well-greased 9 inch square or small rectangular baking dish. Blend all remaining ingredients, except for water, cutting and blending in the butter until mixture is pulled together and crumbly. Spread topping evenly over apples. Pour water over the topping. Bake 45-50 minutes until apples are tender and top is completely baked and crisp.
Serves 6

Make-Your-Own: Blue Cheese Dressing

We were out of my husband's favorite salad dressing last week and out of grocery money for the month. I did have some blue cheese crumbles I had gotten inexpensively with a coupon, so I thought I'd try making my own. I used this recipe from allrecipes.com. He really liked this recipe and it made about 2 pints. Next time, I'll probably cut the amount of mayo and add a little more sour cream instead-it was really strong with a mayo taste. But otherwise, this is worth a try!

Blue Cheese Dressing

6 ounces blue cheese crumbles
2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a blender; cover and process on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Put in covered container and refrigerate.

Crock Pot Taco Soup

This yummy and easy soup is our new favorite! It is also very cost-effective at less than $3.50 for the whole big pot! (Based on my local Aldi's prices; when using dried beans instead of canned, the cost is even lower.)

The first time I made this, I substituted my own cooked pinto beans for the other beans and added onions and other spices since I didn't have taco seasoning on hand. This is something that's hard to mess up I would think! We have liked it any way I've made it! I also like the fact that this is a relatively healthy recipe.:-)

Taco Soup

1 pound ground turkey(ground beef or even cooked and diced chicken would also be good in this)
1 can chili beans, with liquid
1 can kidney beans, with liquid
1 can whole kernel corn, with liquid
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 package taco seasoning mix
I also add: some chopped onion and a couple spoonfuls of salsa

Cook meat in skillet until browned; drain. Place all ingredients in crock pot and mix together. Cook on low setting for 8 hours.

Serve alone or with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream and salsa.

Mary Ann's Menu for January 29- February 4

Here's last week's menu! I'm just giving you the dinner menu this time as we ate mostly cold cereal for breakfasts and lunch was leftovers as usual, rather boring.:-) I really wasn't in much of a cooking mood this past week and with it being major grocery shopping time again, I really had to scrounge around a little. Fortunately, I had a few freezer meals left to use as well as some meat to throw in the oven, so it was fairly easy to put some meals together.

Monday-BBQ Chicken pizza(spread pizza crust with BBQ sauce, top with diced, cooked chicken and cheese;bake as usual),salad

Tuesday-steaks(used the grill for the first time!), mashed potatoes, green beans, sauteed mushrooms

Wednesday-lasagna(from freezer)

Thursday-BBQ chicken thighs, baked sweet potatoes, salad

Friday-spaghetti and meatballs

Saturday-scrambled eggs and biscuits

Sunday-leftovers