Lemon and Rosemary Salmon

I got this recipe from my BIL Rodger, and it is very easy and delicious. (And the clean up is a breeze!)

salmon fillets

salt

pepper

olive oil

lemon

fresh rosemary

red onion

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. (Turn on the vent fan because it gets smoky.) Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

2. Place the salmon fillets on the sheet. Salt and pepper to taste. (Sea salt and cracked pepper are best, but regular salt and pepper work just fine.) Drizzle with olive oil. Top each fillet with 2-3 large rosemary sprigs, 2 lemon slices, and 4 slices of red onion.

3. Bake at 500 degrees for 20-25 minutes. (Unless it's sushi, we like our fish well done, so I baked ours for 25 minutes. If you like your fish more rare, check it around 20 minutes.)

4. Remove the rosemary, lemon, and onion before eating.

Orange Jello

This is a nice, light dessert for summertime. It was a favorite in our house when we were growing up. Three ingredients and easy! (Actually four- counting the water.)

2 3-ounce boxes of orange jello

1 can mandarin oranges

1 tub whipped topping

**You can use sugar free jello and whipped topping. You can also use Lite or Fat Free whipped topping to make this a "healthy" dessert.

1.Make the jello. I use less water than what it calls for. For example: two boxes would normally call for 2 cups boiling water and 2 cups cold water, and I use 1 1/2 cups of each. It just makes it a little thicker so it will hold its consistency a little better when you add the other ingredients.

This is actually just 1 1/2 packages of jello. I had a little mishap. Apparently you shouldn't shake the jello envelope AFTER you tear it open :) Who knew?!

2. Drain the can of oranges. Stir them into the jello. Refrigerate until the jello sets.

3. Stir in the whipped topping. Use as much or as little as you like. I use about 1/2 a tub.

Chicken and Spinach Penne (aka: That Stuff With Leaves In It)

This is a delicious way to get your family to eat spinach. Lexie (a hater of veggies) asks me to make that stuff that has leaves in it. This is one of her favorites. When I was on bed rest, one of the ladies I worked with brought us something similar to this. Unfortunately I didn't get the recipe from her, but this is what I came up with.


half a loaf of French bread
2 chicken breasts diced
3/4 cup of onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/3 cup flour
3 3/4 cups reduced fat milk
1/2 cup half-and-half (I use fat free half-and-half. I was amazed that they had fat free half-and-half. I thought fat was the whole point!)
1 bag of fresh baby spinach, chopped
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese (not the stuff in the can)
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 pound box penne pasta, cooked according to package directions
1/4 cup butter




1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Put the bread in the food processor; pulse a few times until you have coarse crumbs. (If you do not have a food processor, you can just tear the bread into small pieces.)

3. Place flour in a small bowl. Gradually add 3/4 cup of milk, stirring until smooth. Set aside.

4. In a large pan, saute the chicken, onion, and garlic. When the chicken is cooked, add the flour mixture, 3 cups of milk, and half-and-half to the pan. Bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, and simmer until thick (about 2-3 minutes)- still stirring constantly. Add the spinach, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add the cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir until the cheese melts.

5. Place the cooked pasta in a large bowl. Add the sauce to the pasta, and toss until the pasta is coated. Pour the pasta and sauce into a 9X13 dish. (Use non-stick cooking spray.)

6. Melt the butter. Combine the breadcrumbs and butter. Sprinkle the crumbs over the pasta.

7. Bake at 425 degrees until the crumbs are lightly browned. (5-10 minutes)



**It is better to reheat the leftovers in the oven, so the crumbs will get crispy again. Microwave reheating works too, but the crumbs will be more bread like.

Baked Ziti

This is a FAVORITE at our house. It's easy, fast, and feeds a lot of people. You can bake half and freeze the other half. I haven't made it since we started the blog so I don't have any pictures. I'll add some soon. Thanks Dina for this recipe!!!!

Baked Ziti
1 pound ground beef
onion
1 pound penne pasta
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese; divided
12 oz. cottage cheese
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1 jar spaghetti sauce
Italian seasoning
Tony Chachere's seasoning (you don't have to use this but I like it!)
salt and pepper

Start pasta. Brown HB and onion then drain. When the pasta is finished drain and dump back into the pot. Stir in all of the other ingredients but save 1/4 of the mozz cheese for the top. Pour into a 9x13 and top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes (until bubbly).

Tortilla Soup

Here is another Rachael Ray recipe. (I promise I do more than read her magazine. These are actually the only two recipes I have ever made of hers, but I loved them.)

This is vegetarian, but you could add chunks of chicken or use chicken broth if you want to make it non-vegetarian.

3 poblano chilis
6 corn tortillas, halved then cut into 1/2 inch strips
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt
2 10-ounce boxes of frozen corn
1 red onion chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon minced Garlic
Pepper
4 cups vegetable broth
14.5 ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 avocado chopped
1 lime
Sour cream

1. Preheat the broiler. Broil the poblanos until blackened (approx. 10 minutes). Transfer to a bowl, cover and let cool, seed and chop the poblanos (I made the rest of the soup while the poblanos cooled.)

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet, toss the tortilla strips with 1 tablespoon oil an cumin. (To coat the tortilla strips: I like to put the strips, oil, and cumin in a ziploc bag, and shake gently.) Bake until golden (10 minutes); season with salt.

3. In a large, deep skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the corn and cook until charred at the edges (10-15 minutes). Add the onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onion is softened. Stir in broth, tomatoes, and poblanos. (At this point I transferred everything to the crock pot, so it would be warm when we got home from dance. If you are going to serve it immediately, you can just leave it in the pan. Make sure it is a deep pan!)

5. Top the soup with the tortilla strips, avocado, sour cream, and a squeeze of lime.)

Enjoy!

**You can use store bought tortilla chips if you don't want to make your own, but these are very tasty.

**This is pretty spicy. I would think you could use 2 peppers to make it less spicy.

Yummy Brownies

Monte and Carter love these brownies. (Lexie doesn't like chocolate! CRAZY!!) They are so easy, and a big hit everywhere I take them.

1 pkg brownie mix (family size)
1 jar marshmallow cream
1 tub chocolate frosting


1. Make the brownies according to the package directions.



2. After they cool, spread the marshmallow cream on top.



3. Then spread the frosting on top.

Easy and delicious!

**Note: After a few days the cream will soak in to the brownies. They still taste okay, but they look a little funky.

Chocolate Chip Cake

This is one of the easiest cakes (my "go to" dessert). It's our FAVORITE!!

yellow cake mix
small instant chocolate pudding mix (I use sugar free)
8 oz. container of sour cream (I use light)
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil (veggie)
1 cup mini chocolate chips
powder sugar (optional)

Mix the first 7 ingredients together. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into a greased bundt pan (I use spray) and bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes (but check at 45, it might be ready). Cool and sprinkle with powder sugar. I like Cool Whip with mine but it's great without it!! Thanks Carrie for the recipe!!!

Sloppy Veg-Head Joe

This is a vegetarian sloppy joe recipe I got out of the Rachael Ray magazine. I must say that I think even non-vegetarians will love this. (It's good without the bun, too!) I also omitted the jalapeno since I thought my toddler might be eating it, and it was still good.

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 jalapeno chile's, seeded and finely chopped

1 red onion, chopped

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

Salt and Pepper

1 15-ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

a splash of vinegar

juice of one lime

1. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper, jalapenos, red onion, and garlic. Cook until tender (6-8 minutes). Stir in the black beans, cumin, and coriander. Season with salt and pepper.

2. In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, brown sugar, and vinegar. Add to the black beans. Simmer for a few minutes. Stir in the lime juice.

3. Serve on buns. Optional: Garnish with pickles and chopped cilantro.

(My picture with the bun was blurry, so I used this one from the magazine's website.)

In Progress!

We are currently in progress of making this recipe blog. Please check back later.