Kim’s recipe box April 14, 2007

Hey Y’all! Every time I try a new recipe that turns out to be what we call, “a reorder item,” I want to share it with my friends! So here’s my way of sharing with you what I’ve tried and totally recommend! Enjoy!

Main Dishes

• Creamy Rice, Chicken & Spinach Dinner – Aunt Linda, this is what I made when you guys were here – and I suggest using whole wheat penne pasta!
• Easy Baked Fish & Chips
• Brushcetta Chicken Bake
• Fish cakes – I’ve tried the crab & salmon versions – very good! And keep these dry ingredients in your pantry you can throw a home-cooked meal together quick!
• Crispy Chicken Mexicali Salad – seriously this was yummy!
• Tomato & Spinach Pasta Toss – I used chicken in this instead – and again whole wheat pasta!
• Marvelous Mini Meatloaves – seriously one of my favorites! Chris raved about this! And I hated meatloaf before this recipe! I do the Italian & Fiesta versions. And the leftover sandwiches the next day, whew!
• Smothered Meatloaf – another easy crockpot recipe and the only other meatloaf I’ve had that I actually liked – definitely not your standard tomato sauce kind. Had a great taste! Was plenty big for me to freeze half for another meal this month!
• All-in-One Pork Chop Bake - well the potatoes didn’t get done at the same time as my thin pork chops so I heated up Grammy’s leftover Twice Bake potatoes. But the pork chops were surprisingly delicious!
• Easy Salmon Supper – very good taste! even for carrots!
• Greek Chicken in a Pita Wrap – this one got me a “Honey, you’ve been on fire in the kitchen lately!” You can do the double roasted chicken version of this recipe – but I actually just baked some chicken breasts with Shake-n-Bake Garlic Parmesan. I will do these for easy lunches now using any meat I have in the fridge, even lunch meat was good and cooking the veggies was good too. The great taste comes from the flavored Feta – don’t be afraid of “stinky cheese!” I did not use dressing on this so it kept it very lowfat.
• Easy Layered Taco Pie – G U D – I actually put these in the oven a put to toast the shells.
• Quick Chicken Teriyaki - add some soy sauce to this and you’ve got homemade Chinese!
• Mexican Pizza – used ground beef & did not use the Ranch dressing but this was quick, easy, filling & very good!
• Roast – Slow Cooker – another food I hated growing up until this…one of my stock recipes now! Be sure to cook on low for 10-12 hours.
• Quick-Fix Beef Burrito Skillet with Guacamole – fixed this when Laura spent the night, we all, including McKinley cleaned out plates! Now the Mexican dish I did not put the tortillas IN the mixture, thought that would make them soggy. Instead I baked them in the oven to get crunchy and served as homemade chips. And the guacamole? WOW! Easy and G-U-D!
• Grilled Chicken Pitas – the marinade smells incredible. And the tomato feta was a nice touch.
• Ina Garten Hamburgers – I scaled this down from 3 lbs. of (2) meats to only 1 lb. of ground chuck and adjusted all other ingredients accordingly. I did not do the bleu cheese either, so they were basic hamburgers but DELICIOUS!
• Chicken with Basil & Cream Sauce – found this too in Parenting Magazine, cooked it in Gulf Shores with the Hitchcock’s and everyone said they loved it.
• Pulled BBQ Chicken sandwiches – my rotisserie chicken was a little on the small side which made this dish a bit too tomatoey. However with more chicken like what the recipe called for I think it would have been perfect. Or you could just half the recipe.
• Egg, Ham, Spinach Pizza – yum yum yum! This one you HAVE TO TRY! Note: be sure to dig little hole for the egg. Learn from my mistake. I heard a pop and didn’t know what it was. Later when I pulled my pizza out of the oven, I was missing an egg… You know don’t you? Yup, slid right off the pizza, off the stone, onto the bottom of my oven & burner thingy. Note, burnt egg STANKS! Especially when your like me and forget to clean it until you’ve already got the oven heated for next time! Oh, and the spinach will look like a lot so I didn’t use quite the whole bag, but it cooks down and I wished I’d had more of it.
• Greek Style Stuffed Peppers – I couldn’t believe how much we loved this! I served with my green beans (see “Sides”) & garlic mashed potatoes (fake ones all dolled up with sour cream & nonfat yogurt…busy mommy you’ll have to excuse me!) and microwave sweet tea (see “Drinks”) Coolest part was Christopher hates squash. I always try to make him eat it or sneak it somehow. He never noticed this ingredient. I waited til we were done and asked him if he cared for zucchinni (thought he wouldn’t know the name was a squash), he of course said no. I grinned. He grinned and looked at his plate. “Nu-uh!” “Yup!”
• Mexican Lasagna – easy easy.  Tasty.  I just happened upon this on the Food Network website, I normally don’t watch or like, therefore even try, this gals recipes.
• Black Bean Enchiladas – Gotta give a shout out to my friend Kelly here.  She gave me this recipe.  You’ll probably flip over her blog as well.  She’s like a Grocery Coupon Goddess!  I add a can of diced tomatoes & a can of extra black beans which really bulks this puppy up.  Then you can stuff a whole other pk of tortillas for a freezer meal!
• French Dip Sandwiches – Aunt Linda cooks this nearly every time we visit FL so it has become a “vacation must” for us!  It’s also super easy and delicious for right here at home.  E-Z!
• (NEW) Kim’s Baked Chicken – watching the Food Network so much has really paid off for me – here’s something inspired by Paula Deen & Ina Garten both!  Chris likes so much he wants to eat this several times a week for meals/salads.  So I’ve begun making a whole pan full and freezing.
• (NEW) Kim’s Garlic Chicken Whole Wheat Pizza with Onions, Peppers & Spinach – We’ve sorta left the pepperoni lifestyle for baked chicken and this is our favorite combination these days.  While the crust may not be quite like my favorite take out pizza place, it still makes a delicious healthy pizza dinner!  Note you need to make above Baked Chicken recipe.

Appetizers

• Spinach Artichoke Dip – a healthier version of a favorite – I’ve really gotten into Ellie Krieger on Food Network.
• Kim’s Gourmet Cheese Dip – seriously, you cannot get more simple than this.  I was looking for something quick to throw together as an appetizer for community group, I totally just made this up, and it gets great compliments every time.  Folks don’t believe it is only what it is!  Try it, even if you don’t like green olives, I don’t.

Breakfast/Brunch

• Eggs Florentine – Halls, this is what you all loved at Laura’s shower!
• Ham & Cheese Stuff’n Puff - for breakfast casserole or great for dinner, I’ve done it both ways!
• Cheese Quiche – if your a cheese lover like me, or not, this is INCREDIBLE!
• Blueberry Crunch Cake – I don’t like pineapple – this is one of two recipes I didn’t notice it or care.  This is delicious, served it at Laura’s baby shower and got lots of compliments!
• Homemade Maple Syrup – I had the pleasure of meeting my friend Mel’s mother, Mrs. Sue, last fall and staying at her home.  Uh yeah!  She makes her own maple syrup!  Sweet thing even bought us girls some maple flavoring and sent us each home with the recipe.  I tried it – EASY!  Delicious!  It tastes different – lighter.  And people think you rock in the kitchen!
• Peach French Toast & Baked Oatmeal -These are (separate ) “Moms Together” recipes I’ve had the pleasure of cooking for our women and of course gobbling up!  Trust me, you don’t even have to try these first, make this for your next breakfast company or brunch shower or just for your family.  Yowza!
• Kim’s Sundried-Tomato-Sausage Quiche – so I sampled Publix’s sundried tomato bread with some butter…yum!  And I had to go back to the bakery and buy one.  It was $4.99 for the loaf but with this recipe you could split it into two 8×8’s or only one and keep some extra bread on the cabinet.  or use the whole thing for a 9×13 I’m sure.  Also it’s preservative free & basically organic, so she said.

Soups

• Creamy Chicken Noodle – Slow Cooker
• White Chili - No lie, Chris asked me to cook this for him every week, and I just about have!  It’s easy.  It’s healthy.  It makes the house smell delicious!   I know there’s lots of this type recipes out there – do yourself a favor though and try this one! And if you don’t have cumin or coriander don’t go out and buy it, I didn’t.

Side Dishes – I mainly do canned or fresh veggies with my above meals – but here are some special sides I’ve made for larger dinners:

• Creamed Corn – uhm, cheese & onions? yeah that’ll work. I made this for the last Hall reunion
• Red Potato Salad – a Paula Dean episode I just wanted to jump into the tv to eat everything. This was good, very different.
• Macaroni & Cheese with pureed cauliflower – got the Deceptively Delicious cookbook for Christmas and tried this one, actually I just put the puree in my own whole wheat macaroni with velveeta recipe – totally couldn’t taste it! And I got an additional veggie in our meal!
• The Lady’s Mac & Cheese – the “Lady” being Paula Deen, you can only imagine how rich & cheesy this is. So if your taking a big dish somewhere, this is a good one! I took to to a lunch our community group had for our local firefighters.
• Kim’s Green Beans – I buy from Aldi’s bags at a time the whole green beans, they’ve been washed & ends snipped. I throw frozen beans in a saute pan, add 1-2 tbsp. butter, sprinkle with garlic powder, seasoned salt & pepper, and about a tablespoon of water. Bring to boil then cover and turn to low for 5-10 minutes.

Desserts

• Our Best Chocolate Cheesecake – I made this for Easter and everyone raved over it. It was my first ever “from scratch” cheesecake! And easy! Best compliment was quiet brother-in-law Josh volunteering to take home all the leftovers!
• Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting – see “Red Potato Salad.” Actually these cupcakes were ok, good but it was the cream cheese icing that was incredible! Should be when you see how much butter & cream cheese is in this!
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – tried these off my friend, Wendy’s blog – she’s right – they’re YUMMY! They’re dense yet fluffy – and first chocolate to not give me heartburn with this pregnancy! McKinley’s taking them to her Thanksgiving Feast at school tomorrow. (I sub’d half the flour with whole wheat flour too, that with the pumpkin can’t make these too bad huh?) And they freeze great!
• Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping – OH – MY – GOSH!~ Just try it – I mean anything with THREE sticks of butter’s gotta be good right?
• Kitchen Sink Cookies – Here’s a wonderful healthy version of a chocolate chip cookie. I wasn’t so sure about it but tried it anyway, even with company coming! With Chris doing so well on his new eating habits I wanted to make something he could treat himself to – and he really liked ‘em – everyone did!
• Chocolate Caramel Peanut Brownies – hands down, best brownies I’ve ever eaten! They are so thick, and the recipe really does make about 2 dozen! I froze half of them for a second party and they were just as delicious as the night I made them.
• Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake – McKinley and I made this for Thanksgiving this past year.  I’m not a pumpkin pie fan but I do enjoy desserts with pumpkin – this was a keeper!  And it was beautiful!
• Apple Dumplings - okay so I haven’t actually cooked this one but my friend Christy did, for Bunko.  OH MY!  You won’t believe how in-cred-i-ble!  E-Zee!  And the secret ingredient?  I’m all about that!  Seriously easy and a must-try.  I’m waiting for my next opportunity to cook this myself.
• (NEW) Gooey Butter Cake - this is one of Chris’ “MawMaw’s” recipes I am fortunate enough to have in a family cookbook.  It’s a family staple on his side!  Paula Deen makes it too, with variations.

For Kids

• Chocolate Covered Banana Pops – so easy! so delicious! I actually cut my banana in thirds instead of halves which made the perfect size treat! Actually I think I’ll go get one now…mmmmm
• Southwestern Pasta Salad – found this in Parenting Magazine. It’s full of little delicious finger grabbing foods – easy and tasty!

Drinks

• Microwave Sweet Tea – if you grew up in the south, chances are you love you some sweet tea? I DO! But I always realize I want it with a good home-cooked meal like right when I’m getting the meal ready. And the time to boil the water then steep and make? Too much. Mom just taught me this that she learned at church when they make for a crowd. But we scaled it down to just the size we need!