Every November, my cooking class at the Council on Aging centers around what to do with leftover turkey. Last year I made turkey paninis with cranberry mayo and caramelized onions. They loved it! This year, the group wanted a casserole made with all the makings from Thanksgiving dinner.
I decided to put a layered casserole together and it was a big hit! Here is the recipe.
After Thanksgiving Casserole
Stuffing
Green Beans (or any leftover vegetables)
Sliced turkey
Gravy
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
The size of the baking dish will depend upon how many leftovers you have. Layer stuffing on the bottom of the baker. Top with any leftover vegetables. I used green beans. Top the vegetables with sliced turkey. If you would prefer, dice the turkey for easier handling. Add the gravy. Mix some Cheddar cheese with the mashed potatoes. Spread potato/cheese mixture on top of casserole. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake in a 400 degree over until cheese is bubbly.
I think this could be frozen and served at a later date. The guests at the class loved this recipe. I hope you enjoy it too!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Pasta with Little Necks
Each year we purchase a shellfish license from our town hall. It costs us $25 each year and pays for itself over and over again. Just going out once for a basket of clams or little necks (quahogs) will more than pay for the license.
We had a small basket of little necks last week. When I am fortunate enough to have the clams, I usually do one of three things with them: clam boil, chowder or pasta.
With this batch, I made chowder and a pasta dish.
The pasta is a quick, simple dish with really no recipe. This is how I made it:
Boil spaghetti to al dente and drain.
Meanwhile, saute one onion in olive oil. Once soft, add one can of dice tomatoes and about 4 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced; pepper and salt. Add a splash (or more) of wine. Simmer and add the little neck clams. Cover and cook until the clams open. Serve over the pasta for a fabulous meal.
I put about 18 little necks in the sauce. You can adjust this for your tastes or the amount you have.
I love this meal because it is quick and delicious. Enjoy!
We had a small basket of little necks last week. When I am fortunate enough to have the clams, I usually do one of three things with them: clam boil, chowder or pasta.
With this batch, I made chowder and a pasta dish.
The pasta is a quick, simple dish with really no recipe. This is how I made it:
Boil spaghetti to al dente and drain.
Meanwhile, saute one onion in olive oil. Once soft, add one can of dice tomatoes and about 4 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced; pepper and salt. Add a splash (or more) of wine. Simmer and add the little neck clams. Cover and cook until the clams open. Serve over the pasta for a fabulous meal.
I put about 18 little necks in the sauce. You can adjust this for your tastes or the amount you have.
I love this meal because it is quick and delicious. Enjoy!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Baking Snacks for Your Family
My food bill is about $60-$70 per week for my family of 4. One of the reasons is, I bake all our snacks. I don't like the preservatives and additives manufacturers put in our food. By baking our own snacks, I can customize them with no additives and I can add whole wheat flour, flax seed, oat flour and other items which would cost a lot in the "healthy" section of the supermarket. Unhealthy snack foods are really cheap. You can get a bag of bargain cookies for about $1.00 at the Dollar Tree. But if you want whole wheat anything, you may be paying a lot more.
Last night, my daughter and I decided to make oatmeal cookie squares. I like to make the squares, because they do not take as much labor as cookies. It took us a total of 5 minutes of hands-on time...the time in which a commercial was on during our favorite Sunday night show. Here is the recipe:
Oatmeal Cookie Squares
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups oatmeal (I have used quick or old fashion with great results)
1 cup whole wheat flour (if you want some flax meal, I have substituted about 1/4 cup of flax meal for the same amount of whole wheat flour)
Mix the all ingredients except oatmeal and flour. Add flour and oatmeal. Put into an 8 x 8 inch pan and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.
I hope you enjoy this!
Last night, my daughter and I decided to make oatmeal cookie squares. I like to make the squares, because they do not take as much labor as cookies. It took us a total of 5 minutes of hands-on time...the time in which a commercial was on during our favorite Sunday night show. Here is the recipe:
Oatmeal Cookie Squares
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups oatmeal (I have used quick or old fashion with great results)
1 cup whole wheat flour (if you want some flax meal, I have substituted about 1/4 cup of flax meal for the same amount of whole wheat flour)
Mix the all ingredients except oatmeal and flour. Add flour and oatmeal. Put into an 8 x 8 inch pan and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.
I hope you enjoy this!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Linguica Sauce
My family and I love pasta! I make pasta at least once each week. It's fairly fast and economical. My husband and daughter like meat sauce but I don't cook or eat beef..maybe I will write about that sometime. I usually make my sauce with either turkey meatballs or linguica sauce. My husband says my turkey meatballs are not meatballs, even though he loves them. Sometime I will post my recipe for the turkey meatballs. But today I am posting my recipe for linguica sauce. I love linguica in tomato sauce. The flavor and spices really infuse the sauce and make it taste so great. So here it is:
1 can tomato puree (if you like diced tomatoes or whole tomatoes you can use them)
1 small chopped onion
1/2 lb ground linguica (if you buy bulk linguica just grind in food processor or food chopper)
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup wine
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed with garlic press
1-2 tbs Italian seasoning (or just sweet basil)
salt and pepper to taste
Saute the onion in a little olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and linguica and cook for about 1 minute. Add the tomato puree, wine, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir and simmer. The longer this cooks, the better but you can just cook this quick while the water for the pasta boils.
This is also a great sauce for your lasagna. Instead of putting beef or Italian sausage in the lasagna, you can put linguica for a great flavor. Enjoy!
1 can tomato puree (if you like diced tomatoes or whole tomatoes you can use them)
1 small chopped onion
1/2 lb ground linguica (if you buy bulk linguica just grind in food processor or food chopper)
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup wine
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed with garlic press
1-2 tbs Italian seasoning (or just sweet basil)
salt and pepper to taste
Saute the onion in a little olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and linguica and cook for about 1 minute. Add the tomato puree, wine, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir and simmer. The longer this cooks, the better but you can just cook this quick while the water for the pasta boils.
This is also a great sauce for your lasagna. Instead of putting beef or Italian sausage in the lasagna, you can put linguica for a great flavor. Enjoy!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sometimes You Lose!
I decided to stretch some meat last night and make a stir fry. I had four, thin pork cutlets. I sliced them into thin strips and stir fried them in a little oil. I added onions, garlic, and broccoli to the mix. I had a bottle of Thai Peanut Sauce which I added to the pan. The last addition was some cooked spaghetti. I figured this would be a Chinese type noodle dish. The Thai sauce added a nice kick to the dish. I liked the meal a lot...my family did not. My daughter said it was OK. My other daughter did not even try it and my husband opted for no Thai sauce in his. He is not a peanut butter lover and thought it may contain too much peanut butter flavor.
Not a big hit in my house...even though I liked it! I even had it for leftovers. My lesson here is to try new meals. Just take some ingredients and throw them together to make dinner. Or try a new recipe. Sometimes you have a winner...sometimes you have a loser. You will never know unless you try! The worse that will happen is you all eat cereal for supper.
Not a big hit in my house...even though I liked it! I even had it for leftovers. My lesson here is to try new meals. Just take some ingredients and throw them together to make dinner. Or try a new recipe. Sometimes you have a winner...sometimes you have a loser. You will never know unless you try! The worse that will happen is you all eat cereal for supper.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Corn Chowder
I love Chowder! We get a shellfish license each year and harvest quahogs for steaming, stuffing and chowder. Sometimes though, I just want a nice corn chowder. My husband likes quahog chowder better, but last night my daughter really wanted to have corn chowder, so I made it for dinner with a salad. Here is my recipe. If you want quahog chowder, substitute quahogs for the corn and the claim juice for the chicken stock.
Corn Chowder
2-3 medium-large potatoes diced and boiled until tender, drain
Saute 1 medium onion with about 2 tablespoons of butter and 4 strips of chopped bacon.
Cook until onions are tender and bacon is crisp.
Add about 2 tablespoons of flour and cook for a few minutes.
Add a can of chicken stock or homemade stock.
Stir. This should be fairly thick.
Add the potatoes, a can of drained corn and a pint of half and half, cream or milk.
Heat through and serve.
If you like the chowder thicker, add more flour and butter to the onion/bacon mixture.
If you like the chowder thinner, reduce the flour and add milk instead of cream or half/half.
Enjoy!
Corn Chowder
2-3 medium-large potatoes diced and boiled until tender, drain
Saute 1 medium onion with about 2 tablespoons of butter and 4 strips of chopped bacon.
Cook until onions are tender and bacon is crisp.
Add about 2 tablespoons of flour and cook for a few minutes.
Add a can of chicken stock or homemade stock.
Stir. This should be fairly thick.
Add the potatoes, a can of drained corn and a pint of half and half, cream or milk.
Heat through and serve.
If you like the chowder thicker, add more flour and butter to the onion/bacon mixture.
If you like the chowder thinner, reduce the flour and add milk instead of cream or half/half.
Enjoy!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Surprising Pumpkini Bread
This is the ongoing saga of the pumpkini. With the success of the Pumpkini Pie, I ventured into the area of bread. We love quick breads for a fairly healthy snack. I don't buy a lot of prepackaged cookies and goodies. With all the chemicals and preservatives in prepackaged foods, I opt to bake them myself. Sometimes, I can add ingredients like whole wheat flour or flax seed to boost the nutrients.
Since I followed a pumpkin pie recipe for the pumpkini pie, it only made sense to follow the pumpkin bread recipe. I settled on my old standby The Betty Crocker Cookbook. I received this book some 22 years ago at my wedding shower. It is a well worn copy and my most referred to cookbook in my collection.
The recipe listed 4 eggs...unfortunately I only had 3. Not to be deterred, I put in 3 eggs and added a little more oil to the mix. Substituting in the pumpkini, I noticed that the color was a little lighter than a normal pumpkin pie. Not to worry, I knew it would probably be fine.
The recipe made 2 loaves of bread. It came out more than fine. It was fantastic! I gave a few pieces of the bread to my mother and my husbands grandmother in the hospital. They loved it! In fact, my husband's grandmother requested more from my mother-in-law, so another batch will be in the making.
Sometimes experiments with an unfamiliar ingredient or vegetable does not come out as we hoped...sometimes they come out with amazingly good results! Try something different, you may have some surprising (and fabulous) results.
Since I followed a pumpkin pie recipe for the pumpkini pie, it only made sense to follow the pumpkin bread recipe. I settled on my old standby The Betty Crocker Cookbook. I received this book some 22 years ago at my wedding shower. It is a well worn copy and my most referred to cookbook in my collection.
The recipe listed 4 eggs...unfortunately I only had 3. Not to be deterred, I put in 3 eggs and added a little more oil to the mix. Substituting in the pumpkini, I noticed that the color was a little lighter than a normal pumpkin pie. Not to worry, I knew it would probably be fine.
The recipe made 2 loaves of bread. It came out more than fine. It was fantastic! I gave a few pieces of the bread to my mother and my husbands grandmother in the hospital. They loved it! In fact, my husband's grandmother requested more from my mother-in-law, so another batch will be in the making.
Sometimes experiments with an unfamiliar ingredient or vegetable does not come out as we hoped...sometimes they come out with amazingly good results! Try something different, you may have some surprising (and fabulous) results.
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