Bow Ties with Sausage and Sweet Peppers

So, I know I have never posted on here (except the look-alike meter- which by the way I deleted and am SO embarrassed by. I don't know how I did that, and you can tell how often I blog because I just realized) but I digress. Anyway, I just wanted to post a simple meal that is one of Mark and my favorite meals. It is so easy and fast, it's what I make when I don't know what else to make.

Bow Ties with Sausage and Sweet Peppers

4 cups dried large bow ties (8 ounces)
12 ounces spicy Italian sausage links
2 medium red sweet peppers, cut into 3/4-inch pieces (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup vegetable or beef broth
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 snipped fresh Italian Parsley

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; Keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, cut the sausage into 1-inch pieces. In a large skillet cook sausage and sweet pepper over medium-high heat until sausage is brown; drain.

3. Add the broth and black pepper to skillet. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour over pasta; add parsley. Stir gently to coat.

(got it from- Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book- It's a life saver)

There you go! So good. It was interesting to actually read the recipe again, it's funny how you deviate when you don't look at it for a while. The major change that we do is we don't use link sausage, just ground sausage, and I don't think I every realized there was parsley in it, I'm going to have to try it. Anyway, enjoy. Let me know what you think.

Haystacks!

I know everyone probably knows how to make haystacks and loves them! I have a variation on the gravy that makes it so delicious!

Rice.......cook more than you think because it makes great leftovers!

Gravy...........3 cans cream of chicken soup with milk or water to thin it to preference. Warm and then add chunks of cooked chicken, or canned chicken x2. Seasonings pepper, garlic, onion salt if desired. After sauce and chicken is warm at the last minute add 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and stir constantly until dissolved and warm. Do not overcook because the sweetened milk will burn.

Toppings:
Grated cheese, olives, green onions, green bellpepper, pineapple, coconut, chinese crunchy noodles (these are our favorites)


I thought it would be fun to have you share your favorite toppings in our comments.
(I also like garbanzo beans, water chestnuts cut up, and almonds)

Eclair Cake

4 large eggs
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
4 cups milk
3 (3 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (16 ounce) container whipped topping

Preheat oven to 400*F (205*C). Grease a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking pan. Whisk eggs in a small bowl and set aside. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter in water. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat and beat in eggs all at one time, continue beating until smooth.
Spread in prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool.
Combine cream cheese and milk, beating until smooth. Add pudding, one package at a time. Spoon over cooled shell. Spread with whipped topping and drizzle with crackle chocolate topping or Butterfinger crumbles or toffee bits etc. Chill at least one hour before serving.


This is my favorite dessert!

Cauliflower Marranca

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 lg. head cauliflower (in flower pieces)
3 c. cooked brown rice or millet
2 1/2 c. grated cheese (optional)
Juice of 1 lemon
garlic and basil per preference
Salt and pepper
Saute mushrooms and onion in butter then add lemon juice. Next add cauliflower with garlic, basil, salt and pepper and saute. Salt and butter the cooked brown rice or millet. Combine everything. Bake covered 1/2 hour at 350 degrees.


Vegetarian meal my Mom used to make. It has alot of flavors going on and can be a real party in your mouth. I use it as a side dish to fish usually. Really healthy unless you go crazy with your cheese!

CRANBERRY CHICKEN

Cranberry Chicken

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

place chicken tenderloins thawed or fresh in a pan

Combine ingredients below in a bowl
1 can of whole cranberry jelly

1/2 bottle of creamy french dressing

1 packet of lipton onion soup mix


cover chicken tenderloins with sauce above
and bake for approximately 60-75 minutes

Serve with Rice and vegetables

Cook Yourself Thin

OK so I'll admit it, I don't like girly TV. So Lifetime isn't my favorite channel. However, they have a new show that I think is fabulous. It's called "Cook Yourself Thin." They take recipes that we all love for the flavor but hate for the thunder thighs, and make them figure friendly. So it's guiltless eating! They have a cookbook by the same name, but all of the recipes they use on the show are on their website. Here's the link so you can go check it out. My favorites are the pizza, lasagna, and, of course, the desserts! http://www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/shows/cook-yourself-thin

Chips

Who doesn't love chips? But, who can handle eating them as frequently as we want them? I certainly can't! So I found some baked chip recipes so I control the salt and the flavor! I'll put both on here; the first is for regular potatoes and the second is for sweet potatoes, which kind of have a nice carroty flavor. I've done these recipes, I've added a bit of Parmesan, pepper, Mrs. Dash's, Cajun seasoning... you get the idea. Try it, and if you like it, put your own flavors on it. And feel good about it, because they're not fried!

Fresh Baked Potato Chips

Ingredients

3 lg. unpeeled potatoes
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
(I sprinkle with salt, though it's not in the recipe)

Instructions

Wash potatoes well. Cut into 1/4 inch slices. Arrange in one layer on a lightly greased baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Yields: 6 servings.

Sweet Potato Oven Chips

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato(es), peeled
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Thinly slice potatoes in a food processor or by hand; they should be no more than 1/8-inch thick.
Arrange slices on baking sheets so they don’t overlap. Brush with oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake chips until they begin to lightly brown, about 15 minutes. Cool on a rack and serve.

(For those of you who do the Weight Watchers thing, this recipe yields 4 servings, each of with only take 1 point. Dang!)

Easter recipes

Of course, today is Easter, and I love to make a nice fancy-dancy meal for my family. However, since my husband and I are trying to lose weight, I decided to go sort of healthy. We will be having ham, baked sweet potatoes, spinach-strawberry salad, low-fat low-carb orange dream cheesecake, and Crystal Lite.

Spinach Strawberry Salad

3 cups fresh baby spinach

1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries

1/4 cup sliced honey-roasted almonds

1 TBSP vinegar

1 TBSP honey

1 1/2 tsp sugar

In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries, and almonds. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the vinegar, honey, and sugar; shake well. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Trying a new idea........

Okay so all these recipes sound way too good and not so good for the body. I've tried some and my family loves them. Thanks everyone for helping me with ideas. Please continue to. Well, I'm on this new diet kick that my sis in law Amy got me into. For any of you interested try it! It works. I've only been doing it for 2 days and lost 3 lbs. It is called the Scarsdale Diet. It is named after the guy who started it. It is a 14 day diet and then after you just maintain it. It is eating mostly veggies, fruits and some lean meat. It is awesome because it gives you a day by day layout for food ideas. You can sub stuff if you don't like what they suggest. It also gives you recipes, tips, shopping list, and lots lots more. Check out the site at http://lowcarblisa.tripod.com/id18.html

Greek-Style Lemon Roast Chicken

I found this recipe on the kraft foods website and it turned out so yummy and easy! My husband kept saying it's the best chicken he's ever had. I finished the meal off with some chicken flavored rice (using chicken broth as some of the water) and asparagus. It was a great Sunday meal! I also used 2 lemons instead of just one to give it more of a lemon flavor.

Greek-Style Lemon Roast Chicken

What You Need

1 whole roasting chicken (3-1/2 lb.)

salt and black pepper

1 medium lemon, washed, halved

1/2 cup KRAFT Greek Vinaigrette Dressing

Make It

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towel. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper. Place in a 13x9-inch baking dish.

SQUEEZE the juice from lemon and mix with dressing in a small bowl. Place the squeezed lemon halves inside the cavity of chicken. Drizzle dressing mixture over chicken. Insert meat thermometer into thickest part of one of the chicken's thighs.

BAKE 1-1/2 hours or until chicken is cooked through (reaches an internal temperature of 180°F), basting occasionally.

Cowboy Pasta

Saute chopped onion, green pepper, and chili powder (I used taco seasoning). Add equal amounts jarred tomato pasta sauce and chunky mild salsa, drained back or red beans, and frozen corn kernels. Simmer. Toss with wagon wheel pasta (I used heart shaped pasta I had leftover from Valentine's Day) and top with shredded cheddar cheese (I used mozzerella because it is healthier!).

Easy and delicious!
Enjoy!

Free Quiznos Sub

Go Here http://www.millionsubs.com/Reg.php for a free Quiznos Sub!

Chicken Parmigiana

For Valentine's Day I made Chicken Parmigiana---the easy way.
I made Garlic Cheese Rolls using the Bisquick recipe.
I made heart-shaped noodles---you can use spaghetti, or any type of noodles you want.
I heated up some Spaghetti Sauce.
I then used a Shake-N-Bake packet for Chicken Parmesan and baked that!

Put Noodles down, Chicken, Sauce, and then top with Grated Parmesan!
Voila.....delicious dinner the easy way.

Strawberry & Chicken Salad

This is one of my favorite and easy meals:

1 Rotisserie Chicken from Costco (this is the best deal you can get on a whole chicken)
1 carton of strawberries
2 heads of Romaine lettuce
chopped nuts (I prefer almonds)
Brianna's Poppyseed Dressing

Chop up strawberries, shred chicken, chop up lettuce, chop up nuts and mix all together. Dress with the poppyseed dressing. Delicious!

Valentines and Easter Bunnies

Hearts and Bunnies!


Meringue cookie recipes from my book: Taste of Home Best Loved Cookies & Bars

Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

3 egg whites
1/4 t. cream of tartar
1/4 t. salt
1 C. sugar
3 T.baking cocoa
3 T. miniature semisweet chocolate chips
3 T. finely crushed walnuts, optional

Place egg whites in a large mixing bowl, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 T. at a time, beating at high speed until stiff peaks form, about 6 minutes. Beat in cocoa. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts if desired. Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert #806 round pastry tip. Fill the bag with meringue. Pipe 1-1/2" hearts 2" apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. (If using spray grease smear it evenly with a piece of waxed paper.) Bake at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Meringue Bunnies

2 egg whites
1/8 t. cream of tartar
1/2 C. sugar
1/4 C. pink candy coating disks (Can be purchased in bags at Michaels.)
36 heart-shapped red decorating sprinkles (or cinnamon red hots)

In a mixing bowl beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 T. at a time, beating on high until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a pastry or plastic bag; cut a small hole in a corner of the bag.
On parchment-lined (parchment paper found by waxed paper in stores) baking sheets, pipe the meringue into 4-3/4" bunny shapes. Bake at 225 degrees for 1-1/2 hours or until firm. Remove to wire racks. In a microwave, melt candy coating; stir until smooth. Place in a pastry or plastic bag. Pipe ears, whiskers and mouths on bunnies. Attach hearts for eyes and nose with melted candy coating.

NOTE: My neighbor makes a yummy popcorn with the candy melts. She just tosses the popcorn with the melted candies and continues to stir as the mixture cools. The result is popcorn in a very pretty pastel shade of your choosing that is not sticky to handle (unless you try to "save" some in your sweaty little palm)and does not pull at tooth fillings! She told me that one package from Michaels will cover two bags of popcorn. I don't know where she buys her bags of popcorn but I am guessing you should pop a couple of large bowls full to melt and use the entire bag of melts (disks).

Sweet and sour chicken from the kitchen of Heather

1/2 c. brown sugar (maybe a little more) 1 green pepper

1/2 c. white vinegar 1 Red pepper

1/2 c. ketchup Some onion chunks

1/2 c. pineapple juice (use all of pineapple in can, I used chunk) pineapple

2 TBSP(give or take) soy sauce

Saute chicken until cooked. Add chopped veggies and cook for a bit. Add all ingredients to make sauce. In separate bowl mix 1 c. water and cornstarch until the thickness you want. Simmer a bit and serve over rice of choice. ****One of my favorite dishes****