Monday, August 31, 2009

Easy and Elegant Pork Tenderloin

I made this the other night and we all really liked it. I used Panko bread crumbs because I wanted to try them, and I really liked them. But I'm sure it'd be just as delish with regular bread crumbs. The tenderloin was also a little bigger than 2 lbs, and there was plenty of the bread crumb mixture for the whole thing.

Easy and Elegant Pork Tenderloin


2 C. Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 C. olive oil
2 pounds pork tenderloin

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Mix bread crumbs and olive oil in bowl to reach consistency that would be moist enough to stick to the meat when pressed. Place pork on a shallow cooking sheet. Press the crumb mixture onto all sides of the meat until there is no pink showing, usually about 1/4" thick.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees and there is no pink in the center when the pork is cut. Let the pork rest for 10 minutes, then cut into 1/2 inch slices.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Tomato Chip Casserole

I made this years ago and pretty much forgot about it till now, it's a great way to use up abundant tomatoes from the garden. Tonight I also added layers of sauteed yellow squash - also abundant this year. I think you can zucchini or onions or what ever you want. I sauteed the squashed first since this doesn't really bake, just heats up to melt the cheese.


Layer in a casserole dish:
Tomato slices
Shredded Cheese
Crushed Potato Chips
Repeat layers

Bake at 375 just until cheese is melted.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Heavenly Zucchini

So I didn't make up the goofy title for this, obviously. Perhaps we should call it something else? Anyway, it was really yummy and quick to prepare (It only took a few minutes to boil the zucchini even though they were whole).

Heavenly Zucchini
4 young zucchini (7 inches long)
1 c. saltine cracker crumbs
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried onion flakes
6 T. butter

Heat oven to 350.
Cook whole zucchini in boiling water until barely tender (pierce with a fork to test after a couple of minutes). Drain and cut in half lengthwise. Arrange cut side up in baking dish. Lightly salt.
Mix together cracker crumbs, Parmesan and onion flakes. Sprinkle over zucchini.
Melt butter and pour over zucchini and crumbs. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

From The Daily Herald.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Ham and Pear Sandwich

One more pear recipe which is the recipe I needed the honey mustard for. :)



Ham and Pear Sandwiches
8 slices Italian bread
Honey mustard
1/2 lb Swiss cheese, sliced
2 large, firm but ripe Bartlett pears, cut into twelfths
3/4 lb thinly sliced ham (preferably Black Forest)
Spinach, de-stemmed, washed and dried

Lightly toast bread slices. Spread thin layer of honey mustard on all 8 pieces of bread. Top 4 sliced of bread with Swiss cheese. Place under broiler until the cheese is melted. Divide the pears, ham, and spinach into fourths. Place the pear slices on the melted cheese, top with ham then with spinach. Top with remaining 4 slices of bread. Slice each sandwich in half and serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Originally from www.calpear.com

Honey Mustard

I was trying a recipe tonight that called for honey mustard and as usual we don't have any (I don't know why I never remember to put that on the grocery list) so I found this recipe and made my own. I've also wanted a good honey mustard for dipping so I'm glad to have found this.



Honey Mustard

1/2 C Kraft mayonnaise (the creator of this says it works best with Kraft)
1/4 C yellow mustard
1/4 C honey
1 Tbsp rice vinegar (leave out if using for dip*)
1 dash salt
cayenne pepper to taste

Whisk together and chill.

Makes about 1 cup.

*I will use this as a spread and as a dip so I went ahead and put the vinegar in. When I dipped my finger in it was just fine. haha!


Originally found on recipezaar.com recipe #13228.

Lemon Juice

Alright, so this is a question for you all, not a recipe. I made lemon bars for FHE the other night using my usual recipe that I've used many times. The problem was that they didn't taste lemony. At all. This happened one other time when we were first married but I thought it was because I cut the recipe in half.
So, anyone have any sage advice on why they weren't lemony. I don't think the lemon juice is old (it's not expired). I did mix up the filling part and let it sit while the crust baked - could it be a bad reaction with the baking powder or some weird thing? Hmm... Any ideas?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Grilled Pears and Ham with Maple Glaze

This was another recipe to use some of the left over pears. I had to laugh because the recipe says to use 3/4 cup ground allspice! Wow! That would be around 4 jars!! So I adjusted to 3/4 teaspoon instead and it turned out great. I also substituted an ugly old cookie sheet for the serving platter. haha! :)



Grilled Pears & Ham with Maple Glaze

6 Tbsp maple syrup
1/4 C butter
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
3/4 tsp ground allspice
2 large, ripe Bartlett pears, cored and sliced 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
4-6 individual ham steaks (or 2 large ones)

In a small saucepan, combine syrup, butter, mustard and allspice; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and let cook for 5 minutes.

Cook ham steaks over medium coals and grill for 5 minutes on each side, brushing each side with glaze. Brush pears with glaze. When you turn the ham to cook the second side, add the pears to the grill and cook about 4 minutes, turning once. Ham and pears should be heated through and ham should be slightly browned.

Place ham on serving platter, top with pears and drizzle glaze over the top. Serve immediately.

*Pork chops may be substituted for the ham. Increase grilling time to 10-12 minutes per side.

Altered from recipe found on www.calpears.com

Yellow Squash and Tomatoes

This was a tasty way to serve some of the millions of pounds of yellow squash coming from the garden! And it uses fresh basil from the garden too. Yum! Also, I used grape tomatoes as the store didn't have cherry. BTW, I'm adding a category for yellow squash because come next summer, I want to just go right there when I'm deciding what to do with all the squash from the garden...



2 medium yellow summer squash, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
16 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Tbsp minced fresh basil (or 2 tsp dried basil)
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt

In a large skillet, saute squash in oil over medium-high heat until tender. Add the tomatoes, basil, pepper and salt. Reduce heat to medium; cook 1-2 minutes longer or until heated through.

Serves 4.

Originally from Simple and Delicious

Croque Madame



This is a French sandwich. Basically it's just a Ham and Cheese with a fried egg on top... and it's best to use a fork to eat it. It's yummy!:)

Croque Madame

2 slices sandwich bread
3 slices Gruyere cheese (or Swiss)
3 slices deli ham
1 egg, fried
butter to taste

Layer cheese and ham between slices of bread. Melt butter in skillet and fry sandwich until golden brown. Top with fried egg.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Pear Croustade

We canned pears this weekend and had a few left over so I've been looking for recipes to use them in so they don't go to waste. This is a simple pie that's quite tasty. It's from the California Pears website which has lots of recipes that look good. If you're looking to use up some pears, check 'em out. :) Also, I didn't have any apricot preserves so I used peach preserves and that worked just great.



Bartlett Pear Croustade

Pastry for a single pie crust
4 ripe, but firm, Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/4 C apricot preserves
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping
2 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay pastry flat on a large parchment-lined baking sheet and set aside. Place pears in a medium bowl and add preserves, brown sugar, cornstarch, extract and cinnamon; toss well to coat pears. Mound pears in the center of the pastry and gather up the edges to form a 2-inch rim of pastry around the outside. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, butter and brown sugar until crumbly; sprinkle over the opening of the pie and top with almonds. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool for at least 30 minutes to firm up the filling before cutting.


Coconut Lemonade

I didn't tell anyone that this was coconut lemonade, lest they all freak out, so most people tried it and liked it. ha ha! We used Coco Real Cream of Coconut to flavor it.




Coconut Lemonade

3 C warm water
2/3 C lemon juice
1/2 C sugar
2 Tbsp coconut beverage flavoring syrup, such as Monin or Torani, or cream of coconut
1/2 C frozen unsweetened blueberries
1/2 C frozen unsweetened raspberries

In a large bowl combine water, lemon juice, sugar, and coconut syrup. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours.

To serve, transfer lemon mixture to a serving bowl or pitcher. Add blueberries, and raspberries. Serve over ice.

Mango Lassi

This smoothie is dee-lish! We used to really big mangoes so if you use the regular size mangoes you might want to use 3.


Mango Lassi

2 mangoes
1 1/2 C vanilla yogurt
1/3 C sugar
1/2 C milk
5-6 whole strawberries, fresh or frozen
handful of ice

Peel, pit and cut up the mangoes. Blend all ingredients together in a blender until smooth.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Salmon Au Poivre

Dad likes it when Danny comes home to visit because we always have salmon. :) I thought we had a pepper cracker but we don't so I just used regular ground black pepper in a far smaller quantity. Also, the original recipe has you serve this over a salad but I was making a different salad for those who don't eat salmon so I just served the salmon alongside everything else.

Salmon Au Poivre

4 6-oz salmon fillets, skin removed
1/4 tsp salt
2-3 tsp cracked black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 C chicken broth

Sprinkle both sides of salmon fillets with salt. Lightly coat each side with cracked black pepper. In a large skillet cook salmon for 1 minute in hot oil. Turn salmon over; carefully add chicken broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with a fork.

Optional Addition:
1 (5- or 6- oz) pkg torn mixed salad greens
1 C halved fresh strawberries
1/4 C bottled balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
2 Tbsp honey

While salmon is cooking, divide salad greens and strawberries among 4 plates. Drizzle greens with salad dressing. Remove salmon from cooking liquid and place on greens; drizzle salmon with honey.

Serves 4.


Found in Better Homes & Gardens magazines (which is surprising b/c I don't usually care for their recipes...)

Banana Pancakes

These pancakes are yumalicious. They're really good with the buttermilk syrup and fresh blueberries. I think next I will try them with Mandy's blueberry breakfast sauce recipe in the family cookbook - I bet that would be scrumptious!

Banana Pancakes

1 C. all purpose flour
1 Tbsp white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 C. milk
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 ripe bananas



Put the bananas in a medium size bowl and use an electric mixer to mash. Add the egg, milk and vegetable oil and mix to combine.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt.
Mix the dry ingredients to the banana mixture - batter will be slightly lumpy.
Heat a lightly oiled grille over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot.



Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Mexican Hot Chocolate

I've decided to get rid of my "Creme de Colorado" cookbook because I've been disappointed in far more recipes than I've liked. It's big and bulky, and doesn't have many good recipes... it's time to go. So, I'm putting the one recipe I do like on here:

Mexican Hot Chocolate

1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 C sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 C milk, divided
1/4 C light cream (use cream not milk right here - it makes a difference!)
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Heavy cream, whipped
Chocolate shavings

In a small bowl, mix cocoa, sugar, and cinnamon. In medium saucepan, heat 1 cup milk until bubbly. Stir in cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth. Reduce heat to low and heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in remaining 3 cups milk and return to a boil. Blend in cream and vanilla. Remove hot chocolate from heat and whisk until frothy. Pour into cups and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Serves 4

**Do NOT double.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Blueberry-Lime Granita


Blueberry-Lime Granita

2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon grated lime rind
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
3 cups lemon-lime soft drink, chilled
Garnish: lime rind twists (optional)

Puree blueberries blender until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Add sugar, lime rind, and lime juice; process until well blended. Add the lemon-lime soft drink and mix until well combined. Pour into an 11- x 7-inch baking dish. Stir in soft drink. Cover and freeze 8 hours. Remove from freezer; let stand 5 minutes.
Chop mixture into large chunks, and place in food processor in batches; pulse 5 to 6 times or until mixture is smooth. Serve immediately, or freeze until ready to serve. Garnish, if desired.
-Southern Living

**I took a fork and just scraped the frozen mixture to make it like an Icee texture. That was lots easier than breaking it up and putting it back in the blender.

The flavor of this granita is really strong so I suggest serving it with vanilla ice cream. I even mixed mine into the ice cream to tone it down a tiny bit. I liked it best with two parts ice cream and one part granita. Mix well! The flavor is yummy... but strong!:)

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Chicken Divan Soup


Chicken Divan Soup


1-2 C cubed, cooked chicken breast (or shredded)

1 tsp onion powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp olive oil

3 C chicken broth

1/8 tsp pepper

1 (10 oz) can condensed broccoli cheese soup

1 (10 oz) pkg frozen chopped broccoli

1 C shredded Swiss cheese


In large saucepan, cook chicken, onion powder, and garlic in olive oil for 2 minutes. Add broth, pepper, and condensed soup; stir well. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.


Cool completely. Place in rigid containers or gallon size zip-top freezer bag. Attach package of frozen broccoli and bag of shredded cheese. Wrap, label, and freeze.


To Serve: Thaw. Place soup and broccoli in saucepan and heat over medium-low until soup simmers. Add cheese and stir for 2-3 minutes, until cheese melts.




From: The Everything Meals for a Month Cookbook

Cannellini Chicken Soup

This is another yummy recipe from "The Everything Meals for a Month Cookbook" which is the best freezer cookbook I've found so far.

Cannellini beans are white kidney beans. I used them this time but they're a bit pricey so in the future I'll try Great Northern or Navy beans. Also, as I was adding the Cannellini beans to recipes I noticed that they seem to be a bit more delicate than some other beans which may not be in their favor...

Cannellini Chicken Soup


1 C shredded chicken breast (or cooked, cubed)

1 tsp onion powder

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

3 carrots, sliced

4 C chicken broth

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp marjoram

2 (16 oz) cans cannellini beans

1/2 C shredded Parmesan cheese


In large saucepan, cook chicken, onion powder, and garlic in olive oil and butter for 2 minutes. Add carrots; cook and stir 4-5 minutes. Add broth, salt, pepper, and marjoram and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.


Cool completely. Drain and rinse beans and stir into chilled soup. Pour into gallon size zip-top freezer bag. Attach a small bag with Parmesan cheese. Label and freeze.


To Serve: Thaw. Pour into large saucepan or stockpot and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until heated through. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.




From: The Everything Meals for a Month Cookbook

Many Bean Chili

This is a meatless chili. I haven't tried it after it's been frozen but it was really tasty immediately after I made it today. :) I'm posting the recipe now because I'll forget by the time we actually eat it. Plus that will be midterms or paper-writing or finals time so I won't have time... which is the whole point of doing these freezer meals anyway, right?

Many Bean Chili


1 tsp onion powder

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 carrots, sliced

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed

1 can cannellini beans, rinsed

1 can red kidney beans, rinsed

2 (14 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes, undrained

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp dried basil leaves

1 Tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp marjoram

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 (12 oz) can corn, undrained


In a large stockpot, cook onion, garlic, and carrots in olive oil until crisp-tender. Drain rinsed beans well and add to stockpot with remaining ingredients except corn. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.


Cool completely. Stir in corn. Pour into gallon size zip-top freezer bag. Label and freeze.


To Serve: Thaw. Remove bay leaf. Pour into large saucepan or stockpot and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until heated through.




From: The Everything Meals for a Month Cookbook

Juciest Hamburgers Ever

O.k., I didn't name these the "juciest ever" but they are really yummy and moist. Unless you char them, then I suppose you can make them dry. : ) Anyway, I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com. You could easily add or subtract spices according to your tastes. Yum yum!
I also cut it in half because the original recipe was for 8 servings.

Juiciest Hamburgers Ever

1 pound ground beef
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons dry
bread crumbs
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2
teaspoons evaporated milk
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
sauce
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:
1. Preheat grill for high heat.
2. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, evaporated milk, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, and garlic using your hands. Form the mixture into 4 hamburger patties.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill patties 5 minutes per side, or until well done.
Serves 4

Texas Beef Skillet

This is very easy as well and it gets rave reviews. Actually, I think this is a favorite. It uses instant rice because you can't freeze regular rice very well but for whatever reason the instant freezes fine.

Texas Beef Skillet

1 lb ground beef
3/4 C chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (15 oz) can red kidney beans, undrained
3/4 C quick cooking rice
3/4 C water
3 Tbsp chopped green pepper
1 C shredded cheddar cheese

In a large skillet cook ground beef and onion until beef is browned and onion is tender; drain off fat. Sprinkle meat mixture with chili powder, garlic, and salt. Stir in tomatoes, kidney beans, uncooked rice, water, and green pepper. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.

When completely cool, place in freezer bag, add the cheese, label and freeze.

To serve: Thaw. Place in a casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until warmed through.

Serve with tortillas or cornbread.

Taco Chili

This is decidedly the easiest freezer meal I've made and everyone likes it. It's very similar to Taco Soup but has a couple different ingredients and obviously isn't as soupy.

Taco Chili

1 lb lean ground beef, browned and drained
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes, undrained (I used petite diced tomatoes b/c they were on hand)
1 (15 oz) jar salsa (any kind you like)
1 (15 oz) can corn, undrained
1 (16 oz) can kidney beans, undrained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

On hand:
Sour cream
Shredded cheese
Tortilla chips

Mix all ingredients (except "on hand" items) in a large bowl. Pour into gallon freezer bag. Seal, label, and freeze.

To serve: Thaw overnight in fridge. Heat in large pan until hot and bubbly. Top each serving with sour cream, cheese, and chips.


You can also add a can of green chilies and black olives (before you freeze it) if you wish.

Harvest Chowder

This soup is good for a fall day.

Harvest Chowder


1 C. ham, diced

1/2 C. onion, chopped

1 C. water

2 1/2 C. potatoes, bite sized pieces

2 C. corn (16 oz can)

1 C. milk

1 C. shredded cheddar cheese

1 C. carrots, sliced

Pepper & salt to taste

parsley or chives-garnish


Brown ham & onion.


In large pot combine: ham, onion, potatoes, water & carrots


Cook on Med. until potatoes are tender. Add milk, corn, salt & pepper.


Add cheese. Stir constantly until melted.



**make it suit your tastes; add a little more or less of any ingredient to make it your way.


Garnish with grated cheese, parsley or chives


To freeze simply place in air-tight container or Ziploc bag. Thaw and reheat when ready to eat.

Taco Soup

This is so easy and gets good reviews. You do have to keep a few add-ins on hand but nothing that takes time to prepare the day of.

Taco Soup


1 lb Ground beef (turkey or chicken)

1 med. onion

1 pkg Taco seasoning

1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz)-DON'T drain

1 can kidney beans (16 0z) DON'T drain

1 can whole kernel corn (16 oz) DON'T drain

1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)

1 can Garbanzo beans-DON'T drain

1 can Black beans-don't drain


Brown ground beef. Drain. Add all ingredients to large pot and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 min.


Tortilla chips or Frito chips

Cheese

sour cream

Guacamole

olives

*whatever toppings you love*


To serve:

place chips in bottom of bowl. Ladle soup over chips. Top with whatever you love!


Split Pea Soup with Ham

It's freezer meal time again so I'm going to try to post some of the recipes we've tried and liked as I go today. You may have some already but just in case you don't here they are...

This one is easy and smells great (which, I'll be honest, surprised me a little!)

Split Pea Soup with Ham


10 C water

4 C split peas

1 C ham, diced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp marjoram, crushed

1 bay leaf

1 C celery, chopped

1 C onion, chopped

1 C carrot, sliced


Rinse peas; combine peas, water, ham, salt, pepper and marjoram in large stock pot. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, simmer (don’t boil) for 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally. Add celery, onion, and carrots. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.


Cool completely. Label gallon size freezer ziploc bags. Ladle into bags and freeze. (One recipe will make 2 gallon size bags of soup.)



Thaw and heat until warmed through.


Monday, August 10, 2009

Chinese Noodle Chicken

We tried this when our kids were all excited to try chopsticks. Those weren't as fun as they thought but the food was good!

Chinese Noodle Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 T. oil
1/2 c. sliced onion
2 c. broccoli florets
2 carrots, julienned
2 c. snow peas, optional
4 c. Chinese noodles
1/4 c. Teriyaki sauce

Cook noodles according to package directions.
In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil, stirring frequently until juices run clear.
Add the vegetables. Cover skillet and steam for 2 minutes or until cooked.
Add the noodles and Teriyaki sauce. Warm through and serve.

From allrecipes.com

Refried Beans Without the Refry

In the ongoing quest to find good recipes for food storage items, I came across this one on allrecipes.com. I think they're really good, much better than canned refried beans! I've also frozen extras and they've thawed out well.

Refried Beans Without the Refry
1 onion, peeled and halved (I just sprinkle onion powder in)
3 c. dry pinto beans, rinsed
1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced, optional (this doesn't make it spicy, just adds a little flavor)
2 T. minced garlic
5 tsp. salt
1 3/4 tsp. black pepper (I only use 1 tsp.)
1/8 tsp. ground cumin, optional
9 c. water

1. Place the ingredients in a slow cooker and stir to combine. Cook on High for 8 hours, adding more water if needed.
2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher (or fork if you don't have one) adding the reserved liquid as needed to attain desired consistency.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Turkey Pesto Panini

I had some left over pesto and this recipe uses a whole 4 teaspoons of it so naturally I had to try it. Well, and because I'm a sandwich lover...



Turkey Pesto Panini

2 Tbsp fat-free mayonnaise (I use light because it's much better than fat-free...)
4 tsp basil pesto
8 thin slices sourdough bread
8 oz sliced deli turkey
4 thin slices provolone cheese
1 tomato, sliced
Cooking spray

Combine mayonnaise and pesto, mixing well. Spread 1 tablespoon onto each of 4 bread slices; top each slice with turkey, cheese, and tomato. Top with remaining bread slices. Spray each side of sandwich with nonstick cooking spray. (Spray one side, place on hot panini grill* face down then spray the other side.) Close grill and cook for 3 minutes or until golden brown.

*If you don't have a panini grill, cook the sandwiches on a griddle or in a skillet and place a heavy skillet on top of the sandwich while it cooks. Flip the sandwich halfway through so that each side browns nicely.

Makes 4 sandwiches.


Originally from "Cooking Light."

Zucchini Saute

Mandy is getting 3-4 zucchini per day so one evening I just cut a couple up and this is what we had. And we had it again the next night. And we left for home or we might have had it again.....

Zucchini sliced fairly thin - if you use huge overgrown zucchini remove the seeds - if it's nice and small you can leave the seeds
chopped onion
garlic salt
vegetable oil

Heat the oil in a frying pan, add zucchini and onion (as much as you like) right before serving sprinkle with garlic salt.
The ammounts are totally up to you, use as much or as little of each as you like. I also think some green pepper would be good in this.

Sweet Cream

Becky made this for dessert one Sunday and we all loved it! I've taken it to a few people who ate it for dessert and then again for breakfast. We found the secret to getting this just right is to make sure the gelatin is totally dissolved or it will be grainy. So if it's grainy you can still eat it and it's good but don't take it as a gift to someone ;>)

1 C. sugar
2 C. whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 envelope un-flavored gelatin
2 - 8 oz. containers sour cream
fresh berries - we've used strawberries, blueberries, black berries and raspberries - a combination of several is the best

Combine sugar and gelatin in a medium saucepan.
Stir in whipping cream, and let stand 1 minute.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wire whisk, 5 minutes or until gelatin dissolves.
Stir in sour cream and vanilla.
Pour into serving bowl; cover and chill 3 hours or until set.
To serve, spoon into dessert dishes, and top with berries.

Note to Megan - you don't taste a sour cream flavor at all, this is safe to serve Jeremy!!