Many of us grew up on casseroles because they were a cheap way to stretch a meal whether it was with pasta or rice or bread crumbs. For some it brings back good memories of eating with family.

So, as I am in a quest for some new casserole recipes, I am wondering, why do we still like them?

Is it to save money -- I can stretch a chicken pretty far in a couple of casseroles.

Is it because it tastes good -- I sure plan on keeping the recipes we liked and forgetting those we didn't.

Is it for ease -- making them ahead of time and keeping them in the fridge or freezer sure makes it easy to feed those you love and adore.

Or is it a memory we like to relive?

So, what is our love affair with casseroles about?

I was at a meeting yesterday and one of the gals said that a mutual friend had told her about me. I looked at her and she said that this friend had told her that I make out a grocery list and then spend some time during the weekend cooking stuff for the week. I wasn't sure if she thought this was a positive or negative thing. My perception was it was I was crazy, but that's a whole different story.

I do fix things on weekends and store in the fridge during the school year for a variety of reasons. Most nights I come in the door and have very little time to fix stuff from scratch. Although I know there are things out there you can heat and eat, I am trying to eat stuff that doesn't have a lot of salt or preservatives in them. And, they are pricey.

Plus, the temptation to go out is there when I come home tired. So, if I have something already ready to heat up, chances are I can reason it out that I need to use it for two reasons -- if it's basically fixed and just needs to be heated, it won't take long and by the time I clean up and go out, it would take longer to eat (not to mention the expense), plus that would mean I would waste what I had already fixed. It basically boils down to money.

I can afford to go out and we do eat out, just not every night.

I always feel a twinge of regret on Friday night when the fridge looks bare since we've used the casseroles, stews, etc. that I fixed for the week and the pantry has empty spots. There's a security when my fridge is full of meals ready to eat (sorry, armed forces, I borrowed your phrase).

So, after this discussion and getting a few odd looks from the people at the meeting, I now query, am I anal because I take the time to cook stuff and control what goes into it and have meals ready to eat?
Or am I just cheap?

Today actually feels like fall in Central Illinois. We had upper 80s and 90 degree temps last week, but suddenly some of the leaves are starting to turn and it is a comfortable 65 today.

One thing I've been looking forward to is finding some soups and stews that I can fix ahead of time and then heat up when I get home from work. I was reading "Country Living" and they had a turkey chili that looked hearty as well as "lighter" because it is made with turkey. I haven't tried it yet -- I just found it this weekend, but I'm putting it in my file of "need to try soon".

Turkey Chili

2 T olive oil
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 t salt
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
1/3 c tomato sauce
2 medium green bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 medium red bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 T sugar
2 1/2 t ground chili powder
1 1/2 t dried oregano
1 1/4 t ground cumin
1 15 ounce can each of these types of beans: pinto, kidney, and black beans, drained and rinsed

In a large pot over medium high heat, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Brown turkey, breaking up with a wooden spoon as meat cooks. Season with salt. Using a slotted spoon, remove turkey and reserve; discard any liquid.

Add remaining tablespoon oil to pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, peppers, sugar, and spices using wooden spoon to break up tomatoes. Add reserved turkey and bring mixture to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes. Add beans, stirring gently, and simmer 15 more minutes.

Doesn't this sound like a great fall-winter meal with some crusty bread?

I went to one of my favorite places yesterday -- the library -- and checked out a few magazines. Although I'm a month behind, the price is right, and I enjoy the fact that I don't have to deal with storing them or disposing of them (or recycling) when I'm done -- I just return them.

I have been on a tomato kick and was delighted when I found this recipe for tomato pie in the August Woman's Day. The recipe said this with a green salad makes it a great duo. I would agree.

Southern Tomato Pie

1 refrigerated pie crust (from a 15 oz box of 2)
1 cup light mayonnaise
8 oz Cheddar, shredded (2 cups)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4cup sliced scallions
1 1/3 ripe plum tomatoes (8-10 medium size), sliced

Place one oven rack in bottom position. Heat oven to 350.

Line a 9 in pie plate with crut. Crimp edges with a fork. Prick bottom and sides of dough in several places with a fork.

Bake 10-12 minutes until crust looks slightly puffed and dry.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together mayonnaise, 1 1/4 cups of the cheese and the pepper
Sprinkle bottom of partially baked crust with 1/3 up of the remaining cheese. Top with 1/4 of the tomatoes (about 12 or 13 slices). Sprinkle with 1 T of scallions. Spoon 1/3 cup of the mayonnaise mixture on top in dollops. Continue to layer tomatoes, scallions and mayonnaise mixture to make e more layers. Sprink top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

Bake 30-35 minutes until crust is golden and juices are bubbling. Remove to rack to cool at least 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.


Sound good? I didn't have plum tomatoes, but believe in using what you have. I am just thinking how good this would be with different types of cheeses. And since plum tomatoes are available year round, this might be a great recipe for one of those days when you hunger for a tomato and don't have a good vine ripened one available.

It's not Thanksgiving, but turkey and mashed potatoes are pretty good anytime.

I put a turkey breast in the Crockpot with onion, celery, garlic, rosemary, and some pepper with some water. It was all white meat. Yum.

I fixed mashed potatoes with Yukon Gold potatoes and whipping cream. Double yum.

We bought fresh green beans at a farmer's market this weekend and I fixed them over the weekend. I heated them up ... made my husband very happy.

It might not be Thanksgiving, but it was a good time for turkey.

And it's never a bad time to count one's blessings, is it?

Currently I work at 4 schools. And every lunch period is different. This is not a judgment, but perception data.

The buildings where the majority of the staff tend to eat what tastes good to them, even if it isn't healthy tends to have more young people on staff.

Then the buildings where the majority of the staff is older are looking at sodium, carbs, and calories.

It's pretty interesting to see what people bring for lunch and then what they have to say about it.

My lunch fare is pretty boring at times...lately it's been a peanut butter and something sandwich. It can be jelly or honey and I even tried Nutella. On days when I can't refrigerate my lunch, I try to take things that won't spoil in an insulated lunch bag. Often times I bring leftovers, but now that hubby is retired, he often gets the leftovers for his lunch.

Some people bring the same thing every day. When I think of how many years my dad took the same thing in his lunch bucket...I don't know how he did it. Maybe he didn't think eating was a big thing...just something to keep going.

I like a little variety...maybe that's why I like studying what people bring to lunch.

What was my lunch you ask? Today it was slices of green bell pepper, a slice of tomato, cottage cheese, applesauce, grapes,and string cheese with a Thermos of water. You see, I'm trying to watch what I eat...I'm one of the oldsters!

There's something about the approach of fall that makes me want to fix stews and soups.

Today I fixed chicken stew. I put a chicken in the Crockpot overnight with a few vegetables and herbs to season it and the broth. When I got up, I turned it off, let is cool,and then used the meat to make a couple of dishes, one of which was my stew.

My chicken stew is basically using whatever vegetables I have on hand. We went to local farmers' market this morning so I had a good assortment: zucchini, yellow squash, and radishes. We had carrots, celery, and onions here at home. I roasted them at 400 for about 35 minutes to put in the stew. I used some of the broth as well as adding some of my marinara sauce and then I added some lentils that I had poured boiling water over to sort of cook and then drained them. At the end I added some pasta. I had bowtie pasta so that's what I added, and let it all simmer for about 30 minutes on low. It's safely tucked into the fridge for a meal this week.

I decided to look for another stew recipe and this one sounded promising; I found it on all recipes.com.

Meatball Oven Stew

1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped green pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 pound lean ground beef
2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups tomato juice
12 fresh pearl onions, peeled
3 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 medium carrots, cut into 3-inch pieces
Directions
1.In a bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 12 meatballs. In an ovenproof Dutch oven, brown meatballs in oil. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Whisk flour into drippings until smooth. Gradually whisk in tomato juice; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Return meatballs to pan. Add vegetables; stir gently. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender.

When I was growing up I only knew about beef stew which I learned to make as a teenager because my dad loved it; hubby adores it now. I'm happy to learn about other stews.

The first part of this blog is going to be a rant...I'm sorry if it is tiresome!

I have been looking at Crockpot recipes. The true reason I do Crockpot is for the pleasure of putting something in it and then having it cook while I'm at work all day. However, some of the recipes that I'd like to try only cook for a few hours like 4 or 5. That's great if I were home, but doesn't help me much if I'm gone over 8 hours!

That being said, here's a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com that I might try this week:

Chicken and Fresh Tomato Stew

Ingredients
5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh tomato
1 cup sliced carrot
1 onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
3 large skinless boneless chicken breast halves
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
water, as needed

Directions
Combine the potatoes, tomato, carrot, onion, and bay leaves in a slow cooker. Place the chicken breasts atop the vegetables. Stir the tomato sauce, chicken broth, and Italian seasoning in a bowl; pour over the chicken breasts. Add water as needed to assure the chicken is completely covered. Cook on Low for 6 hours. Remove the chicken breasts and cut into bite sized chunks and return to slow cooker. Continue cooking until the vegetables are tender, another 1 to 2 hours.

On another note...hope you have a wonderful Labor Day!

After looking at the grocery ads, I wonder if I'm missing something. According to the ads, I should be buying lots of picnic/cookout foods for the weekend. I realize that many families do have a cookout so that is to be expected.

Sometimes I feel guilty that I don't go with the norm. On a holiday weekend, I often fix things that I have time to fix instead of a typical menu. I did pull out a couple of steaks to defrost in the fridge. I probably won't be fixing them on the grill. I think I may sear the sides, then put them in the oven to finish with a little butter on top. I hate to admit this, but doing the charcoal grill for two little steaks often seems hardly worth the effort. Maybe if we had a bunch of folks it would seem worth it, but running in and out of the house seems to be a lot of labor.

I think we will have baked potatoes (I'm already using the oven) and possibly a vegetable casserole as well as sliced tomatoes.

Not fancy, but a treat -- we don't do steaks very often.

What is on your Labor Day Menu?

You just can't beat a casserole with chicken, cheese, and rice. I made it up last weekend and stuck it in the fridge to heat up.

I wish I had the recipe because I just kind of made it up as I went along. I bought some whole grain rice and sauted it in a small bit of butter, then cooked it with the chicken broth I had from the chicken I fixed in the Crockpot. I let it cook for about 50 minutes...I guess simmer is the word...and the rice was done and had absorbed the broth.

I had roasted some vegetables for another meal so I threw those in with the shredded chicken. Then, I put the hot rice with all these in a greased casserole dish and cleaned out my fridge with the bits and pieces of different cheeses. All these melted into the rice. I then grated some cheese on top and stuck it in the fridge.

Tonight I came home, added about a tablespoon of milk to it so it wouldn't be dried out, and baked at 400 for about 40 minutes. It was amazing. Yum!

Hubby wanted to know where I got this recipe and I told him I just sort of combined stuff I had. He said it was good and to make it again sometime.

So, I guess you just can't beat chicken, cheese and rice.

Since we have a decent crop of tomatoes, I'm delighted when I find a recipe that is quick and easy and looks good.

I was reading Guideposts and found this recipe that is tagged as being healthy. I think you can make and little or as much as you like.

Burnt Tomatoe Halves

4 firm, ripe tomatoes
Extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt
black peppercorns
2 T fresh oregano leaves

Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat until a drop of water sizzles on the surface. Meanwhile, cut tomatoes in half. Brush cut side of tomato with olive oil and sprinkle with salt to taste. Place tomatoes cut side down on hot surface. Don't move them for 8 - 10 minutes or they'll burst. The bottoms will show a black line of char all around when they're done. Using a spatula, life tomatoes off hot surface and invert onto a plate, burnt side up. Cut crosshatches into the surface of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with peppercorns and oregano, drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Note: if whole peppercorns are a problem, they can be ground or coarsely cracked. Serves 4.

Looks easy enough, doesn't it? And it sounds like a cheap side while tomatoes are in season.

Do you often copy someone's style or dress or way to talking?

We've been watching a lot of Agatha Christie murder mysteries -- Poirot and Miss Marple -- and I have found I have a desire for a cuppa since they tend to drink a lot of tea.

The other day we were in a store and my husband noticed that there are few dresses with polka dot patterns like those in the 30s. He is enjoying the suits the gentlemen wear.

I guess we like to copy our role models.

As a Christian I often wondered what things people in the Bible ate. I know the manna and the loaves and fishes. And although we know Adam and Eve ate fruit, we only speculate it was an apple.

I found a cookbook a few years ago entitled "What Would Jesus Eat?" I assume the title was taken from the slogan, "What Would Jesus Do" that was very popular a few years ago.

The cookbook author couldn't say exactly what Jesus' diet consisted of, but gave examples from a Mediterrean diet and items that would have been available in the Holy Land during the first century.

I guess the bleached, processed all purpose flour is something of modern times. I remember growing up loving the soft white bread of my childhood, not realizing how unnutritious it was.

Here's a recipe for thyme biscuits using items mostly available during Jesus's time. The author mentioned that there was a type of leavening besides yeast so the baking powder isn't totally modern. And although they might not have had Parmesan cheese, they did have a variety of cheeses. I can tell you both my husband and I enjoyed these biscuits.

Thyme Biscuits
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon fruit parsley
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup skim milk

Preheat oven to 400. Place the flour, baking powder, thyme, parsley, rosemary, and Parmesan cheese in a large mixing bowl and use a fork to stir and combine. Slowly stir in the olive oil; mixture will be crumbly. Add the milk and stir until dough holds together. You may add more milk of necessary. Drop by large spoonfuls 1 inch apart onto a greased baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes.

Yields 10 to 12 biscuits.

Don't you think a cup of tea would go with one of these biscuits?

I hate to admit this little tidbit, but we were out of corn.

I had planned on making cornbread yesterday and use creamed corn in the recipe. When I went to my stash of what I thought were 6 cans of creamed corn, I found instead 6 cans of peas if you please.

Goodness. How in the world did I get 6 cans of peas? My husband won't eat peas. I think what happened was when the vegetables were on sale, I thought the case was actually creamed corn and it had 6 peas instead.

I kept one can for me when I'm especially hungry for peas and we donated the rest to the food pantry. I'm sure they will be happy to give them out.

So instead of cornbread, I made Irish soda bread.

My tomato recipe quest continues! As long as we have fresh ones, I want to use them. I think I found a great recipe that was really easy.

A dear friend gave me a subscription to Simple and Delicious and the new issue just arrived. In the back was a recipe for a tomato tart.

Tomato Tart with Three Cheeses

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup shredded provolone cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
4 thinly sliced plum tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup shreeded Parmesan cheese
Additional minced fresh basil

Unfold pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 12-inch square; transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Prick with a fork.

Combine the mozzarella, provolone, and basil. Sprinkl over the pastry to within 1 inch of edges. Arrange the tomato slices over the cheese. Season with salt and pepper; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Remove tart from baking sheet to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with additional basil. Cut into slices. Serve hot or at room temperature.

I can honestly say it is good. I was thinking if you change the types of cheese, you can make this a variety of different ways. I used the tomatoes we have which weren't plum, but beefsteak so I didn't use as many. I was thinking if I added small thinly sliced green bell pepper, it would be even better.

My only warning is if you serve it hot, beware of biting into a hot tomato!

I was pretty pumped last night to watch Ina Garten's program about surprising her husband with Greek lasagna. She often has Jewish recipes so I guess she thought she'd make a change.

I looked for the recipe last night, but couldn't find it on the Food Network site. I decided to try again and found it. It looks a lot harder written down than when she made it, but she is often very good about giving lots of details.

Pastitsio

Ingredients
For the Tomato Meat Sauce:
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large)
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 pound lean ground lamb
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 large cloves)
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes in puree
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Bechamel:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan or Kasseri cheese
• 2 extra-large eggs, beaten
• 2/3 cup Greek-style yogurt, such as Fage Total
• 3/4 pound small shells
Directions
For the sauce, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pot. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the beef and lamb, and saute over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until it's no longer pink, crumbling it with the back of wooden spoon. Drain off any excess liquid, add the wine, and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the garlic, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, and cayenne, and continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 40 to 45 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the bechamel, heat the milk and cream together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until simmering. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly for 2 minutes. Pour the warm milk and cream mixture into the butter and flour mixture, whisking constantly. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until smooth and thick. Add the nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Stir in 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the tomato and meat sauce, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Stir in the eggs and yogurt and set aside.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Don't over-cook because the pasta will later be baked. Drain and set aside.
Add the pasta to the meat and tomato sauce, and pour the mixture into a baking dish. Spread the bechamel evenly to cover the pasta and sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake for 1 hour, until golden brown and bubbly. Set aside for 10 minutes and serve hot.

I am excited about trying it! How about you? Opa!

As I continue my quest for easy stuff to make, I remembered a friend sent me this recipe for 3 ingredient cherry dessert.

3 ingredient cherry dessert


2 cups cubed angel food cake
1 can cherry pie filling
1 12 oz thawed whipped topping

Mix the 3 ingredients together and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. I use sugar free cherry pie filling as my husband is diabetic and it is a dessert that he can have.

Looks easy and sounds tasty? Do you have any 3 ingredient recipes you'd like to share?

Last week I blogged that I had the "problem" of too many tomatoes. One kind person suggested I make a marinara sauce.

I hate to admit it, but I had never made a marinara sauce. I'ved used tomato sauce out of the can and added stuff, but never made anything like this from scratch.

I'm happy to report that I have since been searching for a recipe that I could employ.

I was kind of worried because I don't have hours to let it simmer. Unfortunately my employer wouldn't think it was right if I came home during the day to make a sauce.

So, I wanted to find one I thought I could use. And I did. I had to adjust the measurements because I didn't have quite that many tomatoes available, but I did try it. I ran it through the food processor after it was cooked and added the fresh basil.

Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:
• Ten pounds of VERY ripe tomatoes
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Sugar
• Black Pepper
• Fresh Basil
• Pecorino Romano Cheese, grated
Whole Tomato Version:

The ingredients listed above.
• Chop the washed tomatoes into small cubes (to reduce the area and cooking time).
• Sautee ten or fifteen large garlic cloves in olive oil until they are dark golden.
• Add chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to avoid burning or sticking.
• Pour in an additional quarter cup of oil (or more according to taste).
• Add salt, a heavy dusting of black pepper and about three tablespoons of sugar (depending on the acidity of the tomato you can use less or no sugar).
• Lower heat to medium and cook uncovered, stirring regularly, until all fluid is thickened. THIS SHOULD NOT TAKE FOUR HOURS BUT MORE LIKE A HALF HOUR. Why people insist on torturing tomato sauce on a stove for half a day is beyond me --- we call it the "Nonna syndrome."
• Remove from heat and immediately add a large quantity of fresh chopped basil.
• Cook pasta extra al dente and drain.
• Add pasta back to pan and add five or six ladles of tomato sauce to the pasta and stir over a medium heat until sauce and pasta are thickened.
Serve each plate with an additional ladle full of sauce on top and a drizzling of fresh cold olive oil and a heaping of Pecorino Romano.

Although the measurements are exact, I kept trying it until I got it the way I wanted. I tasted it and then finally had hubby try it. He's the resident critic. He gave it a thumbs up!

Now that I've accomplished this, I have one further query: can I freeze it?

OK, it doesn't have the ring to the title as the children's book, "Chicken Soup with Rice", but I have to work with what I have!

It's the weekend and I was looking for recipes that I could fix ahead and then come home after work and heat up later in the week.

Last year when I did an Internet search, I found a variety of chicken recipes. I was looking through them today and found one that included many of the ingredients I had on hand...my hubby just picked a red bell pepper and green bell pepper. I had fixed a chicken in the Crockpot overnight to use for different dishes and had the broth from it so I felt like I was pretty well set.

Chicken Hash Casserole Recipe

Ingredients:
3 cups chicken breast shredded or chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 red bell pepper diced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon sweet basil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup roux ( make by stirring 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour in 2 tablespoons of corn oil in frying pan until golden brown)

Preparation:

Sauté celery, peppers, and onions until tender.
Place chicken stock in medium saucepan and heat to boiling. Make the roux then mix chicken, chicken stock, vegetables, and seasoning with roux.

Serve over hot rice.

I am delighted I can heat this up on the stove instead of the oven (it's still very hot here) and I can store the ingredients in a bowl in the fridge until I need it. With the hot rice made right before I need it, it should be a tasty meal.

We watch "Til Debt Due Us Part" on CNBC on Saturday nights and one of the things the host keeps telling people is they need to cook at home to save money and buy things on a budget. We do eat out some, but I feel those nights when I'm tired and really don't want to start something from scratch, having something like this sitting in the fridge waiting sure makes it easier to put a hot, nutritious meal on the table without resorting to going out and spending extra money.

I have one word to describe tonight’s supper: YUM!
Last week I wrote about going to Arthur to a place called Beachy’s where I purchased some Amish made noodles. I fixed the garlic noodles and after draining them, I added a little butter. They were good by themselves. But, then, I added creamy beef and it was superb.

I have been perusing a cookbook by Stephanie O’Dea called “Make it fast, cook it slow” where she has Crockpot recipes. I have been thinking about trying one, and this was the time! It’s still very hot here and the head index has hit triple digits. What better meal than something done without heating up the stove? I am going to confess, however, I didn’t use the creamy beef recipe exactly as it was written, so although I gave her credit, I’m actually going to tell you how I fixed it.

Crockpot Creamy beef
1 pound beef stew meat
2 T butter
2 T 2% milk or lower
1 T Worcestershire sauce
2 t of your favorite steak sauce
3 T beef broth
1 small chopped onion
1 t herbs, chopped (I used oregano)
2 oz. cream cheese
Use a small slow cooker. Put everything but the cream cheese in the Crockpot. Cook on low 8-10 hours or until meat is tender. Stir in the cream cheese (I diced it up so it would melt quicker) in the last 30 minutes of cooking. Serve over hot buttered noodles, but I bet this would be great over rice too!

My husband gave it 10 out of 10. He loved the Amish noodles, but he adored the creamy beef mixture. As he says, “It’s a keeper!”

I had a small spending day today.

I worked all day and didn't spend anything except for what it will cost to replace the gas I used to drive to work. I went directly to work and came directly home.

I fixed coffee in a thermal cup and took with me. I packed my lunch and ate it at my desk. I had fixed a chicken in the Crockpot earlier this weekend and used it for some casseroles. I had some chicken left over so I made chicken salad for my sandwich. My husband's grape tomato crop is still pretty healthy, so I took some of them for my lunch as well and for a snack, I packed some peanut butter crackers I had in the pantry.

I'm not good every day, but today was a small spend day!

Ah, what a trouble...too many tomatoes!

My hubby planted 5 plants -- 4 big tomatoes and 1 grape tomato plant. The big tomato plants have been producing steadily, but not huge amounts. But that 1 measly little grape tomato plant has been unbelievable. I picked I bet over two pounds of little tomatoes yesterday.

I decided I needed to fix them some way besides eating them raw. I had seen a recipe for a gratin using regular tomatoes. I changed it a bit and I'm happy to report it was delicious!

Tomato Gratin

1 medium onion, chopped
olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped up small
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon of fresh herb of your choice, chopped or a half tablepoon if dried (I used basil)
tomatoes -- enough to cover the bottom of a baking dish
bread crumbs -- enough to cover the top of the tomatoes
1/4 cup grated cheese (I used Romano because I had it on hand)
baking spray

Preheat oven to 400.
Saute the chopped onion in the olive oil. Take off heat once it is translucent and add honey and herb and mix together.
Slice the tomatoes in same size pieces. Since I used grape tomatoes, I sliced them in half and had them all face up to make one layer.
Toss in the chopped garlic and add the onion/honey sauce on top.
Spread the cheese over the tomatoes. Then add the bread crumbs until thoroughly covered.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until bread crumbs are brown.

If you wanted to make the casserole thicker, you could layer the tomatoes and onions if you had more and then bake a little longer. I would probably add a little more honey and lemon juice.

I used the tomatoes from our garden, an onion from our garden, basil from our garden, and the bread crumbs I made in our food processor from left over bread.

It was delicious and a reasonably cheap side dish.

Horses and homemade noodles. I love them both.

OK, maybe not together, but yesterday we went to Arthur, IL. Arthur is a small town near us that has a large Amish population. And the Amish have horses. So, I had my horse “fix” by seeing so many. Even more so when we ventured out into the country to a store and took a wrong turn. One farm had over 15 draft horses in the pasture. One had a foal that was sleeping on the ground while the mom stood and watched over it, protecting it, while the other horses grazed. What a great horsey mom!

We did find the store. It is called Beachy’s and they sell a variety of goods, a lot of which is in bulk. Apparently it is run by an Amish family. It has cheeses made there in town, noodles and baked goods made right there. You could buy a large 50 pound bag of flour if you had the desire, or you could get a smaller bag of around 2 pounds. I didn’t think I could store 50 pounds for some reason, darn it! I guess this place had the selling in bulk concept before Sam’s and Costco!

They had 5 or 6 different types of noodles. We bought regular egg noodles and egg noodles with garlic. I can hardly wait to try these. They had whole wheat noodles, vegetables noodles, and egg noodles with tomatoes. It was almost noodle heaven! The list of ingredients was pretty simple: flour, egg yolks, water, food coloring and then whatever they used to flavor like garlic powder or tomatoes. No preservatives! Woo woo!

They had all sorts of homemade baked goods. It made our mouths water. They had white bread, wheat bread, and breads like banana and zucchini. They had cookies and angel food cakes (they have to use the egg whites for something after making all those noodles.)
They sell the spices in bulk and had a huge aisle of them. They had all sorts of rice in another aisle. And one aisle had candy. A lot of types you don’t see any more like lemon drops. I can’t remember the last time I had a lemon drop.

It was a terrific day. My hubby and I explored downtown Arthur and then made our visit to Beachy’s. And it was wonderful because of the horses and homemade noodles.

We hit the library again and it’s no mystery, we like to solve murder cases…fiction, of course!

We’ve run through all the Poirot episodes that our library has. We have moved on to Campion. It’s set in England in the 30s. I guess it originally broadcast on “Mystery” in the late 80s or early 90s. Campion is a detective who has a surly manservant named Lug who together solve mysteries. I think these characters make the stories more interesting. Poirot has Captain Hastings, Chief Inspector, and Miss Lemon. Campion has Lug, and boy, is Lug a character. We talk about these people like they are real instead of fictional.

We’ve also been watching Miss Marple, Agatha Christie’s nosy old lady who never misses a details. She's an interesting character herself.

These wonderful stories have provided great entertainment, but it does have a downside. I have a craving for a cup of tea while watching one of these. I wonder if it is because they all have tea in lovely tea cups? Do I want to copy their fancy ways? Have I fallen in love with 30s fashion? Or am I just weird? I need to brew a cup of tea and serve it in a china cup to feel satisfied. This is a mystery to me. I guess as far as cravings go, it's pretty cheap. Hot water, tea bag and a cup I already posses. The DVDs are borrowed from the library so other than the trip to the library the cost is minimal.

Well, we still have a few more episodes to enjoy the next few evenings. That’s something to look forward to. I just better make sure I have enough tea bags to brew. Maybe I’m just a character myself.

The topic of every newscast is the weather...namely it's hot outside. No kidding! You walk outside and take a breath and sweat!

On an earlier blog I mentioned Stephanie O'Dea's cookbook, "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow". Here is a recipe for potatoes that I hope to try in this hot weather.

Walnut and Sage Potatoes Au Gratin

Cooking spray
6 medium brown potatoes (such as Idaho or Russet), peeled and sliced 1/ 4 inch thick
½ yellow onion, diced
1/3 cup flour
4 T (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2 ½ cups heavy cream or half and half
1 t Kosher salt
¼ t black pepper
1 t dried sage
1 ½ c shredded Greyere cheese
1 ½ c walnut halves

In a 4 quart slow cooker, spray the inside with cooking spray. Put the sliced potatoes and onion in the slow cooker. In a mixing bowl whisk the flour into the melted butter. Add the cream and salt, pepper, and sage to the bowl, mixing well. Pour the cream mixture into the slow cooker and toss with the potatoes and ion. Sprinkle the cheese and walnuts on the top. Cover and cook on high for 3-5 hours or until the potatoes are tender.


It sure sounds hearty and at least it won't heat up the kitchen!

I'm sure we aren't the only part of the country (USA) that it is hot, but it has that hazy look to it and you know it's just hot. The head index at 7 p.m. was 110. That's just plain miserable!

We had a gift card for a restaurant so we used it tonight. I planned it because I knew it would be a long day at work and I would be tired. I didn't think about the heat. On our way home, we noticed that a lot of restaurants seemed pretty busy. Tuesday isn't a big night for restaurant goers usually, but I think the heat may have helped increased their business.

Do you think weather has anything to do with increased restaurant sales?

Yesterday I wrote about receiving a huge zucchini. I also shared a recipe I was going to try.

That recipe is now history and I think it was pretty good, but kind of bland. I think when I make it again, I'm going to add chopped onions and maybe something else for some zing.

I do have a couple of recipes for zucchini that I'm sharing since there were some comments asking for other zucchini recipes.

Paula Deen’s Zucchini bread

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.


Zucchini and Tomato Casserole

2 to 3 zucchini, chopped
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1 20 oz can crushed tomatoes
¼ lb white cheddar cheese, shredded
¼ lb cheddar shredded
1 T basil, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Toss the zucchini, onion, and ¼ cup of the juice in a shallow casserole dish. Bake 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are cooked. Remove from oven and toss ¾ of the cheese and tomatoes with vegetables. Sprinkle with basil. Top with the remainder of the cheese.
Bake another 15 to 20 minutes.


Zucchini and onions
2 small zucchini sliced thin
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup of milk
3/4 cup dried bread crumbs
1/2 cup of shredded cheese of your choice (I use whatever I have in the fridge

Saute zucchini and onion in olive oil. Add more oil if needed. When they are transparent, add milk and let it cook through. Pour into a greased casserole dish.
Mix the bread crumbs and cheese together and top the zucchini and onion. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

We were out and about today and at one of our stops, someone had dropped off tomatoes and a zucchini.

The folks at this place offered us both the tomatoes and the zucchini. Right now we are good on tomatoes with my hubby's garden, but we graciously accepted the zucchini. It's funny, but I've been fixing zucchini at least twice a week in different ways or a couple of years. These young people just looked at me and said the only thing they could think to do with it was make bread. I suggested a couple of recipes to them, but none of them wanted to cook.

With great delight I accepted this large zucchini and it now adorns my countertop awaiting my cooking.

I measured it just to see how large it really is. It is 19 inches long and at its widest it is 14 inches. This is a large zucchini. I guess I can do a little weight lifting before I slice into it.

I checked out a cookbook last week from the library. It was Fanny Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe cookbook. If you remember the book or the movie, the cafe had down home southern cooking. It also gave some squash and zucchini recipes.

With this large zucchini I think I can make more than one casserole, so I'll probably use it for some other items, but this is something I'm looking forward to making:

Zucchini Sour Cream Casserole

6 medium zucchini (about 2 pounds), cut into ½ inch slices
1 8-ounce carton sour cream
2 T butter
1 cup (4 oz) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
½ t seasoned salt
¼ t pepper
½ cup crushed saltines or fine dry breadcrumbs

Cook zucchini in boiled salted water covered for 10 to 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Preheat oven to 350. Combine sour cream and butter in a small saucepan and melt. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese, seasoned salt, and pepper. Layer half of zucchini, sour cream mixture, and cracker crumbs in a greased shallow 1 ½ quart casserole; repeat layers. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until hot.

I had to laugh when we were talking to the "kids" at this place. The guy said he thought he might try his tomatoes "ghetto style." I asked what that was and he said, "You know, slice them and put salt and pepper on them."

I had never heard it referred that way; guess one learns something new every day.

Abraham Lincoln. What a famous man both in the states and in the world.

We visited the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL, yesterday. We are fortunate to live around 45 miles away and have made at least 5 trips there to get our Lincoln “fix.”

Most of us know about the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and even his brutal murder.
But, do you have any idea of what he ate?

A couple of years ago a friend of mine knows our love of Lincoln and my love for cooking and gifted me a cookbook from the Lincoln Museum. There are recipes from the Lincoln era as well as recipes from volunteers at the museum. One in particular caught my eye. Apparently Mr. Lincoln had to be reminded to eat by his wife, Mary, but he did have a favorite cake. It was a white cake and the recipe was originally created by Monsieur Giron, a Lexington caterer. The recipe became a favorite of the Todd family and they requested it for family use.

Apparently this was a cake that Mary would bake for her husband. Think about it for a minute how hard it had to be to bake a cake in those cook stoves where you couldn’t regulate the temperature very easily. There were no electric mixers. Lots of hard work for a treat!

Here’s the recipe from the cookbook. It was noted that variations of the icing included the use of a sour cream icing. I’m going to give the cake recipe a try today, but think I’ll make a different icing since I don’t have the candied fruits. I'm sure if you want to order the cookbook, you can do a search for the Abraham Lincoln Museum and go to the gift shop.

Cake batter
2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
3 c. flour
1 T baking powder
1 c. milk
1 ¼ c. blanched almonds, chopped very fine
6 egg whites
1 t almond of vanilla extract
Cream sugar and butter. Sift flour and baking powder three times. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk. Add almonds. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter. Add extract. Pour into a greased and floured angel food cake pan. Bake at 350 for approximately 1 hour. Turn out cake on wire rack to cool.

Candied fruit frosting
2 egg whites
2 c. sugar
1 c. water
1 t vanilla extract or ½ tsp each of vanilla and almond extract
½ c diced, candied pineapple
½ c crystallized cherries cut in half
Beat egg whites until very stiff. Set aside. Combine sugar and water and bring to a boil. Boil until the syrup spins a thread about 5 inches long. Slowly add a few tablespoons of egg whites, 1 spoonful at a time, into the syrup. Then slowly, beating well, add remaining syrup into the eggs and beat until the icing forms peaks when dropped from a spoon. Add vanilla and/or almond extract. Fold in candied pineapple and crystallized cherries. Spread between layers of the cake and ice the tops and sides. The fruit may be omitted.

Here’s your chance to eat like a president!

It always hurts to fail.

I have shared many of my successes, so I feel it is only fair to share my failure as well.

I have tried one new recipe for the Crockpot and although adequate, I wouldn’t take the time to write it down and try it again. It sounded good. It was to be a type of chicken stew. You put in chicken (uncooked), potatoes, sliced onions, chopped bell pepper, a little chicken broth, and a can of tomatoes and cook 8-9 hours. It was edible, but certainly not delicious. The chicken was almost dried out. It shouldn't have been, there was plenty of liquid. It just wasn't yummy. This recipe will bite the dust.

Tonight I made stuffed peppers. My husband likes bell peppers. He likes ground beef. And rice. I chopped and sautéed some onion with the lean ground beef. Did what I was supposed to. It wasn’t bad. But he didn’t like it. Hence, another failure. I’m 0 for 2 so far this week.

It hurts to fail, but life goes on, and hopefully my cooking will too.

There are far bigger worries than two not wonderful meals, right?

I look forward to Jeffrey's posts and how he uses coupons to eat on a $1 a day. We don't have some of the grocery stores he has, but we do have a CVS. However, after looking at his blogs, I don't think I could cut the deals he has.

I discovered that different papers have different coupons. Some are better than others. Our local paper has a coupon insert or two on Sundays and they have some basic stuff, but my hubby also buys the Chicago Trib and often times the coupons are worth more or they might even have coupons that aren't in our local paper. They are put out by the same companies. I wonder if it is also a regional thing too.

That being said, I won't be eating on a $1 a day, but I am trying to make better use of the coupons we get.

Thanks, Jeffrey!