Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients: 1/3 stick butter 1/2 cup diced onions 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 3 cans sliced green beans 3 cups chicken broth 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup 1 (2.8-ounce) can French-fried onion rings Pinch House Seasoning, recipe follows 1 cup grated Cheddar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a large skillet.

Saute the onions and mushrooms in the butter.

Boil green beans in chicken broth for 10 minutes and drain. Add the green beans, mushroom soup, onion rings, and House Seasoning, to taste, to the onion mixture. Stir well.

Pour into a greased 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes, then top the casserole with the Cheddar and bake for 10 minutes longer, or until the casserole is hot and cheese is melted. Woops... forgot to take a picture after the cheese melted in the oven. Forgive me! House Seasoning:

1 cup salt

1/4 cup black pepper

1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

This recipe was originally from Martha Stewart's magazine.

Chicken and Broccoli Ring - PamperedChef

12 oz. cooked chicken, chopped (2 cups - about 3 cooked boneless skinless chicken breast halves, I used two from my grocery stores deli to save time)
1 C. broccoli, chopped
1/2 C. red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed
4 oz. sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)
1/2 C. mayonnaise
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 egg white, lightly beaten
slivered almonds

This is from the All the Best Pampered Chef recipe book... with some tweaks...

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Chop chicken, broccoli, red bell pepper and place into mixing bowl. Add garlic, cheese, and mayonnaise into bowl. Mix well.

Unroll the 2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls; separate into16 triangles. Arrange triangles, slightly overlapping, in a circle on Large Round Stone with wide ends 4 inches from edge of baking stone. (Points will extend off the edge of the baking stone, I put a large can good under my stone to elevate it.) Roll wide ends of dough toward center to create a 5-inch opening.

Using Large Scoop, scoop filling evenly over center of dough in a continuous circle.

Bring points of triangles up over filling and tuck under dough at center to form a ring. (Filling will show.)
Brush egg white over dough.

Sprinkle with almonds. Baked 25-28 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Taco Taco Taco Dip

Yes, you have to say Taco three times!

Ingredients:
Cream Cheese 1 8oz bar
Milk 2 Tbsp or so (I just splash a dash!)
Taco Seasoning 1/2 package
Lettuce
Cheddar Cheese
Tomatoes
Black Olives
Nacho Cheese Doritos or Tostitos

In large mixing bowl put softened cream cheese with a splash of milk and taco seasoning. Mix with hand mixer till it is spreadable.

Once everything is mixed, spread this mixture onto a plate.

This is the base... layer shredded lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes, and sliced black olives. Devour in minuets with nacho cheese Doritos (my favorite) or Tostitos.

Polynesian Dinner

Ingredients:
2 cups. rice
chow mien noodles
chopped turkey or chicken
cubed tomatoes
chopped onions
chopped celery
1 can of pineapple chunks
shredded cheddar cheese
turkey gravy
sliced almonds
shredded coconut

Cook turkey or chicken as preferred. This is a great use of leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. But since Thanksgiving is only one day a year I've found that chicken breast taste pretty much the same in this recipe. Chopped cooked turkey or chicken into bite size pieces.

Cook rice in microwave - I usually do double the amount of servings for the amount of the people that are eating.

Open can of pineapple chunks and place in freezer to chill. Save the juice in the can to add a little moisture if you don't like gravy. Cubed tomatoes, chop onions, chop celery and shred cheese.

All ingredients are served at room temperature except for rice and gravy.

Layer ingredients in order on your plate and devour! Rice, noodles, turkey/chicken, tomatoes, onions, celery, pineapple, cheese, gravy almonds, and coconut. Don't forget the pineapple juice if you like.


I don't like gravy on this... but everyone else I know does... thus why I found the pineapple juice trick.

Grape Salad

Ingredients:
4 lbs. of mix red and green grapes
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 oz. pecans (whole)
2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Mix all ingredients, except the grapes and pecans, in a large bowl with hand mixer. Mix until smooth and no longer lumpy.
In hand break whole pecans into small pieces. I like the whole ones broken instead of the pre-chopped pecans which seem to be too small. Add pecans to mixture.

Add grapes and stir until coated evenly.

Refrigerate until you serve.

Potato Salad

Ingredients: 5-6 potatoes same # of eggs as potatoes small white onion Miracle Whip yellow mustard sugar Wash and peel potatoes. Cut into pieces. Attempt to keep them around the same size for even cooking. Add to a pot of water and bring to a boil. Check for doneness by stabbing with a fork. And if all else fails taste a piece! Chop onion and set aside. "Sauce". In a separate bowl place six heaping spoonfuls of Miracle Whip or about 3/4 cup. Add mustard - I just squirt about the size of a 50 cent piece into the bowl. Also add 2 Tbsp. sugar. Mix well. Once it's mixed it should be about the same color as a stick of margarine. Once potatoes are done to your liking, cut into bite size pieces and add to large bowl (not same as sauce). Add chopped onion. Remove water from potato pot and add warm water - not hot. Add eggs, bring to a boil with cover on. If you forget to add the eggs before the boil they may pop - still usable just a bad sound! You may also want to make one or two more eggs just in case on of the whites splits and to test to make sure the yolk is hard. Once the water has started to boil remove pot from heat. Leave cover on for 15 minuets. After 15 minuets rinse eggs under cold water so that you do not get a gray/green exterior of the yolk. Peel each egg and slice in 1/2 the long way of the egg. I used my egg slicer plus to slice the halved eggs. After I've sliced the eggs then I cut them again the long way down the center for smaller pieces. Add sliced eggs to potato and onion bowl. Add sauce and stir gently. Yum!

Rhubarb Cake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg; beaten
3/4 cup milk
6 cups rhubarb
3 oz strawberry or cherry jello
6 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour

Mix shortening, flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, beaten egg, and milk. Put into greased 9x13 pan (or rectangular baker).

This was rhubarb that I froze from last season. After doing this recipe, I noticed that I should have cut the rhubarb into smaller pieces before freezing. Once it had defrosted it wasn't solid enough to cut into smaller pieces.


This is fresh rhubarb from the garden. Note the size of the pieces.

Place rhubarb over batter.


Sprinkle jello over rhubarb.

Mix butter, sugar and flour in separate bowl until crumbly. If I had a pastry blender I would have used it... instead I dug in with my hands.

Sprinkle over jello. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.

I prefer mine right out of the oven, but if you let it cool you can cut into nice bars.